Another comparison shows, perhaps, still better the uncertainty of the

line of demarcation between pornography and art. If we compare Heine

with de Maupassant, I think we must admit that, in spite of the

refinement of his art, the pornographic trait is incomparably stronger

in the former, because Heine continually loses the thread of moral

sense which impregnates most of the works of de Maupassant. The latter

author emphasizes evil and injustice in the sexual question.

The refined art of the Greeks contains much eroticism and much nudity,

but there is nothing whatever immoral in either. Innocence and beauty

are so apparent that no one can think of evil. When we look at the

antique statues of the Greek sculptors; when we read Homer, especially

the story of Ares and Aphrodite; when we read the bucolic idyll of

Daphnis and Chloe, we can no longer have any doubt on the point. It is

not nudity, it is not the natural description of sexual life, but the

obscene intention of the artist, his improper and often venal object,

which has a demoralizing effect.

Finally, I repeat that the purest artistic creation may serve as a

pornographic theme for every individual who is accustomed to introduce

into his parodies his own depravity, immorality and obscene

sentiments. I do not deny that in antiquity, especially at the time of

the decadence of Rome, pornography and cynical coarseness often ruled

in the sexual domain. History and the ruins of Pompeii give abundant

evidence of it. But such phenomena occurred at the periods of

decadence. Who then can decide where art ends and pornography begins,

or how far eroticism may without danger be expressed in art? This

question is so difficult and delicate that I am unable to answer it

with sufficient competence. I think that when the reign of capitalism

and alcohol has come to an end, the danger of pornography will be

reduced enormously. I believe we ought to avoid extremes in both

directions. Wherever pornography manifests itself in a purely cynical

way, denuded of all art, society can and should suppress it. When it

appears under an artistic mantle, it should be possible in each

particular case to weigh the artistic merit of the work against its

immoral tendencies, taking all other accessory circumstances into

account, in order to decide the real weight of each of these elements.

The corrupting action should also be carefully considered, which

experience proves to have been exerted on the public by certain

so-called works of art, or artistic exhibitions, as for example

certain _cafes chantants_, etc.

=Pathological Art.=--The progressively pathological nature of certain

productions of modern art constitute without any doubt a vicious

feature; a fact of special importance in the sexual question. Witness

what I have said concerning the poet Baudelaire. Erotic art ought not

to become a hospital for perverts and sexual patients, and should not

lead these individuals to regard themselves as interesting specimens

of the human race. It should not make heroes of them, for in acting

thus, it only confirms their morbid state, and often contaminates

healthy-minded people.

A great number of novels, and even modern pictures, deserve the

reproach of being pornographic works. In these are described, or

painted, beings that we meet in hospitals for nervous diseases, or

even in lunatic asylums, but more often phantoms which only exist in

the pathological mind of the author. No doubt, art should not allow

itself to be instructed in morality by pedagogues and ascetics; but,

on the other hand, artists ought not to forget the high social mission

of their art, a mission which consists in elevating man to the ideal,

not in letting him sink into a bog.

=The Moral Effect of Healthy Art.=--Art has great power, for man is

directed by sentiment much more than by reason. Art should be healthy;

it should rise toward the heavens and show the public the road to

Olympus--not the Olympus of superstition, but that of a better

humanity. It is not necessary for this that it should diminish the

energy of its eternal theme--love. No truly moral man would wish to

eliminate the seasoning of eroticism whenever artistic necessity

requires it, but art should never prostitute itself in the service of

venal obscenity and degeneration.

As to the manner in which it attains its object, while holding to its

fundamental principles, that is its own affair, the business of the

true artist. I cannot, however, in my capacity as a naturalist,

refrain from giving a little modest advice to certain modern artists;

that when they wish to take for the subject of their works the themes

of social morality, medicine or science, they should avoid previous

study of their subject in scientific books; that they should follow

the example of de Maupassant and begin by living themselves the

situations which they wish to depict, before beginning to model their

work. Without this they will completely fail in artistic effect, and

will become bad theorists, bad scientists, bad moralists and bad

social politicians, at the same time ceasing to be good artists. If

Maeterlinck's "Life of Bees" is a fine work of art, it is not only

because the author is a distinguished writer, but because he was

himself acquainted with bees, being an apicultor, and did not make his

book a mere compilation of other scientific works.

Along with the struggle against the debasing influence of money and

alcohol, the elevation of the artistic sentiment among the public

will contribute strongly to condemn pornographic "aesthetics." The

false and unnatural sentimentalism, spiced with erotic lewdness, which

is displayed in the trash offered to the public under the title of

"art," fills every man who possesses the least artistic sense with

disgust. Disgust evidently constitutes a beneficial mental medicine in

the domain of art, and we cannot agree with the severe and ascetic

minds who think that true morality has nothing to do with art, or even

that everything moral should be destitute of art. These people are

completely deceived and unwittingly promote pornography, by repelling

humanity with their austerity and driving it to the opposite extreme.

The aesthetic and moral sentiments should be harmoniously combined with

intelligence and will, each of these departments of the mind

participating by its special energies in the elevation of man.

=Anticonceptional Measures from the AEsthetic Point of View.=--In

conclusion, I will refer to a subject which is perhaps not quite in

its place in this chapter. The anticonceptional measures recommended

for reasons of social hygiene, which tend to regulate conceptions and

improve their quality, have been often condemned, sometimes as

immoral, sometimes as contrary to aesthetics. To interfere in this way

with the action of nature is said to injure the poetry of love and the

moral feeling, and at the same time to disturb natural selection.

There are several replies to these objections: In the first place, it

is wrong to maintain that man cannot encroach on the life of nature.

If this were the case, the earth would now be a virgin forest and a

great many animals and plants would not have been adapted to the use

of man. Our fields, our gardens and our domestic animals would die,

instead of bearing fruit and multiplying as they do at present. The

naturalist has much more fear of seeing rare and interesting wild

plants and animals exterminated from the face of the earth by the

egoistic and pitiless hand of man. He seeks in vain the means of

checking this work of destruction.

We have proved without the least deference, often with a brutal hand,

to the misfortune of art and poetry, that we are capable of

successfully intermeddling with the machinery of nature, even in what

concerns our own persons. I shall not return here to the subject of

ethics. In Chapter XV, I have sufficiently shown how false is our

present sexual morality, and I have proved in Chapter XIV the absolute

necessity of measures to regulate conception in order to realize an

efficacious social sexual morality.

The aesthetic argument appears at first sight more valid; it is

unnecessary, however, to discuss matters of taste. Spectacles are

certainly not particularly aesthetic; nevertheless the poetry of love

does not suffer much from their use, and when one is shortsighted or

longsighted one cannot do without them. Great artists wear spectacles.

It is the same with false teeth, with clothes, with bicycles and a

hundred other artificial things which man makes use of to make his

life more easy. So long as they are novel and unusual they wound the

aesthetic sentiment; but when we become accustomed to them we no longer

take notice of them. Man has even come to regard as aesthetic, women's

corsets which deform their chests, and pointed shoes which deform the

feet. I am certain that the first man who mounted a horse was accused

by his contemporaries of committing an act contrary to aesthetics!

From all points of view, the details of coitus leave much to be

desired from the aesthetic point of view, and such a slight addition as

a membranous protective does not appear to make any serious

difference. It is impossible for me to recognize the validity of such

an objection, which I attribute to the prejudice against anything

which disturbs our habits.

FOOTNOTES:

[15] See also Lameere "_L'Evolution des ornements sexuels_," 1904.

[16] "Die Anfaenge der Kunst und die Theorie Darwins." _Hessiche

Blaetter fuer Volkskunde_, Vol. III, Part 2.

CHAPTER XIX

CONCLUSIONS

=Utopia and the Realizable Ideal.=--The term Utopia may be applied to

every ideal project elaborated by human imagination for the future

welfare of society, which has no healthy and real foundation, is

contrary to human nature and the results of experience, and has

consequently no chance of success. Persons of conservative minds who

live in prejudice and in the faith of authority apply the term Utopia

to every ideal which has not been legalized and sanctioned by time,

custom, or authority. This is a grave error, which, if it always

prevailed, would bar the way to all social progress.

As regards the ideal, the future may realize much progress that the

past has not known, and on this point Ben Akiba was wrong in saying

that "there is nothing new under the sun." International

communication, universal postage, the suppression of slavery in

civilized countries, the artificial feeding of new-born infants, the

telephone, wireless telegraphy, etc., are realized advances which had

formerly never appeared on the horizon of humanity, and which would

have been regarded as impossible fantasies, or Utopias.

Why should the common use of an international language and the

suppression of war between civilized countries be Utopias? The most

diverse races already speak English, and all might learn Esperanto. In

the interior of countries such as France and Germany, etc., the old

feudal wars ceased long ago. Why should a more and more international

union between men be impossible?

