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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Herself
+       Talks with Women Concerning Themselves
+
+Author: E. B. Lowry
+
+Release Date: November 16, 2006 [EBook #19825]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERSELF ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+HIMSELF
+Talks with Men Concerning Themselves
+$1.00
+
+CONFIDENCES
+Talks with a Young Girl Concerning Herself
+50 cts.
+
+TRUTHS
+Talks with a Boy Concerning Himself
+50 cts.
+
+FALSE MODESTY
+50 cts.
+
+TEACHING SEX HYGIENE
+50 cts.
+
+THE HOME NURSE
+$1.00
+
+YOUR BABY
+A Guide for Mothers
+$1.00
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+HERSELF
+
+TALKS WITH WOMEN CONCERNING THEMSELVES
+
+BY
+E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+Author of "Confidences," "Truths," etc.
+
+CHICAGO
+FORBES & COMPANY
+1917
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY
+FORBES AND COMPANY
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A recent number of the Journal of the American Medical Association
+contained this paragraph:
+
+"A correspondent asks for a good book describing the female generative
+organs anatomically, physiologically and pathologically, treating also
+of childbirth, written in language easily understood by a layman. He
+desires to give copies to some of his young women patients. The editor
+regrets there is no satisfactory book on the subject although there is
+great need for one."
+
+It is a lamentable fact that the majority of women and girls are
+ignorant of the structure of their most important organs. In the
+majority of schools and colleges where physiology is taught, absolutely
+nothing is mentioned about the reproductive organs. As far as books or
+instruction are concerned, the girl is ignorant of their very existence.
+If she knew something of the structure of such important organs and the
+harmful results of many practices or acts of carelessness affecting
+them, would she not be better prepared to take the proper care of
+herself and more liable to develop into a strong, healthy woman?
+
+If a girl in the business world is intrusted with a delicate piece of
+machinery she is taught the structure, use and care of it. Why is it not
+just as necessary that the girl, who is intrusted with the care of
+delicate organisms upon whose condition depends the health of the future
+generation, be instructed regarding the care of these organs? Instead,
+she is left in absolute ignorance and then blamed if she mars them.
+
+Every woman should have some knowledge of the structure and care of her
+body, especially of those parts which are concerned so intimately in the
+welfare of the future generation. Every woman, too, should receive some
+instruction regarding the care of young children and the proper
+management of the home. A woman who attempts to care for herself and her
+children without proper knowledge of these subjects is like a man who
+tries to run his business blindfolded.
+
+That thinking women are awakening to the fact that they have been
+suffering unnecessarily and are realizing the necessity for more
+knowledge concerning the hygiene and physiology of their own bodies is
+shown by the fact that nearly every chapter in this book has been
+written in answer to questions asked by women readers of the author's
+magazine articles. With the hope that the plain facts herein set forth
+will aid some women to have healthier and happier lives and healthier
+and happier babies this series of talks has been written.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+I ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS                11
+
+II MENSTRUATION--PUBERTY--MENOPAUSE                          23
+
+III DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS                            33
+
+IV CONSTIPATION--HEMORRHOIDS                                 47
+
+V THE BLACK PLAGUES                                          55
+
+VI FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN                             65
+
+VII THE MARRIAGE RELATION                                    71
+
+VIII EMBRYOLOGY                                              81
+
+IX ABORTIONS                                                 89
+
+X MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS--HEREDITY                             97
+
+XI CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES                           103
+
+XII PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY                                 109
+
+XIII SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE                          115
+
+XIV THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS                  121
+
+XV WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY                                      131
+
+XVI SELF-ABUSE                                              137
+
+XVII EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE                                149
+
+XVIII FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS                         157
+
+XIX WHITE SLAVERY                                           163
+
+XX THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS                    171
+
+XXI WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY                                      177
+
+XXII HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD                            183
+
+XXIII WOMEN IN BUSINESS                                     189
+
+XXIV NERVOUSNESS--A LACK OF CONTROL                         195
+
+XXV A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE                  203
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+HERSELF
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS
+
+
+Before we can understand the care of anything we must have some
+knowledge of its structure; so I think it well, in this our first talk,
+that we should learn something of the structure of the female generative
+organs. As I have told some of you in former talks, the womb is designed
+as a nest for the babe during its process of development from the egg or
+ovule. It lies in the center of the pelvis, or lower part of the body
+cavity, in front of the rectum and behind and above the bladder. It is
+pear-shaped, with the small end downward, and is about three inches
+long, two inches wide and one inch thick. It consists of layers of
+muscles enclosing a cavity which, owing to the thickness of the walls,
+is comparatively small. This cavity is triangular in shape and has three
+openings,--one at the lower end or mouth of the womb into the vagina and
+one at each side, near the top, into the fallopian tubes. The womb, or
+uterus as it sometimes is called, is not firmly attached nor adherent to
+any of the bony parts. It is suspended in the pelvic cavity and kept in
+place by muscles and ligaments. As the muscles and ligaments are
+elastic, the womb slightly changes its position with different movements
+of the body. Normally, it is inclined forward, resting on the bladder;
+so you see, a full bladder will push it backward, while a full rectum
+and intestines tend to push it forward and downward.
+
+[Illustration: GENERATIVE ORGANS.]
+
+The lower end or mouth of the womb opens into the vagina, a distensible
+and curved muscular tube, which helps to support the womb and also
+connects it with the external parts. The vagina is about three and a
+half inches long. It often is called the birth canal because the baby
+must pass through it on its way from the womb to the external world.
+
+The two upper openings of the womb lead into the fallopian tubes or
+oviducts, which are two small muscular tubes leading from the ovaries to
+the womb. Each one is about four inches long, but the opening through
+the center in its largest portion is only about as large as a broom
+straw, while near the womb it narrows down until it will admit only a
+fine bristle. When the ovum or seed leaves the ovary it must pass
+through one of these tubes to reach the womb, so you see how necessary
+it is that they be kept in good condition.
+
+From the end of each tube, but not directly connected with it, is
+suspended a small almond-shaped body called the ovary. Each ovary is
+similar in shape and size to an almond, measuring about one and a half
+inches in length, three-fourths of an inch in width and one-half an inch
+in thickness. The function or work of the ovaries is to produce, develop
+and mature the ova (eggs) and to discharge them when fully formed so
+they may enter the tubes and so find their way to the womb. In every
+ovary there are several hundred little ovules or eggs in various stages
+of development. At irregular intervals one of these ovules ripens and
+leaves the ovary. It passes along the fallopian tube to the womb. Here
+it remains if it is impregnated or fertilized, and develops into the
+babe. If not impregnated, it passes off with the menstrual flow. Every
+twenty-eight days large quantities of blood are sent to the womb,
+producing a natural congestion. The pressure of this extra blood in the
+tiny capillaries of the womb stretches and weakens their walls. This
+allows the blood, which is being sent to the womb to provide nourishment
+for the ovum if it be impregnated, to pass into the cavity of the womb,
+then out through the mouth into the vagina, thence to the external
+parts. This flow is called the menstrual flow. When the flow ceases the
+mucosa or lining assumes its former state. This process is repeated
+every month.
+
+[Illustration:
+1. Bladder
+2. Urethra
+3. Uterus
+4. Vagina
+5. Rectum
+6. Peritoneum
+7. Perineum
+VERTICAL SECTION OF PELVIS]
+
+Lining the cavity of the abdomen and also folded over the womb, ovaries,
+tubes and other organs is a thin membrane called the peritoneum. An
+inflammation of this lining is called peritonitis.
+
+All these organs I have mentioned are situated inside the body out of
+sight, but there are other organs that are external. You have noticed
+two longitudinal folds of skin extending from the anus, or external
+opening of the rectum, to the rounded eminence in front. Their outer
+surface is covered with hair and their inner surface with glands that
+secrete a lubricating material. These folds are called the labia majora.
+Within the labia majora are two smaller folds called the labia minora.
+These folds meet at their anterior (front) end. At the meeting point you
+will notice a very small structure which is called the clitoris. This
+clitoris is very similar in structure to the penis of the male, having a
+tiny prepuce or foreskin which folds over to protect the sensitive end.
+Sometimes the foreskin is bound down too tightly, so that instead of
+being a protection to the parts, it becomes a source of irritation. Then
+we say the clitoris is hooded and it is necessary to loosen or cut this
+fold of skin. The operation is similar to that of circumcision in the
+male.
+
+Just back of the clitoris, within the folds of the labia, is situated
+the meatus urinarius, or opening leading to the bladder. This aperture
+does not open directly into the bladder but is connected to it by a
+tube, about an inch and a half long, called the urethra.
+
+The orifice or external opening of the vagina is situated just back of
+the meatus urinarius, also within the folds of the labia. In the virgin
+it is partly closed by a membranous fold called the hymen or maidenhead.
+The shape and size of the hymen varies greatly in different individuals,
+sometimes being entirely absent. After marriage it usually persists as
+notched folds. The presence of an intact hymen is not necessarily a sign
+of virginity, nor does its absence necessarily indicate defloration. Its
+congenital absence or absence at the time of birth is known. It
+sometimes is injured, or may be destroyed by an accident, as by falling
+astride of an object; again violent exercise may rupture it (horseback
+riding). Surgical operations or vaginal examinations, roughly conducted,
+not infrequently cause rupture. Then, too, authentic cases are on record
+in which prostitutes have had perfectly preserved hymens. It is well
+known that the use of vaginal astringents may tone up and narrow the
+vagina and even restore the hymen to a great degree.
+
+The surface between the vaginal orifice and the anus is called the
+perineum (Do not confuse this with the peritoneum, for they are entirely
+different). It is this perineum that sometimes becomes torn during
+childbirth. The vaginal opening does not always stretch sufficiently to
+allow the passage of the child's head and the great pressure being
+exerted on the child by the uterine and abdominal muscles pushes it
+through, causing the tear. (You will understand this better when I
+explain about the development and birth of the child.) If this tear is
+repaired immediately no inconvenience usually results but if it is
+neglected it may produce a series of complications, some of which are
+falling of the womb, inflammation and even sterility.
+
+Not directly connected with any of the other organs but still associated
+with them are the breasts. They vary in size at different periods of
+life, being usually of small size when the girl is young but increasing
+in size as the generative organs develop. The breasts consist of fatty
+tissue surrounding milk glands and ducts. During pregnancy they increase
+in size and become filled with milk. After the menopause (change of
+life) they ordinarily shrink in size. The ancient Greek statues, such as
+the Venus de Medici, long regarded as a type of perfect beauty, the
+Venus of Capua, regarded as the bust of a perfect form, show that the
+Grecian ideal of the feminine form had small busts. The modern idea
+seems to have wandered far from the Grecian ideal and many women devote
+much time and money trying to develop their busts. Perhaps sometime we
+will give up trying to be so artificial and conform to Nature's ideal.
+
+Nature has constructed the internal female organs so wisely that we
+seldom need give them much thought. But the external organs do need our
+attention every day. I told you that the labia secreted a lubricating
+material which kept the parts moist, but this secretion must not be
+allowed to accumulate. The scalp secretes an oil that is necessary to
+the health of the hair but if this and the perspiration are allowed to
+accumulate the hair has an offensive odor. So it is with the female
+organs, the parts must be bathed carefully every day. I have been
+surprised in the past to find how many intelligent women neglect these
+parts. Women come for an examination, their clothing is scrupulously
+clean, their bodies show recent care but in the folds of the labia,
+especially near the clitoris, I find an accumulation of a cheesy-like
+material which has an odor very offensive to any truly refined woman.
+Sometimes in public gatherings, I have been seated near a woman with
+this same offensive odor very noticeable, and I have longed to tell her
+how to avoid it, for I am sure others must notice the same odor. But
+even from a physician, in the privacy of the office, women resent any
+suggestion that they are not thorough in matters of cleanliness. Daily
+cleansing of these parts is a necessity. At least once a day these parts
+should be sponged carefully. The labia should be separated and every
+fold thoroughly cleansed. Occasional vaginal douches also are necessary,
+for the various secretions often are retained in the folds of the vagina
+and cause irritation. But in taking a douche one always should remember
+to have the water warm. Cold water may produce congestion. The virtue of
+douches (except when taken for medicinal purposes) lies in their
+cleansing properties and warm water cleanses even better than cold. Many
+women produce grave disorders by the use of cold douches under the
+mistaken notion that they are of greater value than hot ones. A douche
+should be taken at the close of the menstrual period especially.
+
+These female organs should not be the source of worry but they do
+require as much or even more attention to cleanliness than we give to
+our mouths or other parts of the body.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+MENSTRUATION--PUBERTY--MENOPAUSE
+
+
+The subject of menstruation seems to be troubling several of you. I am
+sorry that you did not all have the advantage of having this explained
+at an early age. You might have been saved a great deal of suffering and
+causeless worry.
+
+By menstruation, or "the monthlies" as it sometimes is called, is meant
+the monthly hemorrhage that takes place in the uterus or womb during the
+child-bearing period of the normal woman except during pregnancy and
+lactation, when it nearly always is suspended. The child-bearing period
+commences at the age of puberty and ends with the menopause (change of
+life).
+
+Puberty is the period of maturing of the sexual organs. It occurs about
+the age of twelve, although there may be considerable variation as to
+this. It extends over a period of several years. As a rule, girls mature
+earlier in warm climates than in cold and in cities than in country
+districts. The signs of the approach of this period are the growth of
+hair on the pubes and other parts of the body, the enlargement of the
+breasts, a general rounding and increased grace of the body, the
+development of the pelvis so that the hips become more prominent, and a
+change in the mental qualities of the child, the girl naturally becoming
+more retiring. The menstrual function usually is not established at
+once, there being premonitory symptoms of a vague nature. There may be,
+at first, only a slight discharge of mucus tinged with blood, later the
+normal menstrual flow will be established.
+
+During this period of puberty there are great changes taking place in
+the girl's internal organs. This change and development requires
+considerable of the girl's strength and naturally influences her nervous
+system. It is for this reason that a girl at this period of her life
+should not be subjected to any great exertion, either physical or
+mental. She should have plenty of light, healthful exercise in the open
+air, but should not indulge in any very violent exercise. A little care
+at this time often will save her years of suffering. As the nervous
+system is greatly affected at this period there should be no great
+mental strain. In fact, if the girl shows many nervous symptoms, it may
+be wise to take her out of school for a year so that her strength may be
+used as Nature requires it. As a rule, too much work is required in
+school at this age. The school duties should be lessened and the girl
+allowed to rest a day or two during her menstrual period. The girl at
+this age should not attempt to accomplish as much work or study as the
+boy does. Her time at this period might better be occupied in learning
+the rudiments of housekeeping and home-making. Then, when her body has
+become developed, her strength can be spared and can be well used in the
+development of her mind. If the nervous strain too common at this age
+could be relieved we would have fewer nervous women and a healthier and
+happier posterity.
+
+As puberty approaches, a mother should give her daughter adequate
+information so that she should not be frightened at the first appearance
+of the menstrual flow, nor take any risks at this period. Menstruation
+is the sign of the possibility of motherhood. If properly taught this
+fact, every girl will be glad she menstruates and will want to be
+careful during the period. On account of lack of early instruction, many
+a girl obtains wrong ideas regarding this function and it produces in
+her a feeling of repugnance. She should be taught the reasons for
+observing prudence during the menstrual period. The possible lifelong
+invalidism that may result should be pointed out. A woman owes it to
+herself to take good care of herself during her menstrual periods. For
+two or three days at least she should avoid any unnecessary strain, lie
+down and rest as much as possible and not worry over school or other
+duties. Especial attention should be paid to cleanliness during this
+period. A sponge bath taken in a warm room is not injurious and
+unpleasant odors can be avoided by sponging the parts with a warm
+antiseptic solution upon changing the cloth. Every woman should be
+provided with a circular girdle cut upon the bias so it may be elastic,
+and provided with tabs to which to pin the folded cloth. She also should
+have a supply of sanitary cloths made of absorbent cotton-fabric, or
+pads made of absorbent cotton enclosed in gauze. The latter especially
+are convenient for the girl who is obliged to room away from home, for
+they may be burned and the cost of new ones is no greater than the
+laundry of cloths. These pads or cloths should be changed at least twice
+a day. It also is necessary that one should bathe the parts in warm
+water with each change, as unpleasant odors can thereby be avoided. At
+the close of each period she should take a bath and change all clothing.
+One cannot be too careful about these matters so essential to
+cleanliness. It is surprising how many women neglect these important
+matters. The erroneous idea that bathing of any sort at this time may
+have disastrous results accounts for much of this neglect. If proper
+care is taken warm sponge baths cannot be injurious.
+
+A woman in normal health should not suffer at the menstrual period. She
+normally will have a feeling of lassitude and disinclination for any
+great mental or physical work, perhaps accompanied by a slight feeling
+of uneasiness in the pelvic region. Because so many women do suffer at
+these periods it often is considered as "natural" and allowed to
+continue.
+
+The phenomena often noted at the menstrual period are,--pains in various
+parts of the body, hot flashes, chilliness and various hysterical
+symptoms. A few days before menstruation commences there may be various
+nervous symptoms, as irritability and a disinclination for any exertion.
+Dark circles often appear under the eyes and the breasts become enlarged
+and painful. A sense of fullness and oppression may be felt in the head.
+
+Any severe pain or profuse flow during the period or a discharge between
+periods indicates a weakened or diseased condition and should not be
+neglected, for it sooner or later will affect the whole system. A woman
+suffering from female diseases not only is unable to perform her work in
+a normal manner but the pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and drawn
+haggard look which accompany these conditions rob her of her charm of
+physical excellence.
+
+The menstrual flow appears, as a rule, every twenty-eight days, although
+the length of time varies with the individual. The average duration is
+five days, but varies from three to seven. The flow consists of blood
+from the uterine mucosa (lining of the womb) together with small
+quantities of mucus. The color generally is dark at first while later it
+becomes more pale. Women in poor health often have a pale discharge.
+There always is a faint odor to the menstrual flow, which has been
+likened to the odor of marigolds. The quantity varies with the
+individual. Usually fleshy girls flow more than thin ones and dark
+complexioned ones than light ones. The average quantity is four to six
+fluid ounces. The time between the periods is required by the uterus or
+womb to first restore the lining and then prepare it for the reception
+of the ovum. Every month one or more ova (eggs) leave the ovary, pass to
+the uterus and, if not impregnated, pass off with the menstrual flow.
+The material prepared for the reception of the ovum is used to nourish
+the new life if pregnancy occurs, but when it does not, this surplus
+passes off in the form of the menstrual flow.
+
+The menopause or change of life is the end of the child-bearing period
+of a woman's life. The average age at which it occurs is forty-six,
+although there is a great difference as to this. In some women it has
+been known to occur as early as the thirtieth year, while in others it
+does not come until the fifty-fifth year. As a rule, a woman who
+commences to menstruate at an early age continues to do so until a late
+age, while with a woman who commences to menstruate late, the change
+comes early. At this period of a woman's life, there are numerous
+changes taking place in the body. The ovaries and uterus atrophy or
+shrink in size, and cease to functionate. The nervous system is being
+readjusted to meet the changed conditions. One symptom of the approach
+of this period is irregularity in menstruation; sometimes several
+periods are missed, then the menstrual flow appears normally for several
+months and then disappears again. Often the woman complains of hot
+flashes, cramps in the limbs and other parts of the body. These are
+caused by the attempts to readjust the nervous system to the altered
+conditions. A great many women worry unnecessarily, for there is no
+especial danger at this time unless the body has been neglected
+previously and a diseased condition is present. But the body needs a
+little extra care, just as it did at puberty. So many women break down
+their health by worrying at this period over what might happen. The best
+plan for every woman, as soon as she perceives the approach of this
+period, is to go to a reliable physician and have a thorough
+examination. Then if there are any neglected tears or chronic
+inflammations they can be corrected and danger removed. If a person
+were to cross a deep lake and had any doubts regarding the worthiness of
+the vessel provided for his use, he would be very foolish if he did not
+have a trained boat-builder examine his vessel and repair any weak
+places. It is just as important for a woman about to cross this period
+of her life to go to a trained repairer of bodies and have him correct
+any weak places.
+
+The various changes taking place consume so much of the woman's strength
+that she requires an extra amount of rest and cannot use up as much
+energy in working as at other periods of her life. The ordinary woman
+does not realize the need of extra rest during this period and so
+continues her usual work. Then the extra drain on her nervous system
+shows itself in various forms. The disturbances sometimes are productive
+of so much discomfort and so often are exaggerated beyond physiological
+limits that the patient is impelled to seek relief and often requires a
+physician's attention. Puberty or the period of development extends over
+several years, so the menopause or period of atrophy extends over a
+period of from three to five years. If a woman relaxes and allows the
+changes to proceed naturally she need have no cause to worry, but she
+must remember that rest from continual strain is necessary during this
+period. Freedom from care, relaxation of physical and mental effort,
+regular periods of complete rest once or twice a day, a reduction of the
+diet and regulation of the bowels should be the first principles of
+treatment. Then--do not worry but occupy the mind with happy thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS
+
+
+So much of the suffering among women is unnecessary, being due to the
+neglect of the little things, so much ill health can be relieved by
+attention to a few simple hygienic measures, that I think it wise to
+describe some of the most common disorders of the female organs, and to
+explain their symptoms so that you would not ignorantly neglect them, if
+you should be so unfortunate as to contract any.
+
+The most common diseases of the female organs may be classed as
+displacements, inflammations and tumors.
+
+On account of its lack of strong attachment, the womb is very easily
+displaced. When from any cause the womb is congested and heavy the extra
+weight stretches the supporting muscles and ligaments, which then allow
+it to fall out of place. It also may be displaced by a sudden fall, by
+jumping or other strenuous exercise. As the womb normally is heavier at
+the menstrual period than at any other time and as there is a natural
+congestion then, it is more easily displaced at that time than during
+any other part of the month. This is one reason why one should be
+careful not to take strenuous exercise at the menstrual period.
+
+The most common displacement, or the most common way for the womb to
+tip, is backwards and at the same time it usually falls downward. You
+remember, the rectum is directly back of the womb, so, if the womb is
+tipped backwards, it presses against the rectum. This tends to prevent
+the feces, or bowel movement, from passing out naturally and helps to
+produce constipation. The womb, pressing against the rectum, also
+presses on the blood vessels which are very numerous there. This
+pressure on the blood vessels prevents the blood from leaving them. If
+it is held there, it causes the blood vessels to dilate in order to be
+large enough to contain it. We call this enlarged portion of the vein a
+blood tumor. These tumors or dilated blood vessels of the rectum are
+called hemorrhoids or piles. I will explain these more thoroughly when
+I talk to you about constipation.
+
+The womb may tip forward, pressing on the bladder and causing a frequent
+desire to urinate. More rarely it is tipped to one side. It then tends
+to pull on the ovaries and produce pain and various nervous symptoms.
+
+The womb may fall downward, pressing against both the bladder and rectum
+and dragging the ovaries and tubes out of their natural positions.
+Sometimes it even protrudes from the vagina. Any falling or displacement
+of the womb pulls on the tubes and ovaries, often producing an
+inflammation. This inflammation should not be allowed to continue, as it
+may become serious, even extending to the peritoneum and producing
+peritonitis. The nerves of the uterus are very closely connected with
+the spinal nerves, therefore, any displacement reacts through them and
+may produce headache and backache, which are the common accompaniments
+of any uterine disorder.
+
+[Illustration: KNEE-CHEST POSITION]
+
+One of the most simple and yet efficacious treatments to correct a
+displacement downward and backward is to assume the knee-chest position
+for a few moments morning and evening after the clothing has been
+removed. In the knee-chest position, the patient kneels on the bed, then
+bends forward until her chest touches the bed; the back slopes down and
+the thighs should be at right angles with the bed. This position allows
+the various organs to fall forward and toward the upper part of the
+body, the pressure on the uterus is relieved and it assumes its natural
+position. This treatment, persisted in, will relieve nearly every case
+which has not some other disorder connected with it. If every woman
+would assume this position for a few minutes once or twice a week, just
+before retiring, she would be greatly benefited; for the majority of
+women have a slight falling of the womb, which then presses on the
+rectal and other nerves causing various nervous symptoms.
+
+The womb and ovaries are surrounded by a dense network of nerves and
+blood vessels, making them very liable to congestion. Tight clothing or
+improperly fitted clothing causes pressure and interferes with the
+circulation. I believe that a large percentage of the objections to the
+corset originated from women wearing improperly fitted corsets which
+pushed the organs out of place. A corset fitted to the wearer is not
+injurious and serves as a support. Overwork, catching cold and excesses
+may produce a congestion which is one stage of inflammation. The most
+common symptoms of inflammation of the womb are pain in the pelvic
+region, a dull backache, especially across the hips, and a vaginal
+discharge called leucorrhoea (whites). Any leucorrhoea shows a
+disordered condition which should be corrected. It may be simply of a
+catarrhal nature, due to pressure or cold, or it may indicate a more
+serious condition, as the presence of one of the black plagues. Whenever
+a woman notices a vaginal discharge, it is a wise plan to go at once to
+a reliable physician, find out what is the cause and nature and then
+take measures to correct it. In the beginning a very little treatment,
+such as hot douches, may be all that is required, while if untreated the
+condition may become serious, as you will understand when I explain
+about the black plagues.
+
+Any disorder of the uterus or ovaries reacts through the nerves upon
+other parts of the body and may produce various symptoms such as general
+weakness, headaches and backaches. This drain on the system often is
+shown by dark circles under the eyes, pale skin and a drawn, haggard
+expression. All these tend to rob a woman of her charm of physical
+excellence, and none of us wish to lose that; for it is natural for all
+women to wish to appear attractive.
+
+One of the most common of the so-called female disorders, which seems to
+be the lot of the majority of women, is dysmenorrhoea or painful
+menstruation. This is not a disease in itself, but the symptom of
+various disorders. A woman in normal health should not suffer at her
+menstrual period; so if she does suffer it shows there is something
+wrong. The natural thing for anyone to do who had dysmenorrhoea would
+be first to find the cause of this pain and then take measures to
+correct it. It may be due to displacements, inflammations or tumors; it
+may be due to a contraction of the mouth of the womb which does not
+dilate sufficiently to allow the menstrual discharge to flow freely. It
+may be due to neuralgia or rheumatism of the uterus or ovaries. Pain
+always indicates an unnatural condition. It is the cry of tortured
+nerves. The cause should be determined by a competent physician and
+then measures taken immediately to restore the normal condition.
+
+One who suffers from dysmenorrhoea should try to plan her work so that
+she may rest the first day of her menstrual period, and, if possible,
+the preceding day. Absolute rest in bed at this time is beneficial. A
+hot sitz bath, hot foot bath or hot vaginal douche taken just previous
+to the commencement of the period will aid in relieving the congestion
+and thus lessen the pain. After the flow has started hot foot baths and
+hot applications to the abdomen may be used. Hot drinks also may be
+taken, but one should not get in the habit of using any drug at this
+time. Hot ginger tea will do as much good as one prepared with some
+habit-forming drug. Many of the remedies advertised as a cure for this
+condition are composed chiefly of alcohol, and, although they may give a
+temporary relief, the benefit is not permanent. Careful attention to
+diet and exercise, with regular hours of sleep, are essential points to
+be considered if one would be free from this disagreeable trouble.
+
+Another symptom which often causes much alarm to the patient is
+amenorrhoea or deficient or scanty menstruation. This may result from
+fear, worry, catching cold or to an enlargement of the womb. It also is
+one of the first symptoms of pregnancy. Sometimes it indicates an
+impoverished condition of the blood and shows the need of a general
+building up of the system. This is true especially in young girls who
+have what is called chlorosis or green sickness. These girls are pale,
+weak, sometimes having a greenish cast to their complexions. They need
+good care and nourishing food and plenty of light, outdoor exercise.
+
+In young girls I sometimes find an irritation of the vagina which causes
+pain. This may be due to the retention of secretions in the vagina. The
+general idea that only married women have leucorrhoea, or whites, is
+fallacious. Virgins may have it. The usual cause is catching cold at the
+menstrual period. Another delusion is that these girls should not take
+douches for fear they might injure the hymen. This is erroneous, for
+douches are necessary in the treatment of this condition and, except in
+very rare cases, a douche can be taken with an especially small douche
+point without injury to the parts. There normally must be a small
+opening in the hymen to permit the passage of the menstrual flow. If a
+small douche point is used no harm will result.
+
+When I talked to you about the structure of the external generative
+organs, I mentioned the clitoris and explained that sometimes the
+prepuce or foreskin is bound down, or is too tight, so that the natural
+secretions are retained under it and produce an irritation; that the
+operation for the unhooding of the clitoris is very similiar to that of
+circumcision in the male and is performed for similar causes. Many a
+woman who has been nervous all her life, owes her condition to a hooded
+clitoris, which a very simple operation would correct. A hooded clitoris
+also may have something to do with the immoral life of some girls. The
+other day I received a letter from an aged physician who, in discussing
+the tendency to immoral practices, says: "You say in one of your
+articles, 'What is the remedy? Educate!' Well, perhaps, but if you would
+let me circumcise the girl early in life, I believe it would be more
+certain." There is considerable truth in his statement. A hooded
+clitoris produces a constant irritation which tends to lead to habits of
+self-abuse and perhaps immorality.
+
+The other common disorder which I named at first is a tumor. Tumors are
+any unnatural growth. They may form in any part of the body, but just
+now we will speak only of those affecting the internal female organs.
+Tumors may form in the cavity of the womb, in its walls or on the
+outside of it. The common symptoms are an enlargement of the abdomen
+accompanied usually by pain due to pressure on the nerves. There also
+may be some hemorrhage at other than the regular menstrual periods.
+
+Sometimes the ovaries are diseased and become enlarged, tender and
+filled with fluid. Then they are spoken of as cystic tumors or as cysts.
+The tubes may become inflamed and filled with pus. The most common cause
+of these pus tubes is one of the black plagues. With all these tumors
+the treatment usually is to remove the tumor and sometimes the entire
+organ. In a few cases it is possible that the fluid or other contents of
+the tumor may be absorbed, if the general health and circulation are
+improved. In some cases we find what is called a phantom tumor. There
+really is no tumor, although the symptoms may be such that even reliable
+physicians are misled. The symptoms are due to a nervous condition.
+These phantom tumors have given many a quack a reputation for removing
+tumors without the use of the knife.
+
+A carcinoma or cancer is a malignant tumor, that is, one that tends to
+grow worse and to reappear if it apparently is removed. The reappearance
+may be in the same place or in an entirely different portion of the
+body. Cancer of the uterus is not uncommon in women. It frequently
+follows neglect of some injury. For example, it will appear on the site
+of an unrepaired tear. It most commonly comes after the menopause. The
+change that is undergone at that time seems to stir things up and bring
+to light any neglected injury. This is another reason why every woman at
+the menopause should undergo a thorough examination and have any defect
+repaired, thus avoiding much of the possibility of trouble. A frequent
+symptom of carcinoma of the uterus is hemorrhage at irregular times
+after the menopause. Any woman who has such a condition would be wise if
+she immediately repaired to a physician and determined the cause of the
+hemorrhage. In the beginning it is possible to remove a cancer, but
+later it becomes so involved in the surrounding structures that its
+removal is impossible.
+
+You may think I am trying to increase business for the physicians but in
+reality my advice, if taken, would lessen their practice. It is another
+application of "a stitch in time saves nine." In the beginning almost
+all these diseases can be corrected with very little trouble, while if
+neglected the process is much slower. The probabilities are that the
+doctor will have the case later, if not consulted early, but instead of
+a few office treatments he will have an expensive operation. So, you
+see, I really am trying to save you doctors' bills when I urge early and
+thorough examinations. There is a peculiar thing about the human race. A
+machine will get out of order and the owner will send for an expert
+machinist to repair it--not attempting to patch it up himself. But when
+these bodies of ours, the most wonderful and complicated of machines,
+get out of repair we try to patch them up ourselves or try various
+remedies recommended by those who know worse than nothing about the
+physical machinery. Then we think we are saving doctors' bills, when at
+the same time we are spending twice as much on questionable
+repairs--patent medicines, which often do more harm than good.
+Frequently they contain stimulants which produce a mythical improvement
+but leave the system worse off than before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CONSTIPATION--HEMORRHOIDS
+
+
+A regular daily movement of the bowels is necessary to health. Much of
+the illness in the world might have been avoided if the victims had
+taken better care of the excretory organs. One of the first questions a
+physician asks a patient is, "How are your bowels, do they move
+regularly every day?" In some cases that is the first time the patient
+has thought of them, and he has to think some time before he can
+remember just when and how often his bowels did move. Then perhaps he is
+not sure. In a great many cases it is a routine practice with physicians
+to give a "good cleaning out," that is, to give a thorough laxative.
+Many times this is all the treatment required and in other cases it only
+is combined with a little intestinal antiseptic to further carry out the
+cleaning process.
+
+The most common cause of constipation is irregularity in going to the
+toilet. When the desire for defecation comes, we are too busy and
+postpone it until some more convenient time, which time may be too late.
+Nature is the best judge as to when the bowels are ready to be emptied.
+If we do not obey her call, we must take the consequences. When the
+waste material is ready to be voided, it is in a semi-fluid state, but,
+if it remains in the intestines too long the water is absorbed and the
+waste material is left in a hard mass which is expelled with difficulty.
+Not only that, but the desire to expel it soon passes. Nature, finding
+we do not respond to her call, ceases to notify us.
+
+If the waste material is allowed to remain in the bowels, not only the
+water is absorbed but with it some of the poisons from the waste
+material, which are taken up by the blood and carried to all parts of
+the system, causing a great deal of trouble and pain. This absorption of
+toxins (poisons) causes headache, loss of appetite, a sense of
+depression and a lack of energy.
+
+The pressure of the hard material on the tender tissues of the rectum
+causes hemorrhoids or piles, by irritating the tissues and causing a
+congestion. Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins which have been so irritated
+and filled with extra blood that they have lost their power to contract.
+These enlarged veins may remain inside the rectum and then are known as
+internal piles. Sometimes they protrude externally and then are known as
+external piles. Frequently they become tender and cause a great deal of
+pain. In some cases one of the little veins becomes so engorged with
+blood that it bursts and allows the contained blood to escape. This is
+known as bleeding piles. For mild cases of hemorrhoids (piles) the
+treatment is to correct the accompanying constipation, then take an
+enema or injection of warm water morning and evening, using the water as
+hot as can be borne and allowing it to run in and out the rectum for
+some time. Following this, an astringent and soothing lotion should be
+applied.
+
+Constipation may be caused by retroversion of the uterus. If the uterus
+is tipped backwards it presses on the rectum, preventing the passage of
+the feces (bowel movement). This pressure also causes hemorrhoids. In
+this case the treatment is to correct the displacement. In many cases
+all that is necessary is to take the knee-chest position for a few
+minutes night and morning.
+
+Always in the treatment of constipation, the first item is to discover
+the cause. We have noted that the chief cause is irregularity in going
+to the toilet, therefore, the first measure to be taken in the treatment
+is regularity in going to the toilet. Choose a convenient hour, usually
+right after breakfast, and always go to the toilet at that time no
+matter if there is a desire or not. At first there may be no natural
+movement but if you persist, your efforts will be rewarded. For the
+first few days it is well to take an enema of warm, soapy water at this
+time. Every day take exercise that will strengthen the muscles of the
+abdomen. Bending forward and touching the toes with the fingers without
+bending the knees is one valuable exercise. This should be done ten or
+twelve times morning and evening. A daily brisk walk in the fresh air is
+another good exercise. Fruit or figs eaten with the meals or a glass of
+water taken before breakfast and upon retiring often proves very
+beneficial in relieving a tendency to constipation. There is an old
+saying, "An apple or two before going to bed, and the doctor will go
+begging for his bread." This really is a practical idea and more nearly
+true than many old sayings.
+
+Cathartics or laxatives should not be taken except for an occasional
+dose or during illness upon the advice of a physician. So common is the
+practice of taking daily laxatives that it has become a "national
+curse"! People do not realize that they are slaves to this habit, so
+they continue to take their daily doses of "teas" or "waters." In many
+cases a patient will tell his physician that his bowels are "all right,"
+that they move every day. Further questionings reveal the fact that he
+is in the habit of taking some laxative frequently. The bowels are not
+"all right" if any laxative is required.
+
+Massage of the abdomen usually is very beneficial in treating
+constipation. It acts by stimulating the muscles and should be given at
+set times in the day but never until two hours after any meal. The
+various vibrators act in the same manner as massage. In any massage of
+the abdomen the thighs should be flexed, as this relaxes the abdominal
+muscles.
+
+Enemas or injections of warm water may be taken occasionally and then
+are beneficial, but if long continued are injurious by reason of their
+irritating effect. At times, when the stomach and intestines have been
+over-loaded with irritating material, an enema is one of the quickest
+measures for relief. In obstinate constipation two or three ounces of
+warm olive oil injected slowly into the rectum at night and allowed to
+remain until morning will soften the waste material so it can be
+evacuated easily in the morning.
+
+Constipation never should be neglected as it carries in its train a long
+line of disorders, as hemorrhoids (piles), abscesses, and intestinal
+obstruction.
+
+Indigestion and constipation frequently are bosom friends. How often
+indigestion is a result of nervous strain is perhaps seldom realized. A
+business man eats his lunch and other meals in a hurry, with his mind on
+his business. His energies are being consumed by his brain and very
+little is left to be used in the digestion of his food. One never should
+eat when tired and nervous. Take a few moments' absolute rest before
+meals. If possible lie down and relax all muscles for a few moments.
+Then eat your meal slowly and if possible have some pleasant companion
+who will talk with you on subjects not connected with your business
+cares. You will be surprised to note the improvement in your digestion
+and incidentally in your tendency to constipation.
+
+For the noon meal, office workers should eat only light and easily
+digested food. Eat your heaviest meal after the work for the day is
+finished and the blood which has been required by the brain can be
+spared to the stomach. People doing manual labor that requires physical
+strength need, and can digest, a heavy noonday meal but the requirements
+of the brain workers are quite different.
+
+Many girls break down on account of lack of sufficient nourishment.
+Coffee and rolls for breakfast, ice cream and rolls for lunch and a
+sandwich and coffee for dinner is not sufficient food for any working
+girl. And yet that is about the diet of hundreds of girls. Often it is
+impossible for her to provide more, for when a girl must pay for her
+board, room, clothes and laundry from her salary of five or six dollars
+a week, sufficient food becomes an impossibility. Many girls actually
+are slowly starving on this account. When the wheels of progress make
+it possible for every working girl to have a comfortable home and
+sufficient nourishing food many of the social problems will right
+themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE BLACK PLAGUES
+
+
+I promised to explain to you what I meant by the black plagues. It is
+strange when anything is as widely spread as are these diseases that so
+few people know anything about them, or realize their importance. At one
+time epidemics of typhoid fever were regarded as a revelation of the
+wrath of God. Now we know they are due to carelessness and lack of
+sanitation. It is the same with the sufferings of women. We used to
+think it was a dispensation of Providence if a woman were compelled to
+undergo an operation. Now we know it usually is due to someone's lack of
+care, to a desecration of Nature's teachings.
+
+I remember when I was quite young hearing mention made of a "bad
+disease." Concerning the nature of this disease I was ignorant but I
+gathered the idea that it was some terrible disease which was contracted
+only by the most depraved of mortals. How little I suspected its
+widely-spread distribution, and how little I dreamed that among my
+acquaintances might be any afflicted with these diseases! nor did I
+dream of the danger of innocent contagion. Since then I have learned
+what these diseases were. Now we call them the black plagues, because,
+owing to the prejudice of the majority, we dare not use their correct
+names generally. I have no doubt you will be as surprised and shocked as
+I was at the things I am going to impart to you.
+
+By black plagues we mean the two diseases spoken of by physicians as the
+venereal diseases, because they usually are contracted during sexual
+intercourse.
+
+The most common of these diseases is gonorrhoea, or clap, as it often
+is called by men. How common it is may be judged by a statement made by
+a professor to his class in the medical college that at least eighty per
+cent. of the men in the world have contracted it sometime during their
+lives. Even the most conservative give the estimate as sixty per cent.
+
+The prevalent idea common among men that it is no worse than a cold--a
+mere annoyance that all men must expect and endure sometime--is
+lamentable. The persistence of the disease in the deeper structures long
+after it outwardly is cured leads to unexpected communication of it to
+women, among whom may be the young wife. As a result she enters upon a
+period of ill-health that ultimately may compel the mutilation of her
+body by a surgical operation to save her life. Much of the surgery
+performed upon the female organs has been rendered necessary by disease
+contracted from the husband.
+
+A few little germs of this disease left on even the external organs may
+find their way up through the vagina to the uterus or womb. Here they
+may produce an inflammation of the lining of the womb, causing severe
+pain and other symptoms, such as profuse discharge. The germs may go
+farther, or the inflammation may extend from the uterus to the tubes.
+When we consider that the passage through the tubes is only about as
+large as a broom straw, we see what serious trouble may result. The
+tubes become enlarged and filled with pus. The opening from the tubes to
+the uterus becomes closed, so there is no way for the pus to escape. The
+accumulation of pus or the products of septic inflammation stretch the
+walls of the tubes until the little nerves in the walls cry out in
+rebellion. The pain becomes so great and the reflex symptoms are so
+aggravated that finally the woman resorts to the only relief,--an
+operation for the removal of the tubes.
+
+When we consider that the ovule, the human egg, must travel through
+these tubes to reach the uterus and, if they are destroyed, has no other
+way of reaching the womb and, if it cannot reach the womb and be
+impregnated, cannot develop into the babe, then we realize how this
+disease is dooming women to childless lives,--women whose natural
+instincts and desires cry out for motherhood. When we consider the
+factors that promote race suicide we must not forget this important one.
+Even though the woman refuses an operation, or in a case in which the
+inflammation is not so severe and is reduced until she is nearly free
+from pain, the result may be the same, for the tubes may remain closed
+permanently.
+
+The closure of the tubes is not the only result that may follow the
+course of this disease. The infection may extend into the peritoneal
+cavity causing peritonitis, which so often results in the untimely
+death of the woman. Here let me say that not all cases of peritonitis or
+of inflammation of the womb, tubes or ovaries are due to this infection.
+There are other infections, other germs, that may produce similar
+results. These germs may reach the organs in various ways. Sometimes the
+woman herself is to blame and sometimes we can blame no one.
+Inflammation of these organs may result from pressure of clothing,
+colds, excitement, overwork, pregnancies, excesses or neglect. The
+inflammation may spread to these organs from an inflamed appendix or
+other neighboring organs.
+
+Supposing, though, following this disease the tubes are not entirely
+closed and the woman becomes pregnant. There is still the danger that
+during labor the baby's eyes will become infected and may become
+permanently blind. It is estimated that seventy per cent. of the
+blindness in the world has this cause. How does this produce blindness?
+Some few germs of this disease have remained in the vagina or birth
+canal and as the baby passes along the canal they enter its eyes. They
+are so very strong and work so rapidly that they can cause total
+blindness within three days. This fact is so well known by physicians
+that at the present time all reliable physicians pay especial attention
+to the newborn baby's eyes, cleansing them with an antiseptic solution
+immediately after birth. This precaution doubtless has saved the eyes of
+thousands of babies. This is one of the reasons why it is dangerous to
+employ an uneducated person at the time of labor. Even though she may
+have assisted at hundreds of births yet often she is ignorant of the
+many dangers and of the precautions that should be taken in every case.
+
+Even adults may become blind from this infection. The disease is carried
+to the eyes by polluted fingers or towels. In a few hours the eyes
+become inflamed, pus forms, and unless heroic measures are taken, the
+eyesight is soon destroyed.
+
+In female children the vagina may become infected through the use of
+tainted sponges, wash cloths, etc. An innocent girl may thus carelessly
+acquire the disease. For this reason, we see how necessary it is to
+caution girls never to use public towels or wash cloths that have been
+used by another person. Even in the home, every member of the family
+should have his exclusive towel and wash cloth.
+
+The symptoms of gonorrhoea that often are noted first are a profuse
+discharge from the vagina, usually creamy or yellowish in color. This
+discharge is of such a nature that frequently it excoriates the external
+parts so that they become very tender and inflamed. Backache, especially
+across the hips, is a common accompaniment of this disease. There may be
+general soreness in the pelvic region. If a woman suspects she has
+contracted this disease, she should go immediately to some reliable
+physician; for at first the disease may affect only the vagina but, if
+neglected, may extend to the uterus and tubes. In its early stages it
+may be cured by prompt treatment, but the majority of women postpone
+treatment until it is too late.
+
+The other loathsome disease, syphilis, infects the blood and therefore
+all parts of the body. While under proper treatment it is not dangerous
+to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of conveying the
+contagion are numerous. In the second stage, which lasts for a number of
+weeks, the mucous patches in the mouth are a source of danger. In this
+stage the disease may be conveyed by a kiss or through the medium of
+the public drinking cup, towel, or anything that comes in contact with
+the virus. It may be contracted by a babe from a wet-nurse or the nurse
+may contract it from the babe.
+
+The most serious results of this disease appear years after its initial
+appearance, when the individual has been lulled into a false sense of
+security by long freedom from its outward symptoms. Many of the obscure
+cases of stomach or nerve trouble may be traced to this disease. The
+results not only affect the man, but, should he marry and have children,
+his innocent babes may come into the world with an inherited taint.
+These children seldom live to reach adult life and their lives usually
+are burdensome and full of misery. They may be deformed or be
+continually afflicted with ulcers or other horrible manifestations of
+the disease. I will explain this more thoroughly when I speak of
+heredity.
+
+Many of the disastrous effects of these diseases might have been
+prevented if they had been properly treated in their early stages.
+Ignorance as to the nature and probable disastrous effects, if
+neglected, prevents many a person from procuring proper treatment. It is
+a common practice among men afflicted with these diseases to try
+various remedies recommended by their friends or by the druggist. It is
+strange that a person who would not think of trying to treat himself for
+smallpox or other contagious disease will do so with these diseases.
+With women, the cause of their neglect is a failure to realize the
+importance of the symptoms. Unfortunately women have grown to think that
+various female ills are their lot in life which must be endured and
+regarded as a dispensation of Providence instead of being considered an
+error in living that must be corrected the same as any other disease.
+Some commence treatment but neglect it as soon as the noticeable
+symptoms have disappeared. It generally is considered among physicians
+that the treatment of syphilis should be continued for at least three
+years after contracting the disease in order to remove all traces from
+the blood.
+
+It is a deplorable fact that the prevalence of these diseases might have
+been prevented by proper instruction of young boys. No man ever
+willfully contracted one of these diseases. Statistics tell us that the
+majority of victims contract them before their twentieth year, before
+the boy has learned anything of their dangers or perhaps of their
+existence. If these patients received the right treatment immediately
+and continued it until the disease had been eradicated the results would
+have been less serious. Here, too, lack of early and proper instruction
+is shown; for these immature boys do not realize the necessity for
+prompt and wise treatment, or are misled by unscrupulous persons. I
+shall talk to you again on this subject, for many of you will have sons
+and you must know the dangers that beset them, so they can be prepared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN
+
+
+One young lady wrote me, "Recently I read that imperfectly developed
+ovaries might be a reason why some women do not have children. I have
+the symptoms which the article said indicated imperfect development.
+Does this necessarily mean that I never can have a baby? I seem to be
+healthy. I am twenty-one years old. I was to have been married in three
+months but now I do not know what to do. 'My boy' loves children as I
+do. It seems as though I cannot give him up, yet it surely is not
+honorable to marry him if I find that I never will have a little one,
+without telling him. Please tell me what to do."
+
+The probabilities are that this girl's ovaries are perfectly normal and
+that the article mentioned was an advertisement of some medical house
+which, by misleading statements, endeavors to induce women to take their
+treatment. There are many women who suffer a great deal mentally, and
+this in turn reflects on their physical health because of just such
+articles.
+
+It has been said that we are a nation of dupes and the advertisements
+carried in some of the papers would indicate the truth of this
+statement. No manufacturer is going to advertise anything that does not
+sell well and bring a considerable profit. Men are not so altruistic as
+to be in business just for the good of humanity. The majority are in
+business for the money to be obtained from it. Somehow, women are very
+susceptible to the arts of these greedy manufacturers. A company
+commences to make a patent medicine and then, in order to derive any
+profits from the investment, large quantities of the preparation must be
+sold. In order to accomplish this they must convince possible buyers of
+their need of this particular treatment. The company employs an agent to
+write an advertisement, perhaps in the shape of an article purporting to
+be written by someone much interested in the human race. This
+advertisement or article describes some disease which may be cured by
+this one remedy. As there might not be enough people who know they have
+this given disease to make a profit for the manufacturer, it becomes
+his business to convince others that they have this disease. Therefore,
+he proceeds to enumerate a great many symptoms which he says indicate
+this disease. Perhaps they might! But they are just as likely to
+indicate any one of half a dozen other things. He details enough
+symptoms so that some are recognized by nearly every woman as relating
+to her condition, so she jumps to the conclusion that she has that
+certain disease and buys a bottle of the medicine.
+
+If you will study the large medical advertisements that appeal
+especially to women you will notice that they all have certain symptoms
+enumerated. No matter if the remedy advertised is for the kidneys, the
+bowels, or exclusively for women, the same symptoms are claimed to
+indicate the need of that certain remedy. One of the symptoms most
+commonly given is backache. Of course! For nearly every person has a
+backache at some time. It may be due to a strain, to rheumatism of the
+lumbar muscles (lumbago), to constipation, to a displacement, or to
+numerous other conditions. No one can tell the cause who is not properly
+prepared to do so and who is not fully acquainted with the physical
+condition. The sewing machine runs hard and perhaps makes a noise. It
+requires a mechanic who is familiar with the mechanism of the machine to
+find the cause of the trouble. So it is with the human body. It requires
+a mechanic who is familiar with the structure of the body to discover
+the cause of the trouble. And yet people will continue to pour into
+their bodies drugs, harmless and otherwise, that are manufactured by
+some enterprising firm and then advertised by an expert who knows
+nothing of disease except a few symptoms common to almost all diseases.
+
+The patent medicine consumers seldom realize the nature of the medicine
+they take. Because some man, desirous of selling his remedy, claims it
+will be beneficial, they rush in and buy. To one who knows the true
+nature of some of these remedies, many laughable instances are visible.
+One man recently discovered that a temperance agitator was daily dosing
+herself with a certain tonic which was known to contain a larger
+percentage of alcohol than did the beverages she was denouncing so
+ardently.
+
+Patent medicines may benefit some, but in the majority of cases, the
+consumer is like a man who boards the nearest street-car hoping it will
+take him to his destination. It may! But it is just as likely to take
+him in the opposite direction.
+
+Some people become veritable drug fiends, slaves to certain drugs
+without in the least realizing their condition. How many are slaves to
+certain laxatives or headache powders! With them the daily dose of
+"harmless" teas or waters or even of pills cannot be neglected. And yet
+such a person would be indignant at the suggestion that she was the
+victim of a drug habit. What are drugs, anyhow? The majority are simply
+extracts of herbs and vegetables. And yet people imagine that they are
+avoiding the use of drugs and medicines when they take "simple herb
+remedies, prepared at home."
+
+Another lure of the advertiser is to state that all letters are
+"strictly confidential and answered by women only." Perhaps they are!
+But he neglects to add that the women who answer these letters are
+simply stenographers with no medical knowledge, employed to write
+according to dictation, that the letters are all written according to
+certain forms which have been dictated by the manager. A short time ago
+a young woman wrote me regarding her condition. Among other things, she
+said she had written to a certain woman whose name is much advertised by
+a patent medicine concern and that this woman had written her advice
+that had caused her to worry over her condition. Poor, deluded girl! How
+was she to know that the woman in question had been dead many years and
+that the business was carried on by her son and other men.
+
+If you are ill do not be misled by these unscrupulous advertisers. Do
+not waste your time and money on remedies that may be entirely unsuited
+to your condition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE MARRIAGE RELATION
+
+
+As several of you expect to be married soon I think it would be well to
+talk briefly about the cause of so much unhappiness in marriage.
+
+It has been estimated that only about five per cent. of all marriages
+are successful. Is this true, and if true, why? If five per cent. made a
+success of marriage, why could not the other ninety-five? Marriage is a
+science to be studied by the prospective bride and groom in order that
+they may be ranked with the five per cent. and not make a failure of
+their married life. Few would enter the marriage relation if convinced
+that it would be a failure. The prospective bride looks around among her
+acquaintances and sees the lack of true happiness, thinks that her case
+will be an exception, that her marriage will turn out all right and then
+goes blindly ahead into the new life without any preparation.
+
+A large percentage of the unhappiness among married couples comes
+through a misunderstanding of the marital relations. A great deal of
+this is due to ignorance on the part of the bride and thoughtlessness on
+the part of the husband. This is partly due to defective education
+during childhood in regard to the sexes. The training of boys and girls
+in this matter is very different. Knowledge pertaining to the sexual
+life is talked over very freely among boys, so that by the time the boy
+is of a marriageable age he is pretty well posted. With girls it is
+quite different. It would be considered very immodest for a girl to
+discuss such matters. She does not feel free even to talk with her
+mother or other adviser, and so she goes to the altar ignorant of many
+things she should know. Then during the first few days of married life
+this knowledge so overwhelms her and often gives her such a severe shock
+that it leaves a lasting impression. She has no way of knowing that her
+husband is just like other men. She is liable to regard him as a brute
+and resent his attentions.
+
+Such a condition of affairs is altogether wrong, but the girl is not to
+be blamed. Had she been taught what to expect, much of the unhappiness
+of married life might have been avoided. If taught correctly, the girl
+should regard the sexual act as the culmination of true love. It should
+be regarded as something sacred, something that makes her and her
+husband as one. Fortunate indeed is the girl whose husband realizes this
+lack of knowledge and gently leads her to desire the fulfillment of
+love. Unfortunate is the girl whose husband regards this act only as the
+gratification of animal passions--something it is a wife's duty to
+endure as such.
+
+Passion or sex sense is a sign of maturity. It is the calling for a
+mate. All animals have this sense and nearly all animals have a mating
+season. The billing and cooing of the birds in the springtime is an
+expression of this sense--the love sense. It is possessed by every
+little insect. Only by knowing their habits do we see the expression of
+it. This sense is nothing of which one should be ashamed. It was
+God-given for a divine purpose.
+
+In the study of plants we learn that the pollen or male element must
+unite with the ovum or female element in order to produce the seed that
+will develop into the new plant. The same fact is true of the human
+race. Before pregnancy can take place there must be a meeting and fusion
+of the vital elements of the two sexes. This fertilization of the ovum
+or joining of the male and female elements is called conception. It is
+brought about by coitus, by means of which the semen of the male is
+deposited in the vagina of the female. This act is called insemination,
+although conception does not follow unless the ovum and spermatozoon
+(life-giving element of the semen) come together and unite. When this
+occurs the woman conceives and enters upon a period of pregnancy. The
+time at which conception is least likely to occur is from the
+seventeenth to the twenty-third day after menstruation ceases.
+
+During the first year of married life couples are liable to abuse the
+love sense by over-indulgence and thereby use up too much of their
+energy. This affects their health, especially that of the young wife,
+who finds herself always being tired and is unable to account for it.
+Her daily tasks become a drudgery, for she is too exhausted to have the
+strength to perform them. After the tasks finally are finished, she is
+too tired to don the afternoon dress, and so easily falls into untidy
+habits. This brings its train of results. The young husband, on his
+return from work, fails to find his wife the bright, attractive girl he
+married and gradually grows indifferent.
+
+The relation of intercourse to conception is a problem that each husband
+and wife must settle for themselves. Some educators claim that only for
+the one is the other allowable, that the bearing and raising of children
+is the sole aim of married life. Naturally this is the fundamental end
+of the sex instinct. But in the present-day, practical married life it
+would be impossible to convince the majority that the impulse of sex
+gratification was given to them for this one purpose only.
+
+The sense of well being and the increased capacity for work, that
+follows a moderate exercise of this function, tends to convince us that
+it has a beneficial effect upon the entire system if exercised
+moderately. As to what constitutes moderation or temperance depends upon
+the individual. What would be moderation to some would be excess to
+others. It may be taken as a general rule that the after-effects will
+indicate the amount. If the after-effects are irritability, extreme
+lassitude or a diminution of the love or respect for the other then
+there has been excess. If the after-effect is a sense of well-being so
+that the next day one feels more inclined to take up the duties of life,
+then it may be considered that moderation has been practiced. A certain
+amount of energy is consumed in any act and, as in our present age we
+need a great deal of energy to carry on our everyday business, in the
+majority of cases fresh vitality cannot be spared for an expenditure
+under several days or a week. Excess in anything tends to bring on
+premature old age, for the nervous force is expended faster than it is
+manufactured.
+
+Frequently women seem to be endowed with an excess of energy which
+manifests itself in various forms. Besides this, the woman does not seem
+to have control of her nervous energy but wastes it in numerous ways.
+With many a woman the regularity and moderation attendant on a happy
+married life seems to have a regulating effect upon her whole nervous
+system, so that she becomes more calm and has greater control over her
+energies.
+
+Wrong training or lack of training in matters pertaining to the
+relationship of the sexes and to the management of a home may be given
+as the cause of the majority of unhappy marriages.
+
+There must be something wrong with our system of education when the aim
+of this education seems to be to prepare the girl for a temporary
+position in an office or store or for a gay social life; and when there
+is no preparation for the important work of home-making and the rearing
+of children. A girl would not be expected to run a complicated and
+delicate piece of machinery without having adequate instruction
+concerning the necessary care of it. But the girl is allowed to go
+blindly into marriage and is expected to manage her home and care for
+her children with practically no preparation. Nowadays we require
+experts for every position except that of motherhood, but we apparently
+do not consider that of enough importance to waste any time preparing
+for it. A man requires his gardener or office assistant to be trained,
+but the mother of his children need know nothing regarding the
+preparation for their coming. Too often her only preparation is that of
+making numerous clothes. She takes no measures to insure a healthy
+child.
+
+If girls would make a study of home-making and motherhood and enter into
+marriage with a more definite realization of its obligations we would
+have fewer unhappy marriages and fewer divorce cases. Some women, owing
+to false education, wish to have all the advantages of marriage without
+assuming its cares. Such a woman expects a man to be willing to provide
+her with all the gifts of the gods, with all the luxuries of life, but
+in return is not willing to become the mother of his children nor to
+exert herself to make their mutual habitation a home and not merely a
+house--a place in which to eat and sleep.
+
+A large part of the average woman's life is devoted to home-making and
+the rearing of children. Usually she is poorly prepared for this work.
+The early years of a girl's life are spent in the acquisition of a store
+of general knowledge, especially that derived from books and related to
+subjects generally considered necessary to "culture." During this
+period, her time is so occupied with her studies that her mother thinks
+it would be an imposition to ask her to do any housework, so the girl
+grows up without much knowledge of the care of a home. True, she often
+is enabled to do a few things. She learns to make cake and several
+varieties of candy and perhaps can fashion a collar that is the envy of
+her schoolmates. Sometimes she even helps her mother with the dishes or
+the dusting, but it is easier for the mother to take the responsibility
+of the housekeeping than it is to teach her daughter to do so, and
+besides her daughter always is so busy with school affairs. She has no
+time in which to learn the science of housekeeping.
+
+After the completion of her course in the common or high school, a few
+months, sometimes, are devoted to the preparation for a certain line of
+work which is to occupy her time for a few years. Very few girls, except
+those who enter the professions, expect to continue their work after
+marriage and nearly all look forward to marriage. If we place a girl at
+a new occupation, for instance lace-making, and let her work out her own
+salvation, we would not be surprised if she disliked her work and was
+unable to accomplish any good results. But that is what we do in regard
+to home-making. A girl upon marriage is expected to know by instinct
+how to keep house, cook, and do the numerous other household duties; she
+is expected to know how to care for herself before the birth of her baby
+and how to care for the baby when it comes. Fortunately for the future
+generation this fact has come to the realization of many of our
+educators. During the last few years many schools have introduced into
+their curriculum, courses in domestic science, including the purchasing,
+preparation and serving of food. Very recently some of the more
+progressive schools have introduced courses in nursing and the care of
+young babies. Perhaps in a few years motherhood will take its proper
+place as the most important of all sciences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+EMBRYOLOGY--THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE
+
+
+You remember I mentioned that at various times during the month an ovum
+or egg leaves the ovary and passes along the tube to the uterus. Here it
+remains if it is impregnated or fertilized by a union with the
+spermatozoon or male element. The whole body of the babe is developed
+from the ovum or female element after it has been fertilized by the
+spermatozoon or male element. The union usually takes place in the tube.
+The spermatozoon, after being deposited in the vagina, travels to the
+mouth of the womb, then up through the womb into one of the tubes. Here
+it meets the ovum and unites with it, then the impregnated ovum
+continues on its way to the uterus. It attaches itself to the lining of
+the womb by little thread-like filaments which it projects. The ovum
+then begins to grow, dividing itself into portions that go to make the
+different parts of the body. Before I continue, let me remind you that
+the ovum in the beginning is only about as large as the point of a pin,
+being about 1-125 of an inch in diameter, while the spermatozoon is so
+tiny it cannot be seen without the aid of a miscroscope. Therefore, it
+can be realized how much the ovum has to grow before it becomes a fully
+formed babe.
+
+During the time the ovum is developing into the babe we speak of it
+first as the embryo, then the foetus. It takes about nine calendar
+months or ten lunar months before the foetus is fully developed and
+ready to be expelled from the womb. During the process of development
+the foetus resembles various animals. It seems it must pass through
+about the same stages of evolution that our primitive ancestors did.
+
+By the end of the third week, the dividing has progressed so far that
+the body is quite well indicated. By the end of the seventh week the
+body and limbs are quite well defined. One peculiar thing is that, at
+this time, the foetus has a tail which disappears during the next two
+weeks. During the third month the foetus increases in size and weight
+so that by the end of the month the weight is four ounces and the
+length two and three-fourths inches. It now is not directly attached to
+the lining of the womb but is attached by means of the cord to the
+placenta or afterbirth which has been forming slowly. This placenta
+consists of fatty tissue surrounding a great many little blood vessels.
+The tiny blood vessels lie so close to the blood vessels of the lining
+of the womb that the blood passes from one to the other. To do this, it
+must pass through the walls of the blood vessels, as the vessels of the
+mother and those of the placenta are not directly united. The blood
+vessels of the placenta unite to form two veins and one artery which lie
+very close to each other and are surrounded by a membrane. These three
+blood vessels united together form what we call the cord. The other end
+of the cord is attached to the foetus so that the blood can flow back
+and forth between the foetus and placenta.
+
+By the end of the third month the limbs have definite shape, the nails
+being almost perfectly formed. During the next month the sexual
+distinctions of the external organs become well marked.
+
+By the last of the fifth month the weight has increased to one pound and
+the length to eight inches. Active foetal movements begin, that is,
+the foetus begins to move around and not lie quietly as before. This
+is what is usually spoken of as "feeling life," or as "quickening."
+There is life from the very beginning but during the first four or five
+months the foetus does not move about and so the mother does not "feel
+life." This has caused the erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the fifth month.
+
+By the end of the sixth month the weight is two pounds and the length
+twelve inches. The eyebrows and eyelashes have begun to grow and the
+lobule of the ear is more characteristic.
+
+By the end of the seventh month the weight is three pounds and the
+length fourteen inches. The surface of the body, which has appeared
+wrinkled, now appears more smooth owing to the increase of fat
+underneath.
+
+By the end of the eighth month the weight is four to five pounds and the
+length twenty inches. The nails have grown to project beyond the finger
+tips. Up to this time the body has been covered with a fine hair called
+lanugo. This now has begun to disappear and the skin becomes brighter
+and is covered with a white, cheesy material called the vernix caseosa.
+This almost entirely disappears during the next month, but frequently
+there are portions of it remaining on the body at the time of birth. The
+foetus is fully developed by the end of the ninth month. Then its
+average weight is six or seven pounds and the length twenty inches.
+
+If we could look into the womb just before the time of labor we would
+find the foetus attached by the cord to the placenta and floating in a
+sac of water. This sac is formed partly of the placenta and partly of
+the membrane; the side of the placenta opposite to the child being
+attached to the womb. Just before labor the child takes a position with
+its head downward, its lower limbs flexed and its arms folded upon its
+breast. This allows it to come in the usual way, head first. But
+sometimes, for various reasons, it does not take this position and some
+part other than the head, for instance, the feet, may be born first.
+
+Labor pains are caused by the contraction of the muscles of the womb in
+an effort to expel the foetus. The muscles, contracting, push the
+foetus downward to the mouth of the womb but push ahead of it a
+portion of the membrane enclosing some of the water. This is called the
+"bag of waters." As it presses against the mouth of the womb it causes
+it to dilate so as to allow the foetus to pass through into the
+vagina. The foetus, preceded by the bag of waters, then descends
+through the vagina or birth canal until it comes to the external opening
+of the vagina. This it must dilate before it can pass through it. The
+bag of waters should rupture normally while it is being pushed through
+the external opening. Sometimes the bag does not rupture directly in
+front of the descending head but further up along the side. Then a
+portion of the membrane may be over the face of the child when it is
+born. This is what is called being "born with a veil" or "born with a
+caul."
+
+The bag of waters helps dilate the parts much easier than the foetus
+could do it alone. When the bag breaks the water lubricates the parts so
+as to make the passage of the child easier. When it breaks, as it
+sometimes does, at the beginning of labor we have what is termed a "dry
+labor." This usually is much slower than it would be otherwise. The
+majority of the cases of labor extend over a period of from twelve to
+twenty-four hours.
+
+Sometimes the external opening of the vagina does not dilate enough to
+allow the passage of the child. As the head presses hard against the
+perineum it tears it. This tear should be repaired immediately after
+completion of labor.
+
+When the baby is born it is fully formed but its lungs have never
+contained air. At the first cry the air rushes into the lungs and
+expands them. At birth there is a change in the circulation of the blood
+of the baby. Before this time, the blood has passed to and from the
+placenta through the cord but now this is stopped. Before birth there
+was an opening between the right and left sides of the heart but this
+closes during the first few days of the child's life. To assist in this
+closure, it is wise to keep the child on its right side for a few days.
+Rarely, this opening never closes and we have what is called a "blue
+baby," which seldom lives very long.
+
+In a great many cases, painless childbirth could be a possibility by a
+little attention to diet, exercise and other hygienic measures during
+the last few months of pregnancy. Knowing this, it seems inconceivable
+that any woman would neglect to so fully inform herself on these matters
+that both she and her child could have all benefit of the investigations
+of science.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ABORTIONS
+
+
+Sometimes through an accident or on account of disease, the womb expels
+the foetus before it is fully developed. If this occurs before the end
+of the third month we call it an abortion; if it occurs between the
+third and seventh months we call it a miscarriage; while if it occurs
+after the seventh month but before the normal time of labor we call it a
+premature labor.
+
+Formerly it was considered that there was no possibility of the child
+living if it were born before the seventh month. Now, by the aid of
+incubators, even those born at five months have a chance to live. By
+that time the body is fully formed, so the chief requirements are a
+steady temperature and proper care and food. Great care must be
+exercised, as a slight cooling of the air may result in the death of the
+babe.
+
+Abortions are either accidental, criminal, or justifiable, that is,
+brought on to preserve the life of the mother. Accidental abortions may
+follow a sudden fall or a sudden shock, either mental or physical, to
+the mother. They may be due to some disease either of the mother or of
+the foetus. Of the diseases responsible for abortions the one with the
+largest percentage is syphilis. It is estimated that this disease is
+responsible for forty per cent. of accidental abortions and
+miscarriages. Whenever a physician has for a patient a woman who gives a
+history of having had several abortions without any apparent cause and
+all at about the same age of the foetus, he immediately becomes
+suspicious of syphilis either of the father or the mother. It is a
+peculiar fact with this disease that it may be transmitted to the
+offspring without the mother ever actually having the disease. This is
+an instance of "visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto
+the third and fourth generation." Many a weak frame owes its condition
+to a dissipated father, grandfather or even great-grandfather. It is
+possible, though, for a man or woman who has had this disease to have a
+healthy child if the disease has been properly treated.
+
+Under some circumstances, especially with a deformed pelvis, if
+pregnancy were allowed to proceed normally it probably would result in
+the death of the mother. Then, it is considered justifiable for the
+physician in charge of the case to produce an abortion in order to save
+the life of the mother. Those cases are rare and such a procedure never
+is undertaken except in extreme cases.
+
+Criminal abortions are those brought on simply because the woman does
+not desire to have a child. These often are produced by the woman
+herself by means of drugs that set up uterine contractions (labor pains)
+or by means of something introduced into the uterus. In either case it
+is a dangerous procedure. Infections may be carried into the uterus by
+means of whatever is introduced into it. This may set up an inflammation
+that may result in the death of the woman. It is a dangerous procedure
+to introduce anything into the womb. Some women are extremely foolish or
+reckless and use anything that may be handy. Sometimes grave harm
+results. Instances are on record of women who have punctured the walls
+of the womb by the use of hatpins or other sharp instruments. If an
+abortion is produced by either drugs or instruments there is danger that
+all the products of conception may not come away. If even a small
+portion remains in the uterus it may cause a hemorrhage or, becoming
+decomposed, produce a poison that may result in the death of the woman.
+
+It would be impossible to estimate the number of abortions performed on
+unmarried girls, as well as married women, during one year by midwives,
+unscrupulous physicians and by many respected family physicians. We
+never hear of one of these except through the occasional one who is so
+unfortunate as to meet death. We cannot entirely blame the one who
+performs the abortion. Sometimes it is performed because of the sympathy
+of the physician. It is very hard to refuse some cases. Let me read you
+a letter to illustrate my meaning.
+
+"I have just finished reading your article on 'Woman's Inhumanity to
+Woman' and wish to say that every word impresses the truth as read. My
+reason for writing you is because I am one of those who have sinned
+through love, with one I have known all my life only to find too late
+that he did not love me; and the sin is killing me. I do not want to
+bring into this world a little child to have no father. I am not bad at
+heart. My only hope is to get something that will bring me all right. If
+you are a doctor you can give me medicine that will help me miscarry
+this, as I have only missed two months. Nothing would please me more
+than to be the mother of a little one, but, oh, not one born without a
+name. Dear madam, if you can help me, or show me some way that my people
+cannot suspect me of this sin, for the love you bear all girls, help me.
+I am the only one at home to care for an aged father and one of the
+dearest brothers that ever lived. If he knew I had sinned as I have, it
+would break his heart. My God in heaven, help me! is my prayer, and
+through his love you can help me. I am almost desperate and before I
+will live and bear this sin I will take my own life, which will bar me
+from heaven and my angel mother's face. Be gracious, kind doctor, and
+help me. I will repay you if it takes the remainder of my life and give
+my solemn promise that I will sin no more. Erring through the love of a
+man is my only excuse and, oh, I am the one to bear the blame. He would
+be forgiven. I am so nervous and ruined in mind that I hardly can go
+about my duties and I cannot stand the strain much longer. Let me hear
+from you at once and please help me, for I know it can be done, but I am
+ignorant; I do not know what to get or what to do. It will be no sin to
+try to get all right and not bear a child, but in my thoughts it is
+something awful to have to have it. For the love of heaven help a
+heartbroken girl at once and before it is too late for me to regain my
+chance of heaven."
+
+Now suppose you were a physician and that girl, instead of being a
+stranger, was a very dear friend who had come to you in your office,
+would you not be tempted to grant her wishes? That is the position in
+which every physician is placed a great many times. Some allow their
+sympathies to rule and so break the laws of the land. They allow their
+sympathies to overcome the moral truths that previously had been their
+guide. They commit a crime by taking a life, even though that life were
+not fully developed.
+
+Many women have the false idea that there is no life before the fifth
+month and so think they are not destroying life if they have an
+abortion at the end of the first, the second or even the third month.
+This idea is entirely erroneous, for there is life from the very
+beginning and it is just as wrong to destroy life the first few months
+as it would be to do so later.
+
+Aside from this moral reason there is a very important reason for not
+having abortions. You may regret it afterwards! Let me give you an
+instance. One of my friends, a charming young woman, was married several
+years ago. After her marriage she moved to a distant city and I did not
+see her for about four years. Then she returned and called to see me.
+During the course of our conversation I asked her if she had any
+children. Her reply in a very sad tone was, "No, I guess I did too much
+interfering at first, so now I cannot have any." Then she told me she
+had the idea she did not wish to have children for several years after
+she was married. So during the first year she had an abortion performed.
+Now for two years she had been wanting a baby but none came. That is the
+history of so many women. The regrets!
+
+All women naturally desire to have children. If they do not, they are
+the victims of false ideas or of fear. Anything which is natural is the
+best, so usually a woman who bears children is much healthier than one
+who does not. Think of the women of your acquaintance and see if the
+mothers are not happier and healthier than the women who are childless.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS--HEREDITY
+
+
+Every child has a right to be born well. An undesired child never should
+be brought into the world. An undesired child or a child of parents who
+are not in good bodily or mental condition comes into the world with an
+inheritance that perhaps never is overcome. How can we expect children
+of parents with criminal tendencies to become good citizens?
+
+Children born in circumstances under which the expectant mother has been
+subjected to fright or to cruel treatment are handicapped in the very
+beginning of life's race. Maternal impressions from fright or physical
+violence undoubtedly are followed by the birth of individuals malformed
+and in many respects with altered minds. Although some biologists try to
+deny this, the coincidence is too widely observed to admit of doubt,
+although the precise manner in which the effect is produced has not
+been clearly demonstrated. Sufficient is known to make it of the utmost
+importance that, in the interest of her offspring, the expectant mother
+be not subjected to sudden or violent mechanical force or to any great
+nervous shock. Equally important is it that she should be surrounded by
+a harmonious environment in order to give the unborn child all possible
+benefit of such surroundings.
+
+By many it is claimed that the mother's mental condition during this
+period will be reflected in the child both mentally and physically. For
+instance if the mother be calm, free from worry and happy in
+anticipation of the coming event, her offspring will have a sound
+nervous system, shown by a perfect digestion and an excellent
+disposition: while if the mother be irritable and unhappy her child is
+inclined to have various digestive ills, as well as to be cross and
+restless.
+
+Great disturbances in the expectant mother's health also have their
+effect upon the child. The erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the third or fifth month allows many conscientious women to attempt
+measures that will cause the discharge of the products of conception.
+These measures not only are dangerous to the health or the life of the
+woman but, in the event of their proving unsuccessful, may result in the
+birth of a deformed or a mentally defective child.
+
+Parents who have become degenerate from the immoderate use of alcohol or
+other stimulants or those who are afflicted with one of the black
+plagues furnish further examples of the birth of deficient offspring.
+
+The question of heredity has received considerable attention during
+recent years. As a result, many of our pet theories have undergone a
+decided change. Many of the diseases which formerly were thought to be
+acquired through inheritance we now know to be contracted through lack
+of care or through association. The only inheritance is possibly a
+tendency to the disease or a decrease in the power of resistance. It is
+a law of pathology that the diseases of parents who suffer from certain
+serious chronic maladies create in the offspring a condition of
+defective life shown in malformations or in altered nutrition. The
+hereditary influence of most diseases is shown in the transmission to
+the child of a defective body shown by feebleness or a diminished power
+of resisting disease.
+
+In tuberculosis and other diseases that once were considered hereditary,
+this influence is shown probably only in a predisposition to the disease
+which under favorable circumstances finds an easy condition of growth.
+The child does not actually inherit the disease and if placed in
+favorable surroundings will outgrow the tendency, will overcome the
+feeble vitality. But such a child if allowed to remain with its parent,
+to breathe the germs of disease cast off by the parent, readily
+contracts the disease. For the sake of the child it must be separated
+from its tubercular parent. It must be given fresh air and nourishing
+food.
+
+There is one disease, though, that seems to be truly inherited: the
+worst of the black plagues, syphilis. This may be inherited from either
+parent, it frequently is inherited from the father even though the
+mother does not contract the disease. This inheritance seems to manifest
+itself chiefly in a disordered nutrition. Even during the first few
+months of development, this may be so effective as to destroy life. You
+remember, I mentioned this when I talked about abortions. If life is not
+destroyed, the nutritional processes may be so affected that the
+pregnancy will result in the birth of a defective child. These children,
+perhaps fortunately, usually die during the first few months of their
+lives. Seldom do they live to maturity. Many children who seem to have
+escaped this inherited trait really have not done so, but their
+inheritance is not recognized. Some people with defective generative
+organs owe this to a diseased parent. Others suffering from a chronic
+skin disorder, and many afflicted with epilepsy or some brain
+malformation could trace their inheritance to the same source. This
+disease seems truly to be an instance of "visiting the sins of the
+fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."
+
+There is no doubt that the general health of the child is affected by
+the health of the mother especially during the period when the child is
+nourished from the mother's blood. Attention to such matters as diet,
+sleep and exercise certainly has a great influence upon the constitution
+of the unborn child. The best heritage a mother can give her child is a
+strong constitution, and in order to do this she must make motherhood a
+science.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES--CAUSES OF STERILITY
+
+
+Whatever may be the motive that causes men and women to enter into
+matrimony, the social reason is the perpetuation of the human race.
+Herbert Spencer says, "The welfare of the family underlies the welfare
+of society." Therefore those who marry for convenience or with the
+avowed intention of not assuming the obligations of parenthood have not
+the welfare of the human race at heart and are a menace to society in
+its highest form.
+
+Childless homes are not the happy homes, anyhow! Their occupants usually
+are dissatisfied; the women are nervous, irritable and unhappy; the men
+are seeking happiness elsewhere. The homes childless from choice should
+receive our condemnation, but the homes childless from necessity should
+receive our commiseration. The latter are much more prevalent than many
+of our race suicide agitators would admit. These are too prone to blame
+the woman for what is not her choice. We hear so much about the higher
+education of women promoting race suicide. A recent investigation
+carried on by a well-known magazine has proven that such is not the
+case. The college girls and the professional women desire children much
+more than do the factory girls. But these college girls realize that
+quality is as necessary as quantity. They do not desire to bring into
+the world weak, puny offspring. These college girls are beginning to
+make motherhood a science. What the results will be we can only
+anticipate.
+
+A normal woman, who has not become imbued with false ideas and fear,
+desires children. She realizes that motherhood, if rightly carried out,
+is a privilege and not a curse; it is the woman who has been falsely
+educated who dreads motherhood. This morning I received a letter which
+shows the prevailing attitude of many girls. The writer says:
+
+"I am twenty-two years of age but strange to say I am ignorant as far as
+knowledge about the origin of life, etc., is concerned. I am a business
+girl, drawing a good salary, and have many gentleman and lady friends. I
+am the oldest child of a large family of moderate means and have been
+brought up under Christian principles and possess a goodly amount of
+common sense. I long have been anxious in regard to this important
+subject but never have asked anyone for advice, shuddering to do so,
+feeling that if I had a chance to ask a lady with knowledge, as a nurse
+or some such person, I would do so. But to tell the truth, I did not
+care to find out such things, but I realize the fact that I must know in
+order to guard myself; for that is something no one can do for me at a
+critical moment. I have no less than three gentleman admirers, but I
+have no desire to be a married woman for a long time to come, but I feel
+that I must be armed with the knowledge of right and wrong. I shudder on
+account of _fear_ to think of becoming a mother. I hear so much of
+woman's pains and aches and the such, that I often think I would prefer
+to remain single all my life, although I am perfectly healthy and a
+happy, cheerful girl. My mother is, and always will be, too busy to tell
+me about such matters, although I had a right to know long ago. As you
+say, an ignorant, innocent girl would be guilty before the world if
+something wrong should happen to her and in most cases it is not her
+fault. Can you give me the desired information or can you recommend some
+good book? If so, I assure you that your efforts will be greatly
+appreciated."
+
+This letter certainly indicates that the writer has a good amount of
+common sense. The trouble is she has become over-impressed with the
+possibilities of pain, and never has been told the wonderful truths that
+would overcome this fear. If love is the greatest thing in the world,
+fear and its companion, worry, certainly are the greatest curses of
+humanity. And the most pitiful part is that this fear and worry usually
+result from ignorance which a little instruction at the right time could
+dispel so easily. It is the unknown things that we fear. When any
+trouble actually comes we find strength enough to meet it, and, anyway,
+it usually is not half as bad in the reality as in the prospect. Young
+girls hear so much about the pains of childbirth that this fear
+overshadows the natural longings for motherhood. It is not until
+motherhood is an actual fact that they realize the happiness is worth
+all the cost.
+
+But this fear is not what actually makes many childless homes. They
+often are unpremeditated. A large percentage of the sterility in the
+world is due to the results of indiscretions that are the outcome of
+ignorance. One great factor in childless homes is the prevalence of the
+black plagues. It is estimated that forty-five per cent. of sterile
+marriages are due to that seemingly mild disease which is regarded as no
+worse than a cold and which has been contracted either by the man or the
+woman. This disease does not disqualify the woman alone, as was formerly
+thought, for recent investigations have proven that twenty-five per
+cent. of the sterile marriages are due to sterility of the male. Oh, the
+innumerable women who have submitted to unpleasant treatments and even
+operations in the hope of overcoming sterility when all the time the
+fault was elsewhere! The microscope has proven that even though a man
+may seemingly be healthy and capable of sustaining the marriage
+relation, yet his efforts are valueless; for the spermatozoa, the
+life-giving element, are dead, due usually to an inflammation which
+accompanied an attack of this seemingly mild disease,--gonorrhoea.
+
+This disease is responsible for many of the one child marriages. How
+often we see a family with only one child, this child born during the
+first year of married life, then there are no more pregnancies. The
+woman probably has contracted a disease from her husband and, during the
+period immediately following the birth of her baby when the entire
+generative system is in a condition to easily become inflamed, the tubes
+have become closed. Another pregnancy is very unlikely.
+
+Another factor in sterility is abortions. So many times we hear a young
+married woman say, "I do not want a child the first year, but after that
+I would like one." In order to carry out her desires it is not uncommon
+for an abortion to be performed during the first few months. In many
+cases an inflammation follows this interference and the tubes become
+closed permanently. Then when the woman is ready to have a child it is
+impossible. Girls about to enter marriage should be cognizant of this
+possibility and not take any risks, for few women would do anything
+voluntarily that would condemn them to childless lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY
+
+
+This morning I received a letter which says in part, "I am a young
+school teacher and do not know lots I should, but will come to you for
+advice. Now I am engaged to the dearest boy in the world. I will do my
+best to be a good wife and do my duty. But my health is not so very good
+and I want to put off motherhood for awhile. Will you kindly tell me
+some remedy that will keep me from becoming pregnant? I have long wanted
+to ask someone but always was afraid. Mother never tells me anything."
+
+This is the type of question that is asked every physician many times.
+Those who do not ask, wish to--and blame physicians for not telling the
+things they want to know. What is my answer to such a question? Just
+this:
+
+There is in effect a federal statute making it a felony punishable by
+$5,000 fine and five years at hard labor to impart any information
+_whatever_ relating to the preventing of conception. The information may
+concern a thing, an instrument, or it need not be any material substance
+at all--only a "method." I obey that law as I am not foolhardy enough to
+walk into absolute danger.
+
+Every day we see examples of heart-breaking misery caused by lack of
+knowledge of the proper means of prevention. The limitation of the
+number of offspring has become an important problem to be considered.
+There are thousands of families that would be perfectly happy if the
+number of offspring could be limited. There are thousands of young men
+who would be glad to get married but are afraid to do so for fear of
+having a family larger than they could supply with the necessities of
+life. These same young men, because they are not married, frequent
+questionable houses and often contract one or more of the venereal
+diseases.
+
+There are thousands of women who have become semi-invalids because of a
+too prolific offspring. The babies came so fast the mother had no
+opportunity to regain her health and strength. There are other thousands
+of women who are made invalids because of attempts at abortion, or have
+been driven into early graves by these attempts, while some have
+actually killed themselves.
+
+There are thousands of children half starved because their parents are
+unable to supply them the necessities of life. There are other thousands
+of children below par mentally and physically because of the fact that
+the mother was weak from too frequent child-bearing. There are other
+thousands of children born of syphilitic, tubercular or epileptic
+parents who never should have been born at all because they came into
+life so handicapped and had to fight against such severe odds that they,
+after a brief struggle, met an early death. There are children brought
+into this world amidst cursing who never hear much else.
+
+We find it necessary to regulate the parentage of our domestic animals
+in order to insure a good race. But children can come by chance. The
+most degraded of men is allowed to beget children of his kind. There is
+small chance for race improvement under such conditions. The same laws
+hold true as to the future generation of humans as are true of animals
+or plants.
+
+Human beings are not mere animals and they should be allowed to decide
+how many children they should have. Furthermore, the present laws do not
+attain their object. We all pretend to obey the laws but everyone knows
+that in every city there are many women, and men also, who make an
+excellent income from performing abortions. I would venture to say that
+in Chicago alone there is at least one abortion performed every
+hour--and Chicago is not so very different from other parts of the
+country in this respect. The ways and means to prevent pregnancy are
+sold and are bringing a rich reward to their manufacturers. But the
+advertisements are so carefully worded that the law is not violated. But
+the interested understand. If the manufacturer or his agent were accused
+of selling anything to prevent pregnancy, he would simulate great
+surprise and possible indignation. He doing such a thing! Impossible!
+Why, he is selling a simple hygienic device or drug used in the
+treatment of certain diseases.
+
+If we have laws, let us obey them; but if we do not intend to obey them,
+let us stop being hypocrites and remove them from the statutes. If the
+law remains let us make it far-reaching enough to include those who now
+are so flagrantly violating it. But if means for the prevention of
+pregnancy are necessary to the health and happiness of the human race,
+let us change the laws so we can have the best of these preventives and
+allow reputable physicians to give whatever information they can to
+prevent this wholesale misuse of a law by the unscrupulous,--the
+law-breakers.
+
+A recent investigation carried on by one magazine proved that the
+knowledge of how to prevent conception would not mean race suicide, as
+some fear. As reported in this magazine, the college girls and
+professional women who no doubt had given these subjects careful
+consideration, desired children more than did those whose experience had
+been a poor home and a large family. The average number of children
+desired by the well-informed woman was four. That would not mean
+race-suicide! It would mean that children were given a fair start in
+life by being desired and planned for before their conception. Every
+true woman desires a home and children but she does not wish to be
+driven into motherhood. Every true man desires a family but he does not
+feel justified in bringing children into the world to be half starved
+and with no advantages of education.
+
+What is the solution of the problem?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE
+
+
+Until our marriage laws are so adjusted that there are no unequal
+marriages, the question of divorce always will be eminent. The ever
+present agitation about uniform divorce laws and the divorce problem
+cannot be settled until there are more stringent marriage laws. Trying
+to settle the divorce question without first settling the marriage
+question is like trying to keep chickens in a small yard surrounded by
+enticing fields without first constructing an adequate fence.
+
+Divorce is the concession of society to its inability to solve the
+marriage problem. Anyone can get married! Mere children can meet on a
+pleasure excursion and in a moment of fun or infatuation walk over to a
+justice of the peace and be married. In some states not even a license
+is necessary. A large proportion of the marriages in the world are
+consummated without a proper consideration on the part of either bride
+or groom as to the responsibilities of the marriage state. Many of the
+marriages are made simply as a matter of convenience--in order to
+inherit property, for social position or in a spirit of pique. Such
+marriages are not natural marriages and are in violation of the right
+spirit of the law of marriage. The much quoted saying, "What God hath
+joined together, let no man put asunder," surely does not apply to these
+marriages; for that very admission would be a condemnation of the wisdom
+of God. He surely never would give his sanction to many of the marriages
+contracted in a spirit of lust or of greed.
+
+It is as impossible to keep mismated people together as it is to keep
+chemical incompatibles together. No chemist would try to keep chlorate
+of potash and sulphur together even if they did, by some accident,
+happen to be in the same locality. It is just as impossible to keep two
+incompatible people together and not expect an explosion. The law may
+keep such people legally bound, but it cannot keep them so mentally or
+physically. A prominent reformer is reported to have said that fully
+one-third of the married population of New York City is unfaithful to
+the physical obligation. And New York is not so very different from
+other parts of the country. Many who are not physically disloyal are
+mentally so. The no-divorce law will not prevent this condition of
+affairs. Whites and blacks cannot marry legally in the South and yet in
+some of the Southern states which have a no-divorce system a large
+proportion of the colored population is _mulatto_.
+
+Nature's laws tend to provide an indissoluble union, but divorce
+represents the protest of the individual against the inharmonious
+relations he ignorantly or thoughtlessly has assumed.
+
+Even those who are the loudest in their condemnation of divorce could
+not sanction marriage under certain conditions. I wonder if these people
+know that many of the divorces that are granted under the head of
+cruelty really are granted because one of the parties has contracted one
+of the loathsome black plagues. No humane person could condemn a woman
+for refusing to live with a man and take the almost certain risk of
+contracting a disease that would mean her death or mutilation, or for
+refusing to bear children that would come into the world an object of
+disgust and horror or which would die before being born. Some of these
+reformers say, "Let her live separately from him but not marry again."
+That would be condemning an innocent woman to a childless life because
+she had been so unfortunate as to become bound to a dissipated man.
+
+Another underlying but often unknown factor in many of the divorce cases
+is sterility. In some states the law says this is a just cause for
+divorce, because the future of the nation depends on the production of
+children. Because a woman, in her ignorance, has married a man who is
+incapable of producing healthy offspring, due to his having "sown his
+wild oats," should not be a reason why she should be condemned to forego
+the pleasures of motherhood. Because a man has married a woman who is
+sterile or who selfishly refuses to bear children should not be a reason
+why he should be denied an heir.
+
+Again, it is unfair to the future generation to compel mismated couples
+to live together. Children brought into the world under such conditions
+are bequeathed a heritage that will have a demoralizing effect upon
+their whole after life. Children, who every day hear quarrels and
+strife between those they should honor, lose something of the beauty of
+life; they become hardened and quarrelsome. Of course these divorces
+must not be granted promiscuously; for in bringing children into the
+world, parents assume an obligation that cannot be neglected. In
+considering a separation, the parents' first thought should be, "What is
+best for my children?" The duty to the children should be settled first.
+Then the question comes, "What is my duty to my wife or my husband?" for
+the act of making any contract imposes certain obligations. The
+individual circumstances must settle what these obligations are. Last
+comes the question, "What is my duty to myself? I was placed in this
+world to make the best use of my life. Am I doing it or is it impossible
+to do so unless I change my environment and associates?" The conscience
+of the individual should be the guide now.
+
+Were there more frankness and sincerity in discussing the problems and
+conditions of married life before marriage much unhappiness would be
+avoided and there would be fewer divorces; for many engaged people would
+thus discover they were mismated before the marriage ceremony. To reach
+a complete understanding is the main purpose of the engagement period.
+Marriage is not a lottery nor a game of chance to the man and woman
+entering it with a knowledge of sex relations and with absolute mutual
+honesty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS
+
+
+Dr. Charles W. Eliot, former president of Harvard University, recently
+said:
+
+"The subject of reproduction and sexual hygiene should be more generally
+presented to young people by parents and teachers. I am convinced that
+the policy of silence has failed disastrously."
+
+That you may understand how widely spread is this desire on the part of
+women for a better knowledge of themselves and of those things so
+vitally important to the welfare of the future generation, I shall quote
+a few extracts from letters I have received from women in various parts
+of the country. These letters, too, will serve to show the woeful
+ignorance along these lines among even the well educated women, and also
+the need for some systematic instruction.
+
+A very intelligent girl from South Dakota writes this heart story: "My
+mother died when I was a babe. After her death I was sent out among
+strangers. While away from home and before I was _six_ years old a young
+fellow about fifteen years old possessed me and threatened to do
+something terrible to me if I told. I did not dare tell. Luckily I was
+taken home at that time, as I now had a step-mother. But still more
+horrible, it also happened that I had immoral relations with my brother.
+When I found out that this was the way people got babies, I wished I
+could get one. I was not very old before I understood that this was a
+wrong and a shame and acted accordingly. My parents never mentioned
+things of this nature to me. How much better it would have been if they
+had done so when we were real young. How many things were spoken of by
+schoolmates and told in the dirtiest possible way and things also were
+said that I now know were entirely wrong."
+
+I cannot impress upon you too strongly the need of early talks with
+young children on these matters. As soon as they enter school at the age
+of six and even before this, in some cases, they are bound to hear these
+things from their playmates. Usually the information is thrust upon the
+child in a very vulgar manner, or entirely wrong impressions are given.
+The very secrecy that always has surrounded these subjects makes them an
+object of interest to children. The functions of the generative organs
+are just as natural a process as the process of digestion. We make no
+secret of the process of digestion, and children do not manifest any
+morbid curiosity regarding it. If we would discuss the functions of the
+generative organs in just as natural a way, many of our great problems
+would right themselves.
+
+A woman in one of the western states writes, "Once I had a heated
+argument upon that subject with another woman. She always had lived in a
+small community. In her opinion all city girls were morally depraved.
+She had two daughters of her own. Both girls gave birth to babies at the
+age of fourteen and sixteen years. It transpired later that these girls
+first began the evil practice at school. And I will state here,
+regardless of contradiction, that the village school is often the
+breeder of immoral characters among both boys and girls.
+
+"In a small farming community of California containing about forty
+children of school age, it was discovered that immoral practices had
+been carried on for years among the older children. One little girl,
+being new to the school and also being in the habit of telling her
+mother everything, repeated some of the sights she had seen during the
+recess and noon hours, and also some of the conversation she had heard
+among the children. The mother, being horrified at the child's
+revelations and knowing the child must have some foundation for her
+stories, told a friend about it. This woman told some of her friends who
+were the mothers of the children the little girl had named to her
+mother. Of course, the children were questioned and denied all knowledge
+of things the child had mentioned. The mothers were indignant that their
+children should be accused of anything like that. They unquestionably
+believed the denial, making no effort to find out if there might be any
+truth in the report. That mother and her little one were 'sent to
+Coventry' with a vengeance. Later some of these mothers had cause to
+repent of their carelessness in having neglected or disregarded the
+warning. They found to their sorrow that the little girl was not telling
+an untruth, after all.
+
+"The trouble with the mother in the small community is that she judges
+her children by her own past. She, perhaps, had an entirely different
+environment from that of her children and because she came out all
+right, naturally sees no use in bothering about talking to her girls.
+'They will learn these things soon enough,' she says when the subject is
+mentioned. That they either already have learned them or may be learning
+them in a manner of which she would be the last to approve, she does not
+take into consideration. An attempt to warn such a mother often is
+misunderstood."
+
+That young women realize their need and are anxious for any help is
+shown by these letters. From New York a girl writes, "I am twenty-two
+years of age and as yet know nothing about the mysteries of life, and I
+am beginning to worry about it as I am keeping company with a young man
+and expect to become engaged to him. I know nothing of what is expected
+of me when I get married and I know there are a number of girls just
+like me and that they are worried, too."
+
+From a girl in Seattle came this letter, "No one ever told me about this
+wonderful body of ours and that God made it in his likeness for his
+glorification. When I asked where the babies came from, I was told the
+doctor brought them in his case. One day I saw a boy and girl about
+eight years of age doing wrong, and thought nothing of it when my
+brother, who was fourteen while I was six, proposed that we do likewise.
+This was kept up until I was somewhere between eleven and thirteen, when
+I was converted and it occurred to me that this was not the right thing
+to do, but I never dreamed that I would suffer so these ten years, as I
+am twenty-three now. Only in the last few years I have learned how God
+made these organs for the marriage relation only and how life was
+formed. I would go to my mother for this information but I know it would
+break her heart and I am afraid she could not tell me what I want to
+know. I would not write this but I am deeply in love with a Christian
+man, and I could not marry anyone until I know about this matter. I
+often have made a vow I never would marry anyone, but this love came to
+me before I could help myself, and as he told me of his love I would not
+allow myself to let him know I care as much as I do. Kindly tell me if
+anyone who has abused her organs while so young could make a good wife
+or become a mother, and can these marks of sin be removed?"
+
+Another young girl writes, "It is just as you say, ignorance is the root
+of evil in many cases such as mine. I have come to you for help,
+information and advice. I have taken that fatal mis-step you write
+about, but no one knows it besides myself and this man. He dare not
+speak of this. He is very wealthy and influential. After reading your
+article I found that you were the one to go to and make a confession. I
+never have been warned or told of these dangers and now it is too late.
+I am a young girl, eighteen years old, and have a lot of men friends
+because I am considered attractive, but none of them have ever said one
+word out of the way to me except this one and I yielded to the tempter.
+I know I have done wrong, and now am trying to atone for it by being
+awfully good. Now, what I want to know and want you to tell me is this,
+'Can I ever marry a decent, respectable man without him knowing of this
+affair?' There is a young man very much devoted to me (and I can assure
+you it is mutual) who several times has asked me to marry him. I am
+afraid to give him an answer. I cannot ask anyone else this question for
+the simple reason that I am not sure whether they will tell me the truth
+or whether they really know."
+
+Both these girls were fortunate that they did not have any serious
+consequences from their mis-step. Too many girls make only one mis-step
+and as a result become pregnant or else contract one of the black
+plagues. This week I have received several such letters. Laying aside
+all moral points, it is too much risk for any girl to run.
+
+Unfortunately a great many girls in their ignorance do make a mis-step.
+That is no reason why they should not marry. We must take into
+consideration the fact that the young man in question probably has made
+several of these mis-steps. He should not expect his prospective wife to
+be any stronger to resist temptation than he has been. If this were an
+ideal world, all men, as well as all women, would be pure, but until the
+millennium comes we must take things as they are, and proceed from that
+standpoint. But because a girl has erred through ignorance is no reason
+why she should be doomed to everlasting punishment in the shape of
+social ostracism or being denied the happiness of having a home and
+children.
+
+These are only a few of the many letters I have received, but they serve
+to show the great need of early instruction of girls on these much
+neglected subjects. Every girl, soon after she enters school if not
+before, learns where babies come from. She too often is led by older
+children, both boys and girls, to do things she may regret later. It has
+been said that "sin is but ignorance." This is true in the great
+majority of cases of immoral practices among girls as well as among
+boys. The remedy for these sins, then, is to do away with the ignorance
+by proper instruction of children. Children are reasonable beings and if
+they understood the _why_ would not do wrong.
+
+If girls go wrong through ignorance the parents are to blame; for at the
+present time there is no excuse for a parent not giving the necessary
+instruction. If, on account of her own lack of knowledge, the mother
+feels incapable of instructing her daughter, there are others ready and
+willing to aid her; also, there are books especially prepared for her
+help, which will definitely point the way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY
+
+
+Not long ago an estimable young woman in speaking of the unfortunate
+girls in the world said, "I cannot see how any refined girl could get
+into trouble. I cannot conceive of any circumstances which would permit
+any self-respecting girl to allow the familiarities necessary for such a
+condition." That is the attitude assumed by many intelligent women.
+Because they grew up in an environment without temptations, because they
+had no unsatisfied longings to be loved or to be popular, they are
+incapable of understanding these feelings in any other person.
+
+In every girl there is an inborn longing to be loved and to have a home
+of her own. It is a misunderstanding of this sense that is responsible
+for the wrecked lives of many girls. In too many homes there is no
+expression of the love sense. Frequently I have heard girls remark,
+"Why, I never think of kissing my parents except, perhaps, when they or
+I go away." In too many homes the only mention that is made of love is
+that made in a bantering manner. A child has the right idea of love. She
+loves everyone and is free in the expression of this love. As she grows
+older she obtains wrong ideas of love and she too often obtains these
+wrong ideas in her own home and from her own parents who instill false
+ideas of love when indulging their habit of "teasing." Frequently we
+hear parents talking about the small daughter's "beau." The child feels
+pent-up emotions of love and, as there is no outlet at home in a natural
+way, she acquires the idea that these emotions should be spent in a
+childish love affair.
+
+In a recent address Professor Marx Lubine of the University of Berlin
+said, "Motherhood, in all stages of civilization, has been strangely
+ignorant of the fact that girls have as powerful a battery of emotions
+as boys. It is my experience that a major portion of mothers understand
+their sons better than their daughters. Why? The daughters are not given
+credit for a power of emotion the sons are capable of. Yet, naturally,
+in my long experience with both sexes, I have no hesitation in saying
+that the emotions of a pure girl are usually deeper, more lasting, than
+those of a boy, and that if we are to have a great improvement in
+womanhood it must come through a recognition of this fact."
+
+It is strange but mothers seem to be blind to, or ignorant of the
+emotions that are seething back of the clear eyes of their daughters.
+The emotions of the girl have not been studied sufficiently. We expect a
+boy to do things which serve as an outlet to his pent-up emotions but we
+expect a girl to go on in a calm, uneventful manner with no outlet for
+the overflow of emotions. Blessed are the "Tomboys." I would there were
+more of them. It is a fact that the girl who runs, plays, climbs trees
+and is given to outdoor sports generally during the early part of her
+life develops into the truest woman. She has an outlet for her energies.
+Her time is fully occupied with those things that promote health. She
+has no time nor desires for those things that show a perverted taste.
+Such a girl seldom becomes a victim of self-abuse. She is not inclined
+to romantic love affairs. It is her sister who sits and sews who has
+time and inclination for indulging in morbid longings and who becomes
+the victim of pernicious habits.
+
+Curiosity is one of the prominent characteristics of both sexes. With
+the boy this is satisfied without much pretence at secrecy. False
+modesty prevents the girl from openly obtaining the desired information.
+She obtains it secretly from her companions. Mothers do not give their
+daughters credit for the instinct that compels the satisfaction of their
+curiosity. Sometime during her life, nearly every mother is surprised
+and shocked at the knowledge displayed by her daughter. She finds that
+owing to her silence and neglect of opportunities her daughter has
+obtained definite if entirely wrong ideas of sexual matters.
+
+In other matters, too, the policy of silence or of arbitrarily
+forbidding the daughter to indulge in certain pleasures, coupled with
+the natural curiosity of the girl, tends to develop in her the habit of
+deceitfulness. If she is forbidden some harmless amusements she very
+frequently learns these diversions at the homes of her friends. The
+mother was brought up in one generation, the daughter in another; what
+was considered wrong in the first generation is looked upon in an
+entirely different manner now. Many mothers seem to be unable to
+realize this. They were brought up in a puritanical environment. The
+puritan fathers forbade all indulgence in mirth and happiness. Their
+ideas of the perfect life were to wear a stern, unsmiling countenance
+and do those things that were unpleasant. If anything was uncongenial,
+then it was their duty to overcome their inclinations. These puritans
+expected to develop by repression. We have changed our ideas radically
+since then, but some of the puritanical ideas still cling to us in our
+treatment of children. To develop the child's character she must be made
+to do the things she does not want to do and to refrain from the things
+she most desires. Is it right?
+
+We are most interested in those things that belong to us individually or
+in which we have some share. If we wish a girl to remain at home then we
+must see that she is interested in that home. The way to do this is to
+make her feel that the home belongs to her in part and that some
+portions of it are entirely hers. The majority of girls feel no real
+interest in their homes. They are made to feel that it is their
+parents' home and that they are only assistants. A girl to be interested
+in her home must have some definite room that is hers alone and in which
+she is allowed to exercise her individual tastes. She must have a place
+in which she can entertain her friends without the feeling that whatever
+she does and says is to be criticised afterwards. She should be assigned
+to certain tasks and held responsible for them. She must have a certain
+definite allowance out of which she is to buy certain things, otherwise
+her desire for independence will arise and cause her to leave home. The
+majority of girls have no income of their own. Perhaps their desires are
+all fulfilled by an indulgent parent and yet the girls resent the
+feeling of dependence.
+
+Girls are naturally just as ambitious as boys, and they need good,
+honest work to keep them healthy and their minds occupied. If a girl
+displays an interest in a certain line of work this interest must be
+encouraged. Usually it is not. The girl is taught, either consciously or
+unconsciously, that whatever occupation she takes up will be only
+temporary, that to become engrossed in her work would mean no marriage.
+Girls cannot do good work under such conditions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+SELF-ABUSE
+
+
+In one of my articles for one of the leading women's magazines I spoke
+of mental self-abuse. This brought me so many inquiries regarding both
+mental and physical self-abuse that I feel impelled to explain them to
+you.
+
+To abuse means to use wrongly, or to injure. We have talked about the
+uses of the female organs and also about the care of them. Sometimes, I
+have watched children rub their eyes until they were quite red and
+inflamed. I have seen children, thoughtlessly, stick pins and hairpins
+in their ears and I even have had to remove a bean which a thoughtless
+child had pushed up its nose. All these things did more or less harm to
+the parts. In the same way, some girls play with their external
+generative organs and even put things up in the vagina. Sometimes they
+injure these organs greatly, and sometimes there is a more general and
+serious effect. You know the nerves of the body all are very closely
+connected like telegraph wires so that an irritation to one part will
+sometimes be telegraphed to another entirely different part and cause
+the nerves of that part to be irritated. When you have a toothache your
+whole face and head and even your arms ache. That is because the nerves
+are irritated. In the same way if one irritates the nerves of the female
+organs, the whole body may be affected; only in this case it is more
+serious than with the toothache; for these female organs are more
+abundantly supplied with nerves.
+
+One who is guilty of such an unnatural practice as to deliberately
+irritate any portion of her body, especially the very important
+generative organs, always secretly despises herself. If persisted in,
+the results of this vice are a ruined nervous system and a weakened
+character. The victim realizes she is doing a disgraceful thing and
+seldom acknowledges her habit even to her physician.
+
+If one has become a victim of such a habit she should determine to stop
+it immediately and then take measures to restore her nervous system to
+its original state. It never is too late to commence treatment. It is
+the continued practice and the mental dwelling on the acts that does the
+harm, not the few acts thoughtlessly performed. Of course the longer the
+habit has continued, the more firmly it is fixed and the harder to
+break.
+
+The treatment is first to absolutely stop the practice, then fill your
+mind with other thoughts. Take considerable physical exercise in the
+open air. Sleep on a hard bed in a well-ventilated room. Eat plain,
+nourishing food without spices and stimulants. Take up some work or play
+that will interest you and that will keep your mind occupied. Live in
+the open air as much as possible. If you find yourself desiring to do
+these harmful things, go immediately and busy your mind and hands with
+something else and the desire will pass soon. In young children this
+habit often has its origin in some irritation of the external organs, as
+a hooded clitoris. So before taking severe measures to break the habit,
+it is wise to have the child examined for such a condition.
+
+Now as to mental self-abuse, perhaps I can make my meaning more clear by
+again quoting from some of my letters. A young woman from South
+Carolina wrote me, "A few years ago I taught school and one of my
+pupils, perfectly innocent of the grave results that would befall her,
+committed three outrages upon herself, what is known in the medical
+world as masturbation or self-abuse. The girl, as I know, was chaste and
+a sweeter, nicer, brighter pupil I never taught. But she had the
+misfortune to commit these abuses upon herself in all innocence and felt
+no discomfort or ill health in any way until about three months
+afterward. Then she began to lose interest in her work, to fall away in
+her grades, in fact to take very little interest in anything. In this
+condition she came to me and told me everything. Since then she has felt
+no physical pain whatever, but her mind, though not really gone, is
+visibly affected. In this way, she is constantly in dread lest something
+dreadful will happen, feels as if a cloud were hanging over her, is not
+capable of doing any mental work. At times, has a horror of being shut
+up in any place, memory is poor, places and positions change, that is, a
+place moves to some other position, for instance, the right side of the
+street very often is in the opposite direction. To sum it all up, she
+constantly is miserable. So far as being insane is concerned, she is
+not that. She is perfectly conscious of her condition. She feels well
+physically and appears to be so mentally, but says there is just a
+befogged sensation in her head which gets no better nor worse, yet it is
+there. The feeling came upon her very suddenly one morning in the spring
+after the abuses had taken place in January and then it all flashed over
+her the awful consequences of her innocent practices. Oh! what would she
+not have given to be her old self again! If she only had known the awful
+result, her mind sacrificed for a practice in which she indulged through
+ignorance and for experiment, never dreaming the baneful effect it would
+have on her mind. Now, this girl has gone on this way for the past eight
+years getting no worse nor any better. Seemingly, she is the same but
+she suffers untold miseries when alone, conscious that her mind is hazy
+and not capable of enjoying books, society of others or anything that
+interests young girls. Yet nobody ever would detect that she is not
+feeling well. She told me all this in confidence and as the case puzzles
+me, I write you feeling that perhaps you would advise me in some way the
+treatment necessary to cure her. She is and has been perfectly moral
+since the fateful abuses upon herself and I do not understand why her
+mind does not return to its normal condition."
+
+I do! She will not give her mind a chance to get well. She constantly is
+abusing it by dwelling on things that should have been forgotten long
+ago. No one goes through life without making some mistakes. Everyone has
+burned his finger many times. And yet he does not keep worrying about it
+and wondering if it will have some dangerous after-effect. Of course, if
+he deliberately burned his finger time and time again, it might remain
+injured permanently. But if he, ignorantly or accidentally, has burned
+it once or several times, he stops his careless ways, allows Nature to
+restore the injured portion, and then forgets there ever was an injury.
+It is the same with self-abuse, many children do things like this
+thoughtlessly. But when a girl learns she is injuring herself, she
+should stop the practice and allow Nature to repair the wound. Then
+forget all about it. Do not worry, above all things. Go ahead and fill
+your mind with work.
+
+There are many women in this world who are abusing themselves by
+worrying over something that has occurred in the past. Whatever is in
+the past cannot be undone. All we can do is to profit by our experience
+and turn the energies, that would be wasted by worrying, to some good
+use. Whenever thoughts of the past or desires for the wrong things
+disturb you, crowd these worry thoughts and desires out of your mind by
+putting in it good thoughts. Deliberately fill your mind and hands so
+full of other things that there will be no room for these unwholesome
+pests. Worry does more harm than smallpox ever did!
+
+This dwelling on past mistakes is only one of several methods of mental
+self-abuse. Another way some abuse themselves is by continuing the
+association with those who excite or irritate them. If in your work or
+social life you find that a certain person has an effect upon you that
+is not wholesome, that when you are in the company of that individual
+you are incapable of doing your best, then it is time to make a change.
+Keep away from that individual until such a time as you are strong
+enough to resist his influence. Choose your friends from among those who
+stimulate you mentally. If you stop to think, you must admit that you
+accomplish more and better work when in the presence of certain people.
+Those are the ones whose companionship you should seek.
+
+There are people living together or working together who are a continual
+source of irritation to each other. It is just as impossible for such
+people to work in harmony as it is for two incompatible chemicals, as
+nitrogen and iodine. We do not try to over-ride the laws of Nature by
+trying to force these chemicals to stay together. It is just as
+impossible to force certain incompatible people to be harmonious. If
+society or business throws two such people together it would be wise for
+one to make a change before there is an explosion. It is impossible for
+any person to do good work in an atmosphere of irritation.
+
+Another element in mental self-abuse is longing for the unattainable.
+Sometimes a person sets her mind on a certain thing. If that goal is an
+honorable one, she should make every effort to attain it but if
+circumstances over which she has no control make that goal impossible of
+attainment she should turn her thoughts in another direction. But that
+is what many people do not do. If they cannot have just what they want
+they sit and bemoan their fate and give up trying for other goals. Such
+a person should choose a line of work or play that is especially
+interesting to her and bend her energies in that direction. She will be
+surprised how soon she will lose her intense interest in her former
+longed-for goal.
+
+Lack of self-confidence is an evidence of mental self-abuse. A person
+who has no confidence in herself cannot expect others to have. One who
+keeps herself in the attitude of Uriah Heap, who continually asserts, "I
+am a poor worm, I am unworthy of the blessings of life, I cannot expect
+great reward," must expect to be taken at her word. In this age a man
+(or woman) is valued, in a large measure, by the estimate he sets upon
+himself. Honors are not thrust upon a man unless he shows the
+self-confidence which commands confidence. Bacon said, "Some are born
+great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
+But those of the last class are very few. Our enemies are willing to
+thrust upon us scandal and humiliation whenever there is a possible
+chance, but our friends are very slow in thrusting honors upon us. If a
+person wants anything in this world he must first convince himself of
+his ability to attain that goal, then he may be able to convince others.
+It is the man with confidence in himself who wins the day.
+
+After one has decided upon his goal he should keep that goal always
+before him as the pillar of fire before the seekers for the promised
+land. All our thoughts should be in that direction. Every wish or
+thought we send out reaches someone and in time may bring us what we
+wish. "By faith ye can accomplish all things."
+
+There is an explanation of "Who answers prayer" which describes a mother
+kneeling by the bedside of her sick baby, and praying faithfully that
+her baby might be restored to health. In a vision the author sees these
+prayer thoughts radiating from the mother like invisible telegraph
+wires, along which the message is carried to various parts of the city.
+One wire reaches the home of a minister who, although willing, feels his
+inability to answer. Another wire reaches the home of a wealthy banker
+but he, too, is powerless to help. The next wire is connected with the
+home of a prominent lawyer famous for his ability to win cases for the
+needy, but in this case he cannot win, for Death is more powerful than
+he. But a fourth wire reaches a physician who has just retired from a
+hard day's fight with his enemy--disease. The physician awakens, grasps
+the message and immediately arises, dresses and hastens to the home of
+the poor woman. In a short time the little one's spasms are relieved and
+the doctor gives a sigh of relief, as he says to the anxious mother,
+"The crisis is past, your baby will live." The mother's prayer has been
+answered.
+
+Every thought we entertain is being sent out along these invisible wires
+and eventually will reach someone who responds to it. If we send out
+worry thoughts or thoughts of self-depreciation we must expect others to
+receive the message as we send it. So if we want to make the most of our
+lives we continually must send out only thoughts that we wish others to
+receive. We must value ourselves if we expect others to value us!
+
+Too much introspection and concern for self is often the cause of
+nervous conditions that produce worry and ill-health. The best cure is
+the cultivation of complete unselfishness. To be interested in the
+happiness of others is the surest road to happiness for one's self;--if
+you get feeling tired of yourself make a visit to some congenial
+friend, and there forget self and your troubles. "It is more blessed to
+give than receive" is a truth that all serene and great souls recognize
+and practice throughout their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE
+
+
+Some time ago, the general public was shocked by a newspaper story of
+the life led by many girl clerks in the department stores of a large
+city. It seems a young girl from the country applied for a position in
+one of the stores, but upon hearing of the small wages paid, said, "How
+can I live on that? It would not provide even the most meager of board
+and the smallest room." The employer asked in reply, "But have you not a
+gentleman friend?" That reply, repeated to a social worker, started an
+investigation which resulted in startling revelations. It was found that
+many of the stores paid such small salaries that to live on them at all
+was an impossibility for even the most economical. It was an understood
+fact that each girl was expected to receive help from some "gentleman
+friend."
+
+There must be something wrong in our whole system of living when girls
+are compelled to work for salaries insufficient for even the necessities
+and are taught to have tastes and desires for the beautiful which it is
+impossible to gratify on their meager salaries. A young girl goes to
+work in an office or store with a definite, if not expressed,
+understanding of what should be the proper relations of the sexes. After
+she has been at work a short time she notices that her companions are
+much better dressed than it is possible for her to be with the resources
+at her command. She notices that her friends have numerous invitations
+to theatres and dinners. She wonders if she is less attractive than
+they. After awhile she receives hints, more or less broad, from her male
+associates. Gradually it dawns upon her why the other girls are more
+attractive than she.
+
+One who has not been thrown in close contact with the girls of this age
+cannot realize the extent of the immorality among them. Formerly it was
+considered that only boys sowed their wild oats. Now we find that many
+girls do so also. We hear very little about it except for the occasional
+case of one who has to suffer for her sins. Usually this one is one of
+the most innocent. Many of the girls of this generation are "wise."
+They think they know how to "keep out of trouble," and yet reap the
+rewards in the shape of a few dollars.
+
+Girls cannot afford to take the great risks incident to leading an
+immoral life, aside from all moral reasons for not doing so. In the
+first place there is the danger of becoming pregnant. Think what that
+means! The majority of girls are led to take the first step by promises
+of marriage. Real life has proved these promises seldom are kept. The
+man "changes" his mind after the mis-step has been taken. He goes away
+and forgets, the girl is left to bear the consequences of their mutual
+sin. The men of the world like to take these girls out and enjoy
+themselves but when it comes to marriage--the man wants a different kind
+of a wife. There are three courses from which such an unfortunate girl
+may choose. One course is an abortion with all its attendant dangers,
+its risks to her life and the thoughts of having taken a life. Another
+is to brave the world, bear her child and keep it. It takes a great deal
+of courage to do this with our present social system. Often it is
+impossible, as the girl is unable to care for the child and at the same
+time support it and herself. She seldom finds very much encouragement in
+this course. Those who should be her friends and aid her to make the
+most of her life are now the ones who keep her down. They refuse to make
+it possible for her to earn an honest living and lead a moral life. The
+third course is to place herself under the care of a responsible
+physician, live in seclusion for the last few months of her pregnancy,
+then, after the birth of her baby, have it adopted. Considering
+everything, this often is the best course. From the child's standpoint,
+it is given a better start in life. It is much better to live as the
+adopted, but honored, child in a home than it is to have to bear the
+stigma of illegitimacy. As soon as the child enters school the latter
+will become known among its playmates and will be the subject of many
+cruel taunts. It is not fair to the innocent child to give it such a
+heritage. But think how the mothers must feel to have to give up their
+babies! That is the saddest part of the case. It is not fair that the
+girl should be punished the remainder of her life for one mis-step when
+the man goes absolutely free and without the sign of a stigma attached
+to him.
+
+These cases of unfortunate girls are all too common. The rescue homes in
+the large cities are full, and often a large percentage of their
+occupants are from the country. Within the last week, I have received
+letters from four girls, similar to the one I shall read you. This
+letter is from a girl in Indiana who gives a rural delivery address. "In
+one of your articles in ---- you speak of homes where unfortunate girls
+are sheltered and taken care of and I should like to know if there is
+such a home in Indianapolis. If there is, will you kindly give me the
+street and number. I am in trouble and have nowhere to go, but knowing
+you to be a friend to unfortunate girls who met their misfortune through
+ignorance and with no desire to do wrong, I write you for advice." This,
+as well as numerous other letters, show that these things are just as
+prevalent in the country districts as in the cities.
+
+So many girls do not realize how easy it is to "get into trouble." A
+short time ago I had a confinement case that was a little unusual; for
+the young woman, who was unmarried, had an unruptured hymen, which
+contained only one small opening barely large enough to insert a sound
+the size of a slate pencil. At the first consultation several months
+previous, when she had come to me on account of absence of menstruation
+for three months, the girl had insisted that there was no possibility of
+her being pregnant. Later she admitted that four months previously, just
+after she menstruated, she was out with a young man who was very
+insistent, that she did not consent, but in spite of her resistance
+there was a discharge thrown against the labia (external organs). At the
+time of this first examination she was about four months pregnant and
+had not supposed such a condition of affairs possible. Fortunately in
+this case there was an early marriage.
+
+Another grave danger to the girl who indulges in immoral practices is
+the possibility of contracting one of the black plagues. You know what
+that would mean. If you recall the prevalence of these diseases you will
+see that the probabilities are that any girl indulging in immoral
+relations will sooner or later contract one of these diseases. Indeed
+she runs a big risk of contracting one at her first mis-step.
+
+After one has taken the first mis-step it is very easy to take the next.
+One step often leads to another until the girl succumbs to a life of
+prostitution. A result of prostitution that is important is the
+unfitting for regular life. Whatever the effect of such a life may be
+upon a man, a girl cannot lead such a life with impunity. Many a girl
+tires of her immoral life and gladly would turn to something else but
+the difficulties in her way are numerous. One is her inability to obtain
+a position when it is known that she has led an immoral life. Another is
+that she finds the duties and regular hours incident to any position
+very irksome. The irregular life she has led has unfitted her for a
+regular life. There seems to have been a general disturbance of the
+whole nervous system, her will has become so weakened that it is very
+hard for her to have the will power necessary to keep from returning to
+the old life. This breaking of the will power also makes it difficult
+for her to keep her mind on her work. Then, too, she resents any
+supervision of her work. Of course, the longer the irregular life has
+continued the harder it is to break away from it.
+
+Now, from another standpoint! No matter how dissipated a man may be he
+wants his bride to be pure. Nearly all girls expect to marry sometime,
+and so for the sake of the future--in order to keep the confidence of
+her husband as well as for the sake of not taking any risks that might
+prevent future motherhood, girls should not lead immoral lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS
+
+
+The greater social freedom of the present generation without adequate
+preparation has resulted in an increasing tendency among young girls to
+make chance acquaintances and perhaps clandestine engagements. That
+these flirtations, entered into so innocently, may result in events that
+will be the cause of lifelong regret is seldom realized by a young
+girl. Yet very often such is the case!
+
+One letter I received says, "I will give you a short outline of my life
+since last April when my troubles began, for which I blame my parents
+partly, because I was not allowed to have my friends at my home or go
+out with young men, as the other girls do, with my parents' knowledge of
+it and because I was kept ignorant of the things I think every girl
+should know. I was nineteen last March. The men say I am the kind that
+looks good to men, that they cannot resist. As to this I do not know,
+but I do know that I always attract their attentions and I am sorry that
+I do. And yet I crave them. I have for years and I am lonesome without
+them. I want their friendship and company. I do not know why it is but I
+am more satisfied with the boys than the girls. Last April a young man,
+somewhere in the thirties, I think, though he looked much younger, came
+to our little country town. He was handsome, well educated, finely
+dressed and always seemed to have plenty of money. I was very unhappy
+about this time over my troubles at home and because my boy friend, who
+always had been a friend through all, had for some cause unknown to me
+stopped writing to me. So I met the young man first in company with
+friends a couple of times, then he wished to make an appointment to meet
+me alone and, through the kindness of my friends, I met him out at night
+several times. On the third night before I half realized what I was
+doing I had let him ruin me. I had never been told that this was wrong
+and yet I seemed to know that it was. It worried me, but there was no
+one I could go to for advice and my friend said that since what was done
+already could never be undone I might as well keep it up, etc. Having
+no advice but his, I followed it and for several weeks met him out any
+and every where and time I could. I knew of the trouble that might come
+from these meetings and asked my friend about it but he said that
+everything was all right, that he would tend to that and that nothing
+would happen. But it did happen. He was going away in a few days and
+gave me some medicine to take, telling me I was only held back on
+account of it being the first time. But I didn't believe him and went to
+a married lady whom I had known but a short time but whom I thought I
+could trust and who would help me. She invited my friend and me there
+one evening and talked the matter over with us or rather with him. He
+stayed over and helped me out of my trouble. But my health has never
+been the same since. Now, what I want to ask you is this, do you think
+it would be right for me to marry any man, with him thinking that I am
+good or innocent? Do men expect that of the women they marry? But I do
+not wish to marry if I can help it, but I must do something. I will go
+crazy if I stay here at home from worrying over what I have done and for
+fear my parents will find it out. What I wish to do is to go away to
+work, but I have no one to go to and am afraid I cannot resist the
+temptations that they say come to every working girl. I have given in
+twice since my trouble, both times shortly afterwards. The first because
+I could not help it and the second because I was afraid of being told
+on, he having been told by the first man. But when I found out I could
+not resist the teasing I quit going out and it has been months since I
+have been out with a man and I am trying to lead a decent life but it is
+hard and at times it seems that I must give in. Now, please write and
+tell me just exactly what you think of my case. Has my whole life been
+ruined by this man?"
+
+Unless this girl will "play soldier" and "right about face" she is in
+danger of landing in a house of ill-fame. How common is her story! Girls
+do not realize what are the possible results that may follow an innocent
+flirtation. Young girls are not posted and they do not know men. They do
+not realize the pressure that will be brought to bear upon them. Many
+young girls grow to womanhood without any idea of the relations of the
+sexes. To them, love is devoid of ideas of sex, practically the same as
+their love for a brother or sister. It is not until they are thrown
+alone in the company of some older man that they suddenly awaken to a
+realization of what it all means.
+
+The girls who like to be petted, to be kissed and hugged can see no harm
+in that and do not realize what a sleeping force may be aroused. The
+man, when he finds a girl will allow these attentions, thinks that she
+knows what they may lead to and naturally assumes that she is willing,
+but only wishes to be coaxed. It is a clear case of misunderstanding on
+both sides. But that does not make the consequences any less harmful.
+
+Girls do not realize what kind of an impression they make upon men by
+their clothes, actions, etc. An eminent lawyer said to me recently, "Why
+do you not tell girls what _real_ men think of them when they appear on
+the streets with painted faces, peek-a-boo waists and thin, silk hose
+worn with shoes more appropriate for the ball-room? If girls imitate the
+demi-monde in their dress they must expect to be treated accordingly."
+There is in every girl's nature a desire to appear attractive in the
+eyes of those of the opposite sex and this desire leads them to extremes
+of dressing. These extremes of dressing naturally attract the attention
+of men, and the girls feel flattered and continue in their course, not
+realizing what impression the men really get. Then, when the man makes
+the advances that her manner of dressing has led him to believe he can
+make, she feels insulted and resentful.
+
+The fault lies in the fact that the girl has not been properly educated
+and has received exaggerated and entirely wrong ideas of life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+WHITE SLAVERY
+
+
+During the past few years the public has been much interested in the
+prosecution of the white slave investigation. Every adult person had a
+more or less definite idea that there were in existence immoral houses.
+But the majority of women had no idea that their existence should be of
+any especial interest to them.
+
+The Hon. Edwin Sims, U. S. District Attorney, Chicago, says: "There are
+some things so far removed from the lives of normal, decent people as to
+be simply unbelievable by them. The 'white slave' trade of to-day is one
+of these incredible things. The calmest, simplest statements of its
+facts are almost beyond the comprehension of belief of men and women who
+are mercifully spared from contact with the dark and hideous secrets of
+the 'under-world' of the big cities.
+
+"Naturally, wisely, every parent who reads this statement will at once
+raise the question: 'What excuse is there for the open discussion of
+such a revolting condition of things? What good is there to be served by
+flaunting so dark and disgusting a subject before the family circle?'
+Only one--and that is a reason and not an excuse! The recent examination
+of more than two hundred 'white slaves' by the office of the U. S.
+District Attorney at Chicago has brought to light the fact that
+literally thousands of innocent girls from the country districts are
+every year entrapped into a life of hopeless slavery and degradation
+because parents in the country do not understand conditions as they
+exist and how to protect their daughters from the 'white slave' traders
+who have reduced the art of ruining young girls to a national and
+international system. I sincerely believe that nine-tenths of the
+parents of these thousands of girls who are every year snatched from
+lives of decency and comparative peace and dragged under the slime of an
+existence in the 'white slave world' have no idea that there is really a
+trade in the ruin of girls as much as there is a trade in cattle or
+sheep or other products of the farm.
+
+"I have no disposition to add a single word to what will open the eyes
+of parents to the fact that white slavery is an existing condition--a
+system of girl hunting that is national and international in its scope,
+that it literally consumes thousands of girls--clean, innocent
+girls--every year; that it is operated with a cruelty, a barbarism that
+gives a new meaning to the word fiend; that it is an imminent peril to
+every girl in the country who has a desire to get into the city and
+taste its excitement and pleasures."
+
+One of the worst obstacles to be overcome in the work of protecting
+innocent girls and restoring to useful lives those who have been
+betrayed, is the blind incredulity on the part of a large percentage of
+the public. There are thousands of women all over the country who know
+as little about what is going on in the world as do so many children.
+They are wonderfully ignorant of the terrible conditions that are in
+existence all around them. Of course their blindness to these awful
+conditions makes them more peaceful and contented for the time being
+than they possibly could be if they realized the temptations and perils
+that are lying in wait for their daughters and the daughters of their
+friends. But this peace is not permanent and every year thousands of
+mothers are rudely awakened from their sleep of peace to find that while
+they were asleep to the perils of the world their daughters have been
+drawn into the whirlpool. The awakening of such parents comes too late
+usually to do any good. The recent agitation along this line has caused
+many a mother to exclaim, "How terrible; I did not dream that such a
+condition of affairs could exist in this country."
+
+If you possessed a rare jewel and knew you were surrounded by those who
+would try to obtain possession of that jewel you would not entrust it to
+a blind or a deaf watchman or one so ignorant of the wiles of the
+robbers that he would trustingly allow it to pass into their possession.
+There is nothing in the world so priceless to the father and mother as
+the virtue and happiness of their daughter. And yet there are thousands
+of parents who have been entrusted with the care of a daughter who are
+trying to discharge that trust with their eyes blinded and their ears
+closed. They insist upon keeping the childish belief that there is no
+real danger threatening their daughter. These parents do not live in
+the world. They fold their hands and raise their eyes towards heaven and
+cry, "Peace! Peace!" and are unable to see the enemy slipping upon their
+daughter to drag her down to a life of shame.
+
+In this age no young girl is beyond temptation. She needs all the
+protection possible, and in order to protect her the parents must be
+awake to the dangers and provided with the best means of protection. One
+of the things hardest to make honest and trusting parents believe is
+that there can be people in the world who make it their business to lead
+girls into a life of shame. But such is the case whether we believe it
+or not. The men and women who ply this trade lay their plans more
+carefully and employ more artifices than can be conceived of by the
+ordinary parent. The wonder is that not more are caught in the net.
+
+Another fact which the public finds it hard to believe is that the girls
+who are lured into the life of shame find it impossible to escape from
+such a life, that they are prisoners and slaves in every sense of the
+word.
+
+The artifices employed by these slave-dealers to obtain their victims
+are many and frequently are so adroitly formulated as to blind not only
+the victim but her parents as well.
+
+One common trick of these slave procurers is the promise of a good
+position. Many a girl has gone to the cities thinking she had obtained a
+definite and desirable position. Perhaps she was to be met at the
+station by the person who obtained the position for her. Too late she
+finds her position is in a house of ill-fame. So common has this trick
+become that in every large city there are organizations of social
+workers who offer through the churches to look up the desirability of
+any position which has been obtained by a girl so that should it prove
+to be a lure of the destroyer she could be warned before it was too
+late.
+
+Another favorite device of the white slaver for landing victims is the
+runaway marriage trick. The alleged summer resorts and excursion centers
+which are so widely advertised as Gretna Greens and as places where the
+usual legal and official formalities preliminary to respectable marriage
+are reduced to the minimum are star recruiting stations for the white
+slave traffic. So common is this trick that a wise mother would refuse
+to allow her daughter to visit one of these places or to go on one of
+the pleasure excursions unless accompanied by some older member of the
+family. Also, every mother should teach her daughter that any man who
+proposed such a marriage was to be looked upon with suspicion, and
+should not be trusted for an instant.
+
+Then there is the restaurant trick. The girl is induced to go to what
+she thinks is a restaurant and then perhaps is taken into a private room
+only to find that this room leads to her prison. Girls cannot be too
+suspicious of going to unknown places with comparative strangers--either
+men or women.
+
+The moving picture shows furnish to these slavers another opportunity of
+misleading girls. These shows naturally attract children and very young
+girls. Evidence has been procured which proves that many girls owe their
+ruin to frequenting them. As an instance of this, three girls met as
+many young men at a moving picture show and at the end of the
+performance were induced to leave the theater by a side door which was
+found to open into an adjoining building and all passed the night
+together.
+
+The massage parlors and manicure parlors upon investigation proved to
+have been used as a bait for these vile procurers. Many of these places
+were found to be not equipped for their legitimate work but to be
+nothing more than disorderly houses.
+
+The investigations of the United States courts have resulted in the
+imprisonment of many of these panders but there are many more still
+unconvicted and the danger to young girls is ever present. The parents
+cannot be too watchful in their protection, and to be watchful they must
+be cognizant of the dangers and of the methods in use. The daughters
+must be so educated that they are prepared to cope with the enemy.
+Remember, as Browning says, "Ignorance is not innocence, but sin."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS
+
+
+I have made so emphatic the necessity of early and proper instruction of
+girls and I have shown you that so much of the disease and unhappiness
+in the world is due to this lack of instruction that I do not believe
+any of your daughters ever will say, "Why was I not told these things
+before it was too late?" But you women will have sons as well as
+daughters and you are just as responsible for their future happiness as
+you are for that of your daughters. Besides the future happiness of
+another woman's daughter depends in a large measure upon the health of
+your son. The boys need instruction as much if not more than do the
+girls; at any rate they need it earlier than the girls do, because boys
+talk more freely than girls and boys acquire their first impressions of
+these subjects much earlier than girls.
+
+No boy ever willfully contracted a disease that would produce so much
+future misery as that resulting from one of the venereal diseases. You
+remember I made the remark that the large percentage of men contracted
+these diseases before their twentieth year, before they had any adequate
+knowledge of the possible consequences. If boys were warned there would
+be no more of this innocent acquisition of disease. Many a man has had
+cause to regret all his life a few moments of thoughtless dissipation.
+Even though a boy has acquired one of these diseases that is no reason
+why he should suffer from it the remainder of his life any more than
+that he constantly should suffer from an attack of smallpox. One
+difference at the present time is that the smallpox patient receives the
+most scientific treatment procurable, but the victim of one of these
+plagues is neglected. Boys are told these diseases are no worse than a
+cold and so do not realize the necessity for prompt and adequate
+treatment. The ordinary boy treats himself, following the advice of some
+of his friends or some incompetent person. He has a feeling of shame
+which prevents him from going to the family physician, who would give
+him honest advice. If he goes to any physician he usually goes to some
+advertising physician who claims to be a "men specialist." The main
+speciality of these men is obtaining money from their ignorant dupes.
+Their advertisements would make nearly every man in the world think he
+were suffering from some grave disease. The young boy, at an
+impressionable age, is a ready victim to their lures. He is treated for
+a real or an imaginary disease until his money is all gone, then he is
+discharged.
+
+Let me read you a letter I received from a young boy which will
+illustrate my meaning: "I read your article 'A Father's Duty to His
+Son,' in the ---- and take the liberty of writing to you. My father died
+when I was but nine years old, so I was left to my own resources, the
+result being I am now a nervous wreck at the age of nineteen. I have
+doctored for nervous debility with four doctors for over a year and a
+half. The result, they got every cent out of me but did not help me a
+particle. If my mother ever found it out, it would worry her to death,
+as she has hopes in me, fool that I was. My condition, I am always
+nervous when in company, expecting somebody to accuse me any minute. My
+eyes always are blurred and my hands shake as if I were an old man. I
+have night losses, which bother me more than anything and if they
+stopped I know I could fight my way back to health. If you could
+possibly give me some recipe or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
+Nobody but one in this condition can imagine the strain on the mind and
+body. Although I feel well when alone, though awfully weak, I am a
+nervous wreck when in the presence of others. I have written to you
+because your article seems to tell facts which I know to be true."
+
+Now, if you will pardon me I will quote a portion of my reply:
+"Evidently you have been the victim of unscrupulous doctors.
