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diff --git a/13610.txt b/13610.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22cda1c --- /dev/null +++ b/13610.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15707 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 +(of 6), by Havelock Ellis + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 (of 6) + +Author: Havelock Ellis + +Release Date: October 8, 2004 [eBook #13610] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, +VOLUME 1 (OF 6)*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13610-h.htm or 13610-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/6/1/13610/13610-h/13610-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/6/1/13610/13610-h.zip) + + + + + +STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, VOLUME I + + The Evolution of Modesty + The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity + Auto-Erotism + +by + +HAVELOCK ELLIS + +1927 + + + + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE. + + +The origin of these _Studies_ dates from many years back. As a youth I was +faced, as others are, by the problem of sex. Living partly in an +Australian city where the ways of life were plainly seen, partly in the +solitude of the bush, I was free both to contemplate and to meditate many +things. A resolve slowly grew up within me: one main part of my life-work +should be to make clear the problems of sex. + +That was more than twenty years ago. Since then I can honestly say that in +all that I have done that resolve has never been very far from my +thoughts. I have always been slowly working up to this central problem; +and in a book published some three years ago--_Man and Woman: a Study of +Human Secondary Sexual Characters_--I put forward what was, in my own +eyes, an introduction to the study of the primary questions of sexual +psychology. + +Now that I have at length reached the time for beginning to publish my +results, these results scarcely seem to me large. As a youth, I had hoped +to settle problems for those who came after; now I am quietly content if I +do little more than state them. For even that, I now think, is much; it is +at least the half of knowledge. In this particular field the evil of +ignorance is magnified by our efforts to suppress that which never can be +suppressed, though in the effort of suppression it may become perverted. I +have at least tried to find out what are the facts, among normal people as +well as among abnormal people; for, while it seems to me that the +physician's training is necessary in order to ascertain the facts, the +physician for the most part only obtains the abnormal facts, which alone +bring little light. I have tried to get at the facts, and, having got at +the facts, to look them simply and squarely in the face. If I cannot +perhaps turn the lock myself, I bring the key which can alone in the end +rightly open the door: the key of sincerity. That is my one panacea: +sincerity. + +I know that many of my friends, people on whose side I, too, am to be +found, retort with another word: reticence. It is a mistake, they say, to +try to uncover these things; leave the sexual instincts alone, to grow up +and develop in the shy solitude they love, and they will be sure to grow +up and develop wholesomely. But, as a matter of fact, that is precisely +what we can not and will not ever allow them to do. There are very few +middle-aged men and women who can clearly recall the facts of their lives +and tell you in all honesty that their sexual instincts have developed +easily and wholesomely throughout. And it should not be difficult to see +why this is so. Let my friends try to transfer their feelings and theories +from the reproductive region to, let us say, the nutritive region, the +only other which can be compared to it for importance. Suppose that eating +and drinking was never spoken of openly, save in veiled or poetic +language, and that no one ever ate food publicly, because it was +considered immoral and immodest to reveal the mysteries of this natural +function. We know what would occur. A considerable proportion of the +community, more especially the more youthful members, possessed by an +instinctive and legitimate curiosity, would concentrate their thoughts on +the subject. They would have so many problems to puzzle over: How often +ought I to eat? What ought I to eat? Is it wrong to eat fruit, which I +like? Ought I to eat grass, which I don't like? Instinct notwithstanding, +we may be quite sure that only a small minority would succeed in eating +reasonably and wholesomely. The sexual secrecy of life is even more +disastrous than such a nutritive secrecy would be; partly because we +expend such a wealth of moral energy in directing or misdirecting it, +partly because the sexual impulse normally develops at the same time as +the intellectual impulse, not in the early years of life, when wholesome +instinctive habits might be formed. And there is always some ignorant and +foolish friend who is prepared still further to muddle things: Eat a meal +every other day! Eat twelve meals a day! Never eat fruit! Always eat +grass! The advice emphatically given in sexual matters is usually not less +absurd than this. When, however, the matter is fully open, the problems of +food are not indeed wholly solved, but everyone is enabled by the +experience of his fellows to reach some sort of situation suited to his +own case. And when the rigid secrecy is once swept away a sane and natural +reticence becomes for the first time possible. + +This secrecy has not always been maintained. When the Catholic Church was +at the summit of its power and influence it fully realized the magnitude +of sexual problems and took an active and inquiring interest in all the +details of normal and abnormal sexuality. Even to the present time there +are certain phenomena of the sexual life which have scarcely been +accurately described except in ancient theological treatises. As the type +of such treatises I will mention the great tome of Sanchez, _De +Matrimonio_. Here you will find the whole sexual life of men and women +analyzed in its relationships to sin. Everything is set forth, as clearly +and as concisely as it can be--without morbid prudery on the one hand, or +morbid sentimentality on the other--in the coldest scientific language; +the right course of action is pointed out for all the cases that may +occur, and we are told what is lawful, what a venial sin, what a mortal +sin. Now I do not consider that sexual matters concern the theologian +alone, and I deny altogether that he is competent to deal with them. In +his hands, also, undoubtedly, they sometimes become prurient, as they can +scarcely fail to become on the non-natural and unwholesome basis of +asceticism, and as they with difficulty become in the open-air light of +science. But we are bound to recognize the thoroughness with which the +Catholic theologians dealt with these matters, and, from their own point +of view, indeed, the entire reasonableness; we are bound to recognize the +admirable spirit in which, successfully or not, they sought to approach +them. We need to-day the same spirit and temper applied from a different +standpoint. These things concern everyone; the study of these things +concerns the physiologist, the psychologist, the moralist. We want to get +into possession of the actual facts, and from the investigation of the +facts we want to ascertain what is normal and what is abnormal, from the +point of view of physiology and of psychology. We want to know what is +naturally lawful under the various sexual chances that may befall man, not +as the born child of sin, but as a naturally social animal. What is a +venial sin against nature, what a mortal sin against nature? The answers +are less easy to reach than the theologians' answers generally were, but +we can at least put ourselves in the right attitude; we may succeed in +asking that question which is sometimes even more than the half of +knowledge. + +It is perhaps a mistake to show so plainly at the outset that I approach +what may seem only a psychological question not without moral fervour. But +I do not wish any mistake to be made. I regard sex as the central problem +of life. And now that the problem of religion has practically been +settled, and that the problem of labor has at least been placed on a +practical foundation, the question of sex--with the racial questions that +rest on it--stands before the coming generations as the chief problem for +solution. Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to +reverence life until we know how to understand sex.--So, at least, it +seems to me. + +Having said so much, I will try to present such results as I have to +record in that cold and dry light through which alone the goal of +knowledge may truly be seen. + +HAVELOCK ELLIS. + +July, 1897. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + +The first edition of this volume was published in 1899, following "Sexual +Inversion," which now forms Volume II. The second edition, issued by the +present publishers and substantially identical with the first edition, +appeared in the following year. Ten years have elapsed since then and this +new edition will be found to reflect the course of that long interval. Not +only is the volume greatly enlarged, but nearly every page has been partly +rewritten. This is mainly due to three causes: Much new literature +required to be taken into account; my own knowledge of the historical and +ethnographic aspects of the sexual impulse has increased; many fresh +illustrative cases of a valuable and instructive character have +accumulated in my hands. It is to these three sources of improvement that +the book owes its greatly revised and enlarged condition, and not to the +need for modifying any of its essential conclusions. These, far from +undergoing any change, have by the new material been greatly strengthened. + +It may be added that the General Preface to the whole work, which was +originally published in 1898 at the beginning of "Sexual Inversion," now +finds its proper place at the outset of the present volume. + +HAVELOCK ELLIS. + +Carbis Bay, + +Cornwall, Eng. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + + +The present volume contains three studies which seem to me to be necessary +_prolegomena_ to that analysis of the sexual instinct which must form the +chief part of an investigation into the psychology of sex. The first +sketches the main outlines of a complex emotional state which is of +fundamental importance in sexual psychology; the second, by bringing +together evidence from widely different regions, suggests a tentative +explanation of facts that are still imperfectly known; the third attempts +to show that even in fields where we assume our knowledge to be adequate a +broader view of the phenomena teaches us to suspend judgment and to adopt +a more cautious attitude. So far as they go, these studies are complete in +themselves; their special use, as an introduction to a more comprehensive +analysis of sexual phenomena, is that they bring before us, under varying +aspects, a characteristic which, though often ignored, is of the first +importance in obtaining a clear understanding of the facts: the tendency +of the sexual impulse to appear in a spontaneous and to some extent +periodic manner, affecting women differently from men. This is a tendency +which, later, I hope to make still more apparent, for it has practical and +social, as well as psychological, implications. Here--and more especially +in the study of those spontaneous solitary manifestations which I call +auto-erotic--I have attempted to clear the ground, and to indicate the +main lines along which the progress of our knowledge in these fields may +best be attained. + +It may surprise many medical readers that in the third and longest study I +have said little, save incidentally, either of treatment or prevention. +The omission of such considerations at this stage is intentional. It may +safely be said that in no other field of human activity is so vast an +amount of strenuous didactic morality founded on so slender a basis of +facts. In most other departments of life we at least make a pretence of +learning before we presume to teach; in the field of sex we content +ourselves with the smallest and vaguest minimum of information, often +ostentatiously second-hand, usually unreliable. I wish to emphasize the +fact that before we can safely talk either of curing or preventing these +manifestations we must know a great deal more than we know at present +regarding their distribution, etiology, and symptomatology; and we must +exercise the same coolness and caution as--if our work is to be +fruitful--we require in any other field of serious study. We must approach +these facts as physicians, it is true, but also as psychologists, +primarily concerned to find out the workings of such manifestations in +fairly healthy and normal people. If we found a divorce-court judge +writing a treatise on marriage we should smile. But it is equally absurd +for the physician, so long as his knowledge is confined to disease, to +write regarding sex at large; valuable as the facts he brings forward may +be, he can never be in a position to generalize concerning them. And to +me, at all events, it seems that we have had more than enough pictures of +gross sexual perversity, whether furnished by the asylum or the brothel. +They are only really instructive when they are seen in their proper +perspective as the rare and ultimate extremes of a chain of phenomena +which we may more profitably study nearer home. + +Yet, although we are, on every hand, surrounded by the normal +manifestations of sex, conscious or unconscious, these manifestations are +extremely difficult to observe, and, in those cases in which we are best +able to observe them, it frequently happens that we are unable to make any +use of our knowledge. Moreover, even when we have obtained our data, the +difficulties--at all events, for an English investigator--are by no means +overcome. He may take for granted that any serious and precise study of +the sexual instinct will not meet with general approval; his work will be +misunderstood; his motives will be called in question; among those for +whom he is chiefly working he will find indifference. Indeed, the pioneer +in this field may well count himself happy if he meets with nothing worse +than indifference. Hence it is that the present volume will not be +published in England, but that, availing myself of the generous sympathy +with which my work has been received in America, I have sought the wider +medical and scientific audience of the United States. In matters of faith, +"liberty of prophesying" was centuries since eloquently vindicated for +Englishmen; the liberty of investigating facts is still called in +question, under one pretence or another, and to seek out the most vital +facts of life is still in England a perilous task. + +I desire most heartily to thank the numerous friends and correspondents, +some living in remote parts of the world, who have freely assisted me in +my work with valuable information and personal histories. To Mr. F.H. +Perry-Coste I owe an appendix which is by far the most elaborate attempt +yet made to find evidence of periodicity in the spontaneous sexual +manifestations of sleep; my debts to various medical and other +correspondents are duly stated in the text. To many women friends and +correspondents I may here express my gratitude for the manner in which +they have furnished me with intimate personal records, and for the +cross-examination to which they have allowed me to subject them. I may +already say here, what I shall have occasion to say more emphatically in +subsequent volumes, that without the assistance I have received from women +of fine intelligence and high character my work would be impossible. I +regret that I cannot make my thanks more specific. + +HAVELOCK ELLIS. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +THE EVOLUTION OF MODESTY. + +I. + +The Definition of Modesty--The Significance of Modesty--Difficulties in +the Way of Its Analysis--The Varying Phenomena of Modesty Among Different +Peoples and in Different Ages. + +II. + +Modesty an Agglomeration of Fears--Children in Relation to +Modesty--Modesty in Animals--The Attitude of the Medicean Venus--The +Sexual Factor of Modesty Based on Sexual periodicity and on the Primitive +Phenomena of Courtship--The Necessity of Seclusion in Primitive Sexual +Intercourse--The Meaning of Coquetry--The Sexual Charm of Modesty--Modesty +as an Expression of Feminine Erotic Impulse--The Fear of Causing Disgust +as a Factor of Modesty--The Modesty of Savages in Regard to Eating in the +Presence of Others--The Sacro-Pubic Region as a Focus of Disgust--The Idea +of Ceremonial Uncleanliness--The Custom of Veiling the Face--Ornaments and +Clothing--Modesty Becomes Concentrated in the Garment--The Economic Factor +in Modesty--The Contribution of Civilization to Modesty--The Elaboration +of Social Ritual. + +III. + +The Blush the Sanction of Modesty--The Phenomena of Blushing--Influences +Which Modify the Aptitude to Blush--Darkness, Concealment of the Face, +Etc. + +IV. + +Summary of the Factors of Modesty--The Future of Modesty--Modesty an +Essential Element of Love. + + +THE PHENOMENA OF SEXUAL PERIODICITY. + +I. + +The Various Physiological and Psychological Rhythms--Menstruation--The +Alleged Influence of the Moon--Frequent Suppression of Menstruation among +Primitive Races--Mittelschmerz--Possible Tendency to a Future +Intermenstrual Cycle--Menstruation among Animals--Menstruating Monkeys and +Apes--What is Menstruation--Its Primary Cause Still Obscure--The Relation +of Menstruation to Ovulation--The Occasional Absence of Menstruation in +Health--The Relation of Menstruation to "Heat"--The Prohibition of +Intercourse during Menstruation--The Predominance of Sexual Excitement at +and around the Menstrual Period--Its Absence during the Period Frequently +Apparent only. + +II. + +The Question of a Monthly Sexual Cycle in Men--The Earliest Suggestions of +a General Physiological Cycle in Men--Periodicity in Disease--Insanity, +Heart Disease, etc.--The Alleged Twenty-three Days' Cycle--The +Physiological Periodicity of Seminal Emissions during Sleep--Original +Observations--Fortnightly and Weekly Rhythms. + +III. + +The Annual Sexual Rhythm--In Animals--In Man--Tendency of the Sexual +Impulse to become Heightened in Spring and Autumn--The Prevalence of +Seasonal Erotic Festivals--The Feast of Fools--The Easter and Midsummer +Bonfires--The Seasonal Variations in Birthrate--The Causes of those +Variations--The Typical Conception-rate Curve for Europe--The Seasonal +Periodicity of Seminal Emissions During Sleep--Original +Observations--Spring and Autumn the Chief Periods of Involuntary Sexual +Excitement--The Seasonal Periodicity of Rapes--Of Outbreaks among +Prisoners--The Seasonal Curves of Insanity and Suicide--The Growth of +Children According to Season--The Annual Curve of Bread-consumption in +Prisons--Seasonal Periodicity of Scarlet Fever--The Underlying Causes of +these Seasonal Phenomena. + + +AUTO-EROTISM: A STUDY OF THE SPONTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SEXUAL +IMPULSE. + +I. + +Definition of Auto-erotism--Masturbation only Covers a Small Portion of +the Auto-erotic Field--The Importance of this Study, especially +To-day--Auto-erotic Phenomena in Animals--Among Savage and Barbaric +Races--The Japanese _rin-no-tama_ and other Special Instruments for +Obtaining Auto-erotic Gratification--Abuse of the Ordinary Implements and +Objects of Daily Life--The Frequency of Hair-pin in the Bladder--The +Influence of Horse-exercise and Railway Traveling--The Sewing-machine and +the Bicycle--Spontaneous Passive Sexual Excitement--_Delectatio +Morosa_--Day-dreaming--_Pollutio_--Sexual Excitement During Sleep--Erotic +Dreams--The Analogy of Nocturnal Enuresis--Differences in the Erotic +Dreams of Men and Women--The Auto-erotic Phenomena of Sleep in the +Hysterical--Their Frequently Painful Character. + +II. + +Hysteria and the Question of Its Relation to the Sexual Emotions--The +Early Greek Theories of its Nature and Causation--The Gradual Rise of +Modern Views--Charcot--The Revolt Against Charcot's Too Absolute +Conclusions--Fallacies Involved--Charcot's Attitude the Outcome of his +Personal Temperament--Breuer and Freud--Their Views Supplement and +Complete Charcot's--At the Same Time they Furnish a Justification for the +Earlier Doctrine of Hysteria--But They Must Not be Regarded as Final--The +Diffused Hysteroid Condition in Normal Persons--The Physiological Basis of +Hysteria--True Pathological Hysteria is Linked on to almost Normal States, +especially to Sex-hunger. + +III. + +The Prevalence of Masturbation--Its Occurrence in Infancy and +Childhood--Is it More Frequent in Males or Females?--After Adolescence +Apparently more Frequent in Women--Reasons for the Sexual Distribution of +Masturbation--The Alleged Evils of Masturbation--Historical Sketch of the +Views Held on This Point--The Symptoms and Results of Masturbation--Its +Alleged Influence in Causing Eye Disorders--Its Relation to Insanity and +Nervous Disorders--The Evil Effects of Masturbation Usually Occur on the +Basis of a Congenitally Morbid Nervous System--Neurasthenia Probably the +Commonest Accompaniment of Excessive Masturbation--Precocious Masturbation +Tends to Produce Aversion to Coitus--Psychic Results of Habitual +Masturbation--Masturbation in Men of Genius--Masturbation as a Nervous +Sedative--Typical Cases--The Greek Attitude toward Masturbation--Attitude +of the Catholic Theologians--The Mohammedan Attitude--The Modern +Scientific Attitude--In What Sense is Masturbation Normal?--The Immense +Part in Life Played by Transmuted Auto-erotic Phenomena. + + +APPENDIX A. + +The Influence of Menstruation on the Position of Women. + + +APPENDIX B. + +Sexual Periodicity in Men. + + +APPENDIX C. + +The Auto-erotic Factor in Religion. + + +INDEX. + + +DIAGRAMS. + + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF MODESTY. + +I. + +The Definition of Modesty--The Significance of Modesty--Difficulties in +the Way of Its Analysis--The Varying Phenomena of Modesty Among Different +Peoples and in Different Ages. + + +Modesty, which may be provisionally defined as an almost instinctive fear +prompting to concealment and usually centering around the sexual +processes, while common to both sexes is more peculiarly feminine, so that +it may almost be regarded as the chief secondary sexual character of women +on the psychical side. The woman who is lacking in this kind of fear is +lacking, also, in sexual attractiveness to the normal and average man. The +apparent exceptions seem to prove the rule, for it will generally be found +that the women who are, not immodest (for immodesty is more closely +related to modesty than mere negative absence of the sense of modesty), +but without that fear which implies the presence of a complex emotional +feminine organization to defend, only make a strong sexual appeal to men +who are themselves lacking in the complementary masculine qualities. As a +psychical secondary sexual character of the first rank, it is necessary, +before any psychology of sex can be arranged in order, to obtain a clear +view of modesty. + + The immense importance of feminine modesty in creating masculine + passion must be fairly obvious. I may, however, quote the + observations of two writers who have shown evidence of insight + and knowledge regarding this matter. + + Casanova describes how, when at Berne, he went to the baths, and + was, according to custom, attended by a young girl, whom he + selected from a group of bath attendants. She undressed him, + proceeded to undress herself, and then entered the bath with him, + and rubbed him thoroughly all over, the operation being performed + in the most serious manner and without a word being spoken. When + all was over, however, he perceived that the girl had expected + him to make advances, and he proceeds to describe and discuss his + own feelings of indifference under such circumstances. "Though + without gazing on the girl's figure, I had seen enough to + recognize that she had all that a man can desire to find in a + woman: a beautiful face, lively and well-formed eyes, a beautiful + mouth, with good teeth, a healthy complexion, well-developed + breasts, and everything in harmony. It is true that I had felt + that her hands could have been smoother, but I could only + attribute this to hard work; moreover, my Swiss girl was only + eighteen, and yet I remained entirely cold. What was the cause of + this? That was the question that I asked myself." + + "It is clear," wrote Stendhal, "that three parts of modesty are + taught. This is, perhaps, the only law born of civilization which + produces nothing but happiness. It has been observed that birds + of prey hide themselves to drink, because, being obliged to + plunge their heads in the water, they are at that moment + defenceless. After having considered what passes at Otaheite, I + can see no other natural foundation for modesty. Love is the + miracle of civilization. Among savage and very barbarous races we + find nothing but physical love of a gross character. It is + modesty that gives to love the aid of imagination, and in so + doing imparts life to it. Modesty is very early taught to little + girls by their mothers, and with extreme jealousy, one might say, + by _esprit de corps_. They are watching in advance over the + happiness of the future lover. To a timid and tender woman there + ought to be no greater torture than to allow herself in the + presence of a man something which she thinks she ought to blush + at. I am convinced that a proud woman would prefer a thousand + deaths. A slight liberty taken on the tender side by the man she + loves gives a woman a moment of keen pleasure, but if he has the + air of blaming her for it, or only of not enjoying it with + transport, an awful doubt must be left in her mind. For a woman + above the vulgar level there is, then, everything to gain by very + reserved manners. The play is not equal. She hazards against a + slight pleasure, or against the advantage of appearing a little + amiable, the danger of biting remorse, and a feeling of shame + which must render even the lover less dear. An evening passed + gaily and thoughtlessly, without thinking of what comes after, is + dearly paid at this price. The sight of a lover with whom one + fears that one has had this kind of wrong must become odious for + several days. Can one be surprised at the force of a habit, the + slightest infractions of which are punished with such atrocious + shame? As to the utility of modesty, it is the mother of love. As + to the mechanism of the feeling, nothing is simpler. The mind is + absorbed in feeling shame instead of being occupied with desire. + Desires are forbidden, and desires lead to actions. It is evident + that every tender and proud woman--and these two things, being + cause and effect, naturally go together--must contract habits of + coldness which the people whom she disconcerts call prudery. The + power of modesty is so great that a tender woman betrays herself + with her lover rather by deeds than by words. The evil of + modesty is that it constantly leads to falsehood." (Stendhal, _De + l'Amour_, Chapter XXIV.) + + It thus happens that, as Adler remarks (_Die Mangelhafte + Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, p. 133), the sexual impulse in + women is fettered by an inhibition which has to be conquered. A + thin veil of reticence, shyness, and anxiety is constantly cast + anew over a woman's love, and her wooer, in every act of + courtship, has the enjoyment of conquering afresh an oft-won + woman. + + An interesting testimony to the part played by modesty in + effecting the union of the sexes is furnished by the fact--to + which attention has often been called--that the special modesty + of women usually tends to diminish, though not to disappear, with + the complete gratification of the sexual impulses. This may be + noted among savage as well as among civilized women. The + comparatively evanescent character of modesty has led to the + argument (Venturi, _Degenerazioni Psico-sessuali_, pp. 92-93) + that modesty (_pudore_) is possessed by women alone, men + exhibiting, instead, a sense of decency which remains at about + the same level of persistency throughout life. Viazzi ("Pudore + nell 'uomo e nella donna," _Rivista Mensile di Psichiatria + Forense_, 1898), on the contrary, following Sergi, argues that + men are, throughout, more modest than women; but the points he + brings forward, though often just, scarcely justify his + conclusion. While the young virgin, however, is more modest and + shy than the young man of the same age, the experienced married + woman is usually less so than her husband, and in a woman who is + a mother the shy reticences of virginal modesty would be rightly + felt to be ridiculous. ("Les petites pudeurs n'existent pas pour + les meres," remarks Goncourt, _Journal des Goncourt_, vol. iii, + p. 5.) She has put off a sexual livery that has no longer any + important part to play in life, and would, indeed, be + inconvenient and harmful, just as a bird loses its sexual plumage + when the pairing season is over. + + Madame Celine Renooz, in an elaborate study of the psychological + sexual differences between men and women (_Psychologie Comparee + de l'Homme et de la Femme_, 1898, pp. 85-87), also believes that + modesty is not really a feminine characteristic. "Modesty," she + argues, "is masculine shame attributed to women for two reasons: + first, because man believes that woman is subject to the same + laws as himself; secondly, because the course of human evolution + has reversed the psychology of the sexes, attributing to women + the psychological results of masculine sexuality. This is the + origin of the conventional lies which by a sort of social + suggestion have intimidated women. They have, in appearance at + least, accepted the rule of shame imposed on them by men, but + only custom inspires the modesty for which they are praised; it + is really an outrage to their sex. This reversal of psychological + laws has, however, only been accepted by women with a struggle. + Primitive woman, proud of her womanhood, for a long time + defended her nakedness which ancient art has always represented. + And in the actual life of the young girl to-day there is a moment + when, by a secret atavism, she feels the pride of her sex, the + intuition of her moral superiority, and cannot understand why she + must hide its cause. At this moment, wavering between the laws of + Nature and social conventions, she scarcely knows if nakedness + should or should not affright her. A sort of confused atavistic + memory recalls to her a period before clothing was known, and + reveals to her as a paradisaical ideal the customs of that human + epoch." + + In support of this view the authoress proceeds to point out that + the _decollete_ constantly reappears in feminine clothing, never + in male; that missionaries experience great difficulty in + persuading women to cover themselves; that, while women accept + with facility an examination by male doctors, men cannot force + themselves to accept examination by a woman doctor, etc. (These + and similar points had already been independently brought forward + by Sergi, _Archivio di Psichiatria_, vol. xiii, 1892.) + + It cannot be said that Madame Renooz's arguments will all bear + examination, if only on the ground that nakedness by no means + involves absence of modesty, but the point of view which she + expresses is one which usually fails to gain recognition, though + it probably contains an important element of truth. It is quite + true, as Stendhal said, that modesty is very largely taught; from + the earliest years, a girl child is trained to show a modesty + which she quickly begins really to feel. This fact cannot fail to + strike any one who reads the histories of pseudo-hermaphroditic + persons, really males, who have from infancy been brought up in + the belief that they are girls, and who show, and feel, all the + shrinking reticence and blushing modesty of their supposed sex. + But when the error is discovered, and they are restored to their + proper sex, this is quickly changed, and they exhibit all the + boldness of masculinity. (See e.g., Neugebauer, "Beobachtungen + aus dem Gebiete des Scheinzwittertumes," _Jahrbuch fuer Sexuelle + Zwischenstufen_, Jahrgang iv, 1902, esp. p. 92.) At the same time + this is only one thread in the tangled skein with which we are + here concerned. The mass of facts which meets us when we turn to + the study of modesty in women cannot be dismissed as a group of + artificially-imposed customs. They gain rather than lose in + importance if we have to realize that the organic sexual demands + of women, calling for coyness in courtship, lead to the temporary + suppression of another feminine instinct of opposite, though + doubtless allied, nature. + + But these somewhat conflicting, though not really contradictory, + statements serve to bring out the fact that a woman's modesty is + often an incalculable element. The woman who, under some + circumstances and at some times, is extreme in her reticences, + under other circumstances or at other times, may be extreme in + her abandonment. Not that her modesty is an artificial garment, + which she throws off or on at will. It is organic, but like the + snail's shell, it sometimes forms an impenetrable covering, and + sometimes glides off almost altogether. A man's modesty is more + rigid, with little tendency to deviate toward either extreme. + Thus it is, that, when uninstructed, a man is apt to be impatient + with a woman's reticences, and yet shocked at her abandonments. + +The significance of our inquiry becomes greater when we reflect that to +the reticences of sexual modesty, in their progression, expansion, and +complication, we largely owe, not only the refinement and development of +the sexual emotions,--"_la pudeur_" as Guyau remarked, "_a civilise +l'amour_"--but the subtle and pervading part which the sexual instinct has +played in the evolution of all human culture. + + "It is certain that very much of what is best in religion, art, + and life," remark Stanley Hall and Allin, "owes its charm to the + progressively-widening irradiation of sexual feeling. Perhaps the + reluctance of the female first long-circuited the exquisite + sensations connected with sexual organs and acts to the antics of + animal and human courtship, while restraint had the physiological + function of developing the colors, plumes, excessive activity, + and exuberant life of the pairing season. To keep certain parts + of the body covered, irradiated the sense of beauty to eyes, + hair, face, complexion, dress, form, etc., while many savage + dances, costumes and postures are irradiations of the sexual act. + Thus reticence, concealment, and restraint are among the prime + conditions of religion and human culture." (Stanley Hall and + Allin, "The Psychology of Tickling," _American Journal of + Psychology_, 1897, p. 31.) + + Groos attributes the deepening of the conjugal relation among + birds to the circumstance that the male seeks to overcome the + reticence of the female by the display of his charms and + abilities. "And in the human world," he continues, "it is the + same; without the modest reserve of the woman that must, in most + cases, be overcome by lovable qualities, the sexual relationship + would with difficulty find a singer who would extol in love the + highest movements of the human soul." (Groos, _Spiele der + Menschen_, p. 341.) + +I have not, however, been, able to find that the subject of modesty has +been treated in any comprehensive way by psychologists. Though valuable +facts and suggestions bearing on the sexual emotions, on disgust, the +origins of tatooing, on ornament and clothing, have been, brought forward +by physiologists, psychologists, and ethnographists, few or no attempts +appear to have been made to reach a general synthetic statement of these +facts and suggestions. It is true that a great many unreliable, slight, or +fragmentary efforts have been made to ascertain the constitution or basis +of this emotion.[1] Many psychologists have regarded modesty simply as the +result of clothing. This view is overturned by the well-ascertained fact +that many races which go absolutely naked possess a highly-developed sense +of modesty. These writers have not realized that physiological modesty is +earlier in appearance, and more fundamental, than anatomical modesty. A +partial contribution to the analysis of modesty has been made by Professor +James, who, with his usual insight and lucidity, has set forth certain of +its characteristics, especially the element due to "the application to +ourselves of judgments primarily passed upon our mates." Guyau, in a very +brief discussion of modesty, realized its great significance and touched +on most of its chief elements.[2] Westermarck, again, followed by Grosse, +has very ably and convincingly set forth certain factors in the origin of +ornament and clothing, a subject which many writers imagine to cover the +whole field of modesty. More recently Ribot, in his work on the emotions, +has vaguely outlined most of the factors of modesty, but has not developed +a coherent view of their origins and relationships. + + Since the present _Study_ first appeared, Hohenemser, who + considers that my analysis of modesty is unsatisfactory, has made + a notable attempt to define the psychological mechanism of shame. + ("Versuch einer Analyse der Scham," _Archiv fuer die Gesamte + Psychologie_, Bd. II, Heft 2-3, 1903.) He regards shame as a + general psycho-physical phenomenon, "a definite tension of the + whole soul," with an emotion superadded. "The state of shame + consists in a certain psychic lameness or inhibition," sometimes + accompanied by physical phenomena of paralysis, such as sinking + of the head and inability to meet the eye. It is a special case + of Lipps's psychic stasis or damming up (_psychische Stauung_), + always produced when the psychic activities are at the same time + drawn in two or more different directions. In shame there is + always something present in consciousness which conflicts with + the rest of the personality, and cannot be brought into harmony + with it, which cannot be brought, that is, into moral (not + logical) relationship with it. A young man in love with a girl is + ashamed when told that he is in love, because his reverence for + one whom he regards as a higher being cannot be brought into + relationship with his own lower personality. A child in the same + way feels shame in approaching a big, grown-up person, who seems + a higher sort of being. Sometimes, likewise, we feel shame in + approaching a stranger, for a new person tends to seem higher and + more interesting than ourselves. It is not so in approaching a + new natural phenomenon, because we do not compare it with + ourselves. Another kind of shame is seen when this mental contest + is lower than our personality, and on this account in conflict + with it, as when we are ashamed of sexual thoughts. Sexual ideas + tend to evoke shame, Hohenemser remarks, because they so easily + tend to pass into sexual feelings; when they do not so pass (as + in scientific discussions) they do not evoke shame. + + It will be seen that this discussion of modesty is highly + generalized and abstracted; it deals simply with the formal + mechanism of the process. Hohenemser admits that fear is a form + of psychic stasis, and I have sought to show that modesty is a + complexus of fears. We may very well accept the conception of + psychic stasis at the outset. The analysis of modesty has still + to be carried very much further. + +The discussion of modesty is complicated by the difficulty, and even +impossibility, of excluding closely-allied emotions--shame, shyness, +bashfulness, timidity, etc.--all of which, indeed, however defined, adjoin +or overlap modesty.[3] It is not, however, impossible to isolate the main +body of the emotion of modesty, on account of its special connection, on +the whole, with the consciousness of sex. I here attempt, however +imperfectly, to sketch out a fairly-complete analysis of its constitution +and to trace its development. + + In entering upon this investigation a few facts with regard to + the various manifestations of modesty may be helpful to us. I + have selected these from scattered original sources, and have + sought to bring out the variety and complexity of the problems + with which we are here concerned. + + The New Georgians of the Solomon Islands, so low a race that they + are ignorant both of pottery and weaving, and wear only a loin + cloth, "have the same ideas of what is decent with regard to + certain acts and exposures that we ourselves have;" so that it is + difficult to observe whether they practice circumcision. + (Somerville, _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1897, p. + 394.) + + In the New Hebrides "the closest secrecy is adopted with regard + to the penis, not at all from a sense of decency, but to avoid + Narak, the _sight_ even of that of another man being considered + most dangerous. The natives of this savage island, accordingly, + wrap the penis around with many yards of calico, and other like + materials, winding and folding them until a preposterous bundle + 18 inches, or 2 feet long, and 2 inches or more in diameter is + formed, which is then supported upward by means of a belt, in the + extremity decorated with flowering grasses, etc. The testicles + are left naked." There is no other body covering. (Somerville, + _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1894, p. 368.) + + In the Pelew Islands, says Kubary, as quoted by Bastian, it is + said that when the God Irakaderugel and his wife were creating + man and woman (he forming man and she forming woman), and were at + work on the sexual organs, the god wished to see his consort's + handiwork. She, however, was cross, and persisted in concealing + what she had made. Ever since then women wear an apron of + pandanus-leaves and men go naked. (A. Bastian, _Inselgruppen in + Oceanien_, p. 112.) + + In the Pelew Islands, Semper tells us that when approaching a + large water-hole he was surprised to hear an affrighted, + long-drawn cry from his native friends. "A girl's voice answered + out of the bushes, and my people held us back, for there were + women bathing there who would not allow us to pass. When I + remarked that they were only women, of whom they need not be + afraid, they replied that it was not so, that women had an + unbounded right to punish men who passed them when bathing + without their permission, and could inflict fines or even death. + On this account, the women's bathing place is a safe and favorite + spot for a secret rendezvous. Fortunately a lady's toilet lasts + but a short time in this island." (Carl Semper, _Die + Palau-Inseln_, 1873, p. 68.) + + Among the Western Tribes of Torres Strait, Haddon states, "the + men were formerly nude, and the women wore only a leaf petticoat, + but I gather that they were a decent people; now both sexes are + prudish. A man would never go nude before me. The women would + never voluntarily expose their breasts to white men's gaze; this + applies to quite young girls, less so to old women. Amongst + themselves they are, of course, much less particular, but I + believe they are becoming more so.... Formerly, I imagine, there + was no restraint in speech; now there is a great deal of prudery; + for instance, the men were always much ashamed when I asked for + the name of the sexual parts of a woman." (A.C. Haddon, + "Ethnography of the Western Tribes of Torres Straits," _Journal + of the Anthropological Institute_, 1890, p. 336.) After a + subsequent expedition to the same region, the author reiterates + his observations as to the "ridiculously prudish manner" of the + men, attributable to missionary influence during the past thirty + years, and notes that even the children are affected by it. "At + Mabuiag, some small children were paddling in the water, and a + boy of about ten years of age reprimanded a little girl of five + or six years because she held up her dress too high." (_Reports + of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits_, + vol. v, p. 272.) + + "Although the women of New Guinea," Vahness says, "are very + slightly clothed, they are by no means lacking in a + well-developed sense of decorum. If they notice, for instance, + that any one is paying special attention to their nakedness, they + become ashamed and turn round." When a woman had to climb the + fence to enter the wild-pig enclosure, she would never do it in + Vahness's presence. (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, Verhdlgen., + 1900, Heft 5, p. 415.) + + In Australia "the feeling of decency is decidedly less prevalent + among males than females;" the clothed females retire out of + sight to bathe. (Curr, _Australian Race_.) + + "Except for waist-bands, forehead-bands, necklets, and armlets, + and a conventional pubic tassel, shell, or, in the case of the + women, a small apron, the Central Australian native is naked. The + pubic tassel is a diminutive structure, about the size of a + five-shilling piece, made of a few short strands of fur-strings + flattened out into a fan-shape and attached to the pubic hair. As + the string, especially at _corrobboree_ times, is covered with + white kaolin or gypsum, it serves as a decoration rather than a + covering. Among the Arunta and Luritcha the women usually wear + nothing, but further north, a small apron is made and worn." + (Baldwin Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central + Australia_, p. 572.) + + Of the Central Australians Stirling says: "No sense of shame of + exposure was exhibited by the men on removal of the diminutive + articles worn as conventional coverings; they were taken off + _coram populo_, and bartered without hesitation. On the other + hand, some little persuasion was necessary to allow inspection of + the effect of [urethral] sub-incision, assent being given only + after dismissal to a distance of the women and young children. As + to the women, it was nearly always observed that when in camp + without clothing they, especially the younger ones, exhibited by + their attitude a keen sense of modesty, if, indeed, a + consciousness of their nakedness can be thus considered. When we + desired to take a photograph of a group of young women, they were + very coy at the proposal to remove their scanty garments, and + retired behind a wall to do so; but once in a state of nudity + they made no objection to exposure to the camera." (_Report of + the Horn Scientific Expedition_, 1896, vol. iv, p. 37.) + + In Northern Queensland "phallocrypts," or "penis-concealers," + only used by the males at _corrobborees_ and other public + rejoicings, are either formed of pearl-shell or opossum-string. + The _koom-pa-ra_, or opossum-string form of phallocrypt, forms a + kind of tassel, and is colored red; it is hung from the + waist-belt in the middle line. In both sexes the privates are + only covered on special public occasions, or when in close + proximity to white settlements. (W. Roth, _Ethnological Studies + among the Northwest-Central-Queensland Aborigines_, 1897, pp. + 114-115.) + + "The principle of chastity," said Forster, of his experiences in + the South Sea Islands in their unspoilt state, "we found in many + families exceedingly well understood. I have seen many fine women + who, with a modesty mixed with politeness, refuse the greatest + and most tempting offers made them by our forward youths; often + they excuse themselves with a simple _tirra-tano_, 'I am + married,' and at other times they smiled and declined it with + _epia_, 'no.' ... Virtuous women hear a joke without emotion, + which, amongst us, might put some men to the blush. Neither + austerity and anger, nor joy and ecstasy is the consequence, but + sometimes a modest, dignified, serene smile spreads itself over + their face, and seems gently to rebuke the uncouth jester." (J.R. + Forster, _Observations made During a Voyage Round the World_, + 1728, p. 392.) + + Captain Cook, at Tahiti, in 1769, after performing Divine service + on Sunday, witnessed "Vespers of a very different kind. A young + man, near six feet high, performed the rites of Venus with a + little girl about eleven or twelve years of age, before several + of our people and a great number of the natives, without the + least sense of its being indecent or improper, but, as it + appeared, in perfect conformity to the custom of the place. Among + the spectators were several women of superior rank, who may + properly be said to have assisted at the ceremony; for they gave + instructions to the girl how to perform her part, which, young as + she was, she did not seem much to stand in need of." (J. + Hawkesworth, _Account of the Voyages_, etc., 1775, vol. i, p. + 469.) + + At Tahiti, according to Cook, it was customary to "gratify every + appetite and passion before witnesses," and it is added, "in the + conversation of these people, that which is the principal source + of their pleasure is always the principal topic; everything is + mentioned without any restraint or emotion, and in the most + direct terms, by both sexes." (Hawkesworth, op. cit., vol ii, p. + 45.) + + "I have observed," Captain Cook wrote, "that our friends in the + South Seas have not even the idea of indecency, with respect to + any object or any action, but this was by no means the case with + the inhabitants of New Zealand, in whose carriage and + conversation there was as much modest reserve and decorum with + respect to actions, which yet in their opinion were not criminal, + as are to be found among the politest people in Europe. The women + were not impregnable; but the terms and manner of compliance were + as decent as those in marriage among us, and according to their + notions, the agreement was as innocent. When any of our people + made an overture to any of their young women, he was given to + understand that the consent of her friends was necessary, and by + the influence of a proper present it was generally obtained; but + when these preliminaries were settled, it was also necessary to + treat the wife for a night with the same delicacy that is here + required by the wife for life, and the lover who presumed to take + any liberties by which this was violated, was sure to be + disappointed." (Hawkesworth, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 254.) + + Cook found that the people of New Zealand "bring the prepuce over + the gland, and to prevent it from being drawn back by contraction + of the part, they tie the string which hangs from the girdle + round the end of it. The glans, indeed, seemed to be the only + part of their body which they were solicitous to conceal, for + they frequently threw off all their dress but the belt and + string, with the most careless indifference, but showed manifest + signs of confusion when, to gratify our curiosity, they were + requested to untie the string, and never consented but with the + utmost reluctance and shame.... The women's lower garment was + always bound fast round them, except when they went into the + water to catch lobsters, and then they took great care not to be + seen by the men. We surprised several of them at this employment, + and the chaste Diana, with her nymphs, could not have discovered + more confusion and distress at the sight of Actaeon, than these + women expressed upon our approach. Some of them hid themselves + among the rocks, and the rest crouched down in the sea till they + had made themselves a girdle and apron of such weeds as they + could find, and when they came out, even with this veil, we could + see that their modesty suffered much pain by our presence." + (Hawkesworth, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 257-258.) + + In Rotuma, in Polynesia, where the women enjoy much freedom, but + where, at all events in old days, married people were, as a rule, + faithful to each other, "the language is not chaste according to + our ideas, and there is a great deal of freedom in speaking of + immoral vices. In this connection a man and his wife will speak + freely to one another before their friends. I am informed, + though, by European traders well conversant with the language, + that there are grades of language, and that certain coarse + phrases would never be used to any decent woman; so that + probably, in their way, they have much modesty, only we cannot + appreciate it." (J. Stanley Gardiner, "The Natives of Rotuma," + _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, May, 1898, p. 481.) + + The men of Rotuma, says the same writer, are very clean, the + women also, bathing twice a day in the sea; but "bathing in + public without the _kukuluga_, or _sulu_ [loin-cloth, which is + the ordinary dress], around the waist is absolutely unheard of, + and would be much looked down upon." (_Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, 1898, p. 410.) + + In ancient Samoa the only necessary garment for either man or + woman was an apron of leaves, but they possessed so "delicate a + sense of propriety" that even "while bathing they have a girdle + of leaves or some other covering around the waist." (Turner, + _Samoa a Hundred Years Ago_, p. 121.) + + After babyhood the Indians of Guiana are never seen naked. When + they change their single garment they retire. The women wear a + little apron, now generally made of European beads, but the + Warraus still make it of the inner bark of a tree, and some of + seeds. (Everard im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, 1883.) + + The Mandurucu women of Brazil, according to Tocantins (quoted by + Mantegazza), are completely naked, but they are careful to avoid + any postures which might be considered indecorous, and they do + this so skilfully that it is impossible to tell when they have + their menstrual periods. (Mantegazza, _Fisiologia della Donna_, + cap 9.) + + The Indians of Central Brazil have no "private parts." In men the + little girdle, or string, surrounding the lower part of the + abdomen, hides nothing; it is worn after puberty, the penis being + often raised and placed beneath it to lengthen the prepuce. The + women also use a little strip of bast that goes down the groin + and passes between the thighs. Among some tribes (Karibs, Tupis, + Nu-Arwaks) a little, triangular, coquettishly-made piece of + bark-bast comes just below the mons veneris; it is only a few + centimetres in width, and is called the _uluri. In both sexes + concealment of the sexual mucous membrane is attained_. These + articles cannot be called clothing. "The red thread of the + Trumai, the elegant _uluri_, and the variegated flag of the + Bororo attract attention, like ornaments, instead of drawing + attention away." Von den Steinen thinks this proceeding a + necessary protection against the attacks of insects, which are + often serious in Brazil. He does think, however, that there is + more than this, and that the people are ashamed to show the + glans penis. (Karl von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvoelkern + Zentral-Brasiliens_, 1894, pp. 190 et seq.) + + Other travelers mention that on the Amazon among some tribes the + women are clothed and the men naked; among others the women + naked, and the men clothed. Thus, among the Guaycurus the men are + quite naked, while the women wear a short petticoat; among the + Uaupas the men always wear a loin-cloth, while the women are + quite naked. + + "The feeling of modesty is very developed among the Fuegians, who + are accustomed to live naked. They manifest it in their bearing + and in the ease with which they show themselves in a state of + nudity, compared with the awkwardness, blushing, and shame which + both men and women exhibit if one gazes at certain parts of their + bodies. Among themselves this is never done even between husband + and wife. There is no Fuegian word for modesty, perhaps because + the feeling is universal among them." The women wear a minute + triangular garment of skin suspended between the thighs and never + removed, being merely raised during conjugal relations. (Hyades + and Deniker, _Mission Scientifique du Cap Horn_, vol. vii, pp. + 239, 307, and 347.) + + Among the Crow Indians of Montana, writes Dr. Holder, who has + lived with them for several years, "a sense of modesty forbids + the attendance upon the female in labor of any male, white man or + Indian, physician or layman. This antipathy to receiving + assistance at the hands of the physician is overcome as the + tribes progress toward civilization, and it is especially + noticeable that half-breeds almost constantly seek the + physician's aid." Dr. Holder mentions the case of a young woman + who, although brought near the verge of death in a very difficult + first confinement, repeatedly refused to allow him to examine + her; at last she consented; "her modest preparation was to take + bits of quilt and cover thighs and lips of vulva, leaving only + the aperture exposed.... Their modesty would not be so striking + were it not that, almost to a woman, the females of this tribe + are prostitutes, and for a consideration will admit the + connection of any man." (A.B. Holder, _American Journal of + Obstetrics_, vol. xxv, No. 6, 1892.) + + "In every North American tribe, from the most northern to the + most southern, the skirt of the woman is longer than that of the + men. In Esquimau land the _parka_ of deerskin and sealskin + reaches to the knees. Throughout Central North America the + buckskin dress of the women reached quite to the ankles. The + West-Coast women, from Oregon to the Gulf of California, wore a + petticoat of shredded bark, of plaited grass, or of strings, upon + which were strung hundreds of seeds. Even in the most tropical + areas the rule was universal, as anyone can see from the codices + or in pictures of the natives." (Otis T. Mason, _Woman's Share in + Primitive Culture_, p. 237.) + + Describing the loin-cloth worn by Nicobarese men, Man says: "From + the clumsy mode in which this garment is worn by the Shom + Pen--necessitating frequent readjustment of the folds--one is led + to infer that its use is not _de rigueur_, but reserved for + special occasions, as when receiving or visiting strangers." + (E.H. Man, _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1886, p. + 442.) + + The semi-nude natives of the island of Nias in the Indian Ocean + are "modest by nature," paying no attention to their own nudity + or that of others, and much scandalized by any attempt to go + beyond the limits ordained by custom. When they pass near places + where women are bathing they raise their voices in order to warn + them of their presence, and even although any bold youth + addressed the women, and the latter replied, no attempt would be + made to approach them; any such attempt would be severely + punished by the head man of the village. (Modigliani, _Un Viaggio + a Nias_, p. 460.) + + Man says that the Andamanese in modesty and self-respect compare + favorably with many classes among civilized peoples. "Women are + so modest that they will not renew their leaf-aprons in the + presence of one another, but retire to a secluded spot for this + purpose; even when parting with one of their _bod_ appendages + [tails of leaves suspended from back of girdle] to a female + friend, the delicacy they manifest for the feelings of the + bystanders in their mode of removing it amounts to prudishness; + yet they wear no clothing in the ordinary sense." (_Journal of + the Anthropological Institute_, 1883, pp. 94 and 331.) + + Of the Garo women of Bengal Dalton says: "Their sole garment is a + piece of cloth less than a foot in width that just meets around + the loins, and in order that it may not restrain the limbs it is + only fastened where it meets under the hip at the upper corners. + The girls are thus greatly restricted in the positions they may + modestly assume, but decorum is, in their opinion, sufficiently + preserved if they only keep their legs well together when they + sit or kneel." (E.T. Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, 1872, p. 66.) + + Of the Naga women of Assam it is said: "Of clothing there was not + much to see; but in spite of this I doubt whether we could excel + them in true decency and modesty. Ibn Muhammed Wali had already + remarked in his history of the conquest of Assam (1662-63), that + the Naga women only cover their breasts. They declare that it is + absurd to cover those parts of the body which everyone has been + able to see from their births, but that it is different with the + breasts, which appeared later, and are, therefore, to be covered. + Dalton (_Journal of the Asiatic Society_, Bengal, 41, 1, 84) adds + that in the presence of strangers Naga women simply cross their + arms over their breasts, without caring much what other charms + they may reveal to the observer. As regards some clans of the + naked Nagas, to whom the Banpara belong, this may still hold + good." (K. Klemm, "Peal's Ausflug nach Banpara," _Zeitschrift fuer + Ethnologie_, 1898, Heft 5, p. 334.) + + "In Ceylon, a woman always bathes in public streams, but she + never removes all her clothes. She washes under the cloth, bit by + bit, and then slips on the dry, new cloth, and pulls out the wet + one from underneath (much in the same sliding way as servant + girls and young women in England). This is the common custom in + India and the Malay States. The breasts are always bare in their + own houses, but in the public roads are covered whenever a + European passes. The vulva is never exposed. They say that a + devil, imagined as a white and hairy being, might have + intercourse with them." (Private communication.) + + In Borneo, "the _sirat_, called _chawal_ by the Malays, is a + strip of cloth a yard wide, worn round the loins and in between + the thighs, so as to cover the pudenda and perinaeum; it is + generally six yards or so in length, but the younger men of the + present generation use as much as twelve or fourteen yards + (sometimes even more), which they twist and coil with great + precision round and round their body, until the waist and stomach + are fully enveloped in its folds." (H. Ling Roth, "Low's Natives + of Borneo," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1892, p. + 36.) + + "In their own houses in the depths of the forest the Dwarfs are + said to neglect coverings for decency in the men as in the women, + but certainly when they emerge from the forest into the villages + of the agricultural Negroes, they are always observed to be + wearing some small piece of bark-cloth or skin, or a bunch of + leaves over the pudenda. Elsewhere in all the regions of Africa + visited by the writer, or described by other observers, a neglect + of decency in the male has only been recorded among the Efik + people of Old Calabar. The nudity of women is another question. + In parts of West Africa, between the Niger and the Gaboon + (especially on the Cameroon River, at Old Calabar, and in the + Niger Delta), it is, or was, customary for young women to go + about completely nude before they were married. In Swaziland, + until quite recently, unmarried women and very often matrons went + stark naked. Even amongst the prudish Baganda, who made it a + punishable offense for a man to expose any part of his leg above + the knee, the wives of the King would attend at his Court + perfectly naked. Among the Kavirondo, all unmarried girls are + completely nude, and although women who have become mothers are + supposed to wear a tiny covering before and behind, they very + often completely neglect to do so when in their own villages. + Yet, as a general rule, among the Nile Negroes, and still more + markedly among the Hamites and people of Masai stock, the women + are particular about concealing the pudenda, whereas the men are + ostentatiously naked. The Baganda hold nudity in the male to be + such an abhorrent thing that for centuries they have referred + with scorn and disgust to the Nile Negroes as the 'naked people.' + Male nudity extends northwest to within some 200 miles of + Khartum, or, in fact, wherever the Nile Negroes of the + Dinka-Acholi stock inhabit the country." (Sir H.H. Johnston, + _Uganda Protectorate_, vol. ii, pp. 669-672.) + + Among the Nilotic Ja-luo, Johnston states that "unmarried men go + naked. Married men who have children wear a small piece of goat + skin, which, though quite inadequate for purposes of decency, is, + nevertheless, a very important thing in etiquette, for a married + man with a child must on no account call on his mother-in-law + without wearing this piece of goat's skin. To call on her in a + state of absolute nudity would be regarded as a serious insult, + only to be atoned for by the payment of goats. Even if under the + new dispensation he wears European trousers, he must have a piece + of goat's skin underneath. Married women wear a tail of strings + behind." It is very bad manners for a woman to serve food to her + husband without putting on this tail. (Sir H.H. Johnston, _Uganda + Protectorate_, vol. ii, p. 781.) + + Mrs. French-Sheldon remarks that the Masai and other East African + tribes, with regard to menstruation, "observe the greatest + delicacy, and are more than modest." (_Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, 1894, p. 383.) + + At the same time the Masai, among whom the penis is of enormous + size, consider it disreputable to conceal that member, and in the + highest degree reputable to display it, even ostentatiously. (Sir + H.H. Johnston, _Kilima-njaro Expedition_, p. 413.) + + Among the African Dinka, who are scrupulously clean and delicate + (smearing themselves with burnt cows' dung, and washing + themselves daily with cows' urine), and are exquisite cooks, + reaching in many respects a higher stage of civilization, in + Schweinfurth's opinion, than is elsewhere attained in Africa, + only the women wear aprons. The neighboring tribes of the red + soil--Bongo, Mittoo, Niam-Niam, etc.--are called "women" by the + Dinka, because among these tribes the men wear an apron, while + the women obstinately refuse to wear any clothes whatsoever of + skin or stuff, going into the woods every day, however, to get a + supple bough for a girdle, with, perhaps, a bundle of fine grass. + (Schweinfurth, _Heart of Africa_, vol. i, pp. 152, etc.) + + Lombroso and Carrara, examining some Dinka negroes brought from + the White Nile, remark: "As to their psychology, what struck us + first was the exaggeration of their modesty; not in a single case + would the men allow us to examine their genital organs or the + women their breasts; we examined the tattoo-marks on the chest of + one of the women, and she remained sad and irritable for two days + afterward." They add that in sexual and all other respects these + people are highly moral. (Lombroso and Carrara, _Archivio di + Psichiatria_, 1896, vol. xvii, fasc. 4.) + + "The negro is very rarely knowingly indecent or addicted to + lubricity," says Sir H.H. Johnston. "In this land of nudity, + which I have known for seven years, I do not remember once having + seen an indecent gesture on the part of either man or woman, and + only very rarely (and that not among unspoiled savages) in the + case of that most shameless member of the community--the little + boy." He adds that the native dances are only an apparent + exception, being serious in character, though indecent to our + eyes, almost constituting a religious ceremony. The only really + indecent dance indigenous to Central Africa "is one which + originally represented the act of coition, but it is so altered + to a stereotyped formula that its exact purport is not obvious + until explained somewhat shyly by the natives.... It may safely + be asserted that the negro race in Central Africa is much more + truly modest, is much more free from real vice, than are most + European nations. Neither boys nor girls wear clothing (unless + they are the children of chiefs) until nearing the age of + puberty. Among the Wankonda, practically no covering is worn by + the men except a ring of brass wire around the stomach. The + Wankonda women are likewise almost entirely naked, but generally + cover the pudenda with a tiny bead-work apron, often a piece of + very beautiful workmanship, and exactly resembling the same + article worn by Kaffir women. A like degree of nudity prevails + among many of the Awemba, among the A-lungu, the Batumbuka, and + the Angoni. Most of the Angoni men, however, adopt the Zulu + fashion of covering the glans penis with a small wooden case or + the outer shell of a fruit. The Wa-Yao have a strong sense of + decency in matters of this kind, which is the more curious since + they are more given to obscenity in their rites, ceremonies, and + dances than any other tribe. Not only is it extremely rare to see + any Yao uncovered, but both men and women have the strongest + dislike to exposing their persons even to the inspection of a + doctor. The Atonga and many of the A-nyanga people, and all the + tribes west of Nyassa (with the exception possibly of the + A-lunda) have not the Yao regard for decency, and, although they + can seldom or ever be accused of a deliberate intention to expose + themselves, the men are relatively indifferent as to whether + their nakedness is or is not concealed, though the women are + modest and careful in this respect." (H.H. Johnston, _British + Central Africa_, 1897, pp. 408-419.) + + In Azimba land, Central Africa, H. Crawford Angus, who has spent + many years in this part of Africa, writes: "It has been my + experience that the more naked the people, and the more to us + obscene and shameless their manners and customs, the more moral + and strict they are in the matter of sexual intercourse." He + proceeds to give a description of the _chensamwali_, or + initiation ceremony of girls at puberty, a season of rejoicing + when the girl is initiated into all the secrets of marriage, amid + songs and dances referring to the act of coition. "The whole + matter is looked upon as a matter of course, and not as a thing + to be ashamed of or to hide, and, being thus openly treated of + and no secrecy made about it, you find in this tribe that the + women are very virtuous. They know from the first all that is to + be known, and cannot see any reason for secrecy concerning + natural laws or the powers and senses that have been given them + from birth." (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1898, Heft 6, p. + 479.) + + Of the Monbuttu of Central Africa, another observer says: "It is + surprising how a Monbuttu woman of birth can, without the aid of + dress, impress others with her dignity and modesty." (_British + Medical Journal_. June 14, 1890.) + + "The women at Upoto wear no clothes whatever, and came up to us + in the most unreserved manner. An interesting gradation in the + arrangement of the female costume has been observed by us: as we + ascended the Congo, the higher up the river we found ourselves, + the higher the dress reached, till it has now, at last, + culminated in absolute nudity." (T.H. Parke, _My Personal + Experiences in Equatorial Africa_, 1891, p. 61.) + + "There exists throughout the Congo population a marked + appreciation of the sentiment of decency and shame as applied to + private actions," says Mr. Herbert Ward. In explanation of the + nudity of the women at Upoto, a chief remarked to Ward that + "concealment is food for the inquisitive." (_Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, 1895, p. 293.) + + In the Gold Coast and surrounding countries complete nudity is + extremely rare, except when circumstances make it desirable; on + occasion clothing is abandoned with unconcern. "I have on several + occasions," says Dr. Freeman, "seen women at Accra walk from the + beach, where they have been bathing, across the road to their + houses, where they would proceed to dry themselves, and resume + their garments; and women may not infrequently be seen bathing in + pools by the wayside, conversing quite unconstrainedly with their + male acquaintances, who are seated on the bank. The mere + unclothed body conveys to their minds no idea of indecency. + Immodesty and indelicacy of manner are practically unknown." He + adds that the excessive zeal of missionaries in urging their + converts to adopt European dress--which they are only too ready + to do--is much to be regretted, since the close-fitting, thin + garments are really less modest than the loose clothes they + replace, besides being much less cleanly. (R.A. Freeman, _Travels + and Life in Ashanti and Jaman_, 1898, p. 379.) + + At Loango, says Pechuel-Loesche, "the well-bred negress likes to + cover her bosom, and is sensitive to critical male eyes; if she + meets a European when without her overgarment, she instinctively, + though not without coquetry, takes the attitude of the Medicean + Venus." Men and women bathe separately, and hide themselves from + each other when naked. The women also exhibit shame when + discovered suckling their babies. (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, + 1878, pp. 27-31.) + + The Koran (Sura XXIV) forbids showing the pudenda, as well as the + face, yet a veiled Mohammedan woman, Stern remarks, even in the + streets of Constantinople, will stand still and pull up her + clothes to scratch her private parts, and in Beyrout, he saw + Turkish prostitutes, still veiled, place themselves in the + position for coitus. (B. Stern, _Medizin, etc., in der Tuerkei_, + vol. ii, p. 162.) + + "An Englishman surprised a woman while bathing in the Euphrates; + she held her hands over her face, without troubling as to what + else the stranger might see. In Egypt, I have myself seen quite + naked young peasant girls, who hastened to see us, after covering + their faces." (C. Niebuhr, _Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien_, + 1774, vol. i, p. 165.) + + When Helfer was taken to visit the ladies in the palace of the + Imam of Muskat, at Buscheir, he found that their faces were + covered with black masks, though the rest of the body might be + clothed in a transparent sort of crape; to look at a naked face + was very painful to the ladies themselves; even a mother never + lifts the mask from the face of her daughter after the age of + twelve; that is reserved for her lord and husband. "I observed + that the ladies looked at me with a certain confusion, and after + they had glanced into my face, lowered their eyes, ashamed. On + making inquiries, I found that my uncovered face was indecent, as + a naked person would be to us. They begged me to assume a mask, + and when a waiting-woman had bound a splendidly decorated one + round my head, they all exclaimed: 'Tahip! tahip!'--beautiful, + beautiful." (J.W. Helfer, _Reisen in Vorderasian und Indien_, + vol. ii, p. 12.) + + In Algeria--in the provinces of Constantine, in Biskra, even + Aures,--"among the women especially, not one is restrained by any + modesty in unfastening her girdle to any comer" (when a search + was being made for tattoo-marks on the lower extremities). "In + spite of the great licentiousness of the manners," the same + writer continues, "the Arab and the Kabyle possess great personal + modesty, and with difficulty are persuaded to exhibit the body + nude; is it the result of real modesty, or of their inveterate + habits of active pederasty? Whatever the cause, they always hide + the sexual organs with their hands or their handkerchiefs, and + are disagreeably affected even by the slightest touch of the + doctor." (Batut, _Archives d'Anthropologie Criminelle_, January + 15, 1893.) + + "Moslem modesty," remarks Wellhausen, "was carried to great + lengths, insufficient clothing being forbidden. It was marked + even among the heathen Arabs, as among Semites and old + civilizations generally; we must not be deceived by the + occasional examples of immodesty in individual cases. The Sunna + prescribes that a man shall not uncover himself even to himself, + and shall not wash naked--from fear of God and of spirits; Job + did so, and atoned for it heavily. When in Arab antiquity + grown-up persons showed themselves naked, it was only under + extraordinary circumstances, and to attain unusual ends.... Women + when mourning uncovered not only the face and bosom, but also + tore all their garments. The messenger who brought bad news tore + his garments. A mother desiring to bring pressure to bear on her + son took off her clothes. A man to whom vengeance is forbidden + showed his despair and disapproval by uncovering his posterior + and strewing earth on his head, or by raising his garment behind + and covering his head with it. This was done also in fulfilling + natural necessities." (Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, + 1897, pp. 173, 195-196.) + + Mantegazza mentions that a Lapland woman refused even for the sum + of 150 francs to allow him to photograph her naked, though the + men placed themselves before the camera in the costume of Adam + for a much smaller sum. In the same book Mantegazza remarks that + in the eighteenth century, travelers found it extremely difficult + to persuade Samoyed women to show themselves naked. Among the + same people, he says, the newly-married wife must conceal her + face from her husband for two months after marriage, and only + then yield to his embraces. (Mantegazza, _La Donna_, cap. IV.) + + "The beauty of a Chinese woman," says Dr. Matignon, "resides + largely in her foot. 'A foot which is not deformed is a + dishonor,' says a poet. For the husband the foot is more + interesting than the face. Only the husband may see his wife's + foot naked. A Chinese woman is as reticent in showing her feet to + a man as a European woman her breasts. I have often had to treat + Chinese women with ridiculously small feet for wounds and + excoriations, the result of tight-bandaging. They exhibited the + prudishness of school-girls, blushed, turned their backs to + unfasten the bandages, and then concealed the foot in a cloth, + leaving only the affected part uncovered. Modesty is a question + of convention; Chinese have it for their feet," (J. Matignon, "A + propos d'un Pied de Chinoise," _Archives d'Anthropologie + Criminelle_, 1898, p. 445.) + + Among the Yakuts of Northeast Siberia, "there was a well-known + custom according to which a bride should avoid showing herself or + her uncovered body to her father-in-law. In ancient times, they + say, a bride concealed herself for seven years from her + father-in-law, and from the brothers and other masculine + relations of her husband.... The men also tried not to meet her, + saying, 'The poor child will be ashamed.' If a meeting could not + be avoided the young woman put a mask on her face.... Nowadays, + the young wives only avoid showing to their male relatives-in-law + the uncovered body. Amongst the rich they avoid going about in + the presence of these in the chemise alone. In some places, they + lay especial emphasis on the fact that it is a shame for young + wives to show their uncovered hair and feet to the male relatives + of their husbands. On the other side, the male relatives of the + husband ought to avoid showing to the young wife the body + uncovered above the elbow or the sole of the foot, and they ought + to avoid indecent expressions and vulgar vituperations in her + presence.... That these observances are not the result of a + specially delicate modesty, is proved by the fact that even young + girls constantly twist thread upon the naked thigh, unembarrassed + by the presence of men who do not belong to the household; nor do + they show any embarrassment if a strange man comes upon them when + uncovered to the waist. The one thing which they do not like, and + at which they show anger, is that such persons look carefully at + their uncovered feet.... The former simplicity, with lack of + shame in uncovering the body, is disappearing." (Sieroshevski, + "The Yakuts," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, + Jan.-June, 1901, p. 93.) + + "In Japan (Captain ---- tells me), the bathing-place of the women + was perfectly open (the shampooing, indeed, was done by a man), + and Englishmen were offered no obstacle, nor excited the least + repugnance; indeed, girls after their bath would freely pass, + sometimes as if holding out their hair for innocent admiration, + and this continued until countrymen of ours, by vile laughter and + jests, made them guard themselves from insult by secrecy. So + corruption spreads, and heathenism is blacker by our contact." + (Private communication.) + + "Speaking once with a Japanese gentleman, I observed that we + considered it an act of indecency for men and women to wash + together. He shrugged his shoulders as he answered: 'But these + Westerns have such prurient minds!'" (Mitford, _Tales of Old + Japan_, 1871.) + + Dr. Carl Davidsohn, who remarks that he had ample opportunity of + noting the great beauty of the Japanese women in a national + dance, performed naked, points out that the Japanese have no + aesthetic sense for the nude. "This was shown at the Jubilee + Exposition at Kyoto. Here, among many rooms full of art objects, + one was devoted to oil pictures in the European manner. Among + these only one represented a nude figure, a Psyche, or Truth. It + was the first time such a picture had been seen. Men and women + crowded around it. After they had gazed at it for a time, most + began to giggle and laugh; some by their air and gestures clearly + showed their disgust; all found that it was not aesthetic to paint + a naked woman, though in Nature, nakedness was in no way + offensive to them. In the middle of the same city, at a fountain + reputed to possess special virtues, men and women will stand + together naked and let the water run over them." (Carl + Davidsohn, "Das Nackte bei den Japanern," _Globus_, 1896, No. + 16.) + + "It is very difficult to investigate the hairiness of Ainu + women," Baelz remarks, "for they possess a really incredible + degree of modesty. Even when in summer they bathe--which happens + but seldom--they keep their clothes on." He records that he was + once asked to examine a girl at the Mission School, in order to + advise as regards the treatment of a diseased spine; although she + had been at the school for seven years, she declared that "she + would rather die than show her back to a man, even though a + doctor." (Baelz, "Die Aino," _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1901, + Heft 2, p. 178.) + + The Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, appear to have been accustomed + to cover the foreskin with the _kynodesme_ (a band), or the + _fibula_ (a ring), for custom and modesty demanded that the glans + should be concealed. Such covering is represented in persons who + were compelled to be naked, and is referred to by Celsus as + "decori causa." (L. Stieda, "Anatomisch-archaeologische Studien," + _Anatomische Hefte_, Bd. XIX, Heft 2, 1902.) + + "Among the Lydians, and, indeed, among the barbarians generally, + it is considered a deep disgrace, even for a man, to be seen + naked." (Herodotus, Book I, Chapter X.) + + "The simple dress which is now common was first worn in Sparta, + and there, more than anywhere else, the life of the rich was + assimilated to that of the people. The Lacedaemonians, too, were + the first who, in their athletic exercises, stripped naked and + rubbed themselves over with oil. This was not the ancient custom; + athletes formerly, even when they were contending at Olympia, + wore girdles about their loins [earlier still, the Mycenaeans had + always worn a loin-cloth], a practice which lasted until quite + lately, and still persists among barbarians, especially those of + Asia, where the combatants at boxing and wrestling matches wear + girdles." (Thucydides, _History_, Book I, Chapter VI.) + + "The notion of the women exercising naked in the schools with the + men ... at the present day would appear truly ridiculous.... Not + long since it was thought discreditable and ridiculous among the + Greeks, as it is now among most barbarous nations, for men to be + seen naked. And when the Cretans first, and after them the + Lacedaemonians, began the practice of gymnastic exercises, the + wits of the time had it in their power to make sport of those + novelties.... As for the man who laughs at the idea of undressed + women going through gymnastic exercises, as a means of revealing + what is most perfect, his ridicule is but 'unripe fruit plucked + from the tree of wisdom.'" (Plato, _Republic_, Book V.) + + According to Plutarch, however, among the Spartans, at all + events, nakedness in women was not ridiculous, since the + institutes of Lycurgus ordained that at solemn feasts and + sacrifices the young women should dance naked and sing, the young + men standing around in a circle to see and hear them. Aristotle + says that in his time Spartan girls only wore a very slight + garment. As described by Pausanias, and as shown by a statue in + the Vatican, the ordinary tunic, which was the sole garment worn + by women when running, left bare the right shoulder and breast, + and only reached to the upper third of the thighs. (M.M. Evans, + _Chapters on Greek Dress_, p. 34.) + + Among the Greeks who were inclined to accept the doctrines of + Cynicism, it was held that, while shame is not unreasonable, what + is good may be done and discussed before all men. There are a + number of authorities who say that Crates and Hipparchia + consummated their marriage in the presence of many spectators. + Lactantius (_Inst._ iii, 15) says that the practice was common, + but this Zeller is inclined to doubt. (Zeller, _Socrates and the + Socratic Schools_, translated from the Third German Edition, + 1897.) + + "Among the Tyrrhenians, who carry their luxury to an + extraordinary pitch, Timaeus, in his first book, relates that the + female servants wait on the men in a state of nudity. And + Theopompus, in the forty-third book of his _History_, states that + it is a law among the Tyrrhenians that all their women should be + in common; and that the women pay the greatest attention to their + persons, and often practice gymnastic exercises, naked, among the + men, and sometimes with one another; for that it is not accounted + shameful for them to be seen naked.... Nor is it reckoned among + the Tyrrhenians at all disgraceful either to do or suffer + anything in the open air, or to be seen while it is going on; for + it is quite the custom of their country, and they are so far from + thinking it disgraceful that they even say, when the master of + the house is indulging his appetite, and anyone asks for him, + that he is doing so and so, using the coarsest possible words.... + And they are very beautiful, as is natural for people to be who + live delicately, and who take care of their persons." (Athenaeus, + _Deipnosophists_, Yonge's translation, vol. iii, p. 829.) + + Dennis throws doubt on the foregoing statement of Athenaeus + regarding the Tyrrhenians or Etruscans, and points out that the + representations of women in Etruscan tombs shows them as clothed, + even the breast being rarely uncovered. Nudity, he remarks, was a + Greek, not an Etruscan, characteristic. "To the nudity of the + Spartan women I need but refer; the Thessalian women are + described by Persaeus dancing at banquets naked, or with a very + scanty covering (_apud_ Athenaeus, xiii, c. 86). The maidens of + Chios wrestled naked with the youths in the gymnasium, which + Athenaeus (xiii, 20) pronounces to be 'a beautiful sight.' And at + the marriage feast of Caranus, the Macedonian women tumblers + performed naked before the guests (Athenaeus, iv, 3)." (G. Dennis, + _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_, 1883, vol. i, p. 321.) + + In Rome, "when there was at first much less freedom in this + matter than in Greece, the bath became common to both sexes, and + though each had its basin and hot room apart, they could see each + other, meet, speak, form intrigues, arrange meetings, and + multiply adulteries. At first, the baths were so dark that men + and women could wash side by side, without recognizing each other + except by the voice; but soon the light of day was allowed to + enter from every side. 'In the bath of Scipio,' said Seneca, + 'there were narrow ventholes, rather than windows, hardly + admitting enough light to outrage modesty; but nowadays, baths + are called caves if they do not receive the sun's rays through + large windows.' ... Hadrian severely prohibited this mingling of + men and women, and ordained separate lavaera for the sexes. + Marcus Aurelius and Alexander Severus renewed this edict, but in + the interval, Heliogabalus had authorized the sexes to meet in + the baths." (Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, vol. ii, Ch. + XVIII; cf. Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, + Art. Balneae.) + + In Rome, according to ancient custom, actors were compelled to + wear drawers (_subligaculum_) on the stage, in order to safeguard + the modesty of Roman matrons. Respectable women, it seems, also + always wore some sort of _subligaculum_, even sometimes when + bathing. The name was also applied to a leathern girdle laced + behind, which they were occasionally made to wear as a girdle of + chastity. (Dufour, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 150.) Greek women also + wore a cloth round the loins when taking the bath, as did the men + who bathed there; and a woman is represented bathing and wearing + a sort of thin combinations reaching to the middle of the thigh. + (Smith's _Dictionary_, loc. cit.) At a later period, St. + Augustine refers to the _compestria_, the drawers or apron worn + by young men who stripped for exercise in the _campus_. (_De + Civitate Dei_, Bk. XIV, Ch. XVII.) + + Lecky (_History of Morals_, vol. ii, p. 318), brings together + instances of women, in both Pagan and early Christian times, who + showed their modesty by drawing their garments around them, even + at the moment that they were being brutally killed. Plutarch, in + his essay on the "Virtues of Women,"--moralizing on the + well-known story of the young women of Milesia, among whom an + epidemic of suicide was only brought to an end by the decree that + in future women who hanged themselves should be carried naked + through the market-places,--observes: "They, who had no dread of + the most terrible things in the world, death and pain, could not + abide the imagination of dishonor, and exposure to shame, even + after death." + + In the second century the physician Aretaeus, writing at Rome, + remarks: "In many cases, owing to involuntary restraint from + modesty at assemblies, and at banquets, the bladder becomes + distended, and from the consequent loss of its contractile power, + it no longer evacuates the urine." (_On the Causes and Symptoms + of Acute Diseases_, Book II, Chapter X.) + + Apuleius, writing in the second century, says: "Most women, in + order to exhibit their native gracefulness and allurements, + divest themselves of all their garments, and long to show their + naked beauty, being conscious that they shall please more by the + rosy redness of their skin than by the golden splendor of their + robes." (Thomas Taylor's translation of _Metamorphosis_, p. 28.) + + Christianity seems to have profoundly affected habits of thought + and feeling by uniting together the merely natural emotion of + sexual reserve with, on the one hand, the masculine virtue of + modesty--_modestia_--and, on the other, the prescription of + sexual abstinence. Tertullian admirably illustrates this + confusion, and his treatises _De Pudicitia_ and _De Cultu + Feminarum_ are instructive from the present point of view. In the + latter he remarks (Book II, Chapter I): "Salvation--and not of + women only, but likewise of men--consists in the exhibition, + principally, of modesty. Since we are all the temple of God, + modesty is the sacristan and priestess of that temple, who is to + suffer nothing unclean or profane to enter it, for fear that the + God who inhabits it should be offended.... Most women, either + from simple ignorance or from dissimulation, have the hardihood + so to walk as if modesty consisted only in the integrity of the + flesh, and in turning away from fornication, and there were no + need for anything else,--in dress and ornament, the studied + graces of form,--wearing in their gait the self-same appearance + as the women of the nations from whom the sense of _true_ modesty + is absent." + + The earliest Christian ideal of modesty, not long maintained, is + well shown in an epistle which, there is some reason to suppose, + was written by Clement of Rome. "And if we see it to be requisite + to stand and pray for the sake of the woman, and to speak words + of exhortation and edification, we call the brethren and all the + holy sisters and maidens, likewise all the other women who are + there, with all modesty and becoming behavior, to come and feast + on the truth. And those among us who are skilled in speaking, + speak to them, and exhort them in those words which God has given + us. And then we pray, and salute one another, the men the men. + But the women and the maidens will wrap their hands in their + garments; we also, with circumspection and with all purity, our + eyes looking upward, shall wrap our right hand in our garments; + and then they will come and give us the salutation on our right + hand, wrapped in our garments. Then we go where God permits us." + (_Two Epistles Concerning Virginity_; Second Epistle, Chapter + III, vol. xiv. Ante-Nicene Christian Library, p. 384.) + + "Women will scarce strip naked before their own husbands, + affecting a plausible pretense of modesty," writes Clement of + Alexandria, about the end of the second century, "but any others + who wish may see them at home, shut up in their own baths, for + they are not ashamed to strip before spectators, as if exposing + their persons for sale. The baths are opened promiscuously to men + and women; and there they strip for licentious indulgence (for, + from looking, men get to loving), as if their modesty had been + washed away in the bath. Those who have not become utterly + destitute of modesty shut out strangers, but bathe with their own + servants, and strip naked before their slaves, and are rubbed by + them, giving to the crouching menial liberty to lust, by + permitting fearless handling, for those who are introduced before + their naked mistresses while in the bath, study to strip + themselves in order to show audacity in lust, casting off fear in + consequence of the wicked custom. The ancient athletes, ashamed + to exhibit a man naked, preserved their modesty by going through + the contest in drawers; but these women, divesting themselves of + their modesty along with their chemise, wish to appear beautiful, + but, contrary to their wish, are simply proved to be wicked." + (Clement of Alexandria, _Paedagogus_, Book III, Chapter V. For + elucidations of this passage, see Migne's _Patrologiae Cursus + Completus_, vol. vii.) Promiscuous bathing was forbidden by the + early Apostolical Constitutions, but Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, + found it necessary, in the third century, to upbraid even virgins + vowed to chastity for continuing the custom. "What of those," he + asks, "who frequent baths, who prostitute to eyes that are + curious to lust, bodies that are dedicated to chastity and + modesty? They who disgracefully behold naked men, and are seen + naked by men? Do they not themselves afford enticement to vice? + Do they not solicit and invite the desires of those present to + their own corruption and wrong? 