3 86 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



consolation of such husbands, however, I may add that rapidity of 

 perception as thus tested is no evidence of what may be termed the 

 deeper qualities of mind some of my slowest readers being highly 

 distinguished men. 



Lastly, rapidity of perception leads to rapidity of thought, and this 

 finds expression on the one hand in what is apt to appear as almost 

 intuitive insight, and on the other hand in that nimbleness of mother- 

 wit which is usually so noticeable and often so brilliant an endowment 

 of the feminine intelligence, whether it displays itself in tact, in repartee, 

 or in the general alacrity of a vivacious mind. 



Turning now to the emotions, we find that in woman, as contrasted 

 with man, these are almost always less under control of the will more 

 apt to break away, as it were, from the restraint of reason, and to 

 overwhelm the mental chariot in disaster. Whether this tendency 

 displays itself in the overmastering form of hysteria, or in the more 

 ordinary form of comparative childishness, ready annoyance, and a 

 generally unreasonable temper in whatever form this supremacy of 

 emotion displays itself, we recognize it as more of a feminine than a 

 masculine characteristic. The crying of a woman is not held to betray 

 the same depth of feeling as the sobs of a man ; and the petty forms 

 of resentment which belong to what is known as a " shrew," or a 

 " scold," are only to be met with among those daughters of Eve who 

 prove themselves least agreeable to the sons of Adam. Coyness and 

 caprice are very general peculiarities, and we may add, as kindred 

 traits, personal vanity, fondness of display, and delight in the sunshine 

 of admiration. There is also, as compared with the masculine mind, 

 a greater desire for emotional excitement of all kinds, and hence a 

 greater liking for society, pageants, and even for what are called 

 " scenes," provided these are not of a kind to alarm her no less charac- 

 teristic timidity. Again, in the opinion of Mr. Lecky, with which I 

 partly concur : 



In the courage of endurance they are commonly superior; but their passive 

 courage is not so much fortitude which bears and defies, as resignation which 

 bears and bends. In the ethics of intellect they are decidedly inferior. They 

 very rarely love truth, though they love passionately what they call "the truth," 

 or opinions which they have derived from others, and hate vehemently those 

 who differ from them. They are little capable of impartiality or doubt; their 

 thinking is chiefly a mode of feeling; though very generous in their acts, they 

 are rarely generous in their opinions or in their judgments. They persuade 

 rather than convince, and value belief as a source of consolation rather than as 

 a faithful expression of the reality of things. 



But, of course, as expressed in the well-known lines from "Marmi- 

 on," there is another side to this picture, and, in now taking leave of 

 all these elements of weakness, I must 6tate my honest conviction that 

 they are in chief part due to women as a class not having hitherto 

 enjoyed the same educational advantages as men. Upon this great 



