tf^ .v i ■ :v * i* :v*V:.' &StVv-V " mcy< '-■) -t-v. 8. . . «. Villi IVNOIIVN INITIOS* 40 AlVilli IVNOUVN INIDI01W JO AIVIII1 IVNOIIVN 1 Y OF MEDICINE NATIONAI LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAI LIBRARY OF MEDICINE I I 1 1 \ A £ vim ivnoiivn jnoiojw 40 aiviiii ivnoiivn inoioiw 40 Aiviin ivnoiivn 3 sM« J^k> ' MEOICINE NATIONAI LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATION IVNOUVN JNOIOIW 40 AlVKin IVNOUVN INOKJiW 40 AIVIIII IVNOUVN 3NI3I03 EDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEOICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATION/ VNOUVN 3NIDI03W 40 AIVIIII IVNOUVN 3NI3I03W 40 AIV«m IVNOUVN 3NIOI03 ~s&? 2 (DICINE NATIONAI UIRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONA NOUVN 3NOI03W 40 AIVIIII IVNOUVN INOIOIVY 40 AIVIIII IVNOUVN 3NI3I03V f ^f^'> I V ICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL i.„. MiKMiaMM jo mwuaii m ?r- r • "IF*?. (\ PLAIN HOME TALK ABOUT THE HUMAM SYSTEM-THE HABITS OF MEN AND WOMEN—THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF DISEASE—OUR SEXUAL RELA- TIONS AND SOCIAL NATURES. EMBRACING MEDICAL COMMON SENSE APPLIED TO CAUSES, PREVENTION, AND CURE OF iCHROIfIC blSEASES-Tgljj- NE- URAL RELATIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN 1X)4EACH . , c • OTHER-SOCIETY-LOVE-=M#£rIAGB ? ' * : "'• ki vP| -PARENTAGE), ETC. 300 , Ifc EDWARD B./CIOTE, M.D.,/ Tf Author op Medical Common Sense; SciENc4^N~Siaa>T,-AN«A7j,Hi«u» Pu**i«a* tions on The Physical Improvement of Humanity; Physiological Mar- riage; Croup; Rupture and Hernia; Defective Vision; Causes of Disease, Insanity and Death; Divorce from a Scientific Stand Point; The Alphabet of the Human Temperaments; Nervous Debility; Phimosis; Continence, etc., etc. Revised in 1896 by Drs. E. B. Foote, Sr. and Jr. EMBELLISHED WITH OVER TWO HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS. MORE THAN HALF A MILLION SOLD. New York : MURRAY HILL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 129 East 28th Street. L. N. Fowler & Co., 7 Imperial Arcade, Ludgate, London, Eng. L. Underwood, 36 Holywell St., Strand, London, W.C., Eng. 1899 "W \NBft F 6 S x> p M<%>)^ai Common Sense.----Copyrighted, 1858 Plain Hom» Tax.9, embracing Medical Common Sense.----Copyrighted, 1870. revised edition of >rn Bonn FVaIf, embracing Medical,Common Sense,----Copyrighted, 1893. Murray Printing Co., 143, 145 and 147 East 23d St., New York. PRE FACE. For the third time I make my bow to a generous public. For the third time I serve to my patrons a dish of what I term medical common sense. The book entitled"Medical Common Sense" had its birth in 1858. It was a volume of about 300 pages and less than one hundred illustrations. When it first made its appearance some of my prudent friends shook their grave heads, and predicted for the author pecuniary failure and professional disgrace. Like those of many other prophets, their predictions proved to be only croakings, and the expected tartyr soon found himself surrounded by hosts of new friends and Bwarmsof new patients. While awaiting the popular verdict, after the first issue, one of the oldest and most noted clergymen of New York called at my office for the express purpose of assuring me how much he was pleased with the publication, and his appreciation possessed greater value to me because he had studied medicine in his youthful days, with the view of fitting himself for practice. He pronounced "Medical Common Sense" a refreshing contribution to medical literature, and expressed a hope that it would obtain a large circulation. I breathed easier, for the splendid physique, generous countenance, cultivated manner and commanding presence of the first juror gave to his encouraging words the color and impressiveness of authority, and I almost felt as if the pop- ular verdict had already been rendered. It is many years since this noted man passed to the " great beyond," at the ripe age of eighty-six. The N. Y. Evangelist, in its obituary notice, said : " So ends a long and distinguished public career. So passes away one of the great men of a former generation. His name has been a household word for half a century. In the Presbyterian Church he stood in the very front rank. * * * By his great power he made his influence felt in every sphere in which he moved. * * * His commanding presence, ready tact and powerful utterance com- bined to make him In deliberative and popular assemblies a leader of men." These brief quotations are made to show what manner of man this clergyman was who endorsed a popular medical work which broke away from orthodoxy in medicine and opened up new paths for those who were groping in the wilder- ness of doubt and uncertainty, vainly looking for hope and relief from chronic physical ills. The youthful author was barely twenty-nine years of age; the clergyman in the " glory of his ripe manhood." It can be well Imagined that any misgivings as to how the volume would be received gave way to confident expectation, nor was this feeling delusive, for, as the book continued to circu- late, letters came in dally, like the droppings of the ballots on election day, from intelligent men and women in all parts of the country, thanking me for the in- formation I had presented in language which could be comprehended by the masses of tli« reople. The appreciation of the latter was attested by the fact that between 1868 and 1869 over two hundred and fifty thousand copies were sold, a circulation which I venture to affirm had been attained by no other medical work of like size in the same time in this or any other country. IV PREFACE. My correspondence with the people often exceeded one hundred letters per day, and the personal experiences and observations confided to the author en- abled me to form some conception of the popular needs, and to supply still further that physiological Instruction so greatly demanded to make mankind healthy and happy. Hence my second revision, made in 1870, with the title of "Plain Home Talk, Embracing Medical Common Sense," a book containing nearly 1,000 pages and over 200 illustrations. In this revision it was my aim to answer as nearly as possible all the questions that had been put to me in the Intervening years, and to recommend such measures for individual and social reform as I thought would prove morally and physically beneficial. To fulfill my duties in these respects, I could not make a volume suited for the centre table, nor yet a work that should find place on some obscure shelf. The medicine closet or family library seemed to me to be an appropriate place for the book. Time proved that this venture was not without suc- cess. Meeting the well-known veteran litterateur and traveller, Stephen Massett, at a banquet in New York, he remarked: " I have met your remarkable work in every clime I have visited— even in far-off South Africa." More than half a million copies have been sold, and still it meets with public appreciation, as is evidenced by the fact that the publishers print an edition of about fifteen or twenty thousand every year. It has been trans- lated into the German language, and has found thousands of read- ers in the German Empire. The title of the German edition is "Offene Volks Sprache." After a lapse of a quarter of a century the book appears with considerable new matter. It is a edward b. foote, jr., m.d. remarkable fact that " Plain Home Talk " was so far in ad- vance of the times when published (some said fifty years) that it is not now necessary to " writeit up to date." It has been like a perpetual almanac from the moment it was first issued. A correspondent, a well-known horticulturist of Michigan, recently wrote: "Is Dr. Foote, the one who wrote 'Plain Home Talk,' still living? Does he know that many of his notions and sociological de- ductions have become popularized since 1857—since 1870?" Little that is new can be added; but many of the reforms advocated in the volume have been ac- complished, and the essays devoted to them can be made conformable to the changes which have taken place. It can be freshened up a little with new dates and with observations on some of the remarkable advances in the domain of PREFACE. V hygiene and medicine. In making this third revision 1 have associated with me my oldest son, Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., who entered this world in the year 1854, com- menced the study of medicine in 1872, and graduated from the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in 1876. And I will add, In this connection, that my son, Dr. Hubert T. Foote, five years younger than his brother, is a physician, and both are associated with their father in the management of a wide practice, extend- ing into all the States and Territories of North America, and into Europe, Asia and Africa. Perhaps my old and new patrons would like an introduction to these two valuable associates, and I will here avail myself of the art of the photo-engraver to make my indulgent reader acquainted with these well cut "chips of the old block." There are poitions of the Preface appearing in my first volume which I will reproduce here with some slight altera- tions and additions. " Common sense," I said, nearly forty years ago, is quoted at a dis- count, especially by the medical profession, which proverbially ignores everything that has not the mixed odor of incompre- hensibility and antiquity. Med- ical works are generally a het- erogeneous compound of vague ideas and jaw-breaking words, in which the dead languages are largely employed to treat of living subjects. Orthodoxy in medicine consists in walking in the beaten paths of ^Esculapian ancestors, and looking with grave contempt on all who es- say to cut out new paths for themselves. Progress is sup- posed to be possible in every thing except medicine; but in this science, which all admit has room for improvement, the epithet of " Quack " is applied to every medical discoverer. I Hubert t. foote m.d. trust I may prove worthy of the denunciations of the bigoted. This work Is written for the amelioration of human suffering, not for personal popularity. To uproot error and do good should be the first and paramount aspiration of every intelligent being. He who labors to promote the physical perfection of his race; he who strives to make mankind intelligent, healthful and happy, cannot fail to have reflected on his own soul the benign smiles of those whom he has been the instrument of bene- fiting. My object in preparing this work is to supply a desideratum which has long existed, I.e., a medical work, reviewing first causes asiwell aa facts and ultimate effects, written In language strictly mundane, and comprehensible alike to the lowly Inmate of a basement and the exquisite student of an attle vi PREFACE. studio; and if successful in fulfilling the promise of the title-page, I have too much confidence in the intelligence of the masses and the erudition of the un- prejudiced scholar to believe that it will be received with unappreciation or indifference. Many of the theories which these pages will advance are certainly new and antagonistic to those popularly entertained, but it does not follow that they are incorrect or unworthy the consideration of the philosophical and physi- ological inquirer. They are founded upon careful observation, experiment and extensive medical practice, and if the truth of the theories may be judged by the success of the latter, then do they unmistakably possess soundness as well as originality, for living monuments to the skill and success of the author have been and are being daily raised from beds of sickness and debility in every part of the world. If these remarks sound boastful, be not lees ready to pardon the conceit of a successful physician than that of a victorious soldier. The success- ful military chieftain is notoriously conceited; is it not as honorable and elevat. ing to save life as to destroy it? If a man may boast that he has slain hundreds, cannot his egotism be indulged if he has saved the lives of thousands? I shall claim the soldier's prerogative, for when medical charlatans of every street corner are blowing their trumpets, it does not behoove the successful physician to nurse his modesty. What I write, however, shall be written in candor, and with an honest intention of enlightening and benefiting humanity. How far the heads of families may be willing to allow it to circulate among the younger members, it must be left for them to determine; but, if intelligent parents had had my experience they would place this book in the hands of all children who are capable of being interested in it. In other words, they would take no pains to conceal it from children of any age, because only those who understand it will become interested, and all possessing this degree of compre- hension are liable to obtain erroneous and injurious information upon the same topics through impure and corrupting channels, though much care be exercised to prevent it. This is a fact which a large correspondence with young people has impressed upon the mind of the author, and would command the earnest attention of all parents and guardians, if they possessed the moans of knowing what the writer does. I have received enough lamentations from the young of both sexes, resulting from their indiscretions, to fill these pages, and many of their letters do not hesitate to charge their parents with cruel neglect in keep- ing from them a knowledge of such vital importance. If this work is adjudged unsuitable, may be other works can be found that will answer the purpose, although I doubt if there is another book wherein the relations of all the organs of the system to each other, and those of the moral nature to the physical body, are more faithfully traced. For the adult this work contains information which no man or woman can afford to do without, when it may be-obtained at a price comparatively so trifling. ]f the physiological deductions and social views of the author be not accepted the valuable facts upon which they are based re- main, and the reader is at liberty to use them to sustain opinions and sugges- tions which he may adjudge more acceptable to the popular mind. Anything, everything—that the human family may grow wiser and happier. E. B. F- CONTENTS. PART I. DISEASE-ITS CAUSES, PREVENTION, AND CURE. OPENING CHAPTER. Disease and its Causes. FAGK | Opening words........................ 25 Our planet................... 25 j Its loul of human suffering ... ...... 25 The tyranny of disease......... .. 25 The Causes of Disease Are mental, blood, and nervous derange- ments ........................ 26 The brain capitol of the nervous system 27 The nerves telegraphic wires......... 27 How the mind sends its telegrams..... 27 How quickly it does it.............. 27 The biain a reservoir of electricity.... 28 The stomach a galvanic battery....... 29 Other sources of animal electricity.... 30 Opening words ...................... 40 Ignorance. A vehicle loaded like a city omnibus.. 40 Conveying disease to the human system 40 The world in the character of "blind- man's buff''.................... 41 Ignorance of two kinds.............. 41 Where ignorance begins its work ..... 42 How children arc conceived.......... 42 Life and disease thrust upon them — 43 What next T ---..................... 43 Ignorance of young women. ......... 44 I PAGB | How mental troubles produce disease.. 81 I What the blood is made of......... 34 The heart the capitol of the circulatory system................ 35 Also the reservoir of the blood....... 35 How it pumps the blood out and in. . 35 The capillary system described...... 35 How the blood builds up the body____ 36 What becomes of the waste matters .. 36 The dumping grounds of the system.. 86 How blood derangements cause disease 36 How the secreted enemy opens the sys- tem to contagion.......... 37 The cause of feve'r and ague........ 33 What is necessary for good health..... 39 "Nature's calls" imperative........... 44 The coyness of young people.......... 44 The ignorance of grown-up children... 45 Physiological ignorance............. 45 Its effects upon women............ 45 Schools must ultimately redeem us .. . 45 Violating the Moral Nature. Sympathy between the moral and phys- ical man.................... 48 Moral strength produces physical strength.......................... 47 CHAPTER II. The Causes of Nervous and Blood Derangements. viii CONTENTS. PAGE Mind your conscience, and r.ot your neighbor.......................... 47 Mankind not run in one mould........ 47 A sense of right makes one invincible. 47 Moral neglect mars the features........ 43 Muck-wisdom, dirt, and property...... 48 Its value when disease comes......... 50 Effects of untruthfulness and injustice on health........................ 50 Nations suffer from wrong doing....... 50 Individual reformation necessary...... 52 '• Paying off in their own coin "....... 53 Effects of revenge on health........... 53 The Food we Eat. How food is converted into bone, mus- cle, etc........................... 54 The curious dishes of some people___ 65 Caterpillar soup, puppy stew, etc...... 55 Maguey butter made from yellow worms 56 Emperor Maximilian induced to try it 56 Pork bad for the blood................ 56 Hogs not made to eat................. 57 The use Christ made of them.......... 57 People leaping down their own throats. 58 Bwine are scrofulous.................. 58 Pork is wormy....................... 5S The name of the worm............... 59 Its effects when lodged in the system.. 59 A proposition to cook it to death...... 59 A .lew theory respecting trichina;..... CO Dr. Adam Clarke's grace at a pig dinner 03 lteasons why rtwgs are unhealthy...... Go Diseases produced by pork eating..... C4 All animal food condemned by eiauy.. 05 Its moderate use uninjurious.......... 05 Horse meat at Hamburg.............. 06 Meat makes men pugnacious......... 66 The controversy between meat-eaters and vegetarians................... 67 The theory of the writer.............. 63 Mr. Bi-rgh on meat-eating............. 71 People cat too much grease............ 11 Conduct depends upon food.......... 7'2 Bonaparte and his poor dinner......... 72 Protracted intervals between meals should be avoided................ 73 Sensible views advanced by a writer .. 73 Prest< n King's dietetic habits........ 74 Further advice on diet................ 74 The Liquids we Drink. What every person drinks per annum.. 75 The beverages used by different nations 75 Authors and orators often topers...... 76 Tea and coffee ...................... 77 When first introduced................ 77 What old Lo Yu said of tea........... 77 Who may drink tea.................. 73 Who may drink coffee................ 7S How tea and coffee are adulterated___ 79 How adulterations mav be avoided .... 79 Alcohol brewed in the humun body. 80 Conflicting views of the scientists. Hi L'tility of malt liquors in moderation 81 Two fold action of alcohol ......... n2 \s ;i force-producer—food......... 82 Aa apoison.......................... 8J2 Dr. Egbert Guernsey's conclusions... 83 Narcotic, depressing influence........ 83 Homeopathic, tonic action............ 83 Effect in retarding'waste............. 84 Effect upon the blood................ 84 Relation to animal color.............. 85 Alcohol aaa "stimulant"............ 85 Its utility in the laboratory........... K> Injurious effects of such stimulants*.. 85 Alcoholism—drunkards.............. 86 Progressive degradation.............. 87 Milk................................. 89 The difference between woman's and cow's milk....................... S8 Valuable hints to mothers............. 88 Adulterations in milk................. 89 The milk of diseased animals......... SO Pure milk not good for every one..... 90 Buttermilk and its therapeutic value.. 90 Water............................... 91 Its impurities cause blood diseases.... 91 The effects of limestone water......... 92 The waters of the juniper swamps.... 98 Mineral springs and their value...... 98 Water poisoned by perspired and re- spired gases............,......... 94 The water of leaden rvf,w» ..,......... 94 The effects of ice-water............... 94 The best rule in using water.......... 94 The danger in drinking from brooks... 95 The Atmosphere wo Live In. How much the lungs taKe m annually. 95 How air promotes vegetable growth .*.. 95 Air can make or unmake a man....... 96 What air is composed of.............. 96 The electricity of the air.............. 97 Electrical condition in dry weather___ 97 Electrical condition in damp weather.. 97 Evidence sustaining the author's posi- tion............................ 93 Victor Hugo describes an equinoctial storm........................ 98 Philosophy of insensible perspiration.. 59 No book teaches this........... 100 Dry weather promotes electrical ruc'.i- atioa............................ ioi A popular error refuted..........____ 101 The lungs aid i he stomach........ 103 Why persons breathe harder in sleep.. 108 Greater pronenets to disease in the sleeping than in the waking state. 103 The reason explained................. 104 Scrofula rendered contagious through the medium of the air............ 105 Professor Faraday's experience in a crowded room..................105 Pure air as necessary as pure water.. .. 106 What Horace Mann said of badly venti- lated school-rooms................ 107 How nature purifies the air........... 107 Injurious effects of stove heat...... 108 Professor Youmans' opinion........ 108 Dr lire's experiments......... i08 Experiments of French savants! lOd Heat ing by steam less objectionable 110 CONTENTS. IX PAGE Nothing like the old fire-place........ 110 Grates best of modern improvements. 110 Permanency of impure air............110 A hint to mechanics who work in metal 112 Shops should be aired daily........... 112 Churches after as well as before service 112 Advice for everybody................ 112 Clothes we Wear. The human being comes into the world rudely............................ 112 Old Dame- Nature immodest.......... 118 How the poor baby is treated.........113 The effects of certain clothing on health 114 Fashion has knocked out people's brains 114 Flora McFlimsey laughs at women in barbarism........................ 115 Women in barbarism laugh at Flora McFlimsey...................... 115 The Bloomer costume................ 115 Men robbed women of the breeches,.. 116 Men in petticoats in the 15th century.. 116 Why long skirts are unhealthful....... 116 What Dr. Harriet M. Austin says.....117 The experience of another female writer........................... 118 Comments on low-necked dresses.....120 Killing children with kindness........ 120 Dr. Frank Hamilton's fling at the cos- tume of men..................... 122 Knit shirts and drawers unhealthful... 123 Bed flannel better than white..........123 The number and value of the pores.... 124 Rubber and skin garments unhealthful 125 Patent leather injurious.............. 125 A lady in the " Home Journal " look- ing at gentlemen's feet........... 126 Second-hand clothing a medium of disease.......................... 126 Clothes made from shoddy............ 127 We need rag inspectors............... 127 Borne reformers recommend nudity.... 127 Experiment being tried in Ireland.... 128 Spartan customs...................... 129 Rules to be observed in dress......... 129 Bad Habits of Children and Youth. Seeds of disease sown in childhood___130 What candies are colored with........131 What they are flavored with.......... 132 Bad posture in sitting................ 132 Going to school too young............ 133 Going barefoot........................ 134 Remarkable case of poisoning by a bone 134 Wrong to sleep with old people....... 136 Vital electricity of the child absorbed. 136 King David knew the effects......... 136 Old men marrying young wives....... 137 Diseased and healthy children should not sleep together................ 137 Prevalence of masturbation........... 137 The terrible effects................... 138 Children should be properly Instructed 140 Standing on the head................. 140 Injurious effects of................... 141 Turning round to become dizzy....... 141 How to make healthy men and women 141 Bad Habits of Manhood and Womanhood. FAG* Good and bad habits.................. 141 The use of tobacco.................... 142 Fashionable women getting into the habit........................... 143 The habits of poets, preachers, etc___ 148 Dipping tobacco...................... 148 How it is done........................ 143 Its fatal effects in some cases........143 Tobacco a medicinal plant............ 144 Injurious wheu habitually used........ 144 The testimony of various writers...... 144 Tobacco causes impotency............ 147 This proposition illustrated........... 148 Smoking alters the form of the mouth. 148 Other fashionable poisons............. 149 Tight lacing—its effects............... 149 How the power of the lungs may be tested............................ 150 God's works are perfect............... 151 The outspoken sentiments of a woman 151 Medicine taking...................... 155 Origin and effects of patent medicines. 155 The law of temperaments in medicating 156 Inscription on an English tombstone... 157 Arsenic eating........................ 157 Turning night into day............... 157 Why man should lie down at night___153 Explained on electrical principles.....158 Fast eating........................... 160 How a Yankee eats................... 160 Liquid should not be Afcnk with food. 160 Holiday stuffing and midnight dinners. 161 How people abuse their stomachs___162 Fruit and light food for public dinners 162 Habit second nature................. 168 Remarkable illustrations.............. 168 Sexual Isolation. A startling essay..................... 164 Who will turn up their noses......... 164 Two classes will comprehend.......... 164 A male and female element in all na- ture .............................. 1C5 The universal attraction between the two.............................. 1C5 How it finds expression............... 105 The sexual characteristics of different persons explained................. 165 Sexual association beneficial.......... 166 The essentials to support life.......... 166 Four essentials to physical and spiritual health........................... 166 One of which is sexual magnetism___166 Effects of sexual isolation............. 166 Upon the shakers..................... 166 Upon nuns.......................... 197 Upon females in factories............. 168 Upon old maids...................... 168 Upon various classes.................. 168 Benefitsof sexual magnetism in disease 169 The temptations of young men........ 171 Men and women want something they know not what.................... 173 And take to narcotics................. 1 Vi A remedy suggested,,,............... 178 X CONTENTS. Prostitution. PAG I Its moral and physical effects.........174 How disease is generated ............ 175 Is prostitution necessary ?............ 177 The causes of prostitution...........178 Families supported by it..............181 How girls are seduced...............; 182 Where reform should commence...... 183 Abandonment of the courtesan unchris- tian ............................. 186 The midnight mission................ 1S6 Unhappy Marriage. Destroys the tone of the nervous and vascular fluids.................... 188 Curious statistics..................... 188 Effects on offspring...........,....... 1S9 Impure Vaccination. Or'tin of vaccination................. 189 Jenner's experiments on children..... 190 Their disastrous results.............. 190 No " pure virus " or safe method..... 191 Conflicting statements of its friends.. 192 Adulterated Medicines, The baseness of medicinal adulteration 194 The extent of adulteration............ 194 Patients make usly faces at their fam- ily doctors..."..................... 196 Brutality and Inhumanity. Their effects on the nervous system... 197 The impulse to kill and inflict pain___197 How the magnetism of man influences animals below him................ 198 Human and animal ferocity will die together.......................... 198 Physical effects of inhumanity........ 199 Evil influence of legal murder........ 199 The practice of the ancients.......... 201 PASl Drowning verstts hanging............. 208 Theatrical tragedy injurious to many.. 204 Wealth. Its dissipations induce disease......... 204 Dr. Hall's theory refuted............. 204 Health begets wealth, instead of wealth begetting health.................. 205 A lesson from Socrates................ 206 Dr. Channing's view.................. 207 Failures in Business. Destroy the harmony of the nervous system.......................... 207 The Drain compared to a bank........ 208 The organs compared to merchants.... 208 A physiological " panic "..............208 Failure after failure followsin the wake of the defaulter.................. 210 His conduct carries thousands to pre- mature graves.................... 210 How to avoid failures................. 211 Excessive Study Overloading the mind................ 211 Literary world full of physical wrecks. 211 Excessive Labor. The system needs rest................ 212 One day per week set apart for rest by all nations....................... 212 Advice to sewing-women............ 218 Melancholy. People keep pet griefs. .............214 Some feel best when they feel worst.. . 214 Melancholy disturbs the nervous system 214 The value of a laugh................. 214 Conclusion of Chapter II.............. 214 Causes of disease like insects........ 215 They drop into every thing........... 215 CHAPTER III. Prevention of Disease. A text from Harriet Martineau........ 216 Fight for good health................. 216 The guinps who run the physical ma- chine ............................ 217 Providence takes away............... 217 This proposition disproved............ 217 Our Heavenly Father the author of all good............................. 219 How about the dear baby............. 219 Its death accounted for................ 219 How to have Healthy Babies. Infirm people should not have children 220 Few are hopelessly incurable......... 221 How healthy people have diseased chil- dren. ........r---... .;.......... 221 Advice to pregnant women........... 222 General hints to be observed.......... 224 How to Preserve the Health of Children. What to do after the baby arrives.....226 The popular delusion about clothing... 226 The baby kicks the clothes off........ 227 The reason why...................... 227 Valuable hints on baby raising......'.. 228 The food of children..................280 What a mother should be............. 280 Rev. O. B. Frothingham's Idea..... .. 23« Advice about nurses.................. 281 Bathing and amusing children........ 231 Guarding thetn from injury .......... $8} CONTENTS. XI PAGS Don't dose tnem...................283 The punishment of children.......... 284 Dietetics for Old and Young. Stimulating diet bad for children......235 Belf-evident philosophy regarding diet. 235 Simple rule for the baby, the child, the man, the aged..................... 285 Fasting injurious................... . 287 How to regulate the bowels with food. 238 The Physiological Instruction of Children. Results of physiological ignorance___239 How it may be overcome.............' 239 A new plan proposed................*.' 239 Mental and Physical Recreation. Necessary to preserve health.......... 241 Idleness not recreation.............." 241 Benefits of horseback riding.......... 242 Women should ride astride........... 244 Remarks on dancing..............''' \ 245 Men and women should commingle in exercise......................... 246 Light gymnastios..................... 247 Swimming........................249 Bicycling.- benefits and evils!........ 251 Cautions to women, children and aged 258 Sleep. Its value to health .................. 252 Insanity from want of sleep..........' 254 How to go to bed..................." ' 254 Cleanliness. PAGK A preventive of disease............... 255 Nature's sewers should be kept active. 256 Pure Air. The value of the pure breath of heaven 257 A ir baths............................. 25S How to keep pure the air of the sick- " room............................ 259 Sunshine. The instinct of a potato............... 2E9 A tadpole could not become a frog with- out sunshine...................... 258 Its valuo to the sick.................. 260 An overdose, sunstroke............... 261 How to avoid it...................... 261 A Cood Temper. Its value to health.................... 262 Chronic grumblers never well......... 263 Petulance worse than grumbling.....263 Violent temper worse than petulance.. 264 Don't slop over...................... 264 Keep the Feet Warm. The prevalence of cold feet........... 265 How this condition affects health.....26t How to preserve the warmth of the feet.............................. 266 Artificial heat injurious...............266 How to cure chronic cold feet......... 266 Spring Renovation. Habits of rr>ankind make it necessary.. 268 Taking bitters........................ 269 An injurious remedy................269 The proper course to take............. 270 Concluding suggestions of the chapter. 270 CHAPTER IV. Common Sen Introductory words...............272 Redfield describes the natural phy- sician............................ 273 Vegetable Medicines. The trees, herbs, etc., possess all the medicinal properties of minerals 273 The bone turned into a flower...... 274 Vegetation posses sensorial power. 276 Its life is like your morning nap.... 276 Paracelsus the Adam of the medical world........................... 276 The origin of the term " Quack "... 277 Mercury as a remedial agent....... 278 Its injurious effects exhibited...... 278 Medical men worshiping the metal calf........................... 281 The allopath owning up............. » • •• i00 Treatment of chronic disease? OI the breathing organs............... • 35* The Dutchman's dog-liver oil........ <^5o Dyspepsia a common companion ot ;on- ^ sumption.......................^G A hint to cod-liver-oil doctors.........356 The atmosphere best for consumptives 857 How traveling improves the patient.. 358 Eastern and southern slopes of moun tains beneficial...................t>58 Theodore Parker to Dr. Bowditch.....359 Tho value of Mr. Parker's testimony.. 36-J The influence of liquor upon consump- tive patients...................... 362 Hemorrhage of the lungs curable...... 862 Persons may live with one lung.......363 President Day a consumptive in youth 864 Had ulcers and cavities................ 364 Was cured and lived to ninety-five---364 Cheerfulness essential to a cure........864 How the lungs work.................364 How the lungs may become paralyzed.^865 The proper treatment of lung affections 866 Ordinary drugging injurious.......... 866 CHAPTER III. Chronic Diseases of the Liver, Stomach, and Bowels. Opening words ..................... 368 The process of digestion plainly de- scribed..... ........... .........368 Chronic Affections of the Liver. Liver the largest organ in the body... 370 The cause of torpidity................ 370 Torpid livers most common in the South and West.................. 371 Why it is so.......................... 371 How to avoid the disease..............372 The negro not subject to the disease... 873 Why he is not........................ 373 How his nose, lips, and skin protect him.............................873 Advice to Western and Southern friends 874 Numerous functions of the liver......376 Biliousness explained—liver torpor... 377 Organic disease, cirrhosis.............377 Liver torpor and constipation.......378 Objection to calomel or mercurials... 378 Formation of gall-stones............379 The pancreas—its obscure affections.. 379 Dyspepsia. The immediate causes................ 930 The predisposing causes......... .... 881 Fat dyspeptics........................ 882 Nervous dyspepsia....................882 Dyspeptic symptoms.................383 A dyspeptic cannot be a practical Chris- tian .............................. 383 Lean dyspeptics......................383 The management of dyspepsia........ 884 Constipation. The course of food followed from the inlet to the outlet................. 886 How the waste matters are expelled... 886 The immediate causes of constipation. 887 Tho predisposing causes ............. 887 How constipation injures the procrea- tive system ...................... 888 How it affects both sexes. ,,,,,,,,,..•• 888 -V CONTENTS. The formation of fecal plugs..........ot>!) How to remove them................. SS9 Disagreeable effluvia of constiputed people.......................... 390 Advice in regard to food............. U9j Chronic Diarrhoea. The disease described................. C92 The causes........................... 893 Indiscreet treatment................. 394 What should be done................. 394 Hemorrhoids or Piles. The rectum described................ 394 Where piles locate themselves........ 395 Itching piles......................... 395 Tumorous and varicose piles..........895 Bleeding piles.......................395 Immediate causes of piles............396 Bad habits at the closet.............. 396 The predisposing causes of piles...... 397 Remedial agents...................... 398 Fistula in Ano. Its cause.......................... .. 239 I ts management...................... 400 Stricture of the Rectum. Its cauj-e............................. 400 Its symptoms........................ 401 I ts treatment........................ 40] Falling of the Rectum. The disease described.................401 Its cause and management............ 40) Ulceration of the Bowels. Its causes and symptoms.............401 The proper remedy.............'.'..'.'. 402 Intestinal Worms. The human family wormy............402 How to get rid of them............... 408 CHAPTER IV. Aches and Pains. Heartaches and headaches............. 404 Acres of aches........................404 Bilious Headache. Child born without a head............ 404 Bilious headache common.............405 What produces it..................... 405 Its effects............................ 406 No person need suffer with it.........406 Nervous Headache. What causes it....................... 407 Its treatment...... .................. 468 Congestive Headache. Who are most liable to it.............408 The remedy......................'',' 409 Neuralgia. As well look into Robinson Crusoe aa into medical books for its true pa- thology.........................409 Its nature—successful treatment.....410 Rheumatism. This disease never correctly understood 411 A self-evident explanation given..... 41U The nature of acute rheumatism...... 413 Chronie rheumatism explained....... 418 Treatment........................... 41a The importance of eyes and ears...... 415 Hard to get through the world without them........................... 415 Old Eyes. How the sight becomes impaired...... 415 How to preserve the sight............ 420 How to restore it..................... 421 Near Sight. Valuable hints to near-sighted people.. 422 How near sight may be improved.....423 Chronic Sore Eyes. The mechanism of the eye described.. 423 Interesting to the plainest reader...... 423 Uow inflammation affects the eyes___ 424 CHAPTER V. Affections of the Eyes and Ears. How sore eyes are induced............ 425 The treatment of chronic sore eyes.... 425 Amaurosis. Its nature and cause..................426 How its approach is indicated.........42 i Hints to those affected............... 426 Cross Eyes. Qood for schoolmasters............... 426 Troublesome to other people......... 427 Their treatment..................... 427 Other diseases of the eye ..'.'.'..'..'..'..'. 427 Defective Hearing. How we are made conscious of sound 428 The organs of the ear plainly described 428 Causes of defective hearing........... 429 How roaring in the ears is produced!.. 432 Advice to deaf people................. 433 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER VI. Diseases of the Heart. PAGK I One ot Artemus Ward's Jokes........ 434 Causes of palpitation How people are liable to be mistaken.. 485 | Advice to invahds.. FAGB .. 485 .. 436 CHAPTER VII. Chronic Affections of the Urinary Organs. The urinary organs plainly described.. 437 Bridget and the water-pipes.......... 438 Man and his water-pipes..........." 438 Diseases of the Kidneys. Chronic inflammation of the kidneys.. 439 Chronic weakness.................... 440 Consumption of the kidneys.........440 Blight's disease......................' 441 Examination of urine in Bright's.....442 Tieatment of Bright's—a case cited... 443 Kidney Colic. Kidney stones or calculi—their exit... 444 Disease of the Bladder. Cystitis; inflammation of the bladder. 444 Symptoms—question of " stone".....445 Treatment of cystitis................445 Prostatic enlargement................445 Gravel...............................445 Gonorrhoea and Stricture. How contracted___.................. 