This is a subject, therefore, which requires careful consideration from the point of view of the individual, of public morality, and of national welfare--and the more closely it is studied the more apparent are the far reaching issues involved. It is improbable that the practice of using contraceptives will continue for even a generation without revealing the harmful effects which must to some extent ensue. In the whole discussion of this subject it is important to keep in mind that the physical is only one aspect of the sex relation. In the evolution which sex has shared with all else, the psychic side appears even in the higher animals. In them the desire is not for mere indiscriminate physical satisfaction, but the element of choice comes in, a factor which sometimes upsets the plans of breeders. In man this aspect of the relation is all important. The higher side of sex, or what we may call the psychical secondary sex characters, seem to extend through the whole range of mental and spiritual activities. Because of this there is freshness of contact in mental and spiritual intercourse between men and women which differs somewhat from that between individuals of the same sex, and very much of the joy of life springs from the impact of these differing yet completing selves the one upon the other. Where the whole being enters into the union of the sexes the complete joy of marriage is realised, the characteristic of which is that it does not fade, but becomes ever deeper and more fully realised, a sure indication that the highest pleasure of sex union is only attained when it consummates a love which involves mutual sympathy and consideration. Physical union alone produces dissatisfaction the more quickly in proportion as it is physical only; on the other hand, when all parts of the nature find their counterpart in another, the joy of such intercourse pervades the whole life, and frequent repetition of physical intercourse is not essential to its highest development. This is well known to all true lovers who have for varied reasons exercised some voluntary self-control in regard to the physical side of sex in marriage, either in deference of the one to the desire of the other, or to avoid too frequent child-bearing, or in special seasons such as Lent. On the other hand it has been observed by most people that many marriages which seem to promise well, quickly lose even to the eye of the outsider all the romance of the days of courtship. Is not too frequent physical indulgence sometimes the cause?