III. Cerebral Neuroses (part 3)

“I often have the desire, however, to represent Sacher-Masoch in his ‘Venus in Furs.’ There a man makes himself the voluntary slave of a woman, and feels an intense thrill of lustful pleasure, if he is only chastised and humiliated by her. But I naturally feel that I could, under no circumstances, become the slave of a woman, but only of a man; more correctly, of a young man; one, however, for whom I should have such an infinite love that I could give myself up entirely to his mercy or cruelty.

“The lustful images that float before my mind in masturbation are those of this or that young man that I have just seen. As a sad and incomplete substitute, I practice this onanism constantly.

“I pass into a lustful dream in this way (and I say all here, because I wish to write only the truth and the whole truth): I choose a young man that pleases me by his form, and in imagination give myself up to involuntary obedience to him. I imagine that he wishes to humiliate me, and that he commands me, for example, to kiss his feet; or compels me to smell his socks. For want of the desired actuality, I take my own socks, smell of them, take them into my mouth, rub them over my genitals, and immediately erection and ejaculation, with sensual pleasure, take place.

“Yes, I am so dominated by this mental imagery that I imagine that the young man is my confessor, and, in order to humiliate me, orders me to eat of his excrement. Here again, in want of actuality, I eat of my own excrement, but only in small quantity. Then, with an imperfect feeling of disgust and violent palpitation of the heart, erection and ejaculation take place.

“However, I come to this vile, feverish imagery and the performance of these acts, only when it has not been possible for me for a long time to satisfy myself by onanism in the immediate vicinity of a young man.

“This is for me more natural, because I then have more pleasure, and experience a more perfect physical and mental benefit, even though my ideal of actual and direct satisfaction in mutual understanding were never to be accorded me.

“I almost believe that the above-mentioned disgusting imagery is only the evil result of constant want of normal satisfaction,—i.e., of my normal satisfaction as an urning; and that with a regular satisfaction, body to body, the imagery that becomes almost insane would be less intense, and certainly would not go to such extravagance. Or it is the ultimate result of an attempt at abstinence; for these idiotic, sensual images only come after a long period of it.

“I believe, indeed, that, under other social conditions, I should be capable of great and noble love and self-sacrifice. My thoughts are in no way exclusively carnal or diseased. How often, at the sight of a handsome young man, a deep feeling of impatience seizes me, and I breathe at once the sweet words of Heine:—

“‘Du bist wie eine Blume, so hold, so schön, so rein,’ etc.

“And once, when I was compelled to part with a young man who had honored and valued me as his friend and protector, though my love had remained unknown to him, those fine verses by Scheffel kept passing through my mind, especially the last,—mutatis mutandis:—

“‘Grau wie der Himmel, steht vor mir die Welt,
Doch wend’ es sich zum Guten oder Bösen,
Du, lieber Freund, in Treuen denk’ ich Dein!
Behüt Dich Gott! es wär’ zu schön gewesen,
Behüt Dich Gott, es hat nicht sollen sein!’

“I have never independently revealed my love to a young man, and have never spoiled or injured one morally; but I have, now and then, made the way easy for many. Under such circumstances, nothing is too much trouble, and I obtain victims as only I can.

“When I have an opportunity to have such a beloved friend about me, to educate, protect, and help, if my recognized love find a (natural, unsexual) return, then all my disgusting mental imagery grows less and less intense; then my love becomes almost platonic and ennobled, to sink again into the mire when this worthy satisfaction is removed.

“As for the rest, and without over-estimating myself, I may say that I am not one of the worst of men. Brighter mentally than the average man, I take interest in all that moves humanity. I am amiable, and easily moved to pity, and am incapable of doing any animal, much less a man, an injury; but, on the contrary, do good wherever I can.

“When I have nothing to reproach myself with in my own conscience, and must, at the same time, set myself in opposition to the judgment of the world, I suffer very much. Indeed, I have done no one harm, and I consider my love, in its noblest activity, to be quite as holy as that of a normal man; but, with the unhappy lot which impatience and ignorance cast upon us, I suffer even to the extent of tædium vitæ.

“No pen, no tongue can describe all the misery, all the unhappy situations, the constant fear of having this peculiarity recognized, and of being cast from society. The one thought that, as soon as recognized, one’s existence would be lost, and he would be cast away from all, is as terrible as any thought can be. Then all the good that one had ever done would be forgotten; then, in the pride of his great morality, every normal man would be moved to scorn, even though he himself had been never so frivolous in his own love.

“Then what does our misery amount to? We may, cursing man, end our unhappy lives. Truly, I often long for the quiet of an asylum. My life may end when it will, the quicker the better; I am ready.

“To refer to one more point: I also believe, like the others that have written to you, that our nervousness is first acquired as a result of our unhappy, unspeakably miserable life among our fellow-creatures.

“And still another: You write, at the conclusion of your work, concerning the repeal of the legal enactments concerned. Indeed, humanity would not be destroyed if they were repealed. In Italy there is no such law, as far as I know; and Italy is not a wilderness, but a cultivated nation.

“As for myself, compelled as I am to undermine my life by onanism, the law could not touch me; for I have never sinned against it in a letter. But, at the same time, I suffer under the accursed scorn to which we are subjected. How can the ideas of society be changed, so long as there is a law which strengthens it in its immorality? The law must, of course, correspond with public opinion; but it should not be in harmony with the erroneous opinion of ignorance, but only in accord with the ideas of the best and most scientific thinkers,—not with the wish and prejudice of the vulgar. True thinking minds cannot much longer be satisfied with the old idea.

“Pardon me, Professor, if I close without a signature. Do not try to find me. I could tell you nothing more. I give you these lines in the interest of future sufferers. Publish from them, in the interest of science, truth, and justice, what seems to you to be necessary.”

Case 115. On a summer evening, at twilight, X. Y., a physician of a city in North Germany, was detected by a watchman while committing a misdemeanor with a countryman in a field. He was practicing masturbation on him, and then mentulam alius in os suum immisit. X. escaped legal prosecution by flight. The authorities dismissed the complaint, because there had been no publicity, and because immissio membri in anum had not taken place. Among X.’s effects was found an extensive correspondence of a perverse sexual character, which showed that he had had perverse intercourse for years with all classes of people.

X. came of a neurotic family. His paternal grandfather died by suicide while insane. His father was a weak, peculiar man. One brother masturbated at the age of two. A cousin was sexually perverse, and practiced perverse acts, similar to those of X., while a youth; he became weak-minded, and died of spinal disease. A paternal great-uncle was an hermaphrodite. His mother’s sister was insane. His mother is said to have been healthy. X.’s brother is nervous and irascible.

X., likewise, was nervous as a child. The mewing of a cat would create great fear in him; and if one but imitated the voice of a cat, he would cry bitterly, and run to others for protection. Slight physical disturbance caused violent fever. He was a quiet, dreamy child, of excitable imagination, but of slight mental capabilities. He did not indulge much in boyish games; he preferred feminine pursuits. It gave him especial pleasure to curl the hair of the house-maid or of his brother.

At thirteen X. went to an Institute. There he practiced mutual masturbation, seduced his comrades, and, by his cynical conduct, made them unmanageable; so that he had to be taken home. At that time the parents found love-letters with lascivious contents, showing perverse sexuality. From the age of seventeen he studied under the strict surveillance of a professor in a Gymnasium. He made but sad progress in learning. He had only a talent for music.

After finishing his studies, the patient entered the University, at the age of nineteen. There he attracted attention by his cynical character and his association with young persons who were thought to be given to masculine love. He began to be dandified; wore striking cravats, and shirts that were low cut; he forced his feet into narrow shoes, and curled his hair in a remarkable way. This peculiarity disappeared when he left the school, and had returned home.

At the age of twenty-four he was for a long time neurasthenic. From that time until his twenty-ninth year, he was earnest and skillful in his profession; but he avoided the society of the opposite sex, and constantly associated with men of doubtful character.

The patient would not allow a personal examination. In writing, he made the excuse for this that it would be of no use, because his impulse to his own sex had existed from his earliest childhood, and was congenital. He had always had horror feminæ, and had never been inclined to avail himself of the charms of women. Toward men he felt himself in the rôle of a man. He recognized his impulse toward his own sex as abnormal, and excused his sexual indulgence as being the result of an abnormal natural condition.

Since his flight X. lives out of Germany, in Southern Italy, and, as I learned from a letter, now, as before, he indulges in perverse love. X. is an earnest, stately man, of masculine features, well-grown beard, and normally developed genitals. Dr. X. furnished me, a short time ago, with his autobiography, of which the following is worthy of mention:—

“When, at the age of seven, I entered the private school, I felt very uncomfortable, and found very little sympathy with my companions. Only toward one of them, who was a very handsome child, did I feel attracted, and I loved him wildly. In childish games I always knew how to arrange it so that I could appear in feminine attire; and my greatest pleasure was to form intricate coiffures for our servant-girls. I often regretted that I was not a girl.

“My sexual instinct awakened when I was thirteen, and from the moment of its appearance was directed toward youthful, strong men. At first I was not really certain that this was abnormal, but consciousness of it came when I saw and heard how my companions were characterized sexually. I began to masturbate at the age of thirteen. At seventeen I left home and went to the Gymnasium of a large Capital, where I was put to board with a married professor of the Gymnasium, with whose son I afterward had sexual relations. It was with him that I first had sexual satisfaction. Thereafter I made the acquaintance of a young artist, who very soon noticed that I was abnormal, and confessed to me that he was in the same condition. I learned from him that this abnormality was very frequent; and this knowledge overcame the trouble that I had had in supposing that I was alone in my abnormality. This young man had an extensive acquaintance with persons in like condition, to which he introduced me. There I became the object of general attention, for on all sides I was declared to be very attractive physically. I soon became insanely loved by an old gentleman; but, not finding him to my taste, I endured him but a short time, and then gave ear to a young and handsome officer who lay at my feet. He was really my first love.

“After passing my final examination, at the age of nineteen, free from the discipline of school, I made the acquaintance of a great number of people like myself, and among them Karl Ulrichs (Numa Numantinus).

“When, later, I took up the study of medicine, and associated with many normal youths, I was often in a position where I was compelled to visit public prostitutes. After having consorted to no purpose with various prostitutes, some of whom were very beautiful, the opinion was spread among my acquaintances that I was impotent, and I strengthened this by telling of previous sexual excesses. At that time I had numerous external relations with persons who prized my physical peculiarities, which were considered very beautiful. The result of this was, that I was exciting somebody all the time; and I received such a mass of love-letters that I was often in embarrassment. The acme of this was reached later, when, as a physician, I lived in the hospital. There I moved about like a celebrated person, and the scenes of jealousy that took place, on my account, almost led to the discovery of the whole thing. Shortly after this, I fell ill with an inflammation of my shoulder-joint, from which I recovered after three months. During this illness I received subcutaneous injections of morphine several times daily, which were suddenly discontinued, and which I practiced thereafter secretly after my recovery. For the purpose of special study, I spent some months in Vienna, before entering into private practice, and there, by means of some recommendations, I gained entrance to various circles of people like myself. I there learned that the abnormality in question, in its various forms, is spread through the lower classes as well as the higher, and that those who are approachable for money are not infrequently met among the higher classes.

“When I established myself in the country, I hoped to cure myself of the morphine habit by means of cocaine; and then I became a victim of cocaine, which, only after three relapses, I was able to rid myself of (about two years ago). In my position, it was impossible for me to find sexual satisfaction, and I noticed with pleasure that the use of cocaine had overcome my desire. When, on the first occasion, at the urgent request of my aunt, I had emancipated myself from cocaine, I traveled for a few weeks, in order to improve my health, the perverse impulses were again awakened in their old strength, and, one evening, while out in the fields by the city amusing myself with a man, I noticed that I had been detected by the authorities and advertised; but that the act of which I was accused was not punishable, in accordance with the opinion expressed by the highest court of the German kingdom. I had, therefore, to be careful; for already the announcement of the crime had been heralded on all sides. I saw that, after this, I would be compelled to leave Germany, and find a new home where neither the law nor public opinion would be opposed to that impulse, which, like all abnormal instincts, could not be overcome by the will. Since I was never deceived for a moment about the matter, in recognizing my impulses as opposed to social usages, I repeatedly attempted to become master of them; but by these efforts they were increased in power. This same observation has been communicated to me by acquaintances. Since I was exclusively drawn toward strong, youthful, and masculine individuals, and they were very seldom inclined to yield to my wishes, I was compelled to buy them. Since my desire was limited to persons of the lower classes, I was always able to find such as were purchasable with money. I hope that the following statements will not awaken your repugnance. At first I intended to omit them; but, for the completeness of this communication, I may include them, since they serve to enrich the clinical material. I am compelled to perform the sexual act in the following way:—

“Pene juvenis in os recepto, ita ut commovendo ore meo effecerim, ut is quem cupio, semen ejaculaverit, sperma in perinæum exspuo, femora comprimi jubeo et penem meum ad versus et intra femora compressa immitto. Dum hæc fiunt, necesse est, ut juvenis me, quantum potest, amplectatur. Quæ prius me fecisse narravi, eandem mihi afferunt voluptatem, acsi ipse ejaculo. Ejaculationem pene in anum immittendo vel manu terendo assequi, mihi nequaquam amœnum est.

“Sed inveni, qui penem meum receperint atque ea facientes, quæ supra exposui, effecerint, ut libidines meæ plane sint saturatæ.

“Concerning my person, I must still mention the following: I am 186 centimetres tall, of masculine appearance, and, with the exception of abnormal irritability of the skin, healthy. My hair and beard are black and thick. My genitals are of medium size and normally formed. I am able, without any trace of fatigue, to perform the sexual act from four to six times in twenty-four hours. My life is very regular. I use alcohol and tobacco very sparingly. I play the piano quite well, and some of my unpretentious compositions have been much applauded. I have lately finished a novel, which, as my first work, has been very favorably criticised by my friends. The story has several problems taken from the life of urnings in the subject-matter.

“Among the large number of fellow-sufferers that are personally known to me, I have naturally been in a position to make observations concerning the condition and the degrees of abnormality; and, perhaps, the following communications may be of service to you:—

“The most abnormal thing that I am acquainted with, was the impulse of a gentleman who lived in Berlin. He preferred, above all others, young fellows with unwashed feet, which he would lick passionately. A gentleman in Leipzig was similar to him; who, where it was possible, would linguam in anum immittere, preferring the parts to be uncleaned. Several have assured me that the sight of riding-boots or of parts of military uniforms, induced such excitement in them that ejaculation resulted. A man in Paris compelled a friend ut in os ei mingat.

