What has been said in general about practical observance of the laws
of sex hygiene in the preceding chapter for boys, applies to girls as
well. If anything the sex precautions taken in infancy should be even
more closely followed, as girls are by nature less robust than boys.
If children could be raised in entire accordance with natural laws,
the sexual instinct of girls as well as boys would probably remain
dormant during the period stretching from infancy to puberty. As in
the case of the boy, so in that of the girl, any manifestation of
sexual precocity should be investigated, to see whether it be due to
natural or artificial causes. In either case the proper remedies
should be applied.
SEX PRECOCITY IN GIRLS
There are cases of extraordinary sex precocity in girls. One case
reported in the United States was that of a female child who at birth
possessed all the characteristics usually developed at puberty. In
this case the natural periodical changes began at birth! Fortunately,
this is a case more or less unique. In little girls and boys undue
sexual handling or titillating of their genital organs tends to quiet
them, so nurses (let us hope in ignorance of the consequences!) often
resort to it. Sending children to bed very early, to "get rid of
them," or confining them in a room by themselves, tends to encourage
the development of vicious habits. A single bed, both in the school
and in the home, is indispensable to purity of morals and personal
cleanliness. It tends to restrain too early development of the sexual
instinct both in small girls and small boys.
SEXUAL SELF-ABUSE IN GIRLS
Small girls, like small boys, display an intelligent curiosity as
regards the phenomena of sex at an early age. And what has already
been said regarding its improper gratification in the preceding
chapter, so far as boys are concerned, applies with equal force to
them. In their case, however, the mother is a girl's natural confidant
and friend. Self-abuse in one or another form is as common in the case
of the girl as in that of the boy. As a rule, girls who live an
outdoor life, and work with their muscles more than their mind, do not
develop undue precocious sexual curiosities or desires. At least they