In this case the gonorrheal infection and the trivial incident during the journey through the Orient furnished the occasion for the outbreak of homosexuality. But is not the subject in error regarding the strength of his homosexual predisposition? It is interesting to note that his homosexual attitude is promptly beatified and idealized through the addition of psychic factors. Indeed, the homosexuals display a greater love intoxication than the heterosexuals. Such a degree of love frenzy as is displayed by the homosexuals is hardly ever seen among the heterosexuals. Homosexuality represents a harbor of refuge, an attempt to lose one’s self exclusively in one direction, which must be conceived as an attempt on the part of the psyche to neutralize all other tendencies by the overemphasis of that supreme passion. We find frequently that the homosexuals contend that their previous heterosexual leanings were exclusively physical.[42] Psychically their love relations must be exclusively homosexual. In fact it is common to find men sublimating into friendship their craving for psychic love while woman remains with them merely an instrument for sin (_instrumentum diaboli_). * * * * * A certain homosexual whose history is of particular interest because he recalls clearly his heterosexual period told _Bloch_: “At what age my sexual feelings first arose I am unable to recall. My sexual desires are directed towards the male. _Before and during my puberty the actual direction of my desire was not clear, in fact I believe I did entertain at the time a wish to have once intercourse with a girl._ But it was not love, what I felt was merely a physical longing,—the psychic counterpart of the instinct was entirely absent at the time. Now I feel myself inclined exclusively towards young boys. I have had no intercourse thus far either with males or females, but I believe I would be able to carry out the sexual act in a normal way; I know, however, that it would not be pleasurable to me, it would not amount to more than masturbation so far as I am concerned. Towards the female sex I am completely indifferent, I feel neither disgust nor any dislike. My love dreams are always concerned with persons of my own sex.” (_Bloch_, l.c., p. 566.) * * * * * Homosexuality often develops also in women following an infection: