DISORDERS OF THE INSTINCTS AND THE EMOTIONS The Parapathiac Disorders BY WILHELM STEKEL PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Two Volumes-Vol. 2. PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Wandering Mania, Dipsomania, Cleptomania, Pyromania and Allied Impulsive Acts BY WILHELM STEKEL Authorized English Version by JAMES S. VAN TESLAAR Volume Two BONI AND LIVERIGHT PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 1924 Peculiarities of Behavior Copyright, 1924, by Boni and Liveright, Inc. All Rights Reserved Volume Two Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Chapter VII CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS Gait and thought-Fear of public places-Dromomania and Cleptomania-Case 51 (Janet)-Cases 53, 54 and 55 (Stekel): Homosexuality and theft-Case 55 (Toepel) : Hatred spreads to the whole world-Vengeance against parents, common motive of Juvenile offenders-Nostalgia and crime-Homosexuality and Cleptomania-Case 56 (Schuurman) : Dostoievsky's description of the Nature of theft-Autobiographic account by the "King of Thieves"-Regression and Cleptomania-Case 57 (Janet): Throwing things away-Giving and taking closely related-The borrower-Money complex-Giving and borrowing-Case 58: The desire to give one's self-Bipolar attitude-Case 59: Homo- sexual fixation-Jealousy-Defective property sense of chronic borrower and spendthrifty giver-Cases 60 and 61 (Janet) : Combination of stealing mania and giving things away-Case 62 (Herschmann)-Three cases illustrating thefts: Cases 63, 64 and 65 (Kielholz)-Corroboration of Author's Erotogenetic theory of Cleptomania by Oberholzer-Case 66: Cleptomaniac generally unaware of Sexual character of deed-Repression- Characteristic phases of Cleptomaniac act: excitation, expecta- tion, dread, release-Absence of organic Sexual accompaniment PAGE i Chapter VIII CLEPTOMANIA, PEDOPHILIA AND ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME Case 67: Nocturnal seminal losses-Absence of erections-Un- usual early history-First sexual memories-Indifference to- wards women and older girls-Cleptomania-Further sexual memories-Bisexual fantasies-Incestuous trauma-Pollution dream-Cryptic piety-Dream of tonsil operation-Railway dream-Emotional fixation on the aunt-Locksmith dream-An- other railway journey dream-Maternal body fantasy-Conclu- sion of the brief analysis-Fixation on parents-Educational blunders-Regression-Dream and sleep states-Erotic col- lectors of symbols 44 V VI CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Chapter IX ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC PAGE Case 68: Early memories-Attitude towards the mother-The step-father-First thefts-Lying-Indulging in masturbation be- fore stealing-Characteristic Stereotypic dreams-Narcissism- The Girl Cousin and the Grandfather-Jealousy-Dreams- Masochistic components-Romantic ideas-Ambition-Fainting attack in the dream-Danger of Secondary repression-CEdipus complex-Former attempt at Suicide-Dreams and their Inter- pretation-Humiliation and Theft-Mother-and-son relationship -Prodigal son vs. forgiving Mother-Testing mother's love- Her jealousy of the Physician-First theft during Analysis- Dreams-Aversion against all Thieves-Patient's quick temper -Criminal trends-Buying things and spending money, pleas- urable-Dream about the friend-Affectative attitude towards the Mother-Patient's Cleptomaniac deeds, a vengeance against the Mother-Fanciful story of meeting Strange women-Quar- rel with the Friend-Jealousy-Sadistic complex based on Infan- tile sexual theory 67 Chapter X ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA Only children among Cleptomaniacs-Case 69: A Young man who steals mostly from his Mother-Stolen article loses its Charm-Overstressed Motions-Patient deliberately brings about condition of Chronic want-Family history-Patient's sex- uality-Masturbation habit-Day dreams fantasies-An Erotic fantasy-Onanistic fantasies-Manifest Criminal fantasies- Feelings accompanying Day dreams-States of Split conscious- ness-Somnambulic Tendencies-CEdipus complex-Mother fixa- tion-Infantile attitude-Mother substitute-Jealousy-Sadistic components-Beyond limitation of time-Meaning of Sleep walk- ing act-Death wishes against the father-Patient's life periods- Dreams-Identification with the mother: mania of giving things away-Superstitions-Homosexual components-Maternal body fantasy-Sado-masochistic complex-Past incidents-Sadistic Harem fantasy-Dreams-Interpretation-Synthesis-General conclusions 97 CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO VII Chapter XI PYROMANIA PAGE Ignorance of Pyromaniacs concerning the source of their Im- pulse-Schmidt's study of the problem-Sexual roots of Pyro- mania-Every impulsive crime a Regression-Juvenile pyro- maniacs-Bladder sexuality-Symbolism of Fire-setting-Wag- ner-Jauregg's observations-Vengeance as juvenile motive- Hellwig's confession-A juvenile offender: Case 70 (Hilda Milko)-Enuresis-Dreams of fire-Another juvenile offender -Dream life and Pyromania-A Pyromaniac tramp: Case 71 (Woltar)-Schmidt's review of the literature on the subject- Nostalgia-Hatred-Adolescence-Love disappointment and jealousy, common motives-Vengeance-Secondary motivation: Case 73 (Richter)-Nymphomaniac attacks-Case 74 (Platner) -Interest in fire-Sadistic tendency-Pyromaniac types in Mar- quis de Sade-Review of pre-analytic literature on the subject- Erotic motives: Case 75 (Petersen)-Conflict between instinct and repression-Cases 76 and 77-Obvious sexual symbolism: Case 79-The feeling of loneliness-Views of Schmidt, Tdbben and Jaspers-Case 80-Symbolic vision of a heart-Pyromania and alcoholism-Jung's hypothesis as developed by Schmidt- Jung's "energetic" conception of the libido-The gist of Parapa- thy-Alcohol as a libido releaser-Case 81 (Jessen)-Case 82 -Sexual intercourse without Gratification-Author's interpreta- tion of the Symbolism of Pyromaniac acts-Unhappy love-Un- gratified individuals are unhappy-Autoerotism-Masturbation and Pyromania-An Epileptic pyromaniac: Case 83 (Tbbben)- Incendiarism fantasies-Role of Masturbation-Cases 84, 85 and 86 (Schmidt)-Libido stagnation hypothesis untenable-Incest fantasies during masturbation-Pyromaniac fantasies during Masturbation: Cases 87, 88, 89, 90 (Stekel)-Sexual impotence and Pyromania-Pyromaniac impulses of Sexually anesthetic women-Case 91 (Placzek)-Sadistic motives-Wedekind's de- scription of Pyromania based on Impotence-Schmidt's cases illustrating Relationship between Impotence and Fire-setting: Cases 92, 93-Pyromania of frigid and ungratified women: Cases 94, 95-Disclosures of Analysis-No specific Pyromaniac craving-Motives always Erotic 124 VIII CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Chapter XII THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC PAGE First extensive analysis of a Pyromaniac: Case 96-Early life history-Army experience-Attitude towards foster mother- Masturbation by the Mother-Petty thefts-Father's letter- Maternal body fantasy dreams-Woman, symbol for sin-Fur- ther early memories-Cruelty and Arson at the war front- Vengeance, the motive for thefts-The "little dancer"-Asso- ciation of Fire and Parental punishment-The Statue seen in the mirror-The haunting eyes-Dreams and their interpreta- tion-Masturbation fantasies-Stammering-Infantile reminis- cences-Associations to the dream elements-Cupola dream, a phallic symbol-Necrophiliac fantasies-Engine symbolism-In- cest wishes-Cunnilingus fantasies-Erotic images-Necro- philiac dream associated with depression-Interpretation-Fur- ther reminiscences-Fears and self-reproaches-Details of fam- ily history-Bipolar hesitation between Homosexual love and jealous Hatred of Father-Identification with Christ-Worry over Masturbation-Repetition of Childhood episode-Foster- mother's plight-Father's selfishness-Theft of brass tubing- Resistances-Incestous indulgences-Intoxication episode while in Army service-Flight from homosexuality-Death mask as Symbol of Homosexuality-War dream-Army captain, surro- gate for father-Burning the library-Another necrophiliac dream-Fear of incest-Sadistic fantasies-Bipolar attitude to- wards Enemy-Feeling attitude of spite against Father-Mas- turbation "losses" and their symbolism-Difficulties of the Anal- ysis-Pronounced necrophilia-Motives of patient's Cleptomania and Pyromania-Difficulties of Diagnosis-Social aspects of the problem-Ridiculous struggle against Masturbation-Yielding to Incest-Accompanying dream-Interpretation . . . . 182 Chapter XIII THE GAMBLER Gambling and alcohol-Observations and conclusions of Groos -Transvaluation of energies-Card playing-Characteristic traits-Gambler's sense of power and mental superiority-Gam- bling for money proof of man's incorrigible Optimism-Self- confidence of gamblers-Uncertainties of the game-Gambling on races-Relativity of sense of loss-Gambling generates an emotional intoxication-Illusion of "luck"-Gambler's supersti- IX CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PAGE tions and fetishistic beliefs-Infantilism-Tics and stereotypic Mannerisms-Gambling tendency an infantile Regression- Symptomatic acts and Beliefs-Relationship to Sexuality-Gam- blers who are also drinkers and "rounders"-Don Juan type of Cryptic homosexual-Symbolic relationship of love and money -Gamblers among artists and literary personalities-Dos- toievsky's description of the Gambler-His autobiographic con- fessions-Richard Wagner's autobiographic confessions-Gam- bling mania and latent homosexuality: Case 97-Ungratified sexuality and gambling: Case 98-Regression and infantile feeling-attitude-Emotional transference-Gamblers are disap- pointed individuals 333 Chapter XIV THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC Trousseau's pioneer studies-Tic, a compulsion-Meige and Feindel's descriptive work-Case 99: Charcot's definition of Tic as the caricature of an Act-Janet's studies-Case 100: Conflict between instinct and training-Cases 101, 102 (Janet), disclosing Psychogenetic roots-Older hypothesis of a "Hypertrophy" of Functional center in brain, untenable-Ferenczi's hypothesis of "genitalization"-Mental treatment of tic-Suggestion therapy -Tic, symptom of a Parapathy-Mental conflict-Arrested im- pulse-Case 103: Play and counterplay-Action substituted by the expression of an intention to act-Tic, degenerated symbol of an action-Case 104: Criminal determinants of tic-Motorial expression of forbidden thought-Warning tendency of tic- Case 105: Collar tic and its analytic interpretation-Significance of Mental conflict-Cases 106, 107, 108: Troubled conscience- Genitalization and Symbolization of the tic-Case 109: Tic as Masturbation substitute-Successful cure through analysis- Case no: Complicated Psychogenesis of tic-Symptoms nearly always of Multiple Determination and Polyvalent-Tic as form of self-betrayal-Case in (Missriegler) : Recovery from the tic through the analysis-Compulsive ideas-Identification with the Mother-Bipolar attitude-Symbolism of theft-Latent homo- sexuality-Revealing the unconscious fixed idea through anal- ysis-Split will-Feeling of dual personality-Motorial sym- bolization of right and left hand-Tic, an arrested impulse- Case 112 (Klasi) : Monotypic and Stereotypic mannerisms- Transitional stages between Normal mannerisms and Morbid tics-Catatonia-Conclusion 256 X CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Chapter XV RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT Are victims of morbid impulses criminals?-Extra-social and Extra-forensic criminals-Artificial sterilization of criminals- Sterilization as a therapeutic measure-Steinach's operations- Cases 113, 114, 115: Therapeutic results doubtful-Juvenile criminals-Desire for Castration as a fixed idea-Case 116: In- fluence of environment-Social determinants-Need of fostering social sense-After-effects of the war-Epidemic of arson, steal- ing and gorging-Lowering of the moral level-Asocial atti- tude towards work-Gambling mania-Alcoholism-Case 117 (Schloss) : Repeated Arson under influence of alcohol-Social Prophylaxis of alcoholism-Intellectual impulsive trends-Cur- rent educational needs-Vocational guidance-Importance of Psychoanalytic insight-Educational and Vocational problems- Self vs. the World-Dangers which threaten mankind from within-Social Psychology-Task of Culture-Social feeling- Training for love-Psychoanalysis and Society .... PAGE 302 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR VOLUME TWO CHAPTER VII CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS Dreamers are wanderers. When a man is hindered from wandering his fantasy is kindled. There are intimate re- lations between the motions of the spirit and those of the body, as everyday experience and observation easily show. The rhythm of the gait changes isochronously with the rhythm of the thought and of the thought content. When we are preoccupied during walking with a particular fantasy, which lends form and coloring to some forward striving impulse, our walk is hastened as if we needed to get away from our- selves. Hope hurries, while care tarries. On going over the inhibitions which stand in the way and prevent the fulfillment of our wishes we slow down our gait. The range of thoughts expressed by the manner of walking is wonderful. Our gait is the symbol of sexuality and of pride, of life and death, of creativeness and annihilation. Hand and foot serve the carrying out of impulses. Hand and foot make up the sense and richness of life. Hence the expression "it has hands and feet,"-with reference to certain occurrences. The phobias seem strange and senseless to any one without psychoanalytic experience. They are, apparently, meaning- less symptoms. When with the aid of psychoanalysis we clear up the apparently senseless symptoms, we find that they are a means for self-protection against impulses. The para- pathiac is afraid of himself, i.e., afraid of his impulses. The fear that he may be overcome by some impulse becomes trans- formed into some form of morbid dread. He gives free rein to his impulses only in his world of fantasy. Against PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 2 their outbreak in the world of reality he insures himself through his phobias. The most common form of morbid dread is topophobia, -the fear of streets and open spaces. What are the victims of this dread afraid of? Our professional experience fur- nishes the answer: They are afraid of carrying out on the street some impulsive act, afraid of having to do so. The street is dangerous and walking thereon is the act which brings them into the zone of danger. The fear, in the first place, is directed against the act of walking. If we analyze these patients more closely we find that they are persons with a strong inclination to wandering. They are immensely fond of going about. They would like noth- ing better than to run away. The woman who protects herself against street temptations through her fear of open spaces (Platzangst, agoraphobia), is not only afraid of yielding to the temptation of being addressed by some stranger and of thus being drawn into some love adventure, she also harbors the impulse to run away from her husband. And this impulse may assume the most fantastic masks and transformations, it may be covered up or changed about, it may be combined with other impulses, it becomes the symbol of the Forbidden. The tramp, the wanderer, is a free man, bound down by no law. He is hand and foot free from the prevailing con- ventional morals. The criminal impulses are the very ones which lead to tramping, to morbid wandering. I call atten- tion to case 21, the man who wandered through the hills- with the fantasy of a Lustmord. It was while walking that his fantasies pranced their weirdest dances. The loneliness of the road fosters the fantasy. And back of all the fantasies are the impulses. Every fantasy has the immanent tendency of striving for its realization and fulfillment either openly or through some symbolic act. It is therefore very illuminating that those who suffer from the wandering compulsion, or dromomania, very frequently show also cleptomaniac impulses. The well-known tramps, or panhandlers, are mostly thieves. Unfortunately thus far these types have not yet been studied in the light of analysis. A very interesting contribution to the psychology of the CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 3 wander impulse is furnished by Janet in his well-known work, Les Obsessions et la Psychasthenie (F. Alcan, Paris, 1919, 3rd Ed.). In the chapter bearing the caption, L'Obsession et I'Impulse du Crime (Obsession and Crime Impulse), he de- scribes the following case: Case 51. "The cleptomaniac impulse plays a great role in the complicated and interesting clinical pictures of fugues. Geo., a 15-year-old boy, cannot stay quietly at school. If he tries to keep to his work, he is overcome by a tremendous restlessness which drives him to plan demolishing the school. At the present he is obsessed with the irresistible desire to run away-it matters not whither-but away from school and from teacher. This thought overcomes every consideration and he must yield to it. He once stole from his parents 68 francs, another time 304 francs, and ran away. He used the money only for the most essential food necessities, barely maintaining himself. He lived on 10 sous a day and did not eat enough. He found no real pleasure in travel- ling; he travelled for the sake of travelling, merely to avoid working. He is dissatisfied all along because he ran away, writes to his parents and friends, asks for their advice, dares to under- take to return, buys a ticket for Paris, but at the last station before reaching Paris, gets off and runs in the opposite direction. He returns home, when his money gives out, badly broken up and deeply remorseful, admits the folly of his conduct and swears never to run away again. He remembers clearly everything that happened and knows that he had gone through a terrific struggle against the compulsion. That distinguishes him from the run- aways who show a complete amnesia for their period of wan- dering.'' The most important feature in this case is the stealing from the parents. Geo. runs away from a complex; he reverts perhaps back to childhood, as shown by Morel's introductory case.1 I have had the opportunity to observe professionally several cases of dromomania following cleptomaniac acts. In every case I was able to trace the sexual motive. Case 52. The 29-year-old chemist, T. N., was turned over to me for psycho-paedagogic treatment, because he had already run away five times after committing larceny and he could hold no 4 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR job. He was the son of a very wealthy man who was divorced from his wife and who now lived a happy married life with his second wife. T. N. confessed to me his various cleptomaniac deeds and explained them by saying that he could not endure being in his father's house, because his stepmother nagged him and treated him shamefully. This explanation did not seem relevant to me. T. N. had been sent to a foreign country, where he had enjoyed great advantages. Nevertheless, after committing a number of wrongs, he suddenly disappeared, ran away unex- pectedly, and after a few weeks of wandering around he sur- prised his father by suddenly reappearing in Vienna. This hap- pened again and again in the same way. Let us take the last instance. He visited a chemical institute here, where he worked as a volunteer, intending to devote himself to an academic career. (T. N. is a highly gifted man, shows no trace of degeneration, was entirely normal up to his 21 st year and held out high promise. His morbid .impulses arose only after his father's second marriage.) One day our patient disappears, after taking and pawning a diamond ring of his father's for a large sum. He journeyed first to Graz; there he sought out a bordello and found himself impotent. Then he becomes acquainted with a girl and spends nights and days in her company. With her he was potent and achieved an incredible record in the number of their sexual embraces. It was like an intoxication. He had the feeling that he must either drink or abandon himself to an ecstasy of passion, so as to forget. One day his money gave out. He wired his father, who came in answer to his appeal and took the repentant sinner back home. First the father had to pacify the girl, to whom the son had naturally extended an offer of marriage. That was not the first time. He had already given that promise to four different girls, and each time the father had to buy him off, against the son's bitter protests. The last one was a fine, prominent girl, naturally a virgin, or nearly a virgin (she had been seduced once by her lover). It was a case of genuine love; he threatened to take his life if he would be separated from that girl! But after one week he calms down and again starts to work. Only he has fits of walking-as he calls them. He must run around for hours before he quiets down. Sometimes he wanders around through the whole night, going from inn to inn. This compulsive restlessness we find in most of these patients. They seek something which is hidden from their consciousness. CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 5 During the analysis there occurred an unpleasant incident. Suddenly the patient's stepmother missed a number of jewels. The suspicion fell on my patient. He vehemently denied it in the analysis. Detectives were engaged, a servant girl was ac- cused, until finally the truth came to light. T. N. had stolen and pawned the jewels, but he claimed that he remembered nothing of the theft. He suffers from drowsiness and dream states during the waking hours. He gets suddenly drowsy while in the street car, at work he falls asleep, and his mind is generally very badly distracted. He loses things, such as his money, his watch, etc., forgets his cane or umbrella. He lives in a second world. The analysis shows clearly that he was in love with two persons. In the first place, with his father, whom he admired and envied and whom he brought close to his heart again and again through his trouble. It was his greatest satisfaction to be scolded by his father. This furnished him a strong feeling of gratification, which during anxiety states culminated in day pollutions. He was in love also with his stepmother, precisely because she was his father's wife. (The well known tertium cohabitionis.) He ran away from the house whenever this love threatened to break into consciousness. He fled into hatred and displayed an an- tagonism which was but a form of self-protection. Unfortu- nately the father broke up the analysis in the first week, after the discovery of the jewel theft. The son was sent to America with a large sum of money and thus far his conduct is said to have been without reproach. Similar relations are shown by another case: Case 53. Fr., a 15-year-old high school pupil, steals a sum of money from his mother's pocketbook and runs away with sev- eral of his comrades, intending to go to America. The others had procured their money in the same way. They do not get very far and in two days the police bring them back. Fr. is brought to one of my assistants for treatment. Analysis dis- closes a strong fixation on the mother, with frank incest fan- tasies. Complete cure after two months of treatment. The next case exhibited a large number of impulsive acts which caused the patient's father considerable concern. Case 54. Herbert G., 20 years of age, a very talented painter, comes to me for treatment on account of anxiety. His father, a 6 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR scholar (Privatgelehrte) in Switzerland, has separated from his wife and lives with his son, and his daughter, two years younger. One day Herbert stole a sum of money from his father and went to Vienna, where he lived with relatives. He wrote his father a remorseful letter declaring his intention to pursue his studies at Vienna. He finds the father's proximity oppressive. The analysis discloses the root of his flight, something easily under- stood. During the last months he began kissing and embracing his sister and this led to strong erections. Once he went to her bed and kissed her very passionately. He noticed that she did not reject his advances. But he managed to exert proper self- control and fleeing out of doors he cooled himself down by a four-hour walk. The next day he stole the money and journeyed to Vienna. He was quasi-conscious of the journey motive. At Vienna he became acquainted with a girl with whom he fell in love at first sight (transference from the sister). He became engaged to her and married her against his father's wish, who threatened to disown him. He succeeded in securing a few com- missions for portraits so as to earn his living. He joined an association of modern painters and made a name for himself. After a time his father gave in. He went with his wife to Switzerland to visit his father. The meeting with his sister had an unpleasant effect. He thought he no longer loved his wife and next day he left Switzerland to remain in Vienna for good. He had several other cleptomanic spells which showed a certain homo- sexual root every time. He always took brush and color tubes from his friends; these thefts were associated with sexual feel- ings and once even culminated in a pollution,-when he par- ticularly dreaded discovery. The relations between homosexuality and the impulse of stealing are clearly shown in a case by Hans Toepel:2 Case 55. Bertha B., 22 years of age, is brought to the clinic by her mother, whose statement is as follows: Bertha was brought up at home; she was a difficult child to bring up. She was always "very independent and stubborn." As a baby of 3 or 4 months she had cramps, at 5 years of age she fell on the street twice. Nothing of the kind occurred there- after. In the upper girls' school she learned easily, but had no patience. At that time she became attached to a woman teacher, 9 years older than herself, in a friendship which later proved to CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 7 be a sensual relationship. She never felt any attraction for men, though she craves attention and particularly the attention of dis- tinguished men. The parents were anxious that B. should study, but she did not stick long to anything. In her 13th year she took some money from the house for the first time. Since then she has kept up the thefts until recently. She has also taken money from stores and has been interned at a sanitarium for two years. For a time a younger colleague of B.'s father had exerted a whole- some influence upon her, but she again reverted to her old habits, and the last time she stole, in money and other valuables, 3,000 marks from a friendly family with which she held a position, carrying out her exploits in the most refined manner (for in- stance, using false keys). Patient herself relates that she had been a very vivacious child, easily attached to others. She was never really close to her mother on account of a friend of the mother's who always stood between her and the mother. Already as a child she had been in the habit of taking things. Between periods of calm she had to give in to this impulse, "which is stronger than my will power." With the stolen money she bought, now and then, books, but usually she spent the money on gifts for others. She wanted to secure for herself the good will of others, who often felt them- selves repulsed by her queer moods. Her conscience did not trouble her over taking things. "I am gratified when I see a friendly face or when I hear an expression of gratitude." (The mother corroborates this mania for distributing gifts; at times she is very spendthrifty.) Only on being found out does she begin to feel truly ashamed and only then is she genuinely re- morseful. Concerning the girl's relations with her former school teacher, Helene H., we may turn chiefly to her own account which is as follows:3 "I have never loved my mother, in spite of the innumerable proofs of her love for me, so much as I have loved Helene H. . . . Mother's love was divided, and I, an egoist, wanted it all. That is what Helene gave me. She was the first human being to love me despite my shortcomings, she truly loved me, she was the first to give me everything which I craved with all my heart. (Hours at a stretch she played music for me.) She went on walks with me at all seasons of the year. Helene H. came to 8 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR join our school (in my 15th year). She taught me (natural science and technological specialties) though she was always ex- tremely severe and relentless with me. But her severity towards me was such as to make me perceive the love back of it and that made me happy. (After the school period) Helene H. prepared me for the seminary. Many a hard nut was easy to crack be- cause she was a mother to me and I loved her with all my heart. (She knew well our family relationships) but an unpleasant word never came from her lips; on the contrary, when my heart was heavy and I complained of my mother and her woman friend, she stopped me with strong words, even scolding me at times. In April I went to A., happy to escape, to get away from the parental home. I was very happy at the Seminary, and I studied diligently the courses which appealed to me. Other studies I neglected, and of course, the consequences were un- avoidable. (After a Quarter) I was dismissed. Helene H. was a true friend of mine while I was at the Seminary, she super- vised my work. It was she who helped me (now) over the pain (of dismissal). It was Helene H. who consoled me and with pleasant words tried to ease my pain. . . . Mother only repulsed me and bewailed her shattered hopes. My suffering she berated as self-induced, and I turned to the one person who understood and sympathized with me. My mother perceived that we were drifting apart and began to hate her rival. She forbade me see- ing her; nevertheless I did so, even lying and deceiving in order to gain my end. Each time I returned home from Helene con- soled and full of good intentions. Again and again I tried to get closer to mother, but what she expected of me was beyond my powers. I should have never given up Helene H., never, never; sooner would I have left the parental home where I was so little understood. Mother's friend recommended a girls' school, a la- dies' Seminary in D., a distant City. I had a very pleasant time in D. There I woke up freed from the yoke that the parental home placed on me. From Helene H. I received a letter every day. I felt that she longed for me very much and the feeling of being missed made me inexpressibly happy. Her letters were so kind, so noble and loving; she wrote about all sorts of details, about our excursions and walks together and told me that she was lonely, now that her child was away. There arose in me a love, great and pure; I felt that my heart belonged entirely to her, she so lonely in her loneliness. Time passed quickly for me in D.; during the examinations I received a telegram through which H. CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 9 apprised me of her arrival. H. H. came; she was very excited, very passionate. I was always fond of sitting at her feet, I now threw myself in her arms; formerly a sense of shyness held me back. She met me with passionate words on her lips. On seeing my mother, she disappeared quietly, unobtrusively (at my recep- tion in A.). Now I was to take part in the management of the carefully kept house. Everything there was hateful to me, house- hold drudgery and sewing. (First I managed to spend several days on a visit with H. H.) Those were wonderful days; every day opera, concert, theatre; I took in everything, everything. Now I realized that the hurry and bustle were forced, artificial. Our nights were intoxicatingly wonderful. I felt strangely at the prospect of being alone with H. Then I realized that my passionate longing was the expression of a sexual craving and I gave myself up to her body and soul. I took in everything; my childhood I thus left behind me with regretful tears. I was horrified at what was expected from me by the person whom I loved above everything. Nevertheless, I did everything that was wanted and unstintingly gave myself to her as well. How those cravings disgusted me. I began to scold myself, only to take it all back by saying to myself that it was part of true love. H. said so to me every hour of the day and I believed her, though I could not understand. The days passed, the separation was hard for both of us. We met afterwards three or four times. H.'s passion was endless, her longing and inner struggle made her ill, for it was her nature to worry over the character of her actions during her periods of sober reflections. She lost all self-restraint, having sacrificed everything to her love. The last time when I returned home dead tired there was something strange in my love for H.-horror at the irresistible character of that will outside myself before which I was so helpless." Her parents came across the letters that revealed the sensual character of the relationship; this accident her friend could never forgive her and caused her to withdraw. Then Bertha B. spent two years at a health institute, her thefts having partly led to this step. Before the world's eyes she assumed the responsi- bility for what had happened before. There she heard of H.'s engagement. "It seemed to me mysterious, unbelievable ... I could not believe, I did not want to think that she would do such a thing . . . my heart was still aflame with the old love; I returned home, Helene coolly passed me by, she hardly bowed, and there I 10 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR was, my heart filled with love which nobody any longer cared for. Shortly thereafter H. gave birth to a boy." B. B. concludes her account as follows: "Do I still love her? I do. In spite of what she lias done to me, the very worst thing that a human being can do to another, I do. Whomsoever I have once genuinely loved I shall love for- ever." It was true that she had no affairs with men; towards the last and while at home she did like a certain young man, but her parents were opposed to him; they always had a notion that she would eventually marry her father's colleague. She was much pleased that the latter took her seriously, but she did not want to marry him because he was too religious, and she did not like that. Dr. Toepel gives the case no analytic interpretation, al- though it is obvious. He even states: "We abstain deliber- ately from any interpretation in Freud's sense," and holds that the patient's impulse of stealing was due merely to her craving for sensation and not to repressed sexuality. But the patient's history is transparent enough to reveal one obvious fact. She loved her mother and was jealous of the latter's friend. She had never enjoyed a true mother love and therefore she undertook to avenge herself at her mother's expense. This case shows us also a feature which is common to all the cases of this type: a favorable influence leads to im- provement. When these parapathiacs feel that some one is good to them, they are able to control their impulses, a fact which reveals to us the meaning of the impulse. All patients of this type crave love and sympathetic understanding. We see further the association or combination of the marked craving for stealing,-the theft impulse,-with the craving to give things away. This combination is a feature which will be frequently met. Striking is the woman's strong jeal- ousy of a homosexual character. Her friend's marriage reacts upon her with the force of a trauma. She tries to accept the fact. She is pronouncedly homosexual and admits that she is not in the least attracted to men. And much of what she had CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 11 carried on with H. had been done to hurt the mother. She became a criminal because she hated some one. "Whoever hates another hates the whole world." We must bear in mind that many of the cleptomaniac deeds on the part of young people are inspired partly by the motive of revenge against the parents. The reasoning is about as follows: "If I become a criminal and land in jail, it is your fault. Yours will be the shame." Frequently it is but a means to worry or humiliate some one. Many crimes due to a longing for home are carried out by persons who have been badly treated at home, who have perhaps been beaten by the parents. Jasper's excellent study, Heimweh und Verbrechen, contains a number of illustrative cases. Maria Luise Sumpf, a child murderess, confessed to her father, on the day before the fatal deed, that she would like to stay home. "For that he beat her black and blue." Maria G. had quarrelled with her mother just before com- mitting the crime. She had left her position and upon re- turning home her mother was angry and drove her back. On the way she stopped at the water front and acted as if she wanted to jump in. It angered her mother, who said: "Do you intend to drown yourself?" Whereupon she an- swered : "Because you say so I won't do it." The remark: "You would rather see your mother dead," she answered with the statement: "I should be glad if you were dead." Connections with homosexuality, especially attachment to mother or sister in the case of female cleptomaniacs, are fre- quently observed. I am inclined to go further and to claim that in every case of cleptomania it is our duty to search for the homosexual root. Very interesting light upon this theme is thrown by the analysis of a 23-year-old student of theology which Dr. Wolrad Schuurman has carried out under my supervision. Dr. Schuurman reserves for himself the privilege of reporting the case in full, but has placed the following information at my disposal: Case 56. Patient was latently homosexual for a long time, i.e., he had no inkling of his homosexual components until a PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 12 leader of the Wandervogel seduced him. He struggled against this inclination and he succeeded in overcoming his homosex- uality enough so as to repulse it in his consciousness. But the analysis of his symptomatic acts and of his dreams revealed that he had not mastered the homosexuality, but had only repressed it from consciousness. He is emotionally fixed very strongly on his father and many of his symptomatic acts are intended to affect his father. A great yearning for friendship has always led him to seek friends. He was particularly fixed on a certain friend whose sister he even intended to marry. His thefts always occurred after he had been repulsed by some person to whom he took a fancy. Every defeat and every rejection led to a compensatory theft. He stole mostly sexual symbols, walking canes, umbrellas, pencils and espe- cially fountain pens, of which he had a whole collection. Finally he stole a revolver from a friend and the discovery of this deed at the Seminary brought him to me. But he stole not only penis symbols. He was eager to steal books and other objects. The patient was of a strong criminal dis- position and interested in everything pertaining to crime; he followed with great interest the newspaper accounts of criminal trials. He made two unsuccessful attempts at suicide (hanging and arsenic). He masturbated very excessively; never had sexual intercourse with a woman. He studied not only theology but was keenly interested in all the other cultural sciences and often proved himself extraordinarily gifted. The analysis was not complete, nevertheless it brought ex- cellent results. His cleptomaniac impulses disappeared (till the end of 1921 there was no return). Complete recovery from his cardiac neurosis, ability to concentrate on his work. Of course, numerous nervous symptoms still persist. An extraordinary understanding of the nature of theft due to sexual motives is shown by Dostoievsky in his masterly short story, The Honest Thief. Astaphi Ivanovich relates his adventures with Jemelyan Ilyich, the drunkard: "We met in the public soup kitchen. What a drunkard was he, what a tramp, what a thief; he had a job somewhere once, CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 13 but he was chased away on account of his drinking. What a character. His clothes were God knows where. Often one could not really tell whether there was a shirt to his back beneath his mantle. Whatever he got hold of would go for drink. But he was no ruffian; so quiet, so delicate, so good, he never begged for anything, he was always shy: but one saw how eagerly he craved drink and so everybody gave him drink freely. And what a man he was. Like a girl behind one's back, you went this way, or that way, he always followed you. And we had met but once. What a weakling. First, he wants your permission to let him stay over one night with you at your place; of course I let him. Next day, I let him stay another night; the third time he came for the day, seated himself in the window and again stayed overnight." Here we have a beautiful illustration of fascination. Jemelyan falls in love with Ivanovich, follows him like a dog and is particularly anxious to spend the night with him. Then he steals from his benefactor a pair of trunk-hose and cannot be made to confess it by any means. He pawns the article and spends the proceeds on drink. On his death he confesses the theft to his benefactor. The hose is here a symbol standing for its content. It is also plain that with his suppressed homosexuality the man was necessarily driven to drink. Frequently the first homosexual impulse turns into clepto- mania, as we learn through the interesting case of Manolescu. The latter, called the King of Thieves, has written his memoirs, which make most interesting reading. His first theft followed a homosexual suggestion which he did not accept. The King of Thieves had also been expelled from the Cadets' School, another proof of our contention that there are no monomanias. He displays an interesting combination: stealing impulse, gambling impulse and swindling. The stealing propensities serve his pride and a desire to represent himself as a great personality, in which he has had great success and which en- able him to carry out his adroit thefts. Who would have suspected the elegant, distinguished and noble-looking cavalier for a common thief? PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 14 I must admit that Wagner-Jauregg is correct when he re- gards swindling as a peculiarity based on a combination of the stealing impulse and a lively fantasy. But the swindler is more than that. He has a burning desire to enhance his feeling of personality; that ambition leads him to formulate a fictitious personality for himself. It is interesting to read how Manolescu was led to his first theft: "The evening of my arrival at Constantinople I succeeded in getting into the very large garden of the Concordia Variete- Theatre without a card. I saw looking at me a big Turk whose richly adorned uniform showed him to be a high officer. As soon as I seated myself on one of the primitive chairs, the Turk did likewise and proceeded to look intently at me instead of turning his attention to the stage, where some of the most charming soubrettes of all Europe, if not the most prominent, were on view. The Turk seemed very interested in me and he paid not the least attention to the stage; his sensuous oriental eyes were so fixed on me that it soon began to annoy me. I was never afraid of anything in my life and so I acted as if I did not see him. But my neighbor was not to be discouraged so easily and after a while he addressed me in Turkish, a language of which I did not understand a word. So I looked him straight in the face with a shrug of my shoulders to make that clear to him and indicated that I wanted him to leave me in peace. But as he did not understand or else did not care to understand my sign lan- guage, he addressed me in Greek, which I understood still less, so that I did not answer him at all. Thereupon he spoke in an abominable Italian, a language which I had begun to learn while in the navy and in which I was able to carry on a little conversa- tion on account of its similarity to Roumanian. The following conversation took place between us: " 'You are a nice little boy.' " 'What is that to you ?' I answered him. " 'I love everything that is beautiful, especially wonderful black eyes.' " 'Tell me, are you crazy, or drunk? I am no girl.' " 'My dear, all women are camels and I find them repulsive.' "'You have extraordinary taste, sir; I find handsome women are very majestic.' " 'You are too young yet, my little friend, and you do not yet CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 15 know how much of the old Satan there is in every woman. But if you desire to make the acquaintance of any of the girls here, I shall be glad to introduce you.' "His offer was too tempting for me to forego; with my prac- tical mind I perceived at a glance that there was something to it and so I grasped the opportunity. But I confessed to the Turk that all I had with me was one franc and eighty centimes, which was not enough on an occasion such as meeting a singer, to which his smiling answer was that he happened to be better off. "The Turk called his cavass, a sort of bodyguard or attendant, who followed him everywhere, carrying his mantle and waiting for orders, took from his side pocket a visiting card and, under his name embellished with numerous titles and official positions, wrote a few words in pencil; then he stuck the card in an en- velope and gave it to his cavass to deliver it for him to a lady whom he indicated. At his request I pointed out one girl as the prettiest of the lot. We left the garden and went into a spacious building containing a hall where the entertainments were given during inclement weather. The officer ordered a room for us. It was fitted out most luxuriously with every convenience, a room such as I had never before seen and seldom since, notwithstand- ing my variegated experiences and partially opulent existence. "We were not in that richly appointed room ten minutes when the pretty soubrette, a Frenchwoman, stepped in, led by the majestic-looking cavass, who acted as if he was showing off his grand relations to the queen of fairies. With a stereotyped smile on her lips she went straight over to my host and reached out her hand to him in greeting. As for me, humbly dressed and unpre- tentious appearing as I was, she did not so much as notice me. But the Turk informed her curtly that he had called her not for himself but for his young friend. Then he ordered a sumptuous dinner as well as a couple of bottles of champagne. During the dinner, in the midst of a very exciting bit of entertainment, I noticed suddenly the edge of the Turk's pocketbook sticking out of the corner of his pocket in his partly unbuttoned coat. Sud- denly the thought struck me to take possession of it because it occurred to me that it surely contained more than the visiting cards with the title embellishments. At a moment when his attention was given wholly to the singer I actually succeeded in abstracting the pocketbook out of his coat, unobserved by him, and managed to slip it into my vest pocket, whereupon I grew bold and took from him also his Bernstein cigarette box, richly 16 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR embellished with a golden monogram set in diamonds. Fortu- nately he kept a few gold pieces among the pieces of small change, so that he paid the bill, amounting to about 2 pounds, with that money. He gave the singer a present of a couple of pounds and then we left the 'Concordia.' The Turkish officer'entered his carriage to be driven to his palace; first he gave me his address and invited me to visit him at his home next morning. I was in a hurry to get as far away as possible with that pocketbook, wherein I found twenty pounds in paper, a few fetiches and a number of visiting cards. Of course I had no intention of keep- ing the appointment, fearing punishment for the theft. But three days later I found myself suddenly face to face with him on the Galata bridge. I made up my mind boldly to confront him. Instead of running away I addressed him as follows: 'My dear sir, if you try to have me arrested now, I assure you that you yourself will have to suffer the consequences, for I shall raise the biggest scandal and I will denounce you for what you are.' "All he did was to hiss between his gnashing teeth that I make myself scarce round there, and I did not wait for him to say it a second time." (George Manolescu, The King of Thieves.) This case shows us a first theft under the influence of a homosexual experience. For a second Manolescu may have, in his need, dwelt on the Turk's offer. The theft was perhaps brought about by a number of motives. One of these motives was the homosexual trend. (Money instead of love, an old symbolic equation, repeatedly shown in dreams.) Often instead of a manifest homosexual excitation we find a more or less pronounced depression.4 The interesting relations between depression and clepto- mania are illustrated by a case which Janet records in his Medications Psychologiques: Case 57. "A 50-year-old woman, as a result of excitations and fatigue, showed from time to time crises of depression, crises of a melancholic character with sleeplessness, constipation, complete aboulia (suspension of will power), apathy and compulsive thoughts: a typical case of intermittent melancholia. I had ob- served her under two such crises, one lasting 6 months, the other 8 months. Eighteen months after the last crisis the same symp- toms again began to show themselves: sleeplessness and constipa- tion, the same qualms of conscience, the same feeling of perceptive CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS inadequacy, etc. I expected the same depression cycle as the previous ones and looked for a 6 months' duration of the trouble. A few days later the patient, much to my surprise, declared that she was entirely well and ceased her visits. Months later her son came to me, very disconsolate, and told me that his mother had been caught in the act of stealing from a large store and had been arrested. A search of her home disclosed a mass of stolen goods which she had never made any use of, not having removed even the price tags. The pitiable woman states that during her depression, whose development I had observed, she had been taken to a store by a woman friend. Nothing interested her, and pressed to buy some- thing, she picked off the counter a breast pin, which her friend insisted she must buy. She looked for a salesgirl to make the purchase but none happened to be around at that moment. Her friend did not notice that she had not paid and she permitted herself to be carried along holding the pin in hand. After a few steps she became uneasy and afraid she would be taken for a thief. The thought agitated her very much. This tremendous excitation was soon followed by a powerful release of emotion such as she had not experienced for a long time. She thought of nothing any longer and kept on her way between the counters. She felt much better, and on reaching home she was able to work and attend to her household duties. With the hope of get- ting well her courage returned and she again found herself in a good mood. Unfortunately the hopeful outlook and good feeling lasted only a day or two. The depression again set in very rapidly, following the same old course. Mrs. V. could not help recalling the excita- tion which she had experienced in the store. She, who ordinarily was unable to make any decision, was now able to venture out of doors and to go back to the same store to find out whether she would experience the former feeling again. In spite of strong moral inhibitions she yielded to the temptation of stealing again. It turned out well and it helped her for a couple of days. From that time on she had to do it over and over. "I had to do these things so as to get relief." All in all, two crises of depressions, one resembling the other, each lasting 6 to 8 months. A third crisis, which began in the same way, is interrupted over a period of 8 months, during which the woman is dominated by the impulse for stealing. The depression sets in again as soon as the impulse is repressed. In this case it is easy to trace the 17 18 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR intimate connections which exist between the impulse and the depression and it is possible to prove that the impulse arises out of the need for excitation which in turn is generated in the course of the depression by the feeling of inferiority." Here we plainly note the relationship between depression and impulse. The depression is the reaction to a forbidden wish. An impulse is being repressed. We know already that the impulse in question is sexual. The thought: "You will never attain your wish," stands back of the sadness which is expressed by the depression. The impulse craves fulfillment. It represents something lawless, sinful, something that is for- bidden and which one takes for one's self. This leads to a shifting and a transposition. The object in the store becomes the symbol of that which is wanted, the deed a symbol of that other-forbidden-deed. It is like the operation of an oracle. If this theft is successful, the other will be like- wise. The theft succeeds. The impulse is temporarily quieted, the oracle's decree is favorable. If the patient is caught in the act, the depression grows. She can neither grasp nor understand her conduct. She for- gets that she had carried out the theft in a sort of a trance, wherein place and object have changed, having become trans- posed in her fantasy into the primordial, suppressed wish (emotional transference). Occasionally the depression is relieved by the committal of cleptomaniac deeds. The stolen articles are given away. The depression involves a lowering of the feeling of per- sonality. Giving things away heightens the sense of person- ality. The self feels stronger and the ego feeling is enhanced. The giver stands high above the taker. Moreover this form of theft has also an erotic background. The subject wants to give himself away and substitutes some object. Love is secured through a gift. This is the reverse of the policy of a prostitute: the prostitute is paid for her love. The giver is the man, who buys the love thus prostitut- ing the taker of the gift. This is a sexual symbolism; the mechanism therefore becomes intelligible when we bear in mind the process of transference. CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 19 The psychoanalysis of cleptomaniacs teaches us that steal- ing and giving things away are closely related. That is true also of the romantic bestowing of gifts. This belongs almost to the morbid picture of cleptomania as we shall see with greater particularity in the lengthy analysis in Chapter IX. The feature common to both, "stealing" and "giving away," which seem to stand in contrast to one another is the fact that in both instances the object is not paid for. Reciprocity is lacking. Both acts involve a depreciation of the notion of ownership. Occasionally the cleptomaniac displays a strong sense of property during his earliest childhood. Already as a child he cries out: "That is mine." Brothers and sisters must not touch his playthings. This sense of ownership is sometimes rudely shattered by those in authority (parents, teachers, etc.). Things are taken away from him which he regarded as his own. Often the withdrawal of love is what first shatters his sense of ownership. A rival appears in the shape of a little brother or a baby sister and his previous exclusive dominion is over. He must now share with others. Cleptomania is occasionally an over-compensation for an in- jured sense of ownership. There are two remarkable types which stand very close to the cleptomaniac, the lender and the borrower, and we must look into them more closely. I have known a large number of parapathiacs who suffered from a "lending mania." In the majority of instances it was easy to prove that these persons desired to give them- selves away. They craved the love of their fellow men, they wanted to be loved by everybody, they wanted the whole world to be beholden to them. A marked sadistic trend was discernible in every instance. There are many persons of this type among the so-called leaders of charity, who benefit them- selves more than their beneficiaries through their charitable acts. Many charity contributors are over-compensated; many philanthropists are sadists who transpose their asocial cruelty into socialized compassion. The well-known type of the borrower, the man who always gets into debt because borrowing and not paying is to him a pleasure, stands out as a Don Juan of fantasy. Money 20 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR to him means love. Every person whose confidence he enjoys is one of his love objectives. From unsympathetic persons, therefore, he borrows only in cases of extreme need. His victims are his friends and the persons whom he likes. This type is common among men, whereas among women the seeker of gifts and free offerings is more common; there are women who not only like to receive gifts but who boldly demand them. "Would you lend me this vase?" "Would you lend me these books ?" In the analysis we recognize these patients by the fact that they want to be treated gratuitously. Rich men's sons pretend to have a prejudice against getting some- thing for nothing. But their conduct at times is the same. Mr. X states that he cannot tell his father anything about his needs. It would worry the old man too much. He will pay up later for everything. But the end is the same: they never pay for the treatment, not even when they get hold of money, therefore the careful analyst should not enter into such an agreement. Such an arrangement often amounts to a premium for the persistence of the parapathy. The patients do not want to get well, in order to show the con- sultant that if they had paid him it would have been money thrown away. Others try again and again to exploit the analyst. They arrange their financial affairs in such a way that towards the end of the month they find themselves in straitened circumstances, or they squander their money so as to be compelled to borrow from their consultant. They blush and are uneasy when they "touch" the analyst for a loan which is frequently done on an impulse, thus betraying the sexual character of the deed. (Such patients must be taught at the beginning of the treatment that for psychoanalytic reasons they must never appeal to the consultant.) They have recourse to all sorts of subterfuges in order to attain the cherished loan. (They want to compel a loan.) I recall a certain physician whom I treated years ago. He was a multi-millionaire, yet he always managed to be short of ready cash and had to borrow from me. Before his departure- he left Vienna after being cured of a severe agoraphobia, he borrowed a larger sum of money, besides owing for a month's treatment. Shortly after his return home he married CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 21 a woman who was several times wealthier than himself. Nev- ertheless he allowed the debt to stand and he had to be re- minded before paying a part of it. It was not greed. He suffered from the mania of wanting something for nothing and so he took a present for himself. He also had the mania of giving presents to others, occasionally in ways that were ridiculous. He was short of cash before his departure because he had bought very many presents, thus overdrawing his budget. He was cleptomaniac (borrower) and at the same time a free-handed giver. In all cases of this type we find an emotionally stressed money complex. The cause of this physician's parapathy was a thought bearing on his inheritance. His father was wealthy and he was to share the inheritance with the other children. By means of his parapathy he was meant to make himself out a financial cripple so as to extort a greater share for himself and in that connection, again, the money was the symbol and proof of paternal love. Giving presents and withholding what belongs to others have certain features in common, as illustrated by the follow- ing case. Case 58. Helene S., 42 years of age, comes to me for treat- ment on account of periodical fits of anger. She cannot endure the thought that she is growing older. She cannot give up heart conquests or renounce flattery, presents, etc. She has a good husband whom she loves above all else, nevertheless she has caused him many unhappy hours with her spells of anger. She is not of a passionate nature. But she is satisfied to give herself to her husband and to make him happy. She experiences no orgasm but has a "proud, animated feeling" when she has induced the orgasm in her sexual partner. She can refuse no one a request. She explains this weakness as due to her sym- pathetic heart. "You may smile at that," she explains, "but it is only because I have a good heart. If I can procure some joy to a human being, it is my greatest pleasure. I like to give presents away and often I wonder: what could I give this person or that person? I am always glad to oblige others. For myself I am rather indolent. But for a stranger I will run around for days. Then if he smiles gratefully at me, if I can imagine that he 22 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR thinks well of me, or that he likes me, I am happy. I have often spent all morning cooking, or preparing all sorts of sweets, which I then send to acquaintances and friends, or even to indif- ferent neighbours. If I send a cake unexpectedly to a woman, whose acquaintance I have made recently and whom I like, it warms me to think what a pleasant surprise it will be to her and what she will think of me. I myself have often reflected on this propensity to give presents and wondered how it developed in me. My father was fond of giving and had quite a reputation as a philanthropist. He was a drinking man, flighty minded, and fell into debt. Creditors came to the house daily threatening and swearing and demanding their money. My father had wealthy relatives in America who supported him. When the money came he began to squander it, lending it or giving it away, without paying his debts, so that we were often in bitter need at home, whereas strangers got money from him and he never saw a penny of it back. But my mania for presents also has another form. It gives me the greatest pleasure to receive a gift. I often gather together some pretty things by the simple process of begging for them. Sometimes I have thought that I give things away in order to receive presents in my turn. A woman who visited me at my home for the first time praised some of my home-made sweets very much and I sent her a basket of them. One week later I called on her and I saw a little charming Copenhagen ash tray which I liked very much. I said very boldly: 'You may give me this ash tray.' Naturally she could not say, No. There are a number of such knickknacks and other objects in my house which I have literally extorted in that manner." In the course of the analysis, cleptomaniac traits also reveal themselves. She stole from her father, while he was drunk and still had some money on his person. She also had the habit of stealing from her husband. He gave her abundantly for every- thing she needed, but she had a number of poor relatives to whom she was glad to give money. Among them there was an aunt whom he hated, claiming that the woman had had a bad influence on her. To this aunt she sent money secretly, money which she took from her husband's pocketbook while he was asleep. The homosexual components and the fixation on the father showed themselves plainly in the course of the analysis. She was a girl of 18 when she went to visit the above-mentioned aunt (to whom she sent money gifts secretly). The aunt was CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS odd, and she had the habit of going around her apartment en- tirely naked. As this happened in southern Dalmatia she justi- fied herself on the ground that the weather was unbearably warm. This aunt asked her to share her bed. The patient perhaps suspected vaguely the reason for the request, but an irrepressible impulse made her obey. Various homosexual incidents took place, in which cunnilingus played the chief role. Her relationship to her husband is interesting. She worships him, claiming he is not a human being, but a divine being; there is not another man possessing his virtues and traits, but from time to time she is overcome by fits of anger, during which she scolds him and hurls at him the worst insults. Such spells usually follow coitus. As the analysis shows, she craves various paraphilias, including cunnilingus, while her husband always carried out sexual intercourse in the normal manner. She is insanely jealous and during her spells of anger accuses him of infidelity; claiming that she cannot conceive it possible for him to remain indifferent before all the beautiful women. But she herself claims to have no interest whatever in other men or women. She does not look at any one on the street. Even during the analysis she holds on to her attitude of blind- ness. She submitted to analysis only because her husband wanted her to do so. She harbors no unconscious wishes. She knows everything. She is a victim of her youth. She had suffered a great deal and her spells of anger are but the consequence of her unhappy childhood. She tells smilingly her various dreams and thinks they have no meaning. These are typical prostitution dreams. They are full of phallic symbols. She catches a gigantic fish out of a coop in which a number of fishes are swim- ming around, or she is stroking a bird which grows to enormous size. Another time she perceives a tree which grows all the time and she tries to get to it by crawling through the hole of a tent. She admits that her husband's phallus does not satisfy her. She has the feeling that it is entirely too small for her, although coitus is somewhat painful to her. Finally she confesses that during her girlhood she had been followed a number of times on the street by a man with a big erect phallus, and that this has made a powerful impression on her fantasy. Her feeling-attitude towards her father comes more and more plainly to the surface. When he was intoxicated, he was rough and sometimes beat her. Some of the dreams represent situations during which she is being beaten. Her father's membrum, which 23 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 24 he often exposed during his intoxicated state, lingers in her fantasy and dreams. Various symptoms indicate that she had been abused by her father. She dreams every night of the place where she spent the first ten years of her life with her father. After his death, she left home and travelled all over the world. But her dreams always took her back to the first home. During the analysis her mania of giving presents breaks out. She now has a double passion: buying and giving. All day long she buys and gives things away or has things given her. During the transference she begins to give me presents. She brings flowers, and wants to bring cakes, candies, etc. Soft refusal and explanation of the meaning of the act are taken as an insult. At the hotel where she now lives she gives away very pretty clothes to the maids, claiming that they do not fit her. She tells her husband that she does not want the treatment any longer. I have shown her that the presents she is buying for herself is for the love which she fancies on the part of every man and every woman she meets. Her homosexual components are the ground for her jealousy. This she understands a little, but she does not want to see the truth. I am trying to tell her something that is far- fetched. (The usual defence flight of many patients.) Stormy incidents occur at home. She reproaches her husband for something that had roused her anger years ago. He was intimate with a man friend. She begins to scold his family. The over-patient man finally loses his patience. He jumps at her, throws her to the floor and gives her a thorough beating. There follows the well-known incident ("The Tam- ing of the Shrew") which I have already described elsewhere. The woman throws herself to his feet, kisses his hands, they have coitus and she experiences a stronger orgasm than she had felt for a long time. She had finally achieved that which she had sought to attain through her spells of anger: to be beaten by the loving hand.5 She longed for the beating she received from the father-for a repetition of the specific inci- dent. Her giving mania was a substitute for her craving to give herself. Every article that was given her was likewise a sym- CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 25 bolic fulfillment of her wish that the giver give himself to her. The bipolarity of all psychic phenomena also shows itself in this case in her feeling-attitude towards money. It seemed that money had no value to her and that she had but a weak sense of ownership. Nevertheless in certain re- spects it could be shown that she was entirely under the dominion of the power of money. She never admitted to me that she had thought at all about her husband's will. But a dream betrayed her and she finally did ask her husband to let her look at his will. He did not want to show it to her. She accused him of having neglected her in favor of his family. Thereupon he opened his writing desk drawer and threw the document at her feet. The will named her exclusive heir to all his wealth. As soon as she read it through she tore the document to pieces. That was her sec- ond defeat at his hands. This moral stroke made her even more humble and hurt her worse than the physical beating. She finally prevailed upon him to draw up another will. The strange pair left me after enjoying a few weeks of happiness. I am unable to state how their married life turned out later. As a rule we may say: persons who always distribute presents are unreliable and expect payment with interest and with compound interest. The next case, which I can give here only in outline, leads us perhaps more penetratingly into the mind maze. Case 59. A very famous chemist writes me about his severe depression. He had gone through the most serious disappoint- ment in his life. I would help him if I could make him humanly understand what he has gone through. I turn directly to the gist of his account: "Before the war I had scientific connections with the whole world. Some of my books were translated in foreign languages. A few of my patented discoveries have made me famous. I had friends and acquaintances everywhere. Then the war came and I worked here in Berlin in an isolation that was terrible to me. You yourself have gone through enough of the mental and physical privations caused by the war to appreciate my difficult position. Then came the loss of my material possessions. I had to work as a chemist in a factory and support my parents. My 26 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR experiments required much money. Great was my joy when, after the armistice, I received a letter from Italy. A prominent chemist, who had translated one of my works into Italian, asked me how I was getting along, whether I am in want or need any- thing. His purse and he himself are at my disposal to serve me in any way. He sent me large boxes filled with food which, unfortunately, as was the custom at the time, had been pilfered at the post office. I declined. Conditions had somewhat im- proved, I was again working, earning, and my prospects seemed good. I declined support and asked only for some books and chemicals which were not procurable here. But my admirer's letters grew more and more passionate. He emphasized his friendship for me, he wanted to organize a regular propaganda in my favour, wanted to obtain a professorship in Italy for me. (My mother was Italian and I therefore speak Italian fluently.) He wanted to protect my patents. After so much enmity from other countries this manifestation of good will did me good. I also wrote him warm letters, thanking him for the rich presents which came unsolicited. I always reiterated that I regarded them as a loan to be repaid in a short time. My surprise was great one day when I received a telegram announcing my friend's arrival. He wanted to see me face to face and had a number of important plans to talk over. He had a feeling that things went badly with me and that I was covering up my true situation. He arrived shortly after that to stay in Berlin several weeks. I met him at the station. He embraced and kissed me, which seemed to me strange between two men. I said to myself: "He is a Southerner." We went to the hotel and he pressed me to open up to him. He was certain that I am keeping back something. I told him that I intended to get married. I was 36 years of age and I have at last found some one who can make me happy. But I had no money. My girl was poor. How was I to undertake to establish and furnish a home? If he would lend me a certain sum of money, I could get married in a short time. He grew more thoughtful than at the beginning of our conversation and asked me to name the sum. The amount was ridiculously small for a man of his means. I was about to sell another patent and hoped in a short time to get hold of several times the amount I had mentioned. He was lost in thought for a moment, then he reached out his hand to me and said: "You shall have the money." Thereupon he un- packed his trunk and turned over to me a large number of large CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 27 and small presents, things that I did not even ask for. I saw in the trunk a number of various knickknacks. He told me that he intended to visit a number of my colleagues and he had brought some presents for each of them. He had food articles, cigars, chocolate, candied fruit, in short, various articles which were hard to obtain here at the time. Particularly impressive were the cigarette boxes which he smuggled across under great difficulties. Now began a wild chase. He wanted to meet as many of our professional colleagues as possible. He hurried by automobile from one famous man to another, telling each one the lie that he had come to Berlin on my account. Always there were people invited, always new persons, so that I grew dizzy. The strangest thing was that I was never alone with him. He was the one who entertained these people; he always covered all the enter- tainment; he took the company to theatre, often engaging two boxes for the crowd. It was a merry saraband time. Towards my bride he seemed cordial enough. But she, strange to say, was the only one on whom he did not shower any gifts. This lasted two weeks. We had hardly exchanged a dozen words by ourselves. There were a number of things for us to .talk over, especially the sale of an Italian patent, which would have put me beyond all financial cares; the Italian edition of a new work; the adoption in Germany of certain Italian patents, etc. But we had no chance. On the other hand, I went through a very unpleasant experi- ence. There was a professional colleague who had behaved very badly towards me. He once accused me of plagiarism, claiming that I had used his ideas in one of my patents. I proved easily that I had formulated and published the ideas in question years before my colleague. He has also said certain evil things about me. Briefly, I was compelled to sever all relations with that highly gifted investigator. My Italian friend wanted by all means to bring us together again and insisted that I should give in so that we may forgive and forget the past. I am a man of peace and I agreed. My friend told me that the other man had also agreed and we were to meet at a coffee house. I went there and stretched out my hand to him. My antagonist turned his back at me. My friend had lied to me. He had not apprised the other man at all of his intention to make peace between us. That was not all. He said to me: "Leave me alone with him. I will tell him what I think of him." He sat down with my antagonist at a distant table and conferred with him for over an hour, so 28 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR that I felt insulted and had to leave the place. My friend's conduct puzzled me. But I did not care to draw the conclusions. I was now dependent on his help. I wanted to get married, and had to establish a home with that end in view, etc., and he was to help me until I realized some income from my patents. He left town before we had a good chance to talk things over by ourselves. We had only a few moments. We talked about a new patent we were planning jointly, also about a book we were going to bring out together, and he was going to do everything in his power for me. My bride and I escorted him to the railway station when he left Berlin. He embraced me with tears in his eyes, kissed me and said: "I love you. That is all I can say to you at the moment of parting!" Then he shook hands with my bride and climbed into his car. To my surprise weeks and months passed without a word from him. Before that nearly every day brought a letter or something from him. Now there was nothing but unbroken silence. I may mention that before his departure my friend had bought so many presents that he was left without funds in hand and had charged me to pay for a number of orders he had given. He wanted me to check up statuettes and pearl bags, etchings, oil paintings, books and periodicals which he had ordered and for- ward them to him. I undertook gladly to do all that. Before he left I also presented him with a costly statuette, because I did not want to accept his presents without giving him something in return. That little art object undoubtedly was worth more than all his various little gifts. He went on a prolonged journey through Germany. Two months passed. I was very much worried. Did something happen to him? Finally I received a short letter from him in which he asked me whether I really needed the money. I wired him: "As soon as possible." Then another letter came stating that he had made a mistake, he could not produce the money, but would send me part of it. I was taken aback with astonish- ment. I could not understand this change in him. I wrote him to sell my patent and to realize some money on another dis- covery. He answered it was impossible, times were bad. etc. Finally I bestirred myself and went to Italy. An invitation from a society made the journey possible. I found my friend very proud over my success. But he was changed. The old warmth was lacking. He asked me for the articles he had CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 29 ordered. I had brought many of them along with me. Also presents for him and for his family, although my means did not permit it. But I had new hopes and expectations. To make the story short: I found that all my friend had told me was untrue. I was able to make good use of the patent and of another dis- covery. (My friend had not lifted a finger to do a thing with them.) I paid him up all I owed him. Before going away I wanted to spend a day with him. He again brought along one of his acquaintances as if he was afraid to be alone with me. He hardly spoke to me. That man who had written me burning letters of admiration and praise; that man who praised me as a genius to whom he will devote his life, whose fame he will spread throughout Italy, that man now had not a thing to say to me. He knew that I was daily in telegraphic communication with my bride and thought this was childish. For the first time I sus- pected that he was jealous of her. He remarked that it was ridiculous to be in love; like a little boy; women were not worth it; a man of science must remain unencumbered, etc. I returned home, arranged my affairs and married. My friend had again given me a number of commissions. I bought for him everything he asked me, in memory of his previous readiness to serve me. I noticed a certain cooling off in his letters, although they still ended with the usual protestations of eternal friendship. But presently his whole attitude changed. He began to assume an antagonistic attitude toward my scientific views, although in a roundabout way. He followed in the footsteps of my antag- onist. He neglected my new researches under cover of silence, whereas, formerly, I always received inspiring congratulatory letters from him whenever I published a new contribution. His requests for statuaries, etchings, books, etc., grew all the time. The most unpleasant surprise struck me at the end of the year when I sent him my statement. I had meanwhile sold some new patents and my financial condition was much improved. I also owned my little home. I always kept a careful bookkeeping account of everything. But my friend never asked for an item- ized bill, or statement, he only wanted to know the sum total. I wrote him that he owed me a certain amount. Great was my amazement when he wrote back asking me for an itemized state- ment, stating I must have made a mistake in my account, he remembers he paid me once such a sum, etc. I was speechless. I did not answer his letter. The matter was closed so far as I 30 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR was concerned. I said to myself: You have received so many presents from him (though you amply paid for them) let him have what he owes you as a gift. The strange fjr* this spendthrift man turned out a vulgar, greedy fellow in the end is something I cannot understand. Per- haps you can explain that to me. . . The case was fairly simple. The Italian friend was homo- sexually fixed on the Berlin scientist. His presents were intended to secure the latter's conquest. He became jealous when he saw how the friend clung to his bride. He was afraid to be alone with him, because an unexplainable dread originating in homosexual impulses warned him against it. He kissed the man at the station and declared his love to him after the danger was over. For he was going to leave in the next few minutes. Then he suffered from jealousy. He tried by all means in his power to prevent his friend's mar- riage. He did not send the money which he had promised him, he delayed making use of the patent. When all these little tricks did not help he turned from his friend. He had also tried to make him jealous when he turned his attention to the latter's rival and antagonist. That was in keeping with the formula: "If you hurt me I will hurt you." Finally the many requests and commissions show that he wanted his friend to preoccupy himself with his affairs. He wanted to indulge in the fiction-illusion of receiving favours from his friend and in the end he acted like every parapathiac who suffers from the "borrowing mania," he did not pay for the things he received. He extorted the presents for him- self. The writer of the above letter corroborated this view by a number of incidental peculiarities which he had noticed. At any rate we find that every habitual giver as well as borrower has a "defective sense of ownership," to paraphrase Kohnstamm's well-known remark that the neurotic suffers from a "defective sense of health." Noteworthy is the fact that giving things away may be followed by a slight depression. It shows that the loss is CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 31 inwardly deplored. The article becomes doubly precious after it is given away. A polar counterpart to the depression fol- lowing the giving away of something (and of the well-known euphoria, or good feeling, after securing a loan,-the familiar high spirits of the student who succeeds in making a "touch" . . .) is the release of a disphoric state after parting with something. This peculiarity will be studied with greater de- tail in Chapter IX. For the present I record a few interest- ing and characteristic cases culled from the available litera- ture. The following case is recorded by Janet in his Medications Psychologiques: Case 6o. Ndf., 17 years of age, stole everywhere trivial ob- jects, such as penholders, scissors, thimbles, but always dis- tributed the plunder among school children "to play at being rich and charitable." These petty indulgences relieved her from the depression of which she suffered with the onset of each menstru- ation and which she found unbearable. Case 61. Oc., 38 years of age, yielded to the temptation of carrying out larger thefts; he stole several 100-franc bills from his employer's cash box. He did not hide the stolen money, but invited his comrades and even strangers to join him and drink at a cabaret. He paid for the entertainment. The strange thing was that he himself drank but very little. He did not require the buoying effect of alcohol, the success of his liberal treatment of others to a joy party, the excitation of spending freely money which was not his, were enough to plunge him into a happy state of mind wherein he lost his reticence, forgot his stammer- ing and his shyness and for the time he felt "like a real man." A highly interesting case showing the fusion 01 the instincts of stealing and giving away is reported by Herschmann.6 The following is an outline: Case 62. Maria R., 28 years of age, was brought to the clinic on February 16, 1921, by order of the Court because during her detention she "showed symptoms of depression and expressed thoughts indicating religious insanity." Maria R. is accused of thefts aggregating a total of 320,000 kronen from the Vienna Street Railway Company by which she was employed as a clerk. 32 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR The defendant admits the fact; but she states that she did not commit the larcenies for her own advantage; she used the money to support her mother, paid her brother's gambling debts and bought victuals which she resold to other railroad employees at a cost far below the current price. She also supported her friend M., paying, with others, for her stay at a summer place. She paid her music teacher liberally for her lessons. Often she sent contributions of money to nunneries. She did not spend a cent on herself. These statements, on the whole, are corroborated by the testimony of witnesses. Only the defendant's brother denies that she had paid any of his gambling debts for him. He claims that he had merely accepted a loan from the defendant once but that he had repaid her long ago. On the other hand, it was found that, as the defendant truly claimed, she had spent most of the money buying victuals which she turned over to the railway employees at a charge far below the actual cost. Investigation further shows that R. had the reputation of being a very capable employee who enjoyed unlimited confidence on account of her extraordinary efficiency. For that reason alone was she able to carry on her larcenies. The defendant has served a sentence once before for a similar offence. It is noteworthy and significant that she told the young man to whom she was engaged at the time that she belonged to a wealthy family and possessed great wealth. Her monthly ex- penses were far above her modest monthly income so that H. was not surprised to see her spend freely. For her larcenies R. had then been sentenced to one year of forced labour, but she was discharged in 3 months. Her be- haviour during the jail term was good. The defendant's married life was not happy. R. maintained that her mother compelled her to break off the marriage, and that she had never had any sexual intercourse with the husband, whom she did not love at all. The defendant's husband, whose testimony gives the impres- sion that he does not think well of R., is also unable to say much against her. He does state that his wife was avid for luxuries, but he cannot mention anything specifically bearing this out ex- cept the fact that she liked to go to restaurants. She was very unreliable; she was sure to forget her appointments. If he re- proached her she repulsed him in an angry voice. She liked to CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 33 give presents to her women friends; she gave them blouses and victuals. She also took their shoes to the repair shop and always asked the price of repairing them for less than it cost. The defendant had not spent any of the money she had taken on her- self. Witness states that he will sue for divorce. He attempted marital relations with her twice. Then on account of the de- fendant's frigidity the witness abstained from further attempts. The defendant's mother testifies that R. was always very ex- citable. On the least provocation she became rabid. She did not get along at all well, particularly with her brother. She always showed herself more friendly with women than with men. She has often complained that her mother did not treat her friends well enough. She gave all sorts of things away to her women friends and kissed them; "she was like a woman in love." Con- cerning any actual homosexual indulgences on the defendant's part witness knows nothing. The strangest thing about R. is that she gave away everything. She had that habit already as a small child ... a very little girl. Every doll, every plaything, that she received, she gave away to some other child in a few days. She was very compassionate; if she heard any one talk about poor people her eyes filled with tears. The inclination to give everything away to others led early to conflicts on account of R.'s limited means. During her school years there already occurred repeatedly serious quarrels at home because R. was constantly in the habit of incurring debts in order to be able to buy sweets for other children, or treat them in other ways. Later, R.'s inclination to give away presents grew even worse. Several times she abstracted things from her mother's laundry and with the proceeds she bought presents for her girl friends. If she was caught, she broke into tears, and in the midst of all sorts of contrition she promised her mother each time that she would not do it again, only to repeat the offence in a short time. At 16 years of age she pawned a gold watch, the only thing of value her mother possessed, and with the money she bought presents. She was extremely penurious about herself and she never derived any personal advantage from her misdeeds. R.'s father, Melchior L., gave the impression of being an ex- traordinarily foolish man. He kept up, simultaneously, several love affairs, often brought girls home and slept with them in his wife's bed, took from the bureau drawers some of his wife's clothes and underwear and gave them to his sweethearts. He PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 34 gave away things to others, among them persons whom he hardly knew, things which he could not afford to give. At the inn he always treated large crowds and got heavily into debt. His promiscuous gift-making was generally recognized as abnormal. He. was unusually sympathetic and compassionate. Once an old woman, a neighbor, was dispossessed for non-payment of rent and he brought her into their little apartment, together with all her furniture, telling his wife that hereafter the woman was to live with them. Melchior L. ended in suicide. It happened as follows: shortly before Christmas he purloined from the store where he was em- ployed a roll of goods to distribute as Christmas gifts to his friends. The theft was discovered afterwards and Melchior was discharged. No complaint was entered against him out of pity for his wife. A few days later Melchior and his wife had a quarrel. His wife reproached him that he had reduced his family to starvation through his folly. After that quarrel Melchior L. left the house and shot himself in the head. After his death many acquaintances came to his widow, bringing back presents which had been given them by Melchior L. They had no sus- picion that these were stolen goods. The extent only then became apparent to which Melchior L.'s giving mania had grown. Melchior L.'s father, an agricultural worker by occupation, died in prison. He was sentenced for arson. In 1878 he set fires, once in the month of May and once in December of the same year, which destroyed peasants' property. Our investigation shows that Maria R., accused of a crime against property, is the daughter of a thief. Her father died when she was three years of age. She was brought up very carefully by her mother, who enjoys an excellent reputation. We must conclude that hers is not an acquired defect, but that she is actually the victim of an inborn, abnormal trend, the result of the hereditary transmission of a criminal tend- ency. Result of the examination of the defendant at the psychi- atric clinic: On her admission at the clinic, February 16, 1921, defendant assumed the tone of a little girl. She spoke in a low voice, her CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS sentences were crisp and she gazed at the examining physician with eyes depicting astonishment. Her lips were constantly quivering. Patient showed considerable timidity. About her husband, she states that she married him in 1915 only to get rid of her name, which she had defamed by her prison sentence. She has not had marital relations thus far. In view of her claim of virginity she was turned over for examination to the gynecological depart- ment. The report was that the anatomical findings do not show that sexual intercourse had taken place. While carrying on her larcenies the thought never occurred to her that she was committing a legal offence. She had never thought of the consequences of her acts or she would not have done such things. She is not afraid of jail and the thought that she may be sentenced to prison for 5 or 6 years does not frighten her. She is sorry only on account of her mother. She would never steal if she were employed in a home. She could never deliberately do anything that was wrong. While carrying out her misdeeds she never had the feeling: "It is wrong for me to do this." Asked whether she is sorry, she said without any display of emotion that "naturally" she regrets what has happened. She is particularly sorry for her mother. But regret in the true sense of the word she cannot feel because she lacks the feeling of personal responsibility. When one deliberately does something that is wrong she is guilty but not when one has no notion that it is wrong; the notion of guilt is out of question; there can be no question of guilt. The patient remembers clearly the psychosis episode she had gone through during her detention. During her delirium she had seen women with ropes around their neck who also threw a rope around her neck so that she felt she was suffocating. Maria R.'s emotional instability was striking. She broke into tears and became disconsolate over trifles. Once after a trivial quarrel with a nurse, she wrote a pathetic note threatening suicide. Aside from that she displayed no symptoms of mental disorder and at the end of the examination period, on May 18, 1921, she was turned over to the authorities. The report of the clinic therefore concluded that the pa- tient's criminal acts were due to heredity; further, that the 35 36 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR patient's capacity to withstand the hereditary trend was lim- ited; finally, that at the time of the crime she found herself in a situation which, as experience shows, always acts very deleteriously upon persons of her mental constitution. The Court took cognizance of the findings of the report and with attenuating circumstances sentenced R. to one year of jail. This patient, too, like Toepel's, wants to secure love. She becomes the benefactress of the street railway employees and surrounds herself with the halo of a person having high con- nections. She is obviously homosexual and carries on no sexual intercourse in her married life. The cause of her homosexuality seems traceable to her fixation on the brother. It is interesting that her father was also a thief (and her grandfather was even guilty of arson); such family histories are frequently found among cleptomaniacs. Herschmann assumes that a hereditary propensity leads to stealing and giving away. Is such an assumption neces- sary? And how can it be proven true? We might assume with equal relevance that the environment is responsible, or a fixation on the father. Any one still inclined to doubt the relationship between repressed sexuality and cleptomania will be convinced by the following objective data which we owe to other investigators. I record next three interesting cases taken from Kielholz's interesting work, Symbolische Diebst'dhle (Zeitschr. f. Psych, u. Neurol., Vol. LV) in connection with which the author comes to the same conclusions that I have reached in my work. I shall also quote his interpretation of the cleptomaniac deeds in his own words. Case 63. Catherine H., unmarried, 36 years of age, speech defective, with impaired hearing, stole a two-year-old bull at night from a Gemeinderat in her village and fed it and reared it secretly at her home. For two weeks the deed remained a mystery and the stolen bull was discovered only when she offered to sell the animal to a butcher in the neighbouring village, having gone there early one morning, after wandering through roundabout ways CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 37 under cover of darkness. Search of her home, after she was arrested, disclosed two pairs of old military trousers and a sack of sugar which she had stolen from another Gemeinderat. "Upon investigation of the defendant it was found that her maternal grandfather was known 'as a thief; but she herself had a good reputation, though she was considered rather simple-minded, a person who had never done any one any harm. She was very desirous of marrying, but could not get a man, according to the village constable, who also thought that she was probably led to commit these deeds in an effort to improve her economic condition so as to be able to get married. This explanation may be true, but it fails to disclose a motivation sufficient on rational grounds. What use can Catherine, a girl, make of the old trousers and the sugar so as to improve her financial situation? The deed I con- sider a classical illustration of symbolic stealing, a wish ful- fillment, wherein the young bull and the male clothes bear a symbolic significance which must be obvious even to the psychologists who do not care to go the full length of psycho- analytic interpretation with its refinements. As proof that the sack of sugar is also close to such symbolism we need only recall the many popular ditties which sing of sugar-sweet kisses, lips and treasures. Expert testimony shows that H. is neither insane, nor a full-grade imbecile, but that she is capable of appreciating the meaning of legally forbidden deeds to a certain extent. The expert further testified that the stealing of a live bull on the hoof by a woman was a stupid act, and so was her attempt to get rid of it; while the theft of the trousers seemed to him meaningless and silly. The Court sentenced the de- fendant to io months in jail. About 12 years later she was interned at an institution on account of a paranoid condition. She thought she heard telepathic voices, especially at night; the voice that pursued her mostly was that of the Gemeinderat from whom she had stolen, and she complained that he was doing with her at night anything he pleased." 