5. In reading Sacher-Masoch, it struck me that in masochists, now and

then, there was also an undercurrent of sadistic feeling. Too, I have now and then discovered in myself sporadic feelings of sadism. I must remark, however, that the sadistic feelings are not so marked as the masochistic; and that, aside from the fact that they are infrequently accessory, the sadistic fancies never leave the sphere of abstract feeling, and, above all, never take the form of concrete, connected ideas (like those above mentioned). The effect on libido, however, is the same with both. If this case is remarkable on account of the complete development of the psychical state that constitutes masochism, the following one is noteworthy because of the great extravagance of the acts resulting from the perversion. The case is also particularly suited to make clear the reason for the subjection and humiliation at the hands of the woman, and the peculiar sexual coloring of the resulting situations:— Case 51. _Masochism._—Mr. Z., official, aged 50; tall, muscular, healthy. He is said to come of healthy parentage, but his father was thirty years older than his mother. A sister, two years older than Z., suffers with delusions of persecution. There is nothing remarkable in Z.’s external appearance. Skeleton entirely masculine; abundant beard, but no hair on trunk. He characterizes himself as a man of sanguine temperament, whom no one can depress; though irascible and quick-tempered, he is quick to regret outbursts. Z. says he has never masturbated. From his youth there have been nightly pollutions, in which girls play a part; but the sexual act, never. For example, he dreams that a pleasing woman lies heavily on him, or that, as he lies sleeping on the grass, she playfully walks up his back. Z. had always been averse to coitus with a woman. This act seemed animal to him. Nevertheless, he was drawn to women. It was only in the society of beautiful women and girls that he felt well and in his place. He was very gallant without being forward. A voluptuous woman of beautiful form, and particularly with a pretty foot, when seated, had the power to throw him into intense excitement. He was impelled to offer himself as a chair, in order “to offer so much devotion.” A kick, a box on the ear from her, would be heaven to him. He had a horror at the thought of coitus with her. He felt the need to serve the woman. He thought how ladies liked to ride. He reveled in the thought of how fine it would be to be wearied by the burden of a beautiful woman, in order to give her pleasure. He painted the situation in all colors; thought of the beautiful foot armed with spurs, the beautiful legs, and the soft, full thighs. Every beautiful mature woman, every pretty female foot, always excited his imagination; but he never betrayed the peculiar feelings that seemed to him abnormal, and was able to control himself. But he felt no need to fight against them; on the contrary, it would have hurt him had he been compelled to give up the feelings that had become so dear to him. At the age of thirty-two Z. happened to make the acquaintance of an attractive woman, aged twenty-seven, who had been separated from her husband, and whom he found in need. He took her, and worked for her, without any selfish motive, for months. One evening she impatiently demanded sexual satisfaction from him, and almost used violence. Coitus was successful. Z. took the woman, lived with her, and indulged in coitus moderately; but coitus was more a burden than a pleasure; erections became weak, and he could no longer satisfy the woman. She finally declared that she would not have intercourse with him, because he only excited without satisfying her. Though he loved the woman very much, he could not give up his peculiar fancies. After this he lived with her only in friendly relations, and deeply regretted that he could not serve her in the way she desired. Fear of how she would receive his propositions, and a feeling of shame, kept him from confessing. He found a substitute in his dreams. Thus, for example, he dreamed that he was a proud, fiery steed, ridden by a beautiful lady. He, felt her weight, the bit he had to obey, the pressure of the thighs on his flanks; he heard her beautiful, joyous voice. The exertion threw him into a perspiration; the touch of the spurs did the rest, and always induced pollution with great lustful pleasure. At other times be dreamed that he was a small, weak horse. Then a large, heavy woman came and mounted the horse, and set off on a long journey in the mountains. Recklessly, and without mercy, she allowed the poor animal to feel her weight; she made herself comfortable on his back; while he threatened to give out under her, she had the greatest enjoyment, and with calm mind enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Under the influence of such dreams, seven years ago Z. overcame his reluctance, in order to experience such things in reality. He was successful in creating suitable opportunity. He speaks of it as follows: “I knew how to arrange it so that on an occasion she would, of her own will, seat herself on my back. Then I endeavored to make this situation as pleasant as possible, and easily made it so that on the next occasion she said, spontaneously: ‘Come, give me a little ride!’ Swelling with pride, and with both hands braced on a chair, I made my back horizontal, and she mounted astride, after the manner of a man. I then did the best I could to imitate the movements of a horse, and loved to have her treat me like a horse, without any thought of _me_. She could beat, prick, scold, or caress me, just as she felt inclined. I could carry on my back persons weighing from sixty to eighty kilos, for half or three-quarters of an hour, without interruption. At the end of this time I usually asked for a rest. During this the intercourse between the mistress and me was perfectly harmless and without any relation to what had preceded. After about a quarter of an hour I was always rested, and placed myself at the disposal of the mistress again. When time and circumstances allowed it, I did this three or four times in succession. It sometimes happened that I practiced it both in the morning and afternoon. After it I never felt weary or had any uncomfortable feeling; but on such days I had very little appetite. When possible, I liked best to bare my trunk, that I might feel the rider more perfectly. The mistress had to be decent. I liked her best in pretty shoes and stockings, with short, closed drawers, reaching to the knee; with the upper portion of her person completely dressed, and with hat and gloves.” Mr. Z. further says that he has not performed coitus in seven years; but he thinks he is potent. The riding was a perfect substitute for that “animal act,” even when ejaculation was not induced. For eight months Z. had determined to give up his masochistic play, and had kept his determination. But he thought that if a woman only half-way pretty were to address him directly, and say, “Come, I want to ride you,” he would not be strong enough to withstand the temptation. Z. wishes to know whether his abnormality is curable; whether he is unworthy as a vicious man, or an invalid deserving pity. The following case seems very similar:— Case 52. A man finds satisfaction in the following manner: Occasionally he goes to a puella publica. Here he has a porcelain ring, like those used in hanging curtains, put on his penis. Two cords are attached to the ring and drawn backward between his legs and attached to the bedstead. Then he tells the woman to beat him mercilessly with a whip and cry “whoa” to him constantly, and treat and abuse him as if he were an unruly horse. The more the woman spurs him on to pull, with shouts and blows, the greater his sexual excitement becomes. Erection occurs (probably mechanically favored by compression of the dorsal vein of the penis, which, when the cords are strained, must be closed by the pressure of the hard ring). With increasing erection, the whole member is compressed by the ring, and finally ejaculation occurs, with lustful feeling. Even in the foregoing series of cases, with other things, the act of being walked upon has played a _rôle_ as a means of expressing the masochistic situations of humiliation and pain. The exclusive and most extensive use of this means for perverse excitation and satisfaction is shown in the following classical case of masochism, which Hammond reports (_op. cit._, p. 28) from an observation by Dr. Cox,[64] of Colorado:— Case 53. X., a model husband, very moral, the father of several children, has times—_i.e._, attacks—in which he visits brothels, chooses two or three of the largest girls, and shuts himself up with them. He bares the upper portion of his body, lies down on the floor, crosses his hands on his abdomen, closes his eyes, and then has the girls walk over his naked breast, neck, and face, urging them at every step to press hard on his flesh with the heels of their shoes. Sometimes he wants a heavier girl, or some other act still more cruel than this procedure. After two or three hours he has enough. He pays the girls with wine and money, rubs his blue bruises, dresses himself, pays his bill, and goes back to his business, only to give himself the same strange pleasure again after a few weeks. Occasionally it happens that he has one of the girls stand on his breast; and the others then turn her around until his skin is torn and bleeding from the turning of the heels of her shoes. Frequently one of the girls has to stand on him in such a way that one shoe is over the eyes, with its heel pressing on one eye, while the other rests across his neck. In this position he endures the pressure of a person weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds for four or five minutes. _The author speaks of dozens of similar cases that are known to him._ Hammond presumes, with reason, that