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 Data
Analysis with
Python

Introducing NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib,

and
Essential Elements of Python
Programming

Rituraj Dixit

www.bpbonline.com
Copyright © 2023 BPB Online

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 Dedicated to
My beloved Parents:
Mrs. Indra Dixit
Mr. Sudesh Kumar Dixit
&
My fiancée Sachi and my sisters
 About the Author
Rituraj Dixit is a seasoned software engineer who has been
actively involved with developing solutions and architecting in the
ETL, DWH, Big Data, Data on Cloud, and Data Science space for
over a decade. He has worked with global clients and successfully
delivered projects involving cutting-edge technologies such as Big
Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, AI, and others.
He is passionate about sharing his experience and knowledge and
has trained newcomers and professionals across the globe.
Currently, he is Associated as a Technical Lead with Cognizant
Technology Solutions, Singapore.
 About the Reviewer
Vikash Chandra is a data scientist and software developer having
industry experience in executing and implementing projects in the
area of predictive analytics and machine learning across domains.
Experienced in handling and tweeting large volumes of structured
and unstructured data. He enjoys teaching Python and Data Science,
leveraging Python's power & awesomeness in projects at scale.
Specialties: Predictive modeling, Forecasting, Machine learning,
Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Data mining, Business
Analytics, Text Mining, NLP, Statistics, SAS, R, Python, TensorFlow.
 Acknowledgement
I want to thank a few people for their ongoing support during the
writing of this book. First and foremost, I'd like to thank my parents
for constantly encouraging me to write the book — I could never
have finished it without their support.
I am grateful to the course and the companies which supported me
throughout the learning process. Thank you for all the direct or
indirect support provided.
A special thanks go out to Team at BPB Publications for being so
accommodating in providing the time I needed to finish the book
and for letting me publish it.
 Preface
Data is the fuel in the current information age. Data analysis is
quickly becoming a popular topic due to the rapid growth and
collection of data. To comprehend data insights and uncover hidden
patterns, we require a data analyst who can collect, understand, and
analyze data that helps make data-driven decisions.
This book is the first step in learning data analysis for students. This
book lays the groundwork for an absolute beginner in the field of
Python Data Analysis. Because Python is the language of choice for
data analysts and data scientists, this book covers the essential
Python tools for data analysis. For each topic, there are various
hands-on examples in this book. This book's content covers the
fundamentals of core Python programming, as well as Python's
widely used data analysis libraries such as Pandas and NumPy, and
the data visualization library matplotlib. It also includes the
fundamental concepts and process flow of Data Analysis, as well as
a real-time use case to give you an idea of how to solve real-time
Data analysis problems.
This book is divided into 12 chapters. They will cover Python
basics, Data Analysis, and Python Libraries for Data Analysis.
Following are the details of the chapter's content.
Chapter 1 covers the introduction to Python; in this chapter, we will
get information about the history of Python and its evaluation. Also,
learn Python's various features and versions 1. x, 2. x, and 3. x. We
discussed the real-time use cases of Python.
Chapter 2 covers the installation of Python and other Data Analysis
Libraries in order to set up a Data Analysis environment.
Chapter 3 starts with the Python programming building blocks such
as Variable in Python, Operators, Number, String, Boolean data
types, Lists, Tuples, Sets, and Dictionaries. All the programing
concepts have been explained with hands-on examples.
Chapter 4 will explore another essential programming construct,
how to write conditional statements in Python. In this chapter, we
will learn how to write the conditional instructions in Python using
if…else, elif, and nested if. All the programing concepts have been
explained with hands-on examples.
Chapter 5 covers the concepts of loops in Python. This chapter has
a good explanation with appropriate hands-on examples for the
while loop, for loop, and nested loops.
Chapter 6 will have content about the functions and modules in
Python. It explained how to write the functions in Python and how to
use them. Also, this chapter has information about the Python
modules and other essential concepts of functional programming like
lambda function, map(), reduce(), and filter() functions.
Chapter 7 will cover how to work with file I/O in Python. How to
read and write on the external files with various modes and to save
the data on file. All concepts have been explained with hands-on
examples.
Chapter 8 covers the Introduction to Data Analysis fundamental
concepts. This chapter discusses the data analysis concepts, why we
need that, and the steps involved in performing a data analysis task.
This chapter covers all the basic foundations we need to understand
the real-time data analysis problem and the steps to solve the data
analysis problem.
Chapter 9 covers the introduction to Pandas Library, a famous and
vastly used Data Analysis Library. This chapter has a detailed
explanation of features and methods provided by this Library with
rich hands-on examples.
Chapter 10 covers the introduction to NumPy Library, a famous and
vastly used Numerical Data Analysis Library. This chapter has a
detailed explanation of features and methods provided by this
Library with rich hands-on examples.
Chapter 11 covers the introduction to Matplotlib Library, a famous
and vastly used Data Visualization Library. Data Visualization is a
significant part of the Data Analysis process; it is always important
to present the Data Analysis results or summaries with an
appropriate visual graph or plot. This chapter has a detailed
explanation of features and methods provided by this Library with
rich hands-on examples of various types of graph plots.
Chapter 12 includes a data analysis use case with a given data set.
This chapter has explained one data analysis problem statement and
performed an end-to-end data analysis task with a step-by-step
explanation to answer the questions mentioned in the problem
statement so that learners can clearly understand how to analyze
data in real-time.
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Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
enjoyment of the family state. There are sometimes cases where the
entrance of the mistress of a family seems to awaken a slight
apprehension in every mind around, as if each felt in danger of a
reproof, for something either perpetrated or neglected. A woman
who should go around her house with a small stinging snapper,
which she habitually applied to those whom she met, would be
encountered with feelings very much like those which are
experienced by the inmates of a family where the mistress often
uses her countenance and voice to inflict similar penalties for duties
neglected.
Yet there are many allowances to be made for housekeepers who
sometimes imperceptibly and unconsciously fall into such habits. A
woman who attempts to carry out any plans of system, order, and
economy, and who has her feelings and habits conformed to certain
rules, is constantly liable to have her plans crossed, and her taste
violated, by the inexperience or inattention of those about her. And
no housekeeper, whatever may be her habits, can escape the
frequent recurrence of negligence or mistake which interferes with
her plans.
