of
his wife, suffered from frequent and extreme priapism, causing
insomnia. He was very certain that his troubles were not due to
his continence, but all treatment failed and there were no
spontaneous emissions. At last Remondino advised him to, as he
expresses it, "imitate Solomon." He did so, and all the symptoms
at once disappeared. This case is of special interest, because
the symptoms were not accompanied by any conscious sexual desire.
It is no longer generally believed that sexual abstinence tends
to produce insanity, and the occasional cases in which prolonged
and intense sexual desire in young women is followed by insanity
will usually be found to occur on a basis of hereditary
degeneration. It is held by many authorities, however, that minor
mental troubles, of a more or less vague character, as well as
neurasthenia and hysteria, are by no means infrequently due to
sexual abstinence. Thus Freud, who has carefully studied
angstneurosis, the obsession of anxiety, finds that it is a
result of sexual abstinence, and may indeed be considered as a
vicarious form of such abstinence (Freud, _Sammlung Kleiner
Schriften zur Neurosenlehre_, 1906, pp. 76 et seq.).

The whole subject of sexual abstinence has been discussed at
length by Nystroem, of Stockholm, in _Das Geschlechtsleben und
seine Gesetze_, Ch. III. He concludes that it is desirable that
continence should be preserved as long as possible in order to
strengthen the physical health and to develop the intelligence
and character. The doctrine of permanent sexual abstinence,
however, he regards as entirely false, except in the case of a
small number of religious or philosophic persons. "Complete
abstinence during a long period of years cannot be borne without
producing serious results both on the body and the mind....
Certainly, a young man should repress his sexual impulses as long
as possible and avoid everything that may artificially act as a
sexual stimulant. If, however, he has done so, and still suffers
from unsatisfied normal sexual desires, and if he sees no
possibility of marriage within a reasonable time, no one should
dare to say that he is committing a sin if, with mutual
understanding, he enters into sexual relations with a woman
friend, or forms temporary sexual relationships, provided, that
is, tha