It may be worth while to note a few of these
characteristics briefly.
The abnormal lengthening of the long bones at the age of puberty in the
castrated is, as we have seen, very pronounced. There is little tendency
to associate length of limb with an erotic temperament, and a certain
amount of data as well as of more vague opinion points in the opposite
direction. The Arabs would appear to believe that it is short rather than
tall people in whom the sexual instinct is strongly developed, and we read
in the _Perfumed Garden_: "Under all circumstances little women love
coitus more and evince a stronger affection for the virile member than
women of a large size." In his elaborate investigation of criminals Marro
found that prostitutes and women guilty of sexual offenses, as also male
sexual offenders, tend to be short and thick set.[147] In European
folk-lore the thick, bull neck is regarded as a sign of strong
sexuality.[148] Mantegazza refers to a strong sexual temperament as being
associated with arrest or disorder of bony development, and Marro suggests
that the proverbial salacity of rachitic individuals may be due to an
increased activity of the sexual organs.[149] It may be added that
acromegaly, with its excessive bony growths, tends to be associated with
premature sexual involution.
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