SEC. 2. No certificate shall be granted any person to teach in the public schools of the State of New York, after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, who has not passed a satisfactory examination in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system. In 1883 the second petition for a prohibitory constitutional amendment was presented to the senate and assembly. It was defeated in the house by a vote of forty-two to fifty-four, and in the senate by a vote of thirteen to eighteen. Yet these figures show that the prohibition tide is rising. In 1886 measures were taken toward securing a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicants upon fair grounds. Mrs. H. Roscoe Edgett, of Fairport, the superintendent of the department, was indefatigable in her efforts to secure the law, but it was not until February 29, 1888, that the following was enrolled on the statute-books of the state: It shall not be lawful for any person to sell, have for sale, give away, or have in his possession for the purpose of selling or giving away, on the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held, any strong or spirituous liquors, wine, ale, beer, or fermented cider; and it shall not be lawful for any person to sell or give away strong or spirituous liquors, wines, ales, beer, or fermented cider at any place within two hundred yards of the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or any other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held. This act shall not be applicable to the city of New York. Until 1887 the laws of the state were such that a child ten years old could consent to her own ruin, and the despoiler of her virtue go unpunished. In April of that year the penal code was amended, raising the age of consent to sixteen years, as follows: ... Any person who takes or detains a female under sixteen years of age for the purpose of prostitution, ... is guilty of abduction, punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. Following closely upon this was the passage of the police matron law, in 1888, which provided for the appointment of police matrons in all cities of more than 25,000 inhabitants, and the designating of separate houses of detention for female delinquents. In securing this law the Woman's Christian Temperance Union co-operated with other societies. In 1891 an amendment to this law was secured, mainly through the efforts of Mrs. H. K. N. Goff, of Brooklyn, making the appointment of police matrons compulsory in the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The law as amended is as follows: