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THESEXUAL QUESTION

A SCIENTIFIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, HYGIENICAND SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY

BYAUGUST FOREL, M. D. , PH. D. , LL. D. Formerly Professor of Psychiatry at and Director of theInsane Asylum in Zurich (Switzerland)

_ENGLISH ADAPTATION FROM THE SECOND GERMANEDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED_

BYC. F. MARSHALL, M. D. , F. R. C. S. Late Assistant Surgeon to the Hospital forDiseases of the Skin, London

ILLUSTRATED

_REVISED EDITION_

[Illustration]

BROOKLYN, NEW YORKPHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS BOOK COMPANYHENRY AND PACIFIC STREETS1931

Copyright, 1906Copyright, 1922

OWNED BYPHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS BOOK CO. 

PRINTED IN U. S. A. 

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

This book is the fruit of long experience and reflection. It has twofundamental ideas--the study of nature, and the study of thepsychology of man in health and in disease. 

To harmonize the aspirations of human nature and the data of thesociology of the different human races and the different epochs ofhistory, with the results of natural science and the laws of mentaland sexual evolution which these have revealed to us, is a task whichhas become more and more necessary at the present day. It is our dutyto our descendants to contribute as far as is in our power to itsaccomplishment. In recognition of the immense progress of educationwhich we owe to the sweat, the blood, and often to the martyrdom ofour predecessors, it behoves us to prepare for our children a lifemore happy than ours. 

I am well aware of the disproportion which exists between themagnitude of my task and the imperfections of my work. I have not beenable to study as much as should be done the innumerable works whichtreat of the same subject. Others, better versed than myself in theliterature of the subject, will be able later on to fill thisregrettable lacuna. I have endeavored, above all things, to study thequestion from all points of view, in order to avoid the errors whichresult from any study which is made from one point of view only. Thisis a thing which has generally been neglected. 

I must express my thanks to my friend, _Professor Mahaim_, andespecially to my publisher and cousin, _S. Steinheil_, for the helpand excellent advice which they have given me in the revision of mywork; also to _Professor Boveri_, who has been kind enough to revisethe figures, 1 to 17. 

 DR. A. FOREL. 

Chigny près Morges (Suisse). 

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The text of the first edition has been revised and corrected, but, apart from some points of detail, the subject matter has not beenchanged. The examples at the end of Chapter V (First Edition) nolonger form a special appendix; they have been included in the partsof the book which specially concern them; some of them have beenomitted as being superfluous. 

In the domain with which we are concerned the French public are toomuch afraid, I think, of crudities and of calling things by theirproper name. By veiled words and by indirect locution one may sayanything, but I have decided not to employ such subterfuges intreating of such a vital social question with the seriousness that itrequires. It seems that there is a fear of young people hearing thesexual question spoken of freely and openly; but it is not taken intoaccount that in hiding these things under half-understood words oneonly excites their curiosity, and, owing to their being blindfolded, they are delivered into the snares and surprises of debauchery. 

I cannot better illustrate the error that I have just pointed out thanby quoting, among several others of the same kind, a letter which Ihave received from a young girl, aged 21 years, intelligent, virtuous, educated, and well brought up, but without restraint. 

Having read my book she put several questions to me to which Ireplied. On my part I requested her to tell me frankly:

(1). If, in her opinion, I had been mistaken in my judgment of thesexual psychology of the normal young girl; (2). If my book had doneher the least harm, moral or otherwise. 

I begged her to criticise me without pity, for I wished above allthings to be clear on the effect produced by my book. This is herletter:

 "I must thank you for the deep and unalterable impression which your book has produced on me. I am a young girl of 21 years, and you know how difficult it is for us to see clearly into those natural things which so closely concern us. I cannot, therefore, thank you too much for the calm enlightenment which has been produced in me, and for the just and humane words which you devote to the education of our sex. I hope one day to have the good fortune to apply to my children the ideas on education with which you have inspired me. 

 "You ask me for the impression which your book has made on me. It is true that I am still very young, but I have read much. My mother has brought me up very freely, so that I can count myself among the young girls who are free from prejudice. In spite of this, a sort of internal anxiety or false shame has hindered me from speaking of all the things of which you treat. All that I knew I had read in books or derived by instinct. Although I knew very well that my mother would always answer my questions I never asked any. 

 "I declare that latterly my mind had been in a state of veritable chaos. I was obsessed and tormented by a fear of everything of which I was ignorant and some day ought to learn. This is why I was anxious to read your book which a friend showed me. I will now express myself more clearly. 

 "The first chapters were difficult for me, not because I could not understand them, but owing to the strange and novel experience which the truth made in me when plainly and scientifically expounded. Wishing to read everything I applied myself to the book laboriously. My first impression was that of disgust for all human beings and mistrust of everything. But I was soon glad to find that I was a very normal young girl, so that this impression soon passed away. I was no longer excited over conversations which I heard, but took a real interest in them, and I was happy to have become acquainted with some one who understood us young girls. 

 "I am, therefore, a young girl whose sensations are neither cold nor perverse, and I am always rejoiced, in reading your book, to see with what truth you describe our sexual impressions. Those who maintain that we feel in this way the same as men make me smile. In your book ("Hygiene of Marriage, " p. 479) you say that the idea of marriage awakens in a normal young girl a kind of anguish and disgust, and that this feeling disappears as soon as she has found some one whom she loves. This is extremely true and well observed. I am in complete agreement with a friend with whom I have often discussed your book; we young girls are very little attracted by the purely sexual side of marriage, and we should prefer to see children come into the world by some other way than that ordained by Nature. This will, perhaps, make you laugh. However, I think you will understand my feelings. 

 "When I had finished reading your book I became absolutely tranquil, and my ideas were enlightened. It goes without saying that it is no longer possible for me to be ingenuous, but I should like to know what one gains by such naivety. It is very easy to be innocent when one knows nothing, and this is of no account. I never thought for a moment to find your book immoral, and that is why I do not think you have done me any harm. Excuse me for having written at such length, but I could not abbreviate when dealing with such a serious question. "

The author of this letter has, at my request, authorized me to publishit anonymously. I think that the candor, the loyalty and the maturityof judgment of the sentiments expressed by this young girl are of muchmore value and are much more healthy than all the prudishness andfalse shame of our conventional morality. 

 DR. A. FOREL. 

Chigny près Morges (Suisse). 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGEThe reproduction of living beings--History of the germ--Cell-division--Parthenogenesis--Conjugation--Mneme--Embryonicdevelopment--Difference of sexes--Castration--Hermaphrodism--Heredity--Blastophthoria 6

CHAPTER II

The evolution or descent of living beings 39

CHAPTER III

Natural conditions of mechanism of human coitus--Pregnancy--Correlative sexual characters 49

CHAPTER IV

The sexual appetite in man and woman--Flirtation 72

CHAPTER V

Love and other irradiations of the sexual appetite in thehuman mind--Psychic irradiations of love in man: Procreativeinstinct, jealousy, sexual braggardism, pornographic spirit, sexual hypocrisy, prudery and modesty, old bachelors--Psychicirradiations of love in woman: Old maids, passiveness anddesire, abandon and exaltation, desire for domination, petticoat government, desire of maternity and maternal love, routine and infatuation, jealousy, dissimulation, coquetry, prudery and modesty--Fetichism and anti-fetichism--Psychological relations of love to religion 104

CHAPTER VI

Ethnology and history of the sexual life of man and ofmarriage--Origin of marriage--Antiquity of matrimonialinstitutions--Criticism of the doctrine of promiscuity--Marriage and celibacy--Sexual advances and demands ofmarriage--Methods of attraction--Liberty of choice--Sexualselection--Law of resemblance--Hybrids--Prohibition ofconsanguineous marriages--Role of sentiment and calculationin sexual selection--Marriage by purchase--Decadence ofmarriage by purchase--Dowry--Nuptial ceremonies--Forms ofmarriage--Duration of marriage--History of extra-nuptialsexual intercourse 144

CHAPTER VII

Sexual evolution--Phylogeny and ontogeny of sexual life 192

CHAPTER VIII

Sexual pathology--Pathology of the sexual organs--Venerealdisease--Sexual psychology--Reflex anomalies--Psychicimpotence--Sexual paradoxy--Sexual anæsthesia--Sexualhyperæsthesia--Masturbation and onanism--Perversionsof the sexual appetite: Sadism, masochism, fetichism, exhibitionism, homosexual love, sexual inversion, pederosis, sodomy--Sexual anomalies in the insane and psychopathic--Effects of alcohol on the sexual appetite--Sexual anomaliesby suggestion and auto-suggestion--Sexual perversions due tohabit 208

CHAPTER IX

The role of suggestion in sexual life--Amorous intoxication 277

CHAPTER X

The relations of the sexual question to money and property--Prostitution, proxenetism and venal concubinage 293

CHAPTER XI

The influence of environment on sexual life--Influence ofclimate--Town and country life--Vagabondage--Americanism--Saloons and alcohol--Riches and poverty--Rank and socialposition--Individual life--Boarding schools. 326

CHAPTER XII

Religion and sexual life 340

CHAPTER XIII

Rights in sexual life--Civil law--Penal law--A medico-legalcase 358

CHAPTER XIV

Medicine and sexual life--Prostitution--Sexual hygiene--Extra-nuptial intercourse--Medical advice--Means ofregulating or preventing conception--Hygiene of marriage--Hygiene of pregnancy--Medical advice as to marriage--Medicalsecrecy--Artificial abortion--Treatment of sexual disorders 418

CHAPTER XV

Sexual morality 445

CHAPTER XVI

The sexual question in politics and in political economy 461

CHAPTER XVII

The sexual question in pedagogy 470

CHAPTER XVIII

The sexual question in art 489

CHAPTER XIX

Conclusions--Utopian ideas on the ideal marriage of thefuture--Bibliographical remarks 499

THE SEXUAL QUESTION

THE SEXUAL QUESTION

INTRODUCTION

My object is to study the sexual question under all its aspects:scientific, ethnological, pathological and social, and to seek thebest solution of the numerous problems connected with it. Unfortunately, in publications dealing with this subject, eroticismusually plays a considerable part, and it is difficult for an authorto abstract himself from this, for it is reflected unconsciously inhis thoughts. As all sentiment, more or less, warps judgment, it isthe duty of scientific criticism to eliminate eroticism in order to beexact and impartial. We shall, therefore, do all that is possible tofree ourselves from it in the course of the present study. 

The sexual question is of fundamental importance for humanity, whosehappiness and well-being depend largely on the best solution of thisimportant problem. In dealing with such a delicate subject I shallendeavor to avoid narrow-mindedness and prejudice; I shall avoidtiresome quotations, and shall only employ technical terms whennecessary, as they rather interfere with the comprehension of thesubject. I shall take care to explain all those which appear to meindispensable. 

My opinions on the sexual question are based, on the one hand, on myscientific study of the human brain, and on the other hand on the longpersonal experience of an alienist who has devoted himself almost asmuch to normal mentality and questions of social hygiene as topathological mentality. I have, however, been obliged to rely on thefundamental work of _Westermark_ with regard to ethnology, thissubject being strange to me. Concerning sexual psycho-pathology I havefollowed the classification of _Krafft-Ebing_. 

The sexual question is extraordinarily complex, and we cannot expectto find a simple solution for it as we can for the questions ofalcoholism, slavery, torture, etc. The latter are solved in oneword--suppression. Suppression of slavery and torture; suppression ofthe usage of alcoholic drinks. We are concerned here with ulcersartificially produced and preserved in human society; ulcers whichmust be simply extirpated. Their suppression is nothing butbeneficial, since, far from being connected with the normal conditionsof human existence, they place it in peril. Sexual instinct andsentiment, on the contrary, have their roots in life itself; they areintimately bound up with humanity, and therefore require quite adifferent treatment. But human society has guided them into false andpernicious ways. It is important to turn them from these in order totranquilize and regulate their course by damming them up andcanalizing them. 

The fundamental axiom of the sexual question is as follows:

_With man, as with all living beings, the constant object of allsexual function, and consequently of sexual love, is the reproductionof the species. _ It is therefore necessary to treat the question fromthe point of view of the natural sciences, physiology, psychology andsociology. This has already been done more than once, but usually inerudite treatises which only look upon one side of the question; or, on the other hand, in a superficial and often frivolous manner. 

To ensure happiness, humanity should desire to reproduce itself in amanner which elevates progressively all the physical and mentalfaculties of man, with regard to health and bodily strength, as muchas to sentiment, intelligence, will, creative imagination, love ofwork, joy of living, and the sentiment of social solidarity. Everyattempt made to solve the sexual question should, therefore, bedirected toward the future and toward the happiness of ourdescendants. 

It requires much disinterestedness to attempt seriously any sexualreform. But, as the human subject is by nature extremely weak, as hisviews are limited, especially in the matter which concerns us, it isabsolutely necessary, if we would avoid Utopia, to adapt thefundamental aim of sexual union to happiness and joy, even to thenatural weakness of man. 

The fundamental difficulty of the problem lies in the necessity forsuch an adaptation, and this difficulty requires us to make a cleansweep of prejudices, traditions and prudery. It is this which we wishto attempt. 

Considered from an exalted point of view, sexual life is beautiful aswell as good. What there is in it which is shameful and infamous isthe obscenity and ignominy caused by the coarse passions of egoism andfolly, allied with ignorance, erotic curiosity and mysticsuperstition, often combined with social narcotic intoxication andcerebral anomalies. 

We shall divide our subject into nineteen chapters. Chapters I to VIIdeal with the natural history and psychology of sexual life; ChapterVIII with its pathology, and Chapters IX to XVIII with its socialrole, that is to say, its connection with the different domains ofhuman social life. 

CHAPTER I

THE REPRODUCTION OF LIVING BEINGS

_History of the Germ:--Cell-division--Parthenogenesis-- Conjugation--Mneme--Embryological Development--Difference of the Sexes--Castration--Hermaphrodism--Heredity--Blastophthoria. _

A general law of organic life decrees that every living individual isgradually transformed in the course of a cycle which is calledindividual life, and which terminates with death, that is by thedestruction of the greater part of the organism. It then becomes inertmatter, and the germinative cells alone of all its parts continue itslife under certain conditions. 

=The Cells: Protoplasm. The Nucleus. =--Since the time of_Schwann_ (1830) it is agreed that the cell is the most simplemorphological element which is capable of living. Among the lowerorganisms this element constitutes the entire individual. There is nodoubt that the cell is already a thing of high organization. It isformed of infinitely small elements of very different value andchemical constitution, which form what is called _protoplasm_ or thecell-substance. But these infinitely small elements are so farabsolutely unknown. It is in them that must be sought the change frominanimate matter, that is the chemical molecule, to living matter, achange which was formerly believed to lie in the protoplasm itself, before its complicated structure was known. We need not concernourselves here with this question which remains an open one. 

Life being established, the cell remains its only known constantelement. The cell is composed of protoplasm which contains a roundednucleus formed of _nucleo-plasma_. The nucleus is the most importantpart of the cell, and governs its life. 

=Cell-division. =--The lowest unicellular organisms, as each cell of amulticellular organism, reproduce themselves by division or_fission_. Each cell originates from another cell in the followingmanner: the cell divides in the center as well as its nucleus, and inthis way forms two cells which grow by absorbing by _endosmosis_(filtration) the nutritive juices which surround them. Death ordestruction of the cell is therefore death of the entire organism whenthis is unicellular. But it has been previously reproduced. 

We find here already the special and fundamental act of conjugation, that is the fusion of two cells into one, which serves to strengthenreproduction. This act, common to all living things including man, shows us that continuation of life is only possible when from time totime different elements, that is elements which have been exposed todifferent influences, combine together. If this conjugation isprevented and life is allowed to continue indefinitely by means offission or by budding (_vide infra_), there results a progressiveweakening and degeneration which leads to the disappearance of thewhole group thus reproduced. 

It is necessary to explain here the results of recent scientific workon the intimate phenomena of cell-division, for they are closelyallied to those of fecundation. 

The nucleus of an ordinary cell presents itself in the form of anearly spherical vesicle. Delicate methods of staining have shown thatthe nucleus encloses several round nucleolar corpuscles, and also areticulum which is attached to its membrane and spreads through itswhole substance. The liquid part of the nucleus fills the meshes ofthis reticular tissue, which stains easily and for this reason isnamed _chromatin_. The phenomena of cell division in well-developedcells with nuclei is termed _mitosis_. Certain lower forms of cellsexist in which the nucleus is not well differentiated. Mitosis beginsin the nucleus (Plate I). Figure 1 represents the cell before divisionhas commenced. In the protoplasm, by the side of the nucleus, isformed a small corpuscle (_c_) which is called the _centrosome_. Thenucleus itself is marked _b_. When the cell commences to divide, themeshes of the network of chromatin contract and the centrosome dividesinto two parts (Fig. 2). Shortly afterward the particles of chromatinconcentrate in the form of convoluted rods called _chromosomes_(Figs. 3 and 4). The number of these varies according to the speciesof organism, but remains constant for each animal or vegetablespecies. At the same time the two centrosomes separate from each otheron each side of the nucleus. The chromosomes then become shorter andthicker while the nucleus is completely dissolved in the protoplasm ofthe cell, and its membrane disappears (Fig. 4). 

Directly afterwards the chromosomes arrange themselves regularly inline, like soldiers at drill, following one of the larger diameters ofthe cell, and forming a barrier between the two centrosomes (Fig. 5). Each of the chromosomes then divides into two parallel halves of equalthickness (Fig. 6). 

Figures 3 and 4 show that, while these changes are being produced, each of the two centrosomes is surrounded by stellate rays. Some ofthese rays extending in the direction of the chromosomes, becomeattached to one of their extremities and draw it toward thecorresponding centrosome (Fig. 7). Thus around each centrosome aregrouped as many chromosomes as the mother cell possessed itself (Fig. 8). Simultaneously, the cell enlarges and its protoplasm commences tobecome indented at each end of the diameter previously formed by thechromosomes. From this moment the nuclear liquid concentrates itselfaround each of the groups of chromosomes, the rays disappear and thecell divides into two halves, each containing a group of chromosomes(Fig. 9); the indentation increases so as to form a partition acrossthe protoplasm. The chromosomes then form a new meshwork of nuclearchromatin, and we have then two cells each with a nucleus and acentrosome like the mother cell (Fig. 10). 

This is what takes place in the reproduction of all cells of theanimal and vegetable kingdoms. In the simplest unicellular organismswhich are known fission constitutes the only means of reproduction. Inthe complicated organisms of the higher plants and animals each celldivides in the manner indicated above, both in the embryonic periodand later on during the development of each of the organs which formsthe organism. This fact shows more than any other the intimaterelationship which connects all living organisms. The most remarkablething, perhaps, is the almost mathematical division of thechromosomes into two halves, a division which results in the equaldistribution of their substance through the whole organism. We shallreturn to this point later on. 

=Reproduction by Budding. Parthenogenesis. = In the animal andvegetable kingdoms the higher organisms become more and morecomplicated. They are no longer composed of a single cell, but of anincreasing number of these cells combined in a whole, of which eachpart, adapted for a special purpose, is itself formed of cells, differentiated as much by their organic form as by their chemical andphysical constitution. In this way, in plants, are formed the leaves, flowers, buds, branches, trunk, bark, etc. ; and in animals the skin, intestine, glands, blood, muscles, nerves, brain, sense organs, etc. In spite of the great complication of the divers living multicellularorganisms, one often finds among them the power of reproduction byfission or by budding. In certain animals and plants, groups of cellsvegetate in buds which separate from the body later on and form a newindividual; this occurs among the polypi and plants with bulbs, etc. One can even form a tree by means of a cutting. Ants and bees, whichhave not been fecundated, are capable of laying eggs which develop by_parthenogenesis_ (virgin parturition) and become completeindividuals. But these degenerate and disappear if reproduction byparthenogenesis or budding is continued during several generations. 

Among the higher animals, the vertebrates and man, there is noreproduction without conjugation; no parthenogenesis or budding. Sofar as we have studied the question we see in the animal and vegetablekingdoms sexual reproduction, or conjugation, as a _sine qua non_ forthe indefinite continuation of life. 

=The Sexual Glands. The Embryo. = However complicated the organism, italways possesses a special organ, the cells of which, all of the sameform, are reserved for the reproduction of the species and especiallyfor conjugation. The cells of these organs, called _sexual glands_, have the power of reproducing themselves so that they reconstruct thewhole individual (the type of the species) from which they arose, inan almost identical form, by conjugation (sometimes also, for acertain time, by parthenogenesis) under certain fixed conditions assoon as they leave its body. We can thus say with _Weismann_, speakingphilosophically, that these germinal cells continue the life of theirparents, so that in reality death only destroys part of theindividual, namely, that which has been specially adapted for certainexclusively individual ends. Each individual, therefore, continues tolive in his descendants. 

The germinal cell divides into a number of cells called embryonic, which become differentiated into layers or groups which later on formthe different organs of the body. The embryonic period is the namegiven to the period between the exit of the germinal cell from thematernal body and the final complete development which it acquires inbecoming the adult individual. During this period the organismundergoes the most singular metamorphoses. In certain cases it forms afree embryo which appears to be complete, having a special form andmode of life, but which finally becomes transformed into an entirelydifferent sexual individual. Thus from the egg of a butterfly therefirst emerges a caterpillar, which lives and grows for some time, thenchanges to a chrysalis and finally to a butterfly. The caterpillar andthe chrysalis belong to the embryonic period. During this period everyanimal reproduces in an abbreviated manner certain forms whichresemble more or less those through which its ancestors have passed. The caterpillar, for example, resembles the worm which is the ancestorof the insects. _Haeckel_ calls this the _fundamental biogenetic law_. We are not concerned here with embryology, and will content ourselveswith some of the main points. 

=Germinal Cells. Hermaphrodites. = We now come to _conjugation_. Inorder to avoid complications we will leave aside plants and speak onlyof animals. Among multicellular animals, sometimes in the sameindividual, sometimes in different individuals, occur two kinds ofsexual glands, each containing one kind of cells--the male cells andthe female cells. When both kinds of sexual glands occur in the sameindividual, the animal is said to be _hermaphrodite_. When theydevelop in two different individuals the animals are of distinctsexes. Snails, for example, are hermaphrodite. There also exist lowermulticellular animals which reproduce by budding, but among whichconjugation takes place from time to time. We shall not consider theseanimals any further, as they are too remote to interest us here. 

=Spermatozoa and Ova. =--In all the higher animals, including thehermaphrodites, the male germinal cells, or _spermatozoa_ arecharacterized by their mobility. Their protoplasm is contractile andtheir form varies according to the species. In man and vertebrateanimals they resemble infinitely small tadpoles, and their tails areequally mobile. The female germinative cell, on the contrary, isimmobile and much larger than the male cell. Conjugation consists inthe movement of the male cell, by means of variable mechanism, towardthe female cell, or egg, into the protoplasm of which it enters. Atthis moment it produces on the surface of the egg a coagulation, whichprevents the entrance of a second spermatozoid. 

The egg and the spermatozoid both consist of protoplasm containing anucleus. But, while the spermatozoid has only a small nucleus and verylittle protoplasm, the egg has a large nucleus and a large quantity ofprotoplasm. In certain species the protoplasm of the egg grows in thematernal organism in a regular manner to form the _vitellus_ (yolk ofegg) which serves as nourishment for the embryo for a long period ofits existence. This occurs in birds and reptiles. 

=Conjugation. =--The phenomena of conjugation were made clear by _vanBeneden_ and _Hertwig_. These phenomena, as we have seen, commenceamong unicellular organisms. In these they do not constitutereproduction, but the vital reënforcement of certain individuals. Conjugation takes place in a different manner in different cases. 

For example, a unicellular animal applies itself against one of itsfellows. The nucleus of each cell divides into two. Then theprotoplasm of the two cells fuses over the whole surface of contact, and half the nucleus of the first cell penetrates the second cell, while half the nucleus of the latter enters the first cell. After thisexchange the cells separate from each other and each exchanged half ofthe nucleus fuses with the primitive half of the nucleus remaining inthe cell. 

From this moment each cell continues to reproduce itself by fission, as we have seen above. In another form, two cells meet and fusecompletely. Their nuclei become applied against each other and eachexchanges half its substance with the other as in the preceding case, so that the final result is the same. In both cases the two conjugatedcells are identical, and one cannot call them male and female. 

=Penetration of the Spermatozoid into the Egg. =--In all the higheranimals in which the germinal cells are of two kinds, male and female, conjugation takes place in rather a different manner. Here, the femalecell or egg only reproduces itself exceptionally by parthenogenesis. It usually contains no chromosomes and often too little chromatin, sothat it perishes when conjugation does not occur. 

The spermatozoid swims by means of its tail to meet the egg. As soonas it touches it it penetrates it and the coagulation which we havementioned is produced. This coagulation forms the _vitellinemembrane_, which prevents the entry of other spermatozoids. If, frompathological causes the entry of several spermatozoids takes place, there results, according to _Fol_, a double or triple monster. 

In Fig. 11 on Plate II, we see the egg with its vitelline membrane andnucleus, the chromatin network of which is marked in blue: _b_ showsthe protoplasm of the egg or _vitellus_; _a_ the vitelline membrane;_d_ the spermatozoid which has just entered, and the nucleus of which, composed chiefly of chromatin, is colored red, while its tail hasperformed its task and is about to disappear. The letters _e_, _f_, and _g_, show a spermatozoid which has arrived too late. 

Before the head of the spermatozoid which has entered, appears acentrosome (Fig. 12) which it brings to the egg with its small amountof protoplasm, and around this centrosome rays form, as in the case ofcellular fission. At the same time a nuclear liquid arising from theprotoplasm of the egg becomes concentrated around the chromatin of thespermatozoid, while the nucleus of the egg remains in place and doesnot change. The nucleus of the spermatozoid, on the contrary, beginsto grow rapidly. It forms half the number of chromosomescorresponding to the cell of the species to which it belongs, andgrows at the expense of the vitellus of the egg. During this time thecentrosome divides into two halves, which progress slowly on each sidetoward the periphery of the egg, as in the case of fission (see PlateI), while the chromatin of the chromosomes of the spermatozoid isdissolved in the network. The nucleus thus formed by the spermatozoidenlarges more and more (Figs. 13 and 14) till it attains the size andshape of that of the egg (Fig. 15). The male and female chromatin arecolored red and blue respectively. 

Then only commences activity of the nucleus of the egg, at the sametime as fresh activity on the part of the nucleus of the spermatozoid. Before this, however, the nucleus of the egg has thrown off a part ofits chromatin called a _polar_ body, and it now possesses only half asmuch chromatin as the other cells of the body of the individual. Thenucleus of the egg and that of the spermatozoid then begin at the sametime to concentrate their chromatin in the form of chromosomes (Fig. 16) which arrange themselves regularly in the middle line exactly asshown in Plate I, and divide longitudinally into two halves which arethen attracted in opposite directions by the rays of each of thecentrosomes (Fig. 17). Figure 17, of Plate II, thus correspondsexactly to Fig. 6, of Plate I. 

In fact, the growth of the nucleus of the spermatozoid has given toits substance the same power of development as to that of the nucleusof the egg. Both enter into conjugation in equal parts, whichsymbolizes the social equality and the rights of the two sexes!

The signification of these facts is as follows: as soon as, in thecourse of development, the conjugated nuclei divide again into twocells, as in Figs. 7 to 10, of Plate I, each of these two cellscontains almost the same quantity of paternal as maternal chromatin. We do not say exactly as much, for the paternal and maternalinfluences are not divided equally in the descendants. This phenomenonmay be explained by what _Semon_ calls alternating ecphoria in mnemicdichotomy. (_Vide infra. _) As cell division continues in the same wayduring embryonic life, it follows that each cell, or at least eachnucleus of the future organism, will contain on the average half itssubstance and energy from the paternal and half from the maternalside. 

=Heredity. The Mneme. =--The secret of heredity lies in the phenomenawhich have been just described. Hereditary influence preserves all itsprimary power and original qualities in the chromosomes, which enlargeand divide, while the vitelline substance, absorbed by the chromosomesand transformed by the vital chemical processes into the specificsubstance of the chromosomes, loses its specific and plastic vitalenergy, as completely as the food which we swallow loses its energy informing the structure of our living organs. We do not acquire any ofthe characters of the ox by eating beefsteaks; and the spermatozoid, after eating much vitelline protoplasm, preserves its own hereditaryenergies, increased and fortified, but without change in theirqualities. 

In this way the nuclear chromatin of our germinal cells becomes thecarrier of all the hereditary qualities of the species (hereditarymneme), and more especially those of our direct ancestors. Theuniformity of the intracellular phenomena in cell division andconjugation proves, however, that, without being capable ofreproducing the individual, the other non-germinal cells of the bodymay also possess these hereditary energies, and that there exists, hidden behind all these facts, an unknown law of life, the explanationof which is reserved for the future. 

However, a recent work based on an idea of the physiologist, _E. Hering_, which looks upon instinct as a kind of memory of the species, opens up a new horizon. I refer to the book of _Richard Semon_: "The_mneme_ considered as the conservative principle in the transmutationsof organic life. " (_Die Mneme als erhaltendes Prinzip im Wechsel desorganischen Geschehens_, Leipzig, 1904. )

_Conception of Irritation. _[1]--By the aid of the fundamental facts ofmorphological science, biological and psychological, _Semon_ provesthat _Hering's_ idea is more than an analogy, and that there is afundamental identity in the mechanism of organic life. In order toavoid the terminology of psychology which tends to be equivocal, _Semon_ employs some new terms to designate his new ideas, based onthe fundamental conception of _irritation_ in its physiological sense. 

_Semon_ defines _irritation_ as an energetic action on the organismwhich determines a series of complicated changes in the irritablesubstance of the living organism. The condition of the organism thusmodified, which lasts as long as the irritation, is called by _Semon_the _state of irritation_. Before the action of irritation, theorganism is in a condition which _Semon_ calls the _primary state ofindifference_, and after its action, in the _secondary state ofindifference_. 

_Engram. Ecphoria. _--If, when an irritation has entirely ceased, theirritable substance of the living organism becomes modifiedpermanently during its secondary state of indifference, _Semon_ callsthe action _engraphic_. To the modification itself he gives the word_engram_. The sum of the hereditary and individual engrams thusproduced in a living organism is designated by the term _mneme_. _Semon_ gives the name _ecphoria_ to the revival of the engram by therepetition of part only of the original irritation, or by the entirebut weakened reproduction of the whole state of irritation of theorganism, which was originally produced in a synchronous manner withthe primary irritation. 

Thus, an engram may be ecphoriated (that is to say, reproduced orrevived) by the return of one part of the complex of primaryirritations which produced it. A young dog, for example, is attackedby urchins who throw stones at it. It experiences two kinds ofirritation: (1) the urchins stooping down and throwing stones (opticirritation); (2) the pain caused by the stones (tactile irritation). 

In its brain are produced two associated series of correspondingengrams. Previously, this dog did not react when it saw people stoopdown. From this moment it will run away and howl at the sight, withoutany stone being thrown at it. Thus the tactile engram will beecphoriated by the repetition of the original associated irritation. In the same way, the image of a tree in a known landscape willecphoriate the entire landscape. 

Moreover, an engram may be revived by the enfeebled return of theprimary irritating agent which produced it, or by an analogousenfeebled irritation. Thus, the sight of a photograph will revive theimage of a known person. A certain kind of maize imported for a longtime into Norway and influenced in that country during manygenerations by the sun of the long summer days, finally acceleratedits time of maturation. When imported again to the south of Europe itfirst preserved its faculty of accelerated maturation in spite of theshortness of the days (_Schübeler_). _Semon_ gives a series ofanalogous examples which show how engrams repeated during severalgenerations accumulate and end by becoming ecphoriated when they haveacquired enough power. 

Engrams may be associated simultaneously in space, such as those ofsight. But they may also be associated in succession, such as those ofhearing and of ontogeny. Simultaneous engrams are associated in everydirection with the same intensity. Successive engrams, on thecontrary, are associated more strongly forwards than backwards, andhave only two poles. In the succession _a b_, _a_ acts more stronglyon _b_ than _b_ on _a_. In the successions of engrams it often happensthat two or more analogous engrams are associated in a manner more orless equivalent to a preceding engram. _Semon_ calls this phenomenondichotomy, trichotomy, etc. But in the successions, two engrams cannotbe ecphoriated simultaneously. Hence the phenomenon which _Semon_names _alternating ecphoria_; that is sometimes one, sometimes theother of the constituent engrams, for example, of a dichotomy, whicharrives at ecphoria. Similarly, the engram of the ecphoriateddichotomy is most often that which has been previously most oftenrepeated. 

In the laws of ontogeny and heredity alternating ecphoria plays animportant part. The branch less often repeated remains latent and theother only is ecphoriated. But certain combinations which reënforcethe latent branch or paralyze the other may induce ecphoria of thefirst to the second generation. 

_Semon_ also shows that the phenomena of regeneration in the embryo, as well as those of the adult, obey the law of the mneme. 

_Homophony. _--The terms engram and ecphoria correspond to thewell-known introspective phenomena in psychology of memory and theassociation of ideas. Engrams are thus ecphoriated. At the time ofsuch phenomena every mnemic irritation of the engrams vibratessimultaneously with the state of synchronous irritation produced by anew irritation. This simultaneous irritation is named by _Semon__homophony_. When a partial discord is produced between the newirritation and the mnemic irritation, the organism always tends toreëstablish homophony (harmony). This is seen in psychologicalintrospection by activity of attention; in embryology by thephenomenon of regeneration; and in phylogeny by that of adaptation. 

Relying on these convincing facts, _Semon_ shows that irritativeactions are only localized at first in their zone of entry (primaryzone); but that afterward they irradiate or vibrate, graduallybecoming weaker in the whole organism (not only in the nervous system, for they also act on plants). By this means, engraphia, althoughinfinitely enfeebled, may finally reach the germinal cells. _Semon_then shows how the most feeble engraphias may gradually arrive atecphoria, as the result of numerous repetitions (in phylogeny afterinnumerable generations). This is how the mnemic principle allows usto conceive the possibility of an infinitely slow heredity ofcharacters acquired by individuals, a heredity resulting fromprolonged repetition. 

The facts invoked by _Weismann_ against the heredity of acquiredcharacters lose nothing of their weight by this, for the influence ofcrossing (conjugation) and selection transforms the material organicforms in an infinitely more rapid and intense manner than individualmnemic engraphias. The latter, on the other hand, furnish theexplanation of the mutations of _de Vries_, which appear to be onlysudden ecphoria of accumulated long engraphic actions. 

The way in which _Semon_ studies and discusses the laws of the mnemein morphology, physiology and psychology, is truly magisterial, andthe perspective which opens out from these new ideas is extensive. Themneme, with the aid of the energetic action of the external world, acts on organisms by preserving them and combining them by engraphia, while selection eliminates all that is ill-adapted, and homophonyreëstablishes the equilibrium. The irritations of the external world, therefore, furnish the material for the construction of organisms. Iconfess to having been converted by _Semon_ to this way of conceivingthe heredity of acquired characters. Instead of several nebuloushypotheses, we have only one--the nature of mnemic engraphia. It isfor the future to discover its origin in physical and chemical laws. 

I must refer my readers to _Semon's_ book, for this volume of 343pages, filled with facts and proofs, cannot be condensed into a fewparagraphs. 

=Each Cell bears in itself Ancestral Energy. = As we have already seen, the germinal, cells are not the only ones which possess the energiesof all the characters of the species. On the contrary it becomes moreand more certain, from further investigation, that each cell of thebody bears in itself, so to speak, all the energies of the species, asis distinctly seen in plants. But in all the cells which are notcapable of germinating, these energies remain incapable ofdevelopment. It results that such energies, remaining virtual, have nopractical importance. 

In an analogous sense we may say that all the cells of the body arehermaphrodite, as all germinal cells, for each possesses in itself theundifferentiated energies of each sex. Each spermatozoid contains allthe energies of the paternal and maternal ancestry of man, and eachegg those of the paternal and maternal ancestry of woman. The male andthe female are only the bearers of each kind of germinal cellsnecessary for conjugation, and each of these bearers only differs fromthe others by its sexual cells and by what is called correlativesexual differences. But we must not forget that the germinal cellsthemselves are only differentiated at a certain period in thedevelopment of the embryo; they are thus hermaphrodite originally andonly become male and female later. 

New experiments made on the eggs of sea urchins and other organismshave shown that conjugation may be replaced by an external irritatingagent; for example, the action of certain chemical substances issufficient to make eggs develop by parthenogenesis which would havedied without this action. An entire being has been successfullyproduced from an egg divided into two by means of a hair. And evenfrom the protoplasm of the egg without its nucleus, with the aid of aspermatozoid. We must not, however, base premature hypotheses on thesefacts. 

When a female cell, or egg, develops without fecundation(parthenogenesis) its nucleus enlarges and divides in the same manneras conjugated nuclei (mitosis). 

A point of general interest is what is called the _specificpolyembryony_ of certain parasitic insects (hymenoptera of the genus_Encyrtus_). According to _Marchal_, their eggs grow and divide into aconsiderable number of secondary eggs, each of which gives rise to anembryo and later on a perfect insect. By shaking the eggs of certainmarine animals they have been caused to divide into several eggsand thus to produce several embryos. All the individuals arising fromthe division of the same egg of _Encyrtus_ are of the same sex. 

 [Illustration: PLATE I

 CELL DIVISION

 FIG. 1. Cell before division. FIG. 2. Division of centrosome. FIG. 3. Formation of chromosomes. FIG. 4. Dissolution of nucleus. FIG. 5. Lining up of chromosomes. FIG. 6. Division of chromosomes. FIG. 7. Division of chromosomes. FIG. 8. Attraction of chromosomes by centrosomes. FIG. 9. Concentration of nuclei. Division of cell. FIG. 10. Formation of new chromatin. ]

 [Illustration: PLATE II

 FERTILIZATION OF THE OVUM BY THE SPERMATOZOID

 DIAGRAM OF OVUM AND SPERMATOZOID

 FIG. 11. _a_, Vitelline membrane; _b_, protoplasm, or vitellus; _c_, nucleus with chromatin; _d_, spermatozoid penetrating egg; _e_, another spermatozoid arrested by the vitelline membrane. FIG. 12. Formation of centrosome. FIG. 13. Formation of male nucleus by spermatozoid. Division of centrosome. FIG. 14. Development of nucleus of spermatozoid. FIG. 15. Nucleus of spermatozoid attains same size as that of ovum. FIG. 16. Formation of male and female chromosomes. FIG. 17. Lining up of male and female chromosomes. ]

=Embryology. =--It is not necessary to describe here in detail thedifferent changes which the two conjugated cells pass through tobecome an adult man. This is the object of the science of embryology. We shall return to this in Chapter III. A few words are necessary, however, to explain the general principles. 

=Ovulation. The corpus luteum. =--The ovaries of woman (Fig. 18)contain a considerable number of cells or ovules, although infinitelyless than the number of spermatozoids contained in the testicles. Fromtime to time some of these ovules enlarge and are surrounded by avesicle with liquid contents, which is called the Graafian follicle. At the time of the monthly periods an egg (sometimes two) isdischarged from its Graafian follicle, from one or other ovary. Thisphenomenon is called _ovulation_. The empty follicle becomescicatrized in the ovary and is called the _corpus luteum_ (yellowbody). 

The egg after its discharge arrives at the abdominal orifice of theFallopian tube, which communicates directly with the abdominal cavity. Some authors state that the end of the tube becomes applied againstthe ovary by the aid of muscular movement and, so to speak, sucks inthe discharged ovule, while others hold that the movements of thevibratile cilia, with which the epithelium of the tubes is furnished, suffice to draw the ovule into its cavity. Figure 18 explains thisphenomenon. 

Having arrived in the tube, the ovule moves very slowly in the almostcapillary tube by means of the vibratile cilia and arrives in thecavity of the womb. Fecundation probably takes place most often at theentrance to the tube or in its canal; sometimes possibly in the womb. On some occasions a squad of spermatozoids advances to meet thedescending egg, and numerous spermatozoids are often found in thetubes, even as far as the abdominal cavity. 

=Fixation of the egg. Formation of the Decidua. =--After fecundation, the egg becomes attached to the mucous membrane of the cavity of thewomb. This mucous membrane proliferates and becomes gradually detachedfrom the womb to form the _membrana decidua_ which envelops the eggor ovule. An egg fecundated and fixed in this way may keep itsposition and grow during the first weeks of pregnancy, by the aid ofvillosities covering its envelope which penetrate the wall of thewomb. 

 [Illustration: FIG. 18. Diagrammatic section in median plane of the female genital organs. It shows the position of an ovule which has just been discharged lying in the opening of the right tube, and that of another ovary fecundated and surrounded by the decidual membrane. In reality this could hardly coexist with the other ovule freely discharged. In the right ovary are seen ovules in various degrees of maturity in their Graafian follicles: also a corpus luteum--an empty Graafian follicle after expulsion of the ovule. The figure also shows the end of the penis in the vagina at the moment of ejaculation of semen, and the position of a preventive to avoid fecundation. ]

 [Illustration: FIG. 19. The mouth of the tube applied to the ovary at the moment of expulsion of the ovule. ]

=The womb. The placenta. = The womb or uterus is the size of a smallegg flattened in one direction. It terminates below in the neck or_cervix_, which is prolonged into the vagina as a projection, calledthe vaginal portion of the uterus. The cavity of the womb is continuedinto the neck and opens below in the vagina by an aperture which isround in virgins and is called the external _os uteri_. The walls ofthe womb consist of a thick layer of unstriped muscle. When childbirthtakes place it causes tearing which makes the external os uteriirregular and fissured. During copulation the aperture of the penis ormale organ is placed nearly opposite the os uteri, which facilitatesthe entrance of spermatozoa into the uterus. (For the illustration ofthese points see Fig. 18. )

The vitellus and the membrane of the egg enlarge with the embryo andabsorb by endosmosis the nutritive matter necessary for the latter, contained in the maternal blood. The womb itself enlarges at the sametime as the embryo. 

 [Illustration: FIG. 20. Human egg of the second week: magnified eight times. (After _Kölliker_. ) _Chor. _ Chorion or envelope of the egg. _Vill. _ Villi of the chorion. _Emb. _ Embryo (near the head are seen the branchial arches). _Umb. _ Umbilical vesicle. _Am. _ Amnion. ]

The fasciculus attached to the embryo is the allantois which becomesthe umbilical cord. The vertebræ are already easy to recognize in thisembryo. The embryo is formed from a portion of blastoderm, that is tosay, from the cellular layer applied to the membranes of the egg andarising from the successive divisions of the two primary conjugatedcells and their daughter cells. The embryo has the form of a spatulawith the head at one end and the tail at the other. From its walls isdetached a surrounding vesicle (Fig. 20) called the _amnion_, whileanother vesicle, the _umbilical vesicle_, grows from its ventralsurface and serves, in birds, for the vitelline circulation of the eggwhich is detached from the mother's body. 

In man, the umbilical vesicle is unimportant. In its place thecirculation of the blood takes place by the aid of another vesicle, called the _allantois_, which arises from the intestine of the embryo, and which becomes attached to the walls of the womb in the form of athick disk called the placenta. 

 [Illustration: FIG. 21. Embryo of four weeks (After _Kölliker_). 1. Auditory vesicle. 2. Ocular vesicle. 3. Olfactory fossa. 4. Bud forming upper maxilla. 5. Bud of lower maxilla. 6. Right ear. 7. Liver. 8. Upper limb. 9. Lower limb. 10. Caudal extremity. ]

The placenta is formed of dilated blood vessels which meet thematernal blood vessels, also dilated, in the uterine wall, allantoislater on becomes the umbilical cord. 

In the placenta the embryonic and maternal vessels without actuallycommunicating, are placed in intimate contact, which allows nutritivematter and oxygen to pass by endosmosis from the maternal vessels tothose of the embryo. Figure 21 shows a human embryo at the beginningof the fifth week of pregnancy. 

 [Illustration: FIG. 22. Sagittal section of a primipara in the last month of pregnancy. ]

=Duration of pregnancy. Birth. = Pregnancy lasts from conjugation, which is synonymous with conception, till birth, that is about ninemonths (ten lunar months of four weeks). The embryo is then ready toseparate from the maternal body (Fig. 22). By the act of birth it isexpelled violently, bringing with it the umbilical cord and theplacenta (Fig. 23). Immediately afterward the empty womb contractsstrongly and gradually recovers its former size. The suddeninterruption of its communications with the maternal circulationdeprives the embryo, which has suddenly become a child, of itsnutritive matter and oxygen. 

 [Illustration: FIG. 23. Sagittal section of frozen body of a woman in labor: the head of the child is engaged in the neck of the womb; the orifice of the neck of the womb (_os uteri_) is already fully dilated and the bag of waters commences to project from the vulva: it is formed by the former membranes of the egg and the decidua. ]

In order to avoid suffocation it is obliged to breathe atmospheric airimmediately, for its blood becomes dark by saturation with carbonicacid, which irritates the respiratory nerve centers. The firstindependent act of the new-born child is, therefore, a nervous reflexdetermined by asphyxia, and is performed with the first cry. Soonafterward the infant begins to suck, so as not to die of hunger, whilethe umbilical cord, having become useless, shrivels up, and theplacenta is destroyed (some animals eat it). The new-born infant isonly distinguished from the embryo soon after birth by its breathingand crying. 

We may, therefore, say that infancy, especially early infancy, is onlya continuation of embryonic life. The transformations which the infantundergoes from birth to adult age are known to all. They take placemore and more slowly, except at the relatively short period ofpuberty. 

=Formation of the sexual glands. =--We must remember that at a veryearly embryonic period certain groups of cells are reserved to formlater on the sexual glands. These cells are at first neither male norfemale, but are undifferentiated; later on they become differentiatedto form in certain individuals, called males, the testicles with theirspermatozoa, and in others, called females, the ovaries with theireggs. On this differentiation depends the sex of the individual, and, according as it takes place in one way or the other, all the rest ofthe body develops with the correlative sexual characters of thecorresponding sex (at first the external genital organs peculiar toeach sex, then the beard in man, the breasts in woman, etc). 

=Castration. Correlative sexual characters. =--Castration is the termapplied to the extirpation of the sexual glands. When it takes placein infancy it causes a considerable change in the whole subsequentdevelopment of the body, especially in man, but also in woman. Manbecomes more slender, preserves a high and infantile voice, and hissexual correlative characters develop incompletely or not at all. _Eunuchs_ are men castrated, usually in infancy. To ensure more safetyin their harems the Orientals not only remove the testicles but alsothe penis. Bullocks and horses are bulls and stallions castrated at anearly age, and can be distinguished at first sight from normal males. Females who have undergone castration become fat and sometimes take oncertain masculine characters. Male human eunuchs have a high-pitchedvoice, a narrow chest; they remain beardless or nearly so, and have aneffeminate character, often intriguing. In both sexes there is atendency to neurosis and degeneration. It is a mistake to qualify thepeculiarities of the male eunuch in the terms of female peculiarities;there is only a relative tendency. The eunuch is no more a woman thana bullock is a cow. 

The characters of castrated individuals are due only to ablation ofthe sexual glands themselves--the testicles in man and the ovary inwoman; mutilation of other sexual organs, internal or external, suchas the penis, womb, etc. , produces no result of this kind. It wouldeven appear to result from recent experiments that reimplantation of asexual gland in any part of the body is sufficient to arrest theproduction of the special peculiarities of the eunuch. 

All these facts, almost inexplicable hitherto, become comprehensibleby the aid of the engraphia of the mnemic energies. (Vide above;_Semon_). The sexual glands, being of undifferentiated origin, containthe energies of both sexes. The ecphoria of one of them provokes thatof its correlative characters and excludes that of the characters ofthe other. If ecphoria of the sexual glands is arrested by castrationbefore it is finished, this paralyzes the predominance of that of itscorresponding correlative characters and reëstablishes a kind ofintermediate or undifferentiated equilibrium between the ecphorias ofthe correlative hereditary sexual characters of the two sexes. 

On the other hand, if the sexual glands of an adult are removed, hisbody is not sensibly modified. The sexual functions do not ceasecompletely, although they cannot lead to fecundation. Men castrated inadult age may cohabit with their wives; but the liquid ejaculated isnot semen but only secretion from the accessory prostatic gland. Adultwomen after castration preserve their sexual appetite, and sometimeseven their menstruation, for a certain time. They generally become fatand often suffer from nervous troubles and change in character. Theecphoria of the correlative sexual characters being complete in theadult, suppression of the sexual glands can only act on their directfunctions. 

In different species of animals, the correlative sexual characters ofwhich we have spoken vary enormously; sometimes the differences areinsignificant, at other times they are considerable; while we canhardly distinguish a male swallow from a female, the cock and hen, thepeacock and peahen, the stag and hind are very different from eachother. In man, the correlative sexual characters are very distinct, even externally. These characters may extend to all parts of thebody, even to the brain and mental faculties. 

In some of the lower animals, for example the ants, the sexes differremarkably from each other and appear to belong to differentzoölogical families. The eyes, the form of the head, the color, andthe whole body differ so much that, when a case of pathologicallateral hermaphrodism is produced (that is, when the sexual glands aremale on the one side and female on the other), we can exactlydetermine the male or female character on each portion of the body. Wethus see hermaphrodite ants with one half of the body male and theother half female--black on one side and red on the other, a large eyeon one side and a small eye on the other, thirteen joints in oneantenna and twelve in the other, and so on. In this case the mentalfaculties are sometimes female, sometimes male, according as theecphoria of the brain is influenced by the hereditary mneme of themale or female part of the hermaphrodite sexual organs, which resultsin a male or female brain. I have seen hermaphrodite ants in which twoparts of the thorax formed a crossed hermaphrodism; in front, male onthe right and female on the left, behind female on the right and maleon the left. Further; among ants which live in societies, theprogressive transformation of the species, or phylogeny, has produceda third sex derived from the female sex--the worker; sometimes thereis even a fourth--the warrior. In these two forms the wings areabsent, but the head and brain are much larger; the sexual organsremain female, but are very small. While the large brain (pedunculatedbodies of the supra-esophageal ganglion) is almost rudimentary in themale, it is well developed in the female and very large in the workerand the warrior. Among these singular animals exist pathologicalhermaphrodites, not only between males and females, but between malesand workers, and not only lateral but mixed and crossed in allpossible ways. I have seen a hermaphrodite, whose abdomen and sexualorgans were almost entirely male, accomplish all the complexinstinctive actions of a worker of his species (expeditions, attackson a hostile ant heap, abduction of chrysalids), thanks to its headand brain which were of the worker type. The female itself isincapable of such complex actions. I cite these facts here as materialfor study, for we are only too prone in this domain to generalizeprematurely and to draw too hasty conclusions. In reality, there isstill a wide field for study of the greatest interest. 

There are animals which are normally and physiologicallyhermaphrodite, for they possess in the normal state male and femalesexual glands and fecundate themselves, such as the solitary worms, orin pairs such as the snails. In the latter case there is copulation, during which each animal plays the parts of both male and female. 

In man and other vertebrates, hermaphrodism is always abnormal. In manit is extremely rare and nearly always very incomplete, being usuallylimited to the external or correlative characters. 

=Heredity. =--It results from what we have said that every living beingreproduces, more or less identically, in its specific characters, thewhole life of its parents and less remote ancestors, and constitutesthe continuation of life from a minute part of their bodies. 

Each individual life thus repeats an entire cycle of developmentcalled _ontogeny_, which is peculiar to all individuals of thespecies. Here we must mention three fundamental points:

(1). In its principal characters, each individual is the copy of itsparents or direct ancestors, with correlative sexual peculiaritieswhich we have mentioned, and with individual variations due to thecombinations of varieties by conjugation, and the alternating orunequal ecphorias of hereditary characters; that is to say paternal ormaternal hereditary engrams. 

(2). No individual is absolutely identical with another. 

(3). On the average, each individual resembles more especially itsdirect ancestry and its parents, and differs more markedly from itsparentage the more this is remote. 

We shall see later on that the ancestral relationship of the differentgroups, species and varieties of animals has been fairly well fixed, and we may say that the third of the laws stated above is equally truein a wider sense. In fact the species and varieties of animals whichare near related resemble each other, while the _genera_, familiesand classes are more dissimilar as their relationship is more remote. We employ here the terms resemblance, homology and difference in theirprofound and general sense. Certain purely external resemblances, dueto phenomena of convergence, must not be considered as homologies inthe sense of hereditary relationship. Thus, in the language of naturalhistory we do not say that a bat resembles a bird, nor that a whaleresembles a fish, for here the resemblances are due simply to aërialor aquatic life which produces the effects of convergence, while theinternal structure shows them to be quite dissimilar organisms. Although it swims in the sea the whale is a mammal; its fins at firstsight resemble those of a fish, but they are really the homologues ofthe four limbs of other mammals and contain the corresponding bones. 

In man, we see that brothers and sisters resemble each other in ageneral way, but that each one is dissimilar in some respects from theothers. If we compare different families with many children we findthat brothers and sisters resemble each other the more their parentsare alike and come from a uniform ancestry which has undergone littlecrossing, while the crossing of different races and human varietiesresults in the production of individuals which differ from each otherconsiderably, even when they come from the same couple. 

If we examine things more closely, we find that the characters of eachof the offspring of the same couple present neither simple repetitionnor an equal mixture of the peculiarities of the parents, but verydiverse combinations of the characters of several ancestors. Forinstance, children may bear a striking resemblance to a paternalgrandfather, a maternal grand-aunt, or a maternal great-grandmother, etc. This is called _atavism_. Some children resemble their father, others their mother, and others a kind of mixture of father andmother. 

A closer examination reveals further very curious facts. An infantwhich, in its early years, strongly resembles its father, may later onresemble its mother, or inversely. Certain peculiarities of a certainancestor appear suddenly, often at an advanced age. It is needless tosay that peculiarities concerning the beard cannot appear till thishas grown, and this simple fact is so characteristic that it has beencalled _hereditary disposition_. Everything may be transmitted byheredity, even to the finest shades of sentiment, intelligence andwill, even to the most insignificant details of the nails, the form ofthe bones, etc. But the combinations of ancestral qualities vary soinfinitely that it is extremely difficult to recognize them. Hereditary dispositions arise from the energy of two conjugated germsduring the whole of life and till death. Old people sometimes developpeculiarities hitherto unknown in them, owing to the fact that one ormore of their ancestors also presented the same phenomena at anadvanced age. 

_Semon_ has clearly proved that, although forming an infinite numberof combinations the engrams or hereditary energies never blend in theproper sense of the term, and in the light of his exposition the abovefacts are more clearly explained than they had been hitherto. Theexperiments of _Mendel_ have shown in plants a certain alteration inthe hereditary ecphorias of the products of dissimilar parents. 

Certain parental characters, according as they are added orsubtracted, may disappear during one or two generations, to reappearall the more strongly in the following generations. In short, thereare a number of phenomena, the laws of which may be more clearlyexplained to us in the future. 

To sum up, each individual inherits on the average as much from hispaternal as from his maternal side, although the minute nucleus of thespermatozoid is the only agent concerned on the paternal side, whilethe mother provides not only the egg which is much larger, but alsonutrition during the nine months of embryonic life. We can onlyconclude that in the egg also it is only from the part of the nucleuswhich conjugates with the male nucleus that arise all the inheritedmaternal peculiarities; that all the rest is only utilized as food;and that the nutritive blood of the mother in no way influences theinherited energies of the offspring. 

This shows the capital importance of conjugation and of the substanceof the conjugated nuclei, especially of their chromatin. The factthat, in certain of the lower animals, the protoplasm of the eggwithout nuclei may occasionally produce some phenomena of celldivision, thanks to its inherited mnemic engrams, in no way alters thefundamental principle which alone occurs in man, for this vicariousaction, which is moreover rudimentary, only happens when theprotoplasm of the egg is not consumed by the conjugated nuclei. 

Parthenogenesis is also a very interesting phenomenon in the historyof our animal ancestors, but for the same reasons it has no directinterest for humanity. 

If we take into consideration all the observations of which we havejust spoken, which are as simple as they are irrefutably demonstrated, it is hardly possible to interpret them in any other way than by thefollowing hypothesis:

In each sexual gland, male or female, the germinal cells which areproduced by division of the cells of the embryo, reserved primarilyfor reproduction, differ considerably from each other in quality andcontain in their infinitely small atoms very diverse and irregularlydistributed energies, inherited from their different ancestors. Somecontain more paternal and others more maternal energy, and among theformer there are some contain, for example, more paternal grandfatherand others more maternal grandmother, and so on to infinity, till itis impossible to discover the ancestral origin of the fully grownindividual we are examining. The same holds good for the energies ofthe maternal cells. 

At the time of conjugation, the qualities of the child which willresult from it depend therefore on conditions of the ancestralqualities of the conjugated egg and spermatozoön. Moreover, althoughof the same size, the nuclei which become conjugated are evidently ofunequal strength; the energies of one or the other predominate lateron in the embryo, and still later in man. According to circumstancesthe latter will resemble more or less his paternal or maternalprogenitors. 

Moreover, the different organs of the body may receive their energiesfrom different parts of the conjugated nuclei in different degrees. Aperson may have his father's nose and his mother's eyes, the paternalgrandmother's humor and the maternal grandfather's intelligence, andall this with infinite degrees and variations, for it is only a matterof more or less accentuated averages. In my own face the two halvesare distinctly different, one resembling my maternal ancestry and theother, in a lesser degree, my paternal ancestry, these points beingseen distinctly in photographs taken in profile. 

Each germinal cell contains the hereditary mneme of its ancestors, paternal and maternal, and the two cells united by conjugation (Fig. 17) that of the ancestors of each of them. We have spoken above ofecphorias produced according to _Mendel's_ law and reproducingcharacters which have been latent during one or two generations. Darwin was the first to study this interesting fact, which shows howatavism often results from the crossing of varieties. There areseveral varieties of fowls which do not brood; if two of thesevarieties, B and C, are crossed excellent brooders are obtained. _Semon_ assumes that in each of the non-brooding varieties theancestral energy, A, of the primary species, is weaker than that ofvarieties B and C; we have then A > B, and A < C. But if B is coupledwith A the product represents the value B + C + A + A. Then B and Care in equilibrium; and A being doubled becomes stronger than each ofthem and arrives at ecphoria in their place, which restores thefaculty of brooding to the product of crossing. 

_De Vries_ has shown, in the crossing of varieties with their primaryspecies, more or less analogous phenomena which he calls"Vicino-variations. " Conjugation leads to infinite combinations andvariations which the law of heredity traverses like a guiding line. 

The celebrated zoölogist, _Weismann_, considers that the chromatin ofeach germinal cell contains a considerable quantity of particles eachof which is capable of forming an entire organism similar to theparents; these he calls "ides. " According to _Weismann_, each ide issubdivided into "determinants" from which each part of the body isderived, being potentially predetermined in them. According to theaction of a yet unknown irritation male or female determinants developin each individual of the animal species with separate sexes. But ifthe determinants are disordered, either by abnormal variations or bypathological causes, hermaphrodites or monstrosities may be produced. In animals which are normally hermaphrodite (snails, etc. ), there isonly one kind of sexual determinant, while in polymorphous animals(ants, etc. ), there are as many as the polymorphous forms. Theconception of "ides" and "determinants" is only a hypothesis to whichwe must not attach much value. The mnemic laws established by _Semon_give a much better explanation of the facts. 

It has often been maintained that the qualities of higher forms of manare exhausted in a few generations, while the mass of mediocritiescontinually produce new genius. The fact that the descendants ofdistinguished men are often mediocre and that remarkable men suddenlyarise from the common people, appears at first sight to support thissuperficial assertion. It is forgotten, however, that in a peoplewhose average mass consists of thousands or millions of individuals, while men of higher powers are only counted by units or dozens, allthis arithmetic is reduced to absurdity by the inequality of numbers, as soon as the law of heredity is understood. To make a more exactcalculation, it would be necessary to compare the number of superiormen who have arisen from some hundreds of the most distinguishedfamilies of a country with that of distinguished men who have arisenfrom some millions of the rest of the people, and then calculate thepercentage. It is also necessary to take into account the meansemployed in the education of the individuals. If education isobligatory and gratuitous in a country, this factor will have lessimportance. 

Another error which is committed in such cases is to neglect theinfluence of the maternal lineage. A common woman will lower the levelof the offspring of a distinguished husband, and inversely. In his"History of Science and Scientists" _Alphonse de Candolle_ has givenirrefutable proof that the posterity of high-class men furnishes agreat number proportionally of men high class in their turn, comparedwith that of the average population. This shows the value of the usualtwaddle concerning this question. It is inconceivable that the laws ofheredity should make an exception of the mental qualities of man. Moreover, the most deceptive point is the contrast of a man of geniuswith his children, who do not rise to his standard because theyrepresent a combination of his ancestral energies with those of theirmother. This contrast makes the children appear unfavorably, while thepublic has a general tendency to exaggerate the value of a great man. 

The theory of the mneme throws light on this subject, by introducing anew factor in the question, that of ecphoria of the cerebral engramsof the ancestors, accumulated in the hereditary mneme. 

=Heredity of Acquired Characters. =--While _Darwin_ and _Haeckel_affirmed the possibility of the heredity of characters acquired duringlife by different tissues, for instance the brain, _Weismann_ limitsthe possibility to everything that can modify the nucleoplasm of thegerminal cells. We must first eliminate the question of the phenomenaof blastophthoria, which we shall consider next, and which _Weismann_was, I think, the first to comprehend, without giving them the name. 

On one hand we see the singular effects of castration, which we havealready considered; on the other hand, an extraordinary constancy inthe hereditary characters of the species. For more than three thousandsix hundred years, which corresponds to about eight hundredgenerations, the Jews have been circumcised. Nevertheless, if a Jewceases to circumcise his offspring the prepuce of his children growsas it did three thousand six hundred years ago, although, during theeight hundred generations in question, its absence from birth hasprevented it reacting on the germinal cells of the individuals. If theengraphia of the external world could sensibly modify in a fewgenerations the hereditary mneme of the species, it appears evidentthat the Jewish infants of the present day would be born withoutprepuce, or at least with an atrophied one. 

It is on such facts, which are innumerable in natural history, that_Weismann_ relies to repudiate absolutely the heredity of charactersacquired by non-germinal organs and to attribute the development oforganisms to blends and combinations due to conjugation, or crossing, as well as to natural selection, which he regards as all-powerful. _Darwin_ well recognized the difficulty in question, and being unableto explain the facts, had recourse to the hypothesis of _pangenesis_, that is of small particles detached from all parts of the body andtransported by the blood to the germinal cells, to transmit to them, for example, the qualities acquired by the brain during life. Thishypothesis was so improbable that _Darwin_ himself was forced torecognize it. Let us examine the facts. 

On the one hand a newly born Chinese transported and brought up inFrance will learn French, and will show no inclination to learn orunderstand Chinese. This well-established fact seems in favor of_Weismann_ and against the heredity of acquired characters. But, onthe other hand, we cannot understand how the evolution of the brainand its functions takes place, without admitting that in one way oranother the characters acquired by habits repeated during manygenerations gradually accumulate in the form of hereditarydispositions in the germinal protoplasm. It is certain that our brainhas progressed since the time when our ancestors were similar to thegorilla, or even the cave man at the beginning of the quaternary age. How can this cerebral progression be explained only by selection whichcan only eliminate, and by crossings which by themselves can hardlyraise the average? It is here that the intervention of an unknownpower is necessary, something unexplained, the action of which hasbeen lately recorded in the phenomena of mutations of _de Vries_. 

_De Vries_ proves that certain variations appear suddenly and withoutany known cause, and have a much greater tendency to be preserved thanthe variations obtained by crossing and selection. In my opinion thephenomena of the mneme revealed by _Hering_ and _Semon_ explain theapparent contradictions which have hitherto impaired the theories ofheredity. Mnemic engraphy explains, by its infinitesimal and repeatedaction through numerous generations, how the external world may littleby little transmit to the germinal cells the characters which itimpresses on organisms. The eight hundred generations during which theprepuce of the Jews has been cut off have not yet sufficed for theecphoria of the corresponding negative mnemic engraphia; whileconjugation and selection modify rapidly and strongly in a fewgenerations; a fact which is more striking and allows of directexperiment. Moreover, a positive engraphia must necessarily act morepowerfully, and it seems to me that mutations must be the ecphoria ofaccumulated former latent engraphias. 

_Merrifield_ and _Standfuss_, by exposing caterpillars and chrysalidsfor varying periods to considerable degrees of cold and heat, havedetermined permanent changes in the specific characters of thebutterflies which have emerged from them. 

_Standfuss_ and _Fischer_ have also shown that, after severalgenerations, by continuing the action of cold on the caterpillars, thevariations thus produced can be preserved even after the cold hasceased to act. No doubt the cold acts on the germinal cells as on therest of the body, but the heredity of an acquired character is thusdemonstrated. 

The experiments of _Miss de Chauvin_ on salamanders (_Axolotl_) arestill more conclusive, for we are dealing here with charactersacquired through aquatic or aërial media, which can hardly act on thesexual glands. We cannot continue this subject any further and wereturn to the work of _Semon_. It is needless to say that the natureof mnemic engraphia remains itself an unknown quantity. As long as weare unable to transform inert matter into a living organism we shallremain in ignorance. But, when it is accepted with the laws of thephenomena which it produces, this unknown quantity, as _Semon_ hasshown, alone suffices to explain all the rest, and is already a greatstep toward the comprehension of the laws which govern life. 

=Blastophthoria. =--By blastophthoria, or deterioration of the germ, Imean what might also be called false heredity, that is to say, theresults of all direct pathogenic or disturbing action, especially thatof certain intoxications, on the germinal cells, whose hereditarydeterminants are thus changed. Blastophthoria thus acts on germs notyet conjugated, through the medium of their bearers, and creates attheir origin _hereditary stigmata_ of all kinds, while true heredityonly combines and reproduces the ancestral energies. 

Blastophthoria deranges the mneme or hereditary engrams, andconsequently a more or less considerable part of their ecphoriasduring the life of the individuals which arise from them. It is not aquestion here of the reproduction of the hereditary ancestral energiesin the descendants (in different combinations) as is the case in theheredity which we have just studied, but, on the contrary, a questionof their perturbation. However, the store of cells reserved asgerminal cells in the embryo, the germ of which has been damaged byblastophthoric action, being usually also affected by the disturbingcause, it follows that the pathological change introduced byblastophthoria in the hereditary mneme is transmitted to thedescendants by ordinary heredity. In this way blastophthoria depositsthe first germ of most pathological degenerations by causing immediatedeviation of all the determinants of the germ in the same direction. 

The most typical and the commonest example of blastophthoria is thatof alcoholic intoxication. The spermatozoa of alcoholics suffer likethe other tissues from the toxic action of alcohol on the protoplasm. The result of this intoxication of the germs may be that the childrenresulting from their conjugation become idiots, epileptics, dwarfs orfeeble minded. Thus it is not alcoholism or the craving for drinkwhich is inherited. No doubt the peculiarity of badly supportingalcohol is inherited by ordinary heredity as a hereditary disposition, but it is not this which produces the alcoholic degenerations of therace. These are the result of the single blastophthoria. When, on theother hand, a man is found to be imbecile or epileptic as the resultof the insobriety of his father, he preserves the tendency to transmithis mental weakness or his epilepsy to his descendants, even when heabstains completely from alcoholic drinks. In fact, the chromosomes ofthe spermatozoid, from which about a half of his organism has issued, have preserved the pathological derangement produced by the parentalalcoholism in their hereditary mneme, and have transmitted it to thestore of germinal cells of the feeble minded or the epileptic, who inhis turn transmits it to his descendants. From _Weismann's_ point ofview his hereditary determinants remain pathologically deviated. Allintoxications which alter the protoplasm of the germinal cells mayproduce blastophthoric degenerations, which continue to menace severalsuccessive generations in the form of hereditary taints. 

Other deviations in the development of the germs may act in ananalogous manner to blastophthoria. We have mentioned above theexperiments of _Merrifield_ and _Standfuss_ on the caterpillars ofcertain butterflies. Without being really of a pathological nature, these actions of a physical agent on the hereditary energies resembleblastophthoria. 

Mechanical action on the embryo may also give rise to pathologicalproducts or even mutilation. Thus, _Weismann_ demonstrated theproduction of degenerate individuals in ants when certain coleopterawere introduced in their nest, the ants being fond of the secretion ofthe large glandular hairs of the coleoptera. The exact cause of thedegeneration has not yet been found, but the fact is certain. In man, certain constitutional affections and congenital anomalies are theresult of certain diseases in the procreators, which have affected thegerminal cells or the embryo (for instance syphilis). As soon as theblastophthoric actions cease in the procreators, those of theirdescendants who live under a normal regimen have evidently a tendencyto eliminate the blastophthoric organs at the end of severalgenerations and to regenerate themselves little by little. Thanks tothe power of the ancestral mneme which tends to reëstablish homophony. However, the data on this subject are insufficient. In this casehomophony is represented by the normal equilibrium of the differenttypical or normal characters of the species. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I insert here some passages intended for more advanced readers, but this does not imply that they are of less importance. On thecontrary I strongly advise all my readers to try and understand thetheories of _Hering_ and _Semon_, which appear to me to throw a newlight on the question of transformation and heredity. 

CHAPTER II

EVOLUTION OR DESCENT OF LIVING ORGANISMS

The theory of evolution is intimately associated with the name of_Darwin_, for it was he who established it in the scientific world. Inreality, the idea of the transformation of organisms was put forwardby _Lamarck_ more than a century ago, but he did not sufficientlysupport it. The theory of evolution states that the different animaland vegetable species are not each of them specially created as suchfrom the first, but that they are connected with each other by a realand profound relationship, and derived progressively one from another;generally from more simple forms, by engraphia and selection. Manhimself is no exception to this rule, for he is closely related to thehigher apes. 

It is no longer possible to-day to deny the fundamental fact which wehave just stated. Since _Darwin_, and as the result of the powerfulimpulse which this man of genius gave to natural science, innumerableobservations and experiments have confirmed the truth of theprogressive evolution of living beings. Comparative anatomy, comparative geography of plants and animals, comparative embryology, and the study of the morphology and biology of a number of recentlydiscovered plants and animals, have built up more and more thegenealogical tree, or _phylogeny_, of living beings, that is to saytheir ancestral lineage. The number of varieties and races orsub-species increases indefinitely, the more closely they areexamined. 

Researches on the fossil remains of species of animals and plantswhich have been extinct for thousands and millions of years(_palæontology_) have also contributed to determine the trunk of thegreat tree of former life. The numerous gaps which still exist betweenthese fragmentary documents of former ages are nevertheless tooconsiderable for continuous connections to be established in the pastby the aid of fossils. 

We not only know that the different forms of living beings areconnected to each other by a real relationship, but we can fathom moreand more deeply the degrees of this relationship, and can often provefrom which group of animals a given group is descended. In many caseswe can determine at which period the fauna and flora of two continentshave been separated from each other, and in what manner they have beentransformed, each in its own way, while still preserving the generalcharacters which were common before their separation. The specialistcan soon discover what species belong to the old geographicallydifferentiated fauna and flora of the country, and what have beenulteriorily imported. 

I record these facts for the benefit of those persons who have not yetunderstood that it is absolutely useless at the present day to disputethe evolution of living beings. Deceived by the divergent opinions ofscientists concerning hypotheses which endeavor to explain the detailsof evolution, these persons confound the details with the fundamentalfacts of evolution. 

=Ontogeny. Phylogeny. =--In the light of the facts of evolution, heredity takes quite a new aspect when removed from the old biblicalidea of the independent creation of species. _Haeckel_ launched intothe scientific world, under the name of "fundamental biogenetic law, "a theory which, without having the right to the title of an immutabledogma, explains the facts in a general way, and gives us a guidingline along the phylogenetic history of living beings. "_Ontogeny_, "that is the history of the embryological development of eachindividual, always consists in a summary and fragmentary repetition of_phylogeny_, or the history of the ancestors of the species to whichthe individual belongs. This signifies that, as embryos, we repeat inan abridged form the series of types or morphological stages throughwhich has passed the series of our animal ancestors, from theprimitive cell to man. In reality this is only true in a relative way, for a considerable part of the ancestral engraphias of the embryo hasdisappeared without leaving any trace; also many embryos, especiallythose which have special conditions of existence outside the body oftheir mother, have acquired special complex organs and correspondingfunctions. Thus, the caterpillars of butterflies with their specificand generic peculiarities, hairs, horns, etc. , furnish many examplesof secondary acquired characters which have nothing in common with theworm, which is the ancestral type of the butterfly represented by theembryonic period when it is a caterpillar. However, many undoubtedvestiges of the ancestral history are found in the embryos atdifferent periods of their development. It is certain that insectsdescended from worms, and there is no doubt that the larvæ of insects, which are almost worms, represent the ontogenetic repetition of thephylogeny of insects. 

It is also certain that whales, although they have whalebone insteadof teeth, have descended from cetacea provided with teeth, which intheir turn descended from terrestrial mammals. But we find in theembryo whale a complete denture which is of no use to it, and whichdisappears in the course of the embryonic period. This denture isnothing else than a phylogenetic incident in the ontogeny of thewhale. 

In the fins of cetacea, as in the four limbs of other mammals, we findthe same bones, which are derived from the bones of the wings and legsof their bird ancestors. In birds, the same bones are the phylogeneticderivatives of the limbs of reptiles. 

All these facts demonstrate with certainty the descent of animalforms, a descent which we can follow in all its details. In certainants whose bodies show their close relationship with a slave-keepinggroup, but which have become the parasitic hosts of other ants, wefind not only the arched mandibles, shaped for rape, but the undoubtedrudiments of the slave instinct, although this instinct has, perhaps, not been exercised by them for thousands of years. 

These examples suffice to show that the form and functions of a livingorganism, as well as its mental faculties, are derived not only fromthe most recent direct ancestors of this organism, but that theypartly mount much higher in the genealogical tree. 

Our coccyx is a vestige of the tail of animals. It is from them alsothat we have inherited anger and jealousy, sexual appetites, fear, cunning, etc. As long as they remain in use, the oldest inheritedcharacters normally remain the most tenacious and are preserved thelongest. When they cease to be utilized, or become useless, they stillremain for a long time as rudiments before finally disappearing; forinstance the vermiform appendix of the intestine and the pineal glandof the brain. These rudiments often persist for still a longer time inthe embryo, as we have seen in the case of the ancestral teeth of theembryo whales. We also meet with the stumps of wings in the chrysalisof certain ants (_Anergates_), the males of which have lost theirwings. 

=Natural Selection. =--The artificial selection practiced by gardenersand cattle breeders led _Darwin_ to his hypothesis of naturalselection by the struggle for existence. Confirmed in his idea by theobservation of tropical nature, _Darwin_ thought he could explain theorigin of living beings by natural selection. It is this hypothesiswhich is properly called _Darwinism_. But the name Darwinism has alsobeen given to evolution as a whole, which has been the cause ofendless confusion. All the mystic and narrow-minded, full of biblicalprejudice, naturally profit by this confusion to attack the facts ofevolution and science itself. 

=The Struggle for Existence. =--The struggle for existence and naturalselection are absolutely positive facts, which can be constantlyverified by the observation of living nature as it is presented to us. All living beings eat one another or at any rate struggle against eachother, plants as well as animals; and, apart from air and water, animals are almost entirely nourished by plants and other animals. Itis obvious that in this perpetual struggle the less adapted and theless armed--and by arms we include the powers of reproduction, resistance to diseases and to cold, etc. --disappear, while the betteradapted and the better armed persist. I confess I cannot understandthe detractors of _Darwin_ who are blind in face of these facts andhypnotized by certain conventional suggestions. 

On the other hand, what always has been and still remains hypotheticalis the explanation of the descent of all plants and animals by naturalselection alone. We have already spoken of the _mutations_ of _deVries_, and the theory of the _mneme_ elaborated by _Semon_, and neednot repeat them here. Thanks to the idea of _Hering_, worked out by_Semon_, the facts are now explained in a satisfactory manner. Engraphia, produced in the organisms by the irritating agents of theexternal world, prepares and builds up little by little theirincreasing complications, while selection, by continually eliminatingthe unfit, directs the elaborating work of the mneme and adapts it tothe surrounding local circumstances. 

_De Vries_ has objected that the variations produced by artificial andnatural selections are mutable, while sudden mutations have a muchmore stable character. But we have just seen that these mutationsthemselves are evidently only the delayed ecphoria of a long ancestralengraphia accumulated. 

On the other hand, the variations obtained by selection are themselvesonly due to more rapid ecphorias, derived from repeated conjugationsin a certain direction. _Plate_ and others have shown that they maybecome more and more fixed, if they are well adapted, and thus becomemore tenacious. There is, therefore, no contradiction between thefundamental facts, and all is simply and naturally explained by thecombination of hereditary mnemic engraphia with selection. 

Recent study on the transformations of living beings have shown thatthey do not take place in a regularly progressive manner, as _Darwin_at first believed, but that periods of relatively rapid transformationalternate with periods of relative arrest, both in a general way andfor each particular species. We see certain species remaining almoststationary for an immense time and tending rather to disappear, whileothers vary enormously, showing actual transformation. Thetransplantation of one species to a new environment, for instance to anew continent, provokes, as has been proved, a relatively rapidtransformation. It is evident that mnemic engraphia transformsorganisms the more rapidly as it changes in nature itself, which isthe case in the migrations we have just mentioned, and which alsochanges the factors of selection. 

Other facts show clearly that the fauna and flora of the present worldfind themselves in a period of recoil with regard to theirmodification. In the tertiary period the fauna and flora of the worldwere richer than to-day; many more older species have disappeared thannew ones have arisen. This fundamental fact seems due to the extremelyslow cooling of the earth, and appears to be indicated by the powerfulgrowth in tropical climates, the fauna and flora of which resemblethose of the tertiary period, and, on the other hand by the relativepoverty and slowness of growth in cold countries. 

=Conclusions. =--What are the principal conclusions to which we are ledby this short study of the ancestral history or phylogeny of man?

(1). The transformation or evolution of living beings is ademonstrated fact. 

(2). The factors in evolution appear at first sight to be verydiverse: selection, mutation, climatological, physical and chemicalfactors, etc. 

We have seen that they may all be connected with the fundamentalprinciple of mnemic engraphia, aided by natural selection. No doubtthe nature of the mnemic engraphia of external agents in the livingsubstance is still unknown. When we are able to connect the laws oflife with the laws of inert nature, we shall only have before us asingle great metaphysical mystery, that of the tendency of mundaneenergy to the differentiation of details and the production ofcomplicated forms. What is important here is to know that engraphiaand selection are capable of considerably modifying species in apositive or negative manner, for good or evil, improving them by goodinfluence and good conjugations, or deteriorating them by badselection or by blastophthoria, which causes them to degenerate. Thecombination of a bad selection with blastophthoric influencesconstitutes the great danger for humanity, and it is here that arational sexual life should intervene. 

(3). The mental faculties of animal species, as well as their physicalcharacters, depend on their ancestral hereditary mneme. They simplyrepresent the internal or introspective side of central activity, andthe brain obeys the natural laws of the mneme in the same way as theother organs. 

(4). It follows from all this that phylogeny and selection, the sameas heredity properly understood, have the right to a fundamental placein the sexual question, for the germs which, after each conception, reproduce an individual are, on the one hand, bearers of the inheritedenergy of our ancestors, and on the other hand, that of futuregenerations. According to the care or neglect of civilized humanitythey may be transformed for good or evil, progress or recede. Unfortunately, owing to religious and other prejudices, the questionof evolution is not discussed in schools. Hence, the majority of menonly hear of these things by hearsay in a rough and inexact manner; sothat a series of phenomena familiar to naturalists and medical men, are still dead letters for the rest of the public. This obliges me tospeak further on some points of detail. 

The so-called historical times, that is the times of the Chinese, Egyptians and Assyrians, which appear to us extremely remote, are fromthe point of view of evolution very near to us. These ancient peoples, at any rate those who were our direct ancestors, or who were closelyrelated to them, are thus, in the language of evolution, which takesno count of time or of the number of generations, our very nearrelations. The generations which separate them from us and the fewhundred generations between them and those of their direct ancestors, who were at the same time ours, represent a limited period from thepoint of view of the ethnological history of mankind. 

On the other hand, if we examine the savage peoples of America, Asia, Africa and Australia, which have been specially studied since thediscovery of America and some of which are actually living, andcompare them with ourselves and with our ancestors of four thousandyears ago, we find that they differ infinitely more from us than wediffer from our ancestors, as their ethnographical and historicalremains are sufficient to prove. 

Among the savage peoples we find races such as the pigmies of_Stanley_ (Akkaas), the Weddas of Ceylon, even Australians andnegroes, whose whole bodily structure differs profoundly from ourEuropean race and its varieties. The profoundness and constancy ofthese differences clearly show that the relationship of such races toours must be very remote. We are concerned here with veritable racesor sub-species, or at least with very constant and accentuatedvarieties. It is true that it is difficult to unravel the almostinextricable confusion of human races; but we may be certain that thesavage races and varieties remote from ours, and even certainless-remote races such as the Mongols and Malays, are, phylogeneticallyspeaking, infinitely less related to us than the ancient Assyrians. This indicates that the ancestors which were common to us and theseraces must probably be looked for several thousands of generationsback, even when their descendants are still living on other continentsat the present day. 

It is easy to explain that human races so different could developseparately in continents and under climates with a very different modeof life and conditions of development, if we reflect that at theseremote periods men only had very limited modes of transport and livedin a fashion very little different from that of the anthropoid apes, so that the ethnological forms were preserved separated from eachother by small distances. This fact can still be observed among thesmall hostile Indian or Malay tribes, who live in tropical regions andoften occupy only a few square leagues. The higher civilizations offormer times could not develop beyond a comparatively limited circle, as their means of transport did not allow them to venture too far. Theconquest of the whole earth by modern civilization by means of themariner's compass, firearms, steam and electricity is thus anabsolutely contemporaneous event, unique in the history of the world, the origin of which hardly goes back more than four hundred years. This event has completely upset the natural internal evolution ofhuman races, by the fact that all the lower races attacked bycivilized races armed with guns and alcohol, are destined to rapid andcomplete destruction. 

Geology has discovered in the caves of the quaternary period, humanremains which are much lower in the scale of evolution and much nearerthe anthropoid apes than the lowest races still living. Their brain, as shown by the cranial cavity, was still smaller. Lastly, _Dubois_has discovered in Java the cranium of _Pithecanthropus erectus_ whichis intermediate between that of the orang-utan and man. If more suchremains are discovered the chain of transition between the apes andman will be almost complete. 

=Hybridity. Consanguinity. =--Before concluding this chapter we muststudy the question of _hybrids_. It is important to know to what pointfecundity and descent are influenced by the degree of relationshipbetween the two procreators. Conjugation probably arises from thegeneral necessity of organisms to reënforce their race by variety. Consanguinity perpetuated is harmful to the species, in the same wayas parthenogenesis, or indefinite reproduction by fission or budding. It produces enfeeblement and degeneration of the race, and leads toextinction by causing sterility. 

By _consanguinity_ is meant continued sexual union between nearrelatives. It is easy to understand that the conjugation of two germsderived from brothers and sisters or from a father and his daughterapproaches parthenogenesis from the point of view of the mixing ofhereditary energies. We shall see later on that nearly all peopleshave a certain repugnance to consanguineous marriages. Among animals, natural selection eliminates too consanguineous products. 

On the other hand, sexual union between different species, howeverlittle removed, gives no products. Near species may produce hybridsbetween themselves, but these hybrids are as a rule sterile or nearlyso, and are incapable of perpetuating their type, which revertsrapidly to one of the primitive species. 

It has been recently demonstrated that the incapacity of two speciesof animals to produce hybrids is intimately connected with thereciprocal toxicity of their blood. When the blood of one species isinjected into the veins of another the production of hybrids ispossible between them, at least as far as has been observed. It iscurious to note that the blood of the anthropoid apes is not toxic forman, although these animals are very different from us, and hybridshave not yet been produced. This fact helps us to understand how it isthat the differences which exist between the different human races donot prevent the production of hybrids between any two of them. Inspite of this we may state, without risk of error, that the mostdissimilar human races give a bad quality of hybrids, which havelittle chance of forming a viable mongrel race. We have notsufficient information on this point concerning the lowest humanraces, such as the pigmies and Weddas. On the other hand, mulattoes(hybrids between negroes and whites) constitute a race of very badquality and hardly viable, while the hybrids between Indians andwhites are much more resistant and of relatively better quality. 

In this question, the middle course appears without any doubt the trueone. Unions between near races and varieties, or at least betweenindividuals of the same race or variety whose relationship is old, arecertainly the best. We readily grant that the homogeneity of a racehas the advantage of fixing its peculiarities in a more durable andcharacteristic fashion; but many inconveniences counterbalance thisadvantage. If we one day, by wise selection and by eliminating allsources of blastophthoria obtain a superior quality of human germs, itis possible that in the remote future, consanguinity, provided it isnot exaggerated may lose its dangers. 

CHAPTER III

NATURAL CONDITIONS AND MECHANISM OF HUMANCOITUS--PREGNANCY--CORRELATIVE SEXUAL CHARACTERS

It is impossible to comprehend the deep meaning and lofty aim of anact like that of sexual union without knowing the details ofconjugation and the origin of man as we have explained them in thepreceding chapters. 

Conjugation requires the bringing together of two cells, andconsequently the movement of at least one of them. This cellularmovement suffices for the lower forms of union and is usually limitedto the male cell. Owing to its movement it plays the active role, while the passive role is reserved for the female cell. Hence we seein the higher plants the male cells, or pollen, transported to thepistil by the wind or by insects, and thence reach the egg bymechanical endosmotic attraction which brings about conjugation. 

This takes place in an analogous manner in lower animals, but the malecell is generally endowed with special movement. As soon as we dealwith complicated animals, mobile in themselves and composed of cellsdifferentiated to form complex organs, we see a second phenomena ofreproductive movements appear in the animal phylogeny, namely themovement of the whole individual bearing male cells toward theindividual bearing female cells. This simple fact gives rise to theformation of correlative sexual differences between the individualsbearing each kind of germinal cells. As the result of the evolution ofthese two phylogenetic systems of motor phenomena tending to establishconjugation, we obtain for each sex two categories of sexualformations:

(1). The _germinal cells themselves_, the female form of which becomeslarger, more rich in protoplasm, and remains immobile, while the maleform, or spermatozoid becomes extremely small and is provided withmotor apparatus (Fig. 11). 

(2). The _individuals_ with their correlative sexual differencesproper to the male and female, disposed in a way to give the male theactive role and the female the passive role. 

Normal hermaphrodism, complete or reciprocal (snails, etc. )constitutes an intermediate stage. Here each individual bears twokinds of germinal cells and possesses also male and female copulativeorgans, so that there only exists one form of individuals whichcopulate reciprocally; the male organ of one penetrating the femaleorgan of the other and vice versa. It is obvious that this excludesthe formation of correlative individual sexual characters. 

In the second category, the male always differs from the female, atleast in the sexual organs, and usually in other physical and mentalcharacters. The difference in the sexual functions leads to theformation of differences in other parts of the body, and in instinctsand sentiments, which find their material expression in the differentdevelopment of the brain. 

Certain specific functions in society may, in social animals like theants, lead to the formation or differentiation of a third or fourthkind of individuals. This is what is called _polymorphism_. Here it isnot the sexual function causes the correlative differences of theindividuals, but division of social labor. The ecphoria of thehereditary mneme which produces the polymorphous, and more or lessasexual individual forms (workers, warriors, ) still proceeds throughthe energies of the reproducing germs. Here the action of selection isnecessary to explain the phenomena. 

In man, sexual differentiation has led to the formation of two kindsof individuals, differing little in their correlative attributes, buteach bearing one kind of germinal cells. In sexual union man plays theactive part, woman, the passive. When sexual activity, in the animalkingdom, is no longer limited to the movement of one of the cells butrequires the displacement of the whole individual, we can quiteunderstand that the organization of these individuals must become muchmore complex, and that it requires a central nervous system as adirecting apparatus. Sexual individuality thus involves collaborationof the other organs of the body, and especially that of the centralorgans for reflex movements, the instincts and the higher mentalfaculties of man, in the accomplishment of the fecundating act thosewhich are the consequences of it. 

From this simple animal origin is evolved the complex sexual love ofman. The duty of the active or male individual is to bring thespermatozoa to a point where they can easily reach the female cells orovules. When this is done the duty of the male is accomplished. In thepassive or female individual of the higher animals, pairing andconjugation are only the commencement of reproductive activity. However, this is not the case in the whole animal kingdom. Forinstance, fish have distinct sexes, but in them the female depositsher non-fecundated eggs in the water and is not concerned with themany further. The male then arrives and discharges his sperm on theeggs. In this case fecundation takes place without copulation. Withsuch a system sexual love and maternal love lose their _raisond'être_, for the young fish are capable of providing for themselves assoon as they are born. There are, however, a few exceptions, one ofthe most curious being that of certain fish of the Dead Sea, in whichthe male incubates the eggs by taking them into his buccal cavity. 

=Reproduction in Vertebrates. =--We should never finish if we were todescribe even the chief varieties of sexual union among thevertebrates. As a rule, the male possesses a copulating organ whichprojects externally, while the female presents an invaginated cavity, more or less cylindrical, into which the male organ can penetrate. Acertain amount of sperm is deposited by the male in the neighborhoodof the mature ovules (Fig. 18) discharged from the female germinalgland or ovary, which renders conjugation possible. By means of theirmobile tails, the spermatozoa (Fig. 11) are able to reach the ovulesand fecundate them. The manner in which the egg when fecundated, either in the mother's body or after being laid, continues itsdevelopment, varies enormously in different species. The eggs areoften deposited by the female and the embryo develops outside themother's body. This occurs in insects, mollusks, fish, amphibia, reptiles, birds and the lowest mammals or monotremes (ornithorhynchusand echidna). 

In the lower mammals is developed an organ called the womb whichallows the embryo to remain longer in the maternal body. This organ isvery incomplete in them, and a pocket or fold in the skin of the bellyallows the mother to carry her young, which are extremely embryonic atbirth, till they have developed sufficiently to live alone. Thisoccurs in marsupials (kangaroos and opossums), in which the vagina anduterus are double. 

In the higher mammals the womb becomes more and more developed, opening into a single vagina in the middle line of the abdomen, between the two ovaries, and constituting a highly specialized organwhich allows the mother to preserve the young for a long time in herbelly. In most mammals the uterus has two elongated diverticula, eachof which may contain a successive series of embryos. In man it forms asingle cavity and normally contains a single embryo, occasionally twoor more. These facts show that the role of the female mammal inreproduction is more important than that of the male. But this is notall. Whether it still lays eggs, or whether it gives birth to youngwhich are more or less developed its sexual role is far from ended. The higher oviparous vertebrates, especially the birds, take care oftheir progeniture for some time after laying. The young are still fedby the mother, either by milk from the teats, as in mammals, or bynourishment obtained from outside, as in birds, or by both methodscombined or succeeding each other, as in cats. 

In many animals the male contributes to the raising of the young; apoint to which we shall return. Here, we indicate these complicateddetails simply to show that sexual union only contributes one link inthe long chain of reproduction. Let us study its mechanism in man. 

=The Copulatory Organ of Man. The Testicles. The SeminalVesicles. =--Nature is often very sparing even in the highestorganizations. It has thus combined in the male the urethra with thecopulatory organ, and the sexual germinal glands, or _testicles_, withan accessory gland, the _epididymis_. Hundreds of thousands ofspermatozoa are contained in the glandular tubes of these organs, which, when they are mature can always produce new ones by celldivision. The spermatozoa accumulate at the extremity of the duct ofthe gland in a reservoir called the _seminal vesicle_, where theyfloat in the mucus, thus constituting the seminal fluid or _sperm_. This liquid has a special odor. The two seminal vesicles are situatedin the abdominal cavity underneath the urinary bladder, each having aduct which meets that of the other side and opens by the side of it inthe deep part of the urethra. Here the secretion of several otherglands, especially of the _prostate_, is added to the sperm and mixeswith it. The point where the two seminal ducts open into the urethraforms a small elevation, the _verumontanum_. From this point the maleurethra emerges from the abdominal cavity and is continued along thespecial prolongation which forms the penis, or virile member ofcopulation. In the ordinary way the penis only serves for the emissionof urine. It hangs flaccid and terminates in a rounded swelling calledthe glans, at the end of which opens the urethra (Fig. 18). Thisopening serves also for the emission of the sperm. 

=Erection. The Corpus Cavernosum. =--The most curious part of thisapparatus is the mechanism of _erection_, or the power possessed bythe penis of swelling under the influence of certain nervousirritations, increasing in length and diameter as well as becomingrigid. This phenomenon is produced by three organs called the_cavernous bodies_ which form the principal bulk of the penis. One ofthem, situated in the middle and underneath and formed by two bodiesunited into one, surrounds the urethra and terminates in front in adilatation which constitutes the glans already mentioned. The twoothers are situated symmetrically on the dorsal part of the penis. Allthree consist of caverns or diverticula formed by blood-vessels, whichare empty when the penis is flaccid. By a complex nervous mechanismbased on vascular paralysis due to nervous phenomena called inhibitionand dynamogeny, the nervous irritations cause an accumulation of bloodin the spaces of the cavernous bodies which become so gorged withblood as to form stiff and hard rods. The size of the penis is therebyincreased considerably and its stiffness allows it to penetrate thevagina of the female. At the same time and by the same mechanism theverumontanum swells so as to close the ureter from the bladder, whilethe seminal ducts open toward the urethral orifice. In this way thecopulatory organ is ready for its function. 

Repeated irritations are however necessary to provoke the ejaculationof semen. This is finally produced by excitation of a special musclewhich compresses the seminal vesicles in a spasmodic manner andejaculates the semen by the urethra. After ejaculation, theaccumulation of blood in the cavernous bodies gradually diminishes andthe penis again becomes flaccid. 

This apparatus is thus very complicated and is put in action byseveral nervous irritations which may be disturbed in many ways inaffections of the nervous system. We may observe here that the nervouscenters of erection and ejaculation may be put in action directly bythe brain, or indirectly by peripheral irritation of the glans. 

Those peripheral nerves which provoke sexual excitation are especiallythe nerves of the glans. This possesses a skin or mucous membranewhich is extremely delicate and is protected against externalirritation by a fold of skin called the _prepuce_, or foreskin. Theprepuce is often too narrow so that it cannot be withdrawn behind theglans. It then forms a pocket in which sebaceous matter, semen, urine, etc. , accumulate and decompose. This anomaly, called _phimosis_, doesnot exist among the Jews owing to circumcision, or the removal of theprepuce in the newly born, which forms part of their religious rites. Hygienic considerations sometimes oblige us to perform this operationin others. The bad habit of masturbation, so common in boys, is oftenprovoked by phimosis, and shows that simple mechanical irritation ofthe glans, due here to secretions contained in the prepuce, may leadto ejaculation of semen as well as to erection. 

We have seen above that the male and female germinal glands arise fromthe same primitive organ in the embryo. If the embryo becomes male, this organ is transformed into the two testicles which descendgradually in the canal of the groin and become placed in the scrotum. If it becomes female, the two sexual glands remain in the abdominalcavity and are transformed into ovaries. 

=The Genital Organs of Woman. =--The organs described in Chapter II(Figs. 18 and 19), constitute the internal and more important part ofthe female sexual apparatus. In women, the urethra opens externally onits own account. It is much shorter and wider than in men. At itsexternal extremity is a small cavernous body called the _clitoris_, which corresponds embryologically to the penis in man, and chiefly tothe glans. Like the latter it is specialized for sexual irritation andpossesses very sensitive nerves. The opening of the female urethra issituated in front of the vulva directly under the pubic bone, at thesame place as the root of the male penis. From this point, on eachside of the middle line, extend two longitudinal folds, one externalcovered with skin and called the larger lip of the vulva (Fig. 18, _labia majora_), the other internal, hidden under the first, calledthe lesser lip of the vulva (_labia minora_), and covered with thinmucous membrane. Between the two lesser lips is the sexual aperture, which, with the labia majora and minora is called the _vulva_. Thisopening is distinct from that of the urethra, and leads to theinternal cavity or _vagina_ (Fig. 18). The vagina is about ten totwelve centimeters long (2 to 2-½ inches) and terminates in a_cul-de-sac_ which surrounds the vaginal portion of the womb, of whichwe have spoken above. 

In virgins the entrance to the vagina is more or less closed by adelicate transverse membrane called the _hymen_, which is onlyperforated by a narrow opening. At the first coitus the hymen is torn, causing a certain amount of pain and bleeding. The walls of the vaginaare thrown into transverse folds, which render them somewhat rough. The remains of the hymen torn by the first coitus afterward formbehind the vulva small excrescences named _carunculæ myrtiformes_. 

In the first chapter we have spoken of the changes undergone by thefecundated ovule till it becomes the embryo and then the infant. Itremains to speak of the mechanism of expulsion of the ovule and of itsfecundation, as well as the changes in the womb which result fromthese phenomena. 

=Menstruation. =--About every four weeks, one or two ovules (rarelymore) mature and are discharged into the Fallopian tubes, down whichthey pass by the movement of the vibratile cilia of the mucousmembrane, to the uterus, to the walls of which they become attached ifthey have been fecundated on the way (Fig. 18). Fecundation orconjugation takes place most often in the Fallopian tube, sometimes inthe uterus. The maturation and expulsion of the ovule are generallyaccompanied in women by a nervous phenomenon closely related toerection in man. The mucous membrane of the cavity of the uterus isvery rich in blood vessels which become dilated and gorged with bloodunder the inhibitory influence of certain nerve centers. As the mucousmembrane is very thin, the result is otherwise than in man; the bloodtransudes through the mucous membrane and flows away. This is called_menstruation_ ("courses" or monthly periods). The object of this is, no doubt, to prepare the mucous membrane of the womb for the fixationof the fecundated egg which will become grafted on its surface. Thecourses in women generally last three or four days, but are often veryirregular. It is necessary to point out that they do not depend onovulation (expulsion of the egg). The two phenomena may take placeindependently of each other, for menstruation in itself depends onlyon nervous irritation, which may be provoked or averted by hypnoticsuggestion, for example. 

Moreover, there are women who never menstruate and who, in spite ofthis, not only regularly discharge ovules but may be fecundated andbecome pregnant. Usually, however, the two phenomena are associated bynervous reflexes, so that menstruation takes place first and then theovule commences its migration. 

=The Mechanism of Coitus. =--Copulation, or coitus, takes place asfollows: After a certain degree of excitation, both mental andsensory, the male introduces the erect and stiffened penis into thevagina. In the case of advanced pregnancy he should place himselfbehind, so as to avoid injuring the unborn child. Rhythmic movementsof the two individuals, especially of the man, gradually increase theexcitation of the mucous membrane or skin of the genital organs ofeach party, till voluptuous sensations, arising chiefly in the glanspenis and clitoris, spread to the whole nervous system and the entirebody, constituting what is called the _venereal orgasm_, andterminating in the man by the ejaculation of semen. 

The localizations of irritability in woman are multiple, and to theclitoris must be added the nipples, the vulva, and even, it is said, the neck of the womb. In man the parts round the anus may also, besides the glans penis, form an excitable region. At the acme oferection the glans is turgid, and is applied directly against the neckof the womb (Fig. 18). In this way the sperm is ejaculated directlyagainst the neck of the womb. 

In the woman an analogous phenomenon takes place; the clitoris becomesturgid and the mild and repeated friction of the mucous membranes, together with contact on other sensitive parts, produces a voluptuoussensation as in the man. Through nervous association, the repeatedexcitation determines secretion from certain glands of the vaginawhich lubricate the vulva (glands of _Bartholin_). At the maximumpoint of voluptuous feeling the woman experiences something analogousto the venereal orgasm of the man. There is thus manifested in the twosexes an intense and reciprocal desire of penetration one by theother, a desire which powerfully favors fecundation. In the woman asin the man the end of the orgasm is followed by an agreeablerelaxation which invites sleep. 

The hereditary or instinctive nervous actions produce after coitus aprofound effect of contrast. When the sexual appetite commences, theodors, especially those of the sexual organs, the contacts, themovements, and the sight of the individual of the opposite sex, allincrease desire, producing a voluptuous excitation stronger than allcontrary feeling. Hardly is the sexual act consummated than allvanishes like a dream. What was a moment before the object of the mostviolent desire becomes indifferent, and sometimes even excites aslight feeling of disgust, at least as regards certain odors, sometimes even regarding touch and sight. The name sexual appetite(libido sexualis) is given to the passionate and purely sexual desireof the two sexes for each other. It varies greatly in differentindividuals. 

According to _Ferdy_ and other authors, the neck of the womb, duringthe venereal orgasm of the woman, executes movements of suction in theglans penis. I do not know if this is a fact, but it is certain thatthe female orgasm is useless for conception. Absolutely cold women, incapable of the least voluptuous sensation are as fruitful as thosewho have pronounced venereal orgasms. It proves that the spermatozoaarrive at their goal even when the womb is entirely passive. The greatvariation of sexual desire in different individuals renders mutualadaptation often very difficult. The venereal orgasm is sometimes morerapid in man, sometimes in woman (more rarely in the latter). Thisinequality is rather to the detriment of the woman, for the man canstill satisfy himself when the orgasm of the woman has terminated, while the contrary is not possible without artificial manipulation. Moreover, the frequence and intensity of the sexual appetite are oftenmuch greater in one than in the other, which is detrimental to both. Here again it is the woman who suffers the most, for the man canalways satisfy himself without the woman having voluptuous sensations. What is commonly called good manners generally prevents the conjointsfrom speaking of their sexual desires before marriage. This very oftenresults in grave deceptions, dissensions, and often even divorce. Ishall return to this subject in Chapter XIV. 

Voluptuous sensations only represent the means employed by nature tobring together the sexes with the object of reproducing the species. Awoman can be fecundated and give birth to a child by the aid of semeninjected into the uterus by a syringe. Moreover, it is ratherexceptional for the venereal orgasm to occur in the two sexes at thesame moment. It is essential for fecundation that the semen shouldenter the womb. When the spermatozoa have reached the neighborhood ofthe neck of the womb they swim by their own movements, not only alongthe whole uterine cavity, but also along the Fallopian tubes and evenin the abdominal cavity, so that the force of ejaculation is of littleimportance. 

=Pregnancy. =--The womb enlarges considerably during pregnancy. Itexceeds the size of an adult head, and the muscles of its walls aregreatly increased, so as to be capable of expelling the child lateron. 

The phenomena of pregnancy, birth and suckling are known to all, sothat I shall be brief. The almost sudden activity of the breasts afterchildbirth is a very interesting correlative phenomenon. It sufficesto glance at one who has just become a mother and to observe thecomplications which profoundly influence all her organism with regardto the life of the infant, to comprehend to what extent the role ofsexual life is more important, more profound, even more vital, inwoman than in man. The latter no doubt requires a more violentappetite to urge him to copulation because he plays the active part, short though it be. But fecundating coitus having been effected, hiscontribution to the reproduction of the species is ended. 

While the activity of man is terminated at conception, that of womanonly begins at this moment. In the first chapter we have indicated ina few words the transformations of the human embryo up to its birth. During nine months it grows from the size of a pin's head (the ovule)to that of the new-born child. Although a woman seldom bears more thanone embryo at the same time, twins being rare on the whole, she hasnevertheless more pain and fatigue to bear than any female animal. This is due not only to the fact that our artificial and alcoholizedcivilization, with its specialized labor which disturbs vitalequilibrium, has made women indolent and degenerate, but also to theenormous development of the human brain. The head of the human embryois disproportionately large because the brain, as I showed with_Schiller_ in 1889, already contains at birth all the nerve elementswhich it will possess during the rest of its life (_Comptes rendus del'Académie des Sciences_). No doubt these elements are small andembryonic but the nerve fibers are ready to be covered with myelin andto enter upon their functions, and all this requires a cranium ofconsiderable size. But it is not everything for the mother to nourishwith her blood the brain and the cranium of the child; it is alsonecessary for this relatively large head to pass through the pelvis atthe time of childbirth, and we know that this moment is the mostdangerous for the life of the pregnant woman. As boys have on theaverage a larger brain and cranium than those of girls, their birth isusually more difficult. 

=Accouchement. =--The sexual organs of woman undergo great changes inorder to render childbirth possible. These organs become larger andmore vascular, especially the womb, the growth of which isastonishing. Originally the size of a small egg (a guinea fowl's) itexceeds the size of a human head, and there is an enormous increase ofmuscular tissue in its walls. Large blood vessels develop in theuterine wall, especially in the placenta (Figs. 22 and 23), where theyenter into endosmotic relations with the circulation of the embryo. 

From the abdomen of the embryo arises an organ, the _allantois_, whichis destined to carry the blood-vessels of the embryo to the placenta, and at the same time to give rise to the formation of the latter. Inthe placenta the blood-vessels of the embryo are separated from thoseof the mother by walls so thin that the nutritive juices of thematernal blood transude into the venous blood of the embryo, as wellas combined oxygen in the blood necessary for its respiration. Up tothis point the vitellus of the egg, nourished by endosmosis throughits membranes, had sufficed for the nutrition of the still very smallembryo. While these phenomena are taking place, and while thesubstance of the two conjugated germs divides into an ever increasingnumber of cells, which become differentiated in layers to form thefuture organs (Fig. 21), while certain groups of cells are preparedsome to form the intestinal canal, others the muscles and bloodvessels, others the skin and organs of sense, others arising from thelast to form the brain, the spinal cord and the nerves, the mother canstill live her ordinary life. She suffers, however, from differentdisorders connected with what is passing on in her body. 

It is a curious fact that these disorders are more accentuated at thecommencement of pregnancy, when the womb is hardly enlarged, than atthe end. They consist chiefly of nervous troubles--slight derangementof the cerebral functions and sensations, etc. Obstinate vomiting, peculiar desires, and changes of temper are some of the most frequenttroubles of pregnant women, and probably arise more from local nervousirritation than from general transformations of the nutrition of thebody. The mother's body is becoming adapted to the development of theinfant in the womb. However embarrassed a woman may be in the lastmonths of pregnancy by the great swelling of the belly (Fig. 22) thedisorders are less accentuated than at the beginning of pregnancy. 

During pregnancy menstruation ceases. The sexual appetite is veryvariable; in many pregnant women it is diminished, in others there isno change, and it is seldom increased. There are other troubles whichare more or less frequent, such as varicose veins in the legs causedby pressure of the uterus on the veins. 

But all the sufferings of pregnancy and childbirth are compensated forby the ardent desire of the normal woman to have a child, and by thehappiness of hearing its first cry. Proud and happy to give life to anew human being, which she hopes soon to suckle and carry in her arms, she cheerfully bears all the inconveniences and pains of pregnancy andchildbirth. The latter is actually painful, for in spite of all thatnature does to relax the pelvis and render it elastic, to dilate theneck of the womb, the vagina and the vulva, the passage of theenormous head of a human infant through all these relatively narrowapertures is extremely difficult (Figs. 22 and 23). The passage isforced by the powerful contractions of the muscles of the womb. However, they do not always succeed by themselves, and in this casethe accoucheur is obliged to apply the forceps to extract the head ofthe child. Very often the neck of the womb, the vagina or the perineum(the part situated between the anus and the vulva) become torn duringlabor, and this may lead later on to disorders such as prolapse of thewomb, etc. ; disorders which may last through life. 

When the child is born, the umbilical cord (that is the transformedallantois, Fig. 23) cut, and the placenta extracted, the connectingnutrition and respiration between the child and its mother aresuddenly interrupted. Nourished hitherto by its mother's blood throughthe placenta and the vessels of the umbilical cord which supplied thenecessary oxygen, the infant is suddenly obliged to breathe and feedfor itself. Its lungs, hitherto inactive, expand instantaneously underthe nervous influence produced by the blood saturated with carbonicacid, and the first cry is produced. Thus commences individualrespiration. Several hours later the cessation of maternal nutritioncauses hunger, and this the reflex movements of suction, and the childtakes the breast. During this time the empty womb contracts stronglyand retracts enormously in a few days. The increase of blood producedby the maternal organism, by its adaptation to the nutrition of theembryo, is then employed in the production of milk in the breasts orlactiferous glands, which were already well developed duringpregnancy. 

=Suckling. Maternity. =--The mother is instinctively disposed to suckleher child as the infant is to suck. At the end of four to six weeks, the womb has almost completely regained its former size. 

In savage races suckling at the breast lasts for two years or more. Itis useless to mention here to what point the capacity for suckling andthe production of milk have diminished among the modern women ofcivilized countries. This sad sign of degeneration is due to a largeextent, as _Bunge_ has shown by careful statistics, to the habit oftaking alcoholic drinks, and is combined with other blastophthoricdegenerations due to hereditary alcoholism. The future will showwhether the artificial feeding of infants with cows' milk will benefithumanity. In any case it allows infants to survive who would diewithout it. On the other hand the development of a degeneration canhardly be an advantage for the species and we should hope for a returnto the natural rule by abstinence from all alcoholic drinks. 

The false modesty of women concerning their pregnancy and everythingthat concerns childbirth, the pleasantries often made with regard topregnant women are a sad sign of the degeneration and even corruptionof our refined civilization. Pregnant women ought not to hidethemselves, or to be ashamed to carry a child in their womb; on thecontrary they should be proud. Such pride would certainly be much morejustified than that of the fine officers parading in their uniforms. The external signs of the formation of humanity are more honorable totheir bearers than the symbols of destruction, and woman should becomeimbued more and more with this truth! They will then cease to hidetheir pregnancy and to be ashamed of it. Conscious of the grandeur oftheir sexual and social duty they will raise aloft the standard ofour descent, which is that of the true future life of man, at the sametime striving for the emancipation of their sex. Viewed in this way, the sexual role of woman becomes elevated and solemn. Man should lessand less maintain his indifference towards the social miseries towhich the slavery of woman has led, which has lasted thousands ofyears and which has dishonored the highest functions of her sex, byabuses without number. 

The hygiene of pregnancy, labor and its sequels, is of the highestimportance. It certainly should not consist in exaggerated care andprecaution, for in spoiling and softening women by inaction more harmthan good is done. On the other hand, the social cruelty whichneglects poor women of the people in confinement, often even withoutgiving them sufficient nourishment, is revolting, and it is hereespecially that the reform of social hygiene becomes an elementarynecessity for humanity. 

All that we have just spoken of binds the woman for months or years toeach of her children, and we can understand that her whole soul isadapted in consequence to maternity. Even when birth has detached thechild from the maternal body, it remains attached to its mother by ahundred bonds, not only during the period of suckling, but longafterward when the conventions do not violate natural laws. Littlechildren are deeply attached to their mother, and while the father isimpatient with their cries and the embarrassment which they cause, themother takes a natural delight in them. When pregnancies succeed eachother at reasonable intervals of one or two years, the normal womanlives with her children for many years in intimacy which neverentirely ceases in a family animated by human and social sentiments. 

In normal circumstances the special bonds which unite the mother toher children last for life, while the father, if all goes well, becomes simply the best friend of his growing children. It is timethat fathers began to recognize these natural laws, instead ofclinging so tenaciously to the historic and artificial prestige of aworm-eaten and unnatural patriarchal authority. No doubt there aremany pathological and degenerate mothers, but such an anomaly onlyproves the rule that we have just laid down. 

=Correlative Sexual Characters. =--The correlative sexual characters, which we have previously spoken of in animals, are well known in man. Man is in the average larger, broader in the shoulders and morerobust; his skeleton is more solid but his pelvis narrower. At the ageof puberty, from 16 to 20 years, the beard grows on the face, while inthe pubic region hair develops in both sexes. At the same time thetesticles and external genital organs enlarge. The sexual glands aswell as the external genital organs have remained so far in anembryonic state although the mechanism of erection is alreadyestablished in young boys. But this mechanism, in the normal boy, isnot associated with any voluptuous sensation or any glandularsecretion. 

Man possesses the rudiments of the correlative sexual characters ofwoman, such as nipples without lactiferous glands, etc. In a generalway each part of the external genital organs of one sex has itscorresponding embryonic homologue in the other, which is explained bythe different transformations which were originally the same in theembryo. The clitoris of woman corresponds to the penis of man, thelabia majora to the scrotum, etc. In certain individuals theserudiments are more strongly developed, and may by exaggeration andtransition lead to pathological hermaphrodism (Chapter I); such arebearded women, and those possessing a large clitoris, or beardless menwith effeminate bodies and small sexual organs. Such cases are notexamples of hermaphrodism, but of incomplete embryologicaldifferentiation. They consist in certain correlative sexual characterswhich show a tendency toward the other sex, a tendency which we find, from the mental point of view, in homosexuals. 

There is also to be noticed the "breaking" of the voice which occursin man at the age of puberty, and is connected with the nervoussystem. 

In women the body is smaller and more delicate, the bones weaker, thepelvis wider and the chest narrower. The normal woman has no beardwhile the pubic hairs are the same as in man. The pubis, covered witha layer of fat, is slightly prominent in women and is called the _monsVeneris_. There is more fat under the skin in a woman's body, and thevoice does not break. After puberty breasts develop with theirlactiferous glands and nipples for suction. Puberty takes place alittle earlier in women than in men, and corresponds to the growth ofthe internal and external sexual organs, at the same time that theovules commence to mature and menstruation is established. 

The mental correlative sexual characters are much more important thanthose of the body. The psychology of man is different from that ofwoman. Many books have been written on this subject, usually with moresentimentality than exactitude. Mysogynists, like the philosopher_Schopenhauer_, disparage woman from all points of view, while thefriends of the female sex often exalt her in an exaggerated manner. Incontemporary literature we see women authors judging man in quitedifferent ways according as they are affected with "misandery" or"philandery"--that is enemies or friends of men. Quite recently_Moebius_ has published a mysogynistic work on the "PhysiologicalImbecility of Woman. " (_Der physiologische Schwachsinn des Weibes_). One must be a misogynist of very high degree to introduce thepathological notion of imbecility into the evolution of the normalmentality of woman. In reality, the individual differences are muchgreater in man and woman from the psychological than from the physicalpoint of view, so that they render a definition of the averageextremely difficult. 

We are acquainted with bearded women, athletic women, as well asbeardless men and puny men. From the mental point of view, there arealso viragos and men with feminine instincts. Imbeciles are notwanting in both sexes, but no reasonable person will deny that anintelligent woman is superior to a narrow-minded man even from thepurely intellectual point of view. In spite of these difficulties, Ishall attempt to bring forward the principal points which distinguish, in a general way, the masculine mind from the feminine, relying on myown observations and especially on the mental phenomena of bothsexes. 

