The following case illustrates one of the ways in which our present
school methods of teaching girls generate a menorrhagia and its
consequent evils. Miss A----, a healthy, bright, intelligent girl,
entered a female school, an institution that is commonly but oddly
called a _seminary_ for girls, in the State of New York, at the age of
fifteen. She was then sufficiently well-developed, and had a good
color; all the functions appeared to act normally, and the catamenia
were fairly established. She was ambitious as well as capable, and
aimed to be among the first in the school. Her temperament was what
physiologists call nervous,--an expression that does not denote a
fidgety make, but refers to a relative activity of the nervous system.
She was always anxious about her recitations. No matter how carefully
she prepared for them, she was ever fearful lest she should trip a
little, and appear to less advantage than she hoped. She went to
school regularly every week, and every day of the school year, just as
boys do. She paid no more attention to the periodical tides of her
organization than her companions; and that was none at all. She
recited standing at all times, or at least whenever a standing
recitation was the order of the hour.
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