The Sexual Instinct and its Morbid Manifestations from the Double Standpoint of Jurisprudence and Psychiatry/Group C. Complex Forms of Genesic Perversion
Group C. COMPLEX FORMS OF GENESIC PERVERSION[edit]
WE have described the principal types of morbid aberrations of the genesic sense, by dividing sexual perversion into several groups, not only according to their clinical manitWt- ations, but also according to their etiology, so far as our knowledge will allow us to do. It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that in reality such well-defined types are always to be met with as those we have represented. Between the characteristic ex- treme forms, there are a great many various transitions, varieties and complications, any particular type losing its characteristic features under different conditions of life, or becoming modified and mixed up with other morbid phenomena, and thus presenting itself in a complex form.
The pederast invariably seeks the company of his fellows, because it is only in their
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company that he can with impunity satisfy his abnormal taste, and there only meet with sympathy for his morbid condition and encouragement in his vice. Besides an active pederast recognizes more easily than does a normal person a passive pederast by his walk, by his bearing, by his gestures and his speech, his glances, etc. On his part the Cynede easily recognizes by the tone of his voice with whom he has to do. That is why pederasts in general become easily acquainted with one another and to some extent form societies, in which all Jhe types of the foregoing sexual aberrations meet together.
Such a community excites the morbid im- pulses, develops them to their utmost intensity and encourages the most unbridled licentious- ness. Vicious habits join to morbid . predis- positions, and the imagination is sharpened by the discovery of its most astounding creations, which to a sane being appear in- conceivable and are fearful in their cynicism. With this the characteristics of the morbid types become blended and their peculiarities equalize each other ; the Cynede learns to become an active pederast on occasion, and the latter sometimes takes the passive part.
The venal pederastic prostitutes most fre-
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quently undertake to play such a double part, but congenital pederasts also accept the same, although among the latter there is always a preference for one particular form of pederasty. The most inventive in variations of the vice, in combining it with flagellation, mutual masturbation, and so forth, are the senile pederasts, particularly if senile dementia has developed itself upon the soil of sexual per- version.
In all congenital pederasts the sexual excit- ability is morbidly heightened in consequence of nervously excitable weakness, so that erection soon terminates with emission and the sexual act is always rapidly brought to an end.
The desire to make the erethism last as long as possible, causes such subjects to put off the act of coition itself, and to find sen- sual gratification in divers contacts, and caresses, and particulary in onanizing in all sorts of ways the objects of their passion. With time this habit becomes more and more inveterate, the erethism attains its climax and culminates in a voluptuous spasm before the accomplishment of the actual pederastic act, which then becomes superfluous, and is indeed sometimes impossible, by reason of insufficient erection, or disease of the rectal tube.
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In -this manner the active or passive pede- rast is gradually transformed into a Fellator, who finds full satisfaction for his sexual lust in making use of the mouth instead of the rectal orifice : Pomp ears de dard, as the French call them ; or as Tardieu l says : u Qui labia et oscula fellatricibus blanditiis prcebent." (Who offer lips and mouth for the fellator's pleasures).
This variety of pederasty may show itself in relatively young subjects, and is mostly brought about by example and experience in pederastic circles, which constitute the powerful centres for the propagation of moral depravity.
On the other hand the intensity of the impulse to and liking for pederasty in con- genital or acquired pederasts varies extremely. Some are entirely deprived of the power of having normal connection with women; others on the contrary can accomplish it under certain conditions, for instance when the woman has a boyish appearance.
In the latter cases, by reason of repeated changing from boys to girls, the sex sometimes loses its meaning. The inclination towards a certain person and sexual excitement is then
1 Tardieu, loc. cit., p. 206.
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motived by certain facial features, in which case the sex is pretty much indifferent.
A turned-up nose, a round chin with a dimple in it, sensual lips, large eyes, a warm- coloured face make the person desirable.
When it is a woman, little developed breasts and pelvis are preferred; the stature should not be too small, and must to a certain extent resemble that of a youth.
If it is a man, he must not be too tall nor have too strongly developed muscles ; taken altogether he must have a feminine appearance.
In fact, there are certain things required; the power of imagination creates a particular ideal of beauty, in which sex is of the least importance. The principal thing is the face and then a certain bodily build.
When such subjects have to do with youths, they do not always seek to accomplish the sodomistic act, and some indeed avoid it, considering that it would then rob them of the sight of the face of their darling, and they then obtain emission by friction of the member between the thighs of the Cynede, who lies on his back like a woman; the French have coined a particular term for this act: "Enfesser," and it was also known
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to the Romans Inter feces (f) coitare, (to have intercourse between the thighs).
They avoid women in a certain measure solely because their morbidly excited erethism so much diminishes the duration of the genital act that they are unable to satisfy a healthy woman; besides, among Cynedes, particularly those so-born, the voluptuous spasm is not only induced by friction but by the mere touching of the loved person, and therefore still more by coitus inter (f) feces (intercourse between the thighs).
Notwithstanding all this, such subjects sometimes marry and breed children, to whom they unfortunately often bequeath in some degree their sexual aberration. They at the same time fall in love with youths, or carry on at one and the same time love intrigues with youths and maidens.
I knew a pederast, who had almost exclu- sively connection with youths ; in a relatively advanced age he fell passionately in love with a young woman with whom he brought up several children. But he was only able to accomplish the marital act with his wife, because her features resembled those of a young man whom he had formerly loved.
Another, on the very day of his wedding
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with a beautiful girl, was so passionately ena- moured of a youth whom he saw, that he relinquished the proposed marriage and from that moment gave up all intercourse with women, being satisfied with coitus inter feces.
It is to be remarked, that this last method is the only one which certain of these subjects adopt to satisfy their lustful desires, as a variety of pederasty ; but it is considered by most of those of that profession as a transitory form employed towards coitus per anum, particularly when leading on a youth to become a Cynede.
In this respect the seducer uses in every way the utmost circumspection, particularly acquired pederasts, in whom the impulsiveness of the act is wanting, whose power of will is not morbidly diminished; as well as in the first stages of senile pederasty, when intelligence and power are still integrally preserved.
It is only in the higher degrees of degen- eracy in morbid impulsiveness, maniacal excitement, or in newly developed forms of senile dementia that there is brutal accom- plishment of the pederastic act or the use of violence, without previous, preparatory manipulations.
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It is also to be remarked, that sometimes the dread of syphilitic infection causes a weak degree of congenital or acquired predisposition to change into absolute pederasty.
Pederasts are generally inclined to believe, that syphilitic infection does not accompany sodomy, and that may serve to explain their attachment to this form of satisfying their sexual impulse. Needless to say, that such a pre-supposition is of course utterly mis- taken.
The same forms of syphilis may be acquired in the pederastic act, as in regular coition with women. Nevertheless it often happens, that so-called accidental pederasts, after having been infected by a woman with a chancre or with urethritis, from dread of another infection give up altogether any connection with women, and become incorrigible pederasts, particularly when they find facilities for the exercise of this vice.
The history of the Roman emperors gives us the most numerous examples of utter and unbridled sexual perversion, with acquired immorality and unlimited licentiousness sprung from a hereditary basis.
Here are to be found the most complicated
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forms of sexual aberration, bred under the most favourable circumstances.
Congenital predisposition, vicious education, demoralized surroundings in one word, every- thing favoured the development of the most extreme, and most complicated forms of sexual aberration.
But notwithstanding all this, close exami- nation of what has been handed down to us concerning these facts by talented and eminent contemporaries of those times, enables us to recognize in their general features the charac- teristic peculiarities of the principal types of sexual perversion we have above described.
From the time of Julius Ca3sar to that of Diocletian we have before us a series of pathological subjects, who from the genesic point of view are extremely interesting and instructive.
Julius Csesar was own nephew of the famous Marius, the conqueror of the Cimbri and Teutones, an habitual toper, who killed himself by drinking. Caesar himself suffered from epilepsy, and had an exaggerated sexual instinct, which was made manifest by the enormous number of concubines kept by him.
It is well known that he wanted to have a law promulgated according to which all
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the women of Rome should with impunity be at his behest, so as to increase the number of offshoots of his great and glorious race.
Later, when his genesic powers diminished, he became a passive pederast, which induced Curio to call him: "Omnium virorum mulierem et omnium mulierum virum" (the wife of all men and husband of all women).
Tiberius is a clearly marked type of a licentious being, whose life ends in senile dementia.
At Capri cruelty little by little took the place of refined depravity, and towards the end of Caesar's long life there were carried away thence more corpses of boys and girls martyred to death by the sick old man than flowers and odoriferous spices.
The heir to the throne, Vitellius, was brought up in Capri by Tiberius, and from his infancy had gone through a whole school-course of vice, together with many other boys, who were gradually learning to play the parts of Cynedes, beginning with the so-called u Pis- ciculi " (Little fishes), of whom Tiberius was so fond. (See C. Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Csesarum, Tiberius XLIV).
Vitellius, an acquired habitual pederast,
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after mounting the throne lived openly with the freedman Asiaticus and closed his life in a state of absolute idiocy.
The innate form of passive pederasty is most distinctly shown in Heliogabalus.
Called to the Imperial throne, he made his solemn entrance into Rome clad in a semi- feminine long robe of silk, his face rouged, with painted eye-brows. He was fond of donning feminine attire, caused himself to be styled Empress and confided the conduct of public affairs to his minions whom he chose in the ranks of gladiators, wrestlers and actors. He personally dressed his lovers, had them castrated according to Oriental custom and was himself a fellator-pederast.
Active pederasty had its exponent in the person of the Emperor Hadrian, whose love intrigue with the beautiful Antinous is pretty well known. The psychopathic nature of this Emperor is best shown in the following de- scription of his character by one of his con- temporaries: "In him good alternates with evil ; sometimes he is gentle, and then cause- lessly cruel; good-natured, or irritable and vindictive. Dissoluteness alternates with re- morse; humility with manifestations of mor- bid self-love; justice with bestiality."
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Such contradictions of character, which were so clearly defined as to strike the his- torians of that day, correspond entirely to the pathological products of psychical degen- eration.
Hadrian was cousin to Trajan, a well- known drunkard and active pederast, on whose accession to the throne Jupiter was warned, not to let Ganymede out of his sight.
Nero already by inheritance from his mother Agrippina a neuropathically affected subject of a pronounced type united in himself a congenitally exaggerated sexual impulse with vicious development and at the same time a certain degree of culture, which enlarged the circle of the manifestations of his pathological activity.
After the violation of a Vestal Virgin, he castrates the youthful Sporus, dresses him in female attire and solemnly marries him. On the women with whom he copulated he exercised the most inconceivable cruelties, giving himself up at the same time as passive pederast to his freedman Doryphorus.
Towards the end of his reign he married a young eunuch, and had himself at the same time married as woman to an actor.
Without entering into further details, which
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are so distinctly and truly given by Suetonius in his description of the twelve Roman Csesars, by Petronius Arbiter, a contemporary and organizer of Nero's orgies, by Martial, Juvenal and other authors, we wished only to show how much the principal features of certain types of sexual perversion, even of such distant periods, and of the terrible moral depravity then existing, remain still the same. Not- withstanding the unlimited license of desire, of strong and all-powerful vice; carried to the utmost limits of demoralization; a licen- tiousness still further refined by the knowledge and genius of slavish talents, in this sink of all possible sensual debauchery the patho- logical types retain their exact character and are remarkable for the sameness of their manner of manifestation. The omnipotent Roman Imperator shows in his genesic lust the same aberrations, as those presented in our days by an individual who has never heard speak of the Romans, nor of sexual perversion.
A Russian private soldier A. M. . ., released from service, devoid of all education and culture, who is indeed quite unable to clearly make out what virtue and vice signify, is brought before the criminal Court of St. Peters-
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burg, accused of the very same actions that Tiberius allowed himself.
In the sphere of licentious demoralization neither the creative power of genius, nor the phantasy of the poet, nor the intellect of the philosopher have brought forth anything really new, anything peculiar or original, extrane- ously from surrounding conditions. The pa- thological manifestations alone bear the stamp of the really extraordinary, of relative ori- ginality, and present certain features, according to whether the sexual instinct is dulled or excited. The moral depravity of healthy subjects, with full conscience of their vice, produces the fewest new forms from the sexual point of view, and borrows its forms mostly from morbid conditions.
The refined demoralization of the Romans at the time of their decadence, may be prin- cipally attributed to the imitation of certain psychopathic rulers, these "Madmen at liberty", as the historian has called them, who entirely uncontrolled, their sense of decency obscured and their sexual lust excited, abandoned them- selves openly to the most licentious acts, without being themselves conscious of their own demoralization.
The example of the upper classes carried
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away the others and rendered the satisfaction of abnormal desires accessible to all. The Cynedes promenaded openly in the public places and streets and lived in particular houses. Gladiators and athletes bargained cynically with women and with men.
But leaving antiquity aside and turning to the present, we must remark that a certain indulgence towards abnormal sexual instincts favours the propagation of the vice.
This, however, cannot certainly explain the periodical breaking out here and there of fits of sexual perversion.
The first conditions for the existence of pederasty, as the result of physical degen- eration, in the form of congenital perversion of the sexual instinct, or as a symptom of senile dementia, progressive paralysis, epileptic psychoses, etc., may very well have been present in all times and among all peoples. In India, in China and in Japan pederasty was well known and described many Centuries before this form of sexual perversion had spread to Persia and to Greece.
The opinion, that pederasty like an infec- tious disease travelled from the East to Greece and thence to Home, and from there extended
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to the whole of Europe, is not quite correct.
As a morbid manifestation pederasty has been observed at all times and in all coun- tries, and the more the social conditions of life favoured in general the development of psychical degeneracy, the greater became the propagation of abnormalities of the sexual instinct, and among these pederasty.
On the other hand it is comprehensible, that during the period of the up-springing of the intellectual activity of a nation, which displays itself in every department of art, science and industry ; when by more difficult competitions there is a keener struggle for life, all leading to a higher tension of the nervous system there are also created more favourable conditions for a neuropathic con- stitution on hereditary basis, with many various forms of sexual perversion.
Thus it comes that so often, side by side with a rapid progress of civilization, an increase of sexual aberration may be observed. Depravity, which formerly was almost exclu- sively adduced to account for sexual perversion, now combines with the rapid growth of culture, and for the same reasons, and on account of the rapid progress of intellectual development, unavoidably brings along with
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it an increase of mental and nervous disease.
But I repeat, that pederasty, manifesting itself in isolated cases spontaneously, 'attains to the height of a social evil, when it is favoured by particular circumstances, more especially by certain facilities for the satis- faction of this vicious taste. The same con- ditions as a rule favour the vice in its acquired form.
With us in Russia, particularly in St. Petersburg, on account of the many bathing establishments with numerous separate bath- rooms with servants attached, there are a number of prostitute pederasts, who form so to say private associations.
In France, in England, in Italy the pede- rast always fears to find in the Cynede an informer, or at all events a black-mailer.
The procurers, who exist for such affairs, are far from being always able to guarantee the discretion of the subjects they supply.
Therefore in London, Paris, Rome and other cities pederasty requires the utmost secrecy, considerable expense and is always accompanied by a certain dread of black-mailing.
There existed besides in Paris, during a certain time, an organized supervision of male prostitution and attached to the medical
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police committee was a " Sous-brigade cles pederastes." l
In St. Petersburg the gratuity a Cynede receives is about the same as that of a prostitute; black-mailing on the part of the bath-servants is unheard of, as they do the business in partnership, and share the proceeds.
Besides the bath-servants, the Cynede con- tingent is recruited among young droshky- drivers, house-porters, apprentices of different trades, who have not been long in employ- ment, etc.
Above all, the common, uneducated people in St. Petersburg, according to what all the pederasts I have known inform me, appear to be extremely indulgent to indecent solicita- tions "gentlemanly games" as they call them.
These simple people do not consider such solicitations at all insulting, and whether they accept or decline they never dream of their own initiative, to denounce them or complain to the authorities.
I knew an active pederast who for many years used to seduce young door-keepers, who at night sleep on the door mats. His advances were certainly often repulsed, sometimes in
1 L. Taxil, La prostitution contcmporuinc, pp. 283, 356.
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very rough fashion, but not one of them had ever threatened him with lodging a complaint.
Another used to make similar proposals with the same result while visiting vacant apartments, always making choice of young porters' assistants.
A third exploited more particularly young droshky-drivers, used to converse with them during the drive, make closer acquaintance, visited their quarters and was never subject to any unpleasantness. His proposals were either accepted or refused, but always in a good-humoured manner.
Four years ago a former soldier, Alexis M., 55 years of age, was prosecuted before the St. Petersburg district Court, accused of having subjected three lads who had been apprenticed to him, to coitus per anum et os. One of the victims, W. Tsch., upon whose person the judicial enquiry elicited that there were unmistakeable signs of passive pederasty, and who frankly admitted .the whole scene, among other things declared as follows : " I came to Petersburg a short time ago from a village, and not knowing what might be the customs of this place, I did not complain, because I thought, that here all the masters did the same/
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The common people are just as indulgent towards the proposals of congenital or senile pederasts.
In general the number of active pederasts far surpasses that of the passive.
I am of opinion that the above described facility for satisfying the vice, may partly explain the rapidly increasing number of pe- derasts among us, and particularly of those in whom the taste has been acquired, a fact which has not escaped the attention of other observers. l
It is, however, a fact that most of these seduced subjects quit their vicious trade at the first opportunity, never again to return to it. But among the other and fortunately much smaller portion, there is developed the disgusting and thoroughly demoralized type of the Cynede prostitutes, of whom mention has been already made.
In this connection the moral downfall is the more profound in proportion as the degree of education is higher.
Youths, who on leaving school have fallen into the hands of pederasts and become Cy- nedes, soon got accustomed to squander their easily acquired means, and as they ascend
- a Sec Krauss, lor. cit., p. 176.
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the ladder of depravity and crime, they abandon pederasty as a not sufficiently remu- nerative trade.
Others, more intelligent, combine pederasty with black-mailing,
In all great cities, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna great prosecutions have taken place concerning pederasty and black-mailing. " S'oc- cuper de politique" is in the jargon of the Parisian pederasts a technical expression, which means : to be busy with black-mailing.
Children of from ten to twelve years old are, by persuasion and threats, gradually led astray to masturbation and sodomy and then trained to become denouncing Cynedes " les petits Jesus ", as they are called. Some police agent turned out of the service, or dismissed detective, who has still preserved some sort of connection with the department creatures who have come down to the lowest grade of infamy and vice are generally at the head of such a concern, in which pros- titute Cynedes play the part of decoy-birds. 1
It is in Russia that black-mailing is the least frequent.
1 Memoircs dc Canlcr, ancicn chef du service cle siircte, chap. XXXIII. Lcs antiphysiques ct les chantcurs, p. 264. Brussels, 1862.
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Besides the examples furnished by Dr. W. Mierzejewski l the case of Mr. M ... is of a certain interest, presenting as it does some analogy with similar law cases which have lately been judged abroad, although here the immediate connection of the principal party concerned with the head of the detective police remained unexplained.
The case of Mr. M. furnishes a picture of a class of society, which in Russia, besides the bath-servants, finds its representation among the prostitute Cynedes.
I shall close the description of the prin- cipal varieties of sexual perversion by a short extract from the hearing of this cause, which gives us the lowest, and most infamous expression of pederastic prostitution and black- mailing.
In the commencement of the seventies a personage occupying a high situation in the administrative world of St. Petersburg was accused of pederasty, and immediately without the case being heard or pleaded in Court, he was removed from the government service and exiled abroad.
The denunciator was a mercenary pederast,
1 Forcnsischc Gyniikologie (in Russian), Case 36 & 37, p. 252.
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the son of a coachman, rather weak-headed, but a shameless young fellow, without trade or education.
A great deal was said about this affair. The victim was married, had children, was esteemed to be a model father of a family, and distinguished for intellect and culture; he had before him a brilliant career and had lost all through the denunciation of an unknown vagabond.
This event did not fail to have a particular effect upon the mercenary pederasts. They perceived that it was sufficient therefore, on any favourable occasion, to threaten any government official with an accusation of pederasty, and from fear of losing his situation, he would no doubt compromise the matter and cash up in order to stifle the accusation. The most infamous black-mailing prevailed.
The principal hero of this was a certain youth of 17 years of age who had quitted the second form of the Gymnasium (High School) and resided with his mother a poor woman who just managed to live thanks to a monthly stipend of 25 roubles allowed her by a relation.
In the meantime M . . . paraded about in
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the hotels and restaurants, which he assiduously frequented, known under thenameofMitroschka, dressed in a crimson silk shirt with a blue sash, over which he wore an overcoat. He squan- dered money in droshkys and at billiards in the cafes. He was seen to have about him as much as from 200 to 300 roubles.
His accomplices, some of whom appeared on the prisoners' bench together, the cases against the others being dismissed by the Court for want of evidence, were young fellows without means or occupation.
