_Education by the Parents._--Throughout nature, wherever the young of any animal have to live through a prolonged period of imperfectly protected immaturity, it is the duty of the parent-animals to bring up their offspring. Above a certain level in the animal scale, this duty is universal. The lower in the scale any species of animal, the more rapidly do the young of that species attain maturity; conversely, the higher the stage of development of any species, the longer is the period of immaturity, and the longer are the children dependent upon their parents. This rule applies to human beings also, and the relationships above described obtain among the different varieties and races of mankind. Of all new-born animals, none is so helpless as man; and of all animals, his period of immaturity is the longest. The period of upbringing lasts longer in man than in other animals, the human young are longer dependent on their parents, and the parents themselves in the human species are more long-lived than the parents of most other species of animals. The younger the individual human being, the more dependent is it upon others. An infant cannot continue to exist at all without external help. Its only needs at first, indeed, are for food, drink, sleep, and cleansing; but the older it is, the more complex is the care it demands. As the age of the human individual increases, the more do its needs continue to enlarge. The younger the human being, the more dependent is it upon parental care, and more particularly upon maternal care; and the more helpless the offspring, the more does the educational influence of the mother exceed in importance that of the father. The view that the natural province of work of the father is to provide the means of subsistence for himself and his family, while the mother’s work, on the other hand, is to care for the children, is erroneous. It is not merely unnecessary for the mother to spend all her time with her child, but such a course of action imposes an excessive strain upon her, and has a dulling effect. It is also a false view that only those women properly fulfil their duties as wives and mothers who devote their whole time to the upbringing of their children and to the cares of their household.