This page needs to be proofread.

sympathetic, either by continuity or contiguity of tissue; her very skin is most highly endowed with the power of spreading and repeating in every part that which is felt at a single point.

Her periodical function is designed to disembarrass her system of the excess of blood whenever it is unemployed in generation. Its appearance announces the period of puberty, and its definite cessation marks the age when she is no longer apt for conception. Its suspension occurs during pregnancy and lactation, while its absence at other times is a sign of sterility. Woman may then be said to be consecrated, during the finest years of her life, to the propagation and nutrition of the species. The sentiment of maternity is of innate force, since it is manifested in the hearts of children. A little girl of five years was placed in temporary charge over some children younger than herself, in an asylum. She was observed to be weeping, and when asked the reason, replied, "My children are not good." A boy would have said "My pupils," and would have probably scolded them instead of weeping over them. The little girl manifests her proclivities in the care which she bestows upon her doll, and the pleasure she derives from plays which simulate household duties. Everything which relates to material life interests her. The boy, on the contrary, disdains these kinds of amusement, and delights in imitating the affairs of public life, such as the military art, religious ceremonies, travels, equestrian exercises, etc., according to his individual tastes and temperament.

The advent of puberty in the two sexes is marked by vast dissimilarity. "Woman, in advancing toward puberty, withdraws more sensibly than man from her primitive constitution. Delicate and tender, she always preserves