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Title: The Physical Life of Woman:
       Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother

Author: Dr. George H Napheys

Release Date: December 24, 2007 [EBook #24001]

Language: English

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THE PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN:

ADVICE TO THE MAIDEN, WIFE AND MOTHER.




PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.


The extraordinary popularity achieved and maintained by Dr. GEO. H.
NAPHEYS' _Physical Life of Woman_, places it beyond question among the
classics of the English language. Convinced of its high literary as well
as medical value, the present publishers have spared no pains or expense
to place it before the public in the most attractive style.

The _text_ has been most carefully revised and rewritten by the eminent
author himself; extensive additions of important matter the fruit of
three more years devoted to the study of the subject and the wants of
readers, have been incorporated. In type, paper and binding, the most
appropriate materials have been selected. And, to satisfy the repeated
requests of purchasers, permission has been obtained from the author to
insert his portrait, engraved on steel by one of the most skilful London
artists.

With these additions, the _Physical Life of Woman_ comes before the
public with all the novelty and freshness of a new book, and also with
the solid and substantial reputation for practical worth which its sales
of nearly _fifty thousand_ copies a year for _three_ years guarantee to
it.

We add a


SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK.

It treats of woman in her three great positions in life, as the MAIDEN,
the WIFE, and the MOTHER.

Under the first of these is discussed the mysterious change she
undergoes when ripening from the indifferent girl to the tender and
sensitive virgin. The dangers she runs at this critical epoch are
carefully noted, and the rules to prevent and remedy them clearly set
forth. The all-absorbing topic of _Love_, is next treated of in a pure
and elevated style, but strictly from the physician's point of view, and
many salutary hints are given to direct the passion to noble ends and in
proper channels, and to teach the youthful reader how to shun
unfortunate unions.

In the part addressed to _Wives_ the health of the married couple is
first considered as being essential to their happiness. Plainly, yet
delicately, the rules that should govern them are laid down; the absence
of children and their excessive numbers are both mentioned, as requiring
appropriate correction, and an unsparing hand is laid upon certain
prevalent social vices. A full discussion of the important topic of the
inheritance of physical and mental traits will be found, and two most
thorough and practical chapters on Pregnancy and Confinement are added,
most invaluable to every young wife.

The duties of the _Mother_ are next set forth, in nursing her child, and
taking proper care of it, in training its budding powers, and also in
giving her own attention to it in some of the more common diseases to
which children are subject.

The sections devoted to _Health in Marriage_ will be peculiarly welcome
to many women suffering in health from they know not what exact cause,
but really from some of those inward or local weaknesses which are here
described. While to very many others who are approaching or about
passing through the critical epoch of the _Change of Life_, the full and
well-considered views of the author in the part devoted to that period
will be read with benefit and gratitude.

A carefully prepared Index and a copious list of authorities close the
volume.


[Transcriber's Note: In the Biographical Sketch section, an "a" with a
macron has been marked as [=a] in this file.]




THE
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN:
ADVICE TO THE
MAIDEN, WIFE AND MOTHER.

by
GEORGE H. NAPHEYS, A.M., M.D.

MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY; CORRESPONDING MEMBER
OF THE GYNECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON; LATE CHIEF OF MEDICAL CLINIC OF
THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE; AUTHOR OF "THE TRANSMISSION OF LIFE,"
"THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF DISEASE," "MODERN MEDICAL THERAPEUTICS,"
"LETTERS FROM EUROPE," ETC.


"Je veux qu'une femme ait des clartes de tout."--Moliere.

New Edition.

WITH THE FINAL CORRECTIONS OF THE AUTHOR, AND A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

PHILADELPHIA:
DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER,
23 SOUTH NINTH STREET.
1889.


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, BY D. G.
BRINTON, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All
rights reserved.




EDITOR'S PREFACE.


In presenting a third edition of this work to the public, with the final
changes and improvements of the author, the publishers have felt it a
duty to attach to it a brief sketch of his life, which drew to so early
and lamented a termination. The whole has also been submitted to a
careful revision, in order that it might be brought down to the latest
advances in the department of science of which it treats, and also to
include in it the final suggestions of the author.

While Dr. Napheys evidently considered the second edition of the present
work as meeting closely the requirements of readers, and therefore left
behind him no notes which would alter the general plan, a number of
corrections and minor changes have been made in the text, various
paragraphs have been materially modified, and the Appendix referring to
authorities more or less altered.

The continued popularity of the work has been shown, not only by the
steady demand for it, but by the efforts of various authors to write
imitations of it, and various publishers to issue mutilated and
imperfect editions. Against these the present publishers would warn
innocent purchasers. The present is the only edition containing the
important additions and corrections made by the author during the latter
years of his life; and none other was authorized by him.

In its present form, _The Physical Life of Woman_ may justly claim to
count among the classics of American literature. Its popularity
increases with time, and none of the many similar works which have
appeared have approached it in public estimation. It is believed that in
the present edition no important scientific fact bearing upon the
subject has been omitted, and the most recent developments of hygiene
will be found discussed.

1878.




PREFACE TO THE SECOND STEREOTYPE EDITION.


Three years have passed since the author of the present work ventured to
lay it before the public, not without unusual anxiety as to the manner
in which he had fulfilled a task he knew to be so fruitful of good
results if well done. Those years of trial are over, and they have
brought a recognition of his labors beyond his most sanguine dreams.
Nearly _one hundred and fifty thousand copies_ of the work have been
sold in that period; it has been separately republished both in Canada
and England; it has been honored by a translation into German; the
imitations of it which have been written form almost a small library;
and, more to the satisfaction of the author than all this, it has
received the highest praise both at home and abroad, from both the
medical profession and the general learned world.

The present new stereotype edition contains the result of three more
years of study and experience, enlightened and aided by very many
letters from readers, which served to point out wherein the previous
edition fell short of their wants. The text has been carefully revised,
and in large part wholly rewritten; nearly one hundred and fifty pages
of selected new matter have been added; and the latest steps of medical
science in this direction have been followed.

Of the parts which are quite new, and which from the inquiries of
numerous readers will add greatly to the value of the work, are the
sections on the disturbances of the monthly function in girls, the care
of the child, the management of diseases of children, the diseases
incident to pregnancy, childbed, and nursing, etc.

Indeed, in the present edition the author has aimed to omit nothing
which can aid Woman in performing her full duty to herself and others,
so far as that duty lies in the sphere of her Physical Life, whether she
is called upon to act as Wife, Mother, Teacher, or Guide. His most
ardent desire continues to be that the work will be found a sure and
safe monitor amid the difficult duties of Maidenhood and Maternity.

LONDON, ENGLAND, October, 1872.




PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.


It seems well to offer, at the outset, a few words explanatory of the
nature and object of this book. The author feels that its aim is novel,
is daring, and will perhaps subject him to criticism. He therefore make
his plea, _pro domo sua_, in advance.

The researches of scientific men within the last few years have brought
to light very many facts relating to the physiology of woman, the
diseases to which she is subject, and the proper means to prevent those
diseases. Such information, if universally possessed, cannot but result
in great benefit to the individual and the commonwealth. The difficulty
is to express one's self clearly and popularly on topics never referred
to in ordinary social intercourse. But as the physician is obliged daily
to speak in plain yet decorous language of such matters, the author felt
that the difficulty was not unsurmountable.

He is aware that a respectable though diminishing class in the community
maintain that nothing which relates exclusively to either sex should
become the subject of popular medical instruction. With every
inclination to do this class justice, he feels sure that such an opinion
is radically erroneous. Ignorance is no more the mother of purity than
she is of religion. The men and women who study and practise medicine
are not the worse, but the better, for their knowledge of such matters.
So it would be with the community. Had every person a sound
understanding of the relations of the sexes, one of the most fertile
sources of crime would be removed.

A brief appendix has been added, directed more especially to the
professional reader, who may desire to consult some of the original
authorities upon whom the author has drawn. And here he would ask from
his fellow-members of the medical profession their countenance and
assistance in his attempt to distribute sound information of this
character among the people. None but physicians can know what sad
consequences are constantly occurring from the want of it. * * *




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GEORGE HENRY NAPHEYS, M.D.


Were man's life measured by his deeds, as the poet suggests, how brief
would be the long years of many an octogenarian, and how extended the
short span which has been allotted to not a few of the world's famous
heroes!

This oft-repeated thought strikes us forcibly in considering the
biography of the subject of this sketch. Closing his life at an age when
most professional men are but beginning theirs, he had already studied
broadly, had traveled widely over two continents, had gained credit and
fame by the sword and the pen, and had amassed a fund of erudition and
experience which the more lethargic lives of most men fail to approach
after twice his length of days. It is eminently appropriate that a
record of his busy career should be attached to the works on which his
celebrity is chiefly bound, and in which he most conspicuously displays
that command of language and happy facility of imparting instruction
for which he was so remarkable.

GEORGE HENRY NAPHEYS (pronounced N[=a]'feez, the [=a] as in _fate_) was
born in the city of Philadelphia, March 5th, 1842. His parents died
while he was still at a tender age, and he was placed with some
relatives who resided in the city. From early years he was characterized
by quick perceptions and a retentive memory. In the Philadelphia High
School, from which he received the academic degree of Master of Arts, he
was considered the best scholar in his class, a marked distinction in
view of the large numbers which attend that institution. Besides
acquiring the usual studies of the High School, he gave considerable
time to phonography, in which he became so skilled that he could report
any ordinary speaker with entire accuracy. This subsequently proved a
great advantage to him in his medical career.

After his graduation he repaired to Hartford, Conn., where he was
offered and accepted the position of private secretary to a gentleman of
prominence in the literary and religious world.

Thus he was engaged when the civil war broke out. With his natural
warmth of feeling and strong emotions, he entered the fray among the
first, and went out as Lieutenant, and subsequently as Captain, Company
F, 10th Connecticut State Volunteers. The regiment was enlisted for nine
months, and was dispatched to Louisiana, General Banks then commanding
the Department. It participated in engagements near Baton Rouge and on
the Red River, in which Captain Napheys always acquitted himself with
bravery and credit.

At the time the regiment was disbanded, an early preference for medical
subjects led him to devote a year to the preliminary studies of that
profession, but not waiting the full period required for a degree, he
was appointed assistant medical officer on the U. S. steamer Mingo, of
the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. On her he passed a number of
months, cruising off the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia, and
ascended the St. John river.

These active duties prevented him from receiving his degree of Doctor of
Medicine until after the close of the war, when, in 1866, his diploma
was conferred upon him by the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia,
one of the most renowned institutions of our country.

After graduation, he opened an office in Philadelphia, and connected
himself with the clinics which are held at the College for the purpose
of supplying medicine and medical advice to the poor gratuitously, as
well as for giving students an opportunity of witnessing various forms
of disease. The practical experience he gained in this manner was
considerable, and his natural ability soon recommended him to the
authorities of the institution, who appointed him Chief of Medical
Clinic of the College, a position he held for several years.

One of the advantages of this post was that it brought him into constant
communion with many eminent medical men, and rendered him practically
acquainted with their treatment of disease. His skill in phonography
enabled him to take abundant notes of their lectures, and this led to
his early connection with the periodical literature of the profession.
Most of the reports he drew up were published in the _Medical and
Surgical Reporter_, a weekly journal, devoted to medical science,
published in Philadelphia. The series of reports commenced in April,
1866, and continued, with slight interruptions, until June, 1870. They
are characterized by a clear and correct style, and a manifestly
thorough grasp of the numerous topics treated.

The success which these ephemeral writings obtained turned his thoughts
in the direction of authorship. His tastes and associations led him to
employ his powers in two directions: first, in preparing for the general
public a series of works which would acquaint them with anatomy,
physiology, hygiene, sanitary science, nursing, and the management of
disease, to the extent that intelligent general readers can and ought to
know about these subjects; and secondly, in writing for professional men
several treatises on the means of alleviating and curing diseases.

In the prosecution of the first mentioned of these plans, he was early
impressed with the utter absence of any treatise on the hygiene of the
sexual life in either sex, written in the proper spirit by a scientific
man. The field had been left to quacks or worse, who, to serve their
own base ends, scattered inflammatory and often indecent pamphlets over
the land; or else, had one or more of the points been handled by
reputable writers, it was in such a vague and imperfect manner that the
reader gained little benefit from the perusal. While all agreed that a
sound treatise on these topics was most desirable, it had been openly
averred that it could not be written in a proper style for the general
public.

Strong in the conviction that pure motives, literary tact, and the
requisite scientific knowledge qualified him to undertake this difficult
task, Dr. Napheys prepared, in the early months of 1869, his work on
"The Physical Life of Woman." Proceeding with caution, he first
submitted the MSS. to some professional friends, and profited by their
suggestions. After the work was in type, and before publication, he sent
complete copies to a number of gentlemen, eminent as medical teachers,
clergymen, educators, and literateurs. Their replies left him in no
doubt but that he had succeeded even beyond his anticipations. Almost
unanimously the opinions were complimentary in the highest degree, and
evidently written after a close examination of the book. As many of
these have been printed to accompany the work, in the last and previous
editions, it is needless to do more in this connection than to say that
they were penned by such judges as Dr. W. A. Hammond, late
Surgeon-General U. S. Army; Dr. Harvey L. Byrd, Professor in the Medical
Department of Washington University, Md.; Dr. Edwin M. Snow, Health
Officer of the City of Providence, R. I.; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev.
Horace Bushnell, D.D., Rev. George A. Crooke, D.D., D.C.L., and others.

On its appearance, the work was received with enthusiasm by both the
medical press and the public. While a few journals and individuals were
inclined to condemn it and censure the author, the intelligent and the
pure-minded, on all sides, recognized in him the only writer who had yet
appeared able to treat these delicate subjects with the dignity of
science and the straightforwardness necessary for popular instruction.

Satisfied that he had chosen the proper exercise for his talents, he
composed and placed in the hands of his publisher, the following year,
his not less extraordinary work, "The Transmission of Life," a treatise
addressed to the male, as his previous one had been to the female sex.
It was dedicated to the late Rev. John Todd, so well known for his
interest in young men, and his "Student's Manual" and other works
addressed to them. He accepted the dedication and addressed the author a
letter, in which occurs the following high compliment to his work: "I am
surprised at the extent and accuracy of your reading; the judiciousness
of your positions and results; the clear, unequivocal, yet delicate and
appropriate language used; and the amount of valuable information
conveyed." Similar expressions poured in from many other distinguished
critics, as, for instance, Dr. Noah Porter, President of Yale College;
the Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, the Rev. Abner Jackson, President of
Trinity College, Hartford, etc.

In the same year (1870) he brought out the first edition of his "Modern
Therapeutics," a technical work, addressed to physicians. This was
enlarged in successive editions, until in its present form, as continued
by other hands in its latest editions, it comprises two parts of 600
pages each. Although the author claimed little other originality in this
work than the selection and arrangement of known facts, yet in these
respects he displayed the strongly practical and original turn of his
mind. As a student of the art of Therapeutics in large hospitals,
clinics, and dispensaries, he had convinced himself that it is not by
experiments on lower animals, nor yet on the human body in health, that
the physician can attain the glorious power of alleviating pain and
curing disease; it is only through the daily combat with sickness, by
the bedside and in the consulting room. Chemistry and physiology, he
believed, could teach but little in this branch; observation and
experience everything. Hence, in his work on Therapeutics he announced
himself as "aiming at a systematic analysis of all current and approved
means of combating disease," selecting his formulae and therapeutical
directions from the most eminent living physicians of all nations.

This work was most favorably received by medical men; and, edited and
revised by competent hands, continues to be regarded as one of the most
valuable works in American medical literature. The unanimous opinion of
the leading medical journals, as well as of its numerous purchasers,
have testified to its real and great worth to the practitioner of
medicine.

Having thus established a wide, popular and professional reputation, one
which would have guaranteed him a lucrative practice, it would have
tempted another, no doubt, to make the most of this opportunity, so
rarely granted a young physician. Not so was it with Dr. Napheys. No
sooner had the three works mentioned been completed than he sailed for
Europe, in order to familiarize himself with the famed schools of
learning of the Old World and its rich stores of material for culture.
The summer was that of the Franco-German war; and spending most of it in
Paris, he was witness of several of the most exciting scenes which
attended the dethronement of the Emperor. These he would describe
afterwards with a vividness and power of language rarely excelled.

The excitement of the period did not, however, withdraw his attention
from the studies he had in view. These were partially indicated in a
series of letters he contributed to various periodicals during his
absence. While these letters were principally of a scientific character,
it is noteworthy how the relations of medicine to the welfare of man
always occupied his attention. Thus we find, in one sent from England,
June, 1870, a description of the Liverpool Medical Missionary Society,
a charity which combines religious instruction with medical advice; and
again, he comments on the popular instruction in hygiene which was
supplied at that period to the English workingmen by a committee of
competent physicians, organized for that purpose. It was the author's
purpose to collect and expand these letters into a volume, but the
project was not carried out.

The siege of Paris, which city he left in one of the last trains before
the blockade commenced, and the prolongation of the war, induced him to
return home. In the United States he found offers from several
publishers awaiting him, which would more than occupy him for a full
year. There was a new edition of his "Therapeutics" demanded, and a
revision of both "The Physical Life of Woman" and "The Transmission of
Life." A New England firm urgently pressed him to superintend the
production of several hygienic works, and secured him as literary
adviser to their house. He assumed the editorship of the "Half-Yearly
Compendium of Medical Science," and also of a "Physician's Annual,"
besides undertaking a number of articles for the periodical press, both
scientific and popular.

To this active literary life he devoted the year 1871; but at its close
felt more strongly than ever that he must give himself several years of
studious quiet, in order to accomplish his best. Refusing, therefore,
any further engagements, he sailed for Europe again, late in 1871, and
did not return this time until the spring of 1875. In this period, of
more than three years, he visited almost all the principal cities of
Europe, and enjoyed the friendship of many eminent men at London, St.
Petersburg, Vienna, and Paris. Reading, visiting hospitals, and
attending clinics, he accumulated a mass of material which he designed
to work up into future literary enterprises.

With these collected stores he returned to the United States early in
1875, and set to work with his wonted energy. A new and much enlarged
edition of the "Therapeutics" was sent to press; a "Handbook of Popular
Medicine," designed to give, in simple language, the domestic treatment
of disease, the rules for nursing the sick, selected receipts for diet
and medicinal purposes, and the outlines of anatomy and physiology, was
put in the hands of a publisher; a Synopsis of Pharmacy and Materia
Medica, a work of enormous labor, was well under way; and other literary
projects were actively planned; when, suddenly, the summons came which,
in an instant, with the shears of fate, slit the strand of this
activity. The rest of the story may be told in the words of the
biographer appointed by the Medical Society of the County of
Philadelphia to prepare a memoir of his life:--

"While earnestly laboring to prepare for the press his literary
collections, he suffered a severe blow by the sudden death of a person
to whom he was deeply attached. Over-work and this emotional shock
produced a result likely enough to occur in one of his ardent
temperament. One afternoon, while engaged in writing, he fell,
unconscious, from his chair, and for several days lay in a very critical
condition. On recovering his powers, it was evident his brain had
suffered a serious lesion. The old energy and love of labor had
completely gone; even the capacity for work seemed absent. Marked
melancholy followed, characterized before long by avoidance of friends
and the loss of a desire of life. This occurred with increasing force
until it led to his death, on July 1, 1876, through some toxic agent,
the nature of which was not ascertained.

"Thus early, and thus sadly, terminated a career of unusual brilliancy
and promise.

"It is probable that much that he has written will be read with pleasure
and instruction by future generations; and the memory of his genial
disposition, his entertaining conversation, and earnest sense of
professional honor, will long be cherished by those of his
contemporaries who enjoyed his friendship."--_Transactions of the
Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania_, vol. xi, p. 720.

Various tributes were paid to his memory by the societies with which he
was connected, and by the scientific journals to which he had been a
contributor. One of these, after narrating some of the circumstances
attending his decease, spoke as follows:--

"Thus did our unfortunate associate close his short but brilliant
career. The emotions, the tender sentiments he has described with such a
magical pen, he felt himself with an unmatched keenness. They mastered
his whole frame with an intensity surpassing all romance. His
descriptions of the passions, descriptions which have been the wonder of
thousands, such is their fire and temper, were not rhetorical studies,
but the ebullition of a soul sensitive to their lightest breath, and not
shunning their wildest tempests.

"The genius which dictated the lines he has left us is not to be judged
by the conventionalities which suit the cold temperaments of ordinary
men; there is a strong vein of egotism in most devotion; but here was
one who felt, 'all is lost, when love is lost.'"

This extract well sets forth the extraordinary depth of his sentiments,
and the fervor of his feelings. It may be added that these mental traits
were not generally ascribed to him by casual or ordinary associates. He
was, in manners and bearing, evidently not one who sought friendships or
displayed to the general gaze the current of his thoughts. Consequently,
of intimates he had but few, and was considered by those whose
intercourse with him was superficial, to be much more of an intellectual
than of an emotional type of character.

This impression was doubtless increased by the strongly practical turn
of his mind, which is conspicuous in all his works. He was the reverse
of a dreamer and had little patience with theorists. In his professional
study he always aimed at bringing into the strongest light the
utilitarian aspect of medicine, its ameliorating power on humanity, its
real efficacy in preserving or restoring health and limiting human
misery. On this his theory of therapeutics was based, and, inspired by
the same opinions, he was one of the most earnest advocates of the day
of popularizing medical science in all its branches among the masses. In
this effort he was at times severely criticized by that class of
physicians--and they are by no means extinct--who think that medicine
should be wrapped in mystery, and that the people should be kept in
ignorance of themselves and of their own physical frailties, to the
utmost possible extent. With these learned obscurantists Dr. Napheys had
no patience, and naturally found but slight favor. Fortunately, they
were in the decided minority, and, we are happy to add, even that
minority is daily decreasing.

Of the various learned societies to which he was attached may be
mentioned the Philadelphia County Medical Society, the Franklin
Institute of Philadelphia, and the Gynecological Society of Boston. His
election as Corresponding Member to the latter body (which is an
association of scientific men who make an especial study of the hygiene
and diseases of women) took place shortly after the first publication of
the _Physical Life of Woman_, and was meant as a direct tribute of
respect to him as the author of that work, thus obtaining for it the
testimony of the highest body in that specialty then existing in our
land.

The general plan on which Dr. Napheys prepared his sanitary writings was
one eminently calculated to reconcile those who were most opposed to
instructing the general public in such branches. While he confidently
believed that vastly more harm than good is done by a prudish
concealment of the physiology of sex and its relations to health, he
also clearly recognized that such instruction should be imparted at the
proper age and under certain limitations; while the general facts common
to the species cannot be taught too generally, or made too familiar.
Hence, he projected three books, one to be placed in the hands of young
women, a second for youths, and a third for a general household book of
reading and reference on medicine and hygiene. These three he completed
in "The Physical Life of Woman," "The Transmission of Life," and the
"Handbook of Popular Medicine."

This plan, he believed, met all the objections to popular medical
instruction, at least all well-grounded objections, while at the same
time it did away with any necessity for concealing truths important to
be known, for fear they should come to the knowledge of those for whom
they were not designed, and on whose minds they might have a disturbing
tendency.

There can be no doubt but that both the plan and its execution were
successful. The many letters he received, filled with thanks from
private parties who had gained inestimable knowledge from these works,
made rich compensation for the occasional severe strictures he received
from those wedded to ancient ways, and who often condemned without even
reading his works.

The intelligent reading public, on whom, after all, the writer must
depend for a verdict on his works, were unanimous in his favor. They
bought them in quantities, and the writer of his life in the
_Transactions of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society_, above quoted,
who wrote in 1877, estimates that by that time over _a quarter of a
million_ copies had been printed and sold. Translations were made into
the German, and several editions pirated and printed in Canada and
England. In fact, the works may now be considered to rank as classics in
the language, and many years must go by before another such series can
be written, on topics of this nature, with equal delicacy of touch and
accuracy of knowledge.




CONTENTS.


INTRODUCTORY.
                                                                      PAGE

    Knowledge is safety--The peculiarities of sex--Examples of
    individuals belonging to both sexes and to neither sex--The
    sphere of woman                                                  15-22


Part I. THE MAIDEN.

PUBERTY                                                               22-52

    What it means--Age when it arrives--Causes that hasten it--Causes
    that delay it--Brunettes mature early--The signs of puberty--Its
    dangers--Spinal disease--Green sickness--Hysterics--Secret bad
    habits--Hygiene of puberty--Diet--Exercise--Clothing--Precautions
    during the monthly changes--Between the monthly changes--What to
    do when the changes are delayed--When they are painful--The age
    of nubility.


LOVE                                                                  52-89

    Its power in life--What it is--It is necessary and it is
    eternal--Of second marriages and of divorce--Courtship--Love at
    first sight--How to choose a husband--Shall cousins marry?--Marriage
    between different races and different nations--The proper age of a
    husband--His temperament--His moral and mental character--Words of
    warning--Signs of character on the body--The engagement--Concerning
    long engagements--The right time of year to marry--The right time
    in the month to marry--The wedding tour.


Part II. THE WIFE.


HINTS TO YOUNG WIVES                                                 90-132

    The wedding night--Should husband and wife sleep together or
    apart?--The most healthful bed--The dignity and propriety of the
    sexual instinct--The proper indulgence and the restraint
    of sexual desire--Marital relations, when they should be
    suspended--When they are painful--Barrenness, its causes and its
    cures--Advice to wives who desire children--The limitation of
    offspring--When it is proper--Justifiable means--Injurious
    means--The crime of abortion--The nature of conception--Signs of
    conception--How to retain the affections of a husband.


INHERITANCE                                                         132-166

    The varieties of inheritance--The legacy of beauty--The
    complexion--What physical qualities each parent bestows--The
    inheritance of fertility and longevity--Even deformities
    sometimes transmitted--How to have beautiful children--Talent and
    genius may be transmitted--The physical traits of fathers in
    daughters, and of mothers in sons--Examples--Influence of
    education on inherited qualities--Transmission of disease--Of
    mutilations--How to avoid inherited ill tendencies--The excess of
    women--How to have boys or girls at will--Twins and triplets.


PREGNANCY                                                           167-218

    Veneration of the pregnant woman--Signs of pregnancy--Quickening
    --Mental changes--Miscarriage, its causes, symptoms, and
    prevention--Mother's marks--What makes them?--How to avoid
    them--Education of the child in the womb--Are double pregnancies
    possible?--Instances of double children--Can a child cry in the
    womb?--Is it a son or a daughter?--Are there twins present?--The
    duration of pregnancy--How to calculate when the confinement will
    come--Care of health during pregnancy--The food, clothing,
    exercise, bathing, ventilation, and sleep--Effect on health of
    body and mind--Relations of husband and wife during pregnancy.


THE CONFINEMENT                                                     219-242

    Preparations for childbirth--The signs of approaching labor--The
    symptoms of actual labor--Attention is required during labor--To
    the mother--To the child--To have labor without pain--The risks
    of childbed--Weight and length of new-born children--The duration
    of labor--Stillborn children--Imprudence after childbirth--To
    preserve the form after childbirth.


Part III. THE MOTHER.


NURSING                                                             243-270

    The duties and privileges of a mother--Hindrances to nursing, and
    when it is improper--Rules for nursing--Influence of diet on the
    mother's milk--Influence of pregnancy on the milk--The mother's
    mind and her infant--Striking examples--Position of the mother
    while nursing--Qualities of a good nursing mother--Excess and
    deficiency of the milk--Wet-nursing by virgins, aged women, and
    men--Rules for care of health while nursing--Relations of
    husband and wife at this time--Over-nursing and the signs
    of it--Directions for mothers who cannot nurse their own
    children--How to select a wet-nurse.


Part IV. THE CHILD.


THE CARE OF INFANCY                                                 271-324

    The causes of infant mortality--Bringing up by hand--Weaning,
    when and how to do it--Teething--Vaccination and re-vaccination
    --The food of infants and children--Concerning sleep in
    early life--The clothing of children, its pattern, amount,
    and quality--Bathing, ventilation, and exercise in early
    childhood--On learning to walk--The advantages of games and
    plays--On training the sight and hearing.


THE MANAGEMENT OF SOME DISEASES OF CHILDHOOD                        325-350

    How to recognize and treat croup--Head colds--Fits--Nose-bleed--
    Worms--Bed-wetting--Looseness of the bowels--Indigestion--Hints
    on home government--Is the race physically weaker?


Part V. HEALTH IN MARRIAGE.


DISEASES INCIDENT TO PREGNANCY                                      352-360

    Morning sickness--Pain in the abdomen--Varicose veins--Piles--
    Diarrhoea--Constipation--Cough--Wakefulness.


DISEASES INCIDENT TO CHILDBED AND NURSING                           361-385

    Puerperal mania--White-flowing--Milk-leg--Inward weakness--
    Various causes of weakness--Tight lacing one of them--Their
    treatment--Gathered breasts--Cracked nipples.


Part VI. THE SINGLE LIFE.


ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS OF                                         386-388


Part VII. THE CHANGE OF LIFE.


DISEASES AND HYGIENE OF                                             389-404

    What it is--Age when it comes--Signs and symptoms--Effects on the
    character--Those who suffer most--Diseases and discomforts
    attending--Precautions and remedies.

NOTES                                                               405-420

INDEX                                                               420-426




THE PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN.


_KNOWLEDGE IS SAFETY._

'Knowledge is power,' said the philosopher. The maxim is true; but here
is a greater truth: 'Knowledge is safety,'--safety amid the physical
ills that beset us,--safety amid the moral pitfalls that environ us.

Filled with this thought, we write this book. It is the Revelation of
Science to Woman. It tells her, in language which aims at nothing but
simplicity, the results which the study of her nature, as distinct from
that of man, has attained. We may call it her physical biography.

It is high time that such a book were written. The most absorbing
question of the day is the 'Woman Question.' The social problems of
chiefest interest concern her. And nowhere are those problems more
zealously studied than in America, which has thrown aside the trammels
of tradition, and is training its free muscles with intent to grapple
the untried possibilities of social life. Who can guide us in these
experiments? What master, speaking as one having authority, can advise
us? There is such a guide, such a master. The laws of woman's physical
life shape her destiny and reveal her future. Within these laws all
things are possible; beyond them, nothing is of avail.

Especially should woman herself understand her own nature. How many
women are there, with health, beauty, merriment, ay, morality too, all
gone, lost for ever, through ignorance of themselves! What spurious
delicacy is this which would hide from woman that which beyond all else
it behooves her to know? We repudiate it; and in plain, but decorous
language,--truth is always decorous,--we purpose to divulge those
secrets hidden hitherto under the technical jargon of science.


THE DISTINCTION OF THE SEXES.

The distinction of the sexes belongs neither to the highest nor to the
lowest forms of existence. Animals and vegetables of the humblest
character have no sex. So it is with spirits. Revelation implies that
beyond this life sexual characteristics cease. On one occasion the
Sadducees put this question to Christ: There was a woman who lawfully
had seven husbands, one after the other; now, at the resurrection, which
of these shall be her husband? or shall they all have her to wife? He
replied that hereafter there shall be neither marrying nor giving in
marriage, but that all shall be 'as the angels which are in heaven.'
Sexuality implies reproduction, and that is something we do not
associate with spiritual life.

It further implies imperfection, which is equally far from our hopes of
happiness beyond the grave. The polyp, which reproduces by a division of
itself, is in one sense more complete than we are. The man is in some
respects inferior to the woman; the woman in others is subordinate to
man. A happy marriage, a perfect union, they twain one flesh, is the
type of the independent, completed being. Without the other, either is
defective. 'Marriage,' said Napoleon, 'is strictly indispensable to
happiness.'

There is, in fact, a less difference between the sexes than is generally
believed. They are but slight variations from one original plan.
Anatomists maintain, with plausible arguments, that there is no part or
organ in the one sex but has an analogous part or organ in the other,
similar in structure, similar in position. Just as the right side
resembles the left, so does man resemble woman.

Let us see what differences there really are:

The frame of woman is shorter and slighter. In the United States the men
average five feet eight inches in height, and one hundred and forty-five
pounds in weight; the women, five feet two and a half inches in height,
and one hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight. Man has broad
shoulders and narrow hips; woman has narrow shoulders and broad hips.
Her skull is formed of thinner bones, and is in shape more like that of
a child. Its capacity, in proportion to her height, is very little less
than in man,--about one-fiftieth, it is said,--which, so far as
brain-power is concerned, may readily be made up by its finer texture.
Her shoulders are set farther back than in the other sex, giving her
greater breadth of chest in front. This is brought about by the
increased length of her collar-bone; and this is the reason why she can
never throw a ball or stone with the accuracy of a man. Graceful in
other exercises, here she is awkward.

Her contour is more rounded, her neck is longer, her skin smoother, her
voice softer, her hair less generally distributed over the body, but
stronger in growth than in man. She breathes with the muscles of her
chest--he with those of his abdomen. He has greater muscular force--she
more power of endurance. Beyond all else she has the attributes of
maternity,--she is provided with organs to nourish and protect the child
before and after birth.


PERSONS OF BOTH SEXES AND OF NEITHER SEX.

Nature is very sedulous in maintaining these differences. It is the
rarest thing in the world to find a human being of doubtful sex. Many a
physician disbelieves that there ever has been a person of both sexes--a
true hermaphrodite. They are very scarce, but they do exist. There is
one now living in Germany. It bears a female name, Catherine Hohmann.
She was baptised and brought up a female; but Catherine is as much man
as woman. The learned professor of anatomy, Rokitansky, of Vienna,
asserts most positively that this is a real hermaphrodite. Her history
is sad. Born in humble circumstances, when of marriageable age she loved
a man, who wished her to emigrate with him to America. But when she
disclosed to him her deformity, he broke off the engagement and deserted
her. Then her affection became fixed on a young girl; but how could she
make her suit to one apparently of her own sex? With passions that
prompt her to seek both sexes, she belongs to neither. 'What shall I do
here on earth?' she exclaimed, in tears, to a man of science who
recently visited her. 'What am I? In my life an object of scientific
experiment, and after my death an anatomical curiosity.'

There are also persons--very few indeed--who have no sex at all. They
are without organs and without passions. Such creatures seem to have
been formed merely to show us that this much-talked-of difference of sex
is, after all, nothing inherent in the constitution of things, and that
individuals may be born, live and thrive, of both sexes, or of neither.


THE SPHERE OF WOMAN.

Our province lies within the physical sphere of woman. But we will here
allow ourselves a momentary digression. It will be seen that while these
differences are not radical, yet they are peculiarly permanent. They
hint to us the mental and intellectual character of woman. What opinion
should we hold on this much-vexed question?

To this effect: The mental faculties of man and woman are unlike, but
not unequal. Any argument to the contrary, drawn from the somewhat less
weight of the brain of woman, is met by the fact that the most able men
are often undersized, with small heads. The subordinate place which
woman occupies in most states, arises partly from the fact that the part
she plays in reproduction prevents her from devoting her whole time and
energies to the acquisition of power, and partly from the fact that
those faculties in which she is superior to man have been obscured and
oppressed by the animal vigor and selfishness of the male. As
civilisation advances, the natural rights of woman will be more and more
freely conceded, until the sexes become absolutely equal before the law;
and, finally, her superiority in many respects will be granted, and she
will reap the benefits of all the advantages it brings, without desiring
to encroach on those avocations for which masculine energy and strength
are imperatively needed.

The most peculiar features of woman's life are hers for a limited period
only. Man is man for a longer time than woman is woman. With him it is a
lifetime matter; with her it is but for a score of years or so. Her
child-bearing period is less than half her life. Within this time she
passes through all the phases of that experience which is peculiarly her
own.

And these phases, what are they? Nature herself defines them. They are
three in number,--the Maiden, the Wife, and the Mother. In one and then
another of this triad, her life passes. Each has its own duties and
dangers; each demands its own precautions; each must be studied by
itself.

Let us at once commence this important study, and proceed in the order
of time.




THE MAIDEN.


_PUBERTY._

At a certain period in the life of the female, she ceases to be a girl,
and becomes a _woman_. Hitherto she has felt no distinction between
herself and the boys, her playmates. But now a crisis takes place, which
is for ever after to hedge her round with a mysterious, invisible, but
most real barrier from all _man_kind.

This period is called _the age of puberty_. Its sign is a flow of blood
recurring every month; its meaning, that the female has entered upon
that portion of her life whose peculiar obligations are to the whole
race--no longer to herself alone. The second part of her twofold nature
is opened. Why is it that on her, the weaker sex, this extra burden is
laid? Why this weakness, these pains, this recurring loss of vital
fluid?

Perhaps, as has been observed, it is a wise provision that she is thus
reminded of her lowly duty, lest man should make her the sole object of
his worship, or lest the pride of beauty should obscure the sense of
shame. But this question concerns rather the moralist than the
physician, and we cease asking _why_ it is, and shall only inquire
_what_ it is.

To this science returns a clear reply. In the anatomy of woman there are
two small bodies, in shape and size like large almonds, called the
ovaries. They lie one on each side of the womb, and are connected with
it by tubes about four inches in length. These bodies are solid, but
contain a great number of diminutive vesicles, which, by some mysterious
law of nature, mature one at a time, every thirty days, for thirty years
of woman's life. When mature, the vesicle separates from the ovary,
traverses the tube into the womb, and is thence expelled and lost, or
becomes, by contact with the other sex, the germ of a living being. This
process is accompanied by a disturbance of the whole system. Wandering
pains are felt; a sense of languor steals over the mind; the blood
rushes with increased violence through the vessels, and more or less of
it escapes from the veins, causing that change which we term
_menstruation._

The ancients had a tradition that in the beginning of things the world
was made from an egg; the naturalists of past generations had this
maxim: Everything living comes from an egg; and science to-day says the
same. For this vesicle we have mentioned is in fact an _egg_, similar in
structure to those which birds, fish, and turtles deposit. The only
differences are, that the one is developed out of the body, the other
within; the one has a shell, the other has none.

Therefore physiologists give this definition: Menstruation is
ovulation,--it is the laying of an egg.


WHAT IS THE AGE OF PUBERTY?

This has been a matter of careful study by physicians. They have
collected great numbers of observations, and have reached this
conclusion: In the middle portion of the temperate zone, the average age
when the first period appears in healthy girls is fourteen years and six
months. If it occurs more than six months later or earlier than this,
then it is likely something is wrong, or, at least, the case is
exceptional.

Exceptional cases, where this average is widely departed from in
apparently perfect health, are rare. But they do occur. We have known
instances where the solicitude of parents has been excited by the long
delay of this constitutional change, and others in which it has taken
place at an almost tender age, without causing any perceptible injury to
the general health.

There is an instance recorded, on good authority, where a French child
but three years old underwent all the physical changes incident to
puberty, and grew to be a healthy woman. But what children can surpass
the American in precocity? This French child-woman is quite left in the
shade by one described in a recent number of a western medical journal,
who _from her birth_ had regular monthly changes, and the full physical
development which marks the perfect woman!

Thus, sometimes, a wide deviation from the average age we have stated
occurs, without having any serious meaning. Yet at no time is such a
deviation to be neglected. In nine out of ten instances it is owing to
some fault in the constitution, the health, or formation, which should
be ascertained and corrected. Otherwise years of broken health and
mental misery may be the sad results. Mothers, teachers, it is with you
this responsibility rests. The thousands of wretched wives, who owe
their wretchedness to a neglect of proper attention at this
turning-point of their lives, warn you how serious is this
responsibility.

The foundation of old age, says a distinguished author, is laid in
childhood; but the health of middle-life depends upon puberty. Never was
there a truer maxim. The two years which change the girl to the woman
often seal for ever the happiness or the hopeless misery of her whole
life. They decide whether she is to become a healthy, helpful, cheerful
wife and mother, or a languid, complaining invalid, to whom marriage is
a curse, children an affliction, and life itself a burden.

We reiterate our warning: Mothers, teachers, you to whom children are
confided at this crisis of their lives, look well to it that you
appreciate, understand, and observe the duties you have assumed. Let no
false modesty prevent you from learning and enforcing those precautions,
so necessary at this period of life.


WHAT HASTENS AND WHAT RETARDS PUBERTY?

As a rule, we find that those who develope early, fade early. A short
childhood portends a premature old age. It often foreshadows, also, a
feeble middle-life.

Having ascertained, therefore, what is the average age at which puberty
takes place with us, let us see what conditions anticipate or retard
this age.

The most important is _climate._

In hot climates, man, like the vegetation, has a surprising rapidity of
growth. Marriages are usual at twelve or fourteen years of age. Puberty
comes to both sexes as early as at ten and eleven years. We even read in
the life of Mohammed, that one of his wives, when but ten years of age,
bore him a son. Let another dozen years pass, and these blooming maidens
have been metamorphosed into wrinkled, faded old women. The beauty of
their precocious youth has withered almost literally like a flower which
is plucked.

Very different is it in the cold and barren regions of the far north.
There man, once more partaking of the nature of his surroundings, yields
as slowly to the impulses of his passions as does the ice-bound earth to
the slanting rays of the summer sun. Maturity, so quick to come, so
swift to leave in the torrid heats, arrives, chilled by the long
winters, to the girls of Lapland, Norway, and Siberia, only when they
are eighteen and nineteen years of age. But, in return for this, they
retain their vigor and good looks to a green old age.

Between these extremes, including as they do the whole second decade of
existence, this important change takes place normally in different
latitudes. We have said that in the middle temperate zone the proper age
is fourteen years and six months. Let us now see what conditions lead to
deviations from this age in our climate.

First on the list is that sacred fire handed down to us from our
ancestors, which we call, in our material language, the _constitution._

The females of certain races, certain families, it is often noticed,
mature earlier than their neighbours. Jewesses, for example, are always
precocious, earlier by one or two years. So are colored girls, and those
of creole lineage. We can guess the reasons here. No doubt these
children still retain in their blood the tropic fire which, at
comparatively recent periods, their forefathers felt under the vertical
rays of the torrid zone.

Nor is this all. It is well ascertained, from numerous observations,
that brunettes develope sooner than their blonde sisters; that those who
will grow to be large women are slower than those whose stature will be
small; that the dark-haired and black-eyed are more precocious in this
respect than the light-haired and blue-eyed; that the fat, sluggish girl
is more tardy than the slender, active one; that, in general, what is
known as the nervo-bilious temperament is ever ahead of that called the
lymphatic or phlegmatic.

It is a familiar fact, that it is not a good sign to see this change
before the usual average time. It betokens a weakly, excitable,
diminutive frame. Hard labor, vigorous, regular muscular exertion--prime
health, in other words--never tends to anticipate this epoch, but rather
to retard it.

With this warning fresh in our ears, let us now rehearse what causes
constantly incline unduly to hasten puberty, and thus to forestall wise
Nature in her plans for health and beauty. They are of two
kinds,--physical and mental.

Idleness of body, highly-seasoned food, stimulating beverages, such as
beer, wine, liqueurs, and, in a less degree, coffee and tea, irregular
habits of sleep,--these are the physical causes of premature
development. But the mental causes are still more potent.

Whatever _stimulates the emotions_ leads to an unnaturally early sexual
life. Late hours, children's parties, sensational novels, 'flashy'
papers, love stories, the drama, the ball-room, talk of beaux, love, and
marriage,--that atmosphere of riper years which is so often and so
injudiciously thrown around childhood,--all hasten the event which
transforms the girl into the woman. A particular emphasis has been laid
by some physicians on the power of music to awaken the dormant
susceptibilities to passion, and on this account its too general or
earnest cultivation by children has been objected to. Educators would do
well to bear this caution in mind.

How powerfully these causes work is evident when we compare the average
age of puberty in large cities and in country districts. The females in
the former mature from six to eight months sooner than those in the
latter. This is unquestionably owing to their mode of life,--physically
indolent, mentally over-stimulated. The result, too, is seen with
painful plainness in comparing the sturdy, well-preserved farm-wife of
thirty, with the languid, pale, faded city lady of the same age.


THE CHANGES IT WORKS.

Two short years change the awkward and angular girl of fourteen into the
trim and graceful maiden of sweet sixteen. Wonderful metamorphosis! The
magic wand of the fairy has touched her, and she comes forth a new
being, a vision of beauty to bewitch the world.

Let us analyze this change.

The earliest sign of approaching puberty is a deposit of fat in the
loose cellular tissue under the skin. This gives roundness to the form,
and grace to the movements. According to a distinguished naturalist
(Buffon), it is first observable by a slight swelling of the groins.
Thence it extends over the whole body. The breasts especially receive
additions, and develope to form the perfect bust.

Parts of the body previously free from hair become covered with a soft
growth, and that which covers the head acquires more vigor and gloss,
usually becoming one or two shades darker. The eyes brighten, and
acquire unwonted significance. These windows of the soul betray to the
close observer the novel emotions which are arising in the mind within.

The voice, too, shares in the transformation. The piping, slender
articulation of the child gives way to the rich, melodious, soft voice
of woman--the sweetest music man ever hears. To the student of humanity,
to the observant physician, nothing is more symbolical of the whole
nature than the voice. Would you witness a proof of its power? Watch
how a person born blind unerringly discriminates the character of those
he meets by this alone.

Beyond all external modifications, we find others, which indicate how
profound is the alteration now taking place. The internal organs of the
body assume new functions and new powers. The taste for food changes,
hinting that the system has demands hitherto unknown. Those organs we
have adverted to, called the ovaries, increase in size, as also does the
uterus. The very framework of the structure does not escape. The bones
increase in weight, and those around the hips expand, and give the
female her distinctive form, upon the perfection of which her life and
that of her children depend.


MENTAL CHANGES.

Such are the changes which strike the eye. But there are others which
are not less significant, and which demand far more urgently our
watchful heed. New thoughts, strange desires, are invading the soul. A
novel relation is assumed to the world. It is vague, misunderstood, but
disturbing all the same.

The once light-hearted girl inclines to reveries; she seeks solitude;
her mother surprises her in causeless tears; her teacher discovers an
unwonted inattention to her studies, a less retentive memory, a
disinclination to mental labor; her father misses her accustomed
playfulness; he, perhaps, is annoyed by her listlessness and inertia.
What does it all mean? What is the matter with the girl?

Mother, teacher, father, it is for you to know the answers to these
questions. You have guarded this girl through years of helpless infancy
and thoughtless childhood. At the peril of her life, and of what is of
more value than life, do not now relax your vigilance. Every day the
reaper Death reaps with his keen sickle the flowers of our land. The
mothers weep, indeed; but little do they realize that it is because they
have neglected to cherish them as was their duty, that the Lord of
Paradise has taken them back unto Himself.


THE COMPLETION OF PUBERTY.

The symptoms increase until at length the system has acquired the
necessary strength, and furnished itself with reserve forces enough to
complete its transformation. Then the monthly flow commences.

In thoroughly healthy girls it continues to recur at regular intervals,
from twenty-five to thirty days apart. This is true of about three out
of four. In others, a long interval, sometimes six months, occurs
between the first and second sickness. If the general health be not _in
the least_ impaired, this need cause no anxiety. Irregularities are
found in the first year or two, which often right themselves afterwards.
But whenever they are associated with the _slightest_ signs of mental or
bodily disorder, they demand instant and intelligent attention.

It used to be supposed that the periods of the monthly sickness were in
some way connected with the phases of the moon. So general is this
belief even yet in France, that a learned Academician not long since
thought it worth while carefully to compare over four thousand
observations, to see whether they did bear any relations to the lunar
phases. It is hardly worth while to add that he found none.

We have known perfectly healthy young women who were ill every sixteen
days, and others in whom a period of thirty-five or thirty-six days
would elapse. The reasons of such differences are not clear. Some
inherited peculiarity of constitution is doubtless at work. Climate is
of primary importance. Travellers in Lapland, and other countries in the
far north, say that the women there are not regulated more frequently
than three or four times a year. Hard labor and a phlegmatic temperament
usually prolong the interval between the periodical illnesses.

An equal diversity prevails in reference to the _length of time_ the
discharge continues. The average of a large number of cases observed in
healthy women, between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five, is four days
and a fraction. In a more general way, we may say from two to six days
is the proper duration. Should it diverge widely from this, then it is
likely some mischief is at work.

In relation to the _amount_ of the discharge, every woman is a law unto
herself. Usually, it is four or five ounces in all. Habits of life are
apt to modify it materially. Here, again, those exposed to prolonged
cold and inured to severe labor escape more easily than their sisters
petted in the lap of luxury. Delicate, feeble, nervous women--those, in
other words, who can least afford the loss of blood--are precisely those
who lose the most. Nature, who is no tender mother, but a stern
step-mother, thus punishes them for disregarding her laws. Soft
couches, indolent ease, highly spiced food; warm rooms, weak
muscles,--these are the infractions of her rules which she revenges with
vigorous, ay, merciless severity.

It is well known, too, that excitement of the emotions, whether of
anger, joy, grief, hatred, or love increases the discharge. Even the
vulgar are aware of this, and, misinterpreting it as half-knowledge
always does, suppose it a sign of stronger animal passions. It bears no
such meaning. But the fact reads us a lesson how important it is to
cultivate a placid mind, free from strong desire or fear, and to hold
all our emotions in the firm leash of reason.

Physicians attach great importance to the _character_ of the discharge.
It should be thin, watery, dark-coloured, and never clot. If it clots,
it is an indication that something is wrong.


THE DANGERS OF PUBERTY.

We have shown that there are constantly individual deviations, quite
consistent with health, from any given standard. They only become
significant of disease when they depart decidedly from the average,
either in the frequency of the illness, its duration, the amount of the
discharge, or the character. More or less pain, more or less prostration
and general disturbances at these epochs, are universal and inevitable.
They are part of the sentence which at the outset He pronounced upon the
woman, when He said unto her, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception.' Yet with merciful kindness He has provided means by
which the pain may be greatly lessened, and the sorrow avoided; and
that we may learn and observe these means, their neglect often increases
a hundred-fold the natural suffering.

At this critical period, the seeds of hereditary and constitutional
diseases manifest themselves. They draw fresh malignancy from the new
activity of the system. The first symptoms of tubercular consumption, of
scrofula, of obstinate and disfiguring skin diseases, of hereditary
insanity, of congenital epilepsy, of a hundred terrible maladies, which
from birth have lurked in the child, biding the opportunity of attack,
suddenly spring from their lairs, and hurry her to the grave or the
madhouse. If we ask why so many fair girls of eighteen or twenty are
followed by weeping friends to an early tomb, the answer is, chiefly
from diseases which had their origin at the period of puberty.

It is impossible for us here to rehearse all the minute symptoms, each
almost trifling in itself, which warn the practised physician of the
approach of one of these fearful foes in time to allow him to make a
defence. We can do little more than iterate the warning, that whenever,
at this momentous epoch, any disquieting change appears, be it physical
or mental, let not a day be lost in summoning _skilled_, _competent_
medical advice.

There is, however, a train of symptoms so frequent, so insidious, so
fruitful with agony of mind and body, that we shall mention them
particularly. They illustrate, at once, how all-important is close
observation, and how significant to the wise physician are trifles
seemingly light as air.

If you notice a girl of fourteen or sixteen, who, in walking, always
gives one arm in preference to the other to her companion; if, in
sleeping, she mostly lies on the same side; if, in sitting, she is apt
to prefer a chair with a low back, and throws one arm over its back; if
you perceive that she always sits with one foot a little in advance of
the other; if she, on inquiry, confesses to slight, wandering pains in
one side of her chest,--do not chide her for awkwardness. These are
ominous portents. They mean _spinal disease_, than which a more fearful
malady is hardly known to medicine.

Not less stealthy is the approach of disease of the hip-joint, of white
swelling of the knee, of consumption,--all curable if taken in hand at
the very first, all well-nigh hopeless when they have once unmasked
their real features.

Apart from these general dangers, to which those of thoroughly sound
constitutions are not exposed, there are disorders called functional, to
which all are subject.


GREEN SICKNESS.

When we speak of the 'green sickness,' we mention perhaps the most
common of all, and one of which every mother has heard. Doctors call it
_chlorosis_, which also means _greenness_; for one of its most common
and peculiar symptoms is a pale complexion with a greenish tinge.

It never occurs except at or near the age of puberty, and was long
supposed to be merely an impoverishment of the blood. Now, however, we
have learned that it is a disease of the nervous system, and one very
often confounded by physicians with other complaints.

Its attack is insidious. A distaste for exertion and society, a fitful
appetite, low spirits,--these are all the symptoms noticed at first.
Then, one by one, come palpitation of the heart, an unhealthy
complexion, irregularity, dyspepsia, depraved tastes,--such as a desire
to eat slate-pencil dust, chalk, or clay,--vague pains in body and
limbs, a bad temper; until the girl, after several months, is a peevish,
wretched, troublesome invalid.

Then, if a physician is called in, and gives her iron, and tells her
nothing is the matter, or is himself alarmed, and imagines she has heart
disease or consumption, it is a chance if she does not rapidly sink, out
of mere fright and over-much dosing, into some fatal complaint. Let it
be well understood that chlorosis, though often obstinate and obscure,
is always curable if properly and promptly treated. The remedies must be
addressed to the nervous system, and can be administered with
intelligence only by a competent medical adviser. It can be prevented by
a hygienic mode of life, and, as its most common causes are anxiety,
home-sickness, want of exercise, or overwork at school, nothing is so
salutary in its early stages as a change of air and scene, cheerful
company, a tour to the mountains or some watering-place, and regular
exercise.

Many young women suffer considerable pain during their monthly illness.
This may arise from many different causes, such as, congestion,
inflammation, malformation, or a wrong position of the parts, or
over-sensitive nerves. They can only be successfully treated when the
cause is known; and they may rest assured that this suffering, in nearly
every case, can be removed.

Sometimes a girl grows to the age of eighteen or twenty without having
her periodical changes. We have already said that this is not unusual in
some climates and in some families; so, as long as the general health is
good and the spirits cheerful,--always an important point,--it need
cause no anxiety. But if the health grow poor, and especially if there
be pains and weakness recurring monthly without discharge, then
something is wrong, and the doctor should be consulted.


HYSTERICS.

There is a disease of the nerves to which girls about the age of puberty
are very subject, particularly in the higher circles of society, where
their emotions are over-educated and their organization delicate. It is
called hysteria, and more commonly _hysterics_. Frequently it deceives
both doctor and friends, and is supposed to be some dangerous complaint.
Often it puts on the symptoms of epilepsy, or heart disease, or
consumption. We have witnessed the most frightful convulsions in girls
of fourteen or fifteen, which were brought on by this complaint.
Sometimes it injures the mind; and it should always receive prompt and
efficient attention, as it is always curable.

This disease is apt to produce a similar affection in other girls of the
same age who see the attacks. For this reason, hysterical girls should
not be sent to large schools, but cured at home. Often a strong mental
impression restores them. The anecdote is told of a celebrated surgeon
(Boerhaave) who was called to a female seminary where there was a number
of hysterical girls. He summoned them together, heated a number of iron
instruments before their eyes, and told them that the first one who had
a fit should be cauterized down the spine. They all recovered
immediately.


SECRET BAD HABITS.

We now approach a part of our subject which we would gladly omit, did
not constant experience admonish us of our duty to speak of it in no
uncertain tone. We refer to the disastrous consequences on soul and body
to which young girls expose themselves by exciting and indulging morbid
passions. Years ago, Miss Catherine E. Beecher sounded a note of warning
to the mothers of America on this secret vice, which leads their
daughters to the grave, the madhouse, or, worse yet, the brothel.

Gladly would we believe that her timely admonition had done away with
the necessity for its repetition. But though we believe such a habit is
more rare than many physicians suppose, it certainly exists to a degree
that demands attention. Surgeons have recently been forced to devise
painful operations to hinder young girls from thus ruining themselves;
and we must confess that, in its worst form, it is absolutely incurable.

The results of the constant nervous excitement which this habit produces
are bodily weakness, loss of memory, low spirits, distressing
nervousness, a capricious appetite, dislike of company and of study,
and finally, paralysis, imbecility, or insanity. Let it not be supposed
that there are many who suffer thus severely; but, on the other hand,
let it be clearly understood that any indulgence whatever in these evil
courses is attended with bad effects, especially because they create
impure desires and thoughts, which will prepare the girl to be a willing
victim to the arts of profligacy. There is no more solemn duty resting
on those who have the charge of young females than to protect them
against this vice.

But, it is exclaimed, is it not dangerous to tell them anything about
it? Such a course is unnecessary. Teach them that any handling of the
parts, any indecent language, any impure thought, is degrading and
hurtful. See that the servants, nurses, and companions with whom they
associate are not debased; and recommend scrupulous cleanliness.

If the habit is discovered, do not scold nor whip the child. It is
_often_ a result of disease, and induced by a disagreeable local
itching. Sometimes this is connected with a disorder of the womb, and
very frequently with worms in the bowels. Let the case be submitted to a
judicious, skilful medical adviser, and the girl will yet be saved. But
do not shut your eyes, and refuse to see this fact when it exists.
Mothers are too often unwilling to entertain for a moment the thought
that their daughters are addicted to such a vice, when it is only too
plain to the physician.


THE HYGIENE OF PUBERTY.

Concerning the maladies of puberty, we may broadly say, that if we are
obliged to have recourse to medicine, it is because we have neglected
hygiene. That the period requires assiduous care, we grant; but given
that care, drugs will be needless.

In a general way, we have already emphasized the danger of indolence and
the benefits of exercise or labor; the perils of exciting the emotions,
and the advantages of a placid disposition; the impropriety of premature
development, and the wisdom of simplicity and moderation. This is an old
story--a thrice-told tale. Let us go more into minutiae.

One of the most frequent causes of disease, about the age of puberty, is
_starvation_. Many a girl is starved to death. Food is given her, but
not of the right quality, or in insufficient quantity, or at improper
hours. The system is not nourished, and, becoming feeble, it is laid
open to the attacks of disease, and to no form of disease more readily
than to consumption.

To correct this, let the food be varied, simply prepared, and abundant.
Good fresh milk should be used daily, while tea and coffee should be
withheld. Fat meats and vegetable oils, generally disliked by girls at
this age, are exactly what they need; and were they partaken of more
freely, there would be less inquiry at the druggists for cod-liver oil.

A modern writer of eminence lays it down as one of the most common
causes of consumption in young people, that just at the age when their
physical system is undergoing such important changes, that invaluable
article of diet, _milk_, is generally dropped, and nothing equally rich
in nitrogen substituted in its place.

_Exercise_, whether as games, the skipping rope, croquet, walking,
dancing, riding, and calisthenics, or as regular labor, is highly
beneficial, especially when it leads one into the fresh air, the
sunshine, and the country. A particular kind of exercise is to be
recommended for those whose chests are narrow, whose shoulders stoop,
and who have a hereditary predisposition to consumption. If it is
systematically practised along with other means of health, we would
guarantee any child, no matter how many relatives have died of this
disease, against its invasion. It is voluntary inspiration. Nothing is
more simple. Let her stand erect, throw the shoulders well back, and the
hands behind; then let her slowly inhale pure air to the full capacity
of the lungs, and retain it a few seconds _by an increased effort_; then
it may be slowly exhaled. After one or two natural inspirations, let her
repeat the act, and so on for ten or fifteen minutes, twice daily. Not
only is this simple procedure a safeguard against consumption, but, in
the opinion of some learned physicians, it can even cure it when it has
already commenced.

At first the monthly loss of blood exhausts the system. Therefore,
plenty of food, plenty of rest, plenty of sleep, are required. That
ancient prejudice in favour of early rising should be discarded now, and
the girl should retire early, and if she will, should sleep late. Hard
study, care, or anxiety should be spared her. This is not the time for
rigid discipline.

_Clothing_ is a matter of importance, and, if we were at all sure of
attention, there is much we would say of it. The thought seriously
troubles us, that so long as women consent to deform themselves and
sacrifice their health to false ideas of beauty, it is almost hopeless
to urge their fitness for, and their right to a higher life than they
now enjoy. No educated painter or sculptor is ignorant of what the model
of female beauty is; no fashionable woman is content unless she departs
from it as far as possible.

Now beauty implies health, and ugliness of form is attained not only at
the expense of aesthetics, but of comfort. The custom of fastening
growing girls in tight corsets, of flattening their breasts with pads,
of distorting their feet in small high-heeled shoes, and of teaching
them to stoop and mince in gait, is calculated to disgust every observer
of good sense and taste, and, what is of more consequence, to render
these girls, when they become women, more liable to every species of
suffering connected with child-bearing.

The monthly change is the prelude to maternity. On its healthful
recurrence depends present comfort and future health; and not these
alone, but also happiness in marriage, easy child-beds, and the
constitution of children to a degree the thoughtless girl and even the
mature woman rarely understand. She, therefore, who neglects the due
care of her own condition, violates a duty owed to others as well as
herself. We would have mothers impress this on their daughters. Let no
mistaken modesty prevent them.

Especially at their commencement should the monthly changes be carefully
watched. The mother should prepare her daughter's mind betimes for such
an expected incident in her life, thus preventing a useless fright, or
the employment of injurious means to stop what the child may look upon
as an accident.

Nor should the maternal care cease here. Such tender sympathy should
exist on the one side, such trusting confidence on the other, that the
mother should acquaint herself with every detail of each recurring
period until the function is thoroughly established. She should inquire
into the duration of each epoch, the abundance of the discharge, the
presence of pain, and its effects on the general health. She should
convince herself that all these do not vary from the standards of health
we have previously laid down. Or should they do so, she should not delay
to use the proper means to bring them to that standard.

Long observation proves that if, during the first two or three years
which follow the attainment of puberty, the health of the girl is
successfully guarded, and this, her most important physical distinction,
meets with no derangement, her life-long health is well-nigh secured;
but, on the contrary, if she commences her sexual life with pain and
disorder, she is likely to be a life-long sufferer.

We are about to approach a topic of vital importance, therefore, in
summing up as briefly as may be, the precautions necessary to attain
this end. They can most conveniently be divided into those to be
observed during the monthly changes, and those more general rules of
health to be obeyed in the intervals of the periods.


PRECAUTIONS DURING THE MONTHLY CHANGES.

At the head of all cautions and warnings which we could give about the
care of the health at these monthly periods, we put _rest_, _rest_,
bodily and mental. _Do less than usual_, we say to all, whether the
necessity for it is manifest or not. Over-exertion is a most fruitful
cause of disease. Long walks, shopping, dancing, riding, hard work
whether for pleasure or profit, should be avoided to the utmost.

The advantages of rest cannot be over-estimated. A striking example of
it occurs to our mind. Most readers are aware how toilsome are the lives
of the Indian women among our Western tribes, and also how singularly
easy and almost painless is their child-bearing. The pangs of travail
are almost unknown to them. The cause of this has puzzled even
physicians. We can tell them. It is because it is an inviolable, a
sacred rule among all those tribes, for the woman, when having her
monthly sickness, to drop all work, absent herself from the lodge, and
remain in perfect rest as long as the discharge continues.

Traces of this wide-spread custom among primitive people, extended
themselves, are discoverable among civilized lands. The famous general
council of the Christian Church held at Nice in the fourth century,
passed a rule disapproving of women coming to church at the times of
their menstrual sickness. The cold and dampness of large edifices, the
mental excitement and its unfavourable effects and the exertion
requisite for long walks to and fro, would justify this rule on purely
hygienic grounds, and such may have caused its adoption.

A moderate and uniform temperature favors health at such epochs; while
exposure to heat or cold, and the drinking freely of iced water or
stimulants should be shunned.

The popular belief that bathing is hurtful, is correct so far as either
cold or hot baths are concerned; but it is well to know, in the
interests of comfort and cleanliness, that a moderately warm-bath, about
80 deg. Fahr., _will do no injury_. Such a bath can be taken without any
hesitation.

We sanction, also, another well-known rule, and that is, that no
purgative medicine should be taken immediately before or during the
change. If called for by some other disorder, a mild laxative is all
that should be administered, unless by the direction of a physician.


PRECAUTIONS IN THE INTERVALS OF THE MONTHLY CHANGES.

If girls suffer from irregularities in this respect, the causes can
generally be found either in some affection threatening the general
health, such as scrofula, consumption, green sickness, etc., or else in
their mode of life. For the former, the family physician must be
consulted; but if it is the latter which is at fault, the remedy is in
the hands of the parents.

Boarding-school life, city life, mental troubles--these are the three
fertile sources of disturbances in the sexual functions of girlhood.

No one rates at higher value than ourselves the training of the mind;
but we do not hesitate a moment to urge that if perturbations of the
functions become at all marked in a girl at school, she should be _taken
away_. Better live at home in seeming idleness a year at that time of
life, than become a dead-weight, through constant ill health, on her
husband in after life.

So of the unwholesome excitement of a city life. There is a poison in
crowds, and it acts in a thousand unseen ways. With the ceaseless noise,
the broken sleep, the late hours, the impure air, and the nervous
tension which all these produce, it requires no strength of imagination
to perceive that the city is not the best place for the delicate girl.

We have mentioned _mental troubles_. Perhaps there are, among those who
read this, some superficial enough to smile at the possibility of
serious mental troubles in girlhood. There are, we know, many unfeeling
enough to give them no attention when they do see them. But we have an
unfailing witness in the sympathetic heart of the mother. She has not
forgotten how bitter were the crosses of her own younger years; she
knows that the sensitive soul of woman wakes early to the keenest
appreciation of grief as well as joy. If anything, years blunt us, and
the sorrows of youth are often the bitterest of our lives.

Let the mother, therefore, read with her wondrous maternal instinct the
trials of her daughter; let her become her most intimate confidant, and
pour upon the wounded spirit that balm which none but a woman, and that
woman a mother, knows how to apply. Such a relationship of mother and
daughter is no less natural and wholesome than it is beautiful.


WHEN THE CHANGES ARE DELAYED.

In health an equal interval, or one nearly equal, elapses between the
monthly illnesses. Often in the spring, however, their appearance
anticipates the expected date of their occurrence, and in the autumn
they are frequently a day or two late. These variations are owing to the
temperature, heat accelerating and cold retarding the process of
ovulation.

Such slight irregularities need not give rise to anxiety; but if there
is an unwonted delay, combined with other symptoms of ill-health, as
headache, pain in the side and back, a sense of languor and exhaustion,
loss of appetite, and nausea, and fitful sleep, then it is important
that some steps be taken to bring on the courses. For this purpose,
soaking the feet in hot-mustard water, a tumbler of hot ginger or
camomile-tea, a brisk walk, or a gentle laxative will generally be found
sufficient. Gently kneading the lower abdomen and loins is a familiar,
and if intelligently done, a safe means for the same purpose.

