\

\

■THE UBRftR^,^™^^

SEX-LORE

By S. HERBERT, M.D., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

AN INTRODUCTION TO

THE PHYSIOLOGY AND
PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX

Large cr. 8vo. Cloth. With 49 Illustrations in the text.
Price 5s. net {hy post 5s. ^d,)

The book is intended to fill a serious gap in the
literature dealing- with sex. It aims at giving the
important facts about sex, mating, and reproduction,
from the physiological and psychological point of
view, and it gathers together for the general reader
a vast array of facts which have hitherto only been
accessible to the student specialising in the subject.

" There is a growing consensus of opinion that consider-
ably more information should be imparted to young people
concerning the relationship of sex. Prohibition is frequently
suggestion, and concealment may be fraught with disaster.
The impartation of this knowledge is a most delicate task,
and this handbook will effectively qualify these upon whom
the duty d.^voXv^s:'— Christian Commonwealth.

'[ It is therefore a real satisfaction to find a sex manual
which may be placed with confidence in the hands of any
educated person. ... He has certainly produced the best
little manual which we possess in this fioid." —Eugenics
Review. ^

PUBLISHED BY
A. AND C. BLACK, LTD^, 4, 5 AND 6 SOHO SQ., LONDON, W. I

AGENTS

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Love and Life. •

(From the picture by G. F. Watts.)

A 4-'^

7

SEX-LORE

A PRIMER ON COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE,
AND PARENTHOOD

BY

MRS. S. HERBERT

WITH A FRONTISPIECE
AND FIFTY-FOUR OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS

A. & C. BLACK, LTD.
4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. i

1918

IH»ljNt Ia i^Ti-^t Mrit&h^

BRIGHAM YC"' ^ "'"VERSITY

PROVO. uiAH

THE YOUNGER GENERATION

/

PREFACE

I HAVE long felt that in spite of the many books
published which deal with Sex, there is none that
can be given to young people with complete confi-
dence. They are either too learned; or, if they avoid
technicalities, they are too barren of real informa-
tion. I have tried to escape both these pitfalls.
The material of the book is based on the works of
well-known authorities, of which a list is given at
the end of the book.

I cannot but make special mention of the influence

and stimulation of my husband's work, without which

this book would not have been written.

F. H.

Manchester,

March, 1918.

vu

V

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION - - - - - 1
PART I.— COURTSHIP

mAPTER

I, Courtship among Animals - . - - 7

1. Invertebrates - - - - - 9

2. Vertebrates - - - - - 14

II. Courtship in Man - - - - - 27

1. Puberty - - - - - - 28

2. Means op Courtship - - - - 34

3. Methods of Courtship - - - - 38

4. Modesty - - - - * - 48

(

PART II.—MATING AND MARRIAGE

I. Mating - - - - - - -56

1. Biological Facts - - - - - o7

2, Physiological Facts - • - - 62

rriage

(j5

1. Matriarch ate - - - - -66

2. Patriarchate - - - ■ - 68

Marriage Ways - - - - 73

3. Monogamy - - * - - 81

Marriage Rites - - - - 82

X CONTENTS

PART III.— PARENTHOOD

CHAPTER ^^^^

I, Reproduction - - - - " -90

1. In Animals - - - " - 90

2. In Man -.---- 98

II. Pareixt and Offspring • - - - - 111

1. Parental Care in Animals - - - HI

2. Parental Care in Man - - - - 132

Index

145

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG.
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

r>.

7.

8.

9.

ttO.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

Love and Life^ by G. F. Watts

Beetle - - - -

Fish - ' -

Triton - - - -

Gold and Silver Birds of Paradise

Fiddler Crabs - - -

Scorpions - - - -

Spiders - . - -

Chameleon- . - -

The Argus Pheasant

The Ruff Bird - - -

Bell Bird - . - -

Birds of Paradise

Bower Birds - - -

Horned Animals - - -

Roaring Stag -

Monkeys - - - -

Initiation Costume

Maturity Costume

Tattooing - - - -

Ornamental Scars

A Turkish Lady in Outdoor Dress

Street Costume of Woman of Tunis

Division of Amceba

Division of a Marinjb Worm

Budding of Yeast

xi

Frontis^

piece

PAGE

-

5

-

5

-

7

facing

8

>}

9

99

10

-

11

-

14

-

16

-

18

-

19

facing

20

9}

21

'

23

facing

24

-

25

facing

30

9>

31

-

37

facing

38

}9

50

-

51

-

55

-

77

.

58

xu

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG.

26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33,
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.

Budding of a Marine Worm - -

Budding of a Sponge Colony - . - -

Conjugation of Noctiluca - . . -

Conjugation of Zanardinia - . - -

VoLvox Minor, with Sex Cells - - - -

A Norwegian Bride - - - - facing

Woman of Sumatra in Bridal Dress - - ,,

Ovum, surrounded by Sperm Cells
Fertilization in Ascaris Megalocephala
Embryogeny of Sagitta - - - - -

Hen's Egg : Diagrammatic Longitudinal Section
Metamorphosis of a Butterfly - - - facing

Cocoons, Chrysalis, and Moth of Silkworm - „
Stages in the Development of the Frog - „

Three Successive Stages of the Human Embryo
Butterfish and Eggs - . - - -

Midwife Toad ------

E31PEROR Penguin -

Nests of Weaver Birds - - - -

Brown Pelican feeding Young -

Young Flamingoes feeding Each Other

Wallaby and Young . . - -

Koala, or Australian Native Bear, and Young

AaiERicAN Woolly Opossum with Young

Swazie Mother with Child

Zulu Woman with Child, threshing Corn

Woman of Java, with Boy

Woman carrying Cradle and Child

EsQuiMO Woman with Child

^acing

PAGE

58

59

59

60

61

86

87

90

91

92

94

94

95

95

99

115

117

122

123

124

124

128

129

129

132

132

133

134

135

SEX-LORE

INTRODUCTION

One of our greatest painters, G. F. Watts, has given
us a picture entitled '' Love and Life," which is re-
produced in the frontispiece of this book. It shows
the figure of Life, represented as a frail, delicate
maiden, guided along her path over precipices by
Love, a vigorous youth. She is stumbling wearily
up a steep and rugged path, and looks almost too
weak and faint to go any further, only that Love
helps and encourages her. He shelters her with his
wing and leads her gently upwards. His presence
gives her confidence, and his strength and sympathy
save her from giving way to despair. In this alle-
gory Watts has embodied a fundamental truth:
Love really is the central and sustaining force of
Life. Not only does love add beauty to life and
brighten it, but life itself springs from love, being
created by the very act of love.

It is love that draws the youth to the maiden,
when childhood has been passed and the first stirrings
of the growing age or adolescence are felt. Then is
the wonderful time of day-dreams and romantic
feelings, when everything assumes a rosy hue. The

I

2 SEX-LORE

world appears beautiful and seems to stretch out
and become too large for the awakening soul to hold.
It is love that finally unites man and woman in the
one great act of creation, which results in the birth
of a new being, the precious frail little babe des-
tined to be the future bearer of life, and thus to carry-
on the unending line of generations. It is love that
shields this new life during its fragile and tender
early days, until it is strong enough to battle for
itself and to thread its way along the rugged path
of existence in order to take up the task of life once
more — love and courtship thus linking up the never-
ending chain.

The following pages, which are to give some account
of love in all its phases, will have to deal with Court-
ship, then with Mating and Marriage, and finally
with Parenthood and Childhood.

PART I— COURTSHIP

" In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to
thoughts of love." This is not felt by the young man
only, nor only by the human race, but by all living
beings. In the spring the trees begin to bud, the
birds pair, and build their nests, and the animals seek
their mates. All Nature awakes to the task of
bringing new life into the world. We all have known
the spirit of hope and rejoicing which enters into us
with the first breath of spring. A joyousness which
seems to have no cause or meaning takes possession
of us; we frisk about, dance and sing, and hardly
know how to give expression to this glorious sensa-
tion of life within us. Never does the world seem
so delightful as in the spring. How lovely is the song
of the birds which greets us from every tree ! They
are only expressing in their own manner what we
all feel.

" A touch of Nature makes the whole world kin."
This touch of Nature which makes us kin with all
mimals is greater than would at first appear, and
foes down to the very roots of our being. The most
mportant organs necessary for our welfare and life
ve have in common with the animals. Although
»ur bodies seem to be so different from theirs, vet

3 ^

4 SEX-LORE

V

we are like them in possessing similar organs of
sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, as well as
organs of digestion and of reproduction.

For ages it was believed that Man and animals

were created separately and that they were entirely

different. It was only in the nineteenth century

that this idea slowly began to give way to the new

discoveries that were made by men of science. Deep

below the surface of the earth, in the rocks, were

found the remains of animals whose types are now

extinct and no longer exist. It was proved that the

fossils found were those of the ancestors of similar

species now living. In the same way, it has been

shown that man's ancestry also can be traced back

to an extinct type of being, which was intermediate

between man and ape, the so-called ape-man. Indeed,

Charles Darwin has established it as a scientific fact

that all animals are descended from earlier, simpler

forms, and that man also traces his origin back

through the ape-man in the last instance to the

animals. This principle, the descent of all higher

beings from the lower, is called the theory of

Evolution.

If we wish, then, to understand ourselves, we shall
derive much help from the study of animals. The
life of animals is more natural and more simple than
that of mankind. They have not our highly com-
plicated social customs, which overlay and often
completely hide our natural impulses. It is because
of this simplicity that animals display the facts of
life in a more primitive and unaffected manner.
The same applies to courtship, the subject of this

Fig. 1. — Beetle {Chalcosoma Atlas),
Upper figure^ male (reduced) ; lower figure^ female (natural size),

Fig. 2. — Fish (Callionymus Lyra),

Upper figure^ male ; lower figure, female. The lower figure is

more reduced than the upper.

(From "The Descent of Man," by C. Darwin.)

5

6 SEX-LORE

chapter. Everybody knows what courtship is; but
its origin and meaning are very little understood.
In dealing, therefore, with the subject we shall con-
sider first the courtship of animals, and then that of
man.

CHAPTER I

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS

If we compare with one another the figures of Love
and Life in our frontispiece, we notice a distinct
difference in their forms. The maiden, in spite of
her slimness, has curved outlines of breast and hips,

YiG, 3. — Triton [Triton Cristatus) (half natural size).

Upper figure^ male^ during breeding season ; lower figure^ female.

(From " The Descent of Man," by C. Darwin.)

and sinuous arms. The youth is of larger build,
with a broad, muscular, fiat chest, strong limbs, and
more rugged outlines. These dissimilarities become
still greater as the maiden develops to full-grown
womanhood and the youth to manhood. Such

7

8 SEX-LORE

traits, peculiar to man and woman respectively, are
called sexual characters.

Sexual differences are to be observed everywhere
in the animal world. Among the higher animals the
male is generally much bigger and stronger than the
female, and often possesses more brilliant colouring, or
appendages, such as combs, wattles, etc., or weapons,
such as antlers, spurs, etc., and other decorations,
which do not always appear beautiful to the human
eye (see Figs. 1 to 5). Many of these decorations in
animals only appear at the mating season, and serve
a special purpose during the period of courtship.
For at this time some males make a great display
of their charms; while others fight among themselves
for the possession of the females.

Darwin, and many subsequent writers with him,
held that the female chooses the most beautiful or
strongest from among the males, the inferior suitors
for her favours being left out in the race of life. As
the best individuals wou^ld thus always be chosen,
they would become the parents of the future genera-
tions, and would pass on their good qualities to their
progeny. Darwin called this process Sexual Selec-
tion. There never has been any doubt that the
amorous displays and combats, so wonderfully de-
scribed by Darwin, actually do take place among
animals. The theory of Sexual Selection, however,
is generally rejected nowadays, a different explana-
tion of these phenomena being given by modern
scientists. It has been shown that the female does
not really choose the male; nor is she generally even
capable of an aesthetic choice. All that happens is,
that she, as well as her partner, is strongly aroused

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 9

by the prolonged parade of beauty and strength.
The most gorgeous or the strongest male, having
gained the victory over his less-favoured rivals, is
left on the field, and becomes the successful possessor
of the object of his desires. Courtship, as thus
interpreted, is seen to perform a very useful purpose
in life, being a preliminary sex play and a necessary
step towards the j&nal act of mating. In considering
the various modes of courtship, we shall commence
with the lower animals and gradually work up to the
higher.

1. Invertebrates.

No real case of courtship has been observed in
animals lower than the Crusters, to which the crabs
and lobsters belong. Among the crabs there are no
great sexual differences between male and female;
but in some the right front claw or " hand " of the
male differs in structure from the left. This shows
itself in an exaggerated form in the Fiddler-Crab
(Fig. 5). According to Pycraft, the male here has
one hand tremendously enlarged, so that it attains
a size twice as great as the body of the crab itself.
It serves chiefly as a war club in the fights which
the males indulge in for possession of the females.
It is of a beautiful cherry-red colour, and is waved
about wildly to attract the female when she is
near.

We find among the Scorpions the first example of
a more elaborate courtship. The scorpion is a near
relation of the spider, and has a poisonous sting
that is used for offence and defence. There is
little difference in size or colouring between the sexes.

10 SEX-LORE

The male makes his advances by pressing the claw
or "hand " of the female, and also by intertwining
his tail with hers. He catches hold of the hand of
the female, and the two take a promenade together
which often lasts for an hour or more (Fig. 6). After
this the male digs a hole near a stone, into which they
both retreat. When the courtship is at an end, the
male is often devoured by the overexcited female.
This fate the unfortunate male scorpion shares with
his relative, the male spider, who also frequently
falls a victim in the act of courtship.

The female spider is generally larger than the male.
Mr. and Mrs. Peckham in their famous study on
spiders describe the courtship of spiders as follows
(see Fig. 7): '^' A male spider was placed in a box
containing a mature female. He saw her as she stood
twelve inches away; the glance seemed to excite him
and he moved towards her. When some four inches
from her he stood still, and then began the most
remarkable performance that an amorous male could
offer to an admiring female. She eyed him eagerly,
changing her position from time to time so that he
might be always in view. He, raising his whole body
on one side by straightening out the legs, and lowering
it on the other by folding the first two pairs of legs
up and under* leans so far over as to be in danger
of losing his balance, which he only maintains by
sidling rapidly towards the lowered side. ... He
moved in a semicircle for about two inches, and then
instantly reversed the position of the legs and circled
in the opposite direction, gradually approaching
nearer and nearer to the female. Now she dashes
towards him, while he, raising his first pair of legs,

Fig. G. — Scorpions.

1^ Nuptial allurements ; 2, the wedding stroll ; 3, the couple enter

the nuptial dwelling.

(From " Life and Love of the Insect," by J. H. Fabre.)

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS

11

extends them upwards and forwards as if to hold her
off, but withal slowly retreats. Again and again

Fig. 7. — Spiders (in Courtship Attitude).

(From ''Darwin and after Darwin," by G. J. Romanes. By permission of
Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co.)

he circles from side to side, she gazing towards him
in a softer mood, evidently admiring the grace of

12 SEX-LORE

his antics. This is repeated until we have counted
one hundred and eleven circles made by the ardent
little male. Now he approaches nearer and nearer,
and when almost within reach wheels madly around
and around her, she joining and wheeling with him
in a giddy maze. Again he falls back and resumes
his semicircular motions, with his body tilted over;
she all excitement lowers her head and raises her body
so that it is almost vertical. Both draw nearer; she
moves slowly under him, he crawling over her head,
and the mating is accomplished. The female always
watches the antics of the male intently, but often
refuses him in the end, even after dancing before her
for a long time." And then it often happens that
in a fit of violent excitement she devours him !

It is among the insects that we find a new factor
introduced for the first time into the drama of
courtship — namely, music. It is true, it may be only
a rasping noise made by the wings and legs of certain
insects, such as grasshoppers and crickets; but it
seems to have charms enough to soothe the breast
of the female. It is the male who generally produces
this music to allure the female. There is one species
of crickets called Cicadas, the males of which make
a loud noise that can be heard a long way off. In
some cases it has been heard a mile away. The
silence of the females seems to have impressed a
Greek poet very much ; for he took occasion to remark :
''Happy the Cicadas' lives, for they have voiceless
wives." This saying gives us a clue to the poet's
opinion of women. But are there no garrulous men ?
One kind of grasshopper in America seem to be par-
ticularly emphatic in their love-call; for they are

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 13

constantly asserting that '' Katy-did, oh-she-did,
Katy-did !" These are called katydids. What she
did, is a secret they keep to themselves. The female
only replies by a sharp chirp made by an upward
jerk of the wings. Does she confirm the fact that
" Katy did " or does she deny it ?

The most beautiful of all the insects are the butter-
flies and moths. Their colourings and markings are
exquisite and extensively varied. The delicacy of
their wings is remarkable. When butterflies flutter
about in the sunlight, they show off their gorgeousness
to the best advantage. Darwin thought that this
beauty is due to Sexual Selection — ^that is, that the
finest specimens of the males are chosen for mating.
But it is doubted now whether female butterflies
notice or are, in any case, able to appreciate the bright
colourings and intricate markings of the males, and
this would be necessary for a choice to be made. In
many cases the female, too, may be brilliantly coloured
and yet be completely different from the male. It
has been discovered that the males of butterflies
exhale a delicate perfume, which makes the females
aware of their presence, sometimes from a long dis-
tance. In the moths, however, the female is often
wingless and is consequently unable to move about;
here it is she that exhales the odour to attract the
male. Experiments have been made by a naturalist,
who took off the wings of some female butterflies and
placed them on the male. He also dyed some in
various colours, but found that these changes made
no difference in the choice of the females, thus
proving that it is not colour which is the source of
attraction.

14 SEX-LORE

2. Vertebrates.

We have all heard of the famous " frog who would
a-wooing go." This must have happened in the
early spring, for that is the pairing time of the frogs.
We are not told in the poem with what sort of music
he serenaded his fair lady. The musical talent is
possessed as a rule by the male frog only, and exerts
a great attraction on the female. The common frog

Fig. 8. — Chameleon (Chamceleon Owenii),

Upper figure^ male ; lower figure^ female.

(From " The Descent of Man," by C. Darwin.)

attains to nothing more than a croak ; but some frogs
can mew like cats and others bark like dogs. The
ponds in spring and summer will sometimes resound
with the massed concerts of the lovers.

Coming to the reptiles, we find that the decorations
of the lizards take in the males the form of crests,
horns, and exposed bare skin, which is often vividly
coloured with all the hues of the rainbow (Fig. 8).

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 15

The mouth is also often brightly tinted. Male lizards
frequently fight amongst themselves for possession
of the females. In the crocodiles also fierce battles
occur among the rival males. Though one might
expect ferocity from the crocodile, with his tremendous
jaws filled with sharp teeth, we would scarcely credit
him with coquetry; and yet Pycraft relates that
after the battle the victor capers about the female,
twirling around on the surface of the water with
head and tail raised high in the air and body swollen.
This is accompanied by loud bellowings and roarings
which are not heard at any other time than the
mating season of the year.

The most varied forms of courtship are found
among the birds. The means employed for alluring
the females differ greatly. Some of the males are
distinguished from the females by their plumage,
which they display in the most attractive manner.
The example most familiar to us is the peacock.
Though the female is unadorned, the male peacock
possesses a gorgeous tail which he spreads out like
an enormous fan before her during courtship. When
he thinks she is near enough, he suddenly whirls
round to show her all his splendour, accompanying
this action with a loud scream and a rapid motion
of the train, which produces a sound like the patter-
ing of rain on the leaves. Thus he stands before her
with bowed head, that she may admire his beauty
to the full. No wonder we speak of a conceited
person as being " proud as a peacock."

Another beautiful bird with similar adornment is
the Argus pheasant (Fig. 9). Besides a decorated
tail, the male has enormously lengthened wing

16

SEX-LORE

Fig. 9. — The Argus Pheasant.
(From " The Descent of Man," by C, Darwin.)

feathers marked with oblique stripes and rows of
dark spots. These ornaments are only exhibited

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 17

when he courts the female. He then erects his tail
and opens his wing feathers, thus forming a great
upright circular fan, which is carried in front of the
body and conceal* the head. In order to discover
whether the female is giving him the attention he
deserves, he constantly thrusts his head through this
screen, so that many of the feathers get much worn.
In the breeding season the male removes all dead
leaves from a space in the forest some six or eight
yards square, which he keeps very clean. This he
never leaves, but at frequent intervals he utters a loud
" How-how-how-how-how !" to inform the females of
his whereabouts. As soon as one of them approaches,
he exhibits his finery over and over again for her
admiration.

Less showy, but not less significant, is the display
of the male turkey and of the common farmyard
cock, which most of us have seen. The former struts
about the yard with a mincing gait, his tail being
raised to form a half-circle, while the back feathers
are set all on end and the wings trail along the ground.
The bare skin of head and neck become suffused
with blood, and a long fleshy wattle that hangs
from the forehead becomes inflated. Great show is
made of this, and the effect is heightened by a

Gobble-gobble !" quickly repeated. The same
strutting about and parading before the hens is
noticeable in the ordinary cock, who, though he has
relatively little to boast of, makes up with impu-
dence and conceit for what he lacks in beauty.

Though the male attire of the turkey and the cock
is permanent, there are other birds, such as ruffs,
herons, egrets, etc., which change their dress especially

2

\s

SEX-LORE

for the pairing season. In the Ruff bird (Fig. 10)
the adornment of the male for the nuptial season
takes the form of a great Elizabethan ruff, which

I

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 19

encircles the neck immediately behind the head, and
of long tongue-shaped " ears " which surmount the
head. These vary greatly, being coloured red,
cream, buff, black or white, or with spots and stripes,
no two ruffs being alike.

Fig. 11.— Bell Bird [Chasmorhynchus Nivens).

The adult male shows the ornamental appendage in inflated

condition ; the young male shows it in flaccid condition.

(From "Darwin and After Darwin," by G. J. Romanes. By permission of Messrs.

Longmans, Green & Co.)

An extraordinary decoration is that of the Bell-
bird (Fig. 11). The female is dusky green in colour-
but the male is white, with the exception of a tube
three mches long, which rises from the base of the
beak and communicates with the palate. Under the

20 SEX-LORE

excitement of courtship this tube becomes inflated
from within and then stands erect ; when not inflated
it hangs down limply.

The most glorious ornamentations are to be found
among the Birds of Paradise, which well deserve
their name. The plumage of the males takes the
form of most wonderfully coloured appendages, often
of such a size as seriously to hinder the birds in their
movements. The illustration (Fig. 12) shows the
great variety of adornments. What a pity it is that
some women are still so primitive as to deck them-
selves in '' borrowed feathers," which have to be
torn from these beautiful birds while they are alive !
Perhaps the day is not so far distant when women
will be civilized enough not to be eager to emulate
the fashions of savages.

