The second question is the legal and representative quality. To understand the full importance of this, let us recall the fact that throughout the whole civilized globe, it is customary to give to the child the father’s name. It is not necessary to discuss here whether it would be better to change this custom and give to the child the name of both father and mother. The fact is established that the child receives a personal name prefixed to that of the family of which it is the offspring. By this latter name it becomes known, and in the course of years this name becomes a part of the individual, belongs to the character itself, and can no more be got rid of than the blood which flows in the veins and had its origin in the parents. It is a rare thing for a man to admit even the thought of changing his name; if it were Smith, he is and remains Smith, simply denoting his individuality by the prefix _A_, _B_, _C_, or whatever the initial may be. He cannot be addressed by any other name, and he can receipt bills and sign legal papers by no other name without being considered guilty of misrepresentation. The importance of this individuality of name is nowhere better recognized than in Germany. A girl named at birth Anna Eleanora Miller is and remains Anna Eleanora Miller all her lifetime, no matter whether she marries once or six times in the course of her career. By no other name can she sign a deed or contract; thus only can she bear witness; and she is not summoned by the courts as witness under any other name than that of Anna Eleanora Miller. If she has a husband, she is addressed in law by her name, Anna Eleanora (or, if she has ten given names, then by all of them) Miller, wife of Brown, or wife of Baron Ketzow, or von Alden. If she becomes a widow and marries again, she is addressed in law (of course not in social intercourse) as Anna Eleanora Miller, widow of Brown, wife of Baron von Ketzow. To make this clearer, let me illustrate still further by giving the name of a well-known lady who, after she became a widow, studied medicine and now practices dentistry in Berlin, having been dentist to all the children of the Empress Friedrich. Her diploma would be utterly valueless had it been given to her with the name of her first husband; only by her maiden name could she be authorized as a practitioner. Her sign at the door reads, “Dr. Henriette Pagelson, widow of Hirschfeld, wife of Tiburtius,” she having, after a few years of practice, contracted a marriage with Dr. Tiburtius. Thus she is, and remains, Henriette Pagelson, and by this name only is she professionally and legally responsible; this stamps her individuality, and the other names of Mrs. Hirschfeld and Mrs. Tiburtius become merely social and conventional designations.