,,child ,,life ,,and ,,sex ,,hygiene ,a ,remarkable ,message ,by ,,otterbein ,o4 ,,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 ,lecturer on ,modern ,psychics and ,active ,pastor ,published by request of a section of the ,women's ,club of ,pierre1 ,so4 ,dak41 before whom the address was originally given ,,copyrighted #aiab ,by ,otterbein ,o4 ,smith ,,to ,,my ,,mother ,who1 ,through the ,upfloodings of a ,pure ,mother ,heart1 ,kissed ,nobleness and ,courage ,into the ,heart of ,her ,boy1 ,this ,book ,is ,dedicated4 ,,press ,,of ,,the ,,monarch ,,printing ,,co4 ,,council ,,bluffs1 ,,iowa ,a ,,foreword ,sending this little book out into the world is like sending out one of my children1 for as they came from my heart1 so has it4 ,my heart has ached for my children as it has been necessary for them to go out and meet the buffetings of an unsympathetic world and so aches it for this little fledgling4 ,but still ,i have a hope that the world will not be wholly unkind to it and that it will find its place and accomplish that which has been hoped for it1 in helping human lives and adding to the sum of purity in the world4 ,this little message grew out of an address made before a section of the ,women's ,club of the city and their request to have it published4 ,i have not changed the literary style from that of public address1 thinking that perhaps it would be more effective in that form4 ,you will doubtless find some striking and unusual statements in this message1 but all ,i ask is that you will give it careful thought and that you will remember that these statements have been made after twenty years of careful study of the mysteries of life and that they are backed up by the best of physical and psychic facts4 ,i have not dared to go into detailed explanation for want of space and so may bring down on my head storms that ,i might easily dissipate if ,i were but in touch with the storm maker4 ,but let the storms come if they must1 ,i will rejoice amidst them all if only ,i can awaken the parenthood of this land to the dangers to which their children are exposed4 ,yours for purity1 ,,otterbein ,,oscar ,,smith4 ,child ,life and ,sex ,hygiene ,,sex ,,hygiene ,this word hygiene has its root in the word ,hygeia4 ,hygeia was the daughter of one of the gods of the ,classic ,mythology1 and was the goddess of health4 ,sex hygiene is then1 sex health1 or sex normality4 ,is there special danger of abnormal conditions or disease in the sex life of children and young people8 ,we must answer this question before we can determine whether our time is well spent in the study which shall follow4 ,to determine this we must make a brief study of the unfolding human life and note some of its component parts and their relative relations and values in the organism4 ,we can best do this by a study of the accompanying chart4 ,the lower line of the triangle represents the body1 or physical life2 the left side the feelings2 the right side the intellect4 ,if body1 feelings and intellect were equal in any human being1 then1 we would have a perfect triangle1 or a normal human life4 ,but this is not true in any child or young person4 ,this diagram illustrates the relative relations of these three elements of being as the child advances toward mature life4 ,illustration3 ,note,for want of space the triangle is reduced from original drawing4 ,the early years of a child's life is almost purely physical and the physical plays a large part in the life of the girl or boy till they are well advanced in their 'teens1 as you will see by a study of this figure4 ,each side of this triangle is three inches long4 ,the lines that run across the triangle represent feeling at the various stages of the child's life4 ,you can see that in the early years the feelings and the physical are very close together and are the dominating impulses of the life4 ,the reader should bear in mind that the word feeling is not here used in the restricted sense of referring to physical feelings only1 but to all the feelings which surge through the being from whatever source4 ,we should not lose sight of the fact1 however1 that1 because of the important part that is played in the organism during the teens by the impulses from a given nerve center1 all feelings will be colored more or less by the outfloodings of that nerve center4 ,as we have suggested1 the child till well advanced in years is largely a creature of feeling1 and what mind it has is what may be called a picture mind1 or a mind for seeing things4 ,how easy it will be for all the feelings of the being to become inoculated with impurity and place before this picture mind of the child such distorted views of life as will vitiate the entire organism6 ,how important it is that a higher intelligence1 that is the father and mother1 create pure1 noble and beautiful pictures and place them before this picture1 or seeing mind1 of the child4 ,a ,,child',s ,,life ,,expressed ,,in ,,figures ,expressing the life of a child in figures1 what do we find8 ,as you will see1 the baby has three inches of physical1 three inches of feeling and but one-fourth of an inch of intellect4 ,this makes six inches of physical and feeling pitted against one-fourth