38 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Case 64. A Lieutenant, 21 years of age, during the first night at a new school for recruits, stole from his roommate, with whom he had seen previous service, a pocketbook containing 24 francs, and a couple of trunk keys. The following morning he helped his comrade search the room, then confessed his misdeed and gave him back the money. The pocketbook and the keys he had thrown out of the window. On the evening when this happened the two men had been drinking together. At the height of their carousal each of them tried to secure the favor of a waitress. His partner had better luck and our delinquent, much depressed, withdrew to his room and went to bed; but after an hour and a half his drunken comrade woke him up and twitted him. He waited till the latter quieted down and fell asleep and then stole the pocketbook from the clothes which were hanging over a chair. The thief assured us physicians that he had never had sex- ual intercourse. He was engaged a year ago, but gave up the engagement after a short time. On the other hand he has flirted a great deal and, like other young men, has boasted about his luck with the ladies, without having ever really done anything. Under the circumstances the interpretation seems fair that the lieutenant has envied his comrade for his rapid success and sexual efficiency and that by taking away his pocketbook with the two trunk keys he meant to rob him symbolically of his potentia. A dream, which he told the writer, corrobo- rated this interpretation: He met the comrade in question and with his own sword he cut off the other's scabbard. This is a lightly veiled pictorial representation of the castra- tion act. Case 65. This is a dentist's wife, 37 years of age, who was interned at the institution on account of hysteria with severe anxiety attacks and serious attempts at suicide. With a bread knife which she had adroitly hidden she cut her wrist so that it caused profuse bleeding and it was necessary to ligate the radial artery. She tried always to steal and hide scissors and knives, often successfully, concealing them in the bed or sofa, and thus she was able once to cut her wrist. Asked to explain she said she had done it without any reason, CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 39 being merely interested or curious to see whether she would be found out; again she declared that stealing a dessert knife quiets her anxiety, any other kind of a knife has no effect on her. This feeling of anxiety she locates in the abdomen, whence it ascends to the heart; then she complains of frontal headaches. She reproached herself as being an outcast because she was sexually excited, indulged in masturbation and was afraid of spinal trouble and of becoming incurably insane. Her memory and intelligence were unimpaired. The patient's history and analysis showed that the woman suffered for years on account of her husband's sexual apathy and occasional impotence (her husband was much older than she). Mornings she suffered dreadfully because her ex- pectation from coitus always ended in disappointment. One year before entering the Institution she met one evening on a side street corner an exhibitionist and being short-sighted she looked close and saw the man having an erection. She ran away scared and very much excited. Shortly thereafter, at a cure resort, she sat facing a gentleman who, whenever some one complained of any physical illness, drew forth a small pair of scissors and laid them beside his dessert knife and repeated the stereotyped joke: Here is a pair of scissors and a knife for you to choose; you need only cut off the troublesome organ. It made her reflect often, oh, if I could only cut the thought that troubles me out of my brains. "After the relationship of her anxiety spells as well as of her knife and scissors thefts to her previous experiences, and her attitude towards the husband, was made clear in the course of the analysis, the woman improved rapidly so that she was released happy and interested in work and she remained away for six years. Then she caught her husband in an intimate tete-a-tete with a young woman and this started her old trouble developing anew with similar symptoms. Now it came out that she had been juggling her husband's accounts for a long time; her husband was very economical. But she secured a second key to his cash box and helped herself to his cash repeatedly, always with a feeling of great dread. The money she spent on sofa pillows, wall pictures, and other artistic objects, because she wanted a nice home. She started these misdeeds after her husband's younger brother began to pursue her with his attentions and once kissed her. This brother-in- law had an artistic wife who once said to the patient, at the 40 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR very beginning of her marriage, that she married out of pure love, but that this could not be said of the patient's marriage. By the manner of spending the stolen money she tried there- fore to get ahead of her sister-in-law, whom she did not like. She wanted to be as well off, or better, in fact she was jealous of the other woman's husband. She also dreamed that her husband had met with serious accidents, or that he was brought home dead, or that she was getting divorced from him and these dreams were accompanied by considerable anxiety. The unconscious wish to be rid of the husband, expressed in these dreams, fits precisely with the tendency expressed by the thefts of putting herself in the role of her artistic sister- in-law, who married through love. Here, too, the misdeeds show themselves to be, above all, symbolic acts." I need add nothing to Kielholz's interpretations. We shall see later as the analysis of two cases (Case 49 and Case 50) have already shown us that the symbolic interpretation alone is not enough. Oberholzer, who did not find my first contribution, The Sexual Roots of Cleptomania, "very convincing," corrobo- rates my conclusions completely in his essay Eigentumsdelikte und Sexualitdt (Crimes against Property and Sexuality, H. Gross's Archiv, Vol. L, 1912). The following is one of his cases: Case 66. The patient, born 1894, was sent us last year for observation and eventual treatment. For about two years he puz- zled his family by his habit of stealing large and small sums from home and staying away under false pretexts until he had spent the money on pleasurable pursuits. These thefts he carried out during periods of moody "dissatisfaction" which came upon him suddenly, making him sour and irritable. He was a poor scholar, neglected his studies, and preferred to run around wild. At his father's store he started to be bossy, and would not keep steady hours. He was a boy of average intelligence. "Examination of the patient revealed a pronounced infantil- ism, both from the mental and from the physical standpoint. He was small for his age, showed the infantile habitus, was CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 41 childish in his conduct and most of his wishes were of a childish character. The advanced degree of his arrested de- velopment revealed itself especially with regard to his attitude towards sex. The polymorphic phase of the infantile sexuality had persisted in this 17-year-old boy almost without super- structure or further development, unchanged, except in its intensity, leading almost to perversion (enuresis, masochis- tic and sadistic trends, specially the latter, strong inversion trend); he manifested also a number of various sexual excita- bilities which are normal but which at such a degree of in- tensity are perhaps normal only in the small child (sexual excitation on rocking, on going on the street cars or railway coaches, etc.). According to his own statement he began to steal in his 12th year. He spent the stolen money on sweets, cakes, especially berry cakes, also on bonbons, candy, red lemonade and chocolate. When he craved these things, which happened particularly during his spells of depression, and he saw money lying around or if he knew where the money could be reached he could not resist the temptation. Even the mere anticipation of all the good things he would buy gave him pleasure. The marked preference for certain kinds of goodies is determined by his infantile sexual activity. The berries remind him of the male and female genitalia. "When the berry is picked off, the stem which remains resembles the male membrum while the berry itself distinctly makes me think of the female sexual parts." (Coitus symbolism.) The sexual significance of the berries depends largely on its red color. As a child he has often watched little girls urinating and thus observed the red appearance of their genitalia. His craving for red lemonade is due to the same source. The whipped cream reminds him of milk and of milking and leads to his former sexual theories. His partiality to chocolate proved to be a bit of his anal eroticism, largely repressed." This plethora of clinical observations, I believe, must con- vince even the uninitiated of the relationship existing between cleptomania and sexuality. Many physicians, acquainted with my researches, have pointed out that during the theft the sub- 42 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR ject feels no sexual excitation. Eulenburg wrote me a few years before his death that he had under his observation a servant girl who had stolen her employer's marriage ring. Although she confessed that she had been somewhat attracted to her employer, she definitely declared that she had never felt any sexual excitation (not even during the act). The ring she sold and with the proceeds she bought a bust pro- tector for herself. I believe the case speaks for itself and requires no comment. Krafft-Ebing, too, mentions the Istro- witz case. A man steals from a woman in the street car, without the least sensual feeling. But here is how the man himself describes the incident: "The contact with her set my nerves a-quiver, I had a feeling of pressure which started at the pit of my stomach and crawled all the way up to my strangling throat, I shivered like one drenched in cold water and in order to escape the irritation I wanted to find another place, but the car was crowded and I was wedged in tightly. In that situation I committed the terrible deed (taking a pocketbook from her overcoat pocket) while my mind was in a whirl. I was entirely lost to my senses." It is very noteworthy that most cleptomaniacs do not rec- ognize the sexual character of their deeds. The fetichists are aware that they steal for sexual reasons. A man who collects women's handkerchiefs told me that at the moment when he steals a handkerchief from the woman's pocket he has an ejaculation. Many fetichists have the same experience during the act. But the cleptomaniac is unaware of the sexual character of his conduct. Case 45 (Zingerle), and my ob- servation, Case 54, are exceptions. These patients have re- pressed the primordial sexual thoughts. Erection would call attention to the character of their act. Women can mask their sexual excitation much more easily; a light orgasm or tickling in the vagina, often the mere sensation of a "sweet" fatigue, or a sense of relief from tension is enough to remind them of the sexual character of the occasion. With men the act of erection would at once reveal the character of their act. It is a forbidden act as we well know. The inhibition which holds back the primordial impulse (the pleasure inhibition) CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS 43 is transferred to the symptomatic act. This leads to a sexual act with exclusion of the sexual feelings. The accompanying, secondary emotions are the same: excitation, a state of ex- pectancy, anxiety or dread, and, finally, release of tension. But the sexual orgasmic accompaniment is lacking. The affec- tative overtone is there, but without the sexual counterpoint. Only in cases in which anxiety is capable of leading to orgasm does the orgasm as well as detumescence take place, but in such cases the patients regard these manifestations only as part of the familiar manifestations of their anxiety spells and not as a sexual process. But the release of a dammed-up affect through an action leads to freedom and to a loss of tension which the subject perceives merely as a beneficent result while the little accompanying manifestations betray to the experienced observer their sexual character. We must also bear in mind that all the analyses recorded in this chapter are very superficial. A parapathy has wider dimensions. Its symptoms show the same elaborate structure. Full light on the motives and the psychology of the deed can be obtained only through a thoroughgoing analysis. But the special points have been indicated with more than suffi- cient particularity. We are not turning our attention to the analyses of a few cases with a view to enlarge upon and extend the conclusions to which we have been led thus far. VIII CLEPTOMANIA, PEDOPHILIA AND ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME Lucky is he who loves only what he must and hates only what he should. Marie Ebner-Eschenbach. Case 67. Mr. H. T. (we shall call him Theobald) wants ad- vice on a pressing matter. He is 29 years of age, strong, well built, and has never yet experienced sexual acme with full con- sciousness. Thus far the treatments (Yohimbin, Testogan, Sper- min injections, a prolonged course of treatment under Magnus Hirschfeld, etc.) have brought no results. Erections have failed altogether for the past three years. He attributes this to mastur- bation, a habit which he has been addicted to since his nth year. Objective examination reveals normal genitalia and a pair of normal, active testicles. His build is thoroughly masculine; he shows no deviation from the normal. Patient's further history brings to light the following remarka- ble facts. His seminal losses occur always during sleep. He sleeps so well that he never knows what takes place. But he has repeatedly found his shirt and the bedsheets wet and he even took precautions to hide these seminal losses because he was ashamed of his mother noticing it. He is highly efficient in his calling and has been very successful. At present he is engaged. He loves his fiancee. Emphatically he asserts : "If I cannot marry the girl I shall shoot myself." He is accepted for psychoanalytic treatment. His early sexual history is very remarkable. He recalls having had strong erections already at 4 and 5 years of age. These erec- tions lasted a whole day and proved very uncomfortable. We are 44 ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 45 further astonished to hear that he suffers from nocturnal priapism to this day. From about two o'clock until morning he has very powerful erections. His membrum remains stiff until he wakes up. For a while he lies in bed in a half sleepy state. He needs a great amount of sleep and, like all persons who lead a double life, gets up very late. As soon as he is fully awake his erection is gone. In the fiancee's company he has strong erections, after years of ineffectiveness. But he doubts whether he will ever be able to benefit by them. Thus far he has never yet been able to carry out sexual intercourse. In former years he was able to effect penetration, in spite of flaccid membrum, but he could never bring on an ejaculation. On the contrary, after a few minutes the erection subsided and he made himself ridiculous, so that after a time he gave up all attempts. Only once did he succeed in ef- fecting proper penetration. He was a 17-year-old boy at the time, living with his aunt at a country place. During haying time he began to play with a buxom girl. She did not resist his advances. Next day they went into the barn. There he carried out im- missio mevnbri with strong erection. Just at that moment the aunt called out: "Children! What are you doing there?" He jumped up, fetched his clothing and ran away ashamed, never showing himself to his aunt again. He had a very strict training. His parents, who were ex- tremely strait-laced, did not permit him to meet girls. His father was always very severe. But he is extremely fond of his mother. He goes to see her whenever he gets a leave of absence. Tears come to his eyes whenever he speaks of her. A few days ago he was at a railway station, waiting for a train. His thoughts turned on his mother and he began to weep; he wept steadily for three hours. Why? He could not tell. He did not know the reason. His first sexual experience dates back to his fifth year, accord- ing to his recollection. A girl, a few years older, seduced him. Her first words are forever engraved on his mind. She raised her little dress, and turning around, said: "Do you want to see my ?" She also did other things with him. He does not remember what they were. In his 6th year he fell in love with a school girl and hastened back to school because he knew that she was cleaning the classroom. She chased him away with the broom. That humiliation he never forgot. At 10 years of age he visited a friendly family. He met an 11-year-old girl there. They fell in love and corresponded. She wrote him strong, ex- 46 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR citing letters: "Have you rolled with, and on top of, girls al- ready?" His mother found some of these letters in his coat pocket and he was soundly thrashed. Naturally that ended the association. When he was n years old, a 13-year-old uncle introduced him to the practice of masturbation. They indulged in mutual mas- turbation. His uncle had ejaculation. He himself felt only a local tickling but considerable thrill throughout his body. That relationship continued for several years. Later he masturbated alone. But he never experienced either orgasm or ejaculation while conscious. Always the indulgence led to great excitation throughout the body until he could not keep it up any longer. At 14 years of age he began courting girls; later it was his pleasure to induce girls to fall in love with him. He was bent on carrying things merely to the point where the girl should say: "Now I am altogether yours!" That was enough for him. Then he was finished with the girl; he never craved any but platonic relations and the realization that the girl could be his. As soon as he reached this aim his attention wandered off to another girl. Lately, during the war, he met a girl who fascinated him much longer. He did not touch her. To his chagrin, when he met her again, a year later, she was in an advanced state of pregnancy. In a short time he consoled himself and found his present bride, who is still young. He loves only young girls,-between 16 and 20 years. Women and older girls do not appeal to him at all! At the next sitting he confesses two serious sins: He is a cleptomaniac. He steals from the store and on all possi- ble occasions: little things, which subsequently he often throws away. Small machine parts, very carefully wrought, are the things that particularly attract him. The first theft he carried out at school when he was 7 years of age. He stole a little wheel from the teacher and threw it away at once. He has stolen already from the largest stores. He has in his possession machinery and turning lathes made up entirely of stolen parts. At the same time he is a painfully conscientious person in his everyday life. He would not owe a cent to any one. But he confesses that he stole the stamps off the illustrated post cards in my waiting room and this confession eases up his mind. Another ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME sin weighs on his conscience. He is fond of children. Yesterday he approached a child and offered it a krone for a kiss. Two years ago, in Hanover, he induced a tattered, limping, beggar child to take hold of his penis and at the same time he tickled the child on the sexual part. This paedophilia began 12 years ago. At the age of 17 he was living at his uncle's country estate. His little niece, a girl of 7, was allowed to sleep with him in bed. He loved the child and she loved him because he played with her a great deal, telling her stories, and devising pretty mechanical toys for her. Within a few days this led to sexual relations. He tickled the child on the sexual parts, she took his penis in hand. A regular affair developed between them. They came together at other places than in the bed: in the garden, in the woods, in the barn, in his room. This was kept up daily for two months. Then the vacation was over. The following year he came again. They did not sleep together this time but found other opportunities for getting together. She jumped at his neck and embraced him, he sat down so that she could take hold of his penis; at the same time he tickled the girl's sexual parts with his finger. This relationship was kept up four years. At 11 years of age the child began to refrain from this manner of displaying tender- ness, though she was still deeply, passionately in love with him. Obviously this girl-child hoped he would marry her and con- sidered herself his bride. The little one was extremely jealous, like any bride, anxious not to lose her bridegroom. At 14 years of age she quarreled with him because she heard that he was in love with another girl. After that they lived like cat and dog. She is still single. But he is not interested in her at all. Against this unfortunate passion for children he struggles but in vain. He is always looking for children, wants to be loving with them and to entice them to his room. In his masturbation fantasies children often play a role. He recalls again the first episode with the girl. He now thinks that another boy was also present and that he had to beat both with a stick. But his memory is vague; he is uncertain, es- pecially, whether he struck the boy, or the girl, or possibly both. Suddenly he says: "While telling you this I keep thinking of something else. That is the way things are in my head. Always I am thinking of a number of things at the same time. I gaze now at the edge of the fireplace and that headpiece lures me. I feel as if I am about to take hold of it." 47 48 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR I suspect homosexual fantasies (concerning my person). I say nothing and wait for the further flow of associations. If my surmise be correct, he should begin to talk of homosexual feelings, although I have never said a word to him about such matters. He continues: "When I was 17 there were two brothers in the High School of whom I was very fond. These boys had wonderful legs. I felt a burning desire to touch at least one of them on the legs. Fate was kind to me. The younger boy happened to fall in an epileptic fit, right in front of me. I carried him into the next house and took off his clothes." Next, he admits having been very fond of boys. But only while he was at the Gymnasium. At 17 he had intimacies with a 4th-year boy (13 years of age). The boy handled his penis. He had no ejaculation, although the boy urged it because he wanted to see what it was. As an army officer he selected only handsome boys as his orderlies. One of them played a woman's role in a show and looked so handsome that the regiment physician danced with him all night. That boy left and he had to get another boy. But he was always dissatisfied after that and always thought with ten- derness of his former, handsome boy. As a boy he had remarkable bi-sexual fantasies. He loved a girl and in his fancy he imagined that she had a bar through her body held in place by a couple of bolts. One bolt pierced through the breast, the other through the vagina, so that they furnished a double support during fencing. He always had erections while riding on trains. Sometimes he fell into a doze and had pollution. On the train he can sleep 20 hours continuously so that the other passengers think he is dead and become alarmed over him. On such occasions he sometimes has as many as five pollutions in succession, with profuse dis- charge. In the train he sometimes caught hold of his dreams. He dreams often of sexual intimacy with adults or with chil- dren. The moment his membrum touches the other's genitalia, pollution ensues. He recalls also having dreamed once of inti- macy with his aunt. The aunt is his mother's sister, 8 years younger. He often has the feeling: You have already had that experi- ence I ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 49 The fairy tale, "Jorinthe and Joringel," has made a strong im- pression on him. It is the story of a witch who transforms chil- dren into animals; the children then escape the charm by some miraculous means. At 6 years of age he fell in love with a young jockey whom he saw at a circus. For many years his fantasy was preoccupied with that jockey. At about that time he went through a serious railway accident. When I asked him about cruelty to animals he told of a refined manner in which he tortured flies and bugs. The bugs he placed in a glass under the sun with a lens on top, thus slowly scorching them to death. The flies he deprived of wings and threw to spiders. May-bugs he threw into ant heaps where they were slowly tortured to death. On the other hand, dogs, cats, and birds he did not molest; for them he always felt great compassion. Before falling asleep, until quite recently, he always conjured up in his fancy an erotic circus, lasting a couple of hours. From ten to twenty of his favourite figures filed out upon an imaginary arena. He was the Sultan, they were his subjects. Each one had a particular task. After fulfilling it she was free. But he was always the victor. He came out ahead in a competitive running match with one of these slaves, although he gave her the advan- tage of a 100-steps start. Then all of them were tortured, save the queen, to whom he always declared his love to the last. He remembers rocking on his father's knees and breast at 6 years of age. He cannot dance. It makes him dizzy, until he is on the point of falling down. Last night he dreamed: I am with a young, dirty girl; her limbs are broken; she wears substitutes. Obviously sadistic ideas of breaking a girl's legs. At the front he broke his own arm so that he might be taken to the rear. (Cp. also his experience with the lame street girl.) His thought associations stop. The dream suggests nothing to him. He keeps silent for io minutes. At last he blurts out the most important fact, although I did not ask him about his attitude towards the mother. When he was 15 years of age he accompanied his mother on 50 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR a short journey. Stopping overnight at an inn, they shared one bed. That night he had a sensual dream ending with orgasm and pollution. It woke him up and, to his horror, he found his mother, ap- parently asleep, holding his membrum. His attention is drawn to the bearing of this experience on the cleptomania. Spontaneously he declares that he has repeatedly felt the impulse to steal the matrices off worthless screws and that he has actually yielded to this compulsive desire. He thinks he must have slept with his mother when he was a child. Until his 10th year he slept with his brother in one bed in their parents' sleeping room. Whenever he is away he always longs with infinite yearnings for his mother. When he is with her he is restless and always seeks a quarrel. He is asked whether that episode with his mother really occurred in his 15th year. Whether he does not recall earlier episodes about his mother ? An afterthought comes to his mind: He reiterates that the conscious incident took place in his 15th year. His mother seemed asleep when she played with his mem- brum. He knows that he has often been in his mother's bed. He seems to have a shadowy recollection that such incidents had oc- curred before that time as well. On the train he often thinks of his mother. Frequently he has dreams which he cannot recall but which end in pollution. After that a feeling of shame and regret, as if he had done something that was wrong, comes upon him. He admits that in the dream he may possibly go over again the episode with the mother. Last night he dreamed: I sit in the church, in a little space, approximately the size of Dr. Stekel's room. A gallery on the left is occupied by devotees. My girl cousin was also among them and saw me. Then four girls of various ages come in. They had to step a little over my knee. The last one wore neither stockings nor petticoat so that I felt the touch of her cool, smooth, soft flesh. This girl sat down right next to me, throwing one knee over my knee. She was somewhat older than the other girls and rather unclean. Her feet were dirty. (She was barefooted.) She seated herself so ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 51 close to me that one of her legs was astride my knee. I called her attention, in sign language, that such a thing was not per- missible in church, and turned around anxiously to the onlookers, and to the minister who, however, had not yet arrived. Then she, with two others, went out. I overheard her saying thei words: "We want you only for our cavalier!" One young girl, possibly 14, remained seated. She leaned her head against me and stuck both hands in my right coat pocket, so as to get hold of my membrum. Then she began all sorts of manipulations; this led quickly to ejaculation. I awoke. An afterthought comes to his mind: The first (ugly) girl stepped on my foot, thus giving me to understand that she was willing (to accept my advances). This dream is highly significant, because it is a pollution dream. Four girls come to his mind: Ella, Friederike, Mizzi, and Lisa. Lisa is the youngest, with whom he experienced pollution. She reminds him of a girl cousin with whom he also had a love affair. It is not true that his love affairs were merely platonic. It now turns out that all these girls had held his penis in hand and that he has tickled them on the genitalia. These things now weigh on his mind. Although he imagines he is a free thinker, in reality he is inwardly pious. More than once he has said to himself: "If God performs the miracle of render- ing me able to have intercourse with women, I will again be- lieve in him." But since he failed to experience orgasm with any of these girls, he believes the trouble must be an inborn deficiency of his sexual organs, a belief strengthened by the opinion of various physicians who thus discounted the nightly pollutions altogether. His conscience now troubles him be- cause he has seduced innocent girls. For his love determinant is: to appeal to him the girls must be pure. He must be the one to seduce them. All prostitutes disgust him. Later in the course of the analysis the significant fact .is brought out that his mother's name is Elisabeth but that at home she is called Lisa, like his cousin. 52 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR A girl's feet, cheeks, and breasts are what attract him most. Full, rounded breasts set him raving, and so do well-shaped limbs. He is impressed by the fact that the slovenly girl's flesh seemed "smooth, cool, and soft." That is the strongest impression with which the dream left him. Inasmuch as that description does not fit the flesh of young girls, it must be a memory-picture of the mother, who has large breasts, and whom he considers a very attractive woman. His woman- ideal seems to be patterned after the mother-ideal. The slov- enly girl reminds him of Ella, the older girl who seduced him (his first childhood impression!). Thus, his taste sways be- tween the two polaric extremes: Ella and Lisa. For we know already that dirty children rouse him sexually. The multi- plicity of his love objectives shows that we have here an instance of "pluralism." Obviously it takes a number of women to rouse him. His erotic fantasies (the arena!) al- ways start with a sort of harem. Another love determinant is fulfilled here by the girl cousin looking on. In his fantasies the other girls and the queen look on while he indulges in sexual gratification. He had the habit of telling his erotic adventures even to his mother, thus making her an onlooker with regard to his experiences. The fact that these erotic episodes occur in the church edifice is of great significance. He has profaned something holy, something high, something noble. We are acquainted already with the nature of this crime. In his fantasy his mother becomes his sweetheart,- of course, under the pressure of a seduction. His estimate of the mother betrays clearly a bipolar feeling-attitude. She is Ella (the prostitute, the dirty woman) ; but she is also Lisa (the pure, profaned girl). He thinks he is in a position to state positively that it was a boy who got him into the habit of striking the nates. He also recalls the following as his first impression of that uncle with whom he carried on for four years a homosexual rela- tionship : at five years of age they slept together in one bed. While entwining their legs he experienced his first tremendous pleasurable excitation. This crossing of the legs occurs also in the dream. The young girl, who is not yet fully developed, resembles his uncle. ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 53 His love determinant, therefore, is as follows: There must be a number of women around while he uses one of them. The others must look on. He must have the feeling of doing something forbidden, something that is criminal (coitus in church). May he have observed various episodes in the home which remained embedded in his brain? We must wait patiently for the analysis to enlighten us further. The recollection of the uncle carried him back to his fifth year. Beyond that age nothing is revealed as yet. He brings in the following dream: I was to undergo an operation for swollen tonsils. I was dread- fully afraid. The physician wanted to use only a local anesthetic. I asked for a narcotic. Then the picture of my wound appeared in my dream. Strange to say, that evoked in me pleasurable sensations and caused a powerful erection. He draws the picture as follows: This reminds him of a Berlin operation. Dr. H. gave him in- jections in the nates. One of these injections caused suppuration and he had to undergo an operation. He describes the surgeon in glowing terms. He was a man with whom he could have fallen in love. 54 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR The picture discloses at once that we have here an instance of displacement from below. He says tonsil inflammation and he means an inflammation of glands in the throat. The picture, supposed to be a cross-section, is easily identified as representing the anus. That explains the pleasurable sensa- tions. During the operation a nurse held his hands. He could have had sexual intercourse with her. This represents a transference of the homosexual longing to a heterosexual ob- jective. After the operation that nurse sat at his bedside for hours. Noticing his stiff membrum she held it in her hand all the time and caressed it. But he had no ejaculation (for he was yearning after something else). In addition to that the dream represents the analysis, dis- closing a strong transference upon the analyst. He tells that he fell in love twice with elderly women who had well developed breasts. One of them he seized at the breast (it was his landlady) ; she not only allowed it but encouraged him to attempt sexual intercourse with her. That disgusted him and he evaded her. But he fantasied he would write her erotic letters and he conjured up the most extraordinary possibilities. He car- ried on an exchange of letters with a second elderly woman, while at the front, that were downright pornographic. The woman wrote him in the same tenor. He threatened he would get at her ten times in the night, etc. But he avoided meeting her because he was afraid of the test of reality. Obviously he wished to write such letters to his mother. That was shown by his next thought association. He con- fesses that he took advantage of every possible opportunity of seeing his mother naked. That happened until lately. His mother's breasts particularly roused him. He reproached him- self very bitterly for being such a profligate man. It occurs to him spontaneously that he saw in a post office a "Totschlager," i.e., cudgel, with which a son murdered his father. He heard that the monstrous criminal had been caught. We thus note the CEdipus complex coming to the surface, without direct questioning and without any suggestion on the analyst's part. He is very bold, but a sudden detonation, or the crack of thun- ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 55 der, excites him so that he is beside himself. He remembers a terrible storm when he was 5 years of age. Father was not at home. His mother threw herself to the ground, praying for fa- ther's safety. Thunder and lightning broke across the open field. (Did he then wish his progenitor's death?) At about that same period he went to the circus with his father. His father prodded one of the wild beasts with the cane. The animal seized the cane with his teeth and would not let go. He, the boy, began to weep very disconsolately. (Castration fear? He has no remembrance whatever of a castration complex.) Sometimes he hated his father because the latter always fa- vored the sick brother. He was always jealous and revengeful. A captain once ordered him to go through some extra drilling. He planned vengeance, thought of assassinating or wounding him. The captain was called away and the war prevented him from carrying out his criminal intention, though he kept mulling over them for months. (Captain as the father-imago!) Once his parents went out; he was 10 years of age. The brother, and a sister of about the same age, remained with him at home. The girl came to his bed and they played all sorts of games; they raised their limbs into the air, uncovering themselves. The brother looked on. This thing led to an attempt at coitus. He suffers from a sort of tic. He hollows his back, protruding his abdomen. He does this also when in bed. He behaves like a woman during coitus. He harbors a secret wish. The women should come to him. He is always looking for this miracle to happen. (To be sure, a mother came to him and took his membrum in hand without his solicitation.) He had, again, a pollution dream. At 3 o'clock he woke up and fantasied about all sorts of things, falling into a half sleep which ended with a pollution dream. By the time the pollution occurred he was fully awake. That was his first pollution with full consciousness. He dreamed : I was on a train. All others travelled in baggage cars (the seats were common boards), while I occupied an upholstered, fine coach; only a couple of girls and I in it. One of them was little Anna. She was dressed very lightly. With her girl friend look- ing on I drew her close to me and began reaching my hand to her 56 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR genitalia. My hand stretched as far as her spine so that she was sitting in the hollow of my elbow. At first she drew back a little, then she gave in. I awoke; great orgasm accompanied by profuse ejaculation. We note, on the one hand, his exceptional situation (up- holstered coach), the notion of grandeur, and, on the other hand, again, the love determinant of some one "looking on." Anna was the third sister in a family where he had a sweet- heart. She was the girl who had become pregnant while he was away. He thinks it is his fault. For he had roused her tre- mendously while fondling her. While courting this girl her mid- dle sister, who was just blooming forth into womanhood, at- tracted his attention. She was beginning to come out, as he expressed it. He started seducing her and accomplished his aim. He had a favourite posture while at it. The child would sit in his lap; he, reaching under her clothes, fondled her all over the body until both, be and she, were nearly insane with excitement. The older sister knew about it but passed it off without comment. After a few months he ruefully turned back again to the older sister, who was also much more intelligent. But recently, on looking up the sisters again, the 14-year-old Anna appealed to him very much and he had to exert considerable self-control not to fall into the old vicious habit. Spontaneously he declares that his mother's sister is called Anna. She is the aunt with whom he has had intercourse in the dream. This aunt was only about 12 years older than he. She carried him around a great deal when he was a baby. When his brother had scarlet-fever, he had to be kept from the quarantined house. The aunt, who was 17 or 18 years of age at the time, took him in charge and devoted herself entirely to him. Closer details he does not remember; but the aunt is very dear to him and she, too, is extraordinarily fond of him to this day. She is always trying to find a match for him. He was fond of looking at his aunt; and to this day he often thinks lovingly of her. He remembers his three-wheeled child wagon, which has determined his fondness for going on trains. ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 57 He believes that his aunt plays as important a role in his fantasies, and in his parapathy, as his mother. At any rate, she explains the younger sister motive,-the younger girl always luring him when he courts an older sis- ter. The situation (girl on the knee, being petted) is a reproduc- tion of the way in which his aunt treated him. He dwells in a strange world of fantasy, always making great discoveries which place him in a leading position. He has invented an absolutely bullet-proof breast-plate which will end the world war. With an "iron legion" of his own inven- tion he starts victoriously across the continent. He constructs a complicated system which preoccupies him for weeks. Again, he devises a system for buying up children, recom- pensing with prizes and gifts their willingness to lend them- selves to all sorts of practices. These childish thoughts take up his mind so much that he is unwilling to work. Patient complains of complete insomnia. When he goes to bed a feeling of anxiety comes over him and he cannot fall asleep. All day he wonders what could have been the matter. I asked him not to try to think of any trauma, urging him to forget the analysis during the day, and to tell me only the thoughts which loom up freely at the time of the analysis. But he talks only about his agitations. I interrupt his flow of talk, have him shut- his eyes, and putting my hand lightly over his forehead (Freud's well known device which he has abandoned, but which is still use- ful, at times), I ask him to tell me what comes to his mind. After a pause: "I see only a glimmer, as if a veil covered my eyes. I feel as if an unknown power were drawing me down into an abyss." I suspect homosexual fantasies and explain to him the transference. That brings to his mind that he had been think- ing of his uncle who had taught him to masturbate. He con- fesses that fellatio, both active and passive, had been indulged in. It seems, therefore, that he looks for a repetition of this through transference. I then point out to him that he is afraid of his dreams and therefore he is unable to sleep. 58 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR He makes a very remarkable confession: "The moment your hand touched me I had a vision." "Why did you keep it from me?" "Because I thought it was a conscious construction and per- haps it did not rise out of the unconscious." "You were asked to bring out everything that came into your mind, without exercising any control. You must not pass judgment on your thought associations. What was that?" "I saw myself in the child carriage, the pacifier in my mouth. Mother, or aunt, was playing with my membrum." An avalanche of memories come to the surface at this junc- ture. It seems that the aunt must have carried out fellatio on him. (That explains his tic: back hollow, abdomen protruding forward-obviously a mnemonic picture of his posture during fellatio by the aunt.) He recalls also the bathing. He was very fond of the baths and he cried whenever taken out of the tub. His fantasy dwells on the idea of bathing the little girls with whom he is playing; he soaps them, rubbing their genitalia with soap for a long time. Memory relics of childhood bathing are clearly discernible. Another favorite fantasy he discloses only with great reluc- tance. Indulging in fellatio combined with cunnilingus. This is his favorite fantasy. He would like to do this with all his girls. Again he had the feeling of dread before falling asleep. After various weird fantasies, including some railroad coaches which seemed alive, he had the following dream: My mother told me that something wrong had happened. It seems it was father's fault. He had to pay a fine of 1300 francs. He fell asleep and dreamed again: I was on a fast train (the D.-train). At a station I met an acquaintance, a locksmith, the son of a cook. He told me various things. He drew a circle and told me that the radius extends six times upon the periphery, enters into it, he said. At that moment ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 59 the train started. I see my parents, standing outside, run after the rushing train and succeed in getting on. The design drawn by the locksmith looked as follows: Fid. II A powerful erection woke him up. As an after-effect of this dream he saw again a railway coach. Instead of the axles he saw his cousin's limbs. The coach gradually changed into a human figure. The horror and the dread prevented him from falling asleep again. The first dream reminds him that 13 is a fateful number for him. He was born on 1, III; his parents' marriage anniversary falls on the 13th. In the army he was given arms marked No. 13. His identification tag was numbered 13. This is his lucky number. Everything lucky happens to him on the 13th. The second dream reminds him that the locksmith had recently spoken to him and offered to give him the addresses of a number of pretty girls who were to be had. Subsequently he recalls also that the locksmith had a big, thick cluster of keys and that the notches on them were very large and very deep. (Fig. a. b. and c.) In the dream he said to him: Indeed, one can do that easily with a large ring. I reflected: How can I do it with my small, fine engineer's compass ? This locksmith's mother was a cook in the army club house. It surprised him to find that this ugly, old woman roused him sex- ually. The circle reminds him that he was 5 years of age when his mother was 30, so that he "went, six times, into her." 60 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Now we understand the meaning of the live coach and his priapism while sleeping in railway coaches. He has the fan- tasy of being again in the mother's body. The locksmith is a condensation of the actual locksmith and his father, who was also a locksmith. The cook's son symbolizes the big phallus (locksmith's key). How can he imitate the father? He has the ridiculous fantasy of being in the maternal body and of thus witnessing the sexual act. His fantasy of exer- cising, or drilling, with the aid of the bar which runs through a girl's body, means: I ch mochte mit dem Penis des Vaters spielen, -wdhrend er der Mutter beischlaft. He was very fond of playing with his brother, the "bird in the nest" game. He, as the bird, went into hiding, under a canopy, or sheet, while his brother had to find him. He al- ways slept with his limbs drawn up, the bed sheets over his ears. (Position of the embryo in utero!) Having symbolized machines into human beings, as his fantasies disclose, his propensity for stealing machine parts becomes explainable. He steals his procreator's genitalia. During the act of sexual intercourse he seizes the paternal phallus. The church dream, too, is explainable on the basis of this maternal-body-fantasy which he has built up. He with a num- ber of sisters in the pit carries on all sorts of foolishness. The senseless character of this infantile fantasy required its complete repression. But the orgasm, being linked with this fantasy, could not be brought on during the state of con- sciousness. This fantasy arose first during his third year while the mother was pregnant with the brother. But his earliest birth fantasy seems to have centered on the birth-through-the-anus idea. The first memory (the girl who offered to show him her anus) strengthened this notion. His obvious homosexual attitude (anus-vagina) is traceable to the boy's identification with the mother. Whereas his mother was very loving with him-we know that she had even trespassed beyond the limits of propriety- his father was cool with him and failed to fulfill the boy's ex- pectations. He fantasied a situation wherein his father found ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 61 himself compelled to have intimacy with him and to permit him to participate in the love episodes. That was his maternal body fantasy. While travelling in railway coaches he was within the mother's body. There he was subjected to a rhythmic swaying. I do not believe that these are direct memory traces. But he remembers knowing about his mother's pregnancy and envying the coming child (his future brother) ! Again he dreamed : I was on an elevated railway with my bride, riding in the last train coach. The train runs on the lines of a rectangle. Two parallel sides run into a tunnel so that at both ends the tunnel sags towards its center. Our train runs into and stops in the center of the tunnel. I ask the conductor the reason, and he tells me that the train ahead had not yet run out. This fills me with great anxiety and I feel relief only when our train begins to back up. When my coach emerged out of the tunnel I sent my bride out into the open. My courage rose and I went to the other end of the tunnel; there I raised a curtain which hung over the opening, lifting it high, and I saw a brown, shaggy monstrosity in human shape, which at that very moment shot at me with a very heavy weapon (it was a small cannon), but did not hit me. I responded to the shot with a little revolver and thus I awoke. (Slight erec- tion.) This journey represents life's course. The journey proceeds on a quadrangle, so that the train returns to its starting point. He is much impressed by the fact that he was relieved of his great anxiety as soon as the train started to back up. We have found out already from his personal history that he is con- tinually regressing back to his childhood. This time he is accompanied by his bride. It is his last love (last coach). He is afraid of colliding with the train ahead, i.e., with his former attachments. On the other hand, this dream discloses that there are still two dark spots in his soul (tunnel) which we must uncover. He wants to keep under cover two of his childhood attach- ments. But the additional dream associations disclose the character of the attachments in question. The shaggy mon- 62 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR strosity in human form he identifies spontaneously as his fa- ther. The large cannon corresponds to the large, heavy, lock- smith's key in the former dream. The little revolver is his penis. This, then, portrays a continuation of his maternal body fantasy, and the mysterious tunnel is the maternal body. He is afraid of going into that tunnel and recovers his peace of mind only when the train abandons the intended journey into it. Before going away he dreams: I am in a charmed forest. An old witch holds me prisoner and does not want to let me off. I jump at 'her and she holds me by the hands. Suddenly I see my bride and I call out to her: Help me! She touches the witch with a red flower. The witch dis- solves into smoke and disappears. I throw myself into the arms of my bride. As a child he was deeply impressed by the fairy story, "Jorinthe and Joringel." An evil witch holds as prisoners a thousand girls whom she has bewitched into birds, then caged. Jorinthe is one of the bewitched birds. Joringel, who loves her dearly, finds the red flower which dissolves the spell. He touches Jorinthe as well as the other girls with that red flower, and they change back into human form. The spell is dissolved, the witch powerless, his bride again a glowing virgin. This symbolic fairy tale portrays the dangers of fixation on the mother, a fixation which drives the favourite "mother's boy" into homosexuality. Every girl turns into a bird (phallus). But genuine love overcomes this feeling-attitude (the red flower!). Our patient, too, having found the red flower, is willing to abandon the evil magic of the memories which hold him cap- tive. The serious trauma with the mother has brought about a fixation of his infantile feeling-attitude. Even before the analysis he had left home in the endeavour to keep himself away from his mother. But emotionally he was unable to wean himself from her. He was always drawn back to his own people. ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 63 Now he feels free and wants to conquer with the power of his reason the foolish maternal body fantasy. He now knows that his bride has saved him. He has no doubt that on the wedding night he will prove potent. In three weeks he intends to marry and leave his past behind. Epicrisis: One year later I receive from the patient the fol- lowing letter: "In response to your inquiry I beg to inform you as follows: Three weeks after completing the analysis I married. On the wedding night I was beside myself. I did have strong erections, but could not attain ejaculation. I fell asleep with fatigue and dreamed of sleeping with my aunt. During the dream the aunt changed into my mother. During the pollution I awoke and saw clearly that I should never get well so long as I do not break with my past. Again I attempted intercourse. No success! It was the second week before I achieved ejaculation though without ex- periencing very strong orgasm. Nevertheless I greatly rejoiced. It was my first victory over my past. Since then matters have improved night after night. Nowadays my orgasm is normal, perhaps greater than formerly during the pollutions, which no longer trouble me. My beloved wife expects to be a mother soon -much to my satisfaction. Since the treatment I am rid entirely of my cleptomaniac propensities. I have thrown all the stolen articles into the river and I am sure I shall never again commit such puerile deeds. Last month I went through a serious con- flict. A telegram from mother called me to her bedside. I chose to seem an inconsiderate son and did not go. She soon got over her illness,-perhaps it was merely a pretext to see me. I shall never, never return to Germany. That one thing is certain, so far as I am concerned. I am adoringly in love with my wife and happy over our prospect of a child. I feel I am very well off in this foreign country. If this keeps up I shall certainly be satis- fied. I know that I owe my recovery only to analysis, etc." The case presents a number of interesting features from a sexological standpoint. In the first place, we find here a dis- order of the orgasm, such as I have described more extensively in the chapter on Disorders of the Orgasm in volume IV of the Series.1 Moreover, the case is unique because the orgasm occurs only at night, after a pollution, and is determined by 64 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR two specific episodes: the touching of his penis by his mother and fellatio by the aunt. In the second place, this case dis- closes plainly the mechanism of the cleptomaniac impulse. It is the first really analyzed case of cleptomania showing us the root of the trouble. We have here a man whose whole libido is linked up with his childhood and adolescence. The early traumas which he must have experienced with his mother were not disclosed during the brief period of the analysis (3 weeks!). But we may assume that a mother who is degenerate enough to play with her 15-year-old boy must have done so excessively during that boy's earlier life. The remarkable aunt, too, did her share to make the boy a nervous sufferer. His persistent tic shows that he is continually trying to repeat the episode. I take this opportunity of emphasizing that love episodes be- tween mother and son are very frequent (not quite so, between father and daughter). My experience during the past few years has convinced me that mothers are in the habit of dis- playing an excess of tenderness towards their sons which may become very troublesome. Children who sleep with their mother in bed are readily exposed to the danger of such traumas. Most of these episodes occur during sleep, when the inhibitions are in abeyance, or are being carried out in a state of half-sleep, only to be forgotten next morning, or to be dismissed as a "ridiculous dream" if they happen to ob- trude into the consciousness at all. Often the children are the aggressors (playing with the vulva, cunnilingus, etc.) but more frequently the mothers themselves take hold of the little penis to play with it. Even fellatio is not a rare occurrence. Later, when the mothers give up this practice, the child be- comes parapathiac, showing a bad temper. The child goes into severe paroxysms of anger; later it displays hatred towards the mother, a feeling under which, however, the unyielding pas- sion stands supreme. Geijerstamm in his novel, Nils Tuffeson and his Mother, which portrays an incestuous relationship between mother and son, states: "He who has once enjoyed the most intimate rela- tionship with his mother can never love another woman." In the present case we find the orgasm occurring in conjunc- ABSENCE OF SEXUAL ACME 65 tion with the fantasy that the mother is fondling the mem- brum. This peculiarity explains the patient's behaviour, other- wise so baffling. More than that! It enables us to understand his craving to play with girls and with children. Only untidy children appeal to him! He himself was an untidy child; his father, who was a locksmith, often returned home black with soot and dirty. He identifies himself with the mother, while the unclean child becomes a symbol of his own past,- it represents him as he was. Another morbid impulse,-playing with "sisters,"-is cleared up by the analysis. The two who had played with him (mother and aunt) were sisters. He goes through lasting regressions and all these regres- sions reach back to the mother-body. His parapathy is de- termined by his maternal body fantasy which enables him to carry on a bisexual existence, to be within the mother and play with the father. (Unfortunately the patient had to break off the analysis so that his relationship to the father was not brought out.) But in the railroad coach he is again inside the maternal body, borne and rhythmically swayed by her. That explains the pollutions (five during one journey!) of a man who ordinarily was unable to achieve orgasm. The case explains also many dream-like and sleep states. All cases of narcolepsy, which I had the opportunity of analyz- ing, disclose this form of regression back to the maternal body fantasy. Among narcoleptics we are surprised to find the narcolepsy combined with other impulsive acts,-for the sleepy drowsiness is also an impulse, as I have shown in my study, The Will to Sleep.2 I have seen narcolepsy combined with poriomania and dipsomania, I have seen also a cleptomaniac, whom I did not have the opportunity of analyzing, suffering from a troublesome narcolepsy. We must bear in mind that the impulsive acts are carried out in a sort of drowsy state, a day-dream-like condition of the mind,-a fact I always emphasize. The epileptic attack is the equivalent of the impulsive act. The patient vicariously goes through a criminal impulse during the seizure, i.e., in a dreamy state.3 Our patient, too, displays a pronounced trend towards cleptomania,-in sharp contrast to his usual ethical attitude. 66 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR He steals only machine parts, usually minor ones, occasionally larger pieces. These thefts he carries out in a drowsy state, under the influence of an impulsive urge. Otto Gross's gen- eralization holds true of him: he feels impelled to take hold of something forbidden. We know that his mother set her hands on him and fondled his membrum virile. Thus he seems to identify himself with her. The analysis disclosed that he commits three kinds of thefts. He steals male and female symbols. Sometimes the son steals the forbidden mother for himself {Schraubenmutter, female screw), at other times the act represents the mother appropriating something which is forbidden, specifically his penis. Thirdly, he is within the maternal body reaching out for the father's penis. He also conjures up in his imagination a strange world, reverting by this hallucinatory path into a past which has never had real existence. He dwells in the realm of his own fantasy. In contrast with other cleptomaniacs, who throw or give away the stolen objects, he holds on to his trophies. Indeed, he has put together a whole machine out of stolen parts, i.e., he wishes to reconstruct the past, he would like to build for himself once more the mother and the aunt, out of the con- stituent parts. His stolen articles are endowed with great symbolic value. In that regard he is like those erotic collectors who turn al- together away from woman, finding gratification exclusively through their symbols. He, too, was on that pathway. He was unable to carry on coitus with a woman, incapable of ever achieving orgasm. Fortunately analysis carried him out of the dreamy realm of erotic symbolism and cleared for him the path to reality. But numerous other illustrations will show us that symbolism may assume such supremacy as to render unat- tainable the sexual gratification in reality. That will be the theme of our next work in the present Series. IX ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC Poor persons are ready givers. Marie Ebner-Eschenbach. Cleptomania is curable through psycho-pedagogy. There can be no doubt about that. But a cure is not always possible. Often the consultant's art miscarries on account of the patient's holding on to his illness or the ignorance of the environment. Case 68. Georg L., a 19-year-old barber's assistant and stu- dent of acting, is sent to me for psychoanalytic treatment on ac- count of irresistible cleptomaniac impulses. For years he has been stealing from his mother. Neither punishments nor threats, resolutions, nor oaths,-in fact, nothing-prevailed against this impulse. He steals not only money, but laundry as well, and anything that is not nailed fast. He is tall and strong and shows no signs of degeneration. His mother married a second time. She is a seamstress and lives with him at Vienna, while her present husband holds a position in Budapest. She barely man- ages to support herself through her own work and with the little aid she receives from her second husband, who is a kind man. The father is a drunkard, a conscienceless gambler, and a down- right thief, having repeatedly stolen from his wife before their separation. The mother suffers from anxiety states, dizziness and congestions in the head. The maternal grandmother is also de- scribed to me as an improvident, spendthrifty woman. She mis- managed her property, which was formerly of considerable value, and ran it to the ground, so that she had to remarry a few years ago. Georg gives the following account of the beginning of his cleptomanic trend: "I was 7 years of age, living on grandfather's estate in the country, when I passed through a severe scarlet fever. During my illness I dreamed about riches, high-class living, equipages, 67 68 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR castles and beautiful clothes. (To this day this passion, es- pecially for pretty clothes, is strong in me.) At that time I thought the whole world belonged to me, that everything therein was mine. During the convalescence I committed my first theft. I stole cube-sugar from my grandfather's pantry, for the most part giving it away to poor children and servants. The second theft I committed when I was 8 years old. We had a tre- mendously large vineyard. I was free to take as many of the grapes as I wanted. Nevertheless, with a number of comrades, I sneaked into a peasant's orchard and stuffed my pockets full of apples. The third theft I carried out in the same year. The servants, who were obviously aware of my inclination to steal, asked me to bring them cigars and cigarettes from my grand- father's ample stock and I repeatedly did so. "The older I grew, the stronger became my propensity for stealing. I stole money from my mother to buy bakery goods and paper soldiers. But I always spent only a part of the money, the rest I gave away. My first larger theft I committed when I was 13% years old. I stole my mother's earrings and a broken ring. With the proceeds from these jewels I took my friend to the motion pictures. I bought playthings, candy and little knick- knacks; the balance of the money I again gave away freely. At the age of 15, this was after my grandfather's death, I ran away from home to look for my real father. I had heard continually so much evil about him that I was curious to meet him. He was so kind with me that I decided to stay permanently with him. But he was a bum and a drunkard; he stole my clothes and my laun- dry, so that I had nothing to wear. Therefore I went back to my mother and my stepfather, whom I call father, because he has always been kind and good to me. "At 16 years of age I became a friseur's apprentice and at the same time joined a school for acting. I fell in love with a girl pupil who reciprocated my affection. I loved her so passionately that she had a tremendous influence upon me. To her I con- fessed my trouble and she made me promise never to yield again. So long as wTe were together, I kept bravely my resolution and was able to withstand my morbid impulse. I had no sexual rela- tions with her, although she encouraged me. I considered her a virgin and did not want to get her into trouble. After one year we separated; she left me, and took up with another young man. Then the evil spirit again took possession of me and I began to steal once more." ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 69 At 13 his comrades initiated him into the masturbation habit and since then he masturbates frequently. At 16 he attempted coitus with a puella publica, but the orgasm failed him com- pletely. He always keeps company with a little girl; girls run after him, but he does not touch any of them. Concerning his mental attitude during the theft he makes some remarkable statements. The thefts are always preceded by a dream which portrays terrible crimes. He wakes up in a daze, and knows there is going to be a theft. He is in a dreamy state, everything seems to him strange and unreal. Two voices struggle within his soul. One of them drives him to steal. "Don't!" admonishes the other voice. "Take it!" commands the first. Often he runs away from the house but returns, driven back by an irresistible impulse. The last theft he describes as follows: "On the previous night I dreamed: "A colleague came with a girl to me and said: 'See, dear friend, a girl may be slain that way,' and sticks a knife into her At that moment I woke up. "On that day I committed a theft. I stole from mother a shirt, a piece of sheeting, and three pillow slips." He denies sadistic inclinations. He claims to have pity for animals and could weep at the sight of invalids. But he admits that in the country, four years previously, he was glad to wit- ness the butchering of hogs. His mother ran from the yard into the house, drew a sheet over her head, and covered her ears so as not to hear the squealing of the hogs. He states that his step-father sometimes struck him. He was 15 years of age when his father struck him last, just after he had stolen a sum of money. The step-father gave him a terrible beating and threatened to kill him outright if he stole again. That turned him revengeful; he thought the man was a stranger after all, and had no right to strike him. The fol- lowing day he ran away to his father. He does not feel a genuine love for his mother. Her kiss leaves him cold. She often reproaches him for his lack of feeling towards her. The mother is very pious; formerly he, 70 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR too, was a believer. He prayed to God to help him in his struggle against the temptation to steal, but abjured God when he found himself impelled to steal again. For the past year he has not been to church. The last theft he committed a few days ago. He stole from his mother, part of a gold chain, which he broke off with a pair of pincers. He cannot explain why he did not steal the whole chain. With the money he bought eatables and a shirt. To a poor, crippled, barefoot boy who roused his pity he gave 500 kronen. Usually he gives alms to old women because he often thinks of his poor old grandmother who is in need. He is engaged in writing a comedy, Das verfehlte Thema (The Mistaken Idea). Plot: A man who does not believe that there are honest women is convinced by his wife that he is in the wrong. He is hungry all day and drinks a lot of black coffee (to protect himself against his day dreams). He revels in all sorts of fantasies and spins out stories how tender he will be with his wife when he marries. I had told his mother that in a few months she must return to her husband and leave the boy to himself. Since that talk with me she is very nervous and restless. She cannot imagine herself no longer looking after her boy. She herself had told me that she had been fighting with this resolution for years. She is too weak with the boy. But she fears the danger of the great city life. The boy may go to the bad! He throws himself at my feet: "Doctor, I cannot stand it any longer; I want to jump into the river to-day. Rather than land in jail I would take my life." Yesterday his em- ployer discharged him because he found out he was stealing hair. As a reason the boy states that his pay was too small and that he did not get 10 per cent, on all his hair work, as did the other employees. About four months ago he stole hair, sold it for 5000 kronen, of which he squandered 4000, while the other 1000 he gave to a poor man. It surprises him that he stole from his employer, of whom he was very fond. From his step-father he never stole because he stood in great awe of him. He does not like to go home. Everything at home seems cold and forbidding. He feels a dread without ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 71 knowing the reason. For the past year he has been thinking of leaving his mother; he would like best to stay with me for good, because I am so kind and I understand him. He feels lonesome; at home he prefers to be alone and reads Schiller's poems. His favorite poem is Friihlingserwachen (Spring's Awakening). At the lines: "Welcome, handsome young man," and "the girl still loves me" tears come to his eyes. He, who would like to be an ideal man, behaves like a criminal. His talk turns to the girl, his sole great love. The girl's mother forbade him to come to the house. He composed a lengthy letter intended to soften the mother's heart and read this letter to the girl. Thereupon she declared that she no longer loved him. Now she keeps company with another boy. He suffers intensely, for he is extremely jealous. He is never jealous of his mother. His memory reaches back to his second year: "I asked for water; my aunt brought the water and began to drink; I shouted: 'Don't drink so much water!' For several years thereafter I said to everybody: 'Don't drink so much water!' " (A "cover" memory?) His second recollection goes back to his fourth year. His grandfather's two hunting dogs were his friends and playmates. He played with them all day long and to this day he thinks of those dogs. Since childhood he was always inclined to lie. His first untruth he told in connection with his sugar theft. Since then he lies systematically, making up fantastic stories. For instance, he tells his comrades that he has been at the cadet school (his step-father is an officer). He believes that his mother is not his genuine mother be- cause he feels no warm love for her. He is perhaps the son of some magnate! He always masturbates before stealing. After indulging in the habit the impulse is stronger. He masturbates daily. He has controlled himself only during the past week. While masturbating he thinks of a certain Elly,-his present girl friend. The grandparents coddled him very much, for them he felt genuine love. He was also enlightened about sexual matters while with them. He was 8 years of age at the time. On Christmas eve a coachman disclosed to him that the story 72 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR about the Christ child was but a "story" and in that connec- tion destroyed also his belief in the stork. He has characteristic stereotypic dreams: He goes strolling with his grandfather. He can fly. He is pursued by dogs. Before stealing he also dreams about wild animals. Snakes pursue him, want to bite him. He shouts and wakes up. The anamnesis is finished. I ask him to give me his asso- ciations, and these are recorded faithfully below. My remarks and explanations are inserted in brackets. I avoided any re- mark which might lead him into a particular direction. I want to prove that nothing is suggested to the patient during the analysis. "I like the room very much. . . . Yesterday I was at a re- hearsal . . . and in the evening at a dance. . . . Why haven't I a sister? . . . .When I was at grandfather's I was told I would get a little sister. Nothing came of it. Yesterday I told mother I did not care for her. She wept. She wants me to learn the trade. I want to go into motion pictures. I have good prospects. I am afraid stepfather might come around. (Why?) . . . He might strike me. I am now in love with a girl but I do not know which one. I feel only love and the longing for love. ... I have no thoughts now." (Repression is explained to him. Speaks for some time about a colleague, who is his best friend.) . . . "Now I feel better, after talking to you. I am sorry for mother. But I cannot help it." (Starts talking about the dogs; after he left they searched for him for a week. He weeps.) "I yearn for a real father to treat me as grandfather did. I hate my father and my stepfather. I shall go to-day to a woman colleague. My feelings for her are merely friendly. She and Heinrich are my best friends. Hein- rich also attends the acting school; he is very shy with girls. We never talk about sexual matters. Once I ran away from mother and stayed away for 2 days. Heinrich brought me back. (Where were you those 2 days ?) At my uncle's, B. He likes me very much. Everybody likes me. The specialty teacher, too, is very fond of me. If I should die now I have but one wish. To appear in public once more and play a good role." He tells at length about an evening lecture with which he met great success. A girl sent him a poem with a declaration of love. He wrote ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 73 back: "I can love no woman any more. I have loved only one 1" After the lectures he sat in a corner and spoke to no one. (What are you thinking of?) "Of poems, of players. (Also of mother?) Yes, when she is not around, I sometimes reflect: Poor mama, she must be working hard in the house. These thoughts drop off immediately. Other thoughts come to me. I forget all about mother. Oh, I have never loved her. My grand- mother, she I did truly love. I always want to look handsome, always want the prettiest clothes. (Do you often look at your- self in the mirror?) There were many mirrors in the hair- dresser's parlour. There I sat the whole day, admiring myself in the mirror. (Do you also look at your body?) No-yes, always in the steam baths. I also admire my teeth. (Are you in love with yourself?) I love my voice. I like to hear myself speak. I should like to see myself on the stage. I should like to be a famous actor like Moissi, an interesting personality. (Do you pose a little as an interesting personality sitting in a corner and gazing in front of you?) Yes, I know that I assume an interest- ing pose. I want to be unlike the others." The sitting is ended. I call attention to his pronounced narcissism. Striking also is his oft-repeated assertion that he does not love his mother at all. It is interesting, further, that he feels an impulse to run away from home. He has a girl cousin, about 5 years younger than himself. Both were staying with the grandfather, the forest inspector, in the country. This cousin came often to his bed. She also exposed herself naked before him. He had often heard drivers and servants talk about women, saying that the "thing below" is very handsome and that women have a moustache "down there." He was very disappointed when he saw his cousin's genitalia. He sought the penis but found none and was also disappointed that she had no hair. Various attempts at sexual intercourse, instigated by the girl, proved unsuccess- ful. He had no erection. He was very curious and hoped to see also his grandfather naked. The latter was in the habit of sitting for an hour with his paper in the toilet room. He looked through a crack, but it took too long. He could not see a thing. At 7 years of age he played with cows and also attempted 74 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR coitus once. On that occasion his membrum grew stiff, whereas with the girl cousin it did not. . . . For the first time he is able to recall his dreams. He brings two dreams, which are very characteristic. I played in a theatre, on a large stage, in Maria Stuart; the; scene between Maria Stuart and the queen. I played the role of Mortimer, the lover. The queen entered the castle just as I was through with my scene with Maria Stuart. I tendered her my love, which she did not accept. I loved her passionately and drawing a knife I thrust it into her breast with the words: "If you love me not, neither shall you love another." I did all that on the stage. I crumpled down exhausted and woke up. A second dream in the same night: Director Beer received me, I introduced myself, I recited the Hell monologue from the Pfarrer von Kirchfeld. Director Beer said to me: "It is very fine, but I cannot use you." I begged and pleaded but it was useless. He sent me away. I wandered around the streets almost insane. I reached the Danube. The water was as black as ink. I recited my poem to the Spring and then jumped into the dark waters to die. There were many pretty white-clad girls in the water. When they saw me they drew me into their midst and danced a merry round. There was a very attractive little girl among them. She said: "I alone know that your art is invaluable." She kissed me on the forehead and-I found myself all alone in the water. I awoke, weeping copiously. He was actually to play Mortimer once, but illness pre- vented him. Maria Stuart brings to his mind Grete, his faith- less beloved. At the time he thought of killing her. Next, he finds a resemblance between his Maria Stuart and his mother, who seems to him a very pretty woman. (As a matter of fact she is a tired, plain and impoverished woman.) He begins to perceive that he loves her excessively. He is always trying to test her affection. With every theft he wants to test her by finding out whether she will still forgive him. He thinks often of her death. In the evening he reflects: ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 75 "What if to-morrow, when I wake up, I should find her no longer living?" He is extraordinarily jealous of the stepfather. When mother speaks well of him it makes him mad. Then he carries out the murder in the dream and next day the theft. At home he recites various roles and is happy when he moves his mother to tears in this way. He wants her judgment. She angers him when she speaks of his giving up acting in favor of hairdressing. He wants to become a very famous actor and to secure a handsome living for his mother. She shall preside over a sumptuous home. His future wife shall relieve her from any household drudgery.1 But when a letter arrives from the stepfather and his mother begins to praise his kind heart, the son forgets all his plans and his impulse then is to cause her pain. It is then that he steals. In the second dream his masochistic components are dis- played. He has been recommended to Director B. He does not seek the engagement. He yearns for suffering and pain. Then he thinks he is interesting. Then all the women console him. The little nymph that consoles him turns out in various round-about ways to stand for his mother. He has often threatened suicide. The whole tenor of the dream corre- sponds to the overtoned sentimentality of boyhood. He relates all sorts of romantic ideas. He tells also of various revenge fantasies against his stepfather. Once his mother gave him no coffee in the morning, telling him that since he will be at the grandfather's around io o'clock he will get his coffee there. His stepfather worked very hard and needed the coffee more. But he knew that the grandfather sent him a quart of milk daily. He complained about it. For that he was punished at home. He was a good pupil and the record he brought home was full of "good" marks. His stepfather threatened to beat him to death if he did not bring home next time a card with higher marks. He told this to the teachers and wept so bitterly that the next time they marked the card "excellent!" on all points. He was never care-free in his childhood, like other children. He never played, but always had to stay in the house. He hated the stepfather,2 who was so strict and of whom he was very 76 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR jealous. He was envious because the stepfather received larger portions, one episode remained unforgettably graven in his memory. He was passionately fond of pork chops, his rival received a larger portion, he begged for a second help- ing, but his mother said: "You will spoil your stomach, you have had enough, father is a big man, must eat more!" He wept for hours after that. He had a very handsome aunt who often took him to bed with her. He was fond of lying with his head on her soft breast. At 4 years of age he stuck his head into the great oven with the intention of crawling in; his mother came and dragged him out. He brings back the following dream: In the dream I was already a famous actor. I had been abroad. Here in Vienna I visited my colleagues; they prepared a wonder- ful social evening for me. But I read in the papers that Georg, the well-known actor, has taken over a certain role (den Hell) at the Burgtheatre. Dr. Beer was the director. I wanted to know the meaning of this,-why without my knowledge the newspapers give out that I shall play and how it is that they contain so many good reports about me. I said to Dr. B.: "I have come here merely to visit my friends; I have not come to play." (I was only 16 years of age.) Dr. B. said to me: "My dear colleague, I know that you are merely visiting your relatives and friends here, but it is the Empress's wish. The Empress wishes to see you to-night in your role." Then I was at a loss to know what to do. It was like a dream or fever. I gave my assent, that I shall play. In the evening everything was made ready and as the curtain rose suddenly I felt sick on the stage. I recited a prologue greeting the Empress. This was a composition of my own: "A boy went far from home:-Vienna did not appreciate me, or my art, but there, in Germany, I reached far." After the monologue, which I recited with heart and soul for the Empress, I broke down. The theatre physician was there; he resembled Dr. Stekel. I greeted him. He said: "I am not Dr. Stekel. I am an en- tirely different person." I was taken to my room after they mas- saged me. Two strange men were the ones who massaged me. My shoes and clothes were taken off and there I was, entirely naked. Then they massaged me all over. It was done in my dressing room. . . . When I came to my senses I first took a very hot bath. I played through the Hell monologue on the stage with ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 77 a taxing effort but very successfully. Then I broke down for the second time. Again I was carried to my room. Then one of the Empress's Ladies-in-Waiting came and said to me: "The Empress awaits you to-morrow at half after eight." I was impatient for the morning. I could not sleep and ran from one inn to another to pass time. I criticized the artists very unfavorably. I was at the Apollo. There they impersonated a criminal. Koenig, the comedian, played the role. He was a Baron's servant. Koenig said to his beloved, the chambermaid: "I should like to buy a little home for myself, why not get the money, by hook or crook ?" He pries open the iron cash box-but at that very moment the Baron steps in and sees everything. Koenig is scared. My criti- cism was that he did not succeed, but it was already 8 o'clock in the morning. I went home, took a bath and put on my full dress. At a quarter of nine a Court automobile drove up to take me. The Empress was already waiting for me in a beautiful snow- white room. She was also snow-white, but daintily and coquet- tishly attired. From the very first moment I lost my senses. I was intoxicated with love. We thus kissed each other and after the kissing I gratified her. Pollution. Woke up. This dream is the first to disclose his tremendous pride. It is noteworthy that he has an attack whereupon he is un- dressed and his body massaged. Obviously a homosexual wish fulfillment. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Koenig, the actor, impersonates a criminal. (Koenig, lit., King, a famous Viennese comedian.) He is not a criminal, but his father is (the King). Empress Zita reminds him of his mother's appearance and figure. He now realizes that he harbors but one longing: his mother. Criminal memory re- minds him that he and his colleague, who is a good drafts- man, once attempted to copy and reproduce bank notes so as to buy expensive clothes and go to the theatres and to concerts. He tells that his mother lay near him in bed when he had scarlet fever at seven years of age. Although the physician had warned her against the danger of contagion, it did not prevent her from devoting her time exclusively to the boy's care. We know that his first theft was committed after this illness. 78 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Note the interesting structure of the whole dream. He saves himself the trouble of practicing and studying. He is already a famous player. He has his neat revenge on Dr. Beer, who did not accept his services. He sought an en- gagement, wanting to play minor roles at the Raimund theatre. Like all such parapathiacs he saw himself already taking a famous player's role in an emergency, saving the evening and achieving a phenomenal success. But no word came from Dr. B. and the mother insisted that he should give up and turn his attention to finishing his hairdresser apprenticeship. In the dream he is so famous that he is feted. Even the Empress invites him and Dr.- Stekel must be at his service. The same Dr. Stekel who declined the invitation to attend an evening affair where he was to recite a poem. Moreover, I treat him not mentally but physically. He is massaged all over the body. His inclination to give expression to his impulse in an attack is clearly shown. Then he avenges himself on the Viennese colleagues who play so poorly. He has nothing to do with crimes or criminals. His whole cleptomania, the falsifying of bank notes, and the thoughts of murder are an- nulled. All that he sees on the stage; it does not concern him personally at all. His love for the mother, the Empress of his heart, breaks through with tremendous force. Sexual intercourse actually takes place, thus plainly disclosing his most intimate secret wish from which he wants to flee into a seizure. It is noteworthy that I had never said a word to him about his love for his mother. But he had always emphasized that he did not love her. Now it occurs to him, spontaneously, that the Empress resembled his mother, and the real truth looms up in his mind without any leading questions on my part about his attitude. From the standpoint of the treatment such a too rapid recognition is not favorable. It rouses resistances and leads easily to secondary repression. But in this case the complexes were too superficial and the subject himself was half con- scious of them. He protected himself against the (Edipus complex by his posing. Thus he acted with indifference to- wards his mother. To his friends he spoke frequently of ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 79 his lack of love for her, the better to hide his true feeling- attitude. Last year he made a serious attempt at suicide. He came home late one night and was bold about it, whereupon his stepfather gave him a couple of slaps. Then the parents went to a restaurant. He turned on all the gas jets. When they returned home they found him unconscious. Once his mother wanted to defend him. The stepfather began to quarrel with her and grew wrathy. It made him mad and he reproached his stepfather: "How dare you talk so to my mother?" He dreamed: I go with Elly and I am upstairs in her room. She says to me: "I have no faith in your love, everything is so forced." I wanted to convince her of my love, but in my heart I knew that she was right. Every one of his affairs is but a posing. He loves but one woman-his mother. He was present at his grandmother's wedding; she was 60, and her groom was 70 years old. The new grandpapa gave him a series of pictures of nude women. These he spreads around and he looks at them whenever he masturbates. He dreamed: I had a dog. I spoke to him and the dog understood me and all my wishes. I said to him: "Bring the old affair with Gretel again into shape." He trotted off and after a while came back and led me to Gretel. She fell on my neck and everything be- tween us was again all right.3 It is the dream of a naive child, who vivifies the whole world and regards the animals as friendly. He has remained a child in every respect. Yesterday he had a quarrel with his mother. He reproached her for the episode about the coffee dating back to his sixth year. This happened after she again (against my advice) praised the stepfather. He sleeps often in the same bed with his friend G. Noth- 80 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR ing ever happened. G. is abstinent. He would never thus sleep with W. (W. is a Don Juan.) At 8 years of age he went into the woods with a girl cousin who was about 13 years of age at the time. He fondled her breasts (she was already developed) and her gen- itals. He wanted also to carry out intercourse. Just then he heard the grandfather's voice. After that no further op- portunity presented itself. The following year she was already a woman while he was still a little stupid boy. When his deaf-and-dumb uncle married he was very de- pressed, wept bitterly, and asked for his little girl cousin whom he himself was going to marry some day. It angered him not to be permitted to continue his studies, which he ascribes to his stepfather's influence. He wanted to enter the cadet school, but his stepfather was opposed to it. When mother brings in the food, he often feels an aver- sion, as if the food were poisoned, and he cannot eat a bite. He has also wanted to procure poison so as to commit suicide. (Influence of motion pictures and reading of cheap novels!) As a child he was often cruel. Once he shut the barn door, when there were a number of swallows inside and thought of killing them off with the whip. Then he wept and lamented: "God, help me to be good and forgive me!" When he recites love episodes to his mother, it sometimes happens that he feels ashamed and suddenly stops short. Then he cannot utter a word. He understands now that the words are addressed to the mother. He had two dreams: 1. I have again played Hans, the Lover, in Youth. I dreamed the whole piece, only the ending was different. I was shot, instead of little Annie, and not by Amandus, but by Uncle Hoppe. 