At the school age the social instincts are one of the strongest elements in life, and one of the most powerful adjuncts in developing mind and body. The cravings of young women for social amenities are stronger, and her deprivation of them more hurtful, than in the case of young men. There are few girls in whom it does not require some regulation. The strain of too much social life is injurious; social dissipation cannot be combined with school life without wrecking the health of the young woman; nervousness, anemia, and mental depression follow. That individual cannot be said to be healthy mentally whose social instincts are poor and perverted. Commonly one of the first symptoms of a disordered mind is the diminution of the social instinct. The insane are notoriously asocial. _Fear._—This is one of the most elemental and primitive of the emotions. Biologists assure us that fear and surprise were the first of the emotions to be developed, and that the feeling of the ludicrous was the last. Darwin says that the earthworm knows fear, and darts into its burrow like a rabbit when alarmed. So we see that fear is common to all forms of animal existence, even to the lowest. This universality of fear has come about through the working of the laws of natural selection, which prescribe that only those creatures shall survive that can best adjust themselves to their environment. Within limits, fear as a primary instinct has been and is eminently useful. It is the cry of alarm raised by the senses which act as guardians of the body, and, at a signal, in virtue of the nervous automatism, the organism is put in a position of defense. On the other hand, fear may serve to paralyze, as has been observed in the case of birds, many of which, though scarcely wounded by the small shot, fall to the ground as if struck by lightning, panting with wide-open eyes. In human life, while fear incites to activity, it may also paralyze that activity. Mosso says that the fear that young children have of cats and dogs, before they have learned why they are to be feared, is a consequence of heredity. We are born to a heritage of fear. If we fear ghosts and demons less, we fear microbes and bacteria more. The professional or business man fears failure, but fear should be a guardian, not a jailer. A healthy fear of indigence will lead to thrift, industry, and such measures as will secure one’s personal independence. Up to a certain point, fear is a protection, but beyond that it paralyzes.