call the egg the cradle of life. Then I told her that other
animals like the dog and cow, and human beings, do not lay their
eggs, but nourish their young in their own bodies. I had no
difficulty in making it clear to her that if plants and animals
didn't produce offspring after their kind, they would cease to
exist, and everything in the world would soon die. But the
function of sex I passed over as lightly as possible. I did,
however, try to give her the idea that love is the great
continuer of life. The subject was difficult, and my knowledge
inadequate; but I am glad I didn't shirk my responsibility; for,
stumbling, hesitating, and incomplete as my explanation was, it
touched deep responsive chords in the soul of my little pupil,
and the readiness with which she comprehended the great facts of
physical life confirmed me in the opinion that the child has
dormant within him, when he comes into the world, all the
experiences of the race. These experiences are like photographic
negatives, until language develops them and brings out the
memory-images.


September 4, 1887.

Helen had a letter this morning from her uncle, Doctor Keller. He
invited her to come to see him at Hot Springs. The name Hot
Springs interested her, and she asked many questions about it.
She knows about cold springs. There are several near Tuscumbia;
one very large one from which the town got its name. "Tuscumbia"
is the Indian for "Great Spring." But she was surprised that hot
water should come out of the ground. She wanted to know who made
fire under the ground, and if it was like the fire in stoves, and