There are male birds of other species that have
no conspicuous or brilliant sex ornamentation; but,
like some of the birds blessed with a finer appearance,
they are in the habit of performing love antics and
fantastic dances during courtship. Thus, for in-
stance, the Blackcock goes through a strange dance,
uttering almost continuously loud and piercing noises.
" He holds his tail up and spreads it out like a fan,
he lifts up his head and neck with all the feathers
erect, and stretches his wings from his body. Then
he takes a few jumps in different directions, some-
times in a circle, and presses the underpart of his
beak so hard against the ground that the chin feathers
are rubbed off. During the movements he beats his
wings and turns round and round. The more ardent
he grows, the more lively he becomes, until at last
the bird appears like a frantic creature. At such

Fig. 12. — Birds of Paradise.

(From "The Courtship of Animals," by W. B. Pycraft.)

Fig. 13. — Bower Birds.

(From ** A Dictionary of Birds," by Professor A. Newton.)

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 21

times the blackcocks are so absorbed that they become
almost blind and deaf. . . . Hence bird after bird
may be shot on the same spot, or even caught by
hand." After performing these antics the males
begin to fight among themselves.

A further step in the process of courtship is taken
by the Bower-bird, who prepares a love arena. He
builds a special bower with twigs, brightly coloured
feathers, blanched bones, and sometimes flowers (Fig.
13). He chases the female in and out of this bower,
carrying the while in his beak a brightly coloured
leaf or feather, as if to tempt her with thoughts of
the nest (this is built on the tree above the bower
when mating has taken place). Some species have
a long run, decorated with shells, which are sometimes
brought from a long distance. The Gardener bower-
bird erects a hut-like structure of twigs arranged
around a central support and gaily decorated. Before
the entrance lies a carpet of moss, which is kept clear
of all rubbish, such as dead leaves, faded flowers, etc. ;
and upon this are laid vividly coloured fruit, seed-
pods, and flowers.

The most remarkable feature of the birds is 'their
wonderful power of song, unequalled in all creation.
The greatest compliment that can be given to a
human singer is to compare the voice to that of a
bird. The music of birds has been the constant
delight of man; and poets of every age have sung
in praise of the feathered songsters. Who does
not know Shelley's poem " To a Skylark " or
Keats's " Ode to the Nightingale," or Shakespeare's
" Hark, hark, the lark "? Not to mention poems by
Wordsworth, Meredith, and others no less famous.

22 SEX-LORE

The singing is chiefly confined to the male birds, and
serves to allure the females during the mating season.
The song contests often go on among the males until
some of them drop from sheer exhaustion.

But courtship among birds is by no means restricted
to such peaceful contests as described. Not only do
big birds of prey fight each other for the possession
of the females, but even among smaller birds the
pugnacious instinct is very frequent. Some species are
furnished with special weapons, such as spurs, etc.,
for this purpose. The ordinary farmyard cock is an
example: he can brook no rival; his quarrelsomeness
is proverbial.

As we ascend to the higher animals, such as cattle,
deer, the dog and cat tribes, elephants, etc., we find
that brute force prevails among the males as a method
of procuring the females, and that most of them are
furnished with special weapons for this purpose.
Thus some animals fight with their fangs, or possess
special tusks, as does, for instance, the wild boar.
Where both sexes have tusks, they are generally larger
in the male ; an example is the elephant. A good many
animals have horns or antlers (Fig. 14). Even where
the females possess horns, these are usually less de-
veloped than in the males. Stags are known to fight
ferociously for possession of the females, both rivals
sometimes losing their lives in the fierce struggle.
The antlers of the deer develop annually, ready for
the mating season, — which in this instance is in the
autumn — ^and are afterwards shed, being renewed
every spring with an additional point. The stags
make a roaring noise in order to attract the females
(Fig. 15). In the majority of higher species, how-

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS

23

14. — Horned Animals.

Weapons of Offence,— Korna of various types furnish the most conspicuous of the
"secondary sexual characters" of the ruminants. In the Deer only are these
branched. In the " hollow -horned " ruminants they are either lance-like or
more or less spirally curved, or they may form more or less open loop*.

1. Black -tailed Deer. 2. Hangul or Kashmir Barasingha Deer. 3. Greater Kudu.
4. Black-buck. 5. Saiga Antelope, remarkable also for its curiously swollen
nose. 6. Marco-Polo's Sheep.

(From " The Courtship of Animals," by W. P. Pycroft. Explanation of numbers by
the courtesy of Rowland Ward, Ltd.)

24 SEX-LORE

ever, the only difference between the sexes is the
larger size and greater strength of the male, except
for occasional appendages, of which the mane of the
male lion is the most familiar example.

Some animals, such as the Musk deer and the
goat, have glands which secrete a fluid having a
pungent odour. It is generally in the male that this
secretion is formed, and only during the breeding
season. The scent is supposed to excite the female
for the act of pairing. The secretion of the musk
deer, when diluted, forms the basis of some of our
most valued perfumes ; and for this reason the animal
has been persecuted for many generations, thus
showing that human beings still have tastes in com-
mon with the animals.

We have already remarked that courtship takes
place at certain seasons which are different for the
various animals. During the mating season animals
become very excitable, the males being attracted to
the females and seeking them at all hazards. This
sexual state among the mammals, such as the rabbit,
cat, dog, pig, cattle, horse, etc., is known as the
" heat " or " brunst " period; in males especially as
the " rut." The sex organs during this state become
turgid, and the females often show a discharge of
mucus, mixed with more or less blood, from the sex
passage (which will be described later). This stage
indicates the greatest sexual desire, and it is only
during this state that the female will admit the male
for mating. Some animals have more than one
sexual season in a year; thus the dog has two, one
in spring and one in autumn.

Among the apes, the highest animals before man,

:■,.:..-,&;

Fig. 15. — Stag Roaring,

COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS

25

the face and head parts are often ornamented with
vividly coloured patches in blue, violet, or red, which
are generally more pronounced in the male, and
become more brilliant in both sexes during the breed-

FiG. 16. — Monkeys.

(From '* The Descent of Man," by C. Darwin.)

ing season. In some species the males are charac-
terized by strange and sometimes grotesque hairy
growths, such as manes, beards, tufts, etc. (Fig. 16).
The females of some of the higher apes have a regular

26 SEX-LORE

sanguineous flow from the sex organs every month,
just like the human female, as we shall see later.
But while Man has no special breeding season, this
still occurs in some of the apes, Gorilla, Chimpanzee,
etc., thus forming a transition stage between Man and
the lower mammals.

CHAPTER II

COURTSHIP IN MAN

In man courtship follows the same lines as in
animals. Thus among human beings there is fight-
ing, display, and competition, although they take
different forms and become more conscious in their
expression. It is only as man becomes more civi-
lized that to the physical there is added a spiritual
element. Courtship by means of brute force is
gradually abandoned, and more refined methods
become more and more prevalent; a woman is then
often enabled to choose her partner in marriage in-
stead of being forced to the union. Display remains
a fundamental factor in courtship, but the attempt
now is more consciously artistic. Primitive man
paints his body, but as paint is not permanent, he
substitutes tattooing, which lasts a life-time. He
uses also brightly coloured feathers and flowers; and
in time, as man learns the use of tools, metals and
stones are taken into service and moulded into orna-
mental shapes to decorate the body. Odds and ends,
worn on any part of the body where they may prove
most effective, are gradually replaced, as knowledge
and skill increases, by the great elaboration of clothes
which we know to-day.

27

28 SEX-LORE

Competition, which at first is based on mere
physical prowess, also becomes more refined in its
methods. At first there may be running and jump-
ing tests, but after a time these take the form of
tournaments, to which the chivalrous element is
eventually added. And these in turn are superseded
by less obtrusive, but just as effective, competition
in the intellectual and moral fields.

Another fundamental difference arises which dis-
tinguishes the courtship of Man from that of animals.
While in the brute creation courtship is based on
purely physical desire — very little affection entering
into the sex relationship, except in some birds and
higher animals — ^the spiritual element of love grad-
ually increases as man progresses in civilization,
until now we do not consider any sex relationship
truly human which does not contain a large element
of spirituality, in addition to the physical passion.

1. Puberty.

Spirituality shows itself quite low down in the
human race. Thus, while in the brute creation, as
soon as sexual desire is felt, the animal simply goes
for the object of his wishes without any consciovis
thought, in human relationships there is always a
conscious element. This shapes itself among primi-
tive races into a supernatural cult, which forms the
first beginnings of religion. All vital functions of
life, such as birth, marriage, death, etc., inspire the
savage with awe and assume a sacred aspect. Their
occurrence is always marked by special religious
ceremonies.

The advent of puberty is one of these important

COURTSHIP IN MAN 29

periods of life. This stage is marked in the boy
by a change in his voice, which becomes rougher
and deeper — this is called the breaking of the voice;
hair begins to grow in the armpits and especially on
the lower parts of the abdomen, called the piibic
region or pubes. There also appear at this time the
first indications of beard and moustache, so anxiously
awaited and so tenderly fostered by the growing
youth. In girls, apart from the appearance of hair
in armpits and pubic regions, the most evident signs
of approaching womanhood are the first roundings
of the breasts, and a broadening of the hips due to
the widening of the pelvis in preparation for the func-
tion of motherhood. The one absolutely definite
sign of puberty in girls, however, is the appearance
of the period or menstruation — ^that is, the periodical
flow of blood from the womb through the female sex
passage called the vagina. In the first year or so
this flow is irregular, but when finally established it
generally recurs every lunar month and lasts from
three to five days on an average. The intervals
between these periods may vary in length — some-
times lasting less, sometimes more than a month —
without any signs of ill-health. The age when men-
struation commences varies from twelve to seven-
teen years; it is earlier in hot climates and in towns,
and later in colder regions and in the country.

The attainment of puberty is celebrated by special
rites of initiation, which serve to introduce the young
people to their tasks in life. They are very wide-
spread, taking place all over the world, and only
differing in character as the religions of the races vary.
The idea at the base of these rites is that the boy and

30 SEX-LORE

girl have become ripe for their duties as members of
the tribe, and are themselves henceforth responsible
for their own behaviour. It is now also that they
are considered to have reached the age when they
are fit to marry, to bear and rear children, and to serve
the community. Our custom of confirmation is a
modification of this idea. Among modern civilized
nations the young people who have attained puberty
and are confirmed become responsible members of
their religious community only.

The initiation rites are attended by great festivi-
ties, which sometimes last many weeks, according to
the wealth of the parents and relatives of the young
people. But before these can be entered upon,
various ordeals have to be undergone by the youth
or maiden who has reached this eventful period. A
youth must be skilful in manly crafts, and must show
himself brave and capable of enduring pain without
wincing. He is tested in various ways, which would
seem to us torture or something akin to it. He must
not move a muscle under the trial, nor show in any
manner that he is not experiencing pleasurable sensa-
tions; otherwise he has not proved satisfactorily that
he is fit to become a member of the community to
which he belongs, and must go back again to live
with the women. This is considered a great disgrace,
and therefore much dreaded. In many tribes it is
customary to knock one or two front teeth out of the
boy's mouth, or sometimes some of the teeth are
filed. Tattooing is also frequently performed on the
boy's body at this time. That this must be endured
without a murmur goes without saying. There is
great rejoicing if the lad has come successfully through

Fig. 17. — Initiation Costume.

(From " Das Weib in Natur und Volkerkunde," by H. Ploss.)

Fig. 18. — Maturity Costume.
(From " Das Weib in Natur und Volkerkunde," by H. Ploss.)

COURTSHIP IN MAN 31

the ordeal. He is presented with the appurtenances
of a man, such as hunting and fishing tackle, and
weapons, such as spears, shield, etc., and of these the
youth is extremely proud. Then comes the most im-
portant event — namely, the initiation into the secrets
of the tribe. The boy is also taught by some elders
of the tribe the functions of sex and of his duties
to his kin. The rejoicings often take the form of
ceremonial dances, which sometimes have a religious
significance. At this period of initiation the sexes
are kept strictly separate, any breaking of this rule
being severely punished.

The girls in their turn also have various ordeals
and rites to go through, but these differ in character
from those of the boys. As soon as the girl notices
the first sign of the menstrual period, she must inform
her mother of the fact. No secret is made of this
change in the life of the young girl. On the contrary,
it is announced with great rejoicings that she has
now reached womanhood. The girl henceforth wears
a special costume or ornaments (Fig. 17 and 18).
In Japan, on attaining puberty, the girl for the first
time dresses her hair with a special pin for this pur-
pose. In some tribes (South Sea Islands, Caroline
Islands, etc.) a hut is built for her apart from the
rest, which she must enter as soon as she is aware of
the onset of the period, and where she has to remain
for a certain time, which varies in different tribes.
Some foods are now ''taboo "—that is, forbidden to
her; she must not touch or eat them. Sometimes
she has to sit or lie in certain positions, another
woman perhaps watching her to see that she does so
even when asleep.

32 SEX-LORE

She also has to show endurance of pain without
flinching. The two front teeth are sometimes
knocked out or filed as in the case of boys. She
is often tattooed ; sometimes cuts are made on the
body in order to produce raised scars in some pattern,
and these are considered a great addition to beauty
(see Figs. 19 and 20). In some tribes the girls are
severely whipped until they fall down from sheer
exhaustion. At intervals between the whippings the
girls are given nourishing food to strengthen them.

When the period has ended, purification and
anointing of the body is performed. In some cases
the hair is cut off, completely or in parts. There
is also the custom of boring holes through the nose,
the ear lobes, and even the lips. This custom of
piercing the ears still persists among civilized people.
There are many women who are highly amused at
the nose and lip rings of the savages, and yet do not
realize that earrings are after all, a similar savage
survival. The belief which is still prevalent, that
the piercing of a child's ears affects its eyes, is thus
shown to be a mere superstition.

Just as the boys, so the girls are instructed in all
the functions of life, even the most intimate. (This
might serve as an example for our civilized mothers,
who are generally so backward in this respect.) They
have, of course, also to show that they are capable
of fulfilling the duties which are expected of women —
namely, the preparing of the various dishes and the
management of sundry household duties. In some
tribes they have to carry red-hot coals for some dis-
tance to harden the hands. Another test of efficiency
is for the girl to pick up something from the ground

COURTSHIP IN MAN

83

behind her, which she does by bending her back and
catching up the article with her lips.^ She has also
to pass her examination in the ritual dances. Should
she succeed in all such tests, her mother will clap her

fails, she IS beaten. After all such ordeals are safely
overcome, the girl is taken into the tribe as a full-

ftTtZ'^'''^^"' ""'^^ ^" *^' "^^*' ^""^ ^"*^"^ °^ *^«t
The recurrent periods of menstruation are marked
by seclusion; for primitive folk look upon menstrua-
tion as 'taboo,' that is, a supernatural, uncanny
phenomenon which has to be guarded against. The
natural physical cause of the bleeding being unknown,
It IS often attributed to the bite of a snake or othe^
reptile, or to evil spirits which have to be exorcised.
Ihe belief m the unnaturalness of menstruation has
led to a great many superstitions, some of which
persist even nowadays. Thus a woman during
her period must refrain from many duties which
otherwise fall to her lot. She must not sow seed, or
the corn will wither; she must not bake bread, as it
will go sour; she must not churn milk and make
butter, for fear of its turning; and she must not at
any cost come near men going out to the hunt or to
battle, for fear of ill-luck pursuing them. Some of
these superstitions are not yet extinct, even among
so-called advanced people; for the stigma of impurit?
or unholiness during this period still lingers on. Thus
even now she is sometimes told not to water plants
or make pickles. There is also a general dread of
women taking a bath during menstruation, though
medical evidence shows that washing and bathing

34 SEX-LORE

during the period are quite harmless-nay, beneficial.
The more water, the better.

2. Means of Courtship.
Once initiation has taken place, the young people
are considered of suitable age for marriage, and so
henceforth courting is permitted. As has been men-
tioned before, the courtship of human bemgs differs
from that of the animals in its conscious element.
The effectiveness of decoration and display as aids
to natural beauty is carefully considered Once
again the difference from animals shows itself m the
fact that among human beings not only the male,
but also the female, puts on ornaments to charm the
other sex. It was the man. however, who first
decorated himself, and the woman followed. It
seems strange that for these decorations the human
being, savage and civilized, will rob the finery of the
animal and bird creation. Perhaps primitive man
noticing the beauty of feathers and skins, thought
that these would help to increase his own beauty and
so did not scruple to take ruthlessly what did not
belong to him. We sometimes find head-dresses of
an enormous height composed of the most gorgeous
feathers; sometimes girdles are made wholly ot
feathers, as are also necklets.

Primitive man is very childlike in taste. He. ike
the child, loves bright glaring colours. He also, like
the child, loves to "show off" whenever possible;
so that, although one of the reasons for self-decora-
tion is the wish to find favour with the other sex, and
thus to acquire a mate, yet it is indulged m even
when it does not serve the purpose of courtship.

COURTSHIP IN MAN 85

Now the ideals of beauty vary considerably. As
a rule, the type of beauty which is sexually attrac-
tive to one sex is that most characteristic of the other
Thus, men generally admire women with features
possessmg the most pronounced female sexual char-
acteristics; while women, on the contrary, are
attracted by manly strength and vigour. But in
addition to this rule, we find also special types of
beauty admired by different races, generally that
which approaches most nearly to each racial type
Thus, among the Hottentots the women have a
natural tendency towards accumulating fat on the
hinder parts of the body; this feature is greatly
admired by the men, and is therefore cultivated.
Ihe blacks appear, on the whole, repulsive to us, nor
do they admire white people with their long noses
preferring instead flat, broad ones. Nor do our
women appear beautiful to the Chinese. It is re-
ported of a man of the court in Cochin China that he
spoke with contempt of the wife of an English am-
bassador, because she had white teeth like a dog and
cheeks rosy like the colour of a potato flower This
remark explains, perhaps, the habit of blackening
the teeth as practised by some races, such as the
Japanese, who do this, they say, " in order not to
look hke pigs"; though this practice is dying out
among the Japanese.

^ ^°* >^^»g satisfied, however, with the beautv
besWd by Nature, people are constantly striving
lo improve " on Nature, and so try by all sorts of
compressions and other means, even mutilations, to
make themselves still more beautiful. Thus it is

36 SEX-LORE

well known, for instance, that in China, where small
feet are natural, women's feet are tortured from in-
fancy by tight bandaging, until they become so
distorted that they can hardly serve their natural
purpose of walking. This custom, however, is now
on the wane, due to European influences, and it may
henceforth perhaps be possible for a Chinese belle to
find a husband though she have normal feet. In one
of the South American tribes a swollen calf is con-
sidered to add to the attraction of a girl; and so they
wear, from childhood onwards, tight garters below the
knee in order to enlarge the calf by compression from
above. Even women of civilized countries are still
given to similar practices; note, for instance, the
squeezing in of the waist by modern women in order
to " improve " the figure. This is done by means
of a corset, and must necessarily impede regular
breathing and bodily movements ; indeed, it often
leads to serious disturbances of health. As if a
natural waist line is not far more beautiful than one
distorted by artificial methods ! Think of the Venus
of Milo and, in contrast to her, of the stiff whalebone-
sheathed models exhibited by the corsetiere. As a
matter of fact, many of our more advanced girls
given to sports and games manage to develop their
figures without the aid of such medieval appurten-
ances.

There are other extremely quaint methods of beau-
tifying the human body. Among the tribes to which
clothing is still unknown, the whole of the body may
be used for decoration. Thus some primitive folk
paint their bodies half red, half white. Tattooing is
a very prevalent custom among savage people, and

COURTSHIP IN MAN

37

has even found its way to European lands (Fig. 19).
Many sailors and soldiers have some emblem of
the girl they love tattoed on arms, chest, or other
part of the body. But it is
carried to a much greater
extent amongst primitive
people, and is often very
elaborately and skilfully
done. Sometimes the design
follows the lines and curves
of the body. All sorts of
fanciful designs are used,
some of which may possess
significance ; thus they may
represent the emblem or
totem of the tribe or caste.
A still more extreme method
of making permanent pat-
terns on the body is the pro-
duction of raised scars, a
method which would hardly
appeal to us, yet which is
frequently undergone by
primitive folk without a
murmur (Fig. 20). How
Qiuch people will suffeTfor
the sake of beauty !

People of all races love
to adorn themselves with
bright metals and precious
stones, the more the merrier; and these are used
even when very little clothing is worn. At the
initiation ceremonies girls are hung about with as

Fig. li). -Tattooing,
(After H. Ploss.)

38 SEX-LORE

many showy things as possible. The clothing often
consists only of a small apron or girdle, but the
girls will wear heavy earrings, nose-rings, lip orna-
ments, weighty necklaces hanging down to the waist,
made of bone rings, beads, shells, polished teeth of
animals, and precious stones when they are to be
got. In addition, she will have bracelets and anklets
and elaborate head-dresses. A Santal belle is de-
scribed as follows: *' She wore two anklets, perhaps
twelve bracelets, a necklace weighing a pound, and
the total weight of ornaments amounted to thirty-
four pounds of metal." In one European country,
Albania, the girls wear their dowry in gold coins
round their necks, their skull-caps made of scarlet
cloth are surrounded with rows of coins, and coins
are intertwined with their plaits.

3. Methods of Courtship.

So far we have had a description of the means of
attraction employed during courtship; we liOiLComc
to the methods of courting. There really is not
much courtship among savage races, for what we
call "love" is, on the whole, hardly known to them.
It is generally customary for the parents to arrange
the match, the young couple having little if any-
thing to say in the matter. Amongst some nations,
as the Japanese, for instance, a marriage broker
is the go-between and arranges the matches. But
still, where there is a choice by the young people,
or even when" the parents alone choose, there is
always upheld a standard of bravery and skill to
which those who desire a mate must conform. This
differs with the district. Thus in the neighbour-

i;^-

I

i^»^m

Fig. 20. — Ornamental Scars.
(From " Das Weib in Natur und Volkerkunde," by H. Ploss.)

COURTSHIP IN MAN 39

hood of water it is the expert diver that stands the
first chance with a girl or her parents. In other
regions it is the man most skilled in throwing and
catching spears. At one time among a tribe living
south of China, it is said to have been customary to
give honour to the greatest thief, and it was he that
had the pick of the girls. /Amongst some warlike
races a man cannot marry at all, unless he can bring
home the head of a slain enemy; whilst the man who
brings the most heads has the best choice among the
girls. What a gruesome manner of courtship/ Yet
naturally, in primitive society, such a husband would
be the most capable of defence.

