158 SEX 



same method in regard to sex-hygiene? We 

 instruct youth in regard to the digestive 

 system and the skin, the nervous system and 

 the muscles, but the reproductive system is 

 tabooed. Why this conspiracy of silence? 

 Is it not a loss that even the long used " Ele- 

 mentary Physiology " of so great, and in other 

 respects fearless, a teacher as Huxley, should 

 have practically assumed that physiology is 

 sexless ? 



OBJECTIONS TO SEX-INSTRUCTION. There 

 is, perhaps, an inhibitory awkwardness- 

 largely a false shame in regard to all that 

 comes within hailing distance of the lusts of 

 the flesh ; but along with that there is some 

 sound educational perception of the risks of 

 bringing sexual impulses into the focus of 

 consciousness. Let sleeping dogs lie ! The 

 answer to this objection is that all care must 

 be taken not to anticipate interest, that the 

 instruction must be graduated, and that in the 

 case of boys the facts of sex obtrude them- 

 selves into consciousness at an early age. 

 The dogs are not sleeping. If correct in- 

 formation be not given, there is likely to be a 

 haphazard acquisition of what is often in- 

 accurate and discoloured. There is also in 

 the conventional reticence a not unwhole- 

 some recognition of the mysticism which has 

 always surrounded the physical basis of love 

 in general, and has in particular enveloped 

 woman, especially in her progress from pu- 

 berty to maternity a mysticism which has 

 contributed much to helping man up the 

 steps from physical desire and fondness to 

 the higher sentiments of love. 



