The Orphanage

"Not at all, Doctor Forbes, a pleasure I'm sure."

"Dr. James - Miss Arbuthnot, the Superintendent of this very excellent orphanage for girls."

Good Morning, Miss Arbuthnot."

"And a very good morning to you, Dr. James, a pleasure, I'm sure."

"I have been telling Dr. James of the problem that we discovered a few years ago amongst your girls."

"Oh, terrible it was, and the shame! I could hardly hold up my head when we found out. And to think that it was happening right under our very noses! The older ones were teaching it to the younger ones. You can't blame the girls, they come from all sorts of homes, poor little orphan waifs, but Dr. Forbes, here, did a marvellous job. Now we have everything under control."

"Miss Arbuthnot and her staff keep a careful watch on the girls, and if there is any suspicious behaviour, then I take a look at the culprits. I also do a routine inspection of a random selection of girls every week just to catch any hidden problems - to nip them in the bud as it were.

"So, Mrs. Arbuthnot, what have you to tell me today?"

"Well, first, Sir, I want you to look at Sophie Brown. You have seen her several times before. She is one of our older girls, nearly ready to go into a position. (Most of our girls go into in service in the houses of the gentry when they leave, Dr. James). But the family I have in mind for her, Sir, is most particular and I daresen't let her go into service until I'm sure that she is free of the habit and a girl of good repute, Sir, so I'd be glad for you to take a look.

"Then there's Amanda Smith. (Most of the girls seem to arrive with names like Smith, Jones and Brown, Dr. James, the mothers don't use their real names, you see, for fear of shame). There were some suspicious movements in the bed a few nights ago, my staff have seen her twice, (we fitted spy-holes in the dormitories under Dr. Forbes' instructions, Dr. James), and she has a shifty look about her like she's hiding something.

"Then there's Irene Watson. You did a little operation on her three weeks ago, but she has been complaining so terribly of pain that I said that I would ask you to take a look at her to see that nothing is wrong.

"I also have a new girl, Roberta Long. Her mother has been put into prison for persistent soliciting along with the mother's lover, a renowned ponce, so the girl is certainly depraved. We have seen nothing definite yet, but we thought you ought to take a look at her.

"You discovered two girls last week, so they have been severely beaten, as you instructed, Sir, and are to be operated on today. They are Ellen Smith and Rebecca Brownwell. There is also Jane Smith 4 to be operated on - she asked to speak to you last week and you decided upon an operation to solve her little problem.

"That's all the definite ones, but I did my usual "lucky dip" from the complete list and you can take a look at as many of them as you have time for, Sir. And, as usual, if you see a girl who arouses your suspicion, when you look around the school, she will be brought to you for inspection. Dr. Forbes likes to take a look at the girls, and he has often spotted a miscreant that my staff had not noticed, Dr. James!"

"Well, thank you Miss Arbuthnot. As always, your arrangements are most thorough. Let us go to the examination room and we can examine our first patient. Sophie Brown, you said, yes I remember her very well."

A member of the Orphanage staff, Nurse Jamieson, assisted us and acted as chaperone. She ushered the first patient in.

"Ah, Sophie Brown, do come in. How are you feeling today?"

The girl mumbled something. She was pretty with wispy light brown hair and pale features. Her lips were prominent and her eyes a piercing blue. At Dr. Forbes gesture, she got up onto the examination couch and lifted her skirts; this class of girl did not wear drawers at that time.

"Many doctors set great score by the interrogation of their patients, but I have found this to be nearly useless, they all tell endless lies and waste a lot of time. I find that I can get all the information I need from a simple examination of the parts. She is used to this; see how she gets into the right position with the knees raised and well apart? Let me first check her record. Hmm. Yes: it is as I remembered it.

"I choose an incremental approach to curing onanism. Some doctors simply remove the whole clitoris at once, but I do not do that. The first time the vice is discovered, there is simply a dire warning. The second time, I remove the clitoral hood. The third time, the upper quarters of the inner labia are removed tight up against the clitoral glans - I actually cut into the glans a little as a sharp reminder. The next time, the glans itself is removed. After that there are three stages of removal of increasing portions of the clitoral shaft and crura. A very few persist after this, and I sometimes have to go beyond and perform complete spaying with deep section of the pudic nerve.

This girl had the glans removed as you can see. This knot of scar is the stump end of the clitoral shaft and the thin semi-circular line is where the hood was cut away earlier. Do you see these scar-lines on the buttocks and thighs? From the last beating she received for masturbation; Miss Arbuthnot is not gentle when it comes to such behaviour!