Why should the suppression of the use of narcotic substances such as

alcohol, opium, hashish, etc., which poison entire nations, be

Utopian? Why should it be the same with the economic reform desired by

socialists, that is the equitable division of wages; for example, by

the aid of a cooperative system or by the reduction of capital to a

minimum?

These things are all possible, and even necessary for the natural and

progressive development of humanity. It is only the prejudice of old

customs, based on the conservative tendency of sentiments, which

opposes these projects and tries to ridicule them by calling them

Utopian. In its shortsightedness, it does not see the change which

occurs all over the world in the social relations of men, or does not

estimate them at their true value, and it cannot abandon its old

idols.

Lastly, why should rational reforms in the sexual domain be more

difficult to realize than the artificial feeding of infants, than the

actual triumphs of surgical operations, than sero-therapy, than

vaccination, etc.? In the same way that shortsighted and longsighted

persons wear spectacles, or those who have no teeth use artificial

ones, so may men who are tainted by hereditary disease employ

preventatives in coitus to avoid the procreation of a tainted progeny;

and the same means may be employed to give women time to recover their

strength after each confinement.

=Resume.=--Let us briefly recapitulate the matter contained in the

chapters of this book:

(1). In the first five chapters I have given an account of the natural

history, anatomy and functions of the reproductive organs, and the

psychology of sexual life.

(2). In Chapter VI, I have given (chiefly according to Westermarck) a

_resume_ of ethnography and the history of sexual relations in the

different human races.

(3). In Chapter VII, I have attempted to trace the zoological

evolution of sexual life along the line of our animal ancestors, and

to briefly describe the evolution of sexual life in the individual,

from birth till death. I have thus endeavored to acquaint the reader

with the two sources of our sexual sensations and sentiments--the

hereditary or phylogenetic source, and the source acquired and adapted

by the individual.

(4). In Chapter VIII, I have described the pathology of sexual life,

because this concerns social life much more than is generally

supposed.

(5). In Chapters IX to XVIII, I have explained the relations of sexual

life to the most important spheres of human sentiments and interests,

to suggestion, money and property, to the external conditions of life,

to religion, law, medicine, morality, politics, political economy,

pedagogy and art. Incidentally, I have glanced at the social

organizations and customs which depend on these relations.

If we sum up the results obtained, we can draw from them a series of

conclusions which we will divide into two groups:

NEGATIVE TASKS

_Suppression of the Direct or Indirect Causes of Sexual Evils and

Abuses, and the Social Vices which Correspond to Them_

The corruption into which a semi-civilization has plunged humanity, by

facilitating the means of obtaining satisfaction for its unbridled

passion for pleasure, is maintained by the latter itself. But in the

long run, the unlimited abandonment of the individual to pleasure

cannot be in accord with the welfare and progress of society. This is

the knotty point. It is necessary for a better social organization to

artificially restrain the passion for pleasure, at the same time

raising the social quality of men; that is to say, their altruism or

instinct (social ethics). We can only expect immediately the first of

these two objects; but we have seen that it is possible to prepare the

second for the future, by neglecting none of the factors of social

salvation.

We have become acquainted with the most important roots of sexual

degeneration, due to semi-civilization. I use the word

"semi-civilization" because our present culture is still very

incomplete and has hardly done more than skim over the surface of the

masses.

Men of higher culture have overcome the maladies of infancy of

civilization much better than the uneducated masses, and it is

precisely this fact which should give us courage and confidence in a

future in which a true higher culture will be the appanage of all. The

roots of degeneration are either directly or indirectly associated

with sexual life. It is our duty to declare war of extermination

against all of them, and not to cease this contest before reducing

them to their natural primitive minimum. The following are the chief

evils to be contended against.

=1. The Cult of Money.=--We have recognized the primary sources of

degeneration in the historical development of humanity and its sexual

life (Chapters VI and X). They consist in the exploitation of man by

man, in the desire of possessing riches and power, which become the

source of marriage by purchase and by abduction, of prostitution and

all the modern requirements by the aid of which is cultivated the

passion for sexual pleasures, thanks to the power of money.

The priests and disciples of Mammon lie when they say that their

god--the golden calf--is the most powerful stimulus to work and the

principal promoter of culture. If we look closer we see the contrary.

Men of genius, thinkers, inventors and artists are urged to work by

their hereditary instinct, by true love of the ideal and thirst for

knowledge. The disciples of Mammon, on the watch for the discoveries

and creations of these men, rob them not only of the fruit of their

work, but often of the honors which belong to them. Intellectual

robbery is added to pecuniary robbery.

These are the methods of "Mammonism," which must be seen to be

appreciated; and we are told that this kind of industry should be the

only stimulus to human work and culture! No doubt, the unbridled lust

for gain urges men to feverish activity; but this kind of zeal, which

is nearly always associated with the passion for pleasure, and only

works to obtain the means of satisfying it, is unhealthy. It is

necessary for other factors to act in stimulating human work.

Fortunately these forces exist, and can be found, for without work

there can be no culture, social progress nor happiness.

The worship of the golden calf, the utilization of accumulated wealth

as a means of exploiting the work of others for individual interest,

is therefore the primary and principal root of social degeneration,

marriage for money, prostitution and all their corrupt associations.

If this root is not torn out, humanity will never succeed in the

sanitation of sexual matters. The struggle against the exaggerated

modern legal rights of capital, and the abuses which result from it,

is therefore one of the most important tasks to be accomplished in

order to lead indirectly to the sanitation of sexual intercourse.

=2. The Use of Narcotics.=--The habit of using narcotic poisons,

especially alcohol, leads to the physical and moral degeneration of

men, a degeneration which not only affects the individuals concerned,

but also their germinal cells and consequently their offspring. I have

designated this degeneration by the term _blastophthoria_.

Blastophthoria is intimately connected with sexual phenomena, and

thanks to it, the individual influence of these poisons may extend to

many generations.

A single radical remedy would be easy to apply, if men were not so

much the slaves of their habits and prejudices, of capital and the

passion for pleasure. All narcotic substances, especially distilled

and fermented drinks, should be abolished as a means of pleasure and

relegated to pharmacy, in which they may still be used as remedies,

with special precautions. Alcohol may also be used for industrial

purposes.

Science has proved that even the most moderate indulgence in alcohol

disturbs the association of ideas, and renders them more superficial,

without the subject being aware of it. This slight degree of alcoholic

narcosis causes in man a temporary feeling of pleasure and gayety to

which he soon becomes accustomed. In this way there is created in him

a desire for more, too often with increasing doses.

Most narcotics, especially alcohol (either fermented or distilled),

have the peculiarity of exciting the sexual appetite in a bestial

manner, thereby leading to the most absurd and disgusting excesses,

although at the same time they weaken the sexual power. The transient

pleasure produced by these substances is, therefore, of no real and

lasting advantage, while it results in the most terrible individual

and social miseries.

Societies for total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks have

undertaken a war of extermination against the use of all poisons used

for purposes of pleasure, when experience has proved their social

danger. Let us hope that they will succeed; then a second fundamental

root of degeneration of sexual life will be destroyed.

=3. The Emancipation of Woman.=--A third source of sexual anomalies is

due to the inequality of the rights of the two sexes. This can only be

attacked by the complete emancipation of women. In no kind of animal

is the female an object possessed by the male. Nowhere in nature do we

find the slave-law which subordinates one sex to the other. Even among

ants, where the male, on account of his great physical inferiority, is

very dependent on the workers, the latter do not impose on him any

constraint. We have already refuted the argument which is based on the

intellectual inferiority of woman.

The emancipation of women is not intended to transform them into men,

but simply to give them their human rights, I might even say their

natural animal rights. It in no way wishes to impose work on women nor

to make them unaccustomed to it. It is as absurd to bring them up as

spoilt children as it is cruel to brutalize them as beasts of burden.

It is our duty to give them the independent position in society which

corresponds to their normal attributes.

Their sexual role is so important that it gives them the right to the

highest social considerations in this domain. I will not repeat what I

have said in Chapter XIII, but simply state categorically that, when

women have acquired in society rights and duties equal to those of men

(in accordance with sexual differences), when they can react freely

according to their feminine genius, in a manner as decisive as men, on

the destinies of the community, a third fundamental root of present

sexual abuses will be suppressed. The complete emancipation of woman

thus constitutes our third principal postulate, and in this I am in

accord with Westermarck, Secretan and many other eminent persons.

