neness for distinctive feminine traits
and power, making her an epicene, but it entails a variety of
prolonged weaknesses, that dwarf her rightful power in almost every
direction. The persistent neglect and ignoring by women, and
especially by girls, ignorantly more than wilfully, of that part of
their organization which they hold in trust for the future of the
race, has been fearfully punished here in America, where, of all the
world, they are least trammelled and should be the best, by all sorts
of female troubles. "Nature," says Lord Bacon, "is often hidden,
sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished." In the education of our
girls, the attempt to hide or overcome nature by training them as boys
has almost extinguished them as girls. Let the fact be accepted, that
there is nothing to be ashamed of in a woman's organization, and let
her whole education and life be guided by the divine requirements of
her system.

The blood, which is our life, is a complex fluid. It contains the
materials out of which the tissues are made, and also the _debris_
which results from the destruction of the same tissues,--the worn-out
cells of brain and muscle,--the cast-off clothes of emotion, thought,
and power. It is a common carrier, conveying unceasingly to every
gland and tissue, to every nerve and organ, the fibrin and albumen
which repair their constant waste, thus supplying their daily bread;
and as unceasingly conveying away from every gland and tissue, from
every nerve and organ, the oxidized refuse, which are both the result
and measure of their work. Like the water flowing through the canals
of Venice, that carries health and wealth to the portals of every
house, and filth and disease from every doorway, the blood flowing
through the canals of the organization carries nutriment to all the
tissues, and refuse from them. Its current sweeps nourishment in, and
waste out. The former, it yields to the body for assimilation; the
latter, it deposits with the organs of elimination for rejection. In
order to have good blood, then, two things are essential: first, a
regular and sufficient supply of nutriment, and, secondly, an equally
regular and sufficient removal of waste. Insufficient nourishment
starves the blood; insufficient elimination poisons it. A wise
housekeeper will look as carefully after the condition of his drains
as after the quality of his food.

The principal organs of elimination, common to both sexes, are the
bowels,