More violent means than these should be eschewed. Whichever are used
subsequent to their employment, rest, in a recumbent position, in a
warm room should be secured.


WHEN THE CHANGES ARE PAINFUL.

There are wide individual differences in this respect. Some young women
suffer much from local pains, headache and languor at such epochs,
without apparently losing anything in general health; others experience
no distress whatever.

The causes of painful periods are various. Sometimes they depend on a
tendency to rheumatism or to ague. Over-work, or excessive devotion to
social duties and pleasures, is often their source. Cold and damp are
common incidental causes. Green sickness and general debility are
sometimes to blame.

Of course the treatment must depend on which one of these is present. It
is a good rule, however, always to wear flannel next the skin; also, to
avoid exposure to the weather for several days before the change is
expected. A large, hot, linseed-meal poultice, over which a
dessert-spoonful of laudanum has been sprinkled, or a large
mustard-plaster, spread on the lower abdomen, will afford much relief. A
hot brick or bottle of hot water wrapped in flannel, and applied to the
small of the back, is often of great service. Rest in bed is always to
be recommended. A tea-spoonful of sweet spirits of nitre will sometimes
bring early relief.

But if these simple means are not sufficient, it would be better to
consult a physician.

A common belief is that such troubles are cured by marriage. Sometimes
they are, but we do not approve the remedy. The state of marriage
should be entered upon in perfect health and full vigor. Upon it
depends the health of future generations, and it were better for them
did only those assume its bonds who are able to endow their children
with sound physical frames.


THE AGE OF NUBILITY.

It does not follow, because a girl is capable of marriage, that she is
fit for it. Science teaches us many valid objections to too early
unions. It goes farther, and fixes a certain age at which it is wisest
for woman to marry. This age is between twenty and twenty-five years.

Anatomists have learned that after puberty the bones of a woman's body
undergo important modifications to fit her for child-bearing. This
requires time, and before twenty the process is not completed. Until the
woman is perfect herself, until her full stature and completed form are
attained, she is not properly qualified to assist in perpetuating the
species.

We might urge that up to this moment neither does her self-knowledge
qualify her to choose a life-companion, nor can her education be
finished, nor is her experience sufficient for her to enter on the
duties of a matron. But we do not appeal to these arguments. There are
others still more forcible. If her own health, life, and good looks are
of value to her, if she has any wish for healthy, sound minded children,
she will refrain from premature nuptials.

A too youthful wife finds marriage not a pleasure but a pain. Her
nervous system is prostrated by it; she is more liable to weakness and
diseases of the womb; and if of a consumptive family, she runs great
risk of finding that fatal malady manifest itself after a year or two of
wedded life. It is very common for those who marry young to die young.

From statistics which have been carefully compiled, it is proven that
the first labors of very young mothers are much more painful, tedious,
and dangerous to life, than others. As wives, they are frequently
visited either with absolute sterility, and all their lives must bear
the reproach of barren women, or, what to many is hardly less
distasteful, they have an excessively numerous family.

What adds to their sufferings in the latter event, is that the children
of such marriages are rarely healthy. They are feeble, sickly,
undersized, often with some fault of mind or body, which is a cross to
them and their parents all their lives. They inherit more readily the
defects of their ancestors, and, as a rule, die at earlier years than
the progeny of better-timed unions.

These considerations are formidable enough, it would seem, to prevent
young girls from marrying, without the need of a law, as exists in some
countries. Moreover, they are not imaginary, but real, as many a woman
finds out to her cost.

The objections to marriage after the age of twenty-five are less cogent.
They extend only to the woman herself. She should know that the first
labors of wives over thirty are nearly _twice_ as fatal as those between
twenty and twenty-five. Undoubtedly nature points to the period between
the twentieth and twenty-fifth year as the fittest one for marriage in
the woman.




_LOVE._


ITS POWER ON HUMANITY.

Love, pure love, true love, what can we say of it? The dream of youth;
the cherished reminiscence of age; celebrated in the songs of poets;
that which impels the warrior to his most daring deeds; which the
inspired prophet chooses to typify the holiest sentiments,--what new
thing is it possible to say about this theme?

Think for a moment on the history or the literature of the world. Ask
the naturalist to reveal the mysteries of life; let the mythologist
explain the origin and meaning of all unrevealed religions; look within
at the promptings of your own spirit, and this whole life of ours will
appear to you as one grand epithalamium.

The profoundest of English poets has said--

    'All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
      Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
    All are but ministers of Love,
      And feed his sacred flame.'

That life which is devoid of love is incomplete, sterile,
unsatisfactory. It fails of its chiefest end. Nature, in anger, blots it
out sooner, and it passes like the shadow of a cloud, leaving no trace
behind. Admirable as it may be in other respects, to the eye of the
statesman, the physician, the lover of his species, it remains but a
fragment, a torso.

Love is one thing to a woman, another to a man. To him, said Madame de
Stael, it is an episode; to her, it is the whole history of life. A
thousand distractions divert man. Fame, riches, power, pleasure, all
struggle in his bosom to displace the sentiment of love. They are its
rivals, not rarely its masters. But woman knows no such distractions.
One passion only sits enthroned in her bosom; one only idol is enshrined
in her heart, knowing no rival, no successor. This passion is love! This
idol is its object.

This is not fancy, not rhetoric; it is the language of cold and exact
science, pronounced from the chair of history, from the bureau of the
statistician, from the dissecting table of the anatomist. We shall
gather up their well-weighed words, and present them, not as fancy
sketches, but as facts.

This deep, all-absorbing, single, wondrous love of woman, is something
that man cannot understand. This sea of unfathomed depth is to him a
mystery. The shallow mind sees of it nothing but the rippling waves, the
unstable foam-crests dashing hither and thither, the playful ripples of
the surface, and, blind to the still and measureless waters beneath,
calls woman capricious, uncertain,--_varium et mutabile_. But the
thinker and seer, undeceived by such externals, knows that beneath this
seeming change is stability unequaled in the stronger sex, a power of
will to which man is a stranger, a devotion and purpose which strike him
with undefined awe.

Therefore, in the myths and legends which the early races framed to
express their notions of divine things,--the Fates, who spin and snip
the thread of life; the Norns, who

    Lay down laws,
    And select life
    For the children of time--
    The destinies of men,--

are always females. The seeresses and interpreters of oracles--those
who, like the witch of Endor, could summon from the grave the shades of
the departed--were women.

Therefore, also, modern infidelity, going back, as it ever does, to the
ignorance of the past, and holding it up as something new, makes woman
the only deity. Comte and his disciples, having reasoned away all gods,
angels, and spirits, and unable to still the craving for something to
adore, agree to meet once a week to worship--woman. The French
revolutionists, having shut up the churches and abolished God by a
decree of the Convention, set up in His stead--a woman.

We could never exhaust this phase of world-history. Everywhere we see
the unexpected hand of Love moulding, fashioning all things. The
fortunes of the individual, the fate of nations, the destinies of races,
are guided by this invisible thread. Let us push our inquiries as to the
nature of this all-powerful agent.


WHAT IS LOVE?

It has a divided nature. As we have an immortal soul, but a body of
clay; as the plant roots itself in decaying earth, but spreads its
flowers in glorious sunlight,--so love has a physiological and a moral
nature. It is rooted in that unconscious law of life which bids us
perpetuate our kind; which guards over the conservation of life; which
enforces, with ceaseless admonition, that first precept which God gave
to man before the gates of Eden had been closed upon him: 'Be thou
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.' Nothing but a spurious
delicacy, or an ignorance of facts, can prevent our full recognition
that love looks to marriage, and marriage to offspring, as a natural
sequence.

Do we ask proofs of this? We have them in abundance. Those unfortunate
beings who are chosen by Oriental custom to guard the seraglios undergo
a mutilation which disqualifies them from becoming parents. Soon all
traces of passion, all regard for the other sex, all sentiments of love,
totally disappear. The records of medicine contain not a few cases where
disease had rendered it necessary to remove the ovaries from women. At
once a change took place in voice, appearance, and mind. They spoke like
men, a slender beard commenced on their faces, a masculine manner was
conspicuous in all their motions, and every thought of sexual love
passed away for ever. These are the results in every case. What do they
signify? Undoubtedly that the passion of love is dependent upon the
capacity of having offspring, and that such was the intention of Nature
in implanting in our bosom this all-powerful sentiment.

But this is not all. Nature, as beneficent to those who obey her
precepts as she is merciless to those who disregard them, has added to
this sentiment of love a physical pleasure in its gratification,--an
honourable and proper pleasure, which none but the hypocrite or the
ascetic will affect to condemn, none but the coarse or the lewd will
regard as the object of love. There is, indeed, a passion which is the
love of the body. We call it by its proper name of _lust_. There is
another emotion, for which the rich tongue of the ancient Greeks had a
word, to which we have nothing to correspond. Call it, if you will,
Platonic love, and define it to be an exalted friendship. But understand
that neither the one nor the other is _love_, in the true sense of the
word, and that _both_ are inferior to it.

Does the father, watching, with moistened eyes, his child at its
mother's breast; does the husband, bending with solicitude over the
sick-bed of his wife; does the wife, clinging to her husband through
evil report and good report, through broken fortunes and failing health,
indicate no loftier emotion than _lust_, no warmer sentiment than
_friendship_? What ignorance, what perversity is so gross as not to
perceive something here nobler than either? Do you say that such scenes
are, alas, rare? We deny it. We see them daily in the streets; we meet
them daily in our rounds. Admitted, by our calling, to the sacred
precincts of many houses in the trying hours of sickness and death, we
speak advisedly, and know that this is the prevailing meaning of love in
domestic life.

A warm, rich affection blesses the one who gives and the one who
receives. Character developes under it as the plant beneath the
sunlight. Happiness is an unknown word without it. Love and marriage are
the only normal conditions of life. Without them, both man and woman for
ever miss the best part of themselves. They suffer more, they sin more,
they perish sooner. These are not hasty assertions. As a social law, let
it be well understood that science pronounces that


LOVE IS A NECESSITY.

The single life is forced upon many of both sexes, in our present social
condition. Many choose it from motives of economy, from timidity, or as
a religious step, pleasing to God. The latter is a notion which probably
arose from a belief that, somehow, celibacy, strictly observed, means
chastity. It simply means continence. The chastest persons have been,
and are, not the virgins and celibates, but the married. When this truth
is known better, we shall have fewer sects and more religion.

We know women who refrain from marrying to keep out of trouble. The old
saying is, that every sigh drives a nail in one's coffin. They are not
going to worry themselves to death bearing children and nursing them! It
is too great a risk, too much suffering. How often have we been told
this! Yet how false the reasoning is! Very carefully prepared statistics
show that between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, more
unmarried women die than married, and few instances of remarkable
longevity in an old maid are known. The celebrated Dr. Hufeland,
therefore, in his treatise on the _Art_ _of Prolonging Life_, lays it
down as a rule, that to attain a great age, one must be married.

As for happiness, those who think they can best attain it outside the
gentle yoke of matrimony are quite as wide of the mark. Their selfish
and solitary pleasures do not gratify them. With all the resources of
clubs, billiard-rooms, saloons, narcotics, and stimulants, single men
make but a mock show of satisfaction. At heart every one of them envies
his married friends. How much more monotonous and more readily exhausted
are the resources of woman's single life! No matter what 'sphere' she is
in, no matter in what 'circle' she moves, no matter what 'mission' she
invents, it will soon pall on her. Would you see the result? We invoke
once more those dry volumes, full of lines and figures, on vital
statistics. Stupid as they look, they are full of the strangest stories;
and what is more, the stories are all true. Some of them are sad
stories, and this is one of the saddest: Of those unfortunates who, out
of despair and disgust of the world, jump from bridges, or take arsenic,
or hang themselves, or in other ways rush unbidden and unprepared before
the great Judge of all, _nearly two-thirds_ are unmarried, and in some
years nearly _three-fourths_. And of those other sad cases--dead, yet
living--who people the madhouses and asylums, what of them? Driven crazy
by their brutal husbands, do you suggest? Not at all! In France,
Bavaria, Prussia, Hanover, four out of every five are unmarried; and
throughout the civilised world there are everywhere three or four single
to one married woman in the establishments for the insane, in
proportion to the whole number of the two classes above twenty-one years
of age.

Other women decline to marry because they have, forsooth, a 'life work'
to accomplish. Some great project fills their mind. Perchance they
emulate Madame de Stael, and would electrify the country by their novel
views in politics; or they have a literary vein they fain would exploit;
or they feel called upon to teach the freedmen, or to keep their
position as leaders of fashion. A husband would trammel them. If they
did marry, they would take the very foolish advice of a contemporary,
and go through life with an indignant protest at its littleness. Let
such women know that they underrate the married state, its powers and
its opportunities. There are no loftier missions than can there be
carried out, no nobler games than can there be played. When we think of
these objections, coming, as they have to us, from high-spirited,
earnest girls, the queens of their sex, our memory runs back to the
famous women of history, the brightest jewels in the coronet of time,
and we find as many, ay, more, married women than single who pursued to
their ends mighty achievements.

If you speak of Judith and Joan of Arc, who delivered their fatherlands
from the enemy by a daring no man can equal, we shall recall the
peaceful victories of her, wife of the barbarian Chlodwig, who taught
the rude Franks the mild religion of Nazareth, and of her who extended
from Byzantium the holy symbol of the cross over the wilds of Russia.
The really great women of this age, are they mostly married or single?
They are mostly married, and they are good wives and tender mothers.

What we have just written, we read to an amiable woman.

'But,' she exclaimed, 'what have you to say to her whom high duties or a
hard fate condemns to a single life, and to the name of the old maid?'

Alas! what can we say to such? We feel that

    'Earthlier happy is the rose distilled,
    Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn,
    Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.'

Yet there is ever a blessing in store for those who suffer here, and the
hope of the future must teach them to bear the present.


LOVE IS ETERNAL.

We have said love is a necessity in the life of either man or woman to
complete their nature. Its effects, therefore, are eternal. We do not
intend this as a figure of speech. It is a sober statement of
physiology.

From the day of marriage the woman undergoes a change in her whole
structure. She is similar to her former self, but not the same. It is
often noticed that the children of a woman in her second marriage bear a
marked resemblance to her first husband. In the inferior races and lower
animals this obscure metamorphosis is still more apparent. A negress who
has borne her first child to a white man, will ever after have children
of a color lighter than her own. Count Strzelewski, in his Travels in
Australia, narrates this curious circumstance: A native woman who has
once had offspring by a white man, can never more have children by a
male of her own race. Dr. Darwin relates that a male zebra was once
brought to England, and a hybrid race, marked by the zebra's stripes,
was produced from certain mares. Always after, the colts of those mares
bore the marks of the zebra on their skins. In some way the female is
profoundly altered throughout her whole formation, and entirely
independent of her will, by the act of marriage, and the alteration is
never effaced.

If the body is thus influenced, shall not the far more susceptible mind
and spirit be equally impressed?

Another common observation supports what we say, and extends it farther.
Not the woman alone,--the man also undergoes a change, and loses a
portion of his personality in his mate. They two are one, not merely in
a moral sense. We constantly notice a decided resemblance in old couples
who have passed, say, two score years together. They have grown to look
alike in form, feature, and expression. That for so long a time they
have breathed the same air, eaten the same fare, and been subjected to
the same surroundings, explains this to some extent. But the greater
part of the change flows from mental sources. They have laughed and wept
together; they have shared the same joys and pleasures; a smile or a
tear on the face of one has evoked a corresponding emotion and
expression on the face of the other. Their co-partnership has become a
unity. Even without speaking, they sympathize. Their souls are
constantly _en rapport_. The man is as different as the woman from his
former self.


OF SECOND MARRIAGES.

Science, therefore, seems to say to woman, 'Your first husband is your
eternal husband.' How, then, about second marriages? Are we to say that
they are not advisable?

Let us not answer hastily. It is yet to be seen whether ill-assorted
marriages produce those impressions we have mentioned. They may, indeed,
on the body, while the mind is free. One must remember, also, that the
exigencies of social life must be consulted. If a woman cannot love two
men equally,--and she cannot,--other motives, worthy of all respect,
justify her in entering the marriage life a second time. Then, the
higher refinements of the emotions are not given to all alike, nor do
they come at the same age to all. True love may first dawn upon a woman
after one or two husbands have left her a widow. Orphan children,
widow-hood, want of property, or the care of property,--these are sad
afflictions to the lonely woman. Do not blame her if she accepts a
husband as a guardian, a protector, whom she can no longer receive to
her arms as a lover. She is right.

We cherish the memory of a lady of strong character, who died past
eighty. She had survived three husbands. 'The first,' she said, 'I
married for love, the second for position, the third for friendship. I
was happy with them all.' But when, in her mortal illness, this
venerable friend sank into the delirium which preceded death, she
constantly called out the name of her first husband only. More than
half a century had not effaced the memory of those few years of early
love. This is fidelity indeed.


OF DIVORCE.

He of Nazareth laid down the law that whoever puts away his wife for any
cause except adultery, and marries again, commits adultery; and that
whatever woman puts away her husband for any cause save adultery, and
marries again, herself commits adultery.

This has been found a hard saying.

John Milton wrote a book to show that the Lawgiver did not mean what He
said, but something quite different. Modern sects, calling themselves
_Christians_, after this Lawgiver, dodge the difficulty, and refer it to
State legislatures. State legislatures, not troubling themselves at all
about any previous law or lawgiver, allow dozens of causes--scores of
them--as perfectly valid to put asunder those whom God has joined
together.

Science, which never finds occasion to disagree with that Lawgiver of
Nazareth, here makes His words her own.

Whether we look at it as a question in social life, in morals, or in
physiology, the American plan of granting absolute divorces is
dangerous, and destructive to what is best in life. It leads to hasty,
ill-assorted matches, to an unwillingness to yield to each other's
peculiarities, to a weakening of the family ties, to a lax morality.
Carry it a trifle farther than it now is in some of the Western States,
and marriage will lose all its sacredness, and degenerate into a
physical union, not nobler than the crossing of flies in the air.

Separation of bed and board should always be provided for by law; and
whether single, married, or separated, the woman should retain entire
control of her own property. But in the eyes of God and nature, a woman
or a man with two faithful spouses living, to each of whom an eternal
fidelity has been plighted, is a monster.


OF A PLURALITY OF WIVES OR HUSBANDS.

What has been said of divorce applies with tenfold force to the custom
of a woman living as wife to several men, or of a man as husband to
several women. We should not speak of these customs, but that we know
both exist in America, not among the notoriously wicked, but among those
who claim to be the peculiarly good--the very elect of God. They
prevail, not as lustful excesses, but as religious observances.

It is worth while to say that such practices lead to physical
degradation. The woman who acknowledges more than one husband is
generally sterile; the man who has several wives has usually a weakly
offspring, principally males. Nature attempts to check polygamy by
reducing the number of females, and failing in this, by enervating the
whole stock. The Mormons of Utah would soon sink into a state of Asiatic
effeminacy were they left to themselves.


COURTSHIP.

A wise provision of nature ordains that _woman shall be sought_. She
flees, and man pursues. The folly of modern reformers, who would annul
this provision, is evident. Were it done away with, man, ever prone to
yield to woman's solicitations, and then most prone when yielding is
most dangerous, would fritter away his powers at an early age, and those
very impulses which nature has given to perpetuate the race would bring
about its destruction.

To prevent such a disaster, woman is endowed with a sense of shame, an
invincible modesty, her greatest protection, and her greatest charm. Let
her never forget it, never disregard it; for without it she becomes the
scorn of her own sex and the jest of the other.

The urgency of man and the timidity of woman are tempered by the period
of courtship.

This, as it exists in the United States, is something almost peculiar to
Americans. On the continent of Europe, girls are shut up in convents or
in seminaries, or are kept strictly under the eyes of their parents
until marriage, or, at any rate, betrothal. The liberty usual in America
is something unheard-of and inconceivable there. In Spain a duenna, in
France some aunt or elderly cousin, in Germany some similar person,
makes it her business to be present at every interview which a young
lady has with an admirer. He never dreams of walking, driving, or going
out of an evening with her alone. It is taken for granted that, should
he invite her for such a purpose, the mother or aunt is included in the
party. They would look on the innocent freedom of American girls as
simply scandalous.

We have had opportunities to see society in these various countries, and
have failed to perceive that the morality of either sex is at all
superior to what it is with us, while the effect of cloister-like
education on young women is to weaken their self-reliance, and often
prepare them for greater extravagances when marriage gives them liberty.

With us, the young woman is free until her wedding day. After that
epoch, she looks forward to withdrawing more or less from society, and
confining her thoughts to family matters. In France, Spain, or Italy, in
the wealthier classes, precisely the contrary is the rule. Marriage
brings deliverance from an irksome espionage and numberless fetters; it
is the avenue to a life in public and independent action. How injurious
to domestic happiness this is, can readily be imagined.

It is true that the liberty of American girls occasionally leads to
improprieties. But, except in certain great cities, such instances are
rare. The safeguards of virtue are knowledge and self-command, not
duennas and _jalousies_. Let mothers properly instruct their daughters,
and they need have no apprehension about their conduct.

The period of courtship is one full of importance. A young woman of
unripe experience must decide from what she can see of a man during the
intercourse of a few months, whether he will suit her for a
life-companion. She has no knowledge of human nature; and what would it
avail her if she had, when at such a time a suitor is careful only to
show his eligible traits? 'Go a-courting,' said old Dr Franklin, in his
homely language, 'in your everyday clothes.' Not one man out of a
thousand is honest enough to take his advice.

It is useless for her to ask aid of another. She must judge for herself.
What, then, is she to do?

There is a mysterious instinct in a pure-minded woman which is beyond
all analysis,--a tact which men do not possess, and do not readily
believe in. At such a crisis this instinct saves her. She feels in a
moment the presence of a base, unworthy nature. An unconscious repulsion
is manifest in her eye, her voice. Where a suitor is not a man of low
motive, but merely quite incongruous in temper and disposition, this
same instinct acts, and the man, without being able to say just why,
feels that he is laboring in vain. If he blindly insists in his wooing,
he has no one to chide but himself when he is finally discarded.

But if the man is worthy, and suitable, does this blessed instinct
whisper the happy news with like promptness to the maiden's soul? Ah!
that raises another issue. It brings us face to face with that difficult
question of


LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

Jung Stilling, a German author of note, a religious enthusiast, and full
of queer fancies, was, when young, a tutor in a private family. On one
occasion his employer took him to a strange house, and introduced him
to a roomful of company. Stilling had not contemplated marriage; but, in
the company, he saw, for the first time, a young woman who he felt was
his destined wife. Walking across the room, he addressed her with the
utmost simplicity, telling her that an inward monitor advised him that
she, of all womankind, was his predestined helpmeet. She blushed, was
confused, but presently confessed that she had experienced the same
conviction on first beholding him. They married, and the most curious
part of the tale remains to tell,--it is, that they proved a happy,
well-matched couple.

We do not advise others to follow their example. Not many souls are
capable of such reciprocity. Choosing an associate for life is too
serious a business to be made the affair of a moment. Reason,
reflection, thought, prayer,--these are aids in such a momentous
question not to be lightly thrown aside. Many a passing fancy, many an
evanescent preference, catches for a moment the new-fledged affections.
But for the long and tedious journey of life we want a love rooted in
knowledge.

We are not blind to the fact, that often from the first interview the
maiden feels an undefined spell thrown around her by him who will become
her husband. She feels differently in his presence; she watches him with
other eyes than she has for the rest of men. She renders no account to
herself of this emotion; she attempts no analysis of it; she does not
acknowledge to herself that it exists. No matter. Sooner or later, if
true to herself, she will learn what it is, and it will be a guide in
that moment, looked forward to with mingled hopes and fears, when she
is asked to decide on the destiny, the temporal and eternal destiny, of
two human lives.

That she may then decide aright, and live free from the regrets of a
false step at this crisis of life, we shall now rehearse what medical
science has to say about


HOW TO CHOOSE A HUSBAND.

    'Choose well. Your choice is
    Brief, and yet endless.'

Woman holds as an inalienable right, in this country, the privilege of
choice. It is not left to notaries, or parents, to select for her, as is
the custom in some other parts of the world.

First comes the question of relationship. A school-girl is apt to see
more of her cousins than of other young men. Often some of them seek at
an early hour to institute a far closer tie than that of blood. Is she
wise to accept it?


SHALL COUSINS MARRY?

Hardly any point has been more warmly debated by medical men. It has
been said that in such marriages the woman is more apt to be sterile;
that if she have children, they are peculiarly liable to be born with
some defect of body or mind,--deafness, blindness, idiocy, or lameness;
that they die early; and that they are subject, beyond others, to fatal
hereditary diseases, as cancer, consumption, scrofula, etc.

An ardent physician persuaded himself so thoroughly of these evils
resulting from marriage of relatives, that he induced the Legislature
of Kentucky to pass a law prohibiting it within certain degrees of
consanguinity. Many a married couple have been rendered miserable by the
information that they had unwittingly violated one of nature's most
positive laws. Though their children may be numerous and blooming, they
live in constant dread of some terrible outbreak of disease. Many a
young and loving couple have sadly severed an engagement, which would
have been a prelude to a happy marriage, when they were informed of
these disastrous results.

For all such we have a word of consolation. We speak it authoritatively,
and not without a full knowledge of the responsibility we assume.

The risk of marrying a cousin, even a first cousin, is greatly
diminished, provided there is no decided hereditary taint in the family.
And when such hereditary taint does exist, the danger is little more
than in marrying into any other family where it is also found. Indeed, a
certain German author has urged the propriety of such unions, where the
family has traits of mental or physical excellence, as a means of
preserving and developing them!

So far as sterility is concerned, an examination of records shows, that
whereas in the average of unions one women in _eight_ is barren, in
those between relatives but one in _ten_ is so. And as for the early
deaths of children, while, on an average, fifteen children in a hundred
die under seven years, in the families of nearly-related parents but
twelve in a hundred is the mortality as shown by French statistics.

The investigations about idiotic and defective children are by no means
satisfactory, and are considered by some of the most careful writers as
not at all proving a greater tendency to such misfortunes in the
offspring of cousins. Among a thousand idiotic children recently
examined in Paris, not one was descended from a healthy consanguinity.

But as few families are wholly without some lurking predisposition to
disease, it is not well, as a rule, to run the risk of developing this
by too repeated unions. Stock-breeders find that the best specimens of
the lower animals are produced by crossing nearly-related individuals a
certain number of times; but that, carried beyond this, such unions lead
to degeneracy and sterility. Such, also, has been the experience of many
human families.

How slight a cause even of that most insidious disease, consumption,
such marriages are, may be judged from the fact, that of a thousand
cases inquired into by Dr. Edward Smith, in only six was there
consanguinity of parents.


THE MIXTURE OF RACES.

Mankind, say the school geographies, is divided into five races, each
distinguished by its own color. They are the white, the black, the red,
the yellow, and the brown races. In this country, practically, we have
to do with but the white and black races; and the question is constantly
asked, Shall we approve of marriages between them? Shall a white woman
choose a black man to be her husband?

We are at the more pains to answer this, because recently a writer--and
this writer a woman, and this woman one of the most widely known in our
land--has written a novel intended to advocate the affirmative of this
question. Moreover, it is constantly mooted in certain political
circles, and is one of the social problems of the day.

The very fact that it is so much discussed, shows that such a union runs
counter to a strong prejudice. Such aversions are often voices of
nature, acting as warnings against acts injurious to the species. In
this instance it is not of modern origin, created by peculiar
institutions. Three centuries ago, Shakspeare, who had probably never
seen a score of negroes in his life, with the divination of genius, felt
the repugnance which a refined woman would feel to accepting one as her
husband. The plot of one of his plays turns on it. He makes Iago say of
Desdemona:

    'Not to affect many proposed matches
    Of her own clime, complexion, and degree;
    Whereto, we see, in all things nature tends:
    Foh! one may smell in such a will most rank,
    Foul disproportions, thoughts unnatural.'

It is, indeed, 'nature erring from itself' which prompts to these
marriages. They are not sterile, but the children are sickly and
short-lived. Very few mulattoes reach an old age.

Then it is well known that the black race cannot survive a northern
climate. Dr. Snow, of Providence, Rhode Island, who has given great
attention to the study of statistics, says emphatically that, in New
England, the colored population inevitably perish in a few generations,
if left to themselves. This debility no woman should wish to give to
her children.

A mental inferiority is likewise apparent. Friends of the negro are
ready to confess this, but attribute it to his long and recent period of
servitude. We deal with facts only. The inferiority is there, whatever
be its cause; and she who would willingly curse her offspring with it,
manifests indeed 'thoughts unnatural.'

The children born of a union of the black and red race, negroes and
Indians, are on the contrary, remarkable for their physical vigor and
mental acuteness; though, of course, the latter is limited to the
demands of a semi-barbarous life.


SHOULD NATIVE WOMEN MARRY FOREIGNERS?

When we narrow the question of race to that of nationality, entirely new
elements come in.

In speaking of the intermarriage of relatives, we showed that a certain
number of such unions in healthy stocks was advantageous rather than
otherwise, but that too many of them lead to deterioration. This law can
be applied to nations. Historians have often observed that the most
powerful states of the world arose from an amalgamation of different
tribes. Rome, Greece, England, are examples of this. On the other hand,
France, Russia, Spain, China, Persia, which have suffered no such
crosses of blood, are either stationary, or depend for their progress on
foreigners.

Physicians have contributed other curious testimony on this point, the
bearing of which they themselves have not understood. Marriages between
nationalities of the same race are more fertile, and the children more
vigorous, than those between descendants of the same nation. For
instance, it has been proved that if two descendants of the Pilgrim
Fathers in Massachusetts marry, they will probably have but three
children; while, if one of them marries a foreigner, the children will
number five or six.

So it is well ascertained that in the old and stationary communes of
France, where the same families have possessed their small farms for
generation after generation, the marriages have become gradually less
and less productive, until it has seriously interfered with the quota
those districts send to the army.

American women have suffered many hard words because they do not have
more children. Several New England writers have accused them of very bad
practices, which we shall mention hereafter. But the effect of the law
of production just now laid down has been quite overlooked.

As it is best that there should be four or five children in a family in
ordinary circumstances, the union of American and foreign blood is very
desirable. We need to fuse in one the diverse colonies of the white race
annually reaching our shores. A century should efface every trace of the
German, the Irish, the Frenchman, the English, the Norwegian, and leave
nothing but the American. To bring about this happy result, free
intermarriage should be furthered in every possible way.


THE AGE OF THE HUSBAND.

The epoch of puberty comes to a boy at about the same age as it does to
a girl,--fourteen or fifteen years. And an even greater period passes
between this epoch and the age it is proper for a man to marry,--his age
of nubility.

Not only has he a more complete education to obtain, not only a
profession or trade to learn, and some property to accumulate, some
position to acquire, ere he is ready to take a wife, but his physical
powers ripen more slowly than those of woman. He is more tardy in
completing his growth, and early indulgence more readily saps his
constitution.

We have placed the best age for woman to marry between twenty and
twenty-five years; for similar reasons, man is best qualified to become
a husband between twenty-three and thirty-three years.

Previous to the twenty-third year, many a man is incapable of producing
healthy children. If he does not destroy his health by premature
indulgence, he may destroy his happiness by witnessing his children a
prey to debility and deformity. An old German proverb says, 'Give a boy
a wife, and a child a bird, and death will soon knock at the door.' Even
an author so old as Aristotle warns young men against early marriage,
under penalty of disease and puny offspring.

From the age of thirty-three to fifty years, men who carefully observe
the laws of health do not feel any weight of years. Nevertheless, they
are past their prime. Then, also, with advancing years, the chances of
life diminish, and the probability increases that they will leave a
young family with no natural protector. The half-century once turned,
their vigor rapidly diminishes. The marriages they then contract are
either sterile, or yield but few and sickly children. Many an old man
has shortened his life by late nuptials; and the records of medicine
contain accounts of several who perished on the very night of marriage.

The relative age of man and wife is next to be considered. Nature fits
woman earlier for marriage, and hints thereby that she should, as a
rule, be younger than her husband. So, too, the bard of nature speaks:

              'Let still the woman take
    An elder than herself; so wears she to him,
    So sways she level in her husband's heart.'

The woman who risks her happiness with a man many years younger than
herself, violates a precept of life; and when her husband grows
indifferent, or taunts her with her years, or seeks companions of more
suitable age, she is reaping a harvest sown by her own hand.

So commonly do such matches turn out badly, that in 1828 the kingdom of
Wuertemberg prohibited unions where the woman was more than twelve years
the senior, except by special dispensation.

After forty-five years, most women cannot hope for children. A marriage
subsequent to this period can at best be regarded as a close friendship.
Marriage in its full meaning has no longer an existence.

The relative age of man and wife has another influence, and quite a
curious one. It influences the sex of the children. But this point we
reserve for discussion on a later page.

The folly of joining a young girl to an old man is happily not so common
in America as in Europe. It would be hard to devise any step more
certain to bring the laws of nature and morality into conflict.

    'What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man?'

What advice can we give to a woman who barters her youthful charms for
the fortune of an aged husband? Shall we be cynical enough to agree with
'auld Auntie Katie?'

    'My auld Auntie Katie upon me takes pity;
      I'll do my endeavor to follow her plan:
    I'll cross him, and rack him, until I heart-break him,
      And then his auld brass will buy me a new pan.'

No! She has willingly accepted a responsibility. It is her duty to bear
it loyally, faithfully, uncomplainingly to the end.

Let us sum up with the maxim, that the husband should be the senior, but
that the difference of age should not be more than ten years.


WHAT SHOULD BE HIS TEMPERAMENT?

It is often hard to make out what doctors mean by _temperaments_. It is
supposed that our mental and physical characters depend somehow on the
predominance of some organ or system which controls the rest. Thus a
person who is nervous, quick, sensitive to impressions, is said to have
a _nervous_ temperament; one who is stout, full-blooded, red-faced, has
a _sanguine_ temperament; a thin, dark-featured, reticent person, is of
a _bilious_ temperament; while a pale, fat, sluggish nature, is called
_phlegmatic_, or _lymphatic._

In a general way these distinctions are valuable, but they will not bear
very exact applications. They reveal in outline the constitution of mind
and body; and what is to our present purpose, they are of more than
usual importance in the question of selecting a husband.

Nature, hating incongruity, yet loves variety. She preserves the limits
of species, but within those limits she seeks fidelity to one type.
Therefore it is that in marriage a person inclines strongly to one of a
different temperament--to a person quite unlike himself.

So true is this, that a Frenchman of genius, Bernardin de St. Pierre,
vouches for this anecdote of himself. He was in a strange city, visiting
a friend whom he had not seen for years. The friend's sister was of that
age when women are most susceptible. She was tall, a blonde, deliberate
in motion, with blue eyes and fair hair. In a jesting way, St. Pierre,
who had never seen her before, and knew nothing of her personal life,
said,--

'Mademoiselle, you have many admirers. Shall I describe him on whom you
look with most favor?'

The lady challenged him to do so.

'He is short in stature, of dark complexion, dark hair and eyes, slight
in figure, active and nervous in all his movements.'

The lady blushed to her eyes, and cast a glance of anger at her brother,
who, she thought, had betrayed her secret. But no! St. Pierre's only
informant was his deep knowledge of the human heart.

This instinct is founded upon the truth that the perfect temperament is
that happily balanced one which holds all the organs in equilibrium,--in
which no one rules, where all are developed in proportion. Nature ever
strives to realize this ideal. She instills in the nervous temperament a
preference for the lymphatic; in the sanguine, a liking for the bilious
constitution. The offspring should combine the excellencies of both, the
defects of neither. We do well to heed her admonitions here, and to bear
in mind that those matches which combine opposite temperaments, are, as
a rule, the most fortunate.


THE MORAL AND MENTAL CHARACTER.

Very few words are necessary here. We have already said we speak as
physicians, not as moralists. But there are some false and dangerous
ideas abroad, which it is our duty as physicians to combat.

None is more false, none more dangerous, than that embodied in the
proverb, 'A reformed rake makes the best husband.' What is a rake? A man
who has deceived and destroyed trusting virtue,--a man who has entered
the service of the devil to undermine and poison that happiness in
marriage, which all religion and science are at such pains to cultivate.
We know him well in our capacity as physicians. He comes to us
constantly the prey to loathsome diseases, the results of his vicious
life; which diseases he will communicate to his wife, for they are
contagious, and to his children, for they are hereditary; and which no
reform can purge from his system, for they are ineradicable.

Is this the man a pure woman should take to her arms? Here repentance
avails nothing. We have witnessed the agony unspeakable which
overwhelmed a father when he saw his children suffering under horrible
and disgusting diseases, the penalty of his early sins.

Very few men of profligate lives escape these diseases. They are
alarmingly prevalent among the 'fast' youths of our cities. And some
forms of them are incurable by any effort of skill. Even the approach of
such men should be shunned,--their company avoided.

A physician in central Pennsylvania lately had this experience: A young
lady of unblemished character asked his advice for a troublesome
affection of the skin. He examined it, and to his horror recognised a
form of one of the loathsome diseases which curse only the vilest or the
most unfortunate of her sex. Yet he could not suspect this girl. On
inquiry, he found that she had a small but painful sore on her lip,
which she first noticed a few days after being at a picnic with a young
man. Just as he was bidding her good-night, he had kissed her on the
lips.

At once everything was clear. This young man was a patient of the
physician. He was a victim to this vile disease, and even his kiss was
enough to convey it.

The history of the sixteenth century contains the account of an Italian
duke, who on one occasion was forced by his ruler to reconcile himself
with an enemy. Knowing he could not escape obedience, he protested the
most cheerful willingness, and in the presence of the king embraced his
enemy, and even kissed him on the lips. It was but another means of
satisfying his hatred. For he well knew that his kiss would taint his
enemy's blood with the same poison that was undermining his own life.

How cautious, therefore, should a woman be in granting the most innocent
liberties! How solicitous should she be to associate with the purest
men!

Would that we could say that these dangerous and loathsome diseases are
rare! But, alas! daily professional experience forbids us to offer this
consolation. Every physician in our large cities, and even in smaller
towns, knows that they are fearfully prevalent.

We have been consulted by wives, pure, innocent women, for complaints
which they themselves, and sometimes their children, suffered from, the
nature of which we dared not tell them, but which pointed with fatal
finger to the unfaithfulness of the husband. How utterly was their
domestic happiness wrecked when they discovered the cause of their
constant ill-health!

Nor are such occurrences confined to the humbler walks of life. There,
perhaps, less than in any other do they occur. It is in the wealthy, the
luxurious, the self-indulgent class that they are found.

Are we asked how such a dreadful fate can be averted?

There are, indeed, certain signs and marks which such diseases leave
with which physicians are conversant. As if nature intended them as
warnings, they are imprinted on the most visible and public parts of the
body. The skin, the hair, the nose, the voice, the lines on the face,
often divulge to the trained observer, more indubitably than the
confessional, a lewd and sensual life.

Such signs, however, can only be properly estimated by the medical
counselor, and it would be useless to rehearse them here. Those women
who would have a sure guide in choosing a man to be their husband, have
they not Moses and the prophets? What is more, have they not Christ and
the apostles? Rest assured that the man who scoffs at Christianity, who
neglects its precepts and violates its laws, runs a terrible risk of
bringing upon himself, his wife, and his children, the vengeance of
nature, which knows justice but not mercy. Rest assured that the man who
respects the maxims of that religion, and abstains from all uncleanness,
is the only man who is worthy the full and confiding love of an
honorable woman.


THE SYMBOLISM OF THE HUMAN BODY.

Philosophers say that every idle word which is spoken continues to
vibrate in the air through all infinity. So it is with the passions and
the thoughts. Each impresses on the body some indelible mark, and a long
continuance of similar thoughts leaves a visible imprint.

Under the names of phrenology, physiognomy, palmistry, and others,
attempts have been made at divers times to lay down fixed principles by
which we could judge of men by their outsides; but only vague results
have been obtained. A learned German author, of high repute in exact
science, has gone a different way to work. He has studied the body as a
whole, and sought with the eye of an anatomist how different avocations,
passions, temperaments, habits, mould and fashion the external parts of
man. His results are embraced in a curious volume which he entitles _The
Symbolism of the Human Body_. We shall borrow some hints from it,
germane to our present theme.

As to size, large-bodied and large-boned men possess greater energy, a
more masculine character, but often less persistence, and are usually
devoid of the more delicate emotions. Fat people are good-tempered, but
indolent; thin people, full of life, but irascible.

The neck is a significant part of the body. View it from in front, and
it discloses the physical constitution. There are the conduits of the
food and the air; there, the great blood-vessels pass to the head, and
its base is modified by their form as they pass from the heart. When
broad and full, it denotes a vigorous physical life,--a plethoric
constitution. A distinguished teacher of midwifery, Professor Pajot of
Paris, says that when he sees one of those necks full in front, like
that of Marie Antoinette, as shown in her portraits, he prepares himself
to combat childbed convulsions. That queen, it is well-known, nearly
perished with them.

The back of the neck contains the vertebral column, and is close to the
brain. It reveals the mental constitution. The short round neck of the
prize-fighter betrays his craft. The slender, arched, and graceful neck
of the well-proportioned woman is the symbol of health and a
well-controlled mind. Burke, in his _Essay on the Beautiful_, calls it
the most beauteous object in nature. It is a common observation, that a
sensual character is shown by the thick and coarse development of this
portion of the body.

The hair, also, has a significance. Fine whitish hair, like that of a
child, goes with a simple, child-like disposition; black hair denotes a
certain hardness of character; red hair has long been supposed to be
associated with a sensual constitution, but it rather indicates a
physical weakness,--a tendency to scrofula. This is, however, a tendency
merely. Thin hair is often the result of protracted mental labor, though
many other causes produce it.

Every great man, says Herder, has a glance which no one can imitate. We
may go farther, and say that every man of decided character reveals it
in his eyes. They are the most difficult organs for the hypocrite to
control. Beware of the man who cannot look you in the eyes, and of him
in whose eyes there lurks an expression which allures yet makes you
shudder. The one has something he dares not tell you, the other
something you dare not listen to.

Symmetry, strength, grace, health,--these are admirable qualities in a
man. From the remotest ages they have been the marks of heroes.
Secondary though they are to moral and mental qualities, they should be
ever highly valued. A _manly_ man! Nature designs such to be the sires
of future generations. No danger that we shall fall to worshiping
physical beauty again. The only fear is that in this lank, puny, scrawny
generation of ours, we shall, out of vanity, underrate such beauty. Let
it be ever remembered that this is the ideal, from which any departure
is deterioration.


THE ENGAGEMENT.

When our grandmothers were engaged, the minister rose in his pulpit on
Sunday morning, before the assembled congregation, and proclaimed the
'banns,' stating that if any one knew just cause or lawful impediment
why the lovers should not be married, he should state it there and then.
Sometimes a great hubbub was created when some discarded suitor rose,
forbidding the banns, and claimed that the capricious maiden had
previously promised herself to him. Perhaps it was to avoid such an
uncomfortable check on the freedom of flirtation that the ancient custom
was dropped.

Certain it is, that to be 'engaged' sits very lightly on the minds of
both young men and maidens now-a-days. We know some of either sex who
make it a boast how often they have made and unmade this slender tie. It
is a dangerous pastime. 'The hand of little use hath the daintier
touch,' and they who thus trifle with their affections will end by
losing the capacity to feel any real affection at all.

Undoubtedly there occur instances where a woman has pledged herself in
all seriousness, and afterwards sees her affianced in a light which
warns her that she cannot be happy with him,--that the vows she will be
called upon to pronounce at the altar will be hollow and false. What is
she to do?

We are not inditing the decrees of the Court of Love. Here is the advice
of another to her hand:

        'First to thine own self be true,
    And then it follows, as the night the day,
    That thou canst ne'er be false to any man.'


CONCERNING LONG ENGAGEMENTS.

They are hurtful, and they are unnecessary. Is love so vagrant that it
must be tied by such a chain? Better let it go. True love asks no oath;
it casteth out fear, and believes without a promise.

There are other reasons, sound physiological reasons, which we could
adduce, if need were, to show that the close personal relations which
arise between persons who are engaged should not be continued too long a
time. They lead to excitement and debility, sometimes to danger and
disease. Especially is this true of nervous, excitable, sympathetic
dispositions.

If we are asked to be definite, and give figures, we should say that a
period not longer than a year, nor shorter than three months, should
intervene between the engagement and the marriage.


THE RIGHT TIME OF YEAR TO MARRY.

Woman, when she marries, enters upon a new life, and a trying one. Every
advantage should be in her favour. The season is one of those
advantages. Extreme heat and extreme cold both wear severely on the
human frame. Mid-winter and mid-summer are, therefore, alike
objectionable, especially the latter.

Spring and fall are usually chosen, as statistics show, and the
preference is just. On the whole, the spring is rather to be recommended
than the autumn. In case of a birth within the year, the child will have
attained sufficient age to weather its period of teething more easily
ere the next summer.


THE RIGHT TIME IN THE MONTH TO MARRY.

We mean the woman's own month, that which spans the time between her
periodical sicknesses, be it two or five weeks. Let her choose a day
about equidistant from two periods. The reasons for this we shall
specify hereafter.


THE WEDDING TOUR.

Custom prescribes a journey immediately after marriage, of a week or a
month or two. It is an unwise provision. The event itself is disturbance
enough for the system; and to be hurried hither and thither, stowed in
narrow berths and inconvenient carriages, troubled with baggage, and
annoyed by the importunities of cabmen, waiters, and hangers-on of every
description, is enough, in ordinary times, to test the temper of a
saint.

The foundation of many an unhappy future is laid on the wedding tour.
Not only is the young wife tried beyond all her experience, and her
nervous system harassed, but the husband, too, partakes of her weakness.
Many men, who really love the women they marry, are subject to a slight
revulsion of feeling for a few days after marriage. 'When the veil
falls, and the girdle is loosened,' says the German poet Schiller, 'the
fair illusion vanishes.' A half regret crosses their minds for the jolly
bachelorhood they have renounced. The mysterious charms which gave their
loved one the air of something more than human, disappear in the prosaic
sunlight of familiarity.

Let neither be alarmed, nor lose their self-control. Each requires
indulgence, and management, from the other; both should demand from
themselves patience and self-command. A few weeks, and this danger is
over; but a mistake now is the mistake of a lifetime. More than one
woman has confessed to us that her unhappiness commenced from her
wedding tour; and when we inquired more minutely, we have found that it
arose from an ignorance and disregard of just such little precautions as
we have been referring to.

Yet it is every way advisable that the young pair should escape the
prying eyes of friends and relatives at such a moment. Let them choose
some quiet resort, not too long a journey from home, where they can
pass a few weeks in acquiring that more intimate knowledge of each
other's character as essential to their future happiness.




THE WIFE.


_THE WEDDING NIGHT._

We now enter upon the consideration of the second great period in the
life of Woman. The maiden becomes a Wife. She is born into a new world.
She assumes new relationships,--the sweetest, and, at the same time, the
most natural of which she is capable.

The great object of the conjugal union is the transmission of life,--a
duty necessary in order to repair the constant ravages of death, and
thus perpetuate the race. In the fulfilment of this sublime obligation,
woman plays the more prominent part, as she is the source and depositary
of the future being. It is of moment, therefore, that she should not be
altogether ignorant of the nature and responsibilities of her position.
Ignorance here means suffering, disease, and sometimes death. Let us
then interrogate science in regard to these matters, among the most
interesting of all human concerns.

The initiation into marriage, like its full fruition, maternity, is
attended with more or less suffering. Much, however, may be done to
avert and to lessen the pain which waits upon the first step in this new
life. For this purpose, regard must be had to the selection of the day.
We have said that a time about midway between the monthly recurring
periods is best fitted for the consummation of marriage. As this is a
season of sterility, it recommends itself on this account, in the
interest of both the mother and offspring. The first nuptial relations
should be fruitless, in order that the indispositions possibly arising
from them shall have time to subside before the appearance of the
disturbances incident to pregnancy. One profound change should not too
quickly succeed the other. About the tenth day after menstruation should
therefore be chosen for the marriage ceremony.

It sometimes happens that marriage is consummated with difficulty. To
overcome this, care, management, and forbearance should always be
employed, and anything like precipitation and violence avoided. Only the
consequences of unrestrained impetuosity are to be feared. In those rare
cases in which greater resistance is experienced than can be overcome by
gentle means, the existence of a condition contrary to nature may be
suspected. Violence can then only be productive of injury, and is not
without danger. Medical art should be appealed to, as it alone can
afford assistance in such an emergency.

Although the first conjugal approaches are ordinarily accompanied by
slight flooding, a loss of blood does not always occur. Its absence
proves nothing. The appearance of blood was formerly regarded as a test
of virginity. The Israelites, Arabs, and others carefully preserved and
triumphantly exhibited the evidence of it as an infallible sign of the
virtue of the bride. They were in error. Its presence is as destitute of
signification as its absence; for it is now well known that widows, and
wives long separated from their husbands, often have a like experience.
The temperament is not without its influence. In those of lymphatic
temperament, pale blondes, who often suffer from local discharge and
weakness, the parts being relaxed, there is less pain and little or no
haemorrhage. In brunettes, who have never had any such troubles, the case
is reversed. The use of baths, unguents, etc., by the young wife,
however serviceable they might prove, is obviously impracticable. This
great change sometimes also produces swelling and inflammation of the
glands of the neck.

Marital relations ordinarily continue during the first few weeks to be
more or less painful. General constitutional disturbance and disorders
of the nervous system often result. These troubles are all increased by
the stupid custom of hurrying the bride from place to place, at a time
when the bodily quiet and the mental calmness and serenity so desirable
to her should be the only objects in view. Too frequent indulgence at
this period is a fruitful source of various inflammatory diseases, and
often occasions temporary sterility and ill-health. The old custom
requiring a three days' separation after the first nuptial approach was
a wise one, securing to the young wife the soothing and restoring
influence of rest. Nothing was lost by it, and much gained.

In a little while, however, all irritation should subside, and no
suffering or distress of any kind, whether general or local, should
attend upon the performance of this important function. The presence of
suffering now becomes indicative of disease. Of this we will speak
hereafter.


SHALL HUSBAND AND WIFE OCCUPY THE SAME ROOM AND BED?

One-third of life is passed in sleep. This period of unconsciousness and
rest is necessary for the renewal of vital strength, and upon its proper
management depends much of the health not merely of the husband and
wife, but of their offspring. A great deal has been written upon the
effect on health and happiness of occupying separate apartments,
separate beds in the same apartment, or the same bed. This vexed
question it is impossible to settle by absolute rules, suitable to all
cases. In general, it may be asserted that there are no valid
physiological reasons for desiring to change the custom which now
prevails in this and most other countries. When both parties are in good
health, and of nearly the same age, one bed-chamber, if sufficiently
roomy, may be used without any disadvantage to either. Such an
arrangement is also to be commended, because it secures closer
companionship, and thus developes and sustains mutual affection.

It is said that in Zurich, in the olden time, when a quarrelsome couple
applied for a divorce, the magistrate refused to listen to them at
first. He ordered that they should be shut up together in one room for
three days, with one bed, one table, one plate, and one cup. Their food
was passed in by attendants, who neither saw nor spoke to them. On the
expiration of the three days, it was usual to find that neither of them
wanted a separation.

As before stated, there are conditions under which sleeping together is
prejudicial to the health. A certain amount of fresh air during the
night is required by every one. Re-breathed air is poisonous. During
sleep constant exhalations take place from the lungs and from the skin,
which are injurious if absorbed. A room twelve feet square is too small
for two persons, unless it is so thoroughly ventilated that there is a
constant change of air. In fact, a sleeping apartment for two persons
should contain an air-space of at least twenty-four hundred cubic feet,
and the facilities for ventilation should be such that the whole amount
will be changed in an hour,--that is, at the rate of forty cubic feet
per minute; for it has been ascertained that twenty cubic feet of fresh
air a minute are required for every healthy adult.

Very young and very old people should never occupy the same bed. When
the married couple hold the relation to each other, in regard to age, of
grandfather and granddaughter, separate apartments should be insisted
upon.

Certain diseases can be produced by sleeping together. The bed of a
consumptive, it is well known, is a powerful source of contagion. In
Italy it is the custom, after death, to destroy the bed-clothes of
consumptive patients. Tubercular disease has, within the past few years,
been transferred from men to animals by inoculation. Authentic cases are
upon record of young robust girls of healthy parentage, marrying men
affected with consumption, acquiring the disease in a short time, and
dying, in some instances, before their husbands. In these significant
cases, the sickly emanations have apparently been communicated during
sleep. When, therefore, either husband or wife is known to have
consumption, it would be highly imprudent for them to pass the long
hours of the night either in the same bed or in the same room.


WHAT KIND OF BED IS MOST HEALTHFUL?

Feather-beds are not conducive to the health of either sex. Mattresses
made of wool, or of wool and horsehair, are much better. The bed should
be opened, and its contents exposed to the air and sunlight, once every
year. Beds long saturated with the night exhalations of their occupants
are not wholesome. A number of ancient writers have alleged--and it has
been reasserted by modern authorities--that sleeping on sponge is of
service to those who desire to increase their families. The mattresses
of compressed sponge recently introduced, therefore, commend themselves
to married people thus situated. Hemlock boughs make a bed which has a
well-established reputation for similar virtues.

The odor of cone-bearing trees has a well-known influence upon the
fruitfulness of wedlock. Those who live in pine forests have ordinarily
large families of children.

Excessive clothing at night is highly injurious. So also is a fire in
the bed-room, except in case of sickness. If the body be too much heated
during sleep, perspiration occurs, or the action of the heart is
increased, and the whole economy becomes excited. Either condition
prevents sound sleep and reinvigoration of the body. Wives in feeble
health, and those liable to attacks of flooding, should therefore have a
particular regard to the quantity of clothing on their beds.


THE DIGNITY AND PROPRIETY OF THE SEXUAL INSTINCT.

A distinguished medical writer has divided women into three classes in
regard to the intensity of the sexual instinct. He asserts that a larger
number than is generally supposed have little or no sexual feeling. A
second class of women, more numerous than these, but still small as
compared with the whole of their sex, are more or less subject to strong
passion. Those of the first class can no more form an idea of the
strength of the impulse in other women, than the blind can of colors.
They therefore often err in their judgments. The third class comprises
the vast majority of women, in whom the sexual appetite is as moderate
as all other appetites.

It is a false notion, and contrary to nature, that this passion in a
woman is a derogation to her sex. The science of physiology indicates
most clearly its propriety and dignity. There are wives who plume
themselves on their repugnance or their distaste for their conjugal
obligations. They speak of their coldness and of the calmness of their
senses, as if these were not defects. Excepting those afflicted with
vices of conformation, or with disorders of sensibility,--which amount
to the same thing,--all wives are called upon to receive and pay the
imposts of love; and those who can withdraw themselves from the
operation of this mysterious law without suffering and with
satisfaction, show themselves by that fact to be incomplete in their
organization, and deficient in the special function of their being.
There should be no passion for one which is not shared by both.
Generation is a duty. The feeling which excites to the preservation of
the species is as proper as that which induces the preservation of the
individual. Passionate, exclusive, and durable love for a particular
individual of the opposite sex, it has been well said, is characteristic
of the human race, and is a mark of distinction from other animals. The
instinct of reproduction in mankind is thus joined to an affectionate
sentiment, which adds to its sweetness and prolongs infinitely its
duration.

Many physiologists have assigned to the feelings an important _role_ in
conception, the possibility of which has even been doubted if there be
no passion on the side of the woman. Although this extreme view is not
tenable in the light of modern research, yet all recent authorities
agree that conception is more assured when the two individuals who
co-operate in it participate at the same time in the transports of which
it is the fruit. It is also without doubt true that the disposition of
the woman at that time has much power in the formation of the foetus,
both in modifying its physical constitution and in determining the
character and temperament of its mind. The influence, long ago
attributed by Shakspeare to 'a dull, stale, tired bed' in creating a
'tribe of fops,' is not a mere poet's fancy.

In this manner also may be explained the results of prolonged continence
upon the offspring, for desires are usually vivid in proportion to the
previous period of rest. The father of Montaigne, returning after an
absence of thirty-two years, during which he was engaged in the wars of
Italy, begot his son, so justly celebrated in French literature. The
father of J. J. Rousseau, after a considerable absence in
Constantinople, brought to his wife the reward of a long fidelity.

Sexual passion exerts, therefore, a marked influence upon the future
being before conception, by the impression made upon the elements which
come together to form it. The question now occurs; What effect does its
presence and gratification produce upon the parents? We answer; It is a
natural and healthful impulse. Its influence is salutary. A marked
improvement in the physical condition of delicate women often follows a
happy marriage. This sometimes occurs even in those cases where, from
the nature of the disorder, the reverse might be expected. The utility
of the passions, well directed, has become a maxim in medicine as in
morality. And what passion is more important and fervent than that of
which we write? The fathers in medicine, and their modern followers,
agree in ascribing to the pleasures of love, indulged in with
moderation, activity and lightness of the body, vigor and vivacity of
the mind.

Music, apart from its immense influence on the nervous system in
general, seems sometimes to exercise a special action on the sexual
instinct. Science possesses at the present day some facts beyond
dispute, which prove the great power of music in this respect.


ON THE INDULGENCE AND THE RESTRAINT OF SEXUAL DESIRE.

The act of generation is a voluntary one. But nature has so placed it
under the empire of pleasure, that the voice of discretion is no longer
heard, and the will is often led captive. Hence it is well, for hygienic
reasons, to consider its laws.

The too frequent repetition of the reproductive act is known to be
followed by consequences injurious to the general health. Too rigid
continence is not unattended, in many constitutions, with danger, for
the victory over passion may be dearly bought. Science recommends the
adoption of a wise mean between two extremes equally destructive. By
following her counsel, women may escape from the hysterical and other
disorders which often wait as well upon excess as upon too great denial
of that passion, which claims satisfaction as a natural right.

As men have made laws upon all subjects, we need not be surprised to
learn that they have legislated upon this. History informs us that the
legislators of ancient times have not failed to occupy themselves with
this grave question of conjugal economy. The ordinances of Solon
required that the married should acquit themselves of their duties at
least three times a month; those of Zoroaster prescribed once a week.
Mohammed ordered that any wife neglected by her husband longer than a
week could demand and obtain a divorce. It is not, however, in these,
and other enactments which might be quoted, that guidance is to be
sought. The principles derived from nature and experience are more
valuable than human laws, however venerable; for these too often serve
only to reflect the profound ignorance of their makers.

Moderation should here prevail. Health is thus preserved and
strengthened, and the gratification doubled. The art of seasoning
pleasures in general, consists in being avaricious with them. To abstain
from enjoyment, is the philosophy of the sage, the epicurism of reason.

Proper self-denial in the gratification of the wants of physical love is
a source of good, not only to the individual practising it, but to the
community, as we shall show hereafter. It may be observed for one's own
profit only, or for the benefit of another. The latter is in the end
more conducive to self-interest than the former. A double advantage is
derived therefrom,--gratitude and sympathy returned, and increase of
appetite and of power for future enjoyment. Excess of indulgence results
in the pain of surfeit and the extinction of affection. Earnest love,
satisfying itself with small gratifications, is a more copious source of
happiness than that frequently quenched by full gratification.

What, then, is this moderation which both Hygeia and Venus command?
Here, again, invariable rules are not possible. Science rarely lays down
laws so inflexible as those of the Medes and Persians. She designates
limits. The passage between Scylla and Charybdis is often a wide one.
The folly of the ancient statutes which have been referred to, consists
mainly in their failure to recognise the diverse influence of age,
temperament, seasons, etc.

It almost appears as if there were but one _season_ for generation, that
in which the sun re-warms and vivifies the earth, trees dress in
verdure, and animals respire the soft breath of spring. Then every
living thing reanimates itself. The impulse of reproduction is excited.
Now, also, its gratification is most beneficial to the individual and to
the species. Children conceived in the spring time have greater
vitality, are less apt to die during infancy, than those conceived at
any other time of the year. The statistics of many thousand cases,
recently carefully collated in England, prove this beyond peradventure.
It is well known that a late calf, or one born at the end of the summer,
is not likely to become a well-developed and healthy animal. This has
been attributed to the chilling influence of approaching winter; but it
is capable of another and, perhaps, a truer explanation. Nature's
impulses, therefore, in the spring of the year are for the good of the
race, and may then be more frequently indulged without prejudice to the
individual. Summer is the season which agrees the least with the
exercise of the generative functions. The autumn months are the most
unfruitful. Then, also, derangements of the economy are readily excited
by marital intemperance.

The _temperaments_ exert over reproduction, as over all the other
functions of the body, a powerful influence. Love is said to be the
ruling passion in the sanguine temperament, as ambition is in the
bilious. There is also in some cases a peculiar condition of the nervous
system which impels to, or diverts from, sexual indulgence. In some
women, even in moderation, it acts as a poison, being followed by
headache and prostration, lasting for days.

With advancing years, the fading of sexual desire calls attention to the
general law, that animals and plants, when they become old, are dead to
reproduction. What in early life is followed by temporary languor, in
matured years is succeeded by a train of symptoms much graver and more
durable.

Those who are in feeble health, and particularly those who have delicate
chests, ought to be sober in the gratification of love. Sexual
intercourse has proved mortal after severe haemorrhages.

All organized beings are powerfully affected by propagation. Animals
become depressed and dejected after it. The flower which shines so
brilliantly at the moment of its amours, after the consummation of that
act, withers and falls. It is wise, therefore, in imparting life, to
have a care not to shorten one's own existence. Nothing is more certain
than that animals and plants lessen the duration of their lives by
multiplied sexual enjoyments. The abuse of these pleasures produces
lassitude and weakness. Beauty of feature and grace of movement are
sacrificed. When the excess is long continued, it occasions spasmodic
and convulsive affections, enfeeblement of the senses, particularly that
of sight, deprivation of the mental functions, loss of memory,
pulmonary consumption and death. One of the most eminent of living
physiologists has asserted that 'development of the individual and the
reproduction of the species stand in a reverse ratio to each other,' and
that 'the highest degree of bodily rigor is inconsistent with more than
a very modest indulgence in sexual intercourse.'

The general principles we have just enunciated are of great importance
in the regulation of the health. They are more suggestive and useful
than the precise rules which have from time to time been laid down on
this subject.


TIMES WHEN MARITAL RELATIONS SHOULD BE SUSPENDED.

There are times at which marital relations are eminently improper. We
are told, I Cor. vii. 3, 4, that neither husband nor wife has the power
to refuse the conjugal obligation when the debt is demanded. But there
are certain legitimate causes for denial by the wife.

A condition of intoxication in the husband is a proper ground for
refusal. Fecundation taking place while either parent has been in this
state has produced idiots and epileptics. This has happened again and
again. The cases on record are so numerous and well-authenticated, as to
admit of no doubt in regard to the fatal effect upon the mind of the
offspring of conception under such circumstances.

Physical degeneracy is also often a consequence of procreation during
the alcoholic intoxication of one or both parents. A peculiar arrest of
growth and development of body and mind takes place, and, in some
instances, the unfortunate children, although living to years of
manhood, remain permanent infants, just able to stand by the side of a
chair, to utter a few simple sounds, and to be amused with childish
toys.

During convalescence from a severe sickness, or when there is any local
or constitutional disease which would be aggravated by sexual
intercourse, it should be abstained from. There is reason for believing
that a being procreated at a period of ill-humour, bodily indisposition,
or nervous debility, may carry with it, during its whole existence, some
small particles of these evils. When there exists any contagious
disease, refusals are of course valid, and often a duty to the unborn.
Poverty, or the wish to have no more children, can only be exceptionally
allowed as a reason for the denial of all conjugal privileges.

The opinion that sexual relations practised during the time of the
menses engender children liable to scrofulous disease, is a mere popular
prejudice. But there are other and better-founded reasons for continence
during these periods.

The question of intercourse during pregnancy and suckling will come up
for consideration when speaking of these conditions hereafter.


CONDITIONS WHEN MARITAL RELATIONS ARE PAINFUL.

Nature has not designed that a function of great moment to the human
race--one involving its very existence--should be attended with pain.
The presence of pleasure is indicative of health, its absence of
disease. But to a woman who has systematically displaced her womb by
years of imprudence in conduct or dress, this act, which should be a
physiological one, and free from any hurtful tendencies becomes a source
of distress and even of illness. The diseases of the womb which
sometimes follow matrimony are not to be traced to excessive indulgence
in many cases, but to indulgence _to any extent_ by those who have
altered the natural relation of the parts before marriage. A prominent
physician, Prof. T. Gaillard Thomas, of New York, has said that 'upon a
woman who has enfeebled her system by habits of indulgence and luxury,
pressed her uterus entirely out of its normal place, and who perhaps
comes to the nuptial bed with some marked uterine disorder, the result
of imprudence at menstrual epochs, sexual intercourse has a _poisonous_
influence. The taking of food into the stomach exerts no hurtful
influence on the digestive system; but the taking of food by a
dyspeptic, who has abused and injured that organ, does so.'

When excessive pain exists, and every attempt occasions nervous
trepidation and apprehension, it is absolutely certain that there is
some diseased condition present, for which proper advice should be
secured at once. Delay in doing so will not remove the necessity for
medical interference in the end, while it will assuredly aggravate the
trouble. Prompt intelligent aid, on the contrary, is usually followed by
the happiest results in such cases.


STERILITY.

Wives who never become mothers are said to be sterile or barren. This
condition is frequently a cause of much unhappiness. Fortune may favor
the married couple in every other respect, yet if she refuse to accord
the boon of even a single heir to heart and home, her smiles will bear
the aspect of frowns. It is then of some interest to inquire into the
causes of this condition, and how to prevent or remedy their operation.

Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, has shown, by elaborate research, that in
those wives who are destined to have children, there intervenes, on the
average, about seventeen months between the marriage ceremony and the
birth of the first child, and that the question whether a woman will be
sterile is decided in the first three years of married life. If she have
no children in that time, the chances are thirteen to one against her
ever having any. In those cases, therefore, in which the first three
years of married life are fruitless, it is highly desirable for those
wishing a family to ascertain whether or not the barrenness is dependent
upon any defective condition capable of relief.

The age of a wife at the time of marriage has much to do with the
expectation of children. As the age increases over twenty-five years,
the interval between the marriage and the birth of the first child is
lengthened. For it has been ascertained that not only are women most
fecund from twenty to twenty-four, but that they begin their career of
child-bearing sooner after marriage than their younger or elder sisters.
Early marriages (those before the age of twenty) are sometimes more
fruitful than late ones (those after twenty-four). The interesting
result has further been arrived at in England, that about one in
fourteen of all marriages of women between fifteen and nineteen are
without offspring; that wives married at ages from twenty to twenty-four
inclusive, are almost all fertile; and that after that age the chances
of having no children gradually increases with the greater age at the
time of marriage.