The difference which exists between the two sexes does not give any

reasonable excuse to man for monopolizing all social and political

rights. The external world and our fellow beings, by whom and for whom

we live in body and mind, are the same for woman as for man, so that

even when the mentality of one sex is on the average a little higher

than that of the other, the first cannot claim the right of refusing

the second the liberty of living and acting from the social point of

view according to her own genius. The two sexes differ in many

respects it is true; on the other hand, all legal and consequently

artificial constraint of one by the other has the effect of hindering

the free development of both. Each sex has the right to look upon the

world and assimilate it according to its nature. It can thus develop

its personality so that it does not become etiolated and atrophied

like a domestic animal. It is only the right of the stronger,

cultivated by narrow-minded prejudice, that can deny or misunderstand

these facts. The legal restrictions which we impose on woman, on her

mentality and her whole life, especially her conjugal life, have

nothing in common with the just restrictions which the law should

provide against the encroachments of individual egoism, which injure

the rights of others or those of society.

=4. Prejudice and Tradition.=--There is still another enemy opposed to

reform, which is so deeply rooted in human nature that we can only

hope for a slow improvement in the quality of men, by its progressive

weakening. I refer to the host of prejudices, traditional customs,

mystic superstitions, religious dogmas, fashions, etc. I should

require many pages of moral preaching to deal with all the vices which

are perpetually created and supported by the wretched tendency of the

human mind to sanctify every ancient tradition and consider it as

unalterable.

Prejudice, faith in authority, mysticism, etc., with conscious or

unconscious hypocrisy, and by the aid of more or less transparent

sophisms, place themselves at the service of the basest human

passions--envy, hatred, vanity, avarice, lewdness, scandal, desire of

domination and idleness--and clothe them all with the sacred mantle of

ancient customs, the better to sanction their ignominy by relying on

the authority of tradition. There is no infamy which has not been

justified, glorified or even deified in this way.

I am convinced that it is only by the introduction of the scientific

spirit, of an inductive and philosophical manner of thinking, into

schools and among the masses, that we shall be able to contend

efficaciously with the routine and parrot-like repetitions which are

rooted in the worship of authoritative doctrines and prejudices based

on the sanctity of what is old.

We have already sufficiently dealt with the superannuated prejudices

and customs to be contended with in the sexual domain, and need not

return to them. The whole of this category of causes of evil, a

category which also plays a great part in all other domains of human

life, can only, therefore, be contended with by true science combined

with an integral and free education of the character of youth.

I must once again insist on the necessity of a fight to a finish on

this ground. It is necessary for this that scientists should from time

to time emerge from their sanctums, and let their lights shine in the

whirlpool of human society. They must take part in social conflicts

and avoid losing touch with what is and always will be human.

The following postulates relate to aberrations and dangers which are

more partial or more local.

=5. Pornography.=--In Chapters V, X and XVIII, I have spoken of

pornography, and in Chapter XVII, of its great danger to the

development of a normal sexual life in youth. Although pornography

owes much of its origin and development to the greed for gain, it must

not be forgotten that, on the other hand, masculine eroticism tends to

promote its mercantile interests. It is the duty of society to oppose

the pornographic products of morbid eroticism, without imposing the

least constraint on true art. The sexual appetite of man is on the

average rather strong; we may even say that it is much too strong,

compared with the social necessities of procreation. It is, therefore,

quite superfluous to artificially stimulate it. The struggle against

pornography must, therefore, be raised to the rank of a postulate.

We must not forget, however, that we shall contend with it much more

successfully by fulfilling our first four postulates, and in raising

the artistic ideal and feeling in man, than by direct measures of

suppression. The latter should be limited to the most coarse and

corrupt productions of pornography.

=6. Politics and Sexual Life.=--I need only remind the reader of the

encroachments of politics on sexual life, and especially of the abuse

of sexual influence in the domain of politics. It is needless to point

out the necessity of opposing all useless intermeddling of the State

in the sexual life of individuals by the aid of unjustifiable

regulations, as well as all intervention in the natural sexual

requirements of man (in marriage, etc.), when no individual or social

interest is injured. What is much more difficult, is to prevent the

pressure of sexual sympathies and antipathies, and especially of

amorous passions in politics.

=7. Venereal Disease.=--There is need for a great combat with venereal

disease and pathological corruptions of the sexual appetite. (Vide

Chapters VIII, XIII and XIV.) Sexual criminals should be treated

conjointly with the pathology of the sexual appetite, and in the same

manner; for it is nearly always a question of anomalies of the human

brain, which are impossible to improve or eliminate by punishment or

other penal measures.

For the present, medical and administrative measures of restriction,

undertaken by society against dangerous and degenerate individuals in

the sexual domain, are the only possible remedy. We should also

endeavor in the future to prevent such individuals from breeding and

suppress the causes of blastophthoria, by the aid of our second

postulate.

=8. The Conflict of Human Races.=--There remains a last postulate,

extremely arduous and serious, which we have already mentioned. How is

our Aryan race and its civilization to guard against the danger of

being passively invaded and exterminated by the alarming fecundity of

other human races? One must be blind not to recognize this danger. To

estimate it at its proper value, it is not enough to put all "savages"

and "barbarians" into one basket and all "civilized" into the other.

The question is far more complicated than this. Many savage and

semi-savage races become rapidly extinct on account of their

comparative sterility. Europeans have introduced among them so much

alcohol, venereal disease and other plagues, that they promptly perish

from want of the power of resistance. This is the case with the

Weddas, the Todas, the Redskins of North America, the Australian

aboriginees, Malays and many others.

The question presents itself in another aspect with regard to negroes,

who are very resistant and extremely prolific, and everywhere adapt

themselves to civilized customs. But those who believe that negroes

are capable of _acquiring_ a higher civilization without undergoing a

phylogenetic cerebral transformation for a hundred thousand years, are

Utopians. I cannot here enter into the details of this question. It

seems obvious to me, however, that in the already considerable time

during which the American negroes have been under the influence of

European culture, they ought to have often demonstrated their power of

assimilating it and of developing it independently, according to their

own genius, if their brains were capable of so doing. Instead of this,

we find that negroes in the interior of the island of Haiti, formerly

civilized by France, then abandoned to themselves, have, with the

exception of a few mulattoes, reverted to the most complete barbarism,

and have even barbarized the French language and Christianity, with

which they had been endowed.

Compare with this the rapidity with which a civilized or civilizable

race, depending on its innate energy, assimilates our culture with or

without Christianity! We need only look at what has happened in Japan

during the last thirty years, and what the Christian races of the

Balkan countries have been doing after delivery from the yoke of the

Turks--for example, the Roumanians, Bulgarians and Greeks.

It is by its fruits that we judge the value of the tree. The Japanese

are a civilizable and civilized race, and must be treated as such. The

negroes, on the contrary, are not so; that is to say, they are only by

themselves capable of quite an inferior civilization, and only become

adapted to our customs by a superficial veneer of civilization.

Up to what point can the Mongolian, and even the Jewish race, become

mixed with our Aryan or Indo-Germanic races, without gradually

supplanting them and causing them to disappear? This is a question I

am incapable of answering. If it were only a question of the Japanese

there would be no serious difficulty and the assimilation would be

beneficial. But the Chinese and some other Mongolian races constitute

an imminent danger for the very existence of the white races. These

people eat much less than ourselves, are contented with much smaller

dwellings, and in spite of this produce twice as many children and do

twice as much work. The connection of this with the sexual question is

not difficult to understand.

Possibly we might make a compact with the Mongols, and the Chinese in

particular, which would allow both races to live on the earth without

annihilating each other. I am quite convinced that we have more to

fear from their blood and their work than from their arms. Some time

ago experts in Far-Eastern questions predicted that the world would

end by becoming Chinese.

POSITIVE TASKS

The elimination of the abuses and dangers, pointed out under the

heading of negative tasks, would prepare the soil for a healthier and

more ideal development of the sexual relations of humanity in the

future. These require the prevention of blastophthoric deterioration

of germ cells, as well as all pathological degeneration of sexual

intercourse. They also require true and natural affection, free from

the influences of prejudice and money, and capable of surviving

amorous intoxication. Lastly, they require a natural human

organization, adapted to the social welfare, the duties of parents

toward their children, and the rights they have over them.

=Human Selection.=--This is impossible to attain without recourse to

artificial means, which have hitherto been generally condemned, or

employed with an unhealthy and corrupt object. I refer to the

distinction between satisfaction of the sexual appetite and the

procreation of children.

Although it is true that the two things are inseparably connected in

plants and animals, it is equally true that the culture and social

development of humanity all over the world have given rise to

conditions and necessities other than those which formerly existed,

conditions which at the present day are so clearly evident that they

cannot be disregarded.

The struggle for existence, as it obtains between the different animal

species, hardly exists any longer in man. The latter has now to fight

with microbes, and other infinitely small things of the same nature.

The combat between man and man, in the form of international warfare,

is approaching its end. The wars of the present day, as foolish as

they are formidable, are rapidly becoming absurd. We may even hope

that the supreme struggle which is impending between the Aryan and

Mongolian races will end in peaceful agreement.

Is it, therefore, rational to abandon the quantitative and qualitative

regulation of the procreation of children to natural selection--that

is to say to brutal chance, disease, famine or infanticide--at a time

of human evolution when science contends with the greatest success

against accident, disease, infant mortality and famine?

