This branch of work is neither light nor pleasant. False delicacy, fear of speaking injudiciously and of being misunderstood by the girls and their mothers, too long kept us silent. We shrank from meeting our full responsibility in this direction, and nerved ourselves to the task only when circumstances convinced us that it was an imperative duty. The ordinary study of physiology is good, but in colored schools something more is needed. Teach young girls to reverence the body, to regard all its functions as gifts of God, and the possibilities of motherhood to be sacredly guarded, and they are transformed from animals to thoughtful women. Do any regard this as dangerous argument? Those who have tried the experiment are satisfied of its worth. More sensible and healthful modes of dress, increasing discretion of manners and modesty of deportment, are immediate results of a plan that a few regarded as an innovation, but which has abundantly justified itself. If every well-established school of the American Missionary Association could be furnished with models for this purpose, far more good would be accomplished than with empty hands, however wise the teacher’s lips. These health talks include cookery, sanitary measures, medical hints, and a thousand items of common information in a land of newspapers, but unknown to people who depend upon neighborhood gossip for all their knowledge. As teachers became better acquainted with the needs of their fields, sewing lessons were given, or sewing schools established in connection with daily work. While teaching deft use of the needle, to mend old garments and cut new, there is opportunity to speak apt words about love of finery, habits of wastefulness or extravagance, and improper hours, all of which find quick lodgment in minds eager for new ideas. It is no slight gratification to teachers that, in large assemblies, they can select their students by a more quiet, suitable dress and dignified bearing. House-to-house visiting is another important means of elevating the homes and making “life among the lowly” cleaner and purer. In the early days of labor for the Freedmen, ladies were commissioned by the American Missionary Association for this purpose. It is encouraging to note that, through the parent society, the Christian women of the North are adopting representatives to carry on this branch of work more systematically. Year by year there are changes in methods, and teachers have less time than formerly for this outside visiting.