Duels and wrestling matches also play a prominent
part in the game of human courtship ; and, as in the
animal combats, it is the victor that carries off the
prize. A curious custom was resorted to by one
tribe in New Zealand. "When the girl had two
suitors, a pulling match was arranged in which the
girl's arms were dragged by each suitor in opposite
directions, the stronger man being the victor." In
this it was the girl that was the sufferer; but there are
cases when it is the male lover that has cheerfully to
endure suffering for the sake of his love, as, for in-
stance, in the following primitive example among the
Dongolowees: " The girl sits with a knife tied to each
forearm, so fixed^that the blade projects below the
elbow. She ^then takes up a position on a log of
wood, the young men sitting on either side with their
legs closely pressed against hers. Raising her arms,
the girl leans forward and slowly presses the knives
into the thighs of the would-be husbands. The suitor
who best undergoes this trial of endurance wins the

40 SEX-LORE

bride, whose first duty after marriage it is to dress
the wounds she herself has inflicted."

Among other races competitions in feats of skill
take the place of these barbarous customs. Perhaps
the best-known story of this kind is that to be found
in Homer, who describes the return of the hero
Ulysses to his faithful wife, Penelope, after twenty
years of wanderings. She had been importuned all
these long weary years by her suitors to choose one
of them, since, so they said, Ulysses was surely dead.
Just at the time of Ulysses' return she had so far
given in as to arrange for a competition between
them: the one who could send an arrow through a
line of double axeheads was to win her for his bride.
It is well known how Ulysses, who was the only
one capable of performing this feat, slew all the
suitors.

Running races were also often held among various
people for the men, the winner gaining the bride.
We may cite here the Greek legend of Atalanta, a
king's daughter, who herself ran races with those who
aspired to her hand. She had vowed only to marry
the man that could outrun her. If she won, the poor
lover literally lost his head. She was so very beau-
tiful that, in spite of the danger, many noble youths
were tempted to enter the race, each in turn, however,
forfeiting his life, for she was so fleet of foot that
no one could overtake her. There came at last a
youth who, favoured by Venus, contrived to win the
race. He dropped in succession three golden apples
given him by the goddess, each time at a critical
moment. These tempted the maiden irresistibly, so
that she lost time by picking them up, thus enabling

COURTSHIP IN MAN 41

her lover to reach the winning-post first and gain her
for his bride.

Dancing, which is one of the favourite pastimes of
all^races and of all times, becomes a natural method
of allurement in human courtship. The mere physical
movement is apt to bring about a heightened feeling
of bodily exhilaration and a corresponding mental
elation. It is therefore not surprising that so many
unions come about at the dancing-places all over the
world. This holds good even more for savages than
for civilized people. Among many races the men
and women dance separately, and so can show off
their skill to each other. A young man who is a
good dancer finds great favour in the girl's eyes.
As a chief of Mabuiag (Torres Straits) put it: " In
England, if a man has plenty of money, women want
to marry him; so here, if a man dances well, they too
want him." Some of the dances — ^those of the Faroe
Islanders, for instance — may last for two days and
nights, and are a permitted method by which the
young men may court the girls. " The man enters
the circle and places himself beside the girl to whom
he desires to show his affection. If he meets with
her approval she stays and continues to dance at his
side; if not, she leaves the circle and appears later at
another spot." The .dances among primitive folk
very often take a voluptuous form and end in orgies.
Among civilized people, dancing is more of a social
pastime, though its sexual origin is not completely
lost. Fond mothers still find the ball-room the best
place for match-making, a method which is by no
roeans^ltogether groundless.

There are other more subtle methods of courtship,

42 SEX-LORE

where choice is somewhat more individual, though
still left a good deal to chance. Thus it was quite a
common custom for men to pick their brides at the
fair, in England as late as the seventeenth century,
just as they chose, and still choose, hired labourers
in remote country places. The maids were decked
out in all the finery they could gather together. We
read of a Russian mother who, not knowing what
she could add to her daughter's toilet on one of these
occasions, contrived to make her a necklace of six
dozen gilt teaspoons, with a girdle of an equal number
of tablespoons, and then fastened a couple of punch-
ladles behind in the form of a cross.

This manner of choosing a partner still finds, per-
haps, a reflection in modern children's games. It has
been pointed out by students of folk-lore that
children's games, nursery rhymes, folk-songs, etc.,
often represent corrupt versions of actual customs as
practised by grown-up people in ancient times. They
lose more or less of their original sense and meaning
in the verbal transmission through the ages. In
most cases, however, the reference to bygone usages
can still be made out. Of some of these games we
may perhaps make mention in connection with our
subject. Thus there is the well-known " On the
mountain stands a maiden; who she is I do not
know," " Poor Mary stands a-weeping," " Rise,
Sally Waters," " Silly old maid, she stands alone,"
" Silly old man, he wants a wife," and many more.
In all these games the lover is chosen out of a ring
formed by the other players, and there is often a
chase, which is followed by a kiss upon the capture
of the chosen one. This custom of standing in a

COURTSHIP IN MAN 43

ring for choosing a lover reminds us of the custom
of choosing a mate at the fair.

But less direct methods of obtaining a lover are
sometimes resorted to. In some parts of modern
Russia the names of eligible young men are written
on slips of paper, and then thrown into a bran-tub.
The girls fish for the slips with long spiked sticks. The
happy man whose name is drawn is expected to kiss
the girl and " walk out " with her with a view to
marriage. A favourite variation of this method of
choosing by lot we find described in literature. One
of the best-known instances is that in Shakespeare's
" Merchant of Venice," where, by the father's will,
Portia may only marry the man who chooses the right
one of three caskets. There is also a story of a Chinese
princess named Turandot, who set her lovers three
riddles to guess; the one who solved them married
the princess, while the other poor men were executed.
Faith in the efficacy of love-charms and love-
potions used to hold great sway over people of all
countries, and has not completely died out even among
white races. One of the explanations of this idea is,
that primitive people believe in magic and are con-
vinced that good or bad qualities can be communi-
cated, just as they believe that diseases can be trans-
ferred by magic procedure from one person to the
other. All that was thought necessary was to get
possession of something belonging to the person who
was to be worked upon, and to attach the magical
spell to it. As regards love-magic, the person who
wanted to gain another's love would use something
belonging to himself or herself as a love-charm and
send it to the beloved. Naturally, something directly

44 SEX LORE

from the body would appear most efficacious; so the
lover would try to impart his love to the girl of his
choice by sending her a lock of his hair, in the hope
that, as the lock contained part of his personality,
contact with the gift might imbue her with the same
feeling as he had towards her. Something that has been
in close contact with the body, or, better still, that
has been permeated with the sweat of the lover, will
also do this service. Another method resorted to for
" charming " the beloved person is to get some
article of apparel, sing a charm over it and get that
person to wear it. Such person then will, according
to the saying, see " lightning " on receipt of it, and
it will make '' the inwards shake with emotion."
In ancient India the girl would make a clay image of
her lover, and shoot an arrow through the place where
the heart would be, thus thinking to pierce his heart
with love as she pierced that of the image. In one
part of Germany, during the Middle Ages, an effigy
of the figure of the beloved or of his heart was made
out of wax or some other such substance, with the
name of the beloved person inscribed on it, and this
was then either melted or burnt. Four-leaved clover
stuck into the shoe is still considered a lucky love-
charm in many European countries.

Love philtres of all sorts of fantastic brews, or of
foods with a few hairs of the lover baked in, or
other substances which would seem most nauseous
to us, have been used and are still made use of in
remote country places. These are given to the person
on whom an impression is to be made, and who par-
takes of them unknowingly. A famous instance is
that of Tristan and Isolde, who were consumed with

COURTSHIP IN MAN 45

fiery love for each other after drinking of the love-
potion given to them by Brangaene.

Love-oracles also were much in vogue in olden
times, and have not yet died out even among civilized
people. A familiar playful device for ascertaining
successful love, reminiscent of the old love-oracles, is
that of pulling out the petals of a daisy to the refrain
'' He loves me, he loves me not." The coincidence of
the last petal with one of the formulas indicates the
result of the love. Goethe in his " Faust " lets
Margaret, who is in love with Faust, make use of
this method. There are, further, the All Hallowe'en
customs of finding out one's future partner by quaint
devices, such as looking in the mirror at midnight
for the reflection of the lover; and various others, too
numerous to be detailed. Perhaps the best-known
example is the still prevalent superstition that the
man of whom a girl dreams when she has a piece of
bride-cake under her pillow will eventually become her
husband. To the same category belongs the practice
of throwing apple-peel over the shoulder, in order to
see which letter of the alphabet it resembles when it
has dropped. This letter is the initial of the sweet-
heart to come. The device is rather interesting from
the fact that children have a similar game in skipping.
Starting with the saying: " Raspberry, gooseberry,
apple jam tart," they go through the alphabet whilst
skipping; the letter at which the child breaks down
in jumping over the rope is here also the first letter
of the sweetheart's name.

An appeal to fate as an oracle can be seen in the
old custom of choosing a mate on St. Valentine's day,
of which we still have a relic in the sending of Valen-

^

46 ^ SEX-LORE

tines. The man upon whom the maiden first set eyes
after the dawn of the day, was expected to be chosen
as her mate for a year. We can well imagine that the
young people took care to help fate by arranging that
the right lover was on the spot at the propitious
moment.

Courtship, as described so far, is characterized by
app'eaTto brute force, to physical compelitioh, or, it
may be, to crude superstition, with very little per-
sonal feeling entering into the relationship. But the
spiritual emotion in love slowly develops, as mankind
gradually rises in the scale of civilization, until it
attains its full height in the modern ideal of love.
This is, according to Ellen Key, a combination of
physical and spiritual feelings in perfect balance,
where the lovers supplement each other, and where
each is willing and ready to sacrifice everything for
the love of the other. It is then that courtship be-
comes individual; every person has his own methqd
of gaining the love of the desired one, and there are
few customs or standards to conform to. What we
do find is different ways among people of giving ex-
pression to their love, and also in their mode of
accepting or refusing this love.

Odd cases of individual choice crop up among
lower races, though it would be hard to say whether
they imply a real feeling of love. For instance, when
a boy of one of the New Guinea tribes admires a
girl, he will not look at her or go near her, but by
posing and by attacking and spearing imaginary
enemies before her, he will try to attract her atten-
tion. If the girl reciprocates his love, she will send
him an areca-nut marked with different designs as a

COURTSHIP IN MAN 47

love invitation. They consume this together at an
appointed place at nightful, and this constitutes the
betrothal. Again, among the Gilas of New Mexico,
when a young man desires a girl for his wife, he will
serenade her outside her home for hours daily, play-
ing on his flute. Should she not appear, it is a sign
that she rejects him; but if, on the other hand, she
comes out to meet him, it is an acceptance.

It is a wide jump from New Mexico to modern
Europe, yet in Spain, where love takes such pas-
sionate forms, the same custom of serenading pre-
vails. A Spanish girl thinks her lover has not given
her sufficient proof of his love if he does not serenade
her; and she always knows how many musicians he
ought to pay for doing this, when he cannot sing or
play himself. Some of the girls in Spain also resemble
those of less civilized races in their admiration of
physical prowess, as evinced at bull-fights. Torea-
dors are in great demand among the girls, though
their star is somewhat waning at present. Should a
girl wish to reject a lover, she does not do so in plain
language, but she gives him a pumpkin. He under-
stands the meaning of this action and withdraws his
suit. The German girl of Thuringia gives her suitor
a sausage to eat when she wishes to give him a hint
that his advances are not welcome to her.

In Japan, where most matches are arranged by a
go-between and the parents, love will also have
something to say sometimes. A man wishing to woo
a girl will throw a flower into her litter as she passes,
which she wears if she is willing to accept him.
Similar customs abound everywhere. There is no need
to give examples nearer home, as most readers have or

48 SEX-LORE

will some day have personal experience in this respect.
All we can say is, that there is a tendency towards a
spirit of greater mutual comradeship between the
sexes. Girls are becoming more independent, and
expect appreciation and respect rather than chivalry.
Many things are permitted to them nowadays, which
were considered immodest in the time of our grand-
parents. Now there may be doubts how far this
change can be considered advantageous, but we must
not allow ourselves to be guided by prejudices. To
decide this question, there remains nothing for us
but to enter into a more detailed account of modesty
as a function of courtship.

o

4. Modesty.^

Modesty* develops with the advent of puberty, and
can thus be looked upon as one of the sexual charac-
teristics of human beings, and especially of the female
sex. We need only observe little children to see
that they are destitute of all physical shame. In
fact, it needs great perseverance to instil it into them,
and they are slow in learning to appreciate the
necessity of it.

Modesty has its origin, like most human sexual
characteristics, in animal beginnings. Thus, among
the animals the female sternly refuses any advances
from the male at any other time than the mating season.
Even during the sexual season the female by no means
submits immediately to the male, but she plays, as
it were, "a game of refusal and acceptance." She

* Modesty is used here in the sexual sense, like the French
pudeu7\ There exists no special word in English for this special
meaning of modesty.

COURTSHIP IN MAN 49

runs away from him, then stops until he is close to
her, then once more flees, but never far enough to
He^ut of his reach. It is this very coyness that, by
prolonging the preliminaries of mating, serves as an
allurement to the male, and enhances the sexual
ardour in both.

Now in human courtship we find coquetry a prac-
tically constant accompaniment of woman's behaviour
towards man. This is often considered a peculiar
failing of the female sex. Yet, when viewed from
the biological standpoint, it is seen to be nothing else
than the development of female coyness, which is a
natural sexual characteristic and serves the same
purpose in Man as in animals. It is the playfulness
in human courtship that retards the final act of
mating. It thus allows occasion for the interplay
between youth and maiden of the erotic emotions,
which, with the advance of civilization, have become
more and more enriched, refined, and spiritual.
Indeed, it may be said without exaggeration that
without this amorous play, due to modesty, love
might never have come into being.

Another source of modesty is furnished by the
idea of sexual taboo. It has already been mentioned
that taboos are connected with special events of life,
and particularly with sexual phenomena. Now we
find that primitive man, in his ignorance, dreads all
the manifestations of sexual life as something un-
canny and holy, and takes special precautions during
sexual acts. There develops a sort of reverence for
these taboos, which ultimately become stereotyped
as forms of modesty, and often persist long after their
origin has been forgotten. These forms are preserved

4

50 SEX-LORE

to us in ancient rites and religious laws of sex purifi-
cation, etc.

Thus it comes about that greater obedience is paid
to mere rules of convention than to actual feelings.
Artificial regulations of sexual conduct take the place
of natural modesty. As we have seen, modesty is a
function of sex, and has as such nothing to do with
nakedness of the body. It has been observed over and
over again by many trustworthy travellers that primi-
tive people who use little or no clothing are often in-
tensely modest in their behaviour and speech. The
scanty clothing they may possess serves more the
purpose of " showing off " than hiding the body. In
fact, it is now generally assumed that clothing was
originally intended rather for ornament than for
covering. Even with us the idea still prevails to a
large extent, especially among womenfolk. Women
who would blush to expose their shoulders and
chest in ordinary life have no hesitation in doing
so when in evening-dress, and with an assurance of
doing the correct thing. With the gradual develop-
ment of clothing, modesty tended to centre round
different parts of the body, according to the national
and religious customs of the people. While with us
practically the whole body, except the usually un-
covered parts, is under the ban of modesty, but
especially so the parts connected with the sex func-
tions, other races have quite different standards.
Among Moslems women have to veil their faces, par-
ticularly when in the street, and they must not be
seen with uncovered face by any man. The veiling
may be very slight (Fig. 21), or it may take the form
of a complete covering of head and face, so that

Fig. 21. — A Turkish Lady in Outdoor Dress.
(From a picture by Warwick Goble.)

COURTSHIP IN MAN

51

the women in their walking-out dress look more like
bundles of clothes than living human beings (Fig. 22).
Custom is so strong that women in these countries
would rather expose almost any part of the body
than the face. A woman of the Euphrates, if sur-

FiG. 22. — Street Costume of Woman of Tunis.
(After H. Ploss.)

prised bathing, will turn away her face rather than
try to cover her body. In China, again, the women
attach most importance to hiding the feet, and can
hardly be induced to show the foot even to a doctor
when necessary. This privilege is reserved for the

52 SEX-LORE

husband. It is considered rude even to look in the
direction of a Chinese lady's foot.

The idea of modesty not only varies with different
races, but changes according to the times. We have
seen that nakedness is not necessarily a sign of im-
modesty. Ancient Greece is noted for the cult of the
body. Athletic sports were carried on by the com-
petitors in the nude state, and girls also took part in
them. The nude body was thus a familiar object to
the ancient Greeks, and to this is attributed the un-
surpassed beauty of their statuary. This attitude
prevailed for a long time, in spite of the efforts of the
Christian Church against it. Thus mixed bathing in
complete nudity was quite common in Europe nearly
up to the Middle Ages, and is still customary in
Japan. But even more: it was not considered im-
moral for beggars to be seen all but naked at the
church doors asking for alms; nor that at special
celebrations of royalty the king's triumphal pro-
cession was led by maidens in the costume of Eve.
Indeed, the habit of going naked, as seen among
savages, persisted in the more remote districts of
Europe much longer than we should expect. Per-
haps we have a reminiscence of this state of affairs in
the story of Lady Godiva. Her husband had agreed,
at her intercession, to relieve the people from their
taxes if she undertook to ride naked through the
streets. This she bravely did, being covered only by
her long hair, while all the inhabitants of the town
^remained indoors, in accordance with her wishes. In
any case, there prevailed a state of utter naturalness
between the sexes, as in Ireland, Denmark, Russia,
etc., almost up to the eighteenth century. It is only

COURTSHIP IN MAN 53

during the last few centuries that it has become the
rule to hide the body completely, any exposure of it
being considered a moral offence. But even here
women found ways and means of emphasizing or
even exaggerating the outlines of the figure. The
corset, originally invented for nuns in order to hide
and compress the bosom — a female characteristic
undesirable in a nun — was soon transformed to serve
the very opposite purpose. Farthingales, crinolines,
bustles, etc., have the same result of accentuating
the female figure. All such artificial means were not,
and certainly are not now, considered immodest,
though, it seems, we are now returning to a more
natural estimate of the body. Thus mixed bathing,
so long hotly contested by would-be moralists, has
become quite prevalent without at all demoralizing
our young people, as was predicted. The young
people of both sexes appear in bathing costume
without paying much attention to each other, accord-
ing to the old adage: " Familiarity breeds contempt."

The human body is again becoming a natural
object instead of a veiled mystery. Nay, even more,
it is not considered essential any longer that women
should wear skirts which sweep the ground, in order
to cover the ankle. On the contrary, skirts are be-
coming practical and are made as short as possible;
and even the wearing of trousers by women under
certain circumstances has come into vogue without
any comment.

No wonder, then, that courtship, too, is following
the same course and is assuming more natural and
less devious forms. Women are showing a more
frank and open attitude towards men, and are thus

54 SEX-LORE

only following the general line of progress. There is
a tendency now towards a greater naturalness in the
mutual behaviour of the sexes, based more on the
individuality of man and woman than on the old
false standards of chivalry, which whilst raising
woman upon a pedestal, yet in reality debased her.
This spirit is waning, not only in the preliminaries of
marriage — courtship — but also in marriage itself.

PART II.— MATING AND MARRIAGE

The instinct of mating is one of the strongest in
human beings, as well as in animals. In fact, it is
only second to that of hunger; these two are the most
powerful factors in life.

Now courtship, as we have seen, has undergone a
long period of evolution, its roots reaching far back
to animal conditions. We shall find that marriage
follows the same course, and can also be traced back
to animal beginnings. First of all, there is purely
physical mating in the lowest animal species; then a
higher element is gradually added as we ascend the
scale of life. Among the higher animals pairing lasts
at least for some time after mating. It is, however,
in Man that a real spiritual factor comes into play.
This gradually leads to a more intimate relation be-
tween man and woman, a spiritual bond thus being
established which is lacking in animals, and which lies
at the root of marriage. Through the ages and with
the growth of civilization it has become more and
more refined, until our modern ideal of marriage has
been developed. Marriage has traversed many roads ;
it has varied in form with different peoples and
changed with different times.

55

CHAPTER I

MATING

Courtship is only an introduction, a preparation for
the more important function of mating. It is the
task of courtship to bring the two beings, male and
female, into the appropriate state for mating. Mating
serves the purpose of reproduction and race propaga-
tion. We can distinguish different methods of repro-
duction, which can be roughly divided into two
groups, asexual and sexual reproduction.

In order to be able to follow the modes of repro-
duction, it is essential to know at least the most
elementary biological facts of life. All living organ-
isms are composed of cells. A cell is the smallest
organic particle capable of life. There are organisms
which consist only of a single cell; these are called
unicellular organisms. They form the lowest plants
and animals in existence, and are generally of micro-
scopic size. Then there are the multicellular plants
and animals (practically the bulk of living organism.s
around us), which consist of a mass of cells combined
into one single body. The various cells assume, in
the development of the plant and animal species,
different size, shape, structure, and function; each
part of the body (as for instance, the skin, bones,
muscle, the sense organs, nerves, brain, etc.) being
formed by special kinds of cells.*

* See for further details ^^ The Story of Life's Mechanism," by
H. W. Conn. London, 1899.

MATING

57

1. Biological Facts.

Since organisms do not live for ever, there exist
various devices for reproducing them continuously.
Asexual reproduction occurs in one-celled organisms.
Its simplest form is that of division. A single cell,
A

Fig. 23. Fig. 24.

Fig. 23. — Division of Amceba.

Ay Before division ; B^ the nucleus divided ; C^ the daughter

amoeba.

(From Weismann, " The Evolution Theory.")

Fig. 24. — Division of a Marine Worm (Myrianidaj. (After

Mihie-Ed wards.)

a, Mother-individual : h to g, the daughter-individuals according to

their relative ages.

(From Weismann, " The Germ-Plasm.")

having attained a certain size, divides into two
daughter cells (Fig. 23). This process can be ob-
served in species as high as the worms (Fig. 24).
Another method of reproduction is that of budding.

58

SEX-LORE

In the process of growth the body becomes bulged
out at a particular point and forms a bud. This
bud grows in size, andjultimately separates from the
parent body to form a new individual (Figs. 25 and
26). Very often the new individuals do not entirely

Fig. 25. — Budding of Yeast. (After Prantl.)

Fig. 26. — Budding of a Marine Worm {Syllis Eamosa),
(From Geddes and Thomson, " The Evolution of Sex.")

separate, but remain attached to the parent body,
and, budding off anew, form a more or less ramified
cell-colony. The sponges and corals are typical
examples (Fig. 27).

MATING

59

In sexual reproduction we have the combination
of two separate individuals to produce a new one.
The simplest way is for the two combined bodies to

Fig. 27. — Budding op Sponge Colony. (After Haeckel.)

(From Geddes and Thomson, *' The Evolution of Sex.")

Fig. 28. — Conjugation of Noctiluca. (After Ischikawa.)

