On the other hand, two egoists calculating coldly, even if they have strong sexual appetites and trouble themselves very little with reflections on their intellect, may contract a comparatively happy marriage, based simply on reciprocal convenience and interest; a marriage in which amorous intoxication only plays a very small part, or none at all.
The latter case is of great frequency. The novel which delights in the description of admirable or ignoble sentiments, and which shows a special preference for bizarre and sensational situations, often of a pathological nature, makes us forget that the majority of mediocre and normal men are little susceptible to the suggestions of amorous intoxication, and that they give vent to their sexual desires in a more or less reflective and calculating frame of mind, like a gourmand. This is not poetical, I admit, but it is much more human. Many women also become gourmands in sexual matters.
In all this sexual commerce there are only vestiges or caricatures of the poetry of amorous intoxication. It is no longer a question of deep love, but of essentially commonplace sexual enjoyment, wisely and prudently adapted to other objects of concupiscence, such as money, social position, titles, business, etc.
If the poets and the preachers of morality apostrophize me with indignation saying that this is the prostitution of love, I shall be obliged to protest. So long as sexual enjoyment is not bought, there is no prostitution. Man has as much right to a certain agreeable satisfaction of his sexual appetite, even without exalted sentiments, as he has to satisfy his hunger and thirst, as long as he does no harm to anyone. But, I repeat, this question has nothing to do with amorous intoxication. The latter is a powerful shock to the whole mind, to the principal spheres of cerebral activity, by a suggestive effect, usually with the aid of the sexual appetite, but sometimes without it.
Amorous intoxication naturally differs in quality and in intensity in different individuals. In a person with ideal tendencies it may awaken the finest harmonies of the symphony of human sentiments, while brutal and debased persons may wallow in the mud.
Suggestion in Art.—Suggestion does not act only in the sexual sphere, but on the whole mental life. In æsthetics and in art it has an immense and irresistible influence, which gives rise to all the capricious exaltations of fashion. The average artist is more or less the slave of the æsthetic suggestions which are in fashion, but the average members of the public are absolutely dominated by them. Originating in a correct idea of certain effects of light, the most absurd exaggerations may become accepted as beautiful and natural by an imitative public devoid of personal judgment, by the aid of suggestion. These deplorable effects of suggestion may last a long time till their nullity or their absurdity causes them gradually to disappear. But they are usually replaced by other absurdities.
Suggestive Action in Sexual Anomalies.—In very suggestible persons the sexual appetite may be easily led astray by sensory impressions created by perverse images. In this way the erotic imagination of a very suggestible boy, excited indirectly by another boy, may even make the latter the object of his sexual desire. This is how homosexual inclinations may be formed by suggestion and maintained by mutual masturbation, pederasty, etc. The duration of a perversion of this kind often depends on the power of the erotic image which suggested sexual desire. This is also the case with onanism, sodomy, etc.; and in the inverse direction with impotence.
These facts explain at the same time why and how suggestion may cure or ameliorate the anomalies of sexual life. Just as suggestion may excite or pervert the sexual appetite, so may it calm it and put it in the right direction, unless there is a deeply rooted hereditary perversion. We can nearly always considerably attenuate too-frequent emissions, masturbation and perversions by suggestion, and often entirely cure their acquired forms.
I must here point out that when we have succeeded in removing by suggestion a perversion based in whole or in part on organic or hereditary causes, this result is always more or less precarious, and does not give the physician the right to give his sanction to marriage. The following case shows us what prudence on the part of the hypnotizer can do with patients of this kind:
A young girl, of good education, was troubled with intense sexual desire. She was incapable of resisting masturbation and dreamed at night that men and animals were in contact with her vulva. These dreams caused intense excitement and were accompanied by orgasms. The treatment of a patient of this kind by suggestion was no easy matter. However, with the aid of a local sedative, the action of which it is needless to say was purely suggestive and was combined with appropriate verbal suggestions, I succeeded not only in suppressing the onanism, but also in almost completely curing the nervous exhaustion of this young girl, so that she was afterwards able to resume work.