meetings with 'tramps' led me to seek intimacy with them and for about
twenty years I have gone on the 'tramp' myself so that I might come in the
closest contact with them, in England, Scotland, and Wales.

"As in the United States, there are two classes of tramps those who would
work, such as harvesters, road-makers, etc., and those who will not work,
but make tramping a profession. Among both these classes my experience is
that 90 per cent, or I even would be bold enough to say 100 per cent,
indulge in homosexuality when the opportunity occurs, and I do not make
any distinction between the two classes.

"There are numerous reasons for this and I will state a few. A certain
number may prefer normal connection with a female, but except for those
who tramp in vans and a limited number who have 'donnas' with them, women
are not available, as prostitutes very seldom allow intimacy for 'love'
except when drunk. Tramps are also afraid of any venereal disease as it
means the misery of the Lock Hospital. Most of them are sociable and
prefer to tramp with a 'make.' With this mate, with whom he sleeps and
rests and 'boozes' when they are in funds, sexual intimacy naturally takes
place, as my experience has been that one of the two is male and the
other female in their sexual desires, but I have known instances where
they have acted both roles. Then male prostitution is to be had for
nothing, and even occasionally when a tramp meets a 'toff' it is a means
of earning money, either fairly or otherwise. I have never known a male
tramp to refuse satisfaction if I offered a drink or two, or a small sum
of money. One told me that he envied 'no lords or toffs' as long as he got
plenty of 'booze and buggery.'

"Another one, who told me that he had been twenty-five years on the road,
said that he could not endure to sleep alone. (He was a pedlar, openly of
cheap religious books and secretly of the vilest pamphlets and
photographs). He had 'done time' and he said the greatest punishment to
him was not being able to have a 'make' who would submit to penetration,
though he was not particular what form the sexual act took. Another fine
young man, whom I chanced to meet the very day he had been released from a
long sentence in prison for burglary and with whom I passed a night of
incessant and almost brutal intimacy, said his punishment was seeing men
always about him and being unable to have connection with them. Another
and very powerful influence in 'tramps' toward homosexuality is that, in
the low lodging houses they are obliged to frequent, a single bed is
perhaps double to one with a bedmate whom perhaps he has never seen
before, and especially in hot weather, when the rule is nakedness.

"My sexual desires being for the male invert I have come most in contact
with them and have found that they form much the larger class. Among
harvesters and seafaring tramps it is seldom you find a 'dandy' such as I
was considered, and as such I was eagerly courted, and any suggestion of
intimacy on my part quickly responded to. As regards the use of young boys
for homosexual indulgence, it is not common as it is too dangerous, though
I have known boys, especially those belonging to vans or gypsies, to
prostitute themselves, always for money.

"On one occasion I saw a boy who created quite an outburst of lust of
homosexual nature. The incident took place in a small seafaring town in
Scotland one evening before a Fair was to be held. It occurred in a low
public house where a number of very rough and mostly drunken men were
assembled. A blind man came in led by an extremely pretty but
effeminate-looking youth of about 17, wearing a ragged kilt and with bare
legs and feet. He had long, curling, fair hair which reached to his
shoulders and on it an old bonnet was perched. He also wore an old
velveteen shooting jacket. All eyes were turned on the pair and they were
quickly offered drinks. A remark was made by one man that he believed the
youth was a lassie. The boy said, 'I will show you I am a laddie,' and
pulled up his kilt, exposing his genitals and then his posterior.
Boisterous laughter greeted this indecent exposure and suggestion, and
more drinks were provided. The blind man then played his fiddle and the
boy danced with frequent recurrences of the same indecencies. He was
seized, kissed, and caressed by quite a number of men, some of whom
endeavored to masturbate him, which he resisted, but performed it for
them. After the closing time came, I and about ten or twelve men all
occupied the same room; the old man continued to play, and the youth,
stark naked, continued to dance and suggested we others should do so, and
an erotic scene took place which was only closed to view by the 'boss' who
was present putting out the lamp.

"Two classes of tramps I have met openly declare their preference for
homosexuality. They are men who have been in the army and sailors and
seafaring men in general. It is said that 'Jack has a wife in every port,'
but I believe from my experience that the wife in many cases is of the
male sex, and this among those of all nationalities, as is the case with
soldiers. Among these also jealousy is more common than amongst ordinary
tramps, and if you are 'dandy' to a soldier, if you make advances or
receive them from a senior, trouble is likely to occur between them.

