In the second place, it follows from this fundamental principle, that the vicious and apparently acquired conduct of certain individuals should not be considered as the product of perverted free will, but rather as the unfortunate and destructive result of a bad hereditary disposition developed under the influence of the bad habits of a corrupt environment. This environment being itself composed of men, there is a vicious circle of cause and effect which will not escape the mind of the thoughtful reader. Bad habits are made by hereditary forces, and bad habits develop in their turn by custom, and may even create, by blastophthoria, vicious hereditary dispositions. The indignation of the moralists who condemn vicious persons are very like the temper of a child who strikes the fire which burnt him. REFLEX ANOMALIES We have already mentioned vaginismus, which is often produced in women by the first coitus. Priapism in man is somewhat analogous to vaginismus. It is produced by an exaggerated reflex irritability of the nerve centers for erection, and results in continual and painful erections, which sometimes end in ejaculation without sensation. Another anomaly, more or less reflex and very frequent, produces voluptuous sensations and premature ejaculation after short and incomplete erections. In some nervous women also, the venereal orgasm occurs very rapidly and briefly. These anomalies belong to the domain of medicine and are of little importance for our subject. PSYCHIC IMPOTENCE Psychic impotence is a symptom which occurs accidentally in the normal state and very frequently in psychopathological conditions. A representation or idea of any kind, may suddenly paralyze by suggestive action the normal reflex mechanism of the center for erection. The blood ceases to accumulate in the corpora cavernosa and erection is either arrested or not produced at all. For example, a very excited lover, who has had strong erections at the moment when he prepared to copulate, may be suddenly overcome with the idea that he will fail, or by some other thought which paralyzes erection and renders coitus impossible. The remembrance of such a failure and the distress and shame attached to it, even efforts to produce erection indirectly for another attempt, constitute further causes of inhibition of the cerebro-spinal activity; they temporarily extinguish the sexual appetite, and prevent by their interference the automatic mechanism of erection which they strive to produce. The greater the fear of failure, the more the psychic impotence increases. This phenomenon may be limited to a certain woman, but it is more often general. Sometimes an incomplete erection is produced, which is insufficient. This condition, which depends on auto-suggestion, is best treated by hypnotic suggestion. The sentiment of impotence powerfully depresses a man, and the depression increases his impotence. This condition often, however, disappears by itself.