Ay Two individuals coalescing ; By fusion of cells ; C^ beginning
of division ; D, completion of division.

(From Weismann, *' The Evolution Theory.")

mingle into one, which by dividing in the asexual
manner produces two new individuals (Fig. 28). On

60 SEX-LORE

the other hand, there are instances where the two
combining cells differ in size and shape (Fig. 29).
We find a smaller agile one, which is called the male,
and a larger more immobile one, called the female.
The next stage is to be found in simple multicellular
animals forming a cell-colony, where some of the cells
become distinct from the other body cells and develop
into special cells that are alone capable of repro-

a

Fig. 29. —Conjugation of Zanardinia. (After Reinke.)

Uy Female ; by male ; c, conjugation ; d, product of conjugation.

(From Delage, " H6redit6.")

ducing the species. These are called the sex cells
or germ cells; they develop into the new individuals
(Fig. 30).

In the higher forms of reproduction the germs or
sex cells are gathered together in special organs called
the sex glands. There arj two kinds: the male sex
gland or testis, producing male germs or sperms (also
called spermatozoa); and the female sex gland or
ovary, producing egg cells or ova. As a rule, each
individual possesses only one kind of sex gland, either
male or female, and is accordingly called a male or
a female. The higher animals possess two sex glands
of the same kind, one at each side of the body.

MATING

61

For the purpose of reproduction in all the higher
animals, it becomes necessary that the two kinds of
sex cells (male and female) shall be brought together
in the process of fertilization in order to produce the
new being. In many animal species the separation
of the two sexes is, however, not complete, each
individual possessing both male and female sex cells.
Such individuals are called hermaphrodites (from
Hermes and Aphrodite, the Greek god and goddess).
But usually a hermaphrodite does not fertilize itself.

Fig. 30. — Volvox Minor, with Sex Cells. (After Stein.)
SZ) Body cells ; kz, germ cells.

(From Weismann, "The Germ-Plasm.")

but acts either as a male or as a female individual,
mating in a proper sexual manner like the sexual
organisms.

There exists one exception to the general rule of
sexual reproduction in the higher animals. There are
some animals whose females have the power of re-
production without needing the help of the males.
The males appear only at certain seasons, and then
sexual reproduction is possible. In some species,
males have never been found. Such reproduction is
called parthenogenesis or virgin-reproduction {par-

62 SEX-LORE

thenos, a virgin); it exists among lower animals, such
as plant-lice, bees, etc. With regard to the bee, it
is interesting to note that there exist three sexes:
male, female, and neuter. The female is the normal
fertile individual, and is called the queen, because
there is only one to each hive, the other queens that
are hatched being killed by her. The queen produces
fertile eggs; she is fertilized only once in her life,
during her nuptial flight, when the males, or drones,
swarm out with her. Only one drone attains the end
of mating with her, and dies in that act. On the
return to the hive, all the other drones are killed and
thrown out. The queen then begins to lay her eggs,
which are of two kinds: one kind, fertilized by the
sperm of the drone, develops into the neuters or
workers, which are really infertile undeveloped
females; these do all the work of the hive. The other
kind remains unfertilized and develops into drones.
Some of the pupae hatched from the fertilized eggs
are fed on special royal diet and develop into fertile
queens. Among the ants we find a similar division
into three sexes, or even more: fertile females and
males, and different kinds of workers.

2. Physiological Facts.

It has already been said that for the purpose of
reproduction it is necessary that the two sex cells, the
male sperm and the female ovum, be brought to-
gether. For this purpose the two individuals (male
and female) must meet, in order to bring their germs
within reach of each other. This is called copulation.
There is no copulation among the lower animals;
here everything is left to chance. The discharged

MATING 68

sex cells are brought together in a casual manner, by
water-currents, etc., sometimes within, sometimes
outside the body. When sufficiently near each other,
the germ cells are drawn together by a sort of chemical
affinity.

But in the higher animals special precautions are
taken for the safe union of the sex cells. The male
fish, being attracted to the female, follows her about,
and as she lays the eggs he fertilizes them with his
sperm. A further step is made in the case of the
frog: here the female protrudes her eggs from her
body, and the male, embracing her, discharges his
sperm on to the eggs as they are laid.

In the highest organisms, however, nothing is left
to chance. Special organs are developed for the
purpose of close copulation: these are the external
sex organs. In the male, the organ of immission
(for conveying the sperm into the female passage) is
called the penis. It is essentially a long, soft, finger-
shaped appendage with a passage running right along
it. This passage is connected by a long tube with the
testes. While the ovaries in all higher animals, in-
cluding Man, are situated internally within the abdo-
men, the testes are external, being contained in a
pouch suspended from the pubes. The sperm is
formed in the male sex glands or testes. During
copulation it passes, mixed with some viscid secre-
tion, out by the penis as semen, and is conveyed into
the sex passage of the female. It is evident that for
this purpose the male organ must enter the female
passage. The introduction of the penis into the
vagina takes place during the process of copulation.
The discharge of semen into the vagina is called the

64 SEX-LORE

ejaculation; the act itself is the sex act (sexual in-
tercourse, coitus, or coition).

The vagina forms a hollow tube, having its aper-
ture just beneath the pubes, and leading backwards
and slightly upwards into the womb (or uterus), which
is a pear-shaped organ made up almost entirely of
thick muscles. It has a relatively small cavity, which
is connected with the vagina. In birds the vagina
and the external aperture of the bowels (anus)
are not separate, both ending together in a common
passage which is called the cloaca. In all higher
female animals the two passages are separate. In
the male the passage of the penis runs into the
bladder. Being also connected, as we have seen, with
the testicles, it serves the double purpose of voiding
the urine and of emitting the sperm during the act
of copulation. In the female the urinary passage is
separate from the vagina; its opening lies just under
the pubes, slightly above the outer aperture of the
vagina. The external aperture of the vagina is, in
the human female, partly closed by a fine membrane
(the hymen) stretched across it; this is generally of
semilunar shape, occupying the lower part of the
vaginal aperture, thus leaving only a small perfora-
tion at the upper end of the vaginal opening. The
hymen is generally torn in the first sex act; though
it must be pointed out that it may occasionally remain
intact even after repeated intercourse. Piercing of
the hymen is certainly not absolutely essential for
insuring impregnation (that is, fertilization). On the
other hand, cases of impregnation have been observed
where no immission of the penis took place, since the
male germs have active movements of their own, and
can enter the vagina by their own mobility.

CHAPTER II

MARRIAGE

Marriage, as distinct from the pairing of animals,
is a social institution and has originated with human
needs. The human child takes longer than the young
animal to attain maturity; its development is slow, so
that it needs the care of the parents for a long time,
before it is able to fend for itself. The mother's
natural function is to see her child safely along the
path of life; it thus comes about that mother and
offspring are bound together by the needs of the
child. To primitive people, the connection between
the mother and the child is much more evident and
familiar than that between the father and the child,
which is not so obvious. Indeed, the physical fact
of fatherhood is often unknown. Now the tie which
binds a man to his mate and causes him to find sus-
tenance for her and the offspring would also induce
him to stay much longer with her when their needs
last longer. This would be the first beginnings of
true family life.

Marriage has its root in the family. In some
tribes a marriage is not recognized until a child is
born, and barrenness in a woman has been a legiti-
mate ground for divorce throughout the ages. There
have been various stages of marriage, which, accord-

«5, a

66 SEX-LORE

ing to some authorities, all humanity is supposed to
have passed through in succession. This, however,
is now disputed, and it is thought that tribes which
are at one stage need not necessarily have gone
through the previous stage. But, on the whole, we
can arrange matrimonial institutions into some sort
of series, indicating more or less the stages of the
evolution of marriage. Sometimes a link may be
completely missing, and then, again, we may find
two stages overlapping and appearing at the same
time in the same tribe.

We can divide marriage into three main types : the
matriarchate, the patriarchate, and individual mar-
riage.

1. Matriarchate.

We find more and more signs of the matriarchate
as we go down in the scale of civilization, but still
there are traces of it even among civilized nations.
Matriarchate means the rule of the mother in con-
tradistinction to that of the father, which is so familiar
to us. Researches in ancient and modern customs
have led to a theory that there was once a period
when women had the ruling power in the family.
This, however, has been shown to be erroneous.
What is true is, that there existed mother-right and
not mother-rule. Mother-right imples that descent is
reckoned in the female line and inheritance passes
through the mother. In some cases the daughters
only can inherit from the mother. Under this system
the wife remains a member of her own family, and
the husband goes to live with her. The children take
the mother's name and belong to her kindred. It is
her family that protects her and her children, some-

MARRIAGE 67

times even against the father; her brother or the
nearest male relative is their protector, master, and
guardian. Relationship through the father is in
some extreme cases not recognized at all, marriage
being permissible between children of the same
father if they are not of the same mother. The best-
known example of such a union between half-brother
and half-sister is that of Abraham and Sarah.

There sometimes occurs a transition stage between
matriarchate and patriarchate, where the woman goes
to live in the man's family or tribe, but the children
take her name. Tribes are also found having both
phases side by side. Should the man live with the
wife's family, descent is reckoned through the female
line; but if the man takes the woman to his hut, it is
counted through the male line.

Before coming to the discussion of the patriarchate,
we must mention group or tribal marriage, which in
some respects may be looked upon as an intermediary
stage. It has been asserted that it once prevailed
generally; but this now finds little acceptance. In
group marriage, the man marries a woman and all her
sisters, while she is married at the same time to all
his brothers. Among the Central Australian natives
the tribe is divided into four groups: " There exists
for any given group of men a definite group of women
with whom they may marry. ... A man may
have one or more women assigned to him as his wives;
... he will also have others to whom he has access
only under certain conditions. . . ." Similarly
stands the relation of the women to the men. There
are other variations of group marriage which we need
not discuss in detail.

68 SEX-LORE

We have just seen that certain groups of men are
allowed to marry only certain groups of women.
Now we frequently find that certain tribes altogether
forbid marriages within their own body, only per-
mitting a choice of mates from among other tribes.
This is called exogamy, and is supposed to have arisen
from the custom of wife-capture, which has ultimately
grown into a social law. On the other hand, it is
thought that exogamy is due to the desire of pre-
venting intermarriage between near kin, which is
considered harmful.

Opposed to exogamy is the custom of endogamy,
which enjoins marriage only within the tribe. It
generally prevails among more peaceful tribes that
have no means of obtaining women outside the clan.
We see it, however, restricted to smaller groups
within the clan, when it seems to have the purpose of
keeping pure the various castes or classes. This
system is in vogue in India, where most elaborate
and rigid rules exist forbidding marriage outside the
caste. In ancient times, there was a barrier to the
intermarriage of slave or serf with free man or
woman; and the feeling of a class barrier has by no
means yet died out completely.

2. Patriarchate.

The patriarchate is the earliest marriage system ol
which we have definite authentic records in the history
of the nations. Thus it is found to have existed
among all the ancient peoples that have been the
precursors of modern civilization. We need only
mention the patriarchs of the Bible. The patriar-
chate implies, in the first instance, the appropriation

MARRIAGE 69

of the woman and the children by the man. Once
he has taken her away from her own family, she is
no longer under its protection, but becomes com-
pletely his possession, to be treated as he likes. She
is at his mercy as to life and limb, and he can at times
even dispose of her, if he so wishes, by either selling
her or giving her away. This often also implied the
right of lending her to an honoured guest. The
custom of selling a wife prevailed in England, for
instance, up to late times; Thomas Hardy uses it as
a theme in one of his novels, " The Mayor of Caster-
bridge." In patriarchal society descent and inheri-
tance go through the male line, and not, as under
the matriarchate, through the female. The father
also has supreme power over his children, and can
give them away in marriage as he pleases. The
ancient Hebrews gave the father great rights over
the family: not only could he dispose of his daughters
according to his pleasure, but he could also choose
wives for his sons. Among the Romans in the
earliest times, the father (called pater familias, father
of the family) had the power of life and death over
his dependants. The patriarchal Roman family con-
sisted of the eldest male and all descendants in the
male line only. " None of the descendants of a
female were included in the primitive notion of
family relationship. The father could give a wife
to his son, or give his daughter in marriage," and he
could sell his children. A woman came legally under
the tutelage of her husband, as if she were his daughter.
The ancient Greek pater familias could not exert
quite so much power over his family, but a Greek
woman could be given in marriage by her father to

70 SEX-LORE

a man she did not know at all; and she remained in
a state of nonage throughout life. She was either
under the authority of the father or guardian, or, if
she married, under that of her husband. She also,
like the Roman wife, had to give up worshipping
her family's household gods and had to worship
the gods of her husband, as soon as she entered his
home.

Although among many races the father's authority
has declined a good deal, there is still left to him the
power of betrothing or marrying his children whenever
and to whomsoever he chooses. Thus we find that
in Japan and many other places the marriage is
nearly always arranged by the father. Nay, more,
children are betrothed and married at a very early
age — as, for instance, in India. There even exists
in many countries the custom of betrothing children
before or immediately after birth, as in Australia,
New Guinea, New Zealand, etc. Amongst the
Eskimos, as soon as a girl is born the young lad who
wishes her for his wife goes to her father and proffers
himself.

An example of man's authority and woman's meek
submission exists, or has existed until lately, in
Russia. A Russian peasant woman thinks her hus-
band does not love her until he has shown it by
giving her a beating; otherwise she thinks he shows
lack of interest in her. On her wedding day a
Russian bride gives (or, at least, gave until quite
recently) her husband an elaborately decorated whip,
which he lays about her shoulders — gently, of course !
Whilst doing so he says: " I love thee as my soul,
and I beat thee as my serf. I am thy master; thou

MARRIAGE 71

art to obey me." This seems to be only a symbolical
act now, but most likely it is based on old custom.

It is well known from Bible history that the patri-
archs had more than one wife. No exception was
taken to this at that period. We need only quote
Abraham, whose wives were Sarah and Hagar;
Jacob with his two wives, Leah and Rachel; King
David; and Solomon with his reputed thousand wives
and concubines.

The union of one man with more than one woman
is called polygamy. We find it existing both in
olden times and at th^ present day; it still prevails
__iaaH parts of the world, chiefly among Mohammedans ,,

and less advanced nations. It has died out among ^^^J^^
Western civilized people, with the excepti5n_of^the^<^^v-'^^^^
Mormons, whose religion, it is said, imposes upon them *^' ^
- polygamy as a divine duty. Royalty forms another
^^ exception. Members of royal houses even now some-
times allow themselves the privilege of two wives.
In addition to the legitimate wife of royal blood, a
second marriage is allowed with a woman of less
noble descent. Such a marriage is called a mor-
ganatic marriage, and the morganatic wife and her
offspring have not the rights of royalty.

Polygamy is perfectly legal and moral with the
people among whom it exists, though in practice it
is not always carried out, simply because there are
not always enough women to allow each man more
than one wife. Often it is only the headman or
chief of a clan that has the privilege of taking more
than one wife, while his tribesmen are restricted to
one. Then, again, not every man can afford to keep
many wives, so that it comes to be looked upon as a

n SEX-LORE

mark of wealth and power, and insures a good social
position. Livingstone relates of the Makalolo women :
" On hearing that a man in England could only marry
one wife, several ladies exclaimed that they would not
like to live in such a country; they could not imagine
how English ladies could relish this custom; for in
their way of thinking every man of respectability
should have a number of wives as a proof of his
wealth. Similar ideas prevail all down the Zambesi."
Examples are even found where the first wife will
entreat her husband to take another v/ife, to lighten
her burden, as woman's toil is very heavy among
savages, and the addition of another wife will divide
the work.

The number of wives a man is legally permitted to
have varies among different people. The King of
Loango is said to have seven thousand wives ! In
some instances the wives take equal rank, as in the
case of Leah and Rachel; but there are many types
of polygamy where there is one chief wife, the others
taking an inferior position. Thus, in China there is
only one chief wife; the others are secondary, though
legitimate, wives. In Mohammedan countries, where
a man has two or more wives, the one married first
generally takes the highest rank and is called '' the
great lady." The chief or first wife among negro
people generally has command over all the house and
the rest of the wives. In many cases the children of
the first wife have precedence over the other children
as regards inheritance and other privileges.

A much rarer form of marriage is polyandry, the
union of one woman with more than one man. This
occurs, for instance, in group marriage, mentioned

MARRIAGE 73

before. Very often the woman marries a man and
all his brothers, the children being attributed to the
eldest husband. In polyandrous marriages the first
husband is, as a rule, the chief one, the second hus-
band being inferior and sometimes having to serve
the first. This custom seems to have existed, accord-
ing to Caesar, in Ancient Britain; the children were
considered as belonging to the man who first took
the girl to wife. In Tibet the elder brother has the
right to choose the wife; and the marriage contract
can include all his brothers, if they wish to avail
themselves of this right. The children call the elder
husband father, the younger husbands uncle. Poly-
andry often exists together with some other form of
marriage.

MARRIAGE WAYS.

The modes of procuring a wife are manifold. We
can divide them roughly into three classes : marriage
by capture, by purchase, and by free consent of the
parties. The practice of capturing wives has always
existed, and still prevails in many parts of the world.
Traces are to be found in the marriage ceremonies
of many races, and it has in consequence been asserted
that all humanity has once passed through this stage.
This, however, is now doubted, some of the customs
being rather interpreted as symbolical of the shyness
and reluctance of the bride in going to a strange man,
a reluctance which has to be overcome by the bride-
groom. Peaceful arrangements of marriage con-
tracts must always have existed, even side by side
with the capture of women.

As a rule, primitive people are very warlike, and

74 SEX-LORE

women have always been considered legitimate spoils
of war. Generally, where the vanquished men are
all slaughtered, the women are spared and carried
off by the victors. Thus it comes about that a brave
warrior will obtain many wives; in fact, the posses-
sion of many wives is a source of pride, being proof
of a man's valour, or, as in the cases previously men-
tioned, a sign of his wealth.

The Bible repeatedly speaks of the process of ob-
taining wives by capture. Instances of this custom
are also known of ancient Rome — as, for example,
in the story of the rape of the Sabin© women. Mar-
riage by capture was also customary among the
ancient Greeks, and the custom was retained by the
Spartans as an important symbol in the marriage
ceremony. There is a well-known story of Andro-
mache, wife of Hector of Troy, who was taken cap-
tive by the Greeks and assigned to Pyrrhus, Achilles'
son. Abundant evidence of wife-capture is to be
found in the European races. It existed among the
ancient Germans and Scandinavians, while among the
South Slavonians it was in force even as late as the
beginning of the last century.

It is not only in times of war that capture of women
takes place; men make marauding expeditions for
wives also at other times. Among the Maoris, the
old way of obtaining a wife was for the man to gather
together a party of his friends, and to abduct the
woman by force or stratagem. In Serbia it was the
custom to lie in wait for a girl of a neighbouring
village, and to carry her off as she went out to tend
her flock; or sometimes an armed assault was made
on her home.

MARRIAGE 75

Marriage by capture may exist together with more
peaceful methods of obtaining a wife. Among the
Macas Indians, a wife, when of the same tribe as her
husband, was acquired by purchase; women of an-
other tribe by force.

SymboHcal wife-capture occurs very frequently in
marriage ceremonies, but does not always indicate a
survival of real capture. " The Araucanians, for
instance, consider the carrying off of the bride
by pretended violence as an essential prerequisite
to the nuptials, and, according to Mr. E. R.
Smith, it is even ' a point of honour ' with the
bride to resist and struggle, however willing she
may be." In Wakamba, marriage goes by pur-
chase, but the bridegroom must carry off the
bride in some way or other. " Among the Be-
douins of Sinai, the bridegroom seizes the woman,
whom he has legally purchased, drags her out of her
father's tent, lifts her, violently struggling, upon his
camel, holds her fast while he bears her away, and
finally pulls her forcibly into his house, though her
powerful resistance may be the occasion of serious
wounds." Among the Mosquito Indians, after the
wedding is arranged and the presents paid, the bride-
groom seizes his bride and carries her off, followed
by her relatives, who pretend to try to rescue her.
In ancient Rome, the bride fled to her mother's lap,
but was forcibly carried off by the bridegroom and
his friends. This seems to have been less a symbol
of capture than of the reluctance of the bride to
leave her home and go to a strange man. In Wales,
on the morning of the wedding-day the bridegroom,
accompanied by his friends on horseback, carried off

76 SEX-LORE

the bride. In Ireland, so late as the middle of the
last century, the bridegroom was compelled in honour
to run off with his bride, even when there was no
need. The custom of lifting the bride over the thres-
hold of her husband's home, which occurs in various
places, is put down to a survival of wife-capture.

There is frequently a simulated flight by the bride,
who must be captured by the bridegroom. In Arabia,
among the Mezeyn Arabs, the bride really escapes
and hides herself in some mountain fastness previously
well stocked with food. Here the man that wants to
marry her must find her. In Brittany, the bride-
groom goes to the bride's house, which he finds locked
and barred; sometimes he has to knock for hours
before anyone opens the door. Then he is asked
what he wants. He replies that he has come for the
bride; the father goes in and brings first the grand-
mother. When told that she is not the desired one
he returns and brings the baby, or the i^isters one
after the other; and ultimately brings the bride, who
has been hiding indoors all the time.

The custom of simulated flight sometimes changes
to real flight when a girl is unwilling to accept a man.
Among the Kalmucks, after the marriage price is
arranged, the bride runs away on horseback, the lover
pursuing. If she is partial to him, she is soon over-
taken; but there is no instance of a Kalmuck girl
being caught if she does not care for her pursuer.
In the Malay Peninsula, there are various methods
of chasing the bride, and here also it is only the willing
maid that can be caught. In one tribe the lover must
swim for his wife; in another, the chase takes place
in canoes, the bride being given the fleeter canoe and

MARRIAGE 77

a good start. Again, a marriage dance may be held,
during which the bride breaks away, running her
swiftest, the bridegroom following her. If he cannot
catch her and bring her back before that part of the
dance is ended, she need not marry him, nor need
she return the purchase-money.

Capture is by no means the regular manner of
obtaining a wife. In many tribes it is considered
illegal and immoral. Wife-capture, real or pretended,
is very often found side by side with wife-purchase,
which is customary among more advanced peoples and
is much more prevalent all over the world. We can
divide purchase under three heads: exchange; service
rendered to the parents or guardians of the bride;
and payment in kind for the bride, which is in time
modified to an exchanging of gifts and ultimately to
the bestowal of a dowry upon the bride.

" The simplest way of obtaining a wife is no doubt
to give a kinswoman in exchange for her," says
Westermarck. " The Australian male almost in-
variably obtains his wife or wives either as the sur-
vivor of a married brother or in exchange for his
sisters or, later in life, for his daughters. A similar
exchange is sometimes effected in Sumatra."

