Before describing the special forms of ill that exist among ourAmerican, certainly among our New-England girls and women, and thatare often caused and fostered by our methods of education and socialcustoms, it is important to refer in considerable detail to a fewphysiological matters. Physiology serves to disclose the cause, andexplain the _modus operandi_, of these ills, and offers the onlyrational clew to their prevention and relief. The order in which thephysiological data are presented that bear upon this discussion is notessential; their relation to the subject matter of it will be obviousas we proceed.
The sacred number, three, dominates the human frame. There is atrinity in our anatomy. Three systems, to which all the organs aredirectly or indirectly subsidiary, divide and control the body. First,there is the nutritive system, composed of stomach, intestines, liver,pancreas, glands, and vessels, by which food is elaborated, effetematter removed, the blood manufactured, and the whole organizationnourished. This is the commissariat. Secondly, there is the nervoussystem, which co-ordinates all the organs and functions; which enablesman to entertain relations with the world around him, and with hisfellows; and through which intellectual power is manifested, and humanthought and reason made possible. Thirdly, there is the reproductivesystem, by which the race is continued, and its grasp on the earthassured. The first two of these systems are alike in each sex. Theyare so alike, that they require a similar training in each, and yieldin each a similar result. The machinery of them is the same. Noscalpel has disclosed any difference between a man's and a woman'sliver. No microscope has revealed any structure, fibre, or cell, inthe brain of man or woman, that is not common to both. No analysis ordynamometer has discovered or measured any chemical action ornerve-force that stamps either of these systems as male or female.From these anatomical and physiological data alone, the inference islegitimate, that intellectual power, the correlation and measure ofcerebral structure and metamorphosis, is capable of equal developmentin both sexes. With regard to the reproductive system, the case isaltogether different. Woman, in the interest of the race, is doweredwith a set of organs peculiar to herself, whose complexity, delicacy,sympathies, and force are among the marvels of creation. If properlynurtured and cared for, they are a source of strength and power toher. If neglected and mismanaged, they retaliate upon their possessorwith weakness and disease, as well of the mind as of the body. God wasnot in error, when, after Eve's creation, he looked upon his work,and pronounced it good. Let Eve take a wise care of the temple Godmade for her, and Adam of the one made for him, and both will enterupon a career whose glory and beauty no seer has foretold or poetsung.
Ever since the time of Hippocrates, woman has been physiologicallydescribed as enjoying, and has always recognized herself as enjoying,or at least as possessing, a tri-partite life. The first periodextends from birth to about the age of twelve or fifteen years; thesecond, from the end of the first period to about the age offorty-five; and the third, from the last boundary to the final passageinto the unknown. The few years that are necessary for the voyage fromthe first to the second period, and those from the second to thethird, are justly called critical ones. Mothers are, or should be,wisely anxious about the first passage for their daughters, and womenare often unduly apprehensive about the second passage for themselves.All this is obvious and known; and yet, in our educationalarrangements, little heed is paid to the fact, that the first ofthese critical voyages is made during a girl's educational life, andextends over a very considerable portion of it.
The sacred number, three, dominates the human frame. There is atrinity in our anatomy. Three systems, to which all the organs aredirectly or indirectly subsidiary, divide and control the body. First,there is the nutritive system, composed of stomach, intestines, liver,pancreas, glands, and vessels, by which food is elaborated, effetematter removed, the blood manufactured, and the whole organizationnourished. This is the commissariat. Secondly, there is the nervoussystem, which co-ordinates all the organs and functions; which enablesman to entertain relations with the world around him, and with hisfellows; and through which intellectual power is manifested, and humanthought and reason made possible. Thirdly, there is the reproductivesystem, by which the race is continued, and its grasp on the earthassured. The first two of these systems are alike in each sex. Theyare so alike, that they require a similar training in each, and yieldin each a similar result. The machinery of them is the same. Noscalpel has disclosed any difference between a man's and a woman'sliver. No microscope has revealed any structure, fibre, or cell, inthe brain of man or woman, that is not common to both. No analysis ordynamometer has discovered or measured any chemical action ornerve-force that stamps either of these systems as male or female.From these anatomical and physiological data alone, the inference islegitimate, that intellectual power, the correlation and measure ofcerebral structure and metamorphosis, is capable of equal developmentin both sexes. With regard to the reproductive system, the case isaltogether different. Woman, in the interest of the race, is doweredwith a set of organs peculiar to herself, whose complexity, delicacy,sympathies, and force are among the marvels of creation. If properlynurtured and cared for, they are a source of strength and power toher. If neglected and mismanaged, they retaliate upon their possessorwith weakness and disease, as well of the mind as of the body. God wasnot in error, when, after Eve's creation, he looked upon his work,and pronounced it good. Let Eve take a wise care of the temple Godmade for her, and Adam of the one made for him, and both will enterupon a career whose glory and beauty no seer has foretold or poetsung.
Ever since the time of Hippocrates, woman has been physiologicallydescribed as enjoying, and has always recognized herself as enjoying,or at least as possessing, a tri-partite life. The first periodextends from birth to about the age of twelve or fifteen years; thesecond, from the end of the first period to about the age offorty-five; and the third, from the last boundary to the final passageinto the unknown. The few years that are necessary for the voyage fromthe first to the second period, and those from the second to thethird, are justly called critical ones. Mothers are, or should be,wisely anxious about the first passage for their daughters, and womenare often unduly apprehensive about the second passage for themselves.All this is obvious and known; and yet, in our educationalarrangements, little heed is paid to the fact, that the first ofthese critical voyages is made during a girl's educational life, andextends over a very considerable portion of it.
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