One of them, Pr . . ., 17 years of age, was the son of a retired Sergeant, who carried on a small commission agency, and with whom he resided; another, aged 19, had first been a singer and then a servant, but had lost his place. A third, 25 years old, was waiter in a hotel ; the fourth was a clerk out of work; the fifth, aged 21, a tailor without occupation, and so forth.
All these young fellows met together daily in a well-known restaurant, where their persons as well as their nicknames were known to the waiters. There acquaintances were made, particularly with travellers newly arrived and rendezvous given.
Generally M. used to hire a bath-room
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along with the intended victim ; after a little time one of his accomplices would rush in, make a noise, threaten with an accusation of pederasty, with denunciation to the secret police, and finally allow himself to be pacified in consideration of a certain sum of hush- money, " not to proceed further in the matter/ The rascals shared the money together, and the victim naturally held his tongue for fear of raising the slightest suspicion of his dis- gusting vice.
The thing was brought to light, by a case in which theft was added to black-mailing.
Under the circumstances detailed above M. stole from Mr. J . . . , an official just arrived in St. Petersburg, a portemonnaie containing cash, and visiting-cards, besides his watch and chain ; two days later M. dined with his accomplices at one of the best restaurants and deposited in guarantee for the payment of the expense of the dinner the visiting-card of Mr. J., also signing in his name the bill claimed by the keeper of the restaurant.
When Mr. J. was applied to at his address for payment of the above account, he went to the Minister of Police to complain of the robbery of which he was the victim, fearing also a further misuse of his name. A judicial
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enquiry was instituted and M. was taken into custody. He began by asserting that Mr. J. had endeavoured to allure him to sodomy, and mentioned the names of some other persons who, according to him, were also given to pederasty.
A few days later the same M . . . also accused to the secret police another official, Mr. B., just arrived, with having tempted him to commit sodomy. Shortly afterwards another complaint was lodged with the minister of police by an official, Mr. E . . . , to whose lodging two young men had come, pretending to be agents of the secret police and who exacted money from him, threaten- ing should he not comply with their demand, to accuse him of pederasty. Mr. E. gave them some money, but anticipating that the attempt might be renewed he communicated with the police.
It was proved that M. was one of the young men who had extorded money from Mr. E.
But the effrontery of these black-mailers was still greater at the expense of another government official, B. They went to his office demanding to be paid a sum of money, failing which they threatened to denounce
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him as a pederast. He was several times weak enough to yield to their threats and gave them altogether 25 roubles. After that they continually presented themselves in the lobby of his office, and their demands exceeded all bounds.
When orders had been given to refuse them admittance to the office, they went to the private residence of Mr. B., and called for his brother, to whom they declared that unless 50 roubles were immediately paid to them they would lodge a complaint of pederasty against Mr. B.
Finally M. was found guilty of robbery to the amount of less than 300 roubles and of ob- taining money under false pretences and threats, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
Up to recent times forensic medicine massed together all the forms of pederasty under the common denomination of sodomy, without even attributing any particular im- portance to the separation of the latter into active and passive, taking it for granted that both always occur together. Exaggerated sexual lust, demoralization, satiety of lustful desire these were considered by most medical men to be the cause of pederasty.
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How difficult it is for the medical jurist to free himself from this mode of thinking, considering that prosecutions for pederasty mostly present a mass of extremely immoral acts, may best be seen in the works of Casper and Tardieu, whose studies on this subject have hitherto been considered clas- sical.
Casper relates for instance the following episode :
The house-porter F. committed onanistic acts in the most abominable manner on five children, but at the same time not mastur- bating himself. The cranium of the accused was remarkable for its resemblance to that of an ape : the forehead was quite flat, the cheek bones and upper maxilla stood out prominently.
Two months later a school-master F. was charged with similar onanistic acts on two boys and three girls. He also had an extra- ordinarily shaped head: very prominent cheek bones and upper maxilla with the posterior part of the cranium arched.
This formation was so remarkable, that it led to my being consulted as to whether it might bear upon the degree of his guilt. I drew attention to the simian form of the
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cranium of the recently condemned F., which so closely resembled this one, but denied the necessity of drawing any conclusion there- from. The offender was sentenced to a long term of several years' imprisonment. l
Tardieu, who has written a monograph extremely rich in facts on pederasty, says nevertheless at the end of his work : " how- ever incomprehensible, however contrary to nature pederastic acts may appear, they cannot escape either the responsibility of conscience, the just severity of the law, or above all the contempt of decent folks/ 2
On looking more closely into the matter it is impossible to expect remorse of con- science from a congenital Cynede, who from the first moment of the manifestation of his sexual instinct has felt and known no other impulse but that of pederasty. It would certainly appear to be no less unjust to inflict the full penalty of the law on a morbid subject in whom the first symptoms of a long and painful disease manifest themselves in pederastic attempts.
So finally, if we nowadays look at im-
1 Casper, Praktischrs Handbuch der gericlitlichen Medicin (Practical Manual of Forensic Medicine), Berlin, 1880, p. 199.
2 Tardieu, loc. cit'., p. 206.
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pulsive acts as the result not so much of a wicked as of a diseased will, it is evident an epileptic pederast must rather inspire us with sorrow and commiseration than with contempt, as is the case with subjects afflicted with dipsomania or other forms of mental aber- ration.
For the psychopathic child with morbid sexual instinct, it is not so much the punish- ment of vice that is required, but rather a proper education and treatment. In a far greater degree does the individual attacked with initial progressive paralysis, or senile dementia, require medical aid, instead of punishment.
In all these forms it is either possible to alleviate, even to cure the morbid condition, or else, by isolating the patient, to render him harmless to society ; in this case a penalty for immoral actions is not applicable.
Such subjects are of neuropathic nature, the victims of mental or nervous disease ; they are not criminals.
From a number of examples of manifestly diseased individuals who have been condemned, I will mention the following cases which occurred in France a few years ago.
A man named B, . murdered an old
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woman, 53 years old, and violated her dead body. He then threw the corpse into a river, but a short time afterwards fished it up again, to renew carnal connection with it. R. was condemned and executed. Dr. Evrard, who made the post mortem examination of his body, found numerous morbid alterations of the brain and of the meninges, for in- stance a notable thickening and adhesion of the meninges to the frontal convolutions, etc.
Dr. Cornil, who communicates this fact, adds the following judicious remark : " If the Bench of Judges consider the guillotine to be a curative method in the treatment of the insane, the fact should be made generally known."
In the case of Menesclou, to which we have previously alluded, a manifestly morbid subject was guillotined owing to the gross error of the medical jurists an error which was proved by the post mortem examination of the brain of the unfortunate man.
It is only real vice, the acquired sexual perversion of a healthy man, particularly the vice which is represented by prostitute pede- rasts, that can justly deserve punishment. And here it may be asked in the name of Justice, if the same degree of penalty is to
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be meted out to a weak-minded, simple country lad, accidentally led astray as to thoroughly depraved and utterly demoralized mercenary habitual Cynedes ?
However that may be punishment has a logical meaning in cases of acquired pede- rasty.
Consequently at the present time the tech- nical examination concerning pederasty is very complicated.
The expert has not only to decide whether the subject is a pederast or not, but also to determine, what form of sexual perversion he has before him.
I wil] here devote a few words to this subject.
First of all, the question is, whether it be possible to recognize with perfect certainty a pederast by outward signs ?
With regard to the passive form we may here answer in the affirmative.
It is undoubtedly easiest to distinguish the Cynedes from among the various kinds of sexual perversion, by the deformations which are observable in the orificium ani and the neighbouring parts.
These deformations, taken singly, are not particularly characteristic, but taken all to-
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gether, they give a sharply defined picture, which after a little practice makes the diagnosis easy.
In the text-books, and even in such a valuable monograph as Tardieu's work, the signs of sodomy are described singly, and a description of the general appearance of the alterations noticeable on what may be called an average pederast is wanting.
This circumstance has caused some less experienced enquirers in this branch of research to deny the existence of unmistakeable signs. So, for instance, Casper and Brouardel deny the importance of the infundibuliform (funnel; shaped) widening out . of the anus, which Tardieu so particularly insisted upon.
This fact must also be considered, that the conditions, under which the medical Jurist and the clinical Physician conduct their ex- amination, are widely different.
In presence of the first efforts are in most cases made to dissimulate existing changes, or to simulate those which are wanting; but before the latter nothing is hidden or pretended.
This explains to me why, as we shall see further on, certain modifications which to the practitioner appear extremely remarkable, are not sufficiently taken into account by medico- legal experts.
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The last fact may be partly accounted for in that the medical Jurist cannot possess the same practical skill in the examination of the orificium ani, as can be attained by the specialist, who has to see daily some dozens of patients and who gives special attention to the rectum, so often the seat of syphilitic affections.
Besides, the medical Jurist has seldom, and only at distant intervals, one or two Cynedes to examine, whilst the general prac- titioner is obliged on the same day to examine a whole series of such individuals.
As an instance I may mention that during the course of last winter, being summoned together with my colleague Dr. Seweke to examine the pupils of an educational establish- ment, where a syphilitic contagion had broken out, we had to examine in one day 29 passive pederasts of from the ages of 9 to 15, among whom we found 23 presenting the most un- mistakeable signs of sodomy.
The carefully noted and repeatedly con- trolled results of such examinations authorize me to modify to some extent the evidences of sodomy as given in different works and text-books.
We will begin with the passive habitual pederasts.
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I will first of all describe the entire picture presented by the deformations noted in Cynedes of from 10 to 16 years of age ; I will then pass to the description of each particular symptom.
The boy subjected to examination must be placed kneeling across a broad bed, with his breast reclining on a pillow, so that his head lies rather lower than his posterior which must be thrust forward; the legs must be drawn asunder, so as to be as wide apart as possible.
Placed in this position, the person to be examined, if he is ignorant of the object of the exploration and has no intention of hiding anything or of simulating, will distinctly show the signs of habitual pederasty.
When the legs are sufficiently separated, they cannot in this position be in contact with the buttocks and the anus is clearly disclosed to view.
The anus then no longer presents the appearance of two folds of skin united on the same plane by the sphincter, but rather an infundibuliform fossa (funnel-shaped de- pression), the walls of which, beginning from the outer lower border of the sphincter, con- tinue funnel-shaped downwards, gradually nar-
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rowing towards the posterior depth, commencing from the upper contracted layers of the sphincter, whilst above and exteriorly they change into that form of the epidermis sur- rounding the anus, which in the normal condition forms radiary folds around the anal orifice. The latter are obliterated, and consequently the transition from the border of the sphincter to the inner surface of the buttocks fails to exhibit that change from the radial form of folds which is noticeable in the normal condition.