Marriage by service is a more general custom than
exchange. Here the bridegroom has to earn the bride
by serving her father or guardian. The terms and
years of service differ with the various peoples.
Sometimes the bride is given to the man in advance;
at others only after service has been rendered. This
custom still prevails among uncivilized races. A
well-known ancient example is that of Jacob, who
served Laban seven years for Rachel, but was given

78 SEX-LORE

Leah instead, and had to serve another seven for
Rachel; she was, however, given to him in advance.
In some cases it is only when the man cannot pay for
his bride that he has to serve for her; but there are
tribes among whom no payment can replace service.
It is generally the first wife that is obtained in this
manner; the others are purchased. This form of
marriage occurs also simultaneously with marriage
by purchase.

The custom of purchasing a wife exists, or has ex-
isted, among many peoples in various stages of pro-
gress. Usually the amount to be paid is arranged
between the parties, but sometimes it is established
by custom. The price varies in many ways. Often
it is considered to be payment to the parents for the
girl's services and the cost of her upbringing. The
beauty and health of a girl comes into consideration,
as does also her social rank. In British Columbia and
Vancouver the value of the articles given for a bride
ranges from twenty to forty pound sterling. From
two to thirty cows will buy a wife among the Kaffirs.
In Uganda the price is either three to four bullocks,
six sewing-needles, or a small box of percussion-caps.
The chief Maino in the Torres Straits told Dr.
Haddon thstt he paid for his wife " a camphor- wood
chest, with seven bolts of calico, one dozen shirts,
one dozen singlets, one dozen trousers, one dozen
handkerchiefs, two dozen tomahawks, one dozen
hooks, two fish-lines, one long fish-spear, one pound
of tobacco, two pearl shells, and ' by golly he too
dear !' " At the beginning of the last century the high
purchase price for a bride in Serbia made it impossible
for many a^poor fellow to marry at all. In addition

MARRIAGE 79

to paying the purchase price, the bridegroom was
expected to bestow expensive presents on the bride,
her mother and all her near relatives. This caused
the enactment of a law in 1849 restricting the price
of a bride to one ducat, which had to be paid before
the wedding.

Custom varies as to the time of payment. Some-
times the full price must be given before the marriage,
but then, again, it may be paid in instalments. In
the latter case, the bride usually remains in her
father's home, the husband not gaining complete
ownership until the full price is paid. Among some
people where purchase prevails, it is considered a
disgrace to the family to give away a girl without a
price — it is as if she were of no value.

The custom of paying for a wife existed in ancient
Greece. In the Homeric age a maid is described as
" one who yields to her parents many oxen as presents
from her suitor." There are also indications that
there was wife-purchase in ancient Rome. In ancient
Babylon girls of marriageable age repaired to a
certain place where the young men assembled; here
the girls were sold by the public crier. The most
beautiful one was sold first; part of the money de-
rived from the sale was given as a dowry to the ugliest,
who was sold next. This money gave her a chance
of getting a husband, which she would not otherwise
have had. The girl next in beauty was then sold,
and after her an ugly one again received part of the
money from the sale; until in this manner all the
girls were disposed of. A maiden-market existed
until not long ago in Roumania. Very often capture
and purchase are found to apply together. Thus, for

80 SEX-LORE

instance, a man abducts or elopes with a girl without
her guardian's consent; but he has to pay for the girl
on returning. Generally, if the woman does not fulfil
her compact, the man may return her and demand
the purchase-price again.

As more elevated ideas arise among civilized
people regarding the dignity and value of woman,
marriage by purchase falls into disrepute. The
purchase-price becomes lower and lower, and in
many cases takes the form of wedding-gifts, the
value of which is prescribed by custom. In Japan,
the bride must give presents to the bridegroom, to
his parents, and to his relatives, in the choice of which
she is guided by the value of those given by the
bridegroom. The bridegroom also sends the bride
a betrothal gift, the " complimentary girdle." Its
acceptance seals the contract ; bride and relatives are
in honour bound not to draw back. The girdle has
the same significance as the wedding-ring. In China,
there is an interchange of presents between the
guardians of the bride and those of the bridegroom.
The presents given by the father to the bridegroom
in time increased in value. With some peoples,
again, a part or the whole of the purchase-money
goes to the bride instead of to the father, and becomes
her marriage portion. Either the father passes it on
to her or it is given to her directly by the bridegroom.
This was called the morgengabe (morning gift), as
it was presented to her on the morning after the
wedding. The next step is a sort of combination of
the two methods. The father, instead of giving the
present to the bridegroom, now gives it to his daughter
as a dowry. This may be regarded as a contribution

MARRIAGE 81

by the wife to the expenses of the joint household;
or it may be intended as a settlement for the wife in
case the marriage is dissolved by the husband's death
or otherwise. The dowry generally becomes the
husband's property, and in case of divorce must be
returned to the wife. In China; the bridegroom does
not see his wife until after the wedding; and he may
send her back to her parents if he is not satisfied with
her. But he must not dismiss her without giving her
a sum equal to her dower, and must also pay to her
parents all the expenses of the marriage. In many
cases it is arranged that the dowry is completely at
the wife's disposal; this is becoming more and more
frequent with the modern advance in woman's in-
dependence in all spheres of life.

S. Monogamy.

There is no doubt that we find monogamy among
a number of primitive peoples, but the fact remains
that almost all nations of historical itnportanee have
passed through a polygamous stage and have attained
monogamy only gradually. How this happened has
never been explained quite satisfactorily; most prob-
ably various causes consfpired to bri»ng about the
change.

As the fighting spirit abated somewhat and war
became less prevalent among tribes, fewer men would
be killed, and this would lead to a more equalized
proportion between men and women. It would
hence be more difficult for any given man to obtain
more than one wife. Besides, when a man had to
purchase his wife he would frequently be unable to
afford more than one. Another factor working in

6

82 SEX^LORE

the same direction lies in the circumstance that men
who did not fight were occupied more and more with
industry, thus releasing women for the home and
making family life more intensive, and this in its
turn would tend to attach Wie man more firmly to
his wife and children. Furthermore, it was the
woman's interest to see that her children had full
rights. This would militate against the keeping of
additional wives or concubines. The result was that
the favourite wife finally became the only one.

Another advance in monogamy was made in the
direction of woman's freedom to choose her own
husband. At first he^: guardians could sell her with-
out her consent. After a time she was still given
away by her father or guardian, though her consent
to the contract was necessary. The final change
came about when the bride could dispose of herself.

Monogamy has become the recognized form of
marriage in all countries of Western civilization, and
certaiiily has proved successful from a social point
of view, both as regards the relationship of husband
and wife and that of parents and children.

MARRIAGE RITES.

Many rites and ceremonies are connected with the
various kinds of marriage. Some are only symbolical
of bygone customs; others, again, embody beliefs and
superstitions still existing. As has been mentioned
in a previous chapter, sex and its manifestations have
very often been looked upon with fear and awe as
uncanny and attended with many dangers. As
Crawley says in his '' Mystic Rose ": '' Ceremonies of
marriage are intended to neutralize the dangers of

MARRIAGE 83

sex, and to make the union safe, prosperous, and
happy.

There was no marriage ceremony among primitive
folk, and this is still the case with many uncivilized
and semicivilized peoples, such as the Eskimos,
Tasmanians, Solomon Islanders, and others. As the
importance of marriage became recognized, certain
ceremonies, which generally had a tribal and reli-
gious meaning, were performed on the occasion.
Since the bride was to be adopted into the family
of her husband, a blood-relationship was established
symbolically by the bride and bridegroom, each let-
ting blood and smearing the other with it. At times
red lead or red powder replaces blood for this
purpose.

Very commonly the only ceremony is a feast, which
lasts many days. The fact that the bride and bride-
groom have eaten together is in some instances con-
sidered to be the most important part of the whole
of the ceremony. This signifies the union, the living
together of the couple, whereby the bride comes under
the subjection of the husband. In Burmah the bride
and groom eat hot rice out of a new bowl; as they
eat, some witness cries, "It is done !" and they are
man and wife. In some Brazilian tribes, marriage
is contracted by the man and woman drinking to-
gether. In Scandinavia, the couple used to drink
out of one beaker; this still occurs in Russia. The
ancient Greeks and Romans had a sacred marriage
ceremony which consisted in eating a cake of wheaten
flour together in front of the husband's household gods.

The union of husband and wife is indicated by
various other symbolical means. Among some tribes,

84 . SEX-LORE

the little finger of the man's right hand is tied to
the little finger of the woman's left hand. Again,
the couple about to be married merely sit together
on one seat and receive their friends, to whom they
give a dinner or feast. Among the Veddahs of
Ceylon, the bride ties a thin cord round the bride-
groom's waist, and they are then husband and wife.
The Hindu bride and bridegroom have their hands
bound together with grass. All these customs prob-
ably account for the phrases " the nuptial tie "
or '' the knot tied." A quaint method of indi-
cating the union of the couple exists in Japan. Here,
when the bride crosses the threshold of her new home,
the wicks of two candles are tied or twisted together
by some near relative of the bridegroom, and are lit.
This symbolizes the union of bodies and souls in
marriage.

The religious aspect of marriage first finds expres-
sion in magical rites. Crawley points out the preva-
lent belief that spirits seem particularly active at
marriages, so that precautions must be taken to drive
them away. In Russia all doors and windows, and
even the chimneys, are closed at a wedding, to pre-
vent malicious witches from hurting bride and bride-
groom. The practice of throwing rice at a wedding
originated in the custom of giving food to the spirits
in order to propitiate them. In the county of Dur-
ham and in Cleveland, guns were fired over the heads
of the newly wedded pair all the way from church, to
ward off the evil spirits. There still exists in Ger-
many the institution of Polterabend, when people
break pottery outside the bride's house on the eve
of the wedding.

MARRIAGE 85

Weddings are very often arranged to take place
at night in order to run less risk of danger from evil
spirits. Attempts are also made at hiding the iden-
tity of bride and bridegroom by their pretending to
be queen and king for the day, or by their wearing
entirely new clothing. Sometimes a mock bride is at
first substituted for the real one. An interesting
custom exists of first marrying one or both of the
pair to a tree. This insures the harmlessness and
success of the real ceremony. The bride and bride-
groom are sometimes attended by one or more persons
dressed up to resemble them. This custom is based
on the belief that there is safety in numbers; from
this has arisen our modern institution of bridesmaids
and groomsmen.

Just as there are customs which aim at warding
off ill-luck, so there are other customs which have
the purpose of bringing good luck. Thus red is
worn as a lucky colour by Orientals and semi-Orien-
tals. In the Black Forest the bride weeps all the
way from church, since she that weeps enough on
her way to her new home will never weep in it.

Coming to marriage customs nearer home, we have
already mentioned that the religious ceremony of the
Romans consisted in eating the sacred cake together.
In addition to this, there was a secular form of
marriage by purchase (coemptio), where the ceremony
of formal purchase was gone through ; this was
sufficient to constitute marriage. Similarly, in early
Europe, among the old English and other Teutonic
people, marriage was a private transaction, being a
formal sale of the bride by the father. There was
yet a third form of Roman marriage, in which the

86 SEX-LORE

mere living together of the couple continuously for
a whole year, without any formality whatsoever, was
considered to constitute marriage. This kind of
marriage — ^the mere living together — ^though in com-
plete contrast to the customary ceremonial or legal
marriage, found recognition throughout the Middle
Ages, and is said, according to law, to be valid even
now ! Such marriages are, however, the outstand-
ing exceptions. There is generally at least a mini-
mum of ceremony — a simple oral declaration, which
is characteristic of Scotch law.

With the growing power of the Christian Church,
secular marriage was gradually replaced by the re-
ligious ceremony or sacrament. At first only the
presence of the priest was considered necessary; but
ultimately no marriage was valid unless consecrated
by the Church. We need not go into details about
the actual religious ceremonial and its inner meaning,
but would only point out certain customs which are
survivals from earlier times. The ring, for instance,
is said to be a symbol of purchase of the bride.
It is put on the third finger of her left hand, because
it was believed that there was a vein leading from
that finger right to the heart. The bride generally
appears at the wedding in white, with a veil over her
face and a wreath of orange-blossom or myrtle on
her head. The bride's white dress was already in
vogue in ancient Greece and Rome; it is supposed
to signify holiness, as white was worn by the priest
during the ritual sacrifices. Various explanations of
the wearing of the veil have been given. In Korea
and many other places in the East, the bride's eye-
lids are glued together so that she may not see the

Fig. 31. — A Norwegian Bride.

(From a picture by Nico Jungman.)

Fig. 32. — Woman of Su3iatra in Bridal Drkss.

(From " Das Weib in Natur und Volkerkunde," by H. Ploss.)

MARRIAGE 87

bridegroom until the ceremony is over. In Morocco
the bride has to keep her eyes closed until after the
ceremony, and she also wears a veil over the face.
Among the Jews the bridegroom was forbidden to
visit or see his bride until after the wedding. Crawley
attributes the origin of the bridal veil to the aversion
of primitive people to seeing dangerous things; and
bride and bridegroom were considered taboo because
they were dangerous to each other until after the
marriage ceremony. Others, again, explain the
bridal veil as a token of sexual shyness and the timi-
dity of the bride. Wreaths were originally worn by
the priest during the sacrificial rites, and so became
symbolical of holiness. The bride wears one at the
ceremony because marriage is considered a sacra-
ment. Later on, with the insistence Christianity
laid upon purity, the wreath became the emblem of
virginity in the bride, only virgins being allowed to
wear it. A similar idea is implied in the custom we
find in Norway and other places, where a nuptial
crown is worn by virgin brides (Fig. 31). These are
hired from the Church and worn by the bride on her
wedding-day. The " best man " is a reminiscence of
the times when he was the chief abettor in the pro-
curing of the bride.

Of late, secular marriage had been instituted once
more in all advanced countries, giving people the
option of either religious consecration or civil regis-
tration. In fact, there is a tendency to make mar-
riage more and more a mutual agreement between
the parties entering matrimony, based upon tru^
understanding and love,

PART IIL— PARENTHOOD

Just as courtship is only a prelude to the more im-
portant function of mating, so we have seen that
mating leads to pairing and marriage. All these
processes form, as it were, a series of events which
have the ultimate purpose of procreation. The
usual idea is, that the body is the bearer of the germ
cell, and so of the future generation. In the modern
scientific view, however, it is more correct to treat
the germ cells as the all-important factor. They
continue the race in a successive line, while the body
is merely a repository of the germ cells, being only
'' something temporary and non-essential, destined
merely to carry for a time and nurse the more im-
portant germs of the future generations." Now we
find that with the progressive development of animal
organization the care of the germ cells extends even
beyond the time when they are hatched — that is,
when the young have been born; and, furthermore,
the time devoted to rearing the young becomes longer
and longer with the advance in the animal series,
until we reach Man. Here a whole social system
has arisen especially for the upbringing and fostering
of children. This is being constantly extended as the
importance of childhood becomes more and more
appreciated for the full realization of manhood and
womanhood; for, as Wordsworth has said: "The
child is father to the man."

m

CHAPTER I
REPRODUCTION

1. Reproduction in Animals.

We have seen in the previous chapter that the male
and female germ cells are brought together in the
act of mating. It has also been pointed out that in
individuals of bisexual species (those having both

^Ai^.i f

El

Fig. 83. — Owm, surrounded by Sperm Cells. (After Schenck.)

El, Ovum ; 8p, sperm cells.

(From WeismanD, " The Evolution Theory.")

males and females) the male and female germs must
combine in order to produce the new being. This
mingling of the two germs is called fertilization
in the higher animals; also known as conception.
As a rule it is the small active sperm that penetrates

90

REPRODUCTION

91

the larger, relatively immobile ovum in order to
bring about the mingling of the two substances (Figs,
33 and 34). Once the mixing of the two germ cells
has taken place, development starts by a process of
cell division. The mother cell — as the combined male
and female germ is now called — divides first into two
daughter cells (Fig. 35); these again divide, each into
two, so that we have four granddaughter cells; then
by further division we get eight cells, sixteen, thirty-
two, and so on, until a solid ball of cells is formed, in

r:k 1

Fig. 34. — Fertilization in Ascaris JMegalocephala, (Adapted
from Boveri and Van Beneden.)

A, Spermatozoon (sp) about to penetrate ovum, which has one polar
body (Rk 1)\ B, spermatozoon {spk) has entered ovum, which
shows ovum-nucleus {Eik) ; also three polar bodies {Rk 1 and
Rk2y

(From Weismann, "The Evolution Theory.")

appearance very much like a mulberry and therefore
called a morula. This morula undergoes further
change. Its central cells liquefy, so that instead of
a solid ball there is now a single layer of cells, which
encloses a hollow space filled with fluid. This is
called a blastula. The blastula then doubles upon
itself by growth, the differently situated cells dividing

92

SEX-LORE

at different rates, so that at the end a structure arises
very much like an indiarubber ball completely bulged
in. It forms a double hemisphere of cells called the
gastrula, and consists of an outer layer and an inner

Fig. 35. — Embryogeny of Sagitta.

1 to 4^ Primitive mother-cell with successive divisions ; 5^ morula ;
6^ blastula ; 7 and 8^ gastrula ; 9 and 10^ coelomula ; e^ outer
layer ; i, inner layer ; o, primitive mouth ; a^ primitive mouth-
or gut-cavity ; v^ coelom folds ; Cy coelom cavity.

(From " Natural History of Creation," by E. Hseckel. By kind permission of the

Author and Publisher.)

layer of cells. This double layer of cells encloses a
cavity which opens outwardly. The next stage
consists in an elongation of the gastrula into horse-

REPRODUCTION 93

shoe shape. The further process of development is
too complicated to be given here in detail. All
that is necessary to point out is the fact that the
original mouth cavity is divided once more. Two
folds (the coelom folds) grow from the back of the
gastrula into the primitive mouth cavity, dividing it
into two side or coelom cavities and one central narrow
cavity. The two side cavities ultimately become the
combined chest and abdominal cavities, right and left ;
while the narrow central part forms, later on, the gut.
By a process of further growth and foldings we finally
get all the different structures and organs of the body.
It will be seen that the organism passes during these
stages through a number of forms quite unlike its
mature state; in this stage it is called the embryo.
It has been seen that the embryo develops by division
from the original mother cell. Some ova are provided
for this purpose with a special nourishing substance,
the yolk, which in certain cases reaches enormous
proportions, the actual mother cell, here called the
germinal vesicle, being only microscopical (Fig. 36).

Among the lower animals the fertilized eggs are
hatched outside the body, and, as explained above,
undergo a number of embryonic changes. In certain
species, such as crabs, insects, amphibians, the em-
bryonic stages are very distinct from each other;
the embryos are able to shift for themselves and
behave to a certain extent like adult animals. In
these cases the development of the embryo is spoken
of as its metamorphosis. To take the case of insects:
here the female lays her fertilized eggs on to some
plant, or (it may be) animal matter, to which they are
sometimes attached by some adhesive covering.

94

SEX-LORE

These eggs first hatch into grubs or, in butterflies and
moths, into caterpillars (Fig. 37). The caterpillar feeds
and grows, casting its skin repeatedly. Before the last
moult, the caterpillar ceases to feed and wanders
about seeking a suitable place to settle on, before it
enters the next stage of the metamorphosis. Some
caterpillars suspend themselves to a branch of a tree
by a thread of silk which they have spun; others

CH

Fig. 36. — Hen^s Egg : Diagrammatical Longitudinal Section.
(After Allen Thomseii.)

CH, Chalaza ; DM, vitelline membrane ; GD, yellow yolk ;

Bl, germinal disc with germinal vesicle ; WD, white yolk ;

EW, albumen; A'aS'^ shell; S, shell membrane; LR, air

chamber.

(From Weismann, "The Evolution Theory.")

spin a cocoon of silk in which they are enclosed
(Fig. 38), whilst others, again, descend to the ground,
scoop out a dry burrow, and then go to sleep. Then
the last moult takes place; beneath the caterpillar's
skin a horny shell is formed, and as soon as this is
complete, the outer skin is cast off; and we have the
pupa or chrysalis. The chrysalis is motionless and

g

a

H

H

CO

s e

Fig. 38. — Cocoons^ Chrysalis^ and Moth of Silkworm.
One cocoon is opened to show the chrysalis.

Photo by IV. B. jfohnson

Fig. 89.— Stages in the Development of the Frog.

1 Shows the ^^^ ; 2 and 3 the larval^ and 4 to 7 the tadpole stages ;

8 is the adult stage.

(From " The Infancy of Animals," by W. P. Py craft. )

REPRODUCTION 95

does not feed, but it changes imperceptibly under the
cocoon into the adult stage, be it a beetle, butterfly,
moth, or other winged insect.

We can pass over the embryonic development in
the next classes of animals, as they show no special
features to be recorded here. It is only when we
come to the frog that we find once more an interest-
ing case of metamorphosis. The frog deposits the
fertilized eggs, commonly called spawn, in large masses
in ponds and ditches. The spawn, together with the
yolk on which the young embryo feeds, is enveloped
in a gelatinous outer covering, which serves as a
protection against danger. In about a week the egg
hatches out as a fish-like creature with head and
body all in one, and a long tail which is adapted for
swimming (Fig. 39). Little tufts of gills, which serve
for breathing, branch out at each side of the head.
It has now become a larva, which actively seeks its
food in the water, devouring almost any kind of
animal or vegetable matter. Soon internal gills are
formed, and as they develop the external gills decline.
The tadpole stage now follows. By much feeding
the body has become large and round, and the tail
has greatly increased in size. At the base of the tail
two legs have begun to bud out, while the two fore-
limbs, which are hidden within the gill chamber, have
also reached the same stage of growth. Within a
fortnight or so the tadpole undergoes great changes.
It ceases to swim about, and attaches itself to some
piece of weed in the water by a kind of sticky sucker
on the under-surface of the head. The outer skin
is then cast off and with it the external gills. The
fore-limbs appear, and the tail, which has served as

96 SEX-LORE

nourishment during the fast, is gradually absorbed,
and becomes a mere stump. The tadpole has now
become a frog and leaves the water to live on land.

Coming to the reptiles, we find that here the embryo
develops completely within the hard shell of the egg,
which also contains the yolk for its sustenance. The
female lays the fertilized eggs in some hole which she
has dug. The eggs are hatched out when the young
have attained the mature stage.

Of course, it is well known that birds are hatched
from eggs (Fig. 36). As in the reptiles, the eggs are
protected by a hard shell containing, besides the
embryo, the yolk, which is by far the greater in bulk.
The chicks when fully developed crack the shell with
their beaks and emerge. In a very short time they
are capable of looking after themselves.

A most interesting transition stage is to be found
between animals that lay eggs and those that give
birth to living young. Thus we find among fishes
and also among reptiles some species whose eggs
are hatched inside the mother's body, after being
fertilized by th.e male. For instance, the shark and
dogfish give birth to living young, these being passed
out one at a time either every day or every second
day for a month or two during the warm season.
On the other hand, we find that the lowest mammals
still lay eggs, which are hatched outside the body.

