[127] Compare Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. vi.; Sex in Relation to Society (Philadelphia, 1910, p. 368); "But altogether outside theoretical morality, or the question of what people 'ought' to do, there remains practical morality, or the question of what, as a matter of fact, people actually do. This is the really fundamental and essential morality. Latin mores and Greek [Greek: êthos] both refer to custom, to the things that are, and not to the things that 'ought to be.'" The etymological connexion, of which Dr. Moll speaks, between the words morality (or ethics) and custom, thus subsists through the intermediation of the dead languages. But in German, the etymological connexion between Sitte (custom) and Sittlichkeit (morality) is immediately apparent.—Translator's Note.
[128] For details, see Rosenbaum, Geschichte der Lustseuche (History of Venereal Disease), Halle, 1893, p. 52 et seq.
[129] It is surprising that the author makes no reference to the close association, in many cases, of the sentiment of disgust with unpleasant smells. The earthworm, the cockroach, and the bed-bug are regarded as peculiarly disgusting, and all have a particularly offensive odour. The unpleasant smell of the alvine evacuations is assuredly a large element in the disgust these inspire.—Translator's Note.
[130] Die seelische Entwicklung des Kindes (The Mental Development of the Child), 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1908, p. 90.
[131] For fuller details, see the work of Rudeck, Geschichte der öffentlichen Sittlichkeit in Deutschland (History of Public Morals in Germany), 2nd ed., Berlin, 1905, p. 4 et seq. Cf. also, Alfred Martin, Deutsches Badewesen in vergangenen Tagen (German Bathing Customs in Former Days), Jena, 1906.
[132] A German law dealing with offences against sexual morals.—Translator's Note.
[133] I owe to private information, most kindly given me by Dr. Bohn, my knowledge of numerous details bearing on this question.
[134] Romanische Liebe und persönliche Schönheit (Romantic Love and Personal Beauty), 2nd ed., Breslau, 1894, vol. ii. p. 58.
[135] This does not conflict with the fact that in these circles also much hypocrisy is practised—much more certainly than in our own country (Germany). To a still greater extent is this true of England, where also in many circles all illegitimate sexual intercourse is proscribed, thus leading to the practice of hypocrisy. Because a large proportion of the population does not practise illegitimate intercourse, those who do indulge in it are led to conceal as far as possible their own illegitimate intercourse; as a result of this we find side by side and simultaneously in the same circle, on the one hand a prohibition of illegitimate intercourse based upon genuine conviction, and on the other a hypocritical condemnation of such intercourse. Further, we have to admit that the question is an exceptionally difficult one, precisely on account of the hypocrisy and lies in which the sexual life is enveloped. Naturally, where illegitimate intercourse is forbidden, those who do indulge are far more careful, and especially in guarding against venereal infection, lest the illness should betray them to others. A communication made to me very recently suggests the need for great caution in our judgment in these matters. A foreign university professor gives his students very fine lectures on the sexual life, laying great stress on the beauty and importance of sexual abstinence. The lecturer was convinced that as a result of his lectures his students were exceptionally chaste and abstinent. But a colleague of this same professor at the university is no less firmly convinced, and this as the result of reports from members of his friend's audience, that the assumed chastity of the students is purely imaginary, and that in actual fact their lives are just as loose as those of students in general.
[136] See the article on "Coeducation" in Buch von Kinde (The Book of the Child), edited by Adele Schreiber, vol. ii, Leipzig, 1907, p. 48.