"I could give many instances of my own personal experiences to show that
'tramps' are looked upon by men in the country districts as legitimate,
complacent, and purchaseable objects for homosexual lust."


FOOTNOTES:

[276] This is the home of the fraternity. Practically it is any corner
where they can lay their heads; but, as a rule, it is either a
lodging-house, a freight-car, or a nest in the grass near the railway
watering-tank.

[277] All hoboes carry razors, both for shaving and for defense. Strange
to say, they succeed in smuggling them into gaols, as they are never
searched thoroughly.

[278] This word is of Hebrew origin, and means girl (_Mädchen_).




APPENDIX B.

THE SCHOOL-FRIENDSHIPS OF GIRLS.

I.


A school-friendship is termed by Italian girls a "flame" (_flamma_). This
term, as explained by Obici and Marchesini, indicates, in school-slang,
both the beloved person and the friendship in the abstract; but it is a
friendship which has the note of passion as felt and understood in this
environment. In every college the "flame" is regarded as a necessary
institution. The relationship is usually of a markedly Platonic character,
and generally exists between a boarder on one side and a day-pupil on the
other. Notwithstanding, however, its apparently non-sexual nature, all the
sexual manifestations of college youth circle around it, and in its
varying aspects of differing intensity all the gradations of sexual
sentiment may be expressed.

Obici and Marchesini carried on their investigation chiefly among the
pupils of Normal schools, the age of the girls being between 12 and 19 or
20. There are both boarders and day-pupils at these colleges; the boarders
are most inflammable, but it is the day-pupils who furnish the sparks.

Obici and Marchesini received much assistance in their studies from former
pupils who are now themselves teachers. One of these, a day-pupil who had
never herself been either the object or the agent in one of these
passions, but had had ample opportunity of making personal observations,
writes as follows: "The 'flame' proceeds exactly like a love-relationship;
it often happens that one of the girls shows man-like characteristics,
either in physical type or in energy and decision of character; the other
lets herself be loved, acting with all the obstinacy--and one might almost
say the shyness--of a girl with her lover. The beginning of these
relationships is quite different from the usual beginnings of friendship.
It is not by being always together, talking and studying together, that
two become 'flames'; no, generally they do not even know each other; one
sees the other on the stairs, in the garden, in the corridors, and the
emotion that arises is nearly always called forth by beauty and physical
grace. Then the one who is first struck begins a regular courtship:
frequent walks in the garden when the other is likely to be at the window
of her class-room, pauses on the stairs to see her pass; in short, a mute
adoration made up of glances and sighs. Later come presents of beautiful
flowers, and little messages conveyed by complacent companions. Finally,
if the 'flame' shows signs of appreciating all these proofs of affection,
comes the letter of declaration. Letters of declaration are long and
ardent, to such a degree that they equal or surpass real
love-declarations. The courted one nearly always accepts, sometimes with
enthusiasm, oftenest with many objections and doubts as to the affection
declared. It is only after many entreaties that she yields and the
relationship begins."

Another collaborator who has herself always aroused very numerous "flames"
gives a very similar description, together with other particulars. Thus
she states: "It may be said that 60 per cent. of the girls in a college
have 'flame' relationships, and that of the remaining 40 only half refuse
from deliberate repulsion to such affections; the other 20 are excluded
either because they are not sufficiently pleasing in appearance or because
their characters do not inspire sympathy." And, regarding the method of
beginning the relationship, she writes: "Sometimes 'flames' arise before
the two future friends have even seen each other, merely because one of
them is considered as beautiful, sympathetic, nice, or elegant. Elegance
exerts an immense fascination, especially on the boarders, who are bound
down by monotonous and simple habits. As soon as a boarder hears of a
day-pupil that she is charming and elegant she begins to feel a lively
sympathy toward her, rapidly reaching anxiety to see her. The longed-for
morning at length arrives. The beloved, unconscious of the tumult of
passions she has aroused, goes into school, not knowing that her walk, her
movements, her garments are being observed from stairs or dormitory
corridor.... For the boarders these events constitute an important part of
college-life, and often assume, for some, the aspect of a tragedy, which,
fortunately, may be gradually resolved into a comedy or a farce."