"A girl who has masturbated in the past but who has stopped will become aroused easily when you start to press on the clitoral shaft, ah, see that! Now, watch to see if there are contractions of the pelvic muscles. A truly continent girl can suppress that urge indefinitely, but a persistent masturbator will be unable to - no self control. There! And again! Better stop. I've had girls actually experience orgasm under my manipulations - disgusting! And see the moisture exuding from the vagina!

"So, Sophie, you've taken up the habit again after all that we've done to help you?" There was a meaningless whimper from the girl. Her eyes were moist with tears. "Very well, you know what has to happen. I shall inform Miss Arbuthnot to beat you, and next week, when I visit, we shall cut some more of this dirty part away. But this time, as you are soon to leave for a position in service with a most important family, instead of taking away just a little as a gentle reminder to behave, I shall have to take the lot away so that there will be nothing left for you to do it with, do you hear?"

There was a muffled "Yes, Sir!" and the girl was sent away.

Next was Amanda Smith. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes on a narrow face with a somewhat sallow complexion. "I last inspected her about two years ago as part of a random sample, but she was pure then. Since then, puberty has arrived. Up on the couch, girl, you know what to do!"

She got up on the couch rather reluctantly, and lifted up her skirts. The pubic hair was thick and black, and we had to hold it apart to view the vaginal entrance. The clitoris was long and narrow and rather black on the outer surface as were the edges of the thin lips. "A touch of the tar-brush, as they say: a small admixture of African blood, I wager. It always shows up there even if it shows up nowhere else! We'll soon see if there has been any abuse. Do you want to do it?"

I pressed the clitoral shaft beyond the glans just as he had done, rhythmically, about one press every two seconds. Soon it was pulsing with arousal, the little glans peeping out of its hood, glistening bright pink against the strange black skin. Soon the whole vulva was clenching in time with my movements, moisture seeping out between the labia.

"Try not to clench!" said Dr. Forbes. She tried, but soon started again. She could not prevent it. I stopped, fearing an orgasm. The girl was weeping silently, tears streaming down her face.

"Yes, there is shame when you are discovered, is there not, Amanda? But do not fear, there will be no punishment this time." He waited until her tears subsided, and then began a stern lecture on the dangers of the habit and the possible consequences if she did not give it up entirely. "Be assured," he concluded, " that one way or another, when you leave here, you will be entirely free of the habit. Whether this is because of frequent beatings and the pain and deprivation of surgery or through your own free will is your choice. Go away and think carefully about it." She left with earnest assurances of future continence.

Irene Watson was shown in. She was a thin pale child with mousy hair and somewhat pinched features. She walked with an awkward stooped posture with her legs a little parted. At Dr. Forbes' gesture, she got up onto the couch and raised her skirt just as the others had done. On her buttocks and thighs you could see the scars and yellow-brown bruising of her beating nearly a month ago.

"This girl is a recalcitrant masturbator. I first operated on her about two years ago to remove the clitoral hood. Nymphotomy was performed five months later, and glansectomy about a year ago. I operated on her three weeks ago to remove the first small section of the clitoral shaft. The earlier operations have the effect of reducing sensitivity without much accompanying pain, but sectioning the shaft means that for a long time after, each arousal induces pain and a contraction causes the pain to become acute. The intention is to remind the girl to stop thinking thoughts that cause arousal, as you no doubt realise. That is probably what is happening in this case, but we perform an examination just in case there are complications of any kind."

He turned to the girl: "I'm told that you are having pain. Please show me exactly where it hurts."

The pubic hair had been shaved for the operation and was now short stubble. She pointed, without touching, at the very livid and inflamed fresh scar where the clitoral shaft had so recently been severed.

"Hmm. Does it hurt all of the time or only now and then?"

"Please, Sir, there is pain all the time but at times it comes on much stronger and it is all I can do not to cry out."

"How often does that happen?"

"Mostly at night, Sir, as I try to get to sleep or when I wake up."

"You mean when you think wicked thoughts of the kind that lead to self-abuse?"

"I can control these thoughts at other times of day, but when I am nearly asleep . . . "

You will soon learn to control such thoughts even at these times. That pain is a constant reminder to help you. The wound will not heal and the pain will not stop until you abandon these thoughts entirely. But we must just check if there is any infection or whether the pain is just from improper behaviour. Dr. James, what is your opinion?

There was a very raised and lumpy scar on her knee from a fall at a younger age. "I notice that you have a scar on your knee." I touched it. "When did this happen?"

"A long time ago, when I was about six or seven, Sir."

"How long did it take to heal, do you remember?"

She grimaced. "A long time, Sir."

"Did you pick at the scab?"

"Er, yes, Sir. It irritated a lot, Sir."

"Have you ever had other injuries that took a long time to heal?"

She showed me the back of her right hand. There was an ugly lumpy scar. "I burnt it on a hot pan, Sir, when I was helping in the kitchens about a year ago."

