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Life and Love, 



XII. 



SKIN CHANGES. 



IN young animals the male and female are as a 

 rule very similar to each other in appearance 

 and disposition. But as they near 

 maturity a change takes place, and 

 they begin to diverge from each 

 other, the male acquiring peculiarly 

 masculine, the female peculiarly fem- 

 inine characteristics. The maturing 

 of the reproductive cells is in some 

 deep way connected with profound 

 changes in the whole being, and 

 these changes affect the two sexes 

 differently. 



All the tissues of the body respond 

 in a remarkable manner to the activ- 

 ity at the reproductive centres. Thus, 

 at reproductive maturity, the female, 

 yielding as it were, to the influence 

 of the developing egg-cell, has the 

 characteristics of femininity stamped upon every 

 tissue. In her whole physical organization, and, 

 as a consequence, in her mental and emotional 

 nature, she becomes distinctly feminine. 