446 Gonorrhoea innocently caught........' 447 The symptoms in men................ 447 Symptoms in women..............." 447 "Infalliblerecipes"................... 448 People 6trictured by them............ 448 Stricture of the urethra illustrated___ 449 What causes stricture................ 449 Treatment of diseases of the urinary organs......,.,,,,,.............. 450 CHAPTER VIII. Private Words for Women. Opening words......................451 The prevalence of uterine diseases___453 Derangements of the Monthly Flow. Mothers should counsel their daughters 453 The function of menstruation......... 454 Wnat frightened girls have done...... 454 When menstruation commences......454 Symptoms preceding menstruation.... 454 " The turn of life " explained.........455 It often takes place prematurely....... 455 A common fallacy exposed............ 455 What is the use of menstruation...... 456 An interesting explanation............ 456 Relationship between the breasts and uterine organs.................... 456 Irregular and painful menstruation___457 Immoderate flowing or flooding....... 458 Insufficient or slight menstruation___458 Suppressed menstruation............. 459 How to distinguish suppressed men- struation from pregnancy......459 Menstrual derangements should not be neglected........................ 460 Advice to sufferers...................460 Leucorrhoea. This difficulty described..............460 Its debilitating tendency.............. 461 The predisposing causes.............. 461 Drolleries respecting the hymen......464 The hymen a cruel and unreliable test of virginity...................... 466 The natural purpose of the hymen .... 467 The treatment of leucorrhoea......... 469 Falling of the Womb. Co-existent with civilization..........470 Local symptoms not always present... 471 Valuable hints to sufferers............ 472 Ulceration of the womb.............. 474 Polypus of the womb ................ 474 Dropsy of the womb.................. 474 Chronic inflammation of the womb ... 476 Vaginal Affections. The vagina described................. 476 The diseases to which it is subject___476 Some plain remedies presented........ 477 Nymphomania. Excessive amativeness on the part of the female........................ 477 The causes,.......................... 478 Females thus suffering deserve sympa- thy.............................. 473 My mode of treatment............... 479 XVI CONTENTS. Amorous Dreams. PAGE Women as well as men subject to them 479 Practically involuntary masturbation.. 479 How they injure health...............479 How it happens that apathetic married women sometimes have them.....480 Their treatment...................... 481 Anthropophobiaand Sexual Apathy. (Symptoms........................... 481 Healthy females subject to amative ex- citement ......................... 481 Sexual Dyspepsia. paoi A new name...............• • • •.- ■ ■■•• ™J Married women subject to the diseft-e. ku The husband in purgatory...........4W Causes and treatment.................4°^ Ovarian Diseases. Misht properly find place here....... 483 Deferred for another chapter..........483 Treatmentof the diseases of this chap- ter ....... ...................... 488 Curative powers of electricity.........484 CHAPTER IX. Hints to the Childless. barrenness abhorrent to every one. .. 485 The charm of " our baby ............486 Causes of Barrenness. Irremediable causes.................489 Causes that may be obviated.......... 490 Local Inadaptation. Its prevalence........................ 490 Local inadaptation illustrated.........492 Diseased Condition of the Wife. Womb diseases...................... 498 Ovarian.............................. 500 Diseased secretions of the vagina.....502 Obstructions of the fallopian tubes___503 Scrofulous causes..................... 503 Excess of flesh....................... 503 Impotency of the wife................ 504 Tumorous obstructions............... 504 Menstrual derangements.............. 504 Diseased Condition of the Husband. The husband frequently at fault....... 504 Common causes of male barrenness.. 505 Excessive Amativeness. May cause birrenness................507 On the part of the husband...........507 On the part of the wife...............507 Temperamental Inadaptation. What is it............................ 509 An important essay................... 509 How to promote Child-bearing. The most susceptible period.......... 511 Plain rules for remedying local inadap- tation ............................ 511 How obstacles resulting from disease may be removed.................. 514 Hints to those excessively amative___ 616 Advice to those temperamentally ina- dapted.......................... 516 A word to jealous husbands........... 518 CHAPTER X. Private Words for Men. How little men know of themselves .. 520 An instance given..... .............. 520 The Penis and its Diseases. Two views of the organ given......... 521 Its mechanism plainly described...... 521 Deformities of this organ............. 522 Can it be enlarged ?................... 522 Diseases of the penis.................522 Chancre described.................... 523 What should be done with this disease. 523 Necessity of personal cleanliness...... 524 Affections of the urethra.............. 524 Diseases of the foreskin.............. 525 Valuable advice...................... 525 Phimosis plainly described........... 525 Circumcision explained............... 525 How easily diseases are communicated through the penis............... 526 The Scrotum and its Diseases. The scrotum described..............526 Its diseases.......................... 526 The Testicles and their Diseases. Their structure plainly described, where they are formed and how they descend........... ......... 527 The complexity of the procreative ma- chinery of man.................. 528 Intensely interesting matter.......... 528 Diseases of the testicles.............. 580 Seminal Weakness. Technically called spermatorrhoea.....532 Are involuntary emissions natural___582 The idea ridiculous and its fallacy ex- ploded........................... 588 CONTENTS. XVll P.AGI The author's experience In treating this affection..................... 584 Two kinds of spermatorrhoea..........585 Complicated spermatorrhoea..........687 The only rational mode of treatment.. 688 An interesting case presented......... 589 Avoid clap-traps and catchpennies.....540 The disease of a tale-bearer........... 540 ' Satyriasis. ,AOB Excessive passion in males............ 641 A woman's vitriol cure................ 641 Ever so many manias................541 Satyriasis one of them...............542 Rape a terrible offence................ 642 How the perpetrator should be treated 542 Dietetic and medicinal remedies...... 548 CHAPTER XI. I m potency. Females as well as males impotent.. . 544 I Impotency causes dissatisfaction...... 549 The causes........................... 546 An interesting example............... 649 The mental congress of bumps....... 547 | The only rational treatment........... 549 CHAPTER XII. Concluding Ess Nervous Diseases. Neurasthenia—nerves without strength 552 From sexual and other causes......552 Patients who slight their ailments___553 Others who magnify theirs........... 553 Hypochondria—always some basis... 553 Queer mental and nervous symptoms.. 554 Hysteria—a kind of neurasthenia.....554 Occurs in men and boys.............555 A typical case states her symptoms... 555 Causes of neurasthenia and its finale.. 556 The elements of the nervous system.. 557 How they appear when exhausted___558 How they recuperate—food and rest.. 559 How they wither by poison—alcohol.. 560 Paresis; exhaustion and softening... 561 Paresis and paralysis, contrasted.....562 Facial paralysis; shaking palsy; ataxy 563 Epilepsy—sexual vices as a cause.....564 Symptome of attack and treatment... 565 Means for curative treatment........ 565 Functional or organic disease—which. 566 The sympathetic nervous system.....567 Why we grow pale or blush...........568 Malnm ition and atrophy.............568 Living skeletons—wasting palsy.......'69 Scrofula. Origin and nature of scrofula......... 569 Heredity by evil nerve impression___570 Symptoms and varieties of scrofula... 571 Pott's disease, rickets, tumors........571 ays on Disease. Cancer. Blood, nervous or "germ" disease?.. Varieties and modes of treatment... Cancer cells from Gen. Grant's throat. Syphilis. Is it parasitic or what f............... How transmitted to the "innocent". World-wide extent of this disease..... Its " initial sore "—how acquired..... Course and symptoms—"secondary" Third or "tertiary" stage; curability. Marriage and parentage of syphilitics. Diagnosis and treatment............. Skin Diseases. Anatomy of the skin................. Various signs or " lesions " of disease Hives or urticaria: roseacea.......... Pruritus—itching prurigo............. Herpes; herpes zoster; eczema....... Other scaly skin diseases............. Psoriasis; comedones, " worms "___ Acne—pimples; boils, carbuncles..... Parasitic skin diseases—itch.......... Pediculi or lice ; ringworm........... Tinea versicolor, or pityriasis........ Facial blemishes...................... 572 573 573 574 574 575 575 576 577 577 578 578 579 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 589 CHAPTER XIII. Treatment of Disease. People dosed to death................ 590 Everybody his own doctor........... 591 Dietetics............................. 586 Clear conscience better than a petted stomach.......................• > 698 Warranting cures.................... 697 Points for consultants................600 List of questions.....................601 &7113 CONTENTS. PART III Plain Talk ABOUT THE SEXUAL ORGANS; THE NATURAL RELATIONS OP THE SEXES; CIVILIZATION, SOCIETY, AND MARRIAGE. OPENING CHAPTER. Introductory Words. PAGE 1 FAM Why this matter is presented......... 605 Our civilization..................... 606 Individual happiness trampled out.... 606 | Only the shadow of what Is to come .. 607 CHAPTER II. The Sexual Organs. Opening words....................... 608 The Causes of their Disgrace. How came they to be regarded with dis- favor ?........................... 608 The question answered............... 609 Their deification by the Pagan world.. 609 Nailing horseshoes over the" door..... 609 The origin of the custom.............. 609 Sexual organs still deified in Japan___ 610 Christianity and Mohammedanism ar- rayed against this worship........ 611 The result of the conflict............. 611 Their Influence on Physical De- velopment. PaTable of the acorn and plum-stone.. 612 How the two sexes grow up.......... 612 The point of physical departure....... 612 I will tell you a secret................ 613 What produces the womanly character- istics ............................ 618 What produces the masculine charac- teristics.......................... 618 Interesting philosophy................ 613 Evidences sustaining the author...... 614 Their Influence on Health. love platanic before pubescence...... 616 After pubescence then what ?......... 616 Women need the magnetism of men.. 617 Man needs woman's magnetism....... 617 The sexes need the magnetism of each other............................ 617 These propositions sustained by facts.. 617 Nature's demands and the I'm of cus- tom at variance.................. 618 The passions an integral part of the in- dividual ......................... 618 Henry Ward Beecher on this subject.. 619 Asceticism at war with nature........ 619 The uses and abuses of the sexual organs 620 Women suffer most from sexual starva- tion ............................. 621 Sensible words from Dr. Oliver Wen- dell Holmes...................... 621 How they are made Instruments of Conjugal Association. Philosophy of sexual intercourse...... 622 Electricity in three forms the source of sexual enjoyment................ 628 Individual electricity................" 628 Chemical electricity.........'.'...'....'. 628 Frictional electricity................. 629 Only the last employed in masturbation 629 The office of the pubes................630 Generative system the perfection of Divine mechanism............... 630 Ignorance leads to its pervertion...... 680 How they are made Instrumental in Perpetuating the Race. The amative function separate from the procreative....................... 630 The distinction defined............... 681 The moral character of sexual inter- course ........................... 681 How the male and female germs unite. 682 A new theory....................... 688 Facts to sustain it.................... 684 Their Influence on the Social Posi- tion of Women. These organs have made man master.. 635 A race of Amazons................... 635 What Aristotle said of women..!".!."! 686 CONTENTS. xix PAGE Bow they were treated in Rome and Greece........................... 686 Did women cause the fall of the Re- public .......................... 686 The great men of those times......... 687 Why they were so.................... 687 Why the Republic collapsed.......... 637 What St. Paul said of woman.........638 The views of the Apostles due to the sentiment of the times........... 638 Position of the church in the 4th cen- tury in regard to woman.......... 639 Results of mixing Roman and German civilizations ............. ....... 639 Strong-minded mothers necessary for strong-minded sons.............. 639 Gallantry mistaken for justice........ 640 And soft soap for equity.............. 640 Their Influence on Civilization. PAGB The question of man's origin avoided.. 640 The first traditions................... 641 The beginning of civilization......... 642 Influence of the sexual organs thereon.. 642 Early polygamy...................... 642 Induced compulsatory monogamy___642 How the two systems of marriage in- augurated prostitution ........... 643 Encouragement of prostitution by tho ancients......................... 643 How it is in Japan................... 644 Our civilization a heterogeneous mix- ture of past social organizations... 644 We have not gathered the cream nor the dregs of the past.............. 644 The concealed wormwood that embit- ters social life.................... 645 CHAPTER III. History of Introductory scraps of history........ 646 First attainable accounts.............. 646 Thirty-eight hundred years B. C....... 646 History of Polygamy. Reason why Adam had but one wife... 647 Marriage in Noah's time.............. 647 Menes founder of Egyptian marriage 648 His system practical polygamy....... 648 Fu Hi, originator of Chinese marriage 649 His system polygamic................ 649 The polygamy of the ancient Hebrews. 649 How Joseph introduced it into Egypt. 650 The story of Moses...................650 An interesting narrative............. 651 His treatment of women.............651 The polygamy of David and Solomon.. 652 Solomon surrounded by 1,000 women 652 How he felt about it................... 652 The Jewish tenacity to polygamy.....653 Cecrops, inventor of Grecian marriage. 658 The system practical polygamy....... 653 But a step toward monogamy......... 653 Prostitution succeeded concubinage ... 653 The domesticity of the wife and the power of the courtesan........... 653 Men compelled to marry.............. 655 Grecian law concerning divorce....... 655 The blending of Grecian and Roman civilizations...................... 655 The result on marriage............... 655 Polygamy in ancient Persia.......... 656 Polygamy after the Christian era...... 656 The story of Mohammed............. 656 A curious story of this prophet....... 657 He left only nine widows............. 657 The spread of Mohammed's polygamy. 657 The ravishing girls of Paradise.......658 The women of musk................. 653 Luther and polygamy................ 658 Early American polygamy............ 659 History of Monogamy. ltd ancient origin..................... 659 Marriage. Offspring of masculine poverty and fe- male scarcity..................... 659 The oldest form of Roman marriage... 660 Were there divorces in ancient Rome? 661 Woman's position under the republic.. 662 The introduction of Grecian customs.. 663 Radical changes...................... 663 Fathers compelled to find husbands for their daughters.................... 668 Commencement of the Christian era. 664 How Jesus was annoyed with the mar- riage question.................... 664 Harpings of the Scribes and Pharisees. 664 German marriage previous to the Chris- tian era.......................... 665 German appreciation of woman....... 665 now they regulated family matters ... 666 Back again to the old empire.......... 666 Marriage in Nero's time............... 666 The first Christian emperor........... 666 Pagan and Christian law at variance... 667 The early Christians opposed marriage 667 Their opposition in the 4th century ... 667 Marriage from the 5th to the 15th cen- turies............................ 669 The sexual immorality ot those times . 669 The ascetics of that period............ 669 Marriage in ancient Scandinavia....... 671 The considerate treatment of women by these people.................. 673 Historical Chips. Items of history not previously given. 673 Cicero's idea of the necessity of sexual association....................... 676 Curious usages...................... 676 Promiscuous bathing in Russia........ 677 Curious marriage usages reported by Captain Cook.................... 679 Selling girls at auction................ 67? Examination of candidates for matri- mony .......................... 680 How the Jews regarded marriage ..... 680 The courtesans of Venice............. 681 Marrying sisters ia ancient Peru___■. 631 XX CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Marriage as it is in Barbarism and Civilization. Opening words....................... 684 Marriage in the Old World. In Egypt............................ 634 The women of Egypt................. 684 Their stories and murmurs............ 685 Marriage in China.................... 685 The ceremony described............... 686 A baby in the bride's lap.............. 6S8 Marriage in Japan...................688 A wise Japanese that knows his own mother t.......................... 688 Japanese civilization.................. 689 Sell daughters to pay debts............ 689 Prostitution in Japan respectable...... 690 The bathing-houses of Japan.......... 690 Position of women in Japan.......... 690 What a girl costs in Japan............ 690 Marriage in Asiatic Russia............ 691 Among the Siberians.................. 692 Marriage in Persia.................... 692 Marriages for ninety years............. 692 Curious customs in various countries.. 694 Marriage in Hindostan................ 694 Marry at eleven....................... 694 Begin to boar children at twelve....... 694 Women with a plurality of husbands.. 694 A woman the wife of several brothers. 695 Free love in Abyssinia___ ........... 695 Marriage in the Barbary States........ 695 Wife carried home in a cage........... 695 African customs...................... 696 Marriage and divorce in England...... 699 Undercurrent of English married life.. 702 Marriage in Spain.................... 703 In France............................ 708 What a young woman saw in Paris.... 704 Unfortunate girls of Paris............ 706 A queer institution................... 707 Marriaee in Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy............................ 708 In Greece, Prussia, Russia, and Austria 709 Illegitimate births at Vienna.......... 709 Marriage in Sweden and Norway...... 710 Sexual immorality there.............. 710 Marriage in Turkey.................. 711 Marriage in the New World. In South America................... 711 In North America.................... 713 In the United States and Territories... 715 Marriages of convenience............. 715 How gold kidnaps women............ 716 Exchanges and elopements............ 718 Divorce laws......................... 713 Customs of the Oneida Community — 719 Complex marriage.................... 719 History of the Community............ 720 The costume of the women............ 721 How their work is done.............. 721 The condition of their children........ 722 Interesting statistics..... ............ 723 The promise of the older cnes......... 725 Bearing off the palm in the medical school.......................... 727 What a physician says of the Commu- nity .......................... .. 723 Declaration of principles............. 730 A social analysis..................... 731 The alternatives of women............ 738 Marriage, prostitution, old maidhood. 733 Their condition in the Community.... 734 Civilization and communism......... 734 Civilization and barbarism compared.. 734 The principle of root, hog, or die...... 738 History of Mormonism............... 739 Smith the Great....................740 How he inaugurated polygamy....... 740 How he left the planet............... 740 Hepworth Dixon among the Mormons 741 An interesting narrative............. 741 Marriage among the Mormons........ 743 Sealing the living to the dead.........744 Swarms of babies..................... 745 Mormon girls don't like polygamy..... 746 The religious ideas of the saints...... 746 Concluding reflections................ 747 CHAPTER V. Defects in M What science and art are doing........ 749 Why marriage remains unimproved... 749 Is marriage a Divine institution t...... 750 If so, which of the systems ?.......... 750 How wives were formerly " taken"..'. 751 Pagan priests first solemnized marriage 751 The practice adopted by the Christian clergy........................... 751 Next marriages performed at the church door.............................. 751 Subsequently performed in the church 751 arriage Systems. Demerits of Polygamy. The objections to the system.......... 75h Demerits of Monogamy. The effects ofidolatrous unions...... 754 The results of milk and water attach- ments.......................... 755 What incompatible unions lead to..... 755 How some classes are affected by the monogamlc system......,.......75fl CONTENTS. XXX PAOE A word about widows................ 756 Selfishness in monogamy............. 756 Its interference with maternity....... 757 Woman's natural desire for children... 757 Miss Polly Baker prosecuted for bastardy.........................758 Her defence.......................... 758 She never refused an offer of marriage. 759 The existence of evil.................. 765 Our duty to get rid of it ............. 765 A new order of things necessary....... 765 A work of time....................... 765 "Jenny June's" visit to the Communists 766 Henry Ward Beecher on institutions .. 767 The merits of complex marriage...... 767 The merits of polygamy.............. 768 Polygamy and the New Testament___ 770 Necessity for some legal regulations... 770 Sexual Ir Is sexual morality prevalent ?......... 776 Where is the oasis f................... 776 It is not in our cities.................. 776 It is not in our villages................ 776 It is not in small neighborhoods....... 776 How the author knows................ 776 The Causes. Popular preaching based on a false idea 777 Evidence that it is so.................. 778 Origin of the idea that the passions are essentially evil.................... 778 Its adoption by the Romish Church— 778 By Calvin and the Pnritan Fathers..... 778 A Pagan and not a Christian idea,.....779 Her charge against bachelors......... 759 Her subsequent marriage and irre- proachable character..............7 60 Effects of monogamy on children...... 760 Married people grow apart...........'. 761 Change in temperament............".. 762 Illustrations given.................. 762 Further sexual philosophy.........!.. 763 Hens and jackasses laughing at some- _ thing........................... 772 Rome had a censor................... 772 We want a secretary of marriage..... 772 A commissioner of agriculture....... 773 A human being of as much consequence as a big potato.................... 773 The heathen of Manhattan Island..... 774 Social experiments should be en- couraged .,,,,,,,..,.............. 775 n morality. The Cure. The silver rule of Confucius........... 780 The golden rule of Jesus............. 780 The original formation of society...... 7S0 The mutual understanding established. 781 A demoralizing spectacle.............. 7S2 The vow of fidelity.................... 7S2 The judgment of Antonius Pius........ 782 Something about free-lovers........... 783 About libertines....................... 783 Persuading others to do what you would not have done to your own.. 784 The platform of sexual morality com- plete............................. 784 Broad enough for everybody............784 F Part Third. An alliance between science and reli- gion recommended................ 788 Opinions guarded like wallets......... 789 Everybody should think aloud. ...... 790 People afraid to express opinions...... 790 They perish with them................ 790 Toleration necessary.................. 790 Or we must wear the opinions of pre- decessors ......................... 790 George William Curtis on public opin- ion............................... 791 Public opinion a serpent,,..,...,..... 791 CHAPT Conclusion 0 The founders of Rome as austere as our Puritan Fathers................... 785 The reaction.......................... 785 Christianity could not control it....... 785 The rise of Protestantism............. 786 Its influence on marriage.............. 786 Growing agitation upon the marriage question.......................... 787 Opposition to the marriage institution.. 787 Let us have facts and experiences...... 788 Rev. A. P. Stanley on science aud reli- gion.......,.,,„.......„,,,..,,,. 788 CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER VI. The Remedy. CHAPTER VII. PART IV. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POPULAR MARRIAGE, ETC. OPENING CH APTE R. Introduction. PAGE Monogamic marriage may be better than it is......................... 793 What its upholders should do......... 794 What Mrs. Jameson says of it........ 795 PAOB What the clergy think of it..........795 What we want........................795 What the disaffected would do...... . 795 How the more fortunate feel.........796 CHAPTER II. Adaptation in Marriage. The importance thereof............... 797 Necessity for platonic affection........ 797 Reciprocity in the sexual relation..... 798 The views of O. S. Fowler.............799 Advico to the reluctant wife........... 801 Advice to the husband............... 801 Provoke your wifcto love............ 802 What is Mental Adaptation? What constitutes it.................... 802 Interesting philosophy............... 803 How mental adaptation may be attained 804 What is Physical Adaptation ? What constitutes it................... 805 Magnetic adaptation......;........... 805 Temperamental adaptation............ 806 Dr. William Byrd Powell on the tem- peraments........................ 806 The vital temperaments..............807 The sanguine and bilious temperaments described......................... 807 The non-vital temperaments.......... 809 The lymphatic and encephalic tempera- ments described................... 809 What induces the non-vital tempera- ments............................ 811 How tho lymphatic temperament is in- duced ............................ 811 How the encephalic temperament is in- duced ............................ 812 Plaiu rules as to marriage.,,.,.,,,. .. 813 The non-vital temperaments should not intermarry.......................813 Intermarriage of the vital tempera- ments not advisable............... 813 What combinations are best........... 814 The mixture of two temperaments.... 814 Plain explanations and descriptions___ 814 The mixture of three temperaments... 818 Explained in plain language...........818 The mixture of four temperaments___ 821 An interesting fact.................... 822 Importance of temperamental adapta- tion ............................. S23 The difference between vitality and vi- tal tenacity....................... S24 The influence of temperamental adap- tation on vital tenacity............824 The observations of Dr. Powell........824 The observations of the author........ 824 A rule for determining vital tenacity .. 825 The prevalence of incompatible mar- riages............................ 825 The difficulty in preserving compatibil- ity............................... 826 The effect upon offspring.............. 821 Why Mr. Wilkins loses all his little new-born pets.................... 827 How to guard against gro *ing apart... 827 How diversity of temperament may be promoted......................... 827 Dr. Powell's rules in selecting a partner in marriage................... 828 The whole matter made plain ... 829 CONTENTS. xxiii CHAPTER III. Law should enforce Adaptation in Monogamic Marriage. PAGE How it may be done.................. S30 A new plan suggested................. 830 Marriage at present like a rat-trap..... 830 Easy divorce alone will not answer___ S31 Science should be brought to bear..... S31 How it may be done................... 833 How they do in Switzerland .\........834 Marriage now a lottery.............. S35 How men and women deceive each other............................. 835 The man bribes the tailor............. 835 Woman takes to cotton and whalebone 835 The results of such devices........... 836 PAoa Marriage should conform to mental and physical adaptation............... 837 The plan to effect this................. 837 The new plan as affecting divorce...... 838 An amusing specimen of legislation... 838 How an application for divorce was treated........................... 838 The two mortal sinners remanded to purgatory......................839 How a court of divorce should be con- stituted.......................... 839 Matrimonial underground railroads___ 840 Necessity of a change................. 841 CHAPTER IV. Three Phases of Monogamic Marriage Daguerreotyped The world full of ill-assorted marriages 842 Three of most prominent phases of mar- riage ............................ 842 Mental Marriages. What constitutes them................ 842 Elopements from this class............ 843 Physical Marriages. What constitutes tham................ 844 No social attraction at home........... 844 Physically pleasurable and prolific..... 845 Lucifer Matches. How they may be defined............. 846 The world full of them................ 846 Whom we find in this division........ 646 How gold kidnaps women............. 847 Marrying for homes or riches.........847 Marrying to please relatives........... 848 Milton's marriage, of the lucifer class.. 849 His experience........................ 850 Why the wives of bad men cling to them...........................850 CHAPTER V. Philosophy of Elopements. Five hundred elopements in one year.. 852 I No such thing........................ 852 Ascribed to depravity................. 852 } The true philosophy ................ 852 CHAPTER VI. The Pope cannot make it work well... 857 The effects of such marriages.......... 857 Why cousins should not marry........ 858 The Intermarriage of Relatives. May as well marry a half-sister as a full cousin—the fact demonstrated.....858 How intermarriage may be prevented. 860 CHAPTER VII. Essays for Married People. Necessity of confidence in each other.. 861 Heads and hearts must be open........ 831 No necromancer's game............... S61 Frankness indispensable.............. 861 Why happiness is impossible without it............................. 862 A peculiarity of the human mind des- cribed ........................862 What mutual distrust leads to......... 862 How to decide what is a secret........ 863 The Wife the equal Partner. Men b.old the purse-strings............ 863 Fifty cents of every dollar belongs to the wife.......................... 863 The fact demonstrated................ 863 Her labors as valuable as his........... 864 Black wives at the South unwilling to work for board and clothes........ 864 Comments on spendthrifts............ 865 Injustice to the wife in cases of separa- tion............................ 865 now the apple should be divided...... 866 Sleeping apart. Why married people should sleep apart. 86T XXIV CONTENTS. Philosophical reasons given........... 868 JSsthetic reasons given................868 Love versus night-caps................ 869 A peep at sleepers in stages............ 869 Everybody snores a little..............869 Sexual Moderation. Excess exhausts the system........... 869 The fact philosophically explained.....871 What Dr. Dixon says of the evil....... 872 Its effects upon tho male.............. 872 Upon the female...................... 872 A good rule to pursue................. 873 Jealousy. A common visitor at the family hearth. 878 An infallible remedy.................. 873 For tho husband...................... 878 For the wifo.......................... 874 Strange words, but true................ 875 Prevention of Conception. The plan of the Oneida Communists... 876 Mr. Noyes1 discovery.................. 876 The author consulted by thousands on the subject of prevention.......... 8S0 Sexual Indifference. Frequent cause of.matrimonial infelicity 880 Results from disease___............... 880 Or an uncongenial marriage............ 880 Females more subject to it than males. 880 The reasons..........................• 880 Women become indifferent by absti- nence............................. S81 Men are maddened by abstinence...... 881 Why it is so.......................... 882 Want of magnetic adaptation illustra- ted.............................. 882 How sexual passion may be destroyed. 883 Indifference may be remedied......... 884 Food for Pregnant Women. Valuable advice...................... 884 How to avoid pain in child-bed........ 8S4 Card to Married People. Suggestions to the married............ 886 Barrenness and excessive child-bearing 886 Both may be remedied..,, ,.......... 886 CHAPTER VIII. Philosophy of Child-Marking. Rules and facts....................... 887 The key to the mystery.............. 887 Why offspring resemble both parents... 890 Why offspring resemble but one parent. 892 Why offspring often lookliko good neighbors........................ 893 An illegitimate child impossible....... 894 What Michelet says................... 894 Why widows often hare children by the second husband resembling the first.....................,....... 894 The first coition marks subsequent off- spring........................... S94 Interesting evidence................... 894 How objects and frights mark or deform the child......................... 895 CHAPTER IX. Essays W Young and Old bearing on Happiness in Marriage. Ladies should be allowed to Pop the Question. Opening wordc Early Marriage. Expediency of early marriage.......... 899 The two passions implanted by God___899 Nature indicates when to be gratified.. 899 Tables of nature's commandments bro- ken............................... 900 The tendency of celibacy.............. 902 The old bachelor like a Chinese junk.... 902 Business avocations should be open to Females. Marriage as a refuge from pecuniary want.............................. 903 What Mrs. Jameson Bays.............. 903 Women should not be dependent on men.............................. 905 Poverty or prostitution the result of false educayon.., =................ 905 Have they not preferences ............ 906 What Southey said.................... 907 The temptation to accept the first offer.. 907 Women should assume the right to choose and propose................ 909 Card to the Unmarried. Suggestions to those contemplating mar- riage.............................. Advice cheerfully given............... 909 909 Advertisements. The author's address................ 910 Useful articles supplied by mall or ex- press............„ ................. 911 APPENDIX. Prescriptions, Antidotes for poisons, Resuscitating the drowned, Rules for care of infants.........,................................................ 915 PLATE I. P. H. T. PART I. CHAP. I. BLOOD DISEASES- MICROSCOPE VIEWS OF BLOOD AND SPUTUM, enlarged 350 to 1,500 times ; mostly STAINED BY CHEMICAL DYE8 NECESSARY TO BRING OUT DIAGNOSTIC POINTS. 1. NORMAL BLOOD CORPUSCLES. 9, 10. PYAEMIA and RELAPSING FEVER. 2. ABNORMAL, IN ANAEMIA. 11. NASAL CATARRH MUCUS. 34. IN "PERNICIOUS ANAEMIA." 12. DIPHTHERIA MICROBES. 5! WHITE CORPUSCLES, STAINED. 13, 14. BLOOD IN MALARIA. 6 7, 3. " " IN LEUKEMIA, 15. SPUTUM OF ASTHMA. "THE WHITE-BLOOD DISEASE." 16. SPUTUM OF PHTHISIS. PLATE II. NERVOUS SYSTEM. PLAIN HOME TALK. BY PERMISSION OF THE CHART OF LIFE CO. BACK AND SIDE VIEW OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, the brain and spinal CORD, SHOWING ALSO THE GANGLIONIC OR SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND THE LOCATION OF THE VITAL ORGANS. THE 8MALL FIGURE, AT THE RIGHT, 18 A MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF A NERVE CELL AND PROCE8S (a NEURON), AND FIBRE WITH ITS 8HEATH. PAET I. Disease: Its Causes, Prevention, and Cure. OPENING CHAPTER. DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. UR planet with each revolution car- ries a huge load of human suffering, a large portion of which arises from dis- ease. We see this enemy in the cradle, dis- torting the features and bedimming the eyes of innocent babes. Too often it carries its lit- tle victims to the burial-rround, bathed with the tears of mothers. "We sec it in youthhood, arresting the physical development of young men and young women; consigning them to premature graves, or moving them like sickly shadows through years of hapless life. It rudely grasps people in the prime of life, and hurries them away from fields of useful labor to wearisome chambers, where the mind, which has been schooled to activity, becomes a dangerous ally to the enemy by chafing and fretting in its imprisonment. It lays violent hands on our gray-haired fathers and mothers, who yesterday greeted us with the smile, animation, and elasticity of youth, but who to-day go groping about with rounded shoulders and trembling steps At 2 t&5& 2G 1'isEASE A>>D ITS CAUSES last, it arrests the physical functions, the outer shell returns to its original dust, and the inner, living body, enters the new life, where —may we hope—this fearful disturber of our comfort and happiness is refused admission. The Causes of Disease. ( Disease of every character, except that which may be induced by poison or by accident to body or limb, originates in a derangement of the circulation of vital electricity, disturbance of the mind, or an abnormal condition of the blood. Wherever it begins, unless speedily checked, the whole system is soon convulsed in its grasp, because of the close relationship existing between the various organs of the Fig. l. CAPITOL OP THE NEKVOUS SYSTEM. The above represents a horizontcJ section of the brain and bones of the skull • a a, outer layer of ash-colored matter; 6 b, the white or Internal sub^ stance of the brain; c, the corpus callosum. body. Those who have neglected the study of Physiology, as well as all who have merely scanned the pages of ancient and'modern THE CAUSES Of DISEASE. 