"Do you cauterise the clitoral shaft when you operate?" I asked Dr. Forbes.

He knew what I was saying. "Keloid formation - of course. Notice how the other operation scars are also thick and raised - the labia and hood. And there was quite a sizeable knot of scar tissue from the glansectomy at the last operation. So, what should we do, Dr. James?"

"Another time, I would not use cautery in one who is liable to keloid formation. Burn wounds are particularly susceptible to this problem. I suspect that she has picked at the scar many times already, despite the pain. This can lead to a form of onanism where the keloid scar is stimulated to the point of a pain-filled orgasm - I have seen it before in my training.

"There are two possibilities. The first is another operation to take away the keloid tissue, closing the wound with pressure and perhaps a suture, but this might still result in some keloid formation. The other option, and the one that I would recommend, is to employ a device to prevent her touching the scar until it is completely healed - an anti masturbation appliance in the form of a genital cage attached to a locked belt and only removed for cleaning. Of course, you could do both, and may have to, as was necessary in the other case that I mentioned."

"Very well, an appliance shall be procured. Meanwhile, girl, do not pick at the scar or it will never heal and we shall have to operate again!" She was sent away.

"Another thing," I asked, "is there medical supervision of the corporal punishments?"

"No. I don't watch," he replied.

"They are very severe, and, in a case like that where there is a tendency to keloid scarring, and perhaps in other cases, a larger number of strokes without breaking the skin might be advisable. I fear permanent harm, perhaps injuries making some lass unemployable. That would be a pity and a burden on the orphanage."

"I take your point. And would you be interested in . . . ."

"Certainly, I would be most willing to provide Miss Arbuthnot with advice on these matters. It is an area that I have, ah, studied in the past."

Roberta Long, the new girl, was shown in. She was a striking girl with blond hair but dark brows and lashes; tall and delicate featured; she would make a stunning beauty in a year or two's time. She was given a full health check as it was the first time that Dr. Forbes had seen her. "It is important to isolate any consumptive patients right away. We send them to an asylum out in the country." Fortunately, she proved to be in excellent general health.

Last of all was the check of her sexual parts. The pubic hair was dark like her eyebrows, but wispy and not yet full-grown.

"Ah! Not a virgin!" exclaimed Dr. Forbes. "Your mother sold it? How much did she get?"

"Not me mum - 'er ponce. 'E told me 'e got a guinea. 'E give me a shillin' and gave my mum 'alf-a-crown. But I fink 'e got a lot more 'cos the toff tipped me 'alf a sov."

"All right, all right. How long ago?"

"Couple o' years."

"Since then?"

"I ain't been out on the streets. Only specials that 'er ponce brings in. Maybe one or two a week."

"What you're likely to find in these cases - ah yes, here - and here. You see? These are stitch-marks where the stitches have been torn out. The virginity has been sold several times to several different clients. She's probably a good actress to carry that off, so don't believe anything she says."

"One a month. Plucked all me parsley an' kep' me on short rations so me boobs din't grow. 'E'd sew me up then wait 'til I 'ad the curse so there was plenty of blood. Sell me cherry to a ponce and then sew me up again. Bastard!"

"Enough of that language! That life is behind you now. Miss Arbuthnot will have her hands full to manage this one." He started to manipulate the clitoris. There was no response, even after several minutes.

"I can't feel a thing you're doin'," she said. "D'ya wanna know why?"

"Go on."

"One o' the toffs asked the ponce for 'is money back 'cos 'e said I wa'n't no virgin 'cos I was havin' a spend wiv 'im. So 'e got a doctor an' 'e cut me deep inside. Cut all the nerves, 'e said, so I wouldn't feel a thing any more. I've not been able to spend since."

Dr. Forbes parted the labia and peered inside. Two thin scar-lines could be seen, one each side, where a bilateral pudic neurectomy had been performed to render her clitoris and the surrounding tissue totally numb to make her more pleasing to her clients. Soon after, he told her she could go.

Such exceptional beauty with such coarse language - what ever would become of her?

We took a break then, to look around the school and have a cup of tea with Miss Arbuthnot.

We were shown the dormitories with the peepholes carefully concealed as decorative iron-work ventilators that allowed the staff to watch the orphans at night. The girls knew that they were being watched, knew where the spy-holes were, but because of the concealment afforded by them, they had no means of knowing when they were being observed. We were also shown how the lavatory and bathroom facilities were designed so that the girls could be constantly supervised to ensure that there was no opportunity for secret activities.

We were shown the punishment room with its benches and horses festooned with straps for securing the young ladies for their beatings. We saw the array of implements ranging from lightweight martinets and tawses to full-sized reformatory canes of wicked severity. It all looked well worn and subject to frequent use.