+Unfortunately there are a number. They usually advertise themselves as
+specialists in diseases of men. A reliable physician does not advertise.
+If you had gone to a trustworthy family physician in the first place you
+would have been saved much worry, and incidentally considerable money.
+
+"The chief advice you need is to _stop worrying_. The night losses you
+mention are a natural condition. They occur with nearly every normal man
+who is living a continent life. Even if they occur two or three times a
+week they do not indicate any diseased condition. The more you worry
+and think about such things the more often they will occur. I do not
+know what your occupation is, but if it is indoor work you must plan to
+take a great deal of outdoor exercise every day. If you could go out in
+the country for awhile and do hard outdoor work it would be the best
+thing for you. Eat only plain, easily digested food, but eat plenty. Do
+not use any condiments nor stimulants. Sleep on a hard bed with plenty
+of fresh air in the room. Bathe the external genitals with cold water
+night and morning.... The fact that you have abused yourself in the past
+need not prevent you from being a perfectly healthy person now if you
+are not continuing the practice."
+
+Every boy desires to be a man but does not quite understand the meaning
+of the word. He dislikes to be called a "greeny" or anything that
+suggests that he is young and inexperienced. Often he pretends to know
+things he does not. Nearly every boy, at an early age, is thrown in
+contact with low-minded persons who think it amusing to persuade the
+youth to prove he knows indecent things. He thinks it a test of manhood
+to be acquainted with various vices and so in order to prove his
+knowledge is led into various indiscretions, which result in the
+contraction of vile habits or of loathsome diseases.
+
+If a boy at an early age were given the true idea of the meaning of
+being a man or of manhood we would have fewer physical wrecks and
+incompetent individuals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY
+
+
+    "What can a boy do, and where can a boy stay,
+    If he is always told to get out of the way?
+    He cannot sit here, and he must not stand there,
+    The cushions that cover that fine rocking chair
+    Were put there, of course, to be seen and admired;
+    A boy has no business to ever be tired.
+    The beautiful roses and flowers that bloom
+    On the floor of the darkened and delicate room
+    Are made not to walk on--at least, not by boys;
+    The house is no place, anyway, for their noise,
+    Yet boys must walk somewhere, and what if their feet,
+    Sent out of their houses, sent into the street,
+    Should step round the corner and pause at the door
+    Where other boys' feet have paused often before;
+    Should pass the gateway of glittering light,
+    Where jokes that are merry and songs that are bright
+    Ring out a warm welcome with flattering voice,
+    And temptingly say, 'Here's a place for the boys.'
+
+    "Ah, what if they should? What if your boy or mine
+    Should cross o'er the threshold which marks out the line
+    'Twixt virtue and vice, 'twixt pureness and sin,
+    And leave all his innocent boyhood within?
+    Oh, what if they should, because you and I
+    While the days and the months and the years hurry by,
+    Are too busy with cares and with life's fleeting joys
+    To make round our hearthstone a place for the boys?
+    There's a place for the boys. They'll find it somewhere;
+    And if our own homes are too daintily fair
+    For the touch of their fingers, the tread of their feet,
+    They'll find it, and find it, alas, in the street,
+    'Mid the gilding of sin and the glitter of vice;
+    And with heartaches and longings we pay a dear price
+    For the getting of gain that our lifetime employs,
+    If we fail to provide a good place for the boys."
+
+This little poem, published anonymously in a country newspaper, seems to
+me to tell the story of why boys go astray. They are not understood at
+home and so naturally go where someone seems to understand and want
+them.
+
+In a great many homes the boy's room is a very unattractive place,
+merely a place in which to sleep. He is not allowed in the "parlor." He
+always seems to be in the way. No one seems to take any interest in the
+things that are closest to his heart. It is only natural that he should
+gradually drift to the saloon, the billiard room, the questionable
+houses, because he is made to feel that he is welcome there. Indeed his
+tastes and desires are consulted there.
+
+A boy always is interested in sex problems. The vulgar delight in
+feeding his fancy, in giving him exaggerated ideas of these much abused
+subjects. He is lead on from one step to another. Often many of the
+things he does are performed in a spirit of bravado, simply because he
+does not wish to appear "green."
+
+From one of the reliable magazines comes this information: "Forty-one
+families--'nice families,' as we call them--were last May thrown into
+consternation and humiliation by being privately notified by the head
+master of a boys' school that their boys would not be reëntered for
+another term at his school. 'A fearful condition of immorality,' wrote
+the head master, 'has been unearthed at the school, and in order to set
+an example to the rest of the boys, every boy concerned will be denied
+reëntrance to this school.'
+
+"The 'fearful condition of immorality' discovered in the school was, as
+the head master privately explained, traceable, as it generally is, 'to
+one boy, the son of a family of unquestioned standing in its
+community,' and he has involved the other boys.
+
+"The boy in question was not a vicious lad: on the contrary, he was a
+boy possessed of more than ordinary good characteristics. When he was
+brought up before the head master and the full result of his baneful
+influence was explained to him the boy was panic stricken.
+
+"'Didn't you realize what you were doing?' asked the head master.
+
+"'No,' replied the boy, who was nineteen and really a young man: 'I knew
+it was wrong, yes, but I didn't realize how wrong. As a matter of fact,'
+said the boy, 'I didn't know what I was doing, and how I was getting the
+boys into a thing that I now see is more serious than I had any idea
+of.'
+
+"'Didn't your father and mother ever explain these things to you?' asked
+the head master.
+
+"'Not a word,' answered the boy, and then as a grim look came on his
+face he said: 'God! I wish they had!'
+
+"A pleasant realization must it be to the parents of this boy as they
+read this sentence in the head master's letter to the father of this
+boy:
+
+"'I cannot but feel that your criminal negligence in the most vital duty
+that can come to a parent is the direct cause in this twofold calamity:
+first, of the downfall of your own son; and second, of the downfall of
+each of the other forty boys, and of the humiliation in which they and
+their parents find themselves. These are hard words to say to you, but
+they are true, and I say them not alone as the head master of this
+school, but also as one father to another, and as one man to another.'"
+
+In the growing youth's mind there arise many questions that he would
+like to talk over with his father, but he feels diffident about asking
+him. Too often the boy grows up and goes away to college without ever
+talking with his father about manhood. In all matters concerning his
+business relations and success, the boy has received careful
+instruction. He has not been left to work out those problems by himself
+but is given the benefit of the experiences of those who have trodden
+the road before. But in this matter so vital to his whole life, he has
+been left to clear his own path through the woods. With no guide and
+bewildered with the new ideas and experiences that crowd upon him, is
+it any wonder he loses his way, wanders off the straight path, falls
+ofttimes into some bog that perhaps was hidden from his sight by
+surrounding flowers and to which he has been lured by siren music?
+
+The father's duty to his son is plain--and must not be neglected. In
+some cases the mother must attend to this duty and for the future
+welfare of her son she must see that he receives adequate instruction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD?
+
+
+Every mother and every father realizes that there are certain things
+incident to reproduction that must be learned by the child at an early
+age. They realize, too, that it is preferable that this information
+should be imparted by the parents. But, on account of their own lack of
+instruction, they find two problems confronting them. How and when shall
+I tell my child are the questions uppermost in many parents' minds.
+
+The answer to the first question must depend upon the individual case.
+At a certain age a baby expresses a desire for something to bite. Before
+that time we make no effort to force him to bite. Later he finds he can
+help himself from one position to another by creeping. Then in a few
+months he discovers he is able to use his feet and tries to walk. We do
+not try to force any of these new ideas upon him but simply wait
+patiently until he expresses a desire to acquire some new knowledge,
+then we aid him and guide his efforts.
+
+There comes a time in the life of every child when he awakens to
+knowledge of reproduction. Then is the time to give the information.
+Some children commence to inquire as early as three years. At such an
+early age it is not necessary to go into details, as a very little
+information suffices to satisfy the child.
+
+Just how to tell the truths necessary must vary with the age of the
+child. It is important to remember to be truthful to the child. When a
+mother tells the child that the stork or the doctor brings the baby, she
+sets a seal upon evasion. Some day he will learn that his mother has
+deceived him and that behind her instruction lies an element of secrecy,
+and secrecy with its companion curiosity is the cause of much unrest in
+after life. The child gathers the idea that there must be something
+shameful connected with the birth of a child or his mother would not be
+ashamed to tell him the truth.
+
+Secondly, the child must be told scientifically that this knowledge may
+form a basis for later studies in biology. He can be taught in a simple
+manner that all nature comes from a seed; that the mother makes a tiny
+nest for the seed and that with all seeds it is necessary for their
+growth that the father gives them some pollen.
+
+Until these subjects are put before children and young people with some
+degree of intelligence and sympathetic handling, it cannot be expected
+that anything but the utmost confusion in mind and in morals should
+reign in matters of sex. It seems incredible that our thoughts could be
+so unclean that we find it impossible to give to our children the
+information they need on these most sacred subjects, but instead we
+allow them to obtain their information whenever and wherever they can
+and in the most unclean manner. A child at the age of puberty is capable
+of the most sensitive, affectional and serene appreciation of what sex
+means and can absorb the teachings if properly given without any shock
+to his sense of the fitness of things. Indeed whenever these subjects
+are taught to the child correctly they induce a feeling of reverence for
+the mother that could not otherwise be obtained. A little child when
+told that she grew in a nest in mother's body right underneath mother's
+heart at once becomes filled with a great love and wonder for that
+mother. Then later to teach the relation of fatherhood and how the love
+of parents for each other and their desire to have a child of their very
+own was the cause of that child's existence--these things seem so
+natural to the child mind that has not been polluted with vulgar ideas
+that they excite in him no sense of unfitness, only a deep gratitude and
+a kind of tender wonderment.
+
+The great point to remember in teaching these things to children is to
+satisfy their present question and leave the understanding that mother
+(or father) always stands ready and willing to explain any problems that
+are bothering the child.
+
+So many girls have told me that when they were between six and fourteen
+years of age they had heard some things about the land where the babies
+grow and immediately went to their mothers and inquired as to the truth
+of what they had heard. The invariable answer received was, "Little
+girls must not talk about such things." That silenced the child and the
+mother heaved a sigh of relief that the question had passed off so
+smoothly and easily. That little sentence has been the cause of
+innumerable mistakes and misery. That little sentence marked the
+beginning of the failure of the child to confide in her mother, the
+child never again would broach the subject to her mother. However, that
+did not mean that the child would not receive the information requested;
+for, as a rule, the girls who told of this incidence also remarked that
+they had received the information very soon from some older girl and
+frequently in a vulgar manner. If a mother wishes to retain the
+confidence of her daughter, if a father wishes to retain the confidence
+of his son they both must keep a keen lookout for the first questions
+and be prepared to answer them at the time.
+
+Later on the special sexual needs of the boy or the girl can be
+explained, the necessity of cleanliness and the danger of self-abuse.
+The need of self-control and the possibility of deflecting physical
+desire to other channels and the great gain resulting; all these things
+the youth of either sex are capable of understanding and appreciating,
+and the knowledge given early will prevent many physical and moral
+wrecks.
+
+It is the duty of fathers and mothers to prepare themselves on these
+subjects so as to have the answer ready when the child first inquires.
+There is no excuse for not doing so, for educators all over the country
+stand ready to help any parents who call upon them. It is possible for
+every community to obtain the services of a lecturer or teacher who will
+instruct the parents. The individual can obtain books which explain all
+these things simply and plainly. There is no excuse for ignorance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+WOMEN IN BUSINESS
+
+
+If all homes were ideal and all men likewise, there would be no question
+of woman suffrage or woman in business. But this is not an ideal world;
+all women who have kept their places and stayed at home, kept house and
+taken care of their children have not led ideal lives. In too many
+instances the home woman, the little wren, has been deserted for the gay
+song-bird. The necessities of life have forced other women into the
+business world--women whose preference would be for the ideal, quiet
+home life. One must not think that because a woman is leading a public
+life that she prefers it, that she has no desire for a home and little
+ones. Often her choice has been the lesser of two evils,--more to be
+desired than a life, married, but loveless; one in which she must slave
+from morn till eve and then receive as recompense curses and
+fault-finding.
+
+The woman who refuses to so demean the married life as to enter into
+such a marriage, preferring instead the busy life of a bachelor maid, is
+to be admired rather than condemned. That she makes a success of her
+business life tends to show what some man has missed by not proving
+himself worthy to be her husband.
+
+We hear so much about woman entering into business--just as though she
+had not always been in business. Stop and think about our ancestors on
+the farms. The woman shared the work equally with the man. He attended
+to the heavier work, while she attended to that which required less
+physical strength but more attention to details. The products of her
+industry often brought as much ready cash as that derived from the sale
+of the larger products of the farm. Many families depended for the
+yearly supply of clothes and luxuries on the money thus obtained from
+the sale of butter, eggs and chickens. In olden days, too, many a woman
+derived an income from the sale of home-made rugs and counterpanes.
+
+Just how men have conceived the idea that it is only the modern woman
+who is a money earner, I cannot understand, nor can I understand how
+some men expect women to be happy in idleness. The most unhappy women
+in the world are the women who have a great deal of leisure time. Many a
+man objects to his wife taking up any outside work even though it would
+not interfere with her household duties. This usually is due to false
+pride on his part. He is afraid of what others will say; afraid his
+friends will think he is not capable of supporting his wife. Some of
+these men forget to take into account the possibility that an accident
+or illness may take him away, business failures may sweep away his
+accumulations and then his wife must face the necessity of earning her
+living. Alas, how seldom is she prepared to do this! If, during the
+leisure time of her protected life, she had been perfecting herself in
+some branch of industry, her future would be easily solved.
+
+A woman can devote several hours a day to outside affairs and still not
+neglect her home duties. Home-making does not necessarily mean that the
+woman herself must do the washing, ironing, cooking, baking or sewing.
+She must see that these are performed properly but the actual work may
+all be done by others. A business man does not attempt to do all the
+work of the office himself. He employs a bookkeeper, a clerk and a
+stenographer to attend to the details while he directs. It is the same
+way with a home, a woman may employ others to do the physical labor
+while she directs.
+
+Then as to the married woman earning money. Let me give you an
+illustration. A woman has spent the early part of her life perfecting
+herself in some branch of work, for instance, book cover designing. She
+marries a man in moderate circumstances and does not feel that she can
+afford to be idle and employ someone else to do her house work. She is a
+slenderly built woman and it would be a great tax on her strength to
+perform all the household duties--for some parts of housekeeping require
+such hard physical labor that even many men would not care to attempt
+them. It certainly would seem a very reasonable thing for this woman to
+devote several hours a day to book cover designing and use the money so
+earned to employ a strong woman to do the heavy housework. This
+arrangement would be better for all concerned; first, the woman would be
+happier and more contented; next, the man would enjoy his home more,
+for any man certainly would rather come home and find his wife contented
+and happy and with leisure time to devote to him, than to come home and
+find her all tired out, and consequently cross, with the housework so
+unfinished she must devote her evening to some household task.
+
+If circumstances have given a woman home and children, they always must
+come first, but this does not mean the woman must do housework if
+conditions permit the employment of somebody to do it. She must do the
+work for which she is best fitted both by nature and by training.
+
+In whatever occupation a woman is engaged she should endeavor to make a
+success of that work, to do it a little better than anyone else could;
+for in every field of endeavor there is joy and reward for always being
+and doing one's best. The great secret of success is _concentration_.
+Too many women waste their energies thinking and talking about the
+things they would like to do. Every time you talk about the thing you
+would like to do you waste just that much energy and make your goal less
+possible of achievement. That which seems difficult before is usually
+found easy to accomplish, once undertaken. If you wish to accomplish
+anything _hold the thought_ in your mind and concentrate all your powers
+in that direction. Do not scatter your energies like chaff to be blown
+hither and thither.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+NERVOUSNESS--A LACK OF CONTROL
+
+
+How often do we meet women who complain of being nervous. What they
+really mean is that they have not control of their nerves but let them
+run away. A woman may be of a nervous temperament and yet have such good
+control of her nerves that she never complains of being nervous. This
+lack of nerve control manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it
+only is a tendency to cry at trivial things or an inclination to
+despondency--to have "the blues," or to worry over real or fancied
+slights. Many women waste so much time thinking over things that are
+past and gone. A visit with a friend loses its joy in the afterthought,
+for this victim of the nerves lives over again every moment of the
+visit. She recalls everything that has been said and wonders if a
+different meaning were meant. Things that were said as a joke and
+originally taken that way now are brought up for criticism and pondered
+over until the woman convinces herself of the presence of a hidden
+meaning. She is not satisfied until she has bent and shapen the original
+thoughtless sentence into an ugly sting.
+
+These nervous women are the ones who continually are tormented with the
+demon of jealousy. If one of them should suddenly meet her husband on
+the street walking with another woman, what a curtain lecture he would
+receive that evening; or if not that, he finds his wife wearing the air
+of one who considers herself much abused. The real facts of the case may
+be that her husband met the other woman quite accidentally and, as they
+were going in the same direction, he could not avoid walking with her
+without being positively rude. In this age men must, of necessity, have
+business transactions with women. It is a common occurrence for two men
+to lunch together in order to have a chance to talk over some important
+business without fear of interruption. There is no reason why a man and
+woman might not do the same, and yet how impossible it would be to
+convince the jealous woman that this was the case. To be jealous is to
+acknowledge the superior charms of the other woman. "If I cannot hold
+you against all women, then I do not want you." If you think some other
+woman is attracting your husband, wake up and beat her at her own game.
+Do not sit idly in the corner and complain. You only are making yourself
+miserable and not trying to right the wrong.
+
+A woman who is nervous usually does not realize what is the cause of her
+condition. When excitable and irritable and suffering from a nervous
+headache, she takes various remedies to deaden the symptoms, instead of
+looking the matter squarely in the face and going after the cause.
+
+Many women need a hobby to take up their spare time and to occupy their
+minds. If their minds are occupied and their bodies kept in good
+condition by proper care, they soon will gain control of their nerves.
+If you find yourself getting nervous, make up your mind to overcome it
+by filling your life so full of work and play that you will have no time
+to give way to the nerves. When you feel an attack coming on, get busy
+and "work it off."
+
+There is a class of women who possess comfortable homes, with a maid to
+do the work, whose home duties are not confining and who find
+themselves with a great deal of extra time on their hands. To these
+women the days are long and they endeavor to pass away the time by doing
+nerve racking fancy work or by "fussing" around the house. They are not
+happy and contented, chiefly because their minds are being
+neglected--are growing up to weeds like a neglected garden. For such a
+woman club work is a boon. She should take up some especial kind of
+work, and devote several hours a day to the study of it. At first this
+will be hard, for a mind that has fallen into lazy ways is not easily
+aroused to continual effort, the deeply rooted weeds are not easily
+destroyed.
+
+Many half contented women realize this need of mental food but hesitate.
+As one woman said, "Why, my husband would leave me if I started to
+work!" Some men take a peculiar attitude towards women. They would like
+to treat them as a woman treats her pet dog. The dog is provided with a
+comfortable home, plenty of food, someone to bathe it and carry it
+around. The dog is contented with this. It loves to sleep and eat the
+livelong day; it comes when its mistress calls, and goes when she is
+tired of it. Unfortunately, perhaps, all women cannot be contented with
+such a life. The woman was given a brain which refuses to be dormant. If
+it is not required to be used in a useful way, it occupies itself with
+bad thoughts--it worries and becomes fault finding or gossiping.
+
+No woman should allow her mind to grow up to such weeds. If the
+circumstances of her position, her education or her environment seem to
+make it unwise that she take up any work that would bring a monetary
+reward, she easily can find some charitable work that needs all the
+energies she can devote to it. If such a woman would take up some
+special branch of philanthropic work she would be amply rewarded, not
+only by the consciousness of the good she had done, but by the
+improvement in her own health and happiness.
+
+There is another phase to this lack of nerve control shown in a nervous
+tension, an inability to relax and enjoy life. Some people go through
+the day on such a nervous tension that they are unable to take
+cognizance of their surroundings. Eventually this tension will manifest
+itself in some disorder, as headache, nervous indigestion or complete
+nervous prostration. In the latter case the nerves have been so abused,
+so strained that at last they are worn out. A rest is imperative!
+
+A woman who, if she has a few spare moments, can lie down and relax
+absolutely, perhaps even drop to sleep, has a better chance to stand the
+stress and strain of business or of housekeeping than the one who finds
+it impossible to do so. Try making it a point to lie down for two or
+three minutes several times a day; lie flat on your back and relax every
+muscle; put every worry or ugly thought out of your mind by thinking
+some pleasant but soothing sentence as, "I am glad I can rest. I will be
+happy when I arise." You will be surprised at the effect these few
+moments a day will produce upon your health and happiness.
+
+Plenty of sleep is imperative for these women and yet so many of them
+neglect this great restorer of the nervous system. Frequently these
+women complain of an inability to go to sleep easily, and spend long
+hours of the night lying awake and entertaining worry thoughts. This
+symptom of disordered nerves should not be neglected. A warm bath
+before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the
+spine, will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good
+results. A hot foot-bath, by drawing the blood away from the brain,
+often will be beneficial. A glass of hot milk or cocoa taken just before
+retiring may have the same effect. If the sleeplessness is a result of
+indigestion a plain diet will relieve. Sleeping upon a hard bed without
+a pillow sometimes produces the desired effect. Always have plenty of
+fresh air in the room. Keep the mind free from the cares of the day. If
+they will intrude crowd them out by repeating some soothing sentence as:
+"There is no reason why I should not sleep, therefore, I shall sleep. My
+body is relaxed, my mind is at peace, sleep is coming, I am getting
+sleepy, I am about to sleep." Never take any sleeping powders except
+upon the advice of a physician, for the majority of these sleeping
+powders contain some harmful drug, as morphine, codeine, phenacetin or
+acetanilid. The latter especially is very depressing to the heart and
+serves to weaken the nervous system. In fact many deaths may be laid at
+the door of these drugs. Treatments to tone up the nervous system and
+to improve the circulation often are indicated in these cases of
+"nerves." Control your nerves, do not let them control you!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE
+
+
+Have you ever thought why it is that some women are as young at forty as
+others are at twenty-four? And I mean young not frivolous! It is every
+woman's duty to keep young as long as possible, but, unfortunately, she
+does not always know the best way to live up to that duty. Keeping young
+means keeping your body in a perfectly healthy condition and your mind
+in harmony. With attention to certain laws a woman can detract ten years
+from her age. She can do this by treating herself as a friend and not as
+a slave. Take ten minutes and think how you could improve yourself by a
+little effort. Perhaps some of these suggestions will help you.
+
+Everyone needs exercise. Just what sort depends upon the occupation of
+the individual. A woman doing housework exercises most of her muscles
+during the day, and if she makes pleasure, and not drudgery out of her
+work, this exercise is very beneficial. It is a pleasure to be able to
+accomplish so much, but the housework is not sufficient exercise. This
+woman needs exercise for her mind and for her beauty-loving soul. In her
+spare time she should lie under the trees and enjoy nature or a good
+book, or she should go to some gathering where she will meet those who
+will refresh her intellectually. Keep the mind open to all the
+impressions of nature. Love the open air. Fresh air is not a fad, it is
+a necessity if one would keep young. Occasionally read a book of travel
+or a biography of some well-known person. Keep mentally alert. An
+intellectual back number adds years to her seeming age. Nothing makes
+for youth as a young mind, save perhaps a young heart.
+
+If a woman wishes to retain her attractiveness and not grow dull and
+uninteresting, she must be interested in the outside world. Make it a
+point to go somewhere every day. If you cannot do anything else, put the
+baby in the cart and walk a few blocks. Do not say you are too busy. It
+is necessary for your health and you will find a few minutes' outing
+will give you renewed energies and help you to see the silver lining.
+If possible go to social affairs where you meet people. Invite others to
+your home but do not tire yourself entertaining them. People who are
+boarding enjoy a simple home-cooked meal. It is the "homey" air they
+enjoy and not elaborate decorations or menu.
+
+A woman in an office needs different exercise. She needs to do something
+that will stretch and strengthen the tired muscles. She also needs
+plenty of fresh air. A brisk walk is one of the best exercises for her.
+Walk part of the way to the office, if possible, and keep your eyes open
+for interesting things you pass. Use your imagination in guessing the
+life story of those you meet. Forget yourself by becoming interested in
+others, and you will be surprised at the effect upon your outlook on
+life. It is not work that makes the business girl grow old and careworn
+as much as it is her inability to forget her work during her play or
+rest time. A business man takes an occasional day off and goes hunting
+or fishing, but the business girl seldom can afford the little trips
+that would serve to break the monotony of work. But every day brings its
+opportunities for little pleasures that are available. Remember it is
+the small things of life that make up its enjoyment. Once in a while at
+noon go to some especially nice lunch room where you will see well
+dressed women, where the service is faultless and every mouthful and
+every moment enjoyable. You will come away filled with such a sense of
+well-being that you will be able to accomplish twice as much in the way
+of work. Many business girls do not entertain themselves well enough.
+They become so imbued with the spirit of economy that they deny
+themselves the little pleasures that would make life enjoyable. This
+reacts upon their work and ability. These people who continually stint
+themselves never achieve great success. They repress themselves so much
+that they quell all their best impulses. They never expand.
+
+Learn self-control. Anger is a rapid wrinkle bringer. The energy that is
+wasted in useless worry and tirade against circumstances might be
+conserved and diverted into other channels that would bring you abundant
+reward, financially as well as in other ways. Avoid worry, hurry and
+getting flustered. Plan your work in the morning, then take the little
+interruptions coolly and quietly. You will not be half so tired at the
+end of the day as you would be otherwise. Be temperate. Moderation does
+not refer only to the stomach. Overdoing in any way makes for premature
+age.
+
+Do not let yourself get sluggish and indifferent. Here is where the
+benefits of massage, physical culture and a vital interest in life come
+in. Youth is happiness! If you would be young, radiate happiness. Talk
+happiness not ill-health. One certain symptom of advancing age is the
+desire to talk about ill-health. Discussing operations you have
+undergone or sickness you have experienced always attracts attention to
+your age. Children seldom talk about ill-health. An illness once
+conquered is forgotten. Another thing, do not whine. The American women
+are noted for their unpleasant voices, which often are too high pitched,
+showing lack of control. Cultivate a low, well-modulated voice. Recently
+I met a young woman who had a deformed body and a plain face, but I
+immediately was attracted to her because she had the most beautiful
+speaking voice it ever was my privilege to hear.
+
+As we age in years we are liable to grow careless in our dress, to
+select colors and styles that are not very becoming; we do not take as
+much pains with our hair, our nails or our shoes as we should. We have
+allowed age to manifest itself in the lack of care of the little things.
+
+Finally, if your work does not bring you happiness, you are in the wrong
+place and the sooner you find the right place the better for you. It is
+impossible to take a race horse and expect to make him a good plow
+horse. We only would spoil the one without succeeding in obtaining the
+other. There is a right place for everyone and each one is adapted to
+certain things and in order to accomplish the most we must "find
+ourselves."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Abortions, 89
+  Accidental, 90
+  Criminal, 91
+  Prevalence, 92, 112
+  Sterility following, 95
+
+Advertisements, misleading, 65
+
+Advertising physicians, 173
+
+After-birth, 83
+
+Amenorrhoea, 40
+
+Anatomy of generative organs,  11
+
+Anus, 16
+
+Atrophy of generative organs, 30
+
+Backache, displacement causing, 36
+  Fake advertisements concerning, 67
+  Gonorrhoea causing, 61
+  Lumbago, rheumatism, strain, 67
+
+Bag of waters, 86
+
+Birth canal, 13
+
+Black plagues, see Gonorrhoea and Syphilis
+  Causing tumors, 42
+
+Bladder, openings into, 17
+  Position in relation to womb, 11
+
+Blindness, due to gonorrhoea, 59
+  Infection, prevalence of in new born, 60
+
+Blue baby, 87
+
+Blues, 195
+
+Born with caul or veil, 86
+
+Boys, need of instruction, 178
+  Why boys go astray, 171
+
+Breasts, after menopause, in pregnancy, 19
+  At puberty, 24
+
+Cancer, carcinoma, 43
+
+Cathartics, 51
+
+Cavity of pelvis, 11
+
+Cavity of womb, openings into, 11, 12
+
+Change of life, see Menopause
+
+Child bearing period, 23
+
+Childless homes, 103
+
+Chlorosis, 40
+
+Circumcision in girls, 41
+
+Clandestine engagements, 157
+
+Clap, see Gonorrhoea.
+
+Clitoris, hooded, 17
+  Causing nervousness and immorality, 41
+
+Coitus, 74
+
+Conception, 74
+  Prevention of, 109
+
+Congestion from tight clothing, 37
+
+Constipation, 47
+  Caused by retroversion, 34, 49
+  Causes, 48
+
+Cord, 83
+
+Cramps during menopause, 30
+
+Development of life, 81
+
+Diseases of female organs, 33
+  Influence on appearance, 28
+  Venereal diseases, 56
+
+Displacements, causes of, 33
+  Backward, constipation caused by, 34
+  Bladder, pressure on, 35
+  Downward, side, 37
+  Forward, 36
+  Hemorrhoids caused by, 34
+  Menstruation, relation to, 34
+  Treatment, 35
+
+Divorce, 115
+  Black plagues as a factor, 117
+  Sterility as a factor, 118
+
+Douche, for cleanliness, at close of period, 21
+  In irritation of vagina, 40
+
+Drug habit, from patent medicines, 69
+  In constipation, 51
+
+Dry labor, 86
+
+Dysmenorrhoea, 39
+
+Education, lack of for girls, 77
+
+Egg, see Ovum.
+
+Embryo,   82
+
+Embryology,   81
+
+Epilepsy due to syphilis,  101
+
+Excesses
+  Cause of premature old age,  76
+  Causing congestion,   38
+  During early married life,  74
+
+Exercise
+  For business woman,  205
+  For home woman,   203
+
+External generative organs, description,   16
+  Care,  20
+
+Fake advice,   65
+
+Fallopian tubes, description, position,   14
+  Effect of gonorrhoea on,   57
+  Removal, effect of, sterility from removal,  58
+  Tumors of,  42
+
+Father's duty to son,  181
+
+Fear, needless,  106
+
+Fertilization of ovum,  74, 81
+
+Flirtations and their results,  157
+
+Foetal movements,   84
+
+Foetus,   82
+
+Gonorrhoea
+  Effect on female organs,   57
+  Persistence of in later years,   57
+  Prevalence of,  56
+
+  Prevention of in youth, 63
+  Symptoms, 61
+
+Green sickness, 40
+
+Happiness necessary, 208
+
+Headache, from constipation, 48
+  From displacements, 37
+  Powders, 69
+
+Heart valves of baby, 87
+
+Hemorrhage in cancer, 43
+
+Hemorrhoids, 47
+  Bleeding, external, internal, pain from, 49
+  From constipation, 48
+  Retrodisplacements causing, 34
+  Treatment, 49
+
+Herb remedies as drugs, 69
+
+Heredity, inherited tendency to disease, 99
+  Tuberculosis, syphilis, 100
+
+Home-making a study, 78
+
+Homes, childless, 103
+  Girls not interested in parents' home, 135
+
+Hot flashes during menopause, 30
+
+Hymen, 18
+  Not injured by douche, 40
+  Opening in, 41
+  Unruptured in pregnancy, 154
+
+Illegitimacy, 152
+
+Immorality, due to low wages, effects of,  149
+  Among children, in country districts, in school,   123
+  Due to hooded clitoris,   41
+
+Indigestion,   52
+
+Inflammation causing dysmenorrhoea,   39
+
+Inherited syphilis,   62
+
+Intercourse,   75
+
+Insemination,   74
+
+Jealousy,   196
+
+Kiss conveying contagion,   61
+
+Knee chest position,   37
+  For constipation and hemorrhoids,   49
+
+Labia majora and minora,   17
+
+Labor, dry,   86
+  Duration of,   87
+  Pains, cause of,   85
+  Premature,   89
+
+Lanugo,   84
+
+Law regarding prevention of pregnancy,   109
+
+Laxatives,   51
+
+Leucorrhoea,   38
+  In young girls,   40
+
+Life feeling,   84
+
+Love, misunderstood,   132
+
+Lumbago, backache in,   67
+
+Lungs of newborn child,   87
+
+Maidenhead, see Hymen.
+
+Malignant tumor,  43
+
+Marriage, education necessary for,  72
+  Fake marriages used to obtain white slaves,  168
+  False promises leading to immorality,  151
+  For convenience, natural,  116
+  Laws not adequate,  115
+  Relation,  71
+  Science of, successful and otherwise,  71
+  Social reasons for,  103
+
+Massage, for constipation,  51
+
+Mating,  73
+
+Meatus urinarius,  17
+
+Medical, fake advertisements,  67
+
+Medicine, doubtful results from,  68
+  Patent,  45
+
+Membrane,  86
+
+Menstruation, absence of,  40
+  Bathing during,  27
+  Care during,  26
+  Color, odor,  29
+  Composition of flow,  28
+  Deficiency of,  40
+  Description of,  23
+  Duration of, frequency,  23, 28
+  Lassitude during,  27
+  Pain during,  27, 39
+  Phenomena common to,  27
+  Profuse flow,  28
+  Quantity, time between periods,   29
+  Sign of approach of period,   25
+  Source of flow,    16
+
+Menopause, age,   29
+  Bowels in,   21
+  Breasts after,   31
+  Cancer at,   43
+  Care during, symptoms of approach,   30
+  Changes in body, nervous system,   30
+  Duration, diet,   31
+  End of child-bearing period,   23
+  Hot flashes during, necessity for examination,   30
+  Relaxation, rest, worry during,   31
+
+Miscarriage,   89
+
+Modesty, false,   134
+
+Motherhood, accidental, a science, preparation for,   77
+  Fear regarding,   106
+  Natural desire of all women,   104
+
+Mucous patches in syphilis,   61
+
+Nerve trouble, due to syphilis,   62
+
+Nervousness
+  A lack of control,   195
+  Due to hooded clitoris,   41
+  Overcoming,   197
+  Relation to intercourse,   76
+
+Neuralgia, backache,   67
+  Causing dysmenorrhoea,   39
+
+Ovary, description, function, position,    14
+  Tumor, see Tumor.
+
+Oviduct, see Fallopian tube,    14
+
+Ovum,    14
+  Relation to menstruation,    29
+  Division into portions, growth,    81
+  Passage from ovary to uterus, impregnation,    81
+  Size,    82
+
+Passion or sex sense,    73
+
+Parents' duty to daughters,   167
+  To sons,   171
+
+Patent medicine,   45
+  Of doubtful benefit,    68
+
+Pelvis,   11
+  Deformed in abortions,    91
+
+Peritoneum,    16
+
+Peritonitis,    16
+  From displacement and inflammation of womb,   37
+  From gonorrhoea,    58
+  From appendicitis,    59
+
+Perineum,    18
+  Tearing during labor,  19, 87
+
+Physiology of female organs,    11
+
+Piles, see Hemorrhoids.
+
+Placenta,    83
+
+Position of foetus in utero,    85
+
+Pregnancy, absence of menstruation,   40
+  Among unmarried girls,   151
+  Fertilization before,   74
+  Prevention of,   109
+
+Premature birth, labor,   89
+
+Prostitution, result of,   155
+
+Puberty,   23
+  Change in nervous system,   24
+  Hygiene during, school work during,   24
+  Premonitory symptoms, signs of approach,   24
+  Preparatory information, necessity for,   24
+
+Public cup,   61
+
+Pus tubes, see Fallopian tubes.
+
+Race improvement,   111
+
+Race suicide, education in relation to,   104
+  Not increased by knowledge of means of prevention,    113
+
+Rectum, position in relation to womb,   11
+  In retrodisplacement,   34
+
+Regulation of number of children,   111
+
+Relaxation,   199
+
+Rest,   200
+
+Rheumatism, backache,   67
+  Dysmenorrhoea due to,   39
+
+Sac,   85
+
+Sanitary pads,   26
+
+Self-abuse,   137
+  Hooded clitoris as a cause,   139
+  Mental,   139
+  Nervous system injured,   138
+  Treatment,   139
+
+Self-confidence,   145
+
+Self-control,   206
+
+Semen,   74
+
+Sex, education needed regarding,  72, 121
+  Fundamental end of, over-indulgence,   74
+  Instinct,   73
+  Instruction for children,   183
+  Organs formed fourth month,   83
+
+Skin disease due to syphilis,   101
+
+Sleep, sleeplessness, treatment,   200
+
+Spermatozoon,   74
+  Death due to disease,   107
+  Union with ovum,   81
+  Size,   82
+
+Sterility
+  After one birth,  108
+  Due to abortions,   95
+  Due to gonorrhoea,   58
+  Due to indiscretions, in male,   107
+
+Stomach trouble due to syphilis,   62
+
+Syphilis,   61
+  Causing abortions,   90
+  Causing epilepsy, brain and skin lesions,   101
+  Contracted from wet nurse,   62
+  Conveyed by kiss, by public cup,   61
+  Inherited,  62, 100
+  Late symptoms,    62
+  Prevention in youth, treatment,    63
+
+Tears of perineum,    19
+  Necessity for repair,    30
+  Relation to cancer,    43
+
+Teas, laxative,    51
+
+Tomboys,   133
+
+Toxines from constipation,    48
+
+Tubes, see Fallopian tubes.
+
+Tumor, abdominal, caused by black plagues,   42
+  Absorption of, removal,    42
+  Causing dysmenorrhoea,    39
+  Hemorrhoidal,    34
+  Malignant,    43
+  Phantom,    43
+  Symptoms of, hemorrhage, pain in,    42
+
+Ulcers in syphilis,   62
+
+Umbilical cord,    83
+
+Urethra,    17
+
+Urination, frequent, caused by displacement,    35
+
+Uterus, see Womb.
+
+Vagina, description of,    13
+  Discharge from,    38
+  Infection from use of public towels,   60
+  Irritation of,   40
+  Orifice of,    17
+
+Vein of cord,   83
+
+Vernix caseosa,   85
+
+Venereal diseases,   56
+
+Vibrator for constipation,   51
+
+Wet nurse in syphilis,   62
+
+Womb, attachment,    13
+  Cancer of,   43
+  Congestion from tight clothing,   37
+  Contraction of mouth,   39
+  Inflammation from displacements,   37
+  Position, size, structure, shape,    11
+  Over work causing congestion,   38
+
+Wild oats, sown by girls,   150
+
+White slavery,   163
+
+Women in business,   189
+
+Worry, an abuse,   143
+
+Youth, obtainable,   203
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+HIMSELF
+
+TALKS WITH MEN CONCERNING THEMSELVES
+
+This is regarded by all authorities as the best book on sexual hygiene
+for men. No man knowing its contents would be without this important
+book. It tells plainly all of the facts about sex and leads to health,
+happiness and success. A book that points the way to strong vitality and
+healthy manhood.
+
+Every man ought to read this excellent, reliable book.--_Philadelphia
+Telegraph._
+
+The best book on sexual hygiene for men and we highly commend
+it.--_Baltimore American._
+
+The more widely this splendid book is read the better it will be for men
+and women.--_Boston Globe._
+
+Every youth and man who can read the English language should study this
+book.--_Portland Oregonian._
+
+A rare book that treats its subject in a common-sense
+fashion.--_Pittsburgh Post._
+
+This is a storehouse of knowledge that should be in the hands of every
+man.--_United States Medical Journal._
+
+It is utterly free from hysteria and sticks straight to the
+unadulterated truth. A valuable addition to any man's library.--_Spokane
+Chronicle._
+
+It is as good a book as a physician could recommend.--_Northwest
+Medicine._
+
+Clear, accurate, easily understood.--_Chicago Journal._
+
+_Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo._
+
+Price, $1.00 net; by mail, $1.10
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers_
+
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn St., CHICAGO
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+CONFIDENCES
+
+TALKS WITH A YOUNG GIRL CONCERNING HERSELF
+
+A book explaining the origin and development of life in language
+intelligible to young girls. The author, who is a physician of wide
+experience and a pleasing writer, has very delicately and adequately
+treated this important subject.
+
+Carefully written and should be given to every young girl.--_American
+Motherhood._
+
+Every physician should read and circulate this book.--_Journal of
+Therapeutics._
+
+_Neatly bound in cloth. 16mo._
+
+_Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TRUTHS
+
+TALKS WITH A BOY CONCERNING HIMSELF
+
+A book containing the simple truths of life development and sex which
+should be given to every boy approaching manhood. His future welfare
+demands it. This is the first book to adequately and delicately present
+these truths in language intelligible to boys from ten to fourteen years
+of age.
+
+The first satisfactory book on the subject.--_Health Culture Magazine._
+
+Many a mother will be glad that such a book is within the reach of her
+child.--_Seattle Post Intelligencer._
+
+_Attractively bound in cloth. 16mo._
+
+_Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FALSE MODESTY
+
+THAT PROTECTS VICE BY IGNORANCE
+
+The most thorough and convincing appeal ever made for the proper
+education of the young in matters pertaining to sexual hygiene by the
+foremost writer on the subject.
+
+Dr. Lowry's books combine medical knowledge, simplicity, and purity in
+an unprecedented way. They are chaste and void of offense to the most
+delicate natures.--_The Journal of Education, Boston._
+
+_Cloth, 16mo._
+
+Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers,_
+
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+YOUR BABY
+
+A GUIDE FOR MOTHERS
+
+This book contains the latest and best approved methods for the care of
+the mother and baby. It is a strong plea for better babies and every
+doctor will welcome the circulation of this great help to mothers.
+
+"This book can be safely and heartily recommended to every prospective
+mother."--_The Chicago Medical Recorder._
+
+"The directions are clear and the advice is sensible."--_New York Sun._
+
+"This helpful book is in keeping with Dr. Lowry's previously published
+meritorious works."--_The Southern Clinic._
+
+"A safe, sane and interesting book which it would be well for every
+young woman to read. It deserves a wide circulation."--_The Wisconsin
+Medical Journal._
+
+_Cloth bound. 256 pages._
+
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE HOME NURSE
+
+This very useful book gives helpful directions for the care of the sick
+in the home and tells how to co-operate with the physician in providing
+for the comfort and cure of invalids.
+
+"A sensible book, and it should be in every home
+book-shelf."--_Northwest Medicine, Seattle._
+
+"Uniting practical common sense with the best medical knowledge, it
+forms a safe guide."--_American Journal of Nursing, Baltimore._
+
+"It serves a very useful purpose and is readily understood. Physicians
+will welcome the circulation of this excellent book."--_Medical
+Sentinel, Portland, Ore._
+
+_Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo._
+
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers_,
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry, M.D..
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Herself
+       Talks with Women Concerning Themselves
+
+Author: E. B. Lowry
+
+Release Date: November 16, 2006 [EBook #19825]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERSELF ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div style='border: solid 1px; margin: auto; font-size: 90%; width: 300px;'>
+<p class='center'><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i></p>
+<hr class='minor' />
+<p class='center'>HIMSELF<br />
+Talks with Men Concerning Themselves<br />
+$1.00</p>
+<p class='center'>CONFIDENCES<br />
+Talks with a Young Girl Concerning Herself<br />
+50 cts.</p>
+<p class='center'>TRUTHS<br />
+Talks with a Boy Concerning Himself<br />
+50 cts.</p>
+<p class='center'>FALSE MODESTY<br />
+50 cts.</p>
+<p class='center'>TEACHING SEX HYGIENE<br />
+50 cts.</p>
+<p class='center'>THE HOME NURSE<br />
+$1.00</p>
+<p class='center'>YOUR BABY<br />
+A Guide for Mothers<br />
+$1.00</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<table width='450' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='' border='1'><tr><td>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 260%; margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 20px;'> HERSELF</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 140%;'> TALKS WITH WOMEN CONCERNING</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 140%; margin-bottom: 80px;'> THEMSELVES</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 120%; margin-bottom: 10px;'> BY</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 140%; margin-bottom: 20px;'> E. B. LOWRY, M.D.</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 80%;'> Author of</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 120px;'> "Confidences," "Truths," etc. </p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 110%;'> CHICAGO</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 110%;'> FORBES &amp; COMPANY</p>
+<p class='titleblock' style=' font-size: 90%; margin-bottom: 30px;'> 1917</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<p class='center'>
+<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1911, By<br />
+Forbes and Company</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<div>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span>
+<h3>PREFACE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A recent number of the Journal of the American Medical Association
+contained this paragraph:</p>
+
+<p>"A correspondent asks for a good book describing the female generative
+organs anatomically, physiologically and pathologically, treating also
+of childbirth, written in language easily understood by a layman. He
+desires to give copies to some of his young women patients. The editor
+regrets there is no satisfactory book on the subject although there is
+great need for one."</p>
+
+<p>It is a lamentable fact that the majority of women and girls are
+ignorant of the structure of their most important organs. In the
+majority of schools and colleges where physiology is taught, absolutely
+nothing is mentioned about the reproductive organs. As far as books or
+instruction are concerned, the girl is ignorant of their very existence.
+If she knew something of the structure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> of such important organs and the
+harmful results of many practices or acts of carelessness affecting
+them, would she not be better prepared to take the proper care of
+herself and more liable to develop into a strong, healthy woman?</p>
+
+<p>If a girl in the business world is intrusted with a delicate piece of
+machinery she is taught the structure, use and care of it. Why is it not
+just as necessary that the girl, who is intrusted with the care of
+delicate organisms upon whose condition depends the health of the future
+generation, be instructed regarding the care of these organs? Instead,
+she is left in absolute ignorance and then blamed if she mars them.</p>
+
+<p>Every woman should have some knowledge of the structure and care of her
+body, especially of those parts which are concerned so intimately in the
+welfare of the future generation. Every woman, too, should receive some
+instruction regarding the care of young children and the proper
+management of the home. A woman who attempts to care for herself and her
+children without proper knowledge of these subjects is like a man who
+tries to run his business blindfolded.</p>
+
+<p>That thinking women are awakening to the fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> that they have been
+suffering unnecessarily and are realizing the necessity for more
+knowledge concerning the hygiene and physiology of their own bodies is
+shown by the fact that nearly every chapter in this book has been
+written in answer to questions asked by women readers of the author's
+magazine articles. With the hope that the plain facts herein set forth
+will aid some women to have healthier and happier lives and healthier
+and happier babies this series of talks has been written.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span></p>
+
+<p>[Blank Page]</p>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>Contents</h2>
+<div class="smcap">
+<table border="0" width="700" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<col style="width:20%;" />
+<col style="width:70%;" />
+<col style="width:10%;" />
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">I</td>
+  <td align="left">ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">9</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">II</td>
+  <td align="left">MENSTRUATION&mdash;PUBERTY&mdash;MENOPAUSE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">23</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">III</td>
+  <td align="left">DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">33</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">IV</td>
+  <td align="left">CONSTIPATION&mdash;HEMORRHOIDS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">47</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">V</td>
+  <td align="left">THE BLACK PLAGUES</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">55</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">VI</td>
+  <td align="left">FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">65</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">VII</td>
+  <td align="left">THE MARRIAGE RELATION</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">71</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">VIII</td>
+  <td align="left">EMBRYOLOGY&mdash;THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">81</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">IX</td>
+  <td align="left">ABORTIONS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">89</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">X</td>
+  <td align="left">MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS&mdash;HEREDITY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">97</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XI</td>
+  <td align="left">CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES&mdash;CAUSES OF STERILITY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">103</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XII</td>
+  <td align="left">PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">109</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XIII</td>
+  <td align="left">SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">115</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XIV</td>
+  <td align="left">THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">121</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XV</td>
+  <td align="left">WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">131</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XVI</td>
+  <td align="left">SELF-ABUSE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">137</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XVII</td>
+  <td align="left">EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">149</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XVIII</td>
+  <td align="left">FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">157</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XIX</td>
+  <td align="left">WHITE SLAVERY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">163</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XX</td>
+  <td align="left">THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">171</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XXI</td>
+  <td align="left">WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XXII</td>
+  <td align="left">HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD?</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">183</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XXIII</td>
+  <td align="left">WOMEN IN BUSINESS</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">189</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XXIV</td>
+  <td align="left">NERVOUSNESS&mdash;A LACK OF CONTROL</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">195</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="pr" align="right">XXV</td>
+  <td align="left">A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE</td>
+  <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">203</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<h2><a name="HERSELF" id="HERSELF"></a>HERSELF</h2>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2><h3>ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Before we can understand the care of anything we must have some
+knowledge of its structure; so I think it well, in this our first talk,
+that we should learn something of the structure of the female generative
+organs. As I have told some of you in former talks, the womb is designed
+as a nest for the babe during its process of development from the egg or
+ovule. It lies in the center of the pelvis, or lower part of the body
+cavity, in front of the rectum and behind and above the bladder. It is
+pear-shaped, with the small end downward, and is about three inches
+long, two inches wide and one inch thick. It consists of layers of
+muscles enclosing a cavity which, owing to the thickness of the walls,
+is comparatively small. This cavity is triangular in shape and has three
+openings,&mdash;one at the lower end or mouth of the womb into the vagina and
+one at each side, near the top, into the fallopian tubes. The womb, or
+uterus as it sometimes is called, is not firmly attached nor adherent to
+any of the bony parts. It is suspended in the pelvic cavity and kept in
+place by muscles and ligaments. As the muscles and ligaments are
+elastic, the womb slightly changes its position with different movements
+of the body. Normally, it is inclined forward, resting on the bladder;
+so you see, a full bladder will push it backward, while a full rectum
+and intestines tend to push it forward and downward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span></p>
+
+<div class='figcenter' style='width: 550px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="illus-001" id="illus-001"></a>
+<img src='images/image012.jpg' alt='GENERATIVE ORGANS.' title='' width = '551' height = '336'/><br />
+<span class='caption'>GENERATIVE ORGANS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span>The lower end or mouth of the womb opens into the vagina, a distensible
+and curved muscular tube, which helps to support the womb and also
+connects it with the external parts. The vagina is about three and a
+half inches long. It often is called the birth canal because the baby
+must pass through it on its way from the womb to the external world.</p>
+
+<p>The two upper openings of the womb lead into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> the fallopian tubes or
+oviducts, which are two small muscular tubes leading from the ovaries to
+the womb. Each one is about four inches long, but the opening through
+the center in its largest portion is only about as large as a broom
+straw, while near the womb it narrows down until it will admit only a
+fine bristle. When the ovum or seed leaves the ovary it must pass
+through one of these tubes to reach the womb, so you see how necessary
+it is that they be kept in good condition.</p>
+
+<p>From the end of each tube, but not directly connected with it, is
+suspended a small almond-shaped body called the ovary. Each ovary is
+similar in shape and size to an almond, measuring about one and a half
+inches in length, three-fourths of an inch in width and one-half an inch
+in thickness. The function or work of the ovaries is to produce, develop
+and mature the ova (eggs) and to discharge them when fully formed so
+they may enter the tubes and so find their way to the womb. In every
+ovary there are several hundred little ovules or eggs in various stages
+of development. At irregular intervals one of these ovules ripens and
+leaves the ovary. It passes along the fallopian tube to the womb. Here
+it remains if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> it is impregnated or fertilized, and develops into the
+babe. If not impregnated, it passes off with the menstrual flow. Every
+twenty-eight days large quantities of blood are sent to the womb,
+producing a natural congestion. The pressure of this extra blood in the
+tiny capillaries of the womb stretches and weakens their walls. This
+allows the blood, which is being sent to the womb to provide nourishment
+for the ovum if it be impregnated, to pass into the cavity of the womb,
+then out through the mouth into the vagina, thence to the external
+parts. This flow is called the menstrual flow. When the flow ceases the
+mucosa or lining assumes its former state. This process is repeated
+every month.</p>
+
+<div class='figcenter' style='width: 350px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="illus-002" id="illus-002"></a>
+<img src='images/image015.jpg' alt='1. Bladder 2. Urethra 3. Uterus 4. Vagina 5. Rectum 6. Peritoneum 7. Perineum VERTICAL SECTION OF PELVIS' title='' width = '350' height = '439'/><br />
+<span class='caption'>1. Bladder<br />2. Urethra<br />3. Uterus<br />4. Vagina<br />5. Rectum<br />6. Peritoneum<br />7. Perineum<br />VERTICAL SECTION OF PELVIS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span>Lining the cavity of the abdomen and also folded over the womb, ovaries,
+tubes and other organs is a thin membrane called the peritoneum. An
+inflammation of this lining is called peritonitis.</p>
+
+<p>All these organs I have mentioned are situated inside the body out of
+sight, but there are other organs that are external. You have noticed
+two longitudinal folds of skin extending from the anus, or external
+opening of the rectum, to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> rounded eminence in front. Their outer
+surface is covered with hair and their inner surface with glands that
+secrete a lubricating material. These folds are called the labia majora.
+Within the labia majora are two smaller folds called the labia minora.
+These folds meet at their anterior (front) end. At the meeting point you
+will notice a very small structure which is called the clitoris. This
+clitoris is very similar in structure to the penis of the male, having a
+tiny prepuce or foreskin which folds over to protect the sensitive end.
+Sometimes the foreskin is bound down too tightly, so that instead of
+being a protection to the parts, it becomes a source of irritation. Then
+we say the clitoris is hooded and it is necessary to loosen or cut this
+fold of skin. The operation is similar to that of circumcision in the
+male.</p>
+
+<p>Just back of the clitoris, within the folds of the labia, is situated
+the meatus urinarius, or opening leading to the bladder. This aperture
+does not open directly into the bladder but is connected to it by a
+tube, about an inch and a half long, called the urethra.</p>
+
+<p>The orifice or external opening of the vagina is situated just back of
+the meatus urinarius, also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> within the folds of the labia. In the virgin
+it is partly closed by a membranous fold called the hymen or maidenhead.
+The shape and size of the hymen varies greatly in different individuals,
+sometimes being entirely absent. After marriage it usually persists as
+notched folds. The presence of an intact hymen is not necessarily a sign
+of virginity, nor does its absence necessarily indicate defloration. Its
+congenital absence or absence at the time of birth is known. It
+sometimes is injured, or may be destroyed by an accident, as by falling
+astride of an object; again violent exercise may rupture it (horseback
+riding). Surgical operations or vaginal examinations, roughly conducted,
+not infrequently cause rupture. Then, too, authentic cases are on record
+in which prostitutes have had perfectly preserved hymens. It is well
+known that the use of vaginal astringents may tone up and narrow the
+vagina and even restore the hymen to a great degree.</p>
+
+<p>The surface between the vaginal orifice and the anus is called the
+perineum (Do not confuse this with the peritoneum, for they are entirely
+different). It is this perineum that sometimes becomes torn during
+childbirth. The vaginal opening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> does not always stretch sufficiently to
+allow the passage of the child's head and the great pressure being
+exerted on the child by the uterine and abdominal muscles pushes it
+through, causing the tear. (You will understand this better when I
+explain about the development and birth of the child.) If this tear is
+repaired immediately no inconvenience usually results but if it is
+neglected it may produce a series of complications, some of which are
+falling of the womb, inflammation and even sterility.</p>
+
+<p>Not directly connected with any of the other organs but still associated
+with them are the breasts. They vary in size at different periods of
+life, being usually of small size when the girl is young but increasing
+in size as the generative organs develop. The breasts consist of fatty
+tissue surrounding milk glands and ducts. During pregnancy they increase
+in size and become filled with milk. After the menopause (change of
+life) they ordinarily shrink in size. The ancient Greek statues, such as
+the Venus de Medici, long regarded as a type of perfect beauty, the
+Venus of Capua, regarded as the bust of a perfect form, show that the
+Grecian ideal of the feminine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> form had small busts. The modern idea
+seems to have wandered far from the Grecian ideal and many women devote
+much time and money trying to develop their busts. Perhaps sometime we
+will give up trying to be so artificial and conform to Nature's ideal.</p>
+
+<p>Nature has constructed the internal female organs so wisely that we
+seldom need give them much thought. But the external organs do need our
+attention every day. I told you that the labia secreted a lubricating
+material which kept the parts moist, but this secretion must not be
+allowed to accumulate. The scalp secretes an oil that is necessary to
+the health of the hair but if this and the perspiration are allowed to
+accumulate the hair has an offensive odor. So it is with the female
+organs, the parts must be bathed carefully every day. I have been
+surprised in the past to find how many intelligent women neglect these
+parts. Women come for an examination, their clothing is scrupulously
+clean, their bodies show recent care but in the folds of the labia,
+especially near the clitoris, I find an accumulation of a cheesy-like
+material which has an odor very offensive to any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> truly refined woman.
+Sometimes in public gatherings, I have been seated near a woman with
+this same offensive odor very noticeable, and I have longed to tell her
+how to avoid it, for I am sure others must notice the same odor. But
+even from a physician, in the privacy of the office, women resent any
+suggestion that they are not thorough in matters of cleanliness. Daily
+cleansing of these parts is a necessity. At least once a day these parts
+should be sponged carefully. The labia should be separated and every
+fold thoroughly cleansed. Occasional vaginal douches also are necessary,
+for the various secretions often are retained in the folds of the vagina
+and cause irritation. But in taking a douche one always should remember
+to have the water warm. Cold water may produce congestion. The virtue of
+douches (except when taken for medicinal purposes) lies in their
+cleansing properties and warm water cleanses even better than cold. Many
+women produce grave disorders by the use of cold douches under the
+mistaken notion that they are of greater value than hot ones. A douche
+should be taken at the close of the menstrual period especially.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These female organs should not be the source of worry but they do
+require as much or even more attention to cleanliness than we give to
+our mouths or other parts of the body.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2><h3>MENSTRUATION&mdash;PUBERTY&mdash;MENOPAUSE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The subject of menstruation seems to be troubling several of you. I am
+sorry that you did not all have the advantage of having this explained
+at an early age. You might have been saved a great deal of suffering and
+causeless worry.</p>
+
+<p>By menstruation, or "the monthlies" as it sometimes is called, is meant
+the monthly hemorrhage that takes place in the uterus or womb during the
+child-bearing period of the normal woman except during pregnancy and
+lactation, when it nearly always is suspended. The child-bearing period
+commences at the age of puberty and ends with the menopause (change of
+life).</p>
+
+<p>Puberty is the period of maturing of the sexual organs. It occurs about
+the age of twelve, although there may be considerable variation as to
+this. It extends over a period of several years. As a rule, girls mature
+earlier in warm climates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> than in cold and in cities than in country
+districts. The signs of the approach of this period are the growth of
+hair on the pubes and other parts of the body, the enlargement of the
+breasts, a general rounding and increased grace of the body, the
+development of the pelvis so that the hips become more prominent, and a
+change in the mental qualities of the child, the girl naturally becoming
+more retiring. The menstrual function usually is not established at
+once, there being premonitory symptoms of a vague nature. There may be,
+at first, only a slight discharge of mucus tinged with blood, later the
+normal menstrual flow will be established.</p>
+
+<p>During this period of puberty there are great changes taking place in
+the girl's internal organs. This change and development requires
+considerable of the girl's strength and naturally influences her nervous
+system. It is for this reason that a girl at this period of her life
+should not be subjected to any great exertion, either physical or
+mental. She should have plenty of light, healthful exercise in the open
+air, but should not indulge in any very violent exercise. A little care
+at this time often will save her years of suffering. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> the nervous
+system is greatly affected at this period there should be no great
+mental strain. In fact, if the girl shows many nervous symptoms, it may
+be wise to take her out of school for a year so that her strength may be
+used as Nature requires it. As a rule, too much work is required in
+school at this age. The school duties should be lessened and the girl
+allowed to rest a day or two during her menstrual period. The girl at
+this age should not attempt to accomplish as much work or study as the
+boy does. Her time at this period might better be occupied in learning
+the rudiments of housekeeping and home-making. Then, when her body has
+become developed, her strength can be spared and can be well used in the
+development of her mind. If the nervous strain too common at this age
+could be relieved we would have fewer nervous women and a healthier and
+happier posterity.</p>
+
+<p>As puberty approaches, a mother should give her daughter adequate
+information so that she should not be frightened at the first appearance
+of the menstrual flow, nor take any risks at this period. Menstruation
+is the sign of the possibility of motherhood. If properly taught this
+fact,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> every girl will be glad she menstruates and will want to be
+careful during the period. On account of lack of early instruction, many
+a girl obtains wrong ideas regarding this function and it produces in
+her a feeling of repugnance. She should be taught the reasons for
+observing prudence during the menstrual period. The possible lifelong
+invalidism that may result should be pointed out. A woman owes it to
+herself to take good care of herself during her menstrual periods. For
+two or three days at least she should avoid any unnecessary strain, lie
+down and rest as much as possible and not worry over school or other
+duties. Especial attention should be paid to cleanliness during this
+period. A sponge bath taken in a warm room is not injurious and
+unpleasant odors can be avoided by sponging the parts with a warm
+antiseptic solution upon changing the cloth. Every woman should be
+provided with a circular girdle cut upon the bias so it may be elastic,
+and provided with tabs to which to pin the folded cloth. She also should
+have a supply of sanitary cloths made of absorbent cotton-fabric, or
+pads made of absorbent cotton enclosed in gauze. The latter especially
+are convenient for the girl who is obliged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> to room away from home, for
+they may be burned and the cost of new ones is no greater than the
+laundry of cloths. These pads or cloths should be changed at least twice
+a day. It also is necessary that one should bathe the parts in warm
+water with each change, as unpleasant odors can thereby be avoided. At
+the close of each period she should take a bath and change all clothing.
+One cannot be too careful about these matters so essential to
+cleanliness. It is surprising how many women neglect these important
+matters. The erroneous idea that bathing of any sort at this time may
+have disastrous results accounts for much of this neglect. If proper
+care is taken warm sponge baths cannot be injurious.</p>
+
+<p>A woman in normal health should not suffer at the menstrual period. She
+normally will have a feeling of lassitude and disinclination for any
+great mental or physical work, perhaps accompanied by a slight feeling
+of uneasiness in the pelvic region. Because so many women do suffer at
+these periods it often is considered as "natural" and allowed to
+continue.</p>
+
+<p>The phenomena often noted at the menstrual period are,&mdash;pains in various
+parts of the body,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> hot flashes, chilliness and various hysterical
+symptoms. A few days before menstruation commences there may be various
+nervous symptoms, as irritability and a disinclination for any exertion.
+Dark circles often appear under the eyes and the breasts become enlarged
+and painful. A sense of fullness and oppression may be felt in the head.</p>
+
+<p>Any severe pain or profuse flow during the period or a discharge between
+periods indicates a weakened or diseased condition and should not be
+neglected, for it sooner or later will affect the whole system. A woman
+suffering from female diseases not only is unable to perform her work in
+a normal manner but the pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and drawn
+haggard look which accompany these conditions rob her of her charm of
+physical excellence.</p>
+
+<p>The menstrual flow appears, as a rule, every twenty-eight days, although
+the length of time varies with the individual. The average duration is
+five days, but varies from three to seven. The flow consists of blood
+from the uterine mucosa (lining of the womb) together with small
+quantities of mucus. The color generally is dark at first while later it
+becomes more pale. Women in poor health<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> often have a pale discharge.
+There always is a faint odor to the menstrual flow, which has been
+likened to the odor of marigolds. The quantity varies with the
+individual. Usually fleshy girls flow more than thin ones and dark
+complexioned ones than light ones. The average quantity is four to six
+fluid ounces. The time between the periods is required by the uterus or
+womb to first restore the lining and then prepare it for the reception
+of the ovum. Every month one or more ova (eggs) leave the ovary, pass to
+the uterus and, if not impregnated, pass off with the menstrual flow.
+The material prepared for the reception of the ovum is used to nourish
+the new life if pregnancy occurs, but when it does not, this surplus
+passes off in the form of the menstrual flow.</p>
+
+<p>The menopause or change of life is the end of the child-bearing period
+of a woman's life. The average age at which it occurs is forty-six,
+although there is a great difference as to this. In some women it has
+been known to occur as early as the thirtieth year, while in others it
+does not come until the fifty-fifth year. As a rule, a woman who
+commences to menstruate at an early age continues to do so until a late
+age, while with a woman who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> commences to menstruate late, the change
+comes early. At this period of a woman's life, there are numerous
+changes taking place in the body. The ovaries and uterus atrophy or
+shrink in size, and cease to functionate. The nervous system is being
+readjusted to meet the changed conditions. One symptom of the approach
+of this period is irregularity in menstruation; sometimes several
+periods are missed, then the menstrual flow appears normally for several
+months and then disappears again. Often the woman complains of hot
+flashes, cramps in the limbs and other parts of the body. These are
+caused by the attempts to readjust the nervous system to the altered
+conditions. A great many women worry unnecessarily, for there is no
+especial danger at this time unless the body has been neglected
+previously and a diseased condition is present. But the body needs a
+little extra care, just as it did at puberty. So many women break down
+their health by worrying at this period over what might happen. The best
+plan for every woman, as soon as she perceives the approach of this
+period, is to go to a reliable physician and have a thorough
+examination. Then if there are any neglected tears or chronic
+inflammations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> they can be corrected and danger removed. If a person
+were to cross a deep lake and had any doubts regarding the worthiness of
+the vessel provided for his use, he would be very foolish if he did not
+have a trained boat-builder examine his vessel and repair any weak
+places. It is just as important for a woman about to cross this period
+of her life to go to a trained repairer of bodies and have him correct
+any weak places.</p>
+
+<p>The various changes taking place consume so much of the woman's strength
+that she requires an extra amount of rest and cannot use up as much
+energy in working as at other periods of her life. The ordinary woman
+does not realize the need of extra rest during this period and so
+continues her usual work. Then the extra drain on her nervous system
+shows itself in various forms. The disturbances sometimes are productive
+of so much discomfort and so often are exaggerated beyond physiological
+limits that the patient is impelled to seek relief and often requires a
+physician's attention. Puberty or the period of development extends over
+several years, so the menopause or period of atrophy extends over a
+period of from three to five years. If a woman relaxes and allows<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> the
+changes to proceed naturally she need have no cause to worry, but she
+must remember that rest from continual strain is necessary during this
+period. Freedom from care, relaxation of physical and mental effort,
+regular periods of complete rest once or twice a day, a reduction of the
+diet and regulation of the bowels should be the first principles of
+treatment. Then&mdash;do not worry but occupy the mind with happy thoughts.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2><h3>DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>So much of the suffering among women is unnecessary, being due to the
+neglect of the little things, so much ill health can be relieved by
+attention to a few simple hygienic measures, that I think it wise to
+describe some of the most common disorders of the female organs, and to
+explain their symptoms so that you would not ignorantly neglect them, if
+you should be so unfortunate as to contract any.</p>
+
+<p>The most common diseases of the female organs may be classed as
+displacements, inflammations and tumors.</p>
+
+<p>On account of its lack of strong attachment, the womb is very easily
+displaced. When from any cause the womb is congested and heavy the extra
+weight stretches the supporting muscles and ligaments, which then allow
+it to fall out of place. It also may be displaced by a sudden fall, by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>
+jumping or other strenuous exercise. As the womb normally is heavier at
+the menstrual period than at any other time and as there is a natural
+congestion then, it is more easily displaced at that time than during
+any other part of the month. This is one reason why one should be
+careful not to take strenuous exercise at the menstrual period.</p>
+
+<p>The most common displacement, or the most common way for the womb to
+tip, is backwards and at the same time it usually falls downward. You
+remember, the rectum is directly back of the womb, so, if the womb is
+tipped backwards, it presses against the rectum. This tends to prevent
+the feces, or bowel movement, from passing out naturally and helps to
+produce constipation. The womb, pressing against the rectum, also
+presses on the blood vessels which are very numerous there. This
+pressure on the blood vessels prevents the blood from leaving them. If
+it is held there, it causes the blood vessels to dilate in order to be
+large enough to contain it. We call this enlarged portion of the vein a
+blood tumor. These tumors or dilated blood vessels of the rectum are
+called hemorrhoids or piles. I will explain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> these more thoroughly when
+I talk to you about constipation.</p>
+
+<p>The womb may tip forward, pressing on the bladder and causing a frequent
+desire to urinate. More rarely it is tipped to one side. It then tends
+to pull on the ovaries and produce pain and various nervous symptoms.</p>
+
+<p>The womb may fall downward, pressing against both the bladder and rectum
+and dragging the ovaries and tubes out of their natural positions.
