Page:Sexology.djvu/146

 their own physiognomy. The maneuvers of coquetry, the science of glances, of inflections of voice, and of gestures reveal to us a being who is self-conscious even to the most minute details of her life. One would almost believe that a mirror invisible to others, always reflected her to herself; but to the "know thyself," in its large, philosophical sense, she is an entire stranger. It ought to be thus, moreover, for the genius of analysis almost always excludes that of synthesis. The illustrious Geoffrey Saint Hilaire said of Cuvier, "When we walk together in the gallery of monkeys, he sees a thousand monkeys where I see but one," and so with man and woman; to one the genius of the individual, to the other that of the race.

She has far less idea of justice than man. She revels in distinctions, preferences, and privileges. Her self-love is wounded if lost in the crowd; she cannot bear to pass unremarked. This is why justice which tends to the abolition of rank, is to her insupportable. For her, aristocracy is in the natural order of things. Systems of metaphysics, abstractions, general ideas, politics, and equality are therefore indifferent to her. There is only one method of introducing them to her intelligence; it is in making them reach it through her heart. Depict to her the sufferings of individuals arising from social inequality, and then, but not till then, she is clamorous for the "rights of man." The justice of man is the charity of woman.

While to man belongs the physical strength which is necessary for the cultivation of the soil and for his own defense, woman possesses the suppleness and dexterity requisite for minute works and domestic details. She does not seize objects with as much force, but she handles them with more skill and delicacy. Her small hands and attenuated fingers enable her to wield the needle. In