“With reference to the degree in which many feel themselves as women, which is with me not the case, two persons in Vienna are examples. They bore feminine names. One is a barber who calls himself ‘French Laura’; the other was formerly a butcher, who calls himself ‘Selcher-Fanny.’ Both of them never missed an opportunity, during the carnival time, to show themselves in very fantastic feminine masks. In Hamburg there is a person that many people believe to be a woman, because he always goes about the house in feminine attire, and only occasionally leaves the house, and always in such clothing. This man wished to stand as godmother at a christening, and, as a result of it, gave rise to great scandal.

“Feminine timidity, frivolity, obstinacy, and weakness of character, are the rule in such individuals.

“Several cases of perverse sexuality are known to me where epilepsy and psychoses are present. Hernias are remarkably frequent. In practice many persons come to me to be treated for diseases of the anus, because of recommendation by friends. I saw two syphilitic and one local chancre, and several fissures; and at present I am treating a gentleman for condylomata of the anus, which form a rounded tumor as large as a fist. One case of primary affection of the soft palate I saw in Vienna, in a young man who was accustomed to frequent mask-balls dressed as a girl, and entice young men; he would then pretend that he was menstruating, and thus induce the others to use him per os. The assertion was made that in this way he had deceived fourteen men in one evening. Since, in none of the publications concerning contrary sexuality that I have seen, I have found anything concerning the intercourse of pederasts among themselves, I venture to communicate something concerning it in conclusion:—

“As soon as individuals that are affected with contrary sexuality become acquainted, there is a detailed narration of their experiences, loves, and seductions, as far as the social difference between them allows such entertainment. Only in very few cases is this amusement uncommon with new acquaintances. Among themselves, they call themselves ‘aunts’; in Vienna, ‘sisters’; and two very masculine public prostitutes in Vienna, whom I accidentally became acquainted with, and who lived in a perverse sexual relation with each other, told me that for the corresponding condition in women the name ‘uncle’ was used. Since becoming conscious of my abnormal instinct, I have met thousands of such individuals.

“Almost every large city has some meeting-place, as well as a so-called promenade. In smaller cities there are relatively few ‘aunts,’ though in a small town of 2300 inhabitants I found eight, and in one of 7000 eighteen of whom I was absolutely sure,—to say nothing of those whom I suspected. In my own town of 30,000 inhabitants, I personally know about one hundred and twenty ‘aunts.’ The greater number of them, and I especially, possess the capability of judging another immediately as to whether they are alike or not, which, in the language of the ‘aunts,’ is called ‘reasonable’ or ‘unreasonable.’ My acquaintances are often astounded at the certainty of my judgment. Individuals that are apparently absolutely masculine I recognize as ‘aunts’ at the first sight. On the other hand, I am able to behave myself in such a masculine way that, in circles to which I have been introduced by acquaintances, there is a doubt as to my genuineness. When I am in the mood, I can act exactly like a girl.

“Since the majority of ‘aunts,’ like myself, in no way regret their abnormality, but would be sorry if the condition were to be changed; and, moreover, since the congenital condition, according to my own and all other experience, cannot be influenced; therefore, all our hope rests upon the possibility of a change of the laws with reference to it, so that only rape or the commission of public offense, when this can be proved at the same time, shall be punishable.”

Case 116. Contrary Sexual Instinct in a Woman.—S. J., aged 38, governess, came to me for advice about a nervous trouble. Her father was temporarily insane, and died of a brain disease. The patient is an only child, and even when quite young she suffered with feelings of anxiety and painful ideas. She thought, for example, that she would awake in her coffin after it had been closed; that at confession she might forget something, and make a sinful confession. She suffered much with headache. She was always very much excited and apprehensive, but yet she had to see horrible things, like corpses, etc.

Even in her earliest childhood, the patient was excited sexually, and began to masturbate without any teaching. The menses began at fourteen, and were always accompanied by colicky pains, violent sexual excitement, migraine, and depression. After her eighteenth year she learned to repress her impulse to masturbate.

The patient has never felt any inclination toward persons of the opposite sex. If she thought of marriage, it was only because she sought in matrimony a means of being supported. On the other hand, she felt powerfully attracted by girls. At first she regarded this inclination as friendship; but in the depth of her attachment to female friends, and in the longing she constantly felt for them, she recognized that the feeling was something more than friendship.

The patient cannot understand how a girl can love a man, but she can easily see how a man might love a girl. She always has a lively interest in beautiful women and girls, and is powerfully excited at sight of them. Her longing had always been to kiss and embrace such dear creatures. She had never dreamed of a man, but only of girls. Her delight had been to revel in the sight of them. Separation from such female friends had always made her desperate.

The patient, whose appearance is perfectly feminine and very respectable, states that she has never felt herself in any particular rôle with her friends, not even in dreams. Female pelvis; large mammæ; no sign of beard.

Case 117. Mrs. R., Russian, aged 35, of high social position, was brought to me, in 1886, by her husband for advice.

Father was a physician, and very neuropathic. Paternal grandfather was healthy and normal, and reached the age of ninety-six. Facts concerning paternal grandmother are wanting. All the children of father’s family are said to have been nervous. The patient’s mother was nervous, and suffered with asthma. The mother’s parents were healthy. One of the mother’s sisters had melancholia.

From her tenth year patient has been subject to habitual headache. With the exception of measles, she has had no illness. She was capable, and enjoyed the best of training, having especial talent for music and languages. It became necessary for her to prepare herself for the work of a governess, and during her earlier years she was mentally overworked. She passed through an attack of melancholia sine delirio, of some months’ duration, at seventeen. The patient asserts that she has always had sympathy only for her own sex, and found only an æsthetic interest in men. She never had any taste for female work. As a little girl, she preferred to play with boys.

She says she remained well until her twenty-seventh year. Then, without external cause, she became depressed and considered herself a bad, sinful person, had no pleasure in anything, and was sleepless. During this time of illness she was also troubled with imperative conceptions: that she must think of the death of herself and her relatives. Recovery after about five months. She then became a governess, was overworked, but remained well, except for occasional neurasthenic symptoms and spinal irritation.

At twenty-eight she made the acquaintance of a lady five years younger than herself. She fell in love with her, and her love was returned. The love was very sensual, and satisfied by mutual masturbation. “I loved her as a god; her’s is a noble soul,” she said, when she mentioned this love-bond. It lasted four years, and was ended by the (unfortunate) marriage of her friend.

In 1885, after much emotional strain, the patient became ill with symptoms of hystero-neurasthenia (dyspepsia, spinal irritation, and tonic spasmodic attacks; attacks of hemiopia with migraine and transitory aphasia; pruritus pudendi et ani). In February, 1886, these symptoms disappeared.

In March she became acquainted with her present husband, and married him without taking much time for reflection; for he was rich, much in love with her, and his character was in sympathy with her own.

On April 6th, she read the sentence, “Death misses no one.” Like a flash of lightning in a clear sky, the former imperative conceptions of death returned. She was forced to meditate on the most horrible manner of death for herself and those about her, and constantly imagine death-scenes. She lost rest and sleep, and took no pleasure in anything. Her condition improved. Late in May, 1886, she was married, but was still troubled by painful thoughts at that time: that she would bring misfortune on her husband and those about her.

First coitus on June 6, 1886. She was deeply depressed morally by it. She had had no such conception of matrimony. The husband, who really loved his wife, did all he could to quiet her. He consulted physicians, who thought all would be well after pregnancy. The husband was unable to explain the peculiar behavior of his wife. She was friendly toward him, and suffered his caresses. In coitus, which was actually carried out, she was entirely passive, and after the act she was tired, exhausted all day long, nervous, and troubled with spinal irritation.

A bridal tour brought about a meeting with her old friend, who had lived in an unhappy marriage for three years. The two ladies trembled with joy and excitement as they sank into each other’s arms, and became inseparable. The husband saw that this friendly relation was a peculiar one, and hastened their departure. He had an opportunity to ascertain, through the correspondence of his wife with this friend, that the letters interchanged were like those of two lovers.

Mrs. R. became pregnant. During pregnancy the remains of depression and imperative ideas disappeared. In September, during about the ninth week of pregnancy, abortion took place. After that, renewed symptoms of hystero-neurasthenia. In addition to this, there were anteflexio et latero-positio dextra uteri, anæmia, and atonia ventriculi.

At the consultation the patient gave the impression of a very neuropathic, tainted person. The neuropathic expression of the eyes cannot be described. Appearance entirely feminine. With the exception of a very narrow, arched palate, there was no skeletal abnormality. With difficulty the patient could be brought to give the details of her sexual abnormality. She complained that she had married without knowing what marriage between men and women was. She loved her husband dearly for his mental qualities, but marital intercourse was a pain to her; she did it unwillingly, without ever finding any satisfaction in it. Post actum, all day long she was weary and exhausted. Since the abortion and the interdiction of sexual intercourse by the physicians, she had been better; but she thought of the future with horror. She esteemed her husband, and loved him mentally; but she would do anything for him, if he would but avoid her sexually in the future. She hoped to have sensual feeling for him in time. When he played the violin, she seemed to feel the beginning of an inclination for him that was something more than friendship; but it was only transitory, and she could get no assurance for the future in it. Her greatest happiness was in correspondence with her former lover. She felt that this was wrong, but she could not give it up; for to do so made her miserable.

It is remarkable that the anomaly may be long limited to mere perversion of the sexual instinct, and that the impulse to perverse indulgence may make its appearance after some accidental cause,—e.g., seduction, or some neurosis. Such cases might easily be mistaken for acquired contrary sexual instinct (v. supra), if, with reference to the sexual feeling, they should not be demonstrated by the history to be original and congenital.

Case 118. Mrs. C., aged 32, wife of an official, a large, not uncomely woman, feminine in appearance, comes of a neuropathic and emotional mother. A brother was psychopathic, and died of drink. Patient was always peculiar, obstinate, silent, quick-tempered, and eccentric. The brothers and sisters are excitable people. Pulmonary phthisis has been frequent in her family. When only a girl of thirteen, with signs of great sexual excitement, she attracted attention by enthusiastic love for a female friend of her own age. Her education was strict, though the patient secretly read many novels, and wrote innumerable poems. She married at eighteen to free herself from unpleasant circumstances at home.

She says she has always been indifferent toward men. In fact, she avoided balls. Female statues pleased her. Her greatest happiness was to think of marriage with a beloved woman. She was not aware of her sexual peculiarity until marriage, and the thing had remained inexplicable to her. Patient did her marital duty, and bore three children, two of whom were subject to convulsions. She lived pleasantly with her husband, but she esteemed him only for his moral qualities. She gladly avoided coitus. “I should have preferred intercourse with a woman.”

Until 1878 she had been neurasthenic. On the occasion of a sojourn at a watering-place, she made the acquaintance of a female urning, whose history I have reported as Case 6, in the Irrenfreund, No. 1, 1884.

The patient came home a changed person. Her husband says: “She was no longer a woman, no longer had any love for me and the children, and would have no more of marital approaches. She was inflamed with passionate love for her female friend, and had taste for nothing else.” After the husband forbade her lover the house, there was interchange of letters with such expressions in them as “My dove! I live only for you, my soul.” There were meetings and frightful excitement when an expected letter did not come. The relation was in nowise platonic. From certain indications it is presumable that mutual masturbation was the means of sensual satisfaction. This relation lasted until 1882, and made the patient decidedly neurasthenic.

She absolutely neglected the house, and her husband hired a woman of sixty years as a house-keeper, and also a governess for the children. The patient fell in love with both, who, at least, allowed caresses, and profited materially through the love of their mistress.

In the latter part of 1883, on account of developing pulmonary tuberculosis, she had to go south. There she became acquainted with a Russian lady of forty years, and fell passionately in love with her; but she did not meet with a return of love in her sense. One day insanity became manifest. She thought the Russian lady a nihilist; that she was magnetized by her; and she presented formal persecutory delusions. She fled, and was caught in an Italian city, and placed in a hospital, where she soon became quiet. Again she followed the lady with her love, felt herself very unhappy, and planned suicide.

When she returned home, she was greatly depressed because she did not have the lady, and was contrary toward her family. A delusive, erotic state of excitement came on about the end of May, 1884. She danced, shouted, and called herself a man; demanded her former lovers, and said she was of royal blood. She escaped from the house in male attire, and was taken to the asylum in a state of eroto-maniacal excitement. After a few days the exaltation disappeared. The patient became quiet, and made a despairing attempt at suicide; and after it she was in great anguish of mind with tædium vitæ. The perverse sexual feeling grew less and less noticeable, and the tuberculosis progressed. The patient died of phthisis in the beginning of 1885.

The examination of the brain presented nothing unusual as far as architecture and arrangement of convolutions were concerned. Weight of brain 1150 grammes. Skull slightly asymmetrical. No anatomical signs of degeneration. External and internal genitals without anomaly.

3. Effemination and Viraginity.—There are various transitions from the foregoing cases to those making up this category, characterized by the degree in which the psychical personality, especially in general manner of feeling and inclinations, is influenced by the abnormal sexual feeling. In this group, fully-developed cases in men are females in feeling; in women, males. This abnormality of feeling and of development of the character is often apparent in childhood. The boy likes to spend his time with girls, play with dolls, and help his mother about the house; he likes to cook, sew, knit, and develops taste in female toilettes, so that he may even become the adviser of his sisters. As he grows older he eschews smoking, drinking, and manly sports, and, on the contrary, finds pleasure in adornment of person, art, belles-lettres, etc., even to the extent of giving himself entirely to the cultivation of the beautiful. Since women possess corresponding inclinations, he prefers to move in the society of women.

If he can assume the rôle of a female at a masquerade, it is his greatest delight. He seeks to please his lover, so to speak, by studiously trying to represent what pleases the female-loving man in the opposite sex,—sweetness, sympathy, taste for æsthetics, poetry, etc. Efforts to approach the female appearance in gait, attitude, and style of dress are frequently seen.

The female urning, even when a little girl, presents the reverse. Her favorite place is the play-ground of boys. She seeks to rival them in their games. The girl will have nothing to do with dolls; her passion is for playing horse, soldier, and robber. For female employments there is manifested not merely a lack of taste, but often unskillfulness in them. The toilette is neglected, and pleasure found in a coarse, boyish life. Instead of an inclination for the arts, there is manifested an inclination and taste for the sciences. Occasionally there may be attempts to smoke and drink. Perfumes and cosmetics are abhorred. The consciousness of being born a woman, and, therefore, of being compelled to renounce the University, with its gay life, and the army, induces painful reflections.

In the inclinations of the amazon for manly sports, the masculine soul in the female bosom manifests itself; and not less in the show of courage and manly feeling. The female urning loves to wear her hair and have her clothing in the fashion of men; and it is her greatest pleasure, when opportunity offers, to appear in male attire. Her ideals are historical and contemporary feminine personalities distinguished for mind and energy.