Our strong sexual appetite is no longer in proportion to the

exigencies of procreation, nor to the means of providing food for our

descendants, nor to the right of the latter to better or even

tolerable existence, for the simple reason that the weak, the diseased

and the children are no longer eliminated as in former times among

primitive races by infanticide, epidemics, wild-beasts, neglect or war

(it is now the strong and courageous who are eliminated by the

latter). But it is not in our power to modify our instinctive and

hereditary sexual appetite, while we have always at hand the necessary

means to regulate and improve procreation.

No prejudice, no dogma, no repetition of old maxims, based on

so-called immutable natural laws, can stand against such simple and

elementary truths. We like to call "natural laws" what to our limited

knowledge appears regular in nature. We formulate a law, and too often

make an idol, instead of always making further examinations, in the

light of new truths, to see if these so-called laws hold good. But the

new truths are there, crying for recognition. The sheet-anchor is in

our hands, in the form of measures to prevent or regulate conception.

We must, therefore, have recourse to these measures, with prudence,

employing them only at first where they are most necessary, and

especially insisting on the procreation of numerous children wherever

mental and moral strength is combined with bodily health. In this

connection I am strongly opposed to the neo-Malthusians, who simply

propose to diminish the number of births indiscriminately, as well as

to the religious dogmas, especially Catholic, which, under the

fallacious pretext of so-called divine inspiration, would hinder the

progress of the social sciences.

Human selection is the principle which should lead us to the object to

be attained in the remote future. It is not by legal constraint, but

by universal instruction, that we shall obtain general recognition and

acceptance of this principle. We have proved in Chapter VI, with

regard to sexual selection, that women are much more exclusive in

their choice than men, and that among savages they prefer courage and

bodily strength. At the present day, owing to change of customs,

cultured and intelligent women are, on the contrary, much less

attracted by man's physical strength than by his intellectual

superiority or genius. This gives us a very important indication of

the selection we desire, and confirms the necessity of instructing

women in sexual matters. I foresee that the enlightened and

intelligent women are those who will support human selection with the

greatest energy and success.

I repeat here that it is not our object to create a new human race of

superior beings, but simply to cause gradual elimination of the unfit,

by suppressing the causes of blastophthoria, and sterilizing those who

have hereditary taints by means of a voluntary act; at the same time

urging healthier, happier and more social men to multiply more and

more.

A profound study of blastophthoria and all the phenomena of the mneme

and normal heredity leaves no doubt on the possibility of attaining

this object. Is not the quality of dogs improved by breeding from the

good and eliminating the bad? Are not certain families distinguished

in their character, work and intelligence, because for many

generations their ancestors have preserved these qualities and

maintained the family type by means of careful marriages? On the other

hand, are not cowardice, falseness and meanness, etc., reproduced with

quite as much certainty in other families? I refer the reader to the

description given by Joerger of the disastrous effects of alcoholic

blastophthoria and bad heredity produced during nearly two centuries

in the numerous members of a family of vagabonds (vide Chapter XI).

One must be blinded by religious prejudice to deny such striking

truths. No doubt, our pathological degenerations and our

cross-breeding are so infinitely complex that at any time atavism may

produce ecphoria of better children derived from bad parents, and that

of inferior children derived from better parents. We have seen in the

first chapter the complex relations which exist between these

phenomena. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by the

appearances of certain particular cases.

What then are the types of men which we should endeavor to produce?

=Types to Eliminate.=--First of all we must understand that negative

action is much easier than positive. It is more easy to mention the

types which should not be allowed to multiply than those which should.

These are, in the first place, all criminals, lunatics, and imbeciles,

and all individuals who are irresponsible, mischievous, quarrelsome or

amoral. These are the persons who do the most harm in society, and

introduce into it the most harmful taints. It is the same with

alcoholics, opium-eaters, etc., who, although often capable in other

respects, are dangerous by their blastophthoric influence. Here the

only remedy consists in the suppression of the use of narcotics, for

it is no use eliminating a few narcotized individuals as long as a

greater number is always being produced.

Persons predisposed to tuberculosis by heredity, chronic invalids, the

subjects of rickets, hemophilia, and other persons incapable of

procreating a healthy race owing to inherited diseases or bad

constitution, form a second category of individuals who ought to avoid

propagation, or do so as little as possible.

=Types to Perpetuate.=--On the other hand, men who are useful from the

social point of view--those who take a pleasure in work and those who

are good tempered, peaceful and amiable should be induced to multiply.

If they are endowed with clear intelligence and an active mind, or

with an intellectual or artistic creative imagination, they constitute

excellent subjects for reproduction. In such cases certain taints

which are not too pronounced may be passed over.

True will-power, _i.e._, perseverance in the accomplishment of

rational resolutions, and not the tyrannical and obstinate spirit of

domination, is also one of the most desirable qualities which ought to

be reproduced. Will-power must not be confounded with impulsiveness,

which is rather the antinomy of it, but often deceives superficial

observers, and makes them believe in the existence of a strong will,

because of the violent manner in which it tries to realize momentary

impulsive resolutions.

=Human Social Value.=--We have seen that, owing to traditional

routine, the intellectual merit of a young man is unfortunately judged

by the results of examinations. To succeed in these, a good memory and

strong mental receptivity are all that is necessary. It follows from

this that nonentities often attain the highest social positions, while

originality, creative power, perseverance, honesty, responsibility and

duty take a back place. I refer the reader to what I have said on the

estimation of human value, especially in the Landerziehungsheime

(Chapter XVI). They should be estimated according to their utility in

practical social life, where the qualities of will and creative

imagination play a more considerable part than memory and rapidity in

assimilating the ideas of others.

But we have seen that the standard of ordinary examinations is false,

even as regards pure intelligence. Critical judgment and imaginative

power of combination have a much greater intellectual value than

memory or the power of assimilation. It is, therefore, not to be

wondered at that the boy who is at the top of his class so often turns

out a failure, while the dunce who failed in his examinations

sometimes becomes a genius or at any rate a very useful and capable

man. From such facts, which are extremely common, it is falsely

concluded, by a kind of fatalism, that "one never knows what will

become of a man, for personalities change so much." This false

conclusion is simply due to the erroneous criterion which is used in

the evaluation of childhood, combined with the disgust inspired in

strong and original minds by our schools.

Diseases and other accidents may sometimes hinder the development of

good dispositions, or even cause them to abort completely.

Nevertheless, we shall rarely make false prophecies if we begin by

avoiding the gross errors that we have pointed out in the mental

evaluation of youth. It is also necessary to institute extensive

psychological observations on the development of individuals, and in

the value of their work at adult age compared with their peculiarities

observed in childhood. I am certain that in this way the social value

of a young man, or even a child, and in general all members of human

society, could be calculated in advance in a more exact way.

=Domestic Animals and Plants.=--The weak constitution of the domestic

varieties of plants and animals has been used as an argument against

human selection. If the animal and vegetable varieties which we raise

by artificial selection have not enough strength when left to

themselves, this is due to the fact that in creating them we have not

consulted their interests in the struggle for existence, but only our

own. For example, we raise for our own use fat pigs which can scarcely

walk, pear trees with succulent fruit which has very few seeds, etc.

It is obvious that these monstrosities cannot be expected to maintain

themselves in the struggle for existence. Human selection, on the

contrary, is only concerned with what is advantageous for man,

individually as well as socially. It is, therefore, not a question of

a Utopian hypothesis, but of facts, the daily consequences of which we

can observe in society, if we only look at them without prejudice.

=Calculation of Averages.=--Francis Galton has studied this question

by the aid of the law of variations and by the calculation of

probabilities. This law only deals with so-called fortuitous elements,

due to thousands of minute causes which act to a great extent against

each other and become mutually compensated in their general effect, so

that the two extremes are always represented by small numbers and the

average by large numbers. But, when certain special and greater forces

come into play, the general resultant is deviated in one direction or

the other.

Galton shows that this law applies to social relations and mental

values as well as to the stature of the body. In a given society there

are always some individuals who are very good, some very bad, and many

mediocrities. When a powerful general factor, such as alcohol or

corruption by money, lowers all the individual values, the total value

of the whole scale of capacities is lowered. Galton shows that the

average values can be appreciably raised by inducing the class of

higher values to reproduce themselves, and by preventing the lower

values from doing so.

Prof. Jules Amann has shown how the immigration of the Huguenots into

Switzerland and Germany after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by

Louis XIV (1685) contributed to raise the mental level in these

countries and continues to do so at the present day.

=Visions of the Past and Future.=--It is always sad to see capable,

hard-working men and women, very useful from the social point of view,

remaining sterile, simply on account of our social or religious

prejudices; whereas, for the benefit of the community, they ought to

marry as young as possible and procreate numerous children.

