The hymen has played a very definite and pronounced part
in the social and moral life of humanity. Until recently it has
been more difficult to decide what precise biological function it
has exercised to ensure its development and preservation. Sex-
ual selection, no doubt, has worked in its favor, but that influ-
ence has been very limited and comparatively very recent. Vir-
ginity is not usually of any value among peoples who are en-
tirely primitive. Indeed, even in the classic civilization which
we inherit, it is easy to show that the virgin and the admiration
for virginity are of late growth; the virgin goddesses were not
originally virgins in our modern sense. Diana was the many-
breasted patroness of childbirth before she became the chaste
and solitary huntress, for the earliest distinction would appear



140 PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX.