When the t Cynede has been placed in the above-described position, and the buttocks have been a little opened out by exercising a pressure with the thumbs of both hands, the funnel-shaped orifice of the anus is cor- respondingly opened out, and the walls of the rectum become visible.
This .widening of the orificium, the result of a considerable relaxation of not only the outer but also of the inner coats of the sphincter, is in my opinion the most char- acteristic testimony.
It may not always be noticeable in some Cynedes, but when it is present, the subject is undoubtedly an habitual passive pederast.
Further, the exploration of the rectum with
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the finger shows a very considerable relaxation of the sphincter ani muscle.
The finger introduced into the rectum is no longer held tight by the sphincter, but in fact two fingers may be easily introduced.
It often occurs that exploration with the fore-finger may cause pain because of slight lacerations of the border of the orificium ani, where the exterior epidermis blends with the mucous membrane of the rectum.
When therefore, the subject under exami- nation being placed in the position as above, a funnel-shaped cavity in the anus is observed, the radial folds are obliterated, separation of the buttocks easily causes a widening and gaping of the orificium ani, and introduction of the finger into the rectum does not cause a contraction of the sphincter, we have un- doubtedly a Cynede before us; more parti- cularly if it is proved that previous to the exploration the individual has never undergone any surgical operation on the anus or the rectum.
But the characteristic feature may easily be obliterated by various circumstances, some of which we shall briefly mention.
The Cynede, in order to dissimulate his condition squeezes the nates together and thus
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contracts the sphincter and the levator ani muscle. Therefore, in such cases, when it is required to make the orificium ani distinctly visible, the nates must be forcibly separated, when the cavity produced by the drawing in of the anus resulting from the contraction of the levator ani muscle becomes apparent. Such an appearance may also show itself in normal subjects, when there is a vigorous con- traction of the muscles combined with a for- cible thrusting asunder of the nates. I often caused notorious Cynedes to draw together the nates and contract the muscles of the anus, by pressing their legs together. In this position, when the nates were forcibly held apart, the characteristic alterations of the anus due to relaxation of the muscles were no longer visible. The exploration may there- fore give quite different results according to whether the subject under examination has contracted the muscles of the anus or not.
In order to avoid mistakes in this matter, I took care to observe how long a 16 years old Cynede could continue the contracture of the muscles of the sphincter and of the anus, while in the above kneeling position with the legs spread apart.
I noticed, that after 10 minutes, notwith-
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standing the will of the subject under exami- nation, a temporary relaxing of the contracted muscles took place, and at this moment the characteristic alterations became plainly visible.
At the end of 15 minutes the nates drew asunder and it was only now and then that the orificium ani was slightly drawn in and again lowered by a contraction of the levator muscle, because at the moment of this lower- ing a slight opening out of the nates caused a characteristic gaping of the anus. Every change of position of the subject under examination prolongs the affair, because the tired muscles find time for recuperation, and therefore it seems to me in contradiction with Tardieu's opinion easier to tire out the Gynede, by keeping him in the same kneeling position from 10 to 15 minutes, than by continually shifting the position of the seat of explora- tion, as Tardieu recommends.
At the same time the above-mentioned observation of the wilfully contracted and then relaxed anal muscles of the Cynede, clearly disproves the lately expressed opinion of Professor Brouardel concerning the for- mation of the anus infundibuliformis. l
1 Brouardel, Etude critique sur la valcur des signcs attri- bues a la pederastie. Annales d'Hygiene publique, 1880, p. 182.
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The funnel-shaped depression of the anus in Cynedes, to which Cullerrier has already drawn attention, and which Tardieu consid- ered as the most convincing proof of passive pederasty, cannot be explained solely by the contraction of the levator ani muscle, as Brouardel supposes.
It is easy to be convinced of this, by observing the characteristic infnndibuliform anal opening in a Cynede, when both the sphincter and the levator ani muscles are relaxed.
On the contrary the contraction of the above-named muscles invariably diminishes the peculiarity of the existing well defined funnel-shaped hollow of the anus, which, when the nates are then forcibly separated, is transformed into a slit shaped anal opening, like that which may be seen on every normal being, but which Brouardel erroneously took to be a typical infundibuliform depression.
The anus infundibuliformis is not at all caused by a contraction of the levator muscle, but solely by a deformation in the sphincter. When a large virile member penetrates into the opening of the rectum the lower and weaker portions of the sphincter give way more easily to the pressure, whereas the
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upper and stronger, contract with energy and to some extent defend the entry into the rectum itself. Consequently the penis when introduced pushes the superior muscular layers upwards at the bottom of the rectum, thrusting asunder at the same time the lower portions of the sphincter muscles some 4 centimetres in thickness, and meets with greater resistance on coming to the upper muscular layers. When the act has been several times repeated the lower portion of the muscle is widened out, and then consti- tutes the basis of an infundibulum which is limited by the border of the nates, whilst the upper muscular layers are thrust back and upwards in the form of a slender ring, which closes the entry into the rectum and forms the apex of the funnel.
The process by which the anus infundi- buliformis is formed, is precisely similar, as Martineau justly observes, 1 with that of the development of a similar depression in the ex- terior genital parts of little girls who have been subjected to repeated attempted criminal assaults, or on those of adult women who have had to do with a membrum virile of unusual size.
1 Martincnu, Lecons sur Ics deformations vulvaircs et analcs, etc., Paris, 1884.
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The infundibulum vulvse is formed at the expense of the musculus constrictor cunni, the same as the infundibulum ani is ex- clusively formed by repeated pressing of the sphincter.
The more gradually the Cynede has become habituated to the sodomic act, and the greater the size of the membrum virile introduced, the larger will be the funnel-shaped hollow, the basis of which is continually being extended round the orificium ani, at the expense of the radial skin-folds which are gradually obliterated.
But I repeat the above-described symp- tom is valuable, if it becomes clearly visible, without there being any forcible thrusting asunder of the nates, or even when there is but a slight separation of the same. When- ever it is necessary to forcibly separate the nates, in order to expose the anus to view, this symptom loses its importance. If, on a normally developed individual who purposely contracts the orificium ani, the nates are separated with gradually increasing force, there will always come a certain moment, when the inferior layers of the sphincter become expanded and the entry to the rectum is closed solely by the upper layers. At this
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moment the orificium ani forms a long and deep slit, very much resembling the anus infundibuliformis.
It was precisely this confusion of the in- funclibulum when the muscles of the anus are relaxed, with the slit-shaped hollow when the nates are thrust asunder and the sphincter and levator ani muscles are contracted, which induced Brouardel to question the diagnostical signification of the anus infundibuliformis and to maintain, that the same symptom might appear in cases of irritation of the anus through cold, painful fissures, inflamed hemorrhoidal nodes, etc.
Further, it must be taken into account that a well-developed anus infundibuliformis, as we have already observed, loses its specific character and changes into a slit- shaped hollow, when the nates are forcibly separated and there is contraction of the muscles of the anus.
Therefore the anus infundibuliformis may quite escape observation on very corpulent Cynedes with highly developed nates closely pressing together; and certainly its absence is not a sufficient proof against the existence of pederasty.
It may also occur on very lean subjects,
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where the orificium ani is almost on the same level as the thinly developed nates, where the thickness of the sphincter muscle is itself very slight, and even in habitual Cynedes the funnel- shaped hollow is but slightly and indistinctly denned. Similarly, when the membrum virile is of but small size, and although its intromission may have frequently taken place, the infundibuliform hollow may be absent in the anus of an adult subject.
Finally, in senile passive pederasts the infun- dibuliform hollow may also sometimes be quite indistinct, by reason of the numerous stages of the development of hemorrhoidal nodes, and is sometimes by prolapsus ani rendered so difficult to discern, as to make it impossible to found a diagnosis upon this symptom.
So it appears from the above, that in the diagnosis of sodomy the anus infundibuliformis can have but a relative, and not a decisive value, as T?rdieu supposed.
Another, so to say, classical sign of sodomy, is the obliteration around the anus of the radial skin-folds "Podice laevi" (with smooth fundament) of the Roman Satirists, a symptom, upon which Zacchias in the XVIIth century
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insisted, the importance of which was not denied by the sceptical Casper and which Tardieu highly prized.
There is no doubt, that every practising physician can settle the question of Casper's doubt about the origin of the above symptom and maintain with certainty, that it is not the smearing of the anus with the fatty substances employed by pederasts that can bring about the said deformation, but the repeated forcible expansion of the anus and surrounding epi- dermis by the sodomitic act itself.
People afflicted with habitual constipation are used to daily anal inunction of fatty substances, and during a long period of years are continually taking clysters, and also others afflicted with eczemas in the neighbourhood of the anus. But notwithstanding, in such subjects the radial folds around the anus are not obliterated, because the inunction alone and the careful introduction of a clyster nozzle cannot produce a stretching of. the skin surrounding the anus.
Notwithstanding all this, the absence of the radial folds is in itself, in my opinion, but of very slight importance.
I have often observed on muscular, well- developed youths and men with fleshy but-
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tocks, that these being held asunder, the skin-folds were absent, and yet these subjects had never been addicted to pederasty.
On the contrary I have found the radial folds on notorious Cynedes, together with well-developed infundibulum ani. Out of 23 Cynedes, whom I examined together with Ur. Seweke a short time ago, and who presented the most unmistakeable signs of passive pederasty, there were only 12 on whom the radial folds were quite obliterated, whereas on the other 1 1 they were distinctly visible.
A far more important element in the diagnosis of passive pederasty is undoubtedly the atony of the sphincter muscle, which is perceptible when the fore-finger is introduced into the rectum.
When the sodomic act has been completely accomplished and the intromissio penis into the rectum has been repeatedly effected, the first in order of symptoms to present itself is relaxation of the sphincter. But the use of this symptom, taken by itself, and in not very inveterate cases, requires a certain amount of practice. Having daily to do with a great number of patients suffering from affections of the genito-urinal organs, whose rectum I examine, I attach considerable importance to
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the pressure exercised by the sphincter upon the finger introduced.
It is probable that the absence of these conditions, which make it possible to compare passive pederasts with normal individuals, may explain why the majority of medical Jurists, and among them Tardieu, do not speak of the results of the manual examina- tion of passive pederasts.