2. I was at the hospital. A physician stepped up to me and said: "My dear friend, after the operation you must not eat so much." The plot of Max Halbe's drama is well known. A boy loves a girl, has sexual intercourse with her, and is shot by another boy, a half-wit (Amandus). The second dream is ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 81 the conclusion of this dream-dramatized plot. He is brought to the hospital, the bullet is extracted, but he must not "eat" so much any more. We have been told already that he is always hungry and could eat all day. This bulimia alternates with his cleptomania and his dromomania. He has run away from home a number of times. He tells about various attempts at suicide. Once he cut his arteries with a razor because his school comrades thought him a coward and teased him. He wanted to prove his bravery. At 14 years he was at the country place with his uncle, who was a butcher. He had to work very much and did not get enough to eat. He stole ham and bacon and was punished for it. Immediately he left for Budapest, went to another uncle and asked for money, saying the uncle would pay it back. (His real father had sold all his clothing and underwear.) Then he came to Vienna. Yesterday he felt an impulse to steal. In the forenoon a letter arrived from his stepfather. He knew that the mother had written him about his last theft, and he was curious to read the letter. His mother refused to let him have the letter. As soon as she left the room, he grabbed her pocketbook, in- tending to take out 100 kronen. But he thought of me and put the pocketbook back in its place. Later he asked his mother for the money and she promptly gave it to him. Before the attempted theft he felt a hot wave flowing up from his stomach and invading his head so that it dazed him. He points out that the theft was again preceded by a murder dream. He dreamed: I was seriously ill. I sent mother away from the house for good. My friend G. took care of me all along. He boiled mulled wine for me. He told me that he suffers from the same illness. When I heard that, I gave him a book about his illness to read. On the title page there was a skull. The book was as big as a desk. At the moment when I gave him the book I died. But in the dream I continued to live. He wept bitterly, nearly driven to distraction. Then W., the singer, called on me. She consoled 82 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR him. She was terribly plain, unattractive. Meanwhile they pre- pared me for interment. Large candles were brought. All the societies where I played sent a representation. There were six carriages full of flowers. It seemed to me I myself was present and followed the hearse. They took me to my place of rest; then my colleagues returned to my home and talked about me. But one of them took my photo in hand and wept bitterly ... it was G. For a moment I appeared to him as spirit and again gave him the big book to read. All of this patient's dreams disclose his romantic character. He longs to get away from his humdrum existence and to live a life of adventure. He does not want to be a hair- dresser, he wants to become a great man and achieve renown. The homosexual feeling-attitude towards his friend G., with whom he often shares one bed, is obvious. Both suffer from the same illness, i.e., homosexuality. He is through with all women because there is but one woman for him: the mother. Pretty girls repeatedly ask him to go out with them, but he refuses. In the dream he sees his own interment and notes how he is beloved by everybody. It is noteworthy that his mother does not appear at all. He has given himself over entirely to homosexuality. The big book is the book of his life and stands as a symbol for himself. W., the singer, appears as the representative of all the other women. Although in life she is a very handsome girl, in the dream she appears ugly. He knows but one pretty woman: his mother. Yesterday he again felt a strong impulse to steal. It was preceded by a criminal dream (the shooting, which never seems to fail). He felt the hunger sensation already men- tioned and was "like in a dream." He spoke with his mother for some time, and there were thoughts of murder in his mind. She had to go to the market. He jumped at the bureau and looked through her letter drawer. He found there some Hungarian kronen sent by his stepfather. It reminded him of the letter. Ominous hatred stirred within him. He took hold of the money. Then he thought of me and of the mean- ing of the theft and was able to control himself. One man he never lied to, his grandfather,-because he ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 83 was kindly. He thinks he could never lie to me either. He has no scruples about fibbing to his colleagues, especially about his mother. He spins preposterous family romances in which his mother is not his true mother, thus neutralizing the incest possibility. He is a magnate's son bearing incidentally the same name. To his comrades he talks about his mysterious high origin. He is strongly convinced of his great historic mission. He is to become a great man and his origin alone is enough to distinguish him from the ordinary men. It is plain that his feeling-attitude of animosity against the whole world for refusing to fulfill his ambitious plans turned him into a criminal. He wants to escape the humdrum ex- istence at all costs and to rise above it. For every humiliation he compensates with a theft. This time the theft was intended to punish me. If you do not love me, your treatment will do me no good! He yearns after love. Never in his life has he had a father's love. He is continually looking for a father-substitute. He has never had the opportunity of sublimating his homosexual compo- nents. He remembers that at school, since his 7th year, he had the habit of stealing pencils and pen holders from the com- rades he liked. Sometimes he wishes he were a girl for three days, so as to know what girls read and how they feel. As a child, and as a very young boy he has repeatedly reproached his mother for having failed to make him a girl. For a long time he thought that the parents decide whether their child shall be a girl or a boy. Mother's conduct after a theft is interesting. She re- proaches him but lightly and always forgives him. The two always play the same role. He, the prodigal son, and she, the forgiving mother. He means to test her love, and she is happy to be able to prove her love by her forgiveness. She is jealous of the physician and does not believe the boy will be cured. She does not want him to be cured, fearing that she may then lose him. She seems to sense unconsciously the meaning of his thefts. For the past days he has been feeling a strong craving for 84 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR love (result of the transference). Yesterday he kissed Elly and again felt the old affection after a long time. He was happy when Elly told him that she reciprocated his love. He builds up a situation whereby he means to avenge him- self for the analyst's indifference to him. This is a bad augury for the progress of the analysis. Yesterday, for the first time during the treatment, he has stolen again. A colleague visited him and told him he had been to the Volkstheatre. As soon as his colleague left him he was overwhelmed by a forlorn feeling of despair. The mother happened to be away. She leaves the bureau drawers unlocked-in spite of his thefts-the money was in an open pocketbook. Although she had given him on that day 500 kronen for spending money, he felt himself drawn to the pocketbook. After a brief struggle he took out 200 kronen in the midst of tremendous agitation. On the mother's re- turn he weepingly confessed the theft to her. The poor woman was not taken aback, she merely said: "This is the first time that you have confessed a theft to me. You may keep the money." It worried him immensely and he kept reflecting: "What will you say to Dr. S. ?" This theft has a preliminary history. On that day he had asked me to listen to him recite a monolog from the Pfarrer von Kirchfeld. I could not refuse and allowed him to recite. Then I expressed a few encouraging remarks, but at the same time I said that he indulges too much in oratory and that he ought to train himself to speak more naturally. That was enough to set him against me. He felt insulted. He had also expected I would secure for him an engagement at a theatre. He wants to feel that he is loved. He does not want cure, but love. Two dreams of that night are characteristic: 1. I owed a colleague 37,000 kronen. He dunned me: "When will you repay me your debt ?" I said: "When I secure an en- gagement you will get the whole sum." 2. I saw X., the actor, in the crowd. He stared at me all the time. Then he came to me and invited me to spend the evening with him. I had great dread to go there alone with him. ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 85 In order to understand these dreams, we must know that I treat him without fee. But after the last humiliation he does not want free treatment. He wants to repay me in full. The number 37 has a multiple determination. His mother is 37 years of age. Thus he means to transfer to me his love for the mother. On the 7th of March (HI 7) he recited the monologue to me. X is a famous actor, considered a homosexual. In the dream X invites him to his home. He does not need my love. I do not admire him enough. He avenges himself through love. He had hoped I would show myself enthusiastic at the conclusion of his monolog recital; would embrace and kiss him and prophesy a great future for him. He is disappointed that his art has impressed me so little. I note that I committed an error when I permitted him at all to recite the monolog for me. I explain to him that I am only a physician and that I do not presume to pass an expert judgment. At home, too, he becomes enraged if his mother fails to respond with enthusiasm. He is happy when he moves her to tears. Praises G.'s self-sacrificing friendship. His equal as a friend is not to be found. And there is not a trace of sexuality about it, although they share the same bed every other night and recite poems to one another. He dreamed: I played in The Fourth Commandment. I was madly in love with Hedwig. I taught her the Strauss waltz (Fruhlingsstimmen, Voices of Spring) on the piano. In the midst of the playing she kissed me passionately. It was a long kiss. At that moment Hedwig's mother came in; she looked at us lovingly and gave us her blessing. Then I went to her father to ask for her hand. He grew angry and hit me in the face with his fist so that I bled from nose and mouth. I left him quietly. I went to Hedwig and she took care of me. I told her, this couldn't go on, I must return to military service. She said: "Don't do that. Stay with me. I am terribly afraid!" But I did go back to the army and, as a sergeant-major, was very unpopular in my company. I 86 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR could not understand it since I treated them well. Particularly a file leader (who looked like Martin in The Fourth Command- ment) with whom I was then in the field, was inimical and wanted to poison me. (He put round white balls in the wine). I no- ticed that and exchanged my glass with his. He drank it and was poisoned. He tossed with pain, tore around, and finally col- lapsed dead. I think this happened in the field, for fighting was going on at the time. Shortly thereafter I became lieutenant and old Emperor Franz Joseph in person bestowed a golden cross on me. He took it out of his pocket and gave it to me,-pinned it on my breast. At the same time he kissed me on the brow. I kissed his hand. He said I should turn to him if I have any request or wish to make. As soon as he said this I was seized by a tremendous longing as I thought of Hedwig back home. My only wish was that she shall be mine. I believe Hedwig was already married, that she was engaged at the time and that was the reason her father rejected my suit. Next, officers' night, arranged by my general. I drank much wine, on account of my anguish. I was very drunk. My general spoke up: "My dear fellow! There is something the matter with you. I give you three weeks' vacation to get well." I journey from the war front again back home. I come to my dear old mother. We kissed for hours. Then I said: "I'm going for a little short walk." In the forest I met Hedwig. I did not recognize her. But she called me by name. She congratulated me on my dis- tinguished record. I was speechless. I found no words. She told me about her two children and was going to tell me more when her husband arrived. She introduced me as her former piano teacher. He invited me to a spree. We became good friends. Then I walked slowly home, insane over my unre- quited love. I heard a voice saying to me: How many persons die of broken heart? I died with frenzy. This dream repeats his day dream fantasies. We see the same motives: unhappy love, love for the mother, and criminal thoughts. Hedwig is a condensation of Elly, his present love, and his mother. The Emperor and the general resembled me. Hedwig's father is his stepfather. The file leader in the dream is an uncle, his stepfather's brother, whom he particularly hates. Many unpleasant inci- dents occurred between them. He even had a street fight ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 87 with the uncle and threw up to him that his sweetheart was a thief. This led to a suit in Court and he was found guilty. That uncle he wanted to kill. His whole hatred for the step- father he transferred to the latter's brother. Interesting is the fact that he hates all thieves. When he reads in the newspapers about a theft he grows angry. He would hang all thieves. It seems to him unreal and strange that he himself could steal. Newspaper accounts of thefts excite him tremendously. He read once about a robbery and murder; a man's head was severed from his body with a wire while riding in his auto- mobile. This agitated him so that he was unable to work. When he is in that state he can recite excellently well. His art requires him to be in an emotional spree, such as is gen- erated by the account of a crime. Stealing is for him a gratification. He never has erections but there is a peculiar tingling in his finger tips, a thrill goes through his whole body, and he experiences an undescribable buoyancy. Illustrating his anger he relates the following incident: He was at a restaurant with his stepfather and uncle. A fork dropped inadvertently out of his hand. His uncle slapped him for it. He threw the plateful of supper into his face. A terrible scene followed. At home his stepfather gave him a sound thrashing. His mother could not come to his defence because the stepfather had locked up the room in which they were at the time. For revenge, next day, he called him at his office on the telephone every little while, without giving his name, so as to disturb him in his work. For a time he carried around a big cudgel with which to knock down the uncle if he should again start something. In the dream he is sergeant-major (as his stepfather had been) and the uncle is under him. He persecutes him terribly and at last poisons him with arsenic. The stolen 200 kronen he returned to his mother, who gave him back the money and, touched by her kindness, he wept. We see that all possible crimes loom up in his dream. Criminal thoughts continually break through his fantasies; 88 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR in this dream, notions of poisoning. We recall that he is sometimes unable to eat because he suspects the food is poisoned. He would like to have at his disposal a poison with which to dispatch his stepfather as well as the latter's brother. And that is the stepfather of whom he spoke with much enthusiasm at the first sitting, whose love and kindness he so much praised that time. We see how little credence we can place in the first accounts of parapathiacs. Now he realizes also that his alleged indifference towards his mother is but a pose. If mother praises the stepfather, he becomes hardened and displays an attitude of complete indifference towards her, while the poor woman, who lives only for her child, and works and sews all day for him, takes this attitude to heart. A smile from him makes her happy. If his disposition is sour her whole joy in living is destroyed. She watches over him at night and wakes him if he has a bad dream. She guards his sleep and counts the hours that he is away from home. An attempt to analyze her proves futile on account of her resistance. She speaks only of her son and does not want to know anything. The treatment, carried on without com- pensation, for the sake of the son, had to be given up. As a child he was very jealous. Once the girl cousin went to grandfather's place in the country two days before his vacation began. He lied at home, saying that he had a vaca- tion, so that his cousin should not be alone with the uncle. He wanted to perform magic when he was a child. He wanted to have a magic wish ring. Then he would conjure up a sack full of gold and always give his mother a big gold piece. Mother was never dressed handsomely enough to suit his taste. She shall have the prettiest clothes and the most handsome hats. He is happy when told that his mother is a beautiful woman. He does not want to look like a son. He wants to pass for a brother of hers. He was alternately spendthrifty and avaricious until his 8th year. Now he can no longer be avaricious. Spending money gives him pleasure. Also buying things. He has days when he would buy anything and everything to give away to poor children. He always gives things. Giving the things ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 89 away he finds even more satisfying than stealing. He is par- ticularly touched at the sight of poor children when he reflects that they might study if their parents could support them. Yesterday he gave his evening meal and also a hat to a poor colleague. He often dreams of®rebirth. He would like to come again into the world and be a different man. When he was in love with Gretel he would have liked to become wholly incorpo- rated in her. Last night he had the following dream. I wanted to have different blood. I said to you, so long as I have father's blood, I cannot be a different man. His mother has often said to him: "You have your father's blood. You are an unfortunate man!" She often says to him these days: "What good is the treatment to you?" He dreams: I was spending the evening with my colleague. We enter- tained each other very pleasantly. My friend G. was looking for his cigarette holder. He could not find it and came to me. He scolded because I took away his cigarette holder. I must return it to him, it was a keepsake from his grandfather. As I was not guilty I grew enraged. I threw him out of the window. Then he threatened me: "I'll get even with you yet for that." With this dream he discloses the sexual root of his clepto- mania. G. is his bosom friend with whom he often sleeps in one bed. The friend accuses him of meddling with his cigarette Spitz (lit., butt, tip, or end}, i.e., his penis. He wants to throw him out of the window, i.e., to conquer over him. But the friend threatens to come back. He is jealous when the girls are more friendly with other boys than with him. He always wants to be the center of attention, the favorite. Yesterday, before falling asleep, he had strange thoughts. It seemed horrible to him that a human being should undress naked before going to bed. Suddenly it came to his mind that his 90 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR mother, too, undresses naked. He realized that his thoughts referred to his mother. It disgusts him to think that human beings have to use the water closet. He can go to the toilet only at home. Anywhere else he might catch an infection. He knows now that it excites him to use the same toilet as his mother. At home he is taciturn and sometimes barely answers when his mother tries to converse with him. He easily gets angry. He does not want to be disturbed. Mother reproaches him for being so cool nowadays and for staying away from home so much. He is growing estranged from her. . . . When they go out together he does not speak to her, nor does he take her arm, although she expects it. People may think he is going with a sweetheart, perhaps that he has picked up a strange woman. His attitude towards her is strongly affectative, intended to keep him at a distance and to protect him against incest. He does not tolerate being kissed or petted. He is ashamed to be seen in public with her; people may draw wrong inferences. He likes to play with the membrum of animals; he has pulled horses and dogs at the membrum; he has induced ejaculation in dogs in that manner. He dreams: I was with my parents. Mother had to journey down to Buda- pest. She apportioned for me 1000 Hungarian kronen for the period of her absence. But instead of waiting for her departure I took the money out of the drawer. I went to the toilet room to count the money. On looking at it I found the bills were 10,000 Austrian kronen. Mother did not bother about it; she kept on with her cooking. Then I went to grandmother. She saw the money and said: "It is all counterfeit." On one bill was written also: "I love you!" On another: "I shall wait for you precisely at 3 o'clock in the afternoon!" I did not understand what this meant. We were both very excited. Then my friend G. came along, took the money and threw it in the oven: "Dear friend, this paper is a terrible tool and you must not play with it!" I wept. I wanted to keep at least the bill on which was written, "I love you!" Suddenly my stepfather arrived and began scolding that I did not send mother sooner down to Hun- gary. He had to come to Vienna to take mother along. He swore terribly on account of the last theft (blackguard, etc.). ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 91 Full of bitterness, I wanted to jump through the window-and then I awoke. In order to understand this dream we must be acquainted with the circumstances preceding it. His mother told him that in two months she will move over altogether to be with her husband. He was very sad and felt sharp heart pangs. All the humiliations which he suffered at the hands of his rival came to his mind, and he recalled also other incidents which he described with great particularity. In the evening he wanted to go to a dance. His mother wept and implored him to stay with her. Although he would have very much liked to go, he gave in to her. In the dream we see the sexual significance of money. Money is love. His mother loves him much more than he ever knew. He knows it now. The bank notes are of the 10,000 denomination and they bear on their face the proof of love ("I love you!") Elly made an appointment with him for three o'clock. But Elly is merely a transference from the mother. At night he could not fall asleep. He tried to think of himself proudly as being alone, but could not very well. He recited for a time and then fell asleep. He knows now that he cannot live without his mother. The last time she was away she stayed with the stepfather three weeks. During that time he stole from his employer and also, repeatedly, from the house. That was his revenge on the mother for neglect- ing him. He is a bitter hater. He must always hate some- thing or somebody. As a child he hated flies and impaled them alive on pins, gleefully watching their tortures. He had transposed his hatred from the stepfather to the flies. Pencils are his passion. His homosexual feeling for his friend G. breaks through also in the last dream. He has a collection of pencils, which, as mentioned, he had stolen from his friend. But he has also stolen from his girl cousin a silk handkerchief and a pencil. His mother was always quarreling with his grandmother. He was also drawn into these quarrels. In the dream the grandmother tells him that the bank notes are counterfeit, i.e., his mother's love is not genuine. She started to set the 92 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR boy against his own mother at an early age, telling him that the mother sent him away so as to be alone with the stepfather and give him everything. Thus his hatred against his step- father was fed anew. In the dream he is about to commit suicide so as to punish the mother. He may go to America for a year to act in the moving pictures. He has been strongly urged to do so. Even his mother now recognizes the need of a separation. . . . He tells a fantastic story and I do not know whether it be true or not. He claims it is the sober truth. In the after- noon he was at a concert-cafe of the highest class, frequented only by the best people, waiting for his friends. (Discloses his remarkable frivolity. Such entertainments are very costly.) A couple of finely dressed women were at the next table. The waiter brought him a card bearing the inquiry whether he would care to escort the two ladies to a show (variete). He told them frankly that he had no money. The ladies said it did not matter, and paid the bill. He has been invited again for to-night and is to get a new suit. They were strangers to him. One of them asked him whether he would prefer to go with her alone. He did not tell his mother anything about this adventure. Yesterday he was very much excited sexually and after a time had to masturbate. This morning he felt an over- whelming impulse to steal. He felt a terrific anxiety; and did not know whether to steal money or bread. (During the war, when bread was scarce, he has often stolen bread. Now such theft would be senseless.) He decided in favor of the bread. While his mother happened to step out of the room, he took the bread,-it burned in his hands, he felt a peculiar itching and tingling and a sense of buoyancy throughout his body. The mother returned to the room. He left the bread and ran off. If the story about the women be true-for such adventures are not rare in the metropolis, and he is quite an impressive young man-it excited him very much because he felt that the younger woman of the two (17-18) expected sexual in- tercourse. That drove him back to his mother, and he wanted to steal her bread. ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 93 His first theft he carried out six years ago. He stole sugar to give it to horses.4 In this way he befriended them and eventually succeeded in playing with their genitalia. Once he stole a kilo of butter, spread it on bread and gave it to his favorites, the two dogs. He was 8 years of age; the vacation was at an end and he had to return home. That was his parting meal for the dogs. They ate voraciously while he wept bitterly. . . . He dreams: I was at the Theatre (Deutsches Volkstheater) with mother and my friend G. The show ended late-it was half-past eleven. I told G. to take a meal at the restaurant and sleep with me. He said it was very kind of me to invite him; he lived far and was also very tired. First we noticed that the public restaurants were already closed; he could not get a meal. But we found a place open and the two of us-mother and I-escorted him and waited while he ate. He ordered creamed bacon (my favorite dish) and I felt seriously offended because he did not invite me to eat with him, although he knew it was my favorite dish. But I said nothing to him about my feelings. He paid and we went away. In order to understand the dream we must be guided by the affect. The affect therein is one of ill feeling against the friend. He meets him, invites him home to stay over- night, goes with him to the restaurant and that friend is too thoughtless to ask him to share his favorite dish. This is the friend with whom he often shares one bed. At first they lie in separate beds, but afterwards the friend comes to his bed and they converse. Both have strong erections without, however, doing anything to one another. This friend G., too, has attempted intercourse with a woman only once and then proved impotent. He is probably latent homosexual. Eating (like money) stands for love. We appreciate why he wanted yesterday to steal bread from his mother. He has another friend, P. This one is very close to his mother. As soon as he leaves the room the two whisper among themselves. He is jealous without being willing to recognize it. He is jealous also of G. The day before yes- 94 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR terday G. entertained himself in a girl's company. He felt badly over that. Hence the ill feeling in the dream. G. is also friendly with his mother. But they are never alone. P. calls also during his absence. He would like to order him out of the house. P. also prevails upon him to spend money. P. is engaged to a girl who has broken with him because he neglects her. All his spare time he spends in his mother's company. Often he rushes precipitately to the house, because he is restless. He fears that P. is doing something to his mother. All that was vague and only now does he analyze his feelings. His mother never goes to the Deutsches IZolks- theater. She does not appreciate plays. She prefers operettas, whereas G. cannot tolerate them. In the dream they are together. He has fused his heterosexual with his homosexual love. But he finds that his mother is more precious to him. She is the one who gives him the last morsel of food, though she may go hungry, whereas G. does not do so in the dream. Yesterday he sought a quarrel with P., the house friend of whom he is jealous. P. said he did not understand the new treatment. The "Professor" may pursue secret designs of his own. There was no sense in going daily to him, "merely to talk." That cannot restore one's health. It made the patient angry, one word led to another, he gave him a couple of blows and showed him the door, ordering him never to show himself in that house again. The motive of this deed was his jealousy over the mother. The mother was not at home. When she returned she was told what happened; she noticed the son's state of agitation and remarked that she, too, failed to see any sense in the treatment. No medicines? No water even? She thought the physician might at least apply electric treatments to the head. Nor did she understand why he has to lie down every day on a sofa. And as to talking, he could do that with his mother. The mother's jealousy of the physician, to whom the patient leans with great affection, breaks through. P. seems to have spoken for her. That evening he had to give a lecture recital. He was to recite the Knight of Toggenburg ballad. Suddenly he ANALYSIS OF A CLEPTOMANIAC 95 stopped, unable to continue. The prompter asked the audience to excuse the entertainer on account of sudden illness. The passage where he stopped short was: "Da verlasset er auf immer seiner Vater Schloss." ("Then he left his father's castle forever.") At this point the thought had occurred to him: "No! I cannot leave mother." His inner conflict is very terrific. He knows that he ought to separate from his mother, but feels that he is too weak to do it; also that his mother will not let him. The transference on Elly becomes progressively clearer. He is now insanely in love with the girl. The affair with the two women, which I did not believe-I told him so yesterday -apparently has led to nothing further. He would like to squirm out of the lie in some honorable manner, but by his conduct he has already half acknowledged that the story was a fabrication. At the next appointment he did not appear. I knew that the story about the two women was a fabrication intended for me. I shall take him out, invite him to supper and buy him a new suit. He wanted to find out whether he could successfully lie to me. When I told him I did not believe his story, although he had embellished it with minute cir- cumstantial details, he did not appear offended but only a little embarrassed. His mother's undermining tactics against the analysis had, at last, the desired result. They do not want to separate. They want to live together. I have decidedly made a mistake in the conduct of the analysis. I corroborated the intimation he himself had brought up that it would be best for his mother to go to Hungary to live with the father. He merely wanted to find out my opinion and thus achieved his aim. Another mistake on my part was to allow him to recite the monolog for me. I should have insisted that I am only an analyst and that I do not care to pass upon his art. But that, too, might have offended him and he might have run away sooner. What he most dreaded was insight into his sadistic com- plex. Every theft was preceded by a dream which portrayed a crime. This proves that the act of stealing stands for a 96 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR whole series of criminal deeds. The theft lends itself readily to this symbolization because it is relatively the least serious of crimes. Thus the aboriginal impulse must have been the committal of a murder,-taking some one's life. His concep- tion of sexual intercourse as a child was sadistic (infantile sexual theory). Killing a person means complete possession of that person. One of his dreams expresses this thought: If I cannot have you, no one shall! He plays with the thought of committing matricide. His mania for giving things away acquires a new light. He grants his mother her life. She would have been dead long ago had he carried out his plans. There can be no doubt that he harbored conscious murder fantasies. His suicidal attempts indicate that. "No one takes his life unless he has wanted to kill." 6 He was afraid of confessing this notion to me. He sought some excuse to escape making this confession. The last attack of dread, during the recital, probably fur- nished him the desired excuse for abandoning the treatment. His mother's attitude strengthened his inclination. The mother, realizing that the success of the treatment meant separation, behaved accordingly. Nevertheless the case gives us a deep insight into the nature of cleptomania. Here we see this tremendous attachment to the mother, the pronounced homosexual feeling-attitude, the persevering masturbation habit, the various criminal tendencies. Georg is thoroughly infantile; in his thoughts and feelings he behaves like a child. What will be his future? Will he subdue his criminal im- pulses and become a genuine artist or will he go to pieces? His inclination to suicide is very strong, corresponding to his romantic nature. X ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA Love is a nightingale, and it is the peculiarity of nightin- gales to appear more alluring within the forbidden bower than on the broad highway. Nestroy. Certain children show a certain predisposition towards ah impulsive acts. Among the various cleptomaniacs which I have had under professional care there were a number of "only" children. These are often true children "of pain," repaying with suffering the tenderness bestowed upon them. The following excellent case history, which furnishes us a deep insight into the psychogenesis of a cleptomania, like the preceding, involves an "only" child. We find the same trag- edy. A poor mother who toils and suffers want for the sake of her child, sacrificing the last of her hard-earned pennies for his welfare, and who trembles for fear that her wayward child will land in jail. The following record has been prepared by Emil Gutheil. my assistant: Case 69. The mother of A. M., 21 years of age, and a bank clerk, appeals to me on account of her son having caused her considerable anxiety. For years he has been stealing various articles which he sells so as to indulge in his love of high living. He was turned over to me for psychoanalysis, which I carried out under Dr. Stekel's direction. Patient complains also of various parapathiac symptoms: trembling, depressions, irritability, continual unrest, absent- mindedness,-which interferes with his work; he complains further of troublesome day-dreams and other symptoms to be discussed later. At the same time his lack of will power renders him un- able to resist the transitory promptings of his moods; thus 97 98 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR it sometimes happens that, in order to secure money, he "carries anything out of the house and sells it." What troubles him most is his transitory but recurring greed for jewels. Inquiry brings out, in the first place, a very remarka- ble fact feature: the victim of his thefts is usually his own mother. The cleptomaniac impulse arises as follows: In a jeweler's window (the patient is familiar with the jewelers' displays for miles around) he sees an article which he likes. It is a solitaire diamond. For hours he stands in front of the win- dow gloomily brooding. (The respective fantasies will be recorded later; patient has written out a number of them for me.) The accompanying fantasies generate a growing inner tension. The wish to possess the jewel grows until it occupies the foreground of his thought. Reason attempts to curb the desire; thus an intense inner conflict arises manifest- ing itself in a feverish shivering of the whole body and other symptoms indicative of a certain measure of sexual agitation. The voice of reason is finally overwhelmed; the only question which confronts him thenceforth is: how to get the money. That day he is not fit for any regular work; in the midst of his tremendous psychic pressure there comes to his mind the relieving thought of stealing. At such times he usually starts a quarrel with his mother, leading to acts of violence, such as the breaking of dinner plates, etc., and that is followed by the theft, which he commits in a state of mental dissocia- tion. He pawns, or sells, the plunder and with the proceeds secures the desired article. Only then does he feel relief,-a sense not unlike that which follows the sexual acme. Sub- sequently, the patient is overcome by strong shame and re- gret and the acquired article becomes suddenly so abhorrent to him that he tries to get rid of it as fast as possible. There- fore he gives it away either to some frivolous woman whose company he seeks, or to one of his friends to whom he is lending pecuniary support. Then, throwing himself on his knees before his mother, he begs her forgiveness, following her imploringly on his knees until she actually forgives him. ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 99 We note here another striking peculiarity: The article zuhich he acquires through theft loses its value as soon as he has possession of it and is then given away. Overstressed notions generate also situations like the fol- lowing : His girl friend-the patient keeps up a friendship with a girl whom he considers his betrothed-casually asks him: "Will you be at the restaurant to-night?" Usually, having no money, he declines. But towards evening he grows increas- ingly restless. The thought that he must go to the restaurant gradually takes possession of him, becomes compulsive, and there seems to be no way out; then, in a state of mental dis- traction, he commits some theft to be able to attend the res- taurant. An evening's entertainment, obtained at such a cost, then grows into a true martyrdom for him. Tortured by his guilty conscience, and depressed, he abandons the company, running precipitately away. The overvaluation of the fantasies indicated by the patient as precipitating the occasional thefts discloses their morbid character. But the fantasies disclose on their surface merely a pretext (Freud's ''secondary motive"), as do all the sub- ject's direct statements; with him this is not a direct compul- sion to steal; the act is but the means for the realization of a supreme idea. As a matter of fact the patient systematically brings about the situation which confronts him: he artfully creates the state of chronic want through his senseless spend- thriftiness and his oniomania. (For instance, he now pos- sesses an endless number of pencils and note books, about 160 collars, 70 neckties, 11 cigarette holders, etc. Gifts and new purchases continually add to the indicated store of his possessions.) We now turn our attention to the patient's history. The Family. The patient is the only son of a minor official. At 10 years of age he lost his father, who left the family in a precarious financial state. The father did not have the knack of getting close to the boy's heart, so that his death impressed the boy as a sort of a sensation rather than as a painful event, and even afterwards he never felt keenly the loss of the father. The patient's earliest memories (around 100 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 4th to 5th year), however, are concerned entirely with the father, with his first attempt at cycling and with his learning to swim. On any of these occasions he might have met with some accident; the fact that they remained ingrained in his memory is a corroboratory proof of his CEdipus complex to be ferreted out later through the analysis. Patient's Personal History. As a child he was a favorite and he has never learned self-control. If he was denied any- thing he wanted he cried for hours. At the age of 2 to 3 he suffered from pavor nocturnus (night frights) so that his mother had to carry him in her arms. There followed a lengthy latency period and around 6 to 7 years of age he again began to suffer from the nocturnal dreads, which were suc- cessfully overcome only when he was allowed to lie in the parental bed between the father and the mother. His re- ligiosity forms a special chapter. It lasted until his 12th year, when it was followed by a "testing divinity" period. At the very first communion, as a test, he kept silent about his lack of chastity (masturbation) and a few minor thefts; some deliberate fibs served the same purpose. No divine punish- ment followed, but his conscience unexpectedly began to trouble him so that, for a time, the boy had the feeling of being wholly depraved. During that particular developmental stage we find also a series of ascetic traits, flagellistic deeds (self-punishment), abstinence, etc. He thought in that con- nection that we must expatiate through sacrifice and self- torture so that God will take everything into consideration when he gets around to distributing His rewards. He prayed to God not to let him go to the bad. Before examinations and whenever he was confronted by difficult situations he made all sorts of vows which he never kept. He was par- ticularly depressed over his frequent breaking of the fourth commandment. Despairingly he would tremble as he mumbled to himself the commandment: "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother . . ." with its promise of long life and happiness on earth as the divine reward. To this day he is troubled by the thought that he can never be happy. Dante's Divine Comedy has made a powerful impression upon the young boy. It is noteworthy that the picture of ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 101 the eternal clock, with the hands always pointing at twelve, has preoccupied his fantasy for years. (I shall refer to this again.) Among the patient's peculiarities must be mentioned super- stitiousness,-that characteristic common to all criminals and parapathiacs. For instance, it means much to him whether he steps with the right foot or with the left foot from the plaster to the asphalt sidewalk; the right foot means bad luck. Nuns, for whom he harbored bitter hatred, also brought bad luck; that was true also of crossing canals, or railings, or of getting up late. In the course of the analysis I shall attempt to solve the symbolic meaning of these peculiarities; at this juncture I need mention only the subject's remarkable aversion to the Courthouse Building. Uncommonly strong pride and obstinacy are traceable back to the earliest childhood. The boy always wanted to pass as wealthy among his comrades; told them he owned villas, that he came from a noble family (Reichsgraf Henckel von Don- nersmark), that his relatives were higher army officers, etc. These infantile megalomaniac tendencies are richly displayed in the patient's fantasies. The following incident illustrates his obstinacy: In the third primary the teacher punished the boys on one bench by not permitting them to look at a picture which he showed the rest of the class. When the teacher relented all the boys on that bench, except he, took advantage of the amnesty to see the picture; he remained seated at his place and refused to look at the picture because he felt insulted. This proud conscious- ness of being unlike the others, this endeavour to attract atten- tion, and this disrespect for authority, formed the general psychic background for his parapathy inasmuch as such char- acter traits as the ones mentioned above favored richly the growth of his fantasy. The patient preserved the infantile propensity for lying; this at first served his pride; now lying is a natural accom- paniment of his stealing. In the analysis of cleptomania it is necessary to take into account this propensity, in view of the danger of dissimulation. It is desirable to interview other 102 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR members of the family, without the patient's knowledge, in case this was not done at the outset. In the present case the patient, in spite of the best relations between him and the analyst, for a time has lied shamelessly about a number of things, particularly about the results of the treatment. Sexuality. The patient's sexual activity began very early. Significant are certain homosexual episodes during bathing, when reciprocal attempts at coitus in anum were made (10th- uth year). The encyclopedia also was used at an early age to satisfy the boy's curiosity about sexual matters. The first sexual dreams (12th-13th year) revolved very plainly around the mother. Dream i. Mother said: I am so good to you that I am even willing to furnish you this pleasure. Significantly enough, this form of dreaming ceased to reach consciousness after the onset of puberty (result of repression). Before adolescence the patient was interested chiefly in older women, after attaining manhood he preferred exclusively young girls. His present betrothed is not quite 17 years of age. Masturbation began at the age of 12 along with his onio- mania. He indulged in the habit without recourse to me- chanical excitation, merely with the aid of fantasies. Inasmuch as these do not differ from his day-dream fantasies I shall consider them together. Patient relates: "Often I think: If I had a definite income I would be able to buy this or that diamond. Then I picture the article in my fantasy down to the last details, reflect to whom I would best like to give it, and go through the whole scene of bestowing it upon the recipient, especially if it be a girl. I know that it is pure egoism, but I do it, because I am delighted at the recipient's pleasure. The more precious the gift, the stronger is my satisfaction. . . A Luxury Fantasy: A day in a first-class hotel. Small, splendidly furnished room. I wake up in the morning. Ele- gant pyjama. I smoke leisurely a fine cigarette held in one of the numerous silver holders I possess. Then I dress slowly. In my fantasy I follow very carefully every motion and every ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 103 article used. Then the guests are received and with a feeling of pleasant fatigue the day-dream is ended. An Erotic Fantasy: With Eva, my betrothed, I go to a jeweler's. I buy her a solitaire, but instead of giving it to her, I promise to do so in a few days. Her unquenched desire and consequent begging induce in me a pleasant feeling of erotic tension. [Note: The girl's name is Anna Marie, con- densed into Annemarie, but is called by the patient "Eva," as a term of endearment. She is well to do and not in the least dependent on his gifts.] Earliest Onanistic Fantasy: I take the girl to a luxuriously furnished room. The girl is bedecked with diamonds whose genuine quality is obvious. Music resounds in the next room. I kiss the girl, pressing her tenderly in my arms. The room's atmosphere is saturated with the perfume of flowers. ( Specific love determinant.) Second Onanistic or Harem-Fantasy: I go with a number of girls (women) to the hotel, as above. The girls dance. I choose the prettiest for the consummation of the love act. It seems they are all my wives. (In reality he indulges in no pluralistic activity.) Reality stands in rawest contrast to this boy's dreams. His mother, a governess, supports herself as well as him. The son gives her no material assistance whatsoever; his unfor- tunate trouble, burdensome as it is, only adds to the sombre- ness of the situation. In addition to the fantasies, with their latent psycho-infan- tile content, as related above, he indulges in manifest criminal fancies which are at times so subtle as to prove startling. From among the large number of such fantasies of stealing at my disposal, I choose the following three: 1. A bit of putty is stuck surreptitiously under the jeweler's case. From among the 3 or 4 rings shown by the merchant an unobserved one is rather boldly abstracted and stuck in the putty. Quite a quarrel ensues, leading to arrest, search, etc., all of which proves futile. Next day a confederate re- covers the ring from the putty and hides it safely. 2. During inspection the diamond ring is held up to the light and quickly, surreptitiously an impression of it made in 104 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR paraffin, brought along for the purpose. The customer decides to think it over and leaves the place. Next time he has brought, hidden in his pocket, an exact duplicate imitation of the dia- mond ring. Suppose the ring is worth 4 million kronen; a deposit is made of 100,000 kronen, the balance payable in a month. Jewelers are in the habit of keeping the first payment, together with the ring, in a sealed envelope. The false dupli- cate is slipped into that envelope. (Our patient has perfected the technique of these manipulations by weeks of training.) 3. The jeweler is given for inspection a ring provided with a minute poisoned pin on an unobtrusive side. The merchant scratches his finger with the poisoned sharp point and dies. Then the desired jewel is stolen. (His fantasy does not dwell on plundering the whole case; he is always interested in one particular article and his aim is to attain solely the possession of that.) Patient describes his feelings upon indulging in these fan- tasies : "I feel as if I am facing a great misfortune. I am terribly absent-minded, cannot find collar, or button, or anything, though I had them in hand a minute before. Everything seems to go wrong, the collar appears unclean1 and does not fit, my face looks unspeakably stupid, I think I must give the impression of being a dissolute man. Time passes quickly and I cannot get ready. When at last I step out of the house, I do so with a feeling of having forgotten something and I must go back. If I do not do so, an inner restlessness tortures me and I am afraid of using harsh words in talking to others. At the same time I tremble, feeling myself surrounded by unsympathetic, inimical persons. My attire also worries me when compared with the new clothes I see. I should prefer not to speak; for I get angry easily, and abusive. Evil thoughts of misfortune always follow in the wake of these fantasies; for instance, Eva may fall sick, or I may lose her; sudden poverty and its consequences; mother may fall suddenly ill, and similar troubles. Seldom do I succeed in repressing such fancies by dwelling on something more pleas- ant ; then, in the end, I feel badly and I am depressed on account of the loss of time. . . ." ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 105 The patient reports also states of "split" consciousness: "At night I often go through mental states which I cannot explain but which are extremely unpleasant. It is within my power to prolong these states by my passive attitude or to put an end to them by forcing my eyes open and raising my body. I hear the rushing of the blood in my ears and I imagine I am a kettle full of boiling water. In a half sleepy state I rehearse the process of coming home, undressing and going to bed, only after that do I fall asleep. Or I try to pronounce words aloud, where- upon I hear them as if they came from the next room." To these split personality feelings belongs also the patient's somnambulic tendency which he has developed during the past 2 years. He relates: "Sometimes I wake up at night with the feeling of having been away. But the warmth of the bed and my bodily inertia, such as one feels only during a heavy sleep, convince me that I must be mistaken. At the same time I have sometimes found morn- ings, in the kitchen, an old, long unused glass with traces of water in it, showing that I must have used it at night." The following sketch, drawn by the patient, shows the path of his nocturnal wandering: Fig. Ill P - Patient's bed; M = His mother's bed; K = Shelf from which water glass was taken; W = Water faucet; T = Table on which glass was found in the morning; The sleep walker's supposed path. In view of the patient's shyness I had to resist for a time the temptation of reducing the various groups of symptoms to 106 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR their symbolic meaning. Only after about four weeks of analysis was I able to begin the therapeutic part of the treat- ment. In the first place I explained to the patient that in his attitude towards jewelry the chief thing was not the desire to possess the article but the deed (of stealing) itself, which al- ways stood for a definite, symbolic act, painful to conscious- ness. After pointing out his unconscious prearranging of the need for stealing, and the relationship of this act to his onio- mania, the patient's attention shifted entirely from the "sec- ondary motive." These explanations the patient found thor- oughly acceptable and brought about a certain release from the tension of his day-dreaming. Then I went over a number of additional complexes, his sadism, homosexuality, maternal body fantasies, etc., also his emotional fixation on the mother, and his CEdipus complex. But the role of the latter in this parapathy could be rendered conscious only towards the close of the analysis. The CEdipus complex in general and the mother fixation in particular dominate the 'whole clinical picture of this disorder. We can trace this to the first developmental years, back to the boy's desire to be carried in his mother's arms, to sleep with her in bed, etc. He was an only child, and a spoiled child. A few years after his father's death, the boy went through a stormy adolescence. He showed a strong inclination to blas- phemy, also certain sadistic traits, and he over-compensated these tendencies by his excessive piety and asceticism. The loving attitude towards the mother also began to manifest itself under its bipolar contrast,-in short: already during the boy's adolescence we are witnessing the typical parapathiac interplay of forces between instinct and repression. It is obvi- ous that the incest conflict is greatly stressed through his living together with the mother. The patient's attitude towards womanhood reflects his infan- tile fixations. Therefore it seems important to scrutinize more closely the patient's attitude towards his bride as well as his feeling-attitude towards the whole concept of faithfulness. His attitude towards Eva may be called platonic. Patient states that for the past two years he has had no sexual feeling and wants to know how that is possible. Has the instinct for ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 107 reproduction, innate in every living creature, really been lost by our patient? On looking at the matter more closely we find that the bride is but a symbol. Her real name, as mentioned, was Anne- marie; Eva is our common ancestress. The bride thus repre- sents a mother-substitute tolerable to the consciousness. The young man now watches over Eva's virtue with the same jeal- ousy with which as a boy he once watched his mother's con- versations with any strange man. (Cp. the respective fan- tasies!) When he comes'home evenings and does not find his mother he is restless, runs repeatedly to the gate, and only after she returns home is he able to settle down. After some re- sistance he acknowledges that, besides the thought that some- thing may have happened to his mother on the way, he is also afraid that she may have gone off with a strange man. This is usually followed by quarrels, reproaches, and thefts, carried out by the patient as a form of revenge. He is troubled like- wise if he does not find Eva at home: afraid she will not return a virgin. A characteristic dream: 2. A nun passed me by and I was very much worried, because I thought she had done it deliberately to trouble me. Suddenly I noticed that my mother was dressed in a nun's uniform. It seemed mother had to go on a journey (on business). The patient, as I have mentioned, is a bitter enemy of nuns; he calls them stupid creatures and pious frauds. Neverthe- less, in the dream, his mother appears to him dressed as a nun. What is the meaning of this? Any one experienced in the task of discovering the cryptic meaning of parapathiac symp- toms will easily interpret also this significant puzzle, which bears upon the young man's sexual sphere, too, and which reads, approximately, as follows: You can demand uncondi- tional purity from your mother only if you preserve your own chastity! The patient's subjective account reveals one, not less sig- nificant, emotional transference: "I cannot and will not be untrue to my Eva. Ridiculous as this may seem, the reasons 108 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR which prevent me from being untrue are mere superstitions. I have the feeling that by being faithful to her 1 somehow compel fate to keep her also true to me." Thus he remains true to her, apparently allowing his sex- uality to die off. As a matter of fact he merely sublimates it, transposing it into intellectual elements, into fantasy wearing. His hatred of nuns is a bipolar manifestation; it is due to his inability to get rid of this conflict.2 When we consider this situation and this transference of affect, the question very properly suggests itself, what does the patient expect of the beloved person's chastity? (We may deliberately disregard the bride and refer specifically to the "beloved person.") In order to answer this question we must turn to Dante's eternal clock, already mentioned above, which had produced so lasting an impression upon our patient. Connected therewith is not only the thought that the torture of the damned is increased by their hopeless expectation (the clock points permanently to XII) ; the thing expresses, in the first place, the patient's whole attitude towards the problem of time,-it is a symbol for his "beyond-all-time" conception, and gives us an insight into the whole symbolism of his para- pathy.3 He dwells beyond the category of time. There is no yester- day and no to-morrow for him. There are no differences of age. His mother is still a virgin. She is still waiting, to be saved by him. Twice in the course of the treatment his associations brought up numbers, and both times the number was 30, his mother's age when she married (and lost her virginity). His fantasy hovers around that period; nevertheless, as we have seen, the occurrence in question is non-existent to him. He tells that for years he thought his mother was 30 years of age and would never grow older; she would remain always young (the eternal clock ). The following dream appertains to this matter: 3. I attended a celebration, many persons were present, all waiting. I pinned flowers on a soldier who was waiting along with me. Then, the end of the festivity. An elderly man begs ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 109 alms at a comer. The proprietress, in whose honor the festival was given, passes by and at first addresses him in a friendly manner. The man says he has been 30 years in her service and asks her for assistance. But the woman turns away from him and I see by her face that she is angry. Then the man goes next into a few stores, demanding leather, while I wait outside. But his request is turned down everywhere. Patient knows the soldier's age as well as that of the pro- prietress. Both are 30 years old. The soldier bedecked with flowers is a phallic symbol. The dreamer here is 30 years of age. The "older man" is the patient's second, or older, self (identification with the father). Significant is the "leather," a symbolism which helps solve the dream. The patient's bride happened to mention, some time before this dream occurred, that she needs a larger leather bag. Im- mediately he wanted to buy her the desired bag and began to worry where to get hold of the necessary 40,000 kronen. At the same time he began looking over the stock of leather bags in the stores and had to fight against typical cleptomaniac fantasies. Fortunately, in the course of the treatment I was able to break the path of the over-valued notion and to stop the impulse, a fact which filled the patient with an enhanced sense of self-consciousness. Thus the leather which he seeks in the dream and cannot find is easily explained. He begs the mother (for love) but receives no attention from her. ("I see by her face that she is angry.") He leaves and tries to make up for it by theft. His sleepwalking corresponds to this tendency to wander around. The somnambulist walks in an arc around his moth- er's bed and drinks water out of "an old, long unused glass," an act which, like the sleepwalking proper, must be conceived in a symbolic sense. (Vid. sketch outlining path of patient's sleepwalking.) It represents a transposition of affect. (Asso- ciations to water drinking: wining, champagne drinking, din- ing, etc., distinctly a sexual connotation.) As a child the patient deliberately looked forward to his father's death. He did this for a peculiar reason: he expected to inherit a beautiful diamond ring from his father (the first article of its kind for which he lusted in his life!). The first 110 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR serious quarrel with his mother, which led also to the display of violence, was over this matter. But the boy acquired pos- session of the desired ring only at his confirmation. He can never forget the incident; his fantasies not infrequently lead him regressively back to that experience: He drives with his mother through the Prater, the ring shining on his finger. The fate of his first trinket was sealed on account of his oncoming oniomania. The ring fell into the hands of a specu- lator, the money was spent, and all that remained was a sad memory. "When I look over the jewelers' displays," relates the patient, "I often feel as if I were really looking for that first beautiful diamond ring of mine. I have an inner convic- tion that I will yet come upon it some day; when that shall happen any price will seem to me reasonable enough to get it back." Thus he goes through life forever searching for his lost childhood treasure. . . . We now come to the most important question, not touched upon thus far in the analysis of this cleptomania, the question as to the essence of the subject's asocial deed. The patient divides his asocial conduct into three periods according to the stages of his life: a) 12th-13th year: Deceptions about small balances left after making purchases, etc. b) iqth-iSth year: Fraud. False war loan certificates and other deceptive means whereby he obtained money from his mother. c) 19th year on to this date: Deliberate thefts, as well as a combination of the above offences. Thus far he has men- tioned three persons as the victims of his theft: in the very first place, his mother; next, the patient has repeatedly stolen eatables and sweets from his grandmother; finally, he has sometimes helped himself surreptitiously to sugar from his sweetheart's mother's bowl, although she would have gladly given it to him. This-unfortunately rather restricted-material reveals that all the persons from whom the patient has stolen have in com- mon the attribute of motherhood, and that all stood in a close, even intimate, relationship to the patient. The question whether the patient was capable of committing an offence ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 111 beyond this restricted circle must be answered in the negative in view of the prompt reaction of his conscience to past mis- deeds; the patient's proclivities in that direction were limited to the mother-imago. The patient shows no pronounced moral defect and no criminal trend in the forensic sense. (Criminal fantasies do not justify the assumption of a genuine criminal activity.) The misconduct associated as it is with so prompt a reaction of the conscience, seems rather a temporary over- shadowing of the moral inhibitions by a specific pleasurable and therefore overvalued desire. This assumption is strengthened by the following facts. During the war our patient was representing a jewelry house and had taken over on commission a very valuable set of dia- mond rings. He misappropriated none of the jewels thus en- trusted to him though he bought some of these jewels to give to his girl friends. He thus failed to take advantage of the only real opportunity he ever had of misappropriating goods. The following are significant dreams: 4. Evening, during bad weather, I went to the office. The streets were muddy; it rained. Passed by a jewelry store,-a very disorderly display, rings and stones galore, but the most precious piece of all was missing. I continued on my way, while an acquaintance walked behind swearing at me. Then I looked into a brilliantly lighted coffee-house; my acquaintance stepped in, while I walked on down the street. The dream reflects again the patient's soul (cloudy, muddy, great disorder). The most precious diamond ring which he finds missing is his mother. Patient lives like a child in a realm of symbols and fantasies. He plays with secret designs, he lives beyond the limits of time. He is thus led to a sym- bolic displacement from the utopian craving for an infantile love objective (the mother) intolerable to consciousness, to an indifferent objective agreeable to consciousness (jewel). This emotional transposition endows the cleptomaniac impulse with its potential energy. Sometimes the patient thinks he has found the particular treasure of a jewel for which he yearns. He breaks his way to it through all the difficulties. Greedily, 112 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR with trembling fingers, he takes hold of it. But presently he lets it slip from his hand-it is not the genuine article! . . . A certain analogy with the Don Juan problem is noticeable at this juncture.4 Both pursue unattainable objectives; both enjoy the hunt for the objective, the tense expectation, the fore- pleasure; and both cool off as soon as they attain the desired objective. In both the desire to conquer (will to power) over- weighs the desire to possess. And neither of them knows that in reality he pursues but a single ideal which is locked in his breast and that the search, therefore, must always end in disappointment. The acquaintance who swears at the patient in the dream represents the dreamer's other self, which brings about the split in this paiapathiac conflict. One self pursues earthly pleasures (the brilliantly lit coffee-house) while the other goes "down" the muddy pathway of life. . . . Dream 5. I go with mother to the Court House, having been accused of theft. My accuser is approximately of my age. There are many persons in the court room. My deed dates back 2 years. But I was not the one caught by the complainant. The act was perpetrated by a man with reddish hair. Without a verdict I leave. In another room I wait for mother. Next to me a young girl is sitting on a sofa. My complainant is also there, but leaves right away. I remain alone with the girl, kiss her and grow excited as I press her body against mine. The girl is young and I like her very much, although she is rather emaciated. Mother fixation: Theft, Court House-the association is easily seen through. The complainant and the red-haired of- fender are the two poles of the patient's personality: his moral and his criminal self. (Red hair is a symbol of sensuality, thus hinting at the sexual character of the crime.) His more flagrant cleptomaniac offences began two years ago and at the same time his sexual desire apparently died down. Furthermore, the dream portrays a transference of affect from the mother to the girl. The words: "The girl is young" indicate the patient's endeavour to differentiate the love ob- jective from the mother-imago; therefore the thought is re- peatedly emphasized. He has transposed his craving from ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 113 "age" to "youth" and himself assumes the role of the mother. The mania for giving things away (as gifts, or presents) is traceable to this identification with the mother. Inasmuch as his mother cannot be so free with the patient (vid., the beggar who is turned down), he takes over her role (vid., his last dream) thus converting the "passive unpleasure" of an ungratified expectation into the "active pleasure" of giving things away (Freud's terminology), a pleasure which he tries to revive over and over on the principle of repetition.5 The luxury fantasies correspond to the patient's pride; they also bear certain relations to the mother-body fantasies, to be brought out later. The erotic fantasies disclose the sexual valuation of the pur- chase of jewelry as well as certain sadistic peculiarities, such as the pleasure at Eva's ungratified desire, and her consequent impatient begging. The onanistic fantasies disclose the motive of his spend- thriftiness and prove fully the sexual character of the patient's passion for jewelry. Perfume as a specific love determinant is of infantilistic origin; it is related to the maternal body fantasy as well as to the patient's notion that he spreads an unpleasant odour around him on account of his masturbation habit. The harem fantasy is analogous to the jewel fantasy. The patient unconsciously identifies girls with trinkets, replacing one with the other; among the pieces on display he seeks the one which suits him best. (The great search in his para- pathy!) All girls are at his disposal in that sense, he is the benefactor, the spendthrift, etc. Significant, also, in his murder fantasy, which reveals the (Edipus symbolism. The jeweler who, as the owner of the coveted trinket is slain by the patient, stands for the father- imago. The same motive we find again also in a dream wherein "an old man" is murdered by the dreamer and robbed of his cash. Other associations have already been mentioned. The patient's wiows mannerisms rooting in superstition pertain mostly to some of his secret notions,-specifically they involve a proposition having for its corollary the thought: ". . . Then I shall be able to gratify my inner wish." Here, 114 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR too, belongs his dread of not getting through, a dread which, as mentioned already elsewhere, appertains to the attainment of his cryptic infantile sexual wishes. Any bar arrangement (or trellis work) represents in his system of superstitions the jail problem and the problem of virginity, both most intimately related to his parapathy.6 Getting up late in the morning, on account of the sexual fantasies which stand in causal relationship to the morning erections, become an omen of evil. Among the infantilistic features characteristic of this pa- tient there is also a fairly pronounced homosexual component which shows itself in his behaviour towards his friends, in typical attack fantasies, in his advanced bladder erotism as well as in numerous other peculiarities. This homosexuality is closely related to the sado-masochistic complex, mentioned below, and owes its origin to the paederastic episodes of the pre-adolescent period. The maternal body fancy, to which we have referred al- ready, is shown by fantasies revolving around the notion of being as yet unborn, and by numerous dreams which, for the sake of brevity, are given below in the abstract. We find in this case also the day-dreams typical of this fantasy, a great liking for the toilet, whose odour acts as a stimulant to the dreaming faculty, and for a small, luxuriously outfitted room, as well as other characteristic features. The most significant role in this case is played by the sado- masochistic complex. The features belonging to this char- acteristic did not participate directly in the building up of the parapathy, but they have, on the one hand, rendered possible the regression while, on the other hand, they have contributed their share also to the external manifestations of the illness. Anamnestic Data: During his earliest childhood the patient, on account of wrong training, was brutal, destructive and selfish. Around the yth-8th year he developed the peculiar habit of breaking toys, destroying watches, and disembowelling the dolls, apparently to see whether anything was hidden in- side. Later this changed into the habit of cutting books. For this reason he was in the habit of buying unopened books and pamphlets (much to the joy of his mother, who was glad to ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 115 encourage the boy's apparent interest in reading) in order to cut their pages but without displaying any interest in their contents. In his 5th year he attended a children's play and during a scene wherein one boy was being beaten he shouted through the hall: ''Don't strike him!" Apparently he abro- gated to himself exclusively the right of torturing, for we find him displaying at that age a pronounced cruelty, shown by his treatment of domestic animals, his torturing of insects, and by numerous other inconsiderate acts. Adolescence brought about a transvaluation in this realm, the transvaluation show- ing itself in the flagellantic and ascetic periods which followed. The first sexual intercourse (at the age of 17) still showed a distinct masochistic character. (Being beaten with wet twigs!) Since his 19th year, according to the patient's own account, his sexual desire has been progressively on the wane until at the present time it is almost nil. The patient's fantasies, however, prove the contrary. A Sadistic Harem Fantasy: Having bought a large number of girls in a Turkish town I am bringing them home enchained. The prettiest one among them becomes my chief wife. Among the patient's associations to this fantasy is the thought that he could be potent under one condition: 2/ the girl were stretched before him powerless to move. The woman's reflex motions during sexual intercourse interfere with his potentia and rouse his anger so that he is impelled to be rough with her. On the other hand the thought of having intercourse with a woman who is asleep, bound down, or otherwise helpless, particularly appeals to him. He has also indulged in thoughts of violence, having, in his fantasy, chloroformed and then abused the girl of his fancy, and such thoughts form also the content of his masturbation fantasies. The pictures taken in the occupied regions during the war showing sexual abuse of women perpetrated by the invading soldiers left a lasting impression on the patient. But the mobile facial expression of the rape victims in his memory gradually toned down to a resigned, quiescent expression, not unlike that of a fainting woman. This potentia determinant (Q. Case 13) is traceable to the patient's subconscious wish to have intercourse with his 116 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR mother during sleep, as is shown also by his somnambulistic wandering. Patient admits that, while lying on his abdomen during his indulgence in masturbation, he was always afraid of being observed by his mother, who slept near by. (Cp. sketch drawn by patient indicating the course of his sleep- walking, fig. 3.) This admission discloses that during his masturbatory indulgences his dominating thoughts were cen- tered on his mother. The woman's reflex motions during sexual intercourse disturb this subconscious fantasy, thus bringing about a suspension of the potentia; but they induce also a peculiar sadistic reaction, disclosed in the patient's in- clination to mistreat, or punish, the restless woman. This peculiarity owes its origin to the patient's infantile sexual theory mentioned below. In agreement with Dr. Stekel's theory of the primacy of hatred among the sexual primordial reactions of mankind, I am in a position to point out here the sadistic components as the primary in the patient's algolagniac complex. Certain infantile sex theories have exerted a pathogenic influence in that connection. The patient witnessed the first sexual activi- ties at 5 to 6 years of age among domestic animals (dogs and chicken fowl); this experience led to the belief that inter- course implies violence,-an act during which the female is overpowered and is made to suffer pain. This must have led to the fixation of the sadistic attitude. Woman's reflex movements during sexual intercourse, by their interference with his adequate gratification, reawaken his in- fantile experience and the sadism connected therewith. But on such occasions inhibition also sets in at once, and this leads either to impotence or to the transmutation of the anti- social impulse into masochism, as happened at the first inter- course. The patient's sadism, therefore, is what interferes with his access to woman (also increasing his homosexuality) and renders his potentia dependent upon his incest fantasy. Both the disembowelling (of dolls) and cutting open (of books) are related to his infantile sadism. But this mani- festation, which some authors would surely trace back to the castration complex, has also its deeper root and a greater probable significance, as is shown by the following dream. ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 117 (We must bear in mind that the boy was looking for some- thing inside the doll's body.) Dream 6. I was with my mother in an autumnal garden thickly overgrown with weeds. I said to her: "Our room was once here, now it is so overgrown!" Then I made my way through the underbrush with great difficulty, being impeded by thorns. Finally we reached the hut; it was abandoned, showing that we had not been inside for years. A thick layer of dust was seen everywhere. I asked: "What shall we do now with the old things ?" Mother said: "Let everything remain in its place; nothing must be taken out." I was to take along only a couple of sheets and throw them in an out-of-the-way place because they were blood-stained, as if a crime had been committed. I asked: "Why should I throw these away instead of selling them ?" And then: "Haven't you killed a child?" She said: "No, I have had a great wound in my side." Dr. Stekel calls this a "Sleeping Beauty Dream." It por- trays a return to the abandoned parental home, disclosing the boy's wish to revive his dust-bedecked infantilism and to be- come a child once more. (An attitude of contrariness against our endeavour to lead him into the path of reality.) There follows a controversy over the sale of some old articles (re- production of the last quarrel with the mother on account of a theft), finally the mother herself (!) turns over to him a couple of sheets to be "thrown away." (This refers to his wish, which he suppressed during the treatment, of selling a bedspread.) And now it turns out that since early childhood the patient had a certain great fear,-the fear of other chil- dren coming into the family. He did not want to have any competitors (for parental favour). This is what made him particularly jealous of the mother, his jealousy extending to the unborn child. Patient states candidly that he had often thought he would kill his rival in case his mother "proved untrue" to him by having another child. He always looked searchingly at her abdomen, to insure himself that no rival was about to be brought into the world by her. This brings us to the deepest motive of his disemboweling habit. The child transposes the affect of concern over his 118 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR mother's love of him to the doll. Hence the wish is roused of seeing what is going on inside the maternal body. (Hence, also, the taking apart of watch works and playthings, etc. Cp., too, the maternal body fantasy.) He is seized with the desire of stifling the germinating life; that is what he was looking for inside the dolls' bodies. The "great wound" which the mother had on her side (or haunches) may be caused by the beak of the stork who brought the child,-presumably Dr. Stekel. There can be no doubt that it is connected with birth. This is perhaps the only point favoring the assumption of a castration fantasy, especially since the boy, on seeing for the first time a play- mate's female genitalia, thought that the vulva was a wound. According to this assumption the above dream would mean that the patient deprives his mother of the supposed membrum (dead child) in order to render her sterile as well as to pre- serve her virginity. But the patient denies ever having en- tertained consciously a castration fantasy, or that he ever thought that woman had a penis, like man, and that the wound was caused by the loss of the membrum. He con- ceived it at the time as due to a skin lesion and claims that he never thought particularly about it. In spite of all my painstaking efforts I was unable to find other determinants; this analysis, therefore, does not justify me to ascribe to the castration complex so important a role in the pathogenesis of cleptomania as other investigators claim for it. A few additional important features are worthy of em- phasis : The patient always claimed as the reason for his chronic state of want that he turned over to his mother his whole pay and that his pocket money was barely enough for 4 days of the week. But some time afterwards, when I talked over the situation with his mother, I found out that, as already mentioned, he not only gave her no money, but extorted from her various sums, from time to time, for alleged pressing needs. Last time he obtained from her 1,000 kronen for an alleged throat operation, 1,000 for cigarettes and 500 kronen for some tax or other. Moreover, he refused to ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 119 disclose to his mother his office address or the amount of his salary. On the other hand, recently he unscrewed the thermometer off the window and sold it. On the whole he has grown more quiet, goes to the office on time, and returns home promptly; he also goes early to bed. This information led me to suspect that the patient had no position whatsoever. Should this surmise prove true, it means that the patient was wasting the time he was supposed to be working in an office by running aimlessly around, or doing something else which clashes with the spirit and intent of the treatment. I adopted tentatively the first surmise as corresponding more closely to the psychology of a parapathiac. At our next interview the following dialogue took place: "On looking over the data you have furnished I find that your statements are untrue in certain particulars. Often one is in- duced by a false sense of shame, or plain frivolity, to hide the truth; we know that well and expect it in every case. Therefore I must ask you to quit handling the facts light-mindedly and for the sake of your recovery to answer my questions truthfully. Have you a job?" "No ... a short time before I began the treatment I lost my job on account of my absent-mindedness. As this is the second place I lost on this account I was ashamed to tell the truth." "Where do you spend your working time?" "I roam around on the streets, looking at the jewelry and other display windows and thinking what rings, blouses and other clothes I would buy Eva or mother if I had the money. In a park I cannot sit because I am too restless to stay in one place. . . ." The analysis has reached a critical stage. An atmosphere more propitious for crime the patient could not have created for himself. He has lost job after job on account of the same fantasies to which he now panders, wandering in a trance-like state from show window to show window. The fact that he kept this particular situation under silence, al- though he could otherwise get easily over his shame, only proves again how inveterately the parapathiac is sometimes prepared to fight in order to hold on to the last remnant of his fantastic pleasurable indulgences. In such a situation 120 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR as the one described above, the perpetration of a theft would seem logical; the smallest amount extorted by the patient from his mother, in view of her circumstances, could only seem to her an imposition and bring about that display of antag- onism, that discharge of hatred, necessary as a precipitant for the perpetration of crime, to which Dr. Stekel later calls our attention. We find in this case also that dromomania which is often combined with various other particular im- pulses. Three weeks have now passed since the last theft. Against the fantasies around which the parapathy centers we fight by preventive measures, symbolic dissolutions and neutraliza- tions. The mother, informed of the true situation, tried to help the patient find a job, which he is induced to seek upon our strong insistence. His behaviour has been better for some time; he is also able to partially control his fantasies. It is obvious that being jobless has interfered with the curb- ing of his morbid indulgence in fantasies; we must therefore wait before expressing a final word. The analysis is not yet finished. SYNTHESIS The case presents the following characteristic features as determinants: 1. A powerful pscho-sexual infantilism and weakened psychic resistance due to errors of up-bringing, inclination to frivolity and lack of will power. All paraphilias belong to this category. 2. Predisposition towards the more serious forms of split consciousness (noctambulism, dreamy states, etc.) which alone renders possible that restriction of the sphere of awareness requisite for the carrying out of impulsive acts. 3. The cleptomaniac par apathy is most intimately linked to a cryptic identification with the mother and finds its sym- bolic dissolution also in the equation: jewel-mother. Surveying briefly these three analyses we arrive at con- clusions which are highly illuminative with regard to the psychogenesis of cleptomania. ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 121 All the thefts have a sexual background. But they are perpetrated under the influence of hatred. As the ordinary thief hates society so does the cleptomaniac hate a particular objective, and "he who hates one hates all." The theft is preceded by some humiliation or other wounding of the feel- ing of personality. All the motives are different variants of hatred: jealousy, grudge, envy, or malicious joy, etc. The stronger the hatred, the stronger also grows the longing for love. The theft is rounded out with a forgiveness episode. Either the cleptomaniac forgives himself, seeks absolution in the church, or he obtains forgiveness from the person of whom he stole. Then love looms up again and he is happy. This love, generated through contrast with hatred, rouses the deepest pleasurable emotions. It is part and parcel of the tremendous emotional intoxication craved by the cleptomaniac, a craving which always leads him to repeat the same offence over and over. Not the theft itself excites him but the associated emotional intoxication, the expectant mood, the longing, the trembling and the vacillating, the increased tension followed by the blissful tension-release after the deed, and the forgiveness. This emotional intoxication is enhanced by a cryptic form- ula: "If you succeed in carrying out this theft, you will also succeed in that other aim of yours which is represented by the stolen article." It is certainly far from accidental that the three cases are dominated by the same impulse: to take, during sleep, some- thing which one's consciousness forbids taking during the waking state. All cleptomaniacs carry out their deeds during a bedimmed state of consciousness. The partner's sleep is also a requirement dictated by the fantasy. The formula is: "Z want to take from the sleeping something that the waking person would not grant me." In Chapter VIII we saw a patient whose mother partly fulfilled this wish. The next case suffers from disordered sleep, the subject becomes rest- less, because his mother sleeps near by. The last case shows this fantasy even more clearly. Further analyses will prove whether this is accidental or a fantasy typical of cleptomaniacs. The patient, on the one hand, expects that the partner shall 122 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR yield willingly (the secret meaning of giving things away), on the other hand, he wants to take during the sleep state what he regards as his possession. The cleptomaniac's whole mood corresponds to the affect of a painful expectation. His visual field is restricted, he is dominated by one over-valued notion, which expresses itself in numerous symbols and fantasies. He pursues one definite aim. He transposes his aim from an objective intolerable to consciousness to one which is realizable, thus annulling the abyss between his supreme wish and its possible fulfillment. Of course this holds true only during the period of his sym- bolic acting. Thereupon the intoxication of reconciliation, or propitiation, is followed by the katzenjammer which ac- companies the sobering up process, i.e., the abyss between wish and fulfillment again reappears. This feeling-attitude concentrated upon a single objective always leads to an asceticism which is very adroitly covered up and rationalized. The first of the three analyzed subjects is unable to experience sexual acme because his mind is always on another person. The second lives abstinently, although, as a player, he is surrounded by temptation. The third wants to keep himself chaste so as to be sure of his beloved's chas- tity; and all three are dominated by the CEdipus complex,- which is certainly far from accidental. All preserve a tre- mendous potential sexual energy which may be released, as kinetic energy, temporarily, in cleptomaniac deeds. All three are addicted to fantasy weaving, a habit which renders pos- sible this transposition and transvaluation of the energies. The cleptomaniac hates other thieves, while the genuine thief regards others of his type as his friends and brothers. He is an exceptional personality. He is the only one who has the right to assume the privilege of stealing, inasmuch as the world really belongs to him. He abrogates society's rights. He annuls all reality, he even cancels the limitations of time. He is usually a shiftless individual, the type of man der dem lieben Herrgott die Zeit stiehlt, who fritters away the Lord's time,-as a German saying fittingly expresses the thought. Man's primordial reaction expresses itself in the clepto- ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF CLEPTOMANIA 123 maniac's impulse. But through the process of transference this primal reaction pursues a false objective. The subject does not perceive his deed as a crime. For he is not a com- mon person. It is his right to reach after the stars. Filled with a burning ambition, his "will to power" tests itself out on the nearest objects. He does not understand that there are wishes which require curbing. He never recognizes any limits to what is attainable. For he dwells in a fairy realm,- a world wherein the impossible miraculously becomes pos- sible. His fantasies transmute every bit of reality into an- other realm wherein he can deal with it according to> his own fancy. Therefore he bedims the sharp light of conscious- ness and, with the aid of his emotions, he plunges into a hypnoidal state of mind, wherein wish-fulfillment becomes easily possible and which does away with the cruel compul- sions of everyday life. XI PYROMANIA Between epilepsy, arson, mysticism, cruelty, and sexual excitation there are reciprocal relations; although we are entirely ignorant of the psychological basis to this reciprocal relationship, the frequent occurrence of this combination points to a common origin bordering on the pathological. . . . It seems extremely desirable that the whole question be inves- tigated through a careful analysis of a large number of cases. Aschaffenburg. Pyromania has appeared for a long time as an unsolved psychological riddle. The alleged reasons for arson often seemed insufficient, superficial and puerile. All that was done in most cases was to trace nostalgia or revenge as the driving motive. But often deed and motive fail to show any logical relationship. One subject does not know why he has set a fire,-he just felt impelled to do it; another wanted to give the firemen a chance to get busy; a third did it out of tedious- ness,-he wanted to see a big fire; a fourth, a servant girl, to avenge herself because the mistress did not give her proper food; a fifth was not satisfied with her son's choice of a wife. Others are unable to give any reason whatsoever. At the same time the incendiaries are relatively voluble talkers. But they themselves are unable to tell the motive which impelled them to commit the deed and often leave it to the legal exami- nation to reveal a reason, i.e., they are open to suggestive questionings by the authorities. Dr. Hans Schmidt,1 in his exhaustive study of this theme, points out that the pyromaniac is treated scornfully by the true criminal. The jargon of criminals contains no term for arson. Schmidt's material is impressive. He was able to study statistically the data pertaining to 263 cases, including 159 of his own. Of 66 pyromaniacs still living, 22 enjoyed a good general reputation. It thus seems that pyromania be- longs only to a particular developmental phase and must be 124 PYROMANIA 125 conceived as a developmental disorder of a parapathiac nature This agrees also with the statistical curve plotted by Mdnke- moller2 based on a study of 422 cases. Fig. IV This shows us how strongly the awakening and ungratified sexuality impels the individual to seek a symbolic solution of his conflict between instinct and reality. The fact that pyromania has a sexual root I have pointed out in the work above mentioned (1908), but without bring- ing specific proofs. It is strange that the sexual root of pyromania has been entirely overlooked by most criminologists. Only Hans Gross 3 and Wulff en 4 call attention to the newer researches on pyromania. And yet, certain cases of morbid arson are so transparent that the most superficial survey should be enough to disclose the cryptic relationships. For instance, when the maid sets fire to the barn where sleeps the servant on whom she wants to avenge herself for unrequited love, 126 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR we need not conclude that this is a sexual symbolism. But if we learn that she had first poured oil over his cot and then set the barn afire, we see plainly the meaning of the act: I want him to be on fire for me.5 Various accounts of morbid arson by girls show that the bed was first set afire: the master's bed, by a servant girl who wanted to revenge herself on her mistress, the wife; in another case, where homosexual determinants were at play, the rival's bed. Hans Gross rightfully calls our attention to the fact that in all cases of arson where the guilty person is unknown we must think of children. Children like to play with fire and the fireman-game is but a negative (already sublimated) in- terest in fire. Numerous illustrations have shown us how powerfully these infantile elements influence the whole course of our life. Perhaps every crime emanating from an impulse is a regression. The child is nearer the symbolic realm than the adult. As a rule the child deals more readily in mental pictures and stands also much closer to the primordial man. Children dream more often of water and fire than do adults and they are more closely preoccupied with these elements. As I have shown in my Language of Dreams, the antonymic pair, water and fire, form a unit in the dream. In Vol. V of this Series I have illustrated the relationship between fire and water by means of personal observations on enuresis (for instance, the case of the little fireman, Case 44, loc. cit.). The fireman uses a water spray to put out the fire. The whole of our bladder sexuality is expressed during childhood in the fire and water games. In folklore children are warned am Abend zu brandeln, so as not to wet the bed. This is a correct observa- tion. But fire represents not merely the enuretic complex (urinary incontinence), it becomes a symbol of sexuality, as with adults. Fire always meant love. To be in love is to be on fire (eine Liebe brennt). We speak of the fire of passion, of stifling the flame of love, which, like fire, dies down, one is afire for a girl. In the dream fire and water often represent the love passion, the raw craving. We also find that pyromania breaks out in children fre- PYROMANIA 127 quently at the time when they encounter the sexual problem. Children are always charmed by fire, and Wagner-Jauregg goes so far as to assume a particular pyromaniac instinct, characteristic of children. He states: "That arson impulse is a natural inborn impulse is shown un- questionably by the observations on children during their early years of life. In the training of small children the curbing of this impulse gives considerable trouble. The child finds satisfac- tion in the sight of fire, of light, of flames, and that impels the child at first to reach out at fire, then to get close to it. But later, when the mental images are more developed, the instinct arouses also the desire of instigating this pleasurable experience through self-activity,-the so-called arson of children. This im- pulse is also amenable to training and education and this is accom- plished so that in most normal persons the tendency assumes harmless forms. That the inclination is still present in most adults may be observed by their behaviour on such special occa- sions as fires, fire spectacles, etc. This behaviour rests on the pleasure of witnessing fire. But the starting of fires is also a pleasurable experience for many adults, as may be gathered through observations on such special occasions as out-of-door excursions, etc. Again, there are persons in whom this craving is abnormally strong and not easily curbed through training. This does not necessarily lead to arson in raw form but to various forms of substitutive playing with fire. For instance, I have under observation a girl who, among her other impulsive acts, gratifies her craving to witness and to set fires by burning up whole boxes of matches in a place where she would not be seen and could not be curbed, namely, in the closet." I am not inclined to go so far as Wagner-Jauregg and assume a definite arson instinct. Children play with fire for reasons of which they are unaware. In the fire they see a strong energy which can destroy and which gives them a power over the adults. Many incendiarisms (I must agree on this point with Gross) are carried out by children. The motive of these children is often revenge on adults who oppress and humiliate them; but a sexual root, too, is always to be found. Some of these children have always shown a great interest in fire as well as in everything per- 128 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR taining to fire. Others begin to play with fire quite suddenly, after some traumatic experience, but abandon the habit very quickly, as we shall show by various illustrations. The first group of juvenile pyromaniacs is very dangerous. Hellwig 6 reports about himself: "As a child I myself suf- fered from pyromania and it is almost a miracle that I have caused no catastrophe. It was a great pleasure for me to throw stearin candles into the fireplace so as to watch the flames bursting forth, also to build great fires of brushwood on the shores of the Elba river, often in dangerous proximity to the trees. To this day, I must confess, I like to watch a good crackling fire. The flames have a mysterious charm,- the powerful energy of the fire seems something alive." The same author reports that the English Society for the Prevention of Fire has offered a gold medal and a sum of money as a premium for the best juvenile story to teach children the danger of playing with inflammable materials. Well known is the touching story of little Pauline (in the Struwelpeter} who, being alone in the house, played with matches and caused her lamentable death by fire. The playing with gas lights and later the manufacture of explosive materials must be particularly dangerous for chil- dren. Many a bomb thrower must have been a pyromaniac from childhood. The next case is from the personal observation of my as- sistant, Hilda Milko. Case 70. Mrs. A. G. brings Edith, her 8-year-old daughter, to Dr. Stekel, because she is afraid that the little one, who has been suffering for come time from a troublesome fire mania, may yet cause some great disaster. She does not know what to do with the child; she is at her wit's end; her influence on the child is entirely nil so far as the child's pyromania is concerned. She thinks this is not merely a case of stubborn behaviour, but that it amounts to a regular mania. Edith has preoccupied herself inordinately with fire for some time. She likes to stand in front of the stove and stares into the fire absent-mindedly. She continually feeds the fire with sticks or paper and is happy when she hears the flames crackling and hissing. The moment she is left alone in the room she shakes PYROMANIA 129 the fire, claiming that she thought it was about to go out. These dangerous practices have been forbidden her most strictly. Now she throws pieces of paper on top of the stove and watches them curl up and catch fire. She asks all sorts of questions, especially about the various materials which are combustible; for instance, she wants to know whether apples, which are juicy, can burn. Indeed, she wants to know also whether dust will catch fire. One day the mother saw Edith take a burning match into her mouth. She wanted to find out whether it would keep burning. Then the mother found out that Edith had gathered quite a col- lection of match boxes. She confessed having taken them be- cause she had melted some candles, intending to make little candles out of the material. Before that she always wanted some one to hold a lighted candle over her so that the molten stearin should dribble on her hand. For Christmas Edith was given a little Christmas tree which she uses in her doll games. In spite of strict prohibition she stealthily lights the little candles on it. For her birthday her greatest wish is a cake with burning candles. Above all she wanted for her dolls a little lamp which can be filled with oil and which may be lit. She would gladly renounce all other gifts if this wish would be granted. Once Edith was caught holding a lighted match which she was manipulating around her doll. She had burned a hole through the doll's dress and undergarments. The mother scolded her vehemently for her disobedience; she endeavored to excuse her- self, saying that she was merely trying to soften the cement around the doll's legs. Edith was severely punished for that and her favorite doll was taken away from her. In spite of that Edith was discovered next day trying to start the fire in the stove. She promised her mother never to disobey again and to desist trying to start fires. Edith, who is otherwise an obedient child, tried the same thing again the very next day, in spite of her earnest promise on the previous day. Thereupon her mother threatened to remove her from the house for good if she will not give up this dangerous playing with fire. The following morning the mother discovered a box of matches hidden under Edith's pillow. Driven to distraction over the child she brings her to Dr. Stekel, who turns the child over to me for professional observation. Edith, who is a strongly parapathiac child, is going through a rather critical period. Her mother has recently married a second time. Edith, as she herself frankly confesses to me, is extremely 130 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR jealous of her stepfather. She is very much attached to her mother, whom thus far she had to herself. Then, too, she had always slept in the same room with her mother and now she had to sleep in the next room. She seems to have observed the par- ents during sexual intercourse, because she often wakes up in the night weeping, and evenings she cannot fall asleep. She tells me that her mother weeps nearly every night and that she had asked her whether her new papa maltreats her. Edith shows also other parapathiac symptoms. At an outing she suddenly begins to prance around and shout: "Mother, there is a worm in my shoe; I feel it crawling around." Although it would have been impossible for any living creature to have made its way into the shoe, the mother searched the shoe, so as to quiet the child. Of course there was nothing inside of the shoe. Nevertheless little Edith insisted again and again that there was a worm in her shoe. After taking a few steps she began to cry again, claiming she felt something stirring; thus she kept up her complaining about the alleged worm. For a time this notion of a worm in the shoe stuck to her mind. Often she claimed she felt the worm squirming as soon as she put on her shoes. The playing with the fire began, as was proven, with the witnessing of sexual intercourse between the parents. She had also been told things by her school comrades. Hence her notion of sticking a burning match between the doll's limbs as a means of softening the glue. The burning match which she stuck in her mouth, too, is a transposition from below. The symbolism of the worm is also transparent. Ob- viously she wanted to possess a fire (or flame) of her own. The notion of burning up her stepfather, her rival for her mother's love, seems also to have played a part. Edith is very enlightened and an extremely intelligent girl. I explain to her the meaning of her playing with fire and thenceforth she indulges in such games no longer. As I sub- sequently heard, she never reverted back to her pyromania. She learned to get over her jealousy of the stepfather and is said to get along very well with him. It is a fact that many pyromaniacs, on the one hand, are partly enuretics, i.e., suffering from urinary incontinence, and, on the other, show from childhood a great interest in PYROMANIA 131 fire. Analysis traces again and again the genesis of this fire attraction. It is characteristic of persons of this type that they fre- quently dream of fire. Meschede7 has called our attention to this fact. Schmidt records that more than half of the subjects personally examined by him declared that on the previous night, or several nights before the arson, they were scared out of sleep by a dream about fire which they were able distinctly to recall.8 During the dream a regression takes place to the infantile love of fire; on the other hand the dream, as already mentioned, utilizes the fire as a symbol for the representation of a strong sexual passion. The pyromaniacs present typical cases and resemble extraor- dinarily one another. We must also bear in mind that the pyromaniacs, as a rule, are very simple-minded individuals who still attach considerable significance to their dreams and such individuals easily transpose into the impulse to set fire any impulsion to an asocial deed which may oppress them. What they hear is the voice of their blood, transposed into a voice calling from within. Below I transcribe a typical case, which occurred in Vienna (Arbeiter Zeitung, March 19, 1922): Psychiatry is familiar with the fact, often observed, that chil- dren may be seized by a mania for setting fires and that they carry out this act for no other reason than because they like to see the flames. Such a morbid child, discovered at St. Martin, Krems, brought misfortune to that little community. On August 8, 1921, the home of Johann Wandl, a peasant of that locality, went up in flames. The home of Franz Kaufmann, a neighbour, also caught on fire. Both buildings burned down to the ground and the two peasants faced a loss of two-and-one-half million kronen. Four- teen days later another fire, which broke out in St. Martin, de- stroyed the homes of Anton Morzinger and Johann Winter, to- gether with the tools and the harvest and several head of cattle. The damage was estimated at five millions. On August 28, the inhabitants of St. Martin were surprised by a third fire alarm. This time the home of Engelbert Horiger, the proprietor, together with the harvest, and the whole inventory thereof became a prey 132 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR to the flames, as well as fourteen head of cattle and four pigs. The damage amounted to three millions. The neighbouring par- sonage also burned down. At the last fire the culprit was caught. He is Karl Bauer, the baker's 14-year-old apprentice. The boy was arrested and brought on Friday before the Crim- inal Court of Vienna, charged with arson. The defendant, physically too small for his age, stated that he set fire to the homes because he liked to watch the flames. He has often dreamed of fire. On waking from his dream at such times an inner voice urged him to commit arson. This temptation he was unable to withstand. Defendant stated further that as a small gardener boy he was fond of burning up the dry branches in large clusters because he liked to watch the fires and he has always felt that way. More than that it was impossible to make him confess. The boy, in his knickers, impressed all those present as being merely a child. Some witnesses testified having seen the accused among those who watched the fire on each occasion. Dr. Lazar, the medico-legal expert, testified that the boy was mentally competent: his intelligence was unimpaired, though his physical state was tardy and would be taken for that of a ten- year-old child. According to his temperamental peculiarities the boy must be considered an obstinate character inclined to pranks and to enjoying unlawful acts. The chief motive for his con- duct was a childish malicious joy. On the other hand, it must be emphasized that the boy is mentally sound, wholly responsible, and fully aware of the unlawful character of his acts, as he himself has acknowledged. State's attorney, Dr. Heissner, recommended a light sentence. The jury returned a verdict of guilty (by eight votes) and seconded the prosecuting attorney's recommendation of a light sentence. I believe that a psychoanalytic investigation of this case would have been most important and would have revealed deeper motives for the boy's fire passion. We shall point out later the relationship between masturbation and pyromania. Unfortunately this matter is not mentioned at all in the re- port. How much longer will such cases be handled without the aid of a competent analyst? A most important forward step in practice to-day would be to require the cooperation PYROMANIA of experienced legal analysts towards the solution of the more serious court problems of this character. The significance of the dream life for the manifestation of pyromania is clearly shown by the last illustration. This case shows also the relationship of psychosexual infantilism to the aberrant conduct. Close investigation would reveal that patients of this type suffer from the most varied im- pulses. In the extensive analysis following the present chap- ter, we are tracing cleptomania and pyromania to a single background. Very often we find combinations of dromo- mania and pyromania. Tramps often are pyromaniacs. The following is an illustration from the personal observation of Oskar Woltar:9 Case 71. J. J., born 1880, and belonging to a healthy family, has lived since 1901 with his sister. He was a railroad worker, suffered periodically from severe headaches which made him irritable, "very stiff," moody and angry with his sister, although their relations were otherwise very cordial. Physically and men- tally he showed numerous feminine traits; has never had a love affair. A childish fear of horses since his early youth. In 1904, during one of his characteristic paroxysms of depression, he left the house abruptly one morning after petulantly refusing the breakfast his sister had just brought him, and returned only after five days in a deplorable state of neglect. Complete amnesia for the period of absence. Says his relatives have robbed his mother and murdered her; sitting on a bridge he saw and caught the reflection of angels in the water; he will catch with snares a certain rich girl who did not want to marry him. After two months, during which he behaved as a child, he reverted to his former normal self. During his dromomania he had gone to a sister in Prague, without knowing it. January 13, 1905. After again complaining of headaches, etc., he quarreled bitterly with his sister's children, and ran away from the house, going to a canteen; when he saw his sister coming towards him to fetch him he swore at her and made his escape. During the next few days he tried to get a coachman's job be- cause "he was so very fond of horses," but finding no regular job he helped other coachmen, meanwhile sleeping in the horses' barn. On January 18, his money having given out, he went to a farmer and set the haystack on fire because he was refused 133 134 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR lodgings for the night. As soon as the haystack burned down, his conscience troubled him over this deed and he confessed, ex- plaining away as false the assumption of an accident which cir- cumstances had made plausible, and proved that the occurrence had been intentional on his part. When his sister visited him he turned his back to her, broke away, and went back to his room, shouting, "I do not want to have anything to do with her! She has not done me any good and I am through with her!" February 27, his sister again visited him and this time he re- ceived her pleasantly. Next day, when asked about this change in his attitude, his flight from the house, the arson, his confession, his letters, etc., he showed a complete amnesia for the period from January 13 to February 27. The memory of all these de- tails was recoverable in hypnosis. His great passion for horses had to do with the wish to become a writer. What a pity that such cases are not investigated psycho- analytically! The feeling-attitude towards the sister is fairly obvious. But the true motives are discovered best by the analysis through the dream experiences. The dream which precedes or accompanies the deed is in itself very character- istic. Schmidt records from the literature a series of relevant cases showing that the subjects dreamed of fire before the deed. A 17-year-old pyromaniac girl, who had previously set her parents' home on fire twice, before her third arson, which she committed at the home of her employers who were satisfied with her service, dreamed that the whole block was on fire (Jessen.) Another 17-year-old girl sees in a dream a big black dog who entreats her to set the house afire. She goes through a lengthy struggle which subsides only when the house is in flames at last; while the house is burning she experiences great joy (Osenbriiggen). An 18-year-old girl always dreams of red cattle which her mother interprets as meaning fire. In order to escape domestic service, she com- mits arson (Casper). A 19-year-old servant sees in the dream a man dressed in disguise who commands: "You must set fire three times!" He carries out this command (Mannel). The 17-year-old maid G. is pursued in a dream by three men who want to slay her. She sees fire. She wakes up with dread PYROMANIA 135 and sees flames before her eyes. In the newspapers she reads the account of an ardent passion (Feuersbrunst-Menstrua- tion). She sets on fire her master's house (E. Rousseau). The following is one of Schmidt's personal observations: Case 72. A 13-year-old Savoyard was a servant for the past four days in a Waadtlandish village, where his father and his brother were also at work. One day, at noon time, he set the master's barn afire. To the authorities, after considerable pres- sure, he confessed: "I did this because the village boys called me that morning a 'dirty Savoyard.' " At a later examination he gave as reason his longing for his uncle (with whom he lived, after his mother's death, up to four days previous to the arson). To me he also declared that he was homesick for his uncle, and after a prolonged silence he spontaneously continued: "In the night before the fire I dreamed of being surrounded by fire, my uncle's house in Savoy was on fire; I was terribly scared and could not find my way out of the flames. I awoke hearing my voice as I exclaimed, 'Uncle, the house is afire,3 and was astounded to find myself in my new room. At noon, the following day, the thought suddenly came to my mind to set fire and I did it." At the moment he positively did not think any more about the boy's insults. "On going through the literature," Schmidt states, "I am impressed first of all to see how frequently the following re- mark is recorded: 'The thought of setting fire came to my mind for the first time when I awoke.' " At the same time we also find frequent mention of a peculiar dreamy, distracted mental state during the arson. The influence of the dream continues during the waking state. The last case, quoted from Schmidt's account, discloses plainly that the motive was the longing for the uncle, and the boy's dream showed this love for his uncle under the fire symbolism. Subsequently the sexual impulse was shifted to another cate- gory of action. In this connection I revert partly to my generalizations concerning cleptomania. But in the case of the pyromaniac a second determinant is also involved,-re- venge. Arson is an act of hatred. It is the expression of a destructive tendency. Love is creative, hatred destroys. But the question remains: against whom is the hatred 136 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR directed? Is it directed against the employers, or against the owners of the property set on fire? This should be accu- rately ascertained in every instance. Certain arsons have the immediate persons for objective, they are the expression of revenge for unrequited love, other deeds of this character aim at the pyromaniac's own family, the parents, etc. They shall see to what their lack of heart has led. They are re- sponsible for everything! Arson is not the only crime characteristic of servants, adolescent, homesick servant girls. Occasionally women of this type slay children and as a motive claim homesickness or the desire for change. Jaspers (in his Hei/mweh und Verbrechen) gives a number of illustrative instances. In all the cases of this kind the psychologic mechanism is as follows: The feeling-attitude towards the love objective is turned into hatred, and this hatred is transferred to the em- ployer (Verladung, i.e., affective endowment). The child is envied. (It is surrounded with so much affection while I must suffer in misery, deprived of the love of my own fam- ily!) Thus the child becomes the objective of hatred. The crimes committed are intended to bring shame upon the family. 'Let them see to what they have driven me!" Hence arson is often committed in certain specific situations. The servant girl wants to leave the service so as to return home. Or she runs home. At home she is scolded, perhaps beaten. She is forced to go back to the hateful drudgery. Thereupon she turns pyromaniac on account of unrequited love, the most common motive of arson. The resentment generated by both passions, unrequited love and jealousy, constitutes the driving impulse for the perpetration of the criminal offence. Corporeal punishment by the beloved person is very fre- quently the incentive to arson. Schmidt has obviously over- looked this fact. He dwells on the revenge motive, empha- sizing only the lack of correspondence between the provoca- tion for the hatred and the deed itself. He summarizes the alleged vengeance motives as indicated by the incendiaries: "One servant avenges himself because the master did not give him enough drink money; another, because he was not permitted to have a certain Sunday free. A boy set the PYROMANIA 137 mother's bed on fire because she gave him no money; another set a house on fire because his father had a quarrel with the owner. A stepfather's house is burned to ashes because at the expiration of the rental period he refused to renew the contract. A landed proprietor sets fire to his neighbor's bam after having overheard at the inn, a short time before, a stranger complaining that this neighbor had caused him a serious money loss. A 17-year-old maid reduced the master's house to ashes because the master's dog had carried off her handkerchief." These revenge motives cover the genuine, more deeply lying motives. They are rationalizations and "secondary motiva- tions," covering the more deeply lying motive, "revenge against one's own family." On examining the older litera- ture I have found numerous cases of this type. I quote one illustration taken from an old monograph by Dr. Hermann Eberhard Richter:10 Case 73. Christiane Juliane Richter, not quite 14 years of age, has not yet menstruated. Marked palpitation and anxiety since her nth year. Was often moody, depressed. She is not irritable, but stubborn and rather stupid. She has never been a good stu- dent, though she has acquired a little education. Attended to cows, then went in service to families and returned to her mother. Again compelled to seek service, she cannot accustom herself to live among strangers; becomes homesick and has morbid dread and palpitation, induced by a passing attack of nymphomania. She runs frequently to her mother but the latter drives her back to work every time. Thus intimidated she hides herself near her mother's place, after repeated but unsuccessful efforts at escap- ing, and upon being discovered on the place she is punished. Thereupon the notion comes into her head of setting the place on fire and this thought never leaves her; it pursues her in the shape of visions of fire on the ground, burned hay, and other fire hal- lucinations, until, at last, she yields and sets fire. And yet, the old-fashioned judge comments: "There was no trace of revenge nor was there any other such motive for the act discovered." But the case is too transparent to be overlooked. Her 138 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR attachment to the mother was undoubtedly the reason for her ''nymphomaniac" spells. It was only after being beaten that her thoughts turned to revenge, and she began dreaming about, and having visions of, fire. I quote here an older case than the previous one in order to show how cruelly these poor patients were treated in the past. Compare this with the plea for clemency for the juvenile offender mentioned before. Platner (Qucestiones 1824. Gutachten vom Jahre 1801) reports as follows: Case 74. J. F. R. committed arson twice, at 14, and again at 15 years of age. She was a country girl strictly brought up, whose parents never spared the rod. At 14 years of age she was sent out to work as housemaid. Although she pleaded and begged with tears to be allowed to stay home, she was beaten and forced to go. On the first day among strangers she wept and, at last, pleading illness, she was sent back home. She met with a testy reception and was sent out again at once. The very first day at the new house she set the place on fire and, not being caught, she succeeded in returning to her home the same evening. But the father immediately found another place for her, because he wanted the girl to earn her own living and to accustom herself to work and to obedience. At last, she seemed to acclimatize herself among strangers; after working six months away from home she lost her job and was sent to another district to work. A few days after arriving at the new place she set it on fire. As reason for both misdeeds she claimed merely that she was home- sick and could not endure being away. Unable to attain her desire of returning home except when the place of her employ- ment burned down, she carried out the arson. Not only did she confess her last misdeed upon the first examination, but she voluntarily told about the first offence, of which she had not even been suspected. No trace of hatred or vengefulness could be discovered in either instance. Platner adjudged her not guilty of the first arson, guilty of the second. She was condemned to death. It is not easy to overlook the sexual motives of pyromania. Many writers assume the existence of a "passion for fire," PYROMANIA 139 consisting of the craving to witness fires and the consequent excitation. Others point out that, like cleptomania, the offense is usually committed at the time of menstruation and postu- lates endocrinic influences. As a matter of fact we frequently find that the heightened sexual excitation incidental to men- struation, or pregnancy, releases the pyromaniac impulse. Bloch 11 in his endeavour to explain the pyromaniac tend- ency, has recourse to the assumption of a sadistic impulse and of a sexually toned destructive tendency. He points out that red is a color which plays a tremendous role in our vita sexualis. The thought or sight of the dark red flames exerts a sexually exhilarating influence, similar to the sight of the reddened bodily parts during flagellation, or of the flowing blood in sadistic indulgences. But he acknowledges also the role of normal sexual components. He quotes (after Haussler) the illustration given by Klein: a girl who set fire four times, giving as reason inner unrest, which always became uncontrollable whenever her lover, by whom she was pregnant at the time, failed to visit her. Thus we note here, comments Bloch, that the failure to achieve sexual gratification for a certain length of time leads to the outbreak of pyromania, and we must therefore conclude that this act was perceived as an adequate substitutive exhilaration. In addition, Dr. Missriegler has abstracted for me the fol- lowing pyromaniac types from the chief works of Marquis de Sade: Justine I. The Dubois woman sets fire to the prison, causing the 60 inmates to perish, and enjoys the imaginary tortures of the victims. Juliette II. Juliette arrives one day at the hut of a decent peasant (at Sceaux), who is overwhelmed at the appearance of his distinguished visitor. She praises the cleanliness and orderli- ness of the little home, the happy faces of the children, the good manners of the whole family and, taking advantage of the poor man's temporary absence, sets the place on fire. The latter, upon his return, finds his hut in flames and the children burned alive, for Juliette had seen to it that all avenues of escape were securely locked. 140 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Juliette IV. (258 ffl.) The Borgia woman, with the con- nivance of Gighi, the police chief, and of Bracciani, the "first chirurgeon of Europe," sets fire to all the hospitals and charitable institutions of Rome. Twenty thousand inmates perish during the eight days when the 37 institutions burn down, while Olympia and Juliette attain great sexual acme at the sight of the con- flagration. While cleptomania has not been treated extensively thus far, we have in the work of Schmidt and of Heinrich Tobben, Beitrdge zur Psychologie der Brandstifter (Berlin, J. Springer, 1917) a comprehensive account of pyromania. Unfortunately Tobben is unfamiliar with the technique of psychoanalysis. This diligent work summarizes the whole literature and in- cludes a purely descriptive account of certain original observa- tions. The following data are taken from the above mentioned work: Henke12 has also endeavored to establish a theory of pyro- mania. He linked the instinctive craving for fire and light with an irregular development of the sexual life. Although in the case of most juvenile offenders it is possible to trace legally punishable motives, we cannot deny the existence of a morbid pyromania. This assumption granted, pyromania cannot be related only to adolescence but must break out also in connection with other morbid, possibly periodic, changes in mind and body. Emminghaus13 is of the opinion that melancholia is the most frequent cause of juvenile offences. Girls passing through adolescence are among the most frequent offenders, so that the juvenile offenders constitute a special category in foro. Arson plays a great role with both sexes as a means of escaping either service or school work, especially when the young subjects are mistreated or homesick. According to Wollenberg14 menstruation often proves the period when compulsions press for adequate expression. The women belonging to this category as a rule are strongly psycho- pathic. Rousseau and Simon each report the case of a woman who committed arson twice during menstruation. Schmidt has collected 11 cases in which the offence was committed just prior to the onset of the first menstruation. PYROMANIA 141 Naecke18 is of the opinion that the children's interest in fire may develop into a dangerous pyromania. He traces the latter to a phototropism, i.e., attraction by the glare of the fire, a primal reaction of organic matter; he speaks of a thermotropism, associated therewith, to a certain extent, in- asmuch as every living cell is attracted by heat, and of motion as a factor. Continual staring at the fire probably brings about certain slight disturbances in the circulation of the brain. Wulffen,16 on the whole, shares Naecke's view regarding juvenile pyromania, in so far as the arson is committed from sadistic motives. He tells about two young girls with whom a love attraction became the motive for arson.17 One of these two girls set a certain place on fire five times in suc- cession, so as to be in her beloved's company during the alarm, her parents having forbidden her to meet him. The other girl set the place on fire because she thought that a certain army man whom she had seen several times, and whom she liked on sight, would be engaged as watchman, thus furnish- ing her the desired opportunity of meeting him at close range. Rousseau18 tells about a 16-year-old hysterical girl who committed arson twice. These offences she committed at the onset of her first and of her second menstruation, respectively. All these observations show not only that many authors have already surmised the connection between sexual life and arson; they prove that the existing relationship is so obvious as to have actually forced itself upon their attention. During the pre-analytic period it was not possible to ferret out the deeper motives. Nevertheless there are a number of highly interesting observations on record which show that at times the truth forced itself close to the surface. I quote a case from Jasper's Heimweh und Verbrechen; the observa- tion is by Petersen: Case 75. M. B. set fire to her place of employment twice within two weeks; both times the fire was put out in time. She was employed as child nurse and had been in the service three weeks, in all. After preliminary denials and sham weeping she confessed to the authorities, at last, with a greater display of self-control than 142 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR would be expected of a girl of her age (13 years), that she had set the place on fire both times for no other reason than because she did not like to be there. She had no complaint to make either against A. Thomas, the employer, or his wife; both treated her well; but she was very homesick and thought she would not be allowed to go for that reason alone. During the previous Summer a house in the neighborhood of the Windbye estate, where M. B. was employed at the time, burned down. No suspicion fell on her. She had worked at that place two summers as child nurse. The employers were well satisfied and had no occasion to complain about her. At the second examination she admits having set the fire on a Sunday, about eight days after her arrival at the new place, merely because she was homesick and she thought this would give her a chance to leave and go back home. She states, after repeated questioning, that on the very first night of her arrival at the new place she had dreamed of fire in the manservant's bed, and this thought, though she did not dare confide in any one, had troubled her very much throughout that day and for some time afterwards, so that the next day she felt a strong desire to return home; this may have suggested the thought of setting the fire to burn up the horise so that she might be allowed to go back to her mother and grandmother, and eventually back to school, es- pecially since one night preceding the arson she had also dreamed that her grandmother had died and her mother wept. Before the act she did not feel well and she took no particular pleasure in the fire. With the deliberate intention of burning the manservant's bed with the fire in the hearth, she walked out, attended first to her bodily needs, and returning to the house she started the fire with a live coal. She was not particularly agitated. She did not realize the terrible and dangerous character of her deed, though she did appreciate the possible consequences, namely, that the house may burn down. But as soon as the fire gained headway she began to feel uneasy. Her mistress noticed that the girl ate no bread during the first few days and asked her whether she was homesick, but she denied it. The mistress further testified that the girl seemed happy and satisfied and that even during the fatal day she displayed no particular unrest or other emotional disorder. Nor did the mis- tress notice anything of the kind on the occasion of the second offence. C. K., a servant girl who slept with M. B., testified PYROMANIA 143 likewise. She added that the girl had told her of having dreamed that her mother seemed to call her back to school. Petersen's examination reveals: "Menstruation has not yet set in, physical growth is advanced, especially as to length. No trace of rachitis. Has never been ill. Well nourished, cheeks of blooming color. Indications of precocious develop- ments, according to the age given (13 years); hairs in the regio pubica, marked swelling of the breasts, curving of pubis and gluteal region. The girl's mental qualities are tardy; she displays slow reactibility and great indolence." At different times I tried to ferret out the causa facinoris in various ways. Repeated questioning as to the true reason for her repeated attempts at arson brought forth nothing more than her persistent reply that she herself did not know. She did not think about it at all. She was lonesome for home and for school; she was homesick. Mother had called her back several times. She had seen a bright fire in the manservant's bed. She did not intend to hurt anybody. No- where could any trace be shown of such punishable motives as anger, hatred, revenge, or ill will. Sometimes, especially towards the last, it seemed that she was unable to visualise the state of mind in which she was just preceding, during, and immediately after the act. During the night preceding the first arson she got up twice in order to urinate, and woke up the girl who was sleeping with her because she was afraid to go alone through the dark. In the morning she thought she had heard her mother calling to her to get up and get ready for school. She sat that forenoon near the cradle rocking the child, feeling oppressed, and not as well as usual. The thought of setting fire came to her suddenly. Meanwhile the mistress fed the child at the breast and she went out to peel potatoes. Then she returned and attended to the child. Her heart was heavy and she had a feeling of anxiety. The mistress returned and took the child just as it woke up. She felt the need of urinating and said so to the mistress. The latter told her to go. While walking across the floor she felt her limbs and hips drawing and shaking; then she urinated. On returning she picked up a live coal with the 144 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR tongs from among the many in the fireplace and in all haste, so as to be unobserved, threw it into the bed. She could not help herself any longer. This relieved her at once of her depression and anxiety. Then she did not think of it any more, but went straight to her place at the table and enjoyed her meal. As the bright flames broke forth from the bed, the limbs began to shake under her. She was afraid the house would burn down and went to fetch water. She wanted to put out the fire. Towards evening, her depression left her when she saw that the fire was out. She did not think about the great disaster that her act might have brought on, nor did she know that she had done something that was evil and unjust. The second time she started the fire she had not dreamed and it seems that the sudden thought of starting the fire, which came to her first while she was physically unwell, was the only thought that preoccupied her in her half-dreamy state, stirring her out of her usual indifference and lethargy until it became with her an idee fixe. Her statement is as follows: On the morning of the 8th of January, at dawn, she cooked breakfast; her limbs shook, and she did not feel well. She was thinking all the time about her mother and about school, also about setting fire, so as to get back home. She also thought about her mistress and that the latter would not let her off. The whole morning she was preoccupied with that thought and she trembled with fear lest she be discovered. The first time she did not have this fear. She did not want to do any damage, but did think afterwards that the owners will suffer damage; thought the things were burning up fast and was glad when the fire was put out. This case is so plastically described by Petersen that there remains nothing for me to add. We note the sexual excitation of B. on account of the manservant, whose bed she set on fire and on whose account she wanted to flee back to her mother. We note the clear signs of the struggle between an awakening instinct and its repression; we see also the dream instigators, the hypnoidal dreamy attitude; 19 unfortu- nately the significant details about her sexual life proper are lacking. PYROMANIA 145 Tobben, unfortunately, is unfamiliar with the analytic lit- erature and possesses no personal experience with a thorough- going analysis.20 Schmidt, on the other hand, is thoroughly familiar with the literature of psychoanalysis and a pupil of Jung. He finds my explanation of pyromania too trivial and too simple. First he admits that my studies, and those of Otto Gross have given him a new insight, then he reports a number of cases alleged to show the transformation of the sexual impulse into pyromania. The following cases are claimed to prove this contention: Case 76. A 22-year-old peasant labourer works during the summer for an employer with whose maid he falls in love. Dur- ing two successive Sundays, after quitting the place, he tries to approach the maid, but she received him rather coolly. On the evening of the second Sunday he got drunk, being "angry at the maid," as he confessed to a comrade. Before parting, the others in the company said they were going back to their sweethearts. He set fire to the little outbuilding in which his former master's servant girls were sleeping. To the judge he declared that he wanted to avenge himself, because the master had deliberately taken precautions to deprive him of an opportunity to see his sweetheart at night. Then why did he not set fire to the more combustible hay loft or to the master's own house, instead of turning to the unpretentious and insignificant outbuilding? He was sentenced to jail for a term of 12 years. To-day he is ab- stinent and a respectable workman of good repute. The Masius case: In his 16th year he becomes strongly de- sirous to see a big conflagration,-a craving which he tries for a whole year to repress; finally he yields and chooses the house owned by the father of a girl with whom he is dearly in love. The Lombroso case: An 18-year-old, upright girl was seduced by a young man who afterwards abandoned her. One evening he came back and asked her to help him in an affair with another girl. After begging him to return to her and threatening him, but without avail, she set fire to his workshop and ran directly to the authorities to give herself up. Jessen's F. D. case: A 30-year-old merchant sets fire to the barn belonging to his former maid's husband, on account of jealousy; the woman was pregnant by him. 146 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR The Wildberg case: While the school house was burning, the schoolmaster's daughter was struck by the indifference of her weak-minded admirer and "as the latter reiterated that it did not matter, and so forth, she remarked that he spoke as if he were the one who set the fire. Thereupon he confided to her, under oath of secrecy, that, indeed, he was the one; he loved her too dearly and now he wanted to marry her without fail. In Court he gave the following reason: he wanted to marry the school- master's daughter, but he saw that the father would not give his consent so long as he owned so handsome a school building." Schmidt states: "Among the data I have gathered I have found the following two cases, in which love was the conscious motive for the crime, consequently the motive also given to the Court." Case 77. A 29-year-old peasant boarded for a few months with a family whose two daughters did not fail to attract his attention; he even succeeded in having intercourse once with the older daughter. Soon thereafter she married another man and he, therefore, turned his attention to the younger girl; the girl, after a few futile attempts on his part at getting closer to her, told him that she was already engaged, and the more persistent he grew the stronger she repulsed him. After the marriage of their older daughter, the parents noticed a change in their lodger's manner: formerly happy, he was now depressed, taciturn, and often moody. One evening he quarrelled with the younger daugh- ter. The following night he set fire to the house, and three days later fired a stranger's house in a neighbouring village. In court he gave his reason as follows: "I was angry because I tried to marry first the older, then the younger daughter, and when after quarrelling with the latter I saw that all my entreaties were use- less, I suddenly conceived the deplorable notion of setting fire to the house. I fired the other house in the neighbouring village so as to avoid being suspected of the first arson." Case 78. The 49-year-old servant maintained sexual inter- course with his master's wife regularly for nine months. A few weeks after leaving the employment he met his previous sweet- heart at the market place in the neighbouring town. With a num- ber of neighbours they went to an inn, but when the neighbours started to go home, he tried to prevail upon his former master's PYROMANIA 147 wife to stay with him. She resisted the temptation; when she was already sitting in the wagon with the others, he tried to drag her off, but a neighbour gave him a smart stroke over the arm. He started afoot for home and on the way fell asleep under a tree. When he woke up his arm pained him and that suggested to him the thought of arson; he hurries back to the village and sets fire to his former master's house. In court he gave as his motive: "I was a little drunk and I did it in a wave of anger against my former sweetheart." The house in question was occupied by the master as tenant. The plain sexual symbolism of pyromania is clearly illus- trated by the following attempt at arson committed by a paranoiac who is to-day in a stuporous state:21 Case 79. A 43-year-old bookbinder has suffered for years from delusions of persecution. After a gonorrhoeal infection his insane delusions centered on his infection and he thought he disseminated a terrible odor on account of his illness. The room above his workshop there was occupied by a laundress. He often accused the latter of stopping up his chimney, which led through her room, or of throwing fire down the chimney at him. One day he thinks she is giving him to understand, in a roundabout way, that he must set fire to his workshop. Thereupon he piles all his tools in the center of the room, pours turpentine over the mass, bores a hole in the ceiling above and writes on the table: "Now I understand everything, I shall infect the woman with my disease." Thus he believes himself capable of transferring his sexual disease by means of the fire as surely as through inter- course. In court he declared that he wanted to set the place on fire in order to rid it of the odour. "Symbols formulate themselves so plainly in consciousness only in cases of mental disorder. The explanation that set- ting fire is a sexual symbolism covers well the force of the impulsion." On looking over this brief survey of Schmidt's cases and his reports gathered from the literature, it is surprising that Tdbben could have arrived at the conclusion that pyromania 148 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR presents no special etiology of its own. However, we must bear in mind that under pyromania I consider only the cases which present no conscious motivation. If a servant sets fire to an estate through anger and as a means of revenge, he is not necessarily a pyromaniac. The deed must be com- mitted through the passion for fire or on account of an in- explicable impulsion. In other words: the pyromaniac is not a criminal, he is suffering from a parapathy. When Tobben emphasizes, with Jasper, the importance of the feeling of loneliness he overlooks that the feeling of loneliness is only a circumlocution for the craving after affection. He who is loved and united with his love objective never feels lonely. On the other hand, the feeling of loneliness sets in even when one is in the midst of many companions, if one is not specially favored, i.e., by a particular person.22 Tobben also overlooks the sexual motives at times. He does not see them where he ought to find them. Nor does he make use of Schmidt's data. In one case, an apprentice sets fire to his master's home. The latter was jealous of him on account of the wife. Does not such a case require further investiga- tion, so that we may know whether this baker's apprentice was actually in love with the master's wife? I now call attention to another very characteristic case. Occasionally a trivial quarrel rouses a degree of anger which would probably not lead to crime if subsequent indul- gence in alcohol would not enforce this unpleasant feeling, turn it into hatred and, by nullifying the inhibitions, fan a son's slumbering unfriendly attitude towards the father into a criminal outbreak: Case 8o. Johann K., living at B., 26 years of age, was edu- cated at home and always got along well with his parents. A brother committed suicide by hanging. He himself worked but little and was addicted to drink. On May 12, 1923, K., after an exchange of angry words with his father, went to a saloon as early as at 9 o'clock in the morning and began drinking. To a bystander and to the inn keeper he said: "To-night I am going to set up the red rooster on father's roof," and took a bunch of matches from the servant girl. In the afternoon, around two PYROMANIA o'clock, on returning home, he helped himself to some meat from the smoke room and his father reproached him for it. The son grew angry, whereupon the father, in the course of the quarrel, raised his cane and ordered him out of the house. After that he went back to the inn, where he said: "To-night there will be a spectacle1" and around 9 o'clock the parental home burned down. K. claims not to remember a thing about the deed, for which he was sentenced to 1 year, 9 months and 2 weeks in prison. While serving the sentence he talked nonsense on May 4, 1914, and asked to be set free. After the state of confusion cleared up, he did not know what had happened. "I saw a heart in my prison cell, and what happened after that I am unable to tell." Aside of the episode of confusion, which must be considered a passing prison psychosis, he showed no peculiarities during the term of the sentence. Here we see the familiar motives. The father drives off the son with his cane. The son wants to avenge himself. Psychoanalysis very frequently uncovers in such cases a path- ological fixation upon the father, who is punished because he does not sufficiently love the son. (We record later a similar case from our own personal observation which was subjected to an extensive analysis.) The subject's statement is perhaps a confession: "I saw a heart in my prison cell." The relationship between arson and alcohol indulgence is more complicated than Tobben assumes. It is not merely that alcohol removes the inhibitions. The cause of drink is usually the same as that of pyromania. Therefore we find many drinkers among the pyromaniacs. Often the drinking releases the action, but often again the drinker lulls his impulse to sleep through alcohol. It is wholly unwarranted for us to think only of normal sexuality. Most cases involve cryptic paraphilias, at times impulsions about which the subjects themselves are unaware. We must emphasize that in order to dispose of some of Schmidt's criticisms of my views. Schmidt is dissatisfied with Stekel's causal explanation and prefers Jung's "final" ex- planation. As an elaboration of the too simple generalization of the Viennese analytic school he proposes the following hypothesis: 149 150 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Arson must be conceived as a regressive symbolic act, which attempts to dissolve the ever present libido stagnation by an archaic, and therefore worthless, effort at sublimation. And is that an improvement, a superior generalization? Schmidt emphasizes the tremendous progress of psycho- analysis since analysis was given its impetus by Jung's ener- getic conception of the libido. The libido energy is dammed up and then suddenly released. It is responsible for the arson. As proof of the new theory the following statement is em- phasized : "Just as the primitive folk compared fire friction with sexual congress, the libido release kat exochyn, so does our unconscious use the fire as the symbol of the gratification- craving, release-searching libido." Any one who has read my works carefully knows that I endeavor always to reduce the most complicated problems down to the simplest possible statements. Simplex sigilium veri. (Simplicity is the mark of truth.) For that reason I have steadily avoided Freud's libido theory together with its energetic formulation and its "archaic delineation" by Jung, inasmuch as we do not require it at all. We know that there is a sexual instinct, we know that it manifests itself as desire (libido), but we cannot weigh this libido, we cannot fathom it with a yardstick. It remains an obscure, hypothetical concept. Jung's libido stagnation is nothing more than ungratified sexuality. Perhaps it involves also a chemical body (the accumulation of sexual substances). But persons may get rid of these sexual substances by regular intercourse, or through masturbation, and still remain ungratified. In my work entitled Nervous Anxiety States and Their Treat- ment, I have expressed this point as follows: "Every person who has not found his adequate form of sexual gratifica- tion suffers from a parapathiac disorder." This constella- tion leads him into a conflict between craving and inhibition. One may express the situation in energetic terms as Gross23 and myself have already done before Jung. We note that Jung calls alcohol the "libido releaser." But we know also the reverse to be true. Alcohol may release the libido by removing the inhibitions (the numerous sexual crimes committed in an intoxicated state are proof of this), PYROMANIA 151 but sometimes it also lulls to sleep the criminal impulse. Its particular action in a given case depends on the attendant circumstances. Schmidt now brings up two cases which are supposed to show that the assumption of a sexual wish is not enough to explain the tendency to pyromania. Both incendiaries, shortly before seizing upon the notion of setting fire, had indulged in sexual intercourse. "Therefore," states Schmidt, "there can hardly be a question of repressed sexual wishes." Schmidt obviously does not know that men may have pol- lution after repeated intercourse? Does he not know that there are men who must masturbate after repeated intercourse? Has he ever heard that women remain ungratified in spite of repeated indulgence in sexual intercourse? Is he familiar at all with the disorders of the sexual acme in man and in woman? For it is not merely a question of intercourse, it is a question of the sexual acme. But how does the fact mentioned above, that in spite of successful sexual intercourse, arson is committed, square with Jung's contention that sexual intercourse is a "libido releaser kat exochyn"? If Jung's contention be correct, there should be no dammed-up libido and no occasion whatsoever for the occurrence of arson. I find that Schmidt has rendered his master a rather poor service with this statement. He himself has reduced ad absurdum the energetic explanation, so-called, proving it indefensible. But let us turn our attention more closely to the two cases in question. They are psychologically very interesting as well as highly instructive: Case 8i. The Jessen case: M. S., 22 years of age, illegitimate child, a maid. Very much liked by all servants on account of her mild character. Thought she was pregnant at the beginning of the year and at the suggestion of her fiance carried out an abor- tion. Shortly thereafter the fiance was prevailed upon, through slander, to break the engagement. However, in a short time he renewed relations with her, but showed himself lukewarm. On Oct. 7 she called at the house of her fiance's parents, but did not find him home. Moreover, his own mother spoke about his fickleness, and that same evening she was harassed further by 152 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR his indifferent and somewhat offish attitude. When at last he neglected her altogether and retired to go to bed, she followed him, sat at his bedside and talked with him, as usual, expressing her fear that he would abandon her. Enflamed by sensual desire he became attentive to her, but after gratification, he again turned indifferent and weary. He even declined to take her home. After weeping a while longer at his bedside she suddenly seized upon an idea. She resolved to commit arson "for the sake of the lover." She was not impelled by anger, hatred, but by despair; as she explained afterwards, she felt a sense of darkest depression and hopelessness, and her only thought was to render herself as miserable as possible. Accordingly she took some spunk from her fiance's vest and a few matches from the next room and towards midnight she left for home. During the following day her agitation was not diminished; the thought of arson gave her no peace night or day and gradually she felt herself more drawn to the idea. Therefore, on the evening of the nth, she attempted to set fire to the hen coop by using the spunk she had taken along; but being afraid her hands shook and she did not succeed. She went to bed, then got up again and, carrying a live coal from the kitchen she threw it on the roof of the chicken coop; then she spent the whole night tossing in anxious expectation. But the coal burned to ashes, without catching fire, as she found out next morning. On that day she had no evil thoughts any more, but on the following, the 13th, it occurred to her that now she must render herself hopeless by carrying out the crime. An alarm was raised and the fire was put out, but her conduct was so sus- picious that she was interrogated and at once she confessed the deed. Case 82. A 23-year-old cavalry sergeant, intelligent, main- tained intimate relations regularly for four years with a certain woman. Although the woman married, upon the insistence of her parents, and lived with her husband, for two years after that their relations remained unchanged. While in the army he be- came acquainted with another girl whom he decided to marry. In spite of the opposition of his mistress, the two became engaged. He made an appointment to meet his bride at Geneva during the first days of January, 1906, and his mistress adroitly manipulated matters so that the girl should come across some indisputable evidence of his clandestine love affair. In despair over this dis- covery he roamed for three days and nights through the saloons PYROMANIA 153 and bordellos of Geneva. On January 8th (Sunday), he returned home to his village and there he found a final letter from his bride breaking off the engagement, together with his ring. He tried unsuccessfully to secure a revolver and finally drank him- self to senselessness. Around 4 o'clock in the morning he went to bed; at 6 o'clock a fire alarm woke him up. Being an officer of the fire brigade, he was busy until noon. A large estate was set on fire, supposedly by some careless children. During the fire and afterwards, in particular, the firemen indulged very freely in drinking. At noon he went to his mistress (he was not aware that she was responsible for the break with his bride) and had sexual intercourse with her. In the evening he again drank. When he visited the outhouse at night he saw the light still burning in his father's barn; he went in there to put out the light. Suddenly the thought came to him of setting the place on fire and he at once carried out the idea. Then he went quietly back to the inn, until the alarm was given. His father's barn burned down completely. "I had no thought of vengeance; I do not know why I did it; I was unable to withstand the temptation. I always got along very well with father." Two Sundays later, while slightly intoxicated, he visited his grandfather; on leaving the house, again the thought came to him of setting fire; he stepped into the grandfather's barn and set it on fire. The fire went out spontaneously. Shortly before that he had indulged in sexual intercourse with his mistress. He now observed that the thought of setting fire occurred to him when he was slightly intoxicated; if he kept on drinking, the compulsive idea became too strong for him to resist any longer. The thought never came to him when he was sober. Therefore he resolved not to drink again. In November of the same year his father passed away; all wit- nesses testify that from that time on he began again to drink. After the last of March he was drunk every night. Forenoon of April 5 he spent in the company of his mistress and had inter- course with her three times. The woman testified that during that time he was particularly depressed over the loss of his bride and talked of her again and again. In the evening he got drunk again and on leaving the inn he went to the next building to set it on fire. He was unable, however, to open the barn door and went on his way until he arrived at the home of one of his best friends. Knowing where this man kept the barn key he helped himself to it, unlocked the barn, and set the hay on fire. Then he went home and at once fell asleep. When the fire alarm woke 154 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR him up and he saw the great fire from his bed, he said, "My heart gave a thump, for I suddenly realized that it was I who had done it." He hurried to the fire; there he behaved so strangely that everybody remarked it and he aroused suspicion. He confessed readily and, although no one had suspected him of the two previous incendiarisms, he declared himself guilty of those as well. "I had to do it; I thought I should thus free myself of the terrible compulsive idea." The prosecuting attorney was forced to admit, in his charge, that no motive could be found for the offences. Although expert testimony established pyromania, he was declared responsible and sentenced to eight years. In jail he soon proved one of the most reliable inmates and the sheriff chose him as a trusty to do household chores. He got hold of a revolver and shot himself in the head; the wound proved slight and now he works peacefully in the jail proper, where the officials declare themselves satisfied with his excellent behaviour. "So long as I was but slightly drunk I was able to fight off the notion," he said to me, "but when I kept on drinking, the impulse became so powerful that I would have done it even if the muzzle of a gun had been levelled at me. It was as overwhelming an impulse as the desire to cohabit with my sweetheart; when the craving seized me I had to do it even though her husband might be just return- ing home." One does not require considerable psychologic sagacity to be able to see that both cases are instances of sexual inter- course without gratification. Take the Jessen case. A maid, hurt in her pride and love, is abandoned by her lover whom she coaxes, so to speak, into sexual intercourse to bind him to herself. In what state did their sexual intercourse take place? Readers of my work entitled Sexual Frigidity of Woman know that a woman is extremely sensitive and re- sponds with anesthesia to every humiliation. After inter- course, the ruffian sends her home, refusing to escort her, briefly he shows his lack of affection. Is that not likely to generate the resolution of setting the lover's heart on fire so that he may again be attracted to her? And is the choice of the hen coop, no less than her taking the spunk from the faithless one's vest, in itself significant? Where does the PYROMANIA 155 libido damming and the archaic action come in? She wanted to set him on fire and show him whither he had driven her. She wanted to produce a visible, flaming sign of her passion, her anger and her hatred. After intercourse her love split into its polar components and hatred loomed to the fore. This case corroborates the sexual root. Jealousy, hatred born of unrequited love, revenge against the faithless lover, are sexual motives. My task is even easier in the case of Schmidt's illustration. This pyromaniac is an unhappy, drifting individual. He is a drunkard. In his love affair he is unlucky. His first sweet- heart marries another man, the second girl repulses him. His first offence he committed after the girl broke the engagement with him. He tried to drown his trouble in drink and to find consolation in his mistress' arms. But he longed for the girl to whom he had been engaged, not for the mistress. We know the result of such cohabitations. (Cp. Chapter: Disorders of the Orgasm, in my Male Impotence, Disorders of the Male Sexual Functions.) The bride becomes the Imago for the unattainable. His unconscious homosexual components, roused by his quarrels with his comrades, lead him to burn down the parental home. The next arson he commits again after sexual intercourse with his mistress. Another member of the family, his grandfather, is made to suffer for his unhappy love affair. The third arson is characteristic. The man speaks of his bride the whole day, emphasizes that he is disconsolate over the break, and indulges thrice in sexual intercourse, obviously with his mind centered all the time upon the unattainable objective. The ungratifying intercourse awakens his latent homosexuality, which I regard as the chief determinant of these incendiarisms. He goes to the home of one of his best friends. There he helps himself to the barn key and sets the place on fire. He does all that while in a state of drunken stupor. And is this case a testimony against Stekel's sexual etiology? 24 If we did not know anything about the unhappy love affair there would still be sufficient motives for the arson. 156 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Moreover, the man himself admits that he is impulsive and that his impulses are stronger than his will power and his judgment. Unhappy love is one of the chief motives of arson. He who is humiliated and rejected begins to hate society as a whole and feels the need of setting himself against law and authority. In many of these cases we find a pronounced feeling of insufficiency, or inferiority and inadequacy. Many persons are in the habit of saying: "I have no luck in life. I have always been unlucky!" Their feeling-attitude towards the world at large is one of defiance and they want to show to the world that they, too, are capable of causing pain. Consider the great power with which fire endows the weak. With a match a cripple may wreak disaster upon a whole village. The unhappy love motive is emphasized also by Schmidt, who of course makes use of this fact as supporting the libido theory: "In no less than 16 of my cases I was able to ascertain very definitely that shortly before the arson the subject had been rejected by his or her beloved, the latter person either marrying or becoming engaged. Seven alcoholics set fires within a few days or weeks after their wives left them {usu- ally on account of drunkenness} or died. To this category belong also the cases already mentioned where the subjects, already either engaged or married, are forced, for circum- stantial reasons {opposition of parents or of society, illness of the marital partner}, to readopt themselves to single life. The more deeply we look into the psychology of individual pyromaniacs, the stronger becomes our impression that at the time of committing the offence they are dissatisfied, unhappy, tortured by morbid fears, and living in a state of remarkable tension and that the arson is an explosion meant to put an end to the unbearable situation. This much seems to have impressed every writer who has preoccupied himself more closely with the problem. Thus, Monkemoller, for instance, speaks of arson as an Entladungsform, a form of release, for the pent-up psyche. Krafft-Ebing regards arson as "a PYROMANIA 157 means to rid oneself of an unbearable situation," while Gross, the criminologist, considers the offence "a motorial, explosion- like discharge." The "unhappy love" motive is but one of the erotic de- terminants of arson. Another form of "unhappy love" stands beyond the realm of the attainable. That is the forbidden paraphiliac love, which can be expressed only through dreams and in half-conscious fantasies. It includes every form of sexual charm which cannot be countenanced by our moral consciousness. This may be an incest wish, or a cryptic homosexual craving, it may be paedophilia or a sadistic im- pulse;-persons of this type fail to find the form of sexual gratification adequate for their needs, they are eternal seekers, always disenchanted, always ungratified, and their impulses must undergo a transposition of objective before finding an outlet. This includes the alcoholics and other narcotomaniacs, and the parapathiacs suffering from compulsions which they want to keep in check. Sometimes an individual of this type seeks escape through normal love and love saves him. If the love affair turns out unhappy, it leads to a regression to infantile ideals, feeling-attitudes and wishes. Therefore after an unhappy love affair psychosexual infantilism with all its devastating consequences may easily gain supremacy over the individual. These ungratified persons find one avenue of release: mas- turbation. It is a striking fact that among pyromaniacs we find many compulsive masturbators who are unable to achieve adequate gratification in a normal way and whose indulgence in the habit is accompanied by fire fantasies. Some of them see red flames in front of their eyes, others dwell in their fantasy directly on a conflagration, again many others are sexually excited at the actual sight of fires. Particularly striking is the seeing "red" and the seeing of fire by epileptics. A plastic illustration is recorded by Tobben: Case 83. "A young painter, who was epileptic and suffered from the mania of grandeur, became a pyromanic. He thought he was the greatest painter on earth. His specialty was the paint- ing of fires. He thought that none other could paint so well a 158 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR conflagration with its glowing flames as he. After an arson, charmed by the spectacle of the wonderful, divine fire, he painted a fantastic, glowing account of the occurrence. But he was am- bitious to paint another, more wonderful conflagration: 'A fire the like of which had not been seen before. Of course that is far from easy. Only a genius can do that. A wonderful con- flagration, the red flames reaching to the sky, the masses of dark clouds of smoke hovering, the tongues of fires blazing forth in dazzling showers of colors. Such a painting has not yet been done; nobody could have done it. I, I shall paint it.' " (Loc. cit., P- 353 ) Masturbation is more often linked directly with arson fan- tasies. I have been impressed by the fact that the arson is often carried out during a period of abstinence, i.e., when the masturbator attempts to curb the habit. The case ex- tensively analyzed in the next chapter shows this relationship. It is known that I have called masturbation a habit having a socially protective function. (Vid. Homosexuality and Auto- erotism.) Von Speyr and Dr. Greppin, for instance, report (quoted after Schmidt) : "K. is unable to explain why the thought of setting fire came to him sometimes while he was drunk, and sometimes not. The suspicion seems justified that sexual excitation played a part. But he denies that; on the contrary while drunk he felt less roused sexually and mas- turbated less. Indeed, had he masturbated on the evenings when he set the fires, he might never have committed the offences." That speaks volumes. It corroborates the fact that alcohol sometimes opened for the man the gates to the paradise of sexual indulgence, but at times had a reverse influence, and that masturbation enabled him to release his sexual desire. Deprived of the habit (even through self-denial) the impulse to masturbate becomes transposed into the impulse to commit arson. The cryptic, unattainable sexual objective, symbolized by the house, is thus given over a prey to fire, destroyed, etc. And Schmidt emphasizes that many pyromaniacs set fires in order to get rid of their masturbation habit. He suggests that in cases of incendiarism, the experts should always in- quire into the masturbation habit (i.e., ungratified sexuality). PYROMANIA 159 To be sure most persons do not mention the habit and the usual examination reveals nothing that bears on this point. To clear up this matter what is required is analytic technique which, by establishing an emotional transference, facilitates confession. We must distinguish three forms: i. The incendiary is sex- ually excited by the fire, he likes to see the fire burning. He is a sadist with fire fantasies (putting men and animals to death through fire, etc.). Sadists of this type masturbate during the conflagration. 2. Masturbation is a defence meas- ure against setting fire. Arson is committed during a period of enforced abstinence. 3. The arson is intended to free the masturbator of the habit. After the arson the habit ceases. Schmidt records a number of interesting observations from his personal experience: Case 84. The son of a prostitute took part in the Spring candle procession (brandons) along with the other boys of the village; while watching the bonfire which concluded the festivities it occurred to him to start another, greater fire. Passing by the house where he had been brought up, he set the thatched roof on fire. The house burned down. From that evening on he was always in a tremendous state of agitation, always wanting to repeat the fun of watching a fire. This led him to drink whiskey more recklessly than ever so that he was unfit to work. Every evening he started a fire somewhere; sometimes he got up in the middle of the night because the thought of setting fire gave him no peace. He did not care whether the fire burned or went out, the mere act of setting fire is what charmed him and procured him an indescribable satisfaction. If a house burned down in the village, the excitation of the villagers pleased him. For two years, down to the time of his first arson, he had indulged ex- cessively in the masturbation habit; after that he was abstinent. On the eleventh day he was caught at his eleventh attempt. He confessed his guilt and was sentenced to six years. He is to-day a locomotive engineer for a private railroad corporation, where he has worked for the past 13 years, and enjoys the reputation of being a loyal employee and a good father. He made these state- ments with the earnest feeling of a man who had matured through bitter experience: "Why I did it, I do not know; I was out of my senses all that time." 160 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Case 85. A 27-year-old servant, in four months, has reduced to ashes five houses, whose owners he did not know, in a number of neighboring villages. At the last conflagration he roused sus- picion by his peculiar behaviour; he was standing in a doorway with his hand manipulating around in his trouser pocket, obvi- ously enjoying the spectacle. He was arrested and on the third examination he confessed. Examination revealed that he was a high grade imbecile and instead of receiving a prison sentence he was interned at a hospital for the insane. Here, during an ex- amination, he gave a very lively account of the arson, displaying evident pleasure, at the same time carrying on suspicious motions with his hand in his pocket. Physical inspection on the spot showed that he had masturbated. On the following day he told me that, becoming enthusiastic over his arsons, he sometimes in- dulged in masturbation. Case 86. T., 22 years of age, had served A. one Summer as a houseman. One day A. discharged him without giving a reason. Three years later A.'s barn burned to ashes. Footprints betrayed T. as guilty of the arson. T. denied his guilt. Upon psychiatric expert testimony he was declared irresponsible, on account of feeble-mindedness, and interned at an institution for the insane. Here, too, he maintained he was innocent in spite of my efforts to induce him to confess. From his former master, A., I found out that he had discharged T. because another farm hand had told him that T. was in love with the mistress and that every evening he hid in the bushes near the kitchen surreptitiously to enjoy the sight of his beloved mistress. On confronting T. with this fact he suddenly confessed that he had set fire to the building. "I did it to avenge myself because A. caused me a serious injury by discharging me." I asked him why he thought so, inasmuch as he had been discharged before and after that, by other em- ployers, similarly, without any notice. Thereupon, after consid- erable hesitation, he confessed as follows: Since his 16th year he has masturbated almost daily up to that Summer when he worked for A. There he fell in love with the mistress, who was five years older than he; the slightest contact with her clothes, even her mere presence, made him supremely happy. A.'s wife was not a pretty woman, but the shape of her mouth reminded him of his deceased mother's, and it always charmed him to look at it. While working for A. he had given up the masturbation habit altogether. But from the day when he was discharged he PYROMANIA 161 reverted to the indulgence. Every night before falling asleep he had to think of his beloved mistress and masturbated at the same time; that is how and why his master had injured him; by dis- charging him the master had driven him back to the old habit. Masturbating for three years night after night made him more and more excited and then the thought suddenly came to him one day of setting A.'s barn on fire. After that evening when he committed the arson he no longer felt impelled to indulge in mas- turbation. Having gone back to the habit since his internment at this institution, he has asked himself, while thinking things over, whether he had felt impelled to commit the arson in order to rid himself of the masturbation habit. This case suggests that in the examination of pyromaniacs hereafter it would be well to inquire into the relations between arson and masturbation. The relations will not be easy to ferret out and may not be discovered in all cases. On looking over the three cases, we find, in the first case, a masturbator who takes pleasure in the act of setting fires. He lacks any notion of purpose in Wagner-Jauregg's sense; a great bonfire rouses him sexually; setting fire becomes directly a substitute for masturbation. At the same time one question remains unsolved: why does he cease masturbating after setting fire? Does the freeing of the stagnant libido at once-as assumed by Schmidt-cure the masturbator of his habit? It is much simpler to assume that, his conscience having become aroused, he has deliberately resolved to curb his morbid impulse. Masturbation is for most persons of this type the symbol of the impulse realm as a whole. If he controls this habit he can control all the other asocial impulses as well. The latter assumption is further corroborated by the fact that he was able to attain an honorable social standing and became the responsible head of a family. Obviously the indulgence in masturbation was not linked with paraphiliac fantasies. It was merely a substitute for normal sexuality. It is also probable that he may have saved himself through a genuine love and thus became a valuable citizen. The second case shows us an imbecile burdened with a fire mania. He belongs to the type who masturbates during the 162 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR conflagration; obviously he is also a sadist taking an infantile joy in fire. Much more interesting is the third case. Here we see a man who masturbates probably with the accompaniment of incest fantasies (with his mother). "He practiced masturba- tion," Schmidt remarks very appropriately, "until he found an objective which through resemblance with the mother gave him the opportunity of transferring his autoerotically gratified libido upon an object. The enforced separation from the latter compelled him to revert to autoerotic indulgence which, however, no longer yielded him satisfactory gratification." Schmidt concludes that, for the sublimation of his sexuality, the pyromaniac found merely an archaic form, a symbolic act, a surrogate for his masturbation practice. Is it not simpler to assume that the pyromaniac wanted to revenge himself on the master (the father-imago) because the latter deprived him of his woman ideal, the mistress of the house? Consider that excessive adoration which induced happiness on merely touching her dress. I have gathered numerous observations of masturbators who indulge in the habit with the fantasy of setting fires. I advise all colleagues to pay close attention to the masturba- tion fantasies. To be sure, they are not easily obtained. But knowledge of the specific masturbation fantasies alone affords us the opportunity of penetrating into the individual form of sexuality. I record below a few observations derived from my own professional experience: Case 87. R. V., student, 23 years of age, is excessively addicted to the masturbation habit. Claims to have masturbated as often as twelve times during a single night. Every time he thinks of a fire and of saving a girl from the flames. The girl is naked, he rushes into the burning home, finds her unconscious, carries her out of the house in the midst of the applause of the multitude, covers her with his mantle while she kisses him, murmuring: My saviour! At that moment he perceives sexual acme. Suf- fered from urinary incontinence until his 12th year. His favorite game: playing at being a fireman. Strong fixation on the sister, who figures in his fire fantasies under the substituting images of her girl friends. The saviour fantasy, as shown by Freud in his PYROMANIA 163 Traumdeutung, signifies sexual possession. His favorite work is Hamerling's Ahasver in Rom, an epic description of the burn- ing of Rome and Nero's joy at the spectacle. Greatly interested in fireworks and fires, plays occasionally with matches, starting little fires whereby he repeats his infantile fire games. Case 88. Luise W., 29 years of age, unmarried, dreams of fire every night and fights against the impulse to set fire. She masturbates since her childhood and in that connection always has visions of flames. Her favorite fantasy, being burned at the stake in the Middle Ages, as a witch, or as the widow of an Indian, given over to the flames. Favorite poem: Der Gott und die Bajadero. First fire fantasy arose six years ago. She was then taken by the parents to a museum where she saw a painting repre- senting the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, also the burning of Troy, a painting in which a rough warrior was seen carrying in his arms a protesting young woman, obviously with the intention of raping her (as she subsequently interpreted the scene). Fan- tasies of being dragged from a burning castle and assaulted! The various men proved Father-Imagines (substitutes). At 30 years of age she marries and to her surprise proves wholly anesthetic. After two years of married life she begins to indulge in fire fantasies and only with their aid is she able to achieve a slight measure of sexual acme. She admits having often failed to attain orgasm through masturbation. Tremendous struggle between the moral and the instinctive self. Desires strong sexual acme but is unable to achieve it, so that the fire becomes also a symbol for her sexual release from the torture of frigidity. Case 89. Mr. W. M., 39 years of age, commercial clerk, comes to me to be treated for impotence. Has attempted coitus only three times in his life, with prostitutes, each time unsuccessfully. Has masturbated since his 7th year. No fantasies, except visions of handsome women, ordinarily mere mechanical friction. The very first dream proved very characteristic: Dream : I am in an ancient building which, however, seems familiar to me. I hear voices coming from the corner of the room. I ask myself who can it be and who is raising such a noise. I am fearfully excited. Perhaps thieves are breaking in. Suddenly I hear fire signals on the street. Everybody shouts: Fire! Fire! I run to the street clad only in my underclothes. At a distance I perceive already the red glow. The great mill 164 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR belonging to my father is on fire. People begin to throw water. I, too, take hold of an enormous hose and direct it forcefully upon the burning building. Then the thought comes to me, my parents may be inside the mill. I begin to shout: "Save my mother! Save my father!" and wake up with palpitation and dread, and bathed in sweat. Pollution. Before going into the analysis of this dream, I must explain the patient's condition a little more closely. He maintains a tremendous fight against the masturbation habit. At 8 years was seduced by an uncle whom he considers the bane of his life. That uncle is now married and the father of three children. That is something he cannot understand. At 14 years of age he read a book about the evil consequences of masturbation. But he was unable to resist the temptation. He began to exert self-control only since his 16th year, when his pollutions started in. He tried every possible means to stop the seminal losses, but in vain. In the midst of the "wet" dream he jumps up and rushes to the window, in the endeavor to stop the ejaculation and loss of semen. Often the fear of pollutions keeps him awake. He is afraid that he looks badly and that everybody can guess his trouble from his looks. After a pollution, or masturbation, he was in the habit of stuffing himself with food so as to make up for the lost strength. Most of his pollution dreams center around fire, like the dream given above. Fire is raging, he holds the water hose, then some complication arises filling him with dread and presently he has an ejaculation. Therefore he is as afraid of fire dreams as of fire. Until his 12th year he wet the bed and always slept in his parents' bedroom. He suffers from a strange sleep trouble. For a long time he cannot fall asleep and every bit of noise disturbs him. I find out that he sleeps to this day in his parents' bedroom and they wait for him to fall asleep to indulge in sexual intercourse now and then. Since his early childhood he was in the habit of watching for an opportunity to witness his parents in the act of sexual intercourse. His earliest recol- lection (age of 3) is watching his parents during sexual intercourse and observing their obscure, exhausting excitation. PYROMANIA 165 Now the meaning of the dream becomes clear. The ancient building is the bedroom, occupied jointly by his parents and himself. His father owns no mill. His father's mill is- the mother. She is on fire and he helps put out the flames with a gigantic penis. His keen disappointment is that he has a small penis. He suffers from a feeling of inferiority on that account and thinks that he will never in his life be able adequately to gratify a woman. After three weeks of psychoanalytic effort he admits for the first time that during indulgence in masturbation he always thinks of fire. He saves his parents from a fire, or distin- guishes himself in some other way at a conflagration. He is a member of the volunteer fire corps. As a child he was fond of playing with fire and did so always in the water closet. His greatest pleasure was to set fire to the filthy papers and then put the flames out by flushing the papers. This game he occasionally repeats to this day. The compul- sion is irresistible. He can gaze at a fire for hours. He is not very musical. But recently he attended a representation of "Walkure" because he knew there was a fire scene in it. At the sight of the scene he was so deeply moved that he wept like a child. He displays numerous other signs of psychosexual infantil- ism. His penis is actually very small, but the testicles are normal in size. There is a slight suggestion of gynecomasty. The most interesting feature is the absolute control which his parents exert over him. Not only must he sleep in their room, although they occupy an apartment of seven rooms; he is treated in every other particular like a child. He is surrounded with love, but at the same time his father is fear- fully concerned when he goes out with girls lest he get en- tangled. He came from the province to1 Vienna for treatment. Every day he receives a letter warning him of the dangers of the large city and the parents anxiously want to know whether the treatment could not be cut short. At home he returns every night to the house as soon as he quits work, because the father goes to the inn evenings and the mother would be alone. If he is once late coming home, he is sure 166 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR to be scolded severely for it and his mother predicts that he will surely go to the bad, like the others. Every girl in whom he shows the least interest is deprecated. This one is too poor, that one is not a good housekeeper, the third one comes from a questionable family, the fourth one is so pale she must surely be tubercular, the fifth is a coquettish, frivolous creature, etc. After the analysis, separation from the parents, marriage, good potentia, complete disappearance of the fire dreams. Case 90. J. H., 27 years of age, technician, comes to me for treatment on account of compulsive masturbation. At 18 years of age he had intercourse with a prostitute and thereafter he gave up altogether the masturbation habit in which he had indulged since his 15th year, when he encountered an experience which played a decisive role in his life. In a little place near Vienna a celebration was given which included fireworks. The crowd was immense and he was standing behind a strange woman. In the crowd they were pressed together closely. It was very dark. He felt the unknown woman pressing herself against him and carrying out voluptuous motions with her hips. Just then the first fire rockets began whistling through the air. Everybody craned to see the fire display. Taking advantage of this he in- serted his penis a posteriori. The woman permitted it, indeed she had provoked him into doing it. His gratification was unex- pectedly keen. While another rocket flew up he had an ejacula- tion. Nevertheless his membrum virile preserved its stiffness and he kept up the coitus motions so that towards the end of the fireworks display he had a second ejaculation with a tremendous orgasm, which came on at the moment when the final great rocket burst forth. He withdrew his membrum from the woman's parts when he saw that the fireworks were over. The crowd disbanded and he lost track of the woman without having seen her face to face. Since then he always thinks of that occurrence and it serves as his masturbation fantasy. Already as a child he showed great excitation at the sight of fire. He was fond of stealing matchboxes, which he carried to the garden; there he gathered papers and brushwood and made a bonfire. The flames he would then put out with his stream of urine. Later he was much impressed when he found a similar scene described in Gulliver's Travels. (In the kingdom of the PYROMANIA 167 Lilliputians, when the Queen's palace is on fire, Gulliver puts out the flames with his stream of urine.) His dreams are often pre- occupied with fire and with water. Until his 7th year he wet his bed. In his fantasy the conscious experience is transposed into an incest. His three sisters and a girl cousin happened to be present at the fireworks. It was very dark. In his fantasy he indulges in the thought that the unknown woman was a member of his own family. The compulsive masturbation habit disap- pears after the incestuous fantasy is disclosed. Any one familiar with the relations between impotence and masturbation will not be surprised that among the motives which lead to arson impotence also plays a prominent role. The causes of impotence, as of masturbation, are traceable to an irrealizable sexual feeling-attitude. Whether it be a cryptic paraphilia or an "unconscious" love attraction, one thing is certain: the impotent individual has not found his sexual ideal; he stands under the control of an irresistible negative. Anesthetic women, too, display pyromaniac impulses. I have had a number of patients suffering from dyspareunia, who longed for a great fire to overcome their frigidity. "I was ready to set myself on fire"-one of these unfortunate women said to me. The wives of impotent men are also prone to pyromaniac impulses. A woman 30 years of age, who has been married ten years and is still a virgin, has in- dulged in the fantasy of burning up the house, in order to bring about a change in her unbearable situation. The fol- lowing case, observed by Placzek, belongs to the same cate- gory: Case 91. A woman of high intellectual standing, belonging to the better class, one day set on fire her own house, which burned to the ground. Her trusty servant girl she first sent craftily away on an errand, as a preliminary precaution. As soon as the girl left the house, she went to the attic and there set fire to a mass of shavings. Her husband, suspecting that all was not well, followed her, but she scorned him and interfered with his efforts at putting out the fire, so that the old grey-haired man got the hair on his head and his beard singed by the flames. Although 168 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR the woman knew that a 75-year-old woman lodger, who was nearly blind, was in the house at the time, she made no provisions for her escape; on the contrary, when that woman's servant girl, who happened to be taking a walk, rushed back to the house, on seeing the flames, the pyromaniac threatened to throw a bucket of water at her if the girl dared to come in. The old woman was at last carried out, over the burning stairway, but her furni- ture burned. The court, adjudging her mentally irresponsible, set the woman free. She had suffered for years from hysterical attacks. A drowning episode at a bathing resort was also an hysterical affair. The woman went far out into the water, then she cried for help, and after being brought back to shore by the life-saving boat, she lay in her bathing costume for an hour freezing in the sand. When the physician arrived she did not respond to questions; her breathing was quiet, but she refused to get up so that she had to be carried to the hospital by attendants. Here, a few hours later, she joked as if nothing had happened, and left the hospital on the same day without notifying the physician. Married to a man much older than herself, she often felt an attraction for other men. She was fond of public activity. After the deed she went everywhere, as if nothing had hap- pened, nor did the lively gossip about it worry her. She her- self managed energetically the rebuilding of the house. On the very day after the deed she conducted her physician through the ruins with more than striking nonchalance. (Loc. cit., pp. 93-94.) This case illustrates the marriage incompatibility between a young woman, still capable of craving life, and an "old, gray-haired man." He was no longer able to burn (with passion). She sought some means of setting him afire. Sadis- tic motives also link themselves to the unconscious endeavor mentioned. Relative impotence may also play a role in the etiology of arson. There are men who are strongly potent but who fail to achieve success, precisely when they are particularly anxious to make a record. At such times the notion of fire is a ready association, especially when the trouble is a hidden (uncon- PYROMANIA 169 scions) love attraction.25 Goethe, who has described most candidly his psychic impotence (vid. Male Impotence, Sup- plement, The Diary} in the midst of the mortifying situa- tion, thinks of his old sweetheart with the expressive words: "Dort leuchtet her ein frisherquicklich Feuer,-a refreshing flame burns there,"-an illustration showing the close asso- ciation of impotence and fire. Frank Wedekind, in a novel-which must have surely been taken from life-"Der Brand von Egliswyl" (Feuerwerk. Erz'dhlungen, Verlag Georg Muller, Miinchen) has displayed a keen understanding of this relationship. Beautiful Amrain Susanne falls in love with the handsome 19-year-old manservant employed by Sutter, a peasant. The boy, an orphan, was brought up in poverty and wretchedness. He never dared lift his gaze to that beautiful girl before. All he knew about was his cattle. Now she asks him to go to a dance with her. So clearly does she indicate her desire that he gathers courage. That night she becomes his. As beautiful Susanne's sweetheart, the other girls of the vil- lage begin to take notice of him. The proudest and most beautiful girl of the village, wealthy Veronica, leaves her sweetheart for him. Next, little Marianne, Susanne's best friend, becomes his sweetheart. He thus becomes the favorite of three girl friends. Before long there was not a girl in the village of Egli with whom he had not spent an evening. Inwardly as well as outwardly he has now become a new man. He turned into an attractive fellow and the way he worked was a pleasure. His supposed stupidity was gone; he now had a bright head. After the gathering of the vintage, at which he had helped, a celebration was held. He dances with the housemaid of the place. She is particularly pretty, but she makes him insane with passion. They kiss. He feels as if an illness were steal- ing over him. Next day he wants to come to her in the night, but she does not permit it. He weeps and for three days is unable to settle down to work. Unable to endure the torture any longer he goes to the castle and spends the whole night in front of the closed gate. Next day, instead of going back to his peasants, he secures a job in the village, 170 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR close to the castle. He has but one thought, Marie. He makes plans how to save money so as to be able to take her to a home after he gets through with the army service. For three weeks they embrace in the court, in the fields, under the rocky slopes. Then the weather turned cold and she in- vites him to come to her room at night. In the middle of the night he climbs the rocky slopes, trembling, afraid that the falling of a dislodged stone may betray him to the masters of the place under whose window he stealthily makes his way. Fortunately he reaches, at last, the girl's bedroom. After an hour he leaves her as he found her when he came. "Down the rocks I hurried. My hands and feet were numb. I had the feeling of a rope tightening around my throat. For- ward in my breast, and in the back, and in between, I felt as if everything was being torn out of me. There was poison in all my veins, from head to foot. At first I thought of drowning myself, but then I reflected: No, what will she think of me 1 What will she think of me!-She had turned icy, and she neither wept nor laughed. She was like ice." The worst sufferings he ever experienced followed that night's episode. "Had some one at the time taken hold of me and thrown me across the bench and given me a good beating I should have thanked him for it. But there was nobody to do it. I shouted and raved like a wild beast in the slaughter house, as I walked through the forest and across the hill. Flames came over me in waves, always hotter. It seemed as if I were confined in a burn- ing house. Leaping through the windows, through the doors, wherever I went flames struck me in the face. And the very ground under my feet, though actually frozen, seemed already to burn so that I stamped and started to run. Thus driven, at first I did not know what to do, but suddenly it came to me in a flash. And at once I felt better; but I kept running, afraid lest the break of dawn should overtake me. All the time I saw nothing but flames and again flames." He is pleased that the wind is blowing, that the fire pro- tector is frozen, the fire conflagration he would start should PYROMANIA 171 gain better headway for all that. He sets fire to his home village at five different spots and he is pleased at the thought that this girl or that girl with whom he had been intimate may perish in the conflagration. After accomplishing his mis- sion he returns to the castle desirous to gain access to Marie. He tells her that for her sake he has put the whole village into flames. She then turns him over to the constable. She feels only hatred for him. For his crime he receives a long jail sentence. Here we see clearly the psychologic mechanism of arson. He finds himself unable to set the girl on fire, therefore he puts the whole village in flames. He destroys his life because he was unable to get himself on fire over her, or, expressing it perhaps more properly-because he was unable to set her on fire over him. Another episode worthy of mention is his having indulged in intercourse once with his employer's wife, an elderly woman. By this means he insured her silence over his nocturnal absences. This episode was inserted by the author of the story not without reason. . . ,26 Schmidt records a series of cases which corroborate most convincingly the relations between impotence and arson. First I quote the following case: Case 92. A 39-year-old farmer, seven years married, lost his father a year and a half ago. The latter had treated his son to the last "as a child," compelling him to serve as a farm hand on the home estate. After the father's death, the son discovered large unexpected debts, and this drove him to drink because he despaired of ever being able to repay them. Now and then, when thinking about the debts, he spoke of committing suicide. The Summer of 1904 was a poor agricultural season and during that time he drank more than ever. Nevertheless he preserved his standing as a prominent man, with all sorts of offices and honors, for he was mostly a solitary drinker. During September he no- ticed that he was becoming progressively impotent during inter- course with his wife (he claimed never to have indulged in sexual intercourse with another woman in his life). Thereafter, on returning from the inn, he went to a room where he slept alone; thus he avoided any occasion to test his sexual powers. One Sunday in October, on returning from the inn, the thought sud- 172 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR denly came to his mind of setting a house on fire, and at once he carried out this notion on the neighbouring house which belonged to a very good friend. Then he went home feeling much better and fell asleep at once. His wife woke him up when the fire alarm was sounded, because he was a member of the fire brigade. On the following day he bought a revolver, but controlled his thought of suicide; fourteen days later, again on a Sunday, he roamed around aimlessly for hours, after leaving the inn, and then the thought of setting fire again came to his mind; this time he set fire to the barn of a stranger. On the following Sunday the community gives a banquet in honor of the local company of firemen for their valuable services in connection with the two great conflagrations. On that occasion he drinks until he be- comes slightly intoxicated and on the way back home he sets fire to the house of a vintner with whom he had always been on very friendly terms. The whole neighborhood was roused over this new outrage, but no one suspected that the respectable volunteer fireman in their midst was responsible for the three conflagrations. Thereupon he ceased frequenting the inns, hoping thereby to curb his criminal impulse. But three months later he again be- comes drunk and on the way home set another place on fire. Four weeks afterwards he leaves his home in the middle of the night and wanders around: "I did not think it would happen to me again or I should not have ventured out at all. I only wonder that I did not kill myself when I jumped down from a high wall to get to the lumber yard." He hardly knew the owner thereof. One week later he again visited the inn and on the way back he set fire to a match factory. "I do not know why I did it; I had to do it, though there was neither revenge nor hatred in my heart." An article found on the scene of the conflagration led, at last, to the identification of the culprit. Schmidt here assumes a libido stagnation brought about by the death of the father; indulgence in alcohol acted as a libido releaser (Jung). We interpret the situation quite differently. The farmer in question obviously had a homosexual fixation on his father. After the father's death, the released and now free-floating homosexual craving sought a new objective. He was under the control of homosexual impulses. Therefore he became impotent with his wife. As a consequence he PYROMANIA 173 set the house of one of his good friends on fire. Later every act of arson became to him a homosexual symbol. Indul- gence in alcohol set his homosexual components free, but in- stead of a homosexual act he committed arson. The fact that he was a member of the fire corps shows that he was greatly interested in fires, like many of the cases previously recorded. Without a comprehensive analysis we cannot properly appraise such cases. In the next chapter I give the detailed history of a similar case, where the morbid fixation on the father was the cause of the pyromania while an impotentia complex also played a determining role. Moreover, the patient himself perceives the relations be- tween his impotence and pyromania. He says to Dr. Schmidt: "You are right, because whenever I left the inn to go home, I thought first of the debts, then I thought of the fact that I cannot sleep with my wife again, and then the thought sud- denly came to me of setting fire and as soon as I did so, I quieted down every time and fell into a strange deep sleep- just as I would previously after a successful intercourse." 27 "To Prof. v. Speyr, of Bern," states Dr. Schmidt, "I am indebted for the account of another case wherein the libido stagnation induced by impotence, this time without indulgence in alcohol, was responsible for incendiarisms: Case 93. G. committed arson nine times, over a period of several years. The first offence he carried out before his mar- riage: "On a Sunday night G. succeeded at last in getting close to his beloved, proved impotent, and withdrew in shame: the first peasant home he passed by on his way home became a prey to flames. The momentary impulse which led him to commit the first arson was due to his feeling of sexual incapacity and each of the following eight similar offences, some of which were car- ried out during his married life, showed the same direct connec- tion with G.'s sexual life. Sometimes when G. was unsuccessful in his attempts at sexual intercourse he would get up in the middle of the night and set fire to some place." This case of Speyr's is so convincing that we need not go into lengthy theoretic disquisitions about the relations between impotence and arson. PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 174 I want to reassert again that the frigidity of woman may lead to similar symbolic acts. Case 94. Mrs. G. R., a 29-year-old, frigid woman, declares in the course of the analysis: because my husband never gratified me sexually, I thought the fault was his. I longed for a sweet- heart and found him. He was an athletically built army officer. I visited him at his home. We had intercourse three times. I felt nothing, save the desire for gratification. All the time I thought: Now, now it is coming; but it didn't. I went home broken up and feeling miserable. I felt sullied and humiliated. First I thought of pouring kerosene over my dress and setting fire to myself. "I must be on fire for once," was my leitmotif. Then I took the underwear and clothes which I had worn, made a bundle of them, and burned the bundle in the stove. . . . The last case with which we now close this lengthy chapter gives us a deeper insight into these relations: Case 95. Mrs. E. K., a woman 31 years of age, complains of the compulsive thought of setting her home on fire some day. In addition she suffers from the dread of doing something to her- self-throw herself out of the window or perhaps hang herself. She has also thought of saturating her bed with kerosene and destroying herself by fire. She begs to be locked up because she is afraid of herself. For weeks she has gone without sleep and she has already started a small fire. She set fire to her brother's bed, which was in the next room. She did this while absent- minded, but she came to herself in time to give the alarm. (This attempt at arson was very harmless. She had thrown a burning match on the brother's bed. The match went out before it struck the bed. Nevertheless she had the hallucination that the bed was already enveloped in flames.) She was troubled worst of all, how- ever, over her sister, on whom she wanted to avenge herself. Day and night she thought of setting her sister's home on fire. When asked why she wanted to avenge herself and what she had against her sister, she tells lengthy stories showing her sister's lack of affection; tells also about a great quarrel when her sister insulted her husband so that since then she has ceased having anything to do with her sister. . . . PYROMANIA 175 Her husband complains also about other parapathiac symp- toms which she displays. The wife lives in a trance-like state day by day and utterly lacks will power. In the morning he must write down what she is to do that day. Otherwise she would not do a thing. Without him, or the mother, she is unable to buy the least thing or to decide anything. She is as helpless as a child. Such weakness of will (aboulia) we find frequently in persons who are fighting against criminal tendencies. They grow so weak as to be unable to do a thing. This aboulia thus becomes a protection against the criminal tendencies and a regression to the infantile level of existence. Such persons always need imperatives. Our woman patient had a very strict father, who was extremely strict with her at home. Without his permission she could not take a step. Now her husband must take the father's place and must prescribe every step for her. Thereby she also avoids any personal responsibility. . . . She has three children, but does not show the least interest in them. She leaves everything to the governess and a tutor and only plays with her children. Moreover, she now complains that she dreads the children, because while playing with them she becomes sexually very excited. She struggles against the impulse of masturbating the boy and of sticking something into the little girl's vagina. As a consequence she is never alone with the children and plays with them only in the governess' or the tutor's presence. Living in the country on a large estate, it happens frequently that she meets the children in the garden, unattended. Then she runs off, so that even the children noticed that she was afraid of them and concluded that mother does not love them. This impression she endeavors to correct by the display of excessive tenderness (in the presence of the teachers), conse- quently the children are also on the way of becoming para- pathiacs. . . . I record below the findings of the analysis only in so far as this may be necessary for the understanding of the para- pathy. She grew up as the youngest of six children and was the favorite of all the family, especially the father's. Her sexual awakening was precocious. She remembers experiencing 176 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR pleasurable feelings when her father rocked her on his knees. (To this day she longs for this experience, during which she feels herself defenceless. We shall learn presently a proof of this.) She began to masturbate very early (6th to 9th years). Then there was an intermission. But during her eleventh year she again resumed the habit and has kept it up since. Now she no longer masturbates because she heard that it was a very dangerous habit. (Her abstinence is in part responsible for her symptoms.) She remembers a large num- ber of sexual episodes from her childhood. She played with other children games involving mutual handling of the sexual parts. Her brother, who was two years older, taught her a number of things when she was about 6 years of age. They indulged in mutual masturbation. They even attempted coitus. She was always as fond of this brother as of her father, and this affection she preserves for him to this day. Her sister is five years older. Often they slept in one bed and to her this was always a most pleasurable experience. In later years, she went to stay in the country with that sister, who was all alone and needed to have some one of her family by her side. There, at that country place, she lost her virginity (she was 16 years of age at the time). This occurred in a rather strange way. An army officer once called on a visit and she happened to be with him alone for a half hour. He embraced her and took her on his lap. She became very excited, lost control of herself and kissed him passionately. In this sitting posture she was deflorated sedens supra virum. The man left and she never saw him again in her life. But the ex- perience marked the onset of a number of parapathiac dis- orders. She was afraid of pregnancy and of infection, she resolved henceforth to be a virtuous girl and this oath she kept in spite of numerous temptations. That was not easy. For her sister was a very frivolous woman who betrayed her elderly husband with every man who visited them. (The army officer's visit was also due to the sister's charm.) She perceived all that, being precocious, but differentiated herself thoroughly from her sister. She always loved her sister and loves her to this day. Her homosexual components are very strongly developed. At 18 years of age she became acquainted PYROMANIA 177 with her husband, whom she married in spite of the fact that he is a Jew and she comes from a strongly anti-semitic family. This fact played a great role subsequently. Already during her childhood she was much preoccupied with fire. Fire and scintillating ornaments excited her sex- ually. She thinks this is traceable to the fact that her mother always embellished herself with beautiful jewels and her father, too, wore brilliant rings on his fingers, costly necktie pins, and diamond buttons. At four years she already played with matches and once she thus started a small fire. Until her 15th year she kept up her fondness for setting paper on fire surreptitiously to watch it burn. This she did in the front room on the bare floor. There was always a glass or a pitcher of water at hand with which to put out the fire. Her greatest pleasure was to gaze at the flames. At 15 years of age she became very pious, thought of be- coming a nun and of renouncing the world. But this lasted only one-half year, then came the episode with the army officer. She received even before that offers of marriage, but re- jected them. Her present husband said once in a conversa- tion that he would marry her even if she had a past. All the former suitors she rejected because she knew that she was not a virgin any more and she was afraid that the man would send her back home after the bridal night. But to her husband she confessed the experience she had had and he was sensible enough to lead her to the altar in spite of that. Already during the engagement she grew despondent and wanted to give up the engagement. But her father himself advised her not to give up so1 desirable a match,-the wealthiest proprietor in the region, an elegant, handsome man. Every- body told her that it was a fortunate match for her. That and the fact that he was willing to marry her in spite of the defloration induced her to go to the altar. The very last day before the marriage ceremony she wanted to back out and wept bitterly. Her father came to her and sat at her bedside through the whole night, holding her hands and en- deavoring to console her. He was badly in debt at the time. 178 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR The future son-in-law high-mindedly not only renounced the dowry; more than that,-he advanced his father-in-law a con- siderable sum of money. That disarmed her and with heavy heart she went to the altar, although she did not love him. On the bridal night she was completely anesthetic and has remained so to this day. She went through the ordeal of sexual intercourse as a matter of duty. The children came, but she had no maternal feeling for them. During the first year of her married life she wept like a child longing for home. Finally a compromise was arranged with the family whereby a member of the family was to stay with her all the time. That was done. Usually the brother represented the family at her side. In that way she quieted down some- what and her longing proved somewhat less troublesome. Everything that pertained to her childhood was dear and precious to her. All souvenirs she kept as precious relics. She herself has remained a child. She likes to play with chil- dren and has surreptitiously brought along her dolls. Some- times she took these dolls, likewise surreptitiously, out of the trunk to play with them. She confessed to me that she loved the dolls more than her own children. . . . She has kept up the habit of saying the child's prayer at bed time and has never parted from her childhood underclothes, which her mother gave her to take along. She turned again pious and compelled her husband to un- dergo baptism. She still considered him a Jew and repulsed his tendernesses. She could not forget that her father had always berated the Jews. She looked at his membrum virile and because it was circumcized thought it was horrible. She was strikingly beautiful and so coquettish that she was always admired and courted. She was always eager to hear com- pliments, always wanted to be told, against her protestations of modesty, how pretty she was. She was in love with herself and frequently stood in front of the looking-glass, mastur- bating. Her husband had complete confidence in her because for self-protection she had assumed the habit of "telling him every- thing." Thus if any man courted her she always reported the fact to him. PYROMANIA 179 Nevertheless once she came near proving untrue to him. A friend of her husband's rode out often with her and tried very assiduously to win her intimate favour. She coquetted, intimated all sorts of possibilities, but remained obdurate whenever he tried to become too familiar. But once her horse ran away and he had to take her with him on his horse. It was only for a few minutes. But she sat in front, prac- tically on top of him, in a situation critical for her. Then she jumped off. He kissed her passionately and membrum suum dedit in manum. She had already attained her highest sexual acme and that saved her. She ran off and like a wild creature began to shriek from sheer delight. Suddenly she awoke out of her acme. The astonished man let go of her . . . and after that episode coolly withdrew. But she always thinks of the membrum, which she states was much bigger than her husband's. She has often masturbated with her fantasies centering on this occurrence which she has gradually further embellished. On account of these fantasies she was always absent-minded, always dwelling in nebular regions. She carried on a genuine dream-life during her waking state and also slept many hours. Sleeplessness and excessive sleepi- ness alternated with her. The presence of the brother fostered new fantasies. She craved a repetition of the infantile episodes by the brother. Her dreamy state and her absent-mindedness grew progres- sively worse, so that all the members of the household noticed it. Feeling herself entirely a child, she annulled her marriage, and annulled everything else she had gone through. In that state of mind she set fire to her brother's bed. After the analysis, a marked improvement in all infantilistic peculiarities. She becomes self-reliant and gets rid of all morbid dreads. Her love for her husband awakens with the realization that he had always behaved nobly towards her and towards her family. She suggests to him to carry out con- gressus sexualis in positione supra sedens. In this posture she experiences sexual acme for the first time and demands frequent repetition. The evil path is now broken. Her free floating libido is successfully transferred and fixed on her hus- band. Her attitude towards the children also undergoes a 180 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR complete transformation. She now has but one concern: to prevent her children from becoming parapathiac. She truly takes herself in hand extraordinarily well and shows the best will. Her pyromaniac impulses have disappeared entirely since the analysis. After eight years I am informed that the good results still persist. Her sexual anesthesia has disappeared altogether. She now experiences sexual acme in the normal posture as well. The woman displays extraordinary zeal; she is active and industrious. She has now become the opposite of a child-wife. She gets up early in the morning and goes into the barn, supervises the milking of the cows, and even drives the milk wagon to the neighboring town. She wants to keep busy so as not to sink again into day-dreaming and futile fantasy weaving. With her family she maintains contact merely through correspondence. She is afraid of yielding to the old temptation and takes every possible precaution against that. The children are set to work and the report is that they are doing very nicely. Her husband finds her claims upon the discharge of his conjugal duties so taxing that they prove somewhat disconcerting. She gets easily depressed when he is tired, or listless, or inclined to jealousy. But she is as easily pacified, and in a short time sympathetic under- standing always wins out. As the result of this survey of the various motives of parapathiac pyromania we may definitely state, in agreement with Tobben, that there is no specific arson instinct. Arson may be committed for various reasons. Among the pyro- maniacs we find advanced morbid individuals (psychopathic inferiority, degenerates, criminals, victims of moral insanity), we find revengeful individuals and individuals driven by anger, many who are embittered and rebellious against the world order, as well as many who are oppressed and weak though lusting for power. But when a motive seems absent it may be readily uncovered through analytic research. There is but one instinct which generates the impulse to incendiarism, the sexual instinct, and arson shows clearly its connecting points with sex. Any one who remains unconvinced after the evidence gathered above must be unwilling to see the truth. PYROMANIA 181 Of course, the ordinary methods of taking case histories- no matter how extended-is far from thorough enough to get at the truth. All the cases of this type require delving below the surface and down to the lower depths. We shall see presently that numerous motives conjoin to bring about the solution of a single fact. We now turn our attention to the analysis of a pyromaniac. This is the first case of its kind which has been subjected to an extensive psychoanalysis. XII THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC [Written in collaboration with Dr. Ludwig Schaffler (Karlsbad)] Though time heals some wounds, it never closes the first; nor does the heart ever completely recover, if childhood was without love. Albert Trager. Our whole literature contains as yet no extensive analysis of a pyromaniac. The following analysis was undertaken first by Dr. Schaffler under my guidance and, when Dr. Schaffler was compelled to return to Karlsbad on account of the beginning of the season, I undertook to bring it to a con- clusion. Case 96. O. S., 24 years of age, born out of wedlock, son of an actress. Shortly after birth he was taken by the father, who brought him up with the wife's aid. At 3 years of age he suffered from pavor nocturnus and cried out until his foster- mother came to him. He gazed with interest at her bosom. Whenever his foster-mother or the nurse wanted to bathe him, he felt very much abashed, protected his genitalia (he was three years of age at the time) with his hand, and cried vehemently if one tried to pull his hand away. At that time he already had erections and was in the habit of pressing his abdomen against the wall. Sometimes he displayed a very angry temper, destroy- ing playthings. For that he has often been punished by the servant girl. The foster-mother has always been kind to him; he was fond of her; as to his father, he always dreaded rather than loved him, and could not ask him a question without trem- bling with fear. His father was always very strict with him and has beaten him harshly a number of times. At 6 years of age he fell in love with a motion picture actress whom he saw in a film. This love-at-a-distance has persisted; to this day a picture of his film princess hang's over his bed; sometimes he presses 182 THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 183 it tearfully to his heart. In his 8th year a pretty 7-year-old girl was at his parents' home on a visit; at once he fell in love with her and wanted to kneel before her, though he did not dare speak to her. At school, too, he could not look at the girls who sat in the same class; his gaze always wandered past them. At his studies he made poor progress. At 10 years of age he was at a garden party with a number of children; two girls raised their dress, but he did not look; he ran away because he was disgusted. At school he had only two comrades; he did not make friends easily. He wondered, while at school, why he was registered in the census register as S., whereas his paternal name was W. In his 9th year his true family relationship was disclosed to him by a servant girl; it depressed him very much. He was particularly sad at the thought of not having a genuine mother. The patient modified this in- formation afterwards as follows: In his 4th year a woman at- tendant showed him the picture of a handsome woman which was hanging over his father's desk, and said: this is your mama! He forgot the incident; shortly afterwards the picture disap- peared. He began to steal in his 9th year. Previously he had sometimes helped himself to sweets and pastry. In his 9th year he stole a brass tube belonging to his father and sold it. When he had the money in hand he became very much alarmed and he dropped the money in his foster-mother's cash box. But his father discovered the theft and gave him a terrible beating for it. At 14 years of age school comrades taught him to masturbate; from that time on he masturbated almost daily, sometimes several times daily, always thinking of girl pupils he had seen naked; sometimes he masturbated also while watching the girl's class through the school toilet window. After the primary, which he finished with difficulty, he went to a commercial school, where he made no progress; then he was apprenticed to a cook, and later to a gardener. At 16% years of age he joined the army as a volunteer, be- cause his father wished it, and from that day, throughout his whole term of service, his sexual desire was completely gone. In spite of the unfriendly attitude of his comrades, who made much fun of him, in spite of the severe punishments he some- times endured, and in spite of the hardships, he felt very well and was satisfied in the army; he still longs for the service. He liked the roving life. In the field he stole victuals twice. During the fall of 1918 he was wounded in the chest by a grenade 184 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR splinter and the explosion brought on some ear disorder. This kept up only for ten minutes following the explosion. At Nyreghy Haza, where he was at a hospital, he was induced to drink while on an outing in the town and got badly intoxicated on i% litre of wine,-for the first time in his life, inasmuch as he has had an aversion against alcoholic drinks since his child- hood. Eight days later he left the hospital because he had fallen in love with a girl-on sight, as usual-and he wanted to see her again. On the following day the physician, finding him not guilty, exonerated him. He was to go home on leave two days later. Three days after that he had a very bad fright in his sleep,-he thought he was falling from a great height; he felt as if water was gushing forth from his anus; he tried to move but his limbs were temporarily lame. He woke up early with a heavy head. Within a few hours every person he saw seemed to him a per- sonification of death, looking at him with great rolling eyes and trying to draw him on; and it scared him horribly. Death had a Jewish-Arabic appearance; its chalk-white brow impressed him as particularly awesome. (His father had a steady gaze and, when angry, flashing eyes; also, he wore a dark, pointed beard.) At the same time he perceived an odour of putrefaction. When- ever he gazed to either side he saw a skeleton standing close by. At the same time he suffered from a splitting headache, as if his brain was being pinched with a pair of tweezers, and he also saw revolvers as well as other arms being discharged at him. During the next days he thought many persons were throwing various articles at him; a comrade, perched on a tree, dropped a heavy stump on him. While this state of dread lasted he could have killed all persons who crossed his path; many of them were hypnotized and held on the spot by his gaze, so that he had to rouse them. He hurled missiles after children on the street. The weather was very stormy; there was a terrible din. His death hallucination lasted six days, the other hallucinatory mani- festations receded after fourteen days. He thought these symptoms might be due to his prolonged sexual abstinence,-since April, 1915, he had not masturbated, and had neither pollutions nor any morning erections; therefore he decided to masturbate again, but was unable to rouse an erection or any libidinous feelings. The following day he had a pollution; and after the disappearance of the death hallucination he again achieved erection and sexual acme while masturbating. Then he was taken to the Miskolcz insane asylum, and most THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 185 of the time since then, down to the middle of October, 1920, he spent at asylums: Budapest, Prague and Steinhof. At Prague, he went through the same ordeal, though not in such a severe form. On attempting to give an accurate account of the time spent at each institution, he becomes somewhat confused, at first about the months, then also about the years. When his attention is called to the contradictions, he becomes very excited, talks loudly and blusters, swearing at his mother because she does not work, and smokes 50 to 60 cigarettes a day. Then he begins to swear at the doctors who foresaw his oncoming trouble fourteen days ahead but did nothing to prevent it. During his internment he felt very badly over his father's fail- ure to help him get out and he had a growing desire to meet his mother. He prevailed to have himself transferred to Steinhof, the institution for the insane near Vienna, knowing that his mother was in that city, so as to be near her. After his dis- charge he sought and found his mother; since then lives with her; sleeps with her in one room. He describes her as ailing and emaciated, but thinks she looks to be no older than 27 years old (25 to 30 years seems to him the age at which woman is most attractive). Therefore it seems impossible that she should be his mother. We may mention also that his ears and the shape of his head show signs of physical degeneration. The musculature of the right arm and shoulder is poorly developed, but strong enough to seem functionally adequate. The right extremity is somewhat longer than the left. This condition is congenital,-probably the result of an intrauterine polioencephalitis. He brings a dream: Heard something like a shot, a hissing and dull cracking, a ghost seemed to lay over him; he threw out his hands, seized his mother's arm and tried to push her away. The hovering figure descended on him, he got sexually excited and his mother masturbated him. Wakes up with pollution. On going into the content of the dream we find that it con- tains a great deal of truth: a year and a quarter ago, after complaining of his irrepressible masturbation habit, which, he 186 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR claimed, was ruining him, and by threatening suicide, the pa- tient prevailed at last upon his mother to masturbate him, and that has happened repeatedly since then. When I asked his mother about this, she corroborated the fact, but maintained that she had never had any sexual feel- ings in her life and that she had done it merely through pity for the boy. When the mother masturbates him he always imagines that a beautiful, elegant woman looks on,-perhaps that she ex- poses herself a little; this fantasy he also has while mastur- bating alone and even as a small boy he always wished a girl might look on while he indulged in the habit. Usually he imagines the woman is turning her back at him and craning her neck to look at him over her shoulder. This is a reminis- cence of his one and only visit to a house of prostitution; the woman, unable to stimulate his membrum virile to erection by her manipulations, advised him to masturbate and, stand- ing at the window, turned her head to look back at him from time to time. He failed to attain erection. That happened during his term of military service when his sexual desire was completely extinguished. He likes to read Biblical stories, being especially interested in the passages which sound "very stern and cruel." He has read much about the life and passions of Christ; the cruci- fixion has deeply roused his compassion. In angels he does not believe. He does not pray, but sometimes goes to church to listen to the music; he is most enthusiastic over violin play- ing, and especially fond of melancholy melodies and of gipsy players. In his reading matter he also shows a preference for sad themes: Petofi's Cypressenlaub vom Grabe Etelkas, Lenau's Herbst und Einsamkeiten, T. Resa's Opfer der Liebe, Hans Holzschuher's Maria, Traum einer Liebe. He tells of several thefts dating back to 1918. The stolen articles he hid in the water closet. As motive for his thefts he declares: Through a friend he met a girl with whom he fell deeply in love on sight. With the proceeds from the sale of the stolen articles he intended to buy her presents so as to secure her favor; the wine he stole to entertain her with it; and he spent a part of the money on himself so as THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 187 to make himself more presentable and be sure to attract her favorable attention; he bought for himself a gold watch and chain, tie pin, pocketbook, and also intended to buy fine clothes. The following letter, written to the hospital by his father, gives us an insight into the subject's cleptomania: "The garrison hospital 4 in N., on April 7, 1918, has sent me, for home care, on account of mental illness, artilleryman O. S., an Austrian citizen, upon the recommendation of the Austrian consulate at Dresden. "During his stay here (over one year) my family has suffered much on account of his outbreaks of anger and his mania for stealing. Everything in the kitchen, in the cellar, as well as throughout the house, had to be kept under lock and key on his account. "His morbid inclination to steal is so strong that nothing mov- able is safe from him, and he has even broken into cellars. All the articles he has thus stolen, such as typewriters, wheels, belts, wine, etc., he had hid surreptitiously in a certain place until the police discovered and cleared up the hoard. "He has been arrested repeatedly by the police, until, at last, the chief of police of Dresden, at the instigation of the Austrian consulate of that city, turned him over to the reserve hospital as insane. "He was kept there until he could be transferred to an Austrian institution for the insane, which, as the consulate informs me, is about to be done. "My repeated requests for leave of absence in behalf of O. S. were made chiefly to furnish me with the opportunity of ascer- taining whether the patient's condition showed any improvement. "Unfortunately, in the course of his brief leave of absence periods, I have been unable to arrive at any definite judgment. "At any rate his tendency to flare up in anger and his lack of consideration, as well as his morbid, terrific sweating at the least exertion, still persevere as formerly. "The muscular atrophy on the right side is growing more pro- nounced.1 "Being currently under supervision, he has had no opportunity of committing thefts. "But that he will still yield to the inclination, as soon as he may have the requisite opportunity and freedom, I am quite certain; the more so since, taking advantage of the first few 188 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR free afternoons granted him by the hospital authorities, at my request, during a io day period, he went to Dresden, without permission; there, so far as we have been able to ascertain till now, he has borrowed money from one of my tenants, whom he hardly knew, although only on the previous day his foster- mother had given him twenty marks, and I had also advanced him a similar sum towards his monthly allowance. "He knew that I ruthlessly condemn such action. "The boy's own requirements and needs are modest; on the other hand, he has the morbid inclination of giving everything away. "At any event, in case he is discharged, I must decline any responsibility; moreover, in view of the circumstances I think it is imperative that the patient be taken to the Vienna institution, as planned." He always thought that his mother was very wealthy; that she possessed a castle and an equipage. His father always quarreled with her; the father was a tyrant in the house, bent on carrying out his will regardless of consequences. The patient noticed that the father was untrue to his foster-mother and as a child he knew already why the latter often broke down with weeping spells. During the quarrels between them, the boy, in his heart, always took the foster-mother's part. Of his father he was much afraid, although the latter always treated him very kindly. He wept aloud whenever he saw his father coming and knew he had to greet him. Often he came out of his hiding place only after the father again left the house; and he was glad whenever the father took the train to Prague. He denies having ever entertained death wishes against his father; nevertheless, his deep dread of the father, though not justified by the latter's treatment of him, can be explained only as due to death wishes and castration fears, with the consequent dread of retribution. The theft of the brass tube from the father's store clearly points to castration fancies, as do also certain features in some of his dreams: Dream i. He stands in front of an abandoned building, hav- ing a stone door. Taking hold of the door's cross beam, he THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 189 climbs on top and begins to rock on it. He is very tall, 3 meters high. With his feet he tries to break a long board lying across the threshold. Across the ruin he sees a building filled with learned persons; some of them are at the window looking at him. The figure of death is also among them, but this time it does not seem so repulsive; it has false dark hair. Then he comes across a pillar covered with fantastic figures (such as a water mermaid,-half-woman, half-fish) ; he lifts it, intending to carry it close to other pillars which he notices at a distance in the forest; but, stumbling on a stone or tree stump, the pillar's head and foot break as it falls to the ground. Thereupon he runs away. Dream 2. He is in a great hothouse, filled with tropical vegetation. There he meets a few Europeans whom he asks whether he may water the palms. Permission being granted him, he sprays the palms with a bucket of water; the water he carries from an out-of-doors fountain having a rectangular basin of ancient construction. The meaning of these two dreams as maternal body fantasies is easily seen. This is disclosed by his associations: The building in ruins is his mother, the cross beam a phallic sym- bol, later transposed into pillar and tree stump. In functional terms the ruin is his parapathy now being observed by physi- cians. (The learned persons who look across at him are Dr. Stekel and the analyst.) The physician, like the father, stands as a symbol of life and death. The physician has black false hair. (Dr. Schaffter is bald-headed, Dr. Stekel has grey- streaked hair of dark shading.) He is very tall-three meters, obviously a wish fulfillment to be understood in reverse sense. The pillar is his father, who plays the most important role in his life. He drops him and wants to throw him among the other dead, thus shattering the pillar.2 We shall see later that he entertains conscious murder impulses against his father. The great glass house also represents his parapathy, guarded with particular care and reanimated with old memories and impressions (ancient fountain). For some time he masturbates by pressing the penis against the pillow, thus inducing prompt ejaculation. 190 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR He possesses a book describing flagellantism and tortures, which he likes to read; but claims not to be sexually excited thereby. As a boy of 8 years he had a newt which was very tame and of which he was very fond. Once he dropped this newt on the hot stove-the motive for this deed remains obscure; might it have been a sort of divine punishment? And when he saw that the animal was badly burned, he threw it into boiling water. After that he felt bitter regrets, lamented tearfully, buried the little creature in the garden, and set a cross on its grave. At 9 years of age, when he brought home a poor school record, his foster-mother said to him: "You do not take after your father, but you probably do after your mother; she is quite a character." This statement gave him food for a great deal of thought; he would have liked to know more about his mother, but did not dare ask questions. Patient dreams: He is in a strange, dark monastery; there are many electric bulbs-one every 15 steps, or 15 meters. Suddenly complete darkness sets in, a great hail storm breaks out. Great thunder and lightning out of doors. The electric bulbs begin to hiss; then they explode one after another, with a loud crash. He escapes into another room; but there the same crashing sound is heard. He is alone in that spacious monastery,-not another human be- ing is to be seen. He runs out of the monastery and into a church. Many nuns are kneeling before the altar. They carry in an invalid and lay the stretcher in front of the altar. He ad- vances, and, when close by, he recognizes the invalid as a comrade from Arndsdorf, who was a big, strong, healthy man. The man was badly cut up and bandaged all over his body, and had to lie still. The nuns ask him to take care of the patient and to carry him around. He does so and then, suddenly, the organ begins to play. Thereupon he puts the invalid back on the stretcher, and while the nuns bow low in prayer, he makes his escape, running into the forest. In this dream he sees his soul as a monastery, later as a church. Woman, to him, represents the idea of sin. He runs away from woman and every love attachment for an adult (electric bulb) is nipped in the bud. For adults he admits THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 191 only asexual love. The storm of passion might put out the light of faith which glows in him. He is badly crippled and under analysis; therefore, in the dream he appears as badly cut up and bandaged. But he wants to run away from the analysis. He must harbor deeper complexes, too painful for him to reveal. In connection with this dream he brings to light a number of significant reminiscences. In the first place the nuns remind him of a certain sister who belonged to a religious order: At A. there was a sister who dispensed the medicines; he loved her very dearly, so that whenever she came to him he was overjoyed and tears welled up in his eyes. With her he did not feel so different as with all other women; on account of her religious garb he regarded her not as a sexual being, but saw in her the embodiment of that maternal kindness for which he always yearned. Generally he is not quite so shy in the presence of elderly women; to little girls he dares speak only in the woods; he would be afraid to do so on the streets of the city, lest he be arrested for it. When he likes a little girl, he sends her presents. A year ago he saw a 5-year-old child at an inn; he liked this little girl very much. Next day he looked her up again and bought her a quantity of toys and sweets. He himself is still very fond of sweets, whereas indulgence in tobacco, or alcohol, he scorns as repulsive. Children always awaken in his mind the memory of the little girl with whom he was in love at the age of 8, and for whom he yearned a long time thereafter. With her refined vocal expression (she was a native of Hamburg) and her fine behaviour that little girl made a strong impression on his mind. To this day, in spite of his humble circumstances, he loves distinction and refinement; his fantasies, too, are preoccupied only with elegant ladies. His father also impressed him mostly by his choice clothes and his numerous diamond rings. Next he recalls an incident dating back to his 7th year and involving a girl approximately of his own age: He was staying with his foster-mother's relatives. After the dinner hour, when that little girl went to bed, he was with her once in the nursery. He knelt at her bedside; she asked him to keep very quiet. He stroked her hair, kissed her, and pressed her to his bosom; 192 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR the little girl half yielded to his endearments. Suddenly his aunt appeared in the room and asked what they were doing. Very badly scared and embarrassed, he mumbled some excuse. After that, whenever they were alone, he was again demonstratively tender with the little girl and clung to her, but always with a strong dread that some one might see him and he would be punished. This fright, and the dread of punishment which thus became linked with his first aggression (though it is doubtful whether it was really the first), seems to have exerted ever thereafter a strongly inhibitory influence in his attitude toward women. Last night, while lying in bed, he wept for a long time over the thought of never seeing that little girl again (his beloved at 8). She has become a famous dancer. At A. he carried on for a time mutual masturbation with the neighbour who occupied the next cot, a 17-year-old fine-looking boy; the acme he thus at- tained was stronger than when masturbating alone; but at the same time in his fantasies he always dwelt on women of fashion. During the war the requisitions and the plunderings always pleased him; he was entirely merciless and intractable towards the poor peasants who begged pitifully to be allowed to retain their last cow or goat. He was much pleased also at the purposeless destruction and burning down of buildings; thus in one place (at Udine) he set fire to a large library and looked on non- chalantly while the whole building burned to the ground. Sig- nificantly he searched every house for sweets, besides gold and silver articles.3 I ask him about the reasons for his thefts and his answers distinctly disclose paranoiac ideas: with a certain vehemence he declares that he stole only in order to avenge himself, be- cause the army service had affected his head; he again accuses his former comrades and physicians of being responsible for the outbreak of his mental illness. "They must have done something to me while I was asleep, to scare me so badly; the doctors are clever about such things, they wanted to get something on me." Reminded that he served in the Austrian army, whereas his thefts he committed in Czechoslovakia, to the damage of persons who were strangers to him, he is at first at a loss what to say. Finally, the following statement shows whom he intended to hurt with his thefts: "Father THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 193 should have asked me why I stole, then I would have told him that I did it to avenge myself because they befuddled my head in the army,-but he did not ask me!" He claims to have carried out the thefts with full deliberation, but to have entertained no thought of the consequences-even after he was caught and arrested; this utter disregard of consequences very clearly discloses the wish to he caught so as to punish his father; for it was his father who had compelled him to volun- teer for the war; it was he who failed to show him that ten- derness and affection for which he always yearned; above all else it was he who took him away from his mother, thus depriving him of a mother's love and tenderness. Thoughts about the inheritance also seem to play a role; he bought a law book covering the procedure for appointing guardians. His mother had spoken of it. He wet his bed until his 8th year; often he urinated also during the waking state on the wall, behind his bed, or under the mat- tress ; this he did ostensibly because he had no chamber pot and because he did not dare to go into the parents' bedroom; afraid he might disturb his father. Patient has dreamed: Went on a walk with mother and wanted to visit a curious building. While crossing the street, all the electric cars rushed straight at him, as if going through the air. All turned halfway around him. He stood still, puzzled, was frightened and unable to find a way of extricating himself from the confusion. His mother stepped up to him, took him by the hand, and led him away. The dream means that he expects his mother to extricate him from his confusion. The manner in which he expects to be saved by her will become evident in the course of the analysis. The mother's onanistic manipulations indicate that. He had a very restless night. Then he tells the following incident of the forenoon: while looking for the janitor in a strange house, he suddenly had a bad scare because he saw a naked 194 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR woman standing close behind him. It was a life-size statue of a naked woman reflected in a mirror which he thus perceived. He did not dare look her in the eye; whenever he tried to do so "his head twisted involuntarily to one side." He wanted to embrace her; but that would have roused him too much; he contented himself with stroking her shanks-he could not reach higher because she was standing on a pedestal-and the touch electrified him. He was also very much interested in the mirror she held in hand. Then he left, but wanted very much to go back, and he is convinced that he will soon be there again. Asked to mention a woman of whom this reminds him, he associates first Sphinx, then Siren (but without the tail of a fish), Fairy, and Angel. Then, after a prolonged pause: "The little dancer." She has decidedly impressed him above all other women. Two and one-half months before committing arson in Udine he had been transferred to another battery; he regretted that be- cause at the former battery there was an officer who reminded him very much of his father and to whom he was much attached, because this man often took his part and saved him from punish- ments. At his new division he felt very unhappy because the officers were very strict with him; he was often punished and had been threatened that he would be shot if he again neglected his battery. Nevertheless he often absented himself from the battery for a half day at a time, because, in spite of his fear of being shot, he felt an uncontrollable impulse to go on "forag- ing" expeditions (alleged "requisitions"). What, really, led him to commit the arson? The motives he mentioned are very superficial and appear forced: he thought that when the great masses of smoke would rise and it would thus be seen that even houses are not safe, there would be a retreat. Further: that if the members of the general staff, who always took possession of the finest homes, should find themselves with- out a roof over their heads on account of the conflagration, they would get tired of the war and end the hostilities. Then an inci- dental recollection furnished the key to his act: In that library he met Corporal K., the man who once took him along on a visit to a house of prostitution.4 This man asked him about his re- lations with women,-whether he had already a sweetheart, per- haps a child; the patient told him his trouble; complained that he had always been shy with women, and that he had had no sexual feelings whatsoever for a long time. Now we see the meaning of the arson. He had been reminded painfully of his THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 195 impotentia.5 He was now anxious to feel the flames, i.e., to be enkindled with the fires of passion. He is again in the bordello, but this time he does his share; he sets on fire all the "numbers" which lie around there in disorder; he is capable of gratifying all the inmates of such a place. But through this act of arson he means also to avenge himself against humanity, because it is blind to his plight; on the superiors who mistreat him, on the officers of the general staff who self- ishly prolong the war and, above all, on his father, whose double (the commissioned officer) he now missed so badly, for his lack of sympathy, and because he compelled him to join the army. About the homosexual flaring up which he must have experi- enced on meeting again the corporal and which, undoubtedly, must have played a great role, we do not learn anything for the present. He has not seen the man for the past 2% years, though he had been very much attached to him. In connection with his subsequent thefts he admits that the act of stealing has always been to him a source of great pleasure. After accomplishing the deed his conduct was so careless and unadroit that the wish to be caught was obvious. As a child he was fond of playing with fire; he could stay for hours in front of the fireplace watching the slow burning of the wood and the breaking up of the coals. Also, sometimes he threw flies into the fire, after first tearing off their wings and limbs. At 9 years of age, shortly before stealing the brass pipe, he built a bonfire in his father's garden. Together with a number of other children he set fire to a tar barrel and tried to put the fire out by urinating on it. It was then that he received his first severe beating* While returning from the visit to the 5-year-old child to whom he brought gifts, he passed by a memorial stone erected on that spot for a minister of the Gospel who had been murdered. It bore an inscription which, he thought, was directed against him. The wording he does not remember any longer, though he had written it down at the time; it was, approximately, to the effect that death was implacable; and whoever is called by it must follow. He thought to himself "not quite" and threw the stone over.7 Then he again raised the stone back to its position, so far as he was able, and, tarrying around the place, he was arrested for molesting the gravestone. On his return to Vienna, after quarreling with his mother's brother, by whom he had been em- ployed in Upper Austria, his mother, who had been apprised 196 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR of the occurrence, showed him the door. After 14 days she went of her own accord to fetch him back. The mirror of the statue interested him so much because he wanted to see through it the eyes at which he did not dare to look directly; whenever he tried to do so his head began to shake. His mother was a member of a ladies' orchestra and played the harmonium.8 Her step-mother was a baroness; patient shows with a certain pride his ancestors' coat-of-arms; one of them shows a knight holding aloft a burning candle.9 As a child he was very fond of reading the newspaper accounts of crimes, par- ticularly of murders; at 10 years of age he read aloud to his foster-mother the account of the Grete Baier case, a woman who killed her husband and was executed for the crime. A short time ago he came across a pamphlet about the case and at once he bought a copy; he has also followed closely the Steinheil and the Hofrichter cases. Furthermore he subscribes for the Gericht- saal-Zeitung (Court Journal). The inscription on the grave- stone was, more accurately: "When one journeys on the high- ways, or anywhere, accident or illness may suddenly hasten one's death." He often wished to be immortal. He now admits that he was often afraid of losing the large inheritance to which he considers himself entitled, and he is therefore very desirous of making peace with his father, who, after his thefts, has abandoned him and has hardly shown any interest in him since. He is afraid that death may suddenly deprive him of his father and, con- sequently, of his inheritance. The eyes of the statue suggest to him the eyes of the death figure as he saw it during his period of maniacal excitation, but the resemblance or association was rather weak; it seemed to him "that the lips were also moving, that he was face to face with a glittering, silvery, shadowy apparition." At 7 years of age he saw the corpse of an old woman; he trembled all over and it made him very sick. Four days before the outbreak of his maniacal agitation he saw a film, and a very young girl, who charmed everybody by her beauty and particu- larly by her bewitching eyes, made a deep impression on him. She reminded him very much of his little dancer; at a particularly impressive scene he wanted the film to stop so that he might admire her at length,-he felt like rushing to the canvas to be nearer to her. In two days he saw that film six times and his fixed stare attracted the attention of onlookers. The eyes of the death figure make him think of his foster-mother. THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 197 He has had the following dream: Sunny spring weather, wonderful day, trees in full bloom. I walk alone, as an 8-year-old boy, through the country, see farmers plowing; then, reaching a dunghill, I want to turn back. Suddenly I step on something slippery,-it is a big rattlesnake; attempting to go on, my left foot also strikes snakes; at the same time I feel a prick on my right heel; am scared, thinking that a snake bit me. Very much excited ! Continuing on my way, I go through a forest and on a hillside I see a multitude of giant snakes and hooded serpents, but no human beings. All have their heads raised high toward me and wag their tongues. I run through the mass of snakes, and on looking back see them come after me; but they do not reach me, I had a head start. He awoke from this dream bathed in sweat, with palpitating heart, and short of breath. Even as a child he was very much afraid of snakes. The meaning of the dream is obvious. He is again a child, in the springtide of his life. This time he eludes all sins (he avoids the dunghill). But that is merely his intention. While trying to go around the dunghill he meets temptation under the primordial symbol of snake. He wants to avoid sin but it pursues him. There follows excitation with the fantasy of seeing no other human being,-only the eyes of death (hooded snake?). What is his great (sin) offence? Is it homosexuality, or death wishes ? As to that, we must look confidently to further revelations in the course of the analysis. Patient dreams: I walked through a stretch of wooded country, through a fruit orchard; ripe pears, also yellow ones, were lying in the grass. There were holes, clay pits, in the grassy surface holding the yellow pears erect, but some were halved, cut up. I wanted to pick up one, but a swarm of bees, or wasps, swarmed around me, stung me on the back of the neck, on the hands and feet. They hung on me in clusters; it made me shudder. I kept on going, beating around with my fists; most of them flew away, but a few still stuck to my body. Then other bee swarms rose from the pear pits, attacking me, and the struggle began all over. 198 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR The wasps and bees symbolize reproaches. These re- proaches arise out of (i.e., relate to) cut fruit. (Sadistic fan- tasies?) While relating this dream the patient's urticaria lesions on his left shoulder and in back, which are very itchy, thicken into visible swellings. He suffered from this trouble for the first time on the day when he joined the army, and frequently thereafter while he was in the service. Now it comes up but rarely and only in a transitory form. He tells also about a little girl whom he liked to take on his lap, to stroke and kiss. He never tried to touch the children on the genitalia because what he had seen of these parts as a child always repelled him. He feels also a very strong aversion to stools and he always washes the parts after every bowel movement. A year ago, at the suggestion of his mother, he went to a house of prostitution. Erection was achieved through mechanical manipulation and the woman guided with her hand the insertion of his membrum. Ejaculation followed but without much feeling on his part; he could not see the woman's genital parts and was so annoyed by the odour that he almost vomited. Why did he not take advantage of that opportunity to inspect the vulva? To him it seemed like a viper 10 which bit its way into a human body. As a child he believed in the cloacal theory. While riding he often had diarrhoea, under the strain of fear, so that he was sometimes unable to control his bowels. He always thinks of his little dancer; those were the happiest hours of his life. He is very sensitive about meat which is a trifle rich or rare; he always promptly rejects such meat. When a child he thought that girls, too, had a penis and when he saw for the first time the female genitalia (at four years of age he saw a little girl lying on a bench with her legs sprawled apart and he looked under her skirt) he thought that the red spot he perceived was a wound due to the cutting off of the penis. He always had a horror of wounds; the mouth also reminded him of a wound and whenever his mother or his foster-mother kissed him on the mouth, he always wiped his lips afterwards. He never kissed the girls on the mouth. Only his father could kiss him on the mouth without rousing disgust. He eats much bread, but it must be hot, fresh from the baker's oven. At noon, and evenings, he always drinks one or two litres of water. The THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 199 act of urinating, if he has shortly before indulged in masturba- tion, produces a pleasurable tickling sensation in his urethra. When he masturbates with the aid of the pillow, he always imagines that he is pressing the limbs of a naked woman between his thighs. Did he ever think of his mother in that connection? At first he rejects scornfully the thought; his mother did not figure at all, she was not pretty, her face did not attract him,-a statement strikingly contrary to his first account, when he dwelt with evident enthusiasm on her alleged charms. Slowly, though under obvious resistance, the facts come to light: he has often crawled into his mother's bed and "buried" himself in her bosom while she masturbated him. And only the aversion he felt for the female genitalia kept him from attempting to enjoy full pos- session of her. "If I did not know that my dislike of the female genitalia kept me from going further, I would not be able to live near my mother at all." This aversion, however, grew much stronger during the time they were together. Naturally! The stronger his incest wishes center on the mother, the stronger also his protective (or precautionary) devices against her. About the stammering, which manifests itself whenever the patient becomes excited, or embarrassed, and grows progressively worse, he had previously confessed that it set in during his 14th year, after he began to masturbate. Now he tells me that he suffered from that during his early childhood and that it caused him considerable trouble during his first school year. Whenever he got stuck he always had to say "here," only then could he continue. Asked about his memories concerning the word "here," he tells a different version of the episode about the servant girl, when he was 3 years of age. She would cover him with kisses and then she would always stick her finger into his mouth and let him bite it. She would cry out with pain; this gave him a pleasant thrill and caused erection. When the girl, who had been called away, returned shortly afterwards, he raised his dress and showed her his exposed membrum with the words: "Anna, here 1" This he repeated, until the girl masturbated him. Now he sometimes has the fantasy of biting a woman on the shoulder. To this day he is an inveterate sucker and always carries sweets with him. At 8 years of age he was prevailed upon by a 10-year-old boy to masturbate him; he states he was not at all excited thereby, but the boy's penis seemed to him very big. To "hot bread" he associates: warm, womanly body; when 200 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR his attention is called to the similarity between bake-oven and fresh baked bread with mother-body and new-born child, he says: "That is something to eat and when a certain quantity is gath- ered up, the still births go off as stools." (Reminiscences of his infantile cloacal theory.) In the field he once locked himself up in a room with a little girl, stretched himself with her on a sofa, kissed her to his heart's content (even on the mouth, for which he has no aversion in children), and pressed her tightly to his bosom. He did not get roused sexually thereby, the occurrence having taken place during the period of his complete sexual im- potence. He has often thought of migrating to Russia, or Italy, and if he finds there an attractive little girl, to settle near her. At the same time his conscious wishes do not go beyond love stroking, or kissing the children; but his criminal impulses in connection with them are revealed very plainly by his previous admission: "I can talk to little girls only in the woods, I fear to do so on the open streets, lest I be arrested." But all the children are merely substitutes for his childhood ideal,-the little Hamburg girl. He adds that she exhaled a very pleasant odour of perfume. To this day he revels in perfume and perfumed ladies attract him. Patient brings the following dream: I was walking through a thick forest on a hill, 300 meters high, leading to a plateau above. There I heard the strange noise of many children's voices and did not know whence it came. Gazing to the left, I saw, below, an engine which looked like a locomotive; on the forward bench there sat little men with dark faces and light glassy eyes, all gazing sideways at me. Their movements were hurried and mechanical, like marionettes; they had hideous childish voices, though they looked much older. They were comrades who had fallen in the field. To the right I saw real children, too, holding their noses and saying they smelled dead bodies. Presently I, too, perceived the odour of decay. As I turned and continued on my way a short distance, the dark figures raised their hands imploringly at me, as if begging me to tarry; and when I still kept going they fell down unconscious; but on walking towards them they again revived. The engine made a terrific noise, so that I had to hold my ears, while the dead danced around the machine. The engine broke down when I left. Then I came to a road; others who had fallen THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 201 at the front were there; they advanced toward me with switches to beat me, but did not quite dare. Next I came to a gap and in the valley below I saw a mass of high, ancient, transparent buildings with peculiar cupolas.11 (Vid. illustration, fig. 4.) Then I kept on going and suddenly I found myself in a train. Looking out of the window, I saw skulls similarly looking out of other car windows. Then some of the skeletons as- sumed a fleshly form, jumped out of the train, and climbed on hooks upon a bridge on which the train was passing. They winked at me likewise to jump off, but I did not dare. Then they ran after the train and jumped on again. Then the train rushed with insane speed through a dark primeval forest; it grew very dark, as if night had suddenly settled. I thought I was in a genuine death train and I felt tremendous dread. The tree branches grazed the train all the time. Then it cleared again and I saw the forest filled with straw baskets and among them a young colt hitched to a straw wagon. The train stopped, I got off and went to a peasant's hut. Be- ing very hungry, I asked the woman if she had something to eat. She did not have anything ready and I accepted the raw dough stuffed with pieces of apple. I ate ten or twelve pieces and then she brought me also three baked pieces. Then I again entered the train and it ran with lightning speed so that it almost left the tracks. Then I heard distant-sounding calls for help and my name; finally I distinguished father's voice calling me "Otto !" That woke me up. This dream reminded the patient of another similar dream which he had before the beginning of the analysis: I heard a loud noise and thought at first of a fire-spitting volcano. Then I saw an excavating engine, under the entrance to a tomb, being fired by four or five elderly men. On the engine there was an armour-plate box. The engineers said that the box contained a terrible monster and therefore it must not be opened. But I wanted to fight that monster single-handed and took hold of an iron pole which was glowing red hot at the further end. When the engineers tried to prevent me from opening the box I drove them out with the bar and hit one on the back so that he was consumed in flames on the spot. Then I pried open the lid and found a skeleton with a few pieces of flesh still clinging to it. It moved the arms and legs, growing 202 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR more lively all the time. I stuck the iron bar through it and it exploded. Then I saw only dead bodies lying all around me; I was the only living being. We note the frequent occurrence of necrophiliac situations in his dreams. But we try to get at his associations in vain. The dreams suggest little to him in the way of thought asso- ciations. Striking, in the second dream, which he had before the analysis, is the occurrence of the well-familiar motive: the tomb, the dead, the skeleton, etc. The box obviously sym- bolizes his soul. A monster is there, his other self. He wants to meet his problem by going to the bottom of things. He wants to open up and destroy the box. We see that the dream is a forerunner of the analysis expressing a distinct curative trend. His inner self resembles a volcano. His morbid im- pulses are represented by an engine. At any rate, the inner self is well protected and secure (armour-plate). He needs no medical aid. (The 4 or 5 engineers represent the physi- cians who have treated him thus far without any benefit.) He wants to grapple with the monster single-handed. Any one who stands in his way is slain. He sticks the red-hot iron bar into the back of one of the engineers (homosexual fan- tasy). In the box he finds a skeleton, i.f., something old, dead and gone, something left over from former days, retaining only a few strands of flesh. The old self dies, he is pre- served. He wants to get over his infantilism. Much more complicated is the analysis of the first dream which repeats a series of motives and also utilizes the engine symbolism. He is in a primeval forest, which expresses his state of confusion. He wants to mount a hill, i.e., lift him- self above his complexes. The locomotive, filled with children, again represents his infantile soul. The voices are hideous, the eyes glassy,-which again recalls his impression of the statue. But the children are also dead; like the skeleton, they remind him of the fallen comrades. The odour of dead bodies suggests necrophilia, but we have as yet no distinct indications of it. (Nor do we ask him direct questions about it so as not to influence him in a particular direction by sug- gestive questions.) The figures are dead, yet they stir. They THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 203 are the figures of his past which he has thought himself through with, but which persevere in his soul. The engine is also destroyed. It collapses. The deceased want to strike him with switches. Thoughts of the cavern (which also emanates a bad odour) seem to intrude again. The ancient building symbolizes his past once more. The deceased always pursue him. It seems as if he had offended them and he must now fear their revenge. They travel in the same train with him, he cannot get rid of them. They lure him to self-destruction. (To jump out of the train. The moving train represents his life course.) The journey's speed is growing all the time, his trouble drives him fast into misfortune (into the night, or darkness of insanity). He is in the midst of a primeval forest (the wilderness of his soul and his past). But he conquers his dangers; he is again a child. (A young colt hitched to a wagon, in contrast with the locomotive.) It grows clearer around him as well as within him. (Influence of the analysis.) His morbid im- pulse in the dream becomes transposed into hunger. He eats raw dough. (Cannibalism?) That throws him back into the rushing train of his passions. He hears, like a warning, his father's voice, the call for help. Thereby he uncovers the meaning of the dream. Only the father could help him. He suffers because of his father's lack of affection for him; but for that he could become a good man and overcome all his trouble. It is he who calls to the father: Come and save me 1 The dream plainly discloses an anagogic tendency: the over- coming of all dangers and of all infantile feelings. He has dreamed of deceased persons and noisy engines be- fore. As a child he had a strong aversion against all highly odorous foods (cheese, herring). The odour of cheese he found horrible and to this day he cannot eat cheese. The odour of the stool is also very repulsive to him; his eyes water when he perceives it. The odour of burning does not par- ticularly affect him; on the other hand he is charmed by the sight of flames. The odour of burning he prefers to that of cigarette smoke; the latter makes him uncomfortable; when the smoke becomes thick it makes him distracted, weak and dizzy. As a child 204 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR he smoked the stump of one of his father's cigarettes and it made him sick. The dead comrades in the dream were Czechs, who were his enemies because he had repeatedly stolen bread from them, and he was afraid they would kill him. He has again fallen in love with a moving picture actress who reminds him very much of his little dancer. Sunday he sat seven hours in the theatre, and he goes there daily. He has dreamed: I walked with mother on a street; in front of us there was a wagon with vanilla and raspberry ice, pushed by a couple of men. I asked mother to buy me a couple of portions. She agreed, went with me and also bought a couple of portions for herself. We ate it together and I liked it so well that I ate up all the vanilla with the spoon directly out of the box. Mother bought up the whole box. His incestuous wishes centering on the mother are still active and find fulfillment in the dream. He is not satisfied with a portion any more,-he wants the whole. The previous dream brings to his mind a number of additional associations: as a child he watched young deer grazing in the forest. He has repeatedly tasted raw uncooked dough. The pieces of apple in the dough remind him of bones in a piece of meat. He has already seen dwarfs in previous dreams and has heard them tell their adventures in grassy voices. They filed past him, several hundred in number. On his right diminutive knightly figures were standing clad in armour. He stood out a giant in their midst. When he reads in a book about death, he gets angry; tears the book to pieces, throws it into the fire and watches until every particle of it turns to ashes; for instance, he did so with "Das Fortleben nach dem Tode" (Life After Death), a book by Jul. Henker. He does not believe in life after death, the idea he finds "disagreeable." Even as a child he did not believe in spirits; his foster-mother laughed at the idea and assured him that there were none. The last dream expresses a certain jealousy of the two men who possessed his mother: two men "pushed" the wagon of sweets, his mother took for herself a couple of portions. The THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 205 two men are his father and the man whom his mother married afterwards in Russia and who, after several years of peaceful married life, left her when he found out about her previous motherhood. Before marriage she had reassured him under oath that she was a virgin. Patient finds this man's conduct entirely justified. Under similar circumstances he, too, would either leave the woman or kill her. His talk turns to his father and, growing excited, he suddenly gives vent to his hatred of the father, a feeling which heretofore he never wanted to acknowledge either to me or to himself. In that connection, as always when he speaks of his illness, certain paranoiac notions loom forth: "It is father's fault that my head was so bewildered." If his father had not taken him home he would have slain him afterwards; since this head trouble came on him, he wished his father were dead; and he may yet murder him. Asked how he explains his father's responsibility for his condition, he declares that his father is responsible because he failed to instruct him about sexual matters. And now, little by little, it appears that he was jealous of his father since childhood, that he always envied him for his love affairs and that he could never forgive him for having failed to share the adventures with him. Through him he could have become acquainted with the elegant women with whom he fell in love at the motion picture houses; and now, the most cryptic and most deeply hidden wish looms up, disclosing completely his homosexual feeling-attitude toward the father: he would like to possess his father's sweethearts. That is the root of his keen incestuous wish centering on his mother, whom he really dislikes. That his incestuous wishes reach out for his father's penis is also indicated in the last dream: He eats only the Vanilla = Vaters (Father's) Nille=Eis. (Nille is a vulgar term for the penis, an expression with which the patient is familiar.) For his father's sweethearts he would not feel aversion. He never thought of cunnilingus with his mother, but he would carry out this act on one of his ideal motion picture actresses, if she demanded it of him. He would be ready to place himself under such a woman's will, sacrificing everything for her sake, 206 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR be her devoted slave; indeed, he would be willing to let such a woman "suck the last drop of blood out of him." During masturbation, however, he never thinks of these remote sweethearts, but of a number of more common girls whom he had previously met. The plural number is a mnemonic survival of his habit of masturbating while standing at the school toilet window, which enabled him to survey a whole girls' class and weave them into his passion. Patient brings a whole series of pictures 12 of P. M., the motion picture favorite; one of these he took with him to bed last night, pressed it to his heart and wept bitterly. His supreme longing is to cry himself out in the arms of such a beautiful woman; he would let her beat him, kill him if necessary. This love for beautiful women is the only thing that can save him; without that he feels lonely and neglected. Since he is with his mother his craving for little girls has greatly subsided. That is easily explained; since he enjoys his mother's affection and tenderness, as a substitute for the too meager affection of his father, he does not find it neces- sary to reproduce the gaps in his childhood experience by en- acting those love episodes with children, in which the roles are transposed, the child representing him and he himself representing the loving father. He chose girls, because in them he found at the same time the only attainable substitute for the love of woman to which his path was otherwise closed. His only relapse in that direction during the past i% years occurred when he had been away from his mother for some time. At the motion picture theatre yesterday he saw N. (a motion picture actress) whom he disliked because she had a large mouth and large prominent eyes, which reminded him of the figure of death. As a child he heard that death is to be found in the ground as a little beetle. He often looked for it, but imagined it was a very minute human skeleton; he wanted to dig it with a needle out of the ground or crush it. Last night he slept very little, and felt depressed because he masturbated again. He dreamed: I sat with three monks on a high cloister wall; we wanted to jump down and run away. From the opposite wall, facing THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 207 a nunnery, a man reached across with a stick to help me over. While trying to take hold of the stick, I lost my balance and fell down. Next I was lying in a slimy hole; I felt tired and exhausted; four or five nuns passed by, wearing black hoods. . . . Then I was at home; on the King Albert Square I met two old school friends and I asked them whether there were many changes at home. They looked like cadavers; had dark faces and wore long black clothes. We came to a house owned by father. Children had built there a ship of mud and pegs and were playing with it. The people of the house did not want to have anything to do with me; they disregarded my questions and said they would be glad to see me start on my way again. . . . In a large camp I saw many soldiers running around with plates to fetch food; great confusion. The dream repeats some motives with which we are already familiar. He sees again persons bearing the appearance of corpses. These are his school-day friends. It shows us again that the deceased represent the past. His parapathy is sym- bolized as a cloister. His soul is surrounded by high walls. The three monks represent the pious components of his inner self, his childish faith. He wants to escape from that prison house with the aid of his physician. The physician hands him a stick (a supporting staff on which he may lean). But he is afraid of sin. He might fall. Sin is personified through woman. The nuns represent pure, untouched womanhood. He wallows in slime, how can he aspire to pure womanhood? He must renounce, like the nuns, which, again, represent the feminine components of his soul. In dreams the king is often the father. The King Albert Square is the spot where he can find his father. Consequently he comes to a house which belongs to his father. Memories of childhood games. But his father has turned against him. (The people of the house do not want to have anything to do with him; "they dis- regarded my question and said they would be glad to see me start on my way again.") The father has not answered his last letters. He has buried him among soldiers, has driven him to join the ranks of common soldiers, although his father is a prominent nobleman. The going over from the monks to the nuns symbolizes also 208 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR the passing from homosexuality to heterosexuality, a step which he wants to carry out with the physician's assistance but in which he is not successful.13 The dream shows that all his thoughts are centered on his father. He masturbates one to three times daily. After the indulgence he feels very depressed, reproaches himself most vehemently, and is a prey to various hypochondriac fears. His inability to curb his reproaches and fears, and their persistence in spite of all the explanations about the harmless character of the indulgence, show that these affects have their root elsewhere; that they emanate from his onanistic fantasies of which he is unaware. He has also read a book of "advice" about spinal troubles and, of course, masturbation was emphasized as the most common cause of this type of ailments. As a child his foster-mother taught him to pray and he prayed without resistance. But at the beginning of his school period his attitude of opposition to the first authority, the father, set in and with it also the revolt against the authority of the church: the hours devoted to religion he found the weariest; he did not pay attention; slept or sat listless, immersed in his day-dreams. The Bible stories he considered as myths. He went to church only under compulsion and it was particularly hard to make him go to confirmation. He became pious again only upon his return to his mother; though he seldom goes to church he reads the Bible with devotion, particularly about Christ's passions, and he again frequently prays, often weeping bitterly. Specifically he prays to God to free him from the masturbation habit, to help him make peace with his father again-he has expatiated for his wrongs against the father with his tears-and grant him the love of a beautiful woman. He never believed in the Resurrection or the Last Judgment day. (At this point the patient's urticaria again broke out over the left shoulder blade, the lesions disappearing in a few min- utes.) When he reads about criminals he does it with gratitude to the Lord for having saved him from his criminal tendencies; the reading serves him as a warning. Murders (for theft) do not interest him so much as important money or jewelry thefts. He longs to mingle with "high society." Sometimes he stands for hours in front of some prominent hotel admiring the elegant THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 209 women and their male escorts, and has wept a few times at the sight. He longs only for the most wonderful beauties in the world; but with that his troubles, which have but begun, would reach their summit. He does not go to the church because he would suffer as much as Christ did. He likes to pose in the martyr's role and craves the compassion of handsome women. For that reason he regrets having gone to his mother; he regards this as a handicap in his striving for the attention of the prettiest women. If he could only tell them that he does not know his mother, and that he has faced death, they would melt with pity for him. Beautiful, admired women can be impressed only with adventures which one has actually lived through. He believes also that his father was displeased when he sought and found his mother. With a woman like M. he would live a retired existence; he would keep her like a prisoner, because of his jealousy of rivals. To marry an obscure, small town girl is, for him, unthinkable; he would rather shoot himself. During his periods of schooling and military service patient pretends that he was not interested in religion. His father is a free thinker, never goes to church, and did not even attend his confirmation, which worried the patient very much. As a child he had often heard him ridicule religion, and particularly the sermons. At a public, first year examination he suspected that his father was among those present and could not take his thoughts off him; and when his turn came to recite he could not recall a Bible passage. Patient does not recall the text, but he remembers distinctly that it was St. John i, verse 26-28. The passage reads: John answered them, saying, I baptise with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is who, coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. Again going more carefully over his fears and reproaches due to the masturbation practice, I find that what particularly troubles him is the thought: "If father knew about my mas- turbation he would surely not like me; he would most de- 210 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR cidedly refuse to make up with me." The patient believes also that the masturbation habit causes him to lose weight; formerly, when he was fat, he liked to watch himself in the mirror,-he looked like a chubby-faced child. As a small boy he was rather heavy; he would like to be again that fat, red- cheeked boy, for then, he thinks, he could win back more easily his father's affection. He is afraid that the masturbation habit will drive him to loneliness; that it will cause him to lose interest in right living. In reality these complaints are due to his lack of heterosexual love, assuming this form of morbid fears. Every autoerotic indulgence signifies solitariness; without love for woman true longing is insatiable. During the period when he commits thefts he does not in- dulge in masturbation; stealing, therefore, was a substitute for the sexual act. Also, he had recourse to another mas- turbation substitute at such times: he massaged his face and neck daily. He looked very healthy and fat, and took good care of his skin, using toilet cream daily. He played the role of a conceited woman, desirous to find favour in the eyes of his father, the woman-chaser. Yesterday he masturbated again, but the usual subsequent regrets and self-reproaches did not appear. As a child he claims that he never longed for other children in the family; yet as a boy of 7 he has often sprinkled sugar on the window to bait the stork; this, he claims, he did merely out of curiosity to see the stork coming. But he ardently wished the little dancer might be his sister. Easter he wants to go to F., where he met last year an 8-year-old girl who resembles P. M. very much. The latter he knows through the film pictures since his 8th year. He had also planned to go to Italy to meet P. M. in person. At the reserve hospital in A. he was very fond also of a mentally deranged lieutenant whom he often saw naked and whose delicate, almost feminine, body, he liked very much. He claims to have indulged in stroking and kissing the man, but denies any homosexual act. The clinical history written up at the time reads: "B. sneaked into the lieutenant's room and han- dled the latter's sexual parts." He has again looked at the statue mentioned previously. This THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 211 time he looked at its eyes, but once his head jerked abruptly to the left so that it scared him. When he looked at it sharply he thought he perceived a light shivering motion of the body. He tried to stroke the feet, but his hand jerked off as if elec- trified {necrophilia?