'Let every one,' say you, 'look + to the disposition with which he comes thither: my care is only + that of refreshing and washing my poor body.' That kind of + defence does not clear you, nor does it excuse the crime of + lasciviousness and wantonness. Such a washing defiles; it does + not purify nor cleanse the limbs, but stains them. You behold no + one immodestly, but you, yourself, are gazed upon immodestly; you + do not pollute your eyes with disgraceful delight, but in + delighting others you yourself are polluted; you make a show of + the bathing-place; the places where you assemble are fouler than + a theatre. There all modesty is put off; together with the + clothing of garments, the honor and modesty of the body is laid + aside, virginity is exposed, to be pointed at and to be + handled.... Let your baths be performed with women, whose + behavior is modest towards you." (Cyprian, _De Habitu Virginum_, + cap. 19, 21.) The Church carried the same spirit among the + barbarians of northern Europe, and several centuries later the + promiscuous bathing of men and women was prohibited in some of + the Penitentials. (The custom was, however, preserved here and + there in Northern Europe, even to the end of the eighteenth + century, or later. In Rudeck's _Geschichte der oeffentlichen + Sittlichkeit in Deutschland_, an interesting chapter, with + contemporary illustrations, is devoted to this custom; also, Max + Bauer, _Das Geschlechtsleben in der Deutschen Vergangenheit_, pp. + 216-265.) + + "Women," says Clement again, "should not seek to be graceful by + avoiding broad drinking vessels that oblige them to stretch their + mouths, in order to drink from narrow alabastra that cause them + indecently to throw back the head, revealing to men their necks + and breasts. The mere thought of what she is ought to inspire a + woman with modesty.... On no account must a woman be permitted to + show to a man any portion of her body naked, for fear lest both + fall: the one by gazing eagerly, the other by delighting to + attract those eager glances." (_Paedagogus_, Book II, Chapter V.) + + James, Bishop of Nisibis, in the fourth century, was a man of + great holiness. We are told by Thedoret that once, when James had + newly come into Persia, it was vouchsafed to him to perform a + miracle under the following circumstances: He chanced to pass by + a fountain where young women were washing their linen, and, his + modesty being profoundly shocked by the exposure involved in this + occupation, he cursed the fountain, which instantly dried up, and + he changed the hair of the girls from black to a sandy color. + (Jortin, _Remarks on Ecclesiastical History_, vol. iii, p. 4.) + + Procopius, writing in the sixth century after Christ, and + narrating how the Empress Theodora, in early life, would often + appear almost naked before the public in the theatre, adds that + she would willingly have appeared altogether nude, but that "no + woman is allowed to expose herself altogether, unless she wears + at least short drawers over the lower part of the abdomen." + Chrysostom mentions, at the end of the fourth century, that + Arcadius attempted to put down the August festival (Majuma), + during which women appeared naked in the theatres, or swimming in + large baths. + + In mediaeval days, "ladies, at all events, as represented by the + poets, were not, on the whole, very prudish. Meleranz surprised a + lady who was taking a bath under a lime tree; the bath was + covered with samite, and by it was a magnificent ivory bed, + surrounded by tapestries representing the history of Paris and + Helen, the destruction of Troy, the adventures of AEneas, etc. As + Meleranz rides by, the lady's waiting-maids run away; she + herself, however, with quick decision, raises the samite which + covers the tub, and orders him to wait on her in place of the + maids. He brings her shift and mantle, and shoes, and then stands + aside till she is dressed; when she has placed herself on the + bed, she calls him back and commands him to drive away the flies + while she sleeps. Strange to say, the men are represented as more + modest than the women. When two maidens prepared a bath for + Parzival, and proposed to bathe him, according to custom, the + inexperienced young knight was shy, and would not enter the bath + until they had gone; on another occasion, he jumped quickly into + bed when the maidens entered the room. When Wolfdieterich was + about to undress, he had to ask the ladies who pressed around him + to leave him alone for a short time, as he was ashamed they + should see him naked. When Amphons of Spain, bewitched by his + step-mother into a were-wolf, was at last restored, and stood + suddenly naked before her, he was greatly ashamed. The maiden who + healed Iwein was tender of his modesty. In his love-madness, the + hero wanders for a time naked through the wood; three women find + him asleep, and send a waiting-maid to annoint him with salve; + when he came to himself, the maiden hid herself. On the whole, + however, the ladies were not so delicate; they had no hesitation + in bathing with gentlemen, and on these occasions would put their + finest ornaments on their heads. I know no pictures of the + twelfth and thirteenth centuries representing such a scene, but + such baths in common are clearly represented in miniatures of the + fifteenth century." (A. Schultz, _Das Hoefische Leben zur Zeit der + Minnesaenger_, vol. i, p. 225.) + + "In the years 1450-70, the use of the cod-piece was introduced, + whereby the attributes of manhood were accentuated in the most + shameless manner. It was, in fact, the avowed aim at that period + to attract attention to these parts. The cod-piece was sometimes + colored differently from the rest of the garments, often stuffed + out to enlarge it artificially, and decorated with ribbons." + (Rudeck, _Geschichte der oeffentlichen Sittlichkeit in + Deutschland_, pp. 45-48; Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, + vol. vi, pp. 21-23. Groos refers to the significance of this + fashion, _Spiele der Menschen_, p. 337.) + + "The first shirt began to be worn [in Germany] in the sixteenth + century. From this fact, as well as from the custom of public + bathing, we reach the remarkable result, that for the German + people, the sight of complete nakedness was the daily rule up to + the sixteenth century. Everyone undressed completely before going + to bed, and, in the vapor-baths, no covering was used. Again, the + dances, both of the peasants and the townspeople, were + characterized by very high leaps into the air. It was the chief + delight of the dancers for the male to raise his partner as high + as possible in the air, so that her dress flew up. That feminine + modesty was in this respect very indifferent, we know from + countless references made in the fifteenth and sixteenth + centuries. It must not be forgotten that throughout the middle + ages women wore no underclothes, and even in the seventeenth + century, the wearing of drawers by Italian women was regarded as + singular. That with the disappearance of the baths, and the use + of body-linen, a powerful influence was exerted on the creation + of modesty, there can be little doubt." (Rudeck, op. cit., pp. + 57, 399, etc.) + + In 1461, when Louis XI entered Paris, three very beautiful + maidens, quite naked, represented the Syrens, and declaimed poems + before him; they were greatly admired by the public. In 1468, + when Charles the Bold entered Lille, he was specially pleased, + among the various festivities, with a representation of the + Judgment of Paris, in which the three goddesses were nude. When + Charles the Fifth entered Antwerp, the most beautiful maidens of + the city danced before him, in nothing but gauze, and were + closely contemplated by Duerer, as he told his friend, Melancthon. + (B. Ritter, "Nuditaeten im Mittelalter," _Jahrbuecher fuer + Wissenschaft und Kunst_, 1855, p. 227; this writer shows how + luxury, fashion, poverty, and certain festivals, all combined to + make nudity familiar; cf. Fahne, _Der Carneval_, p. 249. Dulaure + quotes many old writers concerning the important part played by + nude persons in ancient festivals, _Des Divinites Generatrices_, + Chapter XIV.) + + Passek, a Polish officer who wrote an account of his campaigns, + admired the ladies of Denmark in 1658, but considered their + customs immodest. "Everyone sleeps naked as at birth, and none + consider it shameful to dress or undress before others. No + notice, even, is taken of the guest, and in the light one garment + is taken off after another, even the chemise is hung on the hook. + Then the door is bolted, the light blown out, and one goes to + bed. As we blamed their ways, saying that among us a woman would + not act so, even in the presence of her husband alone, they + replied that they knew nothing of such shame, and that there was + no need to be ashamed of limbs which God had created. Moreover, + to sleep without a shift was good, because, like the other + garments, it sufficiently served the body during the day. Also, + why take fleas and other insects to bed with one? Although our + men teased them in various ways, they would not change their + habits." (Passek, _Denkwuerdigkeiten_, German translation, p. 14.) + + Until late in the seventeenth century, women in England, as well + as France, suffered much in childbirth from the ignorance and + superstition of incompetent midwives, owing to the prevailing + conceptions of modesty, which rendered it impossible (as it is + still, to some extent, in some semi-civilized lands) for male + physicians to attend them. Dr. Willoughby, of Derby, tells how, + in 1658, he had to creep into the chamber of a lying-in woman on + his hands and knees, in order to examine her unperceived. In + France, Clement was employed secretly to attend the mistresses of + Louis XIV in their confinements; to the first he was conducted + blindfold, while the King was concealed among the bed-curtains, + and the face of the lady was enveloped in a network of lace. (E. + Malins, "Midwifery and Midwives," _British Medical Journal_, June + 22, 1901; Witkowski, _Histoire des Accouchements_, 1887, pp. 689 + et seq.) Even until the Revolution, the examination of women in + France in cases of rape or attempted outrage was left to a jury + of matrons. In old English manuals of midwifery, even in the + early nineteenth century, we still find much insistence on the + demands of modesty. Thus, Dr. John Burns, of Glasgow, in his + _Principles of Midwifery_, states that "some women, from motives + of false delicacy, are averse from examination until the pains + become severe." He adds that "it is usual for the room to be + darkened, and the bed-curtains drawn close, during an + examination." Many old pictures show the accoucheur groping in + the dark, beneath the bed-clothes, to perform operations on women + in childbirth. (A. Kind, "Das Weib als Gebaererin in der Kunst," + _Geschlecht und Gesellschaft_, Bd. II, Heft 5, p. 203.) + + In Iceland, Winkler stated in 1861 that he sometimes slept in the + same room as a whole family; "it is often the custom for ten or + more persons to use the same room for living in and sleeping, + young and old, master and servant, male and female, and from + motives of economy, all the clothes, without exception, are + removed." (G. Winkler, _Island; seine Bewohner_, etc., pp. 107, + 110.) + + "At Cork," saye Fynes Moryson, in 1617, "I have seen with these + eyes young maids stark naked grinding corn with certain stones to + make cakes thereof." (Moryson, _Itinerary_, Part 3, Book III, + Chapter V.) + + "In the more remote parts of Ireland," Moryson elsewhere says, + where the English laws and manners are unknown, "the very chief + of the Irish, men as well as women, go naked in very winter-time, + only having their privy parts covered with a rag of linen, and + their bodies with a loose mantle. This I speak of my own + experience." He goes on to tell of a Bohemian baron, just come + from the North of Ireland, who "told me in great earnestness that + he, coming to the house of Ocane, a great lord among them, was + met at the door with sixteen women, all naked, excepting their + loose mantles; whereof eight or ten were very fair, and two + seemed very nymphs, with which strange sight, his eyes being + dazzled, they led him into the house, and then sitting down by + the fire with crossed legs, like tailors, and so low as could not + but offend chaste eyes, desired him to sit down with them. Soon + after, Ocane, the lord of the country, came in, all naked + excepting a loose mantle, and shoes, which he put off as soon as + he came in, and entertaining the baron after his best manner in + the Latin tongue, desired him to put off his apparel, which he + thought to be a burthen to him, and to sit naked by the fire with + this naked company. But the baron... for shame, durst not put off + his apparel." (Ib. Part 3, Book IV, Chapter II.) + + Coryat, when traveling in Italy in the early part of the + seventeenth century, found that in Lombardy many of the women + and children wore only smocks, or shirts, in the hot weather. At + Venice and Padua, he found that wives, widows, and maids, walk + with naked breasts, many with backs also naked, almost to the + middle. (Coryat, _Crudities_, 1611. The fashion of _decollete_ + garments, it may be remarked, only began in the fourteenth + century; previously, the women of Europe generally covered + themselves up to the neck.) + + In Northern Italy, some years ago, a fire occurred at night in a + house in which two girls were sleeping, naked, according to the + custom. One threw herself out and was saved, the other returned + for a garment, and was burnt to death. The narrator of the + incident [a man] expressed strong approval of the more modest + girl's action. (Private communication.) It may be added that the + custom of sleeping naked is still preserved, also (according to + Lippert and Stratz), in Jutland, in Iceland, in some parts of + Norway, and sometimes even in Berlin. + + Lady Mary Wortley Montague writes in 1717, of the Turkish ladies + at the baths at Sophia: "The first sofas were covered with + cushions and rich carpets, on which sat the ladies, and on the + second, their slaves behind them, but without any distinction of + rank in their dress, all being in a state of Nature; that is, in + plain English, stark naked, without any beauty or defect + concealed. Yet there was not the least wanton smile or immodest + gesture among them. They walked and moved with the same majestic + grace which Milton describes of our general mother. I am here + convinced of the truth of a reflection I had often made, that if + it was the fashion to go naked, the face would be hardly + observed." (_Letters and Works_, 1866, vol. i, p. 285.) + + At St. Petersburg, in 1774, Sir Nicholas Wraxall observed "the + promiscuous bathing of not less than two hundred persons, of both + sexes. There are several of these public bagnios," he adds, "in + Petersburg, and every one pays a few copecks for admittance. + There are, indeed, separate spaces for the men and women, but + they seem quite regardless of this distinction, and sit or bathe + in a state of absolute nudity among each other." (Sir N. Wraxall, + _A Tour Through Some of the Northern Parts of Europe_, 3d ed., + 1776, p. 248.) It is still usual for women in the country parts + of Russia to bathe naked in the streams. + + In 1790, Wedgwood wrote to Flaxman: "The nude is so general in + the work of the ancients, that it will be very difficult to avoid + the introduction of naked figures. On the other hand, it is + absolutely necessary to do so, or to keep the pieces for our own + use; for none, either male or female, of the present generation + will take or apply them as furniture if the figures are naked." + (Meteyard, _Life of Wedgwood_, vol. ii, p. 589.) + + Mary Wollstonecraft quotes (for reprobation and not for + approval) the following remarks: "The lady who asked the + question whether women may be instructed in the modern system of + botany, was accused of ridiculous prudery; nevertheless, if she + had proposed the question to me, I should certainly have + answered: 'They cannot!'" She further quotes from an educational + book: "It would be needless to caution you against putting your + hand, by chance, under your neck-handkerchief; for a modest woman + never did so." (Mary Wollstonecraft, _The Rights of Woman_, 1792, + pp. 277, 289.) + + At the present time a knowledge of the physiology of plants is + not usually considered inconsistent with modesty, but a knowledge + of animal physiology is still so considered by many. Dr. H.R. + Hopkins, of New York, wrote in 1895, regarding the teaching of + physiology: "How can we teach growing girls the functions of the + various parts of the human body, and still leave them their + modesty? That is the practical question that has puzzled me for + years." + + In England, the use of drawers was almost unknown among women + half a century ago, and was considered immodest and unfeminine. + Tilt, a distinguished gynecologist of that period, advocated such + garments, made of fine calico, and not to descend below the knee, + on hygienic grounds. "Thus understood," he added, "the adoption + of drawers will doubtless become more general in this country, + as, being worn without the knowledge of the general observer, + they will be robbed of the prejudice usually attached to an + appendage deemed masculine." (Tilt, _Elements of Health_, 1852, + p. 193.) Drawers came into general use among women during the + third quarter of the nineteenth century. + + Drawers are an Oriental garment, and seem to have reached Europe + through Venice, the great channel of communication with the East. + Like many other refinements of decency and cleanliness, they were + at first chiefly cultivated by prostitutes, and, on this account, + there was long a prejudice against them. Even at the present day, + it is said that in France, a young peasant girl will exclaim, if + asked whether she wears drawers: "I wear drawers, Madame? A + respectable girl!" Drawers, however, quickly became acclimatized + in France, and Dufour (op. cit., vol. vi, p. 28) even regards + them as essentially a French garment. They were introduced at the + Court towards the end of the fourteenth century, and in the + sixteenth century were rendered almost necessary by the new + fashion of the _vertugale_, or farthingale. In 1615, a lady's + _calecons_ are referred to as apparently an ordinary garment. It + is noteworthy that in London, in the middle of the same century, + young Mrs. Pepys, who was the daughter of French parents, usually + wore drawers, which were seemingly of the closed kind. (_Diary_ + of S. Pepys, ed. Wheatley, May 15, 1663, vol. iii.) They were + probably not worn by Englishwomen, and even in France, with the + decay of the farthingale, they seem to have dropped out of use + during the seventeenth century. In a technical and very complete + book, _L'Art de la Lingerie_, published in 1771, women's drawers + are not even mentioned, and Mercier (_Tableau de Paris_, 1783, + vol. vii, p. 54) says that, except actresses, Parisian women do + not wear drawers. Even by ballet dancers and actresses on the + stage, they were not invariably worn. Camargo, the famous dancer, + who first shortened the skirt in dancing, early in the eighteenth + century, always observed great decorum, never showing the leg + above the knee; when appealed to as to whether she wore drawers, + she replied that she could not possibly appear without such a + "precaution." But they were not necessarily worn by dancers, and + in 1727 a young _ballerina_, having had her skirt accidentally + torn away by a piece of stage machinery, the police issued an + order that in future no actress or dancer should appear on the + stage without drawers; this regulation does not appear, however, + to have been long strictly maintained, though Schulz (_Ueber + Paris und die Pariser_, p. 145) refers to it as in force in 1791. + (The obscure origin and history of feminine drawers have been + discussed from time to time in the _Intermediaire des Chercheurs + et Curieux_, especially vols. xxv, lii, and liii.) + + Prof. Irving Rosse, of Washington, refers to "New England + prudishness," and "the colossal modesty of some New York + policemen, who in certain cases want to give written, rather than + oral testimony." He adds: "I have known this sentiment carried to + such an extent in a Massachusetts small town, that a shop-keeper + was obliged to drape a small, but innocent, statuette displayed + in his window." (Irving Rosse, _Virginia Medical Monthly_, + October, 1892.) I am told that popular feeling in South Africa + would not permit the exhibition of the nude in the Art + Collections of Cape Town. Even in Italy, nude statues are + disfigured by the addition of tin fig-leaves, and sporadic + manifestations of horror at the presence of nude statues, even + when of most classic type, are liable to occur in all parts of + Europe, including France and Germany. (Examples of this are + recorded from time to time in _Sexual-reform_, published as an + appendix to _Geschlecht und Gesellschaft_.) + + Some years ago, (1898), it was stated that the Philadelphia + _Ladies' Home Journal_ had decided to avoid, in future, all + reference to ladies' under-linen, because "the treatment of this + subject in print calls for _minutiae_ of detail which is extremely + and pardonably offensive to refined and sensitive women." + + "A man, married twenty years, told me that he had never seen his + wife entirely nude. Such concealment of the external reproductive + organs, by married people, appears to be common. Judging from my + own inquiry, very few women care to look upon male nakedness, and + many women, though not wanting in esthetic feeling, find no + beauty in man's form. Some are positively repelled by the sight + of nakedness, even that of a husband or lover. On the contrary, + most men delight in gazing upon the uncovered figure of women. + It seems that only highly-cultivated and imaginative women enjoy + the spectacle of a finely-shaped nude man (especially after + attending art classes, and drawing from the nude, as I am told by + a lady artist). Or else the majority of women dissemble their + curiosity or admiration. A woman of seventy, mother of several + children, said to a young wife with whom I am acquainted: 'I have + never seen a naked man in my life.' This old lady's sister + confessed that she had never looked at _her own_ nakedness in the + whole course of her life. She said that it 'frightened' her. She + was the mother of three sons. A maiden woman of the same family + told her niece that women were 'disgusting, because they have + monthly discharges.' The niece suggested that women have no + choice in the matter, to which the aunt replied: 'I know that; + but it doesn't make them less disgusting,' I have heard of a girl + who died from haemorrhage of the womb, refusing, through shame, to + make the ailment known to her family. The misery suffered by some + women at the anticipation of a medical examination, appears to be + very acute. Husbands have told me of brides who sob and tremble + with fright on the wedding-night, the hysteria being sometimes + alarming. E, aged 25, refused her husband for six weeks after + marriage, exhibiting the greatest fear of his approach. Ignorance + of the nature of the sexual connection is often the cause of + exaggerated alarm. In Jersey, I used to hear of a bride who ran + to the window and screamed 'murder,' on the wedding-night." + (Private communication.) + + At the present day it is not regarded as incompatible with + modesty to exhibit the lower part of the thigh when in swimming + costume, but it is immodest to exhibit the upper part of the + thigh. In swimming competitions, a minimum of clothing must be + combined with the demands of modesty. In England, the regulations + of the Swimming Clubs affiliated to the Amateur Swimming + Association, require that the male swimmer's costume shall extend + not less than eight inches from the bifurcation downward, and + that the female swimmer's costume shall extend to within not more + than three inches from the knee. (A prolonged discussion, we are + told, arose as to whether the costume should come to one, two, or + three inches from the knee, and the proposal of the youngest lady + swimmer present, that the costume ought to be very scanty, met + with little approval.) The modesty of women is thus seen to be + greater than that of men by, roughly speaking, about two inches. + The same difference may be seen in the sleeves; the male sleeve + must extend for two inches, the female sleeve four inches, down + the arm. (Daily Papers, September 26, 1898.) + + "At ----, bathing in a state of Nature was _de rigueur_ for the + _elite_ of the bathers, while our Sunday visitors from the slums + frequently made a great point of wearing bathing costumes; it was + frequently noticed that those who were most anxious to avoid + exposing their persons were distinguished by the foulness of + their language. My impression was that their foul-mindedness + deprived them of the consciousness of safety from coarse jests. + If I were bathing alone among blackguards, I should probably feel + uncomfortable myself, if without costume." (Private + communication.) + + A lady in a little city of the south of Italy, told Paola + Lombroso that young middle-class girls there are not allowed to + go out except to Mass, and cannot even show themselves at the + window except under their mother's eye; yet they do not think it + necessary to have a cabin when sea-bathing, and even dispense + with a bathing costume without consciousness of immodesty. (P. + Lombroso, _Archivio di Psichiatria_, 1901, p. 306.) + + "A woman mentioned to me that a man came to her and told her in + confidence his distress of mind: he feared he had _corrupted_ his + wife because she got into a bath in his presence, with her baby, + and enjoyed his looking at her splashing about. He was deeply + distressed, thinking he must have done her harm, and destroyed + her modesty. The woman to whom this was said felt naturally + indignant, but also it gave her the feeling as if every man may + secretly despise a woman for the very things he teaches her, and + only meets her confiding delight with regret or dislike." + (Private communication.) + + "Women will occasionally be found to hide diseases and symptoms + from a bashfulness and modesty so great and perverse as to be + hardly credible," writes Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, an experienced + coroner. "I have known several cases of female deaths, reported + as sudden, and of cause unknown, when the medical man called in + during the latter hours of life has been quite unaware that his + lady patient was dying of gangrene of a strangulated femoral + hernia, or was bleeding to death from the bowel, or from ruptured + varices of the vulva." (_British Medical Journal_, Feb. 29, + 1908.) + + The foregoing selection of facts might, of course, be + indefinitely enlarged, since I have not generally quoted from any + previous collection of facts bearing on the question of modesty. + Such collections may be found in Ploss and Max Bartels _Das + Weib_, a work that is constantly appearing in new and enlarged + editions; Herbert Spencer, _Descriptive Sociology_ (especially + under such headings as "Clothing," "Moral Sentiments," and + "AEsthetic Products"); W.G. Sumner, _Folkways_, Ch. XI; + Mantegazza, _Amori degli Uomini_, Chapter II; Westermarck, + _Marriage_, Chapter IX; Letourneau, _L'Evolution de la Morale_, + pp. 126 et seq.; G. Mortimer, _Chapters on Human Love_, Chapter + IV; and in the general anthropological works of Waitz-Gerland, + Peschel, Ratzel and others. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The earliest theory I have met with is that of St. Augustine, who +states (_De Civitate Dei_, Bk. XIV, Ch. XVII) that erections of the penis +never occurred until after the Fall of Man. It was the occurrence of this +"shameless novelty" which made nakedness indecent. This theory fails to +account for modesty in women. + +[2] Guyau, _L'Irreligion de l'Avenir_, Ch. VII. + +[3] Timidity, as understood by Dugas, in his interesting essay on that +subject, is probably most remote. Dr. H. Campbell's "morbid shyness" +(_British Medical Journal_, September 26, 1896) is, in part, identical +with timidity, in part, with modesty. The matter is further complicated by +the fact that modesty itself has in English (like virtue) two distinct +meanings. In its original form it has no special connection with sex or +women, but may rather be considered as a masculine virtue. Cicero regards +"modestia" as the equivalent of the Greek sophrosune. This is the +"modesty" which Mary Wollstonecraft eulogized in the last century, the +outcome of knowledge and reflection, "soberness of mind," "the graceful +calm virtue of maturity." In French, it is possible to avoid the +confusion, and _modestie_ is entirely distinct from _pudeur_. It is, of +course, mainly with _pudeur_ that I am here concerned. + + + + +II. + +Modesty an Agglomeration of Fears--Children in Relation to +Modesty--Modesty in Animals--The Attitude of the Medicean Venus--The +Sexual Factor of Modesty Based on Sexual Periodicity and on the Primitive +Phenomena of Courtship--The Necessity of Seclusion in Primitive Sexual +Intercourse--The Meaning of Coquetry--The Sexual Charm of Modesty--Modesty +as an Expression of Feminine Erotic Impulse--The Fear of Causing Disgust +as a Factor of Modesty--The Modesty of Savages in Regard to Eating in the +Presence of Others--The Sacro-Pubic Region as a Focus of Disgust--The Idea +of Ceremonial Uncleanliness--The Custom of Veiling the Face--Ornaments and +Clothing--Modesty Becomes Concentrated in the Garment--The Economic Factor +in Modesty--The Contribution of Civilization to Modesty--The Elaboration +of Social Ritual. + + +That modesty--like all the closely-allied emotions--is based on fear, one +of the most primitive of the emotions, seems to be fairly evident.[4] The +association of modesty and fear is even a very ancient observation, and is +found in the fragments of Epicharmus, while according to one of the most +recent definitions, "modesty is the timidity of the body." Modesty is, +indeed, an agglomeration of fears, especially, as I hope to show, of two +important and distinct fears: one of much earlier than human origin, and +supplied solely by the female; the other of more distinctly human +character, and of social, rather than sexual, origin. + +A child left to itself, though very bashful, is wholly devoid of +modesty.[5] Everyone is familiar with the shocking _inconvenances_ of +children in speech and act, with the charming ways in which they +innocently disregard the conventions of modesty their elders thrust upon +them, or, even when anxious to carry them out, wholly miss the point at +issue: as when a child thinks that to put a little garment round the neck +satisfies the demands of modesty. Julius Moses states that modesty in the +uncovering of the sexual parts begins about the age of four. But in cases +when this occurs it is difficult to exclude teaching and example. Under +civilized conditions the convention of modesty long precedes its real +development. Bell has found that in love affairs before the age of nine +the girl is more aggressive than the boy and that at that age she begins +to be modest.[6] It may fairly be said that complete development of +modesty only takes place at the advent of puberty.[7] We may admit, with +Perez, one of the very few writers who touch on the evolution of this +emotion, that modesty may appear at a very early age if sexual desire +appears early.[8] We should not, however, be justified in asserting that +on this account modesty is a purely sexual phenomenon. The social impulses +also develop about puberty, and to that coincidence the compound nature of +the emotion of modesty may well be largely due. + +The sexual factor is, however, the simplest and most primitive element of +modesty, and may, therefore, be mentioned first. Anyone who watches a +bitch, not in heat, when approached by a dog with tail wagging gallantly, +may see the beginnings of modesty. When the dog's attentions become a +little too marked, the bitch squats firmly down on the front legs and hind +quarters though when the period of oestrus comes her modesty may be flung +to the air and she eagerly turns her hind quarters to her admirer's nose +and elevates her tail high in the air. Her attitude of refusal is +equivalent, that is to say, to that which in the human race is typified by +the classical example of womanly modesty in the Medicean Venus, who +withdraws the pelvis, at the same time holding one hand to guard the +pubes, the other to guard the breasts.[9] The essential expression in each +case is that of defence of the sexual centers against the undesired +advances of the male.[10] + + Stratz, who criticizes the above statement, argues (with + photographs of nude women in illustration) that the normal type + of European surprised modesty is shown by an attitude in which + the arms are crossed over the breast, the most sexually + attractive region, while the thighs are pressed together, one + being placed before the other, the shoulder raised and the back + slightly curved; occasionally, he adds, the hands may be used to + cover the face, and then the crossed arms conceal the breasts. + The Medicean Venus, he remarks, is only a pretty woman coquetting + with her body. Canova's Venus in the Pitti (who has drapery in + front of her, and presses her arms across her breast) being a + more accurate rendering of the attitude of modesty. But Stratz + admits that when a surprised woman is gazed at for some time, she + turns her head away, sinks or closes her eyes, and covers her + pubes (or any other part she thinks is being gazed at) with one + hand, while with the other she hides her breast or face. This he + terms the secondary expression of modesty. (Stratz, _Die + Frauenkleidung_, third ed., p. 23.) + + It is certainly true that the Medicean Venus merely represents an + artistic convention, a generalized tradition, not founded on + exact and precise observation of the gestures of modesty, and it + is equally true that all the instinctive movements noted by + Stratz are commonly resorted to by a woman whose nakedness is + surprised. But in the absence of any series of carefully recorded + observations, one may doubt whether the distinction drawn by + Stratz between the primary and the secondary expression of + modesty can be upheld as the general rule, while it is most + certainly not true for every case. When a young woman is + surprised in a state of nakedness by a person of the opposite, or + even of the same, sex, it is her instinct to conceal the primary + centers of sexual function and attractiveness, in the first + place, the pubes, in the second place the breasts. The exact + attitude and the particular gestures of the hands in achieving + the desired end vary with the individual, and with the + circumstances. The hand may not be used at all as a veil, and, + indeed, the instinct of modesty itself may inhibit the use of the + hand for the protection of modesty (to turn the back towards the + beholder is often the chief impulse of blushing modesty, even + when clothed), but the application of the hand to this end is + primitive and natural. The lowly Fuegian woman, depicted by + Hyades and Deniker, who holds her hand to her pubes while being + photographed, is one at this point with the Roman Venus described + by Ovid (_Ars Amatoria_, Book II):-- + + "Ipsa Venus pubem, quoties velamnia ponit, + Protegitur laeva semireducta manus." + + It may be added that young men of the lower social classes, at + all events in England, when bathing at the seaside in complete + nudity, commonly grasp the sexual organs with one hand, for + concealment, as they walk up from the sea. + +The sexual modesty of the female animal is rooted in the sexual +periodicity of the female, and is an involuntary expression of the organic +fact that the time for love is not now. Inasmuch as this fact is true of +the greater part of the lives of all female animals below man, the +expression itself becomes so habitual that it even intrudes at those +moments when it has ceased to be in place. We may see this again +illustrated in the bitch, who, when in heat, herself runs after the male, +and again turns to flee, perhaps only submitting with much persuasion to +his embrace. Thus, modesty becomes something more than a mere refusal of +the male; it becomes an invitation to the male, and is mixed up with his +ideas of what is sexually desirable in the female. This would alone serve +to account for the existence of modesty as a psychical secondary sexual +character. In this sense, and in this sense only, we may say, with Colin +Scott, that "the feeling of shame is made to be overcome," and is thus +correlated with its physical representative, the hymen, in the rupture of +which, as Groos remarks, there is, in some degree, a disruption also of +modesty. The sexual modesty of the female is thus an inevitable by-product +of the naturally aggressive attitude of the male in sexual relationships, +and the naturally defensive attitude of the female, this again being +founded on the fact that, while--in man and the species allied to him--the +sexual function in the female is periodic, and during most of life a +function to be guarded from the opposite sex, in the male it rarely or +never needs to be so guarded.[11] + +Both male and female, however, need to guard themselves during the +exercise of their sexual activities from jealous rivals, as well as from +enemies who might take advantage of their position to attack them. It is +highly probable that this is one important sexual factor in the +constitution of modesty, and it helps to explain how the male, not less +than the female, cultivates modesty, and shuns publicity, in the exercise +of sexual functions. Northcote has especially emphasized this element in +modesty, as originating in the fear of rivals. "That from this seeking +after secrecy from motives of fear should arise an instinctive feeling +that the sexual act must always be hidden, is a natural enough sequence. +And since it is not a long step between thinking of an act as needing +concealment and thinking of it as wrong, it is easily conceivable that +sexual intercourse comes to be regarded as a stolen and therefore, in some +degree, a sinful pleasure."[12] + +Animals in a state of nature usually appear to seek seclusion for sexual +intercourse, although this instinct is lost under domestication. Even the +lowest savages, also, if uncorrupted by civilized influences, seek the +solitude of the forest or the protection of their huts for the same +purpose; the rare cases in which coitus is public seem usually to involve +a ceremonial or social observance, rather than mere personal +gratification. At Loango, for instance, it would be highly improper to +have intercourse in an exposed spot; it must only be performed inside the +hut, with closed doors, at night, when no one is present.[13] + + It is on the sexual factor of modesty, existing in a well-marked + form even among animals, that coquetry is founded. I am glad to + find myself on this point in agreement with Professor Groos, who, + in his elaborate study of the play-instinct, has reached the same + conclusion. So far from being the mere heartless play by which a + woman shows her power over a man, Groos points out that coquetry + possesses "high biological and psychological significance," being + rooted in the antagonism between the sexual instinct and inborn + modesty. He refers to the roe, who runs away from the stag--but + in a circle. (Groos, _Die Spiele der Menschen_, 1899, p. 339; + also the same author's _Die Spiele der Thiere_, pp. 288 _et + seq._) Another example of coquetry is furnished by the female + kingfisher (_Alcedo ispida_), which will spend all the morning in + teasing and flying away from the male, but is careful constantly + to look back, and never to let him out of her sight. (Many + examples are given by Buechner, in _Liebe und Liebesleben in der + Tierwelt_.) Robert Mueller (_Sexualbiologie_, p. 302) emphasizes + the importance of coquetry as a lure to the male. + + "It is quite true," a lady writes to me in a private letter, + "that 'coquetry is a poor thing,' and that every milkmaid can + assume it, but a woman uses it principally in self-defence, while + she is finding out what the man himself is like." This is in + accordance with the remark of Marro, that modesty enables a woman + "to put lovers to the test, in order to select him who is best + able to serve the natural ends of love." It is doubtless the + necessity for this probationary period, as a test of masculine + qualities, which usually leads a woman to repel instinctively a + too hasty and impatient suitor, for, as Arthur Macdonald remarks, + "It seems to be instinctive in young women to reject the + impetuous lover, without the least consideration of his + character, ability, and fitness." + +This essential element in courtship, this fundamental attitude of pursuer +and pursued, is clearly to be seen even in animals and savages; it is +equally pronounced in the most civilized men and women, manifesting itself +in crude and subtle ways alike. Shakespeare's Angelo, whose virtue had +always resisted the temptations of vice, discovered at last that + + "modesty may more betray our sense + Than woman's lightness." + +"What," asked the wise Montaigne, "is the object of that virginal shame, +that sedate coldness, that severe countenance, that pretence of not +knowing things which they understand better than we who teach them, except +to increase in us the desire to conquer and curb, to trample under our +appetite, all that ceremony and those obstacles? For there is not only +matter for pleasure, but for pride also, in ruffling and debauching that +soft sweetness and infantine modesty."[14] The masculine attitude in the +face of feminine coyness may easily pass into a kind of sadism, but is +nevertheless in its origin an innocent and instinctive impulse. Restif de +la Bretonne, describing his own shame and timidity as a pretty boy whom +the girls would run after and kiss, adds: "It is surprising that at the +same time I would imagine the pleasure I should have in embracing a girl +who resisted, in inspiring her with timidity, in making her flee and in +pursuing her; that was a part which I burned to play."[15] It is the +instinct of the sophisticated and the unsophisticated alike. The Arabs +have developed an erotic ideal of sensuality, but they emphasize the +importance of feminine modesty, and declare that the best woman is "she +who sees not men and whom they see not."[16] This deep-rooted modesty of +women towards men in courtship is intimately interwoven with the marriage +customs and magic rites of even the most primitive peoples, and has +survived in many civilized practices to-day.[17] The prostitute must be +able to simulate the modesty she may often be far from feeling, and the +immense erotic advantage of the innocent over the vicious woman lies +largely in the fact that in her the exquisite reactions of modesty are +fresh and vigorous. "I cannot imagine anything that is more sexually +exciting," remarks Hans Menjago, "than to observe a person of the opposite +sex, who, by some external or internal force, is compelled to fight +against her physical modesty. The more modest she is the more sexually +exciting is the picture she presents."[18] It is notable that even in +abnormal, as well as in normal, erotic passion the desire is for innocent +and not for vicious women, and, in association with this, the desired +favor to be keenly relished must often be gained by sudden surprise and +not by mutual agreement. A foot fetichist writes to me: "It is the +_stolen_ glimpse of a pretty foot or ankle which produces the greatest +effect on me." A urolagnic symbolist was chiefly excited by the act of +urination when he caught a young woman unawares in the act. A fetichistic +admirer of the nates only desired to see this region in innocent girls, +not in prostitutes. The exhibitionist, almost invariably, only exposes +himself to apparently respectable girls. + + A Russian correspondent, who feels this charm of women in a + particularly strong degree, is inclined to think that there is an + element of perversity in it. "In the erotic action of the idea of + feminine enjoyment," he writes, "I think there are traces of a + certain perversity. In fact, owing to the impressions of early + youth, woman (even if we feel contempt for her in theory) is + placed above us, on a certain pedestal, as an almost sacred + being, and the more so because mysterious. Now sensuality and + sexual desire are considered as rather vulgar, and a little + dirty, even ridiculous and degrading, not to say bestial. The + woman who enjoys it, is, therefore, rather like a profaned altar, + or, at least, like a divinity who has descended on to the earth. + To give enjoyment to a woman is, therefore, like perpetrating a + sacrilege, or at least like taking a liberty with a god. The + feelings bequeathed to us by a long social civilization maintain + themselves in spite of our rational and deliberate opinions. + Reason tells us that there is nothing evil in sexual enjoyment, + whether in man or woman, but an unconscious feeling directs our + emotions, and this feeling (having a germ that was placed in + modern men by Christianity, and perhaps by still older religions) + says that woman _ought_ to be an absolutely pure being, with + ethereal sensations, and that in her sexual enjoyment is out of + place, improper, scandalous. To arouse sexual emotions in a + woman, if not to profane a sacred host, is, at all events, the + staining of an immaculate peplos; if not sacrilege, it is, at + least, irreverence or impertinence. For all men, the chaster a + woman is, the more agreeable it is to bring her to the orgasm. + That is felt as a triumph of the body over the soul, of sin over + virtue, of earth over heaven. There is something diabolic in such + pleasure, especially when it is felt by a man intoxicated with + love, and full of religious respect for the virgin of his + election. This feeling is, from a rational point of view, absurd, + and in its tendencies, immoral; but it is delicious in its + sacredly voluptuous subtlety. Defloration thus has its powerful + fascination in the respect consciously or unconsciously felt for + woman's chastity. In marriage, the feeling is yet more + complicated: in deflowering his bride, the Christian (that is, + any man brought up in a Christian civilization) has the feeling + of committing a sort of sin (for the 'flesh' is, for him, always + connected with sin) which, by a special privilege, has for him + become legitimate. He has received a special permit to corrupt + innocence. Hence, the peculiar prestige for civilized Christians, + of the wedding night, sung by Shelley, in ecstatic verses:-- + + "'Oh, joy! Oh, fear! What will be done + In the absence of the sun!'" + + This feeling has, however, its normal range, and is not, _per + se_, a perversity, though it may doubtless become so when unduly + heightened by Christian sentiment, and especially if it leads, as + to some extent it has led in my Russian correspondent, to an + abnormal feeling of the sexual attraction of girls who have only + or scarcely reached the age of puberty. The sexual charm of this + period of girlhood is well illustrated in many of the poems of + Thomas Ashe, and it is worthy of note, as perhaps supporting the + contention that this attraction is based on Christian feeling, + that Ashe had been a clergyman. An attentiveness to the woman's + pleasure remains, in itself, very far from a perversion, but + increases, as Colin Scott has pointed out, with civilization, + while its absence--the indifference to the partner's pleasure--is + a perversion of the most degraded kind. + +There is no such instinctive demand on the woman's part for innocence in +the man.[19] In the nature of things that could not be. Such emotion is +required for properly playing the part of the pursued; it is by no means +an added attraction on the part of the pursuer. There is, however, an +allied and corresponding desire which is very often clearly or latently +present in the woman: a longing for pleasure that is stolen or forbidden. +It is a mistake to suppose that this is an indication of viciousness or +perversity. It appears to be an impulse that occurs quite naturally in +altogether innocent women. The exciting charm of the risky and dangerous +naturally arises on a background of feminine shyness and timidity. We may +trace its recognition at a very early stage of history in the story of Eve +and the forbidden fruit that has so often been the symbol of the masculine +organs of sex. It is on this ground that many have argued the folly of +laying external restrictions on women in matters of love. Thus in quoting +the great Italian writer who afterwards became Pope Pius II, Robert Burton +remarked: "I am of AEneas Sylvius' mind, 'Those jealous Italians do very +ill to lock up their wives; for women are of such a disposition they will +mostly covet that which is denied most, and offend least when they have +free liberty to trespass.'"[20] + +It is the spontaneous and natural instinct of the lover to desire modesty +in his mistress, and by no means any calculated opinion on his part that +modesty is the sign of sexual emotion. It remains true, however, that +modesty is an expression of feminine erotic impulse. We have here one of +the instances, of which there, are so many, of that curious and +instinctive harmony by which Nature has sought the more effectively to +bring about the ends of courtship. As to the fact itself there can be +little doubt. It constantly forces itself on the notice of careful +observers, and has long been decided in the affirmative by those who have +discussed the matter. Venette, one of the earliest writers on the +psychology of sex, after discussing the question at length, decided that +the timid woman is a more ardent lover than the bold woman.[21] "It is the +most pudent girl," remarked Restif de la Bretonne whose experience of +women was so extensive, "the girl who blushes most, who is most disposed +to the pleasures of love," he adds that, in girls and boys alike, shyness +is a premature consciousness of sex.[22] This observation has even become +embodied in popular proverbs. "Do as the lasses do--say no, but take it," +is a Scotch saying, to which corresponds the Welsh saying, "The more +prudish the more unchaste."[23] + + It is not, at first, quite clear why an excessively shy and + modest woman should be the most apt for intimate relationships + with a man, and in such a case the woman is often charged with + hypocrisy. There is, however, no hypocrisy in the matter. The shy + and reserved woman holds herself aloof from intimacy in ordinary + friendship, because she is acutely sensitive to the judgments of + others, and fears that any seemingly immodest action may make an + unfavorable opinion. With a lover, however, in whose eyes she + feels assured that her actions can not be viewed unfavorably, + these barriers of modesty fall down, and the resulting intimacy + becomes all the more fascinating to the woman because of its + contrast with the extreme reserve she is impelled to maintain in + other relationships. It thus happens that many modest women who, + in non-sexual relationships with their own sex, are not able to + act with the physical unreserve not uncommon with women among + themselves, yet feel no such reserve with a man, when they are + once confident of his good opinion. Much the same is true of + modest and sensitive men in their relations with women. + +This fundamental animal factor of modesty, rooted in the natural facts of +the sexual life of the higher mammals, and especially man, obviously will +not explain all the phenomena of modesty. We must turn to the other great +primary element of modesty, the social factor. + +We cannot doubt that one of the most primitive and universal of the social +characteristics of man is an aptitude for disgust, founded, as it is, on a +yet more primitive and animal aptitude for disgust, which has little or no +social significance. In nearly all races, even the most savage, we seem +to find distinct traces of this aptitude for disgust in the presence of +certain actions of others, an emotion naturally reflected in the +individual's own actions, and hence a guide to conduct. Notwithstanding +our gastric community of disgust with lower animals, it is only in man +that this disgust seems to become transformed and developed, to possess a +distinctly social character, and to serve as a guide to social +conduct.[24] The objects of disgust vary infinitely according to the +circumstances and habits of particular races, but the reaction of disgust +is fundamental throughout. + +The best study of the phenomena of disgust known to me is, without doubt, +Professor Richet's.[25] Richet concludes that it is the _dangerous_ and +the _useless_ which evoke disgust. The digestive and sexual excretions and +secretions, being either useless or, in accordance with widespread +primitive ideas, highly dangerous, the genito-anal region became a +concentrated focus of disgust.[26] It is largely for this reason, no +doubt, that savage men exhibit modesty, not only toward women, but toward +their own sex, and that so many of the lowest savages take great +precautions in obtaining seclusion for the fulfillment of natural +functions. The statement, now so often made, that the primary object of +clothes is to accentuate, rather than to conceal, has in it--as I shall +point out later--a large element of truth, but it is by no means a +complete account of the matter. It seems difficult not to admit that, +alongside the impulse to accentuate sexual differences, there is also in +both men and women a genuine impulse to concealment among the most +primitive peoples, and the invincible repugnance often felt by savages to +remove the girdle or apron, is scarcely accounted for by the theory that +it is solely a sexual lure. + +In this connection it seems to me instructive to consider a special form +of modesty very strongly marked among savages in some parts of the world. +I refer to the feeling of immodesty in eating. Where this feeling exists, +modesty is offended when one eats in public; the modest man retires to +eat. Indecency, said Cook, was utterly unknown among the Tahitians; but +they would not eat together; even brothers and sisters had their separate +baskets of provisions, and generally sat some yards apart, with their +backs to each other, when they ate.[27] The Warrua of Central Africa, +Cameron found, when offered a drink, put up a cloth before their faces +while they swallowed it, and would not allow anyone to see them eat or +drink; so that every man or woman must have his own fire and cook for +himself.[28] Karl von den Steinen remarks, in his interesting book on +Brazil, that though the Bakairi of Central Brazil have no feeling of shame +about nakedness, they are ashamed to eat in public; they retire to eat, +and hung their heads in shame-faced confusion when they saw him innocently +eat in public. Hrolf Vaughan Stevens found that, when he gave an Orang +Laut (Malay) woman anything to eat, she not only would not eat it if her +husband were present, but if any man were present she would go outside +before eating or giving her children to eat.[29] Thus among these peoples +the act of eating in public produces the same feelings as among ourselves +the indecent exposure of the body in public.[30] + +It is quite easy to understand how this arises. Whenever there is any +pressure on the means of subsistence, as among savages at some time or +another there nearly always is, it must necessarily arouse a profound and +mixed emotion of desire and disgust to see another person putting into his +stomach what one might just as well have put into one's own.[31] The +special secrecy sometimes observed by women is probably due to the fact +that women would be less able to resist the emotions that the act of +eating would arouse in onlookers. As social feeling develops, a man +desires not only to eat in safety, but also to avoid being an object of +disgust, and to spare his friends all unpleasant emotions. Hence it +becomes a requirement of ordinary decency to eat in private. A man who +eats in public becomes--like the man who in our cities exposes his person +in public--an object of disgust and contempt. + +Long ago, when a hospital student on midwifery duty in London slums, I had +occasion to observe that among the women of the poor, and more especially +in those who had lost the first bloom of youth, modesty consisted chiefly +in the fear of being disgusting. There was an almost pathetic anxiety, in +the face of pain and discomfort, not to be disgusting in the doctor's +eyes. This anxiety expressed itself in the ordinary symptoms of modesty. +But, as soon as the woman realized that I found nothing disgusting in +whatever was proper and necessary to be done under the circumstances, it +almost invariably happened that every sign of modesty at once +disappeared.[32] In the special and elementary conditions of parturition, +modesty is reduced to this one fear of causing disgust; so that, when that +is negated, the emotion is non-existent, and the subject becomes, without +effort, as direct and natural as a little child. A fellow-student on +similar duty, who also discovered for himself the same character of +modesty--that if he was careful to guard her modesty the woman was careful +also, and that if he was not the woman was not--remarked on it to me with +sadness; it seemed to him derogatory to womanhood that what he had been +accustomed to consider its supreme grace should be so superficial that he +could at will set limits to it.[33] I thought then, as I think still, that +that was rather a perversion of the matter, and that nothing becomes +degrading because we happen to have learned something about its +operations. But I am more convinced than ever that the fear of causing +disgust--a fear quite distinct from that of losing a sexual lure or +breaking a rule of social etiquette--plays a very large part in the +modesty of the more modest sex, and in modesty generally. Our Venuses, as +Lucretius long since remarked and Montaigne after him, are careful to +conceal from their lovers the _vita postscenia_, and that fantastic fate +which placed so near together the supreme foci of physical attraction and +physical repugnance, has immensely contributed to build up all the +subtlest coquetries of courtship. Whatever stimulates self-confidence and +lulls the fear of evoking disgust--whether it is the presence of a beloved +person in whose good opinion complete confidence is felt, or whether it is +merely the grosser narcotizing influence of a slight degree of +intoxication--always automatically lulls the emotion of modesty.[34] +Together with the animal factor of sexual refusal, this social fear of +evoking disgust seems to me the most fundamental element in modesty. + +It is, of course, impossible to argue that the fact of the sacro-pubic +region of the body being the chief focus of concealment proves the +importance of this factor of modesty. But it may fairly be argued that it +owes this position not merely to being the sexual centre, but also as +being the excretory centre. Even among many lower mammals, as well as +among birds and insects, there is a well-marked horror of dirt, somewhat +disguised by the varying ways in which an animal may be said to define +"dirt." Many animals spend more time and energy in the duties of +cleanliness than human beings, and they often show well-marked anxiety to +remove their own excrement, or to keep away from it.[35] Thus this element +of modesty also may be said to have an animal basis. + +It is on this animal basis that the human and social fear of arousing +disgust has developed. Its probably wide extension is indicated not only +by the strong feeling attached to the constant presence of clothing on +this part of the body,--such constant presence being quite uncalled for if +the garment or ornament is merely a sort of sexual war-paint,--but by the +repugnance felt by many savages very low down in the scale to the public +satisfaction of natural needs, and to their more than civilized +cleanliness in this connection;[36] it is further of interest to note that +in some parts of the world the covering is not in front, but behind; +though of this fact there are probably other explanations. Among civilized +people, also, it may be added, the final and invincible seat of modesty is +sometimes not around the pubes, but the anus; that is to say, that in such +cases the fear of arousing disgust is the ultimate and most fundamental +element of modesty.[37] + + The concentration of modesty around the anus is sometimes very + marked. Many women feel so high a degree of shame and reserve + with regard to this region, that they are comparatively + indifferent to an anterior examination of the sexual organs. A + similar feeling is not seldom found in men. "I would permit of an + examination of my genitals by a medical man, without any feeling + of discomfort," a correspondent writes, "but I think I would + rather die than submit to any rectal examination." Even + physicians have been known to endure painful rectal disorders for + years, rather than undergo examination. + + "Among ordinary English girls," a medical correspondent writes, + "I have often noticed that the dislike and shame of allowing a + man to have sexual intercourse with them, when newly married, is + simply due to the fact that the sexual aperture is so closely + apposed to the anus and bladder. If the vulva and vagina were + situated between a woman's shoulder blades, and a man had a + separate instrument for coitus, not used for any excretory + purpose, I do not think women would feel about intercourse as + they sometimes do. Again, in their ignorance of anatomy, women + often look upon the vagina and womb as part of the bowel and its + exit of discharge, and sometimes say, for instance, + 'inflammation of the _bowel_', when they mean _womb_. Again, + many, perhaps most, women believe that they pass water through + the vagina, and are ignorant of the existence of the separate + urethral orifice. Again, women associate the vulva with the anus, + and so feel ashamed of it; even when speaking to their husbands, + or to a doctor, or among themselves; they have absolutely no name + for the vulva (I mean among the upper classes, and people of + gentle birth), but speak of it as 'down below,' 'low down,' etc." + + Even though this feeling is largely based on wrong and ignorant + ideas, it must still be recognized that it is to some extent + natural and inevitable. "How much is risked," exclaims Dugas, "in + the privacies of love! The results may be disillusion, disgust, + the consciousness of physical imperfection, of brutality or + coldness, of aesthetic disenchantment, of a sentimental shock, + seen or divined. To be without modesty, that is to say, to have + no fear of the ordeals of love, one must be sure of one's self, + of one's grace, of one's physical emotions, of one's feelings, + and be sure, moreover, of the effect of all these on the nerves, + the imagination, and the heart of another person. Let us suppose + modesty reduced to aesthetic discomfort, to a woman's fear of + displeasing, or of not seeming beautiful enough. Even thus + defined, how can modesty avoid being always awake and restless? + What woman could repeat, without risk, the tranquil action of + Phryne? And even in that action, who knows how much may not have + been due to mere professional insolence!" (Dugas, "La Pudeur," + _Revue Philosophique_, November, 1903.) "Men and Women," Schurtz + points out (_Altersklassen und Maennerbuende_, pp. 41-51), "have + certainly the capacity mutually to supplement and enrich each + other; but when this completion fails, or is not sought, the + difference may easily become a strong antipathy;" and he proceeds + to develop the wide-reaching significance of this psychic fact. + +I have emphasized the proximity of the excretory centres to the sexual +focus in discussing this important factor of modesty, because, in +analyzing so complex and elusive an emotion as modesty it is desirable to +keep as near as possible to the essential and fundamental facts on which +it is based. It is scarcely necessary to point out that, in ordinary +civilized society, these fundamental facts are not usually present at the +surface of consciousness and may even be absent altogether; on the +foundation of them may arise all sorts of idealized fears, of delicate +reserves, of aesthetic refinements, as the emotions of love become more +complex and more subtle, and the crude simplicity of the basis on which +they finally rest becomes inevitably concealed. + +Another factor of modesty, which reaches a high development in savagery, +is the ritual element, especially the idea of ceremonial uncleanness, +based on a dread of the supernatural influences which the sexual organs +and functions are supposed to exert. It may be to some extent rooted in +the elements already referred to, and it leads us into a much wider field +than that of modesty, so that it is only necessary to touch slightly on it +here; it has been exhaustively studied by Frazer and by Crawley. Offences +against the ritual rendered necessary by this mysterious dread, though +more serious than offences against sexual reticence or the fear of causing +disgust, are so obviously allied that they all reinforce one another and +cannot easily be disentangled. + +Nearly everywhere all over the world at a primitive stage of thought, and +even to some extent in the highest civilization, the sight of the sexual +organs or of the sexual act, the image or even the names of the sexual +parts of either man or woman, are believed to have a curiously potent +influence, sometimes beneficent, but quite as often maleficent. The two +kinds of influence may even be combined, and Riedel, quoted by Ploss and +Bartels,[38] states that the Ambon islanders carve a schematic +representation of the vulva on their fruit trees, in part to promote the +productiveness of the trees, and in part to scare any unauthorized person +who might be tempted to steal the fruit. The precautions prescribed as +regards coitus at Loango[39] are evidently associated with religious +fears. In Ceylon, again (as a medical correspondent there informs me), +where the penis is worshipped and held sacred, a native never allows it to +be seen, except under compulsion, by a doctor, and even a wife must +neither see it nor touch it nor ask for coitus, though she must grant as +much as the husband desires. All savage and barbarous peoples who have +attained any high degree of ceremonialism have included the functions not +only of sex, but also of excretion, more or less stringently within the +bounds of that ceremonialism.[40] It is only necessary to refer to the +Jewish ritual books of the Old Testament, to Hesiod, and to the customs +prevalent among Mohammedan peoples. Modesty in eating, also, has its roots +by no means only in the fear of causing disgust, but very largely in this +kind of ritual, and Crawley has shown how numerous and frequent among +primitive peoples are the religious implications of eating and +drinking.[41] So profound is this dread of the sacred mystery of sex, and +so widespread is the ritual based upon it, that some have imagined that +here alone we may find the complete explanation of modesty, and Salomon +Reinach declares that "at the origin of the emotion of modesty lies a +taboo."[42] + + Durkheim ("La Prohibition de l'Inceste," _L'Annee Sociologique_, + 1898, p. 50), arguing that whatever sense of repugnance women may + inspire must necessarily reach the highest point around the womb, + which is hence subjected to the most stringent taboo, + incidentally suggests that here is an origin of modesty. "The + sexual organs must be veiled at an early period, to prevent the + dangerous effluvia which they give off from reaching the + environment. The veil is often a method of intercepting magic + action. Once constituted, the practice would be maintained and + transformed." + + It was doubtless as a secondary and derived significance that the + veil became, as Reinach ("Le Voile de l'Oblation," op. cit., pp. + 299-311) shows it was, alike among the Romans and in the Catholic + Church, the sign of consecration to the gods. + +At an early stage of culture, again, menstruation is regarded as a process +of purification, a dangerous expulsion of vitiated humors. Hence the term +_katharsis_ applied to it by the Greeks. Hence also the mediaeval view of +women: "_Mulier speciosa templum aedificatum super cloacam_," said +Boethius. The sacro-pubic region in women, because it includes the source +of menstruation, thus becomes a specially heightened seat of taboo. +According to the Mosiac law (Leviticus, Chapter XX, v. 18), if a man +uncovered a menstruating woman, both were to be cut off. + +It is probable that the Mohammedan custom of veiling the face and head +really has its source solely in another aspect of this ritual factor of +modesty. It must be remembered that this custom is not Mohammedan in its +origin, since it existed long previously among the Arabians, and is +described by Tertullian.[43] In early Arabia very handsome men also veiled +their faces, in order to preserve themselves from the evil eye, and it has +been conjectured with much probability that the origin of the custom of +women veiling their faces may be traced to this magico-religious +precaution.[44] Among the Jews of the same period, according to +Buechler,[45] the women had their heads covered and never cut their hair; +to appear in the streets without such covering would be like a prostitute +and was adequate ground for divorce; adulterous women were punished by +uncovering their heads and cutting their hair. It is possible, though not +certain, that St. Paul's obscure injunction to women to cover their heads +"because of the angels," may really be based on the ancient reason, that +when uncovered they would be exposed to the wanton assaults of spirits (1 +Corinthians, Ch. XI, vv. 5-6),[46] exactly as Singhalese women believe +that they must keep the vulva covered lest demons should have intercourse +with them. Even at the present day St. Paul's injunction is still observed +by Christendom, which is, however, far from accepting, or even perhaps +understanding, the folk-lore ground on which are based such injunctions. + + Crawley thus summarizes some of the evidence concerning the + significance of the veil:-- + + "Sexual shyness, not only in woman, but in man, is intensified at + marriage, and forms a chief feature of the dangerous sexual + properties mutually feared. When fully ceremonial, the idea takes + on the meaning that satisfaction of these feelings will lead to + their neutralization, as, in fact, it does. The bridegroom in + ancient Sparta supped on the wedding night at the men's mess, and + then visited his bride, leaving her before daybreak. This + practice was continued, and sometimes children were born before + the pair had ever seen each other's faces by day. At weddings in + the Babar Islands, the bridegroom has to hunt for his bride in a + darkened room. This lasts a good while if she is shy. In South + Africa, the bridegroom may not see his bride till the whole of + the marriage ceremonies have been performed. In Persia, a husband + never sees his wife till he has consummated the marriage. At + marriages in South Arabia, the bride and bridegroom have to sit + immovable in the same position from noon till midnight, fasting, + in separate rooms. The bride is attended by ladies, and the groom + by men. They may not see each other till the night of the fourth + day. In Egypt, the groom cannot see the face of his bride, even + by a surreptitious glance, till she is in his absolute + possession. Then comes the ceremony, which he performs, of + uncovering her face. In Egypt, of course, this has been + accentuated by the seclusion and veiling of women. In Morocco, at + the feast before the marriage, the bride and groom sit together + on a sort of throne; all the time, the poor bride's eyes are + firmly closed, and she sits amidst the revelry as immovable as a + statue. On the next day is the marriage. She is conducted after + dark to her future home, accompanied by a crowd with lanterns and + candles. She is led with closed eyes along the street by two + relatives, each holding one of her hands. The bride's head is + held in its proper position by a female relative, who walks + behind her. She wears a veil, and is not allowed to open her eyes + until she is set on the bridal bed, with a girl friend beside + her. Amongst the Zulus, the bridal party proceeds to the house of + the groom, having the bride hidden amongst them. They stand + facing the groom, while the bride sings a song. Her companions + then suddenly break away, and she is discovered standing in the + middle, with a fringe of beads covering her face. Amongst the + people of Kumaun, the husband sees his wife first after the + joining of hands. Amongst the Bedui of North East Africa, the + bride is brought on the evening of the wedding-day by her girl + friends, to the groom's house. She is closely muffled up. Amongst + the Jews of Jerusalem, the bride, at the marriage ceremony, + stands under the nuptial canopy, her eyes being closed, that she + may not behold the face of her future husband before she reaches + the bridal chamber. In Melanesia, the bride is carried to her new + home on some one's back, wrapped in many mats, with palm-fans + held about her face, because she is supposed to be modest and + shy. Among the Damaras, the groom cannot see his bride for four + days after marriage. When a Damara woman is asked in marriage, + she covers her face for a time with the flap of a headdress made + for this purpose. At the Thlinkeet marriage ceremony, the bride + must look down, and keep her head bowed all the time; during the + wedding-day, she remains hiding in a corner of the house, and the + groom is forbidden to enter. At a Yezedee marriage, the bride is + covered from head to foot with a thick veil, and when arrived at + her new home, she retires behind a curtain in the corner of a + darkened room, where she remains for three days before her + husband is permitted to see her. In Corea, the bride has to cover + her face with her long sleeves, when meeting the bridegroom at + the wedding. The Manchurian bride uncovers her face for the first + time when she descends from the nuptial couch. It is dangerous + even to see dangerous persons. Sight is a method of contagion in + primitive science, and the idea coincides with the psychological + aversion to see dangerous things, and with sexual shyness and + timidity. In the customs noticed, we can distinguish the feeling + that it is dangerous to the bride for her husband's eyes to be + upon her, and the feeling of bashfulness in her which induces her + neither to see him nor to be seen by him. These ideas explain the + origin of the bridal veil and similar concealments. The bridal + veil is used, to take a few instances, in China, Burmah, Corea, + Russia, Bulgaria, Manchuria, and Persia, and in all these cases + it conceals the face entirely." (E. Crawley, _The Mystic Rose_, + pp. 328 et seq.) + + Alexander Walker, writing in 1846, remarks: "Among old-fashioned + people, of whom a good example may be found in old country people + of the middle class in England, it is indecent to be seen with + the head unclothed; such a woman is terrified at the chance of + being seen In that condition, and if intruded on at that time, + she shrieks with terror, and flies to conceal herself." (A. + Walker, _Beauty_, p. 15.) This fear of being seen with the head + uncovered exists still, M. Van Gennep informs me, in some regions + of France, as in Brittany. + +So far it has only been necessary to refer incidentally to the connection +of modesty with clothing. I have sought to emphasize the unquestionable, +but often forgotten, fact that modesty is in its origin independent of +clothing, that physiological modesty takes precedence of anatomical +modesty, and that the primary factors of modesty were certainly developed +long before the discovery of either ornament or garments. The rise of +clothing probably had its first psychical basis on an emotion of modesty +already compositely formed of the elements we have traced. Both the main +elementary factors, it must be noted, must naturally tend to develop and +unite in a more complex, though--it may well be--much less intense, +emotion. The impulse which leads the female animal, as it leads some +African women when found without their girdles, to squat firmly down on +the earth, becomes a more refined and extended play of gesture and +ornament and garment. A very notable advance, I may remark, is made when +this primary attitude of defence against the action of the male becomes a +defence against his eyes. We may thus explain the spread of modesty to +various parts of the body, even when we exclude the more special influence +of the evil eye. The breasts very early become a focus of modesty in +women; this may be observed among many naked, or nearly naked, negro +races; the tendency of the nates to become the chief seat of modesty in +many parts of Africa may probably be, in large part, thus explained, since +the full development of the gluteal regions is often the greatest +attraction an African woman can possess.[47] The same cause contributes, +doubtless, to the face becoming, in some races, the centre of modesty. We +see the influence of this defence against strange eyes in the special +precautions in gesture or clothing taken by the women in various parts of +the world, against the more offensive eyes of civilized Europeans. + +But in thus becoming directed only against sight, and not against action, +the gestures of modesty are at once free to become merely those of +coquetry. When there is no real danger of offensive action, there is no +need for more than playful defence, and no serious anxiety should that +defence be taken as a disguised invitation. Thus the road is at once fully +open toward the most civilized manifestations of the comedy of courtship. + +In the same way the social fear of arousing disgust combines easily and +perfectly with any new development in the invention of ornament or +clothing as sexual lures. Even among the most civilized races it has often +been noted that the fashion of feminine garments (as also sometimes the +use of scents) has the double object of concealing and attracting. It is +so with the little apron of the young savage belle. The heightening of the +attraction is, indeed, a logical outcome of the fear of evoking disgust. + +It is possible, as some ethnographists have observed,[48] that intercrural +cords and other primitive garments have a physical ground, inasmuch as +they protect the most sensitive and unprotected part of the body, +especially in women. We may note in this connection the significant +remarks of K. von den Steinen, who argues that among Brazilian tribes the +object of the _uluri_, etc., is to obtain a maximum of protection for the +mucous membrane with a minimum of concealment. Among the Eskimo, as Nansen +noted, the corresponding intercrural cord is so thin as to be often +practically invisible; this may be noted, I may add, in the excellent +photographs of Eskimo women given by Holm. + +But it is evident that, in the beginning, protection is to little or no +extent the motive for attaching foreign substances to the body. Thus the +tribes of Central Australia wear no clothes, although they often suffer +from the cold. But, in addition to armlets, neck-bands and head-bands, +they have string or hair girdles, with, for the women, a very small apron +and, for the men, a pubic tassel. The latter does not conceal the organs, +being no larger than a coin, and often brilliantly coated with white +pipeclay, especially during the progress of _corrobborees_, when a large +number of men and women meet together; it serves the purpose of drawing +attention to the organs.[49] When Forster visited the unspoilt islanders +of the Pacific early in the eighteenth century, he tells us that, though +they wore no clothes, they found it necessary to cover themselves with +various ornaments, especially on, the sexual parts. "But though their +males," he remarks, "were to all appearances equally anxious in this +respect with their females, this part of their dress served only to make +that more conspicuous which it intended to hide."[50] He adds the +significant remark that "these ideas of decency and modesty are only +observed at the age of sexual maturity," just as in Central Australia +women may only wear aprons after the initiation of puberty. + +"There are certain things," said Montaigne, "which are hidden in order to +be shown;" and there can be no doubt that the contention of Westermarck +and others, that ornament and clothing were, in the first place, intended, +not to conceal or even to protect the body, but, in large part, to render +it sexually attractive, is fully proved.[51] We cannot, in the light of +all that has gone before, regard ornaments and clothing as the sole cause +of modesty, but the feelings that are thus gathered around the garment +constitute a highly important factor of modesty. + + Among some Australian tribes it is said that the sexual organs + are only covered during their erotic dances; and it is further + said that in some parts of the world only prostitutes are + clothed. "The scanty covering," as Westermarck observes, "was + found to act as the most powerful obtainable sexual stimulus." It + is undoubtedly true that this statement may be made not merely of + the savage, but of the most civilized world. All observers agree + that the complete nudity of savages, unlike the civilized + _decollete_ or _detrousse_, has no suggestion of sexual + allurement. (Westermarck quotes numerous testimonies on this + point, op. cit., pp. 192 et seq.) Dr. R.W. Felkin remarks + concerning Central Africa, that he has never met more indecency + than in Uganda, where the penalty of death is inflicted on an + adult found naked in the street. (_Edinburgh Medical Journal_, + April, 1884.) A study of pictures or statuary will alone serve to + demonstrate that nakedness is always chaster in its effects than + partial clothing. As a well-known artist, Du Maurier, has + remarked (in _Trilby_), it is "a fact well known to all painters + and sculptors who have used the nude model (except a few shady + pretenders, whose purity, not being of the right sort, has gone + rank from too much watching) that nothing is so chaste as nudity. + Venus herself, as she drops her garments and steps on to the + model-throne, leaves behind her on the floor every weapon in her + armory by which she can pierce to the grosser passions of men." + Burton, in the _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (Part III, Sect. II, + Subsect. 3), deals at length with the "Allurements of Love," and + concludes that "the greatest provocations of lust are from our + apparel." The artist's model, as one informs me, is much less + exposed to liberties from men when nude than when she is + partially clothed, and it may be noted that in Paris studios the + model who poses naked undresses behind a screen. + + An admirable poetic rendering of this element in the philosophy + of clothing has been given by Herrick, that master of erotic + psychology, in "A Lily in Crystal," where he argues that a lily + in crystal, and amber in a stream, and strawberries in cream, + gain an added delight from semi-concealment; and so, he + concludes, we obtain + + "A rule, how far, to teach, + Your nakedness must reach." + + In this connection, also, it is worth noting that Stanley Hall, + in a report based on returns from nearly a thousand persons, + mostly teachers, ("The Early Sense of Self," _American Journal of + Psychology_, 1898, p. 366), finds that of the three functions of + clothes--protection, ornament, and Lotzean "self-feeling"--the + second is by far the most conspicuous in childhood. The attitude + of children is testimony to the primitive attitude toward + clothing. + + It cannot, however, be said that the use of clothing for the sake + of showing the natural forms of the body has everywhere been + developed. In Japan, where nakedness is accepted without shame, + clothes are worn to cover and conceal, and not to reveal, the + body. It is so, also, in China. A distinguished Chinese + gentleman, who had long resided in Europe, once told Baelz that + he had gradually learnt to grasp the European point of view, but + that it would be impossible to persuade his fellow-countrymen + that a woman who used her clothes to show off her figure could + possibly possess the least trace of modesty. (Baelz, _Zeitschrift + fuer Ethnologie_, 1901, Heft 2, p. 179.) + +The great artistic elaboration often displayed by articles of ornament or +clothing, even when very small, and the fact--as shown by Karl von den +Steinen regarding the Brazilian _uluri_--that they may serve as common +motives in general decoration, sufficiently prove that such objects +attract rather than avoid attention. And while there is an invincible +repugnance among some peoples to remove these articles, such repugnance +being often strongest when the adornment is most minute, others have no +such repugnance or are quite indifferent whether or not their aprons are +accurately adjusted. The mere presence or possession of the article gives +the required sense of self-respect, of human dignity, of sexual +desirability. Thus it is that to unclothe a person, is to humiliate him; +this was so even in Homeric times, for we may recall the threat of +Ulysses to strip Thyestes.[52] + +When clothing is once established, another element, this time a +social-economic element, often comes in to emphasize its importance and +increase the anatomical modesty of women. I mean the growth of the +conception of women as property. Waitz, followed by Schurtz and +Letourneau, has insisted that the jealousy of husbands is the primary +origin of clothing, and, indirectly, of modesty. Diderot in the eighteenth +century had already given clear expression to the same view. It is +undoubtedly true that only married women are among some peoples clothed, +the unmarried women, though full grown, remaining naked. In many parts of +the world, also, as Mantegazza and others have shown, where the men are +naked and the women covered, clothing is regarded as a sort of disgrace, +and men can only with difficulty be persuaded to adopt it. Before marriage +a woman was often free, and not bound to chastity, and at the same time +was often naked; after marriage she was clothed, and no longer free. To +the husband's mind, the garment appears--illogically, though naturally--a +moral and physical protection against any attack on his property.[53] Thus +a new motive was furnished, this time somewhat artificially, for making +nakedness, in women at all events, disgraceful. As the conception of +property also extended to the father's right over his daughters, and the +appreciation of female chastity developed, this motive spread to unmarried +as well as married women. A woman on the west coast of Africa must always +be chaste because she is first the property of her parents and afterwards +of her husband,[54] and even in the seventeenth century of Christendom so +able a thinker as Bishop Burnet furnished precisely the same reason for +feminine chastity.[55] This conception probably constituted the chief and +most persistent element furnished to the complex emotion of modesty by the +barbarous stages of human civilization. + +This economic factor necessarily involved the introduction of a new moral +element into modesty. If a woman's chastity is the property of another +person, it is essential that she shall be modest in order that men may not +be tempted to incur the penalties involved by the infringement of property +rights. Thus modesty is strictly inculcated on women in order that men may +be safeguarded from temptation. The fact was overlooked that modesty is +itself a temptation. Immodesty being, on this ground, disapproved by men, +a new motive for modesty is furnished to women. In the book which the +Knight of the Tower, Landry, wrote in the fourteenth century, for the +instruction of his daughters, this factor of modesty is naively revealed. +He tells his daughters of the trouble that David got into through the +thoughtlessness of Bathsheba, and warns them that "every woman ought +religiously to conceal herself when dressing and washing, and neither out +of vanity nor yet to attract attention show either her hair, or her neck, +or her breast, or any part which ought to be covered." Hinton went so far +as to regard what he termed "body modesty," as entirely a custom imposed +upon women by men with the object of preserving their own virtue. While +this motive is far from being the sole source of modesty, it must +certainly be borne in mind as an inevitable outcome of the economic factor +of modesty. + +In Europe it seems probable that the generally accepted conceptions of +mediaeval chivalry were not without influence in constituting the forms in +which modesty shows itself among us. In the early middle ages there seems +to have been a much greater degree of physical familiarity between the +sexes than is commonly found among barbarians elsewhere. There was +certainly considerable promiscuity in bathing and indifference to +nakedness. It seems probable, as Durkheim points out,[56] that this state +of things was modified in part by the growing force of the dictates of +Christian morality, which regarded all intimate approaches between the +sexes as sinful, and in part by the influence of chivalry with its +aesthetic and moral ideals of women, as the representative of all the +delicacies and elegancies of civilization. This ideal was regarded as +incompatible with the familiarities of the existing social relationships +between the sexes, and thus a separation, which at first existed only in +art and literature, began by a curious reaction to exert an influence on +real life. + +The chief new feature--it is scarcely a new element--added to modesty when +an advanced civilization slowly emerges from barbarism is the elaboration +of its social ritual.[57] Civilization expands the range of modesty, and +renders it, at the same time, more changeable. The French seventeenth +century, and the English eighteenth, represent early stages of modern +European civilization, and they both devoted special attention to the +elaboration of the minute details of modesty. The frequenters of the Hotel +Rambouillet, the _precieuses_ satirized by Moliere, were not only engaged +in refining the language; they were refining feelings and ideas and +enlarging the boundaries of modesty.[58] In England such famous and +popular authors as Swift and Sterne bear witness to a new ardor of modesty +in the sudden reticences, the dashes, and the asterisks, which are found +throughout their works. The altogether new quality of literary prurience, +of which Sterne is still the classical example, could only have arisen on +the basis of the new modesty which was then overspreading society and +literature. Idle people, mostly, no doubt, the women in _salons_ and +drawing-rooms, people more familiar with books than with the realities of +life, now laid down the rules of modesty, and were ever enlarging it, ever +inventing new subtleties of gesture and speech, which it would be immodest +to neglect, and which are ever being rendered vulgar by use and ever +changing. + + It was at this time, probably, that the custom of inventing an + arbitrary private vocabulary of words and phrases for the purpose + of disguising references to functions and parts of the body + regarded as immodest and indecent, first began to become common. + Such private slang, growing up independently in families, and + especially among women, as well as between lovers, is now almost + universal. It is not confined to any European country, and has + been studied in Italy by Niceforo (_Il Gergo_, 1897, cap. 1 and + 2), who regards it as a weapon of social defence against an + inquisitive or hostile environment, since it enables things to be + said with a meaning which is unintelligible to all but the + initiated person. While it is quite true that the custom is + supported by the consciousness of its practical advantages, it + has another source in a desire to avoid what is felt to be the + vulgar immodesty of direct speech. This is sufficiently shown by + the fact that such slang is mostly concerned with the sacro-pubic + sphere. It is one of the chief contributions to the phenomena of + modesty furnished by civilization. The claims of modesty having + effected the clothing of the body, the impulse of modesty finds a + further sphere of activity--half-playful, yet wholly + imperative--in the clothing of language. + + Modesty of speech has, however, a deep and primitive basis, + although in modern Europe it only became conspicuous at the + beginning of the eighteenth century. "All over the world," as + Dufour put it, "to do is good, to say is bad." Reticences of + speech are not adequately accounted for by the statement that + modesty tends to irradiate from the action to the words + describing the action, for there is a tendency for modesty to be + more deeply rooted in the words than in the actions. "Modest + women," as Kleinpaul truly remarks, "have a much greater horror + of saying immodest things than of doing them; they believe that + fig-leaves were especially made for the mouth." (Kleinpaul, + _Sprache ohne Worte_, p. 309.) It is a tendency which is linked + on to the religious and ritual feeling which we have already + found to be a factor of modesty, and which, even when applied to + language, appears to have an almost or quite instinctive basis, + for it is found among the most primitive savages, who very + frequently regard a name as too sacred or dangerous to utter. + Among the tribes of Central Australia, in addition to his + ordinary name, each individual has his sacred or secret name, + only known to the older and fully initiated members of his own + totemic group; among the Warramunga, it is not permitted to women + to utter even a man's ordinary name, though she knows it. + (Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, p. + 581.) In the mysterious region of sex, this feeling easily takes + root. In many parts of the world, men use among themselves, and + women use among themselves, words and even languages which they + may not use without impropriety in speaking to persons of the + opposite sex, and it has been shown that exogamy, or the fact + that the wife belongs to a different tribe, will not always + account for this phenomenon. (Crawley, _The Mystic Rose_, p. 46.) + A special vocabulary for the generative organs and functions is + very widespread. Thus, in northwest Central Queensland, there is + both a decent and an indecent vocabulary for the sexual parts; in + Mitakoodi language, for instance, _me-ne_ may be used for the + vulva in the best aboriginal society, but _koon-ja_ and _pukkil_, + which are names for the same parts, are the most blackguardly + words known to the natives. (W. Roth, _Ethnological Studies Among + the Queensland Aborigines_, p. 184.) Among the Malays, _puki_ is + also a name for the vulva which it is very indecent to utter, and + it is only used in public by people under the influence of an + obsessive nervous disorder. (W. Gilman Ellis, "Latah," _Journal + of Mental Science_, Jan., 1897.) The Swahili women of Africa have + a private metaphorical language of their own, referring to sexual + matters (Zache, _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1899, Heft 2-3, pp. + 70 et seq.), and in Samoa, again, young girls have a euphemistic + name for the penis, _aualuma_, which is not that in common use + (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1899, Heft 1, p. 31); exactly the + same thing is found in Europe, to-day, and is sometimes more + marked among young peasant women than among those of better + social class, who often avoid, under all circumstances, the + necessity for using any definite name. + + Singular as it may seem, the Romans, who in their literature + impress us by their vigorous and naked grip of the most private + facts of life, showed in familiar intercourse a dread of obscene + language--a dread ultimately founded, it is evident, on religious + grounds--far exceeding that which prevails among ourselves to-day + in civilization. "It is remarkable," Dufour observes, "that the + prostitutes of ancient Rome would have blushed to say an indecent + word in public. The little tender words used between lovers and + their mistresses were not less correct and innocent when the + mistress was a courtesan and the lover an erotic poet. He called + her his rose, his queen, his goddess, his dove, his light, his + star, and she replied by calling him her jewel, her honey, her + bird, her ambrosia, the apple of her eye, and never with any + licentious interjection, but only 'I will love!' (_Amabo_), a + frequent exclamation, summing up a whole life and vocation. When + intimate relations began, they treated each other as 'brother' + and 'sister.' These appellations were common among the humblest + and the proudest courtesans alike." (Dufour, _Histoire de la + Prostitution_, vol. ii, p. 78.) So excessive was the Roman horror + of obscenity that even physicians were compelled to use a + euphemism for _urina_, and though the _urinal_ or _vas urinarium_ + was openly used at the dining-table (following a custom + introduced by the Sybarites, according to Athenaeus, Book XII, + cap. 17), the decorous guest could not ask for it by name, but + only by a snap of the fingers (Dufour, op. cit., vol. ii, p. + 174). + + In modern Europe, as seems fairly evident from the early + realistic dramatic literature of various countries, no special + horror of speaking plainly regarding the sacro-pubic regions and + their functions existed among the general population until the + seventeenth century. There is, however, one marked exception. + Such a feeling clearly existed as regards menstruation. It is not + difficult to see why it should have begun at this function. We + have here not only a function confined to one sex and, therefore, + easily lending itself to a vocabulary confined to one sex; but, + what is even of more importance, the belief which existed among + the Romans, as elsewhere throughout the world, concerning the + specially dangerous and mysterious properties of menstruation, + survived throughout mediaeval times. (See e.g., Ploss and Bartels, + _Das Weib_, Bd. I, XIV; also Havelock Ellis, _Man and Woman_, + fourth ed. Ch. XI.) The very name, _menses_ ("monthlies"), is a + euphemism, and most of the old scientific names for this function + are similarly vague. As regards popular feminine terminology + previous to the eighteenth century, Schurig gives us fairly ample + information (_Parthenologia_, 1729, pp. 27 et seq.). He remarks + that both in Latin and Germanic countries, menstruation was + commonly designated by some term equivalent to "flowers," + because, he says, it is a blossoming that indicates the + possibility of fruit. German peasant women, he tells us, called + it the rose-wreath (Rosenkrantz). Among the other current + feminine names for menstruation which he gives, some are purely + fanciful; thus, the Italian women dignified the function with the + title of "marchese magnifico;" German ladies, again, would use + the locution, "I have had a letter," or would say that their + cousin or aunt had arrived. These are closely similar to the + euphemisms still used by women. + + It should be added that euphemisms for menstruation are not + confined to Europe, and are found among savages. According to + Hill Tout (_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1904, p. + 320; and 1905, p. 137), one of these euphemisms was "putting on + the moccasin," and in another branch of the same people, "putting + the knees together," "going outside" (in allusion to the + customary seclusion at this period in a solitary hut), and so on. + +It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that this process is an +intensification of modesty. It is, on the contrary, an attenuation of it. +The observances of modesty become merely a part of a vast body of rules of +social etiquette, though a somewhat stringent part on account of the vague +sense still persisting of a deep-lying natural basis. It is a significant +coincidence that the eighteenth century, which was marked by this new +extension of the social ritual of modesty, also saw the first appearance +of a new philosophic impulse not merely to analyze, but to dissolve the +conception of modesty. This took place more especially in France. + +The swift rise to supremacy, during the seventeenth century, of logical +and rational methods of thinking, in conjunction with the new development +of geometrical and mathematical science, led in the eighteenth century to +a widespread belief in France that human customs and human society ought +to be founded on a strictly logical and rational basis. It was a belief +which ignored those legitimate claims of the emotional nature which the +nineteenth century afterwards investigated and developed, but it was of +immense service to mankind in clearing away useless prejudices and +superstitions, and it culminated in the reforms of the great Revolution +which most other nations have since been painfully struggling to attain. +Modesty offered a tempting field for the eighteenth century philosophic +spirit to explore. + +The manner in which the most distinguished and adventurous minds of the +century approached it, can scarcely be better illustrated than by a +conversation, reported by Madame d'Epinay, which took place in 1750 at the +table of Mlle. Quinault, the eminent actress. "A fine virtue," Duclos +remarked, "which one fastens on in the morning with pins." He proceeded to +argue that "a moral law must hold good always and everywhere, which +modesty does not." Saint-Lambert, the poet, observed that "it must be +acknowledged that one can say nothing good about innocence without being a +little corrupted," and Duclos added "or of modesty without being +impudent." Saint-Lambert finally held forth with much poetic enthusiasm +concerning the desirability of consummating marriages in public.[59] This +view of modesty, combined with the introduction of Greek fashions, gained +ground to such an extent that towards the end of the century women, to the +detriment of their health, were sometimes content to dress in transparent +gauze, and even to walk abroad in the Champs Elysees without any clothing; +that, however, was too much for the public.[60] The final outcome of the +eighteenth century spirit in this direction was, as we know, by no means +the dissolution of modesty. But it led to a clearer realization of what is +permanent in its organic foundations and what is merely temporary in its +shifting manifestations. That is a realization which is no mean task to +achieve, and is difficult for many, even yet. So intelligent a traveler as +Mrs. Bishop (Miss Bird), on her first visit to Japan came to the +conclusion that Japanese women had no modesty, because they had no +objection to being seen naked when bathing. Twenty years later she +admitted to Dr. Baelz that she had made a mistake, and that "a woman may +be naked and yet behave like a lady."[61] In civilized countries the +observances of modesty differ in different regions, and in different +social classes, but, however various the forms may be, the impulse itself +remains persistent.[62] + +Modesty has thus come to have the force of a tradition, a vague but +massive force, bearing with special power on those who cannot reason, and +yet having its root in the instincts of all people of all classes.[63] It +has become mainly transformed into the allied emotion of decency, which +has been described as "modesty fossilized into social customs." The +emotion yields more readily than in its primitive state to any +sufficiently-strong motive. Even fashion in the more civilized countries +can easily inhibit anatomical modesty, and rapidly exhibit or accentuate, +in turn, almost any part of the body, while the savage Indian woman of +America, the barbarous woman of some Mohammedan countries, can scarcely +sacrifice her modesty in the pangs of childbirth. Even when, among +uncivilized races, the focus of modesty may be said to be eccentric and +arbitrary, it still remains very rigid. In such savage and barbarous +countries modesty possesses the strength of a genuine and irresistible +instinct. In civilized countries, however, anyone who places +considerations of modesty before the claims of some real human need +excites ridicule and contempt. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Fliess (_Die Beziehungen zwischen Nase und weiblichen +Geschlechts-Organen_, p. 194) remarks on the fact that, in the Bible +narrative of Eden, shame and fear are represented as being brought into +the world together: Adam feared God because he was naked. Melinaud +("Psychologie de la Pudeur," _La Revue_, Nov. 15, 1901) remarks that shame +differs from modesty in being, not a fear, but a kind of grief; this +position seems untenable. + +[5] Bashfulness in children has been dealt with by Professor Baldwin; see +especially his _Mental Development in the Child and the Race_, Chapter VI, +pp. 146 et seq., and _Social Interpretations in Mental Development_, +Chapter VI. + +[6] Bell, "A Preliminary Study of the Emotion of Love Between the Sexes," +_American Journal Psychology_, July, 1902. + +[7] Professor Starbuck (_Psychology of Religion_, Chapter XXX) refers to +unpublished investigations showing that recognition of the rights of +others also exhibits a sudden increment at the age of puberty. + +[8] Perez, _L'Enfant de Trois a Sept Ans_, 1886, pp. 267-277. + +[9] It must be remembered that the Medicean Venus is merely a +comparatively recent and familiar embodiment of a natural attitude which +is very ancient, and had impressed sculptors at a far earlier period. +Reinach, indeed, believes ("La Sculpture en Europe," _L'Anthropologie_, +No. 5, 1895) that the hand was first brought to the breast to press out +the milk, and expresses the idea of exuberance, and that the attitude of +the Venus of Medici as a symbol of modesty came later; he remarks that, as +regards both hands, this attitude may be found in a figurine of Cyprus, +2,000 years before Christ. This is, no doubt, correct, and I may add that +Babylonian figurines of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, represent her as +clasping her hands to her breasts or her womb. + +[10] When there is no sexual fear the impulse of modesty may be entirely +inhibited. French ladies under the old Regime (as A. Franklin points out +in his _Vie Privee d'Autrefois_) sometimes showed no modesty towards their +valets, not admitting the possibility of any sexual advance, and a lady +would, for example, stand up in her bath while a valet added hot water by +pouring it between her separated feet. + +[11] I do not hereby mean to deny a certain degree of normal periodicity +even to the human male; but such periodicity scarcely involves any element +of sexual fear or attitude of sexual defence, in man because it is too +slight to involve complete latency of the sexual functions, in other +species because latency of sexual function in the male is always +accompanied by corresponding latency in the female. + +[12] H. Northcote, _Christianity and the Sex Problem_, p. 8. Crawley had +previously argued (_The Mystic Rose_, pp. 134, 180) that this same +necessity for solitude during the performance of nutritive, sexual, and +excretory functions, is a factor in investing such functions with a +potential sacredness, so that the concealment of them became a religious +duty. + +[13] _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1878, p. 26. + +[14] _Essais_, livre ii, Ch. XV. + +[15] _Monsieur Nicolas_, vol. i, p. 89. + +[16] Lane, _Arabian Society_, p. 228. The Arab insistence on the value of +virginal modesty is well brought out in one of the most charming stories +of the _Arabian Nights_, "The History of the Mirror of Virginity." + +[17] This has especially been emphasized by Crawley, _The Mystic Rose_, +pp. 181, 324 et seq., 353. + +[18] _Geschlecht und Gesellschaft_, Bd. II, Heft 8, p. 358. + +[19] This, however, is not always or altogether true of experienced women. +Thus, the Russian correspondent already referred to, who as a youth was +accustomed, partly out of shyness, to feign complete ignorance of sexual +matters, informs me that it repeatedly happened to him at this time that +young married women took pleasure in imposing on themselves, not without +shyness but with evident pleasure, the task of initiating him, though they +always hastened to tell him that it was for his good, to preserve him from +bad women and masturbation. Prostitutes, also, often take pleasure in +innocent men, and Hans Ostwald tells (_Sexual-Probleme_, June, 1908, p. +357) of a prostitute who fell violently in love with a youth who had never +known a woman before; she had never met an innocent man before, and it +excited her greatly. And I have been told of an Italian prostitute who +spoke of the exciting pleasure which an unspoilt youth gave her by his +freshness, _tutta questa freschezza_. + +[20] _Anatomy of Melancholy_, Part III, Sect. III. Mem. IV. Subs. I. + +[21] N. Venette, _La Generation de l'Homme_, Part II, Ch. X. + +[22] _Monsieur Nicolas_, vol. i, p. 94. + +[23] Kryptadia, vol. ii, p. 26, 31. Ib. vol. iii, p. 162. + +[24] "Modesty is, at first," said Renouvier, "a fear which we have of +displeasing others, and of blushing at our own natural imperfections." +(Renouvier and Prat, _La Nouvelle Monadologie_, p. 221.) + +[25] C. Richet, "Les Causes du Degout," _L'Homme et l'Intelligence_, 1884. +This eminent physiologist's elaborate study of disgust was not written as +a contribution to the psychology of modesty, but it forms an admirable +introduction to the investigation of the social factor of modesty. + +[26] It is interesting to note that where, as among the Eskimo, urine, for +instance, is preserved as a highly-valuable commodity, the act of +urination, even at table, is not regarded as in the slightest degree +disgusting or immodest (Bourke, _Scatologic Rites_, p. 202). + +[27] Hawkesworth, _An Account of the Voyages_, etc., 1775, vol. ii, p. 52. + +[28] _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, vol. vi, p. 173. + +[29] Stevens, "Mittheilungen aus dem Frauenleben der Orang Belendas," +_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, Heft 4, p. 167, 1896. Crawley, (_Mystic +Rose_, Ch. VIII, p. 439) gives numerous other instances, even in Europe, +with, however, special reference to sexual taboo. I may remark that +English people of lower class, especially women, are often modest about +eating in the presence of people of higher class. This feeling is, no +doubt, due, in part, to the consciousness of defective etiquette, but that +very consciousness is, in part, a development of the fear of causing +disgust, which is a component of modesty. + +[30] Shame in regard to eating, it may be added, occasionally appears as a +neurasthenic obsession in civilization, and has been studied as a form of +psychasthenia by Janet. See e.g., (Raymond and Janet, _Les Obsessions et +la Psychasthenie_, vol. ii, p. 386) the case of a young girl of 24, who, +from the age of 12 or 13 (the epoch of puberty) had been ashamed to eat in +public, thinking it nasty and ugly to do so, and arguing that it ought +only to be done in private, like urination. + +[31] "Desire and disgust are curiously blended," remarks Crawley (_The +Mystic Rose_, p. 139), "when, with one's own desire unsatisfied, one sees +the satisfaction of another; and here we may see the altruistic stage +beginning; this has two sides, the fear of causing desire in others, and +the fear of causing disgust; in each case, personal isolation is the +psychological result." + +[32] Hohenemser argues that the fear of causing disgust cannot be a part +of shame. But he also argues that shame is simply psychic stasis, and it +is quite easy to see, as in the above case, that the fear of causing +disgust is simply a manifestation of psychic stasis. There is a conflict +in the woman's mind between the idea of herself which she has already +given, and the more degraded idea of herself which she fears she is likely +to give, and this conflict is settled when she is made to feel that the +first idea may still be maintained under the new circumstances. + +[33] We neither of us knew that we had merely made afresh a very ancient +discovery. Casanova, more than a century ago, quoted the remark of a +friend of his, that the easiest way to overcome the modesty of a woman is +to suppose it non-existent; and he adds a saying, which he attributes to +Clement of Alexandria, that modesty, which seems so deeply rooted in +women, only resides in the linen that covers them, and vanishes when it +vanishes. The passage to which Casanova referred occurs in the +_Paedagogus_, and has already been quoted. The observation seems to have +appealed strongly to the Fathers, always glad to make a point against +women, and I have met with it in Cyprian's _De Habitu Feminarum_. It also +occurs in Jerome's treatise against Jovinian. Jerome, with more scholarly +instinct, rightly presents the remark as a quotation: "_Scribit Herodotus +quod mulier cum veste deponat et verecundiam_." In Herodotus the saying is +attributed to Gyges (Book I, Chapter VIII). We may thus trace very far +back into antiquity an observation which in English has received its +classical expression from Chaucer, who, in his "Wife of Bath's Prologue," +has:-- + + "He sayde, a woman cast hir shame away, + When she cast of hir smok." + +I need not point out that the analysis of modesty offered above robs this +venerable saying of any sting it may have possessed as a slur upon women. +In such a case, modesty is largely a doubt as to the spectator's attitude, +and necessarily disappears when that doubt is satisfactorily resolved. As +we have seen, the Central Australian maidens were very modest with regard +to the removal of their single garment, but when that removal was +accomplished and accepted, they were fearless. + +[34] The same result occurs more markedly under the deadening influence of +insanity. Grimaldi (_Il Manicomio Moderno_, 1888) found that modesty is +lacking in 50 per cent, of the insane. + +[35] For some facts bearing on this point, see Houssay, _Industries of +Animals_, Chapter VII. "The Defence and Sanitation of Dwellings;" also P. +Ballion, _De l'Instinct de Proprete chez les Animaux_. + +[36] Thus, Stevens mentions (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, p. 182, 1897) +that the Dyaks of Malacca always wash the sexual organs, even after +urination, and are careful to use the left hand in doing so. The left hand +is also reserved for such uses among the Jekris of the Niger coast +(_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, p. 122, 1898). + +[37] Lombroso and Ferrero--who adopt the derivation of _pudor_ from +_putere_; i.e., from the repugnance caused by the decomposition of the +vaginal secretions--consider that the fear of causing disgust to men is +the sole origin of modesty among savage women, as also it remains the sole +form of modesty among some prostitutes to-day. (_La Donna Delinquente_, p. +540.) Important as this factor is in the constitution of the emotion of +modesty, I need scarcely add that I regard so exclusive a theory as +altogether untenable. + +[38] _Das Weib_, Ch. VI. + +[39] For references as to a similar feeling among other savages, see +Westermarck, _History of Human Marriage_, p. 152. + +[40] See e.g., Bourke, _Scatologic Rites_, pp. 141, 145, etc. + +[41] Crawley, op. cit., Ch. VII. + +[42] S, Reinach, _Cultes, Mythes et Religions_, p. 172. + +[43] Tertullian, _De Virginibus Velandis_, cap. 17. Hottentot women, also +(Fritsch, _Eingeborene Suedafrika's_, p. 311), cover their head with a +cloth, and will not be persuaded to remove it. + +[44] Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, p. 196. The same custom is +found among Tuareg men though it is not imperative for the women +(Duveyrier, _Les Touaregs du Nord_, p. 291). + +[45] Quoted in _Zentralblatt fuer Anthropologie_, 1906, Heft I, p. 21. + +[46] Or rather, perhaps, because the sight of their nakedness might lead +the angels into sin. See W.G. Sumner, _Folkways_, p. 431. + +[47] In Moruland, Emin Bey remarked that women are mostly naked, but some +wear a girdle, with a few leaves hanging behind. The women of some negro +tribes, who thus cover themselves behind, if deprived of this sole +covering, immediately throw themselves on the ground on their backs, in +order to hide their nakedness. + +[48] E.g., Letourneau, _L'Evolution de la Morale_, p. 146. + +[49] Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 683. + +[50] J.R. Forster, _Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World_, +1728, p. 395. + +[51] Westermarck (_History of Human Marriage_, Ch. IX) ably sets forth +this argument, with his usual wealth of illustration. Crawley (_Mystic +Rose_, p. 135) seeks to qualify this conclusion by arguing that tattooing, +etc., of the sex organs is not for ornament but for the purpose of +magically insulating the organs, and is practically a permanent amulet or +charm. + +[52] _Iliad_, II, 262. Waitz gives instances (_Anthropology_, p. 301) +showing that nakedness is sometimes a mark of submission. + +[53] The Celtic races, in their days of developed barbarism, seem to have +been relatively free from the idea of proprietorship in women, and it was +probably among the Irish (as we learn from the seventeenth century +_Itinerary_ of Fynes Moryson) that the habit of nakedness was longest +preserved among the upper social class women of Western Europe. + +[54] A.B. Ellis, _Tshi-Speaking Peoples_, p. 280. + +[55] Burnet, _Life and Death of Rochester_, p. 110. + +[56] _L'Annee Sociologique_, seventh year, 1904, p. 439. + +[57] Tallemont des Reaux, who began to write his _Historiettes_ in 1657, +says of the Marquise de Rambouillet: "Elle est un peu trop delicate ... on +n'oscrait prononcer le mot de _cul_. Cela va dans l'exces." Half a century +later, in England, Mandeville, in the Remarks appended to his _Fable of +the Bees_, refers to the almost prudish modesty inculcated on children +from their earliest years. + +[58] In one of its civilized developments, this ritualized modesty becomes +prudery, which is defined by Forel (_Die Sexuelle Frage_, Fifth ed., p. +125) as "codified sexual morality." Prudery is fossilized modesty, and no +longer reacts vitally. True modesty, in an intelligent civilized person, +is instinctively affected by motives and circumstances, responding +sensitively to its relationships. + +[59] _Memoires de Madame d'Epinay_, Part I, Ch. V. Thirty years earlier, +Mandeville had written, in England, that "the modesty of women is the +result of custom and education." + +[60] Goncourt, _Histoire de la Societe Francaise pendant le Directoire_, +p. 422. Clothes became so gauze-like, and receded to such an extent from +the limbs, that for a time the chemise was discarded as an awkward and +antiquated garment. + +[61] _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1901, Heft 2, p. 179. + +[62] In the rural districts of Hanover, Pastor Grashoff states, "even when +natural necessities are performed with the greatest possible freedom, +there is no offence to modesty, in rural opinion." But he makes a +statement which is both contradictory and false, when he adds that +"modesty is, to the country man in general, a foreign idea." +(_Geschlechtlich-Sittliche Verhaeltnisse im Deutsche Reiche_, vol. ii, p. +45.) + +[63] It is frequently stated that prostitutes are devoid of modesty, but +this is incorrect; they possess a partial and diminished modesty which, +for a considerable period still remains genuine (see e.g., Reuss, _La +Prostitution_, p. 58). Lombroso and Ferrero (_La Donna_, p. 540) refer to +the objection of prostitutes to be examined during the monthly periods as +often greater than that of respectable women. Again, Callari states +("Prostituzione in Sicilia," _Archivio di Psichiatria_, 1903, p. 205), +that Sicilian prostitutes can only with difficulty be persuaded to expose +themselves naked in the practice of their profession. Aretino long since +remarked (in _La Pippa_) that no women so detest gratuitous _decolletage_ +as prostitutes. When prostitutes do not possess modesty, they frequently +simulate it, and Ferriani remarks (in his _Delinquenti Minorenni_) that of +ninety-seven minors (mostly females) accused of offences against public +decency, seventy-five simulated a modesty which, in his opinion, they were +entirely without. + + + + +III. + +The Blush the Sanction of Modesty--The Phenomena of Blushing--Influences +Which Modify the Aptitude to Blush--Darkness, Concealment of the Face, +Etc. + + +It is impossible to contemplate this series of phenomena, so radically +persistent whatever its changes of form, and so constant throughout every +stage of civilization, without feeling that, although modesty cannot +properly be called an instinct, there must be some physiological basis to +support it. Undoubtedly such a basis is formed by that vasomotor mechanism +of which the most obvious outward sign is, in human beings, the blush. All +the allied emotional forms of fear--shame, bashfulness, timidity--are to +some extent upheld by this mechanism, but such is especially the case with +the emotion we are now concerned with.