When a Cynede spontaneously submits himself to examination, seeks medical aid on his own account and no longer sees in the physician a representative of legal force, when he has no cause to hide anything or to simulate, the introduction, in the above-described kneel- ing position, of the finger smeared with vaseline into the rectum is easy, free and painless. The digit glides imperceptibly through the sphincter and penetrates into the profundity of the rectum, being as little gripped by the muscle as by the walls of the intestine.
The feeling is exactly similar to that ex- perienced when manually exploring the vagina of a young girl who has been deflowered a few months previously.
Further manipulation, such as twisting the intromitted finger round, feeling the pros-
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tates, withdrawal of the digit from the rectum and its re- introduction therein, do not either provoke any pressure on the part of the sphincter.
When the atony is still more pronounced after exploring with one finger two may also be introduced with equal facility.
It is quite another thing when the indivi- dual to be examined per rectum, is a per- fectly healthy subject, and particularly if a youth or a child. In this case the finger introduced is clasped by the sphincter as by an elastic ring, and each movement of the finger further introduction, turning the finger round, feeling the prostates, etc. will be accom- panied by a fresh shock due to the involuntary contraction of the muscle under the influence of the unaccustomed irritation.
As already remarked, this action is more distinctly observable in youths and children. The older the individual becomes, the less in general is the contraction of the sphincter.
The above described symptom naturally loses its diagnostic value when it applies to subjects over 40 years of age, and more parti- cularly to old men, who are subject to hemor- rhoids, or have had to undergo an operation for artificially widening the sphincter.
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When the atony of the sphincter is more distinctly marked, it then gives rise to the appearance of another symptom, which in my opinion is far more characteristic as compared with the others.
I allude to the gaping of the orificium ani, the result of which is to open out to view the walls of the rectum to a depth of several centimetres. This opening out of the upper covering layers of the sphincter orifice may occur involuntarily, as soon as the Cynede about to be examined takes the kneeling position, reclines upon his breast, lowers his head, lifts up his loins and thrusts the anus forward.
This spontaneous gaping of the anal orifice generally lasts a few moments, until the gradually contracting muscles close the opening. But it is sufficient merely to slightly separate the nates, and the orificium ani gapes again.
Finally, when old Cynedes are placed in the kneeling posture, with the legs held apart, whatever effort they may make, the sphincter is no longer able to contract sufficiently to close the orifice, which during the whole time of examination remains open, gaping.
The above symptom is so far of great value, that it requires from the explorer
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neither special practice, nor much experience, and can be proved even on such Cynedes as endeavour to dissimulate their condition, care being taken to thrust them suddenly down without warning into the kneeling pos- ture, with head bowed down. In the first moments, until the subject under examination can succeed in obtaining a contraction of the sphincter while in this position, the orificium remains wide open. This gaping of the ori- ficium ani can also be observed even after operations performed on the rectum, by which the sphincter has been sectioned or artificially dilated to its utmost extent. It may also sometimes be seen on very decrepit old men, or on very emaciated young people, for instance consumptive patients or convalescents after dysentery, typhus, etc.
The possibility, when there is an involun- tary gaping of the orificium ani, or when the nates are held asunder, of seeing to a certain depth the walls of the rectum, furnishes also in passive pederasts another symptom hitherto but little noted.
I have in fact often observed in the borders of the upper layers of the sphincter and of the intestinal walls, lacerations and fissures extending lengthways. On forcibly separating
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the nates and strongly pressing the sphincter these surface fissures sometimes yielded a few drops of blood.
The formation of such fissures which cause but little pain or itching and readily heal, in persons affected neither with syphilis nor with hemorrhoids, always indicates that they owe their origin to passive pederasty, when there exists at the same time a distinctly marked relaxation of the sphincter.
With regard to other morbid manifestations, such as for instance the formation of abscesses in the cellular tissue around the anus, of fistulas, hemorrhoidal nodes, verrucose ex- crescences, etc., their presence or absence is of no diagnostic value.
All the above morbid appearances, including various kinds of new formations, such as cancer, sarcoma, etc., may affect the anus and rectum of men, who have never been given to pederasty.
In iny opinion the same minimum diag- nostic value is to be attached to a certain degree of prolapsus of the mucous membrane of the rectum, to which Tardieu draws attention, observing that u the stretched mu- cous membrane of the lower portion of the rectum near to the orificium ani forms folds,
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and assumes the appearance of a slightly raised thick pad or roll. In other cases the folds of the mucous membrane resemble excrescences, which sometimes attain to such a development, that they form inspissations somewhat similar in appearance to the labia minora of the female genital organs, and open out when the orificium ani is stretched. "
I have never noticed in Cynedes an appear- ance of this kind, which sometimes accom- panies fresh cases of prolapsus recti, which have no connection whatever with a pederastic origin.
Another consequence of a considerable relaxation of the sphincter is noticeable in a certain incontinentia alvi, particularly of fluid fecal matter and gases. This involun- tary evacuation causes a continual soiling of linen which in the case of boys may some- times be considered as the first indication upon which experienced schoolmasters may recognize vicious habits in their pupils.
Further, the skin in the neighbourhood of the anus is moistened and often irritated and even inflamed by the contact of this excretion, which keeps up a continual state of humidity. All this tends to maintain such a state of uncleanness and so disagreeable
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and disgusting a smell in the affected parts, that it is not possible to imagine that their aspect can produce on the beholder any other feeling than that of disgust and repulsion.
The most unmistakeable, but at the same time the rarest symptom of sodomy is the appearance of a primary syphilitic induration (Ulcus induratum) in the neighbourhood of the anus, or in the rectum, it having been proved, that the first appearance of syphilis always shows itself at the very place where the infection has originated.
I have most frequently observed the appear- ance of an indurated ulcus in Cynedes at the point of transition of the skin into the mucous membrane, particularly on the anterior wall of the intestine, less often in the neigh- bourhood of the radial folds. The presence of an indurated chancre further away from the orificium ani, for instance upon the nates, the perineum, the posterior surface of the scrotum, can no longer serve as an undoubted proof of sodomy.
Considering the absence of pain in an indurated chancre of the anus, and the small amount of excretion proceeding therefrom, this primary appearance of syphilis may often escape the notice of the patient, or be
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taken for a simple fissure or laceration, etc.
It is only when secondary or subsequent accidents appear, when the disease, left with- out proper treatment, degenerates into syphilitic ulcerations, affections of the mucous membrane, of the scalp, etc., that the patient at last applies for medical assistance.
But at this period it is far more difficult to determine, in what way the infection has taken place. The indurated ulcus is by this time generally healed, leaving a hardly per- ceptible scar, or its place is taken by an appearance of secondary syphilis, which has developed itself at the same point (transfor- matio in situ), for instance by a wetting papula which has broken out over the entire anal region. With such secondary syphilitic appearances it is extremely difficult to deter- mine exactly where the disease first showed itself, that is to say the starting-point of the primary syphilitic induration.
The discovery of the way and manner of the syphilitic infection then remains uncertain, as the appearance of secondary syphilitic symptoms in the neighbourhood of the anus does not in the least prove that the infection commenced there ; it is known that secondary symptoms in the neighbourhood of the anus
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may appear after different modes of infection, for instance by the genital organs in normal coitus, or by the mouth in kissing, and so forth.
No doubt that during the further develop- ment of syphilis the disease very often manifests itself in various affections in the neighbour- hood of the anus and of the rectum, in the form of secondary and hereditary ulcers, contraction of the rectum, etc. Never- theless, here also, the localization of conse- cutive syphilitic appearances in the anus and rectum cannot be taken as proof that the infection originated in these parts.
Therefore it is only the positive presence of an unmistakeable primary syphilitic indu- ration, or an ulcus induratum in the rectum, or in the immediate neighbourhood of the anus, that can be taken as a patent proof of sodomy.
It may then be asked: but is it not really possible to be syphilitically infected through the anus otherwise than by way of sodomy ?
Most certainly such a possibility cannot be theoretically denied; but, limiting myself solely to facts, I must say, that all the in- durated chancres of the rectum I have hitherto
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observed and this is no small number had sprung from sodomy.
I know of one case only, in which a chancre showed itself at the spot of an operated fistula, caused either by the want of due care on the part of the surgeon, who had operated with unclean instruments, or by the fault of the assistant who had changed the dressing.
The grown-up pederastic patient, particu- larly the mercenary Cynede, usually seeks to explain his contamination, by saying that he had gone to the closet after a person affected with syphilis who had just quitted it, or had seated himself undressed in a bath-room, which had been just quitted by a sick person, or had accidentally put on linen belonging to a syphilitic.
Such and other inventions make it easier to the patient to say what ails him, but they are not in the least plausible, for it is neither in the watercloset, nor in the bath-room, nor by wearing an affected person's linen that the syphilitic virus can penetrate through the sphincter, thereby attacking the mucous mem- brane of the rectum, and that the spot affected can be inoculated with syphilitic virus.
It generally happens that after a certain lapse of time, when the confidence of the
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patient has been gained, he makes a further admission, which explains the real manner of the infection.
But if a primary syphilitic induration in the anus and in the rectum constitutes a sure evidence of sodomy, the same does not at all follow for the presence of a chancroid or ulcus molle in the same place.
On the contrary even, the formation of a chancroid in the anus by means of sodomy is of extremely rare occurrence, whereas the formation of such ulcerations around the anus from other causes may very frequently occur.
This depends partly upon the fact, that the chancroid does not usually appear alone, but more generally accompanied by several others, which cause pain and suppurate a great deal. On the one hand the pain and the multiplicity of the ulcerations make it impossible for the patient not to be cognizant of his condition, and on the other they render the sodomitic act extremely difficult. There are no doubt exceptions.
In the beginning of the last scholastic session I had under clinical treatment at the Imperial Academy of Medicine a young Cynede of 14 years of age, who was afflicted with an enormous phagedenic ulcus molle recti.
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The ulceration occupied the entire neighbour- hood of the anus, and penetrated to the depth of 4 centimetres into the rectum, causing the patient fearful pain at each act of defecation. The disease had its origin* in a fissure at the point where the skin changes into the mucous membrane of the rectum and had gradually invaded the entire region around the anus, without being accompanied by the formation of any soft chancres on the genital or other parts of the body.
But I must repeat that such observations are exceptions. The ulcera mollia appear the most frequently at the anus simultaneously with similar ulcers on the genital parts and originate by auto-inoculation in the radial folds. Whilst the suppuration from a soft chancre comes upon parts of the surface of the patient's body where the epidermis happens to be abraded or lacerated, it there easily inoculates itself, and 'causes the formation of a fresh chancre. It is precisely this auto- inoculation of the pus of an ulcus molle that serves to explain the multiplicity of such ulcers on the body of a patient, as well as their appearance on the anus after having originated by first infection on the genital organs.
