It is the custom to smile at the extravagantly romantic idea of love which the boarding-school girl holds; but unrealizable as it may be, hers is a nobler conception than that which the majority of adults voice. Very properly, one does not care to make one's deepest feelings public; but if such subjects as love and motherhood can not be discussed naturally and without affectation, they ought to be left alone. If intelligent men and women will set the example, this attitude of mind will spread, and cultured families at least will rid themselves of such deplorable habits as that of plaguing children, not yet out of the nursery, about their "sweethearts."
No sane man would deny the desirability of beauty in a wife, particularly when it is remembered that beauty, especially as determined by good complexion, good teeth and medium weight, is correlated with good health in some degree, and likewise with intelligence. Nevertheless, we are strongly of the opinion that beauty of face is now too highly valued, as a standard of sexual selection.7
Good health in a mate is a qualification which any sensible man or woman will require, and for which a "marriage certificate" is in most cases quite unnecessary.8 What other physical standard is there that should be given weight?
Alexander Graham Bell has lately been emphasizing the importance of longevity in this connection, and in our judgment he has thereby opened up a very fruitful field for education. It goes without saying that anyone would prefer to marry a partner with a good constitution. "How can we find a test of a good, sound constitution?" Dr. Bell asked in a recent lecture. "I think we could find it in the duration of life in a family. Take a