this man had become impotent for intercourse with women; that, in this strange procedure, he found an equivalent for coitus; and that, when the heels drew blood, he had pleasant sexual feelings, accompanied by ejaculation. The ten cases of masochism thus far described, and the numerous analogous cases mentioned by those who report them, form a counterpart to the previously described group “_c_” of sadism. Just as in sadism men excite and satisfy themselves by maltreating women, so in masochism the same effect is sought in the passive reception of similar abuse. But group “_a_” of the sadists,—that of lust-murder,—strange as it may seem, is not without its counterpart in masochism. In its extreme consequences, masochism must lead to the desire to be killed by a person of the opposite sex, in the same way that sadism has its acme in active lust-murder. But the instinct of self-preservation opposes such a result; so that the extreme is not actually carried out. When, however, the whole structure of masochistic ideas is purely psychical, in the imagination of such individuals, even the extreme may be reached; as the following case shows:— Case 54. A middle-aged man, married and the father of a family, who has always led a normal vita sexualis, but who says he comes of a very nervous family, makes the following communication: In his early youth he was powerfully excited sexually at the sight of a woman slaughtering an animal with a knife. From that time, for many years, he had reveled in the lustfully-colored idea of being stabbed and cut and even killed by women with knives. Later, after the beginning of normal sexual intercourse, these ideas lost completely their perverse stimulus for him. This case should be compared with the statements made under Case 44, according to which men find sexual pleasure in being lightly pricked with knives in the hands of women, who, at the same time, threaten them with death. Such fancies, perhaps, give the key to an understanding of the following strange case, for which I am indebted to a communication from Dr. Körber, of Rankau:— Case 55. A lady makes me the following communication: While still a young and innocent girl, she was married to a man of about thirty years. On their wedding-night he forced a towel and soap into her hands, and, without any other expression of love, wanted her to lather his chin and neck (as if for shaving). The inexperienced young wife did it, and was not a little astonished, during the first weeks of married life, to learn its secrets in absolutely no other form. Her husband always told her that it gave him the greatest delight to have his face lathered by her. Later, after she had sought the advice of friends, she induced her husband to perform coitus, and had three children in the course of time (by him, she states with every assurance). The husband is industrious and reliable, but a moody man, with little perseverance; by occupation a merchant. It may be inferred that this man conceived the act of being shaved (_i.e._, the lathering as a preparatory measure) as a rudimentary, symbolic realization of ideas of injury or death, or of fancies about knives; like those the man previously mentioned had had in his youth, and by means of which he had been sexually excited and satisfied. The perfect sadistic counterpart to this case, looked upon in this light, is offered by Case 35, which is a case of symbolic sadism. At any rate, there is a whole group of masochists who satisfy themselves with the symbolic representations of situations corresponding with their perversion; a group that corresponds with group “_e_” of “symbolic” sadists, just as the previously mentioned cases of masochism correspond with the groups “_c_” and “_a_” of sadism. Thus, just as the perverse longings of the masochist may, on the one hand, advance to “passive lust-murder” (to be sure, only in imagination); so, on the other hand, they may be satisfied with simple symbolic representations of the desired situations, which otherwise are expressed in acts of cruelty (this, of course, taken objectively, goes much further than the idea of being murdered, but in fact not so far, owing to the determining subjective conditions). With Case 55, other similar cases should be here described, in which the acts desired and planned by the masochist have a purely symbolic character, and, to a certain extent, serve to indicate the desired situation. Case 56. (Pascal, “Igiene dell’ amore.”) Every three months a man of about forty-five years would visit a certain prostitute, and pay her ten francs for the following act. The puella had to undress him, tie his hands and feet, bandage his eyes, and draw the curtains of the windows. Then she would have her guest sit down on a sofa, and had to leave him there alone. After half an hour she had to come back and unbind him. Then the man would pay her and leave perfectly satisfied, to repeat his visit in about three months. In the dark this man seems to have extended this situation, of being helpless in the hands of a woman, further in imagination. The following case, in which again a complicated comedy, in the sense of masochistic desires, is played, is still more peculiar:— Case 57. (Dr. Pascal, _ibid._) A gentleman in Paris was accustomed to call on certain evenings at a house where a woman, the owner, acceded to his peculiar desire. He entered the _salon_ in full-dress, and she, likewise in evening _toilette_, had to receive him with a very haughty manner. He addressed her as “Marquise,” and she had to call him “dear Count.” Then he spoke of his good fortune in finding her alone, of his love for her, and of a lover’s rendezvous. At this the lady had to feel insulted. The pseudo-count grew bolder and bolder, and asked the pseudo-marquise for a kiss on her shoulder. There is an angry scene; the bell is rung; a servant, prepared for the occasion, appears, and throws the count out of the house. He departs well satisfied, and pays the actors in the farce handsomely. In connection with this case of symbolic masochism, two more are here given, in which the psychical perversion was entirely confined to the sphere of thought and imagination, and no realization was attempted. The first is that of an individual, mentally and physically predisposed, bearing degenerative signs, in whom mental and physical impotence occurred early:— Case 58. Mr. Z., aged 22, single, was brought to me by his father for medical advice, because he was very nervous and apparently abnormal sexually. Mother and maternal grandmother were insane. His father begat him at a time when he was suffering severely nervously. Patient is said to have been a very lively and talented child. At the age of seven he was noticed to practice masturbation. After his ninth year he became inattentive, forgetful, and did not progress in his studies, constantly requiring help and protection. With difficulty he got through the Gymnasium, and during his time of freedom had attracted attention by his indolence, absent-mindedness, and various foolish acts. Consultation was occasioned by an occurrence on the street, in which Z. had forced himself on a young girl in a very impetuous manner, and in great excitement had tried to have a conversation with her. The patient gave as a reason, that, by conversing with a respectable girl, he wished to excite himself so that he could be potent in coitus with a prostitute! His father characterizes him as a man of perfectly good disposition, moral, but lazy, and dissatisfied with himself; as one often in despair about his want of success in life; as indolent, and interested in nothing but music, for which he possesses great talent. The patient’s exterior—his plagiocephalic head; his large, prominent ears; the deficient innervation of the right facialis about the mouth; the neuropathic expression of the eyes—indicates a degenerate, neuropathic individual. Z. is tall, of powerful frame, and, in all respects, of masculine appearance. Pelvis masculine; testicles well developed; penis remarkably large; mons veneris with abundant hair. The right testicle hangs much lower than the left; the cremasteric reflex is weak on both sides. The patient is below the average intellectually. He feels his deficiency, complains of his indolence, and asks to have his will strengthened. His awkward, embarrassed manner, timid glances, and relaxed attitude, point to masturbation. The patient confesses that from his seventh year, until a year and a half ago, he practiced it, years at a time, from eight to ten times daily. Until a few years ago, when he became neurasthenic (cephalic pressure, loss of mental power, spinal irritation, etc.), he says he always found great sensual pleasure in it. Since then this had been lost, and the desire to masturbate had disappeared. He had constantly grown more bashful and indolent, less energetic, and more cowardly and apprehensive. He had lost interest in everything, and did his business only from a sense of duty, feeling very low-spirited. He had never thought of coitus, and, from his stand-point as an onanist, he could not understand how others could find pleasure in it. Investigations in the direction of contrary sexual instinct gave a negative result. He says he never was drawn toward persons of his own sex; he rather thinks that he has now and then had a weak inclination for females. He asserts that he came to masturbate independently. In his thirteenth year he first noticed ejaculations as a result of masturbatic manipulations. It was only after long persuasion that Z. consented to entirely unveil his vita sexualis. As his statements, which follow, show, he may be classified as a case of ideal masochism, with rudimentary sadism. The patient distinctly remembers that, at the age of six, without any cause, he had “ideas of violence.” He was compelled to imagine that a servant-girl spread his legs apart and showed his genitals to another; that she tried to throw