iffering entirely
from that of later years, one in which, owing to the want of full
development of mental faculties, there are no systematised delusions,
but a rapid change from depression and melancholy to exaltation
bordering on mania. Those parents and guardians who know something of
the peculiar physical and mental conditions of adolescence will be
best prepared both to treat the troubles wisely, and by sympathy to
help the young people under their care to help themselves.

One of the phenomena of adolescence is the dawn of the sexual
instinct. This frequently develops without the child knowing or
understanding what it means. More especially is this true of young
girls whose home life has been completely sheltered, and who have not
had the advantage, or disadvantage, of that experience of life which
comes early to those who live in crowded tenements or amongst the
outspoken people of the countryside. The children of the poorer
classes have, in a way, too little to learn: they are brought up from
babyhood in the midst of all domestic concerns, and the love affairs
of their elders are intimately known to them, therefore quite early in
adolescence "ilka lassie has her laddie," and although the attraction
be short-lived and the affection very superficial, yet it is
sufficient to give an added interest to life, and generally leads to
an increased care in dress and an increased desire to make the most of
whatever good looks the girl may possess. The girl in richer homes is
probably much more bewildered by her unwonted sensations and by the
attraction she begins to feel towards the society of the opposite sex.

Probably in these days, when there is more intermingling of the sexes,
the girl's outlook is franker, and, so far as this is concerned,
healthier, than it was forty or fifty years ago. It is very amusing to
elders to hear a boy scarcely in his teens talking of "his best girl,"
or to see the little lass wearing the colour or ornament that her
chosen lad admires. It is true that the "best girl" varies from week
to week if not from day to day, but this special regard for a member
of the opposite sex announces the dawn of a simple sentiment that
will, a few years later, blossom out into the real passion which may
fix a life's destiny.

The mental and moral changes that occur during the early years of
adolescence call for help and sympathy of an even higher order than do
the changes in physical structure and function.