[64] The blush is the sanction of +modesty. + + The blush is, indeed, only a part, almost, perhaps, an accidental + part, of the organic turmoil with which it is associated. + Partridge, who has studied the phenomena of blushing in one + hundred and twenty cases (_Pedagogical Seminary_, April, 1897), + finds that the following are the general symptoms: tremors near + the waist, weakness in the limbs, pressure, trembling, warmth, + weight or beating in the chest, warm wave from feet upward, + quivering of heart, stoppage and then rapid beating of heart, + coldness all over followed by heat, dizziness, tingling of toes + and fingers, numbness, something rising in throat, smarting of + eyes, singing in ears, prickling sensations of face, and pressure + inside head. Partridge considers that the disturbance is + primarily central, a change in the cerebral circulation, and that + the actual redness of the surface comes late in the nerve storm, + and is really but a small part of it. + + There has been some discussion as to why, and indeed how far, + blushing is confined to the face. Henle (_Ueber das Erroethen_) + thought that we blush in the face because all nervous phenomena + produced by mental states appear first in the face, owing to the + anatomical arrangement of the nerves of the body. Darwin + (_Expression of the Emotions_) argued that attention to a part + tends to produce capillary activity in the part, and that the + face has been the chief object of attention. It has also been + argued, on the other hand, that the blush is the vestigial + remains of a general erethism of sex, in which shame originated; + that the blush was thus once more widely diffused, and is so + still among the women of some lower races, its limitation to the + face being due to sexual selection and the enhanced beauty thus + achieved. Fere once had occasion to examine, when completely + nude, a boy of thirteen whose sexual organs were deformed; when + accused of masturbation he became covered by a blush which spread + uniformly over his face, neck, body and limbs, before and behind, + except only the hands and feet. Fere asks whether such a + universal blush is more common than we imagine, or whether the + state of nudity favors its manifestation. (_Comptes Rendus, + Societe de Biologie_, April 1, 1905.) It may be added that + Partridge mentions one case in which the hands blushed. + +The sexual relationships of blushing are unquestionable. It occurs chiefly +in women; it attains its chief intensity at puberty and during +adolescence; its most common occasion is some more or less sexual +suggestion; among one hundred and sixty-two occasions of blushing +enumerated by Partridge, by far the most frequent cause was teasing, +usually about the other sex. "An erection," it has been said, "is a +blushing of the penis." Stanley Hall seems to suggest that the sexual +blush is a vicarious genital flushing of blood, diverted from the genital +sphere by an inhibition of fear, just as, in girls, giggling is also very +frequently a vicarious outlet of shame; the sexual blush would thus be the +outcome of an ancestral sex-fear; it is as an irradiation of sexual +erethism that the blush may contain an element of pleasure.[65] + + Bloch remarks that the blush is sexual, because reddening of the + face, as well as of the genitals, is an accompaniment of sexual + emotion (_Beitraege zur AEtiologie der Psychopathia Sexualis_, Teil + II, p. 39). "Do you not think," a correspondent writes, "that + the sexual blush, at least, really represents a vaso-relaxor + effect quite the same as erection? The embarrassment which arises + is due to a perception of this fact under circumstances which are + felt to be unsuited for such a condition. There may arise the + fear of awakening disgust by the exhibition of a state which is + out of place. I have noticed that such a blush is produced when a + sufficiently young and susceptible woman is pumped full of + compliments. This blush seems accompanied by pleasure which does + not always change to fear or disgust, but is felt to be + attractive. When discomfort arises, most women say that they feel + this because 'it looks as if they had no control over + themselves.' When they feel that there is no need for control, + they no longer feel fear, and the relaxor effect has a wider + field of operation, producing a general rosiness, erection of + spinal sexual organs, etc. Such a blush would thus be a partial + sexual equivalent, and allow of the inhibition of other sexual + effects, through the warning it gives, and the fear aroused, as + well as being in itself a slight outlet of relaxor energy. When + the relationships of the persons concerned allow freedom to the + special sexual stimuli, as in marriage, blushing does not occur + so often, and when it does it has not so often the consequent of + fear." + + There can be no doubt that the blush is sexually attractive. The + blush is the expression of an impulse to concealment and flight, + which tends automatically to arouse in the beholder the + corresponding impulse of pursuit, so that the central situation + of courtship is at once presented. Women are more or less + conscious of this, as well as men, and this recognition is an + added source of embarrassment when it cannot become a source of + pleasure. The ancient use of rouge testifies to the beauty of the + blush, and Darwin stated that, in Turkish slave-markets, the + girls who readily blushed fetched the highest prices. To evoke a + blush, even by producing embarrassment, is very commonly a cause + of masculine gratification. + + Savages, both men and women, blush even beneath a dusky skin (for + the phenomenon of blushing among different races, see Waitz, + _Anthropologie der Naturvoelker_, Bd. I, pp. 149-150), and it is + possible that natural selection, as well as sexual selection, has + been favorable to the development of the blush. It is scarcely an + accident that, as has been often observed, criminals, or the + antisocial element of the community--whether by the habits of + their lives or by congenital abnormality--blush less easily than + normal persons. Kroner (_Das koerperliche Gefuehl_, 1887, p. 130) + remarks: "The origin of a specific connection between shame and + blushing is the work of a _social selection_. It is certainly an + immediate advantage for a man not to blush; indirectly, however, + it is a disadvantage, because in other ways he will be known as + shameless, and on that account, as a rule, he will be shut out + from propagation. This social selection will be specially + exercised on the female sex, and on this account, women blush to + a greater extent, and more readily, than men." + +The importance of the blush, and the emotional confusion behind it, as the +sanction of modesty is shown by the significant fact that, by lulling +emotional confusion, it is possible to inhibit the sense of modesty. In +other words, we are here in the presence of a fear--to a large extent a +sex-fear--impelling to concealment, and dreading self-attention; this fear +naturally disappears, even though its ostensible cause remains, when it +becomes apparent that there is no reason for fear. + +That is the reason why nakedness in itself has nothing to do with modesty +or immodesty; it is the conditions under which the nakedness occurs which +determine whether or not modesty will be roused. If none of the factors of +modesty are violated, if no embarrassing self-attention is excited, if +there is a consciousness of perfect propriety alike in the subject and in +the spectator, nakedness is entirely compatible with the most scrupulous +modesty. A. Duval, a pupil of Ingres, tells that a female model was once +quietly posing, completely nude, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Suddenly she +screamed and ran to cover herself with her garments. She had seen a +workman on the roof gazing inquisitively at her through a skylight.[66] +And Paola Lombroso describes how a lady, a diplomatist's wife, who went to +a gathering where she found herself the only woman in evening dress, felt, +to her own surprise, such sudden shame that she could not keep back her +tears. + +It thus comes about that the emotion of modesty necessarily depends on +the feelings of the people around. The absence of the emotion by no means +signifies immodesty, provided that the reactions of modesty are at once +set in motion under the stress of a spectator's eye that is seen to be +lustful, inquisitive, or reproachful. This is proved to be the case among +primitive peoples everywhere. The Japanese woman, naked as in daily life +she sometimes is, remains unconcerned because she excites no disagreeable +attention, but the inquisitive and unmannerly European's eye at once +causes her to feel confusion. Stratz, a physician, and one, moreover, who +had long lived among the Javanese who frequently go naked, found that +naked Japanese women felt no embarrassment in his presence. + +It is doubtless as a cloak to the blush that we must explain the curious +influence of darkness in restraining the manifestations of modesty, as +many lovers have discovered, and as we may notice in our cities after +dark. This influence of darkness in inhibiting modesty is a very ancient +observation. Burton, in the _Anatomy of Melancholy_, quotes from Dandinus +the saying "_Nox facit impudentes_," directly associating this with +blushing, and Bargagli, the Siennese novelist, wrote in the sixteenth +century that, "it is commonly said of women, that they will do in the dark +what they would not do in the light." It is true that the immodesty of a +large city at night is to some extent explained by the irruption of +prostitutes at that time; prostitutes, being habitually nearer to the +threshold of immodesty, are more markedly affected by this influence. But +it is an influence to which the most modest women are, at all events in +some degree, susceptible. It has, indeed, been said that a woman is always +more her real self in the dark than in the glare of daylight; this is part +of what Chamberlain calls her night-inspiration. + + "Traces of the night-inspiration, of the influence of the + primitive fire-group, abound in woman. Indeed, it may be said + (the life of Southern Europe and of American society of to-day + illustrates this point abundantly) that she is, in a sense, a + night-being, for the activity, physical and moral, of modern + women (revealed e.g. in the dance and the nocturnal + intellectualities of society) in this direction is remarkable. + Perhaps we may style a good deal of her ordinary day-labor as + rest, or the commonplaces and banalities of her existence, her + evening and night life being the true side of her activities" + (A.F. Chamberlain, "Work and Rest," _Popular Science Monthly_, + March, 1902). Giessler, who has studied the general influence of + darkness on human psychic life, reaches conclusions which + harmonize with these (C.M. Giessler, "Der Einfluss der Dunkelheit + auf das Seelenleben des Menschen," _Vierteljahrsschrift fuer + wissenschaftliche Philosophie_, 1904, pp. 255-279). I have not + been able to see Giessler's paper, but, according to a summary of + it, he comes to the result that in the dark the soul's activities + are nearer to its motor pole than to its sensitive pole, and that + there is a tendency for phenomena belonging to the early period + of development to be prominent, motor memory functioning more + than representative memory, attention more than apperception, + imagination more than logical thinking, egoistic more than + altruistic morals. + +It is curious to note that short-sightedness, naturally, though +illogically, tends to exert the same influence as darkness in this +respect; I am assured by short-sighted persons of both sexes that they are +much more liable to the emotions of shyness and modesty with their glasses +than without them; such persons with difficulty realize that they are not +so dim to others as others are to them. To be in the company of a blind +person seems also to be a protection against shyness.[67] It is +interesting to learn that congenitally blind children are as sensitive to +appearances as normal children, and blush as readily.[68] This would seem +to be due to the fact that the habitually blind have permanently adjusted +their mental focus to that of normal persons, and react in the same manner +as normal persons; blindness is not for them, as it is for the +short-sighted without their glasses, a temporary and relative, almost +unconscious refuge from clear vision. + +It is, of course, not as the mere cloak of a possible blush that darkness +gives courage; it is because it lulls detailed self-realization, such +conscious self-realization being always a source of fears, and the blush +their definite symbol and visible climax. It is to the blush that we must +attribute a curious complementary relationship between the face and the +sacro-pubic region as centres of anatomical modesty. The women of some +African tribes who go naked, Emin Bey remarked, cover the face with the +hand under the influence of modesty. Martial long since observed (Lib. +iii, LXVIII) that when an innocent girl looks at the penis she gazes +through her fingers. Where, as among many Mohammedan peoples, the face is +the chief focus of modesty, the exposure of the rest of the body, +including sometimes even the sacro-pubic region, and certainly the legs +and thighs, often becomes a matter of indifference.[69] + +This concealment of the face is more than a convention; it has a +psychological basis. We may observe among ourselves the well-marked +feminine tendency to hide the face in order to cloak a possible blush, and +to hide the eyes as a method of lulling self-consciousness, a method +fabulously attributed to the ostrich with the same end of concealment.[70] +A woman who is shy with her lover will sometimes experience little or no +difficulty in showing any part of her person provided she may cover her +face. When, in gynecological practice, examination of the sexual organs is +necessary, women frequently find evident satisfaction in concealing the +face with the hands, although not the slightest attention is being +directed toward the face, and when an unsophisticated woman is betrayed +into a confession which affects her modesty she is apt to turn her back to +her interlocutor. "When the face of woman is covered," it has been said, +"her heart is bared," and the Catholic Church has recognized this +psychological truth by arranging that in the confessional the penitent's +face shall not be visible. The gay and innocent freedom of southern women +during Carnival is due not entirely to the permitted license of the season +or the concealment of identity, but to the mask that hides the face. In +England, during Queen Elizabeth's reign and at the Restoration, it was +possible for respectable women to be present at the theatre, even during +the performance of the most free-spoken plays, because they wore masks. +The fan has often subserved a similar end.[71] + +All such facts serve to show that, though the forms of modesty may change, +it is yet a very radical constituent of human nature in all stages of +civilization, and that it is, to a large extent, maintained by the +mechanism of blushing. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[64] Melinaud ("Pourquoi Rougit-on?" _Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1 Octobre, +1893) points out that blushing is always associated with fear, and +indicates, in the various conditions under which it may arise,--modesty, +timidity, confusion,--that we have something to conceal which we fear may +be discovered. "All the evidence," Partridge states, "seems to point to +the conclusion that the mental state underlying blushing belongs to the +fear family. The presence of the feeling of dread, the palpitation of the +heart, the impulse to escape, to hide, the shock, all confirms this view." + +[65] G. Stanley Hall, "A Study of Fears," _American Journal Psychology_, +1897. + +[66] Men are also very sensitive to any such inquisitiveness on the part +of the opposite sex. To this cause, perhaps, and possibly, also, to the +fear of causing disgust, may be ascribed the objection of men to undress +before women artists and women doctors. I am told there is often +difficulty in getting men to pose nude to women artists. Sir Jonathan +Hutchinson was compelled, some years ago, to exclude lady members of the +medical profession from the instructive demonstrations at his museum, "on +account of the unwillingness of male patients to undress before them." A +similar unwillingness is not found among women patients, but it must be +remembered that, while women are accustomed to men as doctors, men (in +England) are not yet accustomed to women as doctors. + +[67] "I am acquainted with the case of a shy man," writes Dr. Harry +Campbell, in his interesting study of "Morbid Shyness" (_British Medical +Journal_, September 26, 1896), "who will make himself quite at home in the +house of a blind person, and help himself to wine with the utmost +confidence, whereas if a member of the family, who can see, comes into the +room, all his old shyness returns, and he wishes himself far away." + +[68] Stanley Hall ("Showing Off and Bashfulness," _Pedagogical Seminary_, +June, 1903), quotes Dr. Anagnos, of the Perkins Institute for the Blind, +to this effect. + +[69] Thus, Sonnini, in the eighteenth century, noted that the country +women in Egypt only wore a single garment, open from the armpits to the +knees on each side, so that it revealed the body at every movement; "but +this troubles the women little, provided the face is not exposed." +(_Voyage dans la Haute et Basse Egypte_, 1779, vol. i, p, 289.) When +Casanova was at Constantinople, the Comte de Bonneval, a convert to Islam, +assured him that he was mistaken in trying to see a woman's face when he +might easily obtain greater favors from her. "The most reserved of Turkish +women," the Comte assured him, "only carries her modesty in her face, and +as soon as her veil is on she is sure that she will never blush at +anything." (_Memoires_, vol. i, p. 429.) + +[70] It is worth noting that this impulse is rooted in the natural +instinctive acts and ideas of childhood. Stanley Hall, dealing with the +"Early Sense of Self," in the report already mentioned, refers to the eyes +as perhaps even more than the hands, feet, and mouth, "the centres of that +kind of self-consciousness which is always mindful of how the self appears +to others," and proceeds to mention "the very common impression of young +children that if the eyes are covered or closed they cannot be seen. Some +think the entire body thus vanishes from sight of others; some, that the +head also ceases to be visible; and a still higher form of this curious +psychosis is that, when they are closed, the soul cannot be seen." +(_American Journal of Psychology_, vol. ix, No. 3, 1898.) The instinctive +and unreasoned character of this act is further shown by its occurrence in +idiots. Naecke mentions that he once had occasion to examine the abdomen of +an idiot, who, thereupon, attempted to draw down his shirt with the left +hand, while with the right he covered his eyes. + +[71] Cf. Stanley Hall and T. Smith, "Showing Off and Bashfulness," +_American Journal of Psychology_, June, 1903. + + + + +IV. + +Summary of the Factors of Modesty--The Future of Modesty--Modesty an +Essential Element of Love. + + +We have seen that the factors of modesty are numerous. To attempt to +explain modesty by dismissing it as merely an example of psychic +paralysis, of _Stauung_, is to elude the problem by the statement of what +is little more than a truism. Modesty is a complexus of emotions with +their concomitant ideas which we must unravel to comprehend. + +We have found among the factors of modesty: (1) the primitive animal +gesture of sexual refusal on the part of the female when she is not at +that moment of her generative life at which she desires the male's +advances; (2) the fear of arousing disgust, a fear primarily due to the +close proximity of the sexual centre to the points of exit of those +excretions which are useless and unpleasant, even in many cases to +animals; (3) the fear of the magic influence of sexual phenomena, and the +ceremonial and ritual practices primarily based on this fear, and +ultimately passing into simple rules of decorum which are signs and +guardians of modesty; (4) the development of ornament and clothing, +concomitantly fostering alike the modesty which represses male sexual +desire and the coquetry which seeks to allure it; (5) the conception of +women as property, imparting a new and powerful sanction to an emotion +already based on more natural and primitive facts. + +It must always be remembered that these factors do not usually occur +separately. Very often they are all of them implied in a single impulse of +modesty. We unravel the cord in order to investigate its construction, but +in real life the strands are more or less indistinguishably twisted +together. + +It may still be asked finally whether, on the whole, modesty really +becomes a more prominent emotion as civilization advances. I do not think +this position can be maintained. It is a great mistake, as we have seen, +to suppose that in becoming extended modesty also becomes intensified. On +the contrary, this very extension is a sign of weakness. Among savages, +modesty is far more radical and invincible than among the civilized. Of +the Araucanian women of Chile, Treutler has remarked that they are +distinctly more modest than the Christian white population, and such +observations might be indefinitely extended. It is, as we have already +noted, in a new and crude civilization, eager to mark its separation from +a barbarism it has yet scarcely escaped, that we find an extravagant and +fantastic anxiety to extend the limits of modesty in life, and art, and +literature. In older and more mature civilizations--in classical +antiquity, in old Japan, in France--modesty, while still a very real +influence, becomes a much less predominant and all-pervading influence. In +life it becomes subservient to human use, in art to beauty, in literature +to expression. + +Among ourselves we may note that modesty is a much more invincible motive +among the lower social classes than among the more cultivated classes. +This is so even when we should expect the influence of occupation to +induce familiarity. Thus I have been told of a ballet-girl who thinks it +immodest to bathe in the fashion customary at the seaside, and cannot make +up her mind to do so, but she appears on the stage every night in tights +as a matter of course; while Fanny Kemble, in her _Reminiscences_, tells +of an actress, accustomed to appear in tights, who died a martyr to +modesty rather than allow a surgeon to see her inflamed knee. Modesty is, +indeed, a part of self-respect, but in the fully-developed human being +self-respect itself holds in check any excessive modesty.[72] + +We must remember, moreover, that there are more definite grounds for the +subordination of modesty with the development of civilization. We have +seen that the factors of modesty are many, and that most of them are based +on emotions which make little urgent appeal save to races in a savage or +barbarous condition. Thus, disgust, as Richet has truly pointed out, +necessarily decreases as knowledge increases.[73] As we analyze and +understand our experiences better, so they cause us less disgust. A rotten +egg is disgusting, but the chemist feels no disgust toward sulphuretted +hydrogen; while a solution of propylamin does not produce the disgusting +impression of that human physical uncleanliness of which it is an odorous +constituent. As disgust becomes analyzed, and as self-respect tends to +increased physical purity, so the factor of disgust in modesty is +minimized. The factor of ceremonial uncleanness, again, which plays so +urgent a part in modesty at certain stages of culture, is to-day without +influence except in so far as it survives in etiquette. In the same way +the social-economic factor of modesty, based on the conception of women as +property, belongs to a stage of human development which is wholly alien to +an advanced civilization. Even the most fundamental impulse of all, the +gesture of sexual refusal, is normally only imperative among animals and +savages. Thus civilization tends to subordinate, if not to minimize, +modesty, to render it a grace of life rather than a fundamental social law +of life. But an essential grace of life it still remains, and whatever +delicate variations it may assume we can scarcely conceive of its +disappearance. + +In the art of love, however, it is more than a grace; it must always be +fundamental. Modesty is not indeed the last word of love, but it is the +necessary foundation for all love's most exquisite audacities, the +foundation which alone gives worth and sweetness to what Senancour calls +its "delicious impudence."[74] Without modesty we could not have, nor +rightly value at its true worth, that bold and pure candor which is at +once the final revelation of love and the seal of its sincerity. + + Even Hohenemser--who argues that for the perfect man there could + be no shame, because shame rests on an inner conflict in one's + own personality, and "the perfect man knows no inner + conflict"--believes that, since humanity is imperfect, modesty + possesses a high and, indeed, symptomatic value, for "its + presence shows that according to the measure of a man's ideal + personality, his valuations are established." + + Dugas goes further, and asserts that the ideals of modesty + develop with human development, and forever take on new and finer + forms. "There is," he declares, "a very close relationship + between naturalness, or sincerity, and modesty, for in love, + naturalness is the ideal attained, and modesty is only the fear + of coming short of that ideal. Naturalness is the sign and the + test of perfect love. It is the sign of it, for, when love can + show itself natural and true, one may conclude that it is + purified of its unavowable imperfections or defects, of its alloy + of wretched and petty passions, its grossness, its chimerical + notions, that it has become strong and healthy and vigorous. It + is the ordeal of it, for to show itself natural, to be always + true, without shrinking, it must have all the lovable qualities, + and have them without seeking, as a second nature. What we call + 'natural,' is indeed really acquired; it is the gift of a + physical and moral evolution which it is precisely the object of + modesty to keep. Modesty is the feeling of the true, that is to + say, of the healthy, in love; it long exists as a vision, not yet + attained; vague, yet sufficiently clear for all that deviates + from it to be repelled as offensive and painful. At first, a + remote and seemingly inaccessible ideal, as it comes nearer it + grows human and individual, and emerges from the region of dream, + ceasing not to be loved as ideal, even when it is possessed as + real. + + "At first sight, it seems paradoxical to define modesty as an + aspiration towards truth in love; it seems, on the contrary, to + be an altogether factitious feeling. But to simplify the problem, + we have to suppose modesty reduced to its normal functions, + disengaged from its superstitions, its variegated customs and + prejudices, the true modesty of simple and healthy natures, as + far removed from prudery as from immodesty. And what we term the + natural, or the true in love, is the singular mingling of two + forms of imaginations, wrongly supposed to be incompatible: ideal + aspiration and the sense for the realities of life. Thus defined, + modesty not only repudiates that cold and dissolving criticism + which deprives love of all poetry, and prepares the way for a + brutal realism; it also excludes that light and detached + imagination which floats above love, the mere idealism of heroic + sentiments, which cherishes poetic illusions, and passes, without + seeing it, the love that is real and alive. True modesty implies + a love not addressed to the heroes of vain romances, but to + living people, with their feet on the earth. But on the other + hand, modesty is the respect of love; if it is not shocked by + its physical necessities, if it accepts physiological and + psychological conditions, it also maintains the ideal of those + moral proprieties outside of which, for all of us, love cannot be + enjoyed. When love is really felt, and not vainly imagined, + modesty is the requirement of an ideal of dignity, conceived as + the very condition of that love. Separate modesty from love, that + is, from love which is not floating in the air, but crystallized + around a real person, and its psychological reality, its poignant + and tragic character, disappears." (Dugas, "La Pudeur," _Revue + Philosophique_, Nov., 1903.) So conceived, modesty becomes a + virtue, almost identical with the Roman _modestia_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[72] Freud remarks that one may often hear, concerning elderly ladies, +that in their youth in the country, they suffered, almost to collapse, +from haemorrhages from the genital passage, because they were too modest to +seek medical advice and examination; he adds that it is extremely rare to +find such an attitude among our young women to-day. (S. Freud, _Zur +Neurosenlehre_, 1906, p. 182.) It would be easy to find evidence of the +disappearance of misplaced signs of modesty formerly prevalent, although +this mark of increasing civilization has not always penetrated to our laws +and regulations. + +[73] "Disgust," he remarks, "is a sort of synthesis which attaches to the +total form of objects, and which must diminish and disappear as scientific +analysis separates into parts what, as a whole, is so repugnant." + +[74] Senancour, _De l'Amour_, 1834, vol. i, p. 316. He remarks that a +useless and false reserve is due to stupidity rather than to modesty. + + + + +THE PHENOMENA OF SEXUAL PERIODICITY. + + +I. + +The Various Physiological and Psychological Rhythms--Menstruation--The +Alleged Influence of the Moon--Frequent Suppression of Menstruation among +Primitive Races--Mittelschmerz--Possible Tendency to a Future +Intermenstrual Cycle--Menstruation among Animals--Menstruating Monkeys and +Apes--What is Menstruation--Its Primary Cause Still Obscure--The Relation +of Menstruation to Ovulation--The Occasional Absence of Menstruation in +Health--The Relation of Menstruation to "Heat"--The Prohibition of +Intercourse during Menstruation--The Predominance of Sexual Excitement at +and around the Menstrual Period--Its Absence during the Period Frequently +Apparent only. + + +Throughout the vegetable and animal worlds the sexual functions are +periodic. From the usually annual period of flowering in plants, with its +play of sperm-cell and germ-cell and consequent seed-production, through +the varying sexual energies of animals, up to the monthly effervescence of +the generative organism in woman, seeking not without the shedding of +blood for the gratification of its reproductive function, from first to +last we find unfailing evidence of the periodicity of sex. At first the +sun, and then, as some have thought, the moon, have marked throughout a +rhythmic impress on the phenomena of sex. To understand these phenomena we +have not only to recognize the bare existence of that periodic fact, but +to realize its implications. + +Rhythm, it is scarcely necessary to remark, is far from characterizing +sexual activity alone. It is the character of all biological activity, +alike on the physical and the psychic sides. All the organs of the body +appear to be in a perpetual process of rhythmic contraction and expansion. +The heart is rhythmic, so is the respiration. The spleen is rhythmic, so +also the bladder. The uterus constantly undergoes regular rhythmic +contractions at brief intervals. The vascular system, down to the smallest +capillaries, is acted on by three series of vibrations, and every +separate fragment of muscular tissue possesses rhythmic contractility. +Growth itself is rhythmic, and, as Malling-Hansen and subsequent observers +have found, follows a regular annual course as well as a larger cycle. On +the psychic sides attention is rhythmic. We are always irresistibly +compelled to impart a rhythm to every succession of sounds, however +uniform and monotonous. A familiar example of this is the rhythm we can +seldom refrain from hearing in the puffing of an engine. A series of +experiments, by Bolton, on thirty subjects showed that the clicks of an +electric telephone connected in an induction-apparatus nearly always fell +into rhythmic groups, usually of two or four, rarely of three or five, the +rhythmic perception being accompanied by a strong impulse to make +corresponding muscular movements.[75] + +It is, however, with the influence--to some extent real, to some extent, +perhaps, only apparent--of cosmic rhythm that we are here concerned. The +general tendency, physical and psychic, of nervous action to fall into +rhythm is merely interesting from the present point of view as showing a +biological predisposition to accept any periodicity that is habitually +imposed upon the organism.[76] Menstruation has always been associated +with the lunar revolutions.[77] Darwin, without specifically mentioning +menstruation, has suggested that the explanation of the allied cycle of +gestation in mammals, as well as incubation in birds, may be found in the +condition under which ascidians live at high and low water in consequence +of the phenomena of tidal change.[78] It must, however, be remembered that +the ascidian origin of the vertebrates has since been contested from many +sides, and, even if we admit that at all events some such allied +conditions in the early history of vertebrates and their ancestors tended +to impress a lunar cycle on the race, it must still be remembered that the +monthly periodicity of menstruation only becomes well marked in the human +species.[79] Bearing in mind the influence exerted on both the habits and +the emotions even of animals by the brightness of moonlight nights, it is +perhaps not extravagant to suppose that, on organisms already ancestrally +predisposed to the influence of rhythm in general and of cosmic rhythm in +particular, the periodically recurring full moon, not merely by its +stimulation of the nervous system, but possibly by the special +opportunities which it gave for the exercise of the sexual functions, +served to implant a lunar rhythm on menstruation. How important such a +factor may be we have evidence in the fact that the daily life of even the +most civilized peoples is still regulated by a weekly cycle which is +apparently a segment of the cosmic lunar cycle. + +Mantegazza has suggested that the sexual period became established with +relation to the lunar period because moonlight nights were favorable to +courting,[80] and Nelson remarks that in his experience young and robust +persons are subject to recurrent periods of wakefulness at night which +they attribute to the action of the full moon. One may perhaps refer also +to the tendency of bright moonlight to stir the emotions of the young, +especially at puberty, a tendency which in neurotic persons may become +almost morbid.[81] + +It is interesting to point out that, the farther back we are able to trace +the beginnings of culture, the more important we find the part played by +the moon. Next to the alteration of day and night, the moon's changes are +the most conspicuous and startling phenomena of Nature; they first suggest +a basis for reckoning time; they are of the greatest use in primitive +agriculture; and everywhere the moon is held to have vast influence on the +whole of organic life. Hahn has suggested that the reason why mythological +systems do not usually present the moon in the supreme position which we +should expect, is that its immense importance is so ancient a fact that it +tends, with mythological development, to become overlaid by other +elements.[82] According to Seler, Quetzalcouatl and Tezeatlipoca, the two +most considerable figures in the Mexican pantheon, are to be regarded +mainly as complementary forms of the moon divinity, and the moon was the +chief Mexican measurer of time.[83] Even in Babylonia, where the sun was +most specially revered, at the earliest period the moon ranked higher, +being gradually superseded by the worship of the sun.[84] Although such +considerations as these will by no means take us as far back as the +earliest appearance of menstruation, they may serve to indicate that the +phases of the moon probably played a large part in the earliest evolution +of man. With that statement we must at present rest content. + +It is possible that the monthly character of menstruation, while +representing a general tendency of the human race, always and everywhere +prevalent, may be modified in the future. It is a noteworthy fact that +among many primitive races menstruation only occurs at long intervals. +Thus among Eskimo women menstruation follows the peculiar cosmic +conditions to which the people are subjected; Cook, the ethnologist of the +Peary North Greenland expedition, found that menstruation only began after +the age of nineteen, and that it was usually suppressed during the winter +months, when there is no sun, only about one in ten women continuing to +menstruate during this period.[85] It was stated by Velpeau that Lapland +and Greenland women usually only menstruate every three months, or even +only two or three times during the year. On the Faroe Islands it is said +that menstruation is frequently absent. Among the Samoyeds, Mantegazza +mentions that menstruation is so slight that some travelers have denied +its existence. Azara noted among the Guaranis of Paraguay that +menstruation was not only slight in amount, but the periods were separated +by long intervals. Among the Indians in North America, again, menstruation +appears to be scanty. Thus, Holder, speaking of his experience with the +Crow Indians of Montana, says: "I am quite sure that full-blood Indians in +this latitude do not menstruate so freely as white women, not usually +exceeding three days."[86] Among the naked women of Tierra del Fuego, it +is said that there is often no physical sign of the menses for six months +at a time. These observations are noteworthy, though they clearly +indicate, on the whole, that primitiveness in race is a very powerless +factor without a cold climate. On the other hand, again, there is some +reason to suppose that in Europe there is a latent tendency in some women +for the menstrual cycle to split up further into two cycles, by the +appearance of a latent minor climax in the middle of the monthly interval. +I allude to the phenomenon usually called _Mittelschmerz_, middle period, +or intermenstrual pain. + + Since the investigations of Goodman, Stephenson, Van Ott, Reinl, + Jacobi, and others, it has been generally recognized that + menstruation is a continuous process, the flow being merely the + climax of a menstrual cycle, a physiological wave which is in + constant flux or reflux. This cycle manifests itself in all a + woman's activities, in metabolism, respiration, temperature, + etc., as well as on the nervous and psychic side. The healthier + the woman is, the less conscious is the cyclic return of her + life, but the cycle may be traced (as Hegar has found) even + before puberty takes place, while Salerni has found that even in + amenorrhoea the menstrual cycle still manifests itself in the + temperature and respiration. (_Rivista Sperimentale di + Freniatria_, XXX, fasc. 2-3.) + + For a summary of the phenomena of the menstrual cycle, see + Havelock Ellis, _Man and Woman_, fourth ed., revised and + enlarged, Ch. XI; "The Functional Periodicity of Women." Cf. + Keller, _Archives Generales de Medecine_, May, 1897; Hegar, + _Allgemeine Zeitschrift fuer Psychiatrie_, 1901, Heft 2 and 3; + Helen MacMurchy, _Lancet_, Oct. 5. 1901; A.E. Giles, + _Transactions Obstetrical Society London_, vol. xxxix, p. 115, + etc. + + _Mittelschmerz_ is a condition of pain occurring about the middle + of the intermenstrual period, either alone or accompanied by a + slight sanguineous discharge, or, more frequently, a + non-sanguineous discharge. (In a case described by Van Voornveld, + the manifestation was confined to a regularly occurring rise of + temperature.) The phenomenon varies, but seems usually to occur + about the fourteenth day, and to last two or three days. Laycock, + in 1840 (_Nervous Diseases of Women_, p. 46), gave instances of + women with an intermenstrual period. Depaul and Gueniot + (_Dictionnaire Encyclopedique des Sciences Medicales_, Art., + "Menstruation," p. 694) speak of intermenstrual symptoms, and + even actual flow, as occurring in women who are in a perfect + state of health, and constituting genuine "_regles + surnumeraries_." The condition is, however, said to have been + first fully described by Valleix; then, in 18725 by Sir William + Priestley; and subsequently by Fehling, Fasbender, Sorel, + Halliday Croom, Findley, Addinsell, and others. (See, for + instance, "Mittelschmerz," by J. Halliday Croom, _Transactions of + Edinburgh Obstetrical Society_, vol. xxi, 1896. Also, Krieger, + _Menstruation_, pp. 68-69.) Fliess (_Die Beziehungen zwischen + Nase und weiblichen Geschlechts-Organen_, p. 118) goes so far as + to assert that an intermenstrual period of menstrual + symptoms--which he terms _Nebenmenstruation_--is "a phenomenon + well known to most healthy women." Observations are at present + too few to allow any definite conclusions, and in some of the + cases so far recorded a pathological condition of the sexual + organs has been found to exist. Rosner, of Cracow, however, found + that only in one case out of twelve was there any disease present + (_La Gynecologie_, June, 1905), and Storer, who has met with + twenty cases, insists on the remarkable and definite regularity + of the manifestations, wholly unlike those of neuralgia (_Boston + Medical and Surgical Journal_, April 19, 1900). There is no + agreement as to the cause of _Mittelschmerz_. Addinsell + attributed it to disease of the Fallopian tubes. This, however, + is denied by such competent authorities as Cullingworth and Bland + Sutton. Others, like Priestley, and subsequently Marsh (_American + Journal of Obstetrics_, July, 1897), have sought to find the + explanation in the occurrence of ovulation. This theory is, + however, unsupported by facts, and eventually rests on the + exploded belief that ovulation is the cause of menstruation. + Rosner, following Richelet, vaguely attributes it to the diffused + hyperaemia which is generally present. Van de Velde also + attributes it to an abnormal fall of vascular tone, causing + passive congestion of the pelvic viscera. Others again, like + Armand Routh and MacLean, in the course of an interesting + discussion on _Mittelschmerz_ at the Obstetric Society of London, + on the second day of March, 1898, believe that we may trace here + a double menstruation, and would explain the phenomenon by + assuming that in certain cases there is an intermenstrual as well + as a menstrual cycle. The question is not yet ripe for + settlement, though it is fully evident that, looking broadly at + the phenomena of rut and menstruation, the main basis of their + increasing frequency as we rise toward civilized man is increase + of nutrition, heat and sunlight being factors of nutrition. When + dealing with civilized man, however, we are probably concerned + not merely with general nutrition, but with the nervous direction + of that nutrition. + +At this stage it is natural to inquire what the corresponding phenomena +are among animals. Unfortunately, imperfect as is our comprehension of the +human phenomena, our knowledge of the corresponding phenomena among +animals is much more fragmentary and incomplete. Among most animals +menstruation does not exist, being replaced by what is known as heat, or +oestrus, which usually occurs once or twice a year, in spring and in +autumn, sometimes affecting the male as well as the female.[87] There is, +however, a great deal of progression in the upward march of the phenomena, +as we approach our own and allied zooelogical series. Heat in domesticated +cows usually occurs every three weeks. The female hippopotamus in the +Zooelogical Gardens has been observed to exhibit monthly sexual excitement, +with swelling and secretion from the vulva. Progression is not only toward +greater frequency with higher evolution or with increased domestication, +but there is also a change in the character of the flow. As Wiltshire,[88] +in his remarkable lectures on the "Comparative Physiology of +Menstruation," asserted as a law, the more highly evolved the animal, the +more sanguineous the catamenial flow. + +It is not until we reach the monkeys that this character of the flow +becomes well marked. Monthly sanguineous discharges have been observed +among many monkeys. In the seventeenth century various observers in many +parts of the world--Bohnius, Peyer, Helbigius, Van der Wiel, and +others--noted menstruation in monkeys.[89] Buffon observed it among +various monkeys as well as in the orang-utan. J.G. St. Hilaire and Cuvier, +many years ago, declared that menstruation exists among a variety of +monkeys and lower apes. Rengger described a vaginal discharge in a species +of cebus in Paraguay, while Raciborski observed in the Jardin des Plantes +that the menstrual haemorrhage in guenons was so abundant that the floor of +the cage was covered by it to a considerable extent; the same variety of +monkey was observed at Surinam, by Hill, a surgeon in the Dutch army, who +noted an abundant sanguineous flow occurring at every new moon, and +lasting about three days, the animal at this time also showing signs of +sexual excitement.[90] + +The macaque and the baboon appear to be the non-human animals, in which +menstruation has been most carefully observed. In the former, besides the +flow, Bland Sutton remarks that "all the naked or pale-colored parts of +the body, such as the face, neck, and ischial regions, assume a lively +pink color; in some cases, it is a vivid red."[91] The flow is slight, but +the coloring lasts several days, and in warm weather the labia are much +swollen. + +Heape[92] has most fully and carefully described menstruation in monkeys. +He found at Calcutta that the _Macacus cynomolgus_ menstruated regularly +on the 20th of December, 20th of January, and about the 20th of February. +The _Cynocephalus porcaria_ and the _Semnopithecus entellus_ both +menstruated each month for about four days. In the _Macaci rhesus_ and +_cynomolgus_ at menstruation "the nipples and vulva become swollen and +deeply congested, and the skin of the buttocks swollen, tense, and of a +brilliant-red or even purple color. The abdominal wall also, for a short +space upward, and the inside of the thighs, sometimes as far down as the +heel, and the under surface of the tail for half its length or more, are +all colored a vivid red, while the skin of the face, especially about the +eyes, is flushed or blotched with red." In late gestation the coloring is +still more vivid. Something similar is to be seen in the males also. + +Distant, who kept a female baboon for some time, has recorded the dates of +menstruation during a year. He found that nine periods occurred during the +year. The average length between the periods was nearly six weeks, but +they occurred more frequently in the late autumn and the winter than in +the summer.[93] + +It is an interesting fact, Heape noted, that, notwithstanding +menstruation, the seasonal influence, or rut, still persisted in the +monkeys he investigated. + +In the anthropoid apes, Hartmann remarks that several observers have +recorded periodic menstruation in the chimpanzee, with flushing and +enlargement of the external parts, and protrusion of the external lips, +which are not usually visible, while there is often excessive enlargement +and reddening of these parts and of the posterior callosities during +sexual excitement. Very little, however, appears to be definitely known +regarding any form of menstruation in the higher apes. M. Deniker, who has +made a special study of the anthropoid apes, informs me that he has so far +been unable to make definite observations regarding the existence of +menstruation. Moll remarks that he received information regarding such a +phenomenon in the orang-utan. A pair of orang-utans was kept in the Berlin +Zooelogical Gardens some years ago, and the female was stated to have at +intervals a menstrual flow resembling that of women, and during this +period to refrain from sexual congress, which was otherwise usually +exercised at regular intervals, at least every two or three days; Moll +adds, however, that, while his informant is a reliable man, the length of +time that has elapsed may have led him to make mistakes in details. Keith, +in a paper read before the Zooelogical Society of London, has described +menstruation in a chimpanzee; it occurred every twenty-third or +twenty-fourth day, and lasted for three days; the discharge was profuse, +and first appeared in about the ninth or tenth year.[94] + +What is menstruation? It is easy to describe it, by its obvious symptoms, +as a monthly discharge of blood from the uterus, but nearly as much as +that was known in the infancy of the world. When we seek to probe more +intimately into the nature of menstruation we are still baffled, not +merely as regards its cause, but even as regards its precise mechanism. +"The primary cause of menstruation remains unexplained"; "the cause of +menstruation remains as obscure as ever"; so conclude two of the most +thorough and cautious investigators into this subject.[95] It is, however, +widely accepted that the main cause of menstruation is a rhythmic +contraction of the uterus,--the result of a disappointed preparation for +impregnation,--a kind of miniature childbirth. This seems to be the most +reasonable view of menstruation; i.e., as an abortion of a decidua. +Burdach (according to Beard) was the first who described menstruation as +an abortive parturition. "The hypothesis," Marshall and Jolly conclude, +"that the entire pro-oestrous process is of the nature of a preparation +for the lodgment of the ovum is in accordance with the facts."[96] +Fortunately, since we are here primarily concerned with its psychological +aspects, the precise biological cause and physiological nature of +menstruation do not greatly concern us. + +There is, however, one point which of late years has been definitely +determined, and which should not be passed without mention: the relation +of menstruation to ovulation. It was once supposed that the maturation of +an ovule in the ovaries was the necessary accompaniment, and even cause, +of menstruation. We now know that ovulation proceeds throughout the whole +of life, even before birth, and during gestation,[97] and that removal of +the ovaries by no means necessarily involves a cessation of menstruation. +It has been shown that regular and even excessive menstruation may take +place in the congenital absence of a trace of ovaries or Fallopian +tubes.[98] On the other hand, a rudimentary state of the uterus, and a +complete absence of menstruation, may exist with well-developed ovaries +and normal ovulation.[99] We must regard the uterus as to some extent an +independent organ, and menstruation as a process which arose, no doubt, +with the object, teleologically speaking, of cooperating more effectively +with ovulation, but has become largely independent.[100] + + It is sometimes stated that menstruation may be entirely absent + in perfect health. Few cases of this condition have, however, + been recorded with the detail necessary to prove the assertion. + One such case was investigated by Dr. H.W. Mitchell, and + described in a paper read to the New York County Medical Society, + February 22, 1892 (to be found in _Medical Reprints_, June, + 1892). The subject was a young, unmarried woman, 24 years of age. + She was born in Ireland, and, until her emigration, lived quietly + at home with her parents. Being then twenty years of age, she + left home and came to New York. Up to that time no signs of + menstruation had appeared, and she had never heard that such a + function existed. Soon after her arrival in New York, she + obtained a situation as a waiting-maid, and it was noticed, after + a time, that she was not unwell at each month. Friends filled her + ears with wild stories about the dreadful effects likely to + follow the absence of menstruation. This worried her greatly, and + as a consequence she became pale and anaemic, with loss of flesh, + appetite, and sleep, and a long train of imaginary nervous + symptoms. She presented herself for treatment, and insisted upon + a uterine examination. This revealed no pathological condition + of her uterus. She was assured that she would not die, or become + insane, nor a chronic invalid. In consequence she soon forgot + that she differed in any way from other girls. A course of + chalybeate tonics, generous diet, and proper care of her general + health, soon restored her to her normal condition. After close + observation for several years, she submitted to a thorough + examination, although entirely free from any abnormal symptoms. + The examination revealed the following physical condition: + Weight, 105 pounds (her weight before leaving Ireland was 130); + girth of chest, twenty-nine and a half inches; girth of abdomen, + twenty-five inches; girth of pelvis, thirty-four and a half + inches; girth of thigh, upper third, twenty inches; heart + healthy, sounds and rhythm perfectly normal; pulse, 76; lungs + healthy; respiratory murmur clear and distinct over every part; + respiration, easy and twenty per minute; the mammae are well + developed, firm, and round; nipples, small, no areola; her skin + is soft, smooth, and healthy; figure erect, plump, and + symmetrical; her bowels are regular; kidneys, healthy. She has a + good appetite, sleeps well, and in no particular shows any sign + of ill health. The uterine examination reveals a short vagina, + and a small, round cervix uteri, rather less in size than the + average, and projecting very slightly into the vaginal canal. + Depth of uterus from os to fundus, two and a quarter inches, is + very nearly normal. No external sign of abnormal ovaries. She is + a well-developed, healthy young woman, performing all her + physiological functions naturally and regularly, except the + single function of menstruation. No vicarious menstruation takes + the place of the natural function, though she has been watched + very closely during the past two years, nor the least periodical + excitement. It is added that, though the clitoris is normal, the + mons veneris is almost destitute of hair, and the labia rather + undeveloped, while, "as far as is known," sexual instincts and + desire are entirely absent. These latter facts, I may add, would + seem to suggest that, in spite of the health of the subject, + there is yet some concealed lack of development of the sexual + system, of congenital character. In a case recorded by Plant + (_Centralblatt fuer Gynaekologie_, No. 9, 1896, summarized in the + _British Medical Journal_, April 4, 1896), in which the internal + sexual organs were almost wholly undeveloped, and menstruation + absent, the labia were similarly undeveloped, and the pubic hair + scanty, while the axillary hair was wholly absent, though that of + the head was long and strong. + +We may now regard as purely academic the discussion formerly carried on as +to whether menstruation is to be regarded as analogous to heat in female +animals. For many centuries at least the resemblance has been sufficiently +obvious. Raciborski and Pouchet, who first established the regular +periodicity of ovulation in mammals, identified heat and +menstruation.[101] During the past century there was, notwithstanding, an +occasional tendency to deny any real connection. No satisfactory grounds +for this denial have, however, been brought forward. Lawson Tait, indeed, +and more recently Beard, have stated that menstruation cannot be the +period of heat, because women have a disinclination to the approach of the +male at that time.[102] But, as we shall see later, this statement is +unfounded. An argument which might, indeed, be brought forward is the very +remarkable fact that, while in animals the period of heat is the only +period for sexual intercourse, among all human races, from the very +lowest, the period of menstruation is the one period during which sexual +intercourse is strictly prohibited, sometimes under severe penalties, even +life itself. This, however, is a social, not a physiological, fact. + + Ploss and Bartels call attention to the curious contrast, in this + respect, between heat and menstruation. The same authors also + mention that in the Middle Ages, however, preachers found it + necessary to warn their hearers against the sin of intercourse + during the menstrual period. It may be added that Aquinas and + many other early theologians held, not only that such intercourse + was a deadly sin, but that it engendered leprous and monstrous + children. Some later theologians, however, like Sanchez, argued + that the Mosaic enactments (such as Leviticus, Ch. XX, v. 18) no + longer hold good. Modern theologians--in part influenced by the + tolerant traditions of Liguori, and, in part, like Debreyne + (_Moechialogie_, pp. 275 et seq.) informed by medical science--no + longer prohibit intercourse during menstruation, or regard it as + only a venial sin. + +We have here a remarkable, but not an isolated, example of the tendency of +the human mind in its development to rebel against the claims of primitive +nature. The whole of religion is a similar remolding of nature, a +repression of natural impulses, an effort to turn them into new channels. +Prohibition of intercourse during menstruation is a fundamental element of +savage ritual, an element which is universal merely because the conditions +which caused it are universal, and because--as is now beginning to be +generally recognized--the causes of human psychic evolution are everywhere +the same. A strictly analogous phenomenon, in the sexual sphere itself, is +the opposed attitude in barbarism and civilization toward the sexual +organs. Under barbaric conditions and among savages, when no +magico-religious ideas intervene, the sexual organs are beautiful and +pleasurable objects. Under modern conditions this is not so. This +difference of attitude is reflected in sculpture. In savage and barbaric +carvings of human beings, the sexual organs of both sexes are often +enormously exaggerated. This is true of the archaic European figures on +which Salomon Reinach has thrown so much light, but in modern sculpture, +from the time when it reached its perfection in Greece onward, the sexual +regions in both men and women are systematically minimized.[103] + +With advancing culture--as again we shall see later--there is a conflict +of claims, and certain considerations are regarded as "higher" and more +potent than merely "natural" claims. Nakedness is more natural than +clothing, and on many grounds more desirable under the average +circumstances of life, yet, everywhere, under the stress of what are +regarded as higher considerations, there is a tendency for all races to +add more and more to the burden of clothes. In the same way it happens +that the tendency of the female to sexual intercourse during +menstruation[104] has everywhere been overlaid by the ideas of a culture +which has insisted on regarding menstruation as a supernatural phenomenon +which, for the protection of everybody, must be strictly tabooed.[105] +This tendency is reinforced, and in high civilization replaced, by the +claims of an aesthetic regard for concealment and reserve during this +period. Such facts are significant for the early history of culture, but +they must not blind us to the real analogy between heat and menstruation, +an analogy or even identity which may be said to be accepted now by most +careful investigators.[106] + +If it is, perhaps, somewhat excessive to declare, with Johnstone, that +"woman is the only animal in which rut is omnipresent," we must admit that +the two groups of phenomena merge into or replace each other, that their +object is identical, that they involve similar psychic conditions. Here, +also, we see a striking example of the way in which women preserve a +primitive phenomenon which earlier in the zooelogical series was common to +both sexes, but which man has now lost. Heat and menstruation, with +whatever difference of detail, are practically the same phenomenon. We +cannot understand menstruation unless we bear this in mind. + +On the psychic side the chief normal and primitive characteristic of the +menstrual state is the more predominant presence of the sexual impulse. +There are other mental and emotional signs of irritability and instability +which tend to slightly impair complete mental integrity, and to render, in +some unbalanced individuals explosions of anger or depression, in rarer +cases crime, more common;[107] but the heightening of the sexual impulse, +languor, shyness, and caprice are the more human manifestations of an +emotional state which in some of the lower female animals during heat may +produce a state of fury. + +The actual period of the menstrual flow, at all events the first two or +three days, does not, among European women, usually appear to show any +heightening of sexual emotion.[108] This heightening occurs usually a few +days before, and especially during, the latter part of the flow, and +immediately after it ceases.[109] I have, however, convinced myself by +inquiry that this absence of sexual feeling during the height of the flow +is, in large part, apparent only. No doubt, the onset of the flow, often +producing a general depression of vitality, may tend directly to depress +the emotions, which are heightened by the general emotional state and +local congestion of the days immediately preceding; but among some women, +at all events, who are normal and in good health, I find that the period +of menstruation itself is covered by the period of the climax of sexual +feeling. Thus, a married lady writes: "My feelings are always very strong, +not only just before and after, but during the period; very unfortunately, +as, of course, they cannot then be gratified"; while a refined girl of 19, +living a chaste life, without either coitus or masturbation, which she has +never practiced, habitually feels very strong sexual excitement about the +time of menstruation, and more especially during the period; this desire +torments her life, prevents her from sleeping at these times, and she +looks upon it as a kind of illness.[110] I could quote many other similar +and equally emphatic statements, and the fact that so cardinal a +relationship of the sexual life of women should be ignored or denied by +most writers on this matter, is a curious proof of the prevailing +ignorance.[111] + +This ignorance has been fostered by the fact that women, often disguise +even to themselves the real state of their feelings. One lady remarks that +while she would be very ready for coitus during menstruation, the thought +that it is impossible during that time makes her put the idea of it out of +her mind. I have reason to think that this statement may be taken to +represent the real feelings of very many women. The aversion to coitus is +real, but it is often due, not to failure of sexual desire, but to the +inhibitory action of powerful extraneous causes. The absence of active +sexual desire in women during the height of the flow may thus be regarded +as, in part, a physiological fact, following from the correspondence of +the actual menstrual flow to the period of _pro-oestrum_, and in part, a +psychological fact due to the aesthetic repugnance to union when in such a +condition, and to the unquestioned acceptance of the general belief that +at such a period intercourse is out of the question. Some of the strongest +factors of modesty, especially the fear of causing disgust and the sense +of the demands of ceremonial ritual, would thus help to hold in check the +sexual emotions during this period, and when, under the influence of +insanity, these motives are in abeyance, the coincidence of sexual desire +with the menstrual flow often becomes more obvious.[112] + +It must be added that, especially among the lower social classes, the +primitive belief of the savage that coitus during menstruation is bad for +the man still persists. Ploss and Bartels mention that among the peasants +in some parts of Germany, where it is believed that impregnation is +impossible during menstruation, coitus at that time would be frequent were +it not thought dangerous for the man.[113] It has also been a common +belief both in ancient and modern times that coitus during menstruation +engenders monsters.[114] + +Notwithstanding all the obstacles that are thus placed in the way of +coitus during menstruation, there is nevertheless good reason to believe +that the first coitus very frequently takes place at this point of least +psychic resistance. When still a student I was struck by the occurrence of +cases in which seduction took place during the menstrual flow, though at +that time they seemed to me inexplicable, except as evidencing brutality +on the part of the seducer. Negrier,[115] in the lying-in wards of the +Hotel-Dieu at Angers, constantly found that the women from the country who +came there pregnant as the result of a single coitus had been impregnated +at or near the menstrual epoch, more especially when the period coincided +with a feast-day, as St. John's Day or Christmas. + +Whatever doubt may exist as to the most frequent state of the sexual +emotions during the period of menstruation, there can be no doubt whatever +that immediately before and immediately after, very commonly at both +times,--this varying slightly in different women,--there is usually a +marked heightening of actual desire. It is at this period (and sometimes +during the menstrual flow) that masturbation may take place in women who +at other times have no strong auto-erotic impulse. The only women who do +not show this heightening of sexual emotion seem to be those in whom +sexual feelings have not yet been definitely called into consciousness, or +the small minority, usually suffering from some disorder of sexual or +general health, in whom there is a high degree of sexual anaesthesia.[116] + + The majority of authorities admit a heightening of sexual emotion + before or after the menstrual crisis. See e.g., Krafft-Ebing, who + places it at the post-menstrual period (_Psychopathia Sexualis_, + Eng. translation of tenth edition, p. 27). Adler states that + sexual feeling is increased before, during and after menstruation + (_Die Mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, 1904, p. + 88). Kossmann (Senator and Kaminer, _Health and Disease in + Relation to Marriage_, I, 249), advises intercourse just after + menstruation, or even during the latter days of the flow, as the + period when it is most needed. Guyot says that the eight days + after menstruation are the period of sexual desire in women + (_Breviaire de l'Amour Experimentale_, p. 144). Harry Campbell + investigated the periodicity of sexual desire in healthy women of + the working classes, in a series of cases, by inquiries made of + their husbands who were patients at a London hospital. People of + this class are not always skilful in observation, and the method + adopted would permit many facts to pass unrecorded; it is, + therefore, noteworthy that only in one-third of the cases had no + connection between menstruation and sexual feeling been observed; + in the other two-thirds, sexual feeling was increased, either + before, after, or during the flow, or at all of these times; the + proportion of cases in which sexual feeling was increased before + the flow, to those in which it was increased after, was as three + to two. (H. Campbell, _Nervous Organization of Men and Women_, p. + 203.) + + Even this elementary fact of the sexual life has, however, been + denied, and, strange to say, by two women doctors. Dr. Mary + Putnam Jacobi, of New York, who furnished valuable contributions + to the physiology of menstruation, wrote some years ago, in a + paper on "The Theory of Menstruation," in reference to the + question of the connection between oestrus and menstruation: + "Neither can any such rhythmical alternation of sexual instinct + be demonstrated in women as would lead to the inference that the + menstrual crisis was an expression of this," i.e., of oestrus. + Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, again, in her book on _The Human Element + in Sex_, asserts that the menstrual flow itself affords complete + relief for the sexual feelings in women (like sexual emissions + during sleep in men), and thus practically denies the prevalence + of sexual desire in the immediately post-menstrual period, when, + on such a theory, sexual feeling should be at its minimum. It is + fair to add that Dr. Blackwell's opinion is merely the survival + of a view which was widely held a century ago, when various + writers (Bordeu, Roussel, Duffieux, J. Arnould, etc.), as Icard + has pointed out, regarded menstruation as a device of Providence + for safeguarding the virginity of women. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] Thaddeus L. Bolton, "Rhythm," _American Journal of Psychology_, +January, 1894. + +[76] It is scarcely necessary to warn the reader that this statement does +not prejudge the question of the inheritance of acquired characters, +although it fits in with Semon's Mnemic theory. We can, however, very well +suppose that the organism became adjusted to the rhythms of its +environment by a series of congenital variations. Or it might be held, on +the basis of Weismann's doctrine, that the germ-plasm has been directly +modified by the environment. + +[77] Thus, the Papuans, in some districts, believe that the first +menstruation is due to an actual connection, during sleep, with the moon +in the shape of a man, the girl dreaming that a real man is embracing her. +(_Reports Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits_, vol. v, p. 206.) + +[78] Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 164. + +[79] While in the majority of women the menstrual cycle is regular for the +individual, and corresponds to the lunar month of 28 days, it must be +added that in a considerable minority it is rather longer, or, more +usually, shorter than this, and in many individuals is not constant. +Osterloh found a regular type of menstruation in 68 per cent, healthy +women, four weeks being the most usual length of the cycle; in 21 per +cent, the cycle was always irregular. See Naecke, "Die Menstruation und ihr +Einfluss bei chronischen Psychosen," _Archiv fuer Psychiatrie_, 1896, Bd, +28, Heft 1. + +[80] Among the Duala and allied negro peoples of Bantu stock dances of +markedly erotic character take place at full moon. Gason describes the +dances and sexual festivals of the South Australian blacks, generally +followed by promiscuous intercourse, as taking place at full moon. +(_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, November, 1894, p. 174.) In +all parts of the world, indeed, including Christendom, festivals are +frequently regulated by the phases of the moon. + +[81] It has often been held that the course of insanity is influenced by +the moon. Of comparatively recent years, this thesis has been maintained +by Koster (_Ueber die Gesetze des periodischen Irreseins und verwandter +Nervenzustaende_, Bonn, 1882), who argues in detail that periodic insanity +tends to fall into periods of seven days or multiples of seven. + +[82] Ed. Hahn, _Demeter und Baubo_, p. 23. + +[83] E. Seler, _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1907, Heft I, p. 39. And as +regards the primitive importance of the moon, see also Frazer, _Adonis, +Attis, Osiris_, Ch. VIII. + +[84] Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia_, 1898, pp. 68, 75-79, 461. + +[85] Even in England, Barnes has known women of feeble sexual constitution +who menstruated only in summer (R. Barnes, _Diseases of Women_, 1878, p. +192). + +[86] A.B. Holder, "Gynecic Notes among American Indians," _American +Journal of Obstetrics_, No. 6, 1892. + +[87] In the male, the phenomenon is termed rut, and is most familiar in +the stag. I quote from Marshall and Jolly some remarks on the infrequency +of rut: "'The male wild Cat,' Mr. Cocks informs us, (like the stag), 'has +a rutting season, calls loudly, almost day and night, making far more +noise than the female.' This information is of interest, inasmuch as the +males of most carnivores, although they undoubtedly show signs of +increased sexual activity at some times more than at others, are not known +to have anything of the nature of a regularly recurrent rutting season. +Nothing of the kind is known in the Dog, nor, so far as we are aware, in +the males of the domestic Cat, or the Ferret, all of which seem to be +capable of copulation at any time of the year. On the other hand, the +males of Seals appear to have a rutting season at the same time as the +sexual season of the female." (Marshall and Jolly, "Contributions to the +Physiology of Mammalian Reproduction," _Philosophical Transactions_, 1905, +B. 198.) + +[88] A. Wiltshire, _British Medical Journal_, March, 1883. The best +account of heat known to me is contained in Ellenberger's _Vergleichende +Physiologie der Haussauegethiere_, 1892, Band 4, Theil 2, pp. 276-284. + +[89] Schurig (_Parthenologia_, 1729, p. 125), gives numerous references +and quotations. + +[90] Quoted by Icard, _La Femme_, etc., p. 63. + +[91] Bland Sutton, _Surgical Diseases of the Ovaries_, and _British +Gynecological Journal_, vol. ii. + +[92] W. Heape, "The Menstruation of _Semnopithecus Entellus_," +_Philosophical Transactions_, 1894; "Menstruation and Ovulation of +_Macacus Rhesus_," _Philosophical Transactions_, 1897. + +[93] W.L. Distant, "Notes on the Chacma Baboon," _Zooelogist_, January, +1897, p, 29. + +[94] _Nature_, March 23, 1899. + +[95] W. Heape, "The Menstruation of _Semnopithecus Entellus_," +_Philosophical Transactions_, 1894, p. 483; Bland Sutton, _Surgical +Diseases of the Ovaries_, 1896. + +[96] T. Bryce and J. Teacher (_Contributions to the Study of the Early +Development of the Human Ovum_, 1908), putting the matter somewhat +differently, regard menstruation as a cyclical process, providing for the +maintenance of the endometrium in a suitable condition of immaturity for +the production of the decidua of pregnancy, which they believe may take +place at any time of the month, though most favorably shortly before or +after a menstrual period which has been accompanied by ovulation. + +[97] Robinson, _American Gynecological and Obstetrical Journal_, August, +1905. + +[98] Bossi, _Annali di Ostetrica e Ginecologia_, September, 1896; +summarized in the _British Medical Journal_, October 31, 1896. As regards +the more normal influence of the ovaries over the uterus, see e.g. +Carmichael and F.H.A. Marshall, "Correlation of the Ovarian and Uterine +Functions," _Proceedings Royal Society_, vol. 79, Series B, 1907. + +[99] Beuttner, _Centralblatt fuer Gynaekologie_, No. 49, 1893; summarized in +_British Medical Journal_, December, 1893. Many cases show that pregnancy +may occur in the absence of menstruation. See, e.g., _Nouvelles Archives +d'Obstetrique et de Gynecologie_, 25 Janvier, 1894, supplement, p. 9. + +[100] It is still possible, and even probable, that the primordial cause +of both phenomena is the same. Heape (_Transactions Obstetrical Society of +London_, 1898, vol. xl, p. 161) argues that both menstruation and +ovulation are closely connected with and influenced by congestion, and +that in the primitive condition they are largely due to the same cause. +This primary cause he is inclined to regard as a ferment, due to a change +in the constitution of the blood brought about by climatic influences and +food, which he proposes to call gonadin. (W. Heape, _Proceedings of Royal +Society_, 1905, vol. B. 76, p. 266.) Marshall, who has found that in the +ferret and other animals, ovulation may be dependent upon copulation, also +considers that ovulation and menstruation, though connected and able to +react on each other, may both be dependent upon a common cause; he finds +that in bitches and rats heat can be produced by injection of extract from +ovaries in the oestrous state (F.H.A. Marshall, _Philosophical +Transactions_, 1903, vol. B. 196; also Marshall and Jolly, id., 1905, B. +198). Cf. C.J. Bond, "An Inquiry Into Some Points in Uterine and Ovarian +Physiology and Pathology in Rabbits," _British Medical Journal_, July 21, +1906. + +[101] Pouchet, _Theorie de l'Ovulation Spontanee_, 1847. As Blair Bell and +Pontland Hick remark ("Menstruation," _British Medical Journal_, March 6, +1909), the repeated oestrus of unimpregnated animals (once a fortnight in +rabbits) is surely comparable to menstruation. + +[102] Tait, _Provincial Medical Journal_, May, 1891; J. Beard, _The Span +of Gestation_, 1897, p. 69. Lawson Tait is reduced to the assertion that +ovulation and menstruation are identical. + +[103] As Moll points out, even the secondary sexual characters have +undergone a somewhat similar change. The beard was once an important +sexual attraction, but men can now afford to dispense with it without fear +of loss in attractiveness. (_Libido Sexualis_, Band I, p. 387.) These +points are discussed at greater length in the fourth volume of these +_Studies_, "Sexual Selection in Man." + +[104] It is not absolutely established that in menstruating animals the +period of menstruation is always a period of sexual congress; probably +not, the influence of menstruation being diminished by the more +fundamental influence of breeding seasons, which affect the male also; +monkeys have a breeding season, though they menstruate regularly all the +year round. + +[105] See Appendix A. + +[106] Bland Sutton, loc. cit., p. 896. + +[107] See H. Ellis, _Man and Woman_, Chapter XI. + +[108] This is by no means true of European women only. Thus, we read in an +Arabic book, _The Perfumed Garden_, that women have an aversion to coitus +during menstruation. On the other hand, the old Hindoo physician, Susruta, +appears to have stated that a tendency to run after men is one of the +signs of menstruation. + +[109] The actual period of the menstrual flow corresponds, in Heape's +terminology, to the congestive stage, or _pro-oestrum_, in female animals; +the _oestrus_, or period of sexual desire, immediately follows the +_pro-oestrum_, and is the direct result of it. See Heape, "The 'Sexual +Season' of Mammals," _Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science_, 1900, +vol. xliv, Part I. + +[110] It may be noted that (as Barnes, Oliver, and others have pointed +out) there is heightened blood-pressure during menstruation. Haig remarks +that he has found a tendency for high pressure to be accompanied by +increased sexual appetite (_Uric Acid_, 6th edition, p. 155). + +[111] Sir W.F. Wade, however, remarked, some years ago, in his Ingleby +Lectures (_Lancet_, June 5, 1886): "It is far from exceptional to find +that there is an extreme enhancement of concupiscence in the immediate +precatamenial period," and adds, "I am satisfied that evidence is +obtainable that in some instances, ardor is at its maximum during the +actual period, and suspect that cases occur in which it is almost, if not +entirely, limited to that time." Long ago, however, the genius of Haller +had noted the same fact. More recently, Icard (_La Femme_, Chapter VI and +elsewhere, e.g., p. 125) has brought forward much evidence in confirmation +of this view. It may be added that there is considerable significance in +the fact that the erotic hallucinations, which are not infrequently +experienced by women under the influence of nitrous oxide gas, are more +likely to appear at the monthly period than at any other time. (D.W. +Buxton, _Anesthetics_, 1892, p. 61.) + +[112] Gehrung considers that in healthy young girls amorous sensations are +normal during menstruation, and in some women persist, during this period, +throughout life. More usually, however, as menstrual period after +menstrual period recurs, without the natural interruption of pregnancy, +the feeling abates, and gives place to sensations of discomfort or pain. +He ascribes this to the vital tissues being sapped of more blood than can +be replaced in the intervals. "The vital powers, being thus kept in +abeyance, the amative sensations are either not developed, or destroyed. +This, superadded by the usual moral and religious teachings, is amply +sufficient, by degrees, to extinguish or prevent such feelings with the +great majority. The sequestration as 'unclean,' of women during their +catamenial period, as practiced in olden times, had the same tendency." +(E.C. Gehrung, "The Status of Menstruation," _Transactions American +Gynecology Society_, 1901, p. 48.) + +[113] It is possible there may be an element of truth in this belief. +Diday, of Lyons, found that chronic urethorrhoea is an occasional result +of intercourse during menstruation. Raciborski (_Traite de la +Menstruation_, 1868, p. 12), who also paid attention to this point, while +confirming Diday, came to the conclusion that some special conditions must +be present on one or both sides. + +[114] See, e.g., Ballantyne, "Teratogenesis," _Transactions of the +Edinburgh Obstetrical Society_, 1896, vol. xxi, pp. 324-25. + +[115] As quoted by Icard, _La Femme_, etc., p. 194. I have not been able +to see Negrier's work. + +[116] I deal with the question of sexual anaesthesia in women in the third +volume of these _Studies_: "The Sexual Impulse in Women." + + + + +II. + +The Question of a Monthly Sexual Cycle in Men--The Earliest Suggestions of +a General Physiological Cycle in Men--Periodicity in Disease--Insanity, +Heart Disease, etc.--The Alleged Twenty-three Days' Cycle--The +Physiological Periodicity of Seminal Emissions during Sleep--Original +Observations--Fortnightly and Weekly Rhythms. + + +For some centuries, at least, inquisitive observers here and there have +thought they found reason to believe that men, as well as women, present +various signs of a menstrual physiological cycle. It would be possible to +collect a number of opinions in favor of such a monthly physiological +periodicity in men. Precise evidence, however, is, for the most part, +lacking. Men have expended infinite ingenuity in establishing the remote +rhythms of the solar system and the periodicity of comets. They have +disdained to trouble about the simpler task of proving or disproving the +cycles of their own organisms.[117] It is over half a century since +Laycock wrote that "the _scientific_ observation and treatment of disease +are impossible without a knowledge of the mysterious revolutions +continually taking place in the system"; yet the task of summarizing the +whole of our knowledge regarding these "mysterious revolutions" is even +to-day no heavy one. As to the existence of a monthly cycle in the sexual +instincts of men, with a single exception, I am not aware that any attempt +has been made to bring forward definite evidence.[118] A certain interest +and novelty attaches, therefore, to the evidence I am able to produce, +although that evidence will not suffice to settle the question finally. + +The great Italian physician, Sanctorius, who was in so many ways the +precursor of our modern methods of physiological research by the means of +instruments of precision, was the first, so far as I am aware, to suggest +a monthly cycle of the organism in men. He had carefully studied the +weight of the body with reference to the amount of excretions, and +believed that a monthly increase in weight to the amount of one or two +pounds occurred in men, followed by a critical discharge of urine, this +crisis being preceded by feelings of heaviness and lassitude.[119] Gall, +another great initiator of modern views, likewise asserted a monthly cycle +in men. He insisted that there is a monthly critical period, more marked +in nervous people than in others, and that at this time the complexion +becomes dull, the breath stronger, digestion more laborious, while there +is sometimes disturbance of the urine, together with general _malaise_, in +which the temper takes part; ideas are formed with more difficulty, and +there is a tendency to melancholy, with unusual irascibility and mental +inertia, lasting a few days. More recently Stephenson, who established the +cyclical wave-theory of menstruation, argued that it exists in men also, +and is really "a general law of vital energy."[120] + + Sanctorius does not appear to have published the data on which + his belief was founded. Keill, an English, follower of + Sanctorius, in his _Medicina Statica Britannica_ (1718), + published a series of daily (morning and evening) body-weights + for the year, without referring to the question of a monthly + cycle. A period of maximum weight is shown usually, by Keill's + figures, to occur about once a month, but it is generally + irregular, and cannot usually be shown to occur at definite + intervals. Monthly discharges of blood from the sexual organs and + other parts of the body in men have been recorded in ancient and + modern times, and were treated of by the older medical writers as + an affliction peculiar to men with a feminine system. (Laycock, + _Nervous Diseases of Women_, p. 79.) A summary of such cases will + be found in Gould and Pyle (_Anomalies and Curiosities of + Medicine_, 1897, pp. 27-28). Laycock (_Lancet_, 1842-43, vols. i + and ii) brought forward cases of monthly and fortnightly cycles + in disease, and asserted "the general principle that there are + greater and less cycles of movements going on in the system, + involving each other, and closely connected with the organization + of the individual." He was inclined to accept lunar influence, + and believed that the physiological cycle is made up of definite + fractions and multiples of a period of seven days, especially a + unit of three and a half days. Albrecht, a somewhat erratic + zooelogist, put forth the view a few years ago that there are + menstrual periods in men, giving the following reasons: (1) males + are rudimentary females, (2) in all males of mammals, a + rudimentary masculine uterus (Mueller's ducts) still persists, (3) + totally hypospadic male individuals menstruate; and believed that + he had shown that in man there is a rudimentary menstruation + consisting in an almost monthly periodic appearance, lasting for + three or four days, of white corpuscles in the urine (_Anomalo_, + February, 1890). Dr. Campbell Clark, some years since, made + observations on asylum attendants in regard to the temperature, + during five weeks, which tended to show that the normal male + temperature varies considerably within certain limits, and that + "so far as I have been able to observe, there is one marked and + prolonged rise every month or five weeks, averaging three days, + occasional lesser rises appearing irregularly and of shorter + duration. These observations are only made in three cases, and I + have no proof that they refer to the sexual appetite" (Campbell + Clark, "The Sexual Reproductive Functions," Psychological + Section, British Medical Association, Glasgow, 1888; also, + private letters). Hammond (_Treatise on Insanity_, p. 114) says: + "I have certainly noted in some of my friends, the tendency to + some monthly periodic abnormal manifestations. This may be in the + form of a headache, or a nasal haemorrhage, or diarrhoea, or + abundant discharge of uric acid, or some other unusual + occurrence. I think," he adds, "this is much more common than is + ordinarily supposed, and a careful examination or inquiry will + generally, if not invariably, establish the existence of a + periodicity of the character referred to." + + Dr. Harry Campbell, in his book on _Differences in the Nervous + Organization of Men and Women_, deals fully with the monthly + rhythm (pp. 270 et seq.), and devotes a short chapter to the + question, "Is the Menstrual Rhythm peculiar to the Female Sex?" + He brings forward a few pathological cases indicating such a + rhythm, but although he had written a letter to the _Lancet_, + asking medical men to supply him with evidence bearing on this + question, it can scarcely be said that he has brought forward + much evidence of a convincing kind, and such as he has brought + forward is purely pathological. He believes, however, that we may + accept a monthly cycle in men. "We may," he concludes, "regard + the human being--both male and female--as the subject of a + monthly pulsation which begins with the beginning of life, and + continues till death," menstruation being regarded as a function + accidentally ingrafted upon this primordial rhythm. + + It is not unreasonable to argue that the possibility of such a + menstrual cycle is increased, if we can believe that in women, + also, the menstrual cycle persists even when its outward + manifestations no longer occur. Aetius said that menstrual + changes take place during gestation; in more modern times, Buffon + was of the same opinion. Laycock also maintained that menstrual + changes take place during pregnancy (_Nervous Diseases of Women_, + p. 47). Fliess considers that it is certainly incorrect to assert + that the menstrual process is arrested during pregnancy, and he + refers to the frequency of monthly epistaxis and other nasal + symptoms throughout this period (W. Fliess, _Beziehungen zwischen + Nase und Geschlechts-Organen_, pp. 44 et seq.). Beard, who + attaches importance to the persistence of a cyclical period in + gestation, calls it the muffled striking of the clock. Harry + Campbell (_Causation of Disease_, p. 54) has found + post-climacteric menstrual rhythm in a fair sprinkling of cases + up to the age of sixty. + +It is somewhat remarkable that, so far as I have observed, none of these +authors refer to the possibility of any heightening of the sexual appetite +at the monthly crisis which they believe to exist in men. This omission +indicates that, as is suggested by the absence of definite statements on +the matter of increase of sexual desire at menstruation, it was an ignored +or unknown fact. Of recent years, however, many writers, especially +alienists, have stated their conviction that sexual desire in men tends to +be heightened at approximately monthly intervals, though they have not +always been able to give definite evidence in support of their statements. + + Clouston, for instance, has frequently asserted this monthly + periodic sexual heightening in men. In the article, + "Developmental Insanity," in Tuke's _Psychological Dictionary_, + he refers to the periodic physiological heightening of the + reproductive _nisus_; and, again, in an article on "Alternation, + Periodicity, and Relapse in Mental Diseases" (_Edinburgh Medical + Journal_, July, 1882), he records the case of "an insane + gentleman, aged 49, who, for the past twenty-six years, has been + subject to the most regularly occurring brain-exaltation every + four weeks, almost to a day. It sometimes passes off without + becoming acutely maniacal, or even showing itself in outward + acts; at other times it becomes so, and lasts for periods of from + one to four weeks. It is always preceded by an uncomfortable + feeling in the head, and pain in the back, mental hebetude, and + slight depression. The _nisus generativus_ is greatly increased, + and he says that, if in that condition, he has full and free + seminal emissions during sleep, the excitement passes off; if + not, it goes on. A full dose of bromide or iodide of potassium + often, but not always, has the effect of stopping the excitement, + and a very long walk sometimes does the same. When the + excitement gets to a height, it is always followed by about a + week of stupid depression." In the same article Clouston remarks: + "I have for a long time been impressed with the relationship of + the mental and bodily alternations and periodicities in insanity + to the great physiological alternations and periodicities, and I + have generally been led to the conclusion that they are the same + in all essential respects, and only differ in degree of intensity + or duration. By far the majority of the cases in women follow the + law of the menstrual and sexual periodicity; the majority of the + cases in men follow the law of the more irregular periodicities + of the _nisus generativus_ in that sex. Many of the cases in both + sexes follow the seasonal periodicity which perhaps in man is + merely a reversion to the seasonal generative activities of the + majority of the lower animals." He found that among 338 cases of + insanity, chiefly mania and melancholia, 46 per cent, of females + and 40 per cent, of males showed periodicity,--diurnal, monthly, + seasonal, or annual, and more marked in women than in men, and in + mania than in melancholia,--and adds: "I found that the younger + the patient, the greater is the tendency to periodic remission + and relapse. The phenomenon finds its acme in the cases of + pubescent and adolescent insanity." + + Conolly Norman, in the article "Mania, Hysterical" (Tuke's + _Psychological Dictionary_), states that "the activity of the + sexual organs is probably in both sexes fundamentally periodic." + + Krafft-Ebing records the case of a neurasthenic Russian, aged 24, + who experienced sexual desires of urologinic character, with fair + regularity, every four weeks (_Psychopathia Sexualis_), and Naecke + mentions the case of a man who had nocturnal emissions at + intervals of four weeks (_Archiv fuer Kriminal-Anthropologie_, + 1908, p. 363), while Moll (_Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, pp. 621-623) + recorded the case of a man, otherwise normal, who had attacks of + homosexual feeling every four weeks, and Rohleder (_Zeitschrift + fuer Sexualwissenschaft_, Nov., 1908) gives the case of an + unmarried slightly neuropathic physician who for several days + every three to five weeks has attacks of almost satyriacal sexual + excitement. + + Fere, whose attention was called to this point, from time to time + noted the existence of sexual periodicity. Thus, in a case of + general paralysis, attacks of continuous sexual excitement, with + sleeplessness, occurred every twenty-eight days; at other times, + the patient, a man of 42, in the stage of dementia, slept well, + and showed no signs of sexual excitation (_Societe de Biologie_, + October 6, 1900). In another case, of a man of sound heredity and + good health till middle life, periodic sexual manifestations + began from puberty, with localized genital congestion, erotic + ideas, and copious urination, lasting for two or three days. + These manifestations became menstrual, with a period of + intermenstrual excitement appearing regularly, but never became + intense. Between the age of 36 and 42, the intermenstrual crises + gradually ceased; at about 45, the menstrual crises ceased; the + periodic crises continued, however, with the sole manifestation + of increased frequency of urination (_Societe de Biologie_, July + 23, 1904). In a third case, of sexual neurasthenia, Fere found + that from puberty, onwards to middle life, there appeared, every + twenty-five to twenty-eight days, tenderness and swelling below + the nipple, accompanied by slight sexual excitation and erotic + dreams, lasting for one or two days (_Revue de Medecine_, March, + 1905). + +It is in the domain of disease that the most strenuous and, on the whole, +the most successful efforts have been made to discover a menstrual cycle +in men. Such a field seems promising at the outset, for many morbid +exaggerations or defects of the nervous system might be expected to +emphasize, or to free from inhibition, fundamental rhythmical processes of +the organism which in health, and under the varying conditions of social +existence, are overlaid by the higher mental activities and the pressure +of external stimuli. In the eighteenth century Erasmus Darwin wrote a +remarkable and interesting chapter on "The Periods of Disease," dealing +with solar and lunar influence on biological processes.[121] Since then, +many writers have brought forward evidence, especially in the domain of +nervous and mental disease, which seems to justify a belief that, under +pathological conditions, a tendency to a male menstrual rhythm may be +clearly laid bare. + +We should expect an organ so primitive in character as the heart, and with +so powerful a rhythm already stamped upon its nervous organization, to be +peculiarly apt to display a menstrual rhythm under the stress of abnormal +conditions. This expectation might be strengthened by the menstrual rhythm +which Mr. Perry-Coste has found reason to suspect in pulse-frequency +during health. I am able to present a case in which such a periodicity +seems to be indicated. It is that of a gentleman who suffered severely for +some years before his death from valvular disease of the heart, with a +tendency to pulmonary congestion, and attacks of "cardiac asthma." His +wife, a lady of great intelligence, kept notes of her husband's +condition,[122] and at last observed that there was a certain periodicity +in the occurrence of the exacerbations. The periods were not quite +regular, but show a curious tendency to recur at about thirty days' +interval, a few days before the end of every month; it was during one of +these attacks that he finally died. There was also a tendency to minor +attacks about ten days after the major attacks. It is noteworthy that the +subject showed a tendency to periodicity when in health, and once remarked +laughingly before his illness: "I am just like a woman, always most +excitable at a particular time of the month." + + Periodicity has been noted in various disorders of nervous + character. Periodic insanity has long been known and studied + (see, e.g., Pilcz, _Die periodischen Geistesstoerungen_, 1901); it + is much commoner in women than in men. Periodicity has been + observed in stammering (a six-weekly period in one case), and + notably in hemicrania or migraine, by Harry Campbell, Osler, etc. + (The periodicity of a case of hemicrania has been studied in + detail by D. Fraser Harris, _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, July, + 1902.) But the cycle in these cases is not always, or even + usually, of a menstrual type. + +It is now possible to turn to an investigation which, although of very +limited extent, serves to place the question of a male menstrual cycle for +the first time on a sound basis. If there is such a cycle analogous to +menstruation in women, it must be a recurring period of nervous erethism, +and it must be demonstrably accompanied by greater sexual activity. In the +_American Journal of Psychology_ for 1888, Mr. Julius Nelson, afterward +Professor of Biology at the Rutgers College of Agriculture, New Brunswick, +published a study of dreams in which he recorded the results of detailed +observations of his dreams, and also of seminal emissions during sleep (by +him termed "gonekbole" or "ecbole"), during a period of something over two +years. Mr. Nelson found that both dreams and ecboles fell into a +physiological cycle of 28 days. The climax of maximum dreaming (as +determined by the number of words in the dream record) and the climax of +maximum ecbole fell at the same point of the cycle, the ecbolic climax +being more distinctly marked than the dream climax. + + The question of cyclic physiological changes is considerably + complicated by our uncertainty regarding the precise length of + the cycle we may expect to find. Nelson finds a 28-day cycle + satisfactory. Perry-Coste, as we shall see, accepts a strictly + lunar cycle of 291/2 days. Fliess has argued that in both women and + men, many physiological facts fall into a cycle of 23 days, which + he calls male, the 28-day cycle being female. (W. Fliess, _Die + Beziehungen zwischen Nase und weiblichen Geschlechts-Organen_, + 1897, pp. 113 et seq.) Although Fliess brings forward a number of + minutely-observed cases, I cannot say that I am yet convinced of + the reality of this 23-day cycle. It is somewhat curious, + however, that at the same time as Fliess, though in apparent + independence, and from a different point of view, another worker + also suggested that there is a 23-day physiological cycle (John + Beard, _The Span of Gestation and the Cause of Birth_, Jena, + 1897). Beard approaches the question from the embryological + standpoint, and argues that there is what he terms an "ovulation + unit" of about 231/2 days, in the interval from the end of one + menstruation to the beginning of the next. Two "ovulation units" + make up one "critical unit," and the length of pregnancy, + according to Beard, is always a multiple of the "critical unit;" + in man, the gestation period amounts to six critical units. These + attempts to prove a new physiological cycle deserve careful study + and further investigation. The possibility of such a cycle should + be borne in mind, but at present we are scarcely entitled to + accept it. + +So far as I am aware, Professor Nelson's very interesting series of +observations, which, for the first time, placed the question of a +menstrual rhythm in men on a sound and workable basis, have not directly +led to any further observations. I am, however, in possession of a much +more extended series of ecbolic observations completed before Nelson's +paper was published, although the results have only been calculated at a +comparatively-recent date. I now propose to present a summary of these +observations, and consider how far they confirm Nelson's conclusions. +These observations cover no less a period than twelve years, between the +ages of 17 and 29, the subject, W.K., being a student, and afterward +schoolmaster, leading, on the whole, a chaste life. The records were +faithfully made throughout the whole of this long period. Here, if +anywhere, should be material for the construction of a menstrual rhythm +on an ecbolic basis. While the results are in many respects instructive, +it can scarcely, perhaps, be said that they absolutely demonstrate a +monthly cycle. When summated in a somewhat similar manner to that adopted +by Nelson in his ecbolic observations, it is not difficult to regard the +maximum, which is reached on the 19th to 21st days of the summated +physiological month, as a real menstrual ecbolic climax, for no other +three consecutive days at all approach these in number of ecboles, while +there is a marked depression occurring four days earlier, on the 16th day +of the month. If, however, we split up the curve by dividing the period of +twelve years into two nearly equal periods, the earlier of about seven +years and the latter of about four years, and summate these separately, +the two curves do not present any parallel as regards the menstrual cycle. +It scarcely seems to me, therefore, that these curves present any +convincing evidence in this case of a monthly ecbolic cycle (and, +therefore, I refrain from reproducing them), although they seem to suggest +such a cycle. Nor is there any reason to suppose that by adopting a +different cycle of thirty days, or of twenty-three days, any more +conclusive results would be obtained. + +It seems, however, when we look at these curves more closely, that they +are not wholly without significance. If I am justified in concluding that +they scarcely demonstrate a monthly cycle, it may certainly be added that +they show a rudimentary tendency for the ecboles to fall into a +fortnightly rhythm, and a very marked and unmistakable tendency to a +weekly rhythm. The fortnightly rhythm is shown in the curve for the +earlier period, but is somewhat disguised in the curve for the total +period, because the first climax is spread over two days, the 7th and 8th +of the month. If we readjust the curve for the total period by presenting +the days in pairs, the fortnightly tendency is more clearly brought out +(Chart I). + +A more pronounced tendency still is traceable to a weekly rhythm. This is, +indeed, the most unquestionable fact brought out by these curves. All the +maxima occur on Saturday or Sunday, with the minima on Tuesday, Wednesday, +Thursday, or Friday. This very pronounced weekly rhythm will serve to +swamp more or less completely any monthly rhythm on a 28-day basis. +Although here probably seen in an exaggerated form, it is almost certainly +a characteristic of the ecbolic curve generally.[123] I have been told by +several young men and women, especially those who work hard during the +week, that Saturday, and especially Sunday afternoon, are periods when the +thoughts spontaneously go in an erotic direction, and at this time there +is a special tendency to masturbation or to spontaneous sexual excitement. +It is on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, according to Guerry's +tables,[124] that the fewest suicides are committed, Tuesday, Wednesday, +and Thursday, with, however, a partial fall on Wednesday, those on which +most suicides are committed, so that there would appear to be an +antagonism between sexual activity and the desire to throw off life. It +also appears (in the reports of the Bavarian factory inspectors) that +accidents in factories have a tendency to occur chiefly at the beginning +of the week, and toward the end rather than in the middle.[125] Even +growth, as Fleischmann has shown in the case of children, tends to fall +into weekly cycles. It is evident that the nervous system is profoundly +affected by the social influences resulting from the weekly cycle. + +The analysis of this series of ecbolic curves may thus be said to recall +the suggestion of Laycock, that the menstrual cycle is really made up of +four weekly cycles, the periodic unit, according to Laycock, being three +and one-half days. I think it would, however, be more correct to say that +the menstrual cycle, perhaps originally formed with reference to the +influence of the moon on the sexual and social habits of men and other +animals, tends to break up by a process of segmentation into fortnightly +and weekly cycles. If we are justified in assuming that there is a male +menstrual cycle, we must conclude that in such a case as that just +analyzed, the weekly rhythm has become so marked as almost entirely to +obliterate the larger monthly rhythm. + +However constituted, there seems little doubt that a physiological weekly +cycle really exists. This was, indeed, very clearly indicated many years +ago by the observations of Edward Smith, who showed that there are weekly +rhythms in pulse, respiration, temperature, carbonic acid evolution, urea, +and body-weight, Sunday being the great day of repair and increase of +weight.