=The Weight of the Brain. =--According to statistics, the weight of thebrain in men of our race is on the average 1350 grammes, while that ofwomen averages 1200 grammes. The absolute weight is, however, not ofmuch importance, because part of the cerebral substance in the largeranimals is only for the supply of a greater number of cellularelements of the rest of the body, which necessitates a greater numberof nervous elements. 

To make the matter clear, it is necessary to separate the weight ofthe cerebral hemispheres from the other nervous centers, such as thecerebellum, corpora striata, the optic thalami, the mid-brain, thepons Varolii, the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord, for thesecenters constitute parts which are phylogenetically older, that is tosay, inherited from lower animal ancestors. Compared with the cerebralhemispheres, these nerve centers are relatively more important inother vertebrates than in man, and are in more constant proportion tothe size of the body, the muscular, glandular and sensory elements ofwhich they supply. When the intelligence is about the same, they are, therefore, compared with the cerebral hemispheres, much more developedin the larger than in the smaller animals. For example, they are verylarge in the ox, but small in mice. I have weighed a considerablenumber of human brains separated in this way with the followingresults:

 CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES OTHER CEREBRAL CENTERS Man 1060 grammes, 78. 5% | 290 grammes, 21. 5% Woman 955 grammes, 77. 9% | 270 grammes, 22. 1%

Thus the cerebellum and basal ganglia are a little smaller in men thanin women, compared with the cerebral hemispheres. 

These figures appear to show that the cerebral hemispheres in womanare on the average a little smaller than in man, even proportionatelyto the stature; for, according to a general law in the animal kingdom, woman being smaller, her cerebral hemispheres should be, with equalmentality, proportionately a little larger. There are, however, femalebrains larger than many male brains, and the absolute and relativesize of the cerebral hemispheres does not give a complete measure ofthe productive faculties. Remarkable men have been known to possessrather small brains and imbeciles heavy ones. We must not forget thegreat importance of the hereditary or engraphic predispositions of thenerve element or _neurone_, to certain activities and especially towork in general, that is to say, their aptitude to produce energy, orif one prefers it, their disposition to "will. "

It is also interesting to consider the relationship of the frontallobe to the rest of the cerebral hemispheres, the frontal lobe beingwithout doubt the principal seat of intellectual activity. Accordingto _Meynert_, the weight of the frontal lobe in man exceeds that ofwoman, not only absolutely, but relatively to the rest of the brain. In his _résumé_ of the statistical data collected on this subject andfrom the results of my own material (autopsies at the asylum ofBurgholzli in Zurich), _Mercier_ has confirmed the opinion of_Meynert_. The average weight of the hemispheres separated from therest of the brain is 1019 grammes in man (frontal lobe 428, the rest591), and 930 in woman (frontal lobe 384, rest 546). Here, atrophiedbrains (except general paralytics) have been weighed with others, which lowers the average total weight without altering the proportion. Thus, the rest of the cerebral hemispheres exceeds the frontal lobe by163 grammes in man and 162 grammes in woman, which means that in manthe frontal lobe constitutes 42 per cent. Of the cerebral hemispheresand in woman 41. 3 per cent. The difference is not great, but it isdefinite, for it is based on a large number of observations. 

=Mental Capacity of the Two Sexes. =--The fundamental differencebetween the psychology of woman and that of man is constituted by theirradiations of the sexual sphere in the cerebral hemispheres, whichconstitute what may be called _sexual mentality_. We shall discussthis in the following chapters, for it constitutes the foundation ofour subject. We are only concerned here with the correlativedifferences. 

Adhering in a general way to the main definitions of psychology, weassert that from the purely intellectual point of view, manconsiderably excels woman in his creative imagination, his faculty forcombination and discovery, and by his critical mind. For a long timethis was said to be explained by the statement that women had not theopportunity of measuring their intelligence against that of men; but, thanks to the modern movement of the emancipation of women, thisassertion becomes more and more untenable. It is so with regard toartistic creations, for women have at all times taken part in works ofart. When certain people maintain that a few generations of activitysuffice to elevate the intellectual development of women, theyconfound the results of education with those of heredity and phylogeny(vide Chapter II). Education is a purely individual matter and onlyrequires one generation to produce its results. But neither mnemicengraphia, nor even selection can modify hereditary energies in two orthree generations. Tied down hitherto partly by servitude, the mentalfaculties of woman will doubtless rise and flourish in all theirnatural power as soon as they are absolutely free to develop insociety equally with those of men, by the aid of equal rights. Butwhat does not exist in the hereditary mneme, that is to say in theenergies of germs, inherited through thousands or millions of years, cannot be created in a few generations. The specific characters andconsequently the sexual characters have quite another constancy thanis believed by the superficial prattlers, who deafen us with theirjargon on a question of which they only grasp the surface. There is noexcuse, at the present day, for confounding hereditary correlativesexual characters with the individual results of education. The latterare acquired by habit and can only be inherited as such by aninfinitesimal engraphia, possibly after hundreds of generations. 

On the other hand woman possesses, from the intellectual point ofview, a faculty of reception and comprehension as well as a facilityof reproduction which are almost equal to those of man. In highereducation at the universities the women I have had the opportunity ofobserving at Zurich for many years, show a more equal level than thatof the men. The most intelligent men reproduce best and the moststupid men reproduce worse than the corresponding female extremes. Ido not think one can say much more concerning the purely intellectualdomain. 

Artistic production confirms this opinion. Woman is here on theaverage much inferior as regards creation or production, properly socalled, and even her best results are wanting in originality and donot open up new paths. On the contrary, as virtuosos, women comparewell with men in simply reproductive art. There are, however, exceptional women whose productions are original, creative andindependent. The philosopher _Stuart Mill_ points out the intuitivegift of woman who, led by her individual observations, rapidly andclearly discovers a general truth, and applies it in particular cases, without troubling with abstract theories. This may be called theintuitive or subconscious judgment of woman. 

In the domain of sentiment the two sexes differ very much from eachother, but we cannot say that one surpasses the other. Both arepassionate, but in different ways. The passions of man are coarser andless durable, and are only more elevated when associated with moreoriginal and more complex intellectual aims. In woman sentiment ismore delicate and more finely shaded esthetically and morally; it isalso more durable, at least on the average, although its objects areoften of a mean and banal nature. 

When man compares himself with woman he usually identifies himself, more or less unconsciously, with the highest male intellects, with themen of genius in art and science, and complaisantly ignores the crowdof idiots of his own sex! In the life of sentiment the two sexes maycomplement each other admirably; while man raises the height of theideal and of objects to be attained, woman has the necessary tact tosoften and refine the tones, and to adapt their shades to each specialsituation, by the aid of her natural intuition, where man risksspoiling everything by the violence of his passions and his efforts. This reciprocal influence should conduce to the best and highestharmony of sentiments in a happy sexual combination. 

As regards will power, woman is, in my opinion, on the averagesuperior to man. It is in this psychological domain more than in anyother, that she will always triumph. This is generally misunderstood, because men have so far apparently held the scepter of an unlimitedomnipotence; because by the abuse of brute force, aided by superiorityof inventive genius, humanity has been hitherto led by strongmasculine wills, and because the strongest feminine wills have beendominated by the law of the right of the stronger. But theunprejudiced observer is soon obliged to recognize that the directivewill of the family is only, in general, represented externally by themaster. Man parades his authority much more often than he puts it intopractice; he lacks the perseverance, tenacity and elasticity whichconstitute the true power of will, and which are peculiar to woman. Itis needless to say that I am only speaking of the average and thatthere are many women whose will power is feeble. But these easilybecome the prey of prostitution, which causes their disappearance. This is perhaps one of the causes which have strengthened by selectionthe will power in women. Man is impulsive and violent as regards hiswill power, but often inconstant and irresolute, yielding as soon ashe has to strive persistently for a certain object. From these factsit naturally results that, on the average, it is the man in the familywho provides the ideas and impulses, but the woman who, with thefinesse of her tact and perseverance, instinctively makes thedistinction between the useful and the harmful, utilizing the formerand constantly combating the latter; not because she is fundamentallysuperior, but because she is more capable of dominating herself, whichproves the superiority of her will power. 

Nothing is more unjust than to disparage one sex relatively to theother. The parthenogenesis of the lower animals having ceased in thevertebrates, each sex is indispensable, not only to the preservationof species, but also to each conception or reproduction of theindividual. Both are thus equivalent and belong to each other as thetwo halves of a whole, one being incapable of resisting without theother. Everything which benefits one of the halves benefits the other. If by the magic wand of a fairy, the male half or the female half ofour humanity, such as it is to-day, was rendered capable and obligedto reproduce alone, men would soon degenerate owing to the weakness oftheir will combined with their sensual passions, and women from theirincapacity to raise their intellectual level by means of creativeideas. 

We need not dwell here on the numerous psychological peculiarities ofwoman, inherent in her capacity as mother, nor on those of manadapted to his muscular strength and to his capacity as protector ofthe family. These are derived from sexual differences which arementioned in Chapter V. Nor need we describe correlative differencesof less importance which are well known and which arise from those ofwhich we have spoken or from direct sexual differences. They can beobserved, on the one hand, in purely male reunions in saloons, smokingrooms and other similar places; on the other hand, in feminine circlesof all classes, among the common people, among the fashionable, oreven in philanthropic associations. On the average, woman is moreartful and more modest; man coarser and more cynical, etc. After muchpersonal experience, gained in societies in which the two sexespossess the same rights and are admitted to the same titles, I amobliged to declare that I have never found any confirmation (at leastin the German-Swiss country) of the popular saying that gossip andintrigue are the special appanage of woman. I have found these twovices quite as often in man. 

CHAPTER IV

THE SEXUAL APPETITE

If we sum up the three preceding chapters we arrive at thephilosophical conclusion that reproduction depends on the generalnatural tendency of all living beings to multiply indefinitely. Fission and sexual reproduction arise from the simple fact that thegrowth of each individual is necessarily limited in space as well astime. Reproduction is thus destined to assure the continuation oflife; the individual dies but is perpetuated in his progeny. We do notknow why the crossing of individuals is rendered necessary by thephenomenon of conjugation. On this subject we can only buildhypotheses, but the study of nature shows us that where conjugationceases reproduction is etiolated and finally disappears, even when itis still possible for a certain time. 

From the commencement of life there is thus a powerful law ofattraction with the object of reproduction. At first there areunicellular organisms, in which one cell penetrates the other in theact of conjugation. Their substances combine intimately, while themolecules of each nucleus become so arranged as to give the newindividual a more fresh and powerful energy of growth. 

In the lower multicellular plants and animals which bud, fresh budslive at the expense of the old trunk to give life to new branches, andthe male cells or pollen fecundate the female cells so as to dispersethe germs capable of growth and of thus reproducing the species. It isalso the same in the madrepores and other agglomerated animals (suchas the solitary worms), composed of parameres or metameres, so long asa single central nervous system does not coordinate the metameres, orprimary agglutinated animals, into a single organism. 

In the higher animals, the complex polycellular individuals formed bythe agglomeration of several primitive animals, are transformed into ahigher and mobile unity by the aid of the great vital apparatus calledthe nervous system, which becomes the mental director of the livingorganism and invests it with its individual character. However, thishigher unity of life, which always becomes more psychic, that is tosay, at the same time intellectual, sentimental and voluntary, by itscomplication and its numerous relations with other individuals, thisunity called the _central nervous system_ cannot do without thenecessity for reproduction. In animal phylogeny, as soon ashermaphrodism has ceased and each individual has become the solebearer of one of the two kinds of sexual cells, the species willeventually disappear if the male cells cannot reach the female cellsby the active movement of the whole individual. Thus is produced themarvelous phenomenon of the desire of increase and reproduction, originally peculiar to the male cell, penetrating the nervous system, that is to say life and soul in its entirety, the life of the higherunity of the individual. An ardent desire, a powerful impulse thusarises in the nervous system at the time of puberty and attracts theindividual toward the opposite sex. The care and the pleasure of selfpreservation, which had hitherto fully occupied his attention, becomeeffaced by this new impulse. The desire to procreate dominateseverything. A single pleasure, a single desire, a single passion layshold of the organism and urges it toward the individual of theopposite sex, and to become united with it in intimate contact andpenetration. It is as if the nervous system or the whole organism feltas if it had for the moment become a germinal cell, so powerful is thedesire to unite with the other sex. 

In some beautiful verses the German poet-philosopher _Goethe_(West-Oestlicher Divan, book VIII, "Suleika") describes the desire toprocreate (p. 63):

 Und mit eiligem Bestreben Sucht sich, was sich angehört, Und zu ungemessnem Leben Ist Gefühl und Blick gekehrt. Sei's ergreifen, sei es raffen, Wenn es nur sich fasst und hält! Allah braucht nicht mehr zu schaffen, Wir erschaffen seine Welt!

If we look at nature we see everywhere the same desire and the sameattraction of the sexes for each other; the bird which warbles, themammal which ruts, the insect which hums while pursuing the femalewith implacable tenacity, at the risk of their own life, employingsometimes cunning, sometimes dexterity, and sometimes force to attaintheir object. The ardor of the female is not always much less, but sheuses coquetry, pretending to resist, and simulates repulsion. The moreeager the male, the more coquettish is the female. If we observe theamorous sport of butterflies and birds, we see what efforts it coststhe male to attain his object. On the other hand when the male isclumsy and slow the female often comes toward him or at any rate doesnot resist him, for instance in certain ants the males of which arewingless while the females have wings. The final act always consistsin intimate union at the moment of copulation. 

In some animals Nature is prodigal in the means she employs to pursueher great object, reproduction, by aid of the sexual appetite. Theapiary raises hundreds of male bees. As soon as the single queen-beetakes wing for its nuptial flight all the males follow, but a singlemale only, the strongest and most nimble, succeeds in reaching her. Inthe intoxication of copulation he abandons all his genital organs tothe body of the queen and dies. The other males, now useless, are allmassacred in autumn by the working bees. 

Sexual connection among butterflies of the Bombyx family is no lessmarvelous. They live for months as caterpillars and sometimes for twoyears as chrysalids, hibernating in a cocoon in some corner of theearth or in the bark of trees. Finally the butterfly, brilliantlycolored, emerges from the cocoon and spreads its wings. It onlypossesses, however, a rudimentary intestinal canal for the short lifewhich remains, for it does not require much nourishment and is onlydevoted to sexual connection. The female remains quiet and waits. Themale, furnished with large antennæ which perceive the odor of thefemale at a distance of several kilometers, commences an infatuatedflight through the woods and fields, as soon as his wings aresufficiently strong. His sole object is to reach the female. Hereagain there are numerous competitors. The one who arrives firstpossesses the female, but expires shortly afterward. His competitorsdie also, exhausted by their long flight and by starvation, butwithout having attained their object. After copulation, the femalesearches for the green plants which will ensure a long caterpillarlife for her offspring. There she deposits her fecundated eggs inconsiderable numbers and then expires in her turn, like a faded flowerwhich has fulfilled the object of its existence and falls afterleaving the fruit in its place. 

The French naturalist _Fabre_ has described these phenomena, relyingon conclusive experiments, and my own observations and those of othernaturalists confirm them fully. Among the ants, all the males diealso, soon after an aërial nuptial flight, in which copulation isgenerally polyandrous, one male hardly waiting for the preceding oneto discharge his semen before taking his place. Here the femalepossesses a receptacle for semen which often contains the sperm ofmany males, and which allows it to fecundate the eggs one afteranother for several years as she lays them, and thus to act as themother of an ant's nest during a period which may extend to eleven ortwelve years, or even more. 

In the lower organisms, love consists only in sexual instinct orappetite. As soon as the function is accomplished love disappears. Itis only in the higher animals that we see a more or less durablesympathy develop between the two sexes. However, here also and even inman the sexual passion intoxicates for the moment all the senses. Inhis sexual rut even man is dominated as by a magic influence, and forthe time he sees the world only under the aspect inspired by thisinfluence. The object loved appears to him under celestial colors, which veil all the defects and miseries of reality. Each moment of hisamorous feeling inspires sentiments which it seems to him should lasteternally. He swears impossible things and believes in immortalhappiness. A reciprocal illusion transforms life momentarily intomirages of paradise. The most common things, and even certain thingswhich usually disgust him, are then the object of the most violentdesire. But, as soon as the orgasm is ended and the appetite satisfiedthe feeling of satiety appears. A curtain falls on the scene, and, atleast for the moment, repose and reality reappear. 

Such are, in a few words, the general phenomena of the normal sexualappetite among sexual organisms in the whole of living nature. I amnot speaking here of degenerations, such as onanism and prostitution. Let us now analyze this appetite further. 

The natural appetites are inherited instincts the roots of which liefar back in the phylogenetic history of our ancestors. Hunger formsthe basis for the preservation of the individual, the sexual appetitethat for the preservation of the species, as soon as reproductiontakes place by separate sexes. All appetite belongs to the motor sideof nervous activity; there is something internal which urges us to anact, but, on the other hand, one or more sensations may exist at thebase of this something to put it in action. I have proved, forexample, that the egg-laying instinct in the corpse fly (_Luciliacæsar_) is only produced by the odor of putrefaction. As soon as theantennæ, which contain the organ of smell, are removed from theseflies they cease to lay, while other more severe operations, orremoval of one antenna only does not produce this result. 

The mechanism of appetites is thus a lower mechanism and has its seatin the primitive nervous centers. As _Yersin_ has proved, a cricketdeprived of its brain may copulate so long as the sensory irritationscan reach the sexual nervous centers. 

We can thus say that the mechanism of appetites belongs to automaticactions deeply inherited by phylogeny. Although complicated andcomposed of coördinated reflex movements which follow one another inregular succession, it has no actual power of modifying the so-calledvoluntary acts, which depend entirely on the cerebral hemispheres, andof which we men only have a conscious feeling. The appetites are notcapable of adapting themselves to new circumstances and cease to beproduced when the chain is interrupted. We are obliged to admit thatthe instincts or appetites are accompanied by a sub-consciousintrospection which, as such, can hardly enter into direct relationwith our higher consciousness, that is, with our ordinaryconsciousness in the waking state. 

In spite of this, when their intensity increases, the appetitesovercoming the central nervous resistances, reach the cerebralhemispheres, and consequently our introspection or higherconsciousness, under a _synthetic or unified appearance_, andinfluence in a high degree the cerebral activities, which arereflected in association with all the elements of what we call ourmind in the proper sense of the term, that is to say, our intellect, sentiments and will. It is from this point of view that sexualappetite must be considered in order to make it comprehensible. Love, with all that appertains to it, belongs as such to our mind, that is, to the activity of our cerebral hemispheres, but it is produced thereby a secondary irradiation from the sexual appetite, which aloneconcerns us at present. We may also remark that sexual ideas when onceawakened in the cerebral hemispheres by sexual appetite, are worked upthere by the attention, that is to say by concentrated cerebralactivity, then associated with other ideas, which on their side reactstrongly on the sexual appetite, developing or paralyzing it, attracting or repelling it, or finally transforming its attributes andobjects. 

By sexual desire (libido sexualis) we mean the manner in which thesexual appetite manifests itself in man. Each term may be employed forthe other. 

=The Sexual Appetite in Man. =--Man represents the active element insexual union, and in him the sexual appetite, or desire for coitus, isat first the stronger. This desire develops spontaneously, and therole of fecundator represents the principal male activity. Thisappetite powerfully affects the male mind, although sexual life playsa less important part in him than in the female. 

In boys, the sexual appetite is often prematurely awakened, excited inunnatural ways by bad example. Moreover, it varies enormously indifferent individuals, a point to which we shall return when dealingwith pathology. Leaving aside unnatural appetites and abnormal formsof sexual instinct we shall describe here its most spontaneous andnormal form. 

=Puberty. Awakening of the Sexual Instinct in Boys. =--Sooner or laterin different individuals, the boy pays attention to his erections, which are at first produced in a reflex and involuntary manner. Mental development and reflection, so precocious in man, are causeswhich draw attention to the differences of the sexes before the sexualappetite is developed. It is, however, the first signs of thisappetite which concentrate the attention on these differences, for intheir absence, the boy is more indifferent to them than to thestraight or crooked form of a nose. Man has the habit of passing bywithout notice anything which does not interest him, and this is whywe find, in individuals whose sexual appetite is developed late orfeebly, an indifference and ignorance in these matters which appearalmost incredible to those whose sexual appetite is precocious andviolent; while, on the contrary, the lively interest which the lattershow in everything concerning the sexes appears foolish and absurd tothe sexually indifferent. 

The pairing of animals, even of insects, awakens a curious interest inthose whose sexual dispositions are strong and precocious; theycomprehend very quickly the reason and are led to draw analogies withtheir own sensations in the same domain. The aspect of the female sexhas, however, a much stronger action still on the normal man. But hereis produced a peculiar phenomenon. What especially excites the boy inthe aspect of the female sex is anything unusual; the sight of certainparts of the skin which are normally covered, the clothes orornaments, particular odors, women whom the boy is not accustomed tosee, etc. It is for this reason that brothers and sisters do notexcite, or excite very little, their reciprocal sexual appetite, atleast if there are no anomalies or exceptional exhibitions. The sexualappetites of boys among savage peoples who live naked is hardly at allexcited by naked girls; on the other hand, it is strongly excited bythose who are clothed or ornamented in a peculiar manner. The sexualappetite of a Mahometan is strongly excited by the nudity of thefeminine face, that of the European by that of a woman's legs, becausewomen are accustomed to veil their faces in the first case and theirlegs in the second. These are naturally only relative differences. When the sexual appetite of man is violent and unsatisfied womanexcites it in a general way, if she is not too old or repulsive. 

A second important character of the normal sexual appetite is thespecial attraction that appearances of health and strength in womanproduce in man. Healthy forms, normal odors, a normal voice, a skinhealthy in appearance and to the touch, constitute attractions whichcharm and excite man, while all that is unhealthy or faded, everypathological odor, produce a repulsive effect and hinders ordiminishes sexual desire. 

Everything connected with the sexual organs, their appearance, touchand odor, tend to excite the sexual appetite, all the more when theyare usually covered; it is the same with the breasts. 

The first sexual sensations are of a quite indeterminate nature;something unconscious and obscure inclines the boy toward the femalesex and makes it appear desirable. A boy may thus become enamored ofthe portrait of a woman with a swelling bosom and alluring eyes and beseized with desire, either at their sight or only on remembrance. Thisdesire is not concentrated especially on the sexual act, as with anadult who is already experienced in these matters; it is moregeneralized and vague, although sensual. 

For a long time, these repeated aspirations, impulses and desires, remain unsatisfied. In different individuals the imaginationassociates the most diverse images with such manifestations of thesexual appetite. The objects of the latter appear in dreams andprovoke nocturnal erections. The boy soon remarks a sensorylocalization of his appetites in his sexual organs, especially in theglans penis, but also in the surrounding parts, and the known or onlyvaguely defined image of the female sexual organs, which is hardlypresent at the first appearance of his desires, begin to excite himmore and more. 

In natural or savage man, as well as in animals, the boy then makesattempts at coitus and soon attains his object, for, in the state ofnature, man marries as soon as puberty is attained. 

=Nocturnal Emissions. =--In civilized man such difficulties are opposedto marriage, that he replaces it by prostitution, or by more or lessunnatural means, as soon as his sexual appetite becomes strong. Inthose who abstain, the images produced by sexual excitation, combinedwith erections, act more strongly during sleep than waking andproduce ejaculations of semen called nocturnal emissions orpollutions. These generally occur during erotic dreams, and as thedreams produce the illusion of real perception, in quality as well asin intensity, it is not surprising that they are followed by an orgasmand ejaculation of semen. 

=Masturbation. =--In the waking state the unsatisfied sexual appetitemay produce such excitation that the boy applies friction to the glanspenis, which cause voluptuous sensations. As soon as he has made thisdiscovery he repeats the act and provokes ejaculation of semenartificially. Thus arises the bad habit of masturbation or onanism, ahabit which is both depressing and exhausting, which takes anincreasing hold on those who practice it. Although from the purelymechanical point of view masturbation causes a more normal ejaculationthan nocturnal emissions, which are often interrupted by awakening andthe vanishing of the dream which produced them, it has a much moreharmful effect, by its frequency and especially by its depressingaction on sentiment and will. We shall return to this subject inChapter VIII. 

The accumulation of semen in the seminal vesicles strongly excites thesexual appetite of man, and he is momentarily satisfied by theirevacuation. But we shall soon see that this purely organic ormechanical excitation, which seems at first to be only adapted fornatural wants, does not in man play the principal role. We can easilyunderstand that it cannot be the principal moving power of the sexualact. In fact, for any of the animals in which copulation occurs, thepossibility of accomplishing this is not connected solely with theaccumulation of semen, for it depends on obtaining a female. It isnecessary, therefore, for the accumulated semen to wait, and for theperception of the female by the aid of the senses to excite the maleto coitus. 

=External Signs of the Sexual Appetite. =--Like every other desire thesexual appetite betrays itself by the physionomy. This consists in theplay of cerebral activity, that is the thoughts, sentiments andresolutions, on the muscles by means of motor nerves and nervecenters. It is not limited to the face but extends to the whole body. The abdomen, the hands and even the feet have their physionomy; thatof the muscles of the face and eyes is, however, the most active andmost expressive. Sexual desire betrays itself in looks, by theexpression of the face and by certain movements in the presence of thefemale sex. Men differ greatly in the way in which they betray or hidetheir sentiments and thoughts by the play of their muscles, so thatthe inner self is not always reflected without. Moreover, theexpression of sexual desire by the play of the physionomy may beconfounded with that of other sentiments, so that one who appearslibidinous is not always so in reality, and inversely. 

=Continence in Man. =--Abstinence or sexual continence is by no meansimpracticable for a normal young man of average constitution, assiduous in intellectual and physical work, abstaining from allartificial excitations, especially from all narcotics and alcohol inparticular, for these substances paralyze the judgment and will. Whensexual maturity is complete, that is after about twenty years, continence is usually facilitated by nocturnal emissions accompaniedby corresponding dreams. The health does not suffer from these in anyway. However, in the long run this state cannot be considered asnormal, especially when there is no hope of it coming to an end in areasonable time. What is much more abnormal are the numerousartificial sexual excitations that civilization brings with it. 

=Sexual Power. =--The individual variations in the sexual instinct areenormous, and may be said to vary from zero to an intense andperpetual excitation called _Satyriasis_. By sexual power isunderstood the faculty of accomplishing coitus. This power in thefirst place requires strong and complete erections, as well as thefaculty of following them by frequent seminal ejaculations, withoutbeing precipitate. Impotence or incapacity for coitus belongs topathology and consists usually in the absence or defectiveness oferections. Sexual power and appetite generally go together, but notalways, for it is possible to be powerful with feeble sexual appetite, and intense appetite sometimes goes with impotence; the lattercondition, it is true, is pathological. Sexual power also varies somuch in individuals that it is hardly possible to fix a limit betweenthe normal and the pathological. 

The sexual power and appetite in man are strongest on the averagebetween 20 and 40 years, especially between 25 and 35. But, whileyoung men of 18 to 20 years or more may be still tranquil, withouthaving had seminal ejaculations, one often finds, among races whomature earlier, boys of 12 or 16 who are fully developed both insexual power and appetite. In our Aryan races, however, when thisoccurs before the age of 14, it is a case of pathological precocity. The late appearance of sexual power and appetite is rather a sign ofstrength and health. 

After the age of 40, the sexual power slowly diminishes, and after theseventieth year, or even before this, becomes extinct. Exceptionallyone finds old men of 80 who are still capable. Normally the sexualappetite diminishes with age; often, however, especially when it isartificially excited, it lasts longer than sexual power. 

As regards sexual power we must distinguish between that of copulationand that of fecundation. The power may exist without the latter, whenthe testicles have ceased to functionate, while the other glands, inparticular the prostate, second the venereal orgasm by theirsecretion, when the power of erection is still preserved. Inversely, the testicles may contain healthy spermatozoa in the impotent. In thiscase artificial fecundation by the syringe is practicable. 

=Individual Variations in Sexual Power. =--The fact that there are menwho for several years can copulate several times a day proves to whatextent sexual power varies in man. Sexual excitation and desire maysometimes attain such a degree that they are repeated a few minutesafter ejaculation. It is not rare for a man to perform coitus ten orfifteen times in a single night, in brothels and elsewhere, althoughsuch excess borders on the domain of pathology. I know a case in whichcoitus was performed thirty times. I was once consulted by an oldwoman of 65 who complained of the insatiable sexual appetite of herhusband, aged 73! He awakened her every morning at three o'clock tohave connection, before going to work. Not content with this, herepeated the performance every evening and often also after themid-day meal. Inversely, I have seen healthy looking husbands, at theage of greatest sexual power, accuse themselves of excess for havingcohabited with their wives once a month or less. The reformer, _Luther_, who was a practical man, laid down the average rule of twoor three connections a week in marriage, at the time of highest sexualpower. I may say that my numerous observations as a physician havegenerally confirmed this rule, which seems to me to conform very wellto the normal state to which man has become gradually adapted duringthousands of years. 

Husbands who would consider this average as an imprescriptible rightwould, however, make wrong pretensions, for it is quite possible for anormal man to contain himself much longer, and it is his duty to doso, not only when his wife is ill, but also during menstruation andpregnancy. 

The question of sexual relations during pregnancy is more difficult, on account of its long duration. In this case caution is necessary, but total abstinence from sexual connection is, in my opinion, superfluous. 

=The Desire of Change in Man. =--A peculiarity of the sexual appetitein man, which is fatal for society, is his desire for change. Thisdesire is not only one of the principal causes of polygamy, but alsoof prostitution and other analogous organizations. It arises from thewant of sexual attraction in what one is accustomed to and from thestronger excitation produced by all that is new; a phenomenon of whichwe have spoken above. On the average, woman has a hereditarydisposition which is much more monogamous than man. The sexualappetite thus loses its intensity from the prolonged habit ofconnection with the same woman, but, becomes much more intense withother women, if not in all men at any rate in most. Such desires maygenerally be overcome by the aid of a true and noble love, and bysentiments of duty and fidelity toward the family and toward arespected wife. We cannot, however, deny that they exist, nor thatthey are the cause of the worst excesses, and the most violent scenes, often with a tragic result. We shall return to this subject later. 

=Excitation and Cooling of the Sexual Appetite. =--Without touching thedomain of pathology, I must again dwell on the great individualdiversity of the objects of the male sexual appetite. It is usuallyyoung but mature female forms of healthy appearance, and especiallythe sight of the nudity of certain parts of the body which are usuallycovered, particularly the breasts and sexual organs, which moststrongly excite the sexual appetite in man. It is the same with thecorresponding odors. The voice, the physionomy, the clothing and manyother details may also provoke his desires. There are, however, menwho are more excited by thin and pale women. 

Certain attributes excite one and not another; for instance, the hair, certain odors, certain forms of face, a certain fashion of clothing, the form of the breasts, etc. The peculiarities, which are absent inwomen with whom a man has been on familiar terms in his youth aregenerally those which attract the most. In sexual matters contraststend to mutual attraction. Thin people often become enamored of fat, short ones of long ones, and inversely. One cannot, however, fix anyrules. One often sees young men excited at the sight of women of olderage, and old men enamored of very young women, even of children. Allthese discrepancies constitute the more important points of origin ofsexual pathology. In spite of all, there still exist a great number oftranquil men with monogamous instincts and not fond of change. Lastly, we must not forget that super-abundant feeding and idleness exalt thesexual appetite and tend to polygamy, while hard work, especiallyphysical, and frugal diet diminish it. 

It is needless to say that the mental qualities react powerfully onthe sexual appetite. A quarrelsome temper, coldness and repulsion onthe part of a woman cool the desires of the man, while an ardentsexual desire on the part of the woman, her love and tenderness, tendto increase and maintain them. We are dealing here with purely animalsexual instinct, and we may state that the sexual appetite of womangenerally excites strongly that of man, and considerably increases hispleasure during coitus. There are, however, exceptions in the inversesense, in which coldness and disgust on the part of the woman excitethe passion of certain men, who have, however, no taste for libidinouswomen. All degrees are found in this domain. 

Active in the sexual act the man desires corresponding sentiments inthe woman. But, on the other hand, all want of natural reserve, anddelicate sentiment, and all cynical sexual provocation on the part ofa woman, produce in the normal man a repulsive effect. The normalwoman possesses an admirable instinct in these matters and knows howto betray her feelings in a sufficiently fine and delicate manner, soas not to hurt those of the man. 

A phenomenon, which we shall meet with in Chapter VIII, under the nameof _psychic impotence_, shows the powerful and disturbing interferenceof thoughts on the automatic action of instinctive sexual activity. Amomentary psychic impotence is not necessarily pathological. Whilevoluptuous sensations alternate during coitus with desire andcorresponding erotic representations, a sudden idea of theridiculousness of the situation, signs of pain or of bad temper in thewoman, the idea of impotence or of the real object of coitus; finally, anything which acts as a contrast to the sensations and impulses ofcoitus, may interrupt it, so that the voluptuous sensations and sexualappetite disappear and erection subsides. Voluntary efforts are oftenincapable of putting things right again. The charm is broken, and onlynew images and new sentiments associated instinctively with the sexualappetite can be reëstablished, by making the subconscious statepreponderate over the reasoning consciousness. 

=Influence of Modern Civilization. Pornography. =--Human sexuality hasbeen unfortunately perverted and in part grossly altered bycivilization, which has even developed it artificially in apathological sense. The point has been reached of considering asnormal, relations which are in reality absolutely abnormal. Forexample, it is maintained that prostitution produces normal coitus inman. How can this term be seriously employed in speaking of connectionwith a prostitute who is absolutely indifferent to it, and who seeksonly to excite her clients artificially and to get their money, without mentioning venereal diseases which she so often presents themwith! Forgetful of the natural aim of the sexual appetite, civilization has transformed it into artificial enjoyment, and hasinvented all possible means to increase and diversify it. 

As far back as the history of civilization goes we see this state ofaffairs, and in this sense we are neither better nor worse than ourancestors. But we possess more diverse and more refined measures thanbarbarian peoples, and than our direct ancestors, to satisfy ourunwholesome desires. Modern art in particular often serves to exciteeroticism, and we must frankly admit that it often descends to thelevel of pornography. Hypocritical indignation against those who dareto say this often serves only to cover in the name of art the mostindecent excitants of eroticism. 

Photography and all the perfected methods of reproduction of pictures, the increasing means of travel which facilitate clandestine sexualrelations, the industrial art which ornaments our apartments, theincreasing luxury and comfort of dwellings, beds, etc. , are, at thepresent day, so many factors in the science of erotic voluptuousness. Prostitution itself has become adapted to all the pathologicalexcrescences of vice. In a word, the artificial culture of the humansexual appetite has given rise to a veritable high school ofdebauchery. The artistic and realistic representations of eroticsexual scenes, so widespread at the present day, are much more capableof exciting the sexual appetite than the crude and unnatural picturesof former days, when, however, erotic objects of art generallybelonged to a few rich persons or to museums. 

=Influence of Repeated Sexual Excitations. =--The artificial and variedrepetition of sexual excitation, by means of objects which provoke it, increases the sexual appetite. This cannot be doubted, for the law ofexercise is a general truth in the physiology of the nervous system. This law, which is also called the law of training, shows that everykind of nervous activity is increased by exercise. A man becomes aglutton by accustoming himself to eat too much, a good walker byexercising his legs. The habit of wearing fine clothes or of washingin cold water causes these things to become a necessity. Bycontinually occupying ourselves with a certain thing, we take a likingfor it and often become virtuosos. By always thinking of a disease weare led to imagine that we suffer from it. A melody too often repeatedoften becomes automatic and we whistle or hum it unconsciously. 

Inversely, inactivity weakens the effect of irritations whichcorrespond to it. By neglecting certain activities or the provocationof certain sensations, these diminish in intensity, and we cease moreand more to be affected by them. We become idle when we are inactive, for the cerebral resistance accumulates, and idleness renders therenewal of the corresponding activity more difficult. It is notsurprising, therefore, to find this law in the phenomena of the sexualappetite, which diminishes with abstinence and increases with repeatedexcitation and satisfaction. However, another force, that of theaccumulation of semen in the seminal vesicles, associated with an oldnatural inherited instinct, often counteracts the law of exercise ofthe nervous system, as the empty stomach excites the instinct ofnutrition. But, however imperious the hunger, and howeverindispensable its satisfaction for the maintenance of life, this doesnot impair the truth of the old saying, "Appetite comes by eating. "

The exaggerated desire for sleep experienced by idle people is ananalogous phenomenon. Although sufficient sleep is a necessity forhealthy and productive cerebral activity, an exaggerated desire forsleep may be artificially developed. 

These phenomena are of fundamental importance in the question of thesexual appetite. Here, the well-known axiom of moderation which says, "Abuse does not exclude use" finds its application. An Englishcommentator on _Cicero_ erroneously attributes to him the following:"True moderation consists in the absolute domination of the passionsand appetites, as well as all wrong desires, by reason. It exactstotal abstinence from all things which are not good and which are notof an absolutely innocent character. " This definition is excellent, although it is not _Cicero's_. It excludes, for example, the use of atoxic substance such as alcohol, which is not a natural food, but notthe moderate satisfaction of the sexual appetite which is normallyintended for the preservation of the species, for this satisfactionmay be good or bad, normal or vicious, innocent or criminal, accordingto circumstances. In this connection, the application of the rightmeasure, and choice of the appropriate object raise delicate andcomplicated questions. So-called moral sermons lead to nothing in thisdomain. 

After numerous personal observations made on very diverse individualswho have consulted me with regard to sexual questions, I think I canaffirm that when a man wishes to be loyal to himself he is generallyable to distinguish between natural desire and artificial excitationof the sexual appetite. To be pursued and tormented by sexual imagesand desires, even when striving against them, and when the legitimateand normal occasion to satisfy them is absent, is not the same thingas to pass the time in inventing means of artificial excitement topleasure and orgy while leading an idle and egoistic life. I speakhere of the normal man and not of certain pathological states in whichthe sexual appetite takes the character of a perpetual obsession, evenagainst the will of the patient. By serious and persevering work andby avoiding all means of excitation, the sexual appetite can usuallybe kept within the bounds of moderation. 

We have mentioned above pornographic art as one of the means whichartificially excite the sexual appetite. Along with the interestedexploitation of the habit of taking alcoholic drinks, exploitation ofthe sexual appetite constitutes one of the largest fields of what maybe called _social brigandage_. Besides pornographic pictures, theprincipal means employed to artificially excite the sexual weaknessesof man are the following:

_Pornographic novels_ in which sexual desire is excited by all theartifice of the novelist, and in which the illustrations often rivalthose we have just spoken of to seduce the purchaser. 

_Alcohol_ which, by paralyzing the judgment and will as well as moralinhibitory sentiments, excites the sexual appetite and renders itgrossly impulsive. Its first fumes make man enterprising, and he fallsan easy prey to proxenetism and prostitution, although it soon weakensthe sexual power. 

But it is the modern arsenal of _prostitution_ which plays theprincipal role. The proxenets (pimps) exploit both the sexualappetites of men and the weakness and venality of women. Their chiefsource of gain consisting in the artificial excitation of the malesexual appetite by all possible means, their art consists in dressingtheir merchandise, the prostitutes, with attractive refinement, especially when dealing with rich clients who pay well. It is on thissoil that are cultivated the most disgusting artifices, intended toexcite even the most pathological appetites. 

Other causes are added to lucre, or are the consequences of it. A boyled to masturbation by pornographic pictures, or by the seduction of acorrupted individual, becomes in his turn the seducer of his comrades. Certain libidinous and unscrupulous women have often persuadedadolescents and schoolboys to sleep with them, thus awakeningprecocious and unhealthy sexual appetites. 

Such habits which excite the sexual appetite and cause it todegenerate artificially, develop in their turn a mode of sexualboasting in men, the effects of which are deplorable. To appear manly, the boy thinks he ought to have a cigar in his mouth, even if it makeshim sick. In the same way the spirit of imitation leads youth toprostitution. The fear of not doing as the others and especially theterror of ridicule constitute a powerful lever which is abused andexploited. Fearing mockery, a youth is the more easily seduced by badexample the less he is put on guard by parents or true friends. Instead of explaining to him in time, seriously and affectionately, the nature of sexual connection, its effects and dangers, he isabandoned to the chance of the worst seductions. 

In this way the sexual appetite is not only artificially increased andoften directed into unnatural channels, but also leads to thepoisoning and ruin of youth by venereal diseases, to say nothing ofalcoholism. 

We have referred especially to educated youth, but the youth of thelower classes are perhaps in a still worse condition, owing to thepromiscuity of their life in miserable dwellings. They often witnesscoitus between their parents, or are themselves trained in evil waysfor purposes of exploitation. 

It is astonishing that the results of such abominable deviation of thesexual appetite are not worse. No doubt excesses disturb the ties ofmarriage and of the family, and often provoke impotence and otherdisorders of the sexual functions. It must, however, be admitted thattheir satellites, the venereal diseases, and their most commoncompanion, alcoholism, are in reality the greatest destroyers ofhealth, and make much more considerable ravages in society than theartificial increase and abnormal deviations of the sexual appetiteitself. However, the latter by themselves very often poison the mindand social morality, as we shall have occasion to see. 

Immoderate sexual desire, provoked in men by the artificialexcitations of prostitution, etc. , is a bad acquisition. It rendersdifficult the accustomance to marriage, fidelity and ideal andlife-long love for the same woman. It is true, that many old _roués_and _habitués_ of brothels later on become faithful husbands andfathers, especially when they have had the luck to escape venerealdisease. 

But whoever looks behind the scenes may soon convince himself that thehappiness of most unions of this kind is very relative. Thedegradation of the sexual sentiment of a man who has long beenaccustomed to live with prostitutes is never entirely effaced, andgenerally leaves indelible traces in the human brain. 

I readily admit that a man with good hereditary dispositions, who hasonly yielded for a short time to seductive influences, may be reformedby a true and profound love. But even in him, excesses leave traceswhich later on may easily lead him astray when he becomes tired of themonotony of conjugal relations with the same woman. On the other hand, we must also recognize that sexual relations in themselves, even inmarriage, create a habit which often urges a married man toextra-nuptial coitus, even when he had remained continent beforemarriage. 

The tricks which are played on a man by his sexual appetite, especially by his polygamous instincts, must not, however, beconfounded with the systematic, artificial and abnormal training ofthe same appetite. The physical and psychic attractions of a woman arecapable of completely diverting the sexual desires of a man from theirprimary object, and of directing them on the siren who captivates hissenses. The elements of the sexual appetite here form an inextricablemixture with those of love, and constitute the inexhaustible theme ofnovels and most true and sensational love stories. 

Hereditary pathological dispositions play a considerable role in manycases of this kind. Also, marriages of sudden and passionate love (weare not dealing here with love marriages concluded after sufficientreflection and deep mutual acquaintanceship) are not more stable thanthe so-called "_mariages de convenance_, " for passionate natures, usually more or less pathological, are apt to fall from one extreme tothe other. The power exercised by sexual passion in such cases isterrible. It produces conditions that may lead to suicide orassassination. In men whose power of reason is neither strong norindependent, opinions and conceptions are frequently changed; love maychange to hatred and hatred to love, the sentiment of justice may leadto injustice, the loyal man may become a liar, etc. In fact the sexualappetite is let loose like a hurricane in the brain and becomes thedespot of the whole mind. The sexual passion has often been comparedto drunkenness or to mental disease. Even in its mildest forms itoften renders the husband incapable of sexual connection with hiswife. 

For example, a man may cherish, respect and even adore his wife, andyet her presence and touch may not appeal to his senses, nor excitehis appetite or erection; while some low-minded woman will produce inhim an irresistible sensual attraction, even when he experiencesneither esteem nor love for her. In such cases sexual appetite is inmore or less radical opposition to love. Such extreme phenomena arenot rare, but hardly common. Although excited to coitus with the womanin question, the husband would not in any case have her for wife, noreven have children by her, for after the slightest reflection hedespises and fears her. Here, the sexual appetite represents the oldatavistic animal instinct, attracted by libidinous looks, exuberantcharms, in a word by the sensual aspect of woman. 

On the contrary, in a higher domain of the human mind, the sentimentsof sympathy of true love, deeply associated with fidelity, and withintellectual and moral intimacy, unite against the elementary power ofthe animal instinct. Here we see dwelling in the same breast (or, tospeak more correctly, in the same central nervous system) two souls, which struggle with each other. 

We are not dealing here with cases in which a new passion arrives toturn the man from his old affection. No doubt the extreme cases ofwhich we have spoken are not usual, but we see in most men more orless considerable mixtures of analogous sentiments in all possibledegrees, especially when the woman loved loses her physicalattractions from age or other causes. 

=The Procreative Instinct. =--The sexual appetite of man does notconsist exclusively in the desire for coitus. In many cases it iscombined, more or less strongly and more or less consciously, with thedesire to procreate children. Unfortunately, this desire is far frombeing always associated with higher sentiments and with love ofchildren or the paternal instinct. In fact, conscious reasoning playsa smaller part than the animal instinct of self-expansion. We shallsee later on that the procreative instinct often plays an importantrole in our present civilization. 

=The Sexual Appetite in Woman. =--In the sexual act the role of thewoman differs from that of the man not only by being passive, but alsoby the absence of seminal ejaculations. In spite of this the analogiesare considerable. The erection of the clitoris and its voluptuoussensations, the secretion from the glands of _Bartholin_ whichresembles ejaculation in the male, the venereal orgasm itself whichoften exceeds in intensity that of man, are phenomena which establishharmony in sexual connection. 

Although the organic phenomenon of the accumulation of semen in theseminal vesicles is absent in woman, there is produced in the nervecenters, after prolonged abstinence, an accumulation of sexual desirecorresponding to that of man. A married woman confessed to me, when Ireproached her for being unfaithful to her husband, that she desiredcoitus at least once a fortnight, and that when her husband was notthere, she took the first comer. No doubt the sentiments of this womanwere hardly feminine, but her sexual appetite was relatively normal. 

=Frequency of the Sexual Appetite in Woman. =--As regards pure sexualappetite, extremes are much more common and more considerable in womanthan in man. In her this appetite is developed much less oftenspontaneously than in him, and where it is so, it is generally later. Voluptuous sensations are usually only awakened by coitus. 

In a considerable number of women the sexual appetite is completelyabsent. For these, coitus is a disagreeable, often disgusting, or atany rate an indifferent act. What is more singular, at least formasculine comprehension, and what gives rise to the most frequent"quid pro quos, " is the fact that such women, absolutely cold asregards sexual sensations, are often great coquettes, over-excitingthe sexual appetites of man, and have often a great desire for loveand caresses. This is more easy to understand if we reflect that theunsatiated desires of the normal woman are less inclined toward coitusthan toward the assemblage of consequences of this act, which are soimportant for her whole life. When the sight of a certain man awakesin a young girl sympathetic desires and transports, she aspires toprocreate children with this man only, to give herself to him as aslave, to receive his caresses, to be loved by him only, that he maybecome both the support and master of her whole life. It is a questionof general sentiments of indefinite nature, of a powerful desire tobecome a mother and enjoy domestic comfort, to realize a poetic andchivalrous ideal in man, to gratify a general sensual need distributedover the whole body and in no way concentrated in the sexual organs orin the desire for coitus. 

=Nature of the Sexual Appetite in Woman. =--The zone of sexualexcitation is less specially limited to the sexual organs in womanthan in man. The nipples constitute in her an entire zone and theirfriction excites voluptuousness. If we consider the importance in thelife of woman, of pregnancy, suckling, and all the maternal functions, we can understand why the mixture of her sentiments and sensations isso different from that of man. Her smaller stature and strength, together with her passive role in coitus, explain why she aspires to astrong male support. This is simply a question of natural phylogeneticadaptation. This is why a young girl sighs for a courageous, strongand enterprising man, who is superior to her, whom she is obliged torespect, and in whose arms she feels secure. Strength and skill in manare the ideal of the young savage and uncultured girl, hisintellectual and moral superiority that of the young cultivated girl. 

As a rule women are much more the slaves of their instincts and habitsthan men. In primitive peoples, hardiness and boldness in men werequalities which made for success. This explains why, even at thepresent day, the boldest and most audacious Don Juans excite moststrongly the sexual desires of women, and succeed in turning the headsof most young girls, in spite of their worst faults in other respects. Nothing is more repugnant to the feminine instinct than timidity andawkwardness in man. In our time women become more and moreenthusiastic over the intellectual superiority of man, which excitestheir desire. Without being indifferent to it, simple bodily beauty inman excites the appetite of women to a less extent. It is astonishingto see to what point women often become enamored of old, ugly ordeformed men. We shall see later on that the normal woman is much moreparticular than man in giving her love. While the normal man isgenerally attracted to coitus by nearly every more-or-less young andhealthy woman, this is by no means the case in the normal woman withregard to man. She is also much more constant than man from the sexualpoint of view. It is rarely possible for her to experience sexualdesire for several men at once; her senses are nearly always attractedto one lover only. 

The instinct of procreation is much stronger in woman than in man, andis combined with the desire to give herself passively, to play thepart of one who devotes herself, who is conquered, mastered andsubjugated. These negative aspirations form part of the normal sexualappetite of woman. 

A peculiarity of the sexual sentiments of woman is an ill-definedpathological phenomenon with normal sensations, a phenomenon which inman, on the contrary, forms a very marked contrast with the latter; Irefer to the _homosexual_ appetite, in which the object is anindividual of the same sex. Normally, the adult man produces onanother man an absolutely repulsive effect from the sexual point ofview; it is only pathological subjects, or those excited by sexualprivation who are affected with sensual desires for other men. But inwoman a certain sensual desire for caresses, connected more or lesswith unconscious and ill-defined sexual sensations, is not limited tothe male sex but extends to other women, to children, and even toanimals, apart from pathologically inverted sexual appetites. Youngnormal girls often like to sleep together in the same bed, to caressand kiss each other, which is not the case with normal young men. Inthe male sex such sensual caresses are nearly always accompanied andprovoked by sexual appetite, which is not the case in women. As wehave already seen, man may separate true love from the sexual appetiteto such an extent that two minds, each feeling in a different way, mayinhabit the same brain. A man may be a loving and devoted husband andat the same time satisfy his animal appetites with prostitutes. Inwoman, such sexual dualism is much more rare and always unnatural, thenormal woman being much less capable than man of separating love fromsexual appetite. 

These facts explain the singular caprices of the sexual appetite andorgasm in the normal woman, in whom these phenomena are not easilyproduced without love. 

The same woman who loves one man and not another is susceptible tosexual appetite and voluptuous sensations when she cohabits with thefirst, while she is often absolutely cold and insensible to the mostpassionate embraces of the second. This fact explains the possibilityof prostitution as it exists among women. The worst prostitutes, whohave connection with innumerable paying clients without feeling theleast pleasure, generally have a "protector" with whom they areenamored and to whom they devote all their love and sincere orgasms, all the time allowing themselves to be plundered and exploited by him. 

What the normal woman requires from man is love, tenderness, a firmsupport for life, a certain chivalrous nature, and children. She canrenounce the voluptuous sensations of coitus infinitely more easilythan the exigencies I have just indicated, which are for her theprincipal things. Nothing makes a woman more indignant than theindifference of her husband, when, for instance, he treats her simplyas a housekeeper. Some have maintained that the average woman is moresensual than man, others that she is less so. Both these statementsare false: she is sensual _in another manner_. 

All the peculiarities of the sexual appetite in woman are thus thecombined product of: (1) the profound influence of the sexualfunctions on her whole existence; (2) her passive sexual role; (3) herspecial mental faculties. By these, and more especially by her passivesexual role, are explained her instinctive coquettishness, her love offiery and personal adornment, in a word her desire to please men byher external appearance, by her looks, movements and grace. Thesephenomena betray the instinctive sexual desires of the young girl, which as we have just seen, do not normally correspond to a directdesire for coitus. 

While a virgin experiences in her youth the sensations we have justdescribed, things change after marriage, and as a general rule afterrepeated sexual connections. If these do not provoke voluptuoussensations in some women, they do in the majority, and this is nodoubt the normal state of affairs. Habit, then, produces an increasingdesire for coitus and its sensations, and it is not rare, in thecourse of a long life in common, for the roles to be reversed and thewoman become more libidinous than the man. This partly explains why somany widows are anxious to remarry. They easily attain their object, as men quickly succumb to the sexual desire of woman when it isexpressed in an unequivocal manner. 

In widows, two strong sentiments struggle against each other, withvariable results in different individuals; on the one hand, feminineconstancy in love, and the memory of the deceased; on the other hand, the acquired habit of sexual connection and its voluptuous sensations, which leaves a void and appeals for compensation. The sexual appetitebeing equal, the first sentiment prevails generally in religious womenor those of a deeply moral or sentimental character, while the secondprevails in women of more material or less-refined nature, or in thosesimply guided by their reason. In these internal struggles, the moredelicate sentiments and the stronger will of the woman result from thefact that when she wishes she can overcome her appetites much betterthan man. But, in spite of this, the power of the sexual appetiteplays an important part in the inward struggle we have just mentioned. When this appetite is absent there is no struggle, and the widow'sconduct is dictated either by her own convenience, or by the instinctwhich naturally leads a woman to yield to the amorous advances of aman. 

At the critical age, that is the time when menstruation ceases, neither the sexual appetite nor voluptuous sensations disappear, although desire diminishes normally as age advances. In this respectit is curious to note that old women possess no sexual attraction formen, while they often feel libidinous desires almost as strongly asyoung women. This is a kind of natural anomaly. 

As we have already stated, individual differences in the sexualappetite are much greater in woman than in man. Some women areextremely excitable, and from their first youth experience violentsexual desire, causing them to masturbate or to throw themselves ontomen. Such women are usually polyandrous by nature, although the sexualappetite in woman is normally much more monogamous than that of man. Such excesses in woman take on a more pathological character than inman, and go under the name of _nymphomania_. The insatiability ofthese females, who may be met with in all classes of society, maybecome fabulous. Night and day, with short interruptions for sleepingand eating, they are, in extreme cases, anxious for coitus. Theybecome less exhausted than men, because their orgasm is notaccompanied by loss of semen. 

Although in the normal state woman is naturally full of delicacy andsentiments of modesty, nothing is easier than to make these disappearcompletely by training her systematically to sexual immodesty or toprostitution. Here we observe the effects of the routine andsuggestible character of feminine psychology, of the tendency of womanto become the slave of habit and custom, as well as of herperseverance when her determined will pursues a definite end. Prostitution gives us sad proofs of this fact. 

The psychology of prostitutes is very peculiar. Attempts to restorethem to a moral life nearly always fail hopelessly; it is rare to seethem permanently successful. Most of these women have a heredity ofbad quality and are of weak character, idle and libidinous. They findit much easier to gain their living by prostitution, and forget theirwork, if they have ever learned any. The poverty, drunkenness andshame which follow seduction and illegitimate birth have no doubtdriven more than one prostitute to her sad trade, but the naturallyevil dispositions of these women constitute without any doubt theprincipal cause. Alcohol, venereal diseases and bad habits, combinedwith continually repeated sexual degradation, afterwards determineprogressive decadence. 

Some of these women, however, of better quality, only surrenderthemselves to prostitution by compulsion; they suffer from thisexistence and strive to escape from it. The grisettes and lorettes[2]form a group intermediate between prostitution and natural love; theyare women who hire themselves for a time to one man in particular, andare maintained and paid by him in return for satisfying his sexualappetites. Here again, sexual desire only exceptionally plays thechief role. The conduct of these women results from their loosecharacter and pecuniary interest. 

If, therefore, we admit on the one hand that the sexual excesses ofthe female sex are especially grafted on hereditary disposition ofcharacter, or are primarily due to strong appetites, we are obliged onthe other hand to recognize that the great role played by sexuality inthe brain of woman renders it more difficult for her than for man toreturn to better ways when she has once prostituted herself, or whenshe has surrendered in any way to sexual licentiousness, even when heroriginal quality was not bad. 

In man the sexual appetite is much more easily separated than in womanfrom other instincts, sentiments and intellectual life in general, andpossesses in him, however powerful it may be, a much more transientcharacter, which prevents it dominating the whole mental life. 

I have dwelt so much on this point because it is essential to know thedifferences which exist between man and woman in this respect, and totake them into account if we wish to give a just and healthy judgmenton the sexual question from the social point of view. The more it isour duty to give the same rights to both sexes, the more absurd it isto disregard the profoundness of their differences and to imagine thatthese can ever be effaced. 

=Flirtation. =--If we look in an English dictionary for the meaning ofthe word _flirt_, we find it equivalent to coquetry. But this Englishterm has become fixed and modernized in another sense which has becomeinternational, to express the old idea of a series of well-knownphenomena which must be clearly distinguished from coquetry. 

Coquetry, an especially feminine attribute, is not in itself dependenton the sexual appetite; it is an indirect irradiation, purelypsychical, and we shall speak of it later on. Flirtation, as we nowunderstand the term, is directly connected with the sexual appetite, and constitutes its external impression in all the wealth of itsforms, as much in man as in woman. In a word, flirtation is apolymorphous language which clearly expresses the sexual desires of anindividual to the one who awakens these desires, actual coitus aloneexcepted. 

Flirtation may be practiced in a more or less unconscious manner. Itis by itself neither a psychic attribute nor sexual appetite, for ahuman being may so hide and overcome his appetites that no one remarksthem; and on the contrary, he may simulate sexual appetite withoutfeeling it, or at any rate behave in such a way as to excite it in hispartner. Flirtation thus consists in an activity calculated todisclose the eroticism of the subject as well as to excite that ofothers. It is needless to say that the nature of coquetry disposes toflirtation. 

Flirtation comprises all the sport of love, kisses, caresses and allkinds of sexual excitation even to orgasm, without reaching theconsummation of coitus. All degrees may be noted; and, according totemperament, flirtation may be limited to slight excitation of thesexual appetite or may extend to violent and rapidly increasingemissions. The considerable individual differences which exist insexual sensibility result in the same perception or the same acthaving little effect on one individual, while it excites another to ahigh degree. In the latter case, especially in man, flirtation mayeven lead to venereal orgasm without coitus, and even without anymanipulations which resemble it. A woman of exuberant form, assumingsensual and voluptuous attitudes, may thus provoke an ejaculation bythe slight and repeated friction of her dress against the penis of anexcitable dancer. 

The same thing often occurs when a passionate couple caress andembrace each other without the genital organs being touched or evenexposed. In this respect the woman is better protected than the man, but when she is very excitable an orgasm may be produced in her duringthe caresses of a passionate flirtation by the pressure or friction ofher legs against each other (a variety of masturbation in woman). 

As a rule, however, things do not go so far as this in flirtation. Thesight and touch are used alternately. The eyes play an important part, for they may express much and consequently act powerfully. A pressureof the hands, an apparently chance movement, touching the dress andthe skin, etc. , are the usual means of flirtation. In situations wherepeople are close together or pressed against each other, as in railwaycarriages, or at table, the legs play a well-known part, by pressureof the knees and feet. 

This dumb conversation of the sexual appetite begins at first in aprudent and apparently innocent manner, so that the acting party doesnot risk being taxed with impropriety; but as soon as he who began theflirtation perceives that his slight invitations are welcome he growsbolder, a tacit mutual agreement is established, and the gamecontinues without a single word betraying the reciprocal sensations. Many who practice flirtation, both men and women, avoid betrayingthemselves by words, and they take pleasure in this mutual excitationof their genital sensibility, however incomplete it may be. 

Flirtation may assume very different forms according to education andtemperament. The action of alcohol on the brain develops the coarsestforms of flirtation. Every one knows the clumsy embraces ofsemi-intoxicated persons which can often be seen at night or onSundays and holidays, in the street or in railway carriages, etc. Idesignate these by the term "alcoholic flirtation. " Even in the bestand most refined society flirtation loses its delicacy even under theeffect of the slightest degree of alcoholic intoxication. 

Flirtation assumes a more delicate and more complicated character, rendering it gracious and full of charm, in persons of highereducation, especially when they are highly intellectual or artistic. 

We must also mention the intellectual variety of flirtation which isnot expressed by sight or touch, but only by language. Delicateallusions to sexual matters and somewhat lascivious conversationexcite eroticism as much as looks and touch. According to theeducation of the persons concerned, this talk may be coarse andvulgar, or on the contrary refined and full of wit, managed with moreor less skill, or clumsily. Here the natural finesse of woman plays aconsiderable part. Men wanting in tact are clumsy and offensive intheir attempts at flirtation, and thus extinguish instead of excitingthe woman's eroticism. The manner in which alcoholic flirtationmanifests itself in cynical, dull, obtrusive and stupid conversation, corresponds to its other forms of expression. Woman desiresflirtation; but does not wish it to assume an unbecoming form. 

One can say anything to a woman; all depends on the way in which it issaid. I have seen lady doctors with whom one could discuss the mostticklish subjects, profoundly shocked by the misplaced pleasantries ofa tactless professor. In themselves these pleasantries were quiteinnocent for medical ears, as my lady colleagues were finally obligedto admit, when I pointed out to them the specially feminine characterof their psychic reaction, proving to them that they listened withouta frown to things ten times worse, when the lecturer gave them a moraltone. 

Men also generally feel disgusted with the dull, cynical or clumsyform of female eroticism, although they are not usually over-refinedthemselves in this respect. 

This last phenomenon leads us to distinguish between flirtation in manand in woman. For woman it constitutes the only permissible way ofexpressing erotic sentiments, and even then much restraint is imposedon her. Circumstances develop in her the art of flirtation and giveit remarkable finesse. Unless she exposes herself to great danger, woman can only leave her sensuality to be guessed. Every audacious andtactless provocation fails in its object; it drives away the men anddestroys a young girl's reputation. Even when possessed by the mostviolent erotic desire woman cannot ostensibly depart from her passiverole without compromising herself. Nevertheless, she succeeds on thewhole very easily in exciting the passions of man, by the aid of a fewartifices. No doubt she does not entirely dominate him by this means. She must be very delicate and adroit, at any rate at first, in theprovocative art of flirtation. These frivolities are greatlyfacilitated by her whole nature and by the character of her habitualeroticism. Man, on the other hand, may be more audacious in theexpression of his passion. This brings us back to what has been saidconcerning the sexual differences. 

A whole volume could be written on the forms of flirtation, which isthe indispensable expression of all sexual desire. Among engagedcouples it assumes a legal character and even a conventional form. Theway in which barmaids flirt with their customers is also somewhatconventional, although in quite a different way. In society, flirtation is generally seasoned with more Attic salt, whether it isnot allowed to exceed certain limits, or whether it leads to freeliaisons after the manner of the Greek hetaira. In the country, amongpeasant girls and boys it takes a grosser form, if not more sensual, than among the cultivated classes; in the latter, language takes theprincipal part. Among rich idlers in watering places, large hotels, and even in some sanatoriums, flirtation takes a dominant place andconstitutes, in all its degrees, the chief occupation of a greatnumber of the visitors. It grows like a weed wherever man has amonotonous occupation or suffers from the ennui of idleness. 

In certain individuals, flirtation takes the place of coitus from thesensual, and love from the sentimental point of view. There are moderncrazy natures who spend their existence in all kinds of artificialexcitation of the senses, creatures of both sexes incapable of auseful action. 

As a momentary and transient expression of all the necessities oflove, flirtation has a right to existence; but, when cultivated on itsown account and always remaining as flirtation, it becomes a symptomof degeneration or sexual depravity, among idle, crazy and viciouspersons of all kinds. 

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The terms _grisette_ and _lorette_ are now obsolete, and the namesgiven to this class of women constantly varies. I shall, nevertheless, employ them in the course of this work because they clearly definecertain special varieties of remunerated concubinage. 

CHAPTER V

LOVE AND OTHER IRRADIATIONS OF THE SEXUAL APPETITE IN THE HUMAN MIND

=Generalities. Jealousy. =--We have seen that the mechanism of theappetites consists in instincts inherited from our animal ancestors bymnemic engraphia and selection, and that it is situated in theprimordial or lower cerebral centers (basal ganglia, spinal cord, etc. ). In some of the lower animals we already find other instinctivenervous reactions which constitute the indirect effects or derivativesof the sexual appetite. The most evident of these is _jealousy_, orthe feeling of grief and anger produced in an individual when theobject of his sexual appetite is disputed by another individual of thesame sex. Jealousy may also arise from other instincts, such as thoseof nutrition, ambition, etc. ; but it forms one of the most typicalcomplements of the sexual appetite, and leads, as we know, to furiouscombats, especially between males, sometimes also between females. 

Owing to its profoundly hereditary origin, this passion has a veryinstinctive character, and might quite as well have been mentioned inthe preceding chapter. I deal with it here because it is naturallyassociated with other irradiations of the sexual appetite, and becauseit has a peculiarly mental character. 

=Relation Between Love and Sexual Appetite. Sympathy. =--Having enteredthe higher brain, or organ of mind, and become modified, complicated, and combined with the different branches of psychic activity, thesexual appetite takes the name of _love_, properly so-called. In orderto better understand the relations of love to the sexual appetite wemust refer to Chapter II. Let us begin with a short exposition of thephylogeny of the sentiments of sympathy, or the altruistic and socialsentiments. 

In the lower animals with no separate sexes egoism reigns absolutely. Each individual eats as much as it wants, then divides, buds orconjugates, thus fulfilling the sole object of its existence. The sameprinciple holds in the lower stages of reproduction by separate sexes. Spiders give us a good example. In these, copulation is a dangerousact for the male, for if he is not extremely careful he is devoured bythe female, sometimes even before having attained his object, oftensoon afterward, in order that nothing may be lost. However, the femaleshows a certain consideration for her eggs, and sometimes even for theyoung after they are hatched. 

In higher stages of the animal kingdom sentiments of sympathy may beobserved, derived from the sexual union of individuals. These aresentiments of attachment of the male for the female, and especially ofthe female (sometimes the male also) for their progeny. 

Such sentiments become developed and may be transformed into intenselove between the sexes, of long duration. Birds, for instance, oftenremain faithful for many years, and even for life. From these simplefacts is evolved the intimate relationship which exists between sexuallove and other sentiments of sympathy, that is to say affection, orlove in the more vague and more extended sense of the term. 

To every sentiment of sympathy between two individuals (sympathy formspart of the sentiments of pleasure) there is a corresponding contrarycorrelative sentiment of grief, when the object of sympathy dies, becomes sick, takes flight or is carried off. This sentiment oftentakes the form of simple sadness, but it may attain a degree ofincurable melancholy. Among certain monkeys and parrots, we often seethe death of one of the conjoints lead to the refusal of all food andfinally to death of the survivor, after increasing sadness anddepression. Removal of the young produces a profound sadness in thefemale ape. But when an animal discovers the cause of the grief, when, for instance, a stranger attempts to take away his mate or his young, a mixed reaction of sentiment is produced, that is to say anger oreven fury against the perpetrator of the deed. 

Jealousy is only a special form of this anger. The sentiment of angerand its violent and hostile expression constitute the natural reactionagainst one who disturbs a sentiment of pleasure, a reaction whichtends to reëstablish the latter. The power of the sentiment of angerincreases with the offensive and defensive faculties, while, in weakand peaceful beings, terror and sadness to a great extent take theirplace. On the other hand, the sight of defenseless prey suffices toprovoke, in the rapacious who are strong and well armed, by simplereflex association, a cruel sentiment of voluptuous anger, which isalso observed in man. 

=Sentiment of Duty. =--Another derivative of the sentiment of sympathyis that of _duty_, that is the moral sense. All sentiment of love orsympathy urges the one who loves to certain acts destined to increasethe welfare of the object loved. This is why the mother nourishes heryoung and plucks feathers and hairs to make them a soft bed; and whythe father brings food to his wife and young, and defends them againsttheir enemies. All these acts, which are not to the advantage of theindividual but to the object or objects of his sympathy, exact more orless laborious efforts, courage in the face of danger, etc. They thusprovoke an internal struggle between the sentiment of sympathy andegoism, or the unpleasantness of undertaking things which aretroublesome and disagreeable for the individual himself. From thisstruggle between two opposed series of sentiments is derived a thirdgroup of complex or mixed sentiments, that of duty, or _moralconscience_. When the sentiment of sympathy prevails, when the animaldoes his duty toward his young and his conjoint, he feels a sentimentof pleasure, of duty accomplished. If, on the contrary, he has beennegligent, the egoistic instincts having for the moment prevailed, theremorse of conscience results, that is the painful uneasiness whichfollows all disobedience to the instinctive sentiments of sympathy. This uneasiness accumulates in the brain in the form ofself-discontent, and may lead to an accentuated sentiment of_repentance_. 

These phenomena exist both in the male and in the female, and if itwas not so, the accomplishment of duty would be impossible; the catwould run away instead of defending her young; would eat her preyinstead of giving it to them, etc. We thus see the elements of humansocial sentiment already very marked in many animals. Remorse andrepentance can only be formed on the basis of preëxisting sentimentsof sympathy. 

=Sentiment of Kinship. =--A higher degree of the sentiments of sympathyis developed when these do not remain limited to a temporary union, but when the union of the sexes is transformed into durable or evenlife-long marriage, as we see in monkeys and in most birds. In anothermanner the sentiments of sympathy are developed by extension of thefamily community to a greater number of individuals, who are groupedtogether for the common defense, as we see in swallows, crows, and toa higher degree, in the large organized communities of social animals, as the beavers, bees, ants, etc. In the latter, the sentiment ofsympathy and duty nearly always affects all the individuals of thecommunity, while anger and jealousy are extended toward every beingwhich does not form part of it. 

We must be blinded by prejudice not to comprehend that these samegeneral facts, revealed by the study of biology and animal psychology, are repeated in the human mind. Some animals are even superior to themajority of men in the intensity of their sentiments of sympathy andduty, as well as in love and conjugal fidelity--monkeys and parrots, for example. In the social insects, such as the ants and bees, withtheir communities so solidly organized and so finely coördinated onthe basis of instinct, the sentiment of social duty has almostentirely replaced the individual sentiments of sympathy. An ant or abee only loves, so to speak, the whole assemblage of his companions. It does not sacrifice itself for any one of them in particular, butonly for the community. In these animals the individual is onlyregarded as a number in the community whose motto is--one for all, butnever all for one. 

In bees especially, the degree of sympathy extended to a member or aclass of the hive is exactly proportional to the utility of thismember to the community. The working bees will kill themselves or dieof hunger in order to nourish their queen, while in the autumn theyruthlessly massacre all the males or drones which have becomeuseless. 

=Sentiments of Patriotism and Humanity. =--The human brain, so powerfuland so complicated, contains a little of all these things, withenormous individual variations. In man, the sentiments of sympathy andduty relate especially to the family, that is to say, they are to agreat extent limited to individuals interested in a sexual community, viz. , the conjoints and children, as occurs generally in mammals. Itfollows that sentiments of sympathy connected with larger communitiessuch as remote relatives, the clan, the community, the country, thosewho speak the same language, etc. , are relatively much weaker, andresult from education and custom rather than from instinct. Theweakest sentiment is certainly that of _humanity_, which regards eachman as a brother and companion, and from which is evolved the generalsentiment of solidarity or social duty. How can it be otherwise in aspecies which has lived for thousands or perhaps millions of years assmall hostile tribes, separated from each other? Primitive men were sodestitute of all humanitarian sentiment that they not only killed oneanother and practiced mutual slavery, but also martyred, tortured andeven devoured one another. 

In spite of all this, and as the result of custom and life in common, the individual sentiments of sympathy in man are easily extended tomembers of other races, especially as regards different sexes, so muchso that enemies conquered and taken prisoners often became later on, owing to life in common, the friends or mates of their conquerors. 

=Antipathy. =--Inversely, individual antipathies and enmity often occurnot only between members of the same tribe but even between those ofthe same family. The latter may lead to parricide, fratricide, infanticide, or assassination of a conjoint. 

=Phylogeny of Love. =--The social life of ants offers us someinstructive analogies. In spite of the intense hostility of differentcolonies of ants among themselves, there may be obtained by habitude, often after many desperate combats, alliances between colonies whichwere hitherto enemies, even between colonies of different species. These alliances henceforth become permanent. This is very curious toobserve at the time when the alliance begins to be formed. We then seecertain individual hatreds persist, to a varying extent, for severaldays. Certain individuals of the weaker party are maltreated by otherindividuals of the conquering party. They cut off their limbs andantennæ and often martyrize them to death with a rabidness that sadlyresembles human sentiments! Hatred and dispute between individuals ofthe same colony of ants are, on the other hand, extremely rare. I canguarantee the correctness of all these observations, having oftenrepeated them myself and having recorded them in my works on thehabits of ants. Moreover, they have since been confirmed by otherwriters. 

After what we have just said, and especially if we take intoconsideration the numerous observations which have been made inbiology, we can hardly doubt that the sentiment of sexual attraction, or the sexual appetite, has been the primary source of nearly all, ifnot all, the sentiments of sympathy and duty which have been developedin animals and especially in man. Many of these sentiments are nodoubt little by little completely differentiated and rendered entirelyindependent of sexual sentiment, forming a series of correspondingconceptions adapted to divers social objects in the form of sentimentsof amity. The latter in their turn have often become the generators ofsocial formations and of a more generalized altruism. Many others, however, have remained more or less consciously associated with thesexual appetite, as is certainly the case in man. 

This short sketch which we have given of the phylogenetic history oflove and its derivatives is sufficient to show the immense influencewhich sexual life has exercised on the whole development of the humanmind. 

On the other hand, we must avoid exaggerating the actual importance ofthis influence. Young children, who possess neither sexual appetitenor corresponding sensations, already give evidence not only ofintense sentiments of sympathy and antipathy, anger and jealousy, butalso of commiseration, when they see those whom they love suffer; theymay even show that they already possess the sentiment of duty ordisinterested devotion. All these phylogenetic derivatives of thesentiments of sexual attraction are thus developed in the individuallong before the sexual instinct itself, from which they have becomeabsolutely independent. This does not prevent them being powerfullyinfluenced by the sexual instinct when this awakes, or from beingassociated with its direct derivatives when the sexual appetite, properly so-called, is absent. Thus we see absolutely cold womenbecome loving and devoted wives and mothers, and possessing a highlydeveloped sense of kinship. Maternal love is a sentiment of sympathyderived from the sexual sentiment, adapted directly to children, whoare the products of sexual life. 

=Constellations. =--From all this results the immense complication ofthe peculiarities of the human mind which are connected with love. Individual variations of the disposition to sexual appetite arecombined with individual dispositions to the higher qualities ofmind--general sentiments, intelligence and will--to form the mostdiverse individual combinations, which we may call _constellations_. Moreover, inherited individual dispositions are combined in man with agreat number of experiences and remembrances, acquired in all domainsin the course of his life, accumulating them in his brain by what iscalled education or adaptation to environment. From the immensecomplexity of energies resulting from hereditary dispositions combinedwith acquired factors, the resolutions and acts of man are derived, without his being able to account for the infinite multiplicity ofcauses which determine them. 

It is thus that a man may be a model of conduct or morality, simplyfrom the fact that his sexual appetite is almost nil. Another, on thecontrary, suffers from an exaggerated sexual appetite, but is devoted, conscientious, and even scrupulous; this results in violent internalstruggles, from which he does not always emerge victorious. A third ismoderate in his appetites; if his sentiment of duty is strong and hepossesses a strong will, he will resist his desires, while if his willis weak or his moral sense defective, he will succumb to the firsttemptation. 

Love and sexual appetite may be intimately connected or completelyseparated in the same individual. In the same way that a cold womanmay be a good mother, a very sensual woman may be a bad one, but theinverse may also be met with. 

=Love. =--I speak here of the true love of a higher nature of one sexfor the other, or _sexual love_, which is not simple friendship, butis combined with sexual appetite. To write on love is almost to pourwater into the ocean, for literature is three parts composed ofdissertations on love. There can be no doubt that the normal man feelsa great desire for love. The irradiations of love in the mindconstitute one of the fundamental conditions of human happiness andone of the principal objects of life. Unfortunately, the question istoo often treated with exaggerated sentiment, or on the other hand, with sensual cynicism; it is examined from one side only, or else itis misunderstood. 

First of all, love appears to be usually kindled by the sexualappetite. This is the celebrated story of Cupid's arrow. One falls inlove with a face, a look, a smile, a white breast, a sweet andmelodious voice, etc. However, the relations between love and sexualappetite are extremely delicate and complex. In man, the second mayexist without the first and love may often persist without appetite, while in woman the two things are difficult to separate, and in anycase, in her, the original appetite without love is much more rare. The two things are thus not identical; even the most materialistic andlibidinous egoist will agree to this, if he is not too narrow-minded. 

It may also happen that love precedes appetite, and this often leadsto the most happy unions. Two characters may have extreme mutualsympathy, and this purely intellectual and sentimental sympathy may atfirst develop without a shadow of sensuality. This is nearly alwaysthe case when it exists from infancy. In modern society an enormousnumber of sexual unions, or marriages, are consummated without a traceof love, and are based on pure speculation, conventionality orfortune. Here it is tacitly assumed that the normal sexual appetitecombined with custom will cement the marriage and render it durable. As the normal man has not, as a rule, extreme sentiments, suchprevision is usually realized on the whole, the conjoints becominggradually adapted to one another, more or less successfully accordingto the discoveries which are made after marriage. 

Even when they are relatively true, love stories generally deal withexceptional cases, often even pathological; for the average marriagedoes not appear to the novelist sufficiently piquant or interesting tocaptivate his readers. We are not concerned here with extremes, orwith the tragic situations met with in novels, but with normal andordinary love, as it most often occurs in reality. 

After what we have just said, it is clear that love is derived fromtwo factors: (1) _momentary sexual passion_; (2) _the hereditary andinstinctive sentiments of sympathy which are derived from theprimordial sexual appetite of our animal ancestors, but which havebecome completely independent of this appetite_. Between these twoterms are placed the sentiments of sympathy experienced by theindividual in his former life, which have most often been provoked bysexual desire for an individual of the opposite sex, and which may beevoked by the aid of remembrance, kindled afresh, and contributestrongly to maintain constancy of love. These different sentimentspass into each other in all possible shades, and continually react oneach other. Sexual appetite, for example, awakens sympathy, and isawakened by the latter in its turn; on the contrary, it is cooled orextinguished under the influence of bad conduct on the part of theperson loved. 

Let us here recall a law of the sentiments of sympathy, a law which iswell known, but generally forgotten in human calculations. Man lovesbest those to whom he devotes himself, and not those from whom hereceives benefits. [3] It is easy to be convinced of the reality ofthis fact in the relations of parents to their children, as well as inmarriage. When one of the conjoints in marriage adulates the other, the latter may easily find this adulation quite natural, and may lovethe other conjoint much less than a spoilt child, to which is devotedall the transports of an unreasonable affection. The spoilt child, theobject of such blind affection, more often responds to it byindifference, or even by ingratitude, disdain and impertinence. Wefind everywhere this play of sentiments, which considerably impedesmutuality in love. It may even concern inanimate objects. We like agarden, a house or a book over which we have taken much pains, and weremain indifferent to the most beautiful and precious gifts which comeby themselves without our making any effort to obtain them. In thesame way, the child becomes attached to some toy which he has madehimself, and disdains the costly presents given by his parents. As apoet has said: "Man only enjoys for long and without remorse the goodsdearly paid for by his efforts. " (Sully-Prudhomme: "_Le Bonheur_. ")

There is, therefore, a profound psychology in the old and wise sayingthat true love expresses itself as often by refusal as by compliance, and should always associate itself with reason. No doubt this is notprimitive love; it is a love elevated and purified by its combinationwith the elements of intelligence. 

In marriage, more than one husband thinks he ought to be separatedfrom his wife and children so as not to spoil them. There is no needof a long explanation to show the fallacy of this idea. To becomplete, love should be reciprocal, and to remain mutual it requiresmutual education in marriage. Every husband should above all beseparated from himself, and not from his wife. If each one did all inhis power to promote the happiness of the other, this altruisticeffort would strengthen his own sentiments of sympathy. This requiresa constant and loyal effort on each side, but it avoids the illusionof a false love, provoked by the senses, vanishing like smoke orbecoming changed to hatred. Without being blind to the weaknesses ofhis partner he must learn to like them as forming part of the personto whom he has devoted his heart, and employ all his skill incorrecting them by affection, instead of increasing his own weaknessby leaning on them. It is necessary, therefore, neither to admire norto dislike the defects of the loved one, but to try and attenuate themby aid of integral love. 

Love has been defined as "dual egoism. " The reciprocal adulation oftwo human beings easily degenerates into egoistic enmity toward therest of the human race, and this often reacts harmfully on the qualityof love. Human solidarity is too great, especially at the present day, for such exclusivism in love not to suffer. 

I would define ideal love as follows: _After mature consideration, aman and a woman are led by sexual attraction, combined with harmony ofcharacter, to form a union in which they stimulate each other tosocial work, commencing this work with their mutual education and thatof their children. _

Such a conception of love refines this sentiment and purifies it tosuch an extent that it loses all its pettiness, and it is pettinesswhich so often causes it to degenerate, even in its most loyal forms. The social work in common of a man and woman united by true affection, full of tenderness and devotion for one another, mutually encouragingeach other to perseverance and to action, will easily triumph overpetty jealousies and all other instinctive reactions of thephylogenetic exclusiveness of natural love. The sentiments of lovewill thus become ever more ideal, and will no longer provide egoismwith the soil of idleness and comfort on which it grows like a weed. 

=Inconvenience of Abstinence from Sexual Connection Between MarriedCouples by Medical Orders. =--It is a matter of common observation thatin marriage, at least during mature life, sexual connectionstrengthens and maintains love, even when it only constitutes part ofthat which cements tenderness and affection. In many cases I haveobserved that medical orders, given no doubt with good intentions, andforbidding sexual connection, on account of certain morbid conditions, have had the effect of cooling the sentiments of love and sympathy andproducing indifference which soon becomes incurable. Physicians shouldalways bear this in mind in their prescriptions, of which they toooften see the immediate object only. The medical prohibition of sexualconnection in marriage should be reserved for cases of absolutenecessity. For example: A virtuous and capable man marries for love anintelligent but somewhat ill-developed girl. The marriage is happy andthey have several children. But after a time certain local disordersin the woman induce the medical man to forbid sexual connection withher husband. They begin to sleep in separate rooms, and little bylittle intimate love becomes so far cooled that the renewal of sexualrelations later on becomes impossible. The husband's sentiments are somuch affected as to render him unfaithful to his moral principles, and to lead him occasionally to visit prostitutes. Although they havebecome essentially strangers to each other, the husband and wifecontinue to live together an apparently happy life; but this is farfrom always the case. 

=Durable Love. =--It may be stated as a principle that true andelevated love is durable, and that the sudden passion which lets loosethe sexual appetite toward an individual of the opposite sex, hithertoa stranger, in no way represents the measure of true love. Passionwarps the judgment, conceals the most evident faults, colorseverything in celestial purple, renders the lovers blind, and veilsthe true character of each from the other. We are only speaking hereof cases where each is loyal and where the sexual appetite is notassociated with the cold calculations of egoism. Reason only returnswhen the first tempest of a passion which seemed insatiable hassubsided, when the honeymoon of marriage, or of a free union, haspassed. Then only is it possible to see if what remains is true love, indifference, hatred or a mixture of these three sentiments, capableor not of becoming more or less adaptable and tolerable. This is whysudden amours are always dangerous, and why only long and profoundmutual acquaintance before marriage can lead to a happy and lastingunion. 

Even in this case the unforseen is not absent, for it is very rarelythat one knows a man and his ancestry; moreover, acquired diseases ormental anomalies may cause his character to degenerate later on. 

Let us now examine some psychic phenomena more or less connected withlove. For reasons which we have mentioned the irradiations of sexuallove are on the whole less developed in man than in woman. 

PSYCHIC IRRADIATIONS OF LOVE IN MAN

=Masculine Audacity. =--In the normal male the sentiment of sexualpower favors self-exaltation, while the contrary sentiment ofimpotence, or even that of mediocre sexual power, depresses thissentiment of exaltation. Yet, in reality, the sexual power of man hasnot the capital importance for a normal and virgin woman that menimagine, influenced as they are by self-exaltation; what imposes onwomen is especially masculine audacity, and in sexual matters thisincreases with experience and practice. The company of prostitutesoften renders men incapable of understanding feminine psychology, forprostitutes are hardly more than automata trained for the use of malesensuality. When men look among these for the sexual psychology ofwoman they only find their own mirror. 

Man's flirtation, and his art of paying court to women are naturallycombined with his audacity, as we have already observed in birds andmammals, and some of the lower animals. The male seeks to please thefemale to gain her favors. The brilliant colors of butterflies andbirds, song, skill and proof of strength, often come to the aid of themale sexual instinct. Even in certain animals supplicant and plaintivesounds assist the male after his repeated refusal, apparently or inreality, by the female. We shall see in Chapter VI that savage menhave a much greater tendency to tattoo and adorn themselves than havethe women. 

The art which man employs to seduce and conquer woman has beendescribed to satiety in romances and novels, as well as inethnographic works; so that we shall not dwell on it here. On thecontrary, we shall show that in higher civilizations man is in generalmore sought after than woman, so that the latter has surpassed him inthe art of flirtation or sexual conquest. 

It is also important to remark to what extent the increase of man'smental complexity transforms his sexual tactics. The simple, natural, and at the same time bashful, modest manner, in which a naïve youngman seeks to conquer a heart, usually produces no effect on thefashionable young lady, experienced in all refined pleasures andsaturated with unhealthy novels. These young women are much moreeasily seduced by the art of Don Juan and the old _roués_, who aremore adequate to deal with them because they have studied practicallythe psychology of the modern woman. 

=Instinct of Procreation. =--Another irradiation of the male sexualinstinct, connected with the preceding, is the instinct ofprocreation. If there were no other difficulties or consequences, manwould without the least doubt be instinctively inclined to copulatewith as many women as he could, and procreate as many children aspossible. The more he is capable of satisfying his procreativeinstinct, the more he becomes self-exalted, as he thus sees himselfmultiplied and feels his power extended by the possession of a greatnumber of wives and children. This is one of the principal causeswhich urge rich men and polygamous peoples to possess many women. 

Coitus without object, like that of prostitution, can only assuage thesexual appetite and does not satisfy any of its higher irradiations. It is well known that a happy betrothal, reposing on true love, andnot on pecuniary interests, often transforms a young man frompessimism to optimism, from misogyny to philogyny. Skeptics smile atthis transformation and regard it as only the transient intoxicationof love. This may be true in some cases, but, as we have seen above, when love is ennobled by deep understanding and mutual education, wheneach knows and respects the other, the transformation remainsdefinite, and is strengthened so much that the honeymoon of the silverwedding is often happier and more exalted than that which followedmarriage. We can then say that the optimism created by sexual unioncemented by true love rests on the normal accomplishment of the objectof life. I cannot too often repeat that work in common, especiallysocial work, on the part of the conjoints, is necessary for theirhappiness to be complete, and to survive in the one who remains afterthe decease of the other. 

=Jealousy. =--The worst irradiation, or rather the worst reaction ofcontrast of love, which we have inherited from our animal ancestors, and that which is the most deeply rooted, is _jealousy_. Jealousy is aheritage of animals and barbarism; that is what I would say to allthose who, in the name of offended honor, would grant it rights andeven place it on a pedestal. It is ten times better for a woman tomarry an unfaithful than a jealous husband. From the phylogeneticpoint of view, jealousy originates in the struggle for the possessionof woman, at a period when right depended only on brute force. Cunningand violence contended with each other, and when the conqueror was inpossession of a female, he had to guard her jealously to prevent herbeing abducted. Furious combats ensued. As soon as an unaccustomedapproach, a look or anything else awakened the least suspicion of thepresence of a rival, the male was tormented with a continual andinstinctive feeling of defiance and distrust, often increased by theremembrance of the sadness of former defeats and the impotent ragewhich followed. 

The results of male jealousy in the history of marriage are trulyincredible. I may mention the iron girdles with locks--the so-calledgirdles of chastity--which we still see in certain museums, which theknights of the Middle Ages put on their wives when they set off to thewars, in order to appease their jealousy. Many savage peoples do notcontent themselves with severely punishing adultery in woman, even bydeath, but even simple conversations with a strange man. Jealousytransforms marriage into a hell. It is often exalted in man to thepoint of a mania for persecution, to which it is analogous. It is alsoa very common symptom of alcoholism. Then the life of the unfortunatewoman who is the object of it becomes a continual martyrdom. Perpetualsuspicion accompanied by insults, threats and violent words, and evenhomicide may be the result of this atrocious passion. 

Even in its more moderate and normal form, jealousy is a torment, fordistrust and suspicion poison love. We often hear of justifiedjealousy; I maintain, on the contrary, that jealousy is neverjustified, and that it is only the brutal stupidity of an atavisticheritage, or a pathological symptom. A reasonable man who has doubtsas to the fidelity of his wife has certainly the right to assurehimself of their correctness. But of what use is it to be jealous? Ifhe finds his suspicions false he has, by his manner, made his wifeunnecessarily unhappy and destroyed conjugal confidence and happiness. If, on the contrary, his suspicions are well founded he has only tochoose between one of two ways. If it is a case of amorousintoxication suggested by another man to his wife, who is often veryunhappy about it, she may then be restored to her husband andpardoned, for in this case affection only can cure her, neverjealousy. If, however, love for her husband is entirely extinguishedin her, or if she is only a false intriguer without character, jealousy is even more absurd, for the game is not worth the candle, and immediate divorce is necessary. 

Unfortunately, man only possesses very little control over hisfeelings when these are violent. The jealous person by nature, that isby heredity, is generally incurable and poisons his own existence atthe same time as that of his wife. Such individuals should nevermarry. 

In lunatic asylums, in law, and in novels jealousy plays an importantpart, for it is one of the most fruitful sources of tragedies andhuman unhappiness. The combined and persevering efforts of educationand selection are necessary to gradually eliminate it from the humanbrain. We often hear it said of man and woman that they are notjealous enough, because they are too indulgent toward theextra-nuptial inclinations of their conjoint. When such indulgencerests on cynical indifference or on pecuniary interests, it is not thewant of jealousy but the want of moral sense which is to blame. If itarises from real and reasoned love, it should on the contrary behighly respected and praised. I would wish all heroes of offendedhonor and all defenders of jealousy to reflect on the following case:

A man of high position, and the father of five children, lived in themost happy union. One day he made the acquaintance of a friend of hiswife, a very intelligent and well-educated lady. Frequent visits andlong conversations led to intimacy which developed into violentreciprocal love. However, the lady refused to abandon herselfentirely. The husband confessed everything to his wife, even to thesmallest details, and the lady did the same. Instead of becomingjealous, the wife had the good sense and the courage to treat the twolovers not only with indulgence, but a true and profound affection. The loyalty of each of the parties interested greatly facilitated thegradual _dénouement_ of a difficult situation, without the familyaffections suffering. But the _dénouement_ would have been quite aspeaceful if the lady had yielded to sexual connection with thehusband. In fact, the wife herself considered this question veryseriously and calmly, in case the fire could not be otherwiseextinguished. 

I ask in all sincerity, if such mild and humane treatment of anunfortunate love affair, in which the three interested parties eachstrove to avoid all scandal and everything which could damage theirmutual reputation, I ask if this good and loyal treatment is not, fromthe moral standpoint, far superior to scenes of jealousy, duels, divorces and all their consequences, things which are all sanctionedand even sanctified by custom?

I also know many cases where the husbands of women who have fallen inlove with other men have conducted themselves in an equally noble andreasonable manner, even when their wives had been completelyunfaithful, and the results have always been good. It is needless tosay that I do not wish to maintain that a husband should tolerateindefinitely the bad conduct of his wife, nor a woman that of herhusband; but this is another thing. 

=Sexual Braggardism. =--Let us pass on to another irradiation of themale sexual appetite--sexual braggardism. This arises fromself-exaltation evolved from the sexual power of man. Like jealousy, this sentiment is no doubt inherited from our animal ancestors, and itfinds its analogy, or rather its caricature, in the cock, the peacock, the turkey, and in general among the richly adorned males ofpolygamous species. Although on the whole more innocent, the resultsof this atavistic instinct are no more elevated than those ofjealousy. The sentiment of sexual power induces men, especially thoseof lower mental caliber, to boast of their sexual conquests andexaggerate them. It is needless to say that success does not go to theunskillful boaster, but to the one who relates his audacious exploitsin a casual way. The Don Juan experienced in the art of seductionapproaches women with audacity and _aplomb_, and usually imposes onthem considerably, whatever his ignorance of other things. He hasinstinctively learnt one thing: viz. , the weakness of woman in theface of the male form, theatrical effect, uniforms, an audacious act, a fierce mustache, etc. He has learnt that these fireworks hypnotizeher and silence her reason, and that she is then capable of enthusiasmfor the most doubtful cavalier and delivers herself to him bound handand foot, provided his self-assurance does not desert him. 

I may say here that it is most often men of low intellect, weak injudgment and principles, who think themselves most superior to thefeminine sex, and who behave as tyrants to their wives. 

Sexual braggardism has, moreover, grave consequences for the manhimself, for it urges him to excesses which far exceed his appetitesand especially his natural wants. In spite of other advantages, hewishes to shine by these excesses among his fellows and even among thegrisettes whose minds are full of sexual matters. 

Male sexual braggardism contributes with sexual appetite to enticereserved and high-minded young men toward prostitutes, against theirbetter instincts, their reason and their moral sense. Alcoholespecially facilitates the degeneration of sexual life. 

=The Pornographic Spirit. =--The term _eroticism_ is given to the stateof excitation of the sexual appetite. When a person cultivates itartificially and abandons himself to purely animal sensuality, withoutcombining it with higher intellectual or moral aspirations, theredevelop in the mind irradiations which may be designated by the term_pornographic spirit_. The entire circle of ideas of such individualsis so impregnated with eroticism that all their thoughts andsentiments are colored by it. They see everywhere, even in the mostinnocent objects, the most lewd allusions. Woman is only regarded bythem as an object of sexual enjoyment, and her mind only appears tosuch satyrs as an ignoble erotic caricature, which is disgusting toevery man capable of lofty sentiments. 

Owing to its usually sensual and gross nature, male eroticism hassucceeded in modeling a whole class of women in whom ideal characterin their desires is wanting. Instead of recognizing his own work andthe vile image of his own person in these unnatural women, thelibertine, as we have already seen, imagines them as the normal typeof woman. From the height of his presumption, he then despises womanand does not perceive that it is himself whom he despises; for on thewhole, from the sexual point of view, the dependent woman of to-dayconforms herself to man and becomes what he makes her. The number ofcoitus, their details, the size and form of the sexual organs, thepleasure of having cut out other men, and especially the pathologicalperversions of the sexual appetite, form the chief object of thethoughts and conversations of pornographic minds. Each tries to outdothe others in sexual enormities, and the virtuosity of these gentlemenin this domain is only surpassed by their ignorance and incapacity inall others. 

Prostitution and all the modern sexual degeneration which marchesunder the hypocritical flag of Christianity, civilization andmonogamy, have so far developed the pornographic spirit that menliving in centers of debauchery, centers which are unfortunatelyextending more and more from town to country, lose all conception ofthe noble qualities natural to the feminine sentiment and to truelove, or only preserve a few shreds of it which they treat withridicule. Many men have admitted this to me, after being muchastonished when I was obliged to give them quite another conception oflove and woman, without introducing the least trace of religion. Nodoubt certain better individuals, fallen by chance into debauchery, speak respectfully of a mother or a sister, for whom they profess analmost religious worship. They regard these as beings apart, asspecies of a lost race of demigods, and they do not perceive that theydiscredit them and drag them in the mud by their contempt andpornographic conception of woman in general, a conception which ismoreover often altered to profound pessimism. 

In the relatively moral circles of society, our description would nodoubt be taxed with exaggeration, because natures a little morerefined have the habit of acting like the ostrich who hides his headin the sand, that is to say of turning their eyes away from thepornographic swamp with disgust so as not to see it, and thus avoid itinstinctively. But this maneuver serves no purpose: the facts remainas they are. 

Eroticism is no more a vice than sexual anæsthesia is a virtue. Evenwhen they are chaste, men of libidinous nature require a strong willto resist all the artificial seductions which excite their sensuality. This is why the bog of debauchery engulfs so many men of a naturallygood nature. In this sense, cold natures are better off; they cancover themselves with the glory of a "virtue" the resplendent rays ofwhich become lost in a penumbra of defects and weaknesses from whichthese natures suffer in other domains. 

=Sexual Hypocrisy. =--Hypocrisy is a peculiarity deeply rooted in thehuman mind. We can affirm that whoever pretends never to have been ahypocrite lies, quite as much as one who swears he has never lied. Butnowhere, save perhaps in the domain of religion, does hypocrisy play agreater part than in the sexual domain. Nowhere is there so muchfalsehood, and men who are most honest on other points make no scrupleof deceiving their wives in this respect. I do not speak here of thesimulation of sentiments of love, for it is too banal, and there is noneed to be too exacting over this point, for there are strongattenuating circumstances. 

First of all, erotic feelings are capable of blinding man for themoment, as far as persuading him of the eternal duration of love andfidelity which he promises the object of his appetites, as well as ofthe reality of the celestial qualities under which this object appearsto him, or with which it pleases him to adorn it. Two persons mutuallyexcited by sexual passion are fascinated by the illusions of a mirage, which often vanishes soon afterward, so that it is not rare to seethem on the following day hurling the most violent abuse at eachother. 

Those who have not been witnesses of such events may hardly believethem. It is sufficient, however, to be a magistrate or to read thereports of lawsuits between debased persons as the result of lovequarrels, broken engagements or marriages, seductions, etc. , to studythe letters that the two parties have written before and after theirquarrel, in order to be convinced of the correctness of what we havesaid above. In the first letters the lovers adulate each other andadorn each other with the most hyperbolic epithets, swearing eternallove and fidelity, and deluding each other in the most absurd manner. In letters written sometimes only a few days later we are astonishedto see the same individuals grossly insulting each other and mutuallycovering themselves with ignoble calumnies. This is how passionwithout reason passes through the furnaces of love and hatred, dragging after it all the artificial scaffolding of what man imaginesto be his right based on logic, but which is in reality only a tissueof ridiculous contradictions, the automatic and inept product of hisemotional state. Such contrasts are so frequent that we can easilyrecognize the expression of a psychological law, due to the mirages ofthe amorous passions on the one hand and the inverse reaction on theother. 

Nevertheless hypocrisy has its good side. It has been said not withoutreason that "hypocrisy is a concession which vice makes to virtue. " Intheir nakedness human thoughts are often so sadly vulgar and sooffensive that a little varnish improves them. In this sense, and whenit comes from a feeling of shame or good-will, hypocrisy deserves agood deal of the eulogy which Mark Twain has heaped on it in hischarming satire, "The Decadence of the Art of Lying. "

In the sexual question hypocrisy is directly provoked by the tyrannyand barbarism of what are called good manners, often even by the law. In this sense it constitutes a response of human nature to the formsand customs derived from the right of the stronger or from religioussuperstitions, as well as from the dogmas resulting from them. 

By the term _sexual hypocrisy_ I do not mean the repugnant forms ofhypocrisy pure and simple, in which man only exploits love indirectlyfor an interested end, for instance when he simulates love to obtain arich wife. I only speak of the forms of hypocrisy which are directlyevolved from the sexual appetite or from love. 

It is from this point of view that we must judge sexual hypocrisy, andif I have laid special stress on its good points, it is in view ofmarriage, where it assists the education of noble and elevatedsentiments even in the hypocrite. By praising the virtues of hishelpmate with a little exaggeration, these are made to appear morenoble. If the time is spent in saying disagreeable truths, love issoon stifled and killed. On the contrary, if each conjoint attributesto the other as fine qualities as possible, each is finally persuadedthat the other really possesses them, and then realizes them himself, at any rate in part. 

The worst of hypocrisies is that which is the product of basepecuniary interests, or of a gross sexual appetite without love, orlastly by the pressure of conventional or religious customs. Goodhypocrisy consists in the repression of all that is base in thesentiments, inclinations and passions; in the fact that one strives tohide it from others, even from one's self, and to suggest in its placeas many amiable qualities as possible, so as to strengthen in adisinterested manner the object of one's love in noble sentiments. This kind of hypocrisy is in reality an indirect product of altruisticsentiments. One perceives with pain on reflecting, either the absenceof spontaneous sentiments of sympathy, or the presence of disgust andbad temper, and one strives to hide the thing by sympatheticexpressions for which one seeks an object, and to which one would wishto give a durable character. Loyal efforts made in this directionoften succeed in correcting the egoistic humor with which one isaffected, and in giving rise to the sentiments one desires toexperience. One must not, however, by only looking at one side of thequestion, allow such efforts to degenerate into maladroit blindness, which will only have the effect of spoiling the person one loves. 

=Egoistic Love. =--It is obvious that the psychic irradiations of thesexual sense are strongly influenced by the individuality of the onewho loves. The egoist loves in a manner naively egoistic. He is notwanting in fine words, but in his opinion all sentiment and respect isdue to his person, while he reduces to a minimum his duties toward theobject of his love. He exacts much from the other and gives little. The good man with altruistic sentiments feels things in an inverseway; he exacts little from others, and much from himself. 

Love differs in different natures, according as they are calm orlively, imbecile or intelligent, well educated or otherwise: the willplays a great part here. Weakness and impulsiveness are found in love, as well as energy and perseverance. In the last point woman issuperior, owing to the greater constancy of her love. There is thus nodomain of the mind which is not influenced by love, and which does notreact on love in its turn. 

Intellectual occupations are facilitated by a happy love, while theyare usually hindered by the sorrows of love. Even men of science, soproud of their calmness, are often more influenced than one wouldthink in their scientific opinions by their emotional sentiments. Without a man being aware of it, his sentiments insinuate themselvesinto the opinions which he believes to be of a purely intellectualnature, and direct them unconsciously with much more power than hegenerally imagines. Such influences act chiefly on individualsdisposed to sentimentality. In love, these individuals resembletwo-edged swords; the intensity of their emotional reactions andsentiments drives them from one extreme to another, from foolishhappiness to despair or fury. The situation becomes still more gravewhen such storms burst among impulsive persons of weak will andlimited intelligence. Under such circumstances ill-assorted alliancesare formed which lead to violent quarrels, and sometimes even tocrime. When jealousy comes on the scene the man often kills the womanand commits suicide. 

It would seem that such crime can only arise from egoism; this isoften the case, but not always. Despair may often lead to such acts, without any motive of vengeance, or even of jealousy. The storm ofpassion drives weak-minded persons to impulsive actions, the motivesof which are very difficult to analyze. After these tragedies ofmurder preceding suicide, when the murderer survives, he oftenexpresses himself as follows: "I was in such a state of despair andexcitement that I saw no other issue than death for both of us. "

=Prudery. Modesty. =--The sentiment of modesty originates in the fearof everything which is novel and unusual, and is complicated bynatural timidity. This sentiment is especially strong in children. Thesentiment of sexual modesty in man thus rests on timidity and on thefear of not doing as others do. It betrays itself toward women byawkwardness and bashfulness behind which eroticism is often illconcealed. The timid and bashful man carefully endeavors to hide hissexual feelings from others. The object of modesty is in itselfimmaterial to the psychology of this sentiment, and shame is sometimesinspired not only by very different things but even by oppositethings. One youth is ashamed of appearing erotic, another of appearingtoo little erotic, according to the opinion of his neighbors. 

Modesty depends on the custom of covering or exposing certain parts ofthe body, and people who live in a state of nature are as much ashamedof clothes as we are ashamed of nudity. Moreover, man soon becomesaccustomed to fashion, and the same English girl who blushes at thesight of a few inches of bare skin in her own country, finds it quitenatural to see naked negroes in the tropics. 

The artificial and systematic cultivation of an exaggerated sentimentof modesty produces _prudery_, the bad results of which are, however, less than those of pornography. There are young people so modest thatthe simple thought of sexual matters overexcites them terribly. Byassociating their own erotic feelings, of which they feel ashamed, with sexual ideas, they invest these with terrifying attributes, andbecome quite unhappy; in this way they are often led to masturbation. They are, however, excessively frightened at this also and imagine itseffects so terrible that they think themselves lost. Their exaggeratedfeelings of modesty often prevent them confiding in some charitableperson. However, they rarely find reasonable consolers; some ridiculethem, while others regard them as iniquitous, which only increasestheir terror and drives them to extremes. 

The sexual sentiment of modesty very often becomes unhealthy, and isthen easily combined with pathological sexual conditions. 

Prudery is, so to speak, sexual modesty codified and dogmatized. It isindeterminate, because the object of modesty is purely conventional, and man has no valid reason to regard any part of his body asshameful. Normal man ought only to be ashamed of bad thoughts andactions, contrary to his moral conscience. The latter should be basedon natural human altruism only, and not artificially misled by dogma. 

=The Old Bachelor. =--The importance of the psychic irradiations oflove is shown perhaps more clearly from the results of their presencein old bachelors than from any other consideration. In our time, nodoubt, the state of the old bachelor rarely means the renunciation ofthe satisfaction of sexual appetite, although it generally entails therenunciation of love. There are, no doubt, two kinds of old bachelors, those who are chaste and those who are not. The old bachelor no doubtleads a less empty existence than the old maid, but the void existsnone the less. Man also needs compensation for the absence of love andfamily, but his brain is more capable than that of woman of findingthis compensation in hard intellectual work or in some otheremployment. 

The old bachelor is generally pessimistic and morose. He easilybecomes the slave of his fads and hobbies, and the peculiarities ofhis character are proverbial. His egoism knows no bounds, and hisaltruistic impulses usually find too few objects or echoes. 

The chastity of some old bachelors conceals sexual anomalies. But evenapart from this, the old celibate easily becomes shy, affected, misanthropic or misogynistic, at least if some energetic friend doesnot induce him to utilize his power of work in some useful sphere. Atother times he lavishes exaggerated admiration on women and worshipsthem in a pompous manner. 

In a separate category come those old bachelors who are chaste andcelibate for high moral reasons, and whose life is spent in socialwork, although they are only men and cannot for this reason freethemselves from all the peculiarities we have mentioned. In a word, the object of life is partly wanting in the best of old bachelors, andthis void not only affects his sentiments but his whole mental being. His general tendency to pessimism and egoism would be sufficient aloneto provoke an energetic protest against the abandonment of socialpower to celibates. 

The old bachelor who is not chaste generally descends to pornography, only becoming acquainted with the worst side of woman. He becomes amisogynist because he wrongly attributes to all women the character ofthose only with whom he has intimate relations. We have alreadypointed out this phenomenon in speaking of male eroticism. Thephilosopher, Schopenhauer, was an example of this kind. 

PSYCHIC IRRADIATIONS OF LOVE IN WOMEN

In speaking of love in man we have already touched on many pointswhich differentiate it from that of woman. In the latter, the mostprominent peculiarity is the dominant role which it plays in thebrain. Without love woman abjures her nature and ceases to be normal. 

=The Old Maid. =--What we have said of old bachelors applies in a stillmore marked degree, to old maids. Still more than men they have needof compensation for sexual love, to avoid losing their naturalqualities and becoming dried-up beings or useless egoists. But, if thevoid left by love is greater in her, woman possesses such naturalenergy and perseverance, combined with such great power of devotion, that on the whole she is more capable than man of accomplishing thework which the void in her existence requires. Unfortunately, manywomen do not understand this. On the other hand, those who devotethemselves to social philanthropic works, to art or literature, tonursing the sick or to other useful occupations, instead of amusingthemselves with futile things, may greatly distinguish themselves insuch social pursuits, and thus obtain real compensation for the lossof love. 

In this respect woman was formerly misunderstood. The modern movementof her emancipation shows more and more what she is capable of andpromises much more in the future. 

As to the old maid who lives alone with her egoism, her whims andfancies generally exceed those of the old bachelor. She has not thefaculty of creating anything original by her own intellect, so that, having lost love, all her mental power shrinks up. Her cat, her littledog, and the daily care of her person and small household occupy herwhole mind. It is not surprising that such persons generally create apitiable and ridiculous impression. 

Between these two extremes there exists a category of unmarried womenwhose sexual love finds compensation in the love they bear for aparent or a friend (male or female), which although not sexual is nonethe less ardent. Such occupation for their sentiments improves theirstate of mind and partially fills the void; however, it is notsufficient as a rule and only constitutes a last resource. This kindof devotion, by its exclusiveness, often produces bad results, for itshorizon is too limited. If the object of love, which is generally toopampered, dies or abandons her, she loses her head; grief, bitternessand pessimism never leave her, unless she finds consolation inreligious exaltation, which is often observed in other women deprivedof love. This last peculiarity is met with, moreover, in all classesof women, even among the married. 

=Passiveness of Woman. Sexual Appetite. =--Ideal love should never bedual egoism. What happens when two persons live exclusively for eachother, if one of them dies? The survivor sinks into inconsolabledespair, all that his heart was attached to is dead, because his lovedid not extend to other human beings, nor to social works. Widows thenbecome as pitiable as old maids, although in another way, when theyhave lost the object of their exclusive love. This is why we recommendsocial work, not only for celibates, but also for loving couples. 

I again emphasize the fact that in normal women, especially younggirls, the sexual appetite is subordinate to love. In the young girllove is a mixture of exalted admiration for masculine courage andgrandeur, and an ardent desire for affection and maternity. She wishesto be outwardly dominated by a man, but to dominate him by her heart. This sentimentalism of the young girl, joined to the passive role ofher sex, produces in her a state of exaltation which often borders onecstasy and then overcomes all the resistance of will and reason. Thewoman surrenders herself to the man of whom she is enamored, or whohas conquered or hypnotized her. She is vanquished by his embraces andfollows him submissively, and in such a state of mind she is capableof any folly. 

Although more violent and impetuous in his love, man loses his_sang-froid_ on the whole much less than woman. We can therefore saythat the relative power of sentiment is on the average greater inwoman, in spite of her passive role. 

I cannot protest too strongly against the way in which men of the daydisparage women and misunderstand them. In the way in which a younggirl abandons herself to their sexual appetites, in caresses, and inthe ecstasy of her love, they think they see the proof of a purelysensual eroticism, identical to their libidinous desire for coitus, while in reality she usually does not think of it, at any rate atfirst. The first coitus is usually painful to woman, often repugnant. Many are the cases where young girls, even when they knew the terriblesocial and individual dangers of their weakness, even when they haveperhaps once already experienced the consequences, let the man abusethem without a word of complaint, without a trace of sexual pleasureor venereal orgasm, simply to please the one who desires them, becausehe is so good and amiable, and because refusal would give him so muchpain. In his violent passion and in his egoism, man is generallyincapable of understanding the power of this stoicism of a mind whichsurrenders itself in spite of all dangers and all its interests. Heconfounds his own appetites with the sentiments of the woman, andfinds in this false interpretation of feminine psychology the excusesfor the cowardice of which he gives proof when he yields to hispassions. The psychology of the young girl who surrenders herself hasbeen admirably depicted by Goethe in _Gretchen_ ("Faust"), as well asby de Maupassant on several occasions. 

It is necessary to know all these facts in order to estimate at itstrue value the ignominy of our social institutions and their bearingon woman's life. If men did not so misunderstand women, and especiallyif they were aware of the deep injustice of our customs and laws withregard to them, the better ones, at least, would think twice beforeseducing young girls, to abandon them afterward with their children. Iam only speaking now of true love and not of the extortion so oftenpracticed by women of low character, or those already educated invice. 

I shall say no more concerning eroticism, which really exists in manywomen, especially in those who are already experienced in sexualmatters. On the other hand there are women who deceive their husbandsand allow themselves to be seduced by any Don Juan, even when theyhave never had the least sexual appetite, or felt a single venerealorgasm. They allow themselves to be dragged in the mud and lose theirreputation, their fortune and their family; they even let theirseducer trample them under foot; they become defamed and treated aswomen without character, without honor and without any notion of duty. They are simply poor feeble creatures incapable of resistingmasculine proposals. With good psychological training they would oftenbecome better women, active, devoted and full of life. It seems hardlycredible, but it is true, that one sometimes finds in this categorywomen who are highly gifted. It is then said that they are wanting inmoral sense, but this is not always correct. In other respects theymay be faithful to their duty, devoted, sometimes even energetic andheroic; but they submit to masculine influence to such a degree thatthey cannot conceive how to resist it. They find it quite natural togive way to it and their mind does not understand that the completeabandonment of their body to the man they love should not necessarilyfollow immediately after the abandonment of their heart, or even afterthe first kiss. It is impossible for them to make distinctions or totrace limits. 

=Idealism in Woman. =--The cases I have just described are extreme, although very common; they give the note of a general phenomenon offeminine love in its exaltation. It is needless to say that reasonablewomen of high character behave themselves in quite another manner, however profound their love. Nevertheless the trait which we have justdescribed is nearly always found at the bottom of all true love inwoman, however much it may be veiled, dissimulated or conquered. 

It is not always audacity or heroic deeds like those of the boldcavaliers of former days which excite love in woman. The externalqualities of man, such as beauty and elegance, etc. , also play a part, although their effect may be less decisive than that of the bodilycharms of woman in exciting love in man. Intellectual superiority, high moral actions, and mental qualities in general, easily affect theheart of woman, which becomes exalted under their influence. But everyman who becomes famous either for good or evil, the fashionable actor, the celebrated tenor, etc. , has the power of exciting love in women. Women without education or those of inferior mental quality arenaturally more easily affected by the bodily strength of man, and byhis external appearance in general. Many women are especially liableto succumb under the influence of all that is mystic. These becomeinfatuated by preachers, and religious enthusiasts, to say nothing ofhypocrites. 

Nothing is sadder than the contrast between the exalted love of avirtuous and chaste young girl, and the debauched life, with itstraits of cynical pornography, of the majority of young men. Guy deMaupassant has described this contrast in a most striking manner inhis romance entitled "_Une Vie_. " I know a number of cases in whichthe complete ignorance of young married women with regard to sexualrelations, combined with the cynical lewdness of their husbands, hastransformed the exalted love of a young girl into profound disgust, and has sometimes even caused mental disorders. Although not verycommon, the psychoses resulting from the deception and shock of thenuptial night are not very rare. But what is much worse than thisdouche of cold water which suddenly substitutes the reality of coitusfor the ideal exaltation of sentiment, are the subsequent discoveriesmade by the young wife, when the cynical mind of her husband on thesubject of sexual connection and love is unveiled to her in all itsgrossness, resulting from his previous life of debauchery. Torn andsullied in its deepest fibers, the feminine mind then becomes the seatof a desperate struggle between reality full of deceptions and theillusions of a dream of happiness. 