It is probable that there is no class of persons in the world who
have such incessant trials of temper, and temptations to be fretful,
as American housekeepers; for a housekeeper’s business is not, like
that of the other sex, limited to a particular department, for which
previous preparation is made. It consists of ten thousand little
disconnected items, which can never be so systematically arranged
that there is no daily jostling somewhere. And in the best-regulated
families it is not unfrequently the case that some act of forgetfulness
or carelessness from some member will disarrange the business of
the whole day, so that every hour will bring renewed occasion for
annoyance. And the more strongly a woman realizes the value of
time, and the importance of system and order, the more will she be
tempted to irritability and complaint.
The following considerations may aid in preparing a woman to
meet such daily crosses with even a cheerful temper and tones.
 In the first place, a woman who has charge of a large household
should regard her duties as dignified, important, and difficult. The
mind is so made as to be elevated and cheered by a sense of far-
reaching influence and usefulness. A woman who feels that she is a
cipher, and that it makes little difference how she performs her
duties, has far less to sustain and invigorate her than one who truly
estimates the importance of her station. A man who feels that the
destinies of a nation are turning on the judgment and skill with
which he plans and executes, has a pressure of motive and an
elevation of feeling which are great safeguards against all that is
low, trivial, and degrading.
So, an American mother and housekeeper who rightly estimates
the long train of influence which will pass down to thousands whose
destinies, from generation to generation, will be modified by those
decisions of her will which regulate the temper, principles, and habits
of her family, must be elevated above petty temptations which would
otherwise assail her.
Again, a housekeeper should feel that she really has great
difficulties to meet and overcome. A person who wrongly thinks
there is little danger, can never maintain so faithful a guard as one
who rightly estimates the temptations which beset her. Nor can one
who thinks that they are trifling difficulties which she has to
encounter, and trivial temptations to which she must yield, so much
enjoy the just reward of conscious virtue and self-control as one who
takes an opposite view of the subject.
A third method is, for a woman deliberately to calculate on having
her best-arranged plans interfered with very often, and to be in such
a state of preparation that the evil will not come unawares. So
complicated are the pursuits, and so diverse the habits of the various
members of a family, that it is almost impossible for every one to
avoid interfering with the plans and taste of a housekeeper in some
one point or another. It is, therefore, most wise for a woman to keep
the loins of her mind ever girt, to meet such collisions with a
cheerful and quiet spirit.
 Another important rule is, to form all plans and arrangements in
consistency with the means at command, and the character of those
around. A woman who has a heedless husband, and young children,
and incompetent domestics, ought not to make such plans as one
may properly form who will not, in so many directions, meet
embarrassment. She must aim at just as much as she can probably
attain, and no more; and thus she will usually escape much
temptation, and much of the irritation of disappointment.
The fifth, and a very important consideration, is, that system,
economy, and neatness, are valuable only so far as they tend to
promote the comfort and well-being of those affected. Some women
seem to act under the impression that these advantages must be
secured, at all events, even if the comfort of the family be the
sacrifice. True, it is very important that children grow up in habits of
system, neatness, and order; and it is very desirable that the mother
give them every incentive, both by precept and example; but it is
still more important that they grow up with amiable tempers, that
they learn to meet the crosses of life with patience and cheerfulness;
and nothing has a greater influence to secure this than a mother’s
example. Whenever, therefore, a woman can not accomplish her
plans of neatness and order without injury to her own temper or to
the temper of others, she ought to modify and reduce them until she
can.
The sixth method relates to the government of the tones of voice.
In many cases, when a woman’s domestic arrangements are
suddenly and seriously crossed, it is impossible not to feel some
irritation. But it is always possible to refrain from angry tones. A
woman can resolve that, whatever happens, she will not speak till
she can do it in a calm and gentle manner. Perfect silence is a safe
resort, when such control can not be attained as enables a person to
speak calmly; and this determination, persevered in, will eventually
be crowned with success.
Many persons seem to imagine that tones of anger are needful, in
order to secure prompt obedience. But observation has convinced
the writer that they are never necessary; that in all cases reproof
administered in calm tones would be better. A case will be given in
illustration.
A young girl had been repeatedly charged to avoid a certain
arrangement in cooking. On one day, when company was invited to
dine, the direction was forgotten, and the consequence was an
accident which disarranged every thing, seriously injured the
principal dish, and delayed dinner for an hour. The mistress of the
family entered the kitchen just as it occurred, and at a glance saw
the extent of the mischief. For a moment her eyes flashed and her
cheeks glowed; but she held her peace. After a minute or so, she
gave directions in a calm voice as to the best mode of retrieving the
evil, and then left, without a word said to the offender.
After the company left, she sent for the girl, alone, and in a calm
and kind manner pointed out the aggravations of the case, and
described the trouble which had been caused to her husband, her
visitors, and herself. She then portrayed the future evils which would
result from such habits of neglect and inattention, and the modes of
attempting to overcome them; and then offered a reward for the
future, if, in a given time, she succeeded in improving in this respect.
Not a tone of anger was uttered; and yet the severest scolding of a
practiced Xantippe could not have secured such contrition, and
determination to reform, as were gained by this method.
But similar negligence is often visited by a continuous stream of
complaint and reproof, which, in most cases, is met either by sullen
silence or impertinent retort, while anger prevents any contrition or
any resolution of future amendment.
It is very certain that some ladies do carry forward a most efficient
government, both of children and domestics, without employing
tones of anger; and therefore they are not indispensable, nor on any
account desirable.
 Though some ladies of intelligence and refinement do fall
unconsciously into such a practice, it is certainly very unlady-like,
and in very bad taste, to scold; and the further a woman departs
from all approach to it, the more perfectly she sustains her character
as a lady.
Another method of securing equanimity amidst the trials of
domestic life is, to cultivate a habit of making allowances for the
difficulties, ignorance, or temptations of those who violate rule or
neglect duty. It is vain, and most unreasonable, to expect the
consideration and care of a mature mind in childhood and youth; or
that persons of such limited advantages as most domestics have
enjoyed should practice proper self-control, and possess proper
habits and principles.
Every parent and every employer needs daily to cultivate the spirit
expressed in the divine prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us.” The same allowances and
forbearance which we supplicate from our Heavenly Father, and
desire from our fellow-men in reference to our own deficiencies, we
should constantly aim to extend to all who cross our feelings and
interfere with our plans.
