growth. All it is at first is
a rude satisfaction of the erethism. The wild tribes of California had
their pairing seasons when the sexes were in heat, "as regularly as the
deer, the elk and the antelope."[63-1] In most tongues of the savages of
North America there are no tender words, as "dear," "darling," and the
like.[63-2] No desire of offspring led to their unions. The women had
few children, and their fathers paid them little attention. The family
instinct appears in conditions of higher culture, in Judea, Greece, Rome
and ancient Germany. Procreation instead of lust was there the aim of
marriage. To-day, mere sentiment is so much in the ascendant that both
these elements are often absent. There is warm affection without even
instinctive knowledge of the design of the bond assumed.[63-3]

Those who would confine the promptings of the passion of reproduction as
it appears in man to its objects as shown in lower animals, know little
how this wondrous emotion has acted as man's mentor as well as paraclete
in his long and toilsome conflict with the physical forces.

The venereal sense is unlike the other special senses in that it is
general, as well as referable to special organs and nerves. In its
psychological action it "especially contributes to the development of
sympathies which connect man not only with his coevals, but with his
fellows of all preceding and succeeding generations as well. Upon it is
erected this vast superstructure of intellect, of social and moral
sentiment, of voluntary effort and endeavor."[64-1] Of all the
properties of organized matter, that of transmitting form and life is
the most wonderful; and if we examine critically the physical basis of
the labors and hopes of mankind, if we ask what prompts its noblest and
holiest longings, we shall find them, in the vast majority of instances,
directly traceable to this power. No wonder then that religion, which we
have seen springs from man's wants and wishes, very often bears the
distinct trace of their origin in his reproductive functions. The liens
of the family are justly deemed sacred, and are naturally associated
with whatever the mind considers holy.

The duty of a citizen to become a father was a prominent feature in
many ancient religions. How much honor the sire of many sons had in Rome
and Palestine is familiar to all readers. No warrior, according to
German faith, could gain entrance to Valhalla unless he had begotten a
son. Thus the