If it is only a question of bad habits, or want of tact in thehusband, behind which there exists perhaps true love, the wounds inthe woman's sentiment may heal and intimacy may develop; but when thecynicism is too marked, when the habits of sexual debauchery are tooinveterate, the love of a virtuous woman is soon stifled, and ischanged to resignation and disgust, often to martyrdom or hatred. 

In other cases the woman is weak and ill-developed and allows herselfto sink to the level of her husband's sentiments. Sometimes, thecrisis is accentuated and leads to divorce. In de Maupassant's "_UneVie_, " he describes with profound insight the continuous deceptions ofa young innocent and sentimental girl who marries an egoistic roué, and whose life is transformed into martyrdom and completely ruined. DeMaupassant's romances contain such true psychology of sexual life andlove in all their forms, often even in their exceptional aberrations, that they furnish an admirable illustration to the present chapter. 

=Petticoat Government. =--A series of most important irradiations oflove in woman results from the need she feels of being, if notdominated, at least protected by her husband. To be happy, a womanmust be able to respect her husband and even regard him with more orless veneration; she must see in him the realization of an ideal, either of bodily strength, courage, unselfishness or superiorintellect. If this is not the case, the husband easily falls under thepetticoat government, or indifference and antipathy may develop in thewife, at least if misfortune or illness in the husband does not exciteher pity and transform her into a resigned nurse. 

Petticoat government can hardly make a household truly happy, for herethe positions are reversed and the wife rules because the husband isweak. But the normal instinct of woman is to rule over the heart ofman, not over his intelligence or on his will. Ruling in these lastdomains may flatter a woman's vanity and render it dominating, but itnever satisfies her heart, and this is why the woman who rules is sooften unfaithful to her husband, if not in deed, at least in thought. 

In such a union she has not found the true love which she sought, andfor this reason, if her moral principles are weak, she looks forcompensation in some Don Juan. If the woman in question has a strongcharacter, or if she is sexually cold, she may easily become sour andbitter. These women, who are not rare, are to be dreaded; theirplighted love is transformed into hatred, bad temper or jealousy, andonly finds satisfaction in the torment of others. 

The psychology of this kind of woman is interesting. They are notusually conscious of their malice. The chronic bitterness resultingfrom an unfortunate hereditary disposition in their character, as muchas from their outraged feelings, makes them take a dislike to theworld and renders them incapable of seeing anything but the worst sideof people. They become accustomed to disparage everythingautomatically, to take offense at everything and to speak ill ofeverything on every occasion. They are unhappy, but they find adiabolical joy in all misfortune where they see the confirmation oftheir somber prophecies, the only satisfaction which is capable ofexalting them. 

We have just said that a certain constitutional disposition isnecessary for such a deplorable change in feminine sentiments to beproduced; but this disposition is often only developed under theinfluence of circumstances which we have indicated or analogous ones. 

It is impossible for the life in common of two conjoints not to revealtheir reciprocal failings. But true love generally suffices todefinitely cement a union, provided that the wife finds a support inthe steadfast nature of her husband, which then serves as her ideal. It is also necessary that the husband, finding sentiments of devotedlove in his wife, should reciprocate them. These conditions aresufficient, if both devote their efforts to the maintenance of theirfamily and the social welfare. 

=Maternal Love. =--The most profound and most natural irradiation ofthe sexual appetite in woman is _maternal love_. A mother who does notlove her children is an unnatural being, and a man who does notunderstand the desires of maternity in his wife, and does not respectthem, is not worthy of her love. Sometimes egoism renders a manjealous of the love which his wife bears to his children. At othertimes, the father may show more love for the children than theirmother; such exceptions only prove the rule. 

The most beautiful and most natural of the irradiations of love is thejoy of parents at the birth of their children, a joy which is one ofthe strongest bonds of conjugal affection, and which helps the couplein triumphing over the conflicting elements in their characters, andin raising the moral level of their reciprocal sentiments, for itrealizes the natural object of sexual union. 

A true woman rejoices at the progress of her pregnancy. The last painsof childbirth have hardly ceased before she laughs with joy, andpride, at hearing the first cries of the newly born. The instinctiveoutburst of maternal love toward the new-born child corresponds to anatural imprescriptible right of the child, for it needs the continualcare of its mother. Nothing is so beautiful in the world as theradiant joy of a young mother nursing her child, and no sign ofdegeneration is more painful than that of mothers who abandon theirchildren without absolute necessity, to strange hands. 

On the other hand reason must intervene. The instructive transports ofmaternal love soon require a counterpoise. It is important to preventthem from degenerating into unreasonable spoiling, by scientific andmedical education of the infants. Modern medical art has made greatprogress in this direction, but unfortunately, egoism, negligence, routine, the desire of enjoyment, or often the poverty of many mothersprevent them from benefiting from this progress and applying it asthey should. Instead of looking after their children they leave themto nurses. The latter may be necessary to help and instruct youngwives during their first childbirth; but a natural mother will profitby these instructions and will herself become an excellent nurse, because she will feel her natural ties and will consecrate herself tothem with the devotion of a maternal love heightened and refined byreason and knowledge. Among the lower classes the poverty andignorance of mothers, often also their thoughtlessness and indolence, are an obstacle to the rational education of infants. 

"=Monkey's Love. ="--Maternal love thus constitutes the most importantirradiation of the sexual instincts in woman. It very easilydegenerates into weakness, that is to say into unreasonable passionand blind compliance with all the faults of the child, which themother excuses and transforms into virtues. The foibles of maternallove do much harm to the child and are often the origin of bitterdeceptions. Hereditary weakness of character here plays a great, oreven the principal part. Nevertheless, maternal foibles have othercauses--riches, absence of culture, idleness, too few children, etc. 

The best antidote for this unreasonable maternal love, which theGermans call "monkey's love" consists in active occupations for themother, combined with a healthy education of her character. Work aloneis not sufficient, if the mother has limited ideas, and if she is notfreed from routine, ignorance, superstition and weakness of will. 

=Sentiments and Perseverance. =--The power of love in woman does notrest alone on the varied harmony of her sentiments of sympathy for herhusband and children, and on the extraordinary finesse and naturaltact which she adds to it; such qualities make her, no doubt, the rayof sunshine in the family life, but more powerful still are thetenacity and perseverance of her love. 

In general, it is by will-power that woman is superior to man, and itis in the domain of love that this superiority shines in all itsglory. As a general rule it is the wife who sustains the family. Amongthe common people, it is she who economizes, she who watches carefullyover all and corrects the failings, the passionate and impulsive acts, the discouragements, so frequent with the husband. How often do we seethe father abandon the children, waste his earnings and leave hissituation under some futile pretext, while his courageous wife, although suffering from hunger and destitution, holds firm and managesto save the debris which has escaped the excesses and egoism of thehusband. 

The husband of a feeble or alcoholic wife sometimes becomes the solesupport of the family, but such exceptions only prove the rule, thatwhere the normal love and courage of woman are wanting, the familybecomes broken up, for man very rarely possesses the necessaryfaculties for its preservation. 

It follows from these facts that the modern tendency of women tobecome pleasure-seekers, and to take a dislike to maternity, leads tocomplete degeneration of society. This is a grave social evil, whichrapidly changes the qualities and power of expansion of a race, andwhich must be cured in time, or the race affected by it will besupplanted by others. 

If the feminine mind is generally wanting in intellectual imaginationand power of combination, it is all the more powerful in the practicalintuition of its judgment and in sentimental imagination. The finesseof its moral and æsthetic sentiments, its natural tact, itsinstructive desire to put some element of poetry into all the detailsof life, contribute to form true family happiness, a happiness whichthe husband and children too often enjoy without fully realizing thedevoted labor, the love and the pains which the mother has given tocreate it. 

=Routine. =--The reverse of the irradiations of love in woman isconstituted by her failings, which we have already partly indicated. We may add that her intelligence is usually superficial, that sheattributes an exaggerated importance to trifles, that she often doesnot understand the object of ideal conceptions, and remains attachedby routine to all her hobbies. This routine represents in femininepsychology the excess of a tenacious will applied only to therepetition of what has been taught. In the family, woman constitutesthe conservative element because sentiment in her much more than inman, combined with persevering tenacity, predominates overintelligence; but sentiments represent everywhere and always theconservative element in the human mind. 

This is why woman is the strongest supporter of dogmas, customs, fashions, prejudices and mysticism. It is not that she herself is moredisposed than man to mystic beliefs, but these when once dogmatizeddazzle the eyes of the suffering with visions of compensation in abetter world. In this way a number of unhappy or disappointed womenare affected with religious exaltation and thus cling to the hope ofhappiness after death which they believe will compensate them for thevicissitudes of their existence. 

The other reverses of the feminine character, such as want of logic, obstinacy, love of trinkets, etc. , result from the fundamentalweakness of the feminine mind which we have just analyzed. Moreover, the social dependence in which man has placed woman, both from thelegal and educational points of view, tend to increase her failings. Many people fear that women's suffrage would hinder progress, for thereasons we have just indicated, but they forget that the actualsuffrage of men is to a great extent exercised by their wives, indirectly and unconsciously. This fact alone shows that theeducation, and legal emancipation of women can only be beneficial toprogress, especially as they would contribute to the education of men, too prone to degenerate on account of their presumptuous andtyrannical autocracy. 

Woman has an instinctive admiration for men of high intellect andlofty sentiments, and strives to imitate those who provoke heradmiration, and carry out their ideas. Let us therefore give womentheir proper rights, equal to ours, at the same time giving them ahigher education and the same free instruction as ourselves; we shallthen see them abandon the obscure paths of mysticism, to devotethemselves to social progress. 

=Jealousy in Woman. =--Other irradiations of love in woman are similarto those of man. Jealousy is perhaps not much less developed in womanthan in man. It is less brutal and violent but more instinctive andpersevering; it manifests itself by quarrels, needle pricks, chicanery, petty tyrannies and all kinds of tricks which poisonexistence as much as man's jealousy, and are quite as inefficientagainst infidelity. In the highest degree of passion the jealous manuses violence or resorts to firearms, while the woman scratches, poisons or stabs. Among savages, jealous women bite off their rivals'noses; in civilized countries they throw sulphuric acid in the face. The object is the same in both cases--to disfigure. 

Amorous illusions produced in woman by the sexual appetite areanalogous to those of man, but are modified by feminine attributes. Itis the same with hypocrisy. The passive role of woman in sexual lifeobliges her only to betray her feelings to the object of her desiresin a reserved and prudent manner. She cannot make advances toward manwithout contravening the conventions and risking her reputation. Shetherefore has to be more skillful in the art of dissimulation. Thisgives us no right to accuse her of falseness, for this art is natural, instinctive and imposed by custom. Her desire for love and maternityunconsciously urges her to make herself as desirable as possible toman by her grace and allurements. Her stolen glances and sighs, andthe play of her expression serve to betray her ardor as through aveil. Behind this furtive play, especially calculated to excite thepassions of man, are hidden, in the natural and good woman, a world ofdelicate feelings, ideal aspirations, energy and perseverance, whichare much more loyal and honest than the motives revealed by the morebrusque and daring manner in which man expresses his desires. The finephrases by which man's love is expressed generally cover sentimentswhich are much less pure and calculations much more egoistic than therelatively innocent play of the young girl. No doubt there are falsewomen whose amorous wiles are only a spider's web, but we are speakinghere of the average, and not of exceptions. 

=Coquetry. =--The sexual braggardism of man is only found in someprostitutes; it is replaced in woman by coquetry and the desire toplease. Vain women profit by the natural grace and beauty of their sexand person, not only to attract and please men, but also to shineamong their fellows, to make other women pale before their brillianceand their elegance. Coquettes take infinite pains in this art. Alltheir efforts and all their thoughts are directed only to increasetheir charm by the brilliancy of their toilette, the refinement oftheir attire, the arrangement of their hair, their perfumes, paint andpowder, etc. It is here that the narrowness of the mind of woman isrevealed in all its meanness. 

To describe feminine coquetry would oblige me to descend to banality. If we go to a ball or a fashionable _soirée_, if we observe women atthe theater, their toilettes, their looks and expressions, or if weread a novel by Guy de Maupassant, "Fort Comme la Mort, " or "NôtreCoeur, " for example, we can study all the degrees and all thedegeneration of this part of the sexual psychology of women. Many ofthem have such bad taste that they transform themselves intocaricatures; dye their hair, paint their eyebrows and lips to givethemselves the appearance of what they are not, or to make themselvesappear young and beautiful. 

These artifices of civilized countries resemble the tattooing, nose-rings, etc. , with which savage women adorn themselves. The latterare represented by earrings, bracelets and necklaces. All thesecustoms constitute irradiations of the sexual appetite or the desireto please men. Male sexual inverts (vide Chap. VIII) also practicethem, and often also certain dandies with otherwise normal sexualinstincts. 

=The Pornographic Spirit in Woman. =--This is absolutely contrary tothe normal feminine nature, which cannot be said of eroticism. Amongprostitutes, as we have seen, the pornographic spirit is only the echoof their male companions, and in spite of this, we still find avestige of modesty even in them. No doubt, in very erotic women, sexual excitations may lead to indecent acts and expressions, butthese are rare exceptions and of a pathological nature. 

Natural feminine eroticism, not artificially perverted, only showsitself openly in complete intimacy, and even here modesty and theæsthetic sense of woman correct and attenuate it. Normally, allobscenity and cynicism disgusts women and only inspires them withcontempt for the male sex. On the other hand, they are easilystimulated to eroticism by pictures or novels, if they aresufficiently æsthetic, or even moral. This is a great danger for bothsexes, especially for woman--eroticism dissimulated under hypocriticalforms, and intended to idealize dishonest intentions (vide deMaupassant: "_Ce Cochon de Morin_"). 

=Modesty and Prudery in Woman. =--In woman the sentiments of modestyand prudery have a peculiar character, which results from her naturaldisgust for pornography on the one hand, and also from her attachmentto fashion and prejudice. Many women have a perfect terror of exposingcertain parts of their body, even to a medical man. This fact dependson convention, and sometimes on the absence or perversion of sexualfeelings. Brought up to prudery, sometimes to an absurd extent as inEngland, these women lose their natural feeling and often suffer fromthe excitation, indignation, and perpetual fright, which result fromit. The exaggerations of prudery, moreover, easily lead to oppositeexcesses, or else degenerate into hypocrisy. The prude is ashamed ofthe most natural things, and undergoes continual torment. 

Prudery can be created or cured by education in childhood. It may becreated by isolation, by covering all parts of the body, andespecially by making children regard nudity as shameful. On the otherhand, it may be cured by mixed bathing, by accustoming the child toconsider the human body, in all its parts and functions, as somethingnatural of which one need not be ashamed, lastly by giving instructionon the relations of the sexes, in due time and in a serious manner, instead of replying to ingenuous questions by pious falsehoods, byequivocation, or by an air of mystery. 

The chapter on love is infinite, and its relations to the sexualappetite make it still more complex. We shall confine ourselves toindicating two more of its irradiations, peculiar to each sex, buthaving for each a physionomy corresponding to its own mentality. 

FETICHISM AND ANTI-FETICHISM

"We understand by fetiches, objects, portions of objects, or evensimply the qualities of objects which, from their association with acertain person or with the idea of this person, produce a kind ofcharm or at least a profound impression, which in no way correspondsto the nature of the object itself. "--(Krafft-Ebing. ) The fetich thussymbolizes a person in whom we have such a profound interest thateverything connected with her disturbs our feelings. It is weourselves who place in the fetich the charm arising from the personwhom it symbolizes for us. 

In many religions fetichism plays an important part, so much so thatfetiches such as amulets or relics produce ecstasy in the faithful. 

Binet, Krafft-Ebing and others give the name _erotic fetichism_ to thecharm which certain objects or certain parts of the body exercise in asimilar way on the sexual desires or even on love, in the sense thattheir simple representation is powerfully associated with the eroticimage of a person of the other sex, or with a particular variety ofsexual excitation. In both man and woman certain portions of theclothes or the body, the hair, the foot and hand, or certain odors ofthe person desired, may take the character of fetiches. It is the samewith certain intellectual peculiarities and certain expressions of thefeatures. In man, the woman's hair, her hands or feet, herhandkerchief, perfumes, etc. , often play the part of erotic fetiches. 

We may call _anti-fetiches_ certain objects or certain qualitieswhich, on the contrary, destroy eroticism. Certain odors, the tone ofa voice, an ugly nose, a garment in bad taste, an awkward manner, often suffice to destroy eroticism by causing disgust for a person, and their simple representation is enough to make her unbearable. Symbolizing disgust, the anti-fetich paralyzes the sexual appetite andlove. 

In normal love, it is especially by association of ideas in calling tomind the image of the person loved that the fetich plays the part ofan exciting agent. It often, however, becomes itself the more specialobject of the sexual appetite, while the anti-fetich produces theopposite effect. But, in degenerates (vide Chap. VIII) it is sometimesexclusively to the fetich itself that an irresistible sexual appetiteis addressed, the irradiation of which becomes a ridiculous caricatureof love. 

We thus see that normal love is based on an extremely complexsynthesis, on a symphony of harmonious sensations, sentiments andconceptions, combined in all kinds of tones and shades. Thepathological aberrations of which we shall speak, demonstrate this byforcing one tone or another to the more or less marked exclusion ofthe rest. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF LOVE TO RELIGION

Love and eroticism play a great part in religion, and many derivativesof religious sentiment are intimately associated with the sexualappetite. As Krafft-Ebing says, _religious ecstasy_ is closely relatedto _amorous ecstasy_, and very often appears in the guise ofconsolation and compensation for an unhappy or disappointed love, oreven in the absence of sexual love. In the insane, religion anderoticism are combined in a very characteristic manner. Among a numberof peoples certain cruel religious customs are the result oftransformed erotic conceptions. 

As in religion, there is something mystical in love; the ineffabledream of eternal ecstasy. This is why the two kinds of mystic anderotic exaltation become blended in religions. 

Krafft-Ebing attributes the cruelty found in many religions to_sadism_ (sexual lust excited by the sufferings of others). (VideChap. VIII. )

"The relationship so often established between religion, lust andcruelty can be reduced almost to the following formula: at the acme oftheir development, the religious and sexual passions show aconcordance in quality and in quantity of excitation, and mayconsequently replace each other, under certain circumstances. Underspecial pathological influences, both may be transformed intocruelty. "--(Krafft-Ebing. )

We shall return to this subject in Chapters VIII and XII. 

FOOTNOTES:

[3] This tendency of man has been analyzed with a very refinedpsychology by _Labiche_, in one of his most celebrated comedies: "_Levoyage de M. Perichon. _"

CHAPTER VI

ETHNOLOGY AND HISTORY OF SEXUAL LIFE IN MAN AND IN MARRIAGE

In the study of the sexual question it is absolutely necessary toguard against subjectiveness and all preconceived theory, and to avoidsentimentalism as well as eroticism. These two dangers play aconsiderable part in the study of human sexual life. Presented in aconscientious and scientific way the history of marriage furnishes usthe most trustworthy material for the study of the sexual relations ofman in social life. It is from this material that we can learn therelative importance of the different psychological andpsycho-pathological factors in social evolution. But, to furnish validmaterial, history must not only be based on trustworthy and veracioussources; it must also give a comparative study of the sexual relationswhich exist in most, if not all, of the peoples actually existing. Thepresent savage tribes no doubt resemble more closely the primitivepeoples than our hybrid agglomeration of the civilized world. Moreover, the modern study of ethnology gives us more certaininformation than the uncertain, incomplete and often fabulousstatements of ancient documents. I am speaking here of primitivehistory, and not of the Greek and Roman civilizations. Unfortunatelythe correctness of ethnological observations, and especially theirinterpretation, still leave much to be desired. 

Edward Westermark, professor at Helsingfors, in his "History of HumanMarriage, " has given us a monumental work, which is remarkable, notonly for the richness and exactness of its material, but also for theclearness and good sense of its criticism. I shall give a _résumé_ ofWestermark's results, as the subject is beyond the domain of myspecial studies. The author has collected a great number ofobservations in order to avoid erroneous conclusions. He warns thereader against a hasty generalization, which attributes without proofcertain customs of living savage tribes to our primitive ancestors. 

ORIGIN OF MARRIAGE

In the previous chapter we have considered the phylogeny of love ingeneral. We have seen that some of the lower animals, such as the antsand bees, give evidence of an instinctive social altruism much greaterthan that of man, while other animals, such as birds, are superior tous as regards monogamous conjugal fidelity. But it is a question hereof analogies due to phenomena of convergence, and these animals are ofinterest to us only as remote objects of comparison. 

As regards marriage in primitive man, we can only compare ourselveswith the living animals most closely allied to us, viz. The_anthropoid apes_. 

In most mammals, marriage (if we may give this name to their sexualunion) is only of very short duration, depending on the time necessaryfor the procreation of a single brood of young. After copulation themale generally pays little attention to the female, beyond protectingher for a certain time. In the anthropoid apes (orang-utan, chimpanzee, gorilla and gibbon) however, we find monogamous marriageand the institution of family life. The male protects the female andthe young, and the latter are often of different ages, showing theexistence of conjugal fidelity extending beyond one birth. While thefemale and the young remain in their nest, perched on a tree, the maletakes his place at the foot of the tree and watches over the safety ofthe family. 

According to Westermark this was probably the same in primitive man. Formed by the father, the mother and the children, the family was inprimitive man a general institution, based on monogamy, polygamy orpolyandry. The wife looked after the children, and the husbandprotected the family. No doubt, the husband was not particularlyanxious for the welfare of his wife and children, but concernedhimself chiefly in the satisfaction of his sexual appetite and hispride. He was useful, however, in building the nest, or hut, inprocuring the necessary food, and in defending his family. 

Most legends relate that primitive man lived in promiscuity withwomen, without marriage, and that marriage was instituted by some godor by some law. But this opinion, which is still held by most modernauthors, is quite erroneous, as Westermark has demonstrated in amasterly manner, by the aid of documents which are absolutelyconclusive. 

The duty of the husband to provide food for the family is a generallaw among savage peoples. A confirmation of this law is found in thefact that most often in polygamous races the man has only the right toas many wives as he can support. Every man must give proof that he iscapable of feeding his family. Even after divorce the husband's dutiescontinue, and may even be transmitted to his heirs. For example, amongcertain peoples, his brother is obliged to marry his widow. Thehusband's duties appear to be inherited from the higher apes, amongwhom conjugal fidelity lasts longer than the sexual appetite. Thisfidelity has therefore deep phylogenetic roots in our nature, and weshall see later on that we cannot neglect it without compromising oursocial state (Chap. XIII). 

The following is the definition of marriage as given by Westermark:_Marriage is a sexual union of variable duration between men andwomen, a union which is continued after copulation, at least till thebirth of the child. _

According to this definition, there may be monogamous, polygamous andpolyandrous marriages, as well as marriage in groups and limitedmarriage. It is evident that permanent monogamous unions, such asoccur in birds and the higher apes, are, according to this definition, true marriages, of better quality even than those of many men. 

Among animals which have a definite rutting period, marriage cannotdepend solely on the sexual appetite, or egoistic eroticism, withoutceasing with the rut. It follows from this that natural selection andthe mneme (engraphia) have derived from the sexual appetite certainsocial or altruistic instincts, with the object of preserving thespecies by protection of the young. Although not the only means ofpreserving the species, such instincts are certainly important. 

The family is thus the root of marriage. This explains the custom, among certain races, of marriage only becoming valid after the birthof a child. In many forms of marriage by purchase, the wife is evenbound to return to her husband the sum paid for her if she remainssterile, and among many savages the marriage is only celebrated afterthe birth of the first child. In Borneo, relations between the sexesare free till pregnancy occurs, and it is this which determines theduties of marriage. In this respect, these savages are more just andwiser than us. 

In man, a special reason in favor of marriage is the fact that he hasno rutting period. In animals the rutting period is generallyregulated so that the young are born exactly at the time of year whenthey will find food most abundant. For example, the muscardincopulates in July and brings forth young in August, at the time whennuts are ripe, while elephants, whales and certain monkeys, who findfood at all seasons, do not copulate at any definite period. 

The anthropoid apes, however, have a rutting period, and somethinganalogous is found among certain human races (Californians, Hindus andcertain Australians) in the spring, when sexual orgies are indulgedin. In man there is no particular correlation between eroticism andthe possibility of easily obtaining food for the children at the timeof birth. Nevertheless, a recrudescence of the sexual appetite isgenerally observed in the spring and beginning of summer, with acorresponding increase in the number of conceptions. This is probablyexplained by the fact that infants born in the autumn or winter aremore robust. Moreover, natural selection has almost entirely ceased incivilized peoples, owing to the artificial means used to rearchildren, and to the diminution which results from their mortality. 

We thus see that the institution of marriage in man does not depend onthe excitation of the sexual appetite, for this is, on the whole, continuous. 

ANTIQUITY OF MATRIMONIAL INSTITUTIONS

The fact that the anthropoid apes produce feeble and dependent young, whose infancy is long, has probably been the origin of marriage. Kautsky says that in primitive man the child belongs to the clan; butthis is an error. Originally, human societies were composed offamilies, or rather associations of families. In primitive man, thesefamilies play the fundamental role and constitute the nucleus ofsociety. In the anthropoid ape we already find the family, but not theclan. This must also have been the case with the pithecanthropoids andother extinct transitory forms. In fact, the lowest savages still liveas isolated families like the carnivorous mammals, rather than inclans or tribes. This is the case, for example, with the Weddas ofCeylon, the indigenes of Terra del Fuego, the aboriginal Australians, the Esquimaux and certain Indians of Brazil. In this way they havebetter conditions for subsistence. 

In primitive times therefore, man lived in families, on the produce ofthe chase. Later on, the spirit of discovery, the more abundant foodobtained by traps and by the cultivation of plants allowed men to livein tribes. Thus, intellectual development was the first cause ofsocial life in man, and Lubbock is certainly wrong in considering thatthe establishment of clans dates further back than the first beginningof civilization. Westermark's conclusions are as follows:

(1). _At no period of human existence has family life been replaced byclan life. _

(2). _Conjugal life is a heritage from ancestors who lived in asimilar way to the anthropoid apes of the present day. _

(3). _Although less intimately and less constantly bound to thechildren than to the mother, the father has always been in man theprotector of the family. _

CRITICISM OF THE DOCTRINE OF PROMISCUITY

Most sociologists believe with Lubbock, Bachofen, MacLennan, Bastian, Giraud-Teulon, Wilkens, and others that primitive man lived in sexualpromiscuity. If we agree with Westermark that the term marriageincludes polygamy, polyandry and limited marriage, the opinion ofthese authors is wrong. What they have considered as promiscuity canalways be included in one of these forms of marriage, even among theindigenes of Hayti, whose life is the most debauched. The author whohas most confused the question is Fison, with his dogmatic theoriesconcerning the Australians. Obliged to admit that promiscuity does notexist among these people, he still maintains that it existed formerly. Curr, who was better acquainted than Fison with the Australians, hasproved that they are normally monogamous. 

Similar statements of Bastian, Wilkens and others concerning theKustchins, the natives of Terra del Fuego, are also incorrect. In noneof the African tribes is there communion of women, the men, on theother hand, are extremely jealous. Promiscuity is not observed amongsavage and primitive races, but among people already civilized, suchas the Buddhist Butias, in whom man knows neither honor nor jealousy. The savage Weddas are monogamous, and one of their proverbs says:"Death alone can separate woman from man. "

There is in reality only one true form of promiscuity--theprostitution of modern civilized races, who have introduced it amongsavages, subjecting them to gratify their own lust. Among many savageraces there exists, on the contrary, a very severe monogamy, and theypunish with death every seducer and illegitimate child, as well as themother. Among others, however, considerable sexual freedom is allowedbefore or after marriage. It is impossible to lay down definite rules, but one thing may be regarded as universal, viz. , that the sexualdepravity of savage races most often arises from the influence ofcivilized people who immigrate among them and systematically introduceimmorality and debauchery. It is the white colonists who appropriatethe women of savage races and train them in the worst forms ofprostitution. It is the white colonists who introduce alcoholic drinkwhich disorganizes the most virtuous and loyal habits, and ends withruin. 

Certain Arab clans exploit European habits of prostitution by sendingtheir young girls to brothels for purposes of gain. When they haveaccumulated a sufficient fortune they return home and marry one oftheir fellow countrymen. Similar customs are observed among otherraces. 

In this connection Westermark points out that the more advanced iscivilization, the greater is the number of illegitimate births, andthe more widespread is prostitution. In Europe, the proportion ofnatural children and of prostitutes is nearly double in the towns whatit is in the country. This shows the absurdity of regardingpromiscuity as a primitive state; on the contrary, it is a rottenfruit of civilization, and especially of semi-civilization. Primitivecustoms are generally chaste, and it is civilization which corruptsthem. In Europe, prostitution is increasing, while marriage isbecoming less frequent; it is the latter which constitutes theprimitive and normal state. 

Westermark admits, as we have mentioned above, that sexual libertybefore or after marriage exists among certain tribes; but in spite ofthis the custom of careful choice always exists among these people, and this renders their unions comparatively lasting. He cites as anexample the Tounghtas of India, who practice sexual connection beforemarriage, but among whom these connections nearly always lead tomarriage; this race considers prostitution as dishonorable. 

We must, however, make one objection to Westermark. Promiscuity initself is not necessarily prostitution, for the latter signifiesespecially the sale of the body, which is not the case in promiscuity. The fundamental fact which prevents us admitting the existence ofprimitive promiscuity among savage races is the following: As soon asthe two sexes are free, the monogamous instinct of the woman andjealousy of both sexes combine to reëstablish marriage. Truepromiscuity can only exist by means of a sort of legal obligation, such as exists in the colony of Oneidas in New York. In this colonythe members formally agree to mutual and free sexual intercourse. Wemust not forget that prostitution is only kept up in women by thethirst for lucre, and ceases immediately this element disappears. 

Before the Reformation there existed in Scotland a singular customcalled "hand-fasting, " by which young men had the right to choose acompanion for a year, at the end of which time they could eitherseparate or become married according to their inclination. 

On the other hand, Lubbock mentions certain customs in Greece andIndia, the worship of _phallus_, for example, which obliged younggirls to give themselves to all men. But these customs were not amongprimitive races but resulted from the eroticism of highly civilizednations. Thus, Lubbock's argument concerning the existence ofprimitive promiscuity falls to the ground. 

Certain savage nations offer their daughters or their servants, rarelytheir wives, to their guests. A _jus primæ nocti_ (right to the firstnight) has also existed and will sometimes exist in some tribes, butthis right is reserved for the chiefs, kings or priests, and allowsthem to have sexual intercourse before the husband with every newlymarried woman during the first night of the nuptials. This is abarbarous custom based on the right of the stronger, and analogous tothe privileges claimed by the European nobles from their serfs orpeasants. But such abuses do not constitute promiscuity, as Lubbockmaintains. 

In many countries the courtesans and concubines were held in highesteem, and are so even at the present day, more than is supposed; butthis again is not a question of promiscuity. 

Morgan has deduced his theories of promiscuity from terms employed incertain savage dialects to designate relationship. These conclusionsare false and Morgan, like others, has been led into error by theobscurity of the language of these people. The simple fact thatpaternal parentage is recognised among them proves the absurdity ofMorgan's reasoning, for promiscuity cannot recognize paternalparentage. 

In 1860 Bachofen drew attention to the ancient custom of naming thechildren after the maternal side, and it is now certain that thiscustom has existed among many primitive races, while in otherschildren were named after the paternal side. The term _matriarchy_ isgiven to denomination after the maternal side. MacLennan maintains theexistence of matriarchy in promiscuity, but this is inadmissible. Maternity is self-evident, while paternity can only be provedindirectly by the aid of reasoning. No doubt all nations appear tohave recognized the real part which the father takes in everyconception, and from this results the singular custom among certaintribes, in which the husband retires to his couch and fasts during theaccouchement of his wife. 

Westermark explains matriarchy in a simpler and more natural way, bythe intimate relations of the child to the mother. Children, especially when they are still young, follow the mother when sheseparates from the father. Matriarchy is quite natural in marriages ofshort duration, with change of wives, and in polygamy; while, inmonogamous nations, it is _patriarchy_, or denomination after thepaternal line, which dominates. 

Among nations where the denomination of uncles exists, and where themarried woman lives with her family till she has a child, matriarchyresults quite naturally from this fact. In Japanese families who haveonly daughters, the husband of the eldest takes his wife's familyname. Among savages in general, the name has a great importance. Whenrank and property are only inherited in the female line, the childrenare always named after this line. We are thus concerned here with verycomplex questions which have nothing to do with promiscuity. 

Maine has proved that prostitution and promiscuity lead to sterilityand decadence. Among the few tribes in which polyandry is the rule, especially in Thibet, several brothers generally have the same wife. But they usually alternate, and never dwell together. In the fifteenthcentury, in the Canary Islands, every woman had three husbands, eachof whom lived with her for a month, and the one who was to possess herduring the following month had to work both for her and for the othertwo husbands. Polyandry has always originated in scarcity of women. 

The jealousy of men, which has never ceased to exist, gives theclearest proof of the impossibility of promiscuity. Polyandry is onlypossible among a few feeble and degenerate races who ignore jealousy. These tribes are diminishing and tend to disappear. The jealousy ofsavages is generally so terrible that among them a woman who commitsadultery is usually put to death along with her seducer. Sometimesthey are content with cutting off her nose or inflicting otherchastisement. It is from jealousy that results the obligation ofchastity in the woman. 

Religious ideas on the future of man after death are often combinedwith these ideas; this is why chastity, death, or even all kinds oftorture are, in certain countries, imposed on the woman after death ofthe husband. 

It must not be forgotten that among most savages the wife is regardedas the property of her husband. If the latter lends his wife to aguest, he offers her as part of a feast. This is not, however, promiscuity, and we must understand that these people have quitedifferent sentiments to ours. In clans or tribes the most powerful menhave always had the youngest and most beautiful wives. 

To sum up, there is not the shadow of proof in support of the doctrineof primitive promiscuity, a doctrine which is based on purelyhypothetical grounds. 

MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY

Among animals the voluntary celibate exists only among the females ofcertain birds which have become widowed, and even then the case israre. In savage man, nearly every individual marries, and the womenlook upon celibacy or widowhood almost in the same way as death. Thesavage despises celibates as thieves or sorcerers. In his opinion aman without a wife is not a man. He therefore marries at a muchearlier age than civilized man, sometimes even (in Greenland) beforefecundation is possible. Among certain Indians men sometimes marry atthe age of nine or ten years, generally between fourteen and eighteen;the girls between nine and twelve. In some comparatively civilizednations the celibate is so much despised that they go as far asmarrying the spirits of departed children! Among the Greeks, celibateswere punished, and among the Romans they were taxed heavily. Celibacybecomes more rare the further we go back in the history of the humanrace; celibacy increases with the corruption of morals. It iscivilization which does most harm to marriage, especially in the largetowns, and the age at which people marry becomes more and moreadvanced, although in Europe there are more women than men. Want ofmoney and insufficient salaries diminish more and more the number ofmarriages in the large centers, while among savages, and also amongour peasants, the women and children are one of the principal sourcesof wealth, because they work and have few needs. Among the middleclasses, on the contrary, the wife is a source of expense, as well asthe education of the children. For men, the length of intellectual andprofessional education (and military service in many countries) causemarriage to be postponed and celibacy is obligatory at the time whenthe sexual appetite is most powerful. Thus, the more civilizationadvances, the longer is marriage postponed. The refinement and themultiplicity of pleasures also diminish the attractions of marriage. 

Lastly, intellectual culture exalts the desire for the ideal, so thatmen and women well suited to each other meet less frequently, as theirmutual adaptation becomes more complicated. 

Nevertheless, I must repeat here what I have already said concerningthe way in which novelists present us with the extreme passions ofill-balanced people and describe them as types, the normal man beingtoo prosaic to attract their readers. Rotten as it is with neuroticdegenerates, our modern society is certainly not wanting inpathological models for the novelists, but it is nevertheless false toalways put these into prominence. The cultured man of well-balancedmind, adapts himself to marriage on the whole very well, and is notalways so difficult to please. However, it must be recognized thatmarriage becomes less easy if a too high ideal is expected from it. With characteristic prudence, Westermark does not answer the questionwhether marriage will progressively diminish in the future. 

=The Cult of Virgins. Sanctity of the Celibate. =--Among many savagesthe singular idea obtains that there is something impure in sexualintercourse. The celibacy ordained by several religions originatesfrom ideas of this kind. 

Many nations have worshiped virgins, for instance the vestal virginsof the Romans. The mother of Buddha was declared to be holy and pure, Buddha having been conceived supernaturally, according to the legend. A Buddhist monk is forbidden to have sexual intercourse, even withanimals! Celibacy among certain priests exists also in China. 

Among the Hebrews, the idea of the impurity of marriage had got afooting, and this no doubt powerfully influenced Christianity. St. Paul thus places celibacy higher than marriage, and this is how theidea became established among the fathers of the Church that therepression of all sensuality was a cardinal virtue, and that God hadcontemplated in paradise an asexual reproduction of the human species, which was annulled by the fall of Adam. Men who remained pure were tobe immortal. "The earth is filled with marriage and the heavens withvirginity, " says Jeremiah. Such are the ideas which have given rise tothe obligation of celibacy for priests. 

Westermark thinks that the idea of impurity attached to sexualintercourse is possibly derived from the instinctive repugnanceexperienced by members of the same family to have sexual intercoursebetween themselves. Banished from the family circle this intercoursewas tainted with a stigma which offended modesty, and by theassociation of ideas so common in man, this stigma was extended tolegal marriage outside the family. Moreover, religious celibacy iscomplicated by ascetic conceptions, and the idea of the impurity ofsexual intercourse is by no means general. 

For my part, I think rather that the jealousy natural to both sexeshas gradually compelled them to limit their sexual intercourse tointimacy and to conceal it. But man is ashamed of everything which heconceals, and we shall soon see that the sentiment of modesty concernsall parts of the body which are concealed. This simple fact issufficient to give rise to the idea that coitus is impure, and I donot think it necessary to seek any further explanation. 

ADVANCES MADE BY ONE SEX TO THE OTHER--DEMANDS IN MARRIAGE

A natural law compels the male germinal cell to move toward the egg;exceptions to this law are rare, the female germinal cells beinglarger and produced in less number. It follows that in copulation, orthe union of individual sexual entities, man included, it is the malewhich is the active party and makes the advances. Among certain tribes(Paraguayans, Garos, Moquis), however, it is the female who makes theadvances. Everyone knows the combats for the female which takes placebetween the male of animals, cocks and stags for example. Amongcertain Indians similar struggles are also observed, after which thevanquished has to surrender his wife to the conqueror. The same customobtained among the ancient Greeks, as we see in the suitors forPenelope. In Ireland similar customs prevailed up to the last fewcenturies. 

On the other hand, we often see among savages and among birds thefavors of the female obtained by assiduous courtship rather than bycombat. In some savage tribes struggles take place between the femalesfor possession of the male. However, it is usually coquetry in all itsdegrees which furnishes woman with the basis for her advances. In manynations, if not in most, women have the right to refuse a demand formarriage. 

METHODS OF ATTRACTION

=Adornment in the Two Sexes. =--Vanity is older than man, for it isfound in many animals. The lowest and most savage peoples adornthemselves. Tattooing, staining the skin, rings on the arms and feet, in the lips, nose and ears serve to attract one sex toward the other. A Santal woman may carry as much as fifteen kilogrammes of ornamentson her body. Vanity leads to incredible eccentricities, certaintribes, for example, pull out their teeth to increase theirattractions. Absurdities of this kind are often associated withreligious ideas, although the latter generally play a secondary part. The true origin of these customs lies in vanity, combined with thesexual desire to captivate. In hot climates, at any rate, the savagesonly commenced to cover their bodies with clothes with the object ofpleasing by personal adornment. The religious observances attached tothe custom of adornment are not primitive. The latter is derived fromthe sexual appetite and from vanity, and has only been incorporated inthe dogmas of religious mysticism after being first established in thehabits of the people. 

Among savages the men are more inclined to personal adornment and tocoquetry than the women. This is not due to the inferior socialposition of the women, for those who enjoy the greatest liberty areoften less extensively tattooed than those who are reduced to slavery. The true reason is that the man risks much more than the woman byremaining celibate, and this obliges him to take more pains than thewomen to make himself fascinating. As a rule the wives of savagesattach less importance to their personal appearance than to that oftheir husbands, and the vanity of the latter is guided chiefly by thetaste of their wives. The objects with which savages adorn themselvesare generally trophies. 

Among civilized people, on the contrary, the men have a much widerchoice and many women remain celibate. This is one of the reasonswhich compel women to study their personal appearance and the art offlirtation. In Europe, earrings represent the last vestige of thesavage methods of adornment. 

=Sentiment of Shame of the Genital Organs. Nudity. =--What is theorigin of the fact that man is ashamed of his genital organs? Nothingof the kind occurs in animals. The psychologist, Wundt, maintains thatman has always had a sexual sentiment of modesty. This is not correct, for many races present no trace of it, and sometimes cover all partsof their body except the genital organs. In some, the men, and inothers the women go absolutely naked. Originally, clothes were onlyworn for adornment or for protection against the cold. The Massaiswould be ashamed to hide their penis, and it is their custom toexhibit it. Other savages cover the glans penis only with a small cap;they retire to pass water, but regard themselves as fully dressed solong as the glans penis is covered. The girdles and other garments ofsavage women are intended for ornament, and as a means of attraction;they have nothing to do with modesty. In a society where every onegoes naked, nudity seems quite natural, and provokes neither shame noreroticism. The custom of adorning the sexual organs then serves as ameans of attraction, both in men and women. The short transparentskirts of a ballet dancer are in reality much more immodest than thenudity of the female savages. A great naturalist has said that veiledforms provoke the sexual appetite more than nudity. Snow remarks thatassociation with naked savages excites much less sensuality than thesociety of fashionably dressed women in our salons. Read also remarks"Nothing is more moral or less calculated to excite the passions thannudity. " It is needless to say that this statement is only correctwhen nudity is a matter of custom, for in sexual matters it is alwaysnovelty which attracts. Pious persons have tried to make savagesmodest by clothing them, but have only produced the contrary effect. Savage women regard it as shameful to cover their sexual organs. Thenaturalist, Wallace, found in one tribe a young girl who possessed adress, but who was quite as much ashamed of clothing herself with itas one of our ladies would be of undressing before strangers. 

It is only owing to the custom of wearing clothes that nudity provokesthe sexual appetite. This custom develops artificially a sentiment ofmodesty with regard to nudity, which increases progressively inintensity and is especially marked in aged women. It is not so muchhabit, as to the feeling of progressive deterioration of their charms, which leads the latter to cover themselves as they grow older, and ispart of the instinctive æsthetic sentiment of woman. 

At the orgies and fêtes held among savages the women cover theirsexual organs with certain objects, as a means to excite the men. Complete nudity is found more often in savage women than in the men. 

Later on when it became the custom to wear clothes, nudity becameattractive and was considered shameful. This is why the Chinese feelshame at exposing their feet, the Mahometans their faces, and somesavages even the ends of their fingers. 

Certain customs, like circumcision among the Jews, Polynesians andAustralians; the artificial elongation of the lips of the vulva inHottentots, Malays, and North American Indians, originated, accordingto Westermark, in the intention of exciting the sexual appetite, or ofintroducing variety into its satisfaction. Later on routine, whichsanctions everything, transferred these customs into religious cult. It is possible, however, that among the Jews, who are a practicalrace, the hygienic advantage of circumcision took a part in itstransformation into a rite. 

To resume, everything derogatory to established custom excites thesentiment of shame or modesty, not only in sexual matters but inothers. Most children are ashamed of not behaving exactly as theircomrades or their brothers and sisters, and are very uncomfortable ifthey are obliged to behave otherwise. All sentiments of morality andmodesty rest on conventionalities. The savage women burst intolaughter when the naked companions of Livingstone turned their backsfrom modesty. The sentiment of modesty or shame thus depends only onexceptional violation of an old custom. This is why unconventionalways in one of the sexes (especially in woman) tend to offend thesentiments of modesty, and usually excite the sexual appetite of theother sex. 

LIBERTY OF CHOICE IN MARRIAGE--PATRIARCHISM

Among savages, the women sometimes have the right of giving their handin marriage, sometimes not. The latter case is not surprising incountries where women are considered as merchandise. Among theEsquimaux every girl is betrothed from birth. Among the Boschimans, Ashantis, etc. , the unborn girl is even betrothed while she is in hermother's womb! These betrothals are generally arranged by the maternalparents together with the mother. 

Very often, however, the consent of the woman is required; or, themarriage may be only valid after the birth of the first child oncondition of the woman's consent. 

Among the American Indians, if the woman is not a consenting party sheelopes with her lover and thus escapes the would-be-husband. In thisway elopement has gradually become a recognized institution amongcertain races. I was told by a Bulgarian that the peasants in hiscountry buy their wives from the father, generally for two or threehundred francs, but if the father demands too much, the women areraped. After this marriage becomes indispensable and the fatherreceives nothing, for, in Bulgaria, which is not yet spoiled bycivilization, unions apart from marriage are considered as a terribledisgrace. 

In certain races, the woman has a free choice among several men andher wish becomes law, so that the parents have no voice in the matter;this occurs among the natives of the Celebes. The bridegroom isnevertheless obliged to pay the dowry demanded. Similar customsprevail among other races. 

Westermark comes to the conclusion that in the primitive state ofhumanity the women had a much freer choice than afterward. Marriage bypurchase developed later and constituted an intermediate stage. Whenthe first civilizations became more complicated and recognized thevalue of woman's labor, the fathers began to sell their daughters, aswe now see savage tribes abandon their women to prostitution with thewhite man. But in primitive times, when there was neithercivilization, money, nor labor, properly so-called, each individualfought for his life and the father had no more possibility of sellinghis daughter as a slave than a gorilla or an orang-utan would haveto-day. 

Marriage by rape, which occurred after wars when the women wereabducted and married against their will, must not be confounded withmarriage by elopement which takes place with the woman's consent, andof which the latest fashion is elopement by automobile. 

Among savages, the boys are also most often the property of thefather, who has the right to sell them and even to put them to death. But they become free at the age of puberty and then have the right tomarry according to their inclination without being forced by theirparents. 

There existed and still exist many patriarchal races (certain Indiansand Asiatics, for example) among whom the father possesses unlimitedpower. The older he is the more he is honored, and the more his poweris uncontested. All the children and grandchildren, with their wivesand children, eat at his table; none of his descendants can marrywithout his consent, etc. The effects of patriarchism are deplorableand very immoral. The patriarch abuses his power--gives his old wivesto his children and takes the young ones, for example. The purest andmost virtuous Japanese girl is obliged to go to a brothel if herfather orders it. The patriarch has the power of life and death overboth sexes, and from this is derived the cult of ancestors. At thepresent day we see immorality of this kind in the Russian patriarchismamong the peasants; the fathers have the custom of misusing theirsons' wives. Patriarchism thus degenerates into atrocious tyranny onthe part of the chief of the family, who becomes looked upon as agod. 

A law which is common in the Latin races, which forbids marriagebefore the age of thirty, without the consent of the father, is avestige of patriarchism. 

We see, therefore, that quite primitive savage races approached ourmost modern ideas in liberty of choice in marriage. Between these twoperiods humanity was under the yoke of a barbarous error--theintermediate stage of marriage by purchase and patriarchal autocracy. There has existed and still exists more than one aberration of thiskind in the intermediate stages of civilization; for instance, torture, slavery and the use of narcotic substances, such as alcohol. 

SEXUAL SELECTION

By sexual selection we mean union by choice among males and females. In the vertebrates, the female chooses much more commonly than themale, the latter being more disposed to pair with all the females thanthe females with all the males. We may certainly admit that this wasalso the case in primitive man, especially when there existed arutting period, for then the sexual appetite was more violent. Moreover, even at the present day, women are on the average moredifficult to please and more strict in their choice than men. 

In the case of hybrids it is generally the male which violates the lawof instinct. Female slaves often flee from their free husbands, but wenever see male slaves abandon their free wives. Among savage races thewoman is always more difficult to please than the man. Amonghalf-breeds, it is nearly always the father who belongs to a higherrace. The inverse rarely occurs; it is exceptional for a white womanto marry a negro. The same thing is reproduced among ourselves; weoften see a cultured man marry an uneducated woman, but a culturedwoman seldom marries a laborer. 

It is especially among savages that the woman prefers the man who isstrongest, most skillful, most ardent, and most audacious. Heroesalways haunt the minds of women, who love to throw themselves at thehead of conquerors. The ideal of certain women in Borneo is a husbandwho has killed many enemies and possesses their heads (head-hunters ofBorneo). This psychological trait responds to natural selection, forthe women obtain by this custom better protectors and strongerchildren. 

On the other hand, man looks instinctively for a young, healthy andwell-developed woman. It is on this basis that Greek art formed Erosand Aphrodite, designating the latter as goddess of both love andbeauty. 

=Conception of Beauty. =--The conception of beauty is very relative. The Australians laugh at our long noses and the natives ofCochin-China at our white teeth and red cheeks. Certain savage womenbind their legs below the knees to make them swell, this effect beingpart of their idea of beauty. The Chinese admire the deformed feet oftheir women and their prominent cheek bones. In each nation theconception of beauty generally corresponds to the ideal type of therace, for both sexes. As a general rule muscle is admired in man andfullness of figure in woman. The Hottentots like women's breasts to beso pendulous that they can throw them over shoulder, and suckle theinfants carried on their backs; they also admire the elongated lips ofthe vulva. 

There are, therefore, few general typical characters of sexualpreference; these are especially the ideal type of the race and thehealth of both sexes, voluptuous forms and grace in women, muscularstrength and dexterity in men. Everything else is relative andvariable, and depends on the local point of view, customs, race, individual taste, etc. 

Thus, according to the conception of æsthetics, tattooing, thearrangement of the hair and beard, deformations of the nose, cranium, or feet, are admired by different peoples. Each race extols its ownpeculiarities; the European compares a woman's breasts to snow, theMalay to gold, etc. The natives of Coromandel paint their gods blackand their devils white, while in Europe it is the reverse. 

The association of love with beauty is not based on æstheticsentiments, for the latter are disinterested, while the originalinstinct of love is interested. The association of the two thingsdepends on the instinctive necessity of health, combined with thesexual appetite, although custom has produced numerous aberrations. Everything which differs markedly from the type of the race is moreor less pathological. This is why instinct, determined by naturalselection, repels it. 

Fashion also rules among savages, but is less changeable among themthan with us, and their taste for adornment only varies in the narrowcircle of their customs. 

Climate has a powerful action on the types of races, the latter beinggenerally adapted to the climate in which they live. Thus, theEuropean becomes darker in the tropics while negroes and Indiansbecome paler in the north. 

LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE--HYBRIDS

Every animal species has an instinctive repugnance to pair withanother. Even where they are possible, natural hybrids are rare, andonly become a little more frequent in domestic animals and plants. Thefecundity of hybrids diminishes when they have connection amongthemselves, and this explains why the instinct for such connectionstends to gradually disappear. 

In his book on "The Mneme, " Semon explains the infecundity of hybridsin a very plausible manner, by the disorder that a too large quantityof dissimilar hereditary engrams causes in the hereditary mneme of twoconjugated cells. When the parents differ from each other only in amoderate degree homophony may still be reëstablished, and then thedivergencies have a very favorable effect on the product, by the newcombinations which they furnish in the course of its development. 

Moral ideas follow the course of instincts, and this explains whysexual connection with animals is regarded as a horrible crime. Thisis especially produced by pathological aberration, or when one sex iscompletely isolated from the other. There is also a certain degree ofaversion to copulation between different races, in animals as well asman; for example, between sheep and horses of different races, andbetween white men, negroes and Indians. There are, however, manyhybrids or half-breeds in South America, and in Mexico they evenconstitute two-thirds of the population. 

Broca maintained that human hybrids produced by the crossing of remoteraces, for example, between English and negroes or Australians, wereusually sterile. Westermark disputes this, but agrees that thesehybrids become enfeebled in a few generations. It has also beenestablished that mixed marriage between Jews and Aryans are generallyless fecund; but this fact is not yet sufficiently explained. Mulattoes, or hybrids between negroes and whites, constitute adegenerate race and hardly viable, at any rate if their descendants donot return entirely to one of the original races. Half-breeds betweenwhites and American Indians, also called Ladinos, seem on the contraryto form a viable race, but one of little valor. 

PROHIBITION OF CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES

Sexual union between near relations nearly always causes a feeling ofrepugnance in man, and has been stigmatized by the term _incest_. Coitus between mother and son especially excites disgust. Sexualconnection between parents and children, as well as between brothersand sisters is, however, common among certain tribes. Many other racesallow marriage between brothers and sisters, but this is elsewheregenerally condemned. 

Among the Weddas, marriage between an elder brother and his youngersister is considered normal, while that between a younger brother andhis elder sister, or between a nephew and his aunt, is regarded asunnatural. The latter simply shows that unions between young men andold women are not natural. Unions between brothers and sisters, andespecially between half-brothers and half-sisters were licit among thePersians, Egyptians, Syrians, Athenians and ancient Jews. Thosebetween uncles and nieces (more rarely between aunts and nephews) aresometimes permitted, sometimes prohibited. With the exception of Spainand Russia marriages between first cousins are allowed in Europe. 

=Exogamy and Endogamy. =--Among many savages the prohibition ofconsanguineous marriage may be extended to relationship of the thirddegree. Marriage may even be prohibited among all members of the sametribe or clan, even when they are not related. This is called_exogamous_ marriage, and reaches its extreme development among theAustralians, who are only allowed to marry into remote clans. 

We thus see that the great majority of savages extend their idea ofincest much further than we do. The reason of this has been muchdiscussed. It was formerly said that consanguineous marriage wascontrary to the commandments of God; that it offended the naturalsentiment of modesty; that it obscures relationship, etc. Nowadays, itis said to be injurious to posterity. Ethnography teaches us, however, that these statements are of little value. 

Along with the exogamy of many tribes there is among other savages asystem of _endogamy_, described by MacLennan; this is the prohibitionof marriage between different clans. Spencer and MacLennan havedifferent explanations of this custom which seem hardly natural. Westermark appears to be nearer the truth in remarking as follows: Thesexual appetite, especially in man, is excited by new impressions andcooled by habit. It is not the fact of a man and woman being related, but intimate companionship since youth, which produces in them arepugnance to sexual union. We find the same repugnance betweenadopted brothers and sisters and between friends who have beenintimate since childhood. When, on the contrary, brothers and sistersor near relatives have been separated from each other since an earlyage, they often fall in love with each other when they meet later on. There is, therefore, no innate or instinctive repugnance to incest initself, but only against sexual union between individuals who havelived together since childhood. As it is parents and their childrenwho are usually in this situation, everything is explained simply andclearly. 

The causes of exogamy are explained in the same way, by the fact thatmembers of the same clan often live together in close intimacy. It isthe small clans, formed of thirty or fifty individuals of a fewfamilies living together, which have the most severe laws againstincest or endogamy. Where the families live in separate homes, suchprohibitions do not exist. The Maoris, who are endogamous, inhabitvillages which are widely separated, and marriage between relations isallowed. Endogamy generally exists where the clan life is littledeveloped, and where relatives know and see little of each other. Theaversion to marriage between persons living together has thus createdprohibition of marriage between relations as well as that of marriagebetween members of the same clan. It is the same reason which has ledto the prohibition of marriage between brothers-and sisters-in-law, between brothers and adopted sisters, etc. In people living in smallcommunities, endogamy does not appear to have ever existed. 

Incest between relatives living together appears to have everywherethe same natural cause--the scarcity of women in isolated familiesliving in remote districts. There is also a psycho-pathological formof incest associated with morbid appetites in the families ofdegenerates. In animals living alone and whose families break up veryrapidly (cats for example) incestuous unions, between parents andyoung, for instance, are quite common. 

Let us now consider the scientific side of the question. We seeeverywhere that sexual union between quite distinct animal speciesgives no result. At the most, certain closely allied species, such asthe ass and the horse, the rabbit and the hare, give progeny which arethemselves sterile (mules, etc. ). The feebleness and sterility ofhybrids derived from widely separated races or nearly allied differentspecies proves the deficiency in vital force of the offspring offundamentally dissimilar procreators. But, on the other hand, thedangers of continuous consanguineous reproduction are no less evident. Perpetual unions between brothers and sisters for several generations, lead to degeneration of the race. For example, the still-births willbe 25 per cent. Instead of 8 per cent. , which is the figure inordinary crossings. The prejudice against consanguineous unions may, however, depend on the accumulation of certain pathological defects. 

Westermark admits that it is difficult to show clearly thatconsanguineous marriages are prejudicial in man. The consanguinitywhich causes evil effects in animals concerns long-continued unionsbetween parents and children or brothers and sisters. But this neveroccurs in man. Animals and plants may be perpetuated for many years inthe closest consanguinity without degeneration resulting. Among thePersians and Egyptians, intimate unions have existed for a long timewithout producing degeneration. 

On the other hand, breeders of animals tell us that a single drop ofnew blood (or rather sperm) is enough to counteract all the evileffects of consanguinity. In man the most frequent incests are alwaysinterrupted by some other union. The Ptolemies, who nearly alwaysmarried their sisters, nieces or cousins, lived long and were far frombeing sterile. In Ceylon, the Weddas perpetuate their consanguineousunions; insanity is rare among them, but they are small, unfruitfuland tend to become extinct. 

In Europe, the question of marriages between first cousins has beenmuch discussed, and it has been constantly attempted to prove thatthey are injurious. Nevertheless, when we examine the questionimpartially, we always find that the prejudices against them do notarrive from consanguinity, but from certain pathological defects, suchas insanity, hemophilia, etc. , which are naturally perpetuated byconsanguineous unions when they are accumulated in one family, as wellas when two insane persons of different families marry. Therefore itis not consanguineous unions in themselves (which are alwaysaccidental in man and interrupted by others) but the hereditaryreproduction of pathological defects, often of blastophthoric origin, which are the real cause of the evil. Statistics have clearly provedthat marriage between first cousins plays no part in the causes ofinsanity. 

Influenced, no doubt, by general opinion, Westermark tries to believein some instinctive repulsion of man for consanguineous unions. If inmodern society such unions, perpetuated between parents and children, brothers and sisters, were still produced as in animals I should agreethat they might be injurious to the species; but, considering howcosmopolitan and mixed is our modern society, I cannot make theconcession. On the contrary, I maintain that the isolated unions whichstill take place between relatives in civilized countries are soexceptional that they do not present the least danger, excepting amongthe families of degenerates. It is therefore only a question ofsuperstition. What we have to guard against are unions betweenpathological individuals and blastophthoric influences. We must notforget that many degenerates and idiots have a great pathologicaltendency to incest, and this is no doubt why the effect has beenconfounded with the cause. 

Westermark himself gives us a striking example. Since the most remotetimes the inhabitants of the Commune of Bats, composed of 3, 300persons, have intermarried; yet this population is very healthy andvigorous and shows no sign of degeneration. On the other hand, we haveseen that contrasts produce a mutual attraction in the domain of love, while strong resemblances rather repel. Bernardin de St. Pierre hassaid that love is created by contrasts; the greater the contrast thegreater the love. Schopenhauer remarks as follows: "Every individualseeks in the opposite sex peculiarities which contrast with his own;the most masculine man seeks the most feminine woman, while small andfeeble men love large and strong women; people with short noses preferlong ones, tall and thin men prefer short and stout women. All thisincreases fecundity. " Thus instinct is sufficient to protect humanityagainst consanguinity, each sex instinctively seeking the contrastswhich consanguinity diminishes. 

SENTIMENT AND CALCULATION IN SEXUAL SELECTION

Youth, beauty, health, finery and flirtation excite the sexualappetite. Many other sentiments are accessory, such as admiration, thepleasure of possession, respect, pity, etc. Inclination is animportant element, but in no way necessary to sexual union. 

In the lower stages of human development, tenderness toward childrenis much stronger than sexual love. Among many savage races the love ofa man for his wife is completely wanting, as well as that of the wifefor her husband. In this case marriage depends on reciprocalconvenience, on the desire to have children, and profits by personalcomfort and the satisfaction of a purely animal sexual appetite. However, among these people the parents have a tender regard for theirchildren. The husband has the right to beat his wife, but the wife isconsidered as unnatural or even criminal if she beats her children. Among the North American Indians, for example, conjugal love is, so tospeak, unknown. On the other hand, in other savage races, such as theTouaregs, the Niam-Niams, the New Caledonians, the Tonganese andAustralians, the conjoints have a deep affection for each other, andthe husband often commits suicide on the death of his wife. On thewhole, the sentiments of affection of the conjoints are the result ofa long sexual life in common, and they are especially strengthened bythe love of the parents for their children. 

As a rule, the mutual attachment of conjoints for each other amongcultivated races is developed along with altruism. The tenderness andrefinement of love as they exist at the present day among highlycivilized races were unknown to most savages and to the oldercivilizations. In China it is considered good manners to beat thewife, and when a poor Chinaman treats his wife with consideration, itis to avoid having to buy another. What the Arab understands by loveis only sexual appetite, and among the ancient Greeks it was nearlythe same. 

In civilized Europe mental culture progresses in the direction ofequality of rights between the two sexes, so that a man regards hiswife more as a companion who is his equal and no longer a slave. Community of interests, opinions, sentiments and culture constitute aprimary condition for sentiments of mutual sympathy and favorsaffection. No doubt, excitation of the sexual appetite by contrastsacts here as an antagonistic force. Contrast should not be so great asto exclude sympathy. 

Too great difference in age is dangerous for attachment, for it causestoo great a divergence in the aims and interests of life. Educationand social equality also favors love, and this tends to preserve classdistinction. It is rare for a well-educated man to fall in love with apeasant, or a laboring man with an educated woman, except in a sensualway. Men generally avoid marriage with individuals of another race, orof another religion. 

Endogamy and exogamy do not form such an absolute contrast as at firstsight might appear. Even among exogamous races, there is a limit whichmust not be passed. These races often prohibit marriage withindividuals of another race. Among the Arabs, for example, theinstinct of ethnical separation is so strong, that the same Bedouinwife who will prostitute herself for money with Turks or Europeans, would think it dishonorable to marry one of them. In this way customproduces endogamy of caste and class among the same people. The samewith the nobility; in ancient Rome it was forbidden for a patrician tomarry a plebeian. Sometimes an endogamy of religious origin is metwith, among the Jews for example. 

Children are treasures for the man of low culture, while they become aburden to the cultivated man. In spite of this the natural manardently desires children. In Switzerland, two-fifths of the divorcesoccur in sterile unions, although the latter only form one-fifth ofall marriages. 

Calculation often smothers sentiment when it becomes the basis ofmarriage. We live to-day under the sway of Mammon, with the resultthat the influence of love, strength, beauty, capacity for work, intelligence, skill, character and even health, count for littlecompared with money in the question of marriage. This sad sign isreally a new form of marriage by purchase, hypocritically disguised. 

MARRIAGE BY RAPE AND MARRIAGE BY PURCHASE

The rape of women is an established custom in some regions. Certainmarriage ceremonies prove that rape was formerly much more common thanat the present day. Among certain Indian tribes the simulation of rapeand abduction of the woman form part of the marriage ceremonies;custom requiring that the woman must feign to resist. 

According to Spencer, marriage by rape originated in the prudery ofwoman, while MacLennan attributes it to the predominance of exogamy;but, in reality, marriage by rape exists in races which are absolutelyendogamous. Westermark believes it arose from the repugnance to unionscontracted in a narrow circle. The savage has difficulty in procuringa wife without giving the father compensation; besides, his ownrepugnance to the companions of his childhood and the prejudicesagainst unions between relations, as well as the enmity of otherclans, all increase the difficulties to be overcome. This is why heoften decides on rape. Marriage by rape has not, however, been therule at any period, and on the whole, unions concluded by mutualagreement have always predominated. 

Marriage by purchase has followed marriage by rape, and forms aslightly higher stage of civilization, developed by exchange of moneyor other symbols. It first appears, in Australia, for example, asmarriage by exchange (exchange of a woman for a sister or a daughter). Afterward young men gain their wives by working as servants for thefather. In marriage by purchase the price is based on the beauty, health and social position of the woman. A young girl is generallyworth more than a widow or a rejected woman. Skill in female manuallabor also increases the price. Among the Indians of British Columbiaa wife will cost from twenty to forty pounds sterling, while in Oregonthey are exchanged for bisons' skins or blankets. Among the Kaffirsfrom three to ten cows is a low price, twenty to thirty a high pricefor a wife. When a wife was given gratis, her parents had a right tothe children. Marriage by purchase and by exchange still exists amongthe lower races as it formerly ruled among civilized peoples. We stillpossess the rudiments. 

Marriage by rape or by purchase has, however, never been in generalusage. Certain races in India and Africa considered it a disgrace topay a price for a wife. 

From the historical point of view it is interesting to note that, inthe ceremonies of marriage by purchase, a simulated and symbolicalrape of the betrothed still recalls the old form of marriage by rape;also, in races where a higher form has replaced marriage by purchase, traces of the latter are still preserved in certain nuptial symbols. 

DECADENCE OF MARRIAGE BY PURCHASE--THE DOT

The position of woman has undergone steady improvement in highercivilization by the progress of altruism. This is why culture, inIndia, China, Greece, Rome and Germany, etc. , has graduallydiscredited marriage by purchase. This was at first replaced by thecustom of giving wedding presents to the bride; afterward the oppositecustom was introduced of the bride bringing her _dot_ to thebridegroom. 

A singular transition between these two systems is constituted bysimulated purchase, in which the bridegroom offers presents to thebride's parents, which are afterward returned to him. Among certainsavages the bride's parents return the purchase money of theirdaughter to the bridegroom in another form. Such restitution was oftenthe origin of the _dot_. 

Among the Romans the _dot_ became the property of the husband, andfrom this is derived the modern custom which usually gives the husbandthe right to administer his wife's _dot_, which remains the propertyof the wife and her family. 

Among the Mexicans, where divorce for conjugal discord is frequent, and among certain Mahometans, division of property exists in marriage, and the wife's property is returned to her when she is separated ordivorced. 

In Europe at the present time, especially under the influence ofFrench customs, there is established a kind of marriage by inversepurchase (which already existed among the Greeks), in the sense thatthe parents of young girls obtain husbands for them by means of alarge _dot_. Westermark concludes this subject with the followingwords: "If she does not possess special personal attractions, a younggirl without a _dot_, at the present day, runs a great chance of notgetting married. This state of things is quite naturally developed ina society where monogamy is legally enforced; where women are morenumerous than men; where many men never marry, and where married womentoo often lead a life of idleness. " If we add to this: "in a societywhere Mammon rules as absolute master, " the picture will not bewanting in accuracy. 

NUPTIAL CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES

In primitive races where the wife is simply bought like merchandise, often after mutual agreement, nuptial ceremonies do not exist. Theygenerally originate later from the symbols of a form of marriage sinceabandoned. The ceremony being concluded and the marriage recognized aslegal, it is followed by feasting. Certain religious ceremonies aregenerally combined with marriage. The customs of our modern marriagesarise from the same source. At the time of early Christianity therewere no religious ceremonies and even up till the year 1563, the dateof the end of the Council of Trent, religious benediction of marriagewas not obligatory. Luther held that marriage should be purely civil, but legal civil marriage was only introduced among us by the FrenchRevolution, while it had existed in remote times among the Peruvians, Nicaraguans and others. Among certain races, marriages concludedwithout _dot_, without ceremony, or without purchase, and even thosebetween different castes, are often regarded as concubinage. 

FORMS OF MARRIAGE

Leaving aside hermaphrodites, such as the snails, in which eachindividual has both kinds of sexual organs and plays the part of bothmale and female, there are among animals with separate sexes fiveforms of conjugal union:

(1). _Temporary or perpetual monogamy_, or marriage between oneindividual of one sex and one of the other sex. This is the case withmost birds and mammals and many races of man. 

(2). _Polygymy or polygamy_, or the marriage of one male with severalfemales. This occurs in ruminants, stags, fowls, and other animals, aswell as in some human beings; for example, the Islamites, negroes, American Indians, Mormons, etc. 

(3). _Polyandry_, or the marriage of one female with several males. This is met with chiefly in the ants, in which each female isgenerally fecundated successively by several males. In most of thehigher animals, the jealousy of the males renders polyandryimpossible. In man it is rare but exists among certain races. 

(4). _Marriage in groups_, or marriage between several males andseveral females. This singular custom is rare but exists in the Togas, a tribe of savages. I am not aware of its existence among animals. 

(5). _Promiscuity_, or free sexual intercourse between males andfemales. This occurs in many animals, especially in the lower animalsin which the sexual instinct of the male is not associated with anyregard for the female or the progeny. Promiscuity is still morenatural when the female does not look after her young after she haslaid her eggs. Nevertheless, in most animals the female limits herselfto sexual intercourse before each brood, so that real promiscuity isnot so frequent as would at first appear. In man, on the contrary, itattains its apogee in prostitution, which is the only absolutelycomplete form of promiscuity. But the result of prostitution asregards the preservation of the species, which is the proper object ofall sexual union, is absolutely destructive. 

Polygamy or polygymy were licit among most ancient races, and is sostill among most savages and among many civilized nations; but it hasseveral varieties. 

In Mexico, Peru, Japan and China a man only possesses one legitimatewife, but has several concubines whose children are considered aslegitimate as those of his wife. Polygamy existed legally among theJews up to the Middle Ages. King Solomon possessed seven hundred wivesand three hundred concubines. In Islamite countries the Jews are stillpolygamous. The Koran allows them four wives and as many concubines asthey please. The latter do not enjoy the protection of their father, but apart from this they have the same rights as the legitimate wives. The Hindus and Persians are polygamous. The Romans were strictlymonogamous, but they also had concubines. 

In Christian Europe, polygamy has occasionally been allowed ortolerated: St. Augustus did not condemn it. Luther allowed Philip ofHesse to marry two wives; and after the treaty of Westphalia bigamywas allowed because of the depopulation of Germany. The mistresses ofthe present princes are a relic of polygamy. Jesus having said nothingconcerning polygamy, Luther did not prohibit it. 

The Mormons have introduced it into their religion. The negro king ofLoango shows us what degree polygamy may reach among princes andchiefs, for he possesses seven thousand wives, while the chiefs of theFiji Islands are content with twenty to one hundred. 

Among savage races we find monogamy in the natives of the Andamanislands, among the Touaregs, the Weddas, the Iroquois, the Wyandottes, and even in some Australian tribes. With others, polygamy is onlypermitted to the chiefs. But most of the population are monogamouseven among polygamous races, and there are very few peoples in whichall the men possess several wives. In India, 95 per cent. Of theIslamites are monogamous, and in Persia even 98 per cent. Polygamy isnearly everywhere a privilege of princes, chiefs, and rich men. 

The two following facts also show a tendency to monogamy amongpolygamous races:

(1). One of the wives, generally the first, has prerogatives over theothers. 

(2). In reality, the polygamous man nearly always gives sexualpreference to one only, or to a few of his wives. There are, however, some polygamous races in which the husband has sexual intercourse witheach of his wives according to a regular programme, taking each ofthem in turn for several days, weeks or months. With others, on thecontrary, a number of married women remain in reality virgins, becausethe husband does not desire them, and they are nothing more thandomestics. Among these people the husband as a rule only takes asecond wife when the first has grown old, so that bigamy becomes theordinary form of marriage. 

The Cingalese were polyandrous before the English conquest, and somany as seven men had one wife in common. Polyandry is especially thecustom in Thibet. Among polyandrous peoples the husbands are not allon the same footing of equality, some hold an inferior position, corresponding nearly to that of concubines, another sign of thetendency to monogamy. 

Among the Togas marriage in groups is constituted as follows: All thebrothers are husbands of the wife of the elder brother, and all thesisters of this wife are at the same time wives of theirbrothers-in-law. If we except prostitution, this is the only case inman which approaches promiscuity. Marriage in groups, however, isextremely restricted promiscuity. 

To resume, monogamy is by far the most widespread form of marriage. This is explained by the relative number of men to women. It has oftenbeen stated that the number of individuals of the two sexes is nearlythe same, and this has been used as an argument in favor of monogamy. But this statement is incorrect; sometimes it is the men, but moreoften the women, who predominate. Among the natives of Oregon thereare seven hundred men to eleven hundred and eighty-five women. Amongthe Punkas and other races the number of women is two or three timesgreater than that of the men. In Kotcha-Hamba there is only one man tofive women. Among other races there are, on the contrary, more menthan women, especially in Australia, Tasmania, and Hayti. In thelatter island there is only one woman to five men. In Cashmere thereare three men to one woman. Among the negroes, on the contrary, thewomen predominate, sometimes in the proportion of three to one, butmore generally as three to two. 

In Europe, more boys than girls are born on the average, but from theage of fifteen to twenty the numbers become equal, and after twentythe women predominate. This is due to the greater mortality among men, owing to war, the greater danger of masculine occupations, and also toalcoholism. In the fifteen largest towns in Switzerland alcoholism isthe direct or indirect cause of death in 10. 5 per cent. Of men abovethe age of twenty. 

Among savages the women often take part in war, for instance theAmazons of Dahomey. Drinking habits are also the same or absent inboth sexes, which equalizes matters. When the men predominate in thesepeople, this is often due to infanticide committed on young girls, andalso to overwork of the women. With the Cingalese the natality of boysis greater than that of girls, while in Asia Minor two girls, inArabia even four girls, are born to one boy. The Arab says, "Allah hasgiven us more women than men; it is, therefore, clear that polygamy isa divine commandment. "

=Production of Sexes at Will. =--I will say a few words on the questionof the causes of production of the sexes. There is no want ofhypotheses, assertions, nor even of experiments on this subject; but, we are obliged to admit that up to the present we know nothingcertain. No one has yet succeeded in producing experimentally inanimals males or females at will. According to one theory, which hascreated much impression, overfeeding produces females and underfeedingmales. Although this appears to be true in certain cases among someanimals, it is in no way proved in a positive manner. 

It has also been suggested that selection produces the sex which isdeficient in numbers; but here again proofs are wanting. It has beenmaintained that crossing tends to breed females, while consanguineousmarriages produce males; in other words, that mongrel races show anexcess of female births, while races in which marriages are veryconsanguineous, and polyandrous tribes show an excess of males. It ismuch better to leave this question alone till science has furnished uswith conclusive proofs. Certain results obtained with the loweranimals give hope that the future may shed some light on this point. 

Again, marriage customs are not always in relation to the excess ofone of the sexes. Races in which men predominate are not alwayspolyandrous, and those in which women are in excess are not alwayspolygamous; sometimes even the contrary exists. Polygamy is thus notalways due to a surplus of female births, or to the death of many men, but often to religious prescripts, as among the Islamites and Mormons. In polyandry, poverty often plays a greater part than consanguineousmarriages or surplus of male births. Religious prescription of thehusband's continence during his wife's menstrual periods, pregnancy, and even the period of nursing, a period which often lasts from two tofour years in savages, is an important cause of polyandry. At SierraLeone, coitus of the husband with his wife before the last-born childcan walk is regarded as a crime. 

Although very advantageous to the wife's health this custom isentirely based on religious ideas and superstitions. Many savagesconsider that every woman is impure and bewitched during her monthlyperiods, during pregnancy and suckling. If we add to this the factthat, being usually treated as beasts, the women soon grow old, we caneasily understand that the men are inclined to polygamy. It isremarkable with what rapidity the savage woman grows old. She is onlyfresh from thirteen to twenty years; after twenty-five she is old andsterile, and a little later she has the aspect of an old sorceress. This premature senility is not so much due to early sexual intercourseas to the terribly hard work they undergo, and also to the prolongedperiod of suckling. 

Another cause of polygamy is man's natural desire for change. Thenegroes of Angola exchange wives. The instinct of procreation, love ofglory and riches coöperate with the sterility of many women inpropagating polygamy. Certain races only tolerate it when the woman issterile, or has only daughters, which clearly proves that it is basedon the fear of remaining without male descendants. 

On the whole, savage women are less fecund than civilized, owing totheir long continence during the two or four years nursing of eachchild. If we add to this the high infant mortality, we can understandhow polygamy becomes among these people a means of reproduction in thestruggle for existence, and even in African races a natural law. Anative of Central Africa may have a hundred wives, who also act asservants and retainers. In this case polygamy is the expression ofpomp and wealth. It is especially developed in agricultural peoplesowing to the value of the woman's labor. On the other hand it isimpossible among nomadic tribes. In Dahomey the king had thousands ofwives, the nobility hundreds, the simple citizen a dozen and thesoldier none at all. 

Jealousy and rivalry among the wives is not always the rule inpolygamous families. In equatorial Africa the wives themselves inclineto polygamy and regard a rich man who restricts the number of hiswives as miserly. Livingstone relates that the women of Makololodeclared they would not live in monogamous England, for anyrespectable man should prove his wealth by the number of his wives. Wemust not forget that among most savages the moral conception of goodand evil are confounded with that of riches and poverty. In reality, the supernumerary wives bought by a polygamist are simply slaves. Hispower and authority do not easily allow jealousy among them;nevertheless suicide sometimes occurs among the old wives who havebeen passed over in favor of younger ones. Sometimes they kill theirchildren at the same time. Among the Indians of Terra del Fuego a hutcontaining three or four women often resembles a battlefield. We havealready pointed out the way in which jealous Fiji women cut off thenoses of their rivals. Among the Islamites and Hindus intrigue andjealousy are common with the women; the same in Abyssinia, among theHovas of Madagascar and the Zulus. The Hova term for polygamy is_rafy_, which signifies adversary. To prevent the jealousy of hiswives the polygamous man often places them in separate houses; this iscommon among the South American Indians. 

In Colombia I made the acquaintance of a French explorer, Le Comte deBrettes, who has studied closely the Goajires Indians by becominghimself a member of the tribe. The country of the Goajires is apeninsula of Colombia bordering on Venezuela. Polygamy among thesepeople is very interesting. When a young Goajire wishes to marry hehas to pay the bride's parents a number of cattle, but the consent ofthe bride is necessary. Besides this the husband has to clear acertain area of forest, plant vegetables and build a hut. He must thenmake a present of all this to his wife and add to it the necessarycattle. The wife thus becomes the legal proprietor of the house andland, and it is she who rules over the domain. The husband only hasauthority over the male children; but the wife is strictly enforced tobe faithful. If he wishes to marry a second wife, he is obliged to buyher also and present her with similar property as the first, inanother district. The two wives can never dwell together in the samehouse nor in the same district; each of them is thus a proprietor onher own account. In this manner the different wives of a Goajire arenot only independent, but separated from each other and have nocommunication; this excludes all jealousy, especially as these womenhave a deep respect for the laws of their country. Under suchconditions polygamy can hardly extend to more than two women withoutexhausting the forces a man requires to cultivate each of the domains. We thus see that certain forms of polygamy, combined withmatriarchism, are compatible with high social position of the wife, for among the Goajires and other Indian tribes the man passes from onewife to the other, while it is the wife who is mistress of the house, the children and the domain. 

However, we may say that on the whole monogamy reigns where there ismore altruism, respect for women and sentiment for family life; forinstance, in Nicaragua, among the Dyaks, the Andamanese, etc. , in whomthe wife is highly esteemed and possesses political influence. Thewife is also proprietor of the house among the Santalese andMounda-Kols. 

In the question we are considering the nature of the amorous passionsalso plays a great part. When they are purely sensual they do not lastlong as a rule; but when love arises from mental affinities it may beprolonged till old age. Bain remarks that other passions, such asmaternal love, hatred, the desire of domination may be extended tomany objects, while love has a tendency to concentrate itself on asingle one which then takes preëminence over the others and tends tomonogamy. We have seen that birds and monkeys generally love only onefemale. With some conjugal love is so strong that one of the conjointscannot survive the other; this fact has been observed with certainty, even when the survivor was provided with another mate. Thus, the maleof a certain species of monkey (_Hapale jacchus_) after the death ofhis mate, covers his eyes with his hands, ceases to eat and remains inthe same position till he dies. Suicide for love is not rare amongcertain savage races; a point to which we shall return later. 

Westermark is certainly right in considering this tendency of love toconcentrate itself on a single object as one of the most powerfulfactors in monogamy. Jealousy is no doubt the reverse of suchsentiment, but is the profound despair at seeing the sole object oflove desert or become unfaithful. On the other hand, thisconcentration of love, which may be excellent for isolated familiesliving alone after the manner of wild beasts, is in no way adapted toa society of which all the members are responsible. This is a point wemust insist upon. There is certainly a real antinomy which isdifficult to reconcile between this dual egoism of exclusive andconcentrated love and social solidarity or human altruism. The problemis not insoluble, but we must admit that the solution is not easy. 

To resume, we first of all observe an evolution from monogamy towardpolygamy. The higher apes and the most primitive men are monogamous;among these there are no differences of rank, nor class distinctions, and they live in very small groups. Wealth, civilization, largercommunities, agriculture and the domination of castes have graduallygiven rise to polygamy. Thus, the ancient Hindus were at firstmonogamous and later on became polygamous. The prerogative of thefirst wife over the others is only a vestige of monogamy in polygamy. 

A higher degree of culture then diminishes warfare, shortens theperiod of nursing, does away with the prejudices against coitus duringpregnancy, and improves the social position of women. Ageing lessquickly, and adding to her bodily charms those of her mentaldevelopment woman restores man to monogamy. As the same time wives andchildren gradually cease to constitute riches, and this diminishes theinstinct of procreation. Finally, machinery replaces the female laborof former times. In this way, with a higher degree of human culture, all the factors tend to restore monogamy. 

The instinctive desires of woman are monogamous. The progress ofcivilization is continually extending her rights, and the more refinedsentiments of sympathy among civilized people are less and lesscompatible with polygamy. As regards polyandry, Westermark shows thatit has always been an exception and that it has only been establishedamong phlegmatic races, having a certain degree of civilization andbeing unacquainted with jealousy. 

Spencer believes that monogamy will prevail in the future, whileLubbock inclines to polygamy. Westermark thinks that if the progressof civilization continues as hitherto to become more altruistic, andthat if love tends to become more refined, the conjoints having moreand more regard for each other, monogamy will always become morestrict. 

For my part, I think it idle to prophesy. If mental culture eversucceeds in overcoming brutality and barbarism, and if it continues tomake real progress, I do not think that any of the old systems ofmarriage will persist in their primary form. Primitive monogamyadapted to an unsocial savage condition, is incompatible with thesocial requirements which become more and more imposed upon humanity. Marriage by purchase and Islamite polygamy, which regard woman asmerchandise and place her entirely under the dependence of man, arebarbarous customs of semi-civilized people, which have already falleninto disuse. Polyandry is contrary to human nature and to therequirements of reproduction, and its implantation is everywhere asign of decadence. Our present religious monogamy, completed by theshameful promiscuity of prostitution, is both hypocritical andunhealthy. Till the contrary is proved, I consider the mostadvantageous form of marriage for the future a kind of free monogamy(eventually polygamy), accompanied by obligations relative to theprocreation of children and to the children procreated. Polyandryshould only have an accessory right to existence in certainpathological or exceptional cases. We shall return to this pointlater. 

DURATION OF MARRIAGE

Among birds, marriage is generally concluded for life; among mammalsrarely for more than a year, with the exception of the anthropoid apesand man. 

The duration of marriage varies enormously in man. Among theAndamanese, the Weddas, certain Papous, marriage can only cease withdeath. Among the North American Indians, on the contrary, it is onlyconcluded for a limited period. Among the Wyandottes the custom existsof trial marriages for several days. In Greenland, divorce often takesplace at the end of six months. Among the Creeks marriage does notlast more than a year. In this way is constituted a kind of polygamyby succession or limited monogamy, which results in the father notknowing his children. 

Among the Botocudos, marriage is performed without ceremonies and onlylasts a short time; it can be broken off on the slightest pretext, forthe pleasure of changing; divorce then becomes as frequent asmarriage. This is also the case in Queensland, Tasmania and the Samoanislands. Among the Dyaks and Cingalese, quite young men and women havealready had several wives or husbands; a man often marries and desertsthe same woman several times, to take others during the intervals. Among the Mantras there are men who have been married forty or fiftytimes. 

In Persia a woman may marry for periods varying from one hour toninety-nine years. In Egypt similar customs are met with; a monthlychange is allowed, so that a man may marry twenty or thirty times intwo years. Among the Maues of Sahara the women consider itfashionable to marry as often as possible, and a long married life isconsidered by them as vulgar. The Abyssinians, negroes, etc. , marry ontrial or for limited periods. Among the Greeks, Romans and ancientGermans, divorce was very frequent. 

In nearly all savage tribes, and in a number of civilized people theman possesses an unlimited right of rejection. The Hovas comparemarriage to a loosely tied knot. Among the ancient Jews, Romans, Greeks and Germans, discontent of the husband was a sufficient reasonfor rejection. On the contrary, among a number of savage races(Westermark mentions about twenty-five) rejection and divorce areextremely rare and marriage lasts for life. 

It is especially where there are children that divorce is rare. Withmost races, sterility of the wife and adultery constitute theprincipal causes of legal divorce. 

Among civilized races marriage for life is much more common than withsavages. This was the case with the Aztecs, etc. Among the Chinesethere exist seven reasons for divorce: sterility, unchastity, negligence toward parents-in-law, talkativeness, desertion, ill-temperand chronic disease. In Japan the laws are similar, but in spite ofthis divorce is rare in China and Japan. 

In Christian countries divorce was formerly permitted and was onlyprohibited by the Council of Trent. The modern Catholic says: "Manmust not separate what God has united. " Among many savages, on thecontrary, divorce is left to the free will of the married couple. Elsewhere it is sometimes the man, sometimes both husband and wife whohave the right to exact divorce for divers reasons, such asdrunkenness, adultery, prodigality, etc. In Europe, as elsewhere, itis the desire for change which is the most common cause of divorce. 

Children constitute the surest cement against conjugal separations. With most savages the rejected wife regains not only her _dot_, butalso part of the common property, or even the whole of it. On thecontrary, the purchase value of the wife is only as a rule returned tothe husband when sterility, adultery or other grave reasons are thecauses of divorce. It results from this that divorce is always veryrare among peoples where the women are very dear. 

The right of the children after divorce varies a good deal indifferent races; sometimes they are adjudged to the husband, sometimesto the wife. Divorced women often become prostitutes, for example, among the Chinese and Arabs. As a rule, marriages for love are morelasting than others, especially when the couple were acquainted beforemarriage. 

It is extremely probable that in primitive man marriage only lastedtill the birth of a child, or at the most a few years. Withcivilization the duration of marriage has been prolonged, highermotives having become added to bodily charms, sexual appetite and theinstinct of procreation, and tending toward more lasting unions. 

Moral reasons have given rise to laws of protection in marriage, butthe mania which man possesses of dogmatizing on everything has oftencaused these laws to degenerate into abuse or religious absurdities. In this way the modern form of our Christian monogamy has been imposedby a tyrannical dogma of the Roman Church; a dogma which no doubtstarted from an ideal point of view, but fell into disuse in practice, owing to the fact that it did not take sufficient account of thenatural conditions and sexual requirements of the race. This explainsthe present tendency to greater legal liberty, even when the moralcauses which tend to render monogamous unions durable multiply withthe progress of civilization. 

HISTORY OF EXTRA-CONJUGAL SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

As monogamous marriage exists among the anthropoid apes, we have everyreason to believe that it existed with primitive man. In neither casehas it been the result of artificial laws, but the result of bruteforce and congenital instincts inherited by natural evolution. Itoften happened that one male vanquished another and took possession ofthe female, or wife, of the vanquished. Others abducted the female bysurprise. Later on, marriage by exchange or by purchase, derived frommarriage by rape, probably constituted the first stage toward a legalmonogamous or polygamous union, as an element in the most primitivehuman conventional organizations. In this way we can imagine the mainpoints of the prehistoric evolution of marriage. 

When the conception of marriage took on a legal character, either thatof possession by the male, or that of a more or less equitablecontract between the two sexes, we can easily imagine that sexualintercourse apart from marriage resulted as an inevitable complement. Every artificial barrier which the human mind opposes to naturalinstincts immediately gives rise to a movement of opposition on thepart of the latter. The matrimonial laws of primitive orsemi-civilized races punished adultery in the most barbarous manner bytorture and death, but were unable to prevent the sexual passionspursuing their course in one way or another. 

Certain abuses or exceptions had, therefore, to be tolerated, orcertain complementary institutions had to be organized. However, theselaws generally branded all forms of sexual intercourse apart frommarriage, with the stigma of inferiority, or contempt, if not ofcrime. The woman, being the weaker, was naturally the one to suffermost from this stigma and its consequences. 

The great diversity in the customs of different human tribes, makes itnecessary, in order to avoid errors, to guard against generalizingwithout strong reasons. We cannot, however, here enter into detailswhich would lead us too far. We can, however, affirm that among thelower or primitive races brute force played the principal role and wasthe fundamental support of marriage, while in higher civilizationslegal regulation took the upper hand, however absurd or even immoralit might be. 

Illegal or extra-conjugal forms of sexual intercourse have alwaysformed two principal groups: _prostitution_ and _concubinage_. Nodoubt, these two varieties are insensibly connected by numerous shadesof transition, but as their development depends on differentprinciples we must distinguish these two forms. 

Prostitution is a trade in which a human being sells her body formoney, while concubinage consists in more or less free sexualintercourse apart from marriage, the motive of which is simply thesexual appetite, convenience or love, although sometimes violenceplays a part in it. We therefore find in extra-marital sexualintercourse the same motives as in legal unions; legal or religioussanction only is wanting. 

It is needless to say that the motives which lead to concubinage maybe more or less tainted by interested calculation. In allcivilizations concubinage and prostitution constitute the complementof legal marriage. Their regulation has ever produced the singularresults of surrounding them with a moral nimbus. 

In Babylon, every woman once in her life, had to prostitute herselffor money to any stranger at the temple of Venus. Solon founded housesof prostitution for the people and furnished them with slaves, "inorder to protect the sanctity of marriage against the passions ofyouth. "

The Romans had also their houses of prostitution or lupanari, publicor private, as well as free prostitutes. In the Middle Ages, prostitution developed especially after the Crusades. It is relatedthat the Council of Constance attracted fifteen hundred prostitutes tothis town. Prostitutes followed the armies everywhere. 

In India, young girls give themselves to the priests, who are therepresentatives of God and enjoy great honors. Under the name ofTemple girls, the girls of the flower boats of China are reallyprostitutes. It is the same with the puzes of Java, the girls in theJapanese tea-houses, etc. In some civilized states, certain refinedand intelligent prostitutes have always obtained great honors and highfavors, only charging high prices, and ending by substituting forprostitution the pecuniary exploitation of rich men whom they haveseduced. 

Concubinage may be more or less free. The concubines were formerlyoften slaves, possessed by men in high positions, in addition to theirwives. At the present day the omnipotence of money produces almostanalogous results. Free concubinage, in which sexual intercoursebetween the two contracting parties is absolutely free and more orless independent of pecuniary questions, is very different and of ahigher moral character. It has also existed in antiquity in variousforms. The Greek hetairas were concubines of high position, no doubtprostitutes of a kind and giving themselves for money; but they becamethe friends or companions of great men. Living in luxury, especiallyat the time of Pericles and later, several of them became celebrated;statues were raised to them and they became the concubines of kings. Phryne served as the model for the statue of Venus, and offered torestore the halls of the Thebeans at her own expense. Thais was themistress of Alexander and gave heirs to the throne. The neglectededucation of the Greek wives caused the intellectual accomplishmentsof the hetairas to shine by contrast. 

The whole question regarding the Greek customs is summed up in a fewwords by Demosthenes: "We marry wives in order to have legitimatechildren and a faithful guardian for our household; we have concubinesfor our daily service, and hetairas for the enjoyment of love. "

In some countries, such as Japan, the children of concubines areconsidered by the husbands as legitimate, and have the same rights asthose of his wife; this gives concubinage the character of marriage ofthe second rank. 

In modern times hetairas are not wanting. Under the title ofcourtesans and mistresses, we find them everywhere as the favorites ofkings and nobles, as mistresses of men in high positions, and oftenplaying the part of vampires in all classes of society. 

On the other hand, women of high position or wealth have also theirfavorites, whom we may call male hetairas. Certain female members ofroyal families have at all times furnished examples of this kind. 

At all periods in the history of civilized races, pathology has alsoled to extra-conjugal sexual intercourse. Here, homosexual love ingeneral, and love of boys or pediastry, has always played theprincipal part. We shall speak of this in Chapter VIII. Among theHebrews, Persians, Etruscans, and especially the Greeks, it was heldin high esteem. The Greek philosophers regarded it as based on anideal homosexual love, and not as a vile form of prostitution. Solon, Aristides, Sophocles, Phidias, and Socrates were strongly suspected ofhomosexual practices, and they regarded this form of love as superiorto the normal love of woman. Lesbian love, and other sexualaberrations, such as sadism, have also played a historical role, as weshall see. 

CONCLUSIONS

Primitive human marriage was probably of short duration; when manlater on became carnivorous, and had to obtain food for his childrenby hunting, sexual unions assumed a more constant character. It is notthe class or the tribe, but the family which constituted the primitivesocial condition of man, a condition in which marriage was a heritagefrom "pithecomorphous" ancestors, _i. E. _, related to monkeys. 

Free sexual intercourse before marriage and frequent changes in thelatter were then no doubt very common, but true promiscuity has neverbeen the rule in primitive man. 

Patriarchism with its disastrous consequences has been the result ofthe preponderance of male power. In a higher degree of civilizationthis preponderance has produced marriage by purchase and polygamy. Thebarbarous form of the latter is now decreasing. 

A true higher culture leads gradually to durable love based onaltruism and ethics, _i. E. _, a relative and free monogamy. 

The development of marriage in civilization has gradually increasedthe rights of woman, and marriage contracts tend more and more intheir modern forms to stipulate for complete equality of rights forboth sexes. As Westermark says: "The history of human marriage is thehistory of a union in which women have gradually triumphed over thepassions, prejudices and egoism of men. " The term reëmancipation ofwomen is historically more correct than the simple term emancipation, for before the institution of marriage, woman was free. Invented bythe stronger male when he began to reason, marriage was at first onlythe servitude of woman. To give her complete liberty, it must betransformed afresh from top to bottom. 

APPENDIX

=Influence of the Race on Sexual Life. =--If I were an ethnographer Ishould attempt to establish whether, and in what way, racialdifferences affect the sexual life of man; but the question is sodelicate that it would require a skilled specialist to settle it. Withthe exception of the pages dealing with the history of extra-conjugalintercourse, the statements in this chapter are based on the work ofWestermark. The chief difficulty consists in separating, in thecustoms of each race, that which arises from habit and historicaltradition from that which depends on more or less specific hereditarypeculiarities. It is here very easy to fall into error in formulatingfalse conclusions. 

A good deal has been said concerning the hot blood of warm climates, and on the whole it appears true that people who inhabit theseclimates have a more violent and more precocious sexual temperamentthan those who live in cold regions. But this is not a racialcharacter. The Jews, who have preserved their race unaltered in allclimates and under all possible conditions of existence, furnish anobject lesson which is particularly appropriate to decide thequestion. The traits of their character are reflected in their sexuallife. Their sexual appetites are generally strong and their love isdistinguished by great family attachment. Their sexual life is alsoinfluenced by their mercantile spirit, and we find them everywhereconnected with the traffic of women and prostitution. They are notvery jealous and are much addicted to concubinage, at the same timeremaining affectionate to their wife and family. 

The Mongols also lead a very intense sexual life. Among thepolyandrous people of Thibet jealousy appears to be completely absent:this may be the result of custom or may be due to phylogeneticinstinct. The Mormons, who are descended from monogamous races, confirm the idea that polygamy is not a specific racial character. Itwould be interesting to study the mixed races of North America fromthis point of view. At first sight, it seems that the Americanizationof customs in the mixture of races of the United States is alsoextended to sexual life, and that we cannot discover the fundamentaldifferences between the Irish, Scandinavians, French, Germans andItalians who constitute this mixture. But it is possible that this isonly a superficial impression, and that a deeper study of the detailswould lead to another result. One thing appears to be unquestionablein the negro race; that is the violence of its sexual passion combinedwith its mental inferiority. 

A striking trait is furnished by the French race which has remainedpure in the eastern provinces of Canada, whose sexual customs are verydifferent from those of the present population of France. The FrenchCanadian is extremely pure and chaste, leads a regular life and has anumerous family. Families of fifteen or twenty are not rare amongFrench Canadians. We can here, therefore, observe the effect ofclimate and custom on a single race. For reasons mentioned above, Ishall content myself with a few remarks, but I am certain that aprofound study of the question would discover, in the character of theindividuals, specific peculiarities of their race which are onlymarked externally by customs. It is obvious that such characters willbe all the more distinct, the more the race differs from itscongeners, and the purer its ethnical separation. As among animals, itis necessary to distinguish between slight variations, and races orsub-species which are more constant and more divergent. Hereditary orphylogenetic individual differences must also be distinguished fromthose of races or varieties. 

=Weight of the Brain in Different Races and Sexes. =--Bebel has statedthat among savages the difference between the brain of the men andwomen is less than among civilized people. This statement is quitewrong. Prof. Rudolph Martin, of Zurich, has given me statistics of thecranial capacity of the two sexes in different races, drawn fromreliable sources. According to Martin the weight of the brainrepresents about 87 per cent. Of the cranial capacity. His table ofstatistics is given on the opposite page. 

These figures show that the difference between the two sexes is alwaysabout the same, while the average absolute weight of the brain in thetwo sexes is lower in the lower races. Reckoning it 87 per cent. Ofthe cranial capacity, it is in the Weddas 1111 grammes for males and991 grammes for females, which corresponds to the weight of thebrains of idiots or general paralytics with us. Martin assures me thatin the Malay peninsula he has found as much difference between the menand women as in Europeans. 

According to Martin, men living at the present day may be divided intothree classes according to their cranial capacity:

 MEN. WOMEN. Aristencephalous (large brains) over 1450 gr. Over 1300 gr. Euencephalous (medium brains) 1300 to 1450. 1150 to 1300. Oligencephalous (small brains) under 1300. Under 1150. 

AVERAGE CRANIAL CAPACITY IN DIFFERENT RACES

 Men Women Difference {Badois { 48 Craniums m. } 1513 1330 183 { { 26 " f. }Civilized { {Bavarian {100 " m. } 1503 1335 168 (11. 2 %) { {100 " f. }

 {Malay { 26 " m. } 1414 1223 191 { { 2 " f. }Semi-Civilized { {Aino { 87 " m. } 1462 1308 154 { { 64 " f. }

Lowest Race { 22 " m. } 1277 1139 138 (10. 8%)Weddas { 10 " m. }

CHAPTER VII

SEXUAL EVOLUTION

The evolution of every living being is twofold. We must distinguish:(1) its _ontogeny_, or the entire cycle of development of theindividual from its conception till natural death at an advanced age;(2) its _phylogeny_, or the series of organic forms through which itsancestors passed, by successive transformations, from the primitivecells of the oldest and most obscure geological periods, up to itspresent organization. 

In its chief outlines ontogeny is determined by phylogeny by means ofthe laws of heredity, even when it is only an abridged recapitulation. 

Regarded from this point of view the sexual life of man is also basedon phylogenetic conditions, determined by his ancestral lineage. Moreover, it presents an individual or ontogenetic evolution duringthe life of each person, which in its principal traits ispredetermined in the germ, by the phylogenetic or hereditary energiesof the species. The phenomena of the hereditary mneme show clearly howontogeny is the result of engraphia combined with selection, in theseries of ancestors. We have already mentioned these points on severaloccasions, but must now review the whole question. 

PHYLOGENY OF SEXUAL LIFE

In Chapter II we have briefly described phylogeny in general ormetamorphosis, and in the first part of Chapter IV we have speciallyconsidered the phylogeny of the sexual appetite in the phenomenon ofcell division and conjugation of nuclei in unicellular organisms, which we have described in Chapter I. In order for animals toreproduce themselves without degenerating, crossing, or thecombination of different germs, is necessary, and such combinationsare only possible by the mutual attraction of two kinds of germinalcells. But, when the individual becomes multicellular and bears onlyone kind of germinal cells, the attractive energy which was originallylimited to these cells is transmitted to the whole organism, and thisnecessitates the existence of sensory and motor nerve centers. 

The attraction of one kind of germinal cell and its bearer for theother must also be more or less mutual. As a rule the bearer of one ofthe germinal cells becomes active and penetrating; that of the otherpassive and receptive. However, the latter, who after copulation (whenthis occurs) becomes the sole bearer of the future individual, isobliged to desire union with the active bearer of the other germinalcell, so that reproduction may become harmonious. This is the basis onwhich is founded sexual reproduction, and with it the sexual appetite, in plants (as regards cellular conjugation only) as well as inanimals, but especially in the latter, in whom the germinal cells arecarried by mobile and independent individuals. On the same basis isdeveloped the difference between the sexual appetite in man and woman, as well as that between love and the other irradiations of thisappetite in the mental life of both sexes. (Vide Chapters IV and V. )

The immense complication of human sexual life makes us regard animalswith a certain degree of contempt, and flatter our vanity inqualifying the baser part of our sexual appetite by the term _animalinstinct_. But we are really very unjust toward animals. Thisinjustice is partly due to the fact that vocal and written languagegives us a means of penetrating into the psychology of our fellowcreatures. By the aid of the common symbolism of our thoughts it iseasy for us to compare them. Language thus enables us to construct ageneral human psychology. The absence of language, even in the higheranimals, renders it difficult for us to penetrate their mind. Ourinductive reasoning in this matter is very uncertain, for we can onlyjudge the mental power of animals by their acts. The brain, andconsequently the mind, of the higher mammals being less highlyorganized than that of man, their sexual psychology is also moreprimitive, and differs from ours in proportion to the cerebraldevelopment of the species. Comparative anatomy confirms this fact inthe whole series of organisms which possess a central nervous system. The psychology of the higher apes is thus nearer our own than that ofthe dog; the psychology of the dog resembles ours more than that ofthe rabbit, etc. 

On the other hand, the highly developed cerebral organization of man, although it has complicated the mental irradiations of his sexualappetite, has not always ennobled them; on the contrary, it has oftendirected them into pernicious paths. We have seen in Chapter VInumerous and striking proofs of the degeneration, brutality andcruelty of the manifestations of the human sexual appetite, and weshall study them further in Chapter VIII. Comparative biology shows usthat the sexual appetite is transformed into love in very differentways. In order to avoid the immensity of detail of comparative biologyI shall only give a few examples. 

While the female spider often kills and eats the male, monkeys, andparrots give proof of such a great mutual attachment that when one ofthe conjoints dies the other sinks into complete despair, ceases toeat, and perishes in its turn. 

In this domain we find singular adaptations to special conditions ofexistence. Among the bees and ants, a third class of individuals, orneuters, formed by differentiation of females, do not copulate, andlay at the most a few eggs which are not fecundated and whichoccasionally develop by parthenogenesis. 

Among the termites, another species of social ants, a similar state ofthings exists, but the neuters, or workers, are derived from the malesex as well as the female and their sexual organs are quiterudimentary. The third sex, or worker, not only has a cerebraldevelopment superior to the sexual individuals, but also inherits thesocial sympathetic irradiations of the sexual appetite, which resultsin his devotion to a brood which is not his own. Among the socialinsects the males are little more than flying sexual organs, whichafter copulation are incapable of leading an independent existence anddie of hunger and exhaustion in the case of ants or termites, or aremassacred by the workers in the case of bees. 

The fecundated females, on their part, become breeding machines whoseactivity is incessant. Among the ants, however, the females are atfirst capable of nourishing a few larvæ by the aid of a portion oftheir eggs and their secretions, till the workers are hatched, whohenceforth undertake all the work including the maternal care of thebrood. 

Whoever has observed the fidelity of a pair of swallows and the way inwhich the male and female nourish and rear their young, must be struckby the analogy to the conjugal and family love of the faithful type ofhuman beings. This is especially remarkable when the same couplereturn every year to the old nest. This family life of the swallowsdoes not prevent a certain social life, which manifests itself inorganized attacks on birds of prey, and in combined emigration in theautumn and spring. 

On the other hand, we are instinctively indignant at the want offidelity in other animals, between conjoints, parents and offspring(dogs and rabbits, for instance), because we involuntarily expect tofind in them our own moral sense, which is not at all just. 

From the phylogenetic point of view we can only compare ourselves tothe higher apes, by their analogies with primitive man. (Vide ChapterVI. ) The question which concerns us here is as follows: If we considerthe peculiarities of our sexual customs with those of our directancestors, what are those which are derived from ancient and profoundphylogenetic instincts, those which are derived from less profoundancestral energies (_i. E. _, relatively more recent) and lastly thosewhich depend simply on old customs fixed by tradition, prejudice andhabit? If we are careful we shall immediately recognize that it is notonly the sexual appetite itself, but also a large part of itscorrelatives and irradiations, in which the phylogenetic roots aredeep. Jealousy, coquetry, instinctive maternal love, fidelity andconjugal love, which are more or less developed in primitive man, arealso present in monkeys and birds. We have even seen that the conjugalfidelity of these often exceeds our own. It is, therefore, not truethat our animal ancestors are only allied to us by sexual appetite; onthe contrary, we must admit that they have much more noble sentimentsand instincts, derived it is true from this appetite, but belonging tothe domain of a higher social morality. All that we can say in ageneral way concerning the complex entanglement of our sentiments andinstincts is that, the most deeply rooted characters in human natureare at the same time, phylogenetically speaking, the most ancient. 

Among the most profound instincts of sexual life, we find moral andintellectual incongruities. Along with excitement of the sexualappetite in the male by the odor of the female genital organs, or bythe sight of erotic pictures, we find the most touching conjugal love, and life-long devotion of one conjoint for the other and for thechildren. Prostitution, marriage by purchase, religious marriage, disgrace attached to illegitimate births, conjugal and family rightsof one or the other sex, etc. , are, on the contrary, things which donot depend on recent phylogeny, but only on the customs and traditionsof certain races. They are partly outgrowths from egoism, the spiritof domination, mysticism and hypocrisy, and partly the shifts of anoverheated social life which is becoming more and more complicated. 

Westermark's studies are very instructive in this respect. All theabsurdities and contradictions, brought to light by the historical andethnographical study of the customs and matrimonial abuses in man, allow us to clearly distinguish that which is due to fashion orcustom, from that which is deeply rooted in our heredity. To avoidrepetition I refer my readers to Chapter VI, to examine thedifferences between heredity and custom. 

Between these two extremes there is, however, one important domain, viz. , that of _recent phylogeny_, or in other words _variation_. Thefixed appetites and instincts of the species which are proper to everynormal man, and are as we have seen fundamentally connected with manyanimal forms, belong to ancient and profound phylogeny. But there isanother group of very variable peculiarities, strongly developed insome men and little in others, sometimes completely absent, which donot depend on custom but on what is called individual hereditarydisposition, or individual character. While some men have monogamousinstincts others are polygamous. Some men are by instinct and heredityvery egoistic, others more altruistic. This peculiarity is reflectedin their sexual life and changes the character of their love (but notthat of their sexual instinct). The egoist may love his wife, but thislove is interested and very different from that of the altruist. Between the two extremes there is an infinite number of gradationsaccording to the nature of the instincts and dispositions. The sameman may be a good and generous father, and a social exploiter withneither shame nor pity. Another will pose as a social benefactor, while at home he is an egoist and a tyrant. The individualdispositions of recent phylogeny are combined in every way witheducation, customs, habit and social position to produce results whichare often paradoxical, and the factors of which are ambition, vanity, temper, etc. Recent phylogeny is reflected also in many of theirradiations of the sexual appetite of which we have spoken in ChapterV. Audacity, jealousy, sexual braggardism, hypocrisy, prudery, pornography, coquetry, exaltation, etc. , depend in each particularcase, according to their degree of development, on a combination ofindividual sexual hereditary dispositions with individual dispositionsin the other domains of sentiment, intelligence and will. In this way, the sexual individuality of one man is constituted in a very complexand very different way to that of other men, owing to the highdevelopment of the human brain, as well as to the infinite variabilityand adaptability of his aptitudes. It is impossible to give even anincomplete explanation of all the symphonic gradations (oftencacophonic) which represent an individuality, or to fix clearly whatdistinguishes it from others. However, when the principle isunderstood, it is not difficult to estimate the sexual individualityof each person more or less correctly. 

Strong hereditary dispositions of character may be recognized in earlyinfancy. When the ancestry of a man is well known the roots of hisrecent phylogeny may be traced to his ancestors. Here we observe theeffect of crossing between varieties or different races, or on thecontrary that of consanguinity. This effect is observed in characterand in sexual disposition, as much as in the shape of the nose, or thecolor of the skin and hair, etc. It is important that men should learnto know themselves, and also study each other from this point of viewbefore marrying. On the whole, we may say that the average civilizedman of our race possesses as his "phylogenetic baggage" a strongsexual appetite, very variable sentiments of love, generally somewhatmediocre, (we have seen that conjugal love is more strongly developedin most monkeys than in man), lastly altruistic or social sentimentswhich are still deplorably weak. The latter, no doubt, form no part ofthe sexual life, but they must be taken into consideration for theyare its most important derivatives, and it is indispensable for ourmodern social life to develop them in harmony with family and conjugallove. 

Hereditary instincts can easily be observed in children. When one ofthem is good, it gives evidence at an early age of the sentiments ofsympathy or altruism, such as pity and affection, as well as aninstinctive sentiment of duty, the object of which is not yet social. All these sentiments are at first only applied to human individualsknown to the child, domestic animals, or even inanimate objects. Onthe other hand, the ant, from the beginning of its existence, shows aninherited instinct or sentiment of complete social duty. In man, social sentiments properly so-called, have to be acquired byeducation, but they require for their expansion a considerable degreeof inherited sentiments of sympathy and duty. A person without moralscan easily acquire social phraseology but not social sentiment. A fewmore points require to be considered. 

Monogamy is no doubt an old and well-established phylogeneticheritage, while polygamy is on the whole rather an aberration producedby individual power and wealth. But phylogenetic monogamy is by nomeans identical with the religious or other formality of our presentlegal monogamy. It assumes first of all an early marriage immediatelyafter puberty, while our civilization has placed between this andmarriage, which it only allows later as a rule, the unhealthy swamp ofprostitution, which so often sows in the individual the destructiveseed for his future legal union, before this has taken place. Again, phylogenetic monogamy imposes no legal constraint; on the contrary, itassumes a free, natural and instinctive inclination in each of theconjoints, when it is not the result of the brute force of the male. Lastly, it by no means excludes a change after a certain time. We arespeaking only of man, and not of birds and monkeys, who are moremonogamous than ourselves. 

Monogamy without children has little reason for its existence and mustbe considered simply as a means to satisfy the sexual appetite or as aunion for convenience. It is the same with certain marriages betweenindividuals of very different ages, especially the marriage of a youngman with a woman already old and sterile. 

As far as we can ascertain, the majority of sexual perversions, ofwhich we shall speak in Chapter VIII, are a sad pathologicalacquisition of the human race. We observe, however, especially in thehigher mammals, acts of pederasty between males when the female iswanting. 

The sexual repulsion which normally exists between animals ofdifferent species rests on a selective basis, the hereditary mneme oftheir reciprocal germs being unable to place itself in homophony, andtheir blood also having a mutual toxic action. In speaking of sodomywe shall see that this instinctive repulsion may disappear inpathological cases, both in man and in animals, owing to bad habits orunsatisfied sexual appetite. We cannot absolutely demonstrate thephylogenetic existence of an instinctive disgust for consanguineoussexual intercourse. 

The sexual advances made by women in civilized countries, show howeasily we may be deceived in attributing to a phylogenetic orhereditary origin, certain details which are only due to externalcircumstances. In man, the bearer of the active germ, the instinct ofsexual advance has deep phylogenetic roots. It is quite natural to himand is evident among savage races, where the man risks more byremaining single than the woman. Violent combats between rivals toobtain the woman, who remains passive like most animals, are evidenceof this. 

Civilization has changed all this, and has developed two castes ofwomen, the old maids and the prostitutes. The latter satisfy theappetites of men in an artificial and unhealthy manner, while marriageand family cares only bring them labor and burdens instead of riches. Owing to the promiscuous polyandry of prostitution, man can alwaysobtain enough women, while woman can with difficulty obtain a suitablehusband. These circumstances have more and more developed the art offlirtation, coquetry and advances on the part of girls, and we can nowsee, especially in the United States, that advances come more and morefrom the female side, if not in principle, at any rate in fact. Thisis not a question of a phylogenetic or hereditary transformation ofthe sexes among civilized peoples, but an unhealthy effect resultingfrom abnormal circumstances, that is the non-satisfaction of thesexual desires of woman, together with the satiety of those of men. Woman makes advances from the fear of remaining celibate; she willcease to do so when the unnatural causes which have produced thisstate of things have been done away with. 

As a rule, a normal and adaptable man will conduct himself in sexualmatters as in others according to the prevailing fashion. He will mostoften succeed in accommodating his sentiments to those of hisconjoint. On the other hand, this average representative of normalmediocrity easily becomes the slave of routine and incapable of newideas. However normal he may be, he has less faculty of adaptation ormental plasticity and less liberty, than a man of higher natureindependent of prejudices. 

ONTOGENY OF SEXUAL LIFE

The first striking fact in the ontogeny of sexual life is thefollowing: All the sexual organs, both external and internal, remainin an embryonic and non-functional state, not only in the embryo butfor a long time in the child. The organs and their elements exist, butthey are still small, imperfectly developed, and in a state of rest. At the time of puberty, which varies in different individuals, thesexual glands and the other copulatory apparatus enlarge and begin tofunctionate. In the European races puberty occurs between the age oftwelve and seventeen years in girls, and between fourteen and nineteenin boys; it is generally earlier in the South and later in the North. It is curious to note that the correlative irradiations of the sexualappetite in the human mind develop much earlier than the organs, oreven the sexual appetite. Again, the sexual appetite often appearsbefore the normal development of the genital organs. In other rarecases the sexual appetite is absent in the adult, even when thecorresponding organs are well-developed. (Vide Chapter VIII. ) Suchirregularities of the sexual appetite belong to the domain ofpathology. 

On the other hand, it is quite normal for young girls and boys to showearly signs of mental differences corresponding to those we havedescribed in Chapter V. In young girls we observe coquetry andjealousy and the desire for finery. Their love of dolls and the carethey take of them, is very characteristic of the precocious instinctof their sex. This is an early sign of instinctive maternal love, before the development of any sexual sensation or function. Among boyswe observe a tendency to brag and to boast of their strength beforegirls, to show their contempt for dolls and the coquetry of littlegirls, and also to pose as protectors, etc. 

