direct knowledge of the
process that is going on within, excepting by the effects of the
increasing pressure upon other parts, until 'quickening' takes place,
which belongs to another part of our subject.

The signs and symptoms of pregnancy will be explained in full when we
come to treat of the pregnant condition in a future chapter.

HOW TO RETAIN THE AFFECTIONS OF A HUSBAND.

Ah! this is a secret indeed!--worth the wand of the magician, the lamp
of Aladdin, or the wishing-cap of the fairy. What could any of these
give in exchange for the love of a husband? Yet this pearl of great
price, how often is it treated as lightly and carelessly as if it was
any bauble of Brummagem!

'My husband,' we have heard young wives say, 'why, it is his duty to
love me. Why did he marry me if he is not going to love me, love me
fondly, love me ever?'

Yes, we all know

Love the gift, is love the debt.

But in this world of ours it is often hard to get one's own; and when
got, our care must never cease, lest it be wrested from us. The plant
you bought at the greenhouse, and that now blossoms on your window-sill,
became yours by purchase, but it has required your daily care to keep it
alive and persuade it to unfold its blossoms. Infinitely more delicate
is this plant of love. It, too, you purchased. You gave in exchange for
it your own heart. It too, you must daily tend with constant solicitude,
lest it wither and die.

In this country, some women think that anything is good enough to wear
at home. They go about in slatternly morning dresses, unkempt hair, and
slippers down at heel. 'Nobody will see me,' they say 'but my husband.'
Let them learn a lesson from the wives of the Orient.

In those countries a married woman never goes abroad except in long
sombre robes and thick veil. An English lady visiting the wife of one of
the wealthy merchants, found her always in full dress, with toilet as
carefully arranged as if she were going to a ball.

'Why!' exclaimed the visitor, at length, 'is it possible that you take
all this trouble to dress for nobody but your husband?'

'Do, then,' asked the lady in reply, 'the wives of Englishmen dress for
the sake of pleasing other men?'

The visitor was mute.

Not that we would wish our women to be for ever in full costume at home.
That would be alarming. But she who neglects neatness in attire, and,
above all, cleanliness of person, runs a great danger of creating a
sentiment of