the higher the organization, the
more frequent is the departure from the normal form; we do not often see
imperfectly developed or ill-made insects, but we rarely see a perfectly
developed, well-made man. And thus the _physique_ of a woman may suffice
as the substratum for a superior Gallic mind, but is too thin a soil for
a superior Teutonic one. Our theory is borne out by the fact that among
our own country-women those who distinguish themselves by literary
production more frequently approach the Gallic than the Teutonic type;
they are intense and rapid rather than comprehensive. The woman of large
capacity can seldom rise beyond the absorption of ideas; her physical
conditions refuse to support the energy required for spontaneous
activity; the voltaic-pile is not strong enough to produce
crystallizations; phantasms of great ideas float through her mind, but
she has not the spell which will arrest them, and give them fixity.
This, more than unfavorable external circumstances, is, we think, the
reason why woman has not yet contributed any new form to art, any
discovery in science, any deep-searching inquiry in philosophy. The
necessary physiological conditions are not present in her. That under
more favorable circumstances in the future, these conditions may prove
compatible with the feminine organization, it would be rash to deny. For
the present, we are only concerned with our theory so far as it presents
a physiological basis for the intellectual effectiveness of French women.

A secondary cause was probably the laxity of opinion and practice with
regard to the marriage-tie. Heaven forbid that we should enter on a
defence of French morals, most of all in relation to marriage! But it is
undeniable that unions formed in the maturity of thought and feeling, and
grounded only on inherent fitness and mutual attraction, tended to bring
women into more intelligent sympathy with men, and to heighten and
complicate their share in the political drama. The quiescence and
security of the conjugal relation are doubtless favorable to the
manifestation of the highest qualities by persons who have already
attained a high standard of culture, but rarely foster a passion
sufficient to rouse all the faculties to aid in winning or retaining its
beloved object--to convert indolence into activity, indifference into
ardent partisanship, dulness into perspicuity. Gallantry and intrigue
are sorry enough things in themselves, but t