We went into many of the classrooms where Dr. Forbes would look around the room and ask one or two girls questions about the subjects they were being taught. I soon realised that these questions were merely an excuse to appraise the girls. Some gave him look of hatred or resentment and after we left the room he would explain the treatment they had already received at his hands.

It was noticeable to me that he seemed most concerned about those who had recently reached puberty. My previous experience indicated that the vice was prevalent amongst much younger girls, of whom there were many in the institution, but there seemed to be few who had had treatment for this condition. I broached this subject.

"That was the case when I started my purge. But, I have found that at a younger age, a few lectures, a strong sense of the inevitability of detection and a few sternly treated examples sufficed. Girls of that age, in a regime where vice is not tolerated, can, (and do with very few exceptions), control their urges. It is those past puberty who give the physician the greatest challenge. At that age, despite the warnings and examples, the urges of the body can overcome the will and only the intervention of science can save the child from herself."

Just occasionally a girl in one of these classrooms would give a look of guilty apprehension at the moment he entered: blushing perhaps, or trying to appear invisible. Then he would linger and direct a series of questions at the girl. The questions would quickly take on a sinister double entendre. "How do you spell 'virtuous'?" "In which book of the Bible is the sin of Onan described?" "What is another term for 'sin'?" "Give me a definition of 'purity,' please." He was playing the girl in the same way that a fisherman plays a fish caught on the line and she would soon blush deeply and become confused. She would be instructed to report to Miss Arbuthnot and request an examination by the doctor. The form mistress would be asked to see that this happened. By lunchtime, three more girls were added to our list: Jane Palmer, Eliza Heron and Maud Brown.

We had a pleasant lunch with Miss Arbuthnot. There I broached the subject of the severity of the corporal punishment and of the possibility of doing permanent and disabling damage to one of her charges.

"But Dr. Forbes said particularly to punish them with the uttermost severity and I did take him at his word. For no other offence do we break the skin, Sir, although some girls do need to be treated most severely to keep them in line. I should be most pleased to take your advice if you would care to offer it. I usually perform the beatings after lunch at the same time that Dr. Forbes is operating on those caught the week before."

"So soon? Why, I would have thought that a day or so of thoughtful anticipation would have served a salutary purpose? It is for this reason that Dr. Forbes waits a whole week before operating, is it not? It would be as convenient for the Doctor to operate right away."

"Well, there you go, Sir! Your experience in these matters would surely be most valuable. And when would you suggest, Sir?

"There are several opinions on this point, Ma'am. It is convenient if the girls are in their night attire rather than encumbered by clothing, which suggests an early morning or late evening appointment. I find that the senses are dulled by fatigue towards the end of the day and that sensibility is enhanced in the early hours. At what time do your girls rise and break their fast?"

"Why, Sir, the rising bell is at six of the clock and breakfast is at seven precisely. By that time, they have washed and brushed their hair, dressed and made their beds; they have done their duties and have attended the short act of worship that we conduct here each morning. But you surely cannot be intending to come here for that hour, Sir?"

"I would propose to come here the night before and to stay overnight, if that would be in order? And to have the girls in question fetched from their beds at half past five. They should be instructed to wash and brush their hair and then to attend the punishment room in their night attire. There they will be kept waiting until six when the punishment will commence. I would propose not tomorrow morning but the next, but to instruct the girls now so that they may deliberate upon the experience that awaits them."

"It shall all be done as you advise, Sir. And shall you . . ."

"As you wish, Miss Arbuthnot. I should not, of course, want any breath of impropriety to sully the reputation of this admirable institution."

"It shall all be most properly conducted, Sir, and I myself shall be in attendance at all times, so there is no risk of any other, Sir! And it would save my arm which does at times get most tired from wielding the rod with such vigour."

"Then I shall be most happy to oblige you, Ma'am."

After lunch, we had the operations to perform. First was Ellen Smith. She was a tiny girl, fully mature but small. She was fastened in the lithotomy position to the examination couch by the straps attached to the underside. The straps went around the backs of her knees and fastened them close to her shoulders. Her bottom was still black and blue from the beating and several of the wounds opened and started bleeding again from the stretching of the posture.

It was her first operation - the clitoris and labia were intact. They were large on such a small girl, and seemed even more prominent because of the shaven pubis. Dr. Forbes liked to wash the parts before operating, (this was not usual practice at that time; it was only later that the importance of asepsis became known), and he did so with warm water and a little soap, rinsing and drying it. Then he drew forward the clitoris hood and grasped it with forceps. He fastened two pairs in place, one either side of the centre-line. The girl squealed. He pushed the point of a pair of scissors between the forceps, up and under the hood and snipped down sharply. The girl gasped.

