He will find that about seven out of ten of the women who pass him will present the second posture. In addition to this, they will show by their sallow complexions, thin, flat chests, angular figures, and miserable gait, all the evidences of present or impending ill-health. He will hardly find one woman out of ten with bright eyes, a clear complexion, an erect carriage and a firm step. It is simply impossible for human beings to live as most American women live, and have good health. After a girl puts on long dresses, she is taught that almost any sort of active bodily movement is unladylike. Her frail little body is enveloped in corsets, which effectually prevents the full development of the important trunk-muscles. At school she gets, perhaps, a little make-belief of calisthenics. During her life in society she waltzes with great ardor, it is true, and it is said that to go through all the evolutions of a German is equivalent to a walk of fifteen miles; but no one has ever seriously claimed that this form of exercise is conducive to health. After marrying, the American woman reduces physical exertion to the minimum. Any form of physical labor is regarded by her as menial. If the weather is bad, she will not put her foot out of the house for whole days at a time. If she does go out, often she will take a car to ride two squares. American women take more drugs than other women. The drug-store is ubiquitous with us. They show increased susceptibility to stimulants and narcotics, sensitiveness of the digestion, increase of near-sightedness and weakness of the eyes, early and rapid decay of the teeth, sensitiveness to heat and cold, tendency to nervous exhaustion etc. Gynecology and abdominal surgery are American contributions to medical science. This state of affairs is not limited to any particular section of the United States, but extends from Maine to California, and from Dan even unto Beersheba. It is national in its scope. The fact is that ill-health is so common in our women that we have grown accustomed to it, and have, quite unconsciously, set up a low standard of feminine health. If a woman is habitually constipated, dyspeptic, so weak that she can hardly walk a mile, has one or two headaches every month, irregular and painful menstruation, backache, napeache, cold hands and feet, leucorrhea, capricious appetite, and a moderate degree of nervousness and insomnia, she is considered to possess average good health. If she is free from all these, it is a rare exception, a fortunate accident, not a condition of health to be attained by the exercise of reason and common sense. What, then, are the causes for ill-health which are peculiar to American women? These may be divided into two classes, _viz._: The unavoidable and the avoidable. Let us briefly survey the unavoidable causes.