350 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and men must result in disaster to the race, and the obstruction of 

 that progress and improvement which the history of the past shows to 

 be in store for both men and women in the future. So far as human 

 life in this world is concerned there can be no improvement which is 

 not accomplished in accordance with the laws of nature ; and, if it is 

 a natural law that the parts which the sexes perform in the natural 

 evolution of the race are complemental to each other, we can not hope 

 to accomplish anything by working in opposition to the natural meth- 

 od. We may, however, do much to hasten advancement by recog- 

 nizing and working in accordance with this method. 



It is no more than just, too, to point out that the peculiar bodily 

 organization and physiological functions of woman have nothing to do 

 with our conclusion. If the perpetuation of the human race were as 

 simple as that of the starfish, where the demands made upon the fe- 

 male organism during reproduction are no greater than those made 

 upon the male, the mind of woman would still be the organ of intel- 

 lectual heredity, and the mind of man the organ of intellectual varia- 

 tion. 



Up to this point I have simply indicated some of the differences 

 between the sexes which the study of the evolution of organisms 

 would lead us to expect. J shall now quote a few extracts from au- 

 thors whose writings upon the position of women are accepted as valu- 

 able contributions to our knowledge of the subject, in order to show 

 that they have recognized the existence of the very differences which 

 we have been led, by theoretical reasoning, to expect. 



Mill's essay on " The Subjection of Woman " must be regarded as 

 the most important contribution to the discussion of the relative posi- 

 tions of the sexes as related to future progress ; and it is interesting to 

 note that, while he holds that the existing differences are not natural, 

 but are due to the subjection of one sex by the other, he fully recog- 

 nizes certain profound and characteristic differences, which are precise- 

 ly in accordance with the present view of their origin and purpose. 

 Mill's evidence as to important differences between the sexes is of the 

 greatest value, both on account of the weight of his opinion in itself, 

 and on account of his being in this case an unwilling witness. He says : 

 " Looking at women as they are known in experience, it may be said 

 of them, with more truth than belongs to most generalizations on the 

 subject, that the general bent of their talents is toward the practical. 

 This statement is conformable to all the public history of women in 

 the present and in the past. It is no less borne out by common and 

 daily experience. Let us consider the special nature of the mental 

 capacities most characteristic of a woman of talent. They are all of 

 a kind which fits them for practice, and makes them tend toward it. 

 What is meant by a woman's capacity of intuitive perception ? It 

 means a rapid and correct insight into present facts. It has nothing to 

 do with general principles. Nobody ever perceived a scientific law of 



