laws of concern for its fellows.

Notoriously, that which we should have anticipated _a priori_ actually
occurs; for any unmarried man, who lives in strict chastity, periodically
experiences, while sleeping, a loss of seminal fluid--such phenomena being
popularly referred to as _wet dreams_.[375]

During some eight or ten years I have carefully recorded the occurrence of
such discharges as I have experienced myself, and I have now accumulated
sufficient data to justify an attempt to formulate some provisional
conclusions.[376]

In order to render these observations as serviceable as may be to students
of periodicity, I here repeat (at the request of Mr. Havelock Ellis) the
statement which was subjoined, for the same reasons, to my "Rhythm of the
Pulse." These observations upon myself were made between the ages of 20
and 33. I am about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, broad-shouldered, and weigh
about 10 stone 3 lbs. _net_--this weight being, I believe, about 7 lbs.
below the normal for my height. Also I have green-brown eyes, very
dark-brown hair, and a complexion that leads strangers frequently to
mistake me for a foreigner--this complexion being, perhaps, attributable
to some Huguenot blood, although on the maternal side I am, so far as all
information goes, pure English. I can stand a good deal of heat, enjoy
relaxing climates, am at once upset by "bracing" sea-air, hate the cold,
and sweat profusely after exercise. To this it will suffice to add that my
temperament is of a decidedly nervous and emotional type.

Before proceeding to remark upon the various rhythms that I have
discovered, I will tabulate the data on which my conclusions are founded.
The numbers of discharges recorded in the years in question are as
follows:--

In 1886, 30. (Records commenced in April.)
In 1887, 40.
In 1888, 37.
In 1889, 18. (Pretty certainly not fully recorded.)
In 1890, 0 (No records kept this year.[377])
In 1891, 19. (Records recommenced in June.)
In 1892, 35.
In 1893, 40.
In 1894, 38.
In 1895, 36.
In 1896, 36.
In 1897, 35.
Average, 37. (Omitting 1886, 1889, and 1891.)

Thus I have complete records for eight years, and incomplete records for
three more; and the remarkable concord between the respective annual
numbers of observations in these eight years not only affords us intrinsic
evidence of the accuracy of my records, but, also, at once proves that
there is an undeniable