HYGIENE IN THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 523 



female brain has been estimated at from five to six ounces less than 

 that of the average male brain, and a general inferiority in size exists 

 at every period of life, from the new-born infant to old age. Not only 

 has this comparative decrease in size been determined, but it has been 

 ascertained that the female brain is relatively smaller than that of the 

 male, as compared to the weight of her body, and researches on this 

 subject have shown that, while the encephalon of the female is ten per 

 cent, less in weight than that of the male, her total bodily weight is 

 only eight per cent. less. The brains of diflFerent races vary greatly 

 in size, but whether it be in the most highly civilized nations, or in 

 the lowest savages, the encephalon of the female is always compara- 

 tively and relatively smaller than that of the male. These facts show 

 that the difference in size and weight is obviously a fundamental sex- 

 ual distinction, and not one which can be explained on the hypothesis 

 that the educational advantages enjoyed either by the individual man 

 or by the male sex generally, operating through a long series of gen- 

 erations, have stimulated the growth of the brain in one sex more than 

 in the other. All other circumstances being alike, the size of the brain 

 appears to bear a genei'al relation to the mental power of the individ- 

 ual. There are doubtless exceptions to this rule, but unquestionably 

 the general axiom holds good in large averages ; therefore, as the organ 

 of intellect in the female is smaller and lighter than that in the male, 

 we may fairly assume that it is less capable of such high and extended 

 mental powers. It is justly stated that quality as well as quantity 

 should be considered, but of this we can only judge by results, in 

 which case it must also be conceded that women are at a disadvantage. 

 This assumption, if it can not be anatomically demonstrated, is amply 

 proved by facts. From the beginning of the world, as man has been 

 characterized by his physical force as compared to woman, so has he 

 been remarkable for his superiority of intellectual power. At every 

 age, in every country and climate, and under every circumstance, we 

 find that in the highest qualities of mind, of reason, judgment, genius, 

 inventive power, capacity for acquiring and utilizing knowledge, man 

 stands preeminent. It is true that there have been some noble and 

 illustrious women who have proved themselves of the highest mental 

 capacity, and who have risen to the first rank in various departments 

 of intellectual culture, but it must be admitted that these are rare 

 exceptions, and that even they in every particular have been enor- 

 mously outnumbered and surpassed by men. It may then be reasoned 

 that the female has hitherto not had the opportunities or education 

 necessary to fit her to place herself on an equality with the other sex. 

 This argument of itself proves that she has not been born with the 

 mental force to assert her pretensions, for it can not be maintained 

 that physical strength alone could have forced her into a secondary 

 intellectual position. Besides, it is not so : for in literature, poetry, 

 music, art, and in numerous other branches of study in which she has 