of an inch of intellect4 ,the child of six years has six inches of physical and feeling and one-half an inch of intellect4 ,the child of fourteen has six inches of physical and feeling and but one inch of intellect4 ,even at eighteen the proportion is six inches of physical and feeling and but two inches of intellect4 ,how striking these proportions are when we put them in inches4 ,i would not1 however1 have you think you can literally measure a child in yards and inches or that they will all measure the same1 for no two children develope alike1 but in a general way this scale holds good4 ,while you will find some children developing the intellect much more rapidly than others1 and more rapidly than is suggested here1 still you will find on the whole that this scale of relative proportions is not far out of the way for the average child4 ,i ,,would ,,have ,,you ,,stop ,,for ,a ,,moment ,,and ,,get ,,this ,,diagram ,,and ,,relative ,,proportions ,,well ,,fixed ,,in ,,your ,,minds4 ,think what these proportions mean and to what constant danger this child is exposed in developing sex abnormality if not disease4 ,if an abnormal sex condition obtains it will surely sooner or later lead to disease4 ,we may therefore conclude that our study is worth while and of priceless value to all young life4 ,the thoughtful study of this diagram convinces us beyond a peradventure that there is vast danger of harmful and perhaps dangerous sex conditions obtaining without careful and intelligent guiding in the early life of the child4 ,,six ,,to ,,one ,even at fourteen years of age the proportion of feeling and physical to intellect is as six to one4 ,where have you ever heard of a general who went out to fight a war with ten thousand men when his enemy had sixty thousand8 ,he might make a momentary dash with such a force1 but in the end he would be overcome4 ,still we allow our children to grow up with these odds against them and we seem to be entirely thoughtless as to the danger they are in4 ,,the ,,melting ,,power ,,of ,,thought ,are you asking1 why the human organism was not so constructed that the intellect would always be the dominant factor in the life8 ,had this been done there would be no possibility of the organism ever coming to perfection1 for the impulses that are sent out from the inner life of man through the brain at the upper end of the spine are so powerful and so finely attenuated that they would entirely destroy the physical body before it has time to become strong and tense and able to carry them4 ,if the intellectual impulses of a grown man or woman were sent through the life of a child the body would be melted just as the fine wire is by a heavy voltage of electricity4 ,god was wise in creating this sex nerve center1 or physical brain1 by which the organism builds and paints in glorious beauty and charming grace the wonderful machine1 the human body1 and makes it strong and tense so that when the work is complete the ego or spirit of man will have a perfect instrument through which to manifest itself to the world and perform its mission and live its life in highest nobleness upon the earth4 ,because of these facts ,god has wisely wrapped the intellectual faculties of the child within its life1 as he does the rose-buds in the rose-bush1 that when the body work is completed1 that crown of all ,his creation1 the self conscious life of man1 may manifest itself in all its glory through a perfect instrument and that instrument remain strong and proficient through the years4 ,we may add this further suggestion to make our point clear4 ,in our statement of the slow growth of the intellect as compared to the other two elements of being1 we are dealing with the reasoning faculties and not with memory1 which is quite another element and is not dangerous to the physical development1 and may show a marked unfoldment at quite an early age4 ,,impulse ,,and ,,vibration ,having got these relative proportions well in our minds we may for a brief time give our attention to an important scientific fact which is necessary to our study4 ,our lives are entirely controlled by impulses which originate in various parts of our personalities4 ,sometimes the impulse comes from our bodies2 again the feelings are in control1 and at times the memory asserts itself4 ,then again the intellect is the dominating factor4 ,,of ,,this ,,we ,,may ,,be ,,sure1 ,,from ,,whatever ,,element ,,of ,,being ,,comes ,,the ,,strongest ,,impulse1 ,,there ,,for ,,the ,,time ,,being ,,is ,,the ,,seat ,,of ,,government4 ,we are also scientifically certain1 that the more finely attenuated an impulse is1 and the more rapid the vibrations are which carry such an impulse1 the more powerful it is and the more surely will it prevail over the slower impulses carried at a lower rate of vibration4 ,a current of electricity of high voltage will melt a bar of steel4 ,,the ,,finest ,,organs,,their ,,functions ,with the above thoughts well fixed in our minds we are ready to ask1 what are the two finest and most sensitive organs in the human body and those capable of sending out the finest impulses8 ,there is but one answer to this question4 #a4 ,the brain1 or mind nerve center4 #b4 ,the sex