}. Patient brings another dream: At the seashore in a large shore building; the room had three very spacious windows, through which I saw the restless, high waves of the sea. Two men sat at a table, they seemed very thin, tubercular, and looked like skeletons. They conversed about births, blood sucking, and about sexual topics. One of them was tall and resembled Christ; his right arm was shorter and weaker and the hand atrophied,-like a three-year child's in size. At the left window there was an empty bookcase, with four long rods, one on each end, embellished with serpentine ornaments. A child basket was on top and I kept looking into it, but there was no child. I was thinking: why is the child kept so high? To 'Testless sea" he associates: natural forces, destruction, death, something deeply melancholic. The patient's mother relates that he is less irritable than formerly; also, that he impresses her as more wide-awake and lively. At first, when he came to her he was very moody and quarrelsome, slovenly in his manners, complained much about his father, also about his foster-mother, and had a voracious appetite. The following items from his family history are significant: The grandmother on his father's side was "somewhat queer"; likewise her daughter. In the whole family the sons were always misfits, gamblers and drinkers. About her son she relates that as a child he showed very early a great interest in silk stockings and fine clothes; but women did not interest him. Last year an uncle introduced him to a very pretty woman, thinking to break him of his shyness; but, in spite of the fact that he had been given wine to drink, as a preparation to rouse his courage, this attempt, too, proved useless. After that he was very irri- 212 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR table, wanted to drink more, swore at his father, and quarreled with his uncle because the latter refused to give him a large sum of money for a bicycle. After his mother showed him the door, on his return-contrary to his own statement-he went back to her day after day, and she finally received him again only because he lost his lodgings on account of quarreling and he was homeless. He again reproached himself for his indulgence in masturba- tion and says that during the night he has wept bitterly over it. But on closer scrutiny it turns out that he shed tears not on account of his reproaches, but because he cannot possess such pretty women as P. M. Formerly he saw two or three times the films in which she appeared; but the last piece he has seen already 14 times within a few days and he cannot see enough of it. I turn my attention to the content of the play for a possible clue to the reason for his exaggerated enthusiasm. It is the story of a girl seduced, then abandoned, so that she, to- gether with her illegitimate child, becomes a prey to misfortune; finally she meets a tragic end. I suspect his strong fascination to be due to the parallelism between the girl and his mother. But patient assures me that the only part of the acting which captivates him are the love scenes between P. M. and her lover; the rest of the story leaves him cold. And this leads us to the solution of the riddle: The lover reminds him very much of his father, as the latter stands out in his childhood memories; he has the father's facial features, the same forehead, high, broad and prominent, and much whiter than the rest of the face, which had always impressed him deeply; moreover, the lover resembles his father also in stature, gait, motions and refinement of man- ner. His strong emotions are roused, however, not alone by this awakened memory of father; this film also fulfills his most cherished wish: he has a beloved in common with his father. That is why he follows the film to the most remote quarters of the town; that is why he weeps again and again whenever the love scene appears, regardless of the ridicule with which others watch his antics; that is why, whenever the heroine clasps his father-imago to her bosom he is wild with the desire to run to the screen to participate in the blissful love episode and share with his father the possession of this wonderful woman. It is always the bipolar feeling-attitude towards the father which thus breaks out impulsively; this vacillating between THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 213 homosexual love and jealous hatred turns out to be the basic determinant throughout his life. To his last dream elements he gives the following asso- ciations : Shore: Protection against drowning. The room in which he finds himself in the dream: Observa- tion ward in the hospital for the insane. Window: Chance of escaping. These associations come up very slowly and under consid- erable inner resistance. While endeavoring to bring up addi- tional associations he becomes excited, flares up, and his atti- tude towards me becomes clearly antagonistic. That is easily explained: It is his last visit with me. I had treated him to that understanding and sympathy which he so ruefully missed in his relationship with the father. Therefore he had transferred a portion of his affects from his father to me. But now, I too, treat him, as did the other, I leave him, abandon him, as it were. Unable to forgive me that, he assumes the role of a stubborn child. Although he failed to cooperate fully with associations in the interpretation of the dreams, some details are easily ex- plained. He gazes upon the heaving expanse of his soul, from a building which seems to him a madhouse. The two men symbolize the two components of his soul.14 One of them suffers from the same disability as he,-a stunted right arm. That one is the man who looks like Christ. We note that his identification with Christ shimmers through the dream texture. His is a Christ neurosis. The "child," too, refers to the Christ child. It is also his own childhood but he finds it beyond reach. The snake presumably is the symbol of sin. Mas- turbation to him is the greatest sin. It means that his mas- turbation fantasies must be extremely "sinful." The elegant women he thinks about in connection with the practice stand for various paraphilias. To-day he speaks volubly about his ailment and his personal situation; but he covers under silence the most important, the content of his great sin. Patient complains also that he feels downcast because the elegant women whom he addresses on the street repulse him scornfully. 214 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Following data, obtained from the histories taken of his case at the A. and St. institutions, where he had been an in- mate, are of interest: The diagnoses were: imbecility, mental inferiority, feeble- mindedness (?), debilitas. Among the physical findings are mentioned: Absence of the faucial-throat reflex; marked in- crease of patellar reflex; the weaker right arm is about i cm. longer than the left. Further findings (15 XII 1919) : Eats voraciously, works well. Very agitated, wants to beat up the personnel, disposi- tion labile. Throws food into the water closet; also kitchen towels, and anything else on which he can lay his hands. Was granted permission to visit his home (12 V 1920). Mus- cular atrophy of right arm more pronounced. (Left arm markedly thicker on account of abundant fatty deposit.) To- wards the end of his sojourn at A. gives away the contents of a package of food stuff sent him by his father. Wants to have nothing to do with home any further. (This the patient admits; but he disclaims any recollection of throwing food into the toilet.) Patient was an inmate of the institution at A. from May 3, 1919, to Sept. 1, 1920, then transferred to St., and, about six weeks later, was discharged as cured. [At this juncture Dr. Schaffler had to leave Vienna; the analysis was continued by Dr. Stekel.] Patient admits that last night he again had a "loss." His masturbation fantasies are gone into more closely. He always thinks of various handsome, elegantly dressed adventuresses. The outer as well as the under garments must be exquisite. The orgasm occurs at the fantasy of besprinkling the elegant gown of such a woman. The seminal fluid wets her gown. He masturbates usually twice a day. Once in the forenoon, at the store, specifically in the toilet. On that occasion he always thinks of two of the girls employed at the store as being with him. He takes one on his lap, then the other. He besprinkles their dress. (The two women motive is traceable to the fact that he has had two mothers.)15 At night he always masturbates with the aid of his head pillow which he presses tightly between THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 215 his legs. He besprinkles the pillow and then lies on it with the illusion of resting on a soft bosom. Obviously he repeats a childhood experience. He was very passionately fond of his foster-mother. She has always been kind to him, and to this day she writes him loving letters, be- ginning with the inscription, "My dear boy." She conducted a millinery shop catering to society women. There he saw for the first time the elegant women who have kindled his imagination so strongly. His foster-mother dressed herself very elegantly whenever she went to Prague. She was very kind to him and often took him to her bed when he was a little boy. Thus he frequently saw her naked and sometimes he urinated in the bed, wetting her. She did not seem to mind it and if she spanked him for it she did it facetiously. The poor foster-mother was very unhappy; often she wept for hours. As a child he perceived her wails and already felt great pity for her. He resolved to treat his wife better than that and never to make her cry. His father, he overheard, was always to be found in cabarets in the company of well-dressed adven- turesses. When father came home they quarreled bitterly. The mother roared and reproached him vehemently for his conduct; he usually ate his meal in silence and disappeared. As we have been told already, the child stood in great awe of the father. Whenever his father came home the boy howled and cried as if about to be murdered. The foster-mother took him in her arms, gave him chocolate; father also tried to quiet him, but often that was impossible. This dread of his father he has preserved throughout his life; to this day the father is to him the first and most important person to whom respect is due. Till his 7th year the father was good to him. Then school began; being absent-minded he could not gather his thoughts quickly enough to answer ques- tions. He either stammered or stood silent. The teacher, like the father, inspired him with respect. The father was very strict with him. Once he beat him with the walking cane over his back so harshly that the cane broke. Then, again, he would be very gentle and kind, so that patient, on the whole, has no reason to complain. His father was very wealthy and earned large sums, but gave him only 10 pfennigs a week for spending money. That is why the thought occurred to him of stealing the brass tubing. He obtained 3 marks for it and wanted to buy candy and sweets. 216 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR But as soon as he had the money in his pocket it seemed to burn him and he was overwhelmed by a torturing dread. If father should discover the theft? He took the 3 marks and stuck them into mother's drawer, which was always unlocked. But he never stole from his foster-mother. It is perfectly plain that this theft was an act against the father and that the little fellow (he was only 9 years at the time!) meant to contribute his mite towards improving his foster- mother's financial situation. That act was followed later by the thefts at the war front and the great theft in Prague. His father gave him a little spending money, but only when he did something for his father in return. On such occasions his father was not stingy. But he had to render himself useful. As early as at 14 years of age his father apprenticed him to a cook; but he did not like it at all. As the son of a wealthy man (his father, at present, owns 14 buildings!) he, too, wanted to become a prom- inent and wealthy man. That was his chief grudge against his father; that was what led him astray. He was 20 years old, had left the army, and found himself at Prague, where his father lived "free and easy." It occurred to him to break into a wine cellar and bring shame upon his father. Conscious he was merely of the desire to entertain his friend and the latter's bride. He broke into the cellar, took 35 bottles, hid them in a sack and was caught by the police officers at the station. The revenge motive against the father is perfectly obvious and frankly ac- knowledged by the patient. (If I go to the bad and bring dis- grace upon him, it is his own fault!) After masturbating he must urinate at once, on account of an uncomfortable tickling in the urethra. (Urinary sexuality, memory of wetting the mother!) At the front he often urinated on burning articles. A potato field was once on fire, he was much pleased to be able to wade through the smoke.16 He starts the interview with strong resistances, unable to utter a word. I accuse him of attempting to keep something back from me. After considerable hesitation he confesses, at last, that his mother has masturbated him again and made him promise not to tell me. Saturday afternoon he crawled into his mother's bed. She lies down afternoons from four to half-past six o'clock. She treats him to a refined love episode. First she begins to stroke his back gently, her hand then slowly descends to the membrum virile, which she manipulates with rhythmic friction. THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 217 He rests his head on her bosom, in his fantasy dwelling on M., his photoplay heroine. Sunday afternoon-his mother lay in bed till 11 o'clock-there was a repetition of the episode. After the act he feels regret and aversion. He resolves never to do it again, but yields every time. The impulse comes upon him suddenly and he is powerless to resist. He neither touches nor sees the woman's genitalia. That would be a serious sin. Besides, since his fourth year, when he saw for the first time a girl's genitalia, he feels an aversion for the parts. His notion was somebody had castrated the girl. He suffers also of the castration fear. His foster-mother had often threatened to clip off his genitalia with a pair of scissors if he should again wet the bed. He has not been feeling well these days. He thinks all the time of home and his father. He longs for home. He has been twice to the film theatre. M. plays the role of a woman who finds her illegitimate child and presses it to her heart. This episode makes him weep,-he thought of himself as being in the child's place. He should like to be a child once more and again petted by his foster-mother and his father. At school the teacher once recited the story of the Prodigal Son. That made a deep impression on him. To this day he often thinks of that story; sometimes in his fantasy his father again presses him to his bosom, forgiving him for all the past misdeeds. He wants to be re-born; he wants to start a new life. He wants very much to be again with his foster-mother. His great longing is for her (M. again). His real mother he would visit only from time to time. He believes he would easily wean himself from her; when other girls played with his membrum, his orgasm was stronger. When his mother does it his moral inhibitions prove a very disturbing factor. It seems that she has masturbated him all along during the analysis. He admits certain specific acts which took place in the course of the analysis. That explains partly his resistance to Dr. Schaffler's analysis. The indulgences with his mother seem to be a rehearsal of the episode with Anna, mentioned before. Anna, who had repeatedly played with him, was a handsome and attractive girl. She had many lovers who called during his mother's absence and in his presence they caressed and fondled one another. 218 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR I have him tell me the story of his first theft in the field. It happened on December 23rd, before Christmas. He was very homesick and had not been granted leave. Also, he was hungry. He and a comrade sneaked over to the Germans, who were being taken care of very well, and stole from their pro- vision store. He helped himself to a Christmas present. In the field nearly every comrade stole. Every one was hungry and stole from the next man. Next I revert to the story of his first mental breakdown. That episode is important; it clears up another, hitherto ob- scure, period of his life: After a minor injury he was laid up in a hospital. There was a large city near by. He craved contact with people. He asked for leave and was happy to be once more among folks. After a few days he returned; because he overstayed he could not ob- tain leave again. Making up his mind quickly, he jumped over the wire fence and hurried to the city. On the way he stopped at an inn for a glass of soda water. There a man who spoke a little German offered to treat him. A half litre of heavy Hungarian wine was placed before him. (That happened in Hungary.) Then he drank more, imbibing in all 1% liters of wine. Being unaccustomed to drink, he got intoxicated. He does not remember what happened, if anything-between him and that man. All he remembers is that next day a couple of armed men took him to the staff doctor, together with two other runaways. The other two were sent to prison. The doctor, who examined him at great length, said that his body showed the signs of a serious illness which would break out within a week. He allowed him to go unmolested back to his barracks. That scared him to death; he fell on his knees, imploring the doctor to tell him the truth: is he going to die ? The doctor said to him: "Be quiet. It is nothing!" Two days later he had an attack during the night. He awoke with a start from an unusually deep sleep with a strange twitching and shivering throughout his body. His body jumped into the air. Then he had the sensation that he was discharging something from the back passage; that the watery discharge was drenching the bedclothes. In the morn- ing he was astonished to find himself and the bed dry. But in his head there was a strange sensation,-a buzzing, and crackling and creaking. On the very next day instead of perceiving his THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 219 comrades' faces he saw the figure of death. The figure of death was everywhere: on the bed cover, on the window, on the doctor's face. At the same time the crackling and the buzzing kept up in his brain. He grew worse and worse. Death rolled its eyes and gazed at him with malicious joy, as if pleased at his tortures. The figure had a pallid face, a pointed goatee, and a Jewish appearance. Besides that he saw numberless pieces of ammuni- tion and revolvers lying everywhere around his bed. All these weapons were pointed at him. These weapons were not in the hands of ordinary soldiers. He saw little creatures, dwarfs with grinning faces. He had the sensation of impending death. In this state of dread all his thoughts centered on his father. He wanted to write or wire him to come at once, so as to speak to him once more before passing away. At the same time he perceived an odour of putrefaction, the stench of decayed bodies. Something had given way in his head; it seemed to him that his brain was already beginning to decay. I asked him whether the Jewish death figure resembled any comrade. After some hesitation he states that at the hospital a fine Jewish comrade was lying near him; his name was Iwan T. and he liked him very much. The attack was very plainly the aftermath of a flight from homosexual thoughts. There was a strong transference to Iwan, whose features reminded him of his father. The arms, revolvers, and dwarfs are familiar phallic symbols. We know that at another hospital he had an affair with an officer. He crawled into that man's bed at night and molested him. In the present episode we see a flight from that impulse. Death is homosexuality. The sensation of something flowing from the back passage is a reversal of the fantasy; the injected seminal fluid seems to be flowing out again. (Perhaps the recollection of an irrigation, such as his foster-mother had often administered to him!) He is pursued by homosexual notions and projects them outwardly. Personally I believe that during his intoxicated state he had gone through a homo- sexual episode. We have here the well-known mental mechan- ism described by Freud in connection with the development of paranoia. (Cp. Chapter XI, of Autoerotism and Homo- sexuality, trsl., Van Teslaar.) But this is not a paranoia; 220 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR it is a parapathiac delirium. Obviously some intimacy took place between this patient and his host during their drinking spree. He dreams: It was out in the field-in war time. We were out in Russia with the comrades. It was a great battle. I boarded the train with a number of civilians and, looking out of the windows, we saw a big division of troops. It was field artillery,-heavy howitzers. Heavy grenades were bursting below. I saw the men falling off their horses and heard their death cries. Grenades were continually swishing over our train. A number of little huts were on fire. The thatched roofs were bursting into flames which leaped to the skies. Thoroughly scared I crawled under the seat; I could not endure witnessing any longer the horrible spectacle. The train moved towards the protected positions to the rear. I looked out again when I thought it was safe. In the distance the procession of the grenades could still be dis- cerned until, at last, the din of the great battle was lost. I awoke with palpitation and great excitement. The dream portrays the terrible spectacles he witnessed at the front. He was always in deadly danger. Grenades fell all around him. Nevertheless he claims he was never pious and never prayed. His captain, who was very strict, did not even have a field prayer read for his men. On the other hand the dream portrays his present situation. (Silberer's entropic dream.) He has been through a severe struggle. He gets away from the battlefield of his soul. He is more quiet now. He hopes to get well. But this dream expresses clearly also the tendency to hide from the analyst. During the war he witnessed many conflagrations. He claims to-day that these fires never roused any sexual feelings in him, or any pleasurable sensations. He felt pity for the poor people and thought only of his own safety. His sexual desire was gone. He merely had an infinite longing for his foster-mother and his father. He loves his father; his only endeavour is to make peace with him and follow his father's advice. Nor was he ever angry with THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 221 his father for having forced him to join the army, against his foster-mother's desire. Father said: "You will see, they will make a man out of him, out there." Sometimes he did think that his father sent him to the front to get rid of him. The strict captain was a father Imago. Before him he trembled as before his own father. Once he fell asleep in the snow while on sentinel duty. For that he was tied to the cannon for three hours. Sometimes, in the field, the thought of suicide would come into his mind; also in the hospital, before he became in- sane. After the physician's statement, he awaited death. But death did not come and he was tired out with waiting and fear. He wanted to send a bullet through his brain. But he had no weapon. At that time he was sent to the hospital for the insane and afterwards home. After three months he was taken back. He was very quiet and well behaved at home. He was taken to P. After three days he again felt the suspicious odour of putrefaction in his nostrils. He smelled that odour but twice in the field. Once he saw a horse half decayed. He approached the carcass to familiarize himself with the odour of decay. Then, on the Russian front, he once came to a house full of dead Russians,-the bodies partly in decay. They were thrown in so that the air might not become polluted. A whole block of houses was full of dead Russians. The captain ordered these houses to be burned down. The men felt sorry and volunteers offered to bury the dead. But the captain shouted: "I need my men for service." Then the men hurried up and set the buildings on fire. The captain looked on stolidly while all the houses and the bodies were consumed by the flames. He cannot forget the awful odour of putrefaction which assailed him when he opened the door to one of those dwellings. He would have liked to put on a pair of good Russian boots. His comrades dragged the Russians out and took pos- session of their strong high boots. But the evil stench prevented him from doing likewise. In spite of that he himself committed arson. A new determi- nant for his arson comes to light with the information that his father possesses a large library and that he himself is quite a bibliophile. He burned those books, although he often spends his last penny on books. He buys preferably books of poems and revels in poems that touch on death. Poems about a de- ceased mother, or about a deceased child, such as Petofi's poem PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR 222 on Etelka's grave, move him to tears. He does not care for novels. Of course, if he could find such books as Grillparzer's Kloster zu Sendomir! He is also fond of love stories, although he himself has loved only his parents in his life. He strives always to show his good disposition so as to please his father. Often he thought: "If you were not an illegitimate child your father would not be quite so severe with you." His father lives in greatest comfort while he himself must earn his living by the hardest work, as a humble servant, and for weeks at a time cannot afford so much as to taste meat. He dreamed: Suddenly I found myself in a large open field. The grass was already high. A strange, steep hill. Railroad tracks to the right. Now and then a train rushed by. On that hill many little cotton sacks filled with small round candies. I felt the sacks and tasted the contents. It tasted sweet. I opened but one. I made a small tear in it. The others I put back in their place. Then I ran across the field all the way to the railroad tracks. When I got there I lay down on a hillock. Suddenly a train rushed along. I saw it from a distance and stretched my head across the tracks (only as a jest!). Presently I perceived a vision across the grass: a woman like H. P., the moving picture actress. She called out suddenly; I looked up,-she was reclining artistically on her arm. I rose, went up to her, and kneeled at her side. I embraced her and kissed her passionately. The kissing excited me so that I awoke and left the bed. It was my dream before awakening. The field region he describes as follows: It was a strange field, such as I had never seen; it was not something earthly, it belonged to another planet; from a distance it looked luxurious, but at close range it seemed poorer than what we have on this earth; no flowers, a high, frowsy grass, like a vast stretch of moon- land. . . . The hill was light brown, like humus. The little sacks were stuck in the ground; very tiny sacks like the quinine vials which we manufacture at the factory. The hillock resembled a grave mound. I reflected: who lies buried here? Who are the deceased he must be thinking of? A deceased aunt occurs to him, likewise his deceased grandmother; both THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 223 were very good to him and he loved them dearly. He relates a number of incidents illustrating this affection. In the dream he lays his head across the railway tracks so that the train would have cut off his head (castration?). The meaning of this portion of the dream is: a great power, which he feels approaching, could make him lose his head. . . . The next item reminds him that in the dream he saw some- thing suddenly fall from the sky down to the earth; it was an apparition of astounding beauty, a voluptuous, full-breasted woman. She did not have at all P.'s figure, who is much more sentimental. As he sat at her side, a long train-like an American express-thundered by. He was saved. It occurs to him that the prettiest woman in the world could save him from the masturbation habit. A second in- terpretation looms up,-when he hesitatingly remarks that the prettiest woman in the world had the figure and traits of his foster-mother. The foster-mother could save him. From what? His next association of ideas is that his own mother's breast is now a little faded and on the decline. That is the field; and the grave mound, whence he hesitatingly draws the sweets against malaria (onanism), is his mother's breast. He feels the impulse to indulge in sexual intercourse with his mother. She always stops him when his hand begins to wander. He is in great danger of committing incest. (A naive conception! As if he had not committed incest already!) His foster-mother could save him. His whole infantile fixa- tion is centered on her. Next, he launches into a touching account of his great affection for her, her tenderness, his longing for her. We note that this is the source of his parapathy. He is asked further particulars about his arson and a num- ber of very important details are thus brought to light. It was unfortunate that he should be impotent while in the war. We shall find out presently the reason for this impotence. But he could not achieve erection. Even when he tried to mas- turbate, and indulged in mechanical friction, he could bring about no stiffening of the membrum. In Russia there were bordellos which the comrades visited regularly. Whole bat- 224 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR teries went and he was also invited to join, but declined be- cause he did not want to expose his weakness. He suffered considerably on account of his impotence. When they marched into Italy he witnessed gruesome scenes. The soldiers raped the women and children; young girls were dragged into train cars and when they were allowed to leave they were half dead. The Bosnians, in particular, acted like beasts. They did not spare even the old women. Once he entered a home accompanied by Slavic soldiers; they found four girls there, in a terrible state. Their hair was dishevelled, their clothes torn. The soldiers joked and said: "They have been through too much already. Nothing doing here," and went on their way. His fantasy was tremendously roused. He saw families in flight, carrying little girls n to 13 years of age; he would have gladly taken these children. But he was afraid the comrades would tell the captain, who had strictly forbidden this. But even more than the captain he dreaded his impotence. He confesses having entertained fantasies of raping young girls, half children,-and has not done it because erection failed him and also because he did not quite have the heart. Instead of the sexual instinct, the nutritional instinct flared up. He was famished. He ran from house to house for requisitions. He could not eat enough. He ate 4 or 5 loaves of bread a day, consumed 15 or 20 portions of condensed milk, fats, and large platefuls of rice with milk. He grew so heavy and stout that his comrades, on their return from leave, did not recognize him. The more he ate, the more his fantasies troubled him and the more he fretted over his sexual handicap. He thought he would be impotent for life. On the day before his arson he saw the great sugar factories of Udine on fire. It transported him into a strange state of agitation. Without understanding why, his whole body began to quiver. His moral inhibitions had been reduced to a mini- mum. He had already grown accustomed to plundering and robbing; he had taken from the inhabitants silver coins and underwear, as he had seen his comrades doing. The impulse came over him to set fire and avenge himself THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 225 on the Italians. His rationalization was: He has witnessed so many of his comrades fall during the enemy's artillery fire he had to avenge them. But that was merely a pretext. What he wanted was to conquer his impotence and become fully a man once more. During those days he was particularly troubled by his love yearnings. He was in an unbearable state of inner tension. He was not a man; and he was going to prove that he could be one. The statement about "the enemy" does not dovetail. He now loves the Italians. He felt better there than he ever felt in his life. (Yet, in spite of that, he committed the arson!) He would like nothing better than to find employment there: in a stone quarry, or a loam pit, or perhaps in agriculture. He believes he would get well if he lived in Italy. Now the psychogenesis of his impotence becomes clear. It would be a mistake to ascribe this complaint to the burdens and excitations of the war. He had joined the army, ob- viously, with sadistic fantasies. He hoped to fulfill his fan- tasy of carrying out rape and murder on little children. (Vid. dream on p. 200.) His impotence arose as a self-protection. In Italy he would have surely carried out the crime, if his impotence had not protected him against it. Again he had a "loss,"-that is what he calls his masturba- tion indulgence. Haltingly he tells that his mother has grat- ified him again, although she was ill with fever. This time she did not kiss him on the mouth. We are astonished to hear that the mother kisses him on the mouth during the act. He did not like that and wiped his mouth afterwards. He kissed her only on the breast and sucked her mammillae. He is told that he cannot expect a cure if he does not give up the intimacy with his mother. He is advised to get in touch with his father. He shows a letter from his foster- mother which proves that his father is much interested in him, that he had sent him clothing and money; in spite of that, the patient has not written him a line. He excuses him- self on the ground that his hand is too weak and he cannot hold a pen. I offer to have the letter taken down on my typewriter for him; that silences him. In defiance of his father he has accepted a menial occupa- 226 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR tion; and he holds on to his position, as a servant, because he is too obstinate to appeal to his father. It takes a great deal of trouble to convince him of this, but finally he acknowl- edges the fact. The relationship between father and death is also cleared up at this point. His term "loss" for masturbation, already shows that in his dreams death represents masturbation. He is afraid of masturbation; nevertheless cannot help yielding. He tells me now that at 12 years of age he was a cook's ap- prentice.17 His employer, who1 was one of his father's inti- mate friends, told the latter of his indulgence in masturba- tion. Thereupon the father called for him one day, took him to his room and gave him a terrible lecture on self-abuse. Every disease was due to this practice, including spinal disease, also loss of mental vigor and even death. Hass, the watch- maker around the corner, died from the effects of masturba- tion. This lecture made a profound impression on him; never- theless he was unable to give up the practice, though he was afraid of losing his mind, or that he would perhaps soon die. When his mental trouble broke out, he thought: That is the result of self-abuse. While he was in the service he some- times wanted to masturbate, but found that he could not. He was happy and unhappy over it at the same time. Now we understand many things. We need only substitute masturbation for death in his dreams and the meaning becomes clear. His masturbation fantasies, again, centered on his foster-mother. He wished his father dead, hence his troubled conscience. The treatment is interrupted at this juncture. The patient is advised to separate from his mother and to reconcile himself with his father, after asking his forgiveness; then he must try to secure gratification in a normal manner. It seems hard for him to give up his mother. He recognizes the desirability, but thinks he will come back to her. He could not live without her. She is such a happy and joyful person it is a pleasure to live with her. Obviously he is disinclined to part from his sexual grati- fication. But that is unconditionally required of him, because THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 227 his uneasy conscience over this incestuous relationship will only make matters worse in a short time. He seems to be cured of his cleptomania as well as of his pyromania. On reviewing the analysis as a whole we must remark, first of all, that a complete analysis was not possible in this case. The associations came very sparingly, there were numerous resistances, the dreams hardly evoked any associations. The patient's intimacy with his mother interfered seriously with the treatment. First, he had recourse to the artifice of shift- ing the intimacy back years, and promised his mother not to say anything about it. I am convinced that he has not divulged the whole truth about everything. Not that he lies. But there are certain complexes which he cannot account for even to himself, other complexes he has repressed; and there are many particular incidents, which occurred at the front, of which he is ashamed and which he is reluctant to disclose. His dreams and symptoms disclose a distinct necrophilia, which would also explain the fact that death is the overstressed idea to which he clings and his attitude toward the deceased, which is a morbid one. The overturning of the grave stone and his hallucinations during his parapathiac delirium suggest the same thing. In spite of all that it was not possible to ferret out anything of the kind. Perhaps this would have required a longer period of observation. He was under treatment only three months. Nevertheless so much material has been brought up that we are in a position to understand his cleptomania as well as his pyromania. The objective result is also very gratifying. The patient is now quiet; his mother states that he has become a different being. The further prerequisites,-reconciliation with his father and separating from his mother, who has com- pletely ruined his sexual life,-are about to be carried out. Whether he has the strength of character to keep away from his mother remains to be seen. His mother's behaviour is hardly defensible; she cannot plead infantile fixation as an attenuating factor. The woman did not even know him as a child; she met him first as a grown-up person. Her past obviously served as a preparatory schooling for their present 228 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR intimacy. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the woman shows also some good traits. She has given the poor fellow, who was starving for love, at least a semblance of affection, she has maintained for him the fiction of a home, -and now she is the sunshine of his life. Of course, she has plunged him also into a serious conflict between religion and instinct. What shall we call the patient's trouble? We cannot pos- sibly assume a schizophrenia; all the signs are absent. Feeble- mindedness, in the ordinary sense, is also out of question. The patient is capable of expressing fairly complex series of thoughts; he displays also various higher interests: for poetry, for music, for nature; he is capable of higher ethical feel- ings; love to him is a prominent ideal. To be sure, he mani- fests a deep splitting of the personality, but not enough to justify the diagnosis of feeble-mindedness. The ethical feel- ings are not completely dulled, the intimacy with the mother is carried on under very severe emotional inhibitions, he al- ways resolves to end the affair, but is too weak, and his mother is partly responsible for that. Perhaps psychopathic inferior- ity, in Koch's sense, would best cover the diagnosis. This is supported by his inborn organic defect, the slightly atrophied right hand, which suggests a transient polioencephalitis, so that his brain must also bear the mark of a certain degree of inferiority. Certain it is that we have here a typical in- stance of psychosexual infantilism. The patient has remained a child; he is infantile in every respect. How far this in- fantilism may be overcome and to what extent psychoanalysis is capable of influencing him remains for the future to dis- close. The case is of scientific interest in various respects. In the first place a number of social factors must be taken into consideration. He is an illegitimate child. Among pyro- maniacs and cleptomaniacs persons of illegitimate birth are relatively frequent. In this case the burden of illegitimacy was lightened by the fact that the father had accepted him. Nevertheless the patient frequently suffered at the thought that his father would have treated him differently if he had not been an illegitimate child. At any rate he was justified to THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 229 harbor resentment and to nurture an attitude of contrariness and rebellion against the imperatives of the social order. There was the contrast between his deplorable financial plight and the impressive financial standing of his father, who is said to be the owner of 14 buildings. Such a contrast must lead to feelings of hatred and thoughts of revenge against the father. We must bear in mind also that the father was never tender with him and that he always stood in awe of him. He never enjoyed the warm love of a father. His feeling-attitude toward the father must have been the pattern for his attitude toward all other forms of authority. Naturally, he speaks only of his love for the father; but at times, when he feels agitated, his hatred of the father often breaks through to the surface. He is one of society's disinherited; he must avenge himself on society. His hatred of the father formed the basis for his feeling-attitude towards every other authority, including God. Very significant is the ridiculous manner in which the adults fought against the boy's masturbation habit. His foster- mother threatened him with castration, his father with loss of his mind and premature death. In spite of everything he was unable to give up the habit. But the notion that he would die soon or that he would surely lose his mind took root. To him death and masturbation were identical concepts. Per- haps his deliria may also be explained on this basis. I have often found that the fear of the consequences of masturbation drives persons into psychotic states. One will seldom meet an affect-psychosis, in which this root cannot be traced. Is he a criminal? Is his arson a crime deserving punish- ment? My reply to both questions is a decided negative. Any one who has read through the whole account must under- stand that the act was symbolic, that there was no criminal motive behind it. It is desirable that similar cases be sub- jected to careful analytic investigation. Then it will be seen that many of these crimes are but the offshoots of faulty train- ing and morbid environment. I have no doubt that our patient would have become a dan- gerous criminal if his foster-mother had not inspired him with 230 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR so much love. Perhaps that love passed the limits of per- missible affection. We must even assume as much, although we have no direct proofs. But my experiences with similar cases justifies this assumption. All his ideals are substitutive figures for his foster-mother. Whether the projection was to the little child, the dancer, or the motion picture heroine, the projected love was always a transference from the foster- mother. She may be the only person who, with the father's aid, could save him from his mother. With that end in view certain steps have been taken, but only the future will reveal the ultimate results. If his father forgives him and enables him to get along better, the patient's fate may change; he may become a useful member of society. Already his social status has improved. He is working and his employer is well satisfied with him. He may be able yet to give a good account of himself after he gets over his resentment. After a pause of 14 days he comes to me again. His father has not answered his letter. No associations come to his mind. But after some faltering and hesitating he blurts out a new confession. Yesterday his mother took "pity" on him and, in spite of my warnings, matters reached the limit I had fore- seen. They carried out passionate intercourse. Ostensibly his conscience did not trouble him and his orgasm was stronger than when he masturbates. During the night following their sexual union he had the following dream: I was in a dark street. A carriage, deep black, very shiny, enamelled, drawn by a pair of horses, drove up from a distance. It came towards me, and a woman-the carriage had stopped- called out: "A glass of water for Lloyd George!" I hopped over and the driver gave me two empty glasses, one for Lloyd George and one for the woman. In the distance a bubbling could be heard, as of a spring. I ran down, filled the two glasses and I carried first one glass to the gentleman, then I went back and fetched the glass for the woman. Then, after I was through, both THE ANALYSIS OF A PYROMANIAC 231 alighted. Three letter carriers appeared next (Frenchmen). They stood around and one had a long typewritten letter; it was open and the other put the letter in. Then Lloyd George walked up to me and said he thought he could arrange to bring me a message from M. He could not get anything in writing from her. I was standing there with a heavy heart. Suddenly my foster-mother was at my side consoling me. She held a card in her hand. I was curious to know what the card was. Lloyd George meanwhile paced up and down. Then I walked back a distance alone with my foster-mother. Suddenly she said to me: "Good-bye 1" and disappeared instantly, without a trace. Next, I heard music at a distance and found myself in a spacious Variete. A ballet, about 12 women dancing. I thought I should find M. there; waited till the end, till everything was over. But, unfortunately, it was useless. I reflected: "I shall see her,- never again!" Lloyd George had his father's features. The woman looked like his foster-mother. The big letter was the letter addressed to his father which I had written on the typewriter. M., again, is the representative of his foster-mother. She is with him; but suddenly she disappears-forever. He has, indeed, lost her forever. The Variete women stand for his real mother. Twelve possibly because she is a Dutzendweib (derogatory term meaning: the kind of woman one counts by the dozen). He seeks his ideal among them but cannot find her. The whole dream reflects a sombre atmosphere. (He is in a dark street.) He feels that through the sexual intimacy with his mother his life has turned in a different course than he had expected. Again he sees his father (Lloyd George) accompanied by an elegant woman. He can serve both, he can quench their thirst, he would show his love to both. But his father is no Englishman (pious man) ; he is a Frenchman. He has answered neither Dr. Schaffler's letter nor the one I had written for the son. His foster-mother (M.), so far as he is concerned, is a'closed issue. He will have to hang on to his mother and will never be able to tear himself away from her. I advised him to leave his mother at once and go to his father. He said he felt as well and happy as he had ever felt 232 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR before in his life. He must think it over. He promised to come back in one week. That was the last I have seen of him. The serious responsibility for his fate now rests with his "precious" mother, who has now chained him completely to herself. I surmise that before long the patient will have to be taken again to an institution for the insane. I do not think that he is capable of bearing the new serious moral burden. He has also a vague feeling that his father is dead for him. He sees him in a black carriage drawn by two white horses (Death's symbol). The "Englishman," too, is a familiar symbol of death. It is fairly transparent that he hands the last draught to his father. I confess that at the beginning of the analysis I had the thought that the patient's original intention was to burn his father's houses. Perhaps he intended to destroy in flames his father along with the home. He wanted to set him "in flames." I have been unable to substantiate this view. The patient was very reticent and stubborn during the analysis; he failed many times properly to cooperate. Whenever unpleasant associa- tions of ideas began to arise he kept still. He always showed an inclination to hold back and was always evasive. Lie he would not, but he could sit still. However, I avoided any suggestive questions. Indeed, there are some indications of such an impulse, but we lack definite proofs. I call attention to his horrible im- pression : the house with the dead Russians which was set on fire. The fatal odour of the burning bodies he always perceived in his nostrils thereafter, on critical occasions. I call attention to his dreams in which the deceased threatened him. It appears that he dreaded revenge on the part of the deceased. Therefore I hold that with the burning of the library at Udine he has fired the house of his father and has avenged himself on his progenitor by including him in the conflagra- tion,-in his imagination. Perhaps he would have actually carried out his criminal plans, if he had not believed that the deceased are capable of vengeance in their turn. This thought was his protection against his criminal impulses. XIII THE GAMBLER Play and alcohol indulgence show certain relations. Like the indulgence in alcoholic drinks, play means release from tension and pastime; but as a passion it may ruin life. It is not my intention to cover the psychology of play. We possess an excellent account of this theme in the work of Karl Groos,1 who, in some respects, may be considered a fore- runner of Freud. He already recognizes the relations between play and sexuality which other investigators had overlooked. Unfortunately in his work he does not concern himself ex- tensively with gambling proper (this is a theme which con- cerns the psychiatrist rather than the psychologist) and he has recognized but partly its true roots, although he quotes historical facts to illustrate the demoniac charm exercised by games of chance: "Every one is familiar with the account of Tacitus, according to whom the old Germans, after losing everything they possessed at a dice game, then stake their freedom and even their life on the last throw. H. M. Schuster gives a whole series of illus- trations showing that when the Germans' gambling mania was roused to its highest pitch they would literally stake their free- dom, their wife and child, the limbs of their body, even their very life. That this passion for games of chance is an Aryan trait is shown by the Indian epic of Nala and Damayanti." Nala is driven by an inimical demon to gamble away king- dom, possessions, everything, and is about to stake his wife. But he rouses himself from his intoxication and goes away with her, a beggar; this is intended to show that to a certain extent gambling and love are contraries and that only love can cure the gambling mania. Moreover Groos does the Ger- mans an injustice when he calls gambling an "Aryan trait." All the races on earth gamble (more or less); Indians are 233 234 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR also said to gamble away everything they possess, including their wives; likewise the Chinese and the Negroes,-about whose gambling mania I have heard many accounts. Groos recognizes three causes for the gambling mania: i. the lure of gain. 2. the stimulation of strong affects. 3. the incentive of the fighting instinct. This observation is thoroughly correct, although there are a number of other fac- tors which must be considered. We know that the inclination to gamble is shared by every human being, representing, in fact, a relic of childhood. The child lives in play. When the adult plays he becomes a child again and acts like a child. The gambling mania is a re- gression to childhood. Any one may get into a state of wanting to gamble. I attended a horse race but once and on that occasion I indulged in light betting. But I have felt that under certain circumstances, if I had no other interests more strongly at heart, I might become a victim of the gambling mania. Others have told me the same thing about themselves. Indeed, I know many parapathiacs who avoid all games be- cause they feel that, once they become interested, they would not be able to control themselves. We must distinguish be- tween the inclination to play games and the gambling mania. The latter is a disease; it is a parapathy, whose psychology will be made clear later. First we want to turn our attention to the psychology of the normal player. Such an inclination to indulge in games of chance is shown by every one, as I have already indicated. For many persons moderate playing is the only change in the routine of life,- the second world wherein they seek relaxation from work. It is true that every game is a conflict. It is, in the first place, a fight for one's personality, for the supremacy of one's selfhood, for superiority. It is unquestionably true, although the truth is unacknowl- edged, that every person considers himself the shrewdest. Nat- urally the superiority of others in particular realms is always acknowledged; but every one reserves all other spheres as the domain wherein he alone is supreme. That is true of all classes. The pupil thinks he is wiser than the teacher, the teacher considers himself a better man than the principal, the THE GAMBLER 235 school principal secretly laughs at the school inspector, while the latter harbors the same attitude towards those "stupid jackasses," his superiors in office. Everybody is driven by an obscure urge to make practical use of his alleged superiority. While explaining the law of the "transformation of energies," 2 I have pointed out that card games are useful in that regard, considerable surplus mental energy being thus pleasantly expended. Card playing is a particularly useful pastime for those who have no opportunity of proving their superiority before the world at large, those, namely, who have not even achieved the smart presidency of one of the numberless organizations which seem to exist for the sole purpose of giving vent to this lusting for prominence. Through card playing, any individual, regardless of his social standing, becomes an authority; the games, with their strict observance of inherited rules open to mastery by the shrewdest, are a democratic institution, the operations of chance being overlooked for the time. Card playing, like indulgence in alcohol, reveals one's sup- pressed character. The players undergo remarkable trans- formations. The quiet, unobtrusive clerk, though henpecked at home by a domineering spouse, changes into a courageous, impatient, self-conscious individual; he admonishes his part- ner and lectures him about his mistakes; he feels he is a mas- ter, because he is the best player. When he loses the game he frets at the thought of losing money on mere "blunders," -and he seldom forgets to paraphrase the saying, "fools have luck." (Luck is something vulgar, hence its designation "S chivein" i.e., hog, in German.) The kind-hearted indi- vidual turns into a sadist, teasing his antagonist over his own good luck and making fun of him. The taciturn becomes loquacious, the game, like alcohol, unloosening his tongue. Others hide their character traits. The familiar Pechvogel ("out-of-luck" fellow) bewails his lack of luck, swears he will never play again; but next day he again sits at the gambling table. Spendthrifty persons become greedy and tremble over the loss of trivial sums of money, to which under other circumstances they pay no attention. They regard the loss as a defeat. Even the apparently good loser, the man 236 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR who pays his losses nonchalantly and with a pleasant word on his lips, is inwardly vexed. Many others of these and similar types could be mentioned; all are eager for mental supremacy. This conflict is portrayed most clearly in the game of chess. How worried we are over the loss of a game! We never care to admit that our ad- versary has played a cleverer game! We always ascribe his victory to our blunders. At card games defeat over trifling points often affects ridiculously our feeling of personality. I am the more clever player and it is the other fellow's blind luck that I should have to give away my hand,-is our secret, unconscious reasoning. Thus far I have not mentioned the incentive which seems most important in card games,-the money prizes. The real gambler, with whom playing is a passion, does not play for the sake of the gains alone. He plays for the sake of play- ing; often he is most happy when the games end in a draw, and he neither wins nor loses. Of course, there are always exceptions; and high winnings may enhance very materially the pleasurable feeling of superiority. He who plays for winnings, the professional player, is not a gambler in the true sense of the word. For him playing is a profession, not a recreation, it is a calling, not a flight to another realm. Therefore he is always cooler and more deliberate; for him the zest of the game is lost in the monotony of his daily grind. Gambling for money is a proof of man's incorrigible op- timism. Deliberation shows that the chances of winning equal the chances of losing. Each side has fifty per cent of the chance either way. Nevertheless optimism inspires the gam- bler on each side of the table with the belief that his chances of winning are the stronger; implicatively he thus holds him- self out as the better man. In the larger games of chance the gambler's individuality plays almost no role; his only driv- ing power is his optimism. We always find that gamblers who have plunged deeply, to their loss, feel impelled to keep on, in the hope of retrieving their losses. The greater the losses and the more hopeless the gambler's pecuniary state, the stronger and the rosier also is his never-failing optimism, the hope that his "luck will suddenly turn." THE GAMBLER 237 Self-consciousness and optimism are two important driv- ing motives of card playing; the third is the opportunity the game offers of giving vent to certain repressed character traits (Freud). We have already referred above to the card player's democratic trait. It is not without significance that beggars and knights are promiscuously tossed around in games, that queens are trumps, that knights beat jacks, etc. There is a certain symbolic meaning to these things, a pathetically simple exposure of the naive folk consciousness. Every card is al- ready linked with certain cryptic unconscious thoughts, which find current expression in the art of laying out the cards; in addition to that, there are certain tricks and artifices,-of course, within the limits of what is permissible-which are the source of tremendous pleasure to players. Freud states very relevantly that these petty little liberties in which the individual gambler indulges make up the refreshing character of the game. The most respectable persons indulge occasion- ally in little "game" tricks. When an opponent miscalculates to his disadvantage, or forgets to mark down his points, his attention is seldom called to the errors. It is part of the fun of the game to prepare a pitfall for the opponent and great is the satisfaction when he actually falls in. The surprises of the game constitute another of its chief incentives. A game in which no surprises occur is boresome. We find amusement also in other similar pastimes, best of all in improvised festivities or unexpected conviviality. The game offers a plethora of unforeseen possibilities; it rouses tensions, then releases them; it is rich in unexpected combi- nations. The conditions are different in the case of large mass games, of which "racing" is the best known type (in Europe). A very intelligent newspaper man once asked me why he felt so badly at the loss of 20 kronen at cards, whereas a similar loss at the turf leaves him indifferent. On the contrary, he feels satisfied that he has come out easy. One psychologic motivation was pointed out by the observer himself. Our losses are always relative. If we play for very high stakes, we are glad to get off with a loss which worries us when incurred on trivial stakes. Likewise, if we have faced 238 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR a loss, we rejoice to get away with a very modest gain. We measure our losses always in comparison to the stakes. There- fore we may worry over a couple of kronen if we play for one-half heller on a point. In betting at the races, where for- tunes are won and lost, twenty kronen play an insignificant role. On the other hand, the gambling losses on racing can be understood only in the light of mass psychology. Racing would affect the gamblers precisely as does card playing, if only two or three persons were concerned, which is actually the case in private betting. But one's feelings are shared by thousands of others. Shared is halved I I am not the only one who has lost; on the contrary, hundreds, thousands, are in the same plight. Nor am I facing a personal opponent, by whom I am humiliated, my smartness, my shrewdness, my sagacity, enter into the situation very little, if at all. We must not for- get that every game is an awakening of our childhood, when all life seemed play. At the moment when we begin to play, everyday existence with its cares recedes into the dim back- ground, our awareness of the eternal conflict within us and of the struggle with the environment seems to be allayed, while a new world, the world of make-believe, unfolds before us. In this sense indulging in games of any kind is one of life's consoling fictions which render our existence bearable. That human beings, with their tendency to excess, turn this social virtue, as Goethe has called games, into an individual vice, is something for which not the game, but human nature is re- sponsible. We must not forget that man's need of tension and release is very pressing: the modern craving for excite- ment has its deep physiological and psychological role. Biol- ogy has proven that cells resist much longer the deadly influ- ence of poisons after having been subjected to various stimuli.3 Thus playing games may contribute to good health. Who has not had the experience of forgetting his physical pains during an exciting game? The game rouses an affect intoxication, which often enables us to forget everything beyond the game. The most important root of the tendency to indulge in playing games is man's emo- tional hunger. Our mind, as well as our body, utilizes a THE GAMBLER 239 continual cycle of emotional tension and release. Without affects life becomes dull and a torture. Playing stimulates by staging the cycle of tense expectation, or hope (greed of winning) and disappointment, or humiliation. The monetary- stake serves only this purpose. The higher our stakes, the greater our fear. The true gambler with a passion for playing often risks everything on the outcome of a game. It is a play with fear. Depressive and manic states succeed one an- other. Malicious joy (Shadenfreude) over the other's loss (sadism) interchanges with torturing self-reproaches ("It serves you right!" "You don't deserve better!"). The significance of blind accident, or chance, has been pointed out adequately by many investigators. The gambler has faith in his good luck. He cannot conceive losing it. He continually challenges fate. The game is often an oracle for him: "If you win this game, you will attain also your other secret wish!" Good luck is appraised as a personal merit. "Good luck is talent; and he upon whom it smiles is the better man" (Groos). This good luck, of course, is bestowed by the higher powers. Many gamblers have recourse to an ejac- ulatory prayer to heaven to help them win the game or the race. That leads us to the important theme of the gambler's prone- ness to superstition. Superstition is but a masked form of belief. Every superstition has once been a genuine article of faith. To-day's belief is to-morrow's superstition. The super- stitions often break through in games. There are watchers (mascots) who bring luck to some and ill luck to others. We must not wish a player good luck; instead, before starting, we must tell him, as well as the actor who is about to make his stage appearance, to "break his neck." Sometimes a whole ceremonial may be uncovered, as in compulsion neurosis. The gambler knows precisely his lucky and unlucky days. He explains to himself his loss, by rationalizing that it is due to something or other which has happened on that date. The in- fantilism is disclosed also by these ridiculous ceremonials. Groos properly remarks: "The gambler displays towards his particular play paraphernalia, precisely the sorcerer's attitude towards his charms (among the primitive peoples). He shows 240 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR a fetishistic belief, in which personification reaches more deeply than in the current notions about fate. Demoniac creatures, sometimes submissive to the gambler's will, at other times stub- bornly withdrawing from under his control, seem to reside in the dice or cards; the game thus turns into a competitive display of magical power." He then describes a ridiculous ceremonial, which he observed in connection with dice throw- ing while he was a student and thinks that it was more than mere jest. "One half believed in it and looked down upon the beginner who did not know how to handle the dice." Among the lower classes and the more primitive peoples this fetichism is even plainer and stronger. The dice are treated as living things, they are kissed, praised, punished. One is involuntarily reminded of the prelogical thinking of primitive peoples and their animism, so plastically described by Levy- Bruhl. The gambler's infantilism shows itself also in his speech, in certain stereotypes, in tics, in childish speech mannerisms, and in his motions. In that connection it is interesting to note that with the regression generated by the gambling, the infantile failings, too, come to the surface, and many cultural dams are broken through. Man shows himself in the raw. I have already referred to the petty dishonesties which, ac- cording to Freud, lend to playing its refreshing character. Often the dishonesties are serious rather than petty. I know respectable persons who mix cards in a tricky way (so-called "Packeln""), who falsify accounts and reckoning, who even cheat at the game, without troubling their minds about it. They consider the game a warfare and cheating a permissible war evil. They are not regular game cheaters, because these slips occur only sporadically, on impulse, often being merely symptomatic acts, in Freud's sense. We come now to the most important meaning of the game, its relation to sexuality. Gambling and sexuality stand in a certain contrast, which popular fancy has crystallised already in a saying: "Gluck in Spiel, Ungliick in der Liebe,-("Lucky in the game, unlucky in love"). This is more than an empty consolation, it is the truth,-but in the reverse sense: Persons who are unhappy in love console themselves by playing. THE GAMBLER 241 The relations are similar as in the case of alcohol indulgence. Here, too, homosexuality plays a role; here, too, hidden para- philia lead to a shifting of affect. It is well known that there are men who prefer the coffee house and the card club to their wife's company. In many such cases I have found that the sexual desire of these men is extremely meager, although I am familiar also with the opposite type: the gambler who is at the same time a drinker, and also runs after women. But the man of this type is never true to any woman; he is a Don Juan, at bottom a disguised homosexual, as I have shown in my Autoerotism and Homosexuality, where I have de- scribed the Don Juan and Messalina types. I need not re- peat all I have said already in connection with alcoholism. We have here the same roots. I want to call attention merely to the sexual symbolic character of the game. Here the sadist comes into his own. He cuts his cards (in German, sticht die Karten, lit., "sticks" the cards), mixes them well, he reduces the partner to silence, he beats his opponent "flat." Even the exhibitionist shows himself reticently. The Pagat (also called, der Kleine, lit., the little one) shows itself at the end of the game. (A familiar play on words [double entendre'] : the "little one" appears at the end of the game.) Finally we must be familiar with the symbolic relations be- tween money and love. Money is but a symbol of love; it is the means for acquiring, or securing, love. It is also a well-known fact that persons who are really in love lose all interest in games. When a young man who is engaged to a girl does not want to give up his card parties it is a very bad sign.4 The most passionate players are found among the artists. Many a creative talent, falling a victim to the gambling mania, has become lost to his art. Artists dwell in a make-believe realm. They are always prone to exchange play and reality. The artists' passion for gambling is shown by the following three capital illustrations. Dostoievsky, who displayed an extraordinary insight into all the human impulses, describes also the gambler in a novel by that name. The Gambler is undoubtedly one of his weakest works; one finds that the author struggled with his 242 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR own complexes at too close a range at the time; that he wanted to create a "warning example" for himself, rather than rid himself altogether of the passion. He was a passionate roulette player and always travelled to "Europe" to try his luck in one of the several famous gambling resorts; in that connection he devised various systems to break the bank and draw the great prize. In my Nervous Anxiety States and Their Treatment: chapter on Epilepsy, I have spoken of Dos- toievsky's paraphilia (rape and murder of a child),-an im- pulse which I regard as the cause of his epilepsy. This im- pulse seems to have become transposed into a passion for gambling. His novel, The Gambler, gives a number of inter- esting facts. The hero, a highly educated man, is compelled through want to accept the position of tutor in the house of a retired general belonging to the nobility. He himself is a nobleman from a good family; this position, he feels, is humiliating for one of his rank. But he loves Pauline, the daughter of the house; as her humble slave he endures willingly all humiliations so as to be near her and serves her faithfully. At the same time he is a proud, stubborn, haughty, conceited man. His pride breaks forth on every occasion. Nevertheless he obeys Pauline like a humble dog; he is ready to jump off a cliff for her, when she dares him. (The cliff is called, significantly, Schlangen- berg, "snake hill.") For her sake he is even ready to commit murder. One would think, therefore, that his was a very ex- traordinary love. The further developments disclose the true nature of this affection. The action takes place at a resort having a gambling casino. (The artist disguises the true name of the place under the designation Roulettebourg.} He goes there with the in- tention of playing in the hope that luck will enable him to give up his humiliating position. In the course of events the general's family is reduced to a state of want. A Frenchman, obviously Pauline's lover, is the evil spirit of the household. A very wealthy aunt is about to die; her wealth will relieve the families of their precarious financial state and distress. But the aunt, thought to be on her death bed, appears one day in Roulettebourg; there she is seized by the unfortunate gam- THE GAMBLER 243 bling mania; in a short time she gambles away an enormous fortune and returns home, fleeced. The house of cards crum- bles. The Frenchman takes steps to make good his claim to the General's property which he holds as security for the considerable sums of money he had advanced. The hero, theretofore repulsed by Pauline and treated by her like a dog, finds her one day waiting in his hotel room. She is now reduced to poverty and confesses her love to him. He snatches the balance of his money, hurries to the casino, and wins an enormous sum: 200,000 francs. This sum, on his return, he lays at the feet of Pauline, who had been waiting for him in the room. Follows a night of love during which our hero obviously does not distinguish himself very much! He does not succeed in his attempt at drowning the memory of the Frenchman in a sea of passion. The occurrences of the night Dostoievsky passes over with unwonted discretion. We may surmise them. For in the morning Pauline, without apparent reason, throws the whole sum of money back into the hero's face and hurries off. She will not be bought, she wants to have nothing more to do with him. He lets himself be captured by a designing but strikingly beautiful Frenchwoman, an adventuress who entices him to Paris and takes his money away. His sexuality does not rouse so much as a trace of jealousy. Money has no value for him. He is interested only in the game. He goes back to the places where gambling is going on, is arrested for debt, becomes a servant, and goes through the deepest humiliations, but keeps on playing; he is enslaved by the mania for gambling. From a conversation one gathers that he is convinced Pauline will never forget the Frenchman. His whole conduct shows that he really never loved Pauline; that he had formulated this affection to hide a paraphilia. For he makes no effort to become reconciled with her, even after he hears from one of her best friends that she still loves him. The possession of her has depreciated her entirely to him. His hatred of the existing social order is expressed in a fanatic hatred of the Germans, who seem to him too strait-laced and meticulous about order, the respectable householder type. His sexuality seems entirely extinguished. Everything has turned 244 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR into this passion for gambling. The author makes it very plain that he was going downhill and gradually would have drifted into the path of crime if-like many gamblers-he had not ended in suicide. Dostoievsky's own passion for gambling is clearly shown in the following extract of a letter which he wrote to Apollon Nicolaevich Maicov (dated Geneva, August 16/28, 1867): While passing through the neighborhood of Baden-Baden, I decided to stop on the way. I was tortured by a seductive thought: to risk ten gold pieces and perhaps win two thousand francs; this sum would be enough for four months for me, in- cluding the expenses I had incurred in Petersburg. The trouble is that I had won once! But the worst is that I have a bad and inordinately passionate character. In all things I go to the utmost extremes,-all my life I have never been able to do any- thing in moderation. The devil played pranks with me from the outset. In three days I won very easily four thousand francs. Now I must tell you how this looked to me: on the one hand this easy gain-I made in three days 4,000 francs with 100; on the other hand,- my debts, the lawsuits, my mental distress and inability to return to Russia. Finally, and that is the chief thing, the gambling, in itself. You do not know how it draws one! No, I swear to you, it was not the desire to win alone, although I did literally need also the money as money. Anna Grigoryevna begged me to rest content with this 4,000 francs and to leave at once. But there was the easy and probable possibility of improving my condition at one stroke. And the many examples! Aside of my own winnings, I see daily other players winning 20,000 to 30,000 francs (one seems never to see that somebody must lose). Why are the others better than I ? I need the money worse than they do. I played again and lost. I lost not only my winnings, but also my own money, down to the last penny; I was in a feverish agitation and I lost everything. Then I began to pawn my clothes. Anna Grigoryevna pawned everything, her last posses- sion. (That angel! How she consoled me, how she suffered in that accursed Baden, in our two tiny rooms over the forge, where we had to move.) At last, I had enough of it,-every- thing was gambled off. How coarse these Germans are! They are all usurers, scoundrels, rogues.5 When the landlady saw that we could not leave because we lacked the means, she in- THE GAMBLER creased our rent. At last, to save ourselves, we had to escape from Baden in some way. I wrote to Katkov again and begged him for 500 rubles (I did not write him about the circum- stances, but as the letter was post-dated at Baden he well under- stood the situation.) And he sent me the money. He did! I have received thus far, therefore, 4,000 rubles in all, as cash advances from my Russian Messengers. Now about the last of my Baden-Baden experiences. We suf- fered in that hell for seven weeks. Shortly after my arrival in Baden I met Goncharov at the station. At first Ivan Alex- androvich felt embarrassed. This privy councillor, genuine privy councillor, also joined the game. When it turned out that such a thing cannot easily be kept hidden and as I also played very openly, he, too, soon ceased to hide from me. He played with feverish excitation (but only on small stakes). He gambled throughout the two weeks I spent in Baden and lost, it seemed to me, a large sum. But God grant health to this kindly man. When I lost everything (but he had already seen much money in my hands), he gave me sixty francs on request. At the same time he scolded me unmercifully for having lost everything, in- stead of gambling only half of what I had, as he did. Richard Wagner relates about his mania for gambling, very frankly: "For about three months I was so deeply immersed in the gambling mania that all my other interests receded to the back- ground. I was not to be seen any more at the gymnasium, at our revels, or at our duelling trysts; through the day I ran around in my pitiful state doing everything possible to scrape together the necessary money for playing evenings and all through the night. In vain did mother, who had no inkling of my humiliating adventures, utilize all the pathetic means at her com- mand to keep me from my nocturnal wanderings. Leaving the house usually at noon, I never succeeded in breaking away before the dawn of the following day, to climb over the court gate, whose key was denied me, and sneak back to my room which was situated in the rear. The despair over my lack of good luck flared my passion into an insane craving; senseless to every- thing that otherwise appealed to me during my student days, most cruelly indifferent to the opinion of my former comrades, I kept out of their sight and in the little gambling rooms of 245 246 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Leipzig I met only the most dissolute members of the student body. I endured even the contempt of my little sister Rosalie, who, like mother, hardly deigned to look at the incomprehensible young profligate who, pale looking and distracted, seldom dared to show himself. In my growing despair it occurred to me that I must try to coax fortune by weighty means. I thought that in order to win one must play high stakes; I decided to try this out with a relatively significant sum of money,-my mother's pension, which had been entrusted to me. That night I lost everything I had with me, down to the last penny: my state of mind when I played with this money was an entirely new ex- perience in my young life, altogether unlike any of my other experiences. Though I had not eaten a morsel that day, I had to leave the card table repeatedly to control my nausea. With the last penny I staked my whole life, for I could not think of going back to the bosom of my family; I saw myself wandering aimlessly across fields and forests, a lost son. The hopeless despair when I threw down my last card persevered so strongly that at once I put up the winnings together with my last stake on the next throw; I repeated this several times, until my win- nings began to mount. I kept on winning. I grew so confident that I hazarded the most daring moves. The feeling dawned on me that I was playing for the last time. So striking was my good fortune that the banker decided to call the game. As a matter of fact, in that night I not only won back all I had previously lost, but an amount equal to all my outstanding losses as well. The warmth which I felt gradually stealing upon me during this occurrence was unutterably blissful. With the turn in my fortune I felt distinctly that the Lord, or His guardian angel, was standing close by me, whispering warning and con- solation. Once again I succeeded in reaching home at break of day; there I fell into a deep and undisturbed sleep, from which I awoke late,-refreshed, and like new born. "After that the last trace of the old passion was gone from me forever. The world wherein I had moved in a growing tumult seemed to me, of a sudden, the least worth while and the least interesting of all." (Quoted after Birnbaum, Psycho patholo gische Dokumente.) Concerning his passion for chess, Rousseau confesses: He agreed readily to teach me chess, which he understood a little. Rather reluctantly I tried it, and after I became familiar THE GAMBLER 247 with the moves I made such rapid progress that towards the end of our first sitting I was already able to allow him a tower, as he had done with me at the beginning. That was all that was necessary to pitch me into the deepest passion for chess. I bought a chess board, bought the figures, locked myself up in my room, and spent the days and the nights practising all the possible moves, so as to get them as clearly in my mind as possible and be able to play by myself all the time. In Volume V of this Series (Psychosexual Infantilism, The Mental Infantile Disorders of Adults') I give an extensive account of Rousseau's trouble. (Chapter XXV, The Analysis of An Exhibitionist: Jean Jacques Rousseau.) In that con- tribution I attempt to trace the significance of homosexuality in the psychogenesis of this trouble. I have repeatedly ob- served among chess players a sort of chess parapathy in which the various figures are given a symbolic meaning. The king becomes a symbol for the father. The significance of the father complex is very clearly revealed in the course of the above described analysis. Rousseau became fixed on his father at a very early age. I cannot go into these matters here, but must refer the reader to the work mentioned above. The relations between the gambling mania and latent homo- sexuality, undoubtedly, are the ones most commonly found. The following case history gives a clear account of these relations: Case 97. Albert N., 34 years of age, consults me for im- potence. He has been married four years, but had been pre- viously an inveterate bachelor. According to his judgment, his sexuality has always been weak. His first coitus, at 26, did not particularly satisfy him. There followed a pause of two years. Then (at the age of 28) he met a governess whom he liked very much. She was an energetic woman of mannish appearance who had even a downy growth of moustache, and she conquered him. Coitus took place always with positions reversed. With this girl he attained orgasm and his potentia was strong. Their intimacy lasted one-half year and was broken up by him on account of jealousy. At 30 years of age he married through love. During the first four weeks of his married life he was impotent, then he indulged in sexual intercourse once every week, 248 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR and later once every month. He claims his needs were not greater. His evenings he spends regularly at the club. Without male society he cannot live. He belonged to boys' organizations and he is strongly attached to all his old friends. His wife likes to sleep so that she does not even notice at what time he comes home. At nine o'clock he leaves the house on some pretext or other to go to his gambling club. He returns home around three o'clock in the morning. His gambling passion is tremendous. He has often resolved not to play any more. As soon as evening comes, he goes to the club. During the past six months he has been wholly impotent. The analysis reveals a strong homosexual component, fixation on his mother and sister, and various homo- sexual traumata during his childhood as well as during his army service at the front. He was drafted and served in the army provisions department. The recruits got beastly drunk in the evening. He and a comrade returned home drunk and there followed mutual masturbation. Since then he has been unable to indulge in coitus. The winnings do not count with him. He neither wins nor loses large sums. He cares only for the fun of playing. He would play even without any money, although he admits that large stakes increase his pleasure of playing. But he can have the same excitation and pleasure looking on while others are playing. The next case, noteworthy on account of various other features as well, discloses an entirely different psychogenesis: Case 98. Edwin G., 45 years of age, writer, gives the fol- lowing account of the origin of his gambling mania (of which he wants to be relieved through hypnosis!): "I was always a self-reliant man, and kept from all temptations. I smoked mod- erately, and was equally moderate in drinking and in love. I went through the usual development; at 19 years I began to have sexual intercourse with women. Being afraid of prostitutes on account of the danger of infection, I always sought so-called 'decent girls.' At 28 I fell in love with my wife, after having gone through a number of minor adventures. I adored my bride. Unfortunately, our engagement lasted two years and dur- ing that time I was wholly abstinent. Our bridal night was a great disappointment to me. My bride resisted, she was afraid, but finally I carried out sexual intercourse, though she scorned THE GAMBLER 249 it as 'beastly.' She showed herself absolutely frigid afterwards as well, and claims to be wholly indifferent about sex. How that grew little by little I recall no longer, but in the end I was slavish enough to bargain with her for the love tendernesses which she would not offer voluntarily. At first she received a present from me every time we had sexual intercourse, but afterwards I gave her money for it, which she considered her hard earned pin money. I adjusted myself to this remarkable form of marital relations, because otherwise I should have no peace in the home.6 "I was extraordinarily fond of my wife and did not think I had any reason to be jealous of her. But suddenly I became jealous. I was on a journey and had some strange dreams in which I saw my wife having intercourse with other men. I came home very much excited. On the next occasion, during our sexual intercourse, for which I had to give her the money in advance, she carried out certain motions which she had not in- dulged in previously. During our sexual embrace I saw the vision of another man flitting before my mind's eye. I said noth- ing about this to my wife, but I decided to have her watched and to watch her closely myself. The result was horrible. She had five lovers, one of whom she even showered with gifts which she bought with the 'pin money' that I, her lawful husband, had to pay her for intercourse. A terrible quarrel followed. My wife at first tried to deny everything, then she pleaded her tem- perament, saying that a physician had advised her to seek grati- fication elsewhere, if she was not satisfied with our marital re- lations. I insisted on immediate separation. She fell to my feet, promised to be loving and faithful and swore on everything that was most holy that she would never again break her marital vows. What was I to do? I was badly shaken up. I had had such faith in her! I had loved her so devotedly! I would have sacrificed my life for her. "Well, I tried to live with her again for the sake of our two children, who, she reassured me a thousand times, were my chil- dren. Daily I gazed at the children, scrutinizing their features; compared their pictures with mine, unable to make up my mind whether they were really my children. No 1 It could not be. And yet, I loved my children, and I could not root out of my heart my love for them. I resolved to be a good father to the children even if they were not mine. How could I find that out? I found that my wife was mendacious; it seems that she 250 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR had a lover already before our marriage, hence her tremendous resistance during the bridal night; she meant thereby to rouse my desire the more keenly and deceive me about her loss of vir- ginity. She did not bleed. At least, I saw no blood. I did not think of it, for I am a reasonable man, and I said to myself: my wife's past does not concern me so long as she remains faith- ful to me. But at the same time I said to myself also: 'Now you are out of luck. You are deceived for the third time.' " (Doctor) "What do you mean? The third time? You have mentioned to me only harmless little adventures ?" "I was ashamed to confess to you that this was the third time I had been deceived. The first time I was 24 years of age and became engaged to a charming girl. She was very dear. I wanted to marry her right away, but had first to go on a trip to America. I turned her over to a friend, requesting him to take good care of her. In two months I returned. On the very first day the little one confessed to me under tears that my friend had seduced her and that she did not consider herself worthy of becoming my wife. After two painful years I loved another girl who, again, I wanted to marry. I had to go to Paris. We were not engaged, but as good as engaged. I was not quite two weeks in Paris when I received a parting letter from her. She had given herself to another man. Perhaps I treated the girl in too honorable a manner. But that was the fact. I im- agined that I could not hold a woman's interest; that I was un- attractive; that I had no ingratiating manners. Therefore I had to pay my wife. I could get only prostitutes by paying them for service rendered, but could never conquer a woman. "Then came the third disappointment. That broke my pride altogether. I decided never to try to hold a woman exclusively to myself. I was one of those men born to be deceived. I wanted to reconcile myself to my fate. But I grew jealous over my wife's past, she had to tell me everything,-confess every- thing to me. I suffered nameless tortures, but at the same time it roused me sexually. I enjoyed while I suffered, I suffered while I enjoyed. But the saddest part was that during sexual intercourse with her my thoughts would wander off to the other men. It would occur to me that they were stronger, perhaps more refined; that they understood better the refinements of love; that perhaps they knew better how to love,-and my erec- tion was hopelessly over. I demanded faithfulness of my wife, but I could give her no longer that which she wanted and now THE GAMBLER 251 expected of me alone. She did not want pay any longer, she wanted only love, forgetting the past, and forgiveness. She wanted to purge herself clean in the flames of marital love. "I could not do it. I kept gazing into my children's eyes, a prey to doubts, I heard her endearments and I doubted, I wanted to embrace her but could not, I doubted my own manly prowess. "I began to drink and gamble. I sought forgetfulness and peace; I sought surcease from my own troublous thoughts. With my wife I became completely impotent. I was ashamed of it and almost on the point of allowing her again lovers, but the thought of our-or was it her ?-children oppressed me and held me back. "I drifted more and more into the gambling habit. Formerly I had never been at a race. A friend took me to the race track once and I liked it. Now I have no other thought than betting at the races. I have hardly time to write my novels, or to look after my everyday interests. Often I run badly into debt, when a lucky tip saves me. Then I plunge again. My whole vocation has become wholly secondary to me. I am interested only in the sporting news. I know all the race horses and their records and I follow all the races. A jockey interests me more than a famous writer. When I am badly in want I write again, mostly for the periodicals which issue novels in instalments, because I can deliver my manuscript in sections and I then feel morally obliged to keep writing. "I have lost entirely all interest in my wife or any other woman. I would think I have no sexual life whatsoever, if I did not have occasionally a pollution. I must confess also that at the races, when the stakes are high and my situation is en- dangered by a loss, my anxiety is distinctly adumbrated with pleasure. At school I felt likewise about my lessons; and some school tasks, when I dreaded I would not get through in time, ended with pollution. During the races I have almost had the same experience. "Now I am greatly in danger of losing the standing I have thus far achieved as a writer. I am ready to give up writing altogether; my pride is concerned only with success at gambling. The money I win slips between my fingers. I set up higher stakes; I am now playing also the foreign races; I go back and forth among the bookmakers; I pay up debts and buy everything imaginable in a regular fever of buying. I remember having made a big 'killing' once. My money bag bulged as never before in my life. I called for my wife and we went out shopping. 252 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR I needed some things, wife and children had to be outfitted. But I did not know when to stop. I bought things right and left for the sake of buying. It seemed as if I meant to throw away the easy money. I need to feel the pressure of want in order to do creative work, and I seemed anxious to bring myself back into such a state of want. Besides the races, I play cards and other games of chance. I am a slave to the gambling passion. I was caught by the police in one of the gambling dens which have arisen so profusely since the war and had a hard time to keep my name out of the newspapers. My whole life is cen- tered on games and gambling. "Hypnosis is my last hope. Save me 1 Help me get back my will power and the strength to resist, which I lack." Patient is told that hypnosis does not help such conditions. He must submit himself to analysis and undergo a process of reeducation; but the idea does not appeal to him. He is familiar with the whole psychoanalytic literature and sees no sense in it. He has no secrets; all he needed was the influence of another's energetic will. He insists on hypnosis. I decline. After four weeks he returns. He has been to a number of hypnotists and suggestionists; among them a couple of lay- men who appear on the public platform and who play the mental healer in secret. One of them works with the cooper- ation of a physician who protects him. None of the hypno- tists was able to put him to sleep. Waking suggestion, too, had no effect. As the last resort he has decided to try analysis. It was plain to me that when a man cannot hold women there must be something about his behaviour or his sexuality which repels them. I surmised that the man instigated his defeats and became very much interested to find out the character of his fixations. The analysis turned out enormously difficult. At the very first interview he had failed to disclose his earlier two dis- appointments. I assumed that he will keep up this tendency. His first confessions, covering his youth, brought out the usual experiences, which I need not repeat here. He has mastur- bated since childhood, so far as he can remember. During indulgence he utilized his mother's and his sister's under- things. He took their old underclothes with him to bed and THE GAMBLER 253 from time to time he also put them on. The odour roused him so tremendously that smelling the clothes was enough to induce orgasm. Afterwards he stole pieces of underwear to take along on his journeys. The odour of worn drawers was also the best soporific to induce sleep.7 The last time he mas- turbated, at 19, in his mother's bed. In order to make clear what happened subsequently, it must be mentioned that his mother deceived his father regularly with a number of lovers. The boy knew it, but the father seemed disinclined to notice it. Patient bore a grudge against his mother; it took him a long time to overcome his mother's prostitution complex. Re- turning home one forenoon he found his mother's bed in dis- order. Nobody was home. In the bed he found suspicious- looking spots. He put on his mother's nightgown and fell into an ecstasy such as he had never before experienced in his life.8 He swore never to masturbate again and has since kept his oath. The old underwear he burned up, thinking thereby to rid himself of his paraphilia. Only the parallelism, mother made it possible for him to treat his wife as a prostitute and pay her. So long as the identification was maintained merely by the act of paying her, he remained potent. But the discovery of the actual facts lent an extraor- dinary reality to the equation. His wife turned out to be a real prostitute. She broke her marital vows with a number of men. The question arises whether he did not choose his sweet- hearts among the frivolous girls in the first place. This sur- misal is corroborated by the analysis. All three girls with whom he had fallen in love were of the flirty type and did not enjoy a good reputation. That, precisely, was what had drawn him to them, although at that time he exacted strictest faithfulness from his love objectives. Hypothetically he ex- acted the same condition from his mother. From the moment when his wife became completely identified with his mother (he held on to her only because she was the mother of his children, and always addressed her as "Mutti"), his potentia was gone. He regressed to his infantile ideal. He began once more to visit his sister, whom he had badly neglected after his marriage. He devoted himself to her and found 254 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR in her a comrade. The impulse to masturbate arose again, but an irrepressible feeling of shame prevented him from in- dulging. On the other hand, he came near stealing some pieces of underwear from his sister. Now we understand his wife's faithlessness. He was not extraordinarily potent; he was rather inclined to ejaculatio praecox. Sexual intercourse he always carried on in the dark. His wife, who was a pronounced exhibitionist, he never saw naked; and he always addressed her, "Meine siisse Mutti,- my sweet little mother," even before she had children, and when she felt she was a mother he was very happy. During the period of her pregnancy he was very potent, obviously because various infantile wishes were thus fulfilled. Without going into the details of the analysis I may state that the analysis was followed by an improvement in his potentia and his gambling mania gradually waned. He gave up attending the horse races altogether; he still plays cards daily, but only 2 or 3 hours. On reviewing the lessons taught us by this case, we note that the first and apparently the most important motive, the love disappointment, was merely a superficial determinant. If every one who is disappointed in love turned into a gam- bler, there would be many more gamblers in the world. In this case it brought on a regression to infantile feeling-atti- tudes and awoke, particularly, the lusting for the sister. The analysis, in its further course, disclosed that every big gam- bling venture became an augury: "If I win this game, it means I gain my sister!" Often the degree of his excitation did not correspond to the amount at stake; it was a transference of affect. The real prize at stake was his cryptic erotic aim: something very precious. As proof of this assumption looms up the fact that he bet on a certain horse, against all reason, merely because it bore his sister's name. He was convinced that this horse must bring him luck. The subsequent course of events corroborated this morbid love of the sister. The latter became poor while he grew rich through successful play- ing of the stock market. A bank director he knew guided him, played the market for him, so to speak; all he had to do was to rake in the easy winnings. One of his plays was very sue- THE GAMBLER 255 cessful; it was performed on all the stages. In short, he be- came a wealthy man. He built for himself a large villa and, against his wife's will, he took his brother-in-law and sister to that villa to support them because their condition had grown from bad to worse. In all cases of gambling mania we find the well-known process of affect shifting, or transference. Gamblers are dis- appointed persons confronted either by something which they are eager to forget, or by something they do not want to see. The important social manifestations of the passion for gam- bling, following the war, which amounts to an epidemic of the gambling mania, will be discussed in our concluding chapter. XIV THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC [Written in collaboration with Dr. H. A. E. van Dishoeck (Leyden)] To Trousseau belongs the credit of having caused a new impetus to be given to the study of the nature of tic. Whereas formerly all investigators who concerned themselves with the tic problem always emphasized the organic foundations of this disorder, Trousseau expressly pointed out that along with the physical, the psychic determinant played a significant role. He called tic an "occupational neurosis" and characterized it as a "partial chorea." But Charcot was the first to lay the emphasis decidedly on the psychic factor, pointing out that the tic, seemingly an organic disorder, was in reality a psychic disturbance. He already recognized the relationship between tic and compulsion neurosis, thus penetrating more deeply into the nature of this disorder than the Magnan school, which re- garded the tic as a sign of degeneration. The first extensive monograph on tic we owe to F. Meige and Feindel. In their exhaustive study, which, however, is chiefly descriptive in character, these authors point out the lack of will on the part of the tic sufferers as an etiologically significant mental char- acteristic. The patient suffering from this disorder, they pointed out, presents, in more than one respect, the soul of a child. This infantile, weak, vacillating will predisposes the subject to tic. But neither of these investigators pene- trated to the core of the problem inasmuch as their psycho- logic investigation amounted only to an extended anamnesis. Within this limited range of investigation they were able, however, to ferret out the decisive determinant, with their psychologic insight. But they overlooked altogether the fact that back of that precipitating determinant there were other, farther reaching, psychologic determinants. 