"I like to fasten the forceps on before cutting as it is the very devil to get a proper grip once the blood starts to flow," he commented. Then he picked up each pair of forceps in turn, pulling the hood-half to full stretch, and snipping with the scissors close to the glans. Again the girl cried out in shock, and continued to cry and moan loudly. The remaining skin slowly retreated half-way up the shaft of the clitoris. He placed a lint pad onto the wound and pressed firmly, holding it there for fully five minutes.

"Some authorities recommend suturing, but I leave it as it is. The wound takes longer to heal so it is longer before the girl resumes the habit, if she chooses to. And if she should try it too soon, the wound reopens, acting as a deterrent. There is sometimes trouble from bleeding, but not often, and when it happens it is rarely serious.

Rebecca Brownwell was sent in next. She was a big girl in every way, the kind who easily runs to fat. She looked very apprehensive and was nearly in tears. The reason was soon clear: there was very little left of her external genitalia. All of the inner lips had been removed. ("That was done by my locum-tenens when I was unwell last year. I don't generally remove that much unless there are exceptional circumstances.") And there was very little clitoral shaft still visible.

He secured her very tightly to the couch, straps at the hip and waist as well as those behind the knee, and he fastened a stick gag in her mouth to bite on and to prevent her biting off her tongue.

"We have to cut down along the line where the clitoris used to lie and uncover the inner shaft. The scar tissue from the previous operations is adherent to the underlying shaft in several places so we have to dissect carefully. There we are! Now we can release the shaft from its suspensory ligament and . . . up it comes. You see that it divides into two crura to pass either side of the urethra. We cut it through right at the point of bifurcation, thus, and immediately apply pressure to the wound - thus. Could you heat the cautery iron in the gas-flame whilst I hold this, please?" He had to raise his voice to be heard all through this as the girl was screaming and roaring loudly through her gag.

There was a spirit burner on the bench beside him so I lit it and started heating the iron. When it was glowing a dull red, about five minutes later, he held out his hand. I placed the handle in it and he lifted the pad of lint from the wound and quickly applied the cautery. The girl's screams had dulled to a low moaning by this time but they immediately recommenced with powerful vigour. There was the usual stench of burning flesh as the wound was sealed. He held the iron away and watched for a little until it was clear that there would be no further bleeding. He unfastened the patient, who was by now incoherent, and had a member of the Orphanage staff carry her away.

Jane Smith 4 was next. She was called "Jane Smith 4" presumably because there had been at least three other girls of that name in the orphanage when she arrived. She was somewhat older than I had expected to find in an orphanage, seventeen or eighteen perhaps with the coarse looks of a working girl, a scullery maid, perhaps. Most girls would have been found positions in service at fourteen. I asked about this.

"Many of these girls have never ever seen the world outside the orphanage. They ask to stay on as it is the only home they know. A chosen few are invited to stay as members of the cleaning or service staff; it is regarded as a privilege. They are allowed to remain as long as they work hard and behave in a proper manner. They are provided with a bed, clothing and all meals, but no pay. This girl could elect to leave rather than submitting to this little operation - she has been given that choice, haven't you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Tell Dr. James how it is that you come to be here today."

"Ooh, Sir, it was two years ago that you last stopped me, but I found that I was starting to get the feelings again. I knew if I was caught they would send me away and I didn't want that, so I asked to speak to you."

"You did quite right, Jane. You are a good girl. And what did you ask for?"

"Please, Doctor, to take it all away so it don't trouble me no more."

He gave her chloroform, telling me that he did this will all girls who had been good and asked him for help to remain good. And so I saw my first complete spaying of a girl - removal of the ovaries from the abdomen as well as the deep sectioning of the pudic nerve that provides the clitoris and the surrounding parts with sensation. There was still a stump of clitoral shaft visible as her previous operation had been the first cutting of the clitoral shaft; it was not strictly necessary to remove this, but he did so in any case, "for tidiness and completeness". She was still unconscious from the chloroform as she was wheeled away by a member of the orphanage staff.

We took a short break then for a cup of tea with some admirable scones cooked by one of the girls in the kitchens. We were served by this same girl, a pretty young thing by the name of Sandra Goodall, with russet hair and a 'peaches and cream' complexion. She was clearly a favourite of Miss Arbuthnot who had nothing but good to say of her. When she left, I asked Dr. Forbes if he had ever had occasion to examine the girl for signs of self-abuse.

"Why no, I have not, Dr. James!" said Dr. Forbes; "Miss Arbuthnot?"

"There has never been the slightest suspicion of Sandra. Such a good girl! One of our special girls who we are so proud of! A real treasure! A fine example to the others!"

"But, I find that there is something about her that I would like to probe further. I do beg your pardon should I be proved wrong, Miss Arbuthnot, but I should feel happier if I could just make certain that there is nothing amiss. Would you permit?"

