THE ETHICS OF SEX 197 



merely by their effect on the individual, but 

 by their influence on the race ; and the latter 

 influence may operate either organically 

 through the channels of inheritance, or socially 

 by affecting social institutions and social 

 sentiment. 



IDEALS. Even lovers recognise in colder 

 moments, and dramatist and moralist are 

 constantly reminding them, that the complete 

 ideal has many elements, and that, alas ! com- 

 plete marriage is therefore mathematically 

 unattainable for humanity no such ideally 

 complete physical, psychical, social and 

 ethical culmination of life being even definitely 

 imaginable. For, even granting the possi- 

 bility of occasional perfection in either sex, 

 we have a second improbability in the 

 simultaneous occurrence of the ideally harmo- 

 nious, yet contrasted type of the opposite 

 sex, and a further improbability of their ever 

 meeting. Hence appears one of the ways in 

 which the ideal of celibacy is constantly 

 reaffirming itself, and we understand better 

 the monk and the nun, the misogynist and 

 his counterpart. 



Remembering the mighty urge of nature, 

 we say that this ideal of celibacy is " not 

 natural "; but this is to forget, for instance, 

 the worker bees and ants and their vicarious 

 parentage, the parallelism of bee-worker and 

 woman-worker being almost painfully obvious. 

 (Among the white ants half of the workers 

 are arrested males.) In the maidenly reluct- 

 ance which meets the masculine counsel, " Do 

 not refuse love if it be offered," with " I'll 

 never marry if I can help it " there are 