With reference to the sexual feeling and instinct of these urnings, so thoroughly permeated in all their mental being, the men, without exception, feel themselves to be females; the women feel themselves to be males. Thus they feel themselves to be antagonistic to persons of their own sex constituted like themselves; for, of course, they are like them in form. But, on the other hand, they are drawn toward those of their own sex that are homo-sexual or sexually normal. The same jealousy which occurs in normal sexual life also occurs here, when rivalry is threatened; and, indeed, since they are, as a rule, hyperæsthetic sexually, this jealousy is often boundless.

In cases of completely-developed contrary sexuality, hetero-sexual love is looked upon as a thing absolutely incomprehensible; sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex is unthinkable, impossible. Such an attempt brings on the inhibitory concept of disgust or even horror, which makes erection impossible. Only two of my transitional cases to the third category were able, with the help of their imagination, by thinking of themselves as men with reference to the woman, to have cohabitation; but the act, which was inadequate for them, was a great sacrifice, and afforded them no pleasure.

In homo-sexual intercourse the man always feels himself, in the act, as a woman; the woman, as a man. The means of indulgence, in the case of a man, where there is irritable weakness of the ejaculation centre, are simply succubus, or passive coitus inter femora; in other cases, passive masturbation, or ejaculatio viri dilecti in ore proprio. Many have a desire for passive pederasty; occasionally a desire for active pederasty occurs. In one attempt of this kind, the man desisted because of the disgust which seized him when the act reminded him of coitus.

There was never inclination for immature persons (boy-love). Not infrequently there were only platonic desires. The sexual satisfaction of the female probably consists of amor lesbicus, or active masturbation.

Case 119. Autobiography. “1. Descent: I am now in my twenty third year. I have chosen the study of the technical arts as an occupation, and am completely satisfied with it. I had but the mild diseases of children, while the other children, who are now healthy, had to pass through severe illnesses. My parents are both living, and my father is an advocate. He, like my mother, is, as we say, nervously hyper-sensitive. In my father’s family there were two other children, who died early.

“2. My person: As for my physical peculiarities, I am of robust figure, without being of especially handsome form; eyes, gray; hair, blonde; hair and beard correspond with my sex and years. The mammæ and genitals are normally developed. My gait is firm and almost heavy; my bearing, careless. It is remarkable that the breadth of the pelvis is exactly equal to that of the shoulders.

“I am naturally well endowed mentally. In one of my certificates my talents are, in fact, called ‘excellent.’ Without any particular desire to excel in them, I passed my examinations with distinction. I have an interest in everything that concerns the well-being of humanity, and in science, art, and industry. With my energy it is comparatively easy to postpone for a time the satisfaction of my desires, which will be described hereafter. Intentionally and consciously, I curse the morality of to-day, which forces those who are abnormal sexually to break laws that are voluntarily established, and regards sexual congress of two persons of the same sex as a matter depending on the choice of the individual, and a matter in which law-makers have a right to interfere. From my studies I have found the most earnest incentives to construct, on the basis of the Darwinian theory, after Carneri’s method, a system of morals, which, to be sure, does not harmonize with the prevailing system, but which seeks to elevate and improve mankind in accordance with natural law.

“I think that there are not many marks of hereditary taint in me. There is a certain hyper-sensitiveness. A very intense dream-life is perhaps important. In general, it is occupied with indifferent matters, and never has so-called sensual images as a subject; at most, in this direction, it is concerned only with female attire and putting it on, which for me is a lustful thought. At the same time, until my sixteenth year, it often went to the extent of somnambulism, or, very frequently, as is still often the case, to loud talking in sleep.

“3. My inclinations: The above-mentioned abnormal proclivity is the fundamental factor in my sexual feeling. When I am dressed like a woman, I feel perfectly satisfied. A peculiar feeling of peace and comfort comes over me, which allows me to work mentally with greater ease. My libido for indulgence in sexual intercourse is extremely slight. Too, I have much love and taste for female handiwork, and, without assistance, I learned to crochet and embroider, and I like to do these things in secret. I also like other female employments, like sewing, etc.; so that at home, where I keep my proclivity perfectly concealed, and guard against indulging it by involuntary activity, I have often won the praise of being as good as a servant-girl; which did not make me ashamed, but, on the contrary, filled me with secret pride. I can make nothing out of dancing with women; I liked to dance only with my school-fellows, for which the manner of our instruction in dancing gave opportunity. But in this it gave me pleasure only when I could dance as a lady. A multitude of other desires and dreams, which seem to have something typical about them, I pass over, because they seem exactly similar to those described in ‘Psychopathia Sexualis.’ .... In other respects my inclinations are not different from those of my sex. I smoke and drink moderately, love delicacies, and have no pleasure in physical exercises.

“4. Development: After this brief description of my personality, I may pass on to an analysis of the developmental history of my abnormality. As soon as I was able, to some extent, to think independently, and I understood the difference between the sexes, it was my secret and fixed desire to be a girl. In fact, I believed I was one. But when in the bath I saw the same genitals on other boys, the impossibility of my thought became apparent. I reduced my wish, and hoped that I was at least an hermaphrodite. And, owing to the fact that I had a certain shyness about looking closely at pictures or descriptions of the genitals, this hope was entertained, notwithstanding the fact that I had abundant opportunity to read writings on the subject, until my studies compelled me to make a closer acquaintance with the matter. During this time I read everything I could get about hermaphroditism, and longed to be in the place of the female who, as the newspapers often reported, had been raised as a male and been restored to her sex by accident. The recognition of my masculinity made an end of this dreaming, and did not fill me with any especial delight. I tried to destroy my sexual glands by gradual pressure, but pain soon caused me to desist. My longing is still for the external characteristics of the female sex,—for a pretty coiffure, a rounded breast, a slim waist.

“At the age of twelve I first had an opportunity to put on female attire; and I soon came to drape myself, by means of bed-clothes, bed-linen, etc., with female petticoats. When I grew older, it was my greatest delight to put on my sister’s dresses secretly, even if it could be but for a few moments, and with constant danger of detection. Later, much to my delight, I had an opportunity to play a female rôle in a love-scene; and it is said that I was not at all bad in the part. When I began to lead an independent life as a student, I immediately obtained female dresses and linen, which I kept in order myself. When at night, safe from discovery, I can put on one article after another, from corset to apron and bracelet, I am perfectly satisfied, and devote myself to some quiet employment, inwardly happy and full of delight in doing it. While dressing, an erection usually occurs, but it is never followed by an ejaculation, and soon disappears. I also try to approximate the female appearance in externals, by arranging my hair appropriately and removing the beard, which I should have preferred to tear out.

“5. Sexual inclinations: In passing to the description of my sexual proclivities, I desire, first, to note, in general, that puberty occurred normally, as I judge from the pollutions that occurred, the change of voice, etc. Pollutions still occur regularly once every three weeks, seldom more frequently. With them I never experience any lustful feeling. I have never practiced onanism; until lately I knew nothing more of it than its name, and I had to seek direct information about it, in order to understand it. Any touch on the erect penis is disturbing and painful to me, and without lustful feeling.

“Previously I behaved very shyly toward women, but I now act quietly, and associate with them as with my kind. Direct excitation, in a sexual sense, by a woman, sometimes occurred; but when I try to analyze this, it seems to me that it was never her person, but rather her attire alone, that was effectual. I fell in love with her dress, and the thought of wearing one like it was heavenly. Thus sexual excitation never took place, not even in brothels where I was led by friends, in spite of the sight of the greatest voluptuousness and beauty. But friendly feelings for the female sex were in my heart. I imagined how, dressed as a woman and unrecognized, I could stay with them, associate with them, and take pleasure with them. I prefer the impression made on me by girls whose breasts have not yet fully developed, particularly those wearing the hair short; for such girls are more nearly like me and my aspect. Once I was so fortunate as to find a girl who felt unhappy in her sex. We formed a firm bond of friendship with one another, and we often took delight in the idea of exchanging places. Perhaps it is not inappropriate or unimportant for the characterization, to record the following: Some months ago, when the story was running through the newspapers of an Hungarian countess who, dressed as a man, had married, and felt like a man, in all earnestness, I thought of offering myself to her, in order to contract an inverted marriage,—she as husband, I as wife.... I have never attempted coitus, and have never felt any desire for it. But since I foresaw that the erection necessary with a woman would be wanting, I thought of putting on some of her clothing; and I think that then the expected result would occur.

“As for my behavior toward male persons, first of all, it is to be emphasized that I had the warmest friendships during my school-days. My heart was full of happiness, if I could do some small service for the object of my devotion. I really worshiped him passionately. But, on the slightest occasion, I evinced terrible jealousy; and while my anger lasted I felt as if I could neither live nor die. When reconciliation occurred, for a short time I was the happiest of creatures. I also tried to make friends of boys, whom I bribed with sweetmeats, and whom I should gladly have kissed. Though my love always remained platonic, yet it is abnormal. An expression that I unconsciously made at that time about an elder friend, whom I worshiped, shows that. I said I loved him so that I should have liked to marry him. And even now, when I indulge but little in intercourse, I am easily taken with a handsome man with a fine beard and refined features. Yet I have never met a being feeling like myself, whom I could confide in, and with whom I could live as a female friend. I never attempted to exercise my inclinations directly, and never committed any foolish act of this kind. Finally I ceased to visit museums where nude male figures were displayed; for the erections, which were sure to occur, were exceedingly annoying. I had often secretly wished to sleep with a man, and often found opportunity. I was asked by a rather unattractive elderly man to sleep with him. Cum eo concubui, ille genitalia mea tetigit; and though his person was unattractive to me, I was filled with an intense feeling of lust. I felt as if completely surrendered to him; in a word, I felt like a woman.

“If I may be permitted to add a concluding word to what I have already said, I wish to state expressely that, though I am conscious of the abnormality of my inclinations, I have no desire to change them; I long only for a time when, more easily and with less danger of discovery, I can give rein to my desires and experience a delight that will harm no one.”

Case 120. Miss Z., aged 31, artist, comes for consultation on account of neurasthenic symptoms. She is remarkable for coarse, masculine features, a deep voice, short hair, a masculine style of dress, masculine gait, and self-consciousness. In other respects she is feminine, with well-developed mammæ and a female pelvis, and without any indication of beard.

Examination with reference to contrary sexual instinct gives a positive result:—

The patient states that even when a little girl she preferred to play with boys, and particularly “soldier,” “merchant,” and “robber.” She was very wild and unrestrained in these games with boys, but never had any proclivity for dolls or female employment, of which she learned only the most ordinary things (knitting, sewing).

In school she made good progress, being especially interested in mathematics and chemistry. She early had a desire for sculpture, and showed talent for it. Her greatest ambition was to become a real artist. In her dreams of the future, she never thought of marriage. As an artist, she was interested in handsome men, but she was really attracted only by female forms; she saw male forms only “in the distance.” She could never endure “trumpery”; “manly dress” was all that pleased her. The ordinary society of girls was repugnant to her, because their talk about toilettes, ornaments, and love-affairs with men, seemed stale and tiresome to her. On the other hand, since her childhood she had had enthusiastic friendships with certain girls; at the age of ten she was in love with a girl companion, and wrote her name everywhere. Since then she had had numerous female friends, with whom she had indulged in passionate kissing. She pleased the girls, as a rule, because of her masculine bearing. She wrote poems to her female friends, and could have done anything out of love for them. To her it was very remarkable that she was embarrassed before girls, especially when they were friends. She could not undress before them. The more she loved a friend, the more modest she was before her.

At the present time she has such a relation. She kisses and embraces her Laura, walks by her window, and suffers all the pangs of jealousy, particularly when she sees her conversing with men. Her only wish is to live always with this female friend.

The patient states, however, that twice in her life men have made an impression on her. She thinks that if she had been really sought, there would have been a marriage; for she is very fond of family life and children. If a man wished to possess her, it would be necessary for him to win her; she herself would prefer to win a female friend. She thinks woman is more beautiful and ideal than man. In her infrequent erotic dreams, the subject had always been a female. She had never dreamed of men. She does not think that she could now love a man; for men are false, and she herself is nervous and anæmic.

She considers herself a woman in all respects, but regrets that she is not a man. Even at the age of four it had been her greatest pleasure to put on boys’ clothes. She certainly had a masculine character, and, too, had never wept. Her greatest passion was for riding, gymnastics, fencing, and driving. She suffered much because no one about her understood her. It seemed silly to her to talk about feminine things. Many of her acquaintances had thought that she should really have been a man.

The patient says that she was never sensual. In embracing female friends, she had often experienced a peculiar lustful feeling. Embracing and kissing had been her only manner of expressing her friendship.

The patient states that she comes of a nervous father, and an insane mother who, as a young girl, had been passionately in love with her own brother, and had tried to induce him to flee with her to America. The patient’s brother is a very eccentric, peculiar man.

The patient presents no external degenerative signs; head regular. She says the menses began at fourteen, and that they have been regular, but always painful.

Case 121. “In order to designate at once my unhappy diseased condition with its correct name, I will state at the beginning that it bears all the marks of what, in your work, ‘Psychopathia Sexualis,’ you have named effemination.

“I am now thirty-eight years old, and, thanks to my abnormality, I look back on a life that has been full of indescribable suffering; so that I am often astonished to think what capacity for suffering a man has. Of late consciousness of the suffering I have endured has become the source of a kind of self-respect, which, in itself, makes my life, in a measure, endurable.

“But I shall now endeavor to describe my condition with all truth. I am physically healthy, and, as far as I can remember, have never had any severe illness. I come of a healthy family. But my parents are both of a very excitable nature, my father being of the so-called choleric, and my mother of the sanguine, temperament; she has a strong tendency to mild melancholia. She is a lively woman, loved for her good-heartedness and active benevolence; but she is still very dependent and deficient in self-confidence. All these peculiarities were marked in her father. I mention this fact, because I am told that I resemble them both; and as far as the last two peculiarities are concerned, I can myself acknowledge the resemblance. But when I made attempts, by means of my inner strength and by thinking of my own power, to rend the bond that, with magic force, draws me to men, there was always a residuum left that I could not eradicate. As far as I can remember, I have always had this elementary longing for a male lover. To be sure, its first expressions were of a coarse, sensual nature. I do not know whether I was yet ten years old, when, while lying in bed in the day-time, I suddenly discovered how, by pressure on my genitals, I induced a new and intoxicating feeling, while fancying that a man of my acquaintance performed sensual manipulations on me. It was only many years afterward that I learned that this was onanism. At first I was so frightened and so depressed by the inexplicableness of my longing, that I then made my first attempt at suicide. If I had only put it into execution! For since then there has been such frequent violent agitation of mind and body that my heart has been bound as with a chain, and made cold. I may say at once that, up to the present time, onanism has not loosened me from its clutches; it has overcome all attempts and efforts to escape, and my desire to resist it is almost destroyed. Three or four times I have given it up for a month at a time, usually under the influence of mental excitement.