Mammals are animals which have breasts (mammce) ;
these contain milk glands, which produce milk for the
nourishment of the young. The duck-billed platypus
and the spiny ant-eater (echidna) both lay eggs. The
former lays her eggs in a nest made in a burrow and
broods over them like a bird; but she feeds the newly

REPRODUCTION 97

hatched young with a milky secretion which is exuded
from the skin of her body and which the young lap
up. Another step is taken by the spiny ant-eater,
which with its beak-like muzzle thrusts the eggs, as
soon as they are laid, into a pouch on the belly similar
to that of the kangaroo. The eggs are kept here
until they are hatched. The young feed in the same
manner on a milky exudation from the skin.

A further advance is made by the marsupials, to
which the kangaroo belongs. Here the fertilized
egg (which has no shell) remains in the womb of the
mother to undergo the first stages of development.
The young are born alive, but in a very immature
condition, and have therefore to be carried about in
the warm pouch of the mother. This pouch, situated
on the belly of the mother, is furnished with milk
glands which do not merely open to the skin, but end
in proper teats. The newly born kangaroo (hardly
one inch long) is attached to the teat of the mother
animal, who may be more than man's size.

As in the marsupials, so we find that in all mammals
the fertilized ovum remains in the uterus during the
embryonic development. It has no shell, but attaches
itself to the wall of the womb and draws nourishment
from the internal surface of the womb. As soon as
the embryo reaches maturity, birth takes place, the
young being expelled through the vagina by the con-
tractions of the uterus into the outer world. The
period of intra-uterine development is called gesta-
tion, and varies in length with different animals, the
higher generally having a longer gestation period
than the lower (though this is not invariably so),
because the more advanced the animal, the longer

7

G^ s.^'^'b

98 SEX-LORE

the time needed for embryonic development. The
secretion of milk starts with gestation, and is in full
flow at the birth of the young. It lasts as long as
suckling goes on.

2. Reproduction in Man.
Gestation in human beings (called pregnancy) last,
on an average about 280 days (ten lunar months). It
has already been pointed out that in the act of mating
the semen of the male is ejaculated into the vagina. In
any case, the sperm by its active movement reaches the
uterus, where it finds the ovum. The ovum is shed
by the ovary at periodical intervals and travels along
a connecting tube (oviduct) into the uterus, where
it awaits fertiUzation. This takes place, therefore
(with very rare exceptions when the ovum has not
reached the uterus), in the womb. The act of fertili-
zation is called conception, and pregnancy commences
thenceforth. The first sign of pregnancy is the cessa-
tion of menstruation. There now take place certam
changes in the mother's organism, which is especially
adapted for the bearing and carrying out of the
young. The fertilized ovum attaches itself to the
wall of the uterus and grows gradually; with it the
uterus grows, modified in structure so as to give
proper shelter and sustenance to the living bemg
inside it. This growth shows itself externally in the
steady enlargement of the abdomen (belly). The milk
glands of the breast develop considerably in order to
yield milk to the new-born child. The embryo is
connected with the mother by the umbilical cord,
which runs from the navel or umbilicus of the child
to a specially thickened part of the uterus called the

REPRODUCTION

99

placenta. Through this an exchange of nutriment
and gases takes place between mother and child.
The embryo does not lie free in the uterine cavity,
but is enclosed in a bag of membranes (a sort of
bladder), which is filled with water in order to allow
the embryo to move about freely. The embryo is not
drowned in this water, because it does not breathe
air at all, but breathes, as it were, through the um-
bilical cord, receiving, as just pointed out, the neces-

Fig. 40. — Three Early Successive Stages op the Human Embryo.

(From *♦ Darwin and After Darwin," by G. J. Romanes. By permission of
Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co.)

sary gases from the mother. The embryo during its
growth passes through various changes. If by acci-
dent birth should occur before the sixth month, we
call it abortion or miscarriage, as the child cannot
live. When the sixth month is reached it is capable
of independent life, and is now called a foetus. Such
a child, if prematurely born, is however very difficult
to rear. The older and more developed the foetus, the
greater its chances of life if it should happen to be

100 SEX-LORE

born prematurely. The superstition that an eight-
month child cannot survive, while a seven-month
child can, has no scientific foundation whatever.
Normal birth occurs when maturity is reached.

It was not always known that the semen played
an essential part in the process of fertilization. In
fact, it was only in the year 1685 that this was dis-
covered. The division of cells and their building-up
of the body has only been known since 1850. Con-
ception and everything connected with it has always
been a mystery to people. It was even denied that
the father had any share in the creation of the new
being, seeing that the child develops in the womb
of the mother. Some Australian tribes affirm that the
child is fully developed from the first, and that it enters
the mother's body in the shape of a bird, if it is to be
a girl ; if it is to be a boy, it enters in the shape of a
snake, and then takes its original form again. The
old Greeks believed that the semen does not actually
contribute to the make-up of the child, but acts as
a sort of force starting the whole process of develop-
ment of the ovum. There are still some primitive
peoples who believe that the father gives the soul to
the child, while the mother supplies the substance of
the body.

There have existed and there still exist a number
of superstitions about the sex of the forthcoming
child, wkich is said to be determinable during and
even before pregnancy. Thus in Serbia, Bulgaria,
Russia, and other backward European countries, a
male infant is placed on the bride's knee, so that she
may give birth to a boy. Similar customs were
known to the ancient Indians. The Suaheli believe

REPRODUCTION 101

that a woman who is active and diligent during her
pregnancy will give birth to a boy; but a sleepy,
dreamy mother will bring a girl into the world. Even
modern scientists have tried to influence the sex of
the child before birth by special dieting of the mother.
Sugar was supposed to favour the production of boys.
This is contrary to the old nursery rhyme, which tells
us that little girls are made of sugar and spice and all
that's nice; boys being made of frogs and snaik and
puppy-dogs' tails. But unfortunately it must be
admitted that all such unscientific and scientific
attempts and forecasts have so far failed.
' A somewhat picturesque notion still very prevalent
is that a woman with a child should look only at
beautiful things and think only noble thoughts, for
then her child will be born beautiful and noble. Akin
to this idea is the belief that mental impressions
of the mother are transmitted as corresponding
physical defects to the child; for instance, if she has
been frightened by a mouse, it is said the child will
be born with a birthmark on the body in the shape
of a mouse. In most cases the resemblance is a mere
coincidence; but the question of the influence of
maternal impressions on the offspring has not been
definitely settled either way, though scientific opinion
tends to discredit them.

Among primitive people woman is considered im-
pure during pregnancy, and therefore she must in some
cases leave the house a few weeks before the expected
confinement, and go to one of the huts specially erected
for that purpose. The Yakutes do not allow a
pregnant woman to eat at the same table with the
others; she spoils the bullets of the hunter and

102 SEX-LORE

Weakens the labourer. In German New Guinea she
is not allowed to join in the fishing. In one of the
negro tribes the pregnant woman has to wear a bell,
so that people can avoid her. In China she must
not go near the silkworms, for fear of spoiling them.
In some eases even the husbands are considered im-
pure, and are not allowed to go to battle or to the
hunt. (This is a notion similar to the couvade,
which we shall describe later.)

As we have seen with regard to menstruation and
marriage, uncivilized people have a superstitious awe
of the dire effect of evil spirits. This also shows
itself in connection with pregnancy and childbirth.
In Celebes a woman who is expecting a child must
not go out with her hair loose, for a demon can easily
lodge in loose hair and injure her and her child.
There is a similar belief in Bohemia; here a woman
must carefully cover her hair for the same reason.
Amulets are worn as a protection against evil spirits
by enceinte women of uncivilized and even of
civilized peoples. In Esthonia in Russia, a woman
who is expecting a child changes her shoes every week,
so as to mislead the devil, who is on her track to get
the little newcomer into his clutches. The Russians
and other peoples have also great fear of the " evil
eye," which is supposed to be especially potent
against the expectant mother; it may injure her
and her offspring, which will be born in great pain.

The actual birth of the child takes place by mus-
cular contractions of the uterus, which expel the
child along the female passage. These contractions
are called labour pains. The membranes which en-
close the child burst while its head enters the vagina.

REPRODUCTION i03

The head then passes along the vagina, and the child
is thus born; for as a rule the birth of the child takes
place head foremost. Occasionally, however, it may
be born breech (z.^., buttock) foremost. Since the child
is attached to the womb by the umbilical cord, this
has to be severed; it is cut off to within an inch or
two of the child's body. The short remaining end
dries up and falls off in a week or so, leaving as a
mark the navel. The placenta and the umbilical
cord are also expelled after a short time as the after-
birth. The act of birth is technically known as par-
turition; in everyday language, however, a woman
who is giving birth to a child is said to be " confined,"
or going through her *' confinement." For, as some
time is needed for the womb to return to its normal
state, it is necessary for the mother to lie up,
generally for about ten days. This period is called
the lying-in or puerperal period. Milk begins to
flow on about the second or third day, and steadily
increases in quantity, lasting as long as the child is
suckled. Every mother should suckle her child for
about ten or twelve months. The taking the child
from the breast is called weaning. Menstruation
generally remains in abeyance during the period of
suckling (lactation), though this is by no means in-
variably the rule.

Lying-in does not take place among some of the
savage races. Thus the nomadic tribes have no
settled abode, but wander about, pitching their camp
wherever convenient. There is no opportunity
for the woman to go to bed for the confinement;
many births, therefore, take place whilst the tribe
is on the march. When the woman feels the com-

C/

104 SEX-LORE

mencement of labour, she just goes aside, attends to
herself, and then catches up with the rest of the tribe
and continues to the march, as if nothing has hap-
pened. The savage women must be hardier than
those of civilized races; otherwise they could not
survive, if they did not go through childbirth so
easily. As the other members of the tribe cannot
linger in their journeys, the women, if not strong
enough, would be left behind and die of starvation.
Amongst primitive agricultural tribes a woman work-
ing in the fields will on the first signs of childbirth
calmly go under some neighbouring tree, bring the
child into the world, bite or break the navel cord off,
then bathe herself and the child in the nearest river,
and start work again, leaving the babe under the
shelter of the tree.

Beliefs and superstitions about childbirth are
very prevalent, and are similar to those in connection
with other sex functions. A woman just after child-
birth is considered impure, and is therefore injurious
to those around her. Hence many primitive tribes
have special lying-in huts in which the woman must
stay during her confinement, and for certain pre-
scribed periods after it. In many cases the period
enforced lasts longer after the birth of a girl than
that of a boy, showing thereby, as in many other in-
stances, the inferior value attached to the female sex.
As a rule, purifications of various kinds have to be
undergone before the mother is once more allowed
to mix with the other people. In many tribes the
man is forbidden to go near his wife during the
lying-in, as he might lose his strength if he did so.
This period lasts generally until the navel cord has

REPRODUCTION 105

dried up. Even among some European peoples there
still persists this fear of the injurious effect of contact
with a woman delivered of a child. In Russia, for
instance, and in some parts of Hungary she is not
allowed for a certain time to go near a well or a stream,
as she would cause it to dry up.

There exist some curious customs regulating the
food which may or may not be given to a woman in
childbed. Sometimes special teas are brewed from
herbs for her; in other cases she is forbidden to take
meat or to drink water. In some instances solid food
is given to her; in others, again, little and light food
only; so that all in all we see the poor women more
ill-treated than treated.

Once more we have to refer to the belief in evil
spirits which are particularly active during this
period, when special precautions have to be taken
to protect mother and child against them. The
lying-in huts also serve as a safeguard against evil
spirits; during a confinement food is thrown outside
the huts into the woods for the spirits, so as to keep
them occupied in eating. In Russia the expected
time of delivery is kept secret, for it is thought that
a woman will have additional suffering in confine-
ment for every person that knows about it; a wicked
person could even prevent the birth altogether. In
Armenia they believe that the devil will attempt to
exchange or suffocate the new-born child; hence they
burn incense in the room to drive him away. Various
amulets are worn or hung about the room, as are also
special scripts containing magic words in order to
ward off the influence of evil spirits. This is still
customary among the Russians, Italians, Hungarians,

106 SEX-LORE

Jews, etc. The Bible or Prayer Book is often put
under the woman's pillow to protect her.

It sometimes happens, though rarely, that part of
the foetal membrane tears off during birth and clings
to the advancing head of the child. This piece of
membrane is called a caul, and is supposed to bring
good luck to the original owner, and even to others
who may come to possess it. In England adver-
tisements for cauls were sometimes inserted in The
Times newspaper. In 1779 twenty guineas was the
price for one; in 1848 it had dropped to six guineas.
Sailors believe that the possession of a caul on board
a ship will prevent shipwreck and drowning. Great
value is also attached to the piece of navel cord
which is left on the child's body to dry up. It is
sometimes put into a little bag and hung on the
child's neck as an amulet.

Perhaps one of the strangest customs — and yet not
strange, after all we have heard about the primitive
mind— is that of the couvade. The couvade consists
in the lying-up of the man when his wife gives birth
to a child. He pretends to go through labour, and
is waited on by his friends and sometimes even by
his wife, who has to get out of bed straight after her
confinement. Various explanations of this quaint
custom have been offered. The people themselves
hardly seem aware of its origin. Some say it is to
mislead the devil or evil spirits, so as to ward off an
attack on the man's wife. Another interpretation is,
that as the father gives the soul to the child, he must
take precautions just as if he were giving birth to
the child. Again, another reason given is that it
signifies the man's sympathy with his wife and his

REPRODUCTION 107

willingness to share the parental responsibility.
Altogether the couvade implies a sort of symbolical
acknowledgment of the child by the father.

All the various kinds of superstitions, so often
mentioned already, once more reappear in connection
with lactation. Thus in Bohemia a suckling mother
may not spin, for her child would become consump-
tive if she did so. In Brandenburg (Germany) nurs-
ing mothers wear amulets made from a stone fre-
quently found there in the sand. These are called
fright-stones, and can be bought at the chemist's for
less than a penny. They are supposed to protect
the child against any ill-effects from the milk, which
might become harmful through a fright of the mother.
In Wurtemberg they believe that the child must be
put for the first time to the right breast; otherwise
it will become left-handed. In the Aaru Islands
the mother must not give the breast to her child for
nine days, but must drop daily some of her milk on
the navel wound, in order to make it heal quickly.
On the name-giving day the child is put to the
breast and different names are called out. The name
pronounced when the child starts suckling is the one
chosen for life. It is still believed by some that quali-
ties can be transmitted through the woman's milk to
the babe itself, and that therefore a wet-nurse can
be harmful to the child when suckling it. Similarly
there are many tales of children being nursed by
animals. The most famous case is that of Romulus
and Remus, whose foster-mother was said to be a
she-wolf. The children are supposed to acquire the
character of the animal-nurses and to become fierce
like them. Of course, this is not correct ; since,

108 SEX-LORE

according to the modern theory of inheritance,
parental characters are only transmitted to the
children through the germ cells.

It often happens that for some reason or other the
milk ceases to flow before the time for weaning the
child. Special precautions are therefore taken to
prevent this. The most natural method is to diet
carefully, partaking of food that will increase the
flow of milk and avoiding food that may lessen
it. But superstition holds its sway here also.
Thus we find amulets worn for insuring a sufficiency
of milk. In the neighbourhood of Perugia in Italy
a special pin is worn in the hair for this purpose.
In Herzegovina a mother wishing to increase her
milk must catch a living fish, squirt some milk from
her breast into its mouth, and then let it swim again.
By the Caspian Sea in Russia other means are em-
ployed for the same purpose. The woman fills a
nutshell with quicksilver and closes up the opening
with wax. This is then stitched into silk or woollen
material or into glove-leather and worn suspended
from a ribbon round the neck, so that it hangs well
on the breast. In Lithuania there exists a belief
that a child whose mother has stopped suckling for
a few days, and then started again, will have the
evil-eye. In Serbia such children are said to become
witches, and have the power with one glance to cause
a rider to fall off his horse.

It has already been pointed out that the normal
weaning of the child should occur between the tenth
and twelfth month. Some primitive peoples, how-
ever, suckle their children for a much longer period.
Here again there are many quaint customs which are

REPRODUCTION 109

supposed to stop the flow of milk when desired. The
Russian woman of the Caspian Sea only needs to
turn the nutshell filled with quicksilver on to her
back instead of on her breast to cause her milk to
cease. In another place the mother who wishes to
discontinue suckling must let some of her milk drop
into the fire. Mother's milk is often used as a medi-
cine. The application or partaking of such milk is said
to be capable of curing fevers, deafness, whooping-
cough, and many other ailments.

Finally, we should mention the fact that a woman
may bear more than one child at the same time.
This is called multiple pregnancy. Twins occur
about one in eighty cases of normal birth; triplets
perhaps one in six thousand cases. Even more
than three children at a birth have sometimes been
observed. This is, of course, harking back to the
animal type, in which litters of young generally con-
sist of any number from two to six and even more.
Twins may arise from two different causes . There may
be two ova in the uterus and each be fertilized by a
separate sperm, in which case the twins may both
be of the same sex or of different sexes; or one pro-
perly fertilized ovum may split up into two, each
forming a complete embryo, in which case, it is said,
both embryos will always be of the same sex.

The birth of twins is received with horror by some
races; the children are often killed or exposed. In
the Caroline Islands one of the children is given away
to a brother or near relative of the father, for the
islanders believe that otherwise the child would die.
In Suaheli they used to kill twins, but now they give
them to^the^missions, as they do crippled children.

110 SEX-LORE

Amongst the Indians in Brazil it is considered a
great disgrace to have twins, and the mother is
laughed at by the other women for breeding like the
mice. The people of Esthonia believe that the birth
of twins will bring about a year's dire war. People
try to prevent multiple pregnancies by various
curious methods; one of these is to avoid eating
twin fruits or twin vegetables.

On the other hand, we find that other peoples
welcome twins with great rejoicing. In one South
African tribe the parents of twins are considered
holy, and odes are sung in praise of the lucky mother
by the other women. In the Aaru Islands twins are
greatly desired, as the parents are given many
presents of mother-of-pearl. Amongst the Cameroon
negroes a husband holds his wife in great esteem if
she has brought twins into the world, women being
valued there according to their fertility. In many
places in Europe a mother of twins is respected and
held specially blessed.

CHAPTER II

PARENT AND OFFSPRING

The parental feeling is only of slow and gradual
growth; there is scarcely any evidence of its existence
among the lowest animals. They show a complete
absence of care for, and indifference to, the offspring.
Thus there ensues an enormous waste of life, eggs
being cast adrift to all the ravages of their surround-
ings. This seems hard to understand; but Nature
is reckless and can afford to be lavish, since she deals
with such masses of individuals. As Tennyson has
said: " So careful of the type she seems, so careless
of the single life." For according to Darwin's theory
of evolution, there takes place a natural weeding-
out among the individuals of any species, only the
few — ^the fittest for their surroundings — being re-
tained for the continuance of the race. This weeding-
out process applies to all ages, and starts even with
the eggs.

1. Parental Care in Animals.

Among the insects, not to go any lower in the animal
scale, most species lay their eggs in places suitable for
their later development; but after this their parental
solicitude is at an end, and they know no more about
their offspring. In fact, some insects die as soon as

111

112 SEX-LORE

they have laid their eggs, their purpose in life, the
propagation of the species, having been accomplished.
Insects lay a tremendous number of eggs, of which
only few develop into the larval form. These in
their turn stand very little chance of attaining
maturity, being greedily devoured by their numerous
enemies. It has been calculated that a single
sparrow is responsible for the destruction of 3,500
caterpillars in a week. Other birds, such as the
titmouse and the chaffinch, have been known to
dispose of grubs at the same rate. It can thus be
easily seen what quantities of eggs must be laid in
order to allow for such waste.

An exception to the rule of complete neglect of
the young is found among the bees, which are the
intellectual aristocracy of the insects, and in some
ways emulate in their domestic arrangements the
social development of the higher animals. The larvae
of bees are placed in cells. These are, in the case of
the solitary bees, constructed by the mother, each cell
being packed with a mixture of pollen and honey.
Among the social bees, it is the workers who deposit
the larvae in the cells; they also collect food and tend
the young. Similarly among the wasps and ants
the grubs are fed and cared for by the workers. The
ants move their young about to different places in
the nest, according to conditions of temperature and
moisture, and they frequently take them above-
ground for an airing. Some species even go out
slave-hunting, not unlike primitive human tribes,
and domesticate their captured prisoners, the aphides,
to serve as milch-cows, coaxing them to yield milk
for the young.

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 113

Coming next to the fishes, we see that among them
the care bestowed on the young varies greatly.
Females of many species deposit over 100,000 eggs
each. The cod, pilchard, and herring, for example,
are extremely fertile, and if they were not destroyed
in masses they would soon cover the whole sea. Any
species, if not kept in check up to a certain point,
would soon people the whole world, making the
earth uninhabitable for any other species.

Once the eggs are laid, the female fish troubles no
more about them, leaving them to the destructive
forces that surround them on all sides. On the
whole, as the numbers of the species tend to remain
constant, only two of the eggs laid by each female
need reach maturity in order to replace the parents.

There occur two kinds of eggs in fish. In some
species the eggs, which are discharged directly
into the water, always rise to the surface and float
in the warmer water exposed to the light and sun.
These eggs are known as pelagic; they contain very
little food-yolk, and the little fish, as soon as they
are hatched, have to begin feeding themselves. Out
of the enormous number of eggs laid only a few
escape destruction. The females of other species
descend to the bottom and lay their eggs there.
These are called submerged eggs ; they are larger than
the pelagic eggs and heavier than sea-water. Some
choice is shown in the selection of a ground for de-
positing such eggs; they adhere by various means to
seaweed or stones. Being safer from destruction,
they survive in greater numbers, and thus a lesser
number is needed.

A certain amount of brood-care is to be found

8

114 SEX-LORE

already among the fishes, and it takes on some
curious forms. It is rare for the female to play an
active part; in fact, quite unlike the habit of the
higher animals, the male is the guardian of the young,
though there are exceptions to the rule. It is a re-
markable fact that while male fishes will devour the
eggs of any other species, they will not touch those
of their own species. Instinct acts here with aston-
ishing certainty. In some species, as Sutherland
has described, " the flat belly of the female becomes
at breeding-time quite soft like putty, so that when
the eggs have been fertilized by the male, by rolling
herself upon them she makes them stick to her.
There they are carried until they are hatched."
This method is so successful in protecting the eggs
that less than 2,000 are sufficient to keep up the
number of the race, though the nearest species, which
have no such habit, require about 60,000. In other
cases, the female carries her eggs in a pouch; they
are extruded into this pouch, and are hatched there
in comparative safety.

