508 V. D. LESPINASSE 



Although* his neck is full, there is no remarkable development of the 

 laryngeal cartilages, Pomum Adami. 



The next question is in regard to the power of the testicles to secrete. 

 Since I first saw this man-boy, his father has made inquiry as to this fact, 

 and states the following to me as the result : 



On the 13th of September, he slept with a near relative, a married 

 lady, the mother of several children. In the middle of the night, she was 

 aroused by finding the boy closely clasped to her back, and her night dress 

 saturated. She thought he had emptied his bladder upon her, but on 

 carrying her hand to the part, she found that it was saturated with a very 

 different and glutinous material from that she expected. 



I regret that I could not obtain the ejected matter to submit it to a 

 microscopical test. The boy is extremely fond of embracing the opposite 

 sex, though nothing further has been ascertained. In no other of the 

 seven children borne by the same mother has the same condition been 

 observed, and in comparing an elder sister of 10 years I found she was 

 extremely delicate, and only half an inch taller than Theodore. 



In terminating this simple statement I may observe that the father 

 presented precocity, having experienced his first sexual indulgence at the 

 age of 8 years. He informed us that between the ages of 10 and 13 years 

 he was a better man than he has ever been since. Delicacy forbids my 

 detailing his prowess at that early age. 



A personal case of precocious puberty is that of a boy six years of age 

 with a bilateral cryptorchidism. This boy was of normal size, with face 

 that was inclined to be more that of a little girl than that of a little boy. 

 His psychic reactions, particularly in regard to blushing, were more 

 feminine than masculine. His penis corresponded to that of a normal 

 child at puberty and he had very sparse but long (2 inches) pubic hair, 

 which was quite coarse and perfectly straight. There was no definite 

 information elicited that he had ever attempted sexual relations, but 

 the statement was made that the child was very affectionate and very prone 

 to embrace little girls and women. From these clinical and experimental 

 facts, it is very evident that puberty comes on when the interstitial cells 

 of the testicle produce a predetermined certain amount of secretion, and 

 while in the ordinary process of normal growth this amount of secretion 

 is reached at from 12 to 16 years of age, from a pathological standpoint, 

 it may develop earlier or under other circumstances this amount may be 

 delayed or even never developed. 



