An introduction to the physiology & psychology of sex / by S. Herbert.

  • Herbert, S. (Solomon), 1874-
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the physiology & psychology of sex / by S. Herbert. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    preserve his bodily purity at least up to the age of twenty-one. After this it becomes increasingly more difficult for individuals with ardent natures, though it is not entirely impossible. With women the problem of abstinence is, on the whole, much less urgent, as their sex passion, if not prematurely aroused, awakens much later, and is even then generally not quite so volcanic. How to solve the problem of abstinence for those who by ill-luck are forced to prolonged, if not lifelong, celibacy is a matter for the social reformer. All we can say here is that a society which imposes upon a large proportion of its members the futile task of dispossessing themselves of Nature’s most precious gift fails to fulfil its most vital aim. Sex behaviour in marriage would appear, at first thought, to need no special discussion. Indeed, young people during the first glow of their honeymoon enter upon their conjugal career with a light heart, trusting to the adage: “‘ All is fair in love and war.’ No special instruction is thought necessary in order to guide them on their perilous love voyage, on which so many young couples have suffered shipwreck. The generally pre- vailing belief still is, that married life implies conjugal ** duties,’ which are understood to mean the exercise of the most primitive sex function, the unavoidable congress, as a means for the procreation of the next generation. Such a marriage may be a good institution for the produc- tion of offspring, but it certainly is not an affair of love. As Havelock Ellis has emphasised: ‘‘ Marriage and pro- creation are based on the erotic life’’; for “‘ love craves the flesh.” We cannot exalt the one and degrade the other. And we have seen that love requires a continuous courtship, which does not cease with the consummation of the wedding night. It is love which keeps alive the feeling of mutual trust and friendship, which cements