nerve center4 ,one of these nerve centers1 the brain1 is the instrument of the intellect and the other nerve center is the instrument of feeling1 not of base and shameful feelings1 as many people think1 but of the most exquisite and beautiful feelings of which a human being is capable4 ,as the beautiful thoughts of man may be distorted into vicious and sinful things1 so may the exquisite feelings which flood forth from the sex nerve center be debased and distorted into sins4 ,with these glorious possibilities and purposes of this nerve center before us1 what a horrid nightmare it is for anyone to think1 as some people do1 that this sex nerve center is the organ of humiliation and shame and is therefore not a proper subject of conversation in polite society4 ,nothing can be farther from the truth than this4 ,,the ,,beauty ,,impulses ,stop for a moment and think2 from whence come the beautiful impulses1 or thoughts ,,of ,,home1 ,,motherhood1 ,,fatherhood1 ,,love ,,for ,,and ,,protection ,,of ,,children1 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,homebuilding ,,and ,,home ,,adornment8 ,come they not from this very nerve center8 ,destroy this nerve center in any young child and its life will be void of all these glorious impulses4 ,in place then of this nerve center1 or sex organ1 being a blushing1 shame-faced spirit that mutins in the life of humanity1 it is the producer of all highest physical beauty both in the human organism and in its surroundings4 ,,the ,,mind ,,brain ,,and ,,the ,,body ,,brain ,may ,i ask how many of you have ever told your boys and girls this8 ,not one of you1 because you never knew it before4 ,you have always thought that our sense of beauty originated in the nerve center1 which we call the brain4 ,the mind of man directs1 unifies and co-ordinates and should control these beauty impulses as they flood out into the being1 but they have their origin in the sex nerve center4 ,,this ,,organ1 ,,or ,,nerve ,,center1 ,,is ,,the ,,brain ,,of ,,the ,,purely ,,physical ,,life1 ,,as ,,truly ,,as ,,the ,,gray ,,matter1 ,,or ,,nerve ,,center ,,at ,,the ,,upper ,,end ,,of ,,the ,,spine1 which we call the brain1 ,,is ,,the ,,brain ,,of ,,the ,,ego1 ,,or ,,inner ,,life4 ,through the sex organ1 or nerve center1 the physical life in its rarest and most delicate beauty finds expression1 as through the brain the inner life1 or ego1 expresses itself in thought and will4 ,do you ask for proof of this somewhat remarkable statement8 ,let me answer by asking a question4 ,when are the birds most beautiful in plumage and sweetest in song8 ,,at ,,mating ,,time4 ,it cannot be said that this is due to intellect1 but upon the other hand it is the natural upflooding of the beauty impulses from the physical brain1 or sex nerve center4 ,we cannot here enter into the deeper psychological question involved in this somewhat unusual statement1 that the sex nerve center is the physical brain1 but it must be evident to any thoughtful person that the statement is not far out of the way1 as is evidenced in its beauty building power in the lives of the birds4 ,there is an intelligence or consciousness in this physical brain1 but it is not a self-conscious intelligence1 such as functions through the brain at the upper end of the spine4 ,because of the above facts and many others that might be presented1 we feel justified in the statements we have made above4 ,when we contemplate all this may we not well pray1 ,oh1 ,god forgive us our sins of ignorance and false modesty and help us rightly to appreciate this1 one of ,thy greatest gifts to the human race6 ,a ,,striking ,,illustration ,let me bring to you an illustration to make this thought clear4 ,suppose you could unsex every child in this city under six years of age2 this would be before the sex nerve center had time to flood the life with the sense of beauty4 ,then build a wall about the city and leave these children to themselves1 simply supplying them with food and clothing1 but keeping away from them1 as far as possible1 all human beings1 who through sex impulses were filled with thoughts of beauty4 ,what would be the results and what kind of a city would you have here in forty years from now8 ,there would be little1 if any1 physical beauty among these people as they grew up1 for they would grow slatternly or slab-sided1 or fat and stuffy1 and having lost the sense of beauty with their unsexing they would let the buildings go to decay and the streets grow up to weeds1 and what a dreary waste this once beautiful city would be6 ,,who ,,has ,,been ,,teaching ,,the ,,children8 ,though the thought is new to you1 do you not begin to see the truth and beauty of what ,i have been saying about this wonderful nerve center1 or brain of the physical life8 ,what father or mother who may read this has ever felt it a religious joy to teach their children the truth about this wonderful gift of ,god to the human race8 ,i am not going to ask you how many of you were so taught1 for ,i feel very sure none of you were4 ,scarcely anyone has ever been taught any thing right about it1 but most1 if not all1 have been left to stumble along in the dark1 as you and ,i were1 and if by chance they happened to hit