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That is why, on women, who in coitu have contracted ulcera mollia on the exterior genital parts, when the suppuration from the same flowing down through the short perineum attains the radial folds, should it there meet with any accidental laceration or fissure, it immediately inoculates the same. It has been noticed that, among the patients in the Kalinkin hospital, particularly among those who are not subject to the supervision of the medical police committee, i.e. who are not public prostitutes and therefore often previous to their admission remain for a long time without proper treatment, the ulcera mollia near to the anus are of daily observ- ance; in these cases sodomy of course is altogether out of the question.
It may be here remarked that in St. Peters- burg, particularly among the women, as also among prostitutes, sodomy is of extremely rare occurrence.
On men the overflow of the suppuration from the ulcers on the penis is generally stopped on its way down towards the anus by the scrotum, and therefore soft chancres near the anus are far less frequently observed on men, than on women. Nevertheless, scratching the anal region with the finger
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which may have retained upon it venereal matter after dressing an ulcer, may sometimes be the cause of an auto-inoculated chancre in the radial folds.
It may happen that the original ulcers on the genital parts are healed, whereas the soft chancres at the anus, where they are unfa- vourably situated with regard to cleanliness and facility of dressing, still subsist. There- fore, when ulcera mollia are discovered in the radial -folds, care must be taken to examine closely so as to ascertain whether their origin may not be traced to previous chancres on the genital parts.
Accordingly an ulcus molle can only be exceptionally taken as a proof of sodomy, when it has originated first in the rectum, without similar chancres having previously existed on the genital parts, or so existing simultaneously.
A still greater rarity is sodomic gonorrhoea of the rectum.
I have only twice altogether had occasion to observe genuine, acute gonorrhoea of the rectum and in both cases on young prostitute Cynedes (bath-servants of from 15 to 17 years old). No doubt the appearance of acute gonorrhoea in the rectum of a young indivi-
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dual is almost a convincing proof; only it is needful to know how to distinguish gonorrhoea from the humid exudation and from the catarrh caused by worms, which in fact is not very difficult.
What is far more difficult is to differen- tiate blennorrhoea from the traumatic irritation of the rectum, which is observed on onanists who introduce divers objects into their anus, commencing with pencils and finally coming to glasses and bottles. l In grown- up subjects, particularly in old men, suffering from inveterate hemorrhoids, fistulas, prolapsus recti and catarrh of the rectum, with a copious purulent discharge, resembling that of gonor- rhoea, may often be observed. Therefore it can only be on young subjects, who present no symptoms of other affections of the rectum, that a purulent catarrh of the rectum, in the acute form, may be taken as a proof of sodomy.
Older observers, Zacchias, for instance, reckoned as certain signs of sodomy the formation of verrucose excrescences, or so- called pointed condylomas, or more properly
1 Moraud, Collection de plusieurs observations singulieies sur des corps etranger.*, les uns appliques aux parties natu- rellcs, d'autres insinue-* dans la vcssie et d'antres dans le foudement. Mem. de 1'Academie royale de chirurgie, 1757, T. Ill, p. 620.
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speaking papillomas, in the neighbourhood of the anus.
Even the Roman satirists allude to "Crista" and " Mariscae * as evidences of sodomy. Thus Juvenal says in one of his most celebrated poems:
"..... Sed podice laevi
Cacduntur tumidae, medico ridente, mariscae."
(But from your smooth behind are cut the swollen piles, the surgeon grinning the while).
Quite true I have had occasion to observe in habitual Cynedes, particularly prostitutes, who sometimes accomplish the sodomitic act several times in one day, the formation of verrucose excrescences on the border of the orificium ani, on the radial folds of the skin and even on the walls of the rectum. But these formations are in fact of yet more frequent occurrence quite independently of sodomy. Such papillomas may be observed in children who have catarrhal inflammation of the rectum resulting from the presence of worms, in adults affected with hemorrhoids and in elderly men subject to prurigo of the anus.
At times it is quite impossible to discover the cause of the continual growth of such papillomas in the neighbourhood of the anus.
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Consequently the presence of verrucose excres- cences at the anus cannot by themselves be considered as in any way a sign of sodomy, and it is only when they are met with in combination with other characteristic deforma- tions, that they may sometimes serve partly to confirm the existence of sodomitic habits.
It remains now for me to mention one more peculiar symptom, first described by Casper, and particularly insisted upon by him ; that is a peculiar conoidal sinking of the nates towards the anus. " A posterior of this kind does not present the usual hemispheres, but the inner side is flattened to a distance of from iVa to 2 inches from the .anus, and there results a certain hollow between the nates, a conoidal cavity. This cavity is almost constantly to be found in habitual passive pederasts."
In my opinion the complete or incomplete juxtaposition of the nates, as well as the greater or less convexity of their inner sur- faces, depends first of all on the stretched condition of the nates, on the age of the subject under exploration, on the position he occupies whilst undergoing examination, on the tension or state of relaxation of the glutrei muscles, and least of all on pederasty.
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Thus, according to the different postures the subject under examination is made to take, will a conoidal hollow be observed at one moment and at another will have disappeared.
Even the etiology of this characteristic is incorrect. According to Casper the inner surface of the nates is supposed to become flattened, in consequence of the tension pro- duced by the intromission of the sexual member into the rectum.
But in reality nothing of the sort takes place, because, in order to facilitate perfect intromission into the rectum, the nates are always held asunder with the hands, and are therefore subject to no pressure from the penis.
Casper pretends that this characteristic indicated by him is one of the most con- clusive of all the uncertain symptoms of passive pederasty. It seems to me more conformable to truth to paraphrase Casper's assertion, and to say, that the conoidal hollow between the nates is the least conclusive of all the other certain signs of pederasty.
After having passed in review the signs of passive pederasty, we will now draw attention
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to those appearances which are discovered by exploration in cases of quite recently com- mitted sodomy.
All observations of this nature belong mostly to the category of sodomitic rape, committed either by an impulsive pederast during an access, or by an aged man in a fit of senile dementia, or else by a congenital active pederast presenting in a high degree psychical degeneration; for it is only when the intelligence has fallen very low, or when the paedicator is under the influence of well- defined psychical disturbance, that the sodomitic act is suddenly committed with any degree of violence. On the contrary, in the immense majority of cases, as already observed, the Cynede is gradually taught his part. Some- times months are first past in preliminary manipulations, and it not unfrequently happens that at the time when the complete intro- mission is accomplished for the first time, the Cynede already possesses the distinctive signs of sodomy: the infundibuliform widen- ing out of the anus, relaxation of the sphincter and other characteristic signs.
We will therefore here speak of the signs of freshly committed sodomy on an unpre- pared subject, in other terms, the signs of
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so-called sodomitic rape, or more correctly sodomy with applied violence, as the real rape, that is to say the accomplishment of the entire act from beginning to end, against the will of the Cynede is impossible.
There are certainly cases, where little children of from two to three years old, or more, have been sodomised by force, either with the assistance of several persons, or else, while in a state of insensibility; but these are rare exceptions.
In most cases the commencement of the act is submitted to with good grace, and it is only occasionally that it ends with the employment of a certain amount of force.
The injured subject, generally a boy or youth, complains during the first few days following the act of a feeling of soreness when in the act of defecation and of pain at the anus when sitting on a hard seat; the gait is somewhat changed, the legs are more separated than usual ; later on the pain gradually diminishes and gives place to itching. The exploration of the anus shows an inflamed redness of the surrounding skin, swelling and numerous slight lacerations in the mucous membrane of the rectum, with slighter ones on its border, on the exterior skin together
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with patches of ecchymosis. There is often oozing from the anal orifice a purulent-like fluid mixed with blood. The introduction of the finger into the rectum is very painful, causing contraction of the levator and sphincter muscles. It is only the employ- ment of considerable force with a large sexual member that can in these first few days cause relaxation of the sphincter by either inordi- nately expanding or actually tearing it.
Then comes another symptom, Inconti- nence of alvine matter and involuntary escape of gases.
Finally, when the highest degree of force has been used, under the influence of a violent trauma, the cellular tissue of the epidermis round the anus may become in- flamed, which may give rise to the formation of abscesses and of consequent fistulas.
Besides these various appearances at the anus and rectum, when there has been a considerable amount of violence employed, certain deformations may be observed in the party concerned, particularly in the genital parts. It is even possible, according to the extent of these deformations, to form an opinion of the more or less degree of force that has been employed in the act.
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Not unfrequently there may be observed oedema of the prepuce, fissures on its border, rupture of the frenulum, lacerations and extravasated blood on the scrotum and pe- rineum.
In a case recorded by Tardieu the entire skin of the penis, from the very root, was torn and turned inside out like a glove. l
In another case, accompanied by murder of the victim, the scrotum was found to be much swollen and there was considerable hemorrhage.
In a third, in which two men had com- mitted sodomitic rape upon a child of 3 years of age, afterwards murdering it in the most barbarous manner, there were found upon the body of the unfortunate victim traces of deep teeth marks and lacerations made with finger-nails on the skin at the root of the member and on the scrotum.
Casper 2 also records a case of sodomitic rape on a little boy of five years of age accompanied by an attempt to strangle the victim, in which the child's prepuce was rent, so that the cellular tissue was visible as far as the corpora cavernosa of the* penis.
1 Tardieu, loc. cit., p. 267.
8 Mierzejewski, loc. cit., p. 228.
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But far more serious injuries to the genital organs are noted in the case described by Dr. Marquisi. l
But with every succeeding day the above- described signs fade, disappear, lose their signification, and it becomes almost impossible any longer to recognize them two or three months after the criminal assault except in exceptional cases, for instance when there has been syphilitic infection.
I have reason founded on fact to believe that a sodomitic act committed once or twice with a certain amount of violence on a boy of from 10 to 11 years of age would after two or three months leave no visible traces of deformation on the anus and rectum. I should therefore not place the same confidence, as Dr. Espallac 2 did, in the tale of a young girl, 12 years old, that she had been subjected only twice to the sodomitic act, and should indeed rather be inclined to doubt it, the more so that two months later on the least separation of the nates there was relaxation of the sphincter and gaping of the anal orifice.
The series of facts we have brought forward
1 Giraldes ct P. Horteloup, Swr un ens do mcurtre avec viol, sodomique. Ann. d'Hyg. ot dc Md. leg. 2e Serie, T. XLI, p. 419.