I have already said (the idea is found in Andre Couvreur's _La

Graine_) that, if the sterility of one of the conjoints in marriage

unfortunately leads to sterility in the other conjoint, the law, to

make good the loss, should allow bigamy or concubinage in favor of the

second, when the latter is very capable. I cannot dwell too strongly

on the necessity of compensating for the sterilization which is so

necessary with ill-formed or incapable beings, as well as for the

period of rest which is due to women between their confinements, by an

energetic multiplication of all useful and capable individuals.

In the same way, it is a real pity to see so many healthy, active and

intelligent girls become old maids, simply because they have no money

and do not wish to throw themselves at the first scamp who comes. It

would be far better to allow a little free polygamy, with complete

equality of the two sexes and certain legal precautions, than to lose

so much good seed and grow so many weeds. I refer the reader to what I

have said on the duties of parents toward their children, and on the

duties of society toward the procreators of healthy children. (Chapter

XIII.)

It would certainly take a century to obtain any appreciable

improvement in the quality of a race by this procedure, even if it

were carried out in a methodical and general way. At the end of a few

centuries our descendants might recognize the happiness that they owe

to our efforts. They would also no doubt be astonished at being

descended from such a race of barbarians, and at having so many

drunkards, criminals and imbeciles among their ancestors. The mingling

of mysticism in sexual life, which now exists under the name of

religion, would appear to them almost the same as idolatry and the

practice of "magicians" among savage races appears to us.

As to the effects of alcoholic drinks and prostitution, these would

give them almost the same impression as the instruments of torture of

the Middle Ages which we see exhibited in museums, or the horrors of

the Inquisition, or burning at the stake for witchcraft.

Many of my readers will no doubt regard my comparisons as exaggerated

or fanatical, because, imbued as we are with contemporary thought, we

cannot, without a great effort of imagination and having at our

disposal much experience and many objects of comparison, identify

ourselves with the thought of the past or that of the future. I

recommend persons who cannot appreciate this fact to read the "Key to

Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher-Stowe (not the novel itself).

This book contains numerous documents relating to the time of negro

slavery before the American war of secession. When they read what

happened at that time, for example, advertisements in the public

journals of dogs trained to track escaped slaves, they will perhaps

agree with me. Pious pastors then gave their support to slavery, as

they often do now to alcohol. What now appears to us as monstrous

seemed then quite natural.

=Reform in Education.=--After human selection, I consider pedagogic

reform in the sexual and other domains as the most important of

positive reforms. (Vide Chapters XVII and XIII.) Although good quality

in the germ is one of the fundamental conditions for man's happiness,

it is not sufficient. Just as we can obtain by education comparatively

useful individuals from comparatively defective germs, so can we more

easily damage phylogenetically good germs, by evil influences during

their ontogeny.

Society should devote all its care to the good general education of

the body and mind of children. It should do everything possible to

develop harmoniously the intelligence, sentiments, will, character,

altruism and aesthetics, after the manner of the Landerziehungsheime,

which we have described in Chapter XVII. Every good hereditary type

should be given the opportunity for free expansion, by means of

rational education and work.

With regard to individuals who are defective by heredity, their better

dispositions might be developed up to a certain point and made to

antagonize the bad dispositions, so that the latter should not

predominate in the brain. (Vide Chapter XVII.)

In spite of the great importance of rational pedagogy, we must not

forget that it is incapable of replacing selection. It serves for the

immediate object, which is to utilize in the best possible way human

material as it exists at present; but by itself it cannot in any way

improve the quality of the future germ. It can, however, by

instructing youth on the social value of selection, prepare it to put

the latter in action.

UTOPIAN IDEAS ON THE IDEAL MARRIAGE OF THE FUTURE

The outward life of man is largely influenced by events of the moment;

but his inner life is determined by memories of the past combined with

heredity, and thus gives rise to efforts toward the future. The past

should never be allowed to dominate the present or the future, but

should combine past experience with new impressions, and constitute a

prolific source of ideas and resolutions.

The marriage of the future pre-supposes people to be completely

instructed from their childhood in natural sexual intercourse and its

eventual dangers. It pre-supposes man brought up without alcohol or

other narcotics, possessing the right to utilize the produce of his

work for life and the maintenance of his own person, but not that of

capitalizing for himself or his children, nor of making legacies to

others, _i.e._, of founding by the aid of money a power for the

exploitation of others. Everyone will know from his childhood that

work is a necessary condition for the existence of all.

Brought up in common with absolutely equal rights, girls and boys will

be aware of the differences in their life tasks, such as differences

of sex and individuality indicate them. Till the age of sixteen, or

perhaps longer, they will have been instructed in the schools by

simultaneous development of intelligence, bodily and technical

exercises, aesthetics, moral and social sentiments and will. Without

frightening them with the specter of eternal punishment, and without

alluring them by the promise of paradise after death, they will have

been taught that the object of our transient individual existence is

continual effort to attain a pure human ideal. They will have learnt

to find the truest satisfaction in the accomplishment of their

different duties, and in work in common for the benefit of society.

They will also have learnt to despise frivolity and luxury, to attach

no importance to personal property and to put all their ambition into

the quantity and quality of their work.

The sexual appetite will manifest itself in different individuals at

different ages. Trained from childhood not to yield to every desire,

but to subordinate their appetites to the welfare of the community,

they will not yield immediately. Moreover, they will know the

signification of this appetite. They will also know that their

patience will not be tried too long, and that they may speak openly on

sexual subjects to their masters and parents and even to their

companions of the opposite sex.

What will be the consequences of such a state of things? Attachments

will be formed early. But, instead of making all kinds of calculations

concerning money, social position, etc.; instead of concealing their

thoughts in the form of conventional politeness; instead of avoiding

an honest explanation of the knotty point, or, at the most passing

over this explanation like a cat on hot cinders; instead of trying to

dazzle by their charms the one they wish to capture, the lovers of the

future will be much more frank because they will have less reason to

dissimulate. They will exchange plans for the future, and will

mutually test each other's constancy and loyalty without fear of

scandal and slander.

The two sexes will be able to enter into free relations with each

other, first of all because they will both be instructed in sexual

life, and secondly, because manners and customs will be more free.

Without actual sexual intercourse, two lovers will thus be able to see

whether their temperaments are well adapted to each other.

Then, thanks to its liberty, the period of betrothal will allow a free

interchange of ideas on life between the parties concerned, so that

they will soon find out whether they are likely or not to live

harmoniously in conjugal union. Questions of heredity, procreation and

education will be dealt with calmly and freely. This will be certainly

more moral than the present conversations between betrothed couples,

"well-brought up," who, apart from certain conventional degrees of

flirtation, hardly dare mention anything but commonplaces.

A young man of talent, who wishes to continue his studies, will not be

prevented from marrying. He may, for example, marry at twenty-four a

young girl of eighteen and continue his studies till he is twenty-six.

The inconvenience will be slight, for the habits of life will be

simpler, and he can easily, by anticonceptional measures, avoid having

children for a year or two.

What will marriage be like? First of all, all useless luxury and

conventional formality will be reduced to a minimum. The husband and

wife will both work, either together, or each on their own account,

according to circumstances. Part of the work will naturally be devoted

to the children. As at present, the husband will be able to

participate in the personal education of the children, if he is more

disposed than the wife.

Equality in the rights of the two sexes and matriarchy (vide Chapter

XIII) will not render conjugal relations less intimate, but will, on

the contrary, deepen their roots by raising their moral value. There

will be less time to shine in society; dinner-parties and society

functions of all kinds will be unknown; these things are for the idle

rich, who have time to kill and money to spend. If a friend comes, and

there is time to receive him and something for him to eat, he will be

invited to take "potluck" with his family.

Clothes will be simple, comfortable and hygienic. Dwellings will be

artistic, aesthetic and scrupulously clean. Pomp and luxury are not

art, and are sometimes so overdone that they wound the most elementary

sense of aesthetics.

If the occupation of the married couple or the number of their

children render domestic servants necessary, the latter will not have

the same position in the family as our present servants. Their

education and social position being the same as those of the members

of the family, they will take the position of companions rather than

servants. No domestic work will be considered as degrading.

If the marriage is sterile, the conjoints will adopt orphans or

children from other large families. In certain cases, of which we have

spoken, concubinage may be preferred which, with such a change in

social organization, will amount to bigamy; but here everything will

be done openly and by mutual agreement. In such cases any one who

cannot overcome jealousy will be divorced.

If, in spite of everything, a marriage is not happy, owing to

incompatibility of character, the marriage (or sexual contract) will

be dissolved, after legal provision for the children and their

education. After this each of the conjoints will be free to marry

again. This last contingency will probably not be more frequent than

it is as present, possibly less, especially when there are children,

for divorce is always painful when there are children to be brought

up.

Work, and the effort of striving toward the ideal of social life, are

the best and most healthy distractions for the sexual appetite. It is

the idleness, luxury and corruption of large cities which cause it to

degenerate. Moreover, work revives love and leaves little time for

family disputes.