"Dr. Forbes?"

"If Dr. James thinks . . "

"I am certain that there is no taint in Sandra Goodall, Sir, and would willingly submit her to any examination to be sure of that."

"And I shall be the happier in my mind to know that you are right, Miss Arbuthnot. Please send her for examination directly, then."

"As you request, Dr. James, so shall it be."

And when we returned to the examination room, Sandra Goodall was the first to be ushered in. Dr. Forbes gestured for me to conduct the examination. Sandra had never been examined before in this way, but clearly knew what it was about from talking to the other girls, as she got straight up onto the couch, lifted her skirts and adjusted herself into the familiar position.

I parted the russet pubic hair and examined the genital parts. They looked natural and untouched: just the way you would expect the parts of a modest girl to look. The labia minora were small and thin, pale and straight. The clitoris was also small and smooth and showed no sign of unnatural use. Either side of these organs, within the folds of the labia majora, was a little creamy matter - again evidence of lack of unnecessary physical contact. I gently raised the clitoral hood; underneath was a small build-up of clean, fresh, smegma, not enough to be troublesome, but evidence of lack of manual interference. I lent down and sniffed - again the healthy fresh smell of tissues unaffected by unnatural acts, and yet there had been something about the girl: her posture, her gait, perhaps?

I performed Dr. Forbes' usual tests, but there was no abnormal reaction. I asked Dr. Forbes to repeat them; again there was no sign of abnormality. I asked her to straighten her legs flat on the couch and to press them together. Unusually, there was no gap between her thighs at the crotch.

"I apologise for doubting you," I said, "there is no sign of anything abnormal, whatsoever. You may go."

When she had gone, I asked, "Nurse Jamieson, how much exercise do these girls get?"

"Why, they go for a walk on a Sunday afternoon, and they have household chores to do: cleaning, helping in the kitchens, laundry and so on, Sir."

"She has muscles in her thighs like an athlete, and quite unlike any other girl I have seen here. Is her bed positioned where it can be spied on without her knowing?"

"We position the ones we are most concerned about near the spy-holes, Sir, and they know this. She has never been suspected, so her bed is positioned where it might be difficult to watch easily. You still suspect something?"

"I have seen just one case like it before. If it is what I think, she will do it lying on her back with her legs quite straight, but tightly pressed together. She will simply squeeze her thigh muscles slowly and rhythmically for a long time. It will be almost unnoticeable and leaves few signs on the tissues. One of the characteristics of this condition is that arousal does not occur with the knees raised and the thighs apart, hence the lack of response to the tests. I may be wrong, but the only way to be sure is to catch her in the act.

"What excuse could we find to move her bed without arousing her suspicion? Do you place trusted senior girls in the younger girls' dormitories, for instance?"

"We used to, but when we found out that so many of the senior girls were corrupted and were corrupting the younger ones, we instituted a strict segregation, Sir."

"Perhaps, as she has been tested and found pure, this procedure might be restarted for a select few. Is there a dormitory of younger girls that you are especially concerned about? She might be moved to a position of trust and responsibility and coincidentally where we can see her more easily. I am determined to keep watch over her for a night or two. With your permission Dr. Forbes, I should like to approach Miss Arbuthnot on the subject." He nodded his concurrence.

Jane Palmer, one of the girls identified in the classrooms by Dr. Forbes, was the next one brought in. At another time, she would have seemed quite pretty. A small girl, younger than the others we had seen - only just past puberty. She had a broad freckled face and high cheekbones. Large blue eyes peered out under a mass of light brown curls. Now, however, she was in tears and her face was distorted with anxiety.

Dr. Forbes consulted the notes. "This is one of the younger ones that we made an example of. About two years ago, soon after the initial purge, she had a second operation and a severe beating. She had stopped touching herself with her hands after the first operation, but had then started crossing her legs and squeezing her thighs together, thinking that this would not be noticed."

He turned to the girl who had got up onto the couch in the usual position for examination. The pubic hair was still a downy fuzz. The clitoris was large and prominent. The hood had been trimmed well back, and its healing had clearly been prolonged from the appearance of the broad area of scar tissue. The shrinkage of this scar had drawn the glans back and upwards so that it stuck out prominently between the outer lips making the underside clearly visible. The underside of the glans clitoris had scars where the inner lips had been tightly shorn away. About a quarter of the length of the labia minora had been removed. There were white scar-lines on her bottom and thighs from the severity of the beating that she had received.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked her.

She sobbed loudly and her tears flowed freely. Eventually her crying subsided. "Oh, Sir, I feel so ashamed!" She cried again for a minute or so. "Sir, it rubs against my clothes when I stand or move. My nightdress rubs it and torments it. I feel it all the time. It is a constant torment, Sir."