Sexual jealousy already exists in young children. We see little boys, seeking for the favors of little girls, show violent jealousy whenanother is preferred to them. All these phenomena depend either onsubconscious instincts, or on vague sexual presentiments which play alarge part in the infantile exaltation of sentiment. Portraits ofpretty women, the sight of certain parts of the body or feminineclothing often provoke exalted sentiments in boys; girls rather admireboldness, an imposing presence and often beauty, in the other sex. 

Puberty is produced by certain phenomena which occur in the sexualorgans. In the boy erections occur at an early age when the penis isstill very small. It is curious to note that certain pathologicalconditions and friction of the glans penis, especially in the case ofphimosis and as a result of bad example, are often sufficient toproduce sexual sensations and appetites in very young boys. The samething is produced in little girls by excitation of the clitoris. Allthese phenomena lead to onanism or masturbation, of which we shallspeak later on. As the testicles of young boys do not secrete semen, masturbation only provokes secretion from the accessory glands, butthis is accompanied by orgasm. 

More singular still are cases of coitus between little boys and girlswhose sexual glands are still undeveloped and produce no germinalcells. Although they are pathological, these phenomena arecharacteristic, because they clearly show that the brain has acquiredby phylogeny a sexual appetite relatively independent of thedevelopment of the sexual glands. No doubt the sexual appetite doesnot develop, or disappears, in eunuchs when they are castrated quiteyoung; but it is preserved together with the secretions and functionsof the external genitals when castration is performed after puberty isestablished. 

The important conclusion which results from these facts is that theexistence of a sexual excitation or appetite of this nature is notsufficient to prove that they are normal. In Chapter VIII we shallprove that not only the anomalies of the hereditary sexualdisposition, but artificial excitations and bad habits may alsoproduce all kinds of misconduct and excesses which should beenergetically combated. 

We have described in Chapter IV the great individual variations of thesexual appetite in the two sexes, as well as that of the sexual powerin man. The sexual power and appetite in man are strongest between theyears of twenty and forty. We may even consider this period as themost advantageous for the procreation of strong and healthy offspringand that the procreator is at his best before the age of thirty. 

The ontogenetic development of the sexual appetite and love generallyproduces in man a peculiar phenomenon. While habitual gratificationand education of the sexual appetite tends to make it more and morecalculating and cynical, love, on the contrary, becomes more elevatedand refined with age and less egoistical than in youth. Owing togeneral mental development, the education of sentiments progresses andbecomes refined, while the sexual appetite diminishes in intensity andbecomes more imperious and more coarse. We are only speaking here ofnormal cases. 

In youth, the intoxication of love combined with intense sexualappetite triumphs; when the appetite is once satisfied the unbridledand egoistic passions of this age come to the surface and are oftenantagonistic to love. At a more advanced age, on the contrary, lovebecomes more constant and more tranquil. The mistake that is so oftenmade is the confusion of love with sexual appetite. The novelists whospeculate on the eroticism of the public are no doubt more interestedin describing sexual passion and amorous intoxication, with all thecatastrophes and conflicts which arise from them, than the tranquiland regular love of a couple more advanced in age, the greatesthappiness of which consists in harmony of sentiment and thought, aswell as the mutual regard and devotion of the couple for each other. 

Sexual appetite and sexual power in man become extinguished betweenthe ages of sixty and eighty; old men of eighty are sometimes stillcapable, but they are no longer fecund. As a rule sexual powerdiminishes before sexual appetite, and this sometimes leads old men touse artificial means to revive their power, or to satisfy their sexualdesires. This explains why the egoists who have never known true loveoften become so base in their sexual manifestations when they growold. Their experience of sexual life makes them experts in the art ofseduction. If this fact appears to be antagonistic to the law thattrue love is refined with advancing age, we must bear in mind that theontogenetic development of the sexual appetite is not the same as thatof love; that in some respects it develops in a contrary direction;and that the result may consequently become inverted according as oneor other predominates. It is needless to say that there are a numberof intermediate gradations, and that inverse phenomena may be producedconcurrently in the same individual. 

According to Westermark elderly men generally fall more easily in lovewith middle-aged women than with young girls. No doubt this is oftenthe case when reason and love predominate, but it is necessary toavoid generalization, and it is curious to observe how often very oldmen become enamored of quite young girls, as the latter may fall inlove with old men. It is common knowledge that young girls do notmarry old graybeards solely for their money or their name. No doubtthis is not uncommon, but I have often seen girls of eighteen ortwenty fall in love with old _roués_, when money, name and positionwere theirs and not the man's. However, in such cases it is most oftenthe old man who is amorous. Westermark maintains that this conditionis not normal, and we shall see that very often it is a case ofcommencing _senile dementia_, a pathological cerebral condition inwhich the sexual appetite becomes suddenly revived. 

The love of a young girl for an old man may be explained by theintellectual superiority of the old man or by the absence of anotherobject for love. It is often also due to hysteria and consequentlypathological. 

In old age, when the sexual life of two conjoints is extinguished, there remains a purified love which colors the evening of their lifewith autumn tints. The modern detractors of marriage too often forgetthis phenomenon. No doubt the evening of conjugal life is oftentroubled with discord and sorrow, but then it is usually a question of"_mariage de convenance_, " marriage for money or position, mutualmisunderstanding, or irreflective amorous intoxication. Quarrels mayalso arise when pathological conditions become introduced intomarriage. 

In woman, sexual ontogeny is not the same as in man. She maturesearlier and more rapidly. In our race, a woman at eighteen is sexuallymature; between eighteen and twenty-five she is in the best conditionfor sexual life; toward fifty the menopause occurs, and with itcessation of fecundity. Hence the period during which a woman isfecund is much shorter than in man and terminates much earlier. 

Owing to this, the development of the intellectual and sentimentalirradiations of the sexual appetite in woman is more rapid than inman. A young girl is much more mature and full grown as regards herreproductive power than a young man. These phenomena extend to thewhole mental life of woman, who is less capable of an ulteriordevelopment in old age than man, because she generally becomes settledand automatic much more rapidly than the latter. No doubt thesephenomena are partly due to the defective mental education of women, but this explanation is insufficient. Here again we must distinguishthe phylogenetic disposition of woman from the effects of educationduring her ontogenetic development. 

The sexual appetite of woman manifests itself at first in vaguedesires, in a want of love, and does not as a rule develop locallytill after coitus. It often follows that in ontogenetic evolution thesexual appetite of women increases at a more advanced age (betweenthirty and forty). At this age women often become enamored with youngboys, whom they seduce easily. Widows are especially disposed to formunions with men younger than themselves; these unions are rarelyhappy, for the woman who is older than her husband easily becomesjealous, and the husband soon becomes tired of a woman whose charmshave faded. We can therefore affirm that, as a rule, in order to beboth normal and lasting, a monogamous union requires that the husbandshould be from six to twelve years older than his wife, and that thelatter should marry as young as possible. 

In the sexual ontogeny of normal woman, pregnancies, childbirth, thenursing and education of children play an infinitely greater role thanthe sexual appetite. These important events in woman's life, togetherwith affection for her husband occupy a great part of the cerebralactivity of every woman, and are at the same time the conditions forher true happiness. 

We should expect the sexual appetite in woman to diminish or cease atthe menopause; but this is not usually the case, and elderly women aresometimes tormented by the sexual appetite, which is all the morepainful because men are not attracted by them. Such hyperæsthesiacannot, however, be considered as normal; most often the sexualappetite diminishes with age and is replaced, as in man, by thetranquil love of old age, of which we have spoken. 

Old women are often spoken of with contempt. No doubt, unsatisfiedpassions and wounded feelings of all kinds, want of intellectualculture and high ideals, and especially a pathological condition ofthe brain, make many old women anything but amiable. I am, however, convinced that the elevation of woman's social position, and greatercare in her education, will considerably facilitate the development ofher faculties. Education should not develop mundane qualities inwomen, but depth of sentiment. There are many aged women who can becited as examples of activity and perseverance, for their sound andclear judgment, as well as for their affability and simplicity ofmanners. Although their intellectual productiveness ceases earlierthan that of man, this in no way excludes an excellent and perseveringactivity of mind, combined with much judgment and sentimentalqualities. A woman who is growing old and has lost the members of herfamily, especially her husband, requires some object to replace themin her affection. To devote herself to social activity will be thebest antidote against the peevish, querulous or sorrowful moods whichso easily take possession of the aged woman. It appears that love, which is a phylogenetic derivative of the sexual appetite, and whichin middle life is intimately associated with this appetite, becomesafterwards more and more independent of it and then requires morecompensation. There is here a great adaptation of love to life, anadaptation which it is necessary to bear in mind. 

In infancy the individual is naturally egoistic; his appetites alltend to self-preservation. There are even then, however, greatindividual differences, and we meet with children who are endowed witha remarkable sentiment of duty and a great sensibility to the troublesof others. After puberty man's sexual desire leads him to love, towarddual egoism, and this desire becomes the principal factor in thereproduction of the species. In old age the individual has noreproductive aims to fulfill; his life is only a burden on society, ifit is not directed with a view to benefit others and society ingeneral. By expansion and purification love, at first sexual, isgradually transformed into purely humanitarian love, _i. E. _, altruistic or social. At least this is what it should be, and then thefundamental biogenetic law of Haeckel (ontogeny is an abridgedrepetition of phylogeny) will receive an ultimate confirmation. Ourprimitive unicellular animal ancestor lived for itself alone; later onsexual reproduction without love was established; then conjugal andfamily love appeared (birds, monkeys, mammals, etc. ), finally sociallove or altruism was produced, _i. E. _, the sense of social solidaritybased on the sentiment of duty. 

The last is still very weak in man, while some animal species, such asthe bees and ants, have developed it in a more complete manner, on thebasis of instinct. According to this natural law, all socialorganization naturally develops altruism or the sentiment of duty. Thehistory of humanity proves that our social union is only developedslowly and laboriously through innumerable contests, and that it isderived, directly or indirectly, from the family union of individuals. Extension of communication on the surface of the earth causes theartificial development of social organization to advance much morerapidly than the natural phylogenetic development by evolution of thesentiments or social instincts. The latter are, however, forced tofollow the movement, resting first on the deep roots of family andfriendly altruism, as well as on that of caste or clan (patriotism);_i. E. _, on sentiments of sympathy and duty toward certain individualswho are more closely connected with us, sentiments which arehereditary in man. A vague general humanitarian sentiment, a hothouseflower which is still feeble, has already commenced to grow on thisnatural basis. Let us hope that it will live. 

It would be a fundamental error to try and found social solidaritysolely on our phylogenetic sentiments of sympathy, or on our idealfaculty of devotion and self-sacrifice; but to try and take egoism asa basis for this solidarity is a still greater error. We must not makean antinomy of egoism and altruism, but regard them as two elementsinseparable from all human society, as well as the individuals whocompose it. We cannot deny that the altruist, endowed with strongsentiments of sympathy and duty, is an excellent social worker, whilethe pure egoist constitutes an element of decomposition for society. It is, therefore, a social duty to proceed by the sexual route to aselection which will cause the first to multiply and eliminate thesecond as far as possible by sterilizing his germs. 

CHAPTER VIII

SEXUAL PATHOLOGY

On this subject we refer the reader to the well-known work ofKrafft-Ebing, "Psychopathia Sexualis, "[4] in which will be found anumber of observations, the details of which we cannot enter intohere. We may first of all say that with the exception of venerealdiseases the genital organs by themselves only play a very small partin sexual pathology. The brain is the true domain of nearly all sexualanomalies. 

In the second place, we may remark that the disorders of sexual lifeonly rarely belong to acute affections which the physician can treatwith pharmaceutical or other common remedies. They almost exclusivelyoriginate in the mental constitution, _i. E. _, in the hereditarydispositions of the brain of the individual. But the pathology ofmental or cerebral conditions offers an extremely vast field, capableof so much extension that no definite limit can be fixed between thenormal state and morbid states, which are themselves connected bynumerous transitions. A great number of acts due to mental conditionswhich the public and even learned theologians, jurists and physiciansnot initiated in psychiatry, consider as criminal, sinful, orinfamous, are only the product of pathological aberrations due tohereditary dispositions. I was recently consulted by a patient of thiskind, otherwise possessed of noble sentiments, who told me that aphysician in Germany to whom he related his troubles, turned on himfuriously and said, "These things are filthy; you are a pig; hold yourtongue and get away from here!" As a matter of fact this unfortunatepatient was sustaining a heroic struggle against his pervertedpathological sexual appetites. Knowing little or nothing of thesematters human society, with few exceptions, is of the same opinion asthe ignorant doctor mentioned above. For this reason I think itnecessary at least to give an outline of phenomena which, althoughvery repulsive in themselves, throw much light on the sexual question. 

PATHOLOGY OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS

Every deformity, disease or operation which destroys the sexual glandsin the child, or prevents them from developing, gives rise to thephenomena which we have described when speaking of castration. This isthe case, for instance, with cryptorchidism in which the testiclesremain in the inguinal canal and become atrophied, instead ofdescending into the scrotum. The following case is an example, and isinteresting in other respects:

 A young man was affected with imbecility and congenital cryptorchidism with atrophy of the testicles. A eunuch from birth, he developed no sexual appetite and no correlative masculine character. To make a man of him, his too eager aunts married him to a strong girl, who was anything but innocent. She attempted by all kinds of manipulations to cure the sexual blindness of her husband; but this was a waste of labor, as the unhappy wretch only regarded the performance as disgusting and filthy. He was violently excited and became somnambulistic. 

 Soon afterwards the wife consoled herself with a lover of normal sexual power, and they both overwhelmed the poor eunuch with raillery. The latter, becoming furious, offered his wife a cake poisoned with arsenic on her birthday, but she saw through the stratagem. The poor wretch was sent for trial and condemned to a long term of imprisonment for attempted poisoning. I consider this judgment as a legal crime. In spite of my protests, imbecility was not admitted, and the somnambulism was looked upon as simulated. 

On the other hand, the same lesions when they occur in the adultneither destroy the correlative sexual characters, nor the power ofcoitus, nor the voluptuous sensation of the orgasm. 

In man, _aspermia_ sometimes occurs; the testicles appear to be wellformed, but the semen contains no spermatozoa. In spite of this theaspermatic individual generally has erections, a certain amount ofsexual power and orgasm, and is capable of amorous feelings, althoughhis sexual functions are generally feeble. But he is incapable offecundating a woman. 

Some women who have never menstruated possess normal ovaries and maybecome pregnant. 

Tuberculosis, tumors and inflammations of the testicles and ovariesmay cause sterility. 

The erection of the penis is often rendered impossible by certaindeformities, such as _hypospadias_ and _epispadias_, in which theurethral canal opens respectively below or above the penis. 

Involuntary emissions of semen without erection, with or withoutvoluptuous sensation, is called _spermatorrhea_. This is often aresult of onanism, nervousness or constipation. Too much importancehas been attached to it. In hypochondriacs spermatorrhea becomes abugbear, which often makes them the dupes of charlatans. The lessattention is paid to it the quicker it disappears; especially when itis of purely nervous origin, as is usually the case. 

Phimosis, or narrowness of the opening of the prepuce is nearly alwaysof embryonic origin. It prevents the glans penis from becomingexposed, at least during erection. It is a very common condition andvery disagreeable. If the prepuce is forcibly drawn back behind theglans penis before erection, as is often the case in masturbation, thepenis is gripped by the prepuce so that it cannot sometimes be drawnforward and inflammation with oedema results; this condition is called_paraphimosis_, and may become dangerous. Secretions, urine and semenaccumulate and decompose in a phimosed prepuce, cause irritation andlead to masturbation. All cases of phimosis should be operated upon ininfancy, by complete or partial circumcision. 

In women, the number of diseases which prevent conception is muchgreater than in man. The ovary may undergo cystic degeneration orbecome the seat of a tumor; but affections of the uterus and vaginacause more sterility than ovarian affections. This results chieflyfrom catarrh and inflammation which destroy the spermatozoa beforethey can reach the egg during its descent. Disorders of menstruationhave much less influence on fecundity. The womb sometimes remains inan _infantile state_, which may also cause sterility. Other diseasesof the female sexual organs have a more general pathologicalcharacter and hardly influence sexual intercourse. 

A method of rendering women sterile without castration (removal of theovaries) consists in interrupting the communication between theovaries and the womb by dislocation of the Fallopian tubes: thisavoids all the evil effects of castration. 

Certain inflammations and displacements of the uterus and ovaries areoften the origin of pains, indispositions and nervous disorders inwomen. Irregularity and pain in menstruation are a frequent cause ofneuroticism. 

The hymen is seldom so strongly developed as to offer a seriousobstacle to coitus; but when this occurs it may be removed by a slightoperation. Young women often suffer from vaginismus, or painful spasmsoccurring when an object, such as the finger or penis, is introducedinto the vagina. 

Hermaphrodism in man is always pathological, extremely rare, and whenit exists nearly always incomplete. These cases are generallyincomplete mixtures concerning principally the correlative characters. A double function only exists in legends. I have myself seen acelebrated hermaphrodite named Catherine Hohmann who had a well-formedtesticle on the left side enclosed in a fold of skin which resembledthe larger lip of the vulva, while the penis was very short andresembled a clitoris. This individual, who was baptized as a woman, was certainly male on one side; on the other hand, the feminine naturewas more than problematical. Menstruation was alleged to have occurredbut was not established with certainty, any more than an ovary oruterus. 

Much more frequent are inverted correlative sexual characters, such asbearded women, men with breasts; also mental sexual inversions, ofwhich we shall speak later. 

VENEREAL DISEASES[5]

We cannot give here a complete description of the venereal diseases, which constitute a terrible evil for humanity, by bringing a greatdeal of misfortunes and decadence into family and social life. Let usfirst point out the common error which attributes to sexual excess theevil effects which are really due to venereal disease. Although it maybe uncommon, one may be infected by these diseases after an innocentkiss, a cut finger, by sitting on a privy contaminated by a personsuffering from venereal disease, by the use of contaminated linen, etc. , etc. A pachydermatous Don Juan, on the contrary, may abandonhimself to the wildest sexual excess without being infected, if he isprudent and has good luck. On the other hand, young men may beinfected after having been with a prostitute only once in their lives, and thus ruin their whole existence. 

There are three kinds of venereal disease, which we will describe in afew words. To these may be added certain parasites, such as crab-liceand the itch, which are easily communicated by sexual intercourse withinfected persons, but also in other ways. 

=Gonorrhea or Clap. =--This disease consists in a purulent inflammationof the urethra caused by a microbe called the _gonococcus_. Whentreated properly it may be cured in a few weeks, but very often theinflammation becomes chronic and attacks the neighboring organs. Chronic clap, or "morning-drop, " may lead in the male to permanentstricture of the urethra, which in turn may produce retention ofurine, catarrh of the bladder and disease of the kidneys, which may befatal. One attack of gonorrhea in no way protects against a secondinfection, but rather predisposes to it, and when this disease becomeschronic exacerbations or relapses of the acute stage often occurwithout fresh infection. 

In women the results of gonorrhea are, if possible, still worse thanin men, because it is more difficult to cure. A prostitute affectedwith gonorrhea may infect an enormous number of men, and in this casemedical inspection of brothels is no guarantee. The gonococci areconcealed in all the corners and folds of the internal genital organsof woman, where they set up inflammation of the womb, the Fallopiantubes and even the ovaries, which may lead to adhesions between theabdominal organs. Women affected with chronic gonorrhea generallybecome sterile. When the womb and the ovaries are affected there ismuch suffering and the woman may be confined to bed for some years. Stricture of the urethra and inflammation of the bladder are more rarein women than in men, as the result of gonorrhea. 

But gonorrhea is not confined to the adults of both sexes. Theinnocent child, who at birth has to pass through its mother's vulva, when this is affected with gonorrhea, undergoes a baptism of gonococciwhich attack the conjunctiva of the eyes and set up a severe purulentinflammation, called ophthalmia of the newly born (_ophthalmianeonatorum_). This is one of the chief causes of total blindness, andif the child is not entirely blind, there are often large whitepatches left on the cornea which considerably interfere with sight. Gonorrheal ophthalmia may also occur in adults by conveying pus fromthe urethra to the eyes by the fingers. 

=Syphilis. =--This disease is still more formidable than gonorrhea. Itis caused by a microbe which has been recently discovered (_Spirochætapallida_). Syphilis is much more chronic than gonorrhea and commenceswith a small sore indurated at its base and called the hard chancre. This is situated on the genital organs or elsewhere; in the mouth, forinstance, when this has been in contact with the buccal or genitalorgans of a person infected with syphilis. The syphilitic poisonspreads through the body by means of the blood and lymph. At the endof a few weeks eruptions appear on the body and face, and thencommences a series of disasters the cause of which may be suspendedover the victim for his whole life, like the sword of Damocles, evenwhen he believes himself cured; for the cure of syphilis is oftenuncertain. This disease may remain latent for months and years, toreappear later on in different organs and cause fresh lesions. 

Syphilis causes ulcers of the skin and mucous membranes; it sometimescauses decay of the bones; it may cause disease of the internalorgans, such as the liver and lungs; it affects the walls of the bloodvessels, causing them to become hard and brittle (atheroma); it causesdisease of the eyes, especially of the iris and retina, tumors (orgummata) in the brain, paralysis etc. In fact, it spares none of theorgans of the body. 

Among the most terrible results of syphilis we must mention _locomotorataxy_ (sclerosis of the posterior columns of the spinal cord), withits lightning pains and paralysis of the legs and arms; also _generalparalysis of the insane_, which by causing gradual atrophy of thebrain, destroys one after the other, sensations, movements and all themental faculties. These two diseases, which are so common at thepresent day, only occur in old syphilitics, five to twenty years, ormore often ten to fifteen years after infection, and as a rule inpersons who think they have been completely cured. Both these diseasesare fatal. Before causing death, locomotor ataxy causes intolerablepain for several years. General paralysis first gives rise tograndiose ideas, and after disintegrating the human personality bit bybit, ends by transforming the individual into a being much inferior toanimals, and of an aspect as miserable as it is repulsive. A generalparalytic in his last stage is little more than a vegetating ruin, inwhom the nervous activities are decomposed little by little, after thegradual disappearance of all the mental faculties. This is the resultof slow atrophy of the brain and gradual destruction of itsmicroscopic elements, or _neurones_. 

The early stages of syphilis may easily pass unnoticed owing to theirpartly latent and completely painless character. Small eruptions maybe mistaken for other affections, and mercurial treatment generallydisperses the symptoms of _primary_ and _secondary_ syphilis. Butsyphilitics who are apparently cured are never safe from beingattacked, after perhaps many years, with locomotor ataxy, generalparalysis or the _tertiary_ or _quaternary_ manifestations ofsyphilis, such as disease of the bones, internal organs, eyes, brain, etc. The sores of the first two or three years of syphilis arecontagious but painless, and hence do not prevent coitus when theyoccur in the genitals. After three years syphilis becomes lesscontagious, but there is no definite time limit and cases have beenrecorded in which contagious lesions occurred ten or fifteen yearsafter the onset of the disease. 

A syphilitic man may transmit the disease to his children withoutinfecting his wife, and these children may die before birth or may beborn with congenital syphilis. This is due to the spermatozoa beinginfected with syphilis. However, this is fortunately not always thecase, for many cured syphilitics have healthy children. A childaffected with congenital syphilis (from the father) may infect themother during pregnancy; this is called "syphilis by conception. "Congenital syphilis may also cause locomotor ataxy and generalparalysis. 

It is difficult to enumerate all the infirmities which syphilis in theparents may transmit to the children. Syphilis often renders marriagesterile. It is more frequent in men than in women, because the numberof prostitutes is small compared with the number of men who go withthem; a single prostitute may contaminate a whole regiment. On theirpart, the clients of prostitutes convey gonorrhea and syphilis totheir wives, thus spreading in society this abominable plague and allthe evils resulting from it. 

=Soft Chancre. =--The third kind of venereal disease is the softchancre, thus called in distinction to hard chancre, which is theprimary sore of syphilis. Soft chancre is the least dangerous and theleast common of the three diseases. It consists of an ulcer whichremains localized to the genital organs (unless it is complicated withsyphilis, which is frequent). The ulcerated parts are destroyed, butthe sore heals generally without trouble. 

Venereal diseases constitute one of the worst satellites of the sexualappetite. If men were not so ignorant and careless, it would be on thewhole easy to avoid them and cause their gradual disappearance. One ofthe most absurd and infamous organizations which can be imagined isthat of the State regulation of prostitution which, under the pretextof hygiene, compels prostitutes to be registered by the police or tolive in brothels. They then undergo regular medical examination, theobject of which is to prevent those who are diseased from practicingtheir trade, and compel them to be treated in hospital. We shall seelater on that this system absolutely fails in its object, for thesimple reason that the treatment of venereal diseases is by no meansthe panacea which many people imagine. 

The first attack of gonorrhea in man is very often spontaneouslycured, while unskillful treatment often aggravates it. The relapses ofthis disease, on the other hand, especially in their chronic form, often resist all kinds of treatment and sometimes become incurable. The gonococci become hidden in the folds of the deep parts of themucous membrane, both in men and women, and cannot all be destroyed. With regard to syphilis, mercurial treatment, although remarkable inits immediate effect, requires prolonged administration. And it is bysuch means that it is proposed to make prostitutes clean! There isonly one radical cure for venereal diseases; that is not to contractthem! However, this does not prevent us from recommending all thosewho are affected with them to seek immediate treatment by a skilledspecialist. 

It is sad to see ladies of high position defending such barbarousinstitutions as proxenetism (the business of keeping brothels) and theregulation of prostitution, imagining that they thereby protect theirdaughters against seduction. Such aberration can only be explained bysuggestive influence on the part of men. Among men, and especiallyamong many physicians, the belief in the efficacy of regulationdepends on a mixture of blind routine, faith in authority and want ofjudgment, combined perhaps with more or less unconscious eroticism. Weshall consider this point in detail later on. 

One of the most tragic effects of venereal disease is thecontamination of an innocent wife, whose whole life, hitherto chasteand pure, becomes brutally deprived of its fruits, and whose dreams ofthe ideal and hopes of happiness become swamped in the mire with whichprostitution has contaminated her. Is it surprising that love in suchcases becomes replaced by bitterness and despair? Some modern authors, such as Brieux (_Les Avariés_) and André Couvreur (_La Graine_), havepictured in their dramas and novels the tragic effects of venerealdisease and heredity in the family, as well as their socialconsequences. What is deplorable, is the enormous proportion ofpersons who are infected with venereal diseases. 

SEXUAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

With the exception of what is called sexual inversion and pathologicallove of the insane, sexual psychopathology (_i. E. _, sexual pathologyof mind) is chiefly limited to the domain of the sexual appetite, andoriginates mainly in fetichism (see Chapter V), to which it is closelyallied. Let us first examine certain anomalies which partly concernthe lower nervous functions. 

First of all a general question presents itself. Hereditary orcongenital sexual anomalies have been distinguished from those whichare said to result from vicious habits. Krafft-Ebing, in hiscelebrated book which we have already quoted, makes a capitaldifference between these two causes, and stigmatizes the acquiredvices with great indignation. I do not deny that there is reason forthe distinction, but we must take exception to two fundamental errorsin the manner in which the facts are presented. 

In the first place, the difference between hereditary and acquiredsexual anomalies is only relative and gradual, so that it is necessaryto avoid opposing one against the other. When an anomaly arrivesspontaneously in the first sexual glimmer of the child's mind duringits development, it is obvious that it is the expression of a profoundhereditary taint, the result of blastophthoria or of unfortunatecombinations of ancestral energies which have been associated by theconjugation of the two procreative germs. In such a case it iscomparatively easy to prove that this is a pathological symptomindependent of the will of the individual. But a continuous series ofdegrees in the intensity of a hereditary predisposition to a certainsexual anomaly, or to other anomalies or peculiarities apt to provokethis anomaly, insensibly connects the purely hereditary pathologicalappetite with that which is simply the effect of acquired vicioushabits. In this way a strong hereditary predisposition may exaggeratea moderate normal sexual appetite, or may give it a pathologicaldirection under influences which would have had no effect in a lesspredisposed individual. Again, a slightly marked tendency tohomosexuality in a man may increase under the seductive influence of apassionate invert, when the same individual would have lost thistendency if he had fallen seriously in love with a woman. On the otherhand, the invert would have no influence on an individual who was notpredisposed. 

If the hereditary disposition is very strong, it is developedspontaneously or under the influence of very slight circumstances. Ifit is mediocre, it may remain latent and even become extinct whenfavorable circumstances do not awaken it. When it is entirely absentthe most powerful seduction and the most evil influence cannot giverise to the corresponding anomaly. These facts are sufficient to showwhat abuse is made of the term _acquired vice_. Under this heading aredesignated a number of peculiarities the roots of which are to a greatextent contained in the germ of heredity. 

The power of words on the human mind produces antinomies which do notreally exist; such is the case with the terms _vice_ and _disease_. Vices depend on a hereditary mnemic disposition, of varying strengthand more or less pathological, or at any rate unilateral (_i. E. _, developed in one direction only, or connected with a single group ofobjects); according to the good or evil influence of the environmentthey may develop, become limited or even fail to appear. Inversely, wemay say that many diseases, especially of the brain, are the source ofvices. 

In the second place, it follows from this fundamental principle, thatthe vicious and apparently acquired conduct of certain individualsshould not be considered as the product of perverted free will, butrather as the unfortunate and destructive result of a bad hereditarydisposition developed under the influence of the bad habits of acorrupt environment. This environment being itself composed of men, there is a vicious circle of cause and effect which will not escapethe mind of the thoughtful reader. Bad habits are made by hereditaryforces, and bad habits develop in their turn by custom, and may evencreate, by blastophthoria, vicious hereditary dispositions. Theindignation of the moralists who condemn vicious persons are very likethe temper of a child who strikes the fire which burnt him. 

REFLEX ANOMALIES

We have already mentioned vaginismus, which is often produced in womenby the first coitus. Priapism in man is somewhat analogous tovaginismus. It is produced by an exaggerated reflex irritability ofthe nerve centers for erection, and results in continual and painfulerections, which sometimes end in ejaculation without sensation. Another anomaly, more or less reflex and very frequent, producesvoluptuous sensations and premature ejaculation after short andincomplete erections. In some nervous women also, the venereal orgasmoccurs very rapidly and briefly. These anomalies belong to the domainof medicine and are of little importance for our subject. 

PSYCHIC IMPOTENCE

Psychic impotence is a symptom which occurs accidentally in the normalstate and very frequently in psychopathological conditions. 

A representation or idea of any kind, may suddenly paralyze bysuggestive action the normal reflex mechanism of the center forerection. The blood ceases to accumulate in the corpora cavernosa anderection is either arrested or not produced at all. For example, avery excited lover, who has had strong erections at the moment when heprepared to copulate, may be suddenly overcome with the idea that hewill fail, or by some other thought which paralyzes erection andrenders coitus impossible. The remembrance of such a failure and thedistress and shame attached to it, even efforts to produce erectionindirectly for another attempt, constitute further causes ofinhibition of the cerebro-spinal activity; they temporarily extinguishthe sexual appetite, and prevent by their interference the automaticmechanism of erection which they strive to produce. The greater thefear of failure, the more the psychic impotence increases. Thisphenomenon may be limited to a certain woman, but it is more oftengeneral. Sometimes an incomplete erection is produced, which isinsufficient. 

This condition, which depends on auto-suggestion, is best treated byhypnotic suggestion. The sentiment of impotence powerfully depresses aman, and the depression increases his impotence. This condition often, however, disappears by itself. 

A special variety of psychic impotence is that in which erection takesplace, but the idea of ejaculation predominates so much that itparalyzes the voluptuous sensations, and causes ejaculation to occurwithout pleasure, or even erection to cease. 

Impotence may occur at the first coitus, or may come on gradually. Itis often produced suddenly at the time of marriage in persons whohave hitherto been very capable, even in Don Juans. Men may havenormal erections and pollutions, but these may be stopped bycounter-suggestions at each attempt at coitus. Habitual masturbationmay in some cases contribute to produce impotence, but we must notgeneralize from such cases, nor construct a dogma from them, forcontinence may also be a cause of impotence. 

All these details, which are combined in all kinds of ways with othersexual troubles, but which are also produced alone in men who areotherwise normal, throw much light on the relation of the momentarymental state of man to his sexual appetite and the accomplishment ofcoitus. 

I do not know under what heading the following case should be placed:

 A young man of steady habits, and normal sexual appetite, had always abstained from sexual connection and masturbation. He only had emissions during sleep. The latter were accompanied by erotic dreams, but never produced an orgasm, while disagreeable sensations occurred on waking. He married for love a woman in whom the hymen was resistant, and vaginismus occurred on each attempt at coitus. These attempts failed constantly in spite of the most intense love and the most ardent desire for children on both sides. The husband's erections were incomplete, and he never had an ejaculation except when asleep. By the aid of hypnotism I succeeded in strengthening his erections, and an operation on the hymen cured his wife's vaginismus. The first attempts at coitus were not immediately successful, but suggestion acted after a time; finally the attempts were crowned with success, and followed by a first and second pregnancy. The children were healthy. 

 In this case, the impotence, which had lasted about eighteen months, did not affect the mutual love and respect of the couple, because the husband's affection combined with his sexual appetite had sufficed for the happiness of a woman who was on the whole normal. 

This case is very instructive in several ways, for it gives a goodexample of the nature of the sexual instinct in woman; it also showshow the auto-suggestion of emissions occurring only during sleep mayhinder copulation in the waking state. But such phenomena areextremely rare. 

It is hardly necessary to say that there is no true impotence inwoman; but the same mental paralysis may occur as in man, preventingorgasm and often causing disgust. 

SEXUAL PARADOXY

By this term is understood the appearance of the sexual appetite, oreven of love, at an abnormal age. Infantile paradoxy is, however, verydifferent to senile paradoxy. 

Infantile paradoxy must not be confounded with certain forms ofmasturbation, to which we shall return. Some races, especially in thetropics, have a much earlier sexual development than others; dependingmore on race than climate. In some, sexual maturity occurs in boysbetween the age of twelve and fourteen, and in girls between nine andten years, while in others the former are hardly mature at twenty andthe latter before seventeen or eighteen. Again, individual variationsmay be very great in the same race. But, owing to hereditarysatyriasis or nymphomania, we sometimes in our own country see sexualappetite appear in children of eight, seven, or even three or fouryears of age, in a spontaneous manner without any external excitation. Lombroso mentions the case of a girl three years old who had anirresistible tendency to onanism. I have myself observed the twofollowing cases:

 (1). A boy of seven years, the son of a brothel keeper, and a kind of satyr who committed great excesses, began spontaneously to attack little girls of his own age or even younger. He was so artful that all means failed in curing him of this habit, and he was sent to an asylum of which I was superintendent. He then tried to renew his exploits with a boy older than himself. He was also idle and disposed to all kinds of folly. He did not, however, attempt to copulate with adult women or men. His sexual organs were absolutely infantile, without any abnormal development. His paradoxy was thus of cerebral origin. 

 (2). _A girl of nine years was brought to my office addicted to self-abuse. Upon examination, I found this child highly neurotic, the major part of her life had been under unhygienic atmosphere, case history, father psychopathic, had been in an insane asylum, mother ænemic. The child was sent to a state institution for girls and improved remarkably. _

In this case I was told that there was no hereditary taint, but suchstatements prove nothing. Individuals of this kind generally becomecriminals, or else give themselves up to masturbation or prostitution. 

Occasionally, the sexual appetite may be preserved for a long time inold men, or reappear for a time, with or without sexual power, but asa rule, the paradoxy of old men is the initial symptom of _seniledementia_. As this disorder is only commencing when sexual excitationoccurs, it is not noticed, and the patient is regarded as an immoral, vicious or criminal individual. I have seen a patient of this kindmasturbate openly in an asylum, so great was his sexual excitation. 

In most old men affected with senile sexual paradoxy, the sexualappetite is directed toward very young girls or even children, whichaggravates their case from the legal point of view. Very often thisappetite is perverted and assumes one of the forms we shall speak oflater. Some of these old men are still capable, but others are not, and then their excitation only manifests itself in manipulations ofthe genital organs, etc. Such cases play a considerable part in lawscandals. The patient (for so he must be called) often becomes thevictim of blackmail on the part of vicious girls or children, incitedby unnatural parents. One often sees also, at the onset of seniledementia, an old man become enamored of some prostitute or adventuresswho makes him marry her and thus takes possession of his fortune. Thelaw generally makes the matter valid, under the pretext thatindividual liberty must be respected. Such sanction consists inreality in sacrificing a patient for the profit of a female swindler. 

SEXUAL ANÆSTHESIA OR CONGENITAL ABSENCE OF THE SEXUAL SENSE ANDAPPETITE

Sexual sensations are so intimately connected with the sexual appetitethat it is difficult to separate them. No doubt in the adult a certaindegree of sexual appetite may exist without any voluptuous sensation, but this is a secondary phenomenon. 

Complete sexual anæsthesia is very rare in man; it is not a specialform of anomaly, but the reduction to zero of a normal sensation andthe appetite which corresponds to it. The characteristic feature ofthese cases is that, contrary to what occurs in eunuchs andcryptorchids, not only the testicles, but all the correlative sexualattributes (the beard, voice, character, etc. ) are normally developed, and are in no way inverted as in homosexual individuals. Sexualanæsthesia causes no more suffering than color-blindness, but like thelatter it occasions individual troubles resulting from misunderstanding. The sexual anæsthetic, having a more or less false idea of marriage, often marries in complete ignorance, and the results are thendisastrous, thanks to our laws and customs. 

In women, sexual anæsthesia is very common. Krafft-Ebing is wrong inmaintaining that in all such cases the women are always neurotic. Anumber of absolutely normal and intelligent women remain all theirlife completely cold from the sexual point of view, apart from thenormally passive character of the female sex in coitus. It is ratherthe very libidinous woman who is pathological. 

We have seen that the normal sexual sentiment of woman is developedrather in the direction of love, and desire for children. Erotic menoften complain of the sexual coldness of their wives, which isdisagreeable to them; for pleasure in one sex excites and completesthat of the other. Cold women submit to coitus as a duty, or at anyrate only mentally enjoy their husband's caresses. 

Sexual anæsthesia occurs normally in old age. It may occur at anearlier age, owing to destruction or atrophy of the sexual glands, great excesses, or on the contrary, extreme continence. Certaindiseases and psychoses may also cause it. 

The following are a few examples of sexual anæsthesia:

 (1). A normally built man, of high culture and moral sense, was affected with complete sexual anæsthesia since birth. He occasionally had nocturnal emissions, and also matutinal erections, but no erotic images. When he arrived at mature age he had no idea of sexual intercourse, and was completely indifferent to everything concerning sexuality. He did not even comprehend anything relating to sexual affairs, and his replies reminded me of conversations with color-blind persons on the distinction between red and green! According to his ideas, marriage was an intellectual and sentimental union in which children came by themselves!

 He eventually married a young girl, well educated but extremely prudish. One can imagine the revelations which followed! The wife, who had a strong desire for children, soon perceived the sexual blindness of her husband. She became very unhappy and bitterly reproached him. The husband then became aware that there should be something in marriage which he had not taken into account; but the explanations of coitus by the medical man were useless, and hypnotic suggestion was incapable of producing the least sexual sensation. 

 In spite of all this, the husband was full of respect and affection for his wife, but was incapable of simulating the least sexual appetite. As regards the wife, what she required was not coitus, which was simply a means to an end, but children. However, her prudery made her prefer this state of things to a divorce, which would create scandal. We may notice that in such cases erections are only produced mechanically during sleep, which renders coitus impossible. 

 (2). A timid but vain young man of retiring habits, sexually cold, had occasional nocturnal emissions sometimes accompanied by slightly erotic dreams. Although better informed than the preceding case on sexual relations, his sexual appetite was almost entirely absent, and he regarded marriage as a purely intellectual alliance. He married an intelligent and passionate young girl whose sexual appetite was strongly developed, and at once began to treat her with great coldness, as a kind of domestic servant. 

 The wife's family were in favor of divorce, but having pity on the husband, sent him to me for advice. I explained the matter to him, made him understand that the fault was entirely on his side, and that his first duty was to show affection for his wife, or if not, to accept divorce. The effect was purely psychical, and from this moment he became amiable and affectionate toward his wife. This was sufficient to cause the wife to give up the idea of divorce. I then told her that, on account of her husband's timidity and anomaly, the only thing to do was to reverse their roles, and for her to make the sexual advances. I have not heard anything more from this singular couple. 

 (3). A young man who had never had sexual connection before marriage, in spite of a strong sexual appetite, made the acquaintance of an intelligent young girl of excellent character. Marriage followed, and the wife was loyal to her husband, but remained sexually cold. She was insensible to coitus and only regarded it as a disagreeable complement of love. In spite of this she was fond of caresses, devoted to her husband, and had several children. 

 (4). An intelligent and cultured man, normal from the sexual point of view, who had frequented prostitutes in his youth, but not excessively, married a rather nervous but apparently very amorous young woman. The marriage night produced on her the effect of a cold douche, and coitus offended and horrified her. The husband in his discomfiture took patience; but his love, which was never very strong, became shattered. To avoid all scandal each of the conjoints practiced dissimulation and adapted themselves more or less to each other. The wife allowed coitus, the husband tolerated her coldness. Several children were born, but the family was unhappy, and after a few years divorce put an end to it. 

SEXUAL HYPERÆSTHESIA, OR EXAGGERATION OF THE SEXUAL APPETITE

This anomaly may be congenital, for example, in the sexual paradoxy ofchildren. Every one knows the Don Juans and Messalinas with theirinsatiable appetites. These types of sexual hyperæsthesia arecertainly less frequent and more abnormal in women than in men, butthe intensity is as great or greater. 

Sexual hyperæsthesia manifests itself by desires excited by everysensorial perception relating to the opposite sex, or simply byobjects which recall it to the imagination; so that fetichism plays agreat part in this condition. The feeling of satiety is hardlyexperienced at all, or only for a short time after each orgasm. Nymphomaniacs and satyrs are possessed by an insatiable sexual desire, often associated with certain sensations of anguish. Thishyperæsthesia, even when it is not hereditary, may be developed up toa certain point by continued or repeated artificial excitations. 

In women it is during or after menstruation that the sexual appetiteand consequently sexual hyperæsthesia are generally strongest, butthere are many individual variations in this respect, and sometimesthe opposite occurs. 

The effect of sexual hyperæsthesia is to direct the appetite towardany object capable of satisfying it. When the other sex is wanting, masturbation is generally resorted to. All mucous membranes (anus, mouth, etc. ) and even inanimate objects may serve to satisfy thepathologically exalted appetite of such individuals. Men mostdistinguished in other respects may abandon themselves to the mostfoolish or abominable practices. 

_Animals are often used to satisfy the hyperæsthetic sexual appetitein both sexes. The healthy woman is not prone to such desires, unlessof psychopathic taint. Men visit prostitutes, and become excited atthe sight of every woman who is neither too old nor too repulsive. Some individuals of this kind are pursued night and day by eroticimages, which may even become an obsession and a veritable torment. _

A further degree of sexual hyperæsthesia is called _Satyriasis_ inman, and _nymphomania_ in woman. I have observed in women two verydifferent varieties of sexual hyperæsthesia. In one, true nymphomania, the subjects are attracted toward man bodily and mentally with anelementary force; in these the whole brain follows the appetite inquite a feminine manner. Other women, on the contrary, are driven tomasturbation by a purely peripheral excitation; they have eroticdreams with venereal orgasms which torment rather than please them;but they do not fall in love easily, and may have difficulty in thechoice of a husband. Their mind alone remains feminine, full of tactand delicacy in its sentiments, while their lower nerve centers reactin a more masculine and at the same time more pathological manner. There are many transitional forms between these two extremes. 

Sexual hyperæsthetics are often unhappy, and consult the physician forrelief from the perpetual excitation which torments them. They attemptto master themselves and check their appetite in all ways, and aresometimes affected with nervous or mental depression. It is important, however, to recognize the fact, that many sexual hyperæsthetics remainquite fresh and active, and attain an advanced age, provided theyescape alcohol and venereal disease. 

When sexual hyperæsthesia results chiefly from artificially acquiredhabits it may often be cured by hypnotic suggestion, and establishingself-control; but when it is hereditary and very intense, andespecially when it is connected with infantile paradoxy or otheranomalies, castration may be the only efficient remedy. When it ischiefly acquired, any strong diversion which turns the mind fromsexual preoccupation to other subjects may have an excellent curativeeffect. The most intense hereditary cases may constitute a plague forthe individual and for society, and it is then that castration maybecome a blessing by calming the obsessed patient, by giving him theopportunity for useful occupation, and by preventing him from abusinghis fellows and procreating beings similar to himself. 

Nymphomaniacs often have polyandrous instincts, and they then becomemore insatiable than men. Several cases of this kind have beenpublished in the press, and examples of such women are not rare inhistory. When a woman is possessed by passion she often loses allsense of shame, all moral sense and all discretion, as regards theobject of her desires. She pays no attention to anything which isopposed to her passion, but may be full of reserve, tact andgood-feeling in all other respects. Cases of this kind, however, havealways a more or less marked pathological character. 

In man, satyriasis is very frequent. It often happens that a husbandcontinually forces his wife to coitus, even during menstruation. Wehave mentioned already the case of an old peasant of seventy who thusabused his poor old wife. In such cases conjugal infidelity verycommonly occurs. The cynicism of such individuals may go so far thatthey have intercourse with prostitutes or servants in the presence oftheir wives, or even abuse their own children. The wife behaves inthese cases in different ways according to her character. Manytolerate everything and do not complain, for the sake of theirchildren; others leave the husband or divorce him; some commitsuicide. 

It would seem quite natural for nymphomaniacs to marry satyrs, but wemust bear in mind the evil results for posterity from such anaccumulation of the sexual appetite. 

MASTURBATION OR ONANISM

The term onanism is derived from the name of Onan, son of Juda andSuah and grandson of Israel. According to the Old Testament, Onan'sfather wished him to marry his brother's widow and have children byher; but this did not please Onan, and he provoked ejaculation ofsemen by friction, in order to avoid having children by hissister-in-law. "This offended God who slew him. "

We have already shown that in the child the sexual appetite manifestsitself in a kind of obscure presentiment and vague sensations in thegenital organs. If a young man cannot satisfy his sexual appetitenaturally, the latter when it increases in strength provokes eroticdreams and nocturnal emissions; or artificial excitation of the penismay be practiced to produce orgasms: the latter phenomenon is called_masturbation_. 

Masturbation in man is performed by friction of the penis with thehand or against some soft body. In the latter case especially eroticimages of naked women or female sexual organs is associated withonanism. This kind of masturbation may be called _compensatory_, because it does not depend on an anomaly of the sexual appetite, butserves to satisfy a natural want by compensation. There are a wholeseries of manipulations employed for the same object, which constitutethe psychic equivalent of compensating masturbation. _In remotegarrisons and in boys' schools the more libidinous individuals, usually those mentally tainted, often practice mutual masturbation orsodomy. This is the sex complex of the degenerate individual and in aneffort to exterminate these pathological manifestations, they arebeing penalized by law, throughout the civilized world. It isunnecessary to prolong this enumeration. Those we have mentioned arethe most common and it is agreed that men who are addicted to thesepractices are decidedly psychopathic, whether it may be caused byfaulty heredity or anomaly in the psychology of the individual, thisstill remains to be proven. In reality they are often normal in otherrespects, but simply affected with sexual hyperæsthesia. Sometimesthey are feeble-minded individuals who have recourse to such practicesbecause they are derided by women. Others are cynics, more or lessvicious in other respects. _

Compensatory masturbation is extremely widespread, but it is as a ruleneither recognized nor admitted because it is easy to conceal. Although depressing for those whose will power is overcome by anexcitation which they cannot conquer, it is relatively the leastdangerous form of onanism. At the most it leads to a certain amount ofnervous and mental exhaustion by abuse of the facility of thusprocuring a venereal orgasm. The loss of substance from frequentseminal ejaculations is also more or less weakening, although thesecretion from the prostate plays a much greater part than the semen. But what especially affects the nervous system, is the repeated lossof the will, and the failure of resolutions made many times toovercome the desire for orgasm. 

Here, as elsewhere, effect is too often confounded with cause. Becausemen of feeble will power are addicted to onanism, it is imagined thatthe latter is the cause of the weakness of will. In itself, a seminalejaculation provoked by masturbation is no more dangerous than anocturnal emission; both are often accompanied by nervous sensationswhich are more disagreeable and exhausting than normal coitus. I must, however, point out that the effects of moderate masturbation in theadult have been greatly exaggerated, either by confounding the effectwith its cause, or for mercenary objects, by driving timid persons tocharlatans or to prostitutes. 

The active sexual appetite of man, increased by the accumulation ofsemen, is absent in woman. She does not have nocturnal emissionsaccompanied by voluptuous sensations which spontaneously awaken sexualdesire. For this reason a pathological sexual excitability isnecessary to spontaneously provoke in woman voluptuous dreams ormasturbation. For the same reason we cannot speak of compensatorymasturbation in woman. Onanism, however, is not uncommon among women, although less frequent than in men. It results either from artificialand local excitations, from bad example, or from pathologicalhyperæsthesia. When once the habit is acquired, repetition is producedby the difficulty of resisting voluptuous desires. 

Women perform masturbation by friction of the clitoris with thefinger, or by introducing various hard and rounded objects into thevagina and imitating the movements of coitus; often also by rubbingthe crossed thighs against each other. In the insane, masturbation issometimes practiced to an excessive extent. Some hysterical womenintroduce objects into the urethra during masturbation and causesevere inflammation of the bladder. 

Another variety of sexual excitation which is often substituted forcoitus among women, is the practice of mutual licking of the clitoriswith the tongue (_cunnilingus_). Although not so dangerous as has beenmaintained, these habits are aberrations of the sexual appetite, andit is needless to say that every human being should abstain from themout of self-respect. 

The man who, for some reason or another, cannot obtain normal coitusshould content himself with nocturnal emissions, and the woman withvoluptuous dreams, and should both abstain from active and voluntaryexcitations. For my part, I consider prostitution, or "love" which isbought, as a variety of compensatory masturbation, and not as normalcopulation. Coitus with a prostitute, generally infected with venerealdisease, who receives new clients continually, has as little affinitywith love as with the normal object of the sexual appetite--reproduction;and its moral value is certainly inferior to that of onanism. 

A second form of masturbation occurs in very young children fromaccidental irritation; in boys from phimosis; in girls from itchingdue to worms (oxyuris) about the anus and vulva. Innocent as regardsits cause, this form of onanism may become dangerous by habit. Attention should therefore be paid to phimosis and worms, and theformer treated by circumcision and the latter by the usual remedies. 

A third kind of masturbation is caused by example and imitation. Thisoften occurs in schools and among children in general; and in this wayvery precocious sexual excitation may develop and become a habitdifficult to suppress. The onanism of young children is certainlyworse than that which begins after puberty; it not only renders thechild idle and bashful, or increases these faults; but it alsointerferes with nutrition and digestion and develops a tendency tosexual perversion and to impotence. It often ceases, however, aftercareful supervision, combined with physical exercise and fresh air, and direction of the attention to other things. On the whole, thedanger of this form of onanism has also been exaggerated. In mostcases it is cured, when it is not based on abnormal predispositions oron an indolent and feeble character. Love and normal sexualintercourse are naturally the best remedies for masturbation due toseduction and habit, as soon as the subject has reached sexualmaturity. 

We may include as a fourth form of masturbation the cases of paradoxywhich we have mentioned previously. In this case onanism is producedspontaneously as the result of psycho-sexual precocity or hereditarypathological satyriasis. 

With the exception of the last paradoxical form which is based onincurable satyriasis, all the kinds of onanism which we have mentionedhitherto can only be successfully treated by kindness and confidence, combined with work and direction of the mind to wholesome andattractive subjects; not by threats or punishment. The new reformatoryschools called _Landerziehungsheime_ (Vide Chapter XVII) are anexcellent remedy for onanism, for they keep the child occupied frommorning to night and hardly leave him any time for bad habits; when hegoes to bed he is too tired to do anything but sleep. However, greatprudence and active supervision is required in these cases. 

The fifth class is constituted by the onanism of sexual inverts, andmay be called _essential onanism_. This concerns men whose sexualappetite is directed toward their own sex instead of the other. Theyare called _homosexual_, and mutual onanism is, so to speak, thenormal satisfaction of their inverted appetite. We shall refer to thisagain later on. While normal sexual intercourse is the best and mostrational remedy for compensatory masturbation, there is no question ofit here. Marriage is the worst and most scandalous remedy in suchcases. It is therefore of the greatest importance in order to judgeof the nature of the masturbation, to inquire into the kind of eroticimages with which it is associated. If, in the case of a man, theimages are those of women, it is simply a case of compensatorymasturbation; but if the images are masculine, it is a case of sexualinversion. If masturbation is not accompanied by any images, thequestion remains doubtful. In young children this is explained by thefact that the psycho-sexual irradiations are not yet developed; butafter puberty the absence of images as an object of eroticism suggestsa certain anomaly and sometimes depends on a latent tendency toinversion. 

=Relation of Masturbation to Hypochondriasis. =--Some onanists becomemuch distressed, and reproach themselves for having spoilt their livesby their bad habit. They give way to lamentations before their doctorand their acquaintances, wring their hands with despair, and beg everyone to come to their aid. They look upon themselves as poor sinnerswhose lives have been ruined, either by their own fault or by others. They have read Lamert's "Personal Preservation, " or other sensationalbooks which excite both the fear and the sexual desire of weakcharacters, whom they are intended to exploit. These poor devilsbelieve themselves lost, and are truly pitiable objects. These formthe types which are paraded as terrible examples in books on onanismwhich make timid persons' hair stand on end. 

When these unfortunate onanists are questioned on all thecircumstances of the act of which they accuse themselves, we generallyarrive at the following results:

We recognize that we have to deal with psychopathic or neuroticsubjects more or less tainted by heredity, timid and shunning theirfellows, easily impressed by imagination, possessed of unhealthysentiments and ideas; in fact, hypochondriacs, predisposed to lookupon every sensation or slight indisposition as a grave disorderthreatening their health or life. They thus live in perpetual anxiety. This mental anomaly has for a long time preceded the onanism, even ifthey have masturbated, which is often even not the case. 

Among the numerous patients of this kind that I have treated, therewere many who had simply had nocturnal emissions since puberty, butthey regarded themselves as lost men through masturbation! Many othersno doubt practice compensatory masturbation, generally because theirtimid nature prevents them from frequenting prostitutes, or committingother sexual excesses, while the way in which they analyze theirsensations easily leads them to onanism. On the other hand, they aregenerally so afraid that they do not give way to excessivemasturbation, perhaps only once or twice a week or even less often, sothat the normal frequency of coitus, according to Luther, is often notattained and seldom exceeded. Among these persons we find fewprecocious or excessive onanists. I admit, however, that ahypochondriacal constitution predisposes somewhat to onanism. 

But, what I wish to lay stress upon, is that the onanists who are fullof lamentation and self-reproach are neither the most numerous northose who commit the greatest excess. The worst onanists, those whoprovoke several ejaculations daily, belong to the category of sexualhyperæsthetics. These have not the classical aspect attributed to themby tradition; they are not pale and terrified creatures, but ratherlewd individuals who are early transformed into impudent Don Juans. They may be as courageous, as clever and as strong as others and yetbe disposed to all kinds of evil tricks and follies. It is, therefore, not true, as is so often said, that it is possible to recognize amasturbator by his face or manner. 

These excessive onanists no doubt do themselves harm in various ways, but the great error of taking sexual hypochondriasis for the type ofonanists, is to confound cause with effect. Sexual hypochondriasis isin no way the effect of onanism, but precedes it, and onanism israther its effect, or is simply associated with it. It is obvious thatonanism, by its depressing effect, aggravates a mind beset withhypochondriacal anxieties. 

It results from these facts, first, that a sexual hypochondriac shouldbe treated as a hypochondriac and not as an onanist; secondly, thatthe worst slaves of masturbation are not to be looked for among paleand dejected individuals. 

Among women, especially young girls, hypochondriasis is not common andcases of sexual hypochondriacs who accuse themselves of masturbatingare rare among them. Women who masturbate generally keep their secretand are apparently very little affected by it. However, onanism doesthem nearly as much harm as men; it is true they have no loss ofsemen, but the repetition and intensity of the nervous irritation aregreater than in man, and it is this which causes most exhaustion. Inspite of this, it is curious to observe that women who masturbate aregenerally less ashamed than men, and are apparently less depressed byit. We must bear in mind that the loss of semen by masturbation has inman a peculiarly depressing effect, for it lacks its object andrepresents an absolutely abnormal satisfaction of the sexual appetite. 

It may be objected that this difference is due to another cause, thatwomen who masturbate have less moral tone and are especially depravedindividuals. I agree that this is often the case, but far from always. The intensity of the sexual excitability in women has nothing incommon with their character; it may be associated with highintelligence, with high moral and æsthetic qualities, and even with astrong will. On the other hand, deficiency in moral sense and will mayoccur with sexual frigidity, and, as we have already seen, may lead tosexual excess without any voluptuous sensation, in accordance with thepeculiarities of feminine sentiment. These facts show how complex arethe causes of a given effect in the sexual domain. 

PERVERSIONS OF THE SEXUAL APPETITE OR PARÆSTHESIA OF THE SEXUALSENSATION

We are here concerned with sexual appetite provoked by inadequateobjects. Krafft-Ebing having made a profound study of this question weshall follow his subdivisions in the main. 

=Perverted Sexual Appetite Directed Toward the Opposite Sex. =--(A. )_Sadism_ (association of sexual desire with cruelty and violence). History shows us a number of celebrated persons who satisfied theirsexual desire by making martyrs of their victims, up to completebutchery. The most atrocious types of this kind are perhaps assassinssuch as "Jack the Ripper, " who lie in wait for their victims likecats, pounce on them, revel in their terror, assassinate them byinches, and wallow voluptuously in their blood. 

The term sadism is derived from the celebrated Marquis de Sade, aFrench author, whose obscene romances overflow with cruelvoluptuousness. Certain reminiscences of sadism are common both in manand woman. At the moment of highest excitation in coitus it is notuncommon for one or other of the couple to bite or scratch in theecstasy of their amorous embraces. Lombroso remarks on the brutalexcesses of soldiers when excited after battle. This is so to speak aninversion of sadism as regards cause and effect. After the exaltationof combat, that of desire possesses the mind, as in the inversedirection exaltation of desire gives rise in certain cases to that ofviolence and thirst for blood. 

Krafft-Ebing draws attention to the fact that love and anger are thetwo most violent effective conditions, and are at the same time thetwo powers which provoke the most motor discharges. This explains whythey may be associated in the delirium of unbridled passions. To thesefacts is added an atavistic relic of the instinct of man's ancestors, the males of whom fought furiously to conquer the females by violence, which provoked desire in them, after the subjection of the object oftheir sexual appetite. True sadism can, however, only become effectiveby the combination of two causes: (1) by an exalted and absolutelypathological association of sexual desire with a sanguinary instinct, and with the desire to illtreat and overcome a victim; (2) by analmost absolute absence of moral sense and sympathy, combined with aviolent and egoistic sexual passion. It is evident that the slightmore or less sadic impulses which may involuntarily occur in theperformance of normal coitus, are quite exempt from the second ofthese causes. 

Krafft-Ebing maintains that sadism is usually, if not always, congenital and hereditary. Sadism is for a long time restrained byfear, education or moral sentiments. It is only gradually, when normalcoitus cannot procure for the perverted sexual appetite thesatisfaction it requires, that the sadist gives way to his passion;this gives the latter a false appearance of acquired vice. 

The highest degree of sadism leads to assassination. In this way humantigers entice young girls into a wood and cut them to pieces. Somebegin by forcing them to coitus, after frightening them, or halfstrangling them; others masturbate in their ripped up entrails. Butsome others have no desire for coitus, nor anything resembling it, their desire being satisfied only by the sight of the terror, suffering and blood of their victim, whom they torture before killing. Others again associate desire with the rage of a wild beast to such apoint that they swallow parts of their victim's body and drink theblood. 

Sadists become experts in the art of assassination without discovery. The cynicism with which some of them have described their sensationsshows their cold indifference toward the tragic and the horrible. Krafft-Ebing describes a series of atrocious types of this kind, andunfortunately the press and the criminal law courts continually giveus fresh examples. Some sadists assassinate children, others men, whentheir perversion is complicated with pederasty or sexual inversion. (The story of Bluebeard is probably based on the successive crimes ofa sadic. )

Sadists do not always confine their attacks to living people; some ofthem are _necrophiles_, who violate dead bodies and cut them inpieces: others again kill animals, whose sufferings and blood serve tosatisfy their desires. 

Some sadists satisfy themselves by flogging prostitutes or prickingthem till they bleed, while others prefer to martyrize their victimsslowly, and thus procure the maximum of pleasure. Others again arecontented with scenes symbolical of servitude, in which women arecompelled to adore and supplicate them, etc. The humiliation of womentakes part in the sadist appetite of man and often degenerates intofetichism. Simple imagination in which he plays the part of a tyrant, and which are complicated with onanism or normal coitus, often sufficeto satisfy the sadist. Some sadists soil themselves with theexcrements of the woman they "love!" When sadism assumes the characterof a symbol or a fetich, seminal ejaculation and sensation generallyoccur without contact with the woman's body. 

Sadism is more common in men, but occurs also in women. Messalina andCatherine de Médici are historical examples. The latter had her maidsof honor flogged before her eyes, and said she was bathing in roseswhen she witnessed the massacre of the Huguenots. Women in whom sadismtakes a milder form are contented with biting a man till he bleeds, during coitus. 

Sadism appears to be most often an effect of hereditary alcoholicblastophthoria. 

(B). _Masochism_ (association of sexual desire with submission tocruelty and violence). The term masochism is applied by Krafft-Ebingto a form of sexual perversion described by Sacher-Masoch in severalof his romances. Masochism is exactly the converse of sadism. Thedesire of the masochist is excited by humiliation, submission, andeven blows; the pain he feels when he is flogged gives him intensepleasure. Like sadism, this perversion may be incomplete. When it iscomplete the masochist is affected with psychic impotence and isincapable of normal coitus. Ill-treatment and humiliation are alonecapable of causing him erections, seminal ejaculations and pleasure. However, comedies representing his humiliation, or correspondingefforts of his imagination may succeed in replacing the reality andprocure the desired effect. 

Like sadism, masochism is hereditary and congenital. When the firstsexual sensations are produced, the masochist child sighs for adominating woman who will illtreat him and make him her slave. Hisimagination is transported by the idea of being on his knees, of beingtrodden under foot, or bound in chains by her, etc. The cruel heroineof his heart must ridicule and humiliate him as much as possible. Corporal punishment with a beneficial object does not satisfy the truemasochist. Rousseau, in his "Confessions, " reveals the sexual feelingsof the masochist. 

It is remarkable how far poetic conceptions are combined with theperversion of sexual sensations in masochists, leading them to dreamof an imperious and cruel woman to whom they devote a love as humbleas it is exalted, while normal coitus causes them no pleasure, and cansometimes only be accomplished with the aid of masochistic images. These images may also be accompanied by onanism. It is very common formasochists to become flagellants, and to be flogged or trampled on byprostitutes. But it often happens that they only feel pain instead ofpleasure, when the comedy which they have started appears revealed inall its absurdity, showing them a woman paid to illtreat them, and notdoing it for her own enjoyment. Some masochists take pleasure inimagining themselves assassinated by a woman, or even cut in pieces. Others organize theatrical performances in which imperious women playthe part of judges, before whom they appear naked and are flogged andcondemned to death. Others again are contented with imagining theseperformances, combining them sometimes with coitus or masturbation. 

Krafft-Ebing is no doubt right in considering the lucubrations of thepoet Baudelaire, and his necrophile imagination of his own carrionhung on a gibbet and devoured by vultures, as a mixture of sadism andmasochism. He sought out the most repulsive women of all races, Chinese, negresses, dwarfs, giants, or modern women as artificial aspossible, to satisfy his pathological instinct. The following casequoted by Krafft-Ebing from Hammond, is typical:

A married man and father of several children was sometimes subject toattacks during which he visited a brothel, where he chose two or threeof the fattest women. He stripped the upper part of his body, lay onthe floor, crossed his hands, shut his eyes and ordered the women totread with all their force on his chest, neck and face. Sometimes herequired a still heavier woman or more cruel manipulations. After twoor three hours he was satisfied, paid the women liberally and regaledthem with wine, rubbed his bruises, dressed himself and returned tohis office, to repeat this singular performance a week later. 

Krafft-Ebing describes, as masked masochism, certain cases offetichism in which the nature of the fetich which causes sexualexcitation and the manner in which it is used prove a desire formaltreatment and humiliation by a woman. This is especially the casewith shoe and foot fetichism. Among those who are affected with thispathological specialty, voluptuous sensations are produced when theyare trodden on by a woman's shoes or feet. They even dream of women'sshoes and feet. Some of them put nails in their shoes, the pain ofwhich gives them voluptuous sensations. Lastly, the shoes alone, especially when they touch the penis, are sufficient to excite theirsexual desire. Other masked masochists are excited by the secretionsor even excrements of women. 

I have been consulted by a typical masochist, who, being veryreligious, was convinced that his perverted sexual appetite was a sin. He therefore married, thinking that God and repentance would changehim. But when married he naturally found himself absolutely impotentand incapable of coitus. 

If masochism is common in men, it is produced in women rather as anexaggeration in the domain of her normal sexual sensations, for it isto a great extent in harmony with her passive sexual role. Woman doesnot like the weak man who submits to her. She prefers a master on whomshe can lean. In fact, normal women do not like their husbands to askadvice from them too often, nor to be wanting in decision andself-confidence. On the contrary they like them to be firm and evensomewhat imperious, provided they are not unkind. It is notorious thatmany women like to be beaten by their husbands, and are not contentunless this is done. This appears to be especially common in Russia. Accentuated forms of pathological masochism are, however, rare inwomen. 

Masochism presents a certain analogy with the religious ecstasy offakirs and flagellants who flog themselves. These individuals appearto become exalted in a kind of ecstatic convulsion with the idea ofpleasing God or gaining Heaven by their martyrdom. We may add that, like sadism, masochism occurs in sexual inverts, but always having thesame sex for its object. I know an old gentleman whose only pleasureconsisted in receiving a shower of blows: as a boy, like Rousseau hetried by all kinds of ruses to obtain corporal punishment: when hegrew up this became impossible and he devised tricks to urgeschoolboys to fight each other, pretending to be angry and excitingtheir spirit of contradiction: the boys then pretended to fight him, and this sufficed for the rest of his life to excite erections andseminal ejaculations. This gentleman was a lawyer and told me hishistory, hoping that suggestion might cure him. 

The eroticism produced by submission to pain and humiliation is oftenblended with that produced by performing acts of cruelty. Thesemixtures of sadism and masochism have been investigated by SchrenkNotzing, who concludes that they are intimately related. 

_Fetichism_ (production of voluptuous sensations by contact with or bythe sight of certain portions of the body or clothes of woman). Wehave already mentioned this symptom and have seen the part it plays insome forms of masochism. A masked form of fetichism forms part of thenormal sexual appetite, in the sense that certain parts of the body orclothes, certain odors, etc. , especially excite the sexual desire ofmany people by recalling the individual to whom they belong. Therefore, parts of the body which normally excite sexual desire--thebreasts, sexual organs, or other parts of the body usuallycovered--cannot be regarded as pathological fetiches. 

The true fetichist is a very pathological being, whose entire sexualappetite, often with all its irradiations in the higher sphere oflove, if we can speak of love in such cases, is limited to certainobjects connected with woman. The most common fetiches are women'shandkerchiefs, gloves, velvet or shoes; or their hair, hands or feet, etc. In these cases the fetich plays the essential part, and is in noway associated with the image of a woman. The fetich is the soleobject of "love. " The sight or touch of the fetich, the pleasure ofpressing it against the heart or the genital organs, are alone capableof producing erections and ejaculations. There are even fetichistswhose sexual desire is only excited by the sight of certain femininedeformities, such as clubfoot, squint, etc. Hairdressers, whomasturbate after dressing women's hair, are well-known examples offetichism. 

Certain feminine costumes may serve as fetiches, and these are kept insome brothels to satisfy certain customers. Shoe fetichism is morecommon than that of clothes or handkerchiefs. Krafft-Ebing mentions atypical case of the psychic irradiation of fetichism; the individualin question thought it immoral and scandalous that women's shoesshould be exposed in shop windows. Others blush when they see suchthings in the windows. Fetichism is essentially a masculineperversion. I have been consulted by a fetichist who all his life hadonly felt erotic at the sight of shoes; later on he married, and hissexual desire becoming more and more concentrated on pointed andfashionable shoes, especially women's, but also men's, he could onlyobtain pleasure with his wife when she put on the shoes he was in lovewith, or when he put them on himself. The sight of shoes in shopwindows always made him blush, while the female body made noimpression on him. He could not buy the shoes he desired most, owingto a sentiment of shame, and the sight of them was often sufficient toproduce erection and ejaculation. 

_Exhibitionism. _ There is a class of individuals, especially men, whose sole sexual desire consists in masturbating in the presence ofwomen. They lie in wait behind some wall or bush, and masturbateopenly when women pass that way. In these subjects an orgasm is onlyproduced when they are observed by women. As soon as ejaculation hasoccurred they fly to avoid the police. They never attempt to molestthe women whose presence excites them to this performance. 

These cases are not uncommon and naturally cause much scandal, so thatthe poor wretches seldom escape the police. These unfortunate personswho sometimes hold high social positions, have often been previouslyconvicted, but cannot as a rule overcome their passion, which has muchworse consequences for them than for the women and children whom theyfrighten or annoy. 

Exhibitionism is not rare among insane women and I have myself treatedtwo typical cases. I do not know whether it occurs in women of soundmind, but at all events they cannot be addicted to it without runninggreat risk. 

=Sexual Inversion or Homosexual Love. =--However shocking or absurd theaberrations of the sexual appetite and its irradiations may be, ofwhich we have spoken hitherto, they are at any rate derived fromoriginally normal intercourse with adults of the opposite sex. Thosewe have now to deal with are distinguished by the fact that, not onlythe appetite itself, but all its psychic irradiations are directed tothe same sex as the perverted individual, the latter being horrifiedat the idea of genital contact with the opposite sex, quite as much asa normal man is horrified at the idea of homosexual union. Thishorror is, however, confined to sexual matters, and in no way concernsthose of social life. It is therefore a question of sexual desire ofman for man, and woman for woman. 

What we have to deal with here has no connection with compensation asin cases of compensatory masturbation or pederasty, which arepracticed, for want of anything better, by individuals whose normalsexual appetite cannot be satisfied otherwise. When excitation anddesire become too strong, the purely animal (spinal) irritation of thesexual appetite may drive a man or woman to satisfy themselves bymeans which would otherwise disgust them. 

A. _Homosexual love in man. _ It seems absurd that the whole sexualappetite and amorous ideals of a man can be directed all his life topersons of his own sex. This pathological phenomenon, however, is ascommon as it is certain, although its psychological and normal importhas long been misapprehended, as much in judicial circles as by thegeneral public. It is the inverts themselves, aided by psychiatrists, who have finally thrown light on the subject. An invert, named Ulrich, announced himself publicly as the apostle of homosexual love, describing inverts under the name of _Urnings_, a name which is stillused in Germany. Ulrich and his disciples endeavored to prove anabsurdity by maintaining that homosexuals are a special kind of normalmen, and by attempting to obtain legal sanction for this kind of love. Ulrich gives the name _Dionings_ to men whose sexual appetite isnormal, _i. E. _, directed toward women. Such a pretension appearsnecessarily ridiculous to every man whose sexual sense is normal, andit is obviously absurd to apply the term "normal" to a sexual appetiteabsolutely devoid of its natural object, procreation. But this isquite characteristic of the sentiments of inverts. 

Hirschfeld, of Berlin, has recently attempted to show that homosexualsconstitute a variety of normal man; but he plays with words and facts, invoking the names of celebrated inverts, and wrongly asserts thatinversion is not hereditary. 

From the first dawn of sexual feeling in youth, male inverts have thesame feelings as girls toward other boys. They feel the need forpassive submission, they become easily enraptured over novels anddress, they like to occupy themselves with feminine pursuits, to dresslike girls and to frequent women's societies. They regard women asfriends, as persons with whom they have a fellow-feeling. Theygenerally, but not always, have a banal sentimentalism, they are fondof religious forms and ceremonies, they admire fine clothes andluxurious apartments; they dress their hair and "fake" themselves witha coquetry which often exceeds that of women. They are not all likethis, but one or other of these traits predominates in differentindividuals. 

Their sexual appetite, usually very strong and precocious, begins withan exalted love for some male friend. I have treated a great number ofinverts and have always been struck with the intensity of theirpassion. Among other cases, I may mention that of an invert hospitalattendant, who fell madly in love with one of his comrades and coveredten meters of white tape with the name of his beloved. The mostpassionate love letters, vows of fidelity till death, the mostferocious jealousy toward other friends of their beloved, and evenceremonies symbolical of marriage, are daily events among thehomosexuals. 

The invert does not so easily become enamored of another invert as ofnormal men. These have a special attraction for him, but as theygenerally repulse him with disgust, or threaten to expose or exploithim, he is often obliged to content himself with his fellows. Thesegentlemen form among themselves a secret brotherhood, a kind offreemasonry which is recognized by signs. 

The first appearance of the homosexual appetite with its youthfulimpulses, causes love and happiness to appear to the invert in aspecial aspect, determined by the inverted irradiation of his sexualappetite. It represents the aim of his life as an amorous union withhis beloved, and shapes his idylls, his romance and his ideal to thisend. But later on, when his sexual desire increases and when hediscovers that the majority of men feel differently to him, that thehuman race is reproduced by the union of men and women, etc. , hebecomes unhappy. He perceives that it would be both ridiculous anddangerous to reveal his inner feelings, and generally gives way tomasturbation. But all social barriers which oppose his appetite onlyincrease his desire, and he becomes less and less able to dominate hispassion for certain young men. The disgust and indignation of thelatter, when they discover that they are not the object of simpleaffection but of perverted sexual love, are expressed only tooclearly, and the poor invert sees himself condemned to perpetualtorment in trying to hide his most violent desires and his mostintimate and ideal aspirations, and finally to live in continual dreadof being betrayed and prosecuted. It is thus easy to understand thathe is happy in the discovery that his fellows form a secret society, and he associates with them immediately, when his moral sense and willare not strong enough to be proof against it. 

_If the invert succeeds in finding a male to his liking and with asimilar degenerative state of mind to his own, he will pay him theattention that the normal man would to a woman. It is thereforereasonable to believe that this mode of inversion is likewise anexpression of pathological manifestation of the individual; usuallyaccompanied by neurosis and a like corresponding deficiency in thephysical makeup of the individual. _

The invert's ideal would be to obtain a legal license for marriagebetween men; but they are not very constant in their love and are muchinclined to polyandry. Sexual love for women inspires them withcontempt; they regard it as low and disgusting, at the most only goodfor the production of young inverts!

Homosexual love has played a much greater part in the world's historythan is generally believed. The Count de Platen and Sapho wereinverts. The inverts themselves maintain that it was the same withPlato, Frederick the Great, Socrates, etc. ; but this is not proved. Inthe East and in Brazil, homosexual love is very common. 

My experience agrees with that of Krafft-Ebing, that homosexual loveis pathological in nature, and that nearly all inverts are in a moreor less marked degree psychopaths or neurotics, whose sexual appetiteis not only abnormal but usually also exalted. Insane inverts, such asKing Louis II of Bavaria, a great number of the insane, affected, forexample, with _Pseudologia phantastica_ (pathological swindlers), andwho are also homosexual, show the intimate relationship which existsbetween sexual inversion (also called "uranism") and the psychoses. 

I agree with Rudin that the psycho-pathological phenomena presented bythe majority of inverts are primitive and hereditary, and that theyare hardly ever the effect of their tormented life, as Hirschfeld, Ulrich and their disciples maintain. The vexations, anxieties andother torments that they suffer may no doubt play a part in developingcertain nervous conditions previously latent, but they can nevercreate hereditary taints. We may admit that sexual inversioncorresponds to a kind of partial hermaphrodism, in which the sexualglands and copulatory organs have the characters of one of the sexes, while the brain has, to a great extent, those of the other sex; butthe phenomenon is none the less pathological. 

The inverts with whom we have most to do, especially in public asylumsand at the courts of justice, are cynics and debauchees in spite ofthe ideal which they parade; but we should be wrong in concluding thatthis is always the case. The cynics make themselves heard because theydo not restrain themselves. In my private practice I have known manyvery well-conducted inverts, possessing the most delicate sentiments, who had become pessimists owing to the shame and grief of a state ofmind which they hid from the world. 

Inverts of this class often commit suicide, after having carried on insilence a desperate struggle against their morbid appetite, becausethey prefer death to defeat, which they consider a dishonor. Thevictims of these tragedies deserve all our pity, and sometimes ourrespect. Such individuals generally hold aloof from the brotherhood ofinverts which they look upon with fear or disgust. 

In the picture of homosexuals there are two lamentable shadows, whichare largely due to the severity with which most legislations track andcondemn these unfortunate beings. 

(1). As soon as an invert realizes his abnormal and dangeroussituation in society, in which he feels a pariah, he often makes uphis mind to follow the advice of ignorant friends, and even, alas, ofignorant doctors, and try and cure himself by marriage. Sometimes hebegins by visiting a brothel to see if he is capable of normal coituswith a woman. In this he often succeeds, if he is able to picture tohimself a man in the person of the prostitute. He tries to persuadehimself that the disgust which he felt at this experimental coitus wasdue to the fact that the "love" was bought; and he then decides toenter into conjugal life. This is at the same time the greatestabsurdity and the worst action possible for him to commit, for hiswife becomes a martyr and soon feels herself deceived, abandoned anddespised. The invert treats her as a servant; he rarely has sexualintercourse with her, sometimes not at all, and only performs it withrepugnance with a view to the procreation of young inverts, who willrise to his ideal. He invites his male lovers to his house and theyindulge in orgies, especially when the wife, despised and neglected, has separated from him. Such marriages, which are fortunately lesscommon since this question has been better understood, generally endin divorce, preceded by bitter and mutual deceptions. It is reallycriminal to favor them when we know what they lead to. (_It is againstsuch unions, and against sexual indulgence of this nature, that thelaw ought to exert itself. _)

(2). A second very grave result of homosexual love is the continualblackmail which is levied on inverts by all kinds of scamps. Publicurinals are common meeting places for inverts. The blackmailers, whoknow this very well, follow them there and offer themselves for money;but as soon as they find out the name of their victim and hisfinancial position, they begin to extort hush-money, threatening toprosecute him if he does not pay what they ask. If the invert is richor of high position he has only to yield to the extortion, emigrate orcommit suicide. In this way the life of most well-to-do inverts isruined by perpetual anxieties, emotions and torments, because theirmorbid appetite instinctively urges them to abandon themselves to menwho feel differently to themselves. 

_Moll, Krafft-Ebing and Hirschfeld have written at great length onsexual inversion. The law takes a just point of view and is generallysevere as regards this anomaly, especially in Germanic countries. Evenhomosexual love that does not affect minors nor insane persons, is asign of degeneracy, but produces no offspring and consequently diesout by means of selection. We hope, therefore, that this type may beextinct some day, although it is still decidedly numerous, principallyin the larger cities of the world. When a normal man is tormented byan invert, it is much easier to get rid of him than for a young girlto protect herself against the importunities of a man. _

It is quite another thing when the invert pays his attentions tominors, or when his appetites are complicated with dangerous sexualparæsthesias, such as sadism. Not long ago the terrible case of asadist invert, Dippold, startled civilized Europe. By the aid ofcruelty and intimidation this wretch martyrized two young boysconfided to him for their education to such a degree that one of themdied. Legal protection of the two sexes against sexual abuses of allkinds should be extended at least to the age of seventeen or eighteen. 

Sexual inversion has two curious results which have not receivedsufficient attention. Human society regards it as quite natural andwithout danger for individuals of the same sex to bathe, sleep andlive together. In lunatic asylums, prisons, reformatories, etc. , menare attended to by men, and women by women. The vow of chastity ofCatholic priests and nuns leads in the same way to separation of thesexes. In all these customs sexual inversion has not been taken intoconsideration. It is not surprising, therefore, that homosexuals takeadvantage of this state of affairs and seek these situations whichgive them the opportunity for satisfying their perverted passionswithout running much danger. _They willingly choose a career suitablefor their degenerate purposes, and especially that of attendant inlunatic asylums. In the latter case they take advantage of the mentalcondition of the patients and their incapacity to make complaints. Inpublic baths inverts can freely enjoy the sight of naked men. _

So far we have only spoken of complete inversion; but there aretransitional stages. Many individuals are neutral, animated bysensations floating between the two sexes. Krafft-Ebing even speaksof psycho-sexual hermaphrodites, who are equally attracted by eithersex, and cohabit sometimes with one, sometimes with the other. I knewa married man who was very capable with his wife but in spite of thiswas unfaithful to her, both with men and with other women. He wasconvicted several times for pederasty with men and young boys, andconfessed to me that he had more pleasure from homosexual intercoursethan from normal connection with women, but could satisfy himselfeither way. An incomplete invert declared to me that his ideal wouldbe a man. 

Along with these cases there is a series of homosexuals in whom it isassumed that inversion has been acquired, because they commenced witha normal sexual desire for women. After being seduced by homosexuals, who initiate them in mutual onanism or pederasty, they are suddenly orgradually disgusted with women and become inverts (vide _Suggestion_). In reality, these are only relatively cases of acquired inversion. Ifwe except the cases which depend on pure suggestion of which we shallspeak later, there is a latent hereditary disposition to inversion, which is awakened on the first occasion and then develops strongly. Itis easy to prove that men with normal sexual instincts immediatelyabandon the habits of onanism or pederasty which they have contractedthrough bad example or seduction, or by compensation for the want ofthe normal object, as soon as they can obtain normal sexualintercourse with one or more women. It is, therefore, false to regardhomosexual sensations as depending on vice and depravity: they are apathological product of abnormal hereditary sexual dispositions. Atany rate, this is a general rule which has few exceptions. 

Sexual inversion is so widespread that in certain countries, forinstance Brazil, and even in some European towns, there are brothelswith men instead of women. 

I will mention here a very curious case of purely psychical butcomplete inversion of the sexual personality, combined with completesexual anæsthesia:

 A man, aged 22, the son of an inebriate, with one imbecile sister. Of delicate constitution, but very intelligent, he was possessed since infancy with the idea that he was a girl, although his genital organs were properly formed and were normally developed at puberty. He had a horror of the society of boys, and of all masculine work, while he was quite happy in performing all the household duties of a woman. An irresistible obsession urged him to dress himself as a woman, and neither contempt, ridicule, nor punishment could cure him of it. Attempts to give him employment as a boy in a small town failed completely. His girlish manners made him suspected by the police, who took him for a girl dressed in boy's clothes, and threatened to arrest him. When he was compelled to put on male attire he consoled himself with wearing a woman's chemise and corset underneath. 

 I carefully examined this individual and found him affected with complete sexual anæsthesia. He had a horror of everything connected with the sexual appetite, but the idea of sexual intercourse with men was still more repugnant than that of normal coitus with women. Although the testicles and penis appeared absolutely normal, he never had erections. His voice was high pitched and his whole manner suggested that of a eunuch. 

This case is very instructive, for it clearly shows how thepsycho-sexual personality may be predetermined by heredity in thebrain alone, independently of the sexual organs, and even act withouta trace of sexual sensation or appetite. This was undoubtedly a caseof alcoholic blastophthoria and not ordinary heredity. 

Krafft-Ebing describes the following scene, taken from a Berlinjournal, dated February, 1894, which gives a good idea of the mannersand customs of the homosexual fraternity:

"_The misogynist's ball. _ Almost all the social elements of Berlinhave their club or meeting place--the fat, the bald, the bachelors, the widowers--why not the misogynists? This variety of the humanspecies, whose society is hardly edifying, but whose psychology ispeculiar, held a fancy dress ball a few days ago. The sale, or ratherthe distribution of tickets was kept very private. Their meeting placeis a well-known dancing hall. We enter the hall about midnight. Dancing is going on to the music of a good orchestra. A thick cloud ofsmoke obscures the lamps and prevents us at first from distinguishingthe details of the scene. It is only during an interval that we canmake a closer examination. Most of the people are masked, dress coatsand ball dresses are exceptional. 

"But what do I see? This lady in rose tarlatan, who has justpirouetted before us has a cigar in her mouth and smokes like atrooper. She has also a small beard, half hidden by paint. And she isnow talking to an "angel" in tights, very _décolleté_, with bare armscrossed behind her, also smoking. They have men's voices and theconversation is also masculine, for it turns on 'this cursed tobaccowill not draw. ' Two men dressed as women!

"A clown in conventional costume leaning against a pillar is speakingtender words to a ballet dancer, with his arm round her waist. She hasa Titian head, a fine profile and good figure. Her brilliant earrings, her necklace, her shapely shoulders and arms seem to proclaim her sex, when suddenly disengaging herself from the embracing arm she turnsaway with a yawn, saying in a bass voice, 'Emile, why are you sotiresome to-day?' The novice hardly believes his eyes: the balletdancer is also a man. 

"Becoming suspicious, we continue our investigations, beginning tothink that the world is here upside down. Here is a man who comestripping along; but no, it cannot be a man, in spite of the small andcarefully curled mustache. The dressing of the hair, the powder andpaint on the face, the blackened eyebrows, the gold earrings, thebouquet of flowers on the breast and shoulder, the elegant black gown, the gold bracelets, the fan held in a white-gloved hand--none of thesethings suggest a man. And with what coquetry he fans himself; how hedances and skips about! Nevertheless, Nature has created this doll inthe form of a man. He is a salesman in one of the large sweet shops, and the ballet dancer is his colleague!

"At the table in the corner there is a convivial meeting; severalelderly gentlemen are gathered round a group of very _décolleté_'ladies' sitting over a glass of wine and cracking jokes which areanything but delicate. 'Who are these three ladies?' 'Ladies! laughsmy better-informed companion; well, the one on the right with thebrown hair and short fancy dress is a hair-dresser; the second, theblonde with the pearl necklace is known here by the name of MissElla, and he is a ladies' tailor; the third is the celebrated Lottie. '

"But this cannot be a man? The waist, the bust, the delicate arms, thewhole appearance is feminine! I am told that Lottie was formerly anaccountant. To-day she, or rather he, is simply 'Lottie, ' and takespleasure in deceiving men as to his sex as long as possible. At thismoment Lottie is singing a song in a contralto voice acquired byprolonged practice, which a female singer might envy. Lottie has alsotaken female parts on the stage. Nowadays the former accountant is soimbued with his female role that he seldom appears in the streetexcept in woman's attire, and even wears an embroidered nightdress. 

"On closer examination of the persons present, I discovered to myastonishment several acquaintances. My bootmaker, whom I should neverhave taken for a misogynist, appears to-night as a troubador withsword and plumed cap; and his 'Leonora, ' in the costume of a bride, generally serves me with Havanas in a cigar store. When Leonoraremoved her gloves I recognized her at once by her large chilblainedhands. Here is my haberdasher promenading in an indelicate costume asBacchus; also a Diana, dressed up atrociously, who is really a waiterat a café. 

"It is impossible to describe the real 'ladies' who are at this ball. They only associate with each other and avoid the women-hating men;while the latter also keep to themselves and absolutely ignore thefair sex. "

=B. Feminine Sexual Inversion and Homosexual Love. =--Sexual inversionis not rare in women, but manifests itself less publicly than thecorresponding masculine inversion. It is called Lesbian love or_saphism_; and the women inverts are known as _tribades_. They aredescribed in history, but may also be observed in modern towns. _Theysatisfy their pathological appetite by degenerate practices heretoforementioned in harmony with their inverted mentality. _ The feminineinvert likes to dress as a man and feels like a man toward otherwomen. She goes in for manly games, wears her hair short, and takes tomen's occupations in general. Her sexual appetite is often muchexalted and then she becomes a veritable feminine Don Juan. I haveknown several women of this kind, who held veritable orgies andinduced a whole series of young girls to become their lovers, in theway we have just indicated. 

Here again, as in masculine inversion, there is a true irradiatedlove. Inverts want to marry and swear eternal fidelity; they celebratetheir betrothals, even openly, the invert in male attire representingthe bridegroom; or sometimes they have secret symbols, such asexchanging rings, etc. These sexual orgies are often seasoned withalcohol. 

_The excesses of female inverts exceed those of the male. This istheir one thought, night and day, almost without interruption. Jealousy is also as strong as among male inverts. However, thesenymphomaniac inverts are not very common. _

A characteristic peculiarity of feminine inversion depends on theirradiation of the sexual appetite in woman (_vide_ Chapters IV andV). We have seen that there is much less distinction in woman betweenlove and local sensations of pleasure, and between friendship andlove, than in man. When a woman invert wishes to seduce a normal girl, it is easy for her to do so. She first wins her affection by the aidof the caresses of an exalted platonic love, which is not uncommonamong women; kisses, embraces, and sleeping in the same bed are muchmore common among girls than boys, and little by little the invertsucceeds in causing voluptuous sensations in her victim. Very oftenthe object of these caresses does not recognize that there is anythingabnormal in all this, or gives way to her sensations withoutreflection, and then becomes amorous in her turn. I will give anexample:

A female invert, dressed as a young man, succeeded in winning the loveof a normal girl, and was formally betrothed to her. Soon afterwardsthe woman was unmasked, arrested and sent to an asylum, where she wasmade to put on woman's clothes. But the young girl who had beendeceived continued to be amorous and visited her "lover, " who embracedher before every one, in a state of voluptuous ecstasy, which Iwitnessed myself. When this scene was over, I took the young girlaside and expressed my astonishment at seeing her continue to have anyregard for the sham "young man" who had deceived her. Her reply wascharacteristic of a woman: "Ah! you see, doctor, I love him, and Icannot help it!"

What can one reply to such logic? A psychic love of this kind ishardly possible in man; but if we go to the bottom of the matter andstudy the nature of woman, we can understand how certain feminineexaltations may be unconsciously transformed into love, platonic atfirst, afterwards sexual. At first, "they understand each other sowell, " and have so much mutual sympathy; they give each other petnames, they kiss and embrace, and perform all kinds of tender actions. Finally, a graduated scale of caresses leads almost unconsciously tosexual excitation. 

_This is how it happens that a normal woman, systematically seduced byan invert, may become madly in love with her and commit sexualexcesses with her for years, becoming herself essentiallypathological. The case only becomes really pathological when it isdefinitely fixed by long habit; a thing which easily occurs in woman, owing to the constant and monogamous nature of her love. _

Krafft-Ebing's cases show the same phenomena, (for instance the invertcalled "Count Sandor" and her victims). In these cases also younggirls, seduced by inverts, fell into despair and even threatened tocommit suicide when their seducers abandoned them. On the other hand, when a normal man, seduced by an invert, practices mutual masturbationthe affair remains localized and limited to purely animal sensationsof pleasure which do not irradiate to his psychic life; suchirradiations only occur in the invert, so that his victims are alwaysready to abandon him without the least regret. If we except children, it therefore follows that the so-called male victims are nearly alwaysblackmailers, or simply offer themselves for money. 

In fact, the normal man entirely separates the sympathy, or even theexalted affection, which he feels for another man, from all sexualsensations, and has not the least desire to kiss or caress his bestfriend, still less to have sexual intercourse with him. All sensualcaresses between men are, therefore, suggestive of inversion even inplaces where women are absent. 

In the normal woman, on the contrary, as we have already mentioned, sentiments of exalted sympathy easily provoke the desire for kissesand caresses, and these caresses often cause in women a certain amountof vague sensual pleasure. When this pleasure leads to progressivetenderness and ends in mutual onanism, etc. , it nevertheless remainsintimately connected with psychic exaltations and sentiments ofsympathy, from which it cannot be separated as in man. 

In a former chapter we have described the difference between the twosexes, but nowhere is it more distinctly shown than in the relationsbetween a female invert and her victims. 

It is therefore much more difficult in woman than in man todistinguish in particular cases between the hereditary disposition toinversion, and saphism acquired by seduction or habit. The latter iscommon in prostitutes and libidinous women. 

As we have already said, the pure female invert feels like a man. Theidea of coitus with men is repugnant to her. She apes the habits, manners and clothes of men. Female inverts have been known to wearmen's uniforms and perform military service for years, and even behaveas heroes; their sex sometimes only being discovered after theirdeath. 

=Sexual Appetite for Children. (Pederosis. )=--It may be questionedwhether this is a special category, for many sexual assaults committedon children are simply the effect of senile dementia, or abuse ofchildren to satisfy an otherwise normal sexual appetite. I have, however, observed cases where children were so specially, or evenexclusively, the object of the sexual appetite, that I cannot doubtthe existence of a special hereditary perversion in this direction. 

No doubt, most of those who abuse children are also capable of coituswith women, or else they are inverts, sadists, etc. ; but with many ofthem sexual passion for children is so marked from their youth upward, that it shows a special hereditary disposition. For this pathologicaldisposition, thus defined, I propose the term _pederosis_; that of_pederasty_ applying to degeneracy between man and man, whatevercauses lead to it. Krafft-Ebing, who does not believe in the existenceof a hereditary pederosis, gives the name _erotic pedophilia_ to theabuse of children by depraved persons. 

The following are cases of exclusive and hereditary pederosis: Atalented artist, possessing high moral sentiments, was affected fromhis youth with a sexual appetite exclusively directed toward littlegirls of five or six years. At the age of twelve they ceased toattract him. He was quite indifferent to adults of both sexes, andnever accomplished coitus. _Having recognized in good time the anomalyof his appetite, he succeeded in mastering it all his life, andthrough education on the subject as well as a general physicaldevelopment, he neutralized these morbid desires, particularly throughthe training of his mind to cleaner and more wholesome topics. A greathelp in this type of condition is work therapy. His moral sentimentsand principles were always strong enough to prevent him going anyfurther, and he eventually obtained relief. But this condition gaverise to increasing nervous irritation and melancholic depression. _

In another man, the sexual appetite, also perverted since its origin, was directed only toward boys of twelve or sixteen. At one time girlsof the same age excited him, while he was quite indifferent towardadult women and men. 

In rare cases the sexual appetite of certain women is directed towardlittle boys. 

=Sexual Appetite for Animals. (Sodomy or Bestiality. )=[6]--A humansexual appetite exclusively directed toward animals is certainly notcommon. Coitus between man and animals usually takes place for want ofthe opportunity for normal satisfaction, or else as the result ofsatyriasis, nymphomania or desire for change. I have observed itespecially in idiots and imbeciles who are ridiculed by girls. Toconsole themselves, they give vent to their feelings with a patientcow or goat in the silence of the stable: for this act they getseveral years imprisonment, for the law on this point is severe. Certain degraded libertines satisfy their hyperæsthetic and pervertedappetites with goats or even with large birds or rabbits. 

There are, however, cases where a pathological sexual appetite isspecially directed toward animals, and it is curious to observe thefrequent preference of certain individuals for small animals whichthey skin (fowls, geese, rabbits), and thus put to death. 

_Bestiality is not rare in women who are also subject to this filthy, obnoxious and degenerative practice. Even if we put aside cases oftorture inflicted on small animals and if we avoid all prejudices, wecan still, in all normality, consider bestiality as a crime, manifested by the depraved mind. In fact, considered from the point ofview of law and humanity, bestiality is one of the most indecent ofall the pathological aberrations of the sexual appetite. Humanimagination only has marked it with the stigma of moral depravementand has made it a crime. But it is recognized scientifically that itis a state of mental inferiority and often a sign of idiotic tendency, usually accompanied by a case history, tainted heredity and highlyneurotic constitution. Æstheticism has reason for complaint, and morethan one painter or sculptor has represented the union of Leda withthe Swan. It is certainly much better for society, for an idiot or animbecile to be castrated than for him to make a girl pregnant andbreed more idiots. _

_In cases of this kind which I have known and which were brought tojustice, I consider that the real sinner, the sodomite, should beconfined to an insane asylum under medical attention, and not, as atpresent, to be condemned to imprisonment, thus making a martyr of himfor no reason, and putting the ban of society upon him. It is needlessto say that cases of sodomy complicated by cruelty or sadism, shouldbe judged differently. _

There are also other hereditary or constitutional perversions, more orless characteristic, of the sexual appetite, but we cannot enumerateall of them. We may mention, however, the erotic excitement which somemen feel at the sight of statues of women, which urges them tomasturbate against these statues. 

SEXUAL ANOMALIES IN THE INSANE AND IN PSYCHOPATHS

When one is familiar with the population of a lunatic asylum, one isstruck by a singular phenomenon, from the sexual point of view. Agreat number of insane women give evidence of intense sexual desire. This desire is manifested in some by incessant masturbation; in othersby obscene conversation; in many others, by imaginary love, sometimessensual, sometimes platonic; often by direct provocation to coitusaddressed to the medical officers; but especially by perpetual scenesof jealousy, and often by reciprocal suspicions regarding their sexuallife. In fact, a lunatic asylum reveals to us, in the form ofrepulsive caricatures, all gradations and variations of a more or lessdegenerate feminine sexual life, coquetry, wearing all kinds ofornaments, jealous anger, erotic excitement, etc. 

The sexual excitation of the insane often makes them soil themselveswith urine and excrements, and heap insults on persons whom theirdiseased imagination suspects of sexual assaults or immodest actstoward themselves or others. They have a tendency to believethemselves betrothed or married to kings, emperors, Jesus Christ orGod. Pregnancy and childbirth play a large part in their delirium. Some patients imagine themselves pregnant and pretend that they werefecundated secretly. Afterwards they believe that some one has takenaway their child while they were asleep. 

One of my former patients once accused me of going to her bed at nightand fecundating her every week. She also accused me of having hiddenthe hundreds of children which I was supposed to have procreated withher, and martyred them. Owing to these hallucinations she heard theircries day and night. 

Another patient, affected with curable acute mania, was so eroticduring her attacks that she made advances toward all the doctors whovisited her. Her mind was full of such erotic images that after hercure she was frightened of being pregnant, although she had passed thewhole of her time of detention under supervision by female attendants. Women who in their normal state are most modest or sexually cold maybe most erotic when they become insane, and may even behave asprostitutes. This is especially observed in periodic hypomania. It isa well-known fact in the female divisions of lunatic asylums, that thedoctors are always surrounded by erotic patients, who catch hold oftheir clothes and pinch them, and try and embrace or scratch themaccording as they are amorous or jealous, so that they often havetrouble in escaping from these signs of violent love or furiousjealousy. 

On the other hand, in the male divisions of asylums, one is astonishedat the indifference and profound sexual apathy of nearly all insanemen. Some practice masturbation and others attempt pederasty, but allwith a philosophical calmness due to their dementia. Young women mayeven go among them without any fear of assaults or indecent language. It is only a few of the most violent who are exceptions to this rule. 

A young lady doctor, assistant medical officer to the asylum atZurich, made her visits alone among all the males, even the mostviolent, without any inconvenience; while, in the female divisions, she was approached by the erotic patients as much as were the maleassistants. I mention this fact because some people wrongly imaginethat the sexual excitation of insane women is due to the visits ofmale doctors. These facts are very striking and furnish perhaps thebest proof that the feminine sexual appetite is especially situated inthe higher brain, while the masculine appetite is situated more in thelower cerebral centers, as we have shown above. Mental alienation isdue to irritations of the higher brain, and this explains why in womenit lets loose such violent sexual passions and images, and why thereis so little of this in men. 

The sexual pathological symptoms of the insane are as follows:

(1). _Erotomania_ (satyriasis and nymphomania), or abnormal exaltationof the sexual appetite. This is especially seen in acute mania, in theearly stages of general paralysis and senile dementia, alsotemporarily or permanently in other psychoses. It is manifested bysexual excesses, obscene language or excessive masturbation. All thesesymptoms disappear after the attack of insanity. 

(2). _Sexual anæsthesia_ or _hypoæsthesia_ or even _impotence_ mayoccur in the later stages of general paralysis and senile dementia. Atthe commencement of general paralysis there is often violent sexualdesire combined with more or less complete impotence. The same thingoccurs, as we shall see, in alcoholism. 

(3). Subjects affected with systematic delirium of persecution andgrandeur (paranoia) sometimes commit atrocious sexual excesses, andoften tyrannize and torment in a terrible way the women who are theirvictims. It is especially in the religious forms of this delirium, combined with fanatic ecstasy, that the most repulsive sexual orgiesoccur. I have treated a patient with paranoia who, full of pioussayings, regarded himself as a kind of prophet. He made a poor girland her mother sleep in his room and had connection with themalternately. Finally, he mixed his semen in coffee with the girl'smenstrual blood and made her drink the mixture, pretending that thiswas a religious ceremony intended to produce a strong race. In the endhe set fire to the house of these poor women. 

Subjects affected with partial paranoia often turn the heads ofsusceptible women by the aid of ascetic religious phraseology, togratify afterwards their sexual passions. The worst cases are thosewho are able to hide from the public their delirious ideas, and passfor normal individuals, misunderstood victims, or even saints. I haveexamined a very orthodox clergyman, highly esteemed by hiscongregation on account of his ascetic and enthusiastic preaching. Inhis own home he illtreated his wife, half strangled her, and exactedall kinds of sexual depravity. Unfortunately, the nature of hisdelirium was not very evident, and he dissimulated so well that thejurists would not admit his irresponsibility, in spite of my medicalcertificate. His wife was obliged to run away to escape from hermartyrdom. The community of property in force in this familycompletely ruined this unfortunate woman. The husband was not ahypocrite, but simply insane. Volumes could be written on sexualatrocities committed by such people. 

I will mention briefly the systematic delirium directed towardpathological love. This is a very common symptom in insane women whocombine their amorous sentiments for man with the maddest ideas andhallucinations. An insane woman suddenly discovers that the object ofher love is a king or Jesus Christ, and that she is betrothed to him. In her delirium she imagines herself to be queen of the world. In herdreams and hallucinations her king or Christ is in bed with her andshe imagines she has connection with him. Still under the influenceof hallucinations, she believes herself pregnant and carries animaginary child for nine months in her womb. She may even imagine thatshe has given birth to a child, and that the child has been taken awayfrom her by the aid of narcotics, as we have seen above. Althoughthere is an infinite variety in the gradations, the pathologicalimages of the cerebral sexual sphere of insane women always revolveround this eternal theme. 

These pathological irradiations of the sexual sphere are associatedvoluntarily with jealous obsessions and ideas of persecution, whichmake the subjects furious, and which are confirmed by theirparæsthesias and hallucinations. Illusions of memory play a great partin these cases, for the subjects have often never felt what theycomplain of, and it is then a question of veritable hallucinationalmemory. We may here observe by the way that, even among healthypeople, the sexual passions, like the others, always tend to falsifymemory, making things appear in the exclusive sense of the affectivestate. Once fixed in the memory, such conceptions, the false tendencyof which was originally based on passion, gradually assume thesubjective character of certainty. Cool-headed people, or those whoseaffective state directs them to contrary conceptions, then see in suchindividuals a deliberate intention to misrepresent the facts. This isthe reason why people so often hurl mutual insults at each othersheads, calling each other liars and calumniators, owing to theaffective illusion of memory. 

(4). One of the worst of the sexual anomalies in the insane is_pathological jealousy_, especially in men. Their wives then becomemartyrs, especially in cases of alcoholism and paranoia. It is notuncommon for assassination to put an end to their torments. Amonginsane women, jealousy is certainly not less, but they have less legalpower and less muscular strength. The most violent jealousy is foundin alcoholics. 

Jealous delirium renders the subject furious; a word, a look, or sometrivial circumstance are enough for him to prove the infidelity of hiswife. The latter has to avoid the slightest thing which might arousejealousy, but all in vain; reserve and even prudery are regarded bythe jealous husband as hypocrisy. The unfortunate man watches hiswife, night and day, like a watchdog: he threatens and insults herwith no reason, and calumniates her in all ways, even in the presenceof a third party. He even lays elaborate traps for her. Cases of thiskind are legion. 

(5). It is necessary to say that the _sexual paræsthesias_, of whichwe have spoken, sadism, masochism, fetichism, inversion, etc. , oftenoccur in the insane. 

(6). The most atrocious sexual crimes are very often the work ofidiots or imbeciles, but especially _moral idiots_, _i. E. _, personswhose idiocy is limited to the moral sense, who are also called simply_amoral_. This is due to hereditary taint, an innate absence of allsentiments of sympathy, pity and duty. Rape, violation of children, sexual assassination, etc. , are usually due to the concomitant actionof moral idiocy and violent or perverted sexual passions. 

(7). _Hypochondria_ also causes singular results in the sexual sphere. We have already dealt with the masturbation of certain hypochondriacs, which is often wholly or partly imaginary. Others believe they havecommitted terrible sexual excesses, when nothing of the kind hasoccurred. I have seen a hypochondriac married and strongly built, whobelieved his health was ruined because he cohabited with his wife onceevery two or three months. Other hypochondriacs become impotent simplybecause they think they are. Others again imagine they are affectedwith venereal disease, which they have never contracted. 

(8). Hysterical men and women have a very peculiar sexuality. Hysteriadepends on auto-suggestion or on an exalted and morbid dissociabilityof psychic activity. A single idea is sufficient in a hystericalsubject, to produce the realization of what it represents. Thepassionate imagination may lead to opinions and actions which areabsolutely contradictory. Love and hatred often alternate bytransformation. According to the influences to which she is exposed, the same hysterical woman may become a good or evil genius. 

In the sexual domain the same extremes are produced in a very strikingmanner. Inflamed by love, a hysterical woman may exhibit phenomenaleroticism and the most violent sexual excesses, while indifference, disgust, or simply distraction by other ideas will render herabsolutely frigid. Cold as ice toward other men, she may haveinsatiable sexual desire for the man she loves. 

The question is often raised whether a woman can love more than oncein her life. There is no doubt that many women are so monogamous byinstinct that they cannot love more than once; but it is also certainthat a hysterical woman is capable of loving several times, and verydifferent persons at different periods of her life. The personality ofcertain erotic hysterical women is even so dissociable that they canlove with all their strength several men at the same time. But thehysterical woman is also capable of hating a man with as much ardor asshe formerly loved him; or, on the contrary, of loving the one sheformerly hated, according to the suggestion of the moment. The samephenomena occur in hysterical men. 

For the same reasons the quality of the sexual sensations andsentiments may vary in a hysterical subject according to theinfluences it is subjected to, and pass from the normal to theperverted state, or inversely. I have observed a case where a highlycultured hysterical subject, in her early youth, fell in love withanother young girl. At this period her sentiments were purelyhomosexual; her love for the young girl was clearly inverted andaccompanied by intense sexual desire, while she was absolutelyindifferent to men. Later on, a man fell in love with her, and sheyielded to him rather from pity and feminine passiveness than fromlove. Still later she fell passionately in love with another man, quite as much as she had been with the young girl of her early youth. Her latest love was both exalted and libidinous. Her sexual appetitehad thus taken the normal direction under the influence of ahetero-sexual affection. 

In hysterical men analogous changes occur less easily, on account ofthe nature of masculine sexuality which distinguishes more clearlybetween the mind and the appetite; but these changes are observedsometimes. In woman, the hysterical imagination and dissociationfacilitate a polyandrous irradiation of the sexual appetite, which isotherwise rare in the female sex. In this respect the sexuality ofhysterical women resembles that of men and differs from that ofnormal women. Hysterical men, on the other hand, become more feminine, not by their appetite being less polygamous, but by the moredissociated form of their thoughts and sentiments. 

(9). A variety of the pathological love of abnormal individuals is_imaginary love_, not founded on delirious ideas. Certain psychopathsof both sexes are convinced that they love some one, but they suddenlyperceive during their betrothal, or even only after marriage, thatthey are mistaken and that they have never loved the person inquestion. Such illusions are the cause of numerous broken engagements, divorce and conjugal bitterness. 

(10). _Amorous tyranny_ constitutes another variety in the pathologyof love. Lovers of this kind constantly tyrannize and torment theobject of their passion, by their desires, their observations, theirsensitive temper, their contradictions, their exigencies and theirjealousy. This atrocious manner of loving is common in both sexes;perhaps more so in women than men. 

(11). The _love of psychopaths_ is a subject which has no end. Ifhuman society was better acquainted with psychopathology a great dealof conjugal misunderstanding and misery would be avoided. 

I have known a woman who would not allow her husband to shut himselfin the water-closet, for fear he would take the servant with him!Another became madly jealous if a woman sat opposite her husband andcast the least glance at him; the unfortunate husband not knowingwhere to look, in the street or in hotels, so as to escape his wife'sjealousy. It is still worse when the husband is jealous. 

Other psychopaths torment the object of their love by the perpetualcare they take over imaginary dangers or the slightest indispositions. Others again are affected with hyperæsthesia, and the least noise, theslightest touch, or any sudden sensation, is enough to throw them intoexcitement and make them a nuisance both to themselves and to theirsurroundings. 

The pathological exaltation of sentiments, which causes the mosttrifling things to appear as deliberate offenses, and maliciousintentions, is still more to be feared. The disproportion betweenlove and sexual appetite also torments many psychopaths, either when adeep love is combined with sexual indifference or disgust at coitus, or even pain (vaginismus, in women, for example); or when an intensesexual appetite is combined with want of love or ferocious egoism(especially in men). 

Certain psychopaths appear profoundly amorous but behave like brutesto the object of their love. These are the individuals who are alwaysready to strangle their sweetheart, to stab or shoot her, if she doesnot immediately yield to their desires; or else the feeble creatureswho threaten to commit suicide if their love is not returned. 

Others, tormented by a pathological eroticism are continually annoyingyoung and virtuous girls with their obsessions and their pathologicalgrossness. I have seen a psychopath of this kind write letters andeven post cards to a young girl, on which he had drawn pictures of thefemale genitals, by way of gallantry. In women, hatred and vengeance, aroused by jealousy, are especially blind and tenacious when thechronic passions of psychopathia intervene; this being due to theperseverance natural to the sex. By the aid of their refinedintrigues; by their misrepresented statements due to the illusions ofa memory distorted by passion, but uttered with a consummate dramaticart, some women may play a truly diabolical role, and even deceive awhole tribunal. When we get to the bottom of the matter, we often findthat the primary cause of the evil is a sexual passion embellished andidealized afterwards by all kinds of noble motives, but in realitymore or less unconsciously hypocritical. While deceiving others, thesepsychopathic women also deceive themselves. There are also a number ofmale psychopaths quite analogous to the above and generallyhysterical. 

Other morbid symptoms, such as obsessions and pathological impulses, have a certain importance as regards sexual appetite and love. Love orrejection, as well as other sexual images, may become the objects ofobsessions, and then cause the subjects much torment, but withoutharming their surroundings; for the obsessed generally remain passive. Pathological impulse to actions may, on the contrary, become dangerousand lead to violation, whether combined with perversion or not. 

(12). We have seen that _senile paradoxy_ often shows itself, as asymptom of senile dementia, by a sexual appetite for children. This isthe initial symptom of the complaint, and may lead to the commissionof assault. The holy indignation of the public, and often of ignorantjudges, against these depraved old men often result in the publiccontempt or even the imprisonment of poor patients who have hithertoled a blameless life, and who have simply become victims of seniledegeneration of the arteries of the brain. 

(13). I will mention another case which I have observed, which showshow complex hereditary cerebral pathology may become, and lead in turnto crime, madness and sexual perversion; giving rise to the mosttragic scenes of human life, and to the degeneration of families. 

 A very charming and intelligent, but deceitful man, an amoral person whose heredity was strongly tainted with mental disease, had strong sexual instincts partly inverted. He was attracted rather more by men than by women, but committed excesses with both sexes. He married a virtuous and intelligent midwife. At long intervals he had three attacks of acute mania, but was cured after each attack and procreated two boys and a girl. When he was sane he spent his time in deceitful occupations and speculation and never worked honestly to earn his living. He behaved well toward his wife, but this did not prevent him committing pederasty with men. He was often convicted for pederasty and swindling, and I treated him several times in an asylum. His poor wife complained bitterly, but found consolation in her husband's apparent love, but especially in the careful education of her children. But when the children grew up, her illusions disappeared one after another. The daughter became feeble-minded, and one of the sons became a bad character. The mother consoled herself with the second son who appeared honest and hard-working. The father was then in an asylum, his relapses having led the tribunal to institute an inquiry into his mental condition. One day the mother came to me in despair and showed me a letter written by the son of the father, which she had opened; the contents were as follows: "Miserable father, when you receive this letter I shall be no longer in this world; but before dying I wish to curse you. You have been the disgrace of the family. You have caused misery to our mother and her children by your crimes. Why did you bring me into this world? For a long time I have felt evil instincts developing in me like a cursed heritage. I struggle in vain against them; but the more I struggle the more I feel I must succumb. I am incapable of resisting much longer; but I will not become a criminal like you, so I shall hang myself to-night, and I curse you again before doing it. "

 The unfortunate son did in fact commit suicide, and drove his mother to despair. I showed the father his son's letter, but he only smiled and shrugged his shoulders. 

The following is another example:

 A man of 50, married, and the father of six children, ranging from 6 to 24 years of age, violated them all, both girls and boys. The whole family were abnormal and perverse. A son of 18 had sexual intercourse with his mother and sister. The father also had intercourse with dogs and cats. The jury before whom I brought the case regarded the man as mad, but he was condemned to ten years' imprisonment. An asylum for dangerous and perverted lunatics is urgently required for such cases. 

EFFECTS OF NARCOTICS, ESPECIALLY ALCOHOL, ON THE SEXUAL APPETITE

The functional cerebral paralyses produced by narcotics closelyresemble in their psychopathological physiognomy the organic paralyseswhich result from slow atrophy of the cerebral cortex, as in generalparalysis--exaltation of sentiment, tremor and slowness of movement upto total paralysis, disorders of orientation in time and space, profound mental dissociation affecting the subconscious automaticactions. 

At the same time the individual loses the exact appreciation of hisown personality and of the external world; he regards himself as verycapable in body and mind while he is becoming more and more powerless;and everything appears rose-colored at the time when he is in a mostcritical state. He believes himself possessed of great muscularstrength when paralysis makes him stagger, and so on. 

At the commencement of narcosis the phenomena are somewhat differentfrom what they become later; a certain amount of excitementpredominates, as well as the spirit of enterprise and exaltation ofthe appetites; while later on paralysis, relaxation and somnolenceplay the principal part. 

