n artistic and intellectual fields. Women of intellectual force are
frequently if not generally women of strong passions, and if they resist
the tendency to merge themselves in the duties of maternity their lives
are often wasted in emotional conflict and their psychic natures
impoverished.[103]

The extent to which sexual abstinence and the struggles it
involves may hamper and absorb the individual throughout life is
well illustrated in the following case. A lady, vigorous, robust,
and generally healthy, of great intelligence and high character,
has reached middle life without marrying, or ever having sexual
relationships. She was an only child, and when between three and
four years of age, a playmate some six years older, initiated her
into the habit of playing with her sexual parts. She was,
however, at this age quite devoid of sexual feelings, and the
habit dropped naturally, without any bad effects, as soon as she
left the neighborhood of this girl a year or so later. Her health
was good and even brilliant, and she developed vigorously at
puberty. At the age of sixteen, however, a mental shock caused
menstruation to diminish in amount during some years, and
simultaneously with this diminution persistent sexual excitement
appeared spontaneously, for the first time. She regarded such
feelings as abnormal and unhealthy, and exerted all her powers of
self-control in resisting them. But will power had no effect in
diminishing the feelings. There was constant and imperious
excitement, with the sense of vibration, tension, pressure,
dilatation and tickling, accompanied, it may be, by some ovarian
congestion, for she felt that on the left side there was a
network of sexual nerves, and retroversion of the uterus was
detected some years later. Her life was strenuous with many
duties, but no occupation could be pursued without this
undercurrent of sexual hyperaesthesia involving perpetual
self-control. This continued more or less acutely for many years,
when menstruation suddenly stopped altogether, much before the
usual period of the climacteric. At the same time the sexual
excitement ceased, and she became calm, peaceful, and happy.
Diminished menstruation was associated with sexual excitement,
but abundant menstruation and its complete absence were both
accompanied by the relief of excitement