known
to reverse many conclusions drawn from general impressions of facts.
Statistics are reliable only when compiled on a large scale; but in an
inquiry of this nature, a few contributions from various sources are not
useless. Among twenty persons, not considering themselves invalids, of
whose cases I have taken notes, in six only, had menstruation ever been
the cause of any suffering whatever. The ages of the persons questioned
ranged from eighteen to thirty, but the inquiry referred to the entire
menstrual life. Several among these young ladies had attended mixed
schools, and had never been compelled to absent themselves for a single
day. Several had been engaged for three or four years in the study of
medicine; some, for a much longer period, had engaged in its practice.

Among the six exceptions, one had been healthy until twenty-one, and
then had suffered from ovaritis, so that, although engaging in the work
of a healthy woman, she should really be classed apart. One was subject
to epileptic convulsions, and may therefore be fairly ruled out for the
same reason. The remaining three were in good, even robust, general
health. In two, pain was experienced for two days, and a certain
diminution of capacity for mental exertion, which, however, had never
been sufficient to necessitate its interruption. One of these cases was
a woman of thirty, who had been married for ten years without
child-bearing. In the third case on the list, pain had never lasted more
than six or twelve hours, and had been very greatly diminished during
four years that the young lady had engaged in constant medical study.
Finally, in the fourth case, the early years of adolescence were marked
by quite severe dysmenorrhea, the pain only lasting, however, twelve
hours. Between twenty-five and thirty, the pain disappeared, but the
menstruation became menorrhagic (excessive). This was the only case on
the list where no constant intellectual exertion had ever been made, but
where the nervous system had been subjected to the strain of much moral
emotion and anxiety. The girl belonged, moreover, to a family in which
uterine disease was almost universal among the female members.

While at first glance, therefore, it would appear that the proportion of
women invalidated by menstruation was nearly as high as one-third,
closer inspection shows that among these cases selected at random, the
proportion is only one-fifth or one-sixth, if the calculation be
con