ases of that experience which is peculiarly her
own.

And these phases, what are they? Nature herself defines them. They are
three in number,--the Maiden, the Wife, and the Mother. In one and then
another of this triad, her life passes. Each has its own duties and
dangers; each demands its own precautions; each must be studied by
itself.

Let us at once commence this important study, and proceed in the order
of time.

THE MAIDEN.

_PUBERTY._

At a certain period in the life of the female, she ceases to be a girl,
and becomes a _woman_. Hitherto she has felt no distinction between
herself and the boys, her playmates. But now a crisis takes place, which
is for ever after to hedge her round with a mysterious, invisible, but
most real barrier from all _man_kind.

This period is called _the age of puberty_. Its sign is a flow of blood
recurring every month; its meaning, that the female has entered upon
that portion of her life whose peculiar obligations are to the whole
race--no longer to herself alone. The second part of her twofold nature
is opened. Why is it that on her, the weaker sex, this extra burden is
laid? Why this weakness, these pains, this recurring loss of vital
fluid?

Perhaps, as has been observed, it is a wise provision that she is thus
reminded of her lowly duty, lest man should make her the sole object of
his worship, or lest the pride of beauty should obscure the sense of
shame. But this question concerns rather the moralist than the
physician, and we cease asking _why_ it is, and shall only inquire
_what_ it is.

To this science returns a clear reply. In the anatomy of woman there are
two small bodies, in shape and size like large almonds, called the
ovaries. They lie one on each side of the womb, and are connected with
it by tubes about four inches in length. These bodies are solid, but
contain a great number of diminutive vesicles, which, by some mysterious
law of nature, mature one at a time, every thirty days, for thirty years
of woman's life. When mature, the vesicle separates from the ovary,
traverses the tube into the womb, and is thence expelled and lost, or
becomes, by contact with the other sex, the germ of a living being. This
process is accompanied by a disturbance of the whole system. Wandering
pains are felt; a sense of languor steals over the mind; the blood
rushes with increased violence through the vessels, and more or less of
it escapes from the veins, causing that c