having fastened their chemises round their legs and thighs with pins, so as to imitate trousers, play at being men and pretend to have intercourse with the others.  (Niceforo, Il Gergo, cap. vi, 1897, Turin.) I have reproduced these details from Niceforo’s careful study because, although they may seem to be trivial at some points, they clearly bring out the very important distinction between a merely temporary homosexuality and true inversion.  The amusements of these young girls may not be considered eminently innocent or wholesome, but, on the other hand, they are not radically morbid or vicious.  They are strictly, and even consciously, play; they are dominated by the thought that the true sexual ideal is normal relationship with a man, and they would certainly disappear in the presence of a man.

It must be remembered that Niceforo’s observations were made among girls who were mostly young.  In the large factories, where many adult women are employed, the phenomena tend to be rarer, but of much less trivial and playful character.  At Wolverhampton, some forty years ago, the case was reported of a woman in a galvanizing “store” who, after dinner, indecently assaulted a girl who was a new hand.  Two young women held the victim down, and this seems to show that homosexual vice was here common and recognized.  No doubt, this case is exceptional in its brutality.  It throws, however, a significant light on the conditions prevailing in factories.  In Spain, in the large factories where many adult women are employed, especially in the great tobacco factory at Seville, Lesbian relationships seem to be not uncommon.  Here the women work in an atmosphere which in summer is so hot that they throw off the greater part of their clothing, to such an extent that a bell is rung whenever a visitor is introduced into a work-room, in order to warn the workers.  Such an environment predisposes to the formation of homosexual relationships.  When I was in Spain some years ago an incident occurred at the Seville Fabrica de Tabacos which attracted much attention in the newspapers, and, though it was regarded as unusual, it throws light on the life of the workers.  One morning as the women were entering the work-room and amid the usual scene of animation changing their Manila shawls for the light costume worn during work, one drew out a small clasp-knife and, attacking another, rapidly inflicted six or seven wounds on her face and neck, threatening to kill anyone who approached.  Both these cigarreras were superior workers, engaged in the most skilled kind of work, and had been at the factory for many years.  In appearance they were described as presenting a striking contrast:  the aggressor, who was 48 years of age, was of masculine air, tall and thin, with an expression of firm determination on her wrinkled face; the victim, on the other hand, whose age was 30, was plump and good-looking and of pleasing disposition.  The reason at