material from the ,google ,print project47 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,american ,,girls4 ,,considered ,,in ,a ,,series ,,of ,,essays4 ,,edited ,,by ,,anna ,c4 ,,brackett4 ,the time has arrived1 when like huntsmen1 we should surround the cover1 and look sharp that justice does not slip away and pass out of sight and get lost2 for there can be no doubt that we are in the right direction4 ,only try and get a sight of her1 and if you come within view first1 let me know4--,,plato ,,rep4 ,,book ,,iv4 ,illustration ,,new ,,york3 ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons1 ,,fourth ,,avenue ,,and ,,twenty-,,third ,,street4 #ahgd4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahgd1 by ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons1 ,in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,,lange1 ,,little ,,co41 ,,printers1 ,,electrotypers ,,and ,,stereotypers1 #ajh ,,to #aad ,,wooster ,,street1 ,n4 ,y4 ,,to ,,the ,,school-,,girls ,,and ,,college-,,girls ,,of ,,america1 ,,because ,,we ,,believe ,,that ,,their ,,ideals ,,are ,,high ,,and ,,that ,,they ,,have ,,strength ,,to ,,make ,,them ,,real1 ,this ,book is ,dedicated ,,by ,,the ,,women ,,who1 ,,in ,,the ,,intervals ,,snatched ,,from ,,daily ,,labor1 ,,have ,,written ,,it ,,for ,,their ,,sakes4 ,,preface4 ,the ,table of ,contents sufficiently indicates the purpose and aim of this book4 ,the essays are the thoughts of ,american women1 of wide and varied experience1 both professional and otherwise2 no one writer being responsible for the work of another4 ,the connecting link is the common interest4 ,some of the names need no introduction4 ,the author of ,essay ,,iv4 has had an unusually long and varied experience in the education and care of ,western girls1 in schools and colleges4 ,the author of the essay on ,english ,girls is a graduate of ,antioch1 has taught for many years in different sections of this country1 and has had unusual opportunities1 for several years1 of observing ,english methods and results4 ,the essays on the first four institutions1 whose names they bear1 come with the official sanction of the presiding officers of those institutions1 who vouch for the correctness of the statements4 ,of these1 ,,vii4 is by a member of the present ,senior ,class of the ,university1 who has instituted very exact personal inquiries among the women-students4 ,the author of ,,viii4 is the librarian of ,mt4 ,holyoke ,seminary4 ,the writer of the report from ,oberlin is a graduate--a teacher of wide experience1 and has been for three or four years the ,principal of the ,ladies' ,department of the college4 ,the resident physician at ,vassar is too well known as such1 to need any introduction4 ,there are many other institutions whose statistics would be equally valuable1 such1 for instance1 as the ,northwestern ,university of ,illinois1 which has not only opened its doors to girl-students1 but has placed women on the ,board of ,trustees1 and in the ,faculty4 ,from ,antioch1 which we desired to have fully represented1 we have been disappointed in obtaining statistics1 which may1 however1 hereafter be embodied in a second edition4 ,in place thereof1 we give the brief statement of facts found under the name of the institution1 supplied by a friend4 ,with reference to my own part of the volume1 if the words on ,physical ,education far outnumber those on the ,culture of the ,intellect1 and the ,culture of the ,will1 it can only be said that the ,american nation are far more liable to overlook the former than the latter two1 and that the number of pages covered is by no means to be taken as an index of the relative importance of the divisions in themselves4 ,of the imperfection of all three1 no one can be more conscious than their author4 ,the subject is too large for any such partial treatment4 ,to friends1 medical1 clerical1 and unprofessional1 who have kindly given me the benefit of their criticism on different parts of the introductory essay1 my thanks are due4 ,especially do ,i recognize my obligation to ,dr4 ,w4 ,gill ,wylie1 of this city1 whose line of study and practice has made his criticism of great value4 ,i cannot refrain from adding that ,i am fully aware of the one-sided nature of the training acquired in the profession of teaching4 ,civilization1 implying1 as it does1 division of labor1 necessarily renders all persons more or less one-sided4 ,in the teaching profession1 the voluntary holding of the mind for many hours of each day in the position required for the work of educating uneducated minds1 the constant effort to state facts clearly1 distinctly1 and freed from unnecessary details1 almost universally induce a straightforwardness of speech1 which savors1 to others who are not immature1 of brusqueness and positiveness1 if it may not deserve the harsher names of asperity and arrogance4 ,it is not these in essence1 though it appear to be so1 and thus teachers often give offense and excite opposition when these results are farthest from their intention4 ,in the case of these essays1 this professional tendency may also have been aggravated by the circumstances under which they have been written1 the only hours available for the purpose having been the last three evening hours of days whose freshness was claimed by actual teaching1 and the morning hours of a short vacation4 ,i do not offer these explanations as an apology1 simply as an explanation4 ,no apology has the power to make good a failure in courtesy4 ,if passages failing in this be discovered1 it will be cause for gratitude and not for offense if they are pointed out4 ,the spirit which has prompted the severe labor has been that which seeks for the ,truth1 and endeavors to express it1 in hopes that more perfect statements may be elicited4 ,with these words1 ,i submit the result to the intelligent women of ,america1 asking only that the screen of the honest purpose may be interposed between the reader and any glaring faults of manner or expression4 ,,anna ,c4 ,,brackett4 #aag ,east #cfth street1 ,new ,york ,city1 ,january1 #ahgd4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,education of ,american ,girls ,anna ,c4 ,brackett4 #aa ,,ii4 ,a ,mother's ,thought ,edna ,d4 ,cheney4 #aag ,,iii4 ,the ,other ,side ,caroline ,h4 ,dall4 #adg ,,iv4 ,effects of ,mental ,growth ,lucinda ,h4 ,stone4 #agc ,v4 ,girls and ,women in ,england and ,america4 ,mary ,e4 ,beedy4 #baa ,,vi4 ,mental ,action and ,physical ,health4 ,mary ,putnam ,jacobi1 ,m4,d4 #bee ,,vii4 ,michigan ,university ,sarah ,dix ,hamlin4 #cjg ,,viii4 ,mount ,holyoke ,seminary ,mary ,o4 ,nutting4 #cah ,,ix4 ,oberlin ,college ,adelia ,a4 ,f4 ,johnston4 #cbi ,x4 ,vassar ,college4 ,alida ,c4 ,avery1 ,m4,d4 #cdf ,,xi4 ,antioch ,college #cfb ,,xii4 ,letter from a ,german ,woman ,mrs4 ,ogden ,n4 ,rood4 #cfc ,,xiii4 ,review of ,sex in ,education4 ,editor4 #cfh ,,xiv4 ,appendix4 #cib ,die ,weltgeschichte ist der ,fortschritt in das ,bewusstseyn der ,freiheit4--,,hegel4 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,american ,,girls4 ,who educates a woman1 educates a race4 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,american ,,girls4 ,there seems to be at present no subject more capable of exciting and holding attention among thoughtful people in ,america1 than the question of the ,education of ,girls4 ,we may answer it as we will1 we may refuse to answer it1 but it will not be postponed1 and it will be heard2 and until it is answered on more rational grounds than that of previous custom1 or of preconceived opinion1 it may be expected to present itself at every turn1 to crop out of every stratum of civilized thought4 ,nor is woman to blame if the question of her education occupies so much attention4 ,the demands made are not hers--the continual agitation is not primarily of her creating4 ,it is simply the tendency of the age1 of which it is only the index4 ,it would be as much out of place to blame the weights of a clock for the moving of the hands1 while1 acted upon by an unseen1 but constant force1 they descend slowly but steadily towards the earth4 ,that this is true1 is attested by the widely-spread discussion and the contemporaneous attempts at reform in widely-separated countries4 ,while the women in ,america are striving for a more complete development of their powers1 the ,english women are1 in their own way1 and quite independently1 forcing their right at least to be examined if not to be taught1 and the ,russian women are asserting that the one object toward which they will bend all their efforts of reform is the securing of a solid education from the foundation up4 ,when the water in the ,scotch lakes rises and falls1 as the quay in ,lisbon sinks1 we know that the cause of both must lie far below1 and be independent of either locality4 ,the agitation of itself is wearisome1 but its existence proves that it must be quieted1 and it can be so quieted only by a rational solution1 for every irrational decision1 being from its nature self-contradictory1 has for its chief mission to destroy itself4 ,as long as it continues1 we may be sure that the true solution has not been attained1 and for our hope we may remember that we have seen all winter long the thorn ,first show itself intractable and fierce1 ,and after1 bear the rose upon its top4 ,we1 however1 are chiefly concerned with the education of our own girls1 of girls in ,america4 ,born and bred in a continent separated by miles of ocean from the traditions of ,europe1 they may not unnaturally be expected to be of a peculiar type4 ,they live under peculiar conditions of descent1 of climate1 of government1 and are hence very different from their ,european sisters4 ,no testimony is more concurrent than that of observant foreigners on this point4 ,more nervous1 more sensitive1 more rapidly developed in thinking power1 they scarcely need to be stimulated so much as restrained2 while1 born of mixed races1 and reared in this grand meeting-ground of all nations1 they gain at home1 in some degree1 that breadth which can be attained in other countries only by travel4 ,our girls are more frank in their manners1 but we nowhere find girls so capable of teaching intrusion and impertinence their proper places1 and they combine the ,french nerve and force with the ,teutonic simplicity and truthfulness4 ,less accustomed to leading-strings1 they walk more firmly on their own feet1 and1 breathing in the universal spirit of free inquiry1 they are less in danger of becoming unreasonable and capricious4 ,such is the material1 physical and mental1 which we have to fashion into womanhood by means of education4 ,but is it not manifest in the outset1 that no system based on ,european life can be adequate to the solution of such a problem8 ,our ,american girls1 if treated as it is perfectly correct to treat ,french or ,german girls1 are thwarted and perverted into something which has all the faults of the ,german and ,french girl1 without her excellencies4 ,our girls will not blindly obey what seem to them arbitrary rules1 and we can rule them only by winning their conviction4 ,in other words1 they will rule themselves1 and it therefore behooves us to see that they are so educated that they shall do this wisely4 ,they are not continually under the eye of a guardian4 ,they are left to themselves to a degree which would be deemed in other countries impracticable and dangerous4 ,we cannot follow them everywhere1 and therefore1 more than in any other country must we educate them1 so that they will follow and rule themselves4 ,but no platform of premise and conclusion1 however logical and exact1 is broad enough to place under an uneducated mind4 ,nothing deserving the name of conviction can have a place in such4 ,prejudices1 notions1 prescriptive rules1 may exist there1 but these are not sufficient as guides of conduct4 ,education1 of course1 signifies1 as a glance at the etymology of the word shows us1 a development--an unfolding of innate capacities4 ,in its process it is the gradual transition from a state of entire dependence1 as at birth1 to a state of independence1 as in adult life4 ,being a general term1 it includes all the faculties of the human being1 those of his mortal1 and of his immortal part4 ,it is a training1 as well of the continually changing body1 which he only borrows for temporary use from material nature1 and whose final separation is its destruction1 as of the changeless essence in which consists his identity1 and which1 from its very nature1 is necessarily immortal4 ,the education of a girl is properly said to be finished when the pupil has attained a completely fashioned will1 which will know how to control and direct her among the exigencies of life1 mental power to judge and care for herself in every way1 and a perfectly developed body4 ,however true it may be1 that life itself1 by means of daily exigencies1 will shape the ,will into habits1 will develop to some extent the intelligence1 and that the forces of nature will fashion the body into maturity2 we apply the term ,education only to the voluntary training of one human being who is undeveloped1 by another who is developed1 and it is in this sense alone that the process can concern us4 ,for convenience1 then1 the subject will be considered under three main heads1 corresponding to the triple statement made above4 ,especially is it desirable to place all that one may have to say of the education of girls in ,america on some proved1 rational basis1 for in no country is the work of education carried on in so purely empirical a way4 ,we are deeply impressed with its necessity2 we are eager in our efforts1 but we are always in the condition of one whom too great eagerness bewilders4 ,we are ready to drift in any direction on the subject4 ,we adopt every new idea that presents itself4 ,we recognize our errors in one direction1 and in our efforts to prevent those we fall into quite as dangerous ones on the other side4 ,more than in any other country1 then1 it were well for us to follow in the paths already laid out by the thinkers of ,germany4 ,i shall1 therefore1 make no apology for using as guide the main divisions of the great philosophers of that nation1 who alone1 in modern times1 have made for ,education a place among the sciences4 ,truth is of no country1 but belongs to whoever can comprehend it4 ,nor do ,i apologize for speaking of what may be called small things nor for dealing with minor details4 ,when the fame of ,heraclitus was celebrated throughout ,greece1 there were certain persons that had a curiosity to see so great a man4 ,they came1 and as it happened1 found him warming himself in a kitchen4 ,the meanness of the place occasioned them to stop1 upon which the philosopher thus accosted them3 ',enter1' said he1 'boldly1 for here too there are gods6' ,following so ancient and wise an authority1 ,i also say to myself in speaking of these things which seem small and mean3 ,enter boldly1 for here too there are gods2 nay1 perchance we shall thereby enter the very temple of the goddess ,hygeia herself4 ,,physical ,,education1 ,,or1 ,,the ,,culture ,,of ,,the ,,body4 ,hc ante exitium primis dant signa diebus4--,virgil4 ,now my belief is--and this is a matter upon which ,i should like to have your opinion1 but my own belief is--not that the good body improves the soul1 but that the good soul improves the body4 ,what do you say8--,,plato1 ,,rep4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,if we could literally translate the ,german word ,fertigkeiten into ,readinesses1 and use it as a good ,english word1 we should then have a term under which to group many arts of which a fully educated woman should have some knowledge--,i mean cooking1 sewing1 sweeping1 dusting1 etc4 ,when a woman is mistress of these1 she is called capable1 that good old word1 heard oftener in ,new ,england than elsewhere1 which carries with it a sweet savor of comfort and rest4 ,some knowledge of these should undoubtedly constitute a part of the education of our girls2 but the how much is a quantity which varies very materially as the years go by4 ,for instance1 the art of knitting stockings was considered in the days of our grandmothers one to which much time must be devoted1 and those of us who were born in ,new ,england doubtless well recollect the time when1 to the music of the tall old kitchen clock1 we slowly1 laboriously and yet triumphantly1 bound off our first heel1 or narrowed off our first toe4 ,but weaving machines can do this work now with far greater precision2 and while stockings are so good and so cheap1 is it worth while for our girls to spend long hours in the slow process of looping stitches into each other8 ,would not the same time be better spent in the open air and the sunshine1 than in-doors1 with cramped fingers and bent back over the knitting-needles8 ,of ,sewing1 nearly the same might be said1 since the invention of machines for the purpose4 ,sewing is a fine art1 and those of us who can boast of being neat seamstresses do confess to a certain degree of pride in the boast4 ,but the satisfaction arises from the well-doing1 and not from the fact that it is ,sewing well done2 for anything well and thoroughly done1 even if it be only boot-blacking on a street corner1 or throwing paper torpedoes in a theatre orchestra to imitate the crack of a whip in the ,postilion ,galop1 gives to its doer the same sense of self-satisfaction4 ,it would be folly now1 as it may have been in old times1 for our girls to spend their hours and try their eyes over back-stitching for collars1 etc41 when any one out of a hundred cheap machines can do it not only in less time but far better1 and the money which could be saved in many ways1 by wisdom in housekeeping and caring for the health of children1 would buy a machine for every family4 ,this matter of stitching being done for us1 then1 we may say that the other varieties of sewing required are very few3 sewing over-and-over1 or top-stitching as the ,irish call it1 hemming1 button sewing1 button-hole making1 and gathering4 ,indeed1 hemming1 including felling1 might be also omitted1 as1 with a very few exceptions1 hems and fells are also handed over to the rapid machine2 and over-casting is but a variety of top-stitching4 ,there are then only four things which a girl really needs to be taught to do1 so far as the mere manual facility goes--to sew over-and-over2 to put on a button2 to gather1 including stroking or laying1 and to make a button-hole4 ,does it not seem as if an intelligent girl of fourteen or fifteen could be taught these in twelve lessons of one hour each8 ,only practice can give rapidity and perfection2 but at the age mentioned1 the girl's hand has been pretty thoroughly educated to obey her will1 and but very little time is needed to turn the acquired control into this peculiar activity1 while1 with the untrained muscles of the little child1 much more time is required and much fretfulness engendered1 born of the confined position and the almost insuperable difficulty of the achievement4 ,above the mere manual labor1 however1 there comes another work which always has to be done for the child1 and is therefore of no educational value for her3 ,i mean the fitting and basting4 ,they cannot be intrusted to the child1 for the simple reason that they involve not merely manual dexterity1 but also an exercise of the judgment1 which in the child has not yet become sufficiently developed4 ,but when the girl has lived fourteen years1 we will say1 and has been trained in other ways into habits of neatness and order1 she has also acquired judgment enough for the purpose1 and needs only a few words of direction4 ,the sewing of bands to gathers1 the covering of cord1 the cording of neck or belt1 the arrangement of two edges for felling1 the putting on of bindings1 belong1 so to speak1 to the syntax of the art of sewing1 and come under this division1 which must1 perforce1 be left till maturer years than those of childhood4 ,there is still a sphere above this1 the three corresponding exactly to apprenticeship1 journeymanship and mastership1 in learning a trade4 ,the third and last sphere is that of cutting1 and this demands simply and only1 judgment and caution4 ,there are a few general statements which must be given1 as1 for instance1 the right way of the cloth1 in which the parts of the garment should be cut1 etc42 but these being once learned--and a lesson of one hour would be a large allowance for this purpose--the good cutter is the one who has the most exact eye for measurement--trained already in school by drawing1 writing1 etc4--the best power of calculation--trained by arithmetic1 algebra1 etc4--and the best observation and judgment--trained by every study she has pursued under a good teacher4 ,as to sewing1 considered as a physical exercise1 it may almost be pronounced bad in its very nature2 considered as a mental exercise1 in its higher spheres1 it is excellent1 because it calls for the activity of thought2 but after the cutting and fitting are done1 it is undoubtedly bad1 leaving the mind free to wander wherever it will4 ,the constant1 mechanical drawing through of the needle1 like the listening to a very dull address1 seems to induce a kind of morbid intellectual acuteness1 or nervousness4 ,if the inner thought is entirely serene and happy1 this may do no harm2 but if it is not1 if there is any internal annoyance or grief1 the mind turns it over and over1 till1 like a snow-ball1 it grows to a mountainous mass1 and too heavy to be borne with patience4 ,i think many women will testify1 from a woman's experience1 that there are times when an afternoon spent in sewing gives some idea of incipient insanity4 ,this lengthy discussion of the woman's art of sewing can only be excused on the ground that it touches the question of physical and mental health4 ,as a means of support1 the needle can hardly be spoken of now4 ,as to ,cooking1 the same in substance might be said4 ,it is perhaps a little more mechanical in its nature1 though of that ,i am not positive2 but if a girl is educated into a full development of what is known as common sense1 she can turn that common sense in this direction as well as in any other1 if the necessity arises4 ,the parts of cooking which call for judgment--such1 for instance1 as whether cake is stiff enough or not1 whether the oven is hot enough1 safely to intrust the mixture to its care1 whether the bread is sufficiently risen--require the same kind of trained senses as that by which the workman in the manufacture of steel decides as to the precise color and shade at which he must withdraw it for use4 ,to quote from an ,english woman3#a ,cookery is not a branch of general education for women or for men1 but for technical instruction for those who are to follow the profession of cookery2 and those who attempt to make it a branch of study for women generally1 will be but helping to waste time and money1 and adding to that sort of amateur tinkering in domestic work which is one of the principal causes of the inefficiency of our domestic servants 99 99 99 ,the intellectual and moral habits necessary to form a good cook and housekeeper are thoughtfulness1 method1 delicacy and accuracy of perception1 good judgment1 and the power of readily adapting means to ends1 which1 with ,americans1 is termed 'faculty1' and with ,englishmen bears the homelier name of 'handiness4' ,morally1 they are conscientiousness1 command of temper1 industry and perseverance2 and these are the very qualities a good school education must develop and cultivate4 ,the object of such an education is not to put into the pupils so much ,history1 ,geography1 ,french or ,science1 but1 through these studies1 to draw out their intelligence1 train them to observe facts correctly1 and draw accurate inferences from their observation1 which constitutes good judgment1 and teach them to think1 and to apply thought easily to new forms of knowledge4 ,morally1 the discipline of a good school tends directly to form the habits ,i mentioned above4 ,the pupils are trained to steady industry and perseverance1 to scorn dishonest work1 and to control temper4 ,the girls who leave school so trained1 though they may know nothing of cooking or housekeeping1 will become infinitely better cooks and housekeepers1 as soon as they have a motive for doing so1 than the uneducated woman1 who has learned only the technical rules of her craft4 ,every girl ought certainly also to know how to drive a nail1 to put in and take out a screw1 and to do various other things of the same kind1 as well as to sweep and to dust2 but of all these readinesses1 if ,i may be permitted the word1 the same thing may be said4 ,i have spoken of them under ,physical education1 as their most appropriate place4 ,passing now to the more definite consideration of ,physical education1 it will be convenient to consider this division of the subject under three heads1 as ,i have to speak of #a4 ,repair1 #b4 ,exercise1 #c4 ,sexual ,education4 ,,repair4 ,all parts of the body are1 of course1 as long as life exists1 in a state of continual wear1 old cells being constantly broken down1 and new ones substituted in their places4 ,when the ,apostle exclaimed1 ,i die daily1 he uttered an important physiological as well as a spiritual truth2 though1 if he had said1 ,i die every instant1 he would have expressed it more exactly4 ,it is only by continual death that we live at all4 ,but continual death calls for continual creation1 the continual destruction for continual repair1 and this is rendered possible by means of food and sleep4 ,clothing1 too1 properly belongs under this division2 for1 were it not for this1 the heat of the body would often be carried off faster than it could be generated1 and the destructive process would outstrip the reconstructive4 ,moreover1 the clothing too frequently interferes with the normal functions of the most important repairing organs1 and its consideration1 therefore1 must constitute the third branch of our inquiry4 ,the division ,repair1 then1 will embrace a consideration of a4 ,food1 b4 ,sleep1 c4 ,clothing4 ,food4--,the kind and quantity of food must obviously vary with age1 temperament1 and the season4 ,but three general rules may be laid down as of prime importance3 the meals should be regular in their occurrence2 they should be sufficiently near together to prevent great hunger1 and absolutely nothing should be taken between them4 ,an exception may1 however1 be safely made to this last rule1 with regard to young children1 in this wise1 making a rule which ,i have known as established in families4 ,if the children are hungry enough to eat dry bread1 they can have as much as they want at any time2 if they are not1 they are far better off without anything4 ,these are the plainest rules of ,physiology1 and yet how few of the girls around us are made to follow them6 ,nothing is more sure to produce a disordered digestion1 than the habit of irregular eating or drinking4 ,if possible1 the growing girl should have her dinner in the middle of the day4 ,the exigencies of city life make this arrangement in some cases inconvenient1 and yet inconvenience is less often than is popularly supposed synonymous with impracticability4 ,if this cannot be done1 and luncheons must be carried to school1 the filling of the lunch-basket should never be left1 except under exact directions1 to the kind-hearted servant1 or to the girl herself2 and she should under no circumstances be allowed to buy her luncheon each day of the baker1 or the confectioner1 a usual practice twenty years ago of the girls in ,boston private schools4 ,there are children and young girls who are said to have cravings for certain kinds of food1 not particularly nutritious1 but in ninety-nine per cent of these cases the cause of the morbid appetite can be found in the want of proper direction in childhood4 ,the fact is1 that the formation of a healthy appetite is properly a subject of education4 ,the physical taste of the little girl needs rational direction as well as her mental taste1 though mothers too often do not recognize the fact4 ,it would seem almost like an insult to the intelligence of my readers1 to say1 that warm bread of whatever kind1 pastry1 confectionery1 nuts1 and raisins1 should form no part of a girl's diet2 did we not every day1 not only in restaurants and hotels1 but at private tables1 see our girls fed upon these articles4 ,the ,german child1 in the steady ,german climate1 may drink perhaps with impunity1 beer1 wine1 tea and coffee2 but to our ,american girls1 with their nervous systems stung into undue activity by the extremes of our climate1 and the often unavoidable conditions of ,american society1 these should all be unknown drinks4 ,the time will come soon enough1 when the demands of adult life will create a necessity for these indispensable accompaniments of civilization2 but before the time when the girl enters upon the active duties of a woman1 they only stimulate to debilitate4 ,it cannot be too often repeated1 that the appetite and the taste for certain kinds of food are1 to a greater degree than is usually acknowledged1 merely the results of education2 and the mother who sees her daughter pale and sickly1 and falling gradually under the dominion of dyspepsia1 in any of its multitudinous forms or results1 and who seeks the physician's aid1 has too often only her own neglect to blame1 when the medicines fail to cure4 ,from the food is manufactured the blood2 from the blood all parts of the living tissue of every organ2 not only bone and muscle cells1 but nerve cells are built up from it1 and if the blood be not of the best quality1 either from the fact that the food was not of proper material or properly digested1 not only the digestive organs1 but the whole system1 will be weak4 ,moreover1 those organs which await for their perfect development a later time than the others will be most apt to suffer from the result of long-established habits1 and it is as true of the human body as of a chain1 that no matter where the strain comes1 it will break at its weakest part4 ,the truth of what is here stated may be illustrated by the teeth1 which are formed at different periods of life4 ,many have a perfect set of what are known as first teeth2 but in too many children in our ,american homes1 the second teeth make their first appearance in a state of incipient decay1 while it has become almost proverbial1 that the wisdom teeth are of no use1 except to the dentist4 ,mothers have only to consult easily procured books to learn the kinds of food most easily digestible1 and most nourishing4 ,that they do not do so1 results from the seeming general belief1 that this matter of eating will take care of itself1 and that it does not come within the province of education4 ,the whole matter lies in the hands of women4 ,the physician can do but little1 because he can know but little4 ,it is the intelligent women of ,america who must realize the evil1 and must right the wrong1 if we would see our girls what we most earnestly desire them to be--perfectly healthy and well developed4 ,again1 the cure of many diseases1 especially those which are prevalent in the summer months1 belongs more to the women of the household than to the physician4 ,they alone can check the evil at its commencement4 ,every educated woman ought to know1 for instance1 that cracked wheat and hominy1 oat-meal1 corn-bread1 and ,graham bread1 should not1 as a general rule1 be made the staple of diet in case of what is popularly known as summer complaint2 and yet1 how few girls seem to have any idea1 when they are thus sick1 that it is a matter of the least consequence what they eat1 or that they ought not to make their breakfast of ,boston brown bread2 and by how few of our girls is it considered a matter of any moment that the opposite trouble exists for days4 ,ought they not to be educated to know that they can devise no surer way of poisoning the whole system1 and then of straining all the contiguous organs1 than by wilful neglect in this direction8 ,when some facts are obvious1 and some are latent1 the blame1 if trouble exists1 is not unnaturally laid on the visible facts4 ,it is evident to the physician that the girl has attended school4 ,it is not so evident that1 since her earliest childhood1 she has been fed on improper food1 at irregular hours1 and that the processes by which the poisonous dead matter is removed from the system1 have been irregularly carried on4 ,his questions put on these topics are put in a general way1 and answered in the same1 with1 perhaps1 a worse than foolish mock-modesty to prompt the reply4 ,he does the best that he can1 but he cannot help stumbling1 if he is required to walk in the dark4 ,this false shame of which ,i speak1 on this matter1 seems to be a folly peculiarly ,american1 and ,i am quite sure that it is not so common now as it was twenty years ago1 though there are still many ,american women who would choose to run the risk of making themselves sick rather than to tread the folly out under a pure womanly scorn4 ,this is also a matter which belongs to education4 ,one great trouble with our ,american girls1 and one which can be remedied by us1 though we cannot remedy the climate1 is not that their brains are overworked1 but that their bodies generally1 including brain1 are underfed4 ,i do not mean that they do not eat enough in bulk1 though that is often the case1 but that they do not take in enough of the chemical elements which they must have to build up the system4 ,their food is not sufficiently nutritious1 and the energy of the digestive organs is wasted in working upon material which1 if it does not irritate and inflame1 is at least of no economic value1 and is simply rejected by the system2 or1 worse still1 in default of better1 it is absorbed1 and the whole blood becomes poisoned4 ,sometimes our girls do not eat often enough4 ,for instance1 a girl who1 after tea1 has been obliged to employ her brain in unusually hard work1 might probably be helped by eating some nourishing food before sleep4 ,if she do not1 the result will not infrequently be that she will awake tired and languid2 she will sit idly at the breakfast table1 play with her knife and fork1 and feel only disgust at the food provided4 ,she may soon suffer from1 if she does not complain of1 back-ache and other attendant troubles1 the simple result of weakness4 ,it is only ,micawber's old statement over again3 ,annual income1 twenty pounds1 annual expenditure1 twenty pounds1 ought1 and six2 result--,misery4 ,after a long course of this kind1 the physician is summoned1 and the girl is forbidden to study4 ,but it seldom occurs to any one that if #e - #h -#c1 the two may be made equal just as easily by adding the three to the five as by subtracting it from the eight1 i4e41 although we1 as a nation1 are supposed to be1 at least1 more conversant with arithmetic than with any branch of school study1 though we do know that #h #e1 we do not see that #e #c #h1 and so we try to cancel the offending -#c by diminishing the #h4 ,but would not the other process be quite as rational8 ,physical life is only a simple balance of forces1 the expenditure and nourishment corresponding exactly to demand and supply in the ,science of ,political ,economy4#b ,they tend continually to level themselves4 ,have we not the right to decide in which way the leveling shall be effected--the equation be formed8 ,this is a simple solution of the difficulty4 ,i suggest that this experiment be tried3 let the girl study her extra time in the evening1 if she desires1 only being cautious that she do not infringe upon her sleep hours2 then give her a supper of bread and butter and cold meat1 and send her to bed4 ,if her digestive organs are in good state1 she will very possibly sleep a sound and dreamless sleep1 and rise refreshed in the morning1 with a good appetite for her breakfast4 ,by this simple hygienic remedy1 aching backs may not only be prevented1 they may be gradually cured4 ,i am stating actual facts4 ,if the evening be spent in conversation1 or mere lounging over books1 the supper will not be needed1 and will prove1 if taken1 only a burden2 but if1 as has already been said1 it be spent in actual brain-work1 the tremendous and unusual strain on the whole nervous system1 occasioned by the destruction of nerve-cells1 must be made good1 or those organs most intimately connected with the nervous system and the sources of life1 will be sure to suffer4 ,it must1 however1 be repeated here1 if we would secure the good results desired1 that the supper must be of nourishing1 not of stimulating food4 ,even the destruction1 through exercise1 of the inferior muscle-cells demands food before sleeping4 ,it is no merely fashionable custom which calls the dancers at an evening entertainment to the loaded supper-table1 as those of my readers who have attended the so-called cold-water ,sociables will bear me witness4 ,it may be seriously questioned whether the regulation which forbade any refreshment except cold water was not1 like many other unthinking1 economical plans1 really no economy at all4 ,instead of one pantry's furnishing food to the famished dancers1 this was furnished for each one at home1 from her own mother's private stores1 and as the members of the ,sociables met at each other's houses in order1 the total result of expenditure to each family1 at the close of the winter1 was probably the same as it would have been1 had each family furnished1 on one evening1 a moderate entertainment of the same sort to the bankrupt systems4 ,fashion is often wiser than we think her1 especially when at parties for the ,german she prescribes a cup of beef-tea as the regulation refreshment4 ,a long1 rapid walk in the evening1 as we all know1 will produce the same effect4 ,we return1 and remark that we are hungry1 merely meaning that we have received polite official notice that our physical bank account has been overdrawn4 ,if we do not pay any attention to this notification1 we shall surely in time be passed from adversary to judge1 and from judge to officer1 and finally be cast literally into a prison from which1 unlike some of our city prisons1 we shall not escape till we have paid the uttermost farthing4 ,then we shall be likely to receive from the kindly friend whom we summon to visit us1 wise and good advice1 on the extravagance of spending so much4 ,but might not the advice be possibly quite as useful if delivered in this wise3 ,why don't you earn more1 and make larger deposits4 ,the force of weakness compels us to stop spending our muscle cells2 the kind friend1 as far as is possible1 puts a stop to the expenditure of nerve cells1 and draws on the funds derived from the ,cinchona forests of ,south ,america and the iron mountains of ,missouri1 to make new deposits on our account2 and when the matter is thus doubly settled for us by nature and science1 we go on our way rejoicing1 only to repeat the same insane folly4 ,but it is not good for one's credit to overdraw too frequently her bank account2 and there may come a time when suspension means bankruptcy1 and when all the kindness and skill of all our friends can be no longer of any avail4 ,is it not our own fault1 and shall we not so educate our girls that they shall not fall into it1 since they comprehend its unreason8 ,we are undoubtedly creatures of habit2 but we oftener apply the word to our mental and moral than to our physical nature1 and wrongly4 ,when regular and constant demands are made upon any organ of the body1 the body1 as it were1 falls into the habit of laying in enough force in that particular department for that particular purpose1 as the scientific steward at ,vassar lays in for each day so many pounds of beef or mutton1 because he can rely with certainty on its consumption4 ,if in any case the demand is1 for any reason1 slackened1 there is a surplus of energy which must find a vent1 or render its possessor very uncomfortable4 ,need mothers be reminded of how very troublesome the little girl becomes in a short school vacation1 or during the first days of a long one8 ,or need teachers be told that it is only a loss of time in the end1 to assign at the commencement of the ,september term lessons of the same length as those which were learned with no difficulty in ,june8 ,there is a decided inertia in the bodily functions1 and time is required for a sudden change4 ,inconvenience in such a case will be sure to arise1 unless the surplus force be instantly directed into other and unobjectionable channels4 ,if the reverse takes place1 and the demand be suddenly increased1 the result is weakness1 debility1 and finally disease2 though precisely the same amount of work might have been done1 not only with safety but with positive advantage1 provided the increase of the demand had been gradual4 ,is there any country in the world equal to ,america in the irregularity and spasmodic nature of the demands which society makes upon its women8 ,are there any girls in the world so ready to rush headlong into all kinds of exercise1 mental or physical1 which may be recommended to them1 as our ,american girls8 ,it is a pity that1 to balance our greater amount of fiery energy in the matter of education1 we have not a sounder philosophy4 ,once more1 physical life is only a balance of forces1 as spiritual life is a series of choices1 and the question is not simply how much intellectual or brain work we are doing4 ,this question cannot justly be considered apart from the other inquiry1 of how much appropriate material we are supplying for the use of the brain4 ,we cannot judge whether the amount of force expended be healthful or unhealthful till we know how much force has been and can be generated4 ,there is undoubtedly a limit to this last factor in our problem1 but if we do not exceed this limit in our expenditure1 it seems unquestionable1 that the more brain work we do1 the better will it be for the entire system1 and the stronger will be our health1 this being only our power actively to resist the destructive forces of nature4 ,the nervous system1 at the head of which stands the brain1 is undoubtedly the regent of the monarchy of the body1 whose sovereign is the thinking spirit2 and all the organs in a well-regulated body should be worked in the interest of the organ of thought1 as servants for a wise and watchful master4 ,it seems sometimes as if we were in danger of forgetting that though the eye cannot say unto the hand1 ,i have no need of thee1 nor again1 the head to the feet1 ,i have no need of you1 there will come a time when the thinking spirit1 grown to full stature1 shall say to all of them1 ,i have no need any longer of any of you4 ,the consideration of the subject of ,ventilation properly comes under this division1 for pure air is as much food for the body1 as meat or bread4 ,this whole matter1 however1 seems to be practically not well understood1 if we may judge from the results so far1 and no extended discussion of the means will be in place there4 ,it is sufficient simply to indicate its immense importance4 ,but that bad air is likely to be a more active cause of disease in ,america than elsewhere seems true1 for in no other country are furnaces and closed fire-places in so general use4 ,moreover1 the women and girls who spend most of their lives in the house1 will be expected to show the evil effects more than the men and boys1 who do not4 ,the practical suggestions on this point are apparent to every one4 ,one more thing which the body1 to be healthy1 demands for food is ,sun-light1 that invaluable medicine for all forms of nervous disease1 which ,americans1 more than any other people1 curtain carefully out for fear of fading carpets and furniture4 ,but what are ,french moquettes1 brocade1 or satin1 compared with rosy cheeks1 clear complexions1 and steady nerves8 ,if we would only draw up the shades1 open the shutters1 and loop the heavy curtains out of the way1 or1 better still1 take them down altogether1 might we not look for a marked improvement in systems affected by nervous diseases8 ,this want of sun-light may be expected also1 of course1 most to affect those who remain within doors1 and who1 even in walking1 shade themselves with veils and sun-shades from the life-giving rays of the sun4 ,sleep4--,to many of the organs of the body there have been allotted seasons of comparative quiet and repose1 even during the day4 ,if the rules for food be observed1 the stomach1 for instance1 has1 as stomach1 its vacations from labor1 by means of which it is enabled to prepare for1 and perform1 its regularly recurring work with vigor4 ,even with organs where this is not the case1 the action is slackened very materially at times1 as in the case of the heart and lungs during sleep4 ,they must continue to work1 though more slowly1 and the part of the nervous system which carries on their involuntary and mechanical action1 has also then a partial relief4 ,but the only rest for the thinking brain is to be found in normal sleep4 ,from the instant when1 in the morning1 we become conscious of the external world1 to the instant late at night1 or1 it may be1 early in the morning1 when we pass through the gates of sleep1 out from companionship1 into an utter solitude1 it never rests from its work4 ,whether1 by volition1 we summon all our intellectual power to the closest attention1 and turn1 as it were1 the whole energy of our being into one thought-channel1 till the organs of sense become simply outside appendages which disturb the internal self with no imported knowledge1 or whether1 lying idly1 as we say1 on the sofa1 we let our thoughts wander as they will1 thought still goes on4 ,coming and going more rapidly than the shortest pendulum can swing1 inter-weaving more subtly than the threads of the most complicated lace under the fingers of the skillful worker2 trains of thought pass and repass through our minds1 following1 as we mechanically express it1 the ,laws of ,association4 ,only in losing consciousness1 do we cease to destroy the brain cells2 it is only in sleep that the brain can rest4 ,but it must be remembered that the matter which is thus destroyed1 is1 as ,maudsley#c so finely shows1 the very finest result of the creative life-process1 the most precious essence4 ,it is like the oil of roses1 to produce one drop of which1 unnumbered roses must be crushed4 ,the force required to produce a nerve cell is said to be immeasurably greater than that demanded for a cell of muscle1 of bone1 or of cartilage4 ,in the nerve cells1 lies not only the directive force of the whole complicated machinery1 but the material with which the creative intelligence must work4 ,let us also remember that our waking hours far outnumber those spent in sleep1 and we shall begin to realize the immense importance of sleep1 even to the fully developed organism4 ,but when we add to the mere labor of repairing the daily waste1 the task of construction1 which has to be performed during the years of growth1 we shall only deepen the impression4 ,i believe that every school-girl under eighteen years of age1 and many over that age1 should have at least nine hours of uninterrupted sleep in pure air1 and the younger ones need even more4 ,much1 at least doubtful1 advice1 has been given on the subject of early rising4 ,that the system which has1 perhaps1 taken no food since six in the evening1 should be ready for any amount of labor in the morning before breakfast1 does not seem a rational conclusion1 and ,i believe that many nervous diseases must be charged to the idea1 that there is virtue in early rising1 this implying1 generally1 either work before breakfast1 or1 at best1 a shortening of the hours of sleep4 ,it should1 however1 be remembered that in some cases1 the greater amount of sun-light obtained by rising with the sun1 may1 and probably does1 compensate for lack of other food4 ,but when early rising means1 as it often does1 rising long before the day begins1 this cannot be said1 and sooner or later1 the over demand upon the system will make itself felt when it is too late to remedy the evil4 ,the habit of regular sleep is also one which should be formed by education4 ,the child who is accustomed to go to bed at a regular hour1 will also generally form the habit of falling asleep regularly4 ,if parties for children and young people could be made fashionable under the name of matines1 they might not have bad results2 but as they are at present carried on1 they are an unmitigated evil1 and one that is sapping to a fearful degree the nervous force of our girls4 ,what mother would give her little girl a cup of arsenic1 no matter how tearfully or earnestly she might plead8 ,the very idea of education lies in the directing of the capricious and irrational instincts1 the blind and ignorant forces1 into their proper channels1 by the rational and enlightened will of the educator4 ,but if1 instead of this1 the unformed will is made the guide1 the very reverse of education is taking place4 ,it makes no difference to the physical forces1 however1 whether the hours lost from sleep be lost at a party or at a lecture1 a sermon1 or tableaux for the benefit of foreign missions4 ,nature makes no distinctions of motive4 ,an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth1 is her motto4 ,if one opposes himself to her laws1 the offender1 not she1 goes down2 and as ,sancho ,panza very wisely remarks1 ,whether the stone hit the jug1 or the jug the stone1 it is bad for the jug4 ,it is remarked by all foreigners1 that in ,america the children rule the house4 ,this is simply saying that we are1 as a general rule1 an uneducated people2 which is undoubtedly true4 ,when we learn the immense importance of sleep to the health of our girls1 and when we know that our rational convictions should lead them1 and not their irrational desires1 us1 we shall hear less about their breaking down in health as they grow toward maturity4 ,we shall see fewer pale faces and angular forms2 though they will probably never1 while they live in this climate1 acquire the ruddy glow of the ,englishwoman or the ,german1 or the rounded outlines of the nations of ,southern ,europe4 ,clothing4--,with the external form of the dress as to cut1 trimming1 or color1 this essay has nothing to do4 ,unless a dress be cut so low in the neck that it becomes an unhealthful exposure after taking off warmer clothing1 it in no wise concerns this branch of the subject4 ,i wish to speak only of the underclothing habitually worn by our girls1 and its mode of adjustment2 these being1 as ,i believe1 the causes of much exhaustion and disease4 ,if technical terms1 uncomprehended by any class of readers1 be used1 it is simply for the sake of brevity2 and because1 as ,kant says1 completeness must not be sacrificed to popularity1 the attainment of which would be a didactic triumph1 attained only by omitting everything complicated1 and saying only what exists already in the consciousness of every one4 ,the two rules for clothing evidently are given when we say1 first1 that it should be sufficiently warm to prevent the heat generated by the body from being too rapidly lost2 and second1 that it should be sufficiently loose to allow unimpeded muscular action1 whether voluntary or involuntary4 ,but it is very rare to find either of these rules observed by girls1 and it is also rare to find mothers who are aware that their daughters are daily violating them4 ,first1 as to the warmth3 ,every girl who is to be reared in this climate of extremes and sudden changes should wear shirt and drawers of wool next her body1 and woolen stockings1 during at least eight months of the year4#d ,the merino underclothing1 so generally worn1 is preferable to cotton or linen1 but all-wool flannel is far better2 and if trouble is anticipated from shrinking and fulling1 the use of red flannel will prevent this entirely4 ,i am not speaking of becomingness and grace2 ,i am speaking of health and conservation of force4 ,each organism can generate but a certain amount of vital force1 and if a large proportion of this has to be expended in keeping up the even temperature of the body1 a smaller part than otherwise will go to the carrying on of the other functions4 ,but relieve the system from the continual drafts made upon it1 resulting from insufficient clothing1 and it will be able to assume duties to which before it found itself inadequate4 ,some exceptions must be made to this statement in the case of those to whose skins flannel proves an irritant--but they are comparatively few2 and even in these cases the flannel could be worn outside1 if not inside1 of the cotton or linen underclothing4 ,the mother who will see to it that from her earliest years the girl is protected1 over all parts of her body1 by flannel underclothing1 may simply prevent evils which1 afterwards1 she and the most skilful physician combined will find themselves unable to overcome4 ,but the facts are1 that1 from the earliest days of life1 when the dimpled neck and arms must be admired by visitors1 through the days of childhood1 when1 dressed during the coldest weather of winter in linen and white cambric or piqu1 with her body unprotected from the chill1 the little girl is led slowly and properly up ,fifth ,avenue1 to the nights when1 heated by dancing1 she exposes bare neck1 shoulders and arms to draughts of cool air1 she is1 as a general rule1 never warmly enough dressed for our climate4 ,i repeat1 then1 that for proper protection a girl should always be1 during at least eight months of our year1 clothed1 body1 arms1 legs1 and feet1 in wool2 and pass to the second thought on the subject--i4e41 clothing with regard to the mechanical effects of pressure4 ,we have been continually told that our girls ought not to wear corsets4 ,it has been well said by some woman1 that if a man could succeed in fashioning a woman exactly as1 according to his theories1 she ought to be fashioned1 he would not admire her after the work was done2 and though the remark was made only with regard to intellectual education1 it can be well applied to this subject of corsets4 ,if now1 at this present moment1 all women were to satisfy this demand1 and leave off their corsets1 the very men who entreated them to do so1 would at once entreat them to resume them4 ,the truth is1 that it is not the corsets in themselves that are injurious2 they become so only when they are so tightly drawn that they prevent free inspiration1 or when1 by their great pressure1 they force the yielding ribs from their normal curve1 compress the lungs1 and displace the organs of the abdomen1 crowding them into the pelvis1 and thus displacing or bending out of shape the organs therein contained4 ,let the girls keep on their corsets1 but instead of the unyielding cotton1 linen1 or silk braid1 let these be laced by round silk elastic cord4 ,they will then give support where it is needed1 and yet will yield freely to the expansion of the chest1 returning again as the air is expelled1 and so preventing discomfort4 ,this is a very simple expedient1 and yet perfectly successful1 and the girl who has tried it for three days will discard the inelastic braid forever4 ,i say elastic cord1 and not ribbon1 because the elastic ribbon is too strong1 and does not sufficiently yield4 ,girls do not know that they dress too tightly4 ,they will repel indignantly the idea that they lace2 and yet1 if they be asked to take a full inhalation1 it becomes perfectly evident that the outside resistance is a very positive element4 ,to prove this1 it is only necessary for them to put on their corsets laced as above described1 and then try to button the dress4 ,it will1 in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand1 be found1 ,i think1 that the dress1 which before came together without the slightest difficulty1 will no longer meet4 ,there is necessary no other proof that an unnatural pressure has been habitually used1 although1 from the very fact that it has been so long habitual1 the girls are entirely unconscious of it4 ,the ,chinese women1 ,i suppose1 are not conscious of their compressed feet1 and the two cases are exactly parallel4 ,no dressmaker knows the meaning of the words loosely fitting4 ,she is not to be blamed4 ,she looks at her work with an artistic eye1 as a ,parisian glove-fitter looks at his1 and wrinkles are the one thing which she spends her life in striving to avoid2 and1 as a general thing1 she is not a student of ,wordsworth to the extent of assuming as her motto1 ,nor shall she fail to see1 ,even in the motions of the storm1 ,grace that shall mould the maiden's form ,by silent sympathy4 ,it is not enough to say to the dressmaker1 ,make it perfectly easy and comfortable1 and then trust to her judgment that it will be all right4 ,the only test for a girl's clothing1 as to tightness1 should be1 ,can you take a good1 full breath1 and not feel your clothes8 ,if so1 they are loose enough2 if not1 let them out1 and keep on letting them out till you can4 ,nor is there the slightest need that this kind of dressing involve dowdiness1 or slouchiness1 a characteristic abhorrent to every true woman4 ,every woman expresses her character in her dress2 and where slouchiness exists1 it means something more than comfortable dressing4 ,it means a lack of neatness and order1 a want in the ideas of suitability4 ,it is sure to manifest itself in other ways1 and will not be prevented by dresses never so tightly fitting4 ,the next thing to be considered is the place of proper support for the voluminous clothing below the waist4 ,this gives a certain definite weight in pounds and ounces larger than is generally supposed1 and as a result of the law of gravitation1 it would all fall if the tendency were not counteracted by a corresponding pressure4 ,this pressure is almost universally being sustained by our girls at the hips1 and it comes just where the trunk has no longer1 except in the spinal column1 any bony support1 depending alone on the yielding muscles4 ,it is idle to assert that the corsets support the dependent weight4 ,in the old times1 when corsets had shoulder-straps1 this assertion might have had a shadow of truth1 but now1 when they never have them1 their weight must simply be added to the total amount of weight of skirts1 to find the number of pounds of downward pressure4 ,they serve only as a kind of fender to prevent the tightly tied skirts from cutting into the muscle1 and therefore1 conducing to prevent discomfort1 only serve to delude the girl into the belief that they hold up her skirts4 ,this weight1 evidently1 should be borne by the shoulders1 where the firmly-jointed skeleton1 upheld from below1 offers a firm and safe support4 ,but give a girl shoulder-straps1 and she finds the pressure over so small an area on the shoulders unbearable1 and besides1 the process of dressing becomes then a matter of almost as much complication as the harnessing of a horse1 when some inexperienced person has done the unharnessing4 ,suspenders1 though answering the purpose perfectly for men1 will not answer for women1 and even when made especially for them1 are found inconvenient4 ,the girl should wear1 over her corsets1 an under-waist1 fitted precisely like the waist-lining of a dress as to seams and biases1 or darts4 ,it should be made of strong shirting1 neatly corded at neck and arm-seyes1 and finished around the waist by a binding of the width of an ordinary belt1 set up over the waist so as to have three thicknesses of cloth for buttons4 ,to these buttons1 four or more in number1 the skirts should be hung4 ,the weight comes then on the shoulders1 and is evenly distributed there1 so that it is not felt4 ,this statement1 of course1 implies1 that the waists are sufficiently large4 ,moreover1 which is only an incidental matter1 the waist answers as a corset-cover1 and as a dress-protector at the same time1 and in the winter1 when dresses cannot be washed1 it becomes a matter of necessity to have something to answer the latter purpose4 ,in the summer1 when low linings are desirable1 these waists can1 of course1 be made low in the neck4 ,the shoulder-support then becomes narrower1 but on the other hand1 the weight of the clothing to be supported is very much less than in the winter1 so that no inconvenience will be found4 ,these waists themselves can then1 if desired1 take the place of linings for thin summer dresses1 and if this be done1 another incidental advantage will be the greater ease and nicety with which muslins and calicoes can be done up4 ,it should be borne in mind1 that within twenty years the weight of the dress-skirt has been also laid upon the hips4 ,before that time1 our dress-waists and skirts were made in one4 ,of late years they have almost never been so made2 that is to say1 the shoulders have had1 so to speak1 absolutely nothing to do1 and the hips and waist1 everything4 ,in any case1 skirts should be furnished with buttons1 not strings4 ,it is too easy to draw a string a little tighter than it should be drawn4 ,another fashion which our girls have adopted of late years1 should be spoken of4 ,as if they had gone to work to discover the only way in which pressure could be increased1 they have discarded the old fashion of gartering the stockings1 and have buttoned these up by bands of strong elastic ribbon1 to a band placed around the waist4 ,this arrangement1 it seems to me1 exhausts all the possibilities of dragging pressure around the waist1 and in this view1 it may be looked upon as a negatively encouraging feature4 ,they have1 certainly1 in respect to the support of clothing1 done their very worst4 ,they are trying to the full their powers of endurance1 and any change must be for the better4 ,i was not to speak of external dress1 but the skirt of the outside dress1 by the present fashion1 must be taken into consideration2 and of its probable weight any skilful person1 who has any idea of the weight of bugles and dry-goods1 may make an estimate for himself1 though his estimate will probably fall far short of the truth4#e ,if our girls are to walk the same streets with their brothers1 is there any reason why the soles of their shoes should not be of equal thickness8 ,and yet no man would think of wearing1 at any time1 except for house slippers1 soles as thin as those which many of our girls habitually wear4 ,boston is much more satisfactory than ,new ,york in this particular1 if the contents of the merchant's shelves are a safe index of the desires of his customers4 ,this is a matter which has been often spoken of1 and yet one which mothers and daughters seem practically to ignore4 ,girls should be educated to wear clothing suitable to the time and place1 and then their habituated instincts will lead them to demand and wear shoes of proper thickness4 ,enough4 ,it cannot be too often repeated that a girl may call for anxiety1 and often break in health at the time when she develops into a woman1 not because of the special demand for strength made at that time1 but because the demands on the general system for strength have been1 for twelve or fifteen years1 greater than the system could supply4 ,it is not the last straw that breaks the camel's back1 but it is all the straws4 ,the mother who has educated her daughter into a healthy appetite for food1 as to quality and quantity2 who has educated her into a healthy appetite for sleep2 who has1 through constant watchfulness over her clothing1 assured herself that no undue demands were made upon the strength of sustaining muscles1 and the constructive and repairing power of the general vital force1 has no need of hours of anxiety as to the girl's health1 and will find no critical periods in her life1 for the hours of anxiety have already been represented by minutes of wise and rational supervision in all the previous years1 and need not be spent over again4 ,,exercise4 ,bodily exercise is in one sense a means of repair1 inasmuch as it quickens the circulation and respiration1 and makes the whole organism more active4 ,the old maxim that ,exercise strengthens every power must not be overlooked1 as the arm of the rower or the wrist of the confirmed croquet-player will testify4 ,but it must also be remembered1 and this is a matter of prime importance1 that it is only judicious exercise which gives strength2 and by judicious exercise is meant that in which the parts exercised are not too steadily on the strain1 and that which is regular4 ,for instance1 continual standing in one spot is not judicious exercise for either man or woman1 because the muscles whose contraction is required to maintain the body in an upright position1 are kept for too long a time in a state of action2 the continual tension prevents the free passage of the blood1 and the uniformity of the circulation is destroyed4 ,continual standing1 in the teaching profession at least1 has broken down many a man as well as many a woman4 ,with women1 and especially with growing women1 the danger is greater1 resulting1 of course1 from the greater breadth of the pelvis and the less physical strength2 and any woman who persists in it1 simply exhibits an amount of recklessness which can be cured only by her own experience1 and never by the advice of others4#f ,if she had been better educated1 she would know better and act more wisely4 ,secondly1 exercise which is irregular or is used spasmodically1 is not judicious4 ,if1 for instance1 our girls had from their earliest childhood and during many months of the year1 been accustomed to skating1 no harm would probably result from it4 ,but when1 as was the case some twenty years ago1 a sudden fashion sprang up for this exercise1 and girls in all parts of the ,northern ,states insisted upon learning to skate1 with untrained muscles1 and to skate for hours together during the freezing intervals of our uncertain climate1 an immense amount of harm was actually done1 the results of which multitudes of women in ,boston and ,new ,york are to-day enduring4 ,there are1 it is to be presumed1 forms of exercise which are not judicious from their very nature2 but ,i find myself at a loss to name any one which girls desire1 or in which they indulge1 that would properly fall under this class1 unless it be sewing and washing4 ,whenever our girls have been injured by physical exercise of muscle or nerve1 it has been1 probably1 because the exercise taken has been injudicious in one of the senses above defined4 ,even with regard to the stair-climbing1 which our modern houses make a necessity1 the harm generally comes from the fact that too many flights are ascended at once1 or that the lifting of the weight of the body through the twenty1 or forty1 or sixty feet is too rapidly performed4 ,but long flights of stairs are a necessity where land is so dear that1 though a man may buy an unlimited extension up and down1 he can usually afford to purchase little on a horizontal plane1 and thus1 to our city-bred girls1 at least1 the necessity of climbing stairs exists from their earliest attempts at walking1 so that stair-climbing may1 by my second limitation1 come under the head of judicious exercise4 ,it were1 however1 well to inquire whether there are not different sets of muscles called into requisition in this universal exercise by different individuals1 and whether children should not be so educated in climbing1 that they may lift the unavoidable weight rather by straightening the knee than by making undue demands1 as many do1 on other muscles not so well placed to bear it4 ,it seems to me that there is a great difference in this respect in different persons4 ,it were also well that architects should remember that shallow steps may be1 and1 indeed1 generally are1 much more fatiguing than steps of the usual height1 for the very reason that an unusual demand is made1 a greater number of volitions or impulses required1 for a given height4 ,a greater width in the step1 also1 makes the effort more difficult--partly for the same reason1 and partly because a greater and unusual effort has to be made to throw the body forward at the same time that it is lifted up4 ,to ,dancing1 in itself1 no objection can be made4 ,freed from its almost inevitable accompaniments of late hours1 thin dresses1 and irregular food1 it is undoubtedly beneficial4 ,but when we are better educated1 so that we shall appreciate the absolute necessity of a strict and rational regimen of food1 sleep1 and clothing for the individual while yet immature1 this matter will be righted1 and only then4 ,there is one additional objection to be urged1 however1 against parties for young people1 which is not generally spoken of1 though we all know practically that one of the first preparations for an entertainment of this kind consists in sending at least almost all the chairs and sofas out of the rooms which are to be used1 and the dancing may not do as much harm as the enforced standing4 ,the woman who has to stand behind the counter1 or behind the bookkeeper's desk1 or at her loom in the factory1 may1 perhaps1 accustom herself in a measure to the daily strain2 but the girl to whom it is an irregular exercise1 and who1 besides1 is probably over-excited as to her nerves1 cannot fail to suffer1 though the blame is not1 as a general rule1 laid where it belongs4 ,there is another exercise which has come into vogue within twenty years1 a game against which it is reckoned heresy to speak slightingly--,i mean ,croquet--which certainly involves an amount of standing vastly disproportioned to the amount of exercise which it gives4 ,this1 together with the fact that it is likely to be played during only a few months of the year1 and often on damp ground1 and for an unreasonable length of time1 may1 perhaps1 furnish an apology for wounding so large a number of feelings as one must wound who has the heart to venture a caution concerning it4 ,it seems to be peculiarly well described by saying that it is the game which tires without exercising4 ,to ,skating ,i have already referred for the purpose of illustration4 ,it is gravely to be doubted whether1 in our changeable climate1 where1 moreover1 it can be practiced during only a very few months in the year1 it does not do more harm than good4 ,horseback riding1 rowing1 and bowling are very valuable1 provided that they be judiciously used4 ,but there is one exercise to which no doubt attaches1 one which can be regular1 and hence judicious4 ,this is ,walking2 and the fact that so few of our girls and women really enjoy it1 that so few are capable of walking four or five miles without fatigue1 and that they come in1 after a walk of one mile1 jaded and tired1 instead of invigorated1 points to a grave error of omission in their education4 ,the walk of the little girl should be so regular a thing1 so much a part of the day's routine1 that she would as soon think of dispensing with her morning bath as of passing a day without it4#g ,healthy children of three years old1 who are educated to walk regularly1 can1 as ,i know by actual careful observation1 walk two miles at once without fatigue1 coming in at the close1 brighter and more active than when they set out4 ,this matter of walking is a matter which1 as well as sleep1 food and clothing1 belongs to education2 and if the girl does not enjoy walking--nay1 if she does not demand it with as sharp an appetite as she has for her food and sleep1 it is generally because she has not been properly and rationally educated4 ,if it is said that it is not natural for some to like to walk1 the only proper answer to the objection would be that the question whether a thing is natural or not is not at all pertinent1 and involves an entire misunderstanding of education itself4 ,the very essence of civilization1 of morality1 and of religion1 consists in the overruling and directing of the merely natural4 ,by nature1 man is not man at all4 ,only in so far as by force of spirit he overcomes1 rules1 and directs the nature in him1 can he lay any claim to manhood4 ,education1 physical1 intellectual1 moral or religious1 is in its process only this directing of what is natural for us4 ,its material is the natural man2 its result is the spiritual man2 its process is the rationally-directed transition from the former to the latter4 ,between the helpless infant1 aimlessly stretching out its feeble arms1 and the well-trained and fully-developed man2 between the mind of the savage who roams the forest1 and the mind of ,bacon or ,shakespeare2 between the brute who strikes down his wife as he would knock over a stick of wood in his way1 and the physician who stands at his post1 tenderly and wisely caring for the fever-stricken patients in the ,memphis hospitals1 laying down his life for strangers2 between the man who follows the caprice of this or that moment1 as a desire for present pleasure may suggest1 and the noblest ,christian who daily sacrifices his own to the ,divine will1 there is but one difference--that of ,education4 ,the natural part of any one of us is1 in any significant sense1 simply the uneducated part4 ,if a certain course of action is once recognized as rational1 it is unnecessary to state that it is not natural1 and the formation of rational habits of body1 as of mind1 these habits which constitute our second and better nature1 is the very work with which education is concerned4 ,there is room1 however1 for misunderstanding here1 and this ,i must pause to guard against2 ,i must not be interpreted as saying that all natural feelings or actions are to be crushed out by a cold1 reasoning logic4 ,but it must be remembered that every virtue has its negative representative1 and that this negative phase is simply and only the same virtue1 but in an uneducated state1 and not at all another and different thing2 as1 for instance1 license is not different in its essence from self-control--it is only uneducated self-control4 ,obstinacy is merely uneducated firmness1 and the worst forms of barbarous superstition are but the outcome of uneducated reverence4 ,the lawlessness and bravado of our ,american children and youth1 so severely commented upon by foreigners1 are simply an index of the uneducated state of the greatest amount of directive force that the world has ever seen4 ,a fatal error is committed in education when this central truth is overlooked1 as when one treats these manifestations as in themselves wrong1 instead of recognizing their value1 and bending the energies in their proper direction4 ,if a missionary should begin his work by destroying in the mind of the savage all reverence for his own and only gods1 he would have sawed off the branch on which he himself hoped to stand1 and it were wise for him to make his escape from the country as soon as possible4 ,,sexual ,,education4 ,up to the period of life at which the sexes diverge1 that is1 up to the time when the boy becomes a man and the girl a woman1 the physical system pursues the even tenor of development1 broken only by the two marked advances of the cutting of the first and second teeth4 ,but now1 the strength of the general system is supposed1 in the counsels of the ,creator1 to have attained sufficient strength and firmness to be fully capable of assuming a new duty4 ,in both sexes1 organs up to this time quiescent1 that is1 as to any functional action1 take on rapidly an independent life1 assert their own character1 and take up their peculiar work4 ,heretofore1 all the physical development of the child has been for self alone2 the gradual growth of each organism has pointed to nothing outside2 each has been in a manner isolated4 ,but now we have a foreshadowing of a nobler meaning to human life1 for man is not to be alone1 an isolated individual2 he attains his highest significance only in relation to others4#h ,i say it is supposed that by thirteen or fourteen years of steady educated growth1 the system in both sexes has acquired strength enough to assume this last duty2 and if this growth has been educated growth in both sexes1 it does do so4 ,i am considering1 however1 only the girls1 and all that is said hereafter must be understood as applying specially to them4 ,it makes its first trial of its newly acquired power1 and1 in a well-trained organism1 such as we are thankful to know are yet found in our own country1 it does do so with as little effort1 with as little outer disturbance of the general system as is manifested when the first new tooth cuts through the gum of the seven year old little girl4 ,if it is asserted that such cases are rare1 ,i can only answer that such is not the testimony of other women of large acquaintance1 whom ,i have consulted2 and that even if they were1 the sufficient answer to the statement would be that cases of girls who have been physically thoroughly educated1 are equally rare4 ,no impression can be given to ,american women which will tend more directly towards producing the opposite result in our girls1 than one which should lead them to believe thoroughly that this last period of development is necessarily a period of great physical or mental disturbance4 ,american women have common sense enough to know that they must submit to the inevitable1 but they have also common sense enough to fight against1 and to conquer1 what is not inevitable1 provided it is not desirable2 and if what ,i have said above could become the conviction of every ,american woman as thoroughly as it is that of some of them1 we should in thirteen more years be able to prove it by innumerable cases4 ,every woman who knows it and acts upon the knowledge in educating her daughter1 thereby becomes a benefactor to her country and her race4 ,we all know that many a baby cuts all its first teeth without any trouble1 noticeable nervous excitement1 or derangement of any of the bodily functions4 ,we know1 also1 that large numbers are sick2 that large numbers die1 showing1 that where the organism is weak1 it is unable to carry on the new and sudden process without over-action1 since we have only a limited quantity of vital force4 ,over-action in one part1 is inevitably under-action in another1 and either is but another name for1 and not the cause of1 disease4#i ,we know that a larger proportion of children cut their second teeth without any disturbance1 and this result was to be expected2 for the terrible1 and yet most merciful hand of death1 seven years before1 had thinned the ranks by transplanting the weakest to a clime where the burden of the body is not a hindrance1 and had left us only the strongest for the second trial4 ,we know also1 however1 that many children do suffer from nervous irritability1 and from weakness in other directions at this time4 ,if it is the digestive or respiratory organs that manifest the strain1 the child is tenderly cared for2 if the over-action is in the nervous system1 we wonder what possesses the child1 and she1 probably1 is sent out of the room1 or punished in some other way1 in word or act4 ,when the third and last especial and exceptional work takes place1 we may expect the same results1 and we find them4 ,up to seven years of age1 however1 the little girl's life has been comparatively a healthful one1 at least as far as sleep is concerned4 ,as far as clothing affects freedom of motion1 she has also1 probably1 not suffered1 though when she has walked in our chilly winter and damp spring air1 she has had interposed between her body and the climatic influences only a defence of one thickness of cotton1 while her brother has been carefully guarded by thickly woven woolen garments4 ,but from seven to fourteen1 the deteriorating causes in the average ,american family increase rapidly in intensity1 in fact1 much faster than the increase of the growing strength4 ,the food remains nearly the same1 though even this is not always the case1 for the times at which it is taken often become somewhat more irregular1 and its material more varied and innutritious2 her hours of sleep are considerably curtailed1 from different causes2 her clothing1 while not increasing in warmth and thickness1 is drawn closer1 and1 in addition to this1 the brain is set definitely to work in actual study4 ,is it not manifest1 that while the demands upon the vital force have been increased1 the supply of material has been decreased8 ,if this have been the case1 she arrives at the period when the third and last demand is to be made on her growing power1 with not force enough to assume the additional work1 and in consequence she shows signs of disease4 ,and then1 forgetting all the previous want of education1 we either tacitly assume that ,god treats his children as ,pharaoh treated the ,israelites in his unreasonable demands1 or1 holding to our faith in him1 we seize upon the first cause that presents itself to our startled vision4 ,because the education of the body has had for a long time1 in our thought1 an importance secondary to the education of the mind1 we very naturally seize upon the latter as the cause of the evil1 and remove the girl from school4 ,one is here almost tempted to wish that the mind might be proved only a mode of matter1 if1 by that means1 the body might be raised up to the level of our mental horizon1 and within the circle of our rational sympathy1 for if we knew that matter and mind were the same1 the matter of which our bodies are composed might then secure a chance for respectful and rational attention4 ,but there are here other considerations of immense importance which must not be overlooked1 and it is to these that any rational treatment of the subject must turn its main attention4 ,besides laying the foundation of trouble at this time1 in a neglect of proper physical education for thirteen years back1 we have also taken pains to lay it in too great an attention to mental education for exactly the same number of years4 ,it must not be forgotten that the little girl1 as she looks out for the first time through her intelligence-lighted eyes1 by taking notice of anything1 while she lies in her mother's arms1 looks out upon a vast and complicated world of civilization1 of which she is entirely ignorant1 and that1 from the very fact that she is the heir of all the ages1 she has to make acquaintance with her inheritance4 ,to the baby1 the light1 all sounds1 its cradle1 the room1 its own moving fingers1 its mother's face1 are vast regions of unexplored knowledge4 ,there is absolutely nothing1 however small1 which is common or customary1 and1 as she grows older1 to the three year old child even1 a walk down one of our avenues1 or the examination of a bureau drawer1 is as exciting as a journey in a fairy palace4 ,in fact1 the whole world around her is merely one vast fairy palace1 in which miracles are continually occurring1 quite as astonishing and exciting as the appearance of the ,genies at the rubbing of the wonderful lamp4 ,and her world grows every day fuller and wider and more enchanting1 just as the hazy cloud of the milky way unfolds and reveals itself to us under more and more powerful telescopes into star-dust1 into myriads of distinct shining points1 into stars and suns2 and1 under the telescopes of reasoning science1 into worlds separated by distances so great1 that the imagination sinks exhausted1 and very properly4 ,now1 if any one will recall the sensation with which she first looked through a powerful telescope at this sight1 she will then understand the state in which the brain of the little girl lives1 as a continual atmosphere1 and she will have no need to ask herself whether it is needful or allowable to add much cause for activity to that brain1 for1 at least1 the first seven years of its life4 ,if mothers could only go to walk themselves with their little girls more often1 instead of sending their ignorant nurses1 they would comprehend this more fully4 ,the fact that they do not want to be bothered with the child1 only shows that they are dimly conscious of the truth1 though their action testifies that they do not appreciate its significance4 ,it is not necessary to speak only of city life here1 for a walk along a country road keeps the little three year old girl in a state of continual high excitement4 ,is there not the wonderful thistle-down to be blown away1 and the flight of each silken-winged seed to be watched with anxious eyes8 ,are there not clusters of purple and white asters in unexpected places8 ,are not the steep and dangerous rocky precipices by the side of the way to be daringly scaled and slid down8 ,do not the geese live in this pasture1 and the sheep and the one solitary pig in that8 ,the raspberry vines droop their rosy fruit into her hand1 the tall1 big1 golden-rods snap their stalks so unexpectedly when she bends them1 while she finds herself unable to gather the slender grasses4 ,then there are such charming nooks for hiding1 among the ferns and hazel-bushes1 and the bits of mica glistening all along the road are each of a different size and shape1 and must be carefully collected4 ,the toad startles her as it leaps out of the road1 the grasshoppers strike her face1 and wonderful people drive by in wonderful machines1 drawn by vast and wonderful animals4 ,the amount of knowledge which an intelligent child will accumulate during seven weeks' stay in a quiet country town1 alone can measure the amount of brain activity which has been carried on for that time2 and yet we drive and force this activity from her earliest years1 when we ought only to direct it4 ,we exhibit her in her babyhood to crowds of admiring and exciting friends1 we overwhelm her with an unreasonable number and variety of exciting toys1 we tease her to repeat her little sayings for the amusement of grown people1 and lastly1 we send her to school to be still more excited1 and to have vast additional fields of knowledge of a different kind open to her4 ,the fact is1 that no child is ready to go to school till she has had time enough allowed for the dazzling and exciting illumination which pervades the atmosphere of childhood1 to die away ,and fade into the light of common day4 ,we send children to school--or rather we begin voluntarily to teach them1 too early by several years1 and the only result is that the brain is too early overstrained1 and in consequence of such precocious and excessive action1 the foundation for a morbid excitation of the whole nervous system is laid in earliest childhood4 ,as far as the home-life fosters this over-activity1 that is1 before the time of school life1 ,i think it will be readily acknowledged that this showing-off process is applied with greater force to girls than to boys4 ,the boy is left more to his own devices1 but the girl must be made to contribute more to the general amusement of the family1 and she must learn to make herself useful4 ,it is true that to be of service to others1 in a rational sense1 should be her ruling motive of action1 but one may1 perhaps1 question whether such early expectation1 in such ways1 be not1 at least1 penny wise and pound foolish4 ,to this cause may be attributed a great part of the failure in the health at the last special time of development4 ,as to the mental progress made1 ,john ,stuart ,mill may1 as he says1 have entered life a quarter of a century in advance of his contemporaries1 but was he a quarter of a century ahead of others of his own age when he left it8 ,the question is at least suggestive of the truth4 ,but1 with the development of the organs which are so indissolubly associated with the deepest feelings and with the mental powers1 there is also a corresponding mental development4 ,not only does the blood rush more vigorously1 the muscular strength become more easily roused into activity1 but an indefinable impulse takes possession of the whole being1 and a great excitation of the imagination also is perceivable4 ,just here1 then1 the educator recognizes a duty4 ,this increased force1 which we could not prevent if we would1 and would not if we could1 must be guided into rational channels--and here ,i have to speak of a branch of the subject which is not often considered4 ,i mean the duty of the mother1 who is in this department the proper educator1 to speak earnestly1 fully1 and plainly to the girl of the mysterious process of reproduction4 ,rosenkranz#aj says1 somewhere1 that when any nation has advanced far enough in culture to inquire whether it is fit for freedom1 the question is already answered2 and in the same way1 when a girl1 in her thought1 has arrived at the point of asking earnest questions on this subject1 she is fit to be answered4 ,but just here let me call attention to the infinite importance1 in this part of education1 of perfect confidence and freedom between mother and daughter1 and to the equally important fact1 that this confidence which does exist at the beginning of life1 if once lost1 can never fully be restored4 ,if there is a shade of reserve on the part of the girl1 it will manifest itself just here and now4 ,instead of seeking the information which she really desires1 at its only proper source1 at that source whence she would receive it pure1 and invested with a feeling of reverence and sanctity1 of which she could never divest herself1 she seeks it elsewhere4 ,she picks it up piece-meal in surreptitious and clandestine ways1 as if it were some horrible mystery which must1 from its very nature1 be covered up from the light of day4 ,she talks it over with her young companions in secrecy1 and the charm of mystery keeps her thoughts unduly brooding upon the subject4 ,in old times1 and even now1 in other countries1 the danger was not1 is not1 so great4 ,foreign girls have a much closer supervision exercised over them1 and their life in the nursery is far less nerve-stimulating than that of ,american children4 ,they do not ask questions so early as the ,american girl1 and when they do1 they have at hand not nearly so many sources of information4 ,if this all-necessary love and confidence is unbroken1 and if the mother have been so educated herself1 that she recognizes the importance of the moment1 and has the requisite knowledge1 there is no danger at all4 ,the occasion is seized1 and her womanly1 clear1 and dignified statement1 destroys all the false halo with which the youthful fancy is so prone to surround the process of reproduction1 and1 at this time1 the fancy is very active with relation to whatever pertains to it4 ,i do not for one moment forget that ,i am speaking of physical education4 ,the physical consequences of mistakes on this point are decided4 ,by the continual dwelling of the imagination on this subject--of the imagination1 ,i say1 for there can be no thought where there is no clearness--the blood is diverted to these organs1 and hence1 the brain and spinal cord1 which develop so rapidly at this period1 are not led to a proper strength4 ,the easily-moulded material is perverted to the newly-aroused reproductive organs1 and the preternatural activity thus produced is physical disease4 ,but more than this3 ,i should be fairly accused of quitting the physical for the moral side of education here1 if it were not that ,i am now upon ground1 where1 more than on any other1 body and soul1 matter and spirit1 touch each other1 and it is very difficult1 if not impossible1 to draw the dividing line4 ,the inter-action of the two upon each other here becomes so rapid and intense1 that one scarcely knows the relation of cause and effect4 ,i repeat--more than this3 ,the patched and medley knowledge of the young girl to whom her mother does not speak1 comes to her garbled and confused1 the sacred seal of modesty torn off1 soiled with the touch of vulgar hands1 defaced by the coarse jests of polite society1 its sanctity forever missed4 ,the temple has been invaded1 its white floors trodden by feet from muddy alleys1 the gods thrown down4 ,is not the temple as much ruined when this profanation has been accomplished1 as if the walls had fallen8 ,i will not be misunderstood as doubting1 for one moment1 the purity of soul of ,american girls as a whole2 but ,i assert1 that the result of which ,i have spoken is terribly common in our large cities1 and that it is much more likely to be common in ,america than in any other country1 from the effect of our climate1 our free institutions1 and the almost universal diffusion of printed matter4 ,the remedy lies alone in the hands of the mother1 and1 where a girl is away from her mother1 in the hands of her woman guardian1 whoever she may be4 ,when our women are better educated1 there will be less prudery and more real modesty4#aa ,when the minds of our girls and women are kept busy on other things1 they will have no time for this most dangerous brooding4 ,most truly does ,schiller say3 ,in mssiger ,weile schafft der bse ,geist1 and he spares neither body nor soul4 ,it is always asserted that woman makes and rules society4 ,when our women are better educated themselves1 their righteous indignation will banish forever from all conversation in which they have a part1 the fashionable jests on subjects which do not admit of jest1 and the doubles entendres whose power to excite a smile consists in their vulgar and profane suggestions4 ,they are as common in companies of average women as in companies of average men1 and they evidence thoughts1 and are themselves as much coarser and lower than the outspoken utterances of ,shakespeare's ideal women--whom they assume to criticise and condemn--as the smooth and subtle rhymes of ,swinburne and ,joaquin ,miller are below the poetry of ,chaucer and ,spenser4 ,closely connected with this part of my subject is that of the reading in which girls are passively allowed to indulge4 ,how large a proportion of mothers and guardians exercise anything which can be called watchful care as to what books and papers the children shall read2 and yet the booksellers' shelves groan under the weight of the most dissipating1 weakening1 and insidious books that can possibly be imagined2 and newspapers which ought never to enter any decent house1 lie on the tables of many a family sitting-room4 ,any one who will take the trouble to examine the records of any large circulating library1 will be astounded at the immense demand which there is for these average novels4 ,and in our parlors and chambers to-day1 myriads of little girls are curled up in corners1 poring over such reading--stories of complicated modern society1 the very worst kind of reading for a child--stories whose exciting pages delight in painting the love of the sexes for each other1 and its sensual phases4 ,and the mothers do not know what they are reading2 and the children answer1 when asked what they read1 ,oh1 anything that comes along4 ,how find a remedy for this evil8 ,how stem this tide of insidious poison that is sapping the strength of body and mind8 ,how1 but by educating their taste till they shall not desire such trash1 and shall only be disgusted with it1 if by chance it fall under their eyes8 ,how1 but by giving their minds steady and regular work8 ,if the work be intermittent1 it will1 under the general principles laid down in the remarks on exercise1 not only be1 from that fact1 injurious to the brain1 but it will afford1 at the most susceptible period of life1 leisure for reveries which can lead only to evil1 moral and physical4 ,but give our girls steady and regular work of muscle and brain1 a rational system of exercise for both1 so that the motor and nervous systems may weary themselves in action1 and may be desirous of rest1 and evil will be not only prevented1 but cured1 if existing4 ,even if these trashy books1 which we find everywhere1 not excepting the ,sunday-school libraries1 be not actually exciting and immoral in tone and sentiment1 they are so vapid1 so utterly without purpose or object1 so devoid of any healthy vigor and life1 that they are simply dissipating to the power of thought1 and hence weakening to the will4 ,no one needs to be told how great is the influence of the will over physical health1 and any weakening of it tends inevitably to a slackening of all the vital forces1 by which alone we preserve health1 or even life itself4 ,all such books can be kept out of a house1 and their entrance should be guarded against far more vigorously than we oppose the entrance of noxious gases1 or even of draughts of pure air4 ,some of us1 many of us1 have reason to be grateful that in our fathers' houses no such books were to be found4 ,poets were there1 novelists were there in abundance1 but of such poisonous and weakening literature1 no trace2 and as we are grateful to our parents for the care and simple regimen which preserved our physical health for us1 we thank them also for the care which kept out of our way the mental food which they knew to be injurious1 and for which they themselves had been too well educated to have any taste4 ,the possession1 through the instrumentality of education1 of simple and healthy appetite and taste1 physical and mental1 is the most valuable gift that the father1 that the mother1 can give their children1 a gift in comparison with which a legacy of millions of dollars sinks into utter insignificance4 ,and a tithe of the thought and care which are expended in accumulating and investing property on the part of the one1 a tithe of the care and thought used on dress on the part of the other1 would serve to secure it6 ,the exclusively ,american habit of taking young girls to fashionable resorts for the summer should also be alluded to here4 ,no custom could be more injurious than this in the influences of food1 clothing and sleep1 which it almost inevitably brings2 and added to these1 girls in idleness1 and left to amuse themselves1 are often in such places thrown into contact with persons of both sexes1 whose conversation is the worst possible in its effect on mind and body4#ab ,but1 according to the general principle of education1 we must not repress imagination in one direction without furnishing it some rational food in another2 for education1 as has been said1 consists not in destroying but in training the natural man1 and any system which aims at destroying any natural impulse only defeats its own end4 ,for this purpose1 and at this period of life1 it were well to draw the imagination to the enjoyment of the beautiful through an actual contemplation of it1 and for this purpose the study of painting and sculpture is of pre-eminent value4 99 99 99 99 99 ,through their means the allurement which the wholly or especially the half-undraped form has for us1 becomes softened and purified4 ,the enjoyment of beauty itself is the enjoyment of something divine2 and it is only through a coarse1 indecent1 and already infected imagination1 belonging to a general sensuality1 that it degenerates into excitement4#ac ,let our artists rather be those who are gifted to discern the true nature of beauty and grace1 amid fair sights and sounds2 and beauty1 the effluence of fair works1 will meet the sense like a breeze1 and insensibly draw the soul1 even in childhood1 into harmony with the beauty of ,reason4#ad ,there is another matter which can scarcely be passed over in silence in this discussion1 but the evil effects of which are seldom recognized4 ,there are many men in middle life against whose character no whisper has ever dared to raise itself1 men of culture and power1 men of strong personal magnetism--,i use the term because no other will express exactly what ,i mean--who often attract the almost idolatrous admiration of young girls and young women4 ,they may do this at first unconsciously2 but they are pleased by it finally1 and seem to enjoy being surrounded1 as it were1 by a circle of young incense-bearers1 and they seem to see no harm in1 to say the least1 passively permitting this excessive1 sentimental1 and unnatural admiration4 ,no harm is done8 ,but harm is done1 and that of the most insidious character4 ,there is a time in the life of a majority of girls and boys when the half-conscious and just awakening spirit is1 as it were1 casting around in every direction for a some one1 they know not who2#ae and if at this time the young girl comes under the influence of one of these men1 she is likely to fall into a most unnatural and morbid state2 and the man1 whoever he be1 that shows himself pleased by such adoration and devotion1 who does not by the force of loyalty to the simple ,right1 persistently and quietly repel1 and effectually repel1 all such tribute1 is responsible for much harm1 and must answer for much unhappiness4 ,the remedy would lie in an education for these girls which should be sound and healthful2 in ample1 active employment of the thought in other directions4 ,the safeguard1 however1 lies in the mother's hands4 ,no mother who holds the unquestioned confidence of her daughter need ever fear for her in this or any other way4 ,so long as the girl knows that she can go fearlessly to her mother with all her thoughts and fancies1 foolish though they be1 so long as she is never repelled or shut up within herself by ridicule or want of comprehension1 so long she is as safe1 wherever she may be and into whatever companionship fallen1 as if fenced about with triple walls of steel4 ,but let that perfect confidence which should subsist between mother and daughter be once lost or disturbed2 let the girl once fear to think aloud to her mother1 and the charm is broken1 and dangers encompass her around4 ,no thoughtful woman can see a girl1 thus alone1 carried away by her impulsive feeling1 devoting herself to the worship of some prominent man who dares to encourage or permit such tribute1 without longing to step between and defend her1 as ,spenser's ,britomart did the innocent ,amoret from what she knows is the unseen1 unfelt1 and yet real danger4 ,as to direct physical care of themselves1 ,american girls between fourteen and twenty-one are to be ruled only through their own convictions on the side of prudence1 for they will not1 as has been before said1 blindly obey what seem to them arbitrary rules1 as the girls of some other nations can be easily made to do4 ,the ,american mother is not so likely to say to her daughter1 ,you must not go to this party1 as1 ,do you think you had better go8 ,if a girl1 then1 is made to know that when any organ is in a congested and softened state it is much more likely to be injured than at other times1 she will not1 while this is the case1 if previously properly educated on the will side1 draw her dress tightly around her yielding form1 and stand or dance at a party for hours together2 she will not skate for hours2 she will probably not ride for hours on a trotting horse2 she will not take long walks2 she will not race violently upstairs1 or plunge violently down1 because she has been taught to believe that no one can with impunity array her individual will against the laws of nature2 and thus two of the most frequent causes of trouble1 which are displacements or the bending forward of any organ1 will be avoided4 ,if she persists in trying experiments1 she will not be obliged to experiment for a very long time in order to satisfy herself that the wisdom of ancient tradition is of more value than her individual opinion2 but the girl who has been properly educated for fourteen years has already made this discovery4 ,however1 if1 after all advice1 any one should persist in so unreasonable a course1 she is1 when fully grown1 a rational and responsible being1 and1 as such1 is answerable alone to herself and to her ,creator for the marring of his workmanship4 ,what folly1 what worse than folly1 should we think it in the managers of a steamship to intrust the care of the machinery to an engineer who knew nothing of its construction1 or of the way in which the parts act upon one another2 and yet1 the mother who leaves her daughter in ignorance1 and then does not carefully guard her herself1 is guilty of worse than this2 and when the evil is done1 the advice of the wisest physician can only be the enjoinment of the very sanitary rules which she herself should have long before enforced2 for the true method of ,sexual ,education must remain that which has been always hitherto spoken of1 that of correct living4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,mrs4 ,e4 ,m4 ,king1 ,contemporary ,review1 ,dec41 #ahgc1 in an article on ,coperative ,housekeeping4 #b ,principles of ,political ,economy1 ,mill4 ,american ,ed41 ,d4 ,appleton ,co41 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #eea4 #c ,body and ,mind1 #b;d ,ed41 p4 #cjj4 #d ,referring to ,new ,york1 ,boston1 or places on same isotherm4 #e ,i have never seen the actual figures given on this subject1 and in the interest of positive science1 therefore1 subjoin the following1 which any one can easily verify for herself4 ,the following articles1 viz41 merino and cotton drawers1 flannel skirt1 a light ,balmoral1 a short1 light hoop1 corsets1 and dress-skirts1 over and under1 weighed #ilbs4 #doz4 ,avoirdupois4 ,it must be also remembered that this pressure is not regularly exerted1 but on account of the swinging and swaying motion of the skirts1 is applied now in one direction1 now in another4 ,the dress weighed was not of the heaviest material1 but of fine old-fashioned merino1 or what is known this year as ,drap d't4 #f ,lest this should seem to imply that women should not be employed as bookkeepers1 ,i would call attention to the fact that it presents practically no obstacle whatever to their employment4 ,for instance1 one of the largest wholesale and retail firms in ,st4 ,louis has for years employed a woman bookkeeper1 and she has never been expected to stand4 ,low instead of high desks are in their counting-room1 and low chairs are also found there4 ,the books1 bills1 etc41 are convenient to her hand1 and no difficulty whatever is experienced4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be a pertinent question to ask1 in what consists the advantage of a high stool and a high desk over a low chair and a low desk1 and whether it takes any more time to rise from a chair1 than to swing down from a stool4 #g ,in a most valuable and instructive article on the ,comparative ,health of ,american and ,english ,women1 soon to appear in ,scribner's ,monthly1 ,miss ,mary ,e4 ,beedy1 an ,american woman who has had unusually large opportunities for knowing ,english girls1 states that this is exactly the feeling with which the ,english girl and woman regard their daily walk4 ,i call especial attention to this forthcoming article because it abounds in accurately observed and skilfully generalized facts2 and because it is most suggestive on the whole subject of the health of women1 and the causes of its failure4 #h ,the change of character at this period is not by any means limited to the appearance of the sexual feelings and their sympathetic ideas2 but when traced to its ultimate reach1 will be found to extend to the highest feelings of mankind--social1 moral1 and even religious4 ,in its lowest sphere1 as a mere animal instinct1 it is clear that the sexual appetite forces the most selfish person out of the little circle of self-feeling into a wider feeling of family sympathy1 and a rudimentary moral feeling4--,maudsley1 ,body and ,mind1 #b;d ,edition1 p4 #ca4 #i ,maudsley3 ,body and ,mind1 ,am4 ,ed41 p4 #cjd et seq4 #aj ,dr4 ,karl ,rosenkranz1 ,doctor of ,theology1 and ,professor of ,philosophy at the ,university of ,knigsberg4 #aa ,i quote again from ,rosenkranz1 because ,i cannot improve upon his words3 ,modesty is the feeling of the primitive harmony of nature and spirit1 and it is very decidedly active in children1 however unconstrained they are with regard to nature4 ,true modesty is as far removed from coarseness as from prudery4 ,coarseness takes a delight in making the relation of the sexes the subject of ambiguous1 witty1 shameless talking and jesting1 and it is just as blamable as prudery1 which externally affects an innocence no longer existing therein4 ,here is1 consequently1 the point in which physical education must pass over into moral education1 and where the purity of the heart must hallow the body4 #ab ,a friend of undoubted accuracy testifies to a case where acute dysmenorrhoea and menorrhagia1 begun in over-excitement and tight clothing1 and aggravated by the very cause above-mentioned1 gradually yielded to regular and nutritious food1 a rational mode of dressing1 regular sleep1 and to the regular brain-work which gave sufficient employment to the over-excited imagination4 #ac ,rosenkranz refers here1 of course1 only to the antique1 and to the products of modern art which breathe the true spirit of the antique2 for it is unfortunately quite possible to find a ,joaquin ,miller and a ,charles ,reade1 or a ,tupper and a ,t4 ,s4 ,arthur1 in painting and sculpture as well as in literature4 #ad ,plato1 ,rep41 ,book ,,iii4 #ae ,the great mental revolution which occurs at puberty may go beyond its physiological limits in some instances1 and become pathological4 ,the vague feelings1 blind longings1 and obscure impulses which then arise in the mind1 attest the awakening of an impulse which knows not its aim2 a kind of vague and yearning melancholy is engendered1 which leads to an abandonment to poetry of a gloomy1 ,byronic kind1 or to indulgence in indefinite religious feelings and aspirations4 ,there is a want of some object to fill the void in the feelings1 to satisfy the undefined yearning--a need of something to adore2 consequently1 when there is no visible object of worship1 the ,invisible is adored4 ,the time of this mental revolution is1 at best1 a trying period for youth2 and when there is an inherited infirmity of nervous organization1 the natural disturbance of the mental balance may easily pass into actual destruction of it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what such patients need to learn is1 not the indulgence but a forgetfulness of their feelings1 not the observation but the renunciation of self1 not introspection but useful action4 7,the italics are ours47--,maudsley1 ,body and ,mind1 #b;d ,edition1 pp4 #hc1 #hd4 ,the next step will be to desire our opponent to show how1 in reference to any of the pursuits or acts of citizens1 the nature of a woman differs from that of a man4 ,that will be very fair2 and perhaps he will reply that to give an answer on the instant is not easy--a little reflection is needed4--,,plato1 ,,rep41 ,,book ,v4 ,,mental ,,education1 or1 ,,the ,,culture ,,of ,,the ,,intellect4 ,now1 as refusal to satisfy the cravings of the digestive faculty is productive of suffering1 so is the refusal to satisfy the craving of any other faculty productive of suffering1 to an extent proportioned to the importance of that faculty4 ,but1 as ,god wills man's happiness1 that line of conduct which produces unhappiness is contrary to his will4--,,francis ,,bacon4 ,if one is to educate the body1 she would be presumptuous in the extreme if she made the attempt without first understanding in some measure its anatomy and physiology4 ,with as much reason1 in approaching the subject of mental education--that one third of education which with too many persons stands for the whole--we must pause a moment for a few reflections on the nature of mind and the necessary results thereof4 ,mind is essentially self-activity4 ,in this1 as we have been taught1 lies its essential difference from mere matter1 whose most essential property is inertia--i4e41 absolute inability to move itself or to stop itself4#af ,when1 therefore1 mind acts at all1 it must act from within1 and no amount of information given will be of the slightest concern to it1 unless by its own activity the mind reach forth1 draw it in1 and assimilate it to itself4 ,this voluntary activity1 directed towards any subject1 is ,attention1 and so great is the power of mind when in this state1 that it dissolves and draws in all food1 no matter how abstruse1 that may present itself4 ,thus the problem of mental education1 which had seemed so complex1 resolves itself very simply4 ,we have first to educate the attention of the child1 so that she shall be able to use it at will1 and to turn it towards any object desired2 and secondly1 we simply have to present to the aroused attention the knowledge which the past centuries have created and accumulated1 and to present this in such quantity and in such order as the experience of the same centuries has decided to be best for its normal growth4 ,to begin with1 then1 we must educate the child from the first into a habit of controlling and directing her naturally drifting and capricious attention by the will4 ,the power of the child is very limited in this respect4 ,her eyes1 the index of her attention1 wander easily from one external object to another1 and consequently our work must be very gradual1 for1 if we attempt to hold the attention one moment longer than the mind has strength for1 the tense bow snaps1 and the overstrained activity lapses into inanity4 ,we must ask her attention for very short intervals at first1 and during many years2 for every time that we attempt to convey information for so long that the attention gives way1 we have weakened1 and not strengthened the power4 ,exercise1 to be judicious1 we must remember1 must1 in mind as well as body1 be regular1 and increase steadily in its demand4 ,the object of the first teaching should1 therefore1 be the steady and methodical cultivation of the faculty of attention1 and not the acquisition of knowledge4 ,our first work must be to give such judicious exercise that the mind shall acquire a habit of exercise and an appetite for it1 and not to spoil at the outset the mental digestion4 ,a healthy appetite being once created1 we have then only to spread the table and place the courses one after another1 at proper intervals1 and within convenient reach1 in regular order1 and the work is done4 ,but the child1 as she grows from child to woman1 must pass through three stages1 showing three different directions which are successively taken by the intelligent activity4 ,first1 she is occupied in perceiving objects4 ,she then passes into the years dominated by the imagination1 and she should emerge from this into the dominion of rational1 logical thought1 but1 through the fault of a defective education1 she often never passes beyond the second stage4 ,thus dwarfed and crippled she remains during her whole life1 physically a woman1 mentally a child4 ,better days are1 however1 dawning1 though the sun be but one hour high4 ,again1 serious errors are made in education1 from the want of a proper appreciation of the time at which the girl passes inevitably from one to the other of these stages4 ,when1 for example1 authors of text-books on ,natural ,science1 ,history and ,reading1 designed for pupils of fifteen and sixteen years of age1 cover more space with illustrations than with text1 we recognize the fact that they forget that at that age1 the first or intuitional stage is past2 and when publishers endeavor to recommend their books to teachers1 by sending them specimens of the pictures in the books1 instead of specimens of the explanations and statements1 the teachers know that they are supposed to be equally admirers of fine wood-cuts4 ,in the first1 or intuitional stage1 when the child is chiefly employed with perceptions1 there is little to be done but to train the eye1 the ear1 the hand and the voice1 and to teach the correct use of distinctly spoken language4 ,it is clearly impossible to investigate the subject of mental education in detail in the present essay2 ,i must content myself with a few suggestions and statements4 ,first1 is it not evident that it is all-important what kind of training the little girl receives in the first years of her school life1 while she is yet in the intuitional or perceptive stage8 ,a failure to properly train her attention here1 and the whole of her after-work is invalidated4 ,her school work becomes1 in its progress1 tiresome1 and hence disagreeable1 from the constant necessity of repetition1 a necessity arising from the want of a trained power of attention4 ,she is found fault with for restlessness and want of interest1 as if that were her fault1 and not her misfortune2 and1 at the end1 her knowledge is at best but a thing of shreds and patches1 till1 when all is done and the result exhibited1 we ask1 with a sigh1 whether it be really worth while to go through so much to gain so little4 ,and yet1 what care do guardians take to secure the best advantages for their daughters at fifteen and seventeen1 and of how little importance do they consider it1 under what kind of teaching they place them between eight and fifteen6 ,the error is all the same in the intellectual as in the physical education of our girls4 ,we are continually carefully locking the stable-door after the horse is stolen2 we are continually allowing things to go wrong1 and then making superhuman efforts to right them1 not remembering that it is far easier to keep out of trouble than to get out of it4 ,if a girl must be trusted to incompetent1 or1 at the best1 doubtful1 teachers during half her school life1 let that half be the last1 and not the first1 and incompetency will be shorn of half its power to injure4 ,not only directly in the interest of the girls1 but in the interest of my own profession--though the two are one--,i ask this1 for in that case1 our profession would soon be elevated in its general tone by the elimination from it of those who ought never to have entered it4 ,passing from the intuitional epoch to the age when the imagination and emotion become the ruling powers1 we next arrive at the time at which it becomes necessary for parents to see to it that plenty of good reading is provided for the eager child4 ,it makes not so much difference what kind of books she reads1 but they should always be the very best of their kind1 for this is the time in which the formation of a correct taste becomes1 perhaps1 the most important duty of the educator4 ,to poetry1 either in verse or not1 each child inclines naturally1 as did the race in its childhood1 and the stories of the ,old ,testament and ,homer are never wearisome4 ,generally1 the proper classical works for youth are those which nations have produced in the earliest stages of their culture4 ,now is the season for fairy stories1 and the ,germans1 who1 of all nations best understand the needs of children1 have them ready furnished to our hand4 ,i do not mean the absurd1 aimless1 and meaningless fairy tales with which modern writers endeavor to supplant the fairy classics1 and which1 for the most part1 the instinct of a child at once condemns4 ,i doubt very seriously whether it is possible at the present time1 and in ,america1 to write a fairy story which shall have the true ring in it1 any more than it would be possible for any one to write a genuine epic poem4 ,the circumstances favorable to the production of both have passed away with modern times1 but the productions are left us1 a perpetual legacy of delight and charm to every little girl4 ,we are too apt to forget that the child must live through certain stages of thought and feeling in order to arrive at maturity4 ,and perhaps ,americans are more liable to this error than any other nation4 ,we might as well expect the full bloom of the rose to burst from the root without the intervention of stem and bud1 and the slow passing of the years4 ,it is right that the children should devour fairy stories1 and she1 who1 at this period of life1 fails to read the ,arabian ,nights1 must miss forever a most valuable part of her mental education3 for this period1 once past1 never returns4 ,don ,quixote and ,gulliver's ,travels may be also mentioned here4 ,it is true that they were not written for children1 but so true and genuine are they1 that the child enjoys them thoroughly1 while the most mature find them a profitable study4 ,this peculiarity of adaptation to all ages belongs to all the genuine myths of any nation1 its best modern master being ,hans ,christian ,andersen4 ,it is the royal sign and seal of authority in stories4 ,ballad poetry belongs too to the beginning of this stage4 ,scott comes in later1 but ,tennyson does not belong in it at all4 ,these examples will be sufficient to express my meaning4 ,it would be a very valuable aid in the education of our girls at this time1 if some one who is capable would1 out of her riches of wide reading1 give us a list1 with publishers' names1 of these books of all time which ought to be read by every child2 a list to which any mother1 anxious for the right guidance of her little girl's taste1 and yet ignorant of the best means1 might refer with perfect confidence4 ,we must not1 as has been well said1 deprive books for children of the shadow-side of life1 because in that case they become artificial and untrue1 and the child rejects them4 ,for the very reason that in the stories of the ,old ,testament we find envy1 vanity1 evil desire1 ingratitude1 craftiness and deceit among the fathers of the ,jewish race1 and the leaders of ,god's chosen people1 have they so great an educational value1 and when we have purged the narrations of all these characteristics1 and present to the child an expurgated edition1 we find that they no longer charm her4 ,nothing disgusts a child sooner than childishness in stories written for her1 and it is because very few people can rightly draw the line between what is childish and what is child-like1 that we find so few who are able to write stories which are really adapted to children1 and that so many who address ,sunday-schools fail to interest4 ,every woman who has proved her power in this direction may be said1 in the dearth of valuable books for children1 to owe a duty to her country by giving them more4 ,as the child grows towards womanhood1 tragedy will take the place of the epic poem and ballad1 and will lead1 it may be unconsciously1 to a deepening of the sense of responsibility4 ,the question what the girl shall read belongs not at all to herself1 but to those who know the world better than she1 and who1 through the fact that they are educated while she is not1 know what and when to select4 ,hence the immense importance1 not only to the girl herself1 but to the whole country1 of the thorough intellectual education of our girls4#ag ,but enough has been said on the subject of reading1 and of the distinctions which should be made4 ,i may add1 however1 that the line before alluded to is to be drawn in novels4 ,as1 for instance1 the girl is ready for ,dickens before she ought to read ,thackeray1 as ,dickens dwells more in the region of the simple emotions1 while ,thackeray has moved on into the sphere of emotion which is conscious of itself1 or of the reflecting and critical understanding4 ,supposing now that the girl has passed beyond the psychical stage of the ,imagination into the stage of ,logical ,thought1 it is immensely important that in this stage also she should not miss a systematic education4 ,if this should be the case1 she is defrauded of the key which alone can render intelligible the scattered work of the previous epoch4 ,the work of education in the first1 or intuitional epoch is general2 in the second1 or imaginative1 special2 and in the third1 or logical1 returns again to the general2 and thus only can it constitute a whole4 ,in the first1 the child picks up facts and general principles from them2 in the second1 the little girl pursues1 each for itself1 different branches of study2 in the third1 she should be led to see the connection and interdependence of these branches1 to weave together the loose ends4 ,if she is not so led1 if her education stops with the work of the second stage--the only work which it is possible to do in the second stage1 on account of the laws of the development of the intellectual power--her education remains forever unfinished1 a garment not firm enough to endure the stress of time1 not fine enough to bear a moment's keen scrutiny1 and only strong enough to fetter and trip feet that endeavor to make any real after-progress by its aid4 ,and yet this is what we are in the majority of cases doing for1 or rather against1 our intelligent and energetic ,american girls4 ,does it ever occur to us to ask what becomes of this energy1 deprived thus of its natural outlet8 ,we have only to turn to the records of our insane asylums or to the note-books of the physician and we are partially answered4 ,this is more true than is generally supposed4 ,if these girls had had real work for which they were responsible1 and felt themselves able rationally to utilize the power of which they were blindly conscious1 they would not be found to-day in the wards of asylums1 or condemned to the luxurious couches on which they spend their inglorious days4 ,or1 thirdly1 we may find another and quite different development of this perverted but not destroyed energy1#ah this closing of the top of the chimneys4 ,many a woman is antagonistic1 is combative1 because she is forced into such a position1 not because she herself desires it4 ,the smoke starts for the top of the chimney1 as it should2 but1 baffled1 it frets itself in eddying whirls against the bricks1 till1 driven by the necessity of an outlet somewhere1 not understanding what the trouble is1 but only dimly realizing that there is trouble1 it rushes back1 choking in its passage the fire1 and revenging itself on the author of the repression4 ,men and women are wonderfully alike after all4 ,the same motives move them1 the same incitements spur to honorable effort1 and if a girl is assured that1 being half-educated1 half-educated she must remain1 she will not1 unless driven by the internal fire of irrepressible genius1 try very earnestly to fit herself for the higher plane which she can never reach4 ,were it not better done1 as others use1 ,to sport with ,amaryllis in the shade1 ,or with the tangles of ,nera's hair8 ,by all means it were far better1 if effort for broader work be of no avail1 to cease to think of it1 and to make one's self as comfortable as possible4 ,and yet1 how about the comfort in the coming years1 when her girls1 who1 thanks to the inevitable march of ,truth1 will have a better chance than she1 and her boys1 to whom the last stage of education is to be had for the asking1 come to her in vain for sympathy and appreciation1 to say nothing of the husband1 from all understanding of whose rational thought she finds herself barred out8#ai ,babies and half-educated children are very pretty to play with1 interesting to watch1 and delightful to care for1 but when they are married and have children1 for they can never be said1 in any true sense1 to be wives or mothers1 they appear in a somewhat different aspect4 ,i have sometimes1 out of sheer pity1 wished that there were some ,state asylum for such children1 when they are left1 as the chances of life and death so often leave them1 unprotected in the world1 with dependent children clinging to their useless hands4 ,i have never seen a sadder sight than such a woman1 her physical system in perfect order and superbly developed1 looking stunned and helpless into the world1 unable to do anything for herself or her children1 and dependent upon the charity of her dead husband's friends--and perhaps the wise thought and tender care of a faithful servant1 whose practical education was complete in the stern school of necessity--for food1 clothing1 and shelter4 ,they have been only half-educated1 and it seems as if the authority which has refused in the past to provide them with the power for their own maintenance1 ought to recognize their right to be supported2 as much as it does recognize the duty of supporting others1 for whose education it has failed properly to care in their youth1 in jails1 penitentiaries1 and prisons4 ,as to the effect of the want of education and culture upon what are known as the most characteristic womanly qualities1 whether physical or mental1 no better illustration can be furnished than that of the women among the ,arkansas refugees1 who during the war came crowding for protection into ,missouri4 ,they had not dwelt in a frigid and contracting climate2 they had not been physically overworked1 and they had not been co-educated1 for they had not been educated at all1 either physically1 intellectually1 or morally4 ,should we not have expected to find in these children of nature1 these women who had spent their lives in idleness1 undisturbed by any brain-work1 at least1 finely developed forms8 ,but what did we find in the quarters assigned them8 ,without a single exception1 they were tall1 thin1 and angular in face and form1 while the masculine loudness1 harshness1 and depth of their voices1 and the masculine expression of features and movement1 made us involuntarily recoil from them as if they were something monstrous1 in being neither man nor woman4 ,the animal nature1 informed only in a small degree by the spiritual1 inevitably descends through lower forms1 and when we find it deprived entirely of spiritual guidance1 we find a something lower than the dog that is grateful for our kindness1 or the horse that whinnies as he hears our step on the gravel-walk2 for we find the idiot4 ,but meantime1 while the child is passing through all these stages of mental development1 as ordained by the ,creator1 the definite school-work is intrusted to the hands of professional teachers4 ,american parents throw this responsibility entirely off from their own shoulders when they send their girls to school1 with somewhat the same feeling of relief as that with which they lead their family physician to the bedside of the little girl1 for whose indisposition they have1 before summoning him1 anxiously endeavored to care4 ,there is only one difference3 in the case of the physician1 they relate to him fully all the symptoms and previous treatment2 they remain by the bedside after he has gone1 in the capacity of nurses1 and they see to it that his prescriptions are obtained and administered1 and his suggestions in every respect exactly followed1 while1 in the case of the teacher1 they send the child1 leaving her to make her own discoveries as to previous symptoms and treatment1 and they do not inquire into the directions given1 the nature of the work prescribed1 or the effect4 ,having thus1 as they think1 placed the whole matter in the hands of the teacher1 they are often surprised and annoyed at the result4 ,i am taking it for granted here that the teacher is qualified for her part of the work1 as to method2 and1 if not working under a course of study laid out for her1 as in the public schools1 is herself able to arrange and plan4 ,this is the most favorable aspect of the subject4 ,but there is indisputably another side4 ,if mothers would only work with the teachers1 so that the home influences brought to bear on the girls in matters already discussed1 especially in the direction of the reading of their daughters1 should be healthful and strong1 the teachers would be saved much time and energy1 which could be far more usefully applied for the benefit of the child4 ,i speak from the midst of a profession which often suffers in reputation1 nay1 even in actual character1 from this very cause4 ,to go in detail through the part of intellectual education which belongs especially to the teacher1 is impossible here1 nor would such a discussion be in place in these pages4 ,it has its place properly only in professional literature1 just as the details of the treatment of a case placed under medical care1 whether preventive or curative1 belong only in the pages of a medical journal4 ,a few suggestions only will be added in this department4 ,it is evident to the most superficial observer that a vast amount of time is spent over such studies as grammar1 geography and history in our schools1 with but little perceivable result4 ,this is due in great measure to the fact that the manufacture of text-books has become in ,america a profitable business in a money point of view1 and that1 consequently1 what text-books shall be used in our schools1 both public and private1 is decided more by the publishers than by the educators4 ,hence the graded series of ,school ,geographies1 for instance1 through some five or six of which the pupil is obliged to wade1 one after another1 to find in each1 only the same matter in sentences of a somewhat greater length4 ,hence1 to go one step farther1 the stupefying of so many minds in our schools4 ,nothing is more deadening to all mental activity than unmeaning repetitions1 a fact easily verified by any one who1 wakeful through mental disturbance at night1 will take the trouble to repeat and re-repeat any meaningless thing4 ,it is the lounging1 deadening brain-work of which we have too much1 not the active1 vivifying brain-work of which we have too little1 that does injure the system4 ,the whole healthy tone of the mind is destroyed1 and evils1 mental and physical1 follow in rapid succession4 ,from the process of text-book manufacturing also spring the endless number of compendiums and abstracts with which our schools are deluged1 mental power diluted1 and the pockets of the parents unnecessarily taxed for the support of large publishing houses1 not for the education of their children4 ,another cause of this stupefying process is the rigid system by which most large schools are conducted1 where promotions1 from one class to another1 can take place1 say1 once a year1 the pupil who1 on examination1 falls short of the required per cent of correct answers1 being forced to review the work of the entire previous year before going on4 ,more elasticity1 more fluidity1 as it were1 is sadly needed in our system of public school education before this evil will be to any great extent modified4#bj ,it would be a waste of time to say that one ought not to be overworked1 were it not that some persons always seem to imply that any intellectual work is overwork4 ,it would seem equally superfluous to say that for intellectual health there ought not to be any surplus energy1 for the latter statement seems as axiomatic as the former4 ,the problem with which educators are chiefly concerned is that of fully employing the energies without overtasking them4 ,if the dividing line between enough and too much could be determined as exactly as the ,mississippi ,river marks the series of lowest points where the eastern slope of the ,rocky ,mountains meets the western slope of the ,alleghenies1 our work as teachers were easy indeed4 ,teaching1 however1 is not the only profession where such unsolved problems exist1 for individual cases1 and we teachers are thus but a part of a noble army of professional workers1 so we take heart of grace1 and are not ashamed4 ,but the fact remains to be considered that the work of school education is1 as the result of unavoidable destiny1 in ,america1 passing very rapidly into the hands of women4 ,we may deplore this1 but we cannot prevent it4 ,the last census showed that the number of women teachers in the ,united ,states stands already to that of the men as #abc1ihj to #gh1gji1 and the ratio is daily increasing4 ,there is no other country in the world1 then1 where it is so all important that the girls should receive a complete education4 ,in one view1 this tendency of the times is of great value4 ,the years spent in teaching are often the most valuable training for the work of the mother4 ,no other employment calls for a greater exercise1 and hence1 a greater development1 of the directive power1 and of the knowledge of human nature which will enable her well and wisely to direct her children1 successfully to grapple with the servant problem1 and to sweep a large circle of details within the compass of generalized rules4 ,she has learned what industry means1 not1 as was said by a ,christian writer of the thirteenth century1 only to pray to ,god1 to love man1 to knit and to sew4 ,she has not everlastingly something in her hand1 though no one profits by her labor1 and she is reduced to look for her sole reward in civil speeches made for useless gifts1 or insincere praise of household ornaments that are in everybody's way1 covers1 and covers for covers1 and covers for covers of covers4 ,many women are busy1 very busy2 they have hardly time to do this thing1 because they really wish1 or ought to do that1 but with all their driving1 their energy is entirely dissipated1 and nothing comes from their countless labors1 and ,i ask1 in the words of a ,russian woman1 ,is it not a great loss to the economy of society when such an amount of strength is wasted and leaves behind it no good work6 ,but many persons continually pursue self-contradictory ends1 simply for the reason that their education has been so narrow and limited that they are not able to see these ends as self-contradictory4 ,indeed1 there are other disabilities than the physical for the duty of a mother4 ,the want of self-control that comes of an objectless life1 the uninquiring habit of frivolous employment1 disable her from fulfilling this duty1 and to remain a child does not give the ability to educate children4#ba ,the power of independent thinking1 without which there can be no judgment1 and which alone frees the soul1 the real mother must have1 and our girls should be most carefully educated into it4 ,which course1 then1 will be best to fit the average child for her future work in the active world1 a course of private lessons1 or the life of the school1 which is in itself a miniature world1 where she learns to measure her own acquirements and character by those of others1 and is educated into the knowledge that individual caprice cannot be allowed as a rule of conduct8 ,and is there any country in the world whose citizens need to learn a respect for law more than in ,america8 ,as to the branches which girls have the ability successfully to pursue1 the question is no longer an open one4 ,the experiments at ,oberlin1 ,antioch1 the ,northwestern ,university1 ,michigan ,university1 ,vassar and many other institutions1 not to go out of our own country1 are sufficiently positive and conclusive to convince the most incredulous4#bb ,if the question be as to the branches which she ought to pursue1 that is also to some extent settled4 ,the courses of study which are laid down for students in ,european and ,american universities1 represent simply the condensed judgment of centuries of experience and induction as to the means by which the human intellect may be most surely strengthened and developed4 ,they are the results of long generalization1 and are founded deep on a knowledge of the human mind4 ,shall we venture to depart from the old ways1 and to decry the customs handed down to us from the ages gone by8 ,do we not know that the wisdom of twenty centuries1 as to the best means for developing the human mind1 is greater than the knowledge of one8 ,since we are heirs of all the ages1 why throw away our inheritance8 ,in one word1 our girls should be so educated intellectually that there will no longer be any internal barriers to their progress1 and when this is done they will find that the external barriers1 against which they fret themselves1 have disappeared4 ,when ,britomart had fairly conquered and bound with his own chains the enchanter within the castle1 she found1 as she passed out1 that the castle walls1 the iron doors and the fire which had barred her entrance had no longer any existence4 ,we can yet afford to learn lessons of wisdom from the prophetic woman's poet of the sixteenth century4 ,whether our school girls and college girls will be injured physically1 mentally or morally1 by granting to the boy and man students1 in our high schools and universities1 the advantage of fellow-workers of the other sex1 is a question which1 though practically settled to a large extent by experience1 ought not perhaps to be passed over here in entire silence4 ,one very curious feature of this question with regard to the education of our girls seems to be this3 those who are most urgent that the question should be decided by facts do not bring them forward1 but base their position on general principles assumed1 and on theory4 ,as has been well said by ,president ,white1 of ,cornell1 to seek for information on the real results1 so far1 of the experiment in our colleges from the authorities of colleges that have never tried it1 would be to commit the same absurdity as if the ,japanese authorities1 aroused to the necessities of railroads and telegraphs1 had corresponded with eminent ,chinese philosophers regarding the ethics of the subject1 instead of sending persons to observe the working of railroads and telegraphs where they were already in use4 ,where inquiries were made of universities which had never tried the experiment1 the majority of responses were overwhelmingly against the admission of women4 ,it was declared to be 'contrary to nature1' 'likely to produce confusion1' 'dangerous1' 'at variance with the ordinances of ,god2' in short1 every argument that a mandarin would be sure to evolve from his interior consciousness against a railroad or a telegraph which he had never seen4 ,i am not forgetful that the high ground of philosophy is the only proper one from which to settle the question of the sphere of any human being1 and what education will fit her for it2 but after this has been done1 if special objections are raised against the possibility or advisability1 in a utilitarian or physiological point of view1 such special assertions1 in default1 from their very nature1 of any other possible demonstration1 must be proved or disproved by experience--and yet these material facts are not allowed in evidence by those who theoretically insist most vigorously upon facts4#bc ,the opponents of higher education for women1 which practically is the same thing as co-education1 have within a few years shifted their ground4 ,at first it was asserted that woman was not equal1 mentally1 to the thorough mastering of the higher branches of study4 ,having been driven from that position by the indisputable evidence of percentages on written examinations1 they have taken up their new position with the assertion that women are not able physically to pursue a thorough and complete course of study--for1 ,i repeat again1 that for the masses1 co-education and higher education for women are practically one and the same thing4 ,in this position of the question1 we have only two things for which to be profoundly thankful3 ,the first is that we1 as living women1 are asserted by no one to be composed of more than two parts--spirit and body4 ,the second is1 that we have in our own hands1 at last1 the means of finally disposing of this question1 by disproving the second assertion4 ,to us as women1 as wives1 as mothers1 as older sisters1 as friends1 as teachers1 as college girls1 as school girls1 and to us alone1 the settlement of the question has at last been fairly handed over4 ,we have only1 in all these relations1 to learn the laws of physical health1 and to obey them1 and the whole matter will be set forever at rest4 ,we have only to see to it1 day and night1 that our girls are educated into proper ways of living as regards food1 clothing1 sleep and exercise1 till we have created for them a second nature of fixed1 correct physical habits--and we alone can do this--and the end is at hand4 ,we have at last the right to settle our own questions conceded to us4 ,the responsibility of the decision1 whether our girls are to have what we demand for them--nay1 what they themselves are eagerly and persistently demanding1 is decided1 by the new position1 to belong to us1 and to us alone4 ,responsibility means duty4 ,are we ready to accept the one1 and to perform the other8 ,,footnotes3 #af ,on this statement we may perhaps rest1 as our present distinct object is to illustrate mind1 and not matter2 though any reader will1 of course1 be entitled to his own mental reservations on the other side1 and his own ideas on the subject of ,attraction1 etc4 #ag ,when those who are supposed to be the educated women of ,america are really educated1 we shall not be pained through our sympathies1 in view of such wide-spread evil as the following paragraph from a recent editorial of a leading ,new ,york journal would seem to attest4 ,it must be confessed1 we fear1 that wives and mothers are responsible for no little of our too general disinclination for that steady1 persevering pursuit of high intellectual aims1 of which ,agassiz was such a bright example4 ,they are naturally ambitious of the outward signs of social position1 and also1 on account of those they love1 eager for the solid advantages to be obtained by money4 ,they are not content if they cannot be dressed as finely and 'receive' as elegantly as their friends do2 and1 also1 they fret if their children do not have such advantages of education and association as will secure for them an enviable future4 ,and thus1 husbands and fathers are driven1 not only to ceaseless labor--that they would bear willingly--but to the abandonment of their best-loved pursuits1 and their highest1 most cherished purposes4 ,thus1 money-productiveness comes to be the test of the value of all intellectual labor1 even with men who would gladly devote their lives to science or to literature1 and perhaps be willing1 for themselves1 even to be poor in a society in which poverty is almost a reproach4 ,thus it is that high aspirations are checked1 and that strong resolves are broken4 ,and thus it will be1 until we have advanced to such a point of civilization and culture that we shall award that something which is only expressed by the word 'consideration' to other eminence than that which is attained in politics or in trade4 ,i venture the question with extreme diffidence1 but would not this broader education of future wives and mothers save perhaps so much new legislation on the subject of divorce as is now in progress in those parts of the country most characteristically ,american8 #ah ,we are imperfect beings1 and in nothing more imperfect than in our power of appreciating each other's mental suffering4 ,we see the odd contortions to which they give rise without seeing the reasons for them1 and they are to us fit subjects for caricature4 ,we all know ,mrs4 ,pardiggle and ,mrs4 ,jellyby1 but few who have not borne it1 know the pain of the pressure from within that forces natural activity into such distorted motion4--,mary ,taylor1 ,first ,duty of ,women4 #ai ,young ,america is conceited1 disrespectful1 does not honor over-much his mother4 ,commonly he soon outstrips1 or thinks he outstrips1 her mental attainments4 ,her stature dwindles as his increases4 ,at best1 in his fancied greatness1 he pities while he loves her4 ,but what if she has traversed every inch of these intellectual regions before him1 has scaled those heights1 has conquered those enemies1 has looked deeper into those mysteries1 is superior at every point1 can in an instant flood his darkness with light1 sweeps with steady gaze the circumference of his groping thought1 and shows him ever an angelic intellect as well as a mother's heart6 ,with such a mother1 filial love would almost become worship4 ,how much of ,francis ,bacon's greatness was due to his mother1 who was the daughter of ,sir ,anthony ,cooke1 tutor to ,king ,edward ,,vi48 ,every evening when ,sir ,anthony came home1 he taught his daughter the lessons he had given to his royal pupil4 ,anne ,cooke mastered ,latin1 ,greek1 and ,italian1 and became eminent as a scholar and translator1 and she taught her son4 ,a suggestion of ,bacon's reverence for her1 some conception of what he felt that he owed her1 may be gained from the touching request in his will that he might be buried by her side4 ',for my burial1 ,i desire it may be in ,st4 ,michael's ,church at ,gorhambury1 for there is the grave of my mother4'--,address of ,homer ,b4 ,sprague1 at the laying of the corner-stone of ,sage ,college1 ,cornell ,university4 #bj ,for a full and masterly discussion of this subject1 its evils and remedies1 ,i must refer to the report on the ,st4 ,louis ,public ,schools for the year #ahga-b1 by ,wm4 ,t4 ,harris1 ,superintendent1 p4 #hj et seq4 #ba ,a ,mary ,taylor1 ,first ,duty of ,women1 p4 #ic1 ,emily ,faithfull1 ,london1 #ahgj4 #bb ,extracts from the last two ,reports of the ,president of ,michigan ,university on this point will be found in the ,appendix4 #bc ,on the subject of ,co-education1 ,i refer again to the ,report of ,wm4 ,t4 ,harris1 ,superintendent of the ,public ,schools of ,st4 ,louis1 for #ahfi-gj1 p4 #ag et seq41 where the actual effects1 physical1 mental and moral are given in detail4 ,the one that received the seed into the good ground is the one that heareth the word and understandeth it4 ,,moral ,,education2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,culture ,,of ,,the ,,will4 ,in hire is hye bewte withouten pryde1 ,youthe withouten grefhed or folye2 ,to all her werkes vertue is her gyde1 ,humblesse hath slayen in her1 tyrrannye1 ,she is mirrour of alle curtesye2 ,hir perte is verray chambre of holynesse1 ,her hand mynistre of fredom and almesse4 --,,chaucer1 ,,man ,,of ,,lawes ,,tale4 ,the thorough education of the ,will is that which renders the pupil #a4 ,civilized1 #b4 ,moral1 #c4 ,religious4 ,if educated into a civilized being1 she learns to subject her own natural and unregulated--her savage will1 we might say--to the customs and habits of civilized society4 ,if educated into a moral being1 she learns to subject her will1 not to the idea of what is agreeable or useful1 but to the idea of what is simply right4 ,if educated into a religious being1 she learns to submit her will to the ,divine ,will1 and in her relation to ,god1 she first becomes freed from the bonds of all finite and transitory things1 and attains to the region where perfect obedience and perfect freedom coincide4#bd ,a woman who is virtuous1 so to speak1 with regard to the first1 might be characterized as polite2 she who is virtuous in regard to the second1 as conscientious2 and she who is virtuous in regard to the third1 as humble4 ,she who is all these may be said to have been thoroughly educated as to her ,will4 ,the culture of the ,will may be1 then1 #a4 ,social1 #b4 ,moral1 #c4 ,religious4 ,in this realm1 as in that of the intellect1 the process of education consists in developing a spiritual being out of a natural being4 ,it is the clothing1 or rather1 the informing of the natural with the spiritual4 ,the part of education which relates to the social life is almost entirely given to the parents2 and generally1 from the great demands which business makes on the father1 it falls almost wholly into the hands of the mother4 ,it is she who must train the little girl into habits of neatness1 of obedience1 of order1 of regularity1 of punctuality--small virtues1 but the foundation stones of a moral character1 and into habits of unselfishness and of politeness4 ,social ,culture4--,neatness in person1 as in dress1 is not natural to the woman of a savage tribe1 neither is it a characteristic of hermits4 ,it is the product of civilized society4 ,it is a recognition1 in some sense1 of the equality of others to one's self1 a bending of the undisciplined will to the pleasure and satisfaction of others4 ,like all other habits1 it becomes1 in time1 agreeable to the person who practises it1 but the first training into it1 is a painful struggle4 ,do we not all remember that in the picture painted by the melancholy ,jacques of the shadow side of human existence1 the shining morning face of the child was not forgotten as one of the shadow tints of that stage of life8 ,the education into habits of neatness is almost entirely in the hands of the mother or of her deputies4 ,she herself then must be thoroughly educated into it1 and it were well that she remembered and taught her daughters to remember1 that real neatness includes the unseen as well as the seen4 ,neatness has a moral significance not to be despised1 for though it is true that the dress is an index of the character1 and that external neatness habitually covering untidy underclothing1 is only typical of some moral unsoundness1 it is equally true that there is an influence in the other direction1 from the external1 inwards4 ,the habit of neatness furnishes soil in which the tree of self-respect may begin its growth4 ,do we not all know that a child behaves better in clean clothes than in soiled ones8 ,and has there not been a perceptible elevation in the real character of the city police since they were dressed in neat uniforms8 ,i know that the fact that they are in uniform touches another point1 and yet it is not all4 ,if instead of setting the beggar on horseback1 we clothe him in clean and neat garments1 we all know that we have given him an impulse in the direction of the good4 ,obedience is perhaps the next habit to be spoken of4 ,unquestioning obedience we must demand from the child for her own safety4 ,it may often be a question of life and death whether the little girl runs when she is called1 or throws away something which she has in her hand1 instead of putting it into her mouth4 ,but has not this habit of obedience a higher office than this8 ,it is the first yielding of the untrained will to rightful authority1 and as such1 has an immense significance4 ,the mother who cannot train her daughters and sons to obedience were better childless1 for she is but giving to her country elements of weakness1 not elements of strength4 ,she is furnishing future inmates for jails1 penitentiaries1 and prisons1 and putting arms into the hands of the enemies of law and order4 ,and yet1 how can a woman who has no clear ideas herself of what should be demanded and enforced1 and hardly a sufficient command of language to express directions clearly1 who was never taught herself to obey1 and who has no definite idea of what end she really wishes to attain1 educate her children into obedience8 ,a sense of exact justice1 a persistent attention1 and a consistent thought are necessary4 ,has the education which we have been giving our girls tended to develop these8 ,are they not developed only by mental work in those very directions which have scarcely heretofore formed a part of the education of our girls8 ,does not the welfare of the country imperatively demand that we give those who are to be the only educators of the children in their first and decisive years1 a thorough1 slow1 a well-founded and finished education8 ,order1 in any of its manifestations1 is not natural to the race4 ,but the very nature of civilization forces it upon us4 ,we may yield our will at first to its demands1 or we may oppose1 but it will not take a very long time in the latter case for the demands of social life to give us so great an amount of annoyance1 that the pain of the inconvenience incurred will far outweigh the pleasure of lawlessness in this respect4 ,here1 also1 the mother is supreme1 though the teacher should come to her aid very effectually when the school-days begin1 and here ,i touch a subject which demands a little more attention than has hitherto been paid to it1 for too much cannot be said of the great significance of rules as educators in girls' schools4 ,it is allowed in very large schools1 and where boys and girls are brought together1 that there must be strict rules1 because large masses cannot be successfully managed without2 but it is generally taken for granted in a girls' school1 and where the numbers are small1 that very little or no discipline is required or even desirable4 ,this view follows logically enough if one assumes that the object of discipline is the present good of the school as a whole4 ,but if we assume that its prime object is the future benefit of the pupils1 individually1 it will follow that the size of the school is not an element which should enter into the question at all1 and this is the basis which ,i assert to be the only true one4 ,i do not deny that there may be too many rules4 ,one may endeavor to hedge pupils around with arbitrary prohibitions1 but any attempt at this1 like any other unreasonable action1 will soon result in its opposite1 so that the two extremes are ultimately the same in effect4 ,many persons speak and act as if they believed rules to be in themselves only a necessary evil1 of which the less we have the better1 and an entire absence of which would be the desirable state4 ,rousseau might be said to be the leader of this class1 educationally speaking1 for this is pre-eminently the doctrine which he teaches1 though ,i fancy that those who object most to rules are not often aware that they are arraying themselves under his banner4 ,that school-work should go on in regular routine1 that a regular order should be established1 and that no slight cause should be suffered to break this1 that there should be some well-defined and regular order in which pupils should come to and go from their hourly duties--the importance of these things to quiet and economy of time is as nothing1 compared to the results of regulations like these on the intellectual and moral character4 ,the daily and hourly habit in external observances repeats itself in habits of thought and study4 ,unconsciously1 facts are learned1 and thoughts take on regular habits1 and the impress made by the silent work of years is ineffaceable4 ,it will show itself1 in years to come1 if we refer only to so-called practical things--and this is what our condemners of rules are seeking for1--in well-ordered homes1 where each duty has its appointed time1 and where the necessary labor goes on so regularly that it is hardly noticeable1 except in an absence of all confusion and a permanent sense of quiet2--homes where1 because of this regularity1 time will remain for higher culture1 and the whole family will be elevated thereby4 ,closely connected with this matter of regularity is that of ,punctuality1 which should be no less trained at school into a habit1 and the effect of which1 on the moral character1 is no less important4 ,as far as school goes1 punctuality is necessary in order that work be thoroughly done1 and that time be saved4 ,but it is not for this reason so much as for the far-reaching influences on the whole character1 that the little girl should be made to feel it a matter of importance that she is in her seat when the bell strikes1 and that she is ready for her work at the precise minute appointed4 ,is it not at once seen how a requisition of this kind will gently force her into habits of order8 ,if she suffer for being late1 because1 when she started for school she could not find her rubbers or gloves1 she will be more careful the next day that they are in their proper places4 ,if she is late at recitation because her pencil was not to be found at the call1 she will finally conclude that it would be a better plan to keep arithmetic1 slate and pencil together2 and so1 almost insensibly1 her books and appointments generally will fall into groups and classes in her desk4 ,not only there1 but at home1 will the same effect be seen2 and not only now1 but through all her life1 the habit will run4 ,it needs only a moment's reflection to show how great will be the result4 ,accustomed to collect her thoughts at a certain time1 for a certain work1 she will have acquired a mastery over them which will make her self-controlled1 ready in emergencies1 and able to summon her whole mental power at will for any work when it may be necessary4 ,again1 that silence should be enforced in school may be desirable for the immediate quiet resulting therefrom1 but that the continual impulse to talk should be restrained and held in check by the will1 till the subjection of impulse to will shall become a daily and hourly habit1 is a matter of no less than infinite moment4 ,and the wise teacher1 who must always look beyond the present and immediate result1 to its future and mediate consequences1 works steadily1 through the enforcement of such regulations1 on the formation of the character of the child under her influence1 basing her action on the rational foundations of the ,science of ,education1 and mindful ever that the so-called intellectual part of her work will not be well performed if these be neglected4 ,laws and rules are1 to her1 not an unfortunate necessity1 inseparable from society1 but the divinely-appointed means whereby the human soul shall attain perfect development2 not a record of rights grudgingly surrendered by the individual for temporal advantage1 but the voluntary placing under foot of capricious impulses1 that by this renunciation the individual may ascend to his own noblest freedom4 ,do not the very weaknesses1 habits and failures1 which are considered especially feminine1 result from the general lack in a proper appreciation of the educational value of strict and exactly enforced rules8 ,it is because little girls have not1 in their educative process1 been forced to accept the responsibility1 and to suffer the results of their own deeds1 that they are1 in after life1 placed in false and ridiculous positions1 when they are forced to come in contact1 whether in housekeeping or in business1 with the rational regulations of business life4 ,they expect1 and take1 special privileges1 and feel themselves aggrieved if these are not accorded2 they continually place their own individual opinions or fancies alongside of the necessary laws of trade1 as if the two were to be balanced for a single moment2 they have not learned that there are times when silence is better than speech1 and they seem to think that a polite apology ought to be accepted by the president and directors of a bank1 in lieu of the payment at the proper time of a protested note4 ,that these follies are universally characterized1 wherever they occur1 by the term a woman's way of doing business1 is sufficient proof that they are characteristic of the majority of women2 but that the cause of the trouble lies1 not in their nature1 but in their education is proved by the fact that wherever women have received a thorough business training1 these charming and bewildering feminine characteristics1 which render them only a source of confusion1 are not found4 ,co-education is1 in this respect1 of incalculable good to our ,american girls1 for the necessary laws of rational discipline1 in a mixed school1 must bear as well on the girls as on the boys1 and the result is1 if possible1 of greater value to the girls than to the boys4 ,when we tell the little girl that she must not insist on keeping all her playthings tightly hugged to her bosom1 and persuade her to allow her sister to look at or play with them1 when the little arms are slowly unfolded and the toy half hesitatingly handed over1 we behold the bending of a natural will1 and one of the first victories of the spiritual being4 ,there is a great struggle going on in the tiny thought4 ,she is probably too young to be amenable to reasoning1 and simply yields to the force of the already acquired habit of obedience1 or to the force of her affection4 ,but if she do not yield1 if she still hugs the toys in her natural selfishness1 shall we be educating her if by physical pain we force her to drop them8 ,a single illustration and question of this kind will show how large interests are involved in what is seemingly so simple a matter4 ,the question of how we shall deal with her to force her to do what she ought to do1 cannot be answered without first determining what is the end in view4 ,have we simply in mind as an end that the other child shall have some of the toys in that particular instance1 or is it the training1 the education of the untrained will1 of which we are thinking8 ,and yet the question must be decided at once4 ,the pouting child stands there in full possession of all the playthings1 her arms rosy with the strain1 and the other child1 quite as natural1 quite as untrained1 is perhaps preparing to take her share by violence1 and cries aloud for justice4 ,is it not manifest that every mother--that every woman who may have the care of children1 should be so educated that she may guide her conduct in every such emergency by some established principles1 and with a clear vision of causes and results8 ,how many such questions come up for settlement in the course of twelve hours1 only a woman who has had for a day the charge of two or three young children can know2 and how often has she1 in the course of half an hour1 either from the result of her decision1 or from her own reflection1 become convinced that she has done exactly the thing which she ought not to have done6 ,this would not be so often the case if our girls were really educated4 ,we hold a general in the army responsible for the mistakes of execution made under his orders1 and if he commit many1 we assert him to be incompetent1 half-educated1 and demand that he be superseded4 ,we put a girl who has never had the chance for any study or comprehension of the only thought which could give a rational ground for such decisions1 at the head of a family1 and when1 either in devotion to interests which she practically thinks of greater importance1 or in despair at her own want of success1 fretted and worried beyond the power of endurance1 she fails in nervous health and gives up the care of her children to ignorant nurses1 we wonder that ,american children are so unruly4 ,we sow the wind and we reap the whirlwind1 but the sowing was done long ago in the narrow and unfinished education which we gave to our girls1 now the mothers4 ,politeness does not consist in any outside mannerisms1 nor is it simply kindness4 ,it consists1 as a wiser than ,i has said1 in treating every person as if she were what she might be1 instead of what she actually is4 ,a person tells us what we know not to be true4 ,we do not contradict her1 which would be treating her as if she intended to tell a lie1 though we may be convinced that such was the actual case1 but we treat her as if she intended to be a