in large
enough and loose enough for all possible contingencies, as regards boys
or girls.

If any one thinks the picture of youthful life which I have drawn an
exaggerated one, let him read the books commonly published, descriptive
of child-life, and once convinced, he will not wonder that the "number
of invalid girls is such as to excite the gravest alarm." From all the
cares imposed by dress, and from much of the weakness deduced from
furnaces and high-storeyed houses, boys are exempted by their habits and
general custom. If it is thought by any one that the boys of to-day are
stronger than the girls, let them be subjected to the same regimen, and
the result fairly reported. Let their steps be clogged by skirts,
embroidered or plaited into death warrants; let them be kept at the
piano or running up and down stairs when they should be in bed or at
play; let them read sentimental novels or worse, and hang over the
furnaces, instead of frolicking in the open air. We shall understand
better, when this experiment is once tried, that God makes boy and girl
alike healthy; but that social folly has, from the very first, set the
girl at a disadvantage.

Do sisters "imitate brothers in persistent work everywhere?" Nay, it is
not the brothers whom they imitate, but their own steadfast,
God-implanted instincts, which they thus attempt to work out. Girls
cannot do two things well at a time. Then let them resign the life of
fashion, excitement and folly, and give themselves to study, fresh air
and an obedient life in a well-disciplined home. Every teacher of to-day
will tell them, that those girls who go most regularly to school are
healthier than those who lead desultory lives, and that among the
students of any one school or college, the healthiest are generally
those who work the hardest.

This is as true of boys as of girls. It is not the "honor man" who
breaks down at college, but he who leads an irregular and idle life. It
is true, for the very simple reason, that hard study is incompatible for
any length of time, or in other than very exceptional cases, with
luxurious habits, over-eating or drinking, late hours, or excessive
dissipation.

In this recent work it has been stated, that all schools are adjusted to
meet the requirements of men; and in quoting a case which was wholly
imaginary, so far as its supposed connection with Vassar College was
concerned, the author goes on to say:

"The pupil's account of her regim