You must not imagine that these symbols are either employed or translated quite simply: on all sides we meet with what we do not expect. For instance, it seems hardly credible that there is often no sharp discrimination of the different sexes in these symbolic representations. Many symbols stand for sexual organs in general, whether male or female: for instance, a _little_ child, or a _little_ son or daughter. At another time a symbol which is generally a male one may be used to denote the female sexual organ, or vice versa. This is incomprehensible until we have acquired some knowledge of the development of conceptions about sexuality amongst human beings. In many cases this ambiguity of the symbols may be apparent rather than real; and moreover, the most striking amongst them, such as weapons, pockets and chests, are never used bisexually in this way. I will now give a brief account, beginning with the symbols themselves instead of with the objects symbolized, to show you from what spheres the sexual symbols have for the most part been derived, and I will add a few remarks relating particularly to those in which the attribute in common with the thing symbolized is hard to detect. An instance of an obscure symbol of this kind is the _hat_, or perhaps head-coverings in general; this usually has a masculine significance, though occasionally a feminine one. In the same way a _cloak_ betokens a man, though perhaps sometimes without special reference to the organs of sex. It is open to you to ask why this should be so. A _tie_, being an object which hangs down and is not worn by women, is clearly a male symbol, whilst _underlinen_ and _linen_ in general stands for the female. _Clothes and uniforms_, as we have heard, represent nakedness or the human form; _shoes and slippers_ symbolize the female genital organs. _Tables and wood_ we have mentioned as being puzzling, but nevertheless certain, female symbols; the _act of mounting_ ladders, steep places or stairs is indubitably symbolic of sexual intercourse. On closer reflection we shall notice that the rhythmic character of this climbing is the point in common between the two, and perhaps also the accompanying increase in excitation—the shortening of the breath as the climber ascends. We have already recognized that _landscapes_ represent the female sexual organs; mountains and rocks are symbols of the male organ; _gardens_, a frequently occurring symbol of the female genitalia. _Fruit_ stands for the breasts, not for a child. _Wild animals_ denote human beings whose senses are excited, and, hence, evil impulses or passions. _Blossoms and flowers_ represent the female sexual organs, more particularly, in virginity. In this connection you will recollect that the blossoms are really the sexual organs of plants.