Narcosis acts in a similar way on the genetic sense. It begins byexciting sexual desire, but diminishes the power. As Shakespere says:"Lechery it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes the desire but ittakes away the performance. " (Macbeth, Act II, Scene iii. ) No doubtthe narcotics are not all equal in action, and each has its specificpeculiarities; but the words of Shakespere express the essentialeffect of all narcotics on the sexual appetite: First of allexcitation of the appetite with the disappearance of moral andintellectual inhibitory representations, and reënforcement of thespirit of enterprise; afterwards, progressive paralysis of sexualpower, and finally extinction of the initial appetite itself. 

These phenomena are of capital importance in alcoholic narcosis, whichplays the principal part in civilized countries. The initialexcitation is here very accentuated. If we make a closer examination, however, we find from the first a relaxation of sexual activity and aweakening of all sensory irritations. In coitus, erections areproduced more slowly; the voluptuous sensations, it is true, are ofgreat subjective intensity, but they are developed more slowly andthere is more difficulty in producing ejaculation. The subsequentrelaxation is very great, and a man who is even only slightlyintoxicated cannot perform coitus as rapidly, nor repeat it so often, as when he has taken no alcoholic liquor. When the narcosis increasesthe impotence becomes complete. Owing to the illusion produced by thenarcosis, however, a drunken man generally imagines himself to be verycapable. 

The gross and clumsy form which flirtation assumes under the action ofalcohol is only too well known. The gross and persistent obscenity ofdrunken persons in railway carriages and other places toward women isan example of alcoholic flirtation. (_Vide_ Chapter IV. )

Another peculiarity of the sexual appetite in alcoholic narcosis isits bestiality. The higher irradiations of love are completelyparalyzed and sensuality becomes unrestrained, even in men who, whensober, are full of refined sentiments. 

The depraving effect of alcohol on the sexual appetite is thereforeunlimited. Alcohol does not limit itself to giving free play to abestial appetite, by paralyzing reason and sentiments of sympathy andduty; it also has a strong tendency to pervert the appetite itself. Ina considerable proportion of cases of exhibitionism, inversion, pederosis, sodomy, etc. , the development of the perversion is greatlyfavored, or even directly produced, by the action of alcohol, especially when there is a latent predisposition. I have observed awhole series of perversions in persons whose sexual appetite wasnormal when they were sober, but became perverted on the slightestintoxication. I am convinced that if more attention was paid to thesubject the number of cases in which alcohol increases the perversion, or is even necessary for its development, would be increased. 

But what is of much greater importance is the fact that acute andchronic alcoholic intoxication deteriorates the germinal protoplasm ofthe procreators. I refer the reader to what I have said at the end ofChapter I on blastophthoria. The recent researches of Bezzola seem toprove that the old belief in the bad quality of children conceivedduring drunkenness is not without foundation. Relying on the Swisscensus of 1900, in which there figure nine thousand idiots, and aftercareful examination of the bulletins concerning them, this author hasproved that there are two acute annual maximum periods for theconception of idiots (calculated from nine months before birth): theperiods of carnival and vintage, when the people drink most. In thewine-growing districts the maximum conception of idiots at the time ofvintage is enormous, while it is almost _nil_ at other periods. Moreover, these two maximum periods come at the time of year whenconception is at a minimum among the rest of the population; themaximum of normal conceptions occurring at the beginning of summer. 

If these facts are confirmed by further research, we may conclude thateven acute alcoholism has a blastophthoric action. We may, therefore, assume that when a germinal cell leaves its gland at the moment whenit is impregnated with alcohol, and achieves conjugation, it is unableto return to its normal condition, for want of opportunity to becompletely and promptly cleansed by nutrition and the circulation. This explains how it may transmit to the individual which developsfrom it all kinds of taints and defects. 

After what we have said, we can tabulate the destructive effects ofthe narcotic poisons and alcohol in particular, in the sexual domain, both from the individual and social points of view, as follows:

(1). Irreflective sexual unions, resulting from exaltation of thesexual appetite and temporary paralysis of the sentiments whichinhibit such unions in persons who are not under the influence ofalcohol. These include the seduction of girls, orgies with prostitutesin brothels, and the procreation of children with low-class women, orunder unfavorable conditions. 

(2). Increase of venereal disease. I have made statistics which showthat about 75 per cent. Of venereal disease is contracted by men underthe influence of alcohol, chiefly by persons who are slightlyintoxicated and rendered enterprising thereby. 

(3). All kinds of misfortunes and catastrophes, such as illegitimatepregnancies, despair, suicide, etc. , resulting from irreflectivesexual unions and venereal disease. 

(4). The production of the majority of sexual crimes also resultingfrom the exasperation of eroticism combined with irreflection andgeneral motor impulsiveness. Jealousy here plays a great part. Themost important statistics (for example, those of Baer, in Germany), prove that from 50 to 75 per cent. Of criminal assaults are committedunder the influence of alcohol. Indecent exposure, etc. , is due toalcohol in 75 or 80 per cent. 

(5). Exaltation and sometimes development of sexual perversion. 

(6). Creation of hereditary alcoholic blastophthoria, either as theresult of a single drinking bout, or from habitual drunkenness. Theoffspring tainted with alcoholic blastophthoria suffer from variousbodily and physical anomalies, among which are dwarfism, rickets, apredisposition to tuberculosis and epilepsy, moral idiocy and idiocyin general, a disposition to crime and mental diseases, sexualperversions, loss of suckling in women, and many other misfortunes. 

(7). The delirium of jealousy is a specific symptom of chronicalcoholism. Its effects are terrible and lead to all kinds of sorts ofinfamies, assaults and even assassination. 

(8). Alcohol is also the almost indispensable vehicle of prostitutionand proxenetism, which could not be maintained without it, at any ratein their present disgusting and brutal form. 

(9). The coarseness and vulgarity of alcoholic eroticism produce inpublic places, as well as in private, an importunate and obscene formof flirtation, which is brutally and cynically opposed to allsentiments of propriety and modesty. 

The above statements refer chiefly to men. Among women, alcoholism isless common, at least in continental Europe; in England, however, drunken women are often seen in the streets. Among prostitutes, however, alcoholism is almost universal. Proxenetism makes use ofalcohol to compromise and seduce girls and thus lead them toprostitution. When they have once fallen they often drink to forgetthe horror of their situation. 

The action of alcohol on the feminine sexual appetite is verypeculiar. The appetite is generally exalted, while the power is notaffected, owing to the passive role of woman in coitus. At first, paralysis of the psychic inhibitions and their higher irradiations(love, duty, modesty, etc. ) by alcohol deprives the woman of nearlyall power of resistance against the sexual desire of the man. Itresults from this that an intoxicated woman becomes the easy prey of aman whose sexual appetite is excited. The following case isinstructive from this point of view:

 A young girl of good position married a man of weak and vulgar character. Both were rather fond of drink. When she became pregnant the wife took large quantities of wine, by the doctor's orders, and this led her to inebriety. The friends and acquaintances of the husband found this amusing, and began to flirt with her to such an extent that she fell a victim to their sexual appetites, in her continual state of semi-intoxication. The husband at first had not the courage to put an end to this and did not wish to divorce her, for pecuniary reasons; for the wife had the money. He finally decided to send her to an asylum which I superintended, to cure her alcoholism. 

 From the antecedents of the patient, I expected to see a cynical and erotic woman; but she was nothing of the kind. Although hardly sober, this woman was modest and well-behaved. What struck me most was her extreme of modesty, which at first made it difficult for me to investigate her psychological state. Her conduct was exemplary the whole time, and she eventually confided to me that it was not so much sexual desire as the profound indifference and feebleness developed by inebriety which had caused her to give way. Before leaving the asylum she joined a total abstinence society, returned to her husband and succeeded in converting him also to total abstinence. She kept to her pledge and lived afterwards in conjugal peace and happiness, without ever relapsing into her old infidelity. I saw her several years afterwards with her husband, happy and flourishing. 

I have mentioned this case to show that, even in women, sexual excessdoes not necessarily destroy the character, the sentiments of modesty, nor the will. It all depends on their cause. If there is congenitalweakness of character, the evil is irreparable; but if it is only dueto external forces which can be eliminated in time, its effect mayoften be permanently suppressed. Some female inebriates are sexuallycold and repulse men; but others are erotic and even nymphomaniacs. 

Whosoever has the welfare of humanity at heart, and takes the troubleto reflect on the ravages caused by alcohol in human society, shouldhave the courage to make a slight effort and renounce all alcoholicdrink--say for six months at first, as an experiment--in order tocombat the social alcoholic misery by force of example, instead ofempty phrases. He will then discover, like all abstainers, that theusage of alcohol (including wine, cider and beer) however small thequantity consumed, only serves to maintain a habit which is viciousand disastrous to society, by giving the contagious example ofso-called moderation, to which a great number of persons cannotrestrict themselves. He will then abstain for the rest of his days, and it will become more and more incomprehensible to him how humanityhas been led, first by the spirit of imitation, later by theconservation of prejudices, to develop, maintain and defend such asocial abuse by the aid of a legion of sophisms. 

SEXUAL ANOMALIES AND PERVERSIONS BY SUGGESTION AND AUTO-SUGGESTION

The role of the phenomena of suggestion in sexual life is much greaterthan is generally supposed. I shall return to this subject in aspecial chapter, but I may state here that there is a category ofsexual perversions and anomalies of all kinds which are not hereditarybut acquired, and which Krafft-Ebing, although he cites strikingexamples, wrongly attributes to the effect of sexual excess anddepravity, or which he compares to ordinary psychopathia, while inreality they are only the direct effect of strong suggestion orauto-suggestion. 

I place in this category the cases where a man, whose sexuality hashitherto been normal, suddenly becomes pathological as the result ofsome circumstance which produces on him a profound impression. Forinstance, the sexual appetite of an individual may be stronglyexcited, in a brothel or elsewhere, by an erotic woman whose feet orshoes are especially elegant. The sight of this well-fitted footexalts his sexual desire to a high degree. From this moment feminineshoes, by subjective association, exercise on him an irresistibleerotic power, which dominates everything else and transforms him intoa fetichist; the female body no longer elicits his appetite, thelatter having become the slave of the image of shoes only. (Shoefetichism. )

Sexual inversion may also be acquired by suggestion, when a normal manbecomes excited by acts of masturbation or pederasty, or simply bysome psychic image with a strongly suggestive action. He may thus losehis normal sexual appetite for women and become homosexual. 

These phenomena occur especially in individuals whose suggestibilityis pathological or hysterical, or even simply exaggerated. But theseindividuals are numerous, and this fact gives us the explanation of alarge proportion of acquired sexual anomalies, at the same timeindicating the means of curing them. In such cases, it is not aquestion of moral depravity, nor necessarily of a latent hereditarypredisposition, but simply of a single sudden suggestive action, sometimes repeated. 

Among other cases, I may mention that of a well-educated man of veryrefined sentiments, deeply in love with his wife, but verysuggestible, who became suddenly impotent and homosexual as the resultof a simple idea-image which became fixed in his mind and subjected itby suggestion. His strong character enabled him to resist intercoursewith males, but he fell into despair and became very unhappy. I amconvinced that a careful study would reveal an increasing number ofcases of psychopathia acquired by suggestion or auto-suggestion. 

Cases of this kind may be spontaneously cured. Treatment by suggestionis indicated and may act directly or indirectly. Everything which isof a functional psychic nature may occur by suggestion, or be, on thecontrary, eradicated by suggestion. The important point is toemphasize the fact that whenever a man, hitherto normal, is affected, without apparent cause, with a more or less sudden sexual anomaly, andwhich is consequently not the effect of long habit, suggestion orauto-suggestion should be borne in mind. 

These two conceptions can, moreover, be hardly distinguished, for thethings which cause suggestion are usually the sensory perceptions ofsight, smell, touch and hearing, associated with certain situations, or with an intense affective state which fixes them in the brain. Sometimes it is a question of simple imaginative ideas. The caseswhere a hypnotizer intentionally suggests sexual perversion probablyexist only in theory. We are, therefore, concerned with fortuitoussuggestions, acting through persons, situations, objects or ideas, which excite the mind by the impression they produce on the sentimentsand the sexual appetite. 

SEXUAL PERVERSIONS DUE TO HABIT

Without being congenital and without depending on a specialpredisposition, all the perversions of the sexual appetite that wehave just described may be acquired, by means of the artificial andcontinued excitation of a sexual appetite which seeks satisfaction inchange and unusual situations: Moreover, perverse satisfaction of thesexual appetite is often resorted to--onanism, pederasty or oralcoitus--either to avoid conception, or with the idea of escapingvenereal disease, or in the case of onanism, to avoid publicity, trouble or expense. As we have seen above alcohol favors thedevelopment of sexual perversions. 

It is evident that a commerce in women systematically tolerated by thestate, as is the proxenetism of regulated prostitution, employs allmeans imaginable to attract and excite its clients. In this wayprostitution becomes the high-school for all the refinements of sexualperversion. It not only offers special objects required by individualstainted by heredity with various perversions, but it artificiallydevelops perverse habits in the normal man. The manipulations ofsadism or masochism are even utilized to revive a sexual appetiteweakened by abuse. Individuals who have become impotent often try toexcite themselves by observing the coitus of others. In fact a leavenof corruption and ignominy ferments on the dunghill of venal andartificial excitation of the sexual appetite. 

The apostles of Mammon and Bacchus, the former by interest, the latterby the aid of a narcosis which paralyzes the higher sentiments andreflection, work in concert to maintain this foul swamp. The sameindividuals very commonly combine the two apostleships and becomethemselves the victims of their false gods, after sacrificing hundredsof their fellows. 

To make matters more clear I will recapitulate as follows:

(1). _We often meet with pederasty without a trace of inversion of thesexual appetite. It is also practiced on women by the psychopathicmale. But the normal man hardly ever prefers it to normal coitus. _

(2). _Compensatory masturbation is very common and ceases with theopportunity for normal coitus. _

(3). _Sodomy is also often compensatory. _

(4). _It is the same with assaults on children, which seldom depend ona hereditary disposition. _

(5). _Lesbian love, a form of degeneracy, artificial excitation of theclitoris by the tongue or otherwise, may have quite a different originthan from sexual inversion or other perversions. _

All these things take place chiefly in brothels or with prostitutes, in barracks, boarding-schools, convents, and other isolated placeswhere men and women live alone and separated from the other sex. 

Sadism, masochism, fetichism and exhibitionism are much more rarelythe result of habits, because their object and the images with whichthey are associated do not offer compensation for the normalexcitation of the sexual appetite, or only do so insufficiently. 

I am here obliged to contradict Krafft-Ebing, who regardsexhibitionism as the effect of the impotence of certain individualsdepraved by excesses, or as the unconscious act of certain epileptics. No doubt the two conditions which he mentions may present themselves, but the exhibitionists I have observed have all been psychopaths whoseperversion was primordial and hereditary, with the exception of somefemales in whom perversion originated in suggestion or alcoholism, which had at any rate aroused the disposition. 

Lesbian love merits special mention. Owing to the clitoris being moreor less concealed, women are often not satisfied by coitus, especiallywhen the ejaculation of the male takes place too quickly. Consequentlya number of normal women prefer to procure an orgasm by means oflesbian love (_cunnilingus_. ) There are clubs of female perverts, manyof whom are not homosexual by heredity. 

Although they differ from hereditary perversions, acquired perversionsare connected with the former by a series of latent hereditarydispositions, more or less marked, and often difficult to distinguishin particular cases, especially when suggestion is blended with them. 

Among the entirely hereditary and congenital sexual perversions, manyoccur in individuals who are well conducted and often possessed ofdelicate and altruistic sentiments. This point is not sufficientlyrecognized. Such persons are nearly always more or less neurotic inother respects. They are disheartened by their perversion and are somuch ashamed of it that they often prefer to carry their secret to thegrave rather than confide it to their doctor. 

Others sometimes confess to a doctor, and the life of a martyr, whois always contemplating suicide, is revealed to him. Individuals offeeble, cynical, egoistic or abnormal natures, whose number is legionin the corrupt centers of modern civilization, yield to theirperversion and often come before the tribunals, or else become objectsof public contempt. As it is this class which generally become known, it is assumed by too hasty generalization that sexual perverts arenecessarily cynical, vicious or weak-minded individuals; but thisinduction is false. It is unfortunately impossible to estimate thenumber of sexual perversions dissimulated by a large number ofpessimists of both sexes, generally celibate and usually males. 

I do not pretend that, when sexual perversion is neither hereditarynor favored by a latent hereditary predisposition, nor developed orfixed by alcoholism, it is usually possible to cure it by suggestion. This often acts even in cases where alcohol has aroused a hereditarytaint. The incorrigible recidivists among the sexual perverts are, Iam convinced, either hereditary or strongly predisposed, ordegenerated by alcoholism. The original will power of the pervert isalso of great importance. Weak-willed perverts always tend to relapse. 

The social sanitation of sexual intercourse would certainly reduce toa minimum the compensatory perversions of normal persons who abstainfrom alcohol. The prohibition of alcoholic drink would definitelyeliminate not only the perversions directly due to alcohol, butgradually also those due to alcoholic blastophthoria in thedescendants. Other hereditary perversions, not of alcoholic origin, can only be definitely eliminated by healthy selection. 

Perversions acquired by suggestion or auto-suggestion should becombated by suppression of the depraved examples which cause them, aswell as by treatment by suggestion. It is needless to say that sexualperverts should always abstain from alcoholic drinks. 

FOOTNOTES:

[4] English translation by F. J. Rebman: Rebman Co. , New York. 

[5] For further information on this subject see _Marshall's_"Syphilology and Venereal Disease, " (London, Balliere, Tindall & Co. );also _Marshall's_ translation of _Fournier's_ "Treatment andProphylaxis of Syphilis, " (New York: Rebman Co. )

[6] _Krafft-Ebing_ describes bestiality (connection with animals) andpederasty under the general term of sodomy, but points out that theoriginal meaning of sodomy used in Genesis (Chapter XIX) signifiedpederasty, _i. E. _, anal coitus between men. 

CHAPTER IX

SUGGESTION IN SEXUAL LIFE--AMOROUS INTOXICATION

=Suggestion. Cerebral Activity. Consciousness. Subconsciousness andAmnesia. Auto-suggestion. =--The explanation of the phenomena ofhypnotism and suggestion by Liébeault and Bernheim has been averitable scientific revelation for human psychology. Unfortunately ithas remained to a great extent unknown to the public and the majorityof medical men and jurists. Even at the present day, this subject isregarded either in the light of magic and occult phenomena, or asbeing connected with imposture and charlatanism. This results from theincapacity of most men to think in a psychological and philosophicalmanner, to observe for themselves and to take into account theconnection which exists between the mind and cerebral activity. 

I must point out the common error of many physicians, who do notunderstand the psychological nature of hypnotism, and who place it, like Dubois, in antinomy with psychotherapy. Hypnotism and suggestionin the waking state are one and the same thing; but what thephysicians I have mentioned understand by suggestion in the wakingstate--psychotherapy, action by will power, etc. --is only a chaos ofmisapplied terms and psychological phenomena, only half understood bythem. Sleep by suggestion is only one of the phenomena of suggestion. 

I must refer the reader to Bernheim's book on "_La Suggestion et sesApplications à la Thérapeutique_, " and to my book on hypnotism ("_DerHypnotismus und die Suggestive Psychotherapie. _" Stuttgart, 1902), forI cannot enter into the details here. I will, however, attempt to makeclear the action of suggestion in order to explain its connection withthe sexual sensations and sentiments. 

Suggestion consists in the action of ideas or representations on theactivity of the brain in general, and on some of its activities inparticular. The terms _idea-force_ and _ideoplasty_ have beenemployed; but all ideas are at the same time forces and are more orless ideoplastic according to the nature and intensity of the cerebralactivity which corresponds to them. Every representation which appearsin our consciousness is at the same time a cerebral activity. I willexplain by the aid of an example the relation which exists between theplay of our _conscious_ ideas and what is incorrectly called our_unconscious_ cerebral activity. 

For reasons which are too long to explain here, I call _subconscious_all which is usually called unconscious, because I maintain that thereis probably nothing unconscious in our nervous activity, and that whatappears to be so is in reality accompanied by an introspection, subordinated like its corresponding activity to the great and clearintrospection of the higher brain, which accompanies the concentratedand mobile activity of what we call our attention in the waking state. No doubt, we do not as a rule perceive our subconscious activities, for want of sufficient intensity in their association with the seriesof aperceptions (states subsequent to attentional activity). But wepossess a number of observations, due especially to hypnotism, whichallow us to infer by analogy the existence of subordinatedintrospections corresponding to the cerebral activities which appearto us unconscious. 

For example, I think of my wife. This idea immediately calls to mindthat of a journey that I intend to take with her, and in its turn theidea of the journey recalls that of the trunk I shall use to pack myeffects. Almost as rapidly as lightning, the three ideas: (1) my wife;(2) the journey; (3) the trunk, apparently succeed each other in myconsciousness. But, according to the old scholasticism, the idea ofthe journey is awakened by that of my wife, and that of my trunk bythat of the journey, which would, therefore, be its "cause. " But alittle observation soon shows that the succession of our consciousideas is not so easily explained, for at every moment representationsappear which have no logical relation to those which precede them, and cannot be caused by them, nor by immediate sensory perceptionscoming from without. 

At a time when the activity of the brain was not understood, theexistence of an essential mind and a free will were assumed, independent of the law of the conservation of energy and of the law ofcausality, independent therefore of the brain, the activity of whichthey commanded more or less at their pleasure. This conception isbased on ignorance of the facts. 

Let us return to our example: why does the idea of my wife call tomind that of the journey? It might quite as well suggest others. Inreality, a number of ideas, or subconscious cerebral activities, actat the same time as that of my wife to give rise to the idea of thejourney. This journey had already been decided on before thinking ofit at the moment in question, and the resolution that I had taken tomake it had left in my brain latent impressions (engrams) whichslumbered there; such as those of the date of departure, the durationof the journey, its termination, precautions to be taken for the houseduring our absence, things to take with us, expenses, etc. , etc. During the infinitely short time when the idea of journey appears inmy consciousness, between that of my wife and that of my trunk, I haveno consciousness of all these things. They are, however, closelyassociated with the idea of journey, and in connection with it by thethousand threads of a subconscious and latent cerebral force whichtakes place in my cerebral nerve-elements (neurones); and it is theirhidden action which awakens the idea of journey and directs myattention to it, at the same time weakening by their diversinterferences the intensity of other associated engrams; in particularthat of the sentiment of traveling, and thereby preventing a series ofideo-motor sensations relating to departure from becoming predominant. 

What suddenly appears in my consciousness is the verbal representationsymbolized by the word _journey_; a general representation ofsynthetic nature, and consequently nebulous. It is the words oflanguage only which allow me to synthetize a general idea in a shortand definite form. Thus, the cerebral flash _journey_ which followsthe idea of my wife is not caused by the latter idea alone; it hasbeen mainly drawn from its obscurity and brought before the mobileconscious attention, by the action of the thousand subconsciousthreads, some of which we have just mentioned, and which have at thesame time determined its quality. 

Without my being aware of it, these dynamic threads, or latentengrams, have to a great extent determined the kind of idea which willfollow that of _journey_, and which will seem to me to be caused bythis last alone, namely the idea of _trunk_. The idea of journey mightequally well have awakened other images, such as those of theacquaintances whom I should meet, or of the town I intended to visit. Why that of the trunk? This is simply because the care of the effectsto be taken, the place they should occupy, etc. , revolvedunconsciously but strongly in my brain, and for the momentpredominated over other subconscious associations. 

This simple example shows us that in reality the three successiveideas, _wife_, _journey_, _trunk_, are more under the influence ofsentiments, representations and former volitions in a latent andsubconscious state, than dependent on each other. But these latteractivities are themselves the product of other antecedent activitiesof my brain, extraordinarily diverse and complex. I will attempt tomake things a little more complete and comprehensible by the aid of acomparison. 

A man finds himself in the middle of a compact and moving crowd. Hecries out to attract the attention of the crowd. His voice is heard bythose immediately around him, but is lost on the moving mass. Againsthis will he is carried away by the crowd in the direction of thestrongest movement. But if the crowd is immobile and tranquil the sameman may make himself heard, and may even force his way through thecrowd and impel it in his turn by the impression that his words havemade on it. 

Something analogous to this occurs in the action of an idea accordingas it is produced in a brain which is awake, active and stronglyassociated, or on the contrary in a brain which rests and sleeps. Thebrain which is active and strongly associated resembles the agitatedcrowd which carries away everything by its activity. In this case asingle idea, like a single man, cries out in vain, _i. E. _, is producedstrongly; it will not impel, but will be carried away or stifled, unless it already possesses, by the former remembrances (engrams)which it may revive, a particular power over the brain. It is the samewith the agitated crowd; if the man who cries out is already known andhas influence and power, he may arrest it and even bring it toward thecenter of his agitation. The brain which is at rest or sleeping, _i. E. _, feebly associated and not active, resembles the immobilecrowd. Even when it is new and has not yet become fixed in the memory, an idea may produce a deep impression, and awaken activities in itsown direction. I repeat, if this idea has already acted more or lesspowerfully on the cerebral activity that it has often carried with it, it has accustomed this to follow it (_i. E. _, fortified the engrams andfacilitated their ecphoria), and then the powerful associated engramswhich it has left in the organ of thought, will often be capable ofcarrying everything with them, even to the center of the agitation. 

In this way I succeeded in suddenly calming by hypnotism a woman whowas mad with despair over the tragic death of half her family in afire, by the simple fact that I had often hypnotized her previously. Immediately after the hypnosis she went away quietly to the place ofthe disaster and was the only one to keep her presence of mind and putthings in order. 

I refer the reader to what has been said concerning the mneme (ChapterI). Semon's theory throws light on these questions. 

The first thing necessary for suggestion or hypnotism is to put thebrain of the subject in a state of relative repose, so as to prepare asoil ready to receive suggestions. These are then made so as to alwaysincrease the cerebral repose, in order to weaken the action of thethreads of subconscious association of which we have spoken above. Lastly, the suggestion (or idea which symbolizes the effect it isdesired to obtain) is accentuated as much as possible, and in a formwhich at once excludes all contradiction. For this purpose everythingshould be utilized--sentiments and associations which are easilyintroduced, agreeable or repulsive sensations, volitions, etc. Nothingparalyzes a suggestive effect so much as emotions, violent sentimentsin general, inclinations, or repulsions which act in the oppositedirection, whether they arise from fear, despair, hatred, sadness, joy, love or any kind of affective conditions. The same brain, accessible to all kinds of suggestions, will repress some of them assoon as it feels a deep sympathy for their contrary. We may suggest invain to an amorous woman, the hatred or disgust of her lover, for thesentiment of love is stronger than the effect of a strange suggestion, and every suggestion which opposes the strongest aspirations ofsentiment provokes mistrust and repulsion, which in their turn destroyall suggestive power. 

As we have indicated in our comparison, every suggestion which hassucceeded leaves a strong trace, or engram, in the brain. It hasopened a way by breaking down a barrier or a chasm, and its effect, which appeared hitherto difficult or impossible to realize, willhenceforth be much more easy to obtain. This is why considerablecerebral repose is often necessary at first to open a way for asuggestion, while later on its effect can often be obtained evenduring the agitation of cerebral activity strongly associated with oreven led by violent momentary sentiments. 

The chief characteristic of suggestive action, is that it traversesthe paths of subconscious activity, so that its effect occursunexpectedly in our consciousness. 

For example, I suggest to a man that his forehead itches. As soon ashe feels it he is surprised, being unable to understand how myprophecy has been transformed into real itching. He then believes inmy power over his nervous system, _i. E. _, that his brain becomes morereceptive to my words, and offers less resistance after having provedthe value of my predictions. It matters little whether these aredirected toward sensations or movements, or vaso-motor actions causingblushing and blanching, or suppression or bringing on of menstruation(in the case of a woman), etc. My influence over him by suggestionwill increase; _i. E. _, his brain will accustom itself to thesuggestions which I give it by letting them dissociate its activity. This tendency to be influenced by suggestion is very contagious byexample. When A influences B successfully, and C, D, E, F and G arewitnesses of the fact, they will be much more easily influenced by Ain the same direction; and so on. This explains suggestion affectingthe masses. 

It is quite indifferent whether the subjective sentiment of sleepoccurs more or less in the state of hypnosis or suggestion. Thissentiment depends chiefly on the presence or absence of a variabledegree of amnesia (want of memory to awaken). But amnesia only dependson the rupture, often fortuitous and unimportant, of the chain ofremembrances in the series of super-conscious or attentional states ofcerebral activity. 

In somnambulists, who are the most suggestible people, we can produceor suppress amnesia at will by a single word, and make them forget orremember what has passed. I must dwell on this point, because of thecurrent dogma which assumes an essential difference between hypnotismand suggestion in the waking state. Such an assumption is based onfalse conception of the psychology of suggestion. The only differenceconsists in the suggestion of amnesia, or the subjective sentiment ofsleep; or, if one prefers it, the subjective remembrance of sleepopposed to the remembrance of having been awakened. But these tworemembrances may be voluntarily connected with the same past state ofthe brain. 

By _auto-suggestion_ is meant the suggestive action of spontaneousideas--that is to say, ideas which are not suggested to the subject byany other person, but the effect of which is identical to that ofexternal suggestions. An idea, a sentiment, dominates the mind, overcomes all its antagonists and produces a strong suggestive effecton the whole nervous system in the direction which it symbolizes. Theidea of being unable to sleep often produces insomnia; the idea ofsexual impotence may at once inhibit erection and render coitusimpossible. The idea of yawning makes one yawn; that of coitusprovokes erections; the idea of shame causes blushing; that of fearblanching; that of pity weeping. 

But it often happens unconsciously, in yawning for example, that oneman suggests it to another who begins to yawn; or the sight of certainobjects, the hearing of certain sounds, provokes suggestions. Thus thesight of an object belonging to a certain woman may cause an erection;the odor of some article of diet which has caused indigestion issufficient to cause nausea, etc. We thus see that there is a series oftransitions between external intentional suggestion andauto-suggestion, in the form of suggestion of objects and unconsciousor involuntary suggestion of persons. The conception of true orintentional suggestion infers the determined will of one maninfluencing another by suggestion; there is no other criterion. 

It is quite another question whether the one who suggests wishes tobenefit his subject, or wishes on the contrary to abuse him or makehim ridiculous. 

=Sympathy. Love and Suggestion. =--It is of great importance for us toknow that sympathy and confidence are the fundamental elements ofsuccess in suggestive action. Even when deceived by the one whohypnotizes him, the subject may yield to him while he is not aware ofit. But there is here a point to be noted. A man may very well seeclearly with his reason and his logic, he may understand that harm isdone to him, he may even curse a thing or a person when he reflects, and in spite of this be instinctively and subconsciously attractedtoward this thing or this person, like a moth to a candle, whencertain sentiments of sympathy or attraction urge him to it. The twofollowing examples will make this more clear:

 (1). An actor fell in love with a hysterical married woman. This woman was very polyandrous, and deceived not only her husband but the actor and many others. The actor tried with all the power of his reason to be delivered from the tyrannical charm of this siren; but the power of attraction of the woman was so strong that he could not succeed in resisting her. He came to me in despair and begged me to rid him of his passion by hypnotism. I realized the difficulty of the situation but did my best to help him. Although aided by his reason, all my suggestions were overcome by the violence of the passion that his hysterical seducer had inspired in him, and I obtained absolutely no result. 

 (2). A well-educated, unmarried woman became so enamored of a young man, that she was consumed with passion, grew thin, and lost her appetite and sleep. Having exchanged ideas with the young man for some time, she became convinced that their two characters were not suited to each other, and that incompatibility of temper and quarrels would necessarily follow marriage. She therefore resisted with all her power and came to me to be cured of her passion by suggestion. My failure in the preceding case increased my skepticism, but I did my best to succeed; the result, however, was no better than with the actor in the preceding case. Time and separation alone gradually restored equilibrium in this lady's nervous system. 

These two cases are very instructive. Suggestion can only successfullycombat powerful sentiments by arousing other sentiments of sympathywhich increase little by little and finally become substituted for thepreceding ones. This brings us to a very difficult question. 

In order to influence other persons by suggestion, it is above allthings necessary to try and associate the ideas which we suggest tothem with sentiments of sympathy, so as to arouse in them theimpression that the object to be attained is desirable and agreeable, or at any rate that it constitutes a necessity. The woman whosurrenders to the mercy of her conqueror often experiences a kind ofpleasure which is associated with the passiveness of her sexualsentiments. It is the same in the male masochist. 

The physician who hypnotizes is obliged to awaken sentiments ofsympathy in his subject to combat with their assistance the sentimentsassociated with the morbid state which it is desired to suppress. Thisis usually free from danger when there is no natural sexual attractionbetween the hypnotizer and the hypnotized; when, for example, a normalman hypnotizes another man, a normal woman another woman, or an invertanother invert. Otherwise there is a risk of exciting sexualsympathies difficult to eliminate afterwards, when necessaryprecautions have not been taken at first. These attractive sexualsensations or sentiments may affect both the hypnotizer and thehypnotized and provoke love scenes, which are fatal to success. 

For example, a hysterical baroness, whose sexual desire had beenexcited by hypnotism, fell in love with a person named Czinsky, whosecase was studied and published by Schrenck-Notzing. This baronessexperienced a kind of suggested love against which her reason resistedto a certain extent, while her hypnotizer, himself amorous, lost hishead. One might say in such a case that suggestion only reënforced thevery human sentiments which occur in all love stories of everydaylife. Between normal love and suggested love there is such an infinitenumber of gradations that it is impossible to fix exactly the limitswhich separate them. 

A hypnotizer may abuse his suggestive power to exploit the love of thehypnotized. I have been consulted in a case where an old woman hadhypnotized a rich young man and had so powerfully influenced him thathe abandoned his family and married her. As in the case of Czinsky, the abuse was obvious. The case was even more grave, for this oldwoman acted only from mercenary motives; in fact, she procured younggirls for her husband, so as not to lose her suggestive influenceafter marriage: Czinsky, on the contrary, was truly amorous. 

As a general rule we may say that, when amorous intoxication is theresult of intentional suggestion, the subject obeys a certainsentiment of constraint, which he may describe later on when he hassucceeded in recovering himself. He feels a kind of duplication of hispersonality, and perceives that the excitation of his sexual desire, as well as his love, have a somewhat forced nature, against which hisreason attempts to defend him. This reaction often only appearsafterwards, when the sympathetic action of suggestion begins to fade. 

Here again the gradations are infinite, and no absolute rules can beformulated, for if the hypnotizer is very skillful and does not lethis intentions appear, the subjective sentiment of constraint may beabsolutely wanting; _i. E. _, never become conscious. If, however, thehypnotizer is clumsy and the subject a hysterical woman, love is oftentransformed into hatred in the latter soon afterwards, as is so oftenthe case in these subjects, and she may afterwards be convinced byauto-suggestion that she was the object of artificial constraint oreven violence, and describe imaginary or unnatural events as if theywere real; while she was simply amorous after the fashion ofhysterical subjects. 

It is quite otherwise with cases where a hypnotizer produces in ahypnotized woman a state of deep somnambulism and does harm to herwithout her knowledge. Here the victim is absolutely without will, andincapable of resisting. These last cases are much more easy to decide, especially from the legal point of view; but, as far as we are nowconcerned, the first cases are the most important. 

The amorous irradiations produced by the sexual appetite react on thelatter and increase it. They awaken sentiments of reciprocal sympathy, from which results a mutual attraction similar to that of animals. Suggestive action depends on the mastery we obtain over the associatedconstellations of subconscious engrams, and we have already becomeacquainted with the phylogenetic and actual relationship which existsbetween sexual sensations and sensations of sympathy. The simplejuxtaposition of these facts clearly shows that powerful affinitiesexist between suggestion and love. I use the word "affinity"advisedly, for we must not go further and regard the two things asidentical. Fortunately, the majority of curable patients may be curedby the prudent awakening of a slight degree of sympathy, and by thecommon efforts made by the hypnotizer and the hypnotized to subdue themorbid symptoms, without anything but a certain sentiment ofreciprocal friendship resulting. On the other hand two human beingsmay be united by sexual love, without either being able to hypnotizethe other. This is especially the case when, for example, twoconjoints have known each other for many years, or when two persons ofhigher intelligence, who are not too dependent on their sexualintercourse, meet each other. 

I am obliged to dwell on these facts, so that my ideas may not befalsely interpreted, by premature generalization. On the other hand, when a strongly associated brain suggests to a weak brain of theopposite sex sentiments of sympathy and makes use of them to arousethe sexual appetite, it may produce a suggested love which closelyresembles natural amorous intoxication. If the discovery of animposture or abuse of power on the part of the hypnotizer weakens ordestroys the effect of suggestion, the hypnotized subject recoversherself. Despite and repentance may then transform her love intohatred. 

In other cases there is a struggle between sexual desire and thedisillusion of a deceived love, which often serves as the tragicmotive in romance and the drama. The following is a typical case ofsuggested love without formal hypnotic proceedings:

 An old _roué_ aged sixty, married and the father of a family, persecuted a very suggestible young girl with his attentions, and systematically seduced her by means of erotic readings. He produced such an impression on this young girl that she became hypnotized and fell in love with the old _roué_ She lost all conscience, became deceitful and untruthful by suggestion, and compromised herself and her family. Her seducer was poor, so that it was not his fortune that attracted her. She knew very well that this union could lead to nothing, but could not resist, and eloped with him. Later on she came to her senses and left him. 

According to an old proverb, young girls laugh at old men and onlymarry them reluctantly or for their money; but in reality this is byno means always true. 

=Amorous Intoxication. =--Let us now compare these phenomena with thoseof ordinary life called _amorous intoxication_. The affinities are atonce apparent. A man and a woman meet and take a fancy for each other. The reciprocal action of looks, speech and touch, in fact all theapparatus of the senses and the mind, awakens in both of themsentiments of sympathy and sexual desire which mutually strengthenseach other. Sexual desire invests every action and appearance of theloved object with an ever-increasing halo of charm and splendor, andthis halo of sexual origin increases in its turn the sentiments ofsympathy; and the sentiments of sympathy increase the sexual desire. In this way mutual suggestions grow like a snowball, and rapidlyattain the culminating point of amorous intoxication, or what iscalled being _madly in love_. 

All this depends only on reciprocal illusion. The more violent andfoolish the amorous intoxication, without preparation or reflexion, and the less the individuals know each other, the more rapidly theseillusions collapse, like a castle of cards, as soon as some douche ofcold water sobers the two lovers. Thus indifference, disgust, and evenhatred, follow "love. "

The suggestive element in love is here apparent. Just as a hypnotizedperson will eagerly swallow a raw potato which he takes for an orange;so will a person madly in love regard an ugly or wicked girl as agoddess, or an amorous girl find her ideal of chivalry and manlinessin an egoistic Don Juan. 

The affinity is still more evident when the amorous intoxication isonly on one side, while the other plays the part of seducer. Whenmotives of pecuniary interest are not the only cause of seduction, andeven often when they are, the seducer generally brings into play hissexual appetite, but only as a collaborator in his work of seductionwithout allowing himself to be dominated by it. In this case one isthe seducer and the other the seduced. The seducer plays the part ofthe hypnotizer who suggests, while the seduced plays the part of thehypnotized, unless the seduction is due to fear, weakness of mind orgood nature. The seducer is no doubt more or less under eroticinfluence, but never completely. The seduced, on the contrary, fallscompletely under the power of the seducer. The thoughts, sentimentsand will are all directed by the impulses of the seducer. The latteracquires his ascendancy by means of a kind of suggestive power, oftenassisted by the sexual appetite. 

In many cases the seduced gives way by pure suggestion of love withoutsexual desire. These are precisely the cases that the law does notforesee, and jurists cannot usually understand. In ordinary life, theman most often plays the part of seducer or hypnotizer; but this isnot always the case. Antony, who threw himself at the feet ofCleopatra and obeyed her least gesture, was evidently hypnotized. Antonys are not rare even at the present day; but they do notconstitute the rule, nor the normal state. 

As we have just described it, suggestion plays a great role in love, and explains to a great extent the phenomena of illusion produced byamorous intoxication. In spite of the act which deifies it and theecstatic happiness that accompanies it, we must admit that amorousintoxication, with its illusory suggestions uncontrolled by reason, brings more poison than true happiness into human life. I will attemptto explain the matter more clearly. When two human beings with loyalinstincts have learned to know each other sufficiently, honestlyavowing their reciprocal feelings and their past life, at the sametime subduing their sensual appetites and judging the latter withcalmness, so as to be convinced that they may reasonably hope to forma durable and happy union, then only may they abandon themselves toamorous intoxication, but not before. The fact that the latter makeseach lover appear to the other in the most ideal light only serves tostrengthen the feelings of sympathy and make them last for life. 

On the other hand, two egoists calculating coldly, even if they havestrong sexual appetites and trouble themselves very little withreflections on their intellect, may contract a comparatively happymarriage, based simply on reciprocal convenience and interest; amarriage in which amorous intoxication only plays a very small part, or none at all. 

The latter case is of great frequency. The novel which delights in thedescription of admirable or ignoble sentiments, and which shows aspecial preference for bizarre and sensational situations, often of apathological nature, makes us forget that the majority of mediocre andnormal men are little susceptible to the suggestions of amorousintoxication, and that they give vent to their sexual desires in amore or less reflective and calculating frame of mind, like a_gourmand_. This is not poetical, I admit, but it is much more human. Many women also become _gourmands_ in sexual matters. 

In all this sexual commerce there are only vestiges or caricatures ofthe poetry of amorous intoxication. It is no longer a question of deeplove, but of essentially commonplace sexual enjoyment, wisely andprudently adapted to other objects of concupiscence, such as money, social position, titles, business, etc. 

If the poets and the preachers of morality apostrophize me withindignation saying that this is the prostitution of love, I shall beobliged to protest. So long as sexual enjoyment is not bought, thereis no prostitution. Man has as much right to a certain agreeablesatisfaction of his sexual appetite, even without exalted sentiments, as he has to satisfy his hunger and thirst, as long as he does no harmto anyone. But, I repeat, this question has nothing to do with amorousintoxication. The latter is a powerful shock to the whole mind, to theprincipal spheres of cerebral activity, by a suggestive effect, usually with the aid of the sexual appetite, but sometimes withoutit. 

Amorous intoxication naturally differs in quality and in intensity indifferent individuals. In a person with ideal tendencies it may awakenthe finest harmonies of the symphony of human sentiments, while brutaland debased persons may wallow in the mud. 

=Suggestion in Art. =--Suggestion does not act only in the sexualsphere, but on the whole mental life. In æsthetics and in art it hasan immense and irresistible influence, which gives rise to all thecapricious exaltations of fashion. The average artist is more or lessthe slave of the æsthetic suggestions which are in fashion, but theaverage members of the public are absolutely dominated by them. Originating in a correct idea of certain effects of light, the mostabsurd exaggerations may become accepted as beautiful and natural byan imitative public devoid of personal judgment, by the aid ofsuggestion. These deplorable effects of suggestion may last a longtime till their nullity or their absurdity causes them gradually todisappear. But they are usually replaced by other absurdities. 

=Suggestive Action in Sexual Anomalies. =--In very suggestible personsthe sexual appetite may be easily led astray by sensory impressionscreated by perverse images. In this way the erotic imagination of avery suggestible boy, excited indirectly by another boy, may even makethe latter the object of his sexual desire. This is how homosexualinclinations may be formed by suggestion and maintained by mutualmasturbation, pederasty, etc. The duration of a perversion of thiskind often depends on the power of the erotic image which suggestedsexual desire. This is also the case with onanism, sodomy, etc. ; andin the inverse direction with impotence. 

These facts explain at the same time why and how suggestion may cureor ameliorate the anomalies of sexual life. Just as suggestion mayexcite or pervert the sexual appetite, so may it calm it and put it inthe right direction, unless there is a deeply rooted hereditaryperversion. We can nearly always considerably attenuate too-frequentemissions, masturbation and perversions by suggestion, and oftenentirely cure their acquired forms. 

I must here point out that when we have succeeded in removing bysuggestion a perversion based in whole or in part on organic orhereditary causes, this result is always more or less precarious, anddoes not give the physician the right to give his sanction tomarriage. The following case shows us what prudence on the part of thehypnotizer can do with patients of this kind:

 A young girl, of good education, was troubled with intense sexual desire. She was incapable of resisting masturbation and dreamed at night that men and animals were in contact with her vulva. These dreams caused intense excitement and were accompanied by orgasms. The treatment of a patient of this kind by suggestion was no easy matter. However, with the aid of a local sedative, the action of which it is needless to say was purely suggestive and was combined with appropriate verbal suggestions, I succeeded not only in suppressing the onanism, but also in almost completely curing the nervous exhaustion of this young girl, so that she was afterwards able to resume work. 

I may add that the patient was hypnotized in the presence of others, which can always be done in such cases with a little tact. This is arule from which the physician should never depart. 

I cannot enter into more details on this subject, but what I have saidwill suffice to draw the attention of my readers to the action ofsuggestion in the sexual appetite and in love. 

CHAPTER X

THE SEXUAL QUESTION IN RELATION TO MONEY AND PROPERTY PROSTITUTION, PROXENETISM AND VENAL CONCUBINAGE

GENERAL REMARKS

In Chapter VI we have studied the historical development of humanmarriage as a continuation of the phylogeny of our species, and wehave shown that marriage by purchase and different forms of polygamyconstitute a kind of intermediate stage and at the same time anaberration of civilization, which has resulted from the association ofmen, combined with the birth of individual property. 

When we consider a being of high mentality and deeply rootedindividualism such as man, in whom the instinct of love and family areso strong, led by the inevitable force of circumstances to live in thesociety of his fellows, we can easily understand that certainindividuals of a higher mentality than the others will endeavor todominate the weaker and less intelligent, and exploit them for theirown profit and that of their family. 

Analogous tendencies are seen in certain animals. Among the bees theold workers appropriate the produce of the work of others. Certainants practice a form of slavery, based, it is true on instinct, instealing the pupæ of weaker species which, after hatching, become theservants of the idle robbers. 

In incomplete animal societies, such as those of the ruminants, certain monkeys, etc. , the old males, sometimes also the morecourageous females (cows, for example) direct the herd and becomerecognized as chiefs by the others. But in these cases the personalproperty of objects or even living beings takes no part, because theanimals have not yet learned its value. 

Other animals living isolated show the first tendencies towardpersonal property; for example, the nest where they hoard theirprovisions, while others, such as the ants, bees, wasps, etc. , havethe sentiment of collective property well developed. For instance, aswarm of ants regards plants with grubs as its property, and defendsthem in consequence. 

As soon as he has attained a primitive degree of culture, mancomprehends that the possession, not only of land and the produce ofwork, but also the persons of other men, may profit him; and thisleads to slavery. The male being the stronger soon combines thesatisfaction of his sexual appetite with the advantage of property, byplacing the woman more and more under his dependence and exploitingher. In this way woman becomes an object for sale and exchange, whichwill procure the purchaser, besides satisfaction for his sexualappetite, a docile slave and worker and a procreator of children, asource of other workers. 

This motive, so clearly revealed by ethnography and history, sufficiently explains the ignoble traffic that man has made of love, or rather of sexual appetite. We have seen in Chapter VI the profitmade by polygamous barbarians by the possession of many wives andchildren, which led more and more to the buying and selling of thelatter. These customs are instinctively related to the traffic ofslaves. Our modern civilization has happily abolished these taints, but money still influences our sexual life by measures which arehardly any better. The complication and refinement of civilized lifehave made women and children objects of luxury, and not a source ofwealth as in former times. This is due to two causes. On the one hand, a wider and more humane conception of the social position of women andchildren has extended their rights. Man cannot now exploit them to thesame extent as in the time of patriarchism, while the father of thefamily has, on the contrary, the duty of maintaining his wife andfamily, and of giving the latter a proper education. Among the poor, the exploitation of the wife and children still exists; but in thecase of the rich and cultured the inverse phenomenon is produced. Withthe intention of making his family happy and distinguished, the fatherbrings it up in luxury and idleness, and this produces a very harmfulresult. The increasing refinement of modern life and its pleasuresleads to effeminacy. It bears upon the whole of society anddegenerates into an artificial desire for brilliancy and show, whichmakes it increasingly difficult to obtain a simple and sober educationfor the family. Men and women, especially the latter, do their best toeclipse each other in their table, their toilet, the comfort andluxury of their apartments, their pleasures and distractions, theirbanquets and _fêtes_. An enormous mass of the produce of human laboris thus dissipated in futilities, for the benefit of unbridledfrivolity and luxury. It is owing to this that a civilization which, thanks to science and progress, far surpasses all those which havepreceded it in the richness of its means of production for the wantsof humanity, not only shows more and more rich with superfluouswealth, but also more and more poor who vegetate from the want of it. 

What is still more grave is that, for reasons of economy, theintelligent, educated and cultured marry less often and procreatefewer children. Again, our descendants degenerate more and more, owingto the consumption of alcohol or other narcotics, and the unhealthylife they lead. This degeneration is dissimulated by theirwell-nourished appearance, but is revealed in their increasingneuropathic tendency. They become accustomed to a number of artificialwants, which make them increasingly difficult to satisfy. This resultsin their exacting from society much more than they give to it by theirwork; whereas each ought to give to society more than he receives fromit. As evil omens, I must mention the idleness of many women withregard to household and manual work. What are the effects of thisstate of things on the sexual life of modern society? They are ofthree kinds:

(1) _Marriage for money_; (2) _prostitution_, exploited byproxenetism, and between the two (3) _venal concubinage_. 

MARRIAGE FOR MONEY

Marriage for money is the modern form or derivative of marriage bypurchase. Formerly one bought a wife and sold a daughter; to-day oneis sold to a wife and buys a son-in-law. The improvement consists inthe fact that the buyer and the bought are no longer in the positionsof proprietor and object possessed, respectively. Nevertheless, marriage at the present day gives rise to much traffic, speculationand exploitation of an evil nature. 

These things are so well known that I need not dwell upon them. Inplace of love, force of character, capacity, harmony of sentiments, intellectual and bodily health, money is the _alpha et omega_ ofmarriage. Money dazzles most men so that they are blind to everythingelse. They no longer understand that the health and the physical andmoral worth of a woman constitute a capital which is far preferable toall the title-deeds deposited in the coffers of the futurefather-in-law, which are rapidly squandered by children tainted withbad physical or mental heredity. In this way ignorance of the laws ofheredity and the rapacity of pecuniary interests perpetually tendtoward the antisocial procreation of a degenerate posterity. 

Inversely, a number of capable and healthy men and women remaincelibate and sterile for want of money. Capital exploits them asworkers and prevents them from reproducing their race; or else theirown foresight induces them to avoid procreation. 

A characteristic sign is observed in military circles, especially inthe German army where officers who are not well-to-do are forbidden tomarry a woman unless she has a certain income. The officer must bringup his family in accordance with his position. This system, which itis sought to justify by all kinds of reasons, shows how the worship ofthe golden calf and class prejudices may degenerate our manners andcustoms. Without fortune one cannot serve the country as an officer, or marry, except by selling oneself to a rich woman. In other terms, an officer cannot marry according to his own inclination unless hepossesses a certain fortune. No doubt there are officers who marry forlove; nevertheless, they are not only obliged to have a certainfortune, but the woman they marry must have a certain social positionand have been well educated. The wife of an officer has to take partin balls and official gatherings. She is forbidden to carry on openlyany business, and her parents must not even be shopkeepers! In aGerman town, one of my relatives heard a rich mother say to herdaughter, who could not make up her mind to marry a gentleman whoproposed to her: "If you do not want him, let him go; we do not wishto persuade you. We have plenty of money, and if you want to marrylater on we can easily buy you an officer!"

In the tyranny of class marriages, it is money which almost alwaysdecides the question. Formerly birth and nobility were everything, andit was these which brought power and fortune; nowadays money hasreplaced them, and has monopolized universal power. If an energeticand intelligent man revolts, by returning to modest and primitivecustoms, if he dresses simply, performs manual labor, takes his mealsat the same table as his servants, etc. , he is despised and is notreceived into what is called good society. 

It is only up to a certain point, and with the exercise of greatprudence, that any attempt can be made to react against the whirlwindof our unbridled luxury, and it is in marriage that this becomes mostdelicate and most difficult. A well-brought-up and well-educated manwith no money, who wishes to marry while he is a student, so as toavoid prostitution or other evils; who is content to live in humblequarters with his wife, each doing their own work, will have greatdifficulty in finding a well-nurtured girl to consent to such anarrangement. Everything has to be regulated according to the fashion, customs and prejudices of the class in which he lives, and thisusually renders marriage impossible, as long as he has not what iscalled a position. But no one will blame the same student for livingin concubinage with a grisette. Why cannot the same means of existencewhich allow concubinage suffice for marriage? With this question Ionly touch on a problem to which we shall return, at the same timepointing out the canker which corrupts our modern sexual life. 

By marriage for money we understand marriage which is based oninterest and not on love. It is not always a question of money; forposition, name, titles and convenience often complicate the question. Sometimes a ruined aristocrat marries a rich tradesman's daughter, inorder to repair his fortune, while the vanity of his _fiancée_ makes atitle a desirable acquisition. Sometimes a coquette, by cleverflirtation, will simulate a love which she does not feel, to catch arich man in her net. But more commonly there is calculation on bothsides and both are duped. 

Marriage for money is not confined to the rich but also occurs amongpeasants and working people. Everywhere it constitutes one of theprincipal corrupting elements of sexual intercourse and procreation. Hard-working servants who have succeeded in saving a few hundreddollars are often married for the sake of this small sum, and thenabandoned as soon as the husband has squandered it. I do not pretendthat a marriage for money can never be happy; it may happen that thecontract is an honest one and that love follows it more or lesshaltingly, especially when the calculators have taken into accountcharacter and health, etc. , as well as money. 

There is no need for me to continue this theme any further, and Ishall conclude by stating that this system opens the door tohypocrisy, deceit and abuse of all kinds. It is not without reasonthat marriage for money has been branded with the name of _fashionableprostitution_. 

PROSTITUTION AND PROXENETISM

Prostitution is a very ancient institution and a sign of degenerationwhich is found more or less among all nations. When woman is anarticle for sale it is not surprising that those whose moral worth isweak take the traffic into their own hands when they can, and sellthemselves to men to satisfy their sexual appetites, instead ofallowing themselves to be passively exploited as articles of commerce. Man being the stronger finds it advantageous in the lower andbarbarous states of civilization to monopolize this traffic for hisown profit, and deliver the women under his domination toprostitution. We have seen that fathers give their daughters, andhusbands their wives to prostitution. 

For the same reason, the woman who prostitutes herself in our moderncivilization, always runs the risk of being abused without payment;which is not to be wondered at considering the doubtful quality of theusual clients of the prostitute. It is therefore natural that sheshould seek for a means of protection. She thus takes a maleprotector, or "bully, " whom she pays; or else she joins the serviceof those who make a business of prostitution--or _proxenetism_. Proxenetism and protectors are thus the parasites of prostitution. 

Prostitution flourished amongst the ancients and also in the MiddleAges, especially after the Crusades (Chapter VI). I do not propose towrite the history of prostitution; it is sufficient to be acquaintedwith that of the present day. I may, however, remark that among anumber of primitive races, and in young and progressive nations, whosesexual life is still comparatively pure, prostitution is only feeblydeveloped. It is especially to Napoleon I that we owe the present formof regulation and organization of prostitutes. Like all hislegislation on marriage and sexual intercourse, this regulation is theliving expression of his sentiments toward woman; oppression of thefemale sex, contempt of its rights, and degradation of its individualsto the state of articles of pleasure for men, and machines forreproduction. 

=Organization and Regulation of Prostitution. =--We have just seen thesocial conditions under which prostitution becomes quite naturallyorganized, with its protectors and its proxenetism. There is anotherfactor to be added--that of venereal disease. The infectious germs ofsyphilis and gonorrhea are usually met with in the genital organs ofman and woman; so that every coitus between a healthy and an infectedindividual may infect the former. Hence the danger of the spread ofinfection increases with the number of mutations in sexualintercourse. If a woman offers herself systematically to all the menwho wish for her, the probability that she will be infected by one ofthem increases in proportion to the number of clients. 

In the second place, as soon as she is infected, the danger isincreased by the number of men who have connection with her, for shewill probably infect a large proportion of them. 

While paying much attention to venereal diseases and theirconsequences, medicine has shown itself inconceivably blind in notcomprehending the bearing of this elementary arithmetic. We must takeinto account the fact that the complete cure of syphilis is verydifficult, if not impossible, to prove; that this disease is extremelyinfectious, at least during the first two years of its course; andthat it extends to the blood and the whole organism, so that it may becommunicated, not only by large visible sores, but by smallexcoriations hidden in the mucous membrane of the vagina or the mouth, etc. 

We must also remember that gonorrhea is less painful in woman than inman, and that, even in the latter, it ceases to be painful when itbecomes chronic. We may add that the microbes (the gonococci) are verydifficult to reach in all the recesses of the mucous membrane of thesexual organs in which they are hidden, and that in women theypenetrate as far as the womb, when a cure becomes almost impossible. 

If we consider that the sexual organs of woman form deep and hiddencavities which it is very difficult to examine thoroughly, in spite ofall the apparatus of modern surgery, and that the mouth in prostitutesis also frequently contaminated by unnatural manipulations; lastly, that no part of their body is absolutely indemnified, it is easy tounderstand the great danger of infection in public prostitution. 

Recognizing the danger of venereal disease, the regulation ofprostitution was instituted by medical men with the good intention ofeliminating or of diminishing its danger, since they regarded itssuppression as impossible. This system consists in the officialsupervision and inscription of every woman who prostitutes herself. She is given an official form which obliges her to submit to medicalexamination once a week or once a fortnight, under the penalty ofbeing arrested and punished. 

To facilitate medical control, regulation generally endeavors to lodgeprostitutes in brothels or _lupanars_, under the direction of aproxenet. In theory, the brothel is not exactly considered as a Stateinstitution of public health; the word _toleration_ being used in thisconnection, signifying that it is regarded as a tolerated evil. Nevertheless, this distinction only rests on uncertain and subtlecharacters. To tolerate, to license, to organize, to recognize andfavor, to protect and recommend are notions which merge into oneanother insensibly. As soon as the State tolerates prostitution andbrothels, it is obliged to enter into official contracts withprostitutes and proxenetism; therefore, it recognizes them. Moreover, the services which it renders must be paid for. It is thereforenecessary that prostitutes and proxenets should pay their tribute tothe State and to the doctors: but "the one who pays commands. "

No doubt this proverb must not be taken to the letter, neverthelessthe one who pays always exerts a certain pressure on the one whoreceives, and for this reason proxenets and inscribed prostitutes havesome idea that they form part of an official institution, which raisestheir position not only in their own eyes but in those of theirreflective masses. I will cite two examples which show howeffectively the public organization of a vicious social anomalyconfuses ideas in persons of limited intelligence. 

One of my friends was engaged in combating the official regulation ofprostitution. A woman, who misunderstood his object, came to himcomplaining bitterly of the loose life her daughter was leading, andasked him if he could not help her by placing her in a brothellicensed by the State; she would then be under the care of a paternalgovernment!

An old proxenet in Paris requested the authorities to transfer themanagement of her brothel to her daughter, aged nineteen. Her house, she said, was honest and managed in a loyal and religious spirit; herdaughter was capable and initiated into the business and would carryit on in the same irreproachable manner as hitherto. 

These two examples of ingenuousness are sufficiently characteristic ofthe morality of the system. In _La Maison Tellier_ Guy de Maupassanthas depicted with his masterly pen the psychology of the prostitute, the proxenet, and their clients. 

For reasons previously mentioned no real confidence can be placed inperiodical medical examination of prostitutes; on the contrary itgives the male public a false security. The object of these medicalvisits is to eliminate diseased women from circulation and compel themto submit to hospital treatment. But any one acquainted with the factsknows that the treatment is illusory. In a short time every woman in abrothel is infected, with very few exceptions. But, on the one hand, the proxenets and the prostitutes have every interest in shorteningthe time in hospital; and, on the other hand, the visiting doctor, who often lives partly by their fees, is obliged to treat them withrespect. [In Paris, the doctors in charge of the inspection ofprostitutes are paid by the State, and do not depend on fees from thewomen. ] The treatment of venereal disease being of long duration andvery uncertain in its effects, a vicious circle is formed. 

A conscientious Dutch doctor, Chanfleury van Issjelstein, whoattempted to eliminate all infected prostitutes from the brothels, succeeded in almost emptying them, by subjecting the infected women toprolonged treatment in hospital. This led to a revolt which endangeredhis life, and he had to abandon his scheme. 

In ordinary hospital practice only visible sores are treated, andgonorrheal discharges as long as they are apparent; the prostitutesare then allowed to return to their brothels. Moreover, inspection ismade too rapidly; for, if every woman was examined carefully from headto foot every week, neither the brothels, the prostitutes nor thedoctors could exist. 

Certain persons have made the proposition, as ridiculous as it isradical, of submitting every man who visits a prostitute to medicalinspection! This would indeed be the only means of preventing theinfection of prostitutes. But I ask my readers to imagine such ameasure put in practice. Is it likely that the _habitués_ of brothels, some of whom visit prostitutes nearly every day or oftener, would makethis known to a doctor in their town, and submit, before each coitus, to a medical examination which would cost them more time and moneythan their pleasure! Can one imagine doctors examining whole _queues_of clients waiting their turn in brothels when business is brisk!

Whilst an independent prostitute still possesses some human sentimentand a vestige of modesty which cause her to choose as far as possiblea limited number of clients, the police certificate of regulationofficially places the woman who receives it in the class of thepariahs of society, and this leads to her losing the little thatremains of her womanly nature. In brothels, the last vestige of herhuman nature is trampled under foot. 

=Degrees of Prostitution. Protectors. =--Several degrees can berecognized in private prostitution. A variety of prostitute ratherless low than others, looks for clients at public balls, certain cafésand other doubtful localities, and hires herself to a certain numberof temporary acquaintances. The lowest and most common form of privateprostitution is that of the streets. Generally at night, but sometimesin the daytime, these prostitutes, dressed so as to attract attention, promenade in certain well-known and frequented streets, and solicitpassers-by. This is the common method employed in nearly all towns. This solicitation is supervised by the police in countries whereprostitution is regulated, and is only permitted to women who possesstheir certificate of inscription. 

Here the "protector" (bully) intervenes, and keeps an eye on theclients at the prostitute's house, or sometimes in the street. If theydo not pay up, or pay too little, or if they threaten or ill-treat thewoman, the protector administers a drubbing, and sometimes relievesthem of their purse or clothes. 

At the same time the protector spies on the police for the benefit ofthe prostitute. Sometimes he assumes the position of legitimatehusband, so as to facilitate taking rooms. A "husband" of this kind, with a citizen's rights, is very useful to foreign prostitutes, forwithout him they would risk expulsion. The protector is generally ascamp of the worst kind, an absolutely depraved and idle vagabond whois entirely maintained by his "wife. "

Some protectors shine by their sexual power, and are at the same timethe real lovers of the prostitutes, who keep them, and are plunderedby them. While they submit to coitus with their clients without anypleasure, and only simulate voluptuous sensations, they abandonthemselves to their protectors or lovers with ardor. It is needless toadd that the protectors are often criminals, or of the criminal type. Those who are well acquainted with prostitution declare that it wouldbe impossible without the protector, who is at the same time thefriend, protector and exploiter of the prostitute, while the brothelkeeper is only concerned with her wholesale systematic exploitation. 

=Brothels and Proxenets. =--Under the pretext of avoiding the dangersof prostitution in the streets, brothels were organized. These aregenerally managed by an elderly female profligate, often inpartnership with a "husband, " who is only a superior kind ofprotector. Officially, the prostitutes are free lodgers in thebrothel, but in reality they are often prisoners or slaves. They arewell fed and dressed in a way to attract the clients as much aspossible. Clothes, food, etc. , are placed to their account and thecrafty brothel keeper generally manages to get them into debt so as toalways remain their creditor. In this way these miserable outcasts ofsociety, who are generally incapable of claiming their legal rights, are more or less reduced to slavery. Apparently they are free, but inreality they can hardly leave the house without paying their debts, and the brothel keeper who wishes to keep them arranges so that theycannot pay it. 

It is not always easy to distinguish between the different classes ofprostitutes: the prostitute of the brothel, the street prostituteunder inscription or not, the private prostitute and lorette orgrisette. Sometimes a woman may rise from one class to another; butmore often she falls lower and lower. 

We may mention here one of the dangers of brothels. Their goodorganization, their medical supervision, etc. , are extolled; but thegreat danger of the arithmetical progression of mutations in sexualintercourse is ignored. While a private prostitute rarely receivesmore than one client in an evening, and is not absolutely obliged toreceive more, every prostitute in a brothel is forced to receive asmany as present themselves. A girl may thus have connection with mentwenty or thirty times in the same night. 

Under certain circumstances, for instance at the time of conscriptionfor recruits at Brussels, the brothels are besieged to such a pointthat one man has hardly time to finish coitus before another comes totake his place. It is obvious that such "file firing" greatlyincreases the danger of venereal infection, since a single infectedperson is sufficient to contaminate innumerable clients (even withoutthe woman herself becoming infected). 

It is often denied that the brothel is a prison, yet this fact hasbeen often demonstrated. When, as in France, the police can arrest aprostitute at pleasure--often a virtuous young girl who is taken forsuch--and put her on the inscription list, the thing is obvious. Ihave treated a girl who became the mistress of a police agent in Parisunder the threat of being inscribed as a prostitute. 

Again, besides the debts we have spoken of, the proxenets have manyother ways of keeping prostitutes under their dependence. It is verydifficult for ignorant girls, placed under the ban of society, toreturn to a free and virtuous life. But if a girl shows signs ofwishing to leave a brothel, heroic measures are adopted, in the formof international exchange. A girl who is unacquainted with thelanguage of the country is naturally more incapable of gaining herfreedom than one who does. This is one of the reasons why the brothelsof different countries exchange their women. 

This expedient, which also satisfies clients who desire a change, leads to the exportation of women from one country to another, underfalse pretenses, such as the promise of lucrative and easy situations. In this way young Swiss girls are exported to Hungary, Hungarians toSwitzerland, Germans to France, French to England, Europeans toBuenos-Ayres, creoles to Europe, etc. For example, if a young Frenchgirl has been exported to Buda-Pest or Buenos-Ayres, we may be certainthat she will lose all inclination to run away; for what can she do--astranger without a cent, with her ignorance and want of character, alone in the streets, when she does not understand a word of thelanguage?

=White Slavery. =--The modern commerce in female slaves of civilizedEurope destined for prostitution is closely connected with the factswe have just described. The manner in which brothels exchange theirmerchandise only concerns one side of the question. The principal artconsists in obtaining young girls, of twelve to seventeen years ofage, for the brothels. This traffic is formally prohibited by mostlaws; but what are laws made for, if not to be broken? There are somany means of training children under some pretext or other, beforethey are independent enough to escape this life of infamy. There areso many depraved or hungry parents who are ready to sell theirchildren if, in hypocritical but transparent language, a goodsituation is promised them with payment in advance. 

During a railway journey, I was myself a witness of the manner inwhich a young girl of twelve was sold in this way and sent toPressburg. I was also simple enough to try and appeal for theintervention of a consul and an ambassador to prevent the perpetrationof the crime. They only replied by shrugging their shoulders. Howcould I prove the matter before a tribunal? The child was accompaniedby a woman who admitted to me that there could hardly be any otherquestion than the sale of the child for prostitution. She had onlybeen ordered to take the child to Vienna, where they would come andtake her. This shows the impotence of any person who tries to preventsuch infamies. 

During the last few years an international organization has at lastbeen formed to combat white slavery; but so far it has not obtainedmuch result. By the aid of depraved parents and all their criminalsystem of seduction, the proxenets always find a way of attainingtheir object. Moreover, it is difficult to see how the State canprevent proxenetism from obtaining its merchandise, so long as ittolerates and licenses it. We must remember that very young girls, almost children, are the most easy to seduce and the most soughtafter. 

=The Training of Prostitutes. =--The most repugnant aspect ofproxenetism is the seduction and systematic training of the girls. Thedesire for money and fine dresses, the promise of good situations, andespecially alcoholic intoxication, all play their part in thediabolical art of proxenetism. Many young girls, frivolous and fond ofpleasure, but not wishing to go any further, are easily seduced underthe influence of wine. As soon as some protector has succeeded inseducing a girl, he trades on her shame and fear of discovery, addingthreats and blackmail. When she has become sufficiently accustomed tosexual intercourse, she is initiated into the high-school of vice, andsystematically instructed in exciting the sexual appetites of men byall possible means, natural or otherwise. She is first of all taughthow to simulate the venereal orgasm by her movements, breathing, etc. ;to practice _coitus ab ore_, etc. ; to conform to the pathologicalrequirements of masochists, sadists, etc. , (Chapter VIII). Girls whohave been seduced and abandoned, and those who have had illegitimatechildren, are the most suitable objects for exploitation by thejackals of proxenetism. If it is objected that the majority ofprostitutes have a bad hereditary taint, and that their frivolity andidleness incline them from the first to their trade, I reply thatfrivolity and love of pleasure are not at all the same thing as theignoble slavery and disgusting life of a prostitute in a brothel. 

The part played by alcohol in prostitution has not been estimated atits true value. The coarser and more degraded forms of prostitutionwould not be possible without it. It is by the aid of alcoholic orgiesthat most girls are seduced, and by chronic drunkenness that theysustain themselves in their degradation. 

=Localized Prostitution. =--In certain towns, Hamburg for instance, anattempt has been made to establish an organization intermediatebetween the brothel and private prostitution, by compelling allprostitutes to inhabit certain special streets which are reserved forthem, at the same time being inscribed by the police. The result hasbeen deplorable, and these streets have become uninhabitable. It mustbe borne in mind that the owners or managers of these houses becomefrom this fact more or less analogous to proxenets. Whoever lets hishouse for such an object must possess very little sentiment of modestyand duty, for he lives indirectly on the produce of prostitution. 

=Clandestine Brothels. =--Besides the official brothels, of which wehave spoken, there are a number of secret organizations of all kinds, which the State is the less able to prevent as it organizes andtolerates prostitution and proxenetism on its own account. A number oftaverns possess secret chambers which are only small brothels, inwhich the servants act at the same time as prostitutes. 

It is the same with many small shops (gloves, perfumes, etc. ), whoseinnocent appearance only serves as a blind. A number of _caféschantants_ are also connected with prostitution and proxenetism. Certain tobacco shops, etc. , sell obscene objects such as pornographicpictures. All these things act especially on youth and becomedisseminated in colleges. 

=The Number of Prostitutes. =--The number of prostitutes has beenestimated at 30, 000 in Berlin, 40, 000 in Paris, and 60, 000 in London. It can hardly be assumed that all these women have a pathologicalheredity. As soon as the State recognizes the right of existence ofthis dung-heap, by its toleration and organization, corruptionhitherto hidden and ashamed raises its head and becomes more and morebold, even dragging public organs into its sink. It is the publicespecially, but also the authorities and the doctors who becomecorrupted by contact with official proxenetism, which confuses theideas of morality in every one's head (vide _La Maison Tellier_, deMaupassant). They shut their eyes to the haunts of vice. The proxenetsfeel that they are important personages, and the more enterprising ofthem very often enjoy secret favors and receive visits from Stateofficials, and even married persons of high position. It is notdifficult for any one who reflects a little to see what this state ofthings leads to. 

=Prostitution and the Police. =--The police know very well that incertain brothels prostitution is not only associated with alcoholicexcess, but that certain houses become the haunts of criminals. Theyeven regard certain low-class brothels and taverns frequented byprostitutes as very useful for the discovery of criminals. Spies ofall kinds are met with in these places, from the secret agent whotracks a criminal and flirts at the same time with the prostitutes, tothe counter-spy employed by the proxenets to watch the secret agent. It is here that the criminal world acquires its rakish manners, butits weakness for women and alcohol cause it to fall early into thetraps of the secret police. It is here also, as well as in the salonsof high-class proxenetism, that we meet with those indefinableindividuals who are to-day secret agents of the government, to-morrowfalse noblemen or criminals, and the day after proxenets, and whom aformer minister of the German Empire designated by the euphemisticterm of "non-gentleman. "

=The Psychology of Prostitutes and the Cause of Prostitution. =--Thepsychology of prostitutes is a difficult and complicated subject. According to the point of view of those who judge them, they areconsidered as women of evil and incorrigible instincts, or as thevictims of our bad social organizations. These two assertions are bytheir exclusiveness equally false. Urged by Christian charity, manysocieties for the improvement of morality have attempted to rescuefallen women; but, as might be expected, the results have not beensatisfactory. In fact, the mind of woman is quite differentlydominated by sexual ideas and their irradiations than that of man. Itis also less plastic, and becomes more easily the slave of habit androutine. If, therefore, a woman has been systematically trained insexual aberrations from her youth upward, all her ideas areconcentrated on debauch and sexual intercourse, so that it becomesimpossible later on to restore her to a life of serious social duty. Rare exceptions confirm this rule. Moreover, sexual excitation inwomen awakens sexual desire, which becomes exalted by repetition andhabit. 

On the other hand, it is necessary to recognize that girls who areidle, of weak character, hysterical, easily suggestible, coquettes ornymphomaniacs, are subjects specially disposed to become seduced. Lastly, poverty is one of the most powerful auxiliaries ofprostitution. I do not wish to be sentimental, nor to give too muchweight to the well-known statement that a poor woman prostitutesherself to appease her children's hunger, or her own. No doubt thishappens among the oriental Jews and among the proletariat of largetowns, but it is, on the whole, exceptional. 

Poverty acts indirectly in a much more intense and efficacious manner. First of all it compels the proletariat to live in the most disgustingpromiscuity. Not only do the father, the mother and the childrenoccupy the same room, but they sleep there, often in the same bed. Thechildren are witnesses of their parents' coitus and become initiatedin sexual intercourse, often in its most bestial form, under theinfluence of alcohol, for example. Neglected and herded together withother children, most of them as badly brought up as themselves, fromtheir early youth they become acquainted not only with the most grossand filthy things, but also with the most pathological and deformedexcrescences of the unhealthy life of towns. In the proletariat ofcertain towns there are few girls of fourteen years of age who arestill virgins. 

Again, poverty urges parents to exploit their children, for it is easyto deliver them into the hands of proxenetism. But this is notconfined to the poorest classes; among small tradespeople, poverty isalso an indirect agent of prostitution. Here again the effect ofpitiless exploitation is seen; in certain occupations which leave thegirls free evenings, and also in certain shops, the proprietor onlypays his employés an absurdly small salary, because they can add to itby prostitution. For this reason, many saleswomen, dressmakers, etc. , are obliged to content themselves with a minimum wage. When theycomplain, and especially when they are good looking, they are oftengiven to understand that with their attractive appearance it is veryeasy for them to increase their income, for many a young man would beglad to "befriend them, " to say nothing of other insinuations of thesame kind. I have already pointed out how waitresses are utilized asbait in certain taverns, etc. Let us cite a few figures:

About 80 per cent. Of the prostitutes in Paris have some occupationbesides prostitution. 

In factories, shops, etc. , the average wage of men is 4 francs 20. Perday; that of women 2 francs 20. ; but in domestic service it is only 2francs 10. For men and 1 franc 10. , or even 90 centimes for women, even where the latter do the same work! Is it to be wondered that theyhave recourse to prostitution?

=High-class Brothels. =--In these establishments the life of theprostitute is much more agreeable: the goods of superior qualitydemanded by rich and fastidious clients requires better treatment andspecial care. I will cite a case published in the annual report of theSociété de Pestalozzi (for cruelty to children) at Vienna:

 "In October, 1904, the Tyrolean Society for Abandoned Infancy sent us the papers of a young Tyrolean girl of eighteen, who was found at Venice under police control. Our attention was drawn to the youth of this girl and the incapacity of the father to induce her to reform. We were requested to restore her, if possible, to an honest life. 

 We made the usual inquiries. Having many brothers and sisters, this girl, at the age of fourteen, obtained a situation at Innsbruck, where she was badly treated. She went away and gave herself gradually to prostitution, latterly at Vienna. 

 We had an interview with her at our office and ascertained that she had experienced ill-treatment at Innsbruck. She had a modest demeanor and made a good impression. She regarded her future with equanimity, admitting that she was excluded from society, but speaking of her trade as seriously as if it was licit and officially recognized. 

 She assured us that her parents, having great difficulty in gaining a livelihood, agreed with her in her choice of a "business. " She was on very good terms with them and sent them money. 

 To obtain a certificate from the police, the consent of her parents was necessary. Her mother had told her that if she remained pious and honest no one could reproach her. She held "Madame" (the proprietress of the brothel) in high esteem, on account of her kind treatment of her "boarders. " The house in which she was located was first-class, both as regards clients and treatment. There were about a dozen young girls there, most of them younger than herself, all with their parents' consent; and many of them sent home what they earned. 

 She said that her companions were very happy, being well fed and clothed, and earning from 120 to 240 crowns a month. With much ingenuousness she told us how Madame, whom she greatly respected, had looked after two old "boarders, " who no longer had any clients. She also had a protector. 

 We tried to induce her to commence another life, promising her a situation, but she refused, saying that even if she wished to do so Madame would not let her go; besides, she would always be reproached for her past life, and she did not wish to live with people who would always despise her. She had already suffered enough trouble and did not wish to launch on the unknown. Moreover, she had lost her former habits and had never learnt anything seriously. In short, she did not wish to give up her pleasant and comfortable life!

 This conversation led us to the conclusion that the case in question was not of a nature to justify any action on the part of our society for the rescue of young women. 

 In spite of her tender age, this girl gave us the impression of mature judgment. It appeared already much too late to attempt to recommence her education. She also showed signs of great anxiety when we spoke to her of leaving her brothel. 

This case requires no comment; it gives a good idea of our socialcondition. The religious piety of this girl, and her profoundveneration for "Madame, " are typical of the deviation of moral senseby the suggestion of environment. 

=Varieties in Prostitutes. =--We thus see that prostitutes constitute acollection of very different individuals. Although it may be truethat, on the average, their ranks are recruited from girls who arecoarse, shameless, depraved and alcoholic, it is no less false toconclude that all are of bad heredity. A considerable number arepathological individuals, including hysterical subjects, nymphomaniacsand other psychopaths. Others again are naturally amoral, stupid, idleand deceitful, or have been accustomed to vicious surroundings frominfancy; or else they are of an absolutely indifferent and apatheticnature, or very suggestible and yielding to every seduction andexternal impulse. The latter perhaps form the largest contingent, because they most easily become the prey of proxenetism. 

Many of them have fallen by seduction. Ashamed of their first error, and not having the courage to bear the consequences, they graduallysink into the swamp of prostitution. Illegitimate births play a greatpart here. 

A certain class of prostitutes ply their trade simply from poverty andwant, being ashamed of it but profiting by it to maintain theirfamily. But poverty acts chiefly in combination with other causes. 

There still remains a very limited group formed by individuals whogive themselves up to prostitution for love of it. These are generallywomen with a morbid and violent sexual appetite, joined to want ofmoral sense. Rich women, even countesses and princesses have beenknown to become prostitutes. 

This diversity among prostitutes explains why there are differentdegrees in prostitution. Although its depravity is often more or lessmasked by fine clothes and good cheer, the lowest level is representedby the girl of the brothels, who is little more than an instrument forcoitus in the hands of proxenetism (with the exception of certainhigh-class brothels). It is the prostitutes of low-class brothels forsoldiers who lead the most miserable life. Such houses only keeprefuse merchandise, _i. E. _, old prostitutes who are no good foranything else. There is no sadder sight than a soldiers' brothel. 

The prostitution in _cafés_, scent shops, glove shops, etc. , constitutes a slightly higher grade. As regards danger of venerealinfection this is as great as anywhere, but the girls are rather moreindependent and lead a more natural life. It is precisely becausethese places are not under legal protection, that the patrons orprotectors of prostitutes cannot employ the terrorism of licensedproxenets. 

The free prostitutes of the streets are about on the same level. Theyare not dependent on proxenetism, but only on their protector andproprietor, which is a trifle less degrading. What degrades them mostof all is police inscription, obligatory medical inspection, and themiserable system of solicitation on the pavement. It is necessary tohave lost all feeling of modesty, and to possess a cynical audacity tobecome a street prostitute. 

Prostitutes who only practice occasionally and have not the courage tosolicit, nor to be inscribed by the police, belong to a higher level. But in countries where regulation is in force they always run the riskof being arrested by the police and put on the inscription list. Theseprivate prostitutes constitute the intermediate stage betweenprostitution properly so-called, and venal concubinage, which we shallspeak of later. 

The army of prostitutes is partly composed of pathologicalindividuals. Alcohol and vicious habits increase their abnormaltendencies, so that their behavior leaves nothing wanting in the wayof temper, impulsiveness, cynicism and insolence. This is seen everyday in hospitals for venereal disease. As soon as a prostitute findsher physical condition improve after a few days in hospital, sexualabstinence arouses her appetite to such an extent that she indulges inlesbian love with her companions, or shows herself naked at thewindows, etc. Some prostitutes of better quality suffer at first fromthe scandalous tone of the brothel, but they generally become used toit, and end with adopting it themselves. Honest women, infectedaccidentally or by their husbands, suffer martyrdom when they are sentto the venereal divisions of hospitals. 

=The Fate of Prostitutes. =--What becomes of prostitutes in the courseof time? They cannot remain very long in the brothels for they onlyaccept young and fine-looking girls. It would be interesting to followthe fate of all these women. At all events nothing is more absurd thanthe common saying that the suppression of brothels increasesprostitution in the streets, and that their introduction suppressesit. It is obvious that, as the women in brothels have to becontinually renewed, they must be continually thrown onto the streets. No doubt many prostitutes die at an early age from the results ofalcohol and syphilis. The only resource left to many, when they areejected from the brothels, is to solicit in the streets or to joinclandestine brothels or taverns of the same nature. 

The most profligate, those who look upon their profession from theartistic or the commercial points of view, know how to advancethemselves and become "Madames"; but these are comparatively few innumber. Some end in suicide or lunatic asylums. 

As a last resource, when no man will have anything to do with them, many of them take to the lowest occupations, such as cleaninglavatories, etc. At Munich it used to be proverbial that the class of"Radiweiber" and "Nussweiber" (old women selling nuts etc. , at thestreet corners) were mostly recruited from old prostitutes. Occasionally a better class prostitute succeeds in getting married. 

If we consider without prejudice the miserable life of a prostitute, we cannot hear the term "_fille de joie_" without a feeling of sadnessand indignation, for it conveys such bitter and tragic irony. If wecould ourselves experience the true state of mind which is hiddenbehind the smiles and songs of so many miserable singers at caféconcerts, and behind the brazen artifices of many prostitutes; if wecould learn their past life and the cause of their fall, no man with aspark of pity or sympathy for his fellows could relish with a lightheart a "joy" bought at such a price. For those who read German, Irecommend on this subject: _Tagebuch einer Verlornen_, by MargueriteBöhme. (Berlin: Fontane, 1905. )

=Prostitution and Sexual Perversion. =--If it is true that manyprostitutes have a pathological heredity, it is still more sure thatthey often have to submit to the fancies of pathological clients. Thenumerous sexual anomalies, of which we have spoken in Chapter VIII, are closely connected with prostitution. The refinement of moderncivilization is so complete that it supplies localities and women forthe special use of each pathological form of the sexual appetite. 

So far we have only spoken of female prostitutes, and we have seen howthey conform to the customs of sadists, masochists, etc. They allowthemselves to be maltreated by the former, and maltreat the latter; orelse they play at exhibitions symbolical of cruelty or humiliation. 

For male inverts, on the other hand, there exist male brothels, inwhich young boys practice pederasty for money. For certain rich_roués_, or for those affected with pederosis, children are kept. Thislast class of goods is very dear, for there is always a risk of thelaw intervening. Young virgins also fetch a high price; and they eventry to sew up the hymen after their defloration, so as to offer themseveral times as virgins!

With what we have said in Chapter VIII, these indications will sufficeto show that modern prostitution and proxenetism constitute a publicdisgrace, intended to exploit the unbridled desires of men for profit. This system has been defended on the grounds of hygiene and theprotection of virtuous women against the assaults of men, etc. Inreality, it has resulted in corrupting and effeminating men; inrestricting the normal sexual intercourse of youth in its naturalassociation with an inconsiderate love; in degrading love itself; indebarring a great number of capable and virtuous women from marriage, from love, and from sexual intercourse in general; lastly, in causingcomplete aberration of the whole sexual life of modern society. 

Contemporary literature has begun to consider the psychology ofprostitution. We have already mentioned _La Maison Tellier_ by deMaupassant; Zola's _Nana_ is the history of a high-class prostituterelated in the well-known realistic manner of the celebrated novelist, in which he describes the sexual depravity existing in certainParisian circles of the Second Empire. 

I will now make a few remarks concerning a social movement organizedagainst the regulation of prostitution, called abolitionism. 

=Abolitionism and Regulation. =--An Englishwoman, Mrs. JosephineButler, undertook, in the name of liberty, a campaign againstproxenetism, white slavery and the State regulation of prostitution. She also attacked the injustice of the Code Napoleon toward women, especially the prohibition of inquiry into paternity, which throwsgirls who have been seduced into the arms of prostitution. Theabolitionists contest the right of police inscription of prostitutesunder the pretext of hygiene, of submitting them against their will tomedical inspection, and of keeping them in brothels. They claim severelaws against proxenetism and oppose toleration. 

In medical circles the system of regulation has generally beendefended. It is urged that society has the right to protect itselfagainst dangerous infection, and that, with this object, it has asmuch right to treat infected prostitutes compulsorily, as thoseaffected with smallpox or cholera. Owing to their shameful trade, theymaintain that these women have lost all claim to specialconsideration. 

This argument appears very reasonable at first sight, but it takesquite a different aspect when the facts are examined more thoroughly. 

First of all the comparison with smallpox and cholera is illogical, for these diseases endanger the innocent public, while the man whomakes use of prostitution is quite aware of the danger he runs. Society is under no obligation to provide healthy prostitutes for theuse of Don Juan. 

Against this it is stated that innocent wives are often infected andmade to suffer for the sins of their husbands. But such an extensiveblending of the State with family life does not appear to beadmissible, and would lead to crying abuses. Society has neither theright nor the duty to facilitate the dangerous or injurious acts ofcertain individuals at the expense of others, by rendering them lessdangerous, so that certain third parties may be less liable to suffer. This is an absurd sophism. The duty of society is to make responsiblethe one who has committed the dangerous or injurious act, and topunish him if he has done harm. Here, on the contrary, one only ofthe culprits (the prostitute) is compelled to keep to her vile trade, while the man who makes use of her, and often infects her, is freefrom any responsibility. Moreover, the State has no right to actagainst responsible persons under the pretext that their futuresentiments or actions would have dangerous consequences for others;this would lead to arbitrary abuse of power. The insane, and habitualcriminals make the only exceptions, for their abnormal andirresponsible cerebral organization is a perpetual danger to society. 

There is one question, however, which arises: Can prostitution initself be regarded as a misdemeanor punishable by law? If this werethe case, the client would have to be punished as well as theprostitute; or both of them be sent to reformatories. This is the onlylogical consequence, for in such cases the two contractors are equallyguilty, and also equally dangerous as regards infection. 

How, therefore, can the system be justified which brands and inscribesthe prostitute only; which is not content with tolerating her viletrade instead of punishing it, but gives it official sanction, causingher to fall lower and lower; which finally, to crown the work, licenses the proxenetism which exploits her vice? It is difficult toimagine more complete hypocrisy, or a more contradictory system. 

In former times when slavery was allowed, men's will and pleasure weresufficient to justify such measures, which created for their profit aclass of female pariahs; and this was frankly and openly admitted. Nowadays, the equal rights of women which are officially recognized incivilized countries no longer allow it, and hygienic arguments onlycan give such modern barbarity the hypocritical appearance ofjustification. Lunatics and criminals are only locked up as a measureof safety, and to attempt to improve them; but their bodies are notallowed to become an object of commerce for the pleasure of othermembers of society. 

But the results of honestly interpreted statistics contradict theapparent justification of the regulation of prostitution, in the nameof hygiene. It is intended to furnish men with a means of coitus freefrom danger; but the facts prove that venereal disease has not beendiminished by this means. The false security given to men officiallyby regulation makes them all the more careless. The multiplication ofthe sexual connections of each prostitute increases the danger ofinfection at least as much as the elimination of a few diseasedpersons diminishes it. 

The corruption of the State and its officials, especially the policeand the medical inspectors of brothels, the general depravity whichresults from official toleration, and the perversion of ideas ofmorality among the public, increase habits of prostitution, and withit the danger of infection. Assured of impunity the pimps and theiracolytes become more and more audacious and extend their business, while the prostitutes, whose number is increased by this system, seekto escape the police and practice their trade clandestinely. It is nowonder that the swamp to be purified becomes more and more infectious. Can it be conscientiously said that hygiene has benefited? This iswell seen in Geneva and in France. It is enough to compare the numberof cases of venereal disease and of prostitutes in countries whereregulation is in force, with those which do not employ it, to show thecomplete fiasco of the system from the hygienic point of view. On theaverage, the number of infectious cases is nearly the same with orwithout regulation and depends on many other causes. I cannot enterinto the details here and must refer to the statistics and to theworks published by the Abolitionist Federation (6 Rue St. Léger, Geneva). 

Of all that has been published, nothing appears to me more conclusivethan the masterly statistics of Mounier, for Holland, in 1889. Evenamong medical men, the originators of regulation, the abolitionistpoint of view is steadily gaining ground. It is beginning to beunderstood that the toleration of proxenetism, and even theinscription and medical inspection of prostitutes, are vicious methodsof social sanitation against venereal infection. 

But by the suppression of official toleration and regulation, thequestion of prostitution is in no way settled. This has only anegative action, important for the tactics of those who wish to upseta scandalous abuse, but which does not respond to the higher task ofextirpating the root of the evil. The positive work will only beginwhen the State is relieved of its shameful compact with proxenetismand prostitution. 

In the following chapters we shall examine the remedies which must beapplied to our sexual anarchy, the result of masculine autocracy, asRussian anarchy is the result of Tsarism. I will first make a fewobservations from the medical and hygienic point of view, to thepartisans of regulation. They exclaim that the abolitionists arefanatics, who, from their absence of scientific spirit, will delugesociety with venereal disease. This bogy has no sound foundation. TheState regulation of prostitution applied to certain women has notdiminished the amount of venereal disease, because it does not reachit. The State concession of an unnatural vice cannot be hygienic. Moreover, it is impossible to completely disinfect prostitutes, thisdisinfection is quite illusory, unless it is also applied to theirclients, which is impracticable. 

In France, where the system of regulation has existed for a long timein its strictest form, venereal diseases are extremely prevalent;while in Switzerland, where it only exists at Geneva, having beensuppressed for some years in the Canton of Zurich, they are lessfrequent. Geneva is not less contaminated than other towns inSwitzerland, in spite of its model brothels, and Zurich has lately, bypopular vote, confirmed abolition by a crushing majority, inopposition to a few interested persons who wished to reëstablish thebrothels under futile and fallacious pretexts. Some clandestinebrothels still exist in towns where the authorities shut their eyes. 

It has also been maintained that the number of sexual misdemeanorswould increase with the suppression of brothels. This is anotherillusion. The majority of sexual misdemeanors are due to psychicanomalies (Chapter VIII) or to the effects of alcoholic intoxication. If they have any relation to prostitution, it is rather that of beingfavored by its orgies. 

=Remedies for the Evil. =--What is wanted first of all are severe lawsagainst proxenetism. It is indisputable that commerce made with thebody of one's neighbor is illegal, even when the latter givesconsent. It is a crime or misdemeanor which should be prosecuted likenegro slavery or usury. We should not wait for a complaint to belodged, but prosecute proxenetism officially, for the victims arehindered by shame from coming forward. The pimps of proxenetism arerecruited from the dregs of society. In this domain, as in the others, penal law should not be put in force; the object should be theprotection of society and the improvement of the criminal. 

As regards prostitution itself, it cannot be made a misdemeanorwithout opening the door too widely to complete arbitrariness. TheState cannot prevent a responsible adult from disposing of his ownbody, without introducing religion and metaphysics into legislation;but the State can require those who practice prostitution not tomolest the public. It has, therefore, the right to punish solicitationin the streets by fine or imprisonment, especially in often repeatedoffenses. It can also give persons of both sexes, who are victims ofvenereal disease, the right of claiming damages by civil law. Thelegality of this right of indemnity has been much contested. In myopinion it is legitimate when the State no longer tolerates orregulates prostitution; but so long as it does this, and submitsprostitutes to obligatory medical treatment, the States takes theresponsibility of their health. Under the régime of regulation, aninfected person could logically claim damages from the State, or, atany rate from the pimps of licensed proxenetism. 

The question of responsibility is quite different when prostitution isfree. The sexual intercourse of a free prostitute with a man may beregarded as a private contract in which each party has the same rightsand obligations. If one of the two contractors deceives the other byconcealing venereal disease, the latter has the right to claimdamages, if there is sufficient proof of infection from this source. 

The right of indemnity does not, however, constitute the principalpoint. In order to successfully combat prostitution and venerealdisease, fundamental social reforms are necessary. 

(1). First of all the system of exploitation of the poor by the richshould be put an end to, the work of the poor being remunerated atits true value. This requires a social transformation of the relationsbetween capital and labor. 

(2). The use of narcotics, and especially alcohol, should besuppressed. 

(3). The false modesty concerning sexual intercourse should be doneaway with. 

(4). The public should be instructed in the dangers of venerealdisease and in the means of preventing contamination. The only certainmeans of curing them consists in not contracting them. 

(5). Cleanliness should be universally encouraged, especially insexual intercourse. 

(6). Preventive measures should be employed in every coitus, theobject of which is not procreation. 

(7). The treatment of venereal diseases in hospitals should be carriedout in a decent and humane manner, so as not to shock the modesty ofeither sex, especially women, and so that patients need not be ashamedof submitting to medical treatment. Nowadays the venereal divisions ofhospitals often more resemble brothels. This state of things makes itimpossible for any woman with a particle of modesty to stay in theseplaces. It is evident that women who are more or less virtuous, andeven the better class of prostitutes, will avoid such hospitaltreatment as much as possible, and will thereby become the worstsources of infection. 

By treating venereal disease in hospital with more regard for decencyand modesty, by abolishing the brand of shame, and by separatingpatients according to their behavior, we might succeed in improving astate of things which is often unbearable. Patients with venerealdiseases would then more willingly submit to hospital treatment andwould be more easily cured. In Italy much progress has already beenmade in this direction. 

In conclusion, I am convinced that if we should be contented for thepresent with damming up prostitution and suppressing the causes whichrender prostitutes more and more abject, without yet being able toabolish the whole evil, a transformation of our social life, andespecially the suppression of the reign of capital as a means ofexploitation of the work of others, and suppression of the use ofalcoholic drinks, would eventually succeed in the gradual extinctionof prostitution and the substitution of concubinage, which has muchless evil results. 

VENAL CONCUBINAGE

Venal concubinage occupies an intermediate position betweenprostitution and concubinage. It is distinguished from the latter bythe fact that it is remunerated; but the distinction is very fine. 

=Lorettes. =--This is an old term which may be applied to paid womenwho are not regular prostitutes. It is hardly possible to distinguishthem from clandestine prostitutes (not on the police inscription). They are women who do not practice solicitation or sell themselves tothe first comer, but generally keep to one man for a time. 

=Grisettes. =--The Parisian grisette, whose type has become classic, isa higher class of woman who, at any rate in her primitive simplicity, was not wanting in romance. Relations with a grisette may be comparedto limited and free marriage, in which there is comparative fidelity. 

Like some of the free prostitutes, the grisette does not live only onthe support of her lover. She is often a dressmaker or a shop-girl, and makes arrangements with a lover so as to live more comfortably. 

When the grisette acts as her lover's housekeeper and lives with himon terms of the closest intimacy, the _liaison_ takes a more seriouscharacter and there is a certain degree of affection or even love. However, all these concubinages are generally limited to a few weeksor months, so that the natural love of the woman becomes blunted bysuccessive polyandry. It is always more or less a question of "anaccessory business. "

There are all kinds of lorettes and grisettes, but as a rule they aregenerally attached to small tradesmen, students, workingmen, etc. , rather than to rich men. It is a kind of contract for a limitedperiod. This system is very widespread in large towns, where theinhabitants do not interfere with each other's affairs; but isdifficult to manage in small towns, where every one knows everybody. 

=Mistresses. =--These may be called the aristocrats of the species. Here we see more distinctly the transition from venal love to freeconcubinage based on mutual love. The _hetaira_ of the ancient Greeks(vide Chapter VI) corresponded more or less to the modern mistresses, especially to the intelligent mistresses of men in high positions. Incertain respects we may say that George Sand, for example, was a_hetaira_ from pure love, while among the Greek _hetaira_ money playeda great part. Some mistresses are paid; others live on terms ofequality with their lovers; others again maintain their lovers. Wemust also distinguish between mistresses who live with married men, and those who live with bachelors. 

The most typical case is that where a bachelor who wishes to remainfree takes a mistress, whom he also makes mistress of his house, andwho thus becomes an illegitimate wife who may separate from him whenit pleases her. Some women contract this kind of union without beingactually paid, simply for their maintenance, in return for which theydo the housework. Here there is no actual sale of the body. Thecontract may be indefinite or limited. In such cases the effect ofmoney on the attitude of the man toward his mistress is evident; histone is generally less respectful toward paid mistresses than towardthose who are not paid. The love of the paid mistress is little moredurable or more intense than that of the grisette, the situation beingalmost the same. 

Zola's _Nana_ prostituted herself regularly with rich men: secondly, she was the mistress of Fontan, who plays the part of a high-classprotector; thirdly, she fell in love with Georges in quite an idyllicfashion. Bordenave, the manager, had good reason in wishing histheater to be called a brothel, as he was more of a pimp than atheatrical manager. This example, a little far-fetched, shows howideas pass from one to another in this elastic domain. 

There are also married mistresses. The position of mistress to amarried man is, on the whole, more delicate than that of mistress to abachelor. We are only concerned here with paid mistresses. They seldomgive themselves to married men except when the home life of the latteris more or less disorganized; when the husband is separated from thewife, or when he lives in open warfare with her. A married man, on thecontrary, may secretly visit brothels or private prostitutes, ofteneven with his wife's knowledge, because the prostitute can have noinfluence in family affairs. This reason has even been used for thedefense of prostitution. It is true that married men often haveconnection with other women, and the term mistress has been applied tothe women who take part in this intercourse, whether they or theirlover, or both of them, are already married. But in this case money isusually only a secondary consideration, when the households concernedare not broken up. It is often only the maneuver of an intriguer whotries to separate a husband from his wife to marry him herself andmonopolize his fortune. It is sufficient to show how difficult itoften is to distinguish the paid mistress from the woman who does notgive herself from interest but from passion, or from the intriguingadventuress who tries to make a good catch. 

Lorettes, grisettes and paid mistresses seldom have children. Thesewomen are more rarely infected with venereal diseases thanprostitutes, but they are better acquainted with the methods ofpreventing conception. 

The fate of the children of venal concubines is generally very sad. They are not the fruits of love but of a sexual union based onidleness and lewdness. If conception occurs in spite of allprecautions, artificial abortion is attempted, or if this fails thechild is sent to the "baby farmer, " who gets rid of it. The women whodispose of their children in this way are often of the better class;common prostitutes often love and take care of their children, whilethe young ladies of society generally try and get rid of theirillegitimate children, because they are much more compromised. Somemarried women even do not hesitate to perform abortion when a childinconveniences them. 

We have only mentioned the fourth group of women with which we areconcerned, because of its mercantile nature. Every union in which ahuman being gives love for money is unnatural. Venal love is not truelove, but an improper contract between man and woman, with the objectof satisfying the sexual appetite, without any regard to the higherobject intended by nature. It sometimes happens that similarcontracts are made in the inverse direction, when a nymphomaniacalwoman purchases a fine young man, under some pretext or other. Invertsalso pay boys to satisfy their perverted appetites. 

However unsavory may be the contents of the present chapter, it wasnecessary to write it in order to give a clear idea of the subject. Under the pretense of virtue venal love has too long been covered witha veil of hypocrisy. Prostitution, marriage for money and venalconcubinage are, each in its way, elements of corruption and decadencewhich, combined with alcohol, gambling, speculation, the greed formoney and pleasure in general, threaten our modern culture with ruin. Among these anomalies, the State organization of prostitution beingthe most monstrous, it is necessary to begin with its suppression. 

Among the ancients, the goddess Venus or Aphrodite was the symbol ofbeauty and love. Although somewhat sly, she was fecund, full of desireand charm, and embodied not only the natural aspirations of man, butalso his artistic ideal. Nowadays, she is dragged in the mire by twofalse gods--Bacchus, who makes a gross and vulgar brute of her, andMammon, who transforms her into a venal prostitute--while ahypocritical religious asceticism, endeavors in vain to confine her ina strait-waistcoat. May the progress of science and culture find thepower to deliver her from the tyranny of her two infamous companions, deified by human ignorance and bestiality. Then only will the goddessof love appear in all her glory!

CHAPTER XI

THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON SEXUAL LIFE

However strong may be the hereditary sexual instincts which anindividual has inherited by phylogeny from his ancestors, and howeverviolent their internal outbreaks in his ontogeny, it is necessary torecognize that an organism so complicated as that of man is capable ofadapting itself to its environment to a remarkable and varied degree, and that consequently external influences react strongly on the sexualappetite. We will now examine these influences, so far as they are notdealt with in other chapters. 

=Influence of Climate. =--Warm climates appear to excite the intensityof sexual life; man matures more quickly and is more disposed tosexual excess. I am not aware of other influences that can beattributed to climate. It is, moreover, possible that the directinfluence of heat has been confounded with the indirect action itexerts in the conditions of human existence. In cold countries life ismore laborious, and this diminishes the intensity of the sexualappetite. In warm countries man has not so much concern withdwellings, clothes and heating; life is greatly simplified, and thisfreedom from anxiety inclines him to greater sexual activity. 

=Town and Country. Isolation. Sociability. Life in Factories. =--Thesocial relations of man exert a great influence on sexual life. Hermits and those who live on isolated farms are interesting in thisrespect. Solitude generally leads man to chronic melancholia and toabnormal peculiarities, unless he has a library in his hermitage, whenhe may live in the spirit of the intellectual sociability derived fromthe study of books. 

It is quite otherwise with one who has no intellectual occupation, orone who has lived in solitude from infancy. In this case the hermitbecomes a kind of savage, without any intellectual development, andreverts more or less to the state of primitive man. 

An adult who establishes himself in solitude without providing himselfwith intellectual capital becomes strongly inclined to depressingpsychoses. This is observed among the isolated farmers, according toProfessor Seguin, of New York. The man who lives alone, or surroundedonly by the members of his family becomes disposed to certain sexualanomalies, such as incest, sodomy and masturbation. 

It is among the agricultural population that we meet with the mostnormal sexual relations and the best hygiene. The French Canadiansform a good example, and it is the same generally where agriculture ispracticed by independent peasants, not alcoholized, and having dividedproperty. Agricultural families generally procreate more children andhealthier ones than urban families. No doubt modern medical hygiene, both public and private, has made so much progress in towns that theremay be, at a certain age, proportionally more living children than inthe country; but the country children are of stronger constitution andmore healthy in every way. 

I had the opportunity of confirming this opinion while I wassuperintendent of a lunatic asylum for many years. I found it wasimpossible to recruit from the town a good staff of nurses of eithersex. 

The inhabitant of towns, it is true, learns his work more quickly, buthe lacks patience, perseverance and character, and soon shows himselfwanting in the accomplishment of his physical and moral duties. Thecountryman, on the contrary, is at first slow and clumsy, but soonbecomes more capable and careful, and more amenable to education. Thisshows that, on the average, the hereditary dispositions of thecountry-bred child are better than those of the town-bred child. Thelatter develops more rapidly and more completely his naturaldispositions, owing to social intercourse, while the country-bredchild, although he appears at first sight less intelligent, is reallybetter endowed on the average than the town child. The superficialobserver is easily deceived, but country life accumulates more reserveforce in the organism than urban life. 

Sexual excesses in the country are more conformable to nature. Apartfrom marriage, we meet with concubinage, infidelity, and sometimesprostitution, but these excesses are never widely spread in smallplaces where every one knows each other. An extensive study of thealcohol question has shown me that hereditary degenerations and sexualevils in the country are principally due to alcoholism and itsblastophthoria (vide Chapter I). But when factories, miningindustries, etc. , create unhealthy conditions in the country, the evilinfluences of urban life are implanted there, often in a still higherdegree. 

The society of large towns is made up of many different circles, whohave little or no relations with each other, do not know each other, and seldom concern themselves about each other. The individual is onlyknown in his own circle. This circumstance favors the increase of viceand depravity. In addition to this, the insanitary dwellings, the lifeof excitement and innumerable pleasures, all tend to produce arestless and unnatural existence. The best conditions of existence forman are contact with nature, air and light, sufficient physicalexercise combined with steady work for the brain, which requiresexercise as much as the other organs; this is just what is wantingamong the poor, in the town and in the factory. Instead of this theyare offered unhealthy nocturnal pleasures and a prostitution whichspreads itself everywhere with all the dangerous effects we havedescribed. The result is that they become incapable of nourishing andraising their children properly, often even of procreating them inhealthy and natural love. 

Such are the conditions of the lower classes in large towns. Alongwith prostitution, venereal disease and alcohol, the wretcheddwellings in many places lead to infamous promiscuity. In factoriesand mines things are still worse. In these places there is a swarm ofpeople continually engaged in most unhealthy occupations, and onlyleaving their work to indulge in the most repugnant sexual excesses. The rapacity, frivolity and luxury of society lead to alcoholism, poverty, promiscuity and prostitution among the lower classes andcause complete degeneration of entire industrial populations. 

In the Canton of Zurich I have had the opportunity of closelyobserving the physical and moral effects of this degeneration. Theindividuals most incapable as hospital attendants were always factoryhands. These wretched beings were generally so atrophied in body andmind that they were no use for anything except the weaving of silk andcotton. In the large English towns, such as Liverpool, and among thepopulation of certain mining districts in Belgium, I have met witheven worse degeneration of the human species. Modesty, morality andhealth are destroyed in this swarming human mass--dirty, anæmic, tuberculous, rickety, imbecile, or hysterical--and there is nodistinction between the factory girl and the prostitute. In certainBelgian districts which are a prey to alcoholism, one sometimes seeshuman beings copulating in the streets like animals, or like thedrunken Kaffirs in South Africa. What can we expect from thedescendants of a population so completely degenerate? Marriage andeven concubinage among peasants is golden in comparison!

I will now draw attention to a contemporary phenomenon of the greatestinterest. The immense development of means of transport, combined withprogress in the sanitation of dwellings, favors the transportation oftown to country and country to town. This brings together the twomodes of human life, and in this I see the dawn of salvation in thefuture. The modern towns of North America, thanks to the greatextension of their territory, already resemble the country to a greatextent, each house being surrounded by a garden. The electric tramwaysshorten distances and facilitate this manner of building towns. Asmeans of communication become still more simplified and cheapened, theadvantages of country life will be joined to those of the town withoutsuffering from the promiscuity of the latter. The disadvantages ofcountry life consist in atrophy of the intellectual dispositions fromwant of contact; improvement in means of transport will bring thiscontact to the country. The result of such distribution of theterritory of a civilized state, such as I have in view, might becalled an _Agropolis_--an urbanized country or a countrified town. Itwould then be possible to live a life more ideal in human sentiments, and healthier as regards material and sexual matters. 

The state of the countryman or peasant is advantageous for marriage, not only because it does not offer such a suitable soil forprostitution, but because the danger of venereal disease isdiminished, and the procreation of healthy offspring favors conjugalhappiness and constancy in sexual union. From the religious point ofview, the freedom in sexual intercourse which prevails among countrypeople before marriage is looked upon as immoral; but this is anatural phenomenon similar to the "marriage by trial" of certainsavage races, or the "hand-fasting" of the Scotch people, of which wehave spoken in Chapter VI. People who tolerate and defend prostitutionshould be ashamed of their hypocrisy and of the manner in which theydistort morality, when in the same breath they reproach peasants withtheir natural but illegitimate unions. 

It is needless to say that other causes of degeneration may exist inthe country as well as in towns; for instance, certain endemicdiseases, such as myxoedema and malaria, the brutish life of certaintribes, perpetuation of degeneracy by consanguineous unions, etc. 

The worst state is certainly that of the proletariat of large towns, which is generally associated with crime. In the community of pimps, criminals and decadents in general, is constituted a special socialoutlook, which regards the greatest scamp in the light of a hero. Whena child shows a precocious criminal disposition it is looked upon inthese circles as a child of much promise. Honest and virtuous childrenare considered in this society as imbeciles, or even as traitors andspies, and are consequently despised, hated and ill-treated. Thedeleterious influences we have mentioned do not act alone, but areoften associated with other factors in causing degeneration of thesexual life. When other influences preponderate, we may sometimesobserve depravity in the country, and on the contrary, healthy andnormal conditions in certain towns. We must always avoid exaggeratingthe importance of a single factor in making generalizations. Certaincountry villages, the inhabitants of which have become alcoholized anddegraded, may present a much more unhealthy sexual life than certainsober and well-governed towns. 

=Vagabondage. =--In the _Archiv für Rassen und Gesellschafts biologie_of 1905 (Archives of the biology of races and of society), DoctorJörger relates the history of the descendants of a couple ofvagabonds, which he carefully studied for several generations. Nearlyall the members of this family became vagabonds, thieves, prostitutes, and other society pests. Vain attempts were made to give a goodeducation to some of them, but they ran away from school to lead thelives of vagabonds or criminals. In a few of them only, education gavesome results, but not at all brilliant. In this family, alcoholism andits blastophthoria played a considerable part. 

We can hardly admit that the mnemic phenomena explained in Chapter Icould have acted appreciably in two or three hundred years, a periodmuch too short for the human species. No doubt the common ancestor ofthe above family of vagabonds descended from a family of vagabonds. Ido not, however, think I am wrong in attributing to blastophthoria, superposed on the disastrous combinations of germs which is inevitablein the life of vagabonds, the principal cause of this typicaldegeneration of the family, a degeneration in which sexual degradationstrongly predominates. I recommend Doctor Jörger's work to any oneinterested in this question. It would be useful to draw upgenealogical tables, with the medical and psychological descriptionsof the whole population of a small town. 

=Americanism. =--By this term I designate an unhealthy feature ofsexual life, common among the educated classes of the United States, and apparently originating in the greed for dollars, which is moreprevalent in North America than anywhere else. I refer to theunnatural life which Americans lead, and more especially to its sexualaspect. 

The true American citizen despises agricultural work and manual laborin general, especially for women. His aim is to centralize labor bymeans of machinery and commerce, so as to concern himself only withbusiness, intellectual occupations and sport. American women considermuscular work and labor in the country as degrading to their sex. Thisis a relic of the days of slavery, when all manual labor was left tonegroes, and is so to a great extent at the present day. 

Desirous of remaining young and fresh as long as possible, fearing thedangers and troubles of childbirth and the bringing-up of children, the American woman has an increasing aversion to pregnancy, childbirth, suckling and the rearing of large families. 

Since the emancipation of negroes has caused domestic servants in theUnited States to become expensive luxuries, family life has been to agreat extent replaced by life in hotels and boarding-houses, and thishas furnished another reason for avoiding conception and largefamilies. 

It is evident that this form of emancipation of women is absolutelydeleterious and that it leads to degeneration, if not to extinction ofthe race. The mixed Aryan (European) race of North America willdiminish and become gradually extinguished, even without emigration, and will soon be replaced by Chinese or negroes. It is necessary forwoman to labor as well as man, and she ought not to avoid thefulfillment of her natural position. Every race which does notunderstand this necessity ends in extinction. A woman's ideal oughtnot to consist in reading novels and lolling in rocking chairs, nor inworking only in offices and shops, so as to preserve her delicate skinand graceful figure. She ought to develop herself strongly andhealthily by working along with man in body and mind, and byprocreating numerous children, when she is strong, robust andintelligent. But this does not nullify the advantage that may accruefrom limiting the number of conceptions, when the bodily and mentalqualities are wanting in the procreators. 

=Saloons and Alcohol. =--I desire to draw attention once more to theevil influence of saloons and bars. The drink habit corrupts the wholeof sexual life. It is the origin of the most hideous forms ofprostitution and proxenetism, and leads to the seduction of girls. Imust mention again the barmaids whose business it is to attractcustomers by exciting their sexual desire, at the same time exploitingthemselves by prostitution. These saloons are dens of iniquity inwhich alcohol and prostitution are inextricably confounded. In Germanythey have become a veritable social plague. 

Drink makes men and women not only gross and sensual, but alsonegligent, imprudent and irreflective. The saloon takes men from theirhomes, and drink directly diminishes the population. This is seen inRussia by comparing the abstainers with the drinkers, the former beingmuch more fecund. The statistics of Doctor Bezzola show that a singledrinking bout may have a blastophthoric effect. From this and fromother causes result the deplorable consequences of coitus which takesplace during drunkenness. [7]

=Wealth and Poverty. =--While in former civilizations the rich manregarded a multiplicity of wives and children as a condition or causeof his wealth and also as its result, in our modern civilization thenumber of children diminishes with the increase of prosperity. Children have ceased to be as formerly a source of wealth; on thecontrary, they occasion much expense for their education. Again, thehigher the social position of woman the more she fears pregnancy. Herlife of ease makes her weaker and more delicate, so that she becomesless fit for the procreation of children. This phenomenon is anunhealthy product of culture and reaches a truly pathological degreein America. 

We have mentioned marriage for money, which is the prostitution of therich, and poverty, which is one of the causes of common prostitution, and we have seen how money influences sexual intercourse. We may nowstate the general principle that a mediocrity living in comfortablecircumstances without immediate daily wants, under good hygienicconditions, but requiring a man to work for his living, constitutesthe best condition both for a healthy sexual life and for health andhappiness in general. This is the _aurea mediocritas_, or modestcompetence, the excellence of which was recognized by the ancients. 

The sexuality of the rich man degenerates by luxury, comfort, excessand idleness, and by the fact that he is already satiated in hisyouth. That of the poor man is no less degenerate, owing to bad food, unhealthy dwellings, neglected education, and by vicious example whichat the opposite extreme, resembles in many points that of the richman; the exploiter and the exploited meeting in the dens of vice. Suchis the case with gambling hells, with dens for prostitution andsexual anomalies, where the poor blackmail the rich, while the latterin their capacity as social exploiters help to maintain poverty andprostitution. 

