vert to an
individual of the opposite sex, and yet this crime is sanctioned by
the law! It is a crime against the normal conjoint and against the
children who may result from such an unhappy union. By severely
punishing homosexual intercourse, the penal laws of many countries
provoke the lowest form of blackmail, as Krafft-Ebing, Moll,
Hirschfeld and others have proved by numerous examples, and as I have
myself confirmed among many of my patients.

It is quite another thing with abnormal or perverse forms of the
sexual appetite, which can only be satisfied against the will of their
object, or by injuring it more or less severely. Here it is the duty
of the law to organize energetic measures of protection; not with a
view to punish the pervert, who is a diseased person, but to protect
his victims in time.

We will first deal with _sadism_; secondly with the violation of
children. Here a very delicate question arises. In the case of such
terrible sexual appetites we should not wait for victims before taking
action. On the other hand, we cannot punish a man, nor even take
administrative measures against him, simply from the fact that he
possesses a dangerous appetite, especially if he is in other respects
well-behaved and conscientious, and strives with all his might against
his perversion. I have treated a patient who suffered from a terrible
pathological appetite of this kind. He was a highly moral man who
never harmed any one, but was in a state of despair over his
affliction, which he resisted with all his power, seeking relief in
masturbation when his passion became too violent.

In such cases, the moral sentiments of an individual offer sufficient
social protection, and it is neither the right nor the duty of the
physician to denounce him. But he should advise the patient to retire
to an asylum to avoid committing a crime, if he feels that he cannot
restrain his passions. It is very rare for such cases to come to the
knowledge of the public, for these patients prefer to suffer in
silence or to commit suicide; but they are none the less instructive
and characteristic.

At other times dangerous perversions are discovered by chance, the
pervert, instead of resisting his passion, seeking opportunities to
satisfy it without discovery. In such cases strong measures should be
enforced. Unfortunately, sadists are very well aware of the dangers
they run, and know better than any other criminals how to commit their
crime