upon a plan1 or stumbled onto knowledge1 which enabled them to live together happily after marriage1 well and good2 if not1 the great ,american juggernaut1 the divorce mill1 makes another revolution1 and a wrecked home and two broken lives are held up to public gaze1 as the result of its deadly work4 ,there is not the slightest doubt in the mind of the writer but that a large percent of the divorces of this country grow out of the absolute ignorance of young people as to how to live together happily4 ,,help6 ,but what shall ,i say8 ,i do not know how to teach my children4 ,a most delightful book1 which will put pure1 noble1 and instructive words into every parent's mouth with which to approach their children from babyhood till they see them stand at the marriage altar1 is 8,four ,epochs of ,life10 by ,elizabeth ,hamilton-,muncie1 ,m4 ,d41 ,ph4 ,m41 ,graves ,publishing ,co41 ,new ,york4 ,let us ever remember that the education of a child along these lines should begin as suggested in this charming book1 at a very early age1 but it is better late than never1 and if you have neglected your children before begin now4 ,,the ,,physical ,,brain ,let us return now to this wonderful nerve center1 or brain of the physical life4 ,when does it begin to send out these finely attenuated beauty impulses1 which must move at very high rates of vibration8 ,these impulses which give grace1 form1 and all other touches of indescribable charm to the body of the child4 ,from the very beginning of its life to some small degree1 and from twelve years of age they begin to show themselves the dominant impulses of the life4 ,they rise in the body just like waves of heat on a summer day4 ,they are flooding every fiber of the being1 giving roundness to the limbs1 grace to the form1 drawing beauty lines upon the face1 painting roses in the cheeks1 putting sparkles in the depths of liquid eyes4 ,all of this and more are these little builders1 which we call sex impulses1 doing in the years from twelve to eighteen4 ,is it any wonder with all this marvelous work to do1 that like the sculptor who is to make a statue out of a block of marble1 they must take possession of the body and become the dominant element in it8 ,the heart1 liver1 digestive organs1 and even the brain itself are subject to these outflooding impulses as they work out the beauty of the physical life4 ,turn back to your chart now and note what a small part the intellect plays in the life of the girl or boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen4 ,just enough to be a willing servant of the sex impulses1 as they work out the plan of beauty1 as given them by the hand of the ,master of all life4 ,in fact the brain is largely an automaton in this work1 for the ego has not had time to fully lay through the brain that fine system of telephone connections and wires by which the brain becomes a perfect instrument through which the ego or inner man may reason out the problems of life1 so that up to eighteen there is comparatively little reasoning ability in the life of children4 ,,impulses ,,moving ,,at ,,rapid ,,rates ,,of ,,vibration ,these beauty building impulses are sent out in such abundance during the teens1 that they fairly cause the body to scintillate1 the cheeks to glow and the eyes to sparkle4 ,here they come1 wave after wave1 like shimmering light upon the mountains1 trooping up through the physical life like angels of the ,eternal1 making the body glow with unspeakable beauty4 ,they should be guided by the finest and holiest thought1 for they are the elect angels of ,god to the physical life of man4 ,but what is done with them8 ,oh1 sad6 ,the parents have been led to think it is not quite the thing to talk to their children of these things and the child has not developed sufficient brain activity to reason about them and to understand them and translate them into elements of beauty and sacred service4 ,here the young life stands like a beautiful deer before the on-coming prairie fire1 it feels the tremendous swish of the flood of feelings and physical life1 like the hissing of the flames behind the deer4 ,if only the deer can reach the lake for which he pants and swim out into its cool depths he will be safe2 and if the child could creep1 as it were1 into the heart of father or mother and hear glorious1 tender1 holy words spoken of this flood of feelings1 which is all so strange to it1 and which sweeps up through its being like a storm in the forest1 and have an intelligence translate them into ,god's own beauty of life1 what a joy it would be6 ,when ,i see the mighty army of beautiful youth standing unprotected and in ignorance of the great danger before them1 with no one to teach them and the very parents that gave them being1 indifferent1 is it any wonder that my heart cries out1 ,oh1 sad8 ,,ignorant ,,parents,,ruined ,,children ,what usually happens if one of these elfs of human life has the temerity to speak to father or mother about these strange impulses8 ,a blush of shame1 perhaps1 and the expression1 8,you better be thinking of something else10 or 8,you should be ashamed to be talking of such things10 ends the conversation4 ,a lady in high station said to the writer1 