ons and subsequent divorce proceedings.

My opinion on this subject will no doubt appear very immoral to many
people, but it is natural and rational. It is needless to say that I
do not intend that a man has the right to compel his wife to have
intercourse whenever he pleases. The question is a very delicate one;
but, by the aid of goodwill a satisfactory solution of the problem can
be obtained in most cases, in the manner indicated above. Love and
mutual respect will always find a way out of the difficulty. It is
necessary to avoid extreme asceticism and unnatural idealism on the
one hand and excessive sexual indulgence on the other hand. In the
sexual question above all others it is the wisest course to strike a
happy medium.

An extremely important question is that of the procreation of
children. We have just explained how this can be regulated at will; we
have now to consider how children of the best quality can be
procreated.

The first condition is the good quality of the parents. Their heredity
or the intellectual and physical value of their ancestry is of
paramount importance. We must take into consideration, not only the
intelligence and physical health, but also good sentiments, a
conscientious character and energy of will. What is the use of
procreating healthy and robust children if they are vain, egoistic,
impulsive, crafty, wanting in will power, or perhaps criminal? Such
individuals constitute a social plague.

At the time of conception the parents should not be in a condition of
acute or chronic alcoholism, nor affected with any disease; otherwise
the progeny may be tainted by _blastophthoria_ (Chapter I).

The age of the procreators should also be taken into account. Children
born of parents advanced in years are generally feeble.

The fatal error which causes the procreation of children to depend on
pecuniary reasons and interests is a social misfortune. Healthy men
and women ought never to avoid reproduction, even when they are poor.
Progeny of good quality grow up, so to speak, by themselves. Progeny
with evil instincts, or decadent, have a pre-existing hereditary
taint, or have been affected by blastophthoria in some other way.

No doubt acquired diseases or accidents may make an invalid of a child
or a man, but these are exceptions which prove the rule, for here
again the descendant of healthy parents is more resistant than others,
if he has not artificially altered his state of health and