which in this climate sow the seeds of a dozen different diseases, and
have to be atoned for by perpetual anxieties, and by perpetual doctors'
bills; and as for a little knowledge of the laws of electricity, one
thrift I am sure it would produce--thrift to us men, of having to answer
continual inquiries as to what the weather is going to be, when a slight
knowledge of the barometer, or of the form of the clouds and the
direction of the wind, would enable many a lady to judge for herself, and
not, after inquiry on inquiry, disregard all warnings, go out on the
first appearance of a strip of blue sky, and come home wet through, with
what she calls "only a chill," but which really means a nail driven into
her coffin--a probable shortening, though it may be a very small one, of
her mortal life; because the food of the next twenty-four hours, which
should have gone to keep the vital heat at its normal standard, will have
to be wasted in raising it up to that standard, from which it has fallen
by a chill.

Ladies; these are subjects on which I must beg to speak a little more at
length, premising them by one statement, which may seem jest, but is
solemn earnest--that, if the medical men of this or any other city were
what the world now calls "alive to their own interests"--that is, to the
mere making of money; instead of being, what medical men are, the most
generous, disinterested, and high-minded class in these realms, then they
would oppose by all means in their power the delivery of lectures on
natural philosophy to women. For if women act upon what they learn in
those lectures--and having women's hearts, they will act upon it--there
ought to follow a decrease of sickness and an increase of health,
especially among children; a thrift of life, and a thrift of expense
besides, which would very seriously affect the income of medical men.

For let me ask you, ladies, with all courtesy, but with all
earnestness--Are you aware of certain facts, of which every one of those
excellent medical men is too well aware? Are you aware that more human
beings are killed in England every year by unnecessary and preventable
diseases than were killed at Waterloo or at Sadowa? Are you aware that
the great majority of those victims are children? Are you aware that the
diseases which carry them off are for the most part such as ought to be
specially under the control of the women who love them, pet them, educate
them, and would in many cases