[126] + +In an appendix to this volume I am able to present the results of another +long series of observations of nocturnal ecbolic manifestations carried +out by Mr. Perry-Coste, who has elaborately calculated the results, and +has convinced himself that on the basis of a strictly lunar month, thus +abolishing the disturbing influence of the weekly rhythm, which in his +case also appears, a real menstrual rhythm may be traced.[127] + +It does not appear to me, however, even yet, that a final answer to the +question whether a menstrual sexual rhythm occurs in men can be decisively +given in the affirmative. That such a cycle will be proved in many cases +seems to me highly probable, but before this can be decisively affirmed it +is necessary that a much larger number of persons should be induced to +carry out on themselves the simple, but protracted, series of observations +that are required. + + Since the first edition of this volume appeared, numerous series + of ecbolic records have reached me from different parts of the + world. The most notable of these series comes from a professional + man, of scientific training, who has for the past six years lived + in different parts of India, where the record was kept. Though + the record extends over nearly six years, there are two breaks in + it, due to a visit to England, and to loss of interest. Both + involuntary and voluntary discharges are included in the record. + The involuntary discharges occurred during sleep, usually with an + erotic dream, in which the subject invariably awaked and + frequently made an effort to check the emission. The voluntary + discharges in most cases commenced during sleep, or in the + half-waking state; deliberate masturbation, when fully awake, was + comparatively rare. The proportion of involuntary to more or less + voluntary ecboles was about 3 to 1. A third kind of sexual + manifestation (of frequency intermediate between the other two + forms) is also included, in which a high degree of erethism is + induced during the half waking state, culminating in an orgasm in + which the power of preventing discharge has been artificially + acquired. The subject, E.M., was 32 years of age when the record + began. He belongs to a healthy family, and is himself physically + sound, 5 feet 6 inches in height, but weight low, due to rickets + in infancy. In early life he stammered badly; his temperament is + emotional and self-conscious, while his work is unusually + exacting, and he lives for most of the year in a very trying + climate. As a boy he was very religious, and has always felt + obliged to resist sexual vice to the utmost, though there have + been occasional lapses. + + As regards lunar periodicity, E.M., has summated his results in a + curve, after the same manner as Mr. Perry-Coste, beginning with + the new moon. The periods covered include 54 lunar months, and + the total number of discharges is 176; the average frequency is + about 3 per month of twenty-eight days. The curve, for the most + part, zigzags between a frequency of 4 and 9, but on the + twenty-fourth day it falls to 1, and then rises uninterruptedly + to a height of 11 on the twenty-seventh day, falling to 2 on the + next day. Whether a really menstrual rhythm is thus indicated I + do not undertake to decide, but I am inclined to agree with E.M. + himself that there is no definite evidence of it. "It looks to + me," he writes, "as if the only real rhythm (putting aside the + annual cycle) will be found to be the average period between the + ecboles, varying in different persons, but in my case, about nine + and one-eighth days. May not the ecbolic period in men be + compared to the menstrual period in women, and be an example of + the greater katabolic activity of men? There is the period of + tumescence, and the ecbole constituting the detumescence. The + week-end holiday would hasten the detumescence, but about every + third week-end there would tend to be delay to enable the system + to get back into its regulation nine or ten days' stride. This + might possibly be the explanation of the curves. The recent + emissions were nearly all involuntary during sleep. Age may have + something to do with the change in character." + + E.M.'s curves frequently show the influence of weekly + periodicity, in the tendency to ecbole on Sunday, or sometimes on + Saturday or Monday. In recent years there has been some tendency + for this climax to be thrown towards the middle of the week, but, + on the whole, Wednesday is the point of lowest frequency. + + In another case, the subject, A.N., who has spent nearly all his + life in the State of Indiana, has kept a record of sexual + manifestations between the ages of 30 and 34. The data, which + cover four years, have not been sent to me in a form which + enables the possibility of a monthly curve to be estimated, but + A.N., who has himself arranged the data on a lunar monthly basis, + considers that a monthly curve is thus revealed. "My memoranda," + he writes, "show that discharges occur most frequently on the + first, second, and third days after new moon. There is also + another period on the fourteenth and fifteenth, which might + indicate a semi-lunar rhythm. The days of minimum discharge are + the seventh, eighth, twenty-second, and twenty-third." It may be + added that the yearly average of ecbolic manifestations, varying + between 50 and 55, comes out as 52, or exactly one per week. + + A weekly periodicity is very definitely shown by A.N.'s data. + Sunday once more stands at the head of the week as regards + frequency, in this case very decisively. The figures are as follows:-- + + Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. + 48 21 24 35 28 26 27 + + In another case which has reached me from the United States, the + data are slighter, but deserve note, as the subject is a trained + psychologist, and I quote the case in his own words. Here, it + will be seen, there appears to be a tendency for the ecbolic + cycle to cover a period of about six weeks. In this case, also, + there is a tendency for the climax to occur about Saturday or + Sunday. "X. is 38 years old, unmarried, fair health, pretty good + heredity; university trained, and engaged in academic pursuits. + He thinks he may have completed puberty at about 13, though he + has no proof that he was in the full possession of his sex-powers + until he was 15 years 3 months old (when he had his first + emission). His sex life has been normal. He masturbated somewhat + when he slept with other boys (or men) during early manhood, but + not to excess. + + "During the autumn of 1889 (when 28 years of age) he observed + that at certain times he had an itching feeling about the + testicles; that he felt slightly irritable; that the penis + erected with the slightest provocation, and that this peculiar + feeling usually passed away with a nightly emission. Indeed, so + regular was the matter that he usually wore a loin garment at + these times, to prevent the semen getting on the bedding. This + peculiar feeling ordinarily continued for two or three days. He + recalls at these times that he felt that he would like to wrestle + with some one, for there seemed to be a muscular tension. These + states returned with apparent regularity, and the intervals + seemed to be about six weeks, though no effort was made to + measure the periods until 1893. The following notes are taken + from the diaries of X.:-- + + "Thursday, December 29, 1892. The peculiar feeling. + (This is the only entry.) + + "Thursday, February 9, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (The diary notes that X. awoke nights to find erections, and + that the feeling continued until Sunday night following, when + there was an emission.) + + "Friday, March 27, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (The diary notes that there was an emission the next night, + and that the feeling disappeared.) + + "Wednesday, May 3, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (The diary notes that it continued until Saturday night, when + X. had sexual relations, and that it then disappeared.) + + "Wednesday, June 14, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (The diary states that the next night X. had an emission, + and the disappearance of the feeling.) + + "Thursday, July 27, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (The diary notes that it was apparent at about 3 o'clock + that afternoon. That night at 10 o'clock, X. had sexual + intercourse, and the feeling was not noted the next day.) + + "Friday, September 8, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (Continued until Tuesday, the 11th, and then disappeared. + No sexual intercourse, and no nightly emission.) + + "Wednesday, October 25, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (Continued until Saturday night, when there was a nightly + emission.) + + "Saturday, December 9, 1893. The peculiar feeling. + (Continued until Monday night, when there was sexual + relations.) + + "It will be noted that the intervals observed were of about six + weeks' duration, excepting one, that from September to October, + when it was nearly seven weeks. + + "These observations were not recorded after 1893. X. thinks that + in 1894 the intervals were longer, an opinion which is based on + the fact that for a period of six months he had no sexual + intercourse and no nightly emissions. The times during this six + months when he had the 'peculiar feeling,' the sensation was so + slight as to be scarcely noted. In 1895, the feeling seemed more + pronounced than ever before, and X. thinks that it may have + recurred as often as once a month. In 1896, 1897, and 1898, the + intervals, he thinks, lengthened--at times, he thought, wholly + disappeared. During 1899, while they did not recur often, when + they did come the sensation was pronounced, although the + emission was less common. There was a peculiar 'heavy' feeling + about the testicles, and a marked tendency towards erection of + the penis, especially at night-time (while sleeping). X. often + awoke to find a tense erection. Moreover, these feelings usually + continued a week. + + "1. In general, X. is of the opinion that as he grows older these + intervals lengthen, though this inference is not based on + _recorded_ data. + + "2. He notes that a discharge (through sexual intercourse or in + sleep) invariably brings the peculiar feeling to a close for the + time being. + + "3. He notes that sexual intercourse _at the time_ stops it; but, + when there has been sexual intercourse within a week or ten days + of the time (based upon the observations of 1893), that it had no + tendency to check the feeling." + + In another case, that of F.C., an Irish farmer, born in + Waterford, the data are still more meagre, though the periodicity + is stated to be very pronounced. He is chaste, steady, with + occasional lapses from strict sobriety, healthy and mentally + normal, living a regular open-air life, far from the artificial + stimuli of towns. The observations refer to a period when he was + from 20 to 27 years of age. During this period, nocturnal + emissions occurred at regular intervals of exactly a month. They + were ushered in by fits of irritability and depression, and + usually occurred in dreamless sleep. The discharges were abundant + and physically weakening, but they relieved the psychic symptoms, + though they occasioned mental distress, since F.C. is scrupulous + in a religious sense, and also apprehensive of bad constitutional + effects, the result of reading alarmist quack pamphlets. + + In another case known to me, a young man leading a chaste life, + experienced crises of sexual excitement every ten to fourteen + days, the crisis lasting for several days. + + Finally, an interesting contribution to this subject, suggested + by this _Study_, has been made and published (in the proceedings + of the Amsterdam International Congress of Psychology, in 1907) + by the well-known Amsterdam neurologist and psychologist, Dr. + L.S.A.M. Von Roemer under the title, "Ueber das Verhaeltniss + zwischen Mondalter und Sexualitaet." Von Roemer's data are made up + not of nocturnal involuntary emissions, but of the voluntary acts + of sexual intercourse of an unmarried man, during a period of + four years. Von Roemer believes that these, to a much greater + extent than those of a married man, would be liable to periodic + influence, if such exist. On making a curve of exact lunar length + (similarly to Perry-Coste), he finds that there are, every month, + two maxima and two minima, in a way that approximately resemble + Perry-Coste's curve. The main point in Von Roemer's results is, + however, the correspondence that he finds with the actual lunar + phases; the chief maximum occurs at the time of the full moon, + and the secondary maximum at the time of the new moon, the minima + being at the first and fourth quarters. He hazards no theory in + explanation of this coincidence, but insists on the need for + further observations. It will be seen that A.N.'s results (_ante_ + p. 117) seem in the main to correspond to Von Roemer's. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[117] Even counting the pulse is a comparatively recent method of +physiological examination. It was not until 1450 that Nicolas of Cusa +advocated counting the pulse-beats. (Binz, _Deutsche medizinische +Wochenschrift_, October 6, 1898.) + +[118] I leave this statement as it stands, though since the first +publication of this book it has ceased to be strictly accurate. + +[119] Sanctorius, _Medicina Statica_, Sect. I, aph. lxv. + +[120] _American Journal of Obstetrics_, xiv, 1882. + +[121] _Zooenomia_, Section XXXVI. + +[122] I reproduced these notes in full in earlier editions of this volume. + +[123] Moll refers to the case of a man whose erotic dreams occurred every +fortnight, and always on Friday night (_Libido Sexualis_, Band I, p. 136). +One is inclined to suspect an element of autosuggestion in such a case; +still, the coincidence is noteworthy. + +[124] See Durkheim, _Le Suicide_, p. 101. + +[125] We must, of course, see here the results of the disorganization +produced by holidays, and the exhaustion produced by the week's labor; but +such influences are still the social effects of the cosmic week. + +[126] E. Smith, _Health and Disease_, Chapter III. I may remark that, +according to Kemsoes (_Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift_, January 20, +1908, and _British Medical Journal_, January 29, 1898), school-children +work best on Monday and Tuesday. + +[127] See Appendix B. + + + + +III. + +The Annual Sexual Rhythm--In Animals--In Man--Tendency of the Sexual +Impulse to become Heightened in Spring and Autumn--The Prevalence of +Seasonal Erotic Festivals--The Feast of Fools--The Easter and Midsummer +Bonfires--The Seasonal Variations in Birthrate--The Causes of those +Variations--The Typical Conception-rate Curve for Europe--The Seasonal +Periodicity of Seminal Emissions During Sleep--Original +Observations--Spring and Autumn the Chief Periods of Involuntary Sexual +Excitement--The Seasonal Periodicity of Rapes--Of Outbreaks among +Prisoners--The Seasonal Curves of Insanity and Suicide--The Growth of +Children According to Season--The Annual Curve of Bread-consumption in +Prisons--Seasonal Periodicity of Scarlet Fever--The Underlying Causes of +these Seasonal Phenomena. + + +That there are annual seasonal changes in the human organism, especially +connected with the sexual function, is a statement that has been made by +physiologists and others from time to time, and the statement has even +reached the poets, who have frequently declared that spring is the season +of love. + + Thus, sixty years ago, Laycock, an acute pioneer in the + investigation of the working of the human organism, brought + together (in a chapter on "The Periodic Movements in the + Reproductive Organs of Woman," in his _Nervous Diseases of + Women_, 1840, pp. 61-70) much interesting evidence to show that + the system undergoes changes about the vernal and autumnal + equinoxes, and that these changes are largely sexual. + + Edward Smith, also a notable pioneer in this field of human + periodicity, and, indeed, the first to make definite observations + on a number of points bearing on it, sums up, in his remarkable + book, _Health and Disease as Influenced by Daily, Seasonal, and + Other Cyclical Changes in the Human System_ (1861), to the effect + that season is a more powerful influence on the system than + temperature or atmospheric pressure; "in the early and middle + parts of spring every function of the body is in its highest + degree of efficiency," while autumn is "essentially a period of + change from the minimum toward the maximum of vital conditions." + He found that in April and May most carbonic acid is evolved, + there being then a progressive diminution to September, and then + a progressive increase; the respiratory rate also fell from a + maximum in April to a minimum maintained at exactly the same + level throughout August, September, October, and November; + spring was found to be the season of maximum, autumn of minimum, + muscular power; sensibility to tactile and temperature + impressions was also greater in spring. + + Kulischer, studying the sexual customs of various human races, + concluded that in primitive times, only at two special + seasons--at spring and in harvest-time--did pairing take place; + and that, when pairing ceased to be strictly confined to these + periods, its symbolical representation was still so confined, + even among the civilized nations of Europe. He further argued + that the physiological impulse was only felt at these periods. + (Kulischer, "Die geschlechtliche Zuchtwahl bei den Menschen in + der Urzeit," _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1876, pp. 152 and + 157.) Cohnstein ("Ueber Praedilectionszeiten bei Schwangerschaft," + _Archiv fuer Gynaekologie_, 1879) also suggested that women + sometimes only conceive at certain periods of the year. + + Wiltshire, who made various interesting observations regarding + the physiology of menstruation, wrote: "Many years ago, I + concluded that every women had a law peculiar to herself, which + governed the times of her bringing forth (and conceiving); that + she was more prone to bring forth at certain epochs than at + others; and subsequent researches have established the accuracy + of the forecast." He further stated his belief in a "primordial + seasonal aptitude for procreation, the impress of which still + remains, and, to some extent, governs the breeding-times of + humanity." (A. Wiltshire, "Lectures on the Comparative Physiology + of Menstruation," _British Medical Journal_, March, 1883, pp. + 502, etc.) + + Westermarck, in a chapter of his _History of Human Marriage_, + dealing with the question of "A Human Pairing Season in Primitive + Times," brings forward evidence showing that spring, or, rather, + early summer, is the time for increase of the sexual instinct, + and argues that this is a survival of an ancient pairing season; + spring, he points out, is a season of want, rather than + abundance, for a frugivorous species, but when men took to herbs, + roots, and animal food, spring became a time of abundance, and + suitable for the birth of children. He thus considers that in + man, as in lower animals, the times of conception are governed by + the times most suitable for birth. + + Rosenstadt, as we shall see later, also believes that men to-day + have inherited a physiological custom of procreating at a certain + epoch, and he thus accounts for the seasonal changes in the + birthrate. + + Heape, who also believes that "at one period of its existence the + human species had a special breeding season," follows Wiltshire + in suggesting that "there is some reason to believe that the + human female is not always in a condition to breed." (W. Heape, + "Menstruation and Ovulation of _Macacus rhesus_," _Philosophical + Transactions_, 1897; id. "The Sexual Season of Mammals," + _Quarterly Journal Microscopical Science_, 1900.) + +Except, however, in one important respect, with which we shall presently +have to deal, few attempts have been made to demonstrate any annual +organic sexual rhythm. The supposition of such annual cycle is usually +little more than a deduction from the existence of the well-marked +seasonal sexual rhythm in animals. Most of the higher animals breed only +once or twice a year, and at such a period that the young are born when +food is most plentiful. At other periods the female is incapable of +breeding, and without sexual desires, while the male is either in the same +condition or in a condition of latent sexuality. Under the influence of +domestication, animals tend to lose the strict periodicity of the wild +condition, and become apt for breeding at more frequent intervals. Thus +among dogs in the wild state the bitch only experiences heat once a year, +in the spring. Among domesticated dogs, there is not only the spring +period of heat, early in the year, but also an autumn period, about six +months later; the primitive period, however, remains the most important +one, and the best litters of pups are said to be produced in the spring. +The mare is in season in spring and summer; sheep take the ram in +autumn.[128] Many of the menstruating monkeys also, whether or not sexual +desire is present throughout the year, only conceive in spring and in +autumn. Almost any time of the year may be an animal's pairing season, +this season being apparently in part determined by the economic conditions +which will prevail at birth. While it is essential that animals should be +born during the season of greatest abundance, it is equally essential that +pairing, which involves great expenditure of energy, should also take +place at a season of maximum physical vigor. + + As an example of the sexual history of an animal through the + year, I may quote the following description, by Dr. A.W. + Johnstone, of the habits of the American deer: "Our common + American deer, in winter-time, is half-starved for lack of + vegetation in the woods; the low temperature, snow, and ice, make + his conditions of life harder for lack of the proper amount of + food, whereby he becomes an easier prey to carnivorous animals. + He has difficulty even in preserving life. In spring he sheds his + winter coat, and is provided with a suit of lighter hair, and + while this is going on the male grows antlers for defence. The + female about this time is far along in pregnancy, and when the + antlers are fully grown she drops the fawn. When the fawns are + dropped vegetation is plentiful and lactation sets in. During + this time the male is kept fully employed in getting food and + guarding his more or less helpless family. As the season advances + the vegetation increases and the fawn begins to eat grass. When + the summer heat commences the little streams begin to dry up, and + the animal once more has difficulty in supporting life because of + the enervating heat, the effect of drought on the vegetation, and + the distance which has to be traveled to get water; therefore, + fully ten months in each year the deer has all he can do to live + without extra exertion incident to rutting. Soon after the autumn + rains commence vegetation becomes more luxurious, the antlers of + the male and new suits of hair for both are fully grown, heat of + the summer is gone, food and drink are plentiful everywhere, the + fawns are weaned, and both sexes are in the very finest + condition. Then, and then only, in the whole year, comes the rut, + which, to them as to most other animals, means an unwonted amount + of physical exercise besides the everyday runs for life from + their natural enemies, and an unusual amount of energy is used + up. If a doe dislikes the attention of a special buck, miles of + racing result. If jealous males meet, furious battles take place. + The strain on both sexes could not possibly be endured at any + other season of the year. With approach of cold weather, climatic + deprivations and winter dangers commence and rut closes. In all + wild animals, rut occurs only when the climatic and other + conditions favor the highest physical development. This law holds + good in all wild birds, for it is then only that they can stand + the strain incident to love-making. The common American crow is a + very good study. In the winter he travels around the ricefields + of the South, leading a tramp's existence in a country foreign to + him, and to which he goes only to escape the rigors of the + northern climate. For several weeks in the spring he goes about + the fields, gathering up the worms and grubs. After his long + flight from the South he experiences several weeks of an almost + ideal existence, his food is plentiful, he becomes strong and + hearty, and then he turns to thoughts of love. In the pairing + season he does more work than at any other time in the year: + fantastic dances, racing and chasing after the females, and + savage fights with rivals. He endures more than would be possible + in his ordinary physical state. Then come the care of the young + and the long flights for water and food during the drought of the + summer. After the molt, autumn finds him once more in flock, and + with the first frosts he is off again to the South. In the wild + state, rut is the capstone of perfect physical condition." (A.W. + Johnstone, "The Relation of Menstruation to the other + Reproductive Functions," _American Journal of Obstetrics_, vol. + xxxii, 1895.) + + Wiltshire ("Lectures on the Comparative Physiology of + Menstruation," _British Medical Journal_, March, 1888) and + Westermarck (_History of Human Marriage_, Chapter II) enumerate + the pairing season of a number of different animals. + + With regard to the breeding seasons of monkeys, little seems to + be positively known. Heape made special inquiries with reference + to the two species whose sexual life he investigated. He was + informed that _Semnopithecus entellus_ breeds twice a year, in + April and in October. He accepts Aitcheson's statement that the + _Macacus rhesus_, in Simla, copulates in October, and adds that + in the very different climate of the plains it appears to + copulate in May. He concludes that the breeding season varies + greatly in dependence on climate, but believes that the breeding + season is always preserved, and that it affects the sexual + aptitude of the male. He could not make his monkeys copulate + during February or March, but is unable to say whether or not + sexual intercourse is generally admitted outside the breeding + season. He quotes the observation of Breschet that monkeys + copulate during pregnancy. + +In primitive human races we very frequently trace precisely the same +influence of the seasonal impulse as may be witnessed in the higher +animals, although among human races it does not always result that the +children are born at the time of the greatest plenty, and on account of +the development of human skill such a result is not necessary. Thus Dr. +Cook found among the Eskimo that during the long winter nights the +secretions are diminished, muscular power is weak, and the passions are +depressed. Soon after the sun appears a kind of rut affects the young +population. They tremble with the intensity of sexual passion, and for +several weeks much of the time is taken up with courtship and love. Hence, +the majority of the children are born nine months later, when the four +months of perpetual night are beginning. A marked seasonal periodicity of +this kind is not confined to the Arctic regions. We may also find it in +the tropics. In Cambodia, Mondiere has found that twice a year, in April +and September, men seem to experience a "veritable rut," and will +sometimes even kill women who resist them.[129] + +These two periods, spring and autumn--the season for greeting the +appearance of life and the season for reveling in its final +fruition--seem to be everywhere throughout the world the most usual +seasons for erotic festivals. In classical Greece and Rome, in India, +among the Indians of North and South America, spring is the most usual +season, while in Africa the yam harvest of autumn is the season chiefly +selected. There are, of course, numerous exceptions to this rule, and it +is common to find both seasons observed. Taking, indeed, a broad view of +festivals throughout the world, we may say that there are four seasons +when they are held: the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen +and primitive man rejoices in the lengthening and seeks to assist it;[130] +the vernal equinox, the period of germination and the return of life; the +summer solstice, when the sun reaches its height; and autumn, the period +of fruition, of thankfulness, and of repose. But it is rarely that we find +a people seriously celebrating more than two of these festival seasons. + +In Australia, according to Mueller as quoted by Ploss and Bartels, marriage +and conception take place during the warm season, when there is greatest +abundance of food, and to some extent is even confined to that period. +Oldfield and others state that the Australian erotic festivals take place +only in spring. Among some tribes, Mueller adds, such as the Watschandis, +conception is inaugurated by a festival called _kaaro_, which takes place +in the warm season at the first new moon after the yams are ripe. The +leading feature of this festival is a moonlight dance, representing the +sexual act symbolically. With their spears, regarded as the symbols of the +male organ, the men attack bushes, which represent the female organs. +They thus work themselves up to a state of extreme sexual excitement.[131] +Among the Papuans of New Guinea, also, according to Miklucho-Macleay, +conceptions chiefly occur at the end of harvest, and Guise describes the +great annual festival of the year which takes place at the time of the yam +and banana harvest, when the girls undergo a ceremony of initiation and +marriages are effected.[132] In Central Africa, says Sir H.H. Johnston, in +his _Central Africa_, sexual orgies are seriously entered into at certain +seasons of the year, but he neglects to mention what these seasons are. +The people of New Britain, according to Weisser (as quoted by Ploss and +Bartels), carefully guard their young girls from the young men. At certain +times, however, a loud trumpet is blown in the evening, and the girls are +then allowed to go away into the bush to mix freely with the young men. In +ancient Peru (according to an account derived from a pastoral letter of +Archbishop Villagomez of Lima), in December, when the fruit of the +_paltay_ is ripe, a festival was held, preceded by a five days' fast. +During the festival, which lasted six days and six nights, men and women +met together in a state of complete nudity at a certain spot among the +gardens, and all raced toward a certain hill. Every man who caught up with +a woman in the race was bound at once to have intercourse with her. + +Very instructive, from our present point of view, is the account given by +Dalton, of the festivals of the various Bengal races. Thus the Hos (a +Kolarian tribe), of Bengal, are a purely agricultural people, and the +chief festival of the year with them is the _magh parah_. It is held in +the month of January, "when the granaries are full of grain, and the +people, to use their own expression, full of devilry." It is the festival +of the harvest-home, the termination of the year's toil, and is always +held at full moon. The festival is a _saturnalia_, when all rules of duty +and decorum are forgotten, and the utmost liberty is allowed to women and +girls, who become like bacchantes. The people believe that at this time +both men and women become overcharged with vitality, and that a safety +valve is absolutely necessary. The festival begins with a religious +sacrifice made by the village priest or elders, and with prayers for the +departed and for the vouchsafing of seasonable rain and good crops. The +religious ceremonies over, the people give themselves up to feasting and +to drinking the home-made beer, the preparation of which from fermented +rice is one of a girl's chief accomplishments. "The Ho population," wrote +Dalton, "are at other seasons quiet and reserved in manner, and in their +demeanor toward women gentle and decorous; even in their flirtations they +never transcend the bounds of decency. The girls, though full of spirits +and somewhat saucy, have innate notions of propriety that make them modest +in demeanor, though devoid of all prudery, and of the obscene abuse, so +frequently heard from the lips of common women in Bengal, they appear to +have no knowledge. They are delicately sensitive under harsh language of +any kind, and never use it to others; and since their adoption of clothing +they are careful to drape themselves decently, as well as gracefully; but +they throw all this aside during the _magh_ feast. Their nature appears to +undergo a temporary change. Sons and daughters revile their parents in +gross language, and parents their children; men and women become almost +like animals in the indulgence of their amorous propensities. They enact +all that was ever portrayed by prurient artists in a bacchanalian festival +or pandean orgy; and as the light of the sun they adore, and the presence +of numerous spectators, seems to be no restraint on their indulgence, it +cannot be expected that chastity is preserved when the shades of night +fall on such a scene of licentiousness and debauchery." While, however, +thus representing the festival as a mere debauch, Dalton adds that +relationships formed at this time generally end in marriage. There is also +a flower festival in April and May, of religious nature, but the dances +at this festival are quieter in character.[133] + +In Burmah the great festival of the year is the full moon of October, +following the Buddhist Lent season (which is also the wet season), during +which there is no sexual intercourse. The other great festival is the New +Year in March.[134] + +In classical times the great festivals were held at the same time as in +northern and modern Europe. The _brumalia_ took place in midwinter, when +the days were shortest, and the _rosalia_, according to early custom in +May or June, and at a later time about Easter. After the establishment of +Christianity the Church made constant efforts to suppress this latter +festival, and it was referred to by an eighth century council as "a wicked +and reprehensible holiday-making." These festivals appear to be intimately +associated with Dionysus worship, and the flower-festival of Dionysus, as +well as the Roman Liberales in honor of Bacchus, was celebrated in March +with worship of Priapus. The festivals of the Delian Apollo and of +Artemis, both took place during the first week in May and the Roman +Bacchanales in October.[135] + +The mediaeval Feast of Fools was to a large extent a seasonal orgy licensed +by the Church. It may be traced directly back through the barbatories of +the lower empire to the Roman _saturnalia_, and at Sens, the ancient +ecclesiastical metropolis of France, it was held at about the same time as +the _saturnalia_, on the Feast of the Circumcision, i.e., New Year's Day. +It was not, however, always held at this time; thus at Evreux it took +place on the 1st of May.[136] + +The Easter bonfires of northern-central Europe, the Midsummer (St. John's +Eve) fires of southern-central Europe, still bear witness to the ancient +festivals.[137] There is certainly a connection between these bonfires and +erotic festivals; it is noteworthy that they occur chiefly at the period +of spring and early summer, which, on other grounds, is widely regarded as +the time for the increase of the sexual instinct, while the less frequent +period for the bonfires is that of the minor sexual climax. Mannhardt was +perhaps the first to show how intimately these spring and early summer +festivals--held with bonfires and dances and the music of violin--have +been associated with love-making and the choice of a mate.[138] In spring, +the first Monday in Lent (Quadrigesima) and Easter Eve were frequent days +for such bonfires. In May, among the Franks of the Main, the unmarried +women, naked and adorned with flowers, danced on the Blocksberg before the +men, as described by Herbels in the tenth century.[139] In the central +highlands of Scotland the Beltane fires were kindled on the 1st of May. +Bonfires sometimes took place on Halloween (October 31st) and Christmas. +But the great season all over Europe for these bonfires, then often held +with erotic ceremonial, is the summer solstice, the 23d of June, the eve +of Midsummer, or St. John's Day.[140] + +The Bohemians and other Slavonic races formerly had meetings with sexual +license. This was so up to the beginning of the sixteenth century on the +banks of rivers near Novgorod. The meetings took place, as a rule, the day +before the Festival of John the Baptist, which, in pagan times, was that +of a divinity known by the name of Jarilo (equivalent to Priapus). Half a +century later, a new ecclesiastical code sought to abolish every vestige +of the early festivals held on Christmas Day, on the Day of the Baptism, +of Our Lord, and on John the Baptist's Day. A general feature of all these +festivals (says Kowalewsky) was the prevalence of the promiscuous +intercourse of the sexes. Among the Ehstonians, at the end of the +eighteenth century, thousands of persons would gather around an old ruined +church (in the Fellinschen) on the Eve of St. John, light a bonfire, and +throw sacrificial gifts into it. Sterile women danced naked among the +ruins; much eating and drinking went on, while the young men and maidens +disappeared into the woods to do what they would. Festivals of this +character still take place at the end of June in some districts. Young +unmarried couples jump barefoot over large fires, usually near rivers or +ponds. Licentiousness is rare.[141] But in many parts of Russia the +peasants still attach little value to virginity, and even prefer women who +have been mothers. The population of the Grisons in the sixteenth century +held regular meetings not less licentious than those of the Cossacks. +These were abolished by law. Kowalewsky regards all such customs as a +survival of early forms of promiscuity.[142] + + Frazer (_Golden Bough_, 2d ed., 1900, vol. iii, pp. 236-350) + fully describes and discusses the dances, bonfires and festivals + of spring and summer, of Halloween (October 31), and Christmas. + He also explains the sexual character of these festivals. "There + are clear indications," he observes (p. 305), "that even human + fecundity is supposed to be promoted by the genial heat of the + fires. It is an Irish belief that a girl who jumps thrice over + the midsummer bonfire will soon marry and become the mother of + many children; and in various parts of France they think that if + a girl dances round nine fires she will be sure to marry within a + year. On the other hand, in Lechrain, people say that if a young + man and woman, leaping over the midsummer fire together, escape + unsmirched, the young woman will not become a mother within + twelve months--the flames have not touched and fertilized her. + The rule observed in some parts of France and Belgium, that the + bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent should be kindled by the + person who was last married, seems to belong to the same class of + ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed to receive + from, or impart to, the fire a generative and fertilizing + influence. The common practice of lovers leaping over the fires + hand-in-hand may very well have originated in a notion that + thereby their marriage would be more likely to be blessed with + offspring. And the scenes of profligacy which appear to have + marked the midsummer celebration among the Ehstonians, as they + once marked the celebration of May Day among ourselves, may have + sprung, not from the mere license of holiday-makers, but from a + crude notion that such orgies were justified, if not required, by + some mysterious bond which linked the life of man, to the courses + of the heavens at the turning-point of the year." + +As regards these primitive festivals, although the evidence is scattered +and sometimes obscure, certain main conclusions clearly emerge. In early +Europe there were, according to Grimm, only two seasons, sometimes +regarded as spring and winter, sometimes as spring and autumn, and for +mythical purposes these seasons were alone available.[143] The appearance +of each of these two seasons was inaugurated by festivals which were +religious and often erotic in character. The Slavonic year began in March, +at which time there was formerly, it is believed, a great festival, not +only in Slavonic but also in Teutonic countries. In Northern Germany there +were Easter bonfires always associated with mountains or hills. The Celtic +bonfires were held at the beginning of May, while the Teutonic May-day, or +_Walpurgisnacht_, is a very ancient sacred festival, associated with +erotic ceremonial, and regarded by Grimm as having a common origin with +the Roman _floralia_ and the Greek _dionysia_. Thus, in Europe, Grimm +concludes: "there are four different ways of welcoming summer. In Sweden +and Gothland a battle of winter and summer, a triumphal entry of the +latter. In Schonen, Denmark, Lower Saxony, and England, simply May-riding, +or fetching of the May-wagon. On the Rhine merely a battle of winter and +summer, without immersion, without the pomp of an entry. In Franconia, +Thuringia, Meissen, Silesia, and Bohemia only the carrying out of wintry +death; no battle, no formal introduction of summer. Of these festivals the +first and second fall in May, the third and fourth in March. In the first +two, the whole population take part with unabated enthusiasm; in the last +two only the lower poorer class.... Everything goes to prove that the +approach of summer was to our forefathers a holy tide, welcomed by +sacrifice, feast, and dance, and largely governing and brightening the +people's life."[144] The early spring festival of March, the festival of +Ostara, the goddess of spring, has become identified with the Christian +festival of Resurrection (just as the summer solstice festival has been +placed beneath the patronage of St. John the Baptist); but there has been +only an amalgamation of closely-allied rites, for the Christian festival +also may be traced back to a similar origin. Among the early Arabians the +great _ragab_ feast, identified by Ewald and Robertson Smith with the +Jewish _paschal_ feast, fell in the spring or early summer, when the +camels and other domestic animals brought forth their young and the +shepherds offered their sacrifices.[145] Babylonia, the supreme early +centre of religious and cosmological culture, presents a more decisive +example of the sex festival. The festival of Tammuz is precisely analogous +to the European festival of St. John's Day. Tammuz was the solar god of +spring vegetation, and closely associated with Ishtar, also an +agricultural deity of fertility. The Tammuz festival was, in the earliest +times, held toward the summer solstice, at the time of the first wheat and +barley harvest. In Babylonia, as in primitive Europe, there were only two +seasons; the festival of Tammuz, coming at the end of winter and the +beginning of summer, was a fast followed by a feast, a time of mourning +for winter, of rejoicing for summer. It is part of the primitive function +of sacred ritual to be symbolical of natural processes, a mysterious +representation of natural processes with the object of bringing them +about.[146] The Tammuz festival was an appeal to the powers of Nature to +exhibit their generative functions; its erotic character is indicated not +only by the well-known fact that the priestesses of Ishtar (the Kadishtu, +or "holy ones") were prostitutes, but by the statements in Babylonian +legends concerning the state of the earth during Ishtar's winter absence, +when the bull, the ass, and man ceased to reproduce. It is evident that +the return of spring, coincident with the Tammuz festival, was regarded as +the period for the return of the reproductive instinct even in man.[147] +So that along this line also we are led back to a great procreative +festival. + +Thus the great spring festivals were held between March and June, +frequently culminating in a great orgy on Midsummer's Eve. The next great +season of festivals in Europe was in autumn. The beginning of August was a +great festival in Celtic lands, and the echoes of it, Rhys remarks, have +not yet died out in Wales.[148] The beginning of November, both in Celtic +and Teutonic countries, was a period of bonfires.[149] In Germanic +countries especially there was a great festival at the time. The Germanic +year began at Martinmas (November 11th), and the great festival of the +year was then held. It is the oldest Germanic festival on record, and +retained its importance even in the Middle Ages. There was feasting all +night, and the cattle that were to be killed were devoted to the gods; the +goose was associated with this festival.[150] These autumn festivals +culminated in the great festival of the winter solstice which we have +perpetuated in the celebrations of Christmas and New Year. Thus, while +the two great primitive culminating festivals of spring and autumn +correspond exactly (as we shall see) with the seasons of maximum +fecundation, even in the Europe of to-day, the earlier spring (March) +and--though less closely--autumn (November) festivals correspond with the +periods of maximum spontaneous sexual disturbance, as far as I have been +able to obtain precise evidence of such disturbance. That the maximum of +physiological sexual excitement should tend to appear earlier than the +maximum of fecundation is a result that might be expected. + +The considerations so far brought forward clearly indicate that among +primitive races there are frequently one or two seasons in the +year--especially spring and autumn--during which sexual intercourse is +chiefly or even exclusively carried on, and they further indicate that +these primitive customs persist to some extent even in Europe to-day. It +would still remain, to determine whether any such influence affects the +whole mass of the civilized population and determines the times at which +intercourse, or fecundation, most frequently takes place. + +This question can be most conveniently answered by studying the seasonal +variation in the birthrate, calculating back to the time of conception. +Wargentin, in Sweden, first called attention to the periodicity of the +birthrate in 1767.[151] The matter seems to have attracted little further +attention until Quetelet, who instinctively scented unreclaimed fields of +statistical investigation, showed that in Belgium and Holland there is a +maximum of births in February, and, consequently, of conceptions in May, +and a minimum of births about July, with consequent minimum of conceptions +in October. Quetelet considered that the spring maximum of conceptions +corresponded to an increase of vitality after the winter cold. He pointed +out that this sexual climax was better marked in the country than in +towns, and accounted for this by the consideration that in the country +the winter cold is more keenly felt. Later, Wappaeus investigated the +matter in various parts of northern and southern Europe as well as in +Chile, and found that there was a maximum of conceptions in May and June +attributable to season, and in Catholic countries strengthened by customs +connected with ecclesiastical seasons. This maximum was, he found, +followed by a minimum in September, October, and November, due to +gradually increasing exhaustion, and the influence of epidemic diseases, +as well as the strain of harvest-work. The minimum is reached in the south +earlier than in the north. About November conceptions again become more +frequent, and reach the second maximum at about Christmas and New Year. +This second maximum is very slightly marked in southern countries, but +strongly marked in northern countries (in Sweden the absolute maximum of +conceptions is reached in December), and is due, in the opinion of +Wappaeus, solely to social causes. Villerme reached somewhat similar +results. Founding his study on 17,000,000 births, he showed that in France +it was in April, May, and June, or from the spring equinox to the summer +solstice, and nearer to the solstice than the equinox, that the maximum of +fecundations takes place; while the minimum of births is normally in July, +but is retarded by a wet and cold summer in such a manner that in August +there are scarcely more births than in July, and, on the other hand, a +very hot summer, accelerating the minimum of births, causes it to fall in +June instead of in July.[152] He also showed that in Buenos Ayres, where +the seasons are reversed, the conception-rate follows the reversed +seasons, and is also raised by epochs of repose, of plentiful food, and of +increased social life. Sormani studied the periodicity of conception in +Italy, and found that the spring maximum in the southern provinces occurs +in May, and gradually falls later as one proceeds northward, until, in the +extreme north of the peninsula, it occurs in July. In southern Italy there +is only one maximum and one minimum; in the north there are two. The +minimum which follows the spring or summer maximum increases as we +approach the south, while the minimum associated with the winter cold +increases as we approach the north.[153] Beukemann, who studied the matter +in various parts of Germany, found that seasonal influence was specially +marked in the case of illegitimate births. The maximum of conceptions of +illegitimate children takes place in the spring and summer of Europe +generally; in Russia it takes place in the autumn and winter, when the +harvest-working months for the population are over, and the period of +rest, and also of minimum deathrate (September, October, and November), +comes round. In Russia the general conception-rate has been studied by +various investigators. Here the maximum number of conceptions is in +winter, the minimum varying among different elements of the population. +Looked at more closely, there are maxima of conceptions in Russia in +January and in April. (In Russian towns, however, the maximum number of +conceptions occurs in the autumn.) The special characteristics of the +Russian conception-rate are held to be due to the prevalence of marriages +in autumn and winter,[154] to the severely observed fasts of spring, and +to the exhausting harvest-work of summer. + +It is instructive to compare the conception-rate of Europe with that of a +non-European country. Such a comparison has been made by S.A. Hill for the +Northwest Provinces of India. Here the Holi and other erotic festivals +take place in spring; but spring is not the period when conceptions +chiefly take place; indeed, the prevalence of erotic festivals in spring +appears to Hill an argument in favor of those festivals having originated +in a colder climate. The conceptions show a rise through October and +November to a maximum in December and January, followed by a steady and +prolonged fall to a minimum in September. This curve can be accounted for +by climatic and economic conditions. September is near the end of the long +and depressing hot season, when malarial influences are rapidly +increasing to a maximum, the food-supply is nearly exhausted, and there is +the greatest tendency to suicide. With October it forms the period of +greatest mortality. December, on the other hand, is the month when food is +most abundant, and it is also a very healthy month.[155] + + For a summary of the chief researches into this question, see + Ploss and Bartels, _Das Weib_; also, Rosenstadt, "Zur Frage nach + den Ursachen welche die Zahl der Conceptionen, etc," + _Mittheilungen aus den embryologischen Institute Universitaet + Wien_, second series, fasc. 4, 1890. Rosenstadt concludes that + man has inherited from animal ancestors a "physiological custom" + which has probably been further favored by climatic and social + conditions. "Primitive man," he proceeds, "had inherited from his + ancestors the faculty of only reproducing himself at determined + epochs. On the arrival of this period of rut, fecundation took + place on a large scale, this being very easy, thanks to the + promiscuity in which primitive man lived. With the development of + civilization, men give themselves up to sexual relations all the + year around, but the 'physiological custom' of procreating at a + certain epoch has not completely disappeared; it remains as a + survival of the animal condition, and manifests itself in the + recrudescence of the number of conceptions during certain months + of the year." O. Rosenbach ("Bemerkungen ueber das Problem einer + Brunstzeit beim Menschen," _Archiv fuer Rassen und + Gesellschafts-Biologie_, Bd. III, Heft 5) has also argued in + favor of a chief sexual period in the year in man, with secondary + and even tertiary climaxes, in March, August, and December. He + finds that in some families, for several generations, birthdays + tend to fall in the same months, but his paper is, on the whole, + inconclusive. + + Some years ago, Prof. J.B. Haycraft argued, on the basis of data + furnished by Scotland, that the conception-rate corresponds to + the temperature-curve (Haycraft, "Physiological Results of + Temperature Variation," _Transactions of the Royal Society of + Edinburgh_, vol. xxix, 1880). "Temperature," he concluded, "is + the main factor regulating the variations in the number of + conceptions which occur during the year. It increases their + number with its elevation, and this on an average of 0.5 per + cent, for an elevation of 1 deg. F." Whether or not this theory may + fit the facts as regards Scotland, it is certainly altogether + untenable when we take a broader view of the phenomena. + + Recently Dr. Paul Gaedeken of Copenhagen has argued in a detailed + statistical study ("La Reaction de l'Organisme sous l'Influence + Physico-Chimiques des Agents Meteorologiques," _Archives + d'Anthropologie Criminelle_, Feb., 1909) that the + conception-rate, as well as the periodicity of suicide and allied + phenomena, is due to the action of the chemical rays on the + unpigmented skin in early spring, this action being + physiologically similar to that of alcohol. He seeks thus to + account for the marked and early occurrence of such periodic + phenomena in Greenland and other northern countries where there + is much chemical action (owing to the clear air) in early spring, + but little heat. This explanation would not cover an autumnal + climax, the existence of which Gaedeken denies. + +In order to obtain a fairly typical conception-curve for Europe, and to +allow the variations of local habit and custom to some extent to +annihilate each other, I have summated the figures given by Mayr for about +a quarter of a million births in Germany, France, and Italy,[156] +obtaining a curve (Chart 2) of the conception-rate which may be said +roughly to be that of Europe generally. If we begin at September as the +lowest point, we find an autumn rise culminating in the lesser maximum of +Christmas, followed by a minor depression in January and February. Then +comes the great spring rise, culminating in May, and followed after June +by a rapid descent to the minimum. + + In Canada (see e.g., _Report of the Registrar General of the + Province of Ontario_ for 1904), the maximum and minimum of + conceptions alike fall later than in Europe; the months of + maximum conception are June, July, and August; of minimum + conception, January, February, and March. June is the favorite + month for marriage. + + It would be of some interest to know the conception-curve for the + well-to-do classes, who are largely free from the industrial and + social influences which evidently, to a great extent, control the + conception-rate. It seems probable that the seasonal influence + would here be specially well shown. The only attempt I have made + in this direction is to examine a well-filled birthday-book. The + entries show a very high and equally maintained maximum of + conceptions throughout April, May and June, followed by a marked + minimum during the next three months, and an autumn rise very + strongly marked, in November. There is no December rise. As will + be seen, there is here a fairly exact resemblance to the yearly + ecbolic curve of people of the same class. The inquiry needs, + however, to be extended to a very much larger number of cases. + + Mr. John Douglass Brown, of Philadelphia, has kindly prepared and + sent me, since the above was written, a series of curves showing + the, annual periodicity of births among the educated classes in + the State of Pennsylvania, using the statistics as to 4,066 + births contained in the Biographical Catalogue of Matriculates of + the College of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Brown prepared + four curves: the first, covering the earliest period, 1757-1859; + the second, the period 1860-1876; the third, 1877-1893; while the + fourth presented the summated results for the whole period. (The + dates named are those of the entry to classes, and not of actual + occurrence of birth.) A very definite and well-marked curve is + shown, and the average number of births (not conceptions) per + day, for the whole period, is as follows:-- + + Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. + 10.5 11.4 11 8.3 10.2 10.5 11.5 12.6 12.3 11.6 12 11.7 + + There is thus a well-marked minimum of conceptions (a depression + appearing here in each of the three periods, separately) about + the month of July. (In the second period, however, which contains + the smallest number of births, the minimum occurs in September.) + From that low minimum there is steady and unbroken rise up to the + chief maximum in November. (In the first period, however, the + maximum is delayed till January, and in the second period it is + somewhat diffused.) There is a tendency to a minor maximum in + February, specially well marked in the third and most important + period, and in the first period delayed until March. + +A very curious and perhaps not accidental coincidence might be briefly +pointed out before we leave this part of the subject. It is found[157] by +taking 3000 cases of children dying under one year that, among the general +population, children born in February and September (and therefore +conceived in May and December) appear to possess the greatest vitality, +and those born in June, and, therefore, conceived in September, the least +vitality.[158] As we have seen, May and December are precisely the periods +when conceptions in Europe generally are at a maximum, and September is +precisely the period when they are at a minimum, so that, if this +coincidence is not accidental, the strongest children are conceived when +there is the strongest tendency to procreate, and the feeblest children +when that tendency is feeblest. + +Nelson, in his study of dreams and their relation to seasonal ecbolic +manifestations, does not present any yearly ecbolic curve, as the two +years and a half over which his observations extend scarcely supply a +sufficient basis. On examining his figures, however, I find there is a +certain amount of evidence of a yearly rhythm. There are spring and autumn +climaxes throughout (in February and in November); there is no December +rise. During one year there is a marked minimum from May to September, +though it is but slightly traceable in the succeeding year. These figures +are too uncertain to prove anything, but, as far as they go, they are in +fair agreement with the much more extensive record, that of W.K. (_ante_ +p. 113), which I have already made use of in discussing the question of a +monthly rhythm. This record, covering nearly twelve years, shows a general +tendency, when the year is divided into four periods (November-January, +February-April, May-July, August-October) and the results summated, to +rise steadily throughout, from the minimum in the winter period to the +maximum in the autumn period. This steady upward progress is not seen in +each year taken separately. In three years there is a fall in passing from +the November-January to the February-April quarter (always followed by a +rise in the subsequent quarter); in three cases there is a fall in passing +from the second to the third quarter (again always followed by a rise in +the following quarter), and in two successive years there is a fall in +passing from the third to the fourth quarter. If, however, beginning at +the second year, we summate the results for each year with those for all +previous years, a steady rise from season to season is seen throughout. If +we analyze the data according to the months of the year, still more +precise and interesting results (as shown in the curve, Chart 3) are +obtained; two maximum points are seen, one in spring (March), one in +autumn (October, or, rather, August-October), and each of these maximum +points is followed by; a steep and sudden descent to the minimum points in +April and in December. If we compare this result with Perry-Coste's also +extending over a long series of years, we find a marked similarity. In +both alike there are spring and autumn maxima, in both the autumn maximum +is the highest, and in both also there is an intervening fall. In both +cases, again, the maxima are followed by steep descents, but while in both +the spring maximum occurs in March, in Perry-Coste's case the second +maximum, though of precisely similar shape, occurs earlier, in +June-September instead of August-October. In Perry-Coste's case, also, +there is an apparently abnormal tendency, only shown in the more recent +years of the record, to an additional maximum in January. The records +certainly show far more points of agreement than of discrepancy, and by +their harmony, as well with each other as with themselves, when the years +are taken separately, certainly go far to prove that there is a very +marked annual rhythm in the phenomena of seminal emissions during sleep, +or, as Nelson has termed it, the ecbolic curve. We see, also, that the +great yearly organic climax of sexual effervescence corresponds with the +period following harvest, which, throughout the primitive world, has been +a season of sexual erethism and orgy; though those customs have died out +of our waking lives, they are still imprinted on our nervous texture, and +become manifest during sleep. + + The fresh records that have reached me since the first edition of + this book was published show well-marked annual curves, though + each curve always has some slight personal peculiarities of its + own. The most interesting and significant is that of E.M. (see + _ante_ p. 116), covering four years. It is indicated by the + following monthly frequencies, summated for the four years:-- + + Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. + 16 13 14 22 19 19 12 12 14 14 12 24 + + E.M. lives in India. April, May, and June, are hot months, but + not unhealthy, and during this season, moreover, he lives in the + hills, under favorable conditions, getting plenty of outdoor + exercise. July, August, and September, are nearly as hot, but + much damper, and more trying; during these months, E.M. is living + in the city, and his work is then, also, more exacting than at + other times, September is the worst month of all; he has a short + holiday at the end of it. During December, January, and February, + the climate is very fine, and E.M.'s work is easier. It will be + seen that his ecbolic curve corresponds to his circumstances and + environment, although until he analyzed the record he had no idea + that any such relationship existed. Unfavorable climatic + conditions and hard work, favorable conditions and lighter work, + happen to coincide in his life, and the former depress the + frequency of seminal emissions; the latter increase their + frequency. At the same time, the curve is not out of harmony with + the northern curves. There is what corresponds to a late spring + (April) climax, and another still higher, late autumn (December) + climax. A very interesting point is the general resemblance of + the ecbolic curves to the Indian conception-curves as set forth + by Hill (_ante_ p. 140). The conception-curve is at its lowest + point in September, and at its highest point in December-January, + and this ecbolic curve follows it, except that both the minimum + and the maximum are reached a little earlier. When compared with + the English annual ecbolic curves (W.K. and Perry-Coste), both + spring and autumn maxima fall rather later, but all agree in + representing the autumn rise as the chief climax. + + The annual curve of A.N. (_ante_ p. 117), who lives in Indiana, + U.S.A., also covers four years. It presents the usual spring + (May-June, in this case) and autumn (September-October) climaxes. + The exact monthly results, summated for the four years, are given + below; in order to allow for the irregular lengths of the months, + I have reduced them to daily averages, for convenience treating + the four years as one year:-- + + Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. + 13 9 13 20 23 22 20 20 21 23 9 16 + .42 .32 .42 .66 .74 .73 .64 .64 .70 .74 .30 .52 + + In his book on _Adolescence_, Stanley Hall refers to three + ecbolic records in his possession, all made by men who were + doctors of philosophy, and all considering themselves normal. The + best of these records made by "a virtuous, active and able man," + covered nearly eight years. Stanley Hall thus summarizes the + records, which are not presented in detail: "The best of these + records averages about three and a half such experiences per + month, the most frequent being 5.14 for July, and the least + frequent 2.28, for September, for all the years taken together. + There appears also a slight rise in April, and another in + November, with a fall in December." The frequency varies in the + different individuals. There was no tendency to a monthly cycle. + In the best case, the minimum number for the year was + thirty-seven, and the maximum, fifty. Fifty-nine per cent. of all + were at an interval of a week or less; forty per cent. at an + interval of from one to four days; thirty-four per cent, at an + interval of from eight to seventeen days, the longest being + forty-two days. Poor condition, overwork, and undersleep, led to + infrequency. Early morning was the most common time. Normally + there was a sense of distinct relief, but in low conditions, or + with over-frequency, depression. (G.S. Hall, _Adolescence_, vol. + i, p. 453.) I may add that an anonymous article on "Nocturnal + Emissions" (_American Journal of Psychology_, Jan., 1904) is + evidently a fuller presentation of the first of Stanley Hall's + three cases. It is the history of a healthy, unmarried, chaste + man, who kept a record of his nocturnal emissions (and their + accompanying dreams) from the age of thirty to thirty-eight. In + what American State he lived is not mentioned. He was ignorant of + the existence of any previous records. The yearly average was 37 + to 50, remaining fairly constant; the monthly average was 3.43. I + reproduce the total results summated for the months, separately, + and I have worked out the daily average for each month, for + convenience counting the summated eight years as one year:-- + + Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. + 27 27 27 31 29 28 36 25 18 27 30 24 + .87 .94 .87 1.03 .93 .93 1.16 .81 .60 .87 1.00 .77 + + Here, as in all the other curves we have been able to consider, + we may see the usual two points of climax in spring and in + autumn; the major climax covers April, May, June, and July, the + minor autumnal climax is confined to November. In the light of + the evidence which has thus accumulated, we may conclude that the + existence of an annual ecbolic curve, with its spring and autumn + climaxes, as described in the first edition of this book, is now + definitely established. + +If we are to believe, as these records tend to show, that the nocturnal +and involuntary voice of the sexual impulse usually speaks at least as +loudly in autumn as in spring, we are confronted by a certain divergence +of the sleeping sexual impulse from the waking sexual instinct, as +witnessed by the conception-curve, and also, it may be added, by the +general voice of tradition, and, indeed, of individual feeling, which +concur, on the whole, in placing the chief epoch of sexual activity in +spring and early summer, more especially as regards women.[159] It is not +impossible to reconcile the contradiction, assuming it to be real, but I +will refrain here from suggesting the various explanations which arise. +We need a broader basis of facts. + +There are many facts to show that early spring and, to a certain extent, +autumn are periods of visible excitement, mainly sexual in character. We +have already seen that among the Eskimo menstruation and sexual desire +occur chiefly in spring, but cases are known of healthy women in temperate +climes who only menstruate twice a year, and in such cases the menstrual +epochs appear to be usually in spring and autumn. Such, at all events, was +the case in a girl of 20, whose history has been recorded by Dr. Mary +Wenck, of Philadelphia.[160] She menstruated first when 15 years old. Six +months later the flow again appeared for the second time, and lasted three +weeks, without cessation. Since then, for five years, she menstruated +during March and September only, each time for three weeks, the flow being +profuse, but not exhaustingly so, without pain or systemic disturbance. +Examination revealed perfectly normal uterus and ovarian organs. +Treatment, accompanied by sitz-baths during the time of month the flow +should appear, accomplished nothing. The semi-annual flow continued and +the girl seemed in excellent health. + +It is a remarkable fact that, as noted by Dr. Hamilton Wey at Elmira, +sexual outbursts among prisoners appear to occur at about March and +October. "Beginning with the middle of February," writes Dr. Wey in a +private letter, "and continuing for about two months, is a season of +ascending sexual wave; also the latter half of September and the month of +October. We are now (March 30th) in the midst of a wave." + + According to Chinese medicine, it is the spring which awakens + human passions. In early Greek tradition, spring and summer were + noted as the time of greatest wantonness. "In the season of + toilsome summer," says Hesiod (_Works and Days_, xi, 569-90), + "the goats are fattest, wine is best, women most wanton, and men + weakest." It was so, also, in the experience of the Romans. Pliny + (_Natural History_, Bk. XII, Ch. XLIII) states that when the + asparagus blooms and the cicada sings loudest, is the season when + women are most amorous, but men least inclined to pleasure. + Paulus AEgineta said that hysteria specially abounds during spring + and autumn in lascivious girls and sterile women, while more + recent observers have believed that hysteria is particularly + difficult to treat in autumn. Oribasius (_Synopsis_, lib. i, cap. + 6) quotes from Rufus to the effect that sexual feeling is most + strong in spring, and least so in summer. Rabelais said that it + was in March that the sexual impulse is strongest, referring this + to the early warmth of spring, and that August is the month least + favorable to sexual activity (_Pantagruel_, liv. v, Ch. XXIX). + Nipho, in his book on love dedicated to Joan of Aragon, discussed + the reasons why "women are more lustful and amorous in summer, + and men in winter." Venette, in his _Generation de l'homme_, + harmonized somewhat conflicting statements with the observation + that spring is the season of love for both men and women; in + summer, women are more amorous than men; in autumn, men revive to + some extent, but are still oppressed by the heat, which, + sexually, has a less depressing effect on women. There is + probably a real element of truth in this view, and both extremes + of heat and cold may be regarded as unfavorable to masculine + virility. It is highly probable that the well-recognized tendency + of piles to become troublesome in spring and in autumn, is due to + increased sexual activity. Piles are favored by congestion, and + sexual excitement is the most powerful cause of sudden congestion + in the genito-anal region. Erasmus Darwin called attention to the + tendency of piles to recur about the equinoxes (_Zooenomia_, + Section XXXVI), and since his days Gant, Bonavia, and Cullimore + have correlated this periodicity with sexual activity. + + Laycock, quoting the opinions of some earlier authorities as to + the prevalence of sexual feeling in spring, stated that that + popular opinion "appears to be founded on fact" (_Nervous + Diseases of Women_, p. 69). I find that many people, and perhaps + especially women, confirm from their own experience, the + statement that sexual feeling is strongest in spring and summer. + Wichmann states that pollutions are most common in spring (being + perhaps the first to make that statement), and also nymphomania. + (In the eighteenth century, Schurig recorded a case of extreme + and life-long sexual desire in a woman whose salacity was always + at its height towards the festival of St. John, _Gynaecologia_, p. + 16.) A correspondent in the Argentine Republic writes to me that + "on big estancias, where we have a good many shepherds, nearly + always married, or, rather, I should say, living with some woman + (for our standard of morality is not very high in these parts), + we always look out for trouble in springtime, as it is a very + common thing at this season for wives to leave their husbands and + go and live with some other man." A corresponding tendency has + been noted even among children. Thus, Sanford Bell ("The Emotion + of Love Between the Sexes," _American Journal Psychology_, July, + 1902) remarks: "The season of the year seems to have its effect + upon the intensity of the emotion of sex-love among children. One + teacher, from Texas, who furnished me with seventy-six cases, + said that he had noticed that in the matter of love children + seemed 'fairly to break out in the springtime.' Many of the + others who reported, incidentally mentioned the love affairs as + beginning in the spring. This also agrees with my own + observations." + +Crichton-Browne remarks that children in springtime exhibit restlessness, +excitability, perversity, and indisposition to exertion that are not +displayed at other times. This condition, sometimes known as "spring +fever," has been studied in over a hundred cases, both children and +adults, by Kline. The majority of these report a feeling of tiredness, +languor, lassitude, sometimes restlessness, sometimes drowsiness. There is +often a feeling of suffocation, and a longing for Nature and fresh air and +day-dreams, while work seems distasteful and unsatisfactory. Change is +felt to be necessary at all costs, and sometimes there is a desire to +begin some new plan of life.[161] In both sexes there is frequently a wave +of sexual emotion, a longing for love. Kline also found by examination of +a very large number of cases that between the ages of four and seventeen +it is in spring that running away from home most often occurs. He suggests +that this whole group of phenomena may be due to the shifting of the +metabolic processes from the ordinary grooves into reproductive channels, +and seeks to bring it into connection with the migrations of animals for +reproductive purposes.[162] + +It has long been known that the occurrence of insanity follows an annual +curve,[163] and though our knowledge of this curve, being founded on the +date of admissions to asylums, cannot be said to be quite precise, it +fairly corresponds to the outbreaks of acute insanity. The curve +presented in Chart 4 shows the admissions to the London County Council +Lunatic Asylums during the years 1893 to 1897 inclusive; I have arranged +it in two-month periods, to neutralize unimportant oscillations. In order +to show that this curve is not due to local or accidental circumstances, +we may turn to France and take a special and chronic form of mental +disease: Garnier, in his _Folie a Paris_, presents an almost exactly +similar curve of the admissions of cases of general paralysis to the +Infirmerie Speciale at Paris during the years 1886-88 (Chart 5). Both +curves alike show a major climax in spring and a minor climax in autumn. + + Crime in general in temperate climates tends to reach its maximum + at the beginning of the hot season, usually in June. Thus, in + Belgium, the minimum is in February; the maximum in June, thence + gradually diminishing (Lentz, _Bulletin Societe Medecine Mentale + Belgique_, March, 1901). In France, Lacassagne has summated the + data extending over more than 40 years, and finds that for all + crimes June is the maximum month, the minimum being reached in + November. He also gives the figures for each class of crime + separately, and every crime is found to have its own yearly + curve. Poisonings show a chief maximum in May, with slow fall and + a minor climax in December; assassinations have a February and a + November climax. Parricides culminate in May-June, and in October + (Lacassagne's tables are given by Laurent, _Les Habitues des + Prisons de Paris_, Ch. 1). + + Notwithstanding the general tendency for crime to reach its + maximum in the first hot month (a tendency not necessarily due to + the direct influence of heat), we also find, when we consider the + statistics of crime generally (including sexual crime), that + there is another tendency for minor climaxes in spring and + autumn. Thus, in Italy, Penta, taking the statistics of nearly + four thousand crimes (murder, highway robbery, and sexual + offences), found the maximum in the first summer months, but + there were also minor climaxes in spring and in August and + September (Penta, _Rivista Mensile di Psichiatria_, 1899). In + nearly all Europe (as is shown by a diagram given by Lombroso and + Laschi, at the end of the first volume of _Le Crime Politique_), + while the chief climaxes occur about July, there is, in most + countries, a distinct tendency to spring (usually about March) + and autumn (September and November) climaxes, though they rarely + rise as high as the July climax. + + If we consider the separate periodicity of sexual offences, we + find that they follow the rule for crimes generally, and usually + show a chief maximum in early summer. Aschaffenburg finds that + the annual periodicity of the sexual impulse appears more + strongly marked the more abnormal its manifestations, which he + places in the following order of increasing periodicity: + conceptions in marriage, conceptions out of marriage, offences + against decency, rape, assaults on children (_Centralblatt fuer + Nervenheilkunde_, January, 1903). In France, rapes and offences + against modesty are most numerous in May, June, and July, as + Villerme, Lacassagne, and others have shown. Villerme, + investigating 1,000 such cases, found a gradual ascent in + frequency (only slightly broken in March) to a maximum in June + (oscillating between May and July, when the years are considered + separately), and then a gradual descent to a minimum in December. + Legludic gives, for the 159 cases he had investigated, a table + showing a small February-March climax, and a large June-August + maximum, the minimum being reached in November-January. + (Legludic, _Attentats aux Moeurs_, 1896, p. 16.) In Germany, + Aschaffenburg finds that sexual offences begin to increase in + March and April, reach a maximum in June or July, and fall to a + minimum in winter (_Monatsschrift fuer Psychiatrie_, 1903, Heft + 2). In Italy, Penta shows that sexual offences reach a minor + climax in May (corresponding, in his experience, with the maximum + for crimes generally, as well as with the maximum for + conceptions), and a more marked climax in August-September + (Penta, _I Pervertimenti Sessuali_, 1893, p. 115; id. _Rivista + Mensile di Psichiatria_, 1899). + + Corre, in his _Crime en Pays Creole_, presents charts of the + seasonal distribution of crime in Guadeloupe, with relation to + temperature, which show that while, in a mild temperature like + that of France and England, crime attains its maximum in the hot + season, it is not so in a more tropical climate; in July, when in + Guadeloupe the heat attains its maximum degree, crime of all + kinds falls suddenly to a very low minimum. Even in the United + States, where the summer heat is often excessive, it tends to + produce a diminution of crime. + + Dexter, in an elaborate study of the relationship of conduct to + the weather, shows that in the United States assaults present the + maximum of frequency in April and October, with a decrease during + the summer and the winter. "The unusual and interesting fact + demonstrated here with a certainty that cannot be doubted is," he + concludes, "that the unseasonably hot days of spring and autumn + are the pugnacious ones, even though the actual heat be much less + than for summer. We might infer from this that conditions of + heat, up to a certain extent, are vitalizing, while, at the same + time, irritating, but above that limit, heat is so devitalizing + in its effects as to leave hardly energy enough to carry on a + fight." (E.G. Dexter, _Conduct and the Weather_, 1899, pp. 63 _et + seq._) + + It is not impossible that the phenomena of seasonal periodicity + in crimes may possess a real significance in relation to sexual + periodicity. If, as is possible, the occurrence of spring and + autumn climaxes of criminal activity is due less to any special + exciting causes at these seasons than to the depressing + influences of heat and cold in summer and winter, it may appear + reasonable to ask whether the spring and autumn climaxes of + sexual activity are not really also largely due to a like + depressing influence of extreme temperatures at the other two + seasons. + +Not only is there periodicity in criminal conduct, but even within the +normal range of good and bad conduct seasonal periodicity may still be +traced. In his _Physical and Industrial Training of Criminals_, H.D. Wey +gives charts of the conduct of seven prisoners during several years, as +shown by the marks received. These charts show that there is a very +decided tendency to good behavior during summer and winter, while in +spring (February, March, and April) and in autumn (August, September and +October) there are very marked falls to bad conduct, each individual +tending to adhere to a conduct-curve of his own. Wey does not himself +appear to have noticed this seasonal periodicity. Marro, however, has +investigated this question in Turin on a large scale and reaches results +not very dissimilar from those shown by Wey's figures in New York. He +noted the months in which over 4,000 punishments were inflicted on +prisoners for assaults, insults, threatening language, etc., and shows the +annual curve in Tavola VI of his _Caratteri dei Delinquenti_. There is a +marked and isolated climax in May; a still more sudden rise leads to the +chief maximum of punishment in August; and from the minimum in October +there is rapid ascent during the two following months to a climax much +inferior to that of May. + + The seasonal periodicity of bad conduct in prisons is of interest + as showing that we cannot account for psychic periodicity by + invoking exclusively social causes. This theory of psychic + periodicity has been seriously put forward, but has been + investigated and dismissed, so far as crime in Holland is + concerned, by J.R.B. de Roos, in the Transactions of the sixth + Congress of Criminal Anthropology, at Turin, in 1906 (_Archivio + di Psichiatria_ fasc. 3, 1906). + +The general statistics of suicides in Continental Europe show a very +regular and unbroken curve, attaining a maximum in June and a minimum in +December, the curve rising steadily through the first six months, sinking +steadily through the last six months, but always reaching a somewhat +greater height in May than in July.[164] Morselli shows that in various +European countries there is always a rise in spring and in autumn (October +or November).[165] Morselli attributes these spring and autumn rises to +the influence of the strain of the early heat and the early cold.[166] In +England, also, if we take a very large number of statistics, for instance, +the figures for London during the twenty years between 1865 and 1884, as +given by Ogle (in a paper read before the Statistical Society in 1886), we +find that, although the general curve has the same maximum and minimum +points, it is interrupted by a break on each side of the maximum, and +these two breaks occur precisely at about March and October.[167] This is +shown in the curve in Chart 6, which presents the daily average for the +different months. + +The growth of children follows an annual rhythm. Wahl, the director of an +educational establishment for homeless girls in Denmark, who investigated +this question, found that the increase of weight for all the ages +investigated was constantly about 33 per cent. greater in the summer +half-year than in the winter half-year. It was noteworthy that even the +children who had not reached school-age, and therefore could not be +influenced by school-life, showed a similar, though slighter, difference +in the same direction. It is, however, Malling-Hansen, the director of an +institution for deaf-mutes in Copenhagen, who has most thoroughly +investigated this matter over a great many years. He finds that there are +three periods of growth throughout the year, marked off in a fairly sharp +manner, and that during each of these periods the growth in weight and +height shows constant characteristics. From about the end of November up +to about the end of March is a period when growth, both in height and +weight, proceeds at a medium rate, reaching neither a maximum nor a +minimum; increase in weight is slight, the increase in height, although +trifling, preponderating. After this follows a period during which the +children show a marked increase in height, while increase in weight is +reduced to a minimum. The children constantly lose in weight during this +period of growth in height almost as much as they gain in the preceding +period. This period lasts from March and April to July and August. Then +follows the third period, which continues until November and December. +During this period increase in height is very slight, being at its early +minimum; increase in weight, on the other hand, at the beginning of the +period (in September and October), is rapid and to the middle of December +very considerable, daily increase in weight being three times as great as +during the winter months. Thus it may be said that the spring sexual +climax corresponds, roughly, with growth in height and arrest of growth in +weight, while the autumn climax corresponds roughly with a period of +growth in weight and arrest of growth in height. Malling-Hansen found that +slight variations in the growth of the children were often dependent on +changes in temperature, in such a way that a rise of temperature, even +lasting for only a few days, caused an increase of growth, and a fall of +temperature a decrease in growth. At Halle, Schmid-Monnard found that +nearly all growth in weight took place in the second half of the year, and +that the holidays made little difference. In America, Peckham has shown +that increase of growth is chiefly from the 1st of May to the 1st of +September.[168] Among young girls in St. Petersburg, Jenjko found that +increase in weight takes place in summer. Goepel found that increase in +height takes place mostly during the first eight months of the year, +reaching a maximum in August, declining during the autumn and winter, in +February being _nil_, while in March there is sometimes loss in weight +even in healthy children. + +In the course of a study as to the consumption of bread in Normal schools +during each month of the year, as illustrating the relationship between +intellectual work and nutrition, Binet presents a number of curves which +bring out results to which he makes no allusion, as they are outside his +own investigation. Almost without exception, these curves show that there +is an increase in the consumption of bread in spring and in autumn, the +spring rise being in February, March, and April; the autumn rise in +October or November. There are, however, certain fallacies in dealing with +institutions like Normal schools, where the conditions are not perfectly +regular throughout the year, owing to vacations, etc. It is, therefore, +instructive to find that under the monotonous conditions of prison-life +precisely the same spring and autumn rises are found. Binet takes the +consumption of bread in the women's prison at Clermont, where some four +hundred prisoners, chiefly between the ages of thirty and forty, are +confined, and he presents two curves for the years 1895 and 1896. The +curves for these two years show certain marked disagreements with each +other, but both unite in presenting a distinct rise in April, preceded and +followed by a fall, and both present a still more marked autumn rise, in +one case in September and November, in the other case in October.[169] + + Some years ago, Sir J. Crichton-Browne stated that a + manifestation of the sexual stimulus of spring is to be found in + the large number of novels read during the month of March + ("Address in Psychology" at the annual meeting of the British + Medical Association, Leeds, 1889; _Lancet_, August 14, 1889). + The statement was supported by figures furnished by lending + libraries, and has since been widely copied. It would certainly + be interesting if we could so simply show the connection between + love and season, by proving that when the birds began to sing + their notes, the young person's fancy naturally turns to brood + over the pictures of mating in novels. I accordingly applied to + Mr. Capel Shaw, Chief Librarian of the Birmingham Free Libraries + (specially referred to by Sir J. Crichton-Browne), who furnished + me with the Reports for 1896 and 1897-98 (this latter report is + carried on to the end of March, 1898). + + The readers who use the Birmingham Free Lending Libraries are + about 30,000 in number; they consist very largely of young people + between the ages of 14 and 25; somewhat less than half are women. + Certainly we seem to have here a good field for the determination + of this question. The monthly figures for each of the ten + Birmingham libraries are given separately, and it is clear at a + glance that without exception the maximum number of readers of + prose-fiction at all the libraries during 1897-98 is found in the + month of March. (I have chiefly taken into consideration the + figures for 1897-98; the figures for 1896 are somewhat abnormal + and irregular, probably owing to a decrease in readers, + attributed to increased activity in trade, and partly to a + disturbing influence caused by the opening of a large new library + in the course of the year, suddenly increasing the number of + readers, and drafting off borrowers from some of the other + libraries.) Not only so, but there is a second, or autumnal + climax, almost equaling the spring climax, and occuring with + equal certainty, appearing during 1897-98 either in October or + November, and during 1896, constantly in October. Thus, the + periodicity of the rate of consumption of prose-fiction + corresponds with the periodicity which is found to occur in the + conception rate and in sexual ecbolic manifestations. + + It is necessary, however, to examine somewhat more closely the + tables presented in these reports, and to compare the rate of the + consumption of novels with that of other classes of literature. + In the first place, if, instead of merely considering the + consumption of novels per month, we make allowance for the + varying length of the months, and consider the average _daily_ + consumption per month, the supremacy of March at once vanishes. + February is really the month during which most novels were read + during the first quarter of 1898, except at two libraries, where + February and March are equal. The result is similar if we + ascertain the daily averages for the first quarter in 1897, + while, in 1896 (which, however, as I have already remarked, is a + rather abnormal year), the daily average for March in many of the + libraries falls below that for January, as well as for February. + Again, when we turn to the other classes of books, we find that + this predominance which February possesses, and to some extent + shares with March and January, by no means exclusively applies to + novels. It is not only shared by both music and poetry,--which + would fit in well with the assumption of a sexual _nisus_,--but + the department of "history, biography, voyages, and travels" + shares it also with considerable regularity; so, also, does that + of "arts, sciences, and natural history," and it is quite well + marked in "theology, moral philosophy, etc.," and in "juvenile + literature." We even have to admit that the promptings of the + sexual instinct bring an increased body of visitors to the + reference library (where there are no novels), for here, also, + both the spring and autumnal climaxes are quite distinct. + Certainly this theory carries us a little too far. + + The main factor in producing this very marked annual periodicity + seems to me to be wholly unconnected with the sexual impulse. The + winter half of the year (from the beginning of October to the end + of March), when outdoor life has lost its attractions, and much + time must be spent in the house, is naturally the season for + reading. But during the two central months of winter, December + and January, the attraction of reading meets with a powerful + counter-attraction in the excitement produced by the approach of + Christmas, and the increased activity of social life which + accompanies and for several weeks follows Christmas. In this way + the other four winter months--October and November at the + autumnal end, and February and March at the spring end--must + inevitably present the two chief reading climaxes of the year; + and so the reports of lending libraries present us with figures + which show a striking, but fallacious, resemblance to the curves + which are probably produced by more organic causes. + + I am far from wishing to deny that the impulse which draws young + men and women to imaginative literature is unconnected with the + obscure promptings of the sexual instinct. But, until the + disturbing influence I have just pointed out is eliminated, I see + no evidence here for any true seasonal periodicity. Possibly in + prisons--the value of which, as laboratories of experimental + psychology we have scarcely yet begun to realize--more reliable + evidence might be obtained; and those French and other prisons + where novels are freely allowed to the prisoners might yield + evidence as regards the consumption of fiction as instructive as + that yielded at Clermont concerning the consumption of bread. + +Certain diseases show a very regular annual curve. This is notably the +case with scarlet fever. Caiger found in a London fever hospital a marked +seasonal prevalence: there was a minor climax in May (repeated in July), +and a great autumnal climax in October, falling to a minimum in December +and January. This curve corresponds closely to that usually observed in +London.[170] It is not peculiar to London, or to urban districts, for in +rural districts we find nearly the same spring minor maximum and major +autumnal maximum. In Russia it is precisely the same. Many other epidemic +diseases show very similar curves. + +An annual curve may be found in the expulsive force of the bladder as +measured by the distance to which the urinary stream can be projected. +This curve, as ascertained for one case, is interesting on account of the +close relationship between sexual and vesical activity. After a minimum +point in autumn there is a rise through the early part of the year to a +height maintained through spring and summer, and reaching its maximum in +August.[171] This may be said to correspond with the general tendency +found in some cases of nocturnal seminal emissions from a winter minimum +to an autumn maximum. + +There is an annual curve in voluntary muscle strength. Thus in Antwerp, +where the scientific study of children is systematically carried out by a +Pedological Bureau, Schuyten found that, measured by the dynamometer, both +at the ages of 8 and 9, both boys and girls showed a gradual increase of +strength from October to January, a fall from January to March and a rise +to June or July. March was the weakest month, June and July the +strongest.[172] + +Schuyten also found an annual curve for mental ability, as tested by power +of attention, which for much of the year corresponded to the curve of +muscular strength, being high during the cold winter months. Lobsien, at +Kiel, seeking to test Schuyten's results and adopting a different method +so as to gauge memory as well as attention, came to conclusions which +confirmed those of Schuyten. He found a very marked increase of ability in +December and January, with a fall in April; April and May were the +minimum months, while July and October also stood low.[173] The inquiries +of Schuyten and Lobsien thus seem to indicate that the voluntary aptitudes +of muscular and mental force in children reach their maximum at a time of +the year when most of the more or less involuntary activities we have been +considering show a minimum of energy. If this conclusion should be +confirmed by more extended investigations, it would scarcely be matter for +surprise and would involve no true contradiction. It would, indeed, be +natural to suppose that the voluntary and regulated activities of the +nervous system should work most efficiently at those periods when they are +least exposed to organic and emotional disturbance. + +So persistent a disturbing element in spring and autumn suggests that some +physiological conditions underlie it, and that there is a real metabolic +disturbance at these times of the year. So few continuous observations +have yet been made on the metabolic processes of the body that it is not +easy to verify such a surmise with absolute precision. Edward Smith's +investigations, so far as they go, support it, and Perry-Coste's +long-continued observations of pulse-frequency seem to show with fair +regularity a maximum in early spring and another maximum in late +autumn.[174] I may also note that Haig, who has devoted many years of +observations to the phenomena of uric-acid excretion, finds that uric acid +tends to be highest in the spring months, (March, April, May) and lowest +at the first onset of cold in October.[175] + +Thus, while the sexual climaxes of spring and autumn are rooted in animal +procreative cycles which in man have found expression in primitive +festivals--these, again, perhaps, strengthening and developing the sexual +rhythm--they yet have a wider significance. They constitute one among many +manifestations of spring and autumn physiological disturbance +corresponding with fair precision to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. +They resemble those periods of atmospheric tension, of storm and wind, +which accompany the spring and autumn phases in the earth's rhythm, and +they may fairly be regarded as ultimately a physiological reaction to +those cosmic influences. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[128] F. Smith, _Veterinary Physiology_; Dalziel, _The Collie_. + +[129] Mondiere, Art "Cambodgiens," _Dictionnaire des Sciences +Anthropologiques_. + +[130] This primitive aspect of the festival is well shown by the human +sacrifices which the ancient Mexicans offered at this time, in order to +enable the sun to recuperate his strength. The custom survives in a +symbolical form among the Mokis, who observe the festivals of the winter +solstice and the vernal equinox. ("Aspects of Sun-worship among the Moki +Indians," _Nature_, July 28, 1898.) The Walpi, a Tusayan people, hold a +similar great sun-festival at the winter solstice, and December is with +them a sacred month, in which there is no work and little play. This +festival, in which there is a dance dramatizing the fructification of the +earth and the imparting of virility to the seeds of corn, is fully +described by J. Walter Fewkes (_American Anthropologist_, March, 1898). +That these solemn annual dances and festivals of North America frequently +merge into "a lecherous _saturnalia_" when "all is joy and happiness," is +stated by H.H. Bancroft (_Native Races of Pacific States_, vol. i, p. +352). + +[131] As regards the northern tribes of Central Australia, Spencer and +Gillen state that, during the performance of certain ceremonies which +bring together a large number of natives from different parts, the +ordinary marital rules are more or less set aside (_Northern Tribes of +Central Australia_, p. 136). Just in the same way, among the Siberian +Yakuts, according to Sieroshevski, during weddings and at the great +festivals of the year, the usual oversight of maidens is largely removed. +(_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, Jan.