HYGIENE IN THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 525 



of inferior anatomical construction to that of man, and that in conse- 

 quence her intellectual powers differ from his, both in degree and in 

 character. 



The Disposition of Woman, — Voltaire has said, " le physique 

 gouverne toujours le morale," which is strikingly illustrated by the 

 present inquiry. In the lower animals there is a marked difference in 

 the disposition and character of the sexes. The males are of a com- 

 bative nature, and have a great tendency to fight. They are bolder, 

 fiercer, and more untamable. The females have more highly exalted 

 perceptive faculties, they are cautious, artful, and cunning, as is abun- 

 dantly seen in the ingenious methods they adopt in the hiding and 

 protecting of their young. These properties serve them to some ex- 

 tent in lieu of physical force, and they are altogether more gentle and 

 more tractable in their nature. The same, in a different degree, is ob- 

 vious in the human female. Every mother knows that a male infant 

 is more troublesome to rear than a female. As children grow older 

 the difference becomes more marked. The girl is less boisterous, will- 

 ful, and imperious than the boy. She is more delicate, impression- 

 able, and artful, pleased with attention, solicits admiration, and is 

 readily moved to tears at suggestion of sorrow or pain. He courts 

 danger, is bored with solicitude, and, more blunted or careless, laughs 

 at what she weeps at. She, with her doll, already anticipates the gen- 

 tle duties of maternity. He, with his sword and trumpet, mimics the 

 glory of war. On the disposition of the fully-developed woman poets 

 have written volumes. We, however, have to take a more matter-of- 

 fact view of her than they have done. When Hamlet said, " Frailty, 

 thy name is woman," he was scientifically correct, in more senses than 

 he intended. Her natural muscular feebleness and delicacy of consti- 

 tution render violent exercise and labor distasteful to her, and her 

 inferiority of intellectual power makes severe and constant mental ex- 

 ertion a task. While the man, full of bodily and mental vigor, goes 

 forth seeking and braving danger and labor, proud in the responsibil- 

 ity of those dependent on him, the woman fulfills a welcome task at 

 home in the less active duties of matrimony, and of domestic and so- 

 cial observances, equally happy in the possession of a strong arm and 

 head to protect and support her. Such an existence, however, fosters 

 a great susceptibility of character in addition to her natural conforma- 

 tion. Hers is often a mixture of extreme happiness or of profound 

 misery. She feels pain, grief, and anxiety acutely. To these she 

 readily gives way, and as rapidly revives from their effects. Sensa- 

 tions of all kinds act on her powerfully. These she can not control, 

 but exaggerates into extremes, and manifests by violent demonstra- 

 tions. If she feels acutely it is not for long, her sentiments at the time 

 being easily replaced by new ones, and her mental distress, if rapidly 

 induced, is more poignant than deep. Woman is essentially impulsive 

 and emotional ; her sensitive and changeable nature is necessary for 



