_Means against the acquired habit._—When we observe a child becoming listless, absorbed in thoughts, startled when suddenly addressed, obstinate, peevish, irritable, morose, taciturn, when we find its emotions becoming slow and heavy, that it seeks solitude and shuns play, when we see it becoming pale, with eyes sunken and surrounded by dark rings, when the lips become faded and the muscles soft and flabby, we are justified in the diagnosis masturbation. Sometimes the children are masturbating themselves in the presence of their elders, and the latter are not able to interpret the suspicious movements. Any kind of movements, with the boy’s hands in his trousers, or with the girls legs crossed, are suspicious and must be interrupted. Near the orgasm such movements change their character and rhythm, the eyes become sparkling, the face shows an excited lascivious expression and respiration becomes rapid. Such phenomena must be recognized, and the child must be interrupted in its favorite exercise. The child having already acquired the habit, we will have to see that no opportunity is left to him to exercise the same. Masturbation once learned, it is impossible to stop it before adult life is reached. In the meantime, the child must be kept busy and must be taught self-control. The child must never remain in bed when not asleep, never sleep lying on its back and never remain too long in the toilet or in the bathroom. Two children must never sleep in the same bed or enter together the same toilet. Stimulating foods and drinks, such as pork, gravies, pastry with lard, salt-meat, mustard, pepper, rich pies, spices, candies, pickles, tea, coffee, must be eliminated from the masturbating child’s diet. Exciting entertainments, lewd pictures, suggestive reading, all of which tend to increase the child’s sexual passion, must be withheld from such a child. In addition to these precautions, we will repeatedly warn the child against the dangers of excesses of masturbation. The children are now old enough to understand. Although the harmfulness of masturbation has been greatly exaggerated, still it is more injurious than the natural act. Among other injurious effects, the masturbator uses strong psychical and physical stimulants, and the harm to health is in proportion to the height of excitement. Especially injurious to the brain is mental masturbation. The voluptuous day-dreamers are often unable to free their thoughts from fancies and pictures of lustful circumstances when they are alone.