him into cold or hot water, in order to cause him pain. These “ideas of violence” were attended with lustful feeling, and became the cause of masturbatic manipulations. Later the patient called them up voluntarily, in order to incite himself to masturbation. They also played a part in his dreams; but they never induced pollution, apparently because the patient masturbated excessively during the day. In time, to these masochistic “ideas of violence,” others of a sadistic nature were added. At first they were scenes in which boys forcibly practiced onanism on one another, or cut off the genitals. He often imagined himself such a boy, now in an active, now in a passive, _rôle_. Later he busied himself with mental pictures of girls and women that exhibited themselves to one another. He reveled in the thought, for example, of a servant-girl spreading another girl’s legs apart and pulling the genital hair; or in the thought of boys treating girls cruelly, and pricking and pinching their genitals. Such ideas also always induced sexual excitement, but he never experienced any impulse to carry them out actively or to have them performed on himself passive. It satisfied him to use them for masturbation. Since a year and a half ago, with diminishing sexual imagination and libido, these ideas and impulses had become infrequent, but their content remained unchanged. The masochistic “ideas of violence” predominated over the sadistic. Now, when he sees a lady, he has the thought that she has sexual ideas like his own. In this way, in part, he explains his embarrassment in social intercourse. Owing to the fact that he had heard that he would get rid of his burdensome sexual ideas, if he were to accustom himself to natural sexual indulgence, during the last year and a half he has twice attempted coitus though he only experienced repugnance, and was not confident of success. On both occasions the attempt was a fiasco. The second time he made the attempt, he felt such aversion that he pushed the girl away and fled. The second case is the following one, placed at my disposal by a colleague. Even though it be aphoristic, it seems particularly suited to throw a clear light on the distinctive element of masochism,—the consciousness of subjection, in its peculiar psycho-sexual effect:— Case 59. _Masochism._—Z., aged 27, artist. He is powerfully built, of pleasing appearance, and is said to be free from hereditary taint. Healthy in youth, since his twenty-third year he has been nervous and inclined to be hypochondriacal. Though inclined to indulgence sexually, he is not very virile. In spite of associations with females, his relations with them are limited to innocent attentions. At the same time, his desire to devote himself to women that are cold toward him is remarkable. Since his twenty-fifth year he has noticed that females, no matter how ugly, always excite him sexually, whenever he discovers anything domineering in their character. An angry word from the lips of such a woman is sufficient to give him the most violent erections. Thus, one day, he sat in a _café_ and heard the (ugly) female cashier scold the waiters in a loud voice. This threw him into the most intense sexual excitement, which soon induced ejaculation. Z. requires the women, with whom he is to have sexual intercourse, to repulse and annoy him in various ways. He thinks that only a woman like the heroines of Sacher-Masoch’s romances could charm him. Cases like this, in which the whole perversion of the vita sexualis is confined to the sphere of imagination,—to the inner world of thought and instinct,—and only accidentally comes to the knowledge of others, do not seem to be infrequent. Their _practical_ significance, like that of masochism in general (which has not the great forensic importance of sadism), is confined to the psychical impotence to which such individuals, as a rule, become subject; and to the intense impulse to solitary indulgence, with adequate imaginary ideas, and its results. That masochism is a perversion of uncommonly frequent occurrence is sufficiently shown by the relatively large number of cases that have thus far been studied scientifically, as well as by the agreement of the various statements reported. The works concerning prostitution in large cities also contain numerous statements concerning this matter. Léo Taxil (_op. cit._, p. 228) describes masochistic scenes in Parisian brothels. The man affected with this perversion is there also called “slave.” Coffignon (“La corruption à Paris”) has a chapter in his book entitled “Les Passionels,” which contains contributions to this subject. It is interesting and worthy of mention, that one of the most celebrated of men was subject to this perversion, and describes it in his autobiography (though somewhat erroneously). From “Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions” it is evident that he was affected with masochism. Rousseau, with reference to whose life and malady Möbius (“J. J. Rousseau’s Krankengeschichte,” Leipzig, 1889) and Chatelain (“La folie de J. J. Rousseau,” Neuchatel, 1890) may be consulted, tells, in his “Confessions” (part i, book i), how Miss Lambercier, aged thirty, greatly impressed him when he was eight years old and lived with her brother as his pupil. Her solicitude, when he could not immediately answer a question, and her threats to punish him if he did not learn well, made the deepest impression on him. When, one day, he had blows at her hands, with the feeling of pain and shame, he also experienced sensual pleasure that incited a great desire to be whipped by her again. It was only for fear of disturbing the lady, that Rousseau failed to make other opportunities to experience this lustful, sensual feeling. One day, however, he unintentionally gave cause for a whipping at Miss Lambercier’s hands. This was the last; for Miss Lambercier must have noticed something of the peculiar effect of the punishment; and from this time on she did not allow the eight-year-old boy to sleep in her room. From this time Rousseau felt a desire to have himself punished by ladies pleasing to him, a la Lambercier; but he asserts that until his youth he knew nothing of the relation of the sexes to each other. As is known, Rousseau was first introduced to the real mysteries of love in his thirtieth year, and lost his innocence through Madame de Warrens. Until that time he had had only feelings and impulses attracting him to woman, in the nature of passive flagellation and other masochistic ideas. Rousseau describes, _in extenso_, how he suffered, with his great sexual desires, by reason of his peculiar sensuality, which had undoubtedly been awakened by his whippings; for he reveled in desire, and could not disclose his longings. It would be erroneous, however, to suppose that Rousseau was concerned merely with flagellation. Flagellation only awakened ideas of a masochistic nature. At least, in these ideas lies the psychological nucleus of his interesting study of self. The essential element with Rousseau was the feeling of subjection to the woman. This is clearly shown by the “Confessions,” in which he expressly emphasizes that “_Etre aux genoux d’une maitresse impérieuse, obéir à ses ordres, avoir des pardons à lui demander,—etaient pour moi de très douces jouissances._”[65] This passage proves that the consciousness of subjection and humiliation before the woman was the most important element. To be sure, Rousseau was himself in error in supposing that this impulse to be humiliated before a woman had arisen by association of ideas from the idea of flagellation:— “N’osant jamais déclarer mon goût, je l’amusais du moins par des rapports qui m’en conservaient l’idée.”[66] It is only in connection with the numerous cases of masochism, the existence of which has now been established, and among which there are so many that are in nowise connected with flagellation, showing the primary and pure psychical character of this instinct of subjection,—it is only in connection with these cases that a complete insight into Rousseau’s case is obtained, and the error detected into which he necessarily fell in the analysis of his own condition. Binet (_Revue Anthropologique_, xxiv, p. 256), who analyzes Rousseau’s case in detail, also justly calls attention to its masochistic significance, when he says: “Ce qu’aime Rousseau dans les femmes, ce n’est pas seulement le sourcil froncé, la main levée, le regard sévère, l’attitude impérieuse, c’est aussi l’état émotionnel, dont ces faits sont la traduction extérieure; il aime la femme fière, dédaigneuse, l’écrasant à ses pieds du poids de sa royale colère.”