There are two kinds of sterility which are physiological, natural to all
women,--that of young girls before puberty, and that of women who are
past the epoch of the cessation of the menses. In some very rare cases,
conception takes place after cessation. In one published case, it
occurred nine months afterwards, and in another eighteen months. In some
very rare cases, also, conception has taken place before the first
menstruation.

The older a woman is at the time of her marriage, the longer deferred is
the age at which she naturally becomes sterile. She bears children later
in life, in order to compensate, as it were, for her late commencement.
But although she continues to have children until a more advanced age
than the earlier married, yet her actual child-bearing period is
shorter. Nature does not entirely make up at the end of life for the
time lost from the duties of maternity in early womanhood; for the
younger married have really a longer era of fertility than the older,
though it terminates at an earlier age.

A wife who, having had children, has ceased for three years to conceive,
will probably bear no more, and the probability increases as time
elapses. After the first, births take place with an average interval, in
those who continue to be fertile, of about twenty months.

Nursing women are generally sterile, above all, during the first months
which follow accouchement, because the vital forces are then
concentrated on the secretion of the milk. In a majority of instances,
when suckling is prolonged to even nineteen or twenty months, pregnancy
does not take place at all until after weaning.

Climate has also an influence upon the fertility of marriages. In
southern regions more children are born, fewer in northern. The number
of children is in inverse proportion to the amount of food in a country
and in a season. In Belgium, the higher the price of bread the greater
the number of children, and the greater the number of infant deaths.

The seasons exert a power over the increase of population. The spring of
the year, as has already been stated, is the most favourable to
fecundity. It is not known whether day and night have any effect upon
conception.

The worldly condition seems to have much to do with the size of a
family. Rich and fashionable women have fewer children than their poor
and hard-worked neighbours. Wealth and pleasure seem to be often gladly
exchanged for the title of mother.

But it is our more particular object now to inquire into the _causes of
absolute sterility_ in individual cases, rather than to discuss the
operation of general laws upon the fertility of the community at large,
however inviting such a discussion may be. When marriages are fruitless,
the wife is almost always blamed. It is not to be supposed that she is
always in fault. Many husbands are absolutely sterile; for it is a
mistake to consider that every man must be prolific who is vigorous and
enjoys good health. Neither does it follow, because a woman has never
given birth to a living child, that she has not conceived. About one
marriage in eight is unproductive of living children, and therefore
fails to add to the population. The seeds of life have, however, been
more extensively sown among women than these figures would seem to
indicate. If the life of an infant for a long time after birth is a
frail one, before birth its existence is precarious in the extreme. It
often perishes soon after conception. A sickness, unusually long and
profuse, occurring in a young married woman a few days beyond the
regular time, is often the only evidence she will ever have that a life
she has communicated has been ended almost as soon as begun. A tendency
to miscarriage may therefore be all that stands in the way of a family.
This is generally remediable.

It is a well-known fact that frigidity is a frequent cause of
barrenness, as well as a barrier to matrimonial happiness. Its removal,
so desirable, is in many cases possible by detecting and doing away with
the cause. The causes are so various, that their enumeration here would
be tedious and unprofitable, for most of them can only be discovered
and remedied by a practical physician who has studied the particular
case under consideration. So also in regard to the various displacements
and diseases of the womb preventing conception. Proper medical treatment
is usually followed by the best results.

While the fact that pleasure is found in the marital relation is a
favourable augury for impregnation, it has been long noticed that
Messalinas are sterile. It was observed in Paris, that out of one
thousand only six bore children in the course of a year, whereas the
ordinary proportion in that city for that time is three and a half
births for every one hundred of the population.

In some women, nothing seems amiss but too intense passion. Such cases
are much more rare than instances of the opposite extreme producing the
same effect.

A condition of debility, or the presence of certain special poisons in
the blood, may prevent conception, or, what is to all intents the same
thing, cause miscarriage. Many apparently feeble women have large
families. But in numerous instances a tonic and sometimes an alternative
constitutional treatment is required before pregnancy will take place.
On the contrary, there are well-authenticated cases of women who were
stout and barren in opulence becoming thin and prolific in poverty.

The stimulus of novelty to matrimonial intercourse imparted by a short
separation of husband and wife, is often salutary in its influence upon
fertility.

To show upon what slight constitutional differences infertility often
depends, it is merely necessary to allude to the fact, known to every
one, that women who have not had children with one husband often have
them with another. This condition of physiological incompatibility is
evidently not altogether one of the emotional nature, for it is observed
in animals, among whom it is by no means rare to find certain males and
females who will not breed together, although both are known to be
perfectly fruitful with other females and males. The ancients, believing
that sterility was more common with couples of the same temperament and
condition, advised, with Hippocrates, that blonde women should unite
with dark men, thin women with stout men, and _vice versa._

Barren women should not despair. They sometimes become fecund after a
long lapse of years. In other words, they are sterile only during a
certain period of their lives, and then, a change occurring in their
temperament with age, they become fruitful. History affords a striking
example of this eccentricity of generation, in the birth of Louis XIV.,
whom Anne of Austria, Queen of France brought into the world after a
sterility of twenty-two years. Catherine de Medicis, wife of Henry II.,
became the mother of ten children after a sterility of ten years. Dr.
Tilt, of London, mentions the case of a woman who was married at
eighteen, but although both herself and her husband enjoyed habitual
good health, conception did not take place until she was forty-eight,
when she bore a child. Another case is reported where a well-formed
female married at nineteen, and did not bear a child until she had
reached her fiftieth year.

Families often suffer from the effects of sterility. Civilised nations
never do. Recent researches have been carefully instituted in several
countries to determine the exact power of the human race to preserve its
numbers against the ravages of death. It has been ascertained that
during periods of peace the population can be maintained to the same
point by the additions made to it through the procreating capacity of
only one-half of the women in the community. Nature, therefore, has made
ample provision for preventing a decrease of population through failure
of reproduction.

She has also instituted laws to prevent its undue increase. It would
seem as if the extension of material mental and social comfort and
culture has a tendency to render marriage less prolific, and population
stationary or nearly so. So evident is this tendency, that it has been
laid down as a maxim in sociology by Sismondi, that 'where the number of
marriages is proportionally the greatest, where the greatest number of
persons participate in the duties and the virtues and the happiness of
marriage, the smaller number of children does each marriage produce.'
Thus, to a certain extent, does nature endorse the opinions of those
political economists who assert that increase of population beyond
certain limits is an evil happily averted by wars, famines, and
pestilences, which hence become national blessings in disguise. She,
however, points to the extension of mental and moral education and
refinement as gentler and surer means of reducing plethoric population
than those suggested by Malthus and Mill.

Many causes of sterility, it will therefore be seen, are beyond the
power of man to control. They operate on a large scale for the good of
the whole. With these we have little concern. But there are others which
may be influenced by intelligent endeavor. Some have been already
alluded to, and the remedy suggested; but we will proceed to give more
specific


ADVICE TO WIVES WHO DESIRE TO HAVE CHILDREN.

It has long been known that menstruation presents a group of phenomena
closely allied to fecundity. The first eruption of the menses is an
unequivocal sign of the awakening of the faculty of reproduction. The
cessation of the menstrual epochs is a sign equally certain of the loss
of the faculty of reproduction. When conception has taken place, the
periodical flow is interrupted. Labor occurs at about the time in which
the menses would have appeared. In short, it is a fact, now completely
established, that the time immediately before, and particularly that
after the monthly sickness, is the period the most favorable to
fecundation. It is said that, by following the counsel to this effect
given him by the celebrated Fernel, Henry II., the King of France,
secured to himself offspring after the long sterility of his wife before
referred to. Professor Bedford, of New York, says that he can point to
more than one instance in which, by this advice, he has succeeded in
adding to the happiness of parties who for years had been vainly hoping
for the accomplishment of their wishes.

Repose of the woman, and, above all, sojourn on the bed after the act of
generation, also facilitates conception. Hippocrates, the great father
of medicine, was aware of this, and laid stress upon it in his advice to
sterile wives.

The womb and the breasts are bound together by very strong sympathies:
that which excites the one will stimulate the other. Dr. Charles Loudon
mentions that four out of seven patients, by acting on this hint, became
mothers. A similar idea occurred to the illustrious Marshall Hall, who
advised the application of a strong infant to the breast. Fomentations
of warm milk to the breasts and the corresponding portion of the spinal
column, and the use of the breast-pump two or three times a day, just
before the menstrual period, have also been recommended by good medical
authorities. Horseback exercise, carried to fatigue, seems occasionally
to have conduced to pregnancy.

The greatest hope of success against sterility is to change the dominant
state of the constitution. But this can only be effected under suitable
medical advice. The treatment of sterility--thanks to the recent
researches of Dr. Marion Sims--is much more certain than formerly; and
the intelligent physician is now able to ascertain the cause, and point
out the remedy, where before all was conjecture and experiment. The
sterile wife should, herefore, be slow in abandoning all hope of ever
becoming a mother.


ON THE LIMITATION OF OFFSPRING.

No part of our subject is more delicate than this. Very few people are
willing to listen to a dispassionate discussion of the propriety or
impropriety of limiting within certain bounds the number of children in
a family. On the one side are many worthy physicians and pious
clergymen, who, without listening to any arguments, condemn every effort
to avoid large families; on the other, are numberless wives and
husbands, who turn a deaf ear to the warnings of doctors and the
thunders of divines, and, eager to escape a responsibility they have
assumed, hesitate not to resort to the most dangerous and immoral means
to accomplish this end.

We ask both parties to lay aside prejudice and prepossession, and
examine with us this most important social question in all its bearings.

Let us first inquire whether there is such a thing as
_over-production_--having _too many_ children. Unquestionably there is.
Its disastrous effects on both mother and children are known to every
intelligent physician. Two-thirds of all cases of womb disease, says Dr.
Tilt, are traceable to child-bearing in feeble women. Hardly a day
passes that a physician in large practice does not see instances of
debility and disease resulting from over-much child-bearing. Even the
lower animals illustrate this. Every farmer is aware of the necessity of
limiting the offspring of his mares and cows. How much more severe are
the injuries inflicted on the delicate organization of woman! A very
great mortality, says Dr. Duncan of Edinburgh, attends upon
confinements when they become too frequent.

The evils of a too rapid succession of pregnancies are likewise
conspicuous in the children. There is no more frequent cause, says Dr.
Hillier,--whose authority in such matters none will dispute,--of rickets
than this. Puny, sickly, short-lived offspring follows over-production.
Worse than this, the carefully compiled statistics of Scotland show that
such children are peculiarly liable to idiocy. Adding to an already
excessive number, they come to over-burden a mother already overwhelmed
with progeny. They cannot receive at her hands the attention they
require. Weakly herself, she brings forth weakly infants. 'Thus,'
concludes Dr. Duncan, 'are the accumulated evils of an excessive family
manifest.'

Apart from these considerations, there are certain social relations
which have been thought by some to advise small families. When either
parent suffers from a disease which is transmissible, and wishes to
avoid inflicting misery on an unborn generation, it has been urged that
they should avoid children. Such diseases not unfrequently manifest
themselves after marriage, which is answer enough to the objection that
if they did not wish children they should not marry. There are also
women to whom pregnancy is a nine months' torture, and others to whom it
is nearly certain to prove fatal. Such a condition cannot be discovered
before marriage, and therefore cannot be provided against by a single
life. Can such women be asked to immolate themselves?

It is strange, says that distinguished writer, John Stuart Mill, that
intemperance in drink, or in any other appetite, should be condemned so
readily, but that incontinence in this respect should always meet not
only with indulgence but praise. 'Little improvement' he adds, 'can be
expected in morality until the producing too large families is regarded
with the same feeling as drunkenness, or any other physical excess.' A
well-known medical writer, Dr. Drysdale, in commenting on these words,
adds: 'In this error, if error it be, I also humbly share.'

'When dangerous prejudices,' says Sismondi, the learned historian of
southern Europe, 'have not become accredited, when our true duties
towards those to whom we give life are not obscured in the name of a
sacred authority, no married man will have more children than he can
bring up properly.'

Such is the language of physicians and statesmen; but a stronger appeal
has been made for the sake of morality itself. The detestable crime of
_abortion_ is appallingly rife in our day; it is abroad in our land to
an extent which would have shocked the dissolute women of pagan Rome.
Testimony from all quarters, especially from New England, has
accumulated within the past few years to sap our faith in the morality
and religion of American women. This wholesale, fashionable murder, how
are we to stop it? Hundreds of vile men and women in our large cities
subsist by this slaughter of the innocents, and flaunt their ill-gotten
gains--the price of blood--in our public thoroughfares. Their
advertisements are seen in the newspapers; their soul and body
destroying means are hawked in every town. With such temptation strewn
in her path, what will the woman threatened with an excessive family
do? Will she not yield to evil, and sear her conscience with the
repetition of her wickedness? Alas! daily experience in the heart of a
great city discloses to us only too frequently the fatal ease of such a
course.

In view of the injuries of excessive child-bearing on the one hand, and
of this prevalent crime on the other, a man of genius and sympathy, Dr.
Raciborski of Paris, took the position that the avoidance of offspring
to a certain extent is not only legitimate, but should be recommended as
a measure of public good. 'We know how bitterly we shall be attacked,'
he says, 'for promulgating this doctrine; but if our ideas only render
to society the services we expect of them, we shall have effaced from
the list of crimes the one most atrocious without exception, that of
child-murder, before or after birth, and we shall have poured a little
happiness into the bosoms of despairing families, where poverty is
allied to the knowledge that offspring can be born only to prostitution
or mendicity. The realization of such hopes will console us under the
attacks upon our doctrines.'

It has been eagerly repeated by some, that the wish to limit offspring
arises most frequently from an inordinate desire of indulgence. We reply
to such, that they do not know the human heart, and that they do it
discredit. More frequently the wish springs from a love of children. The
parents seek to avoid having more than they can properly nourish and
educate. They do not wish to leave their sons and daughters in want.
'This,' says a writer in _The Nation_ (of New York), in an article on
this interesting subject,--'this is not the noblest motive of action, of
course, but there is something finely human about it.'

'Very much indeed is it to be wished,' says Dr. Edward Reich, after
reviewing the multitudinous evils which result to individuals and
society from a too rapid increase in families, 'that the function of
reproduction be placed under the dominion of the will.'

Men are very ready to find an excuse for self-indulgence; and if they
cannot get one anywhere else, they seek it in religion. They tell the
woman it is her duty to bear all the children she can. They refer her to
the sturdy, strong-limbed women of early times, to the peasant women of
northern Europe, who emigrate to America, and ask and expect their wives
to rival them in fecundity. Such do not reflect that they have been
brought up to light indoor employment, that their organization is more
nervous and frail, that they absolutely have not the stamina required
for many confinements.

Moreover, they presume too much in asking her to bear them. 'If a woman
has a right to decide on any question,' said a genial physician in the
Massachusetts Medical Society a few years since, 'it certainly is as to
how many children she shall bear.' 'Certainly,' say the editors of a
prominent medical journal, 'wives have a right to demand of their
husbands at least the same consideration which a breeder extends to his
stock.' 'Whenever it becomes unwise that the family should be
increased,' says Sismondi again, '_justice_ and _humanity_ require that
the husband should impose on himself the same restraint which is
submitted to by the unmarried.'

An eminent writer on medical statistics, Dr. Henry MacCormac, says: 'The
brute yields to the generative impulse when it is experienced. He is
troubled by no compunction about the matter. Now, a man ought not to act
like a brute. He has reason to guide and control his appetites. Too
many, however, forget, and act like brutes instead of as men. It would,
in effect, prove very greatly conducive to man's interests were the
generative impulses placed absolutely under the sway of right reason,
chastity, forecast, and justice.'

There is no lack of authorities, medical and non-medical, on this point.
Few who weigh them well will deny that there is such a thing as too
large a family; that there does come a time when a mother can rightfully
demand rest from her labours, in the interest of herself, her children,
and society. When is this time? Here again the impossibility meets us of
stating a definite number of children, and saying, 'This many and no
more.' As in every other department of medicine, averages are of no
avail in guiding individuals. There are women who require no limitation
whatever. They can bear healthy children with rapidity, and suffer no
ill results. There are others--and they are the majority--who should use
temperance in this as in every other function; and there are a few who
should bear no children at all. It is absurd for physicians or
theologians to insist that it is either the physical or moral duty of
the female to have as many children as she possibly can have. It is
time that such an injurious prejudice was discarded, and the truth
recognised, that while marriage looks to offspring as its natural
sequence, there should be inculcated such a thing as marital continence,
and that excess here as elsewhere is repugnant to morality, and is
visited by the laws of physiology with certain and severe punishment on
parent and child.

Continence, self-control, a willingness to deny himself,--that is what
is required from the husband. But a thousand voices reach us from
suffering women in all parts of our land that this will not suffice;
that men refuse thus to restrain themselves; that it leads to a loss of
domestic happiness and to illegal amours, or that it is injurious
physically and mentally,--that, in short, such advice is useless,
because impracticable.

To such sufferers we reply that Nature herself has provided to some
extent against over-production, and that it is well to avail ourselves
of her provisions. It is well known that women when nursing rarely
become pregnant, and for this reason, if for no other, women should
nurse their own children, and continue the period until the child is at
least a year old. Be it remembered, however, that nursing, continued too
long, weakens both mother and child, and, moreover, ceases to accomplish
the end for which we now recommend it.

Another provision of nature is, that for a certain period between her
monthly illnesses every woman is sterile. The vesicle which matures in
her ovaries, and is discharged from them by menstruation, remains some
days in the womb before it is passed forth and lost. How long its stay
is we do not definitely know, and probably it differs in individuals.
From ten to twelve days at most are supposed to elapse after the
_cessation_ of the flow before the final ejection of the vesicle. For
some days after this the female is incapable of reproduction. But for
some days _before_ her monthly illness she is liable to conception, as
for that length of time the male element can survive. This period,
therefore, becomes a variable and an undetermined one, and even when
known, its observation demands a large amount of self-control.

There is one method widely in use in this country for the limitation of
offspring which deserves only the most unqualified condemnation, which
is certain to bring upon the perpetrators swift and terrible
retribution, and which is opposed to every sentiment of nature and
morality. We mean


THE CRIME OF ABORTION.

_From the moment of conception_ a new life commences; a new individual
exists; another child is added to the family. The mother who
deliberately sets about to destroy this life, either by want of care, or
by taking drugs, or using instruments, commits as great a crime, is just
as guilty, as if she strangled her new-born infant, or as if she
snatched from her own breast her six-months' darling and dashed out its
brains against the wall. Its blood is upon her head, and as sure as
there is a God and a judgment, that blood will be required of her. The
crime she commits is _murder_, _child-murder_,--the slaughter of a
speechless, helpless being, whom it is her duty, beyond all things else,
to cherish and preserve.

This crime is common; it is fearfully prevalent. Hundreds of persons are
devoted to its perpetration. It is their trade. In nearly every village
its ministers stretch out their bloody hands to lead the weak woman to
suffering, remorse, and death. Those who submit to their treatment are
not generally unmarried women who have lost their virtue, but the
mothers of families, respectable _Christian_ matrons, members of
churches, and walking in the better classes of society.

We appeal to all such with earnest and with threatening words. If they
have no feeling for the fruit of their womb, if maternal sentiment is so
callous in their breasts, let them know that such produced abortions are
the constant cause of violent and dangerous womb diseases, and
frequently of early death; that they bring on mental weakness, and often
insanity; that they are the most certain means to destroy domestic
happiness which can be adopted. Better, far better, to bear a child
every year for twenty years than to resort to such a wicked and
injurious step; better to die, if needs be, in the pangs of childbirth,
than to live with such a weight of sin on the conscience.

There is no need of either. By the moderation we have mentioned, it is
in the power of any woman to avoid the evils of an excessive family,
without injury and without criminality.

We feel obliged to speak in plain language of this hidden sin, because
so many are ignorant that it is a sin. Only within a few years have
those who take in charge the public morals spoken of it in such terms
that this excuse of ignorance is no longer admissible.

Bishop Coxe, of New York, in a pastoral letter, the late Archbishop
Spaulding, Catholic Primate of the United States, in an address at the
close of a recent Provincial Council at Baltimore, the Old and New
School Presbyterian Churches, at a meeting in Philadelphia, have all
pronounced the severest judgments against those guilty of antenatal
infanticide. Appeals through the press have been made by physicians of
high standing, and by eminent divines, which should be in the hands of
every one.

The chiefest difficulty hitherto has been, that while women were warned
against the evils of abortion, they were offered no escape from the
exhaustion and dangers of excessive child-bearing. This difficulty we
have fully recognised and fairly met, and, we believe, in such a manner
that neither the accuracy of our statements nor the purity of our
motives can be doubted. Should our position be attacked, however, the
medical man must know that in opposing our views, he opposes those of
the most distinguished physicians in Europe and in America; and the
theologian should be warned that, when a neglect of physical laws leads
to moral evil, the only way to correct this evil is to remedy the
neglect. In this case the neglect is over-production; the evil is
abortion.


NATURE OF CONCEPTION.

The theories which have been advanced to explain the manner in which the
human species is continued and reproduced are very numerous. Including
the hypotheses of the ancient philosophers, some two hundred and fifty
have been promulgated by the greatest thinkers of all times. The older
ones do not deserve mention, as they are replete with absurdities. Such,
for instance, is that of Pythagoras, which supposed that a vapor
descended from the brain and formed the embryo. The Scythians therefore
took blood from the veins behind the ears to produce impotence and
sterility. Modern science has shown the total error of this and many
other views formerly entertained on this subject. Has galvanism or
electricity any share in the mysterious function? Some among the modern
physiologists have supposed that there is an electrical or magnetic
influence which effects generation. Even within a few months, Dr. Harvey
L. Byrd, Professor of Obstetrics in the Medical Department of Washington
University of Baltimore, has asserted that he has 'every reason for
believing that fecundation or impregnation is always an electrical
phenomenon; ... it results from the completion of an electric
circle,--the union of positive and negative electricities.' This,
however, is not accepted by all as the dictum of modern science.
Physiology has clearly established that the new being is the result of
contact between the male element, an independent, living animal, on the
one part, and the female element, a matured egg, on the other, involving
the union of the contents of two peculiar cells. Without such contact,
fecundation cannot take place.

The only matter of practical moment in connection with this most
interesting function which we have to announce, is the influence of the
mind on the offspring at the time of generation. This influence has long
been remarked in regard to animals as well as men. Jacob was aware of it
when he made his shrewd bargain with Laban for 'all the speckled and
spotted cattle' as his hire. For we are told that then 'Jacob took him
rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree, and pilled
white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters
in the watering-troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should
conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the
rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And
Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks towards
the ringstraked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his
own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle. And it
came to pass, whenever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid
the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might
conceive among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them
not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.'

The impressions conveyed to the brain through the sense of sight are
here asserted by the writer of Genesis to have influenced the system of
the ewes so that they brought forth young marked in the same manner as
the rods placed before their eyes. It is not said that there was any
miraculous interposition; but the whole account is given as if it were
an everyday, natural, and well-known occurrence.

The Greeks, a people renowned for their physical beauty, seemed to be
aware of the value of mental impressions; for in their apartments they
were lavish of statues and paintings representing the gods and
goddesses, delineated in accordance with the best models of art.

Dionysus, tyrant of Syracuse, caused the portrait of the beautiful Jason
to be suspended before the nuptial bed, in order to obtain a handsome
child.

The following is related of the celebrated Galen:--A Roman magistrate,
little, ugly, and hunch-backed, had by his wife a child exactly
resembling the statue of AEsop. Frightened at the sight of this little
monster, and fearful of becoming the father of a posterity so deformed,
he went to consult Galen, the most distinguished physician of his time,
who counseled him to place three statues of love around the conjugal
bed, one at the foot, the others, one on each side, in order that the
eyes of his young spouse might be constantly feasted on these charming
figures. The magistrate followed strictly the advice of the physician,
and it is recorded that his wife bore him a child surpassing in beauty
all his hopes.

The fact that the attributes of the child are determined to an important
extent by the bodily and mental condition of the parents at the time of
conception, explains the marked difference almost constantly observed
between children born to the same parents, however strong the family
likeness may be among them. The changes constantly going on in the
physical, intellectual, and emotional states of the parents, produce a
corresponding alteration in offspring conceived at successive intervals.
Twins generally resemble each other very closely in every respect.

Inasmuch, therefore, as the moment of generation is of much more
importance than is commonly believed in its effect upon the moral and
physical life of the future being, it is to be wished that parents would
pay some attention to this subject. It is the moment of creation,--that
in which the first vital power is communicated to the new creature. Not
without reason has nature associated with it the highest sensual
exaltation of our existence. Dr. Hufeland, the author of _The Art of
Prolonging Life_, has said, 'In my opinion it is of the utmost
importance that this moment should be confined to a period when the
sensation of collected powers, ardent passion, and a mind cheerful and
free from care, invite to it on both sides.'


SIGNS OF FRUITFUL CONJUNCTION.

There are some women in whom the act of conception is attended with
certain sympathetic affections, such as faintness, vertigo, etc., by
which they know that it has taken place.

Swelling of the neck was regarded in ancient times as a sign of
conception. Its truthfulness has been reaffirmed by modern authorities.

It has also been asserted that impregnation generally excites a
universal tremor in all parts of the body, and that it is associated
with more than an ordinary degree of pleasure.

It must not be supposed, however, that enjoyment and impregnation bear
necessarily to each other the relation of cause and effect, although
this is the popular opinion. From too implicit a reliance upon this
current belief, wives are often incredulous as to their true condition.

It is a fact that in some cases sickness at the stomach manifests itself
almost simultaneously with the act of fecundation. Authentic instances
are on record of wives reckoning their confinement nine months from the
first feeling of nausea, without ever making a mistake.

In conclusion, it may be said that peculiar sensations are often
experienced, frequently of a character difficult to explain; and many
modern authors attach to them a marked value. In this manner it is
possible for a woman to be satisfied at the moment as to the change
which has taken place; yet the evidence is often deceptive, and
sometimes nothing peculiar is noticed.

From the period of conception the mother has no direct knowledge of the
process that is going on within, excepting by the effects of the
increasing pressure upon other parts, until 'quickening' takes place,
which belongs to another part of our subject.

The signs and symptoms of pregnancy will be explained in full when we
come to treat of the pregnant condition in a future chapter.


HOW TO RETAIN THE AFFECTIONS OF A HUSBAND.

Ah! this is a secret indeed!--worth the wand of the magician, the lamp
of Aladdin, or the wishing-cap of the fairy. What could any of these
give in exchange for the love of a husband? Yet this pearl of great
price, how often is it treated as lightly and carelessly as if it was
any bauble of Brummagem!

'My husband,' we have heard young wives say, 'why, it is his duty to
love me. Why did he marry me if he is not going to love me, love me
fondly, love me ever?'

Yes, we all know

    Love the gift, is love the debt.

But in this world of ours it is often hard to get one's own; and when
got, our care must never cease, lest it be wrested from us. The plant
you bought at the greenhouse, and that now blossoms on your window-sill,
became yours by purchase, but it has required your daily care to keep it
alive and persuade it to unfold its blossoms. Infinitely more delicate
is this plant of love. It, too, you purchased. You gave in exchange for
it your own heart. It too, you must daily tend with constant solicitude,
lest it wither and die.

In this country, some women think that anything is good enough to wear
at home. They go about in slatternly morning dresses, unkempt hair, and
slippers down at heel. 'Nobody will see me,' they say 'but my husband.'
Let them learn a lesson from the wives of the Orient.

In those countries a married woman never goes abroad except in long
sombre robes and thick veil. An English lady visiting the wife of one of
the wealthy merchants, found her always in full dress, with toilet as
carefully arranged as if she were going to a ball.

'Why!' exclaimed the visitor, at length, 'is it possible that you take
all this trouble to dress for nobody but your husband?'

'Do, then,' asked the lady in reply, 'the wives of Englishmen dress for
the sake of pleasing other men?'

The visitor was mute.

Not that we would wish our women to be for ever in full costume at home.
That would be alarming. But she who neglects neatness in attire, and,
above all, cleanliness of person, runs a great danger of creating a
sentiment of disgust in those around her. Nothing is more repugnant to
the husband's senses than bad odors, and, for reasons which every woman
knows, women who neglect cleanliness are peculiarly liable to them. When
simple means do not remove them, recourse should be promptly had to a
medical adviser.

So it is with bad breath. This sometimes arises from neglect of the
teeth, sometimes from diseases of the stomach, lungs, etc. A man of
delicate olfactories is almost forced to hold at arm's length a wife
with a fetid breath.

There are some women--we have treated several--who are plagued with a
most disagreeable perspiration, especially about the feet, the arms,
etc. Such should not marry until this is cured. It is a rule among army
surgeons, to be chary about giving men their discharge from military
service on surgeon's certificate. But fetid feet are at times so
horribly offensive, that they are considered an allowable cause for
discharge. No doubt, in some of our States they would be received as a
valid ground for divorce!--certainly with quite as much reason as many
of the grounds usually alleged.

In short, the judicious employment of all the harmless arts of the
toilet, and of those numerous and effective means which modern science
offers, to acquire, to preserve, and to embellish beauty, is a duty
which woman, whether married or single, should never neglect. With very
little trouble, the good looks and freshness of youth can be guarded
almost to old age; and, even when hopelessly gone, simple and harmless
means are at hand to repair the injuries of years, or at least to
conceal them. But this is an art which would require a whole volume to
treat of, and which we cannot here touch upon.


INHERITANCE.

We now come to the consideration of a very wonderful subject,--that of
inheritance. It is one of absorbing interest, both because of the
curious facts it presents, and of the great practical bearing it has
upon the welfare of every individual.

In order to the better understanding of this matter, it is necessary
at the outset to make a distinction between four kinds or varieties of
inheritance. The most generally recognised is _direct inheritance_,--that
in which the children partake of the qualities of the father and
mother. But a child may not resemble either parent, while it bears a
striking likeness to an uncle or aunt. This constitutes _indirect_
inheritance. Again, a child may be more like one of its grandparents
than either its father or mother. Or, what is still more astonishing,
it may display some of the characteristics possessed only by a
remote ancestor. This form of inheritance is known by the scientific
term _atavism_, derived from the Latin word _atavus_, meaning an
ancestor. It is curious to note in this connection that sometimes a son
resembles more closely his maternal than his paternal grandsire in some
male attribute,--as a peculiarity of beard, or certain diseases confined
to the male sex. Though the mother cannot possess or exhibit such male
qualities, she has transmitted them through her blood, from her father to
her son.

The fourth variety of inheritance is that in which the child resembles
neither parent, but the first husband of its mother. A woman contracting
a second marriage, transmits to the offspring of that marriage the
peculiarities she has received through the first union. Breeders of
stock know this tendency, and prevent their brood-mares, cows, or sheep
from running with males of an inferior stock. Thus the diseases of a man
may be transmitted to children which are not his own. Even though dead,
he continues to exert an influence over the future offspring of his
wife, by means of the ineffaceable impress he had made in the conjugal
relation upon her whole system, as we have previously mentioned. The
mother finds in the children of her second marriage

    '... the touch of a vanished hand,
    And the sound of a voice that is still.'

A child may therefore suffer through the operation of this mysterious
and inexorable law, for sins committed not by its own father, but by the
first husband of its mother. What a serious matter, then, is that
relation between the sexes called marriage! How far-reaching are its
responsibilities!

A distinction must here be drawn between hereditary transmission and the
possession of qualities at birth, which have not been the result of any
impression received from the system of father or mother, but due to
mental influences or accidents operating through the mother. A child may
be born idiotic or deformed, not because either parent or one of its
ancestors was thus affected, but from the influence of some severe
mental shock received by the mother during her pregnancy. This subject
of maternal impressions will come up for separate consideration in the
discussion of pregnancy. Again, a child may be epileptic, although there
is no epilepsy in the family, simply because of the intoxication of the
father or mother at the time of the intercourse resulting in conception.
Such cases are not due to hereditary transmission, for that cannot be
hereditary which has been possessed by neither the parents nor any other
relatives.

In considering the effects of inheritance, we will first pass in review
those connected with the physical constitution. These are exceedingly
common and universally known. Fortunately, not merely are evil qualities
inherited, but beauty, health, vigor, and longevity also.


BEAUTY.

Good looks are characteristic of certain families. Alcibiades, the
handsomest among the Grecians of his time, descended from ancestors
remarkable for their beauty. So well and long has the desirable
influence of inheritance in this respect been recognised, that there
existed in Crete an ancient law which ordained that each year the most
beautiful among the young men and women should be chosen and forced to
marry, in order to perpetuate the type of their beauty. Irregularities
of feature are transmitted from parent to child through many
generations. The aquiline nose has existed some centuries, and is yet
hereditary in the Bourbon family. The hereditary under-lip of the House
of Hapsburg is another example. When the poet Savage speaks of

    'The tenth transmitter of a foolish face,'

he scarcely exaggerates what is often seen in families where some
strongly-marked feature or expression is long predominant or reappears
in successive generations.


NECK AND LIMBS.

The form and length of the neck and limbs are frequently hereditary, as
is also the height of the body. The union of two tall persons engenders
tall children. The father of Frederick the Great secured for himself a
regiment of men of gigantic stature, by permitting the marriage of his
guards only with women of similar height. A tendency to obesity often
appears in generation after generation of a family. Yet such cases are
within the reach of medical art.


COMPLEXION.

Even the complexion is not exempt from this influence. Blondes
ordinarily procreate blondes, and dark parents have dark-skinned
children. An union in marriage of fair and dark complexions results in
an intermediate shade in the offspring. Not always, however; for it has
been asserted that the complexion chiefly follows that of the father.
The offspring of a black father and a white mother is much darker than
the progeny of a white father and a dark mother. In explanation of this
fact, it has been said that the mother is not impressed by her own
color, because she does not look upon herself, while the father's
complexion attracts her attention, and thus gives a darker tinge to the
offspring. Black hens frequently lay dark eggs; but the reverse is more
generally found to be the case.


PHYSICAL QUALITIES TRANSMITTED BY EACH PARENT.

In general, it may be said that there exists a tendency on the part of
the father to transmit the external appearance, the configuration of the
head and limbs, the peculiarities of the senses and of the skin and the
muscular condition; while the size of the body, and the general
temperament or constitution of the child, are derived from the mother.
Among animals, the mule, which is the produce of the male ass and the
mare, is essentially a modified ass having the general configuration of
its sire, but the rounded trunk and larger size of its dam. On the other
hand, the hinny, which is the offspring of the stallion and the she-ass,
is essentially a modified horse, having the general configuration of the
horse, but being a much smaller animal than its sire, and therefore
approaching the dam in size as well as in the comparative narrowness of
its trunk. The operation of this principle, though general, is not
universal. Exceptions may easily be cited. In almost every large family
it will be observed that the likeness to the father predominates in some
children, while others most resemble the mother. It is rare to meet with
instances in which some distinctive traits of both parents may not be
traced in the offspring.


HAIR.

Peculiarities in the colour and structure of the hair are transmitted.
Darwin mentions a family in which, for many generations, some of the
members had a single lock differently coloured from the rest of the
hair.


TEMPERAMENT.

The law of inheritance rules in regard to the production of the
temperament. The crossing of one temperament with another in marriage,
produces a modification in the offspring generally advantageous.


FERTILITY.

A peculiar aptitude for procreation is sometimes hereditary. The
children of prolific parents are themselves prolific. It is related that
a French peasant woman was confined ten times in fifteen years. Her
pregnancies, always multiple, produced twenty-eight children. At her
last confinement she had three daughters, who all lived, married, and
gave birth to children,--the first to twenty-six, the second to
thirty-one, and the third to twenty-seven. On the contrary, sometimes a
tendency to sterility is found fixed upon certain families, from which
they can only escape by the most assiduous care.


LONGEVITY.

In the vegetable kingdom, the oak inherits the power to live many years,
while the peach-tree must die in a short time. In the animal kingdom,
the robin becomes grey and old at ten years of age; the rook caws
lustily until a hundred. The ass is much longer-lived than the horse.
The mule illustrates in a striking manner the hereditary tendency of
longevity. It has the size of the horse, the long life of the ass. The
weaker the ass, the larger, the stronger, and the shorter-lived and more
horse-like the mule. It is also a curious and instructive fact, that
this animal is the toughest after it has passed the age of the horse:
the inherited influence of the horse having been expended, the vitality
and hardiness of the ass remain.

It is universally conceded, that longevity is the privileged possession
of some lineages. That famous instance of old age, Thomas Parr, the
best authenticated on record, may be mentioned in illustration. It is
vouched for by Harvey, the distinguished discoverer of the circulation
of the blood. Parr died in the reign of Charles the First, at the age of
152, after having lived under nine sovereigns of England. He left a
daughter aged 127. His father had attained to a great age, and his
great-grandson died at Cork at the age of 103.


DEFORMITIES.

Deformities are undoubtedly sometimes transmitted to the progeny. It is
by no means rare to find that the immediate ancestors of those afflicted
with superfluous fingers and toes, club-feet, or hare-lips, were also
the subjects of these malformations. There are one or two families in
Germany whose members pride themselves upon the possession of an extra
thumb; and there is an Arab chieftain whose ancestors have from time
immemorial been distinguished by a double thumb upon the right hand.
Darwin gives many similar instances. A case of curious displacement of
the knee-pans is recorded, in which the father, sister, son, and the son
of the half-brother by the same father, had all the same malformation.


PERSONAL PECULIARITIES.

Gait, gestures, voice, general bearing, are all inherited. Peculiar
manners, passing into tricks, are often transmitted, as in the case,
often quoted, of the father who generally slept on his back with his
right leg crossed over the left, and whose daughter, whilst an infant
in the cradle, followed exactly the same habit, though an attempt was
made to cure her. Left-handedness is not unfrequently hereditary. It
would be very easy to go on multiplying instances, but we forbear.


HOW TO HAVE BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN.

A practical question now naturally suggests itself. How can the vices of
conformation be avoided, and beauty secured? The art of having handsome
children, known under the name of _callipaedia_, has received much
attention, more, perhaps, in years gone by than of late. The noted Abbot
Quillet wrote a book in Latin on the subject. Many other works, in which
astrology plays a prominent part, were written on this art in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

We have already stated that well-formed parents will transmit these
qualities to their children, with scarcely an exception. Like begets
like. Unfortunately, all parents are not beautiful. Yet all desire
beautiful offspring. The body of the child can be influenced by the mind
of the parent, particularly of the mother. A mind habitually filled with
pleasant fancies and charming images is not without its effect upon the
offspring.

The statues of Apollo, Castor and Pollux, Venus, Hebe, and the other
gods and goddesses which were so numerous in the gardens and public
places in Greece, reproduced themselves in the sons and daughters of the
passers-by. We know also that marriages contracted at an age too early
or too late, are apt to give imperfectly-developed children. The
crossing of temperaments and of nationalities beautifies the offspring.
The custom which has prevailed, in many countries, among the nobility,
of purchasing the handsomest girls they could find for their wives, has
laid the foundation of a higher type of features among the ruling
classes. To obtain this desired end, conception should take place only
when both parents are in the best physical condition, at the proper
season of the year, and with mutual passion. (We have already hinted how
this can be regulated.) During pregnancy the mother should often have
some painting or engraving representing cheerful and beautiful figures
before her eyes, or often contemplate some graceful statue. She should
avoid looking at, or thinking of ugly people, or those marked with
disfiguring diseases. She should take every precaution to escape injury,
fright, and disease of any kind, especially chicken-pox, erysipelas, or
such disorders as leave marks on the person. She should keep herself
well nourished, as want of food nearly always injures the child. She
should avoid ungraceful positions and awkward attitudes, as by some
mysterious sympathy these are impressed on the child she carries. Let
her cultivate grace and beauty in herself at such a time, and she will
endow her child with them. As anger and irritability leave imprints on
the features, she should maintain serenity and calmness.


INHERITANCE OF TALENT AND GENIUS.

The effects of inheritance are perhaps more marked upon the mind than
upon the body. This need not surprise us. If the peculiar form of the
brain can be transmitted, the mental attributes, the result of its
organization, must necessarily also be transmitted.

It is a matter of daily observation, that parents gifted with bright
minds, cultivated by education, generally engender intelligent children;
while the offspring of those steeped in ignorance are stupid from birth.
It may be objected, that men the most remarkable in ancient or modern
times, as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Shakspeare, Milton, Buffon,
Cuvier, etc., have not transmitted their vast intellectual powers to
their progeny. In explanation, it has been stated that what is known as
genius is not transmissible. The creation of a man of genius seems to
require a special effort of Nature, after which, as if fatigued, she
reposes a long time before again making a similar effort. But it may
well be doubted whether even those complex mental attributes on which
genius and talent depend are not inheritable, particularly when both
parents are thus endowed. That distinguished men do not more frequently
have distinguished sons, may readily be accounted for when it is
recollected that the inherited character is due to the combined
influence of both parents. The desirable qualities of the father may
therefore be neutralized in the offspring by the opposite or defective
qualities of the mother. That contrasts in the disposition of parents
are rather the rule than the exception, we have already shown. Every one
tends to unite himself in friendship or love with a different character
from his own, seeking thereby to supplement the qualities in which he
feels his own nature to be deficient. The mother, therefore, may weaken,
and perhaps obliterate, the qualities transmitted by the father. Again,
the influence of some remote ancestors may make itself felt upon the
offspring through the operation of the law of atavism, before alluded
to, and thus prevent the children from equaling their parents in their
natural endowments. Notwithstanding the workings of these opposing
forces, and others which might be mentioned, we find abundant
illustration of the hereditary nature of talent and character.

Of six hundred and five names occurring in a biographical dictionary
devoted to men distinguished as great founders and originators, between
the years 1453 and 1853, there were, as has been pointed out by Mr.
Galton, no less than one hundred and two relationships, or one in six.
Walford's _Men of the Time_ contains an account of the distinguished men
in England, the Continent, and America, then living. Under the letter A
there are eighty-five names, and no less than twenty-five of these, or
one in three and a half, have relatives also in the list; twelve of them
are brothers, and eleven fathers and sons. In Bryan's _Dictionary of
Painters_, the letter A contains three hundred and ninety-one names of
men, of whom sixty-five are near relatives, or one in six; thirty-three
of them are fathers and sons, and thirty are brothers. In Fetis's
_Biographie Universelle des Musiciens_, the letter A contains five
hundred and fifteen names, of which fifty are near relatives, or one in
ten. Confining ourselves to literature alone, it has been found that it
is one to six and a half that a very distinguished literary man has a
very distinguished literary relative; and it is one to twenty-eight that
the relation is father and son, or brother and brother, respectively.
Among the thirty-nine Chancellors of England, sixteen had kinsmen of
eminence; thirteen of them had kinsmen of great eminence. These thirteen
out of thirty-nine, or one in three, are certainly remarkable instances
of the influence of inheritance. A similar examination has been
instituted in regard to the judges of the Supreme Court of
Massachusetts, and other American States, with like results. The Greek
poet AEschylus counted eight poets and four musicians among his
ancestors. The greater part of the celebrated sculptors of ancient
Greece descended from a family of sculptors. The same is true of the
great painters. The sister of Mozart shared the musical talent of her
brother. As there are reasons, to be detailed hereafter, for believing
that the influence of the mother is even greater than that of the
father, how vastly would the offspring be improved if distinguished men
united themselves in marriage to distinguished women for generation
after generation!


INFLUENCE OF FATHERS OVER DAUGHTERS; OF MOTHERS OVER SONS.

We have already called attention to the parts of the physical
organization transmitted by the father and by the mother. It would seem,
moreover, that each parent exercises a special influence over the child
according to its sex. The father transmits to the daughters the form of
the head, the framework of the chest and of the superior extremities,
while the conformation of the lower portion of the body and the inferior
extremities is transmitted by the mother. With the sons this is
reversed. They derive from the mother the shape of the head and of the
superior extremities, and resemble the father in the trunk and inferior
extremities. From this it therefore results, that boys procreated by
intelligent women will be intelligent, and that girls procreated by
fathers of talent will inherit their mental capacity. The mothers of a
nation, though unseen and unacknowledged in the halls of legislation,
determine in this subtle manner the character of the laws.

History informs us that the greater part of the women who have been
celebrated for their intelligence, reflected the genius of their
fathers. Arete, the most celebrated woman of her time, on account of the
extent of her knowledge, was the daughter of the distinguished
philosopher Aristippus, disciple of Socrates. Cornelia, the mother of
the Gracchi, was a daughter of Scipio. The daughter of the Roman emperor
Caligula was as cruel as her father. Marcus Aurelius inherited the
virtues of his mother, and Commodus the vices of his. Charlemagne shut
his eyes upon the faults of his daughters, because they recalled his
own. Genghis-Khan, the renowned Asiatic conqueror, had for his mother a
warlike woman. Tamerlane, the greatest warrior of the fourteenth
century, was descended from Genghis-Khan by the female side. Catherine
de Medicis was as crafty and deceitful as her father, and more
superstitious and cruel. She had two sons worthy of herself,--Charles
IX., who shot the Protestants, and Henry III., who assassinated the
Guises. Her daughter, Margaret of Valois, recalled her father by her
gentle manners. The cruel deeds of Alexander VI., the dark records of
which will for ever stain the pages of history, are only rivaled in
atrocity by those of his children, the infamous Borgias. Arete, Hypatia,
Madame de Stael, and George Sand,--all four had philosophers for their
fathers. The mother of Bernardo Tasso had the gift of poetry. Buffon
often speaks of the rich imagination of his mother. The poet Burns,
'Rare Ben Jonson,' Goethe, Walter Scott, Byron, and Lamartine,--all were
born of women remarkable for their vivacity and brilliancy of language.
Byron, in his journal, attributes his hypochondria to a hereditary taint
derived from his mother, who was its victim in its most furious form;
and her father 'was strongly suspected of suicide.' He was said to have
resembled more his maternal grandfather than any of his father's family.
The daughter of Moliere was like her father in her wit and humor.
Beethoven had for a maternal grandmother an excellent musician. The
mother of Mozart gave the first lessons to her son. A crowd of composers
have descended from John Sebastian Bach, who long stood unrivaled as a
performer on the organ, and composer for that instrument. It may be
remarked here, that it is almost invariably true that the ability or
inability to acquire a knowledge of music is derived from the ancestry.
Parents who cannot turn a tune or tell one note from another, bring
forth children equally unmoved 'with concord of sweet sounds.' Examples
could easily be adduced at still greater length, illustrating the direct
influence of the father over the daughter, and of the mother over the
son. Those given will suffice.


INFLUENCE Of EDUCATION OVER INHERITED QUALITIES.

In correcting the evil effects of inheritance on the mind, education
plays a very important part. A child born with a tendency to some vice
or intellectual trait, may have this tendency entirely overcome, or at
least modified, by training. So, also, virtues implanted by nature may
be lost during the plastic days of youth, in consequence of bad
associations and bad habits.

Education can therefore do much to alter inherited mental and moral
qualities. Can it be invoked to prevent the transmission of undesirable
traits, and secure the good? Everything that we have at birth is a
heritage from our ancestors. Can virtuous habits be transmitted? Can we
secure virtues in our children by possessing them ourselves? Science
sadly says, through her latest votaries, that we are scarcely more than
passive transmitters of a nature we have received, and which we have no
power to modify. It is only after exposure during several generations to
changed conditions or habits, that any modification in the offspring
ensues. The son of an old soldier learns his drill no more quickly than
the son of an artisan. We must therefore come to the conclusion with Mr.
Galton, that to a great extent our own embryos have sprung immediately
from the embryos whence our parents were developed, and these from the
embryos of their parents, and so on for ever. Hence we are still
barbarians in our nature. We show it in a thousand ways. Children, who
love to dig and play in the dirt, have inherited that instinct from
untold generations of ancestors. Our remote forefathers were barbarians,
who dug with their nails to get at the roots on which they lived. The
delicately-reared child reverts to primeval habits. In like manner, the
silk-haired, parlor-nurtured spaniel springs from the caressing arms of
its mistress, to revel in the filth of the roadside. It is the breaking
out of inherited instinct.


TRANSMISSION OF DISEASE.

Perhaps the most important part of the subject of inheritance, is that
which remains for us to consider in relation to the transmission of
disease, or of a predisposition to it.

Consumption,--that dread foe of modern life,--is the most frequently
encountered of all affections as the result of inherited predisposition.
Indeed some of the most eminent physicians have believed it is never
produced in any other way. Heart disease, disease of the throat,
excessive obesity, affections of the skin, asthma, disorders of the
brain and nervous system, gout, rheumatism, and cancer, are all
hereditary. A tendency to bleed frequently, profusely and
uncontrollably, from trifling wounds, is often met with as a family
affection.

The inheritance of diseased conditions is also _influenced by the sex_.
A parent may transmit disease exclusively to children of the same sex,
or exclusively to those of the opposite sex. Thus, a horn-like
projection on the skin peculiar to the Lambert family was transmitted
from the father to his sons and grandsons alone. So mothers have through
several generations transmitted to their daughters alone supernumerary
fingers, color-blindness, and other deformities and diseases. As a
general rule, any disease acquired during the life of either parent,
strongly tends to be inherited by the offspring of the same sex rather
than the opposite. We have spoken of the apparently reverse tendency in
regard to the transmission of genius and talent.


ARE MUTILATIONS INHERITABLE?

How, it may be inquired, is it in regard to the inheritance of parts
mutilated and altered by injuries and disease during the life of either
parent? In some cases mutilations have been practised for many
generations, without any inherited result. Different races of men have
knocked out their upper teeth, cut off the joints of their fingers, made
immense holes through their ears and nostrils, and deep gashes in
various parts of their bodies, and yet there is no reason for supposing
that these mutilations have been inherited. The _Comprachicos_, a
hideous and strange association of men and women, existed in the
seventeenth century, whose business it was to buy children and make of
them monsters. Victor Hugo, in a recent work, has graphically told how
they took a face and made of it a snout, how they bent down growth,
kneaded the physiognomy, distorted the eyes, and in other ways
disfigured 'the human form divine,' in order to make fantastic
playthings for the amusement of the noble-born. But history does not
state that these deformities were inherited; certainly no race of
monsters has resulted. The pits from small-pox are not inherited, though
many successive generations must have been thus pitted by that disease
before the beneficent discovery of the immortal Jenner. Children born
with scars left by pustules have had small-pox in the womb, acquired
through the system of the mother. On the other hand, the lower animals,
cats, dogs, and horses, which have had their tails and legs artificially
altered or injured, have produced offspring with the same condition of
parts. A man who had his little finger on the right hand almost cut off,
and which in consequence grew crooked, had sons with the same finger on
the same hand similarly crooked. The eminent physiologist Dr.
Brown-Sequard mentions, that many young guinea-pigs inherited an
epileptic tendency from parents which had been subjected to an operation
at his hands resulting in the artificial production of fits; while a
large number of guinea-pigs bred from animals which had not been
operated on were not thus affected. At any rate, it cannot but be
admitted that injuries and mutilations which cause disease, are
occasionally inherited. But many cases of deformities existing at birth,
as hare-lip, are not due to inheritance, although present in the father.
They arise from a change effected in the child while in the womb,
through an impression made upon the mind of the mother, as will be shown
hereafter.


LATE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF INHERITANCE.

Not only are diseases inherited which make their appearance at birth,
but those which defer their exhibition until a certain period of life
corresponding with that at which they showed themselves in the parents.
Thus in the Lambert family, before referred to, the porcupine
excrescence on the skin began to grow in the father and sons at the same
age, namely, about nine weeks after birth. In an extraordinary hairy
family, which has been described, children were produced during three
generations with hairy ears: in the father, the hair began to grow over
his body at six years old; in his daughter somewhat earlier, namely, at
one year; and in both generations the milk teeth appeared late in life,
the permanent teeth being deficient. Greyness of hair at an unusually
early age has been transmitted in some families. So, also, has the
premature appearance of baldness.


HOW TO AVOID THE TENDENCY OF INHERITANCE.

These facts suggest the practical consideration, that in those diseases
the predisposition to which alone is inherited, and which break out only
after a lapse of time, it is often altogether possible to prevent the
predisposition being developed into positive disease. Thus, for
instance, the inherited tendency to _consumption_ remains asleep in the
system until about the age of puberty, or later. Therefore, by the use
of a diet in which animal food forms a large portion, properly
regulated, and systematic exercise in the open air, the practice of the
long inhalations before recommended, warm, comfortable clothing,
together with a residence, if practicable, during the changeable and
inclement seasons of the year, in an equable climate, we can often
entirely arrest the development of the disease. Prevention here is not
only better than cure, but often all that is possible. Those in whom the
disease has become active, must too often, like those who entered
Dante's infernal regions, 'abandon hope.' Let our words of caution
therefore be heeded.

When there is reason to believe that an individual possesses an inherent
tendency to any disease, it is the duty of the medical adviser to study
the constitution of the patient thoroughly, and after such study to
recommend those measures of prevention best suited to avert the
threatened disorder. Above all, let the physician look closely to the
child at the period of life when any grave constitutional inheritable
disease attacked the parent. This supervision should be carried into
adult years, for there are instances on record of inherited diseases
coming on at an advanced age, as in that of a grandfather, father, and
son, who all became insane and committed suicide near their fiftieth
year. Gout, apoplexy, insanity, chronic disease of the heart, epilepsy,
consumption, asthma, and other diseases, are all more or less under the
control of preventive measures. Some hereditary diseases, such as idiocy
and cancer, we are impotent to prevent, in the present state of our
knowledge.

A singular fact in connection with the transmission of disease is the
readiness with which a whole generation is passed over, the affection
appearing in the next. A father or mother with consumption may in some
instances have healthy children, but the grandchildren will die of the
disease. Nature kindly favors one generation, but only at the expense of
the next.

Some diseases require, in addition to the general means of prevention to
be found in a strict observance of the laws of health, some special
measures in order to effectually ward off their appearance. But the
extent of this work will not admit of their discussion. Already, indeed,
have we unduly, perhaps, extended our remarks upon inheritance. The
interest and importance of the facts must be our justification.


WHY ARE WOMEN REDUNDANT?

It cannot be without interest to look into the relative proportion of
men and women now living. It will interest us still more to inquire into
the reason why one sex preponderates over the other in numbers. This
done, we will answer the question; Is the production of sex at all under
the influence of the human will?

The female sex is the more numerous in all thickly populated parts of
the world where we have trustworthy statistics. In Austria, England, and
Wales, there are nearly one hundred and five women for every one hundred
men. In Sweden they are as one hundred and nine to one hundred. In all
cities the disproportion is greater than in the country. In London there
are one hundred and thirteen women to every one hundred men; and in the
large towns of Sweden they stand as one hundred and sixteen to one
hundred.

This is not true, however, of newly-populated regions. The relative
difference is reversed in recent and thinly-settled localities. In our
Western States, for instance, the number of the men exceeds that of the
women. In California they are as three to one; in Nevada as eight to
one; in Colorado, twenty to one. In the State of Illinois there were,
according to a recent United States census, ninety-three thousand more
men than women. In Massachusetts, on the contrary, there are between
fifty and sixty thousand more women than men.

The disproportion of men to women in new countries is due to the
disinclination of women to emigrate. They are also unfitted for the
hardships of pioneer life.

How is this general preponderance in the number of women produced? Is it
because there are more girls born than boys? Not at all. The statistics
of over fifty-eight millions of persons show that there are one hundred
and six living boys born to every one hundred girls. In the state of
Rhode Island, for instance, the proportion for three years, from 1853 to
1855, was one thousand and sixty-four boys born to one thousand girls.
But now we meet with the wonderful arrangement of nature, that a larger
proportional number of male infants die during the first year of their
lives than of females. In the second year, the mortality, though less
excessive, still remains far greater on the male side. It subsequently
decreases, and at the age of four or five years is nearly equal for both
sexes. In after life, from the age of fifteen to forty, the mortality is
something greater among women, but not sufficiently so to make the
number of the two sexes equal. The greater tendency of male offspring to
die early is seen even before birth, for more male children are
still-born than female,--namely, as three to two. For this reason, the
term 'the stronger sex,' applied to men, has been regarded by some
authors as a misnomer. They are physically weaker in early life, and
succumb more readily to noxious influences.

Having thus pointed out that there are more women actually living in the
world than men, although a larger number of boys are born than girls, we
will consider for a moment some of the laws of nature which determine
the number of the sexes. Without giving the figures,--which would make
dry reading,--we will state in brief the conclusions derived from many
observations, extending over many years and many nationalities. The
relative age of the parents has an especial influence upon the sex of
the children. Seniority on the father's side gives excess of male
offspring. Equality in the parents' age gives a slight preponderance of
female offspring. Seniority on the mother's side gives excess of female
offspring. This tallies with the fact that in all civilized countries,
as has been stated, the proportion of male births is greater than that
of females; for, in accordance with the customs of society, the husband
is generally older than the wife. A curious instance, in confirmation
of this law, has recently come under our observation. A patient, married
for the second time, is ten years older than her husband. She has two
children by him, both girls. Singular to relate, her former husband was
ten years older than herself, and by him she had four children, of whom
three were boys, the fourth (a girl) having a twin brother.

Still, the relative age is not the sole cause which fixes the sex of the
child. Its operation is sometimes overruled by conflicting agencies. In
some districts of Norway, for example, there has been a constant
deficiency in boys, while in others the reverse has been the case. The
circumstance is well known, that after great wars, and sometimes
epidemics, in which a disproportionate number of men have died, more
boys are born than usual. Men who pass a sedentary life, and especially
scholars who exhaust their nervous force to a great extent, beget more
girls than boys. So, also, a very advanced age on the man's side
diminishes the number of males among the offspring. The quantity and the
quality of the food; the elevation of the abode; the conditions of
temperature; the parents' mode of life, rank, religious belief,
frequency of sexual intercourse,--have all been shown to be causes
contributing to the disproportion of the sexes, besides the relative
ages of the parents.

Some writers have stated that a southerly or warm and humid constitution
of the year is most favorable to the birth of female infants, while in
cold and dry years most males are produced. This statement has not been
supported by trustworthy statistics in regard to the human race, but in
respect of domestic animals the agriculturists of France have long
observed that the season has much to do with the sex. When the weather
is dry and cold, and the wind northerly, mares, ewes, and heifers
produce more males than when the opposite meteorological condition
prevails.

The saying among nurses, that 'This is the year for sons or daughters,'
is based upon the erroneous supposition that mothers bring forth more
male infants in one year than in another.

That, however, which concerns us the most in this connection, is the
question:


CAN THE SEXES BE PRODUCED AT WILL?

This question was asked many centuries ago. It was a hard one, and
remained without a satisfactory answer until quite recently. Science has
at last replied to it with authority. M. Thury, Professor in the Academy
of Geneva, has shown how males and females may be produced in accordance
with our wishes.

Some families are most anxious for male offspring, others ardently
desire daughters. And would it not often be a matter of national concern
to control the percentage of sexes in the population? Is it not a
'consummation most devoutly to be wished,' to bring about that Utopian
condition when there would be no sighing maids at home, nor want of
warriors in the field? The discussion of this subject is therefore
important and allowable.

It has been observed that queen-bees lay female eggs first, and male
eggs afterwards. So with hens: the first-laid eggs give female, the
last male products. Mares shown the stallion late in their periods, drop
horse-colts rather than fillies.

Professor Thury, from the consideration of these and other like facts,
formed this law for stock-raisers: 'If you wish to produce females, give
the male at the first signs of heat; if you wish males, give him at the
end of the heat.' But it is easy to form a theory. How was this law
sustained in practice? We have now in our possession the certificate of
a Swiss stock-grower, son of the President of the Swiss Agricultural
Society, Canton de Vaud, under date of February 1867, which says:

'In the first place, on twenty-two successive occasions I desired to
have heifers. My cows were of Schurtz breed, and my bull a pure Durham.
I succeeded in these cases. Having bought a pure Durham cow, it was very
important for me to have a new bull, to supersede the one I had bought
at great expense, without leaving to chance the production of a male. So
I followed accordingly the prescription of Professor Thury, and the
success has proved once more the truth of the law. I have obtained from
my Durham bull six more bulls (Schurtz-Durham cross) for fieldwork; and
having chosen cows of the same color and height, I obtained perfect
matches of oxen. My herd amounted to forty cows of every age.

'In short, I have made in all twenty-nine experiments after the new
method, and in every one I succeeded in the production of what I was
looking for--male and female. I had not one single failure. All the
experiments have been made by myself, without any other person's
intervention; consequently, I do declare that I consider as real and
certainly perfect the method of Professor Thury.'

A perfectly trustworthy observer communicates by the _Medical and
Surgical Reporter_ of Philadelphia for May 2, 1868, the results of
similar experiments on animals, with like conclusions.

The plan of M. Thury was also tried on the farms of the late Emperor of
the French, with, it is asserted, the most unvarying success.

What is the result of the application of this law to the human race? Dr.
F. J. W. Packman, of Wimborne, has stated in the _Lancet_, that, 'in the
human female, conception in the first half of the time between menstrual
periods produces female offspring, and male in the latter. When a female
has gone beyond the time she calculated upon, it will generally turn out
to be a boy.'

In the Philadelphia _Medical and Surgical Reporter_ for February 8,
1868, a respectable physician writes that, in numerous instances that
have come under his observation, Professor Thury's theory has proved
correct, 'Whenever intercourse has taken place in from two to six days
after the cessation of the menses, girls have been produced; and
whenever intercourse has taken place in from nine to twelve days after
the cessation of the menses, boys have been produced. In every case I
have ascertained not only the date at which the mother placed
conception, but also the time when the menses ceased, the date of the
first and subsequent intercourse for a month or more after the
cessation of the menses,' etc.

Again, a physician writes to the same journal for June 20, 1868,
recording the result of his own experience.

A farmer in Louisiana states, in the _Turf, Field, and Farm_, in support
of this law, that 'I have already been able in many cases to guess with
certainty the sex of a future infant. More than thirty times, among my
friends, I have predicted the sex of a child before its birth, and the
event proved nearly every time that I was right.'

The wife, therefore, who would wish, as Macbeth desired of his, to

    'Bring forth men-children only,'

should avoid exposing herself to conception during the early part of the
time between her menstrual periods.

The prediction of the sex of the child before birth can now be with some
accuracy made by the intelligent and skilful physician. The method of
doing so will be mentioned in treating of pregnancy.


TWIN-BEARING.

As a rule, a woman has one child at a time. Twins, when they occur, are
looked upon with disfavor by most people. There is a popular notion that
they are apt to be wanting in physical and mental vigor. This opinion is
not without foundation. A careful scientific examination of the subject
has shown, that of imbeciles and idiots a much larger proportion is
actually found among the twins born than in the general community. In
families where twinning is frequent, bodily deformities likewise occur
with frequency. Among the relatives of imbeciles and idiots,
twin-bearing is common. In fact, the whole history of twin-births is of
an exceptional character, indicating imperfect development and feeble
organization in the product, and leading us to regard twins in the human
species as a departure from the physiological rule, and therefore
injurious to all concerned. Monsters born without brains have rarely
occurred except among twins.

The birth of twins occurs once in about eighty deliveries. A woman is
more apt to have no children than to have more than one at a time. In
view of the increased danger to both mother and child, this rarity of a
plural birth is fortunate.


WHY ARE TWINS BORN?

What are the causes or favouring circumstances bringing about this
abnormal child-bearing? For it is brought about by the operation of
laws. It is not an accident. There are no accidents in nature. By some
it is supposed to be due to the mother, by some to the father. There are
facts in favour of both opinions. Certain women married successively to
several men have always had twins, while their husbands with other wives
have determined single births. Certain men have presented the same
phenomenon. We can scarcely cite an example more astonishing than that
of a countryman who was presented to the Empress of Russia in 1755. He
had had two wives. The first had fifty-seven children in twenty-one
confinements; the second, thirty-three in thirteen. All the confinements
had been quadruple, triple, or double. A case has come under our own
observation in which the bearing of twins has seemed to be due to a
constitutional cause. The wife has nine children. The first was a single
birth, a girl; the others were all twin-births, and boys.

It has been asserted that compound pregnancies are more frequent in
certain years than in others. But that which seems to exert the greatest
actual influence over the production of twins is the age of the mother.
Very extensive statistics have demonstrated that, from the earliest
child-bearing period until the age of forty is reached, the fertility of
mothers in twins gradually increases. Between the ages of twenty and
thirty, fewest wives have twins. The average age of the twin-bearer is
older than the general run of bearers. It is well known that by far the
greater number of twins are born of elderly women. While three-fifths of
all births occur among women under thirty years of age, three-fifths of
all the twins are born to those over thirty years of age. Newly-married
women are more likely to have twins at the first labour the older they
are. The chance that a young wife from fifteen to nineteen shall bear
twins is only as one to one hundred and eighty-nine; from thirty-five to
thirty-nine the chance is as one to forty-five,--that is, the wives
married youngest have fewest twins; and there is an increase as age
advances, until forty is reached.

Race seems to have some influence over plural births. They occur
relatively oftener among the Irish than among the English.


INFLUENCE OF TWIN-BEARING ON SIZE OF FAMILIES.

Do women bearing twins have in the end larger families than those never
having but one at a time? Popular belief would answer this question in
the affirmative. Such a reply would also seem to receive support from
the fact, well established, that twins are more frequently additions to
an already considerable family than they are either the first of a
family or additional to a small family. But statistics have not answered
this question as yet positively. They seem, however, in favour of the
supposition that twin-bearing women have larger families than their
neighbors.

Women are more apt to have twins in their first pregnancy than any
other, but after the second confinement the bearing of twins increases
in frequency with the number of the pregnancy. It becomes, therefore, an
indication of an excessive family, and is to be deplored.


MORE THAN TWO CHILDREN AT A BIRTH.

Cases of the birth of more than two children at a time are still less
frequently met with than twins. They are scarcely ever encountered,
excepting in women who have passed their thirtieth year. Such cases are
all more or less unfortunate both for the mother and the children.


THREE AT A BIRTH.

The births of triplets are not exclusively confined to women above
thirty years, but in those younger they are so rare as to be great
curiosities. Neither are they apt to occur in the first pregnancy. In
this respect they differ from twins, who, as has just been said, are
peculiarly prone to make their appearance at the first childbirth. Only
four cases of treble births occurred among the 36,000 accouchements
which have taken place in the Hospice de Maternite of Paris in a
determined time. Out of 48,000 cases of labor in the Royal Maternity
Charity in London, only three triplets occurred. History informs us that
the three Roman brothers, the Horatii, were triplets. They fought and
conquered the three Curiatii of Alba (667 B. C.) who were likewise
triplets.

As an interesting fact in connection with this subject, we may mention
that in the St. Petersburg Midwives' Institute, between 1845-59, there
were three women admitted, who, in their fifteenth pregnancies, had
triplets, and each had triplets three times in succession. Happily, the
fifteenth pregnancy is not reached by most women.


FOUR AT A BIRTH.

Instances of quadruplets are fewer than triplets. But four vigorous
infants have been born at one birth.


FIVE AT A BIRTH.

The birth of _five_ living children at a time is very exceptional, and
is usually fatal to the offspring. A remarkable case of this kind is
reported in a late medical journal. A woman aged thirty, the wife of a
laborer, and the mother of six children, was taken in labor about the
seventh month of her pregnancy. Five children, and all alive, were given
birth to,--three boys and two girls. Four of the children survived an
hour, and died within a few moments of each other. The fifth, a female,
and the last born, lived six hours, and was so vigorous that,
notwithstanding its diminutive size, hopes were entertained of its
surviving.

Another case is reported in a recent French medical journal. The woman
was forty years old. She had had twins once, and single children five
times. On her seventh pregnancy, when five months gone, she was as large
as women usually are at the end of their full term. At the close of the
month she was delivered of five children. They were all born alive, and
lived from four to seven minutes. All five children were males, well
built and as well developed as foetuses of five and one-half months
usually are in a single birth. The woman made a good recovery. Other
cases of five at a birth might be quoted. They are known to medical
science as very singular and noteworthy occurrences.


INCREDIBLE NUMBERS.

Some books speak of seven, eight, nine, ten, and more, children at a
birth. But these statements are so marvelous, so incredible, and
unsupported by proper testimony, that they do not merit any degree of
confidence. The climax of such extraordinary assertions is reached, and
a good illustration of the credulity of the seventeenth century
furnished, by a writer named Goftr. This traveller, in 1630, saw a
tablet in a church at Leusdown (Lausdunum), about five miles from the
Hague, with an inscription stating that a certain illustrious countess,
whose name and family he records, brought forth at one birth, in the
fortieth year of her age, in the year 1276, 365 infants. They were all
baptized by Guido, the Suffragan. The males were called John, and the
females Elizabeth. They all, with their mother, died on the same day,
and were buried in the above-mentioned church. This monstrous birth was
said to have been caused by the sin of the countess in insulting a poor
woman with twins in her arms, who prayed that her insulter might have at
one birth the same number of children as there were days in the year. Of
course, notwithstanding the story being attested by a tablet in a
church, it must be placed among the many other instances of superstition
afforded by an ignorant and credulous era.

We may remark, in closing this subject, that fewer plural births come to
maturity than pregnancies with single children. Miscarriages are
comparatively more frequent in such pregnancies than in ordinary ones.




PREGNANCY


_VENERATION FOR THE PREGNANT._

We have been considering woman hitherto as maiden and wife. She now
approaches the sacred threshold of maternity. She is with child. In no
period of her life is she the subject of an interest so profound and
general. The young virgin and the new wife have pleased by their grace,
spirit, and beauty. The pregnant wife is an object of active benevolence
and religious respect. It is interesting to note how, at all times and
in all countries, she has been treated with considerate kindness and
great deference. She has been made the subject of public veneration, and
sometimes even of religious worship. At Athens and at Carthage the
murderer escaped from the sword of justice if he sought refuge in the
house of a pregnant woman. The Jews allowed her to eat forbidden meats.
The laws of Moses pronounced the penalty of death against all those who
by bad treatment or any act of violence caused a woman to abort.
Lycurgus compared women who died in pregnancy to the brave dead on the
field of honour, and accorded to them sepulchral inscriptions. In
ancient Rome, where all citizens were obliged to rise and stand during
the passage of a magistrate, wives were excused from rendering this mark
of respect, for the reason that the exertion and hurry of the movement
might be injurious to them in the state in which they were supposed to
be. In the kingdom of Pannonia all enceinte women were in such
veneration, that a man meeting one on the road was obliged, under
penalty of a fine, to turn back and accompany and protect her to her
place of destination. The Catholic Church has in all times exempted
pregnant wives from fasts. The Egyptians decreed, and in most Christian
countries the law at the present time obtains, that if a woman shall be
convicted of an offence the punishment of which is death, the sentence
shall not be executed if it be proved that she is pregnant.


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PREGNANCY.

1. The sign most commonly relied upon is the _cessation of the monthly
sickness_. The wife who misses the expected return of her illness, is
apt to conclude that conception has taken place. This sign is far from
being an infallible one.

It should be borne in mind that young married women sometimes have a
slight show for two or three periods after their first impregnation.
Ignorance of this fact has very frequently led to a miscalculation of
the time of confinement. On the other hand, the menses will sometimes
become arrested soon after marriage, and continue so for one or two
months, without there existing any pregnancy. The temporary
disappearance of the monthly sickness in such cases is due to the
profound impression made upon the system by the new relations of the
individual.

It not unfrequently happens that menstruation continues with regularity
during the whole period of pregnancy. Exceptional cases are given by
distinguished writers on midwifery, of women menstruating during their
pregnancy, and at no other time.

As a general rule, when a healthy wife misses her monthly sickness, she
is pregnant. But this symptom, though a strong one, must be supported by
others before it can be regarded as establishing anything.

2. _Morning sickness_ is a very common, a very early, and, in the
opinion of most mothers, a very conclusive symptom of pregnancy. We have
already had occasion to remark that it sometimes makes its appearance
almost simultaneously with conception. It usually comes on in the first
few weeks, and continues until the third or fourth month or until
quickening. This symptom is apt to be a troublesome one. Often the
vomiting is slight, and immediately followed by relief. But it may
produce violent and ineffectual straining for some time. It is, however,
not to be called a disease: unless it proceeds to an exhausting degree,
it must be looked upon as favorable and salutary. There is an old and
true proverb, that 'a sick pregnancy is a safe one.' The absence of
nausea and vomiting is a source of danger to the mother and child. Women
who habitually fail to experience them, are exceedingly apt to miscarry.
In such cases medical skill should be invoked to bring about the return
of these symptoms, of such importance to healthful pregnancy.

Morning sickness is therefore a very general, almost constant,
accompaniment of the pregnant condition; and great dependence may be
placed upon it as a sign.

3. _Changes in the breasts_ are valuable as symptoms. They become larger
and firmer, and the seat of a pricking or stinging sensation. The
nipples are swollen, prominent, and sometimes sore or painful. The veins
beneath the skin appear more conspicuous, and of a deeper blue than
ordinary. The peculiar circles of rose-coloured skin which surround the
nipples increase in extent, change to a darker color, and become covered
with a number of little elevations. Subsequently, numerous mottled
patches, or round spots of a whitish hue, scatter themselves over the
outer part of this circle.

The time at which these changes make their appearance is variable. They
may begin to develope themselves in two or three weeks, oftener not
until the second or third month, and in women of a delicate build,
sometimes not until the latter end of pregnancy. Occasionally no
alteration whatever occurs in the breasts until after confinement, in
which cases the secretion of milk is delayed for several days after the
birth of the child. In some rare instances the breasts never assume
maternal proportions, and the mother is debarred from the pleasure and
duty of nursing her own child.

4. _Quickening_ is the next symptom we will consider. By this term is
meant the arrival of that time when the mother first becomes conscious
by the movements of the child of its presence. The ancients thought that
then life was imparted to the new being. Modern physiology emphatically
condemns this absurdity. The embryo is as much alive in the very
earliest moments of pregnancy as at any future stage of its existence.
Let every woman therefore remember that she who produces abortion is
equally guilty in the eyes of science and of Heaven, whether the act be
committed before or after the period of quickening.

How is quickening produced? Undoubtedly by the movements of the child.
So soon as its nervous and muscular systems become sufficiently
developed to enable it to move its limbs, the mother, if the movements
be sufficiently active, is rendered sensible of her situation. But the
muscular contractions may not be strong enough to impart any sensation
to the mother. In many cases in which they are too feeble to be noticed
by herself, the skilled accoucheur is capable of recognizing them. And
the movements of the foetus may be excited in various ways known to
physicians.

_Time of quickening._--This symptom usually occurs about the middle of
pregnancy, near the eighteenth week. Some women feel the movements of
the foetus as early as the third month of pregnancy, others not till the
sixth month. Cases occur in which no movement whatever is felt until the
eighth or ninth month, or even not at all. It has been suggested that a
foetus which does not indicate its presence in this way is a kind of
'Lazy Lawrence,' too indolent to move. Certainly, many of both sexes
exhibit after birth such indomitable love of repose, that it can readily
be supposed they were equally passive in foetal life.

The non-occurrence of this sign may, however, be due to the debility of
the young child, or to a want of sensibility in the walls of the womb
itself.

A woman may be deceived, and suppose she has quickened, when her
sensations are to be traced to flatulence of the bowels, or perhaps a
dropsical effusion. Many ludicrous instances of self-deception are on
record. The historian Hume states that Queen Mary, in her extreme desire
to have issue, so confidently asserted that she felt the movements of
the child, that public proclamation was made of the interesting event.
Despatches were sent to foreign courts; national rejoicings were had;
the sex of the child was settled, for everybody was certain it was going
to be a male; and Bonner, Bishop of London, made public prayers, saying
that Heaven would pledge to make him beautiful, vigorous, and witty. But
all those high hopes and eager expectations were destined never to be
realized. The future disclosed that the supposed quickening was merely a
consequence of disordered health, and commencing dropsy.

Some women possess the power of imitating the movements of a foetus, by
voluntary contraction of the abdominal muscles. A well-known colored
woman of Charleston, 'Aunt Betty,' had a great reputation as having
'been pregnant for fifteen years.' She made a good deal of money, by
exhibiting to physicians and medical students who were curious, the
pretended movements of her unborn child. She was repeatedly presented to
the medical classes in the city. No pregnancy existed, as was revealed
by a _post-mortem_ examination. She imposed upon the credulous by the
habit she had acquired of jerking her muscles at pleasure, and thus
closely simulating the movements of an embryo.

5. _Changes in the abdomen._--In the first two months of pregnancy the
abdomen is _less_ prominent than usual: it recedes, and presents a flat
appearance. The navel is also drawn in and depressed. About the third
month a swelling frequently shows itself in the lower part of the
abdomen, and then diminishes, thus leading the wife to suppose that she
was mistaken in her condition, for she finds herself at the fourth month
smaller than at the third. After this, however, there is a gradual
increase in the size and hardness of the abdomen. What is of more value,
is the peculiar form of the swelling. It is pear-shaped, and is thus
distinguished from the swelling of dropsy and other affections. The
navel begins to come forward, and finally protrudes. The pouting
appearance it then presents is very characteristic.

In this connection it may be remarked that, towards the change of life,
childless married women often think they perceive that 'hope deferred'
is about to be gratified. An enlargement of the abdomen takes place at
this time, from a deposit of fatty matter. The nervous perturbations and
the cessation of the menses, which are natural to this period, are
looked upon as confirmations of the opinion that pregnancy exists. But
the day of generation with them has passed. These symptoms herald the
approach of the winter of life, which brings with it death to the
reproductive system.

6. _Changes in the skin._--The alterations occurring in the skin are
worth observing. Those women who have a delicate complexion and are
naturally pale take a high color, and vice versa. In some cases a
considerable quantity of hair appears on those parts of the face
occupied by the beard in men; it disappears after labor, and returns on
every subsequent pregnancy. Oftentimes the skin becomes loose and
wrinkled, giving a haggard, aged air to the face, and spoiling good
looks. Women who ordinarily perspire freely, have now a dry, rough skin;
whereas those whose skin is not naturally moist, have copious
perspiration, which may be of a peculiarly strong odor. Copper-colored
or yellow blotches sometimes appear upon the skin, mole spots become
darker and larger, and a dark ring developes itself beneath the eyes.
The whole appearance is thus in many cases altered. On the other hand,
obstinate, long-existing skin affections sometimes take their departure
during pregnancy, perhaps never to return. These alterations do not
occur in all women, nor in all pregnancies of the same woman.

7. We may now group together a number of less important and less
constant signs, such as _depraved appetite_, _longings for unnatural
food_, _excessive formation of saliva in the mouth_, _heartburn, loss of
appetite_ in the first two or three months, succeeded by a voracious
desire for food, which sometimes compels the woman to rise at night in
order to eat, _toothache_, _sleepiness_, _diarrhoea_, _palpitation of the
heart_, _pain in the right side_, etc. These, when they occur singly,
are of little value as evidence.

Among these, that of _depraved appetite_ is by far the most important,
and may be regarded as quite significant. A married woman in her
ordinary health, suddenly feeling this morbid taste for chalk, charcoal,
slate pencil, and other unusual articles of food, may look upon it as a
strong presumptive evidence of impregnation.

When any or all of this group of symptoms accompany the ceasing to be
'regular,' the morning sickness, the changes in the breasts and the
other signs which have been enumerated, the wife may be quite sure that
she is pregnant.

8. _Changes in the mind._--The most wonderful of all the changes which
attend pregnancy are those in the nervous system. The woman is rendered
more susceptible, more impressible. Her character is transformed. She is
no longer pleasant, confiding, gentle, and gay. She becomes hasty,
passionate, jealous, and bitter. But in those who are naturally fretful
and bad-tempered a change for the better is sometimes observed, so that
the members of the household learn from experience to hail with delight
the mother's pregnancy as a period when clouds and storms give place to
sunshine and quietness. In some rare cases, also, pregnancy confers
increased force and elevation to the ideas, and augmented power to the
intellect.

As this book is written for women only, we do not mention any of the
signs or symptoms of pregnancy which medical men alone can recognize. We
will merely state that there are many other signs besides these referred
to, of great value to the doctor. One, the sound of the heart of the
child, which the practised ear can detect at about the fifth month, is
positive and conclusive.


MISCARRIAGE.

Miscarriage is a fruitful source of disease, and often of danger, to
wives. It also causes a frightful waste of human life. Unborn thousands
annually die in this manner.

_Frequency._--Miscarriage is by no means a rare occurrence. Statistics
show that thirty-seven out of one hundred mothers miscarry before they
attain the age of thirty years. But this accident is much more apt to
occur during the latter than during the first half of the child-bearing
period; and therefore it is estimated that ninety out of one hundred of
all women who continue in matrimony until the change of life, miscarry.

_Influence of age of mother._--A woman who marries at forty is very much
disposed to miscarry; whereas, had she married at thirty, she might have
borne children when older than forty. As a mother approaches the end of
her child-bearing period, it is likely that she will terminate her
career of fertility with a premature birth. The last pregnancies are not
only most commonly unsuccessful, but there is also reason to believe
that the occurrence of idiocy in a child may be associated with the
circumstance of its being the last-born of its mother. It has been
asserted, in this connection, that men of genius are frequently the
first-born. First pregnancies are also fraught with the danger of
miscarriage, which occurs more often in them than in others, excepting
the latest. A woman is particularly apt to miscarry with her first
child, if she be either exceedingly nervous or full-blooded.

_Influence of period of pregnancy._--Miscarriage is most frequent in the
earlier months of pregnancy--from the first to the third. It is also
very prone to happen about the sixth month. Habit makes itself felt
here; for women who have many times experienced this sad accident,
encounter it nearly always at the same epoch of their pregnancy.

_How early can the child live?_--The infant is incapable, as a rule, of
an independent existence, if brought into the world before the end of
the sixth month. The law of France regards a child born one hundred and
eighty days after wedlock as not only capable of living, but as
legitimate and worthy of all legal and civil rights. There are many
cases mentioned, by the older medical writers, of children born previous
to this period living. One of the most curious is that recorded by Van
Swieten. The boy Fortunio Liceti was brought into the world before the
sixth month, in consequence of a fright his mother had at sea. When
born, it is said, he was the size of a hand, and his father placed him
in an oven, for the purpose, probably, it has been suggested, of making
him _rise_. Although born prematurely, he died late, for we are told
that he attained his seventy-ninth year. Professor Gunning S. Bedford of
New York records the case of a woman in her fourth confinement, who,
before she had completed her sixth month, was delivered of a female
infant weighing two pounds nine ounces. The surface of the body was of a
scarlet hue. It breathed, and in a short time after birth cried freely.
After being wrapped in soft cotton, well lubricated with warm sweet-oil,
it was fed with the mother's milk, by having a few drops at a time put
into its mouth. At first it had great difficulty in swallowing, but
gradually it succeeded in taking sufficient nourishment, and is now a
vigorous, healthy young woman.

_Dangers to mother._--Wives are too much in the habit of making light of
miscarriages. They are much more frequently followed by disease of the
womb than are confinements at full terms. There is a greater amount of
injury done to the parts than in natural labor. While after confinement
ample time is afforded by a long period of repose for the bruised and
lacerated parts to heal, after a miscarriage no such rest is obtained.
Menstruation soon returns; conception may quickly follow. Unhappily,
there is no custom requiring husband and wife to sleep apart for a month
after a miscarriage, as there is after a confinement. Hence, especially
if there be any pre-existing uterine disease, or a predisposition
thereto, miscarriage is a serious thing.

_Causes._--The irritation of hemorrhoids or straining at stool will
sometimes provoke an early expulsion of a child. Excessive intercourse
by the newly married is a very frequent cause. Bathing in the ocean has
been known to produce it. Nursing is exceedingly apt to do so. It has
been shown by a distinguished medical writer, that, in a given number of
instances, miscarriage occurred in seventeen per cent. of cases in which
the woman conceived while nursing, and in only ten per cent. where
conception occurred at some other time. A wife, therefore, who suspects
herself to be pregnant, should wean her child. The extraction of a
tooth, over-exertion and over-excitement, a fall, a blow, any violent
emotion, such as anger, sudden and excessive joy, or fright, running,
dancing, horseback exercise, or riding in a badly-built carriage over a
rough road, great fatigue, lifting heavy weights, the abuse of purgative
medicines, disease or displacement of the womb, small-pox, or a general
condition of ill-health, are all fruitful and well-known exciting causes
of this unfortunate mishap, in addition to those which have been before
mentioned.

_Prevention._--The eminent practitioner, Dr. Tilt, says, 'The way to
prevent miscarriage is to lead a quiet life, particularly during those
days of each successive month when, under other circumstances, the woman
would menstruate; and to abstain during those days not only from long
walks and parties, but also from sexual intercourse.'

It is especially desirable to avoid a miscarriage in the first
pregnancy, for fear that the habit of miscarrying shall then be set up,
which it will be very difficult to eradicate. Therefore newly-married
women should carefully avoid all causes which are known to induce the
premature expulsion of the child. If it should take place in spite of
all precautions, extraordinary care should be exercised in the
subsequent pregnancy, to prevent its recurrence. Professor Bedford of
New York has said he has found that an excellent expedient in such cases
is, as soon as pregnancy is known to exist, 'to interdict sexual
intercourse until after the fifth month; for if the pregnancy pass
beyond this period, the chances of miscarriage will be much diminished.'

If the _symptoms of miscarriage_, which may be expressed in the two
words _pain_ and _flooding_, should make their appearance, the doctor
ought at once to be sent for, the wife awaiting his arrival in a
recumbent position. He may even then be able to avert the impending
danger. At any rate, his services are as necessary, and often even more
so, as in a labor at full term.


MOTHER'S MARKS.

It is a popular belief that the imagination of the mother affects the
child in the womb. It is asserted that infants are often born with
various marks and deformities corresponding in character with objects
which had made a vivid impression on the maternal mind during pregnancy.
This is a subject of great practical interest. We shall therefore give
it the careful attention which it deserves.

We have already discussed the operation of the laws of inheritance. It
was then stated that the whole story of maternal influence had not been
told--that the mother could communicate qualities she never possessed.
The potency of imagination at the time of conception over the child has
been mentioned. It is now our design to consider its effects, during the
period of pregnancy, upon the physical structure and the mental
attributes of the offspring. We shall have occasion hereafter, in
speaking of nursing, to illustrate the manner in which the child may be
affected by maternal impressions acting through the mother's milk. What
can be more wonderful than this intimate union between the mother and
her child? It is only equaled by that mysterious influence of the
husband over the wife, by which he so impresses her system that she
often comes in time to resemble him both in mental and physical
characteristics, and even transmits his peculiarities to her children by
a second marriage. Father, mother, and child are one.

We wish here to premise that our remarks will be based upon the
conclusions of skilled and scientific observers only, whose position and
experience no medical man will question. All the instances to be related
are given upon unimpeachable authority. They are not the narrations of
ignorant, credulous people; they are all fully vouched for. We record
here, as elsewhere, only the sober utterances of science. The great
importance and utility of an acquaintance with them will be patent to
every intelligent man and woman.

The effect of the mind upon the body is well known. Strong,
long-continued mental emotion may induce or cure disease. Heart disease
may be produced by a morbid direction of the thoughts to that organ.
Warts disappear under the operation of a strong belief in the efficacy
of some nonsensical application. In olden time, scrofula, or the 'king's
evil', was cured by the touch of the king. The mind of the patient, of
course, accomplished the cure. Under the influence of profound mental
emotion, the hair of the beautiful Marie Antoinette became white in a
short time. During the solitary voyage of Madame Condamine down the wild
and lonely Amazon, a similar change took place. Many other instances
might be adduced; but those given are sufficient to show that strong and
persistent mental impressions will exert a mysterious transforming power
over the body. These facts will pave the way to the consideration of
corresponding effects, through the mother's mind, upon the development
of the unborn child, forming a part of herself _in utero._

_Influence of mind of mother on form and color of infant._--There are
numerous facts on record which prove that _habitual_, long-continued
mental conditions of the mother at an early period of pregnancy, induce
deformity or other abnormal development of the infant.

Professor William A. Hammond of New York relates the following striking
case, which occurred in his own experience, and which scarcely admits of
a doubt as to the influence of the maternal mind over the physical
structure of the foetus.

A lady in the third month of her pregnancy was very much horrified by
her husband being brought home one evening with a severe wound of the
face, from which the blood was streaming. The shock to her was so great
that she fainted, and subsequently had a hysterical attack, during which
she was under Dr. Hammond's care. Soon after her recovery she told him
that she was afraid her child would be affected in some way, and that
even then she could not get rid of the impression the sight of her
husband's bloody face had made upon her. In due time the child, a girl,
was born. She had a dark red mark upon the face, corresponding in
situation and extent with that which had been upon her father's face.
She also proved to be idiotic.

Professor Dalton of New York states that the wife of the janitor of the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of that city, during her pregnancy,
dreamed that she saw a man who had lost a part of the ear. The dream
made a great impression upon her mind, and she mentioned it to her
husband. When her child was born, a portion of one ear was deficient,
and the organ was exactly like the defective ear she had seen in her
dream. When Professor Dalton was lecturing upon the development of the
foetus as affected by the mind of the mother, the janitor called his
attention to the foregoing instance. The ear looks exactly as if a
portion had been cut off with a sharp knife.

Professor J. Lewis Smith of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York,
has met with the following cases:--An Irishwoman, of strong emotions and
superstitions, was passing along a street, in the first months of her
pregnancy, when she was accosted by a beggar, who raised her hand,
destitute of thumb and fingers, and in 'God's name' asked for alms. The
woman passed on, but, reflecting in whose name money was asked, felt
that she had committed a great sin in refusing assistance. She returned
to the place where she had met the beggar, and on different days, but
never afterwards saw her. Harassed by the thought of her imaginary sin,
so that for weeks, according to her statement, she was distressed by it,
she approached her confinement. A female infant was born, otherwise
perfect, but lacking the fingers and thumb of one hand. The deformed
limb was on the same side, and it seemed to the mother to resemble
precisely that of the beggar. In another case which Professor Smith met,
a very similar malformation was attributed by the mother of the child to
an accident occurring, during the time of her pregnancy, to a near
relative, which necessitated amputation. He examined both of these
children with defective limbs, and has no doubt of the truthfulness of
the parents. In May, 1868, he removed a supernumerary thumb from an
infant, whose mother, a baker's wife, gave the following history:--No
one of the family, and no ancestor, to her knowledge, presented this
deformity. In the early months of her pregnancy she sold bread from the
counter, and nearly every day a child with a double thumb came in for a
penny roll, presenting the penny between the thumb and the finger. After
the third month she left the bakery, but the malformation was so
impressed upon her mind, that she was not surprised to see it reproduced
in her infant.

In all these cases the impression was produced in the early months of
pregnancy; but many have been recorded in which malformations in the
infant appeared distinctly traceable to strong mental emotions of the
mother only a few months previous to confinement, these impressions
having been persistent during the remaining period of the pregnancy, and
giving rise to a full expectation on the part of the mother that the
child would be affected in the particular manner which actually
occurred. Professor Carpenter, the distinguished physiologist, is
personally cognisant of a very striking case of the kind which occurred
in the family of a near connection of his own.

All the above instances have been those of the effects of persistent
mental emotion. But it is also true that _violent and sudden emotion_ in
the mother leaves sometimes its impress upon the unborn infant, although
it may be quickly forgotten.

It is related on good authority that a lady, who during her pregnancy
was struck with the unpleasant view of leeches applied to a relative's
foot, gave birth to a child with the mark of a leech coiled up in the
act of suction on the intended spot.

Dr. Delacoux of Paris says that, in the month of January 1825, he was
called to attend a woman in the village of Batignoles, near Paris, who
the evening before had been delivered of a six months' foetus, horribly
deformed. The upper lip was in a confused mass with the jaw and the
gums, and the right leg was amputated at the middle, the stump having
the form of a cone. The mother of this being, who was a cook, one
morning, about the third month of her pregnancy, on entering the house
where she was employed, was seized with horror at the sight of a porter
with a hare-lip and an amputated leg.

At a meeting of the Society of Physicians at Berlin, in August 1868,
Herr Dupre stated that a woman saw, in the first weeks of her third
pregnancy, a boy with a hare-lip; and not only was the child she then
carried born with a frightful hare-lip, but also three children
subsequently. Another one, a woman in the fifth week of pregnancy, saw a
sheep wounded, and with its bowels protruding. She was greatly shocked,
and did not recover her composure for several days. She was delivered at
term of a child, in other respects well developed, but lacking the walls
of the abdomen.

Many remarkable instances have been collected of the power of
_imagination_ over the unborn offspring.

Ambrose Pare, the illustrious French surgeon of the sixteenth century,
in one of his treatises devotes a chapter to the subject of 'monsters
which take their cause and shape from imagination,' and was evidently a
strong believer in this influence.

A black child is generally believed to have been born to Marie Therese,
the wife of Louis XIV., in consequence of a little negro page in her
service having started from a hiding-place and stumbled over her dress
early in her pregnancy. This child was educated at the convent of Moret,
near Fontainebleau, where she took the veil, and where, till the shock
of the Revolution, her portrait was shown.

Examples are given by authors of the force of _desires_ in causing
deformities in infants, and the formation upon them of fruits, such as
apples, pears, grapes, and others, which the mother may have longed for.

The following is related upon excellent medical authority:--A woman gave
birth to a child with a large cluster of globular tumours growing from
the tongue, and preventing the closure of the mouth, in color, shape,
and size exactly resembling our common grapes; and with a red
excrescence from the chest, as exactly resembling in figure and
appearance a turkey's wattles. On being questioned before the child was
shown to her, she answered, that while pregnant she had seen some
grapes, longed intensely for them, and constantly thought of them; and
that she was also once attacked and much alarmed by a turkey-cock.

Dr. Demangeon of Paris quotes, in his work on the Imagination, the
_Journal de Verdun_, as mentioning the case of a child, born at Blois,
in the eyes of which the face of a watch was distinctly seen. The image
was situated around the pupil, and the figures representing the hours
were plainly perceived. The mother had experienced a strong desire to
see a watch while she was pregnant with this child.

Professor Dalton says, in his _Human Physiology_, that 'there is now
little room for doubt that various deformities and deficiencies of the
foetus, conformably to the popular belief, do really originate in certain
cases from nervous impressions, such as disgust, fear, or anger,
experienced by the mother.' We will now consider the

_Influence of the mind of the mother on the mind of the infant_; which
subject we have not yet touched upon, having confined ourselves to the
influence of the maternal mind over the form and color of the unborn
child. It will not be necessary to illustrate at length this branch of
our topic. Instances are sufficiently common and well known. Dr. Seguin
of New York, in his work on Idiocy, gives several cases in which there
was reason to believe that fright, anxiety, or other emotions in the
mother, had produced idiocy in the offspring. As he remarks,
'Impressions will sometimes reach the foetus in its recess, cut off its
legs or arms, or inflict large flesh wounds before birth,--inexplicable
as well as indisputable facts, from which we surmise that idiocy holds
unknown though certain relations to maternal impressions.'

We have given many strong cases and most excellent authority for the
doctrine that the _purely mental_ influence of the mother may produce
bodily and mental changes in the unborn infant. But the child is also
affected by _physical impressions_ made upon the mother.

Dr. Russegger reports that a woman, who had already borne four healthy
children, was, in the seventh month of her pregnancy, bitten in the
right calf by a dog. The author saw the wound made by the animal's
teeth, which wound consisted of three small triangular depressions, by
two of which the skin was only slightly ruffled; a slight appearance of
blood was perceptible in the third. The woman was at the moment of the
accident somewhat alarmed, but neither then nor afterwards had any fear
that her foetus would be affected by the occurrence. Ten weeks after she
was bitten, the woman bore a healthy child, which, however, to the
surprise of every person, had three marks corresponding in size and
appearance to those caused by the dog's teeth in the mother's leg, and
consisting, like those, of one large and two smaller impressions. The
two latter, which were pale, disappeared in five weeks; the larger one
had also become less, and was not so deep colored as it was at birth. At
the time of writing, the child was four months old.

Dr. S. P. Crawford of Greenville, Tennessee, reports in a recent number
of the _Nashville Journal of Medicine_, the following sad case:--A lady,
in the last stage of pregnancy, was burned by the explosion of a
kerosene-oil can. She lived twelve hours after the accident. The face,
legs, arms, and abdomen were badly burned. The movements of the child
were felt three or four hours after the accident. A short time before
the death of the mother she gave birth to the child at full maturity,
but still-born. It bore the mark of the fire corresponding to that of
the mother. Its legs, arms, and abdomen were completely blistered,
having all the appearance of a recent burn.

These instances of a decided influence exerted upon the body and mind of
the child in the womb, by physical and mental impressions made upon the
mother, might be doubled or trebled. They are as numerous as they are
wonderful. Physiologists of the present day do not hesitate to admit the
existence of the influence we have been discussing. Reason also comes to
the support of facts, to demonstrate and establish its reality. For, if
a sudden and powerful emotion of the mind can so disturb the stomach and
heart as to cause vomiting and fainting, is it not probable that it can
affect the womb and the impressible being within it? Pregnancy is a
function of the woman as much as digestion or pulsation of the heart;
and if the latter are controlled by moral and mental impressions, why
should not the former be also?

_In what manner does this influence of the maternal mind act?_--Through
the blood of the mother. Only a very delicate membrane separates the
vital fluid of the mother from that of the infant in her womb. There is
a constant interchange of the blood in its body with that in hers
through this exceedingly thin membrane; and thus all nervous impressions
which have produced an alteration of either a temporary or permanent
character in the circulating fluid of the mother, are communicated to
the child. Since the mother, as has been shown, can transmit through her
blood certain characteristics of mind and body not her own,--for
instance, a disease peculiar to a male from her father to her son, or
the physical and mental traits of her first husband to the children by
her second,--it does not seem at all strange that she should through
this same medium, her blood, impart other peculiarities which have made
a strong impression upon her mind. Anatomy and physiology therefore
fully explain and account for this seemingly mysterious influence.

The view here stated, and indorsed by modern science, is one which ought
to have great weight with the mother, her relatives and friends. The
_practical conclusion_ which it suggests is, that as during pregnancy
there is unusual susceptibility to mental impressions, and as these
impressions may operate on the fragile structure of the unborn being,
this tendency should be well considered and constantly remembered, not
only by the woman herself, but by all those who associate or are thrown
in contact with her. Upon the care displayed in the management of the
corporeal and mental health of the mother during the whole period of
pregnancy, the ultimate constitution of the offspring greatly depends.
All the surroundings and employments of the pregnant woman should be
such as conduce to cheerfulness and equanimity. Above all, she should
avoid the presence of disagreeable and unsightly objects. Vivid and
unpleasant impressions should be removed as soon as possible by quiet
diversion of the mind. All causes of excitement should be carefully
guarded against.

In leaving the subject of maternal impressions, we will call attention
to the manifest difference in extent and degree between the influence of
the father and that of the mother over the offspring. That of the father
ceases with impregnation. That of the mother continues during the whole
term of pregnancy, and, as we shall shortly see, even during that of
nursing.


EDUCATION OF THE CHILD IN THE WOMB.

The outlines drawn by the artist Flaxman are esteemed the most perfect
and graceful in existence. From earliest childhood he manifested a
delight in drawing. His mother, a woman of refined and artistic tastes,
used to relate that for months previous to his birth she spent hours
daily studying engravings, and fixing in her memory the most beautiful
proportions of the human figure as portrayed by masters. She was
convinced that the genius of her son was the fruit of her own
self-culture. What a charming idea is this! What an incentive to those
about to become mothers, to cultivate refinement, high thoughts, pure
emotions, elevated sentiments! Thus they endow their children with what
no after education can give them.

The plastic brain of the foetus is prompt to receive all impressions. It
retains them, and they become the characteristics of the child and the
man. Low spirits, violent passions, irritability, frivolity, in the
pregnant woman, leave indelible marks on the unborn child. So do their
contraries; and thus it becomes of the utmost moment that during this
period all that is cheerful, inspiring, and elevating should surround
the woman. Such emotions educate the child: they form its disposition,
they shape its faculties, they create its mental and intellectual
traits. Of all education, this is the most momentous.


CAN A WOMAN BECOME AGAIN PREGNANT DURING PREGNANCY?

Can a woman during pregnancy conceive, and add a second and younger
child to that already in the womb?

It is not uncommon in the canine race for a mother to give birth at the
same time to dogs of different species, showing conclusively the
possibility, in these animals, of one conception closely following
another. So a mare has been known to produce within a quarter of an
hour, first a horse, and then a mule. And in the human race cases are
on record in which women have had twins, of which the one was white and
the other colored, in consequence of intercourse on the same day with
men of those two races. Dr. Henry relates that in Brazil a Creole woman,
a native, brought into the world at one birth three children of three
different colors,--white, brown, and black,--each child exhibiting the
features peculiar to the respective races.

In all such instances the two conceptions followed each other very
rapidly, the offspring arriving at maturity together, and being born at
the same accouchement. But more curious and wonderful examples of second
and concurrent pregnancies have been published than these--as, for
instance, those in which a child bearing all the attributes of a foetus
at full term is born two, three, four, and even five, months after the
first, which appeared also to have been born at full term. Marie Anne
Bigaud, aged thirty-seven, gave birth, April 30, 1748, to a living boy
at full term, and on the ensuing September 16, to a living girl, which
was recognised, by the size and well-developed condition of its body and
limbs, to have been also carried until full term. This fact was observed
by Professor Eisenman, and by Leriche, surgeon-major of the military
hospital of Strasbourg. It will be noticed that there was an interval of
four and a half months between the two accouchements. The first child
lived two and a half months, and the second a year. In this instance
there was not a double womb, as might perhaps be supposed, for after
the mother's death an examination proved that the uterus was single.

Another case of this kind is the following:--Benoite Franquet of Lyons
brought into the world a girl on January 20, 1780, and five months and
six days afterwards a second girl, also apparently at term, and well
nourished. Two years later these two children were presented, with their
certificates of baptism, to two notaries of Lyons, MM. Caillot and
Desurgey, in order that the fact might be placed on record and vouched
for, because of its value in legal medicine.

The number of the entirely authenticated cases now known of the birth of
fully developed children within from two to five months of each other,
can leave no doubt as to the possibility of such an occurrence. The only
question which remains is in regard to the periods of conception. Are
the two children in such cases twins, conceived at the same time, but
the growth of the last-born so retarded that it did not arrive at
maturity until a number of months after its fellow? or, Has a second
conception taken place at an interval of several months after the first?
If this latter view be true, then, in the instance of Marie Anne Bigaud,
above related, the second child must have been conceived after the first
had quickened. Then, also, two children of different ages, the offspring
of different fathers, may exist in the womb at the same time. The weight
of scientific observation and authority has now established the fact
that, in very rare instances, a second conception may take place during
pregnancy. It must not be understood as necessarily following from this
statement, that when two children are born at the same time,--one fully
developed, and the other small and apparently prematurely born,--the two
were conceived at different times. The smaller may have been blighted
and its growth hindered by the same causes which bring about such
effects in cases of single births of incompletely developed children. A
similar supposition may account for the birth of a second child within a
month or two after the first, for the first may have been prematurely
born, and the second carried to full term. But no such supposition can
explain the cases referred to, and others which might be mentioned, in
which the interval has been five or six months, each child presenting
every indication of perfect maturity. The only explanation possible in
such instances, which, as has been said, are well authenticated,
although few in number, is, that a second pregnancy has occurred during
the first.

The above facts would seem sufficiently wonderful. There are others,
however, of the same nature still more so. In some instances, the
product of the second conception, instead of developing independently of
the first, has become attached to it, and the phenomenon has been
presented of the growth of a child within a child--a foetus within a
foetus. Such a singular occurrence has been lately recorded in a German
journal. A correspondent of the _Dantzic Gazette_ states that on Sunday,
February 1, 1869, at Schliewen, near Dirschau, 'a young and blooming
shepherd's wife was delivered of a girl, otherwise sound, but having on
the lower part of her back, between the hips, a swelling as big as two
good-sized fists, through the walls of which a well-developed foetus may
be felt. Its limbs indicate a growth of from five to six months, and its
movements are very lively. The father called in the health commissioner,
Dr. Preuss, from Dirschau, and begged him to remove the swelling
together with the foetus. The doctor, however, after a careful
examination, declared that there was a possibility in this extraordinary
case of the child within the swelling coming to fruition. Its existence
and active motions were palpable to all present. No physician could be
justified in destroying this marvelous being. It ought rather to be
protected and cherished. The new-born girl, notwithstanding her strange
burden, is of unusual strength and beauty, and takes the breast very
cheerfully.'

We find something further in regard to this singular birth in the _Weser
Zeitung_ of February 20, 1869. It quotes from the _Dantzic Gazette_ some
remarks by the health commissioner, Dr. Preuss of Dirschau, in which the
doctor declares the facts contained in the report given above to be
correct. He was summoned on the 1st of February to the child, and saw
the vigorous movements, and felt the members of a foetus within the
swelling, as described. It was evidently a double creation. The case
thus far, though rare, is not unique. 'But what is novel, and hitherto
perfectly unnoticed in medical literature, is the fact that not only the
girl, which has been carried its full term, is alive to-day, but the
foetus within the swelling has also, in the eleven days after birth,
further developed, and palpably increased in size. The swelling is now
four and a half inches long, three and a half inches wide, and high and
pear-shaped; the head lies underneath on the left, the body towards the
right.'

Further particulars and the latest intelligence we have concerning the
progress of this case are to the effect that the child was brought by
special request before the Natural History Society of Dantzic, and
thence the mother went to Berlin for medical advice.


MORAL ASPECTS OF THIS QUESTION.

Upon proper judgment and discrimination in the application of the facts
we have just been dwelling upon, may depend a wife's honor, and the
happiness of the dearest social relations. We will suppose an example. A
husband, immediately after the impregnation of his wife, is obliged to
quit her, and remains absent a year. In the meanwhile she gives birth to
two children, at an interval of a number of weeks. The question will
then come up, Whether, under such circumstances, it is possible for her
to do so consistently with conjugal purity.

It will be recollected that, in speaking of twins, we remarked that it
was not very uncommon for an interval of days or weeks to elapse between
the births, and it has just been stated that impregnation during
pregnancy is extremely rare. The presumption, therefore, in the case
supposed, is as very many to one that the two births were the result of
a twin pregnancy. In the absence of any other evidence against the
wife's chastity, it should not even be called in question. This decision
receives the support of the maxim in law that a reasonable doubt is the
property of the accused, and of the Christian principle that it is
better that ninety-nine guilty should escape than that one innocent
should be condemned. Hence the teachings of science and of human and
divine law all coincide to protect the sacred rights and the precious
interests at stake against an unjust suspicion, which even the doctrine
of chances would render untenable.


CAN A CHILD CRY IN THE WOMB?

There are some cases, recorded on undoubted authority, in which the
child has been heard to cry while in the womb. These are very
exceptional. Under ordinary circumstances, it is impossible for the
child either to breathe or cry, because of the absence of air. It is
only when the bag of membranes has been torn, and the mouth of the child
is applied at or near the neck of the uterus, that this can take place.
The infant is not unfrequently heard to cry just before birth, after
labor has commenced, but before the extrusion of the head from the womb,
in consequence of the penetration of air into the uterine cavity.


IS IT A SON OR DAUGHTER?

It is a common saying among nurses, that there is a difference in the
size and form of the pregnant woman, according to the sex she carries.
This may well be doubted. Neither is it true that one sex is more
active in its 'movements' than the other. It is quite possible, however,
for a wife to know the sex of the foetus, if she can tell about what time
in her month conception took place. If it occurred directly after a
monthly sickness, the child is a girl; if directly before, it is a boy.
When a woman is 'out' in her reckoning, and goes beyond the period of
her expected confinement, it will ordinarily turn out to be a boy. The
skilful doctor can, in the later months of pregnancy, settle the
question of sex in some cases. The beats of the foetal heart are more
frequent in females than in males. The average frequency of pulsations
of twenty-eight female foetuses has been found to be one hundred and
forty-four in the minute, the lowest figure being one hundred and
thirty-eight; of twenty-two male foetuses, one hundred and twenty, the
lowest figure being one hundred and twelve. Therefore, when the
pulsations of the heart of the child in the womb are counted,--as can
easily be done by a practised medical ear during the last months of
pregnancy,--and are found to be over one hundred and thirty in a minute,
it is a daughter; if under one hundred and thirty, a son. In this
manner, the sex of an unborn child can be predicted with tolerable
accuracy, excepting only when illness of the foetus has deranged the
action of its heart.


ARE THERE TWINS PRESENT?

Certain signs lead to the suspicion of twins, such as being unusually
large, and the fact that the increase in size has been more than
ordinarily rapid. Sometimes also the abdomen is divided into two
distinct portions by a perpendicular fissure. In other cases the
movements of a child can be felt on each side at the same time. And in
twin pregnancies the morning sickness is apt to be more distressing, and
all the other discomforts incident to this condition increased. But
these signs and symptoms, when present in any given case, are not
conclusive, for they may be noticed when there is only one child. The
doctor has one characteristic and infallible sign by which he can
ascertain whether the woman be pregnant with twins. It is furnished to
him again by the art of listening,--or auscultation, as it is
technically called,--the same that, as we have already seen, may enable
him to determine the sex of the child. When the beatings of two foetal
hearts are heard on opposite portions of the abdomen, the nature of the
pregnancy is apparent.


LENGTH OF PREGNANCY.

What is the ordinary duration of pregnancy? Almost every woman considers
herself competent to make the answer--nine months. She may be surprised
to learn, however, that such an answer is wanting in scientific
precision. It is too indefinite, and is erroneous. There is a great
difference between the calendar and the lunar month. Each lunar month
having twenty-eight days, the period of nine lunar months is two hundred
and fifty-two days. Nine calendar months, including February, represent,
on the contrary, two hundred and seventy-three days. Now the average
duration of pregnancy is two hundred and eighty days, that is forty
weeks, or ten lunar months.

While most extended observations have shown that as a general rule,
forty weeks, or two hundred and eighty days, is the true period of
pregnancy, are we justified in the conclusion that this is its
invariable duration? This important question, upon the answer to which
so often depend the honor of families, the rights of individuals, and
sometimes the interests of nationalities, has been in all times the
subject of careful research by physicians, philosophers, and
legislators. On the one side, have been those who contend that the laws
of nature are invariable, and that the term of pregnancy is fixed and
immutable. On the other side, have been those who assert that the epoch
of accouchement can be greatly advanced or retarded by various causes,
some of which are known, and others not yet appreciated. Abundant and
satisfactory testimony has proved that the prolongation of pregnancy
beyond the ordinary period of two hundred and eighty days, or forty
weeks, is possible. Nor is this contrary to what is observed in regard
to other functions of the human body. There is no process depending upon
the laws of life which is absolutely invariable either as to the period
of its appearance or duration. It is known, as we have already pointed
out, that puberty may be advanced or retarded; the time at which the
change of life occurs in women, as we shall have occasion hereafter to
show, is also subject to variation; and it is a matter of common
observation with mothers, that the period of teething is sometimes
strangely hurried or delayed. A certain degree of variability,
therefore, being frequently observed, and entirely compatible with
health, in the various other natural processes, why should that of
pregnancy form an exception, and be invariably fixed in its duration?
And observation upon the lower animals affords most convincing evidence
that nature is not controlled by any uniform law in reference to the
length of pregnancy. In the cow, the usual period of whose pregnancy is
the same as in the human female, instances of calving six weeks beyond
the ordinary term are not at all uncommon.

As an illustration of the great interest sometimes attaching to the
inquiry under discussion, we may cite the celebrated Gardner Peerage
Case, tried by the House of Lords in 1825. Allen Legge Gardner
petitioned to have his name inscribed as a peer on the Parliament Roll.
He was the son of Lord Gardner by his second wife. There was another
claimant for the peerage, however,--Henry Fenton Iadis,--on the ground,
as alleged, that he was the son of Lord Gardner by his first and
subsequently divorced wife. Medical and moral evidence was adduced to
establish that the latter was illegitimate. Lady Gardner, the mother of
the alleged illegitimate child, parted from her husband on the 30th of
January, 1802, he going to the West Indies, and not again seeing his
wife until the 11th of July following. The child whose legitimacy was
called in question was born on the 8th of December of that year. The
plain medical query therefore arose, Whether this child born either
three hundred and eleven days after intercourse (from January 30th to
December 8th), or one hundred and fifty days (from July 11th to December
8th), could be the son of Lord Gardner. As there was no pretence that
there was a premature birth, the child having been well developed when
born, the conception must have dated from January 30th. The medical
question was therefore narrowed down to this: Was the alleged protracted
pregnancy (three hundred and eleven days) consistent with experience?
Sixteen of the principal obstetric practitioners of Great Britain were
examined on this point. Eleven concurred in the opinion that natural
pregnancy might be protracted to a period which would cover the birth of
the alleged illegitimate child. Because, however, of the moral evidence
alone, which proved the adulterous intercourse of Lady Gardner with a
Mr. Iadis, the House decided that the title should descend to the son of
the second Lady Gardner.

There is on record one fact, well observed, which establishes beyond
cavil the possibility of the protraction of pregnancy beyond two hundred
and eighty days, or forty weeks. The case is reported by the learned Dr.
Desormeaux of Paris, and occurred under his own notice in the Hopital de
Maternite of that city. A woman, the mother of three children, became
insane. Her physician thought that a new pregnancy might re-establish
her intellectual faculties. Her husband consented to enter on the
register of the hospital each visit he was allowed to make her, which
took place only every three months. So soon as evidence of pregnancy
showed itself, the visits were discontinued. The woman was confined two
hundred and ninety days after conception.

The late distinguished Professor Charles D. Meigs of Philadelphia
published a case, which he deems entirely trustworthy, of the
prolongation of pregnancy to four hundred and twenty days, or sixty
weeks. Dr. Atlee reports two cases, which nearly equaled three hundred
and fifty-six days each. Professor Simpson of Edinburgh records, as
having occurred in his own practice, cases in which the period reached
three hundred and thirty-six, three hundred and thirty-two, three
hundred and twenty-four, and three hundred and nineteen days. In the
Dublin _Quarterly Journal of Medical Science_ a case of protracted
pregnancy is related by Dr. Joynt. The evidence is positive that the
minimum duration must have been three hundred and seventeen days, or
about six weeks more than the average. Dr. Elsaesser found, in one
hundred and sixty cases of pregnancy, eleven protracted to periods
varying from three hundred to three hundred and eighteen days.

In treating of the subject of miscarriage, we mentioned instances,
recorded by physicians of skill and probity, proving beyond a shade of
doubt that a woman may give birth to a living child long before the
expiration of the forty weeks. The Presbytery of Edinburgh, Scotland,
some time since decided in favor of the legitimacy of an infant born
alive, within twenty-five weeks after marriage, to the Rev. Fergus
Jardine.

One of the most enlightened countries in Europe has, in view of the
facts in reference to the extreme limits of pregnancy, enacted, in the
Code Napoleon, that a child born within three hundred days after the
departure or death of the husband, or one hundred and eighty days after
marriage, shall be considered legitimate. The law further states that a
child born after more than three hundred days shall not be necessarily
declared a bastard, but its legitimacy may be contested. The Scotch
legislation on this subject is very similar to the French.


CAUSES OF PROTRACTED PREGNANCY.

It has been asserted by some that an infant is born at ten or eleven
months because at nine months it has not acquired the growth which
is necessary in order to induce the womb to dislodge it. The popular
notion is, that a child carried beyond the usual term must necessarily
be a large one. Rabelais has reflected this common opinion in his
celebrated romance entitled 'Gargantua,' in which he represents the
royal giant of that name as having been carried by his mother,
Gargamelle, eleven months. When born, the child was so vigorous that he
sucked the milk from ten nurses. He lived for several centuries, and at
last begot a son, Pantagruel, as wonderful as himself. Such reasoning
cannot, however, be seriously maintained, as many children carried
longer than nine months have not been more fully developed than some
born a few weeks prematurely; and the size of the child has nothing to
do with the bringing on of labor, as we shall show hereafter. Protracted
pregnancies are caused by a defect in the energy of the womb, induced
by moral as well as physical influences. As a rule, a woman who leads a
regular life, and observes the physiological laws of her being, which
laws it has been our aim to point out, will be confined at the term that
nature usually marks out, that is, at the expiration of two hundred and
eighty days, or forty weeks, from conception.

This brings us to the consideration of the question,


HOW TO CALCULATE THE TIME OF EXPECTED LABOR.

Many rules for this purpose have been laid down. We shall merely give
one, the most satisfactory and the most easily applied. It was suggested
by the celebrated Professor Naegele of Heidelberg, and is now generally
recommended and employed by physicians. The point of departure in making
the calculation is _the day of the disappearance of the last monthly
sickness_; three months are subtracted, and seven days added. The result
corresponds to the day on which labor will commence, and will be found
to be two hundred and eighty days from the time of conception, if that
event has occurred, as ordinarily, immediately after the last menstrual
period. Suppose, for instance, the cessation of the last monthly
sickness happened on the 14th day of January; subtract three months, and
we have October 14; then add seven days, and we obtain the 21st day of
the ensuing October (two hundred and eighty days from January 14) as the
time of the expected confinement. This method of making the 'count' may
be relied upon with confidence, and only fails, by a few days, in those
exceptional cases in which conception takes place just before the
monthly period, or during the menstrual flow.


CARE OF HEALTH DURING PREGNANCY.

This subject, the proper management of the health from conception to
childbirth, is worthy of careful consideration. The condition of
pregnancy, though not one of disease, calls for peculiar solicitude,
lest it should lead to some affection in the mother or in the child. For
it ought to be remembered that the welfare of a new being is now in the
balance. The woman has no longer an independent existence. She has
entered upon the circle of her maternal duties. She became a mother when
she conceived. The child, though unborn, lives within her; its life is a
part of her own, and so frail, that any indiscretion on her part may
destroy it. The danger to the child is not imaginary, as the large
number of miscarriages and still-births proves.

All mothers desire to have healthy, well-formed, intelligent children.
How few conduct themselves in such a manner as to secure a happy
development of their offspring! Puny, deformed, and feeble-minded
infants are daily ushered into the world because of a want of knowledge,
or a sinful neglect of those special measures imperatively demanded in
the ordering of the daily life, by the changed state of the system
consequent upon pregnancy. We shall therefore point out those laws which
cannot be infringed with impunity, and indicate the diet, exercise,
dress, and, in general, the conduct most favorable to the mother and
child during this critical period, in which the wife occupies, as it
were, an intermediate state between health and sickness.


FOOD.

The nourishment taken during pregnancy should be abundant, but not, in
the early months, larger in quantity than usual. Excess in eating or
drinking ought to be most carefully avoided. The food is to be taken at
shorter intervals than is common, and it should be plain, simple, and
nutritious. Fatty articles, the coarser vegetables, highly salted and
sweet food, if found to disagree, as is often the case, should be
abstained from. The flesh of young animals--as lamb, veal, chicken, and
fresh fish--is wholesome, and generally agrees with the stomach. Ripe
fruits are beneficial. The diet should be varied as much as possible
from day to day. The craving which some women have in the night or early
morning may be relieved by a biscuit, a little milk, or a cup of coffee.
When taken a few hours before rising, this will generally be retained,
and prove very grateful, even though the morning sickness be
troublesome. Any food or medicine that will confine or derange the
bowels is to be forbidden. The taste is, as a rule, a safe guide, and it
may be reasonably indulged. But inordinate, capricious desires for
improper, noxious articles, should of course, be opposed. Such longings,
however, are not often experienced by those properly brought up. It is a
curious fact, that the modification in the digestive system during
pregnancy is sometimes so great that substances ordinarily the most
indigestible are eaten, without any inconvenience, and even with
benefit, while the most healthful articles become hurtful, and act like
poison.

As pregnancy advances, particularly after the sixth month, a larger
amount of food, and that of a more substantial character, will be
required. The number of meals in the day should then be increased,
rather than the quantity taken at each meal.


CLOTHING.

The dress during pregnancy should be loose and comfortable, nowhere
pressing tightly or unequally. The word _enceinte_, by which a pregnant
woman is designated, meant, originally, without a cincture,--that is,
unbound. The Roman matrons, so soon as they conceived, were obliged to
remove their girdles. Lycurgus caused the enactment of the Spartan law,
that pregnant women should wear large dresses, so as not to prejudice
the free development of the precious charges of which nature had
rendered them the momentary depositaries. Stays or corsets may be used,
in a proper manner, during the first five or six months of pregnancy,
but after that they should either be laid aside, or worn very loosely.
Any attempt at concealing pregnancy, by tight lacing and the application
of a stronger busk, cannot be too severely condemned. By this false
delicacy the mother is subjected to great suffering, and the child
placed in jeopardy. The shape of the stays should be moulded to that of
the changing figure, and great care should be taken that they do not
depress the nipple or irritate the enlarging breasts.

The amount of clothing should be suited to the season, but rather
increased than diminished, owing to the great susceptibility of the
system to the vicissitudes of the weather. It is especially important
that flannel drawers should be worn during advanced pregnancy, as the
loose dress favors the admission of cold air to the unprotected parts of
the body. A neglect of this precaution sometimes leads to the
establishment of the painful disease known as rheumatism of the womb.

Pressure upon the lower limbs, in the neighborhood of the knee or the
ankle joint, should be avoided, more particularly towards the last
months. It is apt to produce enlargement and knotting of the vein,
swelling and ulcers of the legs, by which many women are crippled during
their pregnancies, and sometimes through life. Therefore the garters
should not be tightly drawn, and gaiters should not be too closely
fitted, while yet they should firmly support the ankle.


EXERCISE.

Moderate exercise in the open air is proper and conducive to health
during the whole period of pregnancy. It should never be so active nor
so prolonged as to induce fatigue. Walking is the best form of exercise.
Riding in a badly-constructed carriage, or over a rough road, or upon
horseback, as well as running, dancing, and the lifting or carrying of
heavy weights, should be scrupulously avoided, as liable to cause
rupture, severe flooding, and miscarriage. During the early months, in
particular, extraordinarily long walks and dancing ought not to be
indulged in. Journeys are not to be taken while in the pregnant state.
Railway travelling is decidedly objectionable. The vibratory motion of
the cars is apt to produce headache, sickness at the stomach, faintness,
and premature labor. All these precautions are especially to be observed
in the first pregnancy.

We must not be understood as condemning exercise and fresh air. They are
of the greatest importance to mother and child. But the amount of
exercise should be regulated by the dictates of common sense and the
woman's own sensations. If she can only walk a short distance each day
with comfort, let that suffice. She should not force herself to go to a
certain place nor to promenade during a certain time in the twenty-four
hours. So soon as fatigue is felt, the walk should cease. Let the walks
be frequent and short, rather than few and long. They should also be
made as pleasant as possible, by companionship and surroundings that
will occupy the feelings and imagination in an agreeable manner with new
and cheerful impressions. A tendency to indolence is to be combated. A
gently active life is best calculated to preserve the health of the
mother and her unborn child. But with even the most robust a moderation
of the ordinary pursuits and avocations is called for. The nervous and
delicate cannot make with safety their customary daily exertions in the
performance of their household or social duties and pleasures.

Towards the end of pregnancy the wife should economize her forces. She
should not remain long standing or kneeling, nor sing in either of these
postures.


BATHING.

Those who have not been accustomed to bathing should not begin the
practice during pregnancy, and in any case great care should be
exercised during the latter months. It is better to preserve cleanliness
by sponging with tepid water than by entire baths. Foot-baths are always
dangerous. Sea-bathing sometimes causes miscarriage, but sea air and the
sponging of the body with salt water are beneficial. The shower-bath is
of course too great a shock to the system, and a very warm bath is too
relaxing. In some women of a nervous temperament, a lukewarm bath taken
occasionally at night during pregnancy has a calming influence. This is
especially the case in the first and last month. But women of a
lymphatic temperament and of a relaxed habit of body are always injured
by the bath.


VENTILATION.

We have spoken of the benefits of outdoor air during pregnancy.
Attention should also be directed to keeping the atmosphere in the
sitting and sleeping rooms of the house fresh. This can only be
accomplished by constantly changing it. The doors and windows of every
room, while unoccupied, should be kept thrown open in the summer-time,
and opened sufficiently often in the winter to wash out the apartments
several times a day with fresh air. The extremes of heat and cold are
to be, with equal care, avoided. The house should be kept light. Young
plants will not grow well in the dark. Neither will the young child nor
its mother flourish without sunlight. The ancients were so well aware of
this, that they constructed on the top of each house a solarium, or
solar air-bath, where they basked daily, in thin attire, in the direct
rays of the sun.


SLEEP.

During pregnancy a large amount of sleep is required. It has a sedative
influence upon the disturbed nervous system of the mother. It favors, by
the calmness of all the functions which attends it, the growth of the
foetus. Neither the pursuit of pleasure in the evening, nor the
observance of any trite maxims in regard to early rising in the morning,
should be allowed to curtail the hours devoted to slumber. Pregnant
women have an instinctive desire to lie abed late, which, like the other
promptings of nature during this period, should not be disregarded. At
least eight hours out of the twenty-four can be profitably spent in bed.
No night-watching ought ever to be undertaken during pregnancy.

Feather beds should be avoided. The heat which they maintain about the
body is inconvenient and dangerous, predisposing to flooding and
exhausting perspirations. The hair or sponge mattress is to be
preferred. The bed-clothing should not be too heavy. Blankets are to be
employed rather than coverlids, as they are lighter and more permeable
to perspiration. The mattress and cover should be well aired during the
day. The sleeping-room should be capacious and well ventilated, and no
curtains permitted about the bed.

Occasional rest is also necessary in the daytime. A nap of an hour or
two upon a sofa or lounge will then prove very refreshing. In the
earlier months of pregnancy it will tend to prevent miscarriage, and in
the latter months to relieve the distress consequent upon the increased
size of the womb. It is not unusual, as the close of pregnancy
approaches, for a feeling of suffocation to ensue when the woman
attempts to lie down. This may be overcome by supporting the back and
shoulders with cushions and pillows. Or a bed-chair may be employed.
This, if well constructed and covered, will often be found very grateful
at night, in the last few weeks of pregnancy.


THE MIND.

A tranquil mind is of the first importance to the pregnant woman. Gloomy
forebodings should not be encouraged. Pregnancy and labor are not, we
repeat, diseased conditions. They are healthful processes, and should be
looked upon as such by every woman. Bad labors are very infrequent. It
is as foolish to dread them, as it is for the railway traveller to give
way to misgivings in regard to his safety. Instead of desponding,
science bids the woman to look forward with cheerfulness and hope to the
joys of maternity.

The bad effects of fear upon the mother's mind are illustrated by
Plutarch, who, in his Life of Publicola, mentions that, 'at a time when
a superstitious fear overran the city of Rome, all the women then
pregnant brought forth imperfect children, and were prematurely
delivered.' But we have already spoken, in treating of mothers' marks,
of the influence of mental emotions over the unborn child, and the
necessity of avoiding their exciting causes.

Because of their deleterious tendency, severe study as well as arduous
and protracted manual labor ought to be avoided. The nervous systems of
many women are also injuriously affected during pregnancy by perfumes,
which at other times are agreeable and innocuous. It is therefore
prudent not only to exclude all offensive scents, but also to abstain
from the strong odors of various strong perfumes, eau-de-cologne, and of
flowers. Large bouquets often cause feelings of faintness, and sometimes
temporary loss of consciousness. The extreme liability of the nervous
system of the pregnant woman to be affected injuriously to herself and
child by scenes of suffering or distress, and by disgusting or frightful
objects, cannot be too strongly impressed upon every one. She should be
protected from all that will disturb her, and should be constantly
treated with soothing and encouraging kindness. Her manifestations of
irritability, her caprices, her melancholy anticipations, are not to be
scoffed at, but combated with a mixture of reasoning and patient
forbearance. On her part, she should endeavour to co-operate with those
around her, in sedulously shunning all injurious influences, and in
banishing as quickly as possible all improper longings. She should
remember that, although she herself may escape mischief from them, her
child may suffer. She is the custodian of interests dearer to her than
her own.


RELATION OF HUSBAND AND WIFE DURING PREGNANCY.

During those days when the wife, if she were not pregnant, would have
been 'unwell,' marital intercourse should be abstained from. It is then
injurious to the mother, and dangerous to the life of the child, as it
is liable to excite miscarriage. But if this habitual epoch of the
monthly sickness be avoided, there is no reason why passion should not
be gratified in moderation and with caution during the whole period of
pregnancy. There is one exception to be made to this general course of
conduct. In those cases in which a miscarriage has occurred in the first
pregnancy, every precaution should be employed--for reasons which have
been dwelt upon in a previous article--to prevent its happening again
after the second conception. Under such exceptional circumstances,
therefore, the husband and wife should sleep apart during the first five
months of pregnancy. After that period their ordinary relations may be
resumed. When a miscarriage has taken place, intercourse should not be
permitted within a month of the accident. The observance of this
direction is of the utmost importance. Its neglect is the frequent cause
of severe and intractable diseases of the womb.


EFFECT OF PREGNANCY ON HEALTH.

We have had occasion to remark that pregnancy is not a condition of
disease. It is not only an evidence of health, but during its
continuance it confers increased physical vigor. As a rule, a woman
enjoys _better health_ during her pregnancy than at any other time; she
is less liable to contagious and other maladies; she is less apt to die
than at any other period of her life; and her general constitution seems
also then to receive a favorable impress, for wives and mothers live
longer than celibates. It is wisely decreed that when woman is engaged
in this, to her, anxious stage of reproduction, she shall not be exposed
to the pains and dangers of disease, and that those great covenants of
nature--marriage and child-bearing--shall be rewarded by added strength
and length of days.

There are certain disorders incident, in exceptional cases, to
pregnancy, of which we shall shortly speak. In general, however, we
repeat that this condition is one of extraordinary health. More than
this, in numerous instances it exerts an ameliorating influence upon
pre-existing diseases, suspending their march, or bringing about a
decidedly curative effect. Thus, various obstinate chronic affections of
the skin, of the womb and ovaries, and of the brain and nervous system,
frequently get well during pregnancy; and it is well known to every
physician, that by the judicious management of this state, and of the
lying-in period, troublesome displacements of the womb may be arrested.

It should nevertheless ever be recollected that the condition of
pregnancy is one of excitement and enhanced susceptibility to
impressions of all kinds. For this reason a change in the habits of
life is necessary; and the importance of the directions laid down for
the care of the health during this period, cannot be too strongly
insisted upon.

The diseases to which the wife is exposed during pregnancy will be
treated of in the chapter on 'Health in Marriage.'




CONFINEMENT.


_PREPARATIONS FOR CHILDBIRTH._

Certain foolish preparations are sometimes made by wives, with the best
intentions. Perhaps one of the most common and absurd of these is the
local use of sweet oil, in order to facilitate the dilatation of the
parts, for which purpose it is perfectly inert. There are, however, some
wise and even necessary precautions which every wife should know and
employ, to guard against unpleasant and dangerous complications in
childbirth.

In particular, _the condition of the breasts_ towards the close of
pregnancy demands attention. Scarcely any pain in the lying-in chamber
is greater or more difficult to bear than that which the young mother
suffers from excoriated nipples. This troublesome and often very
intractable affection is nearly always the consequence of the want of
care previous to confinement. During the latter part of pregnancy the
nipples sometimes become sunken or flat, being retracted as the breasts
increase in size, because of the want of elasticity on the part of the
milk tubes. In order to remedy this fault, we have known a breast-pump
or puppy to be applied. Such treatment is dangerous, as it may excite
premature contraction of the womb, and miscarriage. Nipple-shields,
with broad bases and openings, should always be obtained. They are safe,
and effectually secure the prominence of the nipples, when worn
constantly, day and night, during the last month or so of pregnancy.
Wives who have never had children ought to take special care to
ascertain before labor whether this depressed condition of the nipples
exists, and to correct it in the manner indicated.

In the first pregnancy it is also important to _harden the nipples_.
This may be done by occasionally gently rubbing them between the thumb
and finger, and by bathing them twice a day during the last six weeks
with tincture of myrrh, or with a mixture of equal parts of brandy and
water, to which a little alum has been added. This procedure will render
the surfaces less sensitive to the friction of the child's mouth, and
thus avert the distress so often occasioned in the first confinement by
tenderness of the nipples.

If the nipples be rough or nodulated in appearance, like a strawberry or
a raspberry, they are more apt to become excoriated or fissured than if
they present a smooth surface. Under such circumstances, make a solution
of the sulphate of zinc, of the strength of one grain to the ounce of
rose water, in a wide-mouthed bottle, then tilt the bottle upon the
nipple, and allow it to remain there for a few minutes several times a
day. Simple tenderness of the nipples and slight fissures may be averted
by the application either of a lotion of borax (two scruples of borax in
three ounces of water, and an ounce of glycerine), of the honey of
borax, or of the tincture of catechu, and by protecting the parts from
the pressure of the stays and the friction of the flannel vest.