Many letters are written in the course of these relationships; Obici and
Marchesini have been able to read over 300 such letters which had been
carefully preserved by the receivers and which, indeed, formed the chief
material for their study. These letters clearly show that the "flame" most
usually arises from a physical sympathy, an admiration of beauty and
elegance. The letters written in this "flame" relationship are full of
passion; they appear to be often written during periods of physical
excitement and psychic erethism, and may be considered, Obici and
Marchesini remark, a form of intellectual onanism, of which the writers
afterward feel remorse and shame as of a physically dishonorable act. In
reference to the underlying connection of these feelings with the sexual
impulse, one of the lady collaborators writes: "I can say that a girl who
is in love with a man never experiences 'flame' emotions for a companion."

Obici and Marchesini thus summarize the differential character of "flames"
as distinguished from ordinary friendships: "(1) the extraordinary
frequency with which, even by means of subterfuges, the lovers exchange
letters; (2) the anxiety to see and talk to each other, to press each
other's hands, to embrace and kiss; (3) the long conversations and the
very long reveries; (4) persistent jealousy, with its manifold arts and
usual results; (5) exaltation of the beloved's qualities; (6) the habit of
writing the beloved's name everywhere; (7) absence of envy for the loved
one's qualities; (8) the lover's abnegation in conquering all obstacles to
the manifestations of her love; (9) the vanity with which some respond to
'flame' declarations; (10) the consciousness of doing a prohibited thing;
(11) the pleasure of conquest, of which the trophies (letters, etc.) are
preserved."

The difference between a "flame" and a friendship is very well marked in
the absolute exclusiveness of the former, whence arises the possibility
of jealousy. At the same time friendship and love are here woven together.
The letters are chaste (a few exceptions among so many letters not
affecting this general rule), and the purity of the flame relationship is
also shown by the fact that it is usually between boarders and day-pupils,
girls in different classes and different rooms, and seldom between those
who are living in close proximity to each other. "Certainly," writes one
of the lady collaborators, "the first sensual manifestations develop in
girls with physical excitement pure and simple, but (at all events, I
would wish to believe it) the majority of college-girls find sufficient
satisfaction in being as near as possible to the beloved person (of
whichever sex), in mutual admiration and in kissing, or, very frequently,
in conversation that is by no means moral, though usually very
metaphorical. The object of such conversation is to discover the most
important mysteries of human nature, the why and the wherefore; it deals
with natural necessities, which the girl feels and has an intuition of,
but as yet knows nothing definite about. Such conversations are the order
of the day in schools and in colleges and specially revolve around
procreation, the most difficult mystery of all. They are a heap of
stupidities." This lady had only known of one definitely homosexual
relationship during the whole of her college-life; the couple in question
were little liked and had no other "flames." The chief general sexual
manifestations, this lady concludes, which she had noted among her
companions was a constant preoccupation with sexual mysteries and the
necessity of talking about them perpetually.

