PART XVI.
Adolescence.
Period of growth. This is called so only relatively; for we know that the child grows from its very birth. After it has attained the twelfth year of age, however, the growth is so rapid, the organs hasten so fast to the completion of their development, that the time from that age to puberty has been styled the "period of growth."
This is the most important and interesting period in the human life; for, after this, the moral habits are formed, and the organs are shaped to a fashion in which they will remain ever after. It is during this period, also, that the mind, heretofore passive and almost totally imitative, springs as from its cell into an existence of self-depend- ence, self-regulation, and gives evidence of originality of thought and conception. All the senses become more active; and one can notice the human being gradually breaking away from the anchor of parental control, and drifting towards the current of life, where it will ever after steer its own course. It is now that you will see the fruit of your early instruction; it is now that the imperfections will become apparent; it is now that artistic touches will be required, lest the picture is a daub forever.
It is, also, at this period that latent diseases often de- velop themselves; and the offspring of parents who have died of tuberculous consumption need now the greatest attention, for in this condition of susceptibility the slight-
