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MISCELLANEOUS. 199
to lust, so does idleness of mind or body.
The vital
force must act in some direction ; and if we would not
have it expended on alimentiveness and amativeness,
we must direct it to other and nobler uses.
CAUSES DETERMINING SEX OF CHILDREN.
Such observation as I have been able to make, in
duces me to think that the sex of a child is determined
by the relative vigor of the parents. The father, from
maturity, force of will, or superior strength of the procreative
function, may give the masculine development;
or the mother, from similar causes, may give the femi
nine. Where men of mature age cohabit with women
much younger, there is an excess of males; but in
countries where the customs of polygamy prevail, and
a man's vital force is expended on several women,
there will be more daughters than sons born to him ;
bo that polygamy perpetuates
itself. Where mono
gamic relations prevail, the sexes are born in nearly
equal numbers.
OF FREQUENCY
OF SEXUAL INDULGENCE.
I have given what I believe to be the natural law of
the generative function ; but we are so far from a nat
ural condition, that I one scarcely expect any to follow
as to insist
it. Thousands of men so " run to seed,"
upon having sexual intercourse daily, and in some cases
several times a day. I have known men who indulged
morning, noon, and night.
But I have also known men
to murder, in this way, three or four wives, in rapid
succession ; and the world is full of victims of this inor
dinate lust. It is, however, but fair to say, that the