by his perversion, or, at least is capable of coitus only by means of concentration of his fancy upon his fetich. In this perversion, and in the difficulty of its adequate satisfaction, just as in the other perversions of the sexual instinct, le conditions favoring psychical and physical onanism, which again reacts deleteriously on the constitution and sexual power. This is especially true in the case of youthful individuals, and particularly in the case of those who, on account of opposing ethical and æsthetic motives, shrink from the realization of their perverse desires. Secondly, fetichism is of great forensic importance. Just as sadism may extend to murder and the infliction of bodily injury, fetichism may lead to theft and even to robbery for the possession of the desired articles.
Erotic fetichism has for its object either a certain portion of the body of a person of the opposite sex, or a certain article or material of wearing-apparel of the opposite sex. (Only cases of pathological fetichism in men have thus far been observed, and therefore only portions of the female person and attire are spoken of here.) In accordance with this, fetichists fall into three groups.
(a) The Fetich is a Part of the Female Body.—Just as, in physiological fetichism, the eyes, the hand, the foot, and the hair of woman very frequently become fetiches, so, in the pathological domain, the same portions of the body become the sole objects of sexual interest. This exclusive concentration of interest on these parts, by the side of which everything else feminine fades, and all other sexual value of woman may sink to nil, so that, instead of coitus, strange manipulations of the fetich become the object of desire,—this it is that makes these cases pathological.