scrupulously truthful person4 ,we speak not to her then1 but to a non-existing ideal of her1 when we ask her politely whether she may not be mistaken1 or when we do not answer at all1 thereby assuming that her statement was correct4 ,or a self-important salesman insists1 very impolitely1 because he thereby implies that we know nothing of what we desire1 that the piece of goods which we are examining is of charming colors1 tastefully combined1 and is in fact the very thing which we most need4 ,if we answered him as our natural impulse prompts1 according to his folly1 we simply treat him as what he actually is1 and we are as impolite as he4 ,the woman who has been educated into true politeness answers him1 if she answer him at all1 as if he were what he actually is not1 a better judge of her needs than she herself is4 ,and so with all cases of politeness4 ,it is manifest that no manual of manners or etiquette of polite society can be of the slightest avail1 and all such would seem beneath notice here1 were it not evident from the number of such books published1 and the number sold1 that there is a large demand for them4 ,nothing to an observer can be a more comic sight than the result produced on manners by their faithful study4 ,it is sufficient for us to try to imagine the man who of all our acquaintance is the most truly and exquisitely polite1 endeavoring to follow out the cast-iron rules contained in these books1 for us to appreciate the difference between the politeness which springs from within and that which is only a shabby veneering4 ,of ,american mothers and ,american teachers what proportion are1 by having attained a mastership in this art of politeness1 fully able to educate our girls into it8 ,are we not a sadly uneducated people8 ,but there is still something else to be done4 ,in the unrestrained and affectionate intercourse of the family1 the girl has not felt the necessity of concealing in any degree her real self4 ,she is under an observation that is intelligent and sympathetic1 and she is sure of the kindest construction of all her actions4 ,if she talks or laughs loudly1 for instance1 it is not supposed that this springs from a desire to attract attention1 but from the natural1 innocent overflowing of healthful spirits1 and a forgetfulness of self4 ,but her social education cannot be called finished till she has in some measure been taught to distrust others4 ,she must learn that society is not one vast family1 abounding in sympathy1 and always ready to put the kindest construction on her words and actions4 ,she must learn this sooner or later4 ,shall she learn it by mortifying experiences1 by finding herself often in absurd and annoying positions1 by having her confidence betrayed1 and the outspoken utterances resulting from her very purity of thought made the occasion of coarse remarks and suspicions2 or shall she be guarded against all these by being taught that she must not give all the world credit for being as pure and innocent as she8 ,we must so educate her that she will not lightly give her confidence1 or show to uninterested persons too much of her real self4 ,in other words1 we must educate her into a reserve1 into the gentle1 unoffending dignity which holds all but the nearest and dearest at a little distance from herself4 ,this is not teaching deceit4 ,it is only teaching what must be learned1 the means of possessing one's self in peace4 ,the majority of our girls who talk and laugh loudly on ,broadway1 do not do this to attract attention4 ,they do it simply because their education on this point is not yet completed4 ,a slight indication of the same defect in education is the profusion of endearing pet names1 which we find in the published catalogues of girl students4 ,if the girls themselves do not realize the impropriety of thus publishing to a world of careless strangers1 the names which family affection has bestowed upon them1 should not the teachers who compile the catalogues1 direct and overrule their uneducated taste8 ,it is only necessary to imagine the catalogue of ,harvard or ,yale1 printed in the same manner1 to make manifest1 even to the girls themselves1 the want of proper dignity displayed4 ,men1 in their intercourse with the world1 learn sooner than women1 by the rough teaching of experience1 the necessity of fending in their inner selves from the outer world4 ,but both boys and girls might be saved much time and pain1 if parents and guardians recognized more clearly that this was a part of education4 ,but in all the training of the will on this social side1 we must never forget1 and here lies the greatest problem for the educator1 that individuality is not to be sacrificed1 that it must be most jealously preserved4 ,we have only to remember what has been so often said before1 that education consists1 not in destroying1 but in training4 ,the will is only to be directed1 never to be broken1 or even weakened1 and she who endeavors to do this is working in the interest of evil and not of good1 while she who should1 if it were possible1 succeed in it1 would have1 as the result of her efforts1 only a total ruin instead of a fair and stately edifice4 ,it may often1 indeed1 become her duty to strengthen it1 for without a strong will1 the moral nature will fall a prey to the forces of evil as surely and quickly as the body1 deprived of the life principle1 rushes to corruption and disintegration4 99 99 99 99 99 ,moral ,culture4--,in the previous division1 the will has been supposed to be guided by the educator1 but now another guide is to be followed1 for it becomes the work of the educator to teach that nothing in the world has any absolute value except ,will guided by the ,right4 ,we must presuppose before we can produce any great effect in this direction a considerable education of the intellect1 in order that the child may have some intelligent idea of the ,right1 otherwise we shall be leaving her to the saddest mistakes4 ,the ,african chief1 who1 being convinced that it was right for him1 before baptism1 to dispense with one of his two wives1 for both of whom he had a sincere affection1 performed1 so far as he knew1 a highly virtuous action in eating one of them1 and no girl whose intellect has not been well trained can safely be delivered over to the direction of her own conscience4 ,the ,spanish and the ,french mothers tacitly recognize the truth of this proposition1 by the constant surveillance which they exercise over their daughters4 ,it is contrary to the whole spirit of our ,american life to be so watchful4 ,by so much the more1 then1 ought we to see to it1 that the conscience1 to whose custody ,american mothers hand over their daughters' actions1 be an enlightened one4 ,no merely prescriptive external rules1 borrowed from society when the mothers were girls1 can fully answer the purpose4 ,these may do for communities that are comparatively stationary1 but in our rapidly moving ,american life1 our girls must have a more stable guide4 ,it is not often recognized that the cause of much chafing and worry in ,american homes--a chafing and a worry which is scarcely found in ,europe--is only this truly ,american phenomenon of rapid national growth4#be ,the mother who was educated only thirty years ago finds herself unable to understand her daughter's restlessness4 ,as great a distance divides the thought of the mother and daughter in ,america as in ,germany lies between the great-grandmother and the great-granddaughter1 and these latter named relatives are1 by a wise provision of ,providence1 not often permitted to come into contact at the time when the girl begins to assert her own individuality1 and hence1 the chafing referred to above1 is saved4 ,if ,methuselahs were not exceptional in these days in ,america1 who can estimate to how great a degree the unavoidable friction of family society would be increased6 ,we must never1 in this question of education1 forget for one moment the peculiar conditions which surround our girls1 from the peculiarities of national government and society4 ,again1 then1 it is1 in this point of view1 of imperative importance that our girls be allowed1 nay1 forced1 to complete their intellectual education4 ,we have now so to educate the girl that she shall do what is right1 simply because it is right1 and not because it is useful or politic so to do2 that she shall abstain from what is wrong1 simply and1 only because it is wrong1 and not because it will be harmful to her if she do not4 ,these two statements would1 however1 be fully expressed by the first one1 for it is evident that if she always do what is right she will never be able to do what is wrong1 and positive education is much better than negative1 and an active1 better than a passive state of mind4 ,in the first years of the little girl's life this lesson can be impressed upon her only by example1 and fortunate have those of us been who1 both in grandmother and mother1 from our earliest childhood up1 can remember no single instance1 however trifling1 of deviation from obedience to the stern daughter of the voice of ,god4 ,though at first we did not know what the power was1 we felt1 through all our childish consciousness1 that there was a power behind the throne from which our laws emanated1 whose voice was authority itself4 ,some of us may even recall the impression made upon us1 as clear now as in the long gone years1 when we distinctly formulated in words1 with a certain sense of satisfaction1 the conviction that even grown-up people cannot do as they please2 and yet1 that the power which prevented this doing as they pleased was neither fashion1 nor custom1 nor the opinion of society4 ,let the little girl be so educated that while she praises and rejoices over1 and receives into her soul1 the good1 and becomes noble and good1 she will justly blame and hate the bad1 now in the days of her youth1 even before she is able to know the reason of the thing1 and when ,reason comes1 she will recognize and salute her as a friend with whom her education has made her long familiar4#bf ,but when the girl is older1 and especially at the time when the whole character is most impressible1 this part of education can be firmly laid in the cement of rational conviction1 and if it is laid on no shifting sands of contradictory character in the educator1 we may safely trust to its enduring support4 ,there must be no compromise here4 ,the doctrines that the good are happy1 that honesty is the best policy1 etc41 are of no avail4 ,they will not do as a guide for life1 and the sooner ,american mothers and teachers learn this1 the better for ,america4 ,when the girl yields in every direction unquestioning obedience to ,duty1 she is virtuous1 and she is virtuous only in so far as she does this4 ,but as duty rules in every direction1 to ,god1 to the ,state1 ,society1 the ,family1 and ourselves1 and as her voice is as authoritative at one time as at another1 it follows that no one virtue can be said to be superior to any other4 ,those of us who have had the widest experience have learned that the whole hierarchy of virtues generally stand or fall together1 for they are all only the making actual of simple duty4 ,i quote again from ,rosenkranz1 with regard to a habit often found among girls3 ,the pupil must be warned against a certain moral negligence1 which consists in yielding to certain weaknesses1 faults or crimes1 a little longer and a little longer1 because he has fixed a certain time1 after which he intends to do better4 ,perhaps he will assert that his companions1 his surroundings1 his position must be changed before he can alter his internal conduct4 ,wherever education or temperament favors sentimentality1 we shall find birthdays1 ,new ,year's day1 confirmation day1 etc41 selected as these turning points4 ,it is not to be denied that man proceeds1 in his internal life1 from epoch to epoch1 and renews himself in his most internal nature1 nor can we deny that moments like those mentioned are especially favorable in man to an effort towards self-transformation1 because they invite introspection2 but it is not to be endured that the youth1 while looking forward to such a moment1 should consciously persist in his wrong doing4 ,if he does1 when the solemn moment which he has set1 at last arrives1 he will1 at the stirring of the first emotion1 perceive with terror that he has changed nothing in himself1 that the same temptations are present to him1 and the same weakness takes possession of him4 99 99 99 ,in morality there are no vacations and no interims4#bg ,the power of voluntary ,renunciation is another power which the educator has to develop in the girl4 ,it can be cultivated1 of course1 only by judicious exercise4 ,but the formation of ,character is the great work of the educator1 for this may be said to be the object of a woman's existence4 ,character has been defined as a completely fashioned ,will--i4e41 a completely educated ,will4 ,if it is completely fashioned1 it must of necessity be consistent4 ,it is scarcely necessary here to call attention to the fact that by character1 in any educational sense1 we mean that which the woman really is--not what she is thought to be by others4 ,character may1 it is evident1 be either good or bad2 for one may be consistently bad as well as consistently good4 ,but we are concerned only with the building of character where that building means the making permanent the direction of the individual ,will towards the actualization of the good4 ,the woman of good character is she who1 while she acts spontaneously1 acts in all things consistently2 the parts of whose life grow together1 as it were1 into one organic unity4 ,we know what to expect of her4 ,in her friendship we confide1 on her love we safely rely1 by her judgment1 provided she has been intellectually educated1 we regulate our action in times of difficulty and distress4 ,the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her1 and her children rise up and call her blessed1 and when she passes through the gate of death1 her country should mourn1 for it can ill-afford to miss her4 ,,religious ,,culture4 ,when the girl has learned to accept duty as the decisive guide of her actions1 she is acting conscientiously1 and passes over into the real religious life4 ,a distinction must be here made between ,religion and ,theology1 the latter of which belongs to special educators4 ,at first1 in the child1 religion is a feeling1 a sentiment1 which the mother generally fosters and directs4 ,it appears in the form of wonder at natural phenomena1 of fear and terror when these are disagreeable1 and of gratitude when they are agreeable4 ,but this feeling or sentiment of religion the savage has1 and it properly belongs1 in civilized ,christian communities1 only to the period of childhood4 ,if the little girl be not educated into a higher religion than this1 and if1 at the same time1 her whole mental horizon have1 from unfinished intellectual education1 remained narrow1 she has nothing on which any teaching of ,theology can be based1 and nothing which will bear the stress and strain of actual life4 ,in such a case--that is1 if her religion is only gratitude for favors1 if her only idea of ,god is that of a ,benefactor--when benefits fail1 her religion will fail also4 ,while she has all that she can desire1 she is full of religious faith4 ,she loses parents1 husband1 and only child1 and her faith has vanished1 and she even doubts whether there be any ,god1 since he can allow so much misery4 ,she asks why1 if he were good and kind and loved his children1 he could not have divided his gifts more equally1 why he could not have taken one child from her neighbor who has seven1 instead of her one ewe lamb4 ,allowance must be made for the first unreason of terrible torture to the affections1 and the first heart-broken exclamations are not always to be trusted as an index of the religious faith4 ,but when in many a woman1 this becomes a chronic state of mind1 is it not a serious question for educators to ask1 whether the fault does not lie in her narrow education8 ,ought she not to have had her intellect so cultured that she should be able to hold at once in her thought1 and without confusion1 these two truths3 that ,god's thought and care for the ,universe must be a thought of ,law which cannot be broken for individual cases1 and also that even one sparrow does not fall without his notice8 ,ought she not to have been educated into so wide a horizon of thought that she herself1 and her affairs1 her loves1 and hates1 should not loom up before her in such disproportionate size8 ,a woman is to live in her affections8 ,but what if her affections have been outraged1 betrayed1 or crushed8 ,the sentiment is a very good one1 but it is but sentiment still1 and our ,american girls will not be less strong in their affections if we educate them into thought and knowledge1 as well as into emotion and blind belief4 ,if the mere religious feeling which belonged to the child is not led over into a something stronger and surer1 it becomes morbid and degenerates into sentimentality and mysticism4 ,can we afford to let the strong feeling in our ,american girls be lost for all real good1 in this way8 ,shall we not rather direct it by a sound religious education1 into more healthy channels8 ,in such a completed education alone can we find the ground for any active acceptance of our lot4 ,the constant new birth out of the grave of the past1 to the life of a more beautiful future1 is the only genuine reconciliation with destiny4 99 99 99 99 99 ,only when we have accomplished such an education as this for our ,american girls1 the best material the world has ever yet seen1 may we safely trust the interests of future generations to their strong1 intelligent1 and religious guidance4 ,,footnotes3 #bd ,i am following here1 as elsewhere1 the direction indicated by the ,german philosopher1 my obligations to whom ,i have before acknowledged1 and from whose work on the ,science of ,pedagogy ,i have so often quoted4 #be ,we may1 from the same cause1 expect soon to detect signs of the same trouble1 to a marked degree1 in ,russia4 #bf ,plato1 ,rep41 ,book ,,iii4 #bg ,pedagogics as a ,system4 ,rosenkranz1 p4 #hc1 ,published by ,william ,t4 ,harris1 ,st4 ,louis1 ,mo4 ,a ,,mother',s ,,thought ,,on ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,girls4 ,why does the meadow flower its bloom expand8 ,because the lovely little flower is free ,down to its root1 and in that freedom bold4 ,and so the grandeur of the forest tree ,comes not from casting in a formed mould1 ,but from its own divine vitality4 ,a ,,mother',s ,,thought ,,on ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,girls4 ,there is no situation in life more freighted with responsibility than that of the mother of girls1 be it one or many1 the one as heavy as the many1 because the only child is less naturally situated2 and therefore upon the mother rests the necessity of intentionally providing many influences which are spontaneously produced in a large and varied family circle4 ,i emphasize also the responsibility of the education of girls over boys for the same reason1 because girls are more largely withdrawn from the natural education of life and circumstances than boys1 and their development seems to depend more exclusively upon the individual influence of the mother4 ,the public school1 the play-ground1 the freedom of boyish sports1 the early departure from home to college or business1 the prizes offered to ambition1 all exercise a powerful influence upon the boy1 tending to modify the action of the mother's conscious training4 ,more powerful than her intellectual and determined effort is usually her affectional influence1 swaying him unconsciously and giving him always a centre for his heart and life1 to which he returns from all his wanderings4 ,for men1 too1 life1 with all its evil1 seems to be measurably adjusted4 ,we do not hear constant discussions of men's sphere and men's education4 ,each man is left very much to work out his own career1 without the responsibility of the whole sex resting upon him4 ,he is at liberty to make mistakes in his medical practice1 to blow up steamboats by his carelessness1 to preach dull sermons1 and write silly books1 without finding his whole sex put under ban for his shortcomings1 and so he works with a sense of individual power and responsibility which calls out his energies1 and educates him even in spite of the foolish cosseting of a mother or the narrow pedantry of a teacher4 ,but in regard to woman1 there is a general confession that life is not yet well adapted to her needs1 or she to her place in the world4 ,there is a perpetual effort to readjust her claims1 to define her position1 and to map out her sphere1 and these boundary lines are arbitrarily drawn at every conceivable distance from the centre1 so that what seems extravagant latitude to one1 is far within the narrowest limits of another4 ,very few have arrived at the conclusion that woman's nature1 like man's1 is self-determining1 and that her character and her powers must decide her destiny2 that instead of prescribing the outward limits of her action1 the important point is to increase her energy1 to regulate her activity by self-discipline1 to purify her nature by nobility of thought and sentiment1 and then to leave her free to work out her thought into life as she can and must4 ,but this1 it seems to me1 should be the grand leading principle of a mother in the education of her daughter1 to give her such faith in herself1 such knowledge of the laws of her own being1 such trust in the guiding power of the universe1 that she will have a principle of life and growth within her which will react upon all outward circumstances and turn them into means of education4 ,it is in this freedom alone that the essential meaning of her nature will show itself4 ,in free1 conscious obedience to law1 natural limitations become a source of power1 as the hardness of the marble gives effect to the sculptor's forming stroke2 but all arbitrary restraints dwarf and deform the growing soul4 ,but in the very beginning a great difficulty meets the mother of the girl who seeks to train her up into glad1 free acceptance of life1 for instead of general rejoicing in the birth of her child1 too often there is a wail of discontent over the hapless infant who is not a boy4 ,it is an idea very deeply grounded in our social feeling1 that it is a misfortune and an indignity to be a woman4 ,true1 all men do not1 like the ,jews in the old service1 insultingly thank ,god that he has not made them women1 while the meek woman plaintively thanks ,god that he has made her at all4 ,but how constantly is the thought and feeling expressed1 that the boy is a more welcome comer into the family circle than the girl1 and that the woman is to have a hard fate in life4 ,and if the popular idea of woman be true1 is it not a great calamity to be born a girl8 ,if man must work1 and woman must weep1 who would not choose the former lot8 ,it is a very common thing to hear women wish most earnestly from their earliest to their latest hour of life1 that they had been born men4 ,it is very rarely that the youngest boy wishes to be a girl1 or that men covet the vaunted privileges of womanhood4 ,margaret ,fuller alludes feelingly to this prevailing sentiment in her noble ,essay on ,woman1 and quotes ,southey the despairing cry of the ,paraguay ,woman1 lamenting that her mother did not kill her the hour she was born--her mother1 who knew what the life of a woman must be4 ,and yet1 it seems to me1 any woman is entirely unfit to educate her daughter who has not so sifted her life experience1 so learned the meaning of her creation1 so separated the accidents and follies of to-day from the divine purpose1 as to read clearly the meaning of life1 and to accept for her daughter1 as for herself1 the great fact of her womanhood2 not with submission merely1 but with a joyful recognition of its wonderful possibilities and its supreme glories4 ,that this is possible to achieve1 ,i might bring the testimony of women speaking from the midst of suffering and anguish1 and yet rejoicing in the spiritual ideal of womanhood4 ,mrs4 ,eliza ,farnham has done great service by her eloquent vindication of the claims of womanhood1 which she bases on very noble spiritual truths4 ,but too often the high estimate of woman is placed on purely sthetic and sentimental grounds1 and does not satisfy the demands either of mind or heart in the hour of trial1 or the practical common sense applied to daily life4 ,it hardly strengthens a woman1 to be told that women are more angelic by nature1 more amiable1 more religious1 and more holy than men1 when she is suffering from excessive nervous irritability1 from neglected solitude1 from want of employment suited to her feeble powers1 or from the unused energies of mind and body which are devouring her day by day--to be called an angel1 when she is only a drudge1 is not consoling4 ,the work must be begun early in life1 and the mind of the girl must be braced by a recognition of natural law to the acceptance of all the conditions of her nature4 ,but for this she must learn to distinguish between the ideal and the actual1 between woman's nature as ,god designed it1 and her nature as long years of hereditary sin and disease and false custom have made it2 between the unfallen ,eve1 the last best work of ,creation1 and the daughters of corruption and luxury1 bearing the sins of their fathers and their mothers for more than three or four generations4 ,the mother must be prepared to meet the terrible questionings of her daughter on those points of physiology which are still baffling the most candid observers4 ,she should prepare herself for this duty by obtaining all the knowledge of the subject that is possible to her4 ,she will find that the laws of the human organization are marked by the same wisdom and beauty as those of the physical world2 and many things which seemed dark and cruel will be seen to be beneficent and beautiful when their whole relation is understood4 ,she may then give some reasonable answer to the question which the young intellect1 struggling with the great problems of physical life1 is so prone to ask1 ,why was ,i thus made8 ,it helps us very much to learn the how1 even if we can never solve the why4 ,every mother has not the power to answer these questions scientifically2 but if she have it herself1 she can at least inspire in her child a firm faith that everything in creation has its meaning and its use1 and that until the workings of any function are made to promote the highest health and welfare of every human being1 its law has not been discovered and obeyed4 ,the very search after the answer to her inquiry1 is often the healthful exercise of mind which will drive away morbid doubts4 ,health is the holiness of the body1 and every girl should have a high standard of perfect health set before her1 and be made to feel that she has no more right to trifle with and disobey the hygienic laws1 than those of morality or civil society4 ,she should be as much ashamed of illness brought on by her own folly1 as of being whipped at school for disobedience to her teacher4 ,but how low1 on the contrary1 is the standard of health for woman6 ,a thoroughly strong1 able-bodied woman is almost an unknown ideal to ,american society4 ,a physician pleading before a legislative committee of ,massachusetts a few years ago1 bade the gentlemen present he grateful for their happy lot in being exempt from the infirmities that beset women4 ,a very admirable teacher once said to me1 ,i tell my girls they mustn't complain if they do have to lose a year or two by ill health1 it is hardly to be expected they should not4 ,michelet treats semi-invalidism as the natural1 inevitable1 and charming condition of women4 ,a perfectly healthy woman he considers to have lost her great charm4 ,science makes the astonishing discovery1 that on the whole1 women average a little smaller than men1 and society seems to accept the idea that therefore1 the smaller they are1 the more womanly4 ,but before we decide upon this puny condition as the necessary state of woman1 let us look at some of the facts on the other side1 and see what are the possibilities of physical strength and health compatible with womanhood4 ,in the ,university of ,michigan1 pursuing her studies equally with the young men1 is a young woman from ,kentucky1 who measures six feet two inches in height1 and is well proportioned4 ,she has a younger sister there who is already five feet eight inches high1 and growing very fast4 ,at the ,south1 the negro women performed every kind of labor in the field1 and were said to plough better than men4 ,in ,europe all kinds of hard work are performed by poor women2 even yoked with animals for draught4 ,in ,england women are employed in stacking large bars of iron4 ,in ,dahomey the ,amazonian guards of the king perform all military duty with equal ease and thoroughness with men4 ,now1 if these things be possible to women of the poorer classes1 and of other countries1 it proves that it is not her essential womanhood1 but her artificial life and her inherited weakness that makes the lady of ,western ,europe and ,america an habitual invalid4 ,and this muscular power1 though not the only essential to health1 is of the very first importance1 and1 within proper bounds1 is absolutely requisite for the healthy and full development of animal life4 ,it is possible to carry muscular activity too far1 or rather to make it exclusive of the exercise of other powers4 ,the gladiator of old was not found to make the best soldier1 nor did the wood-cutter bear the fatigues of the war as well as the cultivated citizen4 ,but as a basis for other culture it is all-important4 ,and it is especially needful for woman1 for the great peculiar function of maternity requires the finest muscular power4 ,it is the want of it1 among other causes1 which produces the pains and perils of child-birth1 which are almost unknown to women of savage life4 ,the women of ,abyssinia1 says a missionary there2 never rest more than two or three days after child-birth1 while in luxurious ,athens1 where women of the higher ranks were kept alike from physical and mental exertion1 six weeks of seclusion was considered absolutely necessary4 ,the ,german mother begins at the birth of her infant daughter to spin and weave the linen which is to form her dowry in marriage4 ,if all mothers would begin to lay up for their daughters a dowry of muscular energy and nervous strength from the time of their birth1 how would the mythical curse be removed from maternity1 and the saddest of all deaths1 that of the young wife in the first child-birth1 be as rare as it is in ,abyssinia4 ,the first requisite for the mother is to believe in a possible happy destiny for her child1 and to seek to secure it for her4 ,one great secret of all art1 and therefore of all education1 is the nice balancing of the generic with the special or the individual4 ,coleridge says this is the true meaning of the ideal in art4 ,false culture1 by the emphasis laid upon peculiarities of race1 sex1 or families1 develops these peculiarities more and more1 and tends to produce monstrosities1 while nature always strives to mix the breed and restore the original type4 ,nature has her own boundaries1 which she does not pass over1 but they are always delicate and nicely adjustable4 ,when the gardener wishes bleached celery1 or seedless bananas1 or monster squashes1 he gives special food in the soil of the plants1 or covers them from the sun1 or nips off the spraying tendrils1 that he may produce the variety he covets1 but when the farmer would raise corn or wheat for the millions1 he ploughs deep into the soil of the prairie1 sows his seed broadcast1 and trusts it to the free influences of the sun and the winds1 and the harvest that he reaps is reproductive1 and may be multiplied for hundreds of years4 ,it is curious in tracing the progress of both vegetable and animal life upwards towards humanity1 to see how nature plays with the secondary distinctions of sex4 ,the great distinction always remains of the fertilizing and the reproductive function2 but as regards size1 beauty1 the care of the young1 and all moral and mental qualities1 there is the greatest diversity of manifestation4 ,in some species1 even1 the male builds the nest and protects the offspring from the ferocious mother1 who1 like ,saturn1 devours her own children1 and sometimes1 among fishes1 even her mate4 ,so is it in regard to the mental differences between men and women4 ,few persons will deny that the difference of sex which runs through creation1 colors every part of life2 and yet the difference is so delicate1 and so varied1 that ,i have never heard any broad statement which was not liable to sufficient exceptions to destroy its value4 ,i have again and again asked teachers of mixed schools1 ,what difference do you find between the proficiency of the boys and girls in their various studies8 ,where differences have been pointed out1 they have often been just opposite in different schools1 one claiming mathematics1 another languages1 another grammar1 or logic1 as specially adapted to feminine taste or capacity4 ,so1 in human education the first attention should be given to bringing out the broad1 healthy powers of human nature1 not to increasing any peculiar attributes4 ,how much of life1 asked ,margaret ,fuller1 is the life neither of man or of woman1 but of ,humanity8 ,every mother should seek to lay a firm foundation in this common ground of ,humanity1 out of which the special flowers will grow more rich and abundant4 ,especially should all premature recognition of sex be avoided2 nature should be allowed to develop slowly and quietly4 ,sex must be recognized2 the names of brother and sister1 the slight difference in costume are sufficient1 but in play and work1 and especially in dress and manners1 the early distinctions between the sexes tend to produce mannishness on one side and effeminacy on the other4 ,the girl's dress may be a little different in form1 but why should the boy wear stout gingham or warm flannel1 and she be clothed in fragile muslin1 or expensive silk8 ,why should he be able to climb fences or leap ditches without risk to his clothes1 and she be kept in perpetual bondage by her ribbons and her ruffles8 ,look at a boy's simple round straw or felt hat1 with a plain band about it1 and pity the little girl with her delicate chip and a wreath of artificial flowers4 ,is it because the girl's physique is more delicate and complicated1 that she is thus denied the natural and healthy exercise of her powers1 and burdened with a load of finery under which the strong man would halt and stagger8 ,the more delicate the organization1 the smaller the lungs1 the more absolutely important is perfect freedom of dress and motion1 and the more essential is life in the open air4 ,if we must keep any of the children in-doors let it be the boys2 they will have out-door life afterwards1 but let girlhood have its free play before custom and fashion fetter it forever4 ,so1 too1 in manners2 how many mothers apologize for their unendurable little ruffians by saying1 ,you know boys will be rude6 ,why should boys be rude8 ,is not gentleman our highest term for all that is honorable and manly8 ,the physical power that is not under the control of higher qualities is rude1 but rudeness is not evidence of power1 only witness to the want of culture4 ,a sadly pathetic vein runs through ,miss ,edgeworth's children's stories1 especially ,frank1 in the difference she makes in the life of man and woman4 ,the children make a list of the virtues which should be cultivated by men and women1 and courage is put down very low on the woman's side and first on the man's4 ,but there is no sex in morals1 and until courage is deemed essential to woman and purity to man there can be no moral perfection in either4 ,still more is the direct appeal to sexual differences to be avoided in early childhood4 ,many foolish parents encourage the custom of having little beaux and juvenile flirtations1 and even very young children are taught games in which the boy takes out a girl as his partner1 and the reverse4 ,i once saw a dear little girl about four years old put her arm affectionately around the neck of a little playmate1 and her father said1 ,oh1 for shame1 you shouldn't kiss a boy4 ,could he have answered her simple question1 ,why not8 ,this is one of the important benefits of the co-education of the sexes4 ,brought up together in schools as in families1 side by side1 from early childhood1 there is no false mystery about their relation4 ,their common life is developed1 and they value each other for individual qualities4 ,i have never found an exception to the statement by teachers of mixed schools1 that there is less of nonsense1 less of false sentimentality and precocious sexual attraction1 than where the boys and girls are kept separate4 ,in life as in art those characters are the finest in which the distinction of sex is recognized but not emphasized--in which the human nature preponderates over that of man or woman4 ,in the ,hercules1 the masculine attributes are exaggerated almost to repulsiveness1 but in the ,apollo they are present1 but they never intrude themselves upon our attention4 ,vigor1 freedom1 life1 and action1 the inspiration of genius1 joy in existence1 are his attributes1 and while the muses are feminine1 he is the god of poesy and music4 ,so the ,milo ,venus has all the traits of womanhood1 but not in excess1 and her sweet1 dignified presence reminds us that she is a goddess1 and not a weak1 self-conscious woman1 like the ,medicean image4 ,but the type of womanhood in western ,europe and ,america has emphasized all that is weak1 all that is sentimental1 all that is helpless in woman1 and attenuated it to such delicate proportions as to give it a strange and unnatural charm1 like the beauty of consumption4 ,let us recognize it as an exquisite creation of art1 not of nature1 as wonderful as the pouter pigeon or the saffron rose4 ,the delicate whiteness of the complexion1 scarcely tinged with pink1 the fine silky hair1 the fragile1 willowy form1 the tiny hand and foot1 the languid blue eye1 the soft1 low voice1 the sensitive nerves that shrink from every breath of heaven1 and weep at every tale of woe1 the slight cough that touches your compassion1 the trembling step that appeals to you for help1 are not these all characteristic of that fair1 frail1 lovely being1 to whom sonnets are written and homage tendered when she is young and rich4 ,a celebrated painter once heard a woman of this stamp commended as very graceful4 ,graceful6 he indignantly exclaimed1 weakness isn't grace6 strength and agility are the conditions of grace4 ,one of the services of true art is to hold before us models of beauty which keep the eye pure amid the corruptions of fashion4 ,the ,diana does not suggest any training of corsets or wearing of long skirts1 yet poetry and fiction have helped to perpetuate this idea of the lady4 ,shakespeare has given us his ,ophelia and ,desdemona1 creations of this false theory1 and ,i have heard men declare them to be perfect types of womanhood4 ,in ,ruffini's charming story of ,doctor ,antonio1 we have the same lovely heroine in our prosaic modern life4 ,but mark how all these women utterly fail in the great hours of trial4 ,all untrue to the demands of their love1 all incapable of mating the men who have sought them4 ,but in ,portia1 in ,miranda1 in ,imogen1 we have women in whom is all the charm of womanhood without its exaggeration2 they are independent noble existences1 capable of living alone1 and therefore able to meet nobly all the conditions of life and of love4#bh ,we can almost forgive ,charles ,reade's later flippant creations of women1 in whom moral weakness is considered as great a charm as physical delicacy1 when we remember the charming picture of health and vigor which he first gave us in ,christie ,johnstone4 ,but while this admirable modesty of nature is the finest grace of humanity1 yet there are limits which cannot safely be overpassed4 ,nature rarely suffers one sex really to pass the common boundary and take on the special attributes of the other1 seeming only to permit these extreme cases as warning and landmark4 ,the contralto in woman and the tenor in man are delightful1 but when the woman's voice is bass or the man's treble the impression is ludicrous4 ,in due time the great distinction of sex rightly asserts itself1 and the delicate distinctions between man and woman1 so easy to feel and so difficult to state1 begin to be recognized4 ,then the broad general law of humanity will come to a more definite and varied expression in special natures4 ,and although the mother will never forget the common ground of humanity which must underlie all training1 she will prepare to meet the peculiar claims of her daughter's nature1 and help her to understand and appreciate her needs and her powers4 ,the child instinctively begins to inquire into physiological questions concerning marriage1 birth1 etc4 ,there is but one way in which such questions should be met--with perfect truth in perfect reverence4 ,to little children1 utterly incapable of understanding the truth1 the pretty fables of the stork or the angel may be harmless1 but all earnest inquiries should be met with the simple truth as far as it can be understood1 and the promise of full explanation whenever the mind is mature to receive it4 ,the mother should anticipate this natural need of the mind for knowledge1 and should prepare her daughter for initiation into the higher mysteries of human life by an acquaintance with life in its simpler forms1 where it is not complicated by human passions4 ,the functions of reproduction in vegetable life are the natural method of instruction1 and lead the way to a recognition of the sacredness and beauty of the whole subject4 ,the child's delight in the flowers of the field is easily deepened into intellectual instruction by pointing out the functions of the various organs and their beautiful adaption to use4 ,in the care with which variety is sought the important lesson against intermarriage may be recognized1 which fable and theology has surrounded with such fearful imaginings4 ,next1 the care of domestic animals will naturally interest the child1 and from her kittens and her hens she will learn much1 without excitement or effort1 that will form a basis for the higher truths of human physiology4 ,the mother should thus always anticipate in her own mind the needs of the daughter1 and prepare her for the changes in her physical condition which will come with maturity1 in the simplest1 the tenderest1 and the most reverent manner4 ,everything approaching to levity or coarseness of speech should be utterly avoided1 so that1 while the young girl will speak frankly and without shame to her mother or her physician1 she will shun light speaking to chance companions as she would blasphemy4#bi ,and here the great lesson of a high standard of health should be re-enforced4 ,there is no function of woman's nature which in its right exercise does not tend to strengthen1 refresh1 and revivify her physical and mental powers4 ,if healthy1 no one need interfere with any rational enjoyment1 any reasonable amount of intellectual labor1 or necessary work4 ,all functions will be best regulated by a full1 harmonious1 normal development of all4 ,and in physiology as in religion1 the grand paradox holds true1 that he who loveth his life shall lose it1 and he that hateth it for my sake shall find it4 ,there is no surer way to destroy the health than to care for nothing beside it2 and the most important condition for the young girl approaching maturity is to have her thoughts turned from herself to wide and large interests1 and to have her mind and body healthily and regularly occupied4 ,when any organ is feeble or diseased1 the thing most to be avoided is fastening the mind upon its functions1 so that nervous irritability or congestion is produced4 ,and yet1 as ,i have constantly intimated1 the actual mother has to deal not alone with ideal womanhood1 in full possession of a birthright of health1 but very likely with a feeble and diseased being1 who develops new forms of evil in every crisis of life4 ,there she must be the watchful guardian1 and recognize the limitations of her individual child1 and with wise provision apportion the tasks and the pleasures to her peculiar needs4 ,while all sickness is the result of broken law1 it is rarely mainly the sufferer's own fault2 and the mother will tenderly and lovingly shield her sickly child1 and show her the rich compensations which are possible to her in mental and spiritual life1 though she should never fall into the morbid error of believing physical weakness to be the most favorable condition of spiritual welfare4 ,but if she is conscientious and true1 really seeking her child's best good1 instead of the indulgence of the hour1 she will be more likely to err on the side of too much care than too little4 ,even in such cases1 she should seek more a positive than a negative care2 striving rather to brace and fortify her daughter against the ills of life1 than to shield her from them4 ,remember1 said wise ,dr4 ,jackson1 the danger is in staying in the house4 ,for this reason1 books especially written for the instruction of girls are often very pernicious4 ,they emphasize certain topics in their relation to woman1 and so excite disgust and produce abnormal excitement1 where the simple teachings of science1 reverently enforced1 would produce only a sacred respect for law4 ,the great responsibility of the transmission of hereditary qualities1 may be early taught without any mental excitement4 ,a little girl of twelve years old said to her teacher one day3 ,when you told me to brush my teeth1 ,i thought1 why should ,i--of what consequence will it be1 fifty years hence1 whether ,i do so or not2 and then ,i thought that if ,i ever had a child1 if ,i had bad teeth1 she would be more likely to--wouldn't she8 ,yes1 replied the teacher with deep seriousness2 and that is a most sacred reason for guarding your own health and strength4 ,perhaps no subject has been more fully dwelt upon than the danger of great intellectual activity for girls at this youthful period of life1 and it has come to be thought that an idle brain insures a healthy body4 ,but nothing can be more false4 ,the brain1 as the ruling organ of the body1 requires a healthy1 rich development2 and this can only be secured by regular exercise and training1 fully using but not overstraining its powers4 ,the usual accompaniments of intellectual study are the cause of this false prejudice4 ,close school-rooms1 late hours of study1 restless excitement from over-stimulated ambition1 have no necessary connection with intellectual progress4 ,much of the evil effect of schools comes not from too much intellectual activity1 but from too little2 from listless hours spent over lessons which under good conditions could be learned in half the time4 ,mental action1 continued after the brain is weary1 or when it is not nourished by fresh blood1 or under any disadvantages of physical condition which prevent it from being easy and delightful1 will injure the system2 and will prove a waste of mental power as well as of physical health4 ,the greatest lesson that we have to learn in our mental life1 is to value quality of work more and quantity less4 ,everybody knows how much more exhilaration and less fatigue is experienced from a brisk walk1 than from standing listlessly around for double the length of time2 and it is just so with mental effort4 ,we want neither feverish1 excited work1 nor lazy work2 but earnest1 hard1 vigorous effort1 ceasing when the brain is weary or the object is accomplished4#cj ,i have yet to see the first proof in man or woman1 that well-regulated activity of the brain injures the health4 ,i have known many instances where vigor of body was restored by earnest mental life2 and ,i believe that more young women sink into invalidism1 or die prematurely1 from the want of adequate thorough mental training1 than from any other one physical or mental cause4 ,for we must remember that the brain craves thought1 as the stomach does food2 and where it is not properly supplied it will feed on garbage4 ,where a ,latin1 geometry1 or history lesson would be a healthy tonic1 or nourishing food1 the trashy1 exciting story1 the gossiping book of travels1 the sentimental poem1 or1 still worse1 the coarse humor or thin-veiled vice of the low romance1 fills up the hour--and is at best but tea or slops1 if not as dangerous as opium or whisky4 ,lord ,bacon says most truly3 ,too much bending breaks the bow2 too much unbending1 the mind4 ,after labor1 rest is sweet and healthful2 but all rest is as dangerous as all labor4 ,one great trouble in women's intellectual life is that it is too much mere study1 too little work with a purpose4 ,it is all income without an outlet1 and that1 we know1 always produces congestion and disease4 ,mental dyspepsia might be the diagnosis of many an irritable1 unhappy woman4 ,she has eaten1 but for want of exercise she cannot digest the intellectual food she has received4 ,an active pursuit1 an earnest purpose1 is to the mind what out-door air and exercise are to the body4 ,but in our present social system1 where it is still considered out of place for a lady to work for her living1 it is the hardest problem for a mother to solve1 how to supply this most important need of her daughter4 ,mental and moral influences are as real active agents in hygienic life as material ones4 ,the reaction from asceticism1 which despised the body and made it only a hindrance1 or1 at best1 a slave to the soul1 is in danger of going so far as to forget the rightful supremacy and control of the mental powers4 ,a high purpose is often the best of tonics1 as an agreeable amusement is the most refreshing of sedatives4 ,a determination to live and work has kept many a person from the grave4 ,but it must be a strong1 calm1 persistent purpose that will have this good effect1 not the feverish ambition of an hour4 ,the girl who works to gain a prize or to rush through school in less than the usual time1 will doubtless exhaust her nervous system1 and bring on disease or feebleness2 but she who looks forward to a life of noble usefulness will learn to husband her powers1 and make the future secure by wise forbearance in the present4 ,when circumstances do not supply the needed stimulus to use of the mental faculties1 by a demand for present work1 the mother may keep before the mind of her daughter the great duty of preparation for contingencies that may arise1 and show her how the rapid changes now taking place in our social system may at any time bring her new duties and responsibilities1 for which she will need all her physical and mental powers4 ,when ,harriet ,beecher was the leading spirit in a girls' society for mental improvement1 she did not know that the intellectual gifts there developed would enable her to strike the keenest blow that slavery ever received in this country4 ,when ,maria ,mitchell studied astronomy with her father she could not tell that a professorship at ,vassar ,college awaited her1 and that her thorough fitness for it would prove a tower of strength to the cause of higher education for women throughout the country4 ,keep the sword bright1 keen1 and well tempered1 and opportunity will come to use it in defense of truth and right4 ,i have said little1 directly1 of school education1 because there comes in the teacher's influence1 and1 as regards intellectual training1 it is usually better than the mother's4 ,and though the mother should never yield her right of interest and ultimate appeal1 yet1 having selected a teacher1 she should give her generous confidence and conscientious support4 ,but she must always be watchful to guard her daughter's health1 most of all against herself4 ,from my own observation ,i should say that the overwork and over-stimulus complained of in schools is far more often the fault of pupils and parents than of teachers4 ,the calm1 steady work which lays a foundation for future mental power1 is not appreciated1 and brilliant results are demanded at once4 ,and here ,i wish to speak of the study of music1 as it is usually pursued4 ,from the tradition of ,david's soothing ,saul by his harp1 has1 ,i believe1 arisen an idea that music is a thoroughly healthful1 refreshing influence1 with a wonderful soothing power over the nerves4 ,and yet the nervous excitability1 and even irritability1 of musicians is proverbial4 ,we must make nice distinctions4 ,the influence of hearing music is one thing1 the study of music is another4 ,unquestionably the power of music to lift the mind into fresh regions of enjoyment1 to change the current of thought1 to rouse and quicken the nervous action1 and so to vivify and raise the tone of health and spirits is very great4 ,i have known those to whom it is the best of medicine1 and whom ,i believe it has saved through severe trials1 from utter despair and morbidness4 ,but even listening to music such as we now hear is a high intellectual exercise4 ,a symphony of ,beethoven's1 with its complicated movements and rich harmonies1 is quite another thing from the simple melodies with which ,browning so beautifully represents ,david as soothing the troubled spirit of ,saul4 ,and when to these are added the passionate fervor of the opera1 the tax upon the nervous system is very great4 ,properly to hear and appreciate the opera of ,fidelio or ,don ,giovanni or the ,seventh ,symphony of ,beethoven requires as much exercise of brain as to listen to a scientific lecture4 ,i do not deny its value as an influence1 but it is a positive value1 not a negative one4 ,it is re-creation rather than relaxation1 and is no more fit to succeed a long1 exhausting day of study than a sermon1 or a disputation1 or any other change of intellectual exercise4 ,still more is the study of music1 and the practice necessary to acquire command over so difficult an instrument as the piano1 a very great tax upon the nervous strength of our young people4 ,many mothers consider the music lesson only as the using up of so many minutes of time1 and think it may rightfully be put into any hour of holiday or rest4 ,i have heard music teachers say that their pupils came to them weary and listless1 and their parents seemed to have no idea of the amount of intellectual and even physical exertion which the music lesson required4 ,we cannot all become fine musical performers1 but if the mind is well developed1 with a healthy sensibility of feeling and culture of imagination1 we can get all the influence and enjoyment of art from the works of thoroughly educated and creative artists1 and we shall do so with more relish1 without the weary remembrance of mechanical practicing uninspired by active interest4 ,music leads the way to a world of the greater danger from over-stimulus of feeling and sentiment1 than of intellectual work4 ,few physicians allow enough for the immediate effect of spiritual causes upon the physical health4 ,cheerful influences1 sunny surroundings1 happy relations1 will save one through heavy tasks of work or privation2 but any blight of the affections1 any misunderstanding1 or treachery of friends1 the lowering of one's ideal of life and humanity1 will depress the nervous system and ruin the health far more surely than even overwork of the purely intellectual faculties4 ,often intellectual labor is the true antidote and corrective of this state of feeling4 ,theodore ,parker once recommended a course of metaphysical study to a young lady1 who1 from physical weakness and other causes1 had become morbidly nervous and introspective4 ,i have spoken of the importance of thorough healthful training of body and mind in view of the natural conditions of marriage and maternity1 which may be the lot of every woman4 ,it is not possible to overstate the importance or the sanctity of these relations1 but it is possible to look so much at the mere outside facts of marriage as to ignore its real meaning4 ,the woman1 falsely or carelessly mated1 is far less married than she who keeps her ideal high and true and remains single2 not because she values marriage too little1 but because she has too great reverence to enter into it lightly or falsely4 ,and the mother has far more need to fit her daughter to meet nobly the possibilities of unwedded life1 than even the duties of marriage4 ,marriage is so perfectly natural a state1 that it reveals its own laws2 and a simple1 healthful1 happy1 trusting love1 will guide woman more wisely than much precept4 ,but in our present social state1 the probability for any girl is by no means small that she may be called on to live out her life without entering upon this blessed relation4 ,if she has been taught that woman's sphere is marriage and marriage alone1 that only by that means can she hope for a life of happiness1 usefulness1 and respect1 she will probably become a miserable1 helpless1 lonely1 irritable woman--perhaps seeking marriage at any price to escape from the condition she dreads2 or failing that1 finding life without purpose1 occupation1 or delight4 ,but if she has learned that ,providence is boundless in its resources1 and that when one way is closed1 another is opened1 so that all things work together for good2 if she knows that her nature will be far nobler without the form of marriage unless the spirit and truth can be present also1 she will find that there is a life open to her a life of devotion to truth1 right1 and beauty1 of service to humanity1 and of love just as noble and true as she could attain in marriage4 ,she is not fit to marry until she is fit to stand alone4 ,unless life has a purpose and meaning of its own to her as well as to her husband1 she cannot bring him an equal dower1 and she has no test of the new feeling which should take its value from the richness of the life that she is ready to blend with another's4 ,nothing marks the progress in the elevation of woman1 during the last half century1 more than the passing away of the opprobrious use of the term old maid1 which is now rarely heard4 ,it is possible to remain unmarried from low motives1 shrinking from the duties and responsibilities of the relation1 or from a worldly ambition for higher station than love can offer4 ,such sin brings its own terrible punishment with it4 ,but far more often it is from a high ideal of marriage1 from true nobility of character1 or from devotion to some other relation which seemed paramount1 that a woman remains single4 ,how many a woman1 hiding in her secret heart the romance that gave a charm to her youth1 but did not find its reality in life1 has devoted herself to the service of humanity with all the passionate devotion of a lover to his mistress6 ,of such an one1 to whom hundreds of helpless babes looked up as to a guardian and protector1 an artist said1 ,she has the mother in her face4 ,we owe too much to this noble class of women1 in art1 literature1 and philanthropy1 and in the service of the country in its most trying hour1 ever to forget their claims1 and he will be forever stigmatized as unworthy of the name of pure and noble manhood who sneers at the virtue which he cannot understand1 or vilifies with opprobrious epithets the noble women whom ,theodore ,parker--,god bless him for the word--called his glorious phalanx of old maids4#ca ,another wrong is often done to the young girl1 under the name of prudence or worldly wisdom1 by breaking down her ideal of life1 and especially her ideal of the possible partner of her future life4 ,tennyson speaks of one form of this1 in addressing the vain coquette as the possible future mother3-- ,oh1 ,i see thee old and formal1 fitted to thy petty part1 ,with a little hoard of maxims1 preaching down a daughter's heart4 ,men often speak of the pain it is to them to see the debasement of woman1 because she represents to them an ideal of good1 the other nobler self1 for which they must strive4 ,man should represent the same thing to woman4 ,love should see in its object the very crown and glory of creation4 ,the person love to us doth fit1 ,like manna1 hath the taste of all in it4 ,but the low social standard of morals and manners for man has so degraded him1 that the very ideal of manhood is belittled1 and the mother warns her daughter not to expect much from her future husband2 she has no right to hope for the loyalty of ,sir ,philip ,sydney or the pure ideality of ,michael ,angelo4 ,it is a great wrong to man to demand so little from him4 ,all human beings from childhood upwards are stimulated by the opinion entertained of them1 and the claims upon them for noble and high behavior4 ,whatever your own experience1 do not thrust the poison of doubt and unbelief in goodness into a daughter's mind4 ,let her keep her faith and her romance1 and look for a hero to win her young heart4 ,true1 it is hard to see a ,thaddeus of ,warsaw with a cigar in his mouth1 or to imagine ,hamlet with a blue veil about his hat1 but nevertheless the race of heroes is not extinct1 and the girl had better preserve her faith and her love till the true knight appears1 than accept the dreary belief that all men are alike unworthy1 and that she must not ask for a purity and truth which exist only in the dreams of romance4 ,man's low idea of woman has reacted upon him2 her elevation will restore him to his true dignity1 as equally entitled to spiritual and moral elevation of soul and refinement of manners with herself4 ,it is as demoralizing to young women to hold men in contempt1 as it is for young men to have a low idea of women4 ,in honor preferring one another is the true condition of love1 and no one has truly loved who has not exalted the beloved far above one's self4 ,but1 after all that ,i have said1 perhaps at too great length1 ,i come back to my original thought of the grand art of education as of life4 ,do not dwell upon petty details or exaggerate accidental peculiarities4 ,lay your foundations broad and deep in the common ground of humanity4 ,base your calculations on the sure ground of universal law4 ,then1 gradually1 out of this common earth will grow up the special flower1 true to its own individual law1 which is just as sacred and unalterable as the general law4 ,all the art of the gardener cannot transform the oak to a willow1 or produce the blue dahlia1 though by its aid the sour crab has become a mellow apple1 and the astringent pear1 the luscious ,bartlett4 ,we need to study the great subject of education more1 and to talk less about the special peculiarities of woman's education1 and we shall find that the greater includes the less1 and that the more thoroughly we develop all the powers of mind1 the more eminently will each woman be fitted to perform her own peculiar work in life4 ,i did once see a man crippled of both legs1 who claimed to be specially able to manage a washing-machine because he stood lower than other men4 ,i honored his acceptance of his limitation1 but still think the ordinary complement of legs an advantage not to be despised4 ,the great duty of the educator is to place his wheel so that the stream will fill its buckets evenly4 ,far more than you can do directly for your daughter1 will the great social forces1 the influences of custom1 society1 hereditary tendencies do for her2 but you can hold the helm and keep the rudder firmly fixed towards the pole-star of truth and right2 and so1 from all these forces thus combined1 and from the overflowing fullness of a mother's love1 always warming and kindling the spirit of life1 however much you may err in details1 on the grand basis of humanity1 and in the consummate perfection of her own individuality you may rear ,a woman nobly planned ,to warn1 to comfort1 and command2 ,and yet a spirit still and bright1 ,with something of an angel's light4 ,,edna ,d4 ,,cheney4 ,jamaica ,plain1 ,mass4 ,,note4--,i have said nothing of the father's influence upon the education of girls1 simply because ,i was not writing on that subject1 but ,i do not wish to be suspected of undervaluing it4 ,by the beautiful law of relation between the sexes1 a father may often have a finer understanding of his daughter on some points1 than the mother1 and one of the great needs of our home life seems to me to be the more intimate acquaintance and influence of the father4 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,it is a little curious that ,shakespeare even in his age has made these three finest types of women reading women4 ,portia was highly educated1 ,miranda the companion of her learned father1 and ,imogen sits up late at her book4 #bi ,the well-educated woman physician should be the friend and counselor of the mother during this anxious period4 ,it seems a strange fact1 but it is one1 nevertheless1 that the nearest family tie does not always lead to perfect freedom and confidence1 and a wise stranger can often give the help that even a mother cannot4 ,the physician should here be1 not the mediciner to disease alone1 but the guardian of health2 and the wise woman who has her own experience to guide her1 as well as the learning of the schools1 can speak with an authority which will be respected when that of the mother fails4 ,quite as often1 perhaps1 she will have to shield the daughter from the unwise demands which the ambitious mother makes upon her1 as from her own vanity or love of pleasure4 #cj ,dr4 ,carpenter says in his ,physiology3 ,from the moment when an ,indisposition is experienced to keep the mind fixed upon the subject1 and the thoughts wander from it unless coerced by the will1 the mental activity loses its spontaneous or automatic character1 and more exertion is required to maintain it volitionally during a brief period2 and more fatigue is subsequently experienced from such an effort than would be involved in the continuance of an automatic operation through a period many times as long4 ,hence he has found it practically the greatest economy of mental labor to work vigorously when he is disposed to do so1 and to refrain from exertion1 so far as possible1 when it is felt to be an exertion4 ,of course1 this rule is not applicable to all individuals2 for there are some who would pass their whole time in listless inactivity1 if not actually spurred on by the feeling of necessity2 but it holds good for those who are sufficiently attracted by objects of interest before them1 or who have in their worldly circumstances a sufficiently strong motive to exertion to make them feel they must work--the question with them being1 how they can attain their desired results with the least expenditure of mental effort4 #ca ,there lately died near ,boston1 a woman of eighty years1 whose life exemplified the very truth ,i have been seeking to enforce4 ,full of courage and zeal1 she withstood all the prejudices of her birth and surroundings1 freed her own slaves1 and then devoted herself with voice and pen to the ,anti-,slavery cause1 to the enfranchisement of woman1 and to every good word and work that she could aid4 ,her high literary attainments1 as well as her earnest purpose1 gave her great power of thought and expression1 and she was the wise counselor of many of the foremost men and women among the reformers of the day4 ,as her brother-in-law1 himself a noble man of high culture1 stood by her coffin1 with eyes filled with tears1 these were the words of his eulogium upon this woman of dauntless courage1 firm purpose1 and tender heart3 ,for this dear saint and moral heroine1 there is only one word that expresses what she was1 and that is ,,love4 ,he that dwelleth in ,god dwelleth in love4 ,she dwelt in love which went out to win the warmest friends among all sects and conditions of life1 and so she dwelt in ,god4 ,her love never failed4 ,all who heard1 felt how beautiful must have been the private life which could receive such a tribute from such a man4 ,has such a woman missed the crown and glory of womanhood8 ,,the ,,other ,,side4 ,all mankind must serve2 the widest sway ,is but the law of service4--,,festus4 ,i rejoice in the decline of the old brutal and tyrannical system of teaching1 which1 however1 did succeed in enforcing habits of application1 but the new system1 as it seems to me1 is training up a race of men who will be incapable of doing anything which is disagreeable to them4--,,john ,,stuart ,,mill ,,in ,,his ,,autobiography4 ,,the ,,other ,,side4 ,this is a hard world1 said a morbid girl of fourteen some forty years ago4 ,yes1 answered cheerfully the well-known apostle to whom she spoke1 and ,god meant it should be a hard world4 ,when later he himself was caught up into heaven in a chariot of fire1 the serene face showed how gladly he had accepted this meaning as his ,father's will4 ,it is not so with the greater number of the world's workers to-day4 ,james ,mill1 to whom we are indebted for some of the very best intellectual work1 thought life was not worth having1 and was so devoid of spiritual perception that he could get no glimpse of a ,god in a world full of sin and misery4 ,this proves nothing as to the universe4 ,it only shows how unhappily one great man has missed the music of the spheres1 and failed to catch the meaning of ,god's work4 ,for mother and child1 for teacher and pupil1 the first essential point is to accept this fact4 ,only so1 can the sweet order of a divine life be brought out of the chaotic elements stirring in every soul4 ,the mother1 who holds the month-old infant at her breast1 and gently imprisons the tiny fingers that would tear her laces1 or disorder her hair1 takes the first step towards the development of moral consciousness4 ,let her repeat again and again that gentle restraint1 and by-and-by wide open eyes will ask her why1 and when it is once understood that food can be had only while the little fingers are quiet1 the first foundations of obedience are laid4 ,so far most mothers go1 for their own comfort's sake4 ,if they had but the resolution to go still farther1 for the sake of the child's life-long content6 ,no child respects the teacher who does not control4 ,all the modern methods--including lavish gifts and the gilding of all bitter pills--fail absolutely before the clearsightedness of youth4 ,if we older people know how to rise to the occasion and thank those who demand the best of us1 still more certainly is this to be expected of the young and the fresh-hearted2 but if it were not1 our duty remains the same4 ,so much discipline as shall preserve order1 develop respect1 and make possible such opportunities as the young soul needs1 is the first point4 ,it is idle to ask how this is to be secured4 ,no two children can be managed alike1 and it is the variety of her tasks which consoles the mother for her daily fatigue1 and inspires her for the encounter4 ,until the child is taught deference1 it is idle to teach it ,latin2 until it sees the necessity of self-control1 and the beauty of self-denial1 grammar and mathematics are to be dispensed with4 ,in one word1 the foundation of all true development lies in preserving the natural relation of parent and child4 ,whatever turns the child into a tyrant and the mother into a slave1 degrades the ideal of both1 and makes any true progress impossible4 ,to do what is difficult and disagreeable with a faithful and cheerful spirit1 is the first great achievement1 remembering1 nevertheless1 that ,god is a loving ,father1 not a hard ,master4 ,yet1 loving as he is1 his laws are inexorable4 ,the baby stumbles1 and bruised limbs or swollen lips warn it against the second careless step4 ,young and tender as it is1 severity encircles it on every hand4 ,is it possible that we are no longer perfect even as he is perfect in this regard8 ,but let us suppose this point gained1 a foundation laid1 what obstacles lie in the way of the teacher of to-day8 ,the conscientious and well-meant answer to this question1 from the majority of persons is1 the health of the pupils4 ,worst of all1 this answer comes from the physicians4 ,we are often told that the health of women now is not as good as it was generations ago1 and this has been repeated and repeated until everybody believes it4 ,a long time ago1 ,i was walking through ,broad street in company with ,john ,collins ,warren1 when ,i alluded hastily to a severe attack of croup from which my little boy was suffering1 and said1 impatiently1 that it seemed as if all my care might secure for him as happy a babyhood as that of the little things whose frozen heels were at that moment hitting the curbstone4 ,you do not ask how many of these children die1 replied my friend1 and if your boy had been born down here1 he would not have lived six months4 ,we are apt to ignore the large class of existing facts of this same kind4 ,civilization has done so much for human health that the invalids who once died1 survive2 nay1 they do more1 they marry1 and bring into the world other invalids1 who need special care2 and1 whereas1 in the old time1 out of a family of twelve1 five or six would die in infancy with a persistency worthy of a better cause1 the whole twelve would be saved by modern science2 and not only that1 but enter into the statistics which are intended to show how much worse off we are now than the typical men and women of the past4 ,a few years ago ,i watched beside the death-bed of a woman who was the only child of an only child of an only child4 ,i mean that for three generations the mother had died of consumption after the birth of her first-born1 and in the first instance was herself the sole survivor of a large family4 ,when my friend was born1 it was said at first that she could not live1 but her father was a physician1 and his care in the first place1 and removal from a country to a city life in the second1 conquered fate4 ,she did live1 she married1 and became the mother of ten healthy children1 all of whom survive1 and died herself at the ripe age of seventy-three4 ,it is difficult to write upon this subject1 because there are no proper statistics4 ,during the seventy-five years that succeeded the settlement of ,new ,england1 the record of deaths was very imperfectly kept in many places1 but no one who gives much time to genealogical research can fail to be impressed with the short lives of the women1 and the large number of children who died at birth or soon after4 ,in those days1 the survival of the fittest was the rule1 and if that survivor happened to live to a good old age1 no one inquired about those who did not4 ,i allude to these facts1 as ,i have done before1 not because ,i think them of much importance1 but because it is desirable to set them against the equally undigested facts of general invalidism which have been so persistently pressed of late4 ,i do not believe in this general invalidism1 so far as it concerns women especially4 ,i believe that in no country1 in any age1 was life ever so reckless1 and so carelessly dissipated as it is in ,america to-day4 ,in ,sybaris itself1 in ,corinth1 and in ,paris1 only a few wealthy people could indulge in the irregular lives which the unexampled prosperity of this country opens to the great bulk of the population4 ,i am amazed when ,i see it stated that length of time cannot transform the sturdy ,german frulein into the fragile ,american girl4 ,the influence of climate does this in one generation for our ,irish and ,german population4 ,standing in the mills at ,lawrence1 the pale faces and constant cough of the operatives will attest these words to any competent observer4 ,during the past three years ,i have parted with three satisfactory ,irish servants1 who were in the incipient stages of consumption4 ,i dismissed them because no influence of mine could persuade them to retire early1 wear waterproof shoes1 or thick and warm clothing4 ,in a singular preface to the fifth edition of a work which has lately occupied the public mind the author says3 ,when a remission or intermission is necessary1 the parent must decide what part of education shall be remitted or omitted1 the walk1 the ball1 the school1 or all of these4--,no one can doubt which will interfere most with ,nature's laws1 four hours' dancing or four hours' studying4--,in these pages the relation of sex to mature life is not discussed4 ,it is necessary to state at the outset1 that this preface does not in the least represent the book as it naturally strikes the reader4 ,women may read carelessly1 as they have been accused of doing in this instance1 but when hundreds of women1 writing from all parts of the country1 in private and in public1 and without concert with each other1 all testify to the same impression received1 it is impossible that the carelessness of numbers should always feel the same bias4 ,it is quite certain that four hours of dancing is far more injurious to a delicate girl than four hours of steady study3 why1 then1 in considering the education of girls1 does the author steadily avoid all cases where dancing1 late hours1 and bad food1 have been known to interfere with health8 ,what satisfaction can any girl find in the fact1 that the period of mature life is not covered by the statements in this volume8 ,the period of a working life is included in the years between fourteen and nineteen1 and as matters now are1 society life is nearly ended at twenty4 ,if the beginning of brain-work were deferred till a girl were jaded with dissipation1 how much could be accomplished in season for self-support8 ,schools vary in varying localities1 and since women are hereafter to be elected on every school committee1 it is reasonable to suppose that unwise pressure from that source will soon cease4 ,all figures of speech are misleading1 but it is quite fair to meet the statement that we must not train oaks and anemones in the same way1 by retorting that that is precisely what ,god does4 ,he gives to different plants different powers of appropriation1 sets them in precisely the same circumstances1 and leaves them4 ,the sturdy oak1 that centuries of storm have beaten into firmness1 which fits it to encounter the fiercest blows of the wave2 the stately pine1 which is to tower as main-mast when the gale is at its height1 stand serried or single on the mountain's peak4 ,at their feet nestles the wind-flower1 quite as confident of its destiny1 although no sun is moderated1 no shower abated for its tender sake4 ,it is protected by the very way in which it is made1 by its very loneliness1 pregnant as that is with the charm of sweetness and color4 ,so might it be with woman6 ,private schools in our large cities cannot be said to overwork their pupils4 ,fifty years ago1 when my mother was educated1 far more was required of girls at school than was ever possible in my day4 ,thirty years ago1 when my school education ended1 far more was possible to me than has ever been required of my daughter4 ,it is the uniform testimony of teachers1 that girls now study less1 that the hours of recitation are fewer1 and that dilatoriness and absences are far more frequently excused than was once the case4 ,at the most fashionable1 and also the best conducted school in ,boston fifty years ago1 my mother was allowed no study time in school1 and committed thirty pages of history as a daily lesson4 ,for myself1 at a time when we were pursuing languages and the higher mathematics1 we took a whole canto of ,dante three times a week1 and were required to give an explanation of every historical allusion4 ,i had no study time in school2 but neither my mother1 nor myself1 nor any girls in my class1 were in the least injured by anything required of us4 ,during the whole of our school life1 we thought and understood as children1 and very reluctant we were to put away childish things4 ,we rose for a bath and walk before a seven o'clock breakfast1 nine o'clock found us at school1 and we returned to a two o'clock dinner4 ,in the afternoon we walked1 or rode on horseback1 or studied together for an hour4 ,we took tea at six or half past six o'clock1 and the curfew ringing at nine found us preparing for bed4 ,we had no time for unsuitable reading1 and none of the cares or dissipations of maidenhood perplexed our straight forward way4 ,if we could secure this simplicity for our children1 we should have small reason to be anxious about their health4 ,what1 then1 are the drawbacks to a teacher's efforts to-day8 ,if girls are not studying too hard and too much1 what are they doing which stands in the way of a true education1 taking the word in the broadest sense8 ,the teacher's first obstacle lies in the superficial character of the ,american mind4 ,we have scarcely one in the country capable of being a hard student4 ,the whole nation repels the idea of drudgery of any sort1 and the most conscientious teacher has to contend against a home influence1 which1 working at right angles with her own1 hardly allows any noble effort4 ,next to this is inherited tendency3 from fathers fevered with restless mercantile speculation1 or tossed between bulls and bears in ,wall street1 or who allow themselves to indulge in practices which their daughters are supposed never to know1 girls inherit an abnormal development of the nervous system1 and every fibre in their bodies feels the twist in the nerves4 ,from mothers of large families1 overworn with house-work themselves1 or1 still worse1 fretted by the impossibility of keeping a home comfortable1 aided only by unwilling and half-trained servants1 girls inherit a depressed and morbid tendency to call life hard4 ,the spirit of the age is also against them4 ,they do not have the help which comes from a trusting religious spirit4 ,the ,conflict of the ,ages has penetrated to the heart of almost every household1 and care is too seldom taken to save that love of ,god and trust in his ,fatherly care1 upon which the comfort and happiness of the young so much depend4 ,it seems to me that very few parents realize this4 ,if a girl has a loving mother1 it is not enough4 ,she needs1 still farther1 the consciousness of that sustaining ,power which holds both her and the universe in its embrace4 ,if she has not a loving mother1 how can she endure life without this support8 ,but let us suppose that the teacher has met and vanquished these difficulties--she has enemies still at hand that our ancestors never knew4 ,the girls whom she teaches live in high houses1 piled storey upon storey1 so that three or four flights of stairs come between them and the open air--between them and healthful play4 ,the crowd of people who go annually to ,europe1 and bring home its follies instead of its charms1 have succeeded in changing our simple midday meal into a dinner of many courses1 eaten under