o whom loss of health means loss of work, loss of wage,
anxiety, which aggravates matters, and perhaps serious privations to
those in any way dependent upon their exertions.

Yes, the army of girl and women workers in this great metropolis is,
indeed, a vast one, and work for them is no sinecure. If they cannot
work so thoroughly or efficiently as men, at least it is for them
greater toil than for the sterner sex. Of a more delicate organisation,
of less robust frame, of smaller powers of endurance, the "buffets of
fortune" meet with less resistance, and are more readily yielded to.
Added to this, men have the advantage of being early trained to the
habit of work which many of our girls have not, and they have greater
facilities afforded them for outdoor exercise, of which they very
readily avail themselves. These are all advantages which women do not
possess, or if they do, it is after a careful course of acquired
systematic training with a view to meet those demands upon their health
and strength which are entailed by the continued and steady application
to one branch of labour or to one particular profession. There is no
doubt that a girl cannot take up an engagement which demands her daily
presence at a stated place and at a given time, to perform duties which
perhaps require the concentration of mental powers, and very frequently
the maintenance of the body in one position for many hours together.
There is no doubt, we repeat, that unless such avocations are begun and
continued with decidedly common-sense views as to diet, hygiene, and
general deportment, but little time will elapse ere our girl will
succumb for a greater or less period to the unusual fatigue and the
unwonted restrictions to which she has to submit.

It is fatal in such cases to regard health from a careless or
indifferent standpoint. It is a question which must be considered by
every one of the legion of working girls and women who labour for their
own, and often for others' bread. Looking at it from the most practical
standpoint, it will be found to be the greatest economy in the end. If
the health is kept at a fair standard of excellence, the mental powers
are maintained in a state of useful energy. As soon as health is below
par, even when not sufficiently so as to force us to desist from work,
the brain loses its elasticity; we are dull, become mere machines
instead of intelligent workers, and our duty gets irksome and fails to
interest us. A