using care not to overdo
it. Housework will prove a panacea for many of the ills which flesh is heir
to. One hour's exercise at the wash-*tub is of far more value, from a
physical standpoint, than hours at the piano. Boating is most excellent
exercise and within the reach of many. Care in dressing is also important,
and, fortunately, fashion is coming to the rescue here. It is essential
that no garments be suspended from the waist. Let the shoulders bear the
weight of all the clothing, so that the organs of the body may be left free
and unimpeded.

27. "SLEEP SHOULD BE HAD regularly and abundantly. Avoid late hours, undue
excitement, evil associations; partake of plain, nutritious food, and
health will be your reward. There is one way of destroying health, which,
fortunately, is not as common among girls as boys, and which must be
mentioned ere this chapter closes. Self-abuse is practised among growing
girls to such an extent as to arouse serious alarm. Many a girl has been
led to handle and play with her sexual organs through the advice of some
girl who has obtained temporary pleasure in that {389} way; or, perchance,
chafing has been followed by rubbing until the organs have become congested
with blood, and in this accidental manner the girl discovered what seems to
her a source of pleasure, but which, alas, is a source of misery, and even
death.

28. "AS IN THE BOY, SO IN THE GIRL, self-abuse causes an undue amount of
blood to flow to those organs, thus depriving other parts of the body of
its nourishment, the weakest part first showing the effect of want of
sustenance. All that has been said upon this loathsome subject in the
preceding chapter for boys might well be repeated here, but space forbids.
Read that chapter again, and know that the same signs that betray the boy
will make known the girl addicted to the vice. The bloodless lips, the
dull, heavy eye surrounded with dark rings, the nerveless hand, the
blanched cheek, the short breath, the old, faded look, the weakened memory
and silly irritability tell the story all too plainly. The same evil result
follows, ending perhaps in death, or worse, in insanity. Aside from the
injury the girl does herself by yielding to this habit, there is one other
reason which appeals to the conscience, and that is, self-abuse is an
offence against moral law--it is putting to a vile, selfish use the organs
which were given for a high, sacred purpose.

29. "LET THEM ALONE, excep