256 THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 257 The following case, by Meige and Feindel, illustrates the method of investigation of these two authors. Case 99. A girl suffered from a tic which made her twist her head and left shoulder in such a way as to bring them to- gether. Meige and Feindel traced the cause to a very painful periostitis at the beginning of the trouble which the patient tried to alleviate by leaning her head against the shoulder, because the pressure and the heat of the arm brought her relief. It will be shown later, in connection with a similar case, that the periostitis was a precipitating determinant while the true cause of the tic is traceable to an impulse of regressive character unknown to the subject. Meige and Feindel explain the pathogenesis of tic as fol- lows : A peripheral stimulus or mental image induces a logical, purposive gesture. Repetition fastens this gesture as a habit and finally it becomes an automatism. When the precipitating stimulus is no longer present, and the gestures appear mean- ingless, exaggerated, irrelevant, or artificial, we are justified to speak of a tic. Such tics are tonic or clonic twitchings, i.e., they are sudden, interrupted motions or forced postures which, however, betray the original gestures. Charcot very cleverly calls tic the caricature of an action. However, it is almost impossible to interpret the original intent of the motion, because in the course of time the gesture under- goes transformation, a change which Janet very fittingly calls "degeneration" of the tic. The views of Meige and Feindel touch the problem merely on the surface. Admitting that weakness of will is an im- portant etiological factor, the reason for that weakness of will, as expressed in the parapathy, remains unexplained. Janet's penetrating search carries us deeper into the core of the problem. He recognizes that back of the tic there lurks an emotionally overaffective mental image which he calls a "fixed idea." Janet sees in the neuropath's abnormal motions a psychological betrayal, i.e., a more or less discreet expression of the fixed idea. As a fitting illustration showing clearly the origin of a tic, we quote the following, one of Janet's cases: 258 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Case ioo. A girl has the impulsion to seize the men on their trousers so as to touch their genitalia. She is strong-willed enough not to yield to this temptation, but her fingers go through the motion of carrying out this very act. Therefore the tic must be characterized as an inhibited action and the weakness of the will is due to the conflict between instinctive craving and social education. Janet re- duces also the hysterical tic back to a memory picture on the basis of an illuminating illustration. Case ioi. The patient, M. A., a woman, otherwise healthy, two days before the outbreak of a hysterical seizure, keeps re- peating a characteristic action; raising herself in bed, she twists her body to the right, and while her eyes bulge with an expres- sion of hatred and fury, she saws sideways the air twice with her balled fist; then she falls back on her bed. These motions she repeats about 80 times in succession. Three days afterwards, during the crisis of her hysterical delirium, she gives the ex- planation: her father-in-law had attacked her with the intent of committing sexual assault. (Janet, Les Neuroses, p. 92.)x The following is another case, reported by Janet, which shows clearly psychogenetic roots. Case 102. A young girl was compelled to carry out tedious work daily. She sits at the window so as to overlook the street. What more natural than the desire to abandon the work and go down the street? Every minute she turns her head towards the window to watch what was going on upon the street. Little by little the intended motion breaks out into a tic. She feels her head turning automatically towards the left. A ridiculous therapy (encasing in plaster and fixation of the head) makes her trouble worse, so that subsequently the motion grows more violent and more strongly impulsive (loc. cit., p. 109). The psychogenetic determinants of this trouble are too transparent to require further elucidation. Whereas Meige and Feindel, in agreement with Brissaud, assume a hypertrophy of the functional center in the brain, which may have been brought about by the weakness of the THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 259 will, Janet places the emphasis on the psychic determinants, inasmuch as he regards the "psychic disposition," a term by which he means the more or less rapid flow of mental images and thoughts responsible for the tic. Recently Ferenczi2 has endeavored to ascertain the essence of tic by means of psychoanalysis. For the most part he utilizes Meige and Feindel's rich store of data, adding a few meager observations of his own, without having analyzed a single case of tic. He emphasizes the relationship between tic and catatonia,-a relationship to which Meige and Feindel have already called our attention. "The tonic rigidity of catatonia he regards as the summation of innumerable clonic spasms which make up the defence reaction of tic. Like cata- tonia, the tic must be a narcissistic illness, and the motorial manifestation, a masturbation equivalent around 'genitalized' parts of the body. The cause of this 'genitalization' may be a trivial stimulus in an individual whose narcissistic predis- position is constitutional or it may be an abnormal libidinous investment of pathologically or traumatically changed organs." (In this connection he refers to Case 99,-the girl with the dental abscess.3) These generalizations surely hold true only of certain cases; they cannot be valid in all cases of tic. Our researches show that there are various forms of tic having a different psychic origin. Many cases show no trace of genitalization, while other cases clearly betray a sexual origin. Before going more deeply into the psychogenesis of tic, we want to point out that the psychogenetic character of this ailment is proven by the fact that the trouble is curable through psychotherapeutic means. We have been successful in obtaining very gratifying results in a series of cases, although tic is notoriously one of the most stubborn ailments and proves most refractory to every form of treatment. But we have not opened thereby a new field. Psychic cures of tic are not an innovation. Brissaud has employed a mirror therapy and reeducation of the will with varying results. Even hypnosis has been attempted at times 260 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR with satisfactory results. Van Rentenchem has published an extensive account of a case. Recently Oberrender 4 has re- corded the cure of a severe tic through a combination of mir- ror therapy and hypnosis. Raymond and Janet have repeatedly attained success through the use of suggestion therapy. But all these methods of cure do not go into the deeper psychic roots of the ailment. Therefore the results are merely transitory and uncertain; the above mentioned methods, unfortunately, fail in over 95 per cent of the cases. Cured cases of tic are extremely rare. According to our conception tic is but symptomatic of a parapathy. Getting rid of the tic does not necessarily mean that the parapathy has been cured. The tic is the motorial expression of a mental conflict. It represents a thwarted im- pulse; it stands for an action arrested by the inhibitive images of the subject's primary personality. In all cases of tic which we had the opportunity of analyzing, we have been able to trace a splitting of the personality. The self is opposed by a counter-self which betrays its aim through the tic. The aim is not expressed through a complete act, nor is the tic the caricature of an act, as claimed by Charcot; it is the rudiment of an action, giving the appearance of a caricature. We have already mentioned that a tic may degenerate, i.e., the original sense of the intended action is gradually lost, leaving behind only vestiges which lend the tic its senseless and ridiculous character. But originally the motions of the tic were logical as well as meaningful. A case, in brief, illustrating the degeneration of the tic: Case 103. A clerk, grossly insulted and persecuted by his superiors, feels the impulsion of slaying his hateful antagonist. He acquires a tic which plainly expresses this intention. It con- sists of thrusting his arm forward, as if he were stabbing some one. After a few months this originally purposive motion leaves only a rudiment, a slight twitching of the hand, which seems meaningless, hardly suggesting the originary gesture. (Stekel.) This case shows us clearly the "player" and the "counter- player." The player, in his resentment, thirsts for revenge, and THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 261 cries out: "Kill him!" The counter-player whispers: "You shall not do that! You are a pious man,-commit no crime." These promptings were conscious perhaps for a second. Then they were repressed, because they were too painful to the con- sciousness. The player was brought to a standstill. The counter-player triumphed. But only apparently. For the affectatively stressed thought (Wernicke's over-valued idea, Janet's idee fixe) still pressed for expression. Instead of the act, there was carried out the intention thereof,-a tic, of whose character the subject's integrated personality was ap- parently unaware. The subject was unable to grasp any longer the meaning of the tic. But the danger of that mean- ing being interpreted and understood was too great. Little by little the originally purposive act-the arm motion of stabbing -was abbreviated, changed and transformed,-in Janet's sense, it underwent gradual degeneration, until all that re- mained was a slight tremor as a rudiment, or caricature, of the original deed. The player carried out the motion of stab- bing. But as his resentment cooled in the course of years the corresponding motion also grew weaker. It became fixed as a reproach, no less than as the substitute of an intention. The case does not lack sexual components. For the man honored and respected his superiors in office (father-imago) ; for that reason the humiliations affected him so severely. The aggression may also be conceived in Freud's sense (i.e., symbolically!). The fine tremor, appearing for a few seconds with lightning rapidity and disappearing just as rapidly, reduced an action to the symbol of an action. This degeneration of the tic, its transformation and reduction in the course of time, explains why the original meaning of the gesture is lost. Such mask- ing is particularly common in the case of tics associated with sexual cravings which under no circumstances must be allowed to enter consciousness, inasmuch as the subject's integrated moral personality resents forbidden cravings of that character and does not tolerate them. Thus the cravings persist like foreign bodies within the subject's psyche, a state of mind which, of course, leads to a deeper split of the personality. Nevertheless certain tics are of very simple structure and 262 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR may be traced to simple mental images which crave repetition (the so-called repetition compulsion). Case 104. An engineer, 34 years of age, suffers from a strange tic which does not show itself some days, while during other days it recurs as many as thirty times. He stretches his abdomen forward and hollows his back. Often, on going to bed, he re- peats this motion six times. Analysis disclosed the fact that his aunt had performed fellatio on him when he was seven years of age. This procedure had been carried out on him six times in the course of one week. His tic represents, on the one hand, the memory of this incident; on the other hand, it represents the wish for its repetition. (Stekel.) We are not warranted in assuming, as Ferenzi would, that the respective musculature of the trunk and abdomen had become genitalized, or that the libido had become stagnant in those bodily parts. The motions above mentioned are a form of expressing the strongest sexual acme, which he re- produces as a mnemonic picture. Analytic explanation of the meaning of the gesture was followed by the complete dis- appearance of the tic. On the other hand there are tics having a criminal basis. Every forbidden thought, which is not tolerated in conscious- ness, may become expressed motorially as a tic. Such tics often serve as warnings, in contrast to the wish tics. Here the same relationship holds true as in the case of all the other hypnotic symptoms. Even the dream may represent a wish fulfillment; but it may also stand for a warning. The sense of warning is very clearly expressed in the fol- lowing illustrative instance: Case 105. A 28-year-old attorney suffers from the well-known collar tic, frequently observed as a simple habit, or stereotypic motion. He cannot wear a stiff collar, because it gives him an uncomfortable feeling around the neck. He goes through the usual hand motion around the neck, habitually sticking his crooked fingers behind the soft collar and moving them around, as if to test whether he has enough air to breathe. So long as this is done deliberately, it amounts to a compulsion mannerism. But he repeats this motion all day long without being aware that he THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 263 is doing it. The act has become wholly automatic. Besides, he suffers from a strange eye tic. Both eyes turn synchronously to one side, the motion taking place with lightning rapidity. In addition, he suffers from a serious hysterical disorder of vision, for which various glasses had been prescribed, but without result. The thick spherical eyeglasses patient wears bring slight relief. His eyes are easily fatigued on reading, and this has interfered with his advancement. He is unable properly to study the law books and for that reason he limits his professional work to a minimum; consequently his earning capacity is reduced to a pitiable income. But with his mother's financial assistance he and his family (wife and two children) do not suffer privation. Analysis reveals the following facts: He has been unable to wear stiff collars for the past year, since his return from the army. He is an ex-officer, a lieutenant and interpreter in the American Army, attached to the General Staff, and considered himself in excellent health, although he lived abstinently, as he points out with emphasis. Since his re- turn he maintains sexual intercourse every night exclusively with his wife, in spite of their daily quarrels and serious conflicts. The marriage is very unsatisfactory, and it is mostly his fault, as he himself admits. His eye disorder handicaps him so much that his wife and family have been reduced to a state of want on that account. He is fearfully jealous. In his dreams he often catches his wife at new breaches of marital faithfulness and slays her. Such dreams amount to a pretext for latent hatred. I search further in this direction and am told that the tic appeared, ap- proximately, two months after the subject's return from France, -specifically, following a serious quarrel with his wife. Sud- denly his stiff collar troubled him. He struggled for air and threw off his collar. Since that day he can wear only soft, loose shirts, with soft collars. His erotic predisposition is distinctly polygamous and before his marriage he indulged quite freely in his Don Juan-like pro- clivities. He was led into marriage, according to his testimony, through an unfortunate incident. He was intimate with his present wife. She was a girl from a good home, virgo intacta, but permitted herself to be seduced by him and became his sweet- heart. He had recourse to the usual pretext,-that he intended 264 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR to marry her. One day,-it was but a week before his departure for France,-she disclosed to him that she was pregnant. He then doubted (positively without reason) whether he was the true father of the expected offspring. But she threatened legal pro- cedure. In the United States, the authorities are strict and pro- tect the unmarried mother in every possible way. Two years of prison faced him unless he married her. Therefore he did the only possible thing. He married her in two days-marriages, too, take place very quickly in the United States and without great formalities-but kept the marriage secret from his mother. After one year he returned home on a few weeks' leave, found a child there, and rendered his wife pregnant a second time. While in France he lived an abstinent existence, in spite of his polygamous tendencies, because he clung to a superstitious belief that his wife would be faithful to him so long only as he himself would remain true to her. After the war was over he returned home and told his mother about his marriage, a disclosure which led to a serious quarrel. He was promised financial assistance, but this aid was subtracted from his share of the inheritance, in fairness to the other children of the family. His mother re- proached him vehemently, insisting that he had ruined his career through the premature marriage. He disclosed nothing of the cir- cumstances which had compelled him to take the step. That is something his very strict mother would have forgiven neither him nor his wife. He was compelled to accept a humble position in a law office. His ambitious plans came to nothing; and his serious eye defect prevented him from developing his full capaci- ties even in that position. As a consequence, there arose within him criminal impulses directed against his family. He wanted to poison his wife and the two children, or put them out of the way in some other manner. Of these impulses he was transitorily aware, but on the instant they disappeared from the field of his consciousness. As a warning against the impulse of strangling, or poisoning, arose the tic. He was afraid of having to hang for it. There- fore he could tolerate no stiff collar. His eye trouble arose be- cause he had resolved not to look at the girls on the street any more. His jealousy was a projection of his own weakness. In spite of his resolution he rolled his eyes to one side even while he tried to gaze strictly ahead, thus bringing the tempting pic- tures within his visual sphere and seeing them with a part of his self. THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 265 After three days of treatment the tic and the inability to read disappeared. He laid aside his eyeglasses and put on a stiff collar. The hysterical disorder of his vision was a conversion symptom; it expressed his inability to look at the truth,-in Janet's sense, it denoted a limitation of his mental vision. At the first sitting he told me about a dream which pre- ceded, or introduced, so to speak, his trouble. Such dreams are extraordinarily significant. They contain the solution of the conflict; they are key dreams. It is well known that various investigators maintain that there are dream psychoses, -conditions which are apparently cleared up by a dream. These investigators confuse cause and effect. The mental conflict brings on the dream. The dreamer becomes ill be- cause the dream renders him half-conscious of his conflict, and his flight into psychosis is a means of preventing the conflict from becoming fully conscious. Let us apply this to our patient. He, too, thought that the dream had so excited him as to make him "nervous." The dream is as follows: I am accused of having slain my mother. I know I have not done so, because mother is still living. I face the Court. Attor- ney N. (the same lawyer who defended X., the woman slayer who was afterwards hung) argues that it is not possible to have killed a person who is still living. Great controversy over that in the Court room. The mother is alleged to have been slain, even though she lives. Enraged, I shout scornfully at the Court: "It makes no difference to me what you contend. I'll be sen- tenced anyway." The analysis of the dream is not as complicated as it may seem to the beginner in the art of dream interpretation. The chief question whether one may have slain one's mother, though she still lives, is solved when we know that he has stifled his love for his mother, and that he has caused her enough anguish to bring her nearer to her grave. But "mother" stands also for his wife, the mother of his chil- dren. Abstractly he has repeatedly slain her. The court room is his own conscience. He rebels against his own conscience. 266 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR Theretofore he had been fixed on his mother and had the advantage of sharing his mother's life, an advantage which ended with his marriage. Throwing his chances for a splen- did career to the winds he joined the ranks of the proletariat. His hatred was directed against his wife,-the innocent cause of his "matricide." (Stekel.) In this instance we are confronted with a warning and with the outbreak of a secondary personality which wanted to set itself above the laws of marriage. The eye tic stood in the service of the unmoral, the collar tic in the service of the moral trend. But, like every parapathiac symptom, it was bi-polar (pluri-dimensional). It expressed also the con- finement of the marital ties from which he wanted to free himself at all costs. The next illustration shows the significance of the mental conflict in the formation of the tic. Case 106. Mrs. E. N., 30 years of age, is about to marry a 50-year-old writer. This was a passionate love affair of six years' duration which could culminate in marriage (since the two parties were already married) only after separation was effected. Mrs. E. N., at last free of her marital bonds, found that her future husband had to go to Hungary to prosecute the divorce at the place of his legal residence and this took a number of months. Meanwhile the woman went to live with her mother, who, however, was antagonistic towards the writer. She favored her daughter's separation, but had hoped the daughter would live henceforth with her. The two women loved each other passion- ately. Mrs. E. N. left her mother's home because she could not tolerate the latter's antagonism against her future husband. Her mother, being jealous, tried to convince her that she need not hurry, that she was an attractive young woman and could find dozens of men, if she would only live with her. She opposed the love affair; therefore, mother and daughter drifted apart. While her lover was in Hungary she reconciled herself with her mother, who promised to accept the situation. But she noticed that her mother would never really accept her future husband. She sensed her animosity and knew that she would have to choose between the mother and the lover. She accepted the situ- ation, and, after a serious quarrel, during which she reproached her mother in very harsh terms, she withdrew to go her own way. THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 267 But the lover found in her a changed woman. She was de- pressed. Suffering from a remarkable tic, she postponed mar- riage. She stuck her tongue slightly forward and then kissed her hand. She rationalized this act with the pretext that her mouth often gets dry during kissing and her lover was complain- ing that her lips were too cold and insipid. Therefore she always wanted to find out whether her lips were warm or cold. But she carried out the hand-kiss motion without knowing it. As a matter of fact, the function of the salivary glands was sus- pended, and her mouth was cold, dry and insipid when her lover kissed her. This, too, was a conversion symptom showing that she no longer felt towards him the same warmth of affection as formerly, since he had spoken in derogatory terms of her mother, for whom her love was apparently stronger than her love for the man. The hand-kiss expressed the patient's fixed idea: to go to mother and throw herself at her feet; give up the lover and humbly kiss her mother's hand. Of this idee fixe she was apparently unaware, but analysis brought it clearly to the surface. The kiss disorder and the tic disappeared in a short time. (Stekel.) Case 107. A 29-year-old man, unmarried, suffered from the mannerism of bending his head towards the shoulders and raising the shoulders at the same time (Cp. with Case 99). This tic appeared particularly at night, before going to bed, but it showed itself also during the day time while he was at work and was growing markedly worse. The analysis of this tic disclosed that it was a wish to be sick and lean on the maternal breast again like a child. The tic is the expression of a psychosexual infantil- ism which means: Oh, to be a child once more! (Stekel.) For specific reasons these cases have been given in brief outline. Therefore I record below a more complex clinical picture. Case 108. Mr. Z. T., an official and journalist from Serbia, suffers for the past two years from a tic of the left facialis. The tic is partly clonic, partly tonic. The right eye closes and the right oral angle stretches to the right. This tic arose 2% years ago, towards the end of the war, and has grown progressively worse. Physical examination proves negative. Slight mechanical 268 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR hyper-irritability of the left facialis. No hereditary taint. His mother has a slight indication of tic. At times her shoulders twitch. He had had no serious diseases and has never been wounded in the war. No emotional crisis, no traumatic experi- ence. He was active during the whole war, first as a volunteer, afterwards as an ensign. He never showed fear. He felt a reassuring certainty that nothing would happen to him. That is all he is able to tell about his tic and his illness. He has masturbated moderately; preserves strong potentia; shows no predisposition to paraphilias. He sleeps very soundly and seldom dreams. One stereotypic dream has recurred a number of times: he dreams his parents have passed away. For two days he shows resistance; does not know what to say. On the third day he dwells on various anxiety states and com- pulsion symptoms. He is afraid some article may fall from an upper story and kill him. Whereas at the front he felt no fear and faced grenade attacks without the protection of a steel helmet, he now ascends stairways very carefully. On the street he feels uneasy; he may be run over by car or automobile. In his room he is afraid strangers may break in. At night if persons walk behind him, he either stops and looks around to see whether they are suspicious-looking individuals, or he hurries home. Be- fore falling asleep he frequently has the sensation of falling into an abyss. He is excessively busy and works even during the holidays, afraid an inspector might come around and find fault. He is afraid of losing his brother; the latter may be run over by a vehicle, or acquire an infection. If the beloved brother does not come home until late, he trembles for fear that an accident may have happened. On the street he experiences all sorts of compulsions: wants to outwalk strangers; or he en- gages in oracular mannerisms: he must cross the street ahead of the automobile, otherwise some misfortune is in store for him. Everything must be symmetrical, or even. Goes through a com- plicated ceremonial while undressing. All the articles taken out of his pockets must be set down in a certain order. Before fall- ing asleep he repeats his childhood prayer, and at the end asks God's blessing for his mother, his parents, his nation, and for humanity at large. He is very much afraid his eyes may be injured by a needle. When he sews on a button he takes a very long thread and carries the needle as far away from his face as possible, to make sure of not injuring his eyes. He is tremendously sceptical. Seven years ago he was in love for the THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 269 last time. That love affair ended unhappily because the girl was poor. Before that he had a new love affair every six months. His propensity for loving is now over. He despises women. They are all purchasable and lascivious. There is no decent woman, none-his own mother excepted-whom he would really trust. What broke his faith in particular was the fact that he had been able to seduce without much effort the wife of a certain friend. The couple had been married only four weeks. The woman loved passionately her husband. Once, while sitting by her side, he touched her foot. She responded to the touch. The following morning she came to his room and behaved as brazenly as a whore. Since that occurrence he despises all women. All his dreams are concerned with accidents in which he is injured. As an illustration he gives the last dream he had: I have fallen under a street car and lost my legs. I am carried to the hospital. I am bandaged. I crawl to the window to throw myself out and thus put an end to my misery. I am held back and forced to keep on living. We know that he suffers from the dread of being run over. The roots of this anxiety are revealed in the course of his associations. At the front he has repeatedly seen men maimed during grenade attacks. The spectacle always roused an evil thought in him, a mixture of malicious joy and selfishness: Thank God! You have escaped unscathed! He prayed every night and was firmly convinced that nothing would happen to him. Every acci- dent inspired him with the reassuring certainty: this man was wounded in your place. His uneasy conscience now suggests that, in accordance with the law of compensation (lex talionis), he faces the danger of meeting his end in peace time, through a fearful accident. He ascribes his ailment to the following determinants: I. Hereditary taint (mother and an uncle suffer from tic). 2. Fear of corporeal punishment by the father. 3. Masturbation habit. 4. The horrors of war. (He recalled, subsequently, terrible scenes during the drumfire, and dangerous tasks during which he did tremble for his life.) He is ashamed of his tic and thinks it is a sign that he must die soon. During the war he indulged in innumerable fantasies about a beautiful life in peace time. He became a materialist. He resolved to 270 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR strive only for wealth. He dreads poverty and want. His will is now stronger than his heart. Therefore he avoids love affairs which might weaken him. He wants to advance, to get ahead; he is tremendously ambitious. He must make his career. He began to masturbate at an early age. Recalls having masturbated jointly with play comrades at eight years of age. This habit he has kept up until his twentieth year, when he abandoned it, after reading in a book warnings that it was extremely dangerous. He is infinitely ambitious and sensitive. He weaves far-reaching projects, and the least slighting of his personality causes him deep humiliation. He dreams of great discoveries; plans gigantic bank mergers and a regrouping of the European States under his leadership. He never forgets an injury done him. He re- members all the beatings his father gave him. Often he dreams of fighting his father, or of shooting him. As an illustration he relates the following characteristic dream: I fought a duel with my father. We shot at one another with revolvers. When my ammunition gave out I ran away. Father kept shooting at me. I shouted: That is not duelling any more. That is plain murder! Mr. T. was also in the room and shoot- ing at me. Mr. T. is some one he had insulted at a public meeting. T. wanted to rush at him, but was held back. Finally T. had to resign his position because he had shown up the man's irregu- larities in office. In this dream the father is identified with this Mr. T., his antagonist. In addition, we note here a trans- parent homosexual determinant. Our patient has a sister, a chronic invalid who is somewhat retarded. He is aware of having wished her dead, in order to have a larger share of the inheritance. Besides, he was afraid that after their father's death she would be a burden on his hands. Therefore he advised her to go to a convent, but she energetically opposed the suggestion. She said to him: "I want to live. I do not want to bury myself alive!" As with many warriors his homosexual components developed during the war at the expense of the heterosexual trends. He had an orderly, to whom he was affectionately attached. Often circumstances compelled them to sleep together in bed. But this never led to overt homosexual acts. His Don Juan-like nature, as well as his scorn of women, developed only after the war. THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 271 He seeks the male, hence no woman gratifies him. In the course of the analysis it develops that he is at present homosexually fixed on his brother. The feeling-attitude is bi-polar,-an ad- mixture of hatred and affection. During his youth he hated the brother. He was the older and, under the pretext of teaching, tortured the younger brother. Now the hatred has changed into love. They sleep in one room. Whenever the brother returns late he is afraid that the latter may have met with an accident. Recalls having often harbored death wishes against the brother, because he wanted to be the sole heir to his father's money, and because he was jealous of the preference which the mother clearly showed for the younger son. Suddenly he begins to talk about the war. He is a Serbian and has faced a painful dilemma. He has faced the Italians and among them possibly also Serbs, his brothers. He thought often of deserting to the other side, but this was not feasible. For that reason he always dis- charged his arms in the air. Only once did he kill an adversary. He found himself suddenly in the situation of having to shoot at an Italian. It was a horrible experience for him. He felt as if he had slain a brother. He jumps up horrified and shows how he shot down the Italian. Incidentally this discloses that the tic reproduces his facial mimicry during the act of shooting. He shuts one eye the better to aim with the other, while his mouth is distorted to one side. His tic is the fixation of a shoot- ing fantasy. It dramatizes the intention of shooting down his brother. His brother was excused from military service, but the thought occurred to him: it would be horrible if he had to serve with the Italians. This criminal impulse expressed itself in the tic. At the same time his tic serves to express a homo- sexual fantasy, as is disclosed also by his fear of sticking a needle in his eye. (Freud's transposition from below. In the popular idiom, the anus is called the "brown eye.") (Stekel.) Surveying this case we find that a troubled conscience is its chief determinant. This healthy man, previously fearless, was afraid of God's punishment, afraid of a stone, of a vehicle, of a thunder-storm,-in other words, he was afraid that retri- bution would strike him down. To be sure, homosexual trends are also at work, but the genitalization of his face (eye for anus) is not proven, it is merely presupposed. Nor did the analysis disclose any proofs that his face (mouth, eye, nose) 272 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR was an erogenous zone. This case does not contradict Ferenczi's contentions; nor, on the other hand, does it uphold them. But there are cases which do disclose such a genitalization. We owe to Janet the report of a noteworthy case illustrating the genitalization and symbolization of a tic. Case 109. Jean is continually struggling against autoerotic temptations and looks upon every form of gratification as sig- nifying sexual pleasure. One day he experienced a pleasurable sensation while scratching his nose. This occurrence impressed him the more inasmuch as it reminded him of his former mas- turbation habit. He had indulged in this habit at one time by rubbing a servant girl's handkerchief around his nose. Naturally this gave rise to the association of ideas between scratching the nose and sexual pleasure,-one act becoming the symbol of the other. But inasmuch as scratching the nose is hardly dangerous and also much easier to carry out than masturbation, the symbol replaced permanently the sexual impulse. Such complicated as- sociations thus serve to fixate an "unclean" habit, investing it with a strange value. The same patient feels all the time the need of some moral support, and symbolizes this need by raising his arm halfway over his head, as if he were leaning on a taller person. "It seems as if I want to lean on some one who is stronger than I am!" Tics are extraordinarily common as masturbation substi- tutes. A case of this type will be found reported at length in my Nervous Anxiety States volume, in the present Series of clinical studies. A certain boy always rubs his nose as a masturbation substitute. Other patients stick their hand in the trouser pocket and reach for their genitalia with tic-like motions, without knowing it. A very widespread tic consists of scratching the anus,-a habit which sometimes assumes very serious proportions. An alleged pruritus ani serves as the justification for this habit of scratching the parts; but the evil habit persists as a tic even after the pruritus is en- tirely over. A whole series of repellent habits go beyond the limits of habitual mannerisms and, becoming automatic, as- sume the character of tic. Women who have given up the THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 273 masturbation habit indulge in numerous substitutive manner- isms of a tic-like character. We conclude this series of observations with the account of a case which was completely cured through psychoanalysis.5 Case iio. The patient, T. K., 32 years of age, engraver, suffers from a peculiar mouth tic. When he is about to begin to talk and sometimes while talking, the lips protrude, trunk-like, forward, his face contracts to the left and the saliva gathers in his mouth. Then, unable to continue, he lowers his eyes in confusion. He comes to me because he is afraid he may not be able to pursue his calling any longer and because he finds himself compelled to give up his bride, inasmuch as marriage is out of question in this state. The first symptom of his trouble, accord- ing to his account, developed when he was sixteen years of age, when his teacher, he claims, exerted a hypnotic influence upon him. This teacher (male) punished and persecuted him without reason, so that from a happy boy he changed to a shy and retired nature. It was during that time that his confusion and his lower- ing the eyes first developed. He has the latter habit particularly when he faces some one; he then feels as if he were under a hypnotic influence. He struggles against this feeling as long as possible, but in the course of years the trouble has grown worse. First the difficulty centered chiefly around his mouth, consisting of a feeling of tension and weight in the lips; gradu- ally this began to interfere with his swallowing and became com- plicated by an excessive flow of saliva and a feeling of strangu- lation around the throat. Little by little, after his trouble had grown much worse, his face began to deviate to one side; finally the tic appeared spontaneously and no longer in connection with any attempt at speaking. Various specialists have treated him, but without results. Patient is without hereditary taint and mentally well. He is greatly interested in politics as well as in religio-philosophical problems. Anxious to have his views accepted, he often starts controversies wherever he goes. In addition to this controversial bi-polar attitude he is also greedy and revengeful. It is inter- esting that he has had a tardy physical development. The first pudendal hair he acquired at seventeen (the age when his trouble also began!). In the course of his own account of his life, his attitude to- wards men seemed the first striking feature. He is the oldest of 274 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR six brothers. He always wanted a sister, but had none. His early childhood was the happiest period of his life. His father and the male lodgers at his home pampered him excessively. But he was torn ruthlessly and cold-bloodedly from his paradise when he had to go to school; thereafter he was beaten and he had to work hard, whereas the younger brothers were coddled by the father. A tender longing for his former happy life and a grudge against his father were thus nurtured in his soul. His school period was marked by exuberant friendships with hand- some boys and exalted devotion to sympathetic, kindly teachers. The girls he regarded as dirty, inferior creatures. Later he regarded them with indifference. Until his seventeenth year his ideas about sexual relations between man and woman were wholly confusing. That children are conceived through sexual inter- course he did not know; but he knew that the act generates pleasurable feelings. To this day he is not quite clear about the difference in anatomic structure between man and woman. During his fateful period (at seventeen years of age) he met a man at a bathing establishment who taught him to masturbate and who also urged him to undertake a homosexual relationship. He turned down the suggestion, but since that time he is aware of a longing after men. A year later he again met a similar experience at a bathing establishment and afterwards a man once tried to seduce him in the woods. But his moral self prevented him from yielding to the wishes. Subsequently he was inter- changeably conscious and unaware of his homosexuality; now and then he still maintained close friendships but, on the whole, he gradually withdrew from social contacts, because he thought that a repulsive skin outbreak on his hands made him obnoxious to everybody. He prayed fervently to God to cure him, and when this did not happen, he turned against religion. During the period from his twentieth to his twenty-fourth year he went now and then to a puella publica. At twenty-four he acquired a gonorrheal infection, which caused him deep humiliation. The protracted cure, and the outbreak of the world war, drove him to attempt suicide. He shot himself. The bullet remained embedded in the bones of his head and that saved his life. His dreams, which play an important role in his analysis, were at first predominatingly homosexual. On the basis of the analysis of his dreams I gave him a preliminary explanation of the role which his homosexuality THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 275 had played in his life and still plays in his illness. I pointed out, further, that the skin eruption on his hands thwarted his keen desire of being a handsome man and embittered his life. A shadow lay also across his childhood because, as a Bo- hemian, he was always subject to ridicule in Vienna. Rec- ognition of the fact that these determinants play a role in his current shyness brought about a marked improvement in the course of about io sittings, so that he lost his discomfiture and was able to look more steadily at persons while addressing them. But this improvement was far from a cure. A few days afterwards I succeeded in uncovering an im- portant constituent of his illness. As a childhood memory he recalls that between 6 and io years of age he had often endeavored to reach his penis with his mouth. I suspected at this juncture that this was a connec- tion with his mouth trouble and told him so. He replied: "Yes; that was often my masturbation fantasy. The man at the bathhouse, too, had told me of the practice and wanted it done." I note that he is tensely reflecting, unable to grasp the right thought. "And the feeling in your mouth ?" I ask cautiously. Then the thought comes suddenly to him. "Indeed! It is the very feeling that you suggest." The following day he tells me that he felt much better, he has a strong feeling of being able to overcome his tic. He has not felt so alert for years. The associations and dreams, during the next few sittings, disclose various interesting components of his sucking complex. About his early childhood he remembers that every time a baby arrived in the family, he sucked at his mother's breast along with it and that until his tenth year he was passionately fond of doing this. He also liked very much to use the baby's bottle. Frequently his mother, in a spirit of pleasantry, sprayed her breast milk into his face. After considerable resistance he recalls that his mother had the evil habit of kissing the penis of his young brothers and his cousins as a pleasantry, as well as a means of pacifying them, and that she had done this also to him. In his dreams he now often sees a milk maid or a milk wagon, along with his brothers. Milk, spermatic fluid, and saliva rep- 276 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR resent the same concept in his dreams. This leads us to an understanding of the flow of saliva in his mouth. The mo- tions of his mouth expressed the wish of carrying out fellatio on the person whom he addressed, or of sucking at that person's breast. The gathering of the saliva represented the symbolic gratification of his wish by suggesting the oral perception of the flow of milk or of the spermatic fluid. Stekel's "eternal suckling" type. (Vid., Psycho-Sexual Infantilism.') These explanations brought about an improvement so that the spasmodic tic motions became limited to the anterior parts of the mouth and their compulsive character was markedly allayed. Further illumination was secured through three dreams which disclosed very plainly the relationship between the muscular spasm around the mouth and throat and his jealousy of the brothers, as well as his hatred of the father. First Dream : My mother had just left and father had given my second older brother his evening meal which he was con- suming. I came in just then and asked to be also given some- thing to eat. Father gave me milk-bread, which I ate eagerly. My third older brother came along and he, too, asked for some- thing to eat. Thereupon father called me back and cut a slice off my portion of milk-bread and it worried me very much. (Unpleasant sensation in the mouth and fauces.) Second Dream : I was lying in bed with my second older brother. He laid his hand on my stomach and in my anger I tried to shout louder and louder, so as to awaken my parents. Father came, punished me, then he punished my brother, and after that turned again on me, beating me severely. This so roused me that I hurled an insulting epithet at father, in a sub- dued voice. (Same sensation in mouth and throat.) Third Dream : Father angers me, my throat is affected and I become terribly hoarse. These dreams portray actual experiences. He now recalls many similar details from actual life; and he perceives clearly that his unrequited affection and his much beloved father's unfairness were the cause of his great animosity at the time THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 277 and of his death wishes against the father; also that this hatred flared up subsequently against his uncouth boss (the begin- ning of his illness) thus still persisting as a component of his tic. The spasmodic rigidity of his lips and the sensation of tightness in the throat stand for the oaths and death wishes which he would like to hurl against the world at large because it disdains his pleasure craving. Under the manifestation of considerable resistance we come, at last, upon the most significant complex. Here, too, our path is opened by a dream: Dream : A girl gave me a cigarette stump, which seemed to me so big, and burned me so severely, that I had to run to the toilet room to throw it away. There I saw a little dog pawing a mass of dung. Then a little Miss came out of a closet (his sweetheart). She was very, very voluptuous and stretched her- self out, and I lay down by her. A large woman stood back of us (mother). I began to tickle her private parts which seemed to grow under my hand. As I had no contraceptive, I refrained from intercourse. My penis was moist at the tip. The girl went towards the closet and only then I noticed that I was scratching my own anus. Then I heard that the folks behind me were talking about this. In connection with this dream, which requires no further interpretation, he told me some things about his peculiar habits during his earliest childhood (4 to 7 years). He was partic- ularly interested in defecation, less so in urination. He watched with pleasure his comrades and brothers in these acts. The horses, in particular, interest him. During defecation he per- ceived pleasure in the toilet room and he tried to enhance this pleasure sense by tickling the anus with his fingers. He also pressed his penis in a position to reach his anus and often tried to reach the penis with his mouth. He was fond of scratching and tickling his podex and tried to attract the attention of others while defecating. This became a regular compulsion and led to the habit of imitating with his mouth the act of defecation. First he stretched the lips forward, to imitate the protrusion of the mucous membrane and then he forced through the saliva, to represent the defecation. This he did at first to amuse his brothers, afterwards he did it in front of the mirror for his 278 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR own delectation. Even to this day the anus is his most important bodily region,-a fact which he demonstrates to the whole world with his mouth behaviour: with his tic he rehearses the act of defecation-which to him is the most interesting of functions-so that the men may fall in love with him. After all this has been brought into the consciousness, he feels like new-born: he faces a new life and trembles with joy at the prospect of being freed from the oppressive burden of his illness. The distortion of the face to one side during the tic, his last symptom, is now also cleared up further. During his attempt at suicide, he pointed the revolver to his right temple and also contorted his face to the right. His mood was a strange one: he was not in despair. He felt the elation of one awaiting a great happiness. Death was not awesome to him. As the analysis disclosed, he harbored mother-body and father-body fantasies. His attempt at sui- cide was but a means for the realization of the wish to with- draw from this unpleasant world of reality into the beautiful realm of his earliest existence which was undisturbed by duties, a realm in which unpleasure was yet unknown. This expla- nation proved thoroughly illuminating and various dreams corroborated my view. During this period the mouth trouble disappeared altogether. The mechanism of his tic was com- pletely unravelled, but the driving motive, his homosexuality, was not thereby annulled. So long as he still clings to the wish of inducing men to fall in love with his anus, so long as he still wants to suck, and persists in dreaming of a paradise of pleasure, a relapse is to be feared. I was compelled to carry on, next, a vehement fight against his homosexuality. First, his infantile feeling-attitude to- wards the father proved to be the one root,-specifically the wish of serving the father as a wife-substitute. The following dream fragments disclose this feature: Then I stretched myself in a summer-house (Lusthaus, lit., "house of pleasure"!) and suddenly some one (the father) shot at me. It scared me; I ran with my brothers towards the en- trance while I felt the bullets tickling me under the bed. THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 279 I was at home and father assaulted me per anum; I had a pleasurable sensation with pollution. He entertained the same wishes in connection with his two older brothers (fellatio et pederatio}; identification with his mother proved to be the most important root of this. Until his 5th year he slept with his parents. That, obviously, is the psychic trauma which has brought about his illness and, specifically, in a double sense. On the one hand, he wanted to be wife to the father, as his mother was. On the other hand he was in love with his mother and jealous of the father. This CEdipus com- plex revealed itself openly and very frequently in his dreams. In the kitchen I saw a woman seated and I made love to her. Her husband rushed in, holding a knife in hand, and stuck me in the back. ... I had the feeling that I was at home. He craves the repetition of the pleasure which his mother at one time brought him through the practice of fellatio. But, like the father, he also wants to possess the mother. The latter fantasy culminates in the idee fixe of assaulting his mother while she is asleep or dead. We are seated at the dining table. A lady with a death's head-like face wearing a pretty dress-black stripes on a lilac background (like my mother) ... I kiss my sweetheart passion- ately and note that she has an old face. I go to a cemetery and I find my mother there. The porter does not allow us to enter, etc. The uncovering of this necrophiliac root brought about a great improvement in the patient's condition. After the trans- ference to me was also dissolved and he realized how difficult it is to renounce to the paraphilias which expressed themselves in his tic, not only consciously in his thoughts, but uncon- sciously, in his emotions as well, his feelings gradually un- folded more and more in the direction of heterosexuality, as is shown by his subsequent dreams. He feels he is a new man and completely cured. Various other complexes, which appeared in the course of the treatment, played an important 280 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR role in his illness. His cure was effected in two and one half months.6 (Dishoeck.) This analysis, of which only brief extracts could be given, shows how complicated the psychogenesis of a tic may be. The symptoms of a tic, in fact, are never brought on by single determinants, although we often find that after the dissolution of the most important determinant the tic dis- appears. Along with the sexual meaning, we find also a moral connotation which represents, so to speak, the voice of the conscience. High and low motives, lofty and all-too-human cravings, commingle in a single symptom. Let us subsume the findings in the above case: i. Wish for repetition of fellatio. 2. Mouth as anus; representation of the act of defecating. 3. Pederasty. 4. Reproaches on account of these fantasies; shyness, embarrassment, stuttering. 5. Troubled conscience. The tic proved a mental self-betrayal. It expressed what the subject's shy nature kept secret. What he denied himself in actual life he staged with his mouth. Dr. A. Missriegler has very courteously placed at my dis- posal the portion of a lengthy analysis of hysteria which has to do with the clearing up of a hysterical tic. This frag- ment of an analysis, too, must be given here only in brief, on account of space considerations. Case hi. Called one day to Miss M. M., I find her in the midst of an excessive crying spell; she laments in a peculiar intonation: "Ah, Doctooor, Doctor !" I succeed in calming her; she follows me to a room and tells me she is being treated by Dr. J., who has diagnosed a severe exhaustion which will grow worse during the next 14 days, and will then subside, and he advised her to enter a sanitarium. Her mother is ill and at a hospital, she has lost her position at a machine factory in Buda- pest and 8 days ago some one assaulted her in the office of a certain organization. On expressing my doubt whether what she told was the truth or mere fantasy, she swears that it was nothing but the truth, incidentally complaining all the time that she does not really live, that she is insane, that everything seemed unreal. She displays a number of tics. She holds her lids half closed, gazing merely through a narrow palpebral slit, alternately presses THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 281 her hands on her brow and over her heart region, then for a long time she goes through the motion of washing her hands. I give her quieting suggestions for sleeping and talk over with her as well as with the attending physician the advisability of analysis. The colleague accords his consent begrudgingly with the remark: "Well, do as you like. I do not think any- thing will come of it." She appears at the office on time. Physical examination re- veals everything in order. She is 23 years of age, menstruation began at 11, and was always irregular; aside of measles, she has had no febrile diseases; two years ago gave birth to a girl. After the 7th month (she was unaware of her condition before that time), nervous heart symptoms. A second pregnancy, a year ago, was accompanied from the very first day by a fearful nausea. Abortion. She suffers from a whole mass of compulsive ideas and anxiety states. She cannot think about her mother, except what she has already told, she cannot realize that her mother is real, whether it is true that persons are alive, whether the houses are real. She cannot look at anybody. Frequently she is unable to enter the railway coach or street car, she must run first a couple of blocks. She is afraid terrible news may reach her. Her shouting spell set in four weeks ago,-when her mother was taken to the hospital. The first attack she had at her mother's bedside at the hospital. At my request she has written down everything she knows about her past life; it is very little: Until my fifteenth year, my life was quiet and happy. I was fifteen years of age when the war broke out and my older brother had to join the army. Mother, who had a monthly income of 300 kronen, was able to take care of us in comfort. But as conditions grew worse, and after my younger brother, too, had to join the army, we were not so well off financially and I had to entreat a wealthy acquaintance to help us. My beautiful, quiet life was over. The worries I had to go through since then are indescribable I That man has ruined my life! Do you understand, dear doctor, the plight of some one who despises a person and cannot show it; must not disclose it to a 282 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR soul? For my mother suspected nothing, and inasmuch as we were dependent on him, I did not dare say anything. And I had to seek him out repeatedly. I always had but one ambition: to live a quiet life. And that was not to be my lot at all. I had to go to work in an office, to earn money. But that did not help enough. I love my mother very dearly, but I think there was one thing she never knew: she never knew how to manage. And every- thing was on my shoulders. Sometimes I felt so unhappy, it seemed to me a prostitute was better off. And yet, I could never, never become such a one, never in the world; rather would I steal! I can (not),7 for I always yearn after love and tender- ness. That made me very trusting. I am not one who under- stands human nature and I have no strength of will. When something troubles me, I would rather sink than dis- close it. I cannot talk, I can only weep and fret inside of me. That makes me appear moody, and that is the reason why I was unable to hold on to the father of my child. But I am unable to tell all I feel. She brings a dream: I was at the opera, in company. Looking out of the window, on the further side I saw a woman dressed very peculiarly, in black. And as I looked more closely, I saw that it was my deceased brother's bride. She came over to me and spoke with me, telling me, it seems, that she was now a street walker. Suddenly I was in a house, speaking with a woman who was telling me that she had a child of three years. It was a handsome little boy. And it seems she was to marry my brother and she was already pregnant. And that she wanted to get rid of the unborn baby. And after brother passed away she abandoned herself to a frivolous existence, or something like that. Her associations are as follows: The opera square is the sta- tion where she alights when she goes to the house of the cavalry captain, the father of her child; also to the latter's friend, whom she often visits, since she no longer meets the captain, and who sometimes aids her; also to the house of the acquaintance who gives her money. In fact, he is a relative. The square is a rendezvous for prostitutes. She likes to live another existence in her day-dreams, dreaming of riches. The woman in black is she herself. She was very ill during the time she wore mourn- THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 283 ing for her brother. At this juncture she recalls another dream of the same night: My child and I were both ill. The child had hallucinations. That ailment was hard to cure. The brother passed away three years ago. He implored her on his sickbed to procure money so that he could be taken to the country. She was pregnant at that time. But the father of her child gave her no money. Formerly she and her brother did not get along well; they were step-brother and sister. His illness brought them closer together. When his condition grew very bad, she had weeping spells; after he was dead she could weep no more. Brother's bride did not get along with him either; for a year she had been angry at him and they became reconciled only shortly before his death. She now has other acquaintances,- knows nothing about that woman. For a moment she has the feeling that she herself may have been that "bride." But she could never, never become a prostitute. Also, she claims to be wholly anesthetic. Only through masturbation does she achieve gratification (for the past three years; she is wholly unaware of the accompanying fantasies). Her mother sent her for the first time to the acquaintance (he is really her uncle) when she was fifteen years of age. He gave her nothing, but the mother sent her to him again and again. This led to tendernesses during which he had her masturbate him. He did not touch her. He is now seventy years of age and they have kept up this relation- ship for a long time. Though she was terribly disgusted, she had to go to him again and again, because the mother always sent her to him for money. The house (in the dream) is the home where she lived with her mother and brother. The woman with whom she spoke, she herself; she often must exert self-control in the presence of her child; fears she might strangle him; wants no child. Is she now really pregnant, as a result of the assault? Sometimes she her- self doubts whether this be a fact. But the assault did happen. She reached that office after closing hour. An official asked her what she wanted, offered her cigarettes, and became tender with her. She found herself bereft of will power. But she is not now afraid of pregnancy; she is very fond of the child and would not part from him for anything. She turned down a 284 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR splendid offer of adoption. Her brother wants her very much to marry his friend, an engineer. But the others always speak deprecatingly of the man. On the other hand, the brother dis- liked her woman friend, who, as she herself perceived afterwards, was really a frivolous woman. She adds a few supplementary details to her autobiography: We were three children. My oldest, deceased brother was a step-brother. Her mother was intimate with a captain who for financial reasons was unable to marry her. After he left her the woman turned her attentions to a certain attorney, be- coming his sweetheart. The patient and her younger brother are the issue of that union. The attorney provided well for the material comfort of his children and even provided them with a legal father. That marriage, however, did not last long. We got along fairly well with one another as children. I recall vaguely that when I was about five years of age and my brother seven, he asked me to lift my dress. But mother came along and he was chastised. Aside of that I do not recall any- thing having taken place between us. The relations between us children became very strained afterwards, because my older brother was very stubborn and wanted his will to prevail. He and my second brother did not get along well. I gave in to both, in order to avoid unpleasantnesses. He liked best to be alone with mother. I can remember clearly that I was already nineteen years of age when I masturbated for the first time. I was already inter- ested in some one at the time, but had had no intercourse. She dreamed last night: I was on a train that was ascending a fearfully steep incline. The train had to descend at a similarly steep angle and I was terribly afraid it would tumble over. The train did rush down such a steep incline, but nothing happened. This suggests only a few associations: that she is afraid of riding on trains, that she is afraid of falling out, that she is positive she could not "fall." Then she recalls a second dream of that night: THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 285 It is obviously a transference dream. I explain to her the nature of transference and now the analysis of the first dream proceeds without hindrance. The train is the course of her life (in German Zug, train, and Lebenszug, life's course; the association, of course, is more closely knit through the identity of the verbal symbols for the two concepts) ; she is tremendously excited because so much is being stirred within her; she is horrified at the depths into which she must look; she is much concerned about her attitude towards the brother; she is afraid of going perhaps "too far"; but she trusts that everything will come out all right. Suddenly her associations again stop short; once more she speaks only of current trivialities. As I call her attention to the process of resistance, she suddenly declares she can stand it no longer, she must confess to me something: the acquaint- ance, the uncle whom she has repeatedly masturbated, is her father. When she went to him the first time she thought it was her uncle, but by the time their relations led to masturba- tion she knew already that he was her real father. He was always very good to her and often gave her money, which, however, she always turned over to her mother. She was always pressed to go to him. Three weeks ago she visited him the last time. Again she produces a supplement to her autobiographic account: I want to write about my earliest childhood so far as I am able to recollect it. My mother, after separating from my legal father, maintained intimate relations with a certain man, lasting about ten years. She could not remarry because she was a Catholic. We children could not endure this man. He caused us considerable annoy- ance. I was perhaps six or eight years old at the time. At night I slept between mother and my younger brother. When- ever my mother's friend stayed overnight with us (he was an army officer), the youngest brother slept elsewhere, and I next to mother in her bed. Thus it happened that I awoke once very early and found uncle (I call him uncle here) touching me under the bed covers. That happened several times without mother's 286 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR knowledge. Then I forgot all about it and never thought of it again. I was already fourteen years of age, and had my men- struation since I was eleven, but I knew nothing about the rela- tions between the sexes. At the time we lived in Balaton-fured, and there I became acquainted with a girl who was the cause of my misfortune. She was eighteen years old, and I not quite fourteen. Mother did not approve of my friendship for the girl, but I held on stubbornly to Annie,-that was her name. Annie was acquainted with a handsome young lieutenant and I often was present when they kissed. Once I accompanied the pair to the station, to await the arrival of the lieutenant's brother, who, however, did not come. On the way back Annie had a quarrel with the lieutenant and ran ahead, so that I was left alone with him. My God, I was not yet fourteen, and did not know that a girl must protect her virginity. He simply took me on his lap, kissed me, and pushed his hand under my dress. I wept bitterly and told Annie everything. Although my shirt was blood-stained, I did not sus- pect the truth, and thought merely that I was unwell. When I grew older and became more enlightened I still considered myself a virgin and repulsed all attempts at intimacy; Her first true love dates back to the time when she was fifteen years of age-it was purely a platonic affair-and her mother broke it up with her tattling, although the young man came from a good family and his intentions were serious. This worried her very much, but she did not dare talk it over frankly with him and smooth out the misunderstanding. During the war she saw him again at the military office in B.; they worked in the same office, but did not renew their former relations. She was given a position in the staff office through the inter- vention of a first lieutenant with whom she became acquainted through a girl friend. At first he was interested in that friend, but subsequently the patient and the lieutenant fell in love and she even accompanied him once to a hotel on his insistence. But he did not molest her, believing that she was still a virgin, as she herself thought. Subsequently on finding out that he was already married, she wrote him a letter of parting. At the staff office she once had an altercation with a cavalry captain. For that reason she scorned him with a fervid hatred. But all other girls raved about him. Also, every one of them had a sweetheart, except she, and she was ashamed over that. THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 287 When the duties of the office made it necessary for her to see him again, she felt great dread (her conscience not altogether clear), but he was very cordial, offered her cigarettes, and be- haved very amorously towards her. In the course of time this led to intimacy between them. She was wholly bereft of any will power. And she was anesthetic. But she became pregnant. She brings new dreams: The housekeeper has given me a letter,-it was from the sec- retary of the organization. He wrote me, he must write me, to arrive at an official discussion. And if mother does not permit it, I must bring along my brother, as I shall have to remain in Budapest three days. And it seemed I was in Belgrade. That was a code language, the "three days" being in quotation marks and the letter only a pretext for a rendezvous. I recall also a part of a dream about my frivolous woman friend. She wanted to do away with a red dress, and wanted to do so because the dress had to do with some sort of a secret between us. Half of the dress got caught in the box and she could not drag it out. I wanted her to give it to me. In the course of the analysis she suddenly finds a parallel between her experience with the secretary (from whom she ex- pects a letter) and the cavalry captain. She notes also that the persons who played a role in her love life were always officers, or officials, and tells about two other intimacies, one of which led to the second pregnancy and the abortion. She never told her mother anything about her love affairs, nor could she tell her about the last sexual assault. That is why she had her first "shouting spell" at the hospital. To her younger brother, who did not understand her at all and with whom she has not been on speaking terms for the past two years, because he was angry with her on account of her child, she never told anything, either. She must bear every- thing alone, she never comes into close contact with any one because her mother jealously holds her to account for every minute she spends away from her. She did not know well even the men with whom she had relations; it was her strong desire to be at least three days somewhere alone with her sweetheart. As a matter of fact she was in his company for three hours at 288 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR most; with the secretary, for instance, she stayed from three till six o'clock. The dream element "Belgrad" rouses strong resistance. I ask her to react with a series of words and to build phrases with them (Stekel's modification of Jung's association experi- ments). Her reactions are as follows: Belgrad: . Letter: I always carry with me a letter from America. Officer: They have played a role in my life. Mother: Also in hers. Child: (wonder) whether my child has inherited a healthy constitu- tion from his father. (Woman) Friend: She is the one who introduced us. (After a pause) Money: If only there would be none. Illness: I think our family will die off. America: I expect a letter from there. She now tells that the letter referred to is from her de- ceased brother's friend, the one who once courted her. He wanted to marry her, she promised to accept him, but on re- turning home to her mother she regretted her assent and avoided every chance of being with him. The mother asked her to settle the matter by saying yes or no. But the engineer said he would nevertheless think always of her. He is going to America and in three years he will ask her again. Five months ago he wrote her, saying that financially he was get- ting along very well, after having gone through three years of hardships and misadventures. (The letter corroborates this and contains a guarded inquiry concerning her life.) She wrote him back and now awaits an answer. Further she begins to talk of her fear of syphilis: the cavalry captain had been syphilitic, but was cured. Wonders whether she and the child have, or have had, any signs of syphilis. At the reaction word "money" she falters and as I press her for a reaction she grasps at her breast. I ask her whether she feels dread and she answers: "Yes, fearful dread!" Of what ? She does not know. Has it to do with money ? "No!" She handles large amounts of money at her office. Is she working at the cashier's desk? "Yes." Had the thought never occurred to her of helping herself to some of the money? "No, never!" At that she turns pale, presses alternately fore- THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 289 head and heart region with her hand and complains anew of dread. Again I repeat the question. "Yes!" It did occur to her once that any one in her position would sell an article and not enter the cash and-she has done it. After this statement, uttered in a state of highest excitation, she has a crying spell and again wails, in the same plaintive tone as on the first visit: "Ah, Doctooor! Doctor!" Her hand is pressed against her heart. I let her cry herself out. After she quiets down a little, she resumes and answers my question: about four months ago, when neither she nor her mother had any money, that thought came to her on her way to the office. She did not have the consciousness of doing anything wrong. About four weeks ago she began to feel horribly agitated over it. At the office she wanted to be always the first to arrive and the last to leave, was scared whenever some one called or opened the door, wanted to see every customer, etc. She complains that she was troubled by frequent urination during the past few days and also at night, and brings me in writing the following report: I dreamed considerably last night, but I can recall only some of the details and that vaguely. I dreamed I was riding in a street car with a man and the car shook so that I thought every moment I should fall out. Further I dreamed of a former friend (male). He was inter- ested in a girl his parents did not want. I recall nothing further. Next I was in a young man's company; I danced with him. Then I was in a house, it looked like our Budapest residence, and there was a fire. Next I was at my office, and my employer asked me whether I was well already. I showed him my hand, entirely scorched. The dream dramatizes the facts thus far revealed in the analysis: The street car riding represents the first experience with the "uncle." Vague nursery memories keep bobbing up. The platonic love, broken up by the mother and her sexual experiences with the older men appear next. Her home was always in a state of want. The morbid character of her attach- ment to the mother, too, is revealed. For the sake of this 290 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR "flame" she has even "burned her hand" with the office theft, just as she has burned her hand also at other times (with the father, the cavalry officer, and the secretary). She is unable to tell anything about the reasons for her theft. She had been in a dream-like state throughout that day. All she knows is that her mother needed the money. But with the money she bought that same evening fancy stock- ings and went to a dance for the first time in her life. (That this was an act of defiance against the mother, she does not acknowledge, although her attention is called to this interpre- tation of the deed.) Next day she brings another significant dream: Last night I dreamed that an acquaintance called for me in an automobile and that I drove it afterwards. I loved him very dearly and felt very happy. Then I quarreled with a girl over a man; it seemed she was insane. Next I had to go into a cellar but was afraid of the rats. The young man offered to go down for me and I asked him to bring me my doll from the cellar, so that the rats won't chew off its braid. My last dream escapes me altogether. I know merely that I was expecting a letter and that the housekeeper gave me books and in the books I found a letter. I was very disappointed inasmuch as the letter was not from him, but from my brother. Her associations lead to a new complex. The homosexual component reveals itself for the first time. She went on her first automobile ride, when not quite 14, with a (female) friend who instructed her in all sorts of sexual details. This woman friend once took her to her own home; there the woman friend and her husband got her intoxicated and both carried out cunnilingus on her. The young man, who reminds her of the analyst as well as of the engineer, restores her childhood (she recalls incidents about the cellar of the house which the family occupied when she was a child) so that the grossly animal side of existence, which she abhors, shall not devour her whole life. We get a clearer picture of this strange mother who is so much attached to the daughter that she cannot sleep a night without her, who reproaches her bitterly if she ever spends THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 291 a few minutes conversing with a neighbour, who always com- plains that she does not come back quickly enough from the office or shopping errands and who continually warns her: don't allow a man to kiss, or so much as touch you! but who always keeps sending the daughter to all sorts of men for money which she spends recklessly. New memories continu- ally press to the surface, showing how her mother keeps driv- ing her into questionable love adventures and at the same time breaks up every clean, earnest attachment. And all that on account of money! She conquers the disgust. And she swears her mother could not have surmised anything of what she had to go through; the mother positively believes that she received the money-she turned every penny over to her-without any quid pro quo. She loves her mother most dearly. Her hand tic improved somewhat after she confessed the theft, i.e., she was able to control it better with attention. Her ailment also improved, though ever so slightly. At first the tic consisted of an impulsive washing-of-the-hands mo- tion; after the confession it was not a cleansing of the palm of the hand but consisted of rubbing the fingers of the left hand with those of the right; this motion was particularly plain while she reported the incident about masturbating her father; now the washing motion becomes again more promi- nent. At the same time the tic motions were so rapid that these fine nuances could be discerned only with difficulty. The posture of the lids, which was not a tic, remained unchanged, also the tic of pressing the forehead and the heart region. No reference had been made to these motor symptoms during the analysis. Her bi-polar attitude towards the mother is revealed in a new dream, and in that connection the lid-closure symptom becomes more pronounced. She dreamed: Last night I dreamed of my mother for the first time since she is at the hospital. I went to see her at the hospital; found her stretched in a coffin instead of lying in a bed. I was also in bed with a woman acquaintance next to me. Suddenly, as I turned, who was lying near me but my mother; I was so unhappy and I felt so dreary that I began to weep. I said to 292 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR the woman, I believe mother is not dead, and I actually thought so. Then we both went to the hospital and the porter told us that possibly she was not altogether dead. I kneeled on the ground and dug the earth with both hands. Then I wept and prayed for mother to live again, no matter under what form. And true enough, we recovered her from the ground; she was still alive but changed into a chicken; flew on my shoulder and pecked at me with the beak. I was happy that mother was alive, but regretted having prayed that she may live under any shape or form. Then I had another dream about mother. I dreamed that she called on me at my landlady's house, but that nobody paid any attention to her. She wanted a cup of coffee very much, but no one gave it to her. Then I went away with company and it was very late when we returned home. I was so unhappy over having left mother alone. The analysis further discloses a couple of intimacies into which her mother had practically driven her. Suddenly she goes into such a story: in the house with her mother there lived a woman, with whom she was very friendly. She was not the wife but the life-companion of the doctor, who was much older. Her mother sent her to that man, too-and at this point she falters. I ask whether this led to an intimacy. She answers affirmatively in the midst of a light crying spell. Why did she not tell about this relationship, when she dis- closed all others? She knows no reason. As I press her further, she cries out: "Yes, it was the same as with father! Precisely the same! The doctor (she refers to her father steadily as "the doctor"), the woman friend,-mother." Did she have sexual intimacy with the father? She weeps. And now a third parallel comes to light. The mother sent this grown-up daughter for money also to the "uncle" who had played with her in bed when she was a little girl. She always instructed her to say that she was coming on her own initiative and that the mother knew nothing about it. This man did not believe it. He took her to his room, but did not molest her and declared it was a crime for the mother to expose her to such dangers. He asked her whether she still re- THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 293 called her childhood days, gave her a sum of money, kissed her, and let her go. She complains much of her great dread of meeting the mother; she cannot look at her. And she cannot make her- self perceive that her mother was real. I explain that she means to say thereby: is that really a mother? One cannot look at a person like that! And that she really has reasons for her aversion against her mother. But she is still on the defensive, claiming that she is infinitely fond of her mother. Indeed, sometimes she has reflected how she would feel if her mother were dead,-whether she would be sad at all on that account. She admits also death wishes against her mother as well as against her child. With the aid of another dream we continue: I was in bed with mother. A man was lying between us. I did something with him. I watched that mother should not ob- serve us. She asked: What is that? There was something she did not like, or something like that. It seemed that she had noticed something. Then suddenly she got up, bathed in per- spiration. Her arms were red all over. I asked him whether he noticed how mother looked. Then I was again with my woman friend; again I wanted a dress from her; specifically Carmen's dress,-a girl colleague in the military headquarters' office. She gave me another dress and I put it on. Then I was again with men, among them one of whom I was fond. I gave that man a cigarette made of wool or some- thing like that. He lit it. It made a terrible smoke and bad odour so that the others were angered and we ran away. It seemed to be in a hotel. I was the last one. I was followed by a young boy who was very handsome. I stepped into a room full of company. They were distressed. I, too, stepped in, but the other young man I saw going into the next room and peeping at us through the keyhole. The one whom I liked before was in the room, but now I liked the other one better. And because I could not be with him, I danced with this one while the other one looked on. At this session antagonistic thoughts against her mother come plainly to the surface. It is her fault that she leads such 294 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR a life. She would like to live quietly and modestly in every way; her day dreams portray the exact reverse of her life of a prostitute: she sits with a man in company, or converses, or reads a book with him. But her mother always wants more money. Once more she tries to defend her mother with excuses. When I remark that she is trying to whitewash her mother, her tic again reappears and she says: yes, but it cannot be done. This splitting of the personality, talking and not believing it real, knowing the mother is at the hospital and considering her unreal, believing that some one may be dead and alive at the same time, becomes much more pronounced. It began especially on the day when she found out that her mother had to go to the hospital on account of the same illness from which her deceased brother had suffered. The mother made her testamentary preparations and advised her most pressingly not to marry the engineer, in case he should still hold on to her, because she would be very unhappy with him. "Nor could I do it," she adds. "Because you could not confess to him?" "Yes!" she answers, going through her hand tic. Suddenly she confesses that she had visited her father during the analysis, but nothing had happened and nothing is going to happen hereafter. (At this juncture she performs again, for the last time, the finger-rubbing motion.) In two days she is going to see him again but she is no longer afraid of him. And now she discloses also new explanations which help us to understand the theft. Her mother had sent her again to the father for money at that time. On the way to the office (she saw that time a young man who reminded her slightly of her brother) the thought occurred to her: "Never again! Rather would I steal." (Revolt against the mother, induced by memories of the faithful engineer.) And she stole. But in the evening she did go to the father in a trance- like state, because the amount was too small, and either mas- turbation or intercourse probably took place. All she remem- bers about it is that she went to his house and that, after- wards, she bought fancy stockings for herself with the stolen money. "Oh, I have such dreadful horror of myself. I cannot look THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 295 at myself in the mirror!" she exclaims. "You do not want to see your inner self, the truth," I declare, "that is why you cannot keep your eyes open." "You are right," she admits, "but I will do it." And her lids open wide. And as if unable to free herself this day of enough burdens, she explains also the tic of pressing the hand upon her heart region. I had not understood this properly; she produced the explanation, when she told that her disgust of self sometimes drove her to thoughts of suicide. But the tic was polivalently determined. The tic was a symbolic representation of the act of self-stabbing. Also, the symptom had multiple deter- minants. She wanted to stab not only herself, but also her hateful lovers as well as her child and her mother. The tic- like pressing of the hand against the brow proved a compulsive act. At this stage of the analysis the tics disappeared. Her compulsive thoughts were dissolved much later,-in the course of the eleven days that was not possible. The continuation of this interesting analysis may perhaps be reported in another connection, here it would lead us too far afield. But I may state briefly the general conclusions. This girl, who had in- numerable lovers, yearned for purity. She was homosexually fixed on her mother. She identified herself with the mother through a series of physical symptoms,-she even had the same lovers as her mother: the "doctor," the "uncle," and the "officer." On the other hand this mother interfered whenever she turned to her own love ideal: her first lover, her brother and his imagines, -the youthful sweetheart and the engineer. The thoughts of vengeance, hatred, and spite fulness brought about a differen- tiation from the mother,-her aversion against prostitution. She could think of true love only as asexual and was anaesthetic with the men. This latent conflict, not the incest, made a crisis inevitable. The first lightning flashed when her brother passed away, leaving the mother alone. Then she apparently freed herself from the brother, gave up the engineer, and sacrificed her love, her honor and money, for her mother's sake. When after three years she found out that the engineer was 296 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR still thinking of her, her obstinacy, fostered by her mother's insatiable demands upon her, reasserted itself, and she at- tempted-futilely, of course-to find a way out through theft. (The theft, moreover, proved an attempt at returning to the brother, inasmuch as the brother had once likewise sold goods and retained the money,-an occurrence which she recalled afterwards under considerable resistance.) Now that the mother was actually on her death bed and the unconscious death wishes seemed near fulfillment, the homosexual attachment flared up anew; at the same time the associated memory of her brother's death reawakened her heterosexual leaning; but the mother vehemently warned her against the latter trend; she tried to bind the daughter to herself even beyond the grave; the two trends thus clashing too precipitously broke down even the powerful organism of this girl who, till then, had borne such serious traumata rela- tively well and without much apparent damage. Looking over the above cases, we find that in every one of them it was possible to ferret out the unconscious fixed idea. Bringing the motives into the consciousness relieved the tic. The language of the muscles became superfluous after being replaced by frank thoughts. For therapeutic purposes it is irrelevant whether the thought was really unconscious or we conquered merely a willful blindness, the stiff attitude of look- ing away from the facts.8 The strange energy which compels the patient to carry out certain notions is no longer foreign; it is capable of entering consciousness; it becomes a governable part of his personality. The repression is replaced by con- demnation (Freud). The cause of tic, therefore, is not, as Meige and Feindel assume, a weak will; the ailment is the result of a split will. The patient is dominated by two contrary wills. Along with the conscious integrated personality, another sets itself up, which expresses its aims in the form of a tic. Two forces are battling within the patient, a moral and an amoral one, and the latter breaks through in spite of the former. Many tic sufferers themselves come to the same conclusion. M. O., the Meige and Feindel star case, says of himself: THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 297 "Two souls dwell in my breast: one with, the other without tic. The former is a son of the latter, a degenerate offspring, causing his father great worries. The father wants to punish and drive away the undutiful son, but cannot. Thus he re- mains a slave to the moods of his own creation." Another patient expresses motorially this split between good and evil in a wonderful symbolic form. The right hand carries on a relentless warfare against the left. Sometimes the right grasps the left hand, to avoid inflicting serious harm. Janet states: The tic patient (unlike the hysterical) has not lost the awareness of his convulsive gestures, but he has lost the sense of governing his motions: "It is not I who wills the motions carried out by my hands and feet." This dissociation