2? superficial writings, will not readily comprehend the truth of these propositions. The most illiterate men of the civilized world are aware that they have a brain (however barren of idea), and taat their bodies have nerves, arteries, and veins. But few physicians, especially of the old prejudiced school, know the real offices of them. Doctors who have brandished scalpels in the dissecting-room can point out the exact locality of every nerve, vein, muscle, tendon, etc., but the means by which each performs its appropriate part, seldom awakens curiosity. Turn to a Medical Dictionary for a defin'tion of the brain; the learned physiological lexicographer says :—" The use of the brain is to give off nine pairs of nerves and the spinal marrow, from which thirty-one pairs more proceed, through whose means the various senses are performed, and muscular motion ex- cited." This is all very well so far as it goes, but it will not satisfy the mind of a thorough inquirer, nor illustrate tho truthfulness of my first remark. The sublime powers and superior beauties of tho brain are undiscovered in such a superficial definition. The object of this chapter requires a better one. Let us have a name for the brain which will convey a better understanding of its office. I pro- pose to call it the Capitol of the Nervous System. It stands in the same relation to the human body that Washington does to the United States. There are telegraphic wires proceeding from Wash- ington which connect with other wires leading to every part of the Republic, and there are nerves proceeding from the brain which con- nect with other nerves leading to every part of the human system. These nerves are like telegraphic wires, and convey impressions to and from the brain with the velocity of lightning. They permeate the skin so extensively that a slight change in the atmosphere ia quickly telegraphed to the physiological capitol. Experiment has demonstrated the fact, that the intelligence of an impression made upon the ends of the nerves in communication with the skin, is trans- mitted to the brain with a velocity of about one hundred and ninety- five feet per second. Intelligence from the great toe is received through the nervous telegraph at the physiological capitol, called the brain, in only about one-thirtieth of a second later than from the ear or face. The digestion of food, by which process blood is manufactured, depends upon the electric currents sent by the brain through the pneumo-gastric telegraph, or nerve, to the stomach. The correctness 28 DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. of this hypothesis has been illustrated by experiments, tried by a celebrated physician in England. In these, a couple of rabbits were selected, which had been fed with the same kind and quality of food. On one of them he performed the operation of cutting the pneumo- gastric nerve leading to the stomach. The latter being deprived of the nervous stimulant, the animal soon died from the effects of a loaded stomach coupled with suspended digestion. The other rabbit, which was not operated on, was killed after an interval of almost twenty-six hours, and on examination it was proved that the food in his stomach was entirely digested, while in that of the former, the food remained almost as crude and undigested as when it left the masticating organs. Another experiment was made upon two more rabbits in the same manner, except that after the nerves leading to the stomach were cut, galvanism was applied in such a way as to send the current through the disconnected nerves to the seat of di- gestion. At the end of twenty-four hours they were both killed, when it was found that the food in the stomach of the one whose nerves had been severed, and put in connection with the galvanic battery, was nearly as well digested as that in the other, which had not been operated on. These experiments show that the stomach depends for the performance of its office on the electrical or nervous stimulus which it receives from the brain. Similar experiments to those just mentioned have been tried with reference to the heart and other organs, in all of which they ceased to perform their func- tions when the nerves were cut, and commenced again as soon as the galvanic fluid was applied. It is not necessary for the purposes of this essay, to demonstrate that galvanism and this nervous element provided by the brain are identical. It is evident that they are not; but they are so closely related that one will perform the office of the other, and this fact is sufficient to show that the two forces or ele- ments are similar in their character, and that one is a modified form of the other. Animal magnetism, electro-magnetism, galvanism, and electricity, all differ a little from each other, and in employing the term electricity, chiefly, in speaking of the nervous forces, I do so because it is a term better understood by the masses. I have said the brain is the capitol of the nervous system. It may also be called the great receiving and distributing reservoir of nervo- electricity. It is largely composed of two substances, one an ash- |->lored matter, which, if pprerid out, would cover a surface of six THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 26 hundred and seventy square inches; the other, a fibrous matter, firm in texture, and tubular. The ash-colored matter is the receiving, and the fibrous matter the distributing reservoir. There are in other parts of the system various smaller receiving and distributing res- ervoirs, composed of the same substances, but all these are under the control of the superior one located in the brain. These are called by physiologists nerve centres, and to carry out the analogy between our nervous system, and the telegraphic system of our country, the nerve centres may be compared to our State capitals. The spinal cord is the great nervous trunk, or the main tele- graphic wire leading from the brain, and from the brain and spinal cord proceed the motor nerves, the norves of sensation, and the nerves of special sense. With the motor nerves the mind telegraphs to the limbs to move, and they instantly obey, for the force they carry contracts one set of muscles and expands another; for elec- tricity, whether animal or mechanical, has the power to contract or expand any substance. By the action of the motor nerves upon the muscular system, the phenomena of animal motion are performed. Through the nerves of sensation the brain is quickly informed by the telegraph, if a wound is being inflicted upon any portion of the body, if disease is intruding itself upon any organ, or if any thing disagreeable or pleasurable is brought in contact with any part of the body. Through the nerves of special sense, the brain is informed by telegraph whether it be light, or dark—whether there be silence, or noise, etc. So we see that our great common Father, and not Professor Morse, was tho inventor of telegraphy. To Morse belongs the honor, and it is indeed a great one, of having adapted this same system of intercommunication with the quickness of lightning be- tween villages, states, and nations ; a discovery which will event- ually unite all mankind in common sympathy and brotherhood. Most people know that telegraphic operators supply the electricity which they send over the wires, by galvanic batteries, prepared according to the usual processes explained in our school books of Philosophy. But whence is this animo-vital electricity we have been speaking of derived ? Well, I will tell you. The principal source is the stomach, that ever-active Jaboratory. The dissolution of any substance sets free the element commonly called electricity. The food you eat, if digestible, goes through a process of dissolution in your stomach, and as it dissolves, the electricity evolved ascends to DISEASE AND ITS CAUSE& through the nerves made for the purpose, to the ash-colored mat« ter of the brain. The vitalizing property of air is mainly electricity, and, consequently, we receive this element by the lungs and pores, from which it is taken up by the blood, and carried t« the great receiving reservoir of tho brain, which, I may add, accommodates more blood than the fibrous matter of the brain. The blood on Fif,. 2. entering the ash-colored mat- ter discharges its cargo of elec- tricity and nerve nutriment, and returns to the body for another load. Large quantities of animal electricity are also generated by the alkalies and acids of the ani- mal organism. The mucous membranes, or linings of the cavities, are continually excret- ing a semi-fluid called alkali, and the serous membranes, or outer coverings of the same, an aque- ous or watery fluid, called acid, and according to the testimony of Dr. Bird, if these fluids are so placed as to be connected by parietes of an animal membrane, or a poroii3 diaphragm, a current of electricity is evolved. Hence, we find that not only are our stomachs generating electricity, but we are inhaling it by our lungs, and our pores, and the external or serous, and internal or mucous surfaces, united as they are by natural PROF, brain's telegraph. . . , parietes and porous diaphragms, are producing it in large quantities. As it is produced, or enters the system, it is so modified as to be made fit for the uses of the body. The brain is as industriously distributing this vital electricity through the system, as the heart is circulating the blood, and too THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 31 uinch, or too little, given to any particular organ, produces disease therein. The complete withdrawal of nervo-electricity from any part paralyzes it, so that it has neither sense nor motion. If with- drawn from the motor nerves only, sensation remains, while motion is lost; if from the nerves of sensation only, then motion continues, but sensation is destroyed. If withdrawn from the nerves of special sense, the power of hearing, seeing, smelling, and tasting is lost; or" it may be withdrawn from only one set of the nerves of special sense, producing some of the foregoing difficulties, without affecting the other senses. Too little vital electricity given to the liver, renders that organ torpid—too much, causes nervous congestion and inflammation ; too little given to the stomach causes nervous dys- pepsia—too much makes the appetite voracious, and induces other derangements to the digestive machinery; and hence, we see that to all the organs a proper quantity must be distributed, or disease results. It is unnecessary to pursue this explanation further to show that the nervous system is a complex piece of machinery, as delicate almost as the spider's web which is spread out over the meadow grasses, and that many diseases arise from a defective nervous system. Those which do not, and which may not come under the exceptions mentioned at the opening of this essay, can be traced to disturbances of the mind, or an abnormal condition of the blood. From what has already been said, it is apparent to any logical mind that diseases often result from trouble, or depression of mind. So closely allied are the brain and the nervous or telegraphic sys- tem, it is impossible for one to be disturbed without exciting the sympathy of the other. The brain, beside being the receiving and distributing reservoir of animal electricity, is the residence of the tnind, or the spirit, and this immortal principle controls its action. When, then, any thing occurs to disturb the equanimity of the inind, the brain at once telegraphs the melancholy news over the wires, or nerves, to every organ of the body, and, like a well-regulated and affectionate family, all join in sympathy for the afflictions of the one which they regard as the head and provider. In some cases, when great grief or emotion is present, the brain works so actively in pro- ducing intense thought, that it consumes all, or nearly all the vital electricity of its reservoir, and when this bankruptcy takes place, it even withdraws that which it has supplied to the vital organs. When 32 DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. it reaches this crisis, death results. Emotions of the mind, it is well known, greatly affect the organio secretions, and Dr. Trail does not greatly magnify a fact, when he remarks " that they may be depraved or vitiated as readily by excessive mental emotion, as by a drug- poison taken into the stomach." Fis- 8 He continues by saying, that" a paroxysm of anger will render the bile as acrid and irritating as a full dose of calomel; exces- sive fear will relax the bowels equal to a strong infusion of tobacco; intense grief will ar- rest the secretions of the gas- tric juice as effectually as bel- ladonna ; and violent rage will make the saliva as poisonous as will a mercurial salivation." Says Combe: "The influence of the brain on the digestive or- gans is so direct, that sickness and vomiting are amongthe ear- liest symptoms of many affec- tions of the head, and of wounds and injuries to the brain, while violent emotions, intense grief, or sudden bad news, sometimes arrest at once the process of di- gestion, and produce squeam- ishness, or loathing of food, al- though an instant before the appetite was keen. The influ- ence of the mind and brain over the action of the heart and The heart and arteries that carry the lun^S is familiar to every one. good vital fluid to all parts of the body, and The sighing, palpitation, and veins that return the current to the heart. famting so often witnessed as consequences of emotions of the mind, are evidences which nobody can resist. Death itself is not * rare result of such excitement in delicately-organized person*" THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 33 A story related by the late English author, Eliot "Warburton, is interesting in this connection. "A Howadji, or sacred traveler (more given to lectures than to prayers), met the piague coming out of Cairo, and reproached that demon with his murderous work. ' Nay/ said the fiend,' I have slain but a few; it is true that twenty thousand of the faithful have died, but only one-tenth of them fell by my hand—the rest were slain by my fellow-demon, Fear.'" In times of war, the influence of the mind on health has been many times strikingly exhibited. During the great Civil "War be- tween the North and South, all newspaper readers knew of the fatality attending the Federal "Army of the Potomac," in the Chickahominy swamps. Most peo- ple attributed the prevalence of sickness and death among the sol- diers, at that time and place, sim- ply to the unwholesome air of the locality, but this was not all. It was a dark day in our country's history; many of our bravest men felt disheartened; and mental de- pression, if not despair, rendered our country's noble defenders sus- ceptible to malarious influences, and they became ready victims to the unwholesome vapors with which they were enveloped. The awful fatality attending the allied armies at the Crimea, 7, great arteries; 8, brain; 0, great was no doubt more attributable veins; 10,spleen; 11,Intestines; 12.kid- , neys; 13, lower extremities; 14, liver. to bad management on the part of the commanding officers than to inclement weather. The soldiers, haying lost confidence In their commanders, became depressed, in Diagram of blood circulation • 1, 2, left heart; 3,4, right heart; 5,6, lungs; 34 DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. spirit; they were filled with fearful forebodings ; the buoyancy of their nervous systems was disturbed, and thereby digestion impaired. Through these discouragements they were made susceptible to disease, and would have been liable to its attacks, however favorable the climate ; whiie a slight unfavorable change in a foreign atmosphere, under such circumstances, would induce fatal results. The English press attributed the sudden death of Lord Raglan to the censures heaped upon him at home. Many politicians in this country ascribe the brief illness which ended the career of America's greatest statesman, to disappointment in not receiving the Presi dential nomination from a convention of his party. Thus we see the influence of the mind on the body is generally understood and admitted. But few 6top to divine the means by which it is effected. It is well, therefore, to understand that every organ is notified on the telegraphic system, if any thing offends the spirit of the human being, and these organs are often taxed or com- pelled to give back part of the nervo-electricity with which they are performing their offices. If, through any accident to the limbs, contact with any powerful poison, or impurity of the blood, the har- monious evolution and circulation of the nervo-electric fluid in any part of the body are disturbed, the brain feels the effect, discovers the cause, and faithfully informs all the members of the family, who contribute vital healing forces with which they endeavor to conciliate the difficulty, and if they fail, the whole system is thrown into discord. Next, I will speak of the blood, for all diseases which do not arise from the causes already named and explained, have their birth in a deranged condition of that almost as mysterious fluid which circulates through the entire system. In plain language, the blood is fluid bone, fluid cartilage, fluid muscle, fluid nerve, and fluid every thing that goes to make up the human body. Technically, it is mainly composed of corpuscles floating in liquor sanguinis. These corpuscles are minute bodies, resembling, very nearly, in shape, pieces of coin, as represented in the illustration, Fig. 7. They can only be seen by aid of the microscope. There are two kind3 of corpuscles, the red and the white, or colorless. In health, the red predominates in the ratio of three or four hundred to one of the white corpuscle. Hoffman estimates that there are twenty-eight pounds of blood in a man of average size. This fluid is circulated through the system by the heart, THE CAUSES OP DISEASE. 35 Fig. 5. arteries, capillaries, and veins. The heart may be said to be the capitol of the vascular system, as the brain is the capitol of the nervous sys- tem. It may also be called the receiving and distributing reservoir of the blood, as the brain is the receiving and distributing reservoir of the nervo-electrical forces. The heart is an incessant worker and a good manager. It pumps vital or arterial blood through the arteries and capillaries to every part of the system, and pumps it back through the veins to itself again, and then pumps it into the lungs, to be- come revitalized by the oxygen of the air we breathe, from which it again receives it to send it on its recuperative mission. The heart undergoes four thousand contractions per hour; each ventricle is reckoned to contain about one ounce, and therefore, we are brought to the astonishing realization that two hundred and fifty pounds of blood pass through it in that brief space of time. The fleshy parts of the body capitol op the vascular system. are filled with what are called capil- 1, The superior vena cava; 2, the i • a t • t. ii inferior vena cava: 3. the rieht au- Jaries. An Irishman once remarked, ., , , , , ' ' e, °m au ncle; 4, the right ventricle; 5, the that a gun was a hole with iron made situation of the tricuspid valves; 6, around it; well, a capillary is a hole the partition between the two ven- With animal fiber built around it, and tricles; 7, the pulmonary artery; 8, the point where it separates and en- there are so many of them that the hu- ters the right and left pulmonary man system almost resembles a sponge artery for tho corresponding lungs; in Vascularity. People who are con- 9, the four pulmonary veins bringing ,,,.,. ,, . , Al the blood into the left auricle; 10, tinually drinking something when the the left auricle. u> ,eft ventricle. thermometer gets into the nineties, 12, location of mitral valve; 13, loca- must readily comprehend this state- tionof sigmoid valves of the aorta; _, ,.,.,. 14, the position of the sigmoid valves ment. They are constantly drinking, of the pulmonary artery. and the water is constantly running out of them. Their clothing becomes saturated with their perspiration. Into the capillaries, the heart, through the arterial system, pours the life-giving blood, and after it has deposited its vital atoms, and taken up the worn-out ones, the heart sucks it up through the veins to be renewed. 36 DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. The,blood may be said to oarry on a coast-wise trade with the various organs and tissues of the body. It goes out freighted with fresh living atoms, and visits every part ot the body, even the bones and muscles, and gives that which will repair each part in re- turn for atoms which are no longer useful. These waste matters Fig. 6. A FROG'S FOOT. The Capillaries as seen in the web of a Frog's foot, under the microscope. 1,1, are the veins, and 2, 2, 2, the arteries. it carries to the dumping grounds, called the lungs, liver, kidneys, and pores, and these organs empty them out through the channels nature has provided. The heart is the shipper. I have thus intruded these illustrations to present the whole matter clearly to the mind of the lion-professional reader, and I trust I am fully understood. Now then, let us suppose the blood becomes impure, so that the heart has no good arterial fluid to dis- pense to the various organs. The latter are not only deprived of the nourishing properties of good blood, but are left to counteract, as best they may, its corrupt particles. The vital parts are placed in the position of a man with his hands tied, who is called upon, not only to feed, but defend himself. The result is, the human machinery becomes clogged with poisonous humors. These may THE CAUSES OP DISEASE. 3? Mock up the liver so that it can not perform its functions properly, and thereby cause irritation, or inflammation, or they may produce a tubercular affection of that organ. They may attack the lungs, producing pulmonary disease. They may irritate or inflame the lining of the stomach so as to impair digestion, and ultimately induce obstinate dyspepsia. In short, no organ or fibre of the body is safe when they are present. These impurities are more liable to affect a person internally than externally. Many persons supposa if there are no pimples, blotches, ulcers, or tumors on the surface, the blood may be considered pure, no matter how much pain or suffering may be experienced inside of the outer covering. This is an error ; for many of the most troublesome affections of the hidden portions of the body are caused by blood impurities. Those who have them on the surface are the most fortunate, for, as a general rule, when the blood possesses strength enough to pitch these trouble- some particles out on the surface, it also possesses the ability to protect the internal organs from their corrupting influence. What I have said in the foregoing relative to the blood, relates rather to active, than latent impurities. The latter may be defined as those foreign properties in the blood, which, under favorable circum- stances, may induce disease. Ordinarily, a person having them is unconscious of their presence. They fellowship with the corpuscles of the blood, as masked hypocrites fellowship with Christians. But let some poisonous gases infest the atmosphere, and they at once, like the secreted burglar, open the doors of the system, coalesce with them, and induce fevers, or difficulties of some kind. I think fevers of all kinds, including scarlet fever and measles, may be traced to latent impurities in the blood. A person could hardly contract small-pox when exposed to it, except for these insidious properties which render the system susceptible. As a female germ can not produce a child without the addition of a male germ, so these latent impure particles in the blood can not generate disease without meeting their affinitive poison. Seed cast on ground not suited to it produces nothing, while simply the pollen blown from some dis- tant field on to just the right quality of soil, seems to meet some- thing equivalent to the ovule, from which vegetation starts up, as if by magic. It is a fact known to many scientific men, that in almost any locality, soil taken from a depth of thirty or forty feet is soon covered with white clover. This can only be accounted for by attrib- 38 DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES. uting to this soil germinal qualities, which, brought in contact with the pollen of the clover carried perhaps miles on the wings of the wind, produce this species of vegetation. For a long time it has been thought that malarial fevers are at- tended with the invasion of the blood by some low and minute form of plant or animal organism, now called microbes. These can only be discovered by high power microscopes and expert manipulation. It is now pretty generally accepted that the animal parasites de- scribed by A. Laveran are the cause of the aching and shaking of fever and ague. He has described several forms, which may, how- ever, be the same intruder under different guises, or at different stages of development. Those which we have chosen to give of hia illustrations are what he calls "bodiesNo. 2," which he found most abundantly in the blood of malarial patients. Laveran's Germs of Malaria. The first line represents the bodies themselves of various sizes, magnified 1,000 times, while in the second line they are seen in ot upon the red corpuscles of the blood, which in course of time dis- appear, seeming to be eaten up by the parasites. Some red cor- puscles show clear spots where the young invader has just begun to grow. The full grown parasites sometimes show at their borders filaments, moving with great rapidity. They are very long and slender, and can sometimes be seen moving freely like eels among the red corpuscles with such rapidity that it is difficult to keep track of them. Many acute febrile diseases are now known to be due to the invasion of microbes, and it is expected that microscopists will find means of proving the presence of some particular one as part cause of every contagious or infectious disease, and of several chronic diseases, such as leprosy, syphilis and consumption; but it is conceded that some persons are not susceptible to many of these diseases, and it is probable that a man's blood in absolute Jhealth is capable of resisting the inroads of these minute enemies. THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 30 There are other abnormal conditions of blood which can hardly be called impurities, active or latent. For instance, a person may have an insufficient quantity of blood, resulting from which he is weak, pale, and cadaverous. There may be an excessive supply of the white corpuscle, or an insufficient supply of the red corpuscle, pro- ducing paleness and lassitude, but not necessarily leanness, as people so affected are often fat. There may be an insufficient supply of the white, or a superabundance of the red, giving undue redness to the skin, and predisposing a person to inflammatory affections and con- gestions. In short, the blood must possess very nearly that propor- tion of red and white corpuscles which nature originally instituted, or disease will present itself. It now having been shown that a free circulation of vital or nervous electricity, an unruffled mind, and good blood are essential to health, it requires only a modemte exercise Fig. T. . of common sense to perceive that (S\(F) ^k all diseases, excepting simply thos-e «.—.^ # f&W(Sh induced by poison or accident, orig flB ^m Mii*"' mat,e tYom a disturbance of these indispensable conditions. There A (Q. may exist hereditary organic weak nesses, but even those had their origin in conception, or in foetal life, OOBFU8CLES OF THE BLOOD. -,.,,, • , • i l from the disturbed mind or vital The corpuscles of the blood as revealed fountains 0f ti,e parent, thus not by the microscope—some separate and ... . . others piled together like so many pieces of allowing a Single exception to my coin. theory. The attention of the reader will next be directed to the orincipal causes of nerve and blood derangements, or the primary causes of dis- ease. But, before concluding, let me ask the reader if the foregoing does not lead to the irresistible conclusion, that the first duty of a physician to a patient is to see that his nervous system is set right, his mind emancipated from all depressing influences, and his blood restored to that condition which enables it to impart the tint of health to the skin, strength to the muscle, and rich and abnndant juices to all the tissues? CHAFTfilt 11 THE CAUSES OF NERVOUS DERANGEMENTS AND AFFECTIONS OF THE BLOOD. HE subject of this chapter opens a boundless field for the investigation of physiologists. Indeed, should an attempt be made to trace out all the influences, immediate and remote, which tend to destroy tiie mental and nervous equilibrium, and render the blood a fountain of death rather than life, many volumes like this would be filled, and then the task would be unfinished. I shall, therefore, limit myself to an explanation of the principal causes; those over which we have the easiest control. Each shall be treated under its appropriate head, with such variety of matter as may be necessary to make it entertain- ing, as well as instructive. Ignorance. This is the vehicle, loaded down like a city omnibus, or an excur- sion steamboat, that conveys into the sys- tem nearly an the nervous derangements and "flections of the blood which afflict the human family. A large proportion of all the evils the essays in this chapter will complain of, really spring from one com- mon root—ignorance. Errors in eating, drinking, sleeping, dressing, ventilation, sexual isolation, sexual association, medi- cating, &c, the bad habits of childhood, and of adult age, may be traced directly to ignorance. It casts a black shadow over every hearth-stone—it makes a dark corner in ©very institution of learning—it Fig. a Tryinjr to lift himself over the fenoe by th« straps ■ short life, and a merry one" ? Let the foregoing two instances suffice for an illustration of wha* is generally called wilful ignorance. We see that this species has its origin in real ignorance, and that a better understand- ing of the laws of life and health would speedily put an end to recklessness entered upon with but a partial knowledge of the con- sequences. Real ignorance is the fearful enemy of mankind. Let us commence at the very beginning of the human being. How many know the essential conditions to bring into the world a healthy child ? A man and woman love each other, or think they do, or they do not, but it is expedient to marry, and they do marry. The next thing you hear is, that the wife is pregnant. How did she become so ? Accidentally, probably, for nearly all children are the accidents of gratified passion, instead of the products of willing parents who premeditated and prepared themselves for so important a work. Most married people are ignorant of the fact that their own physical conditions at the moment each yields the germ, which is to start into existence a human being, has an everlasting influence upon that being. Many a child has been conceived when its father was lounging about home on account of sickness, and to-day suffers physically, and perhaps mentally, from the effects of that paternal illneas. There are thousands of children to-day with disordered nervous and vascular systems, who are so because they were con- ceived at the "making up" of quarrelsome progenitors. Many a child is the offspring of a rape, perpetrated by a brutal husband IGNORANCE. 43 upon an unwilling wife, and this offspring goes through life with a weakly nervous system as a consequence. Men and women marry, ignorant of the laws of mental and physi- cal adaptation. This botchery of human procreating machinery goes blindly at work turning out babies. The babies do not ask to be born. Life and disease are both thrust upon them. Poor things! The doctors will earn half their bread and butter from these wretched specimens of humanity, if the unfortunates manage to live long enough to earn any thing. The ignorance of parents prior to, or at the moment the embryo of a new being is created, brings forth only the first instalment of disease with which it will have to con- tend. Here and there a prudent woman may be found who knows to what extent the offspring within her womb is physically influenced by her habits of thought and action. The majority do not. Few men, when treating pregnant women with unkindness, are conscious of the injury they are inflicting upon the miniature human being. The period of utero-life is one fraught with danger to the health of the defenceless little creature, which nestles as shrinkingly within the walls of the uterus before, as it does timidly to its mother's bosom after its birth. The babe is born ! "What next ? Not one mother of a thousand knows how to rear a child in a way to promote health of nerve and blood. She feeds and clothes it improperly during infancy and childhood; she drugs it almost to death, or lets some doctor do it, for ills proceeding from one or more of the causes already alluded to. Then the child must be vaccinated. How few know the fact that scrofulous, syphilitic, and other impurities are taken from the arms of diseased children, and inoculated into the blood of those who are free from such impurities! The knife of the father, or the needle of the mother, or the aid of a physician with whom the parents are entirely unacquainted, is employed to perform this im- portant operation, when only those combining skill with the great- est integrity, should be trusted. So that, from this source, a new element to corrupt the blood is imparted to the infant. As the child advances in years, a new and strange passion seizes it, often before the proper age of puberty. Ignorant of the complexity and offices of the procreative organs, it falls into bad habits in efforts to gratify the passion, and further nervous and blood derangements ensue. If it be a female, she arrives at the age when menstruation begins, un- 44 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. taught regarding this function. She observes the blood issuing from her body, and frightened at its appearance, attempts to stay the flow. I have many times been consulted by pale women suffering from menstrual irregularities, which were induced in childhood, by attempting to arrest the menstrual discharge, by applying cold water, ice, or snow to the parts. Those who do know enough of the func- tion to avoid this error, do not know how necessary prudence is during its performance. In rural districts, the out-houses are often built to project over streams, or they stand on hill-sides, so that draughts of air are continually passing up through them. The best of them in the country are poorly built for the protection of the health, and especially the health of women. Many cases of menstrual irreg- ularities, particularly in those who have but just commenced the per- formance of the function, may be traced to exposures in badly con- structed places of this kind. Keeping the feet dry, and the bosoms from sudden changes of temperature, when they have been made sen- sitive, and susceptible to disease by excessive dress, are precautions too often neglected. In some cases too little, and in others, too much, exercise is indulged in during the menstrual flow. The coyness of young people of both sexes, but especially of young women, in attending to the "calls of nature," are also fruitful sources of nervous and blood derangements. Children are brought up to regard the necessary attentions to the bladder and bowels as something so indelicate as to require the greatest privacy, so much so, that if places constructed for such purposes are not entirely shielded from observation, a young man, or a young woman, will go all day, or possibly for several days, without attending to two very important functions. The results are, the blood becomes poisoned by the retention and absorption of waste matters, the nervous energies of the liver, bowels, kidneys, and bladder, become paralyzed, and if the victim be a female, the pressure of water in the bladder in front, of the excrementitious matters of the bowels above and be- hind, displaces that sensitive organ, the womb, and then follow all sorts of ills to make life wretched. What kind of etiquette is this which teaches people to be ashamed of the functions an All-wise Creator has instituted to preserve and keep active the most complex machin- ery ever made by His hand ? Is it indeed a disagreeable task, one we are to be ashamed of, to dispose of the useless portions of the liquids and solids we have put into our mouths ? May we not better IGNORANCE. 45 teach orir children to be ashamed of gluttony—of besmearing their mouths with vile tobacco, and loading their breath with the vapors of unwholesome drinks ? May we not better place a gate at the door wherein so much that is injurious enters, than to stop up the outlets from which many things purer depart! Especially when absent from home, among people they have never seen before, and may never see again, are coyish young people-^-and some old ones— foolish in this particular; and because appropriate places for physical reuef cannot be entered without observation, irregularities are inau- gurated which finally bring them to their beds, and their doctors. People in advanced life, unless sorely afflicted with mock modesty, are usually more sensible in regard to this matter, and still, they are not sensible enough for their own good, nor have they a particle of sense, in many instances, in giving right impressions to their children. Grown-up children know too little of themselves to instruct those who come after them. Mothers, who have tho care of children, and who should, consequently, possess all attainable information regard- ing the human system and its wants, often know the least. Picture to your imagination women, well-inforrned on most subjects, bear- ing in educated circles the reputation of being intelligent, calling on a physician, and trembling with anxiety on account of a tumor they had discovered, from which they apprehended the most painful con- sequences. An examination is made, and what they regard as a tumor, is found to be simply the neck of the womb, in a perfectly healthy condition, and in the place our Maker assigned for it! Such instances have occurred in my practice. One young married woman, of unquestionable popular intelligence, consulted me con- cerning a supposed cancer. Her mind was terribly exercised about it, and she hoped her case was not incurable. On examination, the cancer proved to be simply the clitoris, although somewhat in- flamed by her frequent manipulations after she first discovered it. At the outset, it was only the natural organ such as is found in all healthy women ; but she could not let it alone when she discovered it, thinking she " must do something for it," and the growing irri- tation resulting from her attentions to the supposed cancer, she at- tributed to the progress of the disease. Women have consulted me who supposed leucorrhoea was simply a natural and healthy dis- charge. With such ignorance on the part of mothers, especially when they are so thoroughly saturated with fashionable social nou- Hi CAUSKS OP NERVOUS AND UL60D DERANGEMENTS. sense, we can hope for little improvement in children. We must look to schools, ultimately, for our physical redemption, and if prop- er means will be adopted by those having charge of our institutions of learning, great things may be effected in one generation. In the chapter headed " The Prevention of Disease," I shall make some suggestions which should be pursued in all places where young people are taught. In a country like ours, so full of school-houses, fgnorance in reference to vital matters pertaining to physical life, would be utterly inexcusable, if the right course were adopted by ouf boards of education, and school committees. I will now conclude this essay with the remark that much that will appear in subsequent pages might be embodied under this head, for ignorance lies at the bottom of all bad habits and usages. But under separate heads can be given greater prominence to many things to which I wish to call especial attention. Violating the Moral Nature Many people have an idea that if they pay fair respect to what are usually understood as physical laws, all will go well with them so far as bodily health is concerned. But , Fio- 9* few seem to understand the sympathy ex- ' ^^P^^^ isting between the moral and physical man. >p|j|Blllj||Ij^^ If an individual, to-day, has sufficient phys- ^0||^^^^^^^^^ ical strength and endurance to suppress the /WHPiiS^'o «JilBk vo'ce °f tne inward monitor—the conscience rSllOWJ^ o it IBi —and retire at night with a relish for sleep, ''—WaBsfife. ^i^fllBll after he has perpetrated some great moral OTJ|j|p,^^^H^^^» wrong, he imagines he will always be XwWe JFW equally successful in crushing out his ^^^^^^S^^W better nature. But if no other cause inter- venes to render his nervous system, and hence his mind, wretchedly sensitive to all A man who has nearly worn such violations, the effort required to put himself out in the service of -• .... r the devil. down conscience will, in time, do it, and all at once he will find himself plunged into a mental hell, from which and into the sulphurous one pic- tured by ancient theologians, would be a grateful deliverance. We cannot persistently do those things which we feel to be wrong, VIOLATING THE MORAL NATURE. A/f without wearing away (by slow degrees, perhaps, in some cases), the nervous strength which, to-day, sustains us in violations of our moral sense. If, by a dishonorable course of life, a man may have attained wealth, and that wealth has given him position, and during all this time he has managed to preserve a fair degree of health— possibly excellent health—the loss of property, and of position at- tained through it, brings him to his reflections, and the doctors have no easy task to cure him of ills which almost surely overtake him. Then, if not before, the voice of conscience, which has been contu- maciously suppressed, keeps him awake at night-time, for the lessons which should have been received from day to day for years, are crowded upon him in one moment, and hypnotics and anodynes are of no avail in bringing sleep to his eyelids, and repose to his agitated nervous system. Nor is it sufficient that the moral nature be simply preserved, in order to make a man strong and noble. It must be built up. As physical exercise develops the muscle, so exercise of the moral faculties develops the moral strength of the man, and this moral strength makes him mentally buoyant, courageous, and happy; and this condition of mind promotes digestion, gives regular pulsa- tion to the heart, action to the liver and kidneys, full and deep res- piration, and muscular life and elasticity. It is not necessary that a man should do as his conscientious neighbor, or as society dictates. So long as mankind are not run in one mould, there will be diversity of opinion, and each man will form, from investigation and reflection, a moral standard, consider- ably his own, or at least modified by his individuality. It is not what others say of us individually, or what people of other nation- alities say of our nation, that will make us great, powerful, and happy. It is what we can feel regarding ourselves; it is the self- respect which a noble life creates ; if our consciences can unequivo- cally pronounce the verdict—Right—we are at once invincible—we are happy:—we are healthy. The applause of others may tickle our vanity, at the moment we think it misapplied; but the applause of conscience sinks a shaft of moral strength, an unfathomable pleasure, down into the very soul's centre. It does not simply dwarf a man morally to devote his entire ener- gies to the accumulation of wealth, or the attainment of some other selfish object. It changes his physiognomy, or at least prevents it from acquiring a look of nobleness. An individual may not be 48 causes op nervous and blood derangements. legally dishonorable, while straining every nerve for the accomplish* ment of a selfish purpose, but the simple neglect of his moral nature makes him less a man, not only in a moral but in a physical sense. The nervous stimulus, or life force, has been consumed for the realization of the one object of his ambition, and the various organs of the body have been cheated of that which belonged, in part, to them, so that a dwarfed soul looks out of a body which has not been healthfully developed. He may not be a shrunken man physic- ally, he may be fat—plump as an alderman; if so, much of the vital forces he wastes in his aggrandizement, are needed to spiritual- ize this gross corporeity. Have you never noticed how much differ- ence there is in the physical appearance of a good fat man, and a fat man who has neglected his moral development ? From the former, the soul shines out like a light from a window; the latter has no more spiritual radiancy than the wax figure of a sixpenny showman. So that sins of omission, as well as of commission, against the moral nature, affect the physical well-being. There is no one way, perhaps, in which the moral man is more tor- tured than in the pursuit of wealth and position. In fact, this part of man's nature is often sacrificed entirely for the realization of these objects in our competitive world. Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his sermons, presented something interesting in this connection. "Did you ever," he asks, " see men made in this world? They had no great wisdom; they had no great honor; they had no great heroism ; they had no great patience; they had no great meekness; they had no great wealth of love; but they had a certain muck wisdom; they knew how to thrust their hands in where dirt was to be moulded; they knew how to amass property; they knew how to construct ships and houses; they had a kind of ferreting eye, a sort of weasel saga- city ; they were keen and sharp; they were said to be prosperous, thriving men; they were being built up according to the estimation of men. Give a man five thousand dollars, and you have laid the foundation on which to build him—you have got his feet built; give him ten thousand, and you have built him up to the knees; give him twenty-five thousand, and you have built him to the loins; give him a hundred thousand, and you have built him above the heart; give him two hundred thousand, and he is made all over. Two hundred thousand dollars will build a man in this world; two hundred and fifty thousand will make a good deal of a man; five hundred thou- VIOLATING the moral nature. 4§ Bahd makes a splendid fellow, as the world goes. The great trouble, however, is that although the materials may not be very costly, as God looks upon them, men find it difficult to build themselves in this way. Besides, they are very easily unbuilt. Where a man is merely what he owns, it does not take long to annihilate him. You can take a man's head off with a hundred thousand dollars; you can cut him in two with two hundred and fifty thousand; you can annihilate him with a kick of five hundred thousand, so that there would be nothing left of him but smoke! " There are thousands of thousands of men, of whom, if you take away their houses, and ships, and lands, and fiscal skill, and such other qualities belonging to them as they will not want in Heaven, and cannot carry to Heaven, there will not be enough left to repre- sent them there of righteousness, and godliness, and faith, and love, and patience, and meekness, and such like qualities. They have used all these qualities up for fuel for their machine. It has been their business in life to sacrifice probity that they might be rich; that they might gain power and influence; that they might make their hold on the world broader and stronger; and if they cannot carry forth these things which have been the objects to the attainment of which they had devoted all their energies, what is left for them to go out of life with? You see not only single specimens, but whole ranks of the dwarfed, insect class of men, patting each other on the shoulder, registering each other, and speaking of each other as 'our first men,' 'our largest men,' 'our influential men,' 'our strong men;' and yet, if you were to take away from them that of which the grave will divest them, you could not find them even with a microscope! "Do you not know just such men? If you were to think of those belonging to your own circle of acquaintance, and ask, not what this and that man are worth as factors in material things, but what they are worth as God looks upon them, what they are worth when measured by their righteousness, and faith, and love, and patience, and meekness, those things which are to make up our manhood in the eternal world, would you not find among them those of whom, if their selfishness, their heartlessness, their grasping skill, their worldly wisdom were taken from them, there would be soarcely any thing left?" It often happens that such men—men who, instead of making great names by pursuing some moral or beneficent object, simply 3 50 CAUSES OP NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. write their names on checks, business receipts, carve them out on trees, pencil them out on barns, on walls, and on the rude partitions of summer resorts—awaken to a consciousness of their moral im- poverishment after they become somewhat sated with wealth and petty enjoyments; and then there is a summary precipitation; a break- down of energy, of pride, of ambition, of appreciation of what they have attained, and so much disappointment and mental wretchedness, that health fails, and oh, how hard it is with hygiene, with tonics, with therapeutical electricity, with every means science and skill have discovered, to build up such men ! They are the worst physical wrecks that enter a doctor's office; and although they say they would give all they possess for physical health and mental quietude, they cling tenaciously to the gold they have so long worshipped. How can they afford to part with it? All their generosity, all their love of humanity, all their love of God, and every good quality they brought into the world with them, have been melted into the glitter- ing lump. Although, as before remarked, there is a greater tendency to sacri- fice the moral nature in the pursuit of wealth and position in this world of pride and competition than in any other way, there is a manifest carelessness in regard to the preservation and development of the spark of the divinity within us in every department of life. Few men and women, comparatively, are fully truthful. Few treat their neighbors with exact justice; too many sacrifice peace of mind for momentary pleasure; thousands are daily and hourly doing what they know to be wrong. After all this violation of the moral sense come self-accusation, remorse, wretchedness, loss of sleep, loss of ner- vous vivacity and strength, and finally the whole system becomes more or less affected by the committal of sins for which punishment is only looked for beyond the present life, when it is hoped an escape may be effected through atonement and the grace of God. Present chas- tisements are overlooked, or attributed to other causes. People are often ill without knowing the cause, when, if they would turn their eyes inward and examine themselves searchingly, they would find that their physical discomforts arose from discords and inharmonies resulting from doing injustice to a neighbor, for wantonly letting slip a glorious opportunity to make some one happy. Nations, as well as individuals, suffer from wrong-doing Govern- ments convulse and cripple their power, and shatter their constim- VIOLATING THE MORAL NATURE. 51 tions by acts of injustice. It seems to me that nothing can be surer to end in discord, war, and bloodshed than despotism. Let any body of organized men prevent some other men from enjoying the privi- leges they arrogate to themselves, what more natural than for those oppressed men to conspire for the assassination, or, at least, over- throw of their oppressors ? What can be a more dangerous element in one people than the existence among them of another people, who, for some reason not founded upon justice, are denounced as not so good, not so intelligent, not so capable in any sense, and for which they are denied privileges in the pursuit of happiness which their more powerful neighbors maintain for themselves ? Can we reason- ably hope to outlive conspiracy, war, and bloodshed, till we take our neighbor by the hand rather than by the throat ? Considering the prevalence of conceit in this world, are any of you quite sure you are any better or more intelligent than the man you are holding your foot upon ? and if so, is it not clearly your duty to take your foot off, give him a helping hand, and the widest opportunities and incen- tives for culture ? Would it not be better to devote the money you are paying the soldier or policeman to keep him in vassalage, to his education and elevation ? If, to-day, every ruler on our planet were making it the one great aim of his life to give equal religious, politi- cal, and social rights to all people ; if oppressions were lifted from the hearts and shoulders of all God's children, if every individual would see his neighbor's rights as clearly as he discerns his own, the clash of arms on the battle-field between contending nationalities, the voice of intolerance between differing religionists, disputes in questions of law, the mutterings of men in petty strife, would all be swallowed up in one grand millennium of happiness and kindly feeling, which would go far toward promoting individual health and national greatness. This, you may say, is an ideal picture, and cannot be realized, but self-irnprovement will do it. If each one of us will be- stow a portion of that labor and criticism upon ourselves which we put forth professedly to improve our neighbors, the object aimed at will in time be accomplished. Nations are made up of individuals, and consequently, it is only necessary that every person know how much his own health and happiness depends upon those of his neigh- bor and set himself about making himself more just, more truthful, more tolerant, to make society, nation, and government what each should b'"'. We are apt to too say, our neighbor will not adopt the ft$ CAUSES OP NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Pig. 10. Golden Rule, and that, therefore, we will not. This is mainly the reason why a better condition of things is not attained. Every one is waiting for another. Let every one who feels the first impulse toward self-reformation, inaugurate the work at once. If none of his neighbors do, he will find a full compensation in the spiritual and physical benefitsthat accrue to himself, and if he suffers from injustice from others, he certainly does not suffer from injustice to himself. One thousand such men scattered over the world in one genera- tion, would become ten thousand in the next, and might in a few generations be counted by millions. Why hesitate because such a work cannot be accomplished in our life- time ? Because of the disposition of men to wait for each other in undertaking the work of self-improvement, the world is now filled with dishonorable retaliation. I will relate an instance in point. Standing at the counter of a tradesman, while the latter was telling a customer what a smart trick he had perpetrated upon some one who had cheated him, I was witness to the narration of the dishonorable feat, during which narration his eyes sparkled with revengeful delight. He concluded with the triumphant interroga- tory, "Didn't I serve him right?" Thin seemed as much directed to me as to my fellow-customer, and I felt morally bound to respond, when the fol- lowing colloquy ensued : " I don't think you did." Tradesman. —" Well, I do, for he is the biggest scoundrel in the city; and I always like to get the start of such men. He is always looking out for a smart game of grab." " But of whom are dishonorable people to learn lessons of honesty, if every one who is defrauded by them, retaliates when opportunity offers ?" Tradesman.—" That is all very nice, but I am not the man to let a good chance slip to get even with the fellow who comes a big thing on me." GODDESS OF JUSTICE. VIOLATING THE MORAL NATURE. 53 " Well, then, you are only confirming the usual opinion of dis- honorable men, that ' all men are dishonest,' and your retaliation on him will lead him, when opportunity presents, to again retaliate on you, and so on indefinitely, till death ends the warfare. Perhaps if you had reminded him of the chance presented to 'get even with him,' and spurned it as something you could not stoop to, it would have aroused the sleeping sense of honor within him ; but, if not, he could not justify his course of rascality with the reflection that he was as good as other men, for he would have, for once, at least, met, in a business way, one man who was above both petty re- venge and dishonesty. In my opinion, sir, you missed a golden op- portunity to do a neighbor good." The colloquy ended with a muttering response, which was not quite audible, but the tradesman, after all, was only practising a pretty well-established commercial code. Even when money is not an object, so dominant is the passion for revenge, business men often play financial tricks on their fellows, simply to " pay them off in their own coin," for some previous transaction of a similar kind, in which they were the victims. With this spirit of retaliation in the commercial world, where is fraud to end ? There is no one passion so dwarfing to man's moral growth, and, consequently, to his perfect physical development, as revenge. It whittles his soul right down to a pointed poisoned arrow, with which he is ever ready to pierce his offending neighbor. It plants in his eye an expression as fierce as the serpent's tongue ; it shrinks the muscles of his face, and gives his lower jaw an unseemly protrusion ; it makes him a stockholder in " hell upon earth," and his neighbors unwilling sharers in the dividends. A revengeful man has that within him which destroys all capability of self-happiness, and all comfort to those who are compelled to come in contact with him. Perhaps it is something that many have not thought of, but it will be found, on experiment, that nothing pays better, physically, as well as morally, than the cultivation of the moral nature. One gets his pay as he goes along. As remarked before, he is recompensed in a happier mind, and better physical health, and there are those coming after him whose happiness should be considered as im- portant as his own, and the labor to promote which will make his soul larger, his nervous system more harmonious, his blood richer, and his muscles stronger, for is it not apparent in the light 54 CAUSES OP NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. of this essay, that a peaceful just, generous mind, and a clear con- science, strengthen the whole animal organism ? Fig. 11. The Food we Eat. Considering the fact that man by habit is omnivorous, and almost as much so as the pig, and that he eats about eight hundred pounds of food, exclusive of fluids, annually, it ought to surprise no one when I say that many derangements of the blood arise from the use of improper food. Look how directly the food goes into blood. It is taken into the mouth and masticated, into the stomach and digested, and then passes down into the lower stom- ach, where it meets the pancreatic fluids, and is sucked up into a duct, and carried directly into the blood at the angle formed by the great jugular vein on the left side of the neck, and the principal vein of the left arm. Then see how directly it goes to the manufacture of bone, muscle, nerve, &c. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the North American Review, has presented this change very happily. " If," he Bays, " the reader of this paper live another year, his self-conscious principle will have migrated from its present tenement to another, the raw materials even of which are not yet put together. A portion of that body of his which is to be, will ripen in the corn of his next harvest. Another portion of his future person he will purchase, or others will purchase for him, headed up in the form of certain barrels of potatoes. A third fraction is yet to be gathered in the Southern rice-field. The limbs with which he is then to walk will be clad with flesh borrowed from the tenants of many stalls and pas- tures, now unconscious of their doom. The very organ of speech, with which he is to talk so wisely, plead so eloquently, or speak so effectively, must first serve his humble brethren to bleat, to bellow, and for all the varied utterance of bristled or feathered barn-yard His bones themselves are, to a great extent, in posse, and not mi THE MARKET. life. esse. A bag of phosphate of lime which he has ordered from Professor Mapes for bis grounds, oontains a large part of tha,t wbich, is to be THE FOOD WE EAT. 55 his skeleton, and more than all this, by far the greater part of his body is nothing after all but water, and the main substance of his scattered members is to be looked for in the reservoir, in the run- ning streams, at the bottom of the well, in the clouds that float over his head, or diffused among them all." The rapidity with which the food of to-day is incorporated into the body of to-morrow, should make us prudent in what we eat,. If we would preserve our blood from impurity, and the atoms com- posing our bodies from disease. How prudent the human family is, may be seen by sitting at the tables of various peoples, civilized and barbarous. At home we are treated to all sorts of mixed dishes, seasoned with condiments, and saturated with the oleaginous juices of swine. Few of us stop to reflect that there may be as much an- tagonism in the stomach between the various kinds of flesh taken into it, as exists in the living world between the living bodies whose flesh we eat. A fashionable dinner comprises about three courses of different animal food ; in come cases turtle soup, then fish of some kind, then roast beef or turkoy, with side dishes of mutton or lamb, veal or pork, etc. It cannot, perhaps, be demonstrated, hut is it not reasonable to suppose, that each one of these meats pos- sess a latent magnetism, as individual in its character as when ani- mated by life. If so, the stomachs of some people have, every day, to conciliate and make up a happy family of a great diversity of mag- netic elements. To live fashionably is to live improperly. Now let us step intrusively into the kitchens of our neighbors. John Chinaman feasts his stomach on cats, dogs, wharf-rats, sea- slugs, sharks, bats, and caterpillar soup. Australians, and many other people, eat snakes, kun^aroo-rats, mice, maggots, etc. The Japanese prefer green peaches, apricots, and plums, to ripe ones, as an offset, I suppose, to our eating green cucumbers. A traveler among the Indians of the Rocky Mountains, or a guest of the people of Zanzibar, will smack his astonished lips over puppy stew, with- out knowing what it is made of. One who visits Africa, may have a plate of tender young monkey; while the people of the Arctics treat their visitors to ii diet of putrid seal's flesh, putrid whale's tail, reindeer's chyle, train oil, whale's skin, and partially hatched eggs. The native of Surinam eats toads, and the Hottentot considers roasted caterpillars to be savory as sugared cream. Frogs are eaten by the French, by the Chinese, and by many people in both t 50 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Europe and America. The French have lately taken to eating snails, having found their flavor superior to that of frogs. One hundred thousand are daily supplied to Paris by Burgundy and Champagne alone. On the Maguey plant in Mexico, a large yellow worm thrives, which the native Indian eats, and calls the dish Maguey butter. A Tribune correspondent is responsible for the statement that Emperor Maximilian was induced to try it. In brief, among the many strange things used as food, not already mentioned, may be named: elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, antelope, wild ants, leopard, lion, alligator, crocodile, eggs of reptiles, lizard, wild-cat, panther, wolf, opossum, musk-rat, rat's brains, porcupine, bird's nest, locust, grasshopper, spider, and nearly every insect; and the Chinamen are so given to domestic economy as to eat the chrys- alis of the silk-worm after the cocoon has been wound off. In New York, the testicles of young animals are considered a dish for an epicure by many citizens. Charles Louis Napoleon Achille Murat, son of the great French general, who spent the closing years of his life in Florida, and who had tried all sorts of eating declared as follows:— " norse-flesh, good—dog, fox, and cat, only middling—skunk, tolerably good—hawk, first-rate—crow, second-rate—pigeon, jay- bird, and blackbird, tolerable, and " he added, "though I have no prepossession, buzzard is not good." Now, nearly all the foregoing animals, insects, etc., contain the true constituents of food, and many of them are not unwholesome. Some indeed which seem revolting to an educated taste, are better and purer for aliment than others which we regard as above criticism. To sustain life, we simply need food which possesses saccharine, oleaginous, albuminous, and gelatinous properties, combined with a proper admixture of salt, sulphur, iron, lime, and phosphorus. But what we should do is to avoid food which, possessing all the neces- sary alimentary elements, is also tainted by disease. One of the most common causes of blood impurities is the use of pork. It has been said that all things were created for some wise purpose. This is undoubtedly true, but hogs were never made to eat. We read that Christ used them to drown devils; they can never be appropriated to a more beneficent use. As an article of diet, pork exerts a most pernicious influence on the blood, overloading it with carbonic apid gas, and filling it with scrofula. The. hog is not a 4- THE FOOD WE EAT. 57 healthy animal. From its birth it is an inveterate gormandizer, and to satisfy its eternal cravings for food, every thing in field or gutter, however filthy, finds lodgment in its capacious stomach. It eats filth and wallows in its filth, and is itself but a living mass of filth. When, therefore, it is remembered that all our limbs and organs Fig. 12. THE USE OF SWIWE, "And when they were come out, they [the devils] went into the herd of swine: and, bo hold, tho whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters."—St. Sfatthew, 8th chap., 32d verse. have been picked up from our plates—that our bodies are made up of the things we have eaten—what pork-eater will felicitate himself with the reflection, that, according to physiological teachings, he is physically part hog. " Wo have been served up at the table many times over. Every individual is literally a mass of vivified viands; he is an epitome of innumerable meals; he has dined upon himself, 3*---- GS CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. supped upon himself, and in fact—paradoxical as it may appear- has again and again leaped down his own throat." From the earliest history of swine, they have been regarded as more subject to scrofula than any other animal. This disease, so peculiar to the hog, before it received a name, so far ante-dated the same disease in the human family, that when it did make its appear- ance in the latter, it was named after the Greek name of swine, as best expressing its character. There are various diseases peculiar to certain animals. Cats are subject to fits; dogs more than other animals, to hydrophobia; horses to glanders and heaves; the cow to consumption and hollow-horn; sheep to the rot; fowls to the gapes, owelled head, and blindness; and scrofula is the prevailing disease among swine. The diseases affecting other animals than swine, are usually such as to condemn them before t.b^v reach the shambles of the butcher; and the law treats with severity all venders of diseased meats, with the exception of pork dealers. This is partly because the scrofula of the hog cannot always be readily detected, and in a measure owing to the indifference of pork-eaters to the known pres- ence of tubercles, tumors, etc., in pork. When man comes to be affected with hollow-horn and rot, beef and mutton must be mor# closely looked to I To what extent the flesh of various animals maj be affected by the diseases to which they are subject can hardly bfl determined, but Professor Gamgee affirms "that one-fifth of the common meat of Great Britain—beef, veaL, mutton and lamb—is diseased; while Professor Gerlach states that in Berlin at least as much diseased as healthy meat is consumed." It is apparent, how- ever, that when scrofula may be communicated simply by habitual contact with a scrofulous person, the contact of scrofulous food with the mouth and stomach must inevitably inoculate the system of the Imprudent eater. One fact regarding pork is well known to all physiologists. It is, with few exceptions, the most indigestible food that can be taken into the stomach. Again, pork is charged with being wormy. It killed a great many persons in Germany, and not a few in other countries, including our own. Our consul, at Elsinore, wrote our Secretary of State all about It, and scientists, on both sides of the Atlantic got out their micro- Bcopes, rubbed up their spectacles, and after examining the flesh of the arraigned porker, found he possessed imps of probably the same devils which were cast into his progenitors on the hill-side. The THE FOOD WE EAT. 59 illustrations in Figs. 13 and 14, show how these fellows appear under the microscope. They are called Trichinae, and the disease they produce in man is denominated Trichiniasis. The parasites are so minute that they can make their way to any part of the system, and a writer who has witnessed their effects thus describes them: "This perforation of parts by millions of microscopic worms, is attended with symptoms more or less violent, depending upon their numbers, and the strength and health of the victim. While passing the coats of the bowels, violent purging often arises, simulating ar- senical poisoning, and many people have been unjustly suspected of this crime, when persons eating food prepared for them have been thus alarmingly seized. As the worms make their way into the muscles, pains like those of rheumatism, cramp, weakness, or entire loss of power, resembling paralysis, ensue; and when the numbers of trichinae are large, wasting, exhaustion and death follow. Those who escape with a few of these disagreeable tenants, suffer in smaller degree from similar symptoms, but gradually recover, and a small portion of their muscles, removed and magnified, reveal the trichi- nae arrived at their destination, and undergoing the various stages of calcareous encystment." Since the lively interest awakened among scientists by the discov- ery of trichinae as the cause of what seemed like epidemics of disease in Germany, pork has been a pretty constant source of inter- national dissension mixed witli tariff issues. The German, the French, and many other European nations, for some time prohibited the importation of American pork on the ostensible ground that it was largely infected with trichinae, but, in fact, to protect home industries, till our own country found it necessary to set various commissions of experts at work to discover what basis there was for such charges. They always found that some per cent, of American hogs were "guilty." Prof. Dettmers, of the Agricultural Depart- ment, acknowledged finding the parasites in four per cent, of hogs slaughtered in Chicago, but the experts claim that this is a smaller percentage than is found in European examinations of the same kind. However, to allay foreign prejudices and make our hog products marketable abroad, Uncle Sam established a system of con- stant supervision of the wholesale slaughter and packing houses, for the purpose of thoroughly excluding all possible objection on the ioore of contaminated pork, but the difficulty is not yet settled. 60 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Dr. Rudolph Artman, a German veterinarian, who was once em- ployed in meat inspection in Germany, has been examining into the methods of the Bureau of Animal Industry of our country, and con- siders it a gigantic humbug—carried on at a cost of half a million dollars per year—a decision quite in conformity with charges of the New York World. It appears that the examination, if not merely a matter of form, is far from thorough, and so far as the people of this country are concerned, there is no protection .by keeping trichi- nous pork out of the market. Dr. Salmon, Chief of the Bureau, believes that it is unsafe to rely on microscopic examination of the meat, and that the only safety lies in thorough cooking. He claims that if all such food be sufficiently cooked the microscopic examina- tion is superfluous (except to pacify the foreign buyer); that the trichinous pork is just as good eating as any; and he further charges that in Germany, in spite of their careful inspection, far more people die of trichinosis than in this country, because the Germans have a fancy for eating raw pork, and because no microscopic examination can completely insure them against eating diseased pork. On the other hand, Dr. Artman be- lieves that the people of this country suffer far more than they know from infection with trichinae, that the para- sites do not always invade so quickly or numerously as to kill, and that in the many cases where they '' go slow " and keep comparatively quiet, the vic- tims become chronic sufferers from rheumatoid pains and other discom- forts difficult to name or diagnose. He examined muscles taken from Fig. 13. Trichina, cysts and meat. thirty dead human bodies> at Buffalo. and found trichinae present in ten per cent.—or in three bodies, two of which were Germans. Yet he is not at all sure that ten per cent, of our population is thus affected. Dr Artman also denies that the food value of trichinous pork is just as good as that which is free from infection, provided it is well cooked on the ground that the trichinae replace part of the muscle tissue with chalky deposits, and this is true, so far as it goes, but to the fastidious eater the knowledge of the presence of parasites even if ''THE FOOD "WE EAT. 61 harmless because uoo well roasvca to revive, would be apt to dull his appetite more than the fact that their chalky relicts diminish to some extent the food value. His relish for pork tenderloin will hardly be stimulated by the fact, now admitted by the Government Bureau, that all hogs which were found infected with trichinae, withheld from export amounting to two per cent, of the whole number inspected, have been thrown on the home market for con- sumption, instead of being boiled down in the rendering tank, as represented by the in- spectors in charge. If, like the farmer who keeps small potatoes for home use, we reserve all trichinous pork for home consumption, we shall not be surprised to learn some day | that one-tenth of all pork-eaters are enter- taining more or less of the trichinae parasites / in their muscles. If, as Dr. Salmon seems to admit, parasitic pork may escape the vigilance of the hun- dreds of lady microscopists employed to de- tect them, this government bureau is a Pig. 14. Encysted trichina uselessly expensive matter of form; but his between muscle fibres. ciami that safety is assured by cooking is denied by German scientists, who find that in a large piece of meat the heat at the centre, during cooking, is not sufficient to kill the trichinae therein. There seems, therefore, to be no solution of this international sanitaiy and trade complication, but any person can settle the problem for himself by declining pork foods. Of course, even when cooking fails to kill the encysted worms it is possible that persons of remarkably good digestions and unlimited gastric juices may be able to digest them, but it is a risk they would hardly take knowingly. It is reported that during a period of five years, when the people of New York City and Philadelphia consumed nearly fifteen million hogs, among 350,072 deaths recorded there were only six, three in each city, from trichiniasis; but since it requires a microscopic post-mortem examination to determine it, very likely many more deaths were due to this cause than thus appears. In the illustrations herewith given of the trichinae parasite, Fig. 18 shows the separated worm (A), the separated sacs or encysted 62 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. worms (c d), and a piece of meat less highly magnified (b), with many of the cysts scattered through it. In Fig. 14 the muscle fibres are shown pressed apart by a cysted trichina. The foregoing remarks have been made with reference to the best class of swine; but what shall I say, when I come to speak of those fattened in distilleries 1 I have seen droves of these inflated crea- tures driven to the slaughter-houses in Cincinnati. A herd of dis- eased, bloated, besotted men would not be more sickening to the refined spectator. The hair of these creatures is invariably thin and scattered, and the skin looks like that of a confirmed inebriate. Some have tumors varying in size from a small apple to a good-sized cabbage. I have been told by Cincinnati butchers that tumors are not unfrequently found inside the meat, and that, when laid open by the knife, purulent matter is emitted; but these diseased carcasses are sold, and form one of the articles of food in our large cities. Some years ago, a gentleman living near the town of Rockingham, Virginia, lost five head of young cattle and several milch cows, by permitting them to run in the same lot where his hogs were feeding. The hogs ate the stalks of corn, or rather chewed them, and left them on the ground. These were taken up by the cattle, eaten and swal- lowed. Soon they were taken with an itching all over, and com- menced rubbing their heads; their throats swelled, and in a short time death ensued! Their disease might be termed an acute attack of scrofula, with which they became infected from the virus commu- nicated to the stalks by the dirty swine. Still, the flesh of these ani- mals is regarded as a healthy and relishable article of food by a large majority of civilized mankind 1 Ugh! Let us not upbraid the barba- rian who eats snails and lizards, or the Mexican Indian who eats butter made from the maguey worms, for their disgusting epicurean eccen- tricities, while civilization tolerates hog-eating. It is related of Dr. Adam Clark, that he had a strong aversion to pork, and that on an occasion, when called upon to say grace at dinner, where the princi- pal dish was roast pig, he said: "OLord! if Thou canst bless under the Gospel what Thou didst curse under the law, bless this pig " It has been said that no animal was ever created which had an inherent proclivity to disease. This may be true; but some animals, from their earliest history, have been diseased; and none in the ani- mal kingdom better illustrate this proposition than man and hog And whUe I am firmly convinced that mankind are injured by eating THE FOOD WE EAT. G3 hog, I am equally disposed to believe the hog, if a healthy animal U>-day, would in time become diseased by eating man. Both man and hog are intemperate eaters, and addicted to filthy habits. As for the latter, he is such a proverbial gormand, that no word in the Fig. 17. THE UNHEALTHY PAIR. English language so strongly portrays a voracious appetite as the term hoggish. Then his eating propensities are ever encouraged by the pork-raiser, who wishes to make every carcass as heavy as pos- sible. Many farmers and other pork producers put their pigs in close pens, to prevent their exercising and running off their fat, and in these close, filthy quarters, the grunters are systematically stuffed till they can hardly open their eyes. What would become of a human being so treated? Could a man be so confined and fed, and not become a diseased and bloated carcass? It is equal to a fashion they have in Germany, of putting geese singly in coops so small that they cannot stand up or turn around, and there stuff them with a kind of meal mixture every day, until they become loaded with fat. Then they are considered in good condition to kill and eat. Can any creature in creation be treated in this way, or as swine are fat- tened, and not become diseased? What, then, may we expect of an animal which, from our earliest knowledge of him, has been scrofu- lous? A good-natured farmer writes me that he and all his neigh- bors are pork-eaters, and that the people of "Old Kentuck" have always been fed on "hog and hominy," and yet are perfectly healthy and blessed with longevity. I reply, blessed with longevity, perhaps, but not entirely free from disease. I am often consulted by these 64 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. very farmers, who open by saying, " I am not sick, Doctor, but I are plagued with salt-rheum." Another writes, "I am the picture of health, and my neighbors would laugh at me if they knew I was applying to a physician ; but I am troubled with catarrh." Another has piles, another worms, another rheumatism, another predispo- sition to sore throat, and so on ; but all claim to be in the enjoyment of the best of health ! But there are unquestionably pork-eaters who have no apparent disease whatever. Although the scrofulous im- purities of their diet find lodgment, they remain latent in their sys- tems, and are even transmitted to their children, without manifest- ing themselves in the parent stock. Those especially who till the Fig IS. SHEEP—WHOLESOME TO THE EYE AND WHOLESOME TO THE STOMACH. noil, toughened by exercise, strengthened by pure air, and relieved of much diseased matter by active perspiration, may carry with there to a gray old age a scrofulous impurity without suffering from THE FOOD WE EAT. G.j its presence. But how. is it with their boys who enter counting-rooms in large cities, or adopt professions of a sedentary character ? Have you never noticed how apt these scions of athletic sires are to break down before reaching the meridian of life? Other causes than these inherited impurities may often contribute to this result; but if im- purities do exist to any extent, will they not be more likely to be active, and obtrusively present themselves in the form of disease, internal or external, in the confined atmosphere of the store or office. than on the broad acres of the parental homestead? It may be a question of no little importance, how much the diseases of young men in villages and cities are derived from pork-eacing progenitors, who pursued the healthful occupation of tilling the soil and feeding the pig. Mutton ought universally to be substituted for pork, L '<.:: more easily digested, and nay be regarded as a healthful meat. Besid j, it can be produced at much less expense than pork among the far- mers, and yields more nourishment. Sheep need no corn, and can be kept during the winter on hay, turnips, beets, etc. True, pigs will