It is of the greatest moment to the comfort of the mother, that all
affections of the nipples should be prevented or remedied before labor;
for the treatment of sore nipples when the child is at the breast is
often unsatisfactory, while the suffering they occasion is very great,
even sometimes giving rise to mammary abscess.

There are certain _articles of clothing_ and _dressings for the bed_
which should be cared for in advance, in order that they may be ready
when required.

The mother should be provided with short-gowns, to be worn over the
chemise instead of the ordinary night-gowns. It is of consequence to
procure a proper _bandage_. It should be made of heavy muslin, neither
too coarse nor too fine; an ordinarily good quality of unbleached muslin
is the best. The material is to be cut bias, about one and a quarter
yard in length, and from twelve to eighteen inches in breadth, varying,
of course, with the size of the person. It should be just large enough
to encircle the body after confinement, with a margin of a couple of
inches, and to extend down below the fulness of the hips. The
measurement should be taken, and the bandage made to fit, when four and
a half months advanced. It should be narrow above, wider below, and
gored in such a manner that it will be a little narrower at the lower
extremity than a few inches above, so as to prevent it, when adjusted,
from sliding upwards. A bandage constructed in this manner will be very
comfortable; and is not apt to become displaced, after application, as
is invariably the case when a towel or a straight piece of muslin is
used. The way in which it is to be applied will be detailed hereafter.

The _child's clothing_ should consist first of a piece of flannel or
some woollen material for a binder. This should be from four to six
inches in width, and from twelve to sixteen inches in length; that is to
say, wide enough to extend from the armpits to the lower part of the
abdomen, and long enough to go once and a half times around the child,
having the double fold to come over the abdomen. There should be no
embroidery about this. A shirt, which it is desirable should be woollen,
is to be provided to place over the binder. It should be made to come up
tolerably high in the neck, and to extend down the arm. Neither it nor
any other portion of the child's clothing should be starched. The
petticoat, which may be open its whole length behind, is to be put over
the shirt; two may be used--a short and a long one. Next comes the
child's ordinary frock or slip, and above this an apron to protect the
dress from the frequent discharges from the stomach. Then a shawl, of
flannel or any other warm material, is to be provided, to throw over the
shoulders if the weather be cold. Socks, and pieces of old soft linen,
free from stiffening, for napkins or diapers, complete the child's
outfit.

For the _permanent and temporary dressing of the bed_ there should be
provided a piece of impervious cloth (oiled silk is the neatest) about a
yard square; a piece of ordinary table oil-cloth or rubber-cloth; a
number of old sheets and comfortables, and a piece of thick carpet. The
manner in which these are to be used will be explained shortly.

A pair of small rounded scissors; a package of large pins, one and a
half inches in length, for the bandage of the mother, and smaller ones
for that of the child; some good linen bobbin for the doctor to tie the
navel-string; good toilet soap and fine surgical sponge for washing the
child; a piece of soft linen or muslin for dressing the navel; a box of
unirritating powder; and a pile of towels,--should all be had and laid
aside many weeks before they are wanted. These, together with the
material for dressing the bed, the child's clothing, and the mother's
bandage, ought to be placed together in a basket got for the purpose, in
order that they may all be easily and certainly found at a time when
perhaps the hurry and excitement of the moment would render it difficult
otherwise to collect them all immediately.


SIGNS OF APPROACHING LABOR.

One of the earliest of the preliminary signs of the coming on of
confinement occurs about two weeks before that event. It is a dropping
or subsidence of the womb. The summit of that organ then descends, in
most cases, from above to below the umbilicus, and the abdomen becomes
smaller. The stomach and lungs are relieved from pressure, the woman
breathes more freely, the sense of oppression which troubled her
previously is lost, and she says she feels 'very comfortable.' This
sensation of lightness and buoyancy increases, and a few days before the
setting in of labor she feels so much better that she thinks she will
take an extra amount of exercise. The mother of a number of children is
acquainted with this sign, but the wife with her first child may exert
herself unduly in the house or outdoors, and induce labor when in the
street or away from home. Hence the importance of a knowledge of this
premonitory symptom.

A second precursory sign of labor is found in the increased fulness of
the external parts, and an augmented mucous secretion, which may amount
even to a discharge resembling whites, and requiring the wearing of a
napkin. This symptom is a good one, indicating a disposition to
relaxation, and promising an easy time.

The third preliminary sign which we shall mention, is the change in the
mental state of the pregnant woman. She has a feeling of anxiety and of
fidgetiness, sometimes accompanied with depression of spirits. This
condition of emotional distress, modified in particular cases by reason,
self-control, and religion, may continue for several days, perhaps, when


THE SYMPTOMS OF ACTUAL LABOR

make their appearance. The first of these is generally the 'show.' It is
the discharge of the plug of mucus which has occupied the neck of the
womb up to this time, and is ordinarily accompanied by a little blood.
Perhaps before this, or perhaps not for some hours after, the 'pains'
will develope themselves. These recur periodically, at intervals of an
hour or half an hour at the outset, and are 'grinding' in character.
_True_ labor pains are distinguished from _false_ by the fact that they
are felt in the back, passing on to the thighs, while false pains are
referred to the abdomen; by their intermittent character, the spurious
pains being more or less continuous; and by the steady increase in their
frequency and severity. In case of doubt as to their exact nature, the
doctor should be summoned, who will be able to determine positively
whether labor has begun.

The other symptoms which point to the actual commencement of labor are a
frequent desire to empty the bowels and bladder, nausea and vomiting,
which, in the early part of confinement, is a good sign; shiverings,
unattended with any sensation of cold; and, finally, the rupture and
discharge of the contents of the 'bag of waters.'

Before passing on to the consideration of the management of the
confinement into which the wife has now entered, a few words may be
appropriately said upon the


CAUSE OF LABOR.

Neither the size nor the vigor of the child has any influence in
bringing about delivery at full term. The ancient theory--which received
the support of the distinguished naturalist Buffon--that the infant was
the active agent in causing its own expulsion, is an exploded one. It
was asserted by some that hunger excited the foetus to struggle to free
itself from the womb; others were disposed to attribute its efforts to
accomplish its entrance into the world, to the need of respiration which
it experienced. But all these ingenious theories, which presupposed the
embryo to be actuated by the same feelings which would influence a grown
person if shut up in such a confined abode, are unsatisfactory, and not
tenable. It is well known that the child may die in the womb, without
retarding or interfering in any way with the coming on of the process of
labor. This fact alone shows that the foetus is, or at any rate may be,
absolutely passive either in regard to the induction or advancement of
delivery. The determining cause of labor is seated in the womb itself.
The contractions of this organ occasion the 'pains' and expel the child,
assisted by the muscles of the abdomen and the diaphragm. That the
assistance of the latter forces is not necessary, is conclusively proved
by the occurrence of childbirth after the decease of the mother. For
instance, a case is on record in which labor commenced and twins were
born after the mother had been dead for three days.


CARE DURING LABOR.

We will suppose labor to have commenced. The _preparation of the bed_
for the occupancy of the mother is now to be attended to. As she is to
lie on the _left side_ of the bed, this is the side, and the only one,
which is to be dressed for the occasion. In order to do so, remove the
outer bed-clothes one at a time, folding them neatly on the right side
of the bed so that they can easily be drawn over when desired. The
_permanent dressing_ is to be placed beneath the lower sheet and upon
the mattress. A soft impervious cloth--which, in speaking of the
preparation for confinement, we directed to be procured--is placed next
to the surface of the bed. The upper edge should be nearly as high as
the margin of the bolster, and it should extend down to a distance at
least a foot below the level of the hips, so as to certainly protect the
bed from the discharges. Upon the top of this a blanket or sheet is
laid, and the whole fastened by pins. The lower sheet of the bed, which
had been turned over to the right side, to permit the application of the
dressing, is now to be replaced. Over the position of this permanent
dressing, on the top of the bed-sheet, a neatly-folded sheet, with the
folded edge down, is adjusted and pinned in its place. It is upon this
sheet that the patient is to be drawn up after her confinement, which
will take place upon the _temporary dressing_ of the bed now to be
arranged. It consists of an oil-cloth, which should extend up beyond the
lower edge of the permanent dressing, overlapping the folded sheet which
has been placed above it, and should fall over the side and bottom of
the bed. A comfortable or any soft absorbent material is placed over
this impervious cloth and covered with a folded sheet, completing the
temporary dressing. The bed-clothes may now be adjusted, concealing the
dressings from view until they are wanted. The valances at the foot of
the bed should be raised, and a piece of carpet placed on the floor. The
bed should have no foot-board, or a very low one.

_The dress of the mother._--Either a folded sheet should be adjusted
around the waist as the only skirt, so as not to interfere with the
walking, or a second chemise should be put on, with the arms outside the
sleeves, to extend from the waist to the feet. Then the chemise next the
body should be drawn up and folded high up around the breast. It should
be plaited neatly along the back, and brought forward and fastened by
pins. This should be thoroughly done, so that the linen may not be found
wet nor soiled when it is drawn down after confinement. A wrapper or
dressing-gown may be worn during the first stage of labor, before it is
necessary to go to bed. When, however, that time comes, the wife will
take her place on her left side on the temporary dressing, with a sheet
thrown over her, her head on a pillow so situated that her body will be
bent well forward, and her feet against the bed-post. A sheet should be
twisted into a cord and fastened to the foot of the bed, for her to
seize with her hands during the accession of the 'bearing-down pains.'
Care should be taken to have a number of napkins, a pot of fresh lard,
and the basket containing the scissors, ligature, bandage, etc.--which
have been previously enumerated in the remarks on preparations for
childbirth--at hand, for the use of the doctor.

We have now noted all that it is useful for the wife to know in regard
to the preparation for and management of confinement, when a physician
is in attendance, as, for obvious reasons, he should always be. In some
instances, however, the absence of the doctor is unavoidable, or the
labor is completed before his arrival. As a guide to the performance of
the necessary duties of the lying-in room under such circumstances, we
give some


HINTS TO ATTENDANTS.

The room during confinement should be kept quiet. Too many persons must
not be allowed in it, as they contaminate the air, and are apt by their
conversation to disturb the patient, either exciting or depressing her.
So soon as the head is born, it should be immediately ascertained
whether the neck is encircled by the cord; if so, it should be removed
or loosened. The neglect of this precaution may result fatally to the
infant, as happened a short time since in our own practice; the infant,
born a few minutes before our arrival, being found strangled with the
cord about its neck. It is also of importance at once to allow of the
entrance of air to the face, to put the finger in the mouth to remove
any obstruction which may interfere with respiration, and to lay the
babe on its right side, with the head removed from the discharges. The
cord should not be tied until the infant is heard to cry. The ligature
is to be applied in the following manner:--A piece of bobbin is thrown
around the navel-string, and tied with a double knot at the distance of
three fingers' breadth from the umbilicus; a second piece is tied an
inch beyond the first, and the cord divided with the scissors between
the two, care being taken not to clip off a finger or otherwise injure
the unsuspecting little infant, as has occurred in careless hands more
than once. When the child is separated from the mother, a warm blanket
or a piece of flannel should be ready to receive it. In taking hold of
the little stranger, it may slip out of the hands and be injured. To
guard against this accident, which is very apt to occur with awkward or
inexperienced persons, always seize the back portion of the neck in the
space bounded by the thumb and first finger of one hand, and grasp the
thighs with the other. In this way it may be safely carried. It should
be transferred, wrapped up in its blanket, to some _secure_ place, and
never put in an arm-chair, where it may be crushed by some one who does
not observe that the chair is already occupied. The head of the child
should not be so covered as to incur any danger of suffocation.


ATTENTION TO THE MOTHER.

When the after-birth has come away, the mother should be drawn up a
short distance--six or eight inches--in bed, and the sheet which has
been pinned around her, together with the temporary dressing of the bed
removed, a clean folded sheet being introduced under the hips. The parts
should be gently washed with warm water and a soft sponge or a cloth,
after which an application of equal parts of claret wine and water will
prove pleasant and beneficial. We have also found the anointing of the
external and internal parts with goose grease, which has been thoroughly
washed in several hot waters, to be very soothing and efficient in
speedily allaying all irritation. This ought all to be done under cover,
to guard against the taking of cold. The chemise pinned up around the
breast should now be loosened, and the woman is ready for the
application of the bandage, which is to be put on next the skin. If
properly and nicely adjusted, it will prove very grateful. The
directions for making it have already been given. In order to apply it,
one half of its length should be folded up into plaits, and the mother
should lie on her left side; lay the plaited end of the bandage
underneath the left side of the patient, carrying it as far under as
possible, and draw the loose end over the abdomen; then let the mother
roll over on her back upon the bandage, and draw out the plaited end. If
the abdominal muscles are much relaxed and the hip-bones prominent, a
compress of two or three towels will be wanted. The bandage should be
first tightened in the middle by a pin applied laterally, for strings
should never be employed. The pins should be placed at intervals of
about an inch. The lower portion of the bandage should be made quite
tight, to prevent it slipping up. The mother is now ready to be drawn up
in bed upon the permanent dressing: this should be done without any
exertion on her part. A napkin should be laid smoothly _under_ the hips
(never folded up), to receive the discharges. If she prefer to lie on
her left side, place a pillow behind her back.


ATTENTION TO THE CHILD.

The baby may now be washed and dressed. Before beginning, everything
that is wanted should be close at hand, namely a basin of warm water, a
large quantity of lard or some other unctuous material, soap, fine
sponge, and a basket containing the binder, shirt, and other articles of
clothing. First rub the child's body thoroughly with lard. The covering
can only be removed in this way; the use of soap alone will have no
effect unless the friction be so great as to take off also the skin. The
nurse should take a handful of lard and rub it in with the palm of the
hand, particularly in the flexures of the joints. In anointing one part,
the others should be covered, to prevent the child from taking cold. If
the child is thus made perfectly clean, do not use any soap and water,
because the skin is left in a more healthful condition by the lard, and
there is risk of the child's taking cold from the evaporation of the
water. But the face may be washed with soap and water, great care being
taken not to let the soap get into the child's eyes, which is one of the
most frequent causes of sore eyes in infants. The navel-string is now to
be dressed. This is done by wrapping it up in a circular piece of soft
muslin, well oiled, with a hole in its centre. The bandage is next to be
applied. The object of its use is to protect the child's abdomen against
cold, and to keep the dressing of the cord in its position. The nature,
shape, and size of the binder have been described. It should be pinned
in front, three pins being generally sufficient. The rest of the
clothing before enumerated is then put on.

The child is now to be _applied to the breast at once_. This is to be
done, for three reasons. First, it very often prevents flooding, which
is apt otherwise to occur. Secondly, it tends to prevent milk fever, by
averting the violent rush of the milk on the third day, and the
consequent engorgement of the breast and constitutional disturbance.
The third reason is, that there is always a secretion in the breast from
the first, which it is desirable for the child to have; for it acts as a
cathartic, stimulating the liver, and cleansing the bowels from the
secretions which fill them at the time of birth. There is generally
sufficient nourishment in the breasts for the child for the first few
days. The mother may lie on the one side or the other, and receive the
child upon the arm of that upon which she is lying. If the nipple be not
perfectly drawn out so that the child can grasp it in its mouth, the
difficulty may be overcome by filling a porter-bottle with hot water,
emptying it, and then placing the mouth of the bottle immediately over
the nipple. This will cause, as the bottle cools, a sufficient amount of
suction to elevate the sunken nipple. The bottle should then be removed
and the child substituted,--a little sugar and water or sweetened milk
being applied, if necessary, to tempt the child to take the breast.


FURTHER ATTENTION TO THE MOTHER.

The patient should be cleansed every _four or five hours_. A soft
napkin, wet with warm soap and water, should for this purpose be passed
underneath the bed-clothing, without exposing the surface to a draft of
air. After using the soap and water, apply again the dilute claret wine
and the goose grease. Much of the safety of the mother depends upon the
observation of cleanliness. The napkin should not be allowed to remain
so long as to become saturated with the discharges.

The mother should maintain rigidly the recumbent position for the first
few days, not raising her shoulders from the pillow for any purpose, and
should abstain from receiving visitors, and from any social conversation
for the first twenty-four hours.

For the first three or four days, until the milk has come and the milk
fever passed, the mother should live upon light food,--oatmeal gruel,
tea and toast, panada, or anything else of little bulk and unstimulating
character. Afterwards the diet may be increased by the addition of
chicken, lamb, mutton or oyster broth, buttered toast, and eggs. The
object of light nourishment at first is to prevent the too rapid
secretion of milk, which might be attended with evil local and
constitutional effects. If, however, the mother be in feeble health, it
will be necessary from the outset that she shall be supported with
nourishing concentrated food. _Beef-tea_ will then be found very
serviceable, particularly if made according to the following
recipe:--Take a pound of fresh beef from the loins or neck. Free it
carefully from all fat. Cut it up into fine pieces, and add a very
little salt and five grains of unbroken black pepper. Pour on it a pint
of cold water, and _simmer_ for forty minutes. Then pour off the liquor,
place the meat in a cloth, and, after squeezing the juice from it into
the tea, throw it aside. Return to the fire, and boil for ten minutes.

After the first week, the diet of the lying-in woman should always be
nutritious, though plain and simple. The development of the mammary
glands, the production of the mammary secretion, and the reduction which
takes place in the size of the womb, all require increased nourishment,
that they may be properly performed.

After the third or fourth day _the dress should be changed_. The dress
worn during labor, if our directions have been carried out, will not
have been soiled. The clothing should be changed without uncovering the
person, and without raising the head from the pillow. Pull the bed-gown
from over each arm, and draw it out from under the body. Then unfasten
the chemise in front and draw it down underneath her so that it can be
removed from below, as it should not be carried over the head. Place her
arms in the sleeves of the clean chemise, throw its body over her head,
and, without lifting her shoulders from the bed, draw it down. Then
change the bed-gown in the same manner.

In changing the upper sheet, it should be pulled off from below, and the
clean one carried down in its place from above, underneath the other
clothing, which can be readily accomplished by plaiting the lower half.
In introducing a clean under-sheet, one side of it should be plaited and
placed under the patient, lying on her left side; when she turns on her
back, the plaits can then be readily drawn out. These directions, though
apparently trivial, are important. The object is to guard against the
great danger to which the mother is exposed by sitting up in bed for
even a few minutes during the first week.

_Cathartic medicine_ should not be administered the first, the third, or
any other day after confinement, unless it is needed. If the patient is
perfectly comfortable, has no pain in the abdomen, no headache, and is
well in every respect, she should be let alone, even if her bowels have
not been moved. If a laxative be called for, citrate of magnesia is much
pleasanter and equally as efficacious as the castor-oil so frequently
administered on this occasion.


TO HAVE LABOR WITHOUT PAIN.

Is it possible to avoid the throes of labor, and have children without
suffering? This is a question which science answers in the affirmative.
Medical art brings the waters of Lethe to the bedside of woman in her
hour of trial. Of late years chloroform and ether have been employed to
lessen or annul the pains of childbirth, with the same success that has
attended their use in surgery. Their administration is never pushed so
as to produce complete unconsciousness, unless some operation is
necessary, but merely so as to diminish sensibility and render the pains
endurable. These agents are thus given without injury to the child, and
without retarding the labor or exposing the mother to any danger. When
properly employed, they induce refreshing sleep, revive the drooping
nervous system, and expedite the delivery.

They should never be used in the absence of the doctor. He alone is
competent to give them with safety. In natural, easy, and short labor,
where the pains are readily borne, they are not required. But in those
lingering cases in which the suffering is extreme, and, above all, in
those instances where instruments have to be employed, ether and
chloroform have a value beyond all price.


MORTALITY OF CHILDBED.

_The number of the pregnancy_ affects the danger to be expected from
lying-in. It has been declared by excellent authority, that the
mortality of first labors, and of childbed fever following first labors
is about twice the mortality attending all subsequent labors
collectively. After the ninth labor the mortality increases with the
number. A woman having a large family, therefore, comes into greater and
increasing risk as she bears her ninth and successive children.

_The age of the woman_ also affects the mortality accompanying
confinement. The age of least mortality is near twenty-five years. On
either side of this, mortality increases with the diminution or increase
of age. The age of the greatest safety in confinement therefore
corresponds to the age of greatest fecundity. And during the whole of
child-bearing life, safety in labor is directly as fecundity, and _vice
versa_. Hence modern statistics prove the correctness of the saying of
Aristotle, that 'to the female sex premature wedlock is peculiarly
dangerous, since, in consequence of anticipating the demands of nature,
many of them suffer greatly in childbirth, and many of them die.' As the
period from twenty to twenty-five is the least dangerous for childbirth,
and as first labors are more hazardous than all others before the ninth,
it is important that this term of least mortality be chosen for entering
upon the duties of matrimony. This we have already pointed out in
speaking of the age of nubility.

_The sex of the child_ is another circumstance affecting the mortality
of labor. Professor Simpson of Edinburgh has shown that a greater
proportion of deaths occurs in women who have brought forth male
children.

_The duration of labor_ also influences the mortality of lying-in. The
fatality increases with the length of the labor. It must be recollected,
however, that the duration of labor is only an inconsiderable part of
the many causes of mortality in childbirth.


WEIGHT AND LENGTH OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN

The average weight of infants of both sexes at the time of birth is
about seven pounds. The average of male children is seven and one-third
pounds; of female, six and two-thirds pounds. Children which at full
term weigh less than five pounds are not apt to thrive, and usually die
in a short time.

The average length at birth, without regard to sex, is about twenty
inches, the male being about half an inch longer than the female.

In regard to the relation between the size of the child and the age of
the mother, the interesting conclusion has been arrived at, that the
average weight and length of the mature child gradually increases with
the age of the mother up to the twenty-fifth year. Mothers between the
ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine have the largest children. From the
thirtieth year they gradually diminish. The first child of a woman is of
comparatively light weight. The first egg of a fowl is smaller than
those which follow.

The new-born children in our Western States seem to be larger than the
statistics show them to be in the various States of Europe, and
apparently even than in our Eastern States. In the Report on Obstetrics
of the Illinois State Medical Society for 1868, it is stated that
Quincy, Ill., produced during the year six male children whose average
weight at birth was thirteen and a quarter pounds, the smallest weighing
twelve pounds, and the largest seventeen and a half, which was born at
the end of four hours' labor, without instrumental or other
interference. A recent number of a Western medical journal reports the
birth at Detroit, in February last, of a well-formed male infant
twenty-four and a-half inches long, weighing sixteen pounds. The woman's
weight, _after labor_, is stated as only ninety-two pounds. An English
physician delivered a child by the forceps which weighed seventeen
pounds twelve ounces, and measured twenty-four inches. These are the
largest well-authenticated new-born infants on record.


DURATION OF LABOR.

The length of a natural labor may be said to vary between two and
eighteen hours. The intervals between the pains are such, however, that
the actual duration of suffering, even in the longest labor, is
comparatively very short. The first confinement is much longer than
subsequent ones.

The _sex_ of the child has some influence on the duration of labor.
According to Dr. Collins of the Lying-in Hospital of Dublin, the average
with _male_ births is one hour and four minutes longer than with
_female_. The _weight_ of the child also affects the time of labor.
Children weighing over eight pounds average four hours and eight minutes
longer in birth than those of less than eight pounds weight.


STILL-BIRTHS.

The statistics of nearly fifty thousand deliveries which occurred at the
Royal Maternity Charity, London, show a percentage of nearly five
still-born, or one in twenty-seven.

There are more boys still-born than girls. We have already spoken of the
fact that male births are more tedious, and that a larger number of
males die in the first few years of life than females. This series of
misfortunes has been attributed to the large size which the male foetus
at birth possesses over the female.


IMPRUDENCE AFTER CHILDBIRTH.

After the birth of the child at full term, or at any other period of
pregnancy, the womb, which had attained such wonderful proportions in a
few months, begins to resume its former size. This process requires at
least six weeks after labor for its full accomplishment. Rest is
essential during this period. A too early return to the ordinary active
duties of life retards or checks this restoration to normal size, and
the womb being heavier, exposes the woman to great danger of uterine
displacements. Nor are these the only risks incurred by a too hasty
renewal of active movements. The surface, the substance, and the lining
membrane of the womb are all very liable, while this change from its
increased to its ordinary bulk is occurring, to take on inflammation
after slight exposure. The worst cases of uterine inflammation and
ulceration are thus caused. A 'bad getting-up,' prolonged debility,
pain, and excessive discharge, are among the least penalties consequent
upon imprudence after confinement. It is a mistake to suppose that
hard-working women in the lower walks of life attend with impunity to
their ordinary duties a few days after confinement. Those who suffer
most from falling of the womb and other displacements are the poor, who
are obliged to get up on the ninth day and remain upright, standing or
walking for many hours with an over-weighted womb. Every physician who
has practised much among the poor, has remarked upon the great frequency
of diseases of the womb, which is to be attributed to the neglect of
rest, so common among them, after childbirth. If this be true of
vigorous women accustomed to a hardy life, how much more apt to suffer
from this cause are the delicately nurtured, whose systems are already,
perhaps, deteriorated, and little able to resist any deleterious
influences!

A mother should remain in bed for at least two weeks after the birth of
the child, and should not return to her household duties under a month;
she should also take great pains to protect herself from cold, so as to
escape the rheumatic affections to which at this time she is
particularly subject. If these directions were generally observed, there
would be less employment for physicians with diseases peculiar to
women, and fewer invalids in our homes.


TO PRESERVE THE FORM AFTER CHILDBIRTH.

This is a matter of great anxiety with many women; and it is proper that
it should be, for a flabby, pendulous abdomen is not only destructive to
grace of movement and harmony of outline, but is a positive
inconvenience.

To avoid it, be careful not to leave the bed too early. If the walls of
the abdomen are much relaxed, the bed should be kept from two to three
weeks. Gentle frictions daily with spirits and water will give tone to
the muscles. But the most important point is to wear for several months
a _well-fitting_ bandage--not a towel pinned around the person, but a
body-case of strong linen, cut bias, setting snugly to the form, but not
exerting unpleasant pressure. The pattern for this has already been
given.




THE MOTHER.


_MATERNAL DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES._

It has been well said by Madame Sirey, that women who comprehend well
their rights and duties as mothers of families, certainly cannot
complain of their destiny. If there exists any inequality in the means
of pleasure accorded to the two sexes, it is in favor of the woman. The
mother who lives in her children and her grandchildren has the peculiar
privilege of not knowing the grief of becoming old.

'So low down in the scale of creation as we can go,' says Professor
Laycock of Edinburgh, 'wherever there is a discoverable distinction of
sex, we find that maternity is the first and most fundamental duty of
the female. The male never in a single instance, in any organism,
whether plant or animal, contributes nutrient material.'

Among the Romans, it was enacted that married women who had borne three
children, or if freed-women, four, had special privileges of their own
in cases of inheritance, and were exempted from tutelage. Juvenal has
recorded the reverence paid in Rome to the newly-made mother, and the
sign by which her house was designated and protected from rude
intruders, namely, by the suspension of wreaths over the door.

At various times, and in different countries, legislators have made laws
discriminating in favor of matrons, justly regarding the family as the
source of the wealth and prosperity of the State.

Louis XIV. granted, by the edict of 1666, certain pensions to parents of
ten children, with an increase for those who had twelve or more.


NURSING.

So soon as the infant is born, it ought to be placed at the breast. From
this source it should receive its _only_ nourishment during the first
four or six months, and in many cases the first year, of its life. The
child which the mother has carried for nine months and brought with
suffering into the world, still depends upon her for its existence. At
the moment of its birth her duties to the infant, instead of ceasing,
augment in importance. The obligation is imposed upon her of nourishing
it with _her own_ milk, unless there are present physical conditions
rendering nursing improper, of which we are about to speak. It is well
known that the artificial feeding of infants is a prominent cause of
mortality in early life. The foundlings of large cities furnish the most
striking and convincing proof of the great advantages of nursing over
the use of artificially-prepared food. On the continent of Europe, in
Lyons and Parthenay, where foundlings are wet-nursed from the time they
are received, the deaths are 33.7 and 35 per cent. In Paris, Rheims, and
Aix, where they are wholly dry-nursed, their deaths are 50.3, 63.9, and
80 per cent. In New York city, the foundlings, numbering several hundred
a year, were, until recently, dry-nursed, with the fearful and almost
incredible mortality of nearly one hundred per cent. The employment of
wet-nurses has produced a much more favorable result. Therefore, if for
any reason the mother cannot nurse her own child, a hired wet-nurse
should be procured. This brings us to the consideration of


HINDRANCES TO NURSING, AND WHEN IT IS IMPROPER.

Women who have never suckled often experience difficulty in nursing, on
account of the sunken and flat condition of the nipple. We have pointed
out the causes of this depression, and how by early attention before the
birth of the infant it may be prevented. If, however, these precautions
have been neglected, and it is found that the nipple is not sufficiently
prominent to be grasped by the child's mouth, it may be drawn out by a
common breast-pump, by suction with a tobacco-pipe, by the use of the
hot-water bottle in the manner described, or by the application of an
infant a little older. Neither the child nor the mother should be
constantly fretted in such cases by frequent ineffectual attempts at
nursing. Such unremitting attention and continual efforts produce
nervousness and loss of sleep, and result in a diminution of the
quantity of the milk. The child should not be put to the breast oftener
than once in an hour and a half or two hours. By the use of the
expedients mentioned, the whole difficulty will be overcome in a few
days.

_Delay in applying the child to the breast_ is a common cause of
trouble. After it has been fed for several days with the spoon or
bottle, it will often refuse to suck. When nursing is deferred, the
nipple also becomes tender. For these reasons, as well as the others
detailed in our directions for the care of the new-born infant, the
child should always, in say from two to three hours after labor, be
placed at the breast.

_Ulcerated and fissured nipples_ should be treated by the doctor in
attendance. As it is highly desirable, and nearly always possible, to
avoid them, we would again call attention to the manner of doing so,
indicated in a previous article. Fissured nipples sometimes do harm to
the infant, by causing it to swallow blood, disturbing in this way the
digestion. But all these local interferences with nursing can generally
be obviated in the course of a few weeks, and rarely entirely prevent
the exercise of this maternal pleasure and duty.

But there are certain _physical conditions which necessitate the
employment of a hired wet-nurse_, or weaning. If the mother belongs to a
consumptive family, and is herself pale, emaciated, harassed by a cough,
and exhausted by suckling, wet-nursing is eminently improper. A
temporary loss of strength under other circumstances should not induce a
mother at once to wean her child; for it is often possible, by the
judicious use of tonics, nourishing food, and stimulants, to entirely
restore the health with the child at the breast. It should always be
recollected, however, that the milk of those in decidedly infirm health
is incapable of properly nourishing the child. Professor J. Lewis Smith
of New York quotes, in his recent work on Diseases of Children, several
instructive cases which show the danger sometimes attending suckling,
and which may imperatively demand its discontinuance. 'A very
light-complexioned young mother, in very good health, and of a good
constitution, though somewhat delicate, was nursing for the third time,
and, as regarded the child, successfully. All at once this young woman
experienced a feeling of exhaustion. Her skin became constantly hot;
there were cough, oppression, night-sweats; her strength visibly
declined, and in less than a fortnight she presented the ordinary
symptoms of consumption. The nursing was immediately abandoned, and from
the moment the secretion of milk had ceased, all the troubles
disappeared.' Again: 'A woman of forty years of age having lost, one
after another, several children, all of which she had put out to nurse,
determined to nurse the last one herself. This woman being vigorous and
well built, was eager for the work, and, filled with devotion and
spirit, she gave herself up to the nursing of her child with a sort of
fury. At nine months she still nursed him from fifteen to twenty times a
day. Having become extremely emaciated, she fell all at once into a
state of weakness, from which nothing could raise her, and two days
after the poor woman died of exhaustion.'

It does not always follow, that because the mother is sick the child
should be taken from the breast. It is only necessary in those
affections in which there is great depression of the vital powers, or
in which there is danger of communicating the disease to the child. In
the city, where artificially-fed infants run great risks, extreme
caution should be exercised in early weaning.

_Inflammation of either of the breasts_ necessitates the removal of the
infant from the affected side, and its restriction to the other. As the
inflammation gets well and the milk reappears, the first of it should
always be rejected, as it is apt to be thick and stringy, after which
nursing may be resumed.


RULES FOR NURSING.

The new-born child should be nursed about every second hour during the
day, and not more than once or twice at night. Too much ardor may be
displayed by the young mother in the performance of her duties. Not
knowing the fact that an infant quite as frequently cries from being
overfed as from want of nourishment, she is apt to give it the breast at
every cry, day and night. In this manner her health is broken down, and
she is compelled perhaps to wean her child, which, with more prudence
and knowledge, she might have continued to nurse without detriment to
herself. It is particularly important that the child shall acquire the
habit of not requiring the breast more than once or twice at night.
This, with a little perseverance, can readily be accomplished, so that
the hours for rest at night, so much needed by the mother, may not be
interfered with. Indeed, if the mother does not enjoy good health, it is
better for her not to nurse at all at night, but to have the child fed
once or twice with a little cow's milk. For this purpose, take the
upper third of the milk which has stood for several hours and dilute it
with water, in the proportion of one part of milk to two of water.

In those cases in which the milk of the mother habitually disagrees with
the infant, the attention of the doctor should at once be called to the
circumstance. A microscopic examination will reveal to the intelligent
practitioner the cause of the difficulty, and suggest the remedy.

It may be well here to mention--as, judging from the practice of many
nurses and mothers, it seems to be a fact not generally known or
attended to--that human milk contains _all that is required_ for the
growth and repair of the various parts of the child's body. It should
therefore be the sole food in early infancy.


INFLUENCE OF DIET ON THE MOTHER'S MILK.

Certain articles of food render the milk acid, and thus induce colicky
pains and bowel complaints in the child. Such, therefore, as are found,
in each individual case, to produce indigestion and an acid stomach in
the mother, should be carefully avoided by her.

_Retention of the milk in the breasts_ alters its character. The longer
it is retained, the weaker and more watery it becomes. An acquaintance
with this fact is of practical importance to every mother; for it
follows from it, that the milk is richer the oftener it is removed from
the breast. Therefore, if the digestion of the child is disordered by
the milk being too rich, as sometimes happens, the remedy is to give it
the breast less frequently by which not only is less taken, but the
quality is also rendered poorer. On the contrary, in those instances in
which the child is badly nourished and the milk is insufficient in
quantity, it should be applied oftener, and the milk thus rendered
richer.

The milk which last flows is always the richest. Hence, when two
children are nursed, the first is the worse served.


INFLUENCE OF PREGNANCY ON THE MILK.

Menstruation is ordinarily absent, and pregnancy therefore impossible,
during the whole course of nursing, at least during the first nine
months. Sometimes, however, mothers become unwell at the expiration of
the sixth or seventh month; in rare instances, within the first five or
six weeks after confinement. When the monthly sickness makes its
appearance without any constitutional or local disturbance, it is not
apt to interfere with the welfare of the infant. When, on the contrary,
the discharge is profuse, and attended with much pain, it may produce
colic, vomiting, and diarrhoea in the nursling. The disturbance in the
system of the child ordinarily resulting from pregnancy in the mother is
such that, as a rule, it should be at once weaned so soon as it is
certain that pregnancy exists. The only exceptions to this rule are
those cases in the city, during the hot months, in which it is
impossible either to procure a wet-nurse or to take the child to the
country to be weaned. In cold weather an infant should certainly be
weaned, if it has attained its fifth or sixth month, and the mother has
become pregnant.


INFLUENCE OF THE MOTHER'S MIND OVER THE NURSING CHILD.

We have spoken, in treating of mothers' marks, of the influence of the
mother's mind upon her unborn offspring. The influence of the maternal
mind does not cease with the birth of the child. The mother continues
during the whole period of nursing powerfully to impress, through her
milk, the babe at her breast. It is well established, that mental
emotions are capable of changing the quantity and quality of the milk,
and of thus rendering it hurtful, and even dangerous, to the infant.

_The secretion of milk may be entirely stopped_ by the action of the
nervous system. Fear, excited on account of the child which is sick or
exposed to accident, will check the flow of milk, which will not return
until the little one is restored in safety to the mother's arms.
Apprehension felt in regard to a drunken husband, has been known to
arrest the supply of this fluid. On the other hand, the secretion is
often augmented, as every mother knows, by the _sight_ of the child,
nay, even by the _thought_ of him, causing a sudden rush of blood to the
breast known to nurses as the _draught_. Indeed a strong desire to
furnish milk, together with the application of the child to the breast,
has been effectual in bringing about its secretion in young girls, old
women, and even men.

Sir Astley Cooper states that 'those passions which are generally
sources of pleasure, and which when moderately indulged are conducive to
health, will, when carried to excess, alter, and even entirely check the
secretion of milk.'

But the fact which it is most important to know is, that _nervous
agitation may so alter the quality of the milk as to make it poisonous_.
A fretful temper, fits of anger, grief, anxiety of mind, fear, and
sudden terror, not only lessen the quantity of the milk, but render it
thin and unhealthful, inducing disturbances of the child's bowels,
diarrhoea, griping, and fever. Intense mental emotion may even so alter
the milk as to cause the death of the child. A physician states, in the
_Lancet_, that, having removed a small tumour from behind the ear of a
mother, all went on well until she fell into a violent passion. The
child being suckled soon afterwards, it died in convulsions. Professor
Carpenter records in his Physiology two other fatal instances: in one,
the infant put to the breast immediately after the receipt of
distressing news by the mother, died in her arms in the presence of the
messenger of the ill-tidings; in the other, the infant was seized with
convulsions on the right side and paralysis on the left, on sucking
directly after the mother had met with an agitating occurrence. Another
case of similar character may be mentioned. A woman while nursing became
violently excited on account of a loss she had just met with from a
theft. She gave her child the breast while in an intense passion. The
child first refused, but ultimately took it, when severe vomiting
occurred. In the course of some hours the child took the other breast,
was attacked at once with violent convulsions, and died in spite of all
that could be done for it.

The following cases are related by Professor Carpenter as occurring
within his own knowledge. They are valuable as a warning to nursing
mothers to avoid all exciting or depressing passions. A mother of
several healthy children, of whom the youngest was a vigorous infant a
few months old, heard of the death from convulsions of the infant child
of an intimate friend at a distance, whose family had increased in the
same manner as her own. The unfortunate circumstance made a strong
impression on her mind, and being alone with her babe, separated from
the rest of her family, she dwelt upon it more than she otherwise would
have done. With her mind thus occupied, one morning, shortly after
nursing her infant, she laid it in its cradle, asleep and apparently in
perfect health. Her attention was soon attracted to it by a noise. On
going to the cradle she found it in a convulsion, which lasted only a
few moments, and left it dead. In the other case, the mother had lost
several children in early infancy, from fits. One infant alone survived
the usually fatal period. While nursing him, one morning she dwelt
strongly upon the fear of losing him also, although he appeared to be a
very healthy child. The infant was transferred to the arms of the nurse.
While the nurse was endeavouring to cheer the mother by calling her
attention to the thriving appearance of her child, he was seized with a
convulsion, and died almost instantly in her arms. Under similar
circumstances, a child should not be nursed by its mother, but by one
who has reared healthy children of her own and has a tranquil mind.

An interesting illustration of the powerful sedative action of the
mother's milk--changed in consequence of great mental distress--upon the
impressible nervous system of the infant, is furnished by a German
physician. 'A carpenter fell into a quarrel with a soldier billeted in
his house, and was set upon by the latter with his drawn sword. The wife
of the carpenter at first trembled from fear and terror, and then
suddenly threw herself furiously between the combatants, wrested the
sword from the soldier's hand, broke it in pieces, and threw it away.
During the tumult, some neighbors came in and separated the men. While
in this state of strong excitement, the mother took up her child from
the cradle, where it lay playing and in the most perfect health, never
having had a moment's illness. She gave it the breast, and in so doing
sealed its fate. In a few minutes the infant left off sucking, became
restless, panted, and sank dead upon its mother's bosom. The physician,
who was instantly called in, found the child lying in the cradle as if
asleep, and with its features undisturbed; but all his resources were
fruitless. It was irrevocably gone.'

Professor William A. Hammond of New York mentions, in a recent number of
the _Journal of Psychological Medicine_, several instances, from his own
practice, of affections in the child caused by the mother's milk. 'A
soldier's wife, whilst nursing her child, was very much terrified by a
sudden thunderstorm, during which the house where she was then quartered
was struck by lightning. The infant, which had always been in excellent
health, was immediately attacked with vomiting and convulsions, from
which it recovered with difficulty.' 'A lady, three weeks after
delivery, was attacked with puerperal insanity. She nursed her child but
once after the accession of the disease, and in two hours subsequently
it was affected with general convulsions, from which it died during the
night. Previous to this event it had been in robust health.'

Again, Dr. Seguin of New York relates, in his work on Idiocy, a number
of cases of _loss of mind_ produced by the altered state of the mother's
milk. 'Mrs. B. came out from a ball-room, gave the breast to her baby,
three months old: he was taken with spasms two hours after, and since is
a confirmed idiot and epileptic.'

'In a moment of great anxiety Mrs. C. jumped into a carriage with her
suckling, a girl of fifteen months, so far very intelligent and
attractive. The child took the breast only once in a journey of twenty
miles, but before arriving at destination she vomited several times,
with no interruption but that of stupor, and after an acute fever the
little girl settled down into the condition of a cripple and idiot.'

The celebrated physician Boerhaave mentions the milk of an angry nurse
as among the causes of _epilepsy._

These facts show the importance of a placid mind and cheerful temper in
the mother while nursing.


POSITION OF THE MOTHER WHILE NURSING.

The habit of nursing a child while sitting up in bed or half reclining
upon a lounge is a wrong one. Such a position is injurious to the
breasts, hurtful to the woman's figure, and apt to cause backache. When
in bed, the mother ought always to be recumbent while the child is at
the breast, held upon the arm of the side upon which she lies. When out
of bed, she should sit upright while nursing.


QUANTITY OF MILK REQUIRED BY THE INFANT.

The amount of milk furnished every day by a healthy woman has been
estimated at from a quart to three pints. An infant one or two months of
age takes about two wine-glassfuls, or three ounces, every meal; that
is, as it sucks every two hours, excepting when asleep, about five
half-pints during the twenty-four hours. When it attains the age of
three months, it thrives well on five meals a day, the quantity taken at
each meal then, the stomach being more capacious, amounting to about
half a pint. A child above three months of age ordinarily requires three
pints daily.

A healthy mother is fully capable of furnishing this quantity of milk
per day, and of affording the child all the nourishment it needs until
four or six months after birth.

The quantity of the mother's milk varies according to many
circumstances. It is most abundant and also most nutritious in nursing
women between the ages of fifteen and thirty; least so, in those from
thirty-five to forty. There is likewise a great difference in different
women in this respect; and in the same woman varying conditions of
health influence the amount of milk secreted.


THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD NURSING MOTHER

are well described by Professor J. Lewis Smith. 'The best wet-nurses are
usually robust, without being corpulent. Their appetite is good, and
their breasts are distended, from the number and large size of the
blood-vessels and milk-ducts. There is but a moderate amount of fat
around the gland, and tortuous veins are observed passing over it. Such
nurses do not experience a feeling of exhaustion, and do not suffer from
lactation. The nutriment which they consume is equally expended on their
own sustenance and the supply of milk. There are other good wet-nurses
who have the physical condition described, but whose breasts are small.
Still the infant continues to suck till it is satisfied, and it thrives.
The milk is of good quality, and it appears to be secreted mainly during
the time of suckling. Other mothers evidently decline in health during
the time of nursing. They furnish milk of good quality and in abundance,
and their infants thrive; but it is at their own expense. They
themselves say, and with truth, that what they eat goes to milk. They
become thinner and paler, are perhaps troubled with palpitation, and are
easily exhausted. They often find it necessary to wean before the end of
the usual period of lactation. There is another class whose health is
habitually poor, but who furnish the usual quantity of milk without the
exhaustion experienced by the class just described. The milk of these
women is of poor quality. It is abundant, but watery. Their infants are
pallid having soft and flabby fibre.'


OVER-ABUNDANCE OF MILK.

An excessive amount of milk often distends the breasts of those women
who are prone to have long and profuse monthly sickness. It is also apt
to occur in those subject to bleeding piles. It may be produced by any
excitement of the womb or ovaries, and by over-nursing. In these cases
there is usually a constant oozing away and consequent loss of milk. The
mother is troubled by this over-flow, because it keeps her clothing wet;
and the child suffers because of the unnutritious, watery character of
the milk under such circumstances.

This over-abundant supply may be moderated and the quality improved by
diminishing the quantity of drink, and by the use of preparations of
iron. Fifteen drops of the muriatic tincture of iron, taken three times
a day in a little sweetened water, through a glass tube, will be useful.
It will lessen the amount of the milk, and make it richer. So soon as
these objects are accomplished, the medicine should be discontinued; as,
if taken too long, it may so much diminish the milk as to necessitate
weaning. The application of a cloth, wrung out in cold water, around the
nipples is also of value. It is to be removed so soon as it becomes
warm, and reapplied. In those cases in which the trouble seems to be not
so much an over-supply as an inability to retain the milk, the
administration of tonics addressed to the nervous system, and the local
use of astringents and of collodion around the nipples, will overcome
the difficulty; but these remedies can only be employed successfully by
the physician. And to him alone should be entrusted the use of those
medicines which directly diminish the amount of milk secreted within the
breasts. The expedients we have mentioned are the only ones which can be
safely employed by the mother herself in this annoying affection.


SCANTINESS OF MILK.

Some mothers have habitually an insufficiency of milk. They are most
numerous in large cities, and among working women whose daily
occupations require a separation from the infant. Indigestion, and the
want of a proper amount of nourishing food, cause a diminution in the
quantity of milk. So also do over-feeding and gormandizing. Age lessens
the secretion of milk, as has been already mentioned. Those who first
bear children late in life, have less milk for them than they who begin
earlier. In some cases want of milk in the breasts seems to be due to
its reabsorption. In such instances it may make its appearance at
distant parts. Thus, a case has been recorded of the coughing up of milk
following sudden arrest of the secretion, and others in which it
presented itself as an exudation in the groins.

In the treatment of a scanty formation of milk, one of the best measures
which can be resorted to is the frequent application of the child to the
breast. In addition, the flow may be increased by milking the breasts by
means of the thumb and finger, suction through a tobacco-pipe, or the
breast-pump, or by the use of another infant. Friction of the breasts,
and forcible drawing upon the nipples, will make them sore, and so
irritate them as to defeat the object in view. A change of scene, fresh
air, and outdoor exercise, attention to personal cleanliness, and the
improvement of the general health, all increase the quantity, and
produce a favourable effect upon the quality, of the milk. A sojourn at
the sea-side often promotes an abundant secretion of milk. The diet
should be regulated by the condition of the constitution. By those who
are weak and pale, a large proportion of meat is required. On the
contrary, those who are full-blooded and corpulent should restrict the
amount of their animal food, and take more exercise in the open air.
Oatmeal gruel enjoys a reputation for increasing the flow of milk. A
basin of it sometimes produces an immediate effect. The same is true of
cow's milk. Porter or ale once or twice a day, in those with reduced
systems and impaired digestion and appetite, will be found useful.
Anise, fennel, and caraway-seeds, given in soup, act sometimes as
stimulants upon the secretion of milk. The application of a poultice
made from the pulverized leaves of the castor-oil plant is a most
efficient remedy when milk fails to make its appearance in the breast in
sufficient quantity after confinement.


WET-NURSING BY VIRGINS, AGED WOMEN, AND MEN.

As a rule, the secretion of milk is limited to one sex, and in that is
confined to a short period after childbirth. But there are many cases on
record of the flowing of milk in women not recently mothers, in girls
before the age of puberty, in aged women, and even in individuals of the
male sex. In such instances, the secretion is induced by the combined
influence, acting through the nervous system, of a strong desire for its
occurrence, of a fixed attention towards the mammary glands, and of
suction from the nipples.

Travellers among savage nations report many examples of such unnatural
nursing. Dr. Livingstone says he has frequently seen in Africa a
grandchild suckled by a grandmother. Dr. Wm. A. Gillespie, of Virginia
records, in the _Boston Medical and Surgical Journal_, the case of a
widow, aged about sixty, whose daughter having died, leaving a child two
months old, took the child and tried to raise it by feeding. The child's
bowels became deranged, and being unable to procure a nurse, and her
breasts being large and full, he advised her to apply the child, in hopes
milk would come. She followed his advice perseveringly, and, to her
astonishment, a plentiful secretion of milk was the result, with which
she nourished the child, which afterwards became strong and healthy. A
similar instance, still more remarkable, is recorded of a woman at
seventy years, who twenty years wet-nursed a grandchild after her last
confinement.

Cases of nursing in the opposite extreme of life are also well
authenticated. The distinguished French physician Baudelocque has
related that of a deaf and dumb girl, eight years old, who, by the
repeated application to her breast of a young infant, which her mother
was suckling, had sufficient milk to nourish the child for a month,
while the mother was unable to nurse it on account of sore nipples. The
little girl was shown to the Royal Academy of Surgery on the 16th of
February, 1783. The quantity of milk was such, that by simply pressing
the breast it was made to flow out in the presence of the Academy, and
on the same day, at the house of Baudelocque, before a large class of
pupils. Again, an interesting case is known of a young woman, who, in
consequence of the habit of applying the infant of her mistress to her
breast in order to quiet it, caused a free secretion of milk. In the
Cape de Verde Islands, it is stated that virgins, old women, and even
men, are frequently employed as wet-nurses. Humboldt speaks of a man,
thirty-two years old, who gave the breast to his child for five months.
Captain Franklin saw a similar case in the Arctic regions. Professor
Hall presented to his class in Baltimore a negro, fifty-five years old,
who had been the wet-nurse of all the children of his mistress.

Instances of powers of _prolonged nursing_ in mothers are not uncommon.
Indeed it is the habit among some nations to suckle children until they
are three or four years of age, even though another pregnancy may
intervene, so that immediately one child is succeeded at the breast by
another. In those who have thus unnaturally excited the mammary glands,
an irrepressible flow sometimes continues after the demand for it has
ceased. Dr. Green published, some years ago, in the _New York Journal of
Medicine and Surgery_, the case of a woman, aged forty-seven, the
mother of five children, who had had an abundant supply of milk for
_twenty-seven years_ consecutively. A period of exactly four years and a
half occurred between each birth, and the children were permitted to
take the breast until they were running about at play. At the time when
Dr. G. wrote, she had been nine years a widow, and was obliged to have
her breasts drawn daily, the secretion of milk being so copious. When,
therefore, it is desirable, on account of the feebleness of the child,
to protract the period of nursing, a wet-nurse should relieve the mother
at the end of twelve or fifteen months.


RULES FOR CARE OF HEALTH WHILE NURSING.

From what we have previously said of the influence of the nervous system
over the quantity and quality of the milk, and the instances we have
adduced of the danger to the infant of all violent passions--such as
anger, terror, anxiety, and grief--on the part of the mother, it will be
apparent that it is of the greatest moment, during the whole course of
nursing, to maintain a tranquil state of mind. Pleasing and peaceful
emotions favor the normal secretion of milk, and go far towards securing
the health of the child. When strongly affected by any powerful
feelings, mothers should not give the breast, but should wait until they
have calmed down to their usual tenor of temper. A case is related of a
woman who was always excited by a highly electrical state of the
atmosphere, and particularly during stormy weather. If when thus
influenced she nursed her child he was sure to fall into convulsions;
while, if she delayed doing so until this nervous excitement had passed,
no unpleasant symptoms occurred. But we have already dwelt at length
upon this subject in speaking of the influence of the mind of the mother
over the child at her breast, and need not therefore recur to it. The
_food_ while nursing must be nutritious and varied, though simple and
unstimulating; and should consist both of meat and vegetables, soups,
fish, flesh, and fowl, either in combination or succession. When the
digestion requires stimulation and aid, a glass of mild ale twice a day
will be useful. Wines, brandy, and whisky should not be taken without
the advice of a physician. Moderate exercise in the open air and regular
habits are necessary. A defective or excessive diet, fatigue, loss of
rest at night, and irregularities and excesses of all kinds are
unfavorable to mother and child. The proper methods of combating a
tendency to over-abundance or to scantiness of milk have been alluded
to. Medicines, unless prescribed by the medical attendant, should rarely
or never be taken during this period, as many of them enter the milk and
may thus affect the child.


RELATIONS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE DURING NURSING.

After a natural and healthful confinement, the nurse usually remains
with the mother for a period of four weeks. During the whole of this
time the husband should occupy a separate apartment, and, according to
some physicians, this separation should be protracted during the entire
period of nursing. But this is unusual, and in most cases unnecessary.
Only those women who are warned by the recurrence of their monthly
illness that they are liable to another pregnancy immediately, should
insist on such an ascetic rule as this.

Unquestionably the quality of the milk is much deteriorated by a
conception; and therefore, both in the interest of the mother and child,
the husband should renounce his usual privileges at such times.

Most women do not have their periodical illness, and consequently are
not liable to a second pregnancy, before seven months have elapsed after
childbirth. There are, however, numerous exceptions to this rule, and it
is impossible to foretell who will and who will not be the exception.

Moreover, as any excitement of the passions alters to some extent the
secretion of the breasts, often to the injury of the child, it is every
way advisable that great temperance be exercised in all cases in the
marital relations at these epochs.


SIGNS OF OVER-NURSING.

The symptoms of over-nursing may be enumerated as follows:--Aching pain
in the back; often, pain across the shoulders, and on the top of the
head or forehead; marked paleness of the face; inability to sleep;
frightful dreams when sleep does come; great debility; extreme
depression of the spirits; disorders of the sight, and mental
disturbances, which take on the form of melancholia, the delusions
relating mostly to subjects of a religious character, to the effect that
the unpardonable sin has been committed, and the like. The headache is
situated on the top of the head, and this spot may be noticed to be
perceptibly hotter to the touch than other parts of the head. These
symptoms indicate that the process of nursing is making too great a
drain upon the system.

A woman in ordinary health will generally be able to suckle her child
for twelve months without experiencing any bad effects. When the child
is kept at the breast much beyond this time, most mothers render
themselves liable to the injurious consequences we have mentioned. Some,
indeed, cannot furnish the child all the nourishment it needs longer
than three or four months, without detriment to themselves. In such
cases, by feeding the child two or three times a day, the mother may be
relieved of the burden of its entire support, and may thus be enabled to
continue nursing. The proper food for infants, under these
circumstances, will be shortly mentioned. The prostrating effects of
nursing upon the body and mind of the mother are in some, though
comparatively rare, instances so marked, as to render it altogether
improper from the commencement.

The treatment of the condition of system described as resulting from
over-nursing is, if it cannot be remedied by partially feeding the
infant and the use of tonics, to remove the child from the breast
altogether, and either procure a wet-nurse for it, or wean it. The
wet-nurse is greatly to be preferred; and the preference is the
stronger, the younger the child. We have already alluded to the great
difficulty of rearing children from birth by the hand. But after the
infant has attained the age of several months, the danger of artificial
feeding is much lessened, provided that the weaning does not take place
during hot weather. This brings us to the consideration of the regimen
of the mother who cannot nurse her own child, of the rules for the
selection of a wet-nurse, of the directions for bringing up by hand, and
of the proper method of weaning. These subjects we will now take up in
the order mentioned.


DIRECTIONS FOR MOTHERS WHO CANNOT NURSE THEIR OWN CHILDREN.

There are many reasons why a mother should, if possible, nurse her own
child. 'One of the principal is,' says the distinguished Dr. Tilt, 'that
as nursing, generally speaking, prevents conception up to the tenth
month, so it prevents the ruin of the mother's constitution by the too
rapid bringing forth of children, and, we might even add, prevents a
deterioration of the race, by the imperfect bringing up of this
too-fast-got family.'

The same author appropriately adds: 'But while advocating maternal
nursing, we must not forget that woman is not now the Eve of a primeval
world; that human nature, wherever it is now met, in barbarous tribes or
in civilised communities, is frequently so deteriorated, so diseased or
prone to disease, that, by nursing, a mother may sometimes undermine her
own frail constitution for the sake of giving an imperfect sustenance,
and perhaps a poisonous heritage, to her babe.'

Some mothers, however anxiously they may wish to do so, cannot nurse
their children. They are shut out from this charming and tender
experience in the life of a woman. The milk that comes is not
sufficient, and quickly disappears. Because of the influence of the mind
of the mother over the child at her breast, to which we have before
called attention, women who are very hysterical and nervous, subject to
violent perturbations of the mind, should not, particularly if there be
any family tendency to insanity, expose the child to the mischievous
effects latent in their milk. So, also, the presence of certain diseases
forbids wet-nursing. Thus it is ordinarily prohibited by consumption,
scrofula, skin affections of long standing, and cancer. In consumption,
all efforts to suckle are frequently equally fatal to the mother and
child. Even a strong hereditary predisposition to this disease may
render it advisable, in the opinion of the family physician,--who should
always be consulted in such a case,--to counteract the family taint by
giving the milk of the healthiest nurse that can be procured. The
condition of the nipples and of the breast may not permit of nursing. We
have pointed out how best to guard against such an occurrence, in
treating of the care of the nipples during pregnancy.

She who is to be debarred from nursing her own child should take care
that it is not allowed to approach her breasts, as sometimes the mental
and physical excitement caused by such an approach is of an injurious
and lasting character.

Ordinarily, if this direction be followed out, the mother will have
little trouble in regard to herself. Under such circumstances, the
chief danger is to the child. Hence the importance of knowing


HOW TO SELECT A WET-NURSE.

The choosing of a wet-nurse is a matter of great moment and
responsibility. She should not be over thirty years of age, and should,
if possible, be one who has previously suckled and had charge of
children. Her own infant should be under the age of six months, for when
above that age the milk sometimes disagrees with her new-born charge.
One who has had several children should be preferred, because her milk
is richer than after the first confinement.

The doctor should always examine carefully into the condition of the
nurse's health, and into the quality and quantity of her milk. Various
diseases and taints of the system are so hidden, while yet communicable
to the child, that the knowledge and skill of a professional expert are
required for their detection, and the protection of the nursling. In
testing the quality of the milk, the experienced physician allows a
little to rest on his finger nail, and by its examination readily
decides as to its richness and fitness to nourish the little applicant
for food. It is not necessary that the breasts should be large, as those
of moderate size often furnish a sufficient amount of milk. But it is
important that the nipples should be well developed. Those wet-nurses
should be preferred in whom large blood-vessels are seen prominently
passing in blue lines over the surface of the breasts. The possession of
a vigorous, healthful infant is a good recommendation for a nurse, but
care should be taken to ascertain that it is her _own_, as nurses have
been known to borrow for such an occasion and so obtain credit not
justly their due.

The moral and mental as well as physical characteristics should be
considered. Temperance and cleanliness are indispensable in a wet-nurse,
and the want of either should be an imperative reason for rejection.
Equanimity of temper, cheerfulness, and an open, frank, affectionate
disposition, are of course greatly to be desired.

If the nurse becomes 'unwell,' shall the child be taken from her? Should
the monthly sickness reappear early, and both nurse and child be in good
health, suckling may be continued. But when the return happens about the
ninth or tenth month, the child should be weaned or the nurse changed.
There is no physiological reason for preventing the nurse from living
matrimonially; but if pregnancy occurs, the child should be taken from
her.

The same rules that we have laid down for the mother for the care of her
health while nursing, are of course applicable to the hired wet-nurse,
and should be insisted upon and enforced.

_Changing a nurse._--When it becomes necessary to change a nurse, for
any of the reasons above mentioned, it may be done without injury to the
child. For fear of the effect of the unwelcome tidings upon the mind of
the nurse, and the possible influence upon the milk, she should not be
informed of the projected change until a successor has been secured to
take her place at once. In choosing the second nurse, the same
precautions should be had as in the selection of the first.




THE CHILD.


_THE CARE OF INFANCY._

By infancy we mean that portion of the life of the child between birth
and the completion of the teething--about two and a half years. The care
of this period of human life is entrusted to the mother. It forms an
important era in the physical life of woman. Its discussion is therefore
germane to our subject. In order that the young mother may fully
appreciate the responsibilities of her position, she should know
something of the liability of infants to sickness and death.

Out of one thousand children born, one hundred and fifty die within the
first year, and one hundred and thirteen during the next four years.
Thus two hundred and sixty-three, or _more than one-fourth, die within
five years after birth_. Between the ages of five and ten, thirty-five
die. During the next five years eighteen more are recorded on the
death-list. Hence, at fifteen years of age only six hundred and
eighty-five remain out of the one thousand born. When these figures are
considered, and the additional fact that out of those who survive very
many bear permanent marks of imperfect nourishment or of actual disease,
the consequence of maladies contracted in early life, the importance of
our present inquiry--the care of infancy--will be apparent to all
mothers.

The younger the infant, the greater the danger of death. _One-tenth of
all children born die within the first month after birth_, and four
times as many as during the second month.

The mortality is much larger in cities than in the country. In Dublin,
during 1867, very nearly one-third of all the persons who died were
under five years of age. In the same year forty-three per cent. of those
who died in the eight principal towns of Scotland were children below
the age of five. In Philadelphia, during the same year, forty-five per
cent. of all the deaths were of children under five years of age. In New
York fifty-three per cent. of the total number of deaths occur under the
age of five years, and twenty-six per cent. under the age of one year.

The danger of death lessens as the period of puberty approaches. Yet,
even in the last years of childhood there is a greater liability to
disease and a larger proportionate loss of life than during youth or
middle age.


CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY.

What are the causes of this startling mortality of infant life? Why does
one child out of ten die in the first month, and only three out of four
live to be five years old? And what are the means of prevention?

Some of the causes which are active in producing this mortality among
the little ones cannot be successfully opposed after birth. Such, for
instance, are imperfect and vicious developments of internal organs
existing when born. These malformations often result from inflammation
while in the womb, excited by some taint of the mother's blood, or by
some agitation of her nervous system. Means of prevention in those cases
are therefore to be directed to the mother, in the manner indicated in
treating of pregnancy. But other causes of death begin to act only after
birth, and are to a greater or less extent avoidable. These are largely
traceable to ignorance, negligence, and vice.

One cause of death to which infants are peculiarly liable, and which
alone is said to have destroyed forty thousand children in England
between the years 1686 and 1799, is being _overlain_ by the parents. For
this reason, some physicians caution the mother against having the
infant in bed with her while she sleeps.

The frightful waste of life caused by bringing children up by hand has
been mentioned, and the importance of avoiding it when possible.

The natural feebleness of the system of infants is the reason why they
succumb so easily to any malady. Deaths from any given disease are more
numerous among infants than children, and among children than adults.
Hence the importance of timely corrective measures in infantile
affections; hence, also, the need that mothers should know and practise
the means best adapted to preserve the health of their frail charges.

These means we shall proceed to give in detail, commencing with
directions for


BRINGING UP BY HAND.

We have already alluded to the great danger to the child, particularly
in a city, that is artificially fed from birth. But as there are many
mothers who are unable, on account of the expense, to have a wet-nurse
for the child they cannot suckle themselves, we will give such
directions in regard to the diet as are best calculated to lessen the
risk invariably incurred under such circumstances.

The child's food should be of the best quality, and prepared with the
most scrupulous attention to cleanliness. The milk of the cow is
preferable to that of the ass or of the goat, the former of which it is
difficult to procure, and the latter having a disagreeable odour. For a
child under three months of age, cow's milk should be used as the only
food. It should be fresh, and if possible from one cow. When of the
ordinary richness, it is to be diluted with an equal quantity of water
or thin barley-water. If, however, the first milking can be obtained,
which is more watery, and bears a closer resemblance in its chemical
composition to human milk, but little dilution will be required. If
green and acrid stools make their appearance, accompanied by emaciation
and vomiting, the milk must be more diluted, and given less frequently.
If the symptoms of indigestion do not yield, milk containing an excess
of cream should be used. To procure it, allow fresh milk to stand for
two or three hours, and remove the upper third, to which add two or
three parts of warm water or barley-water, after having dissolved in it
a little sugar of milk. Should this food also disagree, any of the
preparations we are about to mention may be prepared and tried.

Professor Falkland recommends the following method of preparing milk for
infants, as affording a product more nearly like the natural
secretion:--'One third of a pint of pure milk is allowed to stand until
the cream has risen. The latter is removed, and to the blue milk thus
obtained about a square inch of rennet is to be added, and the
milk-vessel placed in warm water. In about five minutes the curd will
have separated, and the rennet, which may again be repeatedly used,
being removed, the whey is carefully poured off, and immediately heated
to boiling, to prevent it becoming sour. A further quantity of curd
separates, and must be removed by straining through calico. In
one-quarter of a pint of this hot whey three-eighths of an ounce of milk
sugar are to be dissolved; and this solution, along with the cream
removed from the one-third of a pint of milk, must be added to half a
pint of new milk. This will constitute the food for an infant from five
to eight months old for twelve hours; or, more correctly speaking, it
will be one-half of the quantity required for twenty-four hours. It is
absolutely necessary that a fresh quantity should be prepared every
twelve hours; and it is scarcely necessary to add, that the strictest
cleanliness in all the vessels used is indispensable.'

Dr. J. Forsyth Meigs directs the following article of diet as one which
he has found to agree better with the digestive system of the infant
than any other kind of food:--'A scruple of gelatine (or a piece two
inches square of the flat cake in which it is sold) is soaked for a
short time in cold water, and then boiled in half a pint of water, until
it dissolves--about ten or fifteen minutes. To this is added, with
constant stirring, and just at the termination of the boiling, the milk
and arrowroot, the latter being previously mixed into a paste with a
little cold water. After the addition of the milk and arrowroot, and
just before the removal from the fire, the cream is poured in, and a
moderate quantity of loaf sugar added. The proportions of milk, cream,
and arrowroot must depend on the age and digestive powers of the child.
For a healthy infant, within the month, I usually direct from three to
four ounces of milk, half an ounce to an ounce of cream, and a
tea-spoonful of arrowroot to half a pint of water. For older children,
the quantity of milk and cream should be gradually increased to a half
or two-thirds milk, and from one to two ounces of cream. I seldom
increase the quantity of gelatine or arrowroot.'

The egg is a valuable article of food for infants and young children,
especially in conditions of debility. It should be given nearly raw, and
is best prepared by placing it in boiling water for two minutes. It is
then easily digested.