It is more usual, however, for the male to under-
take the duty of caring for the young. This is done
in many ways. Some males are furnished with
pouches to carry the eggs until they are hatched.
Others, again, attach the eggs to the underside of
the body, which is soft and adhesive. Stranger still
are the cases in which the male carries the eggs in
his mouth until they are hatched, and sometimes
even keeps the young there until they are of con-
siderable size. This method is so safe that very
few eggs are needed to keep up the number of the
race. A slight variation is exhibited by the Para-

PARENT AND OFFSPRING

115

dise-fish, whose " male, after fertilizing the eggs,
carries them in his mouth to a little floating nest of
air-bubbles which he has already blown upon the
surface." In some instances the male shows his care
only by mounting guard over the eggs wherever they
happen to be laid. In the butterfish (Fig. 41) the
male and female take turns in protecting the eggs
by coiling their bodies around the mass, until the
young are hatched.

i.svar*<.i.ss-a:^

Fig. 41. — Butterfish and Eggs. (After Holt.)

(From " The InfanQf of Animals," by W. P. Pj'craft.)

Perhaps we may take as the next step in evolution
the construction of nests for the young; for even
among the fish, generally regarded as so duU^ such an
elaborate instinct is found. As a rule, this is per-
formed by the male fish alone, but there are some
instances of both parents uniting in this labour. We
have an example in the American bowfish: both
male and female participate in the making of the
nest, which is formed by clearing away the reeds and
making a shallow depression at the bottom of the
pool, in which the eggs are hatched. The young are
jealously guarded by the male, who keeps the swarm
together.

The common stickleback supplies us with the most

116 SEX-LORE

advanced type of brood-care known among the
fishes. The male begins his labours by building a
nest; this is made from leaves, twigs, bits of weed,
and straw. He works the material with his tail into
a loose circular structure, weighting it with sand and
gravel if the current of the stream is too strong, and
binding it with mucus. When this work is com-
plete, he goes in search of a female and drives her
into the nest — not unlike the early wife-marauders;
there she is kept until she has laid her eggs, which
he then fertilizes. Having deposited the eggs, the
female wriggles out again, and does not trouble about
them any more; but the male takes up sentry duty,
mounting guard against all comers at the entrance
of the nest. If other fish approach, he dashes at
them, and has been known to attack bigger fish than
himself, in some cases losing his life in the struggle — a
beautiful example of parental sacrifice for the young,
and in this instance by the male and not the female.
When the eggs are hatched, he still keeps watch over the
young, of which there are about fifty. This continues
for six or seven days, but the young become too rest-
less in their search for food and finally wander away.
Rising a step higher in the scale of animals, we
come to the amphibians and reptiles. It has been
mentioned in a previous chapter that the female frog
deposits her eggs in ponds and ditches, taking no
more care of them. Now there are some exceptions
to this rule; for certain frogs are provided with special
sacs for carrying the eggs until they are hatched.
Here again it is often the male that sees to the safety
of the larvae. " Among the pouched frogs of America
the skin on the back of the female is very loose, so

PARENT AND OFFSPRING

117

as to form a shallow pouch with an opening towards
the rear. The male seizes the eggs as they issue
from the oviduct (the passage leading from the ovary
outwards), and after fertilizing them, he thrusts them
with his hind-foot into the sac. Here they grow
rapidly until the back of the female becomes swollen."
In another species of frogs the male is furnished with
a pouch on his throat. " As soon as he has fertilized

Fig. 42.— Midwife Toad.
(Prom '* The Infancy of Animals," by W. P. Pycraft.)

the eggs, he stuffs them into this pouch, where they
grow and spread along the skin of the belly until the
whole under surface of the belly is full of them.
Remarkable, too, is the case of the midwife-toad.
When the eggs, which are attached to one another by
a thread as if on a string, have come from the female,
the maie fertilizes them and winds the string of eggs
round his hind-legs. Thus laden, he conceals himself in

118 SEX-LORE

a hole in the ground or under a stone, remaining there
for ten or twelve days until the eggs are hatched,
only coming out at night for food, or to dip the eggs
into water. When they have reached the tadpole
stage he takes the young tadpoles to the water, where
they are left to fend for themselves. Some slight
attempts at preparing a nursery for the young are
made by other species. The female Brazilian tree-
frog goes to the shallow end of a pool and brings up
loads of mud on her head, whi(5h she piles up gradually
in a circle to form a tiny pond, smoothing it inside,
until the edge is above the surface of the water.
The spawn is deposited in this nest.

In reptiles it is always the female that shows the
parental care necessary for the welfare of the young;
for a certain amount of incubation is necessary here,
which devolves upon the female. This method of
incubation safeguards the eggs from destruction, so
that the original output of eggs needs to be relatively
smaller. The female crocodile digs a hole in the
ground, into which the eggs are laid. The hole is then
filled up with earth, she herself selecting the top for
her sleeping place. It takes about twelve weeks for
the eggs to hatch. The young give warning by a slight
barking noise when they are ready to come out,
upon hearing which the female removes the earth
from above them. After this they need no further
assistance. Most snakes bury their eggs in the ground
and incubate them; but there is an exception in the
case of the python. The female python jealously
guards her eggs by coiling her body around them.
This is done for about two and a half months, until
the eggs are hatched. Attempts have been made to

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 119

bring a female python away from her eggs by offer-
ing her delicacies, but without success.

The birds furnish us with the first example of a
definite step forward in family relationship. Not only
do they display signs of conjugal affection, as has been
shown at length in the chapter on courtship, but they
also give evidence of a united family life that lasts
at least until the young brood are capable of looking
after themselves completely. Birds' eggs need a
certain time for embryonic development, and require
heat in order to be hatched out. The mother-bird
supplies this by brooding over the eggs. As the young
birds are generally born in a fairly immature condition,
they need a good deal of attention after birth, until
they are fit to take care of themselves. As soon as a
pair of birds have mated, they set about procuring or
constructing a suitable nest for their future offspring.
Evolution is found here as everywhere. Progress not
only takes place along the whole line of the animal
series, from the lowest to the highest, but also in a
smaller way in each single class, the steps made
in different directions in the various classes often
overlapping. It is not at all surprising, there-
fore, to discover that the grade of parental care
rises with the mental development in birds. But
while some species are careless in the placing of
eggs and in the after-care of their young, others,
on the contrary, exhibit the most intelligent fore-
thought. The former recall the habits of some of the
inferior classes of animals. Running birds, such as the
ostrich, rhea, and cassowary, do not build a nest, but
simply dig a hole in the earth or sand and place the
eggs within it. The care of these very often devolves

120 SEX-LORE

upon the male, the female being quite indifferent to
them, which is rather unusual among birds. The
young of this type of bird generally arrive in the
world in an almost mature condition, so that thev
need on the whole little parental care. Yet they
suffer for want of it ; for in their early days they fall
a prey to many foes, not being sufficiently developed
to defend themselves. As a rule, where there is
a waste of material, there is a compensating in-
crease in production, and vice versa. Birds breed
on the average once or twice a year, and only lay a
limited number of eggs at each breeding season,
from one or two in some species, up to four or more
in others. It is interesting to note that the fertility
of the birds of the lower order is, on the whole,
larger than that of the higher order.

A steady increase in the amount and quality of
parental care is to be found among the next class of
birds to be discussed, and with it also a corresponding
decrease in the number of offspring. To this class
belong the grouse and partridge, the quail, penguin,
petrel, and other swimming birds. Some of these still
lay their eggs in sand and gravel, just like the running
birds mentioned above; others, such as the penguins
and petrels, hatch their eggs between their thighs on
high rocky ledges. The emperor penguin, which
only lays one egg at a time, keeps it upon the upper
part of her foot, out of contact with the ice, and even
nurses the yov \g there for a time (Fig. 43). A warm
flap of skin and gathers, which becomes enlarged dur-
ing the breeding season, hangs from the bird's abdo-
men and protects the egg, and afterwards the young,
from the severe weather. The male and feinale ta|^e

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 121

turns at the nursing; they relieve each other at
certain intervals, bowing in a quaint manner and
carefully examining the egg before it is handed over.
These birds have so great a desire to brood that, if
anything happens to their own egg, they will steal
another for this purpose. Truly a fine example of
parental feeling.

The majority of these classes of birds, however,
make nests, which, though perhaps poorly formed, are
yet warm and soft for the eggs. It is in these cases
always the female that broods; and this must always
be considered a progressive step. Sometimes, as in the
case of the duck or fowl, the male departs and does
not return until the young are nearly fledged. But
in many cases the male shares the duty of his mate,
either relieving her of the brooding for awhile, or
remaining to feed her and protect her against any
intruders. Both parents are thus at hand to help
when the young ones break their shells. We can
here recognize the first beginnings of family feelings.
The newly hatched young are not quite so well de-
veloped as those of the class previously mentioned,
and require for a time the protection and warmth of
the mother's wing. They are, however, very soon
active and able to manage for themselves. Among
the swimming birds parental care lasts from two to
four weeks, but never longer.

We can establish a further progressive step in those
birds that show a still greater care in the preparation
of their nests. They also generally give the most
intelligent and assiduous attention to the young
brood. There are, of course, exceptions to this#ule;
^volution does not always proceed in straight lines.

122 SEX-LORE

We find that in these species the male and the female
remain together, sharing the labour of nest-building
and the general care of their offspring. Some birds
do not build a nest, but choose natural cavities such
as burrows, caves, etc., to place their eggs in. The
cockatoo, for instance, seeks a hole in a tree, enlarges
it with the beak until it is big enough to allow the
body to enter, and then lines the interior with leaves,
feathers, and other materials, until a soft, warm home
is ready for the youngsters. The male insures safety
by guarding the entrance. Owls also select holes in
trees and line them with warm material.

The simplest forms of nests, such as those of the
pigeon, crow, and heron, consist only of a platform
built of twigs. The magpie improves a little on this
by surrounding the platform with a hedge, or roofing
it over with twigs. A still further advance is made
by other birds. They first erect a platform of sticks,
cement it with mud, and then cover it over with a
dome of sticks, leaving an entrance at the side. The
nests of the small singing birds are still more elabo-
rate and skilfully made, being woven out of fine hair,
vegetable fibre, and wool, and softened with saliva
by the birds. One of the most intelligent species of
birds is the weaver or tailor bird, whose nest is con-
structed in a truly marvellous way (Fig. 44). Choosing
large leaves, the male and female together pierce holes
with their beaks along the two edges of the leaves.
Then the male without and the female within pass
straws and fibres in and out to each other through
the holes, stitching the leaves together until a purse-
lik?nest is completed. A row of thorns at the narrow
entrance keeps out all enemies.

Fig. 43. — Emperor Penguin.

(From Scott's " Voyage of the Discovery")

Fig. 44. — Nests of Weaver Birds.

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 123

Nests are built not only on trees, but also under
the eaves of houses. The swallows, for instance,
choose this situation for their artful homes, which are
constructed from little balls of earth collected by the
birds and mixed with bits of hay.

The more highly developed a species, the more
helpless are the young at birth. This is a general
rule among all animals. All the birds of greater in-
telligence are born very immature, most of them
naked and some blind; and they are all completely
dependent upon their parents. The parrot, which
is considered the most intelligent of the birds, is
at birth the most immature of all. It cannot see
for eight days, and is unable to leave the nest for a
period ranging from thirty to fifty days, according
to the size of the species. The family life of the class
of birds last discussed is therefore much more pro-
longed than that of any others.

It is not only in the nest-building and care of the
eggs that the birds show their parental affection.
Many duties lie before them after the young are
hatched; and the more highly developed the species,
the greater is the care bestowed upon the offspring.
Besides supplying the warmth that the young brood
needs, the parents shelter the nestlings from sun and
rain by spreading their wings over them. Even the
young of those birds that enter the world fairly mature
still need protection by the parents for a time. If
any danger is near, the parents exchange call-notes
that are recognized by the young from the first ; and
on hearing the call they shelter under the parents'
wings, or squat down. Sometimes, as in the case of
the plover and the partridge, the mother will divert

124 SEX-LORE

attention from her little ones to herself by pretending
to have broken her wing or to be lame. Other birds
savagely attack intruders; some have even been
known to leave their nest carrying the eggs in their
beaks when there has been a suspicion of danger.
Certain species carry their young about with them;
some, as the woodcock, between the legs, holding
them down with the beak ; others, like the grebe and
the swan, on the back. Birds seem to have an in-
herent sense of cleanliness, and with few exceptions
most young birds and their nests are kept in a scru-
pulously clean condition. All refuse is cast out of
the nest, and the nestlings are taught to void their
excretions over the edge.

The young are fed for a period by the parents,
except those that are born fully mature and can seek
their own food immediately after birth. When the
young are fed on insects, the parents have a long and
weary task hunting all day for them. Pycraft relates
that " a pair of blue titmice have been observed to
make no less than 475 journeys to the nest during a
day's foraging extending over 17 hours." Some birds
feed their offspring on regurgitated food, which is
food partly digested and then brought up again for
the young. Young pelicans take their food from the
pouch-like bill of the mother (Fig. 45). Cormorants
thrust their bills down the mother's throat into her
stomach and help themselves to food. Young pigeons
are fed on so-called pigeon's milk, which is partly
digested food and partly a secretion from the crop of
the pigeon. Young petrels are fed on an oil distilled
from the fish which form the food of the parents.
This oil is also used as a weapon of defence by both

Fig. 45. — Brown Pelican Feeding Youjvg. (After Chapman.)

Fig. 46. — Young Flamingoes Feeding Eagh Other. (After Beebe.)
(From " The Infancy of Animals," by W. P. Pycraft.)

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 125

parents and young. Young flamingoes feed each
other or exchange food sometimes (Fig. 46).

The duties of the parents are not ended with the
feeding. The young ones must also be taught to
hunt for their own food. NestHngs are very timid,
and patience is essential in teaching them to use
their wings; when they are too timorous to venture
out of the nest, the parent will often fly a short dis-
tance away, holding some food in the beak and with
it tempting the little one to experiment with its
wings.

It is a strange fact that many birds, as, for in-
stance, the eagle, drive the young away as soon
as they are able to support themselves. The parental
affection ends at the phase when the young one can fend
for itself; after this it is an intruder taking up room
where there is none to spare. Still more curious is the
complete want of affection exhibited by the cuckoo,
who places her eggs in other birds* nests and troubles
no more about them. Migratory birds also often
desert their brood when the wandering spirit is upon
them; they have been known to leave the half-
fledged nestlings, born too late in the season and
therefore backward in their development, to die of
starvation. Cruel as this may seem, it is necessary;
for if the parents were to remain, they would all die
together, so that there would be none left to bring
forth the next generation. This shows once more
that Nature cares chiefly for the race, and but little
for the individual.

In mammals the earliest stages of brood-care have
already become part of the unconscious functioning of
the body. Instead of finding or making safe places for

126 SEX-LORE

her eggs, the mother retains them in her body, supply-
ing the developing embryos with warmth and sus-
tenance up to birth. This insures greater safety
for them. After birth, instead of having to seek food
for the young, she is fitted with special milk glands
yielding nourishing food from her own body, which
sustains the young until they are old enough to take
other food. This, again, is of great advantage, as
there is thus no danger of the young starving. At the
same time, the bond between mother and offspring
becomes very much closer, as with the dependence
of the young the affection of the mother for them
increases. It has been pointed out repeatedly that,
the more developed an animal, the longer it takes
to mature; it is, therefore, not surprising to discover
that mammals, with rare exceptions, are not prolific.
In the vast majority of cases they breed once or twice
a year, rarely oftener; and the usual number of off-
spring at birth is one, two, or three, although it may
go up to six and even more in certain mammals.

While the production of living young is character-
istic of the mammals, still we find some exceptional
instances of viviparous species already below the
mammals, namely, among the fishes and reptiles.
On the other hand, we have seen that the lowest
mammals, the duck-billed platypus and the ant-
eater, lay eggs, though they have other contrivances
which relate them to the mammals. As usual, here
too Nature makes no jumps, but works by transition
stages. The lowest #lass of mammals producing
living youn^g are the marsupials. The marsupial egg
is hatched within the mother's womb; the young,
however, is born in a very immature condition, as

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 127

already described in the previous chapter. Imme-
diately after birth, the mother with her lips places
the tiny little thing in her pouch, where it is attached
to a teat, the milk therefrom dropping ceaselessly
into its stomach. It goes to sleep there, continuing
its development for a time in the pouch. The fur
appears and the claws grow; gradually it relaxes its
hold on the teat and rolls to the bottom of the pouch,
waking up every ten minutes for a tiny drink of milk.
At a certain stage of its development the little thing
is able to push its head out of the pouch and look
around (Fig. 47). Later on, it occasionally comes out
altogether; but at the first sign of danger the mother
stoops down and opens the pouch widely, whereupon
the youngster jumps in head foremost and wriggles
round to its normal position with only the head pro-
truding. The number of young at a birth varies in
the kangaroos, but it is generally one or two. They
breed only once a year. The females of the mar-
supials have all the ©are of the young, generally for
about a year; the males appear to take no interest in
their families, nor do they share the work of pro-
tecting the young.

Some marsupials have no pouches: the mother
lifts up her young ones and attaches them to her teats,
which they suck down into their stomachs; they
hang on to the mother's body, partly by the teats and
partly to her long fur, and thus continue to grow
there. When sufficiently developed, they climb on
to the mother's shoulder and are carried about.
The Koala bear furnishes us with an illustration of
this method of carrying (Fig. 48). The American
3possums, who give birth to a few young at a time,

128 SEX-LORE

have solved the difficulty of transporting their tiny
offspring in a manner peculiar to themselves. They
have long prehensile tails; the little ones are borne
securely on the mother's back, clinging to her fur
and twisting their tails around hers (Fig. 49).

There is nothing of special interest in the parental
care among hoofed animals. The period of gestation
is fairly long, and the young are born in a well-
developed condition. The number at birth is rarely
more than one or two, but the swine have as many
as ten at a time. The females make no preparation
for the advent of the young; but they are very much
devoted to them. Nothing will induce the mother
to leave the young; Galton declared from his own
observation that a newly calved cow is almost more
than a match for a lion. In herds the bulls also
help the cows to defend the calves. Wild horses are
known, when attacked, to place the foals in the
middle, forming a ring round them and kicking out
savagely with their hind-hoofs against any aggressor.
Deer are rather more feeble at birth than most of
the other hoofed animals; the mother, therefore,
keeps them hidden in a thicket for two or three days,
until they are able to follow her about. The female
elephant is very fond of her young, giving expression
to this feeUng by constantly stroking it with her
trunk. She keeps it with her for several years, and
fiercely defends it against intruders.

Most rodents prepare for their offspring before
birth takes place. Rabbits, for instance, live in
communities in burrows; the females dig circular
chambers off the main burrows, lining them with
leaves, soft grass, and fur plucked from their own

Fig. 47. — Wallaby and Young.

ly. S. Berridge, F.Z.S.

PJioto by IV. SaviUe-Ke7it, F.Z.S.

Pj(. 4g^ — KoALA^ (m Australian Nativi: Bear and Young.

Photo by Saville-Ktnt,

Fig. 49. — American Woolly Opossum.
Only ill the opossums are the young carried after this fash'
(From " The Infancy of Animals," by W. P. Pycraft.)

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 129

asts, to make a warm home for their young ones,
irrels construct nests for the winter and store
visions. Rats and mice, too, make nests, collect-
^ quantities of soft material, such as wool and
dgs, arranging them in a hole. The harvest-mouse
constructs an elaborate nest out of narrow grasses
woven into a globular shape and suspended upon
firm blades of corn. In rodents the number of young
at a birth varies from two to as many as twelve.
They are born blind, naked, and helpless, and depend
upon the mother until they are almost full-grown.
Not only do the males not provide for their young,
but they even attack them sometimes. The beavers
are the most intelligent of the rodents, and therefore
the young remain long with their mothers; for, as
we have seen, the higher the intelligence, the longer
the period of infancy. They are born naked and
blind, and have special chambers built for them.
After birth the mothers suckle them and keep them
warm for months. In six weeks they are able to
follow her about; but she keeps them with her for
two years, teaching them all that is essential to the
well-being of a beaver, and also how to work with
and for the community.

The insectivores, to which the hedgehog and mole
belong, also prepare nests for their offspring. The
former constructs a nest out of moss and leaves,
placing it so that it is sheltered from the rain. The
family consists of four or five at most ; they are born
quite helpless. In a week or two they are able to
Qove about, and the mother teaches them what is
be their food.

We are all familiar with the examples of parental

9

130 SEX-LORE

affection exhibited by the carnivores, such as the cat
and dog tribes. The duties of parenthood generally
fall on the female, the male taking little interest in
the young. For a certain period, which varies with
each species, the young are very helpless, so that the
mother is hardly able to leave them at all, except at
intervals to search for food. She suckles them a
comparatively long time, and they remain long with
her. She shows every sign of affection, nursing them,
and even playing with them. Carnivores generally
have a lair for their young in a well-concealed place,
which is kept very clean. The young, too, are kept
very clean, the mother licking them with her rough
tongue until they have learnt to do this themselves.
If the cubs wander away, the mother carries them
back in her mouth, picking them up by the loose
skin on the back of the neck. An exception is found
in the Polar bear, who carries the cubs under her
arm, and also in some carnivores living in trees.
The mother (and sometimes both parents) teaches
the young to stalk and hunt prey, and also how to
kill it. Polar bears teach their cubs to fish and to
swim.

An aberration of parental care is sometimes found
among carnivorous animals; they are in the habit of
eating the afterbirth, and it happens occasionally
that they devour their own young; this is also known
to occur in the case of the pig.

The apes and monkeys approach very much nearer
in type to man. Their period of gestation is one of
the longest known among all the animals, and the
corresponding time of suckling is also much length-
ened. The young are born very weak and helpless,

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 131

and it takes, as a rule, a few years for them to reach
maturity; in this respect they resemble the human
child. The number of offspring is hardly ever more
than one a year, and the higher apes have even more
than a year's interval between the successive births.
The teats of the female monkey are situated on the
breast, just as in the human female; the httle ones
are therefore held to the breasts of the mother in
almost human fashion. In the lemurs, however, the
young one lies across the mother's abdomen and
curls its tail around her loins. When the young
monkey is old enough, it climbs upon its mother's
back, and is borne there for many months. The
monkeys bring up their young with tenderness and
care, fondling them and showing every sign of great
affection, almost like human beings. The mothers
also keep them clean, grooming them and freeing
them from parasites. There seems to be some doubt
as to the parental care bestowed by the male upon
his offspring, but it is known that both male and
female defend the young with the utmost bravery.
It has also been asserted that the male orang makes
a staging of boughs and leaves for the female to sit
on and suckle her young, while he watches over their
safety from another similar resting-place. The
family group of the highest species, the gorilla, con-
sists of both parents and one or two young of different
ages, the elder being sometimes as much as six years
old. This shows how long the care of the young lasts
in the higher apes, and how closely it approaches the
parental care in man.

