xliv Appendia. 
the same intense mental strain that boys and men are now subjected to, 
owing to our much-lauded civilization, then one of the great safeguards to 
our national health will be gone ; hitherto the female portion of the popu- 
lation has had at least a chance of escaping work and labour from which 
the male portion could not escape; but now they cry out against being 
debarred from those pursuits which are open to men, and are striving to com- 
pete with him in his arduous professional tasks, instead of being thankful 
that their lot has been cast in less stony places, and that they are not, as a 
sex, obliged to earn their livelihood at the expense of excessive brain-work, 
impaired health, and often premature death. 
Norr.—I have, here and there in these papers, used the words of well-known writers 
upon this subject without, in each case, quoting as a distinct reference. 