With a little independence of character, and abandonment of old

prejudices, we can even now realize our scheme to a great extent.

=The Art of Loving Long.=--The ideal true love often only shows itself

after the first amorous intoxication has subsided. In order to remain

harmonious, love requires above all things the higher psychic

irradiation of intimate sympathetic sentiments associated with the

sexual appetite, with which they should always remain intimately

connected, or at any rate as long as the duration of the active sexual

life of man. Later on, in the evening of life, the first are

sufficient.

The great error into which most men fall who marry is to rely on the

civil and religious bonds of matrimony. As soon as the union is

sealed, they return to their usual habits and mode of life. Each

expects much from the other and gives as little as possible. When

amorous sexual intoxication is over, the husband no longer finds any

charm in his wife, he becomes enamored of other women to whom he

devotes his attention, reserving his bad temper for his wife, while

the latter takes no more trouble to please him.

I agree that a man cannot for long conceal his true nature; we are

what we are by heredity. Nevertheless, the art of being amiable may be

acquired by habit and education, an art which the poorest may employ.

Education should never cease during life. Along with the higher

sentiments of love and mutual respect, lasting sexual attraction is a

link of inestimable value in maintaining a long and happy union

between man and woman in marriage.

The married couple should, therefore, avoid everything which may

rupture this link. The wife should devote herself to making the home

attractive to her husband. The latter, on his part, should neither

regard his wife as a mere housekeeper, nor only as an object for the

satisfaction of his sexual appetite. Such a conception of woman and

marriage is unfortunately very common and is incompatible with true

conjugal happiness.

On the other hand, it is not enough for the husband to esteem and

respect his wife as a faithful companion, to whom he is united in a

purely intellectual way. For the couple to find lasting and complete

happiness in marriage, love, however ideal it may be, should be

accompanied by sexual enjoyment. In short, intellectual and

sentimental harmony should be combined with sensual harmony in a

single and sublime symphony. The husband should not only regard his

wife as the incarnation of all the domestic virtues, but should also

continue to imagine her as the Venus of his early love.

This condition may be realized even when youth has passed away,

provided the deep sympathetic sentiments of an ideal love have truly

existed and are maintained. The wife will then continue to be for her

husband the goddess she has always been. But if this condition is not

realized it is not always easy for the husband, with his polygamous

disposition, to remain insensible to the charms of other women.

However, habit and imagination may do much to correct this tendency.

I think the following advice may be useful to the husband (and

occasionally also to the wife). When his sexual passion is excited by

another woman and he is in danger of succumbing, he should endeavor,

by the aid of his imagination, to clothe his own wife with the charms

of his would-be seducer. With a little determination this measure will

often succeed; he will thus strengthen his sexual desire toward his

own wife, and perhaps increase hers also. In this way, a flame which

threatened to destroy conjugal happiness may sometimes serve to

strengthen it, by reviving afresh the mutual feelings of love and

desire. In the first part of his "Wahlverwandtschaften" (elective

affinities), Goethe designates this phenomenon by the term _mental

adultery_; but I am of the opinion that it is rather the expression of

a _mental conjugal fidelity_ which is strengthened by sensual

substitution.

When there is true love and good-will on both sides, such experiences

may often help toward the gradual consolidation of conjugal relations.

Not only may a deviated passion be brought back to the conjugal bed,

but certain discords may be restored to harmony, and the couple may

find new desire and mutual affection which have been put to the test.

=Matriarchism.=--With regard to family relations there is an important

point to consider, which we have already touched upon in Chapter XIII.

The power of man and of patriarchism has had the result of giving the

father's name to the family. This system is not only unnatural, but

also has deplorable effects. If it is true that the germ of the

individual (_Chromosomes_, Chapter I) inherits on the average as much

from the father as from the mother, the latter is more closely

connected with it from all other points of view. Races in which the

maternal influence predominates in the family, not only in name but

also in other respects, have better understood the voice of nature.

The fact that the mother carries the child for nine months in her

womb, and for many years after birth is more intimately associated

with it than the father, gives her a natural right which the father

cannot claim. Children ought, therefore, to be named after the mother.

Moreover, in case of divorce, it should be the rule for children to be

restored to the mother, unless there are special reasons for another

decision.

It is evident that in the conditions of modern civilization we cannot

return to matriarchism in its primitive sense. An old patriarch cannot

become the sole sovereign of all his descendants without the

occurrence of grave abuses, no more can this power devolve on a

grandmother. Apart from denomination in the maternal line, I mean by

matriarchism, the legal privilege of the management of the family

conferred on the wife, who is in reality the center of the family.

I will sum up what appears to me to be required, in the following

propositions:

1. Denomination in the maternal line.

2. With the exception of cases in which the wife loses her maternal

rights owing to incapacity, bad conduct or insanity, etc., or when the

law is obliged to deprive her of them, she alone will possess the

guardianship and the management of her children during their minority.

3. The wife will be proprietor and housekeeper of the house and

household. Her work of housekeeping and her maternal duties will be

estimated at their just value, and will have the right to

compensation, equivalent to the husband's work in his business.

4. As long as conjugal union exists, the husband has the right to live

in his wife's house, for the protection he gives to the family, for

the work he gives toward the house and the education of the children,

as well as for his pecuniary contributions toward the expenses of

both.

5. With the exception of contributions to the house and education, and

to the feeding and clothing of the children, the product of the

husband's work and private fortune belong to him, just as the product

and fortune of his wife are her own property. In the case of divorce

there will then be no difficulty in separating the two properties.

Excepting in cases mentioned in the second proposition, which will be

decided by law, the children will belong to the mother only. But as

long as he lives and is able to work, the divorced father must

continue to contribute to the maintenance and education of the

children he has procreated, till they come of age.

These propositions have only a legal value, and will only be required

when the conjoints cannot come to a mutual understanding. They in no

way concern those who are able to live together in mutual concord. A

weak and passive woman will continue as before to subordinate herself

to the advice and opinions of a husband stronger and wiser than

herself.

It is needless to say that, after divorce or separation, things will

not always go smoothly, although more so than at present. The husband

will always have the right to have certain claims decided by law. When

the law is not exclusively in the hands of men, it will be more

capable of protecting the rights of women. Cases in which a mother is

incapable of bringing up her own children, or where the father is

capable of great devotion and sacrifice are not now so rare, but they

are nevertheless exceptional.

=The Present Day.=--It is not to be expected that the above

propositions will find much support at the present day among the

majority of people, still less that they will soon be realized by the

governing bodies, considering their conservative and idle tendencies

and their inertia. It may be asked, on the other hand, whether the

present laws do not already provide us with the ways and means of

attaining the ideal that we propose. I already see two:

First of all, as pointed out in Chapter XIII, we may enter into

contracts which make the properties entirely separate, and according

to the local legislation in force, fulfill other of the above

propositions. For instance, in some countries, the wife can preserve

by contract the property and management of the house, etc.

In the second place, illegitimate children now bear the family name

of their mother; this is exactly what we desire. When concubinage is

not prosecuted and punished by law, a free marriage could be arranged

by private contract which would fulfill the above conditions. Some

persons, I admit, would require much courage to do this, for it is not

every one who can brave public opinion when he has a good reputation

to lose. Moreover, such unions would not enjoy the protection of the

State. By a little perseverance, however, the public might be induced

to call the woman "Mrs." instead of "Miss."

It is not impossible for unions of this kind between honorable persons

to become more frequent, and gradually compel society to recognize

free unions as the equivalent of traditional, or so-called legal,

marriage, to accord them the same rights and recognize the children

born of them. The conjoints could be named by combining both family

names; for example, if Miss Martin enters into a free union with Mr.

Durand, she might be called Mrs. Martin-Durand, and her husband Mr.

Durand-Martin.

=Conclusion.=--It may perhaps be thought that I am imagining the

existence of the purest ideal and the happiness of paradise in a world

in which the hereditary quality of men will be no better than it is

to-day. I hope that no reader who has followed me carefully will

regard me as so ingenuous. Then as now there will be intrigues and

disputes, hatred, envy, jealousy, idleness, impropriety, falsehood,

negligence, temper, etc., but their power will be less. There will be

less excuse for these bad qualities and those who possess them will be

regarded as pathological individuals who should be eliminated as much

as possible by means of proper selection, combined with good hygiene

and thorough education.

On the other hand, men of originality and high ideals will be able to

develop much more freely and naturally than at present. They will no

longer be the slaves of power, money, prejudice and routine. They will

not be obliged to conform to religious hypocrisy, but will be able to

speak and act according to their convictions. Marriage, and sexual

relations in general, will no longer be a perpetual conventional

falsehood. The sentiments no longer fettered, will not be led astray

into mischievous ways by artificial excitement, so long as they do

not depend on unhealthy dispositions, for the pretexts and especially

the pecuniary inducement to commit evil actions and contract bad

habits will have been removed as far as possible.