132 SEX-LORE

2. Parental Care in Man.

We reach an altogether new phase of parental care
when we come to the rearing of the young among
human beings. It has been seen that in the court-
ship and mating of man the conscious element plays
a great role, whilst instinct retires somewhat more
into the background. The same may be said of
parenthood: it has become part and parcel of the
conscious activity of Man. The period of gestation
is longer in Man than in any of the animals (with the
exception of the elephant, whose enormous bulk may
account for this). Now, though pregnancy is a
physiological process, still a good deal of deliberate
attention is given to it even among primitive people,
as we have seen in a previous chapter. This m^es
for the greater safety of the ensuing progeny. The
period of infancy is also very long, suckling alone
being carried on, at least among the lower races,
until the child is a few years old, since it is impossible
for savage people to get suitable food for very young
children. A baby cannot walk until it is a year old
or more, so that it must be carried about. As many
mothers, especially among uncivilized people, must
work very hard aiid have no spare time to nurse
their babies, they h^ve to contrive some means oi
keeping the children with them wherever they ma;
be. In some tribes, as, for instance, the Kalmucks,
the babies are always kept wrapped up in a sheep-
skin, lying on the ground, the mothers only carrying
them when moving to some other place. In sona
of the wild tribes of Asiatic Turkey the newbori
child is first bathed, then wrapped up in a piece oJ

15

O

£

o o
N 9

J 2
o

I

o

Fig. 52. — Woman of Java^ with Boy,

(From •' Das Weib in Natur unci Volkerkunde," by H. Ploss.)

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 133

coarse linen or woollen stuff and placed in a pit,
which is prepared by the expectant mother before
her confinement. The floor of the pit is strewn over
with fine earth and sand; the baby is then placed in
the pit, which is filled with earth, only the head
remaining exposed. This is repeated daily.

The most usual way of keeping the child with the
mother is to have it suspended upon her back in a
strong piece of cloth or skin, or in a basket (Figs.
50 and 51). This was the custom of many ancient
races, and is still prevalent all over the world. The
child is quite safe in this improvised cradle, so that
the mother can attend to her labours without any
hindrance. Older children are often carried side-
ways on the hip of the mother (Fig. 52). Another
mode of transporting a child from place to place
is for the mother to carry, on her head, the
cradle or basket containing one, or sometimes
even two, infants (Fig. 58). This may be seen in
some parts of Europe as well as in less civilized
lands. The children are quite safe, for the women
in these countries, mostly hilly districts, acquire con-
siderable skill in carrying loads balanced on their
heads. A quaint contrivance is to be found among
the Eskimos, where the mother wears high, roomy
boots for the winter, lined with soft warm material
and stiffened out with whalebone to the required
width (Fig. 54). The babe is put into the top of
these boots, with only the little head peeping out,
and thus is carried about with its parent. This
strikingly reminds one of the penguins carrying their
young on the foot, with a natural covering to keep
them warm. The Red Indians of North America

134

SEX-LORE

bind their babies to a flat board, with a slight support
for the head; this is thought to insure straight limbs.

^

\

^

".-<"

^

":A^

Fig. 53. — Swiss Mother carrying Child in Cradle on

HER Head.

(From Ploss, " Das Kleine Kind.")

Similar customs still exist in Europe, women putting
their children into swaddling-clothes, which allow no

PARENT AND OFFSPRING

135

freedom of movement. It need hardly be said that
this rather hinders than aids the growth of the child.
The care given to the human infant, so much greater
in comparison with the animals, lessens considerably
the loss among the young, though we find even here
that among primitive races the destruction is large
and often deliberate. The rule still holds good that

Fig. 54. — Eskimo Mother carrying Child in Big Boot.

the lower races produce more offspring than the higher.
But even in the lowest races a girl is not sufficiently
developed for child-bearing until after her tenth year;
early as this may seem compared with European
nations, it is late compared with the animals. The
fertility is lessened not only by the longer period of
pregnancy, but also by the prolonged suckling among
primitive races. Seemingly, however, the number of

136 SEX-LORE

offspring born is still too high to be kept alive; the
result is that we find the killing of children before
and after birth very prevalent in olden times, and
among primitive races even now. It must by no
means be deduced therefrom that this is evidence of
deficient parental affection. On the contrary, there
is abundant proof that people who adopt this grue-
some practice are yet very fond of, and kind to, their
surviving children. As Tylor says: ''Infanticide
comes from hardness of life rather than from hardness
of heart "; and he continues: " The parents will often
go through fire and water to save the very child as
to whom they were doubting a few weeks before
whether it should live or die." It is sometimes ex-
tremely difficult for a savage to find food enough for
himself, so that it is hardly to be wondered at if he
shirks the impossible task of supplying many mouths,
and tries to avoid it by killing off additional new-
comers. There may also be a dim idea in his mind
that he will save the child future suffering by dispos-
ing of its life at the very outset. Among the nomadic
tribes, besides having the hardship of finding suffi-
cient food, the parents are faced with the difficulty
of transporting children during their wanderings.
Thus we read that among the Queensland blacks
scores of babies were slaughtered yearly. When the
tribes were marching, each woman carried every-
thing belonging to the family; if she was over-
burdened, the firsijt thing to be cast away was her
child, since her husband's wrath was tremendous
and its consequences disastrous to her if she dropped
any of their belongings. Among the Australians a
woman is taught to consider it wicked to burden the

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 137

tribe with more than three or four children; and it
is also regarded as a mark of selfishness in her to give
way to her maternal instinct, which might influence
her to save her child's life. It should be noted, how-
ever, that the baby is killed immediately after birth,
before parental affection has become too powerful.
If a child has been allowed to live a few weeks, its
life is generally safe. The Dyaks often destroy de-
formed or idiot children. Among the Eskimos, if the
mother dies and no woman can be found to nurse the
child, it is painlessly put to death. The killing of
one or both of twins has already been alluded to in
a previous chapter.

Infanticide was practised by most of the peoples
of ancient civilizations, such as, e.g.^ those of Persia,
Babylonia, India, China, etc. In China it still exists,
or did so until quite lately, although prohibited by
law. Until recently, the same was true of India and
Japan. The ancient Roman and Greek law also per-
mitted infanticide. The public sacrifice of children
for religious purposes existed in Rome so late as the
time of the wars against Carthage. In Greece the
children were killed by exposure; for public opinion
was against the direct shedding of blood. Among the
Spartans, however, if a child survived this trying
ordeal it was allowed to live, having given proof of
its power of endurance. Aristotle laid it down as a
law that no imperfect or maimed child should be
brought up. There is a similar utterance from the
mouth of Seneca, a Roman philosopher, who said:
" Children if weak or deformed we drown, not through
anger, but through the wisdom of preferring the
sound to the useless." Many uncivilized peoples

138 SEX-LORE

also expose their children, granting them life if they
survive. The same explanation, that no weakling
should be allowed to exist, is given by them. The
Maoris expose the newborn child for a certain time
under the shadow of a tree. In many tribes it is
watched and guarded during this time; in others it
is left to chance. No one may touch the child, for it
is made tapu (taboo) ; a carved or painted pole, hung
with flax, rags or bones, is stuck in the ground near
it to warn intruders. If the baby survives, it is taken
to the mother's breast and is at once recognized as
a member of the tribe.

Many instances of infanticide, however, are more
in the nature of religious sacrifices. We have seen
that the custom existed in Rome. A relic of it is
seen in the story of the intended sacrifice of Isaac
by Abraham. It was sometimes the firstborn son
that had to be sacrificed to the gods ; but this custom
later became mitigated, the eldest son being bought
off, at first by the sacrifice of animals, and still later
by other offerings.

Remembering what has been repeatedly said before
as regards the depreciation of woman, it will not be
surprising to find once more that frequently less
value is attached to the life of girls than to that of
boys, so that the infanticide of girls is much more
prevalent than that of boys. Boys are always
needed to increase the number of warriors when they
grow up, and also to continue the tribal religious
worship, whilst girls cannot fight and may need
dowries. Some Hindus, on being reproached by
Europeans for their cruelty in burying alive their
newborn girls, replied: " If you pay us their dowries

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 139

we will let them live." The lot of the Hindu women
is very hard, so that they are willing to drown their
daughters in the holy stream rather than that they
should grow up to the same life. The British Govern-
ment attempted to put a stop to this gruesome
custom by the Infanticide Act of 1870.

Even among people who do not kill the girls, we
find that the birth of a daughter is very often con-
sidered a great misfortune. Among the Georgians,
a woman who has only daughters hardly ventures
to let herself be seen, but if she gives birth to a son
there is great rejoicing. In Montenegro, if a daughter
arrives the father stands on the threshold of his
house with eyes downcast, as if he were begging
pardon of his friends and neighbours. If several
daughters are born in succession, and there is no heir
and future soldier, the mother must call together
seven priests, who sprinkle the house with holy oil;
and the threshold must be replaced by a new one, in
order to purify the house that has been bewitched by
evil spirits on the wedding-day. Many races, as, e.g.^
the Arabs of Algeria and Tunis, celebrate the birth
of a boy with many days' festivities ; but the advent
of a daughter is quietly passed over. Even among
modern civilized people, boys are more wished for
than girls. We find an expression of this in the pre-
valent custom of announcing the birth of a prince
by a greater number of cannon shots than the birth
of a princess.

There are, however, exceptions to this rule, many
tribes rejoicing more at the birth of a girl than of a
boy. The Dyaks of Borneo pray for a girl first,
because she is useful. The inhabitants of the Aru

140 SEX-LORE

Islands joyfully welcome the arrival of a daughter,
because when she marries she will bring her
parents a high purchase-price, which is shared by
all who were present at her birth. If a boy is born,
the mother is often reproached for not having a
daughter, and the guests go sadly home. A girl is
often betrothed as soon as she is born, and the bride-
price agreed upon. The Kaffirs and Hottentots also
welcome the birth of a girl, since every daughter
represents an increase of fortune to the parents when
she marries. The more daughters a man has, the
more cattle he will receive from their suitors. This
preference for girls is carried to the extreme in some
African tribes, where the boys are killed and not the
girls.

With the growth of civilization, the practice of
infanticide becomes reprehensible and falls into disuse,
being often commuted into the sale of children,
especially of girls. In Rome, it had become a well-
established custom for mothers to abandon their
girl babies at the foot of a particular column. From
there some of them were taken by men to be trained
for immoral purposes. This at least eased the
mother's conscience. Sometimes the parents re-
claimed their daughter if they thought she would
become useful to them in any way. The practice of
selling children existed in medieval England; for we
read of bishops threatening parents with excommu-
nication if they sold their children. In Japan, the
Government bought girls from six to eight years old
and trained them as geishas (dancing-girls). Simi-
larly, in Siam the parents sell their daughters to
managers of theatres.

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 141

But the sale of children also died out gradually in
all Western countries, as people grew more civilized.
With the limitation of the father's power to do with
his children according to' his will, the family bond
became stronger, and children were more intensely
appreciated for themselves, apart from their market-
able value. As there were no children to be disposed
of now by exposure or sale, the total number of chil-
dren born to each family gradually lessened. Even
then we find that there are still a greater number of
children born than can be reared, especially in back-
ward countries. Here the number of children per
family is greater than in those of more advanced
countries; but it has been found that wherever the
birth-rate is high, as, for instance, in Russia, Egypt,
India, etc., the number of deaths among children is
also considerable, so that in some districts barely
one-half of the children born survive beyond their
sixth year. This rule also holds good in a modified
way for more civilized countries. Thus there is un-
mistakable evidence that among the poorer classes,
which have generally large families, child mortality
is comparatively high; while among the richer people,
who generally have fewer children, the loss is propor-
tionately less. It is quite clear that there is a con-
nection between these two facts. Children need
great care, especially in their early years, and it is
impossible for any person to give them the necessary
attention if they follow quickly one after the other.
So Nature in her cruel way weeds out those which
cannot struggle against the adverse conditions due
to poverty. It is naturally easier to rear and pro-
vide for a few children with limited means than a

142 SEX-LORE

great number. It is less wasteful to have four or
five children and keep them, than to do as the
notorious charwoman, who in her pride boasted: " I
surely ought to knov/ all about children, for I've had
ten and buried eight." And her case can hardly be
said to be very exceptional. We have become too
sensitive to, and conscious of, the value of human life
to be proud of the mere fact of producing live-stock.
What we wish is to keep our little ones with us once
they are here. Such an ideal implies a considerable
step forward in the elimination of human waste.
But not only are we desirous of keeping them, we
are also more anxious than ever before to give them
every chance of health and happiness, and to give
them a fair start in life, ifto that they may have its
full benefit.

Our age has rightly been called " the century of
the child." We are only beginning to wake up to
the fact that on the children depends the future of
the world, that as we sow, so they shall reap. Not
only do we desire that the younger generation shall
be given full scope, everyone according to his ability;
but also that the future race shall be born with
a good initial share of it. It is for this reason that
a new movement has arisen among more enlightened
people against the propagation of bad stock. In
olden times, we have seen, weaklings were killed by
exposure, as is still done by primitive peoples. Cruel
as it seems, there was some justification for it: it
prevented suffering to the individual 'and relieved
society of the burden of ^uselessj^members. With
time, however, the human ^{conscience revolted
against such a savage^ practice, with the result that

PARENT AND OFFSPRING 148

not only the good, but also the bad, were allowed
to multiply. Now we have once more come to
realize the necessity of ridding society of its dregs
(by no means always belonging to the lower
classes); but instead of killing the unfit, it is now
proposed to prevent them from perpetuating their
kind, so as to propagate only from the fit — that is,
the best. People are gradually learning that it
is a crime to burden a child with a bad inheritance,
such as a tendency to consumption, insanity, epilepsy,
etc. ; and that it is better for such children not to be
born at all. In other words, eugenics, or the art of
breeding good stock, is becoming an established
creed of the time; not only do we wish to cure ills
— ^which has been done at all times — but we have
become wiser in trying to prevent them. Besides
endeavouring to provide the best possible environ-
ment for all, we must help to improve the race itself
by seeing that everybody is born with a sound in-
heritance. When these endeavours are joined with
genuine sympathy and affection, when love is given
a truly human form by eliminating all suffering,
waste, and unhappiness, it is then that Life's promise
in its wonderful growth through courtship, marriage,
and parenthood, will reach its highest fulfilment.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

E. Crawley : The Mystic Rose. London, 1902.

Charles Darwin : The Descent of Man. Second edition. London,

1874.
Havelock Ellis : Studies in the Psychology of Sex. Six volumes.

New edition. Philadelphia, 1913.

Vol. I. : The Evolution of Modesty.
Vol. III. : Analysis of the Sex Impulse.
A. B. Gomme : National Games of England, Scotland, and Wales.

Two volumes. London, 1894.
S. Herbert : The First Principles of Heredity. Second edition.

London, 1915.

The First Principles of Evolution. Third edition. London,

1918.

An Introduction to the Physiology and Psychology of Sex.

Second edition. 1918.
L. T. HoBHOUSE : Morals in Evolution. Third edition. London,

1915.
G. E. Howard : A History of Matrimonial Institutions. Chicago,

1904.
L. J. Milne : Wooings and Weddings in Many Climes. London.

Little Folks of Many Lands. London, 1899.
P. Chalmers Mitchell: The Childhood of Animals. London,

1912.
H. Ploss : Das Weib in Natur- und Volkerkunde. Tenth edition.
Leipzig, 1913.

Das Kleine Kind. Leipzig, 1881.
W. P. Pycraft: The Courtship of Animals. Second edition.
London, 1914.

The Infancy of Animals. London.
Herbert Spencer: Principles of Sociology. Vol. I. London,

1893.
A. Sutherland : Origin and Growth of the Moral Instinct. Vol. I.

London, 1898.
W Tegg : Tlie Knot Tied. Second edition. London, 1878.
E Westermarck : History of Human Marriage. London, 1891,

INDEX

Aftbe birth, 103, 130
All-Hallowe'en, 45
Amulets, 107
Ant, 62, 112

„ -eater, 96, 97, 126
Anus, 64
Apes, 24, 130

Barrenness, 65
Baths, 33, 52, 53
Bear, Koala, 127
„ Polar, 130
Beauty, 35
Beaver, 129
Bee, 62, 112
Birds, 96, 119
„ Bell-, 19
„ Bower, 21
„ migratory, 129
„ Paradise 20
„ Ruff-, 18
„ running, 119
„ swimming, 120
„ Weaver, 122
Birth, 102, 104
„ mark, 101
„ premature, 100
Blackcock, 20
Blastula, 91
Bride's-crown, 87
„ dress, 86
„ fair, 42, 79
„ maid, 85
„ veil, 86, 87
„ wreath, 87
Brides, mock, 85
Brood care, 113
Brooding, 119
Budding, 67
Butterfly, 13

Carnivores, 130
Cat, 22, 130

Caterpillar, 94
Cattle, 22, 128
Caul, 106
Cell, 56

„ -colony, 60
Child, 69, 85, 132

„ -bearing, 135

„ -carrying, 134

„ mortality, 141

„ sale, 140
Children's games, 42
Chivalry, 54
Choice, 45, 46
Chrysalis, 94
Cicada, 12
Cloaca, 64
Clothes, 38, 50

„ swaddling, 134
Cock, 17, 22

„ Turkey, 17
Cockatoo, 122
Cocoon, 94
Ccelom, 93
Coition, 64
Coitus, 64
Competition, 28
Conception, 90, 100
Confinement, 103
Confirmation, 33
Copulation, 62, 63, 64
Coquetry, 49
Corset, 36, 53

Courtship, 3, 9, 27, 34, 53, 56
Couvade, 106
Crabs, 9

Crawley, E., S2, 84, 87
Crinolines, 53
Crocodile, 15, 118

Darwin, Charles, 4, 8, 13
Dancing, 41
Display, 27, 34
1 Division, 57
145 W

146

SEX LORE

Dog, 22, 130
Dowry, 80, 81
Duck, 121

Eagle, 125
Earrings, 52
Egg cell, 60
Eggs, pelagic, 113

„ submerged, 113
Ejaculation, 64
Elephant, 22, 128, 132
Embryo, 93, 99
Endogamy, 68
Eugenics, 143
Evil spirits, 102, 105
Evolution, 4, 111, 119, 121

Feet, 36, 51
Fertility, 113, 120, 135
Fertilization, 61, 63, 64, 90, 98
Fish, 113

„ Eow, 115

„ Butter, 115

„ Dog, 96

„ Paradise, 115
Flamingo, 125
Foetus, 99
Food, 105
Foster-mother, 107
Fowl, 121
Fright -stones, 107
Frog, 14, 95, 116

Galton, Francis, 128
Gastrula, 92
Germ cell, 60
Germinal vesicle, 93
Gestation, 98, 128, 130, 132

„ period, 97
Goethe, 45

Hardy, Thomas, 69
Hedgehog, 129
Hermaphrodite, 61
Homer, 40
Horse, 128
Hymen, 64

Immission, 63, 64
Impregnation, 64
Infanticide, 136, 137, 138
Initiation, 29, 30, 37
Insects, HI

Kangaroo, 97, 127
Katydids, 13
Key, Ellen, 46

Labour pains, 102
I Lactation, 103, 107
Lemur, 131
Lizard, 14
Love, 1, 28, 38, 46

,, -magic, 43

,, oracles, 45

„ philtres, 44
Lying-in, 103, 105

Magical rites, 84
Mammals, 96, 125
Man, best, 87

,, primitive, 34
Marriage, 55, 64, 65

„ broker, 38

„ capture, 73, 74, 75

„ ceremony, 83
child , 70

„ purchase, 77, 78, 85

„ rites, 82

„ sacramental, 86

„ secular, 87

„ tribal, 67
Marsupials, 97, 126
Matches, 39

Maternal impressions, 101
Mating, 49, 55, 56

,, season, 8, 24
Matriarchate, 66
Membrane, foetal, 99, 106
Menstruation, 29, 31, 33, 103
Metamorphosis, 93
Modesty, 48
Monogamy, 81
Morgengabe, 80
Morula, 91
Moths, 13
Mother cell, 91
„ right, 66
„ rule, 66

Mouse, 129

„ harvest-, 129
Musk deer, 24
Mutilation, 35

Name-giving, 107
Navel, 103 ,

INDEX

147

Nests, 119, 121, 123
Nudity, 52

Opossum, 127

Orang, 131

Organism, multicellular, 56

„ unicellular, 56, 57
Ovary, 60, 63, i8
Oviduct, 98
Ovum, 60, 98
Owl, 122

Pain, 36
Pairing, 55, 65
Parental care. 111, 120

„ characters, 108

„ feelinc^^. 111
Parenthood, 89
Parthenogenesis, 61
Parturition, 103
Pater familias, 69
Patriarchate, 67, 68
Peacock, 15

Peckham, Mr. and Mrs., 10
Pelican, 124
Penguin, 120
Penis, 63, 64
Pheasant, Argus, 15
Pig, 130
Pigeon, 124
Placenta, 99, 103
Platypus, 96, 126
Polt era bend, ' 4
Polyandry, 72
Polygamy, 71
Pregnancy, 98, 101, 102, 109,

132
Procreation, 89
Puberty, 28, 48
Puerperal period, 103
Pupa, 94

Purification, 32, 50, 104
Pycraft, W. p., 9, 15, 124
Python, 118, 119

Rabbit, 128
Races, 40
Rat, 129 •

Reproduction, 56, 61, 90

,, asexual, 57

„ sexual, 59

Reproduction, virgin, 61 j
Reptile, 96, 118

Saint Valentine's, 45
Scars, 32, 37
Scorpion, 9 %

Semen, 63, 100
Sex cell, 60

„ characters, 8, 48

„ glands, 60

„ intercourse, 64

„ organs, 63

„ superstitions, 100
Sexual season, 48

„ selection, 8, 13
Shakespeare, 43
Shark, 96
Snake, 118
Sparrow, 112
Sperm, 60, 63
SpermatOi'oa, 60
Spider, 9
Stag, 22
Stickleback, 116
Sutherland, A., 114

Taboo, 31,33, 49, 138
Tadpole, 95
Tattooing, 30, 36
Teeth, 30, 32, 35
Tennyson, 111
Testes, 60, 63
Toad, midwife-, 117
Twins, 109
Tylor, E. B., 136

Umbilical cord, 98, 103, 104
Uterus, 64, 98

Vagina, 29, 63, 64, 98, 102
Veiling, 50

Wasps, 112
Weaning, 103, 108
Wedding gifts, 80

ring, 80, 86
Wife sale, 69

Woman, depreciation of, 138
Womb, 29, 04, 97
Woodcock, 124

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