-June, 1901, p. 96.) + +[132] R.E. Guise, _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1899, pp. +214-216. + +[133] Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, pp. 196 et seq. W. Crooke (_Journal +of the Anthropological Institute_, p. 243, 1899) also refers to the annual +harvest-tree dance and _saturnalia_, and its association with the seasonal +period for marriage. We find a similar phenomenon in the Malay Peninsula: +"In former days, at harvest-time, the Jakuns kept an annual festival, at +which, the entire settlement having been called together, fermented +liquor, brewed from jungle fruits, was drunk; and to the accompaniments of +strains of their rude and incondite music, both sexes, crowning themselves +with fragrant leaves and flowers, indulged in bouts of singing and +dancing, which grew gradually wilder throughout the night, and terminated +in a strange kind of sexual orgie." (W.W. Skeat, "The Wild Tribes of the +Malay Peninsula," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, 1902, p. +133.) + +[134] Fielding Hall, _The Soul of a People_, 1898, Chapter XIII. + +[135] See e.g., L. Dyer, _Studies of the Gods in Greece_, 1891, pp. 86-89, +375, etc. + +[136] For a popular account of the Feast of Fools, see Loliee, "La Fete +des Fous," _Revue des Revues_, May 15, 1898; also, J.G. Bourke, +_Scatologic Rites of all Nations_, pp. 11-23. + +[137] J. Grimm (_Teutonic Mythology_, p. 615) points out that the +observance of the spring or Easter bonfires marks off the Saxon from the +Franconian peoples. The Easter bonfires are held in Lower Saxony, +Westphalia, Lower Hesse, Geldern, Holland, Friesland, Jutland, and +Zealand. The Midsummer bonfires are held on the Rhine, in Franconia, +Thuringia, Swabia, Bavaria, Austria, and Silesia. Schwartz (_Zeitschrift +fuer Ethnologie_, 1896, p. 151) shows that at Lauterberg, in the Harz +Mountains, the line of demarcation between these two primitive districts +may still be clearly traced. + +[138] _Wald und Feldkulte_, 1875, vol. i, pp. 422 et seq. He also mentions +(p. 458) that St. Valentine's Day (14th of February),--or Ember Day, or +the last day of February,--when the pairing of birds was supposed to take +place, was associated, especially in England, with love-making and the +choice of a mate. In Lorraine, it may be added, on the 1st of May, the +young girls chose young men as their valentines, a custom known by this +name to Rabelais. + +[139] Rochholz, _Drei gaugoettinnen_, p, 37. + +[140] Mannhardt, ibid., pp. 466 et seq. Also J.G. Frazer, _Golden Bough_, +vol ii, Chapter IV. For further facts and references, see K. Pearson (_The +Chances of Death_, 1897, vol, ii, "Woman as Witch," "Kindred +Group-marriage," and Appendix on "The '_Mailehn_' and '_Kiltgang_,'") who +incidentally brings together some of the evidence concerning primitive +sex-festivals in Europe. Also, E. Hahn, _Demeter und Baubo_, 1896, pp. +38-40; and for some modern survivals, see Deniker, _Races of Man_, 1900, +Chapter III. On a lofty tumulus near the megalithic remains at Carnac, in +Brittany, the custom still prevails of lighting a large bonfire at the +time of the summer solstice; it is called Tan Heol, or Tan St. Jean. In +Ireland, the bonfires also take place on St. John's Eve, and a +correspondent, who has often witnessed them in County Waterford, writes +that "women, with garments raised, jump through these fires, and conduct +which, on ordinary occasions would be reprobated, is regarded as excusable +and harmless." Outside Europe, the Berbers of Morocco still maintain this +midsummer festival, and in the Rif they light bonfires; here the fires +seem to be now regarded as mainly purificatory, but they are associated +with eating ceremonies which are still regarded as multiplicative. +(Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," _Folk-Lore_, March, 1905.) + +[141] Mannhardt (op. cit., p. 469) quotes a description of an Ehstonian +festival in the Island of Moon, when the girls dance in a circle round the +fire, and one of them,--to the envy of the rest, and the pride of her own +family,--is chosen by the young men, borne away so violently that her +clothes are often torn, and thrown down by a youth, who places one leg +over her body in a kind of symbolical coitus, and lies quietly by her side +till morning. The spring festivals of the young people of Ukrainia, in +which, also, there is singing, dancing, and sleeping together, are +described in "Folk-Lore de l'Ukrainie." Kryptadia, vol. v, pp. 2-6, and +vol. viii, pp. 303 et seq. + +[142] M. Kowalewsky, "Marriage Among the Early Slavs," _Folk-Lore_, +December, 1890. + +[143] A. Tille, however (_Yule and Christmas_, 1899), while admitting that +the general Aryan division of the year was dual, follows Tacitus in +asserting that the Germanic division of the year (like the Egyptian) was +tripartite: winter, spring, and summer. + +[144] Grimm, _Teutonic Mythology_ (English translation by Stallybrass), +pp. 612-630, 779, 788. + +[145] Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, 1897, p. 98. + +[146] See, e.g., the chapter on ritual in Gerard-Varet's interesting book, +_L'Ignorance et l'Irreflexion_, 1899, for a popular account of this and +allied primitive conceptions. + +[147] Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia_, especially pp. 485, 571; regarding +the priestesses, Jastrow remarks: "Among many nations, the mysterious +aspects of woman's fertility lead to rites that, by a perversion of their +original import, appear to be obscene. The prostitutes were priestesses +attached to the Ishtar cult, and who took part in ceremonies intended to +symbolize fertility." Whether there is any significance in the fact that +the first two months of the Babylonian year (roughly corresponding to our +March and April), when we should expect births to be at a maximum, were +dedicated to Ea and Bel, who, according to varying legends, were the +creators of man, and that New Year's Day was the festival of Bau, regarded +as the mother of mankind, I cannot say, but the suggestion may be put +forward. + +[148] _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 421. + +[149] Grimm, _Teutonic Mythology_, p. 1465. In England, the November, +bonfires have become merged into the Guy Fawkes celebrations. In the East, +the great primitive autumn festivals seem to have fallen somewhat earlier. +In Babylonia, the seventh month (roughly corresponding to September) was +specially sacred, though nothing is known of its festivals, and this also +was the sacred festival month of the Hebrews, and originally of the Arabs. +In Europe, among the southern Slavs, the Reigen, or Kolo--wild dances by +girls, adorned with flowers, and with skirts girt high, followed by sexual +intercourse--take place in autumn, during the nights following harvest +time. + +[150] A. Tille, _Yule and Christmas_, p. 21, etc. + +[151] Long before Wargentin, however, Rabelais had shown some interest in +this question, and had found that there were most christenings in October +and November, this showing, he pointed out, that the early warmth of +spring influenced the number of conceptions (_Pantagruel_, liv. v, Ch. +XXIX). The spring maximum of conceptions is not now so early in France. + +[152] Villerme, "De la Distribution par mois des conceptions," _Annales +d'Hygiene Publique_, tome v, 1831, pp. 55-155. + +[153] Sormani, _Giornale di Medicina Militare_, 1870. + +[154] Throughout Europe, it may be said, marriages tend to take place +either in spring or autumn (Oettinger _Moralstatistik_, p. 181, gives +details). That is to say, that there is a tendency for marriages to take +place at the season of the great public festivals, during which sexual +intercourse was prevalent in more primitive times. + +[155] Hill, _Nature_, July 12, 1888. + +[156] G. Mayr, _Die Gesetzmaessigkeit im Gesellschaftsleben_, 1877, p. 240. + +[157] Edward Smith (_Health and Disease_), who attributes this to the +lessened vitality of offspring at that season. Beukemann also states that +children born in September have most vitality. + +[158] Westermarck has even suggested that the December maximum of +conceptions may be due to better chance of survival for September +offspring (_Human Marriage_, Chapter II). It may be noted that though the +maximum of conceptions is in May, relatively the smallest proportion of +boys is conceived at that time. (Rauber, _Der Ueberschuss an +Knabengeburten_, p. 39.) + +[159] Krieger found that the great majority of German women investigated +by him menstruated for the first time in September, October, or November. +In America, Bowditch states that the first menstruation of country girls +more often occurs in spring than at any other season. + +[160] _Women's Medical Journal_, 1894. + +[161] It is, perhaps, worth while noting that the wisdom of the mediaeval +Church found an outlet for this "spring fever" in pilgrimages to remote +shrines. As Chaucer wrote, in the _Canterbury Tales_:-- + + "Whane that Aprille with his showers sote + The droughts of March hath pierced to the root, + Thaen longen folk to gon on pilgrimages, + And palmers for to seeken strange stronds." + +[162] L.W. Kline, "The Migratory Impulse," _American Journal of +Psychology_, 1898, vol. x, especially pp. 21-24. + +[163] Mania comes to a crisis in spring, said the old physician, Aretaeus +(Bk. 1, Ch. V). + +[164] This is, at all events, the case in France, Prussia, and Italy. See, +for instance, Durkheim's discussion of the cosmic factors of suicide, _Le +Suicide_, 1897, Chapter III. In Spain, as Bernaldo de Quiros shows +(_Criminologia_, p. 69), there is a slight irregular rise in December, but +otherwise the curve is perfectly regular, with maximum in June, and +minimum in January. + +[165] This holds good of a south European country, taken separately. A +chart of the annual incidence of suicide by hanging, in Roumania, +presented by Minovici (_Archives d'Anthropologie Criminelle_, 1905, p. +587), shows climaxes of equal height in May and September. + +[166] Morselli, _Suicide_, pp. 55-72. + +[167] Ogle himself was inclined to think that these breaks were +accidental, being unaware of the allied phenomena with which they may be +brought into line. It is true that (as Gaedeken objects to me) the +autumnal break is very slight, but it is probably real when we are dealing +with so large a mass of data. + +[168] _Pedagogical Seminary_, June, 1891, p. 298. For a very full summary +and bibliography of investigations regarding growth, see F. Burk, "Growth +of Children in Height and Weight," _American Journal of Psychology_, +April, 1898. + +[169] _L'Annee Psychologique_, 1898. + +[170] _Lancet_, June 6, 1891. Edward Smith had pointed out many years +earlier that scarlet fever is most fatal in periods of increasing +vitality. + +[171] Havelock Ellis, "The Bladder as a Dynamometer," _American Journal of +Dermatology_, May, 1902. + +[172] See, e.g., summary in _Internationales Centrablatt fuer +Anthropologie_, 1902, Heft 4, p. 207. + +[173] Summarized in _Zeitschrift fuer Psychologie der Sinnesorgane_, 1903, +p. 135. + +[174] Camerer found that from September to November is the period of +greatest metabolic activity. + +[175] Haig, _Uric Acid_, 6th edition, 1903, p. 33. + + + + +AUTO-EROTISM: A STUDY OF THE SPONTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SEXUAL +IMPULSE. + + +I. + +Definition of Auto-erotism--Masturbation only Covers a Small Portion of +the Auto-erotic Field--The Importance of this Study, especially +To-day--Auto-erotic Phenomena in Animals--Among Savage and Barbaric +Races--The Japanese _rin-no-tama_ and other Special Instruments for +Obtaining Auto-erotic Gratification--Abuse of the Ordinary Implements and +Objects of Daily Life--The Frequency of Hair-pin in the Bladder--The +Influence of Horse-exercise and Railway Traveling--The Sewing-machine and +the Bicycle--Spontaneous Passive Sexual Excitement--_Delectatio +Morosa_--Day-dreaming--_Pollutio_--Sexual Excitement During Sleep--Erotic +Dreams--The Analogy of Nocturnal Enuresis--Differences in the Erotic +Dreams of Men and Women--The Auto-erotic Phenomena of Sleep in the +Hysterical--Their Frequently Painful Character. + + +By "auto-erotism" I mean the phenomena of spontaneous sexual emotion +generated in the absence of an external stimulus proceeding, directly or +indirectly, from another person. In a wide sense, which cannot be wholly +ignored here, auto-erotism may be said to include those transformations of +repressed sexual activity which are a factor of some morbid conditions as +well as of the normal manifestation of art and poetry, and, indeed, more +or less color the whole of life. + +Such a definition excludes the normal sexual excitement aroused by the +presence of a beloved person of the opposite sex; it also excludes the +perverted sexuality associated with an attraction to a person of the same +sex; it further excludes the manifold forms of erotic fetichism, in which +the normal focus of sexual attraction is displaced, and voluptuous +emotions are only aroused by some object--hair, shoes, garments, +etc.--which, to the ordinary lover, are of subordinate--though still, +indeed, considerable--importance.[176] The auto-erotic field remains +extensive; it ranges from occasional voluptuous day-dreams, in which the +subject is entirely passive, to the perpetual unashamed efforts at sexual +self-manipulation witnessed among the insane. It also includes, though +chiefly as curiosities, those cases in which individuals fall in love with +themselves. Among auto-erotic phenomena, or on the borderland, we must +further include those religious sexual manifestations for an ideal object, +of which we may find evidence in the lives of saints and ecstatics.[177] +The typical form of auto-erotism is the occurrence of the sexual orgasm +during sleep. + +I do not know that any apology is needful for the invention of the term +"auto-erotism."[178] There is no existing word in current use to indicate +the whole range of phenomena I am here concerned with. We are familiar +with "masturbation," but that, strictly speaking, only covers a special +and arbitrary subdivision of the field, although, it is true, the +subdivision with which physicians and alienists have chiefly occupied +themselves. "Self-abuse" is somewhat wider, but by no means covers the +whole ground, while for various reasons it is an unsatisfactory term. +"Onanism" is largely used, especially in France, and some writers even +include all forms of homosexual connection under this name; it may be +convenient to do so from a physiological point of view, but it is a +confusing and antiquated mode of procedure, and from the psychological +standpoint altogether illegitimate; "onanism" ought never to be used in +this connection, if only on the ground that Onan's device was not +auto-erotic, but was an early example of withdrawal before emission, or +_coitus interruptus_. + +While the name that I have chosen may possibly not be the best, there +should be no question as to the importance of grouping all these phenomena +together. It seems to me that this field has rarely been viewed in a +scientifically sound and morally sane light, simply because it has not +been viewed as a whole. We have made it difficult so to view it by +directing our attention on the special group of auto-erotic facts--that +group included under masturbation--which was most easy to observe and +which in an extreme form came plainly under medical observation in +insanity and allied conditions, and we have wilfully torn this group of +facts away from the larger group to which it naturally belongs. The +questions which have been so widely, so diversely, and--it must +unfortunately be added--often so mischievously discussed, concerning the +nature and evils of masturbation are not seen in their true light and +proportions until we realize that masturbation is but a specialized form +of a tendency which in some form or in some degree normally affects not +only man, but all the higher animals. From a medical point of view it is +often convenient to regard masturbation as an isolated fact; but in order +to understand it we must bear in mind its relationships. In this study of +auto-erotism I shall frequently have occasion to refer to the old entity +of "masturbation," because it has been more carefully studied than any +other part of the auto-erotic field; but I hope it will always be borne in +mind that the psychological significance and even the medical diagnostic +value of masturbation cannot be appreciated unless we realize that it is +an artificial subdivision of a great group of natural facts. + +The study of auto-erotism is far from being an unimportant or merely +curious study. Yet psychologists, medical and non-medical, almost without +exception, treat its manifestations--when they refer to them at all--in a +dogmatic and off-hand manner which is far from scientific. It is not +surprising, therefore, that the most widely divergent opinions are +expressed. Nor is it surprising that ignorant and chaotic notions among +the general population should lead to results that would be ludicrous if +they were not pathetic. To mention one instance known to me: a married +lady who is a leader in social-purity movements and an enthusiast for +sexual chastity, discovered, through reading some pamphlet against +solitary vice, that she had herself been practicing masturbation for years +without knowing it. The profound anguish and hopeless despair of this +woman in face of what she believed to be the moral ruin of her whole life +cannot well be described. It would be easy to give further examples, +though scarcely a more striking one, to show the utter confusion into +which we are thrown by leaving this matter in the hands of blind leaders +of the blind. Moreover, the conditions of modern civilization render +auto-erotism a matter of increasing social significance. As our +marriage-rate declines, and as illicit sexual relationships continue to be +openly discouraged, it is absolutely inevitable that auto-erotic phenomena +of one kind or another, not only among women but also among men, should +increase among us both in amount and intensity. It becomes, therefore, a +matter of some importance, both to the moralist and the physician, to +investigate the psychological nature of these phenomena and to decide +precisely what their attitude should be toward them. + +I do not purpose to enter into a thorough discussion of all the aspects of +auto-erotism. That would involve a very extensive study indeed. I wish to +consider briefly certain salient points concerning auto-erotic phenomena, +especially their prevalence, their nature, and their moral, physical, and +other effects. I base my study partly on the facts and opinions which +during the last thirty years have been scattered through the periodical +and other medical literature of Europe and America, and partly on the +experience of individuals, especially of fairly normal individuals. + +Among animals in isolation, and sometimes in freedom--though this can less +often be observed--it is well known that various forms of spontaneous +solitary sexual excitement occur. Horses when leading a lazy life may be +observed flapping the penis until some degree of emission takes place. +Welsh ponies, I learn from a man who has had much experience with these +animals, habitually produce erections and emissions in their stalls; they +do not bring their hind quarters up during this process, and they close +their eyes, which does not take place when they have congress with mares. +The same informant observed that bulls and goats produce emissions by +using their forelegs as a stimulus, bringing up their hind quarters, and +mares rub themselves against objects. I am informed by a gentleman who is +a recognized authority on goats, that they sometimes take the penis into +the mouth and produce actual orgasm, thus practicing auto-fellatio. As +regards ferrets, the Rev. H. Northcote states: "I am informed by a +gentleman who has had considerable experience of ferrets, that if the +bitch, when in heat, cannot obtain a dog she pines and becomes ill. If a +smooth pebble is introduced into the hutch, she will masturbate upon it, +thus preserving her normal health for one season. But if this artificial +substitute is given to her a second season, she will not, as formerly, be +content with it."[179] + +Stags in the rutting season, when they have no partners, rub themselves +against trees to produce ejaculation. Sheep masturbate; as also do camels, +pressing themselves down against convenient objects; and elephants +compress the penis between the hind legs to obtain emissions.[180] +Blumenbach observed a bear act somewhat similarly on seeing other bears +coupling, and hyenas, according to Ploss and Bartels, have been seen +practicing mutual masturbation by licking each other's genitals. Mammary +masturbation, remarks Fere, is found in certain female and even male +animals, like the dog and the cat.[181] Apes are much given to +masturbation, even in freedom, according to the evidence of good +observers; for while no female apes are celibates, many of the males are +obliged to lead a life of celibacy.[182] Male monkeys use the hand in +masturbation, to rub and shake the penis.[183] + +In the human species these phenomena are by no means found in civilization +alone. To whatever extent masturbation may have been developed by the +conditions of European life, which carry to the utmost extreme the +concomitant stimulation, and repression of the sexual emotions, it is far +from being, as Mantegazza has declared it to be, one of the moral +characteristics of Europeans.[184] It is found among the people of nearly +every race of which we have any intimate knowledge, however natural the +conditions under which men and women may live.[185] Thus, among the Nama +Hottentots, among the young women at all events, Gustav Fritsch found that +masturbation is so common that it is regarded as a custom of the country; +no secret is made of it, and in the stories and legends of the race it is +treated as one of the most ordinary facts of life. It is so also among the +Basutos, and the Kaffirs are addicted to the same habit.[186] The Fuegians +have a word for masturbation, and a special word for masturbation by +women.[187] When the Spaniards first arrived at Vizcaya, in the +Philippines, they found that masturbation was universal, and that it was +customary for the women to use an artificial penis and other abnormal +methods of sexual gratification. Among the Balinese, according to Jacobs +(as quoted by Ploss and Bartels), masturbation is general; in the boudoir +of many a Bali beauty, he adds, and certainly in every harem, may be found +a wax penis to which many hours of solitude are devoted. Throughout the +East, as Eram, speaking from a long medical experience, has declared, +masturbation is very prevalent, especially among young girls. In Egypt, +according to Sonnini, it is prevalent in harems. In India, a medical +correspondent tells me, he once treated the widow of a wealthy Mohammedan, +who informed him that she began masturbation at an early age, "just like +all other women." The same informant tells me that on the _facade_ of a +large temple in Orissa are bas-reliefs, representing both men and women, +alone, masturbating, and also women masturbating men. Among the Tamils of +Ceylon masturbation is said to be common. In Cochin China, Lorion remarks, +it is practiced by both sexes, but especially by the married women.[188] +Japanese women have probably carried the mechanical arts of auto-erotism +to the highest degree of perfection. They use two hollow balls about the +size of a pigeon's egg (sometimes one alone is used), which, as described +by Joest, Christian, and others,[189] are made of very thin leaf of brass; +one is empty, the other (called the little man) contains a small heavy +metal ball, or else some quicksilver, and sometimes metal tongues which +vibrate when set in movement; so that if the balls are held in the hand +side by side there is a continuous movement. The empty one is first +introduced into the vagina in contact with the uterus, then the other; the +slightest movement of the pelvis or thighs, or even spontaneous movement +of the organs, causes the metal ball (or the quicksilver) to roll, and the +resulting vibration produces a prolonged voluptuous titillation, a gentle +shock as from a weak electric inductive apparatus; the balls are called +_rin-no-tama_, and are held in the vagina by a paper tampon. The women who +use these balls delight to swing themselves in a hammock or rocking-chair, +the delicate vibration of the balls slowly producing the highest degree of +sexual excitement. Joest mentions that this apparatus, though well known +by name to ordinary girls, is chiefly used by the more fashionable +_geishas_, as well as by prostitutes. Its use has now spread to China, +Annam, and India. Japanese women also, it is said, frequently use an +artificial penis of paper or clay, called e.g.. Among the Atjeh, again, +according to Jacobs (as quoted by Ploss), the young of both sexes +masturbate and the elder girls use an artificial penis of wax. In China, +also, the artificial penis--made of rosin, supple and (like the classical +instrument described by Herondas) rose-colored--is publicly sold and +widely used by women.[190] + +It may be noticed that among non-European races it is among women, and +especially among those who are subjected to the excitement of a life +professionally devoted to some form of pleasure, that the use of the +artificial instruments of auto-erotism is chiefly practiced. The same is +markedly true in Europe. The use of an artificial penis in solitary sexual +gratification may be traced down from classic times, and doubtless +prevailed in the very earliest human civilization, for such an instrument +is said to be represented in old Babylonian sculptures, and it is referred +to by Ezekiel (Ch. XVI. v. 17). The Lesbian women are said to have used +such instruments, made of ivory or gold with silken stuffs and linen. +Aristophanes (_Lysistrata_, v. 109) speaks of the manufacture by the +Milesian women of a leather artificial penis, or olisbos. In the British +Museum is a vase representing a _hetaira_ holding such instruments, which, +as found at Pompeii, may be seen in the museum at Naples. One of the best +of Herondas's mimes, "The Private Conversation," presents a dialogue +between two ladies concerning a certain olisbos (or nbon), which one of +them vaunts as a dream of delight. Through the Middle Ages (when from time +to time the clergy reprobated the use of such instruments[191]) they +continued to be known, and after the fifteenth century the references to +them became more precise. Thus Fortini, the Siennese novelist of the +sixteenth century, refers in his _Novelle dei Novizi_ (7th Day, Novella +XXXIX) to "the glass object filled with warm water which nuns use to calm +the sting of the flesh and to satisfy themselves as well as they can"; he +adds that widows and other women anxious to avoid pregnancy availed +themselves of it. In Elizabethan England, at the same time, it appears to +have been of similar character and Marston in his satires tells how Lucea +prefers "a glassy instrument" to "her husband's lukewarm bed." In +sixteenth century France, also, such instruments were sometimes made of +glass, and Brantome refers to the godemiche; in eighteenth century Germany +they were called _Samthanse_, and their use, according to Heinse, as +quoted by Duehren, was common among aristocratic women. In England by that +time the dildo appears to have become common. Archemholtz states that +while in Paris they are only sold secretly, in London a certain Mrs. +Philips sold them openly on a large scale in her shop in Leicester Square. +John Bee in 1835, stating that the name was originally dil-dol, remarks +that their use was formerly commoner than it was in his day. In France, +Madame Gourdan, the most notorious brothel-keeper of the eighteenth +century, carried on a wholesale trade in _consolateurs_, as they were +called, and "at her death numberless letters from abbesses and simple nuns +were found among her papers, asking for a 'consolateur' to be sent."[192] +The modern French instrument is described by Gamier as of hardened red +rubber, exactly imitating the penis and capable of holding warm milk or +other fluid for injection at the moment of orgasm; the compressible +scrotum is said to have been first added in the eighteenth century.[193] + +In Islam the artificial penis has reached nearly as high a development as +in Christendom. Turkish women use it and it is said to be openly sold in +Smyrna. In the harems of Zanzibar, according to Baumann, it is of +considerable size, carved out of ebony or ivory, and commonly bored +through so that warm water may be injected. It is here regarded as an Arab +invention.[194] + +Somewhat similar appliances may be traced in all centres of civilization. +But throughout they appear to be frequently confined to the world of +prostitutes and to those women who live on the fashionable or +semi-artistic verge of that world. Ignorance and delicacy combine with a +less versatile and perverted concentration on the sexual impulse to +prevent any general recourse to such highly specialized methods of +solitary gratification. + +On the other hand, the use, or rather abuse, of the ordinary objects and +implements of daily life in obtaining auto-erotic gratification, among the +ordinary population in civilized modern lands, has reached an +extraordinary degree of extent and variety we can only feebly estimate by +the occasional resulting mischances which come under the surgeon's hands, +because only a certain proportion of such instruments are dangerous. Thus +the banana seems to be widely used for masturbation by women, and appears +to be marked out for the purpose by its size and shape[195]; it is, +however, innocuous, and never comes under the surgeon's notice; the same +may probably be said of the cucumbers and other vegetables more especially +used by country and factory girls in masturbation; a lady living near +Vichy told Pouillet that she had often heard (and had herself been able to +verify the fact) that the young peasant women commonly used turnips, +carrots, and beet-roots. In the eighteenth century Mirabeau, in his +_Erotikca Biblion_ gave a list of the various objects used in convents +(which he describes as "vast theatres" of such practices) to obtain +solitary sexual excitement. In more recent years the following are a few +of the objects found in the vagina or bladder whence they could only be +removed by surgical interference[196]: Pencils, sticks of sealing-wax, +cotton-reels, hair-pins (and in Italy very commonly the bone-pins used in +the hair), bodkins, knitting-needles, crochet-needles, needle-cases, +compasses, glass stoppers, candles, corks, tumblers, forks, tooth-picks, +toothbrushes, pomade-pots (in a case recorded by Schroeder with a +cockchafer inside, a makeshift substitute for the Japanese _rin-no-tama_), +while in one recent English case a full-sized hen's egg was removed from +the vagina of a middle-aged married woman. More than nine-tenths of the +foreign bodies found in the female bladder or urethra are due to +masturbation. The age of the individuals in whom such objects have been +found is usually from 17 to 30, but in a few cases they have been found in +girls below 14, infrequently in women between 40 and 50; the large +objects, naturally, are found chiefly in the vagina, and in married +women.[197] + +Hair-pins have, above all, been found in the female bladder with special +frequency; this point is worth some consideration as an illustration of +the enormous frequency of this form of auto-erotism. The female urethra is +undoubtedly a normal centre of sexual feeling, as Pouillet pointed out +many years ago; a woman medical correspondent, also, writes that in some +women the maximum of voluptuous sensation is at the vesical sphincter or +orifice, though not always so limited. E.H. Smith, indeed, considers that +"the urethra is the part in which the orgasm occurs," and remarks that in +sexual excitement mucus always flows largely from the urethra.[198] It +should be added that when once introduced the physiological mechanism of +the bladder apparently causes the organ to tend to "swallow" the foreign +object. Yet for every case in which the hair-pin disappears and is lost +in the bladder, from carelessness or the oblivion of the sexual spasm, +there must be a vast number of cases in which the instrument is used +without any such unfortunate result. There is thus great significance in +the frequency with which cases of hair-pin in the bladder are strewn +through the medical literature of all countries. + +In 1862, a German surgeon found the accident so common that he invented a +special instrument for extracting hair-pins from the female bladder, as, +indeed, Italian and French surgeons have also done. In France, Denuce, of +Bordeaux, came to the conclusion that hair-pin in the bladder is the +commonest result of masturbation as known to the surgeon. In England cases +are constantly being recorded. Lawson Tait, stating that most cases of +stone in the bladder in women are due to the introduction of a foreign +body, very often a hair-pin, adds: "I have removed hair-pins encrusted +with phosphates from ten different female bladders, and not one of the +owners of these bladders would give any account of the incident."[199] +Stokes, again, records that during four years he had four cases of +hair-pin in the female urethra.[200] In New York one physician met with +four cases in a short experience.[201] In Switzerland Professor Reverdin +had a precisely similar experience.[202] + +There is, however, another class of material objects, widely employed for +producing physical auto-erotism, which in the nature of things never +reaches the surgeon. I refer to the effects that, naturally or +unnaturally, may be produced by many of the objects and implements of +daily life that do not normally come in direct contact with the sexual +organs. Children sometimes, even when scarcely more than infants, produce +sexual excitement by friction against the corner of a chair or other piece +of furniture, and women sometimes do the same.[203] Guttceit, in Russia, +knew women who made a large knot in their chemises to rub against, and +mentions a woman who would sit on her naked heel and rub it against her. +Girls in France, I am informed, are fond of riding on the +_chevaux-de-bois_, or hobby-horses, because of the sexual excitement thus +aroused; and that the sexual emotions play a part in the fascination +exerted by this form of amusement everywhere is indicated by the ecstatic +faces of its devotees.[204] At the temples in some parts of Central India, +I am told, swings are hung up in pairs, men and women swinging in these +until sexually excited; during the months when the men in these districts +have to be away from home the girls put up swings to console themselves +for the loss of their husbands. + + It is interesting to observe the very wide prevalence of + swinging, often of a religious or magic character, and the + evident sexual significance underlying it, although this is not + always clearly brought out. Groos, discussing the frequency of + swinging (_Die Spiele der Menschen_, p. 114) refers, for + instance, to the custom of the Gilbert Islanders for a young man + to swing a girl from a coco palm, and then to cling on and swing + with her. In ancient Greece, women and grown-up girls were fond + of see-saws and swings. The Athenians had, indeed, a swinging + festival (Athenaeus, Bk. XIV, Ch. X). Songs of a voluptuous + character, we gather from Athenaeus, were sung by the women at + this festival. J.G. Frazer (_The Golden Bough_, vol. ii, note A, + "Swinging as a Magical Rite") discusses the question, and brings + forward instances in which men, or, especially, women swing. "The + notion seems to be," he states, "that the ceremony promotes + fertility, whether in the vegetable or in the animal kingdom; + though why it should be supposed to do so, I confess myself + unable to explain" (loc. cit., p. 450). The explanation seems, + however, not far to seek, in view of the facts quoted above, and + Frazer himself refers to the voluptuous character of the songs + sometimes sung. + + Even apart from actual swinging of the whole body, a swinging + movement may suffice to arouse sexual excitement, and may,--at + all events, in women,--constitute an essential part of methods of + attaining solitary sexual gratification. Kiernan thus describes + the habitual auto-erotic procedure of a young American woman: + "The patient knelt before a chair, let her elbows drop on its + seat, grasping the arms with a firm grip, then commenced a + swinging, writhing motion, seeming to fix her pelvis, and moving + her trunk and limbs. The muscles were rigid, the face took on a + passionate expression; the features were contorted, the eyes + rolled, the teeth were set, and the lips compressed, while the + cheeks were purple. The condition bore a striking resemblance to + the passional stage of grand hysteria. The reveling took only a + moment to commence, but lasted a long time. Swaying induced a + pleasurable sensation, accompanied with a feeling of suction upon + the clitoris. Almost immediately after, a sensation of bursting, + caused by discharge from the vulvo-vaginal glands, occurs, + followed by a rapture prolonged for an indefinite time." The + accompanying sexual imagery is so vivid as almost to become + hallucinatory. (J.G. Kiernan, "Sex Transformation and Psychic + Impotence," _American Journal of Dermatology_, vol. ix, No. 2.) + +Somewhat similarly sensations of sexual character are sometimes +experienced by boys when climbing up a pole. It is not even necessary that +there should be direct external contact with the sexual organs, and Howe +states that gymnastic swinging poles around which boys swing while +supporting the whole weight on the hands, may suffice to produce sexual +excitement. + +Several writers have pointed out that riding, especially in women, may +produce sexual excitement and orgasm.[205] It is well-known, also, that +both in men and women the vibratory motion of a railway-train frequently +produces a certain degree of sexual excitement, especially when sitting +forward. Such excitement may remain latent and not become specifically +sexual.[206] I am not aware that this quality of railway traveling has +ever been fostered as a sexual perversion, but the sewing-machine has +attracted considerable attention on account of its influence in exciting +auto-erotic manifestations. The early type of sewing-machine, especially, +was of very heavy character and involved much up and down movement of the +legs; Langdon Down pointed out many years ago that this frequently +produced great sexual erethism which led to masturbation.[207] According +to one French authority, it is a well-recognized fact that to work a +sewing-machine with the body in a certain position produces sexual +excitement leading to the orgasm. The occurrence of the orgasm is +indicated to the observer by the machine being worked for a few seconds +with uncontrollable rapidity. This sound is said to be frequently heard in +large French workrooms, and it is part of the duty of the superintendents +of the rooms to make the girls sit properly.[208] + + "During a visit which I once paid to a manufactory of military + clothing," Pouillet writes, "I witnessed the following scene. In + the midst of the uniform sound produced by some thirty + sewing-machines, I suddenly heard one of the machines working + with much more velocity than the others. I looked at the person + who was working it, a brunette of 18 or 20. While she was + automatically occupied with the trousers she was making on the + machine, her face became animated, her mouth opened slightly, her + nostrils dilated, her feet moved the pedals with constantly + increasing rapidity. Soon I saw a convulsive look in her eyes, + her eyelids were lowered, her face turned pale and was thrown + backward; hands and legs stopped and became extended; a + suffocated cry, followed by a long sigh, was lost in the noise of + the workroom. The girl remained motionless a few seconds, drew + out her handkerchief to wipe away the pearls of sweat from her + forehead, and, after casting a timid and ashamed glance at her + companions, resumed her work. The forewoman, who acted as my + guide, having observed the direction of my gaze, took me up to + the girl, who blushed, lowered her face, and murmured some + incoherent words before the forewoman had opened her mouth, to + advise her to sit fully on the chair, and not on its edge. + + "As I was leaving, I heard another machine at another part of the + room in accelerated movement. The forewoman smiled at me, and + remarked that that was so frequent that it attracted no notice. + It was specially observed, she told me, in the case of young + work-girls, apprentices, and those who sat on the edge of their + seats, thus much facilitating friction of the labia." + +In cases where the sewing-machine does not lead to direct self-excitement +it has been held, as by Fothergill,[209] to predispose to frequency of +involuntary sexual orgasm during sleep, from the irritation set up by the +movement of the feet in the sitting posture during the day. The essential +movement in working the sewing-machine is the flexion and extension of the +ankle, but the muscles of the thighs are used to maintain the feet firmly +on the treadle, the thighs are held together, and there is a considerable +degree of flexion or extension of the thighs on the trunk; by a special +adjustment of the body, and sometimes perhaps merely in the presence of +sexual hyperaesthesia, it is thus possible to act upon the sexual organs; +but this is by no means a necessary result of using the sewing-machine, +and inquiry of various women, with well-developed sexual feelings, who are +accustomed to work the treadle, has not shown the presence of any tendency +in this direction. + +Sexual irritation may also be produced by the bicycle in women. Thus, +Moll[210] remarks that he knows many married women, and some unmarried, +who experience sexual excitement when cycling; in several cases he has +ascertained that the excitement is carried as far as complete orgasm. This +result cannot, however, easily happen unless the seat is too high, the +peak in contact with the organs, and a rolling movement is adopted; in the +absence of marked hyperaesthesia these results are only effected by a bad +seat or an improper attitude, the body during cycling resting under proper +conditions on the buttocks, and the work being mainly done by the muscles +of the thighs and legs which control the ankles, flexion of the thigh on +the pelvis being very small. Most medical authorities on cycling are of +opinion that when cycling leads to sexual excitement the fault lies more +with the woman than with the machine. This conclusion does not appear to +me to be absolutely correct. I find on inquiry that with the old-fashioned +saddle, with an elevated peak rising toward the pubes, a certain degree of +sexual excitement, not usually producing the orgasm (but, as one lady +expressed it, making one feel quite ready for it), is fairly common among +women. Lydston finds that irritation of the genital organs may +unquestionably be produced in both males and females by cycling. The +aggravation of haemorrhoids sometimes produced by cycling indicates also +the tendency to local congestion. With the improved flat saddles, however, +constructed with more definite adjustment to the anatomical formation of +the parts, this general tendency is reduced to a negligible minimum. + +Reference may be made at this point to the influence of tight-lacing. This +has been recognized by gynaecologists as a factor of sexual excitement and +a method of masturbation.[211] Women who have never worn corsets sometimes +find that, on first putting them on, sexual feeling is so intensified that +it is necessary to abandon their use.[212] The reason of this (as Siebert +points out in his _Buch fuer Eltern_) seems to be that the corset both +favors pelvic congestion and at the same time exerts a pressure on the +abdominal muscles which brings them into the state produced during coitus. +It is doubtless for the same reason that, as some women have found, more +distension of the bladder is possible without corsets than with them. + +In a further class of cases no external object whatever is used to procure +the sexual orgasm, but the more or less voluntary pressure of the thighs +alone is brought to bear upon the sexual regions. It is done either when +sitting or standing, the thighs being placed together and firmly crossed, +and the pelvis rocked so that the sexual organs are pressed against the +inner and posterior parts of the thighs.[213] This is sometimes done by +men, and is fairly common among women, especially, according to +Martineau,[214] among those who sit much, such as dressmakers and +milliners, those who use the sewing-machine, and those who ride. Vedeler +remarks that in his experience in Scandinavia, thigh-friction is the +commonest form of masturbation in women. The practice is widespread, and a +medical correspondent in India tells me of a Brahmin widow who confessed +to this form of masturbation. I am told that in London Board Schools, at +the present time, thigh-rubbing is not infrequent among the girl scholars; +the proportion mentioned in one school was about ten per cent, of the +girls over eleven; the thigh-rubbing is done more or less openly and is +interpreted by the uninitiated as due merely to a desire to relieve the +bladder. It is found in female infants. Thus, Townsend records the case of +an infant, 8 months old, who would cross her right thigh over the left, +close her eyes and clench her fists; after a minute or two there would be +complete relaxation, with sweating and redness of face; this would occur +about once a week or oftener; the child was quite healthy, with no +abnormal condition of the genital organs.[215] The frequency of +thigh-friction among women as a form of masturbation is due to the fact +that it is usually acquired innocently and it involves no indecorum. Thus +Soutzo reports the case of a girl of 12 who at school, when having to wait +her turn at the water-closet, for fear of wetting herself would put her +clothes between her legs and press her thighs together, moving them +backwards and forwards in the effort to control the bladder; she +discovered that a pleasurable sensation was thus produced and acquired the +habit of practicing the manoeuvre for its own sake; at the age of 17 she +began to vary it in different ways; thus she would hang from a tree with +her legs swinging and her chemise pressed between her thighs which she +would rub together.[216] Thigh-friction in some of its forms is so +comparatively decorous a form of masturbation that it may even be +performed in public places; thus, a few years ago, while waiting for a +train at a station on the outskirts of a provincial town, I became aware +of the presence of a young woman, sitting alone on a seat at a little +distance, whom I could observe unnoticed. She was leaning back with legs +crossed, swinging the crossed foot vigorously and continuously; this +continued without interruption for some ten minutes after I first observed +her; then the swinging movement reached a climax; she leant still further +back, thus bringing the sexual region still more closely in contact with +the edge of the bench and straightened and stiffened her body and legs in +what appeared to be a momentary spasm; there could be little doubt as to +what had taken place. A few moments later she slowly walked from her +solitary seat into the waiting-room and sat down among the other waiting +passengers, quite still now and with uncrossed legs, a pale quiet young +woman, possibly a farmer's daughter, serenely unconscious that her +manoeuvre had been detected, and very possibly herself ignorant of its +true nature. + +There are many other forms in which the impulse of auto-erotism presents +itself. Dancing is often a powerful method of sexual excitement, not only +among civilized but among savage peoples, and Zache describes the erotic +dances of Swaheli women as having a masturbatory object.[217] Stimulation +of the nates is a potent adjuvant to the production of self-excitement, +and self-flagellation with rods, etc., is practiced by some individuals, +especially young women.[218] Urtication is another form of this +stimulation; Reverdin knew a young woman who obtained sexual gratification +by flogging herself with chestnut burrs, and it is stated that in some +parts of France (departments of the Ain and Cote d'Or) it is not uncommon +for young girls to masturbate by rubbing the leaves of the _Linaria +cymbalaria_ (here called "pinton" or "timbarde") on to the sexual parts, +thus producing a burning sensation.[219] Stimulation of the mamma, +normally an erogenous centre in women, may occasionally serve as a method +for obtaining auto-erotic satisfaction, including the orgasm, in both +sexes. I have been told of a case in a man, and a medical correspondent in +India informs me that he knows a Eurasian woman, addicted to masturbation, +who can only obtain the orgasm by rubbing the genitals with one hand while +with the other she rubs and finally squeezes her breasts. The tactile +stimulation even of regions of the body which are not normally erogenous +zones in either sex may sometimes lead on to sexual excitement; +Hirschsprung, as well as Freud, believes that this is often the case as +regards finger-sucking and toe-sucking in infancy. Even stroking the chin, +remarks Debreyne, may produce a pollution.[220] Taylor refers to the case +of a young woman of 22, who was liable to attacks of choreic movements of +the hands which would terminate in alternately pressing the middle finger +on the tip of the nose and the tragus of the ear, when a "far-away, +pleased expression" would appear on her face; she thus produced sexual +excitement and satisfaction. She had no idea of wrong-doing and was +surprised and ashamed when she realized the nature of her act.[221] + +Most of the foregoing examples of auto-erotism, are commonly included, by +no means correctly, under the heading of "masturbation." There are, +however, a vast number of people, possessing strong sexual emotions and +living a solitary life, who experience, sometimes by instinct and +sometimes on moral grounds, a strong repugnance for these manifestations +of auto-erotism. As one highly intelligent lady writes: "I have sometimes +wondered whether I could produce it (complete sexual excitement) +mechanically, but I have a curious unreasonable repugnance to trying the +experiment. It would materialize it too much." The same repugnance may be +traced in the tendency to avoid, so far as possible, the use of the hands. +It is quite common to find this instinctive unreasoning repugnance among +women, a healthy repugnance, not founded on any moral ground. In men the +same repugnance exists, more often combined with, or replaced by, a very +strong moral and aesthetic objection to such practices. But the presence of +such a repugnance, however invincible, is very far from carrying us +outside the auto-erotic field. The production of the sexual orgasm is not +necessarily dependent on any external contact or voluntary mechanical +cause. + +As an example, though not of specifically auto-erotic manifestations, I +may mention the case of a man of 57, a somewhat eccentric preacher, etc., +who writes: "My whole nature goes out so to some persons, and they thrill +and stir me so that I have an emission while sitting by them with no +thought of sex, only the gladness of soul found its way out thus, and a +glow of health suffused the whole body. There was no spasmodic conclusion, +but a pleasing gentle sensation as the few drops of semen passed." (In +reality, no doubt, not semen, but urethral fluid.) This man's condition +may certainly be considered somewhat morbid; he is attracted to both men +and women, and the sexual impulse seems to be irritable and weak; but a +similar state of things exists so often in women, no doubt due to sexual +repression, and in individuals who are in a general state of normal and +good health, that in these it can scarcely be called morbid. Brooding on +sexual images, which the theologians termed _delectatio morosa_, may lead +to spontaneous orgasm in either sex, even in perfectly normal persons. +Hammond described as a not uncommon form of "psychic coitus," a condition +in which the simple act of imagination alone, in the presence of the +desired object, suffices to produce orgasm. In some public conveyance, +theatre, or elsewhere, the man sees a desirable woman and by concentrating +his attention on her person and imagining all the stages of intimacy he +quickly succeeds in producing orgasm.[222] Niceforo refers to an Italian +work-girl of 14 who could obtain ejaculation of mucus four times a day, in +the workroom in the presence of the other girls, without touching herself +or moving her body, by simply thinking of sexual things.[223] + +If the orgasm occurs spontaneously, without the aid of mental impressions, +or any manipulations _ad hoc_, though under such conditions it ceases to +be sinful from the theological standpoint, it certainly ceases also to be +normal. Serieux records the case of a somewhat neurotic woman of 50, who +had been separated from her husband for ten years, and since lived a +chaste life; at this age, however, she became subject to violent crises of +sexual orgasm, which would come on without any accompaniment of voluptuous +thoughts. MacGillicuddy records three cases of spontaneous orgasm in women +coming under his notice.[224] Such crises are frequently found in both men +and women, who, from moral reasons, ignorance, or on other grounds are +restrained from attaining the complete sexual orgasm, but whose sexual +emotions are, literally, continually dribbling from them. Schrenck-Notzing +knows a lady who is spontaneously sexually excited on hearing music or +seeing pictures without anything lascivious in them; she knows nothing of +sexual relationships. Another lady is sexually excited on seeing beautiful +and natural scenes, like the sea; sexual ideas are mixed up in her mind +with these things, and the contemplation of a specially strong and +sympathetic man brings the orgasm on in about a minute. Both these ladies +"masturbate" in the streets, restaurants, railways, theatres, without +anyone perceiving it.[225] A Brahmin woman informed a medical +correspondent in India that she had distinct though feeble orgasm, with +copious outflow of mucus, if she stayed long near a man whose face she +liked, and this is not uncommon among European women. Evidently under such +conditions there is a state of hyperaesthetic weakness. Here, however, we +are passing the frontiers of strictly auto-erotic phenomena. + + _Delectatio morosa_, as understood by the theologians, is + distinct from desire, and also distinct from the definite + intention of effecting the sexual act, although it may lead to + those things. It is the voluntary and complacent dallying in + imagination with voluptuous thoughts, when no effort is made to + repel them. It is, as Aquinas and others point out, constituted + by this act of complacent dallying, and has no reference to the + duration of the imaginative process. Debreyne, in his + _Moechialogie_ (pp. 149-163), deals fully with this question, and + quotes the opinions of theologians. I may add that in the early + Penitentials, before the elaboration of Catholic theology, the + voluntary emission of semen through the influence of evil + thoughts, was recognized as a sin, though usually only if it + occurred in church. In Egbert's Penitential of the eighth or + ninth century (cap. IX, 12), the penance assigned for this + offence in the case of a deacon, is 25 days; in the case of a + monk, 30 days; a priest, 40 days; a bishop, 50. (Haddon and + Stubbs, _Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents_, vol. iii, p. + 426.) + + The frequency of spontaneous orgasm in women seems to have been + recognized in the seventeenth century. Thus, Schurig + (_Syllepsilogia_, p. 4), apparently quoting Riolan, states that + some women are so wanton that the sight of a handsome man, or of + their lover, or speech with such a one, will cause them to + ejaculate their semen. + +There is, however, a closely allied, and, indeed, overlapping form of +auto-erotism which may be considered here: I mean that associated with +revery, or day-dreaming. Although this is a very common and important +form of auto-erotism, besides being in a large proportion of cases the +early stage of masturbation, it appears to have attracted little +attention.[226] The day-dream has, indeed, been studied in its chief form, +in the "continued story," by Mabel Learoyd, of Wellesley College. The +continued story is an imagined narrative, more or less peculiar to the +individual, by whom it is cherished with fondness, and regarded as an +especially sacred mental possession, to be shared only, if at all, with +very sympathizing friends. It is commoner among girls and young women than +among boys and young men; among 352 persons of both sexes, 47 per cent. +among the women and only 14 per cent. among the men, have any continued +story. The starting-point is an incident from a book, or, more usually, +some actual experience, which the subject develops; the subject is nearly +always the hero or the heroine of the story. The growth of the story is +favored by solitude, and lying in bed before going to sleep is the time +specially sacred to its cultivation.[227] No distinct reference, perhaps +naturally enough, is made by Miss Learoyd to the element of sexual emotion +with which these stories are often strongly tinged, and which is +frequently their real motive. Though by no means easy to detect, these +elaborate and more or less erotic day-dreams are not uncommon in young +men and especially in young women. Each individual has his own particular +dream, which is always varying or developing, but, except in very +imaginative persons, to no great extent. Such a day-dream is often founded +on a basis of pleasurable personal experience, and develops on that basis. +It may involve an element of perversity, even though that element finds no +expression in real life. It is, of course, fostered by sexual abstinence; +hence its frequency in young women. Most usually there is little attempt +to realize it. It does not necessarily lead to masturbation, though it +often causes some sexual congestion or even spontaneous sexual orgasm. The +day-dream is a strictly private and intimate experience, not only from its +very nature, but also because it occurs in images which the subject finds +great difficulty in translating into language, even when willing to do so. +In other cases it is elaborately dramatic or romantic in character, the +hero or heroine passing through many experiences before attaining the +erotic climax of the story. This climax tends to develop in harmony with +the subject's growing knowledge or experience; at first, merely a kiss, it +may develop into any refinement of voluptuous gratification. The day-dream +may occur either in normal or abnormal persons. Rousseau, in his +_Confessions_, describes such dreams, in his case combined with masochism +and masturbation. A distinguished American novelist, Hamlin Garland, has +admirably described in _Rose of Dutcher's Coolly_ the part played in the +erotic day-dreams of a healthy normal girl at adolescence by a +circus-rider, seen on the first visit to a circus, and becoming a majestic +ideal to dominate the girl's thoughts for many years.[228] +Raffalovich[229] describes the process by which in sexual inverts the +vision of a person of the same sex, perhaps seen in the streets or the +theatre, is evoked in solitary reveries, producing a kind of "psychic +onanism," whether or not it leads on to physical manifestations. + +Although day-dreaming of this kind has at present been very little +studied, since it loves solitude and secrecy, and has never been counted +of sufficient interest for scientific inquisition, it is really a process +of considerable importance, and occupies a large part of the auto-erotic +field. It is frequently cultivated by refined and imaginative young men +and women who lead a chaste life and would often be repelled by +masturbation. In such persons, under such circumstances, it must be +considered as strictly normal, the inevitable outcome of the play of the +sexual impulse. No doubt it may often become morbid, and is never a +healthy process when indulged in to excess, as it is liable to be by +refined young people with artistic impulses, to whom it is in the highest +degree seductive and insidious.[230] As we have seen, however, +day-dreaming is far from always colored by sexual emotion; yet it is a +significant indication of its really sexual origin that, as I have been +informed by persons of both sexes, even in these apparently non-sexual +cases it frequently ceases altogether on marriage. + +Even when we have eliminated all these forms of auto-erotic activity, +however refined, in which the subject takes a voluntary part, we have +still left unexplored an important portion of the auto-erotic field, a +portion which many people are alone inclined to consider normal: sexual +orgasm during sleep. That under conditions of sexual abstinence in healthy +individuals there must inevitably be some auto-erotic manifestations +during waking life, a careful study of the facts compels us to believe. +There can be no doubt, also, that, under the same conditions, the +occurrence of the complete orgasm during sleep with, in men, seminal +emissions, is altogether normal. Even Zeus himself, as Pausanias has +recorded, was liable to such accidents: a statement which, at all events, +shows that to the Greek mind there was nothing derogatory in such an +occurrence.[231] The Jews, however, regarded it as an impurity,[232] and +the same idea was transmitted to the Christian church and embodied in the +word _pollutio_, by which the phenomenon was designated in ecclesiastical +phraseology.[233] According to Billuart and other theologians, pollution +in sleep is not sin, unless voluntarily caused; if, however, it begins in +sleep, and is completed in the half-waking state, with a sense of +pleasure, it is a venial sin. But it seems allowable to permit a nocturnal +pollution to complete itself on awaking, if it occurs without intention; +and St. Thomas even says "_Si pollutio placeat ut naturae exoneratio vel +alleviatio peccatum non creditur_." + + Notwithstanding the fair and logical position of the more + distinguished Latin theologians, there has certainly been a + widely prevalent belief in Catholic countries that pollution + during sleep is a sin. In the "Parson's Tale," Chaucer makes the + parson say: "Another sin appertaineth to lechery that cometh in + sleeping; and the sin cometh oft to them that be maidens, and eke + to them that be corrupt; and this sin men clepe pollution, that + cometh in four manners;" these four manners being (1) languishing + of body from rank and abundant humors, (2) infirmity, (3) surfeit + of meat and drink, and (4) villainous thoughts. Four hundred + years later, Madame Roland, in her _Memoires Particulieres_, + presented a vivid picture of the anguish produced in an innocent + girl's mind by the notion of the sinfulness of erotic dreams. She + menstruated first at the age of 14. "Before this," she writes, "I + had sometimes been awakened from the deepest sleep in a + surprising manner. Imagination played no part; I exercised it on + too many serious subjects, and my timorous conscience preserved + it from amusement with other subjects, so that it could not + represent what I would not allow it to seek to understand. But an + extraordinary effervescence aroused my senses in the heat of + repose, and, by virtue of my excellent constitution, operated by + itself a purification which was as strange to me as its cause. + The first feeling which resulted was, I know not why, a sort of + fear. I had observed in my _Philotee_, that we are not allowed to + obtain any pleasure from our bodies except in lawful marriage. + What I had experienced could be called a pleasure. I was then + guilty, and in a class of offences which caused me the most shame + and sorrow, since it was that which was most displeasing to the + Spotless Lamb. There was great agitation in my poor heart, + prayers and mortifications. How could I avoid it? For, indeed, I + had not foreseen it, but at the instant when I experienced it, I + had not taken the trouble to prevent it. My watchfulness became + extreme. I scrupulously avoided positions which I found specially + exposed me to the accident. My restlessness became so great that, + at last I was able to awake before the catastrophe. When I was + not in time to prevent it, I would jump out of bed, with naked + feet on to the polished floor, and with crossed arms pray to the + Saviour to preserve me from the wiles of the devil. I would then + impose some penance on myself, and I have carried out to the + letter what the prophet King probably only transmitted to us as a + figure of Oriental speech, mixing ashes with my bread and + watering it with my tears." + +To the early Protestant mind, as illustrated by Luther, there was +something diseased, though not impure, in sexual excitement during sleep; +thus, in his _Table Talk_ Luther remarks that girls who have such dreams +should be married at once, "taking the medicine which God has given." It +is only of comparatively recent years that medical science has obtained +currency for the belief that this auto-erotic process is entirely normal. +Blumenbach stated that nocturnal emissions are normal.[234] Sir James +Paget declared that he had never known celibate men who had not such +emissions from once or twice a week to twice every three months, both +extremes being within the limits of good health, while Sir Lauder Brunton +considers once a fortnight or once a month about the usual frequency, at +these periods the emissions often following two nights in succession. +Rohleder believes that they may normally follow for several nights in +succession. Hammond considers that they occur about once a fortnight.[235] +Ribbing regards ten to fourteen days as the normal interval.[236] +Loewenfeld puts the normal frequency at about once a week;[237] this seems +to be nearer the truth as regards most fairly healthy young men. In proof +of this it is only necessary to refer to the exact records of healthy +young adults summarized in the study of periodicity in the present volume. +It occasionally happens, however, that nocturnal emissions are entirely +absent. I am acquainted with some cases. In other fairly healthy young men +they seldom occur except at times of intellectual activity or of anxiety +and worry. + + Lately there has been some tendency for medical opinion to revert + to the view of Luther, and to regard sexual excitement during + sleep as a somewhat unhealthy phenomenon. Moll is a distinguished + advocate of this view. Sexual excitement during sleep is the + normal result of celibacy, but it is another thing to say that it + is, on that account, satisfactory. We might, then, Moll remarks, + maintain that nocturnal incontinence of urine is satisfactory, + since the bladder is thus emptied. Yet, we take every precaution + against this by insisting that the bladder shall be emptied + before going to sleep. (_Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, p. 552.) This + remark is supported by the fact, to which I find that both men + and women can bear witness, that sexual excitement during sleep + is more fatiguing than in the waking state, though this is not an + invariable rule, and it is sometimes found to be refreshing. In + a similar way, Eulenburg (_Sexuale Neuropathie_, p. 55) states + that nocturnal emissions are no more normal than coughing or + vomiting. + +Nocturnal emissions are usually, though not invariably, accompanied by +dreams of a voluptuous character in which the dreamer becomes conscious in +a more or less fantastic manner of the more or less intimate presence or +contact of a person of the opposite sex. It would seem, as a general rule, +that the more vivid and voluptuous the dream, the greater is the physical +excitement and the greater also the relief experienced on awakening. +Sometimes the erotic dream occurs without any emission, and not +infrequently the emission takes place after the dreamer has awakened. + + The widest and most comprehensive investigation of erotic dreams + is that carried out by Gualino, in northern Italy, and based on + inquiries among 100 normal men--doctors, teachers, lawyers, + etc.--who had all had experience of the phenomenon. (L. Gualino, + "Il Sogno Erotico nell' Uomo Normale," _Rivista di Psicologia_, + Jan.-Feb., 1907.) Gualino shows that erotic dreams, with + emissions (whether or not seminal), began somewhat earlier than + the period of physical development as ascertained by Marro for + youths of the same part of northern Italy. Gualino found that all + his cases had had erotic dreams at the age of seventeen; Marro + found 8 per cent, of youths still sexually undeveloped at that + age, and while sexual development began at thirteen years, erotic + dreams began at twelve. Their appearance was preceded, in most + cases for some months, by erections. In 37 per cent, of the cases + there had been no actual sexual experiences (either masturbation + or intercourse); in 23 per cent, there had been masturbation; in + the rest, some form of sexual contact. The dreams are mainly + visual, tactual elements coming second, and the _dramatis + persona_ is either an unknown woman (27 per cent, cases), or only + known by sight (56 per cent.), and in the majority is, at all + events in the beginning, an ugly or fantastic figure, becoming + more attractive later in life, but never identical with the woman + loved during waking life. This, as Gualino points out, accords + with the general tendency for the emotions of the day to be + latent in sleep. Masturbation only formed the subject of the + dream in four cases. The emotional state in the pubertal stage, + apart from pleasure, was anxiety (37 per cent.), desire (17 per + cent.), fear (14 per cent.). In the adult stage, anxiety and fear + receded to 7 per cent, and 6 per cent., respectively. + Thirty-three of the subjects, as a result of sexual or general + disturbances, had had nocturnal emissions without dreams; these + were always found exhausting. Normally (in more than 90 per + cent.) erotic dreams are the most vivid of all dreams. In no case + was there knowledge of any monthly or other cyclic periodicity in + the occurrence of the manifestations. In 34 per cent, of cases, + they tended to occur very soon after sexual intercourse. In + numerous cases they were peculiarly frequent (even three in one + night) during courtship, when the young man was in the habit of + kissing and caressing his betrothed, but ceased after marriage. + It was not noted that position in bed or a full bladder exerted + any marked influence in the occurrence of erotic dreams; + repletion of the seminal vesicles is regarded as the main factor. + + In Germany erotic dreams have been discussed by Volkelt (_Die + Traum-Phantasie_, 1875, pp. 78-82), and especially by Loewenfeld + (_Sexual-Probleme_, Oct., 1908), while in America, Stanley Hall + thus summarizes the general characteristics of erotic dreams in + men: "In by far the most cases, consciousness, even when the act + causes full awakening from sleep, finds only scattered images, + single words, gestures, and acts, many of which would perhaps + normally constitute no provocation. Many times the mental + activity seems to be remote and incidental, and the mind retains + in the morning nothing except, perhaps, a peculiar dress pattern, + the shape of a finger-nail, the back of a neck, the toss of a + head, the movement of a foot, or the dressing of the hair. In + such cases, these images stand out for a time with the + distinctness of a cameo, and suggest that the origin of erotic + fetichisms is largely to be found in sexual dreams. Very rarely + is there any imagery of the organs themselves, but the tendency + to irradiation is so strong as to re-enforce the suggestion of so + many other phenomena in this field, that nature designs this + experience to be long circuited, and that it may give a peculiar + ictus to almost any experience. When waking occurs just + afterward, it seems at least possible that there may be much + imagery that existed, but failed to be recalled to memory, + possibly because the flow of psychic impressions was over very + familiar fields, and this, therefore, was forgotten, while any + eruption into new or unwonted channels, stood out with + distinctness. All these psychic phenomena, although very + characteristic of man in his prime, are not so of the dreams of + dawning puberty, which are far more vivid." (G. Stanley Hall, + _Adolescence_, vol. i, p. 455.) + + I may, further, quote the experience of an anonymous + contributor--a healthy and chaste man between 30 and 38 years of + age--to the _American Journal of Psychology_ ("Nocturnal + Emissions," Jan., 1904): "Legs and breasts often figured + prominently in these dreams, the other sexual parts, however, + very seldom, and then they turned out to be male organs in most + cases. There were but two instances of copulation dreamt. Girls + and young women were the, usual _dramatis personae_, and, + curiously enough, often the aggressors. Sometimes the face or + faces were well known; sometimes, only once seen; sometimes, + entirely unknown. The orgasm occurs at the most erotic part of + the dream, the physical and psychical running parallel. This most + erotic or suggestive part of the dream was very often quite an + innocent looking incident enough. As, for example: while passing + a strange young woman, overtaken on the street, she calls after + me some question. At first, I pay no heed, but when she calls + again, I hesitate whether to turn back and answer or + not--emission. Again, walking beside a young woman, she said, + 'Shall I take your arm?' I offered it, and she took it, entwining + her arm around it, and raising it high--emission. I could feel + stronger erection as she asked the question. Sometimes, a word + was enough; sometimes, a gesture. Once emission took place on my + noticing the young woman's diminished finger-nails. Another + example of fetichism was my being curiously attracted in a dream + by the pretty embroidered figure on a little girl's dress. As an + illustration of the strange metamorphoses that occur in dreams, I + one night, in my dream (I had been observing partridges in the + summer) fell in love with a partridge, which changed under my + caresses to a beautiful girl, who yet retained an indescribable + wild-bird innocence, grace, and charm--a sort of Undina!" + + These experiences may be regarded as fairly typical of the erotic + dreams of healthy and chaste young men. The bird, for instance, + that changes into a woman while retaining some elements of the + bird, has been encountered in erotic dreams by other young men. + It is indeed remarkable that, as De Gubernatis observes, "the + bird is a well-known phallic symbol," while Maeder finds + ("Interpretations de Quelques Reves," _Archives de Psychologie_, + April, 1907) that birds have a sexual significance both in life + and in dreams. The appearance of male organs in the dream-woman + is doubtless due to the dreamer's greater familiarity with those + organs; but, though it occurs occasionally, it can scarcely be + said to be the rule in erotic dreams. Even men who have never had + connection with a woman, are quite commonly aware of the presence + of a woman's sexual organs in their erotic dreams. + + Moll's comparison of nocturnal emissions of semen with nocturnal + incontinence of urine suggests an interesting resemblance, and at + the same time seeming contrast. In both cases we are concerned + with viscera which, when overfilled or unduly irritable, + spasmodically eject their contents during sleep. There is a + further resemblance which usually becomes clear when, as + occasionally happens, nocturnal incontinence of urine persists on + to late childhood or adolescence: both phenomena are frequently + accompanied by vivid dreams of appropriate character. (See e.g. + Ries, "Ueber Enuresis Nocturna," _Monatsschrift fuer + Harnkrankheiten und Sexuelle Hygiene_, 1904; A.P. Buchan, nearly + a century ago, pointed out the psychic element in the + experiences of young persons who wetted the bed, _Venus sine + Concubitu_, 1816, p. 47.) Thus, in one case known to me, a child + of seven, who occasionally wetted the bed, usually dreamed at the + same time that she wanted to make water, and was out of doors, + running to find a suitable spot, which she at last found, and, on + awaking, discovered that she had wetted the bed; fifteen years + later she still sometimes had similar dreams, which caused her + much alarm until, when thoroughly awake, she realized that no + accident had happened; these later dreams were not the result of + any actual strong desire to urinate. In another case with which I + am acquainted, a little girl of eight, after mental excitement or + indigestible meals, occasionally wetted the bed, dreaming that + she was frightened by some one running after her, and wetted + herself in consequence, after the manner of the Ganymede in the + eagle's clutch, as depicted by Rembrandt. These two cases, it may + be noted, belong to two quite different types. In the first case, + the full bladder suggests to imagination the appropriate actions + for relief, and the bladder actually accepts the imaginative + solution offered; it is, according to Fiorani's phrase, + "somnambulism of the bladder." In the other case, there is no + such somnambulism, but a psychic and nervous disturbance, not + arising in the bladder at all, irradiates convulsively, and + whether or not the bladder is overfull, attacks a vesical nervous + system which is not yet sufficiently well-balanced to withstand + the inflow of excitement. In children of somewhat nervous + temperament, manifestations of this kind may occur as an + occasional accident, up to about the age of seven or eight; and + thereafter, the nervous control of the bladder having become + firmly established, they cease to happen, the nervous energy + required to affect the bladder sufficing to awake the dreamer. In + very rare cases, however, the phenomenon may still occasionally + happen, even in adolescence or later, in individuals who are + otherwise quite free from it. This is most apt to occur in young + women even in waking life. In men it is probably extremely rare. + + The erotic dream seems to differ flagrantly from the vesical + dream, in that it occurs in adult life, and is with difficulty + brought under control. The contrast is, however, very + superficial. When we remember that sexual activity only begins + normally at puberty, we realize that the youth of twenty is, in + the matter of sexual control, scarcely much older than in the + matter of vesical control he was at the age of six. Moreover, if + we were habitually, from our earliest years, to go to bed with a + full bladder, as the chaste man goes to bed with unrelieved + sexual system, it would be fully as difficult to gain vesical + control during sleep as it now is to gain sexual control. + Ultimately, such sexual control is attained; after the age of + forty, it seems that erotic dreams with emission become more and + more rare; either the dream occurs without actual emission, + exactly as dreams of urination occur in adults with full bladder, + or else the organic stress, with or without dreams, serves to + awaken the sleeper before any emission has occurred. But this + stage is not easily or completely attained. St. Augustine, even + at the period when he wrote his _Confessions_, mentions, as a + matter of course, that sexual dreams "not merely arouse pleasure, + but gain the consent of the will." (X. 41.) Not infrequently + there is a struggle in sleep, just as the hypnotic subject may + resist suggestions; thus, a lady of thirty-five dreamed a sexual + dream, and awoke without excitement; again she fell asleep, and + had another dream of sexual character, but resisted the tendency + to excitement, and again awoke; finally, she fell asleep and had + a third sexual dream, which was this time accompanied by the + orgasm. (This has recently been described also by Naecke, who + terms it _pollutio interrupta, Neurologisches Centralblatt_, Oct. + 16, 1909; the corresponding voluntary process in the waking state + is described by Rohleder and termed _masturbatio interrupta, + Zeitschrift fuer Sexualwissenschaft_, Aug., 1908.) The factors + involved in the acquirement of vesical and sexual control during + sleep are the same, but the conditions are somewhat different. + + There is a very intimate connection between the vesical and the + sexual spheres, as I have elsewhere pointed out (see e.g. in the + third volume of these _Studies_, "Analysis of the Sexual + Impulse"). This connection is psychic as well as organic. Both in + men and women, a full bladder tends to develop erotic dreams. + (See e.g. K.A. Scherner, _Das Leben des Traums_, 1861, pp. 187 et + seq.; Spitta also points out the connection between vesical and + erotic dreams, _Die Schlaf und Traumzustaende_, 2d ed., 1882, pp. + 250 et seq.) Raymond and Janet state (_Les Obscessions_, vol. ii, + p. 135) that nocturnal incontinence of urine, accompanied by + dreams of urination, may be replaced at puberty by masturbation. + In the reverse direction, Freud believes (_Monatsschrift fuer + Psychiatrie_, Bd. XVIII, p. 433) that masturbation plays a large + part in causing the bed-wetting of children who have passed the + age when that usually ceases, and he even finds that children are + themselves aware of the connection. + + The diagnostic value of sexual dreams, as an indication of the + sexual nature of the subject when awake, has been emphasized by + various writers. (E.g., Moll, _Die Kontraere Sexualempfindung_, + Ch. IX; Naecke, "Der Traum als feinstes Reagens fuer die Art des + sexuellen Empfindens," _Monatsschrift fuer Kriminalpsychologie_, + 1905, p. 500.) Sexual dreams tend to reproduce, and even to + accentuate, those characteristics which make the strongest sexual + appeal to the subject when awake. + + At the same time, this general statement has to be qualified, + more especially as regards inverted dreams. In the first place, a + young man, however normal, who is not familiar with the feminine + body when awake, is not likely to see it when asleep, even in + dreams of women; in the second place, the confusions and + combinations of dream imagery often tend to obliterate sexual + distinctions, however free from perversions the subjects may be. + Thus, a correspondent tells me of a healthy man, of very pure + character, totally inexperienced in sexual matters, and never + having seen a woman naked, who, in his sexual dreams, always sees + the woman with male organs, though he has never had any sexual + inclinations for men, and is much in love with a lady. The + confusions and associations of dream imagery, leading to abnormal + combinations, may be illustrated by a dream which once occurred + to me after reading Joest's account of how a young negress, whose + tattoo-marks he was sketching, having become bored, suddenly + pressed her hands to her breasts, spirting two streams of + lukewarm milk into his face, and ran away laughing; I dreamed of + a woman performing a similar action, not from her breasts, + however, but from a penis with which she was furnished. Again, by + another kind of confusion, a man dreams sexually that he is with + a man, although the figure of the partner revealed in the dream + is a woman. The following dream, in a normal man who had never + been, or wished to be, in the position shown by the dream, may be + quoted: "I dreamed that I was a big boy, and that a younger boy + lay close beside me, and that we (or, certainly, he) had seminal + emissions; I was complacently passive, and had a feeling of shame + when the boy was discovered. On awaking I found I had had no + emission, but was lying very close to my wife. The day before, I + had seen boys in a swimming-match." This was, it seems to me, an + example of dream confusion, and not an erotic inverted dream. + (Naecke also brings forward inverted dreams by normal persons; see + e.g. his "Beitraege zu den sexuellen Traeumen," _Archiv fuer + Kriminal-Anthropologie_, Bd. XX, 1908, p. 366.) + +So far as I have been able to ascertain, there seem to be, generally +speaking, certain differences in the manifestations of auto-erotism during +sleep in men and women which I believe to be not without psychological +significance. In men the phenomenon is fairly simple; it usually appears +about puberty continues at intervals of varying duration during sexual +life provided the individual is living chastely, and is generally, though +not always, accompanied by erotic dreams which lead up to the climax, its +occurrence being, to some extent, influenced by a variety of +circumstances: physical, mental, or emotional excitement, alcohol taken +before retiring, position in bed (as lying on the back), the state of the +bladder, sometimes the mere fact of being in a strange bed, and to some +extent apparently by the existence of monthly and yearly rhythms. On the +whole, it is a fairly definite and regular phenomenon which usually leaves +little conscious trace on awaking, beyond probably some sense of fatigue +and, occasionally, a headache. In women, however, the phenomena of +auto-erotism during sleep seem to be much more irregular, varied, and +diffused. So far as I have been able to make inquiries, it is the +exception rather than the rule for girls to experience definitely erotic +dreams about the period of puberty or adolescence.[238] Auto-erotic +phenomena during sleep in women who have never experienced the orgasm when +awake are usually of a very vague kind; while it is the rule in a chaste +youth for the orgasm thus to manifest itself, it is the exception in a +chaste girl. It is not, as a rule, until the orgasm has been definitely +produced in the waking state--under whatever conditions it may have been +produced--that it begins to occur during sleep, and even in a strongly +sexual woman living a repressed life it is often comparatively +infrequent.[239] Thus, a young medical woman who endeavors to deal +strenuously with her physical sexual emotions writes: "I sleep soundly, +and do not dream at all. Occasionally, but very rarely, I have had +sensations which awakened me suddenly. They can scarcely be called dreams, +for they are mere impulses, nothing connected or coherent, yet prompted, I +know, by sexual feeling. This is probably an experience common to all." +Another lady (with a restrained psycho-sexual tendency to be attracted to +both sexes), states that her first sexual sensations with orgasm were felt +in dreams at the age of 16, but these dreams, which she has now forgotten, +were not agreeable and not erotic; two or three years later spontaneous +orgasm began to occur occasionally when awake, and after this, orgasm +took place regularly once or twice a week in sleep, but still without +erotic dreams; she merely dreamt that the orgasm was occurring and awoke +as it took place. + +It is possible that to the comparative rarity in chaste women of complete +orgasm during sleep, we may in part attribute the violence with which +repressed sexual emotion in women often manifests itself.[240] There is +thus a difference here between men and women which is of some significance +when we are considering the natural satisfaction of the sexual impulse in +chaste women. + +In women, who have become accustomed to sexual intercourse, erotic dreams +of fully developed character occur, with complete orgasm and accompanying +relief--as may occasionally be the case in women who are not acquainted +with actual intercourse;[241] some women, however, even when familiar with +actual coitus, find that sexual dreams, though accompanied by emissions, +are only the symptoms of desire and do not produce actual relief. + +Some interest attaches to cases in which young women, even girls at +puberty, experience dreams of erotic character, or at all events dream +concerning coitus or men in erection, although they profess, and almost +certainly with truth, to be quite ignorant of sexual phenomena. Several +such dreams of remarkable character have been communicated to me. One can +imagine that the psychologists of some schools would see in these dreams +the spontaneous eruption of the experiences of the race. I am inclined to +regard them as forgotten memories, such as we know to occur sometimes in +sleep. The child has somehow seen or heard of sexual phenomena and felt no +interest, and the memory may subsequently be aroused in sleep, under the +stimulation of new-born sexual sensations. + + It is a curious proof of the ignorance which has prevailed in + recent times concerning the psychic sexual nature of women that, + although in earlier ages the fact that women are normally liable + to erotic dreams was fully recognized, in recent times it has + been denied, even by writers who have made a special study of the + sexual impulse in women. Eulenburg (_Sexuale Neuropathie_, 1895, + pp. 31, 79) appears to regard the appearances of sexual phenomena + during sleep, in women, as the result of masturbation. Adler, in + what is in many respects an extremely careful study of sexual + phenomena in women (_Die Mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des + Weibes_, 1904, p. 130), boldly states that they do not have + erotic dreams. In 1847, E. Guibout ("Des Pollutions Involontaires + chez la Femme," _Union Medicale_, p. 260) presented the case of a + married lady who masturbated from the age of ten, and continued + the practice, even after her marriage at twenty-four, and at + twenty-nine began to have erotic dreams with emissions every few + nights, and later sometimes even several times a night, though + they ceased to be voluptuous; he believed the case to be the + first ever reported of such a condition in a woman. Yet, + thousands of years ago, the Indian of Vedic days recognized + erotic dreams in women as an ordinary and normal occurrence. + (Loewenfeld quotes a passage to this effect from the Oupnek'hat, + _Sexualleben und Nervenleiden_, 2d ed., p. 114.) Even savages + recognize the occurrence of erotic dreams in women as normal, for + the Papuans, for instance, believe that a young girl's first + menstruation is due to intercourse with the moon in the shape of + a man, the girl dreaming that a man is embracing her. (_Reports + Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits_, vol. v., p. 206.) In the + seventeenth century, Rolfincius, in a well-informed study (_De + Pollutione Nocturna_, a Jena Inaugural Dissertation, 1667), + concluded that women experience such manifestations, and quotes + Aristotle, Galen, and Fernelius, in the same sense. Sir Thomas + Overbury, in his _Characters_, written in the early part of the + same century, describing the ideal milkmaid, says that "her + dreams are so chaste that she dare tell them," clearly implying + that It was not so with most women. The notion that women are not + subject to erotic dreams thus appears to be of comparatively + recent origin. + +One of the most interesting and important characters by which the erotic +dreams of women--and, indeed, their dreams generally--differ from those of +men is in the tendency to evoke a repercussion on the waking life, a +tendency more rarely noted in men's erotic dreams, and then only to a +minor extent. This is very common, even in healthy and normal women, and +is exaggerated to a high degree in neurotic subjects, by whom the dream +may even be interpreted as a reality, and so declared on oath, a fact of +practical importance. + +Hersman--having met with a case in which a school-girl with chorea, after +having dreamed of an assault, accused the principal of a school of +assault, securing his conviction--obtained the opinions of various +American alienists as to the frequency with which such dreams in unstable +mental subjects lead to delusions and criminal accusations. Dercum, H.C. +Wood, and Rohe had not personally met with such cases; Burr believed that +there was strong evidence "that a sexual dream may be so vivid as to make +the subject believe she has had sexual congress"; Kiernan knew of such +cases; C.H. Hughes, in persons with every appearance of sanity, had known +the erotic dreams of the night to become the erotic delusions of the day, +the patient protesting violently the truth of her story; while Hersman +reports the case[242] of a young lady in an asylum who had nightly +delusions that a medical officer visited her every night, and had to do +with her, coming up the hot-air flue. I am acquainted with a similar case +in a clever, but highly neurotic, young woman, who writes: "For years I +have been trying to stamp out my passional nature, and was beginning to +succeed when a strange thing happened to me last autumn. One night, as I +lay in bed, I felt an influence so powerful that a man seemed present with +me. I crimsoned with shame and wonder. I remember that I lay upon my back, +and marveled when the spell had passed. The influence, I was assured, came +from a priest whom I believed in and admired above everyone in the world. +I had never dreamed of love in connection with him, because I always +thought him so far above me. The influence has been upon me ever +since--sometimes by day and nearly always by night; from it I generally go +into a deep sleep, which lasts until morning. I am always much refreshed +when I awake. This influence has the best effect upon my life that +anything has ever had as regards health and mind. It is the knowledge that +I am loved _fittingly_ that makes me so indifferent to my future. What +worries me is that I sometimes wonder if I suffer from a nervous disorder +merely." The subject thus seemed to regard these occurrences as +objectively caused, but was sufficiently sane to wonder whether her +experiences were not due to mental disorder.[243] + +The tendency of the auto-erotic phenomena of sleep to be manifested with +such energy as to flow over into the waking life and influence conscious +emotion and action, while very well marked in normal and healthy women, is +seen to an exaggerated extent in hysterical women, in whom it has, +therefore, chiefly been studied. Sante de Sanctis, who has investigated +the dreams of many classes of people, remarks on the frequently sexual +character of the dreams of hysterical women, and the repercussion of such +dreams on the waking life of the following day; he gives a typical case of +hysterical erotic dreaming in an uneducated servant-girl of 23, in whom +such dreams occur usually a few days before the menstrual period; her +dreams, especially if erotic, make an enormous impression on her; in the +morning she is bad-tempered if they were unpleasant, while she feels +lascivious and gives herself up to masturbation if she has had erotic +dreams of men; she then has a feeling of pleasure throughout the day, and +her sexual organs are bathed with moisture.[244] Pitres and Gilles de la +Tourette, two of Charcot's most distinguished pupils, in their elaborate +works on hysteria, both consider that dreams generally have a great +influence on the waking life of the hysterical, and they deal with the +special influence of erotic dreams, to which, doubtless, we must refer +those conceptions of _incubi_ and _succubi_ which played so vast and so +important a part in the demonology of the Middle Ages, and while not +unknown in men were most frequent in women. Such erotic dreams--as these +observers, confirming the experience of old writers, have found among the +hysterical to-day--are by no means always, or even usually, of a +pleasurable character. "It is very rare," Pitres remarks, when insisting +on the sexual character of the hallucinations of the hysterical, "for +these erotic hallucinations to be accompanied by agreeable voluptuous +sensations. In most cases the illusion of sexual intercourse even provokes +acute pain. The witches of old times nearly all affirmed that in their +relations with the devil they suffered greatly.[245] They said that his +organ was long and rough and pointed, with scales which lifted on +withdrawal and tore the vagina." (It seems probable, I may remark, that +the witches' representations, both of the devil and of sexual intercourse, +were largely influenced by familiarity with the coupling of animals). As +Gilles de la Tourette is careful to warn his readers, we must not too +hastily assume, from the prevalence of nocturnal auto-erotic phenomena in +hysterical women, that such women are necessarily sexual and libidinous in +excess; the disorder is in them psychic, he points out, and not physical, +and they usually receive sexual approaches with indifference and +repugnance, because their sexual centres are anaesthetic or hyperaesthetic. +"During the period of sexual activity they seek much more the care and +delicate attention of men than the genital act, which they often only +tolerate. Many households, begun under the happiest auspices--the bride +all the more apt to believe that she loves her betrothed in virtue of her +suggestibility, easily exalted, perhaps at the expense of the +senses--become hells on earth. The sexual act has for the hysterical woman +more than one disillusion; she cannot understand it; it inspires her with +insurmountable repugnance."[246] I refer to these hysterical phenomena +because they present to us, in an extreme form, facts which are common +among women whom, under the artificial conditions of civilized life, we +are compelled to regard as ordinarily healthy and normal. The frequent +painfulness of auto-erotic phenomena is by no means an exclusively +hysterical phenomenon, although often seen in a heightened form in +hysterical conditions. It is probably to some extent simply the result of +a conflict in consciousness with a merely physical impulse which is strong +enough to assert itself in spite of the emotional and intellectual +abhorrence of the subject. It is thus but an extreme form of the disgust +which all sexual physical manifestations tend to inspire in a person who +is not inclined to respond to them. Somewhat similar psychic disgust and +physical pain are produced in the attempts to stimulate the sexual +emotions and organs when these are exhausted by exercise. In the detailed +history which Moll presents, of the sexual experiences of a sister in an +American nursing guild,--a most instructive history of a woman fairly +normal except for the results of repressed sexual emotion, and with strong +moral tendencies,--various episodes are narrated well illustrating the way +in which sexual excitement becomes unpleasant or even painful when it +takes place as a physical reflex which the emotions and intellect are all +the time struggling against.[247] It is quite probable, however, that +there is a physiological, as well as a psychic, factor in this phenomenon, +and Sollier, in his elaborate study of the nature and genesis of hysteria, +by insisting on the capital importance of the disturbance of sensibility +in hysteria, and the definite character of the phenomena produced in the +passage between anaesthesia and normal sensation, has greatly helped to +reveal the mechanism of this feature of auto-erotic excitement in the +hysterical. + +No doubt there has been a tendency to exaggerate the unpleasant character +of the auto-erotic phenomena of hysteria. That tendency was an inevitable +reaction against an earlier view, according to which hysteria was little +more than an unconscious expression of the sexual emotions and as such was +unscientifically dismissed without any careful investigation. I agree with +Breuer and Freud that the sexual needs of the hysterical are just as +individual and various as those of normal women, but that they suffer from +them more, largely through a moral struggle with their own instincts, and +the attempt to put them into the background of consciousness.[248] In many +hysterical and psychically abnormal women, auto-erotic phenomena, and +sexual phenomena generally, are highly pleasurable, though such persons +may be quite innocent of any knowledge of the erotic character of the +experience. I have come across interesting and extreme examples of this in +the published experiences of the women followers of the American religious +leader, T.L. Harris, founder of the "Brotherhood of the New Life." Thus, +in a pamphlet entitled "Internal Respiration," by Respiro, a letter is +quoted from a lady physician, who writes: "One morning I awoke with a +strange new feeling in the womb, which lasted for a day or two; I was so +very happy, but the joy was in my womb, not in my heart."[249] "At last," +writes a lady quoted in the same pamphlet, "I fell into a slumber, lying +on my back with arms and feet folded, a position I almost always find +myself in when I awake, no matter in which position I may go to sleep. +Very soon I awoke from this slumber with a most delightful sensation, +every fibre tingling with an exquisite glow of warmth. I was lying on my +left side (something I am never able to do), and was folded in the arms of +my counterpart. Unless you have seen it, I cannot give you an idea of the +beauty of his flesh, and with what joy I beheld and felt it. Think of it, +luminous flesh; and Oh! such tints, you never could imagine without +seeing. He folded me so closely in his arms," etc. In such cases there is +no conflict between the physical and the psychic, and therefore the +resulting excitement is pleasurable and not painful. + +At this point our study of auto-erotism brings us into the sphere of +mysticism. Leuba, in a penetrating and suggestive essay on Christian +mysticism, after quoting the present _Study_, refers to the famous +passages in which St. Theresa describes how a beautiful little angel +inserted a flame-tipped dart into her heart until it descended into her +bowels and left her inflamed with divine love. "What physiological +difference," he asks, "is there between this voluptuous sensation and that +enjoyed by the disciple of the Brotherhood of New Life? St. Theresa says +'bowels,' the woman doctor says 'womb,' that is all."[250] + + The extreme form of auto-erotism is the tendency for the sexual + emotion to be absorbed and often entirely lost in + self-admiration. This Narcissus-like tendency, of which the + normal germ in women is symbolized by the mirror, is found in a + minor degree in some men, and is sometimes well marked in women, + usually in association with an attraction for other persons, to + which attraction it is, of course, normally subservient. "The + mirror," remarks Bloch (_Beitraege_ 1, p. 201), "plays an + important part in the genesis of sexual aberration.... It cannot + be doubted that many a boy and girl have first experienced sexual + excitement at the sight of their own bodies in a mirror." + + Valera, the Spanish novelist, very well described this impulse in + his _Genio y Figura_. Rafaela, the heroine of this novel, says + that, after her bath: "I fall into a puerility which may be + innocent or vicious, I cannot decide. I only know that it is a + purely contemplative act, a disinterested admiration of beauty. + It is not coarse sensuality, but aesthetic platonism. I imitate + Narcissus; and I apply my lips to the cold surface of the mirror + and kiss my image. It is the love of beauty, the expression of + tenderness and affection for what God has made manifest, in an + ingenuous kiss imprinted on the empty and incorporeal + reflection." In the same spirit the real heroine of the _Tagebuch + einer Verlorenen_ (p. 114), at the point when she was about to + become a prostitute, wrote: "I am pretty. It gives me pleasure to + throw off my clothes, one by one, before the mirror, and to look + at myself, just as I am, white as snow and straight as a fir, + with my long, fine, hair, like a cloak of black silk. When I + spread abroad the black stream of it, with both hands, I am like + a white swan with black wings." + + A typical case known to me is that of a lady of 28, brought up on + a farm. She is a handsome woman, of very large and fine + proportions, active and healthy and intelligent, with, however, + no marked sexual attraction to the opposite sex; at the same time + she is not inverted, though she would like to be a man, and has a + considerable degree of contempt for women. She has an intense + admiration for her own person, especially her limbs; she is + never so happy as when alone and naked in her own bedroom, and, + so far as possible, she cultivates nakedness. She knows by heart + the various measurements of her body, is proud of the fact that + they are strictly in accordance with the canons of proportion, + and she laughs proudly at the thought that her thigh is larger + than many a woman's waist. She is frank and assured in her + manners, without sexual shyness, and, while willing to receive + the attention and admiration of others, she makes no attempt to + gain it, and seems never to have experienced any emotions + stronger than her own pleasure in herself. I should add that I + have had no opportunity of detailed examination, and cannot speak + positively as to the absence of masturbation. + + In the extreme form in which alone the name of Narcissus may + properly be invoked, there is comparative indifference to sexual + intercourse or even the admiration of the opposite sex. Such a + condition seems to be rare, except, perhaps, in insanity. Since I + called attention to this form of auto-erotism (_Alienist and + Neurologist_, April, 1898), several writers have discussed the + condition, especially Naecke, who, following out the suggestion, + terms the condition Narcissism. Among 1,500 insane persons, Naecke + has found it in four men and one woman (_Psychiatrische en + Neurologische Bladen_, No. 2, 1899), Dr. C.H. Hughes writes (in a + private letter) that he is acquainted with such cases, in which + men have been absorbed in admiration of their own manly forms, + and of their sexual organs, and women, likewise, absorbed in + admiration of their own mammae and physical proportions, + especially of limbs. "The whole subject," he adds, "is a singular + phase of psychology, and it is not all morbid psychology, either. + It is closely allied to that aesthetic sense which admires the + nude in art." + + Fere (_L'Instinct Sexuel_, 2d ed., p. 271) mentions a woman who + experienced sexual excitement in kissing her own hand. Naecke knew + a woman in an asylum who, during periodical fits of excitement, + would kiss her own arms and hands, at the same time looking like + a person in love. He also knew a young man with dementia praecox? + who would kiss his own image ("Der Kuss bei Geisteskranken," + _Allgemeine Zeitschrift fuer Psychiatrie_, Bd. LXIII, p. 127). + Moll refers to a young homosexual lawyer, who experienced great + pleasure in gazing at himself in a mirror (_Kontraere + Sexualempfindung_, 3d ed., p. 228), and mentions another inverted + man, an admirer of the nates of men, who, chancing to observe his + own nates in a mirror, when changing his shirt, was struck by + their beauty, and subsequently found pleasure in admiring them + (_Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, Theil I, p. 60). Krafft-Ebing knew a + man who masturbated before a mirror, imagining, at the same time, + how much better a real lover would be. + + The best-observed cases of Narcissism have, however, been + recorded by Rohleder, who confers upon this condition the + ponderous name of automonosexualism, and believes that it has not + been previously observed (H. Rohleder, _Der Automonosexualismus_, + being Heft 225 of _Berliner Klinik_, March, 1907). In the two + cases investigated by Rohleder, both men, there was sexual + excitement in the contemplation of the individual's own body, + actually or in a mirror, with little or no sexual attraction to + other persons. Rohleder is inclined to regard the condition as + due to a congenital defect in the "sexual centre" of the brain. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[176] All the above groups of phenomena are dealt with in other volumes of +these _Studies_: the manifestations of normal sexual excitement, in vols. +iii, iv, and v; homosexuality, in vol. ii, and erotic fetichism, in vol. +v. + +[177] See Appendix C. + +[178] Letamendi, of Madrid, has suggested "_auto-erastia_" to cover what +is probably much the same field. In the beginning of the nineteenth +century, Hufeland, in his _Makrobiotic_, invented the term "_geistige +Onanie_," to express the filling and heating of the imagination with +voluptuous images, without unchastity of body; and in 1844, Kaan, in his +_Psychopathia Sexualis_, used, but did not invent, the term "_onania +psychica_." Gustav Jaeger, in his _Entdeckung der Seele_, proposed +"monosexual idiosyncrasy," to indicate the most animal forms of +masturbation taking place without any correlative imaginative element, a +condition illustrated by cases given in Moll's _Untersuchungen ueber die +Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, pp. 13 et seq. Dr. Laupts (a pseudonym for the +accomplished psychologist, Dr. Saint-Paul) uses the term _autophilie_, for +solitary vice. (_Perversion et Perversite Sexuelles_, 1896, p. 337.) But +all these terms only cover a portion of the field. + +[179] H. Northcote, _Christianity and Sex Problems_, p. 231. + +[180] Rosse observed two elephants procuring erection by entwining their +proboscides, the act being completed by one elephant opening his mouth and +allowing the other to tickle the roof of it. (I. Rosse, _Virginia Medical +Monthly_, October, 1892.) + +[181] Fere, "Perversions sexuelles chez les animaux," _Revue +Philosophique_, May, 1897. + +[182] Tillier, _L'Instinct Sexuel_, 1889, p. 270. + +[183] Moll, _Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, p. 76. The same author mentions +(ibid., p. 373) that parrots living in solitary confinement masturbate by +rubbing the posterior part of the body against some object until +ejaculation occurs. Edmund Selous ("Habits of the Peewit," _Zooelogist_, +April, 1902) suggests that the peewit, when rolling on the ground, and +exerting pressure on the anal region, is moved by a sexual impulse to +satisfy desire; he adds that actual orgasm appears eventually to take +place, a spasm of energy passing through the bird. + +[184] Dr. J.W. Howe (_Excessive Venery, Masturbation, and Continence_, +London and New York, 1883, p. 62) writes of masturbation: "In savage lands +it is of rare occurrence. Savages live in a state of Nature. No moral +obligations exist which compel them to abstain from a natural +gratification of their passions. There is no social law which prevents +them from following the dictates of their lower nature. Hence, they have +no reason for adopting onanism as an outlet for passions. The moral +trammels of civilized society, and ignorance of physiological laws, give +origin to the vice." Every one of these six sentences is incorrect or +misleading. They are worth quoting as a statement of the popular view of +savage life. + +[185] I can recall little evidence of its existence among the Australian +aborigines, though there is, in the Wiradyuri language, spoken over a +large part of New South Wales, a word (whether ancient or not, I do not +know) meaning masturbation (_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, +July-Dec., 1904, p. 303). Dr. W. Roth (_Ethnological Studies Among the +Northwest-Central Queensland Aborigines_, p. 184), who has carefully +studied the blacks of his district, remarks that he has no evidence as to +the practice of either masturbation or sodomy among them. More recently +(1906) Roth has stated that married men in North Queensland and elsewhere +masturbate during their wives' absence. As regards the Maori of New +Zealand, Northcote adds, there is a rare word for masturbation (as also at +Rarotonga), but according to a distinguished Maori scholar there are no +allusions to the practice in Maori literature, and it was probably not +practiced in primitive times. The Maori and the Polynesians of the Cook +Islands, Northcote remarks, consider the act unmanly, applying to it a +phrase meaning "to make women of themselves." (Northcote, loc. cit., p. +232.) + +[186] Greenlees, _Journal of Mental Science_, July, 1895. A gentleman long +resident among the Kaffirs of South Natal, told Northcote, however, that +he had met with no word for masturbation, and did not believe the practice +prevailed there. + +[187] Hyades and Deniker, _Mission Scientifique du Cap Horn_, vol. vii, p. +295. + +[188] _La Criminalite en Cochin-Chine_, 1887, p. 116; also Mondiere, +"Monographie de la Femme Annamite," _Memoires Societe d'Anthropologie_, +tome ii, p. 465. + +[189] Christian, article on "Onanisme," _Dictionnaire Encyclopedique des +Sciences Medicales_; Ploss and Bartels, _Das Weib_; Moraglia, "Die Onanie +beim normalen Weibe," _Zeitschrift fuer Criminal-Anthropologie_, 1897; +Dartigues, _De la Procreation Volontaire des Sexes_, p. 32. In the +eighteenth century, the _rin-no-tama_ was known in France, sometimes as +"pommes d'amour." Thus Bachaumont, in his Journal (under date July 31, +1773), refers to "a very extraordinary instrument of amorous mystery," +brought by a traveler from India; he describes this "boule erotique" as +the size of a pigeon's egg, covered with soft skin, and gilded. Cf. F.S. +Krauss, _Geschlechtsleben in Brauch und Sitte der Japaner_, Leipzig, 1907. + +[190] It may be worth mentioning that the Salish Indians of British +Columbia have a myth of an old woman having intercourse with young women, +by means of a horn worn as a penis (_Journal of the Anthropological +Institute_, July-Dec., 1904, p. 342). + +[191] In Burchard's Penitential (cap. 142-3), penalties are assigned to +the woman who makes a phallus for use on herself or other women. +(Wasserschleben, _Bussordnungen der abendlaendlichen Kirche_, p. 658.) The +_penis succedaneus_, the Latin _phallus_ or _fascinum_, is in France +called _godemiche_; in Italy, _passatempo_, and also _diletto_, whence +_dildo_, by which it is most commonly known in England. For men, the +corresponding _cunnus succedaneus_ is, in England, called _merkin_, which +meant originally (as defined in old editions of Bailey's _Dictionary_) +"counterfeit hair for women's privy parts." + +[192] Duehren, _Der Marquis de Sade und Seine Zeit_, 3d ed., pp. 130, 232; +id. _Geschlechtsleben in England_, Bd. II, pp. 284 et seq. + +[193] Gamier, _Onanisme_, p. 378. + +[194] _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1899, p. 669. + +[195] The mythology of Hawaii, one may note, tells of goddesses who were +impregnated by bananas they had placed beneath their garments. B. Stern +mentions (_Medizin in der Tuerkei_, Bd. II, p. 24) that the women of Turkey +and Egypt use the banana, as well as the cucumber, etc., for masturbation. +In a poem in the _Arabian Nights_, also ("History of the Young Nour with +the Frank"), we read: "O bananas, of soft and smooth skins, which dilate +the eyes of young girls ... you, alone among fruits are endowed with a +pitying heart, O consolers of widows and divorced women." In France and +England they are not uncommonly used for the same purpose. + +[196] See, e.g., Winckel, _Die Krankheiten der weiblichen Harnrohre und +Blase_, 1885, p. 211; and "Lehrbuch der Frauenkrankheiten," 1886, p. 210; +also, Hyrtl, _Handbuch du Topographischen Anatomie_, 7th ed., Bd. II, pp. +212-214. Gruenfeld (_Wiener medizinische Blaetter_, November 26, 1896), +collected 115 cases of foreign body in the bladder--68 in men, 47 in +women; but while those found in men were usually the result of a surgical +accident, those found in women were mostly introduced by the patients +themselves. The patient usually professes profound ignorance as to how the +object came there; or she explains that she accidentally sat down upon it, +or that she used it to produce freer urination. The earliest surgical case +of this kind I happen to have met with, was recorded by Plazzon, in Italy, +in 1621 (_De Partibus Generationi Inservientibus_, lib. ii, Ch. XIII); it +was that of a certain honorable maiden with a large clitoris, who, seeking +to lull sexual excitement with the aid of a bone needle, inserted it in +the bladder, whence it was removed by Aquapendente. + +[197] A. Poulet, _Traite des Corps etrangers en Chirurgie_, 1879. English +translation, 1881, vol. ii, pp. 209, 230. Rohleder (_Die Masturbation_, +1899, pp. 24-31) also gives examples of strange objects found in the +sexual organs. + +[198] E.H. Smith, "Signs of Masturbation in the Female," _Pacific Medical +Journal_, February, 1903, quoted by R.W. Taylor, _Practical Treatise on +Sexual Disorders_, 3d ed., p. 418. + +[199] L. Tait, _Diseases of Women_, 1889, vol. i, p. 100. + +[200] _Obstetric Journal_, vol. i, 1873, p. 558. Cf. G.J. Arnold, +_British, Medical Journal_, January 6, 1906, p. 21. + +[201] Dudley, _American Journal of Obstetrics_, July, 1889, p. 758. + +[202] A. Reverdin, "Epingles a Cheveux dans la Vessie," _Revue Medicale de +la Suisse Romande_, January 20, 1888. His cases are fully recorded, and +his paper is an able and interesting contribution to this by-way of sexual +psychology. The first case was a school-master's wife, aged 22, who +confessed in her husband's presence, without embarrassment or hesitation, +that the manoeuvre was habitual, learned from a school-companion, and +continued after marriage. The second was a single woman of 42, a _cure's_ +servant, who attempted to elude confession, but on leaving the doctor's +house remarked to the house-maid, "Never go to bed without taking out your +hair-pins; accidents happen so easily." The third was an English girl of +17 who finally acknowledged that she had lost two hair-pins in this way. +The fourth was a child of 12, driven by the pain to confess that the +practice had become a habit with her. + +[203] "One of my patients," remarks Dr. R.T. Morris, of New York, +(_Transactions of the American Association of Obstetricians_, for 1892, +Philadelphia, vol. v), "who is a devout church-member, had never allowed +herself to entertain sexual thoughts referring to men, but she masturbated +every morning, when standing before the mirror, by rubbing against a key +in the bureau-drawer. A man never excited her passions, but the sight of a +key in any bureau-drawer aroused erotic desires." + +[204] Freud (_Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie_, p. 118) refers to the +sexual pleasure of swinging. Swinging another person may be a source of +voluptuous excitement, and one of the 600 forms of sexual pleasure +enumerated in De Sade's _Les 120 Journees de Sodome_ is (according to +Duehren) to propel a girl vigorously in a swing. + +[205] The fact that horse exercise may produce pollutions was well +recognized by Catholic theologians, and Sanchez states that this fact need +not be made a reason for traveling on foot. Rolfincius, in 1667, pointed +out that horse-riding, in those unaccustomed to it, may lead to nocturnal +pollutions. Rohleder (_Die Masturbation_, pp. 133-134) brings together +evidence regarding the influence of horse exercise in producing sexual +excitement. + +[206] A correspondent, to whom the idea was presented for the first time, +wrote: "Henceforward I shall know to what I must attribute the +bliss--almost the beatitude--I so often have experienced after traveling +for four or five hours in a train." Penta mentions the case of a young +girl who first experienced sexual desire at the age of twelve, after a +railway journey. + +[207] Langdon Down, _British Medical Journal_, January 12, 1867. + +[208] Pouillet, _L'Onanisme chez la Femme_, Paris, 1880; Fournier, _De +l'Onanisme_, 1885; Rohleder, _Die Masturbation_, p. 132. + +[209] _West-Riding Asylum Reports_, 1876, vol. vi. + +[210] _Das Nervoese Weib_, 1898, p. 193. + +[211] In the Appendix to volume iii of these _Studies_, I have recorded +the experience of a lady who found sexual gratification in this manner. + +[212] Dr. J.G. Kiernan, to whom I am indebted for a note on this point, +calls my attention also to the case of a homosexual and masochistic man +(_Medical Record_, vol. xix) whose feelings were intensified by +tight-lacing. + +[213] Some women are also able to produce the orgasm, when in a state of +sexual excitement, by placing a cushion between the knees and pressing the +thighs firmly together. + +[214] _Lecons sur les Deformations Vulvaires_, p. 64. Martineau was +informed by a dressmaker that it is very frequent in workrooms and can +usually be done without attracting attention. An ironer informed him that +while standing at her work, she crossed her legs, slightly bending the +trunk forward and supporting herself on the table by the hands; then a few +movements of contraction of the adductor muscles of the thigh would +suffice to produce the orgasm. + +[215] C.W. Townsend, "Thigh-friction in Children under one Year," Annual +Meeting of the American Pediatric Society, Montreal, 1896. Five cases are +recorded by this writer, all in female infants. + +[216] Soutzo, _Archives de Neurologie_, February, 1903, p. 167. + +[217] Zache, _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, 1899, p. 72. I have discussed +what may be regarded as the normally sexual influence of dancing, in the +third volume of these _Studies_, "The Analysis of the Sexual Impulse." + +[218] The case has been recorded of a Russian who had the spontaneous +impulse to self-flagellation on the nates with a rod, for the sake of +sexual excitement, from the age of 6. (_Rivista Mensile di Psichiatria_ +April, 1900, p. 102.) + +[219] Kryptadia, vol. v, p. 358. As regards the use of nettles, see +Duehren, _Geschlechtsleben in England_, Bd. II, p. 392. + +[220] Debreyne, _Moechialogie_, p. 177. + +[221] R.W. Taylor, _A Practical Treatise on Sexual Disorders_, 3rd ed., +Ch. XXX. + +[222] Hammond, _Sexual Impotence_, pp. 70 et seq. + +[223] Niceforo, _Il Gergo_, p. 98. + +[224] _Functional Disorders of the Nervous System in Women_, p. 114. + +[225] Schrenck-Notzing, _Suggestions-therapie_, p. 13. A. Kind (_Jahrbuch +fuer Sexuelle Zwischenstufen_, Jahrgang ix, 1908, p. 58) gives the case of +a young homosexual woman, a trick cyclist at the music halls, who often, +when excited by the sight of her colleague in tights, would experience the +orgasm while cycling before the public. + +[226] Janet has, however, used day-dreaming--which he calls "_reveries +subconscients_"--to explain a remarkable case of demon-possession, which +he investigated and cured. (_Nevroses et Idees fixes_, vol. i, pp. 390 et +seq.) + +[227] "Minor Studies from the Psychological Laboratory of Wellesley +College," _American Journal of Psychology_, vol. vii, No. 1. G.E. +Partridge ("Reverie," _Pedagogical Seminary_, April, 1898) well describes +the physical accompaniments of day-dreaming, especially in Normal School +girls between sixteen and twenty-two. Pick ("Clinical Studies in +Pathological Dreaming," _Journal of Mental Sciences_, July, 1901) records +three more or less morbid cases of day-dreaming, usually with an erotic +basis, all in apparently hysterical men. An important study of +day-dreaming, based on the experiences of nearly 1,500 young people (more +than two-thirds girls and women), has been published by Theodate L. Smith +("The Psychology of Day Dreams," _American Journal Psychology_, October, +1904). Continued stories were found to be rare--only one per cent. Healthy +boys, before fifteen, had day-dreams in which sports, athletics, and +adventure had a large part; girls put themselves in the place of their +favorite heroines in novels. After seventeen, and earlier in the case of +girls, day-dreams of love and marriage were found to be frequent. A +typical confession is that of a girl of nineteen: "I seldom have time to +build castles in Spain, but when I do, I am not different from most +Southern girls; i.e., my dreams are usually about a pretty fair specimen +of a six-foot three-inch biped." + +[228] The case has been recorded of a married woman, in love with her +doctor, who kept a day-dream diary, at last filling three bulky volumes, +when it was discovered by her husband, and led to an action for divorce; +it was shown that the doctor knew nothing of the romance in which he +played the part of hero. Kiernan, in referring to this case (as recorded +in John Paget's _Judicial Puzzles_), mentions a similar case in Chicago. + +[229] _Uranisme_, p. 125. + +[230] The acute Anstie remarked, more than thirty years ago, in his work +on _Neuralgia_: "It is a comparatively frequent thing to see an unsocial, +solitary life (leading to the habit of masturbation) joined with the bad +influence of an unhealthy ambition, prompting to premature and false work +in literature and art." From the literary side, M. Leon Bazalgette has +dealt with the tendency of much modern literature to devote itself to what +he calls "mental onanism," of which the probable counterpart, he seems to +hint, is a physical process of auto-erotism. (Leon Bazalgette, "L'onanisme +considere comme principe createur en art," _L'Esprit Nouveau_, 1898.) + +[231] Pausanias, _Achaia_, Chapter XVII. The ancient Babylonians believed +in a certain "maid of the night," who appeared to men in sleep and roused +without satisfying their passions. (Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia_, p. +262.) This succubus was the Assyrian Liler, connected with the Hebrew +Lilith. There was a corresponding incubus, "the little night man," who had +nocturnal intercourse with women. (Cf. Ploss, _Das Weib_, 7th ed., pp. 521 +et seq.) The succubus and the incubus (the latter being more common) were +adopted by Christendom; St. Augustine (_De Civitate Dei_, Bk. XV, Ch. +XXIII) said that the wicked assaults of sylvans and fauns, otherwise +called incubi, on women, are so generally affirmed that it would be +impudent to deny them. Incubi flourished in mediaeval belief, and can +scarcely, indeed, be said to be extinct even to-day. They have been +studied by many authors; see, e.g., Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, +vol. v, Ch. XXV, Saint-Andre, physician-in-ordinary to the French King, +pointed out in 1725 that the incubus was a dream. It may be added that the +belief in the succubus and incubus appears to be widespread. Thus, the +West African Yorubas (according to A.B. Ellis) believe that erotic dreams +are due to the god Elegbra, who, either as a male or a female, consorts +with men and women in sleep. + +[232] "If any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall +bathe all his flesh in water and be unclean until the even. And every +garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be +washed with water and be unclean until the even." Leviticus, XV, v. 16-17. + +[233] It should be added that the term _pollutio_ also covers voluntary +effusion of semen outside copulation. (Debreyne, _Moechialogie_, +p. 8; for a full discussion of the opinions of theologians concerning +nocturnal and diurnal pollutions, see the same author's _Essai sur la +Theologie Morale_, pp. 100-149.) + +[234] _Memoirs_, translated by Bendyshe, p. 182. + +[235] _Sexual Impotence_, p. 137. + +[236] _L'Hygiene Sexuelle_, p. 169. + +[237] _Sexualleben und Nervenleiden_, p. 164. + +[238] I may here refer to the curious opinion expressed by Dr. Elizabeth +Blackwell, that, while the sexual impulse in man is usually relieved by +seminal emissions during sleep, in women it is relieved by the occurrence +of menstruation. This latter statement is flagrantly at variance with the +facts; but it may perhaps be quoted in support of the view expressed above +as to the comparative rarity of sexual excitement during sleep in young +girls. + +[239] Loewenfeld has recently expressed the same opinion. Rohleder believes +that pollutions are physically impossible in a _real_ virgin, but that +opinion is too extreme. + +[240] It may be added that in more or less neurotic women and girls, +erotic dreams may be very frequent and depressing. Thus, J.M. Fothergill +(_West-Riding Asylum Report_, 1876, vol. vi) remarks: "These dreams are +much more frequent than is ordinarily thought, and are the cause of a +great deal of nervous depression among women. Women of a highly-nervous +diathesis suffer much more from these drains than robust women. Not only +are these involuntary orgasms more frequent among such women, but they +cause more disturbance of the general health in them than in other women." + +[241] I may remark here that a Russian correspondent considers that I have +greatly underestimated the frequency of erotic manifestations during sleep +in young girls. "All the women I have interrogated on this point," he +informs me, "say that they have had such pollutions from the time of +puberty, or even earlier, accompanied by erotic dreams. I have put the +question to some twenty or thirty women. It is true that they were of +southern race (Italian, Spanish, and French), and I believe that +Southerners are, in this matter, franker than northern women, who consider +the activity of the flesh as shameful, and seek to conceal it." My +correspondent makes no reference to the chief point of sexual difference, +so far as my observation goes, which is that erotic dreams are +comparatively rare in those women "_who have yet had no sort of sexual +experience in waking life_." Whether or not this is correct, I do not +question the frequency of erotic dreams in girls who have had such +experience. + +[242] C.C. Hersman, "Medico-legal Aspects of Eroto-Choreic Insanities," +_Alienist and Neurologist_, July, 1897. I may mention that Pitres (_Lecons +cliniques sur l'Hysterie_, vol. ii, p. 34) records the almost identical +case of a hysterical girl in one of his wards, who was at first grateful +to the clinical clerk to whom her case was intrusted, but afterward +changed her behavior, accused him of coming nightly through the window, +lying beside her, caressing her, and then exerting violent coitus three or +four times in succession, until she was utterly exhausted. I may here +refer to the tendency to erotic excitement in women under the influence of +chloroform and nitrous oxide, a tendency rarely or never noted in men, and +of the frequency with which the phenomenon is attributed by the subject to +actual assault. See H. Ellis, _Man and Woman_, pp. 269-274. + +[243] In Australia, some years ago, a man was charged with rape, found +guilty of "attempt," and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, on +the accusation of a girl of 13, who subsequently confessed that the charge +was imaginary; in this case, the jury found it impossible to believe that +so young a girl could have been lying, or hallucinated, because she +narrated the details of the alleged offence with such circumstantial +detail. Such cases are not uncommon, and in some measure, no doubt, they +may be accounted for by auto-erotic nocturnal hallucinations. + +[244] Sante de Sanctis, _I sogni e il sonno nell'isterismo e nella +epilessia_, Rome, 1896, p. 101. + +[245] Pitres, _Lecons cliniques sur l'Hysterie_, vol. ii, pp. 37 et seq. +The Lorraine inquisitor, Nicolas Remy, very carefully investigated the +question of the feelings of witches when having intercourse with the +Devil, questioning them minutely, and ascertained that such intercourse +was usually extremely painful, filling them with icy horror (See, e.g., +Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, vol. v, p. 127; the same author +presents an interesting summary of the phenomena of the Witches' Sabbath). +But intercourse with the Devil was by no means always painful. Isabel +Gowdie, a Scotch witch, bore clear testimony to this point: "The youngest +and lustiest women," she stated, "will have very great pleasure in their +carnal copulation with him, yea, much more than with their own +husbands.... He is abler for us than any man can be. (Alack! that I should +compare him to a man!)" Yet her description scarcely sounds attractive; he +was a "large, black, hairy man, very cold, and I found his nature as cold +within me as spring well-water." His foot was forked and cloven; he was +sometimes like a deer, or a roe; and he would hold up his tail while the +witches kissed that region (Pitcairn, _Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. +iii, Appendix VII; see, also, the illustrations at the end of Dr. A. +Marie's _Folie et Mysticisme_, 1907). + +[246] Gilles de la Tourette, loc. cit., p. 518. Erotic hallucinations have +also been studied by Bellamy, in a Bordeaux thesis, _Hallucinations +Erotiques_, 1900-1901. + +[247] On one occasion, when still a girl, whenever an artist whom she +admired touched her hand she felt erection and moisture of the sexual +parts, but without any sensation of pleasure; a little later, when an +uncle's knee casually came in contact with her thigh, ejaculation of mucus +took place, though she disliked the uncle; again, when a nurse, on +casually seeing a man's sexual organs, an electric shock went through her, +though the sight was disgusting to her; and when she had once to assist a +man to urinate, she became in the highest degree excited, though without +pleasure, and lay down on a couch in the next room, while a conclusive +ejaculation took place. (Moll, _Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, p. 354.) + +[248] Breuer and Freud, _Studien ueber Hysterie_, 1895, p. 217. + +[249] Calmeil (_De la Folie_, vol. i, p. 252) called attention to the +large part played by uterine sensations in the hallucinations of some +famous women ascetics, and added: "It is well recognized that the +narrative of such sensations nearly always occupies the first place in the +divagations of hysterical virgins." + +[250] H. Leuba, "Les Tendances Religieuses chez les Mystiques Chretiens," +_Revue Philosophique_, November, 1902, p. 465. St. Theresa herself states +that physical sensations played a considerable part in this experience. + + + + +II. + +Hysteria and the Question of Its Relation to the Sexual Emotions--The +Early Greek Theories of its Nature and Causation--The Gradual Rise of +Modern Views--Charcot--The Revolt Against Charcot's Too Absolute +Conclusions--Fallacies Involved--Charcot's Attitude the Outcome of his +Personal Temperament--Breuer and Freud--Their Views Supplement and +Complete Charcot's--At the Same Time they Furnish a Justification for the +Earlier Doctrine of Hysteria--But They Must Not be Regarded as Final--The +Diffused Hysteroid Condition in Normal Persons--The Physiological Basis of +Hysteria--True Pathological Hysteria is Linked on to almost Normal States, +especially to Sex-hunger. + + +The nocturnal hallucinations of hysteria, as all careful students of this +condition now seem to agree, are closely allied to the hysterical attack +proper. Sollier, indeed, one of the ablest of the more recent +investigators of hysteria, has argued with much force that the subjects of +hysteria really live in a state of pathological sleep, of +vigilambulism.[251] He regards all the various accidents of hysteria as +having a common basis in disturbances of sensibility, in the widest sense +of the word "sensibility,"--as the very foundation of personality,--while +anaesthesia is "the real _sigillum hysteriae_." Whatever the form of +hysteria, we are thus only concerned with a more or less profound state of +vigilambulism: a state in which the subject seems, often even to himself, +to be more or less always asleep, whether the sleep may be regarded as +local or general. Sollier agrees with Fere that the disorder of +sensibility may be regarded as due to an exhaustion of the sensory centres +of the brain, whether as the result of constitutional cerebral weakness, +of the shock of a violent emotion, or of some toxic influence on the +cerebral cells. + +We may, therefore, fitly turn from the auto-erotic phenomena of sleep +which in women generally, and especially in hysterical women, seem to +possess so much importance and significance, to the question--which has +been so divergently answered at different periods and by different +investigators--concerning the causation of hysteria, and especially +concerning its alleged connection with conscious or unconscious sexual +emotion.[252] + +It was the belief of the ancient Greeks that hysteria came from the womb; +hence its name. We first find that statement in Plato's _Timaeus_: "In men +the organ of generation--becoming rebellious and masterful, like an animal +disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust--seeks to gain +absolute sway; and the same is the case with the so-called womb, or +uterus, of women; the animal within them is desirous of procreating +children, and, when remaining unfruitful long beyond its proper time, gets +discontented and angry, and, wandering in every direction through the +body, closes up the passages of the breath, and, by obstructing +respiration,[253] drives them to extremity, causing all varieties of +disease." + +Plato, it is true, cannot be said to reveal anywhere a very scientific +attitude toward Nature. Yet he was here probably only giving expression to +the current medical doctrine of his day. We find precisely the same +doctrine attributed to Hippocrates, though without a clear distinction +between hysteria and epilepsy.[254] If we turn to the best Roman +physicians we find again that Aretaeus, "the Esquirol of antiquity," has +set forth the same view, adding to his description of the movements of the +womb in hysteria: "It delights, also, in fragrant smells, and advances +toward them; and it has an aversion to foetid smells, and flies from them; +and, on the whole, the womb is like an animal within an animal."[255] +Consequently, the treatment was by applying foetid smells to the nose and +rubbing fragrant ointments around the sexual parts.[256] + +The Arab physicians, who carried on the traditions of Greek medicine, +appear to have said nothing new about hysteria, and possibly had little +knowledge of it. In Christian mediaeval Europe, also, nothing new was added +to the theory of hysteria; it was, indeed, less known medically than it +had ever been, and, in part it may be as a result of this ignorance, in +part as a result of general wretchedness (the hysterical phenomena of +witchcraft reaching their height, Michelet points out, in the fourteenth +century, which was a period of special misery for the poor), it flourished +more vigorously. Not alone have we the records of nervous epidemics, but +illuminated manuscripts, ivories, miniatures, bas-reliefs, frescoes, and +engravings furnish the most vivid iconographic evidence of the prevalence +of hysteria in its most violent forms during the Middle Ages. Much of this +evidence is brought to the service of science in the fascinating works of +Dr. P. Richer, one of Charcot's pupils.[257] + +In the seventeenth century Ambroise Pare was still talking, like +Hippocrates, about "suffocation of the womb"; Forestus was still, like +Aretaeus, applying friction to the vulva; Fernel was still reproaching +Galen, who had denied that the movements of the womb produced hysteria. + +It was in the seventeenth century (1618) that a French physician, Charles +Lepois (Carolus Piso), physician to Henry II, trusting, as he said, to +experience and reason, overthrew at one stroke the doctrine of hysteria +that had ruled almost unquestioned for two thousand years, and showed that +the malady occurred at all ages and in both sexes, that its seat was not +in the womb, but in the brain, and that it must be considered a nervous +disease.[258] So revolutionary a doctrine could not fail to meet with +violent opposition, but it was confirmed by Willis, and in 1681, we owe to +the genius of Sydenham a picture of hysteria which for lucidity, +precision, and comprehensiveness has only been excelled in our own times. + +It was not possible any longer to maintain the womb theory of Hippocrates +in its crude form, but in modified forms, and especially with the object +of preserving the connection which many observers continued to find +between hysteria and the sexual emotions, it still found supporters in the +eighteenth and even the nineteenth centuries. James, in the middle of the +eighteenth century, returned to the classical view, and in his _Dictionary +of Medicine_ maintained that the womb is the seat of hysteria. Louyer +Villermay in 1816 asserted that the most frequent causes of hysteria are +deprivation of the pleasures of love, griefs connected with this passion, +and disorders of menstruation. Foville in 1833 and Landouzy in 1846 +advocated somewhat similar views. The acute Laycock in 1840 quoted as +"almost a medical proverb" the saying, "_Salacitas major, major ad +hysteriam proclivitas_," fully indorsing it. More recently still Clouston +has defined hysteria as "the loss of the inhibitory influence exercised on +the reproductive and sexual instincts of women by the higher mental and +moral functions" (a position evidently requiring some modification in view +of the fact that hysteria is by no means confined to women), while the +same authority remarks that more or less concealed sexual phenomena are +the chief symptoms of "hysterical insanity."[259] Two gynaecologists of +high position in different parts of the world, Hegar in Germany and +Balls-Headley in Australia, attribute hysteria, as well as anaemia, largely +to unsatisfied sexual desire, including the non-satisfaction of the "ideal +feelings."[260] Lombroso and Ferrero, again, while admitting that the +sexual feelings might be either heightened or depressed in hysteria, +referred to the frequency of what they termed "a paradoxical sexual +instinct" in the hysterical, by which, for instance, sexual frigidity is +combined with intense sexual pre-occupations; and they also pointed out +the significant fact that the crimes of the hysterical nearly always +revolve around the sexual sphere.[261] Thus, even up to the time when the +conception of hysteria which absolutely ignored and excluded any sexual +relationship whatever had reached its height, independent views favoring +such a relationship still found expression. + +Of recent years, however, such views usually aroused violent antagonism. +The main current of opinion was with Briquet (1859), who, treating the +matter with considerable ability and a wide induction of facts, +indignantly repelled the idea that there is any connection between +hysteria and the sexual facts of life, physical or psychic. As he himself +admitted, Briquet was moved to deny a sexual causation of hysteria by the +thought that such an origin would be degrading for women ("_a quelque +chose de degradant pour les femmes_"). + +It was, however, the genius of Charcot, and the influence of his able +pupils, which finally secured the overthrow of the sexual theory of +hysteria. Charcot emphatically anathematized the visceral origin of +hysteria; he declared that it is a psychic disorder, and to leave no +loop-hole of escape for those who maintained a sexual causation he +asserted that there are no varieties of hysteria, that the disease is one +and indivisible. Charcot recognized no primordial cause of hysteria beyond +heredity, which here plays a more important part than in any other +neuropathic condition. Such heredity is either direct or more occasionally +by transformation, any deviation of nutrition found in the ancestors +(gout, diabetes, arthritis) being a possible cause of hysteria in the +descendants. "We do not know anything about the nature of hysteria," +Charcot wrote in 1892; "we must make it objective in order to recognize +it. The dominant idea for us in the etiology of hysteria is, in the widest +sense, its hereditary predisposition. The greater number of those +suffering from this affection are simply born _hysterisables_, and on them +the occasional causes act directly, either through autosuggestion or by +causing derangement of general nutrition, and more particularly of the +nutrition of the nervous system."[262] These views were ably and +decisively stated in Gilles de la Tourette's _Traite de l'Hysterie_, +written under the inspiration of Charcot. + +While Charcot's doctrine was thus being affirmed and generally accepted, +there were at the same time workers in these fields who, though they by no +means ignored this doctrine of hysteria or even rejected it, were inclined +to think that it was too absolutely stated. Writing in the _Dictionary of +Psychological Medicine_ at the same time as Charcot, Donkin, while +deprecating any exclusive emphasis on the sexual causation, pointed out +the enormous part played by the emotions in the production of hysteria, +and the great influence of puberty in women due to the greater extent of +the sexual organs, and the consequently large area of central innervation +involved, and thus rendered liable to fall into a state of unstable +equilibrium. Enforced abstinence from the gratification of any of the +inherent and primitive desires, he pointed out, may be an adequate +exciting cause. Such a view as this indicated that to set aside the +ancient doctrine of a physical sexual cause of hysteria was by no means to +exclude a psychic sexual cause. Ten years earlier Axenfeld and Huchard had +pointed out that the reaction against the sexual origin of hysteria was +becoming excessive, and they referred to the evidence brought forward by +veterinary surgeons showing that unsatisfied sexual desire in animals may +produce nervous symptoms very similar to hysteria.[263] The present +writer, when in 1894 briefly discussing hysteria as an element in +secondary sexual characterization, ventured to reflect the view, confirmed +by his own observation, that there was a tendency to unduly minimize the +sexual factor in hysteria, and further pointed out that the old error of a +special connection between hysteria and the female sexual organs, probably +arose from the fact that in woman the organic sexual sphere is larger than +in man.[264] + +When, indeed, we analyze the foundation of the once predominant opinions +of Charcot and his school regarding the sexual relationships of hysteria, +it becomes clear that many fallacies and misunderstandings were involved. +Briquet, Charcot's chief predecessor, acknowledged that his own view was +that a sexual origin of hysteria would be "degrading to women"; that is to +say, he admitted that he was influenced by a foolish and improper +prejudice, for the belief that the unconscious and involuntary morbid +reaction of the nervous system to any disturbance of a great primary +instinct can have "_quelque chose de degradant_" is itself an immoral +belief; such disturbance of the nervous system might or might not be +caused, but in any case the alleged "degradation" could only be the +fiction of a distorted imagination. Again, confusion had been caused by +the ancient error of making the physical sexual organs responsible for +hysteria, first the womb, more recently the ovaries; the outcome of this +belief was the extirpation of the sexual organs for the cure of hysteria. +Charcot condemned absolutely all such operations as unscientific and +dangerous, declaring that there is no such thing as hysteria of menstrual +origin.[265] Subsequently, Angelucci and Pierracini carried out an +international inquiry into the results of the surgical treatment of +hysteria, and condemned it in the most unqualified manner.[266] It is +clearly demonstrated that the physical sexual organs are not the seat of +hysteria. It does not, however, follow that even physical sexual desire, +when repressed, is not a cause of hysteria. The opinion that it was so +formed an essential part of the early doctrine of hysteria, and was +embodied in the ancient maxim: "_Nubat illa et morbus effugiet_." The +womb, it seemed to the ancients, was crying out for satisfaction, and when +that was received the disease vanished.[267] But when it became clear that +sexual desire, though ultimately founded on the sexual apparatus, is a +nervous and psychic fact, to put the sexual organs out of count was not +sufficient; for the sexual emotions may exist before puberty, and persist +after complete removal of the sexual organs. Thus it has been the object +of many writers to repel the idea that unsatisfied sexual desire can be a +cause of hysteria. Briquet pointed out that hysteria is rare among nuns +and frequent among prostitutes. Krafft-Ebing believed that most +hysterical women are not anxious for sexual satisfaction, and declared +that "hysteria caused through the non-satisfaction of the coarse sensual +sexual impulse I have never seen,"[268] while Pitres and others refer to +the frequently painful nature of sexual hallucinations in the hysterical. +But it soon becomes obvious that the psychic sexual sphere is not confined +to the gratification of conscious physical sexual desire. It is not true +that hysteria is rare among nuns, some of the most tremendous epidemics of +hysteria, and the most carefully studied, having occurred in +convents,[269] while the hysterical phenomena sometimes associated with +revivals are well known. The supposed prevalence among prostitutes would +not be evidence against the sexual relationships of hysteria; it has, +however, been denied, even by so great an authority as Parent-Duchatelet +who found it very rare, even in prostitutes in hospitals, when it was +often associated with masturbation; in prostitutes, however, who returned +to a respectable life, giving up their old habits, he found hysteria +common and severe.[270] The frequent absence of physical sexual feeling, +again, may quite reasonably be taken as evidence of a disorder of the +sexual emotions, while the undoubted fact that sexual intercourse usually +has little beneficial effect on pronounced hysteria, and that sexual +excitement during sleep and sexual hallucinations are often painful in +the same condition, is far from showing that injury or repression of the +sexual emotions had nothing to do with the production of the hysteria. It +would be as reasonable to argue that the evil effect of a heavy meal on a +starving man must be taken as evidence that he was not suffering from +starvation. The fact, indeed, on which Gilles de la Tourette and others +have remarked, that the hysterical often desire not so much sexual +intercourse as simple affection, would tend to show that there is here a +real analogy, and that starvation or lesion of the sexual emotions may +produce, like bodily starvation, a rejection of those satisfactions which +are demanded in health. Thus, even a mainly _a priori_ examination of the +matter may lead us to see that many arguments brought forward in favor of +Charcot's position on this point fall to the ground when we realize that +the sexual emotions may constitute a highly complex sphere, often hidden +from observation, sometimes not conscious at all, and liable to many +lesions besides that due to the non-satisfaction of sexual desire. At the +same time we are not thus enabled to overthrow any of the positive results +attained by Charcot and his school. + +It may, however, be pointed out that Charcot's attitude toward hysteria +was the outcome of his own temperament. He was primarily a neurologist, +the bent of his genius was toward the investigation of facts that could be +objectively demonstrated. His first interest in hysteria, dating from as +far back as 1862, was in hystero-epileptic convulsive attacks, and to the +last he remained indifferent to all facts which could not be objectively +demonstrated. That was the secret of the advances he was enabled to make +in neurology. For purely psychological investigation he had no liking, and +probably no aptitude. Anyone who was privileged to observe his methods of +work at the Salpetriere will easily recall the great master's towering +figure; the disdainful expression, sometimes, even, it seemed, a little +sour; the lofty bearing which enthusiastic admirers called Napoleonic. The +questions addressed to the patient were cold, distant, sometimes +impatient. Charcot clearly had little faith in the value of any results so +attained. One may well believe, also, that a man whose superficial +personality was so haughty and awe-inspiring to strangers would, in any +case, have had the greatest difficulty in penetrating the mysteries of a +psychic world so obscure and elusive as that presented by the +hysterical.[271] + +The way was thus opened for further investigations on the psychic side. +Charcot had affirmed the power, not only of physical traumatism, but even +of psychic lesions--of moral shocks--to provoke its manifestations, but +his sole contribution to the psychology of this psychic malady,--and this +was borrowed from the Nancy school,--lay in the one word "suggestibility"; +the nature and mechanism of this psychic process he left wholly +unexplained. This step has been taken by others, in part by Janet, who, +from 1889 onward, has not only insisted that the emotions stand in the +first line among the causes of hysteria, but has also pointed out some +portion of the mechanism of this process; thus, he saw the significance of +the fact, already recognized, that strong emotions tend to produce +anaesthesia and to lead to a condition of mental disaggregation, favorable +to abulia, or abolition of will-power. It remained to show in detail the +mechanism by which the most potent of all the emotions effects its +influence, and, by attempting to do this, the Viennese investigators, +Breuer and especially Freud, have greatly aided the study of +hysteria.[272] They have not, it is important to remark, overturned the +positive elements in their great forerunner's work. Freud began as a +disciple of Charcot, and he himself remarks that, in his earlier +investigations of hysteria, he had no thought of finding any sexual +etiology for that malady; he would have regarded any such suggestion as an +insult to his patient. The results reached by these workers were the +outcome of long and detailed investigation. Freud has investigated many +cases of hysteria in minute detail, often devoting to a single case over a +hundred hours of work. The patients, unlike those on whom the results of +the French school have been mainly founded, all belonged to the educated +classes, and it was thus possible to carry out an elaborate psychic +investigation which would be impossible among the uneducated. Breuer and +Freud insist on the fine qualities of mind and character frequently found +among the hysterical. They cannot accept suggestibility as an invariable +characteristic of hysteria, only abnormal excitability; they are far from +agreeing with Janet (although on many points at one with him), that +psychic weakness marks hysteria; there is merely an appearance of mental +weakness, they say, because the mental activity of the hysterical is split +up, and only a part of it is conscious.[273] The superiority of character +of the hysterical is indicated by the fact that the conflict between their +ideas of right and the bent of their inclinations is often an element in +the constitution of the hysterical state. Breuer and Freud are prepared to +assert that the hysterical are among "the flower of humanity," and they +refer to those qualities of combined imaginative genius and practical +energy which characterized St. Theresa, "the patron saint of the +hysterical." + +To understand the position of Breuer and Freud we may start from the +phenomenon of "nervous shock" produced by physical traumatism, often of a +very slight character. Charcot had shown that such "nervous shock," with +the chain of resulting symptoms, is nothing more or less than hysteria. +Breuer and Freud may be linked on to Charcot at this point. They began by +regarding the most typical hysteria as really a _psychic traumatism_; that +is to say, that it starts in a lesion, or rather in repeated lesions, of +the emotional organism. It is true that the school of Charcot admitted the +influence of moral shock, especially of the emotion of fear, but that +merely as an "_agent provocateur_," and with a curious perversity Gilles +de la Tourette, certainly reflecting the attitude of Charcot, in his +elaborate treatise on hysteria fails to refer to the sphere of the sexual +emotions even when enumerating the "_agents provocateurs_."[274] + +The influence of fear is not denied by Breuer and Freud, but they have +found that careful psychic analysis frequently shows that the shock of a +commonplace "fear" is really rooted in a lesion of the sexual emotions. A +typical and very simple illustration is furnished in a case, recorded by +Breuer, in which a young girl of seventeen had her first hysterical attack +after a cat sprang on her shoulders as she was going downstairs. Careful +investigation showed that this girl had been the object of somewhat ardent +attentions from a young man whose advances she had resisted, although her +own sexual emotions had been aroused. A few days before, she had been +surprised by this young man on these same dark stairs, and had forcibly +escaped from his hands. Here was the real psychic traumatism, the +operation of which merely became manifest in the cat. "But in how many +cases," asks Breuer, "is a cat thus reckoned as a completely sufficient +_causa efficiens_?" + +In every case that they have investigated Breuer and Freud have found some +similar secret lesion of the psychic sexual sphere. In one case a +governess, whose training has been severely upright, is, in spite of +herself and without any encouragement, led to experience for the father of +the children under her care an affection which she refuses to acknowledge +even to herself; in another, a young woman finds herself falling in love +with her brother-in-law; again, an innocent girl suddenly discovers her +uncle in the act of sexual intercourse with her playmate, and a boy on his +way home from school is subjected to the coarse advances of a sexual +invert. In nearly every case, as Freud eventually found reason to believe, +a primary lesion of the sexual emotions dates from the period of puberty +and frequently of childhood, and in nearly every case the intimately +private nature of the lesion causes it to be carefully hidden from +everyone, and even to be unacknowledged by the subject of it. In the +earlier cases Breuer and Freud found that a slight degree of hypnosis is +necessary to bring the lesion into consciousness, and the accuracy of the +revelations thus obtained has been tested by independent witness. Freud +has, however, long abandoned the induction of any degree of hypnosis; he +simply tries to arrange that the patient shall feel absolutely free to +tell her own story, and so proceeds from the surface downwards, slowly +finding and piecing together such essential fragments of the history as +may be recovered, in the same way he remarks, as the archaeologist +excavates below the surface and recovers and puts together the fragments +of an antique statue. Much of the material found, however, has only a +symbolic value requiring interpretation and is sometimes pure fantasy. +Freud now attaches great importance to dreams as symbolically representing +much in the subject's mental history which is otherwise difficult to +reach.[275] The subtle and slender clues which Freud frequently follows in +interpreting dreams cannot fail sometimes to arouse doubt in his readers' +minds, but he certainly seems to have been often successful in thus +reaching latent facts in consciousness. The primary lesion may thus act as +"a foreign body in consciousness." Something is introduced into psychic +life which refuses to merge in the general flow of consciousness. It +cannot be accepted simply as other facts of life are accepted; it cannot +even be talked about, and so submitted to the slow usure by which our +experiences are worn down and gradually transformed. Breuer illustrates +what happens by reference to the sneezing reflex. "When an irritation to +the nasal mucous membrane for some reason fails to liberate this reflex, +a feeling of excitement and tension arises. This excitement, being unable +to stream out along motor channels, now spreads itself over the brain, +inhibiting other activities.... _In the highest spheres of human activity +we may watch the same process_." It is a result of this process that, as +Breuer and Freud found, the mere act of confession may greatly relieve the +hysterical symptoms produced by this psychic mechanism, and in some cases +may wholly and permanently remove them. It is on this fact that they +founded their method of treatment, devised by Breuer and by him termed the +cathartic method, though Freud prefers to call it the "analytic" method. +It is, as Freud points out, the reverse of the hypnotic method of +suggestive treatment; there is the same difference, Freud remarks, between +the two methods as Leonardo da Vinci found for the two technical methods +of art, _per via di porre_ and _per via di levare_; the hypnotic method, +like painting, works by putting in, the cathartic or analytic method, like +sculpture, works by taking out.[276] + +It is part of the mechanism of this process, as understood by these +authors, that the physical symptoms of hysteria are constituted, by a +process of conversion, out of the injured emotions, which then sink into +the background or altogether out of consciousness. Thus, they found the +prolonged tension of nursing a near and dear relative to be a very +frequent factor in the production of hysteria. For instance, an originally +rheumatic pain experienced by a daughter when nursing her father becomes +the symbol in memory of her painful psychic excitement, and this perhaps +for several reasons, but chiefly because _its presence in consciousness +almost exactly coincided with that excitement_. In another way, again, +nausea and vomiting may become a symbol through the profound sense of +disgust with which some emotional shock was associated. Then the symbol +begins to have a life of its own, and draws hidden strength from the +emotion with which it is correlated. Breuer and Freud have found by +careful investigation that the pains and physical troubles of hysteria are +far from being capricious, but may be traced in a varying manner to an +origin in some incident, some pain, some action, which was associated with +a moment of acute psychic agony. The process of conversion was an +involuntary escape from an intolerable emotion, comparable to the physical +pain sometimes sought in intense mental grief, and the patient wins some +relief from the tortured emotions, though at the cost of psychic +abnormality, of a more or less divided state of consciousness and of +physical pain, or else anaesthesia. In Charcot's third stage of the +hysterical convulsion, that of "_attitudes passionnelles_," Breuer and +Freud see the hallucinatory reproduction of a recollection which is full +of significance for the origin of the hysterical manifestations. + +The final result reached by these workers is clearly stated by each +writer. "The main observation of our predecessors," states Breuer,[277] +"still preserved in the word 'hysteria,' is nearer to the truth than the +more recent view which puts sexuality almost in the last line, with the +object of protecting the patient from moral reproaches. Certainly the +sexual needs of the hysterical are just as individual and as various in +force as those of the healthy. But they suffer from them, and in large +measure, indeed, they suffer precisely through the struggle with them, +through the effort to thrust sexuality aside." "The weightiest fact," +concludes Freud,[278] "on which we strike in a thorough pursuit of the +analysis is this: From whatever side and from whatever symptoms we start, +we always unfailingly reach the region of the sexual life. Here, first of +all, an etiological condition of hysterical states is revealed.... At the +bottom of every case of hysteria--and reproducible by an analytical effort +after even an interval of long years--may be found one or more facts of +precocious sexual experience belonging to earliest youth. I regard this as +an important result, as the discovery of a _caput Nili_ of +neuropathology." Ten years later, enlarging rather than restricting his +conception, Freud remarks: "Sexuality is not a mere _deus ex machina_ +which intervenes but once in the hysterical process; it is the motive +force of every separate symptom and every expression of a symptom. The +morbid phenomena constitute, to speak plainly, the patient's sexual +activity."[279] The actual hysterical fit, Freud now states, may be +regarded as "the substitute for a once practiced and then abandoned +_auto-erotic_ satisfaction," and similarly it may be regarded as an +equivalent of coitus.[280] + +It is natural to ask how this conception affects that elaborate picture of +hysteria laboriously achieved by Charcot and his school. It cannot be said +that it abolishes any of the positive results reached by Charcot, but it +certainly alters their significance and value; it presents them in a new +light and changes the whole perspective. With his passion for getting at +tangible definite physical facts, Charcot was on very safe ground. But he +was content to neglect the psychic analysis of hysteria, while yet +proclaiming that hysteria is a purely psychic disorder. He had no cause of +hysteria to present save only heredity. Freud certainly admits heredity, +but, as he points out, the part it plays has been overrated. It is too +vague and general to carry us far, and when a specific and definite cause +can be found, the part played by heredity recedes to become merely a +condition, the soil on which the "specific etiology" works. Here probably +Freud's enthusiasm at first carried him too far and the most important +modification he has made in his views occurs at this point: he now +attaches a preponderant influence to heredity. He has realized that sexual +activity in one form or another is far too common in childhood to make it +possible to lay very great emphasis on "traumatic lesions" of this +character, and he has also realized that an outcrop of fantasies may +somewhat later develop on these childish activities, intervening between +them and the subsequent morbid symptoms. He is thus led to emphasize anew +the significance of heredity, not, however, in Charcot's sense, as general +neuropathic disposition but as "sexual constitution." The significance of +"infantile sexual lesions" has also tended to give place to that of +"infantilism of sexuality."[281] + +The real merit of Freud's subtle investigations is that--while possibly +furnishing a justification of the imperfectly-understood idea that had +floated in the mind of observers ever since the name "hysteria" was first +invented--he has certainly supplied a definite psychic explanation of a +psychic malady. He has succeeded in presenting clearly, at the expense of +much labor, insight, and sympathy, a dynamic view of the psychic processes +involved in the constitution of the hysterical state, and such a view +seems to show that the physical symptoms laboriously brought to light by +Charcot are largely but epiphenomena and by-products of an emotional +process, often of tragic significance to the subject, which is taking +place in the most sensitive recess of the psychic organism. That the +picture of the mechanism involved, presented to us by Professor Freud, +cannot be regarded as a final and complete account of the matter, may +readily be admitted. It has developed in Freud's own hands, and some of +the developments will require very considerable confirmation before they +can be accepted as generally true.[282] But these investigations have at +least served to open the door, which Charcot had inconsistently held +closed, into the deeper mysteries of hysteria, and have shown that here, +if anywhere, further research will be profitable. They have also served to +show that hysteria may be definitely regarded as, in very many cases at +least, a manifestation of the sexual emotions and their lesions; in other +words, a transformation of auto-erotism. + +The conception of hysteria so vigorously enforced by Charcot and his +school is thus now beginning to appear incomplete. But we have to +recognize that that incompleteness was right and necessary. A strong +reaction was needed against a widespread view of hysteria that was in +large measure scientifically false. It was necessary to show clearly that +hysteria is a definite disorder, even when the sexual organs and emotions +are swept wholly out of consideration; and it was also necessary to show +that the lying and dissimulation so widely attributed to the hysterical +were merely the result of an ignorant and unscientific misinterpretation +of psychic elements of the disease. This was finally and triumphantly +achieved by Charcot's school. + +There is only one other point in the explanation of hysteria which I will +here refer to, and that because it is usually ignored, and because it has +relationship to the general psychology of the sexual emotions. I refer to +that physiological hysteria which is the normal counterpart of the +pathological hysteria which has been described in its physical details by +Charcot, and to which alone the term should strictly be applied. Even +though hysteria as a disease may be described as one and indivisible, +there are yet to be found, among the ordinary and fairly healthy +population, vague and diffused hysteroid symptoms which are dissipated in +a healthy environment, or pass nearly unnoted, only to develop in a small +proportion of cases, under the influence of a more pronounced heredity, or +a severe physical or psychic lesion, into that definite morbid state which +is properly called hysteria. + +This diffused hysteroid condition may be illustrated by the results of a +psychological investigation carried on in America by Miss Gertrude Stein +among the ordinary male and female students of Harvard University and +Radcliffe College. The object of the investigation was to study, with the +aid of a planchette, the varying liability to automatic movements among +normal individuals. Nearly one hundred students were submitted to +experiment. It was found that automatic responses could be obtained in two +sittings from all but a small proportion of the students of both sexes, +but that there were two types of individual who showed a special aptitude. +One type (probably showing the embryonic form of neurasthenia) was a +nervous, high-strung, imaginative type, not easily influenced from +without, and not so much suggestible as autosuggestible. The other type, +which is significant from our present point of view, is thus described by +Miss Stein: "In general the individuals, often blonde and pale, are +distinctly phlegmatic. If emotional, decidedly of the weakest, sentimental +order. They may be either large, healthy, rather heavy, and lacking in +vigor or they may be what we call anaemic and phlegmatic. Their power of +concentrated attention is very small. They describe themselves as never +being held by their work; they say that their minds wander easily; that +they work on after they are tired, and just keep pegging away. They are +very apt to have premonitory conversations, they anticipate the words of +their friends, they imagine whole conversations that afterward come true. +The feeling of having been there is very common with them; that is, they +feel under given circumstances that they have had that identical +experience before in all its details. They are often fatalistic in their +ideas. They indulge in day-dreams. As a rule, they are highly +suggestible."[283] + +There we have a picture of the physical constitution and psychic +temperament on which the classical symptoms of hysteria might easily be +built up.[284] But these persons were ordinary students, and while a few +of their characteristics are what is commonly and vaguely called "morbid," +on the whole they must be regarded as ordinarily healthy individuals. They +have the congenital constitution and predisposition on which some severe +psychic lesion at the "psychological moment" might develop the most +definite and obstinate symptoms of hysteria, but under favorable +circumstances they will be ordinary men and women, of no more than +ordinary abnormality or ordinary power. They are among the many who have +been called to hysteria at birth; they may never be among the few who are +chosen. + +We may have to recognize that on the side of the sexual emotions, as well +as in general constitution, a condition may be traced among normal persons +that is hysteroid in character, and serves as the healthy counterpart of a +condition which in hysteria is morbid. In women such a condition Has been +traced (though misnamed) by Dr. King.[285] + + Dr. King describes what he calls "sexual hysteria in women," + which he considers a chief variety of hysteria. He adds, however, + that it is not strictly a disease, but simply an automatic + reaction of the reproductive system, which tends to become + abnormal under conditions of civilization, and to be perpetuated + in a morbid form. In this condition he finds twelve characters: + 1. Time of life, usually between puberty and climacteric. 2. + Attacks rarely occur when subject is alone. 3. Subject appears + unconscious, but is not really so. 4. She is instinctively + ashamed afterward. 5. It occurs usually in single women, or in + those, single or married, whose sexual needs are unsatisfied. 6. + No external evidence of disease, and (as Aitken pointed out) the + nates are not flattened; the woman's physical condition is not + impaired, and she may be specially attractive to men. 7. Warmth + of climate and the season of spring and summer are conducive to + the condition. 8. The paroxysm in short and temporary. 9. While + light touches are painful, firm pressure and rough handling give + relief. 10. It may occur in the occupied, but an idle, + purposeless life is conducive. 11. The subject delights in + exciting sympathy and in being fondled and caressed. 12. There is + defect of will and a strong stimulus is required to lead to + action. + + Among civilized women, the author proceeds, this condition does + not appear to subserve any useful purpose. "Let us, however, go + back to aboriginal woman--to woman of the woods and the fields. + Let us picture ourselves a young aboriginal Venus in one of her + earliest hysterical paroxysms. In doing so, let us not forget + some of the twelve characteristics previously mentioned. She will + not be 'acting her part' alone, or, if alone, it will be in a + place where someone else is likely soon to discover her. Let this + Venus be now discovered by a youthful Apollo of the woods, a man + with fully developed animal instincts. He and she, like any other + animals, are in the free field of Nature. He cannot but observe + to himself: 'This woman is not dead; she breathes and is warm; + she does not look ill; she is plump and rosy.' He speaks to her; + she neither hears (apparently) nor responds. Her eyes are closed. + He touches, moves, and handles her at his pleasure. She makes no + resistance. What will this primitive Apollo do next? He will cure + the fit, and bring the woman back to consciousness, satisfy her + emotions, and restore her volition--not by delicate touches that + might be 'agonizing' to her hyperesthetic skin, but by vigorous + massage, passive motions, and succussion that would be painless. + The emotional process on the part of the woman would end, + perhaps, with mingled laughter, tears, and shame; and when + accused afterward of the part which the ancestrally acquired + properties of her nervous system had compelled her to act, as a + preliminary to the event, what woman would not deny it and be + angry? But the course of Nature having been followed, the natural + purpose of the hysterical paroxysm accomplished, there would + remain as a result of the treatment--instead of one discontented + woman--two happy people, and the possible beginning of a third." + + "Natural, primary sexual hysteria in woman," King concludes, "is + a temporary modification of the nervous government of the body + and the distribution of nerve-force (occurring for the most part, + as we see it to-day, in prudish women of strong moral principle, + whose volition has disposed them to resist every sort of liberty + or approach from the other sex), consisting in a transient + abdication of the general, volitional, and self-preservational + ego, while the reins of government are temporarily assigned to + the usurping power of the reproductive ego, so that the + reproductive government overrules the government by volition, and + thus, as it were, forcibly compels the woman's organism to so + dispose itself, at a suitable time and place, as to allow, + invite, and secure the approach of the other sex, whether she + will or not, to the end that Nature's imperious demand for + reproduction shall be obeyed." + +This perhaps rather fantastic description is not a presentation of +hysteria in the technical sense, but we may admit that it presents a state +which, if not the real physiological counterpart of the hysterical +convulsion, is yet distinctly analogous to the latter. The sexual orgasm +has this correspondence with the hysterical fit, that they both serve to +discharge the nervous centres and relieve emotional tension. It may even +happen, especially in the less severe forms of hysteria, that the sexual +orgasm takes place during the hysterical fit; this was found by Rosenthal, +of Vienna, to be always the case in the semiconscious paroxysms of a young +girl whose condition was easily cured;[286] no doubt such cases would be +more frequently found if they were sought for. In severe forms of +hysteria, however, it frequently happens, as so many observers have noted, +that normal sexual excitement has ceased to give satisfaction, has become +painful, perverted, paradoxical. Freud has enabled us to see how a shock +to the sexual emotions, injuring the emotional life at its source, can +scarcely fail sometimes to produce such a result. But the necessity for +nervous explosion still persists.[287] It may, indeed, persist, even in an +abnormally strong degree, in consequence of the inhibition of normal +activities generally. The convulsive fit is the only form of relief open +to the tension. "A lady whom I long attended," remarks Ashwell, "always +rejoiced when the fit was over, since it relieved her system generally, +and especially her brain, from painful irritation which had existed for +several previous days." That the fit mostly fails to give real +satisfaction, and that it fails to cure the disease, is due to the fact +that it is a morbid form of relief. The same character of hysteria is +seen, with more satisfactory results for the most part, in the influence +of external nervous shock. It was the misunderstood influence of such +shocks in removing hysteria which in former times led to the refusal to +regard hysteria as a serious disease. During the Rebellion of 1745-46 in +Scotland, Cullen remarks that there was little hysteria. The same was true +of the French Revolution and of the Irish Rebellion, while Rush (in a +study _On the Influence of the American Revolution on the Human Body_) +observed that many hysterical women were "restored to perfect health by +the events of the time." In such cases the emotional tension is given an +opportunity of explosion in new and impersonal channels, and the chain of +morbid personal emotions is broken. + +It has been urged by some that the fact that the sexual orgasm usually +fails to remove the disorder in true hysteria excludes a sexual factor of +hysteria. It is really, one may point out, an argument in favor of such an +element as one of the factors of hysteria. If there were no initial lesion +of the sexual emotions, if the natural healthy sexual channel still +remained free for the passage of the emotional overflow, then we should +expect that it would much oftener come into play in the removal of +hysteria. In the more healthy, merely hysteroid condition, the psychic +sexual organism is not injured, and still responds normally, removing the +abnormal symptoms when allowed to do so. It is the confusion between this +almost natural condition and the truly morbid condition, alone properly +called hysteria, which led to the ancient opinion, inaugurated by Plato +and Hippocrates, that hysteria may be cured by marriage.[288] The +difference may be illustrated by the difference between a distended +bladder which is still able to contract normally on its contents when at +last an opportunity of doing so is afforded and the bladder in which +distension has been so prolonged that nervous control had been lost and +spontaneous expulsion has become impossible. The first condition +corresponds to the constitution, which, while simulating the hysterical +condition, is healthy enough to react normally in spite of psychic +lesions; the second corresponds to a state in which, owing to the +prolonged stress of psychic traumatism,--sexual or not,--a definite +condition of hysteria has arisen. The one state is healthy, though +abnormal; the other is one of pronounced morbidity. + +The condition of true hysteria is thus linked on to almost healthy states, +and especially to a condition which may be described as one of sex-hunger. +Such a suggestion may help us to see these puzzling phenomena in their +true nature and perspective. + + At this point I may refer to the interesting parallel, and + probable real relationship, between hysteria and chlorosis. As + Luzet has said, hysteria and chlorosis are sisters. We have seen + that there is some ground for regarding hysteria as an + exaggerated form of a normal process which is really an + auto-erotic phenomenon. There is some ground, also, for regarding + chlorosis as the exaggeration of a physiological state connected + with sexual conditions, more specifically with the preparation + for maternity. Hysteria is so frequently associated with anaemic + conditions that Biernacki has argued that such conditions really + constitute the primary and fundamental cause of hysteria + (_Neurologisches Centralblatt_, March, 1898). And, centuries + before Biernacki, Sydenham had stated his belief that poverty of + the blood is the chief cause of hysteria. + + It would be some confirmation of this position if we could + believe that chlorosis, like hysteria, is in some degree a + congenital condition. This was the view of Virchow, who regarded + chlorosis as essentially dependent on a congenital hyoplasia of + the arterial system. Stieda, on the basis of an elaborate study + of twenty-three cases, has endeavored to prove that chlorosis is + due to a congenital defect of development (_Zeitschrift fuer + Geburtshuelfe und Gynaekologie_, vol. xxxii, Part I, 1895). His + facts tend to prove that in chlorosis there are signs of general + ill-development, and that, in particular, there is imperfect + development of the breasts and sexual organs, with a tendency to + contracted pelvis. Charrin, again, regards utero-ovarian + inadequacy as at least one of the factors of chlorosis. + Chlorosis, in its extreme form, may thus be regarded as a + disorder of development, a sign of physical degeneracy. Even if + not strictly a cause, a congenital condition may, as Stockman + believes (_British Medical Journal_, December 14, 1895), be a + predisposing influence. + + However it may be in extreme cases, there is very considerable + evidence to indicate that the ordinary anaemia of young women may + be due to a storing up of iron in the system, and is so far + normal, being a preparation for the function of reproduction. + Some observations of Bunge's seem to throw much light on the real + cause of what may be termed physiological chlorosis. He found by + a series of experiments on animals of different ages that young + animals contain a much greater amount of iron in their tissues + than adult animals; that, for instance, the body of a rabbit an + hour after birth contains more than four times as much iron as + that of a rabbit two and a half months old. It thus appears + probable that at the period of puberty, and later, there is a + storage of iron in the system preparatory to the exercise of the + maternal functions. It is precisely between the ages of fifteen + and twenty-three, as Stockman found by an analysis of his own + cases (_British Medical Journal_, December 14, 1895), that the + majority of cases occur; there was, indeed, he found, no case in + which the first onset was later than the age of twenty-three. A + similar result is revealed by the charts of Lloyd Jones, which + cover a vastly greater number of cases. + + We owe to Lloyd Jones an important contribution to the knowledge + of chlorosis in its physiological or normal relationships. He has + shown that chlorosis is but the exaggeration of a condition that + is normal at puberty (and, in many women, at each menstrual + period), and which, there is good reason to believe, even has a + favorable influence on fertility. He found that + light-complexioned persons are more fertile than the + dark-complexioned, and that at the same time the blood of the + latter is of less specific gravity, containing less haemoglobin. + Lloyd Jones also reached the generalization that girls who have + had chlorosis are often remarkably pretty, so that the tendency + to chlorosis is associated with all the sexual and reproductive + aptitudes that make a woman attractive to a man. His conclusion + is that the normal condition of which chlorosis is the extreme + and pathological condition, is a preparation for motherhood (E. + Lloyd Jones, "Chlorosis: The Special Anaemia of Young Women," + 1897; also numerous reports to the British Medical Association, + published in the _British Medical Journal_. There was an + interesting discussion of the theories of chlorosis at the Moscow + International Medical Congress, in 1898; see proceedings of the + congress, volume in, section v, pp. 224 et seq.). + + We may thus, perhaps, understand why it is that hysteria and + anaemia are often combined, and why they are both most frequently + found in adolescent young women who have yet had no sexual + experiences. Chlorosis is a physical phenomenon; hysteria, + largely a psychic phenomenon; yet, both alike may, to some extent + at least, be regarded as sexual aptitude showing itself in + extreme and pathological forms. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[251] _Genese et Nature de l'Hysterie_, 1898; and, for Sollier's latest +statement, see "Hysterie et Sommeil," _Archives de Neurologie_, May and +June, 1907. Lombroso (_L'Uomo Delinquente_, 1889, vol. ii, p. 329), +referring to the diminished metabolism of the hysterical, had already +compared them to hibernating animals, while Babinsky states that the +hysterical are in a state of subconsciousness, a state, as Metchnikoff +remarks (_Essais optimistes_, p. 270), reminiscent of our prehistoric +past. + +[252] Professor Freud, while welcoming the introduction of the term +"auto-erotism," remarks that it should not be made to include the whole of +hysteria. This I fully admit, and have never questioned. Hysteria is far +too large and complex a phenomenon to be classed as entirely a +manifestation of auto-erotism, but certain aspects of it are admirable +illustrations of auto-erotic transformation. + +[253] The hysterical phenomenon of _globus hystericus_ was long afterward +attributed to obstruction of respiration by the womb. The interesting case +has been recorded by E. Bloch (_Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift_, 1907, p. +1649) of a lady who had the feeling of a ball rising from her stomach to +her throat, and then sinking. This feeling was associated with thoughts of +her husband's rising and falling penis, and was always most liable to +occur when she wished for coitus. + +[254] As Gilles de la Tourette points out, it is not difficult to show +that epilepsy, the _morbus sacer_ of the ancients, owed much of its sacred +character to this confusion with hysteria. Those priestesses who, struck +by the _morbus sacer_, gave forth their oracles amid convulsions, were +certainly not the victims of epilepsy, but of hysteria (_Traite de +l'Hysterie_, vol. i, p. 3). + +[255] Aretaeus, _On the Causes and Symptoms of Acute Diseases_, Book ii, +Chapter II. + +[256] It may be noted that this treatment furnishes another instance of +the continuity of therapeutic methods, through all changes of theory, from +the earliest to the latest times. Drugs of unpleasant odor, like +asafoetida, have always been used in hysteria, and scientific medicine +to-day still finds that asafoetida is a powerful sedative to the uterus, +controlling nervous conditions during pregnancy and arresting uterine +irritation when abortion is threatened (see, e.g., Warman, _Der +Frauenarzt_, August, 1895). Again, the rubbing of fragrant ointments into +the sexual regions is but a form of that massage which is one of the +modern methods of treating the sexual disorders of women. + +[257] _Les Demoniaques dans l'Art_, 1887; _Les Malades et les Difformes +dans l'Art_, 1889. + +[258] Glafira Abricosoff, of Moscow, in her Paris thesis, _L'Hysterie aux +xvii et xviii siecles_, 1897, presents a summary of the various views held +at this time; as also Gilles de la Tourette, _Traite de l'Hysterie_, vol. +i, Chapter I. + +[259] _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, June, 1883, p. 1123, and _Mental +Diseases_, 1887, p. 488. + +[260] Hegar, _Zusammenhang der Geschlechtskrankheiten mit nervoesen +Leiden_, Stuttgart, 1885. (Hegar, however, went much further than this, +and was largely responsible for the surgical treatment of hysteria now +generally recognized as worse than futile.) Balls-Headley, "Etiology of +Nervous Diseases of the Female Genital Organs," Allbutt and Playfair, +_System of Gynecology_, 1896, p. 141. + +[261] Lombroso and Ferrero, _La Donna Delinquente_, 1893, pp. 613-14. + +[262] Charcot and Marie, article on "Hysteria," Tuke's _Dictionary of +Psychological Medicine_. + +[263] Axenfeld and Huchard, _Traite des Nevroses_, 1883, pp. 1092-94. +Icard (_La Femme pendant la Periode Menstruelle_, pp. 120-21) has also +referred to recorded cases of hysteria in animals (Coste's and Peter's +cases), as has Gilles de la Tourette (op. cit., vol. i, p. 123). See also, +for references, Fere, _L'Instinct Sexuel_, p. 59. + +[264] _Man and Woman_, 4th ed., p. 326. A distinguished gynaecologist, +Matthews Duncan, had remarked some years earlier (_Lancet_, May 18, 1889) +that hysteria, though not a womb disease, "especially attaches itself to +the generative system, because the genital system, more than any other, +exerts emotional power over the individual, power also in morals, power in +social questions." + +[265] Gilles de la Tourette, _Archives de Tocologie et de Gynecologie_, +June, 1895. + +[266] _Rivista Sperimentale di Freniatria_, 1897, p. 290; summarized in +the _Journal of Mental Science_, January, 1898. + +[267] From the earliest times it was held that menstruation favors +hysteria; more recently, Landouzy recorded a number of observations +showing that hysterical attacks coincide with perfectly healthy +menstruation; while Ball has maintained that it is only during +menstruation that hysteria appears in its true color. See the opinions +collected by Icard, _La Femme pendant la Periode Menstruelle_, pp. 75-81. + +[268] Krafft-Ebing, "Ueber Neurosen und Psychosen durch Sexuelle +Abstinenz," _Jahrbuecher fuer Psychiatrie_, vol. iii, 1888. It must, +however, be added that the relief of hysteria by sexual satisfaction is +not rare, and that Rosenthal finds that the convulsions are thus +diminished. (_Allgemeine Wiener Medizinal-Zeitung_, Nos. 46 and 47, 1887.) +So they are also, in simple and uncomplicated cases, according to Mongeri, +by pregnancy. + +[269] "All doctors who have patients in convents," remarks Marro (_La +Puberta_, p. 338), "know how hysteria dominates among them;" he adds that +his own experience confirms that of Raciborski, who found that nuns +devoted to the contemplative life are more liable to hysteria than those +who are occupied in teaching or in nursing. It must be added, however, +that there is not unanimity as to the prevalence of hysteria in convents. +Brachet was of the same opinion as Briquet, and so considered it rare. +Imbert-Goubeyre, also (_La Stigmatisation_, p. 436) states that during +more than forty years of medical life, though he has been connected with a +number of religious communities, he has not found in them a single +hysterical subject, the reason being, he remarks, that the unbalanced and +extravagant are refused admission to the cloister. + +[270] Parent-Duchatelet, _De la Prostitution_, vol. i, p. 242. + +[271] It may not be unnecessary to point out that here and throughout, in +speaking of the psychic mechanism of hysteria, I do not admit that any +process can be _purely_ psychic. As Fere puts it in an admirable study of +hysteria (_Twentieth Century Practice of Medicine_, 1897, vol. x, p. 556): +"In the genesis of hysterical troubles everything takes place as if the +psychical and the somatic phenomena were two aspects of the same +biological fact." + +[272] Pierre Janet, _L'Automatisme Psychologique_, 1889; _L'Etat mental +des Hysteriques_, 1894; _Nevroses et Idees fixes_, 1898; Breuer und Freud, +_Studien ueber Hysterie_, Vienna, 1895; the best introduction to Freud's +work is, however, to be found in the two series of his _Sammlung Kleiner +Schriften zur Neurosenlehre_, published in a collected form in 1906 and +1909. It may be added that a useful selection of Freud's papers has lately +(1909) been published in English. + +[273] We might, perhaps, even say that in hysteria the so-called higher +centres have an abnormally strong inhibitory influence over the lower +centres. Gioffredi (_Gazzetta degli Ospedali_, October 1, 1895) has shown +that some hysterical symptoms, such as mutism, can be cured by +etherization, thus loosening the control of the higher centres. + +[274] Charcot's school could not fail to recognize the erotic tone which +often dominates hysterical hallucinations. Gilles de la Tourette seeks to +minimize it by the remark that "it is more mental than real." He means to +say that it is more psychic than physical, but he implies that the +physical element in sex is alone "real," a strange assumption in any case, +as well as destructive of Gilles de la Tourette's own fundamental +assertion that hysteria is a real disease and yet purely psychic. + +[275] See, e.g., his substantial volume, _Die Traumdeutung_, 1900, 2d ed. +1909. + +[276] _Sammlung_, first series, p. 208. + +[277] _Studien ueber Hysterie_, p. 217. + +[278] _Sammlung_, first series, p. 162. + +[279] _Sammlung_, second series, p. 102. + +[280] Ib. p. 146. + +[281] _Sammlung_, first series, p. 229. Freud has developed his conception +of sexual constitution in _Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie_, 1905. + +[282] As Moll remarks, Freud's conceptions are still somewhat subjective, +and in need of objective demonstration; but whatever may be thought of +their theories, he adds, there can be no doubt that Breuer and Freud have +done a great service by calling attention to the important action of the +sexual life on the nervous system. + +[283] Gertrude Stein, "Cultivated Motor Automatism," _Psychological +Review_, May, 1898. + +[284] Charcot's most faithful followers refuse to recognize a "hysteric +temperament," and are quite right, if such a conception is used to destroy +the conception of hysteria as a definite disease. We cannot, however, fail +to recognize a diathesis which, while still apparently healthy, is +predisposed to hysteria. So distinguished a disciple of Charcot as Janet +thoroughly recognizes this, and argues (_L'Etat mental_, etc., p. 298) +that "we may find in the habits, the passions, the psychic automatism of +the normal man, the germ of all hysterical phenomena." Fere held a +somewhat similar view. + +[285] A.F.A. King, "Hysteria," _American Journal of Obstetrics_, May 18, +1891. + +[286] M. Rosenthal, _Diseases of the Nervous System_, vol. ii, p. 44. Fere +notes similar cases (_Twentieth Century Practice of Medicine_, vol. x, p. +551). Long previously, Gall had recorded the case of a young widow of +ardent temperament who had convulsive attacks, apparently of hysterical +nature, which always terminated in sexual orgasm (_Fonctions du Cerveau_, +1825, vol. iii, p. 245). + +[287] There seems to be a greater necessity for such explosive +manifestations in women than in men, whatever the reason may be. I have +brought together some of the evidence pointing in this direction in _Man +and Woman_, 4th ed., revised and enlarged, Chapters xii and xiii. + +[288] There is no doubt an element of real truth in this ancient belief, +though it mainly holds good of minor cases of hysteria. Many excellent +authorities accept it. "Hysteria is certainly common in the single," +Herman remarks (_Diseases of Women_, 1898, p. 33), "and is generally cured +by a happy marriage." Loewenfeld (_Sexualleben und Nervenleiden_, p. 153) +says that "it cannot be denied that marriage produces a beneficial change +in the general condition of many hysterical patients," though, he adds, it +will not remove the hysterical temperament. The advantage of marriage for +the hysterical is not necessarily due, solely or at all, to the exercise +of sexual functions. This is pointed out by Mongeri, who observes +(_Allgemeine Zeitschrift fuer Psychiatrie_, 1901, Heft 5, p. 917): "I have +known and treated several hysterical girls who are now married, and do not +show the least neuropathic indications. Some of these no longer have any +wish for sexual gratification, and even fulfil their marital duties +unwillingly, though loving their husbands and living with them in an +extremely happy way. In my opinion, marriage is a sovereign remedy for +neuropathic women, who need to find a support in another personality, able +to share with them the battle of life." + + + + +III. + +The Prevalence of Masturbation--Its Occurrence in Infancy and +Childhood--Is it More Frequent in Males or Females?--After Adolescence +Apparently more Frequent in Women--Reasons for the Sexual Distribution of +Masturbation--The Alleged Evils of Masturbation--Historical Sketch of the +Views Held on This Point--The Symptoms and Results of Masturbation--Its +Alleged Influence in Causing Eye Disorders--Its Relation to Insanity and +Nervous Disorders--The Evil Effects of Masturbation Usually Occur on the +Basis of a Congenitally Morbid Nervous System--Neurasthenia Probably the +Commonest Accompaniment of Excessive Masturbation--Precocious Masturbation +Tends to Produce Aversion to Coitus--Psychic Results of Habitual +Masturbation--Masturbation in Men of Genius--Masturbation as a Nervous +Sedative--Typical Cases--The Greek Attitude toward Masturbation--Attitude +of the Catholic Theologians--The Mohammedan Attitude--The Modern +Scientific Attitude--In What Sense is Masturbation Normal?--The Immense +Part in Life Played by Transmuted Auto-erotic Phenomena. + + +The foregoing sketch will serve to show how vast is the field of life--of +normal and not merely abnormal life--more or less infused by auto-erotic +phenomena. If, however, we proceed to investigate precisely the exact +extent, degree, and significance of such phenomena, we are met by many +difficulties. We find, indeed, that no attempts have been made to study +auto-erotic phenomena, except as regards the group--a somewhat artificial +group, as I have already tried to show--collected under the term +"masturbation" while even here such attempts have only been made among +abnormal classes of people, or have been conducted in a manner scarcely +likely to yield reliable results.[289] Still there is a certain +significance in the more careful investigations which have been made to +ascertain the precise frequency of masturbation. + +Berger, an experienced specialist in nervous diseases, concluded, in his +_Vorlesungen_, that 99 per cent. of young men and women masturbate +occasionally, while the hundredth conceals the truth;[290] and Hermann +Cohn appears to accept this statement as generally true in Germany. So +high an estimate has, of course, been called in question, and, since it +appears to rest on no basis of careful investigation, we need not +seriously consider it. It is useless to argue on suppositions; we must +cling to our definite evidence, even though it yields figures which are +probably below the mark. Rohleder considers that during adolescence at +least 95 per cent. of both sexes masturbate, but his figures are not +founded on precise investigation.[291] Julian Marcuse, on the basis of his +own statistics, concludes that 92 per cent. male individuals have to some +extent masturbated in youth. Perhaps, also, weight attaches to the opinion +of Dukes, physician to Rugby School, who states that from 90 to 95 per +cent. of all boys at boarding school masturbate.[292] Seerley, of +Springfield, Mass., found that of 125 academic students only 8 assured him +they had never masturbated; while of 347, who answered his questions, 71 +denied that they practiced masturbation, which seems to imply that 79 per +cent. admitted that they practiced it.[293] Brockman, also in America, +among 232 theological students, of the average age of 231/2 years and coming +from various parts of the United States, found that 132 spontaneously +admitted that masturbation was their most serious temptation and all but +one of these admitted that he yielded, 69 of them to a considerable +extent. This is a proportion of at least 56 per cent., the real proportion +being doubtless larger, since no question had been asked as to sexual +offenses; 75 practiced masturbation after conversion, and 24 after they +had decided to become ministers; only 66 mentioned sexual intercourse as +their chief temptation; but altogether sexual temptations outnumbered all +others together.[294] Moraglia, who made inquiry of 200 women of the lower +class in Italy, found that 120 acknowledged either that they still +masturbate or that they had done so during a long period.[295] Gualino +found that 23 per cent. men of the professional classes in North Italy +masturbate about puberty; no account was taken of those who began later. +"Here in Switzerland," a correspondent writes, "I have had occasion to +learn from adult men, whom I can trust, that they have reached the age of +twenty-five, or over, without sexual congress. '_Wir haben nicht dieses +Beduerfniss_,' is what they say. But I believe that, in the case of the +Swiss mountaineers, moderate onanism is practiced, as a rule." In hot +countries the same habits are found at a more precocious age. In +Venezuela, for instance, among the Spanish creoles, Ernst found that in +all classes boys and girls are infested with the vice of onanism. They +learn it early, in the very beginning of life, from their wet-nurses, +generally low Mulatto women, and many reasons help to foster the habit; +the young men are often dissipated and the young women often remain +single.[296] Niceforo, who shows a special knowledge of the working-girl +class at Rome, states that in many milliners' and dressmakers' workrooms, +where young girls are employed, it frequently happens that during the +hottest hours of the day, between twelve and two, when the mistress or +forewoman is asleep, all the girls without exception give themselves up to +masturbation.[297] In France a country _cure_ assured Debreyne that among +the little girls who come up for their first communion, 11 out of 12 were +given to masturbation.[298] The medical officer of a Prussian reformatory +told Rohleder that nearly all the inmates over the age of puberty +masturbated. Stanley Hall knew a reform school in America where +masturbation was practiced without exception, and he who could practice +it oftenest was regarded with hero-worship.[299] Ferriani, who has made an +elaborate study of youthful criminality in Italy, states that even if all +boys and girls among the general population do not masturbate, it is +certainly so among those who have a tendency to crime. Among 458 adult +male criminals, Marro (as he states in his _Caratteri dei Delinquenti_) +found that only 72 denied masturbation, while 386 had practiced it from an +early age, 140 of them before the age of thirteen. Among 30 criminal women +Moraglia found that 24 acknowledged the practice, at all events in early +youth (8 of them before the age of 10, a precocity accompanied by average +precocity in menstruation), while he suspected that most of the remainder +were not unfamiliar with the practice. Among prostitutes of whatever class +or position Moraglia found masturbation (though it must be pointed out +that he does not appear to distinguish masturbation very clearly from +homosexual practices) to be universal; in one group of 50 prostitutes +everyone had practiced masturbation at some period; 28 began between the +ages of 6 and 11; 19, between 12 and 14, the most usual period--a +precocious one--of commencing puberty; the remaining 3 at 15 and 16; the +average age of commencing masturbation, it may be added, was 11, while +that of the first sexual intercourse was 15.[300] In a larger group of 180 +prostitutes, belonging to Genoa, Turin, Venice, etc., and among 23 +"elegant cocottes," of Italian and foreign origin, Moraglia obtained the +same results; everyone admitted masturbation, and not less than 113 +preferred masturbation, either solitary or mutual, to normal coitus. Among +the insane, as among idiots, masturbation is somewhat more common among +males, according to Blandford, in England, as also it is in Germany, +according to Naecke,[301] while Venturi, in Italy, has found it more common +among females.[302] + +There appears to be no limit to the age at which spontaneous masturbation +may begin to appear. I have already referred to the practice of +thigh-rubbing in infants under one year of age. J.P. West has reported in +detail 3 cases of masturbation in very early childhood--2 in girls, 1 in a +boy--in which the practice had been acquired spontaneously, and could only +be traced to some source of irritation in pressure from clothing, +etc.[303] Probably there is often in such cases some hereditary lack of +nervous stability. Block has recorded the case of a girl--very bright for +her age, though excessively shy and taciturn--who began masturbating +spontaneously at the age of two; in this case the mother had masturbated +all her life, even continuing the practice after marriage, and, though she +succeeded in refraining during pregnancy, her thoughts still dwelt upon +it, while the maternal grandmother had died in an asylum from +"masturbatory insanity." + +Freud considers that auto-erotic manifestations are common in infancy, and +that the rhythmic function of any sensitive spot, primarily the lips, may +easily pass into masturbation. He regards the infantile manifestations of +which thumb-sucking is the most familiar example (Luedeln or Lutschen in +German) as auto-erotic, the germ arising in sucking the breasts since the +lips are an erogenous zone which may easily be excited by the warm stream +of milk. But this only occurs, he points out, in subjects in whom the +sensitivity of the lip zone is heightened and especially in those who at a +later age are liable to become hysterical.[304] Shuttleworth also points +out that the mere fidgetiness of a neurotic infant, even when only a few +months old, sometimes leads to the spontaneous and accidental discovery of +pleasurable sexual sensations, which for a time appease the restlessness +of nervous instability, though a vicious circle is thus established. He +has found that, especially among quite young girls of neurotic heredity, +self-induced excitement, often in the form of thigh-friction, is more +common than is usually supposed.[305] + +Normally there appears to be a varying aptitude to experience the sexual +organism, or any voluptuous sensations before puberty. I find, on +eliciting the recollections of normal persons, that in some cases there +have been voluptuous sensations from casual contact with the sexual organs +at a very early age; in other cases there has been occasional slight +excitement from early years; in yet other cases complete sexual anaesthesia +until the age of puberty. That the latter condition is not due to mere +absence of peripheral irritation is shown by a case I am acquainted with, +in which a boy of 7, incited by a companion, innocently attempted, at +intervals during several weeks, to produce erection by friction of the +penis; no result of any kind followed, although erections occurred +spontaneously at puberty, with normal sexual feelings.[306] + + I am indebted to a correspondent for the following notes:-- + + "From my observation during five years at a boarding-school, it + _seems_ that eight out of ten boys were more or less addicted to + the practice. But I would not state _positively_ that such was + the proportion of masturbators among an average of thirty pupils, + though the habit was very common. I know that in one bedroom, + sleeping seven boys, the whole number masturbated frequently. The + act was performed in bed, in the closets, and sometimes in the + classrooms during lessons. Inquiry among my friends as to onanism + in the boarding-schools to which they were sent, elicited + somewhat contradictory answers concerning the frequency of the + habit. Dr. ----, who went to a French school, told me that _all_ + the older boys had younger accomplices in mutual masturbation. He + also spoke with experience of the prevalence of the practice in a + well-known public school in the west of England. B. said _all_ + the boys at his school masturbated; G. stated that _most_ of his + schoolmates were onanists; L. said 'more than half' was the + proportion. + + "At my school, manual masturbation was both solitary and mutual; + and sometimes younger boys, who had not acquired the habit, were + induced to manipulate bigger boys. One very precocious boy of + fifteen always chose a companion of ten 'because his hand was + like a woman's.' Sometimes boys entered their friend's bed for + mutual excitement. In after-life they showed no signs of + inversion. Another boy, aged about fourteen, who had been seduced + by a servant-girl, embraced the bolster; the pleasurable + sensations, according to his statement, were heightened by + imagining that the bolster was a woman. He said that the + enjoyment of the act was greatly increased during the holidays, + when he was able to spread a pair of his sister's drawers upon + the pillow, and so intensify the illusion. + + "Before puberty the boys appeared to be more continent than + afterward. A few of the older and more intelligent masturbators + regulated the habit, as some married men regulate intercourse. + The big boy referred to, who chose always the same manipulator, + professed to indulge only once in twenty days, his reason being + that more frequent repetition of the act would injure his health. + About twice a week for boys who had reached puberty, and once a + week for younger boys, was, I think, about the average + indulgence. I have never met with a parallel of one of those + cases of excessive masturbation recorded by many doctors. There + may have been such cases at this school; but, if so, the boys + concealed the frequency of their gratifications. + + "My experience proved that many of the lads regarded masturbation + as reprehensible; but their plea was 'everyone does it.' Some, + often those who indulged inordinately and more secretly than + their companions, gravely condemned the practice as sinful. A few + seemed to think there was 'no harm in it,' but that the habit + might stunt the growth and weaken the body if practiced very + frequently. The greater number made no attempt to conceal the + habit, they enlarged upon the pleasure of it; it was 'ever so + much nicer than eating tarts,' etc. + + "The chief cause I believe to be initiation by an older + schoolmate. But I have known accidental causes, such as the + discovery that swarming up a pole pleasurably excited the organ, + rubbing to allay irritation, and simple, curious handling of the + erect penis in the early morning before rising from bed." + + I quote the foregoing communication as perhaps a fairly typical + experience in a British school, though I am myself inclined to + think that the prevalence of masturbation in schools is often + much overrated, for, while in some schools the practice is + doubtless rampant, in others it is practically unknown, or, at + all events, only practiced by a few individuals in secret. My own + early recollections of (private) school-life fail to yield any + reminiscences of any kind connected with either masturbation or + homosexuality; and, while such happy ignorance may be the + exception rather than the rule, I am certainly inclined to + believe that--owing to race and climate, and healthier conditions + of life--the sexual impulse is less precocious and less + prominently developed during the school-age in England than in + some Continental countries. It is probably to this delayed + development that we should attribute the contrast that Ferrero + finds (_L'Europa Giovane_, pp. 151-56), and certainly states too + absolutely, between the sexual reserve of young Englishmen and + the sexual immodesty of his own countrymen. + + In Germany, Naecke has also stated ("Kritisches zum Kapitel der + Sexualitaet," _Archiv fuer Psychiatrie_, pp. 354-56, 1899) that he + heard nothing at school either of masturbation or homosexuality, + and he records the experience of medical friends who stated that + such phenomena were only rare exceptions, and regarded by the + majority of the boys as exhibitions of "_Schweinerei_." At other + German schools, as Hoche has shown, sexual practices are very + prevalent. It is evident that at different schools, and even at + the same school at different times, these manifestations vary in + frequency within wide limits. + + Such variations, it seems to me, are due to two causes. In the + first place, they largely depend upon the character of the more + influential elder boys. In the second place, they depend upon the + attitude of the head-master. With reference to this point I may + quote from a letter written by an experienced master in one of + the most famous English public schools: "When I first came to + ----, a quarter of a century ago, Dr. ---- was making a crusade + against this failing; boys were sent away wholesale; the school + was summoned and lectured solemnly; and the more the severities, + the more rampant the disease. I thought to myself that the remedy + was creating the malady, and I heard afterward, from an old boy, + that in those days they used to talk things over by the fireside, + and think there must be something very choice in a sin that + braved so much. Dr. ---- went, and, under ----, we never spoke of + such things. Curiosity died down, and the thing itself, I + believe, was lessened. We were told to warn new boys of the + dangers to health and morals of such offences, lest the innocent + should be caught in ignorance. I have only spoken to a few; I + think the great thing is not to put it in boys' heads. I have + noticed solitary faults most commonly, and then I tell the boy + how he is physically weakening himself. If you notice, it is + puppies that seem to go against Nature, but grown dogs, never. + So, if two small boys acted thus, I should think it merely an + instinctive feeling after Nature, which would amend itself. Many + here would consider it a heinous sin, but those who think such + things sins make them sins. I have seen, in the old days, most + delightful little children sent away, branded with infamy, and + scarce knowing why--you might as well expel a boy for scratching + his head when it itched. I am sure the soundest way is to treat + it as a doctor would, and explain to the boy the physical effects + of over-indulgence of any sort. When it is combated from the + monkish standpoint, the evil becomes an epidemic." I am, however, + far from anxious to indorse the policy of ignoring the sexual + phenomena of youth. It is not the speaking about such things that + should be called in question, but the wisdom and good sense of + the speaker. We ought to expect a head-master to possess both an + adequate acquaintance with the nature of the phenomena of + auto-erotism and homosexuality, and a reasonable amount of tact + in dealing with boys; he may then fairly be trusted to exercise + his own judgment. It may be doubted whether boys should be made + too alive to the existence of sexual phenomena; there can be no + doubt about their teachers. The same is, of course, true as + regards girls, among whom the same phenomena, though less + obtrusive, are not less liable to occur. + +As to whether masturbation is more common in one sex than the other, there +have been considerable differences of opinion. Tissot considered it more +prevalent among women; Christian believed it commoner among men; Deslandes +and Iwan Bloch hold that there are no sexual differences, and Garnier was +doubtful. Lawson Tait, in his _Diseases of Women_, stated his opinion that +in England, while very common among boys, it is relatively rare among +women, and then usually taught. Spitzka, in America, also found it +relatively rare among women, and Dana considers it commoner in boys than +in girls or adults.[307] Moll is inclined to think that masturbation is +less common in women and girls than in the male sex. Rohleder believes +that after puberty, when it is equally common in both sexes, it is more +frequently found in men, but that women masturbate with more passion and +imaginative fervor.[308] Kellogg, in America, says it is equally prevalent +in both sexes, but that women are more secretive. Morris, also in America, +considers, on the other hand, that persistent masturbation is commoner in +women, and accounts for this by the healthier life and traditions of boys. +Pouillet, who studied the matter with considerable thoroughness in France, +came to the conclusion that masturbation is commoner among women, among +whom he found it to be equally prevalent in rich and poor, and especially +so in the great centres of civilization. In Russia, Guttceit states in his +_Dreissig Jahre Praxis_, that from the ages of 10 to 16 boys masturbate +more than girls, who know less about the practice which has not for them +the charm of the forbidden, but after 16 he finds the practice more +frequent in girls and women than in youths and men. Naecke, in Germany, +believes that there is much evidence pointing in the same direction, and +Adler considers masturbation very common in women. Moraglia is decidedly +of the opinion, on the ground of his own observations already alluded to, +that masturbation is more frequent among women; he refers to the fact--a +very significant fact, as I shall elsewhere have to point out--that, while +in man there is only one sexual centre, the penis, in woman there are +several centres,--the clitoris, the vagina, the uterus, the +breasts,[309]--and he mentions that he knew a prostitute, a well-developed +brunette of somewhat nervous temperament, who boasted that she knew +fourteen ways of masturbating herself. + +My own opinion is that the question of the sexual distribution of +masturbation has been somewhat obscured by that harmful tendency, to which +I have already alluded, to concentrate attention on a particular set of +auto-erotic phenomena. We must group and divide our facts rationally if we +wish to command them. If we confine our attention to very young children, +the available evidence shows that the practice is much more common in +females,[310] and such a result is in harmony with the fact that +precocious puberty is most often found in female children.[311] At +puberty and adolescence occasional or frequent masturbation is common in +both boys and girls, though, I believe, less common than is sometimes +supposed; it is difficult to say whether it is more prevalent among boys +or girls; one is inclined to conclude that it prevails more widely among +boys. The sexual impulse, and consequently the tendency to masturbation, +tend to be aroused later, and less easily in girls than in youths, though +it must also be remembered that boys' traditions and their more active +life keep the tendency in abeyance, while in girls there is much less +frequently any restraining influence of corresponding character.[312] In +my study of inversion I have found that ignorance and the same absence of +tradition are probably factors in the prevalence of homosexual tendencies +among women.[313] After adolescence I think there can be no doubt that +masturbation is more common in women than in men. Men have, by this time, +mostly adopted some method of sexual gratification with the opposite sex; +women are to a much larger extent shut out from such gratification; +moreover, while in rare cases women are sexually precocious, it more often +happens that their sexual impulses only gain strength and +self-consciousness after adolescence has passed. I have been much +impressed by the frequency with which masturbation is occasionally +(especially about the period of menstruation) practiced by active, +intelligent, and healthy women who otherwise lead a chaste life. This +experience is confirmed by others who are in a position to ascertain the +facts among normal people; thus a lady, who has received the confidence of +many women, told me that she believes that all women who remain unmarried +masturbate, as she found so much evidence pointing in this direction.[314] +This statement certainly needs some qualification, though I believe it is +not far from the truth as regards young and healthy women who, after +having normal sexual relationships, have been compelled for some reason or +other to break them off and lead a lonely life.