"Here?" He lightly touched the tip of the glans. She reacted strongly, startled as if she had been pricked, crying out. There was clearly hypersensitivity. "You could have come to me. Then there would have been no beating, no shame. Chloroform would have been used so there would be no pain. Instead you have chosen the hard way."

He pressed the shaft, keeping clear of the scar tissue and the hypersensitive glans. Soon she was responding strongly, the vulva clenching and contracting. He told her to relax and stop clenching, but she could not. Moisture oozed from her vagina. She must have been on the very brink of the pollution when he stopped.

"You are a depraved and corrupt child. You deserve to be beaten for that disgusting exhibition alone. I shall talk to Miss Arbuthnot. You will come back here next week for your operation and I will cut away the part that has been troubling you. Now go!"

She left, howling pitifully again. I thought that he had been unnecessarily hard on her, but did not say so.

Eliza Heron was a tall gaunt girl. She had clearly experienced the post-puberty growth-spurt without filling out at all. She had very bony hips and hardly any bust. Pale features, greyish eyes, acne and mousy wispy hair all added up to make an unattractive sight. The way that she peered at everything made me think that she was myopic as well, and I mentioned this to Dr. Forbes.

"That may well be the case," he said, "but the financial resources of the orphanage make it impossible to pay for spectacles for the girls. She will probably become a good seamstress."

The glans and part of the clitoral shaft had already been removed, the most recent operation being but four months ago and the previous ones very closely spaced. The cane had made many sharp imprints in her meagre thighs and bottom. She was clearly one of those who did not learn from these lessons.

She said little, but she was no cretin and she had answered most of his questions in class earlier. The scar on the clitoral shaft was still somewhat livid, and clearly gave the child some pain when the shaft was stimulated by Dr. Forbes' testing, but she soon showed the obvious signs of arousal. She made little attempt to suppress the clenching, and did not even seem to understand what was meant when he told her to stop. I knew that she would lose everything in the end and I wondered why Dr. Forbes did not go down that route immediately.

"I have even seen imbeciles stop of their own free will before that point, and this girl is no imbecile. She simply chooses not to learn from our treatments and punishments. However, taking it all away immediately deprives a girl of the opportunity to learn and I always give them the greatest opportunity possible to reform. It is then a matter of their own choice."

He eventually told her that she would be beaten and given a further operation. She made little reaction. Perhaps she was expecting it, perhaps she was hardened by the frequency and severity of her previous treatment, or perhaps she did not fully comprehend what was in store for her. She left.

Maud Brown was a mouse-like girl, anxious, timid and terrified of anything and everything around her. She had never been suspected or inspected. Dr. Forbes was very gentle with her, unlike his treatment of Jane Palmer. He showed her how to position herself on the couch.

He gently parted her pubic hair and did a thorough examination before starting to press on her clitoral shaft. Soon she became aroused and it was clear that she was terrified of revealing this, but he gently told her that it was normal as long as she just relaxed and did not squeeze her internal muscles and clench when this occurred. She did indeed clench once or twice but relaxed and controlled it again.

"You were anxious about something, yet I can tell that you have been good and have not given away to these feelings. What is it?"

"Don't know, Sir."

"Every girl gets strong feelings from time to time, this is perfectly normal. The proper thing to do is to relax, just as you did then, until the feelings subside. It is only wrong if you deliberately provoke those feelings and abuse yourself by touching or pressing your secret parts when the feelings are strong. People who do this can find that a terrible thing called pollution occurs. This is what happens if these feelings are deliberately made to get stronger and stronger until suddenly they get too much for your young mind to stand; they overflow and cause a convulsion through the whole body and give a tremendous shock to the whole nervous system. This is what we call self-pollution. When that happens the nervous system is damaged in such a way that the will-power is sapped and the ability to resist this force is weakened. Each time it is repeated there is more damage. People end up mad, having to be confined to lunatic asylums. The best way is never to start. The fact that you have demonstrated to me that you can resist this force tells me that you are a good girl and that you have not given away to this evil.

"But there is still something that troubles you. You can tell me what it is; you will not be punished."

I asked: "Have the other girls been misleading you, telling you dreadful stories?"

"Please, Sir, sometimes, not often, when I'm asleep, I get funny dreams, and when I wake up . . "

"You experience a pollution on waking up from these dreams?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You were quite right to tell me. How often does this occur?"

"The night before last was the fourth time."

"Did this happen before you started having the monthly curse?"

"Oh, no Sir, the first time was soon after. I didn't think anything of it the first two times but not long ago I was asking another girl about why she had had to have an operation and she told me about self-abuse and self-pollution and the strong feelings. Pollution sounded a bit like what happened to me so I described what happened in my dream and she said that she never had this. She must have told some other girls because they all started telling me that this was self-pollution and that I had to stop myself or you would stop me."