“When about thirteen, I had my first love. To-day it seems as if my greatest wish then was to kiss my school-fellow’s fresh, rosy lips. It was a passion full of romantic dreams. At the age of fifteen or sixteen it became more violent, when I first experienced the insane pangs of a jealousy which is more terrible than that of natural love can be. This second period of my life lasted for years, though I spent but a few days with the object of my passion; and then we did not see each other for fifteen years. Gradually my feeling cooled, and I then fell passionately in love several times with other men, who, with the exception of one, were about my own age.

“My love—if you will kindly allow this expression for a feeling condemned by the majority of mankind—has never been returned; I have never had intercourse with a man in any way that would not bear the light of day; never has any one shown even extraordinary interest in me, though one of my friends discovered my secret longing; and yet I have had a burning desire for masculine love. In this longing my feelings seem to me to be entirely those of a loving woman; and I notice, with horror, that my sensual ideas grow more and more like those of a woman. During the periods when I am free from any particular love, my longing degenerates so that, in my onanistic manipulations, I conjure up only coarse, sensual ideas. But I am still finally able to overcome these. My efforts to repress the love, however, are absolutely vain. At the present time I am again suffering with such an exaggerated state of feeling that has existed for months; and I have pondered so much over its peculiarities that I think I can describe my feelings truthfully. In this way I have made the peculiar observation that I have never loved a bearded man. From this it might easily be presumed that I am given to so-called boy-love; but that is not the case. For, to the sensual charm, on closer association, a mental interest is added. With this begins the mental pain. I am seized with such a passionate longing that I am willing to sacrifice myself, in a way. I excite confidence in myself; and from this mutual feeling a heart-felt friendship might be engendered, if deep down in my soul were not sleeping the demon which impels me to the closest of relationships, which is allowed only between human beings of opposite sex. My whole being, every fibre of my body, longs for it, and I am consumed by a hot, glowing passion. I wonder that here I can again describe in unfeeling words the feelings that coursed through my whole being. Of course, by the struggle of years, I have been forced to learn to conceal my inclination, and smile when torn by pain. For, in never having my love returned, I have learned to know all the sufferings of love. Jealousy—insane, blinding jealousy—of any and every body who casts but a friendly glance at the object of my secret love!

“I have emphasized the mental element, in order to show how deeply rooted my abnormal impulse is. I have never felt the slightest touch of sensual love for the opposite sex. The idea of being forced to associate sensually with women is repugnant to me. At times I have suffered enough on being assured of the love of young girls. Like every young man, I have had abundant opportunity to enjoy the modern social pleasures, dancing among them. I like to dance; but if I could dance with men, as a girl, I should be really happy.

“I wish once more to remark that my love is entirely sensual. How could I otherwise explain the fact that the pressure of my lover’s hand, often merely his glance, causes palpitation and erection! I have done everything to eradicate this love from my—let us say ‘heart.’ I have tried to still it by means of onanism; to drag it in the mire, in order to raise myself above it. (About ten years ago, during such a time of love, I avoided onanism, and felt that my feeling of love elevated me.) I still entertain the delusion that if the object of my love were to tell me he loved me, that he loved me, and only me, I should willingly give up sensual gratification to repose in faithful arms. But that is certainly a self-deception.

“Honored sir, I have a responsible occupation, and I think I can give the assurance that my abnormal inclination has never, even in a hair’s breadth, caused me to deviate from the duty imposed on me. Aside from this abnormality, I am not insane, and I might ultimately become contented; but I have, particularly of late years, suffered too much not to look on the future with painful feeling. For the future will certainly not bring fulfillment of the desire which constantly glows under the ashes,—the desire to possess a lover who understands and returns my love. Such a relation would make me truly happy. I have thought much about the origin of my abnormality, particularly because I think I am forced to assume that it was not inherited. I believe that onanism has changed the inborn feeling into a burning passion. I might long ago have put an end to my misery, since I have no fear of death, and since in religion—which, strange to say, has not departed from my impure heart—I find no warning against suicide. But the consciousness that I am not alone responsible, and that a worm has nipped my whole life in the bud,—a certain comfort that has sprung up of late out of indescribable suffering,—leads me to see whether comparative happiness in life cannot be obtained on an entirely new basis: something which fills the whole heart. I think I could be happy under the influence of quiet family life. But I dare not conceal from you the fact that the thought of married life with a wife is terrible to me, and that I make the attempt of a change of life with a bleeding heart; for thus I absolutely abandon the hope that is always awake; namely, the delusion that fate may yet bring me the desired happiness.

“This delusion is so deeply rooted in me that I think nothing but hypnotic suggestion could help me. If you could advise me, you would make me unspeakably happy. Of course, your strictest injunction would be to abandon onanism. How gladly I would follow it! But if I were not to have direct physical, some mechanical, means at hand to help me, I should certainly be unable to free myself from this vice; and this the more, because I fear that, by long years of habit, my nature has become accustomed to it. Of course, I have not escaped the effects of it, even though they are not so terrible as they are often pictured. I suffer with mild nervousness, am, indeed, weakened, and have periodical disturbance of digestion; but I can still endure hard work, and take a certain pleasure in it, when it is not too great. I am depressed, but I can be happy, and, fortunately, I take pleasure in my calling, and am interested in various things, particularly music, art, and belles-lettres. I have never indulged in female pursuits.

“As may be seen from the foregoing, I like to associate with men, especially with those who are handsome; but I have never had intimate relations with them. A wide gulf separates me from them!

“Postscript: I feared that in the foregoing I had not described my sexual life with sufficient exactness. It consists only in onanism; but in it I abandon myself to almost all the repugnant acts that are comprehended under coitus inter femora, ejaculatio in ore, etc.

“My rôle is passive. When I am seized by a passion, the ideas change, and become entirely a desire to be impregnated. The struggle against such a passion is so terrible, because my mind is also implicated. I long for the closest, the most complete union that can be conceived as existing between two men,—always together, common interests, unlimited confidence, sexual union. I think that natural love is different from this only in its degree of warmth; it does not reach the boiling-point of our passion. Just now I am fighting the battle over again; with force I stifle the insane passion that has so long enthralled me. All night long I walk about, followed by the image of him I love; for love of whom I would give up all I possess. How sad it is that the noblest feeling given to man—friendship—is sullied by common sensual feeling!

“I wish once more to state that I cannot come to the determination to transform my sexual life by means of sexual intercourse with the opposite sex. The thought of such intercourse fills me with repugnance and disgust.”

Case 122. “I write, as well as I can, the history of my suffering, actuated only by the desire, by this autobiography, to clear up to some extent the misunderstanding and errors concerning ‘contrary sexual instinct’ which are still so widely prevalent.

“I am thirty-seven years old, and come of healthy parents, both of whom were very nervous. I only mention this, because I have often had the thought that my contrary sexual instinct came by way of inheritance; but this is nothing more than vague. Of my grandparents, whom I did not know, the only remarkable thing I can mention is, that my maternal grandfather was known as a great Don Juan.

“I was rather a weak child, and during my first two years suffered severely with fits, as a result of which my understanding and memory may have suffered; for I learn but slowly things which do not particularly interest me, and easily forget them. I may also mention that, during the time before I was born, my mother was subject to violent mental excitement, and was often frightened. From my third year I have been perfectly well, and have escaped severe illness. Only when a boy, from the age of twelve to sixteen, I had peculiar, indescribable nervous sensations, which made themselves felt in my head and finger-tips, and in which it seemed to me as if my whole being were about to cease. For many years, however, these attacks have ceased to occur. I am rather a powerful man, with abundant growth of hair, and in all respects masculine.

“Even when a boy of six years, I came independently to masturbate, and, until my nineteenth year, I practiced the vice quite persistently; and even now, faute de mieux, I quite frequently resort to it, notwithstanding the fact that I understand the vileness of the passion, and always feel somewhat weakened after it. But sexual intercourse with a man does not affect me in the least; on the contrary, it gives me a feeling of being strengthened. I began school at the age of seven, and soon experienced an intense feeling of sympathy for my companions, which, however, made no other impression on me. In the Gymnasium, at the age of fourteen, my companions explained to me the sexual life of man, which, up to that time, was absolutely unknown to me; but I was not much interested in the matter. At this time I also practiced mutual onanism with two or three friends who had seduced me into it; and it had an extraordinary charm for me. I was still perfectly unconscious of the perversity of my sexual instinct, and considered my vices as sins of youth, like those committed by all boys of the same age. Interest in the female sex I thought would come in time. Thus I became nineteen years old. During the following years I fell insanely in love three times,—once with a very handsome actor, then with a bank employé, and with one of my friends, the last two being men who were nothing less than beautiful, and calculated to excite sensual feeling. But this love was merely platonic, and occasionally found expression in glowing poetry. It was, perhaps, the most perfect period of my life; for I regarded everything with pure, innocent eyes. In my twenty-first year

I gradually began to notice that I was not constituted exactly like my comrades; for I found no pleasure in masculine pursuits. I had but little liking for smoking, drinking, and card-playing, and I was frightened to death by a brothel. I have never been in one; I was always able to avoid visiting one on some pretext or other. But I now began to think about myself; I often felt terribly lonesome, miserable, and unhappy, and longed for a friend constituted like myself, without, however, ever thinking that there could be other men like me. At twenty-two I made the acquaintance of a young man who finally explained to me contrary sexual instinct and the individuals affected with it. He, being also an urning, was in love with me. It was as if scales had fallen from my eyes; and I bless the day this explanation came to me. From that time I saw the world with different eyes; I saw that many others were given the same fate; and I began to learn to content myself with this lot as well as I could. Unfortunately, I did not succeed very well, and I am still often seized with bitterness and a deep hatred of the modern ideas which treat us poor urnings with such terrible harshness. For what is our fate? In most cases we are not understood, and are derided and despised; and even when all goes well, and we are understood, we are still pitied like invalids or the insane,—and pity was always sickening to me. I now began to play a part, in order to deceive my fellow-men as to my state of mind; and it always gave me great satisfaction to succeed in this. I made the acquaintance of several men like myself, with whom I established relations, which, however, never lasted long; for I was very fearful and cautious; but, at the same time, I was very particular and easily wearied.

“I have always absolutely despised pederasty as something unworthy a man, and I only wish that all those like me would do the same; but, unfortunately, with many this is not the case. If all like me thought as I do, then the contempt and scoffing of men that feel differently would be a still greater injustice to us than it now is.

“Toward the man I love I feel completely like a woman, and, therefore, in the sexual act I am quite passive. In general, my whole sensibility and feeling are feminine. I am vain, coquettish, fond of ornament, and like to please others. I love to dress myself beautifully, and, in cases where I wish to please, I even make use of the arts of the toilet, in which I am quite skilled.

“While I have but little interest in politics, I am passionately fond of music and an inspired follower of Richard Wagner. I have noticed this preference in the majority of us; I find that this music is perfectly in accord with our nature.

“I play the violin quite well; I like reading, and read much, but I have little interest in anything else. Everything else in life is quite indifferent to me, owing to the deep resignation that more and more takes possession of me.

“Even though I should have reason to be satisfied with my fate, in that I have an assured position in a technical employment in a large city of Germany, still I take no pleasure in my calling. I should be best suited if, independent and free, I could travel about with a handsome lover, and live for music and literature, particularly for the theatre, which seems to me to be one of the greatest pleasures. A connection with a court theatre I think of as being very acceptable.

“The only position or calling that seems really desirable to me is that of a great artist,—singer, actor, painter, or sculptor; and it seems to me that it would be even finer to be born to the throne of a king,—a wish that is in harmony with my pronounced desire for power. (If there is really such a thing as transmigration of souls, a subject I have studied much, and which seems to me to clear up much, I must have lived at one time as an emperor, or ruler of some kind.) But a man must be born to all this; and since I am not, I am without ambition for so-called social honors and distinctions.

“As to my tastes, I must mention a painful dissension there is in them. Handsome, intellectual young men of at least twenty years, who must be of my own social station, seem to me to be suited rather for platonic love; but with them I satisfy myself completely with a straightforward, though ideal, friendship, which seldom goes beyond a few kisses. But I can be excited sensually only by coarse, powerful men that are at least of my own age, and mentally and socially beneath me. The reason for this strange phenomenon may be that my pronounced feeling of shame and my innate apprehensiveness, with my cautious disposition, have the effect of an inhibitory idea with men of my own social position; so that with them it is with difficulty and seldom that I can induce sexual excitement in myself. That this diversity is painful to me is owing to the fact that I am always afraid to discover myself to these simple men, below me in station, who may often be bought with money. But I cannot imagine anything worse than a scandal, which would at once drive me to suicide. For I can think of nothing more terrible than, through some slight act of carelessness or the enmity of any man, suddenly to be branded before the world, and to be powerless to avert it. But what is it that we do that is so different from what normally constituted men can do, at least, quite as frequently without embarrassment, and without shame? That we do not feel as the crowd feels is not our fault, but a cruel trick of Nature.

“Innumerable times I have puzzled my brain to know whether science, or any of her free and unprejudiced devotees, could think of any way in which to give us step-children of Nature a more endurable position before the law and mankind. But I have always reached the same sad conclusion, that when one enters the lists in behalf of anything, he must first know thoroughly, and be able to explain, that for which he contends. And who is to-day able to perfectly explain and define contrary sexual instinct? Yet there must be some correct explanation of it; there must be some way in which the mass of mankind can be brought to a milder and more reasonable judgment of it; and, first of all, there must be some way to show that contrary sexual instinct should not be regarded as meaning the same as pederasty, as the majority of men—I may say all—regard it. By such an act a man might erect for himself an immortal monument in the gratitude of thousands of men of present and future generations; for there have been, are, and will ever be, urnings, and in greater number than perhaps has been suspected.

“In Wilbrand’s work, ‘Fridolin’s Secret Marriage,’ I find a very plausible theory given in explanation of this matter; for I myself have repeatedly had opportunity to observe that all urnings do not love men with the same intensity, but that there are innumerable sub-varieties,—from the most feminine man to the man of contrary sexuality who is equally sensitive to female charms. This may also account for the so-called difference between congenital and acquired contrary sexual instinct, which, in my inadequate opinion, does not exist. Yet, in all the fifty-five individuals I have become acquainted with in the three years since I came to understand this matter, I have met the same peculiarities of temperament, disposition, and character. Almost all of them are more or less idealists: they smoke but little, or not at all; they are bigoted, vain, desirous of admiration, and superstitious; and, unfortunately, I must confess that they combine more the defects and the reverse sides of both sexes than their good qualities. For woman in a sexual rôle I experience a feeling of true horror, which I could never overcome, even with the help of my extremely lively imagination. I have never attempted it, because I am thoroughly convinced of the fruitlessness of such an attempt, that seems to me unnatural and sinful.

