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The subject of these observations is a boy of three and a half years. The observations were made by the parents of the child, chiefly by the mother who from time to time reported the material during daily interviews with the writer. The resolution of the fear came through certain experiences with his parents and a piece of spontaneous play.
The events with which we are concerned begin with the child's interest in knives and scissors. He wished to handle them himself but earnestly followed instructions to be careful with them. He would frequently speak of knives or ask whether scissors might cut off his fingers or his nose. At the beginning of this preoccupation he inquired at least once whether his penis might be cut off. Despite repeated reassurances that none of these things would happen and that such things never were done, he continued from time to time to ask the same questions and began to show an increasing concern regarding scratches and minor cuts. He became particularly anxious about blood and, when at this time he heard the story of The Three Little Pigs, asked obsessively about the Big Bad Wolf with evidences of fear, similar to that which he felt of the knives and scissors.
About this time a revealing incident occurred one evening during his bath. For some months his sister, two years his junior, had shared the tub with him, and during these months he had never commented on their anatomical difference. One evening, however, he called attention to his penis and asked if his mother had one too. His mother replied that he had seen her without clothes and must know she did not, and added that all boys have penises and that girls never do. At this he quickly pointed toward his sister's genitals and said, 'But Polly has one'. He insisted several times that this was true and seemed