3 Tardicu, loc. cit., p. 227.
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proves to a certainty that habitual passive pederasty, and still more easily when of recent or accidental occurrence, can be recognized on exploration by indubitable objective signs.
Another question is, whether the above- described deformations of the anus, rectum and genital organs, perceptible on exploration, are to be accepted as sufficiently conclusive to recognize all cases of passive pederasty? We shall examine this question further on, and will now see whether there exist signs of active pederasty.
Of all observers Tardieu is the only one who answers this question in the affirmative. According to his opinion, founded on 133 observations, the virile member of active pederasts presents certain deviations from the normal type, a conclusion which may in certain cases be admitted.
Tardieu finds, that habitual active pederasts have mostly a very slender, poorly developed penis with a small gland, and that it gradually diminishes in size from the root towards the gland, giving it some resemblance to a dog's penis. In rare cases it is on the contrary unusually big, and then it is the gland alone that takes a tapering form, whilst the stem is as it were twisted on its axis, so that for
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instance the orifice of the urethra is on one side or presents a lateral slit.
Tardieu, in order to explain the above- described deformation, particularly the taper- ing of the gland and the twisting of the stem, attributes the same to the pressure of the sphincter muscle and to the repeated considerable forcible effort and screw motion required to obtain the intromission of a largely developed member into the rectum.
The insufficiency of Tardieu *s explanation is evident.
The principal sign, consisting in the pecu- liarly small and slender dimensions of the entire member and of the gland, is not at all the result of habitual sodomy.
But it is not the explanation that is of importance, but the fact.
It appears to me that Tardieu's observation is to some extent correct, but that he con- cluded too hastily upon isolated cases and that his explanation is therefore altogether wrong.
I am able to maintain from personal observation that the majority of freely acting paedicators show no perceptible deforma- tions whatever on their genital organ, which could enable one to divine their vicious pro- pensity.
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All acquired pederasts, active pederastic prostitutes, morbidly demoralized old men, in one word the majority of active pederasts, exhibit no difference whatever of their sexual parts from those of normal beings.
There may be, however, some relatively rare cases of congenital active pederasts who present visible deviations in the development of the sexual organs.
I have already remarked, that this form of sexual pederasty is in most cases caused by a more considerable degree of degeneration than is to be found in the more commonly found congenital passive pederasts ; that is why in such cases a close inspection will discover various evidences of interrupted development, among others also defective, or irregular formation of the sexual parts.
In this sense Tardieu's observation is correct.
However, taking into consideration the gen- eral fact that the study of the signs of physical degeneration is as yet in its infancy, so none of them ought to be neglected, particularly one so clearly defined as defective or irregular development of the genital organ.
For instance, out of four active pederasts known to me at the present moment, there
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are two who have a remarkably thin penis with a tapering gland; the third, in conse- quence of an unequal asymmetrical devel- opment of the corpora cavernosa, has the member slightly inclined on one side; and in consequence of a similar defective forma- tion of the corpora cavernosa of the urethra he has the gland so turned that the orifice is not from above below, but oblique. The fourth pederast suffers from congenital phi- mosis and atrophy of one of his testicles, whereas the aspect and size of the penis are apparently normal. On all four, besides the above-mentioned deviations, there are observ- able other clearly marked signs of physical and psychopathic degeneration.
No doubt it is altogether impossible to stamp as active pederast an individual because he happens to show the above-described de- formations of the sexual parts.
Exactly the same appearances may be observed on persons with normal sexual func- tions. But when it is a notorious pederast who exhibits the above-mentioned abnor- malities, we have then almost invariably before us, not a case of acquired, but of congenital perversion.
It is therefore evident that the ocular
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examination of the sexual parts, and that of the body in general, furnishes no true sign upon which a single proof of active pederasty might be founded with even approximative certainty, Nevertheless all deviations from the regular formation of the sexual parts in pederasts would seem to point to congenital perversion of the genesic instinct.
It is not possible to recognize pederasty in general by means of the signs correctly given by Tardieu; but by their means the etiology of abnormal sexuality in pederasts can be determined with certainty.
We hav^e now passed in review all the known signs of pederasty. Do they suffice, if not in all, at any rate in the majority of cases, to determine the sexual perversion in question ?
Unfortunately, such is not the case.
Putting the active pederasts out of the question, who, as we have just seen, are not recognizable by any distinct marks to be found by exploration, it is equallv difficult to diag- nose all passive pederasts as such.
Pederasty, in the general sense of the word, does not, as we have previously observed, always manifest itself in sodomy. Those
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pederasts, who do not actually accomplish the sodomitic act, but discharge their semen inter feces, like the Fellators, will exhibit from that cause no deformations of the anus or of the rectum, nor of the genital organs. Passive pederasty also, when it is beginning to be resorted to by some demented old man, even when he is afflicted with hemorrhoids, will leave no characteristic signs upon the anus. These signs will also be wanting on the periodical pederast, who accomplishes the act only after long intervals during which the deformed parts have plenty of time to resume their normal condition.
But, in the limited number of cases in which the existing physical signs point to sodomy, are they sufficient to decide the principal question that interests us viz. whether it is a congenital taint or a vicious habit?
Certainly not !
Those signs, which have been hitherto observed on pederasts, cannot enlighten us as to whether the individual under exami- nation is a demoralized mercenary Cynede who earns money in this shameful manner, or a subject under the influence of a serious malady, the morbid symptoms of which are
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manifested in sexual perversion; or again if it is an unfortunate being, whose development is behindhand, and who, from his birth, has been deprived of the faculty of regular sexual connection. To sum up, the deformations of the anus, of the rectum and of the genital parts taken alone leave the principal question undecided as to what kind of pederasty we have to do with.
The resolution of this important question demands an entirely different method of in- quiry.
When it is the case of a youth we must first of all endeavour to find out, on the basis of heredity, of physical degeneration, of psychical aberration, etc., whether he is a healthy or a psychopathic subject.
When in the first case there exist indica- tions of pederasty, then he is an acquired pederast; in the latter it is most probable that the vice was born with him.
The acquired perversion of the sexual instinct is proved, when the youth assumes alternately the active and the passive part, and that he can at the same time have normal connection with women.
The congenital form, on the contrary, is manifested in the great majority of cases,
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particularly in youths, in that they are exclusively inclined to passive pederasty, and are not capable of accomplishing connection with women.
The rare cases of congenital active pederasty, which are always accompanied by well-defined psychical aberrations, sometimes show also an abnormal formation of the genital parts.
Subjects of this kind are not only in general deprived of the power of having sexual inter- course with women, but they feel a positive hatred against them.
When it is a grown-up man who is sub- jected to examination, the question becomes far more complicated.
Here, it is necessary to collect facts con- cerning heredity, and initial anamnesis, to follow up stage by stage the life that has been led, more especially during the period of puberty, combined with a full enquiry into all the physical and psychical peculiari- ties of the subject under examination, so . as to endeavour to decide the question whether we have before us a case of congenital or of acquired sexual perversion.
In the first case, we can ascertain, from a knowledge of facts revealing the time and conditions of the beginning of the vice, the
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frequency and uniformity of the repetition of the act, etc., if the subject under exami- nation belongs or not to the more danger- ous but less punishable class of periodical pederasts.
When the presence of congenital sexual perversion is contradicted by established facts, it is necessary to discover if the appearance noted is a symptom of incipient progressive paralysis, or an accessory phenomenon, a so- called psychical equivalent of epilepsy, or lastly if it is a symptom of premature senile dementia.
It is only after excluding all the above- named morbid conditions on positive grounds, based on facts deduced from careful enquiry and observation, that we can be permitted to affirm with probability the depravity, moral corruption and absolute, voluntary and premeditated licentiousness of the subject under examination.
The decision of the above questions meets with the greatest difficulty when we have to do with elderly men, and here the most difficult task consists in the distinction of pederasty as a symptom of incipient senile dementia from positive vice, which is for ever seeking for new means to revive the expiring sexual power.
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The gradual diminution of the mental powers and the deadening of the feelings only attract the attention of friends or of strangers when they are approaching the final stage.
The mental debility passes almost imper- ceptibly from the usual so-called weak-mind- edness into complete ruin of the faculties of the mind.
A thorough imbecile is unable to grasp the meaning of a syllogism in its entirety. Each premiss is to him a separate idea, and it is beyond the power of his comprehension to connect it with the preceding one or with the one which succeeds, to retain them in his memory and from them to deduce a conclusion.
In this clearly defined form imbecility is easily diagnosed. But some degrees higher, we come upon a subject, who is able to reason, to draw conclusions, to connect together several ranges of thought, but who does not possess the faculty of realizing the conception of a thing in its entirety, to abandon a course of ideas once adopted and to examine a subject from different points of view.
From such a mental debility there is but
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one step to absolute obliteration of the in- telligence.
The subject may be treated logically and generally, but with continual wanderings from the fundamental idea, and becomes so confused by the introduction of details and accessories, as to lose all sequence, leading therefore to no settled result.
An empty, apparently logically connected, sometimes witty gossipping habit, forms one of the most frequent symptoms of an incipient intellectual decadence due to age, or in subjects who are exhausted by all sorts of excesses. It very often happens that the same symptom combines with it the degree of mental poverty, that is known in society under the name of " average intelligence."
The absence of full reasoning power, in- sufficient critical acumen, inability to distinguish the important from the unimportant, want of independent effort to discover the cause and manner of things, intellectual one-sidedness, loss of creative power and of originality of thought all these are so many tangible symptoms of different degrees of mental impoverishment and decay of the understanding.
It is necessary to have known the subject for a long time, in order to establish a sure
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basis of comparison between his previous normal intellectual activity, which does not solely consist of thinking and creative pro- cesses, and his actual morbidly depressed mental powers.
Keceptivity towards exterior impressions and their implantation in the consciousness, memory, faculty of comprehension, logical processes, sentiment all these have to be taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion.
It is still more difficult to recognize a deadening of the senses, for here we possess no sure exterior symptom of loss of sensibility ; and this is no less true with regard to hypersesthesia, which does not show the strength of the sensibility, but the mariner of its expression.
It is comprehensible, that with the lower- ing of the intelligence and the deadening of the sensibility the two most powerful means fail for resistance against the passions, where- in the degree of virtue is recognized by the understanding and estimated by the sensibility.
To theee two factors, which constitute the dominant note of the general character of the feeble-minded, there comes further in addition increased sensuality, morbidly exaggerated
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erethism, under whose influence the subject sometimes becomes guilty of a whole series of criminal acts.