Another lady collaborator who had lived in a Normal school had had
somewhat wider experiences. She entered at the age of 14 and experienced
the usual loneliness and unhappiness of a new pupil. One day as she was
standing pensive and alone in a corner of the room, a companion--one who
on her arrival had been charged to show her over the college--ran up to
her, "embracing me, closing by mouth with a kiss, and softly caressing my
hair. I gazed at her in astonishment, but experienced a delicious
sensation of supreme comfort. Here began the idyll! I was subjected to a
furious tempest of kisses and caresses which quite stunned me and made me
ask myself the reason of such a new and unforeseen affection. I
ingenuously inquired the reason, and the reply was: 'I love you; you
struck me immediately I saw you, because you are so beautiful and so
white, and because it makes me happy and _soothes_ me when I can pass my
hands through your hair and kiss your plump, white face. I need a soul and
a body.' This seemed to me the language of a superior person, for I could
not grasp all its importance. As on the occasion when she first embraced
me, I looked at her in astonishment and could not for the moment respond
to a new fury of caresses and kisses. I felt that they were not like the
kisses of my mamma, my papa, my brother, and other companions; they gave
me unknown sensations; the contact of those moist and fleshy lips
disturbed me. Then came the exchange of letters and the usual rights and
duties of 'flames.' When we met in the presence of others we were only to
greet each other simply, for 'flames' were strictly prohibited. I obeyed
because I liked her, but also because I was afraid of her Othello-like
jealousy. She would suffocate me, even bite me, when I played, joyously
and thoughtlessly, with others, and woe to me if I failed to call her when
I was combing my hair. She liked to see me with my hair down and would
rest her head on my shoulder, especially if I were partially undressed. I
let her do as she liked, and she would scold me severely because I was
never first in longing for her, running to meet her, and kissing her. But
at the same time the thought of losing her, the thought that perhaps one
day she would shower her caresses on others, secretly wounded my heart.
But I never told her this! One day, however, when with the head-mistress
gazing at a beautiful landscape, I was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness
and burst out crying. The head-mistress inquired what was the matter, and
throwing myself in her arms I sobbed: 'I love her, and I shall die if she
leaves off loving me!' She smiled, and the smile went through my heart. I
saw at once how silly I was, and what a wrong road my companion was on.
From that day I could no longer endure my 'flame.' The separation was
absolute; I courageously bore bites and insults, even scratches on my
face, followed by long complaints and complete prostration. I thought it
would be mean to accuse her, but I invented a pretext for having the
number of my bed changed. This was because she would dress quietly and
come to pass hours by my bed, resting her head on the pillow. She said she
wished to smell the perfume of my health and freshness. This continual
turbulent desire had now nauseated me, and I wished to avoid it
altogether. Later I heard that she had formed a relationship which was not
blessed by any sacred rite."

Notwithstanding the Platonic character of the correspondences, Obici and
Marchesini remark, there is really a substratum of emotional sexuality
beneath it, and it is this which finds its expression in the indecorous
conversations already referred to. The "flame" is a _love-fiction, a play
of sexual love_. This characteristic comes out in the frequently romantic
names, of men and women, invented to sign the letters.

Even in the letters themselves, however, the element of sexual
impressionability may be traced. "On Friday we went to a service at San
B.," writes one who was in an institution directed by nuns, "but
unfortunately I saw M.L. at a window when I thought she was at A. and I
was in a nervous state the whole time. Imagine that that dear woman was at
the window with bare arms, and, as it seemed to me, in her chemise." No
doubt a similar impression might have been made on a girl living in her
own family. But it is certain that the imaginative coloring tends to be
more lively in those living in colleges and shut off from that varied and
innocent observation which renders those outside colleges freer and more
unprejudiced. On a boy who is free to see as many women as he chooses a
woman's face cannot make such an impression as on a boy who lives in a
college and who is liable to be, as it were, electrified if he sees any
object belonging to a woman, especially if he sees it by stealth or during
a mood of erotism. Such an object calls out a whole series of wanton
imaginations, which it could not do in one who, by his environment, was
already armed against any tendencies to erotic fetichism. The attraction
exerted by that which we see but seldom, and around which fancy
assiduously plays, the attraction of forbidden fruit, produces tendencies
and habits which could scarcely develop in freedom. Curiosity is acute,
and is augmented by the obstacles which stand in the way of its
satisfaction. "Flame" attraction is the beginning of such a morbid
fetichism. A sentiment which under other conditions would never have gone
beyond ordinary friendship may thus become a "flame," and even a "flame"
of markedly sexual character. Under these influences boys and girls feel
the purest and simplest sentiments in a hyperesthetic manner. The girls
here studied have lost an exact conception of the simple manifestations of
friendship, and think they are giving evidence of exquisite sensibility
and true friendship by loving a companion to madness; friendship in them
has become a passion. That this intense desire to love a companion
passionately is the result of the college environments may be seen by the
following extract from a letter: "You know, dear, much better than I do
how acutely girls living away from their own homes, and far from all those
who are dearest to them on earth, feel the need of loving and being loved.
You can understand how hard it is to be obliged to live without anyone to
surround you with affection;" and the writer goes on to say how all her
love turns to her correspondent.

