I am not trying to minimize the danger of masturbation, for, if indulged in from an early age and to great excess, the results _may_ be disastrous. But, even if I were to minimize the evil consequences, that would be less of a sin than to exaggerate them the way it has been done for so many years, by so many people in the profession and out of it. The evil results of exaggerating the influence of masturbation have been so great in the past that, if now the pendulum were to swing to the other extreme, I am sure it would not be a bad thing at all. To deal with the subject of the _treatment_ of masturbation belongs to a medical treatise. But, a few remarks on how to prevent children from acquiring the habit of masturbation will not be out of place. =Prevention of the Habit of Masturbation.= The keynote of preventing the habit is, carefully to watch the child from its earliest infancy. We know that not infrequently stupid or vicious nursemaids, wet-nurses, and even governesses ignorantly or deliberately induce the habit in children under their charge. This, of course, must be prevented. Even children of the age of nine, ten, eleven years should not be left alone, but always be under supervision. Too close friendship between boys or girls, particularly of different ages, should be looked upon with suspicion. A number of girls never should sleep in the same room without supervision by an older person. The sleeping together of two in the same bed, whether it be two children or a grown person and a child, should not be permitted under any circumstances. I admit of no exceptions to this demand. It makes no difference whether the other person is a mother, a father, a brother or a sister. Leaving out of the question any _deliberate_ element, the thing is dangerous; for, very often, unintentionally, unwittingly, masturbation is initiated by this intimate contact. The child--boy or girl--should sleep alone, on a rather hard mattress. The covering should be light. A coverlet may be put over the feet. The child always should sleep with the arms out upon the cover or blanket, never _under_ the same. If this is done from childhood on, it is very easy to get used to this way of sleeping, and many a case of masturbation will thus be obviated. The child should not be permitted to loll in bed: it must be taught to get up as soon as it awakes in the morning. The general bringing-up must be of a strengthening, hardening character; and this applies both to the body and the will. When the children reach the age of nine, ten, eleven, twelve or thirteen years (we must use discrimination and judgment, for, some children of nine are as developed as are others of thirteen), we must tell them that it is bad and injurious to handle one's genitals, and we must warn them to shun any companions who wish to initiate them into any manipulations of these parts or who show an inclination to talk about the sexual organs and sex matters.