[67] The solution of this enigmatical psychological fact Binet finds in his assumption that it is an instance of fetichism, only with the difference that the object of the fetichism—i.e., the object of individual attraction (fetich)—is not a portion of the body, like a hand or foot, but a mental peculiarity. This enthusiasm he calls “_amour spiritualiste_,” in contrast with “_amour plastique_,” as manifested in ordinary fetichism. This deduction is acute, but it gives only a word with which to designate a fact, not a solution of it. Whether an explanation is possible will later occupy our attention. There were also elements of masochism (and sadism) in the celebrated, or notorious, French writer, C. P. Baudelaire, who died insane. Baudelaire came of an insane and eccentric family. From his youth he was mentally abnormal. His vita sexualis was decidedly abnormal. He had love-affairs with ugly, repulsive women,—negresses, dwarfs, giantesses. About a very beautiful woman, he expressed the wish to see her hung up by her hands, and to kiss her feet. This enthusiasm for the naked foot also appears in one of his glowing poems as the equivalent of sexual indulgence. He said women were animals who had to be shut up, beaten, and fed well. The man displaying these masochistic and sadistic inclinations died of paretic dementia. (Lombroso, “The Man of Genius.”) In scientific literature, the conditions that constitute masochism have not received attention until recently. All there is to mention is that Tarnowsky (“die Krankhaften Erscheinungen des Geschlechtssinns,” Berlin, 1886) relates that he has known happily married, intellectual men, who from time to time felt an irresistible impulse to subject themselves to the coarsest, cynical treatment,—to scoldings or blows from passive or active pederasts, or prostitutes. It is worthy of remark that, in Tarnowsky’s observation, in certain cases blows, even when they draw blood, do not bring the result desired (virility, or at least ejaculation during flagellation) by those given to passive flagellation. “The individual must then be undressed by force, his hands tied, fastened to a bench, etc., during which he fancies that he makes opposition, scolds, and pretends to resist. Only under such circumstances do the blows induce excitement that leads to ejaculation.” O. Zimmermann’s work, “Die Wonne des Leids,” Leipzig, 1885, also contributes much to this subject,[68] taken from the history and literature. Of late the subject has been given much attention. A. Moll, in his work, “Die Conträre Sexualempfindung,” pp. 133 and 141 _et seq._, Berlin, 1891, gives a number of cases of complete masochism in individuals of contrary sexuality, and among them the case of a man suffering with contrary sexual instinct, who sent written instructions, containing twenty paragraphs, to a man engaged for his purpose, who was to treat and abuse him like a slave. In June, 1891, Mr. Dimitri von Stefanowsky, Deputy Government Attorney in Jaroslaw, Russia, informed me that, about three years before, he had given his attention to the perversion of the vita sexualis, designated “masochism” by me, and called “passivism” by him; that a year and a half previously he had prepared a paper on the subject for Professor von Kowalewsky for the Russian _Archives of Psychiatry_; and that in November, 1888, he had read a paper on this subject, considered in its legal and psychological aspects, before the Legal Society of Moscow (printed in the _Juridischen Boten_, the organ of the society, in numbers 6 to 8). In later fiction the psycho-sexual perversion which forms the subject of this study has been treated by Sacher-Masoch, whose writings, already frequently alluded to, afford typical pictures of the perverse mental life of men of this kind. Many affected with this perversion refer directly to the writings of Sacher-Masoch, as is seen from the foregoing cases, as typical descriptions of their own psychical condition. In “Nana,” Zola has a masochistic scene, and likewise in “Eugène Rougon.” The latest “decadent” literature of France and Germany is also largely concerned with the themes of sadism and masochism. According to von Stefanowsky’s statement, the modern Russian novel frequently treats the subject; but the statements of the writer of travels, Johann Georg Forster (1754–1794), show that this subject also played a _rôle_ in Russian folk-songs. (b) _Foot-and Shoe-Fetichists—Larvated Masochism._—Following the above-mentioned group of “symbolic” masochists, who do not exactly desire abuse by women as the means of expression of subjection, but all kinds of silly acts that can be understood only through an acquaintance with the masochistic circle of ideas, comes the very numerous class of foot- and shoe-fetichists. By fetichists (_v. infra_, 3) I understand individuals whose sexual interest is confined exclusively to parts of the female body, or to certain portions of female attire. One of the most frequent forms of this fetichism is that in which the female foot or shoe is the fetich, and becomes the exclusive object of sexual feeling and desire. It is highly probable, and shown by a correct classification of the observed cases, that the majority—and perhaps all—of the cases of shoe-fetichism rest upon a basis of more or less conscious masochistic desire for self-humiliation. In Hammond’s case (Case 53) the satisfaction of a masochist was found in being trod upon. In Cases 44 and 48, they also had themselves trod upon; in Case 51, _equus eroticus_, the person loved a woman’s foot, etc. In the majority of cases of masochism, the act of being trod upon with feet plays a part[69] as an easily accessible means of expressing the relation of subjection. Of the numerous established cases of shoe-fetichism, the following one, reported by Dr. A. Moll, of Berlin, which corresponds in many respects with Hammond’s case, but which is described in more detail and more carefully observed, seems especially suited to show the connection between masochism and shoe-fetichism:— Case 60. O. L., aged 31, book-keeper in a city of Wurtemburg; comes of a tainted family. The patient is a large, powerful man, of ruddy appearance. In general he is of a quiet temperament, but may become very violent on occasion; he says himself that he is quarrelsome and inclined to assert himself. L. is of a kindly disposition and generous; easily made to weep. At school he passed for a talented pupil, with good powers of comprehension. The patient at times has congestion of the head, but is otherwise healthy, except that he is much depressed and melancholic as a result of his sexual perversion, here to be described. But little can be learned of any hereditary taint. The following facts concerning the development of his sexual life are gathered from the patient’s own statements:— In very early youth—in fact, when he was eight or nine years old—L. had the desire to lick his teacher’s boots like a dog. L. thinks it possible that this thought was excited in him by his once seeing a dog actually do this, but he cannot state this with certainty; and it seems much more certain to the patient that the first ideas of this kind came in a waking state, not in dreams. From his tenth to his fourteenth year he constantly sought to touch the shoes of his fellow-pupils, and also those of little girls; but for this purpose he always chose boys who had wealthy and prominent parents. One of these, the son of a rich landed proprietor, had riding-boots; in the boy’s absence L. took these in his hands, struck himself with them, and pressed them against his face. L. did the same thing with the elegant boots of an officer of dragoons. After the beginning of puberty the desire was transferred exclusively to the boots of females. Thus, while skating, the patient’s attention was entirely occupied with putting on and taking off skates for ladies; but he always chose only such women as were rich and prominent socially, wearing elegant boots. In the street and everywhere L. constantly looked for elegant boots. His love for them went so far that he often put in his purse, and even in his mouth, the sand and mud that bore their imprints. As a boy of fourteen L. visited brothels; and he often visited a _café chantant_ solely to excite himself with the sight of elegant boots (low shoes were less attractive). In his school-books and on the walls of closets, L. drew boots. In the theatre he saw nothing but the shoes of the ladies. For hours at a time, in the street and on board steam-boats, L. would run after ladies wearing elegant boots; and he thought with delight of how he might get a chance to touch the boots. This peculiar love for boots remains unchanged. _The thought to have himself trod upon by ladies in their boots, or to kiss the boots, gives L. the most intense sensual delight._ Before shoe-stores he will stand and stand, merely to look at the boots. He is particularly excited by their elegance. The patient prefers high-buttoned or laced boots with high heels; but less elegant boots, even with low heels, also excite him, if their wearer is a wealthy, distinguished, and proud lady. At the age of twenty L. attempted coitus; but, “in spite of the greatest efforts,” as he believes, he was not successful. During the attempt the patient had no thought of shoes; on the contrary, he had first sought to excite himself sexually with shoes, and he asserts that too great excitement was to blame for his want of success in coitus. Up to this time, being thirty-one years old, he has attempted coitus only four or five times, and always in vain. On one occasion the patient, already much to be pitied on account of his disease, had the misfortune to contract syphilis. In reply to the question as to what he regarded as the most lustful act, the patient said: “_It is my greatest delight to lie naked on the floor and have myself trod upon by girls wearing elegant boots_; but, of course, this is possible only in brothels.” Moreover, according to the patient’s statements, these sexual perversions of men are well known in many houses of prostitution,—a proof that these are not so very infrequent. The prostitutes call these men “boot-lovers.” But the patient has only very infrequently had the lustful act actually performed, notwithstanding the fact that it is most beautiful and pleasant to him. The patient has no thoughts that impel to intercourse; at least, not in the sense of immissio penis in vagina,—an act that affords him no pleasure whatever. Indeed, he has gradually developed a fear of coitus, which may be sufficiently explained by his numerous unsuccessful attempts; for the patient says himself that his inability to complete coitus embarrassed him exceedingly. The patient has never practiced real onanism. With the exception of a few occasions on which the patient satisfied his sexual desire by onanism with boots or in a similar way, he is innocent of such satisfaction; for, in the excitement with boots, there is scarcely ever anything more than erection; at most, only a slight discharge of fluid takes place slowly, which the patient takes to be semen. Simply a shoe, worn by no one, excites him when he sees it, but not nearly as intensely as when it is worn by a woman. New shoes