Beef-tea, prepared in the manner described on page 234, is highly
nutritious and useful as a food for infants: if it produce a laxative
effect, it should be discontinued. When the child shows signs of
weakness or of a scrofulous condition its nutrition will be improved by
mingling with its food a small piece of butter or mutton suet.

During the first four or five months the food should be thin, and taken
through a teat, thus preventing the stuffing of the infant.

On attaining the age of twelve or fifteen months, infants are usually
able to digest ordinary wholesome solid food, neatly and well cooked,
when mashed or cut into fine pieces.

An article of food employed for the diarrhoea of infants is prepared as
follows:--'A pound of dry wheat flour of the best quality is packed
snugly in a bag and boiled three or four hours. When it is taken from
the bag it is hard, resembling a piece of chalk, with the exception of
the exterior, which is wet, and should be removed. The flour grated from
the mass should be used the same as arrowroot or rice.'

Infants nourished by prepared food thrive well enough during cool
weather, but during the warm months of the year they are exceedingly
liable to bowel complaint, of which large numbers of the spoon-fed
infants of cities die each summer season. Hence the importance of taking
them into the country; and keeping them there until the return of cool
weather lessens the danger of city life.


WEANING.

This should take place when the child is about twelve months of
age--sometimes a few months earlier, often a few later. If the mother's
health be good, and her milk abundant, it may be deferred until the
canine teeth appear--between the fifteenth and twentieth month. The
child will then have sixteen teeth with which it can properly masticate
soft solid food.

_Time of the year for._--The infant should not be taken from the breast
during or immediately preceding warm weather. If the mother, either on
account of sickness or failure in her breast-milk, is obliged during the
summer to give up nursing, she should at once procure a wet-nurse. If
she cannot, the child must be sent into the country. To wean an infant
in the city in hot weather, is to expose it to almost certain death.

_Proper method._--The process of weaning should be a very slow one. No
definite day should be fixed for it. Little by little, from week to
week, the amount of spoon-food is to be increased and the nursing
lessened--being first given up at night. The breast should never be
suddenly denied to a child unaccustomed to artificial food, but be
displaced by degrees, by the bottle and the spoon. This gradual change
will neither fret the child nor annoy the mother, as sudden weaning
always does.

The infant may begin to be accustomed to artificial food at the age of
four months. At first, only diluted cow's milk should be given it
occasionally between the times of nursing. In a tumbler one-third full
of water dissolve a tea-spoonful of sugar of milk; add to the sweetened
water an equal quantity of fresh cow's milk; then, if the child's stools
are at all green, mix with this two tea-spoonfuls of lime water. Instead
of pure water, barley-water made in the usual way, and boiled to the
consistency of milk, may be employed in this preparation--being added,
while still warm, to an equal amount of milk. Or, toast-water may be
substituted as a diluter of the milk. Cow's milk should not be boiled,
if it can be preserved in any other way. As the infant advances in
months, some solid food may be allowed. After six months, pap, made with
stale bread and tops and bottoms, is proper once or twice a day.
Beef-tea, made according to the recipe we have given, and chicken, lamb,
or mutton broth, may now also be occasionally taken. As the quantity of
milk diminishes towards the close of the first year, the spoon-food
should be resorted to more frequently to supply the want. Solid food
ought not to be given before the child is a year old.

The breasts usually cause little trouble when the weaning is performed
in the gradual manner which has been recommended. The mother should
during this time drink as little as possible, refrain from stimulating
food, and take occasionally a little cream of tartar, citrate of
magnesia, or a seidlitz powder. If the breasts continue to fill with
milk, _they should not be drawn_. The 'drying up of the milk' may be
facilitated by gently rubbing the breasts several times a day with
camphorated oil, made by dissolving over the fire, in a saucer of sweet
oil, as much camphor as it will take up. Tea made from the marshmallow
has also been recommended for this purpose.


TEETHING.

The period at which the teeth first make their appearance is not a fixed
one. It varies considerably even within the limits of perfect health.
It may be said, as a rule, that the babe begins to cut its teeth at the
age of six or seven months. Quite frequently, however, the first teeth
appear as early as the fourth month, or are delayed until the eighth. In
some instances children come into the world with their teeth already
cut. This is said to have been the case with Louis XIV. and with
Mirabeau. King Richard the Third is another example. Shakspeare makes
the Duke of York refer to this circumstance in these words:

    'Marry, they say my uncle grew so fast,
      That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old:
      'Twas two full years ere I could get a tooth.'

It does not follow that children whose teeth show themselves early, will
have, therefore, a quicker general development. Such cases are merely
instances of irregularity in the time of dentition, and carry with them
no particular significance. Irregularities in regard to the order in
which the teeth are cut are also of frequent occurrence.

While, therefore, it cannot be maintained that all healthy children cut
their teeth in a certain regular order and time, yet it is certain that
those children who follow the general rule which prevails in this
respect, suffer least from the difficulties and effects of dentition. As
all mothers desire to know at what time they may expect the teeth, we
will state the rule of their development in the great majority of cases.

The lower teeth generally precede those of the upper jaw by two to three
months.

The twenty milk-teeth usually appear in the five following groups:--

_First_, Between the fourth and eighth months of life the two lower
front middle teeth appear almost simultaneously; then a pause of from
three to nine weeks ensues.

_Second_, Between the eighth and tenth months of life the five upper
front teeth appear, following shortly upon each other, the two central
preceding the two on each side of them. Another pause of from six to
twelve weeks succeeds.

_Third_, Between the twelfth and sixteenth months of life six teeth
appear nearly at once. They are first the two front grinding teeth in
the upper jaw, leaving a space between them and the front teeth which
before appeared; next the two lower front teeth, situated one on each
side of the central ones, which were the first to appear; and, lastly,
the two front grinders of the lower jaw. A pause until the eighteenth
month now ensues.

_Fourth_, Between the eighteenth and twenty-fourth months of life the
canine teeth cut through (the upper ones are called eye-teeth). Again a
pause until the thirtieth month.

_Fifth_, Between the thirtieth and thirty-sixth months the second four
grinders finally make their appearance.

This concludes the first teething. The child has now twenty milk-teeth.

We have mentioned that children are sometimes born with teeth. It is
also true that sometimes they never acquire any. Instances are on record
of adults who have never cut any teeth. Dentition has been known to
take place very late in life. A case is related, on excellent authority,
of an old lady aged eighty-five, who cut several teeth after attaining
that age.


APPEARANCE OF THE PERMANENT TEETH.

Between the fifth and sixth years of life the second dentition begins.
The front grinders are the ones first cut through. Between the sixth and
tenth years all the front teeth appear, followed by the canines before
the twelfth year. At this time the second grinders show themselves; and
finally, between the sixteenth and twenty-fourth year, the wisdom-teeth
complete the dental furniture of the mouth.


VACCINATION.

This operation, to which every infant should be subjected, is one of
great practical importance. The attempt has been made of late to shake
the public faith in its efficacy, and to revive the old fabulous stories
and foolish notions as to the production of serious affections of the
blood and skin in this manner. At the same time, the increasing
frequency and virulence of small-pox are becoming only too evident. We
therefore consider it our duty, in treating of the maternal management
of infancy, to lay some stress upon the necessity for vaccination as a
preservative of life and health. If observation and experience ever
taught anything, they have taught the protective power of this operation
against the most loathsome and one of the most fatal diseases that ever
afflicted the human race. And that mother who is careless and
indifferent in this matter neglects for her children a means of
preventing disfigurement and saving life, compared with which all other
means are scarcely worthy of mention.

In order to appreciate the value of vaccination, it is only necessary to
consider what small-pox was before its discovery,--to look at that
disease through the eyes of our fathers and grandfathers. Until the
close of the last century it was the most terrible of all the ministers
of death. It filled the churchyards with corpses. When Jenner published
his great discovery, about seventy years ago, the annual death-rate from
small-pox in England was estimated at three thousand in the million of
population. In other countries of Europe the rate reached as high as
four thousand in the million. And these fatal cases must be multiplied
by five or six, to give the entire number of persons annually attacked
by the disease. It spared neither high nor low. Macaulay informs us that
Queen Mary, the wife of William III., fell a victim to it. Those in whom
the disease did not prove fatal, carried about with them the hideous
traces of its malignity; for it 'turned the babe into a changeling at
which the mother shuddered,' and made 'the eyes and cheeks of the
betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover.' Few escaped being
attacked by this fell disease. Nearly one-tenth of all the persons who
died in London during the last century died of this one cause. Children
were peculiarly its victims. In some of the great cities of England more
than one-third of all the deaths among children under ten years of age
arose from small-pox. Two-thirds of all the applicants for relief at
the Hospital for the Indigent Blind had lost their sight by small-pox.
The number of hopeless deafened ears, crippled joints, and broken-down
constitutions from the same cause cannot be accurately computed, but was
certainly very large. Vaccination is all that now stands between us and
all these horrors of the last century.

Is the strength of this barrier doubted?--Its efficacy is readily
proved. In England, during the twelve years (1854-1865) in which
vaccination has been to a certain extent compulsory, the average annual
rate of deaths by small-pox has been two hundred and two in the million
of population. Contrast this with the annual death-rate of three
thousand to the million, which was the average of thirty years previous
to the introduction of vaccination. Mr. John Simon, medical officer of
Her Majesty's Privy Council, one of the best statisticians in England,
has collected a formidable array of figures, 'to doubt which would be to
fly in the face of the multiplication-table.' From his mountain-height
of statistics Mr. Simon says: 'Wheresoever vaccination falls into
neglect, small-pox tends to become again the same frightful pestilence
it was in the days before Jenner's discovery; and wherever it is
universally and properly performed, small-pox tends to be of as little
effect as any extinct epidemic of the Middle Ages.'

Are other diseases ever produced by vaccination?--The popular belief
would answer this question in the affirmative. All affections of the
skin and swelling's of the glands noticed in children soon after
vaccination, are attributed by parents in many cases to this operation.
They forget that such diseases are met with constantly in infancy and
childhood, as often among the unvaccinated as the vaccinated.
Observation does not show that they occur with greater frequency among
the vaccinated. An English physician has been at the trouble to examine
and record a thousand cases of skin disease in children: he found no
evidence whatever that vaccination disposes the constitution to such
affections. It has been stated with apparent justness, that parental
complaints of this kind frequently arise from their unwillingness to
believe there is anything wrong in their offspring. Hence, when other
diseases follow, vaccination gets blamed for what is really and truly
due to other causes. So far from doing any harm to the system, it has
been observed in those countries where vaccination has been most
thoroughly practised, that, leaving small-pox out of the question, there
have been fewer deaths from other maladies. This is especially true of
two of the most important classes of diseases, namely, scrofulous
affections and low fever. For this reason, some medical statisticians
have attributed to vaccination an indirect protective influence against
these disorders.

At what _age_ should the child be vaccinated?--If the health permit, the
operation should always be performed in very early infancy. The chief
sufferers from small-pox are young children. One-fourth of all who die
from this fatal disease in England are children under the age of one
year. In Scotland, where until recently vaccination has been much more
neglected than in England, the proportion even amounted to nearly
one-third; and of these, one-fourth were under the age of three months.
The great risk, particularly in large towns, where small-pox is seldom
absent, of delaying vaccination is obvious. City children, if hearty,
should be vaccinated when a month or six weeks old. Rarely or never
ought it to be delayed beyond two or three months. This early period of
life is also particularly suitable to vaccination, because the
accompanying fever will then be over before the disturbing influence of
teething begins.


RE-VACCINATION.

If the first vaccination be found imperfect in character, that is, if it
has not properly 'taken,' the operation should be repeated at the
earliest opportunity. It has been recommended, in all cases, to perform
a second vaccination not later than the sixth or eighth year. If
small-pox be prevailing, it is proper to vaccinate all who have not been
vaccinated within three or four years. In any event, re-vaccination at
or after the period of puberty is of extreme importance. It will give
additional security even to those whose original vaccination was
perfect. In some cases, the susceptibility to small-pox is not wholly
exhausted by one vaccination. Inasmuch as it is desirable for every one
to escape this disease, even in its most modified form, re-vaccination
should always be performed, as it affords a very sure and trustworthy
means of such escape. After successful re-vaccination, small-pox, even
in its mildest shape, is rarely met with. In girls especially, in whom
the changes which occur at puberty are most marked, re-vaccination
should be performed about the age of fourteen.


GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

During infancy the body grows with great rapidity. About the end of the
third year one-half of the adult height of the body is attained. After
this period growth is more gradual; for in order to reach the remaining
half, about eighteen years more are required. At twenty years of age the
height is somewhat more than three and a half times that at birth, and
the weight about twenty times. Development does not go on at an equal
rate in all parts of the body. The lower limbs, small at birth, increase
proportionally more rapidly, while the head, relatively large at birth,
developes more slowly. The muscular system is gradually strengthened. At
the end of the third month the infant is able, if in good health,
readily to support its head; at the fourth month it can be held upright;
at the ninth month it crawls about the floor; by the end of the year it
is able with assistance to step; and between one and two years, at
different times, according to its vigor and activity, it acquires the
power of standing and walking alone. The periods of greatest and least
growth of the child are, on the one hand, spring and summer; on the
other, autumn and winter. It has long been known that animals grow more
rapidly in the spring than at any other season of the year. This has
been attributed to the abundance of herbage they are then able to
obtain. It has been ascertained by actual measurement, that children
grow chiefly in the spring.

At six months of age the child begins to lisp, and at twelve months it
is usually able to utter distinct and intelligible sounds of one or two
syllables. The development of the senses and of the mind proceeds
gradually. The sense of hearing is more active and further advanced than
that of sight. Sounds are appreciated sooner than light or bright
colored objects. The next sense which is developed is perhaps that of
taste; then follow smell and touch.


THE FOOD OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN.

The diet of children is frequently improper either in regard to
quantity, quality, or variety. In 1867, a committee, of which Professor
Austin Flint, Jr., was chairman, was appointed in New York city to
revise the 'Dietary Table of the Children's Nurseries on Randall's
Island.' In the report rendered, attention was forcibly called to the
fact that in childhood 'the demands of the system for nourishment are in
excess of the waste, the extra quantity being required for growth and
development. If the proper quantity and variety of food be not provided,
full development cannot take place, and the children grow up, if they
survive, into young men and women, incapable of the ordinary amount of
labor, and liable to diseases of various kinds. This is frequently
illustrated in the higher walks of life, particularly in females; for
many suffer through life from improper diet in boarding schools, due to
false and artificial notions of delicacy or refinement. After a certain
period of improper and deficient diet in children, the appetite becomes
permanently impaired, and the system is rendered incapable of
appropriating the amount of matter necessary to proper development and
growth.'

Charlotte Bronte has drawn, in _Jane Eyre_, a graphic and
physiologically true picture of the effects upon young girls of
long-continued insufficiency of food. Let mothers bear in mind that
proper food cannot be too abundantly eaten by children, and that the
greatest danger to which they are exposed arises from defective
nutrition. We would again urge the value of a large amount of _milk_ in
the dietary of young people. The disorders of the bowels, which are not
uncommon in infancy and childhood, are due to errors in diet by which
improper food is supplied, and not to an excess of simple and proper
nourishment.

We have already given some directions for the preparation of infants'
food in treating of 'bringing-up by hand.' In addition to the various
substitutes for the mother's milk there mentioned, we wish to note that
known as _Liebig's soup_. This great chemist thus describes the method
of making it:

'Half an ounce of wheat flour, half an ounce of malt meal, and seven and
a half grains of bicarbonate of potass, are weighed off. They are first
mixed by themselves, then with the addition of one ounce of water, and
lastly, of five ounces of milk. This mixture is then heated upon a slow
fire, being constantly stirred until it begins to get thick. At this
period the vessel is removed from the fire, and the mixture is stirred
for five minutes, is again heated and again removed when it gets thick,
and, lastly, it is heated till it boils. This soup is purified from bran
by passing it through a fine sieve (a piece of fine muslin), and now it
is ready for use.'

Barley-malt can be obtained at any brewery. First, it is separated from
the impurities, and then ground in an ordinary coffee-mill to a coarse
meal. Care should be taken to get the common fresh wheat-flour, _not the
finest_, because the former is richest in starch.

In practice, the troublesome weighing of the materials may be dispensed
with, as a heaped table-spoonful of wheat-flour weighs pretty nearly
half an ounce, and a like table-spoonful of malt-meal, not quite as
heaped, weighs also half an ounce. The bicarbonate of potass can be
obtained from the druggist put up in powders of seven and a half grains,
each ready for use. The amount of water and of milk prescribed can be
attained with sufficient accuracy by means of the table-spoon; two
table-spoonfuls will give the quantity of water (one ounce), and ten
table-spoonfuls the quantity of milk (five ounces). These directions
will enable any sensible mother to make the preparation without
difficulty. The soup tastes tolerably sweet, and, when diluted with
water, may be given to very young infants.

Although the method of preparing Liebig's soup is a somewhat tedious
one, yet, as it is a combination which has long been so highly
recommended by physicians of the largest experience for having visibly
saved the lives of many wasting children, it deserves a trial in all
cases in which the ordinary kinds of food disagree.

On page 276 are recorded the directions given by Dr. J. Forsyth Meigs
for an article of diet, consisting of gelatine and arrowroot, which he
prefers to all other kinds of artificial infant food. Another method of
preparing a useful arrowroot mixture is as follows:--

Place a tea-spoonful of arrowroot in a porcelain vessel, with as much
cold water as will make it into a fine dough; then add a cupful of
boiling milk or of beef-tea; stir the mixture a little, and allow it to
boil for a few minutes until the whole acquires the consistency of a
fine light jelly.

The _manner_ in which nutriment is administered to infants is not
immaterial. The custom of feeding them from a small spoon, or from a cup
with a snout, is objectionable. The use of a sucking-bottle most nearly
imitates the way in which nature designed the nursling to obtain its
nourishment. By the act of sucking, the muscles of the face are
exercised in an equal manner, and the saliva is mixed with the food to
an extent which is not possible if any other mode of feeding be resorted
to. Children drink very readily out of the perforated rubber nipples,
which are now so popular for this purpose: they are made to fit over the
mouth of the bottle, and are especially to be recommended on account of
their cleanliness. The bottle should never be refilled until both it and
the rubber cap have been thoroughly cleansed in warm water. A white
glass bottle only should be employed in order that any want of
cleanliness may readily be detected. It should be recollected that milk
very quickly sours when kept in this way in a warm room; it is therefore
better always to empty the bottle and fill it afresh each time it is
given to the child, rather than to wait until its contents are exhausted
before replenishing it.

We have hitherto been treating mainly of the diet proper for the first
year of life. In the second year children may be permitted to have soft,
finely-cut meat. Fresh ripe fruit in season ordinarily agrees
excellently well. But boiled green vegetables and husk fruits are very
apt to cause indigestion and diarrhoea. Fruit for children should be
freed from the stones and skins; which latter are indigestible, and
often do harm.

As an example of a diet suitable for a child two years of age we append
the following:--In the mornings, between six and seven o'clock in
summer, or between seven and eight in winter, milk-gruel; between nine
and ten o'clock, a piece of wheat bread with a little butter on it; at
twelve o'clock, well-prepared beef-tea, or chicken, lamb, mutton broth,
or meat with a little gravy; or in place of the meat, a meal-broth
prepared with eggs, but with very little fat; green vegetables to be
allowed very rarely, and in very small quantities. At this noon meal a
mealy well-mashed potato is unobjectionable; so also is rice pudding for
a change. In the afternoon, between three and four, bread and milk, with
the addition in summer of fresh ripe fruit; in the evening, at seven,
bread and milk.

It will be observed that this dietetic table calls for five meals a day.
Should the child eat so frequently? We answer yes. But the meals should
be at regular intervals. A child, in order to replace the waste of the
system, and to furnish over and above sufficient material to build up
the growing body, requires a much larger proportionate amount of food
than an adult. It also requires its food at shorter intervals. By
observing the hours for meals stated above, _regularity_, which is of so
much importance to the health of the digestive organs, will be secured.
If a young child be allowed only the three ordinary meals of the family,
it will crave for something between times, and too often have its
craving met with a piece of cake or other improper food. Its appetite
for dinner or supper will in this manner be destroyed, and the stomach
and the general health suffer.

After the third or fourth year children are able to eat all kinds of
vegetables. They may then very appropriately be allowed to eat at the
table with the family. It is only necessary to refuse them very salt,
sour, and highly-spiced victuals. Of all others they may partake in
moderation. Neither wine nor any malt liquor should be given them. Tea
and coffee are also, to say the least, unnecessary. They should have a
regular luncheon between the meals which are furthest apart. This must
be at a regular hour, and consist of bread and butter, with milk or
water.

Pains should be taken to see that children do not fall into the habit
of eating rapidly. Too often this pernicious habit, so destructive to
healthy digestion, is formed in early life, and becomes the source of
that dyspepsia which is the bane of so many lives. Food that is gulped
down enters the stomach unmasticated, and unmixed with the secretions of
the mouth. A dog may bolt his food without injury, but a human being
cannot.

A child should be taught to eat everything that is wholesome, and not be
permitted to become finical or fastidious in its appetite. It ought not,
however, to be forced to eat any particular article for which it is
found that there is an invincible dislike. Variety of diet is good for a
child, after the second or third year.


THE POSITION OF THE CHILD WHEN FED.

An infant, no matter how young, should not receive its meals when lying.
Its head should always be raised in the nurse's arm, if it be too young
to support it itself. The practice of _jolting_ and _dandling_ the
infant after eating is a wrong one. Rest of the body should be secured
by placing the child on a bed, or holding it on the mother's knee, for a
half hour or so. Observe the inclination which all animals show for
repose and sleep after a full repast, and respect the same inclination
in the infant.

In our remarks upon bathing we pointed out the importance of the mother
herself performing for her child this office. So again, in connection
with children's food, we must notice the necessity of the mother being
always present at their meals, in order that they may be taught to take
them quietly, with cleanliness and without hurry. Such advice is not
needed by the poor nor by women of moderate fortune, who ordinarily have
their children constantly under their eyes. But affluence brings with it
many occupations which are frequently deemed of more moment than
presiding over a child's dinner.


CONCERNING SLEEP IN EARLY LIFE.

There is a natural desire for much sleep during infancy, childhood, and
youth; and there is reason for its free indulgence. Infants pass the
greater portion of both day and night in sleep. Children up to the age
of six years require, as a rule, twelve hours of repose at night,
besides an hour or more in the middle of the day. About the sixth year
the noon nap may be discontinued, but the night sleep ought not to be
abridged before the tenth year, and then only to a moderate extent until
the age of puberty. From this time the period of slumber may be
gradually reduced to nine or ten hours. No further diminution should be
attempted until the completion of growth, when another hour or two may
be taken away, leaving about eight hours of daily sleep as the proper
amount during middle life.

It is wrong, therefore, to wake a young child in the morning. It should
be allowed to sleep as long as it will, which will be until the wants of
the system are satisfied, if it be not aroused by noise or light.

When after a few months the infant is awake a considerable portion of
the day, it should be brought into the habit of taking its second sleep
near the middle of the day, say from eleven to one o'clock, and again,
from half an hour to an hour, about three o'clock. It should not be
permitted a nap later than this in the afternoon, as it would be very
apt to cause a disturbed night. Although some physicians recommend that
the sleep during the day be discontinued after the infant has attained
the age of fifteen months, the wisdom of such advice may well be
doubted. As soon as the child begins to walk, not only are its movements
very constant and active, but its mind is busily employed and its
nervous system excited. It therefore thrives better if its day be
divided into two by sleep for an hour or two.

_Should the infant sleep alone?_--We have mentioned the danger of being
overlain to which it is exposed when in bed with its mother or nurse. On
the other hand, it must be remembered that an infant keeps warm with
difficulty even when well covered, and that contact with the mother's
body is the best way of securing its own warmth. Hence, during the first
months the child had better be allowed to sleep with its mother. How,
then, can the risk of being suffocated, which is no imaginary one, be
lessened? The following rules are those given by a physician of
reputation, to prevent an infant from being accidentally overlain.

'Let the baby while asleep have plenty of room in the bed. Do not allow
him to be too near, or, if this be unavoidable from the small size of
the bed, let his face be turned to the opposite side. Let him lie
fairly, either on his side or on his back. Be careful to ascertain that
his mouth be not covered with the bed-clothes. Do not smother his face
with clothes, as a plentiful supply of pure air is as necessary as when
he is awake. Never let him lie low in the bed. Let there be no pillow
near the one his head is resting on, lest he roll to it and bury his
head in it. Remember a young child has neither the strength nor the
sense to get out of danger; and if he unfortunately either turn on his
face or bury his head in a pillow that is near, the chances are that he
will be suffocated, more especially as these accidents usually occur at
night, when the mother or the nurse is fast asleep. Never entrust him at
night to a young, giddy, and thoughtless servant. A foolish mother
sometimes goes to sleep while allowing her child to continue sucking.
The unconscious babe, after a time, loses the nipple, and buries his
head in the bed-clothes. She awakes in the morning, finding, to her
horror, a corpse by her side! A mother ought therefore never to go to
sleep until her child has ceased sucking.'

When a couple of months have elapsed, the child, if a healthy one, may
sleep alone. What the child sleeps in is not a matter of great moment,
provided it has a sufficiency of clothing, and be not exposed to
currents of air. A large clothes-basket will serve all the purposes of a
crib. The mistake is often made of burying the child under too heavy a
mass of bed-clothes in a warm room when asleep. And this inconsistency
is committed by the very mothers who scantily clad the child during the
day in order to inure it to the cold. The great transition from its
wrappings by night to those by day is injurious to the health and
comfort of the infant.

'In arranging night coverings, the soft feather-bed is very often
estimated as nothing; or, in other words, the same provision of blankets
is considered indispensable, whether we lie upon a hard mattress or
immersed in down. The mother, looking only to the covering laid over the
child, forgets those on which it lies, although in reality the latter
may be the warmer of the two. An infant deposited in a downy bed has at
least two-thirds of its body in contact with the feathers, and may thus
be perspiring at every pore, when, from its having only a single
covering thrown over it, the mother may imagine it to be enjoying the
restorative influence of agreeable slumber. In hot weather much mischief
might be done by an oversight of this kind.'

It is of course essential to the health and comfort of the infant that
its bed and bed-clothing be kept perfectly dry and sweet. They should
frequently be taken out and exposed to the air.

A child should be accustomed early to sleep in a darkened room. Plutarch
praises the women of Sparta for, among other things, teaching their
children not to be afraid in the dark. He says they 'were so careful and
expert, that without swaddling-bands their children were all straight
and well proportioned; and they brought them up not to be afraid in the
dark or of being alone, and never indulged them in crying, fretfulness,
and ill-humour; upon which account Spartan nurses were often bought by
people of other countries.'

_Position in sleeping._--It has long been a popular opinion that the
position of our bodies at night, with reference to the cardinal points
of the compass, has some influence on the health. This belief has
recently been corroborated by some observations made by a prominent
physician, Dr. Henry Kennedy. In an essay on the 'Acute Affections of
Children,' published in the Dublin _Quarterly Journal of Medical
Science_, he states that for several years he has put in force in his
practice a plan of treatment by means of the position of the patient,
and often with very marked results. He asserts that, in order to ensure
the soundest sleep, the head should lie to the north. Strange as this
idea may at first sight appear, it has more in it than might be
supposed. There are known to be great electrical currents always
coursing in one direction around the globe. In the opinion of Dr.
Kennedy there is no doubt that our nervous systems are in some
mysterious way connected with this universal agent, as it may be called,
electricity. He relates several cases of acute diseases in children, in
which, by altering the position of the body so that the patient should
lie from north to south instead of from east to west, quiet sleep was
induced. This plan of invoking sleep is often successful; but not always
so, for all are not equally susceptible. It applies likewise to adults.
It is not so striking in its effects on the poorer as on the richer
classes of society. This is what might be expected, for it cannot be
doubted that the nervous system in the middle and upper ranks is always
in a much more sensitive state than with their poorer brethren. It is
worth noting, that even in healthy persons sleep will often be absent or
of a broken kind, from the cause of which we are now speaking. It is
very common to hear people saying they can never sleep in a strange bed.
Although many causes may conspire to this, Dr. Kennedy cannot doubt that
amongst these ought to be placed the one to which we are now drawing
attention.


THE CLOTHING OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

A fertile cause of disease and death is to be found in the negligence or
ignorance displayed in regard to the dress of children. And it is not
the poorly attired, but nearly always the fashionably robed child, which
suffers the most. To parental vanity can be traced many a catarrh on the
chest or the inflammation of the bowels which has resulted in death.
Most mothers appear to be ignorant of the fact that children are
exceedingly susceptible to the influence of cold. The returns of the
Registrar-General of England show that a very cold week always greatly
increases the mortality of the very young. While adults carefully
protect themselves against every change of the weather, and against
currents of air, children, who most need such protection, are too often
neglected.

The warmth of the infant's body is best secured by that of the nurse,
and by warm clothing. It is more effectually and healthfully provided
for in this manner than by confining the child to a warm atmosphere.
Young children should never be dressed _decollete_--in low necks and
short sleeves. That fashion is a dangerous one which leaves the neck,
shoulders, and arms uncovered. To this irrational custom may be traced a
vast amount of the suffering and many of the deaths of early life;
doubtless, also, in many cases it lays the foundation of consumption,
which manifests itself a little later. But, it is said, the child will
be 'hardened' by having its chest and limbs thus exposed. The surest and
safest way to harden the child is to so care for it that it shall pass
through its first months and years of life without any ailment. Every
mother should see to it, that her charge is so clothed that every part
of the body is effectually protected from dampness and cold. She can
then best secure for it a hardened constitution by carrying it daily
into the sunlight of the open air.

_The material_ of the clothing should be such as will unite lightness
with warmth. Flannel and calico are therefore to be preferred. At first,
as the skin of the child is very delicate, a shirt of fine linen may be
interposed between it and the flannel. But, after the first few months,
the gentle friction of fine soft flannel next the skin is desirable, as
it stimulates the circulation of the blood on the surface of the body,
and promotes health. Flannel under-clothing should be continued all the
year, during the summer months a very light texture being used. When the
dress of the child is shortened, care must be taken that the feet are
well covered with soft stockings of cotton or woollen (which in winter
should extend up above the knees), and with light leather shoes.

The _night-dress_, at least during cold weather, is best made of
flannel, thin or thick according to the climate. It has been recommended
that, after the child is somewhat advanced, the night-clothes be
constructed in the form of night-pants, so that it may not be exposed if
the bed-clothing be thrown off. Every article of dress worn during the
day ought to be removed at night.

The rule in regard to the _quantity of clothing_ is, that it should be
in sufficient amount to preserve due warmth. It must therefore be
regulated by the season of the year and the state of the weather. We
have mentioned the fatal practice of leaving bare at all seasons of the
year the upper part of the chest and arms of the little one, while the
rest of the body is warmly clad. We can scarcely speak too emphatically
nor too often of the danger to which the mother thus exposes that life,
which it is her duty to wisely and safely conduct through the period of
dependent infancy and childhood. It is of course possible for the child
to be too closely enveloped, and the skin thus rendered highly
susceptible to the impressions of cold. The prevalent error, however, at
the present time, is in the direction of too scanty clothing.

_The make of the dress_ should be loose and easy, so as to permit of the
free movement of all portions of the body; it should be cut high in the
neck, and with sleeves to the wrists; its construction should be simple,
so that it may be quickly put off and on; and the fastenings employed
should, as far as possible, be tapes, not pins. In the clothing of
children the laws of hygiene, and not the code of fashion, should direct
the shape and style.


THE BATHING OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

Many advantages attach to the daily use of the bath for infants. It
secures cleanliness, strengthens the nervous system, and preserves from
colds and coughs.

We have already endeavoured to impress upon the mind of the reader the
great susceptibility to cold which exists in early life. On this account
the water for the bath should be warm (96 deg. or 98 deg.) for the first few
weeks of infancy, especially during the winter season. Gradually the
temperature may be reduced to that of the apartment, never to actual
coldness. It is as foolish and hazardous to attempt to 'harden' infants
by plunging them into cold water, as it is by carrying them with
uncovered necks, chests, and limbs into the keen and damp air. Knowledge
of these facts would bring safety to many children who now suffer,
because of the dangerous ignorance of mothers in regard to the
susceptibility of the infant organisation.

An infant should be immersed in its tub every morning. Besides the
regular morning bath, it is often advisable to put the child for a few
minutes in tepid water in the evening. This will quiet the nervous
system, and induce sleep. The bath should not be too long a one, for
fear of exciting perspiration; nor, for the same reason, should the
water be too warm. If the child be of a delicate constitution, the
evening bath will be especially useful, and can be made more so by the
addition of two table-spoonfuls of salt to the water necessary for the
bath.

The time immediately after nursing or feeding is not proper for bathing.
An hour or two after a meal should be allowed to elapse. Neither should
a bath ever be given in a cold room. Even in a warm atmosphere, care
should be taken, both after and during the ablution, that the wet skin
of the infant be not exposed to the air. Its body should be completely
immersed; it should not be held up out of the water, nor, if it be old
enough, allowed to stand or sit in the tub. It is well also to have a
warm blanket in which to receive the child as it comes dripping from the
bath. It should be wrapped up in this for a few minutes, to absorb a
part of the moisture. Then a portion of the body should be uncovered at
a time, and dried before exposing the rest.

_Drying the skin._--For this purpose a piece of soft flannel will be
found serviceable. By gently rubbing the surface of the body with it the
skin will be warmed and stimulated, and the resulting glow will be as
agreeable to the child as is that in the adult which follows the Turkish
bath. The actual grooming of the human body is very useful to improve
the health of scrofulous children.

At first from three to five minutes will be a sufficiently long
immersion. In a little while, however, this period may be lengthened,
all the precautions mentioned against injurious exposure being observed.

The lukewarm daily bath, taken either in the morning or evening, ought
to be continued until at least the age of four years. If, after the
fourth or fifth year, ablutions of the entire body be resorted to only
every second or third day, the practice should be commenced of sponging
the chest every morning with cold, or alternately with cold and hot
water, followed by brisk frictions.

Soap is to be used but sparingly in the bath of young children. It must
be of the blandest and purest quality. Various eruptions are caused by
the employment of impure soaps, and even by the excessive application of
the best kind.

In illustration of the importance of our present subject, we may state
that Dr. Hufeland, to whose admirable work on the art of prolonging life
we have before alluded, lays down, as one of the means which lengthen
life, the care of the skin. He dwells upon the benefit of paying such
attention to it from infancy that it may be kept in a lively, active,
and useful condition.

The power of the bath to ward off disease in childhood is not
sufficiently appreciated by parents. Properly managed, it soothes, but
never increases, any internal irritation which may exist, and often does
away with the necessity of resorting to the administration of drugs. If
due attention were paid to the condition of the skin in early life, many
of the most common ailments of childhood would be averted. The daily
employment of the bath, and scrupulous attention to cleanliness of the
person and clothing, would materially lessen the demand both for
purgative medicines and for soothing syrups.

One word more in regard to the washing of the infant. The mother
herself, if she be in health, should always perform this office, and not
entrust it to the child's nurse. Plutarch awards high praise to Cato
the censor, for his invariable custom of being present when his child
was washed. Every mother, at least, would do well to follow the example
of this old Roman. It will give her the opportunity to detect many
incipient affections which would for a long while escape her attention
if she saw the child only when dressed. The mother will also take pains
to engage the mind of the little one, and render the bath a source of
amusement to it.

After the fourth or fifth year, two or three baths a week during the
colder seasons of the year will be sufficient to keep the skin clean,
and properly active. During the summer, however, a daily bath is of
great advantage to children, and ought not to be neglected.

Swimming is very useful and very invigorating to the health of both
sexes. It is desirable that children be taught this art.

The importance of the _culture of the skin_ to the well-being of infancy
and childhood cannot be brought too prominently to the notice of all
mothers. We have therefore endeavoured to give some useful hints in
regard both to the preservation of its cleanliness, and to the
prevention, by means of garments and warming, of its exposure to too
great changes of temperature.

By proper attention to the skin in the manner pointed out, many of the
eruptions with which children are afflicted might be prevented. The
appearance of these the mother ought to regard as a great calamity, for
they are often difficult of cure, and render the child an object of
disgust. She ought also to look upon them as the mischievous
consequences of the neglect of those laws of health which it is her duty
to learn and observe.


AIR AND VENTILATION IN CHILDHOOD.

Fresh air is necessary for the robust development of infancy and
childhood. Infants born in the summer season should be carried out daily
when the weather is pleasant, from the second or third day after birth.
Those born in the winter should be kept in the house for two or three
months before being introduced to the outer world on some sunny noonday.
Older children can scarcely pass too much time in the open air.

A change in the dress must, of course, be made before exposing the child
to the outdoor air. The head should be covered, and the chest and limbs
well protected from the cold.

As a rule, a child ought to be carried out, or permitted, when old
enough, to walk out, at least once every pleasant day during the year.
The time of the day is to be varied with the season. In the winter, the
middle of the day is to be chosen; in summer, the early portion of the
forenoon, a few hours after sunrise.

Children show very quickly, even when in ill-health, the beneficial
results of a ride or walk. It quiets the irritability to which they are
liable, more effectually than any other procedure. For a delicate child,
or one recovering from sickness, fresh air and sunshine are the best
tonics which can be administered. A fretful, peevish child will soon
learn to look forward to its daily jaunt on the street or road, and will
be quieted by it for the rest of the day.

At all times of the year regard must be had to the state of the weather.
The infant ought never to be taken out on a wet day. Exposure to a damp
atmosphere is one of the most powerful causes of catarrh on the chest
and inflammation of the lungs, to which young children are so subject. A
very high wind, even though the day be bright and dry, is injurious to a
young infant, as it has been known to suspend its breathing for a time,
which accident might, if not at once observed, bring about a fatal
result.

Besides fresh air, _light_ is an indispensable requisite to the health
of children. Nothing can compensate for the absence of its beneficial
effects. It is to be remembered, however, that during the first week or
two the eyes of the new-born babe are not strong enough to bear the full
glare of light. The first eight days of its existence should be spent in
a half-darkened room. Gradually the apartment may be brightened, until
finally, after about two weeks, the young eyes become entirely
accustomed to the light, and may be exposed to it without injury. A
neglect of this precaution is one of the most common causes of the bad
inflammation of the eyes so frequently met with among young infants.
After the sight has become quite strong, a bright room will strengthen
the eyes, not weaken them; for light is the natural stimulant of the
eye, as exercise is of the muscles, or food of the stomach.

Scrofulous diseases are the heritage of those children who are deprived
of a plentiful supply of pure air and light. A distinguished writer upon
the laws of health ascribes to the careful avoidance of the salutary
influence of air and light by so many young girls, who are fearful of
walking out while the sun is powerful, much of their sickly appearance,
the loss of consistency of their bones, and their being able to afford
but a deformed temple to the immortal soul.

Humboldt states that, during a five years' residence in South America,
he never saw any national deformity amongst the men or women belonging
to the Carif, Muyscas, Indian, Mexican, or Peruvian races. If parents in
our own country were to accustom their daughters from an early age to
daily exercise in the open air and sunlight, there would be fewer weak
backs requiring the support of apparatus from the surgical-instrument
maker, and less pallor in lips and cheeks to be remedied by iron from
the shop of the apothecary.


EXERCISE IN CHILDHOOD.

The first exercise which a child obtains, is had of course in its
nurse's arms. Are there any directions, then, to be noticed in regard to
the _manner of carrying an infant_?--Dr. Eberle gives the following
useful advice upon this subject:--'The spine and its muscles seldom
acquire sufficient strength and firmness before the end of the third
month to enable the child to support its body in an upright position
without inconvenience or risk of injury. Until this power is manifestly
acquired, the infant should not be carried or suffered to sit with its
body erect, without supporting it in such a manner as to lighten the
pressure made on the spine, and aid it in maintaining the upright
posture of its head and trunk; therefore, at first (a few days after
birth), the infant should be taken from its cradle or bed two or three
times daily and laid on its back upon a pillow, and carried gently about
the chamber. After the third or fourth week, the child may be carried in
a reclining posture on the arms of a careful nurse, in such a manner as
to afford entire support both to body and head. This may be done by
reclining the infant upon the forearm, the hand embracing the upper and
posterior part of the thighs, whilst its body and head are supported by
resting against the breast and arm of the nurse. When held in this way,
it may be gently moved from side to side, or up and down, while it is
carefully carried through a well-ventilated room.'

After the child is three months old, it will probably have become strong
enough to maintain itself in a sitting position. It may then be carried
about in this upright posture, with the spine and head carefully
supported by the nurse, which aid ought not to be withdrawn until the
age of six or seven months.

'In _lifting_ young children,' as has been well observed by Dr. Barlow,
'the nurse should be very careful never to lay hold of them by the arms,
as is sometimes thoughtlessly done; but always to place the hands, one
on each side of the chest, immediately below the armpits. In infancy the
sockets of the joints are so shallow, and the bones so feebly bound
down and connected with each other, that dislocation and even fracture
of the collar-bone may easily be produced by neglecting this rule. For
the same reason, it is a bad custom to support a child by one or even by
both arms, when he makes his first attempt to walk. The grand aim which
the child has in view, is to preserve his equilibrium. If he is
partially supported by one arm, the body inclines to one side, and the
attitude is rendered most unfavorable to the preservation of his natural
balance; and consequently, the moment the support is in the least
relaxed, the child falls over and is caught up with a jerk. Even when
held by both arms, the attitude is unnatural and unfavorable to the
speedy attainment of the object. To assist the child, we ought to place
one hand on each side of the chest in such a way as to give the
slightest possible support, and to be ready instantly to give more if he
lose his balance. When this plan is followed, all the attitudes and
efforts of the child are in a natural direction; and success is attained
not only sooner, but more gracefully, than by any ill-judged support
given to one side.

'There is one very common mode of exercising infants, which we think
deserves particular notice: we mean the practice of hoisting or raising
them aloft in the air. This practice is of such venerable antiquity, and
so universal, that it would be vain to impugn it. The pleasure, too,
which most children evince under it, seems to show that it cannot be so
objectionable as a cursory observer would be disposed to consider it.
Still there are hazards which ought not to be overlooked. The risk of
accident is one of some amount: children have slipped from the hands,
and sustained serious injury. Some people are so energetic as to throw
up children and catch them in descending. This rashness there can be no
hesitation in reprobating; for, however confident the person may be of
not missing his hold, there must ever be risks of injury from the
concussion suffered in the descent, and even from the firmness of the
grasp necessary for recovering and maintaining the hold. The motion of
the body, too, has a direct tendency to induce vertigo; and when the
liability of the infant brain to congestion and its consequences is
considered, when the frequency of hydrocephalus in infants is borne in
mind, an exercise which impels blood to the brain will not be regarded
as wholly insignificant. There is one more objection which seems not to
have attracted attention. The hold taken of the child in the act of
hoisting him is by the hand grasping the chest. The fingers and thumb,
placed on each side of the breast-bone, compress the ribs; and any one
with the hand so placed will at once perceive that if the pressure were
strong, and the resistance from the elasticity of the ribs weak, the
impression on the chest resulting would correspond exactly with the
deformity named chicken-breast. That any force is ever used capable of
inducing speedily such a change, is in the highest degree improbable;
but that reiterated pressure of this kind, however slight, would in a
weakly child have power to impress and distort the chest, few, we
imagine, will doubt.'


LEARNING TO WALK.

When two or three months old, the infant may be placed on a soft
mattress upon the floor or on the carpet. He can then toss his limbs
about without danger, and develope the powers of his muscular system.

'The best mode of teaching a child how to walk,' says Dr. Bull, 'is to
let it teach itself; and this it will do readily enough. It will first
learn to crawl: this exercises every muscle in the body, does not
fatigue the child, throws no weight upon the bones, but imparts vigor
and strength, and is thus highly useful. After a while, having the
power, it will wish to do more. It will endeavor to lift itself upon its
feet by the aid of a chair; and though it fail again and again in its
attempts, it will still persevere until it accomplish it. By this, it
learns first to raise itself from the floor; and secondly, to stand, but
not without keeping hold of the object on which it has seized. Next it
will balance itself without holding, and will proudly and laughingly
show that it can stand alone. Fearful, however, as yet of moving its
limbs without support, it will seize a chair or anything else near it,
when it will dare to advance as far as the limits of its support will
permit. This little adventure will be repeated day after day with
increased exultation; when, after numerous trials, he will feel
confident of his power to balance himself, and he will run alone. Now
time is required for this gradual self-teaching, during which the
muscles and bones become strengthened; and when at last called upon to
sustain the weight of the body, are fully capable of doing so.'

It is not merely want of strength which prevents an infant from walking
at first. The natural shape of the legs renders it impossible. The feet
are turned in so that the inner sides look upwards. When placed upon its
feet, therefore, the soles will not rest upon the ground. In a short
time the position of the feet changes, and they become fitted for the
purposes of support and locomotion. When he begins to walk, the child
should have shoes with tolerably broad soles, which ought to be at least
half an inch longer than the foot.

The first efforts of the little one to support and propel itself are to
be carefully watched, but not unnecessarily interfered with; neither
frightened by expressions of fear, nor rendered timid by too frequent
warnings.


ADVANTAGES OF GAMES AND PLAYS.

The first seven years of life should be one grand holiday for all sports
and amusements which will bring into play the muscles, and divert at the
same time the mind. Time cannot be more usefully employed than in thus
laying the foundation of health, upon which alone can rest the physical,
mental, and moral well-being of after-life.

No greater mistake can be made by parents than to deprive the young of
the innocent pleasures of childhood. Yet there are persons occasionally
met with who think it their duty to check the natural lightness and
gaiety of heart of their children for fear that they shall become too
fond of pleasure. In this way great harm is done to both mind and body,
and the very fault created which it is desired to avoid.

The wise parent sees in the games and plays of childhood not only
necessary recreation and exercise, but a valuable means of education--of
moral, mental, and physical training. He also seeks to impress early
upon the young mind that play is most enjoyed when it has been earned by
work, and that pleasure flies from those who continually pursue it.

The faculties of _memory_ and _attention_ can be called upon and
developed by proper games in a most satisfactory manner. These exercises
are all the more effective because the pleasure conceals, as it were,
the mental labor, and the intellectual efforts are made, in a sense,
unconsciously, though none the less efficiently.

Certain plays form a valuable means of educating the eyes and other
senses. Such, for instance, are the toys which represent objects of
natural history or of different trades and arts; the pictures which
teach through the quick eye of the child what no dry descriptions could
ever convey; and the games which develope closeness of observation and
habits of order. A genial French physician has happily said, 'Every time
I see a toy based on the reproduction of a scientific fact or of an
industrial process, and which pleases while it enlightens, I feel a
sentiment of real gratitude to him who has designed it.'

We are glad to see that each year more and more attention is being paid
to the utilization, as it were, of the games of infancy. Although all
education can never be made a play, all play can be made an effective
education. Do not therefore, reader, restrict the games of your
children, but direct them; do not render them less amusing, but seek to
make them more instructive.

The schooling afforded by instructive plays should be the only schooling
of the first seven years of life. Late springs produce the most abundant
harvests in the mind as in the field. Precocious and delicate children
especially should be kept from a too early and close application to
books. By means of healthful and instructive games and sports; by visits
to workshops and factories where familiar objects are made; and by a
cultivation of the sense of the beautiful in nature and art, more can be
done towards securing a sound mind in a sound body than by the easier
and more common method of sending the child to school almost as soon as
it can walk.


IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING CHILDREN HYGIENIC HABITS.

The force of habits should never be lost sight of by those having the
charge of children. They constitute a power of which parents should
early avail themselves. J. J. Rousseau has said, 'The only habit which
one ought to permit the child, is of not contracting any.' But this is
impossible and undesirable. When it is remembered that _a good habit is
just as hard to break as a bad one_, the importance of seeking from the
very cradle to frame good habits is evident. It is easy to create, but
difficult to reform. What then are some of the principal hygienic habits
which it is desirable to teach children?

First we will mention, _a liking for proper food at regular times_. The
indigestion, or weakness of digestion, from which many children suffer,
is in some cases hereditary or the result of feeble health. But most
frequently it is the effect of bad management. The giving to the child
of pastry and cakes at meals instead of simple and nutritious food, the
encouragement of capriciousness of appetite instead of teaching it to
like everything that is healthful, and the neglect to inculcate the
habit of eating at regular hours, these are the principal causes of many
cases of diarrhoea, vomitings, weak appetite, colicky pains, and
indigestion among children.

The daily use of at least a sponge-bath of the entire person is an
excellent habit. Cold water should be employed after the fifth or sixth
year. This simple practice of a cold sponge-bath every morning, if more
generally taught children, would avert many a cold and rheumatic attack
in after life.

The habit of quenching the thirst with only simple drinks, milk and
water, should be early and thoroughly formed. No American mother would
think of giving spirits to her child, excepting under medical advice;
but many permit almost from infancy the use of tea and coffee. These
drinks are not only unnecessary in childhood, but to a certain extent
injurious. They excite the nervous system and disorder the digestion.
Before the age of puberty, neither tea nor coffee should be allowed.


ON THE TRAINING OF THE SPECIAL SENSES.

The special senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, have been
called the windows of the soul, by which it observes what passes
without. The most noble and intellectual of these are the sight and
hearing. Neither of them receives the attention at the hands of parents
and educators which it should. Indeed, the Indians who yet inhabit our
western plains, have better eyes and ears than we. The reason of this is
evident. The savage is obliged to make other use of his eyes than to
dreamily admire the beautiful landscape, and other use of his ears than
to listen to the singing of birds and the murmuring of wind and stream.
These senses are the defenders of his life. He depends upon them for
food, clothing, and protection against his enemies. Hence, urged by
necessity, he trains them from infancy, and brings them to a perfection
which astonishes us. It will be said, however, that we in our civilized
life, have no need of any such acuteness of sense. True, but we cannot
avoid the consciousness that our organs of sight and hearing do not
afford us the service they ought, and that they commence to fail us too
early. The remedy is to be sought in the training of the special senses
in early life. These senses, which are the first of our faculties to
form and develope, should be the first to be educated; yet, as has been
well said, they are nearly the only ones which are forgotten, or at
least they are the most neglected.

The education of a sense has been compared to the education of a
child,--it has its physical, its intellectual, and its moral side. It is
necessary to maintain the organ in a condition of health in order that
it may perform its work well; this is the physical education of the
sense. The mind must learn to properly elaborate the impressions thus
conveyed to it, this is the intellectual education of the sense.
Finally, in the service of morality and justice, these impressions ought
to be turned to the advantage of the good and the beautiful, this is the
moral education of the sense. The subject of the training of the special
senses is therefore, when properly viewed, a serious and most important
one. It might well demand more attention at our hands than we have space
to give it here. We will make our remarks as concise and practical as
possible commencing first with


THE TRAINING OF THE SENSE OF SIGHT.

A recent French writer on the hygiene of the sight has brought forward
striking evidence in support of his statement, that in our time the
sense of sight is growing markedly weaker. The number of the
near-sighted is augmenting, as is also the number of those who become
'far-sighted' before old age. Cases of debility and disease of the eyes
seem to be multiplying at a rate which should awaken general attention
to this matter. The causes are to be found in the neglect, often the
hurtful management, of the eyesight of children; in the influence of
improperly regulating artificial light; and in the injury done by bad
printer's ink and paper.

In the education of the child's eyesight, _acuteness_ of vision is one
of the first objects to be sought for. That this is largely a matter of
training is apparent from the fact that persons in certain professions
can readily distinguish objects too small or too distant for ordinary
eyes. Children brought up in the country or at the sea-side, have a
power of vision unknown to city children, with their limited range of
observation. But it is not only necessary that the eyes should be able
to make out the forms of distant or small objects, but that they should
be quick to detect shades of color and delicacies of outline. The child
should be stimulated and encouraged to make efforts in this direction.
Here, also, there is room for the skill of the intelligent toy-maker,
for toys can be made very useful educators.

One of the forms of sensorial _memory_ which it is most desirable to
develope is that of objects seen, that is to say, the fixing in the
thoughts, to be brought up before the mind's eye when wanted, the
recollection of visual impressions. This embraces the memory of forms,
of dimensions, of the relations between various objects and between
different parts of the same object, and of colors. When applied to
places it is what is known as _local_ memory, applied to the human face,
it is the memory of _physiognomy_; applied to objects, it is _graphic_
or _descriptive_ memory; applied to colors, it is _chromatic_ memory.

_Local_ memory is sometimes developed to an extraordinary degree. It is
only necessary for some persons to have once traversed a locality, a
street, a city, in order to preserve of it a most minute and vivid
recollection. This topographical memory is enjoyed by a number of the
inferior animals; the elephant, the dog, and the horse, for instance,
are well-known as being capable of noticing a road taken and of
returning by it, of recognising readily a place once seen, and of
showing a tendency to stop of their own accord at places where they have
been arrested or kept. This local memory, useful as it is to every one,
is necessary to the painter who draws upon it for the elements of his
artistic creations.

The faculty of recollecting faces is a peculiar one, and possessed by
different persons in vastly different degrees. There are those who
recognise invariably every face they have once seen, and who by a simple
effort can at any time recall with the utmost distinctness the features
of the absent. On the other hand, there are those so wanting in this
special form of memory that they are constantly exposed to serious
social inconveniences, and, for fear of failing in politeness, often
salute perfect strangers. The ancient Greeks possessed to an
extraordinary degree the power of seizing and retaining types of face
and form; it is to this, doubtless, that they owe, to a great extent,
their unapproached excellence in sculpture and painting.

_Graphic_ or _descriptive_ memory is that which photographs, as it were,
upon the brain the visual impressions that objects have made upon the
retina, in such a manner that the thought can reconstruct them ideally.
This, in particular, is the form of memory required by designers of all
kinds, and, like the other forms of visual memory, is susceptible of
education. The child is first taught to copy with his pencil and produce
exact _imitations_ of the objects about him. Then, little by little, he
is to be taught in closing his eyes to reconstruct mentally the contours
of objects, at first simple, then more complicated, and finally to
penetrate into their details and give to the fictitious mental image all
the relief of reality. This exercise not merely trains the child in
correct observation, but quickly leads to the conquest of descriptive
memory.

_Chromatic_ memory, or the memory of colors, is a form of visual memory
different from those we have enumerated. It is more difficult, perhaps,
and technical than the others. The attention of the child should early
be directed to the colors of natural and artificial objects, and he
should be encouraged to imitate them.

But it is not our intention to go further into this important subject,
the education of the sense of sight. Our space will not permit it. By
these few elementary remarks, we have merely wished to remind parents
that they can do much towards the development of this important faculty
in their children.


TO PREVENT NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS.

Near-sightedness is, as we have said, greatly increasing. In Germany,
this is particularly the case, and has led there to a careful study of
the subject within the last few years.

Near-sightedness, like most of the disorders of the eyesight, is to be
traced to causes which act during childhood, _and which causes are all
entirely preventable_. Imperfect lighting of rooms in which children
study or play is one of the chief among these preventable causes. When
the windows are improperly constructed or placed, or when the artificial
light is faulty in school-rooms, the book is naturally brought close to
the eyes in order that it may be more easily read. The consequence of
this is either that near-sightedness is quickly produced, or that the
eyes soon become fatigued and permanently weakened. No less injurious is
the effort to read 'between the lights' or before the fire. School-books
with too small type, and school-desks which are too low or too far from
the seats, are the direct cause of much mischief to many young eyes. Let
parents, therefore, see to it that the school-rooms to which they send
their children are clearly and properly lighted, that the books which
they study are printed in a bold, clear type, and that no reading or
study is permitted by a flickering or a dim light, nor before a desk or
table which forbids a tolerably erect position of the head and
shoulders.


THE EDUCATION OF THE SENSE OF HEARING.

The education of this sense is second only in importance to that of the
sight. First of all, attention should be directed to the preservation of
the _health_ of the organ.

Many cases of deafness among children originate in long standing
diseases of the nose and throat; others in obstinate skin affections;
while not a few are caused by a want of cleanliness, which permits of
the accumulation of wax in the passage of the ear.

The sensibility of the nerve which conveys impressions of sound from the
ear to the brain can be greatly increased by exercise and training, when
the organ is in a condition of health. It can be so highly developed
that the ear will readily catch very feeble sounds.

A learned physician has recently pointed out with some force that
sufficient attention is not paid to the conformation of the pavilion of
the ear. Upon this conformation much of the delicacy of hearing depends.
The hats which children wear, usually compress and deform the pavilion.
Physiologists have shown that it ought to make an angle of about thirty
degrees with the skull, in order to best collect sonorous vibrations.
This angle is very much diminished by our artificial head-dresses, and
to the detriment of acuteness of hearing.

Can education do much for the improvement of hearing? Everyday
experience answers in the affirmative. There is an exercise which cannot
be too highly commended to parents, which consists in inducing in play
their children, even those very young, to detect from as far as they can
faint and fading sounds. It is a game which amuses them much, and it is
a pleasing sight to see the rivalry of several young children, each of
whom with head bent forward, is earnestly trying to distinguish a
receding sound longer than its fellows. A little ingenuity will readily
devise amusing and useful plays with this object in view.

The training of the remaining special senses is of comparatively minor
importance to that of those we have been considering, and need not
detain us. We will only remind the reader of the wonderful adroitness
and delicacy of touch possessed by the blind as an example of what this
sense is capable of when educated.




HOME MANAGEMENT OF SOME COMMON DISEASES OF CHILDREN.


CROUP.

Although this disease is said to be more severe in Europe than in our
own country, and more frequent in our northern than in our southern
States, most American mothers, in all parts of the country, know and
dread its alarming and often fatal attacks. It is a disease of
childhood, but not of early infancy, being rarely met with under the
first or after the tenth year of life.

Children who have once had this affection are very liable to another
attack upon exposure to any of the causes which excite it. It has been
noticed also that croup runs in certain families, and not unfrequently,
children of a ruddy complexion and of a fleshy and apparently vigorous
appearance are those most subject to it.

Among the _causes of croup_, which should be specially guarded against
by mothers of croupy children, are checking of the perspiration, sudden
alterations in the dress, change of climate, and even in some cases a
residence at the sea-side. Croup also often follows measles, and at
times is epidemic.

The unmistakable _symptoms of croup_ quickly show themselves at the
outset of the disease. Sometimes a sore throat, a short, dry cough, and
a slight harshness of breathing, usher in the affection; in other
instances, that which first attracts attention is hoarseness in the cry
or tone of the voice, attended with, or quickly followed by,
feverishness, thirst, and dulness, or fretfulness; while in another
class of cases the disease suddenly developes itself without any
noticeable premonitory signs. In all these cases the characteristic
symptoms of the disease commonly make their appearance at night. The
child's sleep is disturbed by a peculiar clanging cough, which, when
once heard, will ever afterwards be remembered and easily recognised.
The skin becomes hot and dry, the breathing difficult, the cough more
frequent, and the child is soon awakened, frightened, and struggling for
breath. With flushed face and staring eyes, the little sufferer starts
up, grasping the throat with the hand as if seeking to remove some
encircling pressure which is choking it. Each drawing in of the breath
is attended with a hissing sound, the redness of the face and neck
increases, and speech becomes impossible. This attack may pass off in a
few minutes, or be prolonged, with varying degrees of intensity, for an
hour. Almost invariably, however, it is followed by a period of relief,
in some instances so complete as to deceive the anxious relatives into
the belief that the disease is over and the child safe. This false
confidence is, unfortunately, generally soon rudely dissipated by a
return of the attack in all its first violence.

The disease attains its height by the end of the second, or at the
latest the close of the third day. The fever is now the hottest, the
tongue becomes white, the face and forehead red and covered with
perspiration, the lips at times purple, the veins of the neck and
temples distended, the countenance distressed, and the voice whispered
or suppressed. The cough is now also most frequent and noisy; its
peculiar sound has been compared to that made by a fowl when caught in
the hand. The thirst is great, but swallowing difficult. The child often
inserts its fingers in the mouth as if trying to clutch something which
closes the air passages. These symptoms may either increase to the rapid
exhaustion of the patient or take a favorable turn. One of the first
evidences of the latter is a change in the character of the cough,
which, although it may not lessen in force or frequency, becomes lower
in tone, less dry, and finally moist.

The _treatment_ should be most prompt, active, and energetic. Few
diseases require, for the safety of the patient, such quick and
efficient aid at the outset. Prepare at once sufficient hot water for a
bath, and make a fire in the room. In the meanwhile, immerse the child's
arms in some hot water, and apply cloths, wrung thoroughly dry from it,
to the throat. Give the child a tea-spoonful of powdered alum in a
little syrup, molasses and water, or honey. Repeat the dose in a quarter
of an hour if full vomiting be not excited by the first tea-spoonful. So
soon as the warm bath is ready (the water should have the temperature
of 98 deg. Fahrenheit), place the child in it, and keep up the heat of the
bath by the occasional addition of hot water. Have hot towels in
readiness to dry the skin completely, and a warm blanket in which to
wrap the patient. See that the temperature of the room is raised to
about 66 deg. Fahrenheit, and that it does not fall below this. Moisten the
air by putting a kettle of boiling water on the fire and diffusing the
steam from it by means of a long roll of paper fixed to the spout.

The warm bath and the emetic will usually relieve the breathing; but no
matter how complete this relief may appear to be, nor how quietly the
little one may sleep, it must be carefully watched all night, so that
the first return of unfavorable symptoms may be promptly treated. In all
instances also, however favorably the case may progress, the patient
must be confined to bed for several days, and the temperature of the
room, and the moisture of the air, carefully maintained, as directed for
the first treatment of the attack. If the child has had previous
attacks, or if the weather be cold and inclement, it should be kept in
this warm moist atmosphere for two weeks. Were these precautions known
and heeded we should have to lament fewer fatal cases of croup.

Of course in this, as in all other serious diseases, skilled medical
advice should be secured as quickly as possible. We have given the above
directions, not only for those so situated that they cannot secure
medical aid, but also for all others, in order that no valuable time may
be lost in commencing the treatment, that the efforts of the physician
may be intelligently seconded and carried out, and that the importance
of _promptness_ at the outset, and _prolonged care_ during
convalescence, maybe impressed upon every mother who consults these
pages.


HEAD COLDS.

Young infants are very liable to take cold when being washed, or carried
about the house into rooms and passages of different temperatures. This
cold often shows itself by sneezing and "snuffles" in the nose. In a
short time a discharge from the nostrils appears, the eyes become
watery, and the voice sounds "through the nose." The skin is hotter than
natural, and the infant cross. If the child be able to talk, it will
complain of headache, some soreness in the limbs and back, and of a
burning, uncomfortable feeling in the nose. These symptoms last for
three or four days, when in mild ordinary cases they begin to disappear.
After one or more attacks of this kind the child is very liable to a
return on every slight exposure to cold.

The _treatment_ required in these cases is mild and simple, but must not
be neglected. A warm bath should be taken at bed-time for a number of
days; the patient should be kept in an even temperature and out of
draughts. The best relief to the distress in the nose, from which the
child suffers, is afforded by dipping a hollow sponge in hot water,
squeezing it nearly dry, and applying it over the nose and forehead. The
common domestic practice of greasing the nose is also beneficial. The
wearing of a flannel cap until the disease is cured is a remedy
strongly recommended by the late Dr. Meigs. A flannel cap will also
often prevent the recurrence of the complaint in those very subject to
it.


FITS.

Infants and young children are much more liable to fits and convulsions
than adults. The causes which excite them are numerous, and should be
generally known, that they may be as far as possible avoided.

Many infants are born with a tendency to fits. The children of feeble
parents, or of those who have married very early or very late in life,
are apt to be afflicted with a predisposition to them. Great fright or
severe shock received by the mother during the latter months of her
pregnancy may give rise to convulsions in the child soon after birth.

Pale, badly nourished, soft, flabby children, and those of a sensitive,
nervous temperament, are more liable to fits than those who are ruddy
and hardy. Hence we find convulsions more common and fatal among the
poor and miserable than among the 'well-to-do' and comfortable. City
children are more subject to the complaint than the country born and
bred.

Fits are very frequent among infants while teething. In such cases
lancing the gum secures immediate relief. Another cause of fits, and one
which every mother should know, is the giving of meat to the child
before its teeth are cut. In such cases the attack is sudden, and often
very severe. Children most affected in this way by animal food are those
with water on the brain, and those of a very delicate constitution. The
juice or broth of meat is in some such instances sufficient to produce
fits. The remedy consists in the institution of a milk diet. In all
doubtful cases avoid a meat diet in any form, and watch the result.

Strong mental emotions, such as fright, shame, or anger, may cause a fit
in a child. A nurse in England threatened to throw a child out of the
window if he did not stop crying; the little boy fell at once into
convulsions, from which he died.

Among other known causes of fits are confinement to heated, badly
ventilated rooms, tight bandaging, and sudden exposure to severe cold or
heat.

In treating of the influence of the mother's mind over the nursing child
(p. 251), we mentioned a number of instances of children thrown into
convulsions by changes in the quality of the milk caused by the mental
emotion of the mother. The importance of the subject induces us to quote
here the corroborating remarks of Dr. Churchill, in the last edition of
his standard work on diseases of children. 'During the first year of
life, convulsions may not unfrequently be traced to the milk of the
mother or nurse disagreeing with the infant, or having been disordered
temporarily by fright, passion, or suffering. Soemmering mentions a
curious case of a woman whose milk agreed with her own child, but caused
convulsions in all others. M. Guersant relates the instance of a woman
deserted by her husband, and in her distress her infant had an attack
each time it took the breast. Dr. Underwood mentions a mother who nursed
her child immediately after witnessing a sudden death; the child was
attacked by convulsions, after which it remained comatose for thirty-six
hours, but ultimately recovered. Numerous cases are on record of
convulsions supervening upon violent passion in the nurse. I have
witnessed more than one case resulting from the mother suckling her
child during a time of severe affliction and distress.'

We deem it useless to describe a fit. Almost every one has seen it, and
at once recognises it. We shall proceed, therefore, at once to the
_treatment._

When a child is attacked with a fit the dress should be loosened, all
tight bandages and pins removed, and plenty of fresh air admitted into
the room. It should not be held upright in the arms, but placed in a
lying position. A warm bath (that most useful remedy in so many of the
ailments of children) should be speedily prepared, and the child
immersed for a few minutes, then removed, dried, and wrapped in a
blanket. A hot mustard foot-bath is also of service. The cause of the
fit should be at once sought, for upon it will of course depend to a
great extent the treatment required. If the child be teething, and the
gums be found to be red and swollen, they should be lanced. If the child
has eaten too much, or of improper food, an emetic should be given. A
little mustard and salt mixed in a tumbler of warm water affords a
ready, safe, and effectual emetic.

