HEALTH AND SEX IN HIGHER EDUCATION. 609 



orders, and for 141 no cause is reported. One hundred and thirty-five 

 consider constitutional weakness to have been the cause of disorder ; 

 81, bad sanitary conditions ; 81, intellectual overwork ; 73, emotional 

 strain ; and 47, physical accidents. 



The average amount of exercise reported, considering the aversion 

 of American women, especially the educated, to bodily exertion, may 

 be considered fairly encouraging. The average distance walked per 

 day is given at 2*5 miles, and the time spent in other exercise as 1*2 

 hour. Returns regarding the amount of college-study done by col- 

 lege-women would gain in interest if they could be put side by side 

 with corresponding returns from their male companions : 4, or 0*57 

 per cent, studied but little while at college ; 438, or 62"13 per cent, 

 studied moderately ; 64, or 9*08 per cent, between moderately and 

 severely, and 199, or 28"22 per cent, severely. 



Either the lazy students failed to report, or college-women have 

 much to learn from the average male undergraduate about the science 

 of laziness. The lonely four, who have the courage of their disposi- 

 tion, all come from one college, which it would be ungallant to specify. 

 Statistics concerning worry show that the art of taking things easy is 

 not yet mastered by our ambitious young women : 172, or 24*40 per 

 cent, worried over their studies ; 89, or 12'62 per cent, over personal 

 affairs ; 131, or 18'o8 per cent, won-ied over both studies and affairs ; 

 while 313, or 44*40 per cent, worried over neither studies nor affairs. 



These returns for the most part tell their own tale and point their 

 own moral. They certainly bear out the conclusion drawn regarding 

 the uninjurious effect of collegiate study. Their great defect is in 

 their failure to show more definitely the conditions and surroundings 

 of college-life. The physical, social, and moral environment should 

 be carefully studied. It has long been a commonplace of vital science 

 that intellectual pursuits for men per se are healthy. The question 

 which needs solution is. What conditions prevent their being equally 

 healthy for women, the exact part played by each factor, and how far 

 it is removable ? What parents as well as professional educators and 

 college administrators wish to know is, what colleges have gymnasiums, 

 and whether the exercise is compulsory ; how many institutions have 

 matrons, and how far their influence extends ; how many have resident 

 physicians. Do the young women live herded in halls, sheltered in 

 cottages, or at home and at boarding-houses as convenience dictates ? 

 The number of hours of sleep taken should be exactly stated. The 

 number of hours of study should be given, instead of the vague terms 

 " moderate," etc. Instead of indefinite inquiries as to whether the stu- 

 dent went into society much or little, exact inquiries into the various 

 modes of spending the hours of social recreation should be made. These 

 and many similar points, which would suggest themselves at once, may 

 be considered trivial ; but, if we accept the general conclusion of the 

 report that the pursuit of collegiate education is not in itself harmful, 

 VOL. XXVIII. — 39 