the gaslight4 ,at this meal the young girl finds food very different from the roast mutton1 and bread and butter eaten daily by her ,english sister at the same age4 ,she has tea and coffee at other meals1 and probably a glass of wine at this1 especially if she is thought to be studying hard4 ,in the afternoon1 she has no longer simple1 happy life in the open air4 ,although her ear be so deficient that she may hammer all the afternoon over an exercise that she will not recognize when she hears it well played at a concert the same evening1 she is kept at her instrument as if all her salvation of body and soul lay in the keys of the piano4 ,the irritability which bad habits1 bad food1 and the want of fresh air develop1 needs the counterpoise of a fresh excitement--so a ,german1 the opera1 or a tragedy1 occupies her evening hours4 ,three or four days in the week1 at least1 she is up till midnight1 and rises just in time to get to school at nine4 ,she never stands in the cool evening air to see the red sun sink below the hills2 she misses the holy calm of the early morning1 which falls upon a flushed and heated life as its dews fall on the flowers4 ,dissipation1 either mental or physical1 crowds every cranny of her life4 ,parents object to every lesson out of school1 so the whole period of preparation and recitation is pressed into the school-hours4 ,her dress is wholly unsuited to health2 and when ,i say this1 ,i wish to be understood as saying nothing in favor of bloomers or any other special dress4 ,an intelligent woman can decide for herself and her children as to what need of change there is in her dress2 and many of us have worn for half a century clothes that were loose1 well adjusted1 and healthful1 without drawing attention to any peculiarity4 ,nor must there be any tyrannical dictation on this subject4 ,some of us prefer to rest our clothes upon our shoulders2 some of us are only comfortable when they depend upon the hips4 ,it cannot be denied that the heavily-weighted skirts now in vogue are uncleanly and unwholesome1 even when worn short2 and while school-girls elaborate1 friz1 powder1 and puff their hair like their elders1 and trim their dresses to such excess1 it will be impossible for them to find time for consecutive study4 ,every separate curl1 lace1 or fold1 becomes a separate cause of worry2 and worry lies at the bottom of ,american degeneracy1 male and female4 ,every heart in this country came to a sudden pause the other day1 when the name of ,agassiz was moaned out by the funeral-bells of ,cambridge4 ,who ever worked harder than he8 ,without haste1 yet without rest1 his summer's recreation became the hardest work of the world2 but in his life an ever-flowing cheerfulness1 and a genial welcome for any honest soul1 showed the healthfulness of his busy walk4 ,if anything shortened his three-score and ten years1 it was the care and anxiety which insufficient appropriation and political indifference or chicanery crowded into his later life4 ,the scholar1 young or old1 must keep a calm and well-poised mind4 ,let our mothers consider whether this is possible to children upon whom the follies of mature life are crowded in infancy4 ,if in idle moments the children of this generation take up a book1 it is no longer a simple ,bible story1 or a calm classic of the ,english tongue1 but the novels of ,miss ,braddon1 ,mrs4 ,southworth1 or ,mrs4 ,wood wake them into a premature life of the imagination and the senses4 ,before they are six years old they hold weddings for their dolls1 enact love scenes in their tableaux1 or go to theatrical exhibitions as stimulating as the ,black ,crook1 if less offensive to the taste4 ,the skating parties and gymnastics are also fruitful sources of ill-health4 ,the girl prepares herself for the former by inflating and over-heating her skirts over the register in the hall-floor2 a few minutes' exercise chills the hot drapery--what wonder that a morbid bodily sensitiveness follows the insane exposure8 ,no thoughtful person can watch a class of gymnasts1 without seeing how extreme and unnatural are many of the attitudes assumed1 especially for women4 ,what would be thought of making bread or sweeping floors1 if these compelled such attitudes1 or brought about such fatigue8 ,the sleep of these exhausted pupils is often broken1 by what has been wittily called a panorama on the brain1 in which the worries1 excitements1 dissipations of the day1 are incessantly repeated1 and they rise late1 more wearied than they went to bed4 ,in spite of eminent authority to the contrary1 mothers observe that it is their sons who require the largest allowance of sleep1 and who keep the morning meal waiting2 but if the growing girl cannot sleep1 she should be compelled to lie in bed the proper number of hours1 and it is obvious1 that sleep like that ,i have described is no refreshment1 and furnishes no opportunity for repair of tissue4 ,i want to borrow a book1 doctor1 said a patient the other day to a famous specialist4 ,any book upon my shelves1 madam1 was the reply1 except those which concern the diseases of women1 and the lady turned disappointed away4 ,it behooves all those who have the care of children of both sexes1 to bear their possible futures silently in mind2 but all talk to them1 or before them1 all reading upon physiological subjects1 during the period of development1 should be forbidden1 for the reasons that dictated the answer of the specialist2 children should be instructed long before the developing period4 ,i cannot tell what might be possible if we had to deal with girls in a normal state of health2 but the girls and women of to-day are encouraged to a morbid consciousness of sex2 and ,i believe1 that all that relates to personal care should be ordered by those who are the natural guardians of the young1 without unnecessary explanation or caution4 ,when development begins1 special treatment is required2 not according to the sex so much as according to the individual2 and no parent or teacher can dictate to another on general grounds4 ,that school or family is an absolute failure which does not allow a margin large enough and loose enough for all possible contingencies1 as regards boys or girls4 ,if any one thinks the picture of youthful life which ,i have drawn an exaggerated one1 let him read the books commonly published1 descriptive of child-life1 and once convinced1 he will not wonder that the number of invalid girls is such as to excite the gravest alarm4 ,from all the cares imposed by dress1 and from much of the weakness deduced from furnaces and high-storeyed houses1 boys are exempted by their habits and general custom4 ,if it is thought by any one that the boys of to-day are stronger than the girls1 let them be subjected to the same regimen1 and the result fairly reported4 ,let their steps be clogged by skirts1 embroidered or plaited into death warrants2 let them be kept at the piano or running up and down stairs when they should be in bed or at play2 let them read sentimental novels or worse1 and hang over the furnaces1 instead of frolicking in the open air4 ,we shall understand better1 when this experiment is once tried1 that ,god makes boy and girl alike healthy2 but that social folly has1 from the very first1 set the girl at a disadvantage4 ,do sisters imitate brothers in persistent work everywhere8 ,nay1 it is not the brothers whom they imitate1 but their own steadfast1 ,god-implanted instincts1 which they thus attempt to work out4 ,girls cannot do two things well at a time4 ,then let them resign the life of fashion1 excitement and folly1 and give themselves to study1 fresh air and an obedient life in a well-disciplined home4 ,every teacher of to-day will tell them1 that those girls who go most regularly to school are healthier than those who lead desultory lives1 and that among the students of any one school or college1 the healthiest are generally those who work the hardest4 ,this is as true of boys as of girls4 ,it is not the honor man who breaks down at college1 but he who leads an irregular and idle life4 ,it is true1 for the very simple reason1 that hard study is incompatible for any length of time1 or in other than very exceptional cases1 with luxurious habits1 over-eating or drinking1 late hours1 or excessive dissipation4 ,in this recent work it has been stated1 that all schools are adjusted to meet the requirements of men2 and in quoting a case which was wholly imaginary1 so far as its supposed connection with ,vassar ,college was concerned1 the author goes on to say3 ,the pupil's account of her regimen there1 was so nearly that of a boy's regimen1 that it would puzzle a physiologist to determine from that alone1 whether the subject of it were male or female4 ,of course1 these words are intended to express disapprobation1 and carry a doubt as to the fitness of ,vassar ,college to educate girls4 ,nothing could be more unjust or preposterous than the conclusions likely to be deduced from this statement4 ,we are told that from fourteen to nineteen1 no girl must be encouraged to persistent effort in study1 or anything else4 ,now1 the laws of life are absolute1 and if proper habits of study have not been formed by the age of nineteen1 they never can be formed in this life2 the girl who gives only an intermittent attention to study up to her twentieth year1 is prevented by all the influences about her from intermitting the press of her social duties1 so ,i will not deny that it was the happiest surprise of my life when the first four years of ,vassar ,college showed me that there were still hundreds of girls willing to come to ,poughkeepsie1 after they were eighteen years old1 and shut themselves out of the world for four years1 abandoning gayeties of all sorts1 the ,german1 the opera1 and the parade1 that they might fit themselves for the duties of their future life4 ,the debt of this country to ,matthew ,vassar's memory can hardly be exaggerated4 ,in eight years of steady work1 the college has contrived to exert an influence that is felt in all parts of the ,united ,states and of ,canada4 ,this is an educational influence in the broadest sense2 it pertains to dress1 habits1 manners1 regularity of life1 and sleep2 the proper preparation and serving of food1 physical exercise1 physiological care1 safe and healthful study1 and the highest womanly standards in all respects4 ,the college has received delicate pupils1 whom she has sent out four years after1 strong and well2 and it is the rule1 that the health of the classes steadily improves from the ,freshman to the ,senior year4 ,vassar has been fortunate in retaining its resident physician throughout the whole eight years of its existence1 and if the ,faculty were to grow careless1 the parents1 educated by what she has been accustomed to give1 would demand the care that their children need4 ,the pupils of ,vassar belong to no special class in society1 and are drawn from varied localities4 ,when the college opened1 she had upon her ,faculty three women whose peers it would be hard to find1 for excellence of character1 refinement of feeling1 delicacy of manner1 attainment in science1 and a quiet elegance of dress4 ,of these1 one is now gathered to a wider sphere of usefulness1 so we speak of ,hannah ,lyman by name1 as a woman whose equal most of the students would never have seen1 if good fortune had not taken them to ,vassar4 ,the first pupils of ,vassar were thoughtful women1 who had been long prepared for its expected opening4 ,they appreciated at once the lofty influence of these examples1 and the reverent respect they always showed was impressed upon every succeeding class4 ,these teachers were in every detail of their lives1 what intelligent1 modest1 and cultivated women should be4 ,as to dress1 so far as example and counsel could do it1 the pupils were taught simplicity4 ,as to habits1 they were taught regularity1 order1 cleanliness1 and the self-denial in small matters which would prevent then from annoying one another4 ,as to manners1 the courtesy shown by so finished a gentlewoman as ,miss ,lyman1 not only in all her intercourse with the ,faculty and the teachers1 but to the pupils1 in all the minute details of official and social intercourse1 took effect1 as no lessons born of foreign travel or intercourse with the world could ever have done4 ,it was courtesy growing out of character and conscience2 it was not the mere dictation of custom4 ,to live with such regularity as ,vassar enforced for four years1 made it almost certain that these pupils would never fail of that divine blessing for the rest of their lives4 ,their meals were served at the minute1 their rising and retiring were at the proper hours1 and sleep was as secure as good health1 cheerful minds1 and moderate excitement could make it4 ,their food was of the best material1 of good variety1 and most careful preparation4 ,it is not too much to say1 that none of the girls could ever have seen in their own homes such perfect bread and butter1 so abundant milk and meat1 or simple delicacies so carefully served without interruption for four years4 ,their exercise was watched by the resident physician1 and every flagging step or indifferent recitation was supposed to have two possible bearings1 one upon the goodwill of the student1 the other upon some incipient physical derangement4 ,their study hours were carefully regulated by teachers who knew what girls could properly accomplish1 and when a question arose it was decided in the only proper way--practically4 ,i was present once when a pupil complained to ,hannah ,lyman of the impossibility of preparing a lesson in arithmetic in the prescribed time4 ,that night ,miss ,lyman sat late over her own slate1 and by going slowly through every process required of the pupil1 justified the complaint and corrected the error4 ,in all table manners and social life1 the girls at ,vassar had the highest standard constantly before them1 and when they went out into the world at the end of four years1 they carried into their varied homes wholly new ideas about dress1 food1 proprieties1 and life4 ,the conditions of a girl's successful growth1 we are told1 are to be found in-- #a4 ,abundant and wholesome food4 #b4 ,care in all relating to her health4 #c4 ,work so apportioned as to leave room for growth1 beyond the mere repair of tissue1 and-- #d4 ,sleep4 ,in no homes that ,i know in ,america1 are all these points so completely secured as at ,vassar4 ,every year1 about one hundred girls leave this institution1 to take their positions in life4 ,some of them are to be teachers1 some mothers1 some housekeepers for father or brother1 but they will not go to either of these lives1 ignorant of that upon which family comfort depends4 ,never again will they be content with sour bread or a soiled table-cloth2 never again will they mistake arrogant self-assertion for good-breeding1 or a dull1 half-furnished living-room for a cheerful parlor4 ,they have all been taught the virtue which lies in mother earth1 and the fragrance she gives to her flowers2 they know the health and power given by the labor of their hands and the use of their feet4 ,fortunately1 the girls at ,vassar come under few of the precautions required for growing girls#cb but of those who are younger1 it may be said that the impending maidenhood sometimes makes such heavy draughts upon the circulation1 that a girl's real safety is found in steady study or persistent manual labor2 the diversion of blood to brain or muscles relieving the more sensitive growing organs4 ,i have longed to put my word into this discussion1 wrote an experienced teacher to me from the city of ,portland the other day1 for ,i hold that hysterics are born of silly mothers and fashionable follies1 and ,i find them easily cured by equal doses of ridicule and arithmetic4 ,the 'arithmetic1' or other severe study that corrects or prevents morbid notions1 that diverts a girl's thoughts from herself2 her functions1 and her future1 is in most cases the best medicine4 ,of this developing period of life it may be even more safely said than of any other1 that constant employment is constant enjoyment1 and this employment1 though steady1 must be varied1 so as to shift the effort from one set of powers or muscles to another4 ,i am not one of those who believe that girls require more care than boys through this period1 if the laws of life are properly observed in both cases2 and ,i think that when women and mothers come to utter words of the same scientific weight on this subject1 their testimony will differ entirely from that of the leading physicians who now hold the public ear4 ,it is claimed that man is made for sustained1 and woman for periodic effort4 ,it is by no means certain that this is so1 and if it be indeed a law of organization1 then it must be a law which will dominate the whole life4 ,it will not only keep a girl back from mastering her tools until the time for using them is passed1 but it will interfere with her steady use of them through her whole life1 shut her out from the markets of the world1 and unfit her for all steady1 consecutive duty1 either public or private4 ,let no girl be deterred from steady and faithful work in the vain fear that she will unsex herself1 and to a loving mother's needful anxieties let not this superfluous care be added4 ,true1 we may all make mistakes as to what is desirable1 needful1 or possible1 but to the humble seeker after the right way1 a clear sight will always come1 and to the preposterous cautions1 born of a morbid and unwise interference with the courses of life1 ,i oppose these words quoted from that physiology of ,moses1 which it is said that we have not outgrown3 ,ye shall not offer unto the ,lord that which is bruised or crushed or broken or cut2 these words are true1 whether spoken of a dove's feathers or a girl's soul2 or the still later and wiser words1 ,take1 therefore1 no thought for the morrow1 for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself4 ,the foundations of true manhood and true womanhood are fortunately laid too deep for our meddling4 ,it is true that we may destroy the perfume of life1 for men and women1 by mistaken efforts and perverse guidance1 but the fruit of our error is not immortal1 and it is never too late to retrieve our false steps4 ,so far from losing what is best in either sex1 as we advance in life1 we may be sure that increasing years will find it intensified2 that so long as men and women live1 they may1 if they desire1 they must1 if they are faithful1 grow more manly and more womanly4 ,if they draw nearer to each other1 as they sit hand in hand looking towards the sunset1 it is only because they are both heirs of the immortal1 seeking and gaining the same end4 ,it is impossible to dismiss these considerations without touching afresh the subject of co-education4 ,but we need not rest upon the family fact or the old common school system4 ,oberlin was the pioneer in the system of co-education1 a system into which she was forced1 not so much by fanatical theories as by the cruel hand of poverty4 ,for forty-one years she has held up her banner in the wilderness1 and in #ahfh ,i found her with nearly twelve hundred pupils4 ,it was very largely to her men and women that the country owed its safety in the last war4 ,as governors of ,states1 generals of armies1 and mothers of families1 or teachers of schools1 they kept the nation to its duty4 ,from this beginning twenty-five colleges had sprung in #ahfh4 ,it is nothing to the argument that these colleges may not present as high a standard of classical attainment as ,harvard or ,yale1 if that should turn out to be the fact4 ,for more than thirty years a large number of them have been proving the possibility of co-education1 and their graduates are not the unhappy childless women of ,massachusetts1 but the happy and healthy women of the ,west1 who are strong in proportion as they are busy1 and whose children are plenty as blackberries4 ,beside these twenty-five colleges1 ,antioch has been working steadily for twenty-four years1 and in addition to the small institutions scattered all through ,new ,york and the ,middle ,states1 ,cornell has lately opened her doors to the same system4 ,all those who have practical experience of its results know how much wiser1 sweeter1 and more serene is the life that is shaped by its methods4 ,it is a subject on which argument is alike useless and undesirable4 ,we must observe and be guided by the practical result4 ,we are told that public duties are more exacting than private4 ,no woman will be found to believe it4 ,it may be often difficult to estimate the heavy stake that underlies the small duty4 ,a man must labor till set of sun1 ,but a woman's work is never done2 and while this distich hints at the truth1 it is certain that private life will continue to make upon her as heavy demands as the human constitution will bear4 ,for every reason then1 a healthy mind in a healthy body is the first thing to be sought4 ,it is to be borne in mind that the first thing ,nature sets us to do1 is committing to memory--and experience will show that this is the natural first function of the young scholar4 ,three languages can be better learned under eight years of age1 than the simplest lessons in grammar1 arithmetic1 or history--unless these are confined to rules1 tables1 or dates1 which may be most profitably committed1 exactly as ,mother ,goose is4 ,i take pains to allude to this1 because ,i think great harm has been done of late by the axiom that a child should not learn anything but what it understands4 ,this is not true of any of us1 young or old4 ,we must learn many things before we can understand one2 and nothing is so unsuited to young brains1 as prolonged efforts to understand4 ,intellectual processes differ after we become old enough to understand2 not only in the two sexes1 but in every two individuals4 ,of this fact we must take heed1 or all comfort will be destroyed and much unnecessary work done4 ,how then are we to lay the foundations of a sincere education8 ,we must begin with the religious1 the moral1 and the emotional nature4 ,we must sustain the relations ,god imposes on parent and child4 ,we must bring the child face to face with the fact that this is a hard world4 ,by that ,i mean1 a world in which difficulties are to be fairly met--not shirked1 set aside1 or got round4 ,to help her to endure this hardness to the end1 she must be taught a simple trust in ,god1 and an obedient but by no means slavish deference towards parents1 teachers1 and elders4 ,without this trust and this obedience1 every child leads an unhappy and unnatural life2 and their existence may be made sure without one word of dogmatic teaching4 ,having given to the well-poised mind these inward helps1 which all true growth requires1 we must secure simple food1 easy dress1 regular meals1 and the proper quantity of sleep4 ,the child is then prepared for the steady work of mind and body which will develop both4 ,while we do everything to make knowledge attractive and to stimulate thought when the time for thought arrives1 we must be careful never to yield to the superficial demands of our people4 ,the ,kindergarten1 which is refreshment and help to the plodding ,german child1 may become a snare to the light-minded ,american4 ,when the period of development arrives1 study should be carefully watched to make sure there is no overwork2 the character of the reading and the lessons should be guided1 so that neither may tend to excite a precocious development of the passions or the senses4 ,anatomy may be profitably studied at this period2 but just as the specialist turned his patient away from his loaded shelves1 lest her own maladies should be increased by a morbid study of their source1 ,i would keep developing girls and boys from a careful study of their own functions4 ,if they are trained to quiet obedience1 they will grow up in health precisely in proportion to the skill with which their thoughts are diverted from themselves to subjects of wider interest and more entertaining suggestion4 ,in conclusion ,i must say1 that education is to be adapted neither to boys nor to girls1 but to individuals4 ,the mother1 or the teacher1 has learned little who attempts to train any two children alike1 whether as regards the books they are to study1 the time it is to take1 the attitudes they are to assume1 or the amusements they are to be allowed4 ,,caroline ,h4 ,,dall4 #ada ,warren ,avenue1 ,boston4 ,,footnotes3 #cb ,pupils usually enter at or after the age of eighteen4 ,,effects ,,of ,,mental ,,growth4 ,clear away the parasitic forms ,that seem to keep her up1 but drag her down2 ,leave her space to bourgeon out of all ,within her4 ,,effects ,,of ,,mental ,,growth ,a few years since1 when ,mr4 ,higginson's essay ,ought ,women to learn the ,alphabet8 first appeared in the ,atlantic ,monthly1 and ,i was reading some of its keen sarcasms to a gentleman just returned from a tour of ,eastern travel1 he related a bit of his recent experience in the old city of ,sychar1 in ,samaria4 ,there was pointed out to him as an object of great interest and attention1 a remarkable girl4 ,she was the theme of animated discussion throughout all the neighborhood of ,ebal and ,gerizim--the observed of all observers1 when she appeared on the street1 or went with the maidens of ,sychar to draw water from ,jacob's well1 still the glory of their city4 ,this little maiden's distinction was that she was the first girl in that old city1 who1 during a period of nine hundred years1 had transcended the allotted sphere of woman in so bold a step as that of going to school and learning to read4 ,there had been no special purpose in the act4 ,she had been attracted by the mysterious sounds from the room where boys were taking their first lessons in ,talmudic law and lore1 and had gratified her curiosity by learning what they meant4 ,it whistled itself1 averred the little school-boy1 apologetically1 under fear of the rod2 so she1 another it1 learned itself4 ,it was not until the steps of other little maidens were also tending towards school1 that the gravity of her transgression1 and the danger of the innovation1 were at all comprehended4 ,then there was indeed an excitement among the orthodox ,samaritans4 ,in the opinion of the staunch appellants to the ,law and the ,prophets1 she had transcended the limitations of her sex1 and the marital claim1 ,my wife is my shoe was ominously threatened4 ,sychar had not been so roused for ages4 ,the scribes and prophets waited in expectancy to see fire from heaven descend upon a city where such things had been suffered1 or to see the young transgressor transformed1 by the judgments of heaven1 out of the proper semblance of womanhood4 ,but when she appeared in the streets1 with her sister maidens1 performed her appointed tasks in rank and file with them1 talked and chatted as heretofore--though perhaps gossiped less--and bore her pitcher as deftly on her head as ever1 the matter began to die away1 and she was only pointed out as the one who had first sinned4 ,true1 the ,high ,priest shook his head and prophesied ,the end is not yet4 ,but the fire had caught1 and1 according to the laws of fire1 physical or ,promethean1 it spread1 until between the mountains of blessing and cursing1 a dozen ,samaritan girls had learned the alphabet4 ,how far education has advanced in ,sychar1 what has been its effects upon the health of ,samaritan women1 or how much it has shaken the social basis1 ,my wife is my shoe1 ,i have had no very late opportunities for learning2 but1 judging from the effects of learning the alphabet in other places1 ,i cannot doubt that this innovation1 seeing it did not precipitate the world out of its course1 has been followed by others1 less startling1 perhaps1 but tending the same way4 ,be this as it may1 this initiate of an educational revolution in ,sychar has its lessons for our times4 ,the ,rabbis of the old ,samaritan capital saw in this unlooked for seizure of the key of knowledge by the hand of a woman1 a second fall1 and to them the world again gave signs of woe that all was lost4 ,this ,miltonian cry of woe to the world1 through knowledge or privilege given to woman1 has been repeated in every age by ,rabbis and ,high ,priests1 who find the ,eden of life in the poet's picture of the human family1 before woman aspired to taste the fruit of the tree to be desired to make one wise2 when there was as yet no misunderstanding of the object for which man and woman each were made3 ,he1 for ,god only2 she1 for ,god in him4 ,that the world was a paradise while man's wisdom sufficed for her who was to behold ,god only through him1 has been the teaching of creeds not yet dead4 ,there is a lesson in the little ,samaritan maiden's repetition of the first transgression1 as well as in its repetition a thousand times since4 ,he that runneth may read in it this moral of the symbol1 legend1 or verity of ,holy ,writ1 whichever way we may regard the story of the bite of the apple1 viz43 that a desire to know was evidently an element in woman's original psychical nature1 be it original sin1 or otherwise2 and correspondingly endowed1 as is1 just as evidently1 her physical organization1 to gratify this desire1 we may conclude that she will compel some of the educational institutions of the age to her service in its accomplishment4 ,i am glad that the recent alarm of ,dr4 ,clarke1 certainly the most rousing of our time1 has been sounded4 ,rung out from his high tower of professional eminence and authority1 it must and does attract attention4 ,it is a cry of ,halt6 and let us see where we are going4 ,so1 rude and harsh as are many of its tones1 discordant with truth as we can but believe some of his statements1 and more of his conclusions1 ,i am glad it has been sounded4 ,his facts are momentous4 ,let us heed them1 and charge the sin where it belongs4 ,the book will lead to investigations and in the end to an improvement in methods1 and a higher1 more thorough1 education of women4 ,dr4 ,clarke thinks that if it were possible to marry ,oriental care of woman's organization to her ,western liberty and culture of the brain1 there would be a new birth1 and a loftier type of womanly grace and force4 ,but his conclusions seem to be that this is impossible1 and1 since they cannot be united1 of the two types of women1 the brain-cultured1 intellectual women of the ,west1 and the ,oriental women1 with their well developed forms1 their brown skins1 rich with the blood and sun of the ,east1 he prefers the latter4 ,two years since ,i visited some portions of the ,east1 where these primitive ,oriental types of womanhood are to be seen4 ,sometimes in the gardens of a harem1 ,i have seen them1 sitting1 lolling1 gossiping life away1 only careful to guard their veiled faces from exposure1 no matter if the rest of the body were as destitute of covering as their souls were of feeling1 or their brains of thought4 ,i saw more frequently another class of women--those from whom poverty had rent the veil--some still clinging to a filthy rag1 or diverting a more filthy shred from the tatters of their garments to cover their faces1 because1 as a sheik explained to me1 cause she shame she's woman4 ,desiring to compare the length of the life of woman1 under such conditions1 with that of life which we have been wont to call civilized and enlightened1 ,i often inquired the age of women whom we saw1 and was surprised at being as often assured that women whose furrowed1 wrinkled faces would indicate that they were sixty1 were not more than thirty-eight--at most1 forty years old4 ,most ,eastern women that ,i saw1 exemplified the ,oriental care of woman's organization by abandoning their own to a mere animal vegetation4 ,they had borne children innumerable4 ,these swarmed upon us from fissures in the rocks1 from dens1 caves1 and old tombs in the mountain sides--a scrofulous1 leprous progeny of wretchedness1 with a few fairer types1 to which some principle of natural selection had imparted strength to rise above the common conditions of life4 ,i had also some opportunity to see the ,oriental organization of woman under process of mental culture1 in schools something like our own4 ,especially anxious to learn all that pertained to progress in education in the old cities in the ,east1 ,i sought every opportunity to visit schools1 ,mahometan1 ,christian1 and ,jewish1 under the old or under the more modern rgime1 and at the risk of being set down as a true ,american inquisitor1 ,i pressed questions in every direction that would be likely to be suggested to a practical teacher1 studying the problem we are here trying to solve3 ,what is the best education for our ,american girls8 ,the best schools that ,i visited are those established within twelve or twenty years some1 quite recently1 by the ,prussian ,protestant ,sisters or ,deaconesses1 who have had a rare and severe training for their work--physical1 mental1 and hygienic4 ,in these schools1 also1 are to be found pupils from the better classes of the people1 though they often have an orphan department attached1 into which the neglected and wretched children are received1 kindly cared for1 and educated4 ,in the opinion of these teachers1 mental development is the source of health to their pupils1 and they invariably spoke of the improving health and vigor of their girls under school training4 ,they come1 often1 miserable and sickly from the neglect or abuse of ignorant mothers4 ,many such were growing healthy4 ,the inert were growing active and playful1 the deformed1 greatly improving4 ,one teacher said that to see the girls under her care inclined to any active play1 until they had been in school months1 sometimes years1 was very rare4 ,this inertness was more difficult to overcome in girls from the higher than the lower classes1 for1 in addition to an inert physical organization1 a contempt for labor1 with which they associated all exertion whatever1 was born with them2 and only through a long course of training--not until their brains began to take in the meaning and pleasure of study--could they throw it off2 ,to rouse a girl and find out what she looked forward to in life1 she had often asked her1 ,and what do you intend to do when you leave school8 ,oh1 sit1 had been many times the answer she had received4 ,sit1 which meant1 she said1 to wait and get married4 ,at ,beyrout ,i visited several very interesting schools4 ,the ,superior or ,principal of one told me she had been associated1 in her preparatory course1 at ,kaiserwerth1 with ,florence ,nightingale1 for two years2 and she described to me the discipline of that institution and others1 where these teachers and nurses are trained4 ,it is a discipline of severe study1 accompanied by nursing1 watching1 hospital practice1 and sometimes the hardest drudgery of work4 ,she had often seen1 she said1 ,miss ,nightingale1 a born lady1 on her knees scrubbing floors4 ,but there was no distinction of persons in these institutions4 ,those who came to them looked forward to lives1 not of ease1 but useful work1 and they must be prepared to bear hardness as good soldiers4 ,but ,miss ,nightingale has broken down2 may not the severity of this discipline have been one cause of what she is suffering now8 ,she did not think so2 they had all had a training just as severe as hers1 the sisters here1 in ,jerusalem1 ,smyrna1 and everywhere1 and they were well and strong4 ,but there were limits to human strength and endurance2 and ,miss ,nightingale's work in the ,crimea1 performed under such conditions as it was1 had transcended what the human organization could endure--cold1 hunger1 foul air1 insufficient and unwholesome food1 with such incessant work1 watching1 and nursing1 that no human being was proof against it4 ,it was a miracle what ,miss ,nightingale had withstood before she broke down4 ,but these sisters wear no long or heavy dresses4 ,their uniform is a simple dark-blue-and-white calico dress-skirt neither long nor very full1 sleeves close1 yet allowing perfect freedom in the use of the arm1 a simple white collar and apron1 and cap of shining1 spotless whiteness4 ,their shoes1 too1 are after the pattern of those which1 we are told1 are always worn by ,florence ,nightingale--with a sole as broad as the foot they were made for1 and fitted to the natural shape of the foot4 ,the food1 the sister said1 at ,kaiserwerth1 as in all the training-schools1 was nourishing1 but very simple4 ,such facts are worth noting4 ,if they were accompaniments of our system of education1 ,i do not believe that ,american girls would break down under the brain-work that any ,university course for men1 in our country1 imposes4 ,as to the item of shoes1 who does not know that a great deal more work1 and better1 can be performed in shoes that fit1 than in such as tire the feet8 ,and this is scarcely less true of brain-work than house-work4 ,i believe that the shoes worn by young girls and young women now1 are a great cause of nervous irritability1 and1 joined with other causes1 may be a source of disease1 nervous prostration1 so called in after life4 ,i have heard women say many times1 ,nothing in the world will bring a sick-headache on so quickly as wearing a shoe that hurts my feet4 ,the oft repeated words have led me to watch my pupils in this respect carefully1 and to study shoes and their effects1 as among the evils which certainly ought not to be charged to brain-work1 per se1 nor to our school system1 in general4 ,it also made me take especial note of the shoes that the ,deaconess sisters wore as a part of the dress in which1 through long practice1 they learned hardness1 and came out strong and healthy1 but not the less accomplished1 charming women4 ,the school at ,beyrout1 under charge of these sisters1 is probably one of the best in all the ,east4 ,i was conducted by the lady ,principal through every department4 ,in one room an ,arabic ,professor was engaged at the black-board1 instructing a class in studies pursued in that language4 ,in another part of the same room1 young ladies were reading to a lady-teacher an oration of ,demosthenes in classic ,greek4 ,another class was reading critically a portion of ,milton's ,paradise ,lost1 and yet another was engaged in preparing a ,french lesson4 ,with all these classes the lady sister spoke in the language under study or recitation1 as did the teachers of each class1 with the exception of the ,greek class1 in which1 the sister said1 the pupils were taught to read the classic ,greek1 but allowed to speak the language as now spoken1 as they had many pupils to whom this was their native tongue2 but they ought to be able to read the works of their great men of another age4 ,in another department ,i heard the same sister speak most beautiful ,german4 ,this was her native tongue4 ,italian was also taught1 and ,i heard it fluently spoken4 ,it seemed to me that their course1 though different1 required nearly as much study as ours4 ,at the hotel1 where ,i remained ten days1 ,i made the acquaintance of two young ladies1 of ,greek and ,armenian parentage4 ,they had been in this school for several years and were still pursuing their studies4 ,they spoke half a dozen languages1 ,english1 they said1 the most imperfectly of any1 but ,i have never seen an ,american girl who spoke ,french or ,german1 when she graduated1 as well as these girls spoke ,english1 and their drill in music was quite as severe as that of ,american girls4 ,they were taught arithmetic1 but not to the extent that girls are in our schools4 ,physiology was also a part of their course4 ,they were not so unctuously fat as many of the entirely idle women of the harems1 whose object in life is to sit1 but to us1 who are wont to call that a well-developed form which would seem to adapt its owner to do something in life1 rather than to sit an existence through1 their physiques would indicate more vigorous health than those of the grave ,turk's wifely crowd1 which ,dr4 ,clarke wished he could marry to the brain-culture of our women4 ,their faces were still rich with the blood and sun of the ,east1 and ,i should pity the ,american who could find a loss in the exchange of the unintelligent1 sensuous faces of the harem drones for the soul-light which1 through brain-culture1 beamed from the eyes of these ,oriental young women4 ,in this school they had advanced to an innovation beyond anything to which the teachers had been themselves trained in ,europe--quite beyond anything in the ,east1 even the mission schools--the experiment of co-education1 in the primary department1 where a few boys had been admitted4 ,here ,i saw a daughter and a son of the ,pasha of ,syria in the same room and in the same class4 ,and how does this system work8 ,i asked4 ,well2 the sister said1 admirably2 it is especially good for the boys1 who1 in this country1 are so arrogant and overbearing4 ,they are born with a contempt for girls2 and begin1 when they are but little things1 to lord it over them4 ,but it has a wonderful influence to humble their pride1 to find the girls fully their equals1 as they are1 in their classes4 ,dr4 ,clarke says1 that the error of the co-education of the sexes1 and which prophesies their identical co-education in colleges and universities1 is not confined to technical education4 ,it permeates society4 ,that it does so1 is true1 but that it is always an error1 we should not so readily admit1 as one of its permeating effects upon society in ,beyrout1 may illustrate4 ,in one church1 through conformity to ,oriental prejudices against any sign of equality between men and women1 the sittings designed for the men on one side1 and the women on the other1 had always been separated by a heavy curtain drawn between them4 ,reaching far above the heads of the worshippers1 even when they should be standing1 it had formed a complete partition wall1 dividing the church up to the space in front of the preacher's desk4 ,but this curtain had1 within the last few months1 been removed1 and the minister was now1 on ,sundays1 dispensing a straightforward gospel1 the same to men and women4 ,thus was the co-education system in the school already permeating the church6 ,this was noticed with surprise by a missionary whom ,i had met on the ,mediterranean1 returning1 after two or three years' absence in this country1 to his former mission field1 and who entered the church1 for the first time after his return1 with me4 ,ah6 he exclaimed1 this denotes a great advance in ,christian sentiment6 ,this is as it should be4 ,and how does it work8 he asked of the pastor of the church1 in delighted surprise4 ,admirably1 was the reply4 ,there was some remonstrance on the part of some of the older men at first1 but even they did not seem to think anything about it any longer1 and it was so much more agreeable preaching to the people all together1 than to have his congregation separated by that high wall of a curtain1 and to seem to be dispensing one kind of gospel to the men1 and another to the women1 of his church4 ,yet ,i had heard this good man1 in a conversation with brethren who had come down to ,joppa to meet him on his return1 discussing with severe reprobation this absurd woman movement in ,america1 opposed to ,christianity1 unsettling the churches1 pervading society in a thousand ways1 subversive of social order and refinement2 and1 as one of its most ridiculous1 almost monstrous effects1 putting into girls' heads the idea of going to college with the young men6 ,so little did he recognize as one impulse of the wave of the woman movement1 what he had but now been so heartily commending6 ,so often is the ,babe of ,bethlehem nurtured by those who1 seeing him as he is1 a fair and beautiful child1 welcome and worship him2 but who1 looking through the mists of prejudice1 especially fearing through him some subversion of their power1 position1 or interest1 cry3 ,away with him6 crucify him6 crucify him6 ,at ,beyrout ,i had several conversations with a most intelligent ,armenian gentleman1 from ,constantinople1 occupying an important governmental position4 ,having under my charge several young ladies travelling for study and instruction1 our conversation very naturally turned upon our ,american educational systems1 about which he was much better informed than many members of our public school boards4 ,he had read our school reports1 and his knowledge of our methods1 courses of study1 etc41 surprised me4 ,he discussed them1 especially remarking upon the broadening influence of the increasing attention paid to the sciences in our schools1 and the comparative effect of the positive sciences and the languages upon national character4 ,and could it be possible that young men and young ladies pursued these studies together1 he asked4 ,the school reports which he had read would indicate this1 yet he could hardly believe it possible4 ,i must pardon him if he had seemed to observe the young ladies too closely1 but he had been interested to study the influence of our ideas of education upon the first ,american girls he had ever met4 ,and ,i could not imagine how the difference struck him--how it struck all ,eastern men4 ,their freedom1 their energy1 their companionableness1 was so different from women of the ,east4 ,and yet1 they are perfectly modest6 he said4 ,he had observed their anxiety to visit places of historical interest1 getting up early in the morning and walking a long distance to do this4 ,he had seen elegant1 pleasing women in the ,east1 women of graceful manners--the ,eastern women were often that--but he had met few educated women4 ,their women were trained to please1 but they were never educated to be a man's intellectual companion4 ,no ,eastern man ever thought of a companion in a wife4 ,but stopping thoughtfully for a moment1 and seizing one of our idioms in his hesitating ,english1 he said1 ,yet ,i can't see for the life of me why it would not be better that she should be4 ,this was the frank1 involuntary utterance of a cultivated man1 brought suddenly1 for the first time1 as he said1 to consider the question of the education of women1 an elemental half of humanity1 in the unbiassed1 comprehensive view of the subject that can alone lead to a just decision4 ,he was an ,eastern man1 outside of the turmoil and interests of the discussion4 ,no personal or professional craft lurked unrecognized behind his conclusions to give them a bias4 ,with him it was a question of social science1 general human happiness and welfare4 ,with us1 however1 where it has become a practical question touching domestic1 social1 and professional interests1 its complications multiply1 and it is exceedingly difficult for the most honest and unselfish occupants of place or privilege1 to look at it without touching1 in some of its intricacies1 the question1 ,does not space for her to bourgeon1 imply restricting me and mine8 ,the old ,chinese wall of prejudice1 surrounding the subject of woman's education1 from which there are so many out-comes1 is not broken down yet4 ,we only learn how strong it is when we come to some new point in the siege or defence4 ,sermons that have been preached at learned women1 and jokes perpetrated at their expense1 are still issued in modernized editions1 and scare and sting as of yore4 ,it is quite curious to note how the style changes1 but the thought remains the same4 ,our fathers planned our earliest educational institutions according to the best they knew4 ,our mothers economized and hoarded that they might leave bequests to colleges and theological schools1 where their sons could be educated2 while their daughters picked up such crumbs of knowledge as they could find4 ,both wrought their best1 according to the light of their day1 but the shadow of their fuller eclipse extends to us4 ,calvin's requirements in a wife were with them as weighty to determine woman's status in society as was his ,five ,points in ,theology1 their creed3 ,that she be learned is not requisite4 ,that she be beautiful1 only that she be not ill-looking1 is not important4 ,but she must be of sound health1 that she may bear me children4 ,she must be industrious1 economical1 obedient1 and know how to take good care of my health4 ,this was the summary of what women needed to know and be1 in the opinion of one regarded by our fathers as a law-giver1 entrusted with the oracles of ,god4 ,an old manuscript copy of a sermon1 esteemed fifty years ago so rich in thought as to make it worth transcribing1 to keep among family treasures1 lies before me4 ,from it1 among more piquant instructions1 ,i copy a sentence3 ,but if thou wilt please ,god1 take much pains with thy heart1 to make it stand in awe of thy husband4 ,look1 therefore1 not on his qualities but on his place1 for if thou despisest him1 thy contempt redounds upon ,god4 ,when a woman counts herself equal with her husband1 though he be of meaner birth and smaller capacity1 the root of all good carriage is dried up4 ,in proof that we have outlived only the form of such sentiment1 ,i recommend the reading of ,part ,,vii4 of ,mr4 ,hamerton's ,intellectual ,life1 a very recent publication1 and1 the reviewers say1 a charming book4 ,in a discourse on ,women and ,marriage he says3 ,it appears to be thought wise to teach boys things which women do not learn1 in order to give them a degree of respect for men's attainments which they would not feel1 were they prepared to estimate them critically4 ,this educational policy and its workings ,mr4 ,hamerton illustrates by numerous examples4 ,he says3 ,the opinion of a distinguished artist was1 that a man devoted to art might marry either a plain-minded woman who would occupy herself exclusively with household matters1 and shield his peace by taking these cares upon herself1 or else a woman quite capable of entering into his artistic life4 99 99 99 ,and of the two kinds of women which he considered possible1 he preferred the former1 that of an entirely ignorant person1 from whom no interference was to be apprehended4 ,he considered the first ,madam ,ingres the true model of an artist's wife1 because she did all in her power to guard her husband's peace1 and never herself disturbed him1 acting the part of a breakwater1 which protects a space of calm and never disturbs the peace it has made4 ,a woman too ignorant to wish to comprehend her husband lest she should meddle in his pursuits1 and who should find her crumb of the happiness that human life and family compact ought to yield1 in acting as a breakwater to protect him1 and never disturb his peace1 was a great artist's view of the education needed by a woman6 ,to this ,i would oppose my more humble experience1 but ,i am sure there are women enough who would add theirs thereto1 to make the sum equal in weight to that of ,mr4 ,hamerton's artist friend4 ,among the women whom ,i have known in life1 the most highly intellectual have been the least meddlesome2 for the very good reason that they have been too busy with the work of their own brains to meddle with what concerned other people4 ,nor have such women been less the helps1 fitted1 if need be1 to act as breakwaters to protect the calm of a man engaged in any great work4 ,on the contrary1 the discipline acquired in study and thought has been turned to account in this way1 as well as in any other4 ,mr4 ,hamerton gives another friend's view of the education needful for a woman1--one of the most intellectual men he ever knew1 but whose wife really knew nothing of his intellectual existence whatever4 ,his theory was that women ought not to be admitted to the region of masculine thought2 it is not good for them4 ,so ,dr4 ,clarke evidently thinks1 and thinks he proves it physiologically4 ,the existence of the terrible evils he depicts is not to be doubted2 and she would be less than a true woman who did not protest1 by precept1 preaching1 and example1 against the follies and sins of school or social life that induce such evils3 but that it was eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge--persistent brain-work even--that furnished ,dr4 ,clarke's cases1 chiefly clinical1 an experience of teaching extending over forty years would forbid me to believe4 ,as a woman1 ,i have heard the smothered cry of woe as pitiful1 of suffering as great1 from those who prayed for death as a relief--though it was not from suffering of the body--as any that ,dr4 ,clarke describes4 ,in our pity for physical suffering1 some may well be reserved for the soul of her who ,sighs amid her narrow days1 ,moving about the household ways ,in that dark house where she was born4 ,indeed1 the supposition of ,dr4 ,clarke that psychical influences may have caused diseases which he describes1 casts light upon some sad cases of invalidism which ,i have known1 and where disease may quite as probably have been induced by soul-loneliness--intellectual starvation--as by the brain-work which1 in his cases1 he assumes to be the cause4 ,in the new education which is preparing for our girls1 ,i trust regard will be paid to training physicians for the souls of women1 as well as for their bodies1 and there will surely be needed that very feminine subtlety that divines1 if it does not reason out1 a cause4 ,i believe in educating women to be physicians since ,i have read that book1 if ,i never did before1 has been the exclamation of many women who have read it4 ,we want women physicians1 educated to habits of thinking1 logical1 as well as physiological--capable of tracing psychical1 as well as physical1 causes4 ,we want teachers so educated1 women drawn to study the science of teaching through a love of it1 as ,florence ,nightingale was led through seven years' preparation for her work--as a naturalist or an artist is drawn to his work4 ,we want women on our ,school ,boards and among our visiting committees1 who know how to estimate the trust committed to them1 and who will give time1 thought1 and study to their duties4 ,the science of education is1 to-day1 where the science of geology was fifty years ago4 ,we are just beginning to think of it as a science4 ,men and women are waking up to its demands4 ,children1 with their infinite variety of organizations1 temperaments1 and idiosyncracies1 can no more be educated at random than plants1 gathered from the four quarters of the earth1 can be perfected through the same culture1 and in the same climate and soil4 ,each child in the great crowd that gathers in our schools1 is in some respects like a particular musical instrument1 designed by ,god1 in its complicated mechanism1 to perform its particular part1 to yield its own particular tone in the diapason of life2 and ,i shudder when ,i think how rudely it is often played upon by untaught teachers--teachers who have drifted to their work1 or resorted to it as a temporary occupation1 for its profits1 but who have never thought of studying its principles1 as physicians1 lawyers1 artists1 study the principles of their professions4 ,played upon by the unskilled hands of those who have never troubled themselves to study the physical1 much less the psychic delicacy of this wonderful human instrument1 the only wonder is1 that society should yield the harmonies it does4 ,no6 women need to think more1 not less2 to increase1 not diminish brain-work2 to overlive the drudgery of it1 whether it involve teaching1 writing1 study1 the work of a profession1 or house-work1 by breathing into it the living spirit of love1 which sanctifies and ennobles whatever the hands or the brain find to do4 ,as regards different methods of education and their results1 the old ,new ,england ,academies may furnish some useful lessons4 ,these began to be established from fifty to seventy-five years ago1 and are now mostly displaced by ,union and ,high ,schools4 ,but they were the initiate of a very important revolution in the status of the education of girls4 ,in their earliest educational plans1 our fathers had not taken their girls much into account4 ,but these academies1 though not planned with any special reference to giving the girls of the ,new ,england villages and the rural districts the opportunities of education1 at once established a system of co-education1 where the girls and the young men met on terms of as entire equality as any co-educational plan has ever since contemplated4 ,the academy edifice was most frequently built by voluntary subscription from persons of all religious sects1 and the school was in charge of trustees1 so chosen as to avoid any sectarian bias or rivalry in its management4 ,the building generally crowned some hill1 or stood in the midst of a grove where spacious grounds could be obtained4 ,the school was usually under charge of a gentleman teacher--some college graduate--and a lady assistant4 ,the course of study1 aside from a course designed to fit young men for college1 was largely elective4 ,these schools were as perfect educational republics as can be imagined4 ,the young men and the young women met in their classes1 on terms of entire equality and respect for each other4 ,there were few rules in the school1 and as to government1 the pupils were mostly put upon their honor4 ,the course of study was frequently identical1 and with the exception of the ,greek--sometimes the ,latin--designed to fit young men for college--largely so4 ,my own course was precisely that of the young men in every study1 though ,greek1 to which ,i was persuaded by my minister1 led me through a cruel martyrdom of jokes from my companions4 ,repeating at school what their mothers said at home1 they even then satirized me with proposals to get up petitions to open the doors of our ,state ,university to girls who wanted to be men ,i felt these jokes so keenly1 that at first ,i pursued my study of ,greek covertly1 reciting out of school4 ,but1 cheered by my minister's encouragement1 ,i lived down jokes1 and went into the class with the young men1 kept up with them1 and continued the study until they went to college1 and beyond1 until a call from one of our ,female ,seminaries for a teacher who had been educated by a man1 broke up a course that ,i would have been glad to have extended through college4 ,and that without wishing to be a man1 without wishing for anything but to gratify a love of study1 which was just as natural to me as to those ,i had thus far studied with4 ,the daily hours of school were more than in our ,high schools1 and we had recitations always1 as usual1 up to twelve o'clock on ,saturday1 while the number of recitations a student was allowed to have1 nearly always exceeded the number allowed in our ,high schools4 ,i have never in any schools known more thorough and persistent study than was performed by students in these academies1 and the standing of the girls was invariably as high as that of the young men4 ,such recitations as we had in ,history1 ,moral and ,intellectual ,philosophy1 were like a life elixir2 we went from them1 not wearied1 exhausted1 but rested1 exhilarated4 ,we had gained bodily strength as well as mental clearness and force4 ,they had infused life4 ,and where are the girls1 who1 forty1 even fifty years ago1 made trial of persistent study1 of the dangerous system of co-education in the ,academies8 ,there has surely been sufficient time to test its physical effects on them4 ,where are they8 ,scattered throughout the world1 a host of noble women1 many of them doing brain-work still4 ,if my limits would permit1 ,i could give the history of scores of them who were educated mostly in those academies1 and who have continued study and brain-work ever since--who have borne children1 reared families1 and are yet strong and healthy1 far beyond the average of women who have lived in ease and idleness--quite as healthy as women devoted alone to domestic cares4 ,the invalids on a long list of old associates which ,dr4 ,clarke's book has led me to call to mind and look up1 are1 ,i have been surprised to find1 among those who did run well for a time1 but they have turned back and ceased mental labor4 ,some have fallen into worldliness and a fashionable life1 and are broken down under it4 ,others1 restricted to some narrow creed of thought1 have not dared to open their eyes to the light of any new day that is dawning on the world1 until1 ceasing to grow1 they have1 according to a law of nature1 fallen into decay1 invalidism1 and nervous prostration4 ,bringing this subject before several experienced persons1 teachers1 and one a physician1 in the light in which ,i have aimed to bring it before my readers1 ,i have asked1 ,and were these cases of invalidism 7cases of which we have been speaking7 from your best scholars8 ,were they1 in short1 persons still continuing to grow8 ,stopping a moment to think1 they have1 in two instances at least1 given precisely the same answer3 ,i never thought of that before1 but they were not4 ,there are some other things that characterized methods1 of study in those academies of forty or fifty years ago1 that may instruct us4 ,while the girls studied harder1 had more recitations1 extending through more hours in a day than are required in any of our ,high schools1 they seldom studied in school1 but at their homes or at their boarding places4 ,this gave them freedom of position1 liberty to sit or stand or walk1 when they were at work on a difficult problem1 or engaged in close thinking--an advantage which any one who has been a close student in later life1 must appreciate--an advantage which ,i have recently heard young ladies in our university say1 they could hardly conceive of before they went to the university from the high school where they fitted4 ,this also led them almost every hour into the open air1 and to take a little exercise1 as the girls in our university and in some of our colleges are forced to do1 effecting a visible and marked improvement in the standard of health among the girls in the university above that of the girls in the ,high schools4 ,again1 they had seldom more than one flight of stairs to climb2 nor were they1 in climbing these1 burdened with skirts that weigh five1 six1 and even seven pounds1 such as ,i know from actual weight1 carefully reported1 young girls of the present time sometimes wear in climbing three immense flights of stairs6 ,let any woman undertake this with her arms full of books1 her hands tied in holding them1 so that she cannot clear her feet from her long1 heavy skirt1 with its manifold flounces switching about them1 while she is laboring to lift them with a movement of her hips and pinioned arms1 and yet feels herself liable every instant to be thrown from her balance by all this encumbrance--let her undertake this1 and she will learn that there is something besides study that is endangering the health of our school girls4 ,again1 let her take her stand at the top of one of these long flights of stairs--the last in the building1 perhaps--reaching up to the floor where the ,high school rooms are almost always located2 let her watch the flushed faces of a class of girls coming up to recitation1 note the palpitating1 almost breathless efforts with which some of them achieve the last few steps2 and when they have accomplished this1 see here and there one clinging to the post of the balustrade1 or leaning speechless against the wall until she can recover breath to proceed another step2 let her do this1 and she will get another insight into the causes of invalidism among the girl graduates of our schools4 ,how can a mother rest when she doesn't know where her boys are8 we often hear asked4 ,how can a mother rest when she doesn't know where her girls are1 or by what dangerous steps they have gone where they are8 ,how can she rest8 ,simply1 in most instances1 because she has not herself been educated to any comprehension of the danger her child is in4 ,neither did school-girls1 in that earlier time1 perform their brain labor under an outside pressure scarcely less than that of one of those iron helmets which one sees in the ,tower of ,london1 and which1 the guide assures us1 with an emphasis implying that he does not expect us to believe it1 were actually worn by some ,knight at the battle of ,cressy1 ,agincourt1 or some other which resulted in victory to the ,english4 ,and how those old warriors did bear up under a head-gear weighing ten or twelve pounds1 to fight the battles of their age1 ,i have been best able to comprehend when ,i have seen what girls of our age can bear up under and live at all1 much more1 study4 ,i have a friend1 an old pupil1 a truly intellectual woman1 who has not broken down under much more brain-work1 since she left school1 than she ever performed in school4 ,her husband greatly enjoys her intellectual tastes1 and1 without stint or jealousy1 encourages them2 only he would not have her odd1 nor so very different from other ladies of our acquaintance4 ,he would have her study2 he doesn't believe a woman should fall back in her intellectual life any more than a man4 ,he would have her paint1 and practise1 and study2 and since he provides abundant help1 he thinks she may4 ,he will buy any book1 or set of books1 to aid her2 but he would have her wear her hair as other ladies wear theirs1 and not give occasion for all those flings about women who want to know so much1 and go with their hair about their faces and themselves at sixes and sevens1 generally4 ,and why can't she wear her hair put up8 ,sit down1 and ,i will tell you why1 she said1 one day1 rather out of sorts2 he did not yield very ready compliance4 ,but she persuaded him to permit her to illustrate her why4 ,he sat down1 and she began by twisting his abundant curls into a knot as tight as could well be held by a strong hair-pin4 ,this was the underpinning on which to rear the structure4 ,so1 with switch upon switch1 and braid surrounding braid1 a frizz here and a frizz there1 with a few bows for capitals1 and a few curls for streamers1 and twenty-four hair-pins for fastenings and bracing-rods1 the tower was finished1 in less than half the time1 as she assured him1 owing to the advantageous position she enjoyed in her work1 that it would take her to rear the same structure on her own head1 and it was precisely like what other ladies of their acquaintance wore4 ,good gracious6 he exclaimed1 you do not pretend that women wear all this false pile on their heads6 ,yes1 ,i not only pretend1 but solemnly assure you that ,i have not exceeded by a braid or a curl what most of the ladies of our acquaintance wear on their heads4 ,well1 what do women want to be such fools for8 he asked impatiently4 ,what did you want me to be such a fool for8 she answered4 ,well1 take down the thing and let me go1 he said1 you may wear your hair as you please1 ,i have learned why enough for one day4 ,no1 stay and let us read that chapter of ,mill on ',liberty' that we were going to read together sometime1 she said4 ,liberty6 ,i think so4 ,i wouldn't wear that thing half a day for all the profits of my business for a year6 ,well1 then1 we'll let ,mill go1 for ,i think if ,i have taught you why1 with all that toggery on my head1 ,i can't do anything1 ,i have done enough for one day1 she said4 ,think of a girl thus burdened working through a problem in mathematics1 or arranging1 in her mind1 an analysis of it1 which will be called for in five minutes2 or1 of her thinking over1 so as to give clearly1 with its heads and deductions1 an abstract of a chapter in some branch of science6 ,she will say1 perhaps1 that one gets used to it and thinks nothing about it1 and she thinks1 no doubt1 that what she says is quite true4 ,but go to her room in the evening after the world is shut out1 and you will1 in all probability1 find her with her wrapper on and her braids and switches off1 and she will tell you1 without thinking1 what is nearer the truth--that you must excuse her1 but she has a hard lesson to get1 and she can study so much better in this way1 when she feels perfectly comfortable4 ,a straw will tell which way the wind blows1 and straws of hair-pins1 during months of pain and feebleness1 may1 in after life1 tell which way the wind has blown4 ,just in face of some of these hindrances1 in the way of the higher education of our girls1 ,i place some reports from schools and colleges which ,i have received4 ,the following is from a teacher of high reputation1 ,superintendent of ,public ,schools in one of our large cities1 a gentleman who has studied the science of teaching as few have done1 and added to the usual attainments of a college graduate1 studies which would have given him a right to practise as a physician4 ,he has now been engaged in his profession1 without a term's remission1 for thirty years3 ,it is not hard study that breaks down the health of our girls1 but the circumstances under which they study1 the demands of society and its thousand social follies1 with all their excitements4 ,it is the foolish ambition of parents to have their daughters accomplished before they are out of their teens1 often allowing them to carry on five or six branches at a time instead of two or three4 ,these1 and some other like causes1 as ,i think1 do more towards breaking down the health of girls at school1 than much study4 ,the ability on the part of the girls to master the several branches1 is fully equal to that of the boys1 and when an amount of study is reached that is injurious to girls1 we have gone as far as is profitable for boys4 ,boys also break down in study1 from some of the evils of society4 ,as to co-education of the sexes1 my experience1 observation1 and reading1 all convince me that it is the best way4 ,if there are incidental evils in such a course1 they are only incidental1 and ,i can find those of equal1 or1 ,i think1 of greater magnitude in separate schools4 ,michigan has tried the experiment of co-education perhaps as thoroughly and extensively as any ,state in the ,union--as any territory of equal extent in the world4 ,her six colleges1 her ,university1 her ,normal school1 all her higher institutions of learning--with the exception of the ,michigan ,female ,seminary1 on the ,mt4 ,holyoke plan1 and some young ladies' private schools--are open to young men and to young women on the same terms4 ,there are no separate roads for the sexes up the ,hill of ,science1 from the lowest primary1 to the highest professional school4 ,kalamazoo ,college1 against the opinion of many educated and educational men1 admitted women to a full curriculum1 twenty years ago4 ,and classes1 about equally divided1 have been graduating from the college ever since1 confirming the authors of the movement and the whole ,faculty1 during these twenty years1 in the practicability and the many advantages of the plan4 ,the young women have always averaged as good scholarship and health as the young men4 ,a smaller number of women than ,transcriber's ,note3 missing word men8 have abandoned their course on account of ill health4 ,during the period of my own connection with this institution1 many young women pursued there an extended elective course of study1 who did not graduate4 ,it was not their plan to do so when they entered the preparatory department4 ,many graduated from a course quite as extensive1 requiring as persistent study1 though not in all respects like that of the young men4 ,they did not usually study ,greek1 though some did1 and were leaders of their classes4 ,they did not pursue ,latin quite so far1 but more than made up for this in a far more thorough study of ,french and ,german1 ,history and ,literature4 ,there is scarcely a week in the year but ,i receive communications in some way from some of these old pupils4 ,they are among my most enjoyable1 intellectual1 and literary correspondents4 ,with few exceptions1 they are growing women4 ,having learned how to learn--which they will all remember1 was the most ,i ever professed to be able to teach them--they have instituted schools for themselves1 compelled sometimes very hard circumstances to become their best teachers1 and learned to draw lessons1 as ,mr4 ,emerson once said in a lecture to them1 from frost and fire4 ,some have learned to use the world as not abusing it1 and are turning wealth and its advantages that have come to them1 to useful1 noble purposes4 ,a few1 but very few1 of the large number1 are invalids1 but there is not one whose case does not furnish me with abundant evidence of many more probable causes of invalidism1 than over-study4 ,there is not one1 of whom ,i have heard1 whose case does not wear on the face of it decidedly other causes than persistent study4 ,dr4 ,mahan1 who was the first1 and for fifteen years1 ,president of ,oberlin ,college1 has since been for nearly as long a period the ,president of ,adrian ,college1 in this ,state4 ,he says that1 during his connection with ,oberlin1 the proportion of young men to young women who entered upon the course1 and failed to complete it on account of failure of health1 under the strain of thought and study1 was at least two to one4 ,the proportion was not quite so great in ,adrian2 but many more young men than young women--and1 as far as he was acquainted with colleges1 everywhere--succumbed under the change from their former life to one of study4 ,dr4 ,mahan also says that1 owing to the peculiar circumstances under which ,oberlin ,college was established1 he has1 through subsequent years1 maintained a far more familiar acquaintance with his former students than is common for old teachers to do2 and that he can count many more broken-down men1 among his old graduates1 than broken-down women4 ,it would be impossible for one now to conceive the obstacles in the way of the girls who were first admitted to study at ,oberlin4 ,every step was achieved through a moral battle with public opinion and popular prejudice1 the depressing effects of which cannot now be estimated4 ,and yet they did go through--stood as high during their whole course1 and in their graduating exercises1 as the young men4 ,they are all of them married1 mothers of families of children1 and are strong and healthy1 far above the average of ,american women4 ,during almost thirty years that he has been president of college faculty meetings1 he has never once heard1 from any member of the ,faculty1 any intimation that the girls in the class were in any way whatever a drag upon the class4 ,they invariably keep up1 and oftener come out ahead than they lag behind4 ,nor is this more characteristic in one branch of study than another4 ,languages1 science1 philosophy1 they grasp as clearly1 strongly1 and comprehensively as men2 and as the result of his observation and of his experience1 which1 he says1 in co-education in a higher course of study1 has perhaps been greater than that of any man in the world1 he thinks that while it is just as much better for men to be so educated as it is for women1 the result to the latter is to make them more practical1 more natural1 less given to effeminate1 rather than feminine affectations1 and more readily adaptive to anything life may demand of them than any class of women he has ever known4 ,also1 in the particular of health1 he has carefully observed the effects of close and continued study1 not only during the course1 but in subsequent life1 and he will risk his reputation for truthful statements1 in saying that he believes--that he knows--the most careful statistics would show among the women who are college graduates1 whom he has known1 a higher standard of health than among the same number of women from any class of society--working women1 fashionable women1 or women of merely quiet1 domestic habits4 ,and yet1 every well-developed1 well-balanced woman who is a graduate from our colleges has actually performed one-fourth more labor than a man who has stood by her side1 and she is entitled to one-fourth more credit4 ,a girl should be as free to choose for herself as a boy is4 ,she can never truly know herself1 nor be known by others1 as the power in the world1 greater or less1 which she was ordained by ,god to be1 until these thousand restrictions that limit and dwarf her intellectual life are removed4 ,let her make herself her own ,to give or keep1 to live1 and learn1 and be ,all that not harms distinctive womanhood4 ,i have recently been assured by one of the best students that have ever graduated from our ,university1 and by another who graduated from ,hillsdale ,college in this ,state1 from precisely the same course as the gentlemen students1 that to girls of average capacity1 the college course1 all that is required of the young men--and all that they are accustomed to perform--is not by any means difficult1 and will not over-tax any girl of average health and abilities1 who is properly prepared when she enters4 ,but the trouble is that while girls like the studies in the regular course1 and study with a real relish1 they want more4 ,they are not satisfied with the ,french and ,german of a course1 they want to speak and write these languages1 and add extra private lessons to those of the regular classes4 ,the few lessons of the course in perspective drawing have1 in some1 awakened an artistic taste1 and they want to pursue drawing farther4 ,there are better teachers to be found in the vicinity of a ,university than they will find at home1 and they are constantly tempted to do too much4 ,a number of girls in the literary course of the ,university attend the medical lectures in certain departments1 some teach students who are conditioned in certain branches4 ,from all the colleges1 the report in this respect is the same--girls can easily do all that is required of the young men1 but they will do more4 ,and yet the report from every college is--more young men break down during a course1 and are obliged1 from ill health1 to abandon their studies1 than young women4 ,this certainly does not threaten danger to girls who attempt only the same that the young men do4 ,the tendency in our colleges towards elective courses of study is in the right direction to remove the dangerous temptation into which girls are liable to fall--of taking studies outside the course4 ,i hope to see even greater freedom of choice4 ,from a woman1 a mother1 and lover of little children1 a few words about school buildings and school methods may not be out of place4 ,americans are proverbially giving to boasting4 ,people of the older world tell us that this is an expression of our undeveloped youth--a kind of ,sophomorism denoting that we are yet not very far advanced4 ,be that as it may1 ,i have observed that there is no more common subject for boasting than our schools and our school system4 ,there are our ,king's ,palaces1 where we are training our future monarchs6 ,those are the towers of our defence--the bulwarks of our republic6 ,i heard a western ,congressman exclaim1 as the railway train whizzed past one of those immense school edifices which so closely dot the area of many of our western ,states1 that one scarcely loses sight of one ere the high towers and ornate roofs of another come into view4 ,i will acknowledge that ,i am proud--feel like boasting1 when ,i can point a foreigner to such buildings as those1 and tell him they are but our common free schools1 open to every child in the land1 rich and poor1 alike4 ,the friend addressed1 an intelligent1 shrewd1 naturalized ,scotchman1 replied that he was a little old fogy1 he supposed1 but that those great high buildings1 where six or eight hundred children were gathered in one school1 were like great cities1 where too many people were gathered together4 ,school life1 no more than city life1 could be healthy1 nor just what life ought to be1 under such conditions4 ,to carry out these great union school plans1 made a necessity for too much machinery4 ,this it was which was grinding out the education of our children1 rather than developing thought1 and the result would be machine education4 ,he said that school was a continual worry at home4 ,one child was kept after school one day for one thing1 and another the next day for some other thing1 and there was a deal of worry and fretting about how they were marked1 and a good deal more talk about the marks for the lesson1 than there was about what was in the lesson itself4 ,one little girl1 a delicate lassie1 they had been obliged to take out of school4 ,the child didn't eat1 couldn't sleep1 and was getting in a bad way altogether4 ,there is no more color in ,l----'s face when she is getting off to school in the morning1 than there is in my handkerchief1 she is so afraid of being marked1 said a mother to me a day or two since4 ,yesterday morning was especially one of trial to the child4 ,i wish you could have seen her when she got off1 or rather when she got home at night1 and have heard her story4 ,i had charged her not to hurry so1 but come back if she was going to fail2 ,i would rather she would lose the day than to gain her school through such an effort4 ,the child reached the school1 and came home at night to tell how4 ,rushing into the house1 the delicately organized1 nervous little girl exclaimed3 ,oh1 mamma1 ,i did get there2 and the best of it was1 ,i overtook ,g---- ,s---- 7another as delicate child72 she was as late as ,i was1 and we both ran every step4 ,we managed to get our things off in the wardrobe and get into our seats1 but ,g---- could not get her mittens off2 and when she at last dropped into her seat1 she put both hands up to her face and burst out crying as loud as she could cry4 ,oh1 ,i did feel so sorry for her6 ,the effort of getting to school1 the fear of the marks1 had thrown the delicate child into hysterics1 given her physical system a shock1 and made demands on her brain that a year's study could not have done4 ,i could fill a volume1 as could any observing woman1 with instances like this--the occurrences of every day in the year4 ,they cannot1 perhaps1 be helped4 ,teachers are not to be blamed for them4 ,six or eight hundred children cannot be hindered for one child4 ,all are tied to too much machinery4 ,in some of the public schools which ,i have visited in ,germany1 the lessons for children eleven and twelve years old seemed to me more difficult than the lessons set for children of the same age in our public schools2 and our children are not in school nearly so many hours in a day as the children in ,german schools1 which are so often referred to1 not only as model educational institutions1 but conservators of health as well4 ,children in ,germany go to school at seven o'clock in the morning4 ,in very early morning walks1 ,i have often met scores of ,german children1 with their little soldier-like knapsack of books strapped to their shoulders1 and have stopped them to examine their school-books1 and inquire about their schools4 ,in a little valley in ,switzerland1 seeing a bevy of children starting1 so many in one direction1 before it was light in the morning1 ,i inquired where all those children were going4 ,to the school1 to be sure1 ,i was answered4 ,but