The dashing of cold water upon the face will sometimes promptly end the
fit. The application of powdered ice in a bladder, or of cold water
cloths to the head, is of service where the face is much flushed and the
movements very violent.

Children subject to fits should live in a well warmed house. By this we
do not mean that the rooms and hall ways should be kept hot, still less
that they should be close and improperly ventilated. The temperature of
the bed-room should not be lower than 70 degrees, and great care should
be taken during cold weather to avoid chilling the child outdoors.

Rubbing of the child's body once a day with good salad oil is an
excellent and readily applied remedy in these cases. The little patients
do not ordinarily object to it. As it is a procedure calculated to
improve the general health, we strongly recommend every mother whose
child has frequent fits, to try it.

The dress of the child should be warm, loose, and comfortable. Perfect
quietness is important for a time after attacks. Do not excite the child
by seeking to amuse it. Let it sleep as much as it will.

In those cases in which a fit has been followed by weakness of the
limbs, medical assistance will of course be procured. As a rule,
recovery in such instances is slow, but, when properly directed,
perfect. Change of scene, country air, and exercise, friction of the
body with a flesh-brush or salt towel, salt water baths, and
electricity, are all valuable agents towards cure.


NOSE-BLEED.

Bleeding from the nose may be produced by a blow or by over-exercise of
the child at play. In either case the trouble is usually a trifling
one. Some children, however, are liable to attacks of nose-bleed coming
on without any assignable causes. One of the consequences of scarlet
fever and whooping cough is sometimes a tendency to repeated and serious
spells of bleeding from the nose.

The _treatment_ in these cases consists in quieting the alarm of the
child if it be frightened, and in applying cold water or pounded ice to
the nose and forehead and to the back of the neck. It is because of its
coldness that the key placed down the back, as so commonly advised in
domestic practice, does good.

An exaggerated idea of the amount of blood lost is often a cause of
distress to parents. They forget that the child has been bleeding in a
vessel of water, and that a very little blood darkly colors a large
quantity of water.

Bleeding from the nose is sometimes a favorable symptom, as when it
occurs during a fever, or when in girls approaching womanhood it
precedes the expected signs of puberty. It is an unfavorable symptom,
however, in scrofulous children and in girls affected with
green-sickness, as in these instances it aggravates the existing
disorders.

In those rare cases of protracted bleeding which resist the remedies we
have mentioned, it may be necessary for the surgeon to plug the
nostrils, both in front and at their opening into the throat.

This extreme measure is fortunately scarcely ever called for, and can
only be carried out by the physician.


WORMS.

Children are often thought to have worms when entirely free from them.
There is hardly a symptom of any disease which has not been supposed by
some to be a sign of the presence of worms. A child suffering from some
other complaint is, therefore, not unfrequently dosed with vermifuges to
its injury. We can give the mother one symptom of worms which is
infallible. It is the only one upon which she can rely, namely, the
detection of worms in the stools of the child. Until these expelled
intruders are actually found she should be slow to believe that the
child is thus affected, and still slower to give worm medicine. Before
beginning treatment, let the mother wait until the need of it is made
out by the result of the examination we have mentioned.

The _treatment_ of the ordinary worms to which children are subject is
simple and usually speedily efficacious. Commence with a dose of Epsom
salts, of magnesia, or of cream of tartar, as may be preferred. The next
day administer a vermifuge, of which the best and pleasantest is
_santonine_. Obtain from the druggist three or four three-grain powders
of this medicine. Give the half or the whole of one of these powders,
according to the age of the child, at bed-time. The next morning
administer a purgative dose of oil or salts. Repeat this treatment every
other day until three doses of santonine have been taken. Or, from two
to six grains, according to the age of the patient, may be dissolved in
two table-spoonsful of castor-oil, and a tea-spoonful given every hour
until it operates.

An excellent domestic remedy for worms, one which was a great favorite
with the celebrated Dr. Rush of Philadelphia, is common salt. For a
child two or three years old, the proper dose is a tea-spoonful mixed in
a wine-glassful of water. When the child can be got to take it in
sufficient quantity, this remedy is a very efficient one.

Most cases of supposed worms in children are best treated by regulating
the diet, by attention to the air and exercise of the child, by warm
baths, and by endeavoring to improve the appetite, the digestion, and
the strength. The food should be plain and unirritating (bread, milk,
rice, arrowroot, chicken, lamb or mutton broth, beef-tea, mutton chop,
young chicken); the meals should be taken in smaller quantities than
usual, and at regular intervals. Sweets and confectionery should be
forbidden, and but few vegetables permitted for awhile. A perseverance
in this regimen for a short time will usually cure the little patient
without the necessity of resorting to any vermifuge.

Worms are most frequent between the ages of three and ten years. Girls
are oftener affected than boys. A tendency to worms is hereditary. Cases
occur more frequently during the spring and autumn than during the other
seasons. A residence in cold, damp, unhealthy situations leads to their
production in many instances.


BED-WETTING.

This troublesome disorder is not unfrequently met with in children--more
especially boys--under twelve years of age. It is a mistake to suppose,
as is done by some parents, that slothfulness or negligence is the
invariable and only cause of this infirmity; on this point Dr. Vogel
says:--'In most cases which I have observed, the children through their
own sense of honor or on account of repeated punishments, had a lively
interest in avoiding the accident, and yet were unable to do this
without appropriate treatment pursued for months, and even years.' Dr.
Tanner states:--'Very frequently this affection is the consequence of
bad habits; being favored by the free use of fluids during the after
part of the day, by exposure to cold in the night, and by lying on the
back.'

The presence of worms in the bowels is one of the causes of this
annoying ailment, and they should be sought for in all cases. Stone in
the bladder sometimes occasions the affection, but in such instances
other symptoms will soon point to the true nature of the trouble.

This subject is one of an importance which demands some attention from
us in a work for parents. In the language of Dr. Vogel, 'the effects of
this malady are unpleasant, for the psychical development in particular
suffers. The repeated punishments which these children undergo blunt
their sense of honor considerably; they become cowardly and deceitful,
and have no personal spirit. If great and expensive cleanliness is not
practised, the bed, and even the whole room, acquires a urinous odor,
which contaminates the atmosphere and begets conditions by no means
favorable to healthy growth. Such children may be ultimately attacked by
indolent ulcers on the nates and lower extremities, the results of
urinous excoriations.'

The only _symptom_ ordinarily present is that the child towards morning
or in the middle of the night wets the bed without waking. This may
happen several times during the sleep, and recur every night. In some
cases the act takes place only every other night, but it is rare that
there is an interval of more than one night.

The _cause_ of this failing is sometimes very simple and one easily
remedied; for it is often the result of neglecting to take young
children up once during the many hours they require for sleep. By
attention to this matter and to the diet, the habit may be speedily
broken. Unfortunately most cases are not so quickly amenable to
treatment.

In the _treatment_ of this infirmity, corporal punishment should not be
thought of. It is useless, cruel, and unnatural. The child might as well
be punished because it squints or has club-foot.

Care must be taken to see that the little patient eats or drinks nothing
for several hours before bed-time. The child should also be awakened a
little before midnight, and at a very early hour in the morning, and
made to empty its bladder. It is of great importance to get the child to
sleep upon its side or face, as lying upon the back is sure to increase
the trouble. Indeed, it is frequently observed that the child always
remains clean when it is prevented from turning upon its back during
sleep. The difficulty lies in the prevention. The plan of tying a cloth
or towel around the child with a knot over the spinal column, to awaken
it by the pain when it rolls over upon the back, so often proposed,
seems good advice easily followed. But practically it fails, as it is
impossible, without making the bandage too tight, to keep it in place.
The benefit which, in some instances, has followed the employment of a
succession of small blisters directly over the lower part of the spinal
column, is doubtless due to their forcing the child to sleep upon the
face or side. The remedy is somewhat a painful one, but should be tried
in obstinate cases.

The child's general health, if enfeebled, should be improved by cold
baths, bitter tonics, and if possible a change of air. In no case should
any mechanical means be employed to arrest the infirmity. Serious and
even fatal results have followed such attempts.

If the precautions and simple remedies we have mentioned fail, recourse
must be had to the family physician. The drugs which are of benefit are
too powerful to be entrusted to any other hands. The hygienic method of
cure we have pointed out will, if instituted early, be effectual in all
excepting very obstinate cases, which latter indeed sometimes resist for
a long time the best efforts of medical skill.


LOOSENESS OF THE BOWELS.

Children under one year of age should have two movements of the bowels
in the twenty-four hours, and those from one to three years at least
one stool a day.

A slight attack of looseness is often beneficial if it passes away
within a day or two. It is easy, however, for such an attack to become
hurtful, especially if the food be improper, or the weather warm. A
looseness which is of no consequence in the winter may well excite
uneasiness during the summer months.

Diarrhoea in a healthy child is ordinarily preceded by vomiting. If the
diarrhoea persist long, the little patient is much prostrated by it, and
rapidly reduced in flesh. Such an attack should never, therefore, be
neglected.

In the case of an infant not weaned, it should be removed from the
breast for half a day or more, that the stomach may have little or
nothing to do. Barley or rice water, or ordinary water, may be given in
small quantities at a time to relieve the thirst. This in many cases
will be all the treatment required.

In the case of an elder child, all meat and vegetables should be at once
forbidden, and the only food allowed for a day or two must be rice and
milk, arrowroot, or milk and water.

The dose of castor oil which is so frequently given by nurses in these
cases under the impression that the oil is 'healing,' is only of service
when the diarrhoea has been caused by food of improper quality or
quantity. It then aids nature in her efforts to get rid of the offending
matter, which by its irritation is doing the mischief. In such instances
one dose of the oil is quite sufficient. It has no 'healing' virtues,
and should not be repeated from day to day.

Children who are teething are frequently affected with looseness. A warm
bath every evening, and attention to the gums, will be ordinarily all
that is required in these cases, at least during the cold months. It is
of the utmost importance, however, during the summer that such patients,
if living in the city, should be at once removed into the country;
otherwise their lives are in danger.

Looseness of the bowels in children is usually best treated by careful
management of the clothing and diet, by attention to all that affects
the health, and by avoiding as much as possible the administration of
medicines. No case should be allowed, however, to run on without seeking
competent medical advice.

An excellent remedy for the diarrhoea of children is the subnitrate of
bismuth.

This medicine may be disguised in the food, as in a case narrated by Dr.
Inmann. A lad about ten years old was brought to him by an aunt, who
stated that the boy suffered much from diarrhoea, and was emaciating
visibly; that he would not try any domestic remedy, was an obstinate
fellow, and determined to take no medicine. After sending the lad to
another room the doctor recommended the lady to get some white bismuth
and give it to the cook, telling her to mix a large pinch of it with
some butter, and to send in the bread and butter so arranged that the
lady would know which was for the boy. This was done. The lad was duly
drugged without his knowledge, and the diarrhoea stopped in two days.


INDIGESTION.

Infants and young children suffer often from indigestion, or
_dyspepsia_, as well as adults. One of the most frequent signs of this
disorder is vomiting. But every infant which throws up its milk is not
suffering from indigestion. Vomiting is sometimes a sign of health, and
shows that the stomach is vigorous enough to free itself promptly from
excess of food. The child is thus saved from the effects of
over-feeding. The obvious remedy is to diminish the quantity of milk
taken at each nursing or meal.

But vomiting from over-feeding is very different from that caused by
irritation of the stomach, which causes it to reject proper food. The
common sense of the mother will enable her easily to distinguish between
the two sorts. In the former, the child remains cheerful, happy, and
well nourished, scarcely changing countenance even while the
superabundant milk is being returned from its stomach. In the latter,
the child soon becomes pale, feeble, and distressed looking.
Over-feeding, if persisted in, may occasion indigestion.

Indigestion during the first year of life shows itself by languor,
pallor, and evident discomfort. The child wishes to be constantly at the
breast, and suckles eagerly, but vomits the milk shortly after, usually
curdled. The bowels are either constipated or too loose. The most
prominent and often the only symptoms are this alternation of vomiting
and an eager desire to take the breast, associated with loss of flesh
and strength. The child is evidently not nourished by the food it takes,
and if relief be not afforded it sinks, and dies from starvation in the
course of a month or two.

Children who are _weaned abruptly, and at a very early period_, are
liable to a serious form of indigestion, which may come on in a few days
after weaning, or not for several weeks.

Older children are liable to slight attacks of indigestion, which are
attended with vomiting or purging, or both, for a few days, when the
stomach recovers its health. In some cases, however, the derangement
continues longer, the child then losing its appetite, and suffering from
colic, and becoming fretful, pale, and weak. The breath becomes sour,
and the passages green. Such cases require careful watching and
treatment, especially during the hot weather of the summer.

In infants at the breast indigestion is usually caused by giving the
breast too often or by an excess or change in the quality of the milk.
Errors in diet on the part of the mother, and other faults which we have
pointed out in our chapter on nursing, are the most frequent causes of
this ailment. In children who are weaned the causes are almost
invariably improper food or food taken too frequently, or in too large
quantities. The hint should be taken when a child rejects its food, to
change it, or give it less. Instead of this, too frequently the child is
urged to take more, and thus derange the stomach.

The _treatment_ of indigestion in childhood is usually easy and
satisfactory. The first thing is to look to and regulate the quantity
and quality of the food. If it be due to excess of food, this is easily
remedied. If due to improper quality, change it promptly. When the
mother's health is such that her milk is found to frequently or
constantly disagree with her child, a suitable wet-nurse must be
procured.

In most cases the attack is mild, and readily yields to a few hours'
abstinence from food. As it often happens, especially in
artificially-fed infants, that the gastric juice is more acid than it
should be, great benefit is derived from the use of _precipitated chalk
or carbonate of soda_. A few grains of either of these, given several
times a day for a few days, will be found to effect a surprising change
and alone restore the appetite and digestion.

In older children an attack of indigestion should be the signal for
putting them upon a simpler and more restricted diet for a time. Milk,
eggs, arrowroot, tapioca, sago, panada, &c., are better than animal
food. If the child becomes much weakened, jellies, chicken, lamb,
mutton, or oyster broth, beef tea, or wine whey, should be given to
check the tendency to exhaustion.

We repeat, that most cases of indigestion in infants and children yield
promptly to an immediate change in the diet, without medicine.


HINTS ON HOME GOVERNMENT.

On this subject, as it may be regarded as outside of our domain of
hygiene, we have but few words to say. We wish, however, in the
interests of medicine and hygiene, to insist upon the necessity of
training children to prompt, implicit obedience to the parental voice.
As physicians, we have seen the spoilt, undisciplined child, when sick,
rebellious alike to persuasion and command, refusing food and medicine,
revolting against the slightest examination, and by its violence and
capriciousness, converting a slight illness into a dangerous one. For a
child unaccustomed to obedience there is no proper treatment possible
when sick; nor when well is there any proper care possible for the
preservation of the health. What it wants, and not what it ought to
have, is given it, and every one knows that a child's instincts are no
guide to health. With health, happiness is sacrificed also. There is no
surer way of making a child miserable than by accustoming it to obtain
all it wishes, and to encounter no will but its own. Its desires grow by
what they feed upon. As a French writer on education has well expressed
it: 'At first it will want the cane you hold in your hand, then your
watch, then the bird it sees flying in the air, and then the star
twinkling overhead. How, short of omnipotence, is it possible to gratify
its ever-growing wants?' Accustom the child to hear 'no' and 'must,' but
let these hard words be softened by voice and manner--an art in which
every true mother excels.

But, on the other hand, do not harass the child by needless
restrictions, nor worry it by excess of management. We desire to call
attention here to the words of an eminent English divine and learned
writer, Archbishop Whately:--

'Most carefully should we avoid the error which some parents, not
(otherwise) deficient in good sense commit, of imposing gratuitous
restrictions and privations, and purposely inflicting needless
disappointments, for the purpose of inuring children to the pains and
troubles they will meet with in after life. Yes; be assured they _will_
meet with quite _enough_ in every portion of life, including childhood,
without your strewing their paths with thorns of your own providing. And
often enough you will have to limit their amusements for the sake of
needful study, to restrain their appetites for the sake of health, to
chastise them for faults, and in various ways to inflict pain or
privations for the sake of avoiding some greater evils. Let this always
be explained to them whenever it is possible to do so; and endeavor in
all cases to make them look on the parent as never the _voluntary_ giver
of anything but good. To any hardships which they are convinced you
inflict reluctantly, and to those which occur through the dispensation
of the All-wise, they will more easily be trained to submit with a good
grace, than to any gratuitous sufferings devised for them by fallible
man. To raise hopes on purpose to produce disappointment, to give
provocation merely to exercise the temper, and, in short, to inflict
pain of any kind, merely as a training for patience and fortitude--this
is a kind of discipline which man should not presume to attempt. If such
trials prove a discipline not so much of cheerful fortitude as of
resentful aversion and suspicious distrust of the parent as a capricious
tyrant, you will have only yourself to thank for the result.' It is a
matter of common observation that those who complain of their fortune
and lot in life have often to complain only of their own conduct. The
same is true of those who complain of their children. They have
themselves only to blame in each case.

Parents who do not appreciate the responsibilities of their position
usually err on the side of over-indulgence to their children; on the
contrary, those fully alive to the importance of home discipline often
err on the side of over-regulation. To the latter, we commend the reply
of an old lady to the anxious inquiry made by the mother of a too
rigorously disciplined child as to what course should be pursued, 'I
recommend, my dear, a little wholesome neglect.'

Lessons of truthfulness; of fortitude in bearing pain and
disappointment; of the duty of right doing, because it is right and not
because it is the best policy; of frugality and industry; of
self-denial, contentment, and charity, should be early impressed upon
the plastic mind of infancy. We wish also, in this connection, to quote
the words of a wise physician and observer of men, that 'the little
child who is brought up to repeat short and simple prayers at his
mother's knees, has a rule of conduct thereby instilled into him which
will probably never be forgotten; and, in after life he may not only
look back to these beginnings with feelings of reverence and love, but
the recollection of them may serve to strengthen him in some good
resolution, and help him to resist many a powerful temptation.'

We have had occasion frequently in various parts of this work to point
out the intimate relations which exist between the physical and mental
nature of parents and their offspring. Like parent, like child. The same
close connection and sympathy extends to the moral and religious
character; hence that direction and training which relies largely upon
the _force of parental example_ is the most effective method of home
government. Virtuous precepts, or rigidly enforced rules of conduct,
avail little unless the parent keeps the path to which he points the
child.

'Well, upon my word, Mrs. Primrose, you have the handsomest children in
the whole country.' 'Ah! neighbor,' replied the wife of the Vicar of
Wakefield, 'they are as heaven made them--handsome enough if they be
good enough--handsome is that handsome does.'


IS THE RACE DEGENERATING?

This is a question which perplexes some minds in our times. A German
author of note has recently written a volume to prove that each
generation is feebler than the preceding. Old physicians say that in
their youth diseases of exhaustion were rarer than now-a-days. For this
our habits of life, the pressure on our nervous systems, the prevalence
of hereditary diseases, and the excessive use of narcotics and
stimulants, are held responsible. 'The fathers,' say these croakers,
'have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'

We attach little weight to these gloomy views. There are plenty of facts
on the other side. The suits of old armour still preserved in our
museums prove that, as a rule, we have slightly gained in weight and
size. Tables of life insurance companies and reports of statistics show
that the average length of human life is greater than it ever was. Dr.
Charles D. Meigs used to state in his lectures that the size of the head
of American infants at birth is somewhat greater than in the Old World.

That there are more numerous diseases than formerly, is not true; but it
is true that we know more, for we have learned to detect them more
readily and to examine them more minutely. This is especially true of
such as are peculiar to women. Within the last ten or twenty years so
much that is of sovereign importance has been contributed to this
department of medical science, that it is hardly possible for one to
become an expert in it unless he gives it his whole attention.

To avoid the tendency to debilitated frames and chronic diseases, woman
should therefore learn not only the laws of her own physical life, but
the relations in which she stands to the other sex. Thus she can guard
her own health, and preserve her offspring from degeneracy. It is only
by enlightenment, and the extension of knowledge on the topics relating
to soundness of body and mind, that we can found rational hopes of a
permanent and wide-spread improvement of the race.

Some have maintained, not understanding the bearing of the facts, that
such degeneracy is more conspicuous in the frame of woman than anywhere
else. They quote the narratives of travellers, who describe with what
fortitude--we might almost say with what indifference--the Indian women,
and those of other savage races, bear the pangs of childbirth, and how
little the ordeal weakens them. A squaw will turn aside for an hour or
two when on the march, bear a child, wash it in some stream, bind it on
the top of her load, and shouldering both, quietly rejoin the vagrant
troop. Our artificial life seems indeed, in this respect, to be to
blame; but if we look closer, we can learn that these wild women often
perish alone, that they are rarely fertile, that unnatural labors are
not unknown, and that the average duration of their life is decidedly
less than among the females in civilised States.




HEALTH IN MARRIAGE.


_THE PERILS OF MATERNITY._

In the early part of this work we quoted some authorities to show that
those women who choose single life as their portion do not escape the
ills of existence, nor do they protract their days, but, on the
contrary, as shown by extensive statistics, are more prone to affections
of the mind, and die earlier. While, therefore, nature thus rewards
those who fulfil the functions of their being, by taking part in the
mysterious processes of reproduction, and perpetuating the drama of
existence, it is true also that she associates these privileges with
certain deprivations and suffering. We do not wish to throw around the
married state any charms which are not its own. Rather is it our aim to
portray with absolute, and therefore instructive, fidelity all that this
condition offers of unfavorable as well as favorable aspects.

Let us say at once, maternity has its perils,--perils as peculiar and as
inevitable as those which pertain to single life. Our present purpose is
to mention these, and by stating their nature and what are their causes,
so far as known, to put married women on their guard against them. Some
are almost trifling, at least not involving danger to life; others most
harassing to the sufferer and to her friends.

We shall now consider the principal diseases to which married women are
exposed from pregnancy, from childbirth, and from nursing.


DISEASES OF PREGNANCY.

In treating of pregnancy we have pointed out that it was a healthy and
happy condition to most women. The exceptional cases are mainly those in
which the health is injured by mental trouble or anxiety. Thus the young
and delicate girl newly married is full of vague alarms in regard to the
pains and dangers of her untried path to maternity. She frets herself
and embitters her life during those months in which tranquility is of
the utmost importance. Is it surprising, then, that her health should be
disordered, and that she should suffer from some of the diseases
incident to the pregnant state?

Again, the mother of a large family, but the mistress of a small income,
is distressed by the thought of additional expense, which it seems to
her, particularly in her nervous state, impossible to meet. This
condition of protracted anxiety is ill fitted to enable her to resist
any tendency to disease to which she may be exposed. Indeed, prolonged
vexation from these and other causes not unfrequently tend to _puerperal
mania_ (a disease of which we shall shortly have something to say), or
to some other nervous affection.

The wife during pregnancy should therefore be treated with unusual
kindness by those about her, and every attempt made to soften her lot.
The erroneous impression prevails among some that the pregnant wife
should enure herself to toil and hardship. This notion is doubtless due
to the observation that domestic animals that are subjected to a life of
labor bring forth their young with little suffering. 'The cow in the
country farm living unfettered in the meadow until the day of calving,
has in general a safe and easy labor. The poor beast, on the contrary,
which is kept in a town dairy, has a time so incredibly dangerous that
the proprietor generally sells off his stock every year, and replaces it
with cows in calf; such cows not being put into the stalls till within
six or eight days of the expected period of labor. The deduction from
this is that an artificial mode of life--a life maintained by improper
food, and without a sufficient supply of pure air, or a due amount of
exercise--has a most deleterious influence upon the process of labor;
and not that a toilsome existence, embittered with all the pains and
anxieties of poverty, gives comparative immunity from danger in the hour
of childbirth.' One of the discomforts of pregnancy is--


MORNING SICKNESS.

This affection, when confined, as is usually the case, to the morning
and early part of the day, rarely requires much medical care. Its
absence, which, as we have said, is a frequent cause of miscarriage, is
more to be regretted than its presence especially as it is apt to be
replaced by more serious troubles.

Relief will be afforded by washing the face and hands in cold water, and
taking a cup of milk or a little coffee and a biscuit or sandwich,
_before raising the head from the pillow_ in the morning, remaining in
bed about a quarter of an hour after this early meal; then dressing
quickly, and immediately going out for a half-hour's walk. Rest in a
half-recumbent posture during the day, particularly after meals, is
beneficial. The affection is mostly a nervous one, and is best combated
by eating. The food should be plain and unirritating, but nutritious,
and should be taken frequently, in small quantities at a time.

When the nausea and vomiting are excessive, and continue during the day,
there is generally some disordered condition of the digestive apparatus.

This may be corrected by taking at night a tea-spoonful of the
confection of senna, a pleasant preparation of this ordinarily
disagreeable medicine, and by drinking three times a day, before each
meal, a wine-glassful of a tea made with columbo. Half an ounce of
powdered columbo should be added, for this purpose, to a pint of boiling
water.

Dr. John H. Griscom of New York recommends the bromide of potassium,
which is a harmless medicine for domestic practice, as affording the
most useful means of arresting the nausea attendant on pregnancy.

The following prescription may be compounded by any druggist, and will
often be found very effective:

    Take of Bromide of Potassium, two drachms,
            Cinnamon water, three fluid ounces.

Of this a dessert spoonful may be taken two or three times a day. It may
be used with confidence as an entirely safe and harmless remedy in this
troublesome affection.

A prescription frequently ordered for the nausea of pregnancy by the
late distinguished Dr. Meigs, consisted of equal parts of sweet tincture
of rhubarb and compound tincture of gentian--a dessert spoonful to be
taken after meals.

_Pain in the abdomen_, caused by the distension of its walls, may be
relieved by the application of equal parts of sweet oil and laudanum.

Another common and annoying, but rarely dangerous, trouble during
pregnancy is--


VARICOSE VEINS.

The veins of the legs become distended, knotted, and painful. Women who
have borne a number of children suffer most from this affection. It
seldom attacks those passing through their first pregnancies. It
ordinarily first shows itself during the second pregnancy, and becomes
rapidly worse during the third or fourth.

Although it is difficult to cure this disease during the continuance of
the pregnancy, much can be done to prevent its occurrence, and to
relieve it when present. Tight garters worn below the knee, and closely
laced corsets, tend to cause and increase this swollen condition of the
veins. Neither should be used during pregnancy.

Relief is best afforded to the suffering parts by means of a well-made
and adjusted _elastic stocking_, which may be readily procured from a
druggist or surgical instrument maker. In severe cases it may be
necessary for the patient to keep herself as much as possible in the
recumbent position on the bed or sofa. In all cases the feet should be
supported when seated, so as to keep the blood from further distending
the already swollen veins.


PILES.

That painful condition of the veins of the lower bowel known as
haemorrhoids, or piles, is a not unfrequent annoyance to pregnant women.
Sometimes it is caused by prolonged constipation. During the period of
pregnancy, therefore, constipation should be guarded against.

Ordinarily the piles are small, and of little consequence beyond the
slight uneasiness they occasion. The trifling loss of blood from them is
of no account, and often beneficial. The case is different, however,
when the piles are large and painful, and give rise to much pain and
copious bleeding. They then require prompt treatment.

In the _treatment_ of piles the first point to be aimed at is to keep
the bowels moderately open. It must not be forgotten, however, that
during pregnancy only the mildest of purgatives are ever to be given.
Castor oil, although a disagreeable, is a most excellent prescription in
these cases. A small dose, repeated when necessary, will be found to
act most kindly. If this remedy be too repugnant to the patient, small
quantities of citrate of magnesia, or of cream of tartar, or of some of
the natural mineral waters, may be employed. Small injections of
lukewarm water are also of great service, and may be tried instead of
laxatives.

After every movement the parts should be well sponged with cold water,
and an ointment of galls and opium, procured from the druggist, applied.

If the parts become very much inflamed, warm poultices or hot chamomile
solutions should be used, and the patient kept in bed until the
inflammation subsides.

No attempt is to be made to effect the radical cure of piles during
pregnancy. Any such attempt, besides being dangerous, is unnecessary,
for the piles usually disappear of their own accord after the
confinement. Every effort to make the sufferer more comfortable in the
manner we have suggested is, however, right and safe.


DIARRHOEA.

Some women always suffer from looseness of the bowels during pregnancy;
others are very liable to attacks of it during this period, either
coming on without any assignable cause or easily excited by any slight
indiscretion in eating. In many instances these attacks alternate with
constipation or with morning sickness.

The diarrhoea, if at all severe or prolonged, should not be allowed to go
on unchecked, for it quickly weakens the patient and predisposes her to
abortion. The foetus is especially endangered when the passages are
attended with much bearing-down pain. In some exceptional cases,
however, a slight diarrhoea seems to be beneficial, for every attempt to
remove it appears to do harm; but these instances are very rare.

The _treatment_ required is a simple, and must be a cautious one.
Ordinarily no medicine will be needed. If the patient will merely
confine herself to milk and arrowroot and rice for twenty-four hours a
cure will be effected in mild cases. When it is apparent that the attack
has been caused by improper food, a table-spoonful of castor-oil or a
tea-spoonful or two of tincture of rhubarb will remove the offending
material in the bowels, upon the presence of which the diarrhoea depends.
A small injection of a tea-spoonful of rice water and thirty or forty
drops of laudanum will often speedily arrest the excessive discharges,
and relieve the pain.


CONSTIPATION.

No woman while pregnant should allow several days to elapse without a
movement from the bowels. The symptoms of constipation, slight at the
outset, soon cause great inconvenience. Among the effects, which, sooner
or later, show themselves, may be feverishness, sleeplessness, headache,
distressing dreams, sickness at the stomach, severe bearing-down pains,
and piles.

Medicines are rarely required in the treatment of constipation, and the
pregnant woman should never take an active purgative, excepting under
medical advice. Outdoor exercise and regularity in soliciting nature's
calls, together with a change in the diet, will usually have the desired
effect. Brown bread, wheaten grits, oatmeal gruel, ripe fruits, fresh
vegetables, stewed prunes, or prunes soaked in olive oil, baked apples,
figs, tamarinds, honey, and currant jelly, are all laxative articles
which should be tried.

In some instances a tumbler of cold water drunk the last thing at night,
and another the first thing in the morning, will act in a most
satisfactory manner. If the constipation should resist these safe and
homely remedies, which will rarely be found the case, then medical
assistance should be called in. On no account should the wife herself,
or in accordance with the counsel of any non-medical friend, resort to
purgative drugs.


COUGH.

A troublesome cough sometimes affects delicate, nervous women during the
early months of pregnancy. If it be not very frequent nor severe, it
requires no attention, as it will pass away of itself in a short time.
When, however, it disturbs the sleep at night, renders the patient
anxious, and causes headache and weariness, it is time to do something
for it. It may, indeed, be so violent as to threaten abortion on account
of the forcible concussion of the abdomen it produces.

A tea-spoonful of paregoric occasionally repeated during the day will be
found a most efficient soothing remedy.


WAKEFULNESS.

Sleeplessness, always distressing, is particularly so to pregnant women.
If prolonged, it leads to serious consequences. It should receive,
therefore, the most prompt attention.

The _causes_ of sleeplessness during pregnancy are numerous. Dyspepsia
is one of them. Whenever indigestion is present the diet should be plain
and simple, and everything avoided which produces heartburn, sourness,
or flatulency. It is important also not to take tea or coffee late in
the afternoon or evening--a late cup of either being a frequent cause in
itself of sleeplessness.

Sometimes the reason for the wakefulness will be found in a want of
exercise or too constant confinement to closely-heated rooms. Or, it may
be that exciting novels are read late in the evening. Perhaps the
evening meal is too heavy and taken too late.

The _treatment_ of sleeplessness consists first, of course in the
removal of the apparent cause. The patient should have a regular hour
for retiring, which should be an early one. The bed-room should be
quiet, well ventilated, and slightly warmed. The bed coverings must not
be too heavy nor the pillows too high.

A warm bath of the temperature of 90 to 96 degrees Fahrenheit, taken
just before going to bed, often invites sleep. A rapid sponging of the
body with warm water may have the same effect. A tumbler of cold water,
when the skin is hot and dry, swallowed at bed-time, sometimes affords
relief. If the bowels are constipated relief should be sought in the
manner we have just mentioned in speaking of constipation.

When there is nervous excitement at night, and the means we have advised
fail to propitiate 'nature's soft nurse,' there is a sedative medicine
which may be used with safety and effect--it is bromide of potassium.
The same proportion which we have given for the treatment of morning
sickness (see page 355) may be now used. Have the three-ounce mixture
put up by the druggist, and take a dessert-spoonful or a table-spoonful
just before bed-time. It frequently acts almost as if by magic. On no
account should recourse be had to opiates or dangerous sedative drugs.


DISEASES OF CHILDBED.

Childbirth being a healthful physiological condition, is usually neither
attended nor followed by mischievous results. Occasionally, however, the
mother suffers in consequence of the prolonged or difficult character of
her labor. The longer the labor the greater the danger to both mother
and child. Thus childbirth pangs prolonged beyond twenty-four or
thirty-six hours are much more apt to be attended with danger or
followed by disease than those terminated within a few hours.

The following aphorisms were laid down by the late distinguished
Professor James Y. Simpson, namely:--

The mother is more liable to suffer under diseases of the womb after
long than after short labors. The child for some time after birth is
more liable to disease and death, in proportion as the labor has been
longer in its duration. First labors are longer in duration than
subsequent ones, and in a proportionate degree more complicated and
dangerous to mother and child. Male births are longer in duration than
female births, and in a proportionate degree more complicated and
dangerous to mother and child.

Many tedious confinements, however, are happily terminated without the
slightest injury to mother or child. Whenever the labor has been
unusually prolonged, unusual care and caution should be exercised in the
treatment of the mother and infant for many weeks after the event.

One of the most distressing affections to which women are exposed from
childbirth is


PUERPERAL MANIA.

This is a variety of insanity which attacks some women shortly after
childbirth, or at the period of weaning a child. The period of attack is
uncertain, as it may manifest itself first in a very few days, or not
for some months after the confinement. Its duration is likewise very
variable. In most instances a few weeks restore the patient to herself;
but there are many cases where judicious treatment for months is
required, and there are a few where the mental alienation is permanent,
and the wife and mother is never restored to her sanity.

The question has been much discussed, Whether such a condition is to be
imputed to a hereditary tendency to insanity in the family, and also
whether a mother who has had such an attack is liable to transmit to
her children, male or female, any greater liability to mental disease.
We are well aware what deep importance the answers to these inquiries
have to many a parent; and in forming our replies, we are guided not
only by our own experience, but by the recorded opinion of those members
of our profession who have given the subject close and earnest
attention. To the first query, the reply must be made that in one-half,
or nearly one-half, of the cases of this variety of insanity there is
traceable a hereditary tendency to aberration of mind. Usually one or
more of the direct progenitors, or of the near relatives of the patient,
will be found to have manifested unmistakable marks of unsoundness of
mind. In the remaining one-half cases no such tendency can be traced,
and in these it must be presumed that the mania is a purely local and
temporary disorder of the brain. The incurable cases are usually found
in the first class of patients, as we might naturally expect.

The likelihood of the children, in turn, inheriting any such
predisposition, depends on the answer to the inquiry we first put. If
the mania itself is the appearance of a family malady, then the chances
are that it will pass downward with other transmissible qualities. But
if the mania arise from causes which are transitory, then there is no
ground for alarm.

An inquiry still more frequently put to the physician by the husband and
by the patient herself after recovery, is, Whether an attack at one
confinement predisposes her to a similar attack at a subsequent similar
period. There is considerable divergence of opinion on this point. Dr.
Gooch, an English physician of wide experience, is very strenuous in
denying any such increased likelihood, while an American obstetrician of
note is quite as positive in taking the opposite view. The truth of the
matter undoubtedly is, that where the mania is the exhibition of
hereditary tendency, it is apt to recur; but where it arises from
transient causes, then it will only occur again if such causes exist.


THE IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION.

Here, therefore, we perceive the importance of every woman, who has had,
or who fears to have, one of these distressing experiences, being put on
her guard against disregarding those rules of health the neglect of
which may result so disastrously. One of the most powerful of these
causes is _exhaustion_. We mean this in its widest sense, mental or
physical. In those instances where mania appears at weaning, it is
invariably where the child has been nursed too long, or where the mother
has not had sufficient strength to nourish it without prostrating
herself. It should be observed as a hygienic law, that no mother should
nurse her children after she has had one attack of mania. The mere
nervous excitement is altogether too much for her. She must once and for
ever renounce this tender pleasure. We even go so far as to recommend
that no woman in whose family a mental taint is hereditary shall nurse
her children.

Anxiety, low spirits, unusual weakness from any cause, are powerful
predisposing causes; and therefore in all cases, especially in those
where the family or personal history leads one to fear such an attack,
they should be avoided. The diet should be nourishing and abundant, but
not stimulating. Cheerful society and surroundings should be courted,
and indulgences in any single train of ideas avoided. As for directions
during the attack, they are unnecessary, as to combat it successfully
often tasks the utmost skill of the physician; and it will be for him to
give these directions.


WHITE-FLOWING.

This affection, though not confined to married women, is quite common
during pregnancy and after confinement. There are few married women who
pass through their lives without at some time or other having suffered
from it.

We will consider first that _form of white discharge which affects
pregnant women_. It ordinarily comes on during the latter half of
pregnancy. Not only does it occasion much inconvenience, but it may,
when copious, seriously weaken the system and impair the health.

The best treatment consists in a regulated, but supporting, diet without
stimulants, the avoidance of all marital relations, plenty of rest in
bed or on a sofa, a warm hip bath every morning, and the use of
injections. One of the best injections for this purpose is made by
adding a table-spoonful of lead-water to a pint of water, and injecting
the whole twice a day, by means of a rubber, hard-ball syringe. As this
solution will stain the body-linen, due precautions should be taken.
Instead of this injection, a small tea-spoonful of alum dissolved in a
pint of water and injected once a day may be used.

We will now say a few words upon the _form of white-flowing which
affects women after childbirth_. It is a common result of too frequent
confinements or of successive abortions. In women of a tendency to
consumption it has been observed that white-flowing is more apt to arise
in connection with child-bearing. Prolonged nursing, resulting in great
debility of the mother, often produces very profuse white discharges.

In warm countries this affection is much more frequent than elsewhere.
Moist and damp climates are said also to render women particularly prone
to it.

The _treatment_ must have regard to the general health of the patient.
The mode of life must be regulated. A change of scene, if it can be
procured, is often of the greatest benefit. Baths are also very useful.
They may be taken in the form of a 'sponge bath,' or 'hip bath.' If the
former be preferred, the patient should every morning, in a warm room,
sponge the whole body, at first with tepid water and, after a time, with
cold, the skin being well dried and rubbed with a coarse towel. The
hip-bath may be employed either of simple, or of salt, or of medicated
water. It should be at first warm, and afterwards cold. The skin is to
be well rubbed after the hip as after the sponge-bath. The hip-bath may
be medicated with three or four table-spoonfuls of alum, or with a
quarter of a pound of common household soda.

In connection with this treatment, injections should be employed in the
manner just directed for the white-flowing of pregnancy.


MILK-LEG.

This affection usually appears about ten days or two weeks after
confinement. The first symptoms which show themselves are general
uneasiness, chills, headache, and a quickened pulse. Then pains in the
groin, extending down the thigh and leg of that side are complained of.
Soon the whole limb becomes enlarged, hot, white, and shining.
Feverishness and sleeplessness now naturally show themselves.

The disease rarely lasts more than two or three weeks, although the limb
remains stiff, perhaps, for a number of weeks longer. It is painful, but
not dangerous--rarely proving fatal.

When one leg is recovering, the disease sometimes attacks the other, and
runs through the same course.

The treatment consists in enveloping the limb in turpentine stupes,
followed by the application of poultices to the groin and a light diet
at first. So soon as the severity of the attack is over, tonics and a
generous diet should be given. The limb is then to be painted with
tincture of iodine, or rather a mixture of one part of the tincture of
iodine with two parts of alcohol, and afterwards wrapped in a flannel
bandage.

The term 'milk-leg' has been applied to this inflammation, for such it
is, from the notion that in some way the milk was diverted from the
breasts to the limb causing the white swelling. It is scarcely
necessary to say this theory is entirely erroneous.


INWARD WEAKNESS.

Many, we may say most, married women whose health is broken down by some
disease peculiar to their sex, refer the commencement of their suffering
to some confinement or premature birth. Perhaps, in four cases out of
five, this breaking down is one of the symptoms of a displacement of the
internal organs,--a malposition, in other words, of the uterus. This is
familiarly known as an 'inward weakness;' and many a woman drags through
years of misery caused by a trouble of this sort.

It is true that these malpositions occur in unmarried women, and
occasionally in young girls. But it is also true that their most
frequent causes are associated with the condition of maternity. The
relaxation of the ligaments or bands which hold the uterus in its place,
which takes place during pregnancy and parturition, predisposes to such
troubles. It requires time and care for these ligaments to resume their
natural strength and elasticity after childbirth. Then, too, the walls
of the abdomen are one of the supports provided by nature to keep all
the organs they contain in proper place by a constant elastic pressure.
When, as in pregnancy, these walls are distended and put on the strain,
suddenly to be relaxed after confinement, the organs miss their support,
and are liable to take positions which interfere with the performance of
their natural functions. Therefore we may rightly place the greater
tendency of married women to this class of diseases among the perils of
maternity.

Within the last fifteen years, probably no one branch of medical science
has received greater attention at the hands of physicians than this of
diseases of women. Many hitherto inexplicable cases of disease, much
suffering referred to other parts of the system, have been traced to
local misfortunes of the character we have just described. Medical works
are replete with cases of the highest interest illustrative of this. We
are afraid to state some of the estimates which have been given of the
number of women in this country who suffer from these maladies; nor do
we intend to give in detail the long train of symptoms which
characterize them. Such a sad rehearsal would avail little or nothing to
the non-medical reader. It is enough to say, that the woman who finds
herself afflicted by manifold aches and pains, without obvious cause;
who suffers with her head and her stomach and her nerves; who discovers
that, in spite of the precepts of religion and the efforts of will, she
is becoming irritable, impatient, dissatisfied with her friends, her
family, and herself; who is, in short, unable any longer to perceive
anything of beauty and of pleasure in this world, and hardly anything to
hope for in the next,--this woman, in all probability, is suffering from
a displacement or an ulceration of the uterus. Let this be relieved, and
her sufferings are ended. Often a very simple procedure can do this. We
recall to mind a case described in touching language by a distinguished
teacher of medicine. It is of an interesting young married lady, who
came from the Southern States to consult him on her condition. She could
not walk across the room without support, and was forced to wear, at
great inconvenience to herself, an abdominal supporter. Her mind was
confused, and she was the victim of apparently causeless unpleasant
sensations. She was convinced that she had been, and still was,
deranged.

The physician could discover nothing wrong about her system other than a
slight falling of the womb. This was easily relieved. She at once
improved in body and mind, soon was able to walk with ease and freedom,
and once more enjoyed the pleasure of life. In a letter written soon
after her return home, she said, 'This beautiful world, which at one
time I could not look upon without disgust, has become once more a
source of delight.' How strongly do these deeply felt words reveal the
difference between her two conditions!

There is one source of great comfort in considering these afflictions.
It is, that they are in the great majority of cases traceable to


CAUSES WHICH ARE AVOIDABLE.

Most of them are the penalties inflicted by stern nature on infractions
of her laws. Hence the great, the unspeakable, importance of women being
made aware of the dangers to which they are exposed, and being fully
informed how to avoid them. This task we now assume.

There is, we concede, a tendency in the changes which take place during
pregnancy and parturition to expose the system to such accidents. But
this tendency can be counteracted by care, and by the avoidance of
certain notorious and familiar infractions of the laws of health. It is
usually not until she gets up and commences to go about the house, that
the woman feels any pain referable to a displaced womb. Very frequently
the origin of it is leaving the bed too soon, or attempting to do some
work, too much for her strength, shortly after a premature birth or a
confinement. Not only should a woman keep her bed, as a rule, for
nineteen days after every abortion and every confinement, but for weeks
after she commences to move about she should avoid any severe muscular
exertion, especially lifting, long walks, straining, or working on the
sewing-machine. Straining at stool is one of the commonest causes. Many
women have a tendency to constipation for weeks or months after
childbirth. They are aware that it is unfavorable to health, and they
seek to aid nature by violent muscular effort. They cannot possibly do a
more unwise act. Necessarily the efforts they make press the womb
forcibly down, and its ligaments being relaxed, it assumes either
suddenly on some one well-remembered occasion, or gradually after a
succession of efforts, some unnatural position. The same reasoning
applies to relieving the bladder, which is connected in some persons
with undue effort.

Constipation, if present, must, and almost always can, be relieved by a
judicious diet, and the moderate use of injections. These simple methods
are much to be preferred to purgative medicines, which are rarely
satisfactory if they are continued for much time. When anything more is
needed, we recommend a glass of some laxative mineral water, which
should be taken before breakfast.

For the difficulty with the bladder we mentioned, diet is also
efficacious. It is familiarly known that several popular articles of
food have a decided action in stimulating the kidneys: for instance,
asparagus and water-melon. Such articles should be freely partaken, and
their effect can be increased by some vegetable infusion, taken
warm,--as juniper-tea or broom-tea. The application to the parts of a
cloth wrung out in water as hot as it can conveniently be borne, is also
a most excellent assistant to nature.

Similar strains on the muscles of the abdomen are consequent on violent
coughing and vomiting. Therefore these should be alleviated, as they
always can be, by some anodyne taken internally. Any medical man is
familiar with many such preparations, so that it seems unnecessary to
give any formula, particularly as it would have to be altered, more or
less, to suit any given case.


OTHER CAUSES OF INWARD WEAKNESS.

Women of languid disposition and relaxed muscles are frequently urged to
'take exercise,' and to 'go to work.' Their condition sometimes excites
censure rather than commiseration, because it is thought that they do
not exert, and thus strengthen, themselves as much as they should. We
are quite as much in favour of work and vigorous muscles as any one. But
often it were the most foolish advice possible to give a woman, to tell
her to seek active exercise. It is just what she should avoid, as it may
ultimately give rise to that very trouble which, now only threatening,
is the cause of her listlessness. Many instances are familiar to every
physician of extensive experience, where a long walk, a hard day's work,
a vigorous dance in the evening, or a horseback ride, has left behind it
a uterine weakness which has caused years of misery. Especially after
confinement or premature delivery it is prudent for a woman to avoid any
such exertion for months and months. Moderate employment of her muscles
in any light avocation, short walks and drives, fresh air, with
judicious exercise,--these are well enough in every instance, but beyond
them there is danger. We know too well that advice like this will sound
like mockery to some who read these lines. They have to work, and work
hard; they have no opportunity to spare themselves; the iron hand of
necessity is upon them, and they must obey. We can but sympathize with
them, and cheer them with the consolation that many a woman has borne
all this and lived to a healthy and happy old age. Nature has surrounded
the infinitely delicate machinery of woman's organization with a
thousand safeguards, but for all that, the delicacy remains; and it is
because so many women are forced to neglect their duties to their
ownselves, that so many thousands walk the streets of our great cities,
living martyrs.

But no. We must modify what we have just written. In justice to our own
sex, and in all truthfulness, we cannot allow the blame to be removed
altogether from women themselves. They alone are responsible for one of
the most fruitful causes of their wretchedness. The theme is a
threadbare one. We approach it without hardly any hope that we shall do
good by repeated warnings utterly monotonous and tiresome. But still
less can we feel comfortable in mind to pass it over in silence. We
refer to the foolish and injurious pressure which is exerted on the
lower part of the chest and the abdomen by tight corsets, belts, and
bands to support the under-clothing; in other words,


TIGHT LACING.

Why it is, by what strange freak of fashion and blindness to artistic
rules, women of the present day think that a deformed and
ill-proportioned waist is a requisite of beauty, we do not know.
Certainly they never derived such an idea from a contemplation of those
monuments of perfect beauty bequeathed to posterity by the chisels of
Attic artists, nor from those exquisite figures which lend to the canvas
of Titian and Raphael such immortal fame. Look, for instance, at that
work of the former artist, now rendered so familiar by the
chromo-lithographic process, called 'Titian's Daughter.' It is the
portrait of a blonde-haired maiden holding aloft a trencher heaped with
fruits. She turns her face to the beholder, leaning slightly backward to
keep her equilibrium. Her waist is encircled by a zone of pearls; and it
is this waist we would have our readers observe with something more than
an aesthetic eye. It is the waist of health as well as beauty. Narrower
than either the shoulders or the hips, it is yet anything than that
'wasplike waist,' which is so fashionable a deformity. With such a
waist, a woman is fitted to pass through her married state with health
and pleasure. There is little fear that she will be the tenant of
doctors' chairs, and the victim of drugs and instruments. Let women aim
at beauty, let them regard it as a matter of very high importance, worth
money and time and trouble, and we will applaud them to the echo. But
let them not mistake deformity, vicious shape, unnatural and injurious
attitudes, and hurtful distortions for beauty. That not only degrades
their physical nature, but it lowers their tastes, and places them in
aesthetics on a level with the Indian squaw who flattens her head and
bores her nose, and with the Chinese woman who gilds her teeth, and
compresses her foot into a shapeless mass. True beauty is ever
synonymous with health; and the woman who, out of subservience to the
demands of fashion, for years squeezes her waist and flattens her
breast, will live to rue it when she becomes a mother. Away, then, with
tight corsets and all similar contrivances.

Of a similar objectionable character are many of the devices which
ignorant men connected with the medical profession urge upon the public
for the sake of remedying curvature of the spine, restoring the figure,
or supporting the abdomen. Not a few of such braces and supporters are
seriously dangerous. A good brace, well-fitting, carefully adjusted,
suited to the particular case, is often of excellent service; but the
majority of them do not answer this description. Our advice is, that no
girl, and still more no mother, should wear one of these without it is
fitted upon her by an experienced hand. We have known more than one
instance where the binder put on after childbirth has been wrongly
placed, and pinned so firmly that it has resulted in producing falling
of the womb. This, too, should be sedulously looked after.

All these are causes which are strictly under the control of the woman
herself. They are therefore such as she should have in mind and be on
her guard against. There are others, but they are less frequent, which
are beyond her power; and it would be labor lost, therefore, for us to
mention them.

Equally vain would it be for us to speak of the various means by which
difficulties of this nature are removed. Probably no one branch of
medical surgery has been more assiduously cultivated than this; and the
number of supporters, pessaries, braces, and levers which have been
recently brought before the medical profession for this purpose is
simply appalling. There are women and men who make it their business to
carry them through the country and sell them on commission. We
distinctly warn our readers against this class. They are almost
invariably ignorant and unscrupulous, rich in promises, and regardless
of performances. She who patronizes them will be sure to lose her money,
and will be lucky if she does not forfeit her health also.

The most we shall do is to give some advice how to treat such complaints
on principles of hygiene. And indeed this means nearly one-half the
battle. For without these simple cares, treatment of any kind is
useless, and sure to fail; and with them, many complaints are remedied
as well as avoided.


THE HYGIENIC TREATMENT OF INWARD WEAKNESS.

The first point we would urge is, that the woman who finds herself thus
afflicted should seek to have such a position that she can _rest_. If
she is burdened with family cares, let her, if possible, diminish or
escape them for a time. A rest of a month or two, not at a fashionable
watering-place, nor at a first-class hotel in some noisy city, but in
quiet lodgings, or with some sympathizing friend, will be of great
advantage. This she should obtain without travelling too far. Prolonged
motion in railway carriages is in every instance injurious. If it must
be undertaken, for instance, in order to consult a qualified physician
or to reach some friends, the modern appliances of comfort, such as
air-cushions, foot-rests, and head-supports, should be provided. They
cost but little, and to the invalid their value is great. No such
journey should be undertaken at or near the time when the monthly
illness might come on, as the suffering is always greater at these
periods.

The pleasant associations which group themselves around a _happy home_
are an important element in the treatment of diseases which, like these,
are so intimately connected with the mind and nervous system. It will
not do heedlessly to throw such advantages away. When the home _is_
pleasant, and rest can there be had, the patient, in the majority of
instances, will do well to abide there. But when this is not the case,
for any reason, be it domestic infelicities, in which the husband has a
share,--be it disagreeable relatives, or importunate and tedious
visitors,--then the sooner such a mental weight is removed or avoided
the better.

The _diet_ is a very common subject of error. It is popularly supposed
that everybody who is weak should eat a 'strengthening' diet,--meat
three times a day,--eggs, ale, and beef-tea to any extent. This is a
great error. Frequently such a diet has just the contrary effect from
what is expected. The patient becomes dyspeptic, nervous, and more
debilitated than ever. The rule is, that only that diet is strengthening
which is thoroughly digested, and taken up in the system. Frequently, we
may say in the majority of cases, a small amount of animal food,
especially game, fowls, fish, and soups, with fresh vegetables, and ripe
fruits, will be far more invigorating than heavier foods. Pastry, cakes,
and confectionery should be discarded, and great regularity in the hours
of meals observed. Stimulants of all kinds are, as a rule, unnecessary,
and highly spiced food is to be avoided. There is an old German proverb
which says, 'Pepper helps a man on his horse, and a woman to her grave.'
This is much too strong; but we may avail ourselves, in this connection,
of the grain of truth that it contains.

_Cleanliness_, in its widest sense, is an important element in the
treatment. Not only should the whole surface of the body be thoroughly
washed several times a week, but the whole person should be _soaked_ by
remaining in the water for an hour or more. This has an excellent
effect, and is far from unpleasant. It was regarded in the days of
ancient Rome as such a delightful luxury, and such a necessity, indeed,
that every municipality erected public bathing establishments, with
furnaces to heat the water to such a temperature that persons could
remain in it for several hours without inconvenience.

The use of public baths is almost unknown in this country; but, in place
of them, every modern house of even moderate pretensions has its own
bath-room, so that the custom of cleanliness might appear to be hardly
less general among all classes than in old Rome.

The difficulty is, that so few people appreciate that to thoroughly
cleanse the skin, still more for the bath to have a medicinal effect, it
must be prolonged far beyond the usual time we allow it. The European
physicians, who, as a rule, attach much greater importance to this than
ourselves, require their patients to remain immersed two, three, four,
and occasionally even ten or twelve hours daily! This is said to have
most beneficial results; but who would attempt to introduce it in this
country?

Local cleanliness is of equal importance. This is obtained by means
of----


INJECTIONS AND IRRIGATIONS

of simple water, or of some infusion or solution. The use of the syringe
as an article of essential service in preserving the health of married
women should never be overlooked. Even when they are aware of no
tendency to weakness or unusual discharge, it should be employed once or
twice a week; and when there is debility or disease of the parts
actually present, it is often of the greatest service.

There are many varieties of female syringes now manufactured and sold,
some of which are quite worthless. Much the most convenient, cleanly,
and efficient is the self-injecting india-rubber syringe, which is
worked by means of a ball held in the hand, and which throws a constant
and powerful stream. They come neatly packed in boxes, occupying small
space, and readily transported from place to place. Much depends on
knowing how to apply them. The patient should be seated on the edge of a
low chair or stool with a hard seat, immediately over a basin. The tube
should then be introduced as far as possible without causing pain, and
the liquid should be thrown up for five or ten minutes. About one or two
quarts may be used of a temperature, in ordinary cases, a little lower
than that of the apartment. Water actually cold is by no means to be
recommended, in spite of what some physicians say to the contrary. It
unquestionably occasionally leads to those very evils which the
judicious use of the syringe is intended to avoid.

No fluid but water should be used in ordinary cases. When, however,
there is much discharge, a pinch of powdered alum can be dissolved in
the water; and when there is an unpleasant odor present, a sufficient
amount of solution of permanganate of potash may be added to the water,
to change it to a light pink color. This latter substance is most
admirable in removing all unpleasant odors; but it will stain the
clothing, and must on that account be employed with caution.

We will add a few warnings to what we have just said about injections.
There are times when they should be omitted,--as for instance during the
periodical illness, when the body is either chilled or heated, and
generally when their administration gives pain. There are also some
women in whom the mouth of the womb remains open, especially those who
have borne many children. In such cases, the liquid used is liable to be
thrown into the womb itself, and may give rise to serious troubles.
These should either omit the use of the syringe altogether, or obtain
one of those which throw the water backward and not forward. This
variety is manufactured and sold by various dealers.

_Irrigations_ are more convenient in some respects than injections. They
are administered in the following manner:--A jar holding about a gallon
of water, simple or medicated, as may be advisable, is placed upon a
table or high stand. A long india-rubber tube is attached to the bottom
of the jar, ending in a metallic tube, and furnished with a stopcock.
The patient seats herself on the edge of a chair over a basin,
introduces the tube, and turns the stopcock. The liquid is thus thrown
up in a gentle, equable stream, without any exertion on her part. No
assistant is required, and the force and amount of the liquid can be
exactly graduated by elevating or lowering the jar, or by turning the
stopcock. When there is much debility, or when it is desirable to apply
the liquid for a long time, this method is much preferable to syringing.
The necessary apparatus can readily be obtained in any large city. It
has, however, the drawback that the jar is large, and not convenient to
carry on journeys.

We shall close this chapter on Health in Marriage by a few words on some
of the _ailments to which mothers are subject while nursing._


GATHERED BREASTS.

Gathering of the breasts may occur at any time during the period of
nursing, but it is most frequently met with within the first three
months after childbirth, and is more common after the first than after
subsequent confinements. All women are more or less liable to it, but
those who are weakly, and particularly those who are scrofulous, are
most prone to its attacks.

The _causes_ of inflammation of the breast are numerous. It may be
created by a blow or fall, by a cold, by mental excitement, by
indiscretions in eating or drinking, and by moving the arms too much
when the breasts are enlarged, but its most common cause is undue
accumulation of milk in the breasts. Dr. Bedford is of the opinion that
in nineteen cases out of twenty it is the result of carelessness--of
neglect in not having the breasts properly drawn. 'For example, the
child may be delicate, and not able to extract the milk; or the nurse,
in the gratification of some ancient prejudice derived from a remote
ancestry, does not think it proper to allow the infant to be put to the
breast for two or three days after its birth. In this way, the milk
ducts become greatly distended, inflammation ensues, which, if not
promptly arrested, terminates in suppuration.'

Often the love of pleasure brings with it this punishment to the nursing
mother who neglects her maternal duties. During an evening spent in
society or at the theatre the breasts cannot be relieved in the manner
required for the preservation of their health.

Soreness of the nipples, which renders suckling painful, often leads the
mother to avoid putting the child to the breast as often as she should.
It is only when forced by the pain in the over-distended parts that she
can summon courage to permit of their being emptied. This partial and
irregular nursing is very dangerous, and cannot fail, in most cases, to
lead to the very painful affection of which we are now speaking.

No nursing mother is safe whose breasts are not properly and daily
emptied. If this cannot be done by the child, another infant should be
applied, or a small puppy, either of which expedients is preferable to a
breast-pump, which, however, is much better than neither. If the tender
or chapped condition of the nipples interferes with free nursing, this
condition must be promptly remedied. When undue accumulation of milk is
threatened gentle friction of the breasts with sweet oil and camphor is
also of service; and they should be supported by means of a handkerchief
placed under them and tied over the shoulders.

It must not be forgotten, however, that though _gentle_ rubbing afford
relief to the breasts when they are hard, knotty, and over-distended,
any friction is injurious if gathering has actually commenced. In all
cases, therefore, it is of importance to distinguish between
over-distension (which may _lead_ to inflammation) and a condition of
already established gathering of the breasts. This it is not difficult
to do. In the former case the skin is pale, there is little or no
tenderness, and the hardness is evenly diffused over the whole of the
breast; whereas, when gathering has taken place there is a blush of
redness on some portion of the breast, which is always painful to the
touch, and which will be found to be particularly hard and sore in some
one spot.

The _symptoms_ of gathered breasts we have just described in part. The
severity of the symptoms will depend upon the extent and depth of the
inflammation. The affection is always ushered in by shivering, followed
by fever and a shooting pain in the breasts. A small, hard, painful
swelling will be noticed in the breast even before the skin shows any
sign of redness. This swelling increases in size and the suffering
becomes very great and difficult to bear, preventing sleep and
prostrating the whole system. The secretion of milk is suspended at
least during the first active stage of the disease.

The object of _treatment_ is to prevent the formation of an abscess by
subduing the inflammation as speedily as possible. This is to be sought
first by keeping the breast as nearly empty as possible. For this reason
the child should be assiduously applied to the affected rather than to
the well side, although suckling will be painful. Indeed, it is better,
if it can be done, to procure an older child and let it keep the milk
under. When, however, the inflammation is fully established, the pain
will compel the restriction of the child to the well side. The
application of warmth is both grateful to the part and beneficial. This
may be done by means of poultices or fomentations, or by immersing a
wooden bowl in hot water and putting the breast, wrapped in flannel,
within it. This latter means will be found an easy and agreeable one of
keeping up the application of dry heat. The bowels should be briskly
purged by a dose of citrate of magnesia or cream of tartar. The diet
must be mild, and the breasts supported in a sling. If, in spite of all
these efforts, an abscess actually forms, the attending physician will
doubtless advise its immediate opening, to which advice the patient
should accede, as that is the course which will afford her quicker and
more effectual relief than she can hope for from nature's unaided
efforts at effecting a discharge of the pent-up matter.

It is interesting for the mother to know that if her child be
still-born, or if unfortunately she be unable from any of the reasons
mentioned in our chapter on Hindrances to Nursing to give the breast at
all to her child, she is not liable to gathering on this account. This
is contrary to what might be expected. It is not the mother who is
unable to nurse at all who suffers, but she who does so in an
unsatisfactory manner and who fails to have her breasts properly
emptied.

The first milk which makes its appearance in the breast towards recovery
from inflammation is likely to be stringy and thick, and should,
therefore, be rejected before nursing is resumed.




THE SINGLE LIFE.


A few words, ere we pass to another branch of our subject, on the
physical relations of her who by choice or other reasons never marries.
It is a common observation among physicians who have devoted themselves
to the study of woman's physical nature, that, in spite of those perils
of maternity which we have taken no pains to conceal, the health of
single women during the child-bearing period is, as a general rule, not
better, not even so good, as that of their married sisters. Those
insurance companies who take female risks, do not ask any higher premium
for the married than the unmarried.

Various suggestions have been made to account for this unexpected fact.
Some writers have pointed out that in many diseases marriage exerts a
decidedly curative influence, especially in chronic nervous ailments.
Chorea, for instance, or St. Vitus's dance, as it is popularly termed,
has been repeatedly cured by marriage. As a rule, painful menstruation,
which always arises from some defect or disease of the ovaries or
adjacent organs, is improved, and often completely removed, by
the same act. There are, as is well known, a whole series of
emotional disorders,--hysteria, and various kinds of mania and
hallucination,--which are almost exclusively confined to single persons,
and only occur in the married under exceptional circumstances. An
instance has lately been detailed in the medical journals by a Prussian
physician, of a case of undoubted hereditary insanity which was greatly
benefited--indeed temporarily cured--by a fortunate nuptial relation. Few
who have watched a large circle of lady acquaintances but will have
observed that many of them increased in flesh and improved in health when
they had been married some months. An English writer of distinction
accounts for these favourable results in a peculiar manner. Success, he
says, is always a tonic, and the best of tonics. Now, to women, marriage
is a success. It is their aim in social life; and this accomplished,
health and strength follow. We are not quite ready to subscribe to such a
sweeping assertion, but no doubt it is applicable in a limited number of
cases. Our own opinion is, that nature gave to each sex certain
functions, and that the whole system is in better health when all parts
and powers fulfil their destiny.

Common proverbs portray the character of the spinster as peevish,
selfish, given to queer fancies, and unpleasant eccentricities. In many
a case we are glad to say this is untrue. Instances of noble devotion,
broad and generous sympathy, and distinguished self-sacrifice, are by no
means rare in single women. But take the whole class, the popular
opinion, as it often is, must be granted to be correct. Deprived of the
natural objects of interest, the sentiments are apt to fix themselves on
parrots and poodles, or to be confined within the breast, and wither
for want of nourishment. Too often the history of those sisterhoods who
assume vows of singleness in the interest of religion, presents to the
physician the sad spectacle of prolonged nervous maladies, and to the
Christian that of a sickly sensibility.

In this connection we may answer a question not unfrequently put to the
medical attendant. Are those women who marry late in their sexual life
more apt to bear living children than the married of the same age; and
are they more likely to prolong their child-bearing period by their
deferred nuptials? To both these inquiries we answer No. On the
contrary, the woman who marries a few years only before her change of
life, is almost sure to have no children who will survive. She is
decidedly less apt to have any than the woman of the same age who
married young. If, therefore, love of children and a desire for
offspring form, as they rightly should, one of the inducements to marry,
let not the act be postponed too long, or it will probably fail of any
such result.




THE CHANGE OF LIFE.


After a certain number of years, woman lays aside those functions with
which she had been endowed for the perpetuation of the species, and
resumes once more that exclusively individual life which had been hers
when a child. The evening of her days approaches; and if she has
observed the precepts of wisdom, she may look forward to a long and
placid period of rest, blessed with health,--honored, yes, loved with a
purer flame than any which she inspired in the bloom of youth and
beauty. Those who are familiar with the delightful memoirs of Madame
Swetchine or Madame Recamier will not dispute even so bold an assertion
as this.

But ere this haven of rest is reached, there is a crisis to pass which
is ever the subject of anxious solicitude. Unscientific people, in their
vivid language, call it _the change of life_; physicians know it as the
_menopause_--the period of the cessation of the monthly flow. It is the
epoch when the ovaries cease producing any more ova, and the woman
becomes therefore incapable of bearing any more children.

The age at which it occurs is very variable. In this country from
forty-five to fifty is the most common. Instances are not at all
unusual when it does not appear until the half century has been turned;
and we have known instances where women past sixty still continued to
have their periodical illnesses.

Examples of very early cessation are more rare. We do not remember to
have met any, in our experience, earlier than thirty years, but others
have observed healthy women as young as twenty-eight in whom the flow
had ceased.

The physical change which is most apparent at this time is the tendency
to grow stout. The fat increases as the power of reproduction decreases.
And here a curious observation comes in. We have said that when the girl
changes to a woman, a similar deposit of fat takes place (though less in
amount), which commences at the loins. This is the first sign of
puberty. In the change of life the first sign is visible at the lower
part of the back of the neck, on a level with the bones known as the two
lowest cervical vertebrae. Here commences an accumulation of fat, which
often grows to form two distinct prominences, and is an infallible index
of the period of a woman's life.

The breasts do not partake of this increase, but become flat and hard,
the substance of the gland losing its spongy structure. The legs and
arms lose their roundness of outline, and, where they do not grow fat,
dry up, and resemble those of the other sex. The abdomen enlarges, even
to the extent occasionally of leading the wife to believe that she is to
be a mother,--a delusion sometimes strengthened by the absence of the
monthly sickness. Finally, a perceptible tendency to a beard at times
manifests itself, the voice grows harder, and the characteristics of the
female sex become less and less distinct.

Some who are more fortunate than their neighbours do not experience the
least discomfort at the change of life. They simply note that at the
expected time the illness does not appear, and for ever after they are
free from it. These are the exceptions. More commonly, marked
alterations in the health accompany this important crisis, and call for
sedulous hygienic care. It is gratifying to know that nearly all these
threatening affections can be avoided by such care, as they depend upon
causes under the control of the individual. Another fact, to which we
have already referred, is full of consolation. It is an unexpected
fact--one that we should hardly credit, did it not rest on statistical
evidence of the most indisputable character. The popular opinion, every
one knows, is, that the period of the change of life is one peculiarly
dangerous to women. If this is so, we might expect that, if the number
of deaths between the ages of forty and fifty years in the two sexes be
compared, we should find that those of females far exceed those of
males. This is, however, not the case. On the contrary, the deaths of
the males exceed in number those of the females.

Hasty readers may draw a false conclusion from this statement. They may
at once infer that the change of life merits little or no attention, if
it thus in nowise increases the bills of mortality. This would be a
serious error. All intelligent physicians know that there are in very
many cases a most unpleasant train of symptoms which characterize this
epoch in the physical life of woman. They are alarming, painful, often
entailing sad consequences, though rarely fatal. All physicians are,
however, not intelligent; and there are too many who are inclined to
ridicule such complaints, to impute them to fancy, and to think that
they have done their full duty when they tell the sufferer that such
sensations are merely indicative of her age, and that in a year or two
they will all pass away. Such medical attendants do not appreciate the
gravity of the sufferings they have been called to relieve. Says a
distinguished writer on the subject, after entering into some details in
the matter: 'I would not dwell on things apparently so trivial as these,
had I not seen some of the worst misery this world witnesses induced
thereby.' Such a conviction should be in the mind of the physician, and
lead him to attach their full weight to the vague, transitory, unstable,
but most distressing symptoms described to him.


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS.

We shall speak of the various signs and symptoms which occur at and mark
the change; and in commencing so to do, we call attention to an
interesting illustration of the rhythm which controls the laws of life.
As in old age, when we draw near the last scene of all, we re-enter
childhood, and grow into second infancy, so the woman, finishing her
pilgrimage of sexual life, encounters the same landmarks and stations
which greeted her when she first set out. She obeys at eve the voice of
her own nature which she obeyed at prime. The same diseases and
disorders, the same nervous and mental sensations, the same pains and
weaknesses which preceded the first appearance of her monthly illness,
will in all probability precede its cessation. Even those affections of
the skin or of the brain, as epilepsy, which were suffered in childhood,
and which disappeared as soon as the periodical function was
established, may be expected to reappear when the function has reached
its natural termination. Therefore if a woman past the change notices
that she suffers from bleeding at the nose, headache, boils, or some
skin disease, let her bethink herself whether it is not a repetition of
some similar trouble with which she was plagued before the eventful
period which metamorphosed her from a girl into a woman.

So true is what we have just said, that in detailing the symptoms which
frequently occur at the change of life, we could turn back to the
previous pages where we discussed the dangers of puberty, and repeat
much that we there said as of equal application here. For instance, the
green-sickness, _chlorosis_, is by no means exclusively a disease of
girls. It may occur at any period of child-bearing life, but is much
more frequent at the _beginning_ and the _end_ of this term. Hardly any
one has watched women closely without having observed the peculiar tint
of skin, the debility, the dislike of society, the change of temper, the
fitful appetite, the paleness of the eye, and the other traits that show
the presence of such a condition of the nervous system in those about
renouncing their powers of reproduction. The precautions and rules which
we before laid down, can be read with equal profit in this connection.

In addition to these symptoms, which in a measure belong to the
individual's own history, there are others of a general character which
betoken the approaching change. One of them is an increasing
irregularity in the monthly appearance. This is frequently accompanied
with a sinking sensation,--a 'feeling of goneness,' as the sufferer
says--at the pit of the stomach, often attended by flushes of heat,
commencing at the stomach and extending over the whole surface of the
body. The face, neck, and hands are suffused at inopportune moments, and
greatly to the annoyance of the sufferer. This is sometimes accompanied
by a sense of fulness in the head, a giddiness, and dulness of the
brain, sometimes going so far as to cause an uncertainty in the step, a
slowness of comprehension, and a feeling as if one might fall at any
moment in some sort of a fit.

This is not the worst of it. These physical troubles react upon the
mind. An inward nervousness, intensely painful to bear, is very sure to
be developed. She fears she will be thought to have taken liquor, and to
be overcome with wine; she grows more confused, and imagines that she is
watched with suspicious and unkind eyes, and often she worries herself
by such unfounded fancies into a most harassing state of mental
distress. Society loses its attractions, and solitude does but allow her
opportunity to indulge to a still more injurious extent such brooding
phantasms. Every ache and pain is magnified. Does her heart palpitate,
as it is very apt to do? Straightway she is certain that she has some
terrible disease of that organ, and that she will drop down dead some
day in the street. Is one of her breasts somewhat sore, which, too, is
not unusual? She knows at once it is a cancer, and suffers an agony of
terror from a cause wholly imaginary.

Vibrating between a distressing excitement and a gloomy depression, her
temper gives way; and even the words of the Divine Master lose their
influence over her. She becomes fretful, and yet full of remorse for
yielding to her peevishness; she seeks for sympathy, without being able
to give reasons for needing it; she annoys those around her by
groundless fears, and is angered when they show their annoyance. In
fine, she is utterly wretched, without any obvious cause of
wretchedness.

This is a dark picture, but it is a true one--inexorably true. Let us
hasten to add that such a mental condition is, however, neither a
necessary nor a frequent concomitant of the change. We depict it, so
that friends and relatives may better appreciate the sufferings of a
class too little understood, and so that women themselves, by knowing
the cause of such complaints, and the sad results which flow from them,
may make the more earnest efforts to avoid them.

Other symptoms are, a sense of choking, a feeling of faintness, shooting
pains in the back and loins, creepings and chilliness, a feeling as if a
hand were applied to the back or the cheek, a fidgety restlessness,
inability to fix the mind on reading or in following a discourse, and a
loss of control over the emotions, so that she is easily affected to
tears or to laughter. All these merely indicate that nature is employing
all her powers to bring about that mysterious transformation in the
economy by which she deprives the one sex for ever of partaking in the
creative act after a certain age, while she only diminishes the power of
the other.


EFFECTS ON THE CHARACTER.

The effects on the character of this 'grand climacteric' are often
marked. Not unfrequently the woman becomes more masculine in thought and
habit, as has been admirably described by Dr. Tilt:--'There are almost
always while the change is progressing various forms of nervous
irritability and some amount of confusion and bewilderment, which seem
to deprive women of the mental endowments to which they had acquired a
good title by forty years' enjoyment. They often lose confidence in
themselves, are unable to manage domestic or other business, and are
more likely to be imposed on either within or without the family circle.
When the change is effected, the mind emerges from the clouds in which
it has seemed lost. Thankful that they have escaped from real
sufferings, women cease to torture themselves with imaginary woes, and
as they feel the ground grow steadier underfoot, they are less dependent
on others--for, like the body, the mental faculties then assume a
masculine character. The change of life does not give talents, but it
often imparts a firmness of purpose to bring out effectively those that
are possessed, whether it be to govern a household, to preside in a
drawing-room, or to thread and unravel political entanglements. When
women are no longer hampered by a bodily infirmity periodically
returning, they have more time at their disposal, and for obvious
reasons they are less subject to be led astray by a too ardent
imagination, or by wild flights of passion.'

Changes in the moral character also frequently show themselves, and for
a time astonish friends and relatives. These shades of moral insanity
all disappear in a little while, if there be no family tendency to
insanity to prolong and intensify them.


THOSE WHO SUFFER MOST.

Those women especially may anticipate serious trouble at this epoch in
whom the change at puberty was accompanied by distressful and obstinate
disorders,--those in whom the menstrual periods have usually been
attended with considerable pain and prostration, and those in whose
married life several abortions or several tedious and unnatural labors
have occurred; also those who from some temporary cause are reduced in
health and strength,--as from repeated attacks of intermittent fever, or
disorders of the liver and digestive organs. Still more predisposed are
they who are subject to some of those displacements or local ulcerations
which we have mentioned in our chapter on Health in Marriage. It becomes
of great consequence, that any such deviation from the healthy standard
shall be corrected before a woman reaches this trying passage in her
career.

The constitution and temperament have much to do with the liability to
disease and suffering during the change of life. Those of weak
constitutions sometimes fail of the necessary stamina to carry them
easily through the trials of this transition period. It has been
remarked that the _lymphatic_ temperament is the most favorable to an
easy change. Women with this temperament suffer less from nervous or
bilious disorders, and quickly show signs of having been benefited by
what has occurred. Those of a _sanguine_ temperament are more liable to
floodings and to head symptoms; but such disorders with them usually
readily yield to treatment. The _bilious_ temperament predisposes to
disorders of the stomach and liver at this epoch; while the union of the
nervous with the bilious temperament seems to predispose to mental
diseases. The most suffering at this time of life is experienced by
women of a _nervous_ temperament.

The social position exerts an influence on the pain and the tendency to
disease at this epoch. The poor who are forced to labor beyond their
strength and who are exhausted by fatigue, anxiety, and want, suffer
much. So also do those who have recently been exposed to some great
sorrow. As the poet says:--

    Danger, long travel, want, or woe,
    Soon change the form that best we know----
    For deadly fear can time out-go,
        And blanch at once the hair.
    Hard toil can roughen form and face,
    And want can quell the eye's bright grace,
    Nor does old age a wrinkle trace
        More deeply than despair.

The occupations of women also have an influence upon the change of life.
Washerwomen are said in particular to suffer more than others on account
of the exposure to which they are subject by their trade. Those who are
confined many hours a day in close or damp rooms are unfavorably
situated for passing through the various stages of the 'grand
climacteric.' The rich, with plenty of time and means to care for
themselves, often blindly or obstinately create an atmosphere about them
and follow a mode of life, quite as deleterious as the enforced
surroundings of their poorer sisters.




DISEASES AND DISCOMFORTS.

In rather more than one out of every four cases the change of life is
either ushered in or accompanied by considerable flooding. When this
occurs at the regular period, and is not in sufficient quantity to cause
debility, and is not associated with much pain, it need not give rise to
any alarm. It is an effort of nature to relieve the impending plethora
of the system, to drain away the excessive amount of blood which would
otherwise accumulate by the cessation of the flow. When it is remembered
that every month, for some thirty years of life, the woman of forty-five
has been moderately bled, we need not wonder that suddenly to break off
this long habit would bring about a plethora, which would in turn be the
source of manifold inconveniences to the whole system. Therefore this
flooding may be regarded as a wise act of nature, and, as such, allowed
to take its course so long as it is not attended with the symptoms
mentioned above. When this is the case, however, the doctor should be
consulted, as then the bleeding may be from inflammation or ulceration,
or even from that dreaded foe to life, cancer.

Instead of finding this exit, the blood occasionally is thrown off by
bleeding at the nose, or is spat up from the lungs, or is passed from
bleeding piles. Due caution must be used about stopping such discharges
too promptly. Rest, cool drinks, and the application of cold to the
parts, are generally all that is needed.

We have just spoken of cancer. This is a subject of terror to many
women, and their fears are often increased and deliberately played upon
by base knaves who journey about the country calling themselves 'cancer
doctors,' and professing to have some secret remedy with which they work
infallible cures. It should be generally known that all such pretensions
are false. It is often a matter of no little difficulty, requiring an
experienced eye, to pronounce positively whether a tumour or ulcer is
cancerous. These charlatans have no such ability; but they pronounce
every sore they see a cancer, and all their pretended cures are of
innocent, non-malignant disorders. Cancers are more apt to develope
themselves at this period. Their seat is most frequently in the womb or
the breast, and they are said to be especially liable to arise in those
women who have suffered several abortions or unnatural labours.
Undoubtedly they are more frequent in the married than the unmarried,
and they evidently bear some relation to the amount of disturbance which
the system has suffered during childbirth, and the grief and mental pain
experienced. For this reason a celebrated teacher of obstetrics insists
upon classing them among nervous diseases. The surgeon alone can cure
them, and he but rarely. Medicine is of no avail, however long and
painstaking have been its searches in this direction. A touching story
is related in this connection of Raymond Sully, the celebrated
philosopher. When a young man, he was deeply impressed with the beauty
of a lady, and repeatedly urged his suit, which she as persistently
repelled, though it was evident she loved him. One day, when he insisted
with more than usual fervor that she should explain her mysterious
hesitation, she drew aside the folds of her dress and exposed her
breast, partly destroyed by a cancer. Shocked and horrified, but unmoved
in his affection, he rushed to the physicians and demanded their aid.
They replied they could give none. He determined to find a cure, if he
had to seek in all parts of the earth. He visited the learned doctors of
Africa and Asia, and learned many wonderful things--even, it was said,
the composition of the philosopher's stone itself; but what he did not
find, and what has never yet been found, was what he went forth to
seek--a cure for cancer.

At this time, too, tumors or swellings of the ovaries are apt to
commence. They are nearly always preceded by scanty or painful
menstruation; and this, therefore, it is the duty of every woman, as she
values the preservation of her future health, to remedy by every means
in her power.

Generally, from the commencement of the change of life commences also a
steady diminution of the sexual passions, and soon after this period
they quite disappear. Sometimes, however, the reverse takes place, and
the sensations increase in intensity, occasionally exceeding what they
even were before. This should be regarded with alarm. It is contrary to
the design of nature, and can but mean that something is wrong.
Deep-seated disease of the uterus or ovaries is likely to be present, or
an unnatural nervous excitability is there, which, if indulged, will
bring about dangerous consequences. Gratification, therefore, should be
temperate, and at rare intervals, or wholly denied.


PRECAUTIONS AND REMEDIES.

To guard against the dangers of this epoch, those general rules of
health which we have throughout insisted upon should be rigidly
observed. If during the whole of her sexual life the woman has been
diligent in observing the laws of health, she has little to fear at this
period. Some simple remedies will suffice to allay the disagreeable
symptoms; and the knowledge that most of them are temporary, common to
her sex, and not significant of any peculiar malady, will aid her in
opposing their attacks on her peace of mind. When plethora, flooding,
or congestion is apparent, the food should be light, chiefly vegetable,
and moderate in quantity. Liquors, wines, strong tea, coffee, and
chocolate should be avoided; an occasional purgative or a glass of some
laxative mineral water should be taken, and cool bathing regularly
observed. Exercise should be indulged in with caution, and care taken to
avoid excitement, severe mental or bodily effort, and exhaustion. If the
system is debilitated, and the danger is rather from a want of blood
than too much blood, nourishing food, tonic medicines, and perhaps some
stimulant, are called for. When the perspiration is excessive, flannel
should be worn next the skin in the daytime, and a flannel night-dress
at night. A tepid bath before retiring is also useful. The 'goneness'
and other unpleasant sensations referred to the pit of the stomach may
be much relieved by wearing a well-made spice-plaster over the stomach,
or binding there a bag of gum camphor; or if these fail, an opium
plaster will hardly fail to be of service. Internally, we think, nothing
at all is needed; but as something must be taken, let it not be spirits
or wine, but half a tea-spoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia in a few
table-spoonfuls of water. There is too much of a tendency among some
women to seek alleviation in intoxicating compounds, 'bitters,'
'tonics,' and so forth, at such times. They can only result in injury,
and should be shunned. The pains in the back and loins often
experienced, can generally be removed by rubbing the parts with hot
mustard-water and taking a gentle purgative, or by placing against the
lower part of the spine a hot brick wrapped in a flannel cloth wrung
out in warm water or laudanum and water.

Once safely through this critical period, the woman has a better chance
for long life and a green old age than the man of equal years. Tables of
human life show this conclusively. With the sweet consciousness of duty
performed, she is now prepared to assist others by intelligent advice,
cheerful counsel, and tender offices; she can now surround herself with
that saintly halo of kind words and good works which wins a worthier
love than passion offers; and, passing onward to the silence of eternal
rest, she will leave in the memory of all who knew her, pleasant
impressions and affectionate reminiscences.




NOTES.


P. 20. HERMAPHRODITES AND ASEXUALISM.--Rokitansky decides Hohmann to be
a case of _hermaphrodita vera lateralis_, and all who examine her say
the same. See _Wiener Medicin. Wochenschrift_, October, 1868, and the
_Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 487. A marked case of
asexualism, proven so by a _post mortem_ examination, is reported in the
_Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal_ for April, 1869, p. 338; and
another in the _Medical Times and Gazette_ of about the same date. We
might refer to many more recent and authentic cases.

P. 25. AGE OF PUBERTY.--See case by Dr. T. H. Twiner, in the _Richmond
and Louisville Medical Journal_, March, 1869, Raciborski, _De la
Menstruation et de l'Age Critique chez la Femme_, p. 130. The quotation
(p. 26) is from Dr. Edward Smith, _Cyclical Changes in Health and
Disease_,--a profound work. Raciborski is the principal authority for
this and the following section. Our own inquiries fully confirm his
statements.

P. 32. INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON MENSTRUATION.--On this question, see the
researches of M. Parchappe, _Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences_,
tom. xvi. p. 550. See also Dr. Shrye, _Tractatus de Fluxu Menstruo_, in
the _Acta Lipsiensia_ for 1686, p. 111; Dr. W. Charleton, _Inquisitio
Physica de Causis Catameniorum_, p. 78; and Galen, _De Diebus
Decretoriis_, lib. iii., for other curious particulars.

P. 37. CHLOROSIS.--For the pathology of this disease, see Dr. Gaillard
Thomas, _Diseases of Women_, p. 625, and Dr. C. H. Bauer, in the
_Weiner Medicin. Zeitung_, No. 33, 1868. Occasionally the change at
puberty leads to an affection very closely resembling typhoid fever, but
which is strictly due to the sexual crisis; and often goitre commences
at this period. See a review of Raciborski, in the _Bulletin de
Therapeutique_, June, 1869.

P. 39. MASTURBATION IN GIRLS.--See Miss Catherine E. Beecher, _Letters
to the People on Health and Happiness_, p. 159. The late medical
literature on the subject is abundant. See _Ueber die Behandlung der
Masturbation bei kleinen Maedchen, Journal juer Kinderkrankheiten_, Bd.
li. p. 360; H. R. Storer, _Western Journal of Medicine_, July, 1868; and
_Journal of the Gynecological Society_, vol. i. No. 1.

Pp. 50, 51. PREMATURE MARRIAGES.--See Dr. Duncan, _Fecundity,
Fertility_, etc., p. 241; Reich, _Natur und Gesundheitslehre des
Ehelichen Lebens_, p. 518.

P. 56. HOLY LOVE.--The distinction between [Greek: haghape] and [Greek:
irhohe] is too familiar to all scholars to need extended mention. See
Trench, _Synonyms of the New Testament, sub voce._

Pp. 57, 58. SINGLE LIFE IN ITS RELATION TO SANITY AND MORTALITY.--The
extraordinary statements in the text are vouched for by Dr. Casper,
_Medicinische Statistik_, vol. ii. p. 164, and Dr. Reich, _Geschichte,
Natur, und Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, pp. 510, 511. We have
compared the reports of a number of asylums for the insane, and find the
proportions very nearly as great as stated by these authorities.

P. 70. INTERMARRIAGE OF RELATIVES.--The view we advocate on this point,
we know, is neither the received nor the popular one. In the middle ages
it was forbidden to intermarry within the seventh degree of
consanguinity; but this and all other regulations were based on
theological and political, not physiological, grounds. Among others, Dr.
Nathan Allen has insisted on the danger of consanguineous marriages
(_Journal of Psychological Medicine_, Volume ii). But other very careful
and recent students adopt the view of our text: for instance, Dr. F. J.
Behrend, _Journal fuer Kinderkrankheiten_, December, 1868, p. 316; Dr. A.
Voisin, in the reports of the _Paris Academie de Medecin_,1864, 1865,
and 1868; and Dr. H. Gaillard, in the last edition (1868) of the
_Dictionnaire de Medecine et de Chirurgie Pratique_. All the statements
in the text are supported with incontrovertible evidence by these
writers. If we are asked how to meet the seemingly alarming array of
allegations by Dr. Bemiss, the Kentucky physician referred to in the
_Transactions of the American Medical Association_ for 1859, we would
refer to Dr. Behrend's articles, where the researches of Bemiss are
severely criticised. For Dr. Edward Smith's assertion, see his _Essay on
Consumption_, p. 244 (Philadelphia, 1865).

P. 80. COMMUNICATION OF VENEREAL DISEASES.--Many instances are recorded
where a drinking-glass, a spoon, a fork, or a handkerchief has infected
innocent persons with these terrible diseases (see Cullerier, _Atlas of
Venereal Diseases_, p. 43). They are communicated from the male to the
female, or from the female to the male, with equal facility, and either
parent can transmit them to the children. The physician referred to is
Dr. Sigmund, in the _Humboldt Medical Archives_, 1868.

P. 83. SYMBOLISM.--See Dr. Carus, _Symbolik der Menschlichen Gestalt_,
the most scientific work ever written on physiognomy, phrenology, and
allied subjects.

Pp. 90, 91.--See Raciborski, _De la Puberte et de l'Age Critique chez la
Femme_, p. 133; Tilt, _Uterine Therapeutics_, p. 315.

P. 94. CONTAGION OF PHTHISIS.--See Dr. William A. Hammond's _Treatise on
Hygiene_, p. 438, for air-space required by a healthy person. The
contagion of phthisis is maintained by many authorities--among others,
Dr. W. W. Gerbard (see Pennsylvanian Hospital Reports for 1868, p.
266). Professor Castan has recently collected, in the _Montpelier
Medicale_, a variety of facts, which seem to show that tuberculosis may
be communicated from a diseased to a healthy person by transpiration,
breathed air, and living together (_Press and Circular_, March 10,
1869). In regard to the inoculation of tubercle, we have reference to
the well-known experiments of M. Villemin, of the Hopital Val-de-Grace,
Paris. In this connection we may record an instance of recent medical
heroism. M. Lespiaud, attached to the surgical department of the
Val-de-Grace, in presence of several of his colleagues, extracted
granular matter from the body of a phthisical subject, and introduced it
under his own integument. This zealous investigator into the etiology of
tuberculosis has thus exposed himself in a courageous way for the
benefit of science, to the effects of a most dangerous and merciless
disease.

P. 96. THE DIGNITY AND PROPRIETY OF THE SEXUAL INSTINCT.--Dr. Edward
John Tilt is the medical writer referred to (see _Uterine Therapeutics_,
pp. 95, 313). See also Bosquet, _Noveau Tableau de l'Amour Conjugal_,
vol. ii. p. 2, etc.; Rousel, _Systeme Physique et Moral de la Femme_, p.
211; Menville, _Histoire Medicale et Philosophique de la Femme_, vol. i.
p. 36 et seq.; Raciborski, _De la Puberte_, etc., p. 45.

P. 99. ON THE INDULGENCE AND RESTRAINT OF SEXUAL DESIRE.--Menville, vol.
ii. p. 91; Bosquet, vol. ii. p. 280; _Economy of Life--or, Food, Repose,
and Love_, by George Miles. Dr. Edward Smith, in his valuable work on
_Cyclical Changes in Health and Disease_, has collected extensive
statistics showing the effect of the time of conception on the viability
of the foetus. The quotation is from Carpenter's _Human Physiology_, p.
753.

P 103. See _Lancet_ for March 6, 1869, p. 337, for report of discussion
in the Pathological Society of London upon the physical degeneracy
resulting from procreation during intoxication. Authorities could be
cited at length upon this subject, but it is not necessary. See
Huleland's _Art of Prolonging Life_, p. 207.

Pp. 106-114. STERILITY.--For statistics referred to, see Dr. Matthews
Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and Sterility_ (Edinburgh, 1866), p. 181
_et seq._; Dr. Tilt, _Uterine Therapeutics_, p. 291; Dr. Edward Reich,
_Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, Th. ii.

Dr. J. Marion Sims, _On the Microscope as an Aid in the Diagnosis and
Treatment of Sterility_, _New York Medical Journal_, January 1869, p.
406; Charles Darwin, _The Variation of Animals and Plants under
Domestication_, vol. ii. p. 198; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical
Reporter_, November 2, 1867, p. 384; A. Debay, _Hygiene et Physiologie
du Mariage_, p. 288 (Paris, Quarante-quatrieme edition); Raciborski, _De
la Puberte_, etc., p. 451; Virey, _De la Femme sous ses Rapports Phys._,
etc., p. 332; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _The Principles and Practice of
Obstetrics_, p. 107.

P. 115. THE LIMITATION OF OFFSPRING.--We have taken great pains to avoid
giving false or dangerous impressions in this section. The references in
the order of quotation are:--Dr. Tilt, _Hand-Book of Uterine
Therapeutics_, p. 317; Dr. Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, Sterility, and
Allied Topics_, pp. 289, 290; Dr. Hillier, _Diseases of Children_, p.
114; John Stuart Mill, _Principles of Political Economy_, p. 591; Dr.
Drysdale, _London Medical Press and Circular_, December, 1868, p. 478;
Raciborski, _De l'Age Critique chez la Femme_, p. 484; _The Nation_,
June 1869; Dr. Edward Reich, _Natur und Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen
Lebens_, p. 493; _Boston Medical and Surgical Journal_, February 1867;
_Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 305;
Sismondi, _Principles of Political Economy_, book vii. chap. v.; Dr.
MacCormac, in _London Medical Press and Circular_, March 1869, p. 244;
Dr. Gaillard Thomas, _Diseases of Women_, p. 58; _Leavenworth Medical
Herald_, April, 1867; Dr. N. K. Bowling, in _The Nashville Journal of
Medicine and Surgery_, October 1868. We have rather let others speak
than spoken ourselves, and have collected the opinions of many most
distinguished physicians and statesmen, who thus pronounce against
excessive child-bearing. Any intelligent physician will acknowledge the
weight to be assigned to such names.

P. 128. SIGNS OF FRUITFUL CONJUNCTION.--Carpenter, _Human Physiology_,
p. 772; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _Principles and Practice of Obstetrics_,
p. 304; Menville, vol. i p. 295; Montgomery, _Signs and Symptoms of
Pregnancy_, p. 90.

P. 132. INHERITANCE.--Darwin, _Animals and Plants under Domestication_,
pp. 42, 473; Sir Henry Holland's _Medical Notes and Reflections_, p. 30;
Pritchard, _Researches into the Physical History of Mankind_, vol. ii.
p. 551; Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 779; A. Debay, _Hygiene et
Physiologie du Mariage_, p. 173; Fleurens, _De la Longevite et de la
Quantie de Vie sur le Globe_, p. 256 (Paris, 1860); Hufeland, _Art of
Prolonging Life_, pp. 91, 206; Hammond's _Hygiene_, p. 116; _American
Journal of Medical Sciences_, July, 1865, p. 82; Francis Galton, _On
Hereditary Talent and Character_, in _Macmillan's Magazine_, vol. xii.
pp. 157, 318; Madden, _The Infirmities of Genius_, vol. ii. p. 107;
_Lancet_, December 22, 1868, p. 825; _The British Medical Journal_,
January 11, 1868, p. 25; Dr. Prosper Lucas, _Traite de l'Heredite
Naturelle_; Victor Hugo, _L'Homme qui Rit_, le seconde chapitre
preliminaire; Watson's _Practice_, p. 1153; Dr. Daniel G. Brinton,
_Guide-Book to Florida and the South_, Pt. iii.; Dr. J. V. C. Smith,
_Physical Indications of Longevity in Man._

P. 163. PLURAL BIRTHS.--Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and Sterility_,
p. 69; Ramsbotham, _System of Obstetrics_, p. 461; _Philadelphia Medical
and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 508, xx. p. 98.

P. 167. PREGNANCY.--Menville, i. p. 299; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _System
of Obstetrics_, p. 144 et seq.; Montgomery, _Signs and Symptoms of
Pregnancy_; Dr. Edward Rigby, _System of Midwifery_, p. 47.

P. 180. MOTHERS' MARKS.--See a very interesting article by Professor Wm.
A. Hammond, in _The Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine and
Medical Jurisprudence_, January, 1868, p. 1, in which he says, in
regard to the influence of the maternal mind over the foetus _in utero_:
'The chances of these instances, and others which I have mentioned,
being due to coincidence, are infinitesimally small; and though I am
careful not to reason upon the principle of _post hoc ergo propter hoc_,
I cannot--nor do I think any other person can, no matter how logical may
be his mind--reason fairly against the connection between cause and
effect in such cases. The correctness of the facts only can be
questioned: if these be accepted, the probabilities are thousands of
millions to one, that the relation between the phenomena is correct.'
See also Dr. J. Lewis Smith, _Diseases of Infancy and Childhood_, 1869,
p. 21; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 359.

Pp. 192-197. CONCURRENT PREGNANCIES.--Raciborski, _De la Puberte_, etc.,
p. 491; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _System of Obstetrics_, p. 442; _Dict.
des Sciences Medicales_, t. L. iii.; _Lancet_, August, 1856, p. 131;
Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 779; Beck's _Elements of Medical
Jurisprudence_, art. 'Superfoetation;' Rokitansky, _Pathological
Anatomy_; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, May 1, 1869, p.
335.--Professor Pancost removed some years since, from the cheek of a
child some months old, a rudimentary second child.

P. 198. CAN THE FOETUS CRY IN UTERO?--Dr. Bedford Obstetrics, p. 264;
_Lancet_, January 23, 1869.

P. 199. IS IT A SON OR DAUGHTER?--_Philadelphia Medical and Surgical
Reporter_, vol. xvii. p. 495; Dr. Frankenhauser, in the _Monatschrift
fuer Geburtskunde_; Dr. Packman, _On Impregnation_, _Lancet_, July 18,
1863.

P. 202. GARDNER PEERAGE CASE.--Dr. Bedford, _System of Obstetrics_, p.
299.

P. 204. PROLONGED PREGNANCIES.--Taylor, _Medical Jurisprudence_, p. 586;
_Report of Proceedings against the Rev. Fergus Jardine_ (Edinburgh,
1839).

P. 207. CARE OF HEALTH DURING PREGNANCY.--Churchill, _On Women_, p. 451;
Menville, ii. 114; Tilt's _Elements of Health_, p. 271.

P. 236. TO HAVE LABOR WITHOUT PAIN.--Professor T. Gaillard Thomas says,
'The rule should be to employ an anaesthetic in every case of labor,
_during the second stage_, unless some contra-indication exists. After a
delivery, under its influence patients recover more rapidly, are freer
from complications, and show fewer signs of prostration.' See _Lecture
on the Management of Women after Parturition_, in the _Richmond and
Louisville Medical Journal_, February, 1869, p. 145.

P. 238. WEIGHT AND LENGTH OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN--_Philadelphia Medical
and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 388; Carpenter, _Human Physiology_,
p. 810; Ramsbotham, _Obstetrics_, p. 111; _Detroit Review of Medicine
and Pharmacy_, March, 1869, p. 150.

P. 271. THE CHILD.--Dr. J. Lewis Smith, _A Treatise on the Diseases of
Infancy and Childhood_, 1869, p. 28 _et seq._; Dr. Thomas Hillier,
_Clinical Treatise on the Diseases of Children_, p. 17; Dr. Edward
Smith, _Cyclical Changes in Health and Disease_; Dr. John Marshall,
_Outlines of Physiology, Human and Comparative_, pp. 761, 765, 998; Dr.
Charles A. Cameron, _Lectures on the Preservation of Health_, 1868, p.
174; Dr. Charles J. B. Williams, _Principles of Medicine_, p. 480; Dr.
J. Forsyth Meigs, _Diseases of Children_; Dr. E. J. Tilt, _Elements of
Health and Principles of Female Hygiene_, p. 50 _et seq._; Dr. Andrew
Combe, _The Management of Infancy_, p. 73 _et seq._ (ninth ed.
Edinburgh, 1860), _Report of Board of Health of Philadelphia_ for 1868,
p. 43; _British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review_, April 1868, pp.
382, 454; _Southern Journal of the Medical Sciences_, November, 1867, p.
555; Dr. Thomas Hawkes Tanner, _Practice of Medicine_, p. 108; Dr.
William A. Hammond, _Treatise on Hygiene_, p. 95 _et seq._;
_Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xvi. p. 530, xix. pp.
37, 59, 119, 134, 382; Edward C. Seaton, M.D., _A Hand-Book of
Vaccination_; Professor J. B. Fonssagrives, _L'Education Physique des
Filles; Le Role des meres dans les maladies des Enfants_; Sir James Y.
Simpson, _Selected Obstetrical and Gynecological Works_, etc., etc.




INDEX.


Abdomen, changes in, during pregnancy, 173
  pain in, during pregnancy, 355

Abortion, crime of, how to stop, 122
  evils of, 123

Advantages of the games and plays of children, 314

Advice to wives who desire to have children, 113

After birth, 230

Age of husband, 75
  nubility, 50
  puberty, 23, 25

Air and ventilation during infancy, 307

Air space required in bed-room, 94

Anger, effect of, on the mother's milk, 252

Appetite, depraved, a sign of pregnancy, 175

Approaching labor, signs of, 223

Arrowroot, how to prepare, for children, 275, 291

Articles wanted for confinement, 221

Atavism explained, 133

Attendants during confinement, hints for, 229

Avoidance of hereditary tendencies, 151


'Bad-getting-up,' causes of, 241

Bandage after confinement, how to make, 221
  how to apply, 230

Barrenness, its causes and cure, 106

Bath, hour of, for infants, 303
  drying of the skin after, 304
  during pregnancy, 212
  value of, in infantile diseases, 305

Beautiful children, how to have, 140

Beauty, inheritance of, 135

Bedroom, size of, for the married, 94

Bed-wetting, causes and cure, 337

Bed, for married persons, 95
  clothing, 96
  the most healthful, 95
  in confinement, how to 'dress it', 222

Binder, how to make, 221

Births, relative proportion of male to female, 54

Blondes, age of puberty of, 28

Boarding school life, effect of, on girls, 47, 289

Body, changes in, at puberty, 30
  symbolism of, 83

Bowel complaints of children, 339

Boys, more born than girls, 154

Braces, abdominal, 376

Breasts, attention required towards the end of pregnancy, 219
  changes in, during pregnancy, 170
  first application of child to, 232
  inflammation and abscess of, 382
  management after confinement, 246

Bringing up by hand, 274

Brunettes, age of puberty of, 28


Care of infancy, 271

Carrying an infant, manner of, 309

Celibacy not chastity, 57
  results of, 58

Change of life, regimen and perils of, 389

Changes, the monthly, precautions during, 45
  precautions in the intervals of, 46
  when delayed, 48
  painful, 49
  worked by puberty, 30

Child, the, 271
  attention to, at birth, 231
  can it cry before birth?, 198
  education, of before birth, 191

Child-bearing, excessive, 115

Childbed, diseases of, 361
  mortality of, 237

Childbirth, imprudence after, 240
  preparations for, 219
  to preserve form after, 242

Children, bathing of, 303
  bed for, 297
  clothing of, 300
  decreased number of, 73
  diet for, 288
  new-born, weight and length of, 238
  three and more at a birth, 164

Children's diseases, home management of, 325

Chlorosis, 36

Choice of a husband, 69

City life, effect of, on puberty, 29, 47

Cleanliness, curative influence of, 378
  importance of, to wives, 131

Climate, effect of, on puberty, 27

Clothing at puberty, 43
  at confinement, 227
  during pregnancy, 209
  of new-born infants, 222
  of young children, 300

Cold, effect of, on infants, 300

Color of infant, influence of mind of mother on, 182

Completion of puberty, 32

Complexion, 136
  inheritance of, 125

Conception, is it possible during pregnancy?, 192
  nature of, 125
  signs of, 128

Confinement, bed for, 226
  day of, how to calculate, 206
  dress for, 227
  hints for attendants at, 229
  imprudence after, 240
  preparations for, 219

Constipation of pregnancy, 358

Constitution, effect of the, on puberty, 21
  on change of life, 398

Consumption, 41, 71, 94, 148, 151

Continence demanded from husbands, 121

Cough of pregnancy, 359

Count, how to make the, 206

Country life, effect of, on puberty, 29

Courtship, 65

Cousins, shall they marry?, 69

Crime of abortion, 122

Croup, home treatment of, 325

Culture of the skin, 306


Dangers of puberty, 35

Daughters, influenced by fathers, 144

Deformities, are they hereditary?, 139

Degeneracy, cause of, 349
  of the human race, a query, 348

Diet for infants, 274, 288
  children, 292
  the pregnant, 208

Diarrhoea during pregnancy, 357
  of infants, 339

Directions for mothers who cannot nurse their own children, 267

Dignity and propriety of the sexual instinct, 96

Disease, communication of, 80

Diseases, hereditary, 148
  of children, home management of, 325
  of wives and mothers, 352

Distinction of the sexes, 18

Divorce, unnatural and improper, 63

Dress, attention to, during pregnancy, 209
  for confinement, 227

Dressing of the new-born child, 231

Drying up of the milk, 258, 279

Duration of labor, 239

Dyspepsia of children, 342


Ear, the hygiene of, in childhood, 323

Education, influence of, over hereditary qualities, 147
  of the child in the womb, 191
  special senses in children, 318

Emotion, influence of, on unborn child, 185

Emotions, stimulation of, effects of, on puberty, 29

Engagement, the, 85

Engagements, long, 86

Epilepsy, a cause of, 255

Eruptions of childhood, how to prevent, 106

Eternity of love, 60

Exercise at puberty, 42
  during pregnancy, 210
  of children, 309

Excessive child-bearing, 115

Eyes, the education of, in childhood, 319


Falling of the womb, 368

False labor pains, 225

Fathers, influence of, on daughters, 144

Feeding of infants, manner of, 291

Fertility, hereditary, 138
  laws of, 109

First application of child to breasts, 232
  cares to the child newly born, 231
      mother after childbirth, 230
  labors, 51
  seven years of life, 314

Fits of children, home treatment of, 330

Flat nipples, how to remedy, 245

Food, during pregnancy, 207
  of infants and children, 288
  bill of fare for, 292

Foreigners, should native women marry, 73

Form, to preserve after confinement, 242

Frigidity, 109


Galen, anecdote of, 127

Games and plays, advantages of, 314

Gardner, Lord, the case of, 202

Garters, danger of, during pregnancy, 355

Gathered breasts, 382

Goftr, story of, 166

Government of children, hints on, 344

Green sickness, 36

Growth of children, 287


Habits, dangers and advantages of, 316

Hair, its significance, 84
  transmission of, 137

Hardening of infants, dangerous theories on the, 303

Hearing, the training of, in children, 323

Head colds of children, home treatment of, 329

Health, care of, during pregnancy, 207
  effect of pregnancy on, 216
  in marriage, 351

Hereditary diseases, 148
  qualities influenced by education, 147

Hermaphrodite, a true, 20

Hindrances to nursing, 245

Hints for attendants at confinement, 229

Home government, hints on, 344
  management of some common children's diseases, 325
  treatment of female ailments, 377

Husband, age of, 75
  and wife, during pregnancy, 216
    shall they occupy same room and bed, 93
  character of, 79
  how to choose, 69
    retain the affections of, 130

Husbands, plurality of, 64

Hygiene of puberty, 41
  the monthly periods, 45
  pregnancy, 207
  of infancy, 271
  of the special senses, 318

Hygienic habits, importance of teaching children, 316
  treatment of inward weakness, 377

Hysterics, 38


Imagination of mother, influence of, on unborn child, 186

Imprudence after childbirth, 240

Indigestion of childhood, 342

Indulgence and restraint of sexual desire, 99

Infancy, care of, 271
  deaths in, 272

Infant, first clothing of, 222
    washing of, 231
  how to carry, 309
    lift, 310
    teach to walk, 313

Infants' food, 288

Inheritance, 132
  how to avoid evil tendencies of, 151
  how to have beautiful children, 140
  influence of education over, 147
    each parent over, 144
  of beauty, 135
  of diseases, 148
  of longevity, 138
  of mutilations, 149
  of personal qualities, 139
  of physical     "    , 136
  of talent and genius, 141
  of temperament, 137
  late manifestations of, 151
  the effects of, 151

Injections, 379

Injurious exercises for infants, 311

Intemperance, of several kinds, 117

Intermarriage of relatives, 69

Inward weakness, 368

Irregularities, causes of, 46

Irrigations, 381


Knowledge, safety in, 17


Labor, cause of, 225
  duration of, 239
  dress during, 227
  false and true, 225
  how to calculate time of, 170
  how to have, without pain, 236
  mortality of, 237
  signs of approaching, 223
  symptoms of actual, 224

Late manifestations of the effects of inheritance, 151

Late marriages, offspring of, 388

Length of pregnancy, 200

Liebig's soup for infants, 289

Lifting an infant, manner of, 310

Light, necessity of, for children, 308

Limitation of offspring, 115

Long engagements, 86

Longevity, hereditary, 138

Longings in pregnancy, 186

Love, at first sight, 67
  differs from lust, 50
  is a necessity, 57
  is eternal, 60
  its power on humanity, 52
  what is it?, 54

Looseness of bowels in children, 339
  during pregnancy, 357

Lying-in room, the management of, 226


Maiden, the, 23

Manner of feeding infants, 291

Mania, puerperal, 362

Marital relations, times to suspend, 103
  when painful, 92, 104

Marriage, age for, 50
  health in, 351
  time of month for, 87
  year for, 87

Marriages, second, 62

Maternity, duties and privileges of, 243
  perils of, 352

Matrimony, necessity of, for happiness, 58

Matron, the happy, 243

Memory, visual, cultivation of, in childhood, 320

Men, as wet-nurses, 260

Menstruation explained, 24

Mental impressions, effect of, on hysterics, 39
  on unborn children, 180
  troubles of girlhood, 47

Milk, mother's, effect of anger on, 253
  effect of retention in the breasts, 249
  influence of diet on, 249
  pregnancy on, 250
  over-abundance of, 258
  scantiness of, 259
  quantity required by infant, 256
  when poisonous, 252
  value as food, 42

Milk-leg, causes and treatment of, 367

Mind, changes in, at puberty, 31
  during pregnancy, 175, 214
  influence of over conception, 126
    nursing child, 251
    unborn child, 182

Miscarriage, 176
  causes and dangers of, 178
  frequency of, 176
  influence of age of mother on, 177
  prevention of, 179
  symptoms of, 180

Mixture of races by marriage, 71

Month, right time of the, to marry, 87

Monthly changes, precautions in the intervals of, 46
  precautions during, 45
  when delayed, 48
  when painful, 49

Moon, connection of monthly periods with, 32

Morning sickness of pregnancy, 169, 353

Mortality of childbed, 237
  comparative, of the two sexes in early life, 154

Mortality of infants, causes of, 271
  relative to married life, 57

Mother, the, 243
  diseases of, 361
  duties of, towards daughters at puberty, 44
  influence of, over sons, 144
  position in nursing, 225
  who is unable to nurse her child, 267

Mothers' marks, 180

Music, influence of, 99

Mutilations, are they inheritable?, 149


Native women, shall they marry foreigners?, 73

Near-sightedness, how to prevent, 322

Neck, form of, 83
  its significance, 84

New-born babe, first cares for, 231
  weight and length of, 238

Night dress of children, 301
  covering of children, 298
  the wedding, 91

Nipples, how to harden, 220

Nose-bleed in childhood, 333

Nubility, the age of, 50

Nursing, 244
  care of health during, 263
  diseases of, 382
  hindrances to, 245
  position during, 225
  prolonged, 262
  rules for, 248
  when improper, 245

Nursing mother, qualities of good, 257


Offspring, the limitation of, 115
  influenced by the mind, 126

Over-nursing, signs of, 265

Overlaying of children, deaths from, 273

Over-production, evils of, 115
  remedies for, 121

Ovulation, the meaning of, 24


Painful monthly changes, causes and treatment, 49

Pains of labor, true and false, 225

Painless labors, how to have, 236

Parr, Thomas, the long life of, 139

Pendulous abdomen after confinement, how to escape, 242

Perils of maternity, 352

Persons of both sexes, and of neither sex, 20

Perspiration, fetid, 131

Phases, the three, of woman's life, 22

Piles, during pregnancy, 356

Plays, the, of children, advantages of, 314

Plural births, 163

Plurality of wives or husbands, 64

Position of child while eating, 294
  of child while sleeping, 299

Position of mother while nursing, 255

Precautions necessary at the time of the monthly changes, 45

Precocity, remarkable instances of, 25

Pregnancy, 167
  bathing during, 212
  care of health during, 207
  causes of protracted, 205
  can a woman again become pregnant during, 192
  clothing during, 209
  diseases of, 352
  double, 192
  effect of, on the health, 216
  exercise during, 210
  food during, 208
  influence of, on the milk of nursing mother, 250
  length of, 200
  relation of husband and wife during, 216
  signs and symptoms of, 168
  sleep during, 213
  ventilation of sleeping-room during, 212

Premature marriages, 50

Preparations for confinement, 219

Prolific wives, 115

Puerperal mania, 362


Qualities transmitted by parents, 132

Quantity of milk required by infant, 256

Quickening, as a sign of pregnancy, 170
  flatulence mistaken for, 172
  how caused, 171
  time of, 171


Race, the human, is it degenerating?, 348

Races, mixture of, 71

Relation of husband and wife during pregnancy, 216
    nursing, 264

Relative age of man and wife, 76
  proportion of men and women living, 153

Religion, mistaken notions of, 57

Rest, after delivery, 241
  during pregnancy, 211

Re-vaccination, 286

Right time of the month to marry, 87
  time of the year to marry, 87


Schooling, the, of the first seven years of life, 316

Scrofulous diseases, a cause of, 309

Second marriages, 62

Secret bad habits, 39

Self-deceptions regarding pregnancy, 172

Senses, training of the special, in childhood, 318

Sex of child, how to predict before birth, 198

Sexes, distinction of, 18
  laws which determine the relative numbers of the, 155
  persons of both and of neither, 20
  production of, at will, 157

Sexual desire, indulgence and restraint of, 99
  moderation in, 100
  instinct, dignity and propriety of, 96
  false notions about, 97
  desire, influence of on offspring, 98

Sexuality, what it implies, 18

Sickness, morning, during pregnancy, 353
  during labor, 225

Signs of approaching labor, 223
  puberty, 30
  conception, 128
  over-nursing, 265
  pregnancy, 168

Sight, the training of, in childhood, 319

Single life, the, 386
  in its relation to sanity and mortality, 57

Skin, changes in, during pregnancy, 174
  culture, of, in infancy, 306

Sleep, amount required in early life, 295
  at puberty, 42
  during pregnancy, 213
  position in, 299

Sleeplessness during pregnancy, 360

Small pox, death rate from, 283
  the only preventive against, 284

Son or daughter?, 198

Sore nipples, 246

Soup, Liebig's, 289

Sphere of woman, 21

Spinal disease, 36

Spring-time, 101

Spurious labor pains, 225

Stages of labor, 123

Starvation of girls, 41

Sterility, 106
  how to remedy, 113

Still-births, 240

Stilling Jung, anecdote of, 67

Stimulation of the emotions, dangers of, at puberty, 29

St. Pierre, anecdote of, 78

Sully Raymond, anecdote of, 401

Swimming, benefit of, 306

Symbolism of the human body, 83

Syringes, and how to use them, 379


Talent, hereditary, 141

Teething, period of, 279

Temperament, transmission of, 137

Temperaments, explained, 77
  influence of, 101
  in marriage, 77

Things wanted during confinement, 221

Tight-lacing, 43, 374

Time of expected labor, how to calculate it, 206
  of the year to marry, 87
  of the month to marry, 87

Times when marital relations should be suspended, 103

Toilet, innocent arts of, 132

Tour, the wedding, 87

Toys, a mean of infantile education, 315

Twins, how to predict, 199
  why born, 161

Twin-bearing, 160
  influence of, on size of families, 163

Thury, Prof., discovery of, 157


Unborn child, education of, 191


Vaccination, age for, 285
  importance of, 282

Varicose veins of pregnancy, 355

Ventilation of sleeping rooms during pregnancy, 212

Virgins, wet-nursing by, 260

Voice, change in, at puberty, 30


Wakefulness of pregnancy, 360

Walk, how to teach a child to, 313

Washing of the new-born infant, 231

Weakness, inward, 368

Weaning, 277

Wedding tour, the, 87
  night, the, 91

Weight and length of new-born children, 238

Wet-nurse, how to select, 269

Wet-nursing by virgins and men, 260

White-flowing, 365

Wives famous in history, 59
  plurality of, 64

Woman, the three phases in the life of, 22
  physical differences from man, 19
  sphere of, 21
  to be sought, 65

Womb, falling of, 368

Worms of children, home treatment of, 335

Women, diseases peculiar to, 352
  treatment of, 377
  why redundant, 153


Young wives, 50
  mothers, 51

Year, right time of, to marry, 87


Zurich, curious custom in, 93




TESTIMONIALS

OF

EMINENT MEN AND OF THE PRESS

TO THE

PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN

AND ITS AUTHOR.


Of the _very numerous_ testimonials in our hands we select those of
earlier date in preference, as showing the acumen of the writers and the
warmth with which they welcomed the book.


FROM WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.,

Late Surgeon-General of U. S. Army; Professor of Diseases of the Mind
and Nervous System and of Clinical Medicine in the Bellevue Hospital
Medical College, New York.


NEW YORK, Aug. '69.

DR. NAPHEYS--

_Dear Sir_: I have read with much interest and satisfaction your very
admirable book on "The Physical Life of Woman." I am glad that the
subject has been taken up by one who shows himself so thoroughly
qualified for the task, and I trust the instruction and advice contained
in the volume will reach every woman in the land.

Yours, sincerely,

WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER.

BROOKLYN, N. Y., Sept. 1869.

DR. GEO. H. NAPHEYS--

_Dear Sir_: I have examined your volume: "The Physical Life of Woman,"
and desire to thank you for performing a work so long needed, so
difficult to perform, and now, at length, so well done by you. Every
mother should have this book, nor should she suffer a child to be
married without the knowledge which this work contains. Thousands have
dragged through miserable lives and many have perished for want of such
knowledge. It is to be hoped, too, now that these delicate topics have
been so modestly and plainly treated, that your work will supersede the
scores of ill-considered and often mischievous treatises addressed "to
the married," which too often serve the lusts of men under the pretence
of virtue.

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM REV. HORACE BUSHNELL, D.D.

HARTFORD, CONN., Sept. 1869.

GEO. H. NAPHEYS, M.D.--

_Dear Sir_: I have read a large part of your book with interest. I
shrink from expressing any estimate of it as respects its physiological
merit, but it seems to be a book well studied, and it is written with
much delicacy and a careful respect, at all points, to the great
interests of morality. It will certainly be a great help to intelligence
on the subject, and ought, therefore, to be correspondingly useful.

Very respectfully yours,

HORACE BUSHNELL.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM HARVEY L. BYRD, M.D.,

Professor of Obstetrics in the Medical Department of Washington
University of Baltimore, Maryland.

BALTIMORE, Sept. 1869.

DR. GEO. H. NAPHEYS, Philadelphia--

_Dear Sir_: I have examined with much pleasure and satisfaction your
work on "The Physical Life of Woman," and do not hesitate to commend it
most warmly to our countrywomen, for whose benefit it is intended. I
congratulate you on the felicitous manner in which you have treated so
difficult a subject, and would recommend it to the public as supplying a
want that has long been felt in this country.

_Omne verum utile dictu_, and what can be more proper or more useful
than that woman should be made acquainted with the great laws of her
being and the duties for which she was created?

Very respectfully, your obed't servant,

HARVEY L. BYRD.

       *       *       *       *       *

EXTRACT FROM LETTER RECEIVED FROM EDWIN M. SNOW, M.D., OF PROVIDENCE,
RHODE ISLAND.

PROVIDENCE, Sept. 1869.

DR. NAPHEYS--

_Dear Sir_: I have examined with much interest the advance sheets of
your book, "The Physical Life of Woman:" I am highly pleased with it.
The advice given seems to me to be generally correct, and judiciously
expressed; and, in my opinion, the wide circulation of the book would be
a benefit to the community,

Truly yours,

EDWIN M. SNOW.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM REV. GEORGE ALEX. CROOKE, D.D., D.C.L.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 1869.
DR. GEO. H. NAPHEYS--

_Dear Sir_: I have carefully read your work entitled "The Physical Life
of Woman," and, as the result, I must candidly say that I believe the
information it contains is well calculated to lessen suffering and
greatly benefit the human race. I know there are some falsely fastidious
persons who would object to any work of the kind, but "to the pure all
things are pure." You have done your part fearlessly and well, and in a
popular manner, and I trust that your work may be productive of all the
good you design by its publication.

Very faithfully,
GEO. ALEX. CROOKE.

       *       *       *       *       *

OPINION OF LLOYD P. SMITH, Esq.

Librarian Philadelphia Library.

LIBRARY CO. OF PHILADELPHIA, FIFTH ST. BEL. CHESTNUT, PHILADELPHIA,
Sept. 1869.

It is an open question whether books de _secretis mulierum_ should be
written for the general public; but there is no doubt that, when they
are written, it should be done by the regular faculty, and not by
ignorant quacks. Dr. Napheys' "Physical Life of Woman" shows not only
the scientific attainments of the author, but also a wide range of
miscellaneous reading. The delicate subjects treated of are handled with
a seriousness and earnestness becoming their importance, and the
author's views are expressed in excellent English.

LLOYD P. SMITH.

       *       *       *       *       *

OPINION OF S. W. BUTLER, M.D.

Editor of the Philadelphia "Medical and Surgical Reporter."

I have carefully examined "The Physical Life of Woman," and find it a
work at once thoroughly representing modern science, and eminently
adapted for family instruction. It is well suited to female readers, to
whom it is especially addressed both in the matter it contains and in
the delicacy with which points relating to their physiological life are
mentioned.

S. W. BUTLER.

       *       *       *       *       *

EXTRACT FROM LETTER RECEIVED FROM JOHN H. GRISCOM, M.D.

NEW YORK, Sept. 1869.
DR NAPHEYS--

_My Dear Sir_: The "Physical Life of Woman" is a very scientific and
intellectually written work, and contains almost all the physiological
and sanitary facts and directions needed for the preservation of the
health and longevity of the maiden, wife, and mother. It must prove
attractive and useful for any lady who reads it.

Your sincere friend,
JOHN H. GRISCOM.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE NATIONAL BAPTIST, PHILA., DEC. 30, 1869

We join in the cordial welcome which this book has received. There is no
other work which tells so well just what every woman--and every
considerate man also--ought to know. Maternity is the one great function
of woman, according to God's ordinance, and for this marvelous and holy
mission her physical, intellectual, and moral constitution has been
designed. Dr. Napheys, in his wise "Advice to maiden, wife, and mother,"
passes in review the cardinal facts respecting woman's physical life.
The book is written in a very clear and simple style, so that no one can
misunderstand it, while there is nothing to disturb or offend the most
sensitive. A judicious mother would do her maturing daughters great
service by first carefully reading this volume herself, and then have
them read it under her guidance.

       *       *       *       *       *

OPINION OF MRS. R. B. GLEASON, M.D.

ELMIRA, N. Y., Sept. 1869.

The advance sheets of "The Physical Life of Woman" have been read with
much interest. In this book Dr. Napheys has well met a real need of the
age. There are many things incident to woman's physical organization
which she needs to know, and concerning which she still does not want to
ask a physician, and may not have one at hand when she most desires the
information. This book can be easily read and perfectly understood by
those not familiar with medical terms. All matters of delicacy are
treated with freedom, and still with a purity of thought and expression
which is above criticism.

For many years we have been often asked for just such a book, and shall
gladly commend it to the many wives and mothers who want for themselves
and grown-up daughters such a book of helps and hints for home life.

MRS. R. B. GLEASON.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM PROFESSOR JOHN S. HART, LL.D.

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, TRENTON, N. J.
GEO. H. NAPHEYS, M.D.--

_Dear Sir_: I have read with attention the advance sheets of your book,
"The Physical Life of Woman:" and take pleasure in saying that you have
handled a most difficult and important subject with equal delicacy and
ability.

Yours truly,
JOHN S. HART.

       *       *       *       *       *

OPINION OF MARK HOPKINS, D.D., LL.D.,

President of Williams College.

"Your book is conscientiously written, and will be likely to do good."

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE N. Y. EVANGELIST, NOV. 18, 1869.

This is a plain and practical treatise, prepared by a physician of skill
and experience, in which he aims to furnish information to women, in
their peculiar conditions and relations, married and single, so as to
enable them to preserve their own health, and perform their duties to
themselves and their children. The most delicate subjects are treated in
language so chaste as not to offend any pure mind.

       *       *       *       *       *

OPINION OF DR. R. SHELTON MACKENZIE.

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 1869.

"Believing that such a work as Dr. Napheys' 'Physical Life of Woman,'
giving a great deal of valuable information, explicitly and delicately,
is likely to be of very essential importance to the fair sex, I cannot
hesitate to express my favorable opinion of its object and execution."

       *       *       *       *       *

LETTER RECEIVED FROM REV. GEO. BRINGHURST,

Rector of the P. E. Church of the "Messiah," Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 1869.
DR. GEO. H. NAPHEYS--

_My Dear Sir_: I have perused with considerable care and pleasure the
work on the "Physical Life of Woman," and feel no hesitation in
pronouncing it admirably composed, honest, succinct, refined, and worthy
of the companionship of every lady of this age. I hail its appearance
with gratitude, and look upon it as a valuable contribution to those
efforts which are making in various directions to elevate the tone of
morals of the nineteenth century, and to enable mothers to discharge
faithfully the duties they owe their children.

Sincerely yours,
GEORGE BRINGHURST.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM H. N. EASTMAN, M.D.,

Professor of Practical Medicine in Geneva Medical College.

GENEVA, Sept. 1869.
GEO. H. NAPHEYS, M.D.--

_Dear Sir_: I have just completed a careful reading of your advance
sheets of "The Physical Life of Woman," and I unhesitatingly pronounce
it an admirable work, and one especially needed at this time. The book
is written in a chaste, elevated, and vigorous style, is replete with
instruction indispensable to the welfare and happiness of woman, and
should be placed in the hands of every mature maiden and matron in our
land.

H. N. EASTMAN.

       *       *       *       *       *

EDITORIAL FROM PHILADELPHIA MEDICAL AND SURGICAL REPORTER.

It is a singular fact, that in this country, most of the works on
medical and hygienic matters have been written by irregular
practitioners in order to help on its legs some ism or pathy of their
own. The public is really desirous of information about the great
questions of life and health. It buys whatever is offered it, and cannot
tell of course the tares from the wheat. In fact, as we have said, there
has been very little wheat offered it. Scientific physicians do not seem
to have taken the pains in this country, as in Germany, to expand sound
medical information among the people.

We therefore welcome all the more warmly a work which, under any
circumstances, would command our praise, advance sheets of which are now
before us. The author is Dr. George H. Napheys, of this city, well
known to all the readers of the "Reporter" as a constant contributor to
its pages for a number of years, a close student of therapeutics, and a
pleasing writer. The title of the book is "The Physical Life of Woman:
advice to the Maiden, Wife, and Mother." It is a complete manual of
information for women, in their peculiar conditions and relations,
married and single.

The style is simple, agreeable, and eminently proper and delicate,
conspicuously so when treating of such difficult topics to handle in a
popular book, yet so necessary to be handled, as the marital relations
of husband and wife, the consummation of marriage, etc.

We do not doubt that this work will find as large a sale both in and out
of the profession in this country, as the works of Bock and Klencke in
Germany, and of Tilt and Chavasse in England.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE NASHVILLE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY FOR NOVEMBER, 1869.

The outside of this book is more stylish and artistic than any the
market has owed to the press this season. The type and paper of the
inside are in keeping with the elegant exterior. The work contains much
valuable matter, in a style peculiarly attractive. It is intended to
treat woman as a rational being, to let her know much about herself as a
woman, that from this knowledge she may prevent and therefore escape
much of the suffering endured by her sex.

And who can do this but a physician? This may be regarded as the first
attempt of the kind in this country.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE MEDICAL RECORD, NEW YORK, JAN. 15, 1870.

Doctor Napheys, in his work on "The Physical Life of Woman," has
acquitted himself with infinite credit. The subject, which for a work of
its size takes a very wide range, is treated in choice, nay elegant
language, and we have not noticed a single expression upon the most
delicate matter that could offend the most refined taste. There are,
too, a great many interesting historical facts connected with the
general topic, both in an ethical and physiological point of view, which
show much discrimination in their production, and a good amount of
sterling scholarship. To the medical reader there are many points in the
book that are worthy of attention, prominent among which are remarks
bearing upon the right of limitation of offspring. We sincerely hope
that, for the real benefit of American women, it may meet with a hearty
reception, and be productive of great good, in preventing many of those
disorders now so rife in the community, which are solely the result of
ignorance of the ordinary laws of female hygiene.

No one, however scrupulous, need fear to admit the work within the pale
of his family circle, and place it, with confidence, in the hands of his
daughters.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE NEW YORK MEDICAL GAZETTE, JAN. 8, 1870.

Though professedly written for popular instruction, this little book
will not fail to instruct as well the professional reader. We cordially
recommend the perusal of Dr. Napheys' book to every woman seeking a
fuller acquaintance with her physical organism.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL, NOV. 25, 1869.

Most valuable for the perusal of mothers, and of those fathers who may
be equal to the task of advising sons liable to commit matrimony. The
style--of the text--is unexceptionable. Words are not wasted, and those
used are to the point. The volume is not a mere _resume_ of others'
opinions; but the author has made the topics of which he treats his own.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE CHICAGO MEDICAL EXAMINER OF NOV. 1869.

This work is written in a plain and pleasing style, well calculated both
to please and instruct. There is nothing of the _sensational_ or
imaginative character in it. On the contrary, its teachings are in
strict accordance with scientific facts and good sense. Though designed
specially for females, yet a careful perusal would be productive of much
benefit to both sexes.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE METHODIST HOME JOURNAL, DEC. 4, 1860.

Hitherto, the subjects so honestly and so skilfully treated in this
volume have, to a very great extent, been ruled out of the realm of
popular knowledge, and information of this class sought only in a
clandestine manner. The people have suffered by deplorable ignorance on
those topics, which should be as familiar to us as the alphabet. Dr.
Napheys, by his scientific handling of the physiological points which
relate to health, training, and development, has rendered a great
service to the world. This, the press, and public men, have not been
slow to acknowledge. The book has gained unqualified praise, and well
deserves it.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, DEC. 4, '69.

A book which treats wisely and delicately of very important subjects,
and subjects which ought to be treated by competent hands, instead of
being left to quacks and the venders of nostrums. Dr. Napheys is
evidently a conscientious and intelligent physician, and his counsels
are such as may be put in the hands of all persons needing such
counsels. We commend it for its judicious exposition of the laws of
nature.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE NEW YORK CHRISTIAN UNION, JAN. 8, 1870.

Society owes a debt of gratitude to this brave and scientific physician
for the unexceptionable way in which he has performed a work that has,
up to the publication of this book, been a paramount need, not to be
satisfied anywhere in the English language. If the volume contained only
the chapter on the influence of the mother's mind upon her unborn child,
we would recommend its purchase by every family in the United States.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE PHILA. EVENING TELEGRAPH, OCT. 6, 1869.

This is a work by a physician of reputation on the hygiene of woman,
designed for popular use, and introducing a variety of topics not
generally discussed outside of regular scientific medical works. Dr.
Napheys writes with dignity and earnestness, and there is not a chapter
in his book that may not be read by persons of both sexes. Of course
such a work as this is intended for men and women of mature years, and
it is not suitable to be left lying about for the gratification of idle
curiosity. The author has been careful to write nothing that can
possibly give offence, and he conveys much sound instruction that, if
heeded by those to whom it is particularly addressed, will save much
suffering.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE INDEPENDENT, NEW YORK, NOV. 11, 1869.

It required a brave but sensitively pure man to provide for the want
which existed for some reliable medical instruction upon points which
every woman and every married man ought to know, and few do. Dr. Napheys
we do not know personally. But his book is at once brave and pure. It is
written in such a spirit that she who really desires to learn the truths
of which she cannot with justice to herself or others be ignorant, may
do so without being shocked; while he who hopes to stimulate a vicious
imagination by its perusal will turn from its pages disappointed away.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM REV. HENRY CLAY TRUMBULL,

Secretary of New England Department of Missions of the American
Sunday-school Union.

HARTFORD, CT., Oct. 1869.

GEO. H. NAPHEYS, M.D.--

_My Dear Sir_: Understanding, from my long acquaintance with you, your
thoroughness of mental culture, your delicacy of sentiment, and your
sound good sense, I was prepared to approve heartily the tone and style
of your new work, "The Physical Life of Woman," when its advance sheets
were first placed in my hands.

A close examination of it convinces me that it is a book which can be
read by every woman to her instruction and advantage. Its manner is
unexceptionable. Its style is remarkably simple. Its substance evidences
your professional knowledge and your extensive study. I believe it needs
only to be brought to notice to commend itself widely. I think you have
done an excellent work in its preparation.

Sincerely your friend,

H. CLAY TRUMBULL.

       *       *       *       *       *

FROM THE REV. W. H. H. MURRAY,

Pastor of the Park Street Church, Boston, Mass.

DEC. 2, 1871.

It is with sincere gratitude to the author that I give my endorsement to
the book entitled "The Physical Life of Woman." Never was such a work
more needed anywhere, or in any age, than it is in America at this time.
I should rejoice at its introduction among the people until every wife
and mother in the country and the world had a copy in her possession. In
it the author has indeed given needed instruction and warning. He
deserves the thanks of every Christian and well-wisher of the race.

W. H. H. MURRAY.





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