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




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