ed work of Tissot, depicts the dangers
of masturbation, but deals chiefly with persons who have attained sexual
maturity. None the less, in consequence of this book, much attention was
directed to the sexual life of the child. Earlier works on masturbation,
such as that of Sarganeck, for instance, had not succeeded in arousing
any enduring interest in this question. But Rousseau's and Tissot's
books induced a large number of physicians and educationalists to occupy
themselves in this province of study. Thus at this early day many
authorities were led to advocate the sexual enlightenment of children,
in order to guide them in the avoidance of the dangers of the sexual
life. An excellent historical and critical study of this movement,
written by Thalhofer, has recently been published.[4] Among the
educationalists who took part in it may be mentioned Basedow, Salzmann,
Campe, and Niemeyer. The modern movement in favour of sexual
enlightenment originated chiefly in the endeavour to prevent the
diffusion of venereal diseases; but the earlier movement, occurring at a
time when much less was known about venereal diseases, had a different
aim. This was rather to prevent masturbation and other sexual excesses,
on account of their direct effect upon the organism; an aim not
neglected by the modern movement for sexual enlightenment, though
subsidiary to the object of the prevention of the venereal diseases.
Teachers of that day touched, of course, upon the subject of the sexual
life of the child. But this was done cursorily, for when instruction was
given on the sexual life, not the actual experience of children, but the
sexual life of mature persons, was the subject of discourse. This must
be said also of the works of those physicians who, like Hufeland in his
_Makrobiotik_ (written as a sequel to the work of Tissot), spoke of the
dangers of masturbation.

A few of the numerous medical books dealing with the puberal development
deserve mention in this place; for instance, Marro, _La Puberta_ (first
edition, published in 1897), and Bacque, _La Puberte_ (Argenteuil,
1876). A number of recent works on masturbation have also touched on the
topic of the sexual life of the child.

Apart from these recent special investigations, the older and the more
recent medical and anthropological literature contains numerous
observations which concern the subject of this book. More especially do
we find reports of cases in which the external mani