Note BN — Chapter XIX · HYGIENE OF CHILDHOOD

The following lessons for boys and girls at the period of puberty should be given only if preceded by preventive measures during infancy and early childhood and by lessons in propagation of plants and of animals. If the children have never been instructed before, and there is the least suspicion that they have already tasted from the tree of knowledge, either in the form of masturbation or in that of illicit venery, such lessons are not only of no value, but they may even do more harm than good. The descriptions of the sequelae of masturbation and of venereal diseases may make the young people desperate and not seldom cause suicide or wanton recklessness.