CHAPTER II 
SAFEGUARDING THE SEX LIFE 
The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children. — Euripides. 
Matters of sex are so fundamental in our relations with one 
another that the life of a boy or a girl, as well as that of a man 
or a woman, may be filled with blessing by keeping this func¬ 
tion wholesome, or it may be blasted almost beyond healing 
by the abuse or wanton use of this sacred power. 
Adolescence. — During childhood sex plays a relatively 
small part in life, but at puberty, the age at which the coarse 
hairs (pu'bes) first appear in the armpits and groins, usually 
between the thirteenth and seventeenth year, a great change 
comes over the boy and the girl. The sex organs, which have 
been small and inactive, take on a sudden growth. The un¬ 
developed cells of the ovary become periodically mature eggs 
and are cast off. The uterus enlarges. The testes begin to 
produce spermatozoa, and the other secreting glands to se¬ 
crete their fluids. The whole body feels the new life. Brawn 
and bone are in evidence. Grace of form appears. 
The mind, too, undergoes a revolution. The boy and the 
girl are no longer the simple comrades in work and compan¬ 
ions in play that they were. She is invested with charms 
and attractions hitherto unperceived ; and he is clothed with 
new might and virtue in her eyes. Proud of their new pow¬ 
ers, boys and girls sometimes think that now they are grown 
up, ready for the new life as men and women. But the 
human stock matures slowly; there still lack six or eight 
years before the powers of sex are fully ripe. To anticipate 
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