+Sometimes it even protrudes from the vagina. Any falling or displacement
+of the womb pulls on the tubes and ovaries, often producing an
+inflammation. This inflammation should not be allowed to continue, as it
+may become serious, even extending to the peritoneum and producing
+peritonitis. The nerves of the uterus are very closely connected with
+the spinal nerves, therefore, any displacement reacts through them and
+may produce headache and backache, which are the common accompaniments
+of any uterine disorder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span></p>
+
+<div class='figcenter' style='width: 547px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="illus-003" id="illus-003"></a>
+<img src='images/image036.jpg' alt='KNEE-CHEST POSITION' title='' width = '547' height = '308'/><br />
+<span class='caption'>KNEE-CHEST POSITION</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span>One of the most simple and yet efficacious treatments to correct a
+displacement downward and backward is to assume the knee-chest position
+for a few moments morning and evening after the clothing has been
+removed. In the knee-chest position, the patient kneels on the bed, then
+bends forward until her chest touches the bed; the back slopes down and
+the thighs should be at right angles with the bed. This position allows
+the various organs to fall forward and toward the upper part of the
+body, the pressure on the uterus is relieved and it assumes its natural
+position. This treatment, persisted in, will relieve nearly every case
+which has not some other disorder connected with it. If every woman
+would assume this position for a few minutes once or twice a week, just
+before retiring, she would be greatly benefited; for the majority of
+women have a slight falling of the womb, which then presses on the
+rectal and other nerves causing various nervous symptoms.</p>
+
+<p>The womb and ovaries are surrounded by a dense network of nerves and
+blood vessels, making them very liable to congestion. Tight clothing or
+improperly fitted clothing causes pressure and interferes with the
+circulation. I believe that a large percentage of the objections to the
+corset originated from women wearing improperly fitted corsets which
+pushed the organs out of place. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> corset fitted to the wearer is not
+injurious and serves as a support. Overwork, catching cold and excesses
+may produce a congestion which is one stage of inflammation. The most
+common symptoms of inflammation of the womb are pain in the pelvic
+region, a dull backache, especially across the hips, and a vaginal
+discharge called leucorrh&oelig;a (whites). Any leucorrh&oelig;a shows a
+disordered condition which should be corrected. It may be simply of a
+catarrhal nature, due to pressure or cold, or it may indicate a more
+serious condition, as the presence of one of the black plagues. Whenever
+a woman notices a vaginal discharge, it is a wise plan to go at once to
+a reliable physician, find out what is the cause and nature and then
+take measures to correct it. In the beginning a very little treatment,
+such as hot douches, may be all that is required, while if untreated the
+condition may become serious, as you will understand when I explain
+about the black plagues.</p>
+
+<p>Any disorder of the uterus or ovaries reacts through the nerves upon
+other parts of the body and may produce various symptoms such as general
+weakness, headaches and backaches.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> This drain on the system often is
+shown by dark circles under the eyes, pale skin and a drawn, haggard
+expression. All these tend to rob a woman of her charm of physical
+excellence, and none of us wish to lose that; for it is natural for all
+women to wish to appear attractive.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most common of the so-called female disorders, which seems to
+be the lot of the majority of women, is dysmenorrh&oelig;a or painful
+menstruation. This is not a disease in itself, but the symptom of
+various disorders. A woman in normal health should not suffer at her
+menstrual period; so if she does suffer it shows there is something
+wrong. The natural thing for anyone to do who had dysmenorrh&oelig;a would
+be first to find the cause of this pain and then take measures to
+correct it. It may be due to displacements, inflammations or tumors; it
+may be due to a contraction of the mouth of the womb which does not
+dilate sufficiently to allow the menstrual discharge to flow freely. It
+may be due to neuralgia or rheumatism of the uterus or ovaries. Pain
+always indicates an unnatural condition. It is the cry of tortured
+nerves. The cause should be determined by a competent physician and
+then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> measures taken immediately to restore the normal condition.</p>
+
+<p>One who suffers from dysmenorrh&oelig;a should try to plan her work so that
+she may rest the first day of her menstrual period, and, if possible,
+the preceding day. Absolute rest in bed at this time is beneficial. A
+hot sitz bath, hot foot bath or hot vaginal douche taken just previous
+to the commencement of the period will aid in relieving the congestion
+and thus lessen the pain. After the flow has started hot foot baths and
+hot applications to the abdomen may be used. Hot drinks also may be
+taken, but one should not get in the habit of using any drug at this
+time. Hot ginger tea will do as much good as one prepared with some
+habit-forming drug. Many of the remedies advertised as a cure for this
+condition are composed chiefly of alcohol, and, although they may give a
+temporary relief, the benefit is not permanent. Careful attention to
+diet and exercise, with regular hours of sleep, are essential points to
+be considered if one would be free from this disagreeable trouble.</p>
+
+<p>Another symptom which often causes much alarm to the patient is
+amenorrh&oelig;a or deficient or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> scanty menstruation. This may result from
+fear, worry, catching cold or to an enlargement of the womb. It also is
+one of the first symptoms of pregnancy. Sometimes it indicates an
+impoverished condition of the blood and shows the need of a general
+building up of the system. This is true especially in young girls who
+have what is called chlorosis or green sickness. These girls are pale,
+weak, sometimes having a greenish cast to their complexions. They need
+good care and nourishing food and plenty of light, outdoor exercise.</p>
+
+<p>In young girls I sometimes find an irritation of the vagina which causes
+pain. This may be due to the retention of secretions in the vagina. The
+general idea that only married women have leucorrh&oelig;a, or whites, is
+fallacious. Virgins may have it. The usual cause is catching cold at the
+menstrual period. Another delusion is that these girls should not take
+douches for fear they might injure the hymen. This is erroneous, for
+douches are necessary in the treatment of this condition and, except in
+very rare cases, a douche can be taken with an especially small douche
+point without injury to the parts. There normally must be a small
+opening in the hymen to permit the passage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> of the menstrual flow. If a
+small douche point is used no harm will result.</p>
+
+<p>When I talked to you about the structure of the external generative
+organs, I mentioned the clitoris and explained that sometimes the
+prepuce or foreskin is bound down, or is too tight, so that the natural
+secretions are retained under it and produce an irritation; that the
+operation for the unhooding of the clitoris is very similiar to that of
+circumcision in the male and is performed for similar causes. Many a
+woman who has been nervous all her life, owes her condition to a hooded
+clitoris, which a very simple operation would correct. A hooded clitoris
+also may have something to do with the immoral life of some girls. The
+other day I received a letter from an aged physician who, in discussing
+the tendency to immoral practices, says: "You say in one of your
+articles, 'What is the remedy? Educate!' Well, perhaps, but if you would
+let me circumcise the girl early in life, I believe it would be more
+certain." There is considerable truth in his statement. A hooded
+clitoris produces a constant irritation which tends to lead to habits of
+self-abuse and perhaps immorality.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The other common disorder which I named at first is a tumor. Tumors are
+any unnatural growth. They may form in any part of the body, but just
+now we will speak only of those affecting the internal female organs.
+Tumors may form in the cavity of the womb, in its walls or on the
+outside of it. The common symptoms are an enlargement of the abdomen
+accompanied usually by pain due to pressure on the nerves. There also
+may be some hemorrhage at other than the regular menstrual periods.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the ovaries are diseased and become enlarged, tender and
+filled with fluid. Then they are spoken of as cystic tumors or as cysts.
+The tubes may become inflamed and filled with pus. The most common cause
+of these pus tubes is one of the black plagues. With all these tumors
+the treatment usually is to remove the tumor and sometimes the entire
+organ. In a few cases it is possible that the fluid or other contents of
+the tumor may be absorbed, if the general health and circulation are
+improved. In some cases we find what is called a phantom tumor. There
+really is no tumor, although the symptoms may be such that even reliable
+physicians are misled. The symptoms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> are due to a nervous condition.
+These phantom tumors have given many a quack a reputation for removing
+tumors without the use of the knife.</p>
+
+<p>A carcinoma or cancer is a malignant tumor, that is, one that tends to
+grow worse and to reappear if it apparently is removed. The reappearance
+may be in the same place or in an entirely different portion of the
+body. Cancer of the uterus is not uncommon in women. It frequently
+follows neglect of some injury. For example, it will appear on the site
+of an unrepaired tear. It most commonly comes after the menopause. The
+change that is undergone at that time seems to stir things up and bring
+to light any neglected injury. This is another reason why every woman at
+the menopause should undergo a thorough examination and have any defect
+repaired, thus avoiding much of the possibility of trouble. A frequent
+symptom of carcinoma of the uterus is hemorrhage at irregular times
+after the menopause. Any woman who has such a condition would be wise if
+she immediately repaired to a physician and determined the cause of the
+hemorrhage. In the beginning it is possible to remove a cancer, but
+later it becomes so involved in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> the surrounding structures that its
+removal is impossible.</p>
+
+<p>You may think I am trying to increase business for the physicians but in
+reality my advice, if taken, would lessen their practice. It is another
+application of "a stitch in time saves nine." In the beginning almost
+all these diseases can be corrected with very little trouble, while if
+neglected the process is much slower. The probabilities are that the
+doctor will have the case later, if not consulted early, but instead of
+a few office treatments he will have an expensive operation. So, you
+see, I really am trying to save you doctors' bills when I urge early and
+thorough examinations. There is a peculiar thing about the human race. A
+machine will get out of order and the owner will send for an expert
+machinist to repair it&mdash;not attempting to patch it up himself. But when
+these bodies of ours, the most wonderful and complicated of machines,
+get out of repair we try to patch them up ourselves or try various
+remedies recommended by those who know worse than nothing about the
+physical machinery. Then we think we are saving doctors' bills, when at
+the same time we are spending twice as much on questionable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span>
+repairs&mdash;patent medicines, which often do more harm than good.
+Frequently they contain stimulants which produce a mythical improvement
+but leave the system worse off than before.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2><h3>CONSTIPATION&mdash;HEMORRHOIDS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A regular daily movement of the bowels is necessary to health. Much of
+the illness in the world might have been avoided if the victims had
+taken better care of the excretory organs. One of the first questions a
+physician asks a patient is, "How are your bowels, do they move
+regularly every day?" In some cases that is the first time the patient
+has thought of them, and he has to think some time before he can
+remember just when and how often his bowels did move. Then perhaps he is
+not sure. In a great many cases it is a routine practice with physicians
+to give a "good cleaning out," that is, to give a thorough laxative.
+Many times this is all the treatment required and in other cases it only
+is combined with a little intestinal antiseptic to further carry out the
+cleaning process.</p>
+
+<p>The most common cause of constipation is irregularity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> in going to the
+toilet. When the desire for defecation comes, we are too busy and
+postpone it until some more convenient time, which time may be too late.
+Nature is the best judge as to when the bowels are ready to be emptied.
+If we do not obey her call, we must take the consequences. When the
+waste material is ready to be voided, it is in a semi-fluid state, but,
+if it remains in the intestines too long the water is absorbed and the
+waste material is left in a hard mass which is expelled with difficulty.
+Not only that, but the desire to expel it soon passes. Nature, finding
+we do not respond to her call, ceases to notify us.</p>
+
+<p>If the waste material is allowed to remain in the bowels, not only the
+water is absorbed but with it some of the poisons from the waste
+material, which are taken up by the blood and carried to all parts of
+the system, causing a great deal of trouble and pain. This absorption of
+toxins (poisons) causes headache, loss of appetite, a sense of
+depression and a lack of energy.</p>
+
+<p>The pressure of the hard material on the tender tissues of the rectum
+causes hemorrhoids or piles, by irritating the tissues and causing a
+congestion. Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins which have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> so irritated
+and filled with extra blood that they have lost their power to contract.
+These enlarged veins may remain inside the rectum and then are known as
+internal piles. Sometimes they protrude externally and then are known as
+external piles. Frequently they become tender and cause a great deal of
+pain. In some cases one of the little veins becomes so engorged with
+blood that it bursts and allows the contained blood to escape. This is
+known as bleeding piles. For mild cases of hemorrhoids (piles) the
+treatment is to correct the accompanying constipation, then take an
+enema or injection of warm water morning and evening, using the water as
+hot as can be borne and allowing it to run in and out the rectum for
+some time. Following this, an astringent and soothing lotion should be
+applied.</p>
+
+<p>Constipation may be caused by retroversion of the uterus. If the uterus
+is tipped backwards it presses on the rectum, preventing the passage of
+the feces (bowel movement). This pressure also causes hemorrhoids. In
+this case the treatment is to correct the displacement. In many cases
+all that is necessary is to take the knee-chest position for a few
+minutes night and morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Always in the treatment of constipation, the first item is to discover
+the cause. We have noted that the chief cause is irregularity in going
+to the toilet, therefore, the first measure to be taken in the treatment
+is regularity in going to the toilet. Choose a convenient hour, usually
+right after breakfast, and always go to the toilet at that time no
+matter if there is a desire or not. At first there may be no natural
+movement but if you persist, your efforts will be rewarded. For the
+first few days it is well to take an enema of warm, soapy water at this
+time. Every day take exercise that will strengthen the muscles of the
+abdomen. Bending forward and touching the toes with the fingers without
+bending the knees is one valuable exercise. This should be done ten or
+twelve times morning and evening. A daily brisk walk in the fresh air is
+another good exercise. Fruit or figs eaten with the meals or a glass of
+water taken before breakfast and upon retiring often proves very
+beneficial in relieving a tendency to constipation. There is an old
+saying, "An apple or two before going to bed, and the doctor will go
+begging for his bread." This really is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> practical idea and more nearly
+true than many old sayings.</p>
+
+<p>Cathartics or laxatives should not be taken except for an occasional
+dose or during illness upon the advice of a physician. So common is the
+practice of taking daily laxatives that it has become a "national
+curse"! People do not realize that they are slaves to this habit, so
+they continue to take their daily doses of "teas" or "waters." In many
+cases a patient will tell his physician that his bowels are "all right,"
+that they move every day. Further questionings reveal the fact that he
+is in the habit of taking some laxative frequently. The bowels are not
+"all right" if any laxative is required.</p>
+
+<p>Massage of the abdomen usually is very beneficial in treating
+constipation. It acts by stimulating the muscles and should be given at
+set times in the day but never until two hours after any meal. The
+various vibrators act in the same manner as massage. In any massage of
+the abdomen the thighs should be flexed, as this relaxes the abdominal
+muscles.</p>
+
+<p>Enemas or injections of warm water may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> taken occasionally and then
+are beneficial, but if long continued are injurious by reason of their
+irritating effect. At times, when the stomach and intestines have been
+over-loaded with irritating material, an enema is one of the quickest
+measures for relief. In obstinate constipation two or three ounces of
+warm olive oil injected slowly into the rectum at night and allowed to
+remain until morning will soften the waste material so it can be
+evacuated easily in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Constipation never should be neglected as it carries in its train a long
+line of disorders, as hemorrhoids (piles), abscesses, and intestinal
+obstruction.</p>
+
+<p>Indigestion and constipation frequently are bosom friends. How often
+indigestion is a result of nervous strain is perhaps seldom realized. A
+business man eats his lunch and other meals in a hurry, with his mind on
+his business. His energies are being consumed by his brain and very
+little is left to be used in the digestion of his food. One never should
+eat when tired and nervous. Take a few moments' absolute rest before
+meals. If possible lie down and relax all muscles for a few moments.
+Then eat your meal slowly and if possible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> have some pleasant companion
+who will talk with you on subjects not connected with your business
+cares. You will be surprised to note the improvement in your digestion
+and incidentally in your tendency to constipation.</p>
+
+<p>For the noon meal, office workers should eat only light and easily
+digested food. Eat your heaviest meal after the work for the day is
+finished and the blood which has been required by the brain can be
+spared to the stomach. People doing manual labor that requires physical
+strength need, and can digest, a heavy noonday meal but the requirements
+of the brain workers are quite different.</p>
+
+<p>Many girls break down on account of lack of sufficient nourishment.
+Coffee and rolls for breakfast, ice cream and rolls for lunch and a
+sandwich and coffee for dinner is not sufficient food for any working
+girl. And yet that is about the diet of hundreds of girls. Often it is
+impossible for her to provide more, for when a girl must pay for her
+board, room, clothes and laundry from her salary of five or six dollars
+a week, sufficient food becomes an impossibility. Many girls actually
+are slowly starving on this account. When the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> wheels of progress make
+it possible for every working girl to have a comfortable home and
+sufficient nourishing food many of the social problems will right
+themselves.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2><h3>THE BLACK PLAGUES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>I promised to explain to you what I meant by the black plagues. It is
+strange when anything is as widely spread as are these diseases that so
+few people know anything about them, or realize their importance. At one
+time epidemics of typhoid fever were regarded as a revelation of the
+wrath of God. Now we know they are due to carelessness and lack of
+sanitation. It is the same with the sufferings of women. We used to
+think it was a dispensation of Providence if a woman were compelled to
+undergo an operation. Now we know it usually is due to someone's lack of
+care, to a desecration of Nature's teachings.</p>
+
+<p>I remember when I was quite young hearing mention made of a "bad
+disease." Concerning the nature of this disease I was ignorant but I
+gathered the idea that it was some terrible disease which was contracted
+only by the most depraved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> of mortals. How little I suspected its
+widely-spread distribution, and how little I dreamed that among my
+acquaintances might be any afflicted with these diseases! nor did I
+dream of the danger of innocent contagion. Since then I have learned
+what these diseases were. Now we call them the black plagues, because,
+owing to the prejudice of the majority, we dare not use their correct
+names generally. I have no doubt you will be as surprised and shocked as
+I was at the things I am going to impart to you.</p>
+
+<p>By black plagues we mean the two diseases spoken of by physicians as the
+venereal diseases, because they usually are contracted during sexual
+intercourse.</p>
+
+<p>The most common of these diseases is gonorrh&oelig;a, or clap, as it often
+is called by men. How common it is may be judged by a statement made by
+a professor to his class in the medical college that at least eighty per
+cent. of the men in the world have contracted it sometime during their
+lives. Even the most conservative give the estimate as sixty per cent.</p>
+
+<p>The prevalent idea common among men that it is no worse than a cold&mdash;a
+mere annoyance that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> all men must expect and endure sometime&mdash;is
+lamentable. The persistence of the disease in the deeper structures long
+after it outwardly is cured leads to unexpected communication of it to
+women, among whom may be the young wife. As a result she enters upon a
+period of ill-health that ultimately may compel the mutilation of her
+body by a surgical operation to save her life. Much of the surgery
+performed upon the female organs has been rendered necessary by disease
+contracted from the husband.</p>
+
+<p>A few little germs of this disease left on even the external organs may
+find their way up through the vagina to the uterus or womb. Here they
+may produce an inflammation of the lining of the womb, causing severe
+pain and other symptoms, such as profuse discharge. The germs may go
+farther, or the inflammation may extend from the uterus to the tubes.
+When we consider that the passage through the tubes is only about as
+large as a broom straw, we see what serious trouble may result. The
+tubes become enlarged and filled with pus. The opening from the tubes to
+the uterus becomes closed, so there is no way for the pus to escape. The
+accumulation of pus or the products<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> of septic inflammation stretch the
+walls of the tubes until the little nerves in the walls cry out in
+rebellion. The pain becomes so great and the reflex symptoms are so
+aggravated that finally the woman resorts to the only relief,&mdash;an
+operation for the removal of the tubes.</p>
+
+<p>When we consider that the ovule, the human egg, must travel through
+these tubes to reach the uterus and, if they are destroyed, has no other
+way of reaching the womb and, if it cannot reach the womb and be
+impregnated, cannot develop into the babe, then we realize how this
+disease is dooming women to childless lives,&mdash;women whose natural
+instincts and desires cry out for motherhood. When we consider the
+factors that promote race suicide we must not forget this important one.
+Even though the woman refuses an operation, or in a case in which the
+inflammation is not so severe and is reduced until she is nearly free
+from pain, the result may be the same, for the tubes may remain closed
+permanently.</p>
+
+<p>The closure of the tubes is not the only result that may follow the
+course of this disease. The infection may extend into the peritoneal
+cavity causing peritonitis, which so often results in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> untimely
+death of the woman. Here let me say that not all cases of peritonitis or
+of inflammation of the womb, tubes or ovaries are due to this infection.
+There are other infections, other germs, that may produce similar
+results. These germs may reach the organs in various ways. Sometimes the
+woman herself is to blame and sometimes we can blame no one.
+Inflammation of these organs may result from pressure of clothing,
+colds, excitement, overwork, pregnancies, excesses or neglect. The
+inflammation may spread to these organs from an inflamed appendix or
+other neighboring organs.</p>
+
+<p>Supposing, though, following this disease the tubes are not entirely
+closed and the woman becomes pregnant. There is still the danger that
+during labor the baby's eyes will become infected and may become
+permanently blind. It is estimated that seventy per cent. of the
+blindness in the world has this cause. How does this produce blindness?
+Some few germs of this disease have remained in the vagina or birth
+canal and as the baby passes along the canal they enter its eyes. They
+are so very strong and work so rapidly that they can cause total
+blindness within three days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> This fact is so well known by physicians
+that at the present time all reliable physicians pay especial attention
+to the newborn baby's eyes, cleansing them with an antiseptic solution
+immediately after birth. This precaution doubtless has saved the eyes of
+thousands of babies. This is one of the reasons why it is dangerous to
+employ an uneducated person at the time of labor. Even though she may
+have assisted at hundreds of births yet often she is ignorant of the
+many dangers and of the precautions that should be taken in every case.</p>
+
+<p>Even adults may become blind from this infection. The disease is carried
+to the eyes by polluted fingers or towels. In a few hours the eyes
+become inflamed, pus forms, and unless heroic measures are taken, the
+eyesight is soon destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>In female children the vagina may become infected through the use of
+tainted sponges, wash cloths, etc. An innocent girl may thus carelessly
+acquire the disease. For this reason, we see how necessary it is to
+caution girls never to use public towels or wash cloths that have been
+used by another person. Even in the home, every member of the family
+should have his exclusive towel and wash cloth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The symptoms of gonorrh&oelig;a that often are noted first are a profuse
+discharge from the vagina, usually creamy or yellowish in color. This
+discharge is of such a nature that frequently it excoriates the external
+parts so that they become very tender and inflamed. Backache, especially
+across the hips, is a common accompaniment of this disease. There may be
+general soreness in the pelvic region. If a woman suspects she has
+contracted this disease, she should go immediately to some reliable
+physician; for at first the disease may affect only the vagina but, if
+neglected, may extend to the uterus and tubes. In its early stages it
+may be cured by prompt treatment, but the majority of women postpone
+treatment until it is too late.</p>
+
+<p>The other loathsome disease, syphilis, infects the blood and therefore
+all parts of the body. While under proper treatment it is not dangerous
+to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of conveying the
+contagion are numerous. In the second stage, which lasts for a number of
+weeks, the mucous patches in the mouth are a source of danger. In this
+stage the disease may be conveyed by a kiss or through the medium of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> public drinking cup, towel, or anything that comes in contact with
+the virus. It may be contracted by a babe from a wet-nurse or the nurse
+may contract it from the babe.</p>
+
+<p>The most serious results of this disease appear years after its initial
+appearance, when the individual has been lulled into a false sense of
+security by long freedom from its outward symptoms. Many of the obscure
+cases of stomach or nerve trouble may be traced to this disease. The
+results not only affect the man, but, should he marry and have children,
+his innocent babes may come into the world with an inherited taint.
+These children seldom live to reach adult life and their lives usually
+are burdensome and full of misery. They may be deformed or be
+continually afflicted with ulcers or other horrible manifestations of
+the disease. I will explain this more thoroughly when I speak of
+heredity.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the disastrous effects of these diseases might have been
+prevented if they had been properly treated in their early stages.
+Ignorance as to the nature and probable disastrous effects, if
+neglected, prevents many a person from procuring proper treatment. It is
+a common practice among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> men afflicted with these diseases to try
+various remedies recommended by their friends or by the druggist. It is
+strange that a person who would not think of trying to treat himself for
+smallpox or other contagious disease will do so with these diseases.
+With women, the cause of their neglect is a failure to realize the
+importance of the symptoms. Unfortunately women have grown to think that
+various female ills are their lot in life which must be endured and
+regarded as a dispensation of Providence instead of being considered an
+error in living that must be corrected the same as any other disease.
+Some commence treatment but neglect it as soon as the noticeable
+symptoms have disappeared. It generally is considered among physicians
+that the treatment of syphilis should be continued for at least three
+years after contracting the disease in order to remove all traces from
+the blood.</p>
+
+<p>It is a deplorable fact that the prevalence of these diseases might have
+been prevented by proper instruction of young boys. No man ever
+willfully contracted one of these diseases. Statistics tell us that the
+majority of victims contract them before their twentieth year, before
+the boy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> has learned anything of their dangers or perhaps of their
+existence. If these patients received the right treatment immediately
+and continued it until the disease had been eradicated the results would
+have been less serious. Here, too, lack of early and proper instruction
+is shown; for these immature boys do not realize the necessity for
+prompt and wise treatment, or are misled by unscrupulous persons. I
+shall talk to you again on this subject, for many of you will have sons
+and you must know the dangers that beset them, so they can be prepared.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2><h3>FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>One young lady wrote me, "Recently I read that imperfectly developed
+ovaries might be a reason why some women do not have children. I have
+the symptoms which the article said indicated imperfect development.
+Does this necessarily mean that I never can have a baby? I seem to be
+healthy. I am twenty-one years old. I was to have been married in three
+months but now I do not know what to do. 'My boy' loves children as I
+do. It seems as though I cannot give him up, yet it surely is not
+honorable to marry him if I find that I never will have a little one,
+without telling him. Please tell me what to do."</p>
+
+<p>The probabilities are that this girl's ovaries are perfectly normal and
+that the article mentioned was an advertisement of some medical house
+which, by misleading statements, endeavors to induce women to take their
+treatment. There are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> many women who suffer a great deal mentally, and
+this in turn reflects on their physical health because of just such
+articles.</p>
+
+<p>It has been said that we are a nation of dupes and the advertisements
+carried in some of the papers would indicate the truth of this
+statement. No manufacturer is going to advertise anything that does not
+sell well and bring a considerable profit. Men are not so altruistic as
+to be in business just for the good of humanity. The majority are in
+business for the money to be obtained from it. Somehow, women are very
+susceptible to the arts of these greedy manufacturers. A company
+commences to make a patent medicine and then, in order to derive any
+profits from the investment, large quantities of the preparation must be
+sold. In order to accomplish this they must convince possible buyers of
+their need of this particular treatment. The company employs an agent to
+write an advertisement, perhaps in the shape of an article purporting to
+be written by someone much interested in the human race. This
+advertisement or article describes some disease which may be cured by
+this one remedy. As there might not be enough people who know they have
+this given disease<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> to make a profit for the manufacturer, it becomes
+his business to convince others that they have this disease. Therefore,
+he proceeds to enumerate a great many symptoms which he says indicate
+this disease. Perhaps they might! But they are just as likely to
+indicate any one of half a dozen other things. He details enough
+symptoms so that some are recognized by nearly every woman as relating
+to her condition, so she jumps to the conclusion that she has that
+certain disease and buys a bottle of the medicine.</p>
+
+<p>If you will study the large medical advertisements that appeal
+especially to women you will notice that they all have certain symptoms
+enumerated. No matter if the remedy advertised is for the kidneys, the
+bowels, or exclusively for women, the same symptoms are claimed to
+indicate the need of that certain remedy. One of the symptoms most
+commonly given is backache. Of course! For nearly every person has a
+backache at some time. It may be due to a strain, to rheumatism of the
+lumbar muscles (lumbago), to constipation, to a displacement, or to
+numerous other conditions. No one can tell the cause who is not properly
+prepared to do so and who is not fully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> acquainted with the physical
+condition. The sewing machine runs hard and perhaps makes a noise. It
+requires a mechanic who is familiar with the mechanism of the machine to
+find the cause of the trouble. So it is with the human body. It requires
+a mechanic who is familiar with the structure of the body to discover
+the cause of the trouble. And yet people will continue to pour into
+their bodies drugs, harmless and otherwise, that are manufactured by
+some enterprising firm and then advertised by an expert who knows
+nothing of disease except a few symptoms common to almost all diseases.</p>
+
+<p>The patent medicine consumers seldom realize the nature of the medicine
+they take. Because some man, desirous of selling his remedy, claims it
+will be beneficial, they rush in and buy. To one who knows the true
+nature of some of these remedies, many laughable instances are visible.
+One man recently discovered that a temperance agitator was daily dosing
+herself with a certain tonic which was known to contain a larger
+percentage of alcohol than did the beverages she was denouncing so
+ardently.</p>
+
+<p>Patent medicines may benefit some, but in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> majority of cases, the
+consumer is like a man who boards the nearest street-car hoping it will
+take him to his destination. It may! But it is just as likely to take
+him in the opposite direction.</p>
+
+<p>Some people become veritable drug fiends, slaves to certain drugs
+without in the least realizing their condition. How many are slaves to
+certain laxatives or headache powders! With them the daily dose of
+"harmless" teas or waters or even of pills cannot be neglected. And yet
+such a person would be indignant at the suggestion that she was the
+victim of a drug habit. What are drugs, anyhow? The majority are simply
+extracts of herbs and vegetables. And yet people imagine that they are
+avoiding the use of drugs and medicines when they take "simple herb
+remedies, prepared at home."</p>
+
+<p>Another lure of the advertiser is to state that all letters are
+"strictly confidential and answered by women only." Perhaps they are!
+But he neglects to add that the women who answer these letters are
+simply stenographers with no medical knowledge, employed to write
+according to dictation, that the letters are all written according to
+certain forms which have been dictated by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> manager. A short time ago
+a young woman wrote me regarding her condition. Among other things, she
+said she had written to a certain woman whose name is much advertised by
+a patent medicine concern and that this woman had written her advice
+that had caused her to worry over her condition. Poor, deluded girl! How
+was she to know that the woman in question had been dead many years and
+that the business was carried on by her son and other men.</p>
+
+<p>If you are ill do not be misled by these unscrupulous advertisers. Do
+not waste your time and money on remedies that may be entirely unsuited
+to your condition.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2><h3>THE MARRIAGE RELATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>As several of you expect to be married soon I think it would be well to
+talk briefly about the cause of so much unhappiness in marriage.</p>
+
+<p>It has been estimated that only about five per cent. of all marriages
+are successful. Is this true, and if true, why? If five per cent. made a
+success of marriage, why could not the other ninety-five? Marriage is a
+science to be studied by the prospective bride and groom in order that
+they may be ranked with the five per cent. and not make a failure of
+their married life. Few would enter the marriage relation if convinced
+that it would be a failure. The prospective bride looks around among her
+acquaintances and sees the lack of true happiness, thinks that her case
+will be an exception, that her marriage will turn out all right and then
+goes blindly ahead into the new life without any preparation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A large percentage of the unhappiness among married couples comes
+through a misunderstanding of the marital relations. A great deal of
+this is due to ignorance on the part of the bride and thoughtlessness on
+the part of the husband. This is partly due to defective education
+during childhood in regard to the sexes. The training of boys and girls
+in this matter is very different. Knowledge pertaining to the sexual
+life is talked over very freely among boys, so that by the time the boy
+is of a marriageable age he is pretty well posted. With girls it is
+quite different. It would be considered very immodest for a girl to
+discuss such matters. She does not feel free even to talk with her
+mother or other adviser, and so she goes to the altar ignorant of many
+things she should know. Then during the first few days of married life
+this knowledge so overwhelms her and often gives her such a severe shock
+that it leaves a lasting impression. She has no way of knowing that her
+husband is just like other men. She is liable to regard him as a brute
+and resent his attentions.</p>
+
+<p>Such a condition of affairs is altogether wrong, but the girl is not to
+be blamed. Had she been taught what to expect, much of the unhappiness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span>
+of married life might have been avoided. If taught correctly, the girl
+should regard the sexual act as the culmination of true love. It should
+be regarded as something sacred, something that makes her and her
+husband as one. Fortunate indeed is the girl whose husband realizes this
+lack of knowledge and gently leads her to desire the fulfillment of
+love. Unfortunate is the girl whose husband regards this act only as the
+gratification of animal passions&mdash;something it is a wife's duty to
+endure as such.</p>
+
+<p>Passion or sex sense is a sign of maturity. It is the calling for a
+mate. All animals have this sense and nearly all animals have a mating
+season. The billing and cooing of the birds in the springtime is an
+expression of this sense&mdash;the love sense. It is possessed by every
+little insect. Only by knowing their habits do we see the expression of
+it. This sense is nothing of which one should be ashamed. It was
+God-given for a divine purpose.</p>
+
+<p>In the study of plants we learn that the pollen or male element must
+unite with the ovum or female element in order to produce the seed that
+will develop into the new plant. The same fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> is true of the human
+race. Before pregnancy can take place there must be a meeting and fusion
+of the vital elements of the two sexes. This fertilization of the ovum
+or joining of the male and female elements is called conception. It is
+brought about by coitus, by means of which the semen of the male is
+deposited in the vagina of the female. This act is called insemination,
+although conception does not follow unless the ovum and spermatozoon
+(life-giving element of the semen) come together and unite. When this
+occurs the woman conceives and enters upon a period of pregnancy. The
+time at which conception is least likely to occur is from the
+seventeenth to the twenty-third day after menstruation ceases.</p>
+
+<p>During the first year of married life couples are liable to abuse the
+love sense by over-indulgence and thereby use up too much of their
+energy. This affects their health, especially that of the young wife,
+who finds herself always being tired and is unable to account for it.
+Her daily tasks become a drudgery, for she is too exhausted to have the
+strength to perform them. After the tasks finally are finished, she is
+too tired to don<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> the afternoon dress, and so easily falls into untidy
+habits. This brings its train of results. The young husband, on his
+return from work, fails to find his wife the bright, attractive girl he
+married and gradually grows indifferent.</p>
+
+<p>The relation of intercourse to conception is a problem that each husband
+and wife must settle for themselves. Some educators claim that only for
+the one is the other allowable, that the bearing and raising of children
+is the sole aim of married life. Naturally this is the fundamental end
+of the sex instinct. But in the present-day, practical married life it
+would be impossible to convince the majority that the impulse of sex
+gratification was given to them for this one purpose only.</p>
+
+<p>The sense of well being and the increased capacity for work, that
+follows a moderate exercise of this function, tends to convince us that
+it has a beneficial effect upon the entire system if exercised
+moderately. As to what constitutes moderation or temperance depends upon
+the individual. What would be moderation to some would be excess to
+others. It may be taken as a general rule that the after-effects will
+indicate the amount. If the after-effects<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> are irritability, extreme
+lassitude or a diminution of the love or respect for the other then
+there has been excess. If the after-effect is a sense of well-being so
+that the next day one feels more inclined to take up the duties of life,
+then it may be considered that moderation has been practiced. A certain
+amount of energy is consumed in any act and, as in our present age we
+need a great deal of energy to carry on our everyday business, in the
+majority of cases fresh vitality cannot be spared for an expenditure
+under several days or a week. Excess in anything tends to bring on
+premature old age, for the nervous force is expended faster than it is
+manufactured.</p>
+
+<p>Frequently women seem to be endowed with an excess of energy which
+manifests itself in various forms. Besides this, the woman does not seem
+to have control of her nervous energy but wastes it in numerous ways.
+With many a woman the regularity and moderation attendant on a happy
+married life seems to have a regulating effect upon her whole nervous
+system, so that she becomes more calm and has greater control over her
+energies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Wrong training or lack of training in matters pertaining to the
+relationship of the sexes and to the management of a home may be given
+as the cause of the majority of unhappy marriages.</p>
+
+<p>There must be something wrong with our system of education when the aim
+of this education seems to be to prepare the girl for a temporary
+position in an office or store or for a gay social life; and when there
+is no preparation for the important work of home-making and the rearing
+of children. A girl would not be expected to run a complicated and
+delicate piece of machinery without having adequate instruction
+concerning the necessary care of it. But the girl is allowed to go
+blindly into marriage and is expected to manage her home and care for
+her children with practically no preparation. Nowadays we require
+experts for every position except that of motherhood, but we apparently
+do not consider that of enough importance to waste any time preparing
+for it. A man requires his gardener or office assistant to be trained,
+but the mother of his children need know nothing regarding the
+preparation for their coming. Too often her only preparation is that of
+making numerous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> clothes. She takes no measures to insure a healthy
+child.</p>
+
+<p>If girls would make a study of home-making and motherhood and enter into
+marriage with a more definite realization of its obligations we would
+have fewer unhappy marriages and fewer divorce cases. Some women, owing
+to false education, wish to have all the advantages of marriage without
+assuming its cares. Such a woman expects a man to be willing to provide
+her with all the gifts of the gods, with all the luxuries of life, but
+in return is not willing to become the mother of his children nor to
+exert herself to make their mutual habitation a home and not merely a
+house&mdash;a place in which to eat and sleep.</p>
+
+<p>A large part of the average woman's life is devoted to home-making and
+the rearing of children. Usually she is poorly prepared for this work.
+The early years of a girl's life are spent in the acquisition of a store
+of general knowledge, especially that derived from books and related to
+subjects generally considered necessary to "culture." During this
+period, her time is so occupied with her studies that her mother thinks
+it would be an imposition to ask her to do any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> housework, so the girl
+grows up without much knowledge of the care of a home. True, she often
+is enabled to do a few things. She learns to make cake and several
+varieties of candy and perhaps can fashion a collar that is the envy of
+her schoolmates. Sometimes she even helps her mother with the dishes or
+the dusting, but it is easier for the mother to take the responsibility
+of the housekeeping than it is to teach her daughter to do so, and
+besides her daughter always is so busy with school affairs. She has no
+time in which to learn the science of housekeeping.</p>
+
+<p>After the completion of her course in the common or high school, a few
+months, sometimes, are devoted to the preparation for a certain line of
+work which is to occupy her time for a few years. Very few girls, except
+those who enter the professions, expect to continue their work after
+marriage and nearly all look forward to marriage. If we place a girl at
+a new occupation, for instance lace-making, and let her work out her own
+salvation, we would not be surprised if she disliked her work and was
+unable to accomplish any good results. But that is what we do in regard
+to home-making. A girl upon marriage is expected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> to know by instinct
+how to keep house, cook, and do the numerous other household duties; she
+is expected to know how to care for herself before the birth of her baby
+and how to care for the baby when it comes. Fortunately for the future
+generation this fact has come to the realization of many of our
+educators. During the last few years many schools have introduced into
+their curriculum, courses in domestic science, including the purchasing,
+preparation and serving of food. Very recently some of the more
+progressive schools have introduced courses in nursing and the care of
+young babies. Perhaps in a few years motherhood will take its proper
+place as the most important of all sciences.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2><h3>EMBRYOLOGY&mdash;THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>You remember I mentioned that at various times during the month an ovum
+or egg leaves the ovary and passes along the tube to the uterus. Here it
+remains if it is impregnated or fertilized by a union with the
+spermatozoon or male element. The whole body of the babe is developed
+from the ovum or female element after it has been fertilized by the
+spermatozoon or male element. The union usually takes place in the tube.
+The spermatozoon, after being deposited in the vagina, travels to the
+mouth of the womb, then up through the womb into one of the tubes. Here
+it meets the ovum and unites with it, then the impregnated ovum
+continues on its way to the uterus. It attaches itself to the lining of
+the womb by little thread-like filaments which it projects. The ovum
+then begins to grow, dividing itself into portions that go to make the
+different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> parts of the body. Before I continue, let me remind you that
+the ovum in the beginning is only about as large as the point of a pin,
+being about 1-125 of an inch in diameter, while the spermatozoon is so
+tiny it cannot be seen without the aid of a miscroscope. Therefore, it
+can be realized how much the ovum has to grow before it becomes a fully
+formed babe.</p>
+
+<p>During the time the ovum is developing into the babe we speak of it
+first as the embryo, then the f&oelig;tus. It takes about nine calendar
+months or ten lunar months before the f&oelig;tus is fully developed and
+ready to be expelled from the womb. During the process of development
+the f&oelig;tus resembles various animals. It seems it must pass through
+about the same stages of evolution that our primitive ancestors did.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the third week, the dividing has progressed so far that
+the body is quite well indicated. By the end of the seventh week the
+body and limbs are quite well defined. One peculiar thing is that, at
+this time, the f&oelig;tus has a tail which disappears during the next two
+weeks. During the third month the f&oelig;tus increases in size and weight
+so that by the end of the month<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> the weight is four ounces and the
+length two and three-fourths inches. It now is not directly attached to
+the lining of the womb but is attached by means of the cord to the
+placenta or afterbirth which has been forming slowly. This placenta
+consists of fatty tissue surrounding a great many little blood vessels.
+The tiny blood vessels lie so close to the blood vessels of the lining
+of the womb that the blood passes from one to the other. To do this, it
+must pass through the walls of the blood vessels, as the vessels of the
+mother and those of the placenta are not directly united. The blood
+vessels of the placenta unite to form two veins and one artery which lie
+very close to each other and are surrounded by a membrane. These three
+blood vessels united together form what we call the cord. The other end
+of the cord is attached to the f&oelig;tus so that the blood can flow back
+and forth between the f&oelig;tus and placenta.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the third month the limbs have definite shape, the nails
+being almost perfectly formed. During the next month the sexual
+distinctions of the external organs become well marked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span></p>
+
+<p>By the last of the fifth month the weight has increased to one pound and
+the length to eight inches. Active f&oelig;tal movements begin, that is,
+the f&oelig;tus begins to move around and not lie quietly as before. This
+is what is usually spoken of as "feeling life," or as "quickening."
+There is life from the very beginning but during the first four or five
+months the f&oelig;tus does not move about and so the mother does not "feel
+life." This has caused the erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the fifth month.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the sixth month the weight is two pounds and the length
+twelve inches. The eyebrows and eyelashes have begun to grow and the
+lobule of the ear is more characteristic.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the seventh month the weight is three pounds and the
+length fourteen inches. The surface of the body, which has appeared
+wrinkled, now appears more smooth owing to the increase of fat
+underneath.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the eighth month the weight is four to five pounds and the
+length twenty inches. The nails have grown to project beyond the finger
+tips. Up to this time the body has been covered with a fine hair called
+lanugo. This now has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> begun to disappear and the skin becomes brighter
+and is covered with a white, cheesy material called the vernix caseosa.
+This almost entirely disappears during the next month, but frequently
+there are portions of it remaining on the body at the time of birth. The
+f&oelig;tus is fully developed by the end of the ninth month. Then its
+average weight is six or seven pounds and the length twenty inches.</p>
+
+<p>If we could look into the womb just before the time of labor we would
+find the f&oelig;tus attached by the cord to the placenta and floating in a
+sac of water. This sac is formed partly of the placenta and partly of
+the membrane; the side of the placenta opposite to the child being
+attached to the womb. Just before labor the child takes a position with
+its head downward, its lower limbs flexed and its arms folded upon its
+breast. This allows it to come in the usual way, head first. But
+sometimes, for various reasons, it does not take this position and some
+part other than the head, for instance, the feet, may be born first.</p>
+
+<p>Labor pains are caused by the contraction of the muscles of the womb in
+an effort to expel the f&oelig;tus. The muscles, contracting, push the
+f&oelig;tus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> downward to the mouth of the womb but push ahead of it a
+portion of the membrane enclosing some of the water. This is called the
+"bag of waters." As it presses against the mouth of the womb it causes
+it to dilate so as to allow the f&oelig;tus to pass through into the
+vagina. The f&oelig;tus, preceded by the bag of waters, then descends
+through the vagina or birth canal until it comes to the external opening
+of the vagina. This it must dilate before it can pass through it. The
+bag of waters should rupture normally while it is being pushed through
+the external opening. Sometimes the bag does not rupture directly in
+front of the descending head but further up along the side. Then a
+portion of the membrane may be over the face of the child when it is
+born. This is what is called being "born with a veil" or "born with a
+caul."</p>
+
+<p>The bag of waters helps dilate the parts much easier than the f&oelig;tus
+could do it alone. When the bag breaks the water lubricates the parts so
+as to make the passage of the child easier. When it breaks, as it
+sometimes does, at the beginning of labor we have what is termed a "dry
+labor." This usually is much slower than it would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> otherwise. The
+majority of the cases of labor extend over a period of from twelve to
+twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the external opening of the vagina does not dilate enough to
+allow the passage of the child. As the head presses hard against the
+perineum it tears it. This tear should be repaired immediately after
+completion of labor.</p>
+
+<p>When the baby is born it is fully formed but its lungs have never
+contained air. At the first cry the air rushes into the lungs and
+expands them. At birth there is a change in the circulation of the blood
+of the baby. Before this time, the blood has passed to and from the
+placenta through the cord but now this is stopped. Before birth there
+was an opening between the right and left sides of the heart but this
+closes during the first few days of the child's life. To assist in this
+closure, it is wise to keep the child on its right side for a few days.
+Rarely, this opening never closes and we have what is called a "blue
+baby," which seldom lives very long.</p>
+
+<p>In a great many cases, painless childbirth could be a possibility by a
+little attention to diet, exercise and other hygienic measures during
+the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> few months of pregnancy. Knowing this, it seems inconceivable
+that any woman would neglect to so fully inform herself on these matters
+that both she and her child could have all benefit of the investigations
+of science.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2><h3>ABORTIONS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sometimes through an accident or on account of disease, the womb expels
+the f&oelig;tus before it is fully developed. If this occurs before the end
+of the third month we call it an abortion; if it occurs between the
+third and seventh months we call it a miscarriage; while if it occurs
+after the seventh month but before the normal time of labor we call it a
+premature labor.</p>
+
+<p>Formerly it was considered that there was no possibility of the child
+living if it were born before the seventh month. Now, by the aid of
+incubators, even those born at five months have a chance to live. By
+that time the body is fully formed, so the chief requirements are a
+steady temperature and proper care and food. Great care must be
+exercised, as a slight cooling of the air may result in the death of the
+babe.</p>
+
+<p>Abortions are either accidental, criminal, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> justifiable, that is,
+brought on to preserve the life of the mother. Accidental abortions may
+follow a sudden fall or a sudden shock, either mental or physical, to
+the mother. They may be due to some disease either of the mother or of
+the f&oelig;tus. Of the diseases responsible for abortions the one with the
+largest percentage is syphilis. It is estimated that this disease is
+responsible for forty per cent. of accidental abortions and
+miscarriages. Whenever a physician has for a patient a woman who gives a
+history of having had several abortions without any apparent cause and
+all at about the same age of the f&oelig;tus, he immediately becomes
+suspicious of syphilis either of the father or the mother. It is a
+peculiar fact with this disease that it may be transmitted to the
+offspring without the mother ever actually having the disease. This is
+an instance of "visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto
+the third and fourth generation." Many a weak frame owes its condition
+to a dissipated father, grandfather or even great-grandfather. It is
+possible, though, for a man or woman who has had this disease to have a
+healthy child if the disease has been properly treated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Under some circumstances, especially with a deformed pelvis, if
+pregnancy were allowed to proceed normally it probably would result in
+the death of the mother. Then, it is considered justifiable for the
+physician in charge of the case to produce an abortion in order to save
+the life of the mother. Those cases are rare and such a procedure never
+is undertaken except in extreme cases.</p>
+
+<p>Criminal abortions are those brought on simply because the woman does
+not desire to have a child. These often are produced by the woman
+herself by means of drugs that set up uterine contractions (labor pains)
+or by means of something introduced into the uterus. In either case it
+is a dangerous procedure. Infections may be carried into the uterus by
+means of whatever is introduced into it. This may set up an inflammation
+that may result in the death of the woman. It is a dangerous procedure
+to introduce anything into the womb. Some women are extremely foolish or
+reckless and use anything that may be handy. Sometimes grave harm
+results. Instances are on record of women who have punctured the walls
+of the womb by the use of hatpins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> or other sharp instruments. If an
+abortion is produced by either drugs or instruments there is danger that
+all the products of conception may not come away. If even a small
+portion remains in the uterus it may cause a hemorrhage or, becoming
+decomposed, produce a poison that may result in the death of the woman.</p>
+
+<p>It would be impossible to estimate the number of abortions performed on
+unmarried girls, as well as married women, during one year by midwives,
+unscrupulous physicians and by many respected family physicians. We
+never hear of one of these except through the occasional one who is so
+unfortunate as to meet death. We cannot entirely blame the one who
+performs the abortion. Sometimes it is performed because of the sympathy
+of the physician. It is very hard to refuse some cases. Let me read you
+a letter to illustrate my meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"I have just finished reading your article on 'Woman's Inhumanity to
+Woman' and wish to say that every word impresses the truth as read. My
+reason for writing you is because I am one of those who have sinned
+through love, with one I have known all my life only to find too late
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> he did not love me; and the sin is killing me. I do not want to
+bring into this world a little child to have no father. I am not bad at
+heart. My only hope is to get something that will bring me all right. If
+you are a doctor you can give me medicine that will help me miscarry
+this, as I have only missed two months. Nothing would please me more
+than to be the mother of a little one, but, oh, not one born without a
+name. Dear madam, if you can help me, or show me some way that my people
+cannot suspect me of this sin, for the love you bear all girls, help me.
+I am the only one at home to care for an aged father and one of the
+dearest brothers that ever lived. If he knew I had sinned as I have, it
+would break his heart. My God in heaven, help me! is my prayer, and
+through his love you can help me. I am almost desperate and before I
+will live and bear this sin I will take my own life, which will bar me
+from heaven and my angel mother's face. Be gracious, kind doctor, and
+help me. I will repay you if it takes the remainder of my life and give
+my solemn promise that I will sin no more. Erring through the love of a
+man is my only excuse and, oh, I am the one to bear the blame.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> He would
+be forgiven. I am so nervous and ruined in mind that I hardly can go
+about my duties and I cannot stand the strain much longer. Let me hear
+from you at once and please help me, for I know it can be done, but I am
+ignorant; I do not know what to get or what to do. It will be no sin to
+try to get all right and not bear a child, but in my thoughts it is
+something awful to have to have it. For the love of heaven help a
+heartbroken girl at once and before it is too late for me to regain my
+chance of heaven."</p>
+
+<p>Now suppose you were a physician and that girl, instead of being a
+stranger, was a very dear friend who had come to you in your office,
+would you not be tempted to grant her wishes? That is the position in
+which every physician is placed a great many times. Some allow their
+sympathies to rule and so break the laws of the land. They allow their
+sympathies to overcome the moral truths that previously had been their
+guide. They commit a crime by taking a life, even though that life were
+not fully developed.</p>
+
+<p>Many women have the false idea that there is no life before the fifth
+month and so think they are not destroying life if they have an
+abortion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> at the end of the first, the second or even the third month.
+This idea is entirely erroneous, for there is life from the very
+beginning and it is just as wrong to destroy life the first few months
+as it would be to do so later.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from this moral reason there is a very important reason for not
+having abortions. You may regret it afterwards! Let me give you an
+instance. One of my friends, a charming young woman, was married several
+years ago. After her marriage she moved to a distant city and I did not
+see her for about four years. Then she returned and called to see me.
+During the course of our conversation I asked her if she had any
+children. Her reply in a very sad tone was, "No, I guess I did too much
+interfering at first, so now I cannot have any." Then she told me she
+had the idea she did not wish to have children for several years after
+she was married. So during the first year she had an abortion performed.
+Now for two years she had been wanting a baby but none came. That is the
+history of so many women. The regrets!</p>
+
+<p>All women naturally desire to have children. If they do not, they are
+the victims of false ideas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> or of fear. Anything which is natural is the
+best, so usually a woman who bears children is much healthier than one
+who does not. Think of the women of your acquaintance and see if the
+mothers are not happier and healthier than the women who are childless.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2><h3>MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS&mdash;HEREDITY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Every child has a right to be born well. An undesired child never should
+be brought into the world. An undesired child or a child of parents who
+are not in good bodily or mental condition comes into the world with an
+inheritance that perhaps never is overcome. How can we expect children
+of parents with criminal tendencies to become good citizens?</p>
+
+<p>Children born in circumstances under which the expectant mother has been
+subjected to fright or to cruel treatment are handicapped in the very
+beginning of life's race. Maternal impressions from fright or physical
+violence undoubtedly are followed by the birth of individuals malformed
+and in many respects with altered minds. Although some biologists try to
+deny this, the coincidence is too widely observed to admit of doubt,
+although the precise manner in which the effect is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> produced has not
+been clearly demonstrated. Sufficient is known to make it of the utmost
+importance that, in the interest of her offspring, the expectant mother
+be not subjected to sudden or violent mechanical force or to any great
+nervous shock. Equally important is it that she should be surrounded by
+a harmonious environment in order to give the unborn child all possible
+benefit of such surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>By many it is claimed that the mother's mental condition during this
+period will be reflected in the child both mentally and physically. For
+instance if the mother be calm, free from worry and happy in
+anticipation of the coming event, her offspring will have a sound
+nervous system, shown by a perfect digestion and an excellent
+disposition: while if the mother be irritable and unhappy her child is
+inclined to have various digestive ills, as well as to be cross and
+restless.</p>
+
+<p>Great disturbances in the expectant mother's health also have their
+effect upon the child. The erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the third or fifth month allows many conscientious women to attempt
+measures that will cause the discharge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> of the products of conception.
+These measures not only are dangerous to the health or the life of the
+woman but, in the event of their proving unsuccessful, may result in the
+birth of a deformed or a mentally defective child.</p>
+
+<p>Parents who have become degenerate from the immoderate use of alcohol or
+other stimulants or those who are afflicted with one of the black
+plagues furnish further examples of the birth of deficient offspring.</p>
+
+<p>The question of heredity has received considerable attention during
+recent years. As a result, many of our pet theories have undergone a
+decided change. Many of the diseases which formerly were thought to be
+acquired through inheritance we now know to be contracted through lack
+of care or through association. The only inheritance is possibly a
+tendency to the disease or a decrease in the power of resistance. It is
+a law of pathology that the diseases of parents who suffer from certain
+serious chronic maladies create in the offspring a condition of
+defective life shown in malformations or in altered nutrition. The
+hereditary influence of most diseases is shown in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> the transmission to
+the child of a defective body shown by feebleness or a diminished power
+of resisting disease.</p>
+
+<p>In tuberculosis and other diseases that once were considered hereditary,
+this influence is shown probably only in a predisposition to the disease
+which under favorable circumstances finds an easy condition of growth.
+The child does not actually inherit the disease and if placed in
+favorable surroundings will outgrow the tendency, will overcome the
+feeble vitality. But such a child if allowed to remain with its parent,
+to breathe the germs of disease cast off by the parent, readily
+contracts the disease. For the sake of the child it must be separated
+from its tubercular parent. It must be given fresh air and nourishing
+food.</p>
+
+<p>There is one disease, though, that seems to be truly inherited: the
+worst of the black plagues, syphilis. This may be inherited from either
+parent, it frequently is inherited from the father even though the
+mother does not contract the disease. This inheritance seems to manifest
+itself chiefly in a disordered nutrition. Even during the first few
+months of development, this may be so effective<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> as to destroy life. You
+remember, I mentioned this when I talked about abortions. If life is not
+destroyed, the nutritional processes may be so affected that the
+pregnancy will result in the birth of a defective child. These children,
+perhaps fortunately, usually die during the first few months of their
+lives. Seldom do they live to maturity. Many children who seem to have
+escaped this inherited trait really have not done so, but their
+inheritance is not recognized. Some people with defective generative
+organs owe this to a diseased parent. Others suffering from a chronic
+skin disorder, and many afflicted with epilepsy or some brain
+malformation could trace their inheritance to the same source. This
+disease seems truly to be an instance of "visiting the sins of the
+fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."</p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt that the general health of the child is affected by
+the health of the mother especially during the period when the child is
+nourished from the mother's blood. Attention to such matters as diet,
+sleep and exercise certainly has a great influence upon the constitution
+of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> unborn child. The best heritage a mother can give her child is a
+strong constitution, and in order to do this she must make motherhood a
+science.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2><h3>CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES&mdash;CAUSES OF STERILITY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Whatever may be the motive that causes men and women to enter into
+matrimony, the social reason is the perpetuation of the human race.
+Herbert Spencer says, "The welfare of the family underlies the welfare
+of society." Therefore those who marry for convenience or with the
+avowed intention of not assuming the obligations of parenthood have not
+the welfare of the human race at heart and are a menace to society in
+its highest form.</p>
+
+<p>Childless homes are not the happy homes, anyhow! Their occupants usually
+are dissatisfied; the women are nervous, irritable and unhappy; the men
+are seeking happiness elsewhere. The homes childless from choice should
+receive our condemnation, but the homes childless from necessity should
+receive our commiseration. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> latter are much more prevalent than many
+of our race suicide agitators would admit. These are too prone to blame
+the woman for what is not her choice. We hear so much about the higher
+education of women promoting race suicide. A recent investigation
+carried on by a well-known magazine has proven that such is not the
+case. The college girls and the professional women desire children much
+more than do the factory girls. But these college girls realize that
+quality is as necessary as quantity. They do not desire to bring into
+the world weak, puny offspring. These college girls are beginning to
+make motherhood a science. What the results will be we can only
+anticipate.</p>
+
+<p>A normal woman, who has not become imbued with false ideas and fear,
+desires children. She realizes that motherhood, if rightly carried out,
+is a privilege and not a curse; it is the woman who has been falsely
+educated who dreads motherhood. This morning I received a letter which
+shows the prevailing attitude of many girls. The writer says:</p>
+
+<p>"I am twenty-two years of age but strange to say I am ignorant as far as
+knowledge about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> origin of life, etc., is concerned. I am a business
+girl, drawing a good salary, and have many gentleman and lady friends. I
+am the oldest child of a large family of moderate means and have been
+brought up under Christian principles and possess a goodly amount of
+common sense. I long have been anxious in regard to this important
+subject but never have asked anyone for advice, shuddering to do so,
+feeling that if I had a chance to ask a lady with knowledge, as a nurse
+or some such person, I would do so. But to tell the truth, I did not
+care to find out such things, but I realize the fact that I must know in
+order to guard myself; for that is something no one can do for me at a
+critical moment. I have no less than three gentleman admirers, but I
+have no desire to be a married woman for a long time to come, but I feel
+that I must be armed with the knowledge of right and wrong. I shudder on
+account of <i>fear</i> to think of becoming a mother. I hear so much of
+woman's pains and aches and the such, that I often think I would prefer
+to remain single all my life, although I am perfectly healthy and a
+happy, cheerful girl. My mother is, and always will be, too busy to tell
+me about such matters,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> although I had a right to know long ago. As you
+say, an ignorant, innocent girl would be guilty before the world if
+something wrong should happen to her and in most cases it is not her
+fault. Can you give me the desired information or can you recommend some
+good book? If so, I assure you that your efforts will be greatly
+appreciated."</p>
+
+<p>This letter certainly indicates that the writer has a good amount of
+common sense. The trouble is she has become over-impressed with the
+possibilities of pain, and never has been told the wonderful truths that
+would overcome this fear. If love is the greatest thing in the world,
+fear and its companion, worry, certainly are the greatest curses of
+humanity. And the most pitiful part is that this fear and worry usually
+result from ignorance which a little instruction at the right time could
+dispel so easily. It is the unknown things that we fear. When any
+trouble actually comes we find strength enough to meet it, and, anyway,
+it usually is not half as bad in the reality as in the prospect. Young
+girls hear so much about the pains of childbirth that this fear
+overshadows the natural longings for motherhood. It is not until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span>
+motherhood is an actual fact that they realize the happiness is worth
+all the cost.</p>
+
+<p>But this fear is not what actually makes many childless homes. They
+often are unpremeditated. A large percentage of the sterility in the
+world is due to the results of indiscretions that are the outcome of
+ignorance. One great factor in childless homes is the prevalence of the
+black plagues. It is estimated that forty-five per cent. of sterile
+marriages are due to that seemingly mild disease which is regarded as no
+worse than a cold and which has been contracted either by the man or the
+woman. This disease does not disqualify the woman alone, as was formerly
+thought, for recent investigations have proven that twenty-five per
+cent. of the sterile marriages are due to sterility of the male. Oh, the
+innumerable women who have submitted to unpleasant treatments and even
+operations in the hope of overcoming sterility when all the time the
+fault was elsewhere! The microscope has proven that even though a man
+may seemingly be healthy and capable of sustaining the marriage
+relation, yet his efforts are valueless; for the spermatozoa, the
+life-giving element, are dead, due usually to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> an inflammation which
+accompanied an attack of this seemingly mild disease,&mdash;gonorrh&oelig;a.</p>
+
+<p>This disease is responsible for many of the one child marriages. How
+often we see a family with only one child, this child born during the
+first year of married life, then there are no more pregnancies. The
+woman probably has contracted a disease from her husband and, during the
+period immediately following the birth of her baby when the entire
+generative system is in a condition to easily become inflamed, the tubes
+have become closed. Another pregnancy is very unlikely.</p>
+
+<p>Another factor in sterility is abortions. So many times we hear a young
+married woman say, "I do not want a child the first year, but after that
+I would like one." In order to carry out her desires it is not uncommon
+for an abortion to be performed during the first few months. In many
+cases an inflammation follows this interference and the tubes become
+closed permanently. Then when the woman is ready to have a child it is
+impossible. Girls about to enter marriage should be cognizant of this
+possibility and not take any risks, for few women would do anything
+voluntarily that would condemn them to childless lives.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2><h3>PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>This morning I received a letter which says in part, "I am a young
+school teacher and do not know lots I should, but will come to you for
+advice. Now I am engaged to the dearest boy in the world. I will do my
+best to be a good wife and do my duty. But my health is not so very good
+and I want to put off motherhood for awhile. Will you kindly tell me
+some remedy that will keep me from becoming pregnant? I have long wanted
+to ask someone but always was afraid. Mother never tells me anything."</p>
+
+<p>This is the type of question that is asked every physician many times.
+Those who do not ask, wish to&mdash;and blame physicians for not telling the
+things they want to know. What is my answer to such a question? Just
+this:</p>
+
+<p>There is in effect a federal statute making it a felony punishable by
+$5,000 fine and five years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> at hard labor to impart any information
+<i>whatever</i> relating to the preventing of conception. The information may
+concern a thing, an instrument, or it need not be any material substance
+at all&mdash;only a "method." I obey that law as I am not foolhardy enough to
+walk into absolute danger.</p>
+
+<p>Every day we see examples of heart-breaking misery caused by lack of
+knowledge of the proper means of prevention. The limitation of the
+number of offspring has become an important problem to be considered.
+There are thousands of families that would be perfectly happy if the
+number of offspring could be limited. There are thousands of young men
+who would be glad to get married but are afraid to do so for fear of
+having a family larger than they could supply with the necessities of
+life. These same young men, because they are not married, frequent
+questionable houses and often contract one or more of the venereal
+diseases.</p>
+
+<p>There are thousands of women who have become semi-invalids because of a
+too prolific offspring. The babies came so fast the mother had no
+opportunity to regain her health and strength. There are other thousands
+of women who are made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> invalids because of attempts at abortion, or have
+been driven into early graves by these attempts, while some have
+actually killed themselves.</p>
+
+<p>There are thousands of children half starved because their parents are
+unable to supply them the necessities of life. There are other thousands
+of children below par mentally and physically because of the fact that
+the mother was weak from too frequent child-bearing. There are other
+thousands of children born of syphilitic, tubercular or epileptic
+parents who never should have been born at all because they came into
+life so handicapped and had to fight against such severe odds that they,
+after a brief struggle, met an early death. There are children brought
+into this world amidst cursing who never hear much else.</p>
+
+<p>We find it necessary to regulate the parentage of our domestic animals
+in order to insure a good race. But children can come by chance. The
+most degraded of men is allowed to beget children of his kind. There is
+small chance for race improvement under such conditions. The same laws
+hold true as to the future generation of humans as are true of animals
+or plants.</p>
+
+<p>Human beings are not mere animals and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> should be allowed to decide
+how many children they should have. Furthermore, the present laws do not
+attain their object. We all pretend to obey the laws but everyone knows
+that in every city there are many women, and men also, who make an
+excellent income from performing abortions. I would venture to say that
+in Chicago alone there is at least one abortion performed every
+hour&mdash;and Chicago is not so very different from other parts of the
+country in this respect. The ways and means to prevent pregnancy are
+sold and are bringing a rich reward to their manufacturers. But the
+advertisements are so carefully worded that the law is not violated. But
+the interested understand. If the manufacturer or his agent were accused
+of selling anything to prevent pregnancy, he would simulate great
+surprise and possible indignation. He doing such a thing! Impossible!
+Why, he is selling a simple hygienic device or drug used in the
+treatment of certain diseases.</p>
+
+<p>If we have laws, let us obey them; but if we do not intend to obey them,
+let us stop being hypocrites and remove them from the statutes. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> the
+law remains let us make it far-reaching enough to include those who now
+are so flagrantly violating it. But if means for the prevention of
+pregnancy are necessary to the health and happiness of the human race,
+let us change the laws so we can have the best of these preventives and
+allow reputable physicians to give whatever information they can to
+prevent this wholesale misuse of a law by the unscrupulous,&mdash;the
+law-breakers.</p>
+
+<p>A recent investigation carried on by one magazine proved that the
+knowledge of how to prevent conception would not mean race suicide, as
+some fear. As reported in this magazine, the college girls and
+professional women who no doubt had given these subjects careful
+consideration, desired children more than did those whose experience had
+been a poor home and a large family. The average number of children
+desired by the well-informed woman was four. That would not mean
+race-suicide! It would mean that children were given a fair start in
+life by being desired and planned for before their conception. Every
+true woman desires a home and children but she does not wish to be
+driven into motherhood. Every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> true man desires a family but he does not
+feel justified in bringing children into the world to be half starved
+and with no advantages of education.</p>
+
+<p>What is the solution of the problem?</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2><h3>SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Until our marriage laws are so adjusted that there are no unequal
+marriages, the question of divorce always will be eminent. The ever
+present agitation about uniform divorce laws and the divorce problem
+cannot be settled until there are more stringent marriage laws. Trying
+to settle the divorce question without first settling the marriage
+question is like trying to keep chickens in a small yard surrounded by
+enticing fields without first constructing an adequate fence.</p>
+
+<p>Divorce is the concession of society to its inability to solve the
+marriage problem. Anyone can get married! Mere children can meet on a
+pleasure excursion and in a moment of fun or infatuation walk over to a
+justice of the peace and be married. In some states not even a license
+is necessary. A large proportion of the marriages in the world are
+consummated without a proper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> consideration on the part of either bride
+or groom as to the responsibilities of the marriage state. Many of the
+marriages are made simply as a matter of convenience&mdash;in order to
+inherit property, for social position or in a spirit of pique. Such
+marriages are not natural marriages and are in violation of the right
+spirit of the law of marriage. The much quoted saying, "What God hath
+joined together, let no man put asunder," surely does not apply to these
+marriages; for that very admission would be a condemnation of the wisdom
+of God. He surely never would give his sanction to many of the marriages
+contracted in a spirit of lust or of greed.</p>
+
+<p>It is as impossible to keep mismated people together as it is to keep
+chemical incompatibles together. No chemist would try to keep chlorate
+of potash and sulphur together even if they did, by some accident,
+happen to be in the same locality. It is just as impossible to keep two
+incompatible people together and not expect an explosion. The law may
+keep such people legally bound, but it cannot keep them so mentally or
+physically. A prominent reformer is reported to have said that fully
+one-third of the married<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> population of New York City is unfaithful to
+the physical obligation. And New York is not so very different from
+other parts of the country. Many who are not physically disloyal are
+mentally so. The no-divorce law will not prevent this condition of
+affairs. Whites and blacks cannot marry legally in the South and yet in
+some of the Southern states which have a no-divorce system a large
+proportion of the colored population is <i>mulatto</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nature's laws tend to provide an indissoluble union, but divorce
+represents the protest of the individual against the inharmonious
+relations he ignorantly or thoughtlessly has assumed.</p>
+
+<p>Even those who are the loudest in their condemnation of divorce could
+not sanction marriage under certain conditions. I wonder if these people
+know that many of the divorces that are granted under the head of
+cruelty really are granted because one of the parties has contracted one
+of the loathsome black plagues. No humane person could condemn a woman
+for refusing to live with a man and take the almost certain risk of
+contracting a disease that would mean her death or mutilation, or for
+refusing to bear children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> that would come into the world an object of
+disgust and horror or which would die before being born. Some of these
+reformers say, "Let her live separately from him but not marry again."