“In purely social and friendly relations, I like to associate with ladies and girls, and I am gladly welcomed in ladies’ society; for I am much interested in the fashions for ladies, and know how to talk of such things with great skill. When I wish to, I can be very gay and amiable; but my faculty for conversation is, for the most part, only assumed, and it always tires me. I have always had great skill in female work, and shown interest in it. As a child, and up to my thirteenth year, I was passionately fond of playing with dolls, whose clothes I made myself; and it still affords me much pleasure to work at beautiful embroidery, which, unfortunately, I can do only in secret. I have the same preference for knick-knacks, photographs, flowers, sweetmeats, toilet-articles, and such feminine things; and my room, which I arranged and decorated myself, is like the over-crowded boudoir of a lady.

“As particularly remarkable, I wish still to mention that I have never suffered with pollutions. I dream very much, and intensely, almost every night; occasionally I have lascivious dreams, which have only men as subjects, but I always wake out of them before it comes to ejaculation. In reality I am not very passionate sexually, and I have periods lasting from four to six weeks, in which I have almost no sexual desire. Unfortunately, these periods are infrequent, and they are usually followed by an awakening of my intense sexual desire that is only the more violent; which, when it is unsatisfied, causes intense physical and mental suffering. I then become moody, depressed, sensitive, irritable, and retiring; peculiarities, however, which, with the first opportunity I have for sexual gratification, again disappear. I must mention, also, that often, on the slightest occasion, my mood may change several times during the day; it is like April weather.

“I dance well, and like to; but I love dancing only for its rhythmical movement, and because of my partiality for music.

“In conclusion, I wish to speak of something that always arouses repugnance in me. We are usually considered diseased, and that is absolutely incorrect. For in every disease there is a means of cure or amelioration; but no power in the world can take from an urning his perverse natural constitution. Even suggestion, which has been used with so much apparent success, cannot induce any enduring change in the mental life of an urning. In us, effect is mistaken for cause. We are considered diseased, because in time the majority of us really become ill. I am almost convinced that two-thirds of us, in later life, when we really live so long, have a mental defect of one kind or another; and this is only too easily explained. For, what strength of will and nerves is required for one to constantly dissimulate, lie, and play the hypocrite all his life! How often in the society of normal men, when the conversation turns to contrary sexual instinct, must one agree with the words of abuse and contempt, while every one of them wounds the heart. On the other hand, there are always the tiresome and indecent jokes and talk about women, etc., that must be heard; and which to-day, in so-called ‘good society,’ are popular—and to show interest and give attention to them! Daily and hourly to see so many handsome men to whom one cannot reveal himself; to be compelled to go without a friend, intercourse with whom we desire so much; and besides, constantly the fearful anxiety of betraying one’s self before the eyes of the world, and then standing covered with ignominy and shame! It is really no wonder that the majority of us are incapable of real work; for we need all our strength of will and power of endurance for the struggle with our own fate. How injurious it is to our nerves constantly to be compelled to shut up all these thoughts and feelings in our hearts; where our lively fancy, feeding on it all, plays all the more intensely, so that we go about with a burning fire within us that only too often threatens to consume us! Happy are those of us that are never denied the strength to lead such a life; but those, too, are happy that have passed beyond it.”

Case 123. Autobiography. “In what follows, you will find the description of the character, as well as the mental and sexual disposition, of an urning,—i.e., of an individual who, in spite of his masculine form, feels as a woman, whose senses women do not excite, and whose sexual desires are constantly directed toward men.

“Convinced that the enigma of our existence can be solved, or, at least, illuminated, only by the unprejudiced thought of scientific men, I describe my life only with the aim of perhaps clearing up this cruel error of Nature, and possibly doing a kindness to people like me to come in later generations; for there will be urnings as long as men are born, just as it is a fact that they have existed in every age. With the progress of science in our epoch, men will see in me and those like me not objects of hatred, but objects of pity, which deserve not the odium, but the compassion, of their more fortunate brothers. I shall be as brief as possible in my communication, and also objective; and, with reference to my caustic, often cynical, style, I may note that, above all, I shall be honest, and, therefore, not avoid strong expressions; for they are most happily suited to the subject in hand.

“I am in my thirty-fifth year; a merchant, with a fair income; somewhat above average height, slim, weak of muscle, with full beard, and quite ordinary face, and, at first sight, in nowise different from ordinary men. On the other hand, my gait is feminine, and particularly mincing in fast walking; the movements are awkward and displeasing, indicative of a want of manly feeling. The voice is neither feminine nor shrill, but rather a baritone.

“This is my external appearance.

“I do not smoke or drink, and can neither whistle, ride, do gymnastic feats, fence, nor shoot. I have absolutely no interest in horses or dogs, and have never had a gun or sword in my hand. In inner feeling and sexual desire, I am completely a woman. Without thorough education,—I passed through but few classes in the Gymnasium,—I am yet intelligent, like to read well-written, improving books, and have good judgment; but I allow myself to be carried away by the feelings of the moment, and I am easily influenced by any one who knows my weakness and how to make use of it. Constantly making resolves, I have never the energy to carry them out; like a woman, I am moody and nervous, often irritated without reason, and sometimes mean. Toward persons that do not please me, I am arrogant, unjust, and often shamefully insulting.

“In all my conduct I am superficial, and often frivolous, and I have no deep moral feeling. I have little consideration for parents and brothers and sisters. I am not egotistic, but, on occasion, self-sacrificing. I cannot withstand tears, and can—like a woman—be won by amiability and entreaty.

“In my earliest years I avoided playing soldier, gymnastics, or the rough games of my manly comrades, and ran about with little girls, with whom I was much more in sympathy than with boys. I was retiring, bashful, and often blushing. When no more than twelve or thirteen years old, the close-fitting uniform of a handsome soldier gave me the most peculiar feeling; and while, during the next few years, my comrades were always talking about girls, and even engaged in love-affairs, I could, for hours at a time, run after a well-built man with well-rounded hips, and feast my eyes on the sight.

“Without thinking much of these impressions, so different from the feelings of my comrades, I began to masturbate, always during the act thinking of a heroic, handsome form; and this continued until my seventeenth year, when I learned from a companion constituted like myself a true explanation of my condition. Since that time I have been with girls eight or ten times; but, in order to have an erection, it was always necessary to think of a handsome man of my acquaintance. And I am thoroughly convinced that to-day, even with the help of imagination, I should be unable to have intercourse with a girl.

“Shortly after my discovery I preferred to associate with mature, powerful urnings; for at this time I had neither mind nor opportunity to associate with real men. Since this my taste has changed entirely, and men, real men, of twenty-five or thirty-five years, with supple, powerful forms, are the only ones that ravish my senses, and charm me as if I were a woman. Circumstances have allowed me, during these years, to make about a dozen male acquaintances that would serve my purpose for a gulden or two a visit. If I am alone in a room with a handsome youth, my greatest pleasure is membrum ejus vel maxime si magnum atque crassum est, manibus capere et apprehendere et premere, turgentes nates femoraque tangere atque totum corpus manibus contrectare et, si conceditur, os faciem atque totum corpus, immovero nates, ardentibus osculis obtegere. Quodsi membrum magnum purumque est, dominusque ejus mihi placet, ardente libidine mentulam ejus in os meum receptam complures horas sugere possum, neque autem delector, si semen in os meum ejaculatur, cum maxima eorum qui “urnings” nominantur pars hac re non modo delectatur, sed etiam semen nonnunquam devorat.

“The most intense delight, however, is experienced when I find a real man, qui membrum meum in os recepit et erectionem in ore suo concedit.

“Improbable as it sounds, I am yet able to find some coarse fellows who will allow themselves to be used for this purpose. They learn the thing while in military service, for urnings know that under such circumstances they can be made to do the most for money; and when the fellows are once trained, circumstances often compel them, in spite of their passion for the opposite sex, to continue the practice.

“With certain exceptions, urnings make no impression on me, because everything feminine is repugnant to me. At the same time, there are some that know how to give me the most intense pleasure, just as a real man can; and I prefer to consort with them, for the reason that sometimes they return my passionate caresses. In tête-à-tête with such a person, I throw all check from my excited senses, and give my animal passions free rein, osculor, premo, amplector eum, linguam meam in os ejus immitto; ore cupiditate tremente ejus labrum superius sugo, faciem meam ad ejus nates adpono et odore voluptari e natibus emanente voluptate obstupescor. Real men, in close-fitting uniform, make the deepest impression on me; and if I have an opportunity to embrace and kiss such a ravishing fellow, ejaculation takes place at once,—a weakness which I attribute to my frequent masturbation. In my earlier years I practiced it very frequently, almost every time I saw a man pleasing to me, whose image I kept before my eye during the act. For this my taste is in nowise difficult to please—like that a servant-girl might have in finding her ideal in a dragoon guard. A handsome face is a pleasant supplement, inflaming my sensual desire, but in no respect an essential. The requisite remains: vir inferiore corporis parte robusta et bene formosa, turgidis femoribus durisque natibus, while the upper portion of the body may be slim. Corpulence disgusts me. A sensual mouth with pretty teeth affects me more intensely; and if the person has also a membrum pulchrum magnum et æqualiter formatum, all my demands—the most far-reaching—are fulfilled.

“When I was younger, with men that pleased me and excited my passions intensely, ejaculation took place from five to eight times in a night, and now it occurs from four to six times; for I am unusually strong sensually, and, as an example, even the clinking of a hussar’s sword may excite me. At the same time, I have a very lively fancy, and spend most of my leisure hours thinking of handsome men with strong limbs; and I would be delighted to look on when a powerful fellow, using force, magna mentula præditus me præsente puellam futuat; mihi persuasum est, fore ut hoc aspectu sensus mei vehementissima perturbatione afficiantur et dum futuit corpus adolescentis pulchri tangam et, si liceat, ascendam in eum dum cum puella concumbit atque idem cum eo faciam et membrum meum in ejus anum immittam. The accomplishment of these cynical ideas—with which my mind is often filled—is hindered only by my limited means; otherwise, I should long ago have had the reality.

“Soldiers have the greatest charm for me, but I have also a weakness for butchers, fakirs, drivers, circus-riders, and boat-captains; and all these must be supple and powerfully built. Urnings I hate in intimate relation, and for the majority of them I have an inexplicable and unjust aversion. I have never had but one urning for an intimate friend. On the other hand, the most affectionate and enduring ties bind me to men of my own age, in whose company I delight, but with whom I have no sexual relations, and who have no idea of my condition.

“Talk on politics and economics, like every other earnest subject, I hate; though I gossip with considerable sense and peculiar pleasure about the theatre. At operas I see myself on the stage, feel myself applauded by the public, and would prefer to sing as a passive heroine, or in the dramatic rôle of a woman.

“The most interesting subject of conversation for me, and those like me, is, however, always—men; for us this is inexhaustible. Their secret charms are described in the most minute details, mentulæ æstimantur, quanta sint magnitudine, quanta, crassitudine; de forma earum atque rigiditate conferimus, alter ab altero cognoscit cujus semen celerius, cujus tardius ejaculetur. I may add that, of my four brothers, one gave himself to the service of urnings, without himself being one; and all four are ladies’ men, and indulge in sexual excesses. The genitals of the men of our family are, without exception, unusually developed.

“In conclusion, I repeat the words with which I began these lines. I could not choose my expressions, because my object in the foregoing has been to afford material for the study of the urning’s existence, and absolute truth was essential. I beg the numerous cynics to keep this circumstance in mind.”

In October, 1890, the writer of the foregoing lines presented himself to me. In all essentials his appearance corresponded with his description. Genitals large, with abundant growth of hair. His parents had been well nervously. One brother had shot himself on account of nervous trouble; three others were intensely nervous. The patient came to me in a state of despair. He could not endure such a life any longer; for he had been admonished about intercourse with men that could be bought; and with his extreme sensual nature he was unable to abstain. Too, he could not understand how he could be made to love women, and enjoy the nobler joys of life. He had had love for men since his thirteenth year.

He felt in all respects like a woman, and longed to be won by men that were not urnings. When he was with an urning, it was just as if two girls were together. He would prefer being sexless to living longer as he was. Would not castration help him?

An attempt at hypnosis with the highly excited patient induced only a very slight degree of lethargy.

Case 124. B., waiter, aged 42, single, was sent to me by his physician, with whom he was in love, as one who was suffering from contrary sexual feeling. B. very willingly, and in a decent manner, gave a history of his past life, especially of his sexual life, and was glad at least to have an authoritative opinion concerning his sexual condition, which had always appeared to him abnormal.

B. knew nothing to report of his grandparents. His father had been a passionate, excitable man, a drinker, and always very sensual. After he had begotten twenty-four children by one wife, he was divorced from her; and after that his landlady became three times pregnant by him. His mother was healthy.

Of the twenty-three children, but six were living; several were nervous, but not sexually abnormal, with the exception of one sister, who always sought men.

B. asserts that from childhood he was sickly. At eight his sexual life began. He masturbated, and became possessed of the idea penem aliorum puerorum in os arrigere, which gave him the greatest pleasure. At twelve he began to fall in love with men, usually with those between thirty and forty, with moustaches. Even at that time his sexual desire was greatly developed, and he had erections and pollutions. From that time, indeed, he masturbated daily, and during the act thought of a beloved man. Yet his greatest delight had been penem viri in os arrigere. During the act he had ejaculation, with an intense feeling of pleasure. Only about twelve times had he had this pleasure. He had never felt disgust with the penis of another sympathetic man; quite the contrary. He had never accepted proffers of pederasty; actively or passively, it was very disgusting to him. In the perverse sexual act he had always thought of himself in the rôle of a woman. His passion for men in sympathy with him had been unbounded. He would have done everything for a lover; even at the sight of him he would tremble with excitement and joy.

At nineteen he often allowed himself to be taken by his comrades to houses of prostitution. He never had pleasure in coitus, and only in the moment of ejaculation felt satisfaction. In order to get an erection with a woman, it was always necessary, in the act, for him to think of a beloved man. He would always have preferred to have the woman allow immissio penis in os, which, however, was always denied him. Faute de mieux, he had practiced coitus, and, indeed, twice became a father. The last child, a girl of eight, had already begun to practice masturbation and mutual onanism, which troubled him very much as a father. He wished to know whether there was any remedy for it.