While there is an unquestionable sexual element in the "flame"
relationship, this cannot be regarded as an absolute expression of real
congenital perversion of the sex-instinct. The frequency of the phenomena,
as well as the fact that, on leaving college to enter social life, the
girl usually ceases to feel these emotions, are sufficient to show the
absence of congenital abnormality. The estimate of the frequency of
"flames" in Normal schools, given to Obici and Marchesini by several lady
collaborators, was about 60 per cent., but there is no reason to suppose
that women teachers furnish a larger contingent of perverted individuals
than other women. The root is organic, but the manifestations are ideal
and Platonic, in contrast with some other manifestations found in
college-life. No inquiry was made as to the details of solitary sexual
manifestations in the colleges, the fact that they exist to more or less
extent being sufficiently recognized. The conversations already referred
to are a measure of the excitations of sexuality existing in these college
inmates and multiplied in energy by communication. Such discourse was,
wrote one collaborator, the order of the day, and it took place chiefly at
the time when letter-writing also was easiest. It may well be that sensual
excitations, transformed into ethereal sentiments, serve to increase the
intensity of the "flames."

Taken altogether, Obici and Marchesini conclude, the flame may be regarded
as a _provisional synthesis_. We find here, in solution together, the
physiological element of incipient sexuality, the psychical element of the
tenderness natural to this age and sex, the element of occasion offered by
the environment, and the social element with its nascent altruism.


II.

That the phenomena described in minute detail by Obici and Marchesini
closely resemble the phenomena as they exist in English girls' schools is
indicated by the following communication, for which I am indebted to a
lady who is familiar with an English girls' college of very modern type:--

"From inquiries made in various quarters and through personal observation
and experience I have come to the conclusion that the romantic and
emotional attachments formed by girls for their female friends and
companions, attachments which take a great hold of their minds for the
time being, are far commoner than is generally supposed among English
girls, more especially at school or college, or wherever a number of girls
or young women live together in one institution, and are much secluded.

"As far as I have been able to find out, these attachments--which have
their own local names, e.g., 'raves,' 'spoons,' etc.--are comparatively
rare in the smaller private schools, and totally absent among girls of the
poorer class attending Board and National schools, perhaps because they
mix more freely with the opposite sex.

"I can say from personal experience that in one of the largest and best
English colleges, where I spent some years, 'raving' is especially common
in spite of arrangements which one would have thought would have abolished
most unhealthy feelings. The arrangements there are very similar to a
large boys' college. There are numerous boarding-houses, which have, on an
average, forty to fifty students. Each house is under the management of a
well-educated house-mistress assisted by house-governesses (quite separate
from college-teachers). Each house has a large garden with tennis-courts,
etc.; and cricket, hockey, and other games are carried on to a large
extent, games being not only much encouraged, but much enjoyed. Each girl
has a separate cubicle, or bedroom, and no junior (under 17 years of age)
is allowed to enter the cubicle, or bedroom, of another without asking
permission, or to go to the bedrooms during the day. In fact, everything
is done to discourage any morbid feelings. But all the same, as far as my
experience goes, the friendships there seem more violent and more
emotional than in most places, and sex subjects form one of the chief
topics of conversation.

"In such large schools and colleges these 'raves' are not only numerous,
but seem to be perennial among the girls of all ages, from 13 years
upward. Girls under that age may be fond of some other student or teacher,
but in quite a different way. These 'raves' are not mere friendships in
the ordinary sense of the word, nor are they incompatible with ordinary
friendships. A girl with a 'rave' often has several intimate friends for
whom affection is felt without the emotional feelings and pleasurable
excitement which characterize a 'rave.'

"From what I have been told by those who have experienced these 'raves'
and have since been in love with men, the emotions called forth in both
cases were similar, although in the case of the 'rave' this fact was not
recognized at the time. This appears to point to a sexual basis, but, on
the other hand, there are many cases where the feeling seems to be more
spiritual, a sort of uplifting of the whole soul with an intense desire to
lead a very good life--the feeling being one of reverence more than
anything else for the loved one, with no desire to become too intimate and
no desire for physical contact.

"'Raves,' as a rule, begin quite suddenly. They may be mutual or all on
one side. In the case of school-girls the mutual 'rave' is generally found
between two companions, or the girls may have a 'rave' for one of their
teachers or some grown-up acquaintance, who does not necessarily enter
into the school-life. In this case there may or may not be a feeling of
affection for the girl by her 'rave,' though minus all the emotional
feelings.

"Occasionally a senior student will have a 'rave' on a little girl, but
these cases are rare and not very active in their symptoms, girls over 18
having fewer 'raves' and generally condemning them.