Money makes sexual intercourse unnatural; in place of letting coitustake its natural course, it makes it an object of amusement andpleasure, and also of speculation, and it debases the bodies ofwretched girls by making them objects of commerce. 

Unfortunately, the increasing facility of obtaining money withoutworking for it, due to civilization, not only corrupts the sexual lifeof the wealthy and the poverty stricken, but has the same effect onthe middle classes. A healthy and normal sexual life must beassociated with honest and arduous work. We have already remarked thatthe solution of the sexual question depends partly on the suppressionof alcoholic drink. We may add that another side of the questiondepends on the extirpation of the greed for money. If human beingscould work for the social welfare without private interest, sexualrelations would soon take their natural course. But it must beadmitted that it is difficult to find a practical solution for theproblem of social economy. 

=Rank and Social Position. =--Class distinction and social positionhave always played a part in sexual life. This is especially the casewhere certain class customs and prejudices prescribe a special codefor marriage. The consanguinity of the nobility and of royal families, who can only marry among themselves, has resulted in obviousdegeneration. Originally there was the desire to preserve the purityof noble blood, and rules formulated with this object at first hadsome success; but in the long run the exclusiveness of such selectionproduces degeneration of the group which puts it into practice. 

On the other hand, the severe rules which govern marriages among thenobility have resulted in driving the latter to extra-nuptial sexualintercourse. In their sexual excesses, the nobility, and even crownedheads, seldom amuse themselves with honest and virtuous girls of theworking classes, but more generally with actresses of loose morals, dancing girls, and hysterical sirens and adventuresses of all kinds, so long as they are pretty. Since the time of the feudal system, thenobility, having lost its real reason for existence, only lives on itstraditions. It remains in general in a state of idle depravity, faithful to its old traditions, except when it has succeeded inadapting itself to the work of modern life. It has, in fact, preservedthe vices of its ancestors rather than their virtues. 

The more than doubtful offspring of extra-nuptial intercourse amongthe nobility have often been adopted or raised to the nobility. Moreover, kings and princes have often ennobled unworthy persons whohad succeeded in pandering to their follies or exciting their sexualpassions. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at if in the offspringof such unions, the blood of the highest nobility is tainted with thatof the worst kinds of heredity. 

Another sign or effect of the degeneration of the nobility is found inthe marriages they so often contract with wealthy heiresses, often ofmediocre quality, in order to repair their escutcheon. In the MiddleAges, the nobility regarded it as degrading to work for their living, and this prejudice accelerated their degeneration; for nowadays theheroic and chivalrous deeds of the Middle Ages have little opportunityfor their performance. 

Other social classes present certain sexual peculiarities; for examplethe disastrous consequences of celibacy among the Catholic priests. This excludes an important and intelligent portion of the species fromreproduction, and also favors clandestine debauchery. 

The army and navy also exert a detrimental action on sexual life. First of all they foster one of the lowest forms of prostitution;soldiers' women are proverbial, and one of them alone may infect awhole regiment. In the second place, the absence of normal sexualintercourse favors all kinds of perversion, such as pederasty, masturbation, etc. The abominable sexual life of soldiers and sailorscorrupts them to such an extent that when they marry later on theycome to their wives with filthy habits, to say nothing of syphilis andgonorrhea. The result is the procreation of offspring who are more orless tainted in body and mind by the effects of venereal diseasecombined with alcohol. We have already mentioned the rules whichforbid German officers to marry a woman unless she possesses a certainfortune. 

In the Norwegian mercantile marine the customs contrast happily withthose we have just mentioned, and permit officers to live on boardwith their wives. In all respects the Norwegian serves as a model inthe sexual question; does he not favor conjugal life by only charginghalf-price on the boats for women who travel with their husbands!

Other classes have a less obvious influence on sexual life. On thewhole, however, all sexual isolation of castes has an unfavorableinfluence. Wherever the prejudices of a caste compel its members tointermarry, certain special degenerations are produced. Good qualityin man is not derived from class or position, but from true innate orhereditary nobility of character, and this alone should be the objectof positive selection, without any distinction of classes. 

=Individual Life. =--There is no doubt that the mode of life of theindividual exerts an influence on his sexual life. High livingcombined with little bodily exercise generally increases the sexualappetite, while insufficient food combined with severe muscular workdiminishes it. 

Intellectual work acts in a variable manner. A distinguishedpsychologist assured me that intense intellectual work excited hissexual appetite; others have said the opposite. As a rule, a sedentarylife increases the sexual appetite; a life full of occupation andmuscular activity diminishes it. But the question is complicated byother influences. 

Alcohol diminishes sexual power, while exalting desire or evenperverting it. The artificial excitants of the sexual appetite, cultivated by modern civilization by interested speculation, act inrather a different way. Erotic pictures, obscene novels and dramas, etc. , constitute an unhealthy medium in our centers of civilization, which overexcites and corrupts the sexual appetite. The more delicateand poisonous the perfume of this atmosphere and the more æsthetic therefinement by which it titillates the senses, the greater is itsdestructive action. 

The question of the reunion or separation of the sexes plays animportant part. Life in common among girls and boys from infancyusually diminishes sexual excitation, in the same way as amongbrothers and sisters. We find something analogous in differentbranches of human activity where the two sexes live together; forinstance, at college, in the fields, and in general where work andplay is common to both sexes. 

There are, however, certain exceptions to this rule, which must not betaken too generally. Under certain circumstances, life in common ofthe two sexes leads to unfavorable and even perverted sexualexcitation. This is especially the case when alcohol adds itsinfluence; also among nervous or ill-balanced individuals. In myopinion it is absolutely unreasonable for the superintendent of alunatic asylum to organize balls at which the insane of both sexes areprovided with beer or wine. I have only seen bad results from this, while I have obtained excellent effects from a temporary reunion ofthe insane of both sexes, by avoiding all alcoholic drinks as well aseverything which could excite the sexual appetite, such as dancing, orthe bringing together of erotic or perverted individuals. A youngfemale onanist who suffered from sexual excitement complicated with anervous condition, complained to me of being obliged to work as atelegraphist among young men, as this continually excited hereroticism without the possibility of satisfying it. 

This situation, which is a common one in both sexes, gives us avaluable indication. No doubt life in common for the two sexes isnormal and natural, but only on the condition that it leads eventuallyto normal sexual intercourse as the result of love. It is neitherhealthy nor normal to excite an appetite continually withoutsatisfying it. Any one who wishes to live a continent life, forreligious or other reasons, ought not to expose himself to continualexcitement by too great intimacy with the opposite sex; he should, onthe contrary, avoid everything which tends to excite his sexualappetite and seek everything which tends to pacify it. I am notreferring here to individuals of a naturally cold and indifferentnature, who run little or no risk under such circumstances. 

Certain occupations, such as those of employees in stores, telegraphoffices, etc. , in which the two sexes are closely associated in theirwork, constitute from this point of view a double-edged sword. Otherunhealthy and monotonous occupations, combined with bad conditions offood and lodging, and with all kinds of seduction--factory hands forexample--have a positively deleterious effect on sexual life, whichbecomes absolutely depraved when the two sexes work together. Thesituation is hardly any better when they are only separated duringworking hours. 

=Internats. =--All internats, _i. E. _, all establishments whereindividuals of the same sex live in the same dwelling for a long time, exert a peculiar influence on sexual life--schools and convents, forexample. 

The great inconvenience of all these establishments lies in the dangerof contamination from habits of onanism or pederasty. Inverts arestrongly attracted towards internats, where they find their heart'sdesire where they can easily indulge their perverted passions; thedormitory of such an institution having the same effect on them asthat of a girl's school would have on a young man. (Vide ChapterVIII. )

This is a matter which has not received sufficient attention inorganizing boarding-schools for boys and girls, because it was notknown that homosexual instincts are hereditary and innate. Such caseswere regarded only as acquired bad habits. 

Lunatic asylums are especially attractive to sexual inverts, who applyfor the positions of attendants or nurse so as to be able to indulgetheir passions on the insane patients, who are incapable of betrayingthem. 

Without being homosexual, nor even seduced by inverts, many normal buterotic individuals try to satisfy their sexual appetite on theircompanions--boys by pederasty, girls by lesbian love, and both sexesby mutual onanism. 

The chief danger is that of some sexually perverted individual gainingentry to a boarding-school and contaminating numbers of normalindividuals, without anything being discovered; because it is muchmore difficult to supervise a school than a family. This could beremedied better by confidence between masters and pupils than bysupervision. 

=Varia. =--I should never finish if I attempted to describe all theinfluences of environment. The examples mentioned will suffice toshow that, in a natural appetite such as the sexual, the two extremesof asceticism and excess lead to evil and unnatural aberrations, andthat the important point is to find or create a healthy environmentfor a healthy sexual life. 

We hear a good deal about good or bad luck or chance in the matter oflove. I do not deny that fortuitous circumstances often determine thehappiness of an individual in his love affairs. But it is all the moredeplorable that what is called the good manners of society make it sodifficult to correct Cupid's blunders. There is room for improvementin this direction, and many spoilt lives and much unhappiness might beavoided. The unfavorable influence of environment might often becorrected by separation or change, if this could be done in time. 

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Vide "Alkoholvergiftung und Degeneration" by Bunge: Leipzig 1904;and "Hygiene of the Nerves and Mind" by Forel: Stuttgart 1905. 

CHAPTER XII

RELIGION AND SEXUAL LIFE

=Transformation of Profane Customs into ReligiousDogmas. =--Ethnography has taught us that in the course of time humantribes often unconsciously transform profane customs into integralparts of their religion, either by attributing them to a divineorigin, or by elevating them to the rank of commandments of the gods, or by connecting them with other dogmas, combining them with worship, etc. 

Sexual connection plays an important part in this matter. A greatnumber of religious rites and customs are nothing else than thecustoms of sexual life (taken in its widest sense) which have beensymbolized; inversely, a number of dogmas have for their only motivethe application of a religious basis to sexual customs, which givesthem more authority. 

The religious rites react powerfully on the sexual life and on the wayin which the members of the tribe or people understand it. We willgive a few striking examples. 

We have seen in Chapter VI that polygamy depends first on the idea ofownership, and secondly on marriage by purchase, to which it owes itshistoric origin. But the fact that Islamism and Mormonism, forexample, have made polygamy an integral part of their religiousdogmas, has given to the whole organization of the Mahometans andMormons, as well as to their point of view of existence, a particulardirection which cannot be ignored. In reality, we are just aspolygamous as they are, but our theoretical and religious sexualmorality is monogamous while theirs is polygamous, each based oncontradictory "divine commandments. "

Among certain Buddhists, the wife is compelled to follow her husbandto the grave, which naturally influences sexual life profoundly. 

Among many savage races there exists matriarchism, which gives thewoman a high social position. This has even been made a religiousdogma, while it simply originates from the natural and just idea thatthe mother is much more intimately connected with the children thanthe father. 

The duty imposed on men to marry the widow of their brother originatedfrom a profane command intended to regulate unions; eventually thiswas made a religious dogma. In the same way circumcision among theJews had its origin in a hygienic custom having no relation toreligious faith. This did not prevent it becoming later on asimportant a custom as baptism in Christianity. For the Jewish peopleit has the advantage of protecting them to a great extent fromvenereal infection, and against one of the chief causes ofmasturbation. 

=Catholicism. =--We have already spoken of the celibacy of the Catholicpriests and of its lay origin. The Catholic religion also contains aseries of detailed precepts concerning sexual connection in generaland marriage in particular; precepts which were only graduallytransformed into religious dogmas. As they determine to a great extentopinions and manners in the sexual domain, they exert a considerablesocial influence. 

The absolute interdiction of divorce among the Catholics (man has notthe right to separate those whom God has joined together) sealsforever the most unfortunate unions and leads to misfortunes of allkinds, separation of the married couple, _liaisons_ apart frommarriage, etc. According to Liguori, the Catholic Church prescribes anumber of details concerning sexual relations in marriage. The womanwho, during coitus places herself upon the man instead of under him, commits a sin. The position and manner of performing coitus areprescribed in the most minute details, and the holy fathers make thewoman play a part unworthy of her position as wife, while accordingthe man the widest liberty. 

In truly Catholic marriage it is prescribed to procreate as manychildren as possible, and all preventive measures in coitus areseverely condemned. Hence, if the woman is very fruitful, the husbandhas only the choice between complete abstention from coitus (when bothconjoints are in agreement) and pregnancies following withoutinterruption. The woman never has the right to refuse coitus to herhusband, nor the latter to refuse it to his wife, so long as he iscapable of accomplishing it. 

It is easy to understand what powerful effects such precepts have hadand still have on the conjugal life of the Catholics, particularly onthe quantity and quality of their descendants. 

=Aural Confession. =--Confession requires special mention. In his book, "Fifty Years in the Roman Church" (Jeheber, Geneva), on page 151, Father Chiniqui, the celebrated Canadian reformer, who later on becamea Protestant, and for many years played an important part in theCanadian Catholic clergy, mentions the points on which the confessorinterrogates the penitents of both sexes. One cannot reproach him withbeing incompetent. 

No doubt the Church of to-day would reply that the confessor is notobliged to put all these questions and that the details are left tohis tact. We will agree that there is a difference between the Canadaof the last century, a new and primitive country, and the Europe ofthe present day. But I maintain: First, that the confessor does notcontent himself with listening to what the penitents of both sexestell him, but that it is his duty to interrogate them; secondly, thata celibate Catholic person, extremely serious and virtuous, to whom Iput the question unawares, informed me that not only are sexualmatters dealt with at the confessional, but that they play theprincipal role. And, as it is a question of warning the penitentsagainst so-called sins, mortal or not, or of absolving them, I fail tosee how the priest can avoid speaking of them, when the detailedprecepts of which we have spoken exist. 

I reproduce here the original Latin text. It deals with questionswhich have been treated in Chapter VIII, so that I shall dispense withgiving a translation. 

The confessor puts the following questions to his penitents:

1. _Peccant uxores, quae susceptum viri semen ejiciunt, vel ejicereconantur_ (Dens, vol. VII, p. 147). 

2. _Peccant conjuges mortaliter, si, copula incepta, prohibeantseminationem. _

3. _Si vir jam seminaverit, dubium fit an femina lethaliter peccat, si se retrahat a seminando; aut peccat lethaliter vir non expectandoseminationem uxoris_ (p. 153). 

4. _Peccant conjuges inter se circa actum conjugalem. Debet servarimodus, sive situs; uno ut non servetur debitum vas, sed copulahabeatur in vase praepostero, aliquoque non naturali. Si fiataccedendo a postero, a latere, stando, sedendo, vel si vir sitsuccumbus_ (p. 166). 

5. _Impotentia. Est incapacitas perficiendi copulam carnalem perfectamcum seminatione viri in vase se debito, seu, de se, aptam generationi. Vel, ut si mulier sit nimis arcta respectu unius non respectualterius_ (p. 273). 

6. _Notatur quod pollutio, in mulieribus possit perfici, ita ut semenearum non effluat extra membrum genitale. Indicium istius allegatBilluart, si scilicet mulier sensiat seminis resolutionem cum magnovoluptatis sensu, qua completa, passio satiatur_ (vol. IV, p. 168). 

7. _Uxor se accusans, in confessione, quod negaverit debitum, interrogatur an ex pleno rigore juris sui id petiverit_ (vol. VII, p. 168). 

8. _Confessarius poenitentem, qui confitetur se peccasse cumsacerdote, vel solicitatem ab eo ad turpia, potest interrogare utrumille sacerdos sit ejus confessarius, an in confessione sollicitaverit_(vol. VI, p. 297). 

In volumes V and VII of Dens may be found many such precepts, impossible to reproduce, on which the pious casuist desires hispenitents to be examined. 

Let us now pass on to the celebrated Liguori. Among numerous otherobscene questions of a refined erotic nature, every confessor is boundto put the two following to his penitents:

1. _Quaerat an sit semper mortale, si vir immitat pudenda in osuxoris. .. ?_

_Verius affirmo, quia in hoc actu, ob calorem oris, adest proximumpericulum pollutionis, et videtur nova species luxuriae contranaturam, dicta irruminatio. _

2. _Eodem modo, Sanchez damnat virum de mortali qui, in actu copulae, immite ret digitum in vas praeposterum uxoris; quia, ut ait, in hocactu, adest affectus ad-Sodomiam_ (Liguori, t. VI, p. 935). 

Let us now leave the celebrated Liguori and pass on to Burchard, thebishop of Worms. He has written a book on the questions which thepriest should put at the confessional. Although this book no longerexists it has been for ages the guide of the Roman Catholic priests atthe confessional. Dens, Liguori, Debreyne, etc. , have taken from ittheir most savory passages, to recommend them as a study for ourpresent confessors. We will give a few examples:

(_a_) To young men:

1. _Fecisti solus tecum fornicationem ut quidam facere solent; itadico ut ipse tuum membrum virile in manum tuam acciperes, et sicduceres praeputium tuum, et manu propria commoveres, ut sic per illamdelectationem semen projiceres?_

2. _Fornicationem fecisti cum masculo intra coxas; ita dico ut tuumvirile membrum intra coxas alterius mitteres, et sic agitando semenfunderes?_

3. _Fecisti fornicationem, ut quidam facere solent, ut tuum virilemembrum in lignum perforatum aut in aliquod hujus modi mitteres et sicper illam commotionem et delectationem semen projiceres?_

4. _Fecisti fornicationem contra naturam, id est, cum masculis velanimalibus coire, id est, cum equo, cum vacca vel asina, vel aliquoanimali?_ (vol. I, p. 136). 

(_b_) To young girls or women (same collection, p. 115):

1. _Fecisti quod quaedam mulieres solent, quoddam molimen, autmachinamentum in modum virilis membri ad mensuram tuae voluptatis, etillud loco verendorum tuorum aut alterius cum aliquibus ligaturis utfornicationem faceres cum aliis mulieribus, vel alio eodeminstrumento, sive alio tecum?_

2. _Fecisti quod quaedam mulieres facere solent, ut jam supra dictomolimine vel alio aliquo machinamento, tu ipsa in te solam faceresfornicationem?_

3. _Fecisti quod quaedam mulieres facere solent, quando libidinem sevexantem extinguere volunt, quae se conjugunt quasi coire debeant etpossint, et conjungunt invicem puerperio sua, et si fricando pruritumillarum extinguere desiderant?_

4. _Fecisti quod quaedam mulieres facere solent, ut cum filio tuoparvulo fornicationem faceres, ita dico ut filium tuum supraturpidinem tuam poneres ut sic imitaberis fornicationem?_

5. _Fecisti quod quaedam mulieres facere solent, ut succumberes aliquojumento et illud jumentum ad coitum qualicumque posses ingenio ut siccoiret tecum?_

The celebrated Debreyne has written a whole book on the same subjectfor the instruction of young confessors, and in it he has enumeratedall kinds of debauchery and sexual perversion which he could imagine, "Maechiology, " or _Treatise on all the Sins against the Sixth_(seventh in the Decalogue) _and the Ninth_ (tenth) _Commandments_, aswell as on all questions of married life connected with them. 

This book is very celebrated and is widely studied in the RomanChurch. We only quote from it the two following questions:

To men:

_Ad cognoscendum an usque ad pollutionem se tetigerint, quando temporeet quo fine se tetigerint; an tunc quoddam motus in corpore expertifuerint, et per quantum temporis spatium; an cessantibus tactibusnihil insolitum et turpe acciderit; ad non longe majorem in corporevoluptatem perciperint in fine inactum quam in eorum principio; an tumin fine quando magnam delectationem carnalem senserunt, omnes motuscorporis cessaverint; an non malefacti fuerint?_ etc. , etc. 

To girls:

_Quae sese tetigisse fatentur, an non aliquem pruritum extingueretentaverit, et utrum pruritus ille cessaverit cum magnam senserintvoluptatem; an tunc ipsimet tactus cessaverint?_

Among a thousand other analogous precepts the reverend Kenrick, bishopof Boston, in the United States, gives the following to hisconfessors:

_Uxor quae, in usu matrimonii, se vertit, ut non recipiat semen, velstatim post illud acceptum surgit, ut expellatur, lethaliter peccat;sed opus non est ut diu resuspina jaceat, quum matrix, brevi semenattrahat, et mox, arctissime claudatur. _

_Puellae patienti licet se vertere et conari ut non recipiat semen, quod injuria et emittitur; sed, acceptum non licet expellere, quia jampossessionem pacificam habet et haud absque injuria naturaeejiceretur. _

_Conjuges senes plerumque coeunt absque culpa, licet contingat semenextra vas effundi; id enim per accidens fit ex infirmitati naturae. _

_Quod si vires adeo sint fractae ut nulla sit seminandi intra vasspes, jam nequeunt jure conjugi uti_ (vol. III, p. 317). 

Such is the teaching of Chiniqui, the man whose courage and powerfulindividuality succeeded in introducing abstinence from alcohol inCanada. His long life was that of a pioneer and an inflexible championof social and moral reform in that country, based on Christianity. Hedied at the age of ninety. 

I have quoted the erotic precepts of the confessional from him, as Iwas anxious to quote from an absolutely reliable source. It was notwith a light heart that Chiniqui abandoned the Catholic Church, butonly after violent and bitter struggles with conscience, struggles ofwhich he relates the tragic episodes, and which lasted for many years. 

He commences the chapter from which we have quoted with the followingwords: "Let legislators, fathers and husbands read this chapter andask themselves the question whether the respect which they owe totheir mothers, their wives and their daughters does not impose uponthem the duty of forbidding auricular confession. How is it possiblefor a young girl to remain pure in mind after such conversations withan unmarried man? Is she not more prepared for the depths of vice thanfor conjugal life?" The author of these lines is a man who was obligedfor many years to be a confessor himself, and who understood to whatextent confession corrupted the sexual life of women and priests. Itis true that persons, priests or women, of strong character, andespecially those with a cold nature from the sexual point of view, mayresist such sexual excitation. But has confession been speciallyinstituted for this type of character? Every one who is not ahypocrite will own that it is exactly the contrary. 

=Religious Prudery. =--The results of such a combination of sexual lifewith religious prescriptions are a mixture of ridiculous prudery andcontinual eroticism. In certain convents (those of the nuns ofGalicia, for example) the nuns forbid their pupils to wash the sexualorgans, because it is improper! In Austria the nuns often cover thecrucifix in their bedroom with a handkerchief, "so that Christ cannotsee their nakedness"! But the convents of nuns, in the Middle Ages, were often transformed into brothels; and it is not uncommon to seehypocrites or the subjects of erotic hysteria (both men and women)perform sexual orgies of the worst kind under the cloak of religiousecstasy. 

=Hottentots. Eunuchs. =--Among the Hottentots, the lips of the vulva(_labia minora_) in women are artificially elongated, and among theOrientals eunuchs are made. In themselves these two operations havecertainly nothing to do with religion and only originated in profanecustoms. In the course of time they were made religious precepts, which has deeply rooted them in the customs of the people. 

=Religious Eroticism. =--The examples which we have cited show to whatextent man is disposed to clothe his eroticism with the cloak ofreligion. He then attributes a divine origin to his desires and laysthe precepts which he attaches to them on the commandments of his Godor gods, so as to sanctify them. Hence, the unnatural influence of amysticism, which is nothing else than the crystallized product of thefantastic imagination of men, raised to a dogma, imposes itselfindirectly on natural sexual life, by entering at the back door underthe cloak of religion. It is obvious that grave abuses or even vicesoften acquire the seal and power of religious precepts; while in thesame domain a number of other customs or precepts are based on goodhygienic or moral principles, for example, circumcision and conjugalfidelity. 

It is perhaps in the domain of pathology that the relations ofreligion to sexual life are the most striking (see Chapter VIII). Wemust not forget that the facts of reproduction seem to ignorant peopleand especially to barbarians, to be of a very mysterious nature. Thesepeople have no idea of germinal cells or their conjugation. They seein conception, embryogeny, pregnancy and birth, the miraculous effectsof a divine and occult higher power--of the divinity, often even ofthe devil. 

The violent excitement which is associated with the sexual appetiteand with love urges man to ecstasy; hence it is not to be wondered atthat eroticism is so often complicated by ecstatic religioussentiments. 

In his book on Psychopathia sexualis, Krafft-Ebing remarks how easilyreligion, poetry and eroticism are combined and mingled in the obscurefeelings and presentiments of maturing youth. In the life of saintsthere is always the question of sexual temptations, in which the mostelevated and ideal sentiments are mixed with the most repugnant eroticimages. On the same basis are developed the sexual orgies of differentreligious fêtes in the ancient world, as well as in certain modernsects. 

Mysticism, religious ecstasy and sexual voluptuousness are oftencombined in a real trinity, and one often sees unsatisfied sensualityseek compensation in religious exaltation. Krafft-Ebing cites thefollowing cases from Friedreich's "Legal Psychology" (p. 389):

 In this way the nun Blaubekin was perpetually tormented by the thought of what happened to the part of Jesus' body removed by circumcision. 

 In order to make his devotions to the lamb of God, Véronique Juliani, who was canonized by Pope Pius II, took into his chamber a terrestrial lamb, embraced it and sucked its breasts. 

 Saint Catherine of Gênes often suffered from such internal heat, that, to cool herself, she laid on the ground, crying: "Love, love, I can do no more!" In doing this she felt a peculiar inclination for her confessor. One day, putting his hand to her nose, she perceived an odor which penetrated her heart, "a celestial odor the voluptuousness of which could wake the dead. "

=The Role of Mental Pathology in Religious Eroticism. =--Among theinsane, and especially in women, but also in men afflicted with_paranoia_ (a mental disease) we often find a strange and repugnantmixture of eroticism and religious images. Such are the everlastingbetrothals with Christ, the Virgin Mary, with God or with the HolySpirit, betrothals in which the venereal orgasm is combined withimaginary coitus and masturbation, followed by imaginary pregnancy andchildbirth. These symptoms give us a clear indication of the relationwhich exists between eroticism and religious exaltation. The Frenchalienists have even designated them by the characteristic term of"erotico-religious delirium. " A single visit to the female division ofa lunatic asylum is often sufficient to satisfy the visitor. 

A point which has received less attention is the immense historicalinfluence which certain psychopathological personalities, chieflyhysterical subjects, but also some crazy persons or hereditaryvisionaries, have exercised at all times on human destiny, usually bythe aid of the suggestive effects of sexual and religious ideas(erotico-religious), the connections of which have not always beenclear. 

Every psychiatrist knows the insane whose delirium is combined withreligious or mystic exaltation, and who by the mysticism of theirdelirium have exercised and continue to exercise a profound influenceon the mass of humanity which surround them--"Panurge's Sheep, " if Imay use the expression. These people are themselves so dominated bythe pathological influence of their auto-suggestions or their deliriumthat they behave with the fanaticism of fakirs, and exhibit anextraordinary energy and perseverance in the pursuit of the object oftheir morbid ideas. By their assurance, the sentiment ofinfallibility, and the fire of faith which is manifested in theirprophetical manner, they fascinate the feeble brains of the people whosurround them and attract them by their suggestive action. 

A very human and often powerful eroticism is usually associated withtheir delirium; but it is covered by a cloak of religious ecstasy, which imposes on natures disposed to exaltation, and renders themblind to the ignominy which often lies under this ecstasy. 

What makes these patients so persuasive is the fact that they arethemselves persuaded. Even the normal man, we must admit, is guidedless by reason than by sentiment, and the persons we have justdescribed exert a powerful action on sentiment, and this more by theirpiercing glance, their prophetic and dominating tone, their manner andappearance, than by the extremely confused text of their discoursesand doctrines. 

In this way there are always arising small epidemics of attraction inwhich a group of individuals allows itself to be infatuated byso-called prophets, messiahs, holy virgins and other visionaries, whoare only lunatics or crazy persons. Under their influence are producedcertain forms of insanity by contagion, which have been called double, triple or quadruple madness, and which may sometimes take the form ofan epidemic. 

When the "prophet" is more consistent in his words and actions, orwhen his environment is still very ignorant and superstitious, thecrowd of believers increases still more rapidly, and thus one seeseven at the present day in less-civilized countries new sects orreligious guilds, more or less ephemeral, in which the spirit of theprophet sometimes stirs up grave sexual orgies. 

Among more cultured people the prophet is generally exposed or sent toa lunatic asylum, much to the indignation of his disciples, who oftenconsist of his wife and children and a few feeble-mindedacquaintances. 

Thanks to the cheapness of printing, these prophets often publishtheir new religious system and sell it among their dupes. I possess asmall library of works of this kind which have been sent me by theirauthors; probably with the idea that they might one day be taken forfools, and to prove to me in advance that they were not. 

According to them, God has personally revealed to them the new truthin which they believe, and has appointed them as prophets. Eroticimages are generally associated with their system. One of them, whosesystem is astronomical, divides the planets into males and females. Another, a lunatic, describes the pathological sexual sensations bythe term of "psycho-sexual contact by action at a distance. " These arephenomena which we meet with at each step in psychiatry, and whichgive the clue to what follows. 

=The Historical Role of Mental Anomalies which are Not Very Apparentand Border on Genius. Their Influence on Religious Eroticism. =--Thesepersons are not always afflicted with paranoia or other gravepsychoses, but often hereditary and constitutional psychopaths who areonly half-crazy or simply hysterical, and who may, in spite of thisdefect, possess a certain degree of intellectual power, an energeticwill and the fire of enthusiasm. Things then take an essentiallydifferent course, even when they rest on an analogous basis. 

The prophet combines with his exaltation a logic which is often veryconcise in its details, although applied on a morbid basis. Moreover, he clothes his utterances in fine and poetical language, and in thisway succeeds in rallying round him, not a flock of Panurge's ignorantsheep, but more elevated people and even a considerable proportion ofthe surrounding society. In this case pathological exaltation may beunited to a high moral and intellectual ideal, which is very apt toveil the bizarre fancies of the prophet. We thus meet with theastonishing but undeniable fact that certain great historicalpersonalities who have exercised a powerful influence on humanity wereof more or less pathological nature. We discover among themerotico-religious traits, more or less marked, often even as theleading threads of their arguments. 

This important category of individuals constitutes a whole series oftransitions between the insane prophets of whom we have spoken andwell-balanced men of genius. It is often very difficult to understandand interpret the series of intermediate forms, so graduating and sovariable, which exist between insanity and genius. It is necessary toguard against any exclusive generalization in one way or the other. 

In any case, the fact that many men of genius are of pathologicalnature does not authorize us to regard every person of genius ororiginality as insane, whether he attacks the routine and prejudicesof his contemporaries, or whether he opens up new horizons and goesout of the beaten track. Let me cite a few examples. 

Joan of Arc was, in my opinion, a hysterical genius whosehallucinations were auto-suggestive. The distress of France hadprofoundly agitated her, and, fired with the desire to save hercountry, her brain was affected by auto-suggestion with hallucinationsof the voices of saints and visions, which pointed out her mission andwhich she regarded as coming from real saints in heaven. At thatperiod such things were common enough and need not surprise us. Inspite of her good sense and modesty, Joan of Arc was urged by anexaltation unconscious of self. By a destiny as astonishing asprovidential, this young girl of genius, and at the same timepathological, exalted by ecstatic hallucinations, led France to avictorious war of freedom. The most conscientious historical sourcesshow that the morality of Joan of Arc was pure and above reproach. Herreplies to the invidious questions of the Inquisition are admirableand bear witness both to her high intelligence and the moral elevationof her sentiments. It is evident that the sentiments of love weretransformed in her into religious ecstasy and enthusiasm for the idealof her mission, a frequent occurrence among women. 

Another remarkable example is that of Thomas à Becket. The suddentransformation of this man of the world into an ascetic priest (it istrue, on the occasion of his nomination as archbishop), from thisdevoted friend and servitor of the king of England into his mostviolent adversary, and into a champion of the Church against theState, evidently represents the auto-suggestive transformation of ahysterical subject, for this is the only way of explaining such asudden and complete contradiction which caused him to change suddenlyfrom one fanaticism to a contrary one. 

The religious exaltation of the Mormon prophet, Smith, was no doubtcombined with eroticism, which made him organize his sect on the basisof polygamy. 

Mahomet also had visions, and sexual connection plays an importantpart in his teaching and prophesies. The apostle St. Paul was also avisionary who passed suddenly from one extreme to another as theresult of hallucination. Pascal, Napoleon, and Rousseau presented verymarked pathological traits. 

Although some of these cases have no direct connection with the sexualquestion, I have mentioned them to show how such personalities exerttheir influence on the masses, and through them on history. As soon asthey acquire authority, their peculiar ideas and sexual conceptions, however exclusive or even absurd they may be, react strongly on theircontemporaries, as we see to-day the ascetic ideas of Tolstoiinfluence his numerous disciples. 

Sudden conversions, whatever may be their nature, especially when theconvert goes from one extreme to another, are not the fruit of reason, but depend on suggestion or auto-suggestion and especially onpathological suggestibility. (Vide Chapter IX). 

In other respects sexual anomalies often govern the acts of hystericalpersons and other psychopaths. The Roman emperors, Nero, Tiberius andCaligula were almost certainly sadists and enjoyed sexual pleasure atthe sight of the sufferings of their victims. Valerie, Messalina andCatherine de Médici were also female sadists. Under the hypocriticalveil of religion, Catherine de Médici was the principal instigator ofthe Massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris, and wallowed in pleasure atthe sight of the massacre of the Huguenots. 

On the other hand, masochism may give tone to the thoughts and sexualfeelings of certain persons of great influence, such as Rousseau, andto sects of ascetics, such as the fakirs, etc. 

Involuntarily, therefore, the sexual feelings of every prophet andfounder of religion, even during a short period of his life only, influence more or less his religious system and consequently the lawsof morality based on it, which remain after his death. 

Hence it is that sentiments, as variable in different individuals assexual sentiments, are obliged to submit to the constraint of fixedand tyrannical dogmas which martyrize for centuries, or even thousandsof years, men who have other opinions than the founder of the religionor its interpreters who succeed him. 

In religion we see everywhere idealized eroticism, and often idealismperfumed with eroticism. The Songs of Solomon, the original sense ofwhich was very lay, like that of most religious matters, has been madeallegorical and applied to the Christian Church, but it was and willalways remain an erotic poem. 

It is hardly necessary to add that natural eroticism very often leadsthe severe and ascetic preachers of morality to the grossesthypocrisy. Priests and other pious persons often preach an idealizedasceticism, while in secret they commit the most disgusting sexualexcesses. 

We must not, however, judge such crying inconsistencies too severely;they are to a great extent unconscious and are the result of the shockof passion against the tyranny of dogma, prejudice, and publicopinion. They are often also the result of mental anomalies. Whenscience is allowed to enlighten sexual life freely and openly, thehypocrisy of normal people will cease, and that of the abnormal willbe recognized in time and prevented from doing harm. 

=Transformation of Eroticism into Religious Sentiment. =--In ordinarylife we find everywhere traces of the mixture of religion with sexualsensations and images. The religious ceremonies of marriage among allpeoples constitute a significant remnant thereof. 

When we look for the causes of sudden and progressive religiousexaltation we often discover that it is nothing else than compensationfor disappointed love. I refer here to true and fervid exaltation, identified with the whole inner consciousness, and not to the religionof habit which the average man scarcely remembers in his daily life, and only observes on Sunday in the form of a conventional promenade, or a contribution to the church. This religion of habit is only anempty form, which awakes no sentiment, and consequently is associatedwith no sensation, even erotic, in its followers. 

In other individuals it may be otherwise, and certainly was soformerly. Everything goes to prove that the exalted sentiments ofsympathy from which our religion is to a great extent derived, such asthe holy fervor, the devotional ardor and the delights of ecstasywhich it has so often procured for its followers and still procuresfor some of them, whether their object be God, Allah, Jehovah, JesusChrist, Buddha, Vishnu, the Virgin Mary, or the Saints, that thesesentiments have to a great extent their roots in primary eroticsensations and sentiments, or represent the direct transformation ofthem. 

It is needless to say that all this may take place quite unconsciouslyand with the purest intentions. I hasten to add that the majority oftrue religious sentiments come from quite a different source. 

When we study the religious sentiment profoundly, especially in theChristian religion, and Catholicism in particular, we find at eachstep its astonishing connection with eroticism. We find it in theexalted adoration of holy women, such as Mary Magdalene, Marie deBethany, for Jesus, in the holy legends, in the worship of the VirginMary in the Middle Ages, and especially in art. The ecstatic Madonnasin our art galleries cast their fervent regards on Jesus or on theheavens. The expression in Murillo's "Immaculate Conception" may beinterpreted by the highest voluptuous exaltation of love as well as byholy transfiguration. The "Saints" of Correggio regard the Holy Virginwith an amorous ardor which may be celestial, but appears in realityextremely terrestrial and human. 

Numerous sects, both ancient and modern, have entered on the scene ina hardly less libidinous manner; for example, the sexual excesses ofthe anabaptists in former times and the sexual ecstasies of certainmodern sects in America. 

If the objection is raised that these sects are the pathologicalexcrescences of religion, I reply with their disciples as follows: "Wehave come into the world because your State religions are sunk inindifference, hypocrisy and hollow formality, offering nothing to thehuman heart but empty phrases. It behooves us to awaken from thissleep. We want enthusiasm and fervor to transform the inner life ofman and convert him. " These words, which we can see and heareverywhere by opening our eyes and ears, constitute a formal avowal ofthe suggestive factor in religion. (See Chapter IX. )

In the Canton of Zurich I have myself often had occasion to observe, especially among women, the followers of the singular sect of thePastor Zeller, of Maennedorf. He is a kind of visionary prophet whoheals people after the manner of Christ and John the Baptist, byplacing his hands on them and anointing them with oil. The cures whichhe obtains are due naturally to suggestion, like those of Lourdes, buthe attributes them to divine miracles. He even told me naively that heheard a grinding (crepitation) in a broken bone, which he regarded asa miraculous cure! A crowd of women, mostly hysterical, collectedaround this man with an ardor which was unconsciously directed muchmore to his person than to that of God or Christ whom he was supposedto symbolize. I have treated patients who had been to him, and whoassociated with his person both the mildest and the most carnal eroticimages--of course, in the innocence of their hearts. 

It is far from me to reproach this sincere man and many others of thesame kind, especially the priests who are surrounded by a halo ofsanctity pushed to ecstasy. I only maintain that when a human beingexalts himself in the search for pure-mindedness and sanctity, thusdenying his true nature, he is always in danger of fallingunconsciously into the most gross sensuality, and at the same time ofsanctifying this sensuality. 

=Description of Religious Eroticism by the Poets. =--The Swiss poet, Gottfried Keller, with his peculiar genius has described religiouseroticism in an admirable way, especially in his seven legends. Read, for example, _Dorothea's Blumenkörbchen_ (Dorothea's littleflower-basket), in which the terrestial lover of Dorothea ends bybecoming jealous of her celestial lover, of whom she always speaks inthe most exalted sentiments. Wherever she went she spoke in the mosttender terms and expressed the most ardent desire for a celestiallover that she had found, who waited in immortal beauty to press heragainst his shining breast. When the wicked prefect had bound Dorotheaon the gridiron under which was placed a slow fire, this hurt herdelicate body, and she uttered smothered cries. Then her terrestriallover, Theophilus, forcing his way through the crowd, burst her bondsand said with a sad smile, "Does it hurt you, Dorothea?" But whensuddenly freed from all pain she immediately replied: "How could ithurt me, Theophilus? I lay on the roses of the lover I adore! This ismy wedding day!" Keller shows us here, along with eroticism, thesuggestive effect of ecstasy, which among martyrs, may reach the mostcomplete anæsthesia. 

Goethe has also described erotico-religious ecstasy; for example, atthe end of the second part of Faust, in the prayers addressed bycertain anchorites to the queen of heaven. 

=Distinction Between Religion and the Ecstasy Derived fromEroticism. =--It would be quite false to maintain that religion initself arises from sexual sensations. The terror of death and theenigmas of existence, the sentiments of human weakness andinsufficiency of life, the want of consolation for all miseries, thehope of a future life, all play an important part in the origin ofreligions. On the other hand, it is necessary to recognize theconsiderable role of the erotic sexual factor in religious sentimentsand dogmas, where on the one hand it leads to ardent fervor, while onthe other hand it tyrannizes, especially by the exclusiveness of itsresidues transformed into dogmas, the natural expansion of the eroticsentiments which are so variable in individuals. 

One of the most difficult and important future tasks of social sciencetoward humanity is, therefore, to set free sexual relations from thetyranny of religious dogmas, by placing them in harmony with the trueand purely human laws of natural ethics. 

=Compensations. =--In the animal series we have seen that sentiments ofsympathy are derived, in a general way, by phylogeny, from thesentiments of sexual attraction, and we often see in man a sexuallove, deceived, despised or transfigured, seek compensation oridealization in the fervor or religious exaltation. The questionnaturally presents itself whether this compensation or this ideal isindispensable, and if other objects of a human and not mystical naturecannot take its place. 

There are, in my opinion, purely human ideals, which are capable oftransfiguring erotic love "religiously" quite as well as the mysticismof so-called divine revelations. Christianity is called the religionof love, and the apostle Paul even places charity higher than faith. But what is charity but the synthesis of the social sentiments ofsympathy, devotion and self-denial, for the benefit of humanity?Cannot it, therefore, be established on another basis than that ofcheques to be drawn on paradise? Cannot exaltation and fervor applytheir powerful faith, the beauty of their form and the elevation oftheir sentiments to the social ideal and the future welfare of ourchildren? Cannot we replace the cult of religious legends, theadoration of the works of Jehovah and Christ, as they are given in theBible, by the religion of our descendants and their welfare?

In my opinion, the suggestion of religious ecstasy and love might wellbe directed toward the benefit of society. Its fanaticism is admirablyadapted to shake the indifference and indolence of men; but thissource of energy should not be wasted in the adoration of legendarymirages, but used for the efficacious culture of a true human religionof love on earth. 

CHAPTER XIII

RIGHTS IN SEXUAL LIFE--GENERALITIES

=Rights and Liberty. =--Human ideas of right are very curious. Everyone appeals to right and liberty, and naturally thinks of himselffirst, without perceiving that in continually claiming his properrights, he tramples under foot those of others. How beautiful arethese words Rights and Liberty! But in everyday life in what anuncompromising way they oppose each other! To give satisfaction to myrights and liberty, the right of complete development, according to mynatural sentiments, is a thing which is perfectly impossible; or, isonly practicable by constantly infringing the right and liberty of myfellow beings. 

Nevertheless people keep harping on this theme; with the exalted toneof intimate conviction they inveigh against our social organization, cursing the malice of others, but show themselves perfectly incapableof resolving the contradictions which gave rise to their thirst forliberty and justice. 

The cry of despair addressed to right and liberty by modern society isnothing else than the expression of the instinctive sentiment of angerand revolt produced by the natural evolution of our phylogeny. Thesavage instincts, still considerable in the hereditary foundation ofhuman nature (the mneme), revolt against the straight-jacket placed onthem by social life, and against the want of liberty on the earth, which is already too small for humanity. 

The natural man is eager for expansion and liberty, and accustomshimself with difficulty to the severe restrictions which socialnecessities impose upon him. His nature is still that of asemi-nomadic animal, living as an autocrat with his family, possessedof a number of egoistic wants, and, wherever he goes, opposing therights, liberties and desires of other men, who generally compel himto subordinate his desires to theirs. This is the true reason of thisimpotent cry of vexation and anger against the malice of others andthe defectiveness of social organization. And yet this cry isabsolutely necessary, in order that we may find and put in practice asocial formula as tolerable as possible for the future. But, if weexcept the question of capital and labor, there is no domain in whichsocial hindrance is so cruelly felt as in the sexual. 

What is human right? Apart from formally admitted distinctions weshall divide what is called right from the psychological and humanpoint of view into two categories of ideas; _natural rights_ and_conventional rights_. 

=Natural Rights. Right of the Stronger. =--Natural right is quite arelative idea: the right to life and its conditions. But, as in thisworld, which is said to be created by a personal and perfect God, things are so amicably arranged that living creatures can only existby devouring one another, the oldest effective natural right of everyliving being is precisely that of devouring others weaker than itself. This is the right of the stronger. Therefore, the absolute naturalright is the right of the stronger. 

=Rights of Groups. Ants. =--These notions become altered, however, ifwe regard them from the point of view of _relative_ natural right. This does not concern all living beings, but only certain groups. Therights of groups are relative from a double point of view. On the onehand they give the group of individuals concerned the right ofinterfering with the right to life of other groups, even toextinction. On the other hand--and this is the better aspect of therights of groups--they are completed by what are called the duties ofeach individual toward others of the same group, that is to say, theobligation to have regard for and even protect their rights equally ashis own. The rights of a group include the social rights and duties inthe limits of that group. 

It is among animals, especially the ants, that we find the most idealorganization of the rights of a group. Each individual of the antcolony acts in the interests of the community, which are the same asits own. It has the right to be nourished and housed and to satisfyall its immediate wants, but at the same time it is its duty to laborunceasingly in building and repairing the common dwelling, to nourishits fellows, to aid in the reproduction and bringing-up of the brood, to defend the community and even to take the offensive against everyliving being who does not belong to the community, in order toincrease its resources. 

The rights and duties have here become completely _instinctive byadaptation_, that is to say, they are performed without commands orinstruction. They result spontaneously from the natural organizationof ants without the least external obligation intervening. Here, thecry of distress of the ferocious human beast, of whom we have justspoken, is completely absent, for duty is replaced by instinct or byappetite, and its accomplishment is accompanied by a natural sentimentof pleasure. Every ant could be idle without being punished by itscomrades, if it were capable of wishing to be so, but this isimpossible. Communities of ants can only exist on the basis of thesocial instinct of labor and mutual support, without which they wouldimmediately disappear. 

=Egoism and the Rights of Groups in Man. Human Rights. =--The notionsof the rights of groups in man are infinitely more complicated andmore difficult to understand. As we have already seen, the mostprimordial instinctive sentiment in man is limited to his family andhis immediate surroundings. But here even it leaves much to bedesired. Family disputes, quarrels between brothers and sisters arefrequent enough; parricide, fratricide and infanticide are not rare. In addition to this, beyond the narrow circle of the family, disputes, hatred between individuals, deception, robbery and many worse thingsare always the order of the day. In struggles between parties andclasses, in the abuse of privileges of caste and fortune, in war, incommerce, in a word in everything, private interests of egoism takeprecedence of the general interests of humanity. 

These facts, and a thousand other pitiable phenomena of the same kindin human society, bear witness to the egoistic and rapacious nature ofman, which proves how little the social instinct is developed in hisbrain. Human society is founded much more on custom and tradition, imposed by the force of circumstances, than on nature. Human infantsresemble kittens at first much more than young social beings. Inprimitive times, when the earth appeared large to man, the rights ofgroups were limited to small communities which looked upon other men, the same as animals and plants, as legitimate prey. Cannibalism andeven the chase show clearly that man began by becoming more rapaciousand more carnivorous than his pithecanthropoid ancestor, and hiscousin the ape of the present day. 

It is only later, after the progressive enlargement of strongercommunities at the expense of weaker; still later, when man commencedto comprehend the sufferings for the community which result from theautocracy and passion for unlimited pleasure of a few persons;finally, when he discovered the narrow limits of the earth, thatnotions of humanity and humanitarianism, that is to say the sentimentof human solidarity, were able to develop in the general conscience. It was, however, one of the ancients who said "I am a man and nothinghuman can be strange to me. " But in his time, as in that of JesusChrist, civilization was already far advanced and influenced by thewide humanitarian ideas, more ancient still, of the Assyrians and theBuddhists. 

Every one who reflects will understand that the relativity of therights of groups in man and that of the duties which correspond tothem, must in time expand and be applied, little by little, to all thehuman inhabitants of the earth. What is more difficult is thedefinition of what should be understood under the term of humanity, capable of being socialized and cultivated. 

No doubt, the gap which exists between the lowest living human raceand the highest ape is considerable and without direct transition. However, we gradually begin to recognize, on the one hand, that wehave certain duties toward animals, at least toward those which serveus, and, on the other hand, we know that certain of the lower humanraces, such as the pigmies, the Veddas and even the Negroes, areinaccessible to a higher civilization, and especially incapable bythemselves of maintaining what a number of their individuals learn bytraining when they live among us. We shall, therefore, have to choosefinally between the gradual extinction of these races or that of ourown. 

It is not my business to deal with this question here, to trace thelimits of civilizable humanity, or to examine the rights and duties ofcivilized men to each other relatively to the rest of the livingworld; or, in other words, to what extent civilized man should havethe relative right of subjecting other living beings, exploiting themin his own interests, nourishing them, or eventually exterminatingthem for the safety of his own existence. 

As regards the animal and vegetable kingdoms, from the amoeba to theorang-utan, the question is simple enough and settled. It is much moredifficult to decide for men and for peoples separated from us by greatracial differences. I must emphasize the profoundness of thisdifference. It is evident that the higher cultivated races, or ratherblends of races, which live to-day will do better to live in peacethan to mutually exterminate each other. 

It is necessary to discuss these questions at the risk of hurting thefeelings of sentimental persons. But what is the use of being blind tosuch patent facts? It is not too soon to look closely into the future, and it is only thus that we can arrive at any useful result. Thenatural rights of man should evolve more and more from a complex ofsocial rights and duties toward a single great group, which we maycall _civilized humanity_, the relative limits of which can only betraced by repeated trials and by practical experience. The instinctsof the wild beast are still so deeply rooted, even in civilized men, that they can only be adapted gradually and even painfully to anatural right thus understood and limited. We must honestly admit thatsuch a right only merits very relatively the denomination of _naturalrights_. In fact, social rights are necessarily artificial in man. Afew elementary rights and duties only are quite natural, especially inthe sexual domain. We are concerned here with adaptations in the formof instincts which serve for the support and development of thefamily, as well as for the protection of the individual. Among thesewe may mention the right to life, the duty of labor and the right tolabor, the right of the infant to be nourished by its mother and to becared for and protected by its parents, the duty of parents to nourishtheir children, the duty of the husband to protect his wife, the rightto obtain nourishment from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, theright to satisfy the sexual appetite, etc. 

There exists, however, a series of other rights and duties, which areso necessary that they may be termed natural. Such are the right topossess a dwelling place; to defend one's life against attack; tothink and believe what one wishes so long as one does not impose one'sideas and faith on others; the duty to respect the life and propertyof one's neighbor; the duty to give a healthy and sufficient educationto youth, both in body and mind, etc. 

If we regard the matter without prejudice, certain rights and dutieswhich have been hitherto considered as natural and self-evident, become very doubtful. Such are ecclesiastical and religious rights andduties, patriotic and national duties, the rights and duties of war, the rights of privileged classes, the rights of property, etc. It isclear, from an unprejudiced examination of the development ofhumanity, that these so-called rights and duties are only the historiclegacies of mysticism or of limited human groupings, and in great partartificial. The rights and duties of members of the groups in questionconsisted in mutually protecting their opinions and their national andreligious interests, etc. , and in subjecting or even trampling underfoot those of other human groups. These lead us quite naturally to thesecond category of general notions of rights. 

=Conventional Rights. =--To speak correctly, conventional rights arenot rights. They are simply a dogmatic sanction applied to all kindsof customs and abuses that men have appropriated, according to localcircumstances and their fortuitous conquests or acquisitions. Here, the consequences of the natural rights of the stronger, religiousmysticisms and all sorts of human passions, the sexual appetiteespecially, play a very varied and complex role. 

The absurdity and injustice of conventional rights is shown by thedifference, often even the absolute contrast, of the correspondingconception of rights among different peoples. In one, polygamy is aright and even a divine institution; in another, it is a crime. Individual murder is generally considered as criminal, but in warfarethe slaughter of masses becomes a duty and even a virtue. Theft andrapine are regarded in times of peace as crimes, but in time of war, under the form of annexation and plunder they are the uncontestedrights of the victor. In a kingdom, the monarch is looked upon as aholy person and offense to his majesty as a crime; in a democracy, itis individual domination which is regarded as criminal. 

Falsehood and mental restriction are, in certain cases at least, therights or even the duty of the Catholic, who is only forbidden toswear falsely in the name of God and religion, while others considerall falsehood more or less unjustifiable; others again regard everyoath as sinful. 

The contradictions, inconsistencies, unnatural prescripts andtyrannies of what is called conventional rights in different peoplesare innumerable, and the notions of our rights which we have inheritedfrom the Romans are not much better. 

=Retaliation. =--In historical epochs, we see the rights of thestronger succeeded by certain notions of rights which may still beconsidered as primordial; such is the law of retaliation or lynch law, based on the natural sentiment of vengeance, which is itself derivedfrom anger, jealousy and pride, and says "An eye for an eye and atooth for a tooth. " The law of retaliation is very natural and veryhuman. Although of savage origin, it has at least the merit ofrecognizing in men an equal right in retaliation for injury caused ina brutal fashion, without considering inner motives. 

=Expiation. =--We also find in the old law another notion derivedpartly from the preceding, but chiefly from religious mysticism--thenotion of expiation. After constructing in his own image a divinityblinded by human passions, man attributed to him, from fear ofvengeance, sentiments of anger and indignation regarding his basenessand malice toward his neighbor. He then conciliated the divinity andappeased his wrath by making sacrifices, human or otherwise. 

At first, sacrifices were not made of criminals or guilty persons, butof innocent lambs, men or beasts, sometimes with all kinds of torture, to appease the supposed wrath of the gods. Gradually, however, thesecustoms became more humane and were changed to the notions ofexpiation which we still have. Whosoever has committed a crime shouldexpiate it by some kind of pain, eventually by death. In our modernpenal law, notions of expiation and retaliation are blended, and whenwe study its roots in ethnology we are not surprised to see theexpiation and punishment of so-called crimes against God or religion. We find in this fact a singular mixture of religious and judicialnotions. A curious way of appeasing the divinity is the sacrifice ofanimals and other offerings which ancient and savage peoples made andstill make, in returning thanks for victory or some other goodfortune, or to appease supposed wrath. 

=Themis. =--In spite of all these errors, ancient civilizationrepresented as the ideal of right a goddess of justice, _Themis_, witheyes blindfolded and holding scales in her hands. The scales signifiedthat right and wrong should be carefully weighed against each other;the bandage, that the judge should pronounce his verdict withoutregard to persons, and be inaccessible to all outside influence. Forthe limited ideas of that period, little removed from retaliation andexpiation, this blind woman with her scales was a sufficientrepresentation of justice. She had no need to trouble about thepsychology of human nature, mental disorders, diminishedresponsibility or ideal social improvement. 

=Themis Unblindfolded. Fallacy of Free-will. =--Nowadays the task ofour goddess is not so simple, for the progress of humanity andscience, especially of psychology and psychiatry, oblige her whethershe wishes or not, to completely remove her bandage, so as to seeclearly into the human brain. 

It is not simply a question of knowing whether an accused person hasor has not committed the act which he is accused of, but also whetherhe knew what he was doing, what were the motives which urged him, andwho is the real instigator of the misdeed. Alcohol, mental anomaliesand diseases, suggestions, passions, etc. , concur in influencing thehuman brain so that it is hardly responsible for its acts. 

Again, on further examination, we find that the accepted andhistorical notion of free-will, that is to say the absolute liberty ofman's will, which constitutes the very existence of our old penal law, becomes not only more problematical, but may even be considered as apurely human illusion, resting on the fact that the indirect andremote motives of our actions are mainly subconscious. 

The great philosopher, Spinoza, has already demonstrated this truth ina masterly manner, and modern science confirms it in all respects. Every effect has its cause, and all our resolutions are the result ofthe activities of our brain, in their turn determined or influenced byhereditary engrams (instincts and dispositions) or acquired(memories), which are their internal causes, and combine with causesacting from without. Let us admit freely the fallacy of the old axiomof human free-will and endeavor to understand that what we consider asfree will is nothing else than the very variable faculty of our brain, more or less developed in different individuals, of adapting itsactivity to that of its environment, and especially to that of othermen. Also let us endeavor to take into account that our will and allour actions are, consciously or unconsciously, determined by a complexof energies or hereditary engrams (character), combined with thosewhich have acted upon us from without during our life, as well as withemotional or intellectual sensory impressions. 

Our whole conception of rights, and especially of penal law, shouldthen change. We should entirely do away with _retaliation_, abarbarous relic of a more or less animal sentiment of our ancestors, and _expiation_, the relic of a superannuated and superstitiousmysticism. Modern and truly scientific reformers of penal law havealready taken account of this necessity. But, in spite of the completeinefficacy of the old penal system as regards the diminution of crime, they have so far only put into practice few of their ideas. 

=Justification of Rights and Laws. =--After what we have just said, there only remain, two reasons to justify the existence of rights andlaws:

(1). To protect human society against criminals, and in general toinstitute ideas and laws with a view to regulate the mutual interestsof men, in such a way as to result in natural conditions of existenceas advantageous as possible, both for the individual and for society:

(2). To study the causes of crimes, social conflicts, imperfectionsand inequalities, so as to obtain, by contending against these causes, an improvement in men and their social condition. It is true that whatwe demand here means a complete transformation of the notions ofconventional right, not only in our old penal law, but also to a greatextent in civil law; but this transformation is inevitable and haseven already commenced. Its object is to liberate right from the graspof an old metaphysico-religious dogmatism, and from crystalizeddoctrines derived from superannuated custom and abuse, and to founditself on the applied and social natural history of man, who then onlywill merit the name of _homo sapiens_ which was given to him byLinnaeus, the great nomenclator of living beings. 

Jurists have already too long based metaphysics on old barbarouscustoms and superstitious mysticism, transformed into dogmas. It istime that Themis removed her bandage, studied psychology, psychopathology and science, and submitted the impartial handling ofher scales to the influence of truer and juster human factors, even ifher work thereby becomes more difficult and more complicated. 

=Sexual Rights. =--While sexual sentiments form part of the most sacredand intimate conditions of individual happiness, they are also closelyand indissolubly connected with the social welfare of humanity. In nodomain is it more difficult to combine harmoniously the welfare of thecommunity with that of the individual, and this is why questions ofright in sexual matters are among the most difficult to solve. 

The satisfaction of the sexual appetite in man is part of his naturalrights. Natural science compels us to formulate this principle; yet itis a dogma the consequences of which may become very grave and evenfatal; for the satisfaction of a man's sexual appetite implies, notonly the direct participation of one or more human beings in a commonact, but also that of a much greater number in its indirect effects;and it may occasion, according to circumstances, more harm than good. 

If the question of reproduction did not exist, it would be more easyto put individualism in more or less harmonious accord withsocialism. It is thus the sexual relations which present the greatestdifficulties in the social domain. 

In spite of the considerable progress which has been accomplished, ourmodern law is still based to a great extent on the barbarous principleof the legal inequality of the sexes. The mind of man and that ofwoman are no doubt of different quality; nevertheless, in a societywhich does not possess asexual individuals like that of the ants andbees, and in which the two sexes are compelled to work togetherharmoniously for the social welfare, there is no reason to subordinateone sex to the other. Man may have 130 or 150 grammes more braintissue than woman and be superior to her in his faculty of combinationand invention, but this is no reason why we should only accord hiswife and mother inferior social rights to his own. His bodily strengthwill always protect him against the possible encroachments of woman. 

A first postulate is, therefore, the equality of the two sexes beforethe law. A second postulate consists in the emancipation of infancy, in the sense that it should never be considered as an object ofpossession or of exploitation, as was and is still so often the case. 

These are the fundamental principles of a normal sexual law. In noanimal do we find the abuses which man is permitted to practice towardhis wife and children. Let us now pass on to special questions. 

CIVIL LAW

The object of civil law is to regulate the relations of men to eachether. Properly speaking it does not punish, that is to say, itrequires no expiation and is not concerned with crime. It seeks toimprove the social basis for mutual obligations and contracts. Nevertheless, it borders on penal law as regards the question ofdamages which one individual must pay another whom he has injured eveninvoluntarily, as well as by the coercive measures, bothadministrative and operative, which it employs. 

Although resting on a natural basis better adapted to the socialwelfare than penal law, civil law still contains the traditions ofreligious mysticism and the abuse of conventional right. 

I shall here analyze in a few words what concerns our subject inactual civil law, and shall point out the modifications which appearto me desirable. It is, however, impossible for me to enter into thedetails of codes, owing to absence of special knowledge. Moreover, this would lead us too far from our subject. 

=Marriage and Sexual Relations in General. =--The coitus of twoindividuals, performed with mutual deliberation and causing no harm toa third person, should be considered as a private affair, and shouldhave no connection with either civil or penal law. 

However great may be the necessary restrictions of this general axiom, it must be recognized as valid in principle. Society has no right torestrict the liberty of individuals so long as it, or one of itsmembers, is not injured by these individuals. So long as coitus isfreely performed by adult and responsible persons, has no indirectconsequences, and does not cause fecundation, neither society nor anyone is injured. 

In the practice of law this axiom is not yet generally accepted. Manylaws, especially among the Germanic peoples, punish concubinage, orextra-nuptial coitus. Even when concubinage is tolerated, it isconsidered illegitimate, so that the woman who gives herself to it andthe children who result from it, have much to suffer. Although theyconstitute simple religious precepts, the ordinances of Liguori andothers concerning coitus influence in a high degree sexual relationsin Catholic countries. 

As a rule, coitus is only legally recognized as licit in marriage. Butwe have seen in Chapter VI how elastic is the term marriage, whichvaries from polygamy and monogamy to polyandry, and from marriage forshort periods to indissoluble marriage, to say nothing of the caseswhere women are sacrificed on their husbands' tombs. We have seen thatreligious traditions, arising themselves from barbarous customs, playa great part in conjugal law. It is only by infinite trouble that theprinciple of civil marriage has made its way in modern civilizedstates. Even to-day, religious marriage is in some countries only formof union which is legally recognized. These simple facts show to whatextent we are still hidebound by tradition. 

The idea that marriage is a divine institution and that man has theright to contract, but not to dissolve it, is still a widespreadbelief, however bizarre it may be. We shall not enter here into thedetail of the religious forms of marriage, which is referred to inChapters VI and XII. 

It is evident, from our modern and scientific point of view, which ispurely human and social, that civil law only can be recognized asvalid. Religious forms and ceremonies must be considered as belongingto a private domain. For this reason they concern neither the Statenor society, and should be refused all legal character; for it is ourduty to strive and liberate humanity from the tyranny of all imposedcreeds, as we should combat all so-called State religion. 

=Civil Marriage. =--What then is civil marriage, and what ought it tobe? Our actual civil marriage is the result of trials and compromiseswhich require improvement. It is a contract between two persons ofopposite sex whose mutual object is the reproduction of the humanspecies. In this contract the law is unfortunately too much concernedwith the personal relations of the two contracting parties, and toolittle with the interests of their eventual posterity, whichnecessitates care and attention on the part of the social legislator. Moreover, the traditional conception of the dependence of womandisturbs the purity and justice of civil marriage. 

In my opinion, the first fundamental principles of civil marriageshould be absolute legal equality of the two conjoints and completeseparation of property. The momentary amorous intoxication of a womanshould not allow a man to appropriate her property in whole or inpart; only truly barbarous laws could permit such iniquity, and theyshould be banished from all the codes of civilized countries. Moreover, in countries where woman enjoys important rights, thecommunity of property furnishes those who are unscrupulous with themeans of completely despoiling their husbands. 

Further, in common conjugal life, the domestic work of the wife shouldnot be considered as obligatory and requiring no specialremuneration. Her work has as much right to be considered as that ofthe husband, and should be entered to the wife as an asset. 

Community of property is so immoral that it should be consideredinvalid in case of ulterior dispute, when it has been instituted byprivate contract. It is the business of the conjoints to put it inpractice if they wish, so long as they are of one mind. But whendissensions or divorce take place, it only injures the one who hasremained honest, and at the same time the children. 

This is why such contracts ought never be definitely binding to theconjoints. Even if the marriage is not unhappy, the extravagances orblunders of one of the conjoints may ruin the whole family, in thecase of common property. 

The _duration_ of marriage is very important. If a marriage contractexacts sexual fidelity till death, divorce is nonsense. Yet, inpractice, it is obvious cruelty to keep two individuals legally boundtogether who can no longer live with each other. Thus, the provisionand license of divorce are necessities of civil law which arecertainly not ideal, but which cannot be passed over without favoringfamily disturbance and without sanctioning illegality and evil. 

Among the most frequent causes of divorce are desire for change in thehusband, venereal diseases, disputes, incompatibility of temper, mental disorders, immorality, ill-treatment and crime. The sterilityof one of the conjoints and incapacity for coitus may also bementioned as reasons for divorce, although in certain circumstances, as we shall see, limited polyandry or polygyny may be much more humanethan divorce. 

As soon as divorce is admitted, important and complicated questions oflaw arise when there are children. We shall refer to these later. Thelegal license of complete divorce thus transforms marriage into atemporary contract, which is not so far removed as one would thinkfrom the ideal relations of free love. 

We will examine the circumstances which, apart from the procreation ofchildren, may attribute legal importance to the sexual relations oftwo persons. I must first of all observe that, if it wishes, civillegislation can very well create a state of things which gives tochildren born outside marriage the same rights and the same socialposition as legitimate children, and I will even add that such socialequality would respond to the most elementary sentiments of humanrights, if these were not already influenced in advance by prejudiceand mysticism. 

=Minors. =--Civil law should stipulate that minors have not the rightto marry. This may appear cruel in certain cases, but society has theright and the duty to intervene. Minors should be protected againstall sexual abuse. A young girl under the age of seventeen and a boyunder eighteen or twenty should be prevented from all sexualrelations. This is a postulate of individual and social hygiene andconsequently of all healthy matrimonial law. 

=Lunatics. =--The same applies to lunatics, who are legally comparableto minors. Have we the right to forcibly separate a married couple, ora couple living in concubinage, because one of the conjoints hasbecome insane, when the other does not wish for separation? In Germanythe procedure of nullity of marriage has been invented for thesecases, but without gaining much. I shall return to this point inconnection with another subject, but I may remark here that it is notthe continuation of marriage nor that of sexual connection whichinjures society, but only the procreation of children. Therefore it isonly the procreation of children, which should be legally prohibited, and sexual connection only when the healthy conjoint agrees to itssuppression, or when the interests of the afflicted one necessitateit. 

In the future these particular cases may be regulated in the mostconvenient and humane way possible. 

Certain bodily infirmities which one of the conjoints has concealedfrom the other, or of which he was not himself aware, should alsoimpair the validity of the marriage contract. Such are chronicinfectious diseases, especially venereal, impotence in the man andsterility in the woman, when the cause was previously known. But hereagain, the law should only intervene at the request of the personinjured, and to take certain measures to prevent the procreation ofabortions, without interfering with sexual connection. 

=Adultery. =--An important question is that of adultery. Here again, weare of opinion that the law has not performed its duty. Provedadultery, when fidelity has been promised by contract should give theinjured party the right of immediate and absolute divorce. 

Certain forms of adultery, which take place with the assent of the twoconjoints, have in reality the character of bigamy and should neitherbe recognized by civil nor penal law. I will cite as an example, thecase where two conjoints wish to live together for various reasons, while the impotence, disease or sterility of one of them induces himto concede to the other liberty of sexual connection with a thirdperson, apart from marriage. In such a case neither society nor anyone else is injured and all motive for legal intervention is wanting(vide André Couvreur: _La Graine_). 

=Divorce. =--The question of divorce becomes extremely difficult whenone of the conjoints wishes for it and the other does not, and when noother reason exists for determining the marriage. We are hereconcerned with the malicious caprices of the god of love, from whichthe world will never be free. 

In my opinion, the law in such cases can only do one thing, and thatis to protect the rights of the children, if there are any, and tocompel the inconstant conjoint to provide for their nourishment. 

The law should also protect the pecuniary and other civil rights ofthe conjoint who wishes to continue life in common. Here especially wecan recognize the necessity for the separation of property. On theother hand, I am convinced that it is useless to maintain at any pricea union which one party does not wish for. In practice no good resultsfrom it; it is rather a moral question than a question of law. 

In such cases we may observe the despair of the conjoint who hasremained faithful, both in the marital and legal relations ofmarriage. The law cannot do everything, and here it is powerless; allthat it can do is to exact delay and attempt at reconciliation, whichsometimes succeeds. 

=The Right to Satisfaction of the Sexual Appetite. =--We now come to adelicate question. The right to satisfy the sexual appetite mustnecessarily be restricted in more than one respect if injury to thirdparties is to be avoided. If we except certain pathological cases, thechief difficulty lies in the fact that the normal sexual appetite canonly be satisfied by the cohabitation of two persons, and that whatsatisfies the one may often injure or deeply wound the other, and eventhe children. The matter may go so far as to concern penal law, and weshall refer to it again in this connection. But, even from the pointof view of civil law, permission to satisfy the sexual appetite mustnecessarily depend on the consent of both parties. In my opinion noexception to this rule can be tolerated. 

It is not enough to protect minors; it is also necessary to preventthe abuse of the persons of adults against their will. The institutionof so-called Christian marriage still contains barbarous dispositionsin this respect, the wife being generally obliged to surrender herselfto her lord and master as often as he pleases. This is the dark sideof the picture which exacts sexual fidelity in man. 

Inversely, for physiological reasons, a very erotic and sexuallyexacting woman cannot obtain satisfaction, man being incapable ofcommanding erections voluntarily. She can only bring an action fordivorce if she can prove that her husband is completely impotent. 

It is sufficient to reflect on these facts to see how difficult is theregulation of sexual connection by law. The legislation of details inthis domain becomes of necessity an injustice. 

We have already considered the great individual variability of thesexual appetite. Attempts to regulate it by the rules of a monogamousmatrimonial code are absurd and impracticable. With all the respectdue to the moral sentiments of Tolstoi, we are obliged to declare thathis ascetic opinions on sexual relations are only the dreams of anenthusiast. 

When a libidinous man marries a young girl who is sexually frigid, andwhen coitus continues to be a horror to his wife, it is quite as cruelto demand continence in the husband as submission in his wife. In suchcases, the conditions can only be made tolerable by divorce, consentto concubinage, or bigamy, when a relative adaptation cannot beobtained by mutual concessions. At present our prejudices only allowdivorce in such cases. 

When a man and woman are already tied by pregnancy or by a child, andwhen, apart from the differences in their sexual appetites, love andconcord reign between them, separation would be cruel. 

I readily agree that such extreme circumstances should not be therule, and that in many cases the one who is the more erotic canrestrain himself, and the one who is cold become accustomed to coitus. Nevertheless, in the present chapter we are not concerned with moralsbut with rights, and we have only to reply to the question of knowingwhat should be done when, in sexual connection between two conjoints, one desires it and the other does not. 

The concentration of sexual passion on a single individual, which isgenerally good from the social point of view, is fatal in thesespecial cases. A man falls passionately in love with a woman, or awoman with a man, but instead of being reciprocal this love isdespised by the other. Such a misfortune, which often leads to themost tragic consequences, not only in novels but also in real life, isonly reparable by the renunciation of the one who loves. It is surelyless cruel to renounce a proposed union than to become the sexual preyof a person one does not love. It is, therefore, inhuman and immoral, as much in religion as in poetry, to preach in any form, theexclusiveness of sentiments, the indissolubility of monogamousmarriage, and the immutability of love. 

It has often been stated that a woman can only love once in her life. Such a false and cruel generalization must be energetically opposed. It is the business of sentimental poets to delude themselves with suchsentiments, but those who think it a duty to adhere to dogmas of thiskind are to be pitied. It is not only death or illness of one of theconjoints, dissensions and infidelity, which may cause separation of asexual union, but as is frequently the case, rejected love maytransform into perpetual martyrdom the life of a person imbued withsuch ideas. The ascetic sentimentalism which results from this has astrong element of suggestion which is bad to cultivate. 

If we would give the one who does not love the absolute right ofrepelling the sexual advances of the other, not only the law butmorality should in return allow the rejected lover to make anotherchoice, where his desire for love will find an echo. 

At the present day many people, especially women, prefer to enduretheir unhappiness and even that of their children to the opprobrium towhich they are often exposed by public opinion in divorce orremarriage, or even in becoming engaged to another person, when theirlove has been rejected. It is, therefore, the duty of the legislatorto banish from the law everything which may appear to sanction suchopprobrium. 

Most laws recognize not only impotence, but also assault, cruelty, venereal disease, adultery, etc. , as grounds for divorce, but thepressure of public opinion causes the existing laws to be too littleused. We must remember that such violations of conjugal duties givethe injured party the right of claiming damages. 

Nevertheless, we may say that the simplest civil action by oneconjoint against the other is veritably monstrous when it is notaccompanied by an action for divorce. When once the couple have cometo legal disputes, their marriage is in reality dissolved and itscontinuation is an absurdity. 

=Venereal Diseases. =--A very important question from the humanitarianand hygienic point of view is that of venereal disease. A man (orwoman) who knows himself (or herself) to be affected with a venerealdisease in an infectious state, and who in spite of this hasconnection with a woman, should be regarded as a criminal, at least ifthe woman with whom he has connection is not affected with the samedisease. 

Here the law should intervene by awarding heavy damages to the partywho has been infected; eventually it may be treated as a criminaloffense. In such cases claim should be made by the injured party, butunfortunately this is seldom done owing to feelings of shame. In thefuture, however, we may hope that the law may be improved for thebenefit of humanity, for this would be one of the most efficaciousmeans of combating venereal disease, and hence avoiding muchmisfortune for families and children. 

It would also be desirable to prevent the procreation of syphiliticinfants, for instance, by the use of preventatives (vide Chapter XIV). 

=Prostitution. =--Another difficult question is that of the relation ofcivil law to prostitution. All State regulation of prostitution is tobe absolutely condemned; but what position should civil law take upwith regard to free prostitution? We have already seen what anabominable social evil is this commerce in human bodies, as regardssocial morality. But it is absolutely useless to try and abolish thiscommerce without attacking its lord and master--_money_. The venalityof man implies the commerce of his body, and as long as everything canbe got for money, coitus can be bought. It is, therefore, thisvenality which must be attacked, not only by condemning it in wordsbut by cutting its roots. If the State will not withdraw itsprotecting hand from prostitution, it might at least combatproxenetism and the public manifestations of prostitution, by all thelegal and administrative measures at its disposal. It would thusreduce the matter to intimate personal relations. 

Let us hope that, little by little, a social organization more just tolabor and wages, combined with the prohibition of alcoholic drinks, will, in the future, annihilate the causes of commerce in humanbodies. 

=Children as a Reason for Civil Marriage. =--To resume; we find thatcivil marriage should, by progressive reforms, become a much more freecontract than it is at present, having for its object a common sexuallife. The law should abandon its useless and often harmful chicaneryconcerning the questions of sexual relations and love, and regulatemore carefully the duties of parents toward their children, and thusprotect future generations against the abuse of the presentgeneration. 

The difference which exists between marriage and free love shouldgradually disappear, by instituting natural intimate relations on thebasis of sentiments of social morality, instead of maintaining thepretended divine origin of a social institution. It is difficult toavoid a smile when we hear the term "divine institution" applied tothe marriage of a rich girl with a man who has been bought for her. (Vide Chapter X. )

Various propositions have been made to give more dignity to the unionsof free love, which now exist and which always have existed. Modernwomen have remarked that the absurd custom of naming the celibatewoman differently to the married stigmatizes in society a number ofpoor women and innocent children, and that it would be quite as justto apply the term "damoiseau" to celibate men as "mademoiselle" tonon-married girls. An unmarried woman who has a child, and who hasonly committed the sin of obeying nature, is branded with the stamp ofshame. 

It is the children who constitute the true bond of marriage and giveit a legal character. When there are no children all legal and Stateinterference with conjugal affairs loses its sense so long as no oneis injured, and civil marriage can then be greatly simplified. Imaintain that so long as a sterile union, of whatever kind, betweenresponsible persons is voluntary, provokes no conflict between thosewho have contracted it, and causes no injury to a third party, the lawhas no right to meddle with it; because this union does not concernsociety nor any of its members, excepting the two parties interested, who are in accord. 

At the present time, in many countries, the existing laws can beutilized to form marriage contracts stipulating separation ofproperty, the right of each of the conjoints to the produce of his orher work, as well as certain reciprocal rights and duties between theparents and children. Matters can thus be arranged so as to correctmore or less the defects of the law. 

=Marriage of Inverts. =--A peculiar and characteristic phenomenon isthe ardent desire of many sexual perverts, especially inverts, tobecome secretly engaged or married to the abnormal homosexual objectof their love. It is needless to say that there can be no question oflegal regulation of such pathological marriages. But the law mayignore them when they do no harm to any one, and regard them asprivate affairs, especially when they prevent much worse evils, suchas the marriage of an invert to a normal individual. 

=Civil Rights of Children. Matriarchism. =--As we have already said, itis the children who constitute the real phylogenetic andpsychological bonds in marriage and the family, bonds which are deeplyrooted in human nature. This is so true that among many savagepeoples, if not in most, marriage is not considered legal as long asit is sterile. Even among civilized people sterile women are generallyregarded as of less value. We may, therefore, regard the article inthe Code Napoleon which forbids inquiry into paternity as an unnaturalmeasure, or as a monstrosity of civil law. 

Two human beings who procreate others contract common duties andresponsibility of the highest importance. They are, perhaps, thehighest social duties that man can assume. Is it not then infamous andunnatural to legally liberate one only of the procreators, the man, from all his responsibilities, simply because certain religious orcivil formalities were omitted before procreation?

Is the man less guilty than the woman in procreation apart frommarriage, if we can use the term guilt in such cases? Is it not aridiculous and cruel irony to call _natural children_ those born apartfrom marriage? Perhaps legitimate children are supernatural, orunnatural! Is it not infamous to brand with the seal of shame, evenbefore their birth, poor illegitimate children, and to confirm thisindignity by making them bear their mother's name instead of theirfather's?

The most elementary natural law exacts that all children, whether"legitimate" or "illegitimate, " should have the same social rights, and that they should bear either the name of their real father or thatof their mother; the latter denomination would be the more natural andlogical. Denomination by the maternal line corresponds to the systemof matriarchism (Chapters VI and XIX), which is often met with amongsavage races, and which is more just and leads to less abuse thanpatriarchism. Moreover, when women shall have obtained their properrights, there will be an end of the exclusive authority of one of theconjoints in marriage. 

Equality in the rights of the two sexes will naturally lead todenomination in the maternal line, for reasons of simplicity, themother being more closely related to the child than the father. Maternity may, no doubt, be sometimes uncertain, as in the case offoundlings or changelings, but on the whole it is infinitely more easyto establish than paternity. It is sufficient for the mother to havesexual connection with two men at the time of conception to renderpaternity doubtful. Again, the mother has a number of pains, cares anddangers to undergo in the course of the procreation and education ofchildren, which the father escapes. Nature thus gives the mother theright to give her name to the family. Our legislation is unfortunatelyfar from recognizing such natural right. We may nevertheless form aprimary proposition, because in my opinion its recognition would avoidmuch complicated litigation:

_In nature, whenever the offspring of an animal have a protracted anddependent infancy, it is the duty of the parents to nourish them andbring them up. To allow human parents to dispense with this duty, onthe grounds of badly constructed and unnatural social theories, is toencourage promiscuity, and consequently degeneration of society. It iseasy to change social customs which are only based on artificialdogmas sanctioned by tradition, fashion and habit, whether they are ofa religious nature or otherwise. But a social organization can neverviolate with impunity the true laws of human nature which are deeplyrooted in our phylogenetic instincts, without disastrous effects. _

In Chapters VI and VII we have given irrefutable proof that familylife and the sentiments of sympathy between husband and wife, parentsand children, constitute the phylogenetic basis of the sexualrelations of humanity. Whatever may be the egoistic polygamousinstincts of man, we can affirm that a natural and true monogamyconstitutes the highest and best form of his sexual relations and ofhis love. No doubt there are many exceptions which must be taken intoaccount. It is absurd to shut our eyes to the fact that our degeneratesocial customs have created unnatural circumstances in which parentsbehave shamefully toward their children, exploiting them, trainingthem systematically to mendacity, prostitution and crime, or elseill-treating them. We even see unnatural parents, to save legalconsequences, get rid of children who inconvenience them by the aid ofslow and coldly calculated martyrdom, which leads them to certaindeath. It is, therefore, necessary to establish special legalprovision for all these exceptional cases, to protect children againstthe power of unworthy parents and all forms of abuse. 

I must here draw attention to the impulse which has recently beengiven to Austrian legislation on the protection of children, by Lydiavon Wolfring. The State brings up, in philanthropic institutions, children who have been maltreated, neglected or abandoned, afterremoval from their unworthy parents, but without relieving the latterof their duty in providing nourishment. According to Miss Wolfring'ssystem, they are cared for by honest couples without children who wishfor them, under the supervision of the aforesaid institutions. In thisway the children enjoy family life. 

For educational reasons, the natural family may be imitated in theseartificial ones, by giving to each couple children of both sexes anddifferent ages. The result is perfect: I have seen in Viennaartificial families of ten children formed in this way. This showsagain the rule confirmed by the exception; it would be better for thegood seed to be more fruitful and the bad sterile. 

The normal condition must, however, always be for parents to bring uptheir own children. But here the State and the school should come totheir aid, and even intervene with authority; for society is under theobligation of educating its children to a certain degree of culture, and maternal or paternal authority should not have the right toprevent or even attenuate this social work. Obligatory and gratuitouseducation is thus a duty of the State which is becoming more and morerecognized everywhere, although it is still very incomplete and oftenbadly carried out. 

The State should, moreover, protect the children by restricting thepower of parents more than is done at present. The child should not beallowed to become an object for exploitation by its parents. It hasalso the right to be protected against all unmerited punishment andill-treatment. Corporal punishment, which is still practiced in someschools, is a relic of barbarism which ought to disappear. 

The State should severely enforce the duty of the procreators ofchildren to nourish their offspring. Rich or poor, no father or mothershould escape this duty, whether the child is legitimate orillegitimate. In our imperfect social condition, it is still much tooeasy for the man to escape and abandon his child to the mother, or topublic charity. He should be compelled to provide for the life andeducation of his children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, if hedoes not bring them up himself. If unable to provide money, he shoulddo the equivalent in labor. Such measures, strictly enforced, would bemore efficacious than all the complicated laws on sexual relations, inmaintaining monogamy and fidelity. 

I repeat, that these measures should apply to all unworthy parentsfrom whom we are obliged to remove the children. These parents are notalways of the poorer class. 

It may be objected that I am unjust in charging such duties to poorpeople who can often hardly keep themselves. I agree that in thepresent state of society it is quite impossible for many parents toundertake such important duties. But duty means right, and it isevident that we must place rights by the side of the duties which weimpose on parents. 

True justice in this question can only be attained by the essentialprogress of socialism. By socialism, I do not mean certain vaguecommunistic doctrines, nor the Utopias of anarchists who imagine that"man was born good, " but simply an essential social progress in thestruggle against the domination of individual capital, that is to say, usury applied to the labor of others owing to the possession of meansof production, which is now left to speculators. Men should be enabledto enjoy the product of their labor, so that they can lead a humanlife worthy of the name, in sexual matters as in others. But this isnot all. 

From the social point of view, it is absolutely unjust that men whoprocreate children should alone bear the burden of the futuregeneration. We know the egoistic proverb of the celibates, who say: "Ihave the right to take life easily, to enjoy myself and be idle, if Irenounce the happiness of having children, either of my own accord orfrom necessity. " This proverb, which may be transposed into "after methe deluge, " cannot be recognized by any healthy social legislation. It is the duty of the State to relieve large families, to facilitatethe procreation of healthy children, and to impose more work and taxes(for instance, artificial families) on sterile individuals. The oldlaws were better than ours in this respect. 

I have mentioned above the excellent custom, which exists at thepresent day in Norway, of only charging half-price on the boats tomarried women and other female members of the same family. I cannothere enter into the details of this question, but if such reforms aresome day realized, if universal compulsory education, pensions for oldage, orphans and invalids, etc. , are introduced, then no man will havevalid motives for escaping the duty of feeding his children andbringing them up decently in family life. This will be left only tothe idle and vicious. 

Moreover, I can support my propositions by facts. If we compare thenature of delinquents, abandoned children, vagabonds, etc. , in acountry where little or nothing has been done for the people (Russia, Galicia, Vienna, etc. ), with that of the same individuals inSwitzerland, for example, where much has already been done for thepoor, we find this result: In Switzerland, these individuals arenearly all tainted with alcoholism or pathological heredity; theyconsist of alcoholics, incorrigibles, and congenital decadents, andeducation can do little for them, because nearly all those who have abetter hereditary foundation have been able to earn their living byhonest work. In Russia, Galicia, and even in Vienna, we are, on thecontrary, astonished to see how many honest natures there are amongthe disinherited, when they are provided with work and education. 

This fact speaks more than the contradictory statements which thefanatics of party politics hurl at each other's heads. 

=Inquiry into Paternity. =--It will be objected that inquiry intopaternity is often very difficult and dangerous. I do not deny this;but, when women have obtained their natural rights, and when theeducation of young girls is guided by the principles which we haveenunciated in Chapter XVII, the matter will become much easier. Moreover, even now, we can with energy and good will determinepaternity in most cases. Although the great improvement in means oftransport assists fugitives, it also favors the discovery and arrestof individuals all over the world. International relations between allcivilized states are improving from day to day. When the world is morecompletely conquered by civilization, we may hope that it will becomeincreasingly difficult for evildoers to escape their duties. 

Regarding this question from all points of view it is impossible forus to give up this primordial condition for the preservation of humansociety, which consists in making parents responsible for thenourishment and education of their children. 

The famous ideas of phalanstery and promiscuity, so often advanced, originated in theoretical and dogmatic minds which had lost theirinstinctive sense of human nature, and ignored what natural scienceand ethnology have revealed to us. 

But the responsibility of parents extends to another domain--the dutyof not procreating children who are unhealthy in body and mind. Weshall return to this question later on. 

=Guardianship. =--An excellent institution of our present legislationis that of the guardianship of orphans, lunatics, etc. It requires tobe developed extensively and with care. On the contrary, an evilcustom is the right accorded by certain countries to parishes chargedwith poor and abandoned orphans, of delivering them by public tenderto the man who offers the lowest pension--and only requires them forwork. This system results in odious abuse, such as neglect, mendicityand ill-treatment. 

The fate of illegitimate children who are "farmed out" is still worse. A tacit alliance is established between rapacity on the one hand andsocial sexual hypocrisy on the other. A number of infanticides andabortions result, either from poverty, or from sentiments of shame dueto our moral customs. Here, civil law and penal law should combine andtake energetic humanitarian measures to put a stop to this sad abuse. An excellent institution is that of homes in the country establishedfor unmarried mothers and their children, and for abandoned mothers ingeneral. 

=Free Love and Civil Marriage. =--When all the propositions we havedrawn up have been realized by social legislation, the differencewhich now exists between marriage and free love will be little morethan a form. The consequences of these two kinds of union will becomethe same, both for parents and children; the only distinction willconsist in the existence or non-existence of official control. Truemonogamy will lose nothing, but will gain much. 

We shall not then have obligatory monogamy as at present, absolute inform, artificially maintained by the aid of prostitution, that is bythe most disgusting form of promiscuity which renders monogamyillusory; but we shall have in its place a relative monogamy much moresolidly built on the natural rights of the two sexes, it is true morefree in form, but fundamentally much stronger in the natural andinstinctive duties dictated by a truly free and reasoned union, aswell as by the duties by which parents will be bound to theirchildren. 

=Form and Duration of Civil Marriage. =--Although it may be true thatmonogamy constitutes the most normal and natural form of family union, and offers the best conditions for lasting happiness, both for parentsand children, we must be blindly prejudiced not to admit that it isunnatural to consider it as the only sheet anchor in sexualrelationship, the only admissible form of marriage, and to make it astraight-jacket. History and ethnography show us that polygamous racesare strongly developed and are still developing; on the other hand, itis true that polyandrous races degenerate. 

Again, impartial observation of our Christian monogamy shows us thatit depends to a great extent on appearances, that it is full oftrickery and hypocrisy, and that to legally enforce it for life mustbe considered as absolutely impossible. 

In Catholic countries which prohibit divorce, the latter has beenreplaced by separation, and this becomes the most constant source ofadultery. The more the laws of a country impede divorce, the more onemust close one's eyes to promiscuity or prostitution, which has evenbeen regulated by the State by the aid of proxenetism, all the whilepreaching monogamy in a loud voice. 

These bitter lessons which practice has given to the partisan, ofobligatory monogamy, prove the absurdity of attempting to restrain thenatural appetites of man by force and by artificial obstacles. Thatwhich succeeds, not without difficulty, with some strong characters, and more easily with naturally cold temperaments, is impossible torealize in the masses. 

Polyandry is usually the result of poverty, and the polyandrous racesare little fecund and tend to disappear. The normal man isinstinctively more polygynous than the normal woman is polyandrous. There are, however, cases where polyandry is justifiable. There arewomen whose sexual appetite, more or less pathological, is soinsatiable that a normal man is incapable of satisfying it. 

If such women were served by several Don Juans by means of a freecontract, this would be better than giving themselves in despair toprostitution (there are some prostitutes created by nymphomania). Thissystem would also be better than the seduction of normal young girlsby the Don Juans in question. 

Polygyny is still more indicated when the sterility of the woman orher repugnance to sexual intercourse cause family disturbances. 

In speaking of polygamy in Chapter VI, we have shown that it exists inseveral forms, and that these are not all so humiliating for the womenas people think, who only know of the shameful abuses of theMussulman's harem. What lowers the moral level of polygyny isespecially the barbarous system of marriage by purchase, by which thewomen become slaves burdened with heavy labor, and are in a state oflegal dependence. We have seen that polygyny has a higher moralcharacter among certain Indian tribes where matriarchism rules, andwhere the wife is mistress of the house and family. The danger ofdegradation of the woman ceases when she is equal to the man asregards rights and property. In fact, in such a social state, polygynycan only constitute an exception. It is here entirely free and becomesall the more innocent because divorce is facilitated and strict lawson the feeding and education of the children limit the male sexualappetite. 

I even venture to maintain that the stability of monogamous marriage, which should be based on mutual sentiments of respect and love, wouldbe much better guaranteed than hitherto by legal liberty of conjugalties, and by duty to children such as I have proposed. If this becamerecognized as conventional, men and women fit to understand eachother and love in a lasting manner, would find suitable mates moreeasily, and would become united more permanently when their chainswere voluntary. 

If marriages on trial became more frequent in the form of shortunions, ending with separation, this would not be a great evil, forsimilar unions occur every day in a much baser form. Moreover, theeffect of legislation with regard to children would put a curb onimmorality and passion, which cause their worst effects. 

If the objection is raised that this would lead immoral people toavoid the procreation of children so as to enjoy more varied sexualpleasures, I reply that this would be beneficial, for this anti-socialclass of individuals would be eliminated by sterility, by a kind ofnegative selection. We thus place two natural appetites in antagonism;that of procreation on the one hand, and sexual enjoyment on theother. Whoever inclines to the first, which is the higher and tends topreserve the species, is obliged to restrain himself in the second, without, however, falling into unnatural asceticism. 

=Consanguineous Marriages. =--To avoid injurious consanguinity, it issufficient, in my opinion, to prohibit the procreation of childrenbetween direct and collateral relations, especially between parentsand children and between brothers and sisters. Anything more than thisis only useless chicanery. Laws which prohibit marriage betweenrelations by alliance are absurd, for instance those which forbid awidower to marry his sister-in-law (deceased wife's sister), etc. Among some peoples such unions are ordained by law!

There is also no valid reason to prohibit unions between first cousinsor between uncles and aunts, with nephews and nieces. There is nothingto prove that such marriages are injurious to the offspring. What isharmful is the accumulation of hereditary taints, whether they occurin relations or persons who are strangers to each other. Nevertheless, the _perpetuation_ of consanguineous unions in the same family is notas a rule advisable. 

=Restriction of Personal Liberty in Sexual Life Among Harmful orDangerous Individuals. =--The inability of men to distinguish, amongthe motives of the acts of their fellows, what is abnormal, unhealthy, impulsive or obsessional, from what is healthy and normal is one ofthe most deplorable phenomena in social life, and greatly hinders theaction of reformatory civil legislation and rational administrativemeasures. 

The passionate, confused and unreasonable sentiments of the massesgive expression, according to the impulse of the moment, to twocontradictory absurdities and injustices. On the one hand, they cryout against arbitrary constraint of individual liberty, againstillegal restriction or detention, when competent judges or experts tryto limit the movements of dangerous individuals affected with mentaldisorders, but who appear sane to the incompetent public; or when, toinsure social safety, they send these individuals to a lunatic asylum, or limit their dangerous liberty in some other way. On the other hand, when such an individual goes free, thanks to the intervention ofincompetent meddlers, and commits assassination, violation, incendiarism, or all kinds of sadic atrocities, or even onlyterrorizes his own family, these same people, suddenly animated bycontrary sentiments of vengeance, imperiously demand an exemplaryexpiation and all possible reprisals. This sometimes goes as far astorture of the culprit or burning at the stake, as with the lynchersin America. 

It is very difficult for the psychiatrist, who is the competent expertin these matters, to make truth and impartiality prevail. He is nearlyalways suspected of seeing madness everywhere, and of being afflictedwith a mania for sending sane persons to asylums! In reality, hedesires to take measures which are at the same time humane for theinsane and protective for society, so as to treat as equitably andreasonably as possible the unfortunates who are more or lessirresponsible for their acts; he wishes to see established laws andorganizations which will efficiently protect the insane againstthemselves and against the exploitation and abuse of others, at thesame time preventing them from doing injury to society. 

On the other hand, society and with it the old style of jurist, intheir ignorant dread of psychopathological matters, endeavor to takeall possible measures to protect the sane public against thealienists, thus completely neglecting the true interests of the insaneas well as those of society, while fighting against a phantom! Theanxiety and mistrust of the public in this matter are continually keptup by "brigand stories" related by certain insane or semi-insanepersons, which are spread by the press, always eager for scandal, orby pamphlets which the cheapness of printing places within the reachof the poorest!

These phenomena of public psychology greatly hinder the most urgentreforms. The public regard asylums with horror, and the path of thealienist is thorny, for he is exposed to continual accusations andthreats whatever he may do, a situation which does not encourage himto suggest bold innovations. 

Ignorant of psychology and especially of psychopathology, the publicand with it the formal jurist, the slave of codes (I am only speakingof honest lawyers, and not of the number who abuse the situation toobtain oratorical and other success and crown themselves withlaurels), regard themselves as the champions of individual liberty, and are unable to perceive that the net result of their efforts is, onthe one hand, to condemn a considerable number of insane and crazypersons to prison, and on the other hand to assure liberty andimpunity to the most dangerous individuals, always ready to commit themost atrocious crimes, or at any rate to make martyrs of a number ofpatient and innocent beings, hard-working and healthy in mind, especially women and children. 

The alienists, who see clearly into all this misery, easily becomepessimistic in their impotence against the want of sense, ignoranceand unconscious passion of the masses, and even competent authorities. The natural cowardice of men often makes them shut their eyes to avoidnuisances, and causes them to take no action against the mostdangerous monsters, and especially against those who are mostmischievous by their pens. This is why the martyrdom of unfortunatewomen and children illtreated by chronic alcoholics, sadists and otherneuropaths or psychopaths, never comes to an end, owing to the stupidoutcry against so-called violation of individual liberty. 

On this soil, sexual atrocities and crimes, largely increased bydrink, play an important part. Without troubling myself aboutprejudice and indignation I shall say in a few words what appears tome to be urgent:

So long as jurists and legislators will not study either psychology orpsychiatry, and will not submit all habitual criminals and alldangerous men to an expert examination, all serious reform in thisdomain will remain impossible. To improve the present state of affairsa common understanding between jurists and alienists is urgent; butthis can only be attained by jurists making a study of psychology, anda kind of practical clinic among imprisoned criminals. How can onejudge and condemn one's neighbor without having the least idea of thestate of mind of these pariahs of society? All the jurists who havethe welfare of humanity at heart, should support the _internationalunion of penal law_, and the efforts of men like Professor Franz vonLiszt, Gaukler of Caen, and many other courageous reformers. [8]

It is needless to say that it is not sufficient to combat the excessesof criminal and dangerous individuals, such as sadists, for example, by placing them under supervision and preventing them doing harm. Itis also necessary to attack the cause of the evil by preventing theirgerms from being reproduced, degenerated as they usually are by theblastophthoria of their alcoholic parents (vide Chapter I). The firstquestion, which is purely legal and administrative, does not concernus here; but I may be allowed to say a few words on the second. 

Zealous and advanced reformers have proposed castration in such cases, which has provoked a general cry of indignation. This has beendiscussed in certain American states. The hyperæsthetic sentiment ofour modern civilization cannot tolerate such ideas, while ancientraces such as the Islamites provided, and still provide eunuchs asservants, who are free from danger for their wives, and think littleof hanging or decapitating men who cause them any trouble. In thesame way, we are dumb and impassive before the butcheries of war, because they are fashionable, especially when we do not come incontact with them. The Pope himself formerly procured eunuchs in orderto have soprano voices in his church, and did not hesitate to castrateyoung boys for this purpose. The times change and we change with them!

For some years, however, castration has been employed as a remedy forcertain disorders both in men and women, especially for hysteria inwomen. I admit here that, in an asylum which I superintend, I havecastrated a veritable monster afflicted with constitutional mentaldisorders, taking advantage of the fact that he himself requested thisoperation to relieve him of pain in his seminal vesicles, but with thechief object of preventing the production of unfortunate childrentainted with his hereditary complaint. 

Many years ago I also castrated a young hysterical girl of fourteen, whose mother and grandmother were both prostitutes, and who hadalready begun to have intercourse with all the urchins in the street. Here again, I frankly admit that the hysterical troubles of thepatient served me as an excuse to prevent this unfortunate girl fromreproducing beings who would probably resemble her. I am of opinionthat castration, or some more benign operation, such as dislocation ofthe Fallopian tubes in women (which renders them sterile withoutdestroying the ovaries, or even attenuating the sexual appetite)should be performed in order to prevent the reproduction of the mostdeplorable and most dangerous beings. 

Among certain individuals, such as sadists, whose sexual appetite isdangerous in itself, castration would be necessary. In my opinion, themore benign operations are indicated in all individuals whosepsychopathological condition in this domain is such that they areabsolutely incapable of resisting their impulses, or of understandingthe dictates of reason. By this means they could go free instead ofbeing incarcerated in asylums. 

On the other hand, I must emphasize the fact that such measures, thepersonal consequences of which are so serious, should only be takenin the case of absolutely dangerous, incurable individuals, concerningwhose pathological state there can be no doubt. I also believe thatthese individuals, especially those with sexual abnormalities, wouldvery often consent to the operation, as was the case with my twopatients. 

It would be a great advance if civil legislation would in such casesaccord official recognition to castration or dislocation of the tubes, with the consent of the criminal or patient concerned. At present, ourlaws and regulations are such that a psychopathological monster cannoteven be castrated when he wishes it, because medical men refuse toundertake such an operation without a positive medical indication ofthe usual kind, and because there is no legal protection; yet, whendone in time, castration would often save sadists and other dangerousperverts from a criminal life, and society from their crimes and thoseof their offspring. 

When it is only a question of avoiding the procreation of taintedchildren, it would be sufficient to instruct reasonable people in themethods of avoiding conception (vide Chapter XIV). 

It is important to bear in mind that modern legislation on marriageoften flavors the reproduction of criminals, lunatics and invalids, while it hinders the production of healthy children by men who areintelligent, honest and robust. When an abnormal or unhealthy man ismarried, his wife is obliged to submit to the conception of taintedchildren. On the other hand, when a strong, healthy and intelligentgirl is in a situation, it often happens that everything is done toprevent her marrying, so as not to lose her services; the moreconscientious she is and the more attached to her masters, the moreoften is this likely to occur. 

Girls who have illegitimate children often lose their situations andtheir honor. The consideration of cases of everyday occurrence issufficient to grasp the difficulty of the question. What we require ismore personal liberty for healthy, normal and adaptable individuals, and more restrictions for the abnormal, unhealthy and dangerous. Thecivil law of the future will have to take these facts intoconsideration, if it wishes to keep level with scientific progress, and prevent the instinct of the people having recourse to lynch law, or retaliation. 

Meanwhile, attempts have been made to get out of the difficulty byprohibiting the marriage of insane persons or by declaring theirmarriage null when it has already been consummated; or again, byadmitting insanity as a cause for divorce. Such measures are good asmakeshifts in a period of transition. They assume that conceptionsonly occur in marriage, and that marriage necessarily meansprocreation. But these two suppositions are false, for it is only thepressure of custom and legislation which realizes them in part, especially in Catholic countries. 

The civil code, in the present state of society, has at least theadvantage of making possible the dissolution of monstrous unions, suchas those of the absolutely insane or certain psychopaths of the worstkind. Unfortunately, divorce is as a rule only accorded in cases ofwell-marked mental disorders, while in reality the most atrociousunions are those which are contracted by crazy persons with onlydiminished responsibility, in whom the public and the law are unableto recognize or understand the existence of a definite mental anomaly. These people most often marry at a time when no one has yet recognizedtheir true mental condition, or foreseen the consequences of theirmarriage. The unfortunate who finds herself (or himself) bound by sucha union is then an object of endless martyrdom. The frequency ofmental anomalies causes them to play an immense, and too oftenunrecognized role, in unhappy marriages. 

At the request of the mother the tribunal of Bâle recently prohibitedthe marriage of a young man affected with a slight degree of mentalweakness. This judgment was upheld by the Swiss tribunal for thefollowing reasons: "Although capable of work, of earning his living, and of performing his military service, an individual may be anunsuitable subject for marriage. In the interests of family life andthe future generation, it is the duty of the State to prevent themarriage of the feeble-minded, in order to avoid the perpetuation of arace of degenerates. " I quote this from a journal. We can onlycongratulate tribunals which have the courage to consider the vitalinterests of the nation in their judgments. 

=Right of Succession. =--Although right of succession has no directbearing on the sexual question, it is indirectly connected with itthrough its influence on the procreation of children. 

At the present day the poor have more children than the well-to-do. This is because they have nothing to lose, because coitus is one oftheir few pleasures, because they are ignorant of the means ofpreventing conception, and because they hope to profit by theirchildren's labor. People who have some property are, on the contrary, afraid of falling into poverty through the procreation of too manychildren, and those who possess more are afraid of poverty for theiroffspring. The latter only desire a few heirs, so that after theirdeath they can leave each a fortune suitable to their social position. 

In France, especially, well-to-do people often limit their families totwo. The parents have the unhappy idea that a certain fortune must beassured to their children to enable them to live in comfort. They donot understand that the necessity for a man to earn his living by workis the chief condition for a healthy existence. 

Again, among very rich people there is often the fear that a largefortune may lose its power when divided, and thus diminish theinfluence of the family. 

It is obvious that great poverty and great wealth constitute twoextreme social evils. It is deplorable for a child to grow up with theidea that he will inherit a large fortune, enjoy life without working, and regard poor people more or less as subordinates. But it is stillworse for a man to remain all his life an object for exploitation, inspite of the most repugnant and most arduous work, unless his superiorfaculties and good luck give him the chance of rising. It is alsodiscouraging for a man to be unable by arduous work to obtain anythingfor himself or his wife and children, and only to work for society, and especially for the interests of capitalists. 

Human instinct is not sufficiently social to allow of assiduous andhearty work solely in the interests of the community. The egoisticsentiments and family instincts of man are still much too strong. 

If we take all these facts into consideration, the right ofsuccession becomes very important. It has been attempted to deal withthe question by progressive taxes on succession to large fortunes: butthis is not enough. I have not the presumption to give a positiveopinion on these matters which are not in my province, but I ventureto suggest the possibility of greatly restricting the right ofsuccession by postponing the right to the enjoyment of their heritagetill the children are of an age when they could earn their own living;say, from twenty-five to twenty-six, so as not to interfere with theirhigher education. In this way a man would not be deprived of thepleasure of working for himself and his family; and every young manand young woman, being obliged to work at some special subject, wouldknow that they could earn their living after twenty-five ortwenty-six, without counting on their heritage. 

I do not pretend to build a new social system on this idea, for manypropositions of the kind have already been made. I only wish to drawattention to one element of the problem, which consists in diminishingthe possibility of the exploitation of man by man, without destroyingthe pleasure for work, at the same time favoring the procreation andeducation of healthy and capable offspring. This naturally presupposesa new moral and social state, in which family right would be changedand good education organized for all. Even then intelligent men wouldhave the desire to rise above the average and bring up their childrenwith the same object. This is an instinct in mental development whichshould be carefully cultivated, and not extinguished, by every socialorganization. 

In all social systems it must be recognized that certain branches ofculture, such as scientific research and art, involve great expenseand bring little or no material reward to the scientist or the artist. A richer State ought to provide for these important branches ofcivilization, which always tend to higher culture. 

I have already mentioned separation of property and an equabledivision of the fruits of labor between conjoints as the only justbasis in marriage contracts. I repeat here, that true justice can onlybe established by the recognition of equal legal rights for men andwomen. 

PENAL LAW

Penal law is the right of punishment. It is based on the ideas of_culpability_ and _expiation_, and these are based on the idea offree-will, which is itself founded on a pure illusion, as we haveshown above. 

This simple reflection is sufficient to show the precarious positionof our present penal law. The science of penal law has too longignored the progress of humanity and of the other sciences. It isaffected with incurable marasmus, because its foundations are laid inerror. The idea of expiation was naturally developed on the basis ofmysticism combined with the right of the stronger, and associated withthe sentiment of vengeance natural to the low mentality of our animalancestors. Among the latter the weaker was punished because he was theweaker: "_Væ victis!_" and order was obtained by force. But thevisions of human imagination having urged man to create a god or godsin his own image, he attributed to the divinity the sentiments ofanger experienced by man, and pretended that expiation was requiredfor offenses against this or that majesty or human idea, transformedinto an offense to the divine majesty. 

This offense to the divinity was therefore only the nebulousexpression of a developing social conscience in man, an obscuremixture of sentiments of wounded sympathy, adulation of the strong andgreat, and desire for vengeance and expiation. Till then man wasaccustomed to judge other men according to the right of the stronger, more or less mitigated by sentiments of family and friendship. Histerror of natural mysteries--the forest, night, thunder, hurricanes, stars, etc. , led him to imagine the intervention of occult powers, andlater on of higher powers capable of judging good and evil actions, the ideas of good and evil being formerly very different from whatthey are at present. The functions of advocates or executors of thedivine will were always, however, reserved for privileged men, whogave judgment in His name, either as priests, kings, or later on asjudges. We may also note by the way that judgment can be given withoutbelief in free arbitration, as is shown by the Mahometan fatalists andthe judgments of Haroun-al-Raschid, for example. In fact, fatalismlogically excludes the idea of free-will, for if everything isabsolutely predetermined, the thoughts, resolutions and acts of manare also predetermined, which excludes all liberty. 

=Responsibility. =--I have attempted to show in another work[9] that arational penal law should in no way concern itself with the questionof free arbitration. The fact that we feel free and responsible is notat all sufficient to justify the doctrine of Kant. 

The question of knowing whether an absolute predestination (fatalism, regulating the universe in advance in all its details) exists or not, is a question of pure metaphysics, the solution of which is quitebeyond human comprehension, and need not occupy us here. We mustsimply depend on the scientific postulate of determinism, _i. E. _, onthe law of causality applied to the motives of our actions, a lawwhich is very much like that of the conservation of energy, and whichadmits of divers possibilities for the future, for it does not assumea knowledge of the first cause of the universe nor the will of adivinity. 

We shall then understand that the complication of our cerebralactivities, mnemic and actual, combined with the fact that a greatpart of them (and consequently of the motives for our actions) remainsubconscious, must produce in us the illusion of free-will. 

On the other hand, we shall find the measure of what we are tounderstand by relative liberty, in the plastic faculties of theactivity of the human brain, which allow it to adapt itself asadequately as possible to the numerous and diverse complications ofexistence, and especially to social relations between mankind. 

The most adaptable man is the most free, especially in the sense ofactive and conscious adaptation. There are also men who adaptthemselves passively and are easily molded. This passive plasticity atany rate renders them capable of submitting to everything and onlyprovoking conflict as a last resource. These individuals are no doubtless free, since they obey the impulses of others; nevertheless, theirelasticity gives them a certain relative liberty, because they do notfeel constraint and easily adapt themselves to laws and other socialrequirements. But the highest form of liberty, the moral faculty ofhigher adaptation, is not that of the human fox who exploits othersfor his own profit, but that of true higher intellects, capable ofadapting their activity to the social requirements of humanity. On thecontrary, the man who is least free is the one who, dominated by hispassions and baser appetites, or by insufficiency of intelligence orwill power, is thereby incapable of conducting himself reasonably, gives way to all temptations and impulses, falls into all kinds ofsnares, cannot keep to any resolution, and is in perpetual conflictwith society. 

What is the use of the theoretical belief in free-will in this case?This man feels subjectively as free, or often more free, than one whois more reasonable and more master of himself, and yet he is a slave!When, dominated by his psychic bonds, he violates the law, he ispunished, but he himself resents the punishment as an injustice. Thejudge who condemns him and imagines he holds the scales of justice inequilibrium, only carries out the principles of an unjust law, a kindof mild retaliation, exacting moderate expiation. Or again, byexercising a right derived from old traditions based on religiousideas, he plays the part of proxy for the Deity and judges in Hisplace. We might even say that a mail is in reality all the more freethe better he realizes that he is not so, _i. E. _, that his actionsdepend on the activity of his brain! At any rate he will then be lessoften deceived and will react in a more plastic manner. 

=The True Task of Penal Law; Its Traditional Errors in the SexualQuestion. =--Penal law has only one thing to do, that is to cut itselffree from its roots and transplant itself on a social and scientificsoil. There would then be no longer a penal law, but a _law protectingsociety against dangerous individuals, and a law of administration forpersons incapable of conducting themselves_. Its task would be thecomplement of that of civil law. Henceforth the judge would cease topass judgment on his neighbor and his neighbor's motives, acting as aproxy for God. He would no longer punish, but would content himselfwith protecting, restraining and ameliorating. 

The history of psychiatry and sorcery proves that we are notexaggerating. It is not very long since the insane were regarded, notas persons suffering from disease, but as criminals and sorcerers, andwere treated by punishment and exorcism. The ancients, on thecontrary, especially certain Greek and Roman physicians (notably_Caelius Aurelianus_) had already recognized that insanity was adisease of the brain, and had distinguished its different forms. 

Even at the present day, we find among the Catholics and among certainProtestant sects, as among savages, a belief in sorcery, and if thisbelief got the upper hand, prosecution for sorcery--exorcism and otherforms of cruelty--would soon become the fashion. 

Before the sixteenth century prosecutions for sorcery were universal, and remained very common for a long time afterwards. It is only sincethe time of the French Revolution that insanity has been recognized asa mental disease. Even in the nineteenth century a German alienist, Heinroth, punished the insane like criminals. The atrocious prejudiceof the people against the insane dates from the time of prosecutionfor sorcery. 

Even now we are the slaves of a prejudice which holds a legalconviction sufficient to dishonor the prisoner and stain his characterfor the rest of his days. Hans Leuss' book, _Aus dem Zuchthause_ (Fromthe prison), 1904, is very instructive on this point. Condemned toprison himself, the author makes some wise and dispassionateobservations which give food for reflection. I may also quote thewords of Doctor Guillaume, who was for a long time superintendent ofthe penitentiary at Neuchatel, and who is now director of the Swissfederal bureau of statistics at Berne. The question we are dealingwith had been treated in a discussion in which I took part, and towhich Doctor Guillaume had listened silently. At the conclusion, hesaid to us: "Gentlemen, in the course of my life I have becomeacquainted with a large number of convicts, but I have never been ableto discover among them more than two classes of individuals; the oneclass were diseased, and the others . .. Ah! the others; the more Istudy their cases and their personality, I ask myself if I should nothave done as they did under the same circumstances!" It is unnecessaryto say that Doctor Guillaume did not mean to establish two clearlymarked classes, for most criminals represent a mixture of both; buthis main idea gives a good idea of the question of penal law. 

How sexual questions lead to conflicts with penal law, how penal lawjudges them, and how it ought to judge them after what we have justsaid, I can only refer to what I have said concerning civil law. Ourpresent penal law is aware of singular sexual crimes and oftenpunishes them from curious motives. 

When a poor imbecile, ridiculed by women and overcome by his sexualappetite, copulates with a cow, the latter is not injured in any way;neither is the owner. Moreover, the question of property does nottrouble the judge, for he punishes sodomy even when the culprit ownsthe animal. How does the law obtain the right to punish an act whichdoes no harm to any one, nor to society, nor even to an animal? It isevidently a vestige of religious mysticism, something like punishmentfor sinning against the Holy Ghost. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, they say, caused the wrath of God, who destroyed these towns for thisreason. According to the legend, sodomy was a vice of the inhabitants;is this why it is punished at the present day? But the masturbation ofOnan, according to the Bible, also caused the wrath of God; why thendo not our present laws institute punishment for those who practiceit?

In many of the Swiss cantons and in Germany, sexual connection betweenmen is prosecuted by law. The German legislators have even recentlydiscussed the question whether punishment should be enforced only whenthe penis of one man is introduced into the anus of the other(pederasty), or whether indecent contact and mutual onanism aresufficient to justify punishment. 

Our penal law is thus concerned with the question whether it shouldpunish or not, according as this or that mucous membrane or part ofthe skin is used for the satisfaction of a morbid sexual appetite!These are truly singular points for a legislator to decide, compelled, in spite of his incompetence, to play the part of physiologist, anatomist and psychologist!

If I am correctly informed, the German legislation is inconsistent inpunishing sexual intercourse between two men, but not between twowomen. These examples suffice to show what blind-alleys a penal lawleads to, the basis of which is vicious and which is guided by thetraditions of mysticism. 

Quite recently, in the Swiss journal of penal law, a jurist seriouslyupheld the necessity for the conception of a crime against religion!Ideas of this kind would lead us to punish suicide, like the English. 

We will now proceed to analyze the facts from the point of view oftheir true social value. 

=Limits of Penal Law in the Sexual Domain. =--If we would avoidinjustice and ridiculous contradictions, we should keep to theprinciple that penal justice has only the right to intervene in caseswhere individuals or society are injured, or run the risk of beinginjured. It is also necessary to examine, in each case, whether theperson who has committed the offense was not irresponsible andaffected with mental disease at the time; or whether hisresponsibility was not diminished, _i. E. _, whether he was notseriously abnormal without being quite insane. The conception ofresponsibility, necessarily relative, should be understood in thesense of relative liberty, which we have defined above. 

