n means fine hair or
down. For at this period of maturity all mammals (that is animals
which have breasts and nurse their young) begin to develop a growth of
hair. You know that our entire body, with the exception of the palms
of the hands and the soles of the feet, is covered with innumerable
hair follicles, and from our birth our entire body, with the exception
named, is covered with fine hair. The hair may be too delicate to be
seen, but it is there, and with a magnifying glass you can see it
without any trouble. But at puberty the hair increases in thickness
and in quantity, and becomes abundant in places where it was hardly
noticeable before--the upper lip and face in boys, and the armpits and
lower part of the abdomen in both boys and girls.

And so the first apparent physical sign of puberty in a girl is the
gradual appearance of hair in the armpits, on the mons Veneris and the
labia majora. But all the genital organs are undergoing rapid
development; the vulva, the vagina, the uterus and the ovaries become
larger, and the ovaries which up to that time were elaborating an
internal secretion only, now also begin to manufacture ova; in other
words, the monthly process of ovulation is begun. Synchronously with
the process of ovulation, there commences the monthly function of
menstruation. The breasts also increase in size, assume the
characteristic contour, develop their glandular substance, and become
capable of secreting milk for the use of any possible offspring.
During this period of development they are often very sensitive to the
touch or feel painful without being touched.

But not only the genital organs undergo growth and development--the
entire body participates in the process. The growth in height is the
most rapid at this period; the greatest growth takes place in the
limbs--legs and arms. The pelvis becomes broader, and the chest or
thorax also becomes broader and larger. The muscles become larger and
rounder and finally give the girl the beautiful womanly form.

=Psychic Changes.= But the changes are not only physical; the changes
that take place in the girl's psychic sphere during the pubertal years
are also highly important. That is the period of the development of
the emotions; she is overflowing with emotion; she becomes sensitive;
in her relations with boys and men she becomes self-conscious.
Distinct sexual desire fortunately does not make its appearance in the
girl at this period, as it does