The patient asserted that he always felt himself toward men in a feminine rôle (also in sexual intercourse). He had always thought that his sexual perversion had resulted from his father’s wishing to beget a girl when he begat him. His brothers and sisters had always joked him on account of his feminine manners. Sweeping and house-cleaning had always been pleasant occupations for him. His activities in this direction had often been wondered at, and he was considered more skillful than a girl. Whenever he could, he dressed like a woman. At the carnival he appeared at the dances masked as a female. He was very successful at coquetry on such occasions, because he had a feminine nature.

He had never had real pleasure in drinking, smoking, or in masculine occupations or pleasures; but, on the other hand, he loved to sew, and as a child had often been scolded for his playing with dolls. His interest at the circus or theatre was confined to men. Frequently he could not overcome the impulse to hang around water-closets, in order to get sight of male genitals.

Feminine charms had never pleased him. Coitus had been possible only when he thought of a beloved man. Nocturnal pollutions were always induced by lascivious dreams of men.

In spite of much sexual excess, B. had never suffered from neurasthenia sexualis, and, besides, there was not a symptom of neurasthenia discoverable in him.

Patient is delicate, and his whiskers and moustache, which made their appearance in his twenty-eighth year, are thin. Externally, with the exception of a weaving gait, he presents nothing which would point to his feminine nature. He asserts that he has often been joked about his feminine gait. His conduct is in all respects decent. His genitals are large, well developed, and normal in all respects, and the growth of genital hair is abundant; the pelvis is masculine. The head is rachitic, somewhat hydrocephalic, with prominence of the parietal bones. The face is remarkably small. The patient says that he is irritable and easily angered.

Case 125. On May 1, 1880, G., Ph.D., and a writer, was brought to the clinic for mental diseases, at Graz, by the public authorities. While on his return from Italy, G. found a soldier in Graz who gave himself up to him for hire, but ultimately denounced G. to the police, because G. had openly confessed his love for men. The authorities considered his mental condition doubtful, and sent him to alienists for examination. To the physicians G. related, with cynical openness, that years before, in M., he had had just such an affair with the police, and was in prison fourteen days. In the South there was no danger from such people; it was only in Germany and Austria that the thing was regarded as an evil.

G. is fifty years old, tall, powerful, and has a humerous expression, and a cynical, coquettish manner; the eye has a neuropathic, swimming expression; the teeth of the under jaw stand far back from those of the upper jaw. The cranium is normal, the voice masculine, and the beard abundant. The genitals are well formed, though the testicles are somewhat small. With the exception of slight emphysema of the lungs and external fistula in ano, there are no remarkable anomalies of the vegetative organs. G.’s father was subject to periodical insanity. His mother was a high-strung person, and she had an insane sister. Of the children, four died in childhood.

With the exception of scrofulosis, G. asserts that he was healthy. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; at twenty-five, he had hæmoptysis, and went to Italy, where he has since lived, with slight interruption, by writing and by giving private lessons. G. says that he often has congestions, and also some spinal irritation,—i.e., pain in his back,—but otherwise he has a genial disposition; only he is not much of a financier; and at the same time, like all old prostitutes, he has a very good appetite. Further, he states, with great satisfaction and remarkable cynicism, that he has congenital contrary sexual instinct. When only five years old, it was his greatest pleasure to get sight of a penis, and he hung about appropriate places, in order to enjoy that pleasure. Even before puberty he practiced masturbation. At the time of puberty he noticed an inward feeling for friends. An obscure impulse pointed out to him the way his love would take. He was actually impelled to kiss young men, and now and then to caress their genitals. When twenty-six years old, he first began to have sexual intercourse with men, toward whom he felt like a woman. Even as a child, it was his greatest delight to put on female attire. He was often chastised by his father because, in the effort to satisfy this impulse, he put on his sister’s clothing. If he happened to see a ballet, only the male dancers interested him. Since he could remember, he had had a horror feminæ. If he happened to visit a brothel, it was only to see young men. He was, indeed, a rival of prostitutes. If he saw a young man, he just looked at his eyes; in case these pleased him, then came the mouth—whether it was well formed for kissing; then he would look at the genitals—whether they were well developed. G. pointed, with great feeling of self-satisfaction, to his poetical works, and tried to make it appear that persons with natures like his were poetically endowed. He gave as examples Voltaire, Frederick the Great, Eugene of Savoy, and Plato, as well as numerous distinguished men of the present, who, according to his opinion, were urnings. His greatest pleasure was to have a sympathetic young man read his verses to him. During the last summer he had had such a lover. When he had to part with him, he was quite undone, and he did not eat or sleep until gradually he had regained his former condition. He said that the love of urnings was a passionate, inner fire. According to his statement, in Naples the effeminelli lived in a quarter together, just as in Paris the grisettes live with their lovers. They sacrifice themselves for their lovers, and care for the household, just as the grisettes do. On the other hand, an urning repels an urning, “just as one prostitute does another—that is the curse.”

The need of intercourse with males occurs about once a week with G. He is happy in his peculiar sexuality, which he, it is true, considers peculiar, but which he will not regard as abnormal or wrong. He thinks that nothing remains for him and those like him but to raise what is unnatural in themselves to the supernatural. He looks upon the love of urnings as the higher, the ideal, as godlike, an abstract love. When shown that such a love is far from the purpose of Nature and the preservation of the race, he expresses the pessimistic thought that the world should die out, and the earth turn round its axis without men, who were on it only for trouble. As reason and explanation of his unnatural sexual feeling, G. refers to Plato, “who certainly was no beast.” Plato expressed allegorically the idea that men were originally balls. The gods had divided these into two hemispheres. For the most part, man is suited to woman, but sometimes man to man. In the latter case, the impulse to union is quite as powerful as in the former, and they strengthen each other in the same way. G. further relates that his dreams, when they were erotic, never had women, but only men, for their subjects. Male-love was the only kind that could satisfy him. He considered it disgusting for one human being to be prodding about in the abdomen of another with his penis, since he had heard that in this disgusting fashion coitus was usually carried out. He had never had the curiosity to inform himself concerning the female genitals; the subject was disgusting to him. The indulgence of his sexual appetite he did not consider a vice, but the result of a natural impulse which compelled him to it. It conduced to self-preservation. Onanism was a poor substitute, and, moreover, injurious, while urning-love was morally elevating and conducive to physical well-being.

With moral indignation, which in contrast with his cynicism in other directions appeared ridiculous, he protested against the classification of urnings with those who indulged in pederasty. He looked on the podex with disgust, as it was a secreting organ. The intercourse of urnings always took place in front, and was combined onanism.

This was the extent of G.’s disclosures, whose mental condition was certainly congenitally abnormal. As proof of this, may be cited his cynicism; his incredible frivolity in his application of his vices to religion, in which direction we cannot follow him without overstepping the bounds set by scientific inquiry; his perverse philosophical ideas with reference to his sexual perversion; his perverse manner of looking at the world; his ethical defect in all directions; his vagabondage; and his perverse mind and exterior. G. makes the impression of an original paranoiac. (Personal case. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie.)

Case 126. Taylor had occasion to examine a certain Eliza Edwards, aged 24. It was discovered that she was of masculine sex. E. had worn female clothing from her fourteenth year, and also been an actress. The hair was worn long after the manner of females, and parted in the middle. The form of the face was feminine, but otherwise the body was masculine. The beard was carefully pulled out. The masculine, well-developed genitals were fixed in an upward position by an artful bandage. The condition of the anus indicated passive pederasty.

Case 127. An official of middle age, who for some years had been happy in family life, and was married to a virtuous woman, presented a peculiar manifestation of contrary sexual feeling.

One day, through the indiscretion of a prostitute, the following scandal became public: About once a week X. would appear in a house of prostitution, and there dress himself up as a woman, always requiring, as a part of his costume, a coiffure. When his toilet was completed, he would lie down on the bed, and have the prostitute perform manustupration. But he very much preferred to have a male person (a servant of the house). This man’s father was hereditarily tainted, had been insane several times, and was afflicted with hyperæsthesia and paræsthesia sexualis.

Case 128. C. R., maid-servant, aged 26, suffered from the time of her development with original paranoia and hysteria. As a result of her delusions, her life had been somewhat romantic, and in 1884, in Switzerland, where she had gone as a result of delusions of persecution, she came under the observation of the authorities. On this occasion, it was ascertained that R. was affected with contrary sexual instinct.

Concerning her parents and relatives there is no information at hand. R. asserted that, with the exception of an inflammation of the lungs at the age of sixteen, she had never been severely ill.

First menstruation at fifteen, without any difficulties; thereafter it was very often irregular and abnormally excessive. The patient declared that she never had had inclinations toward the opposite sex, and had never allowed the approach of a man. She never could understand how her friends could describe the beauty and amiability of men. But it was charming and inspiring for her to imprint a kiss on the lips of a beloved female friend. She had a love for girls that was incomprehensible to her. She had passionately loved and kissed some of her female friends, and she would have given up her life for them. Her greatest delight would have been to have constantly lived with such a friend and absolutely possessed her.

In this she felt toward the beloved girl like a man. Even as a little child, she had an inclination only for the play of boys, and she loved to hear shooting and military music, was always much excited by them, and would gladly have gone as a soldier. The chase and war have been her ideals. In the theatre only feminine performers interested her. She knew very well that the whole of this inclination was unwomanly, but she could not help it. It had always been a great pleasure for her to go about in male clothing, and in the same way she had always preferred masculine work, and had shown unusual skill in it; while with reference to feminine occupations, especially handiwork, she had to say the contrary. The patient had also a weakness for smoking and spirits. On account of persecutory delusions, in order to rid herself of her persecutions, the patient had often gone about in male attire, and played the part of a man. She did this with such (congenital) skill that, as a rule, she was able to deceive people concerning her sex.

It is authoritatively established that in 1884, for a long time, the patient went about in male attire, now in the garments of a civilian, now in the uniform of a lieutenant; and in August of the same year, dressed as a male servant, she fled to Switzerland as a result of delusions of persecution. There she found service in a merchant’s family, and fell in love with the daughter of the house, “the beautiful Anna,” who, on her side, not recognizing the sex of R., fell in love with the handsome young man.

Concerning this episode the patient makes the following characteristic statement: “I was madly in love with Anna. I don’t know how it came about, and I cannot put myself right concerning this impulse. In this fatal love lies the reason why I played the rôle of a man so long. I have never yet felt any love for a man, and I believe that my love is for the female and not the male sex. I can in nowise understand my condition.”

From Switzerland R. wrote letters home to her friend, Amelia, which were produced at the examination. They are letters showing passionate love, which goes beyond the bounds of friendship. She apostrophizes her friend, “My flower, sun of my heart, longing of my soul.” She was her greatest happiness on earth; her heart was hers. And in her letters to her friend’s parents she wrote: “You, too, should watch your flower, for, if she should die, you also would be unable to endure life.”

For the purpose of investigating her mental condition, R. remained for some time in an asylum. On one occasion, when Anna was allowed to pay R. a visit, there was no end of passionate embraces and kisses. The visitor acknowledged freely that they had before secretly embraced and kissed in the same way.

R. is a tall, slim, stately person, of feminine form in all respects, but with masculine features. Cranium regular; no anatomical signs of degeneration. Genitals normal and indicative of virginity. All the circumstances indicate that she has only indulged in platonic love. Glance and appearance are indicative of a neuropathic person. Severe hysteria, occasional cataleptoid attacks, with visionary and delirious states. The patient is very easily brought into a state of somnambulism by hypnotic influence, and in this condition is susceptible to all possible suggestions. (Personal case. Friedreich’s Blätter, 1886, Heft 1.)

4. Androgyny and Gynandry.—Forming direct transitions from the foregoing groups are those individuals of contrary sexuality in whom not only the character and all the feelings are in accord with the abnormal sexual instinct, but also the skeletal form, the features, voice, etc.; so that the individual approaches the opposite sex anthropologically, and in more than a psychical and psycho-sexual way. This anthropological form of the cerebral anomaly apparently represents a very high degree of degeneration; but that this variation is based on an entirely different ground than the teratological manifestation of hermaphroditism, in an anatomical sense, is clearly shown by the fact that thus far, in the domain of contrary sexuality, no transitions to hermaphroditic malformation of the genitals have been observed. The genitals of these persons always prove to be fully differentiated sexually, though not infrequently there are present anatomical signs of degeneration (epispadiasis, etc.), in the sense of arrests of development in organs that are otherwise well differentiated.

There is yet wanting a sufficient record of cases belonging to this interesting group of women in masculine attire with masculine genitals, and men in feminine dress with the sexual organs of the female. Every experienced observer of his fellow-men remembers masculine persons that were very remarkable for their womanish character and type (wide hips, form rounded by abundant development of adipose tissue, absence or insufficient development of beard, feminine features, delicate complexion, falsetto voice, etc.); and, on the other hand, women that, by reason of build, pelvis, gait, attitude, heavy and decidedly masculine features, rough and deep voice, etc., had little to remind one of femininity.

We have already met some indications of such an anthropological transformation in foregoing groups, as in Case 106, where the woman had the feet of a man; and in Case 112, where there was development of mammæ and production of milk during puberty.

In persons belonging to the fourth group, and in certain ones in the third, forming transitions to the fourth, there seems to be a feeling of shame (sexual) toward persons of the same sex, and not toward those of the opposite sex.

Case 129. Androgyny. Mr. v. H., aged 30, single; of neuropathic mother. Nervous and mental diseases are said not to have occurred in the patient’s family, and his only brother is said to be mentally and physically completely normal. The patient developed tardily physically, and, therefore, spent much of his time at the sea-shore and climatic resorts. From childhood he was of neuropathic constitution, and, according to the statements of his relatives, unlike other boys. His disinclination for masculine pursuits and his preference for feminine amusements were early remarked. Thus he avoided all boyish games and gymnastic exercises, while doll-play and feminine occupations were particularly pleasing to him. Thereafter he developed well physically, and escaped severe illnesses, but he remained mentally abnormal, incapable of an earnest aim in life, and decidedly feminine in thought and feeling.

In his seventeenth year pollutions occurred, became more frequent, and finally took place during the day; so that the patient grew weak, and manifested various nervous disturbances. Symptoms of neurasthenia spinalis made their appearance, and have lasted up to the last few years, but they have become milder with the decrease in the number of pollutions. Onanism is denied, but is very probable. An indolent, effeminate, dreamy habit of thought has become more and more noticeable ever since puberty. All efforts to induce the patient to take up an earnest pursuit in life were vain. His intellectual functions, though formally quite undisturbed, were never equal to the motive of an independent character, and the higher ideals of life. He remained dependent, an overgrown child; and nothing more clearly indicated his original abnormal condition than an actual incapability to take care of money, and his own confession that he had no ability to use money reasonably; that as soon as he had money he wasted it for curios, toilet-articles, and the like.

