Modesty an Agglomeration of Fears--Children in Relation to Modesty--Modesty in Animals--The Attitude of the Medicean Venus--The Sexual Factor of Modesty Based on Sexual Periodicity and on the Primitive Phenomena of Courtship--The Necessity of Seclusion in Primitive Sexual Intercourse--The Meaning of Coquetry--The Sexual Charm of Modesty--Modesty as an Expression of Feminine Erotic Impulse--The Fear of Causing Disgust as a Factor of Modesty--The Modesty of Savages in Regard to Eating in the Presence of Others--The Sacro-Pubic Region as a Focus of Disgust--The Idea of Ceremonial Uncleanliness--The Custom of Veiling the Face--Ornaments and Clothing--Modesty Becomes Concentrated in the Garment--The Economic Factor in Modesty--The Contribution of Civilization to Modesty--The Elaboration of Social Ritual. That modesty--like all the closely-allied emotions--is based on fear, one of the most primitive of the emotions, seems to be fairly evident.[4] The association of modesty and fear is even a very ancient observation, and is found in the fragments of Epicharmus, while according to one of the most recent definitions, "modesty is the timidity of the body." Modesty is, indeed, an agglomeration of fears, especially, as I hope to show, of two important and distinct fears: one of much earlier than human origin, and supplied solely by the female; the other of more distinctly human character, and of social, rather than sexual, origin. A child left to itself, though very bashful, is wholly devoid of modesty.[5] Everyone is familiar with the shocking _inconvenances_ of children in speech and act, with the charming ways in which they innocently disregard the conventions of modesty their elders thrust upon them, or, even when anxious to carry them out, wholly miss the point at issue: as when a child thinks that to put a little garment round the neck satisfies the demands of modesty. Julius Moses states that modesty in the uncovering of the sexual parts begins about the age of four. But in cases when this occurs it is difficult to exclude teaching and example. Under civilized conditions the convention of modesty long precedes its real development. Bell has found that in love affairs before the age of nine the girl is more aggressive than the boy and that at that age she begins to be modest.[6] It may fairly be said that complete development of modesty only takes place at the advent of puberty.[7] We may admit, with Perez, one of the very few writers who touch on the evolution of this emotion, that modesty may appear at a very early age if sexual desire appears early.[8] We should not, however, be justified in asserting that on this account modesty is a purely sexual phenomenon. The social impulses also develop about puberty, and to that coincidence the compound nature of the emotion of modesty may well be largely due.