ABSTRACT
Sex as an ‘appetite’. O n the purely physical side, the sex impulse m ay be term ed an ‘appetite’, bu t taken as a whole it is far wider than that. An appetite is best exemplified by hunger and food-seeking, which are so obviously fundam ental motives for hum an activity, th a t in this form they hardly need discussion in this book. T he sex impulse includes an appetite in that, as w ith hunger, a certain physiological condition of the body is an essential factor for the arousal of one aspect of the sex instinct. In the m ale this physiological aspect shows itself in the tendency to nocturnal emissions if the natu ra l craving is not satisfied ; and in both sexes it is the basis for the impulse to m asturbate.
