ear conclusively that both in ancient and in modern times the normal
sexual instinct has been subject to the wildest freaks and aberrations;
not in actually diseased persons, but simply in lustful wantons and the
epicures of new sensations. The curious things we know about
flagellation and cruelty in connection with the ordinary appetite should
also be remembered. As a final note on this topic, I will refer to a
passage quoted by Tarnowsky from a work of Taxil, describing a
peculiarly repulsive class of fashionable libertines in Paris called
"les stercoraires" (_op. cit._, p. 70). Compare what Mantegazza reports
of a "gentile ufficiale francese" (Gli amore degli uomini, vol. i. p.
117).

[6] See upon this point Tardieu, "Attentats aux Moeurs," Rosenbaum, "Die
Lustseuche."

[7] Ancient literature abounds in prose and poetry which are both of
them concerned with homosexual love. Only a portion of this can be
called pornographic: among the Greeks, the [Greek: Mousa Paidike], parts
of Lucian, and occasional hints in Athenaeus and Aristophanes perhaps
deserve the name; among the Romans, the Priapeia, the Satyricon of
Petronius, some elegies and satires, certainly do so. Italian literature
can show the Rime Burlesche, Beccadelli's Hermaphroditus, the Canti
Carnascialeschi, the maccaronic poems of Fidentius, and the remarkably
outspoken romance entitled "Alcibiade fanciullo a scolla." Balzac has
treated the theme, but with reserve and delicacy. Mirabeau's "Erotika
Biblion" is a kind of classic on the subject. In English literature, if
we except Shakespeare's Sonnets, George Barnfield's Poems, parts of
Marlowe, "Roderick Random," Churchill's Satire "The Times," homosexual
passions have been rarely handled, and none of these works are
pornographic. In Germany, Count von Platen, Heine's victim, was
certainly an Urning; but his homosexual imitations of Persian poetry are
pure, though passionate. I am not acquainted with more than the titles
of some distinctly pornographic German books. The following appears to
be of this sort: "Mannesliebe, oder drei Jahre aus dem Leben eines
jungen Mannes."

[8] Les Deux Prostitutions, par F. Carlier, Ancien Chef du Service actif
des Moeurs a la Prefecture de Police. Paris. Dentu. 1889.

[9] Paris, Brossier, 1889.

[10] In the recently published military novel "Sous Offs." (by Lucien
Descaves, Paris, Tresse et Stock, 1890) some details are given regarding
establishments of this nature. See