s at that age a boy is capable of begetting and a girl of having
children. But it does not mean that it would be advisable for them to
marry at such an early age. Neither their bodies nor their minds are
fully developed, and children begotten of such young parents are apt
to be weaklings, both mentally and physically. The youngest age for
girls to marry should be eighteen, and for boys twenty; but the
youngest age for becoming parents should be twenty to twenty-two for
the mother and twenty-three to twenty-five for the father.

CHAPTER SIX

MENSTRUATION

Definition of Menstruation--Where Menstrual Blood Comes From--Age
of Menstruation--Age of Cessation of
Menstruation--Duration--Amount--Regularity and Irregularity.

The first function with which the girl will be confronted, which will
impress upon her that she is a creature of sex, that she is decidedly
different from the boy, is _menstruation_. And this function we will
now proceed to study.

What is menstruation? Menstruation is a monthly discharge of blood.
The word is derived from the Latin word mensis, which means a month;
and menstruation is also frequently spoken of as _the menses_. It is
also called the catamenia or catamenia-flow (Greek, kata--by, men--a
month). Other terms are: the periods, courses, monthlies, turns,
monthly changes, monthly sickness, sickness, flowers, to be unwell, to
be regular. "Not to see anything" is a common term for having missed
the menses. This flow of blood recurs in most cases with remarkable
regularity once a month; not a calendar month, but once a lunar month,
i.e., once every twenty-eight days. And as there are thirteen lunar
months a year, a woman menstruates not twelve but thirteen times a
year.

Where does the menstrual blood come from? The menstrual blood comes
from the inside of the womb. Every month, for a few days prior to
menstruation, the inside lining of the womb (what we call the mucous
membrane or endometrium) becomes congested and its bloodvessels become
distended with blood. If the woman has sexual intercourse and
pregnancy happens to take place, then this extra blood is used to
nourish and develop the new child; but if no pregnancy takes place,
that extra blood exudes from the bloodvessels (some of the
bloodvessels rupture) and is discharged from the uterus into the
vagina, and from there to the outside, where it is caught on cotton,
sanitary napkins or some other pad.

=At what age does men