"In the large school already referred to, of which I have personal
knowledge, 'raving' was very general, hardly anyone being free from it.
Any fresh student would soon fall a victim to the fashion, which rather
points to the fact that it is infectious. Sometimes there might be a lull
in the general raving, only to reappear after an interval in more or less
of an epidemic form. Sometimes nearly all the 'raves' were felt by
students for their teachers; at other times it was more apparent between
the girls themselves.

"Sometimes one teacher was raved on by several girls. In many cases, the
girls raving on a teacher would have a very great friendship with one of
their companions--talking with each other constantly of their respective
'raves,' describing their feelings and generally letting off steam to one
another, indulging sometimes in the active demonstrations of affection
which they were debarred from showing the teacher herself, and in some
cases having no desire to do so even if they could.

"As far as I have been able to judge, there is not necessarily any
attraction for physical characteristics, as beauty, elegance, etc.; the
two participants are probably both of strong character or a weak character
raves on a stronger, but rarely _vice versâ_.

"I have often noticed that the same person may be raved on at different
times by several people of different characters and of all ages: say, up
to 30 years of age. It is hard to say why some persons more than others
should inspire this feeling. Often they are reserved, without any
particular physical attraction, and often despising raving and emotional
friendships, and give no encouragement to them. That the majority of
'raves' have a sexual basis may be true, but I am sure that in the
majority of cases where young girls are concerned this is not in the least
recognized, and no impurity is indulged in or wished for. The majority of
the girls are entirely ignorant of all sexual matters, and understand
nothing whatever about them. But they do wonder about them and talk about
them constantly, more especially when they have a 'rave,' which seems to
point to some subtle connection between the two. That this ignorance
exists is largely to be deplored. The subject, if once thought of, is
always thought of and talked of, and information is at length generally
gained in a regrettable manner. From personal experience I know the evil
results that this ignorance and constant endeavoring to find out
everything has on the mind and bodies of school-girls. If children had the
natural and simple laws of creation carefully explained to them by their
parents, much harm would be prevented, and the conversation would not
always turn on sexual matters. The Bible is often consulted for the
discovery of hidden mysteries.

"'Raves' on teachers are far commoner than between two girls. In this case
the girl makes no secret of her attachment, constantly talking of it and
describing her feelings to any who care to listen and writing long letters
to her friends about the same. In the case of two girls there is more
likely to be a sexual element, great pleasure being taken in close contact
with one another and frequent kissing and hugging. When parted, long
letters are written, often daily; they are full of affectionate
expressions of love, etc., but there is also a frequent reference to the
happiness and desire to do well that their love has inspired them with,
while often very deeply religious feelings appear to be generated and many
good resolutions are made. Their various emotional feelings are described
in every minute detail to each other.

"The duration of 'raves' varies. I have known them to last three or four
years, more often only a few months. Occasionally what began as a 'rave'
will turn, into a sensible firm friendship. I imagine that there is seldom
any actual inversion, and on growing up the 'raves' generally cease. That
the 'ravers' feel and act like a pair of lovers there is no doubt, and the
majority put down these romantic friendships for their own sex as due, in
a great extent, in the case of girls at schools, to being without the
society of the opposite sex. This may be true in some cases, but
personally I think the question open to discussion. These friendships are
often found among girls who have left school and have every liberty, even
among girls who have had numerous flirtations with the opposite sex, who
cannot be accused of inversion, and who have all the feminine and domestic
characteristics.

