This is all I have to say about the relationship between the congenital predisposition and the external influences of life. Turning now to consider these influences by themselves, we have to distinguish between those that are somatic or physical and those that are psychical in nature. Influences of these two classes may co-operate simultaneously, or may pass one into the other; and, speaking generally, it is by no means always easy to maintain a sharp distinction between them. Seduction may in some instances arise largely by way of physical stimulation, as, for example, when another person deliberately handles the genital organs of a child. Nurses sometimes stroke or tickle a child's genitals in order to put an end to a screaming fit. But in some cases--and these are more numerous than is commonly supposed--nursemaids do this under the impulse of their own lustful feelings. Such actions are not necessarily the outcome of a perverse sexual impulse, although they may be due to such an impulse in the form of paedophilia, as I shall have to explain in detail when I come to describe that perversion. Frequently the offenders are not in the least aware of the danger of what they are doing, and do it merely in sport. In many instances the seduction is effected by other children, and often at a very early age. Recently a case was reported to me in which a boy only five years of age led older children astray. In schools, a closet used by both boys and girls is by many considered extremely dangerous. In the country, the fact that children have a long way to go to school often gives opportunity for improper conduct; and this is especially likely to occur if there are copses near the road in which the children can conceal themselves from observation. When children in the country traverse long distances on the way to preparatory confirmation classes, misconduct is exceptionally likely, for such children are now at an age at which the activity of the sexual life is becoming more manifest. Whether the seduction be the work of other children or of adults, the child thus led astray is likely subsequently to induce artificially as often as possible the agreeable sensations with which it has now been made acquainted, more especially in view of the fact that in children the imitative impulse is far more strongly developed than it is in adults, in whom imitative inclinations are counteracted by numerous inhibitions. What is true of seduction is true also of the various affections of the genital organs which induce an impulse to scratch, such as eczema, prurigo, urticaria, &c. Affections of regions adjoining the genital organs may also lead to similar troubles--for instance, threadworms in the rectum or the vagina.