is characteristic of tic as well as of all parapathias and many paralogies, especially schizophrenia. Hence Meige and Feindel found that many cases of tic turn into catatonia, a fact on which Ferenczi bases his narcissistic hypothesis. Of course, that is an erroneous conclusion. The tic is a striking mani- festation of the splitting of personality, the visible motorial expression of a secondary authority within the personality- state. The tic is an arrested impulse. The impulse, in most cases, is the sudden outbreak of an instinct restrained by the moral inhibitions. The tic is likewise of lightning rapidity, impul- sive, but its outbreak is systematized and symbolized. The impulse as tic is not a wild running stream, it is a wave within the stream of consciousness. It is, at times, the expression of a wish, the mirror of a deed, the caricature of an act (Charcot), it is a sterile act (Janet). The split between the conscious and the unconscious tendencies is so thorough that the right hand knows not what the left hand is doing. At the beginning of the tic-as we have frequently had the opportunity of showing-the patient may not be aware of his ailment at all. The tic motion pursues automatically the customary course. Hence it creates the impression of an organic ailment. This differentiates it from the compulsive mannerisms to which it bears a certain resemblance. The compulsion neuroses are also due to an impulse, but in their case the impulse is not sudden, overwhelming, lightning-like 298 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR in its manifestation. The compulsive act is preceded by a struggle between consciousness and the unconscious. The compulsive act is also linked with a death inference, such as is wholly lacking in tic. ("If I do not carry out this or that particular action, some person dear to me is certain to die!") The compulsive act shows us the conflict between the integrated and the secondary self. (Of course, many compulsion neu- rotics, too, suffer from tics. In such cases the tic is a symptom of the compulsion neurosis, which frequently has a degenera- tive basis and may lead to schizophrenia.) In the stereotypic mannerisms of the catatoniacs this conflict is resolved in fa- vour of the partial self. The mental reactions of the integrated self seem wholly absent in tic. The patient finds it trouble- some, the twitching handicaps him socially, it strengthens his feeling of inferiority, but the suppression of the tic is seldom, and not so pronouncedly, linked with anxiety as is the com- pulsive act. Suppression of the compulsive act rouses severe dread, on account of the associated death inference, which is not always present in consciousness. Dreading the anxiety state, the compulsion neurotic finally yields, unless he exhausts the compulsive impulse in his thoughts (for instance, the im- pulse to strangle a woman), and protects himself against the compulsive thought through anxiety, confession, or by formu- lating a new compulsive neurotic overstructure. In hysterical states we frequently see tic-like motions, which must be strictly differentiated from genuine tic. These motions while repre- senting a motorial release of the partial self, do not show a lightning-like course, or the twitching, or the overwhelming spontaneity. (Janet's illustration, Case ioi, is very character- istic. The patient repeats the mimicry of defence and humilia- tion. But this mannerism has not yet transposed itself into the mnemonic picture of the tic. Under certain circumstances it may become a tic, unless the partial self turns to some other form of transference and conversion.) An extraordinarily important corroboration of our views is Klasi's excellent clinical study, Ueber die Bedeutung und Ent- stehung der Stereotypien (On the Significance and Origin of Stereotypies).9 Through patient research and skillful pene- THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 299 tration he succeeded in ferreting out the psychic motivation of the stereotypies displayed in many cases of serious psychoses (paranoidal, catatonia, etc.) at the Bleuler clinic. Long before that Bleuler 10 had expressly stated that the stereotypies are frequently symptomatic acts in Freud's sense. Klasi has thor- oughly disposed of Neisser's contention that the stereotypies are meaningless, inasmuch as he has always been able to trace the meaning of the apparent senseless actions, precisely as we have attempted to do in our investigation of the psychogenesis of tic. Klasi's case, of which we give below a brief abstract, is very instructive: Case 112. Elise G., hebephrenia. Her stereotypy consists of sudden, quick grasping-in-the-air hand motions, as if trying to catch gnats. When asked what that motion means she says: "Yes, yes, one must ward off peril on all sides. It is torturesome. One can have no peace any longer. One does not want to be troubled all the time. Then they leave her in the lurch, saying it is her own fault; she has been running after the men." The stereotypy shows a multiple determination. She catches men and at the same time she wards them off (bi-polarity, ambivalence). A second stereotypy which developed after- wards was also explained through psychoanalysis. She be- gan suddenly to stamp with one foot or the other, or with both together, as if to shake something off the shoe, or tread a machine. These motions she repeated several times daily, for a shorter or longer period. In the course of time they were modified into a tripping gait.11 This stereotypy was also solved as representing the kicking of a mischievous child on the one hand, and as a sexual fan- tasy which was, at the same time, a defence reaction on the other. Klasi also expressly emphasizes the practical utility of the explanation. The patient became more approachable, made herself useful around the clinic and, after staying for a time in the open ward, she was transferred to the provincial sani- tarium as improved. Klasi arrives at the following conclu- sion: "Stereotypies are motorial expressions of a linguistic 300 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR and cognitive character which are repeated by a person, often for a very prolonged period, always in the same form, and entirely disconnected from the integrated activity, i.e., they are autonomous, so that they neither express a mood nor are they adjusted to serve any purpose in reality." We do not find this definition particularly fortunate. On the other hand the sharp distinction which he draws between monotypies and stereotypies, the former being characterized as unemotional memory vestiges of previous occupations among imbeciles and organic dements, seems important. These vestiges prove extraordinarily disjointable and labile, so that they may prove of diagnostic value. Stereotypy is closely allied to tic. But it lacks the lightning- like fugitive character. Nevertheless in certain cases a line of distinction can hardly be drawn.12 The habitual mannerisms of normal persons and para- pathiacs, long ago studied by the Freudian school which has traced their psychic motivations, also show transitory trans- formations into tic. But these mannerisms are under the control of the will and they may be conquered by attention. They imply a certain absent-mindedness, a light hypnotic state, a lowering of the attention. If the attention is centered on these habitual mannerisms, which may also be called mono- typies, they may be overcome without a struggle. They are properly looked upon as bad habits, though they are also the expression of definite complexes, and as "degenerated ves- tiges" they suggest important inferences regarding character traits (Adler). But, according to Jelgersma,13 the tic is a short circuit. The impulse avoids the path of conscience, which represents the sum of all the inhibitions which stand between instinctive prompting and action; it breaks through either in the service of, or against, the conscience. The psyche appears to be excluded. The organic urge triumphs in a cryptic jargon which apparently has no connections with the consciousness. Meige and Feindel emphasize the passing of tic into cata- tonia (Gilles de la Tourette's Disease). In the light of the generalizations at which we have arrived this is easily ex- plainable. The tic is frequently the stroke of lightning which THE PSYCHIC TREATMENT OF TIC 301 precedes the outbreak of a storm. It is the sign of a serious mental conflict which leads to a splitting of the personality. The background of schizophrenia is a similar splitting up of the self into a number of partial selves. In tic the partial self overwhelms a certain motorial path of the organism. In schizophrenia the whole psyche of the conscious self is over- whelmed. Our generalizations may be briefly summarized as follows: Tic is a psychogenetic disorder, brought about by a mental conflict. It represents an arrested impulse and serves various tendencies. It may express repressed cravings, autoerotic longings, mnemonic pictures, reproach, the voice of the con- science, or it may express merely the craving for repetition. In many cases the ailment may be cured through psycho- therapy, particularly by the psychoanalytic method. XV RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT The criminal is the State's greatest crime. Bettina Arnim. On surveying the series of figures which have passed before our mental vision, the first question that suggests itself is: to what extent are persons of this type criminals? Should they be subject to our penal code? Are they ailing criminals or, primarily, sick persons? This can be easily answered. I believe I have proven that they are sick individuals suffer- ing from a morbid affectivity and pathological instinctive crav- ings. In certain cases it was possible to show that they are thoroughly curable from the social as well as from the indi- vidual standpoint. Psychoanalysis enables us not only to un- derstand these cases; through uncovering the deeper motives and reversing of the emotional transference, through training and re-education, through changing the subject's feeling atti- tude, and over-valued ideas it enables us to bring about salu- tary changes in character traits and to carry them to success- ful issue. Stimer's meaningful statement: "Fixed ideas lead to crimes" is corroborated by our experience. The reader is referred to Schmidt's statistical data which show that many of the pyromaniacs whose histories he had taken having been cured occupied subsequently prominent positions. I have not had extensive experience with real criminals. I do not know whether there are born criminals, as Birnbaum,1 for instance, assumes. The touching account of the lives of the Russian criminals given us by Dostoievsky proves that the majority of criminals by no means lack ethical feeling. The law has always distinguished between emotional crimes and crimes committed for the sake of wrongdoing or through other asocial instinct. But we have just proven that many 302 RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 303 of the common crimes are in reality affectative deeds. We think Kurella is right when he declares: "The investigation of the individual affectative disposition is the chief task of crim- inal psychology." But how are we to get at this affectative attitude without the aid of psychoanalysis? Birnbaum very properly regards every disproportion between stimulus and reaction a morbid response. But, frequently, if when we take into consideration the process of emotional transference, this disproportion is merely apparent. An anarchist kills a promi- nent political leader. Analysis might prove that he is an illegitimate child, that he hates his unknown father with a bitter hatred, that he has transferred this hatred to every form of authority, and that his crime is the consequence of his social constellation, of his training and environment. Even that condition which we call "moral insanity," the complete lack of any ethical, religious, or social feeling, the callous egoism which excludes utterly any feeling for the rights of others, at times may not be inborn but, under certain circum- stances, it may prove to be but a reaction (of contrariness) against the imperatives of the social order which fail to make the individual happy, or cure him of his feeling-attitude of contrariness. Much remains yet to be done in this field. But we have already made gigantic strides. We have saved a great many "extra-social" criminals (Grotjahn) from the jaws of the penal code, proving that they are "extra-forensic" cases (Birn- baum), and have turned them over to the institutions for the mentally deranged. But it may make no difference to the ail- ing criminal whether he is restrained of his liberty in jail or in an institution and thus rendered innocuous, so far as the safety of society is concerned. It will be the task of the psychiatry of the future to separate the curable criminals from the incurable those whose criminal propensities have a degenerative basis), and turn to good account their energies, so far as that may be possible, socialize them, pro- vide them with opportunities for usefulness, without jeopardiz- ing the safety of society. From America has come the proposal that degenerates and socially dangerous individuals be castrated when they are 304 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR sexually abnormal or a danger to society. Europe has had little experience with this project. Oberholtzer (Joe. cit.) has attempted to apply castration as a therapeutic measure against cleptomania. As I have already mentioned elsewhere, it has been proposed in England to cas- trate the thieves. I consider this measure barbaric, even when the patients themselves demand castration. The results are doubtful, and gained at too heavy a cost. I have repeatedly lifted my voice against the therapy of homosexuality by castration and Stein- ach's methods, and see no reason to change my attitude about this measure with reference to cleptomania. There is but one therapy: the psychoanalytic, which must be reeducative at the same time. Let us examine closely Oberholtzer's castrated patients 2 and scrutinize the results: Case 113. The first case is a single man, born in 1876, coiffeur by occupation. He was an only and spoiled child, physically a weakling, anemic and of average qualities. During apprentice- ship he began to drink. Lacking money to spend on drink, he tried to obtain it from his father on all sorts of pretexts. Pres- ently he began to steal, at first simple household articles, which he pawned, afterwards money. He stole 150 francs out of his maternal inheritance and fled to another country. He was driven from his next place of employment on account of drunkenness. After an unsuccessful "drink cure" at a sanitarium he drifted rapidly downhill. He stole 70 francs from his father, a gold watch from his step-mother, also a dress, a silk apron, etc. During the early part of 1901 he was taken to the poorhouse, but promptly made his escape from there and began roving around. There followed a series of offences and jail sentences. During the summer of 1901 he committed various sexual offences and he was taken to an institution for a mental examina- tion. He had attempted immissio penis, then practiced cunnilin- gus on a 7-year girl. On the same day he had touched a 15-year-old girl on the genitalia and exposed himself; three days later he asked a 7-year-old girl to take his genitalia in her mouth. He had done the same thing already with a 12-year-old girl the week before. Since his puberty he has masturbated to excess. At the sight RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 305 of women he began to masturbate, wherever he happened to be. Women's shoes, too, roused his sexual passion. He ascribes his sexual offences to his indulgence in alcohol. At the institution he complains of unbearable sexual cravings, sleeplessness alternating with stuporous, heavy slumber and irri- tability on awakening, so that sometimes he felt like smashing everything. Once his sexual agitation was so tremendous that he fainted; thereafter he felt much better. He utilized every possible chance to procure drink for himself, and a number of times he came back from his walks in a drunken state. Once he managed to get hold of money to spend on sexual excesses by pawning a watch which one of the guards had lent him. He asked repeatedly to be castrated and as he threatened to do it himself, the operation was finally carried out on him in October, 1906. His condition following castration may be summarized very briefly for our purpose. His general state showed promptly a marked improvement. His sexual desire is not wholly ex- tinguished to this day; he still retains to a certain extent his craving for the other sex notwithstanding his inability to carry out sexual intercourse (physical impotence). But little by little his sexual irritability and longing have subsided. He learned to control himself. His inclination to alcoholism for which he was again temporarily committed to the institution afterwards, has remained unaffected. On April, 1907, he was dismissed, and since then he has been working in various places. Case 114. The second case is that of a single man, born in 1875, who possessed certain natural gifts. But he had no proper bringing up and landed early in the poorhouse. At school he was the teacher's despair. He was unmanageable, incorrigibly lazy, intractably stubborn, predisposed to rage and inclined to lie. He had no sense of decorum and order. He was taught masturbation at a very early age and his seducer also practiced pederasty on him. Soon he failed to find grati- fication in mere masturbation and there followed various perverse practices (gratification on animals, friction of the genitalia on the back of schoolmates whom he undressed, etc.). Punishments proved futile. He was unable to suppress his abnormal cravings. 306 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR At eighteen years of age, driven from his place of employment on account of sexual offences, he made his way to H., where he went into debt. Pressed by his creditors, he stole and pawned a watch, and for that offence he was given a two months' sen- tence. After that he was taken to the poorhouse. He molested boys a number of times during that period. To avoid the insti- tuted investigation he ran away and went around begging alms for an alleged charitable institution on the basis of a spurious letter. On being caught he was sentenced to two months in jail and delivered to his home county; there, for his previous sexual offences, he served ten months in the workhouse. At twenty-one years of age he again committed various swindles after running away from a place where he had worked for a short time. There followed a nine months' sentence in a foreign country, whither he had fled, and, on being extradited, he served at home another six months' sentence. At twenty-three years of age he went back to his father; but within three months was again tried for indecent assault on minor boys and again sentenced to six months in the workhouse. Shortly after serving this sentence he was again accused of the same offence; this time he was turned over to an institution for the insane for a mental examination. The psychiatric examination corroborated the presence of the contrary sexual feeling disclosed by his various offences. His erotic fantasies were preoccupied exclusively with young boys. This craving rose occasionally to such a pitch that he was unable to withstand the temptation of molesting boys. The irresistible craving manifested itself premonitorily, a few days in advance, through his inner unrest, irresistible dromomania, disinclination to work and irritability. In June, 1900, he went several times through deep depression associated with marked sexual excita- tion. During those states he despaired over his future, expressed suicidal thoughts and, finally, demanded to be castrated. In October, 1903, conditionally released, he had to flee once more on account of an assault on an employee, and shortly there- after, at Koln, whither he had drifted afoot and where he worked for a time in a stone quarry, he was sentenced to a year in prison for homosexual offences (1904-1905). In September of the fol- lowing year he was again arraigned for the same offence and again committed to an institution for the insane. In May, 1907, he requested, orally and in writing, to be castrated, and set all his hopes on the operation, which was carried out in July. Three months later, after a brief employment, he was dis- RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 307 charged. Afterwards he had much intimacy with a 12-year boy belonging to a certain family; he liked that boy very much without, however, feeling any sexual attraction; generally he went through similar experiences with all the boys he met. In December of the same year he declared that his sexual desire was entirely gone. He was employed at the time as a clerk in an official bureau; he expressed himself as very satisfied with his new place and during his spare time he kept up successfully his writing which he began while he was at the institution and in which he proved himself fairly productive. In June, 1908, he returned temporarily to the institution on account of a light depression. Again discharged in January, 1909, he worked until the end of that year as gardener and porter, discharging his duties to the complete satisfaction of his em- ployers. At night he kept up his writing and during that time he finished a pamphlet containing his program for his future activity. He intends to devote his life thenceforth to a useful social ideal; and since then he has carried out his intention. While the first case shows a bad return to alcoholism, in the last case the homosexual craving seems to have been stilled. But at what a price! And how long is the renaissance of this personality likely to last? It would be interesting to have Dr. Oberholtzer furnish us with a conscientious epicrisis of these cases. The next case exposes the castration therapy as a complete failure. Oberholtzer reports: Case 115. This girl, with a poor history of heredity, born in 1877, showed herself wayward and obstinate already as a child. She often ran around instead of going to school; driven by a mysterious and irresistible impulse, she often ran away from home and during these absences she gave herself to young boys and men, frequently accepting compensation. During her ado- lescence she sometimes still wet the bed at night. In the course of years she was an inmate of a whole series of domestic and foreign institutions. The clinical histories and official documents record a varying array of diagnoses: consti- tutional psychopathy, moral idiocy with constitutional nympho- many, imbecility with hysterical disposition, dementia praecox, de- generative insanity with states of melancholy. She showed her- self extremely penitent on the slightest provocations, worked 308 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR irregularly or not at all, and always wanted a change; she was insolent, moody and destructive, at intervals, again, friendly and tractable. Frequently she refused food, or became noisy, at times behaving like a wild animal, in her fury scratching her breast, arms and hands to bleeding. Association with men easily roused her; she was very flirty and impulsive. In 1895, she was cas- trated, with her consent; this was done to calm down her sexual libido, as the patient herself states, and with the hope of quieting her generally as well as of rendering her less passionate. Subsequently her former manner of living continued unabated. "I was as wild as ever," she wrote several years later. She failed to become orderly, proved unbearable wherever she went, and she was either discharged, or ran away, from nearly every place of employment. In 1904 she left unexpectedly a good place in Hamburg and, led by her old desire for vagabonding, roved around aimlessly until she was arrested. She was engaged once in housework in Paris, and one day, when her mistress left her in charge of the house, she gathered the diamonds, jewels, silver articles, books, and playthings and ran away to build for herself a pretty little hut in the woods with the proceeds from this plun- der. She was sentenced to the penitentiary for twelve months, but soon thereafter she was committed to the hospital for the insane on account of an acute mental disorder. She heard voices and had delusions at the time and, after an initial marked ex- citation, she went into a protracted melancholic state with sui- cidal ideas. In 1906 the patient had to be taken to an institution five times. During that period she was more quiet and tractable than for- merly. In 1908 she ran away, but two weeks later she gave herself up to the police, and subsequently she joined the Salva- tion Army. Since then the guardian who had been appointed for her at the time never lost sight of her; she never again broke away on lengthy vagabonding. She still changes frequently her places of employment; one thing or another displeases her, or the work is too hard, but during the last four years she has never been without employment, and she is trying to make good use also of her spare time. Lately she was earning a weekly wage of 35 francs. She is always neat and unassuming with her guardian, whom she looks up occasionally to talk over with him her problems, which she does candidly and honestly. Her old hatred and mendacity seem gone and throughout the last few years the girl's behaviour has been above criticism. The guardian RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 309 himself is surprised to find that this patient gives him so much less trouble than he anticipated in view of her past record and in the light of his experience with some of his other wards. There still seems to lurk in her a remnant of her old craving for the life in the open, and for the road, as shown by her peculiar and extraordinary impulse for self-reliance and inde- pendence. Last summer the patient voluntarily applied for ad- mission to the institution for the insane, because she felt fatigued and unable to work. Here, too, her conduct was excellent, she was always cordial and attentive to those around her. She told me at the time that she would like to get married, so as to have some one to take care of her, but that she had no sexual desire and this troubled her because "men are always after that." She claims that she has had no sexual intercourse for the past seven years and her guardian is convinced that during the last few years she has not shown the least interest in the other sex. We note that the effects of the castration appeared only late. But is it permissible to interfere with a person's capacity for love, before all other means have been tried out? I under- stand that advanced constitutional criminals are rendered sex- ually sterile by the use of the Roentgen rays, which are ade- quate for the purpose. But I trust that the future will prove that criminals may be cured through analytic and anagogic means; and, what is more important, that crime may be pre- vented through proper training. Aside of the serious psycho- pathic inferiorities, we may state: crimes are products of the environment. The State is responsible for the existence of criminals. I recall having read years ago an instructive essay in an Italian periodical, contributed by a woman who described her experiences with juvenile delinquents (Il mH ladruncoli). Every metropolis has its organized gangs, consisting of chil- dren under the leadership of a captain. These gangs are recruiting schools for criminals. The woman told how she befriended these gang boys, giving each something to do; in the end all learned useful occupations and became social be- ings. In that same essay she tells about another philanthropist who took children of this type on a ship and, under his in- fluence, they became useful members of society. Inwardly 310 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR man is both good and bad. He may be influenced in either direction. It is for society to achieve the transmutation of all asocial cravings into social traits by all the means that love suggests. Violence and punishment achieve the contrary of what is intended. Neither is castration a cure-all for over- powering instinctive cravings. History records many exam- ples of cruel and criminal eunuchs and other castrates. Many observers have pointed out the corruption, untrustworthiness and slyness of castrates. To expect an ethical change in the castrates implies misunderstanding altogether the essentials of ethics. Ethos consists of self-conquest, not of repression, mutilation. One may as well amputate a criminal's hands and claim to have cured him of his criminal impulses. I believe the time is not distant when every criminal will have to be submitted to analysis before the rod is broken over him. Madame de Stael's beautiful sentiment, Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner (To understand is to forgive), can be turned into a fact only through analysis. . . . I am by no means the only one entertaining this view. Dr. Oswald Schwarz 3 states: "Castration for perversion means a deplorable return to barbarism under the sanction of science. The only thing we can do at the present time is to work towards a unified stand- point around which we should organize our experience. In my opinion all cases of sexual anomalies should be studied from the standpoint of their psychogenesis. And when in the judgment of experts who have specialized in this rather difficult technique the cases still leave an unexplained remnant then an attempt at organotherapy is at least theoretically jus- tified. The results accomplished, especially after operatic pro- cedures, without such psychologic inquiry, prove nothing with reference to the etiology of the disorder; for, as Adler well expresses it, with 50 per cent of the neurotics the fact that they have sought the physician is already the first step towards their cure,-and how much more so their decision to submit to an operation!" Every nerve specialist knows of patients suffering from sexual disorders who clamor for castration. These are para- pathiacs dominated by a castration complex. Castration has RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 311 become a fixed idea with them. Such patients must also be analyzed so that this idea may be traced to its roots and de- stroyed. I see every year masturbators, paraphiliacs, and homosexuals who want to be castrated; I am always able to convince them of the futility of such an operation and they get cured by mental means. We owe to Kronfeld a trenchant illustration: Case 116. The patient is a 25-year-old officer who, completely broken in spirits and discouraged, turned to us as his last refuge from suicide. Since his early childhood he has had a feeling that he was a woman. On account of his essentially feminine ways he has suffered much in the military school and in the army. He has tried in vain to suppress his feminine bearing by hard service and assuming a strict military demeanor. After the war he broke down altogether, became apathetic, read neither books nor newspapers, wrote no letters, and trusted himself no longer so much as to leave the house. His sexual desire was directed exclusively to the female sex, but he never had any love affair. A few weak attempts proved him entirely inadequate, inasmuch as at the critical moments the thought of his feminine bearing intruded involuntarily and paralyzed him. For that reason he resorted to self-gratification, this habit growing pro- gressively worse; he took to it, as the morphinist takes to his subcutaneous syringe, and towards the last he masturbated as often as eight times day after day. Though he reproached him- self for that very severely, he was unable to master his habit. In every respect he gives the impression of being a highly nervous and exhausted individual, and this was corroborated by the objective findings. Occasionally he suffered from severe facial neuralgias, pains in the back, lassitude and de- pression; he tired of all social intercourse and kept very much to himself. He came to the consultation with his revolver in his pocket, as he subsequently confessed to us; besides, he always carried morphine, ready to end his life, in case the operation he wanted was refused. We hesitated, and tried every other means. There could be no doubt of the earnest- ness of his suicidal thoughts, the better we became acquainted with him. When it was found that he resisted all psycho- 312 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR therapeutic procedures, we resorted at last to the operative procedure of extirpating his sex glands. Since then he has regularly visited us. He has gained physi- cally; his disposition is better and his appearance has also improved. He has never masturbated since. But his sexual desire, very powerful, has not abated at all. He has indulged repeatedly in intercourse, without difficulty, and his sexual partner did not notice the absence of his testicles. His apathy has abated, his self-confidence has improved. He has again resumed his former interests, and has turned once more to his scientific labours. He reads much, goes frequently in society and mixes with strangers, having lost his former peculiar shyness. His moral self-control is greater than ever. Ob- jectively, too, he fulfills his tasks adequately. It is interesting to note what became of his psychic femi- nism. In many respects the case belongs typically to Hirsch- feld's group of transvestites. His disposition in that regard has not changed at all after the castration, but persists as strongly as formerly. He still craves to pass for, and live as, a woman and to dress himself as one. Of course this longing has been allayed by the physiological changes in the secondary sexual characteristics which follow castration and which he also experienced; eventually these changes brought about a marked psychic tension release, inducing a steady feel- ing of harmony and balance. In this respect, too, he faces the future hopefully, inasmuch as the change in his external appearance seems to favor his feminine-transvestistic incli- nations. Thus, the mental status of this patient has been improved subjectively as well as objectively by the castration to such an extent that, according to the subject's own testimony, it amounts to a rebirth. If this operation had not been per- formed, the patient undoubtedly would have lost his last moral inhibition and would have long ago ended his life. But we must again emphasize that this patient's cure through castration is a rare exception, and that the procedure should be adopted only as a last resort; it would be an error to attempt to draw any broad generalization from it. (Geschlecht und Geselschaft, edited by Ferd. Freiherr v. Reitzenstein, Vol. X, RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 313 No. 3. Verlag, Richard A. Giesecke, Dresden. Supplement, Sexualreform, loc. cit., p. 37.) This case is as little convincing as the previous ones. We know that compulsion neurotics, after the fulfillment of their compulsive idea, are temporarily quieted.4 The chief thing would be an examination of these patients after a lapse of ten years. I can confidently claim: Such catamnestic exami- nations would disclose a deplorable result. We must not be led into error by the passing euphoria. Let us not overvalue the patients' statements after the operation. I should like to suggest that all the patients who have been operated be ex- amined analytically after the lapse of ten years, the results of this inquiry to be passed upon by a medical committee ap- pointed for the purpose. Numerous illustrations have shown us that the environment favors the development of impulses; that in many instances it rouses them into action. Impulsive acts are due to two sets of causes: endogenous and exogenous. The endogenous de- terminants are beyond our inquiry, and we need not concern ourselves with them. The exogenous factors may be divided into social and individual determinants. Of course, these fac- tors intermingle so that no sharp and fast line can be drawn between them. The impulsive acts, of course, are social ail- ments but, along with their social causation, they have also individual determinants. The individual factors are more easily uncovered and removed. The patients usually belong to unfortunate families, they are the children of drunkards, or illegitimate children, and victims of the family constella- tion; extremely seldom are they the offspring of a happy marriage. Many of these ailments are the product of educa- tional blunders,-the burden of spoiled children, or of chil- dren who have been brought up without love. Rational train- ing, under the guidance of a wise and rightly balanced love, is the best prophylaxis for these ailments. Training by fear generates morbid reactions. The primordial reactions are hid- den; repressed, but they continually break forth. The social determinants are much more difficult to uncover and much more difficult to remove. We have seen that man 314 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR is compelled to repress and hide his primordial reactions. In- dividual freedom is reduced to a minimum and this thwarting is avenged by the impulsive acts. The suppression of the sexual instinct, in particular, appears to be the mainspring. Here I am tempted to repeat what I have stated in my other volumes, but I shall refrain. In addition to sexual freedom, as I conceive it, and as I have outlined it in my other volumes in this series of clinical studies, we need training for social feeling; a training that shall make for altruism, for genuine love. But how is that possible in an age which has staged the world war with its sacrifice of millions of human beings? Our whole culture rests on the suppression of impulses for the common good. But the war has given a social sanction to the worst of impulses, to murder. What wonder, then, that the whole Pandora box of troubles has broken loose? It would mean carrying coals to Newcastle for me to endeavor to prove at this time that crime has increased incredibly since the war. The decent citizen who was guided by the broader interests of society in his action became a victim of the war fiends who took advantage of the misery of the masses for selfish gains. Theft became a civic virtue. It changed merely its name: it was called "business." Common thefts also in- creased in number to an alarming extent. The contamination of the youth with these asocial proclivities suggests a sad perspective for the future. Human life became cheap, murder common. Systematic preying on society through the juggling of the means of subsistence generated the famous type of the war profiteer, whom society at first scorned, only to open its gates to him afterwards, to accept him among the new- rich, and to bow before his success. Capital is king. Cleptomania does away with the dangerous method of open theft. Proudhon's epigram holds true to-day as never before. (La propriete c'est le vol!) Only the product of one's socially useful labor is true property. Of how many persons' posses- sions does this hold true to-day? The war has accentuated to an unbelievable degree the dislike for work. Every one schemes to capture fortunes and avoid working. The status of general morality is seriously lowered. The broad feeling RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 315 of social solidarity is dwindling, as is shown everywhere by the splitting up of the labour parties. Social shame is almost nil.5 The only ones who feel ashamed are those who have failed to profit by the universal preying of man on man.6 Unfortunately the masses always sink to the lowest level. Therefore all the evil instincts break out in mass movements. The masses yield more promptly to instinctive promptings than the individual. The individual passes by rich stores, he sees abundant provisions while he himself may go hungry; he may be filled with hatred, the sights may exasperate him, but he seldom gives vent to his feelings in overt acts. With the masses, however, hatred at once becomes motorial, it leads to action; in the midst of a mob human beings instigate and exculpate one another. Thefts and robbery have become common offences; even the number of arsons has increased to an unbelievable extent. People burn down farmers' estates to avenge themselves on profiteers and hoarders. In many German villages, a number of the richest estates have been burned down within a short time. During the war we were confronted by a deplorable change. Spiritual life receded while the instincts became dominant. Not only during the period of food restrictions, but before and after the war proper, the pleasures of the palate be- came most prominent, leading to numerous nutritional para- pathies. One subject was afraid of starving, another mani- fested an insatiable bulimia, a third individual forgot all his dietetic rules and from morning till night thought of nothing but eating. On the streets, in the railway coaches and at the resorts one heard people talking of nothing but food. Eating, gorging, was on their minds all the time. At one time hunger was the driving motive. Fear of hunger drove men to work. Now one might almost say: men are satiated and, for that reason, they refuse to work. For the avoidance of labour stands out as the core of the social problem. Of what use are the appeals and proofs of econ- omists and political leaders who endeavour to convince us that increased production is socially essential if Germany and Aus- tria are to be saved? What happens? Premiums are set up 316 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR for laziness, the unemployed are granted bonuses. It would be unfair and asocial to withhold aid from those who are willing to work and to let them go hungry, although we physicians, through our professional experiences, are very familiar with the consequences of accident compensations. But would it not be wiser to provide work for these unem- ployed and to grant them money, not as alms or aid, but as payment for services, and thus draw a line between the workers and the shirkers? But it is not done. The unemployed are not set to cleaning the streets, repairing the roadways, build- ing new homes, laying out new streets, or building up new water power. No, the policy is to wait for their specific kind of labour. Thus, in Vienna alone, where 30,000 un- employed are aided and supported by the State, after a severe snowstorm which interferes with traffic, no snow shovelers can be found, although the hourly wage amounts to a fair compensation. Whereas the cleptomaniac is driven to theft by a misunderstood sexual urge and finds pleasure in the act itself, the habitual thief dreads work,-he seeks gain by the shortest route. I want to draw particular attention to the increase in the gambling craze since the war. The individual determinants of gambling have been pointed out repeatedly in Chapter XIII, where we have attempted to prove that the gambling impulse is traceable to the sexual instinct. How does this conclusion harmonize with the fact that after the war the gambling mania has broken out with unexpected vehemence in all the partici- pating countries, and specially in the countries that are on the defeated side? In Vienna the police have cleaned up in- numerable gambling joints, but these amounted only to a small percentage of the existing gambling dens. The whole popu- lation seems to be in the grip of the gambling demon. Young and old gamble. It is done not only in gambling dens; play- ing the market has assumed unbelievable proportions. (And the passion seems to embrace wider circles in its grip.) In every nook and corner there have arisen little banks and ex- change offices catering to the gambling needs of the masses. In the banks everybody is gambling, from director to janitor. Every other man gambles on the exchange, buying foreign RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 317 orders to resell them at a profit. On the exchange one sees physicians, lawyers, clerks and elegant women, all in a fever of excitement, young girls and boys who have hardly out- grown their childhood age, drive up in automobiles. The races also provide "turn-overs" never dreamed of before. One of the roots of this gambling mania is the dislike for work. Everything in life must be achieved only through hard work. Man's ideal, "pleasure without work," corresponds to an innate indolence. Wagner-Jauregg 7 states very properly: "In our moral indignation over a man whom we recognize as a shirker, as a rule, we forget that we are confronted with a state of mind which is natural, aboriginal, innate." He alludes to the ideal of many persons to win the chief lottery prize or a great inheritance, the ambition to live and end their days as capitalists, without work, and the enthusiasm of teachers and pupils over oncoming vacations; while he admits that work pleases us, he points out that quitting work is doubly pleasurable. The gambling mania arises out of man's desire to avoid work. The war has turned the people into shirkers. Think of the unnecessary work carried on during the war, the mil- lions of human beings who were subjected to irksome, con- tinual idleness in trenches, camps, hospitals and offices. Gambling satisfies man's emotional hunger. The war has induced in us a permanent state of increased affectivity. The plunge from deceptive hope, after years of uninterrupted emo- tional over-charging, to bitter disappointment has brought about a sudden release. Our people passed from the intoxica- tion of expected victory through various stages of disappoint- ment, to be buoyed up again. This emotional intoxication is what the people again seek in gambling. The world war was but a horrible game of chess, with its stakes and losses on a gigantic scale. Now the people seek the same excitation on the exchange. Many persons have the excuse that they cannot live on their little pension, or income, and are forced to gamble. That excuse does not harmonize with the facts. Back of these pre- texts there are other motives, particularly the dislike for work. Is it not strange that nowadays one cannot find a servant girl, 318 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR although in Vienna they are called "house assistants''? What has become of the working women who during the war served as clerks, chauffeurs, conductors, etc., and who lost their posi- tions afterwards? Many of them prefer easy winnings through gambling, or resort to the ever-enticing calling of clandestine "kept woman," or prostitute, rather than earn their living through honest labour. They seek no longer "pleasure without guilt," but "pleasure without work." They refuse to serve. Their submissiveness is transposed into the will to power. The fact that alcoholism destroys the willingness to work of young and old, also the fact that drinking was neither so widespread nor so wrecklessly indulged in before the war, again point to the social roots of the trouble. Narcotomania has become epidemic. The people crave intoxication. While prohibition is being enforced in the United States with increas- ing vigilance, the people who lost the war gamble away their money and their health. New dance halls and dram shops appear everywhere. The leaders, fearing the people's anger, are powerless. Restriction of alcoholic drinks would render our legislators extremely unpopular. On the other hand we have seen that many of the morbid impulses break out during alcoholic intoxication. This has been proven statistically of arson and sexual as- saults. The role of alcoholism as an incentive to arson has already been explained at length. I call attention to the fol- lowing additional illustration: Case 117. Dr. H. Schloss {Ein Fall wiederholter Bran- dlegung unter Einfluss des Alkohols. Wiener med. Woch- enschr., 1898, No. 32, p. 765) reports the following instructive case: A peasant, single, 36 years of age, physically well built, com- mitted arson sixteen times. After being discharged from the hospital for the insane, where he had been an inmate for fifteen years, he again turned to incendiarism. Nothing is mentioned about his sexuality. This incendiary, otherwise considered dili- gent and good-natured, committed his arsons after indulging in RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 319 alcohol. He ascribes his deeds to an inexplainable urge, com- bined with a certain hatred of saloon owners and peasants who refused to give him drinks, etc. It is noteworthy that, according to his testimony, his mother was much pleased with his visit, after his release from the institution for the insane. At the inn he often tipped liberally the waiters and musicians. Such cases are typical. The campaign against the impulsive drives and the offences to which they lead must begin, there- fore, with lessons in moderation. Complete prohibition I look upon as a serious encroachment upon our modern life. I consider it impossible, whereas temperance is surely practi- cal. Take the foregoing illustration: it would be enough to provide punishment for any innkeeper who permits intoxica- tion on his premises. Of course the man might procure quan- tities of drink at ten different places and consume it at home. This could be prevented by a card system which would insure for everybody a reasonable amount of alcoholic beverage. The problem that confronts us, in the first place, is: why did the man drink? His habitual drinking to excess in itself proves his parapathy.8 The social prophylaxis of alcoholism, therefore, harmonizes with the prevention of parapathias. But I do not care to sketch utopias or dwell on an age free of all conflicts and educational blunders. Humanity will never attain such an age. There will always be unhappy human beings and unhappy marriages; educational blunders will always be committed. But one thing is certain: the number of the unfortunate victims of such blunders and maladjustments will be reduced. It is the physicians' duty to take their place among the foremost fighters against alcoholism. Physicians were among the first to extend the hand of reconciliation across the bor- ders. Though certain countries still stand under the blight of blind nationalism, science knows no borders, and no dis- tinctions. The day is not distant when the last barriers be- tween physicians will be swept away. In this connection I want to refer to the "national impul- sions." Concerning these and certain forms of "intellectual 320 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR impulsive drives," I quote the following from a manuscript which Dr. Missriegler has placed at my disposal: "The 'impulsives' show an almost bewildering varietism in their activities. But all parapathiacs of this type have one feature in common,-their craving finds explosive release on the motorial path. Whether they impatiently read or write, travel or exercise, eat or drink, steal or buy, gamble or set fires, they are uniformly impelled at first by an ungratified in- stinct; and after the sudden, explosion-like release through action they always feel a pleasant relaxation. But we also meet persons whose energy discharge does not proceed with the flashing suddenness of a motorial impulsive act, but who find release upon the other, the intellectual, pole of the psyche. Their activity is not so striking, lightning-like, but continuous, more quiet, like the slow combustion of the St. Elmo fire. Their subdued verve lends to the action and speech of these persons that personal coloring, that stamp of individuality, which, in short, we recognize as their tempera- ment, their personality. Among the persons of this type we find intellectual analogies which correspond to all the motorial forms of impulsive discharge, including, of course, correspond- ences to all the subtle gradations, all intermediary stages, as well as all possible combinations. But any one bent on strict classifications may easily recognize the corresponding types. We find the impatient rover also in the realm of the intel- lect,-the 'Ahasverus of the spirit,' the eternal seeker, the trivial as well as the grand 'project builder,' the path leader who would lead humanity towards the newer ideals. These are the men who always devise new plans, only to abandon them before they have been fairly tried out, men who con- tinually change their calling and who are always dissatisfied, -the heralds of every new reform. The cleptomaniac of the spirit, the plagiarist, has already been described at length in Chapter V. In subdued forms this type is frequently met. I need only mention the numerous wits who retell old jokes as original, the persons who can reinterpret foreign ideas only as their own. As dangerous as the pyromaniacs are the corresponding RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 321 mental types, the trouble-makers, demagogues, and firebrands. I know well such a trouble-maker, a woman whose purpose in life seemed to sow discord and hatred among others. And her unrecognized determinant was the love for her son. She wanted to separate him from his wife and because she was not successful, she tried it on all others. She went about it very adroitly, always certain of her best intentions. In later years, after she married again, her attitude towards her daugh- ter-in-law, as well as towards all others, suddenly changed. She permitted every one to pursue his happiness in his own fashion. That the group, whether family, gang, class, nation, or hu- manity as a whole, goes through the same experience as the individual, that it is an organism made up of individual cells, human beings, just as the individual is an aggregate of cells, and manifests the same tendencies as the individual, hardly needs to be emphasized here {vid., Freud, Mass Psychology and Analysis of Self, Internationaler Verlag, London, Vienna, New York, 1922). It is not surprising, therefore, that the group mind shows the same primordial reactions and impulses. The irresistible impulse, the sudden flaring up, the logically inadequate motivation, the process of rationalization and the inadequacy of the intellectual inhibitions, is as characteristic of the activities of the group mind as of the impulsive acts of the individual parapathiacs. The mass migrations, crusades, and journeys of discovery are paradigmata of the national wandering mania. Land stealing on a national scale,-the confiscation of for- eign properties,-are clearly cleptomaniac deeds. The horrible manner in which pyromania breaks out during the war is still a matter of recent memory. The war, naturally, is not a national monomania; like most parapathias, it is an admixture of pyromania, cleptomania and dromomania. Knowledge of the primordial reaction enables us to under- stand many of the war acts. The world war was a regression which plunged humanity many centuries backwards." It is the aim of education to train a new generation and insure the march of progress. Individual prophylaxis of im- 322 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR pulsive acts must go hand in hand with social prevention. Dislike of work can be overcome only through a rational train- ing which shall inculcate love for work. Such an education must be started with the younger generation. Utopia is man's enemy. The educator's chief task is to train for reality. Fantasy is by no means to be rooted out of the life of the race. But we must learn to understand that the modern human race is mostly unhappy; and also, that individual un- happiness expresses itself as social unhappiness, i.e., it gen- erates discontent and a wish for change. We have seen that man strives for pleasure. Gratification is sought in ways which would circumvent unpleasure. Pleas- ure without effort! It is the secret of education to render effort pleasurable. The start must be made in the school. Our present educa- tional system is indefensible. The schoolroom, often, is but a torture chamber,8 accentuating the revolt of the oppressed, against society. The chief task of the school is to train for attention, i.e., for reality. Fantasies are cleared away more rapidly if the shattered castles in the air are replaced by a bit of reality which makes life worth while. Levelling down the things of the spirit is the greatest danger and a terrible in- justice. We can never expect a like achievement from all members of a group. The appraisal of abilities must be indi- vidual. Fortunately a portion of the teaching profession is already aware of this. The teacher must be the pupil's friend. The struggle against impulses and the sublimation of the ener- gies must begin in the primary grades. The various organiza- tions of young children (Pathfinders, IVandervogel, etc.) exert a beneficial influence in this sense. Organizations which drill children for military service are to be condemned. On the contrary! The seed of human love should be implanted early in the breast of every child. Away with the stupid history teaching which praises wars as heroic and passes over the tremendous creative achievements of mankind with a few words! The school should train for socialized thinking. The Pathfinders, for instance, must carry out, daily, some kindly deed. That generates an atmosphere in which the social sense thrives majestically. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 323 The question of vocational guidance is of greatest impor- tance. That this problem has passed at last from the phase of theoretic discussions to the realm of facts is due chiefly to the labours of Johannes Duck. Physicians and educators have much to accomplish jointly in this sphere. A pyromaniac can become an excellent fireman, or his interest may be aroused in heat mechanics and engineering; the young man who dwells on the fantasy of being a woman killer may turn into a useful gynecologist; the cleptomaniac may become a guardian of law and property, etc. The question of vocational choice and guidance receives new impetus through psychoanalysis. As I have already shown, we have to do not alone with innate predispositions and inferiorities, but also with possibilities for the sublima- tion and transformation of the primordial energies. Certain it is that many morbid impulses disappear when the individual concerned finds the occupation which fits him and which is therefore capable of diverting him into socially useful activi- ties. The relationship between vocational choice and sexuality I have already discussed elsewhere. (Vid., Ch. II, Male Im- potence: The Psychic Disorders of Man's Sexual Function.} Much is yet to be accomplished in this field. The psycho- analyst should play a leading role in the work.10 Fostering ambition, as is now done at home and in our schools, is dangerous. Education should recognize but one task: to make man happy and social-minded. Those who are driven by ambition are always discontented. They bear ani- mosity against mankind because others forge ahead of them. We need not fear that subduing ambition means thwarting progress. Ambition can never be wholly rooted out; it is obviously one of humanity's necessary evils. We must try to strike the proper balance between ambition and capacity, in every instance, and always to reduce morbid ambition down to a normal level. How important it is to treat all persons suffering from asocial impulses by analysis I have emphasized repeatedly in the course of this work. I repeat this challenge because it embodies at once the burden and gist of this work. These asocial individuals belong in the analyst's consulting room. 324 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR No judge should presume to pass upon a human being without a competent psychologist's careful examination. In the future the court psychiatrist will be a trained psychoanalyst. Ceterum censeo: Analysis must be taught and studied in our high schools. Members of the legal profession, as well as psycho- therapeutists, should go through a course in psychoanalysis and learn through relevant cases to whom to turn in decisive questions. At the conclusion of our observations let us revert to our starting point. We have seen that man's primordial attitude towards his environment is inimical. All primordial reactions imply asserting one's self against non-self. Whatever is part of non-self is either utilized as a source of personal gratifica- tion or put out of the way as something which interferes with the pleasure principle. Man's primordial feeling-attitude to- wards his environment is one of distrust. The dichotomy, "friend or enemy," aboriginally meant: "Self versus the World!" It is the task of culture to inculcate social feeling. The contrast "Self versus the World" must be transposed into "Self and the World." The world is no longer inimical. The growth of culture fosters a friendly attitude towards a portion of the world, towards one's community to begin with, i.e., a group feeling, then racial feeling, next nationalism, which in the course of development will lead to the acquisition of a sense of world citizenship. But our primordial instincts and the tendency for expressing our primordial reactions in their aboriginal form still persist. They set us in opposition to the requirements of culture; in- deed, they render our civic existence impossible, if we do not suppress them more or less. Thus the relationship continually changes. We regard the world no longer so inimical, but we retain the "enemy within," and the latter absorbs most of our en- ergies. The impulses-in so far as they are asocial-build the pith of this complex, which I call the inner enemy. To-day man's greatest danger threatens him from within. The struggle against this inner enemy-for every enemy must be fought-goes on mostly beyond the realm of our RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 325 awareness or on the fringes thereof. Man knows not his inner enemy. The parapathiac-and that is the real root of his parapathy-is psychically blind towards his asocial im- pulses. He has repressed them during his early childhood and acts as if he had conquered them, as if he harbored no enemy within; towards the manifestations of that enemy he is blind. A portion of his psyche is split from his consciousness. He does not see, or does not understand, the reactions generated by his inner enemy. Through rationalizations and transfer- ences he painfully justifies himself in his own mind, i.e., he tries to justify himself. If the emotional transposition leads to a symbolic impulsive act, he is baffled. He has lost access to himself. But he finds himself compelled to wage warfare against that inner enemy. The self-preserving tendencies turn inwardly. Since danger threatens from within the flight reflex is directed against the inner enemy. Modern English psychol- ogists lay great stress on the instinct of flight. Wm. Mc- Dougall11 links it to all the manifestations of fear, and Rivers 12 sees in most of these manifestations instinctive re- actions called forth by danger. Rivers recognizes five differ- ent reactions against danger: i. Flight. 2. Aggression. 3. Ac- tivity. 4. Immobility. 5. Collapse. Adhering to this classification, we recognize all these reac- tions in the parapathiacs faced with the danger of that inner enemy. Flight from the internal enemy is expressed either in rov- ing or as narcotomania; aggression, directed inwardly, shows itself in the form of ascetic tendencies (self-defence) ; activity we note in cleptomania, gambling, arson, while the analogies to immobility and collapse are seen in the impaired will power which transforms the impulsive individual into a helpless abuliac. Kretschmer's hypobulia seems to represent an inter- mediary stage towards the more serious forms of suspended will, when the least decision seems to require an enormous ex- penditure of energy. The problem of will fluctuations can be solved only through a knowledge of instincts. A man of weak will expends all his energy fighting the inner enemy, i.e., his asocial impulses. We call energetic the man who directs his impulses towards a realizable ideal. Whenever will 326 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR and capacity harmonize we have the picture of a strong per- sonality. But the parapathiac is torn asunder not alone by the conflict between his will (or ambition) and capacity; the discrepancy between what he craves and what is permissible (or attainable) in the situation in which he finds himself is also responsible for his plight. It would carry us beyond the aim of this work to dwell here on the problem of free will. All patients of the type we have described complain that they are helpless against the impulses. They steal and they commit arson against their will. The will of the primary personality is cancelled by the impulsive craving. When impulses drive frantically while inhibitions press with equal determination and force against them, we have the picture of suspended will power, or abulia. We should have added to this work a chapter on abuliacs to prove that in every case the abulia is due to the conflict over impulses. Tic represents an arrested impulse; abulia, likewise, represents an impulse completely suppressed by the inner inhi- bitions. We have already quoted many cases in which we saw that after a period of abulia, or depression (these states usually go hand in hand), a sudden impulsive act brought about an improvement. Being suppressed self finds vengeance in a sudden discharge. It avenges itself on society as responsible for the painful situa- tion in which it finds itself. For that reason all patients of this type are opposed to society and the prevailing ethical principles. Law, as the representative of non-self, is disre- garded when selfish advantage requires it. The primordial reaction cancels the inhibitions of culture. Everything that comes under the concept of authority, thus implying rulership, evokes an inimical reaction. Our inner enemy is at the same time an enemy of all authority. The moment of acting the impulsive individual becomes an anarchist. The deeds of the "propaganda by deed anarchists," too, must be conceived as impulsive acts due to infantile motives. These acts are directed apparently against an individual, or against society at large. As a matter of fact they express the hatred of self against all suppression. Propaganda by deed is a propa- ganda of primordial reactions. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 327 The aim of culture is to transpose all destructive forces into creative forces. The instinct for destruction must be turned into the creative urge. Even the anarchist, by destroying the old order of society, aims to make room for the new age. But the roots of his deed are traceable to infantile promptings. He opposes the earliest forms of authority. (Usually he is an illegitimate child fighting his unknown father.) It is interesting to note that, in the end, many individuals express their primordial cravings in a roundabout way. The socially ordained rules of action are circumvented; a safe way is found of sinning within the law; the primordial reactions are still tolerated. (In business "to cheat within the law" is not an unknown expression.) Our serious economic and political situation can be under- stood only if viewed as a social parapathy. The chief prob- lem that now faces Germany and Austria, for instance, is to increase their agricultural production so as to become self- supporting. The throngs of the unemployed should be re- duced to a minimum; their working capacity should be so- cially utilized so as to make arable the unproductive land. Every piece of land should be made to bear cereals and fruit. Everybody recognizes this need. But what do we see? A social abulia which drives us to perdition! The inner enemy, represented by the primordial reactions of the masses, con- sumes our energies. Aggression is turned inwardly. Extor- tion and cleptomania have become legally tolerated, officially recognized subterfuges. This social parapathy, unfortunately, can be remedied only through psychoanalysis. The masses must go through the depths of suffering before their misery will bring them to their senses. It is futile to attempt prophecies or look into the future. It seems that the masses must exhaust their primordial reactions before coming to their senses. During and after the war the ideal of self has changed. Freud,13 writing of group psychol- ogy, very properly states: . Such a primary mass consists of a number of individuals who adopt the same objective as against their ideal of self and who consequently fuse their 328 PECULIARITIES OF BEHAVIOR selves." That fused mass-selfhood is the infantile-we may call it more appropriately the social-infantile-mass-self. It exhausts itself in primordial reactions: it finds greater joy in destroying than in creating. It is absolutely egoistic. It must be trained first to be social-minded. This common feeling of social oneness can be fostered only by a leader, a new ideal of self, an Imago, a father-substitute, a symbol of authority. Federn, in his small but instructive brochure, Die Vaterlandlose Gesellschaft (Anzengruber-Ver- lag, Wien), has pointed out that States which change suddenly from monarchy to republic go through a period of confusion because the father complex is shaken. The absence of author- ity is manifest everywhere. Authority is the representative of fear. Unfortunately we have not progressed so far that we can eliminate fear and conduct ourselves on the principle of love alone. We are brothers, to be sure, but mistrusting brothers. Training towards love and freedom is the task of all hu- manitarians. The criminal is a product of hatred. Through punishment we increase his hatred and increase crime. Will it be possible to lead this ailing social order out of its infantile compulsion? Will it be possible to transmute the primordial impulses into socially constructive energies? Would a less vigorous throttling of the sexual instinct encourage crime? I do not dare answer these questions. But I trust that psychoanalytic principles which we have gained through the study of ailing persons may contribute towards the healing of society's ills. We wait anxiously and hopefully for the great healer who shall carry out psychoanalysis on society. The belief in a Messiah has never died out. Suffering humanity has always yearned for a saviour. The great miracle cannot come from above. It must come from below, from us, from within us; born out of the need of the times it must prepare for a new age and smooth the path for a happier mankind. That great healer will find aids in all the conscientious physicians who shall have arrived at the understanding of man's weakness through the recognition of his true nature. Therefore it is the duty of all physicians to spread the seed of healing and RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 329 to prepare the forces which must be in readiness when the great healer shall come. The incentive? Probably it will be something trivial, a slight shock which will set free the whole kinetic mass of energy. I think always of a little bird, perched on the summit of a mountain, whence it dislodges a tiny clump of snow which begins to roll down. The rolling snow grows until it becomes a mighty avalanche threatening death and disaster as it rushes down towards the valley. The strongholds of infantilism, reaction and superstition may be destroyed by such an avalanche. We must see to it that enough snow gathers for the tiny clump to grow into an avalanche. The social impulse will never grip the masses unless we pave the way. Psychoanalysis means a spiritual revolution. The affectative feeling-attitude of all reactionaries who are opposed to this new science is due to their instinctive recogni- tion of its dangerous and revolutionary force. Like evolution, it is a force capable of transforming our whole social life. In England and in the United States we see already its bene- ficial effects in the abandonment of the ridiculous prudish atti- tude towards sexual problems. How long before its influence will be felt universally? Then the physician will truly be the leader of mankind. The physician who understands the human mind, above all, is the one best prepared for this mission. NOTES TO VOLUME TWO CHAPTER VII 1 Vid. also the Janet case in that author's Neuroses et Idees Fixes, vol. II, p. 194 (F. Alcan, Paris). 2 Zur Psychologie der lesbischen Liebe. Ztschr. f. d. ges. Neurol, u. Psychol., vol. LXXII, 1921. 3 The author's running comments (Dr. Toepel) are placed in brackets. 4 Cp. Chapter on Relations of Depression to Homosexuality, in Auto- erotism and Homosexuality, Disorders of Instincts and Emotions (trans- lated by Van Teslaar). 5 Nietzsche's well known statement: "When you approach a woman don't forget the whip!" has its forerunner. Thackeray, in his novel, The Vir- ginians, points out that the women who are mistreated venerate their husbands, while those who are coddled and treated softly annoy their husbands to death, and adds: "Know ye not, who would be free, them- selves must strike the first blow? Of course, you must, in political as in domestic circles. So up with your cudgels, my enslaved, injured boys!" 6 Zwe i Faile von Eigentumsdelikten infolge krankhaften Triebes zum Verschenken. Ztschr. f. d. ges. Neurol, u. Psychol., vol. LXXIII, 1921. CHAPTER VIII 1 About this condition, which is far from rare (absence of the orgasm), vid. chapter on Disorders of the Orgasm, in vol. IV of the Series. Re- cently Fiirbringer has gathered an extensive bibliography, adding some personal observations, in Ejaculatio deficiens, D. med. Woch., No. 18, p. 577, 1922. 2 The Will to Sleep, Verlag Bergmann, Miinchen und Wiesbaden. 3 Cp. chapter, Psychic Treatment of Epilepsy, in vol. I of the Series (Nervous Anxiety States and Their Treatment. Authorized English ver- sion from 3rd edition, revised and enlarged). CHAPTER IX 1A frequent motive of marriage, which I have often observed. The young woman is taken as a servant for the mother and as an objective for sexual love, while spiritual love is preserved for the mother. 2 Note the contradiction with the account at the first interview. 3 Dr. Missriegler subsequently called my attention to the fact that this dog may signify scorn of my person. I, who deprive him of his mother love, must restore to him Gretel as a substitute for the mother. 4 The patient's statements about the time and the particulars of the first theft are contradictory. 5 Stekel, in Diskussionen uber den Selbstmord, J. F. Bergmann Ver lag, Wiesbaden, 1910. CHAPTER X 1 To be taken in a symbolic sense: his thoughts are unclean. Until recently his pride went so far that he bought for himself daily a new 331 332 NOTES collar. Now want compels him to wear laundered collars. At any rate he changes collars daily and is very much concerned over their neat appearance. 2 The dream very plainly expresses the patient's hatred of the mother because the latter fails to fulfill his wishes. In the dream she appears to him as a nun. His anger at her failure to perceive his secret wishes is expressed also in death thoughts. The nun goes off. Only death can release him from his sexual dependency. The cryptic sense of the theft is disclosed by the declinatory attitude of the mother. He helps himself to that which is not voluntarily given him. He is angered because his mother behaved like a nun towards him. (Dr. Stekel.) 3 The number 12 has also a particular significance. In his 12th year he began to masturbate, and his parapathy began also during the same period. 4 Cp. the Don Juan and the Messalina problem in Autoerotism and Homosexuality (trsl. Van Teslaar). 5 The mother shall yield herself to him. (Dr. Stekel.) 6 This is also a widespread popular superstition; but my interpretation is based solely on the patient's association of ideas. CHAPTER XI 1 Zur Psychologie der Brandstifter. Psychologische Abhandlungen, herausg. von Dr. C. G. Jung. F. Deuticke, Leipzig u. Wien, 1914. 2 Mbnkembller, Zur Psychologie des Brandstifters. H. Gross' Archiv, vol. XLVIII, 1912. 3 Handbuch des Untersuchungsrichters. 4 Der Sexualverbrecher. 5 A pyromaniac, according to Jessen's account, set fire three times to his mother's wardrobe. 6 Gross' Archiv, vol. XXVI. 7 Zur Psychologie des Brandstifters. Allg. Zeitschr. f. Psychol., 1873. 8 I call attention to the points of similarity between this condition and cleptomania. The cleptomaniacs, too, often dream about the offence on the previous night. The day's experiences rouse the dormant impulse, an attempt is made during the night to discharge off the impulse in the dream life, but unsuccessfully, and on the following day it breaks forth in the deed. 9 Ueber den Bewusstseinszustand wahrcnd der Fugues. Jahrb. f. Psychol., u. Neurol., vol. XXVII, Nos. 1 and 2, 1906. 10 Ueber jugendliche Brandstifter. Dresden u. Leipzig. Arnoldsche Buchhandlung, 1844. 11 Beitrdge zur JEtiologie der Psychopathia Sexualis. Dresden, 1903 (p. 13). 12 Henkes Ztschr. f. d. St. A. K., 1831, No. 14, p. 240. 13 Kinder und Unmundige. Handb. d. gerichtl. Medizin. Tubingen, 1882, pp. 173 and 175. 14 Die forensisch-psychische Bedeutung des Menstruations-prozesses. Mschr. f. Kriminalpsychol., 1906, pp. 44-50. 15 Quot. after Mbnkembller (loc. cit., p. 18). 16 Psychologie des Verbrechers, I, p. 121. 17 Loc. cit., p. 465. 18 Contribution to the Theory of Arson Monomania. Annales Medico- Psychol., 1881, Nov. (loc. cit., p. 31). 19 Wagner-Jauregg, too, emphasizes the importance of the dream life, stating: "For the discovery of the morbid impulses the dream life is also NOTES 333 very significant. The pyromaniac frequently dreams of fire; not only that he sees fire; frequently he dreams of setting fire. He dreams of the fire not with a feeling of dread but with pleasure, so that the witnessing of a conflagration, or the starting of one, may be accompanied by sexual feelings to the point of pollution." (Loc. cit.) 20 Monkemoller also states: "As a rule the vague stirrings of our sexual life make themselves felt in arson, although the relationship cannot be definitely proven." 21 "I want to meet here once more an objection that was raised in Zurich. I did not have an idea, in the first place, that the arson is ex- plainable on a sexual basis and then tried to find the proofs deductively; my data compelled me inductively to arrive at the conclusions which I reported subsequently,-and that, at a time when I had no knowledge as yet of the fire symbolism, or of the psychoanalytic interpretations." (Ob- servation by Schmidt.) 22 Cp. my essay, Loneliness, in: Nervous Temperaments (translated by Van Teslaar). 23 Otto Gross expresses the energetic concept very forcefully: "The affectative (emotional) energy is transferred from the unconscious sexual motive to the crime motive. After this transference becomes fixed, the crime motive may become the symbol for every wish for sexual grati- fication and takes over the whole impulsive energy of sexuality. And this shifted affect then determines the morbid compulsion." 24 Stekel in: Causes of Nervousness, chapter on Transformation of Energies (authorized translation by Van Teslaar). 25 This is well expressed in the popular refrain: "Kein Feuer keine Kohle-kan brennen so heiss,-als heimliche Liebe,-von der keiner nichts weiss. No fire, no coal-glows so hotly,-as secret affection,-which no- body suspects." 26 Dr. Missriegler showed me the composition of a 13-year-old boy, whose two chief personages were pyromaniacs of a plain and pronounced sexual type. A peasant girl, physically a cripple, falls in love with her prettier sister's fiance but, for the sister's sake, sacrifices her affection. The bride loses her life in a conflagration, while the groom is injured trying in vain to save her from the flames. This futile attempt, and the shock, turn the young man into a pyromaniac who always plays with fire; he loves to stare into fire as well as to set fires, because he sees in the flames his lost beloved. The peasant girl tries to gain his affection, but in vain; thereupon she sets fire to her home. This she rationalizes by reflecting that her life and possessions are worthless and that by this act she turns the growing suspicions for the frequent fires of incendiary origin away from her beloved. As her sister did before, she now appears at the window of the burning house; the young man, in an intoxication of love, throws himself into her arms and into the flames at the same time. With deep psychologic insight, this youthful writer-artist depicts the homosexual incestuous longing of the girl, in love with her sister, who through emotional transference becomes her rival in love, until, at last, she carries out her identification with the sister even in the manner of her death. She sets fire to the house because she wants to be consumed by the flames, like her sister, so as to resemble her in every particular and assume her place. The young man, again, becomes a pyromaniac, because he wants to annul an experience which he finds too painful to bear; with his repetition compulsion he continually re-enacts a situation wherein the facts of reality are changed according to his heart's desire and he saves the beloved girl. The creative writers, uninfluenced by the doctrines of complexes and 334 NOTES stagnant libido (Libidostauung) see more clearly than the trained psy- chologists. 27 "The rather common testimony that immediately after the deed the incendiary fell asleep is often emphasized before judge and jury as proof of the criminal's cold bloodedness." (Schmidt.) CHAPTER XII 1 Does not agree with the findings on examination. (Dr. Stekel.) 2 We shall presently uncover another determinant for the broken column motive. 3 Duysen writes about his earliest pleasurable feelings at stealing and destroying stolen articles: "One day I stole from brother a picture which I liked very much. When asked whether I had it, I denied. But brother found it on me and tried to get it back. If I could not have it, neither must he! was my ambition. He jumped at me. As he was stronger and older than I, I tore the picture to pieces in a hurry before his very eyes. I saw horror depicted on his face, his convulsive eyes, his anger and pain, and-it made my heart jump! I was glad; gloated over his suffering! I was so completely aware of all that, of this rejoicing at his discomfiture, that I am astonished over it to this day. I was not ashamed; my joy was unalloyed, pure, infinite and unmarred by regrets. That is how I first happened to feel and enjoy the pleasure of satisfaction." (J edermann der viehische Mensch, ein Schrei in die Zeit. Psychoanalytischer Roman. 3rd ed. Konrad Hanf Verlag D. W. B., Hamburg, 1921.) 4 The corporal, being his superior, reminded him very much of his father; he felt that the former treated him better than the latter. 6 Cp. Wedekind's short story, mentioned on p. 169. 6 Every fire evoked by association the first pains his father caused him and released the old grudge against the father in the form of a substitutive gratification. 7 Vid. the dream of the fallen pillar. Here we recognize clearly the voice of conscience. 8 Cp. his playing the organ in the nunnery. 9 He became acquainted with the coat-of-arms through his mother. The burning torch is an old symbol which appears on various old coats-of-arms. 10 Note the bisexual utilization of the snake symbol: Phallus and vagina. 11 Remind him of the churches in Russia and of the Steinhof church. 12 In volume III of this Series, Sexual Frigidity of Woman, The Psycho- pathology of Woman's Love Life, I discuss at length the psychology of "shadow love." The shadows are the deceased. It is obvious that this subject is afraid of revenge on the part of the deceased. (Dr. Stekel.) 13 He was unacquainted with his mother at the time. 14 The two men probably represent also the analysts, whom he wishes dead. 15 A striking similarity with Leonardo da Vinci, who also had a real and a foster-mother. Hence the appearance of two female figures in many of his pictures, as pointed out by Freud in his interesting study, Leonardo da Vinci (English version by Dr. A. A. Brill, N. Y.). 16 This masturbation fantasy,-besprinkling women with the seminal fluid,-throws a flood of light upon those strange forms of paraphilia, which newspapers record from time to time: strangers who surreptitiously pour acid on the clothing and furs of elegant women. This season many society women in Paris feared to wear their furs, because on returning home many of them found that the furs had been damaged by acids, at times utterly ruined. NOTES 335 17 One of the numerous contradictions in his account. Previously he had stated that he entered the apprenticeship at 14 years of age. CHAPTER XIII 1 The Play of Man. German version, Jena, 1899, Verlag Gustav Fischer. 2 Vid. chapter entitled, Transvaluation of Energies, in my monograph, Causes of Nervousness (translated by Dr. James S. Van Teslaar). 3 Perhaps it is fitting to refer in this connection to Dr. Alexander Bittner's interesting statements in his Krankheit und Seelenleben als Folgen gestorter Aequivalenz der Reizbeantwortung. (Verlag der Aerzt- lichen Rundschau, Otto Gmelin, Munchen, 1922.) 4Cp. Dora's conduct: she insists that her husband give up card playing, agreeing to stay with him on the condition that he do so. 5 It is typical of every gambler to vent his anger over his losses on the innocent. The great writer seeks a scapegoat for his bad luck and finds in the German people the nearest objective. I need not defend the Ger- mans against the great Russian writer's accusation. After the war, which was also a great game over life and death, they too sought scapegoats and have finally settled upon the Jews. Grillparzer expressed himself about the Germans in a cutting epigram: Call you the Germans vile? That is too strong, too deep, too raw. He who weighs his words Calls them merely coarse. As a genuine Austrian, Grillparzer, too, blamed the Germans for his failures. He was not satisfied with his reception in Germany. 6 My professional experience convinces me that this is far from rare. I know of a half dozen similar cases. A unique instance is a certain man who is paid by his wife every time that she is satisfied with his efforts at gratifying her. As a particularly curious instance I may mention the wife of a professional sharper (confidence man) who punishes her hus- band with her indifference, makes him pay her, and gives the money to her lover. She sometimes allows her husband to carry out sexual inter- course with her a posteriori, a posture which he favors because it increases his potentia and enables him to prolong the episode. She lies on her side and while he busies himself with her she reads the newspaper. . . . 7 It is said of Schiller that he always kept over-ripe apples because they were necessary for his creative work. The odour of decayed apples set him in that ecstatic state which was necessary for his inspiration. Perhaps an inkling why he was so much interested in the Tell story (the apple episode). 8 The case is very similar to the one reported by Major Owen A. R. Berkeley Hill ("A Case of Paranoid Dissociation," in The Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. IX, No. 1, 1923). This patient rummages through his mother's laundry bag and finds some under-things belonging to his older sister. He lies down in his mother's bed and masturbates with the fantasy of indulging in intercourse with the mother and sister. Shortly afterwards his father comes into the room, and, finding the disarrayed bed and suspicious wet spots, concludes that the mother, of whom he had been suspicious for some time, had committed a breach of marital faithfulness. The patient is a paranoiac who had always been reticent and chaste in every respect; in fact he had been ridiculed for his extreme shyness. But that is how chaste and shy persons assay under the closer scrutiny of psychoanalysis. Purity is 336 NOTES not something inborn; it is an attitude imposed by various infantile fixa- tions and unattainable sexual objectives. CHAPTER XIV I This clinical picture does not correspond strictly to the condition we designate as tic. 2Psychoanalytische Betrachtungen uber den Tic. Ztschr. f. Psycho- analyse, Vol. VII. 3 Case 109 shows an interesting example of genitalization. 4 Psychoth-erapie in der aerztlichen Praxis. Ztschr. f. aerztl. Fort- bildung, 1922. 5 This case was treated by my pupil, Dishoeck. All other cases re- corded and not otherwise credited are from my own professional ob- servation. 6 The patient was shown before the "Vienna Society of Physicians," as cured, at a meeting in December, 1921. 7 She forgot to write down "not." A psychic self-betrayal. 8 Cp. chapter on The Unwillingness to See, in: Stekel, Masks of Sex- uality. 9 Abhandlungen aus der Neurologic, Psychiatric, Psychologic und ihren Grenzgebieten. No. 15, Berlin, 1922. Verlag S. Karger. 10 Bleuler, Schizophrenic. In Aschaffenburg's Handbuch f. Psychiatric, 1911, p. 600. II We find in stereotypies similar processes of degeneration as those described in tic. 121 quote the following from a personal communication by Klasi: "According to my observation the tics express dysphoric affects (illness, inadequacy, timidity) ; as individually acquired affect disorders, they, like the psychogenetically inherited ones, correspond to a definite mood; more- over, they fit harmoniously into the whole scheme of motorial expres- sivity." This conception does not agree with our findings at all. In many cases the tic stands out in sharp contrast to the integrated personality and to the whole expressivity. (Tic as compulsive laughing and com- pulsive weeping, etc., in contrast to the dominating mood, and as a psychic betrayal of the partial self.) 13 Lehrbuch der Psychiatric, Vol. II, p. 340. CHAPTER XV 1 Die psychopathischen Verbrecher. Die Grenzzustdnde zwischen geist- iger Gesundheit und Krankhcit in ihren Beziehungen zu Verbrechen und Strafwesen. P. Langenscheidt, Berlin, 1914. 2 Kastration und Sterilisation von Geisteskranken in der Schweiz. Jur.-psych. Grenzfragen, Vol. VIII, No. 1-3 Halle a S., 1911. 3 Das psychophysische Problem in der Sexualpathologie. Wiener klin. Wochenschr., No. 11, 1922. 4 The hormonic transformation of the psyche by means of Steinach's operation or through the internal administration of hormones, too, has thus far resulted in rank failure (Schwart, Stabel, etc.). 5 On the street I heard three urchins singing the latest popular ditty: "I broke into a house . . ." Before the war who would have dared sing such a song in public? 6 How often we hear the regretful expression: I was a fool not to profiteer. ... 7 Die Arbeitssheu. Archiv. f. Kriminalogie, vol. 74, No. 2, 1922. NOTES 337 8 Wagner-Jauregg conceives alcoholism as due to the necessity of over- coming disphoriac emotions: "Moreover, among the working classes, spe- cifically among those who do mental work no less than among the manual laborers, we find many who overwork and who are constrained to do so under a strain of fatigue and exhaustion which is still bearable. These persons do the work expected of them and the will to work is undoubtedly strong with them; but they require a narcotic to deaden their sensitiveness to this irksome grind. And our common narcotic is alcohol. This is one of the incentives leading to alcoholism; the bracer turns into a compulsion, a passion; the stimulant becomes eventually a poison." (Loc. cit.) 9 This is excellently portrayed in the two novels, Unterm Rad (Under the Wheel), by Hermann Hesse, and Freund H-ein (Friend H.), by Strauss. 10 Important material is contained also in Siegfried Bernfeld's work, Vom Gemeinschaftsleben der Jugend (Social Life of Youth). B-eitrage zur Jugendforschung. Quellenschriften zur Jugendforschung. Vol. II, Int. Psych. Verlag, Leipzig-Wien-Zurich, 1922. 11 An Introduction to Social Psychology, Luce & Co., Boston, 15th ed. 12 Instinct and the Unconscious. A Contribution to a Biological Theory of the Psycho-n-euroses. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2nd ed., 1922. 13 Massenpsychologie und Ichanalyse. Int. Psychoanalytischer. Verlag, Wien, 1921. GLOSSARY Abasia: Inability to walk. Aboulia: Indecision; suspension of will power. Abreaction: The process of reviving a past disagreeable ex- perience in speech or action during the analysis. Affect: Sum of emotion or excitation. Algolagnia: Sexual excitement brought on by causing, or felt on experiencing, pain. Ambivalent (feelings): Contrary emotions of love and hatred experienced at the same time for one person. Amnesia: Defective memory for a particular period or event while the memory is otherwise unimpaired. Aphonia: Speechlessness. Aphronia: Lack of practical judgment. Astasia: Inability to stand. Autoerotism: Self-gratification. Bipolarity: Coexistence of opposite emotions and desires. Bisexuality: Sexual feeling for both sexes. Blocking: Sudden stop in the association of ideas when a complex is reached. Bulimia: Inordinate appetite. Catatonia: Form of mental disorder characterized by peculiar postures. Catharsis: Mental purging induced by bringing into con- sciousness disagreeable or painful thoughts and experi- ences. Cleptomania: Uncontrollable inclination to steal. Cloaca theory: The notion formed by children and maintained by some neurotics that the child comes out like a passage of the bowels because that is the only large outlet from the body with which they are familiar. Complex: A cluster of ideas or mental images linked together by a stressed emotion and subjected to repression. Condensation: Fusion of events or mental images. Contamination: Fusion of words. Conversion: Transposition of repressed emotions into phys- ical manifestations. 339 340 GLOSSARY Coprophilia: Liking for filth. Cryptamnesia: Unrecognized memory. Delirium: Mental confusion. Delusion: False idea not subject to the influence of reason. Dementia praecox: A form of insanity. Dipsomania: Uncontrollable desire for drink. Displacement: Substitution of one idea for another; substitu- tion of objects. Dromomania: Uncontrollable desire to wander. Dysphoria: Feeling of not being well; unpleasure. Enuresis: Urinary incontinence. Erogenous zone: Any organ or bodily region capable of yield- ing erotic pleasure on stimulation. Erotic: Pertaining to the love life. Erotomania: An extravagant affection for some person, usu- ally of the opposite sex, displayed in certain forms of mental disorder. Euphoria: Feeling of well being. Exhibitionism: Erotic gratification experienced in the act of exposing one's sexual organs or other bodily parts; mor- bid desire to exhibit oneself. Folie de toucher: Compulsive handling or touching of things. Foreconscious: Mental images of which we become aware only under certain conditions. Forepleasure: Initial stage of sexual gratification. Fugue: Centrifugal wandering; running "away from home." Hallucination: Sensory impression which originates in the brain without any corresponding external stimulus. Heterosexuality: Love for persons of opposite sex. Homosexuality: Love for persons of same sex. Idiogamy: Sexual capacity limited to intercourse with one type of woman. Illusion (morbid): False belief not subject to the influence of reason. Libido: Sexual craving (Freud); erotic desire (Jung). Masochism: Enhancement of sexual enjoyment by the wish to be physically subdued and hurt by the sexual objective. GLOSSARY 341 Narcissism: Sexual enjoyment derived through the admiration of one's own body. Necrophilia: Interest in death. Nostalgia: Longing for home. Oniomania: Buying mania; bargain hunting. Over-determination: The hypothesis that a symptom or dream element is determined by every factor revealed through the association of ideas. Paedophilia: Love for children. Paralogy: Mental disorder. Paramnesia: False memory. Parapathy: Functional nervous disorder. Paraphilia: Interest in perversions. Poriomania: Circular wandering. Psychogenetic: Of mental origin, as distinguished from phys- ical. Psychosis: See Paralogy. Sadism: Erotic gratification derived from inflicting pain. Schizophrenia: A form of mental disorder; Bleuler's term for Dementia Praecox. Somatization: Conversion of emotional states into physical symptoms; see Conversion. Somatic: Pertaining to the body; physical. Somnambulism: Sleep walking. Tic: Spasm of muscles. Transfetence: Transposition of an affect from one object, idea or person, to another. Trauma: Mental injury or shock. Unconscious: Mental processes of which we are unaware and which cannot be brought to consciousness without ex- ternal aid. Voyeurism: Erotic gratification experienced on looking at an- other person's sexual organs; morbid desire to peep into secrets. Zoophilia: Love of animals. THE END