nestly,
and with due regard for his age and his capacity to understand what is
explained to him.

One very great advantage of an early paternal explanation of sex
matters to the boy is its beneficial effect on the mind and the
nerves. Many boys brood or grow melancholy when confronted with sex
riddles and problems for which they are unable to find a solution; and
as the result of totally erroneous ideas they may have formed with
regard to sex matters. At the same time too much attention should not
be paid the discussion of sex questions between father and son. A
father should, so far as possible, endeavor to develop other interests
and preoccupations in his boy, and turn his mind as much as may be
_away_ from matters sexual, until the age when the youth is ripe for
marriage is reached.

CHAPTER IV

SEX IN FEMALE CHILDHOOD

(FROM 12 TO 14)

What has been said in general about practical observance of the laws
of sex hygiene in the preceding chapter for boys, applies to girls as
well. If anything the sex precautions taken in infancy should be even
more closely followed, as girls are by nature less robust than boys.
If children could be raised in entire accordance with natural laws,
the sexual instinct of girls as well as boys would probably remain
dormant during the period stretching from infancy to puberty. As in
the case of the boy, so in that of the girl, any manifestation of
sexual precocity should be investigated, to see whether it be due to
natural or artificial causes. In either case the proper remedies
should be applied.

SEX PRECOCITY IN GIRLS

There are cases of extraordinary sex precocity in girls. One case
reported in the United States was that of a female child who at birth
possessed all the characteristics usually developed at puberty. In
this case the natural periodical changes began at birth! Fortunately,
this is a case more or less unique. In little girls and boys undue
sexual handling or titillating of their genital organs tends to quiet
them, so nurses (let us hope in ignorance of the consequences!) often
resort to it. Sending children to bed very early, to "get rid of
them," or confining them in a room by themselves, tends to encourage
the development of vicious habits. A single bed, both in the school
and in the home, is indispensable to purity of morals and personal
cleanliness