Part 17 (1/2)

One who entered the class in its sophoed to withdraw on account of her health; but those who know her best cannot assert that this was caused, either directly or indirectly, by her intellectual labors, or that, under the same conditions, the same results would not have followed fro ti, in a very bad state of health, and was utterly unfit for study

Thus far, the health record of the women of this class has compared favorably with that of the ical reason why it should not thus continue even 'down to old age'

The class of '75 had, on entering, eleven woirl, who passed froe life, shortly after her return in the autumn We do not know the cause of her sickness, but we do know that it was not the result of overtaxed mental powers, since it occurred but a little while after the long vacation of the summer, and the disease was one which had carried off a number of members of the same fa of age, sex, or condition With this exception, this class has been reht exception is, at the present time, perfectly so Their attendance on recitations has been unifore of the classes, and they have done excellent work Of these, tere sixteen years of age on entering, one enty, and the others varied in ages between sixteen and twenty Concerning one of the fors when she entered, as she did not see; but she is now in her third year in the University, and hersince that the health of her daughter had improved since she came to Ann Arbor, and that the nervous headaches by which she had been for those whowomen, two of ere in poor health at the time, and physically unfit for work One was ill for some time last winter with rheumatism, and coed to leave college The for, and will probably return, and the other has resu well One of the number, who is from the Sandwich Islands, was sick four weeks with inflas; but her brother, who is one year in advance of her, was also sick in his fresh that she was ill four weeks, and he, seven

As a class, the 'sophoirls' are in even a better physical condition in the middle of this their second year, the hardest year of the course, than they were at the beginning of last year One of the _naivete_ asserts that she was 'miserable' when she entered, and her father sent her to the University to 'see if she wouldn't get well;' and she 'has been getting well ever since'

The average attendance of the young women of this class upon recitations, is also fully equal to that of the youngfrom the stand-point of the professors; and in the classical sections it has been better

In the present Fresh woe; as also areOf those in this class there is little to be said, as they have been with us but a few raduates froe proportion froraduates, Professor Perry, the Superintendent of Schools in this city, gives the following statistics in regard to sixteen young raduated last year:

BOYS GIRLS

Attendance 96 96

Scholarshi+p 85 88

It is a fact that thus far the woan University have demonstrated a principle of Dr Tappan's--a forood for the health If the seeds of future disease have been in some mysterious manner implanted in their systeinations of those who are least acquainted with our girls The points which I wish to establish are these: that their health has been as good as that of their class have in no respect suffered a deterioration of health from their intellectual work; that of those ere not in a proper condition for this or any other kind of work, and have been obliged to withdraw froer per cent than the records of the young h we have lost one by death, they have lost several; and that the ordinary brain-work required of the intelligent, aan University, if they are prepared in all respects for it, is conducive to health Too h preparation

With it, students ere not especially strong, have gone on with constantly iest have felt that the burdens imposed by their studies were heavy--and this is true of one sex as well as of the other[49]

I quote also froe paper, which is conducted entirely by the young ive the view froirls,” the writer says: ”They pertinaciously keep their health and strength in a way that is aggravating, and they persist in evincing a capability for close and continued mental labor, which, to the ordinary estimator of woman's brain-power, seeenerally noticeable peculiarity, disappointed the eneral verdict of those outside the university is, that ”the girls are holding out remarkably well”

And perhaps it may be asked, ”What are our habits of life?” Possibly the best reply iven in the words of Ha of Kant, he says: ”In hishe did not consult custom, but the needs of his individual nature” Thus is it here Our healthiest girls are those who have come from healthful ho instilled into their , have not hesitated to send them forth to the university where the experi that they would adapt everything to the needs of their individual natures, and they are showing theether, sometimes a brother and sister, and in a few instances the parents have coe course of their children

But the habits of the young wo, or dissipation; they have work to do, and to it they give their best strength As a rule, they dress healthfully, are not asha stitches to rip, or hooks to fly; they do not disdain dresses that are too short for street-sweeping; they have learned that the shoulders are better for sustaining the heavy skirts than the hips, and they are finding that, especially in this clih it is, one encies of the weather

Their study-life is quiet and happy Their rooms are in private houses, usually rented in suites of tith plenty of light and ventilation, and with bright, pleasant furniture The people horeat interest in the young strangers who co them They board either with the fatheestible food, usually so prevalent a away froularly prescribed study-hours, and there is no regularly prescribed exercise Most of the young women have rooenerally obliged to go two or three times a day, so that they, of necessity, have considerable walking--in which soth and endurance

In fact, there is nothing prescribed for the student, except lessons; the only authority which the university assu is compulsory except attendance upon recitations, and a proper attention to the prescribed work

Perhaps the principal cause for the good health of the young women, and their ability to endure the work they have entered upon, is the fact that they have an aireat university; they believe that there is a future before them, in which they are to do a woman's work, in a es of this higher education, and as they advance toward its opening portals, the step becomes firmer, the form more erect, the eye more radiant; they believe, also, that the divine call has co vine, or the nodding lily; that delicacy is a word of mockery when applied to health, a word of beauty when applied to cultivated perceptions, and refined tastes

They enjoy their work; they have the confidence of their professors, the esteem of their classmates, and the love of one another Their work is to them more attractive than the char than the modern novel; their mathematics no more intricate than the fancy-hich used to be considered one of the necessary things in a woman's education; and ood supply of common sense

But perhaps, after all, little can be inferred for the future froan University, fro of the women who are at the present ti We do not assert that there can be; we do not draw inferences, we present facts We are fully aware that the problees of its solution; that it will require at least a generation to solve it fully; that faith is not fruition, nor belief, certainty in this experiment, any more than in any other; that while the women who are here at the present tih-minded, those who coo forth in these first years may break down at the first stroke of future work, even as some of their brothers have done; but we do assert that, as far as Michigan University is concerned, educating a girl in a boy's way has thus far been proven to be better than any girl's way yet discovered, and there has appeared no reason why the good effects should not continue

We are so, that we are trespassing upon ground foreign to our natures, in thus seeking the higher education in a doed, almost exclusively, to man--but in all cases this has been done by those outside of our university; and while we know that they who thus speak and write are those who consider themselves the best friends to woman in the spheres to which they would liress are friends to the highest culture of man or woman

We know, too, that for the manner in which we obey the dictates of our natures, ihtier than we are,' we alone are accountable

We know the barriers, real and fancied, which are supposed to stand in the way; the arduous toil upon which we enter, the responsibilities which we assuoes forth brave, earnest, and loyal to the dictates of duty; she expects to do work in life as a wolorified by these four years of co-education; whose health shall be all that Nature intended it should be, and ill, in the truest sense possible, strive

”To make the world within her reach Soladder for her human speech”