^4t Jlf^lE PHILOSOPHT 



CHAPTER IX. 



Of the $exes of Animals and Ve^etahUs^ 

 — *<«^>>»»' — 



SECTION I. 



Of the Sexes of Animals, 



XxLL the larger and more perfe<n: animals are 

 diftingulfhed by the fexea of male and female. The bodies 

 of males, though not without exceptions, are, in general, 

 ftronger, larger, and more a£live, than thofe of the females. 

 In the human fpecies, the male is not only larger than the 

 female, but his mufcular fibres are firmer and more compadl, 

 and his whole frame indicates a fuperior ftrength and robuft- 

 nefs of texture. He does not acquire his full growth, and 

 befl form, till he arrives at the age of thirty years. But, in 

 women, the parts are rounder, and their mufcular fibres 

 more feeble and lax than thofe of men, and their growth 

 and form are perfe<Si: at the age of twenty. A fimilar obfer- 

 vation is applicable to the minds of the two fexes. Man is, 

 comparatively, a bold, generous, and enterprifing animal. 

 Women, on the contrary, are timid, jealous, and difpofed to 

 actions which require lefs agility and firength. Hence they 

 are entitled to claim, and, by their amiable weakneiTes, they 

 actually receive our protection. Men are endowed with 

 majefty of figure and force of mind •, but beauty, and the 

 graces, are the proper chara£teriftics of women. The laxity 

 and foftnefs of their texture may. In fome meafure, account 

 for the timidity and lifiilefTnefs of their difpofition ; for, 

 when the bodies of men are relaxed by heat, or by any other 

 caufe, their minds become not only timid, but weak, unde- 

 termined, and inactive. 



