before puberty, in valentines. My feeling for them is much like
my feeling for flowers.

"Before I reached puberty I was sometimes called a 'sissy' by my
father. Such taunts humiliated me more than anything else has
ever done. After puberty my father no longer applied the term,
and gradually other persons ceased to tease me that way. The
sting of it lasted, though, and led me more than once to ask
intimate friends, both men and women, if they considered me at
all feminine. Every one of them has been very emphatically of the
opinion that my rational life is distinctively masculine, being
logical, impartial, skeptical. One or two have suggested that I
have a finer discrimination than most men, and that I take care
of my rooms somewhat as a woman might, though this does not
extend to the style of decorations. One man said that I lacked
sympathy with certain 'grosser manifestations of masculine
character, such as smoking.' Some women think me unusually
observing of women's dress. My own is by no means effeminate. In
a muscular way I have average strength, but am supple far beyond
what is usual. If trained for it early, I believe I would have
made a good contortionist.

"I have never had the least inclination to use tobacco, generally
take neither tea nor coffee, and seldom any liquor, never malt
liquors. The dessert is always the best part of the meal. These
tastes I attribute largely to my sedentary life. When out camping
I observed a marked change in the direction of heartier food and
mild stimulants.

"My physical courage has never been put to the test, but I
observe that others appear to count on it. I am very aggressive
in matters of religious, political, social opinion. In moral
courage I am either reckless or courageous, I do not know which.

"I am, perhaps, a better whistler than most men.

"When I was quite little my grandmother taught me to do certain
kinds of fancy-work, and I continued to do a little from time to
time until I was 24. Then I became irritated over a piece that
troubled me, put it in the fire, and have not wanted to touch any
since. As a pet economy I continue to do nearly all of my own
mending.

"I have a decided aversion for much jewelry. My estheticism is
very pronounced as compared with most of the men with whom I
associate, although