Finally, there are certain social and economic reasons for sexual enlightenment. These reasons are closely connected with those bearing upon health, but they may in part be separated from the latter. No one will deny that illegitimate sexual intercourse may entail grave social consequences. For women these dangers are much greater than they are for men; but for men, even, they are by no means inconsiderable. As far as women are concerned, the danger of extra-marital impregnation occupies the first place. The importance of this of course varies greatly in various regions and in different social strata. In the servant-class in the country, for instance, pre-marital sexual intercourse, and even pre-marital motherhood, is far from having the seriousness which attaches to these things among the old peasant families firmly rooted to the soil. Among the servant-class in towns, the matter has a more serious aspect than among the same class in the country. On the other hand, in many artistic circles in the Metropolis, pre-marital intercourse, even on the part of women, is regarded far more indifferently than in other strata of society. None the less, for a girl of the upper ranks, extra-marital pregnancy is for the most part tantamount to social annihilation. Even here exceptions occur, and we shall find good families of the aristocracy and the upper bourgeoisie in which a woman who has given birth to an illegitimate child, or even one who is manifestly a cocotte, will be socially recognised, provided she has attained some great position, such as that of a great artist, for instance. In such cases we may even find that women who on other occasions are unable adequately to express their hatred and contempt for prostitutes and similar unfortunate beings, will yet be proud of their friendship with such a woman, and will boast of it in public. But such opportunities of social recovery are open to very few; most women of the upper classes sink rapidly and far in the social scale as soon as it is publicly known that they have experience of illegitimate intercourse. For this reason, such consequences must be taken into the reckoning. The objection need not be raised that the sexual enlightenment would not safeguard a girl, since, when she gives herself to a man, a girl knows well enough that children are the result of sexual intercourse. The objection is unsound, if we only have a right understanding of what we mean by sexual enlightenment, and if at the same time we do not neglect the general sexual education. Enlightenment should not be limited to merely making the person concerned aware of the consequences of sexual acts; it should, as it were, become ingrained in the flesh and blood, so as to influence the actions, even unconsciously. A girl brought up in this way will defend herself instinctively against the wiles of a seducer. But only by such an education, by one which is not confined to