parties at any time he or she sees fit--after an intervening cooling period. Thus does freedom creep in by the back door. Does this work harm to society? There is little difference in the marital or social conditions or in the welfare of children in Norway and Sweden, where there are liberal laws, and in England, where divorce is a long, complicated, and expensive process. No one could discover that he had crossed the State line from New York to Pennsylvania by observation of the state of society, the happiness or apparent duration of marriage, the welfare of children, or the social conventions of the people. Yet in Pennsylvania there was one divorce for every 10.2 marriages in 1922 and only one for every 22.6 in New York. In South Carolina there are no divorces; in Oregon, the number of marriages to one divorce was 2.6; in Wyoming, 3.9; in California, 5.1. In the District of Columbia, the banner section, there were 35.8 marriages to one divorce. There, as in New York, the only ground is adultery. Yet San Francisco society seems as stable as that of Washington. Of course, the figures do not mean that seven times as many Washington couples as California couples, and four times as many New York couples, make a success of marriage or live together when it has ceased to be a success; but rather, that New Yorkers and Washingtonians solve their marital troubles elsewhere than at home. Thus, in Nevada in 1922 there were more divorces than marriages, because people married in other States repented in Nevada. Whatever effect it may have on society, the extension of grounds for divorce which has taken place in the last decade, and the modern improvement in communication and travel, which opens other States or foreign countries to an increasing number, brings about a situation by which people, though not free to contract, do avail themselves of means which have the same effect. Revolutionary changes occur unnoticed, while our delusions persist and our sense of conservatism is gratified. Changes in Sex Relations By Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Clews Parsons _is widely known as an anthropologist and writer. She has contributed largely to scientific journals and in 1922 edited the volume on American Indian Life by various students of the subject. Graduated from Barnard 1896; Ph.D. Columbia 1899. Fellow and Lecturer in Sociology at Barnard; Lecturer in Anthropology in New School for Social Research. She is editor of the_ Journal of American Folklore; _Treasurer of American Ethnological Society; President of Folk Lore Society. Is author of “The Family”; “The Old-Fashioned Woman”; “Fear and Conventionality”; “Social Freedom” and “Social Rule.”_ CHANGES IN SEX RELATIONS BY ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS