In the practice of medicine as in all other branches of women's labour, the question of the effect of marriage upon work is a very important and difficult one. In its general aspect it lies at the very heart of the whole question of the working woman. Its effect on the medical woman varies according to the branch of her profession which she selects. If she wishes to become _(a)_ a specialist or _(b)_ a general practitioner, she has perfect freedom of choice as to what she will do in the event of marriage; and some women retire while others continue their work. The latter is a much more desirable course from the point of view of medical women as a whole. The medical woman who is married can, better than any one else, render to society certain services in her profession, and it is desirable that these should not be lost. In any event no woman need retire from her work on marriage, though it is, of course, most important that the married medical woman should not deny to herself and to her husband the normal healthy joy of having children. To continue in practice, however, while bearing a child requires a certain amount of expenditure, as such a doctor will need to retire from practice for at least two or three months, probably longer, and is therefore put to the expense of engaging a _locum tenens._ This ought, however, to be possible when both husband and wife are earning incomes. From the point of view of society as a whole, it is waste that any one who has had such a long and arduous training as that required for the medical profession should not use it in service to the community. There is a form of selfishness not sufficiently recognised, which consists not in acquiring goods but in acquiring knowledge without rendering it again in service to one's fellow men and women. Should the doctor decide _(c)_ to enter the public service, the question will probably not be in her own control as there is an ever-increasing tendency on the part of public authorities to insist on single women or widows only among the medical women whom they employ. There is a big fight to be waged here--one of the many that our pioneers have left for us and our successors. The lack of social instinct which lies behind this edict is amazing. What can be more anti-social than that a young, healthy, and highly-trained woman should have to decide between marriage and executing that public work for which she has with great labour fitted herself? In at least some cases of which the writer is aware, the demand that a doctor shall retire on marriage, has led to a decision against matrimony, and this is not surprising, although very serious as a general problem. The great need of society at the present day is that the most healthy and well-trained young men and women should be induced to found families, and public authorities by this bar put on the trained woman, are doing their best to hinder marriage.