they cannot see to read or study1 ,i said4 ,o1 sie mssen ,licht mitnehmen 7they must take a light with them71 was the reply4 99 99 99 99 99 ,our modes of education will be changed2 there are defects to be remedied1 evils to be cured1 which affect both sexes2 but women will be educated4 ,all the tendencies of the age are towards a higher intellectual culture for them4 ,women's clubs1 classes1 library and literary associations1 are1 throughout our cities and villages--in little country neighborhoods1 even--furnishing women with means of intellectual growth and advancement4 ,there is no more marked feature of the age than these associations4 ,the ,babe of ,bethlehem is born1 and has even now too far escaped the search of ,herod to be overtaken4 ,nor is there anything in the spirit of the times which betokens the revival of the nunnery and monastic systems4 ,women already tread almost every avenue of honest thrift and business1 unchallenged4 ,the shrines of ,minerva will not be desecrated by their presence4 ,their intellect will be developed1 and their affections will be cultivated1 and all truly womanly virtues fostered in the innermost penetralia even1 of that temple where all wisdom1 and all art1 and all science1 are taught2 whose patron deity was prophetically made by a mythology1 wise beyond its own ken1 not a man1 not a god--but a goddess1 a typical woman4 ,as surely as girls persistently breathe the same air their brothers breathe1 eat and drink as they do1 go with them to church1 public lectures1 concerts1 plays1 and social entertainments1 so will they1 in the new and more truly ,christian era that is dawning1 come1 more and more1 to study with them1 from youth to old age1 in the academy1 the sacred groves of philosophy1 halls of science1 schools of theology--everywhere and persistently4 ,,lucinda ,h4 ,,stone4 ,kalamazoo1 ,mich4 ,,girls ,,and ,,women ,,in ,,england ,,and ,,america4 ,,girls ,,and ,,women ,,in ,,england ,,and ,,america4 ,when ,i was giving1 in ,dundee1 a lecture upon the ,education of ,women in ,america1 the substance of which appeared in the ,westminster ,review of ,october1 #ahgc1 the chairman1 on introducing me1 said1 ,de ,tocqueville1 the ,french philosopher1 considered that the chief cause of the great prosperity of the ,american nation is the superiority of the women2 now we are to hear to-night how these women are produced4 ,two things uniformly strike foreign travellers in our country2 the general intelligence of the people1 and the equality of the education and intellectual interests of the men and the women2 and few remarks are oftener heard from those who have visited us1 or have known our countrymen and women on the ,continent than this3 ,american women seem so much superior to the men4 ,but a third fact stands just as boldly forth--the thin1 unhealthy-looking physique and nervous sensibility of the ,american people2 and the impression of this is deepened by comparing us with our original ancestors1 the ,english1 confessedly the finest physical race in the world4 ,these facts--the superior average education in ,america1 and the inferior average physique of the nation--are so striking1 that it is strange that they have not oftener and more forcibly been placed together as cause and effect4 ,the education has gone on increasing1 and the physique has gone on declining1 till now the census returns begin to make us look anxiously about us4 ,our men are unmuscular and short-lived1 the best of them2 the men of a physique of the type of ,chief ,justice ,chase rarely live beyond sixty or sixty-five4 ,they are not invalids1 but they are subject to fever1 congestion1 and paralysis1 violent crises4 ,the women are slight1 graceful1 impressionable1 and active4 ,in the poorer ranks of life they have a nervous1 anxious look2 in the well-to-do and wealthier ranks1 a nervous1 spiritual look4 ,they are not invalids1 but they are delicate1 and are kept under a constant and chafing restraint from want of strength to carry out the plans they set before them1 and they give an unsatisfactory prospect for the coming generations4 ,our census reports are very trustworthy oracles2 these give us dark omens1 and it is folly to shut our eyes4 ,many causes may be assigned as contributing to this physical deterioration1 any one of which1 with a little ingenuity1 may be clearly made to appear responsible for almost the whole2 and such1 in some degree1 is the temporary effect of the very clever feint of ,dr4 ,clarke--nothing else can it be called4 ,the book gives us the impression that the author is going to attack our effort to produce the kind of women upon which any shrewd observer must see that our unparalleled prosperity to a great degree rests4 ,it makes us believe he is going to attack the very method to which our success in educating women is due2 and it makes us fear that he is going to attack the modern doubt concerning the old theory1 that the highest and ultimate aim of a woman is to be the satisfactory wife of one man1 and the nourishing mother of another2 but he does not even try to do any one of these things4 ,he has thrown a calcium light upon one spot1 revealing some defects1 and many eyes are for a time drawn towards it4 ,his feint has created a sensation1 and brought an important subject up to a grade of familiarity and openness where it can be talked of and examined1 and ,i closed the book with a great sense of obligation on behalf of my nation4 ,i have long felt that physicians1 themselves1 have no adequate impression of the danger we are incurring in the average neglect that attends the physical rearing of ,american girls1 and subsequent care of young women1 nor adequate knowledge of their tendency to weakness in their present condition4 ,mothers are busy1 and girls are left too much to take care of themselves4 ,from considerable personal knowledge1 ,i am aware that the present state of things ought to occasion anxiety2 that girls1 ignorant of the consequences1 are disposed to conceal any weakness or unnatural condition1 through their great aversion to medical attendance1 and from a dislike to restrictions upon their social pleasures2 and also from the fear that these restrictions would produce suspicion among their friends in regard to their condition4 ,i am sure that ,i am stating facts that are not appreciated in the degree that they deserve4 ,looked at physically1 and with a philanthropy that extends beyond our contemporaries1 ,english women do not allow us to feel wholly satisfied with our ,american women4 ,they make us feel that there is a debit as well as a credit column when we compare our system of social life with theirs4 ,but we must not be so unwise as to attribute the fault to four or five years in the ,american girl's life2 nor must we be so short-sighted as to limit the responsibility to the present generation4 ,our own grandmothers did thus and so2 but1 as ,miss ,phelps says1 this is the very reason that we cannot do it2 nor can we afford to be so unjust as to make women bear the whole blame1 nor so injudicious as to criminate our society as a whole4 ,crime implies bad intentions1 or mistakes that result from inexcusable neglect of available knowledge4 ,our bitterest enemies1 the devotees of a high-bred aristocracy1 could not charge us with the first2 and as to the second1 the past furnishes no experience for our guidance4 ,we do not know just how much work this complex human machine is capable of doing2 nor indeed do we know how to adjust the action of the different parts1 and to manage the repairs so as to get the best possible work out of it4 ,some overstrain it1 others take needless trouble about the repairs4 ,as yet the capacities of human muscle and nerve have never been adequately tested4 ,we are carrying the experiments in this matter farther than they have ever gone before4 ,we cannot know the full strength of a cord till it is broken2 but we grow cautious when we see that the fibres are beginning to give way4 ,our astonishing prosperity is due to the large total of brain-activity that is being applied in the development of the natural resources1 industries1 and social life of our nation--a total to which women as well as men contribute1 and the poorer people as well as the richer4 ,that they are able to make this common contribution1 is due to the fact1 that we educate not only men but women1 not only the rich but the poor2 that they are keenly stimulated to make it1 is due to the natural resources of the country1 to the mobile conditions of society1 and to the peculiar system of educating all classes and both sexes together1 which conditions combine to afford to the various individuals1 inviting possibilities for acquiring wealth and influence4 ,along with this tremendous brain activity1 a very large proportion of our people are carrying on an unusual amount of muscular activity4 ,that is1 our active brains multiply things to be done faster than they supply us with mechanical contrivances and organization in industry1 to reduce muscular labor4 ,in looking at the conditions of ,english life we observe3 ,i4 ,comparative repose1 the absence of an exciting hope and a hurried and worrying activity4 ,a large part of the nation attempt to lead nothing beyond a simple animal life1 putting their entire energies into animal force1 and using this animal force for the benefit of those above them1 almost as completely as the horse or the ox4 ,this statement is so true of the agricultural laborers as to admit of very little palliation1 and it is scarcely less true of the unskilled working classes in the towns4 ,in all the lower ranks of society there are great obstacles to advancement in position1 because each plane of life is crowded with its own members2 because each class is educated in schools where only children of that class are found1 and where the education is especially adapted to that class--that is1 to their industrial needs and to what is expected in that grade of society--and does not fit them for any other place in society4 ,one-fifth of the nation cannot read1 and the education of the great majority of the remainder1 when not limited to the three ,r's1 does not go far enough to create a taste for reading books2 and1 shut off as they have been from participation in political life1 they have too little interest in public concerns to read the newspapers4 ,that is1 as compared with our life1 the possibilities for advancement are limited1 the average education is of a low order1 and the stimulus that comes from an acquaintance with the habits of those above them is absent4 ,nearly all the spurs to ambition are wanting1 and in consequence there is little tendency to do more work than is necessary to keep along in the old ways4 ,the skilled artisans have in this matter of opportunity for advancement more in common with the circumstances of our life4 ,this sphere is not overcrowded1 but they1 too1 lack the means for education and association with those above them provided in our public schools4 ,the result of their better chances for improvement shows itself with them in the same way as with us1 in a tendency to overwork1 though1 as we should expect1 not in the same degree4 ,complaints are made of the physical deterioration of this class1 and laws are enacted to limit the working hours of children2 and in the last session of ,parliament1 ,mr4 ,mundella introduced a bill to fix the limit for women below that of men4 ,the bill did not pass1 but it will be introduced again in the next session4 ,the large shopkeepers and manufacturers are1 again1 more assimilated to us in their possibilities for rapid changes in financial conditions2 but at best they are a small class1 and efficient help is more easily attainable4 ,with us1 as soon as a man becomes conscious that he has good ability for work1 he finds for himself an independent place4 ,here1 as a rule1 there is no independent place for him1 and he is obliged to sell his ability to some other man who has an independent footing4 ,so that the leader of a scheme is not only relieved from puzzling over details1 but a large part of the planning is done by able men in his employ1 and he need give but little of his time4 ,as a rule1 a man must be on a pretty high platform to have much hope of crowding his way up higher4 ,,ii4 ,the importance of health is a dominant idea in the whole nation4 ,this is probably due to the very permanent impress given to ,english civilization by the feudal system1 to the demand made for the permanence of the family1 and for the production of warrior barons and warrior retainers4 ,the physical condition1 that was formerly a necessity1 is now maintained as a matter of aristocratic fashion and pride in ancestry4 ,the higher classes have nothing to do that demands a strong physique1 but they devote the best part of their energies to securing it1 and set up their own results and methods as a model which the whole nation follow4 ,as evidence of this national interest in health1 we may observe the number of ,public ,health bills that come into ,parliament1 and it is not strange that they get the most attention from the ,conservative side of the ,house4 ,as farther confirmation we observe the great number of holidays spent1 not in merrymaking1 but in a stroll in the fresh air of the country1 and the fact that nearly all the families of the whole nation make as regular provision for one or more outings in the year1 as they do for the extra wraps for the winter2 and still farther1 that almost the poorest classes refuse to buy bread and meat of second quality1 not from luxurious tastes1 but from a belief that it is less healthful4 ,this consideration for health pervades all ranks of the nation4 ,,iii4 ,as conducive to the maintenance of health1 we find1 first1 remarkable regularity of habits1 which is largely due to the fixedness1 or caste state of society1 that keeps people in the same grade of life into which they are born2 that is1 in conditions where they have no occasion to change their habits1 and where they have little opportunity for seeing any habits1 except those to which they conform4 ,children naturally fall into the ways in which they are expected to go4 ,this permanence of conditions goes far to insure a degree of regularity that almost converts habits into instincts4 ,within the last few weeks1 ,i have for the first time heard an ,englishman say that he had eaten too much4 ,doubtless this mistake does sometimes occur1 but the fact that it puts one at discredit to acknowledge it1 is sufficient indication of the popular feeling respecting it4 ,a child1 even1 is seldom seen eating a bit of fruit1 or a bun1 at other than the regular meals4 ,once ,i saw a woman1 in an ,oxford street omnibus1 eating a basket of gooseberries1 and so unusual was the sight1 that ,i could not help wondering if she were not some stray ,american4 ,perhaps1 in importance even before regularity of living we should rank the athletic habits of the people1 their large amount of vigorous out-of-door exercise4 ,the upper classes are1 by the customs of society1 quite generally excluded from productive industry4 ,they follow the custom of feudal times and live mostly in the country1 where walking1 driving1 riding1 and country sports furnish the chief employment and amusement4 ,children are trained into habits of out-of-door exercise till they get an appetite for it1 as they have for their food1 and it is not unusual to hear an ,englishwoman say1 ,i would as soon go without my lunch as without a walk of an hour or an hour and a half in the day2 and the habits of the upper classes1 as ,i have already intimated1 percolate down through all ranks of life4 ,as contributing in no small degree to invite this open air exercise1 we must include the moderate and equable temperature1 and the excellent and attractive roads and walks4 ,,iv4 ,almost as the tap-root of this long-lived1 hardy race is the strong and universal desire for family permanence1 which makes the peculiar constitution that gives the best promise of maintaining the family1 the ideal standard for the whole nation4 ,mothers know that their daughters stand little chance of marrying an eldest son1 unless they have a well-developed physique1 and daughters are not slow in learning the same truth4 ,this necessitates a high physical ideal for the women1 towards which they consciously strive1 outside of and above the general national habits4 ,these considerations1 the repose1 the care for health1 the regularity of habits1 the open air exercise1 the demand for a strong physique as security for the permanence of the family1 combine to produce a high average of health in men and women alike4 ,in looking into the habits that more especially affect the health of the women1 we may separate society into two classes1 drawing just below the large retail traders1 a line of division which1 as a rule1 marks the distinction between skilled and unskilled servants4 ,in this upper division1 we find a nurse who has served an apprenticeship as under nurse in the same grade of life1 a cook who has served as under cook1 etc4 ,each servant understands exactly the duties that belong to her sphere1 that is1 the regimen in her branch of work1 proper for a family in that position4 ,fashion says the women of the family should not only do no money-earning work1 but also no money-saving work4 ,in short1 the best criterion of rank would be the degree and naturalness with which they indulge an absolute leisure4 ,ostensibly they very rigidly obey this fashion1 though doubtless1 in many cases1 some dressmaking or plain sewing is done somewhere out of sight4 ,the plan is for the mistress to spend half-an-hour in the morning in giving her orders and looking over accounts2 beyond this1 for the women of the family to be exempt from any real household service1 while all branches of sewing are to be given to professional seamstresses4 ,if the family lives in town1 the evenings are supposed to be very regularly spent in social enjoyment2 if they live in the country1 they fill in the time as best they can1 after the late dinner4 ,but whether at home or away1 the food and habits are about the same1 or1 if there are late hours1 the sleep is made up in the morning4 ,the children are in the hands of a competent nurse1 and from her they pass to a governess1 who looks after their physical habits as well as their lessons4 ,few mistakes are likely to be made4 ,the regimen of habits for the children at the advancing ages is well understood1 and the success of the nurse or governess in keeping her place depends upon her fidelity in carrying them out4 ,the children are trained into these regular habits till they become appetites1 and seem to be laws of their nature4 ,in the lower division1 the servants are less numerous and less efficient4 ,mothers and daughters do a part1 or all1 of the domestic work4 ,but the baking1 in most parts of the country1 and much of the sewing1 is done out of the house4 ,more servants are employed than in corresponding families with us1 and altogether much less work is included in the domestic occupations4 ,in the higher grades of this lower division1 the education of the girls continues till from fourteen to sixteen1 and is carried on either under a governess1 or in small schools1 which are either boarding-schools or day schools4 ,the governesses are cheap1 and the schools are cheap1 and there seems to be little choice between the two plans4 ,the girls have a little history1 ,french1 music1 and ornamental needlework4 ,below these upper grades1 girls are educated at the ,national schools1 where1 if they remain long enough1 they are taught the common branches and plain needlework1 moderately well4 ,through the upper division of society1 the education of the girls continues till from seventeen to eighteen4 ,about half of their education1 also1 is given by governesses1 and the other half about equally in boarding and day schools4 ,nearly all private schools are small1 rarely exceeding forty pupils1 and giving an average of from twenty to twenty-five4 ,if there is but one session of the school1 it never exceeds four hours4 ,great pains are taken not to have the schools change the dietary and hygienic habits to which the girls are accustomed at home4 ,they either go home for their simple midday dinner1 or they dine at the school1 and their daily walks are provided for at home1 or taken with a governess at school4 ,that is1 there is an approved system of habits for ,english girls1 and these are rigidly carried out1 whether they are in a boarding-school or a day school1 or under a governess2 and on the average1 either in the efficiency of the teaching1 or the physical results1 there seems to be little choice between the three plans4 ,as to the amount of intellectual work accomplished1 no ,english person speaks well1 nor indeed with a moderate degree of censure4 ,about ten years ago1 a ,royal ,commission was appointed to inquire into the condition of the education of the country2 and though the plan first contemplated1 included only boys' schools1 the commissioners were later instructed to extend their inquiry to girls' schools4 ,the report of this commission bore the most concurrent testimony1 that the girls' schools were much inferior to the boys' schools4 ,they complained that too many subjects were attempted1 too little thoroughness was attained2 that there was a disposition to limit the education too largely to moral training2 that much time was wasted on music2 arithmetic is spoken of as a weak point1 and mathematics1 beyond this1 as seldom attempted4 ,i have not space for the full consideration of the points brought out by the commissioners4 ,i give only enough to show that the average and almost universal education of ,english women is wholly of the old-time feminine type--useful sewing1 reading1 writing1 and religious instruction for the girls of the lower classes2 ornamental needlework1 music1 modern languages1 history1 and ,english composition for the girls of the higher classes4 ,the result is1 as far as ,i have been able to judge1 women who are in a rare degree truthful1 pure1 and faithful to recognized obligations1 but1 as a rule1 their range of recognized obligations is not very wide1 and the subjects in which they take an interest are very limited4 ,among the lower classes men are said to seek society in the beer-shops1 and in the higher classes1 at the clubs and with their gentlemen friends1 because they have little companionship at home4 ,the education is so different that there is far less of companionship between men and women than with us4 ,among the lower classes1 great wastefulness in the family economies is attributed to the ignorance of the women4 ,in the report of one of the meetings of the ,social ,science ,congress1 ,i find the statement of a working man which1 ,i am sure1 expresses the general feeling of the people of the country4 ,in referring to the want of education1 and the consequent want of the home-creating power among the women1 he said3 ,the homes of our artisans are not nearly equal to the work they execute1 nor to the wages they earn4 ,among the higher classes1 ,i am disposed to believe1 that nowhere else can women be found so exactly fitted for the place that the popular sentiment expects them to fill2 in short1 that the handiwork of man shows no higher triumph of skill in adapting its instrument to the purpose it is meant to serve1 than is seen in these moral1 healthy1 dignified1 orderly1 executive ,english matrons2 and though the place they fill in the work of the world is not very large1 it is not strange that the conservative sentiment of the country dreads to disturb the perfect balance4 ,the narrow intellectual attainments of these women do not interfere very much with the general prosperity of the family4 ,social position depends so largely upon birth that no amount of intelligence or grace would enable them to add very much to acquaintance or popularity2 and the servants are so skilful in their departments1 that the cleverest amateur could help them but little4 ,all these women of the upper class uniformly write and speak better ,english than we do4 ,this is1 perhaps1 quite as much due to the fact that they neither hear nor read anything but good ,english1 as to the careful drill in ,english composition given in ,english schools4 ,i am speaking now of the intellectual attainments of the very large proportion of the women in this upper class2 but among them are women1 forming a considerable class1 with whom we have very few to compare1 and none to equal the best4 ,but these highly educated women do not owe their attainments to the schools and governesses4 ,for the most part1 they are the daughters of learned men1 by whom they have been taught1 or they have kept along with their brothers1 who were getting honors at the public schools and universities4 ,if women have once studied enough to create an intellectual appetite1 the privacy of ,english homes1 especially rural homes1 furnishes great facilities for fostering it4 ,in regard to the school habits of girls under eighteen1 ,i quote the following statements1 from the letter of a teacher whose opinion and practice respecting these matters would be received with as much authority as that of any person in ,england3 #ast4 ,we insist upon plenty of sleep4 ,our oldest pupils go to bed at nine o'clock1 the younger ones at eight or half-past eight2 and none rise before six4 ,we have no work before breakfast4 ,we allow no later hours1 and no omission of out-door exercises when preparing for examination4 #b;d4 ,we do not allow them to work immediately after a meal1 and after dinner we have no lessons 7recitations71 except music and dancing1 and no heavy study4 #c;d4 ,we regularly secure from one to two hours' exercise in the open air1 and we never keep them too long at one occupation2 but they must work vigorously while they are about it4 #dth4 ,we make a great point of warm clothing and careful ventilation of the rooms4 #eth4 ,the intellectual work is not allowed to exceed six hours per day2 and if more than one hour is given to music1 the other work is diminished4 #fth4 ,each girl is watched1 and little ailments are attended to4 ,this schedule represents the general practice in the best schools and under the best governesses1 and the poorer schools differ mainly only in this1 that they permit more dawdling work4 ,in a few schools1 girls who are a little older1 or are exceptionally strong1 are permitted to exceed the six-hour limit of work2 but the general habit and feeling would be so much against it1 that1 as a rule1 the girl would not think of asking the exceptional favor1 and the teacher would not like the responsibility of giving it4 ,these rules1 of course1 are not always thoroughly carried out2 but with the careful home discipline1 the habits of obedience in girls1 and the frank intercourse and co-operation between parents and teachers1 it is safe to say a pretty strict observance of them is secured4 ,in regard to the care taken of girls during the few years of their most rapid and culminating development there are no rules uniformly observed1 except that riding1 and very vigorous exercises1 are prohibited on the occasions when the system has less than its usual vigor4 ,beyond this1 the sixth rule given above covers the whole ground4 ,whatever especial care is needed1 is adapted to individual cases4 ,if paleness1 languor1 or unusual color is observed1 it is at once traced to its cause1 and that cause is removed4 ,the schools that expect to get the daughters from the best families must show the best results in health4 ,i quote the following from the letter of a teacher whose large and varied experience in teaching girls and women1 and whose present educational position1 together with her especial knowledge of physiology1 makes her1 ,i think1 the best authority upon this point3 ,the result of my observation is1 that ,english mothers and schoolmistresses are very careful about the health of girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen--in fact1 rather disposed to be over-careful1 and to listen to the fears of medical men as to overwork4 ,i have known girls who suffered from unnatural conditions of their functional organization1 but ,i can safely say these have never been brought on by mental work2 they have been induced by change of diet1 such as girls brought into town from the country must always experience1 or by coming into a sedentary life after an active one1 or from inattention to the action of the digestive organs1 but none from mental work4 ,my own experience would lead me most unhesitatingly to say that regular mental occupation1 well arranged1 conduces wholly to the health of a girl in every way1 and that girls who have well-regulated mental work are far less liable to fall into hysterical fancies than those who have not such occupation4 ,the following is from the letter of an ,english medical lady educated on the ,continent4 ,the exercise of the intellectual powers is the best means of preventing and counteracting an undue development of the emotional nature4 ,the extravagances of imagination and feeling1 engendered in an idle brain1 have much to do with the ill-health of girls4 ,in the evidence given by an eminent teacher before the ,royal ,commission1 in answer to the inquiry whether there was not some danger of injuring the health of girls between the ages of fourteen and sixteen by hard study1 ,i find the following3 ,i think study improves their health very much4 ,i am sure great harm is often done by hasty recommendation to throw aside all study1 when a temperate and wisely regulated mental diet is really required4 ,they will not do nothing1 but if they have not wholesome1 and proper1 and unexciting occupations1 they will spend their time on sensational novels and things much more injurious to health4 ,where ,i have heard complaints about health as being injured by study1 they have proceeded from those who have done least work at college4 ,indeed1 ,i do not know of any case of a pupil who has really worked1 and whose health has been injured4 ,we have had complaints in a few cases where the girls have been decidedly not industrious4 ,in answer to the inquiry1 whether a girl's mind has not a tendency to develop more rapidly than a boy's mind1 and whether1 in consequence1 there is not some risk of its being overstrained1 the reply is1 decidedly1 if the teacher is not judicious2 but supposing that sufficient time is given to exercise1 sleep1 and recreation1 then there is no danger of its being overstrained by a teacher who does not give work that the pupil does not understand4 ,for one girl in the higher middle classes who suffers from overwork1 there are1 ,i believe1 hundreds whose health suffers from a feverish love of excitement1 from the irritability produced by idleness1 frivolity1 and discontent4 ,i am persuaded1 and my experience has been confirmed by experienced physicians1 that the want of wholesome occupation lies at the root of the languid debility of which we hear so much after girls leave school4 ,i have been considering the question of health somewhat of late1 and ,i have made up from different tables some statistics about literary ladies2 from one source ,i find that the average age to which they live is over sixty-one1 and from another sixty-eight2 so that ,i do not think learning can injure their health4 ,harm is often done in this way3 where a pupil goes to several different teachers1 one of these1 ignorant of the amount required by other teachers1 may give too much work1 and this can only be kept balanced by care from the head teacher1 who overlooks the whole4 ,in regard to whether girls from fourteen to eighteen are able to do as much work as boys of corresponding age1 the experience is as yet too limited to give any ground for positive opinion4 ,the presumption1 based upon the difference in physical strength1 is against it4 ,still1 girls1 on the average1 at the best girls' schools1 are now doing more work than the average of boys in the best boys' schools4 ,but these girls have better care than the boys have1 and none of them do the work of the leading boys1 who are looking forward to university honors4 ,all agree that girls have not less mental aptitude1 but no one1 ,i am sure1 would like to assert that it is safe to subject girls to as much intellectual pressure as may be safely applied to boys4 ,one teacher of both boys and girls confirmed my own observation1 that there is often some clog in the development of boys which1 though less positive in its action and less productive of a crisis1 induces a sort of physical torpor1 which is not wholly attributable to rapid growth1 as it often appears when the growth may be the very reverse of rapid2 against this a boy may be pressed without much danger to his health1 but not without liability to give him a distaste for study1 thus showing that we are making a demand for an amount of mental force which he has not ready at hand to give4 ,there is1 however1 but one opinion upon this point--that the least safe thing to do for girls at this nervously critical and mentally excitable period is1 to allow them time to indulge and feed their fancies1 or to grow weary of themselves2 that mental work is as healthful as food1 but1 like the food1 needs careful regulation2 and that the health of women would be vastly improved by increasing the school work in degree1 and by continuing it beyond the present term1 chiefly as a matter of employment to the women in the upper classes4 ,among the lower classes1 it would be a means of enabling them to secure more sanitary arrangements in their homes1 and1 in general1 of enabling them to get better results from their annual expenditures4 ,the usual practice in ,germany1 by which ,dr4 ,clarke confirms his theory1 is not the usual practice in ,england1 and there would be great unwillingness on the part of ,english people to accept it as a general rule4 ,experienced teachers1 women physicians1 philanthropic men physicians1 and wise mothers1 are1 as ,i have said1 more afraid of an undue development of the emotional nature in these critical years1 than of overtaxing the intellectual powers2 and it is doubtless true that while very few of the girls and women in the upper classes overwork1 a very large number suffer in health from the absence of interesting and absorbing employment4 ,in ,germany and ,america the circumstances are different--in the former1 girls have more domestic occupations1 and in the latter we have to guard1 not so much against the depressing influence of idleness1 as against the temptation to social excesses1 from which energetic school-work seems to be the best shield4 ,but even here1 in ,england1 ,i have found a few thinking1 active women who1 judging from their individual cases1 had come upon ,dr4 ,clarke's theory for themselves1 only1 instead of limiting it to girlhood they would extend it through womanhood1 calling these periods of repose the natural ,sunday in a woman's life1 during which1 if rest of body and mind was indulged1 there succeeded a marked renewal or awakening of power--but this is an exceptional view in ,england4 ,two movements are going on side by side in this country to improve the education of women4 ,one aims to make the ordinary school-work more thorough1 the other to extend this school-work into later years of life4 ,in #aheh ,cambridge ,university established a system of ,local ,examinations in various parts of the country1 for boys or schools of boys who wished to avail themselves of this test for their work4 ,there were two of these examinations1 the ,junior ,examination1 for boys between the ages of thirteen and sixteen1 and the ,senior ,examination1 for those between sixteen and eighteen4 ,the effect of this spur upon boys and boys' schools was so apparent that the university1 at the request of a large number of women interested in education1 in #ahfc1 opened these examinations to girls of corresponding ages1 and it was the glaring defects discovered by these examinations that led the ,royal ,commission so readily to extend its inquiry to girls' schools4 ,the number of girls' schools1 and girls studying under governesses who avail themselves of these examinations1 has steadily and rapidly increased1 and the results have been such as to leave no doubt in regard to the mental acumen of girls as compared with boys4 ,these ,local ,examinations subjected the girls to precisely the same examinations as the boys1 but the subjects in which both boys and girls were examined did not follow the precise curriculum of ,eton1 ,harrow1 and ,rugby2 that is1 the university1 in making up its list of subjects for examination1 instead of adapting itself to the long established lines of study for boys1 conformed rather to the modern opinion in regard to the best system of education4 ,out of this experiment in examining girls grew a movement to secure a higher education for women1 which soon separated into two sections1 the one subsequently embodying its views in ,girton ,college1 the other in the ,university ,examinations for women above the age of eighteen4 ,the two parties agreed upon these points--that intellectual development takes place in men and women in the same manner1 and that the methods that would be best for the one are also best for the other2 and that1 while the methods at present made use of for girls are wholly inadequate1 the standard methods applied in the education of boys and men are by no means in accordance with the best educational opinion of the time4 ,but the friends of ,girton ,college said1 ,admitting these defects in the masculine system1 it is1 nevertheless1 the existing system2 it has precedent and popular sentiment in its favor2 its standards are the accepted standards for educational measurement2 and the education of women will be at a disadvantage1 in inferior repute1 so long as we test it by a different standard--that is1 we can never get full recognition for the intellectual work of women until we test it by the standards accepted for men2 and it seems to us that we shall advance the education of women most successfully by falling into the existing routine4 ,the other party said3 ,we will not waste our energy in crystallizing into a form that is not the best1 and that evidently cannot long keep its place in the education of men2 we will start upon a plan consistent with the most enlightened educational opinion1 and by our results will secure favor for our methods1 and respectability for our standards4 ,girton ,college1 now located at ,cambridge1 holds simultaneous examinations with those of the university1 and uses the university examination questions4 ,the number of its students is small1 and they are for the most part those who are looking forward to teaching as a means of support4 ,by the second1 and what seems to be considerably the stronger party1 four years ago lectures were instituted in various parts of the country1 to prepare women for the ,university ,higher ,examinations4 ,the plan of these examinations and lectures is something like what ,i understand to be the plan at the ,german ,universities4 ,there is no definite curriculum connected with them4 ,they cover a wide range of subjects1 each candidate making her selection1 and preparing herself for examination in one or more specific subjects1 and1 if successful1 receives a certificate of proficiency in those1 except that certain subjects must be passed before a certificate is awarded for others4 ,to meet a widely preferred demand1 ,cambridge ,university has recently opened these ,higher ,examinations for ,women1 to men2 and mixed classes1 as they are called1 are now being formed4 ,the university pledges itself to supply the lecturers1 provided classes of a certain size are formed in towns sufficiently adjacent to be grouped together4 ,under this last extension of its educational advantages1 the ,university proposes that1 in each place1 a lecture on one subject shall be held at some hour in the middle of the day most convenient for women to attend2 and one on another subject shall be held in the evening1 with reduced fees1 for the benefit of the working classes4 ,each lecture is open to any one who will pay the fees2 but1 as a rule1 the higher classes would go to the day lectures1 and the lower classes to the evening lectures4 ,to supplement these lectures1 which in each subject occur but once a week1 in each of a group of three towns1 what is called a class is held on a second day1 when1 by the payment of a small additional fee1 any one can go for further instruction upon any point which he was not able to grasp from the lecture4 ,the lectures recommend a course of reading1 and suggest subjects for investigation1 just as is done by the lectures in the university4 ,these examinations1 as ,i understand1 are considered as severe as the examinations for the same subjects in preparation for the ,b4,a4 degree at the university4 ,the plan is to carry systematic instruction in the branches of university education into all the large towns1 and to keep it at a cost that can be afforded by women and working men4 ,i have spoken only of the ,cambridge ,university ,examinations2 but1 though ,cambridge has taken the lead in this work1 the other universities have followed along at more or less remote intervals1 and the ,london ,university has1 here as elsewhere1 placed its standards above those of the others4 ,the present system looks something like an itinerant university2 but no one can predict just what it will become4 ,all this work is simply experimental4 ,plans are adopted to meet the present exigency1 and new ones are at any time engrafted4 ,but a few strongly-set tendencies are unmistakable1 old forms are giving way1 education is working its way down below the rich1 men and women are coming together in their intellectual work1 and the notion of finishing an education sometime between twelve and twenty-three1 promises to be forgotten4 ,the elasticity of this more ,german system1 into which ,english education is drifting1 will obviate the difficulty so much complained of in the ,english university system1 that of forcing all students1 irrespective of the varying mental and physical powers1 through a definite course of study in a definite period of time4 ,opportunities for instruction are offered4 ,students choose the subjects1 devote as much time to them as they like1 present themselves at the annual examinations if they choose1 and when they choose4 ,the university promises to provide good instruction1 to test the thoroughness of the work of all who desire the test1 and to award certificates of success to all who come up to its standards2 and these certificates will doubtless eventually be able to sum up into degrees1 or else degrees will lose their especial value1 and be abandoned4 ,limiting the ages of the candidates for the several examinations1 though seemingly a little arbitrary1 aims to avoid encouraging too precocious advancement1 while there is a willingness to make exceptions in favor of pupils who are shown to be exceptionably able4 ,i do not find1 in the ,english schools1 and certainly there is not in the universities1 a rigid practice of giving daily marks for the work4 ,the teachers lecture1 and the pupils take notes4 ,in the schools these notes are carefully examined1 and the pupils who give evidence of deficient knowledge of the subject1 are sent to a leisure governess1 for especial instruction4 ,at the universities1 the only tests are the examinations1 and at the schools1 the examinations are chiefly relied upon for promotions4 ,this plan allows pupils of irregular power1 and varying health1 to admit these same irregularities into their work1 without great prejudice to the total credit of their results4 ,with these two systems of allowing choice in the number and kind of subjects pursued1 and of testing the work by examinations1 rather than daily records1 provision is made for the differences of power and aptitude between different students1 and for the occasional variations in physical vigor1 which are likely to occur with any except those who possess the strongest constitutions--and this1 with the athletic habits and general care for health that pervades ,english life1 is likely to prove a pretty good safeguard against excessive mental work for both men and women2 though1 of course1 individual cases occur where1 driven by ambition or necessity1 one incautiously puts more strain upon his powers than they can bear4 ,the ,english sentiment in regard to the advisability of encouraging young women to pursue precisely the same course of study as young men1 would be expressed in this way3 ,it is rarely advisable for any two young men to pursue an identical course of study4 ,the chief aim of education is to develop the mental faculties1 to enable us to observe accurately1 and judge correctly2 the practices that secure these results are various2 one set of practices may be better adapted for the training of one mind1 and another set better adapted for training another mind1 and no one set will fail to give good results1 if pursued with energy4 ,in the choice1 we are1 as a rule1 safest to follow the individual inclination4 ,as yet1 women have been so limited in opportunities1 that they have had little chance to discover their mental inclinations1 either as a class1 or as individuals4 ,the statement would1 ,i think1 go no farther4 ,the question of co-education has as yet scarcely come into the popular mind4 ,small experiments1 prompted usually by convenience1 have been made1 so far as ,i have heard1 with uniform success1 and the practice is making its way into the higher education of the country4 ,women are already admitted to the ,political ,economy class1 and one or two other classes in ,university ,college1 ,london2 as ,i have said1 the lectures and classes organized under the recent plan of ,cambridge ,university1 for carrying university education into the towns1 are open to men and women in common2 and the various governing bodies are now discussing the question of admitting women to degrees in ,london ,university1 to both classes and degrees in ,queen's ,college1 ,belfast1 and to classes in ,owen's ,college1 ,manchester1 and a bill is likely to be introduced into the next session of ,parliament1 to empower all the universities to extend their privileges to women1 if they desire to do it4 ,the time-honored precedents are at present against the plan1 but the practice of these highest authorities will soon turn opinion in its favor4 ,the lack of funds to educate women1 the rapidly growing feeling that men and women are at present too much separated by social customs and differences in tastes1 and the belief that it would promote a higher moral tone among men1 are uniting to produce a strong current of interest and feeling in favor of the system4 ,young men at the ,english universities rarely overwork4 ,popular feeling1 fashion1 respectable sentiment--call it as one will--is all against considering health secondary to anything4 ,a few evenings ago ,i chanced to be talking with a university young man1 who was at home for the holidays4 ,i asked1 ,about how many hours do your good students work8 ,the reply was1 ,rarely more than seven4 ,a few of the hardest reading men--those aiming at fellowships--who do not take more than two hours for exercise1 work a little longer2 and they work longer just before the examinations4 ,when ,i smiled at the evident contempt thrown upon the two hours for exercise1 he said1 ,you do not think two hours enough for exercise1 do you8 ,in all the best ,english schools1 either for boys or girls1 the plan is to work with vigor1 and play with vigor4 ,there are hours enough for sleep to secure good rest2 then work is arranged to give variety1 and confined within moderate limits of time1 so that if a pupil does extra work1 he does it by extra intensity4 ,after leaving school1 ,english girls in the upper and middle classes give more time to society than ,american girls do2 that is1 society is the regular evening occupation1 and in the day-time there is little to do but to recover from the previous evening4 ,but society is relieved of a large part of the excitability that attends it with us4 ,the wealth and social position of the family and the ingenious tact of mammas1 as a rule1 win the husbands1 and the daughter needs only to be in sight4 ,it is not at all rare to go to an evening party and know no one but the host and hostess1 and as introductions are rarely given1 one has only to look about and go home when she is tired4 ,at a dinner-party she is told the name of the one who leads her to the table1 but she is always at liberty to talk as little as she likes1 and she offends the social taste if she talk very much4 ,english mothers of this class have very little to do except to give birth to their children1 and go through the established routine of dinners and calls4 ,if there is any complaint respecting the work they have to do1 it is of the deficit1 and the inferior health of the women between their school-days and their wifehood is to be accounted for by the want of occupation and independence4 ,they have no more to do1 and no more chance to exercise their wills1 than during the first six years of their lives4 ,after the early years of marriage the health almost uniformly improves1 and by the time they are forty or forty-five1 they have usually attained a ripe perfection of health1 which gives them a physical superiority over the men for the remaining twenty-five or thirty-five years of their lives1 and also over the women who have remained unmarried4 ,the sentiments that pervade1 and the circumstances that control our life1 and the habits they engender1 are very different4 ,it is not possible for us to have habits whose regularity shall so nearly convert them into instincts as is the case with the ,english4 ,we have to make our lives out of the conditions about us1 and these conditions change year by year4 ,the opportunities for acquiring wealth and social distinction are so great that they stimulate us to great exertion4 ,our schools give all classes an opportunity for education1 and by associating the poorer classes with the wealthier1 implant in the former1 tastes for the life of the latter1 and a keen ambition to attain it1 and this imposes upon the latter the necessity of struggling to maintain their position4 ,all our men are over-active2 our girls are educated along with the boys1 and they not only acquire equal mental power1 but common intellectual tastes4 ,men and women are able to be1 and are1 the companions of each other4 ,our girls have a longing for an active life not felt by the girls in any other country4 ,wives share the hopes1 fears1 and anxieties of their husbands4 ,they are eager to gain wealth and friends as a means to improve their social position4 ,they economize in the family expenditure2 they employ few or no servants1 and do plain sewing1 dressmaking1 and millinery4 ,education and a varied experience gives our women a faculty for doing anything1 and there is no national sentiment in the matter of either health or respectability to keep then from doing everything4 ,as fast as the daughters grow up1 they are drawn into this ceaseless activity4 ,besides the lessons there is house-work in the morning1 and sewing till into the late evening4 ,we are a rich nation1 but we are not a nation of rich individuals4 ,domestic service is expensive1 and of poor quality1 for no one is willing to occupy the position of a menial who can find anything else to do4 ,the intelligence of our women1 combined with the necessity in our society of producing a good personal impression1 together with the habit of applying their intelligence to the construction and arrangement of articles of dress1 have developed among us a very high order of taste in these matters1 and the skilled labor that can satisfy it1 is necessarily very costly4 ,our women spend all they can afford in buying these materials1 and save1 in using their own intelligence and hands in making them up4 ,very few1 in considering the work of our women1 take into account the real brain-power expended in this triple combination of economy1 taste1 and execution4 ,emerson somewhere in his ,english ,traits says1 referring to the ,english aristocracy3--,it is surprising how much brain can go into fine manners4 ,it would be very pertinent to say of ,american women1 ,it is surprising how much brain-work can go into fine dressing1 and our girls join their mothers in this worry and work at a very early age4 ,passing from work to society1 the strain upon our women is no less4 ,social gatherings occur irregularly1 have irregular hours1 and an irregular regimen of food1 and every one feels a keen stimulus to be both agreeable and brilliant4 ,english faces at a party look as they do at church1 and as they do at ,madame ,tussaud's4 ,contrast with them the smiles1 luminous eyes1 and pretty cant or toss of the head of the carefully-dressed ,american woman1 and think of the work to be done the next day4 ,in place of a health-seeking instinct in ,america1 we have a feeling which says1 ,i do not mind how hard a strain ,i have1 provided ,i can hold out till ,i get through it4 ,we are too much employed to think much of the discomfort of moderate fatigue and ill-health4 ,neither have we sufficient feeling respecting the permanence of the family to lead us to plan for a succession of descendants4 ,an ,american says1 ,i had rather have forty-five or fifty years of active1 satisfactory life1 than sixty or seventy years of a comfortable1 dawdling existence2 and1 if we look at the case only as it affects himself1 we cannot especially condemn the reasoning1 but when we consider the constitution that this overstrained life bequeathes to the children1 it assumes a different aspect4 ,being accustomed to see an attenuated1 sickly physique in our leading and best-bred families1 the eye is mis-educated2 we establish a false ideal for women1 and become comparatively indifferent to a fine physique in men4 ,men do not marry with a view of founding or continuing a family name1 and their sentiment of gallantry inclines them to be fond of protecting a weak woman4 ,irregular habits are to some degree a necessity with us1 and the greatest misfortune is1 that we get used to the irregularity1 and take little pains to avoid it4 ,we have some rules in regard to diet and digestion1 but they are for the most part practised only by those who have acquired ills1 and are not very frequently applied in the rearing of children4 ,the extremes of climate1 and our uninviting roads1 discourage open air exercise1 and comparatively few have much time to go out4 ,our children do some more work at school than ,english children1 and they have a good deal more of their time wasted in our system of text-books and recitations1 a word not known in ,england in the sense in which we use it1 which requires that the able and conscientious pupils of the class shall look on while the weak and indolent ones are being drilled2 which plan1 judging from my own experience at school and college1 ,i feel justified in saying1 involves for them not only a waste of from one to three hours a day1 but a fatigue fully or nearly equal to the same amount of time spent in study4 ,we put great pressure upon class rank1 the value of which is determined by the daily marks4 ,this forces pupils into a very high degree of regularity in their work2 at the same time it has most effect upon the most conscientious pupils2 if it does not lead them to overdo in work1 it is liable to make them overworry about the work1 and girls suffer far more from this overworry than boys4 ,in considering the relation between the health of the country and the education1 the few women who have had a university course of study need not be taken into account4 ,most of them have reached an age when people are allowed to decide upon their own habits1 and1 as a matter of fact1 these habits have been determined by stern necessities1 by the hard1 money-getting circumstances that surround women1 rather than by choice4 ,at ,antioch ,college1 with few exceptions1 they were women who were looking forward to self-support1 and who were borrowing the whole1 or a part of the money required for their current expenses1 on the promise of repaying it with the wages of their subsequent work4 ,many of them were absent a part of the year1 teaching1 were giving private lessons1 or were teaching classes in the preparatory school connected with the college2 and1 if a few hours of leisure were left after all this employment1 they were likely to be spent upon extra studies2 aside from this1 they did their own sewing1 and many of them boarded themselves4 ,they often overworked1 but it was the necessities of their lives that were driving them1 and not the curriculum of ,antioch ,college4 ,however1 if the ,english feeling respecting health1 and the means of preserving it1 prevailed in our country1 these mistakes would less frequently occur4 ,unquestionably our whole nation needs some escape from its exhausting activities4 ,we need either less work1 or some more skilful combination of the different varieties of work1 that will secure us more rest1 and1 except in a small circle of wealth1 our women1 as a rule1 need this rest more than the men4 ,we need repose1 freedom from anxiety perhaps1 more even than freedom from work4 ,how are we to get it8 ,we cannot have back the caste condition of society1 nor would we desire it4 ,we cannot stop the progress of our system of free education1 nor would we be willing to do it4 ,we cannot set aside the practice and belief in equality of education for men and women2 men would not like it1 and women would not permit it4 ,there are many things that can be done that will conduce to the desired result1 and the best among them for women is1 to organize women's work4 ,the education is not a mistake2 the fault lies in this1 that the industries of women have not kept pace with their advancing education4 ,they have been exempt from bread-winning to a degree unknown in the old countries1 and the average education is far higher than exists elsewhere among women4 ,they have startled the world a little by attempting a few of the intellectual industries hitherto monopolized by men1 and1 though the opening of the professions1 or1 indeed1 all lines of human industry1 to women1 is not to be undervalued1 of almost infinitely greater importance is the application of scientific economical principles to the large sphere of work already in their hands1 and which is remaining in a disastrously undeveloped condition1 just because it is in their hands4 ,the low rate of female wages leaves them the monopoly of it1 and they dawdle along in the ways of their grandmothers1 out of sight behind the advancing masculine industries4 ,it is surprising to foreigners that in the application of the division of labor principle to domestic work1 we are actually behind them1 that we still permit such excess of work and excess of waste in our domestic arrangements4 ,cooking and sewing1 the two leading branches of domestic industry1 are with them to a very large degree trades1 while nursing and laundry-work are trades in a far greater degree than with us4 ,upon this point of the organization of domestic industry1 though one that ,i have long been considering1 ,i can do no better than to refer to the suggestive article of ,mrs4 ,e4 ,m4 ,king in the ,contemporary ,review for ,december1 #ahgc4 ,the substance of this article was presented at the last meeting of the ,british ,association4 ,the ,right ,honorable ,mr4 ,forster occupied the chair1 and at the close of the discussion remarked that he should not like to give up his private home4 ,now1 it is not to be supposed that ,royalty would at once give up its palaces to rush into the society of a set of co-operative homes1 nor that ,right ,honorables with large fortunes would make close bargains in domestic service4 ,the scheme at the outset would recommend itself only to those whose incomes did not provide an adequate supply for their wants on the present wasteful plan of domestic life1 and who saw in this system a means to secure larger returns for their outlay of money1 and it could advance in favor only as it fulfilled this promise4 ,seeing a trustworthy principle of economy in the plan1 the ,spectator turned pale1 and declaimed against the destruction of the time-honored ,english homes2 and ,london builders began to consult ,mrs4 ,king in regard to the house arrangements for carrying out her plan4 ,there will be no difficulty in preserving the desired privacy for the family1 though the wearying privacy of many ,english homes leads not a few to think it is not worth preserving in the ,english degree4 ,adopt and apply the plan of which ,mrs4 ,king suggests an outline1 press the division of labor principle in woman's work as far as it will go1 and the wives and daughters who make our homes will not break down from overwork4 ,the readiest and surest corrective for the excessive greed of our girls for society is to carry on the system of co-education4 ,this supplies a temperate gratification to the social appetites1 induces girls to remain longer in school1 and to do more thorough work1 thus securing to them other sources of pleasure than social amusements and the companionship of friends4 ,the process of co-education tends to develop a well-balanced character1 and to put into it a trustworthy ballast1 which ,american girls cannot afford to do without4 ,for confirmation of this1 one need only read the reports of any school judiciously managed on this plan1 or he need only use his eyes in comparing the past school days with those of girls educated in the high schools and private schools of our ,western cities4 ,of course girls of the present average habits and inherited tendencies must not be pressed up to quite the same degree of work that may be safely required of their brothers1 who have fewer domestic demands upon their time1 more out-of-door exercise1 a freer style of dress1 and1 in general1 healthier habits of life4 ,many a girl who takes especial care of herself--and1 as a rule1 the able girls do this--or who has especial care from her mother1 may safely do what the best boys do without especial care4 ,but so long as girls require from one hour and a half to three hours a day1 to be1 or to develop themselves into1 the conventional girl1 and boys require only about one-third of that time to get themselves up into the conventional pattern for a boy1 girls must either be superior to boys to begin with1 or they must economize their power better1 if they are able to do as much school-work in a year as boys2 that is1 if girls must consume power in all the ways that constitute the approved specialties of girls1 they cannot do the whole work of boys without doing much more than boys do4 ,whether the future has possibilities for girls that will give no occasion for this deficit of available power for school-work1 it is impossible to say4 ,oberlin ,college and ,michigan ,university report that the young women are no more frequently absent from their classes on account of ill-health than the young men4 ,but it must be remembered that the women are few in number1 and in some important respects more above the average of women than the young men are above the average of young men4 ,especially in the respect of a prudent care for their health their necessities have made them wise--and this will be the character of most of the women who go to college for some time to come4 ,our schools1 too1 show as high an average of work for girls as for boys1 but this must not be wholly put down to equal resources4 ,girls1 on the average1 are more anxious for approval than boys are1 and if work is assigned them1 in spite of disadvantages they are quite as likely to do it as boys are4 ,nor are we to suppose that the best average education for the present girls would show just the same average in direction as the best average education for boys4 ,oberlin1 the oldest experiment in co-education at college1 arranges its plans with especial reference to the average differences between the quantity and direction of the school-work at present demanded for men and women4 ,it has its ,ladies' ,course1 as well as its ,university ,course4 ,the young women are allowed to pursue the ,university ,course1 though out of the four or five hundred young women who are in attendance1 those who have taken degrees give only an average of about two in a year4 ,at ,antioch there was a large range of optional subjects1 and among them was ,greek1 which the ,western young men were about as much disposed to omit as the young women4 ,the curriculums of the ,western high schools have also a wide optional margin4 ,the growing educational sentiment is setting aside the old idea that it is well for all boys to pursue the same line of study1 independent of tastes1 and past and prospective circumstances in life2 and another still more pernicious notion is sure soon to give way1 that boys and young men1 of whatever physical and brain power1 are to be put through a definite course of study in just the same time4 ,no one thinks it much of a guarantee for a man's scholarship that he holds an ,a4,b4 or an ,a4,m4 degree4 ,this only assures us that he has spent four years at some institution that has a right to confer these degrees4 ,when our system of schools and colleges is sufficiently flexible to meet the varying needs of boys and young men1 we shall not find that it lacks anything to adapt it to the varying needs of boys and girls1 or men and women4 ,men furnish us with examples through the whole scale of physical power and mental aptitude1 and so do women4 ,the best girls will at least have no difficulty in carrying on three subjects of study1 while the best boys carry on four2 and girls not only can1 but as a rule do1 remain longer at school than the boys4 ,it would be well1 too1 to give more credit to the specialties of girls in the schools4 ,i can think of nothing else that would conduce so much to the thorough and satisfactory study of music as to give it an optional place in our school curriculums4 ,doubtless the best plan would be to give girls a moderate amount of home work along with their school-work--that is1 to develop a united domestic and intellectual taste4 ,with the habit once formed of making this combination of pursuits1 we should be much surer of their continuing their intellectual cultivation through life4 ,if this could be done1 they ought1 as a rule1 to be able to do more than men do in the last fifteen or twenty years of their lives4 ,the results of our experiments in co-education have so far indicated that there is no difference between the intellectual tastes of men and women4 ,this ,i do not accept as final4 ,the prevailing sentiment in society1 that girls cannot do all that boys do1 and that they are a little in discredit because they cannot1 has given them an undue stimulus to prove their power by experiment2 and it is well that they have done it1 to silence the doubts4 ,moreover1 the women who were looking forward to the higher places of intellectual industry occupied by men1 had to test themselves by the standards established for their rivals4 ,and the same may be said of all the money-getting pursuits for women1 outside of the lines of domestic service and sewing2 in order to get any ground1 they have had to fall into men's ways1 so that their work could be tested by men's standards4 ,to prove that they were the equals of men1 they have had to prove that they were the equals of both women and men2 they have had to learn and to be all that other women know and are1 and1 in addition1 to equal men in the points where men surpass women2 while their masculine rivals are exempt from all the demands for time and thought bestowed upon the specialties of women4 ,when women can gain authority for their own standards--the right to work in a woman's way1 tested only by the quantity and quality of their results1 that is1 by the value of their work to society--money-earning women will not break down in health any more than money-earning men do1 nor will the total of their work appear smaller than the total of men's work4 ,there is no intrinsic reason why women's work1 done in women's way1 should have less commercial value and creditable recognition than men's work1 done in men's way4 ,poems are in as good repute and sell as well as books of philosophy1 and house decorators are as much in demand1 and are paid as well as architects4 ,the present industries of women are undeveloped2 there is among them1 as yet1 no sphere for skilled1 high-class work1 and many of the industries that naturally belong to women have been developed by men1 and are possessed by men4 ,the wages of women are low1 because there are too many workers for the range of work they are attempting to do4 ,the industries that are exclusively in their hands are almost wholly at a stage where intelligent labor is not required1 and so few of the industries that have been developed by men are open to them1 that1 owing to the great competition1 even the skilled work of women1 as yet1 commands but a low price4 ,they want more work1 and especially a larger amount of intelligent or skilled work4 ,they must both organize and develop1 by the application of the division of labor principle1 the work they already have1 and they must win from men a part of their work4 ,but they can make their way into the industries occupied by men1 only by doing the work in men's way1 and underbidding men in wages4 ,when they once get undisputed possession1 they can and do apply their own methods4 ,mr4 ,mundella's ,bill1 to which ,i have already referred1 will1 as is believed1 if it become a law1 put a great obstacle in the way of their progress4 ,it is to the interest of the mill-owners to keep their machinery at work as many hours as they can1 and if men will work ten hours a day1 while women are prohibited from working more than nine and a half1 men will be employed in preference to women1 even with the disadvantage of larger wages4 ,but1 fortunately1 it is said1 the women cannot be wholly driven out4 ,in some branches of the work they do so much better than the men1 that even if this reduction of hours should be enforced1 the mill-owners will still find it to their advantage to employ women4 ,the women in these special lines have already proved the value of women's work done in women's way4 ,i believe women have also got a similar recognition in some branches of the watchmaking trade2 and in teaching1 they have already proved the superiority of their methods4 ,they get forward slowly1 because of the great strain required in using men's methods to get the gates opened to them1 and ,mr4 ,mundella's ,bill would put an extra bar across the gates4 ,the wages are kept low along the line of their advance1 because an army of laborers follow along so fast in the rear4 ,i have no fear but that women will stand a fair chance with men in the industries of the world1 when they once get a free and open way into them1 and learn to apply scientific principles as men do4 ,fine manipulation in a hand is fast coming to be as valuable a quality as strength4 ,to secure the changes that all wise or good feeling must desire for women1 many things are needed2 and as ,i have said1 first of all1 we need organization in domestic work1 in order to reduce the quantity1 to save waste in materials1 and to develop a better quality of work1 by making the different departments into trades or skilled industries--thus we must put our cooking under the care of chemists and physiologists1 and in a variety of ways provide work for wives and daughters suited to their intelligence1 and relieved of coarse drudgery4 ,we need women physicians1 employed by the year1 whose duty and interest it will be to keep the family in health1 and thus avoid the occasions for curing them when they are ill2 and here is the safeguard for our girls--a person familiar with both the home life and school life of the children1 and whose interest would forbid her to yield either to the weak affection of the mother1 or the thoughtless ambition of the teacher4 ,the familiar conversations that would naturally spring up between competent women physicians on the one side1 and mothers1 children1 and cooks on the other1 would contribute vastly to the improved diet and general sanitary habits of the family2 and open a way to more rapid progress in determining the relation between different varieties of food and peculiarities in the mental and physical powers and appetites4 ,we need creditable wages1 given in employments for women other than teaching1 in order to save our schools from being the receptacle of all women who have occasion to earn money4 ,we need some half-time system in our schools1 to provide for the pupils who have less health or less time2 and also to secure for them teachers from a higher class of families1 who find all-day work uncomfortably exhausting or confining4 ,we need to raise the scale of feminine wages1 in order to invite the application of time-saving inventions in women's work1 as they are now employed in men's work4 ,we need a wider range of work for women4 ,as a means to all this we need1 and as the result of all of it we shall get1 a recognition of feminine methods and standards1 as well as of masculine methods and standards4 ,if the specialties in the culture of women are worth preserving1 it is because they have value2 many of them1 ,i am certain1 have real value1 and others have a current value1 so that we cannot at present dispense with them--if they have value1 when we have a free and well-adjusted labor market1 they will command their price4 ,for bringing about these changes1 we must have well-educated1 wise women4 ,our women1 in matters of dress1 are more completely the slaves of fashion than the women in any other civilized country4 ,this is due to the necessity they feel for making a good personal impression4 ,their family position does comparatively little1 either for or against them4 ,they marry1 or get forward in life1 chiefly by making themselves personally agreeable4 ,when we give them other means of influence than this1 when we secure to them industrial and political power1 these personal considerations will diminish in importance1 and their minds will naturally turn away from them4 ,there are many things awry1 many things that need to be improved1 but we must be wise in our methods4 ,we cannot exactly imitate the ,english1 nor do ,i believe it is worth doing4 ,the ,malthusian chorus of political economists suggests the notion that a nation may be over-physical4 ,we want health for ourselves1 and healthy tendencies for our descendants4 ,beyond this1 we want to send our surplus force to the brain4 ,,mary ,e4 ,,beedy4 #hc ,ladbroke ,road1 ,notting ,hill1 ,london ,w4 ,,mental ,,action ,,and ,,physical ,,health4 ,,mental ,,action ,,and ,,physical ,,health4 ,none can appreciate the weight attaching to the words of a distinguished member of an honored profession1 as well as the younger members of that same profession4 ,they know something of the toil needed to achieve a worthy reputation1 and of the talent implied by the capacity for toil4 ,they know how to discriminate between the careful opinions of mature and deliberate judgment1 and the headlong assertions of rash busy-bodies and amateurs4 ,they understand1 because they feel1 the inevitable esoterism that must persist at the kernel of all democracies1 unless these degenerate into mere rabble and intellectual mob3 they are the last1 therefore1 to maintain that one person's word is as good as another's2 that common sense is competent to solve all questions2 that freedom of thought means the right of all to think as they please4 ,knowing1 on the contrary1 the extreme complexity of all problems1 and the facility with which the most upright judgment may become warped in meditating upon them1 they are prepared to exact a long apprenticeship in thinking from those who assume the right to think in public1 and a minute familiarity with facts from those who undertake to defend any opinion in regard to them4 ,whenever a writer1 by previous and just reputation1 offers conclusive proof of such apprenticeship1 familiarity1 and ability to judge1 his conclusions must be examined with care1 and disputed1 if at all1 with respect4 ,yet such examination is as essential to the interests of truth as is the just ascendancy that may be acquired by repeated success in the difficult task of investigation4 ,those who reject it as superfluous or impertinent1 or who decry opposition as shallow obstinacy1 are always those least competent to measure the weight of arguments on either side1 and whose approval of authority must be as valueless as the dissent from authority certainly may be4 ,the singular avidity with which the press and the public have seized upon the theme discussed in ,dr4 ,clarke's book on ,sex in ,education1 is a proof that this appeals to many interests besides those of scientific truth4 ,the public cares little about science1 except in so far as its conclusions can be made to intervene in behalf of some moral1 religious1 or social controversy4 ,in the present case1 a delicate physiological problem has become as popular as theories on epigenesis1 spontaneous generation1 or ,darwinian evolution1 and for an analogous reason4 ,as the latter are expected to decide in the doctrines of natural or revealed religion1 so the former is supposed to have a casting vote in regard to the agitating claims for the extension of new powers to women4 ,on the one hand1 the inspiration of scripture1 on the other1 the admission of women to ,harvard1 is at stake1 and it is these that lend the peculiar animus and animation to the discussion4 ,in both polemics1 arguments are not accepted because they are demonstrated1 but enlisted because they are useful2 ranged with others recruited from the most distant quarters1 with nothing in common but the regiment into which they are all thrust1 to be hurled against a common enemy4 ,a remarkable change has taken place in the tone of habitual remark on the capacities and incapacities of women4 ,formerly1 they were denied the privileges of an intellectual education1 on the ground that their natures were too exclusively animal to require it4 ,to-day1 the same education is still withheld1 but on the new plea that their animal nature is too imperfectly developed to enable them to avail themselves of it4 ,formerly1 psychology was widely separated from physiology1 and the study of the mind began and ended with demonstrations of the immense gulf by which it was separated from the body4 ,to-day1 psychology has become a section of physiology1 and mental philosophers busy themselves with searching out in all its details1 the close dependence of the mind upon the body4 ,insanity has become an inflammation of the cortical substance of the brain3 idiocy results from a foetal meningitis3 genius is a form of scrofula closely allied to mania3 in sleep1 the brain loses blood1 in intellectual excitement1 attracts blood2 in the illumination of the death-bed1 or the delirium of drunkenness1 the circulation through the brain is quickened2 in torpidity1 melancholy1 stupidity1 the circulation slackens and stagnates4 ,with this tendency1 whose legitimacy we are certainly far from disputing1 it is inevitable that the old doctrine of the mental inferiority of women should be defended1 if at all1 on a new basis2 a basis organic2 structural1 physiological1 hence incontrovertible2 on an analysis1 not of her reasoning faculties1 her impulses1 her emotions1 her logic1 her ignorance1 but of her digestion1 her nerves1 her muscles1 her circulation4 ,it is inevitable1 therefore1 that the two great functions of parturition and ovulation1 of which the latter is peculiar in form1#cc and the former altogether peculiar to the female sex1 should assume peculiar importance in all discussions about women--inevitable1 that to these should be attributed the inferiority of mental calibre or of mental achievement that few care more openly to maintain4#cd ,a mysterious interest has indeed always attached to these functions4 ,from the ,mosaic law to ,raciborski1 from the denunciations of the school-men to the rhapsodies of ,michelet1 they have been invoked in every theory on the nature of women2 that is1 in every theory on the organization of society4 ,in virtue of them1 the woman has been considered1 now unclean1 now angelic1 now touchingly 7but irredeemably7 helpless4 ,in this connection1 the association of ideas has been almost always too powerful and too varied to admit of a dispassionate examination of facts4 ,yet to-day1 as already said1 the old conclusions may be urged with even greater force than before1 because apparently based exclusively upon such cool and impartial investigation4 ,the issue is certainly serious4 ,from all sides surges testimony to the importance of physical conditions as the basis of mental and social life4 ,according to many1 it is by the absence of a few grains of iodine from the water of drinking fountains1 that the people of the ,alps are turned into cretins4 ,according to others1 it is by the presence of a few grains of ergot in the bread1 that the people of ,tuscany lose their limbs in gangrene4 ,endemics of abortion depend on the impalpable vapors that arise from the quicksilver mines of ,spain4 ,so delicately poised are the forces of life1 that an apparent trifle suffices to entirely turn the scale4 ,it is therefore not a priori improbable1 that the marked peculiarities of physical organization that distinguish the female sex1 should determine a radically different mode of mental existence1 and exact radically different conditions of mental activity4 ,the whole question1 however1 is not one of probability or of possibility1 but of fact4 ,hence1 the last persons capable of judging in the matter1 are those who have been vividly impressed with those circumstances that furnish1 or may be made to furnish1 food for the imagination4 ,of these1 ,michelet is perhaps the type1 but certainly many of the reviewers who have been occupied with ,dr4 ,clarke's book1 must be ranked in the same class4 ,would it be disrespectful to ,dr4 ,clarke's far better informed judgment and technical knowledge to suggest1 that he himself does not seem to be perfectly free from the influence of the glamour that invests the study of physiological peculiarities in women1 wherever these can be made to tell upon any social or moral relations8 ,dr4 ,clarke does not indeed affirm1 with ,michelet1 that women are essentially diseased4 ,la femme est une malade4 ,where ,michelet leaves to the healthiest women but a single week of every month for normal existence1 ,dr4 ,clarke believes that one week out of the month alone requires any special precautions1 and that1 with decent care at this time1 an immense amount of work can be accomplished in the remainder4 ,he is careful to say1 and even to repeat1 that the intellectual labor to which such disastrous results are attributed1 is not in itself incompatible with the nature of the woman1 nor1 even when improperly pursued1 can it be considered as the sole cause of the delicate health of ,american girls4 ,dr4 ,clarke indeed guards his every assertion with a care and precision that is worthy of imitation by those who draw such large deductions from his book4 ,when1 however1 all illegitimate inferences have been set aside1 and we come to the propositions really and categorically maintained1 we find the following3 #ast4 ,during the catamenial period1 i4e41 during one week out of every month1 a woman should abandon intellectual or physical labor1 either because she is already incapacitated for it1 or because she will be so ultimately1 if she does not take the precautionary rest4 #b;d4 ,a large number of ,american girls become affected with amenorrhea#ce or menorrhagia#cf solely on account of excessive mental exertion at such periodical epochs of incapacity4 #c;d4 ,it is possible to educate girls properly1 only by regularly intermitting their studies at such times1 and by conceding to nature her moderate but inexorable demand for rest during one week out of four4 #dth4 ,consequently1 it is chimerical to attempt to educate girls with boys1 whose organization requires no such periodical intermittence4 #eth4 ,if sufficient precaution be observed during the first years of adolescence1 and the establishment of menstruation1 such excessive care will become unnecessary when the constitution is fully formed1 i4e41 after the age of eighteen1 nineteen1 or twenty years4 ,in regard to these propositions we wish to try to show--that the first contains a certain exaggeration of fact3 that in the second a certain sequence of phenomena has been attributed to the wrong cause1 and that much more important causes can be demonstrated3 that in the third1 a precaution needed for many has been unduly generalized for all3 finally1 that the fifth proposition entirely annuls the inference contained in the fourth4 ,we believe the exaggeration of fact to be twofold1 that is1 first1 in regard to the number of girls to whose health the menstrual period makes any sensible interruption4 ,second1 in regard to the duration of such interruption1 among the majority even of those who are indeed obliged to submit to it4 ,dr4 ,clarke himself admits that the susceptibility he describes in a certain number of cases1 is not universal1 but he claims that this is the rule1 and the reverse the exception4 ,such a claim can only be substantiated by an appeal to relative statistics1 which are well known to reverse many conclusions drawn from general impressions of facts4 ,statistics are reliable only when compiled on a large scale2 but in an inquiry of this nature1 a few contributions from various sources are not useless4 ,among twenty persons1 not considering themselves invalids1 of whose cases ,i have taken notes1 in six only1 had menstruation ever been the cause of any suffering whatever4 ,the ages of the persons questioned ranged from eighteen to thirty1 but the inquiry referred to the entire menstrual life4 ,several among these young ladies had attended mixed schools1 and had never been compelled to absent themselves for a single day4 ,several had been engaged for three or four years in the study of medicine2 some1 for a much longer period1 had engaged in its practice4 ,among the six exceptions1 one had been healthy until twenty-one1 and then had suffered from ovaritis1 so that1 although engaging in the work of a healthy woman1 she should really be classed apart4 ,one was subject to epileptic convulsions1 and may therefore be fairly ruled out for the same reason4 ,the remaining three were in good1 even robust1 general health4 ,in two1 pain was experienced for two days1 and a certain diminution of capacity for mental exertion1 which1 however1 had never been sufficient to necessitate its interruption4 ,one of these cases was a woman of thirty1 who had been married for ten years without child-bearing4 ,in the third case on the list1 pain had never lasted more than six or twelve hours1 and had been very greatly diminished during four years that the young lady had engaged in constant medical study4 ,finally1 in the fourth case1 the early years of adolescence were marked by quite severe dysmenorrhea1 the pain only lasting1 however1 twelve hours4 ,between twenty-five and thirty1 the pain disappeared1 but the menstruation became menorrhagic 7excessive74 ,this was the only case on the list where no constant intellectual exertion had ever been made1 but where the nervous system had been subjected to the strain of much moral emotion and anxiety4 ,the girl belonged1 moreover1 to a family in which uterine disease was almost universal among the female members4 ,while at first glance1 therefore1 it would appear that the proportion of women invalidated by menstruation was nearly as high as one-third1 closer inspection shows that among these cases selected at random1 the proportion is only one-fifth or one-sixth1 if the calculation be confined to persons who had received much intellectual training4 ,among these cases1 moreover1 there is not one in which the period of suffering is as long as would be indicated by ,dr4 ,clarke4 ,six1 twelve1 forty-eight hours is the outside limit4 ,if extended beyond this1 or even if very severe during this time1 there is always reason to suspect actual disease of the uterus or ovaries1 and the cases must be excluded from considerations only applicable to persons in average health4 ,from this point of view1 the week of rest demanded by ,dr4 ,clarke1 is as excessive as the three weeks' disturbance so imaginatively described by ,michelet4 ,but it is true that the stand-point in ,dr4 ,clarke's book is somewhat different from this4 ,he scarcely alludes to the presence of pain in menstruation1 because this is presumed1 when existing1 to itself constitute a sufficient warning against over mental exertion1 indeed1 to render such exertion impossible4 ,but the warning in question is directed against a more insidious accident1 that may occur without pain1 and which is more easily and imprudently defied4 ,this imminent danger is hmorrhage1 or an increase of the physiological flow to such an extent that the vitality of the patient is drained as from an open vein4 ,the constant repetition of such hmorrhage may lead to uterine congestions1 or even to amenorrhea1 i4e41 entire absence of menstruation4 ,but it originates in functional disturbance1 in exhaustion of the nervous system by intellectual exertion4 ,on account of the imminence of this danger1 the period of real incapacity for mental effort lasts much longer than conscious discomfort is likely to do--lasts1 indeed1 as long as the physiological afflux of blood to the uterus--which1 by the means described1 may at any moment become excessive4 ,dr4 ,clarke alleges but one kind of proof of this assertion4 ,he relates a certain number of cases1 interesting in themselves1 but whose histories are lacking in many important details1 where healthy girls1 whose menstruation was at first perfectly normal1 became1 after two or three years' study at school1 liable to monthly hmorrhages1 so excessive that their health was completely undermined4 ,no organic cause for such disorder could be discovered4 ,by interruption of study1 rest1 amusement1 travel1 the hmorrhages were diminished1 the health restored4 ,in several of these cases1 however1 resumption of study on the old plan was followed by the immediate return of all the previous accidents1 and often the constitution was entirely ruined4 ,we think that this argument might be exactly paralleled by the following1 which should prove whisky drinking to be an efficient#cg cause of yellow fever4 ,a physician might select twenty cases of men1 personally known to him1 who had lived twenty and thirty years in ,new ,york or ,boston1 and never had yellow fever4 ,during this time they had taken little or no whisky1 but afterwards1 removing to ,new ,orleans1 they fell into the habit of drinking1 and1 at varying intervals from that date1 caught the fever1 and in many instances1 died4 ,therefore1 fever was due1 at least in these cases1 to the newly contracted habit of drinking whisky4 -,a and -,b -,c -,a ,b ,c4 ,therefore1 ,c ,a4 ,hamerton1 in his little book on the intellectual life1 accuses women1 even the bright and intelligent among them1 of a plentiful lack of intellectual curiosity4 ,if their attention is attracted to a phenomenon1 they rarely inquire as to its cause4 ,if an assertion is made1 they accept it with enthusiasm or repel it with indignation1 but rarely analyze the conditions upon which the assertion is based4 ,this remark seems justified1 though perhaps not exclusively among women1 by the total absence of curiosity that has been shown in regard to the physiological facts in question4 ,the assertion that nervous excitement1 produced by intellectual work1 is capable of affecting an apparatus apparently so remote from the organ of the intelligence as is the vascular system of the uterus1 certainly implies some most interesting physiological facts and a mechanism the reverse of simple4 ,into these facts and this mechanism it behooves all to inquire1 who assume the responsibility of either accepting or rejecting ,dr4 ,clarke's theory and the deductions that have been made from it4 ,this theory concerns exclusively one class of uterine hmorrhages1 those1 namely1 which may be traced to the influence of the nervous system4 ,before analyzing such influence it is important to notice two other causes of menorrhagia1 that are very frequently present in just such cases as ,dr4 ,clarke describes4 ,these are prolonged sedentary position1 and deficiency of physical exercise4 ,either may determine anemia1 or impoverishment of the blood1 a condition which alone is sufficient to induce excessive menstrual flow4#ch ,but1 in addition1 each has a special action more direct4 ,by long continuance of a sedentary position the equilibrium of the circulation is disturbed1 the blood is driven from the limbs to the internal organs and the dependent portions of the trunk1 hence to the pelvis2 but almost equally to the head1 that is hanging down over the school-desk4 ,hence1 the uterine hmorrhages1 that are necessarily confined to girls1 are paralleled by the nose-bleeding1 common to girls and boys1 and very frequent in such circumstances4 ,the cramped position of the chest interferes with respiration2 the bowels are generally constipated1 and both conditions again favor congestions of the visceral organs1 including the uterus1 but not confined to it4 ,to deficiency of physical exercise is due1 besides the disturbance in the equilibrium of the circulation1 first1 a loss of heat that should be evolved during the chemical processes of muscular action2 second1 a loss of stimulus to the spinal cord1 which has1 therefore1 less power to control ganglionic action4 ,this latter1 therefore1 becomes irregular1 and the consequences of this irregularity will be presently described4 ,the influence of these two conditions--cramped sedentary position1 and deficiency of muscular exercise--either sufficient to induce uterine hmorrhage1 must1 therefore1 be eliminated1 before such accident can be attributed to any other cause less simple and direct4 ,the first criticism to be addressed to the statistics contained in ,dr4 ,clarke's clinical chapter1 is1 that this necessary elimination has not been made1 and one possible cause arbitrarily selected out of an entire group of known causes4 ,as far as may be gathered from his book1 ,dr4 ,clarke's theory may be thus formulated4 ,two intense nervous actions cannot1 without detriment1 be sustained at the same time by the same organization4 ,the mental labor demanded by school studies on the one hand1 and the physiological process of menstruation on the other1 are each connected with intense action of different parts of the nervous system4 ,they are1 therefore1 incompatible with each other2 and from the attempt to sustain them simultaneously1 results1 first1 the imperfect accomplishment of each2 second1 the general exhaustion of the over-burdened nervous system4 ,to this exhaustion is to be attributed the uterine hmorrhages upon which ,dr4 ,clarke insists as the accident particularly liable to be induced by any continuous1 i4e41 non-intermitting1 system of education4 ,for non-medical readers it is important to develop the ellipsis and explain the facts upon which1 if anywhere1 this theory is based4 ,the nervous system1 though in many respects a unit1 consists of two great sections1 called respectively1 the ganglionic system1 and the cerebro-spinal2 the latter formed by the brain1 the spinal cord1 and the medulla-oblongata1 that connects them2 the former1 constituted by smaller masses of nervous matter distributed in three ways3 ,first1 in a double chain lying on each side of the spinal cord1 from the upper part of the neck to the pelvic cavity that terminates the trunk4 ,these masses are called especially the sympathetic ganglia4 ,second1 in so-called plexuses1 occupying different positions in the cavity of the trunk1 and standing in especial relation to various organs2 the solar or coeliac plexus to the stomach1 liver1 and spleen2 the two renal plexuses to the kidneys2 the mesenteric plexuses to the intestine2 finally1 on each side of the pelvis1 the hypogastric plexus to the bladder1 uterus1 and ovaries--the so-called genito-urinary organs4 ,third1 besides these principal ganglia exist others1 much more minute1 imbedded in the muscular walls of certain organs--as the heart 7intro-cardiac ganglia71 the intestine 7intestinal ganglia74 ,each of these nervous masses contains nerve-cells as well as nerve-fibres1 and is capable of generating nerve-force4 ,each1 therefore1 acts like a minute brain2 and1 in fact1 the entire ganglionic system of nerves is analogous to the nervous system of certain among the lower animals--the crustacea and mollusks4 ,these possess neither brain nor spinal cord2 their nerve-centres1 instead of being concentrated in a cranium and vertebral canal1 are entirely disseminated through the cavities of the trunk1 as are the visceral plexuses in vertebrated animals4 ,in these1 however1 the addition of a brain and spinal cord to the original rudimentary nervous system1 powerfully modifies and controls the action of the latter4 ,the degree of control is variable1 according to the relative predominance of the one or the other2 and this predominance varies1 not only according to different species of vertebrated animals1 but also according to different individuals1 in that which presents the most conspicuous capacity for individual variation--the human species4 ,up to a certain point1 increased development of the cerebro-spinal system1 attended by an increased development of the osseo-muscular framework of the body1 is also accompanied by greater elaboration of the ganglionic nerves supplying the viscera1 upon whose efficient action the nutrition of this frame depends4 ,but beyond a certain point in the ascending scale1 the exactness of this correlation ceases4 ,the muscles and bones are smaller2 yet the structure of the cerebro-spinal organs1 especially the brain1 becomes more elaborate2 and hence the control exercised over the functions of the ganglionic system is more complete1 although the relative size of the two systems is not much changed4 ,such control or predominance is manifested in the following ways3 ,first4 ,the functions of animal life1 presided over by the cerebro-spinal system1 become proportionately more important than those of vegetative or nutritive life1 carried on by the ganglionic4 ,that is to say1 the acts of locomotion sustained by the spinal cord and the nervo-muscular apparatus1 and the intellectual acts of the thought and will1 sustained by the brain--are relatively more prominent than are the acts of digestion1 respiration1 circulation1 etc41 dependent on the functions of the ganglionic nerves4 ,second4 ,these latter functions are themselves effected with more regularity and more force1 when the activity of the cerebro-spinal system predominates over that of the ganglionic4 ,within certain limits1 this is so true1 that human beings possess over lower animals a superiority1 not only of intellect1 but of capacity for digesting various articles of food2 and of maintaining their temperature in more various states of the external atmosphere4 ,third4 ,finally1 the actions of the cerebro-spinal system1 intellectual and muscular1 are more regular and powerful when not liable to interruption from the operations of the ganglionic nerves1 and the visceral functions presided over by them4 ,when the boa-constrictor digests1 he falls into a state of torpor that exceeds in degree1 but not in kind1 the drowsy rumination of a cow chewing her cud4 ,such animals are slaves to their nutritive functions1 by which those of the brain and spinal cord may at any time be1 as it were1 oppressed and overwhelmed4 ,the capacity for independence increases with every rise in the hierarchical scale of vertebrates1 until it culminates in man--able to think and talk over his dinner2 to manufacture heat in his limbs while drawing blood to his cerebral hemispheres2 to sustain in complete unconsciousness innumerable delicate and complicated chemical metamorphoses in all the tissues of his body1 while concentrating every conscious effort of his mind upon equally delicate processes of thought and will4 ,the peculiarities that1 when coarsely emphasized1 serve to distinguish different species of animals from one another1 are repeated in more subtle gradations1 as varieties among the different classes1 and even different individuals of the human race4 ,here may be found1 at least1 faint echoes and distant reminiscences of facts that stand out in bold relief throughout the animal kingdom4 ,the classification of sex is certainly one of those that offer an interesting opportunity for such comparison1 especially in regard to the relations existing between the operations of the ganglionic1 and those of the cerebro-spinal system4 ,as the authors who have asserted the complete subordination of the brain to the instincts in woman1 have thus1 perhaps unconsciously1 reduced her to the anatomical level of the crustacea2 so those who1 like ,dr4 ,clarke1 insist on the incompatibility between cerebral action and the process of ovulation1 imply a predominance of ganglionic activity in women that must render them the physiological inferiors of the animals or individuals in whom no such incompatibility exists4 ,were such opposition between cerebral and ganglionic functions only noted when a rhythmical intermittence was introduced into the latter1 and were such rhythm observed only in the phenomena of menstruation1 it might indeed be possible to fix upon women a peculiar mark of physiological inferiority1 almost sufficient to amount to a stigma4 ,but rhythmical movement is characteristic of all physiological actions--of the beating of the heart1 the secretions of the stomach1 the congestion of the spleen1 the circulation of the brain1 quite as decidedly as of the ripening of cells in the ovary4 ,the tidal waves described by ,michelet have become the exclusive theme of his eloquence1 mainly because his attention was not attracted to any but those connected with the more obvious phenomena of menstruation4 ,but many tidal waves rise and cross each other in shorter or longer cycles--waves of pulse and of temperature1 of sleep and wakefulness1 intermittences of secretion and excretion4 ,in regard to the latter1 it is noticeable that an intermittent excretion1 as of bile or urine1 is provided for by a continuous secretion1 and that the same is true of the excretion upon whose rhythm an erroneously exceptional emphasis has been laid--that of the menstrual fluid4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 the intermittent phenomenon is preceded by long-continued cell growth--effected by precisely such processes of cellular assimilation and metamorphosis as take place in the elements of the liver and the kidneys4 ,the cell growth in question is effected in the ovaries2 the final stage of the process1 the rupture of the containing cell or ovisac1 and escape of the ovule1 is attended by a concentration of nervous activity in the ganglionic masses sending nerves to those organs--analogous to that which occurs in the solar plexus at periods of digestion2 the fall of the ovule is itself analogous to the shedding of epithelial cells in the gastric follicles2 the afflux of blood to the utero-ovarian veins1 analogous to the periodical congestion of the gastro-splenic vascular apparatus4 ,only1 in this last case1 the congestion results in the elaboration of a fluid secretion1 the gastric juice2 in the utero-ovarian plexus1 where no secretion is required1 the blood itself is discharged4 ,it is difficult1 with these facts1 to understand the assertion that1 ,periodicity is the grand 7i4e4 exclusive7 characteristic of the female sex4 ,in normal conditions1 the process of digestion and of menstruation are both accomplished without invading the consciousness of the individual whose body is the theatre of such extraordinary phenomena4 ,various abnormal conditions raise the one or the other to the sphere of consciousness--various stages in their evolution4 ,consciousness of nutritive functions is always painful1 and digestion1 quite as well as ovulation1 may become a process most disturbing to cerebral tranquility and efficiency4 ,the longer duration of the latter is compensated by the more frequent occurrence of the former4 ,the ovaries are decidedly active during at least fifteen days of every month2 the stomach1 during three or four hours after each meal1 or from nine to twelve hours a day4 ,as a matter of fact the digestive function is much more often the occasion of conscious discomfort1 than is the function of ovulation4 ,whenever it becomes so1 the dyspeptic approaches the condition of the reptiles or ruminating animals1 in whom the process of digestion so absorbs the powers of the nervous system that all other modes of its activity are suspended4 ,but such a condition is universally regarded as an evidence of disease1 nor could any considerations concerning the complexity and importance of the ganglionic nerves of the stomach1 or the intermittent character of digestion1 convert the misfortune of the dyspeptic into a physiological type for the race4 ,at the most may it be admitted3 #ast4 ,that in civilized communities dyspepsia is a very common disease4 #b;d4 ,that dyspeptics require rest of mind and body to facilitate the laborious process of digestion4 ,cteris paribus1 these same propositions may be held of those suffering from abnormal modes of activity in another part of the ganglionic system--that connected with menstruation4 ,a third proposition is1 moreover1 common to both1 namely1 that repose of the cerebro-spinal system is not required throughout the entire period of ganglionic activity1 unless in exceptionally morbid cases4 ,thus1 the process of digestion occupies from three to five hours1 but an hour's repose after dinner is generally sufficient to avert discomfort4 ,similarly1 the process of ovulation continues over fifteen days--menstruation lasts from three to six--but even in the cases that demand rest1 six to twelve hours is usually enough1 and more than enough4 ,it is noticeable that a slighter disturbance of normal conditions is needed to render digestion painful than to cause painful ovulation1 that is1 pain preceding the menstrual flow4 ,pain in menstruation1 which is much more frequent1 is dependent upon other conditions than the activity of the ovaries1 and lasts a very much shorter time than does either the function of ovulation1 or even than the uterine congestion secondary to it4 ,outside of actual uterine disease1 the pain at this moment is most often dependent on uterine cramp1 itself excited by a spasmodic contraction of blood-vessels that interfere with its circulation4 ,as these remarks are addressed to non-medical readers1 a word of explanation is here necessary4 ,it has been shown by experiment that the sudden arrest of the circulation in muscular fibre is sufficient to induce in the latter violent contractions4 ,thus1 the cramps of the legs in cholera patients are due to the stagnation of blood in their muscles4 ,these cramps are even more easily induced in the muscular fibre of the viscera--the unstriped1 involuntary muscles--such as exist in the intestine1 bladder1 and uterus4 ,anything that will cause a sudden contraction of the blood-vessels in the uterus will1 therefore1 by cutting off the supply of blood1 cause the muscular fibre of the uterus to contract in painful cramps4 ,the small blood-vessels are themselves provided with circular muscular fibres1 whose contraction necessarily draws the walls of the vessels together1 obliterates their canal1 and shuts out the blood4 ,this contraction is effected by stimulation of the fine nerves1 called vaso-motor1 that are distributed to these muscular fibres1 and which are derived from the sympathetic ganglia1 that form part of that same ganglionic system from which the nerves of the ovaries and other viscera are supplied4 ,the utero-ovarian blood-vessels derive their nerves from the hypogastric plexus1 which1 formed by branches from both sympathetic ganglia and spinal cord1 is the exclusive source of the innervation of the uterus and ovaries4 ,the ganglionic nervous excitement coincident with the maturation of the ovule and the congestion of the uterus1 is easily communicated to the vaso-motor nerves of the latter organ4 ,at the very moment1 therefore1 that the uterine blood-vessels are dilated1 and blood is being exhaled into the uterine cavity1 an excessive stimulation of the vaso-motor nerves may cause the blood-vessels to contract2 the flow is then temporarily arrested1 the circulation in the uterus disturbed1 and its muscular fibres thrown into cramps4 ,or the opposite event may occur4 ,as the stimulation of the vaso-motor nerves causes contraction of the blood-vessels1 so their exhaustion or paralysis causes relaxation of these same vessels1 consequently1 over-distension with blood2 and1 if the door to hmorrhage be once opened by the existence of the menstrual nisus1 an excessive flow of blood4#ci ,such vaso-motor paralysis may depend on one of three circumstances3 #ast4 ,the original stimulus may be excessive1 and hence necessarily followed by reaction4 #bnd4 ,schiff has shown that galvanization of a cerebro-spinal nerve causes a dilatation of the blood-vessels in the vicinity1 as if the vaso-motor force were overpowered by the excessive stimulation of the controlling nerves4 ,if excessive action of the brain or spinal cord be analogous in its effects to galvanism of a spinal nerve1 it might be supposed to cause vaso-motor paralysis and hmorrhage4 #c;d4 ,in general exhaustion of the nervous system1 both of its ganglionic and cerebro-spinal apparatus1 the vaso-motor nerves suffer with the rest1 and the blood-vessels lose their tone in consequence4 ,it is to such exhaustion that ,dr4 ,clarke especially attributes excessive uterine hmorrhage in young girls1 and1 as already said1 he refers the exhaustion to a single cause1 namely1 to the attempt to impose on the nervous system two actions of equal intensity1 contrary to the fundamental law that an intense evolution of nerve-force in one part of the organism necessitates repose in the remainder4 ,independently of the three conditions where excessive menstruation is connected with vaso-motor paralysis1 a fourth may be found directly in the excitement of the ovarian plexus of nerves4 ,this evolution of nerve-force which accompanies the maturation of the ovule1 is the immediate cause of the afflux of blood to the utero-ovarian vessels4 ,the effect upon the latter is probably due to the spinal nerve-fibres contained in the plexus1 and upon which the ganglionic excitement acts like the galvanism in ,schiff's experiment1 already described4 ,direct stimulation of the vaso-motor nerves1 alone1 as has been said1 contracts the blood-vessels4 ,stimulation of the spinal fibres associated with them exercises the contrary effect4 ,an excessive stimulation of those fibres which enter into the ganglionic masses1 would have an effect similar to that of excessive stimulation directly addressed to the cerebro-spinal system1 and the blood-vessels would be not only dilated1 but paralyzed4 ,among the conditions1 therefore1 which may1 by inducing either pain or excessive hmorrhage1 render menstruation an abnormal process1 and incompatible with active exertion1 three are directly connected with the ganglionic system of nerves1 the fourth indirectly1 by the possible influence upon them of the cerebro-spinal4 ,the first are excessive activity of the ovarian nerves1 derived from the hypogastric plexus2 paralysis of uterine vaso-motor nerves1 as a secondary result of this excessive action3 exhaustion of these same vaso-motor nerves1 as an element of general nervous exhaustion4 ,the last theoretical condition would be1 excitement of the brain or spinal cord1 in a manner analogous to what may be determined by a galvanic current1 and followed1 therefore1 by the same consequence--paralysis of vaso-motor nerves1 and excessive dilatation of the blood-vessels4 ,the two first conditions among these four are most easily induced when the activity of the ganglionic system is habitually predominant in the organism1 or when this activity is habitually irregular4 ,this irregularity1 marked by vaso-motor spasm1 uterine cramp1 and pain1 represents the lowest degree of disorder1 which1 if long continued1 passes to the next--of vaso-motor paralysis1 accompanied by excessive hmorrhage2 and finally may1 as ,dr4 ,clarke has pointed out1 be followed by paralysis in the ovarian plexus itself1 with consequent cessation of ovulation1 and amenorrhea1 or absence of menstruation4 ,this habitual predominance or irregularity of the ganglionic nerves implies1 as has been seen1 a relatively deficient innervation or generation of nerve-force in the cerebro-spinal system4 ,it could not1 therefore1 be ascribed to excessive activity of that system1 except in the cases where this has been pushed to the point of complete exhaustion4 ,it is1 in fact1 a matter of common observation1 that hysterical and anemic women1 in whom disordered menstruation is most frequently observed1 are conspicuously destitute of habits implying either cerebral or spinal activity--that is1 they neither think much1 nor take much physical exercise4 ,the last two cases1 however1 of cerebro-spinal excitement or exhaustion1 may be supposed to imply a predominant activity of the cerebro-spinal system4 ,inquiry into the effects of cerebro-spinal excitement is rendered extremely complicated on account of the following facts3 #ast4 ,experimental excitation1 by means of galvanism or mechanical irritation1 causes different results when applied to spinal nerves1 to different parts of the spinal cord1 or to different parts of the brain4 ,galvanism applied to a spinal nerve1 determines1 it has been said1 dilatation of blood-vessels1 and increased secretion in glands4 ,but galvanism applied to the spinal cord in the neck1 causes contraction of blood-vessels4 ,mechanical irritation of other parts of the spinal cord1 on the other hand1 causes vaso-motor paralysis and dilatation of blood-vessels4 ,this is especially true of that part lying in the loins1 and which contains a peculiar nervous centre1 that stands in special relation to the uterus and ovaries1 and is involved in many of their diseases1 either as a cause or effect4 ,systematic galvanic irritation of the brain has been little attempted1 until in some very recent experiments2 but its effects are already known to be most various1 according to the part to which it is applied4 ,the brain is not a single organ1 but rather a collection of organs1 differing from one another in function even more than in situation1 and among them only some are really concerned in the production of thought4 #b;d4 ,in the medulla oblongata exists a nervous centre called the vaso-motor centre1 because of its close relations with the vaso-motor nerves4 ,stimulation of this centre causes contraction of the blood-vessels4 ,severing the same part causes paralysis of the vaso-motor nerves and dilatation of the blood-vessels4 ,the conditions of the brain that have been most clearly shown to influence the circulation1 are those that can be proved to take an effect on this vaso-motor centre4 ,if1 as is probable1 different forms of cerebral action induce or depend on different cerebral conditions1 or involve different sections of the cranial masses1 this effect would necessarily be different1 and the influence on the circulation vary accordingly4 #c;d4 ,no experimental proof has hitherto been obtained that stimulation of the cerebral organs lying above the vaso-motor centre1 and which include those possessing the function of thought1 ever paralyzes this centre2 but1 as it is only by such paralysis that cerebral conditions can induce dilatation of blood-vessels1 it must follow that no experimental proof at present exists that stimulation of the brain ever does cause such dilatation--that is1 ever does become a cause of hmorrhage4 ,the clinical facts for such a supposition are those in which the occurrence of an emotion is followed by flushing of the face1 acceleration of the pulse1 hot or cold perspirations1 phenomena all indicative of dilatation of the blood-vessels1 with temporary paralysis of their nerves and of their vaso-motor centre4 ,it is not proved1 however1 that the emotions capable of causing these effects really result from a stimulation of the brain4 ,on the contrary1 they are generally accompanied by diminished activity of that cerebral function that most certainly does depend on such stimulation--the function1 namely1 of thought4 ,now1 since the power of thought and the power of the vaso-motor centre are equally paralyzed under these circumstances1 it is more probable that the phenomena which most nearly resemble those of stimulation of the brain are either confined to some special part of it1 whose activity is in antagonism to the rest1 or else are really phenomena of exhaustion1 and therefore come under another category4 ,but if these do not1 no facts exist to prove that stimulation of the intellectual functions of the brain is in itself capable of producing vaso-motor paralysis--that is1 of becoming a cause of hmorrhage2 or1 in other words1 stimulation of the brain cannot be likened in its effect to galvanic stimulation of a spinal nerve4 ,but if stimulation of the brain does not paralyze1 it must increase the tonicity of the vaso-motor centre1 and hence the force and regularity of the circulation4 ,up to a certain point1 these characters do indeed increase1 with increase of pressure in the cerebral blood-vessels4 ,they increase also during intellectual operations1 unattended by emotion1 in which a similar increase of pressure must take place1 on account of the afflux of blood to the cerebral hemispheres1 when these are aroused to activity4 ,these facts already indicate a radical difference between the nature of the cerebral actions involved in emotion and in thought4 ,from them also we should infer in all cases where vaso-motor paralysis was apparently traceable to excess of cerebral activity1 either that exhaustion had already occurred1 or that the activity was not intellectual but emotional4 ,in the first case1 we should be immediately brought to our fourth possible condition for uterine hmorrhage1 dependent on modifications of the cerebro-spinal system4 ,it is admitted1 as the result of many experiments and pathological observations that need not here be quoted1 that exhaustion of certain parts of the brain and spinal cord may induce vaso-motor paralysis1 and that1 if a cause for hmorrhage is already in operation1 a passive flow of blood may be indefinitely increased4 ,such a course is the menstrual crisis1 without which even the vaso-motor paralysis is usually unable to determine uterine hmorrhage4#dj ,in connection with it1 physical exercise1 pushed to the point of exhausting the spinal cord1 and the peculiar centre in its lumbar portion1 or mental effort so excessive and prolonged as to exhaust the brain1 and the general vaso-motor centre1 might become causes of menorrhagia4 ,it is evident1 however1 that if such exhaustion had been produced previous to the menstrual epoch1 the effect would be precisely the same as if the morbific causes operated only at the time of menstruation4 ,from this point of view the precaution suggested by ,dr4 ,clarke1 of intermitting intellectual effort during the menstrual period1 would be inadequate whenever it was not superfluous4 ,but in ,dr4 ,clarke's theory this period has a peculiar influence in rendering morbific conditions that at other times are innocuous4 ,this1 in virtue of the law already quoted1 that the evolution of force at one centre of the nervous system is incompatible with an evolution of equal intensity at another1 since it diminishes the sum of resources distributed to the nervous system as a whole4 ,hence1 relatively to the amount of power left in the brain1 the same exertion becomes very much more fatiguing1 and may easily lead to exhaustion with all its consequences4 ,nothing seems more simple than this proposition when thus stated4 ,but all physiological problems are complicated by the element of quantity--circumstance which almost indefinitely limits our power of making absolute assertions4 ,the comparison already made between the process of digestion and that of menstruation should suffice to show that there is no absolute incompatibility between the evolution of nerve force at the ganglionic centres and at the cerebro-spinal4 ,for if so the process of digestion would necessitate such absolute torpor of the brain and spinal cord as certainly would be quite incompatible with the exigencies of civilized life4 ,there is a certain alternation between the periods of activity of the two systems1 but this varies in infinite gradation2 from the digestive torpor of the savage1 analogous to that of ruminating animals1 up to the unconscious digestion of healthy men of temperate habits and marked intellectual and physical activity1 to whom all hours of the day are nearly equally suitable for exertion4 ,as previously said1 up to a certain point1 the incompatibility diminishes with every increase in the development of the cerebral system4 ,but again1 the evolution of nerve force required by ovulation should not normally be comparable in intensity with that effected in cerebral or spinal action4 ,whenever it is so the activity of the ganglionic system must be in excess1 or that of the cerebro-spinal system must be deficient4 ,it is true that among the women of highly civilized societies1 one or both of these conditions very frequently exist1 but it is then as truly abnormal as is the dyspepsia and spleen--equally prevalent4 ,although1 for certain purposes1 it is necessary to consider the ganglionic and cerebro-spinal system together1 as parts of a single apparatus1 it is important also to remember the boundaries that lie between them4 ,it is much easier1 by intense muscular exertion1 that necessitates evolution of force in the spinal cord1 to render the brain incapable of function1 than to do so by intense action of the ganglionic nerves1 whose connection with the brain1 though real1 is much less direct4 ,were it not so1 life would be much more precarious than it is1 and advance in civilization impossible2 because the necessarily incessant activity of the nerves involved in nutritive processes would too largely impair the action of the brain4 ,the effect on the brain of a really irresistible and predominant activity of the nerves involved in the reproductive organs1 is to be studied in the lower animals1 and in phenomena that1 fortunately1 are rarely to be observed in healthy individuals of the human race4 ,still less can such confessedly morbid predominance be considered as a peculiar liability of the female sex in this race4 ,a singular tendency exists in many quarters1 and is strongly manifested in ,dr4 ,clarke's book1 to assume that considerations pertaining to sex and to the functions of reproduction exercise such an enormous influence upon one sex1 and none at all upon the other4 ,since the discovery in #ahbg of the ovule or female reproductive cell1 there can be no question of the complete physiological equivalence and analogy between the essential organs of reproduction in the two sexes4 ,the period of their development1 the influence of such development on the entire nutrition of the body1 the irregularities of nutritive or of cerebro-spinal action1 that may be caused by irregularities in such development1 are also completely analogous4 ,it is only the organ of gestation that is peculiar to the female--the organ of maternity--the function that1 although resulting from sex1 transcends sex and belongs to the race4 ,in a double sense is the uterus secondary to the ovaries4#da ,for its physiological action1 both in menstruation and in pregnancy1 is the direct consequence of ovarian functions1 and closely dependent upon them2 and the period of its prominent activity does not come until after the action of the ovaries has been completely established2 that is1 the period of maternity is1 or should be1 consecutive to the period of adolescence1 and the work of gestation only entered upon when the work of ovulation has long been thoroughly accomplished4 ,the analogies have been much overstrained that exist between the menstrual epoch of an adolescent girl and the pregnancy of an adult woman4 ,they are illustrations of a general physiological law that in some cases might be called a caprice of nature1 in virtue of which the rudiments of a process that is to be effected at a future epoch are sketched out during an epoch already existing4 ,the afflux of blood to the uterus during the rupture of the ovisac1 cannot be shown to be useful by any effort of teleological physiologists4 ,it predicts1 however1 the afflux that will be necessary at a future pregnancy1 in precisely the same way as the growth of the lungs in the foetus predicts the future necessity for respiration1 or the formation of ovules in the ovaries of the newborn girl1 predicts the future necessity of a reproductive apparatus4 ,but to impose on the girl the precautions necessary to the mother1 is one way to enfeeble and prematurely age her4 ,in the same way is the child enfeebled by premature considerations in regard to sex that do not yet exist1 and the adult woman so often treated as old as soon as she has borne children1 which should be a proof not of age1 but of maturity4 ,from the preceding considerations we may1 we think1 conclude3 #ast4 ,that unless the brain and spinal cord had been already exhausted or on the point of exhaustion previous to the menstrual crisis1 this alone would be insufficient to exhaust them4 #b;d4 ,that the degree of exhaustion in the cerebro-spinal system1 necessary to determine vaso-motor paralysis1 is very great1 and much transcends that likely to be induced by the mental exertion required in the ordinary curriculum of a girl's school4 #c;d4 ,that therefore1 when vaso-motor paralysis1 as indicated by uterine hmorrhage1 has occurred apparently in consequence of such mental exertion1 it is really due to some other conditions existing with this4 ,of these we have already insisted upon two--sedentary position and deficiency of physical exercise4 ,authors have less frequently analyzed the effects of another circumstance so often accompanying the intellectual exertions of school life1 namely1 the morbid emotional excitement that is incident either to the period of adolescence or to the injudicious educational rgime4 ,to precisely appreciate these effects1 it will be necessary to push a little further the analysis already commenced1 of the mode of activity exhibited by different portions of the brain during the evolution of thought or of emotion4 ,among all the obscurities that overhang this subject1 a few facts are1 nevertheless1 demonstrated4 ,the first that concerns us is the existence of the vaso-motor centre1 whose situation and functions have been already described4 ,the second is the localization of the function of thought in the circumvolutions of gray matter on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres--fact that we have already assumed to be sufficiently demonstrated4 ,the third class of facts include those1 also insisted upon1 that indicate a peculiar influence of the emotions upon the circulation and the vaso-motor nerves4 ,in some cases these are stimulated1 and the blood-vessels spasmodically contract1 the cheek pales1 the hands and feet grow cold1 chills creep down the back--even nausea may occur from interference with the circulation of the brain2 or else the cheek flushes1 the temples throb1 the heart beats more rapidly1 when1 from temporary paralysis of these same nerves1 the blood-vessels are suddenly dilated4 ,these phenomena indicate that either the anatomical seat or the mode of generation of emotion1 is in closer connection with the cerebral vaso-motor centre than is the seat of ideas4 ,from this positive stand-point we may be permitted to cautiously venture a little further1 in the direction of a theory for the precise localization of the organs of emotion4 ,it is well known that at the base of the brain are collected certain masses of nervous matter1 that constitute nervous centres or cerebral ganglia1 that are in very intimate connection1 on the one hand1 with nerves of special sense1 as the optic#db and olfactory1#dc on the other with nerves of general sensation and motion4#dd ,to this intricate part of the brain1 these centres1 converge the nerve-fibres collected in the spinal cord and medulla oblongata1 and from them radiate other fibres that pursue a divergent course1 and finally terminate in the gray matter of the cerebral hemispheres4 ,thus1 the brute impressions brought from the periphery of the body1 are conveyed to special foci of concentration1 thence to be transmitted to the gray matter at the surface of the brain1 and become material for thought4 ,conversely1 impulses generated in the nerve-cells devoted to the elaboration of thought1 pass through these same intermediate stations before they acquire sufficient consistency to affect the motor-nerves1 and1 through them1 the muscular osseous apparatus of the body4 ,before a sensory impression can become a thought1 or a voluntary impulse express itself by motion1 each must be converged toward these centres1 whence it afterwards radiates1 along divergent fibres1 directed now above1 to the surface of the brain1 now below1 on a longer course1 to the surface of the body4 ,luys has suggested1 therefore1 that these intermediate stations of cerebral organs constitute peculiar centres in which crude nervous impressions sustain a primary elaboration before passing to the surface of the brain4 ,further1 that the generation of emotions1 which differs in so many respects from that of ideas1 is especially connected with these centres as distinguished from the cerebral hemispheres lying above them4 ,this idea is based on the following facts3 #ast4 ,the nervous masses in question are well developed in animals in whom the cerebral hemispheres1 or organs of intellection1 are comparatively rudimentary2 and in these same animals1 while little or no capacity for abstract reasoning exists1 the instincts and feelings attain individuality and intensity4 #b;d4 ,the emotions stand in much closer relation to sensation and movement1 than do the operations of thought4 ,the latter1 indeed1 necessitate immobility1 and1 if sufficiently intense1 diminish the power of sensation2 they seem to indicate a concentration of nervous action upon organs unconnected with motility or sensibility4 ,on the contrary1 movements of some kind are the first result of emotions1 of which each is expressed by a characteristic gesture1 and these increase in violence with the intensity of the feeling4 ,a powerful emotion1 as well as an absorbing thought1 may1 it is true1 annihilate or transform sensation2 but this is explicable by the fact that the strongest emotions are excited by ideas4 ,hence1 on the hypothesis1 the impression radiating downwards to the emotional centres from the cerebral hemispheres1 would counteract a sensory impression radiating upwards from them1 by a literal interference analogous to that observed in opposing waves of sound4 ,but as the direction of the impression generating emotion coincides with that of the motor impulses1 the latter would not be counteracted1 but reinforced4 #c;d4 ,conversely1 sensations of various kinds1 transmitted to these centres from different parts of the body1 are as effective as ideas in generating or modifying emotional conditions--often1 indeed1 much more so4 ,the hypochondria of the ancients1 the dyspeptic melancholia of the moderns1 the infinite varieties of hysterical sensibility1 are all well-known illustrations of this undisputed fact4 ,the elastic consciousness of well-being that emboldens the volition of certain individuals1 as distinguished from the timid apprehensiveness that constantly depresses the powers of others1 is connected1 not with any view of external conditions appreciable by the intellect1 but with a vast multitude of vague bodily sensations1 of which each alone fails to make a distinct impression upon consciousness4 #dth4 ,an impression made on one part of the sympathetic system is easily communicated to another1 and to the ganglionic masses of the visceral plexuses1 already described4 ,hence the rapid effect of many emotions upon the processes of digestion2 hence the epigastric response to the emotion of fear1 which led ,bichat to localize this feeling in the solar plexus lying behind the stomach4 ,in a precisely similar manner may the effect of emotion be distributed to the ganglionic nerves of the kidneys1 uterus1 and ovaries1 leading to the flow of urine that terminates a paroxysm of hysteria1 often suppressing menstruation1 by contraction of uterine blood vessels1 or causing an excess of menstrual hmorrhage1 from an excessive excitement of the ovarian nerves during the menstrual crisis4 ,none of these effects are observed after a simple act of thinking1 unattended by emotion4 #eth4 ,probably on account of such an influence upon the vaso-motor nerves1 the blood vessels1 and1 consequently1 the processes of nutrition1 the evolution of emotions is attended with much greater fatigue than is that of thought4 ,the fatigue that may follow a prolonged intellectual operation is1 moreover1 distinctly localized in the head1 and exists in various degrees1 from simple inability for further attention1 to decided sensation of weariness1 or even pain4 ,but the fatigue experienced after excessive emotion1 especially if this be of a depressing character and accompanied by tears 7which imply vaso-motor paralysis in the lachrymal glands71 is generalized all over the body1 and is1 moreover1 very much more often followed by headache1 or by symptoms of cerebral congestion or anemia1 than is the act of thinking1 except in persons morbidly predisposed4 ,when nervous exhaustion is observed after prolonged mental effort1 one of two other conditions1 or both1 has nearly always co-existed1 namely1 deficiency of physical exercise1 or presence of active emotion1 as1 ardent ambitions or harassing anxieties4 ,in a few cases1 the mental effort itself1 by the afflux of blood determined to the brain1 or the excessive activity imposed upon its elements1 becomes an efficient cause of disease4 ,but in these cases there is either an original imperfection in the organization of the nerve tissues1 or the mental effort has been of that exceptionally intense nature of which none but a few minds are capable4 ,finally1 in these cases1 the resulting disease is seated in the brain or spinal column4 ,this latter remark is of great importance for our purpose2 for it tends to show that diseases produced elsewhere within the range of the ganglionic system of nerves--as the menstrual hmorrhage1 that we are especially considering--must be due to some other nervous act than that of thought4 ,from the foregoing considerations1 we believe1 may be again inferred1 first1 that the radical difference which exists between the cerebral operations that result in thought1 and those that accompany the evolution of emotion1 probably depends upon the fact1 that in the former central nervous action remains more or less localized on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres1 while1 in the latter1 the great ganglia lying at the base of the brain1 and hence nearer the vaso-motor centre1 are called into play2 second1 that the effects of such action are more rapidly generalized throughout the nervous system1 and1 by causing the dilatation of the blood-vessels in the manner described1 exhaust the central nervous system in a twofold manner1 by a disturbance of its circulation1 and by a direct depression of its nutrition1 when the modifications of the circulation exaggerate the nutrition elsewhere4 ,repeated excitement and consecutive paralysis of the vaso-motor nerves1 therefore1 serve as the most efficient means of draining off the force of the cerebro-spinal nervous system4 ,and it has been seen1 that a depression of its power is followed by an exaggerated and irregular activity of the ganglionic system1 to which are due most of the phenomena observed in hysteria and in ordinarily nervous women4 ,these are in many respects different from those observed in men suffering from so-called nervous debility1 for the reason1 that in them the ganglionic system of nerves is less prominent1 and its irregularities of action therefore less marked1 when the control exercised by the cerebro-spinal system has been diminished4 ,if the vaso-motor centre of the brain is only influenced when the ganglia at the base are called into activity1 and if their activity coincides with emotion1 and not with thought1 whose organ is much more remote1 in the cerebral hemispheres1 it should follow that emotion1 and not thought1 should most easily influence the vaso-motor centre1 and be followed by peculiar modifications of the ganglionic system and of the circulation4 ,this supposition is confirmed by the occurrence of many vaso-motor phenomena that commonly follow emotion1 but are rarely observed after even prolonged thought4 ,it is not1 therefore1 stimulation of the intellect1 but excitement of the feelings1 that can be shown from physiological data to have an injurious effect upon the vaso-motor nerves of the uterus1 or the ganglionic nerves of the ovaries1 or1 in other words1 can be concerned in the production of uterine hmorrhage4 ,to be just1 however1 it must be admitted1 that still another view is possible4 ,for it might be affirmed3 first1 that in women communication of impressions between different parts of the nervous system was so rapid1 that the limitation of activity to a particular part of the brain was impossible2 in other words1 that the distinction between thought and emotion was effaced1 because any action set up at the surface of the cerebral hemispheres1 invariably called the emotional centres into play2 or1 second1 it might be said1 that the original organization of the cerebral tissues in women was so imperfect1 that a slight amount of activity was sufficient to exhaust them1 and hence become a cause of hmorrhage by the mechanism previously described4 ,neither of these assertions is made by ,dr4 ,clarke1 but it is certain that one or both of them might be made in regard to a large number of women4 ,to these1 however1 severe intellectual exertion would be injurious1 not only if performed during the week of menstruation1 but if performed at all4 ,nervous excitement during the inter-menstrual period1 is quite as likely to be followed by pain or excessive hmorrhage at the next menstruation1 as if it had been sustained at the critical epoch itself4 ,nature generally provides for a portion of this contingency1 by rendering such women little capable of mental exertion1 and little ambitious for it4 ,but1 though they be kept in the most complete intellectual quiescence1 the condition of these unfortunates is scarcely improved4 ,withdrawn from the serene and powerful movement of intellectual life1 they are left to all the agitations of their ganglionic nerves2 impressions1 unfelt by others1 raise storms of feeling in them1 that actually ravage their nervous system2 efforts that but slightly fatigue stronger organizations1 are completely exhausting to theirs2 health1 indeed1 is only possible to them while they may be sheltered from exposure1 saved from exertion1 and carefully screened from excitement and shock4 ,the method1 therefore1 suggested by ,dr4 ,clarke for enabling young girls to master ,latin and ,greek without sacrifice of their health1 seems to us to be addressed to the wrong element in the group of supposed causes4 ,in the cases related by ,dr4 ,clarke1 there is nothing to show that the menorrhagia was occasioned by study during the week of menstruation1 rather than during the three weeks that preceded it4 ,nor that even then1 the true cause of disease was to be found in the intellectual exertion of mastering the school text-books1 rather than in the moral excitement due to competition1 haste1 and cramming1 or the close confinement necessitated by prolonged school hours1 and unhealthy sedentary habits out of school4 ,the complexity of causation in such instances may be well illustrated by the following case1 that ,i select on account of its great resemblance to the type described by ,dr4 ,clarke4 ,a young girl of sixteen consulted me on account of menstrual hmorrhage so excessive as to induce complete exhaustion1 bordering upon syncope4 ,she had menstruated for two years--during the first1 in quite a normal manner--but during the second1 had become subject to these menorrhagic accidents1 since residence at boarding-school4 ,it would have been easy to decide that the disturbance was directly due to the severity of the mental efforts exacted by the rgime of the school4 ,but on further inquiry it appeared3 first1 that the mother of the girl had always been subject to menorrhagia1 and it is well known that this often occurs exclusively as the result of hereditary predisposition4 ,second1 that just before the entrance to school1 and the disturbance of menstruation1 the girl had been living in a malarial district1 and had suffered from malarial infection1 which is again a frequent cause of menorrhagia4 ,third1 that the studies pursued at school were unusually rudimentary for a girl of sixteen1 and indeed1 below the natural capacity of her intelligence1 had this been properly trained4 ,but the hours of study were so ill-arranged1 that the pupils were kept over their books1 or at the piano1 nearly all day1 and even in the intervals allowed for recreation1 no exercise was enforced4 ,it was therefore frequently neglected1 and the girl1 with hereditary predisposition to menorrhagia1 increased by malarial infection1 and also by certain rheumatic tendencies1 was allowed to expend upon elementary text-books an amount of time1 attention1 and nervous energy1 that would have been deemed excessive for the most valuable intellectual pursuits4 ,all physicians are aware of the frequent dependence of menorrhagia upon anemia1 not only acquired1 but congenital4 ,the existence of anemia1 or of an imperfect elaboration of the blood and vascular system1 previous to the occurrence of the first menstruation1 is a possible condition of menstrual disorder that must always be very carefully eliminated before any other cause be assigned4 ,it is1 moreover1 extremely frequent4 ,others exist1 but are more rare--as peculiar congenital predisposition to hmorrhages1 with or without true hemophilia#de4 ,with such causes 7anemia1 rheumatism1 malarial infection1 hereditary predisposition71 the observance of rest during the menstrual week would be quite ineffectual so long as the rgime of the other three weeks remain uselessly unhygienic4 ,if the menstrual crisis finds the uterine blood-vessels already deprived of tonicity through nervous exhaustion or other cause1 hmorrhage is as likely to occur as if that tonicity were only exhausted at the epoch of menstruation4 ,in the cases described by ,dr4 ,clarke1 the cure was effected1 when at all1 not by an intermittence of study1 which does not seem to have been tried1 but by its complete cessation1 together with that of all the conditions by which it was accompanied4 ,again1 therefore1 it may be said1 that wherever such intermittence is not superfluous1 it would be inadequate for the purpose for which it is designed4 ,but this conclusion may seem to be much more severe1 and1 to those interested in the education of girls1 much more disagreeable than that formulated by ,dr4 ,clarke4 ,we firmly believe1 however1 that truth never can be disagreeable when it is really understood in all its bearings and all its consequences1 and conversely1 that any proposition framed with a view to supposed desirableness rather than veracity1 is almost certain to lead in the end to consequences quite undesirable4 ,we will not1 therefore1 try to decide whether it may be more agreeable to believe that the health of adolescent girls requires general and permanent supervision1 or that all responsibility may be discharged by confining them to a sofa and a novel for one week out of every four2 to believe that a certain number of women1 as of men1 are always unfit for intellectual exertion1 or that all women are inevitably rendered so unfit during one quarter of their lives at times unknown to outsiders1 and which1 therefore1 may be at any time2 to believe that the increased delicacy of women in civilized societies depends on a cultivated predominance of their ganglionic nervous system and emotional functions1 or on the excessive stimulus of the cerebro-spinal system and on intellectual cultivation4 ,more useful than such discussion is the consideration of the methods that might be proposed1 instead of that suggested by ,dr4 ,clarke in the third proposition we have formulated from his book4 ,dr4 ,clarke's method is to provide regular intermittences in the education of girls1 conceding to ,nature her moderate but inexorable demand for rest1 during one week out of four4 ,the method that we believe to be suggested by the foregoing considerations would be more complex1 but1 we think1 at once more effectual and less inconvenient4 ,it may be stated in the following formula3 ,secure the predominance of the cerebro-spinal system over the activity of the ganglionic4 ,since the activity of the cerebro-spinal system may be roughly#df divided into a twofold direction1 intellectual and muscular1 this predominance is to be secured by assiduous cultivation of the intellect as compared with the emotions1 and of the muscles of the limbs as compared with the muscular fibre of the blood-vessels4 ,in other words1 the evil effects of school competition1 and of the emotional excitement natural to adolescence1 are to be combated by a larger1 wider1 slower1 and more complete intellectual education than at present falls to the lot of either boys or girls4 ,and the dangers incident to the development of new activity in the ganglionic nervous system by the functions of the ovaries1 the dangers of irregular circulation1 vaso-motor spasm and paralysis1 are to be averted by systematic physical exercise1 that shall stimulate the spinal nerves1 quicken the external circulation1 and favor the development of muscles at the moment that their activity threatens to be overpowered4 ,the effect of systematic training on the spinal nervous system1 and on the bones and muscles dependent upon it1 has been often enough described4 ,far less attention has been given to the equally positive development that can be secured for the brain1 under the influence of prolonged and systematic exercise of its functions4 ,an immense increase of functional capacity is possible1 even without marked anatomical alteration2 but even this is observed under circumstances that seem to indicate that it is rather the effect than the cause of changes in function4 ,retzius 7,muller's ,archives1 #ahde1 p4 #hidg7 observes that the female cranium varies in size much more than the male3 ,female crania of the higher and middle classes are in general much smaller relatively than is the case among the peasants1 a fact which probably depends on the different mode of life and occupation4 ,the skull of the ,norway female peasants is as large and strong as that of the men4 ,welcker himself makes a somewhat analogous observation in regard to the crania of different races1 the differences between the sexes being more marked in proportion to the civilization of the race--that is1 to the degree of specialization of education1 and mental occupation4 ,he gives the following table3 ,,cranial ,,capacity4 ,,woman4 ,,man4 ,asiatic ,caucasian #a #a4bg4 ,european #a #a4ag4 ,mongols #a #a4ac4 ,malays #a #a4jh4 ,americans #a #a4jh4 ,negroes #a #a4jg4 ,besides the prominent fact upon which ,welcker insists1 this table indicates two others4 ,first1 that the anatomical difference in the higher races is too little to explain the general difference in intellectual achievement really observed between the two sexes of these races4 ,second1 that the difference is not in precise proportion to the maximum intelligence attained by the race1 but to the social inferiority and subjection of the women2 for the ,asiatics 7,hindoos7 stand highest on the scale1 the ,europeans only second2 and the excess of the first over the second1 in regard to the point in question1 is greater than the excess of the ,europeans over the other races named4 ,the general fact that1 beyond certain well-defined limits1 the activity of the cerebro-spinal system and its relative predominance over the ganglionic1 is to be determined dynamically rather than anatomically1 is insisted upon by ,laycock 7,med4 ,times and ,gaz41 #ahfb74 ,this writer observes that the large1 slowly-nourished brain of a lymphatic man1 frequently evolves much less intellectual force than does the smaller1 perhaps more compact1 brain of another1 in whom the circulation is more active1 and the nutrition probably more elaborate4 ,these facts1 and many others that might be quoted1 are pertinent to our subject1 on account of the influence exercised over the ganglionic centres by the development and functional activity of those of thought4 ,stimulation of the cerebral hemispheres is one of the most powerful means of counteracting paralysis of the vaso-motor centre1 with all its consequences4 ,habitual activity of these centres--implying1 psychologically1 habitual activity of thought1 physiologically1 a more active local circulation--is therefore the best method at our disposal for permanently counteracting tendencies to irregular action in this centre1 in the emotional ganglia lying in its vicinity1 and in the vaso-motor nerves dependent upon it4 ,a method of such general supervision does not in itself forbid the co-education of girls and boys2 for from this more general point of view1 the health of the latter during adolescence really requires precisely the same precautions as that of the former4 ,attention is less frequently drawn to the precautions required in the case of boys1 mainly because such precautions are more frequently observed in regard to them4 ,but besides1 girls arrive at the period of adolescence already enervated by the senseless training of their childhood1 on which distinctions of sex have been obtruded long before they are established by nature4 ,finally1 since peculiarities relating to the sexual organs are inherited1 if at all1 from the parent of the same sex1#dh the germs of uterine diseases acquired by mothers too frequently exist in daughters1 ready to be developed at the earliest opportunity4 ,as a matter of fact1 therefore1 the existing generation of girls1 especially in ,new ,england1 too often possess a delicacy of organization greater than that of their brothers1 and demanding a special supervision and watchfulness1 best bestowed when they are educated apart4 ,for the reasons already detailed at length1 we think that such supervision does not necessitate periodical intermittence of study1 except in special cases1 that constitute a decided minority among the whole4 ,it does necessitate1 however1 the more difficult task of providing for adequate rest and exercise during every day of the month4 ,it necessitates a more rational system of study1 a more profound training1 a more intelligent view of the real character of intellectual life1 and of the exercises required to develop it4 ,it necessitates a concentration of intellectual effort into four or six hours out of the twenty-four1 instead of a useless diffusion of intellectual peddling over ten or twelve4 ,it necessitates an extension of the term of years allowed for education1 and the giving up the fashionable notion that a girl is to be finished at seventeen or eighteen1 while her brother continues to pursue his studies until twenty-two or twenty-five4 ,it necessitates1 finally1 the most careful individual adjustment to each different case2 and to all its peculiarities1 mental1 moral1 and physical--quite as frequently1 therefore1 necessitates the education of girls apart from one another as apart from boys4 ,but this necessity is not permanent4 ,dr4 ,clarke himself admits that if the one precaution upon which he insists be observed during the first years of adolescence1 it will become unnecessary when the constitution is formed4 ,but neither ,dr4 ,clarke nor his reviewers seem to see that this admission annihilates the only objection made by him to the co-education of the sexes4 ,for that is especially demanded as the only means by which women may be enabled to enjoy a technically superior education1 as distinguished from the primary and secondary1 and such education does not begin until eighteen4 ,a university education is too expensive to be duplicated in any state2 it moreover represents the collective intellectual force of society1 and as such cannot rationally be cut in two4 ,indeed1 as such1 cannot logically exclude women from men's schools1 which are thereby left as imperfect and incomplete as would be the new universities to be constructed exclusively for women4 ,during the neutral period of childhood1 girls and boys should be educated together1 because1 as sex does not1 properly speaking1 exist1 it is absurd to base any distinctions upon it1 and the attempt1 like all absurdities1 is liable to lead to really disastrous consequences4 ,during the period of adolescence or of the formation of sex1 it is well to establish a separate education1 during which the character of each may be defined and consolidated4 ,this separation is needed by the moral and the physical training rather than by the intellectual4 ,were it1 as is usually assumed1 necessary for boys to exercise and for girls to sit still1 the need of separation would be much less than it is1 for the boys could be sent to the gymnasium while the girls remained in the school room4 ,but systematic exercise is even more necessary for the latter than for the former1 because they are likely to take it spontaneously4 ,these exercises must differ in kind and in intensity from those performed by boys1 and for this and other reasons1 are best pursued alone4 ,the moral differentiation of the sexes requires separate education1 for analogous reasons4 ,moral differences1 though less marked than physical1 are more so than intellectual1 and any system of education that might be supposed to efface these1 would be an injury to society1 that requires1 not uniformity1 but increasing complexity1 by means of increasing variety of character among its members4 ,thus the education of adolescent girls should include certain training in the care of children1 and other duties that either permanently1 or for the time being1 must fall to them and not to boys4 ,but a more important moral reason for separate education consists in the desirability of prolonging as late as possible1 the first unconsciousness of sex4 ,at this age the stimulus derived from co-education1 acting upon imperfect organizations1 is liable to be other than intellectual--liable to excite emotions equally ridiculous and painful from their pre-maturity1 and therefore to increase the very danger most to be averted from this period of life--the excessive development of the emotional functions and organs of the nervous system4 ,but1 by the age of eighteen1 the reasons against the co-education of the sexes have ceased to exist1 and imperative reasons in its favor have come into play4 ,the first we have already indicated4 ,unless the education of girls be continued beyond the conventional retiring-point of eighteen1 and unless they be permitted access to the ,state ,universities1 they cannot participate in the highest intellectual education of the race4 ,this cannot be carried on by private teachers1 in isolated classes1 under uncontrolled authorities4 ,it must be public1 national1 supreme--for it represents the collective intellectual force of the nation2 it is the work of society1 and fits for society2 and the social influences presiding over its instruction are as important as is the technical knowledge conveyed in its system4 ,only the best minds should be employed in its service1 and in any ,state these are not sufficiently numerous for the wants of indefinitely multiplied schools4 ,but1 further1 if girls may be educated1 and better educated1 apart from boys1 it is scarcely possible to give women an intellectual training apart from men1 certainly in the present generation4 ,what may be lost to men by exclusion from the intellectual companionship of women1 may perhaps be beyond the scope of our present subject to inquire4 ,but the loss sustained by women1 who1 shut up in female academies1 attempt1 or pretend to make the attempt1 to obtain a college education1 is conspicuous beyond possibility of cavil4 ,the same peculiarities that render women1 as a rule1 less original1 are justly said to make them more receptive1 more malleable1 more exquisitely adjustable to the least variation of external circumstance1 or difference in the intellectual calibre of their associates or masters4 ,their own intellects are quickened to activity or repressed into torpor1 by influences that would have little effect upon the less impressionable1 more self-poised minds of men4 ,these facts1 upon which great emphasis has often been laid1 should only lead to one inference1 namely1 that the education and intellectual capacity of women is likely to remain at the point1 or advance to the degree at which men may consider it desirable for it to exist2 if1 therefore1 certain conditions are seen to favor this advancement to an extraordinary degree1 and others to retard it in a manner as extraordinary2 if1 in addition to results already achieved by the increased education of women1 others far greater may be foreseen1 when that education shall have become really equal to that now accessible to men2 it becomes imperative to concede the conditions in question1 unless some equally imperative counter indication can be shown to exist4 ,reasons of an entirely different order exist1 we think1 in the fact that at this age the sexes naturally seek each other's society1 as much as they avoided it before4 ,it is difficult to see why this tendency requires to be counteracted1 except on some monastic principle that is an unconscious survival from the middle ages4 ,thwarting this tendency leads often to immorality in the one sex--to languor1 and mental1 moral1 and physical debility in the other4 ,dr4 ,clarke places his counter indication almost exclusively in the supposed necessity for a periodical intermittence in the intellectual work of women1 that could not1 therefore1 be brought into harmony with that of men4 ,but1 as we have seen1 ,dr4 ,clarke himself admits that such necessity is scarcely imperative except under the age of eighteen or nineteen1 and the period of study for which co-education is really desirable1 indeed1 necessary1 does not begin until that age4 ,moreover1 ,dr4 ,clarke draws his examples1 not from students who have been educated at mixed schools1 but from those who have attended ordinary girls' boarding-schools2 so that no proof is adduced of any special influence of co-education1 unless the general statement that co-education is intellectually a success1 physically a failure1 can be considered as such proof1 which we do not believe4 ,since1 according to ,dr4 ,clarke's own argument1 the argument does not apply to the particular point of controversy upon which it has been made to bear with most force1 it is superfluous to return to our own reasonings1 whereby we believe to have shown that the dangers signalized1 though they exist1 menace the minority and not the majority2 that they are then attributable1 not to mental exertion1 but to the coincidences of mental exertion as at present conducted2 that they are to be averted1 not by a single manoeuvre1 but by a general system of training1 that should include1 instead of excluding1 special attention to intellectual development2 that the results of such training would remain1 after the consolidation of the physical health and the termination of the period of growth had rendered further training unnecessary2 whereas1 the peculiar precaution suggested by ,dr4 ,clarke1 would rather tend to create a habit of body that would persist throughout life1 to immense inconvenience4 ,,mary ,,putnam ,,jacobi4 #aaj ,west ,thirty-fourth street1 ,new ,york4 ,,footnotes3 #cc ,the development of reproductive cells in special glandular apparatus at the period of puberty1 is evidently not peculiar to one sex1 but is a physiological fact necessarily common to both4 ,the peculiarity in the female consists in the greater degree of periodicity in the complete development of such cells1 in the periodical congestions of a secondary organ1 the uterus1 and in the loss of blood effected by these4 #cd ,thus ,herbert ,spencer remarks that the mental development of women must be arrested earlier than that of men1 in order to leave a margin for reproduction4 #ce ,absence of menstruation4 #cf ,excessive menstrual hemorrhage4 #cg ,i use the term efficient in a technical sense1 as meaning all-sufficient to produce the given effect1 without the intervention of any other cause4 #ch ,menorrhagic chlorosis of ,trousseau4 #ci ,for it is known that vaso-motor paralysis is not of itself sufficient to induce hmorrhage1 unless the tension of the blood-current be coincidently raised4 ,see ,bouchard1 ,pathogenie des ,hmorrhagies4 #dj ,the uterine epistaxis of malignant fevers are evidently foreign to our subject1 as also the hmorrhages of subinvolution1 or of the menopause4 ,the hmorrhages from anemia are1 on the other hand1 so frequent1 as to explain the majority of such cases as ,dr4 ,clarke's4 #da ,meadows observes3 ,it is not the ovary which is an appendix to the uterus1 but the uterus which is an appendix to the ovary4 #db ,corpora quadrigemina4 #dc ,corpora striata4 #dd ,thalami optici and corpora striata4 #de ,hereditary disease1 dependent on an imperfect development of blood vessels1 and characterized by a remarkable tendency to bleed from any blood-vessel that accident may have opened4 ,this disease is nearly confined to men1 but the women in the same families often suffer from profuse menstruation4 #df ,for we purposely leave out of sight innumerable facts in regard to its influence on nutrition1 temperature1 etc4 #dg ,quoted by ,welcker1 ,untersuchungen ber den ,wachsthuum und ,bau des ,menschlichen ,schdels4 ,halle1 #ahfb4 #dh ,lucas4 ,trait de l'hrdit4 ,,university ,,of ,,michigan4 ,recognizing the equality of both sexes to the highest educational advantages1 for four years the doors of the ,university of ,michigan have been open to all students4 ,the ,university is organized in three departments1 as follows3 the ,department of ,literature1 ,science1 and the ,arts2 the ,department of ,medicine and ,surgery2 the ,department of ,law4 ,each department has its ,faculty of ,instruction1 who are charged with its special management4 ,eager to avail themselves of the advantages here offered in such a broad1 generous1 and hospitable spirit1 a number of women from different parts of the country have matriculated1 and are or have been pursuing studies in common with students of the other sex4 ,during the four years three women have graduated from the ,literary ,department1 four from the ,law1 and twenty-one from the ,medical4 ,at the present time there are in the first department above mentioned1 fifty women2 in the second1 five2 and in the third1 thirty-eight4 ,of those in the ,law and ,medical ,departments ,i can say comparatively little4 ,the general impression is1 that they have endured the work quite as well as the men2 and it is a fact1 that a number of the women who entered the ,medical ,department1 with four lectures per day to attend1 and all the work of the laboratory and dissecting-room to perform1 have steadily improved in health from the time of entering until leaving2 while those who were well at the beginning of their college work1 have in no case suffered a deterioration of health from their intellectual labor4 ,one of these women1 ,miss ,emma ,call1 of ,boston1 graduated last year1 the first in her class4 ,thus far the women-graduates from this department have generally taken positions in their profession which they are filling with usefulness1 if not with honor2 and in which1 as far as powers of endurance are concerned1 they are showing themselves able to compete with male physicians4 ,there seems to be an impression prevalent among them--and perhaps it is not peculiar to their sex alone--that the physician should be the physiological educator as well as the healer of the race1 that his or her duty is to teach people how to use the ounce of prevention as well as the pound of cure1 and that1 through the mutual labors of the two sexes1 more than in any other way1 is to be brought about the long-desired1 and much-needed1 health reform4 ,although it may yet be too early to form an estimate of the effect of this system of identical co-education upon the health of the women who have graduated from this ,university1 we believe that there has been only one case of protracted illness1 and there is no reason for asserting that this was caused by intellectual labor--at least1 in this institution1 since the lady was here only six months--having taken her previous course elsewhere--and is a graduate from the ,law ,department4 ,of those who have graduated from the ,literary ,department1 we have positive information that as yet they have suffered no penalties from their severe and long-continued mental labor1 and they were1 on graduating1 as well as on entering4 ,one woman who matriculated with the present senior class1 took the whole course in three years1 went forth in better health than when she entered1 and is at present the principal of the ,high ,school at ,mankato1 ,minn41 while another is still prosecuting her studies1 and contemplates taking a course of law4 ,in regard to those at present in the ,literary ,department1 it is impossible to get at any statistics as to excused absences1 which will show the average attendance of one sex as compared with that of the other1 and from which inferences can be deduced in regard to the health of the women-students2 for the university authorities--not having dreamed that there was a new natural law to be revealed1 which should assert that the course of identical co-education is conducive to health and usefulness for the one sex1 and to premature decay and the hospital or cemetery for the other--have not preserved the records of excused absences4 ,the professors assert that non-attendance upon recitations1 on account of ill-health1 has been no greater on the part of the young women than of the young men1 and that in many cases1 the attendance of the former has been better than that of the latter2 yet there is nothing1 perhaps1 except personal acquaintance and observation1 which can reveal the true condition of the present health of the women of the ,literary ,department of ,michigan ,university1 and the manner in which it has been affected by the intellectual labors they have undergone4 ,in the present graduating class1 there are eight women who have been1 at all times during the college course1 as well as an equal number of their classmates1 or the same number of women in any pursuit in life4 ,one of these1 who is not only the 'picture of health1' but who is perfectly healthy1 was only sixteen years of age when she entered4 ,two other young women1 who have ranked with the first of their class in scholarship1 and who have been in excellent health during the entire course1 with the exception of slight illnesses in their freshman year--not caused by study--who are now among the most healthy of their class1 have1 in addition to their college work1 nearly defrayed their expenses by teaching during the vacations1 by giving private instruction after study hours1 and by working in various other ways4 ,they have not1 in this fourth year of almost double duty1 any lurking disease which threatens to impair or to destroy their usefulness in the future1 and they are as strong1 ambitious1 and happy as when they entered4 ,one who entered the class in its sophomore year1 and who intended to graduate with it1 was obliged to withdraw on account of her health2 but those who know her best cannot assert that this was caused1 either directly or indirectly1 by her intellectual labors1 or that1 under the same conditions1 the same results would not have followed from any kind of work4 ,she was1 and had been for a long time before entering1 in a very bad state of health1 and was utterly unfit for study4 ,thus far1 the health record of the women of this class has compared favorably with that of the men1 and there is1 at the present time1 no physiological reason why it should not thus continue even 'down to old age4' ,the class of '#ge had1 on entering1 eleven women4 ,of these1 one has died1 an apparently healthy girl1 who passed from us in the second year of her college life1 shortly after her return in the autumn4 ,we do not know the cause of her sickness1 but we do know that it was not the result of overtaxed mental powers1 since it occurred but a little while after the long vacation of the summer1 and the disease was one which had carried off a number of members of the same family in former years1 viz41 typhoid fever1 alike unsparing of age1 sex1 or condition4 ,with this exception1 this class has been remarkably healthy1 and with but a slight exception is1 at the present time1 perfectly so4 ,their attendance on recitations has been uniformly good1 above the average of the classes1 and they have done excellent work4 ,of these1 two were sixteen years of age on entering1 one was twenty1 and the others varied in ages between sixteen and twenty4 ,concerning one of the former1 ,president ,angell had some misgivings when she entered1 as she did not seem to be very strong2 but she is now in her third year in the ,university1 and her mother informed the president not long since that the health of her daughter had improved since she came to ,ann ,arbor1 and that the nervous headaches by which she had been formerly troubled had entirely disappeared4 ,among those who matriculated with the class of '#gf1 were seventeen young women1 two of whom were in poor health at the time1 and physically unfit for work4 ,one was ill for some time last winter with rheumatism1 and compelled to suspend her labors1 and the other was obliged to leave college4 ,the former is now teaching1 and will probably return1 and the other has resumed her studies1 but is far from being well4 ,one of the number1 who is from the ,sandwich ,islands1 was sick four weeks with inflammation of the lungs2 but her brother1 who is one year in advance of her1 was also sick in his freshman year with the same disease1 the only difference being that she was ill four weeks1 and he1 seven4 ,as a class1 the 'sophomore girls' are in even a better physical condition in the middle of this their second year1 the hardest year of the course1 than they were at the beginning of last year4 ,one of them1 with charming naivet asserts that she was 'miserable' when she entered1 and her father sent her to the ,university to 'see if she wouldn't get well2' and she 'has been getting well ever since4' ,the average attendance of the young women of this class upon recitations1 is also fully equal to that of the young men1 judging from the stand-point of the professors2 and in the classical sections it has been better4 ,in the present ,freshman class1 there are also seventeen young women1 most of whom are under twenty years of age2 as also are most of those of the other classes on entering4 ,of those in this class there is little to be said1 as they have been with us but a few months4 ,they appear to be well and strong4 ,many of them are graduates from the high schools of the ,state1 and a large proportion from the ,ann ,arbor ,high ,school4 ,in regard to his graduates1 ,professor ,perry1 the ,superintendent of ,schools in this city1 gives the following statistics in regard to sixteen young men and nine young women who graduated last year3 ,,boys4 ,,girls4 ,attendance 4#if 4#if4 ,scholarship 4#he 4#hh4 ,it is a fact that thus far the women of ,michigan ,university have demonstrated a principle of ,dr4 ,tappan's--a former president of the ,university--that brain-work is good for the health4 ,if the seeds of future disease have been in some mysterious manner implanted in their systems1 it is in no sense apparent except to the imaginations of those who are least acquainted with our girls4 ,the points which ,i wish to establish are these3 that their health has been as good as that of their classmates2 that those who were in a proper condition on entering have in no respect suffered a deterioration of health from their intellectual work2 that of those who were not in a proper condition for this or any other kind of work1 and have been obliged to withdraw from college1 there have been only two--a no larger per cent than the records of the young men would show2 that although we have lost one by death1 they have lost several2 and that the ordinary brain-work required of the intelligent1 ambitious students of ,michigan ,university1 if they are prepared in all respects for it1 is conducive to health4 ,too much attention cannot be given to the importance of a thorough preparation4 ,with it1 students who were not especially strong1 have gone on with constantly improving health2 without it1 even the strongest have felt that the burdens imposed by their studies were heavy--and this is true of one sex as well as of the other4#di ,i quote also from the editorial of the college paper1 which is conducted entirely by the young men1 to give the view from another stand-point1 where1 in speaking of college girls1 the writer says3 ,they pertinaciously keep their health and strength in a way that is aggravating1 and they persist in evincing a capability for close and continued mental labor1 which1 to the ordinary estimator of woman's brain-power1 seems like pure willfulness4 ,they have1 with a generally noticeable peculiarity1 disappointed the most oracular prognostications4 ,the general verdict of those outside the university is1 that the girls are holding out remarkably well4 ,and perhaps it may be asked1 ,what are our habits of life8 ,possibly the best reply may be given in the words of ,hamerton1 from ,intellectual ,life1 where in speaking of ,kant1 he says3 ,in his manner of living he did not consult custom1 but the needs of his individual nature4 ,thus is it here4 ,our healthiest girls are those who have come from healthful homes1 from wise and judicious parents1 who1 having instilled into their minds the true principles of right living1 have not hesitated to send them forth to the university where the experiment of co-education is being tried1 feeling that they would adapt everything to the needs of their individual natures1 and they are showing themselves to be so doing4 ,sometimes sisters come together1 sometimes a brother and sister1 and in a few instances the parents have come here to reside during the college course of their children4 ,but the habits of the young women are generally regular4 ,they indulge in little party-going1 or dissipation2 they have work to do1 and to it they give their best strength4 ,as a rule1 they dress healthfully1 are not ashamed to show that they can take a long breath without causing stitches to rip1 or hooks to fly2 they do not disdain dresses that are too short for street-sweeping2 they have learned that the shoulders are better for sustaining the heavy skirts than the hips1 and they are finding that1 especially in this climate1 healthful though it is1 one must be prepared with suitable clothing for all the exigencies of the weather4 ,their study-life is quiet and happy4 ,their rooms are in private houses1 usually rented in suites of two1 with plenty of light and ventilation1 and with bright1 pleasant furniture4 ,the people with whom they live are very kind1 and take a great interest in the young strangers who come among them4 ,they board either with the family1 or in clubs1--as most of the young men do1 and with them2 and somehow there is among them little of that false appetite for indigestible food1 usually so prevalent among young women who are at a boarding-school1 or living away from home4 ,there are no regularly prescribed study-hours1 and there is no regularly prescribed exercise4 ,most of the young women have rooms some distance from ,university ,hall1 to which they are generally obliged to go two or three times a day1 so that they1 of necessity1 have considerable walking--in which some of those here have shown remarkable powers of strength and endurance4 ,in fact1 there is nothing prescribed for the student1 except lessons2 the only authority which the university assumes is intellectual authority1 and nothing is compulsory except attendance upon recitations1 and a proper attention to the prescribed work4 ,perhaps the principal cause for the good health of the young women1 and their ability to endure the work they have entered upon1 is the fact that they have an aim in life beyond the mere fact of graduating from a great university2 they believe that there is a future before them1 in which they are to do a woman's work1 in a manner all the nobler and better for the advantages of this higher education1 and as they advance toward its opening portals1 the step becomes firmer1 the form more erect1 the eye more radiant2 they believe1 also1 that the divine call has come for woman to be something more than the clinging vine1 or the nodding lily2 that delicacy is a word of mockery when applied to health1 a word of beauty when applied to cultivated perceptions1 and refined tastes4 ,they enjoy their work2 they have the confidence of their professors1 the esteem of their classmates1 and the love of one another4 ,their work is to them more attractive than the charms of society2 their ,greek and ,latin more entertaining than the modern novel2 their mathematics no more intricate than the fancy-work which used to be considered one of the necessary things in a woman's education2 and most of them have minds of their own1 with a good supply of common sense4 ,but perhaps1 after all1 little can be inferred for the future from the result of four years of co-education in ,michigan ,university1 from the intellectual and moral standing of the women who are at the present time students here1 or from their physical well-being4 ,we do not assert that there can be2 we do not draw inferences1 we present facts4 ,we are fully aware that the problem of co-education is in the first stages of its solution2 that it will require at least a generation to solve it fully2 that faith is not fruition1 nor belief1 certainty in this experiment1 any more than in any other2 that while the women who are here at the present time are earnest1 conscientious1 and high-minded1 those who come after them may be far different2 and that even those who go forth in these first years may break down at the first stroke of future work1 even as some of their brothers have done2 but we do assert that1 as far as ,michigan ,university is concerned1 educating a girl in a boy's way has thus far been proven to be better than any girl's way yet discovered1 and there has appeared no reason why the good effects should not continue4 ,we are sometimes made to feel1 in a manner intended to be humiliating1 that we are trespassing upon ground foreign to our natures1 in thus seeking the higher education in a domain which has hitherto belonged1 almost exclusively1 to man--but in all cases this has been done by those outside of our university2 and while we know that they who thus speak and write are those who consider themselves the best friends to woman in the spheres to which they would limit her1 we also know that all true friends of progress are friends to the highest culture of man or woman4 ,we know1 too1 that for the manner in which we obey the dictates of our natures1 implanted there by ',one who is mightier than we are1' we alone are accountable4 ,we know the barriers1 real and fancied1 which are supposed to stand in the way2 the arduous toil upon which we enter1 the responsibilities which we assume2 but for all this1 the woman of ,michigan ,university goes forth brave1 earnest1 and loyal to the dictates of duty2 she expects to do work in life as a woman whose womanliness has been but intensified and glorified by these four years of co-education2 whose health shall be all that ,nature intended it should be1 and who will1 in the truest sense possible1 strive ,to make the world within her reach ,somewhat the better for her living1 ,and gladder for her human speech4 ,,sarah ,,dix ,,hamlin4 ,class of '#gd1 ,university of ,michigan4 ,,footnotes3 #di ,see ,president ,angell's testimony in the ,appendix4 ,,mount ,,holyoke4 ,the ,mount ,holyoke ,female ,seminary was opened in #ahcg4 ,during the thirty-six years ending ,july #c1 #ahgc1 it has graduated one thousand four hundred and fifty-five young women4#ej ,its founder aimed to provide a permanent institution1 where the best advantages should be offered at a moderate expense1 and whose entire culture should tend to produce1 not only thorough students and skilful teachers1 but earnest1 efficient1 ,christian women4 ,accordingly1 its course of study has always given prominence to the solid rather than to the showy1 omitting mostly what are termed ornamental branches1 and devoting the more time to studies which give mental discipline4 ,there is no preparatory department4 ,in order to enter1 pupils are required to pass examination in ,english ,grammar and ,analysis1 ,modern ,geography1 ,history of the ,united ,states1 ,mental and ,written ,arithmetic1 ,elementary ,algebra1 ,physical ,geography1 ,latin ,grammar and ,latin ,reader4 ,the course of study was originally arranged for three years1 but since #ahfb requires four4 ,no pupils are received under sixteen years of age1 and none are admitted to the senior class under eighteen1 while the majority are considerably older4 ,the age at the time of graduating averages something over twenty-one years4 ,none are received as day-scholars4 ,the amount of intellectual labor required is about six hours a day2 that is1 two recitations of forty-five minutes each1 and four hours and a half spent in study4 ,as a rule1 only two studies are pursued at a time4 ,there are but four recitation days in the week1 a fifth being devoted to composition and general business4 ,the day of recreation is ,wednesday1 an arrangement which is somewhat unusual1 and might not be convenient for schools composed in part of day-scholars4 ,here1 however1 the holiday interposed in the middle of the week serves to lessen the danger of too protracted application to study1 and makes the last two recitation days as easy as the first4 ,the health of the pupils is under the care of the lady physician residing in the family4 ,she is assisted by a teacher who superintends the diet and nursing of invalids4 ,besides the frequent suggestions in regard to the care of health1 which the ,principal addresses to the school1 special instructions are given by the physician to her classes in physiology4 ,the pupils are particularly cautioned against exposure of health by insufficient protection of the person from cold or dampness1 by running up or down stairs1 or by sleeping in unventilated rooms4 ,all are required to retire before ten ,p4,m41 and advised to choose an earlier hour as far as practicable4 ,daily out-door exercise1 for at least half an hour1 is required1 except when inclement weather or ill-health may prevent4 ,light gymnastics are practised by all except individuals who have been permanently excused by the physician4 ,all are directed1 however1 to abstain from gymnastics at certain periods1 as well as from long walks1 or severe physical exertion of any kind4 ,it has not been found that regular and moderate study at such times is injurious to girls in ordinary health4 ,the pupil is always excused from lessons if she finds herself unable to study1 which of course may often be the case with those of delicate and excitable temperament1 or unsound health4 ,it is generally known that the ordinary house-work of the seminary family is performed by the young ladies1 under the supervision of the teachers and matrons4 ,but so many erroneous ideas have prevailed in regard to the amount of labor required of each pupil1 that it seems necessary here to repeat explanations often given before4 ,each young lady spends1 upon an average1 one hour a day in domestic work4 ,the length of time varies a little1 according to the kind of work2 the more laborious or less agreeable tasks being proportionately shorter than the light and easy ones4 ,the time occupied varies thus from forty-five to seventy minutes a day4 ,on the ,sabbath1 only about half an hour's work is required1 while on ,wednesday an additional half hour is necessary4 ,usually one keeps the same work for a term or more1 unless some interference with recitations1 or other personal reason1 makes a change advisable4 ,pupils are excused from their domestic work whenever their health requires it1 the place being temporarily supplied from a sort of reserve corps1 who have no regular places of their own4 ,the benefit to the health1 of having a little daily exercise in doing house-work1 was one of several considerations in view of which this plan was originally adopted4 ,this opinion is supported by long experience1 and has also the sanction of high medical authority4 ,dr4 ,nathan ,allen of ,lowell remarks in his essay upon ,physical ,degeneracy1 page #af2 ,no kind of exercise or work whatever is so well calculated to improve the constitution and health of females as domestic labor4 ,by its lightness1 repetition1 and variety1 it is peculiarly adapted to call into wholesome exercise all the muscles and organs of the body1 producing an exuberance of health1 vigor of frame1 power of endurance1 and elasticity of spirits2 and to all these advantages are to be added the best possible domestic habits1 and a sure and enduring foundation for the highest moral and intellectual culture4 ,pupils often remark a decided improvement in their health under the combined influences of moderate and systematic mental labor1 judicious exercise1 both out of doors and within1 and regular hours for eating and sleeping4 ,it should not be forgotten1 however1 that among any three hundred girls1 there will be many slight ailments in the course of a year1 if not some cases of serious illness4 ,being at best inexperienced1 as well as excitable and impulsive1 girls are liable to expose their health in a thousand ways1 notwithstanding all that careful mothers or teachers can do4 ,mere physical robustness is of far less account in carrying one through an extended course of study than prudence and good sense4 ,many a girl possessing these traits1 though naturally delicate1 has not only completed the ,holyoke course with honor1 but has found herself all the better able to meet the duties of more laborious years1 on account of the systematic habits and practical efficiency acquired here4 ,it is much better not to begin the course earlier than eighteen1 on account of the greater maturity then to be expected1 not only of the physical constitution1 but also of the judgment1 on which the preservation of health so largely depends4 ,the following statistics show the comparative longevity of graduates from ,mount ,holyoke ,seminary1 and from a number of colleges for young men4 ,in each case they include a period of thirty years1 closing generally with #ahfg1 or within a year or two of that date4 ,they were originally compiled early in #ahfh1 and embraced all the classes which had then graduated at ,mount ,holyoke4 ,the war mortality is excluded in every case where it was separately stated in the college ,triennial1 as indicated below4 ,,graduated4 ,,deceased4 ,,rate ,,per ,,cent4 ,mount ,holyoke ,seminary #a1bac #abf #aj4ci ,amherst #a1aii #eaace #aa4bf ,bowdoin #a1jab #eaabj #aa4he ,brown #igb #abj #ab4cd ,dartmouth #a1fci #bgf #af4hc ,harvard #b1cbf #eabfh #aa4eb ,williams #a1bae #abc #aj4ab ,yale #b1hhc #chg #ac4db ,the following table shows what percentage of the graduates of each decade had died at the close of the thirty years4 ,,mh ,,mt4 ,,holyoke4 ,,am ,,amherst4 ,,bo ,,bowdoin4 ,,br ,,brown4 ,,da ,,dartmouth4 ,,ha ,,harvard4 ,,wi ,,williams4 ,,ya ,,yale4 ,,mh4 ,,am4 ,,bo4 ,,br4 ,,da4 ,,ha4 ,,wi4 ,,ya4 ,graduated in ,first ,decade #bdc #cbg #cdb #cae #ehi #eia #big #ijd ,deceased #ed #ga #ga #fi #aec #abc #di #bja ,percentage #bb4bb #ba4ga #bj4gf #ba4ij #be4ig #bj4ha #af4di #bb4bc ,graduated in ,second ,decade #ddg #cia #bha #cjf #ebd #ggg #dce #idc ,deceased #ee #di #cf #dj #hh #ajg #ei #abg #eb ,percentage #ab4cj #ab4ec #ab4ha #ac4jg #af4gi #ac4gg #ac4ef #ac4df ,graduated in ,third ,decade #ebc #dha #chi #cea #ebf #ieh #dhc #a1jcf ,deceased #ag #ae #ac #aa #ce #ch #ae #ei #eb #eb #eb ,percentage #c4be #c4aa #c4cd #c4ac #f4fe #c4if #c4aj #e4fi ,as these statistics were compiled immediately after the close of the period embraced1 there must have been1 in every case1 some deaths not then ascertained1 which subsequent ,triennials include4 ,for example1 the ,amherst ,triennial of #ahfi makes the number graduated during the thirty years ending in #ahfg1 #a1bjc2 deceased to that date1 #aeb 7besides deaths in the war72 percentage of mortality1 #ab4fc4 ,in like manner the record of ,mount ,holyoke1 revised early in #ahgj1 makes the number of deaths during the above period #aci1 and the rate per cent #aa4df4 ,this1 however1 does not materially affect the comparison1 in regard to which it was remarked by ,dr4 ,nathan ,allen1 in the ,congregationalist of ,june #bc1 #ahgj1 ,this ,seminary shows a better record than all the colleges except ,williams4 ,dr4 ,edward ,hitchcock1 of ,amherst1 in the ,springfield ,republican of ,may #b1 #ahgj1 also says3 ,by these results we learn that it becomes those to be careful who state that all female schools are injurious to the health of their students4 ,for here is one which1 in attainments of scholarship1 general discipline1 and religious culture1 has ranked among the highest1 and yet its health-influence holds out better than in gentlemen's schools of kindred grade4 ,a lady physician formerly connected with this ,seminary1 speaking of customs of modern society which have impaired women's powers of endurance1 remarks3 ,the most pernicious of these customs is certainly improper dress1 viz41 tight lacing1 long and heavy skirts dragging from the hips1 and the great weight of clothing upon the lower portion of the back2 also1 insufficient covering of the lower extremities4 ,the present physician attributes perhaps the greater part of the ill-health from which young ladies suffer1 to these errors in dress4 ,another fruitful source of evil1 for which parents are largely responsible1 is the supplying of school-girls with quantities of rich pastry1 cakes and sweetmeats1 which are eaten1 of course1 between meals1 and often just before going to bed4 ,in one instance a young lady1 previously in perfect health1 in the course of two years made herself a confirmed dyspeptic1 simply by indulging night after night in the indigestible dainties with which she was constantly supplied from home4 ,this is her own view of the matter in looking back4 ,the following words from the two lady physicians who have been longest connected with the ,seminary1 give the results of their professional experience there3 99 99 99 99 99 ,extracts from the letter of ,dr4 7,belden7 ,taylor1 formerly physician at ,mt4 ,holyoke ,seminary3 ,in regard to regular study producing pain1 hmorrhage or irregularity1 ,i do not think these disturbances are caused so much by application to study as by want of care and prudence at the menstrual period1 and of fresh air and exercise during the interval4 99 99 99 ,i think that labor1 both mental and physical1 should be diminished at the menstrual period1 for at this time the ovaries and uterus are intensely engorged1 and the nervous system is in an unusually excitable condition4 ,do not understand me that girls should be excused from all physical labor1 but only that they should not undertake unusually hard work1 and should avoid long walks1 giving themselves as much rest as possible4 99 99 99 ,i do not think1 however1 that any of these things should debar a woman from pursuing a regular course of study1 only let her exercise care and prudence at the menstrual period4 ,it is not uncommon for this function to be arrested by any great change of circumstances1 as when a girl leaves home and goes to school1 where there is almost an entire change of habits4 ,many cases came under my observation while at the ,seminary1 among the junior class 7first year71 of suppression or irregularity for three or six months1 all then proceeding regularly without medical interference4 ,i think women suffering from ordinary female troubles are benefited by regular exercise2 for a want of proper exercise affects injuriously the general health1 thereby increasing the uterine disorder4 ,if a girl with any great female trouble should enter the ,seminary1 her troubles would be increased1 not from the regular work1 but by going over the stairs4 ,letter from ,mrs4 ,arnold1 of ,milwaukee1 formerly ,dr4 ,homer1 physician at ,mt4 ,holyoke ,seminary in #ahfj-fd3 ,a large number of cases of irregularity in the form of suppression1 were always met with during the first year1 especially the first months of that year4 ,often the health was not seriously affected1 and the trouble would right itself or readily yield to mild remedies4 ,had this derangement been caused by hard study in the pursuance of a regular course1 it would have been most common among pupils in advanced classes4 ,the fact that it was not1 shows that it must be accounted for in some other way4 ,neither do we need to look far4 ,there is change of circumstances1 of employments1 of diet1 of sleep2 often of climate1 many coming from a distance1 and1 more than all1 coming from quiet homes to dwell in such a large family1 where there is enough of novelty and excitement to keep them constantly interested--perhaps ,i should say absorbed--in new directions4 ,it is common for change to produce like results elsewhere1 as well as in school life1 especially during the early years of womanhood4 ,again1 those thus affected are quite as likely to be the dull or inattentive as the studious4 ,cases of excessive or painful menstruation were far less numerous1 and had their origin also in other causes than hard study4 ,as to the effect of regular brain-work upon those already suffering from diseases peculiar to the sex1 ,i do not recall any cases where the mere matter of intellectual labor had any effect to increase the trouble4 ,other circumstances connected with school life might aggravate such complaints1 e4g41 much going over stairs1 but a temperate application to study1 even of the sterner kinds1 by giving occupation to the mind1 ,i consider highly beneficial4 ,the great cause of diseases incidental only to the female sex is to be found in want of sensible1 intelligent thought1 and an unwillingness to act in accordance with the convictions such thought would bring4 ,the follies and frivolities of fashionable life slay their thousands where hard study slays its one4 ,tight-lacing1 ,i believe1 was never more prevalent than at the present time1 and its victims are a host4 99 99 99 ,this matter of dress1 so difficult to be reformed1 has a very large share in making women weak and helpless4 ,of course1 it cannot be denied that many young women come out of school with broken health4 ,do not young men also8 ,the fact that so many girls are enfeebled by the course pursued with them from their very infancy1 easily accounts for their broken health1 without attributing it at all to study4 ,it cannot but be apparent to any one1 that a feeble1 sickly girl or boy is unfit to attempt a severe course of study4 ,again1 girls are often in such a hurry to 'finish1' that they overdo1 and suffer the consequences in after life4 ,it has long been my opinion that we are in danger of pushing the 'graded school system' too far4 ,there should be more latitude allowed1 more optional studies in all our schools4 ,the question may be asked1 ,does not this system bear equally upon boys and girls8 ,if so1 why do girls suffer more in health8 ,i affirm1 not because of the difference physically1 but because the custom of society shuts the girl up in the house--to her books1 if she is conscientious1 and she is more likely to be so than her brother--while the boy is turned loose1 to have just as good a time as if he were at the other end of his class4 99 99 99 ,when we attempt to compare the ability of the two sexes to endure the strain of continuous mental work1 there are many circumstances to be considered1 many things that are not as they should be4 ,if women were trained from their infancy as they might be1 and as they ought to be1 there would be no need of arguing4 ,but so long as the present fetters of fashion and custom are submitted to1 the question will remain unsettled4 ,such is the testimony from ,mt4 ,holyoke4 ,,mary ,o4 ,,nutting4 ,south ,hadley1 ,mass4 ,,footnotes3 #ej ,according to the ,report of the ,commissioner of ,education for #ahgb1 ,packer ,institute had graduated six hundred and twenty-eight women1 and ,canandaigua eight hundred4 ,no other female institutions report more than six hundred1 and only two others more than five hundred4 #ea ,exclusive of war mortality4 #eb ,exclusive of war mortality4 ,,oberlin ,,college4 ,dr ,clarke's experience and success as a physician give him a right to speak1 and that with the tone of authority4 ,he has spoken1 and in such clear and unmistakable words that all must hear1 the startling truth1 that ,american women are sickly women2 that proofs of this fact are not confined to any class or condition1 but that everywhere1 on the luxurious couches of ,beacon ,street1 in the palaces of ,fifth ,avenue1 among the classes of our private1 common1 and ,normal schools1 among the female graduates of our colleges1 behind the counters of ,washington ,street1 on ,broadway1 in our factories1 workshops and homes1 pale1 weak women are the rule1 and not the exception4 ,this is the one permanent impression which the book makes4 ,it is for this reason that we are thankful4 ,it matters not that the presenting of this fact was not the author's main object4 ,it matters still less1 that he failed in his object2 for1 if his theory had been a true theory1 and he had succeeded in convincing the world of its truthfulness1 he would have benefited but a small class of our ,american people4 ,only a few women1 comparatively1 are found in our colleges and higher schools of learning4 ,man often means one thing while ,god means another4 ,luther meant to reform the ,roman ,church--,god meant to reform the world4 ,dr4 ,clarke meant1 as he tells us in his preface1 to excite discussion1 and stimulate investigation1 with regard to the relation of sex to education2 but he has excited a discussion1 and stimulated an investigation1 that1 unless ,ephraim is wholly joined to his idols1 will not stop until a reform has been wrought in our whole social system4 ,not only in our colleges and universities1 but in our lower grades of schools2 and--as he has taught us that the head is not all1 but the body a good deal--in our food1 in our times of downsitting and uprising1 in our hours of retiring1 in the ventilation of our churches1 public halls and private homes4 ,we are at last to understand1 what it is so hard for an ,american to understand1 that to wait is sometimes as much a duty as to work4 ,dr4 ,clarke meant to prove1 that co-education1 in the popular signification of that term1 for physiological reasons1 is an impossibility4 ,he succeeded1 as he thinks1 theoretically1 but failed1 as he confesses1 practically1 for the want of sufficient data4 ,what he indirectly proved was of much more vital importance1 because it affects the whole nation2 that1 for physiological reasons1 ,american women1 and consequently the ,american people1 cannot live at this high-pressure rate1 which means death4 ,the universal interest which his book has awakened1 the rapidly following reviews and criticisms1 the numerous essays which have since been published1 on the same and kindred subjects1 show that thinking minds were already working their way to definite conclusions and expression on this now most important of all subjects--how to give back to the ,american woman the bloom and physical strength1 the elasticity and fresh old age which are hers by the right of inheritance4 ,no one will deny ,dr4 ,clarke's statement1 that1 with the best of opportunities1 she does not in these respects compare favorably with her trans-,atlantic sisters4 ,but we are not willing to admit that the strength of the ,german frulein and ,english damsel must be purchased at so great a sacrifice as the giving up of all systematic study1 and consequently of all higher intellectual development4 ,the sacred number three1 which we are told dominates the human frame1 dominates also the whole being4 ,there is the physical1 the moral1 and the mental2 and we are not to cast such a reflection upon the ,author of our being1 as to suppose that the proper development of the one must be at the expense of the other4 ,if ,god demands more of woman's physical nature than of man's1 he has wisely provided for it1 within that nature4 ,faith in his benevolence leads us to this conclusion4 ,it is just as true1 that where much will be required1 much has been given1 as that where much has been given1 much will be required4 ,when woman learns the laws which govern her physical nature1 and has the courage to live in accordance with those laws1 it will be found that she has strength to be a woman1 a ,christian and a scholar4 ,it is just as true in her case as in man's1 that proper brain activity stimulates physical activity4 ,there are many sickly girls to be found in our schools1 but they are often sickly when they come to us2 often1 too1 under the seeming garb of health1 the seeds of disease are already germinating1 and it is time1 not study1 which brings them to the surface4 ,when mothers are able to send us strong1 healthy girls1 with simple habits and unperverted tastes1 we will return to them and the world strong1 healthy women1 fitted1 physically and mentally1 for woman's work4 ,it is continuous education1 not co-education1 which ,dr4 ,clarke really condemns2 but every teacher knows that continuity of effort is essential to sound mental development1 and that this off-and-on method1 which he seems to recommend1 would destroy all order in the school1 and make all work in the class-room impossible4 ,if1 then1 his theory--that for physiological reasons girls cannot endure continuous study--is the true theory1 not only our colleges and universities ought to remain closed against women1 but all our schools for girls over fourteen years of age ought to be closed also1 and the pupils sent home1 to receive such instruction as they can from private teachers1 at such times as their bodies can afford to lend time to their heads4 ,we say ought1 and we mean what we say2 for we are not so professionally committed to a dangerous experiment as to insist upon it1 if once convinced that it is dangerous2 neither are we urgent reformers1 who care less for human suffering and human life1 than for the trial of a theory4 ,dr4 ,clarke believes1 if the causes which have brought about the present ill-health of ,american women continue for the next half century1 and increase in the same ratio as they have for the last fifty years1 that we shall cease to be an ,american people4 ,we believe it1 too2 but we do not believe1 as he does1 that the chief causes of this ill-health are to be laid at the doors of our seminaries and colleges4 ,we believe that more girls are benefited than are injured by the regimen of a well-regulated school1 and our belief is founded upon years of observation4 ,the number is not small1 of girls1 who have come to us pale1 nervous and laboring under many of the ills of which ,dr4 ,clarke speaks1 to whom the regularity which must be observed in a large school1 but1 most of all1 the stimulus of systematic brain-work upon the body1 has proved most sanitary4 ,the mother of one young lady placed her under our care a year and a half ago1 saying1 as she did so3 ,my daughter has always been frail4 ,i greatly fear she will not be able to endure regular school work4 ,send her home at any time1 if convinced that her health suffers from school discipline4 ,while her health has been steadily improving1 she has been able to gain an enviable position in her class4 ,one of her professors said that he had never heard more finished recitations than hers4 ,this is only one instance1 where we might give many1 of the quickening influence of brain-work upon the body1 and we have often heard the same testimony given by other teachers4 ,of course1 we do not claim that sick girls ought to study1 any more than sick boys1 or that there are1 at the present time1 as many girls who can endure hard study1 either spasmodic or continuous1 as boys4 ,we accept the fact1 that ,american women are sickly women2 we only protest against the false theory that makes our higher schools responsible for the fact4 ,in ,dr4 ,clarke's chapter upon co-education1 we read that this experiment--meaning co-education--has been tried in some of our western ,colleges1 but has not been tried long enough to show much more than its first-fruits1 viz41 its results while the students are in college2 and of these1 the only obvious ones are increased emulation1 and intellectual development and attainments4 ,wondering how long it must be tried before it ceases to be an experiment1 we read on a few pages1 when we are told that two or three generations1 at least1 of the female college graduates of this sort of co-education1 must come and go before any sufficient idea can be formed of the harvest it will yield4 ,is it not rather dangerous to wait two or three generations for the result of an experiment1 when it affects so important a question as our national life8 ,but what if the experiment has been already tried8 ,what if we can show by actual figures that1 in addition to the increased intellectual development and attainments1 time has proved that there has also been physical strength to stand the wear and tear of woman's work in life8 ,if we can have intellectual development and physical activity combined1 is it not a thing to be devoutly wished8 ,if there is any other conclusion to be truthfully reached1 than the one which obliges a woman to feel that1 for the good of the race1 she must content her longings after knowledge with only a few crumbs from the rich banquet which is spread temptingly before her1 why put her faith in the justice of ,god to such a test8 ,it is this conclusion1 and conclusions like this1 spoken in the tone of authority1 which have sometimes made weak women speak of their physical organization with half-smothered anathemas1 and led them to be ashamed of the temple which an all-loving1 and1 let us also add1 an all-wise ,father1 has built for them4 ,if1 in the place of this conclusion1 against which all a woman's instincts rebel1 we may truthfully teach her that there is no antagonism between her body and her brain1 and that1 for the good of the race1 she ought systematically to develop both1 we remove all stumbling blocks from her way1 we lighten her burdens1 we make her brave to endure1 because our teachings correspond with all her preconceived ideas of justice and benevolence4 ,it was this view of the subject1 rather than any belief in the modern theories of woman's sphere1 that led the founders of ,oberlin ,college to open her doors to women4 ,she has tried the experiment for nearly two generations4 ,her last annual catalogue contained the names of over one hundred students1 whose fathers' or mothers' names can be found in some earlier catalogue4 ,let us see with what results2 for these are the data which ,dr4 ,clarke says we must have1 before we can reach any definite conclusion4 ,oberlin has graduated1 as shown by her last ,triennial ,catalogue1 published in #ahgc1 #egi men and #fbj women4 ,this does not include the #abf men from the ,theological ,seminary4 ,ninety-five women have graduated from the full classical course1 and received the first degree in the arts1 #ebe from the ,women's ,course4 ,but lest some should conclude from this name1 that it stands for a diluted curriculum1 suited to the weakened condition of woman's brain1 or rather1 her body--since we have it upon the best authority that her brain1 under the most powerful microscope1 shows no inferiority to man's--we will add1 that the trustees of the college1 at their last annual meeting1 discussed the question of changing the name1 and conferring a degree upon those completing this course1 as ,michigan ,university confers a degree upon those completing its ,latin ,scientific ,course4 ,the subject was referred to the ,faculty1 to be reported upon at the next ,commencement4 ,now1 what of these #fbj women1 to whom ,oberlin has given the privileges of a higher intellectual development8 ,how have they stood the wear and tear8 ,surely they have been put to the test1 for few of them have led inactive lives4 ,their names are to be found as teachers in our common schools2 in our high-schools and seminaries1 from ,mexico to the woods of ,canada2 from the ,pacific ,coast to the ,atlantic2 in our lists of missionaries1 both in the home and foreign field2 as professors in ,female ,medical ,colleges2 as founders of asylums and homes of refuge1 and as leaders in all benevolent enterprises4 ,now it is a law of nature1 that where there is an imperfect development there is a tendency to early decay4 ,if1 then1 the evils of continuous education for girls be as great as ,dr4 ,clarke thinks1 we should naturally expect to find more deaths among the ,alumn than among the ,alumni of ,oberlin4 ,we turn again to the ,triennial1 and count the starred names4 ,there are #fj among the former and #ei among the latter1 making the per cent of deaths for the female graduates1 #i4fg2 for the male graduates1 a little over #aj4 ,but it should be mentioned that there were no women in the first class1 so that1 as near as may be1 the rates of mortality are the same4 ,the number of deaths among the #ie women who have graduated from the full classical course1 is #aj1 making the per cent #i4e4 ,we see nothing here to excite the grave alarm1 but we do see something to demand the serious attention of the community4 ,if the question1 whether girls can endure continuous education--which really means whether they shall be educated at all beyond the mere rudiments and polite nothings--is to be decided1 such facts as these1 to those who are honestly looking for the truth1 mean more than pages of theorizing4 ,but some one says1 tell us of the health of these #fbj women4 ,how many are hopeless invalids1 dragging out tedious days and still more tedious nights8 ,the limits of this essay would preclude the possibility of giving the individual history of each1 even if it were known to us2 but because facts here are worth so much more than general statements1 and because ,dr4 ,clarke says it is data that must decide this question1 ,i have concluded to give the individual history1 so far as known to me1 of the ,class of '#ef4 ,not because there is anything peculiar in its history1 but because it is my own class1 and ,i therefore know more about it4 ,i take the names in alphabetical order1 and call the roll3 ,the first answers from ,buffalo1 where1 as a minister's wife1 she finds ample opportunity to exercise all her powers4 ,she reports good health4 ,the second is unmarried1 and a teacher4 ,for some years she has been working among the freedmen's schools at the ,south4 ,when ,i last saw her1 some five months since1 she appeared the embodiment of good cheer and sound nerves4 ,the third was for eleven years a teacher in a private seminary in ,new ,york4 ,a part of that time she had the entire charge of the school4 ,during the whole time she lost but two months from sickness4 ,she is now in good health1 and enjoying home life4 ,the fourth does not answer to any roll-call here4 ,she came to us clad in mourning4 ,consumption had robbed her of a mother and sister1 and we always felt that her hold upon life was slight4 ,the years added somewhat of strength and elasticity1 and we hoped against hope4 ,she married soon after graduating1 and moved to the ,south4 ,when the war opened1 she and her husband were obliged to flee2 hunted from county to county and from ,state to ,state1 they at last crossed the ,ohio4 ,no sooner had her feet touched her native soil1 than1 turning to him who was her all1 she said--,go4 ,she lived to see the war closed2 but the watching and the waiting had been too much for her4 ,the old family enemy claimed its victim4 ,the fifth1 in reply to the question1 ,what are you doing8 answers3 ,bringing up my boys4 ,when my husband is away1 besides attending to home duties1 ,i have charge of his business1 receiving and paying out large sums of money4 ,she might have added1 as ,i know1 that she was general city missionary without pay2 that1 when there was no man to fill the place1 she was ,sabbath-school ,superintendent1 church organist1 or leader of the choir1 and that many a poor girl had had her sentence in the police court lightened through her timely intervention4 ,i need not say that she is not an invalid4 ,the sixth1 a dignified wife and mother1 ,i have not seen for three years4 ,at that time she entered no complaint of poor health4 ,the seventh has been constantly employed in teaching4 ,once during the seventeen years the state of her health demanded a lengthening of the ordinary vacation4 ,she gave herself to out-door exercise1 and1 when able to walk ten miles with perfect ease1 she returned to the school-room4 ,she reports herself to-day as well1 and offers as proof1 that during the last year she has not lost a single recitation from ill-health4 ,the eighth ,i have heard from1 from time to time2 first1 as a successful teacher1 then as a successful housewife1 never as an invalid4 ,the tenth was for many years a most earnest teacher4 ,it is over a year since ,i heard from her4 ,she was then well4 ,the eleventh is ,preceptress of the ,normal ,school at ,ypsilanti1 ,michigan4 ,she is known throughout the ,state as one of its successful educators4 ,i heard her read last week a most interesting paper1 before the ,state ,teachers' ,association4 ,she looks as if continuous education and continuous teaching had both been good for her4 ,when asked what she thought of ,dr4 ,clarke's book she laughingly answered1 ,look at me4 ,the twelfth answers from ,illinois3 ,i am in good health1 and so are my six boys4 ,the two oldest are almost ready for college4 ,they will1 of course1 go where their mother went4 ,i am daily thankful ,i studied at ,oberlin4 ,away from the plains of ,kansas comes the cheering words of the thirteenth3 ,a troop of merry children2 good health1 and a happy home4 ,the fourteenth writes3 ,why do you ask if ,i am sorry that ,i studied at ,oberlin8 ,it is the subject over which my husband and ,i can grow enthusiastic at any time4 ,my health impaired there8 ,no4 ,we hope to send our daughter soon4 ,the fifteenth we have not heard from for some time4 ,we only know that as a minister's wife her life has not been an idle one4 ,ten years after graduating she was in ordinary health4 ,the sixteenth4 ,again we hear no response4 ,in ,memoriam is written over her grave4 ,the seventeenth lives in ,mississippi4 ,she was well when visited by some of our ,union boys during the war4 ,i have no later report to give4 ,the eighteenth certainly does not count herself an invalid2 and ,the nineteenth1 who was1 as a school-girl1 the very personation of energy1 looks forward to years of useful labor4 ,we are told that we must not look at the blooming class on graduation day for the effects of co-education4 ,we have not4 ,we have waited seventeen years4 ,have we found anything there to frighten even a physiologist8 ,the theory of ,oberlin has never been identical co-education1 except in the class-room4 ,there boys and girls are taught the same things1 at the same time1 in the same place1 by the same faculty1 with the same methods1 and under the same regimen4 ,but she has never held1 practically or theoretically1 that boys and girls are one1 and that the boys make the one1 or that boys' and girls' schools are one1 and that that one is the boys' school4 ,in all those general regulations which affect both sexes1 she remembers that half her children are girls3 and the modifications which have consequently been made in ordinary college rules and customs1 are found to be just as good for boys1 and often a positive advantage4 ,no early bell calls to chapel prayers1 but1 when the recitations are over1 all assemble for devotional exercises4 ,there is no standing during these exercises1 and the result is quiet1 and an addition both to the stock of piety1 and the stock of health4 ,oberlin furnishes no pleasanter sight than this daily assembling of its thousand students for evening prayers4 ,even in her architecture1 simple and unpretending as it is1 there is a recognition of the fact that girls are not boys4 ,with one exception1 there are no recitation rooms on the second floor2 and1 while the dormitories for boys are four stories high1 ,ladies' ,hall has but two flights of stairs4 ,there is no effort made to excite an unhealthful emulation4 ,prizes are never offered1 and ranking of classes is unknown4 ,a record is kept by each teacher1 of the daily recitations in his department4 ,if the average of any student is found to be unsatisfactory1 he is informed of the fact1 and an opportunity given him either to prepare for a private examination1 or quietly to withdraw from his class4 ,the ,women's and ,men's ,departments are entirely distinct1 the one being under the supervision of the ,faculty1 the other of the ,ladies' ,board4 ,this ,board of ,managers is at present composed of nine ladies1 who live in ,oberlin1 and1 with the exception of the lady ,principal1 are none of them teachers in the college4 ,to them the trustees of the institution have confided all questions touching the discipline1 health1 and general welfare of the girls4 ,in doing this1 they were1 no doubt1 actuated by the common-sense view1 that women know best what women need1 and that1 therefore1 a ,board of ,managers composed of experienced women and mothers would frame wiser laws for the government of girls than young tutors1 or even gray-haired professors1 with the best of intentions1 could possibly enact4 ,to the women who have composed this ,board1 especially to those who were members during the early days of persecution1 much of the success which has attended the experiment of co-education at ,oberlin is due4 ,the ,president of the ,board1 ,mrs4 ,m4 ,p4 ,dascomb1 has been identified with the interests of the institution almost from its founding1 and was for seventeen years ,principal of the ,ladies' ,department4 ,a sketch of her life may be found in ,lives of ,eminent ,women4 ,but an impress of her life is left not only in the characters of the #fbj women who have graduated1 but in the thousands who have studied for a limited time at ,oberlin4 ,she is to-day as energetic1 as enthusiastic1 as untiring in her devotion to sound education as when we first knew her twenty-two years ago4 ,her elastic step has yet promise in it4 ,her cheerful outlook upon life has the quickening influence of a ,june sunshine after a ,may shower4 ,many in that last day will rise up and call her blessed4 ,it will be seen1 from what has been said1 that ,oberlin1 outside the recitation-room1 has two distinct codes of rules1 one for the girls and one for the boys4 ,they differ widely4 ,boys are prohibited from smoking and drinking--no such restrictions are placed upon the girls4 ,experience has shown that late study-hours are injurious to the health of girls--and we have never seen it stated that they were good for boys--consequently1 girls are required to retire at ten o'clock4 ,now1 says some one1 with finger upraised1 if boys can study more hours than girls1 they must accomplish more work1 and have better lessons2 then the boys are wronged by making them recite with the girls4 ,in answer1 we say1 the simple fact is that they do not have better lessons2 and1 in proof1 we ask any one to examine the class-books of ,oberlin for the last ten years4 ,there are as many available hours for study between sunrise and #aj ,p4,m4 as any one1 boy or girl1 can use to advantage4 ,in the ,ladies' ,hall there is an experienced nurse1 whose duty it is not only to care for the sick1 but to look after the general health of all4 ,special instruction upon various subjects is given the girls in the form of weekly lectures1 or familiar talks1 in which health1 and how it may be preserved1 is a leading topic4 ,dr4 ,clarke1 in great perplexity1 asks doubtfully if there might not be appropriate co-education8 ,we answer that there has been1 for forty years at ,oberlin4 ,not in just the sense1 perhaps1 in which he uses the term2 not in so appropriate a way as it might have been1 or1 we hope1 will yet be1 when an improved condition of her treasury shall enable her trustees to carry out their wisely-perfected plans4 ,but1 notwithstanding the mistakes of inexperience1 and the restrictions of poverty1 the result has been1 on the whole1 satisfactory--at least1 those who have tried it do not hesitate1 in after years1 to send back their own children4 ,no inherent difficulty in adjusting1 in the same institution1 the methods of instruction to the physiological needs of each sex has been found4 ,it should not be overlooked1 that there is a large ,preparatory ,department1 composed of hundreds of boys and girls1 in connection with the college1 so that the experiment at ,oberlin has not included a small number4 ,last year there were in the various departments #a1cga students1 #fdh of whom were girls4 ,the excuse of sickness for an absence is never questioned4 ,this is well-known by every girl in the school2 and yet we have never heard a ,professor in the ,college1 or a teacher in the ,preparatory ,department complain that girls were oftener absent than boys4 ,the ,professor in ,physiology has kindly sent me the following3--,an examination of my class-book1 in all my recitations for the last five years1 shows but a very slight difference in the average number of absences from recitations1 for all causes1 excused and unexcused1 of women and men1 viz43--for each man1 #ce4ca1 for each woman1 #cf4gf4 ,there is another fact which ought to be mentioned4 ,many of the girls who have completed a course of study at ,oberlin have1 at the same time1 supported themselves4 ,this they have done mostly by teaching1 which has left them little time for rest or recreation even during the short vacations4#ec ,of course this would have been impossible1 if the expenses here were as great as in our eastern colleges2 but reduce them to the lowest minimum1 and1 at the present rate of women's wages1 the meeting of these expenses in addition to regular college-work is no slight consideration4 ,is it any wonder if some who might endure the one1 fail under the weight of both8 ,several years ago1 some benevolent ,quaker ladies of ,philadelphia gave a few hundred dollars for the benefit of this class of girls1 and within the last few months others have added to the sum4 ,it is now proposed to secure a permanent fund of #aj1jjj1 the interest to be used in helping those who are helping themselves4 ,noticing one other point1 we are done4 ,there is an intimation by our author1 that boys educated in schools like ,oberlin become effeminate1 and girls masculine4 ,if such men as our ,united ,states ,geologist1 whose enthusiastic devotion to science has led to the exploring of the head-waters of the ,yellowstone1 and the opening with its rich treasures of the great ,northwest--and if our representative in ,congress1 who voted against the salary bill and the retroactive clause1 are specimens of effeminate men1 the country can endure more of them4 ,if ,mrs4 ,bradley1 who years ago went to ,siam1 and1 besides her numerous public duties as a missionary1 has found time to carry on the education of her own children1 sending back her sons1 one of them1 at least1 fully fitted for college1 and1 now that her husband has been taken from her by death1 still hopefully continues in the work--if ,mrs4 ,cotting1 who has so recently taught all ,turkey that a rich nabob cannot force even a poor girl into an unwilling marriage2 and that1 in that country of harems1 a woman has rights which the government is bound to respect--are masculine women1 the world--humanity says1 ,give us more such women4 ,we have presented these statements not because we have any desire to enter into a controversy1 but because we believe they are facts which thinking parents and teachers will be glad to know4 ,if they have any bearing whatever upon this question1 they go far towards proving that women are able physically1 as well as intellectually1 to meet the demands of any well-regulated college4 ,,adelia ,a4 ,f4 ,,johnston4 ,oberlin4 ,ohio4 ,,footnotes3 #ec ,in the classes which graduated last year there were thirty young women2 nineteen of these wholly or in part met their own expenses4 ,,vassar ,,college4 ,inquiries regarding the health of ,vassar students1 particularly as to whether it improves or degenerates under the stimulus of regular and continued brain-work1 and regarding the sanitary regulations of the college1 are inquiries of interest and importance to every one who is thinking--and who is not--about improved methods of education for women4 ,the pronounced and very advanced position that ,matthew ,vassar1 the ,founder1 took1 in relation to what he considered a vital necessity in true education1 the judicious combining of physical training with high intellectual culture1 and which he incorporated into his scheme for giving a fair chance for the girls1 was1 in itself1 almost a challenge to all the world to ask these questions1 and to scan critically the replies to them which the institution should make1 as years should go on1 and give adequate opportunity for the testing of the founder's theories4 ,as might be expected1 ,mr4 ,vassar provided especial advantages for the thorough establishment and maintenance of a system of physical training4 ,he placed the great building that was to be the college home of many women in the middle of a farm of two hundred acres1 lying upon a beautiful plateau1 so that pure air1 unobstructed sunshine1 good sewerage1 an abundant water supply1 quiet1 freedom from intrusive observation in out-door sports or employments1 and varied encouragements for active and healthful recreation1 were all made possible4 ,he was careful that the provision for the heating and lighting of the building should be generous1 and that there should be no lack in the arrangements for the supply of suitable and well-prepared food4 ,he built a commodious gymnasium and riding-school1 and experienced instructors were put in charge of both those departments of physical culture2 and1 agreeably to his views and plan1 one of the instituted professorships was that of ,physiology and ,hygiene1 whose incumbent was also appointed resident physician1 and given general supervision of the sanitary arrangements of the household4 ,this brief sketch gives the prominent features of the plan by which the founder and his associated trustees and faculty hoped to solve the problem of providing for the liberal education of women1 and at the same time promoting their healthy1 vigorous and graceful physical development4 ,the following extract from ,president ,raymond's ,report to the ,united ,states ,commissioner of ,education at the ,vienna ,exposition1 on ,vassar ,college2 its ,foundation1 ,aims1 etc41 shows what creed underlayed the arduous labor which the solution of this problem involved3 ,recognizing the possession by woman of the same intellectual constitution as man's1 they claimed for her an equal right to intellectual culture1 and a system of development and discipline based on the same fundamental principles4 ,they denied that any amount of intellectual training1 if properly conducted1 could be prejudicial1 in either sex1 to physical health or to the moral and social virtues4 ,they believed1 in the light of all experience1 that the larger the stock of knowledge and the more thorough the mental discipline a woman actually attains1 other things being equal1 the better she is fitted to fill every womanly position1 and to perform every womanly duty1 at home and in society4 ,at the same time1 they could not but see that there are specialties in the feminine constitution1 and in the functions allotted to woman in life1 and they believed that these should not be lost sight of in arranging the details of her education4 ,to give an idea of some of the complications and perplexities which beset the infancy of this educational enterprise1 ,i cannot do better than to quote at length from ,president ,raymond's ,report above named4 ,i think that his testimony1 which is that of an experienced and observing teacher1 is of great value1 especially upon the point of the ruinous lack of system that has so generally obtained in the education of girls3 ,in ,september1 #ahfe1 the institution was opened for the reception of students4 ,a large number1 between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four1 from all parts of the ,union and from ,canada1 applied for examination1 and about three hundred and fifty were accepted4 ,a respectable minority of these1 say one-fourth or one-third1 had been well taught--a few admirably4 ,but of the great majority1 it could not be said with truth that they were thoroughly grounded in anything4 ,in the ordinary ,english branches1 had the same tests been applied then that are applied now1 one-half the candidates would have been refused4 ,in these branches the advantage was notably with those who had been taught in the graded public schools1 particularly of the larger towns and cities2 and none appeared to less advantage than those on whom the greatest expense had been lavished in governesses and special forms of home or foreign education4 ,in the more advanced studies1 the examinations revealed a prevailing want of method and order1 and much of that superficiality which must necessarily result from taking up such studies without disciplinary preparation4 ,such preparation seemed not to have been wholly neglected2 but in a majority of cases it had been quite insufficient1 and often little better than nominal4 ,most of the older students1 for instance1 had professedly studied ,latin1 and either algebra or geometry1 or both4 ,but the ,latin had usually been 'finished' with reading very imperfectly a little ,csar and ,virgil2 and the algebra and geometry1 though perhaps in general better taught1 had not infrequently been studied in easy abridgments1 of little or no value for the purposes of higher scientific education4 ,one thing was made clear by these preliminary examinations3 that1 if the condition of the higher female education in the ,united ,states was fairly represented by this company of young women1 with a great deal that was elevated in aim1 and earnest in intention1 it was characterized by much confusion1 much waste of power1 and much barrenness of result1 and admitted of essential improvement4 ,an inquiry into their plans for future study revealed as clearly their need of authoritative guidance and direction4 ,there was no lack of zeal for improvement4 ,almost all had been drawn to the college by the hope of obtaining a higher and completer education than would be afforded them elsewhere4 ,indeed1 the earnestness of purpose1 assiduity of application and intelligence to appreciate good counsel1 which have1 from the beginning1 characterized the students as a body1 are a noticeable and encouraging fact4 ,but their reliance at first was largely on the adventitious advantages which the college was supposed to possess for putting them in possession of their favorite branches of knowledge and culture4 ,of the real elements and processes of a higher education1 and of the subjective conditions of mental growth and training1 comparatively few1 either of the students or their parents1 appeared to have any definite idea4 ,there was no lack of definiteness of choice4 ,tastes and inclinations were usually positive2 reasons were not so plentiful4 ,that the young lady 'liked' this study or 'disliked' that1 was the reason perhaps most frequently assigned4 ,if its force was not at once conceded1 she strengthened it by increased emphasis1 declaring that she was 'passionately fond' of the one and 'utterly detested' or 'never could endure' the other4 ,practical studies were greatly in vogue1 especially with parents2 'practical' meaning such as had an immediate relation1 real or fancied1 to some utility of actual life1 such1 for example1 as that of chemistry to cooking1 or of ,french to a tour in ,europe4 ,appropriateness for the discipline of the faculties1 or the equipment of the mind for scientific or philosophical investigation1 might not be appreciated as practical considerations at all4 ,the deepest impression made by these preliminary examinations on those who conducted them was this2 that the grand desideratum for the higher education of women was regulation1 authoritative and peremptory4 ,granting that the college system for young men1 coming down from an age of narrow prescription and rigid uniformity1 needed expansion1 relaxation1 a wider variety of studies and freer scope for individual choice1 there was evidently no such call in a college for women4 ,in the field of 'female education1' without endowments1 without universities or other institutions of recognized authority1 without a history1 or even a generally accepted theory1 there was really no established system at all2 and a system was1 of all things1 the thing most urgently demanded4 ,that it should be a perfect system was less important than that it should be definite and fixed1 based upon intelligent and well-considered principles1 and adhered to1 irrespective of the taste and fancies and crude speculations of the students or their friends4 ,the young women who1 all over the land1 were urging so importunate a claim for thorough intellectual culture should first of all be taught what are the unalterable conditions of a thorough culture1 alike for women and for men1 and should be held to those conditions1 just as young men are held1 whether they 'like' the discipline or not4 ,the rising interest in the subject of woman's education1 which so signally marked the recent progress of public sentiment1 required a channel through which it might be directed to positive results4 ,if ,vassar ,college had a mission1 was it not1 clearly1 to contribute something to that consummation8 ,to the task1 therefore1 of reducing to order the heterogeneous medley before them1 the ,faculty set themselves with all earnestness4 ,many have wondered why there should have been any delay in doing this--why a collegiate course was not at once marked out and the students forthwith formed into corresponding classes4 ,the reason will appear on a moment's reflection4 ,it is easy to build a college on paper4 ,to produce the real thing requires a variety of material1 prepared and shaped for the purpose4 ,there must not only be buildings and apparatus1 books and learned professors1 but there must be students--students who have passed through a preparatory process which requires not only time1 but certain moulding influences of a very definite character2 and it will not be found easy--at least1 it was not found easy eight years ago--to get together four hundred young women1 or one-fourth of that number1 so prepared4 ,one fact1 however1 the ,faculty discovered1 which went far to counterbalance all their discouragements4 ,it was this3 the most mature1 thoughtful1 and influential of the students perfectly apprehended the situation1 knew what they needed1 and earnestly sought it4 ,they were really in advance of the men of years and experience1 with whom the decision rested4 ,with the quick insight of intelligent women--or1 rather1 with that exact discernment wherewith the sufferer of an evil takes its measure1 fixes its locality1 and presages its remedy--they had worked out the solution of the problem2 and they watched with the deepest solicitude the settlement of the question1 what the institution was to be4 ,modestly1 but firmly1 earnestly1 and intelligently1 they pleaded for the adoption of the highest educational standard1 avowed their readiness to submit themselves to the most rigid conditions1 and exerted a powerful influence to diffuse right views among the more intelligent of their fellow-students4 ,it soon became evident that here was the vital nucleus for the future college2 and around that nucleus the elements gathered with decisive rapidity4 ,before the close of the year1 the ,faculty found themselves supported in their desire for a full and strict collegiate course by a strong current of sentiment among the students themselves4 ,the brains of the institution were enlisted on that side2 and it was manifest that hence-forth the best class of students would be satisfied with nothing less4 ,the controversy was at an end4 ,what remained was to make the idea a reality4 ,but it was not until the close of its third year that the institution fully attained a collegiate character4 ,during these three years the ,faculty had been carefully studying the conditions of the problem before them1 ascertaining through an extensive intercourse with students1 parents1 intelligent educators1 and through other channels of information1 the nature of the public demand1 and gradually maturing a permanent course of study to meet as far as practicable its conflicting elements4 ,the lack of method and discipline that characterized the mental habits of the assembly of young women who gathered here1 was even more evident in their physical habits1 and the effort to counteract the results of injudicious food1 dress1 social excitement1 etc41 seemed for a time almost hopeless4 ,but1 as order began to be evolved from the original chaos of the educational elements1 a corresponding improvement was seen in the hygienic morale2 and year by year this has made steady advance1 keeping pace with the constantly improved standard of scholastic attainment4 ,those who have had large experience as teachers will readily understand how the disappointment and irritation that so many of these students felt1 both as to their mistaken notions regarding their previous education1 and their vague and irrational ideas about what they would accomplish in a brief residence at this new ,woman's ,college1 acted unfavorably upon their health4 ,in not a few instances there was induced an abnormal sensitiveness1 which made it well-nigh1 sometimes entirely1 impossible for them to remain in such a large household4 ,this1 added to the usual homesickness of young people making their first essay in independent living1 and the absence of regular and definite duties1 made a peculiarly trying ordeal for the first few months4 ,then1 all the while and everywhere1 beside and beyond these general disturbing influences1 there were found the special and individual lack of any sound hygienic theory and practice1 and a persistent antagonism to the sanitary regulations which were made obligatory4 ,that the time for sleep should begin early1 and be uninterrupted for eight hours1 was a rule stoutly resisted and habitually disobeyed by many a pale-faced1 nervous girl1 who1 when remonstrated with1 had invariably at her tongue's end1 ,at home ,i have always studied as late at night and as early in the morning as ,i pleased1 and it never hurt me6 ,numbers of little1 stunted1 dyspeptic girls couldn't see any sense in making such a fuss if they didn't go regularly to meals2 these it was not easy to convince that no good brain-work could be done on a diet of toast and tea1 or crackers soaked in a paste of vinegar1 molasses1 mustard1 pepper and salt1 or confectionery and pastry4 ,they hated beef and vegetables1 and brown bread1 as well as stated hours for partaking of such simple rations4 ,those who came here with suitable clothing could have been counted on one's fingers4 ,the gospel of good apparel according to ,miss ,phelps and ,mrs4 ,woolson had not then been preached2 and1 although the testimony of plain1 every-day doctors1 and of learned medical professors was that they had labored earnestly for many years to persuade women to wear flannel underclothing and thick-soled shoes1 ,fashion's frown had deterred the mothers from accepting the advice1 so what could be expected from the daughters but a following of the same customs1 and an increased tendency to rheumatism1 neuralgia1 congestions1 and other besetments of low vital force8 ,these statements give a glimpse of the work which came to the resident physician in this houseful of young people1 and also of some or the obstacles that prevented the early establishment of a satisfactory regimen4 ,but progress was all the while making in the right direction1 though there were many failures and discouragements2 and1 best of all1 there was the same nucleus that ,president ,raymond speaks of1 viz41 a group of intelligent1 conscientious students1 who1 once having learned physiological truths1 accepted them as guides in daily living2 and from this group emanated an influence that was felt1 to a greater or less degree1 by even the youngest and most frivolous4 ,gradually it became disgraceful to have hysterics1 or to give other marked evidence of a want of self-control3 a good appetite that was regularly appeased by plain1 nutritious food came to be regarded1 first1 as not unladylike2 second1 as quite proper2 and last1 as a desired blessing3 thin walking shoes1 insufficient clothing1 squeezed-up waists1 and the like1 grew in disfavor till they were stamped vulgar1 and the careful gymnastic drill1 with its appropriate light1 warm1 loose dress1 taught to many their first lesson of physical freedom4 ,to ,elizabeth ,m4 ,powell 7now ,mrs4 ,henry ,bond1 of ,florence1 ,mass471 who was the first ,instructor in ,physical ,training after the gymnasium was built1 and who for five years pursued her admirable method with more and more success1 the college is greatly indebted for the thorough respect which that department has always commanded1 and for its harmonious co-operation in the primary business of these students in science and literature4 ,just as the courses of study became more definite in aim and requirement1 as the work of each class was more clearly marked out and adhered to1 and as the intellectual life responded to the impulse of a reasonable and steady demand1 so was the physical life strengthened4 ,by the close of the third year we could not but be as much encouraged by the advance of hygienic sentiment and practice among the students1 as we were by their commendable progress in liberal culture2 and both seemed to us largely and fairly attributable to the systematic methods which1 one by one1 had been patiently wrought out from the original confusion1 and as patiently fitted into an efficient working-plan4 ,so far as ,i am able to judge1 no one thing here has done more to counteract the hereditary or acquired tendency of many young women1 to disorders peculiar to their age and sex than the opportunity for pursuing1 quietly and continuously1 with a definite aim and certain purpose1 well-arranged courses of study4 ,i can recall numbers of instances of girls who came to us weak1 indifferent1 listless1 full of morbid whims and uncontrolled caprices of mind and body1 who gained in this bracing atmosphere of happy1 sustained industry1 such an impetus toward real health that they forgot aches and discontents1 and went home ready and eager to do their share in the world's work4 ,every one knows that uncongenial1 badly-planned1 disconnected1 or purposeless effort fatigues1 worries1 and weakens both body and mind3 is it difficult to believe the converse--that thorough1 methodical1 and helpful activity stimulates and strengthens4 ,to these general statements1 ,i add the following particulars respecting the last three classes4 ,i have divided each class into three groups1 designated respectively ,good1 ,fair1 ,delicate1 according to the condition of health in which the individual students entered upon the college curriculum4 ,,class ,,of #ahga4 ,entered in good health #ad fair #e delicate #b ,of the fourteen good1 thirteen graduated in as good health2 one in much deteriorated health4 ,of the five fair1 all left improved1 as did also the two delicate4 ,,class ,,of #ahgb4 ,entered in good health #ah fair #i delicate #a ,of the eighteen good1 all left in as good or better health4 ,of the nine fair all improved1 and the one delicate had ceased to make that distinction necessary2 she was promoted to fair4 ,,class ,,of #ahgc4 ,entered in good health #ai fair #ad delicate #ab ,of the nineteen good1 fifteen left as well as they came4 ,two took the course too young1 and felt the undue strain in diminished general strength4 ,two deteriorated in health4 ,of the fourteen fair1 five left in essentially the same condition2 nine improved4 ,of the twelve delicate1 five left in the same condition2 seven improved4 ,it is scarcely necessary to say that every year the same old battles with bad habits in dress1 diet1 exercise1 sleep1 and work1 have to be fought2 but the enemies are not so numerous1 and the allies of health and common sense are always gaining in numbers and strength2 so the prospect for ultimate and complete victory improves4 ,perhaps the greatest obstacle that we find to the consummation of our scheme for intellectual training1 is the pressure made by students1 and even more strongly by their parents1 to take the work while they are too young4 ,fifteen is the minimum age at which any are admitted1 even for the preparatory classes2 but no girl of fifteen has the poise1 the settledness of nerve and muscle and brain to enable her to bear uninjured the immense strain that the mere living in such a great family necessitates4 ,it is almost impossible for any one who has not tried it to understand this2 and parents listen with a polite1 incredulous smile1 when ,i explain why ,i think it unwise for their bright young daughters to attempt here the not difficult ,latin1 mathematics1 etc41 of the preparatory years4 ,we--the parents and ,i--agree perfectly that the girls can do the work easily enough1 but they1 the parents1 can not see the difference which is so clear to my mind--as1 after these eight years1 it could hardly help being--the difference that it will make to the girls whether they do the work in the small classes of the home school1 and surrounded in their leisure hours with the freedom and repose of the accustomed family1 or in the large classes that are here necessary1 and amid the inevitable excitements1 outside the recitation room1 of a constant residence in a household of five hundred4 ,again and again ,i have seen these young students1 for1 of course1 they enter despite my protestations--everybody wants to see the folly of everything for himself--,i have seen them succumb to the unwonted nervous tax within a few weeks2 others bear up for months1 many get through the year and go home to spend their summer vacation in bed--,vassar victims all1 whose ghosts haunt the clinical records of doctors from ,texas to ,canada1 from ,maine to ,california1 and whose influence makes1 so far as it is felt1 against woman's chances for liberal education2 