Ever since the time of Hippocrates, woman has been physiologically
described as enjoying, and has always recognized herself as enjoying,
or at least as possessing, a tri-partite life. The first period
extends from birth to about the age of twelve or fifteen years; the
second, from the end of the first period to about the age of
forty-five; and the third, from the last boundary to the final passage
into the unknown. The few years that are necessary for the voyage from
the first to the second period, and those from the second to the
third, are justly called critical ones. Mothers are, or should be,
wisely anxious about the first passage for their daughters, and women
are often unduly apprehensive about the second passage for themselves.
All this is obvious and known; and yet, in our educational
arrangements, little heed is paid to the fact, that the first of
these critical voyages is made during a girl's educational life, and
extends over a very considerable portion of it.

This brief statement only hints at the vital physiological truths it
contains: it does not disclose them. Let us look at some of them a
moment. Remember, that we are now concerned only with the first of
these passages, that from a girl's childhood to her maturity. In
childhood, boys and girls are very nearly alike. If they are natural,
they talk and romp, chase butterflies and climb fences, love and hate,
with an innocent _abandon_ that is ignorant of sex. Yet even then the
difference is apparent to the observing. Inspired by the divine
instinct of motherhood, the girl that can only creep to her mother's
knees will caress a doll, that her tottling brother looks coldly upon.
The infant Achilles breaks the thin disguise of his gown and sleeves
by dropping the distaff, and grasping the sword. As maturity
approaches, the sexes diverge. An unmistakable difference marks the
form and features of each, and reveals the demand for a special