For the same reason prostitution will become almost impossible, for it

will cease to have any reason for existence. Immoderate sexual

intercourse, like other excesses, will not cease to exist, but will be

kept in certain limits by the work which no one will be able to

escape.

At the end of his history of materialism (1874) F.A. Lange wrote as

follows:

"We lay down our pen and terminate our criticism at a time when Europe

is agitated by the social question. In the vast social domain, all the

revolutionary elements of science, religion and politics meet together

and seem prepared for a decisive battle. Whether this battle remains a

simple contest of minds or whether it takes the form of a cataclysm

which will bury thousands of unfortunates in the ruins of a

disappearing period, one thing is certain:--the new epoch will only

succeed by abolishing egoism, and placing the work of improvement of

the human race in the hands of a human cooperative society, in place

of our feverish work which has only personal interest at heart.

"The contests which are impending will be mitigated if the minds which

are to direct the people are imbued with the knowledge of human

evolution and historical phenomena.

"We must not abandon the hope that in the remote future great changes

may take place without defiling humanity with fire and bloodshed. It

would certainly be the finest reward for strenuous work of the human

mind, if it could from this time prepare an easy way to that which a

certain future reserves for us, avoiding atrocious sacrifices and

saving the treasures of our civilization to be transmitted to the new

epoch.

"Unfortunately, this prospect has little chance of realization, and we

cannot disguise the fact that blind party passion goes on increasing,

and that the brutal struggle of interests becomes more and more

removed from the influence of theoretical research. However, our

efforts will not all be in vain, and truth will prevail in the end.

In any case the observer who thinks has no right to be silent, simply

because at the present moment he has only a small number of

listeners."

Thirty years ago Lange's pessimism would be comprehensible; but ideas

have progressed since then, and the prospects of to-day give us more

courage for social work.

The Utopian ideas which I have expressed have in no way the pretension

to be new. Analyzing the facts in the most diverse domains, I have

simply attempted to find those which seem to me suited to solve the

sexual problem of the human race most advantageously under the present

social conditions. Every one to-day admits that our sexual life leaves

much to be desired, but is afraid of touching the crumbling edifice.

I leave it to my readers to decide whether my ideas are nothing more

than Utopian, or whether they do not rather represent a realizable

ideal, begging them to reflect as calmly and independently as possible

before giving their judgment.

After all, we have to choose between pessimistic acceptance of the

fatal decay of our race for the benefit of the Mongols, and an

immediate and energetic effort toward selective and educational

improvement, an effort which will alone be capable of reviving our

hereditary vital energy. Whoever decides in favor of the latter

alternative should occupy himself with the sexual question, and boldly

declare war against the domination of private capital, the abuse of

alcohol, and all the prejudices by which we are hampered. He should

abandon the luxury and effeminate comfort of our time and return to

the principles of Lycurgus and the Japanese--to the education of

character and self-control by methodical training in continuous social

work combined with voluntary fatigue and privation.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REMARKS

I shall no doubt be reproached for not having taken sufficient notice

of other works on the subject of this book. I have, however, desired

to express my own opinion without allowing myself to be unduly

influenced by others. I will nevertheless make a few remarks on the

bibliography of this subject.

I may mention the celebrated work of the Italian physician,

Mantigazza, on the _Physiology of Love_. It is a curious fact that

this author, after his poetic descriptions of love, is in favor of

prostitution. The German socialist, Bebel, has written a very

remarkable book on woman in the past, the present and the future. In

spite of scientific errors, which are easily excused in a self-made

man who became one of the leaders of the German Reichstag, this book

remains a veritable social monument on the sexual question. With the

exception of his strong political bias, and the errors I have just

mentioned I am, on the whole, in accord with the ideas of Bebel.

Another German author, Boelsche, (_Das Liebesleben in der Natur_) has

recently described love among all organized beings, including man,

with a tone of forced pleasantry which spoils the profound knowledge

of the author on the zoological and other subjects which he treats.

With regard to German literature, I recommend the _Archiv fuer Rassen

und Gesellschafts' Biologie_, edited by Doctor Plotz of Berlin. This

publication has for its object the study of the causes of degeneration

in our race and the remedies for it. Among other articles which have

appeared in this publication I may specially mention those of

Shallmayer on _Heredity and Selection in the Life of Races_, and

Thurnwald, _Town and Country in the Life of the Race_. I may also

mention Plotz: _Die Tuechtigkeit unserer Rasse und der Schutz der

Schwachen_, 1895, and _Mutterschutz_, a journal for the reform of

sexual ethics, 1905.

France has always shone in the domain of the poetry of love and the

art connected with it. Apart from the ancient classics I may refer to

George Sand, Alfred de Musset, Lamartine, and Madame de Stael. In the

practical conception of free love, George Sand was in advance of her

time. Among modern authors there are Paul Bourget; Andre Couvreur, who

in _La Graine_ deals with the problem of human selection; Brieux, who

in _Les Avaries_, attacks the social tragedies of venereal disease.

The book of Vacher de Lapouge on social selection is full of

interesting ideas, although too much influenced by the unstable

hypothesis of Gobineau. To make distinct zoological species of

dolichocephalics and brachycephalics, as Vacher de Lapouge attempts,

is a grave error in zoology. Charles Albert: _L'Amour Libre_, and

Queyrat: _La Demoralization de l'idee sexuelle_, give the note of

contemporary change in ideas on the sexual question.

In _Le Mariage et les Theories Malthusiennes_ (Paris, 1906) Dr.

Georges Guibert recommends early marriage, but does not take account

of human selection. Remy de Gourmont, _Physique de l'amour; Essai sur

l'instinct sexuel_, Paris, 1903, describes, very pessimistically, love

in the animal kingdom. Jeanne Deflou (_Le Sexualisme_, Paris, 1905)

has written a virulent feminine complaint against the injustice of the

stronger sex.

But the French author who has given the most profound, the truest

descriptions of the psychology of love and the sexual appetite is

undoubtedly Guy de Maupassant. No doubt his last illness caused him to

produce certain more or less regrettable works in which certain

pornographic traits appeared. He may, perhaps, be accused of having

too often described the pathology of love, which, by the way, he

admirably understood. Perhaps also, he has too often dealt with

exceptional situations and irresponsible passions. But these are only

details, and we must admit that by drawing attention to the unhealthy

features of our modern sexual life, he compels the reader to reflect,

and inspires him not only with disgust for evil but with profound

sadness and a feeling of revulsion. He often reveals his predilection

for the refined, hypersensitive love of the boudoir which we have

regarded here as a symptom of social degeneration. But this does not

prevent his clear insight into the love of the proletariat, the

peasant or the healthy man. He knows man as well as woman, and if he

has presented them most often under their least moral aspect it is

because he has observed them closely. But occasionally he rises to the

greatest heights of the truest, purest and most profound love.