[315] But we have to +remember that there are some women, evidently with a considerable degree +of congenital sexual anaesthesia (no doubt, in some respect or another +below the standard of normal health), in whom the sexual instinct has +never been aroused, and who not only do not masturbate, but do not show +any desire for normal gratification; while in a large proportion of other +cases the impulse is gratified passively in ways I have already referred +to. The auto-erotic phenomena which take place in this way, spontaneously, +by yielding to revery, with little or no active interference, certainly +occur much more frequently in women than in men. On the other hand, +contrary to what one might be led to expect, the closely-related +auto-erotic phenomena during sleep seem to take place more frequently in +men, although in women, as we have found ground for concluding, they +reverberate much more widely and impressively on the waking psychical +life. + + We owe to Restif de la Bretonne what is perhaps the earliest + precise description of a woman masturbating. In 1755 he knew a + dark young woman, plain but well-made, and of warm temperament, + educated in a convent. She was observed one day, when gazing from + her window at a young man in whom she was tenderly interested, to + become much excited. "Her movements became agitated; I approached + her, and really believe that she was uttering affectionate + expressions; she had become red. Then she sighed deeply, and + became motionless, stretching out her legs, which she stiffened, + as if she felt pain." It is further hinted that her hands took + part in this manoeuvre (_Monsieur Nicolas_, vol. vi, p. 143). + + Pictorial representations of a woman masturbating also occur in + eighteenth century engravings. Thus, in France, Baudouin's "Le + Midi" (reproduced in Fuchs's _Das Erotische Element in der + Karikatur_, Fig. 92), represents an elegant young lady in a + rococo garden-bower; she has been reading a book she has now just + dropped, together with her sunshade; she leans languorously back, + and her hand begins to find its way through her placket-hole. + + Adler, who has studied masturbation in women with more care than + any previous writer, has recorded in detail the auto-erotic + manifestations involved in the case of an intelligent and + unprejudiced woman, aged 30, who had begun masturbating when + twenty, and practiced it at intervals of a few weeks. She + experienced the desire for sexual gratification under the + following circumstances: (1) spontaneously, directly before or + after menstruation; (2) as a method to cure sleeplessness; (3) + after washing the parts with warm (but not cold) water; (4) after + erotic dreams; (5) quite suddenly, without definite cause. The + phenomena of the masturbatory process fell into two stages: (1) + incomplete excitement, (2) the highest pleasurable gratification. + It only took place in the evening, or at night, and a special + position was necessary, with the right knee bent, and the right + foot against the knee of the extended left leg. The bent index + and middle fingers of the right hand were then applied firmly to + the lower third of the left labium minus, which was rubbed + against the underlying parts. At this stage, the manifestations + sometimes stopped, either from an effort of self-control or from + fatigue of the arm. There was no emission of mucus, or general + perspiration, but some degree of satisfaction and of fatigue, + followed by sleep. If, however, the manipulation was continued, + the second stage was reached, and the middle finger sank into the + vagina, while the index finger remained on the labium, the rest + of the hand holding and compressing the whole of the vulva, from + pubes to anus, against the symphysis, with a backwards and + forwards movement, the left hand also being frequently used to + support and assist the right. The parts now gave a mushroom-like + feeling to the touch, and in a few seconds, or after a longer + interval, the complete feeling of pleasurable satisfaction was + attained. At the same moment there was (but only after she had + had experience of coitus) an involuntary elevation of the pelvis, + together with emission of mucus, making the hand wet, this mucus + having an odor, and being quite distinct from the ordinary + odorless mucus of the vagina; at the same time, the finger in the + vagina felt slight contractions of the whole vaginal wall. The + climax of sexual pleasure lasted a few seconds, with its + concomitant vaginal contractions, then slowly subsided with a + feeling of general well-being, the finger at the same time + slipping out of the vagina, and she was left in a state of + general perspiration, and sleep would immediately follow; when + this was not the case, she was frequently conscious of some + degree of sensibility in the sacrum, lasting for several hours, + and especially felt when sitting. When masturbation was the + result of an erotic dream (which occurred but seldom), the first + stage was already reached in sleep, and the second was more + quickly obtained. During the act it was only occasionally that + any thoughts of men or of coitus were present, the attention + being fixed on the coming climax. The psychic state afterwards + was usually one of self-reproach. (O. Adler, _Die Mangelhafte + Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, 1904, pp. 26-29.) The + phenomena in this case may be regarded as fairly typical, but + there are many individual variations; mucus emissions and vaginal + contractions frequently occur before actual orgasm, and there is + not usually any insertion of the finger into the vagina in women + who have never experienced coitus, or, indeed, even in those who + have. + +We must now turn to that aspect of our subject which in the past has +always seemed the only aspect of auto-erotic phenomena meriting attention: +the symptoms and results of chronic masturbation. It appears to have been +an Englishman who, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, first +called popular attention to the supposed evils of masturbation. His book +was published in London, and entitled: _Onania, or the Heinous Sin of +Self-pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences in both Sexes, +Considered, with Spiritual and Physical Advice_, etc. It is not a serious +medical treatise, but an early and certainly superior example of a kind of +literature which we have since become familiar with through the daily +newspapers. A large part of the book, which is cleverly written, is +devoted in the later editions to the letters of nervous and +hypochondriacal young men and women, who are too shy to visit the author, +but request him to send a bottle of his "Strengthening Tincture," and +mention that they are inclosing half a guinea, a guinea, or still larger +sum. Concerning the composition of the "Strengthening Tincture" we are not +informed.[316] This work, which was subsequently attributed to a writer +named Bekkers, is said to have passed through no less than eighty +editions, and it was translated into German. Tissot, a physician of +Lausanne, followed with his _Traite de l'Onanisme: Dissertation sur les +Maladies produites par la Masturbation_, first published in Latin (1760), +then in French (1764), and afterward in nearly all European languages. He +regarded masturbation as a crime, and as "an act of suicide." His book is +a production of amusing exaggeration and rhetoric, zealously setting forth +the prodigious evils of masturbation in a style which combines, as +Christian remarks, the strains of Rousseau with a vein of religious piety. +Tissot included only manual self-abuse under the term "onanism;" shortly +afterward, Voltaire, in his _Dictionnaire Philosophique_, took up the +subject, giving it a wider meaning and still further popularizing it. +Finally Lallemand, at a somewhat later period (1836), wrote a book which +was, indeed, more scientific in character, but which still sought to +represent masturbation as the source of all evils. These four writers--the +author of _Onania_, Tissot, Voltaire, Lallemand--are certainly responsible +for much. The mistaken notions of many medical authorities, carried on by +tradition, even down to our own time; the powerful lever which has been +put into the hand of unscrupulous quacks; the suffering, dread, and +remorse experienced in silence by many thousands of ignorant and often +innocent young people may all be traced in large measure back to these +four well-meaning, but (on this question) misguided, authors. + +There is really no end to the list of real or supposed symptoms and +results of masturbation, as given by various medical writers during the +last century. Insanity, epilepsy, numerous forms of eye disease, +supra-orbital headache, occipital headache (Spitzka), strange sensations +at the top of the head (Savage), various forms of neuralgia (Anstie, J. +Chapman), tenderness of the skin in the lower dorsal region (Chapman), +mammary tenderness in young girls (Lacassagne), mammary hypertrophy +(Ossendovsky), asthma (Peyer), cardiac murmurs (Seerley), the appearance +of vesicles on wounds (Baraduc), acne and other forms of cutaneous +eruptions (the author of _Onania_, Clipson), dilated pupils (Skene, +Lewis, Moraglia), eyes directed upward and sideways (Pouillet), dark rings +around the eyes, intermittent functional deafness (Bonnier), painful +menstruation (J. Chapman), catarrh of uterus and vagina (Winckel, +Pouillet), ovarian disease (Jessett), pale and discolored skin (Lewis, +Moraglia), redness of nose (Gruner), epistaxis (Joal, J.N. Mackenzie), +morbid changes in nose (Fliess), convulsive cough of puberty (Gowers), +acidity of vagina (R.W. Shufeldt), incontinence of urine in young women +(Girandeau), warts on the hands in women (Durr, Kreichmar, von Oye), +hallucinations of smell and hearing, (Griesinger, Lewis), intermittent +functional deafness (Bonnier), indican in the urine (Herter), an +indescribable odor of the skin in women (Skene), these are but a few of +the signs and consequences of masturbation given by various prominent +authorities.[317] + +That many of these manifestations do occur in connection with masturbation +is unquestionable; there is also good reason to believe that some of them +may be the results of masturbation acting on an imperfectly healthy +organism. But in all such cases we must speak with great caution, for +there appears to be little reliable evidence to show that simple +masturbation, in a well-born and healthy individual, can produce any evil +results beyond slight functional disturbances, and these only when it is +practiced in excess. To illustrate the real pathological relationships of +masturbation, a few typical and important disorders may be briefly +considered. + +The delicate mechanism of the eye is one of the first portions of the +nervous apparatus to be disturbed by any undue strain on the system; it is +not surprising that masturbation should be widely incriminated as a cause +of eye troubles. If, however, we inquire into the results obtained by the +most cautious and experienced ophthalmological observers, it grows evident +that masturbation, as a cause of disease of the eye, becomes merged into +wider causes. In Germany, Hermann Cohn, the distinguished ophthalmic +surgeon of Breslau, has dealt fully with the question.[318] Cohn, who +believes that all young men and women masturbate to some extent, finds +that masturbation must be excessive for eye trouble to become apparent. In +most of his cases there was masturbation several times daily during from +five to seven years, in many during ten years, and in one during +twenty-three years. In such cases we are obviously dealing with abnormal +persons, and no one will dispute the possibility of harmful results; in +some of the cases, when masturbation was stopped, the eye trouble +improved. Even in these cases, however, the troubles were but slight, the +chief being, apparently, photopsia (a subjective sensation of light) with +otherwise normal conditions of pupil, vision, color-sense, and retina. In +some cases there was photophobia, and he has also found paralysis of +accommodation and conjunctivitis. At a later date Salmo Cohn, in his +comprehensive monograph on the relationship between the eye and the sexual +organs in women, brought together numerous cases of eye troubles in young +women associated with masturbation, but in most of these cases +masturbation had been practiced with great frequency for a long period and +the ocular affections were usually not serious.[319] In England, Power has +investigated the relations of the sexual system to eye disease. He is +inclined to think that the effects of masturbation have been exaggerated, +but he believes that it may produce such for the most part trivial +complaints as photopsisae, muscsae, muscular asthenopia, possibly +blepharospasm, and perhaps conjunctivitis. He goes on, however, to point +out that more serious complaints of the eye are caused by excess in normal +coitus, by sexual abstinence, and especially by disordered menstruation. +Thus we see that even when we are considering a mechanism so delicately +poised and one so easily disturbed by any jar of the system as vision, +masturbation produces no effect except when carried to an extent which +argues a hereditarily imperfect organism, while even in these cases the +effects are usually but slight, moreover, in no respect specific, but are +paralleled and even exceeded by the results of other disturbances of the +sexual system. + +Let us turn to the supposed influence of masturbation in causing insanity +and nervous diseases. Here we may chiefly realize the immense influence +exerted on medical science by Tissot and his followers during a hundred +years. Mental weakness is the cause and not the result of excessive +masturbation, Gall declared,[320] but he was a man of genius, in +isolation. Sir William Ellis, an alienist of considerable reputation at +the beginning of the last century, could write with scientific equanimity: +"I have no hesitation in saying that, in a very large number of patients +in all public asylums, the disease may be attributed to that cause." He +does, indeed, admit that it may be only a symptom sometimes, but goes on +to assert that masturbation "has not hitherto been exhibited in the awful +light in which it deserves to be shown," and that "in by far the greater +number of cases" it is the true cause of dementia.[321] Esquirol lent his +name and influence to a similar view of the pernicious influence of +masturbation. Throughout the century, even down to the present day, this +point of view has been traditionally preserved in a modified form. In +apparent ignorance of the enormous prevalence of masturbation, and +without, so far as can be seen, any attempt to distinguish between cause +and effect or to eliminate the hereditary neuropathic element, many +alienists have set down a large proportion of cases of insanity, idiocy, +epilepsy, and disease of the spinal cord to uncomplicated masturbation. +Thus, at the Matteawan State Hospital (New York) for criminal lunatics and +insane prisoners, from 1875 to 1907, masturbation was the sole assigned +cause of insanity in 160 men (out of 2,595); while, according to Dr. Clara +Barrus, among 121 cases of insanity in young women, masturbation is the +cause in ten cases.[322] It is unnecessary to multiply examples, for this +traditional tendency is familiar to all. + +It appears to have been largely due to Griesinger, in the middle of the +last century, that we owe the first authoritative appearance of a saner, +more discriminating view regarding the results of masturbation. Although +still to some extent fettered by the traditions prevalent in his day, +Griesinger saw that it was not so much masturbation itself as the feelings +aroused in sensitive minds by the social attitude toward masturbation +which produced evil effects. "That constant struggle," he wrote, "against +a desire which is even overpowering, and to which the individual always in +the end succumbs, that hidden strife between shame, repentance, good +intentions, and the irritation which impels to the act, this, after not a +little acquaintance with onanists, we consider to be far more important +than the primary direct physical effect." He added that there are no +specific signs of masturbation, and concluded that it is oftener a symptom +than a cause. The general progress of educated opinions since that date +has, in the main, confirmed and carried forward the results cautiously +stated by Griesinger. This distinguished alienist thought that, when +practiced in childhood, masturbation might lead to insanity. Berkhan, in +his investigation of the psychoses of childhood, found that in no single +case was masturbation a cause. Vogel, Uffelmann, and Emminghaus, in the +course of similar studies, have all come to almost similar +conclusions.[323] It is only on a congenitally morbid nervous system, +Emminghaus insists, that masturbation can produce any serious results. +"Most of the cases charged to masturbation," writes Kiernan (in a private +letter), basing his opinion on wide clinical experience, "are either +hebephrenia or hysteria in which an effect is taken for the cause." +Christian, during twenty years' experience in hospitals, asylums, and +private practice in town and country, has not found any seriously evil +effects from masturbation.[324] He thinks, indeed, that it may be a more +serious evil in women than in men. But Yellowlees considers that in women +"it is possibly less exhausting and injurious than in the other sex," +which was also the opinion of Hammond, as well as of Guttceit, though he +found that women pushed the practice much further than men, and Naecke, who +has given special attention to this point, could not find that +masturbation is a definite cause of insanity in women in a single +case.[325] Koch also reaches a similar conclusion, as regards both sexes, +though he admits that masturbation may cause some degree of psychopathic +deterioration. Even in this respect, however, he points out that "when +practiced in moderation it is not injurious in the certain and +exceptionless way in which it is believed to be in many circles. It is the +people whose nervous systems are already injured who masturbate most +easily and practice it more immoderately than others"; the chief source of +its evil is self-reproach and the struggle with the impulse.[326] +Kahlbaum, it is true, under the influence of the older tradition, when he +erected katatonia into a separate disorder (not always accepted in later +times), regarded prolonged and excessive masturbation as a chief cause, +but I am not aware that he ever asserted that it was a sole and sufficient +cause in a healthy organism. Kiernan, one of the earliest writers on +katatonia, was careful to point out that masturbation was probably as much +effect as cause of the morbid nervous condition.[327] Maudsley (in _Body +and Mind_) recognized masturbation as a special exciting cause of a +characteristic form of insanity; but he cautiously added: "Nevertheless, I +think that self-abuse seldom, if ever, produces it without the +co-operation of the insane neurosis."[328] Schuele also recognized a +specific masturbatory insanity, but the general tendency to reject any +such nosological form is becoming marked; Krafft-Ebing long since rejected +it and Naecke decidedly opposes it. Kraepelin states that excessive +masturbation can only occur in a dangerous degree in predisposed +subjects; so, also, Forel and Loewenfeld, as at an earlier period, +Trousseau.[329] It is true that Marro, in his admirable and detailed study +of the normal and abnormal aspects of puberty, accepts a form of +masturbatory insanity; but the only illustrative case he brings forward is +a young man possessing various stigmata of degeneracy and the son of an +alcoholic father; such a case tells us nothing regarding the results of +simple masturbation.[330] Even Spitzka, who maintained several years ago +the traditional views as to the terrible results of masturbation, and +recognized a special "insanity of masturbation," stated his conclusions +with a caution that undermined his position: "Self-abuse," he concluded, +"to become a sole cause of insanity, must be begun early and carried very +far. In persons of sound antecedents it rarely, under these circumstances, +suffices to produce an actual vesania."[331] When we remember that there +is no convincing evidence to show that masturbation is "begun early and +carried very far" by "persons of sound antecedents," the significance of +Spitzka's "typical psychosis of masturbation" is somewhat annulled. It is +evident that these distinguished investigators, Marro and Spitzka, have +been induced by tradition to take up a position which their own scientific +consciences have compelled them practically to evacuate. + + Recent authorities are almost unanimous in rejecting masturbation + as a cause of insanity. Thus, Rohleder, in his comprehensive + monograph (_Die Masturbation_, 1899, pp. 185-92), although taking + a very serious view of the evil results of masturbation, points + out the unanimity which is now tending to prevail on this point, + and lays it down that "masturbation is never the direct cause of + insanity." Sexual excesses of any kind, he adds (following + Curschmann), can, at the most, merely give an impetus to a latent + form of insanity. On the whole, he concludes, the best + authorities are unanimous in agreeing that masturbation may + certainly injure mental capacity, by weakening memory and + depressing intellectual energy; that, further, in hereditarily + neurotic subjects, it may produce slight psychoses like _folie du + doute_, hypochondria, hysteria; that, finally, under no + circumstances can it produce severe psychoses like paranoia or + general paralysis. "If it caused insanity, as often as some + claim," as Kellogg remarks, "the whole race would long since have + passed into masturbatic degeneracy of mind.... It is especially + injurious in the very young, and in all who have weak nervous + systems," but "the physical traits attributed to the habit are + common to thousands of neurasthenic and neurotic individuals." + (Kellogg, _A Text-book of Mental Diseases_, 1897, pp. 94-95.) + Again, at the outset of the article on "Masturbation," in Tuke's + _Dictionary of Psychological Medicine_, Yellowlees states that, + on account of the mischief formerly done by reckless statements, + it is necessary to state plainly that "unless the practice has + been long and greatly indulged, no permanent evil effects may be + observed to follow." Naecke, again, has declared ("Kritisches zum + Kapitel der Sexualitaet," _Archiv fuer Psychiatrie_, 1899): "There + are neither somatic nor psychic symptoms peculiar on onanism. Nor + is there any specific onanistic psychosis. I am prepared to deny + that onanism ever produces any psychoses in those who are not + already predisposed." That such a view is now becoming widely + prevalent is illustrated by the cautious and temperate discussion + of masturbation in a recent work by a non-medical writer, + Geoffrey Mortimer (_Chapters on Human Love_, pp. 199-205). + +The testimony of expert witnesses with regard to the influence of +masturbation in producing other forms of psychoses and neuroses is +becoming equally decisive; and here, also, the traditions of Tissot are +being slowly effaced. "I have not, in the whole of my practice," wrote +West, forty years ago, "out of a large experience among children and +women, seen convulsions, epilepsy, or idiocy _induced_ by masturbation in +any child of either sex. Neither have I seen any instance in which +hysteria, epilepsy, or insanity in women after puberty was _due_ to +masturbation, as its efficient cause."[332] Gowers speaks somewhat less +positively, but regards masturbation as not so much a cause of true +epilepsy as of atypical attacks, sometimes of a character intermediate +between the hysteroid and the epileptoid form; this relationship he has +frequently seen in boys.[333] Leyden, among the causes of diseases of the +spinal cord, does not include any form of sexual excess. "In moderation," +Erb remarks, "masturbation is not more dangerous to the spinal cord than +natural coitus, and has no bad effects";[334] it makes no difference, Erb +considers, whether the orgasm is effected normally or in solitude. This is +also the opinion of Toulouse, of Fuerbringer, and of Curschmann, as at an +earlier period it was of Roubaud. + +While these authorities are doubtless justified in refusing to ascribe to +masturbation any part in the production of psychic or nervous diseases, it +seems to me that they are going somewhat beyond their province when they +assert that masturbation has no more injurious effect than coitus. If +sexual coitus were a purely physiological phenomenon, this position would +be sound. But the sexual orgasm is normally bound up with a mass of +powerful emotions aroused by a person of the opposite sex. It is in the +joy caused by the play of these emotions, as well as in the discharge of +the sexual orgasm, that the satisfaction of coitus resides. In the absence +of the desired partner the orgasm, whatever relief it may give, must be +followed by a sense of dissatisfaction, perhaps of depression, even of +exhaustion, often of shame and remorse. The same remark has since been +made by Stanley Hall.[335] Practically, also, as John Hunter pointed out, +there is more probability of excess in masturbation than in coitus. +Whether, as some have asserted, masturbation involves a greater nervous +effort than coitus is more doubtful.[336] It thus seems somewhat +misleading to assert that masturbation has no more injurious effect than +coitus.[337] + +Reviewing the general question of the supposed grave symptoms and signs +of masturbation, and its pernicious results, we may reach the conclusion +that in the case of moderate masturbation in healthy, well-born +individuals, no seriously pernicious results necessarily follow.[338] With +regard to the general signs, we may accept, as concerns both sexes, what +the Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of Berlin decided in 1861, in a +discussion of it in women, that there are none which can be regarded as +reliable.[339] + +We may conclude finally, with Clouston, that the opposing views on the +subject may be simply explained by the fact that the writers on both sides +have ignored or insufficiently recognized the influence of heredity and +temperament. They have done precisely what so many unscientific writers on +inebriety have continued to do unto the present day, when describing the +terrible results of alcohol without pointing out that the chief factor in +such cases has not been the alcohol, but the organization on which the +alcohol acted. Excess may act, according to the familiar old-fashioned +adage, like the lighted match. But we must always remember the obvious +truth, that it makes a considerable difference whether you threw your +lighted match into a powder magazine or into the sea. + +While we may thus dismiss the extravagant views widely held during the +past century, concerning the awful results of masturbation, as due to +ignorance and false tradition, it must be pointed out that, even in +healthy or moderately healthy individuals, any excess in solitary +self-excitement may still produce results which, though slight, are yet +harmful. The skin, digestion, and circulation may all be disordered; +headache and neuralgia may occur; and, as in normal sexual excess or in +undue frequency of sexual excitement during sleep, there is a certain +general lowering of nervous tone. Probably the most important of the +comparatively frequent results--though this also arises usually on a +somewhat morbid soil--is neurasthenia with its manifold symptoms. There +can be little doubt that the ancient belief, dating from the time of +Hippocrates, that sexual excesses produce spinal disease, as well as the +belief that masturbation causes insanity, are largely due to the failure +to diagnose neurasthenia. + + The following case of neurasthenia, recorded by Eulenburg, may be + given as a classical picture of the nervous disturbances which + may be associated with masturbation, and are frequently regarded + as solely caused by habits of masturbation: Miss H.H., 28 years + of age, a robust brunette, with fully developed figure, without + any trace of anaemia or chlorosis, but with an apathetic + expression, bluish rings around the eyes, with hypochondriacal + and melancholy feelings. She complains of pressure on the head + ("as if head would burst"), giddiness, ringing in the ears, + photopsia, hemicrania, pains in the back and at sacrum, and + symptoms of spinal adynamia, with a sense of fatigue on the least + exertion in walking or standing; she sways when standing with + closed eyes, tendon-reflexes exaggerated; there is a sense of + oppression, intercostal neuralgia, and all the signs of + neurasthenic dyspepsia; and cardialgia, nausea, flatulence, + meteorism, and alternate constipation and diarrhoea. She chiefly + complains of a feeling of weight and pain in the abdomen, caused + by the slightest movement, and of a form of pollution (with + clitoridian spasms), especially near menstruation, with copious + flow of mucus, characteristic pains, and hyperexcitability. + Menstruation was irregular and profuse. Examination showed tumid + and elongated nymphae, with brown pigmentation; rather large + vagina, with rudimentary hymen; and retroflexion of uterus. + After much persuasion the patient confessed that, when a girl of + 12, and as the result of repeated attempts at coitus by a boy of + 16, she had been impelled to frequent masturbation. This had + caused great shame and remorse, which, however, had not sufficed + to restrain the habit. Her mother having died, she lived alone + with her invalid father, and had no one in whom to confide. + Regarding herself as no longer a virgin, she had refused several + offers of marriage, and thus still further aggravated her mental + condition. (Eulenburg, _Sexuale Neuropathie_, p. 31.) + + Since Beard first described neurasthenia, many diverse opinions + have been expressed concerning the relationships of sexual + irregularities to neurasthenia. Gilles de la Tourette, in his + little monograph on neurasthenia, following the traditions of + Charcot's school, dismisses the question of any sexual causation + without discussion. Binswanger (_Die Pathologie und Therapie der + Neurasthenie_), while admitting that nearly all neurasthenic + persons acknowledge masturbation at some period, considers it is + not an important cause of neurasthenia, only differing from + coitus by the fact that the opportunities for it are more + frequent, and that the sexual disturbances of neurasthenia are, + in the majority of cases, secondary. Rohleder, on the other hand, + who takes a very grave view of the importance of masturbation, + considers that its most serious results are a question of + neurasthenia. Krafft-Ebing has declared his opinion that + masturbation is a cause of neurasthenia. Christian, Leyden, Erb, + Rosenthal, Beard, Hummel, Hammond, Hermann Cohn, Curschmann, + Savill, Herman, Fuerbringer, all attach chief importance to + neurasthenia as a result of masturbation. Collins and Phillip + (_Medical Record_, March 25, 1899), in an analysis of 333 cases + of neurasthenia, found that 123 cases were apparently due to + overwork or masturbation. Freud concludes that neurasthenia + proper can nearly always be traced to excessive masturbation, or + to spontaneous pollutions. (E.g., _Sammlung Kleiner Schriften zur + Neurosenlehre_, first series, p. 187.) This view is confirmed by + Gattel's careful study (_Ueber die Sexuellen Ursachen der + Neurasthenie und Angstneurose_, 1898). Gattel investigated 100 + consecutive cases of severe functional nervous disorder in + Krafft-Ebing's clinic at Vienna, and found that in every case of + neurasthenia in a male (28 in all) there was masturbation, while + of the 15 women with neurasthenia, only one is recorded as not + masturbating, and she practiced _coitus reservatus_. Irrespective + of the particular form of the nervous disorder, Gattel found that + 18 women out of 42, and 36 men out of 58, acknowledged + masturbation. (This shows a slightly larger proportion among the + men, but the men were mostly young, while the women were mostly + of more mature age.) It must, however, always be remembered that + we have no equally careful statistics of masturbation in + perfectly healthy persons. We must also remember that we have to + distinguish between the _post_ and the _propter_, and that it is + quite possible that neurasthenic persons are specially + predisposed to masturbation. Bloch is of this opinion, and + remarks that a vicious circle may thus be formed. + + On the whole, there can be little doubt that neurasthenia is + liable to be associated with masturbation carried to an excessive + extent. But, while neurasthenia is probably the severest + affection that is liable to result from, or accompany, + masturbation, we are scarcely yet entitled to accept the + conclusion of Gattel that in such cases there is no hereditary + neurotic predisposition. We must steer clearly between the + opposite errors of those, on the one hand, who assert that + heredity is the sole cause of functional nervous disorders, and + those, on the other hand, who consider that the incident that may + call out the disorder is itself a sole sufficient cause. + +In many cases it has seemed to me that masturbation, when practiced in +excess, especially if begun before the age of puberty, leads to inaptitude +for coitus, as well as to indifference to it, and sometimes to undue +sexual irritability, involving premature emission and practical impotence. +This is, however, the exception, especially if the practice has not been +begun until after puberty. In women I attach considerable importance, as a +result of masturbation, to an aversion for normal coitus in later life. In +such cases some peripheral irritation or abnormal mental stimulus trains +the physical sexual orgasm to respond to an appeal which has nothing +whatever to do with the fascination normally exerted by the opposite sex. +At puberty, however, the claim of passion and the real charm of sex begin +to make themselves felt, but, owing to the physical sexual feelings having +been trained into a foreign channel, these new and more normal sex +associations remain of a purely ideal and emotional character, without the +strong sensual impulses with which under healthy conditions they tend to +be more and more associated as puberty passes on into adolescence or +mature adult life. I am fairly certain that in many women, often highly +intellectual women, the precocious excess in masturbation has been a main +cause, not necessarily the sole efficient cause, in producing a divorce in +later life between the physical sensuous impulses and the ideal emotions. +The sensuous impulse having been evolved and perverted before the +manifestation of the higher emotion, the two groups of feelings have +become divorced for the whole of life. This is a common source of much +personal misery and family unhappiness, though at the same time the clash +of contending impulses may lead to a high development of moral character. +When early masturbation is a factor in producing sexual inversion it +usually operates in the manner I have here indicated, the repulsion for +normal coitus helping to furnish a soil on which the inverted impulse may +develop unimpeded. + + This point has not wholly escaped previous observers, though they + do not seem to have noted its psychological mechanism. Tissot + stated that masturbation causes an aversion to marriage. More + recently, Loiman ("Ueber Onanismus beim Weibe," _Therapeutische + Monatshefte_, April, 1890) considered that masturbation in women, + leading to a perversion of sexual feeling, including inability to + find satisfaction in coitus, affects the associated centres. + Smith Baker, again ("The Neuropsychical Element in Conjugal + Aversion," _Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease_, September, + 1892), finds that a "source of marital aversion seems to lie in + the fact that substitution of mechanical and iniquitous + excitations affords more thorough satisfaction than the mutual + legitimate ones do," and gives cases in point. Savill, also, who + believes that masturbation is more common in women than is + usually supposed, regards dyspareunia, or pain in coition, as one + of the signs of the habit. + + Masturbation in women thus becomes, as Raymond and Janet point + out (_Les Obsessions_, vol. ii, p. 307) a frequent cause of + sexual frigidity in marriage. These authors illustrate the train + of evils which may thus be set up, by the case of a lady, 26 + years of age, a normal woman, of healthy family, who, at the age + of 15, was taught by a servant to masturbate. At the age of 18 + she married. She loved her husband, but she had no sexual + feelings in coitus, and she continued to masturbate, sometimes + several times a day, without evil consequences. At 24 she had to + go into a hospital for floating kidney, and was so obliged to + stop masturbating. She here accidentally learnt of the evil + results attributed to the habit. She resolved not to do it again, + and she kept her resolution. But while still in hospital she fell + wildly in love with a man. To escape from the constant thought of + this man, she sought relations with her husband, and at times + masturbated, but now it no longer gave her pleasure. She wished + to give up sexual things altogether. But that was easier said + than done. She became subject to nervous crises, often brought on + by the sight of a man, and accompanied by sexual excitement. They + disappeared under treatment, and she thereupon became entirely + frigid sexually. But, far from being happy, she has lost all + energy and interest in life, and it is her sole desire to attain + the sexual feelings she has lost. Adler considers that even when + masturbation in women becomes an overmastering passion, so far as + organic effects are concerned it is usually harmless, its effects + being primarily psychic, and he attaches especial significance to + it as a cause of sexual anaesthesia in normal coitus, being, + perhaps, the most frequent cause of such anaesthesia. He devotes + an important chapter to this matter, and brings forward numerous + cases in illustration (Adler, _Die Mangelhafte + Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, pp. 93-119, also 21-23). Adler + considers that the frequency of masturbation in women is largely + due to the fact that women experience greater difficulties than + men in obtaining sexual satisfaction, and so are impelled by + unsatisfying coitus to continue masturbation after marriage. He + adds that partly from natural shyness, partly from shame of + acknowledging what is commonly accounted a sin, and partly from + the fear of seeming disgusting or unworthy of sympathy in the + doctor's eyes, women are usually silent on this matter, and very + great tact and patience may be necessary before a confession is + obtained. + +On the psychic side, no doubt, the most frequent and the most +characteristic result of persistent and excessive masturbation is a morbid +heightening of self-consciousness without any co-ordinated heightening of +self-esteem.[340] The man or woman who is kissed by a desirable and +desired person of the opposite sex feels a satisfying sense of pride and +elation, which must always be absent from the manifestations of +auto-erotic activity.[341] This must be so, even apart from the +masturbator's consciousness of the general social attitude toward his +practices and his dread of detection, for that may also exist as regards +normal coitus without any corresponding psychic effects. The masturbator, +if his practice is habitual, is thus compelled to cultivate an artificial +consciousness of self-esteem, and may show a tendency to mental arrogance. +Self-righteousness and religiosity constitute, as it were, a protection +against the tendency to remorse. A morbid mental soil is, of course, +required for the full development of these characteristics. The habitual +male masturbator, it must be remembered, is often a shy and solitary +person; individuals of this temperament are especially predisposed to +excesses in all the manifestations of auto-erotism, while the yielding to +such tendencies increases the reserve and the horror of society, at the +same time producing a certain suspicion of others. In some extreme cases +there is, no doubt, as Kraepelin believes, some decrease of psychic +capacity, an inability to grasp and co-ordinate external impressions, +weakness of memory, deadening of emotions, or else the general phenomena +of increased irritability, leading on to neurasthenia. + +I find good reason to believe that in many cases the psychic influence of +masturbation on women is different from its effect on men. As Spitzka +observed, although it may sometimes render women self-reproachful and +hesitant, it often seems to make them bold. Boys, as we have seen, early +assimilate the tradition that self-abuse is "unmanly" and injurious, but +girls have seldom any corresponding tradition that it is "unwomanly," and +thus, whether or not they are reticent on the matter, before the forum of +their own conscience they are often less ashamed of it than men are and +less troubled by remorse. + + Eulenburg considers that the comparative absence of bad effects + from masturbation in girls is largely due to the fact that, + unlike boys, they are not terrorized by exaggerated warnings and + quack literature concerning the awful results of the practice. + Forel, who has also remarked that women are often comparatively + little troubled by qualms of conscience after masturbation, + denies that this is due to a lower moral tone than men possess + (Forel, _Die Sexuelle Frage_, p. 247). In this connection, I may + refer to History IV, recorded in the Appendix to the fifth volume + of these _Studies_, in which it is stated that of 55 prostitutes + of various nationalities, with whom the subject had had + relations, 18 spontaneously told him that they were habitual + masturbators, while of 26 normal women, 13 made the same + confession, unasked. Guttceit, in Russia, after stating that + women of good constitution had told him that they masturbated as + much as six or ten times a day or night (until they fell asleep, + tired), without bad results, adds that, according to his + observations, "masturbation, when not excessive, is, on the + whole, a quite innocent matter, which exerts little or no + permanent effect," and adds that it never, in any case, leads to + _hypochondria onanica_ in women, because they have not been + taught to expect bad results (_Dreissig Jahre Praxis_, p. 306). + There is, I think, some truth--though the exceptions are + doubtless many--in the distinction drawn by W.C. Krauss + ("Masturbational Neuroses," _Medical News_, July 13, 1901): "From + my experience it [masturbation] seems to have an opposite effect + upon the two sexes, dulling the mental and making clumsy the + physical exertions of the male, while in the female it quickens + and excites the physical and psychical movements. The man is + rendered hypoesthetic, the woman hyperesthetic." + +In either sex auto-erotic excesses during adolescence in young men and +women of intelligence--whatever absence of gross injury there may +be--still often produce a certain degree of psychic perversion, and tend +to foster false and high-strung ideals of life. Kraepelin refers to the +frequency of exalted enthusiasms in masturbators, and I have already +quoted Anstie's remarks on the connection between masturbation and +premature false work in literature and art. It may be added that excess in +masturbation has often occurred in men and women whose work in literature +and art cannot be described as premature and false. K.P. Moritz, in early +adult life, gave himself up to excess in masturbation, and up to the age +of thirty had no relations with women. Lenau is said--though the statement +is sometimes denied--to have been a masturbator from early life, the habit +profoundly effecting his life and work. Rousseau, in his _Confessions_, +admirably describes how his own solitary, timid, and imaginative life +found its chief sexual satisfaction in masturbation.[342] Gogol, the +great Russian novelist, masturbated to excess, and it has been suggested +that the dreamy melancholy thus induced was a factor in his success as a +novelist. Goethe, it has been asserted, at one time masturbated to excess; +I am not certain on what authority the statement is made, probably on a +passage in the seventh book of _Dichtung und Wahrheit_, in which, +describing his student-life at Leipzig, and his loss of Aennchen owing to +his neglect of her, he tells how he revenged that neglect on his own +physical nature by foolish practices from which he thinks he suffered for +a considerable period.[343] The great Scandinavian philosopher, Soeren +Kierkegaard, suffered severely, according to Rasmussen, from excessive +masturbation. That, at the present day, eminence in art, literature, and +other fields may be combined with the excessive practice of masturbation +is a fact of which I have unquestionable evidence. + + I have the detailed history of a man of 30, of high ability in a + scientific direction, who, except during periods of mental + strain, has practiced masturbation nightly (though seldom more + than once a night) from early childhood, without any traceable + evil results, so far as his general health and energy are + concerned. In another case, a schoolteacher, age 30, a hard + worker and accomplished musician, has masturbated every night, + sometimes more than once a night, ever since he was at school, + without, so far as he knows, any bad results; he has never had + connection with a woman, and seldom touches wine or tobacco. + Curschmann knew a young and able author who, from the age of 11 + had masturbated excessively, but who retained physical and mental + freshness. It would be very easy to refer to other examples, and + I may remark that, as regards the histories recorded in various + volumes of these _Studies_, a notable proportion of those in + which excessive masturbation is admitted, are of persons of + eminent and recognized ability. + +It is often possible to trace the precise mechanism of the relationship +between auto-erotic excitement and intellectual activity. Brown-Sequard, +in old age, considered that to induce a certain amount of sexual +excitement, not proceeding to emission, was an aid to mental work. Raymond +and Janet knew a man considering himself a poet, who, in order to attain +the excitation necessary to compose his ideal verses, would write with one +hand while with the other he caressed his penis, though not to the extent +of producing ejaculation.[344] We must not believe, however, that this is +by any means the method of workers who deserve to be accepted seriously; +it would be felt, to say the least, as unworthy. It is indeed a method +that would only appeal to a person of feeble or failing mental power. What +more usually happens is that the auto-erotic excitement develops, _pari +passu_ and spontaneously, with the mental activity and at the climax of +the latter the auto-erotic excitement also culminates, almost or even +quite spontaneously, in an explosion of detumescence which relieves the +mental tension. I am acquainted with such cases in both young men and +women of intellectual ability, and they probably occur much more +frequently than we usually suspect. + + In illustration of the foregoing observations, I may quote the + following narrative, written by a man of letters: "From puberty + to the age of 30 (when I married), I lived in virgin continence, + in accord with my principle. During these years I worked + exceedingly hard--chiefly at art (music and poetry). My days + being spent earning my livelihood, these art studies fell into my + evening time. I noticed that productive power came in + periods--periods of irregular length, and which certainly, to a + partial extent, could be controlled by the will. Such a period of + vital power began usually with a sensation of melancholy, and it + quickened my normal revolt against the narrowness of conventional + life into a red-hot detestation of the paltriness and pettiness + with which so many mortals seem to content themselves. As the + mood grew in intensity, this scorn of the lower things mixed with + and gave place to a vivid insight into higher truths. The + oppression began to give place to a realization of the eternity + of the heroic things; the fatuities were seen as mere fashions; + love was seen as the true lord of life; the eternal romance was + evident in its glory; the naked strength and beauty of men were + known despite their clothes. In such mood my work was produced; + bitter protest and keen-sighted passion mingled in its building. + The arising vitality had certainly deep relation to the + periodicity of the sex-force of manhood. At the height of the + power of the art-creative mood would come those natural emissions + with which Nature calmly disposes of the unused force of the + male. Such emissions were natural and healthy, and not exhaustive + or hysterical. The process is undoubtedly sane and protective, + unless the subject be unhealthy. The period of creative art power + extended a little beyond the end of the period of natural seed + emission--the art work of this last stage being less vibrant, and + of a gentler force. Then followed a time of calm natural rest, + which gradually led up to the next sequence of melancholy and + power. The periods certainly varied in length of time, controlled + somewhat by the force of the mind and the mental will to create; + that is to say, I could somewhat delay the natural emission, by + which I gained an extension of the period of power." + +How far masturbation in moderately healthy persons living without normal +sexual relationships may be considered normal is a difficult question only +to be decided with reference to individual cases. As a general rule, when +only practiced at rare intervals, and _faute de mieux_, in order to obtain +relief for physical oppression and mental obsession, it may be regarded as +the often inevitable result of the unnatural circumstances of our +civilized social life. When, as often happens in mental degeneracy,--and +as in shy and imaginative persons, perhaps of neurotic temperament, may +also sometimes become the case,--it is practiced in preference to sexual +relationships, it at once becomes abnormal and may possibly lead to a +variety of harmful results, mental and physical.[345] + +It must always be remembered, however, that, while the practice of +masturbation may be harmful in its consequences, it is also, in the +absence of normal sexual relationships, frequently not without good +results. In the medical literature of the last hundred years a number of +cases have been incidentally recorded in which the patients found +masturbation beneficial, and such cases might certainly have been +enormously increased if there had been any open-eyed desire to discover +them. My own observations agree with those of Sudduth, who asserts that +"masturbation is, in the main, practiced for its sedative effect on the +nervous system. The relaxation that follows the act constitutes its real +attraction.... Both masturbation and sexual intercourse should be classed +as typical sedatives."[346] + + Gall (_Fonctions du Cerveau_, 1825, vol. iii, p. 235) mentioned a + woman who was tormented by strong sexual desire, which she + satisfied by masturbation ten or twelve times a day; this caused + no bad results, and led to the immediate disappearance of a + severe pain in the back of the neck, from which she often + suffered. Clouston (_Mental Diseases_, 1887, p. 496) quotes as + follows from a letter written by a youth of 22: "I am sure I + cannot explain myself, nor give account of such conduct. + Sometimes I felt so uneasy at my work that I would go to the + water-closet to do it, and it seemed to give me ease, and then I + would work like a hatter for a whole week, till the sensation + overpowered me again. I have been the most filthy scoundrel in + existence," etc. Garnier presents the case of a monk, aged 33, + living a chaste life, who wrote the following account of his + experiences: "For the past three years, at least, I have felt, + every two or three weeks, a kind of fatigue in the penis, or, + rather, slight shooting pains, increasing during several days, + and then I feel a strong desire to expel the semen. When no + nocturnal pollution follows, the retention of the semen causes + general disturbance, headache, and sleeplessness. I must confess + that, occasionally, to free myself from the general and local + oppression, I lie on my stomach and obtain ejaculation. I am at + once relieved; a weight seems to be lifted from my chest, and + sleep returns." This patient consulted Gamier as to whether this + artificial relief was not more dangerous than the sufferings it + relieved. Gamier advised that if the ordinary _regime_ of a + well-ordered monastry, together with anaphrodisiac sedatives, + proved inefficacious, the manoeuvre might be continued when + necessary (P. Garnier, _Celibat et Celibataires_, 1887, p. 320). + H.C. Coe (_American Journal of Obstetrics_, p. 766, July, 1889) + gives the case of a married lady who was deeply sensitive of the + wrong nature of masturbation, but found in it the only means of + relieving the severe ovarian pain, associated with intense sexual + excitement, which attended menstruation. During the + intermenstrual period the temptation was absent. Turnbull knew a + youth who found that masturbation gave great relief to feelings + of heaviness and confusion which came on him periodically; and + Wigglesworth has frequently seen masturbation after epileptic + fits in patients who never masturbated at other times. Moll + (_Libido Sexualis_, Bd. I, p. 13) refers to a woman of 28, an + artist of nervous and excitable temperament, who could not find + sexual satisfaction with her lover, but only when masturbating, + which she did once or twice a day, or oftener; without + masturbation, she said, she would be in a much more nervous + state. A friend tells me of a married lady of 40, separated from + her husband on account of incompatibility, who suffered from + irregular menstruation; she tried masturbation, and, in her own + words, "became normal again;" she had never masturbated + previously. I have also been informed of the case of a young + unmarried woman, intellectual, athletic, and well developed, who, + from the age of seven or eight, has masturbated nearly every + night before going to sleep, and would be restless and unable to + sleep if she did not. + +Judging from my own observations among both sexes, I should say that in +normal persons, well past the age of puberty, and otherwise leading a +chaste life, masturbation would be little practiced except for the +physical and mental relief it brings. Many vigorous and healthy unmarried +women or married women apart from their husbands, living a life of sexual +abstinence, have asserted emphatically that only by sexually exciting +themselves, at intervals, could they escape from a condition of nervous +oppression and sexual obsession which they felt to be a state of hysteria. +In most cases this happens about the menstrual period, and, whether +accomplished as a purely physical act--in the same way as they would +soothe a baby to sleep by rocking it or patting it--or by the co-operation +of voluptuous mental imagery, the practice is not cultivated for its own +sake during the rest of the month. + + In illustration of the foregoing statements I will here record a + few typical observations of experiences with regard to + masturbation. The cases selected are all women, and are all in a + fairly normal, and, for the most part, excellent, state of + health; some of them, however, belong to somewhat neurotic + families, and these are persons of unusual mental ability and + intelligence. + + OBSERVATION I.--Unmarried, aged 38. She is very vigorous and + healthy, of a strongly passionate nature, but never masturbated + until a few years ago, when she was made love to by a man who + used to kiss her, etc. Although she did not respond to these + advances, she was thrown into a state of restless sexual + excitement; on one occasion, when in bed in this restless state, + she accidentally found, on passing her hand over her body, that, + by playing with "a round thing" [clitoris] a pleasurable feeling + was produced. She found herself greatly relieved and quieted by + these manipulations, though there remained a feeling of tiredness + afterward. She has sometimes masturbated six times in a night, + especially before and after the menstrual period, until she was + unable to produce the orgasm or any feeling of pleasure. + + OBSERVATION II.--Unmarried, aged 45, of rather nervous + temperament. She has for many years been accustomed, usually + about a week before the appearance of the menses, to obtain + sexual relief by kicking out her legs when lying down. In this + way, she says, she obtains complete satisfaction. She never + touches herself. On the following day she frequently has pains + over the lower part of the abdomen, such pains being apparently + muscular and due to the exertion. + + OBSERVATION III.--Aged 29, recently married, belonging to a + neurotic and morbid family, herself healthy, and living usually + in the country; vivacious, passionate, enthusiastic, + intellectual, and taking a prominent part in philanthropic + schemes and municipal affairs; at the same time, fond of society, + and very attractive to men. For many years she had been + accustomed to excite herself, though she felt it was not good for + her. The habit was merely practiced _faute de mieux_. "I used to + sit on the edge of the bed sometimes," she said, "and it came + over me so strongly that I simply couldn't resist it. I felt that + I should go mad, and I thought it was better to touch myself than + be insane.... I used to press my clitoris in.... It made me very + tired afterward--not like being with my husband." The confession + was made from a conviction of the importance of the subject, and + with the hope that some way might be found out of the + difficulties which so often beset women. + + OBSERVATION IV.--Unmarried, aged 27; possesses much force of + character and high intelligence; is actively engaged in a + professional career. As a child of seven or eight she began to + experience what she describes as lightning-like sensations, + "mere, vague, uneasy feelings or momentary twitches, which took + place alike in the vulva or the vagina or the uterus, not + amounting to an orgasm and nothing like it." These sensations, + it should be added, have continued into adult life. "I always + experience them just before menstruation, and afterward for a few + days, and, occasionally, though it seems to me not so often, + during the period itself. I may have the sensation four or five + times during the day; it is not dependent at all upon external + impressions, or my own thoughts, and is sometimes absent for days + together. It is just one flash, as if you would snap your + fingers, and it is over." + + As a child, she was, of course, quite unconscious that there was + anything sexual in these sensations. They were then usually + associated with various imaginary scenes. The one usually + indulged in was that a black bear was waiting for her up in a + tree, and that she was slowly raised up toward the bear by means + of ropes and then lowered again, and raised, feeling afraid of + being caught by the bear, and yet having a morbid desire to be + caught. In after years she realized that there was a physical + sexual cause underlying these imaginations, and that what she + liked was a feeling of resistance to the bear giving rise to the + physical sensation. + + At a somewhat later age, though while still a child, she + cherished an ideal passion for a person very much older than + herself, this passion absorbing her thoughts for a period of two + years, during which, however, there was no progress made in + physical sensation. It was when she was nearly thirteen years of + age, soon after the appearance of menstruation, and under the + influence of this ideal passion, that she first learned to + experience conscious orgasm, which was not associated with the + thought of any person. "I did not associate it with anything high + or beautiful, owing to the fact that I had imbibed our current + ideas in regard to sexual feelings, and viewed them in a very + poor light indeed." She considers that her sexual feelings were + stronger at this period than at any other time in her life. She + could, however, often deny herself physical satisfaction for + weeks at a time, in order that she might not feel unworthy of the + object of her ideal passion. "As for the sexual satisfaction," + she writes, "it was experimental. I had heard older girls speak + of the pleasure of such feelings, but I was not taught anything + by example, or otherwise. I merely rubbed myself with the + wash-rag while bathing, waiting for a result, and having the same + peculiar feeling I had so often experienced. I am not aware of + any ill effects having resulted, but I felt degraded, and tried + hard to overcome the habit. No one had spoken to me of the habit, + but from the secrecy of grown people, and passages I had heard + from the Bible, I conceived the idea that it was a reprehensible + practice. And, while this did not curb my desire, it taught me + self-control, and I vowed that each time should be the last. I + was often able to keep the resolution for two or three weeks." + Some four years later she gradually succeeded in breaking herself + of the practice in so far as it had become a habit; she has, + however, acquired a fuller knowledge of sexual matters, and, + though she has still a great dread of masturbation as a vice, she + does not hesitate to relieve her physical feelings when it seems + best to her to do so. "I am usually able to direct my thoughts + from these sensations," she writes, "but if they seem to make me + irritable or wakeful, I relieve myself. It is a physical act, + unassociated with deep feeling of any kind. I have always felt + that it was a rather unpleasant compromise with my physical + nature, but certainly necessary in my case. Yet, I have abstained + from gratification for very long periods. If the feeling is not + strong at the menstrual period, I go on very well without either + the sensation or the gratification until the next period. And, + strange as it may seem, the best antidote I have found and the + best preventive is to think about spiritual things or someone + whom I love. It is simply a matter of training, I suppose,--a + sort of mental gymnastics,--which draws the attention away from + the physical feelings." This lady has never had any sexual + relationships, and, since she is ambitious, and believes that the + sexual emotions may be transformed so as to become a source of + motive power throughout the whole of life, she wishes to avoid + such relationships. + + OBSERVATION V.--Unmarried, aged 31, in good health, with, + however, a somewhat hysterical excess of energy. "When I was + about 26 years of age," she writes, "a friend came to me with the + confession that for several years she had masturbated, and had + become such a slave to the habit that she severely suffered from + its ill effects. At that time I had never heard of self-abuse by + women. I listened to her story with much sympathy and interest, + but some skepticism, and determined to try experiments upon + myself, with the idea of getting to understand the matter in + order to assist my friend. After some manipulation, I succeeded + in awakening what had before been unconscious and unknown. I + purposely allowed the habit to grow upon me, and one night--for I + always operated upon myself before going to sleep, never in the + morning--I obtained considerable pleasurable satisfaction, but + the following day my conscience awoke; I also felt pain located + at the back of my head and down the spinal column. I ceased my + operations for a time, and then began again somewhat regularly, + once a month, a few days after menstruation. During those months + in which I exercised moderation, I think I obtained much local + relief with comparatively little injury, but, later on, finding + myself in robust health, I increased my experiments, the habit + grew upon me, and it was only with an almost superhuman effort + that I broke myself free. Needless to say that I gave no + assistance to my suffering friend, nor did I ever refer to the + subject after her confession to me. + + "Some two years later I heard of sexual practices between women + as a frequent habit in certain quarters. I again interested + myself in masturbation, for I had been told something that led me + to believe that there was much more for me to discover. Not + knowing the most elementary physiology, I questioned some of my + friends, and then commenced again. I restricted myself to relief + from local congestion and irritation by calling forth the + emission of mucus, rather than by seeking pleasure. At the same + time, I sought to discover what manipulation of the clitoris + would lead to. The habit grew upon me with startling rapidity, + and I became more or less its slave, but I suffered from no very + great ill effects until I started in search of more discoveries. + I found that I was a complete ignoramus as to the formation of a + woman's body, and by experiments upon myself sought to discover + the vagina. I continued my operations until I obtained an + entrance. I think the rough handling of myself during this final + stage disturbed my nervous system, and caused me considerable + pain and exhaustion at the back of my head, the spinal column, + the back of my eyes, and a general feeling of languor, etc. + + "I could not bear to be the slave of a habit, and after much + suffering and efforts, which only led to falls to lower depths of + conscious failure, my better self rebelled, until, by a great + effort and much prayer, I kept myself pure for a whole week. This + partial recovery gave me hope, but then I again fell a victim to + the habit, much to my chagrin, and became hopeless of ever + retracing my steps toward my ideal of virtue. For some days I + lost energy, spirit, and hope; my nervous system appeared to be + ruined, but I did not really despair of victory in the end. I + thought of all the drunkards chained by their intemperate habits, + of inveterate smokers who could not exist without tobacco, and of + all the various methods by which men were slaves, and the longing + to be freed of what had, in my case, proved to be a painful and + unnecessary habit, increased daily until, after one night when I + struggled with myself for hours, I believed I had finally + succeeded. + + "At times, when I reached a high degree of sexual excitement, I + felt that I was at least one step removed from those of morbid + and repressed sex, who had not the slightest suspicion of the + latent joys of womanhood within them. For a little while the + habit took the shape of an exalted passion, but I rapidly tired + it out by rough, thoughtless, and too impatient handling. + Revulsion set in with the pain of an exhausted and badly used + nervous system, and finding myself the slave of a passion, I + determined to endeavor to be its master. + + "In conclusion, I should say that masturbation has proved itself + to be to me one of the blind turnings of my life's history, from + which I have gained much valuable experience." + + The practice was, however, by no means thus dismissed. Some time + later the subject writes: "I have again restarted masturbation + for the relief of localized feelings. One morning I was engaged + in reading a very heavy volume which, for convenience sake, I + held in my lap, leaning back on my chair. I had become deep in + my study for an hour or so when I became aware of certain + feelings roused by the weight of the book. Being tempted to see + what would happen by such conduct, I shifted so that the edge of + the volume came in closer contact. The pleasurable feelings + increased, so I gave myself up to my emotions for some thirty + minutes. + + "Notwithstanding the intense pleasure I enjoyed for so long a + period, I maintain that it is wiser to refrain, and, although I + admit in the same breath that, by gentle treatment, such pleasure + may be harmless to the general health, it does lead to a desire + for solitude, which is not conducive to a happy frame of mind. + There is an accompanying reticence of speech concerning the + pleasure, which, therefore, appears to be unnatural, like the + eating of stolen fruit. After such an event, one seems to require + to fly to the woods, and to listen to the song of the birds, so + as to shake off after-effects." + + In a letter dated some months later, she writes: "I think I have + risen above the masturbation habit." In the same letter the + writer remarks: "If I had consciously abnormal or unsatisfied + appetites I would satisfy them in the easiest and least harmful + way." + + Again, eighteen months later, she writes: "It is curious to note + that for months this habit is forgotten, but awakens sometimes to + self-assertion. If a feeling of pressure is felt in the head, and + a slight irritation elsewhere, and experience shows that the time + has come for pacification, exquisite pleasure can be enjoyed, + never more than twice a month, and sometimes less often." + + OBSERVATION VI.--Unmarried, actively engaged in the practice of + her profession. Well-developed, feminine in contour, but boyish + in manner and movements; strong, though muscles small, and + healthy, with sound nervous system; never had anaemia. Thick brown + hair; pubic hair thick, and hair on toes and legs up to + umbilicus; it began to appear at the age of 10 (before pubic + hair) and continued until 18. A few stray hairs round nipples, + and much dark down on upper lip, as well as light down on arms + and hands. Hips, normal; nates, small; labia minora, large; and + clitoris, deeply hooded. Hymen thick, vagina, probably small. + Considerable pigmentation of parts. Menstruation began at 15, but + not regular till 17; is painless and scanty; the better the state + of health, the less it is. No change of sexual or other feelings + connected with it; it lasts one to three days. + + "I believe," she writes, "my first experience of physical sex + sensations was when I was about 16, and in sleep. But I did not + then recognize it, and seldom, indeed, gave the subject of sex a + thought. I was a child far beyond the age of childhood. The + accompanying dreams were disagreeable, but I cannot remember what + they were about. It was not until I was nearly 19 that I knew the + sexual orgasm in my waking state. It surprised me completely, + but I knew that I had known it before in my sleep. + + "The knowledge came one summer when I was leading a rather + isolated life, and my mind was far from sex subjects, being deep + in books, Carlyle, Ruskin, Huxley, Darwin, Scott, etc. I noticed + that when I got up in the morning I felt very hot and + uncomfortable. The clitoris and the parts around were swollen and + erect, and often tender and painful. I had no idea what it was, + but found I was unable to pass my water for an hour or two. One + day, when I was straining a little to pass water, the full orgasm + occurred. The next time it happened, I tried to check it by + holding myself firmly, of course, with the opposite result. I do + not know that I found it highly pleasurable, but it was a very + great relief. I allowed myself a good many experiments, to come + to a conclusion in the matter, and I thought about it. I was much + too shy to speak to any one, and thought it was probably a sin. I + tried not to do it, and not to think about it, saying to myself + that surely I was lord of my body. But I found that the matter + was not entirely under my control. However unwilling or passive I + might be, there were times when the involuntary discomfort was + not in my keeping. My touching myself or not did not save me from + it. Because it sometimes gave me pleasure, I thought it might be + a form of self-indulgence, and did not do it until it could + scarcely be helped. Soon the orgasm began to occur fairly + frequently in my sleep, perhaps once or twice a week. I had no + erotic dreams, then or at any other time, but I had nights of + restless sleep, and woke as it occurred, dreaming that it was + happening, as, in fact, it was. At times I hardly awoke, but went + to sleep again in a moment. I continued for two or three years to + be sorely tried by day at frequent intervals. I acquired a + remarkable degree of control, so that, though one touch or + steadily directed thought would have caused the orgasm, I could + keep it off, and go to sleep without 'wrong doing.' Of course, + when I fell asleep, my control ended. All this gave me a good + deal of physical worry, and kept my attention unwillingly fixed + upon the matter. I do not think my body was readily irritable, + but I had unquestionably very strong sexual impulses. + + "After a year or two, when I was working hard, I could not afford + the attention the control cost me, or the prolonged mitigated + sexual excitement it caused. I took drugs for a time, but they + lost effect, produced lassitude, and agreed with me badly. I + therefore put away my scruples and determined to try the effect + of giving myself an instant and business-like relief. Instead of + allowing my feelings to gather strength, I satisfied them out of + hand. Instead of five hours of heat and discomfort, I did not + allow myself five minutes, if I could help it. + + "The effect was marvelous. I practically had no more trouble. The + thing rarely came to me at all by day, and though it continued at + times by night, it became less frequent and less strong; often it + did not wake me. The erotic images and speculations that had + begun to come to me died down. I left off being afraid of my + feelings, or, indeed, thinking about them. I may say that I had + decided that I should be obliged to lead a single life, and that + the less I thought about matters of sex, the more easy I should + find life. Later on I had religious ideas which helped me + considerably in my ideals of a decent, orderly, self-contained + life. I do not lay stress on these; they were not at all + emotional, and my physical and psychical development do not + appear to have run much on parallel lines. I had a strong moral + sense before I had a religious one, and a 'common-sense' which I + perhaps trusted more than either. + + "When I was about 28 I thought I might perhaps leave off the + habit of regular relief I had got into. (It was not regular as + regards time, being anything from one day to six weeks.) The + change was probably made easier by a severe illness I had had. I + gave this abstinence a fair trial for several years (until I was + about 34), but my nocturnal manifestations certainly gathered + strength, especially when I got much better in health, and, + finally, as at puberty, began to worry my waking life. I reasoned + that by my attempt at abstinence I had only exchanged control for + uncontrol, and reverted to my old habits of relief, with the same + good results as before. The whole trouble subsided and I got + better at once. (The orgasm during sleep continued, and occurs + about once a fortnight; it is increased by change of air, + especially at the seaside, when it may occur on two or three + nights running.) I decided that, for the proper control of my + single life, relief was normal and right. It would be very + difficult for anyone to demonstrate the contrary to me. My aim + has always been to keep myself in the best condition of physical + and mental balance that a single person is capable of." + +There is some interest in briefly reviewing the remarkable transformations +in the attitude toward masturbation from Greek times down to our own day. +The Greeks treated masturbation with little opprobrium. At the worst they +regarded it as unmanly, and Aristophanes, in various passages, connects +the practice with women, children, slaves, and feeble old men. AEschines +seems to have publicly brought it as a charge against Demosthenes that he +had practiced masturbation, though, on the other hand, Plutarch tells us +that Diogenes--described by Zeller, the historian of Greek philosophy, as +"the most typical figure of ancient Greece"--was praised by Chrysippus, +the famous philosopher, for masturbating in the market-place. The more +strenuous Romans, at all events as exemplified by Juvenal and Martial, +condemned masturbation more vigorously.[347] Aretaeus, without alluding to +masturbation, dwells on the tonic effects of retaining the semen; but, on +the other hand, Galen regarded the retention of semen as injurious, and +advocated its frequent expulsion, a point of view which tended to justify +masturbation. In classical days, doubtless, masturbation and all other +forms of the auto-erotic impulse were comparatively rare. So much scope +was allowed in early adult age for homosexual and later for heterosexual +relationships that any excessive or morbid development of solitary +self-indulgence could seldom occur. The case was altered when Christian +ideals became prominent. Christian morality strongly proscribed sexual +relationships except under certain specified conditions. It is true that +Christianity discouraged all sexual manifestations, and that therefore its +ban fell equally on masturbation, but, obviously, masturbation lay at the +weakest line of defence against the assaults of the flesh; it was there +that resistance would most readily yield. Christianity thus probably led +to a considerable increase of masturbation. The attention which the +theologians devoted to its manifestations clearly bears witness to their +magnitude. It is noteworthy that Mohammedan theologians regarded +masturbation as a Christian vice. In Islam both doctrine and practice +tended to encourage sexual relationships, and not much attention was paid +to masturbation, nor even any severe reprobation directed against it. Omer +Haleby remarks that certain theologians of Islam are inclined to consider +the practice of masturbation in vogue among Christians as allowable to +devout Mussulmans when alone on a journey; he himself regards this as a +practice good neither for soul nor body (seminal emissions during sleep +providing all necessary relief); should, however, a Mussulman fall into +this error, God is merciful![348] + + In Theodore's Penitential of the seventh century, forty days' + penance is prescribed for masturbation. Aquinas condemned + masturbation as worse than fornication, though less heinous than + other sexual offences against Nature; in opposition, also, to + those who believed that _distillatio_ usually takes place without + pleasure, he observed that it was often caused by sexual emotion, + and should, therefore, always be mentioned to the confessor. + Liguori also regarded masturbation as a graver sin than + fornication, and even said that _distillatio_, if voluntary and + with notable physical commotion, is without doubt a mortal sin, + for in such a case it is the beginning of a pollution. On the + other hand, some theologians have thought that _distillatio_ may + be permitted, even if there is some commotion, so long as it has + not been voluntarily procured, and Caramuel, who has been + described as a theological _enfant terrible_, declared that + "natural law does not forbid masturbation," but that proposition + was condemned by Innocent XI. The most enlightened modern + Catholic view is probably represented by Debreyne, who, after + remarking that he has known pious and intelligent persons who had + an irresistible impulse to masturbate, continues: "Must we + excuse, or condemn, these people? Neither the one nor the other. + If you condemn and repulse absolutely these persons as altogether + guilty, against their own convictions, you will perhaps throw + them into despair; if, on the contrary, you completely excuse + them, you maintain them in a disorder from which they may, + perhaps, never emerge. Adopt a wise middle course, and, perhaps, + with God's aid, you may often cure them." + + Under certain circumstances some Catholic theologians have + permitted a married woman to masturbate. Thus, the Jesuit + theologian, Gury, asserts that the wife does not sin "_quae se + ipsam tactibus excitat ad seminationem statim post copulam in qua + vir solus seminavit_." This teaching seems to have been + misunderstood, since ethical and even medical writers have + expended a certain amount of moral indignation on the Church + whose theologians committed themselves to this statement. As a + matter of fact, this qualified permission to masturbate merely + rests on a false theory of procreation, which is clearly + expressed in the word _seminatio_. It was believed that + ejaculation in the woman is as necessary to fecundation as + ejaculation in the man. Galen, Avicenna, and Aquinas recognized, + indeed, that such feminine semination was not necessary; Sanchez, + however, was doubtful, while Suarez and Zacchia, following + Hippocrates, regarded it as necessary. As sexual intercourse + without fecundation is not approved by the Catholic Church, it + thus became logically necessary to permit women to masturbate + whenever the ejaculation of mucus had not occurred at or before + coitus. + + The belief that the emission of vaginal mucus, under the + influence of sexual excitement in women, corresponded to + spermatic emission, has led to the practice of masturbation on + hygienic grounds. Garnier (_Celibat_, p. 255) mentions that + Mesue, in the eighteenth century, invented a special pessary to + take the place of the penis, and, as he stated, effect the due + expulsion of the feminine sperm. + +Protestantism, no doubt, in the main accepted the general Catholic, +tradition, but the tendency of Protestantism, in reaction against the +minute inquisition of the earlier theologians, has always been to exercise +a certain degree of what it regarded as wholesome indifference toward the +less obvious manifestations of the flesh. Thus in Protestant countries +masturbation seems to have been almost ignored until Tissot, combining +with his reputation as a physician the fanaticism of a devout believer, +raised masturbation to the position of a colossal bogy which during a +hundred years has not only had an unfortunate influence on medical opinion +in these matters, but has been productive of incalculable harm to ignorant +youth and tender consciences. During the past forty years the efforts of +many distinguished physicians--a few of whose opinions I have already +quoted--have gradually dragged the bogy down from its pedestal, and now, +as I have ventured to suggest, there is a tendency for the reaction to be +excessive. There is even a tendency to-day to regard masturbation, with +various qualifications, as normal. Remy de Gourmont, for instance, +considers that masturbation is natural because it is the method by which +fishes procreate: "All things considered, it must be accepted that +masturbation is part of the doings of Nature. A different conclusion might +be agreeable, but in every ocean and under the reeds of every river, +myriads of beings would protest."[349] Tillier remarks that since +masturbation appears to be universal among the higher animals we are not +entitled to regard it as a vice; it has only been so considered because +studied exclusively by physicians under abnormal conditions.[350] Hirth, +while asserting that masturbation must be strongly repressed in the young, +regards it as a desirable method of relief for adults, and especially, +under some circumstances, for women.[351] Venturi, a well-known Italian +alienist, on the other hand, regards masturbation as strictly +physiological in youth; it is the normal and natural passage toward the +generous and healthy passion of early manhood; it only becomes abnormal +and vicious, he holds, when continued into adult life. + + The appearance of masturbation at puberty, Venturi considers, "is + a moment in the course of the development of the function of that + organ which is the necessary instrument of sexuality." It finds + its motive in the satisfaction of an organic need having much + analogy with that which arises from the tickling of a very + sensitive cutaneous surface. In this masturbation of early + adolescence lies, according to Venturi, the germ of what will + later be love: a pleasure of the body and of the spirit, + following the relief of a satisfied need. "As the youth develops, + onanism becomes a sexual act comparable to coitus as a dream is + comparable to reality, imagery forming in correspondence with the + desires. In its fully developed form in adolescence," Venturi + continues, "masturbation has an almost hallucinatory character; + onanism at this period psychically approximates to the true + sexual act, and passes insensibly into it. If, however, continued + on into adult age, it becomes morbid, passing into erotic + fetichism; what in the inexperienced youth is the natural + auxiliary and stimulus to imagination, in the degenerate onanist + of adult age is a sign of arrested development. Thus, onanism," + the author concludes, "is not always a vice such as is fiercely + combated by educators and moralists. It is the natural transition + by which we reach the warm and generous love of youth, and, in + natural succession to this, the tranquil, positive, matrimonial + love of the mature man." (Silvio Venturi, _Le Degenerazioni + Psico-sessuale_, 1892, pp. 6-9.) + + It may be questioned whether this view is acceptable even for the + warm climate of the south of Europe, where the impulses of + sexuality are undoubtedly precocious. It is certainly not in + harmony with general experience and opinion in the north; this is + well expressed in the following passage by Edward Carpenter + (_International Journal of Ethics_, July, 1899): "After all, + purity (in the sense of continence) _is_ of the first importance + to boyhood. To prolong the period of continence in a boy's life + is to prolong the period of _growth_. This is a simple + physiological law, and a very obvious one; and, whatever other + things may be said in favor of purity, it remains, perhaps, the + most weighty. To introduce sensual and sexual habits--and one of + the worst of them is self-abuse--at an early age, is to arrest + growth, both physical and mental. And what is even more, it means + to arrest the capacity for affection. All experience shows that + the early outlet toward sex cheapens and weakens affectional + capacity." + +I do not consider that we can decide the precise degree in which +masturbation may fairly be called normal so long as we take masturbation +by itself. We are thus, in conclusion, brought back to the point which I +sought to emphasize at the outset: masturbation belongs to a group of +auto-erotic phenomena. From one point of view it may be said that all +auto-erotic phenomena are unnatural, since the natural aim of the sexual +impulse is sexual conjunction, and all exercise of that impulse outside +such conjunction is away from the end of Nature. But we do not live in a +state of Nature which answers to such demands; all our life is +"unnatural." And as soon as we begin to restrain the free play of sexual +impulse toward sexual ends, at once auto-erotic phenomena inevitably +spring up on every side. There is no end to them; it is impossible to say +what finest elements in art, in morals, in civilization generally, may not +really be rooted in an auto-erotic impulse. "Without a certain overheating +of the sexual system," said Nietzsche, "we could not have a Raphael." +Auto-erotic phenomena are inevitable. It is our wisest course to recognize +this inevitableness of sexual and transmuted sexual manifestations under +the perpetual restraints of civilized life, and, while avoiding any +attitude of excessive indulgence or indifference,[352] to avoid also any +attitude of excessive horror, for our horror not only leads to the facts +being effectually veiled from our sight, but itself serves to manufacture +artificially a greater evil than that which we seek to combat. + +The sexual impulse is not, as some have imagined, the sole root of the +most massive human emotions, the most brilliant human aptitudes,--of +sympathy, of art, of religion. In the complex human organism, where all +the parts are so many-fibred and so closely interwoven, no great +manifestation can be reduced to one single source. But it largely enters +into and molds all of these emotions and aptitudes, and that by virtue of +its two most peculiar characteristics: it is, in the first place, the +deepest and most volcanic of human impulses, and, in the second +place,--unlike the only other human impulse with which it can be compared, +the nutritive impulse,--it can, to a large extent, be transmuted into a +new force capable of the strangest and most various uses. So that in the +presence of all these manifestations we may assert that in a real sense, +though subtly mingled with very diverse elements, auto-erotism everywhere +plays its part. In the phenomena of auto-erotism, when we take a broad +view of those phenomena, we are concerned, not with a form of insanity, +not necessarily with a form of depravity, but with the inevitable +by-products of that mighty process on which the animal creation rests. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[289] For a bibliography of masturbation, see Rohleder, _Die +Masturbation_, pp. 11-18; also, Arthur MacDonald, _Le Criminel Type_, pp. +227 et seq.; cf. G. Stanley Hall, _Adolescence_, vol. i, pp. 432 _et seq._ + +[290] Oskar Berger, _Archiv fuer Psychiatrie_, Bd. 6, 1876. + +[291] _Die Masturbation_, p. 41. + +[292] Dukes, _Preservation of Health_, 1884, p. 150. + +[293] G. Stanley Hall, _Adolescence_, vol. i, p. 434. + +[294] F.S. Brockman, "A Study of the Moral and Religious Life of Students +in the United States," _Pedagogical Seminary_, September, 1902. Many +pitiful narratives are reproduced. + +[295] Moraglia, "Die Onanie beim normalen Weibe und bei den Prostituten," +_Zeitschrift fuer Criminal-Anthropologie_, 1897, p. 489. It should be added +that Moraglia is not a very critical investigator. It is probable, +however, that on this point his results are an approximation to the truth. + +[296] Ernst, "Anthropological Researches on the Population of Venezuela," +_Memoirs of the Anthropological Society_, vol. iii, 1870, p. 277. + +[297] Niceforo, _Il Gergo nei Normali_, etc., 1897, cap. V. + +[298] Debreyne, _Moechialogie_, p. 64. Yet theologians and casuists, +Debreyne remarks, frequently never refer to masturbation in women. + +[299] Stanley Hall, op. cit., vol. i, p. 34. Hall mentions, also, that +masturbation is specially common among the blind. + +[300] Moraglia, _Archivio di Psichiatria_, vol. xvi, fasc. 4 and 5, p. +313. + +[301] See his careful study, "Die Sexuellen Perversitaeten in der +Irrenanstalt," _Psychiatrische Bladen_, No. 2. 1899. + +[302] Venturi, _Degenerazioni Psico-sessuali_, pp. 105, 133, 148, 152. + +[303] J.P. West, _Transactions of the Ohio Pediatric Society_, 1895. +_Abstract in Medical Standard_, November, 1895; cases are also recorded by +J.T. Winter, "Self-abuse in Infancy and Childhood," _American Journal +Obstetrics_, June, 1902. + +[304] Freud, _Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie_, pp. 36 et seq. + +[305] G.E. Shuttleworth, _British Medical Journal_, October 3, 1903. + +[306] See for a detailed study of sexuality in childhood, Moll's valuable +book, _Das Sexualleben des Kindes_; cf. vol. vi of these _Studies_, Ch. +II. + +[307] This is, no doubt, the most common opinion, and it is frequently +repeated in text-books. It is scarcely necessary, however, to point out +that only the opinions of those who have given special attention to the +matter can carry any weight. R.W. Shufeldt ("On a Case of Female +Impotency," pp. 5-7) quotes the opinions of various cautious observers as +to the difficulty of detecting masturbation in women. + +[308] This latter opinion is confirmed by Naecke so far as the insane are +concerned. In a careful study of sexual perversity in a large asylum, +Naecke found that, while moderate masturbation could be more easily traced +among men than among women, excessive masturbation was more common among +women. And, while among the men masturbation was most frequent in the +lowest grades of mental development (idiocy and imbecility), and least +frequent in the highest grades (general paralysis), in the women it was +the reverse. (P. Naecke, "Die Sexuellen Perversitaeten in der Irrenanstalt," +_Psychiatrische en Neurologische Bladen_, No. 2, 1899.) + +[309] Mammary masturbation sometimes occurs; see, e.g., Rohleder, _Die +Masturbation_ (pp. 32-33); it is, however, rare. + +[310] Hirschsprung pointed out this, indeed, many years ago, on the ground +of his own experience. And see Rohleder, op. cit., pp. 44-47. + +[311] In many cases, of course, the physical precocity is associated with +precocity in sexual habits. An instructive case is reported (_Alienist and +Neurologist_, October, 1895) of a girl of 7, a beautiful child, of healthy +family, and very intelligent, who, from the age of three, was perpetually +masturbating, when not watched. The clitoris and mons veneris were those +of a fully-grown woman, and the child was as well informed upon most +subjects as an average woman. She was cured by care and hygienic +attention, and when seen last was in excellent condition. A medical friend +tells me of a little girl of two, whose external genital organs are +greatly developed, and who is always rubbing herself. + +[312] R.T. Morris, of New York, has also pointed out the influence of +traditions in this respect. "Among boys," he remarks, "there are +traditions to the effect that self-abuse is harmful. Among girls, however, +there are no such saving traditions." Dr. Kiernan writes in a private +letter: "It has been by experience, that from ignorance or otherwise, +there are young women who do not look upon sexual manipulation with the +same fear that men do." Guttceit, similarly, remarks that men have been +warned of masturbation, and fear its evil results, while girls, even if +warned, attach little importance to the warning; he adds that in healthy +women, masturbation, even in excess, has little bad results. The attitude +of many women in this matter may be illustrated by the following passage +from a letter written by a medical friend in India: "The other day one of +my English women patients gave me the following reason for having taught +the 17-year-old daughter of a retired Colonel to masturbate: 'Poor girl, +she was troubled with dreams of men, and in case she should be tempted +with one, and become pregnant, I taught her to bring the feeling on +herself--as it is safer, and, after all, nearly as nice as with a man.'" + +[313] H. Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, volume ii, "Sexual +Inversion," Chapter IV. + +[314] See, also, the Appendix to the third volume of these _Studies_, in +which I have brought forward sexual histories of normal persons. + +[315] E.H. Smith, also, states that from 25 to 35 is the age when most +women come under the physician's eye with manifest and pronounced habits +of masturbation. + +[316] It may, however, be instructive to observe that at the end of the +volume we find an advertisement of "Dr. Robinson's Treatise on the Virtues +and Efficacy of a Crust of Bread, Eat Early in the Morning Fasting." + +[317] Pouillet alone enumerates and apparently accepts considerably over +one hundred different morbid conditions as signs and results of +masturbation. + +[318] "Augenkrankheiten bei Masturbanten," Knapp-Schweigger's _Archiv fuer +Augenheitkunde_, Bd. II, 1882, p. 198. + +[319] Salmo Cohn, _Uterus und Auge_, 1890, pp. 63-66. + +[320] _Fonctions du Cerveau_, 1825, vol. iii, p. 337. + +[321] W. Ellis, _Treatise on Insanity_, 1838, pp. 335, 340. + +[322] Clara Barrus, "Insanity in Young Women," _Journal of Nervous and +Mental Disease_, June, 1896. + +[323] See, for instance, H. Emminghaus, "Die Psychosen des Kindesalters," +Gerlandt's _Handbuch der Kinder-Krankheiten_, Nachtrag II, pp. 61-63. + +[324] Christian, article "Onanisme," _Dictionnaire Encyclopedique des +Sciences Medicales_. + +[325] Naecke, _Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe_, 1894, p. 57. + +[326] J.L.A. Koch, _Die Psychopathischen Minderwertigkeiten_, 1892, p. 273 +et seq. + +[327] J.G. Kiernan, _American Journal of Insanity_, July, 1877. + +[328] Maudsley dealt, in his vigorous, picturesque manner, with the more +extreme morbid mental conditions sometimes found associated with +masturbation, in "Illustrations of a Variety of Insanity," _Journal of +Mental Science_, July, 1868. + +[329] See, e.g., Loewenfeld, _Sexualleben und Nervenleiden_, 2d. ed., Ch. +VIII. + +[330] Marro, _La Puberta_, Turin, 1898, p. 174. + +[331] E.C. Spitzka, "Cases of Masturbation," _Journal of Mental Science_, +July, 1888. + +[332] Charles West, _Lancet_, November 17, 1866. + +[333] Gowers, _Epilepsy_, 1881, p. 31. Loewenfeld believes that epileptic +attacks are certainly caused by masturbation. Fere thought that both +epilepsy and hysteria may be caused by masturbation. + +[334] Ziemssen's _Handbuch_, Bd. XI. + +[335] _Adolescence_, vol. i, p. 441. + +[336] See a discussion of these points by Rohleder, _Die Masturbation_, +pp. 168-175. + +[337] The surgeons, it may be remarked, have especially stated the +harmlessness of masturbation in too absolute a manner. Thus, John Hunter +(_Treatise on the Venereal Disease_, 1786, p. 200), after pointing out +that "the books on this subject have done more harm than good," adds, "I +think I may affirm that this act does less harm to the constitution in +general than the natural." And Sir James Paget, in his lecture on "Sexual +Hypochondriasis," said: "Masturbation does neither more nor less harm than +sexual intercourse practiced with the same frequency, in the same +conditions of general health and age and circumstances." + +[338] It is interesting to note that an analogous result seems to hold +with animals. Among highly-bred horses excessive masturbation is liable to +occur with injurious results. It is scarcely necessary to point out that +highly-bred horses are apt to be abnormal. + +[339] With regard to the physical signs, the same conclusion is reached by +Legludic (in opposition to Martineau) on the basis of a large experience. +He has repeatedly found, in young girls who acknowledged frequent +masturbation, that the organs were perfectly healthy and normal, and his +convictions are the more noteworthy, since he speaks as a pupil of +Tardieu, who attached very grave significance to the local signs of sexual +perversity and excess. (Legludic, _Notes et Observations de Medecine +Legale_, 1896, p. 95.) Matthews Duncan (_Goulstonian Lectures on Sterility +in Women_, 1884, p. 97) was often struck by the smallness, and even +imperfect development, of the external genitals of women who masturbate. +Clara Barrus considers that there is no necessary connection between +hypertrophy of the external female genital organs and masturbation, though +in six cases of prolonged masturbation she found such a condition in three +(_American Journal of Insanity_, April, 1895, p. 479). Bachterew denies +that masturbation produces enlargement of the penis, and Hammond considers +there is no evidence to show that it enlarges the clitoris, while Guttceit +states that it does not enlarge the nymphae; this, however, is doubtful. It +would not suffice in many cases to show that large sexual organs are +correlated with masturbation; it would still be necessary to show whether +the size of the organs stood to masturbation in the relation of effect or +of cause. + +[340] Thus, Bechterew ("La Phobie du Regard," _Archives de Neurologie_, +July, 1905) considers that masturbation plays a large part in producing +the morbid fear of the eyes of others. + +[341] It is especially an undesirable tendency of masturbation, that it +deadens the need for affection, and merely eludes, instead of satisfying, +the sexual impulse. "Masturbation," as Godfrey well says (_The Science of +Sex_, p. 178), "though a manifestation of sexual activity, is not a sexual +act in the higher, or even in the real fundamental sense. For sex implies +duality, a characteristic to which masturbation can plainly lay no claim. +The physical, moral, and mental reciprocity which gives stability and +beauty to a normal sexual intimacy, are as foreign to the masturbator as +to the celibate. In a sense, therefore, masturbation is as complete a +negative of the sexual life as chastity itself. It is, therefore, an +evasion of, not an answer to, the sexual problem; and it will ever remain +so, no matter how surely we may be convinced of its physical +harmlessness." + +[342] "I learnt that dangerous supplement," Rousseau tells us (Part I, Bk. +III), "which deceives Nature. This vice, which bashfulness and timidity +find so convenient, has, moreover, a great attraction for lively +imaginations, for it enables them to do what they will, so to speak, with +the whole fair sex, and to enjoy at pleasure the beauty who attracts them, +without having obtained her consent." + +[343] "Ich hatte sie wirklich verloren, und die Tollheit, mit der ich +meinen Fehler an mir selbst raechte, indem ich auf mancherlei unsinnige +Weise in meine physische Natur sturmte, um der sittlichen etwas zu Leide +zu thun, hat sehr viel zu den koerperlichen Uebeln beigetragen, unter denen +ich einige der besten Jahre meines Lebens verlor; ja ich waere vielleicht +an diesem Verlust vollig zu Grunde gegangen, haette sich hier nicht das +poetische Talent mit seinen Heilkraften besonders huelfreich erwiesen." +This is scarcely conclusive, and it may be added that there were many +reasons why Goethe should have suffered physically at this time, quite +apart from masturbation. See, e.g., Bielschowsky, _Life of Goethe_, vol. +i, p. 88. + +[344] _Les Obsessions_, vol. ii, p. 136. + +[345] A somewhat similar classification has already been made by Max +Dessoir, who points out that we must distinguish between onanists _aus +Noth_, and onanists _aus Leidenschaft_, the latter group alone being of +really serious importance. The classification of Dallemagne is also +somewhat similar; he distinguishes _onanie par impulsion_, occurring in +mental degeneration and in persons of inferior intelligence, from _onanie +par evocation ou obsession_. + +[346] W. Xavier Sudduth, "A Study in the Psycho-physics of Masturbation," +_Chicago Medical Recorder_, March, 1898. Haig, who reaches a similar +conclusion, has sought to find its precise mechanism in the +blood-pressure. "As the sexual act produces lower and falling +blood-pressure," he remarks, "it will of necessity relieve conditions +which are due to high and rising blood-pressure, such, for instance, as +mental depression and bad temper; and, unless my observation deceives me, +we have here a connection between conditions of high blood-pressure with +mental and bodily depression and acts of masturbation, for this act will +relieve these conditions and tend to be practiced for this purpose." +(_Uric Acid_, 6th edition, p. 154.) + +[347] Northcote discusses the classic attitude towards masturbation, +_Christianity and Sex Problems_, p. 233. + +[348] _El Ktab_, traduction de Paul de Regla, Paris, 1893. + +[349] Remy de Gourmont, _Physique de l'Amour_, p. 133. + +[350] Tillier, _L'Instinct Sexuel_, Paris, 1889, p. 270. + +[351] G. Hirth, _Wege zur Heimat_, p. 648. + +[352] Fere, in the course of his valuable work, _L'Instinct Sexuel_, +stated that my conclusion is that masturbation is normal, and that +"_l'indulgence s'impose_." I had, however, already guarded myself against +this misinterpretation. + + + + +APPENDIX A. + +THE INFLUENCE OF MENSTRUATION ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN. + + +A question of historical psychology which, so far as I know, has never +been fully investigated is the influence of menstruation in constituting +the emotional atmosphere through which men habitually view women.[353] I +do not purpose to deal fully with this question, because it is one which +may be more properly dealt with at length by the student of culture and by +the historian, rather than from the standpoint of empirical psychology. It +is, moreover, a question full of complexities in regard to which it is +impossible to speak with certainty. But we here strike on a factor of such +importance, such neglected importance, for the proper understanding of the +sexual relations of men and women, that it cannot be wholly ignored. + +Among the negroes of Surinam a woman must live in solitude during the time +of her period; it is dangerous for any man or woman to approach her, and +when she sees a person coming near she cries out anxiously: "_Mi kay! Mi +kay!_"--I am unclean! I am unclean! Throughout the world we find traces of +the custom of which this is a typical example, but we must not too hastily +assume that this custom is evidence of the inferior position occupied by +semi-civilized women. It is necessary to take a broad view, not only of +the beliefs of semi-civilized man regarding menstruation, but of his +general beliefs regarding the supernatural forces of the world. + +There is no fragment of folk-lore so familiar to the European world as +that which connects woman with the serpent. It is, indeed, one of the +foundation stones of Christian theology.[354] Yet there is no fragment of +folk-lore which remains more obscure. How has it happened that in all +parts of the world the snake or his congeners, the lizard and the +crocodile, have been credited with some design, sinister or erotic, on +women? + +Of the wide prevalence of the belief there can be no doubt. Among the Port +Lincoln tribe of South Australia a lizard is said to have divided man from +woman.[355] Among the Chiriguanos of Bolivia, on the appearance of +menstruation, old women ran about with sticks to hunt the snake that had +wounded the girl. Frazer, who quotes this example from the "_Lettres +edifiantes et curieuses_," also refers to a modern Greek folk-tale, +according to which a princess at puberty must not let the sun shine upon +her, or she would be turned into a lizard.[356] The lizard was a sexual +symbol among the Mexicans. In some parts of Brazil at the onset of puberty +a girl must not go into the woods for fear of the amorous attacks of +snakes, and so it is also among the Macusi Indians of British Guiana, +according to Schomburgk. Among the Basutos of South Africa the young girls +must dance around the clay image of a snake. In Polynesian mythology the +lizard is a very sacred animal, and legends represent women as often +giving birth to lizards.[357] At a widely remote spot, in Bengal, if you +dream of a snake a child will be born to you, reports Sarat Chandra +Mitra.[358] In the Berlin Museum fuer Volkerkunde there is a carved wooden +figure from New Guinea of a woman into whose vulva a crocodile is +inserting its snout, while the same museum contains another figure of a +snake-like crocodile crawling out of a woman's vulva, and a third figure +shows a small round snake with a small head, and closely resembling a +penis, at the mouth of the vagina. All these figures are reproduced by +Ploss and Bartels. Even in modern Europe the same ideas prevail. In +Portugal, according to Reys, it is believed that during menstruation women +are liable to be bitten by lizards, and to guard against this risk they +wear drawers during the period. In Germany, again, it was believed, up to +the eighteenth century at least, that the hair of a menstruating woman, if +buried, would turn into a snake. It may be added that in various parts of +the world virgin priestesses are dedicated to a snake-god and are married +to the god.[359] At Rome, it is interesting to note, the serpent was the +symbol of fecundation, and as such often figures at Pompeii as the _genius +patrisfamilias_, the generative power of the family.[360] In Rabbinical +tradition, also, the serpent is the symbol of sexual desire. + +There can be no doubt that--as Ploss and Bartels, from whom some of these +examples have been taken, point out--in widely different parts of the +world menstruation is believed to have been originally caused by a snake, +and that this conception is frequently associated with an erotic and +mystic idea.