"In illustration of these points I may bring forward the following case:
A. and B. were two girls at the same college. They belonged to different
cliques, or sets; occupied different bedrooms; never met in their
school-work, and were practically only known to one another by name. One
day they chanced to sit next to one another at some meal. They both
already had 'raves,' A. on an actor she had lately seen, B. on a married
woman at her home. The conversation happened to turn on 'raves,' and
mutual attraction was _suddenly_ felt. From that moment a new interest
came into their lives. They lived for one another. At the time A. was 14,
B. a year older. Both were somewhat precocious for their age, were
practical, with plenty of common sense, very keen on games, interested in
their lessons, and very independent, but at the same time with marked
feminine characteristics and popular with the opposite sex. After the
first feeling of interest there was a subtle excitement and desire to
meet again. All their thoughts were occupied with the subject. Each day
they managed as many private meetings as possible. They met in the
passages in order to say good-night with many embraces. As far as possible
they hid their feelings from the rest of their world. They became
inseparable, and a very lasting and real, but somewhat emotional,
affection, in which the sexual element was certainly marked, sprang up
between them. Although at the time they were both quite ignorant of sexual
matters, yet they indulged their sexual instincts to some extent. They
felt surcharged with hitherto unexperienced feelings and emotions,
instinct urged them to let these have play, but instinctively they also
had a feeling that to do so would be wrong. This feeling they endeavored
to argue out and find reasons for. When parted for any length of time they
felt very miserable and wrote pages to one another every day, pouring
forth in writing their feelings for one another. In this time of active
attraction they both became deeply religious for a time. The active part
of the affection continued for three or four years, and now, after an
interval of ten years, they are both exceedingly fond of one another,
although their paths in life are divided and each has since experienced
love for a man. Both look back upon the sexual element in their friendship
with some interest. It may be remarked in passing that A. and B. are both
attractive girls to men and women, and B. especially appears always to
have roused 'rave' feelings in her own sex, without the slightest
encouragement on her part. The duration of this 'rave' was exceptionally
long, the majority only lasting a few months, while some girls have one
'rave' after another or two or three together.

"I may mention one other case, where I believe that if it a sexual basis
this was not recognized by the parties concerned or their friends. Two
girls, over 20 years of age, passed in a corridor. A few words were
exchanged: the beginning of a very warm and fast friendship. They said it
was _not_ a 'rave.' They were absolutely devoted to one another, but from
what I know of them and what they have since told me, their feelings were
quite free from any sexual desires, though their love for one another was
great. When parted they exchanged letters daily, but were always
endeavoring to urge one another on in all the virtues, and as far as I can
gather they never gave way to any feeling they thought was not for the
good of their souls.

"Letters and presents are exchanged, vows of eternal love are made,
quarrels are engaged in for the mere pleasure of reconciliation, and
jealousy is easily manifested. Although 'raves' are chiefly found among
school-girls, they are by no means confined to them, but are common among
any community of women of any age, say, under 30, and are not unknown
among married women when there is no inversion. In these oases there is
usually, of course, no ignorance of sexual matters.

"Whether there is any direct harm in these friendships I have not been
able to make up my mind. In the case of school-girls, if there is not too
much emotion generated and if the sexual feelings are not indulged in, I
think they may do more good than harm. Later on in life, when all one's
desires and feelings are at their strongest, it is more doubtful."


III.

That the phenomena as found in the girls' colleges of America are exactly
similar to those in Italy and England is shown, among other evidence, by
some communications sent to Mr. E.G. Lancaster, of Clark University,
Worcester, Mass., a few years ago.

Mr. E.G. Lancaster sent out a _questionnaire_ to over 800 teachers and
older pupils dealing with various points connected with adolescence, and
received answers from 91 persons containing information which bore on the
present question.[279] Of this number, 28 male and 41 female had been in
love before the age of 25, while 11 of each sex had had no love
experiences, this indicating, since the women were in a majority, that the
absence of love experience is more common in men than in women. These
answers were from young people between 16 and 25 years of age. Two males
and 7 females have loved imaginary characters, while 3 males and not less
than 46 females speak of passionate love for the same sex. Love of the
same sex, Lancaster remarks, though not generally known, is very common;
it is not mere friendship; the love is strong, real, and passionate. It
may be remarked that these 49 cases were reported without solicitation,
since there was no reference to homosexual love in the _questionnaire_.
Many of the answers to the syllabus are so beautiful, Lancaster observes,
that if they could be printed in full no comment would be necessary. He
quotes a few of the answers. Thus a woman of 33 writes: "At 14 I had my
first case of love, but it was with a girl. It was insane, intense love,
but had the same quality and sensations as my first love with a man at 18.
In neither case was the object idealized. I was perfectly aware of their
faults; nevertheless my whole being was lost, immersed in their existence.
The first lasted two years, the second seven years. No love has since been
so intense, but now these persons, though living, are no more to me than
the veriest stranger." Another woman of 35 writes: "Girls between the ages
of 14 and 18 at college or girls' schools often fall in love with the same
sex. This is not friendship. The loved one is older, more advanced, more
charming or beautiful. When I was a freshman in college I knew at least
thirty girls who were in love with a senior. Some sought her because it
was the fashion, but I knew that my own homage and that of many others was
sincere and passionate. I loved her because she was brilliant and utterly
indifferent to the love shown her. She was not pretty, though at the time
we thought her beautiful. One of her adorers, on being slighted, was ill
for two weeks. On her return she was speaking to me when the object of our
admiration came into the room. The shock was too great and she fainted.
When I reached the senior year I was the recipient of languishing glances,
original verses, roses, and passionate letters written at midnight and
three in the morning." No similar confessions are recorded from men.


