THE CYCLE OF SEX 12* 



in Man's case, may be as supreme, as the 

 hormones and nerve-cells are fundamental. 



It is at puberty that the conflict first 

 becomes serious between the life-instinct 

 which seeks self-preservation and advance- 

 ment and the love-instinct which is not less 

 primordial. The former is the more egoistic, 

 the latter the more altruistic; the former is 

 linked primarily to nutrition, the latter to 

 reproduction. In everyday life they clash; 

 there is a struggle between the compulsion 

 of the sexual instinct and the opposing force 

 of sexual denial which may owe its strength 

 to ethical, religious, or practical inhibitions. 

 The outcome of the struggle may be damaged 

 health, a bondage to evil habits, a serious 

 neurasthenia, the establishment of " anxiety 

 neuroses " most of these being fictitious 

 substitutes for the activities which should 

 naturally accompany or follow normal sex- 

 arousal. But the outcome may also be a 

 strengthened control, an enriched life, and a 

 love that will not die. It must be remembered 

 that other besides sexual factors are in opera- 

 tion during the adolescent period, for the 

 organism is being tried and tested in many 

 ways. Thus it is certain that the disorder 

 or disharmony is by no means wholly due to 

 the unsatisfied claims of the reproductive 

 system, but is associated with a lack of 

 objective, of sound human interests, and of 

 real responsibilities. 



COURTSHIP AMONG ANIMALS. In discussing 

 " the ladder of love " we have referred to 

 the great variety in the behaviour of the 

 two sexes in their relations to one another 