+That would be condemning an innocent woman to a childless life because
+she had been so unfortunate as to become bound to a dissipated man.</p>
+
+<p>Another underlying but often unknown factor in many of the divorce cases
+is sterility. In some states the law says this is a just cause for
+divorce, because the future of the nation depends on the production of
+children. Because a woman, in her ignorance, has married a man who is
+incapable of producing healthy offspring, due to his having "sown his
+wild oats," should not be a reason why she should be condemned to forego
+the pleasures of motherhood. Because a man has married a woman who is
+sterile or who selfishly refuses to bear children should not be a reason
+why he should be denied an heir.</p>
+
+<p>Again, it is unfair to the future generation to compel mismated couples
+to live together. Children brought into the world under such conditions
+are bequeathed a heritage that will have a demoralizing effect upon
+their whole after life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> Children, who every day hear quarrels and
+strife between those they should honor, lose something of the beauty of
+life; they become hardened and quarrelsome. Of course these divorces
+must not be granted promiscuously; for in bringing children into the
+world, parents assume an obligation that cannot be neglected. In
+considering a separation, the parents' first thought should be, "What is
+best for my children?" The duty to the children should be settled first.
+Then the question comes, "What is my duty to my wife or my husband?" for
+the act of making any contract imposes certain obligations. The
+individual circumstances must settle what these obligations are. Last
+comes the question, "What is my duty to myself? I was placed in this
+world to make the best use of my life. Am I doing it or is it impossible
+to do so unless I change my environment and associates?" The conscience
+of the individual should be the guide now.</p>
+
+<p>Were there more frankness and sincerity in discussing the problems and
+conditions of married life before marriage much unhappiness would be
+avoided and there would be fewer divorces; for many engaged people would
+thus discover they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> were mismated before the marriage ceremony. To reach
+a complete understanding is the main purpose of the engagement period.
+Marriage is not a lottery nor a game of chance to the man and woman
+entering it with a knowledge of sex relations and with absolute mutual
+honesty.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2><h3>THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Dr. Charles W. Eliot, former president of Harvard University, recently
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"The subject of reproduction and sexual hygiene should be more generally
+presented to young people by parents and teachers. I am convinced that
+the policy of silence has failed disastrously."</p>
+
+<p>That you may understand how widely spread is this desire on the part of
+women for a better knowledge of themselves and of those things so
+vitally important to the welfare of the future generation, I shall quote
+a few extracts from letters I have received from women in various parts
+of the country. These letters, too, will serve to show the woeful
+ignorance along these lines among even the well educated women, and also
+the need for some systematic instruction.</p>
+
+<p>A very intelligent girl from South Dakota<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> writes this heart story: "My
+mother died when I was a babe. After her death I was sent out among
+strangers. While away from home and before I was <i>six</i> years old a young
+fellow about fifteen years old possessed me and threatened to do
+something terrible to me if I told. I did not dare tell. Luckily I was
+taken home at that time, as I now had a step-mother. But still more
+horrible, it also happened that I had immoral relations with my brother.
+When I found out that this was the way people got babies, I wished I
+could get one. I was not very old before I understood that this was a
+wrong and a shame and acted accordingly. My parents never mentioned
+things of this nature to me. How much better it would have been if they
+had done so when we were real young. How many things were spoken of by
+schoolmates and told in the dirtiest possible way and things also were
+said that I now know were entirely wrong."</p>
+
+<p>I cannot impress upon you too strongly the need of early talks with
+young children on these matters. As soon as they enter school at the age
+of six and even before this, in some cases, they are bound to hear these
+things from their playmates.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> Usually the information is thrust upon the
+child in a very vulgar manner, or entirely wrong impressions are given.
+The very secrecy that always has surrounded these subjects makes them an
+object of interest to children. The functions of the generative organs
+are just as natural a process as the process of digestion. We make no
+secret of the process of digestion, and children do not manifest any
+morbid curiosity regarding it. If we would discuss the functions of the
+generative organs in just as natural a way, many of our great problems
+would right themselves.</p>
+
+<p>A woman in one of the western states writes, "Once I had a heated
+argument upon that subject with another woman. She always had lived in a
+small community. In her opinion all city girls were morally depraved.
+She had two daughters of her own. Both girls gave birth to babies at the
+age of fourteen and sixteen years. It transpired later that these girls
+first began the evil practice at school. And I will state here,
+regardless of contradiction, that the village school is often the
+breeder of immoral characters among both boys and girls.</p>
+
+<p>"In a small farming community of California<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> containing about forty
+children of school age, it was discovered that immoral practices had
+been carried on for years among the older children. One little girl,
+being new to the school and also being in the habit of telling her
+mother everything, repeated some of the sights she had seen during the
+recess and noon hours, and also some of the conversation she had heard
+among the children. The mother, being horrified at the child's
+revelations and knowing the child must have some foundation for her
+stories, told a friend about it. This woman told some of her friends who
+were the mothers of the children the little girl had named to her
+mother. Of course, the children were questioned and denied all knowledge
+of things the child had mentioned. The mothers were indignant that their
+children should be accused of anything like that. They unquestionably
+believed the denial, making no effort to find out if there might be any
+truth in the report. That mother and her little one were 'sent to
+Coventry' with a vengeance. Later some of these mothers had cause to
+repent of their carelessness in having neglected or disregarded the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span>
+warning. They found to their sorrow that the little girl was not telling
+an untruth, after all.</p>
+
+<p>"The trouble with the mother in the small community is that she judges
+her children by her own past. She, perhaps, had an entirely different
+environment from that of her children and because she came out all
+right, naturally sees no use in bothering about talking to her girls.
+'They will learn these things soon enough,' she says when the subject is
+mentioned. That they either already have learned them or may be learning
+them in a manner of which she would be the last to approve, she does not
+take into consideration. An attempt to warn such a mother often is
+misunderstood."</p>
+
+<p>That young women realize their need and are anxious for any help is
+shown by these letters. From New York a girl writes, "I am twenty-two
+years of age and as yet know nothing about the mysteries of life, and I
+am beginning to worry about it as I am keeping company with a young man
+and expect to become engaged to him. I know nothing of what is expected
+of me when I get married and I know there are a number<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> of girls just
+like me and that they are worried, too."</p>
+
+<p>From a girl in Seattle came this letter, "No one ever told me about this
+wonderful body of ours and that God made it in his likeness for his
+glorification. When I asked where the babies came from, I was told the
+doctor brought them in his case. One day I saw a boy and girl about
+eight years of age doing wrong, and thought nothing of it when my
+brother, who was fourteen while I was six, proposed that we do likewise.
+This was kept up until I was somewhere between eleven and thirteen, when
+I was converted and it occurred to me that this was not the right thing
+to do, but I never dreamed that I would suffer so these ten years, as I
+am twenty-three now. Only in the last few years I have learned how God
+made these organs for the marriage relation only and how life was
+formed. I would go to my mother for this information but I know it would
+break her heart and I am afraid she could not tell me what I want to
+know. I would not write this but I am deeply in love with a Christian
+man, and I could not marry anyone until I know about this matter. I
+often have made a vow I never would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> marry anyone, but this love came to
+me before I could help myself, and as he told me of his love I would not
+allow myself to let him know I care as much as I do. Kindly tell me if
+anyone who has abused her organs while so young could make a good wife
+or become a mother, and can these marks of sin be removed?"</p>
+
+<p>Another young girl writes, "It is just as you say, ignorance is the root
+of evil in many cases such as mine. I have come to you for help,
+information and advice. I have taken that fatal mis-step you write
+about, but no one knows it besides myself and this man. He dare not
+speak of this. He is very wealthy and influential. After reading your
+article I found that you were the one to go to and make a confession. I
+never have been warned or told of these dangers and now it is too late.
+I am a young girl, eighteen years old, and have a lot of men friends
+because I am considered attractive, but none of them have ever said one
+word out of the way to me except this one and I yielded to the tempter.
+I know I have done wrong, and now am trying to atone for it by being
+awfully good. Now, what I want to know and want you to tell me is this,
+'Can I ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> marry a decent, respectable man without him knowing of this
+affair?' There is a young man very much devoted to me (and I can assure
+you it is mutual) who several times has asked me to marry him. I am
+afraid to give him an answer. I cannot ask anyone else this question for
+the simple reason that I am not sure whether they will tell me the truth
+or whether they really know."</p>
+
+<p>Both these girls were fortunate that they did not have any serious
+consequences from their mis-step. Too many girls make only one mis-step
+and as a result become pregnant or else contract one of the black
+plagues. This week I have received several such letters. Laying aside
+all moral points, it is too much risk for any girl to run.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately a great many girls in their ignorance do make a mis-step.
+That is no reason why they should not marry. We must take into
+consideration the fact that the young man in question probably has made
+several of these mis-steps. He should not expect his prospective wife to
+be any stronger to resist temptation than he has been. If this were an
+ideal world, all men, as well as all women, would be pure, but until the
+millennium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> comes we must take things as they are, and proceed from that
+standpoint. But because a girl has erred through ignorance is no reason
+why she should be doomed to everlasting punishment in the shape of
+social ostracism or being denied the happiness of having a home and
+children.</p>
+
+<p>These are only a few of the many letters I have received, but they serve
+to show the great need of early instruction of girls on these much
+neglected subjects. Every girl, soon after she enters school if not
+before, learns where babies come from. She too often is led by older
+children, both boys and girls, to do things she may regret later. It has
+been said that "sin is but ignorance." This is true in the great
+majority of cases of immoral practices among girls as well as among
+boys. The remedy for these sins, then, is to do away with the ignorance
+by proper instruction of children. Children are reasonable beings and if
+they understood the <i>why</i> would not do wrong.</p>
+
+<p>If girls go wrong through ignorance the parents are to blame; for at the
+present time there is no excuse for a parent not giving the necessary
+instruction. If, on account of her own lack of knowledge, the mother
+feels incapable of instructing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> her daughter, there are others ready and
+willing to aid her; also, there are books especially prepared for her
+help, which will definitely point the way.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2><h3>WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Not long ago an estimable young woman in speaking of the unfortunate
+girls in the world said, "I cannot see how any refined girl could get
+into trouble. I cannot conceive of any circumstances which would permit
+any self-respecting girl to allow the familiarities necessary for such a
+condition." That is the attitude assumed by many intelligent women.
+Because they grew up in an environment without temptations, because they
+had no unsatisfied longings to be loved or to be popular, they are
+incapable of understanding these feelings in any other person.</p>
+
+<p>In every girl there is an inborn longing to be loved and to have a home
+of her own. It is a misunderstanding of this sense that is responsible
+for the wrecked lives of many girls. In too many homes there is no
+expression of the love sense. Frequently I have heard girls remark,
+"Why, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> never think of kissing my parents except, perhaps, when they or
+I go away." In too many homes the only mention that is made of love is
+that made in a bantering manner. A child has the right idea of love. She
+loves everyone and is free in the expression of this love. As she grows
+older she obtains wrong ideas of love and she too often obtains these
+wrong ideas in her own home and from her own parents who instill false
+ideas of love when indulging their habit of "teasing." Frequently we
+hear parents talking about the small daughter's "beau." The child feels
+pent-up emotions of love and, as there is no outlet at home in a natural
+way, she acquires the idea that these emotions should be spent in a
+childish love affair.</p>
+
+<p>In a recent address Professor Marx Lubine of the University of Berlin
+said, "Motherhood, in all stages of civilization, has been strangely
+ignorant of the fact that girls have as powerful a battery of emotions
+as boys. It is my experience that a major portion of mothers understand
+their sons better than their daughters. Why? The daughters are not given
+credit for a power of emotion the sons are capable of. Yet, naturally,
+in my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> long experience with both sexes, I have no hesitation in saying
+that the emotions of a pure girl are usually deeper, more lasting, than
+those of a boy, and that if we are to have a great improvement in
+womanhood it must come through a recognition of this fact."</p>
+
+<p>It is strange but mothers seem to be blind to, or ignorant of the
+emotions that are seething back of the clear eyes of their daughters.
+The emotions of the girl have not been studied sufficiently. We expect a
+boy to do things which serve as an outlet to his pent-up emotions but we
+expect a girl to go on in a calm, uneventful manner with no outlet for
+the overflow of emotions. Blessed are the "Tomboys." I would there were
+more of them. It is a fact that the girl who runs, plays, climbs trees
+and is given to outdoor sports generally during the early part of her
+life develops into the truest woman. She has an outlet for her energies.
+Her time is fully occupied with those things that promote health. She
+has no time nor desires for those things that show a perverted taste.
+Such a girl seldom becomes a victim of self-abuse. She is not inclined
+to romantic love affairs. It is her sister who sits and sews who has
+time and inclination<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> for indulging in morbid longings and who becomes
+the victim of pernicious habits.</p>
+
+<p>Curiosity is one of the prominent characteristics of both sexes. With
+the boy this is satisfied without much pretence at secrecy. False
+modesty prevents the girl from openly obtaining the desired information.
+She obtains it secretly from her companions. Mothers do not give their
+daughters credit for the instinct that compels the satisfaction of their
+curiosity. Sometime during her life, nearly every mother is surprised
+and shocked at the knowledge displayed by her daughter. She finds that
+owing to her silence and neglect of opportunities her daughter has
+obtained definite if entirely wrong ideas of sexual matters.</p>
+
+<p>In other matters, too, the policy of silence or of arbitrarily
+forbidding the daughter to indulge in certain pleasures, coupled with
+the natural curiosity of the girl, tends to develop in her the habit of
+deceitfulness. If she is forbidden some harmless amusements she very
+frequently learns these diversions at the homes of her friends. The
+mother was brought up in one generation, the daughter in another; what
+was considered wrong in the first generation is looked upon in an
+entirely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> different manner now. Many mothers seem to be unable to
+realize this. They were brought up in a puritanical environment. The
+puritan fathers forbade all indulgence in mirth and happiness. Their
+ideas of the perfect life were to wear a stern, unsmiling countenance
+and do those things that were unpleasant. If anything was uncongenial,
+then it was their duty to overcome their inclinations. These puritans
+expected to develop by repression. We have changed our ideas radically
+since then, but some of the puritanical ideas still cling to us in our
+treatment of children. To develop the child's character she must be made
+to do the things she does not want to do and to refrain from the things
+she most desires. Is it right?</p>
+
+<p>We are most interested in those things that belong to us individually or
+in which we have some share. If we wish a girl to remain at home then we
+must see that she is interested in that home. The way to do this is to
+make her feel that the home belongs to her in part and that some
+portions of it are entirely hers. The majority of girls feel no real
+interest in their homes. They are made to feel that it is their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span>
+parents' home and that they are only assistants. A girl to be interested
+in her home must have some definite room that is hers alone and in which
+she is allowed to exercise her individual tastes. She must have a place
+in which she can entertain her friends without the feeling that whatever
+she does and says is to be criticised afterwards. She should be assigned
+to certain tasks and held responsible for them. She must have a certain
+definite allowance out of which she is to buy certain things, otherwise
+her desire for independence will arise and cause her to leave home. The
+majority of girls have no income of their own. Perhaps their desires are
+all fulfilled by an indulgent parent and yet the girls resent the
+feeling of dependence.</p>
+
+<p>Girls are naturally just as ambitious as boys, and they need good,
+honest work to keep them healthy and their minds occupied. If a girl
+displays an interest in a certain line of work this interest must be
+encouraged. Usually it is not. The girl is taught, either consciously or
+unconsciously, that whatever occupation she takes up will be only
+temporary, that to become engrossed in her work would mean no marriage.
+Girls cannot do good work under such conditions.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2><h3>SELF-ABUSE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In one of my articles for one of the leading women's magazines I spoke
+of mental self-abuse. This brought me so many inquiries regarding both
+mental and physical self-abuse that I feel impelled to explain them to
+you.</p>
+
+<p>To abuse means to use wrongly, or to injure. We have talked about the
+uses of the female organs and also about the care of them. Sometimes, I
+have watched children rub their eyes until they were quite red and
+inflamed. I have seen children, thoughtlessly, stick pins and hairpins
+in their ears and I even have had to remove a bean which a thoughtless
+child had pushed up its nose. All these things did more or less harm to
+the parts. In the same way, some girls play with their external
+generative organs and even put things up in the vagina. Sometimes they
+injure these organs greatly, and sometimes there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> is a more general and
+serious effect. You know the nerves of the body all are very closely
+connected like telegraph wires so that an irritation to one part will
+sometimes be telegraphed to another entirely different part and cause
+the nerves of that part to be irritated. When you have a toothache your
+whole face and head and even your arms ache. That is because the nerves
+are irritated. In the same way if one irritates the nerves of the female
+organs, the whole body may be affected; only in this case it is more
+serious than with the toothache; for these female organs are more
+abundantly supplied with nerves.</p>
+
+<p>One who is guilty of such an unnatural practice as to deliberately
+irritate any portion of her body, especially the very important
+generative organs, always secretly despises herself. If persisted in,
+the results of this vice are a ruined nervous system and a weakened
+character. The victim realizes she is doing a disgraceful thing and
+seldom acknowledges her habit even to her physician.</p>
+
+<p>If one has become a victim of such a habit she should determine to stop
+it immediately and then take measures to restore her nervous system to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span>
+its original state. It never is too late to commence treatment. It is
+the continued practice and the mental dwelling on the acts that does the
+harm, not the few acts thoughtlessly performed. Of course the longer the
+habit has continued, the more firmly it is fixed and the harder to
+break.</p>
+
+<p>The treatment is first to absolutely stop the practice, then fill your
+mind with other thoughts. Take considerable physical exercise in the
+open air. Sleep on a hard bed in a well-ventilated room. Eat plain,
+nourishing food without spices and stimulants. Take up some work or play
+that will interest you and that will keep your mind occupied. Live in
+the open air as much as possible. If you find yourself desiring to do
+these harmful things, go immediately and busy your mind and hands with
+something else and the desire will pass soon. In young children this
+habit often has its origin in some irritation of the external organs, as
+a hooded clitoris. So before taking severe measures to break the habit,
+it is wise to have the child examined for such a condition.</p>
+
+<p>Now as to mental self-abuse, perhaps I can make my meaning more clear by
+again quoting from some of my letters. A young woman from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> South
+Carolina wrote me, "A few years ago I taught school and one of my
+pupils, perfectly innocent of the grave results that would befall her,
+committed three outrages upon herself, what is known in the medical
+world as masturbation or self-abuse. The girl, as I know, was chaste and
+a sweeter, nicer, brighter pupil I never taught. But she had the
+misfortune to commit these abuses upon herself in all innocence and felt
+no discomfort or ill health in any way until about three months
+afterward. Then she began to lose interest in her work, to fall away in
+her grades, in fact to take very little interest in anything. In this
+condition she came to me and told me everything. Since then she has felt
+no physical pain whatever, but her mind, though not really gone, is
+visibly affected. In this way, she is constantly in dread lest something
+dreadful will happen, feels as if a cloud were hanging over her, is not
+capable of doing any mental work. At times, has a horror of being shut
+up in any place, memory is poor, places and positions change, that is, a
+place moves to some other position, for instance, the right side of the
+street very often is in the opposite direction. To sum it all up, she
+constantly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> is miserable. So far as being insane is concerned, she is
+not that. She is perfectly conscious of her condition. She feels well
+physically and appears to be so mentally, but says there is just a
+befogged sensation in her head which gets no better nor worse, yet it is
+there. The feeling came upon her very suddenly one morning in the spring
+after the abuses had taken place in January and then it all flashed over
+her the awful consequences of her innocent practices. Oh! what would she
+not have given to be her old self again! If she only had known the awful
+result, her mind sacrificed for a practice in which she indulged through
+ignorance and for experiment, never dreaming the baneful effect it would
+have on her mind. Now, this girl has gone on this way for the past eight
+years getting no worse nor any better. Seemingly, she is the same but
+she suffers untold miseries when alone, conscious that her mind is hazy
+and not capable of enjoying books, society of others or anything that
+interests young girls. Yet nobody ever would detect that she is not
+feeling well. She told me all this in confidence and as the case puzzles
+me, I write you feeling that perhaps you would advise me in some way the
+treatment necessary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> to cure her. She is and has been perfectly moral
+since the fateful abuses upon herself and I do not understand why her
+mind does not return to its normal condition."</p>
+
+<p>I do! She will not give her mind a chance to get well. She constantly is
+abusing it by dwelling on things that should have been forgotten long
+ago. No one goes through life without making some mistakes. Everyone has
+burned his finger many times. And yet he does not keep worrying about it
+and wondering if it will have some dangerous after-effect. Of course, if
+he deliberately burned his finger time and time again, it might remain
+injured permanently. But if he, ignorantly or accidentally, has burned
+it once or several times, he stops his careless ways, allows Nature to
+restore the injured portion, and then forgets there ever was an injury.
+It is the same with self-abuse, many children do things like this
+thoughtlessly. But when a girl learns she is injuring herself, she
+should stop the practice and allow Nature to repair the wound. Then
+forget all about it. Do not worry, above all things. Go ahead and fill
+your mind with work.</p>
+
+<p>There are many women in this world who are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> abusing themselves by
+worrying over something that has occurred in the past. Whatever is in
+the past cannot be undone. All we can do is to profit by our experience
+and turn the energies, that would be wasted by worrying, to some good
+use. Whenever thoughts of the past or desires for the wrong things
+disturb you, crowd these worry thoughts and desires out of your mind by
+putting in it good thoughts. Deliberately fill your mind and hands so
+full of other things that there will be no room for these unwholesome
+pests. Worry does more harm than smallpox ever did!</p>
+
+<p>This dwelling on past mistakes is only one of several methods of mental
+self-abuse. Another way some abuse themselves is by continuing the
+association with those who excite or irritate them. If in your work or
+social life you find that a certain person has an effect upon you that
+is not wholesome, that when you are in the company of that individual
+you are incapable of doing your best, then it is time to make a change.
+Keep away from that individual until such a time as you are strong
+enough to resist his influence. Choose your friends from among those who
+stimulate you mentally. If you stop to think, you must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> admit that you
+accomplish more and better work when in the presence of certain people.
+Those are the ones whose companionship you should seek.</p>
+
+<p>There are people living together or working together who are a continual
+source of irritation to each other. It is just as impossible for such
+people to work in harmony as it is for two incompatible chemicals, as
+nitrogen and iodine. We do not try to over-ride the laws of Nature by
+trying to force these chemicals to stay together. It is just as
+impossible to force certain incompatible people to be harmonious. If
+society or business throws two such people together it would be wise for
+one to make a change before there is an explosion. It is impossible for
+any person to do good work in an atmosphere of irritation.</p>
+
+<p>Another element in mental self-abuse is longing for the unattainable.
+Sometimes a person sets her mind on a certain thing. If that goal is an
+honorable one, she should make every effort to attain it but if
+circumstances over which she has no control make that goal impossible of
+attainment she should turn her thoughts in another direction. But that
+is what many people do not do. If they cannot have just what they want
+they sit and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> bemoan their fate and give up trying for other goals. Such
+a person should choose a line of work or play that is especially
+interesting to her and bend her energies in that direction. She will be
+surprised how soon she will lose her intense interest in her former
+longed-for goal.</p>
+
+<p>Lack of self-confidence is an evidence of mental self-abuse. A person
+who has no confidence in herself cannot expect others to have. One who
+keeps herself in the attitude of Uriah Heap, who continually asserts, "I
+am a poor worm, I am unworthy of the blessings of life, I cannot expect
+great reward," must expect to be taken at her word. In this age a man
+(or woman) is valued, in a large measure, by the estimate he sets upon
+himself. Honors are not thrust upon a man unless he shows the
+self-confidence which commands confidence. Bacon said, "Some are born
+great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
+But those of the last class are very few. Our enemies are willing to
+thrust upon us scandal and humiliation whenever there is a possible
+chance, but our friends are very slow in thrusting honors upon us. If a
+person wants anything in this world he must first convince himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> of
+his ability to attain that goal, then he may be able to convince others.
+It is the man with confidence in himself who wins the day.</p>
+
+<p>After one has decided upon his goal he should keep that goal always
+before him as the pillar of fire before the seekers for the promised
+land. All our thoughts should be in that direction. Every wish or
+thought we send out reaches someone and in time may bring us what we
+wish. "By faith ye can accomplish all things."</p>
+
+<p>There is an explanation of "Who answers prayer" which describes a mother
+kneeling by the bedside of her sick baby, and praying faithfully that
+her baby might be restored to health. In a vision the author sees these
+prayer thoughts radiating from the mother like invisible telegraph
+wires, along which the message is carried to various parts of the city.
+One wire reaches the home of a minister who, although willing, feels his
+inability to answer. Another wire reaches the home of a wealthy banker
+but he, too, is powerless to help. The next wire is connected with the
+home of a prominent lawyer famous for his ability to win cases for the
+needy, but in this case he cannot win, for Death is more powerful than
+he. But a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> fourth wire reaches a physician who has just retired from a
+hard day's fight with his enemy&mdash;disease. The physician awakens, grasps
+the message and immediately arises, dresses and hastens to the home of
+the poor woman. In a short time the little one's spasms are relieved and
+the doctor gives a sigh of relief, as he says to the anxious mother,
+"The crisis is past, your baby will live." The mother's prayer has been
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>Every thought we entertain is being sent out along these invisible wires
+and eventually will reach someone who responds to it. If we send out
+worry thoughts or thoughts of self-depreciation we must expect others to
+receive the message as we send it. So if we want to make the most of our
+lives we continually must send out only thoughts that we wish others to
+receive. We must value ourselves if we expect others to value us!</p>
+
+<p>Too much introspection and concern for self is often the cause of
+nervous conditions that produce worry and ill-health. The best cure is
+the cultivation of complete unselfishness. To be interested in the
+happiness of others is the surest road to happiness for one's self;&mdash;if
+you get feeling tired of yourself make a visit to some congenial
+friend,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> and there forget self and your troubles. "It is more blessed to
+give than receive" is a truth that all serene and great souls recognize
+and practice throughout their lives.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2><h3>EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Some time ago, the general public was shocked by a newspaper story of
+the life led by many girl clerks in the department stores of a large
+city. It seems a young girl from the country applied for a position in
+one of the stores, but upon hearing of the small wages paid, said, "How
+can I live on that? It would not provide even the most meager of board
+and the smallest room." The employer asked in reply, "But have you not a
+gentleman friend?" That reply, repeated to a social worker, started an
+investigation which resulted in startling revelations. It was found that
+many of the stores paid such small salaries that to live on them at all
+was an impossibility for even the most economical. It was an understood
+fact that each girl was expected to receive help from some "gentleman
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>There must be something wrong in our whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> system of living when girls
+are compelled to work for salaries insufficient for even the necessities
+and are taught to have tastes and desires for the beautiful which it is
+impossible to gratify on their meager salaries. A young girl goes to
+work in an office or store with a definite, if not expressed,
+understanding of what should be the proper relations of the sexes. After
+she has been at work a short time she notices that her companions are
+much better dressed than it is possible for her to be with the resources
+at her command. She notices that her friends have numerous invitations
+to theatres and dinners. She wonders if she is less attractive than
+they. After awhile she receives hints, more or less broad, from her male
+associates. Gradually it dawns upon her why the other girls are more
+attractive than she.</p>
+
+<p>One who has not been thrown in close contact with the girls of this age
+cannot realize the extent of the immorality among them. Formerly it was
+considered that only boys sowed their wild oats. Now we find that many
+girls do so also. We hear very little about it except for the occasional
+case of one who has to suffer for her sins. Usually this one is one of
+the most innocent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> Many of the girls of this generation are "wise."
+They think they know how to "keep out of trouble," and yet reap the
+rewards in the shape of a few dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Girls cannot afford to take the great risks incident to leading an
+immoral life, aside from all moral reasons for not doing so. In the
+first place there is the danger of becoming pregnant. Think what that
+means! The majority of girls are led to take the first step by promises
+of marriage. Real life has proved these promises seldom are kept. The
+man "changes" his mind after the mis-step has been taken. He goes away
+and forgets, the girl is left to bear the consequences of their mutual
+sin. The men of the world like to take these girls out and enjoy
+themselves but when it comes to marriage&mdash;the man wants a different kind
+of a wife. There are three courses from which such an unfortunate girl
+may choose. One course is an abortion with all its attendant dangers,
+its risks to her life and the thoughts of having taken a life. Another
+is to brave the world, bear her child and keep it. It takes a great deal
+of courage to do this with our present social system. Often it is
+impossible, as the girl is unable to care<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> for the child and at the same
+time support it and herself. She seldom finds very much encouragement in
+this course. Those who should be her friends and aid her to make the
+most of her life are now the ones who keep her down. They refuse to make
+it possible for her to earn an honest living and lead a moral life. The
+third course is to place herself under the care of a responsible
+physician, live in seclusion for the last few months of her pregnancy,
+then, after the birth of her baby, have it adopted. Considering
+everything, this often is the best course. From the child's standpoint,
+it is given a better start in life. It is much better to live as the
+adopted, but honored, child in a home than it is to have to bear the
+stigma of illegitimacy. As soon as the child enters school the latter
+will become known among its playmates and will be the subject of many
+cruel taunts. It is not fair to the innocent child to give it such a
+heritage. But think how the mothers must feel to have to give up their
+babies! That is the saddest part of the case. It is not fair that the
+girl should be punished the remainder of her life for one mis-step when
+the man goes absolutely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> free and without the sign of a stigma attached
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>These cases of unfortunate girls are all too common. The rescue homes in
+the large cities are full, and often a large percentage of their
+occupants are from the country. Within the last week, I have received
+letters from four girls, similar to the one I shall read you. This
+letter is from a girl in Indiana who gives a rural delivery address. "In
+one of your articles in &mdash;&mdash; you speak of homes where unfortunate girls
+are sheltered and taken care of and I should like to know if there is
+such a home in Indianapolis. If there is, will you kindly give me the
+street and number. I am in trouble and have nowhere to go, but knowing
+you to be a friend to unfortunate girls who met their misfortune through
+ignorance and with no desire to do wrong, I write you for advice." This,
+as well as numerous other letters, show that these things are just as
+prevalent in the country districts as in the cities.</p>
+
+<p>So many girls do not realize how easy it is to "get into trouble." A
+short time ago I had a confinement case that was a little unusual; for
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> young woman, who was unmarried, had an unruptured hymen, which
+contained only one small opening barely large enough to insert a sound
+the size of a slate pencil. At the first consultation several months
+previous, when she had come to me on account of absence of menstruation
+for three months, the girl had insisted that there was no possibility of
+her being pregnant. Later she admitted that four months previously, just
+after she menstruated, she was out with a young man who was very
+insistent, that she did not consent, but in spite of her resistance
+there was a discharge thrown against the labia (external organs). At the
+time of this first examination she was about four months pregnant and
+had not supposed such a condition of affairs possible. Fortunately in
+this case there was an early marriage.</p>
+
+<p>Another grave danger to the girl who indulges in immoral practices is
+the possibility of contracting one of the black plagues. You know what
+that would mean. If you recall the prevalence of these diseases you will
+see that the probabilities are that any girl indulging in immoral
+relations will sooner or later contract one of these diseases.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> Indeed
+she runs a big risk of contracting one at her first mis-step.</p>
+
+<p>After one has taken the first mis-step it is very easy to take the next.
+One step often leads to another until the girl succumbs to a life of
+prostitution. A result of prostitution that is important is the
+unfitting for regular life. Whatever the effect of such a life may be
+upon a man, a girl cannot lead such a life with impunity. Many a girl
+tires of her immoral life and gladly would turn to something else but
+the difficulties in her way are numerous. One is her inability to obtain
+a position when it is known that she has led an immoral life. Another is
+that she finds the duties and regular hours incident to any position
+very irksome. The irregular life she has led has unfitted her for a
+regular life. There seems to have been a general disturbance of the
+whole nervous system, her will has become so weakened that it is very
+hard for her to have the will power necessary to keep from returning to
+the old life. This breaking of the will power also makes it difficult
+for her to keep her mind on her work. Then, too, she resents any
+supervision of her work. Of course, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> longer the irregular life has
+continued the harder it is to break away from it.</p>
+
+<p>Now, from another standpoint! No matter how dissipated a man may be he
+wants his bride to be pure. Nearly all girls expect to marry sometime,
+and so for the sake of the future&mdash;in order to keep the confidence of
+her husband as well as for the sake of not taking any risks that might
+prevent future motherhood, girls should not lead immoral lives.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2><h3>FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The greater social freedom of the present generation without adequate
+preparation has resulted in an increasing tendency among young girls to
+make chance acquaintances and perhaps clandestine engagements. That
+these flirtations, entered into so innocently, may result in events that
+will be the cause of lifelong regret is seldom realized by a young
+girl. Yet very often such is the case!</p>
+
+<p>One letter I received says, "I will give you a short outline of my life
+since last April when my troubles began, for which I blame my parents
+partly, because I was not allowed to have my friends at my home or go
+out with young men, as the other girls do, with my parents' knowledge of
+it and because I was kept ignorant of the things I think every girl
+should know. I was nineteen last March. The men say I am the kind that
+looks good to men, that they cannot resist. As to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> this I do not know,
+but I do know that I always attract their attentions and I am sorry that
+I do. And yet I crave them. I have for years and I am lonesome without
+them. I want their friendship and company. I do not know why it is but I
+am more satisfied with the boys than the girls. Last April a young man,
+somewhere in the thirties, I think, though he looked much younger, came
+to our little country town. He was handsome, well educated, finely
+dressed and always seemed to have plenty of money. I was very unhappy
+about this time over my troubles at home and because my boy friend, who
+always had been a friend through all, had for some cause unknown to me
+stopped writing to me. So I met the young man first in company with
+friends a couple of times, then he wished to make an appointment to meet
+me alone and, through the kindness of my friends, I met him out at night
+several times. On the third night before I half realized what I was
+doing I had let him ruin me. I had never been told that this was wrong
+and yet I seemed to know that it was. It worried me, but there was no
+one I could go to for advice and my friend said that since what was done
+already could never be undone I might as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> well keep it up, etc. Having
+no advice but his, I followed it and for several weeks met him out any
+and every where and time I could. I knew of the trouble that might come
+from these meetings and asked my friend about it but he said that
+everything was all right, that he would tend to that and that nothing
+would happen. But it did happen. He was going away in a few days and
+gave me some medicine to take, telling me I was only held back on
+account of it being the first time. But I didn't believe him and went to
+a married lady whom I had known but a short time but whom I thought I
+could trust and who would help me. She invited my friend and me there
+one evening and talked the matter over with us or rather with him. He
+stayed over and helped me out of my trouble. But my health has never
+been the same since. Now, what I want to ask you is this, do you think
+it would be right for me to marry any man, with him thinking that I am
+good or innocent? Do men expect that of the women they marry? But I do
+not wish to marry if I can help it, but I must do something. I will go
+crazy if I stay here at home from worrying over what I have done and for
+fear my parents will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> find it out. What I wish to do is to go away to
+work, but I have no one to go to and am afraid I cannot resist the
+temptations that they say come to every working girl. I have given in
+twice since my trouble, both times shortly afterwards. The first because
+I could not help it and the second because I was afraid of being told
+on, he having been told by the first man. But when I found out I could
+not resist the teasing I quit going out and it has been months since I
+have been out with a man and I am trying to lead a decent life but it is
+hard and at times it seems that I must give in. Now, please write and
+tell me just exactly what you think of my case. Has my whole life been
+ruined by this man?"</p>
+
+<p>Unless this girl will "play soldier" and "right about face" she is in
+danger of landing in a house of ill-fame. How common is her story! Girls
+do not realize what are the possible results that may follow an innocent
+flirtation. Young girls are not posted and they do not know men. They do
+not realize the pressure that will be brought to bear upon them. Many
+young girls grow to womanhood without any idea of the relations of the
+sexes. To them, love is devoid of ideas of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> sex, practically the same as
+their love for a brother or sister. It is not until they are thrown
+alone in the company of some older man that they suddenly awaken to a
+realization of what it all means.</p>
+
+<p>The girls who like to be petted, to be kissed and hugged can see no harm
+in that and do not realize what a sleeping force may be aroused. The
+man, when he finds a girl will allow these attentions, thinks that she
+knows what they may lead to and naturally assumes that she is willing,
+but only wishes to be coaxed. It is a clear case of misunderstanding on
+both sides. But that does not make the consequences any less harmful.</p>
+
+<p>Girls do not realize what kind of an impression they make upon men by
+their clothes, actions, etc. An eminent lawyer said to me recently, "Why
+do you not tell girls what <i>real</i> men think of them when they appear on
+the streets with painted faces, peek-a-boo waists and thin, silk hose
+worn with shoes more appropriate for the ball-room? If girls imitate the
+demi-monde in their dress they must expect to be treated accordingly."
+There is in every girl's nature a desire to appear attractive in the
+eyes of those of the opposite sex and this desire leads them to extremes
+of dressing. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> extremes of dressing naturally attract the attention
+of men, and the girls feel flattered and continue in their course, not
+realizing what impression the men really get. Then, when the man makes
+the advances that her manner of dressing has led him to believe he can
+make, she feels insulted and resentful.</p>
+
+<p>The fault lies in the fact that the girl has not been properly educated
+and has received exaggerated and entirely wrong ideas of life.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2><h3>WHITE SLAVERY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>During the past few years the public has been much interested in the
+prosecution of the white slave investigation. Every adult person had a
+more or less definite idea that there were in existence immoral houses.
+But the majority of women had no idea that their existence should be of
+any especial interest to them.</p>
+
+<p>The Hon. Edwin Sims, U. S. District Attorney, Chicago, says: "There are
+some things so far removed from the lives of normal, decent people as to
+be simply unbelievable by them. The 'white slave' trade of to-day is one
+of these incredible things. The calmest, simplest statements of its
+facts are almost beyond the comprehension of belief of men and women who
+are mercifully spared from contact with the dark and hideous secrets of
+the 'under-world' of the big cities.</p>
+
+<p>"Naturally, wisely, every parent who reads this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> statement will at once
+raise the question: 'What excuse is there for the open discussion of
+such a revolting condition of things? What good is there to be served by
+flaunting so dark and disgusting a subject before the family circle?'
+Only one&mdash;and that is a reason and not an excuse! The recent examination
+of more than two hundred 'white slaves' by the office of the U. S.
+District Attorney at Chicago has brought to light the fact that
+literally thousands of innocent girls from the country districts are
+every year entrapped into a life of hopeless slavery and degradation
+because parents in the country do not understand conditions as they
+exist and how to protect their daughters from the 'white slave' traders
+who have reduced the art of ruining young girls to a national and
+international system. I sincerely believe that nine-tenths of the
+parents of these thousands of girls who are every year snatched from
+lives of decency and comparative peace and dragged under the slime of an
+existence in the 'white slave world' have no idea that there is really a
+trade in the ruin of girls as much as there is a trade in cattle or
+sheep or other products of the farm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have no disposition to add a single word to what will open the eyes
+of parents to the fact that white slavery is an existing condition&mdash;a
+system of girl hunting that is national and international in its scope,
+that it literally consumes thousands of girls&mdash;clean, innocent
+girls&mdash;every year; that it is operated with a cruelty, a barbarism that
+gives a new meaning to the word fiend; that it is an imminent peril to
+every girl in the country who has a desire to get into the city and
+taste its excitement and pleasures."</p>
+
+<p>One of the worst obstacles to be overcome in the work of protecting
+innocent girls and restoring to useful lives those who have been
+betrayed, is the blind incredulity on the part of a large percentage of
+the public. There are thousands of women all over the country who know
+as little about what is going on in the world as do so many children.
+They are wonderfully ignorant of the terrible conditions that are in
+existence all around them. Of course their blindness to these awful
+conditions makes them more peaceful and contented for the time being
+than they possibly could be if they realized the temptations and perils
+that are lying in wait for their daughters and the daughters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> of their
+friends. But this peace is not permanent and every year thousands of
+mothers are rudely awakened from their sleep of peace to find that while
+they were asleep to the perils of the world their daughters have been
+drawn into the whirlpool. The awakening of such parents comes too late
+usually to do any good. The recent agitation along this line has caused
+many a mother to exclaim, "How terrible; I did not dream that such a
+condition of affairs could exist in this country."</p>
+
+<p>If you possessed a rare jewel and knew you were surrounded by those who
+would try to obtain possession of that jewel you would not entrust it to
+a blind or a deaf watchman or one so ignorant of the wiles of the
+robbers that he would trustingly allow it to pass into their possession.
+There is nothing in the world so priceless to the father and mother as
+the virtue and happiness of their daughter. And yet there are thousands
+of parents who have been entrusted with the care of a daughter who are
+trying to discharge that trust with their eyes blinded and their ears
+closed. They insist upon keeping the childish belief that there is no
+real danger threatening their daughter. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> parents do not live in
+the world. They fold their hands and raise their eyes towards heaven and
+cry, "Peace! Peace!" and are unable to see the enemy slipping upon their
+daughter to drag her down to a life of shame.</p>
+
+<p>In this age no young girl is beyond temptation. She needs all the
+protection possible, and in order to protect her the parents must be
+awake to the dangers and provided with the best means of protection. One
+of the things hardest to make honest and trusting parents believe is
+that there can be people in the world who make it their business to lead
+girls into a life of shame. But such is the case whether we believe it
+or not. The men and women who ply this trade lay their plans more
+carefully and employ more artifices than can be conceived of by the
+ordinary parent. The wonder is that not more are caught in the net.</p>
+
+<p>Another fact which the public finds it hard to believe is that the girls
+who are lured into the life of shame find it impossible to escape from
+such a life, that they are prisoners and slaves in every sense of the
+word.</p>
+
+<p>The artifices employed by these slave-dealers to obtain their victims
+are many and frequently are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> so adroitly formulated as to blind not only
+the victim but her parents as well.</p>
+
+<p>One common trick of these slave procurers is the promise of a good
+position. Many a girl has gone to the cities thinking she had obtained a
+definite and desirable position. Perhaps she was to be met at the
+station by the person who obtained the position for her. Too late she
+finds her position is in a house of ill-fame. So common has this trick
+become that in every large city there are organizations of social
+workers who offer through the churches to look up the desirability of
+any position which has been obtained by a girl so that should it prove
+to be a lure of the destroyer she could be warned before it was too
+late.</p>
+
+<p>Another favorite device of the white slaver for landing victims is the
+runaway marriage trick. The alleged summer resorts and excursion centers
+which are so widely advertised as Gretna Greens and as places where the
+usual legal and official formalities preliminary to respectable marriage
+are reduced to the minimum are star recruiting stations for the white
+slave traffic. So common is this trick that a wise mother would refuse
+to allow her daughter to visit one of these places or to go on one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> of
+the pleasure excursions unless accompanied by some older member of the
+family. Also, every mother should teach her daughter that any man who
+proposed such a marriage was to be looked upon with suspicion, and
+should not be trusted for an instant.</p>
+
+<p>Then there is the restaurant trick. The girl is induced to go to what
+she thinks is a restaurant and then perhaps is taken into a private room
+only to find that this room leads to her prison. Girls cannot be too
+suspicious of going to unknown places with comparative strangers&mdash;either
+men or women.</p>
+
+<p>The moving picture shows furnish to these slavers another opportunity of
+misleading girls. These shows naturally attract children and very young
+girls. Evidence has been procured which proves that many girls owe their
+ruin to frequenting them. As an instance of this, three girls met as
+many young men at a moving picture show and at the end of the
+performance were induced to leave the theater by a side door which was
+found to open into an adjoining building and all passed the night
+together.</p>
+
+<p>The massage parlors and manicure parlors upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> investigation proved to
+have been used as a bait for these vile procurers. Many of these places
+were found to be not equipped for their legitimate work but to be
+nothing more than disorderly houses.</p>
+
+<p>The investigations of the United States courts have resulted in the
+imprisonment of many of these panders but there are many more still
+unconvicted and the danger to young girls is ever present. The parents
+cannot be too watchful in their protection, and to be watchful they must
+be cognizant of the dangers and of the methods in use. The daughters
+must be so educated that they are prepared to cope with the enemy.
+Remember, as Browning says, "Ignorance is not innocence, but sin."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2><h3>THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>I have made so emphatic the necessity of early and proper instruction of
+girls and I have shown you that so much of the disease and unhappiness
+in the world is due to this lack of instruction that I do not believe
+any of your daughters ever will say, "Why was I not told these things
+before it was too late?" But you women will have sons as well as
+daughters and you are just as responsible for their future happiness as
+you are for that of your daughters. Besides the future happiness of
+another woman's daughter depends in a large measure upon the health of
+your son. The boys need instruction as much if not more than do the
+girls; at any rate they need it earlier than the girls do, because boys
+talk more freely than girls and boys acquire their first impressions of
+these subjects much earlier than girls.</p>
+
+<p>No boy ever willfully contracted a disease that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> would produce so much
+future misery as that resulting from one of the venereal diseases. You
+remember I made the remark that the large percentage of men contracted
+these diseases before their twentieth year, before they had any adequate
+knowledge of the possible consequences. If boys were warned there would
+be no more of this innocent acquisition of disease. Many a man has had
+cause to regret all his life a few moments of thoughtless dissipation.
+Even though a boy has acquired one of these diseases that is no reason
+why he should suffer from it the remainder of his life any more than
+that he constantly should suffer from an attack of smallpox. One
+difference at the present time is that the smallpox patient receives the
+most scientific treatment procurable, but the victim of one of these
+plagues is neglected. Boys are told these diseases are no worse than a
+cold and so do not realize the necessity for prompt and adequate
+treatment. The ordinary boy treats himself, following the advice of some
+of his friends or some incompetent person. He has a feeling of shame
+which prevents him from going to the family physician, who would give
+him honest advice. If he goes to any physician he usually goes to some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span>
+advertising physician who claims to be a "men specialist." The main
+speciality of these men is obtaining money from their ignorant dupes.
+Their advertisements would make nearly every man in the world think he
+were suffering from some grave disease. The young boy, at an
+impressionable age, is a ready victim to their lures. He is treated for
+a real or an imaginary disease until his money is all gone, then he is
+discharged.</p>
+
+<p>Let me read you a letter I received from a young boy which will
+illustrate my meaning: "I read your article 'A Father's Duty to His
+Son,' in the &mdash;&mdash; and take the liberty of writing to you. My father died
+when I was but nine years old, so I was left to my own resources, the
+result being I am now a nervous wreck at the age of nineteen. I have
+doctored for nervous debility with four doctors for over a year and a
+half. The result, they got every cent out of me but did not help me a
+particle. If my mother ever found it out, it would worry her to death,
+as she has hopes in me, fool that I was. My condition, I am always
+nervous when in company, expecting somebody to accuse me any minute. My
+eyes always are blurred and my hands shake as if I were an old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> man. I
+have night losses, which bother me more than anything and if they
+stopped I know I could fight my way back to health. If you could
+possibly give me some recipe or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
+Nobody but one in this condition can imagine the strain on the mind and
+body. Although I feel well when alone, though awfully weak, I am a
+nervous wreck when in the presence of others. I have written to you
+because your article seems to tell facts which I know to be true."</p>
+
+<p>Now, if you will pardon me I will quote a portion of my reply:
+"Evidently you have been the victim of unscrupulous doctors.
+Unfortunately there are a number. They usually advertise themselves as
+specialists in diseases of men. A reliable physician does not advertise.
+If you had gone to a trustworthy family physician in the first place you
+would have been saved much worry, and incidentally considerable money.</p>
+
+<p>"The chief advice you need is to <i>stop worrying</i>. The night losses you
+mention are a natural condition. They occur with nearly every normal man
+who is living a continent life. Even if they occur two or three times a
+week they do not indicate any diseased condition. The more you worry
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> think about such things the more often they will occur. I do not
+know what your occupation is, but if it is indoor work you must plan to
+take a great deal of outdoor exercise every day. If you could go out in
+the country for awhile and do hard outdoor work it would be the best
+thing for you. Eat only plain, easily digested food, but eat plenty. Do
+not use any condiments nor stimulants. Sleep on a hard bed with plenty
+of fresh air in the room. Bathe the external genitals with cold water
+night and morning.... The fact that you have abused yourself in the past
+need not prevent you from being a perfectly healthy person now if you
+are not continuing the practice."</p>
+
+<p>Every boy desires to be a man but does not quite understand the meaning
+of the word. He dislikes to be called a "greeny" or anything that
+suggests that he is young and inexperienced. Often he pretends to know
+things he does not. Nearly every boy, at an early age, is thrown in
+contact with low-minded persons who think it amusing to persuade the
+youth to prove he knows indecent things. He thinks it a test of manhood
+to be acquainted with various vices and so in order to prove his
+knowledge is led into various indiscretions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> which result in the
+contraction of vile habits or of loathsome diseases.</p>
+
+<p>If a boy at an early age were given the true idea of the meaning of
+being a man or of manhood we would have fewer physical wrecks and
+incompetent individuals.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2><h3>WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+"What can a boy do, and where can a boy stay,<br />
+If he is always told to get out of the way?<br />
+He cannot sit here, and he must not stand there,<br />
+The cushions that cover that fine rocking chair<br />
+Were put there, of course, to be seen and admired;<br />
+A boy has no business to ever be tired.<br />
+The beautiful roses and flowers that bloom<br />
+On the floor of the darkened and delicate room<br />
+Are made not to walk on&mdash;at least, not by boys;<br />
+The house is no place, anyway, for their noise,<br />
+Yet boys must walk somewhere, and what if their feet,<br />
+Sent out of their houses, sent into the street,<br />
+Should step round the corner and pause at the door<br />
+Where other boys' feet have paused often before;<br />
+Should pass the gateway of glittering light,<br />
+Where jokes that are merry and songs that are bright<br />
+Ring out a warm welcome with flattering voice,<br />
+And temptingly say, 'Here's a place for the boys.'<br />
+<br />
+"Ah, what if they should? What if your boy or mine<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span>Should cross o'er the threshold which marks out the line<br />
+'Twixt virtue and vice, 'twixt pureness and sin,<br />
+And leave all his innocent boyhood within?<br />
+Oh, what if they should, because you and I<br />
+While the days and the months and the years hurry by,<br />
+Are too busy with cares and with life's fleeting joys<br />
+To make round our hearthstone a place for the boys?<br />
+There's a place for the boys. They'll find it somewhere;<br />
+And if our own homes are too daintily fair<br />
+For the touch of their fingers, the tread of their feet,<br />
+They'll find it, and find it, alas, in the street,<br />
+'Mid the gilding of sin and the glitter of vice;<br />
+And with heartaches and longings we pay a dear price<br />
+For the getting of gain that our lifetime employs,<br />
+If we fail to provide a good place for the boys."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This little poem, published anonymously in a country newspaper, seems to
+me to tell the story of why boys go astray. They are not understood at
+home and so naturally go where someone seems to understand and want
+them.</p>
+
+<p>In a great many homes the boy's room is a very unattractive place,
+merely a place in which to sleep. He is not allowed in the "parlor." He
+always seems to be in the way. No one seems to take any interest in the
+things that are closest to his heart. It is only natural that he should
+gradually drift to the saloon, the billiard room, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> questionable
+houses, because he is made to feel that he is welcome there. Indeed his
+tastes and desires are consulted there.</p>
+
+<p>A boy always is interested in sex problems. The vulgar delight in
+feeding his fancy, in giving him exaggerated ideas of these much abused
+subjects. He is lead on from one step to another. Often many of the
+things he does are performed in a spirit of bravado, simply because he
+does not wish to appear "green."</p>
+
+<p>From one of the reliable magazines comes this information: "Forty-one
+families&mdash;'nice families,' as we call them&mdash;were last May thrown into
+consternation and humiliation by being privately notified by the head
+master of a boys' school that their boys would not be re&euml;ntered for
+another term at his school. 'A fearful condition of immorality,' wrote
+the head master, 'has been unearthed at the school, and in order to set
+an example to the rest of the boys, every boy concerned will be denied
+re&euml;ntrance to this school.'</p>
+
+<p>"The 'fearful condition of immorality' discovered in the school was, as
+the head master privately explained, traceable, as it generally is, 'to
+one boy, the son of a family of unquestioned standing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> in its
+community,' and he has involved the other boys.</p>
+
+<p>"The boy in question was not a vicious lad: on the contrary, he was a
+boy possessed of more than ordinary good characteristics. When he was
+brought up before the head master and the full result of his baneful
+influence was explained to him the boy was panic stricken.</p>
+
+<p>"'Didn't you realize what you were doing?' asked the head master.</p>
+
+<p>"'No,' replied the boy, who was nineteen and really a young man: 'I knew
+it was wrong, yes, but I didn't realize how wrong. As a matter of fact,'
+said the boy, 'I didn't know what I was doing, and how I was getting the
+boys into a thing that I now see is more serious than I had any idea
+of.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Didn't your father and mother ever explain these things to you?' asked
+the head master.</p>
+
+<p>"'Not a word,' answered the boy, and then as a grim look came on his
+face he said: 'God! I wish they had!'</p>
+
+<p>"A pleasant realization must it be to the parents of this boy as they
+read this sentence in the head master's letter to the father of this
+boy:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'I cannot but feel that your criminal negligence in the most vital duty
+that can come to a parent is the direct cause in this twofold calamity:
+first, of the downfall of your own son; and second, of the downfall of
+each of the other forty boys, and of the humiliation in which they and
+their parents find themselves. These are hard words to say to you, but
+they are true, and I say them not alone as the head master of this
+school, but also as one father to another, and as one man to another.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the growing youth's mind there arise many questions that he would
+like to talk over with his father, but he feels diffident about asking
+him. Too often the boy grows up and goes away to college without ever
+talking with his father about manhood. In all matters concerning his
+business relations and success, the boy has received careful
+instruction. He has not been left to work out those problems by himself
+but is given the benefit of the experiences of those who have trodden
+the road before. But in this matter so vital to his whole life, he has
+been left to clear his own path through the woods. With no guide and
+bewildered with the new ideas and experiences that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> crowd upon him, is
+it any wonder he loses his way, wanders off the straight path, falls
+ofttimes into some bog that perhaps was hidden from his sight by
+surrounding flowers and to which he has been lured by siren music?</p>
+
+<p>The father's duty to his son is plain&mdash;and must not be neglected. In
+some cases the mother must attend to this duty and for the future
+welfare of her son she must see that he receives adequate instruction.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2><h3>HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD?</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Every mother and every father realizes that there are certain things
+incident to reproduction that must be learned by the child at an early
+age. They realize, too, that it is preferable that this information
+should be imparted by the parents. But, on account of their own lack of
+instruction, they find two problems confronting them. How and when shall
+I tell my child are the questions uppermost in many parents' minds.</p>
+
+<p>The answer to the first question must depend upon the individual case.
+At a certain age a baby expresses a desire for something to bite. Before
+that time we make no effort to force him to bite. Later he finds he can
+help himself from one position to another by creeping. Then in a few
+months he discovers he is able to use his feet and tries to walk. We do
+not try to force any of these new ideas upon him but simply wait
+patiently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> until he expresses a desire to acquire some new knowledge,
+then we aid him and guide his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>There comes a time in the life of every child when he awakens to
+knowledge of reproduction. Then is the time to give the information.
+Some children commence to inquire as early as three years. At such an
+early age it is not necessary to go into details, as a very little
+information suffices to satisfy the child.</p>
+
+<p>Just how to tell the truths necessary must vary with the age of the
+child. It is important to remember to be truthful to the child. When a
+mother tells the child that the stork or the doctor brings the baby, she
+sets a seal upon evasion. Some day he will learn that his mother has
+deceived him and that behind her instruction lies an element of secrecy,
+and secrecy with its companion curiosity is the cause of much unrest in
+after life. The child gathers the idea that there must be something
+shameful connected with the birth of a child or his mother would not be
+ashamed to tell him the truth.</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, the child must be told scientifically that this knowledge may
+form a basis for later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> studies in biology. He can be taught in a simple
+manner that all nature comes from a seed; that the mother makes a tiny
+nest for the seed and that with all seeds it is necessary for their
+growth that the father gives them some pollen.</p>
+
+<p>Until these subjects are put before children and young people with some
+degree of intelligence and sympathetic handling, it cannot be expected
+that anything but the utmost confusion in mind and in morals should
+reign in matters of sex. It seems incredible that our thoughts could be
+so unclean that we find it impossible to give to our children the
+information they need on these most sacred subjects, but instead we
+allow them to obtain their information whenever and wherever they can
+and in the most unclean manner. A child at the age of puberty is capable
+of the most sensitive, affectional and serene appreciation of what sex
+means and can absorb the teachings if properly given without any shock
+to his sense of the fitness of things. Indeed whenever these subjects
+are taught to the child correctly they induce a feeling of reverence for
+the mother that could not otherwise be obtained. A little child when
+told that she grew in a nest in mother's body right underneath mother's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span>
+heart at once becomes filled with a great love and wonder for that
+mother. Then later to teach the relation of fatherhood and how the love
+of parents for each other and their desire to have a child of their very
+own was the cause of that child's existence&mdash;these things seem so
+natural to the child mind that has not been polluted with vulgar ideas
+that they excite in him no sense of unfitness, only a deep gratitude and
+a kind of tender wonderment.</p>
+
+<p>The great point to remember in teaching these things to children is to
+satisfy their present question and leave the understanding that mother
+(or father) always stands ready and willing to explain any problems that
+are bothering the child.</p>
+
+<p>So many girls have told me that when they were between six and fourteen
+years of age they had heard some things about the land where the babies
+grow and immediately went to their mothers and inquired as to the truth
+of what they had heard. The invariable answer received was, "Little
+girls must not talk about such things." That silenced the child and the
+mother heaved a sigh of relief that the question had passed off so
+smoothly and easily. That little sentence has been the cause of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span>
+innumerable mistakes and misery. That little sentence marked the
+beginning of the failure of the child to confide in her mother, the
+child never again would broach the subject to her mother. However, that
+did not mean that the child would not receive the information requested;
+for, as a rule, the girls who told of this incidence also remarked that
+they had received the information very soon from some older girl and
+frequently in a vulgar manner. If a mother wishes to retain the
+confidence of her daughter, if a father wishes to retain the confidence
+of his son they both must keep a keen lookout for the first questions
+and be prepared to answer them at the time.</p>
+
+<p>Later on the special sexual needs of the boy or the girl can be
+explained, the necessity of cleanliness and the danger of self-abuse.
+The need of self-control and the possibility of deflecting physical
+desire to other channels and the great gain resulting; all these things
+the youth of either sex are capable of understanding and appreciating,
+and the knowledge given early will prevent many physical and moral
+wrecks.</p>
+
+<p>It is the duty of fathers and mothers to prepare themselves on these
+subjects so as to have the answer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> ready when the child first inquires.
+There is no excuse for not doing so, for educators all over the country
+stand ready to help any parents who call upon them. It is possible for
+every community to obtain the services of a lecturer or teacher who will
+instruct the parents. The individual can obtain books which explain all
+these things simply and plainly. There is no excuse for ignorance.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2><h3>WOMEN IN BUSINESS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If all homes were ideal and all men likewise, there would be no question
+of woman suffrage or woman in business. But this is not an ideal world;
+all women who have kept their places and stayed at home, kept house and
+taken care of their children have not led ideal lives. In too many
+instances the home woman, the little wren, has been deserted for the gay
+song-bird. The necessities of life have forced other women into the
+business world&mdash;women whose preference would be for the ideal, quiet
+home life. One must not think that because a woman is leading a public
+life that she prefers it, that she has no desire for a home and little
+ones. Often her choice has been the lesser of two evils,&mdash;more to be
+desired than a life, married, but loveless; one in which she must slave
+from morn till eve and then receive as recompense curses and
+fault-finding.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The woman who refuses to so demean the married life as to enter into
+such a marriage, preferring instead the busy life of a bachelor maid, is
+to be admired rather than condemned. That she makes a success of her
+business life tends to show what some man has missed by not proving
+himself worthy to be her husband.</p>
+
+<p>We hear so much about woman entering into business&mdash;just as though she
+had not always been in business. Stop and think about our ancestors on
+the farms. The woman shared the work equally with the man. He attended
+to the heavier work, while she attended to that which required less
+physical strength but more attention to details. The products of her
+industry often brought as much ready cash as that derived from the sale
+of the larger products of the farm. Many families depended for the
+yearly supply of clothes and luxuries on the money thus obtained from
+the sale of butter, eggs and chickens. In olden days, too, many a woman
+derived an income from the sale of home-made rugs and counterpanes.</p>
+
+<p>Just how men have conceived the idea that it is only the modern woman
+who is a money earner, I cannot understand, nor can I understand how
+some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> men expect women to be happy in idleness. The most unhappy women
+in the world are the women who have a great deal of leisure time. Many a
+man objects to his wife taking up any outside work even though it would
+not interfere with her household duties. This usually is due to false
+pride on his part. He is afraid of what others will say; afraid his
+friends will think he is not capable of supporting his wife. Some of
+these men forget to take into account the possibility that an accident
+or illness may take him away, business failures may sweep away his
+accumulations and then his wife must face the necessity of earning her
+living. Alas, how seldom is she prepared to do this! If, during the
+leisure time of her protected life, she had been perfecting herself in
+some branch of industry, her future would be easily solved.</p>
+
+<p>A woman can devote several hours a day to outside affairs and still not
+neglect her home duties. Home-making does not necessarily mean that the
+woman herself must do the washing, ironing, cooking, baking or sewing.
+She must see that these are performed properly but the actual work may
+all be done by others. A business man does not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> attempt to do all the
+work of the office himself. He employs a bookkeeper, a clerk and a
+stenographer to attend to the details while he directs. It is the same
+way with a home, a woman may employ others to do the physical labor
+while she directs.</p>
+
+<p>Then as to the married woman earning money. Let me give you an
+illustration. A woman has spent the early part of her life perfecting
+herself in some branch of work, for instance, book cover designing. She
+marries a man in moderate circumstances and does not feel that she can
+afford to be idle and employ someone else to do her house work. She is a
+slenderly built woman and it would be a great tax on her strength to
+perform all the household duties&mdash;for some parts of housekeeping require
+such hard physical labor that even many men would not care to attempt
+them. It certainly would seem a very reasonable thing for this woman to
+devote several hours a day to book cover designing and use the money so
+earned to employ a strong woman to do the heavy housework. This
+arrangement would be better for all concerned; first, the woman would be
+happier and more contented; next, the man would enjoy his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> home more,
+for any man certainly would rather come home and find his wife contented
+and happy and with leisure time to devote to him, than to come home and
+find her all tired out, and consequently cross, with the housework so
+unfinished she must devote her evening to some household task.</p>
+
+<p>If circumstances have given a woman home and children, they always must
+come first, but this does not mean the woman must do housework if
+conditions permit the employment of somebody to do it. She must do the
+work for which she is best fitted both by nature and by training.</p>
+
+<p>In whatever occupation a woman is engaged she should endeavor to make a
+success of that work, to do it a little better than anyone else could;
+for in every field of endeavor there is joy and reward for always being
+and doing one's best. The great secret of success is <i>concentration</i>.
+Too many women waste their energies thinking and talking about the
+things they would like to do. Every time you talk about the thing you
+would like to do you waste just that much energy and make your goal less
+possible of achievement. That which seems difficult before is usually
+found easy to accomplish, once undertaken. If you wish to accomplish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span>
+anything <i>hold the thought</i> in your mind and concentrate all your powers
+in that direction. Do not scatter your energies like chaff to be blown
+hither and thither.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2><h3>NERVOUSNESS&mdash;A LACK OF CONTROL</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>How often do we meet women who complain of being nervous. What they
+really mean is that they have not control of their nerves but let them
+run away. A woman may be of a nervous temperament and yet have such good
+control of her nerves that she never complains of being nervous. This
+lack of nerve control manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it
+only is a tendency to cry at trivial things or an inclination to
+despondency&mdash;to have "the blues," or to worry over real or fancied
+slights. Many women waste so much time thinking over things that are
+past and gone. A visit with a friend loses its joy in the afterthought,
+for this victim of the nerves lives over again every moment of the
+visit. She recalls everything that has been said and wonders if a
+different meaning were meant. Things that were said as a joke and
+originally taken that way now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> are brought up for criticism and pondered
+over until the woman convinces herself of the presence of a hidden
+meaning. She is not satisfied until she has bent and shapen the original
+thoughtless sentence into an ugly sting.</p>
+
+<p>These nervous women are the ones who continually are tormented with the
+demon of jealousy. If one of them should suddenly meet her husband on
+the street walking with another woman, what a curtain lecture he would
+receive that evening; or if not that, he finds his wife wearing the air
+of one who considers herself much abused. The real facts of the case may
+be that her husband met the other woman quite accidentally and, as they
+were going in the same direction, he could not avoid walking with her
+without being positively rude. In this age men must, of necessity, have
+business transactions with women. It is a common occurrence for two men
+to lunch together in order to have a chance to talk over some important
+business without fear of interruption. There is no reason why a man and
+woman might not do the same, and yet how impossible it would be to
+convince the jealous woman that this was the case. To be jealous is to
+acknowledge the superior<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> charms of the other woman. "If I cannot hold
+you against all women, then I do not want you." If you think some other
+woman is attracting your husband, wake up and beat her at her own game.
+Do not sit idly in the corner and complain. You only are making yourself
+miserable and not trying to right the wrong.</p>
+
+<p>A woman who is nervous usually does not realize what is the cause of her
+condition. When excitable and irritable and suffering from a nervous
+headache, she takes various remedies to deaden the symptoms, instead of
+looking the matter squarely in the face and going after the cause.</p>
+
+<p>Many women need a hobby to take up their spare time and to occupy their
+minds. If their minds are occupied and their bodies kept in good
+condition by proper care, they soon will gain control of their nerves.