INDEX

INDEX

Abolitionism, 316

Abortion, artificial, 408, 440

Abstinence, sexual, 114

Accouchement, 60

Adornment, 156

Adultery, 373, 412

Alcohol, effect on embryo, 37, 268, 462

effect on sexual appetite, 88, 100, 266, 332, 503

Altruism and Egoism, 448

Amorous Intoxication, 277, 288

Americanism, 331

Anaesthesia, sexual, 222

Anthropoid apes, 145, 195

Anticonceptional measures, 423, 497

Antipathy, 108

_Antony and Cleopatra_, 289

Ants, 194, 359

Art, moral effect of, 496

in sexual life, 489

of loving long, 520

and pornography, 491

Aspermia, 209

Assaults on minors, 403

Atavism, 29

Attraction, methods of, 156

Audacity, masculine, 115

Bachelors, old, 127

Bartholin's glands, 57

Beauty, 162

_Becket_, 352

Bees, 194

_Bernheim_, 277

Bestiality, 255

_Bezzola_, 268

Birth, 23

Blastophthoria, 36, 268

Braggardism, sexual, 120

Brain, weight of, 66, 190

_Brieux_, 407, 438

Brothels, 303

clandestine, 307

high class, 310

Budding, 9

Bullies, 303

Butterflies, 74

_Caelius Aurelianus_, 399

_Caligula_, 353

Castration, 25

_Catherine de Medici_, 353

Catholicism, Roman, 341

Cell division, 6

Celibacy, 153

Children and marriage, 377

civil rights of, 378

education of, 471

protection of, 487

_Chiniqui_, 342

_Chauvin, de_, 36

Civil law, 368

Civil marriage, 370

Climate and sexual life, 327

Clitoris, 55

Coeducation, 481

Coitus, 56

Commandments, 454

Conception, regulation of, 423

Concubinage, 322, 406

Confession, Roman Catholic, 342

Conjugation, 11

Consanguinity, 47

Constellations, 110

Continence, 81, 220, 422

Coquetry, 139

Corpus cavernosum, 53

luteum, 19

_Correggio_, 355

Correlative sexual characters, 25, 64

Council of Trent, 172

Cunnilingus, 230, 275

_Darwin_, 32, 34, 39, 480

_Debreyne_, 345

Decidua, 19

_Demosthenes_, 187

Divorce, 373

Domestic animals and plants, 514

_Dubois_, 46

Duty, 106

Ecphoria, 15

Ecstasy, 143

ecstasy and religion, 356

Education, 470, 516

Egoism, 361

dual, 113

Egoistic love, 125

Embryo, formation of, 9

rights of, 411

Embryology, 19

Endogamy, 164

Engram, 15

Environment and sexual life, 326

Epididymis, 52

Epispadias, 210

Erection, 53

Eroticism, 121, 485

and religion, 354

Erotomania, 258

Ethnology of sexual life, 144

Eunuchs, 25, 347

Evolution, 39

sexual, 192

Exhibitionism, 241, 405

Exogamy, 164

Expiation, 364

Factory life, 326

Fakirs, 239

Fertilization of eggs, 12

Fetichism, 142, 240

_Fischer_, 36

Flirtation, 99

Free love, 384

Free will, 365

Genital organs, female, 55

organs, male, 52

Germinal cells, 10

_Goethe_, 73, 131

Gonorrhea, 212

Grisettes, 98, 322

Guardianship, 384

_Guillaume_, 399

_Haeckel_, 10, 34, 40

"Hand-fasting," 150

Heredity, 14, 28

of acquired characters, 34

_Hering_, 14, 35

Hermaphrodites, 10

_Hertwig_, 11

Hetaira, 187, 323

_Hirschfeld_, 242

History, mental anomalies in, 350

Homophony, 16

Homosexual love, 241, 251

Hottentots, 347

Human selection, 412, 509

Hybridity, 47, 163

Hymen, 55

Hyperaesthesia, sexual, 225

Hypnotism, 277

Hypochondriasis, 232, 261

Hypocrisy, sexual, 123

Hypospadias, 210

Ideal Marriage, 517

Idealism, 132

Idiots, 410

moral, 261

Imaginary love, 263

Impotence, 85, 219

Incest, 402

Insane, sexual anomalies in, 256

Internats, 338

Inversion, sexual, 241, 251

Inverts, marriage of, 378

Irradiations of love, 115, 128

"Jack the Ripper," 234

Jealousy, 104, 117, 139, 260

_Joan of Arc_, 351

_Joerger_, 331

Jus primae noctis, 151

_Keller_, 356

Kinship, 107

_Krafft-Ebing_, 142, 208, 234, 404

_Lamarck_, 39

Landerziehungsheime, 477

Lesbian love, 275

_Liguori_, 341

Lorettes, 322

Love, 111

Love and sexual appetite, 104

maternal, 135

and religion, 143

_Lubbock_, 181

Lycurgus, laws of, 466

_Marchal_, 18

Mariage de convenance, 91

Marriage by purchase, 170

by rape, 170

consanguineous, 164, 387

duration of, 182

for money, 295

forms of, 173

hygiene of, 427

ideal, 517

Masochism, 237

Masturbation, 80, 220, 228

Maternal love, 135

Maternity, 62

Matriarchism, 378, 522

_Maupassant, Guy de_, 133, 140, 301, 308

Medical advice, 421, 434

secrecy, 435

Medicine and sexual life, 418

Medico-legal case, 413

_Mendel_, 30

Menstruation, 56

Mental Capacity, 67

_Mercier_, 67

_Merrifield_, 36

_Messalina_, 353

_Meynert_, 67

_Mill, Stuart_, 69

Mistresses, 323

Mitosis, 7

Mneme, 14

Modesty, 126, 141

_Moebius_, 65

Money, cult of, 502

"Monkey's love," 136

Monogamy, 173

Morality, 445

Mormons, 174

_Moses_, 454

_Murillo_, 355

Mysogynists' ball, 249

_Napoleon_, 352

Narcotics and sexual life, 503

Natural selection, 42

Neo-malthusianism, 463

_Nero_, 353

Nocturnal emissions, 79

Nudity, 157

Nymphomania, 97, 268

Old maids, 129

Onanism, 228

Ontogeny, 40

of sexual life, 200

Orgasm, veneral, 57

Ovulation, 19

Palaeontology, 39

Pangenesis, 34

Paradoxy, sexual, 221

Parthenogenesis, 9

Passiveness in woman, 130

Paternity, inquiry into, 383

Pathology of sexual organs, 209

Patriarchism, 159

Patriotism, 108

_Paul, St_, 352

Pedagogy and the sexual question, 470

Pederasty, 244

Pederosis, 254

Penal law in sexual matters, 396

Penis, 53

Phallus, 150

Phylogeny, 40

of love, 108

sexual life, 193

Pimps, 88

Pithecanthropus, 46

Placenta, 21

Police and prostitution, 308

Polities and sexual question, 461, 467, 506

Polyandry, 173

Polygamy, 173

Pornography, 85, 121, 140, 406, 506

Pregnancy, 23, 58, 433

Prejudice and tradition, 505

Preventive membranes, 425

Procreative instinct, 92, 116

Promiscuity, 148, 173

Prostate, 53

Prostitutes, fate of, 314

number of, 308

psychology of, 97, 308

training of, 306

varieties of, 312

Prostitution, 88, 97, 185, 298, 308, 377

regulation of, 316

and sexual perversion, 314

Protectors, 303

Protoplasm, 6

Proxenetism, 88, 298, 406

Prudery, 126, 141

Psychic impotence, 85, 219

Psychic irradiations of love, 115, 128

Psychopathology, sexual, 216

Puberty, 77

Race and sexual life, 189

Rape, 402

Rational selection, 464

Religion and love, 143

Religion and sexual life, 340

Religious eroticism, 347

prudery, 346

Reproduction in vertebrates, 51

Restriction in sexual life, 387

Retaliation, 364

Rights in sexual life, 358

Right to satisfaction of the sexual appetite, 373

_Rousseau_, 237, 352

_Sade, Marquis de_, 235

Sadism, 234, 404, 486

Satyriasis, 258

_Schiller_, 59

_Schopenhauer_, 65

_Schwann_, 6

_Seguin_, 327

Selection, contrary, 465

human, 412, 509

natural, 42

rational, 464

Semen, 53

_Semon_, 14, 32

Seminal vesicles, 52

Senile paradoxy, 265

Sexual appetite in man, 72

appetite in woman, 92, 130

disorders, 440

excitation, 86

hygiene, 420

morality, 445, 450

pathology, 208

perversion, 234, 273, 404, 482

power, 81, 203

selection, 161

Sexes, production of, 176

_Shakespere_, 267

Shame, sense of, 157

Social position, 334

Sodomy, 255

Soft chancre, 215

_Solomon_, 353

Spermatorrhea, 210

Spermatozoa, 11

_Spinoza_, 366

Standard of human value, 478, 513

Struggle for existence, 42

Succession, right of, 394

Suckling, 62

Suggestion in art, 291

in love, 284

in sexual life, 277

in sexual anomalies, 272, 291

Sympathy, 284

Syphilis, 213

Testicles, 52

_Themis_, 353

_Tiberius_, 365

_Tolstoi_, 352

Types to eliminate and perpetuate, 512

Urnings, 242

Uterus, 21

Utopia, 499

Vagabondage, 331

Vagina, 55

_Van Beneden_, 11

Venereal diseases, 211, 376, 507

Virgins, cult of, 154

Vitellus, 11

_Vries, de_, 17, 32, 43

War, 461

_Weismann_, 10, 17, 32, 34

_Westermark_, 145, 181, 196

Wealth and poverty, 333

White slavery, 305

Woman, emancipation of, 504

Womb, 21

Yolk, 11

_Zeller_, 355

_Zola_, 323, 407

* * * * *

+-----------------------------------------------------------+

| Typographical errors corrected in text: |

| |

| Page 22: Kulliker replaced with Koelliker |

| Page 52: Vericles replaced with Vesicles |

| Page 256: exidence replaced with evidence |

| Page 273: 'sexual perversion proflably exist' |

| replaced with |

| 'sexual perversion probably exist' |

| Page 353: Medici replaced with Medici |

| Page 404: psycopaths replaced with psyhcopaths |

| Page 426: heriditary replaced with hereditary |

| Page 442: Schrenk-Notzing replaced with Schrenck-Notzing |

| Page 459: perseverence replaced with perseverance |

| Page 490: Shakspere replaced with Shakespere |

| Page 514: necesssary replaced with necessary |

| Page 528: recommned replaced with recommend |

| Page 529: Les Avaries replaced with Les Avaries |

| Page 535: veneral replaced with venereal |

| |

+-----------------------------------------------------------+

* * * * *