eat what nothing else will, and consume all the slops in the kitch- en ; but a great deal of corn, or other solid food is required to fatten them for the butcher. Besides, sheep will eat all that is fit for food from the kitchen slops, and their preparation for the slaughter-house is attended with trifling expense. As a rule, the flesh of herbivorous is more wholesome than that of carnivorous or omnivorous animals. The use of animal food of every kind has been pronounced injurious by many. That it is not necessary for the sustenance of man, in a normal state, I am fall* convinced ; equally satisfied am I that its moderate use is attended with no physical injury, but almost everywhere it is used to excess. Too much animal food inflames the system, and overloads the blood with the red corpuscle. In our climate, and in Southern latitudes, little or none should be used in summer, and in winter, there is enough heat-producing food, of a vegetable character, to impart sufficient warmth to those preferring vegetable diet. Still, beef, mutton, lamb, poultry, and even horse-flesh may be regarded as wholesome for food, if not eaten to excess. Professor St. Hilaire, of Paris, strongly urges the introduction of the latter as an aliment. He says that during the great French wars, the celebrated surgeon, Larry, was accustomed to give horse-flesh to the wounded soldier*, 66 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMEN1S. and that he attributed their cure in many instances to this nourish- ment. The ancient Germans were in the habit of eating horse-flesh, and to this day, shops for the sale of this meat, under the superin- tendence of a veterinary college, exist by authority in Copenhagen. It is also resorted to by the poor of Vienna, while in Hamburg it commands a high price. The horse is considered a great delicacy in some of the Southern portions of South America, where it is intro- duced at the festive board as a luxury, equal to a sirloin of beef. There can be no doubt of its utility and cheapness on the battle-ground, where the majestic steed is hourly falling before the destructive cannon-ball. Those who turn up their noses at the idea of eating horse-flesh, are requested to lead a horse from the stable, and a pig from the gutter, and ask themselves which is the more respectable looking candidate for the carver. If I may be allowed a brief paragraph, to deviate from the legiti- mate purpose of this chapter, I will remark that the excessive use of animal food is a great social evil. It is a proverbial fact, that man- kind are too much given to the brute diversion of fighting. Our halls of legislation are disgraced with personal encounters between gentlemen who are supposed to be far elevated above the brute creation, by their distinguished intellectual endowments. Now, we have as good authority as Professor Liebig, that meat makes men more pugnacious. He says: "It is certain that three men, one of whom has had a full meal of beef and bread, the second, cheese, or salt fish, and the third, potatoes, regard a difficulty, which presents itself, from entirely different points of view. The effect of the differ- ent articles of food on the brain and nervous system, is different ac- cording to certain constituents, peculiar to each of these form's of food. A bear kept in the anatomical department of this university exhibited a very gentle character so long as he was fed exclusively on bread. A few days' feeding with flesh, rendered him savage, prone to bite, and even dangerous to his keeper. The carnivorous are in general stronger, bolder, and more pugnacious than the herbivo- rous animals on which they prey. In like manner, those nations which live on vegetable food, differ in disposition from those which live chiefly oj,i flesh" Forbearance is a great Christian virtue, and should be cultivated by every enlightened man. Had human beings been intended for fighting animals, their finger-ends would have been decorated with huge unbending nails, and their jaws distend- THE FOOD WE EAT. 67 ed with savage tusks, like the boar. The excessive use of flesh is. therefore, sinful, and leads man to forget his present duty, and his heavenly destiny, because it excites those emotional faculties which are so prone to dethrone reason. Much has been wrritten, pro and con, as to the necessity of resorting to the animal kingdom for sustenance. It seems to me the vegetarians have the best of the argument. Vegetables possess all the necessary elements of food, and by combination, or eaten in variety, impart more nutrition than animal diet. According to the investigations of Liebig, and other celebrated chemists, peas, beans, and lentils con- tain more of the blood-forming principle to the pound, than meat; wheat meal contains about as much, and oat meal, barley meal, stale bread, and maize meal, about half as much; and when you seek the heat-forming principle, potatoes contain more than meat, while bread, peas, lentils, barley meal, beans, sago, maize, oatmeal, and rice, yield double and treble the supply to the pound that animal food does. Nearly all vegetables provided for the table contain more solid matter to the pound than meat possesses. Facts sustain the vegetarian. A large portion of the people of Ireland, in their island home, hardly taste meat. They subsist upon potatoes, oatmeal, and cabbage. Many of the Asiatics mainly sub- sist on rice and vegetable oils. The Lazzaroni of Naples, with all their uncleanliness, idleness, and vice, maintain a good physical ap- pearance on a diet of bread and potatoes. The Turks live mostly on vegetables, fruits, and nuts. A traveller remarks :—" Chops, sub- stantial soups, joints, any thing on which a Westerner could support nature, are never seen in a Turkish bazaar." We have people living in various parts of the United States who are practical vegetarians, and eschew animal food of every description, excepting it may be eggs, milk, and butter, and some of these people do not use the latter. I once met a hard-meated, healthy young Jew, who subsisted on Gra- ham bread, fruits, and nuts; and to carry out his dietetic rules he hired a room and boarded himself, which he could easily do without cook or housekeeper. D. U. Martin, the vegetable wherryman, gymnast, and phrenologist, tested his strength and endurance by subjecting himself to all sorts of hardships and exposures while pursuing strictly a vegetable diet. He subsequently adopted an ex- clusively fruit diet, mainly apples, with what results I am unable to state. It sometimes seems as if we only used meats as vehicles 68 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. for conveying salt, sauces, r.nd condiments to the Btomach. People think they love the flavor of animal food itself. Just try it without salt, pepper, mustard, butter, or other seasoning, and see. Advocates of animal diet generally refer to the teeth, and some to the anatomical formation of the stomach, for evidences that our Crea- tor intended that wo should eat meat; but the teeth and stomach of the orang-outang resemble those of man, and yet he does not be- long to the carnivorous or omnivorous species. Du Chaillu says, that notwithstanding bis large canine teeth, the gorilla of Africa is a strict vegetarian. According to Cuvier, " man's teeth are frugivorous—the cows, herbivorous—the lion's, carnivorous—and the hog's, omnivo- rous," so that both sides claim that the indications of the dental organs favor their distinctive views of diet. In eating the flesh of animals, as I look at it, we get vegetables second-hand, and contam- inated more or less by the diseases with which they are affected. There is, however, in animal food, a stimulating property which vegetables do not possess. Having heard of vegetarians being made slightly intoxicated by beef-steak, I once induced a vegetarian friend to try the experiment on himself, and he assured me it produced in his brain a sensation similar to that induced by a slight potation of alcoholic liquor. It is said that Irishmen who live exclusively on vegetables at home, on enlisting in the British army are sometimes attacked with what is called "meat fever," in consequence of their new diet being so much more stimulating than that to which they had been accustomed. There is a supposed necessity, and possibly a real necessity in some cases, for the use, to some extent, of animal food. This undoubtedly results from the habits of our ancestry. The child of an inebriate father often inherits his appetite, and cannot resist the temptation to drink intemperately of intoxicating beverages, and it may be easily supposed that the child of meat-eating parents may at least imagine he cannot live without meat. When, during a long line of ancestry, animal food has been the principal article of diet, the necessity may be actual instead of imaginary. He is like a patient who told me disease was his normal condition, and that medicine was his natural food! Opium-eating sometimes becomes a necessity by the perversion of the system by narcotism. Whatever may have been the original design of our Creator, to allow mankind in the infancy of its development to live upon the flesh of other animals, I am confident the time will come THE FOOD WE EAT. 69 svhen a more beautifully developed and Christianized humanity will look back upon us of this century as a race of cannibals. No man or woman to-day, of noble sentiment and sympathetic nature, unless the habitue of the market, and thus hardened by familiarity with such sights, can pass the stall of the butcher with its display of trunk- less heads of calves, pigs, and cattle, and the bleeding and partly flayed carcasses of lambs and sheep, or look upon the white, but blood-stained apron of the meat-man, holding his monstrous knife, without a shudder, and a feeling of self-condemnation that he and she are accessory to this wholesale slaughter of innocent animals. " The dog delights to bark and bite;" it is the instinct of the cat to sneakingly assail and devour animals too weak to resist her prowess ; it is in the nature of the huge boa-constrictor to swallow pigeons, rab- bits, and other small game by the bushel; it is the habit of the large fish to live upon the smaller ones, etc. But when we ascend from these lower species of the animal kingdom to the noblest work of God, may we not reasonably look for an end to this mutual carnage for the wherewithal to keep the vital machinery in action ? What excuse for man, who can shake from the tree above his head the juicy fruit which is rea- dy to fall ripe into his hand; who can pluck from the vine clusters of delicious grapes containing all the elements of food, prepared only as Old Dame Nature can pre- pare them ; who can plough up the rich sod, and produce by the planting succulent vegetables and fields of golden grain, and beneath the surface of the grim soil, esculent roots capable of imparting warmth and nourishment to the body; who can find in the rich meats of abundant nuts, and other oily products of plants and trees, all the oleaginous properties which animal fat supplies; what excuse, I ask, for man, with all these luxuries at hand, loaded with the necessary alimentary constituents, to imitate the murderous instincts of the lower animals, and cannibally live upon animals less powerful than himself! There is one excuse, and only one, that can be presented for a man of this century, namely : Fig. 19. VEGETABLE FOOD. 70 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AlSD BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. a meat-eating ancestry, and in some cases an ancestry of meat gor- mands. As before remarked, with some persons it seems to be an inherited necessity. But I have faith that man will some time out- grow this brutal appetite-^this cruel physical necessity. The dawn of the millennium cannot light up human hands and arms red with the blood of slaughtered animals, or overtake the athletic man pick- ing the bones of tiny birds! The ingenious Yankee will invent a substitute for leather, and we already have enough substitutes for ivory and bone. There are millions of men and women to-day, who would give up a meat diet if they were compelled to slay the animal* they eat. Stop for a moment, and read how the killing is done. I clip the following from a daily paper; it is headed "How Cattle are Slaughtered—Sunday Scenes at the Abattoir." The writer then proceeds: " On the arrival of cattle, they are transferred from the cars to yards, where usually they remain until sold or slaughtered. Before they are killed, eight or ten are driven up an inclined plane into the abattoir, where they are confined in pens about ten feet square. A row of these pens extends across the building, directly back of the dressing racks. When an animal is needed, he is either drawn up with a rope attached to his hind leg, or he is speared. If the cattle are wild, the executioner mounts the stall, and takes his stand immediately over his victim. His spear is a rod of iron, six feet long, an inch in diameter, sharpened at the end like an oyster- knife. The 'killing spot' is just behind the horns, on the neck, which the spearsman frequently does not hit. To see a person throwing one of these spears into a pen of cattle is sickening. Often several bullocks are pierced in the forehead or eyes, and their-faces are streaming with blood long before the death of a single one! The wounded, after waiting from ten minutes to an hour for their turn, are again attacked, and killed one by one, the survivors receiving fresh wounds on every attack! A Western expert," continues this writer, "styles this treatment the devilish torture of a bungling butcher." (If it only were, I should say Amen; but it seems to be the devilish torture of innocent animals.) " Cattle are not the only sufferers, but the swine are also pierced^ and oftan plunged into scalding water before they are dead! The butchers say that the spear is used for killing wild cattle only; but one who frequents the abattoir says that the contrary is the fact. Even the windlass is a barbarous instrument. With this a noose is fastened to the animal's THE FOOD WE EAT. 71 hind leg; the machinery is started, the bullock tumbles over, and after being swung up alive, his throat is cut. In Cincinnati butchers knock their hogs on the head with a long-handled hammer, but in Chioago," the writer thinks, "dumb brutes are killed humanely. A rope communicating with a windlass passes through a ring in the floor, and is made fast to the bullock's horn. Then a man turns a crank, and the animal is gently led into the slaughter-house, where, at one blow, he falls to the floor. The executioner never misses his mark, because the bullock's head is held immovable by the ring." Fig. 20. THE ANIMALS WE SLAUGDTEB. Farmers who do the slaughtering upon their own premises, for their family use, generally treat their animals with greater gentle- ness ; but under the best of circumstances, cutting the throats of lambs, knocking cattle on the head, piercing the jugular of the hog, guillotining poultry with an axe, cannot be done in any way to avoid shocking the sensibilities of people who have kind hearts and educated heads. It is in vain to talk of this murderous work being done humanely, and such are its effects upon those styled butchers, that they are not allowed, in some States, to sit upon a jury in cases involving the life of the criminal 1 The late Henry Bergh, who effected so much in mitigating 72 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERAILMENTS. the cruelties practised on animals, writing to Dr. Holmes, remarked as follows :—"I believe as you do, that the abolition of the use of the flesh of all animals would result in physical and moral improve- ment to our race. Having been in countries where meat is rarely, if ever eaten, and having observed the superior endurance of fatigue, as well as gentleness of character, of the inhabitants, I feel convinced that the slaughter of dumb animals, and the devouring of their flesh, account for the largest share of the moral and physical diseases which affect mankind. I have had an Arab of the desert run behind my horse a distance of twelve miles without betraying the least sign of fatigue, and the cheerful fellow had never tasted meat. For my own part," continues Mr. Bergh, " I can eat meat because of habit. But then the least appearance of blood, by reason of insufficient cooking, shocks my sensibilities, and causes my stomach to revolt." God grant that every generation of man may .consume less animal flesh, and feed his children with still less, until the human race shall outgrow a habft which makes him little better than a cannibal. Grease is supplied quite too abundantly for the table to preserve the purity of the blood. Weak stomachs call loudly for reform in this particular, while strong ones faithfully perform their work of sending the offending substance to the vascular system, to feed or create hu- mors. Fat is not digested in the stomach, but simply melted and absorbed into the blood. A certain amount is necessary to nourish the brain, and save the wear and tear of the nervous system ; but fatty meats and rich gravies are positively injurious. Dead animal fats are non-conductors of electricity, and their presence in large quantities in the stomach tends to resist the action of the nervous fluids furnished by the brain through the pneumo-gastric nerve, and to impair digestion. Eggs, milk, butter, and vegetables yielding oil, furnish all the oleaginous substance necessary to carry on the pro- cesses of nature. Diet exercises such an influence upon us all, physically and moral- ly, too much care cannot be observed as to the quality of the food we eat, and the regularity with which it is taken. A newspaper writer, I don't know who,—remarks, that " much of our conduct depends upon the character of the food we eat. Bonaparte used to attribute the loss of one of his battles to a poor dinner, which at the time disturbed his digestion. How many of our mis-judgments how many of our deliberate errors, how many of our unkindnesses our THE FOOD WE EAT. 73 cruelties, our acts of thoughtlessness and recklessness, may be actually owing to a cause of the same character. We eat something that deranges the condition of the stomach. Through the stomach nerve, that derangement immediately affects the brain. Morose- ness succeeds amiability, and under its influence we do that which would shock our sensibility at any other moment. The disturbance of the digestion may involve the liver. In this affliction the brain profoundly sympathizes. The temper is soured, the understanding is narrowed, prejudices are strengthened, generous impulses are sub- dued, selfishness, originated by physical disturbances which perpetu- ally attract the mind's attention, becomes a chronic mental disorder. The feeling of charity dies out; we live for ourselves alone; w« have no care for ochers, and all this change of nature is the conse- quence of an injudicious diet." Protracted intervals between meals should always be avoided, if possible. In large cities, it is the cus- tom of many business men to go from 8 or 9 a. m. to 4 or 5 p. m. without eating. Three-fourths of the merchants of New York do not dine till 5 o'clock, and a large number of these take no luncheon A writer, quoting from Dr. Combe, and " Household Science," advances some sensible views, which may be appropriately intro- duced here. He says :—"The grand rule in fixing the number and periods of our meals is to proportion them to the real wants of the system as modified by age, sex, health, and manner of life, as indi- cated by the true returns of appetite. As the blood is usually most impoverished after the eight or ten hours' fast of the night, break- fast should be early. The stomach is usually vacated of its nutritive contents in about four hours after eating, but it may be an hour or two later before the blood begins to call upon it for 9 renewed sup- ply. Persons engaged in active labor, in which bodily expenditure is rapid, of course require to eat more often than the indolent and sedentary, and children need nourishment oftener than julults. But too long abstinence, especially if the digestive power be not strong, sharpens the appetite, so that there arises danger of excessive eating. Some avoid luncheon, for fear of spoiling the dinner, whereas the thing they most need is to have it spoiled. When the internals be- tween the meals are so Ion;; as to produce pressing hunger, /some- thing should be taken betw een them to stay the appetite, and pre- vent over-eating. Late and hearty suppers are to be reprobated; active digestion and sleep mutually disturb each other, as at night 4 74 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. the exhalation of carbonic gas is lowest, and tissue-changes most re- tarded. The overloaded blood is not relieved, and invades the repose of the brain, producing heavy, disordered dreams, and night- mare, followed by headache and ill-humor in the morning. StiD, there is the opposite extreme, of sitting up late, and going to bed wearied, hungry, and with an indefinable sense of sinking, followed by restless, unrefreshing sleep. A little light nourishment in such cases, a couple of hours before retiring, may prevent these un- pleasant effects." There is no doubt great difference in the actual needs of people in the matter of food. Many have tested and become ardent advocates of the " two-meals-a-day " plan, while some find even only one meal per day sufficient for them, and seemingly best to maintain health. Experiences of such persons also differ as to the time of day when the one or two meals should be taken. Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, of Meadville, Pa., after seventeen years experience in going without breakfast, wrote a book of over three hundred pages to advocate his plan for general adoption, but especially for those who have become dyspeptic, obese, plethoric, or addicted to excessive use of alcoholics. He has many converts who are firm in the faith of "the morning fast." His theory is that the digestive apparatus is not fully waked up and ready for business until the person has stirred about and got the blood circulating well, and the glands begin to secrete digestive fluids. Others advise dispensing with the noon-day meal on the ground that when the nerve-f orces are drawn to the brain in active business affairs digestion is likely to fail for lack of nerve-stimulus. Others prefer going without an evening meal. The fact is, the stomach has been a much abused organ, and there are many ways of easing up on it, no one of which is the perfect one for everybody, but each has its fitness for somebody. The overfed brain-worker who dines and wines to repletion in the evening, sleeps late and gets up with a "thick tasting" mouth and no appetite, may well break- fast on a cool glass of water and an orange, postponing his first real meal till lunch-time; while the farmer who rises at four or five in the morning and completes half a day's work before breakfast will rind his digestive functions ready for it. Yet the farmer may find it wise to eat lightly at noon if he have an afternoon's work to do in the heat of the sun. Food should not be taken after severe exercise, nor very severe exercise follow a hearty meal. To sum up all undei THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 75 this head, people must be more careful what they eat, at what times they eat, how much they eat, if they would preserve the healthy con- dition of the vascular and nervous systems. There can be no precise rule laid down for the governance of all. A little careful observa- tion, however, would teach every one of mature age what is best adapted to his particular organization. If men would watch with half as much anxiety the influences of different articles of food on their systems, as they do the effects of growing crops, and financial failures on the money market, longevity would oftener be obtained than large fortunes. The Liquids we Drink. A correct understanding of the effects of various liquids com- mouly used as beverages, will enable the reader to understand how much they have to do in the production of Fig. 21. nervous derangements, and blood impuri- ties. It is estimated that every person drinks about 1500 pounds of liquids per annum. All these are filtered through the human system, leaving whatever nutritious or poisonous properties they possess. The Chinese tea forms the principal beverage of all the Northern States, and British Provinces of America. In Central Amer- ica, the heterogeneous population resort to chocolate, while in South America, the tea of Paraguay is freely indulged in. In the TnE "quids we drink. Southern States, and West India Islands, coffee seems to be the greater favorite, particularly with adopted citizens, and perhaps this remark is equally true of this class in the Northern States. In France, Germany, Sweden, and Turkey, coffee is principally used; in Eng- land, Russia, and Holland, tea; in Spain and Italy, chocolate; in Ireland, the husks of cocoa. The Chinese tea has found its way to the Himalayas and the plains of Siberia, and is probably drank by more people than any other beverage. Coffee-leaf tea is sipped in Sumatra, while the Ethiopians of Central Africa quaff th« Abyssinian chaat. In portions of Africa, the natives make a beverage of the juice of the plantain, called pombe. The plantain is said to be " the food, and its ^juice the drink of the people." Pombe is intoxicating, 76 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DEttANGKMEK and a traveler relates that "no man of any standing thinks himself to have got fairly through the day, until he has sat upon pombe, which simply means become drunk." The Mexicans make several liquors from a plant that grows very extensively there, called the maguey, the most common of which liquor is called pulque. It is as common in that country, and as much prized, as beer is in Germany. The Indians along the borders of the Rio Grande, slice and dry what they call pieoke, and what the whites denominate " whiskey root," which they chew until its intoxicating effects are experienced. In all civilized countries, malt and vinous liquors, rum, whiskey, brandy, gin, and other distilled liquors are drank in enormous quantities. It may be truly said, that whiskey leads the march of civilization. Wherever the missionary or the agent of commerce penetrates, civilization creeps along with rum in the advance. Authors and orators are often excessive topers. The author of " The Raven" died of the effects of a drunken frolic. One of the most eloquent men that ever graced the Senate of the United States, and to whom on one occasion when he was speaking, a celebrated English authoress threw her glove, as a demonstration of her appre- ciation of his eloquence, dropped from the eminence he had gained, before the world fairly knew him, overpowered with excessive indul- gence in strong drink. Gluck, the musical composer, drew his inspiration from champagne; Southey drank hot rum at bed-time; Coleridge absorbed rum excessively; Byron's poems were the pro- ducts of poet's brains macerated in gin. Rabelais said, "eating and drinking are my two sources of inspiration. See this bottle ? It is my true and only Helicon, my cabalistic fountain, my sole enthusiasm. Drinking, I deliberate, and deliberating, Idrink." "Ennius, ^Eschylus, and Cato," remarks a writer, "all got their inspiration while drink- ing; Mezzerai had always a large bottle of wine beside him among his books; he drank of it at each page he wrote." It is not sur- prising that some one discovered that "genius to madness is close allied," and since that discovery, wc see many who seem to think that madness to genius is close allied, so that all they have to do to exhibit great genius, is to get drunk. We will not, however, dwell longer on the drinking proclivities of nationalities and individual;-:, but proceed to look into the qualities and effects of our most common beverages, THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 77 Tea and Coffee.—Tea was first brought to the notice of Europe. ans by the Portuguese in the 16th century, although previous to that period warm drinks were extensively made from sage and other herbs. Coffee was first introduced into southern Europe in the same century, but the Persians received it from Ethiopia as early as the 8th century. Unadulterated tea, as it comes upon the table, contains gum, grape sugar, tannin, and theine; and coffee ready for use possesses fat and volatile oil, sugar (such as may be obtained from grape, honey, and most acid fruits), dextrine, and caffeine. Both the theine of tea and caffeine of coffee furnish the elements of bile. The enthusiasm which these beverages have awakened, respecting their agreeable qualities, may be interesting here. An astute China- man, with the funny cognomen of Lo Yu, who sipped piping-hot tea over one thousand years ago, said, "it tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude, and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drow- sines3, lightens or refreshes the body and clears the per- ceptive faculties." A Eu- ropean of the 16th century spoke of coffee "as a bever- age which helpeth digestion and procureth alacrity." Whether Chinaman and Eu- ropean were entirely right or not, in their estimate of the good qualities of tea and coffee, the fact presents it- self to-day, that no bever- ages are so extensively used; and I think modern writers may say with truth, that if used moderately, and with due reference to temper- ament and individual idiosyncrasy, none are more harmless. The fact that tea does not agree with one person, does not prove it dangerous or injurious for another. Some people cannot eat straw- berries without an attack of colic; others enjoy strawberries, but a sweet apple will create constipation. The effects of tea and coffee depend entirely on the physical peculiarities of the drinkers, and the same as in the use of food, no definite rule can be laid down. Gen- eral directions may be given, which, if observed, will enable mo^t A TEA PLANT. 78 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. intelligent persons to judge of what is positively hurtful in their individual cases. Few nervous people can drink tea, while those of a bilious and lymphatic temperament, can indulge with impunity. The effects on the former are usually weakness, tremor, hysteria, hypochondria, and paralysis; while on the latter, they are mental and corporeal exhilaration. Tea acts at once on the nervous system, quickening the circulation of the electrical elements, and imparting to the man of sluggish nerve activity and vivacity, and its use often allays headache induced by bilious disturbances. With its narcotic properties, it possesses peculiar exhilarating powers, which may result in a measure from the speedy re-actory effects of the former. Coffee, on the other hand, is generally suitable to lean, nervous persons. It acts upon the blood, and is bracing to the muscular system. Persons who are not bilious may often allay a severe headache, if not caused by indigestion, or a weakness of the stomach, by a moderate potation of this luxury. It is a palliative in spasmodic diseases, hysterical affections, and chronic diarrhoea, and asthmatic persons find relief in its use, provided other peculiarities of their systems do not reject it. Coffee should not be used by fleshy and bilious people. It thickens the blood, and apoplexy is sometimes the result of its excessive use. For the same reason, chocolate and cocoa may be drank by lean, nervous people, while they are injurious to those of corpulent ten- dency. Many nervous individuals, however, cannot drink coffee, chocolate, or cocoa, for the same reason they cannot drink any hot beverages, i. e., they stimulate in too great a degree the action of the stomach battery, by which means the system becomes overpowered, not exactly with the quantity, but velocity of the animal electrical currents, and the vital organs rendered too active. Pour hot water into the acid of a galvanic battery, and the generation of electricity is greatly accelerated. As in eating, therefore, effects should be watched and heeded. Tea and coffee, like many other things, are abused. They are universally used to excess, and by many who should not use them at all. They are also often badly adulterated. The producers of both of these staples have among them people who are quite as unscrupulous as are those farmers who sell apples and po- tatoes, with large ones only at the top of the barrel; or, as those who not knowing which end of the barrel will be opened, put the small ones in the middle and the large ones at either end. John Chinaman is even worse, for he puts poison in tea to improve its appearance. THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK 79 Sir John Davis caught him adding Prussian blue, indigo, and porce- lain clay, to give inferior tea a good salable color. According to Hassell, all green teas are colored; naturally, they look like black teas, with the exception of having a tint of olive. Black teas having a very smooth and glossy appearance, are made so by rolling the leaves with pulverized black lead, a powerful poison. The English merchants sometimes play a scaly trick on tea drinkers, by pur- chasing from hotels, cheap boarding-houses, and other public eating places, tea leaves which have been used, and dried, and mixing them with genuine teas. This bit of cheatery enables them to undersell their more honorable competitors. Traders who can do this are fit companions for tobacco manufacturers, who have collected from the streets and sidewalks cigar stumps which they manufacture into smoking tobacco. The adulterations of tea are much more deleterious to health than those commonly practised in coffee. English chiccory, which is similar to our dandelion, is extensively employed in supplying the market with cheap coffee. It possesses little of the nutritive proper- ties of genuine coffee, and is entirely unlike it medicinally. For instance, coffee does not act well on systems affected with bilious disorders, and usually benefits rather than injures persons having nervous affections without any hepatic or digestive disturbances. It is just the reverse with chicory. This is often applied in bilious affections, and its protracted use injures the nervous system. Not content with adulterating coffee with chiccory, the grasping dealer often adulterates chiccory with scorched wheat, peas, acorns, rye, beans, corn, carrots, etc., and to such an extent, that those who pur- chase packages ready burned and ground, labelled "coffee," do not know what they drink. The only safe plan for the consumer is to purchase the berry before it is ground. If it costs more, it is simply because it is not adulterated, while the ground article is cheaper for no other reason than because it is composed of something cheaper than the coffee berry. These coffee adulterations may be easily avoided; it would be a comfort if those of tea could be as compe- tently set aside. It would be, however, a prudent measure for every- body to give up the use of green teas altogether, and not use the black when the leaves have a very smooth and glossy appearance, or when they will not unfold in boiling water. 80 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Strong Drinks.—As previously remarked in introducing what ifi said on " The Liquids We Drink," every people under the sun have ever had their favorite stimulating beverages. In fact, many scien- tists believe that the human stomach does some brewing for itself, and if so, none can escape the presence in the system of a little alco- hol. I ventured several years ago, in The Health Monthly, to say that such was probably the case, not knowing that the idea had em- been broached before. But in looking up this subject I find that Steinmetz's "History of Tobacco," published about the middle of the nineteenth century, is quoted as having said: "I feel compelled to believe, in advance of Liebig, that alcohol is absolutely generated in the digestive process of all animals." An article in the " Food and Fuel Reformer " in 1875 tells us that Dr. Dupre, in the course of his investigation discovered that alcohol is found in small quantities in the excretions even of persons who do not touch fermented bever- ages in any form; that is, the healthy system of the teetotaler brews, so to speak, a little drop for itself. Dr. Edward Curtis, while occupying the Chair of Ma- teria Medica in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, in a letter to the New York Tribune, gave his testimony as fol- lows: "Some late researches make it more than probable that a certain amount of alcohol is regularly formed in the animal economy, since a substance answer- ing all the tests of alcohol has been detected in small quantity as a regular in- gredient of the blood and raE man who DRi*kS mod.bn LIQuoK8. certain secretions, both in annuals and in men who had taken no alcoholic drink for years." Still, doctors and scientific writers on the subject disagree. They have been discussing the properties and effects of alcohol with THE LlgTIDS WE DRINK. 81 much warmth during the memory of the oldest inhabitant and there has as yet been no unanimous verdict as to their properties and effects. On the one side we have a large and intelligent band of reformers who proclaim that all malt, vinous and distilled liquors are a curse to the race and are only productive of evil. They would not employ them even a's medicines. On the other, there are physi- cians and scientists who insist that they possess virtues which, if used intelligently and not abused, may add to the sum of human happiness. Some experimentalists deny that they possess any of the properties of food, and others will cite remarkable examples to prove that they do. When doctors thus disagree, we can only fall Fig. 24. Fig. 25. TnB MAN WHO DON'T. THE AUTUMN OF A TEMPEKATE LIFE. back on the experiences of the human family, and each for himself draw his own conclusions. So far as the writer's observations enable him to speak, he would say that malt liquors, which are almost universally used among the most advanced nations of the earth, may be considered wholesome, if used in moderation, by lean, nervous, cold, bloodless persons, but they are not adapted to individ- uals of full habit. In extreme moderation they may doubtless be taken without any manifest injury by the latter; but under strictly hygienic rules such beverages are only suited to those who need " building up," to use a common expression. The same rule applies to other fermented liquors known as wines. In some conditions of the stomach, wherein digestion and assimila- tion are not active, the temperate use of wines with food may at least allay the uncomfortable symptoms of dyspepsia; but the 82 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. prohibitionist will tell you it is because they produce an anesthetic, or sedative effect; that they simply deaden sensibility. An anti- prohibitionist will as confidently assure you that they awaken the digestive machinery and stimulate it to healthful action. "Wines doubtless have their uses as well as abuses. Some years since Dr. Edward Curtis, «whom we have already quoted, contributed an article to the New York Tribune, in which lie claimed that alcohol, if used within certain limits, is transformed like ordinary food without injurious effects; that used in excess it produces a well-known train of perturbations of function; that "even the early phases of alcoholic disturbance, which are often improperly termed 'stimulating,' are part and parcel of the inju- riously disturbing influence of over-dosage, and must therefore be put in the same category with the more seriously poisonous effects of pronounced intoxication." " Alcohol," said this writer, " has thus a twofold action. First, it is capable, in proper dose, of being consumed and utilized as a force-producer; in which case there is no visible disturbance of normal function. Such action cannot be distinguished either by the drinker or the physiologist from that or a quickly digestible fluid food, and is no more an "excitement," or "stimulation," followed by a " recoil" or " depression," than is the action of a bowl of hot soup or of a glass of milk. The second action is the poisonous influence of an excess of alcohol circulating in the blood, which makes itself sensible to the drinker by peculiar sensations and dis- turbances, and is not only followed by "depression," but is itself a form of depression—that is, a disturbance of balance; an unnatural perturbation of the normal working of the functions. Dr. Curtis then proceeds to say that no one rule can be given as to the quantity which a person may safely use. The " poison line" is a shifting one. " Even in health it varies according to age, sex, individual peculiarity and habit, and even in the same person according to his physical condition for the time being." This rational and scientific treatise was at once attacked by T. H. T«b°- of Illinois, who, in a communication to the Tribune, quoted Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Dr. E. Smith, F. R. S., Prof. Lehmann, Prof. Moleschott, Dr. T. K. Chambers, and many other prominent author- ities, all of whom were made to appear quite antagonistic to Dr. Curtis' views and conclusions. THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 83 About the same time Dr. Egbert Guernsey in the Medical Union gave expression to opinions which most people, not warped by extreme prejudices, would be likely to endorse: " A slight examination of alcohol as a narcotic, its depressing and poisonous influence on the human system," he says, "will be suf- ficient to show that the stronger forms of alcoholic liquors, such as brandy, whiskey, rum, and gin, should never be used except with great care and only as a medicine. ...... Alcohol, in doses capa- ble of producing drunkenness, has been demonstrated to be a true narcotic poison, of the same class as the anesthetics—Chloroform and Sulphuric Ether. Given in large doses, it produces a suspension of nervous activity, a paralysis more or less marked. This, combined with the deficiency in vital power so common in chronic drinkers, accounts for the great nervous debility we see in the delirious crisis. Alcohol is easily absorbed into the system, and given in small doses in weak and exhausted systems when there is a deficiency of vital action, it acts as a healthy stimulus, toning up the arterial and ner- vous systems, brightening the faculties and improving the digestion. When properly timed and given only in doses just sufficient to gently stimulate, we get only its homoeopathic or tonic action, and never experience that depressing reaction which is sure to follow the stronger or more narcotic doses. "This is demonstrated," says Dr. Guernsey, "by the Sphygmo- graph of M. Marcy, which carefully registers every pulse-wave, showing the arterial tonicity present. Applying this test we find that the small vessels, relaxed from fatigue, are brought up by a small dose of alcohol to a healthy action from which there is no re- coil. If the dose has been large, or given when the system did not require it, the Sphygmograph, measuring carefully the pulse-waves, shows an arterial relaxation, and an accelerated pulse. If the dose has been sufficiently large, symptoms of a paralytic nature are speedily observed, confined at first to the spinal and fifth cranial nerves, and shown in the weakness of the muscles of the extremi- ties, and the numbness of the lips. Steadily the narcotic influence marches up to the cerebral hemisphere, and now comes the intellect- ual confusion and the thickness of speech, the delirium, the coma, and, if the system has been brought completely under the influence of the poison, the paralysis of the medulla oblongata and cardiac nerves, and death." 84 CAUSES OF NRVEol'S AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. The prevalence of the liquor habit is doubtless due to the fact Hint all the races of mankind are as yet imperfectly developed. The whole human family is sick, and alcohol in some form is the pop- ular drug, the great panacea. The time will come, quite likely, when distilled liquors will find their appropriate place on the shelves of the apothecary. Alcohol is the product of the most nutritive substances, and of so much use to them, that they decay as soon as the alcohol, either by distillation or evaporation, is taken from them. A little of this property added to a mash of decaying vegetables, or to fermenting syrups, arrests the chemical change they are undergoing. Taken into the human system alcohol retards the too rapid waste which is going on in the physical constituents of one who is diseased. In people of a scrofulous diathesis, the corpuscles of the blood ex- hibit a kind of decomposed or rotten appearance, and this disposition to rot may be arrested by the judicious use of liquors. The correct- ness of both of these propositions rests in the well-known fact that alcohol has the power to prevent decomposition and decay of animal matter. Cases have no doubt come to the observation of many readers wherein the strictly temperate children of scrofulous par- entage have died young, while the wilder ones, or the " black sheep " of the family, who have been given to habits of drinking, have lived to a gray old age. The thin and watery blood of colorless invalids may, in many cases, be changed to a healthy condition by a moderate use of alco- holic drinks, the tonic and stimulating properties of which seem to concentrate and congeal the unorganized solid substances of the blood, and by the assistance of nature form them into healthy cor- puscles. They also diminish the bulk of the watery constituents. This last proposition is entirely consistent with the well-known chemical properties of alcohol. The proof of the other lies in the fact that a little alcohol added to fresh blood, imparts to it greater density and redness. It is an interesting experiment to place a shal- low glass vessel in a position between yourself below, and a bright gas-light above; then have some one pour into the vessel a little fresh bloOd followed with a small quantity of alcohol. At once there is great perturbation among the fluids ending in a considerable condensation of them; also a concentration and reddening of the solid constituents. Fresh milk contains butter in solution, but it THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 85 requires a strong arm to separate the substance from the liquid. When this is done, a weak hand may roll it into balls, and impress the faces of them with an embellishing stamp. However deficient the blood may be, in any case, of corpuscles and globules, it most unquestionably possesses aU these at least in solution, and though nature may need some assistance m separating the solids from the fluids, her strength may be equal to the task, when this is done, to form them into the globules and corpuscles. This assistance alcohol seems able to give, if it does not in some way disagree with the con- stitutional peculiarities of the patient. Cases illustrative of this fact have not only occurred a thousand times under the eye of the physician, but are well known to the public generally. Alcohol, in a measure, supplies a substitute for animal caloric, in persons lacking vascular vitality. In these cases, the blood is always innutritious and watery. The alcohol, combining with these excessive watery properties, generates heat. The proof of this we have in the weU-known chemical law, that when alcohol is added to fluid, heat is evolved. In persons of greatly reduced strength, and having an insufficient supply of nervous vitality, alcohol seems to'furnish, temporarily, at least, a substitute for nerve-force, which carries them over an un- bridged chasm, and sustains them until the recuperative powers of nature can raUy to then assistance. Facts sustaining this statement have come under the observation of every physician, or nurse, in either acute or chronic practice. At moments when a patient seems to be in a sinking condition, the administration of an alcoholic stimulant in the form of brandy, or of vinous liquors, will revive him. Alcohol is an almost indispensable agent in the laboratory, in the preparation of tinctures and extracts. The virtues of many plants would be lost without the aid of alcohol to extract them. After this extraction, however, the alcohol may be " turned out of doors," by evaporation, so that it is not an indispensable part of a treatment to administer this poison to the patient whose physical condition would not require it. For the same reason that vinous and distilled liquors are beneficial to some people, they are dangerous and injurious to others. Those having healthy blood, and plenty of nervous vitality, may carry the thickening of the one, and the stimulation of the other, too tor, so SH CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. that the former be made too sluggish in Ms circulation, and the lat> ter excessive in its action. The blood, becoming too thick, congests the minute and sensitive arteries and veins of the brain, and causes apoplexy, congestion of the brain, etc. The nervous system, mad- dened by excitement, renders the brain a victim to all sorts of men- tal vagaries, ending, if carried beyond a certain limit, in delirium tremens. The evil of alcohol is its power to dethrone reason, and lead its victim a drivelling captive to poverty, vice, and crime. It enables people to overwork mind and body; to revive spirita, depressed by social dissipation; to put to rest a stomach loaded with unwholesome viands; to silence the voice of an outraged conscience; to drown the woes which a reckless life has engendered. Alcohol disease is a terrible malady. It is attended with constant and insatiable thirst, and the victim seems powerless to reform. Dr. Day, of the Binghamton Inebriate Asylum, says, that dissections of dead drunkards betray enlargements of the "globules of which the brain, blood, and other organs are composed, 60 that those globules ' stand open-mouthed, as it were, empty, athirst, inflamed, and eager to be filled." To people thus afflicted, who have reformed, and seemingly got the better of the disease, alcohol, in any form, is a dangerous medicine; and physicians should exercise great caution when such cases come under their care. There are, undoubtedly, quite as many affected with alcohol disease as with dyspepsia— possibly more—facts which exhibit the evils of excessive drinking, as well as those of excessive and ill-timed eating. All intemper- | ance has its physical as well as moral penalties, which sometimes fall with crushing weight on those who do not study their constitu- tional peculiarities, and confine themselves to such habits in life as in their best judgment promote strength of nerve and purity of blood. Drunkards are not properly treated to effect their reformation. Men of unfortunate habits are daily arrested in our large cities, dragged to dark and dismal cells, locked up for the night, and in the morning taken before the police magistrate, charged with gross intoxication, when they are either " sent up" for thirty days, or fined ten dollars, or perhaps, in eome cases, both penalties are inflict- ed. A man who is in the habit of getting drunk will not think much of tw dollars after be has taken the third horn, wd by the THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 87 time he has taken his tenth, he becomes too oblivious to care whether he sleeps in his own bed at home, or upon the floor of a cell at the station-house. But he awakens in the morning to find that be has taken one more step in disgracing himself, and with his self-respect considerably lowered, he emerges from his cell to receive his exami- nation and sentence. As many times as he gets drunk, so many times is he put through this process of degradation, until every particle of manhood is thoroughly worked out of him. The proper way to treat slaves to an inebriate appetite would be to sentence mem to ten days of instruction on the injurious effects of intemper- ance upon the stomach and nervous system. It would be public economy to employ good lecturers, who could portray in stirring words, such as the late John B. Gough uttered, the misery entailed, moraUy, socially, and physically, by intemperance, and at the same time exhibit by anatomical plates, prepared expressly for the pur- pose, the serious injuries the digestive and other vital organs suffer through the effects of inebriety. Every large city could well afford an institution of this kind, with every facility for improving the minds and morals of those who are picked up drunk in the streets. Fig. 2& THE FARM-TAED, THE ONLY PLACE TO FIND PUKE COW'S JIILK. In the rural districts, every county could economically make such an investment, and in this way a multitude of inebriate homes could be sustained at no greater expense than is now inourred in punishing the offenders of law and good order, who are made so through intemperance in the use of ardent spirits. Many young men go on a spree without thinking tbey receive more than temporary 88 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. injury, which a little attention to diet, etc., for a few days, will over- come; and many a hardened toper thinks when he takes a notion to stop the use of intoxicating drinks, that will be the end of it. Such uninformed persons should be taught better. There is no prospect of their receiving the necessary tuition, so long as they are simply fined and imprisoned for becoming intoxicated. Having hastily reviewed the constituents and physical effects of the most common beverages concocted by man, and passed some strictures upon them and their consumers, I will no.v call the atten- tion of the reader to those fluids which Nature has so abundantly furnished for the use of mankind. Many may be surprised to find that these are not entirely above criticism. Milk is the first fluid which is permitted to enter the human sys- tem; and perhaps, considering the ignorance, indiscrimination, and reckless folly of the mass of human animals, it were better if others had never been provided. Milk contains all the elements of whole- some food, and all that is necessary to the sustenance and growth of the animal organism. Its constituents are water, sugar, butter, caseine, or curd, and the various salts necessary for the support of the system. The sugar of milk is less apt to produce acidity of the stomach than the sugar of vegetables, and it is prepared in Switzer- land for food, and exported for the Homceopathists, who use it in making their little medicated pellets. No milk contains so much of this sugar as that from the breasts of woman. Indeed, all the con- stituents of milk vary considerably in their proportions in different animals. Compared with that from the cow, woman's milk contains not only more sugar but more water, and usually more salts, while it contains less butter and caseine. This difference renders it impossi- ble to make cow's milk a perfect substitute for that from the breast of the mother for infants. If common sugar be added to the milk of the cow to make up a deficiency in this property, and water to lessen the excessive supply of butter and caseine, the babe becomes affected with sour stomach and indigestion. If the cow be fed on improper food, such as still slops, its milk becomes a still poorer substitute for the mother's milk for the child, because it contains a still less supply of sugar of milk and natural salts, and an excessive quantity of caseine. The deficiencies and inequalities are sometimes regulated by shrewd dealers, but the milk cannot be made to posses THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 89 the properties of that from a healthy, grazing cow. Milk is exten- sively adulterated in large villages and cities. A man living in the suburbs of this city wras reported to the President of the Sanitary F1-. 2T. TEETH OF A STALL-FED COW. Commission as a fabricator of milk by chemical composition, as follows: sugar, roasted, imparted the yellow color; oil produced the fat; eggs gave an appearance of richness; starch was added to repre- Fig. 2a TEETH OF A GRAZING COW. sent the caseine or curd; all that was necessary in addition was water. Other equally deceptive imitations are made by diluting good, or swill milk, and adding yolks of eggs, sheep's brains, flour, 90 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS subcarbonate of potash, and chalk. Although killing to small ch!J. dren, so much >"<» not to be feared from these adulterations as from milk obtained from diseased animals. Cows are kept the year round in stables by many dairymen in cities, or adjacent thereto. By con- finement, if not by bad food, they become diseased, just as men and women do when shut in from open air and exercise. Their diseases, as a matter of course, render their milk unwholesome and innutri- tious. When, together with confinement, cows are fed on still slops, their milk becomes actually poisonous. Some hard stories are re- lated of New York dairymen, who, it, is said, keep their cows closely tied up in sheds, and fed on still slops till they actually drop dead in their stalls. From the specimens of milk that I have seen in thin city, and the dishonest character of many of those engaged in the milk traffic, I am not disposed to doubt their entire truthfulness. The shocking consequences of such speculative recklessness fall with particular severity on the juvenile portion of a metropolitan population, and it is sad to contemplate that the perversity of man can lead him to the perpetration of such wholesale slaughter of inno- cent babes, who, by reason of maternal disability, are denied the nourishment of a mother's breast. But the cupidity of the unprin- cipled money-seeker knows no limit, and the fact that such imposi- tions are practised, should lead the consumer to guard himself against them. Pure milk is not congenial to every one. In some, by its dilution of the gastric fluids of the stomach, together with the resistant action of its oily property, the generation of vital electricity is impeded and drowsiness induced. This is especially so in a case of bilious pre- disposition. In others, who are predisposed to catarrhal difficulties, the caseine of milk increases slime, and tends to aggravate the com- plaint. But with the majority of people, milk is a highly nutritious drink, and when copiously added to tea and coffee, often renders these beverages harmless to those who otherwise could not use them. Buttermilk may be used by many who cannot drink sweet milk. Most of its fatty matter has been removed by the churning process, and it possesses a great deal of lactic acid. In consequence of tho presence of this acid, M. Robin, an eminent French chemist, recom- mends its use to Keep the system free from clinkers. He says "that the mineral mauer which constitutes an ingredient in most of our THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 91 rood after the combustion, is left in our systems to incrust and stiffen cne different parts of our body, and to render imperfect many of the «-\ta2 processes. He compares human beings to furnaces which are always kindled; life exists only in combustion, but the combustion wnich occurs in our bodies, like that which takes place in our chim- neys, leaves a detritus or residuum which is fatal to life." This, he claims, the free use of buttermilk will remove; but as everybody cannot get buttermilk, I will add that good ripe fruit, with no taint of decomposition, Avill effect the same result, and make a better sub- stitute for buttermilk for this purpose, than is usually concocted to represent sweet milk, for the purposes for which it is used. Water is sometimes the cause of blood diseases. Not only does a considerable quantity pass through the system in some form, but much is retained temporarily, and its bulk fully replaced by the newly taken liquids when the old pass off. Nearly three-fourths of the weight of the living body consists of water. If good, pure spring water could be obtained in all parts of the world, it would be the healthiest drink for man. And so would it be, if nature were more bountiful in the distribution of such streams as the Croton, Cochituate, and Schuylkill of America ; and the dashing rivulets which play in the mountains of Switzerland. But when the thirst can only be quenched by the muddy and sewerage waters of the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Thames, and Seine, pregnant as they are with the filth of cities, the soap-suds of washerwomen, k.nd the decom- posed matter of vegetables and dead animals, it is not strange that the vitality of the blood is impaired by their vegetable and animal exuviae. Many of the denizens of Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, New Orleans, London, and Paris, flatter themselves that their river waters, are wholesome! But it is a proverbial fact that every traveller must have a dysentery, or something approaching thereto, on initia- ting his stomach into the use of them. Like an unwilling slave, the system can after awhile be whipped into submission, but it reposes only long enough to collect in tho blood sufficient impurities to re- venge ou the individual in the form of diarrhoea, or bilious, typhoid, intermittent, or yellow fever. Hence, together with bad diet, the frequency of these forms of disease in the cities mentioned. Some of the residents along the shores of these rivers are aware of the injurious properties of their waters, and resort to raiu water 92 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMKNl'S. Unfortunately, they only " jump from the frying-pan into the fire." In the large cities designated, the air above is no cleaner than the streets beneath. It is the reservoir of the animal effluvia of crowded populations. The breath of thousands of diseased men and animals mingles with tho rains as they descend, infecting them with their poisonous gases. I have no doubt that, in seasons of epidemics, the seeds of the prevailing diseases are often drank with water. Conse- quently, those who drink rain-water should first expose it for several days to light and air, and then to filtration. By these means it may be rendered wholesome, and better by far than the heterogeneous Fie. ?<>. NATURE'S BEVERAGE ON A FEOLIC THROUGH THE HILLS. compound of decayed vegetation, solution of dead horses and dogs and the city slops, which flow in the channels of many rivers The well-water of limestone countries is productive of gravel and kidney difficulties, and causes the hair to become prematurely grnv THE LIQUIDS WE DRINK. 93 while in all new countries it is often rendered unwholesome from the drainage of decayed vegetation. The former is known by its hard- ness, and the latter by its peculiar odor, and frequent discoloration. In Virginia, not far from Fortress Monroe, are " Juniper swamps," and from these swamps the water is extensively taken for drinking purposes. The color is nearly that of pale brandy, and the odor strong of juniper. If the reader should sail up the James River some day, lie may be offered a goblet of it, and if so, do not refuse it, as it is regarded as wholesome not only by those who have been long in the habit of using it, but by medical men who have given its qualities some investigation. If not impregnated with any thing more deleterious than the leaves and berries of the juniper, the water may be regarded as a good diuretic, and would materially benefit tourists from lime- stone regions, or those from any part of our country affected with urinary affections, or uterine obstructions. The United States are becoming noted for their mineral waters. The sulphur and other springs of Virginia, have been the resoits of the sick for many generations. The springs of Saratoga enjoy an enviable reputation not only in this country, but in Europe. New springs have been discovered in Vermont, also at Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania. The springs of Avon are favorites with many, and there are other springs of more or less note in various parts of our country, all of which possess some merits as remedies for disease. The fact that they are medicinal, should lead to reasonable caution in their use. The visitors of these springs, generally seem to imagine that the more of these waters they can " worry down" in the course of a day, the more rapidly will they recover from some difficulty with which they are affected. With this excess, and in many cases the possible in- adaptation of a certain water to the constitutional peculiarities of the patient, injuries instead of benefits are experienced. The advice of resident physicians should in all cases be obtained, as their obser- vation in the use of these waters enables them to give directions which will the more likely insure success in their employment. It may be thought that I am inconsistent in thus speaking favorably of mineral waters, by those who have read my essay on vegetable medicines. In that place I denounce mineral medication, but every rule has its exceptions, and I cannot but make an exception in favor of these remedies, " distilled as they are from the bowels of the earth by the hand of Omnipotence," They are the preparation oi 94: CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Fig. 30 no human chemist, nor can the most astute pharmaceutist imitate them exactly. Mineral waters are manufactured, and some of them pretty good imitations, but as well might the artificial-flower maker essay to manufacture a natural rose-bud, with its rich colors and delightful fragrance, as for the chemist to attempt to prepare a per- fect imitation of any of our mineral springs. Water which has been standing long in one's room is unfit to drink. It has absorbed the perspired and respired gases, and the colder the water, the more completely has it effected this. The disinfectant qualities of water by the absorption of deleterious gases, are so well known to intelligent people, that many keep vessels of water stand- ing in their sitting or lodging rooms. Water which has remained all night in leaden pipes, becomes affected with the properties of the lead, and that which remains for a long time in a pump, with the impure gases of the atmosphere; and in both cases should be drawn off before any is taken for drinking purposes. Leaden pipes are chiefly used in cities, for conveying aqueduct water into the houses, and too much care cannot be taken, when no water has been drawn through the night, to avoid taking any that may have stood in the pipes during the interval. In summer, ice-water should be used with great caution, for if drank exces- sively, it causes irritations, and some- times fatal inflammations of the stom- ach and bowels. I am satisfied that correct habits in drinking, would require the use of warm drinks in summer, and cold drinks in winter. It is undoubtedly owing to our tendency to invert almost every hygienic rule, that it has become the custom everywhere to resort to cool drinks during hot weather, and to hot drinks in cold weather. The temperature of the water taken inside, as well as that applied outside, should, as a rule having of course its exceptions, be made to correspond with the temperature of the atmosphere. Cold water should not be taken with the meals "THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET.' THE ATMOSPHERE WE LlVfi IN. n.j at all, for it chills the stomach, and retards, and sometimes arrests digestion. The colder the water, the more likely it is to do this. Brook streams which have the appearance of purity, are not always Bafe to drink from, in consequence of the possible presence of danger- ous anirnalculse; many instances of frogs, evets, and worms, in the stomach have occurred in consequence of want of care in this partic- ular. Those having their sources or channels near marshes, frog- ponds, hog-pastures, cess-pools, distilleries, poultry-yards, slaughter. houses, and saw-mills, may with good reason be avoided. Pedes- trians, travellers, and sportsmen, when overtaken with thirst, should look for some farm-house, and regale themselves with a bowl of milk rather than suck in the waters of an unknown brook. Everywhere that good milk can be obtained, it may safely be regarded as the most wholesome and nutritious drink. Fig. 31. The Atmosphere we Live in. It is estimated that each individual takes into his lungs annually about 800 pounds of air, and if the reader has observed in the preced- ing essays the amount of food and drink consumed every year by one person, it will he discovered that the aggregate amount of air, liquid, and substantial food received per year, by only one member of the human family, amounts in the aggregate to about one and one-half tons. The value of the air in nourishing the human system may be in a measure appre- ciated, when we consider what it may do in promoting the growth of a tree. Read the following narrative of an experiment, and the comments of the narrator: " Two hundred pounds of earth were dried in an oven, and afterward put into a large earthen vessel; the earth was then moistened with rain-water, and a willow-tree, weighing five pounds, was placed therein. During the space of five years, the earth was carefully watered with rain-water or pure water. The willow grew and flourished, and to prevent the earth from being mixed with fresh earth, or being blown upon it by the winds, it was covered with a metal plate full of minute holes, OUE PLANET, AND ITS aXTR- BOUNDING ATM08PHEBE. 06 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. whicli would exclude all but air from getting access to the earth below it. After growing in the earth for five years, the tree was removed, and on being weighed, was found to have gained 165 pounds, as it now weighed 170 pounds, and this estimate did not include the weight of the leaves, or dead branches, which in five years fell from the tree. Now came the application of a test. Was this all obtained from the earth ? It had not sensibly diminished, but in order to make the experiment conclusive, it was again dried in an oven and put in the balance. Astounding was the result; the earth weighed only two ounces less than it did when the willow was planted in it! Yet, the tree had gained 165 pounds. Manifestly then, the wood thus gained in this space of time, was not obtained from the earth; we are, therefore, compelled to repeat our question, ' where lid the wood come from ?' We are left with only two alternatives- -the water with which it was refreshed, or the air in '* hi/n it lived. It can be clearly shown that it was not due to the water; we are consequently unable to resist the wonderful conclu- sion—it was derived from the air." If air can make a tree, it can make or unmake man, according to its quality, for the lungs of the former (its leaves) are not so per- fectly constructed for respiration as those of the latter; nor h its bark so pervious to the air as the skin which envelops the human body; and before the conclusion of this essay, I shall show to the reader that many derangements of the blood and nervous system arise from impure and unwholesome air. As my views with regard to the influence of air upon the human system are somewhat peculiar, and a proper understanding of them necessary to aid the reader in readily comprehending many important points in subsequent pages of this wTork, I shall subserve both the purposes of this chapter, and many which are to follow, by a general treatise on the nature and effects of this wonderful element. Air is composed of 78 per cent, nitrogen, 21 per cent, oxygen, or electrici- ty, nearly 1 per cent, of carbonic acid gas, and more or less vapor of water, according to its temperature. I am not alone in believing that oxygen is identical, or nearly so, with electricity; but if I were, my opinion would remain unchanged untii some philosophical argu- ment could be adduced to show the contrary. The origin and real nature of both are unknown, but certain it is, their effects are similar, and whatever difference is observable, may be occasioned by its com- THE ATMOSPHERE W& LIVE IN. 97 bination with other substances, for, according to generally received opinion, " Nature never presents it solitary." Still this view of the subject is not vital to the theory I am about to advance, for it is now universally admitted by scientific men, that electricity permeates every thing—the air around and above us, as well as the earth beneath our feet. The quantity of electricity diffused in the air, exerts a potential influence on the health of man, and an excess of the element in the atmosphere is as injurious as a moiety. In dry and pleasant weather, the atmosphere usually possesses its normal share of elec- tricity, but in rainy weather, it contains too much, and this remark is made with a full knowledge of the views to the contrary of some modern scientists. A popular writer and lecturer has undertaken to prove that the atmosphere Is usually more negative in damp, or wet weather, than when it is dry or pleasant, and that the reason smoke so often descends when the air is filled with mists and rain, is be- cause the smoke is positively charged with ciectricity, and the atmosphere, more negative than usual, attracts it, whereas usually, in dry weather, the air is positive, and repels it upon the well-known principle that two positives, or two negatives repel each other. Now, the generally accepted theory concerning the ascension and descension of smoke is, that it depends upon the density or rarity of the atmosphere. Smoke is composed of light carbonaceous particles and when the air is dry and dense, it naturally rises above it. When it is wet and rainy, the presence of so much hydrogen (the lightest of any known substance) renders the air lighter, and often so light as to cause the smoke to descend because of its greater weight. It is said in attempting to controvert this established theory, that smoke has been seen to fall when the barometer indicated more than half a degree above mean density; but this may have been owing to some local influence upon the barometer which did not affect the atmos- phere when the smoke was observed to descend; or, it may have resulted from a defect in the instrument, or, still further, the smoke may have been influenced by local currents of air. But how is it proved that smoke is positively charged with electricity 1 The writer referred to says it is so "charged by combustion." llow can this be, when smoke is only produced by fire in which combustion is in- complete t Let this question of smoke, however, "end in smoke," for it \n not material, only in so far as its upward or 'J own ward. 6 98 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. movement is instanced to show the electrical condition of the atmos- phere. I believe it is not questioned that the air is more dense in dry than in wet weather, and it only remains for me to show that the atmosphere is more electrical on a wet day than it is on a dry one To do this, it simply seems necessary to point to the effects observed upon telegraphic wires. It is only on cloudy, wet, or rainy days that telegraphic operators suffer much inconvenience from atmospheric Fig. 33. THB ELECTRICITY OP THE THUNDER-STORM. electricity, and when such weather prevails, they are sometimes knooked down by currents gathered from the atmosphere. Fre- quently they are compelled to suspend operations during a thunder- storm. Then, too, does not the lurid lightning, with its voice of thunder, often tell us of the greater presence of electricity when the sky is cloudy and the air loaded with vapor? Victor Hugo, in describing an equinootial storm, says:—" The magnetic intensity THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE IN. 99 manifests itself by what might be called a fiery humor in the eea. Fire issues from the waves; electrio air—phosphoric water. The sailors feel a strange lassitude. This time is particularly perilous for iron vessels; their hulls are then liable to produce variations of the oompass, leading them to destruction. The steamer Iowa perished from this cause." When this undue presence of positive electricity exists, there are, undoubtedly, currents of negative electricity mov- ing about to some extent, and it is the approach of positive and nega- tive currents toward each other which causes the lightning flash, and the atmospheric concussion which conveys to the air the sound of thunder. But if the atmosphere, as a whole, were more negative, positive currents would not traverse the telegraphic wires, but would be absorbed or taken up instead of moving in accumulated bodies toward the operator's instruments; ana if the air near the earth's surface were all negative, and that far above it all positive, then would occur a constant equalization, or blending of the two opposite forces without the violent hurling of lightning balls, whose movements are observed and mutterings heard during a thunder- storm. I, therefore, repeat the proposition, that the air in dry and pleas- ant weather usually possesses the electrical element to a wholesome extent, while during wet and rainy weather, it contains an excess. When the weather is fair, the human system is relatively in a posi- tive, and the air in a negative condition ; that is, the former pos- sesses more electricity than the latter. The result produced by this disparity between the body and the element which surrounds it, is a constant radiation from the former, or, in other words, a contin- ual flowing off of the electrical element into the atmosphere, as represented in Figure 33. It is well known to physiologists, that when the pores of the skin are in a healthy condition, there is an incessant discharge from the skin of what is termed insensible perspiration ; but nothing is said of the motive power by which the effete particles of the system are thus so wonderfully carried off. Now, if a doctor should retire at night with his garden strewn with filth and rubbish, and on arising in the morning should find the whole mass emptied into the street, he would naturally enough in- quire who or what had removed it. Surely dead and waste matter could not remove itself. Strange it is, then, that the astute profes- sors of anatomy and physiology have never thought to ask them. 100 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENT& Belves how the corrupt particles of the system, day by day and year by year, during the natural life of man, are emptied into the great thoroughfare of life—r n«- s8- atmospheric air. The pores is the same which the mind of man uses in controlling his muscular organization, and the same, too, that the Almighty employs in moving and sustaining the planetary systems of innumerable worlds. It is found in cases of fever that the blood is overcharged with acid, and the fever is undoubtedly, in a measure, due to the presence of this. This excess may be easily explained. The excretions from the skin are acidulous, showing that electrical radiation, when active, relieves the blood and system generally, of all excessive acidulous accumulations, as well as waste matters. But when the pores of the skin are closed up by sudden exposure to cold, or taking cold, or the radiation is more sluggish by protraoted wet weather, or a residence in a damp location, the acidulous and effete properties of the blood THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE IN. IQ[ and tissues do not pass off sufficiently, and the system becomes loaded with them, inducing fever or other inflammatory difficulties. Here we have physiological evidence of a too positive condition of the atmosphere in wet weather. The system, no longer electrically positive in its relation to the surrounding air, active, healthful radia- tion of electricity, with its loads of impurities, is partially or wholly suspended. It is under the influence of these conditions, that rheu- matic and neuralgic invalids complain of increased pain, because the damming up of the impurities of the system promotes the accretions of acrimonious particles of matter which attach themselves to the living tissue and inflame it. The application of galvanism, or elec- tricity, while this state of things exists, not only tends to detach the irritating particles from the parts to which they have adhered, but also has a tendency to throw the body into a positive condition, or in other words, to render it more electrified than the atmosphere, so that radiation of the impurities is partially resumed. No one feels as well on a rainy day, or living in a damp location, excepting those whose electrical conditions are abnormal, or whose fluids radiate too much to the surface, leaving the mucous membranes dry. Such, of course, feel better when the air is moist, and more strongly electrical, while catarrhal invalids, or those having excessive mucous secretions of any kind, are made worse thereby. As a rule, having few exceptions, then, pleasant weather and dry locations are most conducive to health, because these conditions and circumstances promote the relative electrical condition between the body and its surrounding element, and are best calculated to keep healthfully active the electrical radiation which carries off the rubbish of those portions of the system not easily relieved by other depurating organs. For other reasons, the air is not as wholesome in wet as in dry weather. When the latter prevails, the density of the air causes a rapid passing off of earthy, vegetable, and animal impurities, which, owing to their vapory form, rise with such rapidity, as to scarcely affect the air we breathe. But when it rains, the air being lighter, the gases of decaying vegetation and animal effluvia (which are also light) mingle with the air we breathe. A popular writer, who has said a great many good things, erroneously remarks as fol- lows :— " The amount of exhalation and effluvia' whieh-rises-'fi-om the ground, 102 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. depends muoh upon the atmospheric pressure. When the air is heavy, these substances are, as it were, confined to their sources, that is, they are liberated at the slowest rate ; but as the barometer falls, the pressure is taken off, and the miasmatic emanations rise much more rapidly." A more palpable error was never uttered. It is contrary to the laws of gravitation. Investigate it in any way you choose, and you will find it wrong. If you suppose the miasmatic emanations heavier than air, they remain near the ground in consequence of their own weight. Suppose them lighter, and it is impossible for them to be held down by the pressure of the air, for the latter will then settle down under them, and raise them up. Whoever heard of putting a flat stone on water to hold it down ? No, the quotation is absurd, and contrary to fact. Miasmatic emanations are lighter than air on a clear day, and rapidly rise above the strata of air we breathe; but on damp and wet days, when the air is also light, miasmatic emana- tions rise sluggishly, and mix with the air wc breathe. From this it appears that nature sometimes disturbs one of the chief elements of life, a fact which rather disproves the writings of some people who assert that there is no reason why a person may not live on earth forever, if he strictly observes the laws of life and health. It is well enough to say that few people live as long as they might, for that is true ; and I shall now proceed to treat upon matters relevant to this subject, which go to prove the fact. The atmospheric changes and conditions which we have thus far been contemplating, are not within the control of man. If pains were taken to preserve the purity of the air we breathe, so far as it is within our power, health would be promoted and lon- gevity increased. The venous blood which enters the lungs is in a negative state, and depends upon the oxygen or electricity of air to electrify it, remove its carbon, and perfect its arterialization. Hence, the air we inhale may contain its natural constituents in their due proportions, but that which we exhale contains almost the usual quantity of nitrogen, with eight or nine per cent, of its oxygen re- placed with an equal amount of carbonio acid. The stomach, in the digestion of foed, cannot produce all the electricity which is neces- sary to move the animal machinery, and therefore the lungt, with their curious mechanism, receive the blood from the venous system, and expose it to the electrifying influence of the atmosphere. I may THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE IN. 10J be asked why the blood is not like the body, electrically positive in relation to the air. I reply, that it is when it leaves the lungs chem- ically changed by its contact with oxygen; but in passing through the arterial and capillary systems, it distributes its electrical proper- ties and returns through the venous system destitute of that element. Respiration is really governed by electrical laws in a measure, although mostly produced by the movements of the diaphragm, and contractions and relaxations of the walls of the air vesicles. Infla- tion is aided by the attraction the negative venous blood has for the electrical elements of the atmosphere, and exhalation, after the vesi- cles have expelled the air which has been used into the bronchial tubes, is aided by the attraction existing between the negative prop- erties of the latter and the more positive properties of the former. The lungs are very generous to the stomach. They keep up a necessary supply of electricity during the hours of sleep, when the digestive organs are permitted to take partial repose. Did ever the reader notice what long, deep inhalations a person takes while sleep- ing? While the stomach is enjoying rest, the lungs work their utmost to keep up a supply of vital electricity, and although they exhale the useless gases with the same rapidity that they do when the individual is awake, they draw in deeper and more copious draughts of tho electrifying element. The stomach being on such amicable terms with the respiratory apparatus, and having made such excellent arrangements with it to aid in doing its work during the hours of partial repose (for the stomach never sleeps soundly), the reader can see ho,w wrong it is for him to give his stomach a job of work to do on going to bed by eating a late supper, and that he has no right to complain if the digestive organs refuse to do the work, but allow the food to ferment, and fill his blood and brain with inflammation. When the stomach has such perfect confidence in the integrity and industry of the lungs, it is also wrong to oblige the latter to cheat the former by going to sleep in badly ventilated rooms, or where malaria exists, by which the blood becomes poisoned instead of arterialized, and the stomach finds its work not only undone, but itself disqualified in a measure to resume its labors. Facts go to prove that there is a greater proneness to disease during sleep than in the waking state. In Turkey and Hindostan, if a per- son falls asleep in the neighborhood of a poppy field, over which the wind is blowing toward him, he is liable to " sleep the sleep which 104 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. knows no waking." The peasants of Italy, who fall asleep in the neighborhood of the Pontine marshes, are invariably smitten with fever. Even travellers who pass the night in the Campagna du Roma invariably become more or less affected with the noxious air. Com mercial men often conduct their business affairs in unwholesome locations in cities, but maintain a fair degree of health by having their residences, and sleeping, in healthful neighborhoods. The man whose business calls him into marshes and swamps during portions of the day, and sleeps upon the hill-top, may avoid chills and fever with which the inhabitants who lodge in proximity to those marshes are affected. The reason of this, after what has been said, must be obvious. The stomach battery having partially suspended operations in sleep, the lungs redouble their efforts to inhale the life-giving properties of the atmosphere. In malarious or unwholesome localities they unfortunately receive them most poisonously adulterated, and the various organs of the system, if not murdered in their slumbers, awaken to find themselves invaded by a destructive foe. An English traveller in Abyssinia has asserted that he could live in health in that sickly climate, by a proper selection of the situation where he slept every night. All this argues the deleterious effects of late suppers, as well as the necessity of well-ventilated and healthful sleeping apartments, and people who complain of ill health while they persist in the former, and take no pains to secure the latter, are as foolish as the boy who thrust his hand into hot embers and then cried because it was burned. Let those who sleep in small rooms, with windows and doors closed, remember that every individual breathes, on an average, from 13 to 20 times per minute, and inhales from 13 to 40 cubic inches of air at each inspiration. Now take, as a low estimate, the consumption of air at 20 inches, and the number of inspirations at 15, and we find that in the space of one minute, 300 cubic inches of air are required for the respiration of one person, during which 24 cubic inches of oxygen are absorbed by the blood, and the same amount of carbonic acid given out. Proceed with this estimate, and we find that in one hour, one pair of lungs have oonsumed 1,440 cubic inches of oxygen, and in seven hours, the time usually allotted to sleep, 10,080 cubic inches of oxygen have been replaced with aa equal quantity of carbonic acid. The deadly effects of the latter are THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE IN. !();") illustrated by the fact that a canary bird, suspended near the top of a curtain bedstead where persons are sleeping, will almost inva- riably be found dead in the morning. It has further been demon- strated that when there is six per cent, of carbonic acid in the air, it is rendered unfit for the support of animal life, and half this propor- tion would put out the light of a candle. In view of these facts, how many churches, school-houses, places of amusement, factories, workshops, and dwelling-houses are but the nurseries of disease. Nor is it surprising that such a great majority of tombstones in our cemeteries are inscribed with ages below two score. Some physiological writers have said that scrofula is often produced by bad air. That it is rendered contagious through the medium of i the air is certain, but I am hardly inclined to believe that the disease would directly arise from breathing the atmosphere of a crowded room unless there were persons in the apartment affected with it. Scrofula and all diseases are rendered, in a measure, contagious by the diseased animal vapors from the lungs and pores of persons affected with them. These vapors mingle with the natural ingredients of air in a confined room, and are conveyed to the blood of others through the respiratory' apparatus, and hence, impure air may, in one 3ense, he said to produce Scrofula. Certain it is, that it will convey the disease to those not affected with it, if it is rendered impure by the presence of scrofulous persons. Every man and woman is constantly- perspiring or radiating from the skin, and exhaling from the lungs, waste animal matter, and if a person is diseased, these vapors par- take of the nature of that disease. Inasmuch, then, as there are at least five diseased persons to every ten sound ones, in every community, the reader can see how liable he is to contract disease in a crowded lecture or show room. The best ventilation does not render us entirely safe, but improper ven- tilation makes the spread of disease positively certain. Prof. Fara- day gives his experience regarding the atmosphere of crowded rooms, as follows:— " Air feels unpleasant in the breathing cavities, including the mouth and nostrils, not merely from the absence of oxygen, the presence of carbonic acid, or the elevation of the temperature, but from other causes depending on matters communicated to it from the human being. I think an individual may find a decided difference in his feelings when making part of a large company, from what he does when ony 106 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. of a small number of persons, and yet the thermometer give the same indication. When I am one of a large number of persons, I feel an oppressive sensation of closeness, notwithstanding the tern- perature may be about 60° or 65°, which I do not feel in a small com- pany at the same temperature, and which I cannot refer altogether to the absorption of oxygen, or the exhalation of carbonic acid, and probably depends upon the effluvia from the many present; but with me it is much diminished by a lowering of the temperature and the sensations become more like those occurring in a small com' pany." If mankind were generally aware of the effects of the diseased radiations and exhalations of invalids, popular lecturers and preach- ers, and favorite dramatists, and negro dancers, could hardly induce the convocation of the crowded audiences that they now do, and people would be as particular in the air they breathe, as in the water they drink. The use of stagnant waters could not be more deleteri- ous to the nervous and vascular systems than the inhalation and absorption of vitiated air. Still, most people are regardless of the latter, while they throw out with disgust a glass of water which has odor, sediment, or color. And how many fastidious men and women, would suffer almost any punishment rather than go in bathing in a bathing-house, crowded with all sorts of people as thick as they can stand or swim. They would consider the water unfit to enter, and so with reason they might think, but these same persons do not seem to imagine when in a crowded, and even odorous car, omnibus, or lecture-room, that they are in fact bathing in the same air with all the individuals they are crowded with, and not only that, but breathing it, too. Your clothing does not protect your skin from the effluvia passing off from the besotted and tobacco-saturated man who sits against you on one side, nor your veil from breathing the same air which has been inhaled and exhaled by the woman with decayed teeth, catarrh, and bad breath on the other side. Men returning from their business, and women from shopping, do not seem to realize that they bring home with them in their parlors some of the essential parts of men and women whom they would not allow to enter their back doors. This is no fling at poor people, but at those whose habits and dissipations have rendered them not only filthy, but dis- eased. It is, indeed, amusing sometimes to see how an aristocratio individual will turn his or L;er back upon, or leave a seat contiguous THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE IN. 107 to some plainly dressed person, though the latter be glowing with health, and soek contiguity with quite an opposite character, whose countenance bears every evidence of disease, but whose physical infirmities are almost concealed by the tailor, or dress-maker, and the perfumer. Better at any time seat yourself in public vehicles be- side men whose clothes are soiled with honest labor, but whose skins are red with the glow of health, or next to women in plain, cheap calico, with vivacity in their eyes, and sweetness in their breath, than to haughtily squeeze yourself between two well-dressed invalids. The former impart to you the magnetism of health, while the latter absorb your vital magnetism, and corrupt the air about you. By one, your stock in health is enriched; by the other, it is impover- ished. Fish swim in water—you swim in air; look out for its purity. And parents, have an eye to your children who rely upon your judgment and care. Horace Mann, alluding to ill-ventilated school- rooms, said—"To put children on a limited supply of fresh air is as foolish as it would have been for Noah during the deluge to put his family on a short allowance of water. Since God has poured out an atmosphere of fifty miles deep, it is enough to make a miser weep to see our children stinted in breathing." As for the great body of animal effluvia poured into the atmosphere by our numerous and sickly human family, nature has provided a neutralizer. The electrical scintillations which are often observed on warm evenings, and the more powerful currents which rend the atmosphere during a thunder-storm, produce an element called ozone, and this neutralizes those properties in the atmosphere, the accumu- lation of which in time would destroy animal life. All have observed how refreshing the air is after a thunder-storm. Not only has the air returned to a healthful electrical condition, but it has become per- meated with vitalizing ozone. A few hours before it was stagnant and debilitating; your skin was relaxed and gluey to the touch ; you felt languid and spiritless, but now you feel as refreshed as a child from a bath. This change has been produced by ozone. If the air be deprived of it for a great length of time, sickness becomes prev- alent, particularly that which is characterized by fevers; and epi- demics, if present, rage with fearful fatality. Thus when nature has provided an element for disinfecting the great body of the atmos« P*ere which surrounds our planet, and arresting the spread of pesti- lence ©acb individual should put forth some personal effort to prfi 108 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. serve the purity of the air which immediately surrounds himself, and to protect the helpless and inexperienced from Unnecessary exposure to diseased effluvia and poisonous miasma. The introduction of stoves for heat has been as injurious to health as it has been universal. Air to be healthful must possess a certain amount of moisture (which is more electrical than dry air), to pre- vent a too copious radiation of the electrical elements and fluids of the body. The effect of stove heat, as every one knows, is to render the atmosphere dry. But if this were the only objection to the use of stoves, some means might be devised to overcome it. Says Pro- fessor Youmans : " While in point of economy stoves are most advan- tageous sources of heat, yet in their effects upon the air they are perhaps the worst. We saw that in the stoves called air-tight, the burning is carried on in such a way that peculiar gaseous products are generated. These are liable to leak through the crevices and joinings into the room. Carbonic oxide gas is formed under these circumstances, and recent experiments have shown that it is a.much more deadly poison than carbonic acid. A slow, half-smothered burning of these stoves requires a feeble draught which does not favor the rapid removal of injurious fumes. Besides, carbonic acid be- ing about half as heavy again as common air, must be heated 250 de- grees above the surrounding medium to become equally light, and still higher before it will ascend the pipe or flue. If the combustion of the fuel is not vivid, and the draught brisk, there will be regurgitation of this gaseous poison into the apartments." The same writer continues: " Probably all stoves, from their improper fittings, are liable to this bad result. Hot-air furnaces also have the same defect. They are cast in many pieces, and however perfect the joinings may be at first, they cannot long be kept air tight in consequence of the unequal contraction and expansion of the different parts under great alterna- tions of heat. Combustion products are hence liable to mingle with the stream of air sent into the room." Dr. Ure also remarks: " I have recently performed some careful experiments upon this subject, and find that when the fuel is burning so slowly as not to heat the iron surface above 250°, or 300°, there is a constant defux of carbonic acid into the room."" From recent experiments of French savants It appears that cast-iron stoves are more injurious to the health than those made of sheet or wrought iron. They say that under a certain degree of heat, cast-iron js rendered porous, »r .at least per- THE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE llv j00 vloiis to the passage and absorption of gases. They think they have been able to state the quantity of oxide of carbon which may tran- sude from a given surface of inetal, and have shown that the air which surrounds a stove of cast-iron is greatly impregnated with hydrogen and oxide of carbon. They also say that these cast-iron fetoves absorb oxygen^ thereby taking up the Vital elements of the fiir at the same moment they are poisoning it by exhaling deleterious gases. M. Deville, at one of the sittings of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, warmly supported this view. In his lecture-room at thai Fig. 84. YE OLD-FASHIONED FIEE-PLACE IN YE OLDEN TIME Sorbonne, he had placed two electric bells, which were set in motion as soon as hydrogen, or oxide of carbon was diffused in the room. During his last lecture, the two cast-iron stoves had scarcely been lighted when the bells began to ring. The credit is due to M Caret 110 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. one of the physicians of the Hotel Dieu of Chambery, for first calling attention to this matter. The more lately introduced arrangements for heating houses by steam are open to less objection than any other modern improvement. They produce a less dry warmth, and the pipes conveying the steam through the various rooms of the building, are not the conductors of unwholesome gases. To warm an apartment, there is nothing really like the old^ fashioned fire-place, and all who have ever had the felicity of warm- ing themselves before it, will join with me in this assertion. The author of this work spent his juvenile winter evenings before the light and heat of this ancient device for keeping the shins warm. A fire on the hearth does not heat the air, but as a writer truly re- marks, " the heat rays dart through it to warm any object upon which they may fall." The same writer continues: " The sun passes his floods of light through the atmosphere, without warming it a particle. Air is made to be breathed, and we again discover Provi- dential wisdom in the arrangement by which the sun warms uh, without disturbing in the slightest degree the respiratory medium. But if we heat the air itself, we at once destroy the natural equilib- rium of its composition, and so change its properties, that it becomes more or less unpleasant and prejudicial to health." Large, open grates for burning coal, are a very good substitute for fire-places, and should take the place of stoves, not only in dwell- ings, but in churches, theatres, and show-rooms, where the animal effluvia of a crowded assembly are sufficient to render the air vitiat- ed, without the further addition of stove or furnace heat; but if economy will not sanction this, then let steam be introduced through iron pipes, so arranged as to distribute heat equally in every part of the building, and not make a volcano of fire in the basement to emit ashes and gases as well as scorched air in the apartments above. Too much care cannot be taken for the maintenance of the natural purity of air. School-houses, churches, theatres, dwellings, and fac- tories, should be daily aired, in cold as well as hot weather. The permanency of impure air in a close building, is forcibly illustrated in a recent account given in the American Medical Gazette, of the vault of the old cathedral church of Bremen. Hundreds of years ago, when the old church was built, the plumbers occupied the vault for melting and preparing materials for the roof, and since that tiros. 1?HE ATMOSPHERE WE LIVE LN. jjl its atmosphere has possessed the peculiar property of preserving from decay all bodies placed therein. That paper remarks :— foreigners, we seem always to be in mourning; we travel in black, write in black, and we work in black. The priest, the lawyer, the doctor, the literary man, the mechanic, and even the city laborer, chooses always the same unvarying, monotonous, black broadcloth ; a style and material which ought not to have been adopted out of the drawing-room, or the pulpit; because it is a feeble and expen- sive fabric; because it is, at the North, no suitable protection against the cold, nor is it any more suitable at the South. It is too thin to be warm in the winter, and too black to be cool in the sum- mer ; but especially we object to it because the wearer is always afraid of soiling it by exposure. Young men will not play ball, or pitch quoits, or wrestle, or tumble, or do any other similar thing, lest their broadcloth should be offended. They will not go out into the storm, because the broadcloth will lose its lustre if rain falls upon it. They THE CLOTHES WE WEAR. 128 trill not run, because they have no confidence in the strength of the broadcloth; they dare not mount a horse, or leap a fence, because broadcloth, as everybody knows, is so faithless. So these young men, and these older merchants, mechanics, and all, learn to walk, talk, and think soberly and carefully; they seldom venture to laugh to the full extent of their sides." The invention and adoption of knit shirts and drawers have done much to destroy the purity of the blood, and the harmonious action of vital electricity. The use of flannel as an article of under dress, in changeable climates, is certainly commendable. But to obtain the benefit which wearers usually seek, i. e., health and comfort, Buch garments must be made loose, and changed often. Red flannel, too, is better than white. There is something in the chemical quali- ties of the red coloring matter that seems to act healthfully, when worn next to the skin. People of a rheumatic tendency are greatly protected from attacks of rheumatic pains by the wearing of red flannel. Those who are susceptible to colds, are less liable to take one when red flannel is worn. Knit shirts of whatever color usually set closely to the skin, and often draw so tightly around the chest as to prevent a free action of the lungs. I have had occasion to examine consumptive invalids who were hastening decline by wearing flannel shirts so closely fitted to them, that india rubber could not have been much more objection- able. When worn so closely to the skin, these garments tend to gum up the pores by pressing back upon them their effete exhalations'. Flannel shirts should therefore be made up from the cloth, and loose enough to admit a free circulation of air between them and the skin. It is well to wear two, each twenty-four hours, laying off at night the one worn through the day, and laying off in the morning the one which has been worn during the night, so that the exhalations and impurities which may have been absorbed by the flannel, can have an opportunity to pass off. In this connection I would not omit to warn invalids against the use of plasters. Almost daily am I consulted by those who have been in the habit of wearing them more or less for years. "But," says one, "they are recommended by ray physician." Shame on your physician! If he knows the offices of the pores of the skin, he is guilty of willful malpractice; if he does not, he ought not to b« y«nr physician. I know that by thus speaking I shall incur thj 1$4 CAUSES OE NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENT maledictions of the " regulars," and not a few of those who oall themselves "reformers," but what do I care—I have them already. There are said to be nearly three thousand pores in every square inch of the human body, and there are from seven to ten square inches in an ordinary sized plaster. Now thjnk, for one moment, of the effects which must ultimately ensue from plastering up twenty to thirty thousand of those useful little orifices through which the electrical radiations of the system carry off the noxious and waste matter of the blood. True, you feel a temporary suspension of pain, but do you not know that skillfully prepared embrocations will produce this happy result as well, while they allow the machinery of nature to go on uninterruptedly? When an invalid comes to me plastered up from the top of his neck to the extremity of his spine, I am inva- riably reminded of the way in which some South Americans kill prisoners. It is at Monte Video, I believe, that they sew them up in a wet hide, leaving only the head and neck exposed to the vital- izing influences of the atmosphere. When the hide becomes dry it sticks just about as close as a "pitch plaster," and the unfortunate victim dies a slow, but excruciating death. Why, " Mr. Doctors'' (as the Germans sometimes call the members of our profession), do you not know that the pores are of as much importance to the human Bystem as the safety-valves to the steam-engine? The pores are actually safety-valves to the animal machinery', and the Divine archi- tect has not made one more than is necessary. Do not, then, delude the suffering victim to disease, who has already more noxious and health-destroying matter in his system than he can carry, with the hope that a plaster can be of any possible benefit to him. If he has pains and you cannot cure them with unexceptionable remedies, pass him over to some of your brethren who can. " There is a balm in Gilead, and a physician there." In speaking of the office of the pores, a writer remarks that the " Infinite care of the Creator is seen nowhere more conspicuously than in the admirable provision made for the removal of the waste matters from the system, the form in which they are expelled, and the prompt and certain means by which nature is ready to make them inoffensive and innoxious. The skin is not only, as Bichat eloquently observes, a sensitive limit "placed on the boundaries of man's soul with which external forms constantly come in contact to establish the connections of his animal life, and thus bind his existence to all that surround* '■• THE CLOTHES WE WEAR. 125 him; it is at the same time, throughout its whole extent, densely crowded with pores through which the waste substances of the sys- tem momentarily escape in an insensible and inoffensive form, to be at once dissolved, and lost in the air, if this result be allowed. It is not by the natural and necessary working of the vital machinery that the air is poisoned, but by its artificial confinement, and the accumulation of deleterious substances. If evil results, man alone is responsible." Overcoats made of the skins of buffaloes are extremely warm in cold climates in winter, and rubber coats are protective in all climates in rainy weather, but garments of both descriptions are unhealth- ful, because their texture is of such a nature as to prevent the escape of the insensible perspiration. They are most undoubtedly comforta- ble for a day, but their injurious effects may last for a lifetime. For the same reason, india rubber, and patent-leather boots and shoes are objectionable. Those who wear either are not unaware of the excessive moisture of the feet when dressed with rubber or patent- leather, and that moisture is simply the dammed up waste fluids which have not been permitted to escape unobstructedly as nature intended. There are times and seasons when it may be the least of two evils to put on rubber sandals or boots in stepping out, but when such emergencies do arise the feet should be relieved of them as soon as possible after re-entering the house. Thick-soled leather boots and shoes are usually sufficient for any weather. The addition of a coating of oily blacking does not prevent the feet within them from perspiring naturally, or the ex- halations from passing off freely, and at the same time does most effectually keep out water. Pat- ent-leather is altogether worn for ornamentation, and not from any seeming necessity. The physi- ologist should, therefore, unqualifiedly denounce it as possessing no merit of utility, while it does possess the demerit of doing injury to the feet of the wearer. Rubber, patent-leather, close-fitting and insufficient dressings for the feet are in many instances the causes of colds, paralytic affections ™oNJ toe'the feet* of the extremities, corns, bunions, etc. Men usually dress their feet more sensibly than women do. A lady, writing for the ffome Journal^ presents, a, criticism upon 126 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. this fact, and exclaims : " Look at their feet 1 . You don't see one in a hundred venture forth in damp, chilly weather with a thin- soled cloth boot. No I They wear boots with thick soles and high heels: while, on the other hand, you will not see one woman in a thousand who, when the rain is not pouring, but when the pavement is only damp and cold, wears any thing thicker than a single-soled prunella gaiter! If you doubt my assertion, go look for yourself at thousands who walk in our crowded cities. Why is there such a difference? Is it that women are inferior to men in possession of good common sense; or is it they dress in this absurd manner to please the eye of man ? If so, he must bear some of the blame, if, instead of boldly condemning their folly, he encourages them by admiring the beauty of feet dressed in this manner. Let fair women dress as they please in their warm houses, or in warm, dry weather, but for pity's sake, in cold weather, let them find something wann- er than a boot which a strong, healthy man would not consider suf- ficient protection for himself from the dews of summer." There is a healthy reform in progress among women, having reference to tho clothing of the feet, and the writer quoted is a little too sweeping in her assertion, when she says that not one woman in a thonsand exhibits good sense in dressing her feet for damp and cold weather. But her complaint is well put, barring the extravagance of the state- ment. It is to be hoped that it will every year grow less applicable to women everywhere. When the public becomes sufficiently awak- ened upon subjects relating to physical health, no covering for a lady's foot will look so beautiful as a thick-soled shoe or boot. Second-hand clothing is a medium through which many an aristo- cratic disease is conveyed to poor people. A wealthy invalid who gives his coat to a poor man bestows no blessing. No man can wear a garment for one week without imparting to it a portion of himself, and if he be diseased his garment is also diseased. A dog will recog- nize his master's clothes by the smell, and I have seen those whose clothes anybody with less acute olfactories could recognize by their odor. There is a perfectly simple and philosophical solution of this phenomenon. The electrical radiation of the impurities of the sys- tem, commonly known as insensible perspiration, enters the minutest threads of the cloth, and an old coat and pair of pants contain many ounces of waste animal-matter from the body of the wearer. Bring these in contact with the absorbing pores, and a person is at once THE CLOTHES WE WEAR. 127 inoculated to a certain degree with the noxious matter contained in them. Syphilitic and other venereal diseases are frequently trans- mitted in this way, and other complaints, probably quite as often, only the latter are not as immediately detected as the former. Persons should never wear their deceased relatives' clothes, unless they consist of articles which can be thoroughly washed, and then it is doubtful if they can be entirely cleansed of the diseased radiations which must have taken place weeks and perhaps months prior to the last sickness of the wearer. Although individuals of robust consti- tution often appear well till thrown at once on a bed of sickness, there are unhealthy conditions of the system which always precede acute attacks, and render the clothing unfit for the use of others. Those, however, who are not disposed to be influenced by the objections herein presented, should have such clothing thoroughly scoured by the clothes-cleaner. Shoddy clothes which are manufactured of people's old clothes, cast-off blankets, old carpets, worn-out stockings, flannels, tailors' scraps, etc., are liable to impart disease to the wearer. The process they pass through in the factory undoubtedly disinfects them to some extent, but there are some rags that no chemical agents can disinfect, and these may get upon the backs of the wearers of shoddy. Both in England, and in this country, shoddy is extensively manufactured. In this State alone there are six shoddy factories. Over fifty million pounds of woollen rags are annually made into shoddy in England. Now who supposes when there is such a demand for woollen rags, that small-pox, ship-fever, cholera, yellow fever, syphilis, and scrofula, can be kept out of shoddy? The great trouble is to detect this kind of cloth before it is worn; after it is worn awhile, the collection of short woollen rolls between it and the lining, betrays the character of the fabric. We need inspectors of rags. Will not our humane legislators protect us? If we must wear shoddy without knowing it, let us have its manufacture so looked after that we shall not wear on our backs any thing worse than the old stockings, under-garments, and blankets of invalids who have died of ordinary, non-contagions diseases, and the old coats and trousers of decent living people. Some philosophers and reformers have recommended a return to the fashion which the God of nature introduced before the fall of Adam, i. e. nudity. According to an account given In the Dublin Evening Mail} the experiment of ascertaining whether clothing can -128 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. be dispensed with, is actually being tried on a child in Ireland. Tha', paper remarks as follows:— "The subject of the^costume of the ancient Britons has often been discussed ; it has been* asserted that they were naked. Those who opposed that view, adduced as reasons the coldness and variable nature of the climate. The question has been set at rest by an ex- periment which has recently been made on a child at St. Anne's, Blarney, near Cork. The child is 14 months old, and is the son of Mr.----, who determined to ascertain what the human frame would bear. The child is perfectly naked night and day; he sleeps without any covering, in a room with the thermometer at 38 degrees; from this he goes into a bath 118 degrees; he sometimes goes to sleep in the bath; he is perfectly indifferent to heat or cold, is lively, active, cheerful, and intelligent; his appearance constantly reminds the observer of the best efforts of our best painters and sculptors. Therein is the beau ideal; he is the reality. His simple, natural, easy, graceful, and ever-varying postures are charming. He arrests the attention and commands the admiration of all who see him. The peculiar character of bis skin is very striking; it is exquisitely healthy and beautiful. It may be compared to the rays of the sun streaming through a painted window. " During the progress of the experiment he has cut three teeth without manifesting any of the disagreeable symptoms usual to children in that condition. He appears to be quite insensible to pain. Occasionally he has an ugly fall, but not a sound escapes from his lips. His manners, demeanor, and general behavior ^re equally striking. His mode of saluting a person is to take the hand in a graceful manner and kiss it. He is under the complete control of his father, and is perfectly quiet during meals, and also whenever he is told to be so. He goes about all day amusing and occupying himself in a quiet way. No one accustomed to children would know there was a child in the house. So incredible are these results that some of the residents of St. Anne's regard the whole matter with mingled feelings of horror, amazement, and wonder. He has two meals— generally boiled rice, which is put on a napkin on the ground, and he picks it up to the last grain. After that, wheaten flour cake with butter, and a cup of milk which he drinks. While eating his rice he looks a different being; there is at once a pride and an enjoyment gf performance, He has the air p{ an orator addressing an andjen.ce, THE CLO'liiES WE WEAR 129 "During the day he goes to sleep when he likes, merely lying down on the floor. The attitude he assumes in sleeping is that of a Mussulman making prostrations—on his knees with his hands spread out before hiin, which could not be if he suffered from fatigue; but his muscles are too hard for that. By this means be concentrates the caloric in his stomach, and so it is indifferent to cold ; however cold, the limbs (and they get frightfully cold to the touch) are never numb, being, on the contrary, mottled red ; the loins are always warm. The problem he presents physiologically is this; a develop- ment of the nerves producing pleasurable sensations, and a corre- sponding deadening of those of the contrary. The intensity of the enjoyment which he derives from contact with the skin, is only equalled by the insensibility of the flesh. We have never known him since his exposure to extreme cold to cry from pain." This appears like a crnel experiment, but I question whether that parent inflicts as much suffering on his child as the majority of parents do on their children by loading their little bodies with unnecessary, and too close-fitting raiment; and, I further question, whether this child in a state of nudity may not grow up with a far better and healthier physical organization than will any of his little mates in clothes. The experiment, so far, is really a triumph, and after all, only proves what physiology, deeply studied, teaches. It is quite a mistaken notion that a great amount of clothing is necessary for comfort and health in cold weather. The ancient Spartans, who were distinguished for their physical power and beauty, were allowed but scanty clothing in childhood, even in the depths of win- ter. Our extreme sensitiveness to changes from heat to cold, is merely the result of tenderness induced by long habits of pernicious dress. In conclusion, I would say, that if costume is indispensable, there are three rules to be observed to secure that which is healthful, viz.: First, cover no more of the body than the dictates of common mod- esty require, and let the covering be equally distributed. Second, let the clothes be made of entirely new material, and of such as will allow the uninterrupted egress of the bodily impurities, and the ingress of the vitalizing properties of the air. Third, mantua-makers and tailors must make clothing to hang loosely about the body, and shoemakers must be instructed to make the outer dressings of tho feet with thick soles and easy uppers. When men and women beQ'JUie A* 130 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. wise enough to observe these, the adoption of the more primitive style of our first parents will appear less called for. Bad Habits of Children and Youth. Many of the blood and nervous derangements of adult age are but harvests of seed sown in childhood and youth. To begin with, the dietetic habits of children are entirely wrong. Indulgent mothers are mainly to blame for this. Many mothers imagine that they are greatly strengthening the lit- tle bodies of their babies by giving them the juices of animal flesh in the form of soup or broth, before they have teeth to masticate the flesh itself, and as soon as the masticating organs are developed, they are allowed the diet of an adult. Often, too, they are allowed stimulating drinks, such as tea and coffee, and in some cases the little baeefooted even wine. Then, what lots of candy the CANDY- EATER. little oneg ma]je w&y yf^ from OUQ Christ- mas-day to another. Colored candy eating is a habit in which many parents indulge children to an extent calling loudly for the warning of the faithful physician. The innocent darlings are almost ready to bound out of their shoes, when papa or mamma brings home from the confectioner a sweet little package of beautifully striped, red, blue, green, and yellow sugar-plums; of course they are, for they have the most implicit confidence in their dear parents, and know they will not give them any thing which will injure them ! But parents may not know that there are fatal poisons concealed in the pretty spiral streaks which ornament the confectionery; papas are so absorbed in business and mammas in fictitious literature, it is a chance if either of them ever find it out. So long as no immediate fatalities occur to the little creatures, it is supposed that such indul- gences are harmless. As in excessive meat-eating, and other bad habits, nature does not cry out at once, and as a consequence physi- cal injury therefrom is not dreamed of. But ignorance does not shield the juvenile or adult from the deadly consequences of per- nicious habits, which gradually undermine the constitution and ia« duce premature decay^ BAD HABITS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH 131 In former editions of this work this page was filled mainly with quotations from Hassell, telling of the injurious adulterations and minerals employed in coloring candies, but times change, and with them the tricks of all trades. New discoveries of organic dyes have been made which make it easy to manufacture candies in various attractive colors without resorting to salts of lead, antimony, cop- per, etc. Therefore the official or authoritative criticisms in refer- ence to candies have necessarily been modified. The U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture has a division of chemistry under the direction of Prof. H. W. Wiley, that looks after food adulteration and issues reports thereon. In the last report, for 1892, Part VI. relates to sugar, molasses, syrup, confections, and honey, and contains an account of the investigations of nine chemists residing in the largest cities of North, South, East, and West. They purchased the cheapest grades of candy to examine, and though true sugar was often found to the extent of only one half, the other ingredients were not really ob- jectionable, being mainly glucose, starch, and flour; and no mineral coloring matters were detected—only a trace, now and then, of copper from vessels in which candies are made. The colors are gen- erally aniline dyes or coal-tar products, used in so very small an amount that it is doubtful if any harm can come from them. Whatever may have been the sins of candy makers, evidently science has made possible progress and reform in the art of manu- facture in this line as well as in so many other directions, so that now it is perhaps easier to do right than wrong. As to the adultera- tion with starch and flour, or even glucose, it is extremely doubtful if any injury to the eater can arise from them. The objection to candy-eating now is reduced to the one fact that excess of sweets tends to derange digestion, and favors a process of fermentation which may bring about a very troublesome disorder of all digestive processes. Not only is normal digestion of all proper food in the stomach and intestines interfered with by the ferment set up by candy-eating, but the liver functions also become greatly disturbed, and even the kidneys may be found casting off the excess of sugar in the urine, which is not a proper task to impose upon them. Di- rectly and indirectly, the effect upon the teeth of children is unfa- vorable, and when general nutrition of the body has become impaired, as it often does, from the candy habit, the way has been paved for the onset of quite a variety of chronic diseases. 132 CAUSES OF NEEVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. " Too much of a good thing is good for nothing," or even worse, is a rule that applies pretty generally to the human organism, and in nothing more surely than in excessive use of sweets. They are natural foods, in a way, but in candies too concentrated. Nature furnishes them diluted for our use in form of fruit juices, and gen- erally with some acid. When we extract the sugar from cane or beets, we are liable, if tempted by a "sweet tooth," to use more of it than is good for us, and the most likely victims of this appetite and habit are children. As to the starch and flour adulterations, no harm can be charged against them, since they are more normal foods than sugar, and less injurious, bulk for bulk. With reference to glucose there is a dif- ference of opinion, but the writer strongly favors the view that glu- cose, as an ingredient of candies, can do no more harm than sugar; and even when used largely, as it is in compounding syrups and bottled honey, it is about as innocent as any of their components. I have perhaps said all that is necessary about candy-eating ; but the evils of meat-eating and coffee-drinking by children have been but Fig. 40. briefly alluded to in this place. These habits are such a prolific cause of sickness among the infantile portion of our community, I would urgently direct the attention of mothers to what I have to say on this subject in the chap- ter on the Prevention of Disease, where I Bpeak of dietetics for young and old. At school children acquire many injurious habits, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 40. The effect of this posture is to cramp the lungs, thereby preventing the usual quantity of elec- trifying air from coming in contact with and arterializing the venous blood. It also curves the spine, the great nervous trunk, and in a measure interrupts the harmonious distribu- tion of the nervo-electric fluid. Hence, both blood and nervous derangements are induced thereby, Parents and teachers are not partic- ular enough in observing and criticising the posture of the school- boy, Many a case of spinal disease and pulmonary consumption ha4 BAD POSITIOK IS SITTING. BAD HABITS OF CHILDREN AND YOfTII. 133 its origin on the bench of the school-room. Seats should always be provided with suitable backs for the support of the spine, and chil- dren should be required to maintain a correct posture. A great error is generally committed by parents in sending their children to school at an age so tender that the development of the mental faculties seriously interferes with the vigorous formation of their physical parts. A child of three or four years of age, seated on a bench in school, is no more in his place than a twelve year old boy would be on the judge's bench in a court of chancery. What does he care about letters or syllables? What he learns is not the result of a gratification of a thirst for knowledge, but of a severe and health-destroying discipline, which effects a forced growth of the mind at the expense of the body. The vital nervo-electric forces, withheld from the generous development of the chest, the vital organs, and the muscles, are consumed in nourishing and enlarging the brain. In art, mankind exhibit common sense. The master builder, who is about to decorate his grounds with a superb edifice, first lays a strong and perhaps inelegant foundation, upon which to raise the monument of his superior skill in architecture. So the parent, who wishes his child to occupy a commanding and useful position in society, when he shall have arrived at the stature of manhood, should take pains to secure for him a physical foundation which can firmly sustain the mental superstructure. To this end children should be kept out of school, and allowed to dig play-houses in the sand, play horse with strings, jump ropes, and roll hoops, until their little limbs become hard and chests broad, and, too, until they evince some desire for study. If this desire is manifested before the age of five or six, it should not be encouraged. The first six, and even ten, years of boyhood are none too long to prepare the physical trunk for the nourishment of mental growth. We once had in the United States Senate a man who was taught his alphabet by his wife .after marriage. We have had, at least, two Presidents of the United States who hardly saw the inside of a school-room before they be- came old enough to work and pay for their own education. Nor are these isolated instances of final rapid mental progress of early neg- lected minds, after the bodies which nourished them had gained both strength and maturity. History is embellished with them. The great Patrick Henry was, mentally, a dull boy, and hated books, but when the flowers of his mental garden, enriched by the nutriment V,U CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. of a strong and matured physical organization, did bloom, the whole country was intoxicated by their fragrance, inspiring the American patriots with an enthusiasm which naught but success could satiate. In the face of such facts, let not parents make intellectual prodigies and physical wrecks of their children. If they have the germ of greatness in them, there is no danger but it will become developed by the time society, the state, and the nation have need of them. Going " barefoot," a very common practice among the children of the indigent in cities, and those of all classes in the country, is a common cause of blood diseases. In large towns the streets and gut- ters are the receptacles of filth of every description, a partial speci- fication of which wcfiild embrace the diseased expectorations of men and animals, dead carcasses of flies, cockroaches, rats, and mice, killed by poison, poisonous chemicals and acids swept from drugstores and medical laboratories, filthy rags which have been used in dressing foul ulcers, mucus from syphilitic sores, etc., the bare touch of which is polluting. But when, as is almost daily the case, the barefooted urchin " stubs his toes " against a projecting stone, rupturing the skin, and then brings his bleeding feet in contact with this hetero- geneous compound of mineral, vegetable, and animal poisons, the blood is sure to receive an impure inoculation which, unless eradl cated by vegetable medication, clings to the individual through life, rendering him ever a susceptible subject for epidemics, colds, and chronic diseases. In villages, although less exposed to corrupt ani- mal inoculations, barefooted children are liable to have the purity of their blood contaminated by contact with poisonous plants, which abound in country places. And merely a thoughtless gallop through stubble fields, where wheat or oats have been harvested, may imparl to the blood of the barefooted child a humor which is sooner or lato' to cause his death. Because serious effects do not manifest them- selves immediately, many parents flatter themselves that the practice is not attended with bad results. But blood impurities are generally insidious, and produce disease when it is least expected. The following remarkable case of poisoning, by a bone, will serve to illustrate the danger of going barefoot. I will quote from a lady who wrote me upon the subject of her ill health. This is her narra- tive: "Up to my ninth year I was in perfect health, with the free use of every sense and faculty. At that time I stepped on a bone BAD HABITS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH. I35 tfhlie playing in the door-yard. It pierced the foot, but so slightly as to cause but little blood to flow. The hollow of the foot was the place injured, but no swelling or soreness ensued, excepting that it hurt me inwardly to walk on it. The third or fourth day a high fever made its appearance, and the tongue and lips commenced swell- ing rapidly. The throat swelled outwardly until nearly even with my chin, attended also with soreness inside. The poison went through my entire system, breaking out on my legs in large sores, Which discharged freely. Disease seemed to affect alarmingly the tvhole inside of my mouth, physicians taking from my nose with instruments two large pieces which seemed like softened bone. Discharges from nose and ears were very free for months, and I became almost deaf for a year, mind almost destroyed, memory entirely gone, playmates, playthings, prayers, and every thing, all to be learned anew. Seemed to be nearly idiotic, laughing so long and loudly at the striking of the clock that the striking had to be stopped. During this sickness, which lasted nine weeks, I received no medi- cine, being unable to swallow any thing, only that which was forced down my mouth and throat with a feather. Death was hourly ex- pected, often thought to be very near. My teeth all hung loose, my liands being tied to prevent me from taking them out. My tongue hung far out of my mouth, and that which remained in was so swollen as to nearly fill my whole mouth. You don't know how much I suffer in writing this terrible experience, and I will say no more." This bone was undoubtedly from some animal most thoroughly diseased, and this case may be presented as an extraordinary one. But milder poisons are received into the system by this same contact of bare feet with poisonous substances without producing such marked effects, and the sufferer does not think to attribute the diffi- culties with which he is contending to such a cause. I do not believe God ever intended that every child should pass through the retinue of diseases which is considered the lot of child- hood. All tender mothers appear to think that their children must have the mumps, hooping-cough, measles, and scarlet fever, and the sooner the " darlings " have them the better. Now is it reasonable to suppose that human nature requires these diseases as settlers, the same as coffee requires eggs or cod-fish skin ? If children are brought up properly, they may escape all these diseases. What, with stimu- lating animal diet, poisoned confectionery, bare feet, and so forth, by 136 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS which the vital fluids of the system become rivers of death, can to expected but nursery diseases ! Corrupt blood is that which renders the child a ready victim to a whole train of juvenile ills. A habit which is considerably prevalent in almost every family, of allowing children to sleep with elder persons has ruined the nervous vivacity and physical energy of many a promising child. Those having dear old friends, whose lives they would like to perpetuate at the sacrifice of their innocent offspring, alone should encourage this evil; but every parent who loves his child, and wishes to preserve to him'a sound nervous system, with which to buffet successfully the cares, sorrows, and labors of life, must see to it, that his nervous vitality is not absorbed by some diseased or aged relative. Children, compared with adults, are electrically in a positive con- dition. The rapid changes which are going on in their little bodies abundantly generate, and as extensively work up, vital nervo-electric forces. But when, by contact for long nights with elder and negative persons, the vitalizing electricity of their tender organization is given off, they soon pine, grow pale, languid, and dull, while their bed companions feel a corresponding invigoration. King David, the Psalmist, knew the effects of this practice, and when he became old got young women to sleep with him that his days might be lengthened. Dr. Hufeland, the German physiologist, attributes the frequent longev- ity of schoolmasters to their daily association with young persons. Invalid mothers often prolong their existence by daily contact with their children. I once knew a woman who, by weak lungs and mineral doctors, had been prostrated with incurable consumption. Her infant occupied the same bed with her almost constantly day and night. The mother lingered for months on the verge of the grave, her demise being hourly expected. Still she lingered on, daily disproving the predictions of her medical attendants. The child, meanwhile, pined without any apparent disease. Its once fat little cheeks fell away with singular rapidity, till every bone in its face was visible. Finally, it had imparted to the mother its last spark of vitality, and simultaneously both died. I saw it recently stated in a newspaper that a man in Massachusetts had lived forty- one days without eating any thing, during which period he had been nourished altogether by a little cold water, and " by the influ- ences absorbed by him while daily holding the hand of his wife." BAD HABITS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH. 137 Many old men who marry young wives are aware of the nourish- ing effects of such unequal unions, and are not such " old fools" as many pronounce them, while the young women who become their wives are bigger "young fools" than they are ever reputed to be. Some old ladies, tenacious of life, and wickedl~ regardless of the : welfare of others, often coax children or compel their servants to sleep with them. Parents, therefore, who feel that affectional devo- tion to their children which is usually instinctive, should exercise vigilance and protect their offspring from a robbery which can never be repaired. Great care should also be taken to have diseased and healthy children sleep in separate beds. Although the effect of put- ting them together is favorable to the former, it is attended some- times with fatal and, nearly always, injurious results to the latter. It is better in raising a family of children to preserve in health a rugged child, even if its puny brothers and sisters die, than to distribute his full measure of vitality among half a dozen, and thus place him on a debilitated level with the whole. If, however, there be only one or two sickly ones in a large family of children, it may be an act of mercy to put them with the healthy group, for if the stock of health held by the rugged young members is fully average, they may bring the weakly ones up to their standard of health without perceptibly | lowering their own. A group of vigorous children may also bring in from their out of door plays a surplus of vitality, which they may benefioially impcrt to a brother or sister confined to the sick-room. But in any family, unless a stock of health predominates among the children, the sickly ones will bring the more rugged ones down to ' their physical level unless parents exercise great care. ! Masturbation, or self-pollution, is a prevalent vice among both children and youth. The amative passions prematurely developed by stim dating diet, importune gratification which cannot be granted in the manner prescribed by nature, because marriage is an institu- tion fitted only for adults. Ignorant of the physiological effects of resorting to artificial means, and goaded to desperation by the peru- sal of popular romances, the unsophisticated youth falls an easy victim to a habit which taps the very fountains of nervo-vitality, and drains from the blood all its purest and most strengthening qualities. It has always seemed surprising to me how many parents $l}owitheir tables and book-shelves to become loaded witb> yellow* 138 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. covered, or equally pernicious literature, while they carefully ex- elude every book which treats on physiological matters. If Mr. Beelzebub should write out a prescription for the destruction of young men and women, and in its punctuation use a grave for a period, its adoption could prove no more fatal than has the prescrip- tion of civilization. Am I asked what this is ? Then I will tell you. In utero-life, before the child has breathed the atmosphere of this world, the treatment begins. Excessive venery between the parents imparts to the unborn child a too great preponderance of the animal organs. After its birth, this excess continues, and, through the milk which it sucks from its mother's breast, these organs derive immoderate nourishment. Before the natural fount- ains are dried up, animal broths are introduced into its active little stomach, and ere it reaches the age of three years, it daily gluts itself with the diet of a full-grown man. Coffee and steak for a three year old child! Next, it is taught to read, and at the age of ten or fourteen years, while it feeds its stomach with highly seasoned meats and drinks, it quenches its mental appetite with fictitious romances. Is it strange then, that masturbation is a prevalent vice ? Some may think it is not. This only proves lack of opportunities for observation, and want of ability to detect its effects upon those given to it. Five children in every ten over twelve years of age bear the marks which this disgusting vice stamps on the countenances of its victims. Chil- dren of both sexes are included in this estimate, although the evil is not so prevalent with girls as with boys. Should I speak of boys only, I would say seven of every ten were addicted more or less to it. The fatal consequences of masturbation are painfully apparent to every physician having a large professional correspondence, or an extensive practice in those diseases termed chronic. The habit acts slowly, but powerfully, in destroying the harmony of the nervous system, vitiating the blood, producing, ultimately, a great variety of diseases, according to the idiosyncrasies of its slaves, but more com- monly, consumption, mental depression, and insanity. I am daily written to by invalids in all parts of the country, who freely con- fess the cause which led to their ill health. I am also often called upon by persons of both sexes affeoted with diseases which I see, at a glance, are the direct or indirect products of the habit of self-pollu- tion. Some candidly confess it at the outset; others stoutly deny it at first, but generally, the truth finally comes out by confession or BAD HABITS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH. 139 detection. Parents always (and very naturally) dislike to believe their children addicted to the vice. I was once called upon by a clergyman desiring to consult me about the illness of his daughter. I will not state when or where, or the nature of the difficulty with which his daughter was afflicted, as all consultations must be treated confidentially, and nothing be said by the physician to identify a patient alluded to by way of illustration. Suffice it to say, she was a pretty, blooming girl of education and refinement, with no mark of disease excepting one, and that was the result of nervous derange- ments, induced, as I readily perceived, by the unfortunate habit under consideration. My first thought was to communicate with her mother, but on inquiry, I found that she was deceased. On com- municating my convictions to the father, he exhibited considerable indignation, and said that he knew better. I finally prevailed on him to present the matter to his daughter, and she became overwhelmed with mortification, and solemnly protested her innocence. The father censured me for my alleged erroneous and hasty diagnosis, and left my office, feeling himself aggrieved, and his daughter's sen- sibility outraged. But what better could I have done ? Here was a disease produced and perpetuated by the habit of masturbation. All the medical skill in the world could not cure her, if she were not in- formed of the fact, and the habit discontinued. Not many weeks passed before my course was vindicated. The father called again, made humble apology, said the daughter's remorse for having told a falsehood had rendered her sleepless. She had confessed that I was right, and admitted that her indulgence was frequent. The result rewarded me for the course I pursued, for she gave up the habit, and recovered her health completely. The object of this illustration is to show how parents may be deceived, and how the protestations of a child in these matters cannot always be relied upon. To show how enslaved a child may sometimes become to the habit, and how unable to relinquish it after its health-destroying consequences are discovered, a more appalling story may be related of a young man who fell into the vice. He consulted me at about the age of nineteen years, after he had become entirely impotent. At a very early age he commenced the habit of masturbation, and at fourteen, by some means, became aware of its injurious effects. He tried repeatedly to abandon the habit, but resolution was weak- ened by the effects the yice had produced upon his mind, and. after HO CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. many attempts, and as many failures, he actually tried to castrate himself with a jack-knife. He succeeded in removing one of the testicles, but nearly bleeding to death, and fearing to make a confi- dant of any one, he desisted from completing the operation, and his habit continued to enslave him till he became impotent physically, and wretched mentally. In this condition, after having read some of my publications, he sought rny advice, and confided to me what, if his parents bad discharged their duty, would have been confided to them before he became such a wreck, if, indeed, under such cir- cumstances, he would have contracted the destructive habit. If it were necessary, I could fill this volume with harrowing narrations of those who have consulted me in relation to diseases induced by solitary vice, but I trust what has been already related will suffice to make parents watchful. And let me advise young people of both sexes, struggling to overcome the habit, and suffering physically and mentally from its effects, to make confidants of their parents, if the latter have not made themselves unapproachable by their children, or, failing in courage to do this, to present their cases to some reliable physician. Although physiological works generally fail to explain the reason why masturbation is worse in its consequences than sexual indul- gence, most of them are good for something, because they serve as a warning to thoughtless youth. I have never, as yet, read a physio- logical or medical work, which exhibited the real difference between the effects of self-pollution and those of sexual intercourse. In fact, many young people, who have studied the writings of medical men considerably, have asked me why masturbation moderately indulged in is any more injurious than a natural gratification of the passions. This work shall not be incomplete in this particular; it shall not only sound in the young ear the tocsin of alarm, but give philo- sophical reasons why the former is positively deleterious, and the latter, in a measure, beneficial. Such an explanation, however, is reserved for Part Third, in which all matters pertaining to the ama- tive passion and sexuality will be thoroughly discussed. Let all of both sexes, old and young, read it, for no one should hesitate to obey the injunction—" know thyself," The juvenile feat of standing on the head, is quite extensively practised by school-boys without a knowledge of the injurious effects. J fcaye seen urchins remain in W Inverted position tUl tb? BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD 14] blood appeared as if ready to gUsh. out of their eyes and cheeks. One case of immediate death from this cause Was lately given in an Illinois paper. The effect of the exploit is to impair the cirdtilatioti of both the blood and nervous fluids^ and congest the brain. Ott a par with this exercise, is that of turning around sufficient to becottle dizzy and fall down. Little girls are most addicted to this practice. It is injurious to the optic nerve, which is irritated by the sudden changes of objects passing before it, and also to the brain, whose function of distributing nervo-electricity to the system is partially suspended. A rapid spiral motion, in brief, tends to destroy the general harmony of the animal functions. School-teachers should have an eye to their pupils out of as well as in school, and discourage all practices so obviously injurious. To make healthy men and women, an entire revolution is neces- sary in the training of children. Very few girls and boys, now-a- days, bloom into womanhood and manhood with healthy physical organizations. Some of the causes are indicated in what has been said in this essay. The principal errors in their training have been briefly alluded to, and a thousand minor ones cannot fail to suggest themselves to the experienced mother. Bad Habits of Manhood and Womanhood. It is a trite adage that " man is a creature of habit." Indeed, every man, woman, and child has habits of some kind, and nearly every person is addicted to what are called bad habits to some extent. It is a good habit to speak well of your neighbor, instead of Baying hard things about him, even when he provokes you. It is a good habit to " do unto others, as you would have others do to you." It is a good habit to preserve personal cleanliness inside and out, by keep- ing the outer skin or cuticle free from all obstructing accumulations and excretions, and the inside skin, or mucous membrane, uncontammuted by noxious vapors, poison- ous drinks, unwholesome food, excrementi- tious engorgements, and vitiated secretions. SMOKING AND 8NTTFFINS. 142 Causes oF nervous and BLOOD derangements'. Every practice, indeed, which makes the conscience clearer, the mind happier, and the functions of the whole system more regular and thorough in their performance, may be put down as a good habit, and every practice producing an opposite effect maybe denounced as a bad habit. It should also be borne in mind that what we may indulge in, or pursue occasionally with benefit, may injure us if it become a, habit, and that self-deception is easy if wilful ignorance is encour- FIEST LESSON IN SMOKING. One of the most prevalent of bad habits is the use of tobaccoi This poisonous weed is extensively used by nearly every community of people under the sun. In New York City alone there are about two hundred thousand smokers, and nearly as many chewers of tobacco, to say nothing of snuff-takers. It is estimated that its citizens spend daily over ten thousand dollars for cigars, and less than nine thousand dollars for bread. The Europeans, and the present white inhabitants of this continent, borrowed the habit of bad habits of manhood and womanhood. 143 smoking of the aborigines of America, and the Asiatics somehow or other got hold of the trick themselves. Many fashionable ladies on both sides of the Atlantic smoke their cigarettes, and a cigar dealer in Boston makes the astounding announcement that he sells an average of three hundred cigars daily for the use of the fair ones of New England. According to Johnson, every female in the big empire of China, "from the age of eight or nine, wears as an append- age in her dress a small silken pocket, to hold tobacco and a pipe." The Japanese also smoke, women as well as men. A majority of men all over the world smoke, or chew, and not a few boys follow their illustrious example. The poet, Milton, was a moderate smoker, and Lamb, at one time, carried smoking to a great excess. The latter in a letter to Wordsworth, said: " Tobacco has been my evening comfort and morning curse for these five years." The great preacher Robert Hali claimed to have adopted the habit of smoking to qualify himself for the society of a certain Doctor of Divinity (!) and finally he became so much of a slave to it, he found himself unable to over- come it. He thanked somebody who was trying to reform him for Adam Clarke's pamphlet on "The Use and Abuse of Tobacco," followed with the exclamation—" I cannot refute his argument, and I cannot give up smoking!" A friend one day accosted him with— " Ah ! I find you again at your idol!" Whereupon Hall responded— "Yes! burning it!" Sir Walter Raleigh, who first appeared in England with a pipe of tobacco in his mouth, was said to have had a bucket of water thrown on him by his servant, who, seeing the smoke issuing from his mouth, supposed him to be on fire. In portions of the Southern States, a practice called " dipping " is indulged in to a disgusting extent among women. A little mop is made, by mashing the end of a stick of pine, or some other soft wood, and with this instrument snuff is rubbed sometimes for hours at a time on the lips, teeth, and gums. A young miss in Arkansas died from the effects of snuff-dipping, she having fallen asleep with a mop in her mouth. "A post-mortem examination," remarked the news- paper, "revealed the fact that she had swallowed the juice contain- ing a large quantity of nicotin, which is a deadly poison. Her lips, cheeks, and breast, were smeared with the foul stuff in her dying struggles alone in her room." This is shocking, to be sure; but many ladies and some gentlemen, who would be shocked to hear of a friend having contracted the habit of snuff-dipping, may be 144 causes oe nervous and blood derangements. caught snuffing powdered tobacco into their noses, if you watch them closely. By some microscopic distinction, not perceptible from a physiological stand-point, snuff-taking Is considered more respectable than snuff-dipping, and yet, many American ladies, moving in fashion- able society, are confirmed snuff-dippers. The gentleman who solaces himself with a fine Havana cigar, considers snuff-dipping and snuff-taking detestable—cannot imagine what makes women do such disgusting things! Meanwhile, another individual with a streak of tobacco juice in the corners of his lips, intrudes his presence, and argues (really with truth) that his habit is not so injurious as that of the smoker! Now, the long and short of the whole matter is this: tobacco is a medicinal plant, just as much as belladonna, stramonium, hyoscyamus, etc., all of which belong to the same order, and should not be indulged in by healthy persons any more than cathartics and emetics. It is a very active narcotic and sternutatory, and should only be used by neuralgic and catarrhal invalids, or those troubled with constipation, and then only for a limited time, and by the direction of a physician. Its habitual use by healthy people, is attended with injury to the nerves and blood. The poisonous properties of tobacco are forcibly exhibited in the following extracts from a little work by Dr. Alcott, and from other publications. " By the ordinary process of distillation, an alkaline principle in email quantity is obtained, called by chemists 'nicotin,' as well as an oily substance called 'nicotianine.' A drop of either of these, but especially of the former, is found sufficient to destroy life in a dog of moderate size; and two drops destroy the largest and most fierce. Small birds perish at tho bare approach of a small tube holding it. " There is another oil procured from tobacco, by distilling it at a temperature above that of boiling water, called empyreumatic oil. It is of a dark brown color and has a smell exactly like that of old and strong tobacco pipes. A drop of it forced into the lower portion of the intestine of a cat, causes death, in most instances, in about five minutes ; and two drops, applied in the same way to a dog, are often followed by a similar result. "The experiments on which these conclusions are based, have been repeated and verified, in this country, by Dr. Mussey. His sub- jects were dogs, squirrels, cats, and mice. The following are among the most important of his experiments:—. " Two drops of oil of tobacco, placed on the tongue, were sufficient bad habits of manhood and womajshood. 145 to destroy life in cats which had been brought up, as it were, in the midst of tobacco smoke, in three or four minutes. Three drops rub- bed on the tongue of a full-sized young cat, killed it in less than three minutes. One drop destroyed a half-grown cat in five minutes. Two drops on the tongue of a red squirrel, destroyed it in one minute. A small puncture made in the tip of the nose with a surgeon's needle, bedewed with the oil of tobacco, caused death in six minutes." " Life Illustrated " says,—" There is infinitely more poison in one package of tobacco than in the tin foil that surrounds hundreds. If anybody doubts it, let him but hold a sheet of white paper in the smoke that curls up from burning tobacco, and after a pipeful, or a cigar has been devoured, scrape the condensed smoke from the paper, and put a very small amount on the tongue of a cat, and he will see her die by strokes of paralysis in fifteen minutes." Mr. Barrow, the African traveller, assures us that the Hottentots use this plant for destroying snakes. " A Hottentot," says he, " applied some of it from the short end of his wooden pipe, to the mouth ot the snake while darting out his tongue. The effect was as instanta- neous as that of an electric shock. With a momentary convulsive motion, the snake half twisted itself, and never stirred more; and its muscles were so contracted that the whole animal felt as hard and rigid as if dried in the sun." " The tea of twenty or thirty grains of tobacco," says Dr. Mussey, " introduced into the human body for the purpose of relieving spasm, lias been known repeatedly to destroy life." Dr. Rush says, that even when used in moderation, "tobacco causes dyspepsia, headache, tremors, vertigo, and epilepsy." " It produces," he again says, " many of those diseases which are supposed to be seated in the nerves." "I once lost a young man," he adds, " seventeen years of age, of pulmonary consumption, whose disorder was brought on by intemperate use of cigars." All empyreumatic substances impair digestion by interfering with the action of the animal matter, the pepsin, which is the principal solvent agent of the gastric juice. Bishop Ames, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, one time ex- pressed to the New England Conference his opinion that a large portion of the funds for superannuated preachers is paid to men mentally and physically disqualified by the use of tobacco. Dr. Woodward, after presenting a long array of facts showing the 7 146 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. tendency of tobacco to produce disease—apoplexy, aphony, hypo chondria, consumption, epilepsy, headache, tremors, vertigo, dyspep- sia, cancer, and insanity—concludes with the following inquiry:— " Who can doubt that tobacco, in each of the various ways in which It has been customarily used, has destroyed more lives, and broken down the health of more useful members of society, than have been sufferers from the complaint in question (bronchitis), up to the pres- ent time, or than ever will be hereafter?" Prof. Silliman mentions an affecting case of a young student in Yale College, who fell a victim to tobacco. "He entered," says he, " with an athletic frame ; but he acquired the habit of using tobacco, and would sit and smoke whole hours together. His friends tried to persuade him to quit the practice, but he loved his lust, and would have it, live or die,—the consequence of which was, he went down to the grave a suicide." Prof. S. mentions also the case of another young man, in the same institution, who was sacrificed by the same poisonous weed. Prof. Pond, of the Bangor Theological Seminary, relates one or two similar cases of students whom he knew at Ando- ver and elsewhere. A distinguished medical man at Brighton, England, has given a list of sixteen cases of paralysis produced by smoking, which came to his own knowledge within the brief period of six months. AU that one may read of the fatal effects of a few drops of nico- tine on animals, or the testimony of doctors and professors concern- ing the depressing, even paralyzing, effects of tobacco on boys and men, when used continuously or in excess, cannot so profoundly impress anyone of the evil as