Previously to the period of puberty, the general organization of the male and female progresses very much alike. The tastes and habits, however, vary. The little girl is fond of her doll-babies and play-houses, while the boy exhibits a liking for more manly sports. There is, however, no great difference, up to this time, in the physical frame of the two sexes; but as the period of puberty approaches, there is manifested a great difference in the two beings. In the language of an eloquent writer, Velpeau, “the young girl becomes more timid and reserved, her form becomes rounded, her voice alters but to take on a softer and more harmonious tone, and her bosom is developed; the cellular tissue extends from the front of the breast and the hypogastrium, as from two centers, toward the neck, while at the same time it proceeds to form a soft cushion for the upper part of the limbs. Her eyes, which are at once brilliant and languishing, express commingled desires, fears, and tenderness; the sensations she experiences, and the sense of her own weakness, are the reasons why she no longer dares to approach the companions of her childhood but with a downcast look. On the other hand, the gentle modesty that animates her countenance, and the engaging graces of her demeanor, soon disclose a power, the existence of which she never suspected, and which renders it true to say that the marriageable age in the softer sex is the spring-tide of nature, and the season of the pleasures. But a new function—the catamenial—the absolute compass of good or bad health in woman—is established, with more or less difficulty, in the midst of this great revolution; and by the disorders and accidents which it involves, sometimes dashes with bitterness those happy seasons to which it should naturally serve as a prelude. Such are the changes that go on in the female constitution at one of the most important and critical seasons that can occur in the female’s life.” The period at which woman may be said truly to arrive at her womanhood, is certainly, in the present state of artificial life, fraught with many dangers to the future health. But, on the other hand, we have proof the most positive and indubitable—the proof of facts—that if young girls are brought up in a simple, judicious manner, and if all their habits—social, moral, physiological, and hygienic—be correct, there can be, as a general law, no danger at the coming on of puberty. With judicious management throughout, the girl will pass through this change with as little difficulty, as little danger and derangement of the general health, as occurs at any other season of her whole life. Although the change is a great one, it is yet within the order of nature, a fact which we should always bear in mind. The foregoing remarks on puberty lead me necessarily to speak of the menstrual function. AGE AT WHICH THE MENSES COMMENCE.