The last and most important mode of securing a placid and
cheerful temper and tones is, by a constant belief in the influence of
a superintending Providence. All persons are too much in the habit
of regarding the more important events of life exclusively as under
the control of Perfect Wisdom; but the fall of a sparrow, or the loss
of a hair, they do not feel to be equally the result of his directing
agency. In consequence of this, Christian persons who aim at perfect
and cheerful submission to heavy afflictions, and who succeed to the
edification of all about them, are sometimes sadly deficient under
petty crosses. If a beloved child be laid in the grave, even if its death
resulted from the carelessness of a domestic or of a physician, the
eye is turned from the subordinate agent to the Supreme Guardian
of all; and to him they bow, without murmur or complaint. But if a
pudding be burned, or a room badly swept, or an errand forgotten,
then vexation and complaint are allowed, just as if these events
were not appointed by Perfect Wisdom as much as the sorer
chastisement.
A woman, therefore, needs to cultivate the habitual feeling that all
the events of her nursery and kitchen are brought about by the
permission of our Heavenly Father; and that fretfulness or complaint
in regard to these is, in fact, complaining at the appointments of
God, and is really as sinful as unsubmissive murmurs amidst the
sorer chastisements of his hand. And a woman who cultivates this
habit of referring all the minor trials of life to the wise and
benevolent agency of a heavenly Parent, and daily seeks his
sympathy and aid to enable her to meet them with a quiet and
cheerful spirit, will soon find it the perennial spring of abiding peace
and content.
The power of religion to impart dignity and importance to the
ordinary and seemingly petty details of domestic life greatly depends
upon the degree of faith in the reality of a life to come, and of its
eternal results. A woman who is training a family simply with
reference to this life may find exalted motives as she looks forward
to unborn generations, whose temporal prosperity and happiness are
depending upon her fidelity and skill. But one who truly and firmly
believes that this life is but the beginning of an eternal career to
every immortal inmate of her home, and that the formation of
tastes, habits, and character, under her care, will bring forth fruits of
good or ill, not only through earthly generations, but through
everlasting ages—such a woman secures a calm and exalted
principle of action, and a source of peace which no earthly motives
can impart.
 CHAPTER XV.
HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.

Any discussion of the equality of the sexes as to intellectual

capacity seems frivolous and useless, both because it can never be
decided, and because there would be no possible advantage in the
decision. But one topic, which is often drawn into this discussion, is
of far more consequence; and that is, the relative importance and
difficulty of the duties a woman is called to perform.
It is generally assumed, and almost as generally conceded, that a
housekeeper’s business and cares are contracted and trivial; and
that the proper discharge of her duties demands far less expansion
of mind and vigor of intellect than the pursuits of the other sex. This
idea has prevailed because women, as a mass, have never been
educated with reference to their most important duties; while that
portion of their employments which is of least value has been
regarded as the chief, if not the sole, concern of a woman. The
covering of the body, the convenience of residences, and the
gratification of the appetite, have been too much regarded as the
chief objects on which her intellectual powers are to be exercised.
But as society gradually shakes off the remnants of barbarism and
the intellectual and moral interests of man rise, in estimation, above
the merely sensual, a truer estimate is formed of woman’s duties,
and of the measure of intellect requisite for the proper discharge of
them. Let any man of sense and discernment become the member
of a large household, in which a well-educated and pious woman is
endeavoring systematically to discharge her multiform duties; let him
fully comprehend all her cares, difficulties, and perplexities; and it is
probable he would coincide in the opinion that no statesman at the
head of a nation’s affairs had more frequent calls for wisdom,
firmness, tact, discrimination, prudence, and versatility of talent,
than such a woman.
 She has a husband, to whose peculiar tastes and habits she must
accommodate herself; she has children, whose health she must
guard, whose physical constitutions she must study and develop,
whose temper and habits she must regulate, whose principles she
must form, whose pursuits she must guide. She has constantly
changing domestics, with all varieties of temper and habits, whom
she must govern, instruct, and direct; she is required to regulate the
finances of the domestic state, and constantly to adapt expenditures
to the means and to the relative claims of each department. She has
the direction of the kitchen, where ignorance, forgetfulness, and
awkwardness, are to be so regulated that the various operations
shall each start at the right time, and all be in completeness at the
same given hour. She has the claims of society to meet, visits to
receive and return, and the duties of hospitality to sustain. She has
the poor to relieve; benevolent societies to aid; the schools of her
children to inquire and decide about; the care of the sick and the
aged; the nursing of infancy; and the endless miscellany of odd
items constantly recurring in a large family.
Surely it is a pernicious and mistaken idea that the duties which
tax a woman’s mind are petty, trivial, or unworthy of the highest
grade of intellect and moral worth. Instead of allowing this feeling,
every woman should imbibe, from early youth, the impression that
she is in training for the discharge of the most important, the most
difficult, and the most sacred and interesting duties that can possibly
employ the highest intellect. She ought to feel that her station and
responsibilities in the great drama of life are second to none, either
as viewed by her Maker or in the estimation of all minds whose
judgment is most worthy of respect.
She who is the mother and housekeeper in a large family is the
sovereign of an empire, demanding more varied cares, and involving
more difficult duties, than are really exacted of her who wears a
crown and professedly regulates the interests of the greatest nation
on earth.
 There is no one thing more necessary to a housekeeper, in
performing her varied duties, than a habit of system and order; and
yet the peculiarly desultory nature of women’s pursuits, and the
embarrassments resulting from the state of domestic service in this
country, render it very difficult to form such a habit. But it is
sometimes the case that women who could and would carry forward
a systematic plan of domestic economy do not attempt it, simply
from a want of knowledge of the various modes of introducing it. It
is with reference to such that various modes of securing system and
order, which the writer has seen adopted, will be pointed out.
A wise economy is nowhere more conspicuous than in a
systematic apportionment of time to different pursuits. There are
duties of a religious, intellectual, social, and domestic nature, each
having different relative claims on attention. Unless a person has
some general plan of apportioning these claims, some will intrench
on others, and some, it is probable, will be entirely excluded. Thus
some find religious, social, and domestic duties so numerous, that
no time is given to intellectual improvement. Others find either
social, or benevolent, or religious interests excluded by the extent
and variety of other engagements.
It is wise, therefore, for all persons to devise a systematic plan
which they will at least keep in view and aim to accomplish, and by
which a proper proportion of time shall be secured for all the duties
of life.
