y may seem to be trivial at some points, they clearly bring
out the very important distinction between a merely temporary
homosexuality and true inversion. The amusements of these young
girls may not be considered eminently innocent or wholesome, but,
on the other hand, they are not radically morbid or vicious. They
are strictly, and even consciously, _play_; they are dominated by
the thought that the true sexual ideal is normal relationship
with a man, and they would certainly disappear in the presence of
a man.

It must be remembered that Niceforo's observations were made
among girls who were mostly young. In the large factories, where
many adult women are employed, the phenomena tend to be rarer,
but of much less trivial and playful character. At Wolverhampton,
some forty years ago, the case was reported of a woman in a
galvanizing "store" who, after dinner, indecently assaulted a
girl who was a new hand. Two young women held the victim down,
and this seems to show that homosexual vice was here common and
recognized. No doubt, this case is exceptional in its brutality.
It throws, however, a significant light on the conditions
prevailing in factories. In Spain, in the large factories where
many adult women are employed, especially in the great tobacco
factory at Seville, Lesbian relationships seem to be not
uncommon. Here the women work in an atmosphere which in summer is
so hot that they throw off the greater part of their clothing, to
such an extent that a bell is rung whenever a visitor is
introduced into a work-room, in order to warn the workers. Such
an environment predisposes to the formation of homosexual
relationships. When I was in Spain some years ago an incident
occurred at the Seville Fabrica de Tabacos which attracted much
attention in the newspapers, and, though it was regarded as
unusual, it throws light on the life of the workers. One morning
as the women were entering the work-room and amid the usual scene
of animation changing their Manila shawls for the light costume
worn during work, one drew out a small clasp-knife and, attacking
another, rapidly inflicted six or seven wounds on her face and
neck, threatening to kill anyone who approached. Both these
_cigarreras_ were superior workers, engaged in the most skilled
kind of work, and had been at the fact