Girls and Women | Page 7

would probably end in our being
unfitted to do any work at all. But suppose Agassiz had said, "Twelve
hours is too much for most men to work, so I can afford to be careless
of my surplus health as long as I have strength to work twelve hours."
The world would not only have lost much in the matter of his
discoveries, but the spirit of all his work would have been different. I
do not mean that it was necessarily the best thing for Agassiz even to
work fifteen hours a day on fishes. He might have given part of his
time to music, or friends, or novels, because he saw that, on the whole,
such recreation met the higher needs of life. But I mean that he was a
man to whom a full life was possible for fifteen hours a day, and that he
would have been wrong to be satisfied with less.
And now, second, how shall girls be thoroughly well? The laws of
health are few and simple. They are so well understood by the parents
of this generation that it may seem a waste of time to allude to them
here. Yet I am writing for girls whose ideas are often vague.
One word in regard to the study of Physiology. It is a fine study. If a

girl thoroughly understands how her body ought to work in health, how
one organ acts with another, then, in case of any local disturbance, she
will probably be capable of seeing how, if the general tone of the
system is raised, the particular difficulty will disappear, and she will no
longer follow blindly rules she has learned by rote. Yet people learn
more by practice than by theory, and it is probable that the fascinating
study of Physiology is of more use intellectually than physically to
most school-girls. If they are allowed to dwell much on diseases of the
body instead of on its normal action, the study may be a positive injury
to them by leading to morbid conditions.
And now again, What are the essentials of health? Several things may
be regarded as equally necessary, so that I cannot lay down rules in
exactly the order of importance, yet it is purposely that I begin with
Breathe fresh air.
Food is important, but we can live hours without taking food, while we
must have air every moment. Moreover, the oxygen of the air actually
nourishes the body as food does, by forming a part of the blood.
How shall we get fresh air? First, by spending all the time possible out
of doors, both in summer and winter, in storm and sunshine. Every one
acknowledges the advantage of exercise in the open air for its own sake;
but in New England we have not yet learned how far it is possible to
live in the open air. I was once at a country-house in Switzerland which
illustrates this ideal. The breakfast-table was spread on a terrace shaded
by plane-trees, outside the dining-room door. The table was then
cleared and books and work brought out. The family devotions were
conducted there. The students studied and wrote, the ladies sewed and
knit, and the maids prepared the vegetables for dinner which was also
eaten there. For six months in the year this was the ordinary course of
life. It would not, to be sure, be possible in all climates, but oftener than
we think.
Yet two thirds of our life must be passed in the house, and usually in
closed rooms on account of the cold. Now two persons cannot sit an
hour in one room before the air becomes vitiated. Most forms of

ventilation prove inadequate. M. was a vigorous young lady who made
it a rule to leave a window slightly open all the time she was at work,
being careful not to sit in the draught. But where this is not convenient,
it is a good plan to open a window wide every hour or two for a minute.
I knew a girl who tried that plan, but gave it up because it seemed so
ridiculous to jump up from her studies every little while for the purpose.
Yet nothing is worse than to sit still at one occupation for several hours,
and even the slight change of position would do one almost as much
good as the fresh air.
It is indispensable to have the window open through the night in every
sleeping-room. But here caution is needed, because when the body is
quiet a draught is a serious injury. Strips of wood across the open part
of the window will generally be sufficient protection. Some of you
shiver at the idea of breathing out of door air in the winter. You are