With regard to the first question, whether sexual manifestations in the child indicate _per se_ the existence of a morbid state, it is not necessary to say much here, since the subject has been fully discussed in the section on Etiology (see page 148). In any case, we must avoid exaggerating the importance of sexual feelings in the child. Ribbing[87] contends that we must regard it as abnormal when a boy of thirteen or fourteen is obsessed (_hante_) by erotic ideas. This is true enough if there is real obsession by such ideas, but it is not true if there is no more than an occasional uprising of sexual feelings. On page 118 of this work, I explained that an over-development of the sexual life in the child was an indication of the existence of a congenital morbid predisposition. Passing to the second question, as to the consequences of the occurrence of sexual phenomena in the child, these consequences may be very various in nature. They arise more especially in the hygienic, social, ethical, educational, forensic, and intellectual domains. First of all, then, let us consider the dangers to health. The earlier the sexual impulse awakens, the earlier also arises the danger of sexual practices, and more particularly of masturbation. Common sensations in the genital organs, the feelings associated therewith, the impulse to allay the unsatisfied libido--all these may lead the boy to handle and rub his penis. The girl is affected by similar stimuli. In these cases, the first act of masturbation does not depend upon the desire to enjoy a voluptuous sensation, but results from the impulse to allay vague feelings of uneasiness. Only subsequently, when the child has learned by experience that mechanical stimulation of the genital organs induces voluptuous sensations, or when he has been taught this fact by a seducer, does the desire to produce voluptuous sensations become the mainspring driving to masturbation. The danger, of course, increases, in proportion as the child comes fully to understand that in this way it can produce agreeable sensations, all the more because the child is either unaware of the injurious consequences of the practice, or, if it has been informed of these consequences, the knowledge cannot weigh in the balance against the easily induced enjoyment. But, let me say here at the outset, the dangers of masturbation have been greatly exaggerated. Chiefly since the publication, at the end of the eighteenth century, of Tissot's book on masturbation, but to some extent also even earlier, it has been usual to refer to masturbation the occurrence of innumerable diseases, including mental disorders and locomotor ataxia. I do not propose to reproduce the account given by Tissott, and after him by Hufeland, and also by the innumerable quacks and swindlers who trade in the "cure" of "secret diseases"--these latter, preying upon the fears of humanity, declare that every possible affliction in both sexes may result from