over-estimated by their relatives and
others. During the undifferentiated stage a boy may love one of his
teachers or one of his friends, and yet in later life be perfectly
normal; many a woman, again, who loves her husband ardently has earlier,
during the undifferentiated period, passionately loved a school-fellow
or a governess. On the other hand, during the undifferentiated stage a
boy may exhibit an inclination towards someone of the opposite sex, the
governess or the girl-friend of his sister, for instance; conversely,
the girl may be attracted by a boy or a young man. This inclination,
whether homosexual or heterosexual, often leads to bodily acts, to
contact with the beloved person, embraces, and kisses, without the
necessary occurrence of any manifestations on the part of the external
genital organs, although such manifestations may at times ensue. The
undifferentiated stage is followed by the third stage, in which the
contrectation impulse becomes differentiated, so that in normal
individuals the sexual impulse becomes unmistakably heterosexual.
Normally, this differentiated stage endures until the time of the final
extinction of the sexual impulse.

I do not believe that an undifferentiated stage occurs in every one
without exception. On the other hand, I have absolutely no doubt that it
occurs very frequently indeed--far more frequently than is commonly
believed--and that it occurs in persons whose subsequent sexual
development is perfectly normal. Moreover, during the undifferentiated
stage, in addition to heterosexual and homosexual inclinations, perverse
sentiments may make their appearance. Masochistic, sadistic, fetichistic
excitations of all kinds are met with, and sexual inclination towards
animals is by no means rare. As regards the last named, the inclination
is directed especially towards the animals with which the child is most
intimately associated, as, for instance, a dog, a cat, a bird, a horse,
and the like. Again, during the period of undifferentiated sexual
impulse all kinds of disordered ideas may become associated with that
impulse; for instance, an impulse may arise to touch the saliva, or some
other excretory product, of the beloved being, human or animal, as the
case may be, and even to take such a product into the mouth. Many
persons completely forget all these manifestations of the
undifferentiated sexual impulse which have formed part of their own
early experiences. The causes of such