146 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



gotten that in such cases a quasi-sexual power often 

 accompanies these premature sexual inclinations. Few, 

 perhaps, except medical men, know how early in life 

 a mere infant may experience erections. Frequently, 

 it may be noticed that a little child, on being taken out 

 of bed in the morning, cannot make water at once. It 

 would be well if it were recognized by parents and 

 nurses that this often depends upon a more or less com- 

 plete erection." 



We have been not more disgusted than shocked to 

 see parents, whose intelligence ought to teach them 

 better, not only winking at, but actually encouraging, 

 these premature manifestations of passion in their chil- 

 dren. They may yet learn, by bitter experience, the 

 folly of their course, unless they make the discovery in 

 time to avert the calamitous results which threaten the 

 future of their children, by careful reformatory 

 training. 



It is important to inquire into the cause of this pre- 

 cocity. Said a father of our acquaintance, when re- 

 monstrated with for encouraging his infant son in a 

 ridiculous flirtation, ^'I did just so when I was of his 

 age." In this case the cause was evident. The child 

 was only acting out the disposition bequeathed him 

 by his parent. How often do the secret follies of par- 

 ents stand out in bold relief in their children. Such a 

 legacy is nothing to be proud of. 



We again quote from Dr. Acton some observations 

 on the causes of this disorder,— for a grave disorder 

 it is,— as follows: 



*'I should specify hereditary predisposition as by 

 no means the least common. ... I believe that, as in 

 body and mind, so also in the passions, the sins of the 

 father are frequently visited on the children. No man 