for these failures are counted as natural effects of study1 of mental labor which the female organization cannot endure6 ,i have no doubt that1 for a respectable minority of these fifteen-year-old girls1 life here1 with its absolute regularity of hygienic regimen1 is less disadvantageous than the mixture of school and society1 in which they would be permitted to dissipate their energies at home2 but that does not alter the fact that the vital needs of immaturity1 physical1 mental1 and moral2 cannot be most wholesomely met amid conditions so artificial as must obtain in a great educational establishment4 ,with those who enter more advanced classes at an immature age--fortunately1 they are very few--the case is still worse1 for1 in addition to the nervous tax to which ,i have alluded above1 they attempt woman's work with a child's strength4 ,the result is inevitable--a stunted1 unsatisfactory womanhood1 the penalty for the violating of ,nature's law of slow1 symmetrical development1 is not to be escaped4 ,dr4 ,clarke's ,sex in ,education puts this point well1 and perhaps the little book may be forgiven its coarseness and bad logic1 if it succeeds in awakening the consciences of parents and teachers with regard to this phase of the school question1 a phase which bears with equal pertinency upon a fair chance for boys and for girls4 ,when women begin at eighteen or twenty the earnest business of a collegiate course1 for which they have slowly and thoroughly prepared while their physical organization was maturing in happy freedom1 and when they give to this higher intellectual labor the strength and enthusiasm that are at that age of all the life preminent and most perfectly balanced1 then we shall know what educated woman is1 and learn her possible capacities in all that makes for the noblest humanity4 ,i do not undervalue what ,oberlin1 ,antioch1 ,mt4 ,holyoke1 and other schools have accomplished for woman's higher education4 ,i would not willingly be ranked second to any in according to them the esteem and honor which their work richly merits2 and among ,vassar's own ,alumn are already many who give gracious promise of what may be hoped for1 nay1 fulfilled1 when the good seed now sowing all over this broad land shall come to glad fruition4 ,meanwhile1 ,vassar is doing what she can to promote the health and usefulness of ,american women1 by giving to her students the wholesome stimulus of regular1 organized activity1 which has for its definite aim their preparation for the serious duties of life--duties which trained faculties carry with steady poise1 growing strong under the burden1 but which press with sad and crushing weight upon unaccustomed powers4 ,,alida ,c4 ,,avery4 ,poughkeepsie1 ,n4 ,y4 ,,antioch ,,college4 ,of the men graduates of ,antioch1 #ac-a_/b per cent have died2 of the women graduates1 #i-c_/d per cent4 ,this of course does not include the war mortality or accidental deaths4 ,three of the men are confirmed invalids4 ,no woman graduate is such4 ,of the woman graduates1 three-fourths are married1 and four-fifths of those were1 two years ago1 mothers1 the families varying from one to six children4 ,only one-half of the remaining fourth are graduates of longer standing than #ahga4 ,it is proposed to make out statistics which shall show the comparative health of those women and men who have been here two years and upward1 as it has been suggested that possibly only the stronger could bear the strain of the whole college course1 and that the weaker ones dropped out by the way4 ,it is perfectly safe now to assert that this is not the case4 ,yellow ,springs1 ,ohio4 ,,letter ,,from ,a ,,german ,,woman4 ,,february #f1 #ahgd4 ,,dear ,,miss ,,brackett3 ,i gladly comply with your request to give you such information as ,i possess concerning the education of young girls in ,germany4 ,what ,i have to say is1 however1 more particularly applicable to the southern portions of that country4 ,girls generally attend the public school from the age of six or seven to eleven1 where they occupy themselves with the more elementary branches2 afterwards they are placed in a seminary or ,institut1 in which they remain until sixteen or eighteen4 ,the ,german girl of that age1 if not a member of the titled aristocracy1 is seldom taught at home1 except in music1 and perhaps in drawing2 private instruction being indeed too expensive even for the best families2 neither is she sent to a boarding-school1 if a moderately good day-school is at all accessible4 ,in my school days neither ,latin nor ,greek were taught1 and only the elementary branches of science2 from reliable sources ,i hear that the present curriculum is nearly the same4 ,but in all schools the girls were thoroughly drilled in ,german1 ,french1 ,rhetoric1 ,composition1 ,arithmetic1 ,history1 and in the ,history of ,literature4 ,english and ,italian were optional4 ,the hours extended from nine till twelve1 and from two to four or five1 no other intermission being allowed--which seemed often rather hard4 ,one and frequently two hours were spent in needlework1 which time was utilized in the practice of ,french and ,english conversation with an experienced teacher4 ,the girls prepared their lessons at home1 and recited sitting4 ,their attendance was expected to be uninterrupted1 and was usually so1 even through the critical period of development1 except in cases of suffering and trouble1 and these were not frequent4 ,i remember but little complaint of headache and weariness--back-ache seemed unknown4 ,and yet these girls worked hard1 many of them very hard4 ,some began to teach when only sixteen1 or even younger1 and while still pursuing their own studies4 ,they went out generally in every weather1 and at all times1 month in and month out4 ,now1 why did they not break down8 ,why do we find comparatively few invalids among the educated ,german girls and women8 ,are there no other causes at work than a somewhat different climate and1 occasionally1 a more phlegmatic temperament2 or is it because the studies of the modern languages and history1 the endless practising of tudes and sonatas1 the stooping wearily over some delicate embroidery1 is less taxing to the nervous system than ,latin and ,greek1 and the working out of algebraic problems8 ,i am not prepared to say4 ,but grant that a small part of the solution can be found in this difference1 there are yet other and deeper causes at work4 ,one of them is that the young ,german girl1 while at school1 makes study her sole business4 ,she goes to no parties1 visits no balls4 ,she does not waste her hours of sleep or leisure in putting numberless ruffles on her garments1 so as to surpass her mother in elegance1 nor does she promenade up and down the avenues and flirt with young gentlemen4 ,her amusements are of the simplest4 ,a walk1 or an hour spent in a public garden in her mother's company2 occasionally a concert or an opera1 which never lasts later than nine or half-past nine2 some holiday afternoon1 a little gathering of young school-friends1 to which gentlemen are not admitted2 once or twice a year1 perhaps1 after she is fifteen1 private theatricals or a soire2 where she appears in a simple dress1 dances under her mother's care1 and returns home at eleven o'clock4 ,in this way she manages her strength and husbands her forces for study4 ,another cause of her better health is the great physical care taken at the critical periods of the month2 although1 as ,i have previously said1 she continues her studies during these days1 if without suffering2 ,i must add1 that on the other hand she abstains from all physical exercise like gymnastics or dancing-lessons1 protects herself most carefully against cold and wet1 sleeps perhaps a little longer in the morning1 and instead of taking a walk1 lies down for an hour through the day4 ,a party or ball at such a time would be looked upon by the mother with horror1 and considered by the girl herself as a great impropriety4 ,the care of her health is at all times1 of importance to ,german women4 ,i have1 for instance1 very rarely seen them walk in bitter-cold winter weather in a so-called cloak1 which left the abdomen entirely unprotected4 ,a third cause of the ,german girl's being better able to work with impunity than her ,american sister during the years of development1 which in ,south ,germany begin at the age of fourteen1 may be found in the simpler and much more sensible way in which she is brought up while still in early childhood4 ,a ,german mother does not bedeck her little daughter of four or eight years with flounces and sashes half as heavy as herself1 and then show her off in a parlor full of admiring friends2 nor send her to a children's ball1 where1 with a young prodigy of the other sex1 she imitates her elders in flirtation4 ,instead of coaxing the wilful darling into obedience by the promise of candy1 utterly disregardful of future dyspepsia1 she brings her to reason by more efficient1 if less agreeable expedients4 ,the child is encouraged to play with her dolls1 and to find pleasure in flowers and child-like amusements1 as long as possible4 ,thus she grows up with simple tastes1 although a little awkward and shy4 ,and1 on the other hand1 the mother herself finds her chief pleasure at home1 and does not dream of planning amusements for each night of the week1 but keeps comparatively early hours1 even in the city2 takes a great deal of exercise in the open air1 and thus remains generally strong and healthy after her nursery is well filled4 ,now ,i do not say that the ,german education comes up to the ideal4 ,far from it1 indeed6 ,the ,german girl might1 with profit1 go more deeply into the wonderful mysteries of science1 just as her ,american sister is supposed to do2 counterbalance her somewhat too poetical tendencies by the severer pursuit of mathematics1 and find delight in the beauties of ,latin and ,greek authors1 if such should be her sincere desire4 ,nor can ,i see any objection to the pursuit of medical1 and other higher intellectual studies1 by the few whose enthusiasm and natural gifts fit them for it4 ,all this the ,german woman will safely accomplish1 if she retains the simplicity of her manners and tastes1 a quiet1 undisturbed mind during the years of early youth1 the while not forgetting to preserve the priceless gift of health4 ,that this desirable consummation will be better and more safely reached by an adequate separate education1 which can take into account woman's peculiar physical organization when necessary1 rather than by co-education1 no one1 ,i think1 can predict4 ,thus far1 the idea of co-education has not penetrated the ,german brain1 and the ,german woman is too shy and modest to think of downright1 decided competition with man4 ,whether the radical changes in education now progressing in this country1 and still in the future for ,germany1 will yield valuable fruit1 and conduce to better the condition of women1 it seems to me1 experiment rather than theory1 must show4 ,i am with sincere respect1 yours truly1 ,,mrs4 ,,ogden ,n4 ,,rood4 #cda ,east #aeth ,street1 ,n4 ,y4 ,,sex ,,in ,,education4 ,there has recently appeared a collection of essays on the subject of girls' education1 which1 for the reason that it has excited so much attention1 cannot here be passed by without special notice4 ,it is seldom that any book arouses so much criticism1 and1 withal1 so much earnest opposition as this has provoked1 and seldom do the newspapers so generously open their columns to discussions so extended on the merits and demerits of any publication4 ,the author is a physician of high repute in the city of ,boston1 ,dr4 ,e4 ,h4 ,clarke4 ,with regard to the criticisms on it1 the general observation may be made1 that where the writer is a man1 praise is more generally bestowed than in those cases where a woman is the author1 though there are very marked exceptions1 the bitterest criticism of a large number in my possession being written by a man4 ,women1 from their stand-point of women1 very generally unite in disagreeing with its premises1 and from their stand-point as reasoning beings1 they are unable to accept its conclusions1 the premises being granted4 ,and these adverse criticisms1 these indignant protests1 are not solely from teachers1 but also from mothers1 from those who have never taught1 and the most candid and dispassionate one of all1 from a woman in no wise connected with schools1 either public or private4 ,but even supposing that they were all from teachers1 does that fact1 except under a very narrow view of human nature1 render them any the less valuable8 ,does one profession blind the eyes more than the other8 ,even in the narrowest view possible to the teacher1 is it not for her interest that her pupils should be healthy8 ,how can mental work be satisfactorily done without physical vigor8 ,if it be objected here that some teachers are interested only in present results1 unmindful of future consequences1 ,i enter a counter statement that the same is true of some physicians1 and bar the line of argument which would compare the poorest teachers with the best physicians4 ,the profession of teaching is not thus narrow in its views2 is not so led by present and temporary motives4 ,its members are not working for glitter and show in the few years of school life2 they do not aim at showy displays at the risk of permanent injury4 ,they work not for to-day1 but for all time and for eternity4 ,their greatest reward is in seeing the development of mind1 the correction of false habits1 the strengthening grasp of thought1 and the growth of character4 ,are they any less desirous than the physician that the delicate instrument which puts the soul in communication with the external world1 and by means of which it must be developed1 be in perfect tune8 ,do they desire any less earnestly than he1 that they may assist in forming from the effervescent girl-life of ,america a gracious womanhood1 fully able to bear any strain which active life may bring1 rejoicing to become in due time true wives and real mothers8 ,is the future of ,american women any less dear to the teaching profession than to the medical profession8 ,do they care less for human suffering and human life than the success of their theories8 ,are not the teachers seeking truth as well as the physicians8 ,are not they1 to use the simile of one able critic1 also attentive at their watch-towers of science and experience8 ,a woman who has been teaching for many years1 and has been all the time associated with large numbers of growing girls2 who has been intimately acquainted with their habits and their health2 has held their confidence1 and has watched them carefully day after day1 not infrequently being called on for direct medical advice as well--has had an opportunity for acquiring a fund of practical knowledge on the subject which is available to no man1 even though he be physician4 ,it were well to be just4 ,let the teachers have credit at least for intelligence and honesty as well as the physicians4 ,does any one assert that ,dr4 ,clarke does not blame the teachers8 ,we answer1 as we shall show more fully in another place1 that any reflection on what is known in technical language as the school system of any country1 is a reflection on the teachers of those schools4 ,if any one doubts the power of the teachers as a body to mould the internal arrangements and details of the schools1 the school records of more than one city will furnish him with cases where the teachers have forced upon the committee and the schools1 measures by them judged necessary1 text-books of which they approved1 and their candidates for vacant places1 till their power and influence will appear no longer doubtful4 ,the book does not ostensibly on its title-page claim to be a work on co-education1 but none the less is that the subject considered from first to last4 ,in the preface1 the author remarks in an apology for plainness of speech3 ,the nature of the subject which the ,essay discusses1 the general misapprehension both of the strong and weak points of the woman question1 and the ignorance displayed by many1 of what the co-education of the sexes really means1 all forbid that ambiguity of language or euphemism of expression should be employed in the discussion4 ,the italics are ours1 but the words are ,dr4 ,clarke's2 and unmistakably show that the main drift of the book is to stem and if possible to turn the tide of popular conviction which is opening our colleges1 new and old1 to students1 without regard to sex4#ed ,again1 the volume is divided into five parts1 as follows1 to quote the table of contents3 ,i4 ,introductory4 ,,ii4 ,chiefly ,physiological4 ,,iii4 ,chiefly ,clinical4 ,,iv4 ,co-,education4 ,v4 ,the ,european ,way4 ,part ,i4 asserts that there is a difference between men and women2 accuses woman of neglecting the proper care of her body2 demands her physical development as a woman--not forgetting1 however1 on page #bd1 to call attention to co-education as a great and threatening danger4 ,part ,,ii4 is1 as it claims to be1 physiological1 and presents nothing new to the student4 ,part ,,iii4 contains an account of seven exceptional cases of diseased action which have come under the writer's observation2 a few more from another physician1 and ends with this sentence3 ,the preceding physiological and pathological data naturally open the way to a consideration of the co-education of the sexes4 ,the italics1 as before1 are ours4 ,part ,,iv4 considers the subject of co-education1 already prejudged4 ,part ,v4 is merely of the nature of an appendix1 which attempts to show that in ,europe the whole matter of woman's health is carefully watched4 ,if the one object of the ,essays is not to stay the spread of co-education1 we confess ourselves unable to discover what it is4 ,in this effort lies its only possible unity1 its primum mobile1 its one clearly defined object from beginning to end4 ,the argument reduced1 may be fairly stated thus3 ,boys are capable of sustained and regular work2 girls are not so capable--therefore they cannot be educated together 7provided the standard is kept up to the standard best for boys7 without injuring the girls4 ,admit1 then1 for one moment1 the premises1 and grant that our boys and girls are to have separate institutions of learning4 ,every one sees1 at one moment's reflection1 that it would be impracticable to take any account of the occasional necessary absences from class recitation in the general arrangements of our school1 composed only of girls4 ,the programme must be arranged1 even in that case1 for regular work1 and each individual1 must take her own time for absence1 and must make up the class-work1 which1 of course1 must go on during her absence1 as best she may4 ,the trouble still remains1 unless1 carrying out ,dr4 ,clarke's argument to its only logical conclusion1 we abolish class recitations entirely1 and supply each girl pupil with her own particular governess1 who can accommodate each day's work to the varying capacities of her pupil and herself4 ,i repeat1 that this is the only logical result possible1 if we accept ,dr4 ,clarke's premises and conclusions4 ,we shall find in ,france a country where the girls have always been educated in this way1 or in convent schools4 ,but shall we find in ,france a country where the proportion of births to the number of nubile women is greater than in our own8 ,and shall we find in ,france a country where the general type of the race is degenerating or improving8 ,it will be replied that other causes are at work to produce the result in ,france4 ,the statement is granted2 but have we then sufficient grounds for asserting justly for ,america1 that to a large extent the present system of educating girls is the cause of their pallor and weakness1 or that woman's neglect of her own organization1 though not the sole explanation and cause of her many weaknesses1 more than any single cause1 adds to their number and intensifies their power8 7,the italics are again ours47 ,we return to our statement1 that the governess system is the only system which can result as the logical outcome of the book in question4 ,but this1 ,america is not likely to accept4 ,we ask1 then1 it being evident that in any school the regular work must go on1 though two or three be absent1 what difference it would make in the practical result1 whether the sixty or seventy present were all girls1 or but half of them girls and half boys8 ,supposing that the ,president of a university were told1 on the entrance of a student1 that he would probably be absent twenty or thirty days during the entire scholastic year1 and he were asked whether it would be possible for the youth to perform satisfactorily the work of his class under those conditions1 does any one doubt what his answer would be8 ,so far on the practical side of the question4 ,but when it is asserted that co-education is fatal to the health of our women1 more is implied than appears on the surface2 for1 in reality1 co-education and higher education for women are almost synonymous terms4 ,if1 at this moment1 the gates of all the high schools and colleges open alike to both sexes1 were closed to the girls1 where1 except at one honored institution1 could they turn to obtain a really thorough and all-sided education--such an education as a young man would be satisfied with8 ,and who will assert that even ,vassar ,college is to be1 for a moment1 compared to ,harvard and ,yale in respect to its facilities for acquiring a rounded education8 ,one may strike at co-education1 and1 at the same time1 assert that he demands for woman the highest development of which she is capable--that he is only desirous of securing to her a fair chance2 and yet he cannot deny that he deprives her of all chance1 if his effort against co-education should succeed4 ,as has been said1 all criticisms on schools and school systems are criticisms on the teachers1 for it is they who constitute and determine the school4 ,if pupils are made to stand during recitations1 it is because the teachers of the school desire it2 but in a somewhat large daily observation and intimate acquaintance with public schools of all grades1 and in different sections of the ,union1#ee ,i have yet to see any high or normal school1 or1 indeed1 any oldest class in a grammar school1 in which the pupils stand during recitation4 ,in the lower grades they stand or sit1 as the teacher requires4 ,i should say that in a majority of cases they will be found standing1 but1 at the same time1 it should be borne in mind that in the lower grades the recitations are much shorter1 as a general rule not exceeding ten or fifteen minutes4 ,in the older grades the pupil is almost universally expected to rise to answer his question1 and sit as soon as it is answered4 ,leaving out the point of formal courtesy to the teacher--a matter not to be lightly treated in its far results on character--it is assumed1 even in a physiological point of view1 that the momentary change of position is better for bodies not yet matured than the constant sitting posture4 ,i would not for one moment be understood as asserting that much unreasonable work is not demanded of the pupils in the public schools of the country1 or as defending the often excessive and unseasonable work4 ,i most emphatically record my protest against the custom of public exhibitions1 and the unnatural excitement which is oftentimes kept up to stimulate the susceptible thought-machine of the child and youth into abnormal activity4 ,but these evils are not inseparable from mixed schools1 nor do they belong exclusively to them4 ,i have now in mind a school of girls1 directed by women exclusively1 where the girls have been for many days obliged to answer in writing in ninety minutes1 twenty difficult questions1 as an examination1 three girls being allowed only one copy of questions between them1 and their promotion to another class being dependent upon their success4 ,two or three of these examinations are being given in one session of five hours4 ,but if the girls go home from that school-work every day with cold hands and feet1 and a headache that keeps them on the sofa all the afternoon1 it is not because they are doing regular work1 nor are schools or systems in general to blame2 the only persons to blame are the individual teachers who plan and carry out the barbarous and savage torture1 and the parents1 who take so little notice of what is going on1 that they permit their daughters to continue such work4 ,it is not the legitimate brain-work1 but the nervous excitement1 that breaks and kills4 ,it is not work but worry that tires4 ,however1 any words which lead to earnest discussion on the educational question are welcomed by all true educators1 for ,truth1 which is the end and aim of their search1 will never suffer in the conflict4 ,but1 were the old times so much better than the present8 ,in making the statement that they were1 we are always apt to be misled by omitting two considerations of no light weight4 ,the first is1 that we draw our information and statistics now from a vastly wider area than in the good old times1 and hence that our figures relating to crime and disease always appear disproportionately large4 ,the railroad1 the steamboat1 the telegraph1 the printing-press--effects and causes of advancing civilization--have practically enlarged our mental horizon1 and death1 disease1 and crime appear in unnaturally large proportions4 ,and yet1 if it be true that among the first ,anglo-,saxon generation born and reared on this side the ,atlantic1 it was common for the men to have often1 two1 three1 and four wives1 it seems that the causes of disease and death among the women were not inactive even then4 ,the second consideration referred to is this3 ,as medical instruments multiply1 diseases appear to multiply in exact proportion4 ,with the advent of the ophthalmoscope1 for instance1 how innumerable and complicated appear the diseases of the eye4 ,are we justified in concluding1 then1 that in the good old times of our great-grandmothers--that idyllic time when women must have been at least free from the reproach that they1 solely and unaided1 were destroying the hopes of the race--that myopic1 hypermetropic and astigmatic eyes were not in existence8 ,such a conclusion would be manifestly unfair4 ,it seems impossible1 in this view1 to make any fair comparison of the health of women in the present1 and in the past2 that is1 any comparison which will be sufficiently accurate for scientific purposes4 ,it were better1 if we must have an idyllic realm somewhere1 to posit it rather in the future than in the past1 and to work with all the light we are able to secure towards its attainment4 ,this working may1 however1 be done in two ways as regards education3 we may state1 first1 and ,i think without fear of contradiction1 that there is too much sickness among ,american women4 ,we may then patiently and fully investigate all the habits of those women1 and if we come to the conclusion that co-education or that over-study in amount or in manner is the chief cause1 we shall all give it up4 ,we shall then seek and find some better way of securing for our girls an opportunity for the full development of every part of their organization1 venturing1 however1 to add 'brain' to ,dr4 ,clarke's list of muscle1 ovary1 stomach1 and nerve4#ef ,secondly1 we may assume in the first place the general statement that co-education is not desirable--is objectionable--that it must inevitably cause sickness if girls study regularly every day2 and conclude that regular study is the chief cause of sickness among them4 ,and yet ,god is his own interpreter1 and he will make it plain at last1 so that the man who runs may read1 that he is no such bungler in his workmanship as to fashion the organism of a woman without giving her at the same time the corresponding strength4 ,we have too much belief in him to believe that the power given to us is in such niggardly measure for our needs2 that1 in order to carry out perfectly the work of the organs most peculiarly our own1 the regular action of the brain must be suspended4 ,not so4 ,he who fits the shoulder to the burden2 who1 in planning the complex organism1 not only made possible greatly increased size and strength whenever they should be needed1 but even took thought also to provide for the return of the blood through capillary and vein from the artery which has been severed by the surgeon's knife1 is not so forgetful of ends and means4 ,if extra work is to be done by the organism of the woman1 extra strength in exact proportion to the extra effort has been provided1 ,where there is power to do ,that which is willed4 ,to ,god1 the brain of a woman is as precious as the ovary and uterus1 and as he did not make it impossible for her to think clearly when the uterus is in a congested state1 so1 reasoning analogically from the knowledge we have of him1 no more did he design that the uterus should not be capable of healthy and normal action while the brain is occupied with a regular amount of exercise4 ,such is our creed4 ,we are more sure of ,truth by the so-called deductive than by the so-called inductive ladder1 and it was not without meaning that she was represented as dwelling at the bottom of a well1 for she is more surely reached by descending to her abode from the so-called abstract1 than by climbing with our feet on the slippery concrete4 ,nay1 even though physical science still insists in words on holding on to 'facts' and the testimony of the senses1 forgetful that any fact is after all only a relative synthesis1 we find it in its latest researches rapidly approaching at both ends1 things entirely out of the region of the senses2 for1 beginning with invisible and intangible atoms1 which we are required to take on faith1 and which are assuredly very abstract1 we find it passing to the correlation of forces and modes of motion1 which certainly are as abstract as atoms4 ,shall we not be quite as safe then in attempting to solve the problem of woman's sphere1 by applying to it abstract principles of right and wrong1 as by seeking for it alone in ,physiology8 ,woman is not merely a cradle and a grave1 as she is assumed to be in the essay under consideration1 and all attempts to settle the question of her sphere by considering her as such1 are usually1 and perhaps not unnaturally1 found to excite indignation4 ,to apply the above statement3 the women who are urging to-day the question of education are often accused of presenting education in the light of a quack medicine which is warranted to cure all troubles4 ,and it is true that we do so present it1 for the broader grows our experience of men and women1 and the more deeply and widely we think1 the more inevitably do we find this problem of education appearing before us1 in whatever direction we turn4 ,it is like the ducal palace in ,carlsruhe1 to which all the main streets of the city converge1 and which meets one's eyes at every corner4 ,the question of woman's ,dress1 for instance1 is never to be solved by approaching it from the outside4 ,earnest and vigorous writers may tell women what they ought to do1 and we all know perfectly well that if the skirts of our dresses ended at the tops of our boots1 and we were warmly clad beneath in the full trousers proposed years ago by ,mrs4 ,bloomer1 we could take much more exercise without fatigue1 and should be saved much time and much annoyance4 ,who but a woman can appreciate the trouble of always being obliged to use one hand in carrying her skirts up long flights of stairs8 ,who but a woman knows the inconvenience of her long skirts in entering or leaving a carriage1 or in a strong wind8 ,who but a woman knows that it is utterly impossible to take even a short walk on a rainy day1 however well protected1 without bringing into the house an amount of wet clothing which necessitates almost an entire change8 ,and yet there is not the slightest chance of securing the physiologically needed reform by demonstrating these facts1 simply because1 below all this question of dress1 there lies a deeper thing1 of which dress is only the index--the question of ,sex1 and the relations resulting from it4 ,for whose admiration and attraction do our young women array themselves8 ,to please whom do they leave off their flannels and attend evening entertainments in low-necked dresses1 sweep the pavements with their ornately trimmed skirts1 and wear thin boots which shall display to better advantage the well-turned foot8 ,i desire not to have it understood for one moment that ,i am speaking lightly1 or in terms of sweeping condemnation1 of the underlying consciousness1 of which the external dress is only an outward sign4 ,the underlying impulse is an inevitable1 is a true1 pure1 and womanly one2 on it are based all institutions of civilization1 for from it spring marriage1 the ,family1 ,society1 and the ,state1 and an evil tree cannot bring forth such fruit4 ,it may1 however1 be over-stimulated1 and the extravagancies of dress and manner which ,broadway and ,fifth ,avenue1 the opera1 or any fashionable assembly of young people display in ,america1 are universally and justly condemned by sober thought as falling only a few grades behind actual immodesty4 ,but if we would produce any reform of any consequence on the subject of external dress1 we must do it1 not by attacking the dress at all2 it will never be accomplished in this way4 ,so long as it is considered that woman's chief and only duty1 the only object of her creation1 in fact1 is to minister to the comfort and happiness of man2 so long as it is represented to her that she fulfills the ends of her being1 only in the fact that she does this2 so long as it is not fully and freely allowed that a woman owns herself1 body and soul1 in the same sense as that in which a man owns himself--just so much and no more--women will dress to please the taste of men1 and will vie with each other to excite their attention1 and secure their admiration4 ,teach a girl that her only destiny is to be only any kind of a wife and a mother1 to preserve the race physically strong--keep this idea before her daily1 and the more thoroughly she is convinced of it1 the more conscientiously will she spend all her thought in seeking and using the only means which are then likely to help her to fulfill her so stated destiny4 ,but make her feel that she is a responsible being1 accountable only to ,god and her own rational judgment for her actions2 make her appreciate1 as far as it is possible1 the responsibility devolving upon her as an individual1 as a member of society1 as a citizen1 as a reflection of the ,creator in his self-determining ,intelligence2 give her such a mental training that she shall feel that she is capable of taking her life in her own hand1 and the dress will take care of itself4 ,i do not mean that she will adopt the so-called ,bloomer costume1 but she will let common sense1 suitability1 and a higher sense of beauty1 more than at present1 regulate her garments4 ,in other words1 if we would reform even so external a matter as dress1 we must ascend to the abstract principles of ethics and metaphysics which ,dr4 ,clarke so lightly sets on one side2 for all dress is only an index of education1 and all education1 to be education at all1 must deduce every one of its principles at second hand from ethics and metaphysics4 ,again1 ,huxley and ,agassiz may1 as ,dr4 ,clarke assumes 7page #ab71 represent physiology2 but will ,kant and ,calvin1 the ,church and the ,pope all four of whom ,dr4 ,clarke assumes to be of no importance in settling the question--fairly represent ethics and metaphysics8 ,and yet1 if we were limited to these sources for these sciences of sciences1 perhaps we might as well return to ,huxley and ,agassiz1 and allow physiology to settle the question of woman's sphere for us1 on the ground that she is merely so many material organs carefully contrived for only one special purpose1 and that1 the perpetuation of the race4 ,just here1 before reviewers shall have an opportunity for misinterpretation1 may ,i pause to guard them against it and to call their especial attention to the word only1 which has been so freely used above8 ,why is it that the criticisms of so many women who see below the surface1 ring with a womanly indignation8 ,they are ready for rational argument1 and for widely collected and digested statistics4 ,one of these justly says in her criticism1 that ,dr4 ,clarke need not to have written to ,germany to be informed of the care which a mother should exercise over the health of her daughter4 ,that there are mothers in ,america who do not take this care1 who are so occupied with other thoughts that they have no time to attend to their children1 we sadly know2 but some at least of us have had mothers who knew and did their duty1 and who handed down to us1 unimpaired the traditions which are well-known among women1 but of which men generally1 even fathers of grown-up daughters1 have little knowledge1 and some of them none4 ,with regard to the ,european way1 however1 ,i subjoin the following testimony from a ,german lady1 now a mother1 in answer to inquiries4 ,she says3 ,i was two years at school at ,stuttgart1 as a boarding pupil1 at the close of which ,i made my examination in the highest class1 ,no4 #h1 as it was called4 ,when ,i entered the school1 there were twenty boarding pupils2 when ,i left1 there were twenty-five2 more than thirty were never admitted4 ,day-scholars were about four hundred4 ,as to the regulations of the school concerning the pupils during the time to which you refer1 there was only one general rule1 that of being excused from the daily walk which we took from one to two hours every day4 ,only two pupils during my stay at school were excused from being present in their classes at that time1 and this only because the physician had so ordered it4 ,they were not kept in bed1 but in the so-called sick-room1 where they could read1 write1 etc41 and must only keep very quiet4 ,this testimony1 as showing the regulations in one of the largest girls' schools in ,germany1 seems to me valuable1 as the course pursued by any large school is the index of the public demand4 ,as to the health of ,english women1 ,i copy the following paragraph from a recently published book by an ,english woman1#eg which would seem to indicate that women1 at least in ,england1 are not so much superior to their ,american sisters3 ,women above actual want seldom suffer from extreme labor or from excessive indulgence1 but they seldom enjoy their full vitality1 either in exertion or in pleasure4 ,whether from this reason or not1 their most frequent illnesses are those connected with deficient vitality1 such as can keep them in lingering misery for years2 affecting chiefly those organs whose activity is not immediately necessary to life4 ,not half the illness of this kind is under the care of a doctor4 ,when he is consulted1 it is1 if possible1 at second-hand1 and he is very likely to hear only half the symptoms4 99 99 99 ,it is natural to point to the multitude of women under constant medical care1 and the number of doctors whose practice lies chiefly among female patients4 ,but if those could be counted who are endeavoring to cure themselves by traditional remedies1 by quack medicines1 by advice at second-hand1 by the use of means that have been recommended by some doctor to some other woman1 they would outnumber the former ten-fold4 ,and it must be remembered1 that most of the first class belong also to the second1 as often as they dare4 ,this testimony as to the health of ,english women1 as coming from a woman1 is of course doubly valuable2 and it comes1 too1 as a mere digression in the article from which it is quoted1 the subject of which is ,feminine ,knowledge4 ,it remains yet to be proved1 it seems to us1 that ,american women are1 as a whole1 suffering from more derangement of their peculiar functions than women of other countries4 ,do accurately compiled statistics from full and trustworthy sources1 warrant us in asserting that ,american women are more unhealthy than ,european women1 or are we only assuming the fact from their general external appearance--a criterion by no means a certain one8 ,in the old story1 the pail of water containing the living fish was1 after all the discussion1 found to weigh about as much as the pail with the dead one4 ,are we sure of our facts8 ,or even if we are sure of these1 even supposing that a mother of a large family here is not as strong as a mother of a large family in ,germany for instance1 we are in no wise warranted in concluding that the two were not as strong before marriage4 ,the wear and tear of ,american life must be taken into consideration1 and no one but an ,american housekeeper who has ever kept house on the other side of the water1 can appreciate the immense relief from care and trouble which she has there experienced1 and the dread with which she again returns to the care of a house and the dealings with servants in ,america4 ,it is not work1 and not weakness1 but annoyance and worry1 that tire and drive women into nervous diseases4 ,when we find the ,american and ,german mothers subjected to the same strain1 and only the same strain1 may we fairly judge of their comparative strength and health1 and only then4 ,where are the statistics concerning ,german women resident in this country8 ,there is a vast field of inquiry open on this subject yet2 in fact1 a ,south-sea of discovery1 and till we are sure of our facts1 it were well that we were cautious in our conclusions4 ,the times are gone by when the clergyman uttered the authoritative words of superior knowledge to an ignorant and unquestioning audience4 ,every clergyman preaches now to a congregation of critics1 many of whom are his equals1 sometimes his superiors1 in general information1 and who sit in judgment1 more or less adequate1 on the statements he may make4 ,in the same manner1 the days are past when the physician was the only one who understood anything of the structure and functions of the body1 and whose prescriptions were written in an unknown tongue4 ,it is undeniable that the majority1 perhaps1 of both men and women1 are deplorably ignorant of their structure1 and the operations of the delicate and exquisite machinery which they bear about with them2 but there is also a large number who are not so ignorant1 and who trace1 with the genuine scientific interest1 the phenomena of health and disease4 ,the general diffusion of printed matter is rapidly diffusing knowledge in the department of medicine1 as well as in that of theology4 ,the elements of anatomy1 physiology1 and hygiene1 are taught in all our high schools and academies1 and it is no uncommon sight to see a class of girls handling the bones of a human skeleton1 or1 unmindful of stained fingers1 searching for the semi-lunar valves in an ox's heart1 with as much delight and intelligent interest as that with which they examine the parts of a watch or the machinery of a locomotive2 while they can sketch on the black-board1 in a few minutes1 the form and relative location of all the important organs of the body1 and follow the course of the blood from left auricle back to left auricle again1 and that of the food1 from the teeth to the descending vena cava4 ,and with this basis for study already laid in school1 as a part of the common education of a woman1 the latest researches and discoveries of the wisest men and women are open to her as well as they are to the physician1 and the census reports are at her hand2 while1 moreover1 her knowledge of ,latin and chemistry makes plain to her the nature of the remedies proposed in the prescription which she gives to the apothecary4 ,as a result of our ,american schools1 we have such women now by the hundreds--,i am not speaking of those belonging to the medical profession--and does not this question belong to them8 ,as far as the records of experience go they are ready1 nay1 anxious to receive them1 but they ask that these statistics shall be full in some particulars1 where they always find them deficient4 ,this girl is sick8 ,we do not want to know simply that she attended school1 and studied and recited regularly2 we want to know also the kind of food she eats1 and how cooked1 and the regularity of her meals4 ,we want to know the state of ventilation in the school-room and her home2 we want to know how many hours of sleep she has1 how many parties she has attended1 what underclothing she wears1 the manner in which that underclothing is arranged1 the weight of her ruffled and double box-plaited dress skirt1 and its mode of support1 the thickness of the shoes habitually worn1 the position of the furnace register in the room1 the kind of reading she is allowed to have1 and her standing in her class as to thoroughness or superficiality1 mental clearness or chaos4 ,we want also to know what proportion of the cases come from pampered1 half-educated devotees of fashion1 and what proportion from well-educated1 hard-working women4 ,when we have all these statistics1 and not till then1 shall we be in a condition to attempt a rational solution of the question1 what it is that makes our ,american girls sick4 ,while endeavoring to settle this problem1 we shall not1 however1 forget the wise saying of ,dr4 ,o4 ,w4 ,holmes1 that the ,anglo-,saxon race is not yet fully acclimated on this continent4 ,but the collection of just these statistics1 so all-important1 and the want of which makes all assertion of causes useless1 is possible only to women4 ,and1 therefore1 we venture to claim that this is a woman's question--that the women themselves are the only persons capable of dealing with it4#eh ,they are the only ones who can and do know the facts in detail1 and the facts being laid before them1 can they not1 with help1 possibly decide quite intelligently as to causes8 ,they desire any and all evidence that may be given1 but do not they themselves constitute the only jurors competent to decide on the verdict8 ,from the medical profession1 we get a certain amount of observed statistics1 necessarily questionable from the fact that a large number of women are not sick1 are not good for nothing1 are not childless1 and1 therefore1 do not consult physicians2 but the reasoning which shall judge and weigh the facts presented1 assigning to each its proper value1 and1 discarding unessential elements1 shall draw a just conclusion1 is not limited to any profession4#ei ,as has been before stated1 out of the large number of criticisms which ,i have at hand1 the men1 generally1 and seemingly without appreciation of its logical results1 approve of what ,dr4 ,clarke has said2 the women of largest experience condemn1 denying his premises1 disproving his clinical evidence by adding other facts1 and protesting against his conclusions4 ,the criticisms and the criticisms on criticisms would make already quite a volume1 from which perhaps the principal lesson learned would be the correctness of ,talleyrand's idea of the use of language1 as many of them consist chiefly in the assertion that statements of the book which appeared perfectly clear to one mind as having a certain meaning1 had in reality not that meaning at all2 and the criticisms on adverse criticisms are apt to assert that ,dr4 ,clarke has been accused of dishonesty by the previous critic1 when the author is quite sure that no such accusation was expressed or intended4 ,most of the points made in the criticisms have been emphasized here4 ,the importance of the subject justifies the interest excited1 and the final effect must be good4 ,one result is marked2 from all sections of the country1 women heretofore knowing each other only by reputation1 or not at all1 are being bound together by a common interest in a sense never before known1 and unknown girls in ,western colleges are begging of women to plead for them that they be not deprived of their places4 ,the result need not be feared4 ,the irresistible force of the world movement cannot be permanently checked4 ,the stars in their courses fought against ,sisera1 and we would answer the girls with the words of ,santa ,theresa3 ,let nothing disturb thee1 ,nothing affright thee2 ,all things are passing-- ,god never changeth2 ,patient endurance ,attaineth to all things1 if we did not know that there is something higher1 even1 than patient endurance1 and so we say to them1 with ,goethe1 instead3 ,here ,eyes do regard you ,in eternity's stillness1 ,here is all fulness1 ,ye brave1 to reward you2 ,work and despair not4 ,,anna ,c4 ,,brackett4 ,new ,york ,city4 ,,footnotes3 #ed ,the statistics of the ,bureau of ,education1 circulars #c and #e1 show that there are at present in the ,united ,states no less than forty-six colleges open to both sexes2 and as we go to press1 word comes that the ,london ,university1 ,queen's ,college1 ,belfast1 and ,owen's ,college1 ,manchester1 ,england1 are seriously considering the propriety of the measure for themselves4 #ee ,my professional work has lain in ,grammar1 ,high and ,normal ,schools in ,massachusetts1 city and country2 ,high and ,normal ,school in ,charleston1 ,s4 ,c41 for two years1 during which time ,i knew perfectly well the three large public schools in the city1 modeled after the ,new ,york schools2 and in ,st4 ,louis for nine years1 where ,i was necessarily called to be familiar with almost every room of every school in that rapidly-growing city4 ,i am also acquainted with the ,chicago schools1 and with the ,normal schools in many ,states of the ,union4 #ef ,sex in ,education1 p4 #bi4 #eg ,the ,first ,duty of ,woman4 ,by ,mary ,taylor4 ,pub4 by ,emily ,faithfull4 #eh ,in this statement ,i find myself most unexpectedly endorsed3 ,the deterioration in the health of ,american women is without doubt one of the most serious among modern social problems4 ,it outweighs1 in real importance1 vast masses of questions usually claiming far more attention4 ,that some of this deterioration may be due to close application to study is possible1 but the numbers of those who have ever closely applied themselves to study is so very small1 compared with the number of those in broken health1 that1 evidently1 search must be made for causes lying deeper and spreading wider4 ,the want of success in grasping and presenting these causes hitherto by men1 seems to show that there should be brought to the question the instinct1 the knowledge1 the tact of woman herself1 and it would seem that1 for this1 she has need of a system of education to give the mental strength required for searching out those causes1 and grappling with them4 ,more than this1 it would seem that if the cause lies to any extent in want of knowledge of great principles of health1 or in want of firm character to resist the inroads of certain vicious ideas in modern civilization1 a change of woman's education from its too frequent namby-pamby character1 into something calculated to give firmer mental and moral texture1 would help1 rather than hurt in this matter4--,majority ,report submitted to ,trustees of ,cornell ,university on ,mr4 ,sage's proposal to endow a college for women4 ,february #ac1 #ahgb4 ,the concluding paragraphs will be found entire in the ,appendix4 #ei ,chancellor ,winchell1 of ,syracuse ,university1 makes this statement3 ,it is not pertinent to the question for us to inquire whether the pursuit of the higher studies be compatible with the health of woman4 ,she is to be her own judge in that respect4 ,we allow her to judge in regard to the healthfulness of all other pursuits4 ,the pursuit of fashion1 in some instances1 is reported to have been damaging1 if not ruinous1 to health2 yet in our legislative halls1 and in the formation of public opinion1 we enact no laws which interfere with the right she exercises to pursue her business of fashion1 and to lead a life which may be1 and is1 prejudicial to her physical health4 ,,appendix4 ,conclusion of ,majority ,report to the ,trustees of ,cornell ,university1 on ,mr4 ,sage's ,proposition ,to ,endow ,a ,college for ,women1 ,albany1 ,february #ac1 #ahgb4 ,in beginning their report1 your committee stated that their duty seemed first to be to investigate the facts in the case separately1 then to collate them1 then to throw any light thus concentrated into theories and programmes4 ,in accordance with this plan they would conclude the general discussion of this subject by concentrating such light as they have been able to gain1 upon the main theory imbedded in the arguments against mixed education4 ,the usual statement of this theory contains some truths1 some half-truths1 and some errors4 ,as ordinarily developed1 it is substantially that woman is the help-meet of man1 that she gives him aid in difficulty1 counsel in perplexity1 solace in sorrow2 that his is the vigorous thinking1 hers the passive reception of such portions of thought as may be best for her2 that his mind must be trained to grapple with difficult subjects1 that hers needs no development but such as will make her directly useful and agreeable2 that the glory of man is in a mind and heart that rejoices in solving the difficult problems1 and fighting the worthy battles of life2 that the glory of woman is in qualities that lead her to shun much thought on such problems1 and to take little interest in such battles2 that the field of man's work may be the mart or shop1 but that it is well for him to extend his thoughts outside it2 that the field of woman is the household1 but that it is not best for her to extend her thoughts far outside it2 that man needs to be trained in all his powers to search1 to assert1 to decide2 that woman needs but little training beyond that which enables her gracefully to assent2 that man needs the university and the great subjects of study it presents1 while woman needs the 'finishing schools' and the 'accomplishments2' and that1 to sum up1 the character1 work1 training and position of women are as good as they ever can be4 ,the truths in this theory have covered its errors4 ,the truth that woman is the help-meet of man has practically led to her education in such a way that half her power to aid1 and counsel1 and comfort is taken away4 ,the result has been that strong men1 in adversity or perplexity1 have often found that the 'partners of their joys and sorrows' give no more real strength than would ,nuremberg dolls4 ,under this theory1 as thus worked out1 the aid1 and counsel1 and solace fail just when they are most needed4 ,in their stead1 the man is likely to find some scraps of philosophy1 begun in boarding-schools1 and developed in kitchens or drawing-rooms4 ,but to see how a truly educated woman1 nourished on the same thoughts of the best thinkers on which man is nourished1 can give aid and counsel and solace1 while fulfilling every duty of the household1 we are happily able to appeal to the experience of many2 and for the noblest portrayal of this experience ever made we may name the dedication to the wife of ,john ,stuart ,mill of her husband's greatest essay4 ,but if we look out from the wants of the individual man into the wants of the world at large1 we find that this optimist theory regarding woman is not supported by facts1 and that the resulting theory of woman's education aggravates some of the worst evils of modern society4 ,one of these is conventional extravagance4 ,among the curiosities of recent civilization1 perhaps the most absurd is the vast tax laid upon all nations at the whim of a knot of the least respectable women in the most debauched capital in the world4 ,the fact may be laughed at1 but it is none the less a fact1 that to meet the extravagances of the world of women who bow to the decrees of the ,brda quarter of ,paris1 young men in vast numbers1 especially in our cities and large towns1 are harnessed to work as otherwise they would not be2 their best aspirations thwarted1 their noblest ambitions sacrificed1 to enable the 'partners of their joys and sorrows' to vie with each other in reproducing the last grotesque absurdity issued from the precincts of ,notre ,dame de ,lorette1 or to satisfy other caprices not less ignoble4 ,the main hope for the abatement of this nuisance1 which is fast assuming the proportions of a curse1 is not in any church2 for1 despite the pleadings of the most devoted pastors1 the church edifices are the chosen theatres of this display2 it would seem rather to be in the infusion1 by a more worthy education1 of ideas which would enable woman to wield religion1 morality1 and common sense against this burdensome perversion of her love for the beautiful4 ,this would not be to lower the sense of beauty and appropriateness in costume2 thereby would come an sthetic sense1 which would lift our best women into a sphere of beauty where ,parisian grotesque could not be tolerated2 thereby1 too1 would come1 if at all1 the strength of character which would cause woman to cultivate her own taste for simple beauty in form and color1 and to rely on that1 rather than on the latest whim of any foolish woman who happens to be not yet driven out of the ,tuileries or the ,brda quarter4 ,still another evil in ,american women is the want of any general appreciation of art in its nobler phases4 ,the number of those who visit the museums of art is wretchedly small1 compared with the crowds in the temples of haberdashery4 ,even the love of art they have is tainted with ',parisian fashions4' ,the painting which makes fortunes is not the worthy representation of worthy subjects2 ,french boudoir paintings take the place of representations of what is grand in history or beautiful in legend2 ,wilhems and his satin dresses1 ,bourgereau with his knack at flesh-color1 have driven out of memory the noble treatment of great themes by ,ary ,scheffer and ,paul ,delaroche2 ,kaulbach is eclipsed by ,meissonier4 ,art is rapidly becoming merely a means of parlor decoration1 and losing its function as the embodiment of great truths4 ,so rapidly evaporates one of the most potent influences for good in a republic4 ,an education of women1 looking to something more than accomplishments1 is necessary to create a healthy reaction against this tendency4 ,still another part of woman's best and noblest influence has an alloy which education of a higher sort1 under influences calculated to develop logical thought1 might remove4 ,for one of the most decided obstacles to progress of the best ,christian thought and right reason has arisen from the clinging of women to old abuses1 and the fear of new truths4 ,from ,mary ,stuart1 at the castle of ,ambroise1 to the last good woman who has shrieked against science--from the ,camarilla which prays and plots for reaction in every ,european court down to the weakest hunter of the mildest heresies in remote villages1 the fetichisms and superstitions of this world are bolstered up mainly by women4 ,in ,lessing's great picture1 the good1 kind-faced woman whose simplicity ,huss blesses as she eagerly heaps up the fagots for his martyrdom1 is but the type of vast multitudes of mothers of the race4 ,the greatest aid which could be rendered to smooth the way for any noble thinkers who are to march through the future1 would be to increase the number of women who1 by an education which has caught something from manly methods1 are prevented from clinging to advancing thinkers1 or throwing themselves hysterically across their pathway4 ,so1 too1 that indirect influence of women on political events1 so lauded even by those who are most opposed to any exercise by her of direct influence1 has some bad qualities which a better system of education might diminish4 ,the simple historical record shows that in what ,bacon calls the 'insanity of states1' her influence has generally been direful4 ,from ,catherine de ,medicis in the struggle of the ,league1 down to ,louise ,michel1 in the recent catastrophe at ,paris--from the tricoteuses of the first ,french ,revolution to the ptroleuses of the last1 woman has seemed to aggravate rather than soothe popular fury4 ,nor is the history of civil strife nearer home1 without parallel examples4 ,an education which would lead women to a more thoughtful consideration of great questions and more logical treatment of them1 would1 perhaps1 do something to aid mercy and justice in the world at those very times when they are most imperiled4 ,but to all this it may be said that these considerations are too general and remote--that woman's most immediate duties relate to maternity1 and that her most beautiful mission relates to the dispensing of charities4 ,as to her duties as mother1 if the subject were fully discussed1 it would be shown that1 under the present system of physical1 mental1 and moral education of women1 there is a toleration of perhaps the most cancerous evil of modern society4 ,suffice it that the system of education proposed cannot make it worse1 and may make it better4 ,as to woman's beautiful function as the dispenser of charities1 it will do no harm to have leading minds among women shown1 as a stronger education would show them1 that systems of charity based on impulse and not on reason have in older countries caused almost as much misery as they have cured4 ,her work in charity would be certainly strengthened by the training which would give her insight into this4 ,,andrew ,d4 ,,white1 ,chairman1 ,in behalf of a majority of the ,committee4 ,,extracts ,,from ,,the ,,report ,,of ,,the ,,president ,,of ,,michigan ,,university ,,for ,,the ,,year #ahgb4 ,the number of women who are availing themselves of the opportunity to study at the ,university is nearly twice as great as it was in the year #ahgj-ga4 ,the number registered then was #cd1 viz43 #b in the ,law ,department2 #ah in the ,medical ,department1 and #ad in the ,academic ,department4 ,this year the number has been #fd1 viz43 #c in the ,law ,department2 #cc in the ,medical1 and #bh in the ,academic4 ,these last are distributed in the classes as follows3 ,seniors1 #b2 ,sophomores1 #g2 ,freshmen1 #ac2 in select courses1 #f4 ,of those in the regular courses1 eight are ,classical students1 nine ,latin and ,scientific1 and five ,scientific4 ,five of those in the select courses are giving their attention chiefly to scientific studies and modern languages and literature2 the sixth to classical work4 ,six women graduated in ,april with the medical class1 one with the law class1 and two now graduate in the ,academic ,department4 ,in the ,medical ,department the women have received instruction by themselves1 except in chemistry4 ,in the other ,departments all instruction is given to both sexes in common4 ,it is manifestly not wise to leap to hasty generalizations from our brief experience in furnishing education to both sexes in our ,university4 ,but ,i think all who have been familiar with the inner life of the ,university for the past two years1 will admit that1 thus far1 no reason for doubting the wisdom of the ,regents' action in opening the ,university to women has appeared4 ,hardly one of the many embarrassments which some feared1 has confronted us4 ,the young women have addressed themselves to their work with great zeal1 and have shown themselves quite capable of meeting the demands of severe studies as successfully as their classmates of the other sex4 ,their work so far does not evince less variety of aptitude or less power of grappling even with higher mathematics than we find in the young men4 ,they receive no favors1 and desire none4 ,they are subjected to precisely the same tests as the men4 ,some of them1 like the men1 have stumbled at examinations2 but nearly all of them have maintained a most creditable reputation for scholarship in every branch of study which has awaited them in their course4 ,nor does their work seem to put a dangerous strain upon their physical powers4 ,they assure me that they never enjoyed better health1 and their absences by reason of sickness do not proportionately exceed those of the men4 ,their presence has not called for the enactment of a single new law1 or for the slightest change in our methods of government or grade of work4 ,if we are asked still to regard the reception of women into our classes as an experiment1 it must certainly be deemed a most hopeful experiment4 ,the numerous inquiries which are sent to me from various parts of this country1 and even from ,england1 concerning the results of their admission to the ,university1 show that a profound and wide-spread interest in the subject has been awakened4 ,cornell ,university has recently decided to open its doors to women1 and it can hardly be doubted that other conspicuous ,eastern colleges will soon follow the example4 ,the ,alumni and ,trustees of at least four prominent ,new ,england colleges are formally considering the subject4 ,,from ,,report ,,for #ahgc4 ,the number of women who enroll themselves as students in the ,university continues to increase4 ,two years ago it was #cg2 in #ahga-b it was #fd2 in #ahgb-c it was #hh4 ,the attendance of women was1 by departments1 as follows3 in the ,law ,department #d2 in the ,medical ,department #dj2 in the ,academic ,department #de4 ,these last were1 according to the ,calendar1 distributed as follows3 ,resident ,graduates #b2 ,senior ,class #a2 ,junior ,class #g2 ,sophomore ,class #h2 ,freshmen ,class #bj2 ,select ,course #e2 ,pharmacy #b4 ,of the #ce in the regular courses of study1 #ad pursue the ,classical1 #ad the ,latin and ,scientific1 and #g the ,scientific4 ,of the graduates1 #h are women2 #a in the ,law ,department1 #a in the ,literary1 and #f in the ,medical4 ,the history of our work during the past year has only deepened the impression made during the two previous years1 of the entire practicability of imparting collegiate and professional education to the two sexes in the same schools4 ,if any have cherished a fear that the admission of women would tend to reduce the standard of work in the ,university1 their attention may be directed to the fact that during the last three years we have been steadily increasing the requirements for admission and broadening the range of studies4 ,now certainly the women experience no such difficulty in acquiring the studies assigned in the regular curriculum as to call for any modification of the course on their account4 ,their record is as creditable in all branches as that of their classmates of the other sex4 ,nor do ,i see any evidence that their success in their intellectual pursuits is purchased at the expense of health4 ,on the contrary1 ,i doubt if an equal number of young women in any other pursuit in life have been in better health during the year4 ,i am persuaded1 that with ordinary care and prudence1 any one of our courses of study may be completed by a young woman of fair ability without undue draft upon her strength4 ,none of the many objections1 which are still raised against the co-education of the sexes1 have thus been found in practice here to have any force4 ,the admission of women has led to no new difficulty or embarrassment in the administration of the ,institution4 ,it has certainly brought to a large class the benefits of such an education as otherwise would have been out of their reach1 and has awakened through the ,state and the country1 and even in foreign lands1 a new interest in the ,university4 ,,putnams ,,handy ,,book ,,series ,i4 ,,revised ,,edition4 ,,the ,,best ,,reading2 ,a ,,classified ,,bibliography ,,for ,,easy ,,reference1 ,,with ,hints on the ,selection of ,books2 on the ,formation of ,libraries1 ,public and ,private2 on ,courses of ,reading1 etc41 a ,guide for the ,librarian1 ,bookbuyer and ,bookseller4 ,the ,classified ,lists1 arranged under about #ejj subject headings1 include all the most desirable books now to be obtained either in ,great ,britain or the ,united ,states1 ,,with ,,the ,,published ,,prices ,,annexed4 ,new ,edition1 corrected1 enlarged and continued to ,july1 #ahgc4 #abmo1 paper1 #a4jj4 ,cloth1 #a #ej4 ,the best work of the kind we have seen4--,college ,courant4 ,we know of no manual that can take its place as a guide to the selecter of a library4--,n4 ,y4 ,independent4 ,for reference for the bookbuyer it is invaluable4--,fort ,wayne ,gazette4 ,supplies a need that has long been felt4--,lyons ,republican4 ,the arrangement of the volume is excellent1 and a vast amount of time and money may be saved1 and a great deal of useless and hurtful trash may be avoided by consulting it4--,american ,historical ,record4 ,,ii4 ,,fourth ,,edition4 ,,what ,,to ,,eat4 ,a ,manual for the ,housekeeper3 giving a ,bill of ,fare for every day in the year4 #acd ,pages4 ,cloth1 #ge cts4 ,compact1 suggestive1 and full of good ideas4--,many ,housekeepers4 ,it can hardly fail to prove a valuable aid to housekeepers who are brought to their wits' end to know what to get for the day's meals4--,san ,francisco ,bulletin4 ,putnams' ,series of ,popular ,manuals4 ,,half-,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,microscope4 7,shortly47 ,by ,,edwin ,,lankester1 ,m4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,illustrated by #bej ,drawings from ,nature4 #abmo1 cloth1 #a4be4 ,this beautiful little volume is a very complete manual for the amateur microscopist4 99 99 99 ,the ',half-,hours' are filled with clear and agreeable descriptions1 whilst eight plates1 executed with the most beautiful minuteness and sharpness1 exhibit no less than #bej objects with the utmost attainable distinctness4--,critic4 ,,half-,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,telescope3 ,being a popular ,guide to the ,use of the ,telescope as a means of ,amusement and ,instruction4 ,adapted to inexpensive instruments4 ,by ,r4 ,a4 ,,proctor1 ,b4,a41 ,f4,r4,a4,s4 #abmo1 cloth1 with illustrations on stone and wood4 ,price1 #a4be4 ,it is crammed with starry plates on wood and stone1 and among the celestial phenomena described or figured1 by far the larger number may be profitably examined with small telescopes4--,illustrated ,times4 ,,half-,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,stars3 ,a ,plain and ,easy ,guide to the ,knowledge of the ,constellations1 showing in #ab ,maps1 the ,position of the ,principal ,star-,groups ,night after ,night throughout the ,year1 with introduction and a separate explanation of each ,map4 ,true for every ,year4 ,by ,,richard ,a4 ,,proctor1 ,b4,a41 ,f4,r4,a4,s4 ,demy #dto4 ,price1 #b4be4 ,nothing so well calculated to give a rapid and thorough knowledge of the position of the stars in the firmament has ever been designed or published hitherto4 ,mr4 ,proctor's ',half-,hours with the ,stars' will become a text-book in all schools1 and an invaluable aid to all teachers of the young4--,weekly ,times4 ,,manual ,,of ,,popular ,,physiology3 ,being an ,attempt to ,explain the ,science of ,life in ,untechnical ,language4 ,by ,,henry ,,lawson1 ,m4,d4 #ahmo1 with #ij ,illustrations4 ,price1 #a4be4 ,man's ,mechanism1 ,life1 ,force1 ,food1 ,digestion1 ,respiration1 ,heat1 the ,skin1 the ,kidneys1 ,nervous ,system1 ,organs of ,sense1 c41 c41 c4 ,dr ,lawson has succeeded in rendering his manual amusing as well as instructive4 ,all the great facts in human physiology are presented to the reader successively2 and either for private reading or for classes1 this manual will be found well adapted for initiating the uninformed into the mysteries of the structure and function of their own bodies4--,athenum4 ,a ,,dictionary ,,of ,,derivations ,of the ,english ,language1 in which each word is traced to its primary root4 ,forming a ,text-,book of ,etymology1 with ,definitions and the ,pronunciation of each word4 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,a ,,hand ,,book ,,of ,,synonyms ,of the ,english ,language1 with ,definitions1 c4 #afmo1 cloth4 #a4jj4 symbol3 triangle ,these two ,manuals are very comprehensive in a small compass4 ,,in ,,course ,,of ,,publication4 ,putnam's ,elementary and ,advanced ,science ,series1 ,adapted to the requirements of ,students in ,science and ,art ,classes1 and ,higher and ,middle ,class ,schools4 ,,elementary ,,series4 ,printed uniformly in #afmo1 fully ,illustrated1 cloth extra1 price1 #ge cents each4 #a4 ,,practical ,,plane ,,and ,,solid ,,geometry4 ,by ,h4 ,angel1 ,islington ,science ,school1 ,london4 #b4 ,,machine ,,construction ,,and ,,drawing4 ,by ,e4 ,tomkins1 ,queen's ,college1 ,liverpool4 #c;,a4 ,,building ,,construction--,,stone1 ,,brick ,,and ,,slate ,,work4 ,by ,r4 ,s4 ,burn1 ,c4,e41 ,manchester4 #c;,b4 ,,building ,,construction--,,timber ,,and ,,iron ,,work4 ,by ,r4 ,s4 ,burn1 ,c4,e41 ,manchester4 #d4 ,,naval ,,architecture--,,shipbuilding ,,and ,,laying ,,off4 ,by ,s4 ,j4 ,p4 ,thearle1 ,f4,r4,s4,n4,a41 ,london4 #e4 ,,pure ,,mathematics4 ,by ,lewis ,sergeant1 ,b4,a41 7,camb417 ,london4 #f4 ,,theoretical ,,mechanics4 ,by ,william ,rossiter1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 ,f4,c4,s41 ,london4 #g4 ,,applied ,,mechanics4 ,by ,william ,rossiter1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 ,london4 #h4 ,,acoustics1 ,,light ,,and ,,heat4 ,by ,william ,lees1 ,a4,m41 ,lecturer on ,physics1 ,edinburgh4 #i4 ,,magnetism ,,and ,,electricity4 ,by ,john ,angell1 ,senior ,science ,master1 ,grammar ,school1 ,manchester4 #aj4 ,,inorganic ,,chemistry4 ,by ,dr4 ,w4 ,b4 ,kemshead1 ,f4,r4,a4,s41 ,dulwich ,college1 ,london4 #aa4 ,,organic ,,chemistry4 ,by ,w4 ,marshall ,watts1 ,d4,sc41 7,lond417 ,grammar ,school1 ,giggleswick4 #ab4 ,,geology4 ,by4 ,w4 ,s4 ,davis1 ,,ll4,d41 ,derby4 #ac4 ,,mineralogy4 ,by ,j4 ,h4 ,collins1 ,f4,g4,s41 ,royal ,cornwall ,polytechnic ,society1 ,falmouth4 #ad4 ,,animal ,,physiology4 ,by ,john ,angell1 ,senior ,science ,master1 ,grammar ,school1 ,manchester4 #ae4 ,,zoology4 ,by ,m4 ,harbison1 ,head-,master ,model ,schools1 ,newtonards4 #af4 ,,vegetable ,,anatomy ,,and ,,physiology4 ,by ,j4 ,h4 ,balfour1 ,m4,d41 ,edinburgh ,university4 #ag4 ,,systematic ,,and ,,economic ,,botany4 ,by ,j4 ,h4 ,balfour1 ,m4,d41 ,edinburgh ,university4 #ai4 ,,metallurgy4 ,by ,john ,mayer1 ,f4,c4,s41 ,glasgow4 #bj4 ,,navigation4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,plymouth4 #ba4 ,,nautical ,,astronomy4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d4 #bb;,a4 ,,steam ,,and ,,the ,,steam ,,engine--,,land ,,and ,,marine4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,plymouth4 #bb;,b4 ,,steam ,,and ,,steam ,,engine--,,locomotive4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,plymouth4 #bc4 ,,physical ,,geography4 ,by ,john ,macturk1 ,f4,r4,g4,s4 #bd4 ,,practical ,,chemistry4 ,by ,john ,howard1 ,london4 #be4 ,,astronomy4 ,by ,j4 ,j4 ,plummer1 ,observatory1 ,durham4 ,,in ,,course ,,of ,,publication4 ,,advanced ,,science ,,series4 ,adapted to the requirements of ,students in ,science and ,art ,classes1 and ,higher and ,middle ,class ,schools4 ,printed uniformly in #abmo1 averaging #cej pp41 fully ,illustrated1 cloth extra1 price1 #a4ej each4 #a4 ,,practical ,,plane ,,and ,,solid ,,geometry4 ,by ,professor ,f4 ,a4 ,bradley1 ,london4 #b4 ,,machine ,,construction ,,and ,,drawing4 ,by ,e4 ,tomkins1 ,queen's ,college1 ,liverpool4 #c4 ,,building ,,construction4 ,by ,r4 ,scott ,burn1 ,c4,e4 #d4 ,,naval ,,architecture--,,shipbuilding ,,and ,,laying ,,off4 ,by ,s4 ,j4 ,p4 ,thearle1 ,f4,r4,s4,n4,a41 ,london4 #e4 ,,pure ,,mathematics4 ,by ,edward ,atkins1 ,b4,sc41 7,lond417 ,leicester4 #b vols4 #f4 ,,theoretical ,,mechanics4 ,by ,p4 ,guthrie ,tait1 ,professor of ,natural ,philosophy1 ,edinburgh4 #g4 ,,applied ,,mechanics4 ,by ,professor ,o4 ,reynolds1 ,owens ,college1 ,manchester4 #h4 ,,acoustics1 ,,light ,,and ,,heat4 ,by ,w4 ,s4 ,davis1 ,,ll4,d41 ,derby4 #i4 ,,magnetism ,,and ,,electricity4 ,by ,f4 ,guthrie1 ,b4,a41 ,ph4,d41 ,royal ,school of ,mines1 ,london4 #aj4 ,,inorganic ,,chemistry4 ,by ,t4 ,e4 ,thorpe1 ,ph4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4,e41 ,professor of ,chemistry1 ,andersonian ,university1 ,glasgow #b ,vols4 #aa4 ,,organic ,,chemistry4 ,by ,james ,dewar1 ,f4,r4,s4,e41 ,f4,c4,s41 ,lecturer on ,chemistry1 ,edinburgh4 #ab4 ,,geology4 ,by ,john ,young1 ,m4,d41 ,professor of ,natural ,history1 ,glasgow ,university4 #ad4 ,,animal ,,physiology4 ,by ,j4 ,cleland1 ,m4,d41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,professor of ,anatomy and ,physiology1 ,galway4 #ae4 ,,zoology4 ,by ,e4 ,ray ,lankester1 ,m4,a41 7,oxon417 ,london4 #af4 ,,vegetable ,,anatomy ,,and ,,physiology4 ,by ,j4 ,h4 ,balfour1 ,m4,d41 ,edinburgh ,university4 #ag4 ,,systematic ,,and ,,economic ,,botany4 ,by ,j4 ,h4 ,balfour1 ,m4,d41 ,edinburgh ,university4 #ai4 ,,metallurgy4 ,by ,w4 ,h4 ,greenwood1 ,a4,r4,s4,m4 #b ,vols4 #bj4 ,,navigation4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,professor of ,applied ,mechanics1 ,plymouth4 #ba4 ,,nautical ,,astronomy4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,plymouth4 #bb4 ,,steam ,,and ,,the ,,steam ,,engine--,,land1 ,,marine1 ,,and ,,locomotive4 ,by ,henry ,evers1 ,,ll4,d41 ,plymouth4 #bc4 ,,physical ,,geography4 ,by ,john ,young1 ,m4,d41 ,professor of ,natural ,history1 ,glasgow ,university4 ,,iv4 ,,for ,,reference1 ,,libraries ,,and ,,for ,,family ,,use4 ,,the ,,international ,,atlas1 ,,geographical1 ,,political1 ,,classical ,,and ,,historical1 consisting of #fe ,maps1 #ce of ,modern ,geography1 showing all the latest ,discoveries and changes of ,boundaries1 and #cj of ,historical and ,classical ,geography1 with descriptive ,letter-press of ,historical and ,classical ,geography1 by ,,wm4 ,f4 ,,collier1 ,,ll4,d41 and ,,leonard ,,schmitz1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,contents4 ,,introduction ,,to ,,historical ,,geography1 ,,by ,w4 ,f4 ,,collier1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,introduction ,,to ,,classical ,,geography1 ,,by ,,leon4 ,,schmitz1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,modern ,,geography4 #a4 ,,the ,,eastern ,,and ,,western ,,hemispheres4 #b4 ,,the ,,world1 7,,on ,,mercator',s ,,projection47 #c4 ,,europe4 #d4 ,,asia4 #e4 ,,africa4 #f4 ,,north ,,america4 #g4 ,,south ,,america4 #h4 ,,england ,,and ,,wales4 #i4 ,,scotland4 #aj4 ,,ireland4 #aa4 ,,france4 #ab4 ,,holland ,,and ,,belgium4 #ac4 ,,switzerland4 #ad4 ,,spain ,,and ,,portugal4 #ae4 ,,italy4 #af4 ,,sweden ,,and ,,norway1 ,,denmark ,,and ,,the ,,baltic4 #ag4 ,,german ,,empire4 #ah4 ,,austria4 #ai4 ,,russia4 #bj4 ,,turkey ,,in ,,europe ,,greece4 #ba4 ,,india4 #bb4 ,,persia4 ,,afghanistan1 ,,and ,,beloochistan4 #bc4 ,,turkey ,,in ,,asia4 #bd4 ,,chinese ,,empire ,,and ,,japan4 #be4 ,,arabia1 ,,egypt1 ,,nubia1 ,,and ,,abyssinia4 #bf4 ,,palestine4 #bg4 ,,dominion ,,of ,,canada4 #bh4 #bh;a1 #bh;b1 #bh;c4 ,,united ,,states4 #bi4 ,,west ,,indies ,,and ,,central ,,america4 #cj4 ,,australia4 #ca4 ,,victoria1 ,,new ,,south ,,wales1 ,,and ,,south ,,australia4 #cb4 ,,new ,,zealand4 ,,historical ,,geography4 #cc4 ,,britain ,,under ,,the ,,romans4 #cd4 ,,britain ,,under ,,the ,,saxons4 #ce4 ,,historical ,,map ,,of ,,the ,,british ,,islands1 ,,from ,a4 ,d4 #ajff4 #cf4 ,,france ,,and ,,belgium1 ,,illustrating ,,british ,,history4 #cg4 ,,roman ,,empire1 ,,eastern ,,and ,,western1 #dth ,,century4 #ch4 ,,europe4 #fth ,,century1 ,,showing ,,settlements ,,of ,,the ,,barbarian ,,tribes4 #ci4 ,,europe1 #ith ,,century1 ,,showing ,,empire ,,of ,,charlemagne4 #dj4 ,,europe1 #ajth ,,century1 ,,at ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,the ,,german ,,empire4 #da4 ,,europe1 #abth ,,century1 ,,at ,,the ,,time ,,of ,,the ,,crusaders4 #db4 ,,europe1 #afth ,,century1 ,,at ,,the ,,eve ,,of ,,the ,,reformation4 #dc4 ,,germany1 #afth ,,century1 ,,reformation ,,and ,,thirty ,,years' ,,war4 #dd4 ,,europe1 #ag,,th ,,and #ah,,th ,,centuries4 #de4 ,,europe ,,at ,,the ,,peace ,,of #ahae4 #df4 ,,europe ,,in #ahga4 #dg4 ,,india1 ,,illustrating ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,the ,,british ,,empire4 #dh4 ,,world1 ,,on ,,mercator',s ,,projection1 ,,showing ,,voyages ,,of ,,discovery4 ,,classical ,,geography4 #di4 ,,orbis ,,veteribus ,,hotus4 #ej4 ,,gyptus4 #ea4 ,,regnum ,,alexandri ,,magni4 #eb4 ,,macedonia1 ,,thracia1 c4 #ec4 ,,imperium ,,romanum4 #ed4 ,,gr,,cia4 #ee4 ,,italia1 7,,septentrionalis47 #ef4 ,,italia1 7,,meridionalis47 #eg4 ,,armenia1 ,,mesopotamia1 c4 #eh4 ,,asia ,,minor4 #ei4 ,,palestine1 7,,temp4 ,,christi47 #fj4 ,,gallia4 #fa4 ,,hispania4 #fb4 ,,germania1 c4 ,,with ,a ,,copious ,,index4 #hvo4 cloth1 extra #f4jj ,putnam's ,series of ,atlases4 ,v4 ,,the ,,student',s ,,atlas ,,of ,,classical ,,geography4 ,containing #ae ,maps1 ,imperial #hvo2 with descriptive letter-press1 by ,l4 ,,schmitz1 ,,ll4,d4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,student',s ,,atlas ,,of ,,historical ,,geography4 ,consisting of #af ,maps1 ,imperial #hvo42 ,constructed and ,engraved by ,miller1 with descriptive letter-press by ,,william ,f4 ,,collier1 ,,ll4,d41 and full index4 ,cloth1 #a4ej4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,student',s ,,atlas ,,of ,,historical ,,and ,,classical ,,geography4 7,the two above works bound together47 ,containing #cj ,maps1 with descriptive letter-press4 ,cloth1 #b4ej4 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,portable ,,atlas ,,of ,,modern ,,geography4 ,constructed and ,engraved by ,,john ,,bartholomew1 ,f4,r4,a4,s4 ,with #af ,maps4 ,imperial #hvo41 cloth1 #a4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,atlas ,,of ,,scripture ,,geography4 #af ,maps1 with ,questions on each ,map4 #a4 ,the ,ancient ,world4 #b4 ,countries ,mentioned in the ,scriptures4 #c4 ,canaan1 in the time of the ,patriarchs4 #d4 ,journeyings of the ,israelites4 #f4 ,dominions of ,david and ,solomon4 #g4 ,countries of the ,jewish ,captivities4 #h4 ,palestine in the time of ,christ4 #i4 ,modern ,palestine4 #aj4 ,journeys of the ,apostle ,paul4 #ab4 ,the distribution of the ,prevailing ,religions of the ,world4 #ac4 ,the ,tabernacle1 ,camp1 c4 #ad4 ,solomon's ,temple and ,herod's ,temple4 #ae4 ,ancient ,jerusalem4 #af4 ,modern ,jerusalem4 ,small #dto1 flexible cloth1 #ge cents4 ,some few of the ,,criticisms on ,,putnam',s ,,series ,,of ,,atlases4 ,,the ,,international ,,atlas 99 99 is handsome and accurate1 beautifully engraved and exquisitely colored 99 99 99 of exceptional completeness4--,n4 ,y4 ,evening ,mail4 ,the ,maps are well executed1 and the work is most convenient for reference4--,n4 ,y4 ,tribune4 ,the ,maps of the ,,classical ,,atlas1 are of exquisite clearness and beauty4--,christian ,union4 ,the ,maps of the ,,portable ,,atlas1 are excellent1 and the series to which it belongs contains the best low-priced atlases in the market4--,n4 ,y4 ,evening ,mail4 ,the ,,scripture ,,atlas is full1 accurate1 clear and portable4--,christian ,union4 ,we refer to it with edification and delight4--,rhode ,island ,schoolmaster4 ,a very complete and compendious work1 apparently accurate and in beautiful style4--,rev4 ,stephen ,h4 ,tyng1 ,d4,d4 ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons41 ,fourth ,avenue and ,twenty-,third ,street4