166 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



the statistics of the Patent Office show only one invention in every 

 twenty for the liglitening of woman's work. This may be due partly 

 to the lack of inventive genius on the part of woman herself, for 

 we are told by the same statistics, that there are twenty male in- 

 ventors to one female, notwithstanding the fact that woman has 

 always had the credit of possessing largely a certain kind of inventive 

 genius. Or may it not be because of her gentle and uncomplaining 

 disposition, that she so williugly performs the routine of every-day- 

 life, with only the sewing machine, washer, and churn, as the pro- 

 ducts of the brain to aid her. And these are to be found only in 

 the homes of the thrifty, while the horticulturist and agriculturist 

 have their machines for every department of work. But fear not, 

 busy housewife, for in this progressive and inventive age, we opine 

 it will not be long ere the family ironing, bread making, and pastry 

 cooking will be done by machinery, with electricity for the motive 

 power instead of human strength and muscle. And now, while the 

 inventor's art has done so much to lighten the labor of the horticul- 

 turist, science and research have done much more toward enabling 

 him to grjw the products of the soil to perfection, and he would be 

 lost indeed without his Scientific American or Agricultural Journal. 

 And while the farmer and fruit-grower anxiously looks for, and is ben- 

 efited by the perusal of these papers, the good wife as anxiously looks 

 for the suggestions to be found in the Home Journal, Floral Cabinet, 

 Household, and other equally as good periodicals, and profits by the 

 by the hints to be found in them on " home adornment," the culin- 

 ary art, the all-absorbing matter of dress with the least expense, and, 

 in fact, everything pertaining to the family. 



What halcyon days then, in this respect, are these for the horti- 

 culturist and the housewife. When we remember that fifty years 

 ago such a thing as a paper devoted io farming alone was not known, 

 and when the housewife was quite content with the advent into her 

 home, twelve times a year, of Godeifs Ladg's Book, or Peterson's 

 Magazine, with little to interest or instruct aside from the weak, 

 washy love stories they contained. And to my sisters of leisure 

 and fortune, who live a life of ease and idleness, if any there be 

 present, they know not the peaceful content enjoyed by the thrifty 

 housewife, after the day's toil, when she lies down to rest with the 

 consciousness of having passed a well-spent day in laboring for 

 those she loves. And, if seeking for happiness you will find it in 

 the homes of the industrious and contented, and not in the homes 

 of the indolent and aimless. 



The Roman catechism made sloth one of the seven mortal sins, 

 and Goethe said "that more harni was done by laziness than by ac- 

 tual sin," 



There is no need of any one living an aimless life, for the field 

 is wide, and in the words of the poet, — 