when talking upon this subject1 8,i went to my mother a few days before my marriage and asked her to tell me about the marriage state4 ,my mother was a good woman1 but all she said was1 #8,you will find out soon enough4'0 ,god forgive and pity the ignorance of such mothers6 ,rebuffed at home1 what happens8 ,this child goes out upon the streets and from vulgar playmates1 older than it is1 through vulgar stories and suggestions1 gets a base and lewd conception of all this in his or her life which ,god meant for beauty1 for ,his glory and the glory of the race1 or what is almost as bad1 remains in stupid and dangerous ignorance till some vile octopus throws his tentacles about this dream of beauty and sparkling1 buoyant youth1 and the end of the tragedy is a ruined life1 or what more often happens1 two of these ignorant young people get together and because of their ignorance commit those acts against chastity which bring ruin and disgrace4 8,but10 you say1 8such cases as you depict above are the exception and not the rule and ,i am not afraid of my child being caught in such ways40 ,,your ,,child ,,is ,,not ,,safe ,i grant you this and hope by all means it is so4 ,but do not because of this1 settle back into comfortable indifference1 for there are greater dangers than those stated above from which you cannot say your children are so free4 ,as children grow up in the home1 if it is a right home1 they often see father and mother kiss each other1 and perhaps they see the mother sometimes lovingly drop down upon the lap of father and put her arms about his neck4 ,the natural question that comes to the mind of the child is1 8why does she do that80 ,no one has ever taken the trouble to anticipate this unspoken question and answer it1 and the child goes out to mingle with its playmates of both sexes with this unspoken question unanswered4 ,the natural outcome of the child reasoning will be1 if one woman can kiss a man and sit upon his lap1 then all women can kiss men and sit upon their laps4 ,why not reason in this way8 ,no one has ever taken the trouble to explain the difference between the married and the unmarried state and the rights and privileges that belong to the wedded pair1 which rights are recognized by both ,god and the laws of our land4 ,,natural ,,mating ,if you will observe them1 children mate as naturally as the birds do4 ,here they are dancing about us like the sunbeams in the forest1 in pairs of natural selection4 ,you may notice them in the home1 in the school and on the streets4 ,innocent little things they are in these childish matings and might remain so to the end of life if some kind intelligence were directing them4 ,but no such intelligence is at hand4 ,the mothers joke about these matings and tease the children about them and that is the end of the parents' relation to this gravest question in all life4 ,these children grow to fourteen or fifteen years of age and the impulses from the sex nerve center begin to flood themselves out in a perfect submergence of the life4 ,they get hold of some silly love stories1 that have been written by some heartless person for so much per line1 and were never intended for any normal person to believe or think possible1 but to their childish minds it is a chapter from real life1 for they are not in any sense normal beings at this age as you will see by a look at the triangle4 ,at this age the intelligence is but a mere pigmy in their lives as compared to the giants of feeling and physical life4 ,,ignorance ,,brings ,,ruin ,seeing and knowing no danger in it1 they follow out the natural sex impulse to touch one another and to caress each other4 ,why not8 ,have they not read in the love story of the lover and the sweetheart kissing and caressing each other1 and furthermore1 and the strongest possible evidence in the case1 have they not seen father and mother kiss and caress each other8 ,is it not the most natural thing1 under these conditions1 for these children to enter into such familiar relations as will lead to serious consequences in many cases8 ,i know many a girl has lived through this period of ignorant familiarity with young men without having her character wholly ruined1 and she appears before those of us who know the danger through which she has passed1 as a living miracle4 ,but having escaped these dangers herself1 what has she done for the young man with whom she has had these familiar relations8 ,she has1 unwittingly of course1 multiplied the sex impulses in his life till they sweep over him like a fire in the forest4 ,he is a manly young fellow and would scorn the thought even of allowing these impulses to expend themselves upon the one who had awakened them and increased their outflooding4 ,in the midst of these experiences he falls in with some young man older than himself1 and they talk it over4 ,this fellow prides himself on being worldly wise1 and so the younger man is influenced by him4 ,the result is that he goes to someone who will receive him for a money consideration4 ,then comes the awful awakening1 and he recognizes the fact1 that the blighting leprosy of the sin of lewdness has fastened itself upon him4 ,but after the first shock his heart is lightened1 