deas, but it is not true if there is no
more than an occasional uprising of sexual feelings. On page 118 of this
work, I explained that an over-development of the sexual life in the
child was an indication of the existence of a congenital morbid
predisposition.

Passing to the second question, as to the consequences of the occurrence
of sexual phenomena in the child, these consequences may be very various
in nature. They arise more especially in the hygienic, social, ethical,
educational, forensic, and intellectual domains.

First of all, then, let us consider the dangers to health.

The earlier the sexual impulse awakens, the earlier also arises the
danger of sexual practices, and more particularly of masturbation.
Common sensations in the genital organs, the feelings associated
therewith, the impulse to allay the unsatisfied libido--all these may
lead the boy to handle and rub his penis. The girl is affected by
similar stimuli. In these cases, the first act of masturbation does not
depend upon the desire to enjoy a voluptuous sensation, but results from
the impulse to allay vague feelings of uneasiness. Only subsequently,
when the child has learned by experience that mechanical stimulation of
the genital organs induces voluptuous sensations, or when he has been
taught this fact by a seducer, does the desire to produce voluptuous
sensations become the mainspring driving to masturbation. The danger, of
course, increases, in proportion as the child comes fully to understand
that in this way it can produce agreeable sensations, all the more
because the child is either unaware of the injurious consequences of the
practice, or, if it has been informed of these consequences, the
knowledge cannot weigh in the balance against the easily induced
enjoyment. But, let me say here at the outset, the dangers of
masturbation have been greatly exaggerated. Chiefly since the
publication, at the end of the eighteenth century, of Tissot's book on
masturbation, but to some extent also even earlier, it has been usual to
refer to masturbation the occurrence of innumerable diseases, including
mental disorders and locomotor ataxia. I do not propose to reproduce the
account given by Tissott, and after him by Hufeland, and also by the
innumerable quacks and swindlers who trade in the "cure" of "secret
diseases"--these latter, preying upon the fears of humanity, declare
that every possible affliction in both sexes may result from
masturbation