According to the result of the inquiry (culpability being proved) thejudge will have to decide how society can be best protected againstthe repetition of such acts, and how the culprit may be most easilyimproved, provided he is capable of improvement. 

If, for example, the culprit is an inebriate, his detention in a homefor inebriates will protect society and benefit the individual muchbetter than all the fines and imprisonments at present in force. 

If he is an incorrigible recidivist, incapable of resisting hiscriminal impulses, the law should keep him under observation in a safeplace, or deprive him only of certain dangerous liberties. It is notso difficult to decide these questions as the public imagines. Theantecedents of the criminal, his previous convictions, and a carefulstudy of his psychology will nearly always lead to a clear diagnosisand prognosis. In this case a mutual understanding betweenpsychiatrists and jurists will produce excellent results. It isneedless to say that if it is only a case of transient cerebralobnubilation, such as sunstroke or somnambulism, etc. , the culpritshould be acquitted. 

=Rape, etc. =--Normal coitus may render a penal action legitimate whenit is obtained by force or stratagem (rape, abuse of a feeble-mindedor hypnotized person, etc. ). It is evident that measures of protectionagainst such acts are urgent, and that persons abused in this wayshould have the right to heavy indemnities. What we require is not somuch extenuation of penalty for the culprit as greater protection forhis victims. 

In cases of rape, when the woman becomes pregnant against her will, Iam of opinion that artificial abortion should be allowed by law as anexceptional measure. We cannot expect a woman to have a child imposedupon her by a man's violence, especially when she is unmarried, andoblige her to bring it up, from the simple fact that she conceived it. It should be the same in cases of abduction of female minors. 

When, on the contrary, a male minor seduced by an adult woman, makesher pregnant, it is the woman only who is responsible for themaintenance of her child, and there are no reasons to accord her theright of abortion, for it is she who desired the sexual act. The closebonds which exist between the child and its mother justify such legaldispositions. 

With regard to civil laws, we have mentioned the case of venerealinfection after coitus. In this case civil indemnity would be mostequitable. A penal action could only be based on prosecution by theinjured party, unless it was a question of directly criminalintent--infection for vengeance, for example. 

=Incest. =--Under the heading of _consanguineous marriages_, we haveseen to what extent the conception of incest should be limited, inrespect to civil law. The grave cases of incest are those betweenparents and children. Their normal causes are mental anomalies, alcoholism, proletarian promiscuity, or isolation of a family in someremote place. Incest is common, in Switzerland especially, among theinhabitants of isolated mountain chalets. I will give a few typicaland genuine examples of incest giving rise to penal actions:

(1). A drunken and brutal husband persecuted his wife with excessivecoitus. The latter then gave him her own daughter to satisfy hisviolence. 

(2). An inebriate woman induced her own son, aged seventeen, to haveintercourse with her. Infuriated at the idea that his mother had madehim her lover, he murdered her one day when he was drunk. Condemned asa parricide, this young man conducted himself in prison in a modelmanner. Alcohol, combined with his incestuous seduction, had made himthe murderer of his mother. 

(3). In a family composed exclusively of imbeciles and psychopaths, some of whom were put under my care for treatment, incest waspracticed among nearly all of them; between father and daughters;between mother and sons; and between brothers and sisters. 

The last case, and many others, show that incest is not the cause butthe effect of mental disorders. This does not mean that the offspringof such unions are not slightly tainted by the mere fact of suchconcentrated incest, but these cases are comparatively so rare thatthey do not contribute to any appreciable extent, as incest, incausing degeneration of the race; the factor which causes degenerationis here mental disease, which arises from other hereditary causes, chiefly of blastophthoric origin. 

From what we have said it results that a penal action for incestshould only take place in the case of minors or insane persons, abuseof strength or power, or rape. The measures of civil law shouldsuffice to reduce other cases of incest to a minimum. 

The disgust which the generality of men feel for sexual union betweenbrothers and sisters, and especially between parents and children, isthe best protection against incest. The elimination of alcoholism, thesuperintendence of the insane, and the improvement of our socialorganization are much more likely than penal laws to lead to thegradual disappearance of incest. 

=Assaults on Minors. =--All assaults on minors should naturally beprosecuted. But prosecution should take a different form according asthe culprit is affected with a pathological perverse disposition, orwhether it is simply a question of abuse of confidence committed by anormal man. A master who, having no sexual anomaly, commits assaultson young girls, his pupils, should be deprived of the right ofteaching in girls' schools, for it is only there that he is dangerous. If, on the other hand, he is affected with perversion (pederasty, etc. ), further measures for protection should be taken against him;according to the circumstances. 

=Sexual Perversions. =--When we pass, on to sexual perversions, theinconsequences and mysticism of our present penal law become stillmore apparent. This code often prosecutes and punishes sexual actionswhich do no harm to any one, or which two persons practice of theirown accord. Such cases may be suitable for moral or medical treatment, but should never justify a penal prosecution. This applies to all themanipulations of onanism, pederasty, masochism, fetichism, etc. , whichtake place between adults by mutual agreement. 

What is the use of prosecuting inverts? It is a fortunate thing forsociety that these psyhcopaths are contented with their mutual sexualintercourse, the result of which is sterile and therefore does no harmto posterity. The real crime is the marriage of an invert to anindividual of the opposite sex, and yet this crime is sanctioned bythe law! It is a crime against the normal conjoint and against thechildren who may result from such an unhappy union. By severelypunishing homosexual intercourse, the penal laws of many countriesprovoke the lowest form of blackmail, as Krafft-Ebing, Moll, Hirschfeld and others have proved by numerous examples, and as I havemyself confirmed among many of my patients. 

It is quite another thing with abnormal or perverse forms of thesexual appetite, which can only be satisfied against the will of theirobject, or by injuring it more or less severely. Here it is the dutyof the law to organize energetic measures of protection; not with aview to punish the pervert, who is a diseased person, but to protecthis victims in time. 

We will first deal with _sadism_; secondly with the violation ofchildren. Here a very delicate question arises. In the case of suchterrible sexual appetites we should not wait for victims before takingaction. On the other hand, we cannot punish a man, nor even takeadministrative measures against him, simply from the fact that hepossesses a dangerous appetite, especially if he is in other respectswell-behaved and conscientious, and strives with all his might againsthis perversion. I have treated a patient who suffered from a terriblepathological appetite of this kind. He was a highly moral man whonever harmed any one, but was in a state of despair over hisaffliction, which he resisted with all his power, seeking relief inmasturbation when his passion became too violent. 

In such cases, the moral sentiments of an individual offer sufficientsocial protection, and it is neither the right nor the duty of thephysician to denounce him. But he should advise the patient to retireto an asylum to avoid committing a crime, if he feels that he cannotrestrain his passions. It is very rare for such cases to come to theknowledge of the public, for these patients prefer to suffer insilence or to commit suicide; but they are none the less instructiveand characteristic. 

At other times dangerous perversions are discovered by chance, thepervert, instead of resisting his passion, seeking opportunities tosatisfy it without discovery. In such cases strong measures should beenforced. Unfortunately, sadists are very well aware of the dangersthey run, and know better than any other criminals how to commit theircrimes without being discovered. As soon as the perpetrator of a sadiccrime is discovered, or simply an attempt at sadism, he should bearrested and placed where he can do no harm. The question ofcastration arises here: but we do not know yet how far this protectsthe sadist and his victim against recurrence. If this operation provesefficacious it should never be neglected. 

The _exhibitionists_ present great difficulty. They are not dangerous, since they touch nobody. Their "victims, " if they can be called so, are girls or women before whom they expose their genital organs andmasturbate. No doubt modesty may be much offended by such acts, especially in young girls and children; disgust and fear may also harmthem; but I think the law is too severe in these cases, for there isno question of an injury which is dangerous in itself. I have knownlittle girls who have been frightened several times by exhibitionists, but I have never known them injured by the disgust which theyexperienced. The affair is too ridiculous and too ugly. It would besufficient to send exhibitionists to an asylum for short periods, unless extreme weakness on their part necessitated prolongeddetention. 

Simple _necrophilia_ should be treated in the same way by penal law. But this perversion is more dangerous on account of its relationshipwith sadism. There are some sadists who are only necrophiliacs forfear of becoming assassins. Such individuals are very dangerous andshould be kept in confinement. 

The _fetichists_ are, on the contrary, generally very innocent. At themost they might be prosecuted for theft when they take away theirfetiches. One of their worst misdemeanors is that of cutting off thehair of young girls. 

=Concubinage. Prostitution. Proxenetism. White Slavery. =--We havealready seen that concubinage should never be punishable in itself, although it is so in some countries. We shall not again return to thequestion whether prostitution should be the object of judicial andpenal actions. Proxenetism and white slavery, on the contrary, causegrave injury to the rights of many individuals and should be madecriminal offenses; for they are crimes against society and theindividual, and committed for lucre. It cannot be legal to do commercewith the body of one's neighbor: this is a crime which is closelyrelated to slavery and similar abuses. (Vide Chapter X. )

The law should punish all public solicitation, obscenity or sexualbrutality, but the punishment should take a milder form. The sexualact and everything connected with it should be absolutely free, but aman has no right to provoke or annoy his neighbor by indecent sexualinvitations if the latter does not wish to respond to them. 

It is, however, extremely difficult to fix the limits of what islicit, for prudery may also go too far and regard the most innocentallusions as provocations. It is absolutely necessary to leave amargin for normal sexual invitations. All that is required is thatthey should not overstep the limits of recognized propriety, so longas there is not mutual agreement between the two parties. (Vide_Flirtation_, Chapter IV. )

=Lewdness. Pornography. =--The question naturally presents itself ofknowing how far it is permitted to proceed publicly with a mutualagreement without causing offense or injury to other parties. On thewhole, our customs are free enough in this respect, and a greaterliberty in public flirtation would be inconvenient. For instance, lewdexhibitions, coitus, etc. , could not be allowed in public places. Children especially should be protected against such excitations ofthe sexual appetite, and it is necessary to fix a legal distinctionbetween what is offensive and what is not offensive to publicpropriety or modesty. 

Simple police regulations are sufficient for this purpose, but theyare very necessary to protect women and children, and occasionallyyoung men, against importunities or sexual obsessions, against sexualsolicitation, or even against assault or other offenses, such asincitement to masturbation, obscene words and gestures, etc. 

It is, no doubt, very difficult to define the limits. Our moderncustoms have left a large margin for pornography, which they treatlike a spoiled child. The most dangerous form, however, is not thatwhich flaunts itself in shop windows, by advertisements and placards, in public kiosks and dancing rooms; but the refined and æstheticpornography which appears in the form of elegant engravings, eroticnovels and dramas, under the cloak of art and even under that ofmorality. 

Unfortunately, the public is a very bad judge of these things. Certainbooks have openly and fearlessly described the sexual vices of ourtime--for example, Zola's novels and the dramas of Brieux--and thesehave been stigmatized as pornographic. As a matter of fact theirauthors in no way merit such a reproach. Such works in no wayencourage immorality; on the contrary, they inspire disgust and ahealthy and holy terror at the perversity of our sexual customs. Nodoubt such works may have an erotic action on ignorant and low-mindedpersons. The Tyrolean peasants, in their moral indignation, have beenknown to destroy the marble statues of women erected in public places. Such acts serve no purpose, for prudery will never rid the world oferoticism; it will only increase it by leading to hypocrisy. We havesomething better to do than persecute and insult true art and men oftalent or genius who expose our social perversions. 

Pornography is quite another thing. It is not contented withrepresenting the æsthetic, licit, and normal side of naturaleroticism. It does not depict sexual vice so as to emphasize itsugliness and its tragic consequences, but to glorify it. Whether it isrepresented as brazen nudity unadorned, or enveloped in a transparentveil which reveals everything it pretends to hide; whether it reels inbacchanalian orgies; whether it appears in brilliant fancy dressilluminated by electric lights, or in the discreet light of afashionable boudoir; whether it is clearly revealed or equivocal, perverted in one way or depraved in another; in all its forms its aimis to tickle, to excite, to seduce, to allure, by arousing lewdnessand inflaming its lowest passions. 

The pornographic dishes are often served up with a sentimental andmoral sauce which naturally does not tend to hide the flavor of themeat--for then all its charm would be gone--on the contrary itincreases its spicy quality by means of contrast, at the same timemaking the product more marketable; this hypocritical disguise givingit a certain varnish of propriety. The trick of clothing pornographicarticles with the mantle of virtue may deceive the artless, and givethe less artless excuse for buying them without putting themselves toany inconvenience. In such cases it is extremely difficult to actwithout injustice and without doing injury to art and science byvexatious measures. This requires much tact and rare perspicacity. 

=Other Sexual Misdemeanors. =--Many sexual assaults are committed onthe insane and feeble-minded, in the hope that they will not defendthemselves and denounce the criminal. We have mentioned the case ofinverts who become attendants in lunatic asylums in order to satisfytheir appetites. Such crimes should be classed with those committedagainst minors. In the first place it is necessary to take intoaccount the special dangers they present, and in the second place, thepersonality of the criminal, his capacity for repentance, improvement, and self-control. 

=Artificial Abortion. =--It is a difficult question to decide whether awoman should have the right to dispose of the embryo she carries inher womb, and the duties of society with regard to this question. Itis certainly the duty of society to protect the child as soon as itis born. In this case the laws cannot be too severe in protecting thechild from unnatural parents, or from the "baby farmers, " whosebusiness is to get rid of the infants by starving them or exposingthem to disease. 

It is the same with analogous abuses which we have mentioned withregard to civil law. These crimes or misdemeanors very often result asmuch from the economic organization of our society, as from want ofprotection for infancy and girl-mothers, as well as from the shamewith which the latter are branded by our hypocritical customs. 

The question becomes more difficult with regard to the embryo _beforebirth_. Should the law punish artificial abortion? Opinions on thisquestion vary. I have already said that in cases of rape, and forcedpregnancy in general, the right to artificial abortion should beconceded to the woman. On the other hand, I think it should beprohibited on principle when the fecundating coitus has been voluntaryon both sides, and when there is no medical reason for such a measure. In principle, the human embryo, when once conceived, should have theright to live. Birth is only an episode in its life. This generallytakes place at the end of the ninth lunar month of pregnancy, but achild born at the seventh month is often viable. It is, therefore, arbitrary not to recognize the right of the embryo to live. On thecontrary, the right that a woman has to dispose of her body would seemto outweigh this, when conception has been imposed on her by stratagemor violence. In fact, the right of the embryo to life should depend onthe wish of the bearers of each of the two germs by which it isformed, at the moment of conception. 

On the other hand, numerous exceptions to the above rule should beallowed, and doctors should not be too severe, for it would be forthem to decide in most cases whether artificial abortion was licit ornot. Some pregnancies are a veritable misfortune for the parents andoffspring, when the bodily and mental health of the mother or child, or both of them, is in danger. When a lunatic or an idiot, married ornot, makes a woman pregnant, artificial abortion should be allowed;also in all cases when an insane or epileptic woman becomes pregnant. 

An analogous case is that where a drunkard renders his wife pregnantagainst her will, especially when he is intoxicated at the moment; forthe offspring runs a great risk of blastophthoria. 

It is needless to say that abortion should be permitted wheneverpregnancy seriously endangers the life or health of the mother, orwhen a grave disease in the mother condemns the child to become aninvalid. On the other hand, such indications should not be acted ontoo lightly; a rational limit is here a matter of practice and commonsense, combined with medical science. 

=The Right to Live of Monsters, Idiots, or the Deformed. =--Thepreceding remarks naturally lead us to the question whether childrenwho are born invalids, deformed, or idiots, etc. , should benecessarily condemned to live by the law, and whether specialdispositions should not be made for such cases. 

The obligation to preserve, often by means of all the resources ofmedical science, miserable creatures, born as cretins or idiots;children with hydrocephalus or microcephalus, without eyes or ears, orwith atrophied genital organs, etc. , is an atrocity sanctioned by thelaw. Would it not be better to allow these miserable beings to besuppressed by means of a painless narcosis, with the consent of theparents and after an expert medical opinion, instead of condemningthem by law to a life of misery? Science has proved that everycongenital malformation of the brain is as incurable as that of anyother organ. 

Here again our legislation is fettered by ignorance and religiousdogma. On one hand, immense armies are organized to kill the mosthealthy men by thousands and tens of thousands, and many morethousands are abandoned to famine, prostitution, alcoholism andexploitation; on the other hand, medicine is expected to employ itswhole art and efforts in prolonging life as long as possible and thusmartyrizing miserable human wretches, degenerate in body and mind orboth, often when they cry out for death!

Large asylums are built for idiots, and there is much joy when aftermany years of persevering effort some devoted person succeeds inteaching these beings, whose mentality is far inferior to that of amonkey, to repeat a few words like a parrot, to scribble some wordson paper, or to repeat a prayer mechanically with their eyes turnedtoward heaven!

It is difficult to compare these two facts without feeling the bitterirony of what are euphemistically called our hereditary customs. Intruth, the nurses and teachers who devote themselves to the educationof cretins and idiots would do better to occupy themselves in somemanual work; or even leave the idiots to die, and themselves procreatehealthy and capable children in their place! But this question doesnot properly belong to our subject. 

=The Rights of the Embryo. =--A distinction is generally made betweenartificial abortion practiced in the first months of pregnancy andthat induced in the later months. When the child is born viable, theterm premature labor is used. When this is induced with the object ofgetting rid of the child the penalty is much more severe than forabortion, for it is regarded almost as infanticide. 

For this reason, and owing to the difficulty of the whole question, amother should never be given the right to destroy the embryo or childin her womb, excepting in cases where pregnancy has been forced uponher. Each case should be submitted to a medical examination, and adoctor's certificate should be required. This is all the moreindicated since our present knowledge makes it easy to preventpregnancy by anticonceptional measures. Society is, therefore, entitled to demand that a mother who has voluntarily conceived a childhas no right to interrupt its development, _i. E. _, to kill it. If, aswe hope, we shall eventually obtain more extended rights for women andgreater sexual liberty in general, even in marriage, the reasonsjustifying artificial abortion, apart from medical or hygienicmeasures, will become more and more rare. 

The stigma of shame which is branded on illegitimate maternityunfortunately justifies many cases of abortion and even infanticide. Things ought to change in this respect, and in the future no pregnancyought to be a source of shame for any healthy woman whatever, norfurnish the least motive for dissimulation. 

If the objection is raised that I am inconsistent; that every man, and consequently every woman, should have the power to dispose oftheir own body on every occasion, and that penal law should thereforetake no cognizance of artificial abortion, I reply that this does notapply to the case in point; for it is here a question, not of onebody, but of two or more (in the case of twins). From the moment ofconception the embryo acquires a social right which merits all themore protection, the more its possessor is incapable of looking afterit. 

=Adultery. =--Adultery, which even at the present day is oftenconsidered as a crime or misdemeanor, should be simply regarded as areason for divorce. We have already treated the question with regardto civil law, and have shown the futility of trying to obtain fidelityby law. In my opinion, the misdemeanor of adultery should be entirelyabolished from penal law. When it is complicated by fraud or othercrimes, it is the latter only which are concerned. 

=Human Selection. =--The indirect danger to which children of badheredity are exposed constitutes a grave social evil. At present, penal law is absolutely impotent in this matter. We have seen whatcivil law might perhaps effect, and what is already done in somecountries. In another chapter we shall discuss much more appropriatemeasures for improvement in this domain. 

We have already mentioned castration and certain cases in which itmight be practiced. These cases will always be very limited, and it ison the basis of social morality and hygiene of the race that thequestion of conception should be regulated in a rational and voluntarymanner. We shall obtain much more in this way than by legal measures, which are always lame because they interfere with individual liberty. We must never forget that the law is only a necessary evil, and oftena superfluous one. 

In conclusion, I may remark that penal law should be combined, likecivil law, with administrative measures, to protect both theindividual and society in sexual matters, at the same time watchingover the interests of future generations. But it should only do thisas far as the weakness and eroticism of men hinder a similar or betterresult from being obtained by moral education, combined with rationalintellectual instruction. 

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Vide DELBRÜCK, _Gerichtliche Psychopathologie_ (Job. Ambr. Barth, Leipzig, 1897). --DELBRÜCK, _Die Pathologische Lüge und der pyschischabnorme Schwindler_ (Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart, 1891). --FOREL, _Crime etanomalies mentales constitutionnelles_ (GENÈVE, 1902, H. Kündig, ). --KÖLLE, _Gerichtlich psychiatrische Gutachten_ (from theclinic of Professor Forel at Zurich), Stuttgart, 1894, FerdinandeEnke. --VON LISZT, Schutz der Gesellschaft gegen Gemeingefährliche(_Monatsschrift für Kriminalpsychologie und Strafrechtsreform_). --FOREL, Die verminderte Zurechnungsfähigkeit (_die Zukunft_, 1899, no 15), etc. 

[9] "Die Zwiechungsfähigkeit des normalen Menschen, " Munich. 

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII

A MEDICO-LEGAL CASE

The following case occurred in 1904 in the Canton of St. Gall, inSwitzerland, and confirms my opinion:

Frieda Keller, born in 1879, was the daughter of honest parents. Hermother was mild-mannered and sensible, her father loyal, but harsh andsometimes violent. Frieda was the fifth of eleven brothers andsisters. She was a model scholar. At the age of four years she hadmeningitis which left her with frequent headaches. In 1896-97 shelearnt dressmaking and helped at home in the household work. When shewas free, she did embroidery to help her family. Afterwards sheobtained a situation in a dressmaker's shop at St. Gall, where she gotsixty francs a month. 

To increase her income she worked on Sundays as a waitress at the Caféde la Poste. The proprietor, a married man, began to persecute herwith his affections, which she had great difficulty in avoiding. Shethen entered another shop where she got eighty francs a month. Oneday, in 1898, when she was then nineteen, the proprietor of the cafésucceeded in seducing her, and on May 27, 1899, she gave birth to aboy at the Maternity of St. Gall. She had confessed her misfortune toher parents, and her mother had pity on her. Her mother had also beenseduced and rendered pregnant at the age of fifteen; abandoned by herseducer she committed infanticide, and was sentenced to six years'imprisonment; as she had always been well-behaved, the tribunal hadrecognized that she acted "less by moral depravity than by falsesentiment of honor. " Frieda, who was fond of her mother, knew nothingof this history. The father was very hard toward his daughter andrefused her all help and pity. Twelve days after her confinement shetook her child to the Foundling Hospital at St. Gall. 

Her seducer then promised to maintain the child, but never paid morethan eighty francs. After a time he left the town and was seen nomore. The circumstances under which Frieda became pregnant were notfully inquired into and her seducer was ignored. It was not absolutelya case of rape, but of taking a poor, weak and timid girl by surprise. 

Frieda Keller felt nothing but disgust for her seducer. Later on thelatter would no doubt deny the fact of his paternity; but he hadtacitly admitted this by the payment of eighty francs. 

Frieda had to pay five francs a week to the Foundling Hospital andalso thirty-four francs to her married sister. In 1901 her fatherdied, and in 1903 her mother. Frieda inherited 2, 471 francs from herfather, but this sum was tied up in her brother's business and henever sent her the interest. It is characteristic of her mentalitythat she never attempted to exact it. 

Then began for this unfortunate young girl a life of struggle anddespair. She was possessed of two ideas. On the one hand she could nolonger maintain her child, and on the other hand would not admitanything from shame. They would not keep the child in the hospitalafter Easter, 1904, when it would reach the maximum age of five years. What was she to do?

Frieda Keller was then evidently in a pathological state of mind, which was upheld by her defender, Doctor Janggen. She wished to keepher secret and provide for the maintenance of the child; but she tookno steps in this direction. She did not seek for cheap lodgings, notfor a rise of salary, nor even for the money illegally detained by herbrother for his own profit. She never spoke to her married sister, norto any one, of her desperate position. The father of her child haddisappeared and she never gave information against him for fear ofdivulging her secret. Moreover, the law at St. Gall only admitted thecharge of paternity against unmarried men! She found no practical wayof disposing of her child. After Easter, 1904, when the child wasdischarged from the hospital, she was haunted by a single idea--to getrid of the child. She struggled for a long time against thisobsession, but in vain, and it finally became a resolution. 

Although she was fond of her sister's children, she did not love herown. She rarely visited her child and appeared to take no notice ofit. This woman who was well-disposed toward every other creature, whowas of exemplary conduct and would not hurt a fly, never even spoke ofher own child. On April 9th she wrote to the hospital that she wouldcome and fetch the child. 

A few days before this she took a long walk in the woods; the next dayshe wept at home, while looking for some string. Alone with herdespair, she had definitely made her terrible resolution. She saidafterwards, at the assizes:

"I could not free myself from the feeling that I must get rid of thechild. "

She then went to the hospital, after having bought new clothes for thechild, and told the authorities that an aunt of hers at Munich wouldtake care of the child. She then took the child to the woods. Havingfound a lonely spot she sat down for a long time while the childplayed in the wood. For some time she had not the courage to do thedeed, but at last an irresistible force, as she said, urged her to doit. With her hands and shoes she dug a grave, then strangled the childwith string, with such force that it was difficult to untie the knoton the dead body afterwards. She knelt for some time by the child tillit ceased to give any signs of life, then buried it, and returned homerestraining her tears with difficulty. 

On the 1st of June she wrote to the hospital that the child hadarrived at Munich. On the 7th of June the body was exposed by rain andwas discovered by some Italians. On the 14th of June she was arrested. During the trial she declared that her action had been the result ofher inability to maintain the child, and the necessity of keeping hersecret. This secret was the shame and dishonor of involuntarymaternity and illegitimate birth. 

All the witnesses spoke in favor of Frieda Keller and gave evidencethat she was well-mannered, intelligent, hard-working, economical, ofexemplary conduct and loving her sister's children. She did not denythe premeditation of her crime, and in no way sought to diminish herresponsibility. 

According to the law of St. Gall, such cases are punishable withdeath; but Frieda Keller's sentence was commuted to penal servitudefor life. 

Such are the facts of this case taken from the official report, andfrom an extract published by M. De Morsier in the _Signal de Genève_. 

We are compelled to exclaim with M. De Morsier that a legislationwhich, in such a case, condemns to death one who can justly be calleda victim, while leaving unpunished the real culprit, is calculated todestroy all belief in justice in a democracy which calls itselfChristian. It is a justice of barbarians, a disgrace to the twentiethcentury. The tribunal and the juries have enforced to the letter anarticle in the Code, and this is called justice! We may well say:_Fiat justitia, pereat mundus. _

Frieda Keller was no doubt in an abnormal condition of mind; sheprobably suffered from the influence of auto-suggestion which becamean obsession. Such cases are not uncommon. This is clearly shown bythe absurdity of her manner of acting, which was both useless andpernicious, while she might easily have got out of her difficulty inother ways. If our judges and juries had a little more knowledge ofhuman psychology and a little less of the Code in their heads, theywould have had some doubts on the mental integrity of the accused, andwould have ordered an expert examination by a mental specialist. But, apart from this point, I put the question--can we expect from a woman, maternal sentiments for a child resulting from sexual surprisebordering on rape?

In the preceding chapter I have demanded the right of artificialabortion to women rendered pregnant by rape or against their will, andI think the case of Frieda Keller supports my contention. I do notintend to justify the assassination of a child already five years ofage; but I wish to point out that the absence of maternal love isquite natural in such a case. It is precisely the instinctive aversionof Frieda Keller for her child, otherwise inexplicable, which showsmost clearly that it was a case of imposed maternity, or sexualsatisfaction on the part of the father alone. 

The tragic case of this unfortunate woman well illustrates thebrutality and hypocrisy of our customs regarding the sexual question, and shows what terror, shame, torment and despair may be caused by thepoint of view of the so-called rules of morality. In the presence ofthese facts I do not think I can be accused of exaggeration: it isonly parchment-hearted jurists and government officials who can remainindifferent in such cases. 

Penal servitude for life for the poor victim of such cruelty is a kindof "mercy" which rather resembles bitter irony. The law of St. Gallcan do only one thing to repair the evil; that is to change its lawsand liberate the victim as soon as possible. 

In ordinary infanticide the true assassin is not usually the motherwho kills her child, but rather the father who abandons the woman hehas made pregnant, and disowns the result of his temporary passion. Inthe case of Frieda Keller, maternal heredity, the results ofmeningitis, stupidity, irreflection, want, shame, fear, a pathologicalobsession, and finally the unworthy conduct of the father, allcombined in making this unfortunate girl a victim rather than acriminal. Her child was not only a source of great anxiety but also anobject of instinctive repulsion. 

How is it that such a brave and industrious woman can feel repulsiontoward her own child? If the judges had asked themselves this questionand had replied to it without prejudice, forgetting for the momenttheir Code and prejudices, they would not have had the courage tocondemn the woman to death, nor even to condemn her at all; for theirconscience would have clearly shown them the true culprits--masculinebrutality, our hypocritical sexual customs, and the unjust lawsinspiring terror in a feeble brain. 

When every pregnancy and every birth are looked upon by human societywith honor and respect, when every mother is protected by law andassisted in the education of her children, then only will society havethe right to judge severely of infanticide. 

CHAPTER XIV

MEDICINE AND SEXUAL LIFE

=General Remarks. =--Theology teaches belief in God and a future life;law represents the application of codified laws and customs, old andnew; medicine is said to be an art--the art of curing sick people. 

At the origin of each of these three branches of human activity wefind an acquired idea. Man has been led to the religious idea and tothe worship of one or more gods by his terror of certain unknown andoccult powers superior to his own, and by the idea that his faculty ofknowledge, his power, and the duration of his life were limited. 

The origin of law is in moral conscience, a phylogenetic derivative ofthe sentiments of sympathy, _i. E. _, sentiments of duty and justice, combined with the idea of the necessity for men to live in societies. 

As regards medicine, this owes its existence to the fear of disease, pain and death, which is modified by the acquired experience thatcertain substances may sometimes ease suffering. 

Theology, if separated from morality whose domain it has usurped, lives on mysticism, and endeavors to give it a natural and humanappearance by adorning it with sonorous phraseology. Law, losing sightof its origin and object of existence, only concerns itself withcomments on the text of laws, and in discussing the application of thearticles of the Code. Medicine has concerned itself too much with thelife of the patient, instead of the improvement of human life ingeneral. 

In order to cure a physical malady, to reëstablish abnormal or damagedfunctions as far as this is possible, the physician must be acquaintedwith the vital manifestations of the body in its normal state. Forthis reason the art of medicine depends on the accessory sciences, chiefly anatomy and physiology. These accessory sciences haveconsiderably developed in the evolution of medicine, and the art ofmedicine has become the chief motive power which urges men to researchand discovery in the biological sciences, such as histology, embryology, comparative anatomy and physiology, anatomy and physiologyof the brain, bacteriology, etc. Pure science now occupies such aposition in medical studies that the "healing art" often remains inthe background; although it must later on take the chief part, and isregarded by the public as of the greatest importance. 

The value of the art of medicine is subject to great variations. It isonly of real value when, free from all charlatanism, it rests on asufficiently scientific basis; for the art of an ignoramus falls intoerror and employs inappropriate methods; on the other hand, the art ofa charlatan has for its object the purse of the patient. It is commonto meet with physicians who have a good practical experience of artwithout possessing scientific knowledge, others who have bothpractical experience and science but are charlatans, others again whoare very scientific but incapable in practice. The ideal is acombination of art, science and disinterested honesty; but it is notvery uncommon to meet with a combination of ignorance, incapacity andcharlatanism. Lastly, too many doctors, otherwise capable andintelligent, are too much influenced by authority, text-books andprejudices, instead of observing and judging each case for themselvesin the true scientific spirit. Many dogmas of medical education reston hypotheses, theories or statements which have no solid foundation, and do not represent the fruits of a true personal experience of humanlife. Many doctors only see through other people's glasses, withoutreflecting for themselves; the worst of these are those with"systems, " homoeopaths, the disciples of natural medicine, etc. Itis especially in the sexual question that these human weaknesses ofmedical practitioners often lead to the most pitiable results. 

We must first of all take to heart the fundamental principle ofhygiene, which is at the same time that of all honest and soundmedicine--_prevention is better than cure. _

The modern opinions of medical men on the sexual question are stillunfortunately greatly obscured by prejudice, authority, and theindirect influence of the doctrines of religious morality. The sameapplies to the question of alcohol. However, it is to medicine and itsaccessory sciences that we owe the knowledge which now renders itpossible to judge of the sexual relations of man from the true andhealthy point of view of social and moral science. 

We cannot describe here all the relations of medicine to sexual life. Chapters I, II, III, IV and VIII are entirely based on its results andon those of natural science. What we have still to consider relatesespecially to sexual hygiene, for we have already treated of pathologyin Chapter VIII. I shall reserve the general and social part ofhygiene for the last chapter of the book, and shall confine myselfhere to certain special points, and the criticism of current, buterroneous, medical opinions on the sexual question. 

=Prostitution. Sexual Hygiene. Sexual Connection Apart fromMarriage. =--All regulation and medical supervision of prostitutionshould be rejected, not only from the moral point of view, but alsofrom that of hygiene, as a deplorable error, incapable even offulfilling its avowed object--protection against venereal disease. 

Faith in the dogmas and authority of an existing institution has ledmedical men to take a false view of the question. They demand from theadversaries of regulation proof of a diminution in venereal diseasewhen regulation was not in force. This is both unjust and absurd. Itis for the supporters of regulation to prove that State regulation ofprostitution has led to any appreciable improvement of the socialevil. Then only can it be asked if the maintenance of such vexatiousmeasures is still justifiable. But medicine has not furnished theproof demanded from it; on the contrary, its attempts in thisdirection have entirely failed. After all, the system is kept up, notbecause it diminishes venereal infection, but because it givessatisfaction to the sexual appetite of men and their desire forchange. Society, however, has no right to organize such a monstrosityas regulated prostitution and licensed proxenetism, for the specialpleasure of debauchees. 

In virtue of the false dogma of regulation, many doctors, even at thepresent day, recommend young men to visit brothels, for allegedhygienic reasons. This deplorable custom perverts youth and gives itfalse ideas. It is a remedy much worse and much more dangerous thanthe evil it is supposed to cure, worse than masturbation, much worsethan nocturnal emissions. Sexual anomalies and perversions are notcured in brothels; on the contrary they develop there. 

Moreover, it is absurd to exaggerate the effects of onanism and sexualexcesses in themselves, and thus increase the anxiety of a number ofunfortunates. In Chapter IV, we have already spoken of greatvariations which the sexual appetite presents without ceasing to benormal, and we have mentioned the rule given by Luther. In my opinionthe advice given by the doctor should be as follows:

As long as he does not wish to marry, a young man should remove as faras possible all sexual ideas from his thoughts. He should be contentedwith nocturnal emissions, which are produced spontaneously, and shouldavoid all the manipulations of onanism. A young girl should do thesame all the more easily, because her sexual appetite is normallyweaker, and is not accompanied by glandular secretions which more orless demand ejaculation. 

Persons unable to resist their sexual appetite should be extremelyprudent in their extra-nuptial intercourse. Moreover, there is no needfor this to assume the character of prostitution. 

=Medical Advice. =--It is the doctor's duty to give friendly advice toevery one who consults him on sexual questions, without posing as ajudge or a moralist. He should never frighten or reprimand the poorhypochondriac who blames himself for masturbation, nor sexual pervertsof any kind, unless, of course, they are absolutely dangerous, such assadists. He should, on the contrary, calm their fears and give themencouragement; and in this way he may do much good. 

Hypnotic suggestion gives him a means of directly combating many casesof sexual excitation, or at least of attenuating them, by directingthe cerebral activity of the patient to other subjects. Each caseshould be judged by itself and attention should be paid to thedifferent points we have studied in this book. Even between husbandand wife, and especially as a consequence of monogamy, certainunfortunate or delicate circumstances may raise difficulties; forexample, the periods during which conception should be avoided, acertain time after accouchement and during certain morbid conditions. 

In this case unskillful medical advice may have unfortunate results. When a doctor forbids a husband to have sexual intercourse with hiswife he exposes him to two dangers. If the husband remains continentand sleeps in a separate room for too long a time, conjugal love maybecome so cooled that a permanent barrier is established between manand wife; if, on the other hand, he abandons himself to prostitution, he may contract venereal disease and infect his wife. Again, thehusband may become enamored of another woman and wreck the happinessof his family. The doctor who prohibits conjugal coitus thus takes agreat responsibility. For this and other reasons we have now animportant question to consider. 

Opinions differ considerably as to the effects of sexual continence. All extreme assertions are erroneous. It is quite certain that theharmful effects of continence have been greatly exaggerated. Normalpersons of both sexes may remain continent, although not without sometrouble and discomfort. In a general way, we may accept the statementthat many morbid conditions are known to result from sexual excess, but few from continence. This, however, goes a little too far, forcertain psychopaths and sexual hyperæsthetics often lapse into a stateof mental and nervous excitement from forced continence, so that theirneurosis becomes accentuated and may even end in insanity. I have seenthis occur both in men and women, but such cases are very rare. 

Continence is not an easy matter for erotic individuals, and requiresa heroic internal struggle, especially in men. The Canadian reformer, Chiniqui, whom we have previously quoted, relates the history of amonk who tore off his testicles in despair at being unable to conquerhis violent sexual appetite. 

The fine preachers of morality, endowed with a cold temperament, orsimply senile, who hold forth on the "immorality" of the consequencesof the sexual appetite, would do well to take such facts to heart. 

We must not forget that among our brutal, yet human ancestors thestruggle for life demanded the cruel and wanton exposure or slaughterof all weak and decrepit individuals, and that epidemic diseases, plagues, and pests ravaged the peoples without mercy. Of course ourpresent civilization has put up a barrier against all this. Yet, forthat very reason the blind and thoughtless propagation of degenerate, tainted, and enfeebled individuals is another atrocious danger tosociety. But then the sexual appetite cannot be legislated out ofexistence or killed by repressive measures. 

Quite recently it has been scientifically demonstrated that absolutesterilization can be produced by the application of the Roentgen Ray, but at what period of treatment this result may be obtained stillremains an unsettled question, thus leaving the possibility ofincurring the risk of effecting only a doubtful degeneration of thegerms. 

We can but consider all legislation and all police measures which areintended to regulate the sexual intercourse in the human family, asabsolute failures, as inhuman, in fact as down-right detrimental tothe race. Exacting laws have never improved the morals of any race ornation; hypocrisy and secret evasion are the only results obtained. Itwould be better by far if steps were taken to enlighten the masses onthe questions of sexual heredity and degeneration. Wisdom of this kinddoes not corrupt. It is rather the unrestricted power of capital andwealth that brings the rot into the community. Healthy people shouldbe made to know that a large number of sound, industrious children isa blessing, in fact, riches to the family, but on the one conditiononly, viz. : that they are not relegated to detestable slavery throughthe overbearing suppression of capital. 

When the dignity of labor shall once have been raised on the pedestalof worship now occupied by Mammon, there will no longer be need forcomplaint about small families and decreasing birth-rates, such as wehear so much at the present day in France and in the United States. 

A few examples might throw some light on this subject. 

(1) Dr. Pelman of Bonn, assisted by the local authorities, made aninquiry into the progeny of a certain Ada Jurke (born in 1740, died inthe beginning of the nineteenth century), who was hereditarilytainted, a drunkard and a degenerate. Her descendants down to thepresent time number 834 persons. The lives of 709 of these individualshave been officially recorded as follows: 106 were illegitimatechildren; 142 were mendicants and tramps; 64 were unable to performany kind of work towards their own support and became a charge to thecommunity; 181 of the women were prostitutes; 7 persons were convictedof murder and 69 of other crimes. All this within a period of 75 yearsat a cost to the state, according to the public records, of fivemillions of marks (about $1, 250, 000) in the shape of monetary support, jail and law expenses, claims for damages, etc. , etc. 

(2) Dr. Jörger, Director of the Insane Asylum at Waldhaus, by Chur, inSwitzerland, followed up in a similar fashion the history of a familyof vagrants. The full report may be found under the title of "The ZeroFamily, " in the _Archiv für Gesellschaft's-u. Rassenbiologie_, 1905, Heft 4, page 494 et seq. It is sad to read of the untold misery, profligacy, and distress spread broadcast by this family, not to speakof the many crimes committed by its members. 

It is depressing to witness how sheer ignorance and callousness to theinterests of the human race at large allow such people to multiplywithout let or hindrance. The unfortunate part about it all is thatthis species of humanity is on the steady increase. They really formthe principal hearths whence emanate our criminal classes, that fillour jails, our Charity Homes, our Hospitals, our Sanatoria, our InsaneAsylums. They breed and multiply not because it affords them a specialpleasure to procreate crime, insanity, and degeneracy, but because noone takes the trouble to instruct them in the perniciousness ofbringing into this world offspring that can only find and themselvesagain disseminate misery, want, and wretchedness; or to teach them howto prevent this calamity. 

(3) Still another category of dangerous elements is becoming morenumerous every day. I refer to the _neurasthenics_. Heredity is animportant factor here, too, as every neurologist is able to attestfrom his own daily observations. The worst feature about this peril isthe fact that neurotics as a rule suffer from excess of sexualappetite, whilst they are sorely lacking the power of self-control, circumstances which often enough lead to crime, insanity, and suicide. Untold thousands of them, unaware of the fearful consequences ofhereditary impairment, go on bringing into this world childrendestined to unhappiness and suffering. It is noteworthy too that thesenervous wrecks generally intermarry. Does not this account to a largeextent for the great number of unhappy marriages recorded nowadays?

Of course, it is quite evident that under such pitiable conditions, the hereditary taints become increasingly aggravated. If the patientshave money, which is very often the case, they prove profitablecustomers of the "nerve-specialist, " and likewise of the endless chainof private sanatoria for nervous diseases. It is a sad spectacleindeed. My own experience has taught me that nine out of ten of theseunfortunate beings have families, because they are ignorant of thedangers of heredity, and unfamiliar with the safe and proper means forpreventing conception. Why not teach them? A few cases may suffice. 

(_a_) An hysterical woman, whose father was a lascivious, egotisticalcrank, married a man absolutely devoid of will power and energy. Shewas gifted; the marriage a failure. Of the two children, one was anindolent, thoroughly useless, good-for-nothing boy, whose only thoughtwas of wasting money on pretty neckties and the like and of flirtingwith the girls, of which art he was a past-master. The other one, agirl, betrayed the same characteristics and disposition. The motherwas in despair and inconsolable, cursing her offspring and themarriage alike. Too late, alas!

(_b_) The son of a neurasthenic father and an hysterical mother, although of a good-natured disposition, had the vilest, uncontrolabletemper, which would suddenly carry him away to acts of violence onlyto be bitterly regretted immediately afterwards. Whilst drunk hebecame excited and drawing a revolver wounded several innocentbystanders. As an officer in the army he was insulted by a tipsystudent, whom he shot down on the spot, although he was sober himselfat the time. On another occasion he shot himself in the breast, butrecovered. Presently he fell in love most desperately with anhysterical woman and married her. The mother-in-law, who was aneccentric, mischievous person, started a bitter feud between the twofamilies. He became greatly wrought up over the affair and demanded ofhis wife to stop the quarrel at once. As she demurred, he ended herlife with a bullet from a pistol. Of course, he was arrested andlanguished in jail in utter agony and despair. What a future for thosetwo unfortunate children that sprang from this union! I may point outhere that at the time when he killed his wife, whom he lovedpassionately, he was not under the influence of strong drink, for hehad given up the use of alcohol altogether for quite a number ofyears. 

(_c_) A very religious lady had married a man who became insane. He, too, was a devout churchman. There were 8 children. Under treatmentthe father improved and was dismissed from the asylum. I urged themboth to prevent further conception, having in view the dangers ofhereditary taint in the possible offspring. The wife indignantly toldme that her church demanded of her to bear as many children as shecould. They had several more, all of them candidates for the insaneasylum or the institute for nervous patients. And that is calledreligion and morality!

(_d_) A heavily tainted couple, desperately enamored of each other, came to me in great distress to ask: "May we get married?" I answered:"It does not strike me as being the wisest thing for you to do. But ifyou cannot exist without each other, by all means get married; butthink what a calamity it would be, if two beings tainted as you bothare, were to beget offspring. " "But we are so fond of children. ""Well, that is easily mended. There are plenty of healthy orphanswhose parents were strong and sound both in body and in mind, but whoare strangers to a father's and mother's love, and are craving for agood education. Make your own choice, but take only the very best. Then you will have a family and enjoy all the pleasures of parenthood. As for the rest, heed my advice. Avoid pregnancy. "

The law of heredity winds like a red thread through the family historyof every criminal, of every epileptic, eccentric and insane person. And we should sit still and witness our civilization go into decay andfall to pieces without raising the cry of warning and applying theremedy?

However, this is by no means all. Tuberculosis is the white plague ofto-day. It is considered an established fact that every living humanbeing inhales and swallows tubercle bacilli by the millions every day, and it is even claimed that every one of us harbors somewhere in theeconomy this dreadful poison to a larger or smaller degree. Whilst thepure, immune blood in a sound, robust constitution is able to resistthe inroads of, and even to kill, sterilize, and eliminate thesebacilli, the weaker and hereditarily tainted individual falls a preyto the attacks of this dire disease by the thousands. True, serumtherapy and open-air treatment are accomplishing many cures, but thehereditary disposition remains in the system all the same, and may betransmitted to the coming generation, or at any rate may impair thepower of resistance in the offspring. 

Moreover, the sexual appetite is very pronounced in phthisicalpatients. They marry and beget children in the most wanton fashion. The law cannot and does not prevent them, and the carnal instinct isnot to be killed. What is to be done when law and religion forbid theapplication of preventive measures and even prosecute the person thatrecommends them?

Local disease and pathological conditions in the woman (at times inman also), within wedlock, may render parturition an immediate dangerto the life of the mother or of the child or of both together, forinstance, cancer of the womb or other affections of the uterus, kidneydisease, a deformed pelvis. Surely in such cases it is the boundenduty of the physician to intervene and council against, nay, absolutely forbid impregnation. Well, how is it to be done? Musthusband and wife, who love and esteem each other, be separated? Itwould be unnatural, in fact it is quite impossible. Or should theyabandon sexual intercourse all together and live like brother andsister? Well, a few exceptionally cold natures may have will powerenough to carry into effect such a pact. But in 99 out of 100 casesthe interdict of the sexual act sends the husband to satisfy hiscravings elsewhere and contract disease, or he falls in love withanother woman and wrecks home and family. 

Similar conditions may be brought about by other causes as well. Take, for instance, the poor workingman or mechanic who has already six orseven children and whose wife is unusually fertile, giving birth tochildren year after year. The wages of the father do not suffice toproperly support them all. The food that can be purchased with theslender means is not at all adequate. Rent and other bills fall behindand the man gets in debt. They are both young yet. What is to be done?If they follow the natural law there will be an increase in the familyevery year. Moreover, these ever-recurring labors weaken theconstitution of the woman and sap away her strength. Starvation?Sexual continence in wedlock? It is strange, indeed, to hear rich men, well-fed clergymen, pious zealots and reformers, leaning back in theircomfortable chairs after a sumptuous meal and smoking an expensiveHavana cigar, discuss this burning question and bewail the immoralityof the common people. 

Statistics prove that these very people, who extol to the poor all theblessing of a big family, never live up to their teachings either intheory or in practice. The majority of these apostles of morality haveno children at all, or at the utmost two or three. Why should that beso? What interesting reading it would make if the sexual history ofthese persons were followed up and printed. 

Money, hygiene, reason, and the most elementary laws of humanitydemand that the wife, who is fertile above the average, should have arest of at least 18 months between each succeeding pregnancy. But thiscannot be achieved in the natural course of events, except in veryrare cases, without wrecking the marriage. 

If we crystallize this sexual, social question, we arrive at thefollowing conclusions:

There are a great many cases, especially of a pathological character, but none the less also in normal and sound individuals, in whichprocreation, within wedlock or without, is dangerous either definitelyor temporarily, either for the mother or the child, or for both, andfor that reason should be interdicted. Very few men and a very smallproportion of women--no matter how firmly they may be resolved--arecapable of effectually suppressing their sexual needs. And even ifthey succeed, the consequences are generally of a disastrous nature, loss of marital love, secret illicit relations with others andsubsequent infidelity, nervous disorders, impotence, etc. 

In all these cases we are confronted with the following dilemma:

(1) In the unmarried person: onanism or prostitution, or both. Is thatmorality? Such people must either forever forego love, marriage, andnormal, lawful sexual intercourse, or face sterility in wedded life. (I do not recognize prostitution--see chapter X--as normalintercourse. )

(2) Within marriage: onanism, prostitution, and infidelity, or theadoption of rational preventive measures. 

I leave it to the reader and to the lawmakers to pick out the correctalternative and to arrive at the one possible, decent, and ethicalsolution of these conflicting questions. 

I do not admit that constitutionally frigid natures or those who findit easy to control their sexual appetite, have any right whatsoever topose as normal samples of the human race and to simply ignore theexistence of temperaments, characters, and constitutions so widelydiffering from their own. This world's history teaches us that nothinggood has ever come from such vain assumptions, unless it be emptyphrases and dead letters. These righteous, frigid, and strong naturesought, indeed, to be grateful to their ancestors for having handeddown to them that happy disposition, and to prove their gratitude bymaking particular efforts to help those that are yet to come, inobtaining and sharing the same benign blessing. 

It seems almost incredible that in some countries medical men who arenot ashamed to throw young men into the arms of prostitution, blushwhen mention is made of anticonceptional methods. This false modesty, created by custom and prejudice, waxes indignant at innocent things, whilst it encourages the greatest infamies. 

=Hygiene of Marriage. =--When marriage is consummated on the basis offree reciprocal consent, when both parties know exactly to what theyhave pledged themselves, when the corrupting influence of money iseliminated, when all unnatural regulation is suppressed, when thesuperfluous blending of religion and legislation have been abolishedfrom the bonds of matrimony, when woman has finally obtained equalrights with man--then love and mutual respect, combined with thesexual appetite, will constitute the intimate and personal ties ofmarriage. At the same time, instinctive sentiments and legal dutiestoward the offspring will furnish it with a complementary and lastingcement. Among men whose nature is true, the instructive sentiment ofaltruism or conscience urges them to the performance of social dutieswithout the necessity of any legal obligation. 

A few medical points now require our attention. The husband should beolder than the wife, on the average from six to twelve years. Thispoint is very important if a monogamous union is to be lasting. Womanmatures earlier than man, both mentally and sexually; her personalitybecomes more rapidly adult than his; she ages more quickly and losesher faculty of procreation sooner than man. Certain savage races solvethe problem by marrying as boys and girls, casting off their wiveswhen they grow old, to marry younger ones. Among civilized races, manmanages his affairs by making use of prostitution. From his youth hesuccumbs to physical and moral corruption, often complicated withvenereal infection, and then often regards marriage as a kind ofhospital for incurables, where the wife plays the parts of housekeeperand nurse combined!

It is not easy to steer clear of these rocks, nor to formulate a rulefor lasting monogamy. The old style of polygamy is brutal, andprostitution is still more disgusting. The sentiments of the egoistare summed up in the maxim, "After me the deluge!" To this thepreacher of morals replies that "man should curb his passions. " Butthis eternal dialogue does not help us in the least. 

I propose a middle course, as follows: The young man who possessessufficient strength to overcome his sexual appetite, or whose sexualappetite is so moderate that he can remain continent till the age ofabout twenty-five years, so as to enable him to avoid prostitution, promiscuous sexual intercourse or masturbation--this young man, Imaintain, has the best chance of gaining the first prize in life. Ifhe is free from prejudice and is not afraid of using anticonceptionalmeasures for a certain time, he may then marry a young girl, to whomhe may become permanently attached, if their two characters suit eachother. 

A young girl may very well marry at seventeen or eighteen, or at anyrate between eighteen and nineteen. She is then sexually mature andher mentality is sufficiently developed, so that the difference in agewe have required may be obtained. Young people thus united maycontinue their studies before procreating children, and their marriagewill stimulate them to work. 

When the intoxication of the honeymoon is over, the continuance ofconjugal happiness depends on an intimate adaptation of the twoconjoints in sentiments, intelligence and sexual appetite; anadaptation which purifies love on both sides. Work in common, a commonideal, mutual respect full of affection but free from flattery, and areciprocal education which does not degenerate into pedantry nortyranny, are the principal conditions for conjugal happiness. 

It is absolutely necessary to avoid everything which causes reparationor exclusion, even in appearance. At the risk of appearing ridiculousin the eyes of certain superior persons, I repeat that separation ofbeds and bedrooms is a dangerous experiment to make in marriage, andthat it may easily lead to estrangement, even when based on thehighest motives. 

It is the same, in a still higher degree, with sexual continence inmarriage, even when it does not last for years, excepting in cases ofgrave disease or senile impotence. 

It is often stated that a woman should avoid coitus for long periods, because among certain savage races the husband does not cohabit withher during pregnancy and the two years of nursing which follow it; thewoman being considered by religion as "impure" during this period. Butthis proves nothing, for this custom only concerns polygamists, whomake up for it with other women. If our monogamous marriage is to benatural, and not satisfied with words and illusions, it is necessaryfor sexual intercourse to be intimate and constant, and it should onlybe interrupted for short intervals, corresponding to the naturalwants of the two conjoints, adapted to each other by mutualconcessions. 

Apart from this, menstruation and accouchement constitute the onlyexceptions based on physiology. According to Grüber (_Hygiene desGeschlechtslebens_) accouchement requires an interruption of at leastfour weeks; I should say at least six weeks. Every husband, with thepossible exception of the most horrible satyrs, can submit to thiswithout much discomfort. Pregnancy, on the contrary, does not requirecontinence, provided the husband takes account of his wife's conditionand treats her with care. 

During the last months of pregnancy all violent movements and pressureon the abdomen should be avoided during coitus, so as not to injurethe embryo. This may be effected by coitus in the lateral position. 

Professor Pinard of Paris advises the prohibition of coitus during thelatter part of pregnancy, because it may lead to premature birth. Asregards accouchement at the seventh, eighth or even at the beginningof the ninth month, this might, it is true, be proved by figures, butat this time the embryo is sufficiently protected, and with theprecautions indicated above, I consider the danger as nil. As regardsthe end of the ninth month, the margin of errors as to the movement ofconception and the signs of birth at term hardly allow of statisticswhich exclude subjectivism, and the danger becomes less and less. Inany case a conscientious husband would run no risks under thesecircumstances if he was aware of the danger. 

What is more important for the wife is that she should have sufficientrest between her pregnancies. A year at least should elapse betweenparturition and the next conception; this gives approximately twoyears between the confinements. This is easily managed by the aid ofthe preventive animal membranes we have mentioned. In this way thewife keeps in good health and can bear healthy children at pleasure. It is certainly better to procreate seven healthy children, than toprocreate fourteen of which seven die, to say nothing of the motherwho rapidly becomes exhausted by uninterrupted confinements. 

No rule can be given for the frequency of sexual connection inmarriage; this is a matter for reciprocal arrangement. Luther's ruleof two or three times a week may be considered a normal average forvirile persons of good constitution. 

Women who are sexually cold and fond of children, but who have ahorror of coitus, cannot, in my opinion, be regarded as types of thenormal wife, nor can they expect their husbands to abstain from allcoitus except that intended for procreation. On the other hand, thewife should certainly be made acquainted with the nature of sexualintercourse and its consequences before marriage. Further, beforeengaging in a life-long union, a man and woman ought to explain toeach other their sexual feelings so as to avoid deception andincompatibility later on. 

Without having ever experienced a sexual orgasm, either by coitus orby masturbation, a normal young girl, when she is sufficientlyinstructed in sexual matters, may easily decide whether the idea ofcoitus with a man for whom she feels affection is repugnant orattractive to her. In the case of young men it is still easier. 

A woman who had received a complete medical education and had remaineda virgin, but who was well-informed on sexual life, gave me veryprecise information on this subject. For a long time the idea ofcoitus with men was repugnant to her, till she made the acquaintanceof the one who gained her affections. Repugnance was then replaced bydesire. This case also gives a good example of the monogamous sexualfeeling of the normal woman. 

In Chapter XVII we shall discuss the manner in which youth should beinitiated into the sexual question. Our present formality, combinedwith general ignorance of girls on sexual matters, renders a mutualunderstanding prior to definite betrothal generally impossible. Moreover, there is a sort of hysterical and pathological love, theproduct of the imagination, which is associated with sentimental wordsand sighs as well as coquetry, but transformed into disgust or hatredby the first coitus. Although more common in women this false love ismet with in hysterical men. Sometimes the illusion disappears whilethere is yet time to break off the betrothal. Marriage by trial andhas been attempted by some, but with varied success. 

For a number of reasons, both parties should be medically examinedbefore marriage. This precaution may reveal the presence of a narrowpelvis or vaginismus in the woman, or aspermia, venereal disease, etc. , in the man. 

When a woman will only support coitus with a view to procreation, shewould do well if she informed her _fiancé_, who can then considerwhether he can submit to such restriction. If the wife will not allowher husband a concubine it generally results in clandestineextra-nuptial relations and subsequent divorce proceedings. 

My opinion on this subject will no doubt appear very immoral to manypeople, but it is natural and rational. It is needless to say that Ido not intend that a man has the right to compel his wife to haveintercourse whenever he pleases. The question is a very delicate one;but, by the aid of goodwill a satisfactory solution of the problem canbe obtained in most cases, in the manner indicated above. Love andmutual respect will always find a way out of the difficulty. It isnecessary to avoid extreme asceticism and unnatural idealism on theone hand and excessive sexual indulgence on the other hand. In thesexual question above all others it is the wisest course to strike ahappy medium. 

An extremely important question is that of the procreation ofchildren. We have just explained how this can be regulated at will; wehave now to consider how children of the best quality can beprocreated. 

The first condition is the good quality of the parents. Their heredityor the intellectual and physical value of their ancestry is ofparamount importance. We must take into consideration, not only theintelligence and physical health, but also good sentiments, aconscientious character and energy of will. What is the use ofprocreating healthy and robust children if they are vain, egoistic, impulsive, crafty, wanting in will power, or perhaps criminal? Suchindividuals constitute a social plague. 

At the time of conception the parents should not be in a condition ofacute or chronic alcoholism, nor affected with any disease; otherwisethe progeny may be tainted by _blastophthoria_ (Chapter I). 

The age of the procreators should also be taken into account. Childrenborn of parents advanced in years are generally feeble. 

The fatal error which causes the procreation of children to depend onpecuniary reasons and interests is a social misfortune. Healthy menand women ought never to avoid reproduction, even when they are poor. Progeny of good quality grow up, so to speak, by themselves. Progenywith evil instincts, or decadent, have a pre-existing hereditarytaint, or have been affected by blastophthoria in some other way. 

No doubt acquired diseases or accidents may make an invalid of a childor a man, but these are exceptions which prove the rule, for hereagain the descendant of healthy parents is more resistant than others, if he has not artificially altered his state of health and power ofresistance by alcohol or venereal disease. 

Among savages, and at the present day among many peasants, childrenare rather an advantage than a burden, because these people havesimple and healthy habits and few wants. It is our artificial andunhealthy desire for luxury, frivolity, comfort and enjoyment, ourmuscular weakness resulting from want of exercise, our exaggeratedterror of diseases and microbes, in a word our effeminacy, which makesus so incapable of rearing large families simply and cheaply. No doubtit becomes more and more necessary to give children a good education, and this necessity complicates the question. But, in my opinion thiseducation will in the future be conducted by the State. 

=Hygiene of Pregnancy. =--This subject is too special to be fully dealtwith here. We may, however, mention that idleness and overwork areequally detrimental to the pregnant woman and her child. It isneedless to say that every pregnant woman requires care and good food. Violent efforts, especially in the upright position, should be avoided(vide Bachimont: _La Puericulture intra-uterine_, 1898, Paris). Butdomestic work and moderate exercise of the body are beneficial. Precautions are especially necessary during the last months ofpregnancy for the general health of the mother and child, butimprudence during the early months may cause abortion in many women. The progressive enervation of women in easy circumstances has no doubtrendered them less adapted to procreation. This failing should becorrected by progressive but prudent training. 

=Medical Advice as to Marriage. =--The permission or prohibition ofmarriage is a delicate question at the present day, but will be lessso in the future, if our propositions are realized. If one of the twocandidates for matrimony has been or is still insane, or seriouslyaffected with tuberculosis, or with active syphilis or chronicgonorrhea, it is clearly our duty to prohibit marriage. 

If the situation is not so grave, and if it is only a question ofhereditary taint, especially when there is a probability of theoffspring being deformed in body or mind, we may content ourselveswith prohibiting the procreation of children, while giving permissionfor marriage, provided anticonceptional measures are used. Theimportance of these measures is obvious in such cases. We shouldexplain to the young people in question that the procreation ofunhealthy or backward children is bad and even criminal, and warn themagainst such an unpardonable act of thoughtlessness. If they are veryfond of children they can be recommended to adopt poor orphans. 

There is no need, however, to be too severe. Medical men are oftenpessimists, and have a tendency to see disease everywhere and to givea grave prognosis. The procreation of children should not beprohibited simply because there is insanity in some member of thefamily, but the probabilities of hereditary transmission should becalculated in the way we have explained in the first chapter of thisbook. 

Taking into consideration the bodily and mental health and thecharacter of the two candidates for marriage, as well as that of theirancestry, the physician should consider what is likely to be theaverage quality of children from such a marriage. According as hiscalculation leads to a probability above or below the average of thepopulation, from all the points of view of the social value of man, hewill advise the parties concerned as to freedom or limitation inprocreation. 

The average of humanity must not be placed too high, and the physicianshould always keep in mind the great mental mediocrity, weakness ofwill, the low moral level and physical defects of the bulk of thepopulation. 

When persons who are intelligent and educated, but more or lesspsychopathic or hereditarily tainted, put questions of this kind tothe doctor, because they are very conscientious and prudent, theyshould be recommended to lead a healthy life and avoid alcohol, butneed not remain sterile, for their offspring may be morally andintellectually above the average, and if all blastophthoric influencesare avoided there is a possibility or even probability of gradualregeneration. In short, the doctor must treat each case on its ownmerits, carefully weigh both sides of the question, and avoid beinginfluenced by exclusive dogmas of any kind. Thus only can he give wiseand useful advice. 

What is of especial importance for us, is the knowledge that it is notnecessary, from the point of view of social hygiene, to prohibitmarriage for the sole reason that the offspring may be of bad quality. We can allow psychopaths with hereditary taints, or even invalids ofboth sexes, to contract sterile marriages, by requiring them to avoidconception by some means or other, in the name of social hygiene andmorality. In such cases dislocation of the tubes has a definiteeffect, and if we consider the negligence and weakness of mind of suchindividuals, we should do well to recommend this proceeding wheneverthere is a clear indication for inducing sterility. In this way weavoid cruel measures, which, by the way, are almost impracticable, which take away all hope of love and happiness from theseunfortunates, throw them into the arms of prostitution or bitterpessimism, and make them disgusted with their own existence. 

=Medical Secrecy. =--Medical secrecy and its limitation is a verydelicate question, especially in sexual matters. Opinions vary indifferent countries and among different individuals. In France medicalsecrecy is almost made an idol; the medical man may refuse to giveevidence in a court of law and even conceal a crime. In Germaniccountries, on the contrary, especially in German Switzerland, toolittle importance is attached to medical secrecy. In short, medicalsecrecy is an elastic idea which is open to different interpretations. 

Although certain particular cases may present great difficulties, there is a middle course of moral conduct which will serve the purposeof every conscientious doctor. As a general rule the doctor's duty isto keep secret everything confided to him by his patients, except whenthe patients themselves speak openly of it, or authorize their doctorto do so. There are, however, exceptions to this rule. 

First of all it assumes normal responsibility in the patient, and isonly conditional among irresponsibles. When a lunatic, for example, relates to a doctor, under the seal of secrecy, certain things whichdepend on delirious ideas and which threaten the safety of others, orwhich render certain measures necessary in the patients' own interest, the doctor's duty is to make known the state of affairs, but only toresponsible persons. It is the same as regards children. It isneedless to say that the doctor should use all possible measures inthe interest of the patient or child. 

But even with responsible persons medical secrecy has its limits. Thedoctor is here only bound to secrecy so far as it does not injure therights of other individuals, or those of society. 

It is the duty of a medical man to report all cases of smallpox orcholera, etc. , even against the consent of the patient, and to isolatethe latter to avoid an epidemic, which is contradictory to medicalsecrecy. In short, he must not, under the pretext of medical secrecy, become an accomplice of harmful acts or crimes. I will mention a fewexamples bearing on the sexual question:

A sadist or a sexual pervert addicted to assaults on children consultsa doctor and confides to him his morbid appetite. It is obvious thatthe doctor has to do with a dangerous individual and is at the sametime in a difficult position. In this case extreme measures are bad. The doctor who simply treats the patient without concerning himselfabout the possible victims, contravenes his duties. The one whoreplies to the patient, "you are a beast; go away or I shall denounceyou, " acts in a still worse manner. The one who simply denounces thepatient also puts himself in the wrong. In my opinion, the doctorshould first of all make a thorough examination of the mental andsexual condition of the patient, so as to establish the degree ofperversion and satisfy himself whether he has to do with an honestindividual worthy of pity, who strives to overcome his morbidappetite; or, with a crafty egoist with no conscience, who onlyconsults the doctor to escape from temporary difficulties into whichhis perversion has led him, and who indulges his morbid appetitewithout scruple, constituting a perpetual danger to society. Unfortunately, the latter cases are very common, and the doctor isusually consulted from interested motives only. Under thesecircumstances medical secrecy renders the doctor the accomplice of thecriminal. 

Between the honest patient and one who is absolutely perverse, thereare many transitional stages. In these cases the doctor should alwaysmake a careful examination before forming an opinion. If he feelsuncertain, he should call in a specialist in mental disease, and thenact accordingly. If he is convinced that the patient has made theresolution to overcome his morbid appetite, and has so far resistedthe temptation to injure any one, he should strengthen the patient'sresistance by doing everything possible (except marriage) to rid himof his malady; he should make him aware how dangerous his condition isto himself and to others; he may even recommend either castration ormasturbation in case of urgency, in order to avoid crime; he shouldmake him promise to come immediately for internment in an asylum, assoon as he can no longer resist. Under these conditions he may respectmedical secrecy and at the same time save the existence of theunfortunate patient, while protecting society. 

In more severe cases, when the doctor is convinced that the patient isincapable of controlling himself or does not wish to, or that he hasalready committed crimes, he should act as follows: He must explain tothe patient that it is impossible for him to take the responsibilityand that he must be immediately sent to an asylum, in default of whichinformation will be given against him. We must make him understandthat he is a danger to society and goes beyond the limits of what islicit, but that if he voluntarily submits to rational treatment, offering all requisite guarantees on both sides, he (the doctor) isdisposed to avoid any legal action. 

The duty of medical secrecy ought never to go so far as to render themedical man an accomplice of dangerous individuals or criminals. Thelunatic asylum in such cases is the natural refuge for the patient, asthe lazaret is for cases of smallpox or cholera. These cases, however, require public asylums which are not too large, well organized, withdivisions for different cases, and provided with a sufficient medicalstaff. 

I have chosen as the first example one of the worst kind of caseswhich endanger the public safety. But there are other cases such asthat depicted by Brieux in "_Les Avariés_. " A syphilitic subjectwishes to marry before he is cured, and consults his doctor. Does thewhole duty of the doctor consist in dissuading the patient frommarriage? Has he actually the right to be silent when the patient willnot listen to him, and thus allow an innocent young woman to becontaminated, through respect--or rather idolatry--for medicalsecrecy? Is it not rather his duty to say to the patient: "Beware! Ifyou do not promise to obey me, I will immediately denounce you to your_fiancée_ and her parents, and will tell them the state of affairs. "It seems to me that this is his duty. In this case the doctor does notdenounce the patient without his knowledge; he threatens him face toface, and may speak to him as follows: "You have confided in me. I am, it is true, under the obligation of medical secrecy toward you, solong as you do no harm to any one. But if, in spite of all myexplanations and warnings, you attempt to marry in your present state, rendering yourself guilty of infamous deceit toward a family and anunfortunate young woman whose health you will ruin, trusting in theobligation of secrecy which ties my tongue, I must inform you that Ihave a much higher duty than that of a doctor toward his patient--myduty toward society, which I shall fulfill, and so prevent an innocentperson from becoming your victim. "

This is my view of the duty of a conscientious doctor who upholds thedignity of his profession. An analogous case came under myobservation: A young tuberculous subject affected with several "whiteswellings" wished to marry. He refused to listen when I declared thathe would be guilty of a crime toward his _fiancée_. Thereupon I toldhim that I should tell everything to the young girl. I did this atonce and so prevented the marriage. This egoist succeeded later on incapturing the heart of another young girl, whom I also warned, but whomarried him out of pity. At any rate I consider that I did my duty. 

In my opinion, this is also our duty in cases of chronic gonorrhea, insanity, and hereditary or constitutional sexual perversions, etc. Formerly, when sexual inversion was regarded as an acquired vice, itwas attempted to cure it by marriage. Such a social monstrosity iseven seen at the present day, and certain ignorant doctors recommendit. We sometimes meet with inverts who desire to procreate homosexualbeings like themselves. As sexual intercourse with the objects oftheir perverted passion cannot give them this pleasure, they marry inorder to procreate children by some poor woman whom they havevictimized, without in the least renouncing their homosexual orgies. Their wives play the part of housekeeper or servant, whose accessoryfunction is to breed young inverts! Is it necessary to say that anyself-respecting doctor who is aware of this state of affairs shouldnever countenance such marriages? Here again, his duty is to threatenthe invert with immediate denunciation to his _fiancée_, when heappears determined to accomplish his crime. 

Again, the doctor may be consulted with regard to certain hereditarytaints, or possibly only a bad ancestral history, and whether marriageis advisable under the circumstances. In some cases there may be somedoubt and it is necessary to know the opinion of the other partyconcerned, and whether this party is also affected in a similar way, etc. The first duty of the doctor is to demand absolute frankness andto say, "under this or that condition and in such and suchcircumstances, you may perhaps marry, but under no pretext have youthe right to conceal the truth from your betrothed. It is to your owninterest to be frank, for no marriage founded on deceit can be happy. Give me permission to discuss the matter with your _fiancée_ (or_fiancé_). We shall then see what is best to be done. "

In my experience, the person who consults a doctor usually acceptsthis proposal, and we can thus avoid many misfortunes and do muchgood. 

It is impossible to fix a general rule. According to the degree ofhereditary taint or the nature of the infirmity, we allow marriagewith or without children, or do not allow it. In such cases it israrely necessary to have recourse to the threat of denunciation, butthis may be required in the case of egoistic or vicious individuals. On several occasions a betrothed couple have come to me for advice asto their proposed marriage, and have freely disclosed their mostintimate relations and antecedents. This is as it always should be, ifmen were more loyal in sexual matters and understood better their trueinterests. In this way the doctor's task is greatly facilitated. Whenthe public is more enlightened on the whole question it will becomemore and more easy to arrive at a just conclusion, even without thedoctor's help. 

=Artificial Abortion. =--We have already spoken of another questionwhich is often put to doctors--that of artificial abortion. (VideChapter XIII. ) In every case of this kind all the circumstances mustbe carefully weighed. I repeat here, that in the future more attentionshould be paid to social interests, instead of always requiring thepreservation of an embryo for the sole reason that the state of themother does not contra-indicate pregnancy or accouchement. Thequestion is whether a miserable abortion or an idiot should be allowedto come into the world. If we allow children who are born monsters, idiots or invalids to live, we should at least do what we can toprevent them being born. It will no doubt be objected that it is mucheasier to recognize the quality of a child after birth than before, and this objection is quite legitimate. But so long as the lawsprotect the lives of the most miserable monsters we must get out ofthe difficulty as best we can. 

=Treatment of Sexual Disorders. =--We cannot enter here into all thedetails of a purely medical question, and shall only touch on certainspecial points. Patients with venereal disease are often treated in avery defective manner, because many of them are ashamed to submit torational treatment. The treatment of venereal diseases should becarried out with more regard for the feelings of the patients; thereshould be special hospitals for each sex, with separate divisions, sothat patients can be treated without betraying their identity. Thefear of being recognized prevents many better-class women fromapplying for treatment. The idea of being placed in the venerealdivisions of a hospital along with common prostitutes is unbearable tothem. For this reason I maintain that anonymous treatment should beinstituted at hospitals in all the chief localities. This humanitarianwork would benefit not only the patients, but society in general, bydiminishing the number of venereal infections. Treatment by privatepractitioners is too costly for poor people and does not easily remainanonymous. Therefore, the creation of hospitals for venereal diseaseis very necessary in the public interest, and would benefit publichealth much more than the regulation of prostitution. 

The treatment of sexual perversions is also very important. Thesedisorders are either hereditary, or acquired by auto-suggestion orevil example. By provoking suggestion and good habits in the oppositedirection, hypnotic suggestion is alone capable of acting directlyagainst the evil. Other remedies, such as distraction of the mind bywork or fatigue, by marriage, electricity, etc. , have only an indirectsuggestive action. When a perversion has been acquired byauto-suggestion or by habit, especially in the case of onanism, hypnotic suggestion should always be employed. In compensatorymasturbation, where normal sexual appetite exists, and where it isonly the opportunity of satisfying it that is wanting, marriage ornormal sexual intercourse are sufficient to cure the bad habit. 

We must not, however, too easily admit the existence of acquiredperversions. Apart from compensatory masturbation, which is not aperversion, but only an outlet to a pent-up natural want, trueacquired perversions are rather rare, and as we have seen generallyauto-suggestive. Pederasts, sodomists, and others, whose perversehabits are truly acquired, have usually taken to them for want ofsomething better, and prefer normal coitus if they have theopportunity and the means of procuring it. It is true, however, thatsome debauchees contract these perverse habits from desire for change, or from fear of infection or conception, but these individuals seldomconsult the doctor. 

Thus the individuals who consult a doctor are nearly always more orless pathological, and belong to the domain of hereditary orauto-suggestive perversions. For the first, at least, we avoidrecommending marriage. Von Schrenck-Notzing has sometimes succeeded intransforming hereditary inversion into normal sexual appetite forwomen, by hypnotic suggestion. I have also succeeded myself, two orthree times. After a cure of long duration, confirmed by frequentvisits to prostitutes, Von Schrenck-Notzing has ventured to recommendmarriage; but I have never done this, as I do not consider a curesufficient to guarantee definite success, in the case of disorders sodeeply rooted in the constitution. In such cases I have endeavored, asfar as possible, to weaken the sexual appetite and induce the patientto be contented with nocturnal emissions. I have always debarredinverts from marriage, impressing them with the fact that to marrywould be a crime, and that they had a hundred times better masturbate;or, if they wish to attempt intercourse with women, to be contentedwith a mistress, avoiding the procreation of children. 

Unfortunately, our present laws and customs prevent us fromrecommending or even allowing inverts to "marry" their fellows, asthey so strongly desire to do. This would be very innocent from thesocial point of view, and the poor wretches would be content, andwould cease to be a menace to normal individuals. 

I am, therefore, of the same opinion as those who demand thesuppression of all laws which punish or prosecute sexual inversion andpederasty committed between adults and in common agreement. So long aspederasts do not harm normal individuals, and so long as they do notseduce minors, they should be left alone, the same as all othersexually perverted individuals who are not dangerous. But when apatient of this kind wishes to be treated, through shame or nervousexcitement, the doctor should hypnotize him and suggest distraction ofmind by useful occupations. Psychic treatment is always the mostefficacious. It is only in cases where it is certain that theperversion is purely acquired and easily curable that marriage can beallowed, or the procreation of children. I am not referring here tosterile marriages between perverts or psychopaths, which we havementioned above, and which can always be allowed when the two partiesare fully enlightened on the subject. 

Frequent emissions, masturbation, sexual hyperæsthesia and impotencemay often be improved or even cured by suggestion. In such cases, ifthe sexual appetite is otherwise normal, marriage need not always beprohibited. Each case must be judged on its merits. 

In sexual anæsthesia marriage is an error based on a gravemisconception. Even in partial anæsthesia it may have deplorableeffects. We are now only speaking of anæsthesia in man. Most youngvirgins are anæsthetic in the sense that they are not acquainted withthe venereal orgasm and cannot tell how far their hitherto dormantsexual appetite will develop. The sexual instruction which we haverecommended for young girls would have the advantage of making thosewho are absolutely sexually frigid disgusted with marriage and coitus, as soon as they know all about it. 

The consequences of sexual anæsthesia are much more innocent in womanthan in man, because this anæsthesia neither prevents coitus norfecundation. A woman who is sexually anæsthetic may marry a man who isaffected with the same condition, when both parties are aware of thefact and desire to contract a union which is hardly sexual, but rathera union of minds with a common ideal. This is the true platonic lovewhich is admitted in theory. It is not very common and must not beconfounded with homosexual inclinations. It has its object ofexistence, for those affected with anæsthesia may feel the want ofaffection and of home, as well as sentimental communion. If theydesire children they can adopt them. 

Unfortunately for themselves, the subjects of sexual anæsthesia haveas little idea of sexual sensations as a blind man has of colours;this causes them to commit great blunders, because they do notcomprehend the nature of the sexual appetite in others, and oftenmarry an erotic individual without knowing what they are doing. 

The special treatment of diseases of the male and female sexualorgans is beyond the scope of this book. I may, however, remark thatspecialists are often wrong in treating the genital organs locally forpathological symptoms which depend on cerebral disorder, which canonly yield to psychic treatment and suggestion. This is the case withmany disorders of menstruation in women, psychic impotence andfrequent seminal emissions in men, masturbation, etc. , (except casesdue to phimosis, or local irritation caused by worms, etc. ) I hastento add that this remark in no way excuses errors in the oppositedirection, viz, neglect of local treatment, when this is indicatedafter careful examination. 

CHAPTER XV

SEXUAL MORALITY

=Law and Morality. =--The limits of morality and law are difficult tofix. With the old conception of law and the expiation of crime it wasotherwise. Yet it is precisely the old law, based on dogma andreligious metaphysics, which has most usurped the domain of morality, by considering as crimes all kinds of acts which, without hurting menin the least degree, were opposed to the ruling ideas and prejudicesconcerning religion and morality. 

=Human and Religious Morality. =--What then constitutes ethics or truehuman morality? A dogmatic system, of ethics has been built on acollection of commandments supposed to be inspired by God. Religionshave established different duties toward God, and these duties orcommandments are in part very inhuman. This has often resulted indirect contradictions between ethics attributed to divine revelation, and pure human ethics. Moreover, the divine commandments vary indifferent religions. 

The god of certain Malays commands them to eat the heart of theirenemies; Jehovah was vindictive and jealous, ordering Abraham tosacrifice his own son to prove his faith, causing whole tribes to beannihilated, even drowning the whole of humanity by the flood, whilethe God of the Christians is milder and more conciliating; Allah rulesas a fatalist and orders the massacre of the Christians and abstinencefrom alcohol, while Jesus Christ tells men to love their enemies andallows wine; the god of the Hindus orders the widow to follow herhusband to the grave; a number of other gods exact human sacrifice;Buddha taught oblivion in the future, others a more or less eternalparadise, hell and purgatory, according to the conduct of men. 

It will be agreed that it is difficult to obtain anything logical orcoherent from the total of different religious moralities. As regardsthe sexual question, so-called divine commandments, such as those ofmonogamy and polygamy, directly contradict each other. 

For this reason, we will leave the so-called revealed morality to thepriests of diverse religions who pretend to have received themdirectly from God, and will confine ourselves to the study of purelyhuman morality. This should never be based on any dogmatic formula, like the above on their religious dogmas; it must be evolved from thenatural conditions of human life. 

=Morality and Hygiene. =--Morality is intimately connected withhygiene, and wherever there appears to be a contradiction betweenhygiene and ethics this is due to the fact that individual hygiene hasonly been considered, and not public or social hygiene--that is thehygiene of the race. It is the duty of the medical profession to placesocial above individual hygiene, to subordinate the hygienic welfareof the individual to that of society. A contradiction may existbetween individual morality and hygiene, never between social moralityand hygiene. 

=Definition of Morality. =--How can we define morality or ethics?Liberated as far as possible from all hypothesis, ethics istheoretically the study of what is good or bad in human actions, andpractically, as regards morality, the duty of doing good and avoidingevil. But this is hardly explicit, for what do we understand by goodand evil? Not only do some consider good what others consider evil, but the words which Goethe puts into the mouth of the devil (in"_Faust_")--that while wishing evil he often did good--will always betrue. This gives a faithful representation of the deplorable want ofadaptation which exists between the good and evil effects of ouractions on the one hand, and the goodness or wickedness of our motiveson the other hand. The inverse is also true, for good intentions oftenhave evil results. We must, therefore, carefully distinguish betweenthe ethical motives of the good and bad effects of an action. 

If we continue our analysis we shall discover that the same action maybe good for one and bad for another. When a wolf devours a lamb, it isgood for the wolf but bad for the lamb. We cannot live withoutdestroying other lives, animal or vegetable. The money we earn comesout of the pockets of others without their always obtaining acorresponding profit, and so on. Morality is thus _relative_, and wehave not the faculty of discovering anything which is absolutely goodor absolutely bad in itself. 

All that men can expect by mutual exchange of their wisdom and goodwill is to do as little evil and as much good as possible, that is tosay, to diminish the amount of their physical and psychic ills byimproving their mutual conditions of existence, and thus increasingthe amount of good. Even this is only possible by limiting the ideasof good and evil almost exclusively to humanity, trampling on theconditions of existence and the development of other beings, or atleast concerning ourselves with them only as far as they are useful tous. 

Further, we have seen that it is very difficult to extend theconception of social welfare to all the living races of humanity, forsome of them are at the same time so fecund and so inferior inquality, that if they were allowed to multiply around us without anyprecaution they would soon starve and supplant us. Then the barbarityof their lower instincts (vide weight of brain in different races atend of Chapter VI) would soon take the upper hand and become general, as the negroes of Hayti have shown us by a lesson which is worthy ofour attention. 

Therefore, an exaggeration of moral sentiments, resting on a falsebasis, would have the positive result of striking a fatal blow at oursocial morality, slowly built up during hundreds or thousands ofyears. 

Lastly, the same action may first of all do evil and afterwards good, for example, a painful lesson; or _vice versa_, as in the satisfactionof a gluttonous appetite. 

=Morality can only be Relative. =--It follows from these considerationsthat our moral duties can only be relative, and cannot bind us in thesame way nor in the same degree to all living beings, not even to allmen, if we would avoid sacrificing what is lofty to what is vile. Intheory, the definition of human morality will consist in a just andscientific definition of social welfare and the exigencies which itimposes on individuals, in order that the latter do not do evil inattempting to do good. In practice, it will be the general effort madeto develop successfully this social welfare by the aid of individualwill. This presupposes in the first place education of the will, thedispositions to useful work, and the altruistic sentiments of eachindividual. It is neither theoretical dogma nor preaching, but actionand example which make for the education of man. 

The noblest task of moral action is to strive for the welfare offuture generations. 

=Altruism and Egoism. =--Properly understood, altruism and egoism donot form an antinomy, or only quite a relative antinomy. It isabsolutely wrong to found social order by letting loose all ouregoistic appetites without restriction. But it is quite as wrong tooppose them with an exaggerated and unnatural asceticism, whichreflects in our eyes an erroneous ideal of altruism. 

When a bee or an ant disgorges the honey from its stomach for thebenefit of its companions, it enjoys it. By sacrificing its life forthe hive or the nest, it satisfies an altruistic or social instinct. Cannot man also be more happy in giving than receiving? How can weexplain the great sacrifices, the martyrs who suffer and die for theircountry, for their family, for science, for an idea, if enthusiasm--anexpanded sentiment of pleasure--did not lead man to disinterestedsacrifice, or if an inner obsession did not find its satisfaction inthe welfare of humanity?

Let us seek all measures which by social adaptation can ennoble ourhuman egoism, reduce it to its indispensable and just measure, andmaintain it in proper equilibrium, by the aid of an active altruism;that is to say, by social habits of self-sacrifice for the benefit ofthe community. We shall then obtain a paradise on earth, no doubt veryrelative, but far preferable to our present anarchy based on thestrife of personal interests. 

The chief thing wanting is a good hereditary quality among humanindividuals, a quality which is still entirely left to chance, by themost deplorable selection; the second requisite is the education ofcharacter and will in our children. Our religion and our schools haveshown themselves incapable of raising the bulk of the people abovebarbarism, that is to say from apathy, vulgarity of sentiment, routine, ignorance and prejudice. No doubt intellectual culture andreligious ethics have accomplished a certain amount of moral progress, but the methods employed in our churches and schools have not advancedwith science. They are in no sense adapted to our present moral wantsand still less to the exigencies of the future. 

It is on the basis of a natural human morality, such as we have justdescribed, that we must found sexual morality or ethics, and it is notdifficult to form clear ideas on this subject, if we take the troubleto examine the facts explained in the first fourteen chapters of thisbook. 

From the social and moral point of view we may consider an action as_positive_ or useful, _neutral_ or indifferent, and _negative_ orharmful. But the same action may be at the same time positive, negative or indifferent, relatively to one or more groups ofindividuals. But in ethics it is not only a question of the action initself, but especially the inner motives which lead to it; for, toleave the good and ill of society to chance and ignorance, is to denythe possibility of progress. It is difficult for a man to accomplishpositive social actions, when the moral sentiments of conscience andduty are wanting. On the other hand, a narrow-minded individual, withfalse judgment, will accomplish negative social actions through moralmotives, while in certain cases an individual may accomplish positivesocial acts fortuitously through perverse motives. Through vengeance, a generous legacy may be left which injures an individual, whileprofiting the public. Without being perverse, motives may be simplyegoistic and lead to good by calculated egoism. 

By altruist, we understand a man animated by powerful moral sentimentswhich preside over social humanitarian volitions. By the term pureegoist, we designate one in whom self forms the exclusive object ofsentiments of sympathy. In himself, the egoist is indifferent from themoral point of view, so long as he injures no one, and the altruisthimself cannot live without a certain amount of egoism. The ideal ofsocial sentiment therefore consists in the combined action ofegoistic and altruistic sentiments, adapted to the wants of societyand its members. As among certain ants, there should exist a completecompensatory regulation between the egoistic sentiments and appetiteson the other hand. The antagonist of altruism is not the egoist, butthe perverse individual whose acts are by instinct almost constantlynegative from the moral point of view. Egoism urges a man in such anirresistible way to abuse and harm others in order to satisfy himself, that a pure egoist can rarely remain indifferent from the moral pointof view. These considerations suffice to show the impossibility ofbasing social order on pure egoism, as so many people desire. 

=Sexual Morality. =--Sexual morality depends upon what we have justsaid. By itself, the sexual appetite is indifferent from the moralpoint of view. A great confusion of ideas, based on religiousmisunderstanding, has led to the term morality being more and moreidentified with that of moral conduct in the sexual domain. In short, ethics has been more or less confounded with sexuality. From thispoint of view, a sexually anæsthetic individual is regarded asextremely "moral, " while he is perhaps in other respects a knave. Inreality his sexual indifference has not the least moral value. For thesame reason an invert is not virtuous because he does not seducegirls. 

From the Protestant point of view it is immoral to burden one's wifewith continual pregnancies, while from the Catholic point of view itis immoral to interfere with these pregnancies by preventive measures. 

Nevertheless, the sexual appetite gives rise to much conflict withhuman morality, for the simple reason that it looks upon human beingsas objects of pleasure. Fetichism, in which the sexual appetite isdirected toward inanimate objects, and sodomy, directed to animals, are by themselves almost incapable of entering into conflict withmorality as we understand it. 

The opinion of many people who consider the employment ofanticonceptional measures as immoral, while defending prostitution, shows how much ideas vary on the subject of sexual ethics. Preachersof morality, and even priests, sometimes blame a young man who wishesto marry his mistress, and urge him to get rid of her and the childby paying a sum of money. The inconsistency of men in the way theyintroduce their so-called moral ideas into sexual questions is simplyincredible. Their heads are full of a jumble of hypocrisy, mysticism, prejudice, pecuniary interests, veneration for old traditional customscalled good manners, a jumble which absolutely confuses all ideas of ahealthy sexual morality. Look at the indignation of parents when theirchildren become betrothed to persons whom they consider to be beneaththem in social position, or who possess too little money! And allthese people are unconscious of their immorality, which sails underthe flag of morality!

What standpoint are we to take in the sexual domain, which is freefrom prejudice, with regard to true human morality? This is thequestion which an honest and truly moral man has to put to himself. 

The first principle is the old medical adage: _Above all things do noharm_; the second is: _Be as useful as possible, both individually andsocially. _

The commandment of sexual morality will thus be: _Thou shalt do noharm willingly to any person, nor to humanity, by thy sexual appetiteor acts, and thou shalt do thy utmost to promote the happiness of thyneighbor and the welfare of society. _

Endowed with sexual appetite and the faculty of love, the social manwill utilize both for the benefit of the community as well as his own. If he acts honorably his task will not be easy, but he will experienceall the more satisfaction, for his good deeds will bring their ownreward. He should bear in mind the following examples:

(1). A man of bad disposition, excited by momentary sexual passion, seduces a girl, makes her pregnant, and then disappears. He injureshis victim and himself without deriving any advantage. His action istherefore negative, and is to be condemned both from the ethical andthe egoistic point of view. 

(2). Through motives of religious morality, a virtuous girl marries adepraved drunkard in order to save him. This rarely succeeds, and ifit does it is generally incomplete. From the egoistic point of viewthis experiment is exclusively negative. From the altruistic point ofview the motives are, it is true, very positive, but the socialeffects are still more negative. If all goes well, our virtuous andexalted girl will succeed in improving the drunkard, but if sheprocreates children, she will have unconsciously sinned against them, and her good action will result in the sins of the father beingvisited on the children. 

(3). A man with marked hereditary taints, impulsive, psychopathic andpossessed of a strong sexual appetite, marries an honest girl of goodfamily, and has several children by her. Such an action is positivefrom the egoistic point of view, for the individual in questionbenefits himself. From the ethical point of view, it is negative, forit makes an honest woman unhappy, and probably leads to theprocreation of children of bad quality. 

(4). A man, healthy in body and mind, capable, hardworking and full ofideals, finds a suitable companion. Instead of leading an easy life, they both undertake as much work as possible, especially socialduties, and procreate at sufficient intervals as many children as theycan without injury to the health of the wife. This is an idealcombination of positive altruism with positive egoism. 

It is not every one who has the good fortune to fulfill the conditionsnecessary for this combination. A positive sexual morality is, however, by no means excluded in less favorable conditions. Certainpsychopathic or feeble individuals may contract sterile marriages inthe manner previously indicated, and may recompense themselves for theabsence of children by devoting themselves all the more to socialduties, or to the education of abandoned orphans. 

When a union is concluded between a person who is capable in allrespects, and another who is not, the latter should give the otherpermission to procreate children by a third party, more adapted togive rise to healthy offspring. Although this is immoral according tocurrent conventional opinion, it seems to me that such a proceedingcould become reconciled with positive morality in the future. 

In short, whoever understands the true nature of sexual ethics willalways find a means of accomplishing good actions and avoiding badones, at the same time satisfying his normal appetites, provided theseinjure no one. 

The truly moral man will never become the accomplice of such a socialiniquity as proxenetism with prostitution and all its satellites, butwill oppose them with all his power. He will always avoid doing wrongto any one by his sexual appetite; and if his passion drives him to athoughtless act, he will do his utmost to redress the bad effectswhich may result from it. 

The psychological action produced by conjugal infidelity meritsspecial attention. It depends on the more or less egoistic oraltruistic qualities of the one who becomes enamored of a thirdperson. I have observed the two chief varieties of cases. If theguilty husband has naturally moral and social sentiments, hisextra-nuptial love renders him still more affectionate toward hislegitimate wife. He eases his conscience by becoming more indulgent tohis wife. When his amorous intoxication is over, he will try to avoideverything which may damage the reputation of the other woman, andwill provide for her future. If there are children by this adultery, he will provide for them. 

It is the same with a married woman who is in love with another man. In this case the whole personality is more powerfully involved than inman. But on the other hand, the natural energy of the woman will leadher to try and arrange a marriage between her lover and some othergood woman, and to resist coitus with him. 

If the matter goes as far as complete infidelity, and even without it, various reactions may be observed. When her sentiments are monogamous, as is the case with most women, the love of a woman for her husbanddisappears and is replaced by pity. She easily becomes peevish in herresignation. She often seeks divorce, even when adultery has not takenplace. When she is polyandrous, as is the case with many hystericalwomen, she is quite capable of lavishing her caresses on her husbandas well as her lover, a thing which is impossible for normal women. 

What induces want of respect for his wife in the unfaithful egoist, isnot so much the monogamous sentiment, which is somewhat exceptional inman, but intoxication of his senses by another woman. He then becomesmiserly and disagreeable toward his wife, finding fault with her inevery way, but the innocent and deceived victim finally discovers thetrue cause of this change of manner. Some women who are ill-treated inthis way, preserve their love for their husbands, while others neverpardon the slightest infidelity, not even an innocent platonicaffection, in their husbands. 

The brutality of a husband toward his wife, when he is in love withanother, often knows no limits. From bad temper, chicanery, contemptand hatred, he often goes on to blows and even murder, as the annalsof criminology prove too well. Egoistic women who have a lover, alsotreat their husbands badly. Owing to their legal subordination andcomparative physical weakness, they reveal their sentiments in a lessbrutal form, but malice and bad temper are not wanting. In such cases, the woman's principal weapon is cunning, which may go as far aspoisoning the husband. More commonly she simply abandons him, to forcehim to divorce. 

There are many transitions and varieties, but the reactions we havementioned are the most common. It is quite natural, when one of theconjoints falls in love with a third person, for the sexual appetiteto become cold toward the conjoint, and for this frigidity to make herappear less desirable and show up her defects. 

Sexual morality is twice mentioned in the ten commandments of Moses:

Seventh commandment: _Thou shall not commit adultery. _

Tenth commandment: _Thy shall not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor hisman servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, noranything that is thy neighbor's. _

In the eleventh commandment of Jesus Christ the words: _Thou shalllove thy neighbor as thyself_, represent approximately the point ofview of modern ethics. Nevertheless contemporary social progressrequires more and better. It is not so exalted as to say "Love thosewho persecute you, " but it demands a more rational and betterformulated ethics, somewhat as follows: _Thou shall love humanity morethan thyself, and thou shalt seek thy happiness in the welfare of itsfuture. _ Such a formula expresses the commandment of sexual ethics aswe have defined it. 

In the commandments of Moses the wife is regarded as property, and thedesire for the wife of one's neighbor is threatened with divinepunishment inasmuch as it covets the property of one's neighbor. Whenwoman is treated as a free subject and as the equal and companion ofman, it is evident that a fundamental revision of such ideas isrequisite. Certain forms of adultery with voluntary consent on bothsides may even become positive from the moral point of view. 

_In spite of this, one of the principal tasks of man's sexual moralitywill always be to restrain his erotic polygamous desires, for thesimple reason that they are especially apt to injure the rights andthe welfare of others. _ We must make exception for certain specialcases in which no one is injured. (Vide Couvreur's "_La Graine_, " andde Maupassant's "_Mouche_. ")

The novelist loves to treat of tragic situations, often giving them afatal ending to excite the feelings of his readers. We must avoidbasing sexual ethics on such ideas. The average man, or even one whosenature is a little above the average, is rarely as passionate as theheroes in novels. He does not commit suicide for rejected love, butfinds compensation in time. He can even overcome jealousy. 

It is thus an exaggeration, depending partly on the suggestion andauto-suggestion of amorous intoxication, to require in the ethics oflove the absolute fusion of the personality of two human beings, amutual fusion of sentiments and ideas destined to last till death. This kind of morality reverts to dual egoism, and in no way representsthe ideal of human happiness. However beautiful conjugal fidelity, itsexaggeration is deplorable, when it only results in the idolatrousworship of a single being, living or dead, and regards the rest of theworld with indifference, if not with hostility. 

We have already shown that the altruistic sentiments of man are thedirect or indirect[10] derivatives of the sexual appetite, andespecially of sexual love. The true secret of sexual ethics consists, therefore, in a cult of altruism in the sexual domain. This cultshould not waste itself in moral phrases, but show its strength bysocial deeds. 

A sad proof of human weakness is given daily by certain forms ofmodern ethics which waste themselves in public conferences or indeclamations in the press. This kind of morality is in accordance withpure egoism. Without social work, it is not true morality, whetherthis work be public or modestly hidden. 

The struggle for existence was formerly carried on by man againstnature, against animals, and especially against other men. Nature andanimals (excepting the cosmic forces and microbes) are nowadaysconquered by the human brain, and wars are seldom waged except betweengreat empires, a fact which will sooner or later reduce them toabsurdity. For this reason the morality of the god of war and ofpatriotic chauvinism has had his day and loses more and more hisreason for existence. Modern ethics has already become a social andinternational human ethics, and will become more so in the future. 

As in olden times a true hero knew how to combine love of his wifewith love for his country, to obtain in his conjugal union thestrength to fight for his ideal, so our modern love will serve tostimulate us in the pursuit of an ideal, in our fight for socialwelfare. Man and woman must fight side by side, as this strugglerequires from both an intense and lifelong effort. But it is preciselyin this effort, in this work, that they will obtain their highestenjoyment. This effort supports and strengthens not only the muscles, but especially the mind, the cerebral energy. 

The struggle for social welfare prepares for us the highest and mostideal joy. It teaches man to master himself, to overcome his naturalidleness, his desire for pleasure, his dependence on all kinds offutile habits and base appetites. It educates his will, curbs his weakand egoistic sentiments, while exercising his faculty for creatinggood and useful works. Thanks to this incessant strife, a brain ofeven mediocre quality may become a useful social instrument. 

I ask in all sincerity if, living in the way we have just described, aman will find the time and inclination to indulge in the love storieswhich the novels of our libraries offer to readers of both sexes fortheir daily consumption? I reply: if the man is normal, no. It is onlypathological natures, with their exaggerated sentiment and morbidpassions, which remain incapable of mastering their passionateemotionalism and reducing it to silence. Other individuals, normal orsemi-normal, are artificially urged to exaggerated exaltation in thesexual domain by idleness, by reading pernicious novels which excitetheir sexual appetite and their sentimentality, also by the artificiallife and feverish activity of life in cities. 

Work in itself is not sufficient, and every one ought to add socialwork to his ordinary occupation. In fact, the monotony of any specialoccupation, and even the exclusive work of a scientific speciality, ends by giving the cerebral energy itself an exclusive character. Themoral sentiments become atrophied. Exclusiveness in a speciality, practiced without any complement, easily leads to exclusiveness inlove (not in the sexual appetite!). We often see two egoists, orseveral in a family, working together to exploit the rest of society. As long as they keep in good health and their business prospers, aslong as the egoistic plans of a third party do not upset theircalculations, they may remain faithful to each other and live incomparative happiness. But what else?

Whoever, on the contrary, has known how to combine with his conjugallove, a lively interest in humanity, will always find in the latter aconsoling compensation for the greatest misfortunes and the most cruellosses. He will not fall into a state of despair, but will survive histrouble, and will become reconciled to men and society withoutexpecting anything from them, for he will have been accustomed all hislife to work in an impersonal manner. 

If I am accused of being enthusiastic over an ideal which isimpossible to attain, I protest strongly. Good habits may always beacquired, and true altruists are found among the most modest of men, among simple workingmen or peasants who comprehend and realize theideal I have just depicted. 

In Chapter XVII we shall see in what way the dispositions of the childcan be and ought to be developed in the direction indicated. It isneedless to say that pure egoists and perverse individuals, who arenegative from the moral point of view, in other words natures whichare evil and harmful by heredity, can never be educated so as tobecome altruists. But these perverse natures do not form the majority. The great majority of men, although idle and indifferent, may stillbecome habituated to social work by suitable education, as soon as theexternal forces which urge them to evil, such as drink and the greedfor money, have been removed and replaced by beneficial forces. 

Lastly, the whole attention of humanity should be directed toward itsproper selection, so as to increase the number of useful individuals, and diminish or gradually eliminate the bad and incapable. But this isthe work of many centuries of enlightenment and education, a workwhich we can only begin at present. We find ourselves here in face ofone of the weakest points in human nature, a weakness which consistsin only becoming enthusiastic over progress which will enable self toattain its object, and not help others. When self does not quicklyobtain a palpable result, it is paralyzed and discouraged, and turnsits back on reform under the most futile pretexts. I will give anexample:

A young bachelor became enthusiastic over the social reform ofabstinence from alcohol. For some years he worked with zeal, took partin numerous public demonstrations, and became an apostle of totalabstinence. One day, after some failure, he turned his back onabstinence, declaring that the movement had no future. Nevertheless, the social movement of abstinence progressed without him. After someyears, he was asked the reason why he had abandoned the movement. After having first of all repeated his pretext, he confessed that hedid not wish to appear eccentric. He admitted that he had never feltso well as when he was an abstainer, appeared somewhat astonished tolearn that the movement had made so much progress without him, wasfinally convinced of his error, and promised to return to the camp ofthe faithful. 

In common daily events of this kind lies the secret of the slowprogress of every social reform. Men who are momentarily enthusiasticnearly always expect everything to progress according to theirimagination, and when they see that it will be some time before anyobvious result is attained, they become discouraged, because they haveneither the personal courage nor the perseverance to remain in aminority and wait. The same want of perseverance, courage and judgmentis found in the education of children, and it will take a long time toenlighten people on this subject. 

It would seem that we have lost sight of our subject in occupyingourselves with the irradiation of love, which forms the object ofsocial sentiments or ethics (vide Chapter V). But it is by exactlyunderstanding and realizing this irradiation of love that we shallgradually suppress the unhealthy social aberrations of the sexualappetite, and prevent them doing harm, by guiding them in the path ofa healthy morality. It is not the severe external constraint ofso-called moral laws, it is not by the threats or punishments of hell, nor the promise of paradise, nor the moral preachings of the priests, parents or pedagogues, nor an exalted asceticism, which can everconstruct a healthy, just and lasting sexual ethics. It is not bywords that we recognize the value of moral precepts, but by theirresults. It is quite certain that the sexual life of man can neverrise above its present state without being freed from the bonds ofmysticism and religious dogma, and based on a loyal and unequivocalhuman morality which will recognize the normal wants of humanity, always having as its principal object the welfare of posterity. 

Marriage should be considered as a means of satisfying the sexualappetite, and at the same time a moral and social school of life; notas a refuge for egoism. Division of duties, absolute equality ofrights and social work in common, will solidify more and more thesexual bonds of two conjoints. By the aid of a better understanding ofthe wants of human society, the conjoints will learn how to overcometheir egoistic sentiments, their polygamous inclinations, and theirjealousy, etc. 

In striving for happiness, and especially for the sexual happiness ofothers, such conjoints will learn better how to excuse and pardon thesexual failings of other men. They will cease to despise the poorman's household, the girl-mother, the divorced wife, the concubine, even the poor invert, and other failings in their fellow beings. Onthe contrary, they will do their utmost to make their lot a happierone, by helping all those for whom help may be efficacious. They willfind their greatest pleasure in this work, and if one of them becomeshimself the victim of some sexual failing, he will be pardoned all themore easily, and will master it all the more quickly. 

There will then be no time to make life bitter by bad temper, slander, acrimony, sulking and other conjugal disputes. The husband will nolonger behave with the despotism of a lord and master, and the wifewill no longer think it her duty to humble herself. Religious dogmaswill no longer separate man from woman. Priests will no longer berequired in marriage. Lastly, there will be no more fear of death;this will be regarded as a welcome rest after the long labor and dutyfulfilled of a well-spent life. 

I cannot help taxing with narrow-mindedness, and even unintelligence, persons who consider such an ideal of life as a fantasy impossible torealize, or as the product of exalted dreamers who do not know theworld. No doubt this ideal cannot be attained by ill-constructed, unnatural beings, tainted by a morbid heredity, or depraved byidleness, vice and passion for pleasure, who have lost theirelasticity and plasticity of brain or have never possessed them. Ithas, however, been often realized already by men and women of betterquality. It is, therefore, necessary to act on the children, both byeducation and selection, in order to obtain a youth of superiorquality. 

Let us not abandon the future of our race to the fatalism of Allah;let us create it ourselves!

FOOTNOTES:

[10] It is true that the friendly union of individuals of the same sexis often fundamentally derived from the phylogenetic development ofanimal or human societies. But the sentiments of sympathy, on the solebasis of which such friendly unions may be developed, are onlythemselves the derivatives of the more primitive sentiments ofsympathy of one individual for another, and these latter haveoriginated in sexual attraction. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE SEXUAL QUESTION IN POLITICS AND IN POLITICAL ECONOMY

Power and money have always been the principal aims of politics. Political economy is a science which deals with the great family ofnations and their conditions of existence. Based on history, statistics and observation, it seeks for the laws which govern theproduction, consumption and division of goods, labor and its products, the social organization of nations, their health, the increase ordecrease of the population, the death-rate, birth-rate, etc. 

I cannot here enter into the details of the domestic economy of thenation, as this is beyond my province. I may, however, point out thatthis science has too much neglected the natural sciences, owing to itstraditional connection with politics. 

In 1881 Cognetti de Martiis[11] had already attempted to apply theideas of evolution to political economy. Recently, Prof. EugeneSchwiedland of Vienna treated the same subject in an interesting studyof the ideas of want and desire in human psychology. [12] So far, it isonly the quantity and not the quality of men which has been taken intoaccount, originating from the false idea that man made in God's imagecan only come into the world in a perfect state. If he was oftenmalformed in body and mind, this was the fault of his sins. Evenhereditary degeneration to the third and fourth generation wasconsidered as divine punishment for the sins of the fathers on thechildren. 

=War. =--The despots of olden times, like those of to-day, have alwaysregarded men as instruments of their ambition or even as food forcannon. When Napoleon I established a bounty for large families, hewas no doubt thinking of the number of soldiers he could make for theuse of his son. He had good reason to provide for the replenishment ofthe ranks of his army. The mental quality of the individuals matteredlittle to him. Wars are a harmful factor in human selection, for theydestroy or mutilate the fittest in the prime of life, while leavingthe unfit and the aged. 

Moreover, we have already seen to what an extent the quality and eventhe quantity of soldiers suffer from venereal disease and alcohol. After certain long wars the male population has been decimated to sucha point that polygamy had to be resorted to to reconstitute thenation. It is, therefore, obvious that wars have a bad influence onthe sexual relations of men, and hence on the quantity, or what isstill worse, the quality of a nation. 

=Statistics. =--Political economy is still more important. I do notdoubt the correctness of the figures which tell us that under this orthat economic system the population increases, while under anothersystem it diminishes, etc. But these are only summary data whose truecauses remain in the dark. It is necessary to carefully study thefactors which produce these figures. Emigration and immigration withtheir causes, the intimate habits of individuals and families, theirwillingness and aptitude for work, etc. One fact which follows anotheris not always the direct consequence of it and if we examine thingsmore closely, we arrive at curious results. 

=Alcohol. =--Things being otherwise equal, it is found that nations whoabstain from alcohol and those who are moderate consumers are moreprolific than nations who are addicted to drink. In Russia, forinstance, the abstainers, although of the same race and living underthe same conditions, are more prolific than their neighbors who drink. 

As we have already pointed out, alcohol greatly deteriorates thequality of man by blastophthoria, and we must agree with men such asDarwin, Gladstone, Cobden, Comte, etc. , that alcohol (even inso-called moderation) does more harm to a nation than war, plague andfamine together. 

We find here an economic factor of the first order, to which themajority of economists (with the exception of Cobden) are blind. Itis a very short-sighted policy to regard the alcohol industry as asource of wealth and welfare for nations. What an amount of labor, human power and valuable land is employed to produce this mischievoussubstance which, although useful in pharmacy and other industries, neither nourishes nor strengthens, but deteriorates the organism andleads to degeneration of the race! If it were not so sad, it would beridiculous to observe the serious way in which high officials, or evenscientists, calculate the product of taxes on distilled and fermentedliquors, the laws for their import and export, the monopoly of theirmanufacture, etc. It is remarkable how the budget is balanced by theaid of the alcoholic intoxication of the people, and how people aremade to believe that a masterpiece of political economy is therebyachieved. In reality, the health and strength of the nation aresacrificed. This kind of political economy can only be qualified asfalse and deceitful. We cannot too often nor too strongly stigmatizeits destructive influence on sexual matters and on the hereditaryenergies of humanity. 

=Density of Population. =--As regards the most desirable figures forpopulation, opinions are diametrically opposed. Some authors look forthe happiness of humanity in prolific reproduction, and imagine thatby utilizing all parts of the globe an unlimited number of peoplecould be supported by its produce. 

We cannot regard with favor this singular Chinese-like ideal, whichwould tend to transform the whole world into a huge cornfield for theraising of men like rabbits. Moreover, it is greatly to be feared thatthe real Chinese, when they have become sufficiently armed andre-civilized, will transform the surface of the earth into a humanstable, if we do not take sufficient precautions. 

=Neo-malthusianism. =--On the other hand, a certain group of idealists, the neo-malthusianists, have declared a war of extermination againstall increase of the population. I have myself been accused by one ofthem of committing a crime by procreating more than four children!Neo-malthusianists of this kind only deal with quantity and do notconcern themselves with quality. 

They recommend, as we do, the employment of anticonceptionalmeasures, but they do so without any discrimination. They addressthemselves to the altruistic and intelligent portion of the public, and induce the most useful members of society to procreate as littleas possible, without recognizing that with their system, not only theChinese and negroes, but, among European races, the most incapable andamoral classes of the population are those who trouble the least abouttheir maximum number of children. Hence, the result they obtain isexactly the opposite of what they intend. 

Among the North Americans and New Zealanders, with whomneo-malthusianism is very prevalent, the number of births among theintelligent classes is diminishing to an alarming extent, while theChinese and negroes multiply exceedingly. In France, the practice ofneo-malthusianism is chiefly due to reasons of economy. 

=Rational Selection. =--These two extremes, which are equally absurd, should be replaced by rational selection. Neo-malthusianism should beconfined to the unfit of all kinds, and to the lower races. On thecontrary, the fit should be urged to multiply as much as possible. Bythis means we obtain an indirect factor of the first order for arational political economy; I even maintain that it is the mostimportant of all. No doubt its action is extremely slow, and it wouldtake centuries to obtain a definite result. But if the principle ofproper human selection ever prevails, we may confidently hope for agood future for our descendants. 

A time will come when the human population of the earth will becomemore or less stationary. If, in the meantime, human nature hassucceeded in appreciably improving its quality, and in graduallysuppressing the physical and mental proletariat with its poverty, hunger and brutality, which now infests the world--then only will thedogmas of our modern neo-malthusianists acquire a certain object forthe whole world. 

If humanity does not soon begin to degenerate by brutish accumulation, but finds in time the means to gradually elevate its quality, ourfuture descendants will take care not to abandon rational selection. Acapable and active man gives to society much more than he receives, and thus forms an economic asset. A person who is unfit in body ormind, receives more than he gives, and thus constitutes an economicdeficit. 

=Contrary Selection. =--We have seen in Chapter VI how certain customsof essentially human origin ended by becoming part of religion. Unfortunately for humanity, religion and politics have at all timesgenerally combined to do wrong. The celibacy of priests (to saynothing of the Inquisition, religious wars, and the fatalism of Islam)which is based on a kind of religious politics, has largely resultedin sterilizing the more intelligent among Catholic races. 

The prohibition of inquiry into paternity is another abominable customof the same kind introduced by Napoleon. Laws of this nature lead toartificial abortion and encourage promiscuous intercourse. The safetyof families and sexual intercourse lies in the duties of parentstoward their children. 

The principal task of a political economy which has the true happinessof men at heart, should be to encourage the procreation of happy, useful, healthy and hard-working individuals. To build anever-increasing number of hospitals, asylums for lunatics, idiots andincurables, reformatories, etc. ; to provide them with every comfort, and manage them scientifically, is no doubt a very fine thing, andspeaks well of the progress and development of human sympathy. But, what is forgotten, is that by concerning ourselves almost exclusivelywith human ruins, the results of our social abuses, we graduallyweaken the forces of the healthy portion of the population. 

By attacking the roots of the evil and limiting the procreation of theunfit, we shall be performing a work which is much more humanitarian, if less striking in its effect. 

Formerly, our economists and politicians hardly ever considered thisquestion, and even now very few are interested in it, because itbrings neither honors nor money, as we do not ourselves see the fruitsof such efforts. Any one who aims at serious reforms and puts his handto the work is looked upon as eccentric, or even mad. This is why weare contented with the kind of humanitarianism which makes a show andpanders to the sentimentality of the masses, by holding out acharitable hand to the visible and audible evils which make womenweep. In short, we amuse ourselves with repairing the ruins, but areafraid of attacking what makes these ruins!

=The Laws of Lycurgus. =--There was once in Sparta a great legislatornamed Lycurgus, who attempted to introduce a kind of human selectioninto the laws. He wished to make the Spartans a strong nation, becauseat that time bodily strength was almost the only ideal of the people. He understood the value of hardness but not that of work. Theimportance of selective elimination of the diseased and weak wasapparent to his pre-Darwinian intuition, but in his time natural lawswere not understood. However, in spite of their failings, the laws ofLycurgus succeeded up to a certain point in making the Spartans astrong nation. 

According to the laws of Lycurgus, the Spartan inherited no property, and was forbidden all luxury. He had to eat his simple black brothwith his fellows, and to exercise himself continually in trials ofstrength and skill. Every Spartan had to marry, and the bonds ofmatrimony were strictly observed. Every weak child was eliminated. Butthere were two fundamental errors in the Spartan organization. 

First of all, the Spartan was a warrior, but not a worker, andalthough hardened, was an aristocrat. He left all labor to his slaves, and in this way strengthened his slaves and enfeebled himself in manyrespects. The value of work in strengthening and developing the brainand the whole body was not then understood. 

In the second place, all the efforts of the Spartans were directedtoward muscular strength, bodily skill, courage, and simple wants, butnot at all toward a life of higher intelligence or ideal sentiments. The exclusiveness with which they only promoted man's bodilydevelopment, while neglecting his intellect, their negligence of thelaws of organic evolution due to ignorance of natural science, wouldsooner or later have led to the decay of the Spartans. 

However, it was not the laws of Lycurgus in themselves, but theirabandonment, which was the direct cause of the decadence of Sparta. The Spartans only sought for power, and this led to envy and jealousy, a deplorable although indirect result of the exclusiveness of theirlaws. These laws, however, will always constitute a unique historicaldocument, a remarkable attempt at human selection. 