because some physician assures him that he can cure him4 ,but that man is either ignorant or he is wilfully deceiving this young man1 for the ,almighty himself cannot assure him that this plague will ever entirely leave his body4 ,god will forgive his soul1 but no one can honestly assure him that his body is not damned for all time4 ,it is true some men seem to recover entirely1 but no one can give them any assurance in this matter4 ,the best medical science tells us that these germs may remain in the body for years and then show themselves in various forms and diseases4 ,is it not time for those of us who know of the awfulness of this dread plague to 8cry aloud from the housetops10 if by chance we may awaken the fathers and mothers who sleep in ignorance and false modesty8 ,,an ,,appalling ,,instance ,will it help you any if ,i tell you of a single instance1 which came under my notice some time ago1 and is but one out of many that chills my blood as ,i write4 ,a young girl came to a certain city and secured employment in one of the business houses of the city4 ,she was of inferior intellect and had but little chance for development of that side of her nature1 but the sex brain1 or nerve center1 had done much for her and built in her body lines of remarkable grace1 had painted her cheeks with marvelous color and given unusual brilliancy to her eyes4 ,a foul miscreant1 in the form of a man of older years1 saw this beautiful human creature and decoyed her into improper relations with him4 ,his body was full of the leprosy of lewdness and he imparted it to this ignorant young creature4 ,but sad as it would be it would not be so bad if the tragedy had stopped there1 but it did not4 ,think of it friends6 ,,eight ,,of ,,the ,,untaught ,,and ,,unprotected ,,boys ,,of ,,the ,,high ,,school ,,of ,,that ,,city1 ,,who ,,had ,,been ,,allowed ,,the ,,freedom ,,of ,,kisses ,,and ,,embraces ,,of ,,young ,,girls1 ,,as ,,ignorant ,,and ,,unprotected ,,as ,,they1 saw this young creature and were drawn into improper relations with her and the leprosy was passed on to each of them4 ,this is not an illustration merely1 but a statement of fact1 for ,i had the facts direct from the physicians who treated these boys4 ,if this was your ,high ,school would you be alarmed8 ,and would you cast aside your false modesty and in the name of ,god be frank and true to your children8 ,though it may not be your ,high ,school there are always dangers enough that if realized should make parents earnest and anxious for the safety of their loved ones4 ,,ignorance ,,and ,a ,,wrecked ,,home ,may ,i give you a single illustration of the wrecking of two lives1 through the ignorance of a boy touching these grave questions8 ,this sad story was told me by a medical friend1 who was personally acquainted with these young people1 and while an interne in a hospital1 in one of our eastern cities1 assisted in the operation referred to4 ,a young boy of sixteen1 of one of the refined and cultured families of the city1 had grown up in ignorance as to sex relations and instincts4 ,he was invited to a week-end party1 at the home of friends1 and while there1 with a houseful of guests1 fell in with a woman older than himself1 who enticed him into improper relations with her4 ,whether she knew it or not1 she was afflicted with the leprosy of lewdness and she passed it on to this boy4 ,as soon as he discovered his condition he went to his father and told him about this incident and was taken to one of the best physicians in this country1 who lived in the city4 ,this physician treated the young man till he was twenty-four years old and assured him1 so far as medical science could determine1 he seemed to be entirely cured4 ,the young man had become awakened by this sad experience and through this awakening learned of the awful fatality which attaches itself to this leprosy1 so to be sure he went to another specialist and was examined and treated by him for a year4 ,during these years1 between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five1 he had fallen in love with a beautiful young woman of one of the refined homes of the city2 but so much of dread had he that he deferred his marriage for a year to make sure that the last vestige of the plague was gone4 ,at last they were married with all the joys and delights of that hour4 ,vain hope was his1 for in less than a year after their marriage the physicians were compelled to perform an operation to save the young woman's life1 which forever left that home childless and the young husband carrying in his heart an awful shadow which would never lift till the grave received him4 ,this is not an isolated case1 for such tragedies are multiplied by thousands all over this fair land of ours4 ,and the appalling facts are that a large majority of them can be charged to a lack of education by the parents4 ,thousands of dollars are spent to educate the children in books and music1 but not a moment of time given to teach them the truth about this one most important subject4 ,,the ,,aroused ,,soul ,are you startled and does your heart cry out1 8,what can ,i do8 ,oh6 what can ,i do80 ,,the ,,helper ,,you ,,can ,,be ,,frank1 ,,intelligent ,,and ,,human ,,with ,,your ,,children4 ,let me tell you1 if ,i may1 some things you can do4 ,let us think of the daughter first1 but not because she needs more protection than the son1 for ,god knows they are both in need of all the protection loving1 intelligent parents can give them4 ,if the streets are sloppy and you want to protect your daughter1 what do you advise her8 ,to wear her rubbers1 of course4 ,if she has a cold and there is a raw wind blowing what do you advise her8 ,wrap up well and see that her throat is protected4 ,why do you give this advice8 ,because on the sloppy streets the feet are the points of attack1 and in the raw wind the throat is the point of attack4 ,why not be just as sane in dealing with your daughter when you come to teach her to protect her character and self respect8 ,at what points do these outflooding impulses of glorious womanhood manifest themselves at the surface of the body8 ,the answer is self-evident1 the lips and the bosom4 ,you have known this all the time and you have sat idly by and seen your daughters go out into dangers far more deadly than wet feet or inflamed throat without ever saying a word to them about how to protect themselves4 ,why not sit down by your daughter of fourteen and tell her these truths2 tell her there is a vital connection between the bosom and the sex nerve center which is more sensitive than the most delicate electric impulse and explain to her how wonderfully ,god has arranged the body of woman and why8 ,why not tell her the same truth as to her lips8 ,tell her that unless ,god had made a vital connection between the lips of a woman and the sex nerve center she could not kiss love and nobleness into the life of her children during those glorious days of motherhood4 ,tell her1 with all the love a mother can put into the words1 that will live forever in the heart of every true child1 that because of these wonderful truths every true young woman should protect her lips and bosom as she would the engagement ring1 the pledge of love and approaching marriage4 ,tell her1 with the wifely love upflooding from your heart1 why her father has a right to kiss and embrace you and why it will mean the lowering of her character1 if not its ultimate loss1 for her to give these jewels of hers1 even for a moment1 into the hands of any man other than he who will be her husband1 and as such has the loving right to them4 ,why not teach your son the sacredness of womanhood and the manliness of protecting it8 ,pardon me1 if ,i say ,i am not writing a theory1 but am speaking out of my own heart4 ,i commenced teaching my own son when he was twelve years old and had my last talk with him a month before he was married4 ,he grew up to be a clean young man and ,i felt a thousand times repaid for my effort when his wife came to her new mother a short time after their marriage and told her with such delight how thoughtful1 kind1 gentle and refined her lover was in all their relations4 ,,the ,,dance ,,and ,,its ,,dangers ,i may at this point call attention to the dangers of the dance4 ,every girl who enjoys dancing1 and most of them do1 should be shown the dangers to both herself and the man in allowing herself to be drawn up too close to the person of the man she is dancing with4 ,she should not only be told that she must not do so1 but told plainly and lovingly why4 ,there may be nothing impure in the thought of either1 for when they are dancing they are usually not thinking4 ,music tends to quiet thought and under such conditions they will follow the sex impulse and unconsciously draw near to each other1 and they are far more sure to do so while ignorant of the dangers in it4 ,in like manner boys should be taught to carefully respect the person of girls and told in a plain1 frank way the truth about their relations to the opposite sex4 ,i believe1 as a rule young people love to dance with the purest of motives4 ,they are attracted to this form of amusement because of their love for music and the natural desire to keep time to it4 ,the most zealous religionist finds himself patting his foot when a bit of lively music is played1 which is but an evidence of the natural desire of any human being to keep time to music4 ,is there someone asking1 8,if it is true that young people have the purest of motives in their desire to dance1 how comes it then that so many frightful mistakes are made as a result of the dance80 ,i might answer in a single word1 by saying1 ,,ignorance4 ,it is the conviction of the writer1 however1 that no more mistakes are made in proportion1 and perhaps not so many1 as the result of the dance as by long night rides in buggies1 or sitting in the shadow of trees in public parks4 ,but the facts are more people dance than ride in buggies4 ,,the ,,psychology ,,of ,,the ,,dance ,the great danger in the dance is1 to my mind1 a psychological one1 which might be overcome by knowledge upon the subject4 ,let us examine this thought for a time1 for here is the crux of the whole matter4 ,when your attention is called to it1 you cannot think of more perfect relations existing between two persons for hypnosis1 or hypnotic suggestion to take place than that which exists in the dance4 ,to get this