SOME OF THE INFLUENCES WHICH INCITE TO SEXUAL IMMORALITY.
The Abuse of Spirituous Liquors is preeminently one of the leading factors which promote licentiousness, and the reason is not far to seek for alcohol notably enfeebles the powers of resistance, confuses the reason, and at the same time awakens and stimulates the desire for sexual gratification by allowing the lower animal passions to transcend the higher.
No healthy person is benefited by the use of any fermented or distilled drink, and probably the habitual use of any liquor which contains alcohol is injurious to the normal person.
Alcoholic beverages are especially dangerous to the Anglo Saxon and the Celt, since the tendency in these races is to rashly increase the amount of the alcohol until moderation is set aside.
Medicinally the stimulants are invaluable, and they have been called "the milk of old people"; but at best they are sharp edged tools, and quite unsuitable for the ordinary individual.
Not to enter into an elaborate discussion, there can, however, be no dispute that the saloons are the disseminators of everything obscene and impure, and the very lighthouses of hell.
DANCING, AND THE IMMODESTIES OP DEESS.
In the ballroom many unappreciated influences are at work to excite the fancies, which may operate as visual, auditory, olfactory, or tactile impressions.
Except in childhood and old age the neuter periods of life, when the vita sexwxlis is not largely influencing the thoughts and feelings-most men are naturally more or less excited by close approach to an attractive individual of the opposite sex, as are all animals; and this excitation is felt in greater intensity if the woman dress so as to accentuate and bring into prominence her secondary sexual characteristics; and the various fetiches of dress and personal adornment exert even a stronger spell when the well known physiological effects of perfumes1 and seductive music are superadded.
Dr. Galopin quaintly says, "Love begins at the nose"; and every physiologist is well aware of the intimacy between the olfactory and sexual centres. This need not be further elucidated in this connection, though the matter is of importance in showing how the whole keyboard of the emotions may be played upon by sensuous stimuli.
Furthermore, when the punch-bowl is a prominent feature of the entertainment, it will at once be perceived that hardly anything more voluptuous and alluring could be devised; and it may safely be affirmed that for many of the guests at least the modern ball affords what we may call a secondary sexual love feast. The greatest enjoyment is presumably experienced by those who are lustfully inclined such individuals making it a point to attend all kinds of balls, where they mentally revel in their fancies. It is not to be thought that women, or that most men even, realize what they are doing upon such occasions; but nevertheless they are blindly led on by customs which forever tend toward licentiousness and rapid living.
There is a habit of laughing at ministers of the gospel who thunder out denunciations against dancing, but from a purely medical standpoint the customs of the ballroom are perfectly indefensible. It is certainly most noteworthy that old roues, when speaking seriously, heartily disapprove of dancing and the costuming which is considered a necessary part of it, on the ground that they stimulate the passions and pave the way to familiarity and even worse lapses. In opposing such a popular institution we tread on delicate ground indeed, so that we may anticipate the strongest disapproval from many quarters unless the subject is attentively analyzed.
But from the well informed physician, the humanitarian, the student of the times, and from the experienced man of the world, we confidently expect a unanimous verdict of approval. Among animals, the male is endowed with greater natural beauty; but men, for their own selfish reasons, love to designate women as the beautiful sex, and delight to see them adorn themselves with beautiful apparel and jewels, the underlying reason for which is well understood to have its origin in the sensual inclinations of men.
None can deny or doubt that women, whether consciously or unconsciously, endeavor to adapt themselves to the fancies of men, and the reason that they make themselves so attractive is to be found in the desire to arrest and retain the notice of the opposite sex; and on this account, and this alone, new fashions come and go, so that when one eccentricity of style has become familiar, another mode is suddenly adopted which compels attention.
"It should be noted that among savages it is, as a rule, the man only that runs the risk of being obliged to lead a single life. Hence it is obvious that to the best of his ability he must endeavor to be taken into favor by making himself as attractive as possible. In civilized Europe, on the other hand, the opposite occurs. Here it is the woman that has the greatest difficulty in getting married and she is also the vainer of the two."