=Meaning of menstruation.=--Ovulation and menstruation usually occur about the same time. Ovulation consists in the formation of an ovum or egg by one of the ovaries once a month. Without the formation of the ovum motherhood would not be possible. Menstruation consists of a flow of bloody mucus formed by the velvety lining of the womb. This has the effect of purifying a woman’s blood and preparing the womb to receive the ovum. After this change first takes place several years will be required before she is old enough to marry and raise a family. Until she is married, the ovum each month lingers in the womb a few days and then passes out. When she is married, if she and her husband are strong and healthy, at the close of some menstrual period a cell from the husband will unite with one of these little eggs, which will become attached to the velvety walls of the womb, the door to the womb will close, and this beginning life will grow for two hundred and eighty days, when the door of the womb will open and a little baby will be born into the home. CHAPTER XVI MOTHER’S THIRD TALK--CHOOSING A CHUM =Early Adolescence.=--You are now entering upon that period of a girl’s life known as the adolescence period. You are now passing from girlhood to womanhood. This period will be about seven to eight years long. The first four years will be the most important years of your life. This is true for many reasons. During this period you will be largely a girl and partly a woman. The mind of the girl that was and the woman that you will be, will occasionally cause you to have confusing experiences. You will have many new and strange feelings, emotions, impulses. During these years you will need the advice of those older than yourself. =New social desires.=--One of the new experiences you will have, will be the desire for social privileges. You will want a little girl chum. This is perfectly natural. God has given you a social nature. You should cultivate your social gifts. This will enlarge your happiness and usefulness. =Why a girl wants a chum.=--The reason small girls desire chums is because the new sex life stimulates and awakens the social nature. This is a period in a girl’s life when she is especially interested in things romantic and sensational. Girls naturally choose their special chums, and it is so easy for them to engage in conversation that they would not want their mothers to hear. This sensational friendship might lead to exaggeration, disobedience, and the secret meetings with other girls or boys. It is not hard for a mother to see how her daughter might become thoughtless, rash, indiscreet and be overtaken in some very great wrong. =A girl needs two chums.=--In this period of life little girls need two chums, her mother and a girl friend. She will often need her mother’s advice in the choice of a girl chum.