Guided by the laws of development which we have found physiology toteach, and warned by the punishments, in the shape of weakness anddisease, which we have shown their infringement to bring about, and ofwhich our present methods of female education furnish innumerableexamples, it is not difficult to discern certain physiologicalprinciples that limit and control the education, and, consequently,the co-education of our youth. These principles we have learned tobe, three for the two sexes in common, and one for the peculiaritiesof the female sex. The three common to both, the three to which bothare subjected, and for which wise methods of education will provide inthe case of both, are, 1st, a sufficient supply of appropriatenutriment. This of course includes good air and good water andsufficient warmth, as much as bread and butter; oxygen and sunlight,as much as meat. 2d, Mental and physical work and regimen soapportioned, that repair shall exceed waste, and a margin be left fordevelopment. This includes out-of-door exercise and appropriate waysof dressing, as much as the hours of study, and the number and sort ofstudies. 3d, Sufficient sleep. This includes the best time forsleeping, as well as the proper number of hours for sleep. It excludesthe "murdering of sleep," by late hours of study and the crowding ofstudies, as much as by wine or tea or dissipation. All these guide andlimit the education of the two sexes very much alike. The principleor condition peculiar to the female sex is the management of thecatamenial function, which, from the age of fourteen to nineteen,includes the building of the reproductive apparatus. This imposes uponwomen, and especially upon the young woman, a great care, acorresponding duty, and compensating privileges. There is only afeeble counterpart to it in the male organization; and, in his moralconstitution, there cannot be found the fine instincts and quickperceptions that have their root in this mechanism, and correlate itsfunctions. This lends to her development and to all her work arhythmical or periodical order, which must be recognized and obeyed."In this recognition of the chronometry of organic process, there isunquestionably great promise for the future; for it is plain that theobservance of time in the motions of organic molecules is as certainand universal, if not as exact, as that of the heavenly bodies."[24]Periodicity characterizes the female organization, and developesfeminine force. Persistence characterizes the male organization, anddevelops masculine force. Education will draw the best out of each byadjusting its methods to the periodicity of one and the persistence ofthe other.
Before going farther, it is essential to acquire a definite notion ofwhat is meant, or, at least, of what we mean in this discussion, bythe term co-education. Following its etymology, _con-educare_, itsignifies to draw out together, or to unite in education; and thisunion refers to the time and place, rather than to the methods andkinds of education. In this sense any school or college may utilizeits buildings, apparatus, and instructors to give appropriateeducation to the two sexes as well as to different ages of the samesex. This is juxtaposition in education. When the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology teaches one class of young men chemistry, andanother class engineering, in the same building and at the same time,it co-educates those two classes. In this sense it is possible thatmany advantages might be obtained from the co-education of the sexes,that would more than counterbalance the evils of crowding largenumbers of them together. This sort of co-education does not excludeappropriate classification, nor compel the two sexes to follow thesame methods or the same regimen.
Another signification of co-education, and, as we apprehend, the onein which it is commonly used, includes time, place, government,methods, studies, and regimen. This is identical co-education. Thismeans, that boys and girls shall be taught the same things, at thesame time, in the same place, by the same faculty, with the samemethods, and under the same regimen. This admits age and proficiency,but not sex, as a factor in classification. It is against theco-education of the sexes, in this sense of identical co-education,that physiology protests; and it is this identity of education, theprominent characteristic of our American school-system, that hasproduced the evils described in the clinical part of this essay, andthat threatens to push the degeneration of the female sex stillfarther on. In these pages, co-education of the sexes is used in itscommon acceptation of identical co-education.
Let us look for a moment at what identical co-education is. The lawhas, or had, a maxim, that a man and his wife are one, and that theone is the man. Modern American education has a maxim, that boys'schools and girls' schools are one, and that the one is the boys'school. Schools have been arranged, accordingly, to meet therequirements of the masculine organization. Studies have been selectedthat experience has proved to be appropriate to a boy's intellectualdevelopment, and a regimen adopted, while pursuing them, appropriateto his physical development. His school and college life, his methodsof study, recitations, exercises, and recreations, are ordered uponthe supposition, that, barring disease or infirmity, punctualattendance upon the hours of recitation, and upon all other duties intheir season and order, may be required of him continuously, in spiteof ennui, inclement weather, or fatigue; that there is no week in themonth, or day in the week, or hour in the day, when it is a physicalnecessity to relieve him from standing or from studying,--fromphysical effort or mental labor; that the chapel-bell may safely callhim to morning prayer from New Year to Christmas, with the assurance,that, if the going does not add to his stock of piety, it will notdiminish his stock of health; that he may be sent to the gymnasium andthe examination-hall, to the theatres of physical and intellectualdisplay at any time,--in short, that he develops health and strength,blood and nerve, intellect and life, by a regular, uninterrupted, andsustained course of work. And all this is justified both by experienceand physiology.
Before going farther, it is essential to acquire a definite notion ofwhat is meant, or, at least, of what we mean in this discussion, bythe term co-education. Following its etymology, _con-educare_, itsignifies to draw out together, or to unite in education; and thisunion refers to the time and place, rather than to the methods andkinds of education. In this sense any school or college may utilizeits buildings, apparatus, and instructors to give appropriateeducation to the two sexes as well as to different ages of the samesex. This is juxtaposition in education. When the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology teaches one class of young men chemistry, andanother class engineering, in the same building and at the same time,it co-educates those two classes. In this sense it is possible thatmany advantages might be obtained from the co-education of the sexes,that would more than counterbalance the evils of crowding largenumbers of them together. This sort of co-education does not excludeappropriate classification, nor compel the two sexes to follow thesame methods or the same regimen.
Another signification of co-education, and, as we apprehend, the onein which it is commonly used, includes time, place, government,methods, studies, and regimen. This is identical co-education. Thismeans, that boys and girls shall be taught the same things, at thesame time, in the same place, by the same faculty, with the samemethods, and under the same regimen. This admits age and proficiency,but not sex, as a factor in classification. It is against theco-education of the sexes, in this sense of identical co-education,that physiology protests; and it is this identity of education, theprominent characteristic of our American school-system, that hasproduced the evils described in the clinical part of this essay, andthat threatens to push the degeneration of the female sex stillfarther on. In these pages, co-education of the sexes is used in itscommon acceptation of identical co-education.
Let us look for a moment at what identical co-education is. The lawhas, or had, a maxim, that a man and his wife are one, and that theone is the man. Modern American education has a maxim, that boys'schools and girls' schools are one, and that the one is the boys'school. Schools have been arranged, accordingly, to meet therequirements of the masculine organization. Studies have been selectedthat experience has proved to be appropriate to a boy's intellectualdevelopment, and a regimen adopted, while pursuing them, appropriateto his physical development. His school and college life, his methodsof study, recitations, exercises, and recreations, are ordered uponthe supposition, that, barring disease or infirmity, punctualattendance upon the hours of recitation, and upon all other duties intheir season and order, may be required of him continuously, in spiteof ennui, inclement weather, or fatigue; that there is no week in themonth, or day in the week, or hour in the day, when it is a physicalnecessity to relieve him from standing or from studying,--fromphysical effort or mental labor; that the chapel-bell may safely callhim to morning prayer from New Year to Christmas, with the assurance,that, if the going does not add to his stock of piety, it will notdiminish his stock of health; that he may be sent to the gymnasium andthe examination-hall, to the theatres of physical and intellectualdisplay at any time,--in short, that he develops health and strength,blood and nerve, intellect and life, by a regular, uninterrupted, andsustained course of work. And all this is justified both by experienceand physiology.
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