clearly before us let us note the steps taken by the hypnotist4 ,he has his subject relax his body1 and put his mind at rest and then he prefers to have soft music played4 ,under these conditions he most easily gets control of the mind of his subject4 ,let us now study the couple dancing4 ,the body must be in a more or less relaxed state1 for graceful motion would not be possible with a rigid body4 ,the mind is at rest1 because the music lulls it into quiet and makes the dominant element in the life the feelings1 for we do not think music1 we feel it4 ,just here you must recall1 that the sex nerve center is the brain of the physical life and continually sends forth the most exquisite impulses of feeling1 which manifest themselves in all the glory and beauty of bodily charm and these must of necessity mingle in their outgoings with the vibrations of the music and the feelings which it induces4 ,now you have these two persons1 with bodies relaxed1 minds at rest1 just floating over the floor1 and carried1 as it were1 on waves of music4 ,under just these conditions many an uninstructed and ignorant girl has passed under a hypnotic spell in which she has been led to do that which ruined her life and which she would have surrendered her life rather than have done1 had she been in her normal state4 ,let me give you an instance in point4 ,some years ago ,i was lecturing on the psychic question1 and among other things ,i spoke of the psychology of the dance4 ,the next morning ,i met one of the fine1 clean young men of the little city1 who was teller in one of the banks4 ,he said to me1 8,doctor ,i enjoyed your lecture very much last night1 and ,i believe you have the right idea as to the psychology of the dance40 ,he said1 8,sometime ago ,i was dancing with one of the finest young ladies in this city1 one who is absolutely above reproach4 ,as you said1 #8we were just floating along over the floor charmed by the music4' ,i was looking down at her 7he was a tall man71 and thinking what a nice young woman she was1 when all at once she laid her face against mine4 ,she did not excuse herself then and she has not apologized since and ,i do not believe she knew that she did it40 ,this is the conclusion of a sane1 thoughtful young man1 as he pondered over an unusual experience with a pure-minded and irreproachable young woman4 ,may ,i here give the testimony of an educated1 thoughtful young man of thirty8 ,in a frank talk with me1 he said3 8,there have been a few times in my life when ,i have found it necessary to stop dancing with certain ladies40 ,there might not have been the slightest wrong thought in the minds of this young man or the lady he was dancing with1 but the outflooding impulses from the sex nerve center in the life of the lady might just at that time have been so vital and have been carried at such rapid rates of vibration as to make themselves felt in the atmosphere about her4 ,this1 my friends1 might happen without an evil thought upon the part of either1 for this brain of the physical life may and does send out these impulses without the recognition of the intellect4 ,had this young man observed these ladies he would have noted a charming and unusual color of the skin of the face and an unusual and bewitching sparkle in the eyes1 both of which indicate marked activity of the sex brain1 or nerve center4 ,,should ,,the ,,dance ,,be ,,abolished8 ,there are many good people who would like to abolish the dance1 and because of the ignorance of the larger number of people who engage in this amusement1 ,i think ,i would join with them1 but in all probability we will never be able to do it1 so long as people love music and instinctively keep time to it4 ,it may be in our zeal in this matter we are making a mistake and taking a wrong view of the question and by vicious1 and sometimes senseless1 attacks upon many good young people and this particular form of amusement in which they engage1 doing both them and ourselves an injustice and keeping many of them out of the ,kingdom4 ,of this ,i am sure1 if young people are to dance they should have proper chaperonage and a right knowledge of the possible dangers and how to avoid them4 ,,no ,,greater ,,mistake ,,could ,,be ,,made ,,than ,,to ,,allow ,,young ,,people ,,to ,,attend ,,public ,,dances4 ,may ,i close this little message then1 which goes out with a prayer for ,god's blessings to rest upon all who read it1 that it may be a helpful message to them2 by urging frankness and candor upon the part of you1 the parents1 with your children1 and if you are uninstructed inform yourselves and put such books in the hands of your children as will give them pure1 wholesome information upon this most important subject in all the world1 and ,god will bless you and them1 and in joy and thankfulness you will see them grow up in the purity and nobleness of strong1 helpful men and women4 ,,be ,,assured ,,of ,,this1 ,,if ,,you ,,do ,,not ,,educate ,,them ,,the ,,streets ,,will4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,text in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74 ,punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected4 ,archaic and variable spelling has been preserved4