+If you find yourself getting nervous, make up your mind to overcome it
+by filling your life so full of work and play that you will have no time
+to give way to the nerves. When you feel an attack coming on, get busy
+and "work it off."</p>
+
+<p>There is a class of women who possess comfortable homes, with a maid to
+do the work, whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> home duties are not confining and who find
+themselves with a great deal of extra time on their hands. To these
+women the days are long and they endeavor to pass away the time by doing
+nerve racking fancy work or by "fussing" around the house. They are not
+happy and contented, chiefly because their minds are being
+neglected&mdash;are growing up to weeds like a neglected garden. For such a
+woman club work is a boon. She should take up some especial kind of
+work, and devote several hours a day to the study of it. At first this
+will be hard, for a mind that has fallen into lazy ways is not easily
+aroused to continual effort, the deeply rooted weeds are not easily
+destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>Many half contented women realize this need of mental food but hesitate.
+As one woman said, "Why, my husband would leave me if I started to
+work!" Some men take a peculiar attitude towards women. They would like
+to treat them as a woman treats her pet dog. The dog is provided with a
+comfortable home, plenty of food, someone to bathe it and carry it
+around. The dog is contented with this. It loves to sleep and eat the
+livelong day; it comes when its mistress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> calls, and goes when she is
+tired of it. Unfortunately, perhaps, all women cannot be contented with
+such a life. The woman was given a brain which refuses to be dormant. If
+it is not required to be used in a useful way, it occupies itself with
+bad thoughts&mdash;it worries and becomes fault finding or gossiping.</p>
+
+<p>No woman should allow her mind to grow up to such weeds. If the
+circumstances of her position, her education or her environment seem to
+make it unwise that she take up any work that would bring a monetary
+reward, she easily can find some charitable work that needs all the
+energies she can devote to it. If such a woman would take up some
+special branch of philanthropic work she would be amply rewarded, not
+only by the consciousness of the good she had done, but by the
+improvement in her own health and happiness.</p>
+
+<p>There is another phase to this lack of nerve control shown in a nervous
+tension, an inability to relax and enjoy life. Some people go through
+the day on such a nervous tension that they are unable to take
+cognizance of their surroundings. Eventually this tension will manifest
+itself in some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> disorder, as headache, nervous indigestion or complete
+nervous prostration. In the latter case the nerves have been so abused,
+so strained that at last they are worn out. A rest is imperative!</p>
+
+<p>A woman who, if she has a few spare moments, can lie down and relax
+absolutely, perhaps even drop to sleep, has a better chance to stand the
+stress and strain of business or of housekeeping than the one who finds
+it impossible to do so. Try making it a point to lie down for two or
+three minutes several times a day; lie flat on your back and relax every
+muscle; put every worry or ugly thought out of your mind by thinking
+some pleasant but soothing sentence as, "I am glad I can rest. I will be
+happy when I arise." You will be surprised at the effect these few
+moments a day will produce upon your health and happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Plenty of sleep is imperative for these women and yet so many of them
+neglect this great restorer of the nervous system. Frequently these
+women complain of an inability to go to sleep easily, and spend long
+hours of the night lying awake and entertaining worry thoughts. This
+symptom of disordered nerves should not be neglected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> A warm bath
+before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the
+spine, will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good
+results. A hot foot-bath, by drawing the blood away from the brain,
+often will be beneficial. A glass of hot milk or cocoa taken just before
+retiring may have the same effect. If the sleeplessness is a result of
+indigestion a plain diet will relieve. Sleeping upon a hard bed without
+a pillow sometimes produces the desired effect. Always have plenty of
+fresh air in the room. Keep the mind free from the cares of the day. If
+they will intrude crowd them out by repeating some soothing sentence as:
+"There is no reason why I should not sleep, therefore, I shall sleep. My
+body is relaxed, my mind is at peace, sleep is coming, I am getting
+sleepy, I am about to sleep." Never take any sleeping powders except
+upon the advice of a physician, for the majority of these sleeping
+powders contain some harmful drug, as morphine, codeine, phenacetin or
+acetanilid. The latter especially is very depressing to the heart and
+serves to weaken the nervous system. In fact many deaths may be laid at
+the door of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> drugs. Treatments to tone up the nervous system and
+to improve the circulation often are indicated in these cases of
+"nerves." Control your nerves, do not let them control you!</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2><h3>A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Have you ever thought why it is that some women are as young at forty as
+others are at twenty-four? And I mean young not frivolous! It is every
+woman's duty to keep young as long as possible, but, unfortunately, she
+does not always know the best way to live up to that duty. Keeping young
+means keeping your body in a perfectly healthy condition and your mind
+in harmony. With attention to certain laws a woman can detract ten years
+from her age. She can do this by treating herself as a friend and not as
+a slave. Take ten minutes and think how you could improve yourself by a
+little effort. Perhaps some of these suggestions will help you.</p>
+
+<p>Everyone needs exercise. Just what sort depends upon the occupation of
+the individual. A woman doing housework exercises most of her muscles
+during the day, and if she makes pleasure,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> and not drudgery out of her
+work, this exercise is very beneficial. It is a pleasure to be able to
+accomplish so much, but the housework is not sufficient exercise. This
+woman needs exercise for her mind and for her beauty-loving soul. In her
+spare time she should lie under the trees and enjoy nature or a good
+book, or she should go to some gathering where she will meet those who
+will refresh her intellectually. Keep the mind open to all the
+impressions of nature. Love the open air. Fresh air is not a fad, it is
+a necessity if one would keep young. Occasionally read a book of travel
+or a biography of some well-known person. Keep mentally alert. An
+intellectual back number adds years to her seeming age. Nothing makes
+for youth as a young mind, save perhaps a young heart.</p>
+
+<p>If a woman wishes to retain her attractiveness and not grow dull and
+uninteresting, she must be interested in the outside world. Make it a
+point to go somewhere every day. If you cannot do anything else, put the
+baby in the cart and walk a few blocks. Do not say you are too busy. It
+is necessary for your health and you will find a few minutes' outing
+will give you renewed energies and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> help you to see the silver lining.
+If possible go to social affairs where you meet people. Invite others to
+your home but do not tire yourself entertaining them. People who are
+boarding enjoy a simple home-cooked meal. It is the "homey" air they
+enjoy and not elaborate decorations or menu.</p>
+
+<p>A woman in an office needs different exercise. She needs to do something
+that will stretch and strengthen the tired muscles. She also needs
+plenty of fresh air. A brisk walk is one of the best exercises for her.
+Walk part of the way to the office, if possible, and keep your eyes open
+for interesting things you pass. Use your imagination in guessing the
+life story of those you meet. Forget yourself by becoming interested in
+others, and you will be surprised at the effect upon your outlook on
+life. It is not work that makes the business girl grow old and careworn
+as much as it is her inability to forget her work during her play or
+rest time. A business man takes an occasional day off and goes hunting
+or fishing, but the business girl seldom can afford the little trips
+that would serve to break the monotony of work. But every day brings its
+opportunities for little pleasures that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> are available. Remember it is
+the small things of life that make up its enjoyment. Once in a while at
+noon go to some especially nice lunch room where you will see well
+dressed women, where the service is faultless and every mouthful and
+every moment enjoyable. You will come away filled with such a sense of
+well-being that you will be able to accomplish twice as much in the way
+of work. Many business girls do not entertain themselves well enough.
+They become so imbued with the spirit of economy that they deny
+themselves the little pleasures that would make life enjoyable. This
+reacts upon their work and ability. These people who continually stint
+themselves never achieve great success. They repress themselves so much
+that they quell all their best impulses. They never expand.</p>
+
+<p>Learn self-control. Anger is a rapid wrinkle bringer. The energy that is
+wasted in useless worry and tirade against circumstances might be
+conserved and diverted into other channels that would bring you abundant
+reward, financially as well as in other ways. Avoid worry, hurry and
+getting flustered. Plan your work in the morning, then take the little
+interruptions coolly and quietly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> You will not be half so tired at the
+end of the day as you would be otherwise. Be temperate. Moderation does
+not refer only to the stomach. Overdoing in any way makes for premature
+age.</p>
+
+<p>Do not let yourself get sluggish and indifferent. Here is where the
+benefits of massage, physical culture and a vital interest in life come
+in. Youth is happiness! If you would be young, radiate happiness. Talk
+happiness not ill-health. One certain symptom of advancing age is the
+desire to talk about ill-health. Discussing operations you have
+undergone or sickness you have experienced always attracts attention to
+your age. Children seldom talk about ill-health. An illness once
+conquered is forgotten. Another thing, do not whine. The American women
+are noted for their unpleasant voices, which often are too high pitched,
+showing lack of control. Cultivate a low, well-modulated voice. Recently
+I met a young woman who had a deformed body and a plain face, but I
+immediately was attracted to her because she had the most beautiful
+speaking voice it ever was my privilege to hear.</p>
+
+<p>As we age in years we are liable to grow careless in our dress, to
+select colors and styles that are not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> very becoming; we do not take as
+much pains with our hair, our nails or our shoes as we should. We have
+allowed age to manifest itself in the lack of care of the little things.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, if your work does not bring you happiness, you are in the wrong
+place and the sooner you find the right place the better for you. It is
+impossible to take a race horse and expect to make him a good plow
+horse. We only would spoil the one without succeeding in obtaining the
+other. There is a right place for everyone and each one is adapted to
+certain things and in order to accomplish the most we must "find
+ourselves."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<h3>INDEX</h3>
+
+<p>
+Abortions, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Accidental, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Criminal, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevalence, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sterility following, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Advertisements, misleading, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br />
+<br />
+Advertising physicians, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+After-birth, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Amenorrh&oelig;a, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Anatomy of generative organs,  <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+Anus, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+<br />
+Atrophy of generative organs, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Backache, displacement causing, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fake advertisements concerning, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gonorrh&oelig;a causing, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lumbago, rheumatism, strain, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bag of waters, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Birth canal, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<br />
+Black plagues, see Gonorrh&oelig;a and Syphilis<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing tumors, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Bladder, openings into, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Position in relation to womb, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Blindness, due to gonorrh&oelig;a, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Infection, prevalence of in new born, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Blue baby, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Blues, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br />
+<br />
+Born with caul or veil, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Boys, need of instruction, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Why boys go astray, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Breasts, after menopause, in pregnancy, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">At puberty, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Cancer, carcinoma, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Cathartics, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Cavity of pelvis, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+Cavity of womb, openings into, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
+<br />
+Change of life, see Menopause<br />
+<br />
+Child bearing period, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+Childless homes, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<br />
+Chlorosis, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Circumcision in girls, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br />
+<br />
+Clandestine engagements, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<br />
+Clap, see Gonorrh&oelig;a.<br />
+<br />
+Clitoris, hooded, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing nervousness and immorality, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Coitus, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<br />
+Conception, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevention of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Congestion from tight clothing, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Constipation, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Caused by retroversion, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causes, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Cord, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Cramps during menopause, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Development of life, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<br />
+Diseases of female organs, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Influence on appearance, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Venereal diseases, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Displacements, causes of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Backward, constipation caused by, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bladder, pressure on, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Downward, side, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Forward, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hemorrhoids caused by, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Menstruation, relation to, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Treatment, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Divorce, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Black plagues as a factor, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sterility as a factor, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Douche, for cleanliness, at close of period, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In irritation of vagina, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Drug habit, from patent medicines, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In constipation, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dry labor, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Dysmenorrh&oelig;a, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+Education, lack of for girls, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Egg, see Ovum.<br />
+<br />
+Embryo, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Embryology, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<br />
+Epilepsy due to syphilis,  <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br />
+<br />
+Excesses<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cause of premature old age,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_76">76</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing congestion,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">During early married life,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Exercise<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For business woman,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For home woman,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_203">203</a></span><br />
+<br />
+External generative organs, description, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Care,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_20">20</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Fake advice, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br />
+<br />
+Fallopian tubes, description, position, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Effect of gonorrh&oelig;a on,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_57">57</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Removal, effect of, sterility from removal,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_58">58</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tumors of,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Father's duty to son,  <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+<br />
+Fear, needless,  <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Fertilization of ovum,  <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<br />
+Flirtations and their results,  <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<br />
+F&oelig;tal movements, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+F&oelig;tus, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Gonorrh&oelig;a<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Effect on female organs,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_57">57</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Persistence of in later years,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_57">57</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevalence of,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_56">56</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevention of in youth, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Symptoms, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Green sickness, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Happiness necessary, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Headache, from constipation, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From displacements, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Powders, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Heart valves of baby, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Hemorrhage in cancer, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Hemorrhoids, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bleeding, external, internal, pain from, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From constipation, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retrodisplacements causing, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Treatment, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Herb remedies as drugs, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+Heredity, inherited tendency to disease, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tuberculosis, syphilis, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Home-making a study, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br />
+<br />
+Homes, childless, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Girls not interested in parents' home, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hot flashes during menopause, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Hymen, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Not injured by douche, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Opening in, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Unruptured in pregnancy, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Illegitimacy, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Immorality, due to low wages, effects of,  <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Among children, in country districts, in school,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_123">123</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Due to hooded clitoris,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Indigestion, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br />
+<br />
+Inflammation causing dysmenorrh&oelig;a, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+Inherited syphilis, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Intercourse, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br />
+<br />
+Insemination, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<br />
+Jealousy, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br />
+<br />
+Kiss conveying contagion, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<br />
+Knee chest position, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For constipation and hemorrhoids,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Labia majora and minora, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<br />
+Labor, dry, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Duration of,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_87">87</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pains, cause of,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_85">85</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Premature,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lanugo, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+Law regarding prevention of pregnancy, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br />
+<br />
+Laxatives, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Leucorrh&oelig;a, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In young girls,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Life feeling, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+Love, misunderstood, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Lumbago, backache in, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<br />
+Lungs of newborn child, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Maidenhead, see Hymen.<br />
+<br />
+Malignant tumor,  <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Marriage, education necessary for,  <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fake marriages used to obtain white slaves,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_168">168</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">False promises leading to immorality,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For convenience, natural,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_116">116</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Laws not adequate,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relation,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_71">71</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Science of, successful and otherwise,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_71">71</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Social reasons for,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_103">103</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Massage, for constipation,  <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Mating,  <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Meatus urinarius,  <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<br />
+Medical, fake advertisements,  <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<br />
+Medicine, doubtful results from,  <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Patent,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_45">45</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Membrane,  <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Menstruation, absence of,  <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bathing during,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_27">27</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Care during,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_26">26</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Color, odor,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_29">29</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Composition of flow,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Deficiency of,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Description of,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Duration of, frequency,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lassitude during,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_27">27</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pain during,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Phenomena common to,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_27">27</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Profuse flow,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Quantity, time between periods,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_29">29</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sign of approach of period,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_25">25</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Source of flow,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Menopause, age, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bowels in,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_21">21</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Breasts after,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cancer at,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Care during, symptoms of approach,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Changes in body, nervous system,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Duration, diet,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">End of child-bearing period,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hot flashes during, necessity for examination,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relaxation, rest, worry during,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Miscarriage, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Modesty, false, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+<br />
+Motherhood, accidental, a science, preparation for, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fear regarding,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_106">106</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Natural desire of all women,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_104">104</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mucous patches in syphilis, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<br />
+Nerve trouble, due to syphilis, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Nervousness<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A lack of control,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Due to hooded clitoris,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Overcoming,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relation to intercourse,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_76">76</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Neuralgia, backache, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing dysmenorrh&oelig;a,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Ovary, description, function, position,    <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tumor, see Tumor.</span><br />
+<br />
+Oviduct, see Fallopian tube,    <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<br />
+Ovum,    <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relation to menstruation,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_29">29</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Division into portions, growth,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Passage from ovary to uterus, impregnation,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Size,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_82">82</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Passion or sex sense,    <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Parents' duty to daughters, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To sons,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Patent medicine, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of doubtful benefit,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pelvis, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Deformed in abortions,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_91">91</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Peritoneum,    <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+<br />
+Peritonitis,    <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From displacement and inflammation of womb,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From gonorrh&oelig;a,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_58">58</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From appendicitis,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_59">59</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Perineum,    <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tearing during labor,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Physiology of female organs, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+Piles, see Hemorrhoids.<br />
+<br />
+Placenta,    <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Position of f&oelig;tus in utero,    <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Pregnancy, absence of menstruation, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Among unmarried girls,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fertilization before,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevention of,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_109">109</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Premature birth, labor, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Prostitution, result of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br />
+<br />
+Puberty, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Change in nervous system,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hygiene during, school work during,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Premonitory symptoms, signs of approach,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Preparatory information, necessity for,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Public cup, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<br />
+Pus tubes, see Fallopian tubes.<br />
+<br />
+Race improvement, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Race suicide, education in relation to, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Not increased by knowledge of means of prevention,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_113">113</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Rectum, position in relation to womb, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In retrodisplacement,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Regulation of number of children, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Relaxation, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br />
+<br />
+Rest, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Rheumatism, backache, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dysmenorrh&oelig;a due to,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Sac, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Sanitary pads, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Self-abuse, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hooded clitoris as a cause,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mental,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nervous system injured,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Treatment,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Self-confidence, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br />
+<br />
+Self-control, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Semen, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<br />
+Sex, education needed regarding,  <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fundamental end of, over-indulgence,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Instinct,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_73">73</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Instruction for children,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_183">183</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Organs formed fourth month,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_83">83</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Skin disease due to syphilis, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br />
+<br />
+Sleep, sleeplessness, treatment, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Spermatozoon, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Death due to disease,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_107">107</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Union with ovum,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Size,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_82">82</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Sterility<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">After one birth,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_108">108</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Due to abortions,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Due to gonorrh&oelig;a,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_58">58</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Due to indiscretions, in male,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_107">107</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Stomach trouble due to syphilis, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Syphilis, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing abortions,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_90">90</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing epilepsy, brain and skin lesions,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_101">101</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Contracted from wet nurse,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Conveyed by kiss, by public cup,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Inherited,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Late symptoms,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prevention in youth, treatment,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tears of perineum,    <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Necessity for repair,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relation to cancer,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Teas, laxative,    <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Tomboys, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br />
+<br />
+Toxines from constipation,    <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br />
+<br />
+Tubes, see Fallopian tubes.<br />
+<br />
+Tumor, abdominal, caused by black plagues, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Absorption of, removal,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Causing dysmenorrh&oelig;a,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hemorrhoidal,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Malignant,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Phantom,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Symptoms of, hemorrhage, pain in,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ulcers in syphilis, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Umbilical cord,    <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Urethra,    <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<br />
+Urination, frequent, caused by displacement,    <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br />
+<br />
+Uterus, see Womb.<br />
+<br />
+Vagina, description of,    <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Discharge from,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Infection from use of public towels,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_60">60</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Irritation of,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Orifice of,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Vein of cord, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Vernix caseosa, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Venereal diseases, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br />
+<br />
+Vibrator for constipation, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Wet nurse in syphilis, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Womb, attachment,    <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cancer of,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Congestion from tight clothing,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Contraction of mouth,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Inflammation from displacements,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_37">37</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Position, size, structure, shape,&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Over work causing congestion,&nbsp;  <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Wild oats, sown by girls, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+White slavery, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Women in business, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Worry, an abuse, <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+Youth, obtainable, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<p class='center' style="font-variant:small-caps;">By E. B. Lowry, M.D.</p>
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">HIMSELF</p>
+<p class='center'>TALKS WITH MEN CONCERNING THEMSELVES</p>
+
+<p>This is regarded by all authorities as the best book on sexual hygiene
+for men. No man knowing its contents would be without this important
+book. It tells plainly all of the facts about sex and leads to health,
+happiness and success. A book that points the way to strong vitality and
+healthy manhood.</p>
+
+<p>Every man ought to read this excellent, reliable book.&mdash;<i>Philadelphia
+Telegraph.</i></p>
+
+<p>The best book on sexual hygiene for men and we highly commend
+it.&mdash;<i>Baltimore American.</i></p>
+
+<p>The more widely this splendid book is read the better it will be for men
+and women.&mdash;<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+<p>Every youth and man who can read the English language should study this
+book.&mdash;<i>Portland Oregonian.</i></p>
+
+<p>A rare book that treats its subject in a common-sense
+fashion.&mdash;<i>Pittsburgh Post.</i></p>
+
+<p>This is a storehouse of knowledge that should be in the hands of every
+man.&mdash;<i>United States Medical Journal.</i></p>
+
+<p>It is utterly free from hysteria and sticks straight to the
+unadulterated truth. A valuable addition to any man's library.&mdash;<i>Spokane
+Chronicle.</i></p>
+
+<p>It is as good a book as a physician could recommend.&mdash;<i>Northwest
+Medicine.</i></p>
+
+<p>Clear, accurate, easily understood.&mdash;<i>Chicago Journal.</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo.</i><br/>
+Price, $1.00 net; by mail, $1.10<br/>
+<i>For sale by all booksellers and the publishers</i><br/>
+FORBES &amp; CO., 443 S. Dearborn St., CHICAGO</p>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<p class='center' style="font-variant:small-caps;">By E. B. Lowry, M.D.</p>
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">CONFIDENCES</p>
+<p class='center'>TALKS WITH A YOUNG GIRL CONCERNING HERSELF</p>
+
+<p>A book explaining the origin and development of life in language
+intelligible to young girls. The author, who is a physician of wide
+experience and a pleasing writer, has very delicately and adequately
+treated this important subject.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully written and should be given to every young girl.&mdash;<i>American
+Motherhood.</i></p>
+
+<p>Every physician should read and circulate this book.&mdash;<i>Journal of
+Therapeutics.</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Neatly bound in cloth. 16mo.</i><br />
+<b>Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents</b></p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">TRUTHS</p>
+<p class='center'>TALKS WITH A BOY CONCERNING HIMSELF</p>
+
+<p>A book containing the simple truths of life development and sex which
+should be given to every boy approaching manhood. His future welfare
+demands it. This is the first book to adequately and delicately present
+these truths in language intelligible to boys from ten to fourteen years
+of age.</p>
+
+<p>The first satisfactory book on the subject.&mdash;<i>Health Culture Magazine.</i></p>
+
+<p>Many a mother will be glad that such a book is within the reach of her
+child.&mdash;<i>Seattle Post Intelligencer.</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Attractively bound in cloth. 16mo.</i><br />
+<b>Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents</b></p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">FALSE MODESTY</p>
+<p class='center'>THAT PROTECTS VICE BY IGNORANCE</p>
+
+<p>The most thorough and convincing appeal ever made for the proper
+education of the young in matters pertaining to sexual hygiene by the
+foremost writer on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Lowry's books combine medical knowledge, simplicity, and purity in
+an unprecedented way. They are chaste and void of offense to the most
+delicate natures.&mdash;<i>The Journal of Education, Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Cloth, 16mo.</i><br />
+Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents<br />
+<i>For sale by all booksellers and the publishers,</i><br />
+FORBES &amp; CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO</p>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<p class='center' style="font-variant:small-caps;">By E. B. Lowry, M.D.</p>
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">YOUR BABY</p>
+<p class='center'>A GUIDE FOR MOTHERS</p>
+
+<p>This book contains the latest and best approved methods for the care of
+the mother and baby. It is a strong plea for better babies and every
+doctor will welcome the circulation of this great help to mothers.</p>
+
+<p>"This book can be safely and heartily recommended to every prospective
+mother."&mdash;<i>The Chicago Medical Recorder.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The directions are clear and the advice is sensible."&mdash;<i>New York Sun.</i></p>
+
+<p>"This helpful book is in keeping with Dr. Lowry's previously published
+meritorious works."&mdash;<i>The Southern Clinic.</i></p>
+
+<p>"A safe, sane and interesting book which it would be well for every
+young woman to read. It deserves a wide circulation."&mdash;<i>The Wisconsin
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+<p class='center'><i>Cloth bound. 256 pages.</i><br />
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10</p>
+
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+
+<p class='center' style="font-weight:bold; font-size:160%;">THE HOME NURSE</p>
+
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+in the home and tells how to co-operate with the physician in providing
+for the comfort and cure of invalids.</p>
+
+<p>"A sensible book, and it should be in every home
+book-shelf."&mdash;<i>Northwest Medicine, Seattle.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Uniting practical common sense with the best medical knowledge, it
+forms a safe guide."&mdash;<i>American Journal of Nursing, Baltimore.</i></p>
+
+<p>"It serves a very useful purpose and is readily understood. Physicians
+will welcome the circulation of this excellent book."&mdash;<i>Medical
+Sentinel, Portland, Ore.</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo.</i><br />
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10<br />
+<i>For sale by all booksellers and the publishers</i>,<br />
+FORBES &amp; CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO</p>
+
+
+
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+<pre>
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,4727 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Herself
+       Talks with Women Concerning Themselves
+
+Author: E. B. Lowry
+
+Release Date: November 16, 2006 [EBook #19825]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERSELF ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+HIMSELF
+Talks with Men Concerning Themselves
+$1.00
+
+CONFIDENCES
+Talks with a Young Girl Concerning Herself
+50 cts.
+
+TRUTHS
+Talks with a Boy Concerning Himself
+50 cts.
+
+FALSE MODESTY
+50 cts.
+
+TEACHING SEX HYGIENE
+50 cts.
+
+THE HOME NURSE
+$1.00
+
+YOUR BABY
+A Guide for Mothers
+$1.00
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+HERSELF
+
+TALKS WITH WOMEN CONCERNING THEMSELVES
+
+BY
+E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+Author of "Confidences," "Truths," etc.
+
+CHICAGO
+FORBES & COMPANY
+1917
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY
+FORBES AND COMPANY
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A recent number of the Journal of the American Medical Association
+contained this paragraph:
+
+"A correspondent asks for a good book describing the female generative
+organs anatomically, physiologically and pathologically, treating also
+of childbirth, written in language easily understood by a layman. He
+desires to give copies to some of his young women patients. The editor
+regrets there is no satisfactory book on the subject although there is
+great need for one."
+
+It is a lamentable fact that the majority of women and girls are
+ignorant of the structure of their most important organs. In the
+majority of schools and colleges where physiology is taught, absolutely
+nothing is mentioned about the reproductive organs. As far as books or
+instruction are concerned, the girl is ignorant of their very existence.
+If she knew something of the structure of such important organs and the
+harmful results of many practices or acts of carelessness affecting
+them, would she not be better prepared to take the proper care of
+herself and more liable to develop into a strong, healthy woman?
+
+If a girl in the business world is intrusted with a delicate piece of
+machinery she is taught the structure, use and care of it. Why is it not
+just as necessary that the girl, who is intrusted with the care of
+delicate organisms upon whose condition depends the health of the future
+generation, be instructed regarding the care of these organs? Instead,
+she is left in absolute ignorance and then blamed if she mars them.
+
+Every woman should have some knowledge of the structure and care of her
+body, especially of those parts which are concerned so intimately in the
+welfare of the future generation. Every woman, too, should receive some
+instruction regarding the care of young children and the proper
+management of the home. A woman who attempts to care for herself and her
+children without proper knowledge of these subjects is like a man who
+tries to run his business blindfolded.
+
+That thinking women are awakening to the fact that they have been
+suffering unnecessarily and are realizing the necessity for more
+knowledge concerning the hygiene and physiology of their own bodies is
+shown by the fact that nearly every chapter in this book has been
+written in answer to questions asked by women readers of the author's
+magazine articles. With the hope that the plain facts herein set forth
+will aid some women to have healthier and happier lives and healthier
+and happier babies this series of talks has been written.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+I ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS                11
+
+II MENSTRUATION--PUBERTY--MENOPAUSE                          23
+
+III DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS                            33
+
+IV CONSTIPATION--HEMORRHOIDS                                 47
+
+V THE BLACK PLAGUES                                          55
+
+VI FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN                             65
+
+VII THE MARRIAGE RELATION                                    71
+
+VIII EMBRYOLOGY                                              81
+
+IX ABORTIONS                                                 89
+
+X MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS--HEREDITY                             97
+
+XI CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES                           103
+
+XII PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY                                 109
+
+XIII SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE                          115
+
+XIV THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS                  121
+
+XV WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY                                      131
+
+XVI SELF-ABUSE                                              137
+
+XVII EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE                                149
+
+XVIII FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS                         157
+
+XIX WHITE SLAVERY                                           163
+
+XX THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS                    171
+
+XXI WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY                                      177
+
+XXII HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD                            183
+
+XXIII WOMEN IN BUSINESS                                     189
+
+XXIV NERVOUSNESS--A LACK OF CONTROL                         195
+
+XXV A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE                  203
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+HERSELF
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE ORGANS
+
+
+Before we can understand the care of anything we must have some
+knowledge of its structure; so I think it well, in this our first talk,
+that we should learn something of the structure of the female generative
+organs. As I have told some of you in former talks, the womb is designed
+as a nest for the babe during its process of development from the egg or
+ovule. It lies in the center of the pelvis, or lower part of the body
+cavity, in front of the rectum and behind and above the bladder. It is
+pear-shaped, with the small end downward, and is about three inches
+long, two inches wide and one inch thick. It consists of layers of
+muscles enclosing a cavity which, owing to the thickness of the walls,
+is comparatively small. This cavity is triangular in shape and has three
+openings,--one at the lower end or mouth of the womb into the vagina and
+one at each side, near the top, into the fallopian tubes. The womb, or
+uterus as it sometimes is called, is not firmly attached nor adherent to
+any of the bony parts. It is suspended in the pelvic cavity and kept in
+place by muscles and ligaments. As the muscles and ligaments are
+elastic, the womb slightly changes its position with different movements
+of the body. Normally, it is inclined forward, resting on the bladder;
+so you see, a full bladder will push it backward, while a full rectum
+and intestines tend to push it forward and downward.
+
+[Illustration: GENERATIVE ORGANS.]
+
+The lower end or mouth of the womb opens into the vagina, a distensible
+and curved muscular tube, which helps to support the womb and also
+connects it with the external parts. The vagina is about three and a
+half inches long. It often is called the birth canal because the baby
+must pass through it on its way from the womb to the external world.
+
+The two upper openings of the womb lead into the fallopian tubes or
+oviducts, which are two small muscular tubes leading from the ovaries to
+the womb. Each one is about four inches long, but the opening through
+the center in its largest portion is only about as large as a broom
+straw, while near the womb it narrows down until it will admit only a
+fine bristle. When the ovum or seed leaves the ovary it must pass
+through one of these tubes to reach the womb, so you see how necessary
+it is that they be kept in good condition.
+
+From the end of each tube, but not directly connected with it, is
+suspended a small almond-shaped body called the ovary. Each ovary is
+similar in shape and size to an almond, measuring about one and a half
+inches in length, three-fourths of an inch in width and one-half an inch
+in thickness. The function or work of the ovaries is to produce, develop
+and mature the ova (eggs) and to discharge them when fully formed so
+they may enter the tubes and so find their way to the womb. In every
+ovary there are several hundred little ovules or eggs in various stages
+of development. At irregular intervals one of these ovules ripens and
+leaves the ovary. It passes along the fallopian tube to the womb. Here
+it remains if it is impregnated or fertilized, and develops into the
+babe. If not impregnated, it passes off with the menstrual flow. Every
+twenty-eight days large quantities of blood are sent to the womb,
+producing a natural congestion. The pressure of this extra blood in the
+tiny capillaries of the womb stretches and weakens their walls. This
+allows the blood, which is being sent to the womb to provide nourishment
+for the ovum if it be impregnated, to pass into the cavity of the womb,
+then out through the mouth into the vagina, thence to the external
+parts. This flow is called the menstrual flow. When the flow ceases the
+mucosa or lining assumes its former state. This process is repeated
+every month.
+
+[Illustration:
+1. Bladder
+2. Urethra
+3. Uterus
+4. Vagina
+5. Rectum
+6. Peritoneum
+7. Perineum
+VERTICAL SECTION OF PELVIS]
+
+Lining the cavity of the abdomen and also folded over the womb, ovaries,
+tubes and other organs is a thin membrane called the peritoneum. An
+inflammation of this lining is called peritonitis.
+
+All these organs I have mentioned are situated inside the body out of
+sight, but there are other organs that are external. You have noticed
+two longitudinal folds of skin extending from the anus, or external
+opening of the rectum, to the rounded eminence in front. Their outer
+surface is covered with hair and their inner surface with glands that
+secrete a lubricating material. These folds are called the labia majora.
+Within the labia majora are two smaller folds called the labia minora.
+These folds meet at their anterior (front) end. At the meeting point you
+will notice a very small structure which is called the clitoris. This
+clitoris is very similar in structure to the penis of the male, having a
+tiny prepuce or foreskin which folds over to protect the sensitive end.
+Sometimes the foreskin is bound down too tightly, so that instead of
+being a protection to the parts, it becomes a source of irritation. Then
+we say the clitoris is hooded and it is necessary to loosen or cut this
+fold of skin. The operation is similar to that of circumcision in the
+male.
+
+Just back of the clitoris, within the folds of the labia, is situated
+the meatus urinarius, or opening leading to the bladder. This aperture
+does not open directly into the bladder but is connected to it by a
+tube, about an inch and a half long, called the urethra.
+
+The orifice or external opening of the vagina is situated just back of
+the meatus urinarius, also within the folds of the labia. In the virgin
+it is partly closed by a membranous fold called the hymen or maidenhead.
+The shape and size of the hymen varies greatly in different individuals,
+sometimes being entirely absent. After marriage it usually persists as
+notched folds. The presence of an intact hymen is not necessarily a sign
+of virginity, nor does its absence necessarily indicate defloration. Its
+congenital absence or absence at the time of birth is known. It
+sometimes is injured, or may be destroyed by an accident, as by falling
+astride of an object; again violent exercise may rupture it (horseback
+riding). Surgical operations or vaginal examinations, roughly conducted,
+not infrequently cause rupture. Then, too, authentic cases are on record
+in which prostitutes have had perfectly preserved hymens. It is well
+known that the use of vaginal astringents may tone up and narrow the
+vagina and even restore the hymen to a great degree.
+
+The surface between the vaginal orifice and the anus is called the
+perineum (Do not confuse this with the peritoneum, for they are entirely
+different). It is this perineum that sometimes becomes torn during
+childbirth. The vaginal opening does not always stretch sufficiently to
+allow the passage of the child's head and the great pressure being
+exerted on the child by the uterine and abdominal muscles pushes it
+through, causing the tear. (You will understand this better when I
+explain about the development and birth of the child.) If this tear is
+repaired immediately no inconvenience usually results but if it is
+neglected it may produce a series of complications, some of which are
+falling of the womb, inflammation and even sterility.
+
+Not directly connected with any of the other organs but still associated
+with them are the breasts. They vary in size at different periods of
+life, being usually of small size when the girl is young but increasing
+in size as the generative organs develop. The breasts consist of fatty
+tissue surrounding milk glands and ducts. During pregnancy they increase
+in size and become filled with milk. After the menopause (change of
+life) they ordinarily shrink in size. The ancient Greek statues, such as
+the Venus de Medici, long regarded as a type of perfect beauty, the
+Venus of Capua, regarded as the bust of a perfect form, show that the
+Grecian ideal of the feminine form had small busts. The modern idea
+seems to have wandered far from the Grecian ideal and many women devote
+much time and money trying to develop their busts. Perhaps sometime we
+will give up trying to be so artificial and conform to Nature's ideal.
+
+Nature has constructed the internal female organs so wisely that we
+seldom need give them much thought. But the external organs do need our
+attention every day. I told you that the labia secreted a lubricating
+material which kept the parts moist, but this secretion must not be
+allowed to accumulate. The scalp secretes an oil that is necessary to
+the health of the hair but if this and the perspiration are allowed to
+accumulate the hair has an offensive odor. So it is with the female
+organs, the parts must be bathed carefully every day. I have been
+surprised in the past to find how many intelligent women neglect these
+parts. Women come for an examination, their clothing is scrupulously
+clean, their bodies show recent care but in the folds of the labia,
+especially near the clitoris, I find an accumulation of a cheesy-like
+material which has an odor very offensive to any truly refined woman.
+Sometimes in public gatherings, I have been seated near a woman with
+this same offensive odor very noticeable, and I have longed to tell her
+how to avoid it, for I am sure others must notice the same odor. But
+even from a physician, in the privacy of the office, women resent any
+suggestion that they are not thorough in matters of cleanliness. Daily
+cleansing of these parts is a necessity. At least once a day these parts
+should be sponged carefully. The labia should be separated and every
+fold thoroughly cleansed. Occasional vaginal douches also are necessary,
+for the various secretions often are retained in the folds of the vagina
+and cause irritation. But in taking a douche one always should remember
+to have the water warm. Cold water may produce congestion. The virtue of
+douches (except when taken for medicinal purposes) lies in their
+cleansing properties and warm water cleanses even better than cold. Many
+women produce grave disorders by the use of cold douches under the
+mistaken notion that they are of greater value than hot ones. A douche
+should be taken at the close of the menstrual period especially.
+
+These female organs should not be the source of worry but they do
+require as much or even more attention to cleanliness than we give to
+our mouths or other parts of the body.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+MENSTRUATION--PUBERTY--MENOPAUSE
+
+
+The subject of menstruation seems to be troubling several of you. I am
+sorry that you did not all have the advantage of having this explained
+at an early age. You might have been saved a great deal of suffering and
+causeless worry.
+
+By menstruation, or "the monthlies" as it sometimes is called, is meant
+the monthly hemorrhage that takes place in the uterus or womb during the
+child-bearing period of the normal woman except during pregnancy and
+lactation, when it nearly always is suspended. The child-bearing period
+commences at the age of puberty and ends with the menopause (change of
+life).
+
+Puberty is the period of maturing of the sexual organs. It occurs about
+the age of twelve, although there may be considerable variation as to
+this. It extends over a period of several years. As a rule, girls mature
+earlier in warm climates than in cold and in cities than in country
+districts. The signs of the approach of this period are the growth of
+hair on the pubes and other parts of the body, the enlargement of the
+breasts, a general rounding and increased grace of the body, the
+development of the pelvis so that the hips become more prominent, and a
+change in the mental qualities of the child, the girl naturally becoming
+more retiring. The menstrual function usually is not established at
+once, there being premonitory symptoms of a vague nature. There may be,
+at first, only a slight discharge of mucus tinged with blood, later the
+normal menstrual flow will be established.
+
+During this period of puberty there are great changes taking place in
+the girl's internal organs. This change and development requires
+considerable of the girl's strength and naturally influences her nervous
+system. It is for this reason that a girl at this period of her life
+should not be subjected to any great exertion, either physical or
+mental. She should have plenty of light, healthful exercise in the open
+air, but should not indulge in any very violent exercise. A little care
+at this time often will save her years of suffering. As the nervous
+system is greatly affected at this period there should be no great
+mental strain. In fact, if the girl shows many nervous symptoms, it may
+be wise to take her out of school for a year so that her strength may be
+used as Nature requires it. As a rule, too much work is required in
+school at this age. The school duties should be lessened and the girl
+allowed to rest a day or two during her menstrual period. The girl at
+this age should not attempt to accomplish as much work or study as the
+boy does. Her time at this period might better be occupied in learning
+the rudiments of housekeeping and home-making. Then, when her body has
+become developed, her strength can be spared and can be well used in the
+development of her mind. If the nervous strain too common at this age
+could be relieved we would have fewer nervous women and a healthier and
+happier posterity.
+
+As puberty approaches, a mother should give her daughter adequate
+information so that she should not be frightened at the first appearance
+of the menstrual flow, nor take any risks at this period. Menstruation
+is the sign of the possibility of motherhood. If properly taught this
+fact, every girl will be glad she menstruates and will want to be
+careful during the period. On account of lack of early instruction, many
+a girl obtains wrong ideas regarding this function and it produces in
+her a feeling of repugnance. She should be taught the reasons for
+observing prudence during the menstrual period. The possible lifelong
+invalidism that may result should be pointed out. A woman owes it to
+herself to take good care of herself during her menstrual periods. For
+two or three days at least she should avoid any unnecessary strain, lie
+down and rest as much as possible and not worry over school or other
+duties. Especial attention should be paid to cleanliness during this
+period. A sponge bath taken in a warm room is not injurious and
+unpleasant odors can be avoided by sponging the parts with a warm
+antiseptic solution upon changing the cloth. Every woman should be
+provided with a circular girdle cut upon the bias so it may be elastic,
+and provided with tabs to which to pin the folded cloth. She also should
+have a supply of sanitary cloths made of absorbent cotton-fabric, or
+pads made of absorbent cotton enclosed in gauze. The latter especially
+are convenient for the girl who is obliged to room away from home, for
+they may be burned and the cost of new ones is no greater than the
+laundry of cloths. These pads or cloths should be changed at least twice
+a day. It also is necessary that one should bathe the parts in warm
+water with each change, as unpleasant odors can thereby be avoided. At
+the close of each period she should take a bath and change all clothing.
+One cannot be too careful about these matters so essential to
+cleanliness. It is surprising how many women neglect these important
+matters. The erroneous idea that bathing of any sort at this time may
+have disastrous results accounts for much of this neglect. If proper
+care is taken warm sponge baths cannot be injurious.
+
+A woman in normal health should not suffer at the menstrual period. She
+normally will have a feeling of lassitude and disinclination for any
+great mental or physical work, perhaps accompanied by a slight feeling
+of uneasiness in the pelvic region. Because so many women do suffer at
+these periods it often is considered as "natural" and allowed to
+continue.
+
+The phenomena often noted at the menstrual period are,--pains in various
+parts of the body, hot flashes, chilliness and various hysterical
+symptoms. A few days before menstruation commences there may be various
+nervous symptoms, as irritability and a disinclination for any exertion.
+Dark circles often appear under the eyes and the breasts become enlarged
+and painful. A sense of fullness and oppression may be felt in the head.
+
+Any severe pain or profuse flow during the period or a discharge between
+periods indicates a weakened or diseased condition and should not be
+neglected, for it sooner or later will affect the whole system. A woman
+suffering from female diseases not only is unable to perform her work in
+a normal manner but the pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and drawn
+haggard look which accompany these conditions rob her of her charm of
+physical excellence.
+
+The menstrual flow appears, as a rule, every twenty-eight days, although
+the length of time varies with the individual. The average duration is
+five days, but varies from three to seven. The flow consists of blood
+from the uterine mucosa (lining of the womb) together with small
+quantities of mucus. The color generally is dark at first while later it
+becomes more pale. Women in poor health often have a pale discharge.
+There always is a faint odor to the menstrual flow, which has been
+likened to the odor of marigolds. The quantity varies with the
+individual. Usually fleshy girls flow more than thin ones and dark
+complexioned ones than light ones. The average quantity is four to six
+fluid ounces. The time between the periods is required by the uterus or
+womb to first restore the lining and then prepare it for the reception
+of the ovum. Every month one or more ova (eggs) leave the ovary, pass to
+the uterus and, if not impregnated, pass off with the menstrual flow.
+The material prepared for the reception of the ovum is used to nourish
+the new life if pregnancy occurs, but when it does not, this surplus
+passes off in the form of the menstrual flow.
+
+The menopause or change of life is the end of the child-bearing period
+of a woman's life. The average age at which it occurs is forty-six,
+although there is a great difference as to this. In some women it has
+been known to occur as early as the thirtieth year, while in others it
+does not come until the fifty-fifth year. As a rule, a woman who
+commences to menstruate at an early age continues to do so until a late
+age, while with a woman who commences to menstruate late, the change
+comes early. At this period of a woman's life, there are numerous
+changes taking place in the body. The ovaries and uterus atrophy or
+shrink in size, and cease to functionate. The nervous system is being
+readjusted to meet the changed conditions. One symptom of the approach
+of this period is irregularity in menstruation; sometimes several
+periods are missed, then the menstrual flow appears normally for several
+months and then disappears again. Often the woman complains of hot
+flashes, cramps in the limbs and other parts of the body. These are
+caused by the attempts to readjust the nervous system to the altered
+conditions. A great many women worry unnecessarily, for there is no
+especial danger at this time unless the body has been neglected
+previously and a diseased condition is present. But the body needs a
+little extra care, just as it did at puberty. So many women break down
+their health by worrying at this period over what might happen. The best
+plan for every woman, as soon as she perceives the approach of this
+period, is to go to a reliable physician and have a thorough
+examination. Then if there are any neglected tears or chronic
+inflammations they can be corrected and danger removed. If a person
+were to cross a deep lake and had any doubts regarding the worthiness of
+the vessel provided for his use, he would be very foolish if he did not
+have a trained boat-builder examine his vessel and repair any weak
+places. It is just as important for a woman about to cross this period
+of her life to go to a trained repairer of bodies and have him correct
+any weak places.
+
+The various changes taking place consume so much of the woman's strength
+that she requires an extra amount of rest and cannot use up as much
+energy in working as at other periods of her life. The ordinary woman
+does not realize the need of extra rest during this period and so
+continues her usual work. Then the extra drain on her nervous system
+shows itself in various forms. The disturbances sometimes are productive
+of so much discomfort and so often are exaggerated beyond physiological
+limits that the patient is impelled to seek relief and often requires a
+physician's attention. Puberty or the period of development extends over
+several years, so the menopause or period of atrophy extends over a
+period of from three to five years. If a woman relaxes and allows the
+changes to proceed naturally she need have no cause to worry, but she
+must remember that rest from continual strain is necessary during this
+period. Freedom from care, relaxation of physical and mental effort,
+regular periods of complete rest once or twice a day, a reduction of the
+diet and regulation of the bowels should be the first principles of
+treatment. Then--do not worry but occupy the mind with happy thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+DISEASES OF THE FEMALE ORGANS
+
+
+So much of the suffering among women is unnecessary, being due to the
+neglect of the little things, so much ill health can be relieved by
+attention to a few simple hygienic measures, that I think it wise to
+describe some of the most common disorders of the female organs, and to
+explain their symptoms so that you would not ignorantly neglect them, if
+you should be so unfortunate as to contract any.
+
+The most common diseases of the female organs may be classed as
+displacements, inflammations and tumors.
+
+On account of its lack of strong attachment, the womb is very easily
+displaced. When from any cause the womb is congested and heavy the extra
+weight stretches the supporting muscles and ligaments, which then allow
+it to fall out of place. It also may be displaced by a sudden fall, by
+jumping or other strenuous exercise. As the womb normally is heavier at
+the menstrual period than at any other time and as there is a natural
+congestion then, it is more easily displaced at that time than during
+any other part of the month. This is one reason why one should be
+careful not to take strenuous exercise at the menstrual period.
+
+The most common displacement, or the most common way for the womb to
+tip, is backwards and at the same time it usually falls downward. You
+remember, the rectum is directly back of the womb, so, if the womb is
+tipped backwards, it presses against the rectum. This tends to prevent
+the feces, or bowel movement, from passing out naturally and helps to
+produce constipation. The womb, pressing against the rectum, also
+presses on the blood vessels which are very numerous there. This
+pressure on the blood vessels prevents the blood from leaving them. If
+it is held there, it causes the blood vessels to dilate in order to be
+large enough to contain it. We call this enlarged portion of the vein a
+blood tumor. These tumors or dilated blood vessels of the rectum are
+called hemorrhoids or piles. I will explain these more thoroughly when
+I talk to you about constipation.
+
+The womb may tip forward, pressing on the bladder and causing a frequent
+desire to urinate. More rarely it is tipped to one side. It then tends
+to pull on the ovaries and produce pain and various nervous symptoms.
+
+The womb may fall downward, pressing against both the bladder and rectum
+and dragging the ovaries and tubes out of their natural positions.
+Sometimes it even protrudes from the vagina. Any falling or displacement
+of the womb pulls on the tubes and ovaries, often producing an
+inflammation. This inflammation should not be allowed to continue, as it
+may become serious, even extending to the peritoneum and producing
+peritonitis. The nerves of the uterus are very closely connected with
+the spinal nerves, therefore, any displacement reacts through them and
+may produce headache and backache, which are the common accompaniments
+of any uterine disorder.
+
+[Illustration: KNEE-CHEST POSITION]
+
+One of the most simple and yet efficacious treatments to correct a
+displacement downward and backward is to assume the knee-chest position
+for a few moments morning and evening after the clothing has been
+removed. In the knee-chest position, the patient kneels on the bed, then
+bends forward until her chest touches the bed; the back slopes down and
+the thighs should be at right angles with the bed. This position allows
+the various organs to fall forward and toward the upper part of the
+body, the pressure on the uterus is relieved and it assumes its natural
+position. This treatment, persisted in, will relieve nearly every case
+which has not some other disorder connected with it. If every woman
+would assume this position for a few minutes once or twice a week, just
+before retiring, she would be greatly benefited; for the majority of
+women have a slight falling of the womb, which then presses on the
+rectal and other nerves causing various nervous symptoms.
+
+The womb and ovaries are surrounded by a dense network of nerves and
+blood vessels, making them very liable to congestion. Tight clothing or
+improperly fitted clothing causes pressure and interferes with the
+circulation. I believe that a large percentage of the objections to the
+corset originated from women wearing improperly fitted corsets which
+pushed the organs out of place. A corset fitted to the wearer is not
+injurious and serves as a support. Overwork, catching cold and excesses
+may produce a congestion which is one stage of inflammation. The most
+common symptoms of inflammation of the womb are pain in the pelvic
+region, a dull backache, especially across the hips, and a vaginal
+discharge called leucorrhoea (whites). Any leucorrhoea shows a
+disordered condition which should be corrected. It may be simply of a
+catarrhal nature, due to pressure or cold, or it may indicate a more
+serious condition, as the presence of one of the black plagues. Whenever
+a woman notices a vaginal discharge, it is a wise plan to go at once to
+a reliable physician, find out what is the cause and nature and then
+take measures to correct it. In the beginning a very little treatment,
+such as hot douches, may be all that is required, while if untreated the
+condition may become serious, as you will understand when I explain
+about the black plagues.
+
+Any disorder of the uterus or ovaries reacts through the nerves upon
+other parts of the body and may produce various symptoms such as general
+weakness, headaches and backaches. This drain on the system often is
+shown by dark circles under the eyes, pale skin and a drawn, haggard
+expression. All these tend to rob a woman of her charm of physical
+excellence, and none of us wish to lose that; for it is natural for all
+women to wish to appear attractive.
+
+One of the most common of the so-called female disorders, which seems to
+be the lot of the majority of women, is dysmenorrhoea or painful
+menstruation. This is not a disease in itself, but the symptom of
+various disorders. A woman in normal health should not suffer at her
+menstrual period; so if she does suffer it shows there is something
+wrong. The natural thing for anyone to do who had dysmenorrhoea would
+be first to find the cause of this pain and then take measures to
+correct it. It may be due to displacements, inflammations or tumors; it
+may be due to a contraction of the mouth of the womb which does not
+dilate sufficiently to allow the menstrual discharge to flow freely. It
+may be due to neuralgia or rheumatism of the uterus or ovaries. Pain
+always indicates an unnatural condition. It is the cry of tortured
+nerves. The cause should be determined by a competent physician and
+then measures taken immediately to restore the normal condition.
+
+One who suffers from dysmenorrhoea should try to plan her work so that
+she may rest the first day of her menstrual period, and, if possible,
+the preceding day. Absolute rest in bed at this time is beneficial. A
+hot sitz bath, hot foot bath or hot vaginal douche taken just previous
+to the commencement of the period will aid in relieving the congestion
+and thus lessen the pain. After the flow has started hot foot baths and
+hot applications to the abdomen may be used. Hot drinks also may be
+taken, but one should not get in the habit of using any drug at this
+time. Hot ginger tea will do as much good as one prepared with some
+habit-forming drug. Many of the remedies advertised as a cure for this
+condition are composed chiefly of alcohol, and, although they may give a
+temporary relief, the benefit is not permanent. Careful attention to
+diet and exercise, with regular hours of sleep, are essential points to
+be considered if one would be free from this disagreeable trouble.
+
+Another symptom which often causes much alarm to the patient is
+amenorrhoea or deficient or scanty menstruation. This may result from
+fear, worry, catching cold or to an enlargement of the womb. It also is
+one of the first symptoms of pregnancy. Sometimes it indicates an
+impoverished condition of the blood and shows the need of a general
+building up of the system. This is true especially in young girls who
+have what is called chlorosis or green sickness. These girls are pale,
+weak, sometimes having a greenish cast to their complexions. They need
+good care and nourishing food and plenty of light, outdoor exercise.
+
+In young girls I sometimes find an irritation of the vagina which causes
+pain. This may be due to the retention of secretions in the vagina. The
+general idea that only married women have leucorrhoea, or whites, is
+fallacious. Virgins may have it. The usual cause is catching cold at the
+menstrual period. Another delusion is that these girls should not take
+douches for fear they might injure the hymen. This is erroneous, for
+douches are necessary in the treatment of this condition and, except in
+very rare cases, a douche can be taken with an especially small douche
+point without injury to the parts. There normally must be a small
+opening in the hymen to permit the passage of the menstrual flow. If a
+small douche point is used no harm will result.
+
+When I talked to you about the structure of the external generative
+organs, I mentioned the clitoris and explained that sometimes the
+prepuce or foreskin is bound down, or is too tight, so that the natural
+secretions are retained under it and produce an irritation; that the
+operation for the unhooding of the clitoris is very similiar to that of
+circumcision in the male and is performed for similar causes. Many a
+woman who has been nervous all her life, owes her condition to a hooded
+clitoris, which a very simple operation would correct. A hooded clitoris
+also may have something to do with the immoral life of some girls. The
+other day I received a letter from an aged physician who, in discussing
+the tendency to immoral practices, says: "You say in one of your
+articles, 'What is the remedy? Educate!' Well, perhaps, but if you would
+let me circumcise the girl early in life, I believe it would be more
+certain." There is considerable truth in his statement. A hooded
+clitoris produces a constant irritation which tends to lead to habits of
+self-abuse and perhaps immorality.
+
+The other common disorder which I named at first is a tumor. Tumors are
+any unnatural growth. They may form in any part of the body, but just
+now we will speak only of those affecting the internal female organs.
+Tumors may form in the cavity of the womb, in its walls or on the
+outside of it. The common symptoms are an enlargement of the abdomen
+accompanied usually by pain due to pressure on the nerves. There also
+may be some hemorrhage at other than the regular menstrual periods.
+
+Sometimes the ovaries are diseased and become enlarged, tender and
+filled with fluid. Then they are spoken of as cystic tumors or as cysts.
+The tubes may become inflamed and filled with pus. The most common cause
+of these pus tubes is one of the black plagues. With all these tumors
+the treatment usually is to remove the tumor and sometimes the entire
+organ. In a few cases it is possible that the fluid or other contents of
+the tumor may be absorbed, if the general health and circulation are
+improved. In some cases we find what is called a phantom tumor. There
+really is no tumor, although the symptoms may be such that even reliable
+physicians are misled. The symptoms are due to a nervous condition.
+These phantom tumors have given many a quack a reputation for removing
+tumors without the use of the knife.
+
+A carcinoma or cancer is a malignant tumor, that is, one that tends to
+grow worse and to reappear if it apparently is removed. The reappearance
+may be in the same place or in an entirely different portion of the
+body. Cancer of the uterus is not uncommon in women. It frequently
+follows neglect of some injury. For example, it will appear on the site
+of an unrepaired tear. It most commonly comes after the menopause. The
+change that is undergone at that time seems to stir things up and bring
+to light any neglected injury. This is another reason why every woman at
+the menopause should undergo a thorough examination and have any defect
+repaired, thus avoiding much of the possibility of trouble. A frequent
+symptom of carcinoma of the uterus is hemorrhage at irregular times
+after the menopause. Any woman who has such a condition would be wise if
+she immediately repaired to a physician and determined the cause of the
+hemorrhage. In the beginning it is possible to remove a cancer, but
+later it becomes so involved in the surrounding structures that its
+removal is impossible.
+
+You may think I am trying to increase business for the physicians but in
+reality my advice, if taken, would lessen their practice. It is another
+application of "a stitch in time saves nine." In the beginning almost
+all these diseases can be corrected with very little trouble, while if
+neglected the process is much slower. The probabilities are that the
+doctor will have the case later, if not consulted early, but instead of
+a few office treatments he will have an expensive operation. So, you
+see, I really am trying to save you doctors' bills when I urge early and
+thorough examinations. There is a peculiar thing about the human race. A
+machine will get out of order and the owner will send for an expert
+machinist to repair it--not attempting to patch it up himself. But when
+these bodies of ours, the most wonderful and complicated of machines,
+get out of repair we try to patch them up ourselves or try various
+remedies recommended by those who know worse than nothing about the
+physical machinery. Then we think we are saving doctors' bills, when at
+the same time we are spending twice as much on questionable
+repairs--patent medicines, which often do more harm than good.
+Frequently they contain stimulants which produce a mythical improvement
+but leave the system worse off than before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CONSTIPATION--HEMORRHOIDS
+
+
+A regular daily movement of the bowels is necessary to health. Much of
+the illness in the world might have been avoided if the victims had
+taken better care of the excretory organs. One of the first questions a
+physician asks a patient is, "How are your bowels, do they move
+regularly every day?" In some cases that is the first time the patient
+has thought of them, and he has to think some time before he can
+remember just when and how often his bowels did move. Then perhaps he is
+not sure. In a great many cases it is a routine practice with physicians
+to give a "good cleaning out," that is, to give a thorough laxative.
+Many times this is all the treatment required and in other cases it only
+is combined with a little intestinal antiseptic to further carry out the
+cleaning process.
+
+The most common cause of constipation is irregularity in going to the
+toilet. When the desire for defecation comes, we are too busy and
+postpone it until some more convenient time, which time may be too late.
+Nature is the best judge as to when the bowels are ready to be emptied.
+If we do not obey her call, we must take the consequences. When the
+waste material is ready to be voided, it is in a semi-fluid state, but,
+if it remains in the intestines too long the water is absorbed and the
+waste material is left in a hard mass which is expelled with difficulty.
+Not only that, but the desire to expel it soon passes. Nature, finding
+we do not respond to her call, ceases to notify us.
+
+If the waste material is allowed to remain in the bowels, not only the
+water is absorbed but with it some of the poisons from the waste
+material, which are taken up by the blood and carried to all parts of
+the system, causing a great deal of trouble and pain. This absorption of
+toxins (poisons) causes headache, loss of appetite, a sense of
+depression and a lack of energy.
+
+The pressure of the hard material on the tender tissues of the rectum
+causes hemorrhoids or piles, by irritating the tissues and causing a
+congestion. Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins which have been so irritated
+and filled with extra blood that they have lost their power to contract.
+These enlarged veins may remain inside the rectum and then are known as
+internal piles. Sometimes they protrude externally and then are known as
+external piles. Frequently they become tender and cause a great deal of
+pain. In some cases one of the little veins becomes so engorged with
+blood that it bursts and allows the contained blood to escape. This is
+known as bleeding piles. For mild cases of hemorrhoids (piles) the
+treatment is to correct the accompanying constipation, then take an
+enema or injection of warm water morning and evening, using the water as
+hot as can be borne and allowing it to run in and out the rectum for
+some time. Following this, an astringent and soothing lotion should be
+applied.
+
+Constipation may be caused by retroversion of the uterus. If the uterus
+is tipped backwards it presses on the rectum, preventing the passage of
+the feces (bowel movement). This pressure also causes hemorrhoids. In
+this case the treatment is to correct the displacement. In many cases
+all that is necessary is to take the knee-chest position for a few
+minutes night and morning.
+
+Always in the treatment of constipation, the first item is to discover
+the cause. We have noted that the chief cause is irregularity in going
+to the toilet, therefore, the first measure to be taken in the treatment
+is regularity in going to the toilet. Choose a convenient hour, usually
+right after breakfast, and always go to the toilet at that time no
+matter if there is a desire or not. At first there may be no natural
+movement but if you persist, your efforts will be rewarded. For the
+first few days it is well to take an enema of warm, soapy water at this
+time. Every day take exercise that will strengthen the muscles of the
+abdomen. Bending forward and touching the toes with the fingers without
+bending the knees is one valuable exercise. This should be done ten or
+twelve times morning and evening. A daily brisk walk in the fresh air is
+another good exercise. Fruit or figs eaten with the meals or a glass of
+water taken before breakfast and upon retiring often proves very
+beneficial in relieving a tendency to constipation. There is an old
+saying, "An apple or two before going to bed, and the doctor will go
+begging for his bread." This really is a practical idea and more nearly
+true than many old sayings.
+
+Cathartics or laxatives should not be taken except for an occasional
+dose or during illness upon the advice of a physician. So common is the
+practice of taking daily laxatives that it has become a "national
+curse"! People do not realize that they are slaves to this habit, so
+they continue to take their daily doses of "teas" or "waters." In many
+cases a patient will tell his physician that his bowels are "all right,"
+that they move every day. Further questionings reveal the fact that he
+is in the habit of taking some laxative frequently. The bowels are not
+"all right" if any laxative is required.
+
+Massage of the abdomen usually is very beneficial in treating
+constipation. It acts by stimulating the muscles and should be given at
+set times in the day but never until two hours after any meal. The
+various vibrators act in the same manner as massage. In any massage of
+the abdomen the thighs should be flexed, as this relaxes the abdominal
+muscles.
+
+Enemas or injections of warm water may be taken occasionally and then
+are beneficial, but if long continued are injurious by reason of their
+irritating effect. At times, when the stomach and intestines have been
+over-loaded with irritating material, an enema is one of the quickest
+measures for relief. In obstinate constipation two or three ounces of
+warm olive oil injected slowly into the rectum at night and allowed to
+remain until morning will soften the waste material so it can be
+evacuated easily in the morning.
+
+Constipation never should be neglected as it carries in its train a long
+line of disorders, as hemorrhoids (piles), abscesses, and intestinal
+obstruction.
+
+Indigestion and constipation frequently are bosom friends. How often
+indigestion is a result of nervous strain is perhaps seldom realized. A
+business man eats his lunch and other meals in a hurry, with his mind on
+his business. His energies are being consumed by his brain and very
+little is left to be used in the digestion of his food. One never should
+eat when tired and nervous. Take a few moments' absolute rest before
+meals. If possible lie down and relax all muscles for a few moments.
+Then eat your meal slowly and if possible have some pleasant companion
+who will talk with you on subjects not connected with your business
+cares. You will be surprised to note the improvement in your digestion
+and incidentally in your tendency to constipation.
+
+For the noon meal, office workers should eat only light and easily
+digested food. Eat your heaviest meal after the work for the day is
+finished and the blood which has been required by the brain can be
+spared to the stomach. People doing manual labor that requires physical
+strength need, and can digest, a heavy noonday meal but the requirements
+of the brain workers are quite different.
+
+Many girls break down on account of lack of sufficient nourishment.
+Coffee and rolls for breakfast, ice cream and rolls for lunch and a
+sandwich and coffee for dinner is not sufficient food for any working
+girl. And yet that is about the diet of hundreds of girls. Often it is
+impossible for her to provide more, for when a girl must pay for her
+board, room, clothes and laundry from her salary of five or six dollars
+a week, sufficient food becomes an impossibility. Many girls actually
+are slowly starving on this account. When the wheels of progress make
+it possible for every working girl to have a comfortable home and
+sufficient nourishing food many of the social problems will right
+themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE BLACK PLAGUES
+
+
+I promised to explain to you what I meant by the black plagues. It is
+strange when anything is as widely spread as are these diseases that so
+few people know anything about them, or realize their importance. At one
+time epidemics of typhoid fever were regarded as a revelation of the
+wrath of God. Now we know they are due to carelessness and lack of
+sanitation. It is the same with the sufferings of women. We used to
+think it was a dispensation of Providence if a woman were compelled to
+undergo an operation. Now we know it usually is due to someone's lack of
+care, to a desecration of Nature's teachings.
+
+I remember when I was quite young hearing mention made of a "bad
+disease." Concerning the nature of this disease I was ignorant but I
+gathered the idea that it was some terrible disease which was contracted
+only by the most depraved of mortals. How little I suspected its
+widely-spread distribution, and how little I dreamed that among my
+acquaintances might be any afflicted with these diseases! nor did I
+dream of the danger of innocent contagion. Since then I have learned
+what these diseases were. Now we call them the black plagues, because,
+owing to the prejudice of the majority, we dare not use their correct
+names generally. I have no doubt you will be as surprised and shocked as
+I was at the things I am going to impart to you.
+
+By black plagues we mean the two diseases spoken of by physicians as the
+venereal diseases, because they usually are contracted during sexual
+intercourse.
+
+The most common of these diseases is gonorrhoea, or clap, as it often
+is called by men. How common it is may be judged by a statement made by
+a professor to his class in the medical college that at least eighty per
+cent. of the men in the world have contracted it sometime during their
+lives. Even the most conservative give the estimate as sixty per cent.
+
+The prevalent idea common among men that it is no worse than a cold--a
+mere annoyance that all men must expect and endure sometime--is
+lamentable. The persistence of the disease in the deeper structures long
+after it outwardly is cured leads to unexpected communication of it to
+women, among whom may be the young wife. As a result she enters upon a
+period of ill-health that ultimately may compel the mutilation of her
+body by a surgical operation to save her life. Much of the surgery
+performed upon the female organs has been rendered necessary by disease
+contracted from the husband.
+
+A few little germs of this disease left on even the external organs may
+find their way up through the vagina to the uterus or womb. Here they
+may produce an inflammation of the lining of the womb, causing severe
+pain and other symptoms, such as profuse discharge. The germs may go
+farther, or the inflammation may extend from the uterus to the tubes.
+When we consider that the passage through the tubes is only about as
+large as a broom straw, we see what serious trouble may result. The
+tubes become enlarged and filled with pus. The opening from the tubes to
+the uterus becomes closed, so there is no way for the pus to escape. The
+accumulation of pus or the products of septic inflammation stretch the
+walls of the tubes until the little nerves in the walls cry out in
+rebellion. The pain becomes so great and the reflex symptoms are so
+aggravated that finally the woman resorts to the only relief,--an
+operation for the removal of the tubes.
+
+When we consider that the ovule, the human egg, must travel through
+these tubes to reach the uterus and, if they are destroyed, has no other
+way of reaching the womb and, if it cannot reach the womb and be
+impregnated, cannot develop into the babe, then we realize how this
+disease is dooming women to childless lives,--women whose natural
+instincts and desires cry out for motherhood. When we consider the
+factors that promote race suicide we must not forget this important one.
+Even though the woman refuses an operation, or in a case in which the
+inflammation is not so severe and is reduced until she is nearly free
+from pain, the result may be the same, for the tubes may remain closed
+permanently.
+
+The closure of the tubes is not the only result that may follow the
+course of this disease. The infection may extend into the peritoneal
+cavity causing peritonitis, which so often results in the untimely
+death of the woman. Here let me say that not all cases of peritonitis or
+of inflammation of the womb, tubes or ovaries are due to this infection.
+There are other infections, other germs, that may produce similar
+results. These germs may reach the organs in various ways. Sometimes the
+woman herself is to blame and sometimes we can blame no one.
+Inflammation of these organs may result from pressure of clothing,
+colds, excitement, overwork, pregnancies, excesses or neglect. The
+inflammation may spread to these organs from an inflamed appendix or
+other neighboring organs.
+
+Supposing, though, following this disease the tubes are not entirely
+closed and the woman becomes pregnant. There is still the danger that
+during labor the baby's eyes will become infected and may become
+permanently blind. It is estimated that seventy per cent. of the
+blindness in the world has this cause. How does this produce blindness?
+Some few germs of this disease have remained in the vagina or birth
+canal and as the baby passes along the canal they enter its eyes. They
+are so very strong and work so rapidly that they can cause total
+blindness within three days. This fact is so well known by physicians
+that at the present time all reliable physicians pay especial attention
+to the newborn baby's eyes, cleansing them with an antiseptic solution
+immediately after birth. This precaution doubtless has saved the eyes of
+thousands of babies. This is one of the reasons why it is dangerous to
+employ an uneducated person at the time of labor. Even though she may
+have assisted at hundreds of births yet often she is ignorant of the
+many dangers and of the precautions that should be taken in every case.