Incapable as he was of a reasonable use of money, the patient was no more capable of leading a social existence; indeed, he was incapable of gaining an insight into its significance and value.

He learned very poorly, spending his time in toilettes and artistic nothings, particularly in painting, for which he evinced a certain capability; but in this direction he accomplished nothing, since he was wanting in perseverence. He could not be brought to take up any earnest thought; he had a mind only for externals, was always distracted, and serious things quickly wearied him. Preposterous acts, senseless journeys, waste of money, and debts repeatedly occur throughout the course of his later life; and even for these positive faults in his life he was wanting in understanding. He was self-willed and intractable, and never did well as soon as an attempt was made to put him on his feet and point out to him his own interests.

With these manifestations of an original abnormal and defective mind, there were notable indications of perverse sexual feeling, which were also indicated in the somatic habitus of the patient. Sexually, the patient felt like a woman toward men, and had inclinations toward people of his own sex, with indifference, if not actual disinclination, for females.

In his twenty-second year it is asserted that he had sexual intercourse with women, and was able to perform the act of cohabitation normally; but, partly on account of increase of neurasthenic symptoms which was occasional after coitus, and partly on account of fear of infection,—but really by reason of a want of satisfaction,—he soon ceased to indulge in such intercourse. Concerning his abnormal sexual condition, he is not quite clear; he is conscious of an inclination toward the male sex, but confesses, only in a shame-faced way, that he has certain pleasurable feelings of friendship for masculine individuals, which, however, are not accompanied by any sensual feelings. The female sex he does not exactly abhor; he could even bring himself to marry a woman who could have an attraction for him, by means of similarity in artistic tastes, if he could but be freed from conjugal duties, which were unpleasant to him, and the performance of which made him tired and weak. He denied having had sexual intercourse with men, but his blushing and embarrassment, and, still more, an occurrence in N., where the patient, some time before, provoked a scandal by attempting to have sexual intercourse with youths, gave him the lie.

Too, his external appearance, habitus, form, gestures, manners, and dress are remarkable, and decidedly recall the feminine form and characteristics. The patient, however, is over middle height, but thorax and pelvis are decidedly of feminine form. The body is rich in fat; the skin is well cared for, delicate, and soft. This impression of a woman in masculine dress is further increased by a thin growth of hair on the face, which is shaven, with the exception of a small moustache; by the mincing gait; the shy, effeminate manner; the feminine features; the swimming, neuropathic expression of the eyes; the traces of powder and paint; the curtailed cut of the clothing, with the bosom-like prominence of the upper garments; the fringed, feminine cravat; and the hair brushed down smoothly from the brow to the temples. The physical examination makes undoubted the feminine form of the body. The external genitals are well developed, though the left testicle has remained in the canal; the growth of hair on the mons veneris is thin, and the latter is unusually rich in fat and prominent. The voice is high, and without masculine timbre.

Too, the occupation and manner of thought of v. H. are decidedly feminine. He has a boudoir and a well-supplied toilet-table, with which he spends many hours in all kinds of arts for beautifying himself. He abhors the chase, practice with arms, and such masculine pursuits, and calls himself an æsthete; speaks with preference of his paintings and attempts at poetry. He is interested in feminine occupations, which—e.g., embroidery—he engages in, and calls his greatest pleasure. He could spend his life in an artistic and æsthetic circle of ladies and gentlemen, in conversation, music, and æsthetics. His conversation is preferably about feminine things,—fashions, needlework, cooking, and household work.

The patient is well nourished, but anæmic. He is of neuropathic constitution, and presents symptoms of neurasthenia, which are maintained by a bad manner of life, lying abed, living in-doors, and effeminateness. He complains of occasional pain and pressure in the head, and habitual obstipation. He is easily frightened; complains of occasional lassitude and fatigue, and drawing pains in the extremities, in the direction of the lumbo-abdominal nerves. After pollutions, and regularly after eating, he feels tired and relaxed; he is sensitive to pressure over the spinous processes of the dorsal vertebræ, as also to pressure along accessible nerves. He feels peculiar sympathies and antipathies for certain persons, and, when he meets people for whom he has an antipathy, he falls into a condition of peculiar fear and confusion. His pollutions, though now they occur but seldom, are pathological, in that they occur by day, and are unaccompanied by any sensual excitement.

Opinion: 1. Mr. v. H., according to all observations and reports, is mentally an abnormal and defective person, and that, in fact, ab origine. His contrary sexual instinct represents a part of his abnormal physical and mental condition.

2. This condition, in that it is congenital, is incurable. There exists defective organization of the highest cerebral centres, which renders him incapable of leading an independent life, and of obtaining a position in life. His perverse sexual instinct prevents him from exercising normal sexual functions; and this is attended by all the social consequences of such an anomaly, and the danger of satisfaction of perverse impulses arising out of his abnormal organization, with consequent social and legal conflicts. Fear of the latter, however, cannot be great, since the (perverse) sexual impulse of the patient is weak.

3. Mr. v. H., in the legal sense of the word, is not irresponsible, and neither fit for, or in need of, treatment in a hospital for the insane. It is possible for him—though but an overgrown child, and incapable of personal independence—to live in society, though under the care and guidance of normal individuals. Too, to a certain extent, it is possible for him to respect the laws and restrictions of society, and to judge his own acts; but, with respect of possible sexual errors and conflicts with criminal laws, it must be emphasized that his sexual instinct is abnormal, having its origin in organic pathological conditions; and this circumstance should eventually be used in his favor. On account of his notorious lack of independence, he cannot be discharged from parental care or guardianship, inasmuch as otherwise he would be ruined financially.

4. Mr. v. H. is also physically ill. He presents signs of slight anæmia and of neurasthenia spinalis. A rational regulation of his manner of life and a tonic regimen, and, if possible, hydro-therapeutic treatment, seem necessary. The suspicion that this trouble has its origin in early masturbation should be entertained, and the possibility of the existence of spermatorrhœa, that is of importance etiologically and therapeutically, lies near. (Personal case. Zeitschr. f. Psychiatrie.)

Case 130. Miss X., aged 38, consulted me, late in the fall of 1881, on account of severe spinal irritation and obstinate sleeplessness, in combating which she had become addicted to morphine and chloral. Her mother and sister were nervous sufferers, but the rest of the family were healthy. The trouble dated from a fall on her back in 1872, at which time the patient was terribly frightened, though, when a girl, she had been subject to muscular cramps and hysterical symptoms. Following this shock, a neurasthenic and hysterical neurosis developed, with predominating spinal irritation and sleeplessness. Episodically, hysterical paraplegia, lasting as long as eight months, and hysterical hallucinatory delirium, with convulsive attacks, occurred. In the course of this, symptoms of morphinism were added. A stay of some months in the hospital relieved the latter, and considerably improved the neurasthenic neurosis, in the treatment of which general faradization exerted a remarkably favorable influence.

Even at the first meeting, the patient produced a remarkable impression by reason of her attire, features, and conduct. She wore a gentleman’s hat, her hair closely cut, eye-glasses, a gentleman’s cravat, a coat-like outer garment of masculine cut that reached well down over her gown, and boots with high heels. She had coarse, somewhat masculine features; a harsh, deep voice; and made rather the impression of a man in female attire than that of a lady, if one but overlooked the bosom and the decidedly feminine form of the pelvis. During the long time that she was observed, there were never signs of erotocism. When questioned concerning her attire, she would only respond that the style she chose suited her better. Gradually it was ascertained from her that, even when she was a small girl, she had had a preference for horses and masculine pursuits, and never any interest in feminine occupations. Later she developed a particular pleasure in reading, and prepared herself to be a teacher. Dancing had never pleased her; it had always seemed silly to her. Too, the ballet had never interested her. Her greatest pleasure had always been in the circus. Until her sickness, in 1872, she had neither had inclination for persons of the opposite nor for those of her own sex. From that time she had, what was remarkable to herself, a peculiar friendship for females, particularly for young ladies; and she had a desire, and satisfied it, to wear hats and coats of masculine style. Since 1869, besides, she had worn her hair short, and parted it on the side, as men do. She asserts that she was never sensually excited in the company of men, but that her friendship and self-sacrifice for sympathetic ladies was unbounded; while from that time she also experienced repugnance for gentlemen and their society.

Her relatives report that, before 1872, the patient had a proposal of marriage, which she refused; and that when she returned from a sojourn at a watering-place, in 1874, she was sexually changed, and occasionally showed that she did not regard herself as a female.

Since that time she would associate only with ladies, and has had a kind of love-relation with one or another, and made remarks which indicated that she looked upon herself as a man. This predilection for women was decidedly more than mere friendship, since it expressed itself in tears, jealousy, etc.

When, in 1874, she was stopping at a watering-place, a young lady, who took her for a man in disguise, fell in love with her. When this lady married, later, the patient was for a long time depressed, and spoke of unfaithfulness. Moreover, since her sickness, her relatives were struck by her desire for masculine attire, her masculine conduct, and disinclination for feminine pursuits; while previously, at least sexually, she had presented nothing unusual.

Further investigations showed that the patient had a love-relation, which was not purely platonic, with the lady described in Case 118; and that she wrote her affectionate letters like those of a lover to his beloved. In 1887 I again saw the patient in a sanitarium, where she had been placed on account of hystero-epileptic attacks, spinal irritation, and morphinism. The contrary sexual feeling existed unchanged, and only by the most careful watching was the patient kept from improper advances toward her fellow-patients.

Her condition remained quite unchanged until 1889. Then the patient began to fail, and she died of “exhaustion,” in August, 1889. The autopsy showed, in the vegetative organs, amyloid degeneration of the kidneys, fibroma of the uterus, and cyst of the left ovary. The frontal bone was much thickened, uneven on the inner surface, with numerous exostoses; dura adherent to vault of cranium. Long diameter of skull, 175 millimetres; lateral diameter, 148 millimetres; weight of the œdematous, but not atrophied, brain, 1175 grammes. The meninges delicate, easily removed. Cortex pale. Convolutions broad, not numerous, regularly arranged. Nothing abnormal in cerebellum and great ganglia.

Case 131. Gynandry. History: On November 4, 1889, the step-father of a certain Count Sandor V. complained that the latter had swindled him out of 800f., under the pretense of requiring a bond as secretary of a stock company. It was ascertained that Sandor had entered into matrimonial contracts and escaped from the nuptials in the spring of 1889; and, more than this, that this ostensible Count Sandor was no man at all, but a woman in male attire,—Sarolta (Charlotte), Countess V.

S. was arrested, and, on account of deception and forgery of public documents, brought to examination. At the first hearing S. confessed that she was born on Sept. 6, 1866; that she was a female, Catholic, single, and worked as an authoress under the name of Count Sandor V.

From the autobiography of this man-woman I have gleaned the following remarkable facts that have been independently confirmed:—

S. comes of an ancient, noble, and highly-respected family of Hungary, in which there have been eccentricity and family peculiarities. A sister of the maternal grandmother was hysterical, a somnambulist, and lay seventeen years in bed, on account of fancied paralysis. A second great-aunt spent seven years in bed, on account of a fancied fatal illness, and at the same time gave balls. A third had the whim that a certain table in her salon was bewitched. If anything were laid on this table, she would become greatly excited and cry, “Bewitched! bewitched!” and run with the object into a room which she called the “Black Chamber,” and the key of which she never let out of her hands. After the death of this lady, there were found in this chamber a number of shawls, ornaments, bank-notes, etc. A fourth great-aunt, during two years, did not leave her room, and neither washed herself nor combed her hair; then she again made her appearance. All these ladies were, nevertheless, intellectual, finely educated, and amiable.

S.’s mother was nervous, and could not bear the light of the moon.

From her father’s family it is said she had a trace too much. One line of the family gave itself up almost entirely to spiritualism. Two blood-relations on the father’s side shot themselves. The majority of her male relatives are unusually talented; the females are decidedly narrow and domestic. S.’s father had a high position, which, however, on account of his eccentricity and extravagance (he wasted over a million and a half), he lost.

Among many foolish things that her father encouraged in her was the fact that he brought her up as a boy, called her Sandor, allowed her to ride, drive, and hunt, admiring her muscular energy.

On the other hand, this foolish father allowed his second son to go about in female attire, and had him brought up as a girl. This farce ceased in his fifteenth year, when the son was sent to a higher school.

Sarolta-Sandor remained under her father’s influence till her twelfth year, and then came under the care of her eccentric maternal grandmother, in Dresden, by whom, when the masculine play became too obvious, she was placed in an Institute, and made to wear female attire.

At thirteen she had a love-relation with an English girl, to whom she represented herself as a boy, and ran away with her.

Sarolta returned to her mother, who, however, could do nothing, and was compelled to allow her daughter to again become Sandor, wear male clothes, and, at least once a year, to fall in love with persons of her own sex.

At the same time, S. received a careful education, and made long journeys with her father,—of course, always as a young gentleman. She early became independent, and visited cafés, even those of doubtful character, and, indeed, boasted one day that in a brothel she had had a girl sitting on each knee. S. was often intoxicated, had a passion for masculine sports, and was a very skillful fencer.

She felt herself drawn particularly toward actresses, or others of similar position, and, if possible, toward those who were not very young. She asserts that she never had any inclination for a young man, and that she has felt, from year to year, an increasing dislike for young men.

“I preferred to go into the society of ladies with ugly, ill-favored men, so that none of them could put me in the shade. If I noticed that any of the men awakened the sympathies of the ladies, I felt jealous. I preferred ladies who were bright and pretty; I could not endure them if they were fat or much inclined toward men. It delighted me if the passion of a lady was disclosed under a poetic veil. All immodesty in a woman was disgusting to me. I had an indescribable aversion for female attire,—indeed, for everything feminine,—but only in as far as it concerned me; for, on the other hand, I was all enthusiasm for the beautiful sex.”

During the last ten years S. had lived almost constantly away from her relatives, in the guise of a man. She had had many liaisons with ladies, traveled much, spent much, and made debts.

At the same time, she carried on literary work, and was a valued collaborator on two noted journals of the Capital.

Her passion for ladies was very changeable; constancy in love was entirely wanting.

Only once did such a liaison last three years. It was years before that S., at Castle G., made the acquaintance of Emma E., who was ten years older than herself. She fell in love with her, made a marriage-contract with her, and they lived together, as man and wife, for three years at the Capital.

A new love, which S. regarded as a fate, caused her to sever her matrimonial relations with E. The latter would not have it so. Only with the greatest sacrifice was S. able to purchase her freedom from E., who, it is reported, still looks upon herself as a divorced wife, and regards herself as the Countess V.! That S. also had the power to excite passion in other women is shown by the fact that when she (before her marriage with E.) had grown tired of a Miss D., after having spent thousands of guldens on her, she was threatened with shooting by D. if she should become untrue.

