174 INTRODUCTION. 



The mind sympathizes with the physical changes of the system, it is 

 animated by views, hopes, and desires, unknown before ; childish thoughts 

 pass away, the mental powers expand, and Man stands confessed in all 

 the dignity of his intellectual and physical excellence. 



In the female sex, the indicia of womanhood present corresponding 

 phenomena ;* the general form acquires fulness, and a more graceful con- 

 tour ; the voice, while it preserves its delicacy, gains power ; and new 

 emotions, developing with these physical changes, announce the dawn of 

 maturity. 



If we turn to the lower Mammalia, we observe their bodily powers and 

 animal instincts to have now arrived at their completion. Obeying the 

 laws of Nature, the sexes form companionships, sometimes permanent ; 

 but, more frequently, only enduring till the conception, by the female, of 

 the offspring which she is destined to bear, bring forth, and suckle. Often, 

 as among the Seals, the Deer, &c., one male is the lord of many females, 

 whom he guards, with jealousy, from the approaches of a rival. In other 

 cases, a single male and female consort for the season, and mutually guard 

 and rear their offspring : generally, however, the whole care devolves upon 

 the female alone. Where animals form societies, as among the larger Apes, 

 the old males of each troop guard the females and their young, in time of 

 danger, and endeavour to secure their safe retreat.-)" 



The affection of the females for their young, is devoted and powerful ; 

 but it is transient, enduring only till the latter are able to maintain their 

 own independence, nor is it participated in by the male, at least, in ordinary 

 instances ; nay, sometimes the female anxiously conceals her offspring from 

 the male, least he should destroy it. 



The period of gestation, and the number of young produced at a 

 birth, vary materially, in different Mammalia. Among the larger Herbi- 

 vora, the females seldom produce more than one at a time ; the Elephant, 



soupconne pas quelles en peuvent etre les causes ; c'est, sans doute, par cette raison, qu'on a jamais 

 songe a examiner avec soin ces correspondances, dans le corps humaine, sur lesquelles cependant roule 

 une grande partie du jeu de la machin animale : il y a dans les femmes une grande correspondance 

 ntre' ( la matrice, les mamelles, et la tete ; combien n'en trouveroit-on pas des autres, si les grands 

 medecins tournoient leurs vues de ce cote-la ? II me paroit que cela seroit plus utile que la nomencla- 

 ture de 1'anatomie. Ne doit-on pas e"tre bien persuade que nous ne connoitrons jamais les premiers 

 principes de nos mouvemens ? Les vrais ressorts de notre organization ne sont pas ces muscles, ces 

 veines, ces arteres, ces nerfs que Ton decrit avec tant d'exactitude, et de soin : il reside, comme nous 

 avons dit, des forces interieures dans les corps organizes qui ne suivent point du tout les loix, de la 

 mecanique grossiere que nous avons imaginee, et a laquelle nous voudrions tout reduire." Buff. Hist. 

 Nat. torn. ii. p. 485. 



* Simias non esse menstruales, ut Buffon et nonnulli opinantur, nobis satis apparet; libidine geni- 

 talia tumefacta, veneris tempore instante, profluvium sanguinis interdum dimittere, ,haud negari 

 potest ; nihilominus hoc profluvium non esse menstruum, ni fallimur, et ad veritatem 'explorandam 

 curavimus, procul dubio videtur ; ideoque ad Plinii sententiam accedimus, mulierem solum esse animal 

 menstruale. Certe de Troglodyte, et Pitheco omnin6 nescitur. 



t Monkeys are said to remain permanently attached to one or two females, rarely more ; their union 

 seems to be a sort of marriage ; the males are exceedingly jealous, and watch their females very 

 closely. 



