The sexual question : $b A scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological studyForel, Auguste
Science
The sexual question : $b A scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study
Forel, Auguste
Sex
To resume, monogamy is by far the most widespread form of marriage.
This is explained by the relative number of men to women. It has often
been stated that the number of individuals of the two sexes is nearly
the same, and this has been used as an argument in favor of monogamy.
But this statement is incorrect; sometimes it is the men, but more
often the women, who predominate. Among the natives of Oregon there
are seven hundred men to eleven hundred and eighty-five women. Among
the Punkas and other races the number of women is two or three times
greater than that of the men. In Kotcha-Hamba there is only one man to
five women. Among other races there are, on the contrary, more men
than women, especially in Australia, Tasmania, and Hayti. In the
latter island there is only one woman to five men. In Cashmere there
are three men to one woman. Among the negroes, on the contrary, the
women predominate, sometimes in the proportion of three to one, but
more generally as three to two.
In Europe, more boys than girls are born on the average, but from the
age of fifteen to twenty the numbers become equal, and after twenty
the women predominate. This is due to the greater mortality among men,
owing to war, the greater danger of masculine occupations, and also to
alcoholism. In the fifteen largest towns in Switzerland alcoholism is
the direct or indirect cause of death in 10.5 per cent. of men above
the age of twenty.
Among savages the women often take part in war, for instance the
Amazons of Dahomey. Drinking habits are also the same or absent in
both sexes, which equalizes matters. When the men predominate in these
people, this is often due to infanticide committed on young girls, and
also to overwork of the women. With the Cingalese the natality of boys
is greater than that of girls, while in Asia Minor two girls, in
Arabia even four girls, are born to one boy. The Arab says, "Allah has
given us more women than men; it is, therefore, clear that polygamy is
a divine commandment."
=Production of Sexes at Will.=--I will say a few words on the question
of the causes of production of the sexes. There is no want of
hypotheses, assertions, nor even of experiments on this subject; but,
we are obliged to admit that up to the present we know nothing
certain. No one has yet succeeded in producing experimentally in
animals males or females at will. According to one theory, which has
created much impression, overfeeding produces females and underfeeding
males. Although this appears to be true in certain cases among some
animals, it is in no way proved in a positive manner.
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