that have not been worn excite him much less than those that have been used; but they must be free from wear and look as new as possible. Shoes of this kind excite him the most. As has been said, ladies’ boots excite him when they are not on the feet. Under such circumstances, in fancy, L. creates a lady for them; he presses them to his lips and on his penis. He would “die with delight” if a proud, respectable lady were to tread upon him with her shoes. Aside from the previously mentioned characteristics of the women (pride, wealth, social prominence), which, in connection with the elegance of the boots, constitute an especial stimulus, the patient is by no means indifferent to the physical charms of the female sex. He is enthusiastic about beautiful women without thinking of boots, but this love is not directed to sexual satisfaction. The bodily charms play a part even in connection with the boots; a homely old woman, even wearing the most elegant boots, cannot affect the patient. The rest of the attire and other circumstances also play an essential _rôle_, as is shown by the fact that elegant boots worn by proud, distinguished women especially excite the patient. A common servant-girl, in her working-dress, even in the most elegant shoes, would not excite him. Men’s shoes and boots no longer affect the patient; and he never in the slightest degree feels himself attracted to men sexually. Yet the patient has erections very easily. When he takes a child in his lap, when he pats a dog or horse for some time, when he travels on the cars, or when he rides,—erections occur. In the latter case he thinks it is due to the shaking. He has erections every morning; and he can induce erection in a very short time by thinking of the act with boots that is so pleasing to him. Pollutions formerly occurred frequently at night—about every three or four weeks; now they are more infrequent, occurring once about every three months. In his erotic dreams the patient is almost always sexually excited by the same thoughts that excite him in the waking state. For some time he thinks he has felt ejaculation during erection; but he draws this conclusion only from feeling a little moisture at the end of the penis. Books touching the sphere of the patient’s sexual ideas especially excite him. Thus, in reading “Venus in Furs,”[70] by Sacher-Masoch, he is so excited “that the semen just _runs_ away from him.” Moreover, with L., this kind of ejaculation, while reading, is a decided satisfaction of his sexual desire. My question, whether blows received from a woman’s hand would also excite him, the patient thinks he would have to answer in the affirmative. The patient has never made any such trial, but playful taps had, at any rate, always been very pleasing to him. It would afford the patient a particularly intense pleasure if he were to be kicked by a woman, even without shoes, and with bare feet. He does not think that the blows, as such, would cause the excitement, but rather the thought of being maltreated by a woman; and this might follow scolding as well as actual blows. Besides, blows and cross words had an exciting effect only when they came from a proud and distinguished lady. In general it is the _feeling of humiliation and slavish subjection_ that gives the patient lustful pleasure. “Were a lady,” the patient tells me, “to command me to wait on her, even with distant coldness, I should, nevertheless, feel sensual pleasure.” To the question, whether with boots the feeling of humiliation came over him, the patient answers: “I think that this general passion for self-humiliation has been concentrated especially on ladies’ boots; for it is symbolic of one’s being ‘unworthy to loosen the latchet of another’s shoe’; and, besides, a subject kneels.” Women’s stockings also have an exciting effect on the patient, but only to a slight extent, and perhaps only through awakening an idea of boots. The patient’s passion for ladies’ boots had constantly increased, but of late years he thought he had noticed a diminution of it. He seldom visits public women, and is also more capable of self-restraint. Yet this passion still rules him absolutely, and every other pleasure is spoiled by it. A pretty female boot could attract his glance from the most beautiful landscape. At the present time he often goes about at night in the corridors of hotels,[71] seeking elegant ladies’ shoes, which he kisses and presses against his face and neck, but principally against his penis. The patient, who is very well-to-do, a short time ago went voluntarily to Italy, only with the thought of becoming the servant of a rich and distinguished lady unacquainted with him; but the plan failed. The patient, who came only for consultation, has not yet been treated medically. The foregoing history reaches almost to the present time, and in the interval he has made me communications by letter concerning his condition. It does not require an extensive commentary. It seems to me to be one of the best cases to illustrate the relationship between shoe-fetichism and masochism, as set forth by von Krafft-Ebing.[72] The principal charm for the patient, as he, without leading questions, always emphasizes, is his subjection to a woman, who, in pride and position, must be as far above him as possible. Such cases, in which, within a fully-developed circle of masochistic ideas, the foot and the shoe or boot of a woman, conceived as a means of humiliation, have become the objects of especial sexual interest, are numerous. Through numerous degrees that are easily discriminated, they form the demonstrable transition to other cases in which the masochistic inclinations retreat more and more to the background, and little by little pass beyond the threshold of consciousness; while the interest in women’s shoes, apparently absolutely inexplicable, alone remains in consciousness. The latter are the numerous cases of shoe-fetichism. These very frequent cases of shoe-lovers, which, like all cases of fetichism, possess forensic interest (theft of shoes), occupy a position midway between masochism and fetichism. The majority or all may be looked upon as instances of larvated masochism (the motive remaining unconscious) in which _the female foot or shoe, as the masochist’s fetich_, has acquired an independent significance. Next come two cases in which the female shoe possesses a subordinate interest, but in which unmistakable masochistic desires play an important part (comp. Case 44):— Case 61. Mr. X. aged 25, parents healthy, never sick before, places the following autobiography at my disposal: “I began to practice onanism at the age of ten, without ever having any lustful thoughts during the act. Yet at that time—I am sure of this—the sight and touch of girls’ elegant boots had a peculiar charm for me; my greatest desire was also to wear such shoes,—a wish that was occasionally fulfilled at masquerades. But I was also troubled by a very different thought: _My ideal was to see myself in a position of humiliation; I would gladly have been a slave_, and whipped; in short, I wished to receive the treatment that one finds described in many stories of slavery. I do not know whether the reading of such stories gave rise to my wish, or whether it arose spontaneously. “Puberty began at the age of thirteen; with the occurrence of ejaculation lustful pleasure increased, and I masturbated more frequently, often two or three times a day. From my twelfth to my sixteenth year, during the act of onanism, I always had the idea that I was forced to wear girls’ boots. The sight of an elegant boot, on the foot of a girl at all pretty, intoxicated me; I inhaled the odor of the leather with avidity. In order to smell leather during the act of onanism, I bought a pair of leathern cuffs, which I smelled while I masturbated. My enthusiasm for ladies’ leathern shoes remains the same to-day; only, since my seventeenth year, it has been coupled with the _wish to become a servant, to blacken shoes for distinguished ladies, to put on and take off their shoes for them, etc._ “My dreams at night are made up of shoe-scenes: either I stand before the show-window of a shoe-store regarding the elegant ladies’ shoes,—particularly buttoned shoes,—or I lie at a lady’s feet and smell and lick her shoes. For about a year I have given up onanism and go ad puellas; coitus takes place through intense thought of ladies’ buttoned shoes; or, if necessary, I take the shoe of the puella to bed with me. I have never suffered from my former onanism. I learn easily, have a good memory, and have never had headache in my life. This much concerning myself. “A few words about my brother: I am thoroughly convinced that he is also a shoe-fetichist. Of the many facts that demonstrate this to me, it is only necessary to mention that it is a great pleasure for him to have a certain cousin (a very beautiful girl) tread upon him. As for the rest, I might undertake to tell whether a man who stands before a shoe-store, and regards the shoes on exhibition, is a “foot-lover” or not. This anomaly is uncommonly frequent. When in the circle of my acquaintance I turn the conversation to the question of what woman’s charm is, I very frequently hear it said that it is much more in attire than in nudity; but every one is careful not to reveal his especial fetich. I think an uncle of mine is also a shoe-fetichist.” Case. 62. Reported by Mantegazza in his “Anthropological Studies,” 1886, p 110. X., American, of good family, mentally and morally well constituted; from the beginning of puberty capable of being excited sexually only by a woman’s shoe. Her body and naked or stockinged foot made no impression on him; but the foot, when covered with the shoe, or a shoe alone, induced erection and even ejaculation. Sight alone was sufficient for him in the case of elegant shoes,—_i.e._, shoes of black leather, buttoning up the side, and having very high heels. His sexual