+
+Even adults may become blind from this infection. The disease is carried
+to the eyes by polluted fingers or towels. In a few hours the eyes
+become inflamed, pus forms, and unless heroic measures are taken, the
+eyesight is soon destroyed.
+
+In female children the vagina may become infected through the use of
+tainted sponges, wash cloths, etc. An innocent girl may thus carelessly
+acquire the disease. For this reason, we see how necessary it is to
+caution girls never to use public towels or wash cloths that have been
+used by another person. Even in the home, every member of the family
+should have his exclusive towel and wash cloth.
+
+The symptoms of gonorrhoea that often are noted first are a profuse
+discharge from the vagina, usually creamy or yellowish in color. This
+discharge is of such a nature that frequently it excoriates the external
+parts so that they become very tender and inflamed. Backache, especially
+across the hips, is a common accompaniment of this disease. There may be
+general soreness in the pelvic region. If a woman suspects she has
+contracted this disease, she should go immediately to some reliable
+physician; for at first the disease may affect only the vagina but, if
+neglected, may extend to the uterus and tubes. In its early stages it
+may be cured by prompt treatment, but the majority of women postpone
+treatment until it is too late.
+
+The other loathsome disease, syphilis, infects the blood and therefore
+all parts of the body. While under proper treatment it is not dangerous
+to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of conveying the
+contagion are numerous. In the second stage, which lasts for a number of
+weeks, the mucous patches in the mouth are a source of danger. In this
+stage the disease may be conveyed by a kiss or through the medium of
+the public drinking cup, towel, or anything that comes in contact with
+the virus. It may be contracted by a babe from a wet-nurse or the nurse
+may contract it from the babe.
+
+The most serious results of this disease appear years after its initial
+appearance, when the individual has been lulled into a false sense of
+security by long freedom from its outward symptoms. Many of the obscure
+cases of stomach or nerve trouble may be traced to this disease. The
+results not only affect the man, but, should he marry and have children,
+his innocent babes may come into the world with an inherited taint.
+These children seldom live to reach adult life and their lives usually
+are burdensome and full of misery. They may be deformed or be
+continually afflicted with ulcers or other horrible manifestations of
+the disease. I will explain this more thoroughly when I speak of
+heredity.
+
+Many of the disastrous effects of these diseases might have been
+prevented if they had been properly treated in their early stages.
+Ignorance as to the nature and probable disastrous effects, if
+neglected, prevents many a person from procuring proper treatment. It is
+a common practice among men afflicted with these diseases to try
+various remedies recommended by their friends or by the druggist. It is
+strange that a person who would not think of trying to treat himself for
+smallpox or other contagious disease will do so with these diseases.
+With women, the cause of their neglect is a failure to realize the
+importance of the symptoms. Unfortunately women have grown to think that
+various female ills are their lot in life which must be endured and
+regarded as a dispensation of Providence instead of being considered an
+error in living that must be corrected the same as any other disease.
+Some commence treatment but neglect it as soon as the noticeable
+symptoms have disappeared. It generally is considered among physicians
+that the treatment of syphilis should be continued for at least three
+years after contracting the disease in order to remove all traces from
+the blood.
+
+It is a deplorable fact that the prevalence of these diseases might have
+been prevented by proper instruction of young boys. No man ever
+willfully contracted one of these diseases. Statistics tell us that the
+majority of victims contract them before their twentieth year, before
+the boy has learned anything of their dangers or perhaps of their
+existence. If these patients received the right treatment immediately
+and continued it until the disease had been eradicated the results would
+have been less serious. Here, too, lack of early and proper instruction
+is shown; for these immature boys do not realize the necessity for
+prompt and wise treatment, or are misled by unscrupulous persons. I
+shall talk to you again on this subject, for many of you will have sons
+and you must know the dangers that beset them, so they can be prepared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN
+
+
+One young lady wrote me, "Recently I read that imperfectly developed
+ovaries might be a reason why some women do not have children. I have
+the symptoms which the article said indicated imperfect development.
+Does this necessarily mean that I never can have a baby? I seem to be
+healthy. I am twenty-one years old. I was to have been married in three
+months but now I do not know what to do. 'My boy' loves children as I
+do. It seems as though I cannot give him up, yet it surely is not
+honorable to marry him if I find that I never will have a little one,
+without telling him. Please tell me what to do."
+
+The probabilities are that this girl's ovaries are perfectly normal and
+that the article mentioned was an advertisement of some medical house
+which, by misleading statements, endeavors to induce women to take their
+treatment. There are many women who suffer a great deal mentally, and
+this in turn reflects on their physical health because of just such
+articles.
+
+It has been said that we are a nation of dupes and the advertisements
+carried in some of the papers would indicate the truth of this
+statement. No manufacturer is going to advertise anything that does not
+sell well and bring a considerable profit. Men are not so altruistic as
+to be in business just for the good of humanity. The majority are in
+business for the money to be obtained from it. Somehow, women are very
+susceptible to the arts of these greedy manufacturers. A company
+commences to make a patent medicine and then, in order to derive any
+profits from the investment, large quantities of the preparation must be
+sold. In order to accomplish this they must convince possible buyers of
+their need of this particular treatment. The company employs an agent to
+write an advertisement, perhaps in the shape of an article purporting to
+be written by someone much interested in the human race. This
+advertisement or article describes some disease which may be cured by
+this one remedy. As there might not be enough people who know they have
+this given disease to make a profit for the manufacturer, it becomes
+his business to convince others that they have this disease. Therefore,
+he proceeds to enumerate a great many symptoms which he says indicate
+this disease. Perhaps they might! But they are just as likely to
+indicate any one of half a dozen other things. He details enough
+symptoms so that some are recognized by nearly every woman as relating
+to her condition, so she jumps to the conclusion that she has that
+certain disease and buys a bottle of the medicine.
+
+If you will study the large medical advertisements that appeal
+especially to women you will notice that they all have certain symptoms
+enumerated. No matter if the remedy advertised is for the kidneys, the
+bowels, or exclusively for women, the same symptoms are claimed to
+indicate the need of that certain remedy. One of the symptoms most
+commonly given is backache. Of course! For nearly every person has a
+backache at some time. It may be due to a strain, to rheumatism of the
+lumbar muscles (lumbago), to constipation, to a displacement, or to
+numerous other conditions. No one can tell the cause who is not properly
+prepared to do so and who is not fully acquainted with the physical
+condition. The sewing machine runs hard and perhaps makes a noise. It
+requires a mechanic who is familiar with the mechanism of the machine to
+find the cause of the trouble. So it is with the human body. It requires
+a mechanic who is familiar with the structure of the body to discover
+the cause of the trouble. And yet people will continue to pour into
+their bodies drugs, harmless and otherwise, that are manufactured by
+some enterprising firm and then advertised by an expert who knows
+nothing of disease except a few symptoms common to almost all diseases.
+
+The patent medicine consumers seldom realize the nature of the medicine
+they take. Because some man, desirous of selling his remedy, claims it
+will be beneficial, they rush in and buy. To one who knows the true
+nature of some of these remedies, many laughable instances are visible.
+One man recently discovered that a temperance agitator was daily dosing
+herself with a certain tonic which was known to contain a larger
+percentage of alcohol than did the beverages she was denouncing so
+ardently.
+
+Patent medicines may benefit some, but in the majority of cases, the
+consumer is like a man who boards the nearest street-car hoping it will
+take him to his destination. It may! But it is just as likely to take
+him in the opposite direction.
+
+Some people become veritable drug fiends, slaves to certain drugs
+without in the least realizing their condition. How many are slaves to
+certain laxatives or headache powders! With them the daily dose of
+"harmless" teas or waters or even of pills cannot be neglected. And yet
+such a person would be indignant at the suggestion that she was the
+victim of a drug habit. What are drugs, anyhow? The majority are simply
+extracts of herbs and vegetables. And yet people imagine that they are
+avoiding the use of drugs and medicines when they take "simple herb
+remedies, prepared at home."
+
+Another lure of the advertiser is to state that all letters are
+"strictly confidential and answered by women only." Perhaps they are!
+But he neglects to add that the women who answer these letters are
+simply stenographers with no medical knowledge, employed to write
+according to dictation, that the letters are all written according to
+certain forms which have been dictated by the manager. A short time ago
+a young woman wrote me regarding her condition. Among other things, she
+said she had written to a certain woman whose name is much advertised by
+a patent medicine concern and that this woman had written her advice
+that had caused her to worry over her condition. Poor, deluded girl! How
+was she to know that the woman in question had been dead many years and
+that the business was carried on by her son and other men.
+
+If you are ill do not be misled by these unscrupulous advertisers. Do
+not waste your time and money on remedies that may be entirely unsuited
+to your condition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE MARRIAGE RELATION
+
+
+As several of you expect to be married soon I think it would be well to
+talk briefly about the cause of so much unhappiness in marriage.
+
+It has been estimated that only about five per cent. of all marriages
+are successful. Is this true, and if true, why? If five per cent. made a
+success of marriage, why could not the other ninety-five? Marriage is a
+science to be studied by the prospective bride and groom in order that
+they may be ranked with the five per cent. and not make a failure of
+their married life. Few would enter the marriage relation if convinced
+that it would be a failure. The prospective bride looks around among her
+acquaintances and sees the lack of true happiness, thinks that her case
+will be an exception, that her marriage will turn out all right and then
+goes blindly ahead into the new life without any preparation.
+
+A large percentage of the unhappiness among married couples comes
+through a misunderstanding of the marital relations. A great deal of
+this is due to ignorance on the part of the bride and thoughtlessness on
+the part of the husband. This is partly due to defective education
+during childhood in regard to the sexes. The training of boys and girls
+in this matter is very different. Knowledge pertaining to the sexual
+life is talked over very freely among boys, so that by the time the boy
+is of a marriageable age he is pretty well posted. With girls it is
+quite different. It would be considered very immodest for a girl to
+discuss such matters. She does not feel free even to talk with her
+mother or other adviser, and so she goes to the altar ignorant of many
+things she should know. Then during the first few days of married life
+this knowledge so overwhelms her and often gives her such a severe shock
+that it leaves a lasting impression. She has no way of knowing that her
+husband is just like other men. She is liable to regard him as a brute
+and resent his attentions.
+
+Such a condition of affairs is altogether wrong, but the girl is not to
+be blamed. Had she been taught what to expect, much of the unhappiness
+of married life might have been avoided. If taught correctly, the girl
+should regard the sexual act as the culmination of true love. It should
+be regarded as something sacred, something that makes her and her
+husband as one. Fortunate indeed is the girl whose husband realizes this
+lack of knowledge and gently leads her to desire the fulfillment of
+love. Unfortunate is the girl whose husband regards this act only as the
+gratification of animal passions--something it is a wife's duty to
+endure as such.
+
+Passion or sex sense is a sign of maturity. It is the calling for a
+mate. All animals have this sense and nearly all animals have a mating
+season. The billing and cooing of the birds in the springtime is an
+expression of this sense--the love sense. It is possessed by every
+little insect. Only by knowing their habits do we see the expression of
+it. This sense is nothing of which one should be ashamed. It was
+God-given for a divine purpose.
+
+In the study of plants we learn that the pollen or male element must
+unite with the ovum or female element in order to produce the seed that
+will develop into the new plant. The same fact is true of the human
+race. Before pregnancy can take place there must be a meeting and fusion
+of the vital elements of the two sexes. This fertilization of the ovum
+or joining of the male and female elements is called conception. It is
+brought about by coitus, by means of which the semen of the male is
+deposited in the vagina of the female. This act is called insemination,
+although conception does not follow unless the ovum and spermatozoon
+(life-giving element of the semen) come together and unite. When this
+occurs the woman conceives and enters upon a period of pregnancy. The
+time at which conception is least likely to occur is from the
+seventeenth to the twenty-third day after menstruation ceases.
+
+During the first year of married life couples are liable to abuse the
+love sense by over-indulgence and thereby use up too much of their
+energy. This affects their health, especially that of the young wife,
+who finds herself always being tired and is unable to account for it.
+Her daily tasks become a drudgery, for she is too exhausted to have the
+strength to perform them. After the tasks finally are finished, she is
+too tired to don the afternoon dress, and so easily falls into untidy
+habits. This brings its train of results. The young husband, on his
+return from work, fails to find his wife the bright, attractive girl he
+married and gradually grows indifferent.
+
+The relation of intercourse to conception is a problem that each husband
+and wife must settle for themselves. Some educators claim that only for
+the one is the other allowable, that the bearing and raising of children
+is the sole aim of married life. Naturally this is the fundamental end
+of the sex instinct. But in the present-day, practical married life it
+would be impossible to convince the majority that the impulse of sex
+gratification was given to them for this one purpose only.
+
+The sense of well being and the increased capacity for work, that
+follows a moderate exercise of this function, tends to convince us that
+it has a beneficial effect upon the entire system if exercised
+moderately. As to what constitutes moderation or temperance depends upon
+the individual. What would be moderation to some would be excess to
+others. It may be taken as a general rule that the after-effects will
+indicate the amount. If the after-effects are irritability, extreme
+lassitude or a diminution of the love or respect for the other then
+there has been excess. If the after-effect is a sense of well-being so
+that the next day one feels more inclined to take up the duties of life,
+then it may be considered that moderation has been practiced. A certain
+amount of energy is consumed in any act and, as in our present age we
+need a great deal of energy to carry on our everyday business, in the
+majority of cases fresh vitality cannot be spared for an expenditure
+under several days or a week. Excess in anything tends to bring on
+premature old age, for the nervous force is expended faster than it is
+manufactured.
+
+Frequently women seem to be endowed with an excess of energy which
+manifests itself in various forms. Besides this, the woman does not seem
+to have control of her nervous energy but wastes it in numerous ways.
+With many a woman the regularity and moderation attendant on a happy
+married life seems to have a regulating effect upon her whole nervous
+system, so that she becomes more calm and has greater control over her
+energies.
+
+Wrong training or lack of training in matters pertaining to the
+relationship of the sexes and to the management of a home may be given
+as the cause of the majority of unhappy marriages.
+
+There must be something wrong with our system of education when the aim
+of this education seems to be to prepare the girl for a temporary
+position in an office or store or for a gay social life; and when there
+is no preparation for the important work of home-making and the rearing
+of children. A girl would not be expected to run a complicated and
+delicate piece of machinery without having adequate instruction
+concerning the necessary care of it. But the girl is allowed to go
+blindly into marriage and is expected to manage her home and care for
+her children with practically no preparation. Nowadays we require
+experts for every position except that of motherhood, but we apparently
+do not consider that of enough importance to waste any time preparing
+for it. A man requires his gardener or office assistant to be trained,
+but the mother of his children need know nothing regarding the
+preparation for their coming. Too often her only preparation is that of
+making numerous clothes. She takes no measures to insure a healthy
+child.
+
+If girls would make a study of home-making and motherhood and enter into
+marriage with a more definite realization of its obligations we would
+have fewer unhappy marriages and fewer divorce cases. Some women, owing
+to false education, wish to have all the advantages of marriage without
+assuming its cares. Such a woman expects a man to be willing to provide
+her with all the gifts of the gods, with all the luxuries of life, but
+in return is not willing to become the mother of his children nor to
+exert herself to make their mutual habitation a home and not merely a
+house--a place in which to eat and sleep.
+
+A large part of the average woman's life is devoted to home-making and
+the rearing of children. Usually she is poorly prepared for this work.
+The early years of a girl's life are spent in the acquisition of a store
+of general knowledge, especially that derived from books and related to
+subjects generally considered necessary to "culture." During this
+period, her time is so occupied with her studies that her mother thinks
+it would be an imposition to ask her to do any housework, so the girl
+grows up without much knowledge of the care of a home. True, she often
+is enabled to do a few things. She learns to make cake and several
+varieties of candy and perhaps can fashion a collar that is the envy of
+her schoolmates. Sometimes she even helps her mother with the dishes or
+the dusting, but it is easier for the mother to take the responsibility
+of the housekeeping than it is to teach her daughter to do so, and
+besides her daughter always is so busy with school affairs. She has no
+time in which to learn the science of housekeeping.
+
+After the completion of her course in the common or high school, a few
+months, sometimes, are devoted to the preparation for a certain line of
+work which is to occupy her time for a few years. Very few girls, except
+those who enter the professions, expect to continue their work after
+marriage and nearly all look forward to marriage. If we place a girl at
+a new occupation, for instance lace-making, and let her work out her own
+salvation, we would not be surprised if she disliked her work and was
+unable to accomplish any good results. But that is what we do in regard
+to home-making. A girl upon marriage is expected to know by instinct
+how to keep house, cook, and do the numerous other household duties; she
+is expected to know how to care for herself before the birth of her baby
+and how to care for the baby when it comes. Fortunately for the future
+generation this fact has come to the realization of many of our
+educators. During the last few years many schools have introduced into
+their curriculum, courses in domestic science, including the purchasing,
+preparation and serving of food. Very recently some of the more
+progressive schools have introduced courses in nursing and the care of
+young babies. Perhaps in a few years motherhood will take its proper
+place as the most important of all sciences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+EMBRYOLOGY--THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE
+
+
+You remember I mentioned that at various times during the month an ovum
+or egg leaves the ovary and passes along the tube to the uterus. Here it
+remains if it is impregnated or fertilized by a union with the
+spermatozoon or male element. The whole body of the babe is developed
+from the ovum or female element after it has been fertilized by the
+spermatozoon or male element. The union usually takes place in the tube.
+The spermatozoon, after being deposited in the vagina, travels to the
+mouth of the womb, then up through the womb into one of the tubes. Here
+it meets the ovum and unites with it, then the impregnated ovum
+continues on its way to the uterus. It attaches itself to the lining of
+the womb by little thread-like filaments which it projects. The ovum
+then begins to grow, dividing itself into portions that go to make the
+different parts of the body. Before I continue, let me remind you that
+the ovum in the beginning is only about as large as the point of a pin,
+being about 1-125 of an inch in diameter, while the spermatozoon is so
+tiny it cannot be seen without the aid of a miscroscope. Therefore, it
+can be realized how much the ovum has to grow before it becomes a fully
+formed babe.
+
+During the time the ovum is developing into the babe we speak of it
+first as the embryo, then the foetus. It takes about nine calendar
+months or ten lunar months before the foetus is fully developed and
+ready to be expelled from the womb. During the process of development
+the foetus resembles various animals. It seems it must pass through
+about the same stages of evolution that our primitive ancestors did.
+
+By the end of the third week, the dividing has progressed so far that
+the body is quite well indicated. By the end of the seventh week the
+body and limbs are quite well defined. One peculiar thing is that, at
+this time, the foetus has a tail which disappears during the next two
+weeks. During the third month the foetus increases in size and weight
+so that by the end of the month the weight is four ounces and the
+length two and three-fourths inches. It now is not directly attached to
+the lining of the womb but is attached by means of the cord to the
+placenta or afterbirth which has been forming slowly. This placenta
+consists of fatty tissue surrounding a great many little blood vessels.
+The tiny blood vessels lie so close to the blood vessels of the lining
+of the womb that the blood passes from one to the other. To do this, it
+must pass through the walls of the blood vessels, as the vessels of the
+mother and those of the placenta are not directly united. The blood
+vessels of the placenta unite to form two veins and one artery which lie
+very close to each other and are surrounded by a membrane. These three
+blood vessels united together form what we call the cord. The other end
+of the cord is attached to the foetus so that the blood can flow back
+and forth between the foetus and placenta.
+
+By the end of the third month the limbs have definite shape, the nails
+being almost perfectly formed. During the next month the sexual
+distinctions of the external organs become well marked.
+
+By the last of the fifth month the weight has increased to one pound and
+the length to eight inches. Active foetal movements begin, that is,
+the foetus begins to move around and not lie quietly as before. This
+is what is usually spoken of as "feeling life," or as "quickening."
+There is life from the very beginning but during the first four or five
+months the foetus does not move about and so the mother does not "feel
+life." This has caused the erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the fifth month.
+
+By the end of the sixth month the weight is two pounds and the length
+twelve inches. The eyebrows and eyelashes have begun to grow and the
+lobule of the ear is more characteristic.
+
+By the end of the seventh month the weight is three pounds and the
+length fourteen inches. The surface of the body, which has appeared
+wrinkled, now appears more smooth owing to the increase of fat
+underneath.
+
+By the end of the eighth month the weight is four to five pounds and the
+length twenty inches. The nails have grown to project beyond the finger
+tips. Up to this time the body has been covered with a fine hair called
+lanugo. This now has begun to disappear and the skin becomes brighter
+and is covered with a white, cheesy material called the vernix caseosa.
+This almost entirely disappears during the next month, but frequently
+there are portions of it remaining on the body at the time of birth. The
+foetus is fully developed by the end of the ninth month. Then its
+average weight is six or seven pounds and the length twenty inches.
+
+If we could look into the womb just before the time of labor we would
+find the foetus attached by the cord to the placenta and floating in a
+sac of water. This sac is formed partly of the placenta and partly of
+the membrane; the side of the placenta opposite to the child being
+attached to the womb. Just before labor the child takes a position with
+its head downward, its lower limbs flexed and its arms folded upon its
+breast. This allows it to come in the usual way, head first. But
+sometimes, for various reasons, it does not take this position and some
+part other than the head, for instance, the feet, may be born first.
+
+Labor pains are caused by the contraction of the muscles of the womb in
+an effort to expel the foetus. The muscles, contracting, push the
+foetus downward to the mouth of the womb but push ahead of it a
+portion of the membrane enclosing some of the water. This is called the
+"bag of waters." As it presses against the mouth of the womb it causes
+it to dilate so as to allow the foetus to pass through into the
+vagina. The foetus, preceded by the bag of waters, then descends
+through the vagina or birth canal until it comes to the external opening
+of the vagina. This it must dilate before it can pass through it. The
+bag of waters should rupture normally while it is being pushed through
+the external opening. Sometimes the bag does not rupture directly in
+front of the descending head but further up along the side. Then a
+portion of the membrane may be over the face of the child when it is
+born. This is what is called being "born with a veil" or "born with a
+caul."
+
+The bag of waters helps dilate the parts much easier than the foetus
+could do it alone. When the bag breaks the water lubricates the parts so
+as to make the passage of the child easier. When it breaks, as it
+sometimes does, at the beginning of labor we have what is termed a "dry
+labor." This usually is much slower than it would be otherwise. The
+majority of the cases of labor extend over a period of from twelve to
+twenty-four hours.
+
+Sometimes the external opening of the vagina does not dilate enough to
+allow the passage of the child. As the head presses hard against the
+perineum it tears it. This tear should be repaired immediately after
+completion of labor.
+
+When the baby is born it is fully formed but its lungs have never
+contained air. At the first cry the air rushes into the lungs and
+expands them. At birth there is a change in the circulation of the blood
+of the baby. Before this time, the blood has passed to and from the
+placenta through the cord but now this is stopped. Before birth there
+was an opening between the right and left sides of the heart but this
+closes during the first few days of the child's life. To assist in this
+closure, it is wise to keep the child on its right side for a few days.
+Rarely, this opening never closes and we have what is called a "blue
+baby," which seldom lives very long.
+
+In a great many cases, painless childbirth could be a possibility by a
+little attention to diet, exercise and other hygienic measures during
+the last few months of pregnancy. Knowing this, it seems inconceivable
+that any woman would neglect to so fully inform herself on these matters
+that both she and her child could have all benefit of the investigations
+of science.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ABORTIONS
+
+
+Sometimes through an accident or on account of disease, the womb expels
+the foetus before it is fully developed. If this occurs before the end
+of the third month we call it an abortion; if it occurs between the
+third and seventh months we call it a miscarriage; while if it occurs
+after the seventh month but before the normal time of labor we call it a
+premature labor.
+
+Formerly it was considered that there was no possibility of the child
+living if it were born before the seventh month. Now, by the aid of
+incubators, even those born at five months have a chance to live. By
+that time the body is fully formed, so the chief requirements are a
+steady temperature and proper care and food. Great care must be
+exercised, as a slight cooling of the air may result in the death of the
+babe.
+
+Abortions are either accidental, criminal, or justifiable, that is,
+brought on to preserve the life of the mother. Accidental abortions may
+follow a sudden fall or a sudden shock, either mental or physical, to
+the mother. They may be due to some disease either of the mother or of
+the foetus. Of the diseases responsible for abortions the one with the
+largest percentage is syphilis. It is estimated that this disease is
+responsible for forty per cent. of accidental abortions and
+miscarriages. Whenever a physician has for a patient a woman who gives a
+history of having had several abortions without any apparent cause and
+all at about the same age of the foetus, he immediately becomes
+suspicious of syphilis either of the father or the mother. It is a
+peculiar fact with this disease that it may be transmitted to the
+offspring without the mother ever actually having the disease. This is
+an instance of "visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto
+the third and fourth generation." Many a weak frame owes its condition
+to a dissipated father, grandfather or even great-grandfather. It is
+possible, though, for a man or woman who has had this disease to have a
+healthy child if the disease has been properly treated.
+
+Under some circumstances, especially with a deformed pelvis, if
+pregnancy were allowed to proceed normally it probably would result in
+the death of the mother. Then, it is considered justifiable for the
+physician in charge of the case to produce an abortion in order to save
+the life of the mother. Those cases are rare and such a procedure never
+is undertaken except in extreme cases.
+
+Criminal abortions are those brought on simply because the woman does
+not desire to have a child. These often are produced by the woman
+herself by means of drugs that set up uterine contractions (labor pains)
+or by means of something introduced into the uterus. In either case it
+is a dangerous procedure. Infections may be carried into the uterus by
+means of whatever is introduced into it. This may set up an inflammation
+that may result in the death of the woman. It is a dangerous procedure
+to introduce anything into the womb. Some women are extremely foolish or
+reckless and use anything that may be handy. Sometimes grave harm
+results. Instances are on record of women who have punctured the walls
+of the womb by the use of hatpins or other sharp instruments. If an
+abortion is produced by either drugs or instruments there is danger that
+all the products of conception may not come away. If even a small
+portion remains in the uterus it may cause a hemorrhage or, becoming
+decomposed, produce a poison that may result in the death of the woman.
+
+It would be impossible to estimate the number of abortions performed on
+unmarried girls, as well as married women, during one year by midwives,
+unscrupulous physicians and by many respected family physicians. We
+never hear of one of these except through the occasional one who is so
+unfortunate as to meet death. We cannot entirely blame the one who
+performs the abortion. Sometimes it is performed because of the sympathy
+of the physician. It is very hard to refuse some cases. Let me read you
+a letter to illustrate my meaning.
+
+"I have just finished reading your article on 'Woman's Inhumanity to
+Woman' and wish to say that every word impresses the truth as read. My
+reason for writing you is because I am one of those who have sinned
+through love, with one I have known all my life only to find too late
+that he did not love me; and the sin is killing me. I do not want to
+bring into this world a little child to have no father. I am not bad at
+heart. My only hope is to get something that will bring me all right. If
+you are a doctor you can give me medicine that will help me miscarry
+this, as I have only missed two months. Nothing would please me more
+than to be the mother of a little one, but, oh, not one born without a
+name. Dear madam, if you can help me, or show me some way that my people
+cannot suspect me of this sin, for the love you bear all girls, help me.
+I am the only one at home to care for an aged father and one of the
+dearest brothers that ever lived. If he knew I had sinned as I have, it
+would break his heart. My God in heaven, help me! is my prayer, and
+through his love you can help me. I am almost desperate and before I
+will live and bear this sin I will take my own life, which will bar me
+from heaven and my angel mother's face. Be gracious, kind doctor, and
+help me. I will repay you if it takes the remainder of my life and give
+my solemn promise that I will sin no more. Erring through the love of a
+man is my only excuse and, oh, I am the one to bear the blame. He would
+be forgiven. I am so nervous and ruined in mind that I hardly can go
+about my duties and I cannot stand the strain much longer. Let me hear
+from you at once and please help me, for I know it can be done, but I am
+ignorant; I do not know what to get or what to do. It will be no sin to
+try to get all right and not bear a child, but in my thoughts it is
+something awful to have to have it. For the love of heaven help a
+heartbroken girl at once and before it is too late for me to regain my
+chance of heaven."
+
+Now suppose you were a physician and that girl, instead of being a
+stranger, was a very dear friend who had come to you in your office,
+would you not be tempted to grant her wishes? That is the position in
+which every physician is placed a great many times. Some allow their
+sympathies to rule and so break the laws of the land. They allow their
+sympathies to overcome the moral truths that previously had been their
+guide. They commit a crime by taking a life, even though that life were
+not fully developed.
+
+Many women have the false idea that there is no life before the fifth
+month and so think they are not destroying life if they have an
+abortion at the end of the first, the second or even the third month.
+This idea is entirely erroneous, for there is life from the very
+beginning and it is just as wrong to destroy life the first few months
+as it would be to do so later.
+
+Aside from this moral reason there is a very important reason for not
+having abortions. You may regret it afterwards! Let me give you an
+instance. One of my friends, a charming young woman, was married several
+years ago. After her marriage she moved to a distant city and I did not
+see her for about four years. Then she returned and called to see me.
+During the course of our conversation I asked her if she had any
+children. Her reply in a very sad tone was, "No, I guess I did too much
+interfering at first, so now I cannot have any." Then she told me she
+had the idea she did not wish to have children for several years after
+she was married. So during the first year she had an abortion performed.
+Now for two years she had been wanting a baby but none came. That is the
+history of so many women. The regrets!
+
+All women naturally desire to have children. If they do not, they are
+the victims of false ideas or of fear. Anything which is natural is the
+best, so usually a woman who bears children is much healthier than one
+who does not. Think of the women of your acquaintance and see if the
+mothers are not happier and healthier than the women who are childless.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS--HEREDITY
+
+
+Every child has a right to be born well. An undesired child never should
+be brought into the world. An undesired child or a child of parents who
+are not in good bodily or mental condition comes into the world with an
+inheritance that perhaps never is overcome. How can we expect children
+of parents with criminal tendencies to become good citizens?
+
+Children born in circumstances under which the expectant mother has been
+subjected to fright or to cruel treatment are handicapped in the very
+beginning of life's race. Maternal impressions from fright or physical
+violence undoubtedly are followed by the birth of individuals malformed
+and in many respects with altered minds. Although some biologists try to
+deny this, the coincidence is too widely observed to admit of doubt,
+although the precise manner in which the effect is produced has not
+been clearly demonstrated. Sufficient is known to make it of the utmost
+importance that, in the interest of her offspring, the expectant mother
+be not subjected to sudden or violent mechanical force or to any great
+nervous shock. Equally important is it that she should be surrounded by
+a harmonious environment in order to give the unborn child all possible
+benefit of such surroundings.
+
+By many it is claimed that the mother's mental condition during this
+period will be reflected in the child both mentally and physically. For
+instance if the mother be calm, free from worry and happy in
+anticipation of the coming event, her offspring will have a sound
+nervous system, shown by a perfect digestion and an excellent
+disposition: while if the mother be irritable and unhappy her child is
+inclined to have various digestive ills, as well as to be cross and
+restless.
+
+Great disturbances in the expectant mother's health also have their
+effect upon the child. The erroneous idea that there is no life before
+the third or fifth month allows many conscientious women to attempt
+measures that will cause the discharge of the products of conception.
+These measures not only are dangerous to the health or the life of the
+woman but, in the event of their proving unsuccessful, may result in the
+birth of a deformed or a mentally defective child.
+
+Parents who have become degenerate from the immoderate use of alcohol or
+other stimulants or those who are afflicted with one of the black
+plagues furnish further examples of the birth of deficient offspring.
+
+The question of heredity has received considerable attention during
+recent years. As a result, many of our pet theories have undergone a
+decided change. Many of the diseases which formerly were thought to be
+acquired through inheritance we now know to be contracted through lack
+of care or through association. The only inheritance is possibly a
+tendency to the disease or a decrease in the power of resistance. It is
+a law of pathology that the diseases of parents who suffer from certain
+serious chronic maladies create in the offspring a condition of
+defective life shown in malformations or in altered nutrition. The
+hereditary influence of most diseases is shown in the transmission to
+the child of a defective body shown by feebleness or a diminished power
+of resisting disease.
+
+In tuberculosis and other diseases that once were considered hereditary,
+this influence is shown probably only in a predisposition to the disease
+which under favorable circumstances finds an easy condition of growth.
+The child does not actually inherit the disease and if placed in
+favorable surroundings will outgrow the tendency, will overcome the
+feeble vitality. But such a child if allowed to remain with its parent,
+to breathe the germs of disease cast off by the parent, readily
+contracts the disease. For the sake of the child it must be separated
+from its tubercular parent. It must be given fresh air and nourishing
+food.
+
+There is one disease, though, that seems to be truly inherited: the
+worst of the black plagues, syphilis. This may be inherited from either
+parent, it frequently is inherited from the father even though the
+mother does not contract the disease. This inheritance seems to manifest
+itself chiefly in a disordered nutrition. Even during the first few
+months of development, this may be so effective as to destroy life. You
+remember, I mentioned this when I talked about abortions. If life is not
+destroyed, the nutritional processes may be so affected that the
+pregnancy will result in the birth of a defective child. These children,
+perhaps fortunately, usually die during the first few months of their
+lives. Seldom do they live to maturity. Many children who seem to have
+escaped this inherited trait really have not done so, but their
+inheritance is not recognized. Some people with defective generative
+organs owe this to a diseased parent. Others suffering from a chronic
+skin disorder, and many afflicted with epilepsy or some brain
+malformation could trace their inheritance to the same source. This
+disease seems truly to be an instance of "visiting the sins of the
+fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."
+
+There is no doubt that the general health of the child is affected by
+the health of the mother especially during the period when the child is
+nourished from the mother's blood. Attention to such matters as diet,
+sleep and exercise certainly has a great influence upon the constitution
+of the unborn child. The best heritage a mother can give her child is a
+strong constitution, and in order to do this she must make motherhood a
+science.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES--CAUSES OF STERILITY
+
+
+Whatever may be the motive that causes men and women to enter into
+matrimony, the social reason is the perpetuation of the human race.
+Herbert Spencer says, "The welfare of the family underlies the welfare
+of society." Therefore those who marry for convenience or with the
+avowed intention of not assuming the obligations of parenthood have not
+the welfare of the human race at heart and are a menace to society in
+its highest form.
+
+Childless homes are not the happy homes, anyhow! Their occupants usually
+are dissatisfied; the women are nervous, irritable and unhappy; the men
+are seeking happiness elsewhere. The homes childless from choice should
+receive our condemnation, but the homes childless from necessity should
+receive our commiseration. The latter are much more prevalent than many
+of our race suicide agitators would admit. These are too prone to blame
+the woman for what is not her choice. We hear so much about the higher
+education of women promoting race suicide. A recent investigation
+carried on by a well-known magazine has proven that such is not the
+case. The college girls and the professional women desire children much
+more than do the factory girls. But these college girls realize that
+quality is as necessary as quantity. They do not desire to bring into
+the world weak, puny offspring. These college girls are beginning to
+make motherhood a science. What the results will be we can only
+anticipate.
+
+A normal woman, who has not become imbued with false ideas and fear,
+desires children. She realizes that motherhood, if rightly carried out,
+is a privilege and not a curse; it is the woman who has been falsely
+educated who dreads motherhood. This morning I received a letter which
+shows the prevailing attitude of many girls. The writer says:
+
+"I am twenty-two years of age but strange to say I am ignorant as far as
+knowledge about the origin of life, etc., is concerned. I am a business
+girl, drawing a good salary, and have many gentleman and lady friends. I
+am the oldest child of a large family of moderate means and have been
+brought up under Christian principles and possess a goodly amount of
+common sense. I long have been anxious in regard to this important
+subject but never have asked anyone for advice, shuddering to do so,
+feeling that if I had a chance to ask a lady with knowledge, as a nurse
+or some such person, I would do so. But to tell the truth, I did not
+care to find out such things, but I realize the fact that I must know in
+order to guard myself; for that is something no one can do for me at a
+critical moment. I have no less than three gentleman admirers, but I
+have no desire to be a married woman for a long time to come, but I feel
+that I must be armed with the knowledge of right and wrong. I shudder on
+account of _fear_ to think of becoming a mother. I hear so much of
+woman's pains and aches and the such, that I often think I would prefer
+to remain single all my life, although I am perfectly healthy and a
+happy, cheerful girl. My mother is, and always will be, too busy to tell
+me about such matters, although I had a right to know long ago. As you
+say, an ignorant, innocent girl would be guilty before the world if
+something wrong should happen to her and in most cases it is not her
+fault. Can you give me the desired information or can you recommend some
+good book? If so, I assure you that your efforts will be greatly
+appreciated."
+
+This letter certainly indicates that the writer has a good amount of
+common sense. The trouble is she has become over-impressed with the
+possibilities of pain, and never has been told the wonderful truths that
+would overcome this fear. If love is the greatest thing in the world,
+fear and its companion, worry, certainly are the greatest curses of
+humanity. And the most pitiful part is that this fear and worry usually
+result from ignorance which a little instruction at the right time could
+dispel so easily. It is the unknown things that we fear. When any
+trouble actually comes we find strength enough to meet it, and, anyway,
+it usually is not half as bad in the reality as in the prospect. Young
+girls hear so much about the pains of childbirth that this fear
+overshadows the natural longings for motherhood. It is not until
+motherhood is an actual fact that they realize the happiness is worth
+all the cost.
+
+But this fear is not what actually makes many childless homes. They
+often are unpremeditated. A large percentage of the sterility in the
+world is due to the results of indiscretions that are the outcome of
+ignorance. One great factor in childless homes is the prevalence of the
+black plagues. It is estimated that forty-five per cent. of sterile
+marriages are due to that seemingly mild disease which is regarded as no
+worse than a cold and which has been contracted either by the man or the
+woman. This disease does not disqualify the woman alone, as was formerly
+thought, for recent investigations have proven that twenty-five per
+cent. of the sterile marriages are due to sterility of the male. Oh, the
+innumerable women who have submitted to unpleasant treatments and even
+operations in the hope of overcoming sterility when all the time the
+fault was elsewhere! The microscope has proven that even though a man
+may seemingly be healthy and capable of sustaining the marriage
+relation, yet his efforts are valueless; for the spermatozoa, the
+life-giving element, are dead, due usually to an inflammation which
+accompanied an attack of this seemingly mild disease,--gonorrhoea.
+
+This disease is responsible for many of the one child marriages. How
+often we see a family with only one child, this child born during the
+first year of married life, then there are no more pregnancies. The
+woman probably has contracted a disease from her husband and, during the
+period immediately following the birth of her baby when the entire
+generative system is in a condition to easily become inflamed, the tubes
+have become closed. Another pregnancy is very unlikely.
+
+Another factor in sterility is abortions. So many times we hear a young
+married woman say, "I do not want a child the first year, but after that
+I would like one." In order to carry out her desires it is not uncommon
+for an abortion to be performed during the first few months. In many
+cases an inflammation follows this interference and the tubes become
+closed permanently. Then when the woman is ready to have a child it is
+impossible. Girls about to enter marriage should be cognizant of this
+possibility and not take any risks, for few women would do anything
+voluntarily that would condemn them to childless lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY
+
+
+This morning I received a letter which says in part, "I am a young
+school teacher and do not know lots I should, but will come to you for
+advice. Now I am engaged to the dearest boy in the world. I will do my
+best to be a good wife and do my duty. But my health is not so very good
+and I want to put off motherhood for awhile. Will you kindly tell me
+some remedy that will keep me from becoming pregnant? I have long wanted
+to ask someone but always was afraid. Mother never tells me anything."
+
+This is the type of question that is asked every physician many times.
+Those who do not ask, wish to--and blame physicians for not telling the
+things they want to know. What is my answer to such a question? Just
+this:
+
+There is in effect a federal statute making it a felony punishable by
+$5,000 fine and five years at hard labor to impart any information
+_whatever_ relating to the preventing of conception. The information may
+concern a thing, an instrument, or it need not be any material substance
+at all--only a "method." I obey that law as I am not foolhardy enough to
+walk into absolute danger.
+
+Every day we see examples of heart-breaking misery caused by lack of
+knowledge of the proper means of prevention. The limitation of the
+number of offspring has become an important problem to be considered.
+There are thousands of families that would be perfectly happy if the
+number of offspring could be limited. There are thousands of young men
+who would be glad to get married but are afraid to do so for fear of
+having a family larger than they could supply with the necessities of
+life. These same young men, because they are not married, frequent
+questionable houses and often contract one or more of the venereal
+diseases.
+
+There are thousands of women who have become semi-invalids because of a
+too prolific offspring. The babies came so fast the mother had no
+opportunity to regain her health and strength. There are other thousands
+of women who are made invalids because of attempts at abortion, or have
+been driven into early graves by these attempts, while some have
+actually killed themselves.
+
+There are thousands of children half starved because their parents are
+unable to supply them the necessities of life. There are other thousands
+of children below par mentally and physically because of the fact that
+the mother was weak from too frequent child-bearing. There are other
+thousands of children born of syphilitic, tubercular or epileptic
+parents who never should have been born at all because they came into
+life so handicapped and had to fight against such severe odds that they,
+after a brief struggle, met an early death. There are children brought
+into this world amidst cursing who never hear much else.
+
+We find it necessary to regulate the parentage of our domestic animals
+in order to insure a good race. But children can come by chance. The
+most degraded of men is allowed to beget children of his kind. There is
+small chance for race improvement under such conditions. The same laws
+hold true as to the future generation of humans as are true of animals
+or plants.
+
+Human beings are not mere animals and they should be allowed to decide
+how many children they should have. Furthermore, the present laws do not
+attain their object. We all pretend to obey the laws but everyone knows
+that in every city there are many women, and men also, who make an
+excellent income from performing abortions. I would venture to say that
+in Chicago alone there is at least one abortion performed every
+hour--and Chicago is not so very different from other parts of the
+country in this respect. The ways and means to prevent pregnancy are
+sold and are bringing a rich reward to their manufacturers. But the
+advertisements are so carefully worded that the law is not violated. But
+the interested understand. If the manufacturer or his agent were accused
+of selling anything to prevent pregnancy, he would simulate great
+surprise and possible indignation. He doing such a thing! Impossible!
+Why, he is selling a simple hygienic device or drug used in the
+treatment of certain diseases.
+
+If we have laws, let us obey them; but if we do not intend to obey them,
+let us stop being hypocrites and remove them from the statutes. If the
+law remains let us make it far-reaching enough to include those who now
+are so flagrantly violating it. But if means for the prevention of
+pregnancy are necessary to the health and happiness of the human race,
+let us change the laws so we can have the best of these preventives and
+allow reputable physicians to give whatever information they can to
+prevent this wholesale misuse of a law by the unscrupulous,--the
+law-breakers.
+
+A recent investigation carried on by one magazine proved that the
+knowledge of how to prevent conception would not mean race suicide, as
+some fear. As reported in this magazine, the college girls and
+professional women who no doubt had given these subjects careful
+consideration, desired children more than did those whose experience had
+been a poor home and a large family. The average number of children
+desired by the well-informed woman was four. That would not mean
+race-suicide! It would mean that children were given a fair start in
+life by being desired and planned for before their conception. Every
+true woman desires a home and children but she does not wish to be
+driven into motherhood. Every true man desires a family but he does not
+feel justified in bringing children into the world to be half starved
+and with no advantages of education.
+
+What is the solution of the problem?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DIVORCE
+
+
+Until our marriage laws are so adjusted that there are no unequal
+marriages, the question of divorce always will be eminent. The ever
+present agitation about uniform divorce laws and the divorce problem
+cannot be settled until there are more stringent marriage laws. Trying
+to settle the divorce question without first settling the marriage
+question is like trying to keep chickens in a small yard surrounded by
+enticing fields without first constructing an adequate fence.
+
+Divorce is the concession of society to its inability to solve the
+marriage problem. Anyone can get married! Mere children can meet on a
+pleasure excursion and in a moment of fun or infatuation walk over to a
+justice of the peace and be married. In some states not even a license
+is necessary. A large proportion of the marriages in the world are
+consummated without a proper consideration on the part of either bride
+or groom as to the responsibilities of the marriage state. Many of the
+marriages are made simply as a matter of convenience--in order to
+inherit property, for social position or in a spirit of pique. Such
+marriages are not natural marriages and are in violation of the right
+spirit of the law of marriage. The much quoted saying, "What God hath
+joined together, let no man put asunder," surely does not apply to these
+marriages; for that very admission would be a condemnation of the wisdom
+of God. He surely never would give his sanction to many of the marriages
+contracted in a spirit of lust or of greed.
+
+It is as impossible to keep mismated people together as it is to keep
+chemical incompatibles together. No chemist would try to keep chlorate
+of potash and sulphur together even if they did, by some accident,
+happen to be in the same locality. It is just as impossible to keep two
+incompatible people together and not expect an explosion. The law may
+keep such people legally bound, but it cannot keep them so mentally or
+physically. A prominent reformer is reported to have said that fully
+one-third of the married population of New York City is unfaithful to
+the physical obligation. And New York is not so very different from
+other parts of the country. Many who are not physically disloyal are
+mentally so. The no-divorce law will not prevent this condition of
+affairs. Whites and blacks cannot marry legally in the South and yet in
+some of the Southern states which have a no-divorce system a large
+proportion of the colored population is _mulatto_.
+
+Nature's laws tend to provide an indissoluble union, but divorce
+represents the protest of the individual against the inharmonious
+relations he ignorantly or thoughtlessly has assumed.
+
+Even those who are the loudest in their condemnation of divorce could
+not sanction marriage under certain conditions. I wonder if these people
+know that many of the divorces that are granted under the head of
+cruelty really are granted because one of the parties has contracted one
+of the loathsome black plagues. No humane person could condemn a woman
+for refusing to live with a man and take the almost certain risk of
+contracting a disease that would mean her death or mutilation, or for
+refusing to bear children that would come into the world an object of
+disgust and horror or which would die before being born. Some of these
+reformers say, "Let her live separately from him but not marry again."
+That would be condemning an innocent woman to a childless life because
+she had been so unfortunate as to become bound to a dissipated man.
+
+Another underlying but often unknown factor in many of the divorce cases
+is sterility. In some states the law says this is a just cause for
+divorce, because the future of the nation depends on the production of
+children. Because a woman, in her ignorance, has married a man who is
+incapable of producing healthy offspring, due to his having "sown his
+wild oats," should not be a reason why she should be condemned to forego
+the pleasures of motherhood. Because a man has married a woman who is
+sterile or who selfishly refuses to bear children should not be a reason
+why he should be denied an heir.
+
+Again, it is unfair to the future generation to compel mismated couples
+to live together. Children brought into the world under such conditions
+are bequeathed a heritage that will have a demoralizing effect upon
+their whole after life. Children, who every day hear quarrels and
+strife between those they should honor, lose something of the beauty of
+life; they become hardened and quarrelsome. Of course these divorces
+must not be granted promiscuously; for in bringing children into the
+world, parents assume an obligation that cannot be neglected. In
+considering a separation, the parents' first thought should be, "What is
+best for my children?" The duty to the children should be settled first.
+Then the question comes, "What is my duty to my wife or my husband?" for
+the act of making any contract imposes certain obligations. The
+individual circumstances must settle what these obligations are. Last
+comes the question, "What is my duty to myself? I was placed in this
+world to make the best use of my life. Am I doing it or is it impossible
+to do so unless I change my environment and associates?" The conscience
+of the individual should be the guide now.
+
+Were there more frankness and sincerity in discussing the problems and
+conditions of married life before marriage much unhappiness would be
+avoided and there would be fewer divorces; for many engaged people would
+thus discover they were mismated before the marriage ceremony. To reach
+a complete understanding is the main purpose of the engagement period.
+Marriage is not a lottery nor a game of chance to the man and woman
+entering it with a knowledge of sex relations and with absolute mutual
+honesty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF GIRLS
+
+
+Dr. Charles W. Eliot, former president of Harvard University, recently
+said:
+
+"The subject of reproduction and sexual hygiene should be more generally
+presented to young people by parents and teachers. I am convinced that
+the policy of silence has failed disastrously."
+
+That you may understand how widely spread is this desire on the part of
+women for a better knowledge of themselves and of those things so
+vitally important to the welfare of the future generation, I shall quote
+a few extracts from letters I have received from women in various parts
+of the country. These letters, too, will serve to show the woeful
+ignorance along these lines among even the well educated women, and also
+the need for some systematic instruction.
+
+A very intelligent girl from South Dakota writes this heart story: "My
+mother died when I was a babe. After her death I was sent out among
+strangers. While away from home and before I was _six_ years old a young
+fellow about fifteen years old possessed me and threatened to do
+something terrible to me if I told. I did not dare tell. Luckily I was
+taken home at that time, as I now had a step-mother. But still more
+horrible, it also happened that I had immoral relations with my brother.
+When I found out that this was the way people got babies, I wished I
+could get one. I was not very old before I understood that this was a
+wrong and a shame and acted accordingly. My parents never mentioned
+things of this nature to me. How much better it would have been if they
+had done so when we were real young. How many things were spoken of by
+schoolmates and told in the dirtiest possible way and things also were
+said that I now know were entirely wrong."
+
+I cannot impress upon you too strongly the need of early talks with
+young children on these matters. As soon as they enter school at the age
+of six and even before this, in some cases, they are bound to hear these
+things from their playmates. Usually the information is thrust upon the
+child in a very vulgar manner, or entirely wrong impressions are given.
+The very secrecy that always has surrounded these subjects makes them an
+object of interest to children. The functions of the generative organs
+are just as natural a process as the process of digestion. We make no
+secret of the process of digestion, and children do not manifest any
+morbid curiosity regarding it. If we would discuss the functions of the
+generative organs in just as natural a way, many of our great problems
+would right themselves.
+
+A woman in one of the western states writes, "Once I had a heated
+argument upon that subject with another woman. She always had lived in a
+small community. In her opinion all city girls were morally depraved.
+She had two daughters of her own. Both girls gave birth to babies at the
+age of fourteen and sixteen years. It transpired later that these girls
+first began the evil practice at school. And I will state here,
+regardless of contradiction, that the village school is often the
+breeder of immoral characters among both boys and girls.
+
+"In a small farming community of California containing about forty
+children of school age, it was discovered that immoral practices had
+been carried on for years among the older children. One little girl,
+being new to the school and also being in the habit of telling her
+mother everything, repeated some of the sights she had seen during the
+recess and noon hours, and also some of the conversation she had heard
+among the children. The mother, being horrified at the child's
+revelations and knowing the child must have some foundation for her
+stories, told a friend about it. This woman told some of her friends who
+were the mothers of the children the little girl had named to her
+mother. Of course, the children were questioned and denied all knowledge
+of things the child had mentioned. The mothers were indignant that their
+children should be accused of anything like that. They unquestionably
+believed the denial, making no effort to find out if there might be any
+truth in the report. That mother and her little one were 'sent to
+Coventry' with a vengeance. Later some of these mothers had cause to
+repent of their carelessness in having neglected or disregarded the
+warning. They found to their sorrow that the little girl was not telling
+an untruth, after all.
+
+"The trouble with the mother in the small community is that she judges
+her children by her own past. She, perhaps, had an entirely different
+environment from that of her children and because she came out all
+right, naturally sees no use in bothering about talking to her girls.
+'They will learn these things soon enough,' she says when the subject is
+mentioned. That they either already have learned them or may be learning
+them in a manner of which she would be the last to approve, she does not
+take into consideration. An attempt to warn such a mother often is
+misunderstood."
+
+That young women realize their need and are anxious for any help is
+shown by these letters. From New York a girl writes, "I am twenty-two
+years of age and as yet know nothing about the mysteries of life, and I
+am beginning to worry about it as I am keeping company with a young man
+and expect to become engaged to him. I know nothing of what is expected
+of me when I get married and I know there are a number of girls just
+like me and that they are worried, too."
+
+From a girl in Seattle came this letter, "No one ever told me about this
+wonderful body of ours and that God made it in his likeness for his
+glorification. When I asked where the babies came from, I was told the
+doctor brought them in his case. One day I saw a boy and girl about
+eight years of age doing wrong, and thought nothing of it when my
+brother, who was fourteen while I was six, proposed that we do likewise.
+This was kept up until I was somewhere between eleven and thirteen, when
+I was converted and it occurred to me that this was not the right thing
+to do, but I never dreamed that I would suffer so these ten years, as I
+am twenty-three now. Only in the last few years I have learned how God
+made these organs for the marriage relation only and how life was
+formed. I would go to my mother for this information but I know it would
+break her heart and I am afraid she could not tell me what I want to
+know. I would not write this but I am deeply in love with a Christian
+man, and I could not marry anyone until I know about this matter. I
+often have made a vow I never would marry anyone, but this love came to
+me before I could help myself, and as he told me of his love I would not
+allow myself to let him know I care as much as I do. Kindly tell me if
+anyone who has abused her organs while so young could make a good wife
+or become a mother, and can these marks of sin be removed?"
+
+Another young girl writes, "It is just as you say, ignorance is the root
+of evil in many cases such as mine. I have come to you for help,
+information and advice. I have taken that fatal mis-step you write
+about, but no one knows it besides myself and this man. He dare not
+speak of this. He is very wealthy and influential. After reading your
+article I found that you were the one to go to and make a confession. I
+never have been warned or told of these dangers and now it is too late.
+I am a young girl, eighteen years old, and have a lot of men friends
+because I am considered attractive, but none of them have ever said one
+word out of the way to me except this one and I yielded to the tempter.
+I know I have done wrong, and now am trying to atone for it by being
+awfully good. Now, what I want to know and want you to tell me is this,
+'Can I ever marry a decent, respectable man without him knowing of this
+affair?' There is a young man very much devoted to me (and I can assure
+you it is mutual) who several times has asked me to marry him. I am
+afraid to give him an answer. I cannot ask anyone else this question for
+the simple reason that I am not sure whether they will tell me the truth
+or whether they really know."
+
+Both these girls were fortunate that they did not have any serious
+consequences from their mis-step. Too many girls make only one mis-step
+and as a result become pregnant or else contract one of the black
+plagues. This week I have received several such letters. Laying aside
+all moral points, it is too much risk for any girl to run.
+
+Unfortunately a great many girls in their ignorance do make a mis-step.
+That is no reason why they should not marry. We must take into
+consideration the fact that the young man in question probably has made
+several of these mis-steps. He should not expect his prospective wife to
+be any stronger to resist temptation than he has been. If this were an
+ideal world, all men, as well as all women, would be pure, but until the
+millennium comes we must take things as they are, and proceed from that
+standpoint. But because a girl has erred through ignorance is no reason
+why she should be doomed to everlasting punishment in the shape of
+social ostracism or being denied the happiness of having a home and
+children.
+
+These are only a few of the many letters I have received, but they serve
+to show the great need of early instruction of girls on these much
+neglected subjects. Every girl, soon after she enters school if not
+before, learns where babies come from. She too often is led by older
+children, both boys and girls, to do things she may regret later. It has
+been said that "sin is but ignorance." This is true in the great
+majority of cases of immoral practices among girls as well as among
+boys. The remedy for these sins, then, is to do away with the ignorance
+by proper instruction of children. Children are reasonable beings and if
+they understood the _why_ would not do wrong.
+
+If girls go wrong through ignorance the parents are to blame; for at the
+present time there is no excuse for a parent not giving the necessary
+instruction. If, on account of her own lack of knowledge, the mother
+feels incapable of instructing her daughter, there are others ready and
+willing to aid her; also, there are books especially prepared for her
+help, which will definitely point the way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+WHY GIRLS GO ASTRAY
+
+
+Not long ago an estimable young woman in speaking of the unfortunate
+girls in the world said, "I cannot see how any refined girl could get
+into trouble. I cannot conceive of any circumstances which would permit
+any self-respecting girl to allow the familiarities necessary for such a
+condition." That is the attitude assumed by many intelligent women.
+Because they grew up in an environment without temptations, because they
+had no unsatisfied longings to be loved or to be popular, they are
+incapable of understanding these feelings in any other person.
+
+In every girl there is an inborn longing to be loved and to have a home
+of her own. It is a misunderstanding of this sense that is responsible
+for the wrecked lives of many girls. In too many homes there is no
+expression of the love sense. Frequently I have heard girls remark,
+"Why, I never think of kissing my parents except, perhaps, when they or
+I go away." In too many homes the only mention that is made of love is
+that made in a bantering manner. A child has the right idea of love. She
+loves everyone and is free in the expression of this love. As she grows
+older she obtains wrong ideas of love and she too often obtains these
+wrong ideas in her own home and from her own parents who instill false
+ideas of love when indulging their habit of "teasing." Frequently we
+hear parents talking about the small daughter's "beau." The child feels
+pent-up emotions of love and, as there is no outlet at home in a natural
+way, she acquires the idea that these emotions should be spent in a
+childish love affair.
+
+In a recent address Professor Marx Lubine of the University of Berlin
+said, "Motherhood, in all stages of civilization, has been strangely
+ignorant of the fact that girls have as powerful a battery of emotions
+as boys. It is my experience that a major portion of mothers understand
+their sons better than their daughters. Why? The daughters are not given
+credit for a power of emotion the sons are capable of. Yet, naturally,
+in my long experience with both sexes, I have no hesitation in saying
+that the emotions of a pure girl are usually deeper, more lasting, than
+those of a boy, and that if we are to have a great improvement in
+womanhood it must come through a recognition of this fact."
+
+It is strange but mothers seem to be blind to, or ignorant of the
+emotions that are seething back of the clear eyes of their daughters.
+The emotions of the girl have not been studied sufficiently. We expect a
+boy to do things which serve as an outlet to his pent-up emotions but we
+expect a girl to go on in a calm, uneventful manner with no outlet for
+the overflow of emotions. Blessed are the "Tomboys." I would there were
+more of them. It is a fact that the girl who runs, plays, climbs trees
+and is given to outdoor sports generally during the early part of her
+life develops into the truest woman. She has an outlet for her energies.
+Her time is fully occupied with those things that promote health. She
+has no time nor desires for those things that show a perverted taste.
+Such a girl seldom becomes a victim of self-abuse. She is not inclined
+to romantic love affairs. It is her sister who sits and sews who has
+time and inclination for indulging in morbid longings and who becomes
+the victim of pernicious habits.
+
+Curiosity is one of the prominent characteristics of both sexes. With
+the boy this is satisfied without much pretence at secrecy. False
+modesty prevents the girl from openly obtaining the desired information.
+She obtains it secretly from her companions. Mothers do not give their
+daughters credit for the instinct that compels the satisfaction of their
+curiosity. Sometime during her life, nearly every mother is surprised
+and shocked at the knowledge displayed by her daughter. She finds that
+owing to her silence and neglect of opportunities her daughter has
+obtained definite if entirely wrong ideas of sexual matters.
+
+In other matters, too, the policy of silence or of arbitrarily
+forbidding the daughter to indulge in certain pleasures, coupled with
+the natural curiosity of the girl, tends to develop in her the habit of
+deceitfulness. If she is forbidden some harmless amusements she very
+frequently learns these diversions at the homes of her friends. The
+mother was brought up in one generation, the daughter in another; what
+was considered wrong in the first generation is looked upon in an
+entirely different manner now. Many mothers seem to be unable to
+realize this. They were brought up in a puritanical environment. The
+puritan fathers forbade all indulgence in mirth and happiness. Their
+ideas of the perfect life were to wear a stern, unsmiling countenance
+and do those things that were unpleasant. If anything was uncongenial,
+then it was their duty to overcome their inclinations. These puritans
+expected to develop by repression. We have changed our ideas radically
+since then, but some of the puritanical ideas still cling to us in our
+treatment of children. To develop the child's character she must be made
+to do the things she does not want to do and to refrain from the things
+she most desires. Is it right?
+
+We are most interested in those things that belong to us individually or
+in which we have some share. If we wish a girl to remain at home then we
+must see that she is interested in that home. The way to do this is to
+make her feel that the home belongs to her in part and that some
+portions of it are entirely hers. The majority of girls feel no real
+interest in their homes. They are made to feel that it is their
+parents' home and that they are only assistants. A girl to be interested
+in her home must have some definite room that is hers alone and in which
+she is allowed to exercise her individual tastes. She must have a place
+in which she can entertain her friends without the feeling that whatever
+she does and says is to be criticised afterwards. She should be assigned
+to certain tasks and held responsible for them. She must have a certain
+definite allowance out of which she is to buy certain things, otherwise
+her desire for independence will arise and cause her to leave home. The
+majority of girls have no income of their own. Perhaps their desires are
+all fulfilled by an indulgent parent and yet the girls resent the
+feeling of dependence.
+
+Girls are naturally just as ambitious as boys, and they need good,
+honest work to keep them healthy and their minds occupied. If a girl
+displays an interest in a certain line of work this interest must be
+encouraged. Usually it is not. The girl is taught, either consciously or
+unconsciously, that whatever occupation she takes up will be only
+temporary, that to become engrossed in her work would mean no marriage.
+Girls cannot do good work under such conditions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+SELF-ABUSE
+
+
+In one of my articles for one of the leading women's magazines I spoke
+of mental self-abuse. This brought me so many inquiries regarding both
+mental and physical self-abuse that I feel impelled to explain them to
+you.
+
+To abuse means to use wrongly, or to injure. We have talked about the
+uses of the female organs and also about the care of them. Sometimes, I
+have watched children rub their eyes until they were quite red and
+inflamed. I have seen children, thoughtlessly, stick pins and hairpins
+in their ears and I even have had to remove a bean which a thoughtless
+child had pushed up its nose. All these things did more or less harm to
+the parts. In the same way, some girls play with their external
+generative organs and even put things up in the vagina. Sometimes they
+injure these organs greatly, and sometimes there is a more general and
+serious effect. You know the nerves of the body all are very closely
+connected like telegraph wires so that an irritation to one part will
+sometimes be telegraphed to another entirely different part and cause
+the nerves of that part to be irritated. When you have a toothache your
+whole face and head and even your arms ache. That is because the nerves
+are irritated. In the same way if one irritates the nerves of the female
+organs, the whole body may be affected; only in this case it is more
+serious than with the toothache; for these female organs are more
+abundantly supplied with nerves.
+
+One who is guilty of such an unnatural practice as to deliberately
+irritate any portion of her body, especially the very important
+generative organs, always secretly despises herself. If persisted in,
+the results of this vice are a ruined nervous system and a weakened
+character. The victim realizes she is doing a disgraceful thing and
+seldom acknowledges her habit even to her physician.
+
+If one has become a victim of such a habit she should determine to stop
+it immediately and then take measures to restore her nervous system to
+its original state. It never is too late to commence treatment. It is
+the continued practice and the mental dwelling on the acts that does the
+harm, not the few acts thoughtlessly performed. Of course the longer the
+habit has continued, the more firmly it is fixed and the harder to
+break.
+
+The treatment is first to absolutely stop the practice, then fill your
+mind with other thoughts. Take considerable physical exercise in the
+open air. Sleep on a hard bed in a well-ventilated room. Eat plain,
+nourishing food without spices and stimulants. Take up some work or play
+that will interest you and that will keep your mind occupied. Live in
+the open air as much as possible. If you find yourself desiring to do
+these harmful things, go immediately and busy your mind and hands with
+something else and the desire will pass soon. In young children this
+habit often has its origin in some irritation of the external organs, as
+a hooded clitoris. So before taking severe measures to break the habit,
+it is wise to have the child examined for such a condition.
+
+Now as to mental self-abuse, perhaps I can make my meaning more clear by
+again quoting from some of my letters. A young woman from South
+Carolina wrote me, "A few years ago I taught school and one of my
+pupils, perfectly innocent of the grave results that would befall her,
+committed three outrages upon herself, what is known in the medical
+world as masturbation or self-abuse. The girl, as I know, was chaste and
+a sweeter, nicer, brighter pupil I never taught. But she had the
+misfortune to commit these abuses upon herself in all innocence and felt
+no discomfort or ill health in any way until about three months
+afterward. Then she began to lose interest in her work, to fall away in
+her grades, in fact to take very little interest in anything. In this
+condition she came to me and told me everything. Since then she has felt
+no physical pain whatever, but her mind, though not really gone, is
+visibly affected. In this way, she is constantly in dread lest something
+dreadful will happen, feels as if a cloud were hanging over her, is not
+capable of doing any mental work. At times, has a horror of being shut
+up in any place, memory is poor, places and positions change, that is, a
+place moves to some other position, for instance, the right side of the
+street very often is in the opposite direction. To sum it all up, she
+constantly is miserable. So far as being insane is concerned, she is
+not that. She is perfectly conscious of her condition. She feels well
+physically and appears to be so mentally, but says there is just a
+befogged sensation in her head which gets no better nor worse, yet it is
+there. The feeling came upon her very suddenly one morning in the spring
+after the abuses had taken place in January and then it all flashed over
+her the awful consequences of her innocent practices. Oh! what would she
+not have given to be her old self again! If she only had known the awful
+result, her mind sacrificed for a practice in which she indulged through
+ignorance and for experiment, never dreaming the baneful effect it would
+have on her mind. Now, this girl has gone on this way for the past eight
+years getting no worse nor any better. Seemingly, she is the same but
+she suffers untold miseries when alone, conscious that her mind is hazy
+and not capable of enjoying books, society of others or anything that
+interests young girls. Yet nobody ever would detect that she is not
+feeling well. She told me all this in confidence and as the case puzzles
+me, I write you feeling that perhaps you would advise me in some way the
+treatment necessary to cure her. She is and has been perfectly moral
+since the fateful abuses upon herself and I do not understand why her
+mind does not return to its normal condition."
+
+I do! She will not give her mind a chance to get well. She constantly is
+abusing it by dwelling on things that should have been forgotten long
+ago. No one goes through life without making some mistakes. Everyone has
+burned his finger many times. And yet he does not keep worrying about it
+and wondering if it will have some dangerous after-effect. Of course, if
+he deliberately burned his finger time and time again, it might remain
+injured permanently. But if he, ignorantly or accidentally, has burned
+it once or several times, he stops his careless ways, allows Nature to
+restore the injured portion, and then forgets there ever was an injury.
+It is the same with self-abuse, many children do things like this
+thoughtlessly. But when a girl learns she is injuring herself, she
+should stop the practice and allow Nature to repair the wound. Then
+forget all about it. Do not worry, above all things. Go ahead and fill
+your mind with work.
+
+There are many women in this world who are abusing themselves by
+worrying over something that has occurred in the past. Whatever is in
+the past cannot be undone. All we can do is to profit by our experience
+and turn the energies, that would be wasted by worrying, to some good
+use. Whenever thoughts of the past or desires for the wrong things
+disturb you, crowd these worry thoughts and desires out of your mind by
+putting in it good thoughts. Deliberately fill your mind and hands so
+full of other things that there will be no room for these unwholesome
+pests. Worry does more harm than smallpox ever did!
+
+This dwelling on past mistakes is only one of several methods of mental
+self-abuse. Another way some abuse themselves is by continuing the
+association with those who excite or irritate them. If in your work or
+social life you find that a certain person has an effect upon you that
+is not wholesome, that when you are in the company of that individual
+you are incapable of doing your best, then it is time to make a change.
+Keep away from that individual until such a time as you are strong
+enough to resist his influence. Choose your friends from among those who
+stimulate you mentally. If you stop to think, you must admit that you
+accomplish more and better work when in the presence of certain people.
+Those are the ones whose companionship you should seek.
+
+There are people living together or working together who are a continual
+source of irritation to each other. It is just as impossible for such
+people to work in harmony as it is for two incompatible chemicals, as
+nitrogen and iodine. We do not try to over-ride the laws of Nature by
+trying to force these chemicals to stay together. It is just as
+impossible to force certain incompatible people to be harmonious. If
+society or business throws two such people together it would be wise for
+one to make a change before there is an explosion. It is impossible for
+any person to do good work in an atmosphere of irritation.
+
+Another element in mental self-abuse is longing for the unattainable.
+Sometimes a person sets her mind on a certain thing. If that goal is an
+honorable one, she should make every effort to attain it but if
+circumstances over which she has no control make that goal impossible of
+attainment she should turn her thoughts in another direction. But that
+is what many people do not do. If they cannot have just what they want
+they sit and bemoan their fate and give up trying for other goals. Such
+a person should choose a line of work or play that is especially
+interesting to her and bend her energies in that direction. She will be
+surprised how soon she will lose her intense interest in her former
+longed-for goal.
+
+Lack of self-confidence is an evidence of mental self-abuse. A person
+who has no confidence in herself cannot expect others to have. One who
+keeps herself in the attitude of Uriah Heap, who continually asserts, "I
+am a poor worm, I am unworthy of the blessings of life, I cannot expect
+great reward," must expect to be taken at her word. In this age a man
+(or woman) is valued, in a large measure, by the estimate he sets upon
+himself. Honors are not thrust upon a man unless he shows the
+self-confidence which commands confidence. Bacon said, "Some are born
+great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
+But those of the last class are very few. Our enemies are willing to
+thrust upon us scandal and humiliation whenever there is a possible
+chance, but our friends are very slow in thrusting honors upon us. If a
+person wants anything in this world he must first convince himself of
+his ability to attain that goal, then he may be able to convince others.
+It is the man with confidence in himself who wins the day.
+
+After one has decided upon his goal he should keep that goal always
+before him as the pillar of fire before the seekers for the promised
+land. All our thoughts should be in that direction. Every wish or
+thought we send out reaches someone and in time may bring us what we
+wish. "By faith ye can accomplish all things."
+
+There is an explanation of "Who answers prayer" which describes a mother
+kneeling by the bedside of her sick baby, and praying faithfully that
+her baby might be restored to health. In a vision the author sees these
+prayer thoughts radiating from the mother like invisible telegraph
+wires, along which the message is carried to various parts of the city.
+One wire reaches the home of a minister who, although willing, feels his
+inability to answer. Another wire reaches the home of a wealthy banker
+but he, too, is powerless to help. The next wire is connected with the
+home of a prominent lawyer famous for his ability to win cases for the
+needy, but in this case he cannot win, for Death is more powerful than
+he. But a fourth wire reaches a physician who has just retired from a
+hard day's fight with his enemy--disease. The physician awakens, grasps
+the message and immediately arises, dresses and hastens to the home of
+the poor woman. In a short time the little one's spasms are relieved and
+the doctor gives a sigh of relief, as he says to the anxious mother,
+"The crisis is past, your baby will live." The mother's prayer has been
+answered.
+
+Every thought we entertain is being sent out along these invisible wires
+and eventually will reach someone who responds to it. If we send out
+worry thoughts or thoughts of self-depreciation we must expect others to
+receive the message as we send it. So if we want to make the most of our
+lives we continually must send out only thoughts that we wish others to
+receive. We must value ourselves if we expect others to value us!
+
+Too much introspection and concern for self is often the cause of
+nervous conditions that produce worry and ill-health. The best cure is
+the cultivation of complete unselfishness. To be interested in the
+happiness of others is the surest road to happiness for one's self;--if
+you get feeling tired of yourself make a visit to some congenial
+friend, and there forget self and your troubles. "It is more blessed to
+give than receive" is a truth that all serene and great souls recognize
+and practice throughout their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+EFFECTS OF IMMORAL LIFE
+
+
+Some time ago, the general public was shocked by a newspaper story of
+the life led by many girl clerks in the department stores of a large
+city. It seems a young girl from the country applied for a position in
+one of the stores, but upon hearing of the small wages paid, said, "How
+can I live on that? It would not provide even the most meager of board
+and the smallest room." The employer asked in reply, "But have you not a
+gentleman friend?" That reply, repeated to a social worker, started an
+investigation which resulted in startling revelations. It was found that
+many of the stores paid such small salaries that to live on them at all
+was an impossibility for even the most economical. It was an understood
+fact that each girl was expected to receive help from some "gentleman
+friend."
+
+There must be something wrong in our whole system of living when girls
+are compelled to work for salaries insufficient for even the necessities
+and are taught to have tastes and desires for the beautiful which it is
+impossible to gratify on their meager salaries. A young girl goes to
+work in an office or store with a definite, if not expressed,
+understanding of what should be the proper relations of the sexes. After
+she has been at work a short time she notices that her companions are
+much better dressed than it is possible for her to be with the resources
+at her command. She notices that her friends have numerous invitations
+to theatres and dinners. She wonders if she is less attractive than
+they. After awhile she receives hints, more or less broad, from her male
+associates. Gradually it dawns upon her why the other girls are more
+attractive than she.
+
+One who has not been thrown in close contact with the girls of this age
+cannot realize the extent of the immorality among them. Formerly it was
+considered that only boys sowed their wild oats. Now we find that many
+girls do so also. We hear very little about it except for the occasional
+case of one who has to suffer for her sins. Usually this one is one of
+the most innocent. Many of the girls of this generation are "wise."
+They think they know how to "keep out of trouble," and yet reap the
+rewards in the shape of a few dollars.
+
+Girls cannot afford to take the great risks incident to leading an
+immoral life, aside from all moral reasons for not doing so. In the
+first place there is the danger of becoming pregnant. Think what that
+means! The majority of girls are led to take the first step by promises
+of marriage. Real life has proved these promises seldom are kept. The
+man "changes" his mind after the mis-step has been taken. He goes away
+and forgets, the girl is left to bear the consequences of their mutual
+sin. The men of the world like to take these girls out and enjoy
+themselves but when it comes to marriage--the man wants a different kind
+of a wife. There are three courses from which such an unfortunate girl
+may choose. One course is an abortion with all its attendant dangers,
+its risks to her life and the thoughts of having taken a life. Another
+is to brave the world, bear her child and keep it. It takes a great deal
+of courage to do this with our present social system. Often it is
+impossible, as the girl is unable to care for the child and at the same
+time support it and herself. She seldom finds very much encouragement in
+this course. Those who should be her friends and aid her to make the
+most of her life are now the ones who keep her down. They refuse to make
+it possible for her to earn an honest living and lead a moral life. The
+third course is to place herself under the care of a responsible
+physician, live in seclusion for the last few months of her pregnancy,
+then, after the birth of her baby, have it adopted. Considering
+everything, this often is the best course. From the child's standpoint,
+it is given a better start in life. It is much better to live as the
+adopted, but honored, child in a home than it is to have to bear the
+stigma of illegitimacy. As soon as the child enters school the latter
+will become known among its playmates and will be the subject of many
+cruel taunts. It is not fair to the innocent child to give it such a
+heritage. But think how the mothers must feel to have to give up their
+babies! That is the saddest part of the case. It is not fair that the
+girl should be punished the remainder of her life for one mis-step when
+the man goes absolutely free and without the sign of a stigma attached
+to him.
+
+These cases of unfortunate girls are all too common. The rescue homes in
+the large cities are full, and often a large percentage of their
+occupants are from the country. Within the last week, I have received
+letters from four girls, similar to the one I shall read you. This
+letter is from a girl in Indiana who gives a rural delivery address. "In
+one of your articles in ---- you speak of homes where unfortunate girls
+are sheltered and taken care of and I should like to know if there is
+such a home in Indianapolis. If there is, will you kindly give me the
+street and number. I am in trouble and have nowhere to go, but knowing
+you to be a friend to unfortunate girls who met their misfortune through
+ignorance and with no desire to do wrong, I write you for advice." This,
+as well as numerous other letters, show that these things are just as
+prevalent in the country districts as in the cities.
+
+So many girls do not realize how easy it is to "get into trouble." A
+short time ago I had a confinement case that was a little unusual; for
+the young woman, who was unmarried, had an unruptured hymen, which
+contained only one small opening barely large enough to insert a sound
+the size of a slate pencil. At the first consultation several months
+previous, when she had come to me on account of absence of menstruation
+for three months, the girl had insisted that there was no possibility of
+her being pregnant. Later she admitted that four months previously, just
+after she menstruated, she was out with a young man who was very
+insistent, that she did not consent, but in spite of her resistance
+there was a discharge thrown against the labia (external organs). At the
+time of this first examination she was about four months pregnant and
+had not supposed such a condition of affairs possible. Fortunately in
+this case there was an early marriage.
+
+Another grave danger to the girl who indulges in immoral practices is
+the possibility of contracting one of the black plagues. You know what
+that would mean. If you recall the prevalence of these diseases you will
+see that the probabilities are that any girl indulging in immoral
+relations will sooner or later contract one of these diseases. Indeed
+she runs a big risk of contracting one at her first mis-step.
+
+After one has taken the first mis-step it is very easy to take the next.
+One step often leads to another until the girl succumbs to a life of
+prostitution. A result of prostitution that is important is the
+unfitting for regular life. Whatever the effect of such a life may be
+upon a man, a girl cannot lead such a life with impunity. Many a girl
+tires of her immoral life and gladly would turn to something else but
+the difficulties in her way are numerous. One is her inability to obtain
+a position when it is known that she has led an immoral life. Another is
+that she finds the duties and regular hours incident to any position
+very irksome. The irregular life she has led has unfitted her for a
+regular life. There seems to have been a general disturbance of the
+whole nervous system, her will has become so weakened that it is very
+hard for her to have the will power necessary to keep from returning to
+the old life. This breaking of the will power also makes it difficult
+for her to keep her mind on her work. Then, too, she resents any
+supervision of her work. Of course, the longer the irregular life has
+continued the harder it is to break away from it.
+
+Now, from another standpoint! No matter how dissipated a man may be he
+wants his bride to be pure. Nearly all girls expect to marry sometime,
+and so for the sake of the future--in order to keep the confidence of
+her husband as well as for the sake of not taking any risks that might
+prevent future motherhood, girls should not lead immoral lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FLIRTATIONS AND THEIR RESULTS
+
+
+The greater social freedom of the present generation without adequate
+preparation has resulted in an increasing tendency among young girls to
+make chance acquaintances and perhaps clandestine engagements. That
+these flirtations, entered into so innocently, may result in events that
+will be the cause of lifelong regret is seldom realized by a young
+girl. Yet very often such is the case!
+
+One letter I received says, "I will give you a short outline of my life
+since last April when my troubles began, for which I blame my parents
+partly, because I was not allowed to have my friends at my home or go
+out with young men, as the other girls do, with my parents' knowledge of
+it and because I was kept ignorant of the things I think every girl
+should know. I was nineteen last March. The men say I am the kind that
+looks good to men, that they cannot resist. As to this I do not know,
+but I do know that I always attract their attentions and I am sorry that
+I do. And yet I crave them. I have for years and I am lonesome without
+them. I want their friendship and company. I do not know why it is but I
+am more satisfied with the boys than the girls. Last April a young man,
+somewhere in the thirties, I think, though he looked much younger, came
+to our little country town. He was handsome, well educated, finely
+dressed and always seemed to have plenty of money. I was very unhappy
+about this time over my troubles at home and because my boy friend, who
+always had been a friend through all, had for some cause unknown to me
+stopped writing to me. So I met the young man first in company with
+friends a couple of times, then he wished to make an appointment to meet
+me alone and, through the kindness of my friends, I met him out at night
+several times. On the third night before I half realized what I was
+doing I had let him ruin me. I had never been told that this was wrong
+and yet I seemed to know that it was. It worried me, but there was no
+one I could go to for advice and my friend said that since what was done
+already could never be undone I might as well keep it up, etc. Having
+no advice but his, I followed it and for several weeks met him out any
+and every where and time I could. I knew of the trouble that might come
+from these meetings and asked my friend about it but he said that
+everything was all right, that he would tend to that and that nothing
+would happen. But it did happen. He was going away in a few days and
+gave me some medicine to take, telling me I was only held back on
+account of it being the first time. But I didn't believe him and went to
+a married lady whom I had known but a short time but whom I thought I
+could trust and who would help me. She invited my friend and me there
+one evening and talked the matter over with us or rather with him. He
+stayed over and helped me out of my trouble. But my health has never
+been the same since. Now, what I want to ask you is this, do you think
+it would be right for me to marry any man, with him thinking that I am
+good or innocent? Do men expect that of the women they marry? But I do
+not wish to marry if I can help it, but I must do something. I will go
+crazy if I stay here at home from worrying over what I have done and for
+fear my parents will find it out. What I wish to do is to go away to
+work, but I have no one to go to and am afraid I cannot resist the
+temptations that they say come to every working girl. I have given in
+twice since my trouble, both times shortly afterwards. The first because
+I could not help it and the second because I was afraid of being told
+on, he having been told by the first man. But when I found out I could
+not resist the teasing I quit going out and it has been months since I
+have been out with a man and I am trying to lead a decent life but it is
+hard and at times it seems that I must give in. Now, please write and
+tell me just exactly what you think of my case. Has my whole life been
+ruined by this man?"
+
+Unless this girl will "play soldier" and "right about face" she is in
+danger of landing in a house of ill-fame. How common is her story! Girls
+do not realize what are the possible results that may follow an innocent
+flirtation. Young girls are not posted and they do not know men. They do
+not realize the pressure that will be brought to bear upon them. Many
+young girls grow to womanhood without any idea of the relations of the
+sexes. To them, love is devoid of ideas of sex, practically the same as
+their love for a brother or sister. It is not until they are thrown
+alone in the company of some older man that they suddenly awaken to a
+realization of what it all means.
+
+The girls who like to be petted, to be kissed and hugged can see no harm
+in that and do not realize what a sleeping force may be aroused. The
+man, when he finds a girl will allow these attentions, thinks that she
+knows what they may lead to and naturally assumes that she is willing,
+but only wishes to be coaxed. It is a clear case of misunderstanding on
+both sides. But that does not make the consequences any less harmful.
+
+Girls do not realize what kind of an impression they make upon men by
+their clothes, actions, etc. An eminent lawyer said to me recently, "Why
+do you not tell girls what _real_ men think of them when they appear on
+the streets with painted faces, peek-a-boo waists and thin, silk hose
+worn with shoes more appropriate for the ball-room? If girls imitate the
+demi-monde in their dress they must expect to be treated accordingly."
+There is in every girl's nature a desire to appear attractive in the
+eyes of those of the opposite sex and this desire leads them to extremes
+of dressing. These extremes of dressing naturally attract the attention
+of men, and the girls feel flattered and continue in their course, not
+realizing what impression the men really get. Then, when the man makes
+the advances that her manner of dressing has led him to believe he can
+make, she feels insulted and resentful.
+
+The fault lies in the fact that the girl has not been properly educated
+and has received exaggerated and entirely wrong ideas of life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+WHITE SLAVERY
+
+
+During the past few years the public has been much interested in the
+prosecution of the white slave investigation. Every adult person had a
+more or less definite idea that there were in existence immoral houses.
+But the majority of women had no idea that their existence should be of
+any especial interest to them.
+
+The Hon. Edwin Sims, U. S. District Attorney, Chicago, says: "There are
+some things so far removed from the lives of normal, decent people as to
+be simply unbelievable by them. The 'white slave' trade of to-day is one
+of these incredible things. The calmest, simplest statements of its
+facts are almost beyond the comprehension of belief of men and women who
+are mercifully spared from contact with the dark and hideous secrets of
+the 'under-world' of the big cities.
+
+"Naturally, wisely, every parent who reads this statement will at once
+raise the question: 'What excuse is there for the open discussion of
+such a revolting condition of things? What good is there to be served by
+flaunting so dark and disgusting a subject before the family circle?'
+Only one--and that is a reason and not an excuse! The recent examination
+of more than two hundred 'white slaves' by the office of the U. S.
+District Attorney at Chicago has brought to light the fact that
+literally thousands of innocent girls from the country districts are
+every year entrapped into a life of hopeless slavery and degradation
+because parents in the country do not understand conditions as they
+exist and how to protect their daughters from the 'white slave' traders
+who have reduced the art of ruining young girls to a national and
+international system. I sincerely believe that nine-tenths of the
+parents of these thousands of girls who are every year snatched from
+lives of decency and comparative peace and dragged under the slime of an
+existence in the 'white slave world' have no idea that there is really a
+trade in the ruin of girls as much as there is a trade in cattle or
+sheep or other products of the farm.
+
+"I have no disposition to add a single word to what will open the eyes
+of parents to the fact that white slavery is an existing condition--a
+system of girl hunting that is national and international in its scope,
+that it literally consumes thousands of girls--clean, innocent
+girls--every year; that it is operated with a cruelty, a barbarism that
+gives a new meaning to the word fiend; that it is an imminent peril to
+every girl in the country who has a desire to get into the city and
+taste its excitement and pleasures."
+
+One of the worst obstacles to be overcome in the work of protecting
+innocent girls and restoring to useful lives those who have been
+betrayed, is the blind incredulity on the part of a large percentage of
+the public. There are thousands of women all over the country who know
+as little about what is going on in the world as do so many children.
+They are wonderfully ignorant of the terrible conditions that are in
+existence all around them. Of course their blindness to these awful
+conditions makes them more peaceful and contented for the time being
+than they possibly could be if they realized the temptations and perils
+that are lying in wait for their daughters and the daughters of their
+friends. But this peace is not permanent and every year thousands of
+mothers are rudely awakened from their sleep of peace to find that while
+they were asleep to the perils of the world their daughters have been
+drawn into the whirlpool. The awakening of such parents comes too late
+usually to do any good. The recent agitation along this line has caused
+many a mother to exclaim, "How terrible; I did not dream that such a
+condition of affairs could exist in this country."
+
+If you possessed a rare jewel and knew you were surrounded by those who
+would try to obtain possession of that jewel you would not entrust it to
+a blind or a deaf watchman or one so ignorant of the wiles of the
+robbers that he would trustingly allow it to pass into their possession.
+There is nothing in the world so priceless to the father and mother as
+the virtue and happiness of their daughter. And yet there are thousands
+of parents who have been entrusted with the care of a daughter who are
+trying to discharge that trust with their eyes blinded and their ears
+closed. They insist upon keeping the childish belief that there is no
+real danger threatening their daughter. These parents do not live in
+the world. They fold their hands and raise their eyes towards heaven and
+cry, "Peace! Peace!" and are unable to see the enemy slipping upon their
+daughter to drag her down to a life of shame.
+
+In this age no young girl is beyond temptation. She needs all the
+protection possible, and in order to protect her the parents must be
+awake to the dangers and provided with the best means of protection. One
+of the things hardest to make honest and trusting parents believe is
+that there can be people in the world who make it their business to lead
+girls into a life of shame. But such is the case whether we believe it
+or not. The men and women who ply this trade lay their plans more
+carefully and employ more artifices than can be conceived of by the
+ordinary parent. The wonder is that not more are caught in the net.
+
+Another fact which the public finds it hard to believe is that the girls
+who are lured into the life of shame find it impossible to escape from
+such a life, that they are prisoners and slaves in every sense of the
+word.
+
+The artifices employed by these slave-dealers to obtain their victims
+are many and frequently are so adroitly formulated as to blind not only
+the victim but her parents as well.
+
+One common trick of these slave procurers is the promise of a good
+position. Many a girl has gone to the cities thinking she had obtained a
+definite and desirable position. Perhaps she was to be met at the
+station by the person who obtained the position for her. Too late she
+finds her position is in a house of ill-fame. So common has this trick
+become that in every large city there are organizations of social
+workers who offer through the churches to look up the desirability of
+any position which has been obtained by a girl so that should it prove
+to be a lure of the destroyer she could be warned before it was too
+late.
+
+Another favorite device of the white slaver for landing victims is the
+runaway marriage trick. The alleged summer resorts and excursion centers
+which are so widely advertised as Gretna Greens and as places where the
+usual legal and official formalities preliminary to respectable marriage
+are reduced to the minimum are star recruiting stations for the white
+slave traffic. So common is this trick that a wise mother would refuse
+to allow her daughter to visit one of these places or to go on one of
+the pleasure excursions unless accompanied by some older member of the
+family. Also, every mother should teach her daughter that any man who
+proposed such a marriage was to be looked upon with suspicion, and
+should not be trusted for an instant.
+
+Then there is the restaurant trick. The girl is induced to go to what
+she thinks is a restaurant and then perhaps is taken into a private room
+only to find that this room leads to her prison. Girls cannot be too
+suspicious of going to unknown places with comparative strangers--either
+men or women.
+
+The moving picture shows furnish to these slavers another opportunity of
+misleading girls. These shows naturally attract children and very young
+girls. Evidence has been procured which proves that many girls owe their
+ruin to frequenting them. As an instance of this, three girls met as
+many young men at a moving picture show and at the end of the
+performance were induced to leave the theater by a side door which was
+found to open into an adjoining building and all passed the night
+together.
+
+The massage parlors and manicure parlors upon investigation proved to
+have been used as a bait for these vile procurers. Many of these places
+were found to be not equipped for their legitimate work but to be
+nothing more than disorderly houses.
+
+The investigations of the United States courts have resulted in the
+imprisonment of many of these panders but there are many more still
+unconvicted and the danger to young girls is ever present. The parents
+cannot be too watchful in their protection, and to be watchful they must
+be cognizant of the dangers and of the methods in use. The daughters
+must be so educated that they are prepared to cope with the enemy.
+Remember, as Browning says, "Ignorance is not innocence, but sin."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE NEED OF EARLY INSTRUCTION OF BOYS
+
+
+I have made so emphatic the necessity of early and proper instruction of
+girls and I have shown you that so much of the disease and unhappiness
+in the world is due to this lack of instruction that I do not believe
+any of your daughters ever will say, "Why was I not told these things
+before it was too late?" But you women will have sons as well as
+daughters and you are just as responsible for their future happiness as
+you are for that of your daughters. Besides the future happiness of
+another woman's daughter depends in a large measure upon the health of
+your son. The boys need instruction as much if not more than do the
+girls; at any rate they need it earlier than the girls do, because boys
+talk more freely than girls and boys acquire their first impressions of
+these subjects much earlier than girls.
+
+No boy ever willfully contracted a disease that would produce so much
+future misery as that resulting from one of the venereal diseases. You
+remember I made the remark that the large percentage of men contracted
+these diseases before their twentieth year, before they had any adequate
+knowledge of the possible consequences. If boys were warned there would
+be no more of this innocent acquisition of disease. Many a man has had
+cause to regret all his life a few moments of thoughtless dissipation.
+Even though a boy has acquired one of these diseases that is no reason
+why he should suffer from it the remainder of his life any more than
+that he constantly should suffer from an attack of smallpox. One
+difference at the present time is that the smallpox patient receives the
+most scientific treatment procurable, but the victim of one of these
+plagues is neglected. Boys are told these diseases are no worse than a
+cold and so do not realize the necessity for prompt and adequate
+treatment. The ordinary boy treats himself, following the advice of some
+of his friends or some incompetent person. He has a feeling of shame
+which prevents him from going to the family physician, who would give
+him honest advice. If he goes to any physician he usually goes to some
+advertising physician who claims to be a "men specialist." The main
+speciality of these men is obtaining money from their ignorant dupes.
+Their advertisements would make nearly every man in the world think he
+were suffering from some grave disease. The young boy, at an
+impressionable age, is a ready victim to their lures. He is treated for
+a real or an imaginary disease until his money is all gone, then he is
+discharged.
+
+Let me read you a letter I received from a young boy which will
+illustrate my meaning: "I read your article 'A Father's Duty to His
+Son,' in the ---- and take the liberty of writing to you. My father died
+when I was but nine years old, so I was left to my own resources, the
+result being I am now a nervous wreck at the age of nineteen. I have
+doctored for nervous debility with four doctors for over a year and a
+half. The result, they got every cent out of me but did not help me a
+particle. If my mother ever found it out, it would worry her to death,
+as she has hopes in me, fool that I was. My condition, I am always
+nervous when in company, expecting somebody to accuse me any minute. My
+eyes always are blurred and my hands shake as if I were an old man. I
+have night losses, which bother me more than anything and if they
+stopped I know I could fight my way back to health. If you could
+possibly give me some recipe or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
+Nobody but one in this condition can imagine the strain on the mind and
+body. Although I feel well when alone, though awfully weak, I am a
+nervous wreck when in the presence of others. I have written to you
+because your article seems to tell facts which I know to be true."
+
+Now, if you will pardon me I will quote a portion of my reply:
+"Evidently you have been the victim of unscrupulous doctors.
+Unfortunately there are a number. They usually advertise themselves as
+specialists in diseases of men. A reliable physician does not advertise.
+If you had gone to a trustworthy family physician in the first place you
+would have been saved much worry, and incidentally considerable money.
+
+"The chief advice you need is to _stop worrying_. The night losses you
+mention are a natural condition. They occur with nearly every normal man
+who is living a continent life. Even if they occur two or three times a
+week they do not indicate any diseased condition. The more you worry
+and think about such things the more often they will occur. I do not
+know what your occupation is, but if it is indoor work you must plan to
+take a great deal of outdoor exercise every day. If you could go out in
+the country for awhile and do hard outdoor work it would be the best
+thing for you. Eat only plain, easily digested food, but eat plenty. Do
+not use any condiments nor stimulants. Sleep on a hard bed with plenty
+of fresh air in the room. Bathe the external genitals with cold water
+night and morning.... The fact that you have abused yourself in the past
+need not prevent you from being a perfectly healthy person now if you
+are not continuing the practice."
+
+Every boy desires to be a man but does not quite understand the meaning
+of the word. He dislikes to be called a "greeny" or anything that
+suggests that he is young and inexperienced. Often he pretends to know
+things he does not. Nearly every boy, at an early age, is thrown in
+contact with low-minded persons who think it amusing to persuade the
+youth to prove he knows indecent things. He thinks it a test of manhood
+to be acquainted with various vices and so in order to prove his
+knowledge is led into various indiscretions, which result in the
+contraction of vile habits or of loathsome diseases.
+
+If a boy at an early age were given the true idea of the meaning of
+being a man or of manhood we would have fewer physical wrecks and
+incompetent individuals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+WHY BOYS GO ASTRAY
+
+
+    "What can a boy do, and where can a boy stay,
+    If he is always told to get out of the way?
+    He cannot sit here, and he must not stand there,
+    The cushions that cover that fine rocking chair
+    Were put there, of course, to be seen and admired;
+    A boy has no business to ever be tired.
+    The beautiful roses and flowers that bloom
+    On the floor of the darkened and delicate room
+    Are made not to walk on--at least, not by boys;
+    The house is no place, anyway, for their noise,
+    Yet boys must walk somewhere, and what if their feet,
+    Sent out of their houses, sent into the street,
+    Should step round the corner and pause at the door
+    Where other boys' feet have paused often before;
+    Should pass the gateway of glittering light,
+    Where jokes that are merry and songs that are bright
+    Ring out a warm welcome with flattering voice,
+    And temptingly say, 'Here's a place for the boys.'
+
+    "Ah, what if they should? What if your boy or mine
+    Should cross o'er the threshold which marks out the line
+    'Twixt virtue and vice, 'twixt pureness and sin,
+    And leave all his innocent boyhood within?
+    Oh, what if they should, because you and I
+    While the days and the months and the years hurry by,
+    Are too busy with cares and with life's fleeting joys
+    To make round our hearthstone a place for the boys?
+    There's a place for the boys. They'll find it somewhere;
+    And if our own homes are too daintily fair
+    For the touch of their fingers, the tread of their feet,
+    They'll find it, and find it, alas, in the street,
+    'Mid the gilding of sin and the glitter of vice;
+    And with heartaches and longings we pay a dear price
+    For the getting of gain that our lifetime employs,
+    If we fail to provide a good place for the boys."
+
+This little poem, published anonymously in a country newspaper, seems to
+me to tell the story of why boys go astray. They are not understood at
+home and so naturally go where someone seems to understand and want
+them.
+
+In a great many homes the boy's room is a very unattractive place,
+merely a place in which to sleep. He is not allowed in the "parlor." He
+always seems to be in the way. No one seems to take any interest in the
+things that are closest to his heart. It is only natural that he should
+gradually drift to the saloon, the billiard room, the questionable
+houses, because he is made to feel that he is welcome there. Indeed his
+tastes and desires are consulted there.
+
+A boy always is interested in sex problems. The vulgar delight in
+feeding his fancy, in giving him exaggerated ideas of these much abused
+subjects. He is lead on from one step to another. Often many of the
+things he does are performed in a spirit of bravado, simply because he
+does not wish to appear "green."
+
+From one of the reliable magazines comes this information: "Forty-one
+families--'nice families,' as we call them--were last May thrown into
+consternation and humiliation by being privately notified by the head
+master of a boys' school that their boys would not be reentered for
+another term at his school. 'A fearful condition of immorality,' wrote
+the head master, 'has been unearthed at the school, and in order to set
+an example to the rest of the boys, every boy concerned will be denied
+reentrance to this school.'
+
+"The 'fearful condition of immorality' discovered in the school was, as
+the head master privately explained, traceable, as it generally is, 'to
+one boy, the son of a family of unquestioned standing in its
+community,' and he has involved the other boys.
+
+"The boy in question was not a vicious lad: on the contrary, he was a
+boy possessed of more than ordinary good characteristics. When he was
+brought up before the head master and the full result of his baneful
+influence was explained to him the boy was panic stricken.
+
+"'Didn't you realize what you were doing?' asked the head master.
+
+"'No,' replied the boy, who was nineteen and really a young man: 'I knew
+it was wrong, yes, but I didn't realize how wrong. As a matter of fact,'
+said the boy, 'I didn't know what I was doing, and how I was getting the
+boys into a thing that I now see is more serious than I had any idea
+of.'
+
+"'Didn't your father and mother ever explain these things to you?' asked
+the head master.
+
+"'Not a word,' answered the boy, and then as a grim look came on his
+face he said: 'God! I wish they had!'
+
+"A pleasant realization must it be to the parents of this boy as they
+read this sentence in the head master's letter to the father of this
+boy:
+
+"'I cannot but feel that your criminal negligence in the most vital duty
+that can come to a parent is the direct cause in this twofold calamity:
+first, of the downfall of your own son; and second, of the downfall of
+each of the other forty boys, and of the humiliation in which they and
+their parents find themselves. These are hard words to say to you, but
+they are true, and I say them not alone as the head master of this
+school, but also as one father to another, and as one man to another.'"
+
+In the growing youth's mind there arise many questions that he would
+like to talk over with his father, but he feels diffident about asking
+him. Too often the boy grows up and goes away to college without ever
+talking with his father about manhood. In all matters concerning his
+business relations and success, the boy has received careful
+instruction. He has not been left to work out those problems by himself
+but is given the benefit of the experiences of those who have trodden
+the road before. But in this matter so vital to his whole life, he has
+been left to clear his own path through the woods. With no guide and
+bewildered with the new ideas and experiences that crowd upon him, is
+it any wonder he loses his way, wanders off the straight path, falls
+ofttimes into some bog that perhaps was hidden from his sight by
+surrounding flowers and to which he has been lured by siren music?
+
+The father's duty to his son is plain--and must not be neglected. In
+some cases the mother must attend to this duty and for the future
+welfare of her son she must see that he receives adequate instruction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HOW SHALL THE CHILD BE TOLD?
+
+
+Every mother and every father realizes that there are certain things
+incident to reproduction that must be learned by the child at an early
+age. They realize, too, that it is preferable that this information
+should be imparted by the parents. But, on account of their own lack of
+instruction, they find two problems confronting them. How and when shall
+I tell my child are the questions uppermost in many parents' minds.
+
+The answer to the first question must depend upon the individual case.
+At a certain age a baby expresses a desire for something to bite. Before
+that time we make no effort to force him to bite. Later he finds he can
+help himself from one position to another by creeping. Then in a few
+months he discovers he is able to use his feet and tries to walk. We do
+not try to force any of these new ideas upon him but simply wait
+patiently until he expresses a desire to acquire some new knowledge,
+then we aid him and guide his efforts.
+
+There comes a time in the life of every child when he awakens to
+knowledge of reproduction. Then is the time to give the information.
+Some children commence to inquire as early as three years. At such an
+early age it is not necessary to go into details, as a very little
+information suffices to satisfy the child.
+
+Just how to tell the truths necessary must vary with the age of the
+child. It is important to remember to be truthful to the child. When a
+mother tells the child that the stork or the doctor brings the baby, she
+sets a seal upon evasion. Some day he will learn that his mother has
+deceived him and that behind her instruction lies an element of secrecy,
+and secrecy with its companion curiosity is the cause of much unrest in
+after life. The child gathers the idea that there must be something
+shameful connected with the birth of a child or his mother would not be
+ashamed to tell him the truth.
+
+Secondly, the child must be told scientifically that this knowledge may
+form a basis for later studies in biology. He can be taught in a simple
+manner that all nature comes from a seed; that the mother makes a tiny
+nest for the seed and that with all seeds it is necessary for their
+growth that the father gives them some pollen.
+
+Until these subjects are put before children and young people with some
+degree of intelligence and sympathetic handling, it cannot be expected
+that anything but the utmost confusion in mind and in morals should
+reign in matters of sex. It seems incredible that our thoughts could be
+so unclean that we find it impossible to give to our children the
+information they need on these most sacred subjects, but instead we
+allow them to obtain their information whenever and wherever they can
+and in the most unclean manner. A child at the age of puberty is capable
+of the most sensitive, affectional and serene appreciation of what sex
+means and can absorb the teachings if properly given without any shock
+to his sense of the fitness of things. Indeed whenever these subjects
+are taught to the child correctly they induce a feeling of reverence for
+the mother that could not otherwise be obtained. A little child when
+told that she grew in a nest in mother's body right underneath mother's
+heart at once becomes filled with a great love and wonder for that
+mother. Then later to teach the relation of fatherhood and how the love
+of parents for each other and their desire to have a child of their very
+own was the cause of that child's existence--these things seem so
+natural to the child mind that has not been polluted with vulgar ideas
+that they excite in him no sense of unfitness, only a deep gratitude and
+a kind of tender wonderment.
+
+The great point to remember in teaching these things to children is to
+satisfy their present question and leave the understanding that mother
+(or father) always stands ready and willing to explain any problems that
+are bothering the child.
+
+So many girls have told me that when they were between six and fourteen
+years of age they had heard some things about the land where the babies
+grow and immediately went to their mothers and inquired as to the truth
+of what they had heard. The invariable answer received was, "Little
+girls must not talk about such things." That silenced the child and the
+mother heaved a sigh of relief that the question had passed off so
+smoothly and easily. That little sentence has been the cause of
+innumerable mistakes and misery. That little sentence marked the
+beginning of the failure of the child to confide in her mother, the
+child never again would broach the subject to her mother. However, that
+did not mean that the child would not receive the information requested;
+for, as a rule, the girls who told of this incidence also remarked that
+they had received the information very soon from some older girl and
+frequently in a vulgar manner. If a mother wishes to retain the
+confidence of her daughter, if a father wishes to retain the confidence
+of his son they both must keep a keen lookout for the first questions
+and be prepared to answer them at the time.
+
+Later on the special sexual needs of the boy or the girl can be
+explained, the necessity of cleanliness and the danger of self-abuse.
+The need of self-control and the possibility of deflecting physical
+desire to other channels and the great gain resulting; all these things
+the youth of either sex are capable of understanding and appreciating,
+and the knowledge given early will prevent many physical and moral
+wrecks.
+
+It is the duty of fathers and mothers to prepare themselves on these
+subjects so as to have the answer ready when the child first inquires.
+There is no excuse for not doing so, for educators all over the country
+stand ready to help any parents who call upon them. It is possible for
+every community to obtain the services of a lecturer or teacher who will
+instruct the parents. The individual can obtain books which explain all
+these things simply and plainly. There is no excuse for ignorance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+WOMEN IN BUSINESS
+
+
+If all homes were ideal and all men likewise, there would be no question
+of woman suffrage or woman in business. But this is not an ideal world;
+all women who have kept their places and stayed at home, kept house and
+taken care of their children have not led ideal lives. In too many
+instances the home woman, the little wren, has been deserted for the gay
+song-bird. The necessities of life have forced other women into the
+business world--women whose preference would be for the ideal, quiet
+home life. One must not think that because a woman is leading a public
+life that she prefers it, that she has no desire for a home and little
+ones. Often her choice has been the lesser of two evils,--more to be
+desired than a life, married, but loveless; one in which she must slave
+from morn till eve and then receive as recompense curses and
+fault-finding.
+
+The woman who refuses to so demean the married life as to enter into
+such a marriage, preferring instead the busy life of a bachelor maid, is
+to be admired rather than condemned. That she makes a success of her
+business life tends to show what some man has missed by not proving
+himself worthy to be her husband.
+
+We hear so much about woman entering into business--just as though she
+had not always been in business. Stop and think about our ancestors on
+the farms. The woman shared the work equally with the man. He attended
+to the heavier work, while she attended to that which required less
+physical strength but more attention to details. The products of her
+industry often brought as much ready cash as that derived from the sale
+of the larger products of the farm. Many families depended for the
+yearly supply of clothes and luxuries on the money thus obtained from
+the sale of butter, eggs and chickens. In olden days, too, many a woman
+derived an income from the sale of home-made rugs and counterpanes.
+
+Just how men have conceived the idea that it is only the modern woman
+who is a money earner, I cannot understand, nor can I understand how
+some men expect women to be happy in idleness. The most unhappy women
+in the world are the women who have a great deal of leisure time. Many a
+man objects to his wife taking up any outside work even though it would
+not interfere with her household duties. This usually is due to false
+pride on his part. He is afraid of what others will say; afraid his
+friends will think he is not capable of supporting his wife. Some of
+these men forget to take into account the possibility that an accident
+or illness may take him away, business failures may sweep away his
+accumulations and then his wife must face the necessity of earning her
+living. Alas, how seldom is she prepared to do this! If, during the
+leisure time of her protected life, she had been perfecting herself in
+some branch of industry, her future would be easily solved.
+
+A woman can devote several hours a day to outside affairs and still not
+neglect her home duties. Home-making does not necessarily mean that the
+woman herself must do the washing, ironing, cooking, baking or sewing.
+She must see that these are performed properly but the actual work may
+all be done by others. A business man does not attempt to do all the
+work of the office himself. He employs a bookkeeper, a clerk and a
+stenographer to attend to the details while he directs. It is the same
+way with a home, a woman may employ others to do the physical labor
+while she directs.
+
+Then as to the married woman earning money. Let me give you an
+illustration. A woman has spent the early part of her life perfecting
+herself in some branch of work, for instance, book cover designing. She
+marries a man in moderate circumstances and does not feel that she can
+afford to be idle and employ someone else to do her house work. She is a
+slenderly built woman and it would be a great tax on her strength to
+perform all the household duties--for some parts of housekeeping require
+such hard physical labor that even many men would not care to attempt
+them. It certainly would seem a very reasonable thing for this woman to
+devote several hours a day to book cover designing and use the money so
+earned to employ a strong woman to do the heavy housework. This
+arrangement would be better for all concerned; first, the woman would be
+happier and more contented; next, the man would enjoy his home more,
+for any man certainly would rather come home and find his wife contented
+and happy and with leisure time to devote to him, than to come home and
+find her all tired out, and consequently cross, with the housework so
+unfinished she must devote her evening to some household task.
+
+If circumstances have given a woman home and children, they always must
+come first, but this does not mean the woman must do housework if
+conditions permit the employment of somebody to do it. She must do the
+work for which she is best fitted both by nature and by training.
+
+In whatever occupation a woman is engaged she should endeavor to make a
+success of that work, to do it a little better than anyone else could;
+for in every field of endeavor there is joy and reward for always being
+and doing one's best. The great secret of success is _concentration_.
+Too many women waste their energies thinking and talking about the
+things they would like to do. Every time you talk about the thing you
+would like to do you waste just that much energy and make your goal less
+possible of achievement. That which seems difficult before is usually
+found easy to accomplish, once undertaken. If you wish to accomplish
+anything _hold the thought_ in your mind and concentrate all your powers
+in that direction. Do not scatter your energies like chaff to be blown
+hither and thither.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+NERVOUSNESS--A LACK OF CONTROL
+
+
+How often do we meet women who complain of being nervous. What they
+really mean is that they have not control of their nerves but let them
+run away. A woman may be of a nervous temperament and yet have such good
+control of her nerves that she never complains of being nervous. This
+lack of nerve control manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it
+only is a tendency to cry at trivial things or an inclination to
+despondency--to have "the blues," or to worry over real or fancied
+slights. Many women waste so much time thinking over things that are
+past and gone. A visit with a friend loses its joy in the afterthought,
+for this victim of the nerves lives over again every moment of the
+visit. She recalls everything that has been said and wonders if a
+different meaning were meant. Things that were said as a joke and
+originally taken that way now are brought up for criticism and pondered
+over until the woman convinces herself of the presence of a hidden
+meaning. She is not satisfied until she has bent and shapen the original
+thoughtless sentence into an ugly sting.
+
+These nervous women are the ones who continually are tormented with the
+demon of jealousy. If one of them should suddenly meet her husband on
+the street walking with another woman, what a curtain lecture he would
+receive that evening; or if not that, he finds his wife wearing the air
+of one who considers herself much abused. The real facts of the case may
+be that her husband met the other woman quite accidentally and, as they
+were going in the same direction, he could not avoid walking with her
+without being positively rude. In this age men must, of necessity, have
+business transactions with women. It is a common occurrence for two men
+to lunch together in order to have a chance to talk over some important
+business without fear of interruption. There is no reason why a man and
+woman might not do the same, and yet how impossible it would be to
+convince the jealous woman that this was the case. To be jealous is to
+acknowledge the superior charms of the other woman. "If I cannot hold
+you against all women, then I do not want you." If you think some other
+woman is attracting your husband, wake up and beat her at her own game.
+Do not sit idly in the corner and complain. You only are making yourself
+miserable and not trying to right the wrong.
+
+A woman who is nervous usually does not realize what is the cause of her
+condition. When excitable and irritable and suffering from a nervous
+headache, she takes various remedies to deaden the symptoms, instead of
+looking the matter squarely in the face and going after the cause.
+
+Many women need a hobby to take up their spare time and to occupy their
+minds. If their minds are occupied and their bodies kept in good
+condition by proper care, they soon will gain control of their nerves.
+If you find yourself getting nervous, make up your mind to overcome it
+by filling your life so full of work and play that you will have no time
+to give way to the nerves. When you feel an attack coming on, get busy
+and "work it off."
+
+There is a class of women who possess comfortable homes, with a maid to
+do the work, whose home duties are not confining and who find
+themselves with a great deal of extra time on their hands. To these
+women the days are long and they endeavor to pass away the time by doing
+nerve racking fancy work or by "fussing" around the house. They are not
+happy and contented, chiefly because their minds are being
+neglected--are growing up to weeds like a neglected garden. For such a
+woman club work is a boon. She should take up some especial kind of
+work, and devote several hours a day to the study of it. At first this
+will be hard, for a mind that has fallen into lazy ways is not easily
+aroused to continual effort, the deeply rooted weeds are not easily
+destroyed.
+
+Many half contented women realize this need of mental food but hesitate.
+As one woman said, "Why, my husband would leave me if I started to
+work!" Some men take a peculiar attitude towards women. They would like
+to treat them as a woman treats her pet dog. The dog is provided with a
+comfortable home, plenty of food, someone to bathe it and carry it
+around. The dog is contented with this. It loves to sleep and eat the
+livelong day; it comes when its mistress calls, and goes when she is
+tired of it. Unfortunately, perhaps, all women cannot be contented with
+such a life. The woman was given a brain which refuses to be dormant. If
+it is not required to be used in a useful way, it occupies itself with
+bad thoughts--it worries and becomes fault finding or gossiping.
+
+No woman should allow her mind to grow up to such weeds. If the
+circumstances of her position, her education or her environment seem to
+make it unwise that she take up any work that would bring a monetary
+reward, she easily can find some charitable work that needs all the
+energies she can devote to it. If such a woman would take up some
+special branch of philanthropic work she would be amply rewarded, not
+only by the consciousness of the good she had done, but by the
+improvement in her own health and happiness.
+
+There is another phase to this lack of nerve control shown in a nervous
+tension, an inability to relax and enjoy life. Some people go through
+the day on such a nervous tension that they are unable to take
+cognizance of their surroundings. Eventually this tension will manifest
+itself in some disorder, as headache, nervous indigestion or complete
+nervous prostration. In the latter case the nerves have been so abused,
+so strained that at last they are worn out. A rest is imperative!
+
+A woman who, if she has a few spare moments, can lie down and relax
+absolutely, perhaps even drop to sleep, has a better chance to stand the
+stress and strain of business or of housekeeping than the one who finds
+it impossible to do so. Try making it a point to lie down for two or
+three minutes several times a day; lie flat on your back and relax every
+muscle; put every worry or ugly thought out of your mind by thinking
+some pleasant but soothing sentence as, "I am glad I can rest. I will be
+happy when I arise." You will be surprised at the effect these few
+moments a day will produce upon your health and happiness.
+
+Plenty of sleep is imperative for these women and yet so many of them
+neglect this great restorer of the nervous system. Frequently these
+women complain of an inability to go to sleep easily, and spend long
+hours of the night lying awake and entertaining worry thoughts. This
+symptom of disordered nerves should not be neglected. A warm bath
+before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the
+spine, will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good
+results. A hot foot-bath, by drawing the blood away from the brain,
+often will be beneficial. A glass of hot milk or cocoa taken just before
+retiring may have the same effect. If the sleeplessness is a result of
+indigestion a plain diet will relieve. Sleeping upon a hard bed without
+a pillow sometimes produces the desired effect. Always have plenty of
+fresh air in the room. Keep the mind free from the cares of the day. If
+they will intrude crowd them out by repeating some soothing sentence as:
+"There is no reason why I should not sleep, therefore, I shall sleep. My
+body is relaxed, my mind is at peace, sleep is coming, I am getting
+sleepy, I am about to sleep." Never take any sleeping powders except
+upon the advice of a physician, for the majority of these sleeping
+powders contain some harmful drug, as morphine, codeine, phenacetin or
+acetanilid. The latter especially is very depressing to the heart and
+serves to weaken the nervous system. In fact many deaths may be laid at
+the door of these drugs. Treatments to tone up the nervous system and
+to improve the circulation often are indicated in these cases of
+"nerves." Control your nerves, do not let them control you!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A WOMAN IS AS YOUNG AS SHE WANTS TO BE
+
+
+Have you ever thought why it is that some women are as young at forty as
+others are at twenty-four? And I mean young not frivolous! It is every
+woman's duty to keep young as long as possible, but, unfortunately, she
+does not always know the best way to live up to that duty. Keeping young
+means keeping your body in a perfectly healthy condition and your mind
+in harmony. With attention to certain laws a woman can detract ten years
+from her age. She can do this by treating herself as a friend and not as
+a slave. Take ten minutes and think how you could improve yourself by a
+little effort. Perhaps some of these suggestions will help you.
+
+Everyone needs exercise. Just what sort depends upon the occupation of
+the individual. A woman doing housework exercises most of her muscles
+during the day, and if she makes pleasure, and not drudgery out of her
+work, this exercise is very beneficial. It is a pleasure to be able to
+accomplish so much, but the housework is not sufficient exercise. This
+woman needs exercise for her mind and for her beauty-loving soul. In her
+spare time she should lie under the trees and enjoy nature or a good
+book, or she should go to some gathering where she will meet those who
+will refresh her intellectually. Keep the mind open to all the
+impressions of nature. Love the open air. Fresh air is not a fad, it is
+a necessity if one would keep young. Occasionally read a book of travel
+or a biography of some well-known person. Keep mentally alert. An
+intellectual back number adds years to her seeming age. Nothing makes
+for youth as a young mind, save perhaps a young heart.
+
+If a woman wishes to retain her attractiveness and not grow dull and
+uninteresting, she must be interested in the outside world. Make it a
+point to go somewhere every day. If you cannot do anything else, put the
+baby in the cart and walk a few blocks. Do not say you are too busy. It
+is necessary for your health and you will find a few minutes' outing
+will give you renewed energies and help you to see the silver lining.
+If possible go to social affairs where you meet people. Invite others to
+your home but do not tire yourself entertaining them. People who are
+boarding enjoy a simple home-cooked meal. It is the "homey" air they
+enjoy and not elaborate decorations or menu.
+
+A woman in an office needs different exercise. She needs to do something
+that will stretch and strengthen the tired muscles. She also needs
+plenty of fresh air. A brisk walk is one of the best exercises for her.
+Walk part of the way to the office, if possible, and keep your eyes open
+for interesting things you pass. Use your imagination in guessing the
+life story of those you meet. Forget yourself by becoming interested in
+others, and you will be surprised at the effect upon your outlook on
+life. It is not work that makes the business girl grow old and careworn
+as much as it is her inability to forget her work during her play or
+rest time. A business man takes an occasional day off and goes hunting
+or fishing, but the business girl seldom can afford the little trips
+that would serve to break the monotony of work. But every day brings its
+opportunities for little pleasures that are available. Remember it is
+the small things of life that make up its enjoyment. Once in a while at
+noon go to some especially nice lunch room where you will see well
+dressed women, where the service is faultless and every mouthful and
+every moment enjoyable. You will come away filled with such a sense of
+well-being that you will be able to accomplish twice as much in the way
+of work. Many business girls do not entertain themselves well enough.
+They become so imbued with the spirit of economy that they deny
+themselves the little pleasures that would make life enjoyable. This
+reacts upon their work and ability. These people who continually stint
+themselves never achieve great success. They repress themselves so much
+that they quell all their best impulses. They never expand.
+
+Learn self-control. Anger is a rapid wrinkle bringer. The energy that is
+wasted in useless worry and tirade against circumstances might be
+conserved and diverted into other channels that would bring you abundant
+reward, financially as well as in other ways. Avoid worry, hurry and
+getting flustered. Plan your work in the morning, then take the little
+interruptions coolly and quietly. You will not be half so tired at the
+end of the day as you would be otherwise. Be temperate. Moderation does
+not refer only to the stomach. Overdoing in any way makes for premature
+age.
+
+Do not let yourself get sluggish and indifferent. Here is where the
+benefits of massage, physical culture and a vital interest in life come
+in. Youth is happiness! If you would be young, radiate happiness. Talk
+happiness not ill-health. One certain symptom of advancing age is the
+desire to talk about ill-health. Discussing operations you have
+undergone or sickness you have experienced always attracts attention to
+your age. Children seldom talk about ill-health. An illness once
+conquered is forgotten. Another thing, do not whine. The American women
+are noted for their unpleasant voices, which often are too high pitched,
+showing lack of control. Cultivate a low, well-modulated voice. Recently
+I met a young woman who had a deformed body and a plain face, but I
+immediately was attracted to her because she had the most beautiful
+speaking voice it ever was my privilege to hear.
+
+As we age in years we are liable to grow careless in our dress, to
+select colors and styles that are not very becoming; we do not take as
+much pains with our hair, our nails or our shoes as we should. We have
+allowed age to manifest itself in the lack of care of the little things.
+
+Finally, if your work does not bring you happiness, you are in the wrong
+place and the sooner you find the right place the better for you. It is
+impossible to take a race horse and expect to make him a good plow
+horse. We only would spoil the one without succeeding in obtaining the
+other. There is a right place for everyone and each one is adapted to
+certain things and in order to accomplish the most we must "find
+ourselves."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Abortions, 89
+  Accidental, 90
+  Criminal, 91
+  Prevalence, 92, 112
+  Sterility following, 95
+
+Advertisements, misleading, 65
+
+Advertising physicians, 173
+
+After-birth, 83
+
+Amenorrhoea, 40
+
+Anatomy of generative organs,  11
+
+Anus, 16
+
+Atrophy of generative organs, 30
+
+Backache, displacement causing, 36
+  Fake advertisements concerning, 67
+  Gonorrhoea causing, 61
+  Lumbago, rheumatism, strain, 67
+
+Bag of waters, 86
+
+Birth canal, 13
+
+Black plagues, see Gonorrhoea and Syphilis
+  Causing tumors, 42
+
+Bladder, openings into, 17
+  Position in relation to womb, 11
+
+Blindness, due to gonorrhoea, 59
+  Infection, prevalence of in new born, 60
+
+Blue baby, 87
+
+Blues, 195
+
+Born with caul or veil, 86
+
+Boys, need of instruction, 178
+  Why boys go astray, 171
+
+Breasts, after menopause, in pregnancy, 19
+  At puberty, 24
+
+Cancer, carcinoma, 43
+
+Cathartics, 51
+
+Cavity of pelvis, 11
+
+Cavity of womb, openings into, 11, 12
+
+Change of life, see Menopause
+
+Child bearing period, 23
+
+Childless homes, 103
+
+Chlorosis, 40
+
+Circumcision in girls, 41
+
+Clandestine engagements, 157
+
+Clap, see Gonorrhoea.
+
+Clitoris, hooded, 17
+  Causing nervousness and immorality, 41
+
+Coitus, 74
+
+Conception, 74
+  Prevention of, 109
+
+Congestion from tight clothing, 37
+
+Constipation, 47
+  Caused by retroversion, 34, 49
+  Causes, 48
+
+Cord, 83
+
+Cramps during menopause, 30
+
+Development of life, 81
+
+Diseases of female organs, 33
+  Influence on appearance, 28
+  Venereal diseases, 56
+
+Displacements, causes of, 33
+  Backward, constipation caused by, 34
+  Bladder, pressure on, 35
+  Downward, side, 37
+  Forward, 36
+  Hemorrhoids caused by, 34
+  Menstruation, relation to, 34
+  Treatment, 35
+
+Divorce, 115
+  Black plagues as a factor, 117
+  Sterility as a factor, 118
+
+Douche, for cleanliness, at close of period, 21
+  In irritation of vagina, 40
+
+Drug habit, from patent medicines, 69
+  In constipation, 51
+
+Dry labor, 86
+
+Dysmenorrhoea, 39
+
+Education, lack of for girls, 77
+
+Egg, see Ovum.
+
+Embryo,   82
+
+Embryology,   81
+
+Epilepsy due to syphilis,  101
+
+Excesses
+  Cause of premature old age,  76
+  Causing congestion,   38
+  During early married life,  74
+
+Exercise
+  For business woman,  205
+  For home woman,   203
+
+External generative organs, description,   16
+  Care,  20
+
+Fake advice,   65
+
+Fallopian tubes, description, position,   14
+  Effect of gonorrhoea on,   57
+  Removal, effect of, sterility from removal,  58
+  Tumors of,  42
+
+Father's duty to son,  181
+
+Fear, needless,  106
+
+Fertilization of ovum,  74, 81
+
+Flirtations and their results,  157
+
+Foetal movements,   84
+
+Foetus,   82
+
+Gonorrhoea
+  Effect on female organs,   57
+  Persistence of in later years,   57
+  Prevalence of,  56
+
+  Prevention of in youth, 63
+  Symptoms, 61
+
+Green sickness, 40
+
+Happiness necessary, 208
+
+Headache, from constipation, 48
+  From displacements, 37
+  Powders, 69
+
+Heart valves of baby, 87
+
+Hemorrhage in cancer, 43
+
+Hemorrhoids, 47
+  Bleeding, external, internal, pain from, 49
+  From constipation, 48
+  Retrodisplacements causing, 34
+  Treatment, 49
+
+Herb remedies as drugs, 69
+
+Heredity, inherited tendency to disease, 99
+  Tuberculosis, syphilis, 100
+
+Home-making a study, 78
+
+Homes, childless, 103
+  Girls not interested in parents' home, 135
+
+Hot flashes during menopause, 30
+
+Hymen, 18
+  Not injured by douche, 40
+  Opening in, 41
+  Unruptured in pregnancy, 154
+
+Illegitimacy, 152
+
+Immorality, due to low wages, effects of,  149
+  Among children, in country districts, in school,   123
+  Due to hooded clitoris,   41
+
+Indigestion,   52
+
+Inflammation causing dysmenorrhoea,   39
+
+Inherited syphilis,   62
+
+Intercourse,   75
+
+Insemination,   74
+
+Jealousy,   196
+
+Kiss conveying contagion,   61
+
+Knee chest position,   37
+  For constipation and hemorrhoids,   49
+
+Labia majora and minora,   17
+
+Labor, dry,   86
+  Duration of,   87
+  Pains, cause of,   85
+  Premature,   89
+
+Lanugo,   84
+
+Law regarding prevention of pregnancy,   109
+
+Laxatives,   51
+
+Leucorrhoea,   38
+  In young girls,   40
+
+Life feeling,   84
+
+Love, misunderstood,   132
+
+Lumbago, backache in,   67
+
+Lungs of newborn child,   87
+
+Maidenhead, see Hymen.
+
+Malignant tumor,  43
+
+Marriage, education necessary for,  72
+  Fake marriages used to obtain white slaves,  168
+  False promises leading to immorality,  151
+  For convenience, natural,  116
+  Laws not adequate,  115
+  Relation,  71
+  Science of, successful and otherwise,  71
+  Social reasons for,  103
+
+Massage, for constipation,  51
+
+Mating,  73
+
+Meatus urinarius,  17
+
+Medical, fake advertisements,  67
+
+Medicine, doubtful results from,  68
+  Patent,  45
+
+Membrane,  86
+
+Menstruation, absence of,  40
+  Bathing during,  27
+  Care during,  26
+  Color, odor,  29
+  Composition of flow,  28
+  Deficiency of,  40
+  Description of,  23
+  Duration of, frequency,  23, 28
+  Lassitude during,  27
+  Pain during,  27, 39
+  Phenomena common to,  27
+  Profuse flow,  28
+  Quantity, time between periods,   29
+  Sign of approach of period,   25
+  Source of flow,    16
+
+Menopause, age,   29
+  Bowels in,   21
+  Breasts after,   31
+  Cancer at,   43
+  Care during, symptoms of approach,   30
+  Changes in body, nervous system,   30
+  Duration, diet,   31
+  End of child-bearing period,   23
+  Hot flashes during, necessity for examination,   30
+  Relaxation, rest, worry during,   31
+
+Miscarriage,   89
+
+Modesty, false,   134
+
+Motherhood, accidental, a science, preparation for,   77
+  Fear regarding,   106
+  Natural desire of all women,   104
+
+Mucous patches in syphilis,   61
+
+Nerve trouble, due to syphilis,   62
+
+Nervousness
+  A lack of control,   195
+  Due to hooded clitoris,   41
+  Overcoming,   197
+  Relation to intercourse,   76
+
+Neuralgia, backache,   67
+  Causing dysmenorrhoea,   39
+
+Ovary, description, function, position,    14
+  Tumor, see Tumor.
+
+Oviduct, see Fallopian tube,    14
+
+Ovum,    14
+  Relation to menstruation,    29
+  Division into portions, growth,    81
+  Passage from ovary to uterus, impregnation,    81
+  Size,    82
+
+Passion or sex sense,    73
+
+Parents' duty to daughters,   167
+  To sons,   171
+
+Patent medicine,   45
+  Of doubtful benefit,    68
+
+Pelvis,   11
+  Deformed in abortions,    91
+
+Peritoneum,    16
+
+Peritonitis,    16
+  From displacement and inflammation of womb,   37
+  From gonorrhoea,    58
+  From appendicitis,    59
+
+Perineum,    18
+  Tearing during labor,  19, 87
+
+Physiology of female organs,    11
+
+Piles, see Hemorrhoids.
+
+Placenta,    83
+
+Position of foetus in utero,    85
+
+Pregnancy, absence of menstruation,   40
+  Among unmarried girls,   151
+  Fertilization before,   74
+  Prevention of,   109
+
+Premature birth, labor,   89
+
+Prostitution, result of,   155
+
+Puberty,   23
+  Change in nervous system,   24
+  Hygiene during, school work during,   24
+  Premonitory symptoms, signs of approach,   24
+  Preparatory information, necessity for,   24
+
+Public cup,   61
+
+Pus tubes, see Fallopian tubes.
+
+Race improvement,   111
+
+Race suicide, education in relation to,   104
+  Not increased by knowledge of means of prevention,    113
+
+Rectum, position in relation to womb,   11
+  In retrodisplacement,   34
+
+Regulation of number of children,   111
+
+Relaxation,   199
+
+Rest,   200
+
+Rheumatism, backache,   67
+  Dysmenorrhoea due to,   39
+
+Sac,   85
+
+Sanitary pads,   26
+
+Self-abuse,   137
+  Hooded clitoris as a cause,   139
+  Mental,   139
+  Nervous system injured,   138
+  Treatment,   139
+
+Self-confidence,   145
+
+Self-control,   206
+
+Semen,   74
+
+Sex, education needed regarding,  72, 121
+  Fundamental end of, over-indulgence,   74
+  Instinct,   73
+  Instruction for children,   183
+  Organs formed fourth month,   83
+
+Skin disease due to syphilis,   101
+
+Sleep, sleeplessness, treatment,   200
+
+Spermatozoon,   74
+  Death due to disease,   107
+  Union with ovum,   81
+  Size,   82
+
+Sterility
+  After one birth,  108
+  Due to abortions,   95
+  Due to gonorrhoea,   58
+  Due to indiscretions, in male,   107
+
+Stomach trouble due to syphilis,   62
+
+Syphilis,   61
+  Causing abortions,   90
+  Causing epilepsy, brain and skin lesions,   101
+  Contracted from wet nurse,   62
+  Conveyed by kiss, by public cup,   61
+  Inherited,  62, 100
+  Late symptoms,    62
+  Prevention in youth, treatment,    63
+
+Tears of perineum,    19
+  Necessity for repair,    30
+  Relation to cancer,    43
+
+Teas, laxative,    51
+
+Tomboys,   133
+
+Toxines from constipation,    48
+
+Tubes, see Fallopian tubes.
+
+Tumor, abdominal, caused by black plagues,   42
+  Absorption of, removal,    42
+  Causing dysmenorrhoea,    39
+  Hemorrhoidal,    34
+  Malignant,    43
+  Phantom,    43
+  Symptoms of, hemorrhage, pain in,    42
+
+Ulcers in syphilis,   62
+
+Umbilical cord,    83
+
+Urethra,    17
+
+Urination, frequent, caused by displacement,    35
+
+Uterus, see Womb.
+
+Vagina, description of,    13
+  Discharge from,    38
+  Infection from use of public towels,   60
+  Irritation of,   40
+  Orifice of,    17
+
+Vein of cord,   83
+
+Vernix caseosa,   85
+
+Venereal diseases,   56
+
+Vibrator for constipation,   51
+
+Wet nurse in syphilis,   62
+
+Womb, attachment,    13
+  Cancer of,   43
+  Congestion from tight clothing,   37
+  Contraction of mouth,   39
+  Inflammation from displacements,   37
+  Position, size, structure, shape,    11
+  Over work causing congestion,   38
+
+Wild oats, sown by girls,   150
+
+White slavery,   163
+
+Women in business,   189
+
+Worry, an abuse,   143
+
+Youth, obtainable,   203
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+HIMSELF
+
+TALKS WITH MEN CONCERNING THEMSELVES
+
+This is regarded by all authorities as the best book on sexual hygiene
+for men. No man knowing its contents would be without this important
+book. It tells plainly all of the facts about sex and leads to health,
+happiness and success. A book that points the way to strong vitality and
+healthy manhood.
+
+Every man ought to read this excellent, reliable book.--_Philadelphia
+Telegraph._
+
+The best book on sexual hygiene for men and we highly commend
+it.--_Baltimore American._
+
+The more widely this splendid book is read the better it will be for men
+and women.--_Boston Globe._
+
+Every youth and man who can read the English language should study this
+book.--_Portland Oregonian._
+
+A rare book that treats its subject in a common-sense
+fashion.--_Pittsburgh Post._
+
+This is a storehouse of knowledge that should be in the hands of every
+man.--_United States Medical Journal._
+
+It is utterly free from hysteria and sticks straight to the
+unadulterated truth. A valuable addition to any man's library.--_Spokane
+Chronicle._
+
+It is as good a book as a physician could recommend.--_Northwest
+Medicine._
+
+Clear, accurate, easily understood.--_Chicago Journal._
+
+_Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo._
+
+Price, $1.00 net; by mail, $1.10
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers_
+
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn St., CHICAGO
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+CONFIDENCES
+
+TALKS WITH A YOUNG GIRL CONCERNING HERSELF
+
+A book explaining the origin and development of life in language
+intelligible to young girls. The author, who is a physician of wide
+experience and a pleasing writer, has very delicately and adequately
+treated this important subject.
+
+Carefully written and should be given to every young girl.--_American
+Motherhood._
+
+Every physician should read and circulate this book.--_Journal of
+Therapeutics._
+
+_Neatly bound in cloth. 16mo._
+
+_Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TRUTHS
+
+TALKS WITH A BOY CONCERNING HIMSELF
+
+A book containing the simple truths of life development and sex which
+should be given to every boy approaching manhood. His future welfare
+demands it. This is the first book to adequately and delicately present
+these truths in language intelligible to boys from ten to fourteen years
+of age.
+
+The first satisfactory book on the subject.--_Health Culture Magazine._
+
+Many a mother will be glad that such a book is within the reach of her
+child.--_Seattle Post Intelligencer._
+
+_Attractively bound in cloth. 16mo._
+
+_Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FALSE MODESTY
+
+THAT PROTECTS VICE BY IGNORANCE
+
+The most thorough and convincing appeal ever made for the proper
+education of the young in matters pertaining to sexual hygiene by the
+foremost writer on the subject.
+
+Dr. Lowry's books combine medical knowledge, simplicity, and purity in
+an unprecedented way. They are chaste and void of offense to the most
+delicate natures.--_The Journal of Education, Boston._
+
+_Cloth, 16mo._
+
+Price, 50 cents net; by mail, 55 cents
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers,_
+
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BY E. B. LOWRY, M.D.
+
+YOUR BABY
+
+A GUIDE FOR MOTHERS
+
+This book contains the latest and best approved methods for the care of
+the mother and baby. It is a strong plea for better babies and every
+doctor will welcome the circulation of this great help to mothers.
+
+"This book can be safely and heartily recommended to every prospective
+mother."--_The Chicago Medical Recorder._
+
+"The directions are clear and the advice is sensible."--_New York Sun._
+
+"This helpful book is in keeping with Dr. Lowry's previously published
+meritorious works."--_The Southern Clinic._
+
+"A safe, sane and interesting book which it would be well for every
+young woman to read. It deserves a wide circulation."--_The Wisconsin
+Medical Journal._
+
+_Cloth bound. 256 pages._
+
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE HOME NURSE
+
+This very useful book gives helpful directions for the care of the sick
+in the home and tells how to co-operate with the physician in providing
+for the comfort and cure of invalids.
+
+"A sensible book, and it should be in every home
+book-shelf."--_Northwest Medicine, Seattle._
+
+"Uniting practical common sense with the best medical knowledge, it
+forms a safe guide."--_American Journal of Nursing, Baltimore._
+
+"It serves a very useful purpose and is readily understood. Physicians
+will welcome the circulation of this excellent book."--_Medical
+Sentinel, Portland, Ore._
+
+_Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo._
+
+Price, $1.00; by mail, $1.10
+
+_For sale by all booksellers and the publishers_,
+FORBES & CO., 443 S. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Herself, by E. B. Lowry
+
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