It was in the summer of 1887, while at a watering-place, that S. made the acquaintance of a distinguished official’s family. Immediately she fell in love with the daughter, Marie, and her love was returned.

Her mother and cousin tried in vain to break up this affair. During the winter, the lovers corresponded zealously. In April, 1888, Count S. paid her a visit, and in May, 1889, attained her wish; in that Marie—who, in the meantime, had given up a position as teacher—became her bride in the presence of a friend of her lover, the ceremony being performed in an arbor, by a false priest, in Hungary. S., with her friend, forged the marriage-certificate. The pair lived happily, and, without the interference of the step-father, this false marriage, probably, would have lasted much longer. It is remarkable that, during the comparatively long existence of the relation, S. was able to deceive completely the family of her bride with regard to her true sex.

S. was a passionate smoker, and in all respects her tastes and passions were masculine. Her letters and even legal documents reached her under the address of “Count S.” She often spoke of having to drill. From remarks of the father-in-law, it seems that S. (and she afterward confessed it) knew how to imitate a scrotum with handkerchiefs or gloves stuffed in the trousers. The father-in-law also, on one occasion, noticed something like an erected member on his future son-in-law (probably a priapus). She also occasionally remarked that she was obliged to wear a suspensory bandage while riding. The fact is, S. wore a bandage around the body, possibly as a means of retaining a priapus.

Though S. often had herself shaved pro forma, the servants in the hotel where she lived were convinced that she was a woman, because the chambermaids found traces of menstrual blood on her linen (which S. explained, however, as hæmorrhoidal); and, on the occasion of a bath which S. was accustomed to take, they claimed to have convinced themselves of her real sex by looking through the key-hole.

The family of Marie make it seem probable that she for a long time was deceived with regard to the true sex of her false bridegroom. The following passage in a letter from Marie to S., August 26, 1889, speaks in favor of the incredible simplicity and innocence of this unfortunate girl: “I don’t like children any more, but if I had a little Bezerl or Patscherl by my Sandi,—ah, what happiness, Sandi mine!”

A large number of manuscripts allow conclusions to be drawn concerning S.’s mental individuality. The chirography possesses the character of firmness and certainty. The characters are genuinely masculine. The same peculiarities repeat themselves everywhere in their contents,—wild, unbridled passion; hatred and resistance to all that opposes the heart thirsting for love; poetical love, which is not marred by one ignoble blot; enthusiasm for the beautiful and noble; appreciation of science and the arts.

Her writings betray a wonderfully wide range of reading in classics of all languages, in citations from poets and prose writers of all lands. The evidence of those qualified to judge literary work shows that S.’s poetical and literary ability is by no means small. The letters and writings concerning the relation with Marie are psychologically worthy of notice.

S. speaks of the happiness there was for her when by M.’s side, and expresses boundless longing to see her beloved, if only for a moment. After such a happiness, she could have but one wish,—to exchange her cell for the grave. The bitterest thing was the knowledge that now Marie, too, hated her. Hot tears, enough to drown herself in, she had shed over her lost happiness. Whole quires of paper are given up to the apotheosis of this love, and reminiscences of the time of the first love and acquaintance.

S. complained of her heart, that would allow no reason to direct it; she expressed emotions which were such as only could be felt,—not simulated. Then, again, there were outbreaks of most silly passion, with the declaration that she could not live without Marie. “Thy dear, sweet voice; the voice whose tone perchance would raise me from the dead; that has been for me like the warm breath of Paradise! Thy presence alone were enough to alleviate my mental and moral anguish. It was a magnetic stream; it was a peculiar power your being exercised over mine, which I cannot quite define; and, therefore, I cling to that ever-true definition: I love you because I love you. In the night of sorrow I had but one star,—the star of Marie’s love. That star has lost its light; now there remains but its shimmer,—the sweet, sad memory which even lights with its soft ray the deepening night of death,—a ray of hope.”

This writing ends with the apostrophe: “Gentlemen, you learned in the law, psychologists and pathologists, do me justice! Love led me to take the step I took; all my deeds were conditioned by it. God put it in my heart.

“If He created me so, and not otherwise, am I then guilty; or is it the eternal, incomprehensible way of fate? I relied on God, that one day my emancipation would come; for my thought was only love itself, which is the foundation, the guiding principle, of His teaching and His kingdom.

“O God, Thou All-pitying, Almighty One! Thou seest my distress; Thou knowest how I suffer. Incline Thyself to me; extend Thy helping hand to me, deserted by all the world. Only God is just. How beautifully does Victor Hugo describe this in his ‘Legendes du Siècle’! How sad do Mendelssohn’s words sound to me: ‘Nightly in dreams I see thee’!”

Though S. knew that none of her writings reached her lover, she did not grow tired writing of her pain and delight in love, in page after page of deification of Marie. And to induce one more pure flood of tears, on one still, clear summer evening, when the lake was aglow with the setting sun like molten gold, and the bells of St. Anna and Maria-Wörth, blending in harmonious melancholy, gave tidings of rest and peace, she wrote: “For that poor soul, for this poor heart that beat for thee till the last breath.”

Personal Examination: The first meeting which the experts had with S. was, in a measure, a time of embarrassment to both sides; for them, because perhaps S.’s somewhat dazzling and forced masculine carriage impressed them; for her, because she thought she was to be marked with the stigma of moral insanity. She had a pleasant and intelligent face, which, in spite of a certain delicacy of features and diminutiveness of all its parts, gave a decidedly masculine impression, had it not been for the absence of a moustache. It was even difficult for the experts to realize that they were concerned with a woman, despite the fact of female attire and constant association; while, on the other hand, intercourse with the man Sandor was much more free, natural, and apparently correct. The culprit also felt this. She immediately became more open, more communicative, more free, as soon as she was treated like a man.

In spite of her inclination for the female sex, which had been present from her earliest years, she asserts that in her thirteenth year she first felt a trace of sexual feeling, which expressed itself in kisses, embraces, and caresses, with sensual pleasure, and this on the occasion of her elopement with the red-haired English girl from the Dresden Institute. At that time feminine forms exclusively appeared to her in dream-pictures, and ever since, in sensual dreams, she has felt herself in the situation of a man, and occasionally, also, at such times, experienced ejaculation.

She knows nothing of solitary or mutual onanism. Such a thing seemed very disgusting to her, and not conducive to manliness. She had, also, never allowed herself to be touched ad genitalia by others, because it would have revealed her great secret. The menses began at seventeen, but were always scanty, and without pain. It was plain to be seen that S. had a horror of speaking of menstruation; that it was a thing repugnant to her masculine consciousness and feeling. She recognized the abnormality of her sexual inclinations, but had no desire to have them changed, since in this perverse feeling she felt both well and happy. The idea of sexual intercourse with men disgusted her, and she also thought it would be impossible.

Her modesty was so great that she would prefer to sleep among men rather than among women. Thus, when it was necessary for her to answer the calls of nature or to change her linen, it was necessary for her to ask her companion in the cell to turn her face to the window, that she might not see her.

When occasionally S. came in contact with this companion,—a woman from the lower walks of life,—she experienced a sexual excitement that made her blush. Indeed, without being asked, S. related that she was overcome with actual fear when, in her cell, she was compelled to force herself into the unusual female attire. Her only comfort was, that she was at least allowed to keep a shirt. Remarkable, and what also speaks for the significance of olfactory sensations in her vita sexualis, is her statement that, on the occasions of Marie’s absence, she had sought those places on which Marie’s head was accustomed to repose, and smelled of them, in order to experience the delight of inhaling the odor of her hair. Among women, those who are beautiful, or voluptuous, or quite young do not particularly interest her. The physical charms of women she makes subordinate. As by magnetic attraction, she feels herself drawn to those between twenty-four and thirty. She found her sexual satisfaction exclusively in corpora feminæ (never in her own person), in the form of manustupration of the beloved woman, or cunnilingus. Occasionally she availed herself of a stocking stuffed with oakum as a priapus. These admissions were made only unwillingly by S., and with apparent shame; just as in her writings, immodesty or cynicism are never found.

She is religious, has a lively interest in all that is noble and beautiful,—men excepted,—and is very sensitive to the opinion others may entertain of her morality.

She deeply regrets that in her passion she made Marie unhappy, and regards her sexual feelings as perverse, and such a love of one woman for another, among normal individuals, as morally reprehensible. She has great literary talent and an extraordinary memory. Her only weakness is her great frivolity and her incapability to manage money and property reasonably. But she is conscious of this weakness, and does not care to talk about it.

She is 153 centimetres tall, of delicate skeleton, thin, but remarkably muscular on the breast and thighs. Her gait in female attire is awkward. Her movements are powerful, not unpleasing, though they are somewhat masculine, and lacking in grace. She greets one with a firm pressure of the hand. Her whole carriage is decided, firm, and somewhat self-conscious. Her glance is intelligent; mien somewhat diffident. Feet and hands remarkably small, having remained in an infantile stage of development. Extensor surfaces of the extremities remarkably well covered with hair, while there is not the slightest trace of beard, in spite of all shaving experiments. The hips do not correspond in any way with those of a female. Waist is wanting. The pelvis is so slim, and so little prominent, that a line drawn from the axilla to the corresponding knee is straight,—not curved inward by a waist, or outward by the pelvis. The skull is slightly oxycephalic, and in all its measurements falls below the average of the female skull by at least one centimetre.

The circumference of the head is 52 centimetres; the occipital half-circumference, 24 centimetres; the line from ear to ear, over the vertex, 23 centimetres; the anterior half-circumference, 28.5 centimetres; the line from glabella to occiput, 30 centimetres; the ear-chin line, 26.5 centimetres; long diameter, 17 centimetres; greatest lateral diameter, 13 centimetres; diameter at auditory meati, 12 centimetres; zygomatic diameter, 11.2 centimetres. The upper jaw projects strikingly, its alveolar process projecting beyond the under jaw about 0.5 centimetre. The position of the teeth is not fully normal; the right upper canine has not developed. Mouth remarkably small. Ears prominent; lobes not differentiated, passing over into the skin of the cheek. Hard palate narrow and high; voice rough and deep; mammæ fairly developed, soft, and without secretion. Mons veneris covered with thick, dark hair. Genitals completely feminine, without trace of hermaphroditic appearance, but at the stage of development of those of a ten-year-old girl. The labia majora touch each other almost completely; labia minora have a cock’s-comb-like form, and project under the labia majora. The clitoris is small, and very sensitive. Frenulum delicate; perineum very narrow; introitus vaginæ narrow; mucous membrane normal. Hymen wanting (probably congenitally); likewise, the carunculæ myrtiformes. Vagina so narrow that the insertion of a membrum virile would be impossible, and it is also very sensitive; certainly coitus had not taken place. Uterus is felt, through the rectum, to be about the size of a walnut, immovable, and retroflected.

The pelvis appears generally narrowed (dwarf-pelvis), and of decidedly masculine type. The distance between anterior superior spines is 22.5 centimetres (instead of 26.3 centimetres). Distance between the crests of the ilii, 26.5 centimetres (instead of 29.3 centimetres); between the trochanters, 27.7 centimetres (31); the external conjugate diameter, 17.2 centimetres (19 to 20); therefore, presumably, the internal conjugate would be 7.7 centimetres (10.8). On account of narrowness of the pelvis, the direction of the thighs is not convergent, as in a woman, but straight.

The opinion given showed that in S. there was a congenitally abnormal inversion of the sexual instinct, which, indeed, expressed itself, anthropologically, in anomalies of development of the body, depending upon great hereditary taint; further, that the criminal acts of S. had their foundation in her abnormal and irresistible sexuality.

S.’s characteristic expressions—“God put love in my heart. If He created me so, and not otherwise, am I, then, guilty; or is it the eternal, incomprehensible way of fate?”—are really justified.

The court granted pardon. The “countess in male attire,” as she was called in the newspapers, returned to her home, and again gave herself out as Count Sandor. Her only distress is her lost happiness with her beloved Marie.

A married woman, in Brandon, Wisconsin, whose case is reported by Dr. Kiernan (The Medical Standard, 1888, November and December), was more fortunate. She eloped, in 1883, with a young girl, married her, and lived with her as husband undisturbed.

An interesting “historical” example of androgyny is a case reported by Spitzka (Chicago Medical Review, August 20, 1881). It was that of Lord Cornbury, Governor of New York, who lived in the reign of Queen Anne. He was apparently affected with moral insanity; was terribly licentious, and, in spite of his high position, could not keep himself from going about in the streets in female attire, coquetting with all the allurements of a prostitute.

In a picture of him that has been preserved, his narrow brow, asymmetrical face, feminine features, and sensual mouth at once attract attention. It is certain that he never actually regarded himself as a woman.

Moreover, in individuals afflicted with contrary sexual instinct, in themselves, the perverse sexual feeling and inclination may be complicated with other perverse manifestations. Thus here, with reference to the activity of the instinct, there may be acts quite analogous to acts indulged in by individuals in perverse satisfaction of the instinct, but who, at the same time, have a natural inclination toward persons of the opposite sex.

Owing to the circumstance that abnormally increased sexuality is almost a regular accompaniment of contrary sexual feeling, acts of lustful cruelty in the satisfaction of libido are easily possible. A remarkable example of this is the case of Zastrow (Casper-Liman, 7. Auflage, Bd. i, p. 190; ii, p. 487), who bit one of his victims (a boy), tore his prepuce, slit the anus, and strangled the child.

Z. came of a psychopathic grandfather and melancholic mother. His brother indulged in abnormal sexual pleasures, and committed suicide.

Z. was a congenital urning, and in habitus and occupation masculine. There was phimosis. Mentally, he was a weak, perverse, unsocial man. He had horror feminæ, and, in his dreams, he felt himself like a woman toward a man. He was painfully conscious of his want of normal sexual feeling and his perverse instinct, and sought satisfaction in mutual onanism, with frequent desire for pederasty.

Similar sadistic feelings of this kind, in those afflicted with contrary sexual instinct, are found in some of the foregoing histories (comp. Cases 107 and 108 of this edition, and Case 96 of the sixth edition). But masochism also occurs (comp. Case 43, sixth edition; Cases 111 and 114 of this edition; and Case 3, in the first edition of “Neue Forschungen”).

As examples of perverse sexual satisfaction dependent on contrary sexual instinct, may be mentioned the Greek, who, as Athenäus reports, was in love with a statue of Cupid, and defiled it, in the temple of Delphi; and besides the monstrous cases reported by Tardieu (“Attentats,” p. 272), the terrible one reported by Lombroso (“L’uomo delinquente,” p. 200), of a certain Artusio, who wounded a boy in the abdomen, and abused him sexually by means of the incisions.

Cases 86, 110, and 111, also, show that fetichism may also occur with contrary sexual instinct.