logie du Mariage, ou Meditations de philosophie eclectique
sur le bonheur et le malheur conjugal_ is dated at Paris, 1824-29. It
first appeared anonymously, December, 1829, dated 1830, from the press
of Charles Gosselin and Urbain Canel, in two octavo volumes with its
present introduction and a note of correction now omitted. Its next
appearance was signed, in 1834, in a two-volume edition of Ollivier.
In 1846 it was entered, with its dedication to the reader, in the
first edition of _Etudes Analytiques_--the first edition also of the
_Comedie Humaine_--as Volume XVI. All the subsequent editions have
retained the original small division heads, called Meditations.

_Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale_ is not dated. Its composition
was achieved piecemeal, beginning shortly after its predecessor
appeared. But it was not till long after--in 1845-46--that its present
two-part form was published in a single octavo volume by Chlendowski.
A break had ensued between the first and second parts, the latter
having appeared practically in full in _La Presse_ of December, 1845.
The sub-headings have remained unchanged since the original printing.

J. WALKER MCSPADDEN.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARRIAGE;
OR,
THE MUSINGS OF AN ECLECTIC PHILOSOPHER ON THE HAPPINESS AND
UNHAPPINESS OF MARRIED LIFE

INTRODUCTION

"Marriage is not an institution of nature. The family in the east is
entirely different from the family in the west. Man is the servant of
nature, and the institutions of society are grafts, not spontaneous
growths of nature. Laws are made to suit manners, and manners vary.

"Marriage must therefore undergo the gradual development towards
perfection to which all human affairs submit."

These words, pronounced in the presence of the Conseil d'Etat by
Napoleon during the discussion of the civil code, produced a profound
impression upon the author of this book; and perhaps unconsciously he
received the suggestion of this work, which he now presents to the
public. And indeed at the period during which, while still in his
youth, he studied French law, the word ADULTERY made a singular
impression upon him. Taking, as it did, a prominent place in the code,
this word never occurred to his mind without conjuring up its mournful
train of consequences. Tears, shame, ha