desire was powerfully excited by touching, kissing, or drawing on such shoes. His enjoyment was increased by driving nails through the soles so that their points would penetrate his feet while walking. This caused him terrible pain, but he had real lustful feeling at the same time. His greatest enjoyment was to kneel down before the elegantly-clad feet of ladies and have them step on him. If the wearer were an ugly woman, the shoes would not affect him, and his fancy would cool. If the patient had shoes alone at his disposal, his fancy would create a beautiful woman wearing them, and ejaculation would result. His nightly dreams were of the shoes of beautiful women. He considered the exposure of ladies’ shoes in show-windows immoral; while talk about the nature of woman seemed to him harmless, but in bad taste. X. attempted coitus several times without success; ejaculation never occurred. In the following case the masochistic element is also plain enough, as is also the sadistic (comp. “Torture of Animals,” under “Sadism”):— Case 63. A young, powerful man, aged 26. Nothing in the opposite sex excites his sensual feeling except elegant shoes on the feet of a handsome woman, especially when they are made of black leather and have high heels. The shoes without the wearer are sufficient. It gives him the greatest pleasure to see, touch, and kiss them. The feminine foot, when bare or covered with a stocking, has no effect on him. Since childhood he has had a weakness for ladies’ fine shoes. X. is potent; during the sexual act the female must be elegantly dressed and, above all, have on pretty shoes. At the height of sensual excitement cruel thoughts about the shoes arise. He is forced to think with delight of the death-agonies of the animal from which the leather was taken. Sometimes he is impelled to take chickens and other animals with him to Phryne, in order to have her tread on them with her pretty shoes for his pleasure. He calls this “sacrificing to the feet of Venus.” At other times he has the woman walk on him with her shoes on, the harder the better. Until the last year it was sufficient—since he did not take the slightest sensual pleasure in women—to caress ladies’ shoes that pleased him, thus attaining ejaculation and complete satisfaction. (Lombroso, _Archiv di Psichiatria_, ix, fascic. iii.) The following case reminds one of the third of this series, on account of the interest in the nails of the shoes (as capable of inflicting pain); and of the fourth, on account of the slight accompanying sadistic element:— Case 64. X., aged 34, married; of neuropathic parentage; suffered severely from convulsions as a child; remarkably precocious, but one-sided in development (could read at age of three); nervous from childhood. At the age of seven he manifested an inclination to handle shoes, especially the nails of women’s shoes. The mere sight, but still more the touching, of the shoe-nails and counting them, gave him indescribable pleasure. At night he gave himself up to imagining how his cousins had their measures taken for shoes; how he nailed horse-shoes on to one of them or cut her feet off. In time the shoe-scenes came upon him during the day, and involuntarily induced erection and ejaculation. Frequently he took the shoes of female occupants of the house; and if he touched them with his penis he had an ejaculation. For a long time, when a student, it was possible for him to control his ideas and inclinations; but there came a time when he was compelled to listen to female footsteps on the pavements, which, like the sight of the nail-marks in ladies’ shoes, or the sight of shoes in the windows of the shoe-shops, always gave him a feeling of lustful pleasure. He married, and during the first months of his married life was free from these desires. Gradually he became hysteropathic and neurasthenic. At this stage he began to have hysterical attacks when the shoemaker spoke to him of nails in ladies’ shoes or of driving nails in the same. The reaction was still greater if he chanced to see a pretty lady with shoes well beset with nails. In order to induce ejaculation it was only necessary for him to cut soles out of pasteboard and beset them with nails; or he would buy ladies’ shoes, have them beset with nails in the store, and at home scrape them on the ground, and finally touch the end of his penis with them. Moreover, lustful shoe-visions occurred spontaneously, in which he satisfied himself by masturbation. X. is otherwise intelligent, skillful in his calling, but powerless in combating his perverse inclinations. He presents phimosis; penis short, expanded at the root, and incapable of complete erection. One day the patient allowed himself to masturbate when excited by the sight of ladies’ shoes beset with nails in the window of a shoe-shop, and thus became a criminal. (Blanche, _Archiv. de Neurologie_, 1882, Nr. 22.) Reference may be made here to a case of contrary sexuality, to be described later, in which the principal sexual interest was in the boots of male servants. The desire was to be trod upon by them. Case 65. (Dr. Pascal, “Igiene dell’ amore.”) X., merchant, from time to time (but particularly in bad weather) had the following desire: He would accost some prostitute and ask her to go to a shoe-shop with him, where he would buy her the handsomest pair of shoes of patent leather, under the condition that she would put them on immediately. After this took place, she had to go about in the street, walking in manure and mud as much as possible, in order to soil the shoes. After this, X. would lead the person to an hotel, and, almost before they had reached a room, he would cast himself on her feet, feeling an extraordinary pleasure in applying his lips to them. When he had cleansed the shoes in this manner, he paid her and went his way. From these cases it may be plainly seen that the shoe is the fetich of the masochist, and apparently because of the relation of the dressed female foot to the idea of being trod upon and other acts of humiliation. When, therefore, in other cases of shoe-fetichism, the female shoe appears alone as the excitant of sexual desire, one is justified in presuming that masochistic motives have remained latent. The idea of being trod upon, etc., remains in the depths of unconscious life, and the idea of the shoe alone, the means for such acts, rises into consciousness. Cases that are otherwise wholly inexplicable are thus sufficiently explained. Here one has to do with larvated masochism; and this may always be assumed as the unconscious motive, when, as occurs not exceptionally, the origin of the fetichism, from an association of ideas on the occasion of some particular event, can be proved, as in Cases 87 and 88. Such cases of desire for ladies’ shoes, without conscious motive and without demonstrable origin, are really innumerable.[73] Three cases are here given as examples:— Case 66. Minister, aged 50. From time to time he goes to houses of prostitution and asks to rent a room. He enters it with a girl. Then he lustfully regards her shoes, takes one off and kisses and bites it. Finally, he puts it ad genitalia and ejaculat semen semineque ejaculato axillas pectusque terit; then he comes out of his sensual ecstasy. He begs the woman to allow him to keep the shoe for a few days, and always, at the appointed time, returns it with thanks (Cantarano, _La Psichiatria_, v, p. 205). Case 67. Student, Z., aged 23; comes of a tainted family. Sister was insane; brother suffered with hysteria virilis. The patient, peculiar from childhood, has frequent attacks of hypochondriacal depression, tædium vitæ, and feels that he is persecuted. In a consultation on account of mental trouble, I find him a very perverse, hereditarily predisposed man, with neurasthenic and hypochondriacal symptoms. A suspicion of masturbation is confirmed. Patient makes interesting disclosures concerning his vita sexualis. At the age of ten he was powerfully attracted by the foot of one of his comrades. At twelve he became an enthusiast for ladies’ feet. It gave him a delightful sensation to revel in the sight of them. At fourteen he began to masturbate, thinking, at the same time, of the beautiful foot of a lady. From this time on he was taken with the feet of his three-year-old sister. The feet of other females that attracted him induced sexual excitement. Only women’s feet—no other part of them—interested him. The thought of sexual intercourse with women excited his disgust. He had never attempted coitus. After his twelfth year he had no interest in the feet of male individuals. The style of covering of the female foot is indifferent to him; it is only necessary that the person seem to be sympathetic. The thought of enjoying the feet of prostitutes was disgusting to him. For years he had been in love with his sister’s feet. If he could but obtain her shoes, the sight of them powerfully excited his sensuality. Kissing or embracing his sister did not have this effect. His greatest delight was to embrace and kiss the foot of a sympathetic woman, when ejaculation would result with a lively pleasurable sensation. Often he was impelled to touch his genitals with one of his sister’s shoes; but he had been able, thus far, to master this impulse, especially for the reason that for two years (owing to progressive irritable weakness of the genitals) the simple sight of the foot had induced ejaculation. From his relatives it is ascertained that the patient has a silly admiration for the feet of his sister; so that she avoids him and seeks to hide her feet from him. The patient looks upon his perverse sexual impulse as pathological, and is painfully affected by the fact that his vile fancy has for its object his sister’s foot. He avoided opportunity as much as he could, and sought to help the matter by masturbation when, as in dreams accompanied by pollution, ladies’ feet filled his imagination. However, when the impulse