The examination of the five-year-old girl shows a bright, nervous child, pale, with deeply set eyes, surrounded by dark rings, and somewhat enlarged cervical and inguinal glands. The entire body is covered with blond soft hair of unusual length. The same long hair covers the somewhat enlarged labia majora, so that they make the appearance of that of a girl near puberty. They are quite separated from each other, as found in the adult. The clitoris is somewhat elongated, but the prepuce is not adherent to the glans. Otherwise the genitals do not show any marked anomaly. Sometimes the masturbatic practices are provoked by irritation at the peripheric region. The boy who has the impulse to touch and pull everything will, if not prevented by mother or nurse, surely play with his little organ. Sometimes there is a phimosis or an inflammation of the prepuce, or an accumulation of smegma in the infant boy; in girls there may be uncleanliness in the vulva, worms, eczema or pruritus. All these anomalies cause a certain itching which incites the child to touching and rubbing these parts. These manipulations produce an agreeable tickling sensation and awaken the feeling of lust. This feeling operates in the memory and excites the child to a state of activity before sexual consciousness has had time to awaken. The habit of masturbation is sometimes contracted in infancy, by the laxness of stupid servants or ignorant mothers. They often try to calm the infant by tickling the child’s genitals and thus awaken lustful feelings which later on drives the child to renew the manipulation without outside help. In this way masturbation is found in the best and purest homes.