IV.

In South America corresponding phenomena have been found in schools and
colleges of the same class. There they have been especially studied by
Mercante in the convent High Schools of Buenos Aires where the students
are girls between the ages of 10 and 22.[280] Mercante found that
homosexuality here is not clearly defined or explicit and usually it is
combined with a predisposition to romanticism and mysticism. It is usually
of a passive kind, but in this form so widespread as to constitute a kind
of epidemic. It was most manifest in institutions where the greatest
stress was placed on religious instruction.

The recreations of the school in question were quiet and enervating;
active or boisterous sports were prohibited to the end that good manners
might be cultivated. In the play-rooms, the girls observed the strictest
etiquette, and discipline was maintained independent of oversight by
teachers. Mercante could hardly believe, however, that the decorum was
more than external.

Later, when the girls broke up, they were found in pairs or small groups,
in corners, on benches, beside the pillars, arm in arm or holding hands.
What they were speaking of could be surmised. "Their conversation and
confidences came to me indirectly. They were sweethearts talking about
their affairs. In spite of the spiritual and feminine character of these
unions, one element was active, the other passive, thus confirming the
authorities on this matter, Gamier, Régis, Lombroso, Bonfigli."

Mercante found the points of view of the two members of each pair to be
quite different in moral aspect. "One takes the initiative, she commands,
she cares for, she offers, she gives, she makes decisions, she considers
the present, she imagines the future, she smoothes over difficulties,
gives encouragement and initiative, she commands, she cares for, she
offers, she gives, she docile, gives way in matters of dispute, and
expresses her affection with sweet words and promises of love and
submission. The atmosphere, silent and quiet, was, however, charged with
jealousy, squabble, desires, illusions, dreams, and lamentations."

Mercante's informant assured him that practically every girl had her
affinity, and that there were at least twenty well-defined love affairs.
The active party starts the conquest by making eyes, next she becomes more
intimate, and finally proposes. Women being highly adaptable, the
neophyte, unless she is rebellious, gets into the spirit of it all. If she
is not complaisant, she must prepare for conflict, because the prey
becomes more desirable the more the resistance encountered.

Opportunity was offered to Mercante to observe some of the correspondence
between the girls. Though of indifferent training and ability in other
respects, the girls speak and write regarding their affairs with most
admirable diction and style. No data are given regarding the actual
intimate relations between the girls.


FOOTNOTES:

[279] E.G. Lancaster, "The Psychology and Pedagogy of Adolescence,"
_Pedagogical Seminary_, July, 1897, p. 88.

[280] Victor Mercante, "Fetiquismo y Uranismo feminino en los internados
educativos," _Archivos de Psiquiatria y Criminologia_, 1905, pp. 22-30;
abstracted by D.C. McMurtrie, _Urologic Review_, August, 1914.




INDEX OF AUTHORS.

Abraham
Adler, A.
Adler Bey
Alain de Lille
Aletrino
Ammon
Angell, J.R.
Anselm
Arber
Ariosto
Aristophanes
Aristotle
Aschoff
Aubrey

Bacchaumont
Bailly-Maitre
Ballantyne
Balzac
Bartels, Max
Bascoul
Baumann
Bazalgette
Beardmore
Bell, Clark
Bell, Blair
Benkert
Benson, A. C
Berkman
Berrichon
Bertz
Besenval
Bethe
Biervliet
Binet
Binet-Valmer
Birnbaum
Bleuler
Bloch, Iwan
Blyth, J.
Body
Bombarda
Bond, C.J.
Borel
Bouchard
Brandt, P.
Brehm
Brill
Brown, H.
Brouardel
Brun, C.
Buchanan