In fact, as soon as it is proved that the individual in question had previously rejoiced in the exercise of normal sexual functions, that the same gradually diminishing, finally disappeared, but after certain intervals revived with renewed vigour but in a perverted form, there can be no doubt that we have then before us a case of commencing senile dementia.
Above all, sexual desire not in keeping with his age is the very first symptom of a developing morbid condition of the subject.
The depraved individual seeks by changing the manner and means of accomplishing the sexual act, as well as in preparation for the same, a new way to increase and prolong the erethism.
On the contrary the old man morbidly affected seeks exclusively to find in a deviation from the normal function a better and more complete satisfaction of the lust that is con- tinually tormenting him.
In accordance with these different objects the manifestation of the sexual instinct is usually somewhat different in the two cases.
The depraved individual employs every
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means in his power that can contribute to increase his lust.
Sight, touch, hearing, smell, even some- times taste, all the senses one after another, or all together, are excited to a certain extent, in order to raise the erethism to its highest degree of intensity.
It is under these excitations that passive pederasty shows itself, as a casual accessory phenomenon, as a new excitant, which may serve to heighten the erethism, which then finds its satisfaction in normal connection with a woman.
Sometimes the use of exterior and interior stimulants is added, and also the reading of pornographic books, and so forth.
Notwithstanding his apparent unrestrain- able lust, the depraved individual is capable on occasion of recovering mastery over him- self, he can show himself as a model hus- band, or the austere magistrate, condemning vice.
In genuine cases of senile dementia, the patient on the contrary does not seek for excitement. Unable always to dissimulate his sensual desire, he leads the conversation to the subject of sexual connection, becomes cynical, and even allows himself to make
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indecent gestures. All this is not done for the purpose of causing excitation, but from the desire to satisfy the continually increasing sexual erethism that torments him. For the same reason he repudiates normal connection with women, which cannot satisfy his morbid lust.
' He either changes it, in turning from women to little girls and children, or not finding there sufficient satisfaction, becomes an active or a passive pederast.
And now, in all the various means he resorts to in order to satisfy his morbid sensual, craving lust, there is gradually developed an excited desire to make the victim suffer physical pain.
In cries, groans and convulsive movements the patient sees something stronger than the voluptuous spasm, and in this way he endeav- ours to find satisfaction.
Under the influence of this feeling, from biting and scratching with his nails, he comes to cutting and decapitating, impelled by one desire only, that of satisfying by any means his ever increasing morbid licentiousness.
The preceding facts show, how the manner and mode of manifestation of the genesic energy of a simply depraved individual differs
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from the insatiable and never ceasing lust of the weak-minded old man, in his desperate efforts to satisfy the morbid irritation of his sexual sense.
In the latter, in most cases, the sexual desire will appear simultaneously with feelings of an impeding character, which in a healthy subject would suffice to damp his desire, such as, for instance, wickedness, anger or the wish to subject his victim to pain, to witness its suffer- ings, to hear its cries, to feel its death throes.
The old man morbidly affected will some- times kiss his victim, at the same moment tearing its body open, from which the blood streams out, works himself into a passion, littering fearful threats and at the same time accomplishing the act of coition.
The depraved individual, on the contrary, attaches the greatest importance to exterior circumstances, seeks to keep away and avert all unpleasant feelings, being so to say occupied in concentrating himself in voluptuousness, is attentive to small things, capricious and full of pretention. Whereas the weak-minded old man performs the sexual act under the most various conditions, enjoying it according to his taste, sometimes in the most unworthy and disgusting manner.
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The depraved subject, on the contrary, cleans, washes and perfumes his victim with pleasant aromas, combs and dresses him ac- cording to his taste, whereas the sick old man will commit a rape on a ragged dirty street urchin in a stinking stable.
But, however different the forms of the manifestation of senile dementia may be, it must be considered that there are numerous indistinctly marked transition stages, in which it is impossible to determine where vice ceases and disease begins.
This is the more difficult that very often those who have led a loose life in youth become the victims of senile dementia later on.
It is then that vicious habits gradually and imperceptibly change into morbid symp- toms.
I believe in general, and with great prob- ability, that the beginning of the malady is indicated, when to increased sexual desire there is added instincts of cruelty, the wish to subject the victim in the acme of the voluptuous spasm to physical pain, to hurt and wound him.
Of course it is only the continuance of cruelty during the sexual act that is charac- teristic, and not casual bitings, blows and
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wounds, which may be inflicted by a sanguine subject in the heat of erethism, or when in a state of inebriety.
I have here but briefly indicated those circumstances, which may with more or less probability decide the question, in a given case of pederasty, whether we have to do with a congenital fault of development, or an acquired vicious habit, the expression of a deep-rooted depravity, or a nervous disease. This cursory review serves to show how com- pletely such a subject must be examined, how carefully and how long he must be kept under observation, so as to follow him in the minutest details of his whole life, to see what may have been the influence of education, of example, of the maladies he may have had to overcome, etc. To this must be further added the slightest details concerning the development and activity of his sexual instincts, the mental and intellectual sphere in which he lives, his social and family surroundings.
To the above it is necessary to join the closest knowledge of the state of health, character and habits of the parents of the subject under observation, and in fact of all his blood-relations, in one word, the most
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complete data possible should be obtained on heredity, surroundings and other possible factors of degeneration and it is only then that we can with more or less certainty deter- mine what is the type of sexual perversion we have before us, and find out the cause of the aberration, as far as the actual state of science will permit us.
If every medico-legal case of pederasty is treated in this manner, it is easy to under- stand, what a quantity of details must be collected for the enquiry, and what a difficult and complicated task the medico- judicial ex- pert will have to accomplish.
I therefore think, if the facts I have just produced have sufficient convincing force, that in future pederasty is no longer to be solely attributed to insatiable licentiousness and depravity, nor the examination to be limited to that of the anus and genital parts of the subject.
I know very well that nothing is more hurtful to the mentally afflicted who commit crimes while in a state of aberration, than false philanthropy or mercenary eloquence, which seeks to generalize the principle of irresponsibility, and to make invented imagi- nary mental aberration stand for real un-
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doubted guilt. It is far from my intention, in pursuing this study, to supply vice with a weapon wherewith to combat the law.
Hitherto, in examining deviations of the sexual instinct, too little attention has been paid to congenital taint and disease.
My object was as far as possible to insist upon the addition of these factors to the subject under enquiry, and therefore I have said as little as possible about moral depravity, although far from undervaluing the importance of vice as a factor, wishing merely to differentiate it from the pathological com- plications which make it so difficult to estab- lish an impartial estimate of the degree of moral decline of a really depraved subject.
The mingling of disease with vice always diminishes the importance of the latter.
For instance, can the gradual leading astray of a child, who is taught little by little to give itself up to vice, be compared with the rough and brutal commission of a pederastic rape?
In the first case there is neither threat nor violence ; everything goes on slowly, and develops gradually, coming to the end as it were of its own accord. The vice is usually surrounded with such precautions, that it
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seldom comes before the judicial bench, and still more seldom meets with punishment.
In the latter case there is not only an immoral act, but the sense of shame of the victim has been outraged in the highest degree, his will overpowered and his body injured. When in both cases the same im- pelling motive is taken for granted, there can be no doubt that an error in the bringing up of the subject will appear as a slight offence compared with violent rape. But in fact the bringing up of the victim purposely for the vice is the greatest and most abomi- nable expression of premeditated depravity, whereas pederastic rape is more often a manifestation of senile dementia.
In the presence of a symptom of disease, the most unbridled demoralization fades and its liability to punishment is correspondingly diminished.
The more precisely and clearly the field of the vice in question is circumscribed, the more evident do the slightest offences against decency become, offences which might other- wise disappear in the mass of pathological facts, and their liability to punishment be- comes more clear.
On the other hand the discovery that the
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deviations and perversions of the sexual instinct may be the symptom of a psychical disturbance is of great importance.
It is of course beyond the actual state of our science, to distinguish between all possible cases of vice and of disease; we are similarly just as little able always to distinguish crime from psychosis.
Maudsley says that "between crime and insanity there is a border-land, where there is on the one hand a small dose of insanity and a large percentage of crime, and on the other hand a small admixture of crime and a large proportion of insanity."
This is perfectly applicable to the connec- tion between vice and malady. There un- doubtedly lies between the two a place of transition, a border-land of "morbid depra- vation", where it is difficult, if not altogether impossible, to determine the proportion of voluntary, premeditated vice and that of hereditary predisposition, or the manifestation of an inherited morbid condition. But leaving aside the cloudy, undecided exceptional cases, we have nevertheless before us a scientific basis whereon to establish a distinction be- tween disease and vice, a basis, which on more complete development in this direction
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will, in my opinion, furnish more useful practical results than the numerous treatises founded on principles that are written in defence of morality and sobriety.
When once a malady is clearly recognized, hardly anyone will wish to imitate its symp- toms, particularly if it is generally known and placed beyond doubt, that certain manifest- ations of the same always indicate an abnormal condition of the nervous centres and a weaken- ing of the intellect.
At present vice not only appears seductive to most people because of the force, novelty or diversity of the feelings excited, but it also gives to the libertine in the sphere of sexual activity a certain tone of epicureanism, of originality, of vicious repute and of supe- riority over other beings, who appear to be less perfectly developed in contrast with him, but more moral and more abstemious.
In society the idea prevails that the taste which has become satiated with every ordinary enjoyment inclines to refined licentiousness, seeking sexual satisfaction for more developed and more supreme enjoyment.
Such an apparent inventive genius in vice inevitably presupposes something superior and more complete than the usual way of satisfying the sexual instinct. Therefore the consciousness of vicious propensities and of sexual depravity raises certain ignorant, or weakminded individuals in their own estimation and in that of their circle.
This attractive feature of vice, which favours the imitation of morbid depravation, must lose its charm with the knowledge that vice in its most violent manifestations is the symptom of a morbid state, with a certain deadening, and not a refining of the feelings, and with an imperfect equilibrium of the nervous system which, far from leading to perfection, favours the development of mental disturbance and weakness of intellect.
In this respect the Law Courts may do Society a service of vast importance by disseminating abroad a body of sound opinion.
I am in complete agreement with Michelet when he says u that Jurisprudence must become a medical science, based on physiological facts, in order to determine the influence of inconscient, fatal impulses on voluntary acts."
I am convinced, that it is only the combined work of the Physician and of the Jurist of the Investigator and of the Philosopherwhich can at the same time discover the causes of these impulses and of their manifestations in acts, determine the limit between physiology and pathology in life, and furnish a solid basis for the improve- ment of the sane, the education of the morbidly inclined, and the cure of those afflicted with disease.