Like sadism, masochism is hereditary and congenital. When the first sexual sensations are produced, the masochist child sighs for a dominating woman who will illtreat him and make him her slave. His imagination is transported by the idea of being on his knees, of being trodden under foot, or bound in chains by her, etc. The cruel heroine of his heart must ridicule and humiliate him as much as possible. Corporal punishment with a beneficial object does not satisfy the true masochist. Rousseau, in his "Confessions," reveals the sexual feelings of the masochist. It is remarkable how far poetic conceptions are combined with the perversion of sexual sensations in masochists, leading them to dream of an imperious and cruel woman to whom they devote a love as humble as it is exalted, while normal coitus causes them no pleasure, and can sometimes only be accomplished with the aid of masochistic images. These images may also be accompanied by onanism. It is very common for masochists to become flagellants, and to be flogged or trampled on by prostitutes. But it often happens that they only feel pain instead of pleasure, when the comedy which they have started appears revealed in all its absurdity, showing them a woman paid to illtreat them, and not doing it for her own enjoyment. Some masochists take pleasure in imagining themselves assassinated by a woman, or even cut in pieces. Others organize theatrical performances in which imperious women play the part of judges, before whom they appear naked and are flogged and condemned to death. Others again are contented with imagining these performances, combining them sometimes with coitus or masturbation. Krafft-Ebing is no doubt right in considering the lucubrations of the poet Baudelaire, and his necrophile imagination of his own carrion hung on a gibbet and devoured by vultures, as a mixture of sadism and masochism. He sought out the most repulsive women of all races, Chinese, negresses, dwarfs, giants, or modern women as artificial as possible, to satisfy his pathological instinct. The following case quoted by Krafft-Ebing from Hammond, is typical: A married man and father of several children was sometimes subject to attacks during which he visited a brothel, where he chose two or three of the fattest women. He stripped the upper part of his body, lay on the floor, crossed his hands, shut his eyes and ordered the women to tread with all their force on his chest, neck and face. Sometimes he required a still heavier woman or more cruel manipulations. After two or three hours he was satisfied, paid the women liberally and regaled them with wine, rubbed his bruises, dressed himself and returned to his office, to repeat this singular performance a week later.