We are at the present day incomparably better armed intellectuallythan Lycurgus to deal with the question of selection. What is chieflywanting is initiative on the part of the men who are charged with thegovernment of their fellows. They are so deeply absorbed in economicinterests and rival influences, that all desire of aspiring to ahigher social ideal is paralyzed and etiolated in them. We require apowerful social shaking if we are to make steady progress. 

=Politics and the Sexual Question. =--"_Cherchez la femme_" is thecommon expression when anything unusual occurs in society. It would bemore correct to say "Look for the sexual motive!" The actions of menare determined much more by their passions and sentiments than bypurely intellectual reflection, _i. E. _, by reason and logic. 

But no sentiment is stronger than the direct sexual sentiment, or itsderivatives--love, jealousy and hatred. From this results a fact whichsocial systems have too much neglected, namely: that in all thedomains of human social activity, the sexual passions and theirpsychic irradiations often interact directly or indirectly in amischievous way. Mistresses and courtesans have always played aconsiderable part in political intrigue. 

It is not necessary to have such a tragic scandal as that which causedthe assassination of the king and queen of Servia. Everydayinfluences, even the smallest and most dissimulated, are often themost efficacious. Sexual intrigues have at all times influenced anddirected the fate of nations. History relates a number of cases ofthis kind, but there are many more which have never been revealed tothe public. It is sufficient to mention this fact. Every one whoreflects will find an illustration of it, in the history of the pastas well as in the politics of the present, in the courts of monarchsand in small democracies, in the local history of provinces, in hisown parish, and lastly among his own relatives, friends andacquaintances. 

=Sexual Life in Social Action. =--The socialist who said that thesocial question was exclusively a question of stomach mistook itsscope as well as human psychology. However admirably the economicrelations of men and their work may be regulated, the introduction ofsexual passions into social life will never be eliminated. All thatcan be done is to give both sexes an education which will elevatetheir social conscience and attenuate the evil influences exercised bypersonal sexual sentiments on social actions. 

The sexual question, therefore, intervenes in politics and in thewhole of social life. Moreover, if the deplorable social influence ofmoney and the attraction it exerts could be eliminated, antisocialacts, which only depend indirectly on the sexual passions, would losemuch of their danger and infamy. 

=The Rôle of Women. =--Here again, much may be expected from the freeemancipation of woman, and from her work in social questions inconjunction with man. This work in common will make them more clearlyunderstand the high importance of their social task. Then sexual lifewill encourage social development instead of hindering it; it willcease to be considered as an egoistic pleasure but as a means ofprocreation, and will become the acme of an existence founded on thejoy of work. 

We can already see, in countries where women have a vote, that theyknow very well how to benefit by social progress. If it is objectedthat woman is more conservative and more routine than man, I replythat this inconvenience is compensated by the fact that she is on thewhole more inclined to enthusiasm, and to be led by noble masculinenatures, who have the sense of the ideal, than by others (vide ChapterV). Her great perseverance and courage are also inestimable qualitiesfor social work which aims at true progress. 

=Necessity and Desire. =--In the work which I have already quoted, Schwiedland points out the need for distinguishing between necessityand desire, in political economy. In practice it is no doubt difficultto always make an exact distinction between necessity and luxury. Whatour ancestors considered as luxuries we now regard as necessities. Manknows no limits in his desires; he is insatiable in his passion forpleasure and change. Certain socialists, especially anarchists, make agreat mistake in proclaiming the right of man to satisfy all hisdesires. This is a proclamation of corruption and degeneration. As itis just to exact the right to satisfaction of the natural wants ofeach, so is it unjust to sanction every desire and every appetite. 

It is a question of distinguishing between good and useful wants andevil desires. All wants which promote a healthy life, all instinctswhich lead to social work, are good. All desires, which damage thehealth and life of the individual or injure the rights and welfare ofsociety, are bad, and are the procreators of luxury, excessiveconcupiscence, and often corruption. Between these two extremes thereare desires which are more or less indifferent, for example, that ofpossessing objects of beauty. 

Certain objects of human desire are harmful in themselves, such as theuse of alcoholic liquor and narcotics. Others are only harmful whenpushed to excess, such as good living, sexual pleasures, personaladornment, etc. Among the things desired by man, sexual pleasure playsa great part. Thus, when a pasha or a sultan provides himself with alarge number of women, this excess is harmful from the social point ofview, as it injures the rights of others. I have sufficiently dwelt onthis fact elsewhere. I wish only to indicate here, with Schwiedland, how necessary it is to fix the limits between necessities and desiresfrom the point of view of political economy, however relative andsubjective these limits may be. 

FOOTNOTES:

[11] "Le forme primitive nella evoluzione economia. "

[12] "Die psychologischen Grundlagen der Wirtschaft. " _Zeitschrift fürSozialwissenschaft_, 1905. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE SEXUAL QUESTION IN PEDAGOGY

=Heredity and Education. =--If we review the facts contained inChapters IV, VI, VII and VIII, we must conclude that the sexualappetite, sensations and sentiments of every human being consist oftwo groups of elements: (1) _phylogenetic_ or hereditary (hereditarymneme); and (2) elements _acquired_ during life by the combined actionof external agents and habit or custom. 

The first lie dormant in the organism for a time, in the form oflatent energies or dispositions, and form part of what is called_character_. Most of them do not disclose themselves till the age ofpuberty, and their development afterwards takes place under theinfluence of external stimuli, which are modified by the will of theindividual, _i. E. _, by his brain. 

The second are the result of the influence excited by eroticexcitations and habit on the first. 

Pedagogy can in no way change the first, for they are predetermined, and constitute the soil to be cultivated by education. The task of thelatter can, therefore, only be to guide the hereditary sexualdispositions into paths as healthy and useful as possible. In the caseof perverse dispositions, such as homosexual appetites, sadism, etc. , moral education can only act in a general way on the character, andcombat that which excites the appetites. It cannot change thecharacter of the latter; there must be no illusion on this point. Wherever hereditary dispositions present a normal average, educationcan do much to avoid pathological errors and habits, by guiding thesexual appetite in a healthy direction and by avoiding excess. 

=Sexual Education of Children. =--Habit always diminishes the eroticeffect of certain perceptions of the senses; and inversely, eroticismor sexual desire is especially excited by unaccustomed perceptionsand images relating to the other sex. The adult, unfortunately, nearlyalways makes the same error in pedagogy; he unconsciously attributeshis own adult sentiments to the child. What excites the sexual desireof an adult is quite indifferent to a child. It is, therefore, possible to speak plainly to children to a certain extent on sexualquestions, without exciting them in the least; on the contrary, if thechild becomes accustomed to consider sexual intercourse as somethingquite natural, this will excite his curiosity to a much less degreelater on, because it has lost the spice of novelty. 

If the child is accustomed to the sight of nudity in adults of his ownsex, he will see nothing peculiar in his own sexual organs and pubichairs when these develop. On the other hand, children brought up withstrict prudery and in complete ignorance of sexual matters, oftenbecome greatly excited when their pubic hairs develop; they feelashamed and at the same time erotic. When they are not prepared, girlsbecome still more excited at the first appearance of menstruation, andboys at their first seminal emission. The mystery which is made ofeverything relating to sexual matters is not only a source of anxietyto children, but also excites their curiosity and the first signs oferoticism, so that they generally end by being instructed on thesubject by other depraved children, by observing copulation amonganimals, or by obscene books, in a manner which is certainly notfavorable to healthy development. What is still worse is that thechild is generally instructed at the same time in masturbation, prostitution, and sometimes even sexual perversion. 

The so-called innocence, or naïve ignorance, of an adolescentpossesses quite a peculiar charm of attraction for libertines of bothsexes, who find a refined erotic pleasure, a unique relish, in theseduction of the innocent, in the role of "initiator in the sexualart. " Parents, unfortunately, seldom realize the evil consequences oftheir passiveness, I will even say cowardice, in making use ofsubterfuge, pretext and falsehood, to elude the naïve questions oftheir children concerning sexual matters. I will here quote theopinion of an enlightened mother of a family, Madame Schmid-Jager, anopinion with which I entirely agree:

 "All mothers, or nearly all, bring up their daughters with a view to matrimony. Can we pretend that they are properly prepared for it? Alas! no; the most elementary knowledge which should be possessed by the future wife and mother is neglected, and for centuries our young girls have been married in more or less complete ignorance of their natural functions and duties. The slaves of routine will reply that it has always been so, that the world has been none the worse for it, and that women when once married have always learnt by personal experience all that was necessary. No doubt they are sometimes taught to cook and sew and to do household work, but they are told nothing concerning their sexual functions, nor of the consequences of these. At Zurich a school has been instituted for nurses and midwives which will soon give good results. This school is also open to young girls who, without becoming professional nurses, desire to learn how to take care of the sick in their own families, and especially the newly born. This is an experiment worthy of encouragement which should be extended universally. 

 "The awkwardness, incapacity and ignorance of a young wife, when she starts housekeeping and has a baby, are astonishing. She often pays dearly for it, in spite of the instinct which is so much talked about. It is not the same as with animals, whose instincts are sufficient for the care of the young. 

 "A lady doctor of Zurich, Madame Hilfiker, has lately developed a scheme of much greater importance, which will require a great effort on the part of women and the intervention of legislation, if it is to be realized. Men, she says, maintain their muscular strength by military service. Every young woman, who is not prevented by her occupation, should perform the equivalent of military service, from the age of eighteen, in obligatory service for a year, in hospitals, asylums, maternities, _crèches_ (public nurseries) or public kitchens. Such training would be extremely useful for future wives, and would at the same time provide the institutions in question with useful workers. Why should men be the only ones to perform obligatory social service? I expect, " says Madame Schmid, "many adverse criticisms on this proposal, one of which I will refute at once. The ladies of the middle classes will strongly object because their daughters will see and hear so many things which ought to be hidden till they marry! But why should they be hidden? In order to prepare our daughters for marriage, is it not logical to begin by telling them what it is, what it involves and what it exacts?" ("_L'Education sociale de nos filles_, " 1904. )

In neglecting this duty our parents and teachers commit a veritablecrime. Does a normal man ever marry without knowing what he is doing?Yet our young girls are kept by their mothers in insensate and oftendangerous ignorance of their whole future. Whoever invented thisabsurd and mischievous idea that a young girl should remain ignorantof her natural functions till the moment when she has bound herselffor life to fulfill them? The law punishes persons who cause others toenter into contracts, while intentionally concealing the trueconditions. This might almost equally well apply to parents who allowtheir daughters to marry in ignorance. Some women reply to this thatmarriage would be too sad and would have little attraction if it werenot preceded by any illusion. Certain illusions which are natural toyouth may be healthy, but the fantastic dreams which are in evidentcontradiction with reality, and nearly always followed by disillusion, are bad. A young woman who has always lived in a state oftranscendental idealism till her marriage, infallibly courtsdisappointment, deception and heart-break. A wiser education wouldoften succeed in sparing young women from this sudden and crueldisillusion. The moral level of men would also be raised if theirfuture wives were better instructed in sexual matters, and exactedthat the past life of their future husbands should give a betterguarantee for the future. 

It must, moreover, be understood that blind and obstinate resistanceto new ideas serves no purpose. Our manners and customs change inspite of us; our girls will no longer allow themselves to be ledblindly, but will seek more and more freedom. Would it not be wiser totake things in time and warn them of the dangers ahead? Withincredible carelessness parents send their daughters into serviceabroad, without considering that they may be at the mercy of thefirst Don Juan who comes across them, or even fall into the meshes of"white slavery, " if they are left to go in ignorance of sexualaffairs, as is often the case (vide Chapter X). Moreover, by no longertaking a false and artificial view of life, girls will be more capableof understanding and sympathizing with the misery which surroundsthem--the troubles of unfortunate marriages, seduced and abandonedgirls, etc. What they lose in illusion they will gain in more usefulknowledge. 

How are we to begin? We should certainly not wait till the eve ofmarriage, but begin in childhood. In theory, it is wrong to lie tochildren, if they are to maintain unshaken confidence in theirparents, and remain truthful themselves. No doubt we cannot explaineverything to a child at the age when it begins to ask its mothercertain embarrassing questions, but we should endeavor as far aspossible to tell it the truth in a manner suitable to its age. Whenthis is impossible, every child who knows that no reasonableexplanation is ever refused it will be satisfied with the answer: "Youare too young now to understand that; I will tell you when you areolder. " Every child who speaks openly to its mother asks sooner orlater how children come into the world. It is easier to reply to thiswhen the child has had the opportunity of observing the same thing inanimals. Why should the mother conceal the fact that it is nearly thesame in man as in animals? The child never thinks of blushing orlaughing at natural phenomena. 

The initiation of children into the mechanism of reproduction is bestobtained by the study of botany and zoölogy. If no mystery is made ofthese things in the case of plants and animals, why should notinstruction be given in human reproduction? On this point MadameSchmid remarks as follows:

"The father or the master should instruct the boys in this subject, and the mother or mistress the girls. Parents will then be able moreeasily to abandon their old and absurd prejudices, which theypreserve, not so much because they attach any great importance tothem, but because they shrink from the difficulty of explainingthemselves to their children. We often see mothers, who would neverhave touched on the question with a child still ignorant of sexualmatters, abandon the reserve hitherto observed in their language inthe presence of the child, as soon as they perceive that it has becomemore or less acquainted with sexual phenomena. This is quitecharacteristic, and what is more so is that these mothers, and oftenalso the fathers, frequently make equivocal jokes on the subject withtheir children instead of seriously discussing it. 

"It is regrettable that so few pedagogues take up these questions, andthat the instruction of children on the sexual question is left to themost impure sources--domestic servants, depraved companions, pornographic books, etc. This results in a deplorable estrangementbetween the children and their parents or masters, which destroysmutual confidence. 

"If we wish to contend with sexual perversions acquired at an earlyage, or the precocious development of an unhealthy sexual appetite, this is not to be effected by prudery or vague moral preaching, but byaffection and frankness. In this case, evasive replies, combined withso-called strict morals, only lead to estrangement, dissimulation andhypocrisy, and the result is often irreparable. "

Madame Schmid also insists on the necessity of making young girls workand learn some business, so as to render them capable of surviving inthe struggle for existence without being obliged to throw themselvesat the head of the first man who presents himself, or becoming theprey of prostitution. She also emphasizes the necessity ofremunerating the wife for her work as mother and housekeeper, as thehusband is remunerated for his work. 

It is needless to add that it is quite as necessary to instruct boysas girls in sexual questions. They do not run the risk, like girls, offalling through ignorance into the abject dependence of a forcedmarriage, and have no pregnancies to fear; but they are more exposedto temptation. When their sexual appetite has been once excited bymasturbation or in some other way, it becomes very difficult to putthem on the right path; to say nothing of the danger of venerealdisease. 

I therefore appeal to all fathers and masters in the same way thatMadame Schmid appeals to mothers and mistresses Take measures in timeand do not wait till the boys are instructed by evil persons of eithersex, or till they have already been seduced, thanks to their eroticcuriosity. It is generally evil companions who seduce them, butsometimes erotic women. 

=Exclusiveness in Education. Punishment. Automatism of Parents. Wantsof Children. =--In the human brain, intelligence and sentiment areintimately connected with one another, and from their combinationarise volitions, which in their turn, react more or less strongly oncerebral activity, according to their solidity and duration. It isthus a great mistake to think that we can treat separately, by the aidof theoretical dogmas, the three great domains of the humanmind--intelligence, sentiment and will. It is a fundamental error toimagine that the intelligence can be educated only at school, leavingsentiment and will to the parents. But it is still more absurd toattempt to act on sentiment, especially on ethical sentiment, and onthe conscience, which is derived directly from sympathy, by moralpreaching and punishment. What false conceptions of the human mind liein these moral sermons, in this theoretical moral teaching, in thesepunishments and anger! Is it credible that, by the aid of abstract andarid dogmas supported by punishment, conscience and altruisticsentiments can be impressed on the brain of a child, which is onlyaccessible to concrete ideas, to sympathy, affection and amusement? Wemay see daily, in nearly every family, parents finding fault withtheir children, in a vexatious, irritated or sorrowful tone of voice, to which the children reply by inattention, or tears, or more often bya repetition of the same tone of irritation. These scoldings passthrough the child's mind without leaving any trace of an effect. Suchstereotyped scenes produce in the intelligent observer the painfulimpression of two barrel-organs whose tunes are automatic. If this isthe kind of moral teaching which is supposed to act on the child'smind, it is not astonishing that it has futile and even harmfuleffects. The parents do not appreciate the fact that when scoldingtheir children they are only giving vent to their own bad temper. Butthe children are well aware of this fact, consciously or not, andreact accordingly. The most deplorable thing is that they copy allthese bad habits, like monkeys. 

True moral teaching, the true way of influencing children for good, lies in the manner of speaking to them, treating them and living withthem. Affection, truth, persuasion and perseverance should be manifestin the acts and manners of parents, for these qualities only canawaken sympathy and confidence in the breasts of children. It is notcold moral speech, but warm altruistic feeling, which alone can act asa moral educator of children. 

A savant who delivers excellent and erudite lectures to his pupils ina dry and wearisome manner teaches them nothing, or at any rate verylittle. The students yawn, and are quite right in saying they couldlearn these things just as well out of a book. A teacher, however, whospeaks with animation and knows how to hold the attention of hisaudience impresses his remarks on their brain. In the former casethere is intelligence without feeling, while in the latter case theaudience is held by the suggestive and contagious power of enthusiasm. Dry science, at the most, fills the memory, but it leaves "the heart"empty. What does not come from the heart has difficulty in enteringthe head. 

It is precisely in this way that the will must be exercised byperseverance. The child must be made eager for social work; he must beurged to all noble and disinterested actions, without stimulating hisemulation by promises of reward, or by punishment. 

=New Schools. =--The object we desire may be attained by a system ofeducation such as that of the new schools (_Landerziehungsheime_), which were first founded by Reddie in England, afterwards by Lietz inGermany, by Frey and Zuberuübler in Switzerland, and by Contou inFrance. These institutes have finally realized the ideas of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Owen and Froebel. 

For the teacher who understands the psychology of children, it is atrue pleasure to witness the teaching at these Landerziehungsheime. The children take a delight in their school and become the comrades oftheir master. Physical exercise, the development of the powers ofreason and judgment, the education of the sentiments and will, are allharmoniously combined. The children are not given the dry text-booksof our schools, but made familiar with the works of the great authorsand men of genius. Instead of their existence becoming etiolated underthe weight of domestic duties, and under the sword of Damocles ofexaminations, they thrive by living as far as possible among thethings they ought to learn. They thus assimilate the object ofinstruction, which becomes a living and useful part of theirpersonality, instead of becoming encysted in the brain in the form ofdead erudition like a foreign body, and filling it with formulæ learntby heart. Such formulæ are ill-understood by children, and later on itis difficult for them to clear their brains of this indigestiblerubbish to make room for the realities of observation and induction. The only punishments at the Landerziehungsheime are those whichnaturally result from the fault committed. 

The pupils and their masters bathe together in a state of nature. Thesexual question is treated openly in these schools in a proper, natural and logical way. The open confidence which obtains betweenmasters and pupils, combined with free intellectual and physical workand the absolute exclusion of alcoholic drinks, constitute the bestpreventive and curative remedy for masturbation, sexual precocity andall perversions which are not hereditary. 

It is needless to say that such schools cannot cure a pathologicalsexual hereditary mneme, whether it consists in perversion, precocityor some other vice. Every boarding school has its drawbacks, onaccount of the possible influence of mischievous individuals. Nevertheless, no boarding school offers such excellent conditions asthe Landerziehungsheime, for as soon as a boy gives evidence of anysexual perversion, this perversion soon becomes well known, thanks tothe good sense which prevails in the whole school. [13]

=Standard of Human Value in the Child. =--Our pedagogy has hitherto notunderstood the true standard of human value. The social value of aman is composed of two groups of factors; mental and bodily hereditarydispositions, and faculties acquired by education and instruction. Without sufficient hereditary dispositions, all efforts expended inlearning a certain subject will generally fail more or less. Withoutinstruction and without exercise, the best hereditary dispositionswill become atrophied, or will give indifferent results. Buthereditary dispositions not only influence the different domains ofknowledge, as the traditional pedagogues of our public schools seem toadmit, they also act on all the domains of human life, especially onthe mind. Good dispositions in the domains of will, sentiment, judgment, imagination, perseverance, duty, accuracy, self-control, thefaculty of thinking logically and distinguishing the true from thefalse, the faculty of combining æsthetic thoughts and sensations, allconstitute human values which are much superior to the faculty ofrapid assimilation or receptivity, and a good memory for words andphrases. 

Nevertheless these last faculties are almost the only ones which aretaken into consideration in our examinations, which decide nearlyeverything in our schools and universities. Is it to be wondered atthat, by the aid of such a false standard, mediocrities whose brainsare only the echoes of their masters and those who bow to authority, climb to the highest official positions, and even to most of thosepositions which are not official?

With a good memory and the gift of rapid comprehension, one can obtaineverything, even without the protection of the clergy, freemasonry orany other powerful association or personality (male or female)! Ifthey do not possess these natural secondary gifts, the most capablemen, even men of genius, are passed over or only obtain a situation bycircuitous routes and great efforts, after much loss of time. 

In the Landerziehungsheime, Dr. Hermann-Lietz uses a scale intended toestimate the psychological and social value of the pupils. First ofall the results obtained from two standards are measured:

(_a_) _Individual_: Does the actual value of work performed by thepupil always correspond to his faculties?

(_b_) _Objective_: Is the work very good, good, mediocre or bad, compared with the normal human average?

After this the different domains of psychology and human activity arepassed in review, a thing which is quite possible in a school of thiskind whose object is to carry out the integral education of man. 

1. _Bodily results_: Health, disease, weight of body, activity, walking, running, swimming, cycling, games, ski, gymnastics. 

2. _Conduct_: Order, cleanliness, punctuality. Conduct outside, etc. 

3. _Moral and religious results_: Conduct toward parents, masters, companions, self and others. Veracity, zeal and sentiment of duty;honesty in the administration of his personal property and thatentrusted to him; sentiment of solidarity and disinterestedness. Isthe pupil worthy of trust? Is he conscientious? Strength of moralsentiments, moral comprehension and moral will. 

4. _Intellectual results_: Practical work; gardening, agriculture, carpentry, turning, locksmith's work, work in forge. Drawing, writing, elocution, music. Knowledge of literature and human nature, physics, mathematics and natural science. 

5. _General results_: Strength of character, physique andintelligence; faculty of observation, imagination and judgment. Realvalue of practical work, artistic and scientific. 

Measured by such a standard, the human value of a pupil takes quiteanother character to that judged by the results of examinations. Bymeans of this standard, it is possible to predict with much morecertainty what kind of man the child will become. There is no need toadd that there are no examinations in these schools, for the wholelife is a perpetual examination. 

Samuel Smiles, in "_Self Help_" relates that Swift failed in hisexaminations, that James Watt (the discoverer of the motive power ofsteam), Stephenson and Newton were bad pupils, that an Edinburghprofessor regarded Walter Scott as a dunce. [The same with Darwin, whosays in his autobiography, "When I left the school I was, for my age, neither high nor low in it, and I believe that I was considered by allmy masters and by my father as a very ordinary boy, rather below thecommon standard in intellect. "] These examples of the way in which theschool of tradition judges human mental value might be multiplied ahundredfold, but they will suffice, especially if we compare them withthe future of the distinguished pupils of colleges in practical life. These facts are not due so much to later development, as to thedisgust inspired by our system of education in reflective minds whichrefuse to be overloaded with a heap of dry things learnt by heart, undigested, often hardly comprehensible, or open to contradiction. 

It is only on the basis of a just evaluation of man, from all pointsof view, that we can found a proper human selection. 

=Coeducation. =--It is now beginning to be understood that thecoeducation of the two sexes in schools, not only does no harm, but isvery advantageous, both from the sexual and the moral points of view. In the universities it is already established. In children's schoolsand many primary schools it has always existed. It is especially theauthorities of secondary schools who have raised opposition. 

In the secondary schools in Holland and Italy, as well as in someSwiss gymnasiums, coeducation has been introduced without the leastinconvenience; on the contrary, it has led to the best results. 

A native of Finland, Miss Maikki Friberg, has lately made an appeal infavor of coeducation based on the excellent results obtained in hercountry. Some feared that sexual excitement would result; but this isan error, for the custom of daily co-existence of the sexes diminishesthe sexual appetite. The forbidden fruit loses its charm as soon as itappears no longer to be forbidden!

It is unnecessary to say that it is not intended that girls and boysshould sleep in the same dormitories, nor bathe together in thecostume of Adam and Eve! Our remarks do not apply to boarding-schools, but to coeducation in public schools. 

When we speak of coeducation, we generally meet with the argument thatthe nature and vocation of women differ from those of men, and thatconsequently their education ought to differ. To this I reply asfollows: The external objects of the world, the branches of humanknowledge, in fact the subjects for study and instruction, are thesame for both sexes. It is, therefore, both a useless waste of forcesand an injustice to organize an inferior education for women. 

=Instruction in Coeducation. =--A course of instruction as interestingas possible should be organized for each subject, without distinctionof sex. This rule should also apply to things which are generallyconsidered as the special province of women; such as sewing, dressmaking, cooking, household work, etc. It will then be thebusiness of each sex to choose the subject most suited to itsabilities. 

Part of the course of instruction should be obligatory for all, whileanother part intended for ulterior individual development should beoptional, according to individual taste and talent. In the obligatorypart of instruction certain subjects might be made obligatory for onesex and optional for the other; sewing and algebra, for instance. Inthis way each sex could choose the most suitable subjects, as is thecase now in universities only. 

=Danger of Sexual Perversions. =--A very important point, unfortunatelylittle understood in sexual pedagogy, is that of congenital sexualperversions. Tradition regards every sexual anomaly as an acquiredvice, which should be treated by indignation and punishment. Theeffects of this manner of looking at the question are disastrous. Itgives entirely wrong ideas to youth, and shuts the eyes of parents andteachers to the truth. 

It is not without a serious motive that I have described at length therepugnant phenomena of sexual pathology (Chapter VIII). Teachers andparents should be thoroughly acquainted with this subject. But this isnot enough, for these phenomena commence in infancy. It is a long timebefore the child whose sexual appetite is perverted has the least ideathat his inclinations and desires are considered by others asabnormal. The psychic irradiations of his abnormal appetite usuallyconstitute the sanctuary of his ideal aspirations and sentiments, theobject of obscure hopes and struggles which are opposed to nature andthe inclinations of his comrades. This is why he neither understandsthe world nor himself in this respect. His amorous exaltations areridiculed, or else they inspire disgust. Anxiety and shame alternatemore and more with the perverse aspirations of his mind, which slowlyincrease. It is only when he arrives at the age of puberty that thepervert understands his exceptional position; he then feels that he isexiled from society, abandoned and without a future. He sees his idealaspirations mocked by men and regarded as a ridiculous caricature oreven as a culpable monstrosity. He is obliged to hide his passionslike a criminal. As his character is often weak and impulsive, and iscombined with a strong and precocious sexual appetite, he is veryeasily led astray, especially if he discovers suitable objects for hisappetite, or perverted companions like himself. 

In this way, in secondary schools, we often find groups of younginverts who succeed by cunning in seducing their friends. The mentionof these phenomena, which from time to time give rise to schoolscandals, should be enough to make any one who is unprejudicedunderstand the urgency for instructing children betimes in sexualquestions. This is a duty which is necessary in the name of hygieneand morality. 

It is evident that if parents and masters exchange ideas on thissubject with children, freely but decently, they will soon bring tolight the sexual nature of the latter. They will discover which girlsare cold and indifferent, and which are precociously erotic. 

It is needless to say that one should speak and act differently in thetwo cases. There is no risk in instructing the first on the wholesexual question, but prudence is required with the latter, who shouldbe guarded against anything which stimulates their appetite, bywarning them of the dangers of venereal disease, illegitimate childrenand seduction. 

We sometimes meet with young girls of hysterical nature with invertedinclinations, who become enamored of other girls and have a sexualrepugnance for men. Occasionally a sadist is discovered. 

Among boys we observe analogous differences in the intensity andprecocity of the sexual appetite. An attentive observer willfrequently discover homosexual appetites in boys, for these arecomparatively common. Other perversions, such as sadism, masochism, fetichism and exhibitionism, etc. , are more rarely met with. Masturbation is common in both sexes. 

The great advantage of such discoveries is that children affected withsexual perversions can be put under special supervision, and above allthings kept away from boarding schools, where they are subject togreat temptations. An invert in a boarding-school is in reality almostin the same position as a young man who sleeps in the same room asyoung girls, and no one thinks of the danger. 

When perversion is recognized, the subject should not be treated as acriminal, nor even as a vicious individual, but as a patient afflictedwith a nervous affection who is thereby dangerous to himself andothers. He should be treated and prevented from becoming a center ofinfection for his surroundings. Inverts should be specially supervisedand taken care of till adult age. When they come of age, in myopinion, it would be an innocent idea to allow them to marry personsof their own sex, as they so much desire to do. Normal adults can verywell protect themselves against their attentions, when they are warnedby sufficient instruction in sexual questions. 

The child, on the other hand, has the right to be protected againstall contamination by perversion, as against all sexual assault ofwhatever nature, and it is the duty of society to organize itsprotection. But this cannot be done unless society is itselfinstructed on the question, and in a position to give a rationaleducation to youth such as we have sketched above. 

If dangerous congenital perversions are discovered, such as sadism andpederosis, energetic measures of protection should be taken; in gravecases, the operations we have spoken of, or permanent internment. 

Apart from suggestion, there is no better remedy against masturbationthan a system of education such as that in force in theLanderziehungsheime, especially continuous physical labor combinedwith useful and attractive intellectual occupation. When such a systemof education is put in force at an early age, the sexual appetitedevelops more slowly and more moderately, and has the most favorableinfluence on the whole sexual life of man. 

In speaking of masturbation in Chapter VIII we have seen that it maybe the expression of very different conditions, and we should actaccordingly. 

=Eroticism in Childhood. =--By giving children betimes the requisiteinstruction on the sexual question, they are tranquilized. Many boysand girls give themselves up to despair because of the erroneous andterrifying ideas they have of sexual affairs. On the one hand, theyhear pornographic remarks which disgust them, while their parentsenvelop the subject in mystery; on the other hand, their sexualappetites evoke desire and call for satisfaction. When a young man inthis state of mind has an emission, either spontaneously or as theresult of artificial excitation, he is seized with anxiety and shame, often also with phantoms of disease and moral depravity. He thenrequires almost heroic resolution to unburden his mind to a doctor orto his father. With nervous subjects, inclined to be melancholic orhypochondriacal, such a state of mind sometimes leads to suicide. 

Another advantage in the instruction of children in sexual matters isthat the questions of heredity, alcohol and venereal disease can beexplained to them at the same time. In giving these explanations it isimportant not to awaken eroticism in the child by dwelling more thannecessary on sexual topics. Instruction in this subject should not begiven too frequently; on the contrary, the attention of youth should, as far as possible, be drawn away from sexual questions to othersubjects, till the age of maturity. 

With the same object, erotic and pornographic literature should becondemned. Unfortunately, many novels and dramas which meet with theapprobation of society, thanks to their fashionable or even decentform of presentation, are often full of half-veiled eroticism, whichis much more exciting to the sexual appetite than the brutal andrealistic descriptions of Zola or Brieux, or even the erotic art of deMaupassant. 

A doctor once told me that in his country the country children, whoobserved copulation among animals, often made similar attemptsthemselves, while bathing or otherwise. Yet these country-people areno more corrupt or degenerate than the townspeople. Here again, proper instruction and warnings would be the best remedy, especiallyin the case of girls. 

What is to be said, on the contrary, of certain Austrian judges whopunish by imprisonment urchins of fourteen, who have copulated withgirls of the same age or made them pregnant? Have they punished thereal culprit? Do they imagine that they have done anything that willimprove these children?

The confession of Catholics plays a deplorable pedagogic part in thesexual domain. We may admit that some high-minded priests may becapable of modifying their interpretation of the prescriptions ofLiguori and others which we have cited, and do little or no harm toyoung people of either sex. It must, however, be recognized--and themost devout Catholic cannot deny it--that priests are only human, andhave not all the noble spirit nor the tact to fulfill the idealrequired of them in their behavior toward women. This is enough tomake the confessional, in many cases, a depraved institution from thesexual point of view. On this subject, I refer the reader to what hasalready been said in Chapter XII on the experiences of the Canadianreformer, father Chiniqui. 

The following instance is very characteristic. A very prudish man, observing children of both sexes bathing together, exclaimed to themindignantly, that this was improper. Thereupon a little boy repliednaively: "We do not know which is a boy nor which is a girl, becausewe have no clothes. " This charming reply shows how certain moralintentions are more likely to attract the attention of young people toerotic subjects. 

=Corporal Punishment and Sadism. =--An important fact has recentlyattracted the attention of the whole world, concerning certainterrible crimes. There is no longer any doubt that in some casesperverted masters and teachers find satisfaction for their sadistsexual appetite in the corporal punishment of children. This was thecase with the German teacher, Dippold, who, to satisfy his pervertedappetite flogged two children confided to him by their parents, tillone of them died. 

The _Arbeiter Zeitung_, of Vienna, a very conscientious journal, published the case of a prince of a small German state, who, whenevera schoolmaster ordered corporal punishment to a pupil, offered toexecute it himself. The journal in question attributes with goodreason this fantasy to sadism. 

Again, many children were at one time belabored with blows for severalyears by a person who pretended to be a police agent, and whothreatened them with prosecution if they complained. One boy morecourageous than the others finally gave information, and the affairthen ended. 

We thus see that sadism does not always manifest itself byassassination. Its less dangerous forms in which pleasure is obtainedby blows or some other form of bodily or mental ill-treatment, are nodoubt much more common. They constitute a kind of complement to sexualdesire in pathological individuals whose appetite is only partlyperverted. This fact, which has hitherto not received sufficientattention, gives one more reason for the abolition of corporalpunishment in schools, for the art of dissimulation and refinement oftorture are unlimited in the sexually perverted. A thousandhypocritical pretexts serve to conceal their morbid appetite, and ithas been proved by experience that they can succeed for a long time indeceiving even experts in this subject. This was the case with Dippoldand many others. 

Corporal punishment of schoolboys is only useless and harmfulbrutality. It is a disgrace to civilization that it is stillmaintained at a time when the bastinado has been suppressed amongconvicts. 

=Protection of Childhood. Child Martyrs. =--Children, especially whenillegitimate or of another marriage, are often exposed to atrocioustreatment in which alcohol and sexual passion, inconvenienced by thepresence of the child, play a great part. 

I here refer the reader to the last work of Lydia von Wolfring. [14]This author, who has made a special study of the judicial protectionof children, makes the following propositions directed against parentsand tutors who commit misdemeanors against children or pupils confidedto them, or who incite the latter to commit misdemeanors, or who showthemselves incapable of protecting them against others who abuse themin the manner indicated (this last condition applies especially toconcubines, widows, etc. ). 

(1). Withdrawal of paternal, maternal or tutelary authority andnomination of another tutor. 

(2). Complete withdrawal of children in grave cases. 

(3). Nomination of a "co-tutor" in all cases where a husband whosurvives his wife and has children who are minors, contracts a secondmarriage or lives in concubinage. 

(4). Withdrawal of paternal and sometimes maternal authority from allparents who leave the education of their children to public or privatecharity, unless compelled to do so by poverty. 

Without having a direct bearing on our subject the above propositionscontain the elements of an efficacious, though indirect, protectionagainst the abuses committed toward children; for example, whenparents urge their children to prostitution. As regards proposition 4, I refer to what I have said in Chapter XIII. While authority overtheir children is withdrawn, unnatural parents of this kind should beobliged to work for their children's maintenance. 

=Future Possibilities. =--Unfortunately we must admit that the programmeof a sexual pedagogy for the future, such as we have sketched here, isvery far from being realized. The Landerziehungsheime, which shouldserve as examples for future state schools are still sparselydistributed, and it seems impossible to carry out universally arational sexual education, till the state and the public are betterinformed on the subject and have got rid of their prejudices. This hopeappears to be only the reflection of a distant future. In the meantimeevery one must do his best. Parents, and some masters, can do much byfree initiative. It is above all things necessary that young people whoare interested in social reforms should not be satisfied with emptyphrases, nor "play to the gallery. " They should set the example intheir own sexual relations, in condemning old customs which are opposedto true natural human ethics; they should show their adherence tosexual reforms by action and example, by raising objections to marriagefor money, to the tyranny and formality of marriage, to prostitution, etc. ; and they should attempt to put in force a healthy selection and arational education such as we have indicated above. 

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Vide. --Ernest Contou: _Ecoles nouvelles et Landerziehungsheime_, Paris, 1905; Wilhelm Frey: _Landerziehungsheime_, Leipzig, 1902;Forel: _Hygiène des nerfs et de l'esprit_, Stuttgart, 1905. 

[14] "Das Recht des Kindes: Vorschläge für eine gesetzliche Regelung. "_Allgemeine österreichische Gerichtszeitung_, 1904. 

CHAPTER XVIII

SEXUAL LIFE IN ART

=The Genesis of Art. =--Art represents in a harmonious form themovements of our sentimental life. The phylogeny of art is still veryobscure; Darwin attributes it to sexual attraction, through theefforts made by one sex to attract the other; but his arguments havenever convinced me. [15]

Aristotle recognized in art the principles of representation of thebeautiful and of imitation. Karl Groos, of Giessen, refutes Darwin'shypothesis, and upholds the principle of the representation of self bysensations which relate to the subject, thus giving a tangible objectto corresponding internal emotions (among animals, for example, thepleasure of hearing their own voice). [16]

The motor instinct and the movements executed in play seem to be amongthe most primitive autonomous creators of art. Similar play isobserved in ants. In man, Groos attributes a considerable role toreligious ecstasy and ecstasy in general, in the genesis of art. "Since its object is to excite the sentiments, it is obvious that artutilizes from the first the domain which is richest in emotionalsensations, that is the sexual domain. " He shows at the same time thaterotic subjects have a much more general and definite importance inhighly developed art than in what we know of primitive art. 

Groos is certainly right, for primitive eroticism was too coarse andsensual, too exclusively tactile to affect the mind as deeply and withsuch gradations of symphony as is the case with civilized man. Thisreason alone seems to me sufficient to support Groos' view, which isalso confirmed by the fact that primitive works of art contain veryfew erotic subjects. 

The more delicate art becomes the better it acts. The intensity of itsaction depends, however, more especially on the power with which itmoves our feelings. Art requires discord, not only in music, butelsewhere, in order to act more strongly on the human emotions by theeffect of contrast. In describing the ugly it awakens desire for thebeautiful. Art should be spontaneous and exuberant with the truth ofconviction; it should be free from mannerism and all dogmatism, intellectual or moral. The positive æsthetic sentiment, or sentimentof beauty is very relative, and depends essentially on thephylogenetic adaptation of the human sentiments, as well as onindividual habits and popular customs. The odor of manure is no doubtpleasant to a farm laborer, but it is unpleasant to us. The maleinvert finds man more beautiful than woman. A savage or a peasantregards as beautiful what a cultured man considers ugly. The music ofWagner or Chopin is tiresome to a person with no musical education orear, while a melomaniac goes into raptures over it. 

=Erotic Art. =--It is quite natural that the chord whose vibrationsinfluence the most powerful human emotion--sexual love--has aninfinite variety of vibrations in all forms of art. Music givesexpression to the sexual sensations and their psychic irradiations bytones representing desire, passion, joy, sadness, deception, despair, sacrifice, ecstasy, etc. 

In sculpture and painting it is love in all its shades which furnishesthe inexhaustible theme; but it is in the domain of literature thatlove celebrates its triumphs, and often also its orgies. The novelsand dramas in which it plays no part could be easily counted. I am notreferring only to common novelettes, nor to those pot-house dramaswhich, in spite of repeating continually the same sentimental motives, always succeed in arousing the uncultivated sentiments of the masses. The greatest art aims at representing tragic, refined and complexconflicts of the human sexual sentiments and their irradiations, so asto awaken emotion by causing vibrations in the deepest chords of thehuman mind. Among poets and authors I may mention Shakespere, Schiller, Goethe, de Musset, Heine, Gotthelf, and de Maupassant; amongmusicians, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Schumann, Loewe; amongpainters, Titian, Murillo, Boecklin; and sculptors such as those ofthe ancient Greeks or the modern French school. 

Art and pure intellect do not form an antinomy; they are associatedtogether in the human mind as thought and sentiment, each preservingits own, though relative, independence. Every artistic representationrequires an intellectual foundation, in the same way as everysentiment is connected with ideas. The artist takes his subjects fromthe external world, from life, and from the events of all ages. Healso utilizes the progress of science for the mechanism of his art. But, to transform the material into a complete picture, with a unityof action, where the different sentiments harmonize; to transform thework of art into a symbol of something human; to make the whole workspeak to every mind capable of comprehending it, all this can only bethe work of a great artist with creative genius. 

=Art and Morality. =--True art is in itself neither moral nor immoral. Here we can well say--to the pure everything is pure. In the mirror ofan impure mind, every work of art may appear as a pornographiccaricature, while to the high-minded it is the incarnation of thenoblest ideal. The fault is not with art and its products, but withnature and the peculiarities of many human brains, which deformeverything they perceive, so that the most beautiful works of art onlyawaken in their pornographic minds cynical sexual images. 

=Art and Pornography. =--After having enunciated the precedingfundamental principles, we must examine the following facts, whichhave a special importance for the question with which we are dealing. Under the banner of art are grouped a number of human enterpriseswhich are far from deserving this honor. There are few great artists, but thousands of charlatans and plagiarists. Many of those who havenever had the least idea of the dignity of art, pander to the lowerinstincts of the masses and not to their best sentiments. In thisconnection, erotic subjects play a sad and powerful part. Nothing istoo filthy to be used to stimulate the base sensuality of the public. Frivolous songs, licentious novels and plays, obscene dances, pornographic pictures, all without any trace of artistic merit, speculate on the erotic instinct of the masses in order to obtaintheir money. 

In these brothels of art, the most obscene vice is glorified, evenpathological. Unfortunately, this obscenity spoils the taste of thepublic and destroys all sense of true and noble art. At the bottom ofall this degeneration of the sentiment of art and its products in thesexual domain, we always find on close examination, corruption bymoney and brutalism by alcohol. I say advisedly, the sentiment of artand the products of art, for it is not sufficient for true artists tocreate their masterpieces, it is also necessary for them to find anecho in the public, and be understood by them. The two phenomena gohand in hand, as supply and demand. When the sentiment of art is lowamong the public, the quality of the artistic production is also low, and inversely. Professor Behrens, director of the Industrial School ofArt at Dusseldorf, is in complete accord with me in the debasingeffect of alcohol on the artistic sentiment. (_Alkohol und Kunst. _)

After establishing these facts, we return to the fundamental butdelicate question: How is true erotic art to be distinguished from thepornographic? While certain ascetic and fanatical preachers ofmorality would burn and destroy all the erotic creations of art underthe pretext that they are pornographic, other disciples of decadencedefend the most ignoble pornography under the shield of art. 

I will cite two examples which have already been mentioned previously(Chapter XIII). In a very primitive and bigoted region of the Tyrol, certain undraped, but very innocent, statues of women were erected inthe streets. Feeling their modesty deeply wounded, and regarding therepresentation of the natural human body as a great inducement tomisconduct, the peasants of the district broke up these statues. Thesame with the captain of police at Zurich, who made himself notoriousby ordering the removal of the picture by Boecklin, entitled "TheSport of the Waves, " regarding the two mermaids in the picture as adanger to the morality and virtue of the citizens of Zurich!

I designate by the term charlatanism, everything which consists indecorating or covering by the term art, all possible perversions ofpornography, often pathological. Persons of artistic nature, dominatedby emotional sentiments, will no doubt be excused for being oftenoverexcited to a more or less pathological degree, for executing allkinds of fantastic vagaries in their sexual life, and for beingcapricious and excessive in love. These things are almost inseparablefrom the artistic temperament. But the systematic education ofpornography, and the sexual orgies which are cynically made public, godecidedly beyond what is licit, and cannot be included in the scope ofart without degrading it. The individual and pathological failings ofartists and the eccentricities to which they often become victims, must not be confounded with art and its products. 

On the other hand, we often find eroticism hidden where we shouldleast expect it, for instance in certain books for the edification ofthe pious. Here also it does not fail to produce its effect, althoughold maids and pious families place these books in their libraries andrecommend them as proper reading. It has been said with reason, that"what is improper in the nudity of a statue is the fig-leaf and notwhat is underneath. " It is, in fact, these fig-leaves--sculptured, painted, written or spoken--which awaken lewdness rather than deadenit. By drawing attention to what they conceal, they excite sensualitymuch more than simple nudity. In short, the eroticism which plays athide and seek is that which acts with greatest intensity. Thedirectors of ballets and other similar spectacles know this only toowell, and arrange accordingly. 

I have seen at the Paris Exposition an Arab woman perform the eroticdance called the "danse du ventre, " in which the various movements ofcoitus are imitated by movements of the hips and loins. I do notthink, however, that this pantomime, as cynical as it is coarse, produces on the spectators such an erotic effect as the _décolleté_costumes of society ladies, or even certain amorous scenes ofreligious ecstasy in words or pictures (vide Chapter XII). As the"danse du ventre" was produced under the head of _ethnology_, it waswitnessed by society ladies without their being in the least degreewounded in their sentiments of modesty! It is extremely difficult, ifnot impossible, to define the limit between art and pornography. Iwill attempt to give an example. 

In his novels and romances, Guy de Maupassant has given perhaps thefinest and most true descriptions which exist of the psychology oflove and the sexual appetite. Although he has depicted the mostticklish sexual situations, often most _recherché_, we can say thatwith few exceptions he has not written in a pornographic spirit. Hisdescriptions are profound and true, and he does not attempt to makeattractive what is ugly and immoral, although he cannot be blamed formoralizing. 

We have seen that the old hypocritical eroticism consisted essentiallyin the art of describing sexual forbidden fruit and making it asdesirable as possible, at the same time covering it with pious phraseswhich were only a transparent mask. Vice was condemned, but describedin such a way as to make the reader's mouth water. There is nothing ofthis in Guy de Maupassant, nor in Zola. By their tragic descriptions, they provoke disgust and sadness in the reader, rather thansensuality. It is otherwise with the illustrations which deMaupassant's publisher has added to his works and which are franklypornographic. These are not fair to the author. 

Another comparison shows, perhaps, still better the uncertainty of theline of demarcation between pornography and art. If we compare Heinewith de Maupassant, I think we must admit that, in spite of therefinement of his art, the pornographic trait is incomparably strongerin the former, because Heine continually loses the thread of moralsense which impregnates most of the works of de Maupassant. The latterauthor emphasizes evil and injustice in the sexual question. 

The refined art of the Greeks contains much eroticism and much nudity, but there is nothing whatever immoral in either. Innocence and beautyare so apparent that no one can think of evil. When we look at theantique statues of the Greek sculptors; when we read Homer, especiallythe story of Ares and Aphrodite; when we read the bucolic idyll ofDaphnis and Chloe, we can no longer have any doubt on the point. It isnot nudity, it is not the natural description of sexual life, but theobscene intention of the artist, his improper and often venal object, which has a demoralizing effect. 

Finally, I repeat that the purest artistic creation may serve as apornographic theme for every individual who is accustomed to introduceinto his parodies his own depravity, immorality and obscenesentiments. I do not deny that in antiquity, especially at the time ofthe decadence of Rome, pornography and cynical coarseness often ruledin the sexual domain. History and the ruins of Pompeii give abundantevidence of it. But such phenomena occurred at the periods ofdecadence. Who then can decide where art ends and pornography begins, or how far eroticism may without danger be expressed in art? Thisquestion is so difficult and delicate that I am unable to answer itwith sufficient competence. I think that when the reign of capitalismand alcohol has come to an end, the danger of pornography will bereduced enormously. I believe we ought to avoid extremes in bothdirections. Wherever pornography manifests itself in a purely cynicalway, denuded of all art, society can and should suppress it. When itappears under an artistic mantle, it should be possible in eachparticular case to weigh the artistic merit of the work against itsimmoral tendencies, taking all other accessory circumstances intoaccount, in order to decide the real weight of each of these elements. The corrupting action should also be carefully considered, whichexperience proves to have been exerted on the public by certainso-called works of art, or artistic exhibitions, as for examplecertain _cafés chantants_, etc. 

=Pathological Art. =--The progressively pathological nature of certainproductions of modern art constitute without any doubt a viciousfeature; a fact of special importance in the sexual question. Witnesswhat I have said concerning the poet Baudelaire. Erotic art ought notto become a hospital for perverts and sexual patients, and should notlead these individuals to regard themselves as interesting specimensof the human race. It should not make heroes of them, for in actingthus, it only confirms their morbid state, and often contaminateshealthy-minded people. 

A great number of novels, and even modern pictures, deserve thereproach of being pornographic works. In these are described, orpainted, beings that we meet in hospitals for nervous diseases, oreven in lunatic asylums, but more often phantoms which only exist inthe pathological mind of the author. No doubt, art should not allowitself to be instructed in morality by pedagogues and ascetics; but, on the other hand, artists ought not to forget the high social missionof their art, a mission which consists in elevating man to the ideal, not in letting him sink into a bog. 

=The Moral Effect of Healthy Art. =--Art has great power, for man isdirected by sentiment much more than by reason. Art should be healthy;it should rise toward the heavens and show the public the road toOlympus--not the Olympus of superstition, but that of a betterhumanity. It is not necessary for this that it should diminish theenergy of its eternal theme--love. No truly moral man would wish toeliminate the seasoning of eroticism whenever artistic necessityrequires it, but art should never prostitute itself in the service ofvenal obscenity and degeneration. 

As to the manner in which it attains its object, while holding to itsfundamental principles, that is its own affair, the business of thetrue artist. I cannot, however, in my capacity as a naturalist, refrain from giving a little modest advice to certain modern artists;that when they wish to take for the subject of their works the themesof social morality, medicine or science, they should avoid previousstudy of their subject in scientific books; that they should followthe example of de Maupassant and begin by living themselves thesituations which they wish to depict, before beginning to model theirwork. Without this they will completely fail in artistic effect, andwill become bad theorists, bad scientists, bad moralists and badsocial politicians, at the same time ceasing to be good artists. IfMaeterlinck's "Life of Bees" is a fine work of art, it is not onlybecause the author is a distinguished writer, but because he washimself acquainted with bees, being an apicultor, and did not make hisbook a mere compilation of other scientific works. 

Along with the struggle against the debasing influence of money andalcohol, the elevation of the artistic sentiment among the publicwill contribute strongly to condemn pornographic "æsthetics. " Thefalse and unnatural sentimentalism, spiced with erotic lewdness, whichis displayed in the trash offered to the public under the title of"art, " fills every man who possesses the least artistic sense withdisgust. Disgust evidently constitutes a beneficial mental medicine inthe domain of art, and we cannot agree with the severe and asceticminds who think that true morality has nothing to do with art, or eventhat everything moral should be destitute of art. These people arecompletely deceived and unwittingly promote pornography, by repellinghumanity with their austerity and driving it to the opposite extreme. The æsthetic and moral sentiments should be harmoniously combined withintelligence and will, each of these departments of the mindparticipating by its special energies in the elevation of man. 

=Anticonceptional Measures from the Æsthetic Point of View. =--Inconclusion, I will refer to a subject which is perhaps not quite inits place in this chapter. The anticonceptional measures recommendedfor reasons of social hygiene, which tend to regulate conceptions andimprove their quality, have been often condemned, sometimes asimmoral, sometimes as contrary to æsthetics. To interfere in this waywith the action of nature is said to injure the poetry of love and themoral feeling, and at the same time to disturb natural selection. 

There are several replies to these objections: In the first place, itis wrong to maintain that man cannot encroach on the life of nature. If this were the case, the earth would now be a virgin forest and agreat many animals and plants would not have been adapted to the useof man. Our fields, our gardens and our domestic animals would die, instead of bearing fruit and multiplying as they do at present. Thenaturalist has much more fear of seeing rare and interesting wildplants and animals exterminated from the face of the earth by theegoistic and pitiless hand of man. He seeks in vain the means ofchecking this work of destruction. 

We have proved without the least deference, often with a brutal hand, to the misfortune of art and poetry, that we are capable ofsuccessfully intermeddling with the machinery of nature, even in whatconcerns our own persons. I shall not return here to the subject ofethics. In Chapter XV, I have sufficiently shown how false is ourpresent sexual morality, and I have proved in Chapter XIV the absolutenecessity of measures to regulate conception in order to realize anefficacious social sexual morality. 

The æsthetic argument appears at first sight more valid; it isunnecessary, however, to discuss matters of taste. Spectacles arecertainly not particularly æsthetic; nevertheless the poetry of lovedoes not suffer much from their use, and when one is shortsighted orlongsighted one cannot do without them. Great artists wear spectacles. It is the same with false teeth, with clothes, with bicycles and ahundred other artificial things which man makes use of to make hislife more easy. So long as they are novel and unusual they wound theæsthetic sentiment; but when we become accustomed to them we no longertake notice of them. Man has even come to regard as æsthetic, women'scorsets which deform their chests, and pointed shoes which deform thefeet. I am certain that the first man who mounted a horse was accusedby his contemporaries of committing an act contrary to æsthetics!

From all points of view, the details of coitus leave much to bedesired from the æsthetic point of view, and such a slight addition asa membranous protective does not appear to make any seriousdifference. It is impossible for me to recognize the validity of suchan objection, which I attribute to the prejudice against anythingwhich disturbs our habits. 

FOOTNOTES:

[15] See also Lameere "_L'Évolution des ornements sexuels_, " 1904. 

[16] "Die Anfänge der Kunst und die Theorie Darwins. " _HessicheBlätter für Volkskunde_, Vol. III, Part 2. 

CHAPTER XIX

CONCLUSIONS

=Utopia and the Realizable Ideal. =--The term Utopia may be applied toevery ideal project elaborated by human imagination for the futurewelfare of society, which has no healthy and real foundation, iscontrary to human nature and the results of experience, and hasconsequently no chance of success. Persons of conservative minds wholive in prejudice and in the faith of authority apply the term Utopiato every ideal which has not been legalized and sanctioned by time, custom, or authority. This is a grave error, which, if it alwaysprevailed, would bar the way to all social progress. 

As regards the ideal, the future may realize much progress that thepast has not known, and on this point Ben Akiba was wrong in sayingthat "there is nothing new under the sun. " Internationalcommunication, universal postage, the suppression of slavery incivilized countries, the artificial feeding of new-born infants, thetelephone, wireless telegraphy, etc. , are realized advances which hadformerly never appeared on the horizon of humanity, and which wouldhave been regarded as impossible fantasies, or Utopias. 

Why should the common use of an international language and thesuppression of war between civilized countries be Utopias? The mostdiverse races already speak English, and all might learn Esperanto. Inthe interior of countries such as France and Germany, etc. , the oldfeudal wars ceased long ago. Why should a more and more internationalunion between men be impossible?

Why should the suppression of the use of narcotic substances such asalcohol, opium, hashish, etc. , which poison entire nations, beUtopian? Why should it be the same with the economic reform desired bysocialists, that is the equitable division of wages; for example, bythe aid of a coöperative system or by the reduction of capital to aminimum?

These things are all possible, and even necessary for the natural andprogressive development of humanity. It is only the prejudice of oldcustoms, based on the conservative tendency of sentiments, whichopposes these projects and tries to ridicule them by calling themUtopian. In its shortsightedness, it does not see the change whichoccurs all over the world in the social relations of men, or does notestimate them at their true value, and it cannot abandon its oldidols. 

Lastly, why should rational reforms in the sexual domain be moredifficult to realize than the artificial feeding of infants, than theactual triumphs of surgical operations, than sero-therapy, thanvaccination, etc. ? In the same way that shortsighted and longsightedpersons wear spectacles, or those who have no teeth use artificialones, so may men who are tainted by hereditary disease employpreventatives in coitus to avoid the procreation of a tainted progeny;and the same means may be employed to give women time to recover theirstrength after each confinement. 

=Résumé. =--Let us briefly recapitulate the matter contained in thechapters of this book:

(1). In the first five chapters I have given an account of the naturalhistory, anatomy and functions of the reproductive organs, and thepsychology of sexual life. 

(2). In Chapter VI, I have given (chiefly according to Westermarck) a_résumé_ of ethnography and the history of sexual relations in thedifferent human races. 

(3). In Chapter VII, I have attempted to trace the zoölogicalevolution of sexual life along the line of our animal ancestors, andto briefly describe the evolution of sexual life in the individual, from birth till death. I have thus endeavored to acquaint the readerwith the two sources of our sexual sensations and sentiments--thehereditary or phylogenetic source, and the source acquired and adaptedby the individual. 

(4). In Chapter VIII, I have described the pathology of sexual life, because this concerns social life much more than is generallysupposed. 

(5). In Chapters IX to XVIII, I have explained the relations of sexuallife to the most important spheres of human sentiments and interests, to suggestion, money and property, to the external conditions of life, to religion, law, medicine, morality, politics, political economy, pedagogy and art. Incidentally, I have glanced at the socialorganizations and customs which depend on these relations. 

If we sum up the results obtained, we can draw from them a series ofconclusions which we will divide into two groups:

NEGATIVE TASKS

_Suppression of the Direct or Indirect Causes of Sexual Evils andAbuses, and the Social Vices which Correspond to Them_

The corruption into which a semi-civilization has plunged humanity, byfacilitating the means of obtaining satisfaction for its unbridledpassion for pleasure, is maintained by the latter itself. But in thelong run, the unlimited abandonment of the individual to pleasurecannot be in accord with the welfare and progress of society. This isthe knotty point. It is necessary for a better social organization toartificially restrain the passion for pleasure, at the same timeraising the social quality of men; that is to say, their altruism orinstinct (social ethics). We can only expect immediately the first ofthese two objects; but we have seen that it is possible to prepare thesecond for the future, by neglecting none of the factors of socialsalvation. 

We have become acquainted with the most important roots of sexualdegeneration, due to semi-civilization. I use the word"semi-civilization" because our present culture is still veryincomplete and has hardly done more than skim over the surface of themasses. 

Men of higher culture have overcome the maladies of infancy ofcivilization much better than the uneducated masses, and it isprecisely this fact which should give us courage and confidence in afuture in which a true higher culture will be the appanage of all. Theroots of degeneration are either directly or indirectly associatedwith sexual life. It is our duty to declare war of exterminationagainst all of them, and not to cease this contest before reducingthem to their natural primitive minimum. The following are the chiefevils to be contended against. 

=1. The Cult of Money. =--We have recognized the primary sources ofdegeneration in the historical development of humanity and its sexuallife (Chapters VI and X). They consist in the exploitation of man byman, in the desire of possessing riches and power, which become thesource of marriage by purchase and by abduction, of prostitution andall the modern requirements by the aid of which is cultivated thepassion for sexual pleasures, thanks to the power of money. 

The priests and disciples of Mammon lie when they say that theirgod--the golden calf--is the most powerful stimulus to work and theprincipal promoter of culture. If we look closer we see the contrary. Men of genius, thinkers, inventors and artists are urged to work bytheir hereditary instinct, by true love of the ideal and thirst forknowledge. The disciples of Mammon, on the watch for the discoveriesand creations of these men, rob them not only of the fruit of theirwork, but often of the honors which belong to them. Intellectualrobbery is added to pecuniary robbery. 

These are the methods of "Mammonism, " which must be seen to beappreciated; and we are told that this kind of industry should be theonly stimulus to human work and culture! No doubt, the unbridled lustfor gain urges men to feverish activity; but this kind of zeal, whichis nearly always associated with the passion for pleasure, and onlyworks to obtain the means of satisfying it, is unhealthy. It isnecessary for other factors to act in stimulating human work. Fortunately these forces exist, and can be found, for without workthere can be no culture, social progress nor happiness. 

The worship of the golden calf, the utilization of accumulated wealthas a means of exploiting the work of others for individual interest, is therefore the primary and principal root of social degeneration, marriage for money, prostitution and all their corrupt associations. If this root is not torn out, humanity will never succeed in thesanitation of sexual matters. The struggle against the exaggeratedmodern legal rights of capital, and the abuses which result from it, is therefore one of the most important tasks to be accomplished inorder to lead indirectly to the sanitation of sexual intercourse. 

=2. The Use of Narcotics. =--The habit of using narcotic poisons, especially alcohol, leads to the physical and moral degeneration ofmen, a degeneration which not only affects the individuals concerned, but also their germinal cells and consequently their offspring. I havedesignated this degeneration by the term _blastophthoria_. Blastophthoria is intimately connected with sexual phenomena, andthanks to it, the individual influence of these poisons may extend tomany generations. 

A single radical remedy would be easy to apply, if men were not somuch the slaves of their habits and prejudices, of capital and thepassion for pleasure. All narcotic substances, especially distilledand fermented drinks, should be abolished as a means of pleasure andrelegated to pharmacy, in which they may still be used as remedies, with special precautions. Alcohol may also be used for industrialpurposes. 

Science has proved that even the most moderate indulgence in alcoholdisturbs the association of ideas, and renders them more superficial, without the subject being aware of it. This slight degree of alcoholicnarcosis causes in man a temporary feeling of pleasure and gayety towhich he soon becomes accustomed. In this way there is created in hima desire for more, too often with increasing doses. 

Most narcotics, especially alcohol (either fermented or distilled), have the peculiarity of exciting the sexual appetite in a bestialmanner, thereby leading to the most absurd and disgusting excesses, although at the same time they weaken the sexual power. The transientpleasure produced by these substances is, therefore, of no real andlasting advantage, while it results in the most terrible individualand social miseries. 

Societies for total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks haveundertaken a war of extermination against the use of all poisons usedfor purposes of pleasure, when experience has proved their socialdanger. Let us hope that they will succeed; then a second fundamentalroot of degeneration of sexual life will be destroyed. 

=3. The Emancipation of Woman. =--A third source of sexual anomalies isdue to the inequality of the rights of the two sexes. This can only beattacked by the complete emancipation of women. In no kind of animalis the female an object possessed by the male. Nowhere in nature do wefind the slave-law which subordinates one sex to the other. Even amongants, where the male, on account of his great physical inferiority, isvery dependent on the workers, the latter do not impose on him anyconstraint. We have already refuted the argument which is based on theintellectual inferiority of woman. 

The emancipation of women is not intended to transform them into men, but simply to give them their human rights, I might even say theirnatural animal rights. It in no way wishes to impose work on women norto make them unaccustomed to it. It is as absurd to bring them up asspoilt children as it is cruel to brutalize them as beasts of burden. It is our duty to give them the independent position in society whichcorresponds to their normal attributes. 

Their sexual role is so important that it gives them the right to thehighest social considerations in this domain. I will not repeat what Ihave said in Chapter XIII, but simply state categorically that, whenwomen have acquired in society rights and duties equal to those of men(in accordance with sexual differences), when they can react freelyaccording to their feminine genius, in a manner as decisive as men, onthe destinies of the community, a third fundamental root of presentsexual abuses will be suppressed. The complete emancipation of womanthus constitutes our third principal postulate, and in this I am inaccord with Westermarck, Secretan and many other eminent persons. 

The difference which exists between the two sexes does not give anyreasonable excuse to man for monopolizing all social and politicalrights. The external world and our fellow beings, by whom and for whomwe live in body and mind, are the same for woman as for man, so thateven when the mentality of one sex is on the average a little higherthan that of the other, the first cannot claim the right of refusingthe second the liberty of living and acting from the social point ofview according to her own genius. The two sexes differ in manyrespects it is true; on the other hand, all legal and consequentlyartificial constraint of one by the other has the effect of hinderingthe free development of both. Each sex has the right to look upon theworld and assimilate it according to its nature. It can thus developits personality so that it does not become etiolated and atrophiedlike a domestic animal. It is only the right of the stronger, cultivated by narrow-minded prejudice, that can deny or misunderstandthese facts. The legal restrictions which we impose on woman, on hermentality and her whole life, especially her conjugal life, havenothing in common with the just restrictions which the law shouldprovide against the encroachments of individual egoism, which injurethe rights of others or those of society. 

=4. Prejudice and Tradition. =--There is still another enemy opposed toreform, which is so deeply rooted in human nature that we can onlyhope for a slow improvement in the quality of men, by its progressiveweakening. I refer to the host of prejudices, traditional customs, mystic superstitions, religious dogmas, fashions, etc. I shouldrequire many pages of moral preaching to deal with all the vices whichare perpetually created and supported by the wretched tendency of thehuman mind to sanctify every ancient tradition and consider it asunalterable. 

Prejudice, faith in authority, mysticism, etc. , with conscious orunconscious hypocrisy, and by the aid of more or less transparentsophisms, place themselves at the service of the basest humanpassions--envy, hatred, vanity, avarice, lewdness, scandal, desire ofdomination and idleness--and clothe them all with the sacred mantle ofancient customs, the better to sanction their ignominy by relying onthe authority of tradition. There is no infamy which has not beenjustified, glorified or even deified in this way. 

I am convinced that it is only by the introduction of the scientificspirit, of an inductive and philosophical manner of thinking, intoschools and among the masses, that we shall be able to contendefficaciously with the routine and parrot-like repetitions which arerooted in the worship of authoritative doctrines and prejudices basedon the sanctity of what is old. 

We have already sufficiently dealt with the superannuated prejudicesand customs to be contended with in the sexual domain, and need notreturn to them. The whole of this category of causes of evil, acategory which also plays a great part in all other domains of humanlife, can only, therefore, be contended with by true science combinedwith an integral and free education of the character of youth. 

I must once again insist on the necessity of a fight to a finish onthis ground. It is necessary for this that scientists should from timeto time emerge from their sanctums, and let their lights shine in thewhirlpool of human society. They must take part in social conflictsand avoid losing touch with what is and always will be human. 

The following postulates relate to aberrations and dangers which aremore partial or more local. 

=5. Pornography. =--In Chapters V, X and XVIII, I have spoken ofpornography, and in Chapter XVII, of its great danger to thedevelopment of a normal sexual life in youth. Although pornographyowes much of its origin and development to the greed for gain, it mustnot be forgotten that, on the other hand, masculine eroticism tends topromote its mercantile interests. It is the duty of society to opposethe pornographic products of morbid eroticism, without imposing theleast constraint on true art. The sexual appetite of man is on theaverage rather strong; we may even say that it is much too strong, compared with the social necessities of procreation. It is, therefore, quite superfluous to artificially stimulate it. The struggle againstpornography must, therefore, be raised to the rank of a postulate. 

We must not forget, however, that we shall contend with it much moresuccessfully by fulfilling our first four postulates, and in raisingthe artistic ideal and feeling in man, than by direct measures ofsuppression. The latter should be limited to the most coarse andcorrupt productions of pornography. 

=6. Politics and Sexual Life. =--I need only remind the reader of theencroachments of politics on sexual life, and especially of the abuseof sexual influence in the domain of politics. It is needless to pointout the necessity of opposing all useless intermeddling of the Statein the sexual life of individuals by the aid of unjustifiableregulations, as well as all intervention in the natural sexualrequirements of man (in marriage, etc. ), when no individual or socialinterest is injured. What is much more difficult, is to prevent thepressure of sexual sympathies and antipathies, and especially ofamorous passions in politics. 

=7. Venereal Disease. =--There is need for a great combat with venerealdisease and pathological corruptions of the sexual appetite. (VideChapters VIII, XIII and XIV. ) Sexual criminals should be treatedconjointly with the pathology of the sexual appetite, and in the samemanner; for it is nearly always a question of anomalies of the humanbrain, which are impossible to improve or eliminate by punishment orother penal measures. 

For the present, medical and administrative measures of restriction, undertaken by society against dangerous and degenerate individuals inthe sexual domain, are the only possible remedy. We should alsoendeavor in the future to prevent such individuals from breeding andsuppress the causes of blastophthoria, by the aid of our secondpostulate. 

=8. The Conflict of Human Races. =--There remains a last postulate, extremely arduous and serious, which we have already mentioned. How isour Aryan race and its civilization to guard against the danger ofbeing passively invaded and exterminated by the alarming fecundity ofother human races? One must be blind not to recognize this danger. Toestimate it at its proper value, it is not enough to put all "savages"and "barbarians" into one basket and all "civilized" into the other. The question is far more complicated than this. Many savage andsemi-savage races become rapidly extinct on account of theircomparative sterility. Europeans have introduced among them so muchalcohol, venereal disease and other plagues, that they promptly perishfrom want of the power of resistance. This is the case with theWeddas, the Todas, the Redskins of North America, the Australianaboriginees, Malays and many others. 

The question presents itself in another aspect with regard to negroes, who are very resistant and extremely prolific, and everywhere adaptthemselves to civilized customs. But those who believe that negroesare capable of _acquiring_ a higher civilization without undergoing aphylogenetic cerebral transformation for a hundred thousand years, areUtopians. I cannot here enter into the details of this question. Itseems obvious to me, however, that in the already considerable timeduring which the American negroes have been under the influence ofEuropean culture, they ought to have often demonstrated their power ofassimilating it and of developing it independently, according to theirown genius, if their brains were capable of so doing. Instead of this, we find that negroes in the interior of the island of Haiti, formerlycivilized by France, then abandoned to themselves, have, with theexception of a few mulattoes, reverted to the most complete barbarism, and have even barbarized the French language and Christianity, withwhich they had been endowed. 

Compare with this the rapidity with which a civilized or civilizablerace, depending on its innate energy, assimilates our culture with orwithout Christianity! We need only look at what has happened in Japanduring the last thirty years, and what the Christian races of theBalkan countries have been doing after delivery from the yoke of theTurks--for example, the Roumanians, Bulgarians and Greeks. 

It is by its fruits that we judge the value of the tree. The Japaneseare a civilizable and civilized race, and must be treated as such. Thenegroes, on the contrary, are not so; that is to say, they are only bythemselves capable of quite an inferior civilization, and only becomeadapted to our customs by a superficial veneer of civilization. 

Up to what point can the Mongolian, and even the Jewish race, becomemixed with our Aryan or Indo-Germanic races, without graduallysupplanting them and causing them to disappear? This is a question Iam incapable of answering. If it were only a question of the Japanesethere would be no serious difficulty and the assimilation would bebeneficial. But the Chinese and some other Mongolian races constitutean imminent danger for the very existence of the white races. Thesepeople eat much less than ourselves, are contented with much smallerdwellings, and in spite of this produce twice as many children and dotwice as much work. The connection of this with the sexual question isnot difficult to understand. 

Possibly we might make a compact with the Mongols, and the Chinese inparticular, which would allow both races to live on the earth withoutannihilating each other. I am quite convinced that we have more tofear from their blood and their work than from their arms. Some timeago experts in Far-Eastern questions predicted that the world wouldend by becoming Chinese. 

POSITIVE TASKS

The elimination of the abuses and dangers, pointed out under theheading of negative tasks, would prepare the soil for a healthier andmore ideal development of the sexual relations of humanity in thefuture. These require the prevention of blastophthoric deteriorationof germ cells, as well as all pathological degeneration of sexualintercourse. They also require true and natural affection, free fromthe influences of prejudice and money, and capable of survivingamorous intoxication. Lastly, they require a natural humanorganization, adapted to the social welfare, the duties of parentstoward their children, and the rights they have over them. 

=Human Selection. =--This is impossible to attain without recourse toartificial means, which have hitherto been generally condemned, oremployed with an unhealthy and corrupt object. I refer to thedistinction between satisfaction of the sexual appetite and theprocreation of children. 

Although it is true that the two things are inseparably connected inplants and animals, it is equally true that the culture and socialdevelopment of humanity all over the world have given rise toconditions and necessities other than those which formerly existed, conditions which at the present day are so clearly evident that theycannot be disregarded. 

The struggle for existence, as it obtains between the different animalspecies, hardly exists any longer in man. The latter has now to fightwith microbes, and other infinitely small things of the same nature. The combat between man and man, in the form of international warfare, is approaching its end. The wars of the present day, as foolish asthey are formidable, are rapidly becoming absurd. We may even hopethat the supreme struggle which is impending between the Aryan andMongolian races will end in peaceful agreement. 

Is it, therefore, rational to abandon the quantitative and qualitativeregulation of the procreation of children to natural selection--thatis to say to brutal chance, disease, famine or infanticide--at a timeof human evolution when science contends with the greatest successagainst accident, disease, infant mortality and famine?

Our strong sexual appetite is no longer in proportion to theexigencies of procreation, nor to the means of providing food for ourdescendants, nor to the right of the latter to better or eventolerable existence, for the simple reason that the weak, the diseasedand the children are no longer eliminated as in former times amongprimitive races by infanticide, epidemics, wild-beasts, neglect or war(it is now the strong and courageous who are eliminated by thelatter). But it is not in our power to modify our instinctive andhereditary sexual appetite, while we have always at hand the necessarymeans to regulate and improve procreation. 

No prejudice, no dogma, no repetition of old maxims, based onso-called immutable natural laws, can stand against such simple andelementary truths. We like to call "natural laws" what to our limitedknowledge appears regular in nature. We formulate a law, and too oftenmake an idol, instead of always making further examinations, in thelight of new truths, to see if these so-called laws hold good. But thenew truths are there, crying for recognition. The sheet-anchor is inour hands, in the form of measures to prevent or regulate conception. 

We must, therefore, have recourse to these measures, with prudence, employing them only at first where they are most necessary, andespecially insisting on the procreation of numerous children wherevermental and moral strength is combined with bodily health. In thisconnection I am strongly opposed to the neo-Malthusians, who simplypropose to diminish the number of births indiscriminately, as well asto the religious dogmas, especially Catholic, which, under thefallacious pretext of so-called divine inspiration, would hinder theprogress of the social sciences. 

Human selection is the principle which should lead us to the object tobe attained in the remote future. It is not by legal constraint, butby universal instruction, that we shall obtain general recognition andacceptance of this principle. We have proved in Chapter VI, withregard to sexual selection, that women are much more exclusive intheir choice than men, and that among savages they prefer courage andbodily strength. At the present day, owing to change of customs, cultured and intelligent women are, on the contrary, much lessattracted by man's physical strength than by his intellectualsuperiority or genius. This gives us a very important indication ofthe selection we desire, and confirms the necessity of instructingwomen in sexual matters. I foresee that the enlightened andintelligent women are those who will support human selection with thegreatest energy and success. 

I repeat here that it is not our object to create a new human race ofsuperior beings, but simply to cause gradual elimination of the unfit, by suppressing the causes of blastophthoria, and sterilizing those whohave hereditary taints by means of a voluntary act; at the same timeurging healthier, happier and more social men to multiply more andmore. 

A profound study of blastophthoria and all the phenomena of the mnemeand normal heredity leaves no doubt on the possibility of attainingthis object. Is not the quality of dogs improved by breeding from thegood and eliminating the bad? Are not certain families distinguishedin their character, work and intelligence, because for manygenerations their ancestors have preserved these qualities andmaintained the family type by means of careful marriages? On the otherhand, are not cowardice, falseness and meanness, etc. , reproduced withquite as much certainty in other families? I refer the reader to thedescription given by Jörger of the disastrous effects of alcoholicblastophthoria and bad heredity produced during nearly two centuriesin the numerous members of a family of vagabonds (vide Chapter XI). 

One must be blinded by religious prejudice to deny such strikingtruths. No doubt, our pathological degenerations and ourcross-breeding are so infinitely complex that at any time atavism mayproduce ecphoria of better children derived from bad parents, and thatof inferior children derived from better parents. We have seen in thefirst chapter the complex relations which exist between thesephenomena. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by theappearances of certain particular cases. 

What then are the types of men which we should endeavor to produce?

=Types to Eliminate. =--First of all we must understand that negativeaction is much easier than positive. It is more easy to mention thetypes which should not be allowed to multiply than those which should. These are, in the first place, all criminals, lunatics, and imbeciles, and all individuals who are irresponsible, mischievous, quarrelsome oramoral. These are the persons who do the most harm in society, andintroduce into it the most harmful taints. It is the same withalcoholics, opium-eaters, etc. , who, although often capable in otherrespects, are dangerous by their blastophthoric influence. Here theonly remedy consists in the suppression of the use of narcotics, forit is no use eliminating a few narcotized individuals as long as agreater number is always being produced. 

Persons predisposed to tuberculosis by heredity, chronic invalids, thesubjects of rickets, hemophilia, and other persons incapable ofprocreating a healthy race owing to inherited diseases or badconstitution, form a second category of individuals who ought to avoidpropagation, or do so as little as possible. 

=Types to Perpetuate. =--On the other hand, men who are useful from thesocial point of view--those who take a pleasure in work and those whoare good tempered, peaceful and amiable should be induced to multiply. If they are endowed with clear intelligence and an active mind, orwith an intellectual or artistic creative imagination, they constituteexcellent subjects for reproduction. In such cases certain taintswhich are not too pronounced may be passed over. 

True will-power, _i. E. _, perseverance in the accomplishment ofrational resolutions, and not the tyrannical and obstinate spirit ofdomination, is also one of the most desirable qualities which ought tobe reproduced. Will-power must not be confounded with impulsiveness, which is rather the antinomy of it, but often deceives superficialobservers, and makes them believe in the existence of a strong will, because of the violent manner in which it tries to realize momentaryimpulsive resolutions. 

=Human Social Value. =--We have seen that, owing to traditionalroutine, the intellectual merit of a young man is unfortunately judgedby the results of examinations. To succeed in these, a good memory andstrong mental receptivity are all that is necessary. It follows fromthis that nonentities often attain the highest social positions, whileoriginality, creative power, perseverance, honesty, responsibility andduty take a back place. I refer the reader to what I have said on theestimation of human value, especially in the Landerziehungsheime(Chapter XVI). They should be estimated according to their utility inpractical social life, where the qualities of will and creativeimagination play a more considerable part than memory and rapidity inassimilating the ideas of others. 

But we have seen that the standard of ordinary examinations is false, even as regards pure intelligence. Critical judgment and imaginativepower of combination have a much greater intellectual value thanmemory or the power of assimilation. It is, therefore, not to bewondered at that the boy who is at the top of his class so often turnsout a failure, while the dunce who failed in his examinationssometimes becomes a genius or at any rate a very useful and capableman. From such facts, which are extremely common, it is falselyconcluded, by a kind of fatalism, that "one never knows what willbecome of a man, for personalities change so much. " This falseconclusion is simply due to the erroneous criterion which is used inthe evaluation of childhood, combined with the disgust inspired instrong and original minds by our schools. 

Diseases and other accidents may sometimes hinder the development ofgood dispositions, or even cause them to abort completely. Nevertheless, we shall rarely make false prophecies if we begin byavoiding the gross errors that we have pointed out in the mentalevaluation of youth. It is also necessary to institute extensivepsychological observations on the development of individuals, and inthe value of their work at adult age compared with their peculiaritiesobserved in childhood. I am certain that in this way the social valueof a young man, or even a child, and in general all members of humansociety, could be calculated in advance in a more exact way. 

=Domestic Animals and Plants. =--The weak constitution of the domesticvarieties of plants and animals has been used as an argument againsthuman selection. If the animal and vegetable varieties which we raiseby artificial selection have not enough strength when left tothemselves, this is due to the fact that in creating them we have notconsulted their interests in the struggle for existence, but only ourown. For example, we raise for our own use fat pigs which can scarcelywalk, pear trees with succulent fruit which has very few seeds, etc. It is obvious that these monstrosities cannot be expected to maintainthemselves in the struggle for existence. Human selection, on thecontrary, is only concerned with what is advantageous for man, individually as well as socially. It is, therefore, not a question ofa Utopian hypothesis, but of facts, the daily consequences of which wecan observe in society, if we only look at them without prejudice. 

=Calculation of Averages. =--Francis Galton has studied this questionby the aid of the law of variations and by the calculation ofprobabilities. This law only deals with so-called fortuitous elements, due to thousands of minute causes which act to a great extent againsteach other and become mutually compensated in their general effect, sothat the two extremes are always represented by small numbers and theaverage by large numbers. But, when certain special and greater forcescome into play, the general resultant is deviated in one direction orthe other. 

Galton shows that this law applies to social relations and mentalvalues as well as to the stature of the body. In a given society thereare always some individuals who are very good, some very bad, and manymediocrities. When a powerful general factor, such as alcohol orcorruption by money, lowers all the individual values, the total valueof the whole scale of capacities is lowered. Galton shows that theaverage values can be appreciably raised by inducing the class ofhigher values to reproduce themselves, and by preventing the lowervalues from doing so. 

Prof. Jules Amann has shown how the immigration of the Huguenots intoSwitzerland and Germany after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes byLouis XIV (1685) contributed to raise the mental level in thesecountries and continues to do so at the present day. 

=Visions of the Past and Future. =--It is always sad to see capable, hard-working men and women, very useful from the social point of view, remaining sterile, simply on account of our social or religiousprejudices; whereas, for the benefit of the community, they ought tomarry as young as possible and procreate numerous children. 

I have already said (the idea is found in André Couvreur's _LaGraine_) that, if the sterility of one of the conjoints in marriageunfortunately leads to sterility in the other conjoint, the law, tomake good the loss, should allow bigamy or concubinage in favor of thesecond, when the latter is very capable. I cannot dwell too stronglyon the necessity of compensating for the sterilization which is sonecessary with ill-formed or incapable beings, as well as for theperiod of rest which is due to women between their confinements, by anenergetic multiplication of all useful and capable individuals. 

In the same way, it is a real pity to see so many healthy, active andintelligent girls become old maids, simply because they have no moneyand do not wish to throw themselves at the first scamp who comes. Itwould be far better to allow a little free polygamy, with completeequality of the two sexes and certain legal precautions, than to loseso much good seed and grow so many weeds. I refer the reader to what Ihave said on the duties of parents toward their children, and on theduties of society toward the procreators of healthy children. (ChapterXIII. )

It would certainly take a century to obtain any appreciableimprovement in the quality of a race by this procedure, even if itwere carried out in a methodical and general way. At the end of a fewcenturies our descendants might recognize the happiness that they oweto our efforts. They would also no doubt be astonished at beingdescended from such a race of barbarians, and at having so manydrunkards, criminals and imbeciles among their ancestors. The minglingof mysticism in sexual life, which now exists under the name ofreligion, would appear to them almost the same as idolatry and thepractice of "magicians" among savage races appears to us. 

As to the effects of alcoholic drinks and prostitution, these wouldgive them almost the same impression as the instruments of torture ofthe Middle Ages which we see exhibited in museums, or the horrors ofthe Inquisition, or burning at the stake for witchcraft. 

Many of my readers will no doubt regard my comparisons as exaggeratedor fanatical, because, imbued as we are with contemporary thought, wecannot, without a great effort of imagination and having at ourdisposal much experience and many objects of comparison, identifyourselves with the thought of the past or that of the future. Irecommend persons who cannot appreciate this fact to read the "Key toUncle Tom's Cabin, " by Harriet Beecher-Stowe (not the novel itself). This book contains numerous documents relating to the time of negroslavery before the American war of secession. When they read whathappened at that time, for example, advertisements in the publicjournals of dogs trained to track escaped slaves, they will perhapsagree with me. Pious pastors then gave their support to slavery, asthey often do now to alcohol. What now appears to us as monstrousseemed then quite natural. 

=Reform in Education. =--After human selection, I consider pedagogicreform in the sexual and other domains as the most important ofpositive reforms. (Vide Chapters XVII and XIII. ) Although good qualityin the germ is one of the fundamental conditions for man's happiness, it is not sufficient. Just as we can obtain by education comparativelyuseful individuals from comparatively defective germs, so can we moreeasily damage phylogenetically good germs, by evil influences duringtheir ontogeny. 

Society should devote all its care to the good general education ofthe body and mind of children. It should do everything possible todevelop harmoniously the intelligence, sentiments, will, character, altruism and æsthetics, after the manner of the Landerziehungsheime, which we have described in Chapter XVII. Every good hereditary typeshould be given the opportunity for free expansion, by means ofrational education and work. 

With regard to individuals who are defective by heredity, their betterdispositions might be developed up to a certain point and made toantagonize the bad dispositions, so that the latter should notpredominate in the brain. (Vide Chapter XVII. )

In spite of the great importance of rational pedagogy, we must notforget that it is incapable of replacing selection. It serves for theimmediate object, which is to utilize in the best possible way humanmaterial as it exists at present; but by itself it cannot in any wayimprove the quality of the future germ. It can, however, byinstructing youth on the social value of selection, prepare it to putthe latter in action. 

UTOPIAN IDEAS ON THE IDEAL MARRIAGE OF THE FUTURE

The outward life of man is largely influenced by events of the moment;but his inner life is determined by memories of the past combined withheredity, and thus gives rise to efforts toward the future. The pastshould never be allowed to dominate the present or the future, butshould combine past experience with new impressions, and constitute aprolific source of ideas and resolutions. 

The marriage of the future pre-supposes people to be completelyinstructed from their childhood in natural sexual intercourse and itseventual dangers. It pre-supposes man brought up without alcohol orother narcotics, possessing the right to utilize the produce of hiswork for life and the maintenance of his own person, but not that ofcapitalizing for himself or his children, nor of making legacies toothers, _i. E. _, of founding by the aid of money a power for theexploitation of others. Everyone will know from his childhood thatwork is a necessary condition for the existence of all. 

Brought up in common with absolutely equal rights, girls and boys willbe aware of the differences in their life tasks, such as differencesof sex and individuality indicate them. Till the age of sixteen, orperhaps longer, they will have been instructed in the schools bysimultaneous development of intelligence, bodily and technicalexercises, æsthetics, moral and social sentiments and will. Withoutfrightening them with the specter of eternal punishment, and withoutalluring them by the promise of paradise after death, they will havebeen taught that the object of our transient individual existence iscontinual effort to attain a pure human ideal. They will have learntto find the truest satisfaction in the accomplishment of theirdifferent duties, and in work in common for the benefit of society. They will also have learnt to despise frivolity and luxury, to attachno importance to personal property and to put all their ambition intothe quantity and quality of their work. 

The sexual appetite will manifest itself in different individuals atdifferent ages. Trained from childhood not to yield to every desire, but to subordinate their appetites to the welfare of the community, they will not yield immediately. Moreover, they will know thesignification of this appetite. They will also know that theirpatience will not be tried too long, and that they may speak openly onsexual subjects to their masters and parents and even to theircompanions of the opposite sex. 

What will be the consequences of such a state of things? Attachmentswill be formed early. But, instead of making all kinds of calculationsconcerning money, social position, etc. ; instead of concealing theirthoughts in the form of conventional politeness; instead of avoidingan honest explanation of the knotty point, or, at the most passingover this explanation like a cat on hot cinders; instead of trying todazzle by their charms the one they wish to capture, the lovers of thefuture will be much more frank because they will have less reason todissimulate. They will exchange plans for the future, and willmutually test each other's constancy and loyalty without fear ofscandal and slander. 

The two sexes will be able to enter into free relations with eachother, first of all because they will both be instructed in sexuallife, and secondly, because manners and customs will be more free. Without actual sexual intercourse, two lovers will thus be able to seewhether their temperaments are well adapted to each other. 

Then, thanks to its liberty, the period of betrothal will allow a freeinterchange of ideas on life between the parties concerned, so thatthey will soon find out whether they are likely or not to liveharmoniously in conjugal union. Questions of heredity, procreation andeducation will be dealt with calmly and freely. This will be certainlymore moral than the present conversations between betrothed couples, "well-brought up, " who, apart from certain conventional degrees offlirtation, hardly dare mention anything but commonplaces. 

A young man of talent, who wishes to continue his studies, will not beprevented from marrying. He may, for example, marry at twenty-four ayoung girl of eighteen and continue his studies till he is twenty-six. The inconvenience will be slight, for the habits of life will besimpler, and he can easily, by anticonceptional measures, avoid havingchildren for a year or two. 

What will marriage be like? First of all, all useless luxury andconventional formality will be reduced to a minimum. The husband andwife will both work, either together, or each on their own account, according to circumstances. Part of the work will naturally be devotedto the children. As at present, the husband will be able toparticipate in the personal education of the children, if he is moredisposed than the wife. 

Equality in the rights of the two sexes and matriarchy (vide ChapterXIII) will not render conjugal relations less intimate, but will, onthe contrary, deepen their roots by raising their moral value. Therewill be less time to shine in society; dinner-parties and societyfunctions of all kinds will be unknown; these things are for the idlerich, who have time to kill and money to spend. If a friend comes, andthere is time to receive him and something for him to eat, he will beinvited to take "potluck" with his family. 

Clothes will be simple, comfortable and hygienic. Dwellings will beartistic, æsthetic and scrupulously clean. Pomp and luxury are notart, and are sometimes so overdone that they wound the most elementarysense of æsthetics. 

If the occupation of the married couple or the number of theirchildren render domestic servants necessary, the latter will not havethe same position in the family as our present servants. Theireducation and social position being the same as those of the membersof the family, they will take the position of companions rather thanservants. No domestic work will be considered as degrading. 

If the marriage is sterile, the conjoints will adopt orphans orchildren from other large families. In certain cases, of which we havespoken, concubinage may be preferred which, with such a change insocial organization, will amount to bigamy; but here everything willbe done openly and by mutual agreement. In such cases any one whocannot overcome jealousy will be divorced. 

If, in spite of everything, a marriage is not happy, owing toincompatibility of character, the marriage (or sexual contract) willbe dissolved, after legal provision for the children and theireducation. After this each of the conjoints will be free to marryagain. This last contingency will probably not be more frequent thanit is as present, possibly less, especially when there are children, for divorce is always painful when there are children to be broughtup. 

Work, and the effort of striving toward the ideal of social life, arethe best and most healthy distractions for the sexual appetite. It isthe idleness, luxury and corruption of large cities which cause it todegenerate. Moreover, work revives love and leaves little time forfamily disputes. 

With a little independence of character, and abandonment of oldprejudices, we can even now realize our scheme to a great extent. 

=The Art of Loving Long. =--The ideal true love often only shows itselfafter the first amorous intoxication has subsided. In order to remainharmonious, love requires above all things the higher psychicirradiation of intimate sympathetic sentiments associated with thesexual appetite, with which they should always remain intimatelyconnected, or at any rate as long as the duration of the active sexuallife of man. Later on, in the evening of life, the first aresufficient. 

The great error into which most men fall who marry is to rely on thecivil and religious bonds of matrimony. As soon as the union issealed, they return to their usual habits and mode of life. Eachexpects much from the other and gives as little as possible. Whenamorous sexual intoxication is over, the husband no longer finds anycharm in his wife, he becomes enamored of other women to whom hedevotes his attention, reserving his bad temper for his wife, whilethe latter takes no more trouble to please him. 

I agree that a man cannot for long conceal his true nature; we arewhat we are by heredity. Nevertheless, the art of being amiable may beacquired by habit and education, an art which the poorest may employ. Education should never cease during life. Along with the highersentiments of love and mutual respect, lasting sexual attraction is alink of inestimable value in maintaining a long and happy unionbetween man and woman in marriage. 

The married couple should, therefore, avoid everything which mayrupture this link. The wife should devote herself to making the homeattractive to her husband. The latter, on his part, should neitherregard his wife as a mere housekeeper, nor only as an object for thesatisfaction of his sexual appetite. Such a conception of woman andmarriage is unfortunately very common and is incompatible with trueconjugal happiness. 

On the other hand, it is not enough for the husband to esteem andrespect his wife as a faithful companion, to whom he is united in apurely intellectual way. For the couple to find lasting and completehappiness in marriage, love, however ideal it may be, should beaccompanied by sexual enjoyment. In short, intellectual andsentimental harmony should be combined with sensual harmony in asingle and sublime symphony. The husband should not only regard hiswife as the incarnation of all the domestic virtues, but should alsocontinue to imagine her as the Venus of his early love. 

This condition may be realized even when youth has passed away, provided the deep sympathetic sentiments of an ideal love have trulyexisted and are maintained. The wife will then continue to be for herhusband the goddess she has always been. But if this condition is notrealized it is not always easy for the husband, with his polygamousdisposition, to remain insensible to the charms of other women. However, habit and imagination may do much to correct this tendency. 

I think the following advice may be useful to the husband (andoccasionally also to the wife). When his sexual passion is excited byanother woman and he is in danger of succumbing, he should endeavor, by the aid of his imagination, to clothe his own wife with the charmsof his would-be seducer. With a little determination this measure willoften succeed; he will thus strengthen his sexual desire toward hisown wife, and perhaps increase hers also. In this way, a flame whichthreatened to destroy conjugal happiness may sometimes serve tostrengthen it, by reviving afresh the mutual feelings of love anddesire. In the first part of his "Wahlverwandtschaften" (electiveaffinities), Goethe designates this phenomenon by the term _mentaladultery_; but I am of the opinion that it is rather the expression ofa _mental conjugal fidelity_ which is strengthened by sensualsubstitution. 

When there is true love and good-will on both sides, such experiencesmay often help toward the gradual consolidation of conjugal relations. Not only may a deviated passion be brought back to the conjugal bed, but certain discords may be restored to harmony, and the couple mayfind new desire and mutual affection which have been put to the test. 

=Matriarchism. =--With regard to family relations there is an importantpoint to consider, which we have already touched upon in Chapter XIII. The power of man and of patriarchism has had the result of giving thefather's name to the family. This system is not only unnatural, butalso has deplorable effects. If it is true that the germ of theindividual (_Chromosomes_, Chapter I) inherits on the average as muchfrom the father as from the mother, the latter is more closelyconnected with it from all other points of view. Races in which thematernal influence predominates in the family, not only in name butalso in other respects, have better understood the voice of nature. 

The fact that the mother carries the child for nine months in herwomb, and for many years after birth is more intimately associatedwith it than the father, gives her a natural right which the fathercannot claim. Children ought, therefore, to be named after the mother. Moreover, in case of divorce, it should be the rule for children to berestored to the mother, unless there are special reasons for anotherdecision. 

It is evident that in the conditions of modern civilization we cannotreturn to matriarchism in its primitive sense. An old patriarch cannotbecome the sole sovereign of all his descendants without theoccurrence of grave abuses, no more can this power devolve on agrandmother. Apart from denomination in the maternal line, I mean bymatriarchism, the legal privilege of the management of the familyconferred on the wife, who is in reality the center of the family. 

I will sum up what appears to me to be required, in the followingpropositions:

1. Denomination in the maternal line. 

2. With the exception of cases in which the wife loses her maternalrights owing to incapacity, bad conduct or insanity, etc. , or when thelaw is obliged to deprive her of them, she alone will possess theguardianship and the management of her children during their minority. 

3. The wife will be proprietor and housekeeper of the house andhousehold. Her work of housekeeping and her maternal duties will beestimated at their just value, and will have the right tocompensation, equivalent to the husband's work in his business. 

4. As long as conjugal union exists, the husband has the right to livein his wife's house, for the protection he gives to the family, forthe work he gives toward the house and the education of the children, as well as for his pecuniary contributions toward the expenses ofboth. 

5. With the exception of contributions to the house and education, andto the feeding and clothing of the children, the product of thehusband's work and private fortune belong to him, just as the productand fortune of his wife are her own property. In the case of divorcethere will then be no difficulty in separating the two properties. Excepting in cases mentioned in the second proposition, which will bedecided by law, the children will belong to the mother only. But aslong as he lives and is able to work, the divorced father mustcontinue to contribute to the maintenance and education of thechildren he has procreated, till they come of age. 

These propositions have only a legal value, and will only be requiredwhen the conjoints cannot come to a mutual understanding. They in noway concern those who are able to live together in mutual concord. Aweak and passive woman will continue as before to subordinate herselfto the advice and opinions of a husband stronger and wiser thanherself. 

It is needless to say that, after divorce or separation, things willnot always go smoothly, although more so than at present. The husbandwill always have the right to have certain claims decided by law. Whenthe law is not exclusively in the hands of men, it will be morecapable of protecting the rights of women. Cases in which a mother isincapable of bringing up her own children, or where the father iscapable of great devotion and sacrifice are not now so rare, but theyare nevertheless exceptional. 

=The Present Day. =--It is not to be expected that the abovepropositions will find much support at the present day among themajority of people, still less that they will soon be realized by thegoverning bodies, considering their conservative and idle tendenciesand their inertia. It may be asked, on the other hand, whether thepresent laws do not already provide us with the ways and means ofattaining the ideal that we propose. I already see two:

First of all, as pointed out in Chapter XIII, we may enter intocontracts which make the properties entirely separate, and accordingto the local legislation in force, fulfill other of the abovepropositions. For instance, in some countries, the wife can preserveby contract the property and management of the house, etc. 

In the second place, illegitimate children now bear the family nameof their mother; this is exactly what we desire. When concubinage isnot prosecuted and punished by law, a free marriage could be arrangedby private contract which would fulfill the above conditions. Somepersons, I admit, would require much courage to do this, for it is notevery one who can brave public opinion when he has a good reputationto lose. Moreover, such unions would not enjoy the protection of theState. By a little perseverance, however, the public might be inducedto call the woman "Mrs. " instead of "Miss. "

It is not impossible for unions of this kind between honorable personsto become more frequent, and gradually compel society to recognizefree unions as the equivalent of traditional, or so-called legal, marriage, to accord them the same rights and recognize the childrenborn of them. The conjoints could be named by combining both familynames; for example, if Miss Martin enters into a free union with Mr. Durand, she might be called Mrs. Martin-Durand, and her husband Mr. Durand-Martin. 

=Conclusion. =--It may perhaps be thought that I am imagining theexistence of the purest ideal and the happiness of paradise in a worldin which the hereditary quality of men will be no better than it isto-day. I hope that no reader who has followed me carefully willregard me as so ingenuous. Then as now there will be intrigues anddisputes, hatred, envy, jealousy, idleness, impropriety, falsehood, negligence, temper, etc. , but their power will be less. There will beless excuse for these bad qualities and those who possess them will beregarded as pathological individuals who should be eliminated as muchas possible by means of proper selection, combined with good hygieneand thorough education. 

On the other hand, men of originality and high ideals will be able todevelop much more freely and naturally than at present. They will nolonger be the slaves of power, money, prejudice and routine. They willnot be obliged to conform to religious hypocrisy, but will be able tospeak and act according to their convictions. Marriage, and sexualrelations in general, will no longer be a perpetual conventionalfalsehood. The sentiments no longer fettered, will not be led astrayinto mischievous ways by artificial excitement, so long as they donot depend on unhealthy dispositions, for the pretexts and especiallythe pecuniary inducement to commit evil actions and contract badhabits will have been removed as far as possible. 

For the same reason prostitution will become almost impossible, for itwill cease to have any reason for existence. Immoderate sexualintercourse, like other excesses, will not cease to exist, but will bekept in certain limits by the work which no one will be able toescape. 

At the end of his history of materialism (1874) F. A. Lange wrote asfollows:

"We lay down our pen and terminate our criticism at a time when Europeis agitated by the social question. In the vast social domain, all therevolutionary elements of science, religion and politics meet togetherand seem prepared for a decisive battle. Whether this battle remains asimple contest of minds or whether it takes the form of a cataclysmwhich will bury thousands of unfortunates in the ruins of adisappearing period, one thing is certain:--the new epoch will onlysucceed by abolishing egoism, and placing the work of improvement ofthe human race in the hands of a human coöperative society, in placeof our feverish work which has only personal interest at heart. 

"The contests which are impending will be mitigated if the minds whichare to direct the people are imbued with the knowledge of humanevolution and historical phenomena. 

"We must not abandon the hope that in the remote future great changesmay take place without defiling humanity with fire and bloodshed. Itwould certainly be the finest reward for strenuous work of the humanmind, if it could from this time prepare an easy way to that which acertain future reserves for us, avoiding atrocious sacrifices andsaving the treasures of our civilization to be transmitted to the newepoch. 

"Unfortunately, this prospect has little chance of realization, and wecannot disguise the fact that blind party passion goes on increasing, and that the brutal struggle of interests becomes more and moreremoved from the influence of theoretical research. However, ourefforts will not all be in vain, and truth will prevail in the end. In any case the observer who thinks has no right to be silent, simplybecause at the present moment he has only a small number oflisteners. "

Thirty years ago Lange's pessimism would be comprehensible; but ideashave progressed since then, and the prospects of to-day give us morecourage for social work. 

The Utopian ideas which I have expressed have in no way the pretensionto be new. Analyzing the facts in the most diverse domains, I havesimply attempted to find those which seem to me suited to solve thesexual problem of the human race most advantageously under the presentsocial conditions. Every one to-day admits that our sexual life leavesmuch to be desired, but is afraid of touching the crumbling edifice. 

I leave it to my readers to decide whether my ideas are nothing morethan Utopian, or whether they do not rather represent a realizableideal, begging them to reflect as calmly and independently as possiblebefore giving their judgment. 

After all, we have to choose between pessimistic acceptance of thefatal decay of our race for the benefit of the Mongols, and animmediate and energetic effort toward selective and educationalimprovement, an effort which will alone be capable of reviving ourhereditary vital energy. Whoever decides in favor of the latteralternative should occupy himself with the sexual question, and boldlydeclare war against the domination of private capital, the abuse ofalcohol, and all the prejudices by which we are hampered. He shouldabandon the luxury and effeminate comfort of our time and return tothe principles of Lycurgus and the Japanese--to the education ofcharacter and self-control by methodical training in continuous socialwork combined with voluntary fatigue and privation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REMARKS

I shall no doubt be reproached for not having taken sufficient noticeof other works on the subject of this book. I have, however, desiredto express my own opinion without allowing myself to be undulyinfluenced by others. I will nevertheless make a few remarks on thebibliography of this subject. 

I may mention the celebrated work of the Italian physician, Mantigazza, on the _Physiology of Love_. It is a curious fact thatthis author, after his poetic descriptions of love, is in favor ofprostitution. The German socialist, Bebel, has written a veryremarkable book on woman in the past, the present and the future. Inspite of scientific errors, which are easily excused in a self-mademan who became one of the leaders of the German Reichstag, this bookremains a veritable social monument on the sexual question. With theexception of his strong political bias, and the errors I have justmentioned I am, on the whole, in accord with the ideas of Bebel. 

Another German author, Bölsche, (_Das Liebesleben in der Natur_) hasrecently described love among all organized beings, including man, with a tone of forced pleasantry which spoils the profound knowledgeof the author on the zoölogical and other subjects which he treats. 

With regard to German literature, I recommend the _Archiv für Rassenund Gesellschafts' Biologie_, edited by Doctor Plotz of Berlin. Thispublication has for its object the study of the causes of degenerationin our race and the remedies for it. Among other articles which haveappeared in this publication I may specially mention those ofShallmayer on _Heredity and Selection in the Life of Races_, andThurnwald, _Town and Country in the Life of the Race_. I may alsomention Plotz: _Die Tüchtigkeit unserer Rasse und der Schutz derSchwachen_, 1895, and _Mutterschutz_, a journal for the reform ofsexual ethics, 1905. 

France has always shone in the domain of the poetry of love and theart connected with it. Apart from the ancient classics I may refer toGeorge Sand, Alfred de Musset, Lamartine, and Madame de Stael. In thepractical conception of free love, George Sand was in advance of hertime. Among modern authors there are Paul Bourget; André Couvreur, whoin _La Graine_ deals with the problem of human selection; Brieux, whoin _Les Avariés_, attacks the social tragedies of venereal disease. The book of Vacher de Lapouge on social selection is full ofinteresting ideas, although too much influenced by the unstablehypothesis of Gobineau. To make distinct zoölogical species ofdolichocephalics and brachycephalics, as Vacher de Lapouge attempts, is a grave error in zoölogy. Charles Albert: _L'Amour Libre_, andQueyrat: _La Démoralization de l'idée sexuelle_, give the note ofcontemporary change in ideas on the sexual question. 

In _Le Mariage et les Théories Malthusiennes_ (Paris, 1906) Dr. Georges Guibert recommends early marriage, but does not take accountof human selection. Remy de Gourmont, _Physique de l'amour; Essai surl'instinct sexuel_, Paris, 1903, describes, very pessimistically, lovein the animal kingdom. Jeanne Deflou (_Le Sexualisme_, Paris, 1905)has written a virulent feminine complaint against the injustice of thestronger sex. 

But the French author who has given the most profound, the truestdescriptions of the psychology of love and the sexual appetite isundoubtedly Guy de Maupassant. No doubt his last illness caused him toproduce certain more or less regrettable works in which certainpornographic traits appeared. He may, perhaps, be accused of havingtoo often described the pathology of love, which, by the way, headmirably understood. Perhaps also, he has too often dealt withexceptional situations and irresponsible passions. But these are onlydetails, and we must admit that by drawing attention to the unhealthyfeatures of our modern sexual life, he compels the reader to reflect, and inspires him not only with disgust for evil but with profoundsadness and a feeling of revulsion. He often reveals his predilectionfor the refined, hypersensitive love of the boudoir which we haveregarded here as a symptom of social degeneration. But this does notprevent his clear insight into the love of the proletariat, thepeasant or the healthy man. He knows man as well as woman, and if hehas presented them most often under their least moral aspect it isbecause he has observed them closely. But occasionally he rises to thegreatest heights of the truest, purest and most profound love. 

INDEX

INDEX

Abolitionism, 316

Abortion, artificial, 408, 440

Abstinence, sexual, 114

Accouchement, 60

Adornment, 156

Adultery, 373, 412

Alcohol, effect on embryo, 37, 268, 462 effect on sexual appetite, 88, 100, 266, 332, 503

Altruism and Egoism, 448

Amorous Intoxication, 277, 288

Americanism, 331

Anæsthesia, sexual, 222

Anthropoid apes, 145, 195

Anticonceptional measures, 423, 497

Antipathy, 108

_Antony and Cleopatra_, 289

Ants, 194, 359

Art, moral effect of, 496 in sexual life, 489 of loving long, 520 and pornography, 491

Aspermia, 209

Assaults on minors, 403

Atavism, 29

Attraction, methods of, 156

Audacity, masculine, 115

Bachelors, old, 127

Bartholin's glands, 57

Beauty, 162

_Becket_, 352

Bees, 194

_Bernheim_, 277

Bestiality, 255

_Bezzola_, 268

Birth, 23

Blastophthoria, 36, 268

Braggardism, sexual, 120

Brain, weight of, 66, 190

_Brieux_, 407, 438

Brothels, 303 clandestine, 307 high class, 310

Budding, 9

Bullies, 303

Butterflies, 74

_Caelius Aurelianus_, 399

_Caligula_, 353

Castration, 25

_Catherine de Medici_, 353

Catholicism, Roman, 341

Cell division, 6

Celibacy, 153

Children and marriage, 377 civil rights of, 378 education of, 471 protection of, 487

_Chiniqui_, 342

_Chauvin, de_, 36

Civil law, 368

Civil marriage, 370

Climate and sexual life, 327

Clitoris, 55

Coeducation, 481

Coitus, 56

Commandments, 454

Conception, regulation of, 423

Concubinage, 322, 406

Confession, Roman Catholic, 342

Conjugation, 11

Consanguinity, 47

Constellations, 110

Continence, 81, 220, 422

Coquetry, 139

Corpus cavernosum, 53 luteum, 19

_Correggio_, 355

Correlative sexual characters, 25, 64

Council of Trent, 172

Cunnilingus, 230, 275

_Darwin_, 32, 34, 39, 480

_Debreyne_, 345

Decidua, 19

_Demosthenes_, 187

Divorce, 373

Domestic animals and plants, 514

_Dubois_, 46

Duty, 106

Ecphoria, 15

Ecstasy, 143 ecstasy and religion, 356

Education, 470, 516

Egoism, 361 dual, 113

Egoistic love, 125

Embryo, formation of, 9 rights of, 411

Embryology, 19

Endogamy, 164

Engram, 15

Environment and sexual life, 326

Epididymis, 52

Epispadias, 210

Erection, 53

Eroticism, 121, 485 and religion, 354

Erotomania, 258

Ethnology of sexual life, 144

Eunuchs, 25, 347

Evolution, 39 sexual, 192

Exhibitionism, 241, 405

Exogamy, 164

Expiation, 364

Factory life, 326

Fakirs, 239

Fertilization of eggs, 12

Fetichism, 142, 240

_Fischer_, 36

Flirtation, 99

Free love, 384

Free will, 365

Genital organs, female, 55 organs, male, 52

Germinal cells, 10

_Goethe_, 73, 131

Gonorrhea, 212

Grisettes, 98, 322

Guardianship, 384

_Guillaume_, 399

_Haeckel_, 10, 34, 40

"Hand-fasting, " 150

Heredity, 14, 28 of acquired characters, 34

_Hering_, 14, 35

Hermaphrodites, 10

_Hertwig_, 11

Hetaira, 187, 323

_Hirschfeld_, 242

History, mental anomalies in, 350

Homophony, 16

Homosexual love, 241, 251

Hottentots, 347

Human selection, 412, 509

Hybridity, 47, 163

Hymen, 55

Hyperæsthesia, sexual, 225

Hypnotism, 277

Hypochondriasis, 232, 261

Hypocrisy, sexual, 123

Hypospadias, 210

Ideal Marriage, 517

Idealism, 132

Idiots, 410 moral, 261

Imaginary love, 263

Impotence, 85, 219

Incest, 402

Insane, sexual anomalies in, 256

Internats, 338

Inversion, sexual, 241, 251

Inverts, marriage of, 378

Irradiations of love, 115, 128

"Jack the Ripper, " 234

Jealousy, 104, 117, 139, 260

_Joan of Arc_, 351

_Jörger_, 331

Jus primæ noctis, 151

_Keller_, 356

Kinship, 107

_Krafft-Ebing_, 142, 208, 234, 404

_Lamarck_, 39

Landerziehungsheime, 477

Lesbian love, 275

_Liguori_, 341

Lorettes, 322

Love, 111

Love and sexual appetite, 104 maternal, 135 and religion, 143

_Lubbock_, 181

Lycurgus, laws of, 466

_Marchal_, 18

Mariage de convenance, 91

Marriage by purchase, 170 by rape, 170 consanguineous, 164, 387 duration of, 182 for money, 295 forms of, 173 hygiene of, 427 ideal, 517

Masochism, 237

Masturbation, 80, 220, 228

Maternal love, 135

Maternity, 62

Matriarchism, 378, 522

_Maupassant, Guy de_, 133, 140, 301, 308

Medical advice, 421, 434 secrecy, 435

Medicine and sexual life, 418

Medico-legal case, 413

_Mendel_, 30

Menstruation, 56

Mental Capacity, 67

_Mercier_, 67

_Merrifield_, 36

_Messalina_, 353

_Meynert_, 67

_Mill, Stuart_, 69

Mistresses, 323

Mitosis, 7

Mneme, 14

Modesty, 126, 141

_Moebius_, 65

Money, cult of, 502

"Monkey's love, " 136

Monogamy, 173

Morality, 445

Mormons, 174

_Moses_, 454

_Murillo_, 355

Mysogynists' ball, 249

_Napoleon_, 352

Narcotics and sexual life, 503

Natural selection, 42

Neo-malthusianism, 463

_Nero_, 353

Nocturnal emissions, 79

Nudity, 157

Nymphomania, 97, 268

Old maids, 129

Onanism, 228

Ontogeny, 40 of sexual life, 200

Orgasm, veneral, 57

Ovulation, 19

Palæontology, 39

Pangenesis, 34

Paradoxy, sexual, 221

Parthenogenesis, 9

Passiveness in woman, 130

Paternity, inquiry into, 383

Pathology of sexual organs, 209

Patriarchism, 159

Patriotism, 108

_Paul, St_, 352

Pedagogy and the sexual question, 470

Pederasty, 244

Pederosis, 254

Penal law in sexual matters, 396

Penis, 53

Phallus, 150

Phylogeny, 40 of love, 108 sexual life, 193

Pimps, 88

Pithecanthropus, 46

Placenta, 21

Police and prostitution, 308

Polities and sexual question, 461, 467, 506

Polyandry, 173

Polygamy, 173

Pornography, 85, 121, 140, 406, 506

Pregnancy, 23, 58, 433

Prejudice and tradition, 505

Preventive membranes, 425

Procreative instinct, 92, 116

Promiscuity, 148, 173

Prostate, 53

Prostitutes, fate of, 314 number of, 308 psychology of, 97, 308 training of, 306 varieties of, 312

Prostitution, 88, 97, 185, 298, 308, 377 regulation of, 316 and sexual perversion, 314

Protectors, 303

Protoplasm, 6

Proxenetism, 88, 298, 406

Prudery, 126, 141

Psychic impotence, 85, 219

Psychic irradiations of love, 115, 128

Psychopathology, sexual, 216

Puberty, 77

Race and sexual life, 189

Rape, 402

Rational selection, 464

Religion and love, 143

Religion and sexual life, 340

Religious eroticism, 347 prudery, 346

Reproduction in vertebrates, 51

Restriction in sexual life, 387

Retaliation, 364

Rights in sexual life, 358

Right to satisfaction of the sexual appetite, 373

_Rousseau_, 237, 352

_Sade, Marquis de_, 235

Sadism, 234, 404, 486

Satyriasis, 258

_Schiller_, 59

_Schopenhauer_, 65

_Schwann_, 6

_Seguin_, 327

Selection, contrary, 465 human, 412, 509 natural, 42 rational, 464

Semen, 53

_Semon_, 14, 32

Seminal vesicles, 52

Senile paradoxy, 265

Sexual appetite in man, 72 appetite in woman, 92, 130 disorders, 440 excitation, 86 hygiene, 420 morality, 445, 450 pathology, 208 perversion, 234, 273, 404, 482 power, 81, 203 selection, 161

Sexes, production of, 176

_Shakespere_, 267

Shame, sense of, 157

Social position, 334

Sodomy, 255

Soft chancre, 215

_Solomon_, 353

Spermatorrhea, 210

Spermatozoa, 11

_Spinoza_, 366

Standard of human value, 478, 513

Struggle for existence, 42

Succession, right of, 394

Suckling, 62

Suggestion in art, 291 in love, 284 in sexual life, 277 in sexual anomalies, 272, 291

Sympathy, 284

Syphilis, 213

Testicles, 52

_Themis_, 353

_Tiberius_, 365

_Tolstoi_, 352

Types to eliminate and perpetuate, 512

Urnings, 242

Uterus, 21

Utopia, 499

Vagabondage, 331

Vagina, 55

_Van Beneden_, 11

Venereal diseases, 211, 376, 507

Virgins, cult of, 154

Vitellus, 11

_Vries, de_, 17, 32, 43

War, 461

_Weismann_, 10, 17, 32, 34

_Westermark_, 145, 181, 196

Wealth and poverty, 333

White slavery, 305

Woman, emancipation of, 504

Womb, 21

Yolk, 11

_Zeller_, 355

_Zola_, 323, 407

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