became too powerful he could not avoid gaining a partial sight of his sister’s foot. Immediately after ejaculation he would become angry with himself at having been weak again. His partiality for his sister’s foot had cost him many a sleepless night. He often wondered that he could still love his sister. Although it seemed right to him that she should conceal her feet from him, yet he was often irritated because the concealment caused him to have pollutions. The patient gives assurances of being moral in other respects, which are confirmed by his relatives. Case 68. S., New York, is accused of being a street-thief. Numerous cases of insanity in his ancestry; father, brother, and sister mentally abnormal. At seven years, violent cerebral concussion twice. At thirteen, struck with a beam. At fourteen S. had violent attacks of headache. Accompanying these attacks, or immediately after them, peculiar impulse to take the shoes of female members of the family—as a rule, those belonging to one member—and hide them in some out-of-the-way corner. Taken to task, he would lie, or declare that he had no memory of the affair. The passion for shoes was unconquerable, and made its appearance every three or four months. On one occasion he attempted to take the shoe from the foot of one of the servants, and on another he stole his sister’s shoe from her sleeping-apartment. In the spring two ladies had their shoes torn from their feet in the open street. In August S. left his home early in the morning to go to his work as a printer. A moment afterward he tore the shoe from a girl’s foot in the open street, fled to his place of work, and there was arrested as a street-thief. He declared that he did not know much of his act; that it had come upon him like a stroke of lightning, at the sight of a shoe, that he must possess himself of it, but for what purpose he did not know. He had acted while in a state of unconsciousness. The shoe, as he correctly indicated, was found in his coat. In confinement he was so much excited mentally that an outbreak of insanity was feared. Discharged, he stole his wife’s shoes while she slept. His moral character and habits of life were blameless. He was an intelligent workman; but irregularity of employment, that soon followed, made him confused and incapable of work. Pardoned. (Nichols, _Am. Journal of Insanity_, 1859; Beck, “Med. Jurisprudence,” vol. i, p. 732, 1860.) Dr. Pascal (_op. cit._) has some similar cases, and many others have been mentioned to me by colleagues and patients. (c) _Disgusting Acts for the Purpose of Self-Humiliation and Sexual Gratification_—_Larvated Masochism._—There are numerous established cases in which perverted men are thrown into sexual excitement by the secretions, or even the excretions, of women, and try to see and touch them. Probably in these cases there is almost always an unconscious masochistic impulse,—pleasure in the most extreme humiliation of self, and desire to experience it. This connection is made perfectly clear by the confessions of those affected with this repugnant perversion. Case 88 of the sixth edition—that of an individual affected with contrary sexuality, which is later described—is here instructive. The subject of this case not only revels in the thought of being the slave of the beloved man, and refers on this point to Sacher-Masoch’s “Venus in Furs,” sed etiam sibi fingit amatum poscere ut crepidas sudore diffluentes olfaciat ejusque stercore vescatur. Deinde narrat, quia non habeat, quæ confingat et exoptet, eorum loco suas crepidas sudore infectas olfacere suoque stercore vesci, inter quæ facta pene errecto se voluptate perturbari semenque ejaculari. The masochistic significance of a disgusting act in the following case, communicated by a professional friend, is clear:— Case 69. H. v. G., landed proprietor; major; died in his sixtieth year; came of a family in which irresponsibility, tendency to run in debt, and defect of morals are hereditary. In his youth he was given to most reckless dissipation (he was known as the leader of “naked balls”). He was always of a cynical and brutal nature, though punctilious and exact in his military service, which, on account of a disreputable affair that was not made known, he had to leave, and he lived in private life seventeen years. Untrammeled by the necessity to earn his living, he led everywhere the life of a man-of-the-town, and was everywhere avoided on account of his lascivious nature. His ostracism by the best society, which, in spite of his independence, he noticed, caused him to prefer the ordinary society of fakirs, artisans, and loafers. It cannot be ascertained that he had sexual intercourse with men, but it is certain that in his later years he arranged symposiums with mixed company and was known as a _roué_. In the last few years of his life he was accustomed to hang about new buildings in the evening, and of the women working there he would ask the dirtiest to accompany him. It is certain that he had the woman undress, and then he would suck her toes, his libido being excited and satisfied by the act. Cantarano also reports a case in _La Psichiatria_, v year, p. 207, in which, preceding the act, apparently from a similar cause, there was biting and sucking of a woman’s toes in as filthy a state as possible. Several cases have come to my knowledge in which, with other masochistic acts (maltreatment, humiliation), such disgusting desires were entertained; and the confessions of the individuals left no doubt of their significance. Such cases prepare the way to an understanding of others which are absolutely incomprehensible without the connection with the masochistic desire for humiliation.[74] It is probable, however, that this impulse, in its actual significance, remains unknown to the perverted individual, and only the desire for disgusting things rises into consciousness,—again larvated masochism. Other cases of Cantarano’s (_loc. cit._) belong here: mictio even defæcatio puellæ ad linguam viri ante actum; consumption of confects smelling like fæces, in order to become potent; and also the following case, likewise communicated to me by a physician:— Case 70. A Russian prince, who was very decrepit, was accustomed to have his mistress turn her back to him and defecate on his breast; this being the only way in which he could excite the remnant of libido. Another supported a mistress in unusually brilliant style, with the condition that she eat marchpane exclusively. Ut libidinosus fiat et ejaculare possit excrementa feminæ ore excipit. A Brazilian physician tells me of several cases of defæcatio feminæ in os viri that have come to his knowledge. Such cases occur everywhere, and are not at all infrequent. All kinds of secretions—saliva, nasal mucus, and even aural cerumen—are used in this way and swallowed with pleasure; and oscula ad nates and even ad anum are indulged in. Dr. Moll (_op. cit._, p. 135) reports the same thing of a man affected with contrary sexuality. The perverse desire to practice cunnilingus, which is very wide-spread, probably frequently has its root in masochistic impulses. Palanda (_Archivio di Psichiatria._ x, fascicolo 3, 4) relates the following case:— Case 71. W., aged 45, predisposed, was given to masturbation at the age of eight. A decimo sexto anno libidines suas bibendo recentem feminarum urinam satiavit. Tanta erat voluptas urinam bibentis ut nec aliquid olfaceret nec saperet, hæc faciens. After drinking he always experienced disgust and ill-feeling, and made firm resolutions to do it no more in the future. Once he had the same pleasure in drinking the urine of a nine-year-old boy, with whom he once practiced fellatio. The patient suffers with epileptic insanity. The cases described in this group form the complete counterpart to group “_d_” of the sadists. Still other older cases belong here, which Tardieu (“Étude médico-légale sur les attentats aux mœurs,” p. 206) observed in senile individuals. He describes as “Renifleurs” persons “qui in secretos locos nimirum theatrorum pasticos convenientes quo complures feminæ ad micturiendum festinant, per nares urinali odore excitati, illico se invicem polluunt.” The “Stercoraires” that Taxil (“La prostitution contemporaine”) mentions are, in relation to this subject, unique. Finally, space is here given to the following case, reported to me by a physician:— Case 72. A notary, known from his youth to those about him as peculiar and misanthropic. During his school-days he was given to masturbation. According to his own story, he excited his sexual desire by spreading out on the cover of his bed pieces of toilet-paper that he had used, induced erection by regarding and smelling them, and then practiced masturbation. After his death, by the side of his bed, there was found a large basket of such papers, with the dates marked on them. Here there were probably fancies of the nature of the above-mentioned acts. (d) _Masochism in Women._—In woman voluntary subjection to the opposite sex is a physiological phenomenon. Owing to her passive _rôle_ in procreation and long-existent social conditions, ideas of subjection are, in woman, normally connected with the idea of sexual relations. So to speak, they form the harmonics which determine the tone-quality of feminine feeling. Any one conversant with the history of civilization knows in what a state of absolute subjection woman was always kept until a relatively high degree of civilization was reached;[75] and an attentive observer of life may still easily recognize how the custom of unnumbered generations, in connection with the passive _rôle_ with which woman has been endowed by Nature, has given her an instinctive inclination to voluntary subordination to man; he will notice that exaggeration of customary gallantry is very distasteful to women, and that a deviation from it in the direction of masterful behavior, though loudly reprehended, is often accepted with secret satisfaction.