Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4 | Page 7

who has
never had sexual relationships: "I am only conscious of a very sweet
and pleasurable emotion when coming in contact with honorable men,
and consider that a comparison can be made between the idealism of
such emotions and those of music, of beauties of Nature, and of
productions of art. While studying and writing articles upon a new
subject I came in contact with a specialist, who rendered me
considerable aid, and, one day, while jointly correcting a piece of work,
he touched my hand. This produced a sweet and pure sensation of thrill

through the whole system. I said nothing; in fact, was too thrilled for
speech; and never to this day have shown any responsive action, but for
months at certain periods, generally twice a month, I have experienced
the most pleasurable emotions. I have seen this friend twice since, and
have a curious feeling that I stand on one side of a hedge, while he is on
the other, and, as neither makes an approach, pleasure of the highest
kind is experienced, but not allowed to go beyond reasonable and
health-giving bounds. In some moments I feel overcome by a sense of
mastery by this man, and yet, feeling that any approach would be
undignified, some pleasure is experienced in restraining and keeping
within proper bounds this passional emotion. All these thrills of
pleasurable emotion possess a psychic value, and, so long as the
nervous system is kept in perfect health, they do not seem to have the
power to injure, but rather one is able to utilize the passionate emotions
as weapons for pleasure and work."
Various parts of the skin surface appear to have special sexual
sensitiveness, peculiarly marked in many individuals, especially
women; so that, as Féré remarks (_L'Instinct Sexuel_, second edition,
1902, p. 130), contact stimulation of the lips, lobe of ear, nape of neck,
little finger, knee, etc., may suffice even to produce the orgasm. Some
sexually hyperæsthetic women, as has already been noted, experience
this when shaking hands with a man who is attractive to them. In some
neurotic persons this sensibility, as Féré shows, may exist in so morbid
a degree that even the contact of the sensitive spot with unattractive
persons or inanimate objects may produce the orgasm. In this
connection reference may be made to the well-known fact that in some
hysterical subjects there are so-called "erogenous zones" simple
pressure on which suffices to evoke the complete orgasm. There is,
perhaps, some significance, from our present point of view, in the fact
that, as emphasized by Savill ("Hysterical Skin Symptoms," Lancet,
January 30, 1904), the skin is one of the very best places to study
hysteria.
The intimate connection between the skin and the sexual sphere is also
shown in pathological conditions of the skin, especially in acne as well
as simple pimples on the face. The sexual development of puberty

involves a development of hair in various regions of the body which
previously were hairless. As, however, the sebaceous glands on the face
and elsewhere are the vestiges of former hairs and survive from a
period when the whole body was hairy, they also tend to experience in
an abortive manner this same impulse. Thus, we may say that, with the
development of the sexual organs at puberty, there is correlated
excitement of the whole pilo-sebaceous apparatus. In the regions where
this apparatus is vestigial, and notably in the face, this abortive attempt
of the hair-follicles and their sebaceous appendages to produce hairs
tends only to disorganization, and simple comedones or pustular acne
pimples are liable to occur. As a rule, acne appears about puberty and
dies out slowly during adolescence. While fairly common in young
women, it is usually much less severe, but tends to be exacerbated at
the menstrual periods; it is also apt to appear at the change of life.
(Stephen Mackenzie, "The Etiology and Treatment of Acne Vulgaris,"
British Medical Journal, September 29, 1894. Laycock [Nervous
Diseases of Women, 1840, p. 23] pointed out that acne occurs chiefly in
those parts of the surface covered by sexual hair. A lucid account of the
origin of acne will be found in Woods Hutchinson's Studies in Human
and Comparative Pathology, pp. 179-184. G.J. Engelmann ["The
Hystero-neuroses," _Gynæcological Transactions_, 1887, pp. 124 et
seq.] discusses various pathological disorders of the skin as reflex
disturbances originating in the sexual sphere.)
The influence of menstruation in exacerbating acne has been called in
question, but it seems to be well established. Thus, Bulkley ("Relation
between Certain Diseases of the Skin and the Menstrual Function,"
Transactions of the Medical Society of New York, 1901, p. 328) found
that, in 510 cases of acne in women, 145, or nearly one-third, were
worse about the monthly period. Sometimes it only appeared during
menstruation.