MORAL INFLUENCE OF PUBERAL DEVELOPMENT 207
the pupils of the military gymnasia, he found that those refrac- tory to education were, according to their ages, divided in the following proportions :
Of the age of 1 1 >^ years ... - 2.5 percent.
" " " " 12 " 6.1 " "
" " *' ** T^ ** ... - 21 7 " "
" " " " 14 " 20.0 " "
" " " " 15 " .... 21.0 " "
" " " " 16 " 6.2 ■'
« ,. .... ,7 .. .... 1.2 "
In Russia, as is well known, the development of puberty is early, either on account of the character of the race or on account of the use of stoves.'
In the feminine world I have studied the character and the conduct of the girls in the Barolo Home in Turin. In this insti- tution are received poor girls, already delinquent, who propose to reform and return to an honest life. The same cause of per- turbation exists for them as for the boys of the Casa Benefica. As they are admitted at every age from eleven to twenty years, although the other conditions exist required by the rules of the establishment, the disciplinability must naturally present varia- tions which depend upon other factors than the age, especially upon the frequent lack of education up to the time of admission.
"The most difficult age to govern," said to me a man who had charge of the education of the inmates, "is always that from fourteen to sixteen years ; the girls at that age are regular little devils {veri demonietti) ; they blaze up for the least reason ; they would tire the patience of a saint."
The prevailing characteristic of girls of this age is the eager- ness to make themselves interesting, and this is natural. Coquetry is an integral part of the character of woman. Nature and social conventions have assigned to her a rather passive part in sexual choice. Hence the need of attracting the attention of others is instinctive, and in this her choice can fall only on the means left
■ Dr. L. Dunaud, Report of the Fourth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, Vol. II, p. 408. Geneva, 1883.
