call the case of a sexually perverse young man
of twenty who on a number of occasions performed the following acts with
boys of about thirteen years of age. He would go to a public bath,
induce a boy of thirteen or so to enter his dressing cubicle, and, as if
in joke, tie the boy's hands together. In reality, as he did this, he
experienced sexual excitement to the point of ejaculation. This latter
occurred especially when he touched the boy's body--not his genital
organs. He had absolutely no idea that such acts were punishable with
imprisonment, in accordance with the third paragraph of Section 176 of
the Criminal Code; and it gave him a terrible shock when I explained to
him that he had rendered himself liable to imprisonment. Some persons
even believe that they may handle children's genital organs, for the
purpose of exciting themselves sexually, without rendering themselves
liable to punishment. It is obvious that on these grounds also
enlightenment on sexual matters may be extremely desirable.

Finally, there are certain social and economic reasons for sexual
enlightenment. These reasons are closely connected with those bearing
upon health, but they may in part be separated from the latter. No one
will deny that illegitimate sexual intercourse may entail grave social
consequences. For women these dangers are much greater than they are for
men; but for men, even, they are by no means inconsiderable. As far as
women are concerned, the danger of extra-marital impregnation occupies
the first place. The importance of this of course varies greatly in
various regions and in different social strata. In the servant-class in
the country, for instance, pre-marital sexual intercourse, and even
pre-marital motherhood, is far from having the seriousness which
attaches to these things among the old peasant families firmly rooted to
the soil. Among the servant-class in towns, the matter has a more
serious aspect than among the same class in the country. On the other
hand, in many artistic circles in the Metropolis, pre-marital
intercourse, even on the part of women, is regarded far more
indifferently than in other strata of society. None the less, for a girl
of the upper ranks, extra-marital pregnancy is for the most part
tantamount to social annihilation. Even here exceptions occur, and we
shall find good families of the aristocracy and the upper bourgeoisie in
which a woman who has given birth to an illegitimate child, or even on