[76] Under the veneer of polite society the instinct of feminine servitude is everywhere discernible. Thus it is easy to regard masochism in general as a pathological growth of specific feminine mental elements,—as an abnormal intensification of certain features of the psycho-sexual character of woman,—and to seek its primary origin in that sex (_v. infra_, p. 145). It may, however, be held to be established that, in woman, an inclination to subordination to man (which may be regarded as an acquired, purposeful arrangement, a phenomenon of adaptation to social requirements) is to a certain extent a normal manifestation. The reason that, under such circumstances, the “poetry” of the symbolic act of subjection is not reached, lies partly in the fact that man has not the vanity of that weakling who would use blows to display his power (as the love-serving knights did with the ladies of the Middle Ages), but prefers to demonstrate his real advantages. The barbarian has his wife plow for him, and the civilized lover speculates about her dowry; she willingly endures both. Cases of pathological increase of this instinct of subjection, in the sense of feminine masochism, are probably frequent enough, but custom represses their manifestation. Many young women like nothing better than to kneel before their husbands or lovers. Among all Slavs of the lower classes it is said that the wives feel hurt if they are not beaten by their husbands. A Hungarian officer informs me that peasant women of the Somogy’er Comitates do not think they are loved by their husbands until they have received the first box on the ear as a sign of love. It would probably be difficult for the physician to find cases of feminine masochism. Subjective and objective restraints—modesty and custom—naturally constitute, in women, insurmountable obstacles to the expression of perverse sexual instinct. Thus it happens that, up to the present time, but one case of masochism in a woman has been scientifically established; and this is accompanied by circumstances that obscure it. Case 73. Miss v. X., Russian, aged 35; of greatly predisposed family. For some years she has been in the initial stage of paranoia persecutoria. This sprang from cerebro-spinal neurasthenia, the origin of which is found to be sexual hyper-excitation. Since her twenty-fourth year she has been given to masturbation. As a result of disappointment in an engagement and intense sexual excitement, she began to practice masturbation and psychical onanism. _Inclination toward persons of her own sex never occurred._ The patient says: “At the age of six or eight I conceived a desire to be whipped. Since I had never been whipped, and had never been present when others were thus punished, I cannot understand how I came to have this strange desire. I can only think that it is congenital. With these ideas of being whipped I had a feeling of actual delight, and pictured in my fancy how fine it would be to be whipped by one of my female friends. I never had any thought of being whipped by a man. I reveled in the idea, and never attempted any actual realization of my fancies. These disappeared after my tenth year. Only when I read “Rousseau’s Confessions,” at the age of thirty-four, did I understand what my longing for whippings meant, and that my abnormal ideas were like those of Rousseau. Since my tenth year I have never had any more such fancies.” On account of its original character and the reference to Rousseau, this case may with certainty be called a case of masochism. The fact that it is a female friend that is conceived in imagination as whipping her, is explained by the circumstance that the masochistic desire was here present in the mind of a child before the psychical vita sexualis had developed and the instinct for the male had been awakened. Contrary sexual instinct is here expressly excluded. AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN MASOCHISM. The facts of masochism are certainly among the most interesting in the domain of psychopathology. An attempt to explain them must first seek to distinguish in them the essential from the unessential. The distinguishing characteristic in masochism is certainly the unlimited subjection to the will of a person of the opposite sex (in sadism, on the contrary, the unlimited mastery of this person), with the awakening and accompaniment of lustful sexual feelings to the degree of orgasm. From all that has preceded it is clear that the particular manner in which this relation of subjection or domination is expressed (_v. supra_), whether in simply symbolic acts, or whether there is also a desire to suffer pain at the hands of a person of the opposite sex, is a subordinate matter. While sadism may be looked upon as a pathological intensification of the masculine sexual character in its psychical peculiarities, masochism rather represents a pathological degeneration of the distinctive psychical peculiarities of woman. But masculine masochism is undoubtedly frequent; and it is this that most frequently comes under observation and almost exclusively makes up the series of observed cases. The reason for this has been previously stated (p. 139). Two sources of masochism can be distinguished in the sphere of normal phenomena. The first is, that in the state of lustful excitement every impression made by the person giving rise to the sexual stimulus, independently of the nature of its action, is pleasing to the individual excited. It is entirely physiological that playful taps and light blows should be taken for caresses, “Like the lover’s pinch which hurts and is desired.”[77] From here the step is not long to a state where the wish to experience a very intense impression at the hands of the consort leads to a desire for blows, etc., in cases of pathological intensification of lust; for pain is always a ready means for producing an intense bodily impression. Just as in sadism the sexual emotion leads to a state of exaltation in which the excessive motor excitement implicates neighboring nervous tracts; so in masochism an ecstatic state arises, in which the rising flood of a single emotion ravenously devours and covers with lust every impression coming from the beloved person. The second and, indeed, the most important source of masochism is to be sought in a wide-spread phenomenon, which, though it is extraordinary and abnormal, by no means lies within the domain of sexual perversion. I here refer to the very prevalent fact that in innumerable instances, which occur in all varieties, one individual becomes dependent on another of the opposite sex, in a very extraordinary and remarkable manner,—even to the loss of all independent will; a dependence which forces the party in subjection to acts and suffering which greatly prejudice personal interest, and often enough to offense against both morality and law. This dependence, however, differs from the manifestations of normal life only in the intensity of the sexual feeling that here comes in play, and in the slight degree of will-power necessary for the maintenance of its equilibrium. The difference is one of intensity, not of quality, as in masochistic manifestations. This dependence of one person upon another of the opposite sex, that is abnormal but not perverse,—a phenomena possessing great interest when regarded from a forensic stand-point,—I designate “_sexual bondage_;”[78] for the relations and circumstances attending it have in all respects the character of bondage. The will of the ruling individual dominates that of the person in subjection, just as a master’s does his bondsman’s.[79] This “sexual bondage,” as has been said, is certainly an abnormal phenomenon. It begins with the first deviation from the normal. The degree of dependence of one person upon another, or of two upon each other, resulting from individual peculiarity in the intensity of motives that in themselves are normal, constitutes the normal standard established by law and custom. Sexual bondage is not a perverse manifestation, however; the instinctive activities at work here are the same as those that set in motion—even though it be with less violence—the psychical vita sexualis which moves entirely within normal limits. Fear of losing the companion and the desire to keep him always satisfied, amiable, and inclined to sexual intercourse, are here the motives of the individual in subjection. An extraordinary degree of love—which, particularly in woman, does not always indicate an unusual degree of sensuality—and a weak character are the simple elements of this extraordinary process.[80] The motive of the dominant individual is egoism, which finds unlimited room for action. The manifestations of sexual bondage are various in form, and the cases are very numerous.[81] At every step in life we find men that have fallen into sexual bondage. Among married men, hen-pecked husbands belong to this category, particularly elderly men who marry young wives and try to overcome the disparity of years and physical defects by unconditional submission to the wife’s every whim; and unmarried men of ripe maturity, who seek to better their last chance of love by unlimited sacrifice, are also to be enumerated here. Here belong, also, men of any age, who, seized by hot passion for a woman, meet coldness and calculation, and have to capitulate on hard conditions; men of loving natures who allow themselves to be persuaded to marriage by notorious prostitutes; men who, to run after adventuresses, leave everything and jeopardise their future; husbands and fathers who leave wife and child, to lay the income of a family at the feet of a harlot. But, numerous as the examples of masculine “bondage” are, every observer of life, who is at all unprejudiced, must allow that they are far from equalling, in number and importance, the cases of feminine “bondage.” This is easily explained. For a man, love is almost always only an