Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/726

 702 WOMAN'S RIGHTS WOMBAT of woman's rights, received in Marylebone over 45,000 votes, being 20,000 more than any other candidate in any metropolitan ward. Emily Davis was returned at the same time, and in Manchester Lydia Baker. Dr. Garrett and her sister, Mary Carpenter, Mrs. Fawcett, and Frances Power Cobbe are among the more prominent advocates, as well as Mrs. Frank Hill, wife of the editor of the London "Daily News," which favors the movement. Harriet Martineau, Florence Nightingale, Emily Faith- full, and other distinguished persons of both sexes, contribute in various degrees to give moral force to the English movement ; but the death of Mr. Mill in 1873 deprived it of its most influential champion. The granting of the elective franchise to women continues to be urged in parliament. In 1870 Jacob Bright, brother of John Bright, brought forward a bill in its favor, which passed to a second read- ing May 4 by a majority of 124 to 91 votes. It was opposed by the government and thrown out, May 12. His motion was again rejected by 220 to 157 votes, May 3, 1871 ; by 222 to 143, May 1, 1872, Mr. Disraeli giving a silent vote with the minority; and by 222 to 155, April 30, 1873. The motion is made annually, and with about the same results. In 1876 it was brought forward by Mr. Forsyth, and strongly opposed by John Bright, on the ground that the franchise would be detrimen- tal to the interests of the women themselves, and that the principle is untenable and incon- sistent with universal experience; and though supported by his brother, by Fawcett, and other liberals, it was rejected on April 26 by 239 against 152. Women are now employed in various public offices in England, but most ex- tensively in the postal service. French women evince little or no interest in this question. Even during the period when society had been revolutionized by innovators like Rousseau, an attempt made by Rosa Lacombe (1792) to en- list in its favor the council of Paris proved alto- gether abortive. Nor have the views of Fou- rier, Saint-Simon, Michelet, Auguste Comte, Mme. Dudevant (George Sand), Laboulayo, and Logon ve produced any impression beyond the realms of thought. Jenny d'Hericourt's La femme affranchie (1860), L6on Richer's Le droit des femmes, a periodical (1868-'70), and Olympe Audouard's and Andr6 L6o's (L6onie Champseix's) lectures fell dead. On the other hand, there are more women engaged in mer- cantile life and in government tobacco shops and similar occupations in France than in any other country. Public opinion is favorable to their employment in every occupation except- ing in the special spheres of men. In Ger- many many thoughtful works have appeared in the last and the present century, advocating a wider scope for female activity. The revo- lution of 1848 produced organs and associations in Leipsic and Berlin. In 1865 the first public meeting was held in the former, city. Saxony abrogated in 1866 the laws excluding women from postal, telegraph, and kindred offices. In 1865 Lette founded in Berlin the association still known under his name, for promoting the industrial progress of women ; since his death (Dec. 3, 1868) it has been directed by Prof. Holtzendorff, and it became the model of nu- merous similar organizations in the German and Austrian empires. Among the most active ad- vocates at the present day is Jenny Ilirsch at Berlin. Fanny Lewald joined her in 1869 in editing Die Frauenwelt, and in 1870 she es- tablished another journal, Der Frauenanwalt. Conspicuous among novelists interested in the movement was Luise Muhlbach, who died in 1873. In Switzerland, the university of Zurich has many Russian and American female medi- cal students, to whom it awards degrees ; and Mrs. Mary Goegg has founded at Geneva an international women's association. In Italy, where not a few women excel in science and literature, there are several organs specially devoted to their interests, and prominent wri- ters like Dora d'Istria favor the cause. But the traditions and institutions of Europe mili- tate against the movement, especially among the Latin races.-^ee " Woman in the Nine- 'teenth Century," by Margaret Fuller Ossoli (New York, 1845; edited by A. B. Fuller, 1855) ; " History of the Condition of Women in all Ages and Nations," by Lydia Maria Child (2 vols., New York, 1845; 5th ed., 1854); " Woman in America," by Maria J. Mclntosh (New York, 1850) ; " Woman and her Needs," by Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith (New York, 1851) ; Die Frauen und ihr Beruf, by Luisa BQchner (Frankfort, 1855 ; 3d ed., 1860 ; translated into English, Russian, and Dutch) ; "Woman's Rights under the Law," by Mrs. 0. II. Dall (Boston, 1862); "The Employment of Women : a Cyclopaedia of Woman's Work," by Virginia Penny (Boston, 1863); "Woman and her Era," by Mrs. E. W. Farnhara (2 vols., New York, 1864); Defemms par une femme, by Dora d Istria (Paris and Brussels, 1864; translated into English, Russian, and Italian) ; "The College, the Market, and the Court; or Woman's Relation to Education, Labor, and Law," by Mrs. 0. II. Dall (Boston, 18rt7); " Woman's Rights," by the Rev. John Todd (New York, 1868); "The Subjection of Wo- men," by J. S. Mill (London, 1869) ; and "The Rights of Women : a Comparison of the rela- tive legal Status of the Sexes in the chief Coun- tries of Western Civilization " (London, 1875). WOMBAT (phagcolomys wombat, Per. and Les.), a herbivorous marsupial mammal, inhab- iting New South Wales, South Australia, Tas- mania, and the small islands in Bass straits. The generic name means pouched rat; it is also called badger by the colonists from its burrowing habits, and ursine opossum from its resemblance to a small bear. In the teeth and gnawing propensities it greatly resembles a rodent animal, the incisors being two in each jaw, long and chisel-like; canines wanting, leaving a considerable gap between the incisors