In forming such a plan, every woman must accommodate herself
to the peculiarities of her situation. If she has a large family and a
small income, she must devote far more time to the simple duty of
providing food and raiment than would be right were she in
affluence, and with a small family. It is impossible, therefore, to draw
out any general plan which all can adopt. But there are some
general principles, which ought to be the guiding rules, when a
woman arranges her domestic employments. These principles are to
be based on Christianity, which teaches us to “seek first the kingdom
of God,” and to deem food, raiment, and the conveniences of life as
of secondary account. Every woman, then, ought to start with the
assumption that the moral and religious interests of her family are of
more consequence than any worldly concern, and that, whatever
else may be sacrificed, these shall be the leading object, in all her
arrangements, in respect to time, money, and attention.
It is also one of the plainest requisitions of Christianity, that we
devote some of our time and efforts to the comfort and
improvement of others. There is no duty so constantly enforced,
both in the Old and New Testament, as that of charity, in dispensing
to those who are destitute of the blessings we enjoy. In selecting
objects of charity, the same rule applies to others as to ourselves;
their moral and religious interests are of the highest moment, and
for them, as well as for ourselves, we are to “seek first the kingdom
of God.”
Another general principle is, that our intellectual and social
interests are to be preferred to the mere gratification of taste or
appetite. A portion of time, therefore, must be devoted to the
cultivation of the intellect and the social affections.
Another is, that the mere gratification of appetite is to be placed
last in our estimate; so that when a question arises as to which shall
be sacrificed, some intellectual, moral, or social advantage, or some
gratification of sense, we should invariably sacrifice the last.
As health is indispensable to the discharge of every duty, nothing
which sacrifices that blessing is to be allowed in order to gain any
other advantage or enjoyment. There are emergencies when it is
right to risk health and life to save ourselves and others from greater
evils; but these are exceptions, which do not militate against the
general rule. Many persons imagine that if they violate the laws of
health in order to attend to religious or domestic duties, they are
guiltless before God. But such greatly mistake. We directly violate
the law, “Thou shalt not kill,” when we do what tends to risk or
shorten our own life. The life and happiness of all his creatures are
dear to our Creator; and he is as much displeased when we injure
our own interests as when we injure those of others. The idea,
therefore, that we are excusable if we harm no one but ourselves, is
false and pernicious. These, then, are some general principles to
guide a woman in systematizing her duties and pursuits.
The Creator of all things is a Being of perfect system and order;
and, to aid us in our duty in this respect, he has divided our time by
a regularly returning day of rest from worldly business. In following
this example, the intervening six days may be subdivided to secure
similar benefits. In doing this, a certain portion of time must be
given to procure the means of livelihood, and for preparing food,
raiment, and dwellings. To these objects some must devote more,
and others less, attention. The remainder of time not necessarily
thus employed might be divided somewhat in this manner: The
leisure of two afternoons and evenings could be devoted to religious
and benevolent objects, such as religious meetings, charitable
associations, school visiting, and attention to the sick and poor. The
leisure of two other days might be devoted to intellectual
improvement and the pursuits of taste. The leisure of another day
might be devoted to social enjoyments, in making or receiving visits;
and that of another, to miscellaneous domestic pursuits, not included
in the other particulars.
It is probable that few persons could carry out such an
arrangement very strictly; but every one can make a systematic
apportionment of time, and at least aim at accomplishing it; and
they can also compare with such a general outline the time which
they actually devote to these different objects, for the purpose of
modifying any mistaken proportions.
Without attempting any such systematic employment of time, and
carrying it out, so far as they can control circumstances, most
women are rather driven along by the daily occurrences of life; so
that, instead of being the intelligent regulators of their own time,
they are the mere sport of circumstances. There is nothing which so
distinctly marks the difference between wreak and strong minds as
the question whether they control circumstances or circumstances
control them.
It is very much to be feared that the apportionment of time
actually made by most women exactly inverts the order required by
reason and Christianity. Thus the furnishing a needless variety of
food, the conveniences of dwellings, and the adornments of dress,
often take a larger portion of time than is given to any other object.
Next after this comes intellectual improvement; and last of all,
benevolence and religion.
It may be urged that it is indispensable for most persons to give
more time to earn a livelihood, and to prepare food, raiment, and
dwellings, than to any other object. But it may be asked, how much
of the time devoted to these objects is employed in preparing
varieties of food not necessary, but rather injurious, and how much
is spent for those parts of dress and furniture not indispensable, and
merely ornamental? Let a woman subtract from her domestic
employments all the time given to pursuits which are of no use,
except as they gratify a taste for ornament, or minister increased
varieties to tempt the appetite, and she will find that much which
she calls “domestic duty,” and which prevents her attention to
intellectual, benevolent, and religious objects, should be called by a
very different name.
No woman has a right to give up attention to the higher interests
of herself and others for the ornaments of person or the gratification
of the palate. To a certain extent, these lower objects are lawful and
desirable; but when they intrude on nobler interests, they become
selfish and degrading. Every woman, then, when employing her
hands in ornamenting her person, her children, or her house, ought
to calculate whether she has devoted as much time to the really
more important wants of herself and others. If she has not, she may
know that she is doing wrong, and that her system or apportioning
her time and pursuits should be altered.
 Some persons endeavor to systematize their pursuits by
apportioning them to particular hours of each day. For example, a
certain period before breakfast is given to devotional duties; after
breakfast, certain hours are devoted to exercise and domestic
employments; other hours, to sewing, or reading, or visiting; and
others, to benevolent duties. But in most cases it is more difficult to
systematize the hours of each day than it is to secure some regular
division of the week.
In regard to the minutiæ of family work, the writer has known the
following methods to be adopted. Monday, with some of the best
housekeepers, is devoted to preparing for the labors of the week.
Any extra cooking, the purchasing of articles to be used during the
week, the assorting of clothes for the wash, and mending such as
would otherwise be injured—these, and similar items, belong to this
day. Tuesday is devoted to washing, and Wednesday to ironing. On
Thursday, the ironing is finished off, the clothes are folded and put
away, and all articles which need mending are put in the mending-
basket and attended to. Friday is devoted to sweeping and house-
cleaning. On Saturday, and especially the last Saturday of every
month, every department is put in order; the casters and table
furniture are regulated, the pantry and cellar inspected, the trunks,
drawers, and closets arranged, and every thing about the house put
in order for Sunday. By this regular recurrence of a particular time
for inspecting every thing, nothing is forgotten till ruined by neglect.
Another mode of systematizing relates to providing proper
supplies of conveniences, and proper places in which to keep them.
Thus, some ladies keep a large closet, in which are placed the tubs,
pails, dippers, soap-dishes, starch, bluing, clothes-lines, clothes-pins,
and every other article used in washing; and in the same, or another
place, is kept every convenience for ironing. In the sewing
department, a trunk, with suitable partitions, is provided, in which
are placed, each in its proper place, white thread of all sizes, colored
thread, yarns for mending, colored and black sewing-silks and twist,
tapes and bobbins of all sizes, white and colored welting-cords, silk
braids and cords, needles of all sizes, papers of pins, remnants of
linen and colored cambric, a supply of all kinds of buttons used in
the family, black and white hooks and eyes, a yard-measure, and all
the patterns used in cutting and fitting. These are done up in
separate parcels, and labeled. In another trunk, or in a piece-bag,
such as has been previously described, are kept all pieces used in
mending, arranged in order. A trunk like the first mentioned will save
many steps, and often much time and perplexity; while by
purchasing articles thus by the quantity, they come much cheaper
than if bought in little portions as they are wanted. Such a trunk
should be kept locked, and a smaller supply for current use retained
in a work-basket.
A full supply of all conveniences in the kitchen and cellar, and a
place appointed for each article, very much facilitate domestic labor.
For want of this, much vexation and loss of time is occasioned while
seeking vessels in use, or in cleansing those employed by different
persons for various purposes. It would be far better for a lady to
give up some expensive article in the parlor, and apply the money
thus saved for kitchen conveniences, than to have a stinted supply
where the most labor is to be performed. If our countrywomen
would devote more attention to comfort and convenience, and less
to show, it would be a great improvement. Expensive mirrors and
pier-tables in the parlor, and an unpainted, gloomy, ill-furnished
kitchen, not unfrequently are found under the same roof.
Another important item in systematic economy is, the apportioning
of regular employment to the various members of a family. If a
housekeeper can secure the co-operation of all her family, she will
find that “many hands make light work.” There is no greater mistake
than in bringing up children to feel that they must be taken care of
and waited on by others, without any corresponding obligations on
their part. The extent to which young children can be made useful in
a family would seem surprising to those who have never seen a
systematic and regular plan for utilizing their services. The writer has
been in a family where a little girl of eight or nine years of age
washed and dressed herself and young brother, and made their
small beds, before breakfast; set and cleared all the tables for meals,
with a little help from a grown person in moving tables and
spreading cloths; while all the dusting of parlors and chambers was
also neatly performed by her. A brother of ten years old brought in
and piled all the wood used in the kitchen and parlor, brushed the
boots and shoes, went on errands, and took all the care of the
poultry. They were children whose parents could afford to hire
servants to do this, but who chose to have their children grow up
healthy and industrious, while proper instruction, system, and
encouragement, made these services rather a pleasure than
otherwise to the children.
Some parents pay their children for such services; but this is
hazardous, as tending to make them feel that they are not bound to
be helpful without pay, and also as tending to produce a hoarding,
money-making spirit. But where children have no hoarding
propensities, and need to acquire a sense of the value of property, it
may be well to let them earn money for some extra services rather
as a favor. When this is done, they should be taught to spend it for
others as well as for themselves; and in this way a generous and
liberal spirit will be cultivated.
There are some mothers who take pains to teach their boys most
of the domestic arts which their sisters learn. The writer has seen
boys mending their own garments, and aiding their mother or sisters
in the kitchen, with great skill and adroitness; and at an early age
they usually very much relish joining in such occupations. The sons
of such mothers, in their college life, or in roaming about the world,
or in nursing a sick wife or infant, find occasion to bless the
forethought and kindness which prepared them for such
emergencies. Few things are in worse taste than for a man
needlessly to busy himself in women’s work; and yet a man never
appears in a more interesting attitude than when, by skill in such
matters, he can save a mother or wife from care and suffering. The
more a boy is taught to use his hands in every variety of domestic
employment, the more his faculties, both of mind and body, are
developed; for mechanical pursuits exercise the intellect as well as
the hands. The early training of New-England boys, in which they
turn their hand to almost every thing, is one great reason of the
quick perceptions, versatility of mind, and mechanical skill, for which
that portion of our countrymen is distinguished.
It is equally important that young girls should be taught to do
some species of handicraft that generally is done by men, and
especially with reference to the frequent emigration to new
territories where well-trained mechanics are scarce. To hang wall-
paper, repair locks, glaze windows, and mend various household
articles, require a skill in the use of tools which every young girl
should acquire. If she never has any occasion to apply this
knowledge and skill by her own hands, she will often find it needful
in directing and superintending incompetent workmen.
The writer has known one mode of systematizing the aid of the
older children in a family, which, in some cases of very large families,
it may be well to imitate. In the case referred to, when the oldest
daughter was eight or nine years old, an infant sister was given to
her as her special charge. She tended it, made and mended its
clothes, taught it to read, and was its nurse and guardian through all
its childhood. Another infant was given to the next daughter, and
thus the children were all paired in this interesting relation. In
addition to the relief thus afforded to the mother, the elder children
were in this way qualified for their future domestic relations, and
both older and younger bound to each other by peculiar ties of
tenderness and gratitude.
In offering these examples of various modes of systematizing, one
suggestion may be worthy of attention. It is not unfrequently the
case that ladies who find themselves cumbered with oppressive
cares, after reading remarks on the benefits of system, immediately
commence the task of arranging their pursuits with great vigor and
hope. They divide the day into regular periods, and give each hour
its duty; they systematize their work, and endeavor to bring every
thing into a regular routine. But in a short time they find themselves
baffled, discouraged, and disheartened, and finally relapse into their
former desultory ways, in a sort of resigned despair.
The difficulty in such cases is, that they attempt too much at a
time. There is nothing which so much depends upon habit as a
systematic mode of performing duty; and where no such habit has
been formed, it is impossible for a novice to start at once into a
universal mode of systematizing, which none but an adept could
carry through. The only way for such persons is to begin with a little
at a time. Let them select some three or four things, and resolutely
attempt to conquer at these points. In time, a habit will be formed of
doing a few things at regular periods, and in a systematic way. Then
it will be easy to add a few more; and thus, by a gradual process,
the object can be secured, which would be vain to attempt by a
more summary course.
Early rising is almost an indispensable condition to success in such
an effort; but where a woman lacks either the health or the energy
to secure a period for devotional duties before breakfast, let her
select that hour of the day in which she will be least liable to
interruption, and let her then seek strength and wisdom from the
only true Source. At this time let her take a pen, and make a list of
all the things which she considers as duties. Then let calculation be
made whether there be time enough, in the day or the week, for all
these duties. If there be not, let the least important be stricken from
the list, as not being duties, and therefore to be omitted. In doing
this, let a woman remember that, though “what we shall eat, and
what we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed,” are
matters requiring due attention, they are very apt to obtain a wrong
relative importance, while intellectual, social, and moral interests
receive too little regard.
In this country, eating, dressing, and household furniture and
ornaments, take far too large a place in the estimate of relative
importance; and it is probable that most women could modify their
views and practice so as to come nearer to the Saviour’s
requirements. No woman has a right to put a stitch of ornament on
any article of dress or furniture, or to provide one superfluity in food,
until she is sure she can secure time for all her social, intellectual,
benevolent, and religious duties. If a woman will take the trouble to
make such a calculation as this, she will usually find that she has
time enough to perform all her duties easily and well.
It is impossible for a conscientious woman to secure that peaceful
mind and cheerful enjoyment of life which all should seek, who is
constantly finding her duties jarring with each other, and much
remaining undone which she feels that she ought to do. In
consequence of this, there will be a secret uneasiness which will
throw a shade over the whole current of life, never to be removed till
she so efficiently defines and regulates her duties that she can fulfill
them all.
And here the writer would urge upon young ladies the importance
of forming habits of system while unembarrassed with those
multiplied cares which will make the task so much more difficult and
hopeless. Every young lady can systematize her pursuits, to a certain
extent. She can have a particular day for mending her wardrobe,
and for arranging her trunks, closets, and drawers. She can keep her
work-basket, her desk at school, and all her other conveniences, in
their proper places and in regular order. She can have regular
periods for reading, walking, visiting, study, and domestic pursuits.
And by following this method in youth, she will form a taste for
regularity and a habit of system which will prove a blessing to her
through life.
 CHAPTER XVI.
HEALTH OF MIND.

There is such an intimate connection between the body and mind,

that the health of one can not be preserved without a proper care of
the other. And it is from a neglect of this principle that some of the
most exemplary and conscientious persons in the world suffer a
thousand mental agonies from a diseased state of body, while others
ruin the health of the body by neglecting the proper care of the
mind.
When the mind is excited by earnest intellectual effort, or by
strong passions, the blood rushes to the head and the brain is
excited. Sir Astley Cooper records that, in examining the brain of a
young man who had lost a portion of his skull, whenever “he was
agitated by some opposition to his wishes,” “the blood was sent with
increased force to his brain,” and the pulsations “became frequent
and violent.” The same effect was produced by any intellectual
effort; and the flushed countenance which attends earnest study or
strong emotions of interest of any kind, is an external indication of
the suffused state of the brain from such causes.
In exhibiting the causes which injure the health of the mind, we
shall find them to be partly physical, partly intellectual, and partly
moral.
The first cause of mental disease and suffering is not unfrequently
in the want of a proper supply of duly oxygenized blood. It has been
shown that the blood, in passing through the lungs, is purified by
the oxygen of the air combining with the superabundant hydrogen
and carbon of the venous blood, thus forming carbonic acid and
water, which are expired into the atmosphere. Every pair of lungs is
constantly withdrawing from the surrounding atmosphere its
healthful principle, and returning one which is injurious to human
life.
 When, by confinement and this process, the air is deprived of its
appropriate supply of oxygen, the purification of the blood is
interrupted, and it passes, without being properly prepared, into the
brain, producing languor, restlessness, and inability to exercise the
intellect and feelings. Whenever, therefore, persons sleep in a close
apartment, or remain for a length of time in a crowded or ill-
ventilated room, a most pernicious influence is exerted on the brain,
and, through this, on the mind. A person who is often exposed to
such influences can never enjoy that elasticity and vigor of mind
which is one of the chief indications of its health. This is the reason
why all rooms for religious meetings, and all school-rooms and
sleeping apartments, should be so contrived as to secure a constant
supply of fresh air from without. The minister who preaches in a
crowded and ill-ventilated apartment loses much of his power to feel
and to speak, while the audience are equally reduced in their
capability of attending. The teacher who confines children in a close
apartment diminishes their ability to study, or to attend to
instructions. And the person who habitually sleeps in a close room
impairs mental energy in a similar degree. It is not unfrequently the
case that depression of spirits and stupor of intellect are occasioned
solely by inattention to this subject.
Another cause of mental disease is the excessive exercise of the
intellect or feelings. If the eye is taxed beyond its strength by
protracted use, its blood-vessels become gorged, and the bloodshot
appearance warns of the excess and the need of rest. The brain is
affected in a similar manner by excessive use, though the suffering
and inflamed organ can not make its appeal to the eye. But there
are some indications which ought never to be misunderstood or
disregarded. In cases of pupils at school or at college, a diseased
state, from overaction, is often manifested by increased clearness of
mind, and temporary ease and vigor of mental action. In one
instance, known to the writer, a most exemplary and industrious
pupil, anxious to improve every hour, and ignorant or unmindful of
the laws of health, first manifested the diseased state of her brain
and mind by demands for more studies, and a sudden and earnest
activity in planning modes of improvement for herself and others.
When warned of her danger, she protested that she never was
better in her life; that she took regular exercise in the open air, went
to bed in season, slept soundly, and felt perfectly well; that her mind
was never before so bright and clear, and study never so easy and
delightful. And at this time she was on the verge of derangement,
from which she was saved only by an entire cessation of all
intellectual efforts.
A similar case occurred, under the eye of the writer, from
overexcited feelings. It was during a time of unusual religious
interest in the community, and the mental disease was first
manifested by the pupil bringing her hymn-book or Bible to the
class-room, and making it her constant resort in every interval of
school duty. It finally became impossible to convince her that it was
her duty to attend to any thing else; her conscience became
morbidly sensitive, her perceptions indistinct, her deductions
unreasonable; and nothing but entire change of scene and exercise,
and occupation of her mind by amusement, saved her. When the
health of the brain was restored, she found that she could attend to
the “one thing needful,” not only without interruption of duty or
injury to health, but rather so as to promote both. Clergymen and
teachers need most carefully to notice and guard against the
dangers here alluded to.
Any such attention to religion as prevents the performance of daily
duties and needful relaxation is dangerous, and tends to produce
such a state of the brain as makes it impossible to feel or judge
correctly. And when any morbid and unreasonable pertinacity
appears, much exercise and engagement in other interesting
pursuits should be urged, as the only mode of securing the religious
benefits aimed at. And whenever any mind is oppressed with care,
anxiety, or sorrow, the amount of active exercise in the fresh air
should be greatly increased, that the action of the muscles may
withdraw the blood which, in such seasons, is constantly tending too
much to the brain. At the same time, innocent and healthful
amusement should be urged as a duty.
There has been a most appalling amount of suffering,
derangement, disease, and death, occasioned by a want of attention
to this subject, in teachers and parents. Uncommon precocity in
children is usually the result of an unhealthy state of the brain; and
in such cases medical men would now direct that the wonderful child
should be deprived of all books and study, and turned to play out in
the fresh air. Instead of this, parents frequently add fuel to the fever
of the brain, by supplying constant mental stimulus, until the victim
finds refuge in idiocy or an early grave. Where such fatal results do
not occur, the brain in many cases is so weakened that the prodigy
of infancy sinks below the medium of intellectual powers in after-life.
In our colleges, too, many of the most promising minds sink to an
early grave, or drag out a miserable existence, from this same cause.
And it is an evil as yet little alleviated by the increase of physiological
knowledge. Every college and professional school, and every
seminary for young ladies, needs a medical man or woman, not only
to lecture on physiology and the laws of health, but empowered by
official capacity to investigate the case of every pupil, and, by
authority, to enforce such a course of study, exercise, and repose as
the physical system requires. The writer has found by experience
that in a large institution there is one class of pupils who need to be
restrained by penalties from late hours and excessive study, as much
as another class need stimulus to industry.
Under the head of excessive mental action must be placed the
indulgence of the imagination in novel-reading and “castle-building.”
This kind of stimulus, unless counter-balanced by physical exercise,
not only wastes time and energies, but undermines the vigor of the
nervous system. The imagination was designed by our wise Creator
as a charm and stimulus to animate to benevolent activity, and its
perverted exercise seldom fails to bring a penalty.
 Another cause of mental disease is the want of the appropriate
exercise of the various faculties of the mind. On this point Dr. Combe
remarks: “We have seen that, by disuse, muscles become
emaciated, bone softens, blood-vessels are obliterated, and nerves
lose their characteristic structure. The brain is no exception to this
general rule. The tone of it is also impaired by permanent inactivity,
and it becomes less fit to manifest the mental powers with readiness
and energy.” It is “the withdrawal of the stimulus necessary for its
healthy exercise which renders solitary confinement so severe a
punishment, even to the most daring minds. It is a lower degree of
the same cause which renders continuous seclusion from society so
injurious to both mental and bodily health.”
“Inactivity of intellect and of feeling is a very frequent
predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. For
demonstrative evidence of this position, we have only to look at the
numerous victims to be found among persons who have no call to
exertion in gaining the means of subsistence, and no objects of
interest on which to exercise their mental faculties, and who
consequently sink into a state of mental sloth and nervous
weakness.” “If we look abroad upon society, we shall find
innumerable examples of mental and nervous debility from this
cause. When a person of some mental capacity is confined for a long
time to an unvarying round of employment which affords neither
scope nor stimulus for one half of the faculties, and, from want of
education or society, has no external resources; the mental powers,
for want of exercise, become blunted, and the perceptions slow and
dull.” “The intellect and feelings, not being provided with interests
external to themselves, must either become inactive and weak, or
work upon themselves and become diseased.”
“The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition are
females of the middle and higher ranks, especially those of a
nervous constitution and good natural abilities; but who, from an ill-
directed education, possess nothing more solid than mere
accomplishments, and have no materials for thought,” and no
“occupation to excite interest or demand attention.” “The liability of
such persons to melancholy, hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other
varieties of mental distress, really depends on a state of irritability of
the brain, induced by its imperfect exercise.”
These remarks of a medical man illustrate the principles before
indicated—namely, that the demand of Christianity, that we live to
save from eternal evils and promote the highest and eternal
happiness of our race, has for its aim not only the general good, but
the highest happiness of the individual in offering abundant exercise
for all the noblest faculties.
A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble to
engage attention than seeking personal enjoyment, subjects the
mental powers and moral feelings to a degree of inactivity utterly at
war with health and mind. And the greater the capacities, the
greater are the sufferings which result from this cause. Any one who
has read the misanthropic wailings of Lord Byron has seen the
necessary result of great and noble powers bereft of their
appropriate exercise, and, in consequence, becoming sources of the
keenest suffering.
It is this view of the subject which has often awakened feelings of
sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer, while aiding in the
development and education of superior feminine minds in the
wealthier circles. Not because there are not noble objects for interest
and effort abundant, and within reach of such minds, but because
long-established custom has made it seem so quixotic to the
majority, even of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of
wealth to practice any great self-denial, that few have independence
of mind and Christian principle sufficient to overcome such an
influence. The more a mind has its powers developed, the more
does it aspire and pine after some object worthy of its energies and
affections; and they are commonplace and phlegmatic characters
who are most free from such deep-seated wants. Many a young
woman, of fine genius and elevated sentiment, finds a charm in Lord
Byron’s writings, because they present a glowing picture of what, to
a certain extent, must be felt by every well-developed mind which
has no nobler object in life than the pursuit of self-gratification.
If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education under the
full conviction that the increase of their powers and advantages
increased their obligations to use all for the great and sublime end
for which our Saviour toiled and suffered, and with some plan of
benevolent enterprise in view, what new motives of interest would
be added to their daily pursuits! And what blessed results would
follow to our beloved country if all well-educated women carried out
the principles of Christianity in the exercise of their developed
powers!
The benevolent activities called forth in our late dreadful war
illustrate the blessed influence on character and happiness in having
a noble object for which to labor and suffer. In illustration of this
may be mentioned the experience of one of the noble women who,
in a sickly climate and fervid season, devoted herself to the
ministries of a military hospital. Separated from an adored husband,
deprived of wonted comforts and luxuries, and toiling in humble and
unwonted labors, she yet recalls this as one of the happiest periods
of her life. And it was not the mere exercise of benevolence and
piety in ministering comfort and relieving suffering. It was, still more,
the elevated enjoyment which only an enlarged and cultivated mind
can attain, in the inspirations of grand and far-reaching results
purchased by such sacrifice and suffering. It was in aiding to save
her well-loved country from impending ruin, and to preserve to
coming generations the blessings of true liberty, self-government,
and the Christian life by which toils and suffering became triumphant
joys.
Every Christian woman who “walks by faith and not by sight,” who
looks forward to the results of self-sacrificing labor for the ignorant
and sinful as they will enlarge and expand through everlasting ages,
may rise to the same elevated sphere of experience and happiness.
 On the contrary, the more highly cultivated the mind devoted to
mere selfish enjoyment, the more are the sources of true happiness
closed, and the soul left to helpless emptiness and unrest.
The indications of a diseased mind, owing to the want of the
proper exercise of its powers, are apathy, discontent, a restless
longing for excitement, a craving for unattainable good, a diseased
and morbid action of the imagination, dissatisfaction with the world,
and factitious interest in trifles which the mind feels to be unworthy
of its powers. Such minds sometimes seek alleviation in exciting
amusements; others resort to the grosser enjoyments of sense.
Oppressed with the extremes of languor, or over-excitement, or
apathy, the body fails under the wearing process, and adds new
causes of suffering to the mind. Such the compassionate Saviour
calls to his service, in the appropriate terms, “Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me,” “and ye shall find rest unto your
souls.”
 CHAPTER XVII.
CARE OF THE AGED.

One of the most interesting and instructive illustrations of the

design of our Creator, in the institution of the family state, is the
preservation of the aged after their faculties decay and usefulness in
ordinary modes seems to be ended. By most persons this period of
infirmities and uselessness is anticipated with apprehension,
especially in the case of those who have lived an active, useful life,
giving largely of service to others, and dependent for most resources
of enjoyment on their own energies.
To lose the resources of sight or hearing, to become feeble in
body, so as to depend on the ministries of others, and finally to
gradually decay in mental force and intelligence, to many seems far
worse than death. Multitudes have prayed to be taken from this life
when their usefulness is thus ended.
But a true view of the design of the family state, and of the
ministry of the aged and helpless in carrying out this design, would
greatly lessen such apprehensions, and might be made a source of
pure and elevated enjoyment.
The Christian virtues of patience with the unreasonable, of self-
denying labor for the weak, and of sympathy with the afflicted, are
dependent, to a great degree, on cultivation and habit, and these
can be gained only in circumstances demanding the daily exercise of
these graces. In this aspect, continued life in the aged and infirm
should be regarded as a blessing and privilege to a family, especially
to the young, and the cultivation of the graces that are demanded
by that relation should be made a definite and interesting part of
their education. A few of the methods to be attempted for this end
will be suggested.
 In the first place, the object for which the aged are preserved in
life, when in many cases they would rejoice to depart, should be
definitely kept in recollection, and a sense of gratitude and obligation
be cultivated. They should be looked up to and treated as ministers
sustained by our Heavenly Father in a painful experience, expressly
for the good of those around them. This appreciation of their
ministry and usefulness will greatly lessen their trials, and impart
consolation. If, in hours of weariness and infirmity, they wonder why
they are kept in a useless and helpless state to burden others
around, they should be assured that they are not useless; and this
not only by word, but, better still, by the manifestation of those
virtues which such opportunities alone can secure.
Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in the
domestic games and sports which unite the old and the young in
amusement. Many a weary hour may thus be enlivened for the
benefit of all concerned. And here will often occur opportunities of
self-denying benevolence in relinquishing personal pursuits and
gratification thus to promote the enjoyment of the infirm and
dependent. Reading aloud is often a great source of enjoyment to
those who by age are deprived of reading for themselves. So the
effort to gather news of the neighborhood and impart it, is another
mode of relieving those deprived of social gatherings.
There is no period in life when those courtesies of good-breeding
which recognize the relations of superior and inferior should be more
carefully cherished than when there is need of showing them toward
those of advancing age. To those who have controlled a household,
and still more to those who in public life have been honored and
admired, the decay of mental powers is peculiarly trying, and every
effort should be made to lessen the trial by courteous attention to
their opinions, and by avoiding all attempts to controvert them, or to
make evident any weakness or fallacy in their conversation.
In regard to the decay of bodily or mental faculties, much more
can be done to prevent or retard them than is generally supposed,
and some methods for this end which have been gained by
observation or experience will be presented.
As the exercise of all our faculties tends to increase their power,
unless it be carried to excess, it is very important that the aged
should be provided with useful employment suited to their strength
and capacity. Nothing hastens decay so fast as to remove the
stimulus of useful activity. It should become a study with those who
have the care of the aged to interest them in some useful pursuit,
and to convince them that they are in some measure actively
contributing to the general welfare. In the country and in families
where the larger part of the domestic labor is done without servants,
it is very easy to keep up an interest in domestic industrial
employments. The tending of a small garden in summer, the
preparation of fuel and food, the mending of household utensils—
these and many other occupations of the hands will keep alive
activity and interest in a man; while for women there are still more
varied resources. There is nothing that so soon hastens decay and
lends acerbity to age as giving up all business and responsibility, and
every mode possible should be devised to prevent this result.
As age advances, all the bodily functions move more slowly, and
consequently the generation of animal heat, by the union of oxygen
and carbon in the capillaries, is in smaller proportion than in the
midday of life. For this reason some practices, safe for the vigorous,
must be relinquished by the aged; and one of these is the use of the
cold bath. It has often been the case that rheumatism has been
caused by neglect of this caution. More than ordinary care should be
taken to preserve animal heat in the aged, especially in the hands
and the feet.
In many families will be found an aged brother, or sister, or other
relative who has no home, and no claim to a refuge in the family
circle but that of kindred. Sometimes they are poor and homeless;
for want of a faculty for self-supporting business; and sometimes
they have peculiarities of person or disposition which render their
society undesirable. These are cases where the pitying tenderness of