as we shall see, that it begins much earlier
than is commonly believed. In the young girl, from the date of the first
menstruation to the time at which she has become fitted for marriage,
the average lapse of time is assumed by Ribbing[3] to be two years. This
is a fair estimate, but it does not correspond to the totality of the
period of the puberal development. If we estimate that period from its
true beginning its duration greatly exceeds two years, for the first
indications of the puberal development are manifest in the girl long
before the first menstruation, and in the boy long before the first
discharge of semen. The approach of puberty is indicated by numerous
symptoms, some of which are psychical and some physical in character. In
perfectly healthy children, as will be shown in the sequel, individual
symptoms may make their appearance as early as the age of seven or
eight, and further symptoms successively appear during succeeding years,
until the puberal development is completed.

What methods are available for the study of the sexual life of the
child? Three methods have to be considered: first, the observation of
children; secondly, experiment; and thirdly, reports made by individuals
regarding their own experiences. As regards the last mentioned, we must
distinguish clearly between accounts reproduced from memory long after
the incidents to which they relate, and accounts given by children of
their state at the time of narration. But both varieties of clinical
history are defective. The child is often incompetent to describe his
sensations--think, for instance, of the processes of the earliest years
of life. Even when the child is able to make reports, a sense of shame
will often interfere with the truthfulness of his account. Whilst as
regards the memory-pictures of adults, recourse to this method often
fails us because the experiences are so remote as to have been largely,
if not entirely, forgotten. The autobiographies of sexually perverse
individuals have drawn my attention to the fallacious nature of memory.
Its records are uncertain, but that especially is recorded which has
aroused interest. Not only the interest felt in the experiences at the
time determines what shall be recorded, but also the interest felt later
when reviving these experiences in memory. Childish experiences are very
readily forgotten, either if they were uninteresting at the time, or if
subsequently they have become uninteresting.