Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/16

 social-ethical importance that cannot any longer be merely theorized-on, much less reserved from thoughtful public consideration, also may find the present survey of service. Many British and American physicians are not well-informed on such lines. The authour's conclusions are particularly in key with the psychiatric theories that the similisexual instinct defines a series of originally intermediary sexes—the so called intersexual theory—rather than mere aberrations, degeneracies, psychic tangents, from the male and female. The latter opinion is somewhat distinctive nowadays to England and to the United States and Anglo-Saxondom in general—as a sort of nebular hypothesis of homosexuaismhomosexualism [sic]. But the desire of the authour has been to avoid impairing the wider usefulness of the study by the intrusion of many an open theory; in fact, to subordinate to useful practical observations the theoretics of disputing psychiaters.

So much is the writer indebted to materials from others that he feels that only a limited part of this study is his own. A vast mass of varied matter already current has been utilized as far as possible; condensed from as many authorities as practicable. Psychiatric works, medical surveys and observations, communications by similisexuals, criminological studies, psychologies of many sorts, biography, history, belles-lettres, journals, newspapers, have been cited constantly. But there will be met a considerable number of observations and communications not till now in print, from similisexuals, from psychiaters, or from others who have kindly furnished notes. As to materials already in print let me acknowledge my indirect or direct debts to the late Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who kindly took much interest in this volume; to the not less distinguished and wide-extended labours of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, of Berlin, through my extracts from his printed studies of so many phases of homosexualism; to Dr. Moll, to Ulrichs, to Tardieu, to Lombroso, to dozens of other psychiaters, professional or lay. Notably am I indebted for examples, incidents, biographical