on. In the
sexually mature normal man, the detumescence-impulse and the
contrectation-impulse act in unison, and hence he is impelled towards
intimate contact with the woman, and is ultimately driven to effect
detumescence by the practice of coitus. Nevertheless, we must hold fast
to the idea that in the normal adult man the sexual processes may also
be theoretically analysed into these two components.

This is true also of woman, in whom the processes in the genital organs
are equally separable from those which impel to contact with a member of
the other sex. But in woman, the processes in the genital organs do not
culminate in the ejection of the reproductive cells, that is, of the
ovum, but, as we have seen, in the ejaculation of indifferent
secretions. In the woman, also, the detumescence impulse is occasionally
met with in isolation--for example, in many female idiots. In the animal
world, too, we encounter it as an isolated phenomenon. Certain mares,
when rutting, rub their hind quarters against some object in their
stalls. The contrectation-impulse may also manifest itself in isolation
in woman. It is then directed towards the male, but is not in any way
associated with the wish for a definite sexual act. Most commonly,
however, in woman also the two components of the sexual impulse are
united, and from this union results the impulsion towards coitus. But to
this extent the conditions in woman are apt to differ from those in
man, inasmuch as, in the former, voluptuous sensations are more often in
abeyance; or in woman voluptuous pleasure may not arise during coitus,
but may be produced in some other way, as, for instance, by a
masturbatory act.

The sexual impulse, and indeed either of its components, may be excited
either by bodily or by mental stimuli; but we must always bear in mind
the fact that in normal adults, both male and female, the two components
are so intimately associated that they can as a rule be separated only
by artificial analysis. The nature and mode of operation of the stimuli
need not be further discussed, since enough has been said about the
matter in our description of erection. Nor is it necessary in this place
to deal with such differences as may exist between the psychosexual life
of the child and that of the adult, since this matter will be fully
considered in the fourth chapter. In this chapter my aim has merely been
to give a general description of the sexual impulse.

Here I need