lf--the function by which we become creators
and transmitters of our powers of body, mind, and soul.

It is important that a young woman should understand her own structure
and the functions of all her organs, and so, with this feeling of
reverence for sex, we will begin this study.

The trunk of the body is divided into three cavities; the upper or
thoracic cavity contains the heart and lungs; the central or abdominal
cavity contains the organs of nutrition, the stomach, liver, bowels,
etc.; the lower or pelvic cavity contains two organs of elimination,
the bladder and the rectum, and also the organs of reproduction, or of
sex. Between the outlet of bladder and bowels is the inlet to the
reproductive organs. This inlet is a narrow channel called the vagina,
and is about six inches in length. At the upper end is the mouth of
the womb or uterus. The words mean the same, but womb is Anglo-Saxon
and _uterus_ is Latin, and as Latin is the language of science, we
will use that word. The uterus is the little nest or room in which the
unborn baby has to live for three-fourths of a year. It is a small
organ, about the size and shape of a small flattened pear. It is
suspended with the small end downwards, and it is hollow. It is held
in place by broad ligaments that extend outward to the sides, and by
short, round ligaments from front to back. These ligaments do not hold
it firmly in place, for it is necessary that it should be able to rise
out of the pelvic into the abdominal cavity during pregnancy, as the
baby grows too large to be contained in the small pelvic space.

On the posterior sides of the two broad ligaments are two small oval
organs which are called ovaries, meaning the place of the eggs.

CHAPTER XIV.

BECOMING A WOMAN.

Perhaps you will remember that I once told you that all life is from
an egg, the life of the plant, the fish, the bird, the human being. In
the book "What a Young Girl Ought to Know" we discussed how all life
originates in an egg, and why there must needs be fathers as well as
mothers. We found that some eggs were small, were laid by the mothers
in various places, and then left to develop or to die. Others were
larger, covered with a large shell, and kept warm by the mothers
sitting over them until the little ones were hatched. Others were so
small that they developed in the mother's body until, as living
creatures, they were born into the world. This is the case with the
human bein