276 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



That the time occupied in the establishment of ovulation is not the 

 true crisis in the development of woman. 



That undue value has been given to simple ovarian growth and 

 function as a factor in the development of womanly mental and struct- 

 ural peculiarities. 



Tliat in a state of health the incej^tion of the ovarian function is 

 never paroxysmal, or sudden. 



That perfect structural development is followed by perfect func- 

 tion, and that the reverse of this is true ; and, lastly — 



That early diseased ovulation is mainly the result of physical, 

 moral, and hygienic faults of the true crisis of woman — that of for- 

 mative childhood — rather than of the period of puberty. 



With these facts before us, is it not legitimate to assume that the 

 puberic period in woman's life has been over-estimated in its direct 

 influence upon her health at that and subsequent periods ? Instead 

 of curtailing her opportunities for work and study, by throwing 

 around her restraints, and, as it were, creating a disability oiit of a 

 natural function, transfer the attention and anxiety now lavished upon 

 her, to a period when all that makes woman in the best and noblest 

 sense is in a process of elaboration; for it is during this time of raj^id 

 structural change that the future good or bad health of the woman is 

 determined. Let healthy ovulation be the natural outcome of a 

 healthy childhood, and the function will obey its law of periodicity 

 year by year, and all this time the young woman is as able to sustain 

 uninterrupted physical and intellectual work as the young man. I do 

 not wish to be understood as saying that at puberty, or at any other 

 period of woman's life, the laws of health may be violated with im- 

 punity, but that a law of health is no more binding upon the young 

 woman than upon the young man ; that really there is no such thing 

 as one law for women, and another for men. But the law of the 

 woman is not the law of the child. The woman must follow those 

 laws of health which keep her healthy ; the child must be trained to 

 obey those which will insure health in the woman. If I am right in 

 tracing ovarian functional derangement mainly to the structural crisis, 

 it is evident that the child must be an object of careful attention. It 

 is not my purpose to mention the causes which will vitiate the devel- 

 opment of the child. I desire to direct attention to this period as one 

 full of danger to the future woman. Lest I be accused of ascribing 

 too many of the disasters to which the functional health of women is 

 liable to the period of childhood, I will say that women, and all the 

 functions peculiar to their sex, are liable to the accidents of disease at 

 any time; but, if we accept the evidence of the intelligent people who 

 have the opportunity of observing large numbers of young women in 

 schools and colleges, the early period of sexual function is not so 

 liable to disease as when women are called upon to j^erform some of 

 the higher duties of their being later in life. Neither is it my object 