Dr. Forbes was consulting his notes. "Your monthly curse started about a year ago, is that right?"

"Yes, Sir."

"If this happened too often it would require investigation and perhaps some treatment, but four times in a year is perfectly acceptable. Girls who abuse themselves do not experience this; that is why they told you stories. Tell me about your dream! What happened?"

"Oh, Sir, I feel so ashamed. I dreamed of doing things that I could not think of doing when I was awake."

"You can tell us."

"Oh, dear. I was in the bath, but there was another girl in the bath with me. I would never do that, Sir, I know it to be dreadfully wrong, Sir."

"All right, go on!"

"Well, she was at one end and I was at the other and she was splashing water at me and I was splashing water at her, and the splashing got stronger and stronger and there was water everywhere, and then it happened and I awoke immediately, Sir."

"Who was this girl?"

"Amanda Grey, Sir."

"Is she a friend of yours? Someone you speak to a lot?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is she the one you told about these dreams?"

"No, Sir, well, I did tell her, but she didn't know anything and that's why I told Jane Ross, because she has been to see you several times and has had four operations. It was Jane Ross that told the other girls and . . . "

"Jane Ross is a very silly little girl. I remember her. She pretends to know everything because she has had some very bad street experience before she came here, but really she knows nothing. You should not listen to her. You should have come straight to me.

"Now, when you are with Amanda Grey, do you experience strong feelings?"

"Oh, no. Sir!"

"I shall have to examine her, and if your friendship is or becomes the kind that causes either of you to have the sort of strong feelings that could lead to self-abuse or pollution, then the friendship will have to stop. As long as the friendship is pure and modest, then it can continue.

"I shall also need to speak to Jane Ross. Who were the other girls who were telling you stories?"

It took some time to draw this all out of her, as she was afraid of being the butt of vengeance. These girls would be put on the list for next week.

It was already late in the day, so the girls that Miss Arbuthnott had selected at random for examination were allowed to return to their normal activities. We bid our fare-wells to Miss Arbuthnot and her staff and left forthwith.

The next day I returned as the girls were all taking their evening meal. I determined that Sandra Goodall should be unaware of my presence in the school. As I had requested, her bed had been duly relocated in one of the dormitories of the younger girls, and I watched as she competently and quietly supervised their undressing and nighttime prayers. Once they were settled, she lit the night-lights around the big room and extinguished the brighter lights of the oil-lamps. Then she undressed herself and climbed into bed.

It took some time for the whole dormitory to become quiet and Sandra had to get out a number of times and tell one or another girl to stop chattering and go to sleep. Eventually all was quiet, and Sandra seemed to go to sleep. She was lying quite still, on her back with her thighs together and her arms above the blankets, the hands clasped modestly over her stomach.

The movement that I had expected began: it was barely perceptible, the thighs tightening, holding for a few seconds and then relaxing. Several staff members were stationed nearby, I gestured two over to observe with me and to witness what transpired.

It was done in time with her breathing so that the movement could easily be mistaken for a consequence of breathing. Perhaps half an hour elapsed whilst there was little increase in the pace or strength of the movements. Her breathing slowly became just a little louder, deeper and quicker, and then, suddenly, you could see the hands grasp and stretch, the face tightened into a grimace. I signalled to the waiting staff to fetch the girl. They went to her bedside, threw back the covers and lifted her out. She called out briefly in surprise.

I examined her in a nearby room. The parts were flowing with fluid and shining with arousal. I asked her to demonstrate just what she had been doing. She seemed not to know what I was asking. I made her put her thighs together as I had seen her, and to squeeze and relax the muscles.

"I often do that before I go to sleep, it relaxes me," she said. She seemed genuinely not to know that she had done anything wrong.

"And what about the feelings that you get when your hands clench and stretch, your face screws up in a devilish grimace and your heart pounds?" I asked. From her response, it seemed that she truly had never thought anything wrong in it.

"The thigh squeezing is self-abuse," I said, "and the point where the heart pounds and the face goes into a rictus is a pollution. This is the thing that Dr. Forbes has been trying to stamp out all these years." I was still unsure whether she was truly unaware of what she had been doing or whether she was very sly and deceitful.

"This is the first time that you have been caught. From now on, you will be carefully watched. You know what the consequences will be if you are caught again. I shall not lecture you now on the dangers of this habit as it is late at night; you are probably already aware of how serious this is, but I shall ask Dr. Forbes to explain everything to you on his next visit."

I sent her back to bed and gave instructions to the staff to watch out for signs of this form of self-abuse in others. I went to bed as I had to rise early in the morning.