says Mueller, who is a recognized philological authority,
is derived from the root "Pa," which means to protect, to
support, to nourish. Among the earliest Aryans, the word _mater_
(mother), from the root "Ma," signified maker; creation being
thus distinctively associated with the feminine. Taylor, in his
Primitive Culture says the husband acknowledged the offspring of
his wife as his own as thus only had he a right to claim the
title of father.

While Philology has opened a new fount of historic knowledge,
Biology, the seventh and most important witness, the latest
science in opposition to divine authority, is the first to deny
the theory of man's original perfection. Science gained many
triumphs, conquered many superstitions, before the world caught a
glimpse of the result toward which each step was tending--the
enfranchisement of woman.

Through Biology we learn that the first manifestation of life is
feminine. The albuminous protoplasm lying in silent darkness on
the bottom of the sea, possessing within itself all the phenomena
exhibited by the highest forms of life, as sensation, motion,
nutrition and reproduction, produces its like, and in all forms
of life the capacity for reproduction undeniably stamps the
feminine. Not only does science establish the fact that
primordial life is feminine, but it also proves that a greater
expenditure of vital force is requisite for the production of the
feminine than for the masculine.

The experiments of Meehan, Gentry, Treat, Herrick, Wallace,
Combe, Wood and many others, show sex to depend upon environment
and nutrition. A meager, contracted environment, together with
innutritious or scanty food, results in a weakened vitality and
the birth of males; a broad, generous environment together with
abundant nutrition, in the birth of females. The most perfect
plant produces feminine flowers; the best nurtured insect or
animal demonstrates the same law. From every summary of vital
statistics we gather further proof that more abundant vitality,
fewer infantile deaths and greater comparative longevity belong
to woman. It is a recognized fact that quick reaction to a
stimulus is proof of superior vitality. In England, where very
complete vital statistics have been recorded for many years, it
i