[361] How the connection arose Ploss and Bartels are unable to +say. It can only be suggested that its shape and appearance, as well as +its venomous nature, may have contributed to the mystery everywhere +associated with the snake--a mystery itself fortified by the association +with women--to build up this world-wide belief regarding the origin of +menstruation. + +This primitive theory of the origin of menstruation probably brings before +us in its earliest shape the special and intimate bond which has ever been +held to connect women, by virtue of the menstrual process, with the +natural or supernatural powers of the world. Everywhere menstruating women +are supposed to be possessed by spirits and charged with mysterious +forces. It is at this point that a serious misconception, due to ignorance +of primitive religious ideas, has constantly intruded. It is stated that +the menstruating woman is "unclean" and possessed by an evil spirit. As a +matter of fact, however, the savage rarely discriminates between bad and +good spirits. Every spirit may have either a beneficial or malignant +influence. An interesting instance of this is given in Colenso's _Maori +Lexicon_ as illustrated by the meaning of the Maori word _atua_. + +The importance of recognizing the special sense in which the word +"unclean" is used in this connection was clearly pointed out by Robertson +Smith in the case of the Semites. "The Hebrew word _tame_ (unclean)," he +remarked, "is not the ordinary word for things physically foul; it is a +ritual term, and corresponds exactly to the idea of _taboo_. The ideas +'unclean' and 'holy' seem to us to stand in polar opposition to one +another, but it was not so with the Semites. Among the later Jews the Holy +Books 'defiled the hands' of the reader as contact with an impure thing +did; among Lucian's Syrians the dove was so holy that he who touched it +was unclean for a day; and the _taboo_ attaching to the swine was +explained by some, and beyond question correctly explained, in the same +way. Among the heathen Semites,[362] therefore, unclean animals, which it +was pollution to eat, were simply holy animals." Robertson Smith here +made no reference to menstruation, but he exactly described the primitive +attitude toward menstruation. Wellhausen, however, dealing with the early +Arabians, expressly mentions that in pre-Islamic days, "clean" and +"unclean" were used solely with reference to women in and out of the +menstrual state. At a later date Frazer developed this aspect of the +conception of taboo, and showed how it occurs among savage races +generally. He pointed out that the conceptions of holiness and pollution +not having yet been differentiated, women at childbirth and during +menstruation are on the same level as divine kings, chiefs, and priests, +and must observe the same rules of ceremonial purity. To seclude such +persons from the rest of the world, so that the dreaded spiritual danger +shall not spread, is the object of the taboo, which Frazer compares to "an +electrical insulator to preserve the spiritual force with which these +persons are charged from suffering or inflicting, harm by contact with the +outer world." After describing the phenomena (especially the prohibition +to touch the ground or see the sun) found among various races, Frazer +concludes: "The object of secluding women at menstruation is to neutralize +the dangerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at such +times. The general effect of these rules is to keep the girl suspended, so +to say, between heaven and earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock and +slung up to the roof, as in South America, or elevated above the ground in +a dark and narrow cage, as in New Zealand, she may be considered to be out +of the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from the earth +and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great sources of life by +her deadly contagion. The precautions thus taken to isolate or insulate +the girl are dictated by regard for her own safety as well as for the +safety of others.... In short, the girl is viewed as charged with a +powerful force which, if not kept within bounds, may prove the destruction +both of the girl herself and of all with whom she comes in contact. To +repress this force within the limits necessary for the safety of all +concerned is the object of the taboos in question. The same explanation +applies to the observance of the same rules by divine kings and priests. +The uncleanliness, as it is called, of girls at puberty and the sanctity +of holy men do not, to the primitive mind, differ from each other. They +are only different manifestations of the same supernatural energy, which, +like energy in general, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes +beneficent or malignant according to its application."[363] + +More recently this view of the matter has been further extended by the +distinguished French sociologist, Durkheim. Investigating the origins of +the prohibition of incest, and arguing that it proceeds from the custom of +exogamy (or marriage outside the clan), and that this rests on certain +ideas about blood, which, again, are traceable to totemism,--a theory +which we need not here discuss,--Durkheim is brought face to face with the +group of conceptions that now concern us. He insists on the extreme +ambiguity found in primitive culture concerning the notion of the divine, +and the close connection between aversion and veneration, and points out +that it is not only at puberty and each recurrence of the menstrual epoch +that women have aroused these emotions, but also at childbirth. "A +sentiment of religious horror," he continues, "which can reach such a +degree of intensity, which can be called forth by so many circumstances, +and reappears regularly every month to last for a week at least, cannot +fail to extend its influence beyond the periods to which it was originally +confined, and to affect the whole course of life. A being who must be +secluded or avoided for weeks, months, or years preserves something of the +characteristics to which the isolation was due, even outside those special +periods. And, in fact, in these communities, the separation of the sexes +is not merely intermittent; it has become chronic. The two elements of the +population live separately." Durkheim proceeds to argue that the origin of +the occult powers attributed to the feminine organism is to be found in +primitive ideas concerning blood. Not only menstrual blood but any kind of +blood is the object of such feelings among savage and barbarous peoples. +All sorts of precautions must be observed with regard to blood; in it +resides a divine principle, or as Romans, Jews, and Arabs believed, life +itself. The prohibition to drink wine, the blood of the grape, found among +some peoples, is traced to its resemblance to blood, and to its +sacrificial employment (as among the ancient Arabians and still in the +Christian sacrament) as a substitute for drinking blood. Throughout, blood +is generally taboo, and it taboos everything that comes in contact with +it. Now woman is chronically "the theatre of bloody manifestations," and +therefore she tends to become chronically taboo for the other members of +the community. "A more or less conscious anxiety, a certain religious +fear, cannot fail to enter into all the relations of her companions with +her, and that is why all such relations are reduced to a minimum. +Relations of a sexual character are specially excluded. In the first +place, such relations are so intimate that they are incompatible with the +sort of repulsion which the sexes must experience for each other; the +barrier between them does not permit of such a close union. In the second +place, the organs of the body here specially concerned are precisely the +source of the dreaded manifestations. Thus it is natural that the feelings +of aversion inspired by women attain their greatest intensity at this +point. Thus it is, also, that of all parts of the feminine organization it +is this region which is most severely shut out from commerce." So that, +while the primitive emotion is mainly one of veneration, and is allied to +that experienced for kings and priests, there is an element of fear in +such veneration, and what men fear is to some extent odious to them.[364] + +These conceptions necessarily mingled at a very early period with men's +ideas of sexual intercourse with women and especially with menstruating +women. Contact with women, as Crawley shows by abundant illustration, is +dangerous. In any case, indeed, the same ideas being transferred to women +also, coitus produces weakness, and it prevents the acquisition of +supernatural powers. Thus, among the western tribes of Canada, Boas +states: "Only a youth who has never touched a woman, or a virgin, both +being called _te 'e 'its_, can become shamans. After having had sexual +intercourse men as well as women, become _t 'k-e 'el_, i.e., weak, +incapable of gaining supernatural powers. The faculty cannot be regained +by subsequent fasting and abstinence."[365] The mysterious effects of +sexual intercourse in general are intensified in the case of intercourse +with a menstruating woman. Thus the ancient Indian legislator declares +that "the wisdom, the energy, the strength, the sight, and the vitality of +a man who approaches a woman covered with menstrual excretions utterly +perish."[366] It will be seen that these ideas are impartially spread over +the most widely separated parts of the globe. They equally affected the +Christian Church, and the Penitentials ordained forty or fifty days +penance for sexual intercourse during menstruation. + +Yet the twofold influence of the menstruating woman remains clear when we +review the whole group of influences which in this state she is supposed +to exert. She by no means acts only by paralyzing social activities and +destroying the powers of life, by causing flowers to fade, fruit to fall +from the trees, grains to lose their germinative power, and grafts to die. +She is not accurately summed up in the old lines:-- + + "Oh! menstruating woman, thou'rt a fiend + From whom all nature should be closely screened." + +Her powers are also beneficial. A woman at this time, as AElian expressed +it, is in regular communication with the starry bodies. Even at other +times a woman when led naked around the orchard protected it from +caterpillars, said Pliny, and this belief is acted upon (according to +Bastanzi) even in the Italy of to-day.[367] A garment stained with a +virgin's menstrual blood, it is said in Bavaria, is a certain safeguard +against cuts and stabs. It will also extinguish fire. It was valuable as a +love-philter; as a medicine its uses have been endless.[368] A sect of +Valentinians even attributed sacramental virtues to menstrual blood, and +partook of it as the blood of Christ. The Church soon, however, acquired a +horror of menstruating women; they were frequently not allowed to take the +sacrament or to enter sacred places, and it was sometimes thought best to +prohibit the presence of women altogether.[369] The Anglo-Saxon +Penitentials declared that menstruating women must not enter a church. It +appears to have been Gregory II who overturned this doctrine. + +In our own time the slow disintegration of primitive animistic +conceptions, aided certainly by the degraded conception of sexual +phenomena taught by mediaeval monks--for whom woman was "_templum +aedificatum super cloacam_"--has led to a disbelief in the more salutary +influences of the menstruating woman. A fairly widespread faith in her +pernicious influence alone survives. It may be traced even in practical +and commercial--one might add, medical--quarters. In the great +sugar-refineries in the North of France the regulations strictly forbid a +woman to enter the factory while the sugar is boiling or cooling, the +reason given being that, if a woman were to enter during her period, the +sugar would blacken. For the same reason--to turn to the East--no woman is +employed in the opium manufactory at Saigon, it being said that the opium +would turn and become bitter, while Annamite women say that it is very +difficult for them to prepare opium-pipes during the catamenial +period.[370] In India, again, when a native in charge of a limekiln which +had gone wrong, declared that one of the women workers must be +menstruating, all the women--Hindus, Mahometans, aboriginal Gonds, +etc.,--showed by their energetic denials that they understood this +superstition.[371] + +In 1878 a member of the British Medical Association wrote to the _British +Medical Journal_, asking whether it was true that if a woman cured hams +while menstruating the hams would be spoiled. He had known this to happen +twice. Another medical man wrote that if so, what would happen to the +patients of menstruating lady doctors? A third wrote (in the _Journal_ for +April 27, 1878): "I thought the fact was so generally known to every +housewife and cook that meat would spoil if salted at the menstrual +period, that I am surprised to see so many letters on the subject in the +_Journal_. If I am not mistaken, the question was mooted many years ago in +the periodicals. It is undoubtedly the fact that meat will be tainted if +cured by women at the catamenial period. Whatever the rationale may be, I +can speak positively as to the fact." + +It is probably the influence of these primitive ideas which has caused +surgeons and gynaecologists to dread operations during the catamenial +period. Such, at all events, is the opinion of a distinguished authority, +Dr. William Goodell, who wrote in 1891[372]: "I have learned to unlearn +the teaching that women must not be subjected to a surgical operation +during the monthly flux. Our forefathers, from time immemorial, have +thought and taught that the presence of a menstruating woman would pollute +solemn religious rites, would sour milk, spoil the fermentation in +wine-vats, and much other mischief in a general way. Influenced by hoary +tradition, modern physicians very generally postpone all operative +treatment until the flow has ceased. But why this delay, if time is +precious, and it enters as an important factor in the case? I have found +menstruation to be the very best time to curette away fungous vegetations +of the endometrium, for, being swollen then by the afflux of blood, they +are larger than at any other time, and can the more readily be removed. +There is, indeed, no surer way of checking or of stopping a metrorrhagia +than by curetting the womb during the very flow. While I do not select +this period for the removal of ovarian cysts, or for other abdominal work, +such as the extirpation of the ovaries, or a kidney, or breaking up +intestinal adhesions, etc., yet I have not hesitated to perform these +operations at such a time, and have never had reason to regret the course. +The only operations that I should dislike to perform during menstruation +would be those involving the womb itself." + +It must be added to this that we still have to take into consideration not +merely the surviving influence of ancient primitive beliefs, but the +possible existence of actual nervous conditions during the menstrual +period, producing what may be described as an abnormal nervous tension. In +this way, we are doubtless concerned with a tissue of phenomena, +inextricably woven of folk-lore, autosuggestion, false observation, and +real mental and nervous abnormality. Laurent (loc. cit.) has brought +forward several cases which may illustrate this point. Thus, he speaks of +two young girls of about 16 and 17, slightly neuropathic, but without +definite hysterical symptoms, who, during the menstrual period, feel +themselves in a sort of electrical state, "with tingling and prickling +sensations and feelings of attraction or repulsion at the contact of +various objects." These girls believe their garments stick to their skin +during the periods; it was only with difficulty that they could remove +their slippers, though fitting easily; stockings had to be drawn off +violently by another person, and they had given up changing their chemises +during the period because the linen became so glued to the skin. An +orchestral performer on the double-bass informed Laurent that whenever he +left a tuned double-bass in his lodgings during his wife's period a +string snapped; consequently he always removed his instrument at this time +to a friend's house. He added that the same thing happened two years +earlier with a mistress, a _cafe-concert_ singer, who had, indeed, warned +him beforehand. A harpist also informed Laurent that she had been obliged +to give up her profession because during her periods several strings of +her harp, always the same strings, broke, especially when she was playing. +A friend of Laurent's, an official in Cochin China, also told him that the +strings of his violin often snapped during the menstrual periods of his +Annamite mistress, who informed him that Annamite women are familiar with +the phenomenon, and are careful not to play on their instruments at this +time. Two young ladies, both good violinists, also affirmed that ever +since their first menstruation they had noted a tendency for the strings +to snap at this period; one, a genuine artist, who often performed at +charity concerts, systematically refused to play at these times, and was +often embarrassed to find a pretext; the other, who admitted that she was +nervous and irritable at such times, had given up playing on account of +the trouble of changing the strings so frequently. Laurent also refers to +the frequency with which women break things during the menstrual periods, +and considers that this is not simply due to the awkwardness caused by +nervous exhaustion or hysterical tremors, but that there is spontaneous +breakage. Most usually it happens that a glass breaks when it is being +dried with a cloth; needles also break with unusual facility at this time; +clocks are stopped by merely placing the hand upon them. + +I do not here attempt to estimate critically the validity of these alleged +manifestations (some of which may certainly be explained by the +unconscious muscular action which forms the basis of the phenomena of +table-turning and thought-reading); such a task may best be undertaken +through the minute study of isolated cases, and in this place I am merely +concerned with the general influence of the menstrual state in affecting +the social position of women, without reference to the analysis of the +elements that go to make up that influence. + +There is only one further point to which attention may be called. I +allude to the way in which the more favorable side of the primitive +conception of the menstruating woman--as priestess, sibyl, prophetess, an +almost miraculous agent for good, an angel, the peculiar home of the +divine element--was slowly and continuously carried on side by side with +the less favorable view, through the beginnings of European civilization +until our own times. The actual physical phenomena of menstruation, with +the ideas of taboo associated with that state, sank into the background as +culture evolved; but, on the other hand, the ideas of the angelic position +and spiritual mission of women, based on the primitive conception of the +mystery associated with menstruation, still in some degree persisted. + +It is evident, however, that, while, in one form or another, the more +favorable aspect of the primitive view of women's magic function has never +quite died out, the gradual decay and degradation of the primitive view +has, on the whole, involved a lower estimate of women's nature and +position. Woman has always been the witch; she was so even in ancient +Babylonia; but she has ceased to be the priestess. The early Teutons saw +"_sanctum aliquid et providum_" in women who, for the mediaeval German +preacher, were only "_bestiae bipedales_"; and Schopenhauer and even +Nietzsche have been more inclined to side with the preacher than with the +half-naked philosophers of Tacitus's day. But both views alike are but the +extremes of the same primitive conception; and the gradual evolution from +one extreme of the magical doctrine to the other was inevitable. + +In an advanced civilization, as we see, these ideas having their ultimate +basis on the old story of the serpent, and on a special and mysterious +connection between the menstruating woman and the occult forces of magic, +tend to die out. The separation of the sexes they involve becomes +unnecessary. Living in greater community with men, women are seen to +possess something, it may well be, but less than before, of the +angel-devil of early theories. Menstruation is no longer a monstrific +state requiring spiritual taboo, but a normal physiological process, not +without its psychic influences on the woman herself and on those who live +with her. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[353] Several recent works, however, notably Frazer's _Golden Bough_ and +Crawley's _Mystic Rose_, throw light directly or indirectly on this +question. + +[354] Robertson Smith points out that since snakes are the last noxious +animals which man is able to exterminate, they are the last to be +associated with demons. They were ultimately the only animals directly and +constantly associated with the Arabian _jinn_, or demon, and the serpent +of Eden was a demon, and not a temporary disguise of Satan (_Religion of +Semites_, pp. 129 and 442). Perhaps it was, in part, because the snake was +thus the last embodiment of demonic power that women were associated with +it, women being always connected with the most ancient religious beliefs. + +[355] In the northern territory of the same colony menstruation is said to +be due to a bandicoot scratching the vagina and causing blood to flow +(_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, p. 177, November, 1894). At +Glenelg, and near Portland, in Victoria, the head of a snake was inserted +into a virgin's vagina, when not considered large enough for intercourse +(Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, vol. ii, p. 319). + +[356] Frazer, _Golden Bough_, vol. ii, p. 231. Crawley (_The Mystic Rose_, +p. 192) also brings together various cases of primitive peoples who +believe the bite of a snake to be the cause of menstruation. + +[357] Meyners d'Estrez, "Etude ethnographique sur le lezard chez les +peuples malais et polynesiens," _L'Anthropologie_, 1892; see also, as +regards the lizard in Samoan folk-lore, _Globus_, vol. lxxiv, No. 16. + +[358] _Journal Anthropological Society of Bombay_, 1890, p. 589. + +[359] Boudin (_Etude Anthropologique: Culte du Serpent_, Paris, 1864, pp. +66-70) brings forward examples of this aspect of snake-worship. + +[360] Attilio de Marchi, _Il Culto privato di Roma_, p. 74. The +association of the power of generation with a god in the form of a serpent +is, indeed, common; see, e.g. Sir W.M. Ramsay, _Cities of Phrygia_, vol. +i, p. 94. + +[361] It is noteworthy that one of the names for the penis used by the +Swahili women of German East Africa, in a kind of private language of +their own, is "the snake" (Zache, _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, p. 73, +1899). It may be added that Maeder ("Interpretation de Quelques Reves," +_Archives de Psychologie_, April, 1907) brings forward various items of +folk-lore showing the phallic significance of the serpent, as well as +evidence indicating that, in the dreams of women of to-day, the snake +sometimes has a sexual significance. + +[362] W.R. Smith, _Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_, 1885, p. 307. +The point is elaborated in the same author's _Religion of Semites_, second +edition, Appendix on "Holiness, Uncleanness, and Taboo," pp. 446-54. See +also Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, second edition, pp. +167-77. Even to the early Arabians, Wellhausen remarks (p. 168), "clean" +meant "profane and allowed," while "unclean" meant "sacred and forbidden." +It was the same, as Jastrow remarks (_Religion of Babylonia_, p. 662), +among the Babylonian Semites. + +[363] J.C. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, Chapter IV. + +[364] E. Durkheim, "La Prohibition de l'Inceste et ses Origines," _L'Annee +Sociologique_, Premiere Annee, 1898, esp. pp. 44, 46-47, 48, 50-57. +Crawley (_Mystic Rose_, p. 212) opposes Durkheim's view as to the +significance of blood in relation to the attitude towards women. + +[365] _British Association Report on North Western Tribes of Canada_, +1890, p. 581. + +[366] _Laws of Manu_, iv, 41. + +[367] Pliny, who, in Book VII, Chapter XIII, and Book XXVIII, Chapter +XXIII, of his _Natural History_, gives long lists of the various good and +evil influences attributed to menstruation, writes in the latter place: +"Hailstorms, they say, whirlwinds, and lightnings, even, will be scared +away by a woman uncovering her body while her monthly courses are upon +her. The same, too, with all other kinds of tempestuous weather; and out +at sea, a storm may be stilled by a woman uncovering her body merely, even +though not menstruating at the time. At any other time, also, if a woman +strips herself naked while she is menstruating, and walks round a field of +wheat, the caterpillars, worms, beetles, and other vermin will fall from +off the ears of corn." + +[368] See Bourke, _Scatologic Rites of all Nations_, 1891, pp. 217-219, +250 and 254; Ploss and Max Bartels, _Das Weib_, vol. i; H.L. Strack, _Der +Blutaberglaube in der Menschheit_, fourth edition, 1892, pp. 14-18. The +last mentioned refers to the efficacy frequently attributed to menstrual +blood in the Middle Ages in curing leprosy, and gives instances, occurring +even in Germany to-day, of girls who have administered drops of menstrual +blood in coffee to their sweethearts, to make sure of retaining their +affections. + +[369] See, e.g., Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, vol. iii, p. 115. + +[370] Dr. L. Laurent gives these instances, "De Quelques Phenomenes +Mecaniques produits au moment de la Menstruation," _Annales des Sciences +Psychiques_, September and October, 1897. + +[371] _Journal Anthropological Society of Bombay_, 1890, p. 403. Even the +glance of a menstruating woman is widely believed to have serious results. +See Tuchmann, "La Fascination," _Melasine_, 1888, pp. 347 _et seq._ + +[372] As quoted in the _Provincial Medical Journal_, April, 1891. + + + + +APPENDIX B. + + +SEXUAL PERIODICITY IN MEN. + +BY F.H. PERRY-COSTE, B. Sc. (LOND.). + + +In a recent _brochure_ on the "Rhythm of the Pulse"[373] I showed _inter +alia_ that the readings of the pulse, in both man and woman, if arranged +in lunar monthly periods, and averaged over several years, displayed a +clear, and sometimes very strongly marked and symmetrical, rhythm.[374] +After pointing out that, in at any rate some cases, the male and female +pulse-curves, both monthly and annual, seemed to be converse to one +another, I added: "It is difficult to ignore the suggestion that in this +tracing of the monthly rhythm of the pulse we have a history of the +monthly function in women; and that, if so, the tracing of the male pulse +may eventually afford us some help in discovering a corresponding monthly +period in men: the existence of which has been suggested by Mr. Havelock +Ellis and Professor Stanley Hall, among other writers. Certainly the mere +fact that we can trace a clear monthly rhythm in man's pulse seems to +point strongly to the existence of a monthly physiological period in him +also." + +Obviously, however, it is only indirectly and by inference that we can +argue from a monthly rhythm of the pulse in men to a male sexual +periodicity; but I am now able to adduce more direct evidence that will +fairly demonstrate the existence of a sexual periodicity in men. + +We will start from the fact that celibacy is profoundly unnatural, +and is, therefore, a physical--as well as an emotional and +intellectual--abnormality. This being so, it is entirety in accord with +all that we know of physiology that, when relief to the sexual secretory +system by Nature's means is denied, and when, in consequence, a certain +degree of tension or pressure has been attained, the system should relieve +itself by a spontaneous discharge--such discharge being, of course, in the +strict sense of the term, pathological, since it would never occur in any +animal that followed the strict law of its physical being without any +regard to other and higher laws of concern for its fellows. + +Notoriously, that which we should have anticipated _a priori_ actually +occurs; for any unmarried man, who lives in strict chastity, periodically +experiences, while sleeping, a loss of seminal fluid--such phenomena being +popularly referred to as _wet dreams_.[375] + +During some eight or ten years I have carefully recorded the occurrence of +such discharges as I have experienced myself, and I have now accumulated +sufficient data to justify an attempt to formulate some provisional +conclusions.[376] + +In order to render these observations as serviceable as may be to students +of periodicity, I here repeat (at the request of Mr. Havelock Ellis) the +statement which was subjoined, for the same reasons, to my "Rhythm of the +Pulse." These observations upon myself were made between the ages of 20 +and 33. I am about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, broad-shouldered, and weigh +about 10 stone 3 lbs. _net_--this weight being, I believe, about 7 lbs. +below the normal for my height. Also I have green-brown eyes, very +dark-brown hair, and a complexion that leads strangers frequently to +mistake me for a foreigner--this complexion being, perhaps, attributable +to some Huguenot blood, although on the maternal side I am, so far as all +information goes, pure English. I can stand a good deal of heat, enjoy +relaxing climates, am at once upset by "bracing" sea-air, hate the cold, +and sweat profusely after exercise. To this it will suffice to add that my +temperament is of a decidedly nervous and emotional type. + +Before proceeding to remark upon the various rhythms that I have +discovered, I will tabulate the data on which my conclusions are founded. +The numbers of discharges recorded in the years in question are as +follows:-- + + In 1886, 30. (Records commenced in April.) + In 1887, 40. + In 1888, 37. + In 1889, 18. (Pretty certainly not fully recorded.) + In 1890, 0 (No records kept this year.[377]) + In 1891, 19. (Records recommenced in June.) + In 1892, 35. + In 1893, 40. + In 1894, 38. + In 1895, 36. + In 1896, 36. + In 1897, 35. + Average, 37. (Omitting 1886, 1889, and 1891.) + +Thus I have complete records for eight years, and incomplete records for +three more; and the remarkable concord between the respective annual +numbers of observations in these eight years not only affords us intrinsic +evidence of the accuracy of my records, but, also, at once proves that +there is an undeniable regularity in the occurrence of these sexual +discharges, and, therefore, gives us reason for expecting to find this +regularity rhythmical. Moreover, since it seemed reasonable to expect +that there might be more than one rhythm, I have examined my data with a +view to discovering (1) an annual, (2) a lunar-monthly, and (3) a weekly +rhythm, and I now proceed to show that all three such rhythms exist. + + +THE ANNUAL RHYTHM. + +It is obvious that, in searching for an annual rhythm, we must ignore the +records of the three incomplete years; but those of the remaining eight +are graphically depicted upon Chart 8. The curves speak so plainly for +themselves that any comment were almost superfluous, and the concord +between the various curves, although, of course, not perfect, is far +greater than the scantiness of the data would have justified us in +expecting. The curves all agree in pointing to the existence of three +well-defined maxima,--viz., in March, June, and September,--these being, +therefore, the months in which the sexual instinct is most active; and the +later curves show that there is also often a fourth maximum in January. In +the earlier years the March and June maxima are more strikingly marked +than the September one; but the uppermost curve shows that on the average +of all eight years the September maximum is the highest, the June and +January maxima occupying the second place, and the March maximum being the +least strongly marked of all. + +Now, remembering that, in calculating the curves of the annual rhythm of +the pulse, I had found it necessary to average two months' records +together, in order to bring out the full significance of the rhythm, I +thought it well to try the effect upon these curves also of similarly +averaging two months together. At first my results were fairly +satisfactory; but, as my data increased year by year, I found that these +curves were contradicting one another, and therefore concluded that I had +selected unnatural periods for my averaging. My first attempted remedy was +to arrange the months in the pairs December-January, February-March, etc., +instead of in January-February, March-April, etc.; but with these pairs I +fared no better than with the former. I then arranged the months in the +triplets, January-February-March, etc.; and the results are graphically +recorded on Chart 7. Here, again, comment would be quite futile, but I +need only point out that, _on the whole_, the sexual activity rises +steadily during the first nine months in the year to its maximum in +September, and then sinks rapidly and abruptly during the next three to +its minimum in December. + +The study of these curves suggests two interesting questions, to neither +of which, however, do the data afford us an answer. + +In the first place, are the alterations, in my case, of the maximum of the +discharges from March and June in the earlier years to September in the +later, and the interpolation of a new secondary maximum in January, +correlated with the increase in age; or is the discrepancy due simply to a +temporary irregularity that would have been equally averaged out had I +recorded the discharges of 1881-89 instead of those from 1887 to 1897? + +The second question is one of very great importance--socially, ethically, +and physically. How often, in this climate, should a man have sexual +connection with his wife in order to maintain himself in perfect +physiological equilibrium? My results enable us to state definitely the +minimum limits, and to reply that 37 embraces annually would be too few; +but, unfortunately, they give us no clue to the maximum limit. It is +obvious that the necessary frequency should be greater than 37 times +annually,--possibly very considerably in excess thereof,--seeing that the +spontaneous discharges, with which we are dealing, are due to +over-pressure, and occur only when the system, being denied natural +relief, can no longer retain its secretions; and, therefore, it seems very +reasonable to suggest that the frequency of natural relief should be some +multiple of 37. I do not perceive, however, that the data in hand afford +us any clue to this multiple, or enable us to suggest either 2, 3, 4, or 5 +as the required multiple of 37. It is true that other observations upon +myself have afforded me what I believe to be a fairly satisfactory and +reliable answer so far as concerns myself; but these observations are of +such a nature that they cannot be discussed here, and I have no +inclination to offer as a counsel to others an opinion which I am unable +to justify by the citation of facts and statistics. Moreover, I am quite +unable to opine whether, given 37 as the annual frequency of spontaneous +discharges in a number of men, the multiple required for the frequency of +natural relief should be the same in every case. For aught I know to the +contrary, the physiological idiosyncrasies of men may be so varied that, +given two men with an annual frequency of 37 spontaneous discharges, the +desired multiple may be in one case X and in the other 2X.[378] Our data, +however, do clearly denote that the frequency in the six or eight summer +months should bear to the frequency of the six or four winter months the +proportion of three or four to two.[379] It should never be forgotten, +however, that, under all conditions, both man and wife should exercise +prudence, both _selfward_ and _otherward_, and that each should utterly +refuse to gratify self by accepting a sacrifice, however willingly +offered, that may be gravely prejudicial to the health of the other; for +only experience can show whether, in any union, the receptivity of the +woman be greater or less than, or equal to, the _physical_ desire of the +man. To those, of course, who regard marriage from the old-fashioned and +grossly immoral standpoint of Melancthon and other theologians, and who +consider a wife as the divinely ordained vehicle for the chartered +intemperance of her husband, it will seem grotesque in the highest degree +that a physiological inquirer should attempt to advise them how often to +seek the embraces of their wives; but those who regard woman from the +standpoint of a higher ethics, who abhor the notion that she should be +only the vehicle for her husband's passions, and who demand that she shall +be mistress of her own body, will not be ungrateful for any guidance that +physiology can afford them. It will be seen presently, moreover, that the +study of the weekly rhythm does afford us some less inexact clue to the +desired solution. + +One curious fact may be mentioned before we quit this interesting +question. It is stated that "Solon required [of the husband] three +_payments_ per month. By the Misna a daily debt was imposed upon an idle +vigorous young husband; _twice a week_ on a citizen; once in thirty days +on a camel-driver; once in six months on a seaman."[380] Now it is +certainly striking that Solon's "three payments per month" exactly +correspond with my records of 37 discharges annually. Had Solon similarly +recorded a series of observations upon himself? + + +THE LUNAR-MONTHLY RHYTHM. + +We now come to that division of the inquiry which is of the greatest +physiological interest, although of little social import. Is there a +monthly period in man as well as in woman? My records indicate clearly +that there is. + +In searching for this monthly rhythm I have utilized not only the data of +the eight completely-recorded years, but also those of the three years of +1886, 1889, and 1891, for, although it would obviously have been +inaccurate to utilize these incomplete records when calculating the +yearly rhythm, there seems no objection to making use of them in the +present section of the inquiry. It is hardly necessary to remark that the +terms "first day of the month," "second day," "third day," etc., are to be +understood as denoting "new-moon day," "day after new moon," "third lunar +day," and so on; but it should be explained that, since these discharges +occur at night, I have adopted the astronomical, instead of the civil, +day; so that a new moon occurring between noon yesterday and noon to-day +is reckoned as occurring yesterday, and yesterday is regarded as the first +lunar day: thus, a discharge occurring in the night between December 31st +and January 1st is tabulated as occurring on December 31st, and, in the +present discussion, is assigned to the lunar day comprised between noon of +December 31st and noon of January 1st. + +Since it is obvious that the number of discharges in any one +year--averaging, as they do, only 1.25 per day--are far too few to yield a +curve of any value, I have combined my data in two series. The dotted +curve on Chart 9 is obtained by combining the results of the years +1886-92: two of these years are incompletely recorded, and there are no +records for 1890; the total number of observations was 179. The broken +curve is obtained by combining those of the years 1893-97, the total +number of observations being 185. Even so, the data are far too scanty to +yield a really characteristic curve; but the _continuous_ curve, which +sums up the results of the eleven years, is more reliable, and obviously +more satisfactory. + +If the two former curves be compared, it will be seen that, on the whole, +they display a general concordance, such differences as exist being +attributable chiefly to two facts: (1) that the second curve is more even +throughout, neither maximum nor minimum being so strongly marked as in the +first; and (2) that the main maximum occurs in the middle of the month +instead of on the second lunar day, and the absence of the marked initial +maximum alters the character of the first week or so of this curve. It is, +however, scarcely fair to lay any great stress on the characters of curves +obtained from such scanty data, and we will, therefore, pass to the +continuous curve, the study of which will prove more valuable.[381] + +Now, even a cursory examination of this continuous curve will yield the +following results:-- + +1. The discharges occur most frequently on the second lunar day. + +2. The days of the next most frequent discharges are the 22d; the 13th; +the 7th, 20th, and 26th; the 11th and 16th; so that, if we regard only the +first six of these, we find that the discharges occur most frequently on +the 2d, 7th, 13th, 20th, 22d, and 26th lunar days--i.e., the discharges +occur most frequently on days separated, on the average, by four-day +intervals; but actually the period between the 20th and 22d days is that +characterized by the most frequent discharges. + +3. The days of minimum of discharge are the 1st, 5th, 15th, 18th, and +21st. + +4. The curve is characterized by a continual see-sawing; so that every +notable maximum is immediately followed by a notable minimum. Thus, the +curve is of an entirely different character from that representing the +monthly rhythm of the pulse,[382] and this is only what one might have +expected; for, whereas the _mean_ pulsations vary only very slightly from +day to day,--thus giving rise to a gradually rising or sinking curve,--a +discharge from the sexual system relieves the tension by exhausting the +stored-up secretion, and is necessarily followed by some days of rest and +inactivity. In the very nature of the case, therefore, a curve of this +kind could not possibly be otherwise than most irregular if the discharges +tended to occur most frequently upon definite days of the month; and thus +the very irregularity of the curve affords us proof that there is a +regular male periodicity, such that on certain days of the month there is +greater probability of a spontaneous discharge than on any other days. + +5. Gratifying, however, though this irregularity of the curve may be, yet +it entails a corresponding disadvantage, for we are precluded thereby from +readily perceiving the characteristics of the monthly rhythm as a whole. I +thought that perhaps this aspect of the rhythm might be rendered plainer +if I calculated the data into two-day averages; and the result, as shown +in Chart 10, is extremely satisfactory. Here we can at once perceive the +wonderful and almost geometric symmetry of the monthly rhythm; indeed, if +the third maximum were one unit higher, if the first minimum were one unit +lower, and if the lines joining the second minimum and third maximum, and +the fourth maximum and fourth minimum, were straight instead of being +slightly broken, then the curve would, in its chief features, be +geometrically symmetrical; and this symmetry appears to me to afford a +convincing proof of the representative accuracy of the curve. We see that +the month is divided into five periods; that the maxima occur on the +following pairs of days: the 19th-20th, 13th-14th, 25th-26th, 1st-2d, +7th-8th; and that the minima occur at the beginning, end, and exact middle +of the month. There have been many idle superstitions as to the influence +of the moon upon the earth and its inhabitants, and some beliefs +that--once deemed equally idle--have now been re-instated in the regard of +science; but it would certainly seem to be a very fascinating and very +curious fact if the influence of the moon upon men should be such as to +regulate the spontaneous discharges of their sexual system. Certainly the +lovers of all ages would then have "builded better than they knew," when +they reared altars of devotional verse to that chaste goddess Artemis. + + +THE WEEKLY RHYTHM. + +We now come to the third branch of our inquiry, and have to ask whether +there be any weekly rhythm of the sexual activity. _A priori_ it might be +answered that to expect any such weekly rhythm were absurd, seeing that +our week--unlike the lunar month of the year--is a purely artificial and +conventional period; while, on the other hand, it might be retorted that +the existence of an _induced_ weekly periodicity is quite conceivable, +such periodicity being induced by the habitual difference between our +occupation, or mode of life, on one or two days of the week and that on +the remaining days. In such an inquiry, however, _a priori_ argument is +futile, as the question can be answered only by an induction from +observations, and the curves on Chart 11 (_A_ and _B_) prove conclusively +that there is a notable weekly rhythm. The existence of this weekly rhythm +being granted, it would naturally be assumed that either the maximum or +the minimum would regularly occur on Saturday or Sunday; but an +examination of the curves discloses the unexpected result that the day of +maximum discharge varies from year to year. Thus it is[383] + + Sunday in 1888, 1892, 1896. + Tuesday in 1894. + Thursday in 1886, 1897. + Friday in 1887. + Saturday in 1893 and 1895. + +Since, in Chart 11, the curves are drawn from Sunday to Sunday, it is +obvious that the real symmetry of the curve is brought out in those years +only which are characterized by a Sunday maximum; and, accordingly, in +Chart 12 I have depicted the curves in a more suitable form. + +Chart 12 _A_ is obtained by combining the data of 1888, 1892, and 1896: +the years of a Sunday maximum. Curve 12 _B_ represents the results of +1894, the year of a Tuesday maximum--multiplied throughout by three in +order to render the curve strictly comparable with the former. Curve 12 +_C_ represents 1886 and 1897--the years of a Thursday maximum--similarly +multiplied by 1.5. In Curve 12 _D_ we have the results of 1887--the year +of a Friday maximum--again multiplied by three; and in Curve 12 _E_ those +of 1893 and 1895--the years of a Saturday maximum--multiplied by 1.5. +Finally, Curve 12 _F_ represents the combined results of all nine years +plus (the latter half of) 1891; and this curve shows that, on the whole +period, there is a very strongly marked Sunday maximum. + +I hardly think that these curves call for much comment. In their general +character they display a notable concord among themselves; and it is +significant that the most regular of the five curves are _A_ and _E_, +representing the combinations of three years and of two years, +respectively, while the least regular is _B_, which is based upon the +records of one year only. In every case we find that the maximum which +opens the week is rapidly succeeded by a minimum, which is itself +succeeded by a secondary maximum,--usually very secondary, although in +1894 it nearly equals the primary maximum,--followed again by a second +minimum--usually nearly identical with the first minimum,--after which +there is a rapid rise to the original maximum. The study of these curves +fortunately amplifies the conclusion drawn from our study of the annual +rhythm, and suggests that, in at least part of the year, the physiological +condition of man requires sexual union at least twice a week. + +As to Curve 12_F_, its remarkable symmetry speaks for itself. The +existence of two secondary maxima, however, has not the same significance +as had that of our secondary maximum in the preceding curves; for one of +these secondary maxima is due to the influence of the 1894 curve with its +primary Tuesday maximum, and the other to the similar influence of Curve +_C_ with its primary Thursday maximum. Similarly, the veiled third +secondary maximum is due to the influence of Curve _E_. Probably, any +student of curves will concede that, on a still larger average, the two +secondary maxima of Curve _F_ would be replaced by a single one on +Wednesday or Thursday. + +One more question remains for consideration in connection with this weekly +rhythm. Is it possible to trace any connection between the weekly and +yearly rhythms of such a character that the weekly day of maximum +discharge should vary from month to month in the year; in other words, +does the greater frequency of a Sunday discharge characterize one part of +the year, that of a Tuesday another, and so on? In order to answer this +question I have re-calculated all my data, with results that are +graphically represented in Chart 13. These curves prove that the Sunday +maxima discharges occur in March and September, and the minima in June; +that the Monday maxima discharges occur in September, Friday in July, and +so on. Thus, there is a regular rhythm, according to which the days of +maximum discharge vary from one month of the year to another; and the +existence of this final rhythm appears to me very remarkable. I would +especially direct attention to the almost geometric symmetry of the Sunday +curve, and to the only less complete symmetry of the Thursday and Friday +curves. Certainly in these rhythms we have an ample field for farther +study and speculation. + +I have now concluded my study of this fascinating inquiry; a study that is +necessarily incomplete, since it is based upon records furnished by one +individual only. The fact, however, that, even with so few observations, +and notwithstanding the consequently exaggerated disturbing influence of +minor irregularities, such remarkable and unexpected symmetry is evidenced +by these curves, only increases one's desire to have the opportunity of +handling a series of observations sufficiently numerous to render the +generalizations induced from them absolutely conclusive. I would again +appeal[384] to heads of colleges to assist this inquiry by enlisting in +its aid a band of students. If only one hundred students, living under +similar conditions, could be induced to keep such records with scrupulous +regularity for only twelve months, the results induced from such a series +of observations would be more than ten times as valuable as those which +have only been reached after ten years' observations on my part; and, if +other centuries of students in foreign and colonial colleges--e.g., in +Italy, India, Australia, and America--could be similarly enlisted in this +work, we should quickly obtain a series of results exhibiting the sexual +needs and sexual peculiarities of the male human animal in various +climates. Obviously, however, the records of any such students would be +worse than useless unless their care and accuracy, on the one hand, and +their habitual chastity, on the other, could be implicitly guaranteed. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[373] First published in the _University Magazine and Free Review_ of +February, 1898, and since reprinted as a pamphlet. A preliminary +communication appeared in _Nature_, May 14, 1891. + +[374] [Later study (1906) has convinced me that my attempt to find a +lunar-monthly period in the female pulse was vitiated by a hopeless error: +for any monthly rhythm in a woman must be sought by arranging her records +according to her own menstrual month; and this menstrual month may vary in +different women, from considerably less than a lunar month to thirty days +or more.] + +[375] I may add, however, that in my own case these discharges are--so far +as I can trust my waking consciousness--frequently, if not usually, +dreamless; and that strictly sexual dreams are extremely rare, +notwithstanding the possession of a strongly emotional temperament. + +[376] If I can trust my memory, I first experienced this discharge when a +few months under fifteen years of age, and, if so, within a few weeks of +the time when I was, in an instant, suddenly struck with the thought that +possibly the religion in which I had been educated might be false. It is +curiously interesting that the advent of puberty should have been heralded +by this intellectual crisis. + +[377] This unfortunate breach in the records was due to the fact that, +failing to discover any regularity in, or law of, the occurrences of the +discharges, I became discouraged and abandoned my records. In June, 1891, +a re-examination of my pulse-records having led to my discovery of a +lunar-monthly rhythm of the pulse, my interest in other physiological +periodicities was reawakened, and I recommenced my records of these +discharges. + +[378] As a matter of fact, I take it that we may safely assert that no man +who is content to be guided by his own instinctive cravings, and who +neither suppresses these, on the one hand, nor endeavors to force himself, +on the other hand, will be in any danger of erring by either excess or the +contrary. + +[379] [It is obvious that the opportunity of continuing such an inquiry as +that described in this Appendix, ceases with marriage; but I may add +(1906) that certain notes that I have kept with scrupulous exactness +during eight years of married life, lend almost no support to the +suggestion made in the text--i.e., that sexual desire is greater at one +season of the year than at another. The nature of these notes I cannot +discuss; but, they clearly indicate that, although there is a slight +degree more of sexual desire in the second and third quarters of the year, +than in the first and fourth, yet, this difference is so slight as to be +almost negligible. Even if the months be rearranged in the +triplets--November-December-January, etc.,--so as to bring the maximum +months of May, June, and July together, the difference between the highest +quarter and the lowest amounts to an increase of only ten per cent, upon +the latter--after allowing, of course, for the abnormal shortness of +February; and, neglecting February, the increase in the maximum months +(June and July) over the minimum (November) is equal to an increase of +under 14 per cent, upon the latter. These differences are so vastly less +than those shown on Chart 7 that they possess almost no significance: but, +lest too much stress be laid upon the apparently _equalizing_ influence of +married life, it must be added that the records discussed in the text were +obtained during residence in London, whereas, since my marriage, I have +lived in South Cornwall, where the climate is both milder and more +equable.] + +[380] Selden's _Uxor Hebraica_ as quoted in Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, +vol. v, p. 52, of Bonn's edition. + +[381] I may add that the curve yielded by 1896-97 is remarkably parallel +with that yielded by the preceding nine years, but I have not thought it +worth while to chart these two additional curves. + +[382] See "Rhythm of the Pulse," Chart 4. + +[383] As will be observed, I have omitted the results of the incompletely +recorded years of 1889 and 1891. The apparent explanation of this curious +oscillation will be given directly. + +[384] See "Rhythm of the Pulse," p. 21. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + +THE AUTO-EROTIC FACTOR IN RELIGION. + + +The intimate association between the emotions of love and religion is well +known to all those who are habitually brought into close contact with the +phenomena of the religious life. Love and religion are the two most +volcanic emotions to which the human organism is liable, and it is not +surprising that, when there is a disturbance in one of these spheres, the +vibrations should readily extend to the other. Nor is it surprising that +the two emotions should have a dynamic relation to each other, and that +the auto-erotic impulse, being the more primitive and fundamental of the +two impulses, should be able to pass its unexpended energy over to the +religious emotion, there to find the expansion hitherto denied it, the +love of the human becoming the love of the divine. + + "I was not good enough for man, + And so am given to God." + +Even when there is absolute physical suppression on the sexual side, it +seems probable that thereby a greater intensity of spiritual fervor is +caused. Many eminent thinkers seem to have been without sexual desire. + +It is a noteworthy and significant fact that the age of love is also the +age of conversion. Starbuck, for instance, in his very elaborate study of +the psychology of conversion shows that the majority of conversions take +place during the period of adolescence; that is, from the age of puberty +to about 24 or 25.[385] + +It would be easy to bring forward a long series of observations, from the +most various points of view, to show the wide recognition of this close +affinity between the sexual and the religious emotions. It is probable, as +Hahn points out, that the connection between sexual suppression and +religious rites, which we may trace at the very beginning of culture, was +due to an instinctive impulse to heighten rather than abolish the sexual +element. Early religious rites were largely sexual and orgiastic because +they were largely an appeal to the generative forces of Nature to exhibit +a beneficial productiveness. Among happily married people, as Hahn +remarks, the sexual emotions rapidly give place to the cares and anxieties +involved in supporting children; but when the exercise of the sexual +function is prevented by celibacy, or even by castration, the most +complete form of celibacy, the sexual emotions may pass into the psychical +sphere to take on a more pronounced shape.[386] The early Christians +adopted the traditional Eastern association between religion and celibacy, +and, as the writings of the Fathers amply show, they expended on sexual +matters a concentrated fervor of thought rarely known to the Greek and +Roman writers of the best period.[387] As Christian theology developed, +the minute inquisition into sexual things sometimes became almost an +obsession. So far as I am aware, however (I cannot profess to have made +any special investigation), it was not until the late Middle Ages that +there is any clear recognition of the fact that, between the religious +emotions and the sexual emotions, there is not only a superficial +antagonism, but an underlying relationship. At this time so great a +theologian and philosopher as Aquinas said that it is especially on the +days when a man is seeking to make himself pleasing to God that the Devil +troubles him by polluting him with seminal emissions. With somewhat more +psychological insight, the wise old Knight of the Tower, Landry, in the +fourteenth century, tells his daughters that "no young woman, in love, +can ever serve her God with that unfeignedness which she did aforetime. +For I have heard it argued by many who, in their young days, had been in +love that, when they were in the church, the condition and the pleasing +melancholy in which they found themselves would infallibly set them +brooding over all their tender love-sick longings and all their amorous +passages, when they should have been attending to the service which was +going on at the time. And such is the property of this mystery of love +that it is ever at the moment when the priest is holding our Saviour upon +the altar that the most enticing emotions come." After narrating the +history of two queens beyond the seas who indulged in amours even on Holy +Thursday and Good Friday, at midnight in their oratories, when the lights +were put out, he concludes: "Every woman in love is more liable to fall in +church or at her devotion than at any other time." + +The connection between religious emotion and sexual emotion was very +clearly set forth by Swift about the end of the seventeenth century, in a +passage which it may be worth while to quote from his "Discourse +Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit." After mentioning that +he was informed by a very eminent physician that when the Quakers first +appeared he was seldom without female Quaker patients affected with +nymphomania, Swift continues: "Persons of a visionary devotion, either men +or women, are, in their complexion, of all others the most amorous. For +zeal is frequently kindled from the same spark with other fires, and from +inflaming brotherly love will proceed to raise that of a gallant. If we +inspect into the usual process of modern courtship, we shall find it to +consist in a devout turn of the eyes, called _ogling_; an artificial form +of canting and whining, by rote, every interval, for want of other matter, +made up with a shrug, or a hum; a sigh or a groan; the style compact of +insignificant words, incoherences, and repetitions. These I take to be the +most accomplished rules of address to a mistress; and where are these +performed with more dexterity than by the _saints_? Nay, to bring this +argument yet closer, I have been informed by certain sanguine brethren of +the first class, that in the height and _orgasmus_ of their spiritual +exercise, it has been frequent with them[388]; ... immediately after +which, they found the _spirit_ to relax and flag of a sudden with the +nerves, and they were forced to hasten to a conclusion. This may be +farther strengthened by observing with wonder how unaccountably all +females are attracted by visionary or enthusiastic preachers, though never +so contemptible in their _outward mien_; which is usually supposed to be +done upon considerations purely spiritual, without any carnal regards at +all. But I have reason to think, the sex hath certain characteristics, by +which they form a truer judgment of human abilities and performings than +we ourselves can possibly do of each other. Let that be as it will, thus +much is certain, that however spiritual intrigues begin, they generally +conclude like all others; they may branch upwards toward heaven, but the +root is in the earth. Too intense a contemplation is not the business of +flesh and blood; it must, by the necessary course of things, in a little +time let go its hold, and fall into _matter_. Lovers for the sake of +celestial converse, are but another sort of Platonics, who pretend to see +stars and heaven in ladies' eyes, and to look or think no lower; but the +same _pit_ is provided for both." + +To come down to recent times, in the last century the head-master of +Clifton College, when discussing the sexual vices of boyhood, remarked +that the boys whose temperament exposes them to these faults are usually +far from destitute of religious feelings; that there is, and always has +been, an undoubted co-existence of religion and animalism; that emotional +appeals and revivals are far from rooting out carnal sin; and that in some +places, as is well known, they seem actually to stimulate, even at the +present day, to increased licentiousness.[389] + +It is not difficult to see how, even in technique, the method of the +revivalist is a quasi-sexual method, and resembles the attempt of the male +to overcome the sexual shyness of the female. "In each case," as W. Thomas +remarks, "the will has to be set aside, and strong suggestive means are +used; and in both cases the appeal is not of the conflict type, but of an +intimate, sympathetic and pleading kind. In the effort to make a moral +adjustment it consequently turns out that a technique is used which +was derived originally from sexual life, and the use, so to speak, +of the sexual machinery for a moral adjustment involves, in some +cases, the carrying over into the general process of some sexual +manifestations."[390] + +The relationship of the sexual and the religious emotions--like so many +other of the essential characters of human nature--is seen in its nakedest +shape by the alienist. Esquirol referred to this relationship, and, many +years ago, J.B. Friedreich, a German alienist of wide outlook and +considerable insight, emphasized the connection between the sexual and the +religious emotions, and brought forward illustrative cases.[391] Schroeder +van der Kolk also remarked: "I venture to express my conviction that we +should rarely err if, in a case of religious melancholy, we assumed the +sexual apparatus to be implicated."[392] Regis, in France, lays it down +that "there exists a close connection between mystic ideas and erotic +ideas, and most often these two orders of conception are associated in +insanity."[393] Berthier considered that erotic forms of insanity are +those most frequently found in convents. Bevan-Lewis points out how +frequently religious exaltation occurs at puberty in women, and religious +depression at the climacteric, the period of sexual decline.[394] +"Religion is very closely allied to love," remarks Savage, "and the love +of woman and the worship of God are constantly sources of trouble in +unstable youth; it is very interesting to note the frequency with which +these two deep feelings are associated."[395] "Closely connected with +salacity, particularly in women," remarks Conolly Norman, when discussing +mania (Tuke's _Dictionary of Psychological Medicine_), "is religious +excitement.... Ecstasy, as we see in cases of acute mental disease, is +probably always connected with sexual excitement, if not with sexual +depravity. The same association is constantly seen in less extreme cases, +and one of the commonest features in the conversation of an acutely +maniacal woman is the intermingling of erotic and religious ideas." +"Patients who believe," remarks Clara Barrus, "that they are the Virgin +Mary, the bride of Christ, the Church, 'God's wife,' and 'Raphael's +consort,' are sure, sooner or later, to disclose symptoms which show that +they are some way or other sexually depraved."[396] Forel, who devotes a +chapter of his book _Die Sexuelle Frage_, to the subject, argues that the +strongest feelings of religious emotion are often unconsciously rooted in +erotic emotion or represent a transformation of such emotion; and, in an +interesting discussion (Ch. VI) of this question in his _Sexualleben +unserer Zeit_, Bloch states that "in a certain sense we may describe the +history of religions as the history of a special manifestation of the +human sexual instinct." Ball, Brouardel, Morselli, Vallon and Marie,[397] +C.H. Hughes,[398] to mention but a few names among many, have emphasized +the same point.[399] Krafft-Ebing deals briefly with the connection +between holiness and the sexual emotion, and the special liability of the +saints to sexual temptations; he thus states his own conclusions: +"Religious and sexual emotional states at the height of their development +exhibit a harmony in quantity and quality of excitement, and can thus in +certain circumstances act vicariously. Both," he adds, "can be converted +into cruelty under pathological conditions."[400] + +After quoting these opinions it is, perhaps, not unnecessary to point out +that, while sexual emotion constitutes the main reservoir of energy on +which religion can draw, it is far from constituting either the whole +content of religion or its root. Murisier, in an able study of the +psychology of religious ecstasy, justly protests against too crude an +explanation of its nature, though at the same time he admits that "the +passion of the religious ecstatic lacks nothing of what goes to make up +sexual love, not even jealousy."[401] + +Serieux, in his little work, _Recherches Cliniques sur les Anomalies de +l'Instinct Sexuel_, valuable on account of its instructive cases, records +in detail a case which so admirably illustrates this phase of auto-erotism +on the borderland between ordinary erotic day-dreaming and religious +mysticism, the phenomena for a time reaching an insane degree of +intensity, that I summarize it. "Therese M., aged 24, shows physical +stigmata of degeneration. The heredity is also bad; the father is a man of +reckless and irregular conduct; the mother was at one time in a lunatic +asylum. The patient was brought up in an orphanage, and was a troublesome, +volatile child; she treated household occupations with contempt, but was +fond of study. Even at an early age her lively imagination attracted +attention, and the pleasure which she took in building castles in the air. +From the age of seven to ten she masturbated. At her first communion she +felt that Jesus would for ever be the one master of her heart. At +thirteen, after the death of her mother, she seemed to see her, and to +hear her say that she was watching over her child. Shortly afterward she +was overwhelmed by a new grief, the death of a teacher for whom she +cherished great affection on account of her pure character. On the +following day she seemed to see and hear this teacher, and would not leave +the house where the body lay. Tendencies to melancholy appeared. Saddened +by the funeral ceremonies, exhorted by nuns, fed on mystic revery, she +passed from the orphanage to a convent. She devoted herself solely to the +worship of Jesus; to be like Jesus, to be near Jesus, became her constant +pre-occupations. The Virgin's name was rarely seen in her writings, God's +name never. 'I wanted', she said, 'to love Jesus more than any of the nuns +I saw, and I even thought that he had a partiality for me.' She was also +haunted by the idea of preserving her purity. She avoided frivolous +conversation, and left the room when marriage was discussed, such a union +being incompatible with a pure life; 'it was my fixed idea for two years +to make my soul ever more pure in order to be agreeable to Him; the +Beloved is well pleased among the lilies.' + +"Already, however, in a rudimentary form appeared contrary tendencies +[strictly speaking they were not contrary, but related, tendencies]. +Beneath the mystic passion which concealed it sexual desire was sometimes +felt. At sixteen she experienced emotions which she could not master, when +thinking of a priest who, she said, loved her. In spite of all remorse she +would have been willing to have relations with him. Notwithstanding these +passing weaknesses, the idea of purity always possessed her. The nuns, +however, were concerned about her exaltation. She was sent away from the +convent, became discouraged, and took a place as a servant, but her fervor +continued. Her confessor inspired her with great affection; she sends him +tender letters. She would be willing to have relations with him, even +though she considers the desire a temptation of the devil. The ground was +now prepared for the manifestation of hallucinations. 'One evening in +May', she writes, 'after being absorbed in thoughts of my confessor, and +feeling discouraged, as I thought that Jesus, whom I loved so much, would +have nothing to do with me, "Mother," I cried out, "what must I do to win +your son?" My eyes were fixed on the sky, and I remained in a state of +mad expectation. It was absurd. I to become the mother of the World! My +heart went on repeating: "Yes, he is coming; Jesus is coming!"' The +psychic erethism, reverberating on the sensorial and sensory centres, led +to genital, auditory, and visual hallucinations, which produced the +sensation of sexual connection. 'For the first time I went to bed and was +not alone. As soon as I felt that touch, I heard the words: "Fear not, it +is I." I was lost in Him whom I loved. For many days I was cradled in a +world of pleasure; I saw Him everywhere, overwhelming me with His chaste +caresses.' On the following day at mass she seemed to see Calvary before +her. 'Jesus was naked and surrounded by a thousand voluptuous +imaginations; His arms were loosened from the cross, and he said to me: +"Come!" I longed to fly to Him with my body, but could not make up my mind +to show myself naked. However, I was carried away by a force I could not +control, I threw myself on my Saviour's neck, and felt that all was over +between the world and me.' From that day, 'by sheer reasoning,' she has +understood everything. Previously she thought that the religious life was +a renunciation of the joys of marriage and enjoyment generally; now she +understands its object. Jesus Christ desires that she should have +relations with a priest; he is himself incarnated in priests; just as St. +Joseph was the guardian of the Virgin, so are priests the guardians of +nuns. She has been impregnated by Jesus, and this imaginary pregnancy +pre-occupies her in the highest degree. From this time she masturbated +daily. She cannot even go to communion without experiencing voluptuous +sensations. Her delusions having thus become systematized, nothing shakes +her tenacity in seeking to carry them out; she attempts at all costs to +have relations with her confessor, embraces him, throws herself at his +knees, pursues him, and so becomes a cause of scandal. When brought to the +asylum, there is intense sexual excitement, and she masturbates a dozen +times a day, even when talking to the doctor. The sexual organs are +normal, the vulva moist and red, the vagina is painful to touch; the +contact of the finger causes erectile turgescence. She has had no rest, +she says, since she has learned to love her Jesus. He desires her to have +sexual relations with someone, and she cannot succeed; 'all my soul's +strength is arrested by this constant endeavor.' Her new surroundings +modify her behavior, and now it is the doctor whom she pursues with her +obsessions. 'I expected everything from the charity of the priests I have +known; I have not deserved what I wanted from them. But is not a doctor +free to do everything for the good of the patients intrusted to him by +Providence? Cannot a doctor thus devote himself? Since I have tasted the +tree of life I am tormented by the desire to share it with a loving +friend.' Then she falls in love with an employee, and makes the crudest +advances to him, believing that she is thus executing the will of Jesus. +'Necessity makes laws,' she exclaims to him, 'the moments are pressing, I +have been waiting too long.' She still speaks of her religious vocation +which might be compromised by so long a delay. 'I do not want to get +married.' Gradually a transformation took place; the love of God was +effaced and earthly love became more intense than ever. 'Quitting the +heights in which I wished to soar, I am coming so near to earth that I +shall soon fix my desires there.' In a last letter Therese recognizes with +terror the insanity to which the exaltation of her imagination had led +her. 'Now I only believe in God and in suffering; I feel that it is +necessary for me to get married.'" + +Mariani[402] has very fully described a case of erotico-religious insanity +(climacteric paranoia on an hysterical basis) in a married woman of 44. +During the early stages of her disorder she inflicted all sorts of +penances upon herself (fasting, constant prayer, drinking her own urine, +cleaning dirty plates with her tongue, etc.). Finally she felt that by her +penances she had obtained forgiveness of her sins, and then began a stage +of joy and satisfaction during which she believed that she had entered +into a state of the most intimate personal relationship with Jesus. She +finally recovered. Mariani shows how closely this history corresponds with +the histories of the saints, and that all the acts and emotions of this +woman can be exactly paralleled in the lives of famous saints.[403] + +The justice of these comparisons becomes manifest when we turn to the +records that have been left by holy persons. A most instructive record +from this point of view is the autobiography of Soeur Jeanne des Anges, +superior of the Ursulines of Loudun in the seventeenth century.[404] She +was clever, beautiful, ambitious, fond of pleasure, still more of power. +With this, as sometimes happens, she was highly hysterical, and in the +early years of her religious life was possessed by various demons of +unchastity and blasphemy with whom for many years she was in constant +struggle. She fell in love with a priest of Loudun, Grandier, a man whom +she had never even seen, only knowing of him as a powerful and fascinating +personality at whose feet all women fell, and she imagined that she and +the other nuns of her convent were possessed through his influence. She +was thus the cause of the trial and execution of Grandier, a famous case +in the annals of witchcraft. In her autobiography Soeur Jeanne describes +in detail how the demons assailed her at night, appearing in lascivious +attitudes, making indecent proposals, raising the bed-clothes, touching +all parts of her body, imploring her to yield to them, and she tells how +strong her temptation was to yield. On one night, for instance, she +writes: "I seemed to feel someone's breath, and I heard a voice saying: +'The time for resistance has gone by, you must no longer rebel; by putting +off your consent to what has been proposed you will be injured; you cannot +persist in this resistance; God has subjected you to the demands of a +nature which you must satisfy on occasions so urgent.' Then I felt impure +impressions in my imagination and disordered movements in my body. I +persisted in saying at the bottom of my heart that I would do nothing. I +turned to God and asked Him for strength in this extraordinary struggle. +Then there was a loud noise in my room, and I felt as if someone had +approached me and put his hand into my bed and touched me; and having +perceived this I rose, in a state of restlessness, which lasted for a long +time afterward. Some days later, at midnight, I began to tremble all over +my body as I lay in bed, and to experience much mental anxiety without +knowing the cause. After this had lasted for some time I heard noises in +various parts of my room; the sheet was twice pulled without entirely +uncovering me; the oratory close to my bed was upset. I heard a voice on +the left side, toward which I was lying. I was asked if I had thought over +the advantageous offer that had been made to me. It was added: 'I have +come to know your reply; I will keep my promise if you will give your +consent; if, on the contrary, you refuse, you will be the most miserable +girl in the world, and all sorts of mischances will happen to you.' I +replied: 'If there were no God I would fear those threats; I am +consecrated to Him.' It was replied to me: 'You will not get much help +from God; He will abandon you.' I replied: 'God is my father; He will take +care of me; I have resolved to be faithful to Him.' He said: 'I will give +you three days to think over it.' I rose and went to the Holy Sacrament +with an anxious mind. Having returned to my room, and being seated on a +chair, it was drawn from under me so that I fell on the floor. Then the +same things happened again. I heard a man's voice saying lascivious and +pleasant things to seduce me; he pressed me to give him room in my bed; he +tried to touch me in an indecent way; I resisted and prevented him, +calling the nuns who were near my room; the window had been open, it was +closed; I felt strong movements of love for a certain person, and improper +desire for dishonorable things." + +She writes again, at a later period: "These impurities and the fire of +concupiscence which the evil spirit caused me to feel, beyond all that I +can say, forced me to throw myself on to braziers of hot coal, where I +would remain for half an hour at a time, in order to extinguish that other +fire, so that half my body was quite burnt. At other times, in the depth +of winter, I have sometimes passed part of the night entirely naked in the +snow, or in tubs of icy water. I have besides often gone among thorns so +that I have been torn by them; at other times I have rolled in nettles, +and I have passed whole nights defying my enemies to attack me, and +assuring them that I was resolved to defend myself with the grace of God." +With her confessor's permission, she also had an iron girdle made, with +spikes, and wore this day and night for nearly six months until the spikes +so entered her flesh that the girdle could only be removed with +difficulty. By means of these austerities she succeeded in almost +exorcising the demons of unchastity, and a little later, after a severe +illness, of which she believed that she was miraculously cured by St. +Joseph, she appeared before the world almost as a saint, herself +possessing a miraculous power of healing; she traveled through France, +bringing healing wherever she went; the king, the queen, and Cardinal +Richelieu were at her feet, and so great became the fame of her holiness +that her tomb was a shrine for pilgrims for more than a century after her +death. It was not until late in life, and after her autobiography +terminates, that sexual desire in Soeur Jeanne (though its sting seems +never to have quite disappeared) became transformed into passionate love +of Jesus, and it is only in her later letters that we catch glimpses of +the complete transmutation. Thus, in one of her later letters we read: "I +cried with ardor, 'Lord! join me to Thyself, transform Thyself into me!' +It seemed to me that that lovable Spouse was reposing in my heart as on +His throne. What makes me almost swoon with love and admiration is a +certain pleasure which it seems to me that He takes when all my being +flows into His, restoring to Him with respect and love all that He has +given to me. Sometimes I have permission to speak to our Lord with more +familiarity, calling Him my Love, interesting Him in all that I ask of +Him, as well for myself as for others." + +The lives of all the great saints and mystics bear witness to operations +similar to those so vividly described by Soeur Jeanne des Anges, though it +is very rarely that any saint has so frankly presented the dynamic +mechanism of the auto-erotic process. The indications they give us, +however, are sufficiently clear. It is enough to refer to the special +affection which the mystics have ever borne toward the Song of +Songs,[405] and to note how the most earthly expressions of love in that +poem enter as a perpetual refrain into their writings.[406] + +The courage of the early Christian martyrs, it is abundantly evident, was +in part supported by an exaltation which they frankly drew from the sexual +impulse. Felicula, we are told in the acts of Achilles and Nereus,[407] +preferred imprisonment, torture, and death to marriage or pagan +sacrifices. When on the rack she was bidden to deny Christianity, she +exclaimed: "_Ego non nego amatorem meum!_"--I will not deny my lover who +for my sake has eaten gall and drunk vinegar, crowned with thorns, and +fastened to the cross. + +Christian mysticism and its sexual coloring was absorbed by the Islamic +world at a very early period and intensified. In the thirteenth century it +was reintroduced into Christendom in this intensified form by the genius +of Raymond Lull who had himself been born on the confines of Islam, and +his "Book of the Lover and the Friend" is a typical manifestation of +sexual mysticism which inspired the great Spanish school of mystics a few +centuries later. The "delicious agony" the "sweet martyrdom," the strongly +combined pleasure and pain experienced by St. Theresa were certainly +associated with physical sexual sensations.[408] + +The case of Marguerite-Marie Alacoque is typical. Jesus, as her +autobiography shows, was always her lover, her husband, her dear master; +she is betrothed to Him, He is the most passionate of lovers, nothing can +be sweeter than His caresses, they are so excessive she is beside herself +with the delight of them. The central imagination of the mystic consists +essentially, as Ribot remarks, in a love romance.[409] + +If we turn to the most popular devotional work that was ever written, _The +Imitation of Christ_, we shall find that the "love" there expressed is +precisely and exactly the love that finds its motive power in the emotions +aroused by a person of the other sex. (A very intellectual woman once +remarked to me that the book seemed to her "a sort of religious +aphrodisiac.") If we read, for instance, Book III, Chapter V, of this work +("De Mirabili affectu Divini amoris"), we shall find in the eloquence of +this solitary monk in the Low Countries neither more nor less than the +emotions of every human lover at their highest limit of exaltation. +"Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing +broader, nothing pleasanter, nothing fuller nor better in heaven or in +earth. He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and cannot be +held. He gives all in exchange for all, and possesses all in all. He looks +not at gifts, but turns to the giver above all good things. Love knows no +measure, but is fervent beyond all measure. Love feels no burden, thinks +nothing of labor, strives beyond its force, reckons not of impossibility, +for it judges that all things are possible. Therefore it attempts all +things, and therefore it effects much when he who is not a lover fails and +falls.... My Love! thou all mine, and I all thine." + +There is a certain natural disinclination in many quarters to recognize +any special connection between the sexual emotions and the religious +emotions. But this attitude is not reasonable. A man who is swayed by +religious emotions cannot be held responsible for the indirect emotional +results of his condition; he can be held responsible for their control. +Nothing is gained by refusing to face the possibility that such control +may be necessary, and much is lost. There is certainly, as I have tried to +indicate, good reason to think that the action and interaction between +the spheres of sexual and religious emotion are very intimate. The obscure +promptings of the organism at puberty frequently assume on the psychic +side a wholly religious character; the activity of the religious emotions +sometimes tends to pass over into the sexual region; the suppression of +the sexual emotions often furnishes a powerful reservoir of energy to the +religious emotions; occasionally the suppressed sexual emotions break +through all obstacles. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[385] Starbuck, _The Psychology of Religion_, 1899. Also, A.H. Daniels, +"The New Life," _American Journal of Psychology_, vol. vi, 1893. Cf. +William James, _The Varieties of Religious Experience_. + +[386] Ed. Hahn, _Demeter und Baubo_, 1896, pp. 50-51. Hahn is arguing for +the religious origin of the plough, as a generative implement, drawn by a +sacred and castrated animal, the ox. G. Herman, in his _Genesis_, develops +the idea that modern religious rites have arisen out of sexual feasts and +mysteries. + +[387] Bloch (_Beitraege zur AEtiologie der Psychopathia Sexualis_, Bd. I, p. +98) points out the great interest taken by the saints and ascetics in sex +matters. + +[388] This omission was made by the original publisher of the "Discourse;" +several of the most important passages throughout have been similarly cut +out. + +[389] Rev. J.M. Wilson, _Journal of Education_, 1881. At about the same +period (1882) Spurgeon pointed out in one of his sermons that by a +strange, yet natural law, excess of spirituality is next door to +sensuality. Theodore Schroeder has recently brought together a number of +opinions of religious teachers, from Henry More the Platonist to Baring +Gould, concerning the close relationship between sexual passion and +religious passion, _American Journal of Religious Psychology_, 1908. + +[390] W. Thomas, "The Sexual Element in Sensibility," _Psychological +Review_, Jan., 1904. + +[391] _System der gerichtlichen Psychologie_, second edition, 1842, pp. +266-68; and more at length in his _Allgemeine Diagnostik der psychischen +Krankheiten_, second edition, 1832, pp. 247-51. + +[392] _Handboek van de Pathologie en Therapie der Krankzinnigheid_, 1863, +p. 139 of English edition. + +[393] _Manuel pratique de Medecine mentale_, 1892, p. 31. + +[394] _Text-book of Mental Diseases_, p. 393. + +[395] G.H. Savage, _Insanity_, 1886. + +[396] _American Journal of Insanity_, April, 1895. + +[397] "Des Psychoses Religieuses," _Archives de Neurologie_, 1897. + +[398] "Erotopathia," _Alienist and Neurologist_, October, 1893. + +[399] Reference may be specially made to the interesting chapter on +"Delire Religieux" in Icard's _La Femme pendant la Periode Menstruelle_, +pp. 211-234. + +[400] _Psychopathia Sexualis_, eighth edition, pp. 8 and 11. Gannouchkine +("La Volupte, la Cruante et la Religion," _Annales Medico-Psychologique_, +1901, No. 3) has further emphasized this convertibility. + +[401] E. Murisier, "Le Sentiment Religieux dans l'Extase," _Revue +Philosophique_, November, 1898. Starbuck, again (_Psychology of Religion_, +Chapter XXX), in a brief discussion of this point, concludes that "the +sexual life, although it has left its impress on fully developed religion, +seems to have originally given the psychic impulse which called out the +latent possibilities of developments, rather than to have furnished the +raw material out of which religion was constructed." + +[402] "Una Santa," _Archivio di Psichiatria_, vol. xix, pp. 438-47, 1898. + +[403] With regard to the sexual element in the worship of the Virgin, see +"Ueber den Mariencultus," L. Feuerbach's _Sammtliche Werke_, Bd. I, 1846. + +[404] Published for the first time (with a Preface by Charcot) in a volume +of the _Bibliotheque Diabolique_, 1886. + +[405] The Hebrews, themselves, used the same word for the love of woman +and for the Divine love (Northcote, _Christianity and Sex Problems_, p. +140). + +[406] Thus, in St. Theresa's _Conceptos del Amor de Dios_, the words +"_Beseme con el beso de su boca_,"--Let him kiss me with the kisses of his +mouth--constantly recur. + +[407] _Acta Sanctorum_, May 12th. + +[408] Leuba and Montmorand, in their valuable and detailed studies of +Christian mysticism, though differing from each other in some points, are +agreed on this; H. Leuba, "Les Tendances Religieuses chez les Mystiques +Chretiens," _Revue Philosophique_, July and Nov., 1902; B. de Montmorand, +"L'Erotomanie des Mystiques Chretiens," id., Oct., 1903. Montmorand points +out that physical sexual manifestations were sometimes recognized and +frankly accepted by mystics. He quotes from Molinos, a passage in which +the famous Spanish quietist states that there is no reason to be +disquieted even at the occurrence of pollutions or masturbation, _et etiam +pejora_. + +[409] Ribot, _La Logique des Sentiments_, p. 174. + + + + +INDEX OF AUTHORS. + +Abricosoff, G. +Addinsell +Adler +AElian +AEschines +Aetius +Alacoque, M. +Albrecht +Allin +Anagnos +Angelucci +Anges, Soeur Jeanne des +Angus, H.C. +Anstie +Apuleius +Aquinas, St. Thomas +Archemholtz +Aretaeus +Aretino +Aristophanes +Aristotle +Arnold, G.J. +Aschaffenburg +Ashe, T. +Ashwell +Athenaeus +Augustine, St. +Avicenna +Axenfeld +Azara + +Babinsky +Bachaumont +Baelz +Baker, Smith +Baldwin, J.M. +Ball +Ballantyne +Ballion +Balls-Headley +Bancroft, H.H. +Baraduc +Bargagli +Barnes, K. +Barrus, Clara +Bartels, Max +Bastanzi +Bastian +Batut +Bauer, Max +Baumann +Bazalgette +Beard +Beard, J. +Bechterew +Bee, J. +Bekkers +Bell, Blair +Bell, Sanford +Berger +Bellamy +Berkhan +Berthier +Beukemann +Beuttner +Bevan-Lewis +Biernacki +Billuart +Binet +Binswanger +Bishop, Mrs. +Blackwell, Elizabeth +Blandford +Bloch, Iwan +Block +Blumenbach +Boas, F. +Boethius +Bohnius +Bolton, T.L. +Bonavia +Bond, C.H. +Bonnier +Bossi +Boudin +Bourke, J.G. +Brachet +Brantome +Breuer +Briquet +Brockman +Brouardel +Brown, J.D. +Brown-Sequard +Brunton, Sir Lauder +Bryce, T. +Buchan, A.P. +Buechler +Buechner +Buffon +Bunge +Burchard +Burdach +Burk, F. +Burnet +Burns, J. +Burr +Burton, Robert +Buxton, D.W. + +Caiger +Callari +Calmeil +Camerer +Cameron +Campbell, H. +Caramuel +Carmichael +Carpenter, E. +Carrara +Casanova +Chamberlain, A.F. +Chapman, J. +Charcot +Charrin +Chaucer +Christian +Chrysostom +Cicero +Clark, Campbell +Clement of Alexandria +Clement of Rome +Clipson +Clouston +Coe, H.C. +Cohn, Hermann +Cohn, Salmo +Cohnstein +Colenso, W. +Cook, Capt. +Cook, Dr. F. +Corre +Coryat +Crawley, A.E. +Crichton-Browne, Sir J. +Crooke, W. +Croom, Sir J. Halliday +Cullen +Cullingworth +Curr +Curschmann +Cuvier +Cyprian + +Dallemagne +Dalton, E.T. +Dalziel +Dana +Dandinus +Daniels +Dartigues +Darwin, C. +Darwin, Erasmus +Davidsohn +Debreyne +Deniker +Dennis +Denuce +Depaul +D'Epinay, Mme. +Dercum +Deslandes +Dessoir, Max +Dexter +Diday +Diderot +Distant, W.L. +Donkin +Down, Langdon +Dudley +Dufour, P. +Dugas +Duehren, _see_ Bloch, Iwan. +Dukes, C. +Dulaure +Du Maurier +Duncan, Matthews +Durr +Duval, A. +Duveyrier +Dyer, L. + +Ellenberger +Ellis, Sir A.B. +Ellis, Havelock +Ellis, Sir W. +Ellis, W.G. +Emin, Pasha +Emminghaus +Epicharmus +Eram +Erb +Ernst +Esquirol +Eulenburg +Evans, M.M. +Ezekiel + +Fahne +Fasbender +Fehling +Felkin +Fere +Fernel +Ferrero +Ferriani +Fewkes, J.W. +Findley +Fleischmann +Fliess +Forel +Forestus +Forster, J.R. +Fortini +Fothergill, J.M. +Fournier +Foville +Franklin, A. +Frazer, J.G. +Freeman, R.A. +French-Sheldon, Mrs. +Freud +Friedreich, J.B. +Fritsch, G. +Fuchs +Fuerbringer + +Gaedeken +Galen +Gall +Gant +Gardiner, J.S. +Garland, Hamlin +Gamier +Gason +Gattel +Gehrung +Gennep, A. von +Gerard-Varet +Gerland +Gibbon +Giessler +Giles, A.E. +Gillen +Gilles de la Tourette +Gioffredi +Girandeau +Godfrey +Goepel +Goethe +Goncourt +Goodell, W. +Goodman +Gould +Gourmont, Remy de +Gowers, Sir W.R. +Grashoff +Greenlees +Griesinger +Grimaldi +Grimm, J. +Groos +Grosse +Gruner +Gruenfeld +Gualino +Gubernatis +Gueniot +Guerry +Guibout +Guise, R.E. +Gury +Guttceit +Guyau +Guyot + +Haddon, A.C. +Hahn, E. +Haig +Hall, Fielding +Hall, G. Stanley +Haller +Hammond, W. +Harris, D.F. +Hartmann +Hawkesworth, J. +Haycraft +Heape, W. +Hegar +Helbigius, O. +Heifer, J.W. +Henle +Herman +Herodotus +Herondas +Herrick +Hersman +Herter +Hesiod +Hick, P. +Hill, S.A. +Hinton, James +Hippocrates +Hirschsprung +Hirth, G. +Hoche +Hohenemser +Holder, A.B. +Holm +Homer +Hopkins, H.R. +Houssay +Howe, J.W. +Huchard +Hufeland +Hughes, C.H. +Hummel +Hunter, John +Hutchinson, Sir J. +Hyades +Hyrtl + +Icard +Imbert-Goubeyre + +Jacobi, M.P. +Jacobs +Jaeger +James +James, W. +Janet, Pierre +Jastrow, Morris +Jenjko +Jerome, St. +Jessett +Joal +Joest +Johnston, Sir H.H. +Johnstone, A.W. +Jolly +Jones, Lloyd +Jortin +Juvenal + +Kaan +Kahlbaum +Keill +Keith +Keller +Kellogg +Kemble, Fanny +Kemsoes +Kiernan, J.G. +Kind, A. +King, A.F.A. +Kleinpaul +Klemm, K. +Kline, L.W. +Koch, J.L.A. +Koster +Kossmann +Kowalewsky, M. +Kraepelin +Krafft-Ebing +Krauss, F.S. +Krauss, W.C. +Krieger +Kreichmar +Kroner +Kulischer + +Lacassagne +Lactantius +Lallemand +Landouzy +Landry +Lane +Laschi +Laupts +Laurent, L. +Laycock +Learoyd, Mabel +Lecky +Legludic +Lentz +Lepois, C. +Letamendi +Letourneau +Leuba +Leyden +Liguori +Lippert +Lipps +Lobsien +Loiman +Loliee +Lombroso, C. +Lombroso, P. +Lorion +Loewenfeld +Lucretius +Lull, Raymond +Luther +Luzet +Lydston + +MacDonald, A. +MacGillicuddy +Mackenzie, J.N. +MacLean +MacMurchy +Maeder +Malins +Malling-Hansen +Man, E.H. +Mandeville +Mannhardt +Mantegazza +Marchi, Attilio de +Marcuse, J. +Mariani +Marie, A. +Marie, P. +Marro +Marsh +Marshall, F. +Marston +Martial +Martineau +Mason, Otis +Matignon +Maudsley +Mayr, G. +Melinaud +Menjago +Mercier +Metchnikoff +Meteyard +Meyners, d'Estrez +Michelet +Miklucho-Macleay +Minovici +Mirabeau +Mitchell, H.W. +Mitford +Modigliani +Moliere +Moll +Mondiere +Mongeri +Montague, Lady M.W. +Montaigne +Montmorand +Moraglia +Morris, R.T. +Morselli +Mortimer, G. +Moryson, Fynes +Moses, Julius +Mueller, R. +Murisier + +Naecke +Nansen +Negrier +Nelson, J. +Neugebauer +Niceforo +Nicolas of Cusa +Niebuhr, C. +Nietzsche +Nipho +Norman, Conolly +Northcote, H. + +Oettinger +Ogle +Oldfield +Oliver +Omer, Haleby +Oribasius +Osier +Ossendovsky +Osterloh +Ostwald, Hans +Ott, von +Overbury, Sir T. +Ovid + +Paget, Sir J. +Paget, John +Pare, A. +Parent-Duchatelet +Parke, T.H. +Partridge +Passek +Paulus, AEgineta +Pausanias +Pearson, K. +Pechuel-Loesche +Peckham +Penta +Pepys, S. +Perez +Perry-Coste +Peschel +Peyer, A. +Peyer, J. +Pick +Pierracini +Pilcz +Pitcairn +Pitres +Plant +Plato +Plazzon +Pliny the Elder +Ploss +Plutarch +Pouchet +Pouillet +Poulet +Power +Prat +Priestley, Sir W. +Procopius +Pyle + +Quetelet +Quiros, Bernaldo de + +Rabelais +Raciborski +Raffalovich +Ramsay, Sir W.M. +Rasmussen +Ratzel +Rauber +Raymond +Regis +Reinach, S. +Reinl +Rengger +Renooz, Mine. Celine +Renouvier +Restif de la Bretonne +Reuss +Reverdin +Reys +Rhys, Sir J. +Ribbing +Ribot +Richelet +Richer +Richet +Riedel +Ries +Riolan +Ritter +Rochholz +Rohe +Rohleder +Roland, Mme. +Rolfincius +Roemer, L.S.A.M. von +Roos, J. de +Rosenbach +Rosenstadt +Rosenthal +Rosner +Rosse, Irving +Roth, H. Ling +Roth, W. +Roubaud +Rousseau +Routh, A. +Rudeck +Rush + +Sade, De +St. Andre +St. Hilaire, J.G. +St. Paul, Dr. +Salerni +Sanchez, T. +Sanctis, Sante de +Sanctorius +Savage +Savill +Schemer +Schmid-Monnard +Schrenck-Notzing +Schroeder, T. +Schroeder, van der Kolk +Schuele +Schultz, Alwyn +Schulz +Schurig +Schurtz +Schuyten +Schwartz +Schweinfurth +Scott, Colin +Seerley +Selden +Seler +Selous, E. +Semon +Semper +Senancour +Serieux +Sergi +Shakespeare +Shaw, Capel +Shufeldt, R.W. +Shuttleworth +Siebert +Sieroshevski +Skeat, W.W. +Skene +Smith, E. +Smith, E.H. +Smith, F. +Smith, Robertson +Smith, Theodate +Smyth, Brough +Sollier +Solon +Somerville +Sonnini +Sorel +Sormani +Soutzo +Spencer, Baldwin +Spencer, Herbert +Spitta +Spitzka, E.C. +Spurgeon +Starbuck +Stein, G. +Steinen, Karl von den +Stendhal +Stephenson +Stern, B. +Sterne +Stevens, H.V. +Stieda +Stirling +Stockman +Stokes +Storer +Strack +Stratz +Stubbs +Sudduth +Sumner, W.G. +Susruta +Sutton, Bland +Swift +Sydenham + +Tacitus +Tait, Lawson +Tallemont des Reaux +Tardieu +Taylor, R.W. +Teacher, J. +Tertullian +Theresa, St. +Thomas, W. +Thucydides +Thurn, Sir E. im +Tille +Tillier +Tilt +Tissot +Toulouse +Tout, Hill +Townsend, C.W. +Treutler +Trousseau +Tuchmann +Turner + +Uffelmann + +Vahness +Valera +Valleix +Vallon +Vedeler +Velde, van de +Velpeau +Venette +Venturi +Viazzi +Villagomez +Villermay +Villerme +Virchow +Vogel +Volkelt +Voltaire +Voornveld, van + +Wade, Sir W.F. +Wahl +Waitz +Walker, A. +Wappaeus +Ward, H. +Wargentin +Warman +Wasserschleben +Wedge wood +Weismann +Weisser +Wellhausen +Wenck +West, C. +West, J.P. +Westcott, Wynn +Westermarck +Wey, H.D. +Wichmann +Wiel, Van der +Willis +Wilson, J.M. +Wiltshire, A. +Winckel +Winkler, G. +Winter, J.T. +Witkowski +Wollstonecraft, M. +Wood, H.C. +Wraxall, Sir N. + +Yellowlees + +Zacchia +Zache +Zeller + + + + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + +Africa, + modesty in + sexual periodicity in +Ainu, + modesty of +American Indians, + menstruation in + modesty of +Anaemia and hysteria +Andamanese modesty +Animals, + breeding season of + hysteria in + masturbation in + modesty in + their dislike of dirt +Annual sexual rhythm +Anus as a centre of modesty +Apes, + masturbation in + menstruation in +Arabian festivals +Arabs, + modesty in + their ancient conception of uncleanness +Art and auto-erotism +Asafoetida in hysteria +_Attitudes passionnelles_ +Australia, + modesty in + sexual festivals in +Autumn festivals + +Baboon, + menstruation in +Babylonian festivals +Bashfulness +Bathing, + promiscuous +Beltane fires +Bengal, + modesty in + sexual periodicity in +Birds, + dreams of +Birthrate, + periodicity of +Bladder, + as a source of dreams + foreign bodies in + periodicity in expulsive force of +Blindness in relation to modesty +Blood, + primitive ideas about + supposed virtues of menstrual +Blood-pressure +Blushing, + the significance of +Bonfire festivals +Borneo, + modesty in +Bosom in relation to modesty +Brazil, + modesty in +Bread, + periodicity in consumption of +Breeding season +_Brumalia_ + +Camargo +Catholic theologians, + on _delectatio morosa_ + on erotic dreams + on masturbation +Celibacy and religion +Ceremonial element in religion +Chastity in Polynesia +Chemical rays and sexual periodicity +Childbirth, + modesty in +Children, + masturbation in + periodicity of growth in + spring fever in + their lack of modesty +Chimpanzee, menstruation in +Chinese modesty +Chivalry and modesty +Chlorosis and hysteria +Christianity, + in relation to modesty + its attitude towards masturbation +Christmas festivals +Clothing and modesty +Cod-piece +Coitus, + and ceremonial ritual + as a sedative + in relation to masturbation + in relation to menstruation + in relation to modesty + often painful in hysteria +Conception rate +Conduct, + periodicity in +Continence, + importance of +Convents, + hysteria in +Coquetry, + function of +Courtship, + the essential element in +Crime, + periodicity of +Criminals, + masturbation among + sexual outbursts in +Crow, + breeding habits of +Cycling in relation to sexual excitement + +Dancing, + auto-erotic aspects of +Dancing and modesty +Darkness in relation to blushing +Day-dreaming +Deer, + breeding habits of +_Delectatio morosa_ +Denmark, + modesty in +Diogenes +Dionysian festivals +Disgust as a factor of modesty +_Distillatio_ +Dog, + breeding season of +Drawers, + origin of feminine +Dreams, + and sexual periodicity + day + erotic + Freud on + inverted + vesical + +Easter festivals +Eating, + modesty in +Ecbolic curve +Economic factor of modesty +Elephants, + masturbation in +Enuresis, + nocturnal +Epilepsy, + anciently confused with hysteria + in relation to masturbation +Erotic dreams + festivals + hallucinations +Eskimo, + menstruation in + modesty of + sexual habits of +Etruscans, + modesty among +Evil eye and modesty +Excretory customs and modesty +Eye disorders and masturbation + +Face as a centre of modesty +Fear, + modesty based on +Ferrets, + masturbation in +Festivals, + erotic +Fools, + Feast of +Foot and modesty +Frigidity caused by masturbation +Fuegians, + modesty of + +General paralysis, + annual curve of +_Globus hystericus_ +Goethe +Gogol +Greeks, + festivals of + modesty among + their attitude towards masturbation + +Growth, periodicity in + +Hair-pin used in masturbation +Hallucinations, + erotic +Head, + covering the +Heart disease, + monthly rhythm in + +"Heat" in animals + its relation to menstruation +Hemicrania, + periodicity in +Horse exercise and sexual excitement +Horses, + masturbation in +Hottentots, + masturbation among +Hymen in relation to modesty +Hysteria, + alleged seasonal prevalence of + and chlorosis + and masturbation + Breuer and Freud on + Charcot and + coitus often painful in + in relation to sexual emotion + nocturnal hallucinations of + physiological + the theory of + +Iceland, + modesty in +Illegitimate births, + periodicity of +Incubus +India, + conception rate in + masturbation in + modesty in +Infants, + masturbation in +Insane, + masturbation in the + modesty in the +Insanity and masturbation + periodicity of +Inversion, + dreams in +Ireland, + modesty in +Ishtar +Italy, + modesty in + +Japanese, + masturbation among + modesty of +Jealousy in relation to modesty + +Kadishtu +Kierkegaard + +Lapps, + menstruation among + modesty of +Lizard and women in folk-lore +Love largely based on modesty + +Macaque, + menstruation in +Malay festivals +Maori, + modesty +Marriage caused by masturbation, + aversion to +Marriage and the hysterical +Masturbation among animals + among lower human races + among higher human races + as a sedative + combined with religious emotions + in men of genius + interrupted + in the insane + methods of + periodicity of + prevalence of + symptoms and results of +May-day festivals +Mediaeval modesty +Medicean Venus, + attitude of +Menstrual blood, + supposed virtues of +Menstrual cycle in men +Menstruation, + among primitive peoples + and hysteria + and modesty + and pregnancy + and social position of women + as a continuous process + as a process of purification + cause doubtful + euphemisms for + in animals + occasional absence in health + origin of + precocity in + primitive theory of + relation to "heat" + relation to ovulation + relation to sexual desire +Mental energy, periodicity of +Metabolism, + seasonal influences on +_Mittelschmerz_ +Mohammedans, + attitude towards menstruation + modesty of + mysticism among +Midsummer festivals +Monkeys, + breeding season of + masturbation in + menstruation in + +Moon and masturbation +Moral element in modesty +Moritz, K.P. +Muscular force, + periodicity of +Mysticism and sexual emotion + +Nakedness, + chaste in its effects + in relation to modesty +Narcissism +Nates as a centre of modesty +Negroes, + modesty of +Nervous diseases and masturbation +Neurasthenia and masturbation +New England, + modesty in +New Georgians, + modesty among +New Guinea, + folk-lore of menstruation in + modesty in +New Hebrides, + modesty in +New Zealand, + modesty in +Nicobarese modesty +Night-inspiration +Novel-reading, + alleged sexual periodicity in + +Obscenity, + Roman horror of +Oestrus +"Onanism," + the term +Orang-utan, + menstruation in +Orgasm, + spontaneous +Ornament as a sexual lure +Ovaries with hysteria, + alleged association of +Ovulation and menstruation + +Papuans, + modesty of + sexual periodicity among +_Penis suecedaneus_ +_Pollutio_ +_Pollutio interruptus_ +Polynesian modesty +Precocity, + sexual +Pregnancy, + menstrual cycle during +Prostitutes, + hysteria among + masturbation in + modesty of +Prudery +Prurience based on modesty +Psychic coitus +Psychic traumatism +Pulse, + periodicity of the + +Railway travelling as cause of sexual excitement +Rapes, + periodicity of +Religion and sexual emotions +Revery +Rhythm +Riding as a cause of sexual excitement +Ritual factor of modesty +Roland, Mme. +Romans, + modesty of +Rosalia +Rousseau +Russia, + conception rate in + modesty in +Rest + +Sacro-pubic region as a centre of modesty +St. John's Eve, + festival of +Samoa +Samoyeds, + menstruation among +Saturnalia +Scarlet fever, + periodicity of +Schools, + auto-erotic phenomena in +Seasonal periodicity of sexual impulse +Seduction and menstruation +Seminal emissions during sleep +Serpent in folk-lore +Sewing-machine as a cause of sexual excitement +Sexual anaesthesia induced by masturbation +Sexual factor of modesty +Sexual desire, + in relation to blushing + in relation to hysteria + in relation to menstruation + in relation to modesty + in relation to season + in women +Sexual periodicity in men + what we owe to irradiations of +Sexual organs viewed differently by savage and civilized peoples +Shame, + definition and nature of +Short sight and modesty +Shyness +Slang, + private +Sleep in relation to sexual activity +Snake and women in folk-lore +Somnambulism of bladder +Speech, + modesty in +Spring, + as season of sexual excitement + festivals of +Swinging, + auto-erotic aspects of +Succubus +Suicide, + periodicity of + +Taboo and menstruation + and modesty +Tahiti +Tammuz festival +Theologians, + opinions of +Theresa, St. +Thigh-friction +Thumb-sucking +Timidity +Tight-lacing as a cause of sexual excitement +Torres Straits, + modesty at +Turkish modesty + +Uncleanness, + primitive conception of +Uric acid, + excretion, periodicity of +Urine, + incontinence of +Urtication, + as a form of auto-erotism + +Valentine's Day +Veil, + origin of the +Vesical dreams +Vocabularies, + private + +_Walpurgisnacht_ +Weekly sexual rhythm +Witches, + erotic hallucinations of +Womb anciently thought source of hysteria +Women, + as property in relation to modesty + masturbation among + menstruation in + sexual impulse in + their auto-erotic manifestations in sleep + their night-inspiration + whether more modest than men + +Year, + primitive divisions of + +Zeus, + auto-erotic manifestations in + +DIAGRAMS + + I.--The Monthly Ecbolic Curve. + II.--The Annual Curve of the Conception-rate in Europe. + III.--The Annual Ecbolic Curve. + IV.--Curve of the Annual Incidence of Insanity in London. + V.--Curve of the Annual Incidence of General Paralysis in Paris + (Garnier). + VI.--The Suicide-rate in London. + VII. + VIII. + IX.--Lunar-monthly Rhythm of Male Sexual Period. + X.--Curves of Lunar-monthly Rhythm as Smoothed by taking Pairs of + Days. + XIa.--Weekly Rhythm of Male Sexual Period. + XIb.--Weekly Rhythm of Male Sexual Period. + XII.--Weekly Rhythm of Male Sexual Period. + XIII.--Joint Weekly Rhythm of Male Sexual Period, years 1886, 1887, + 1888, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897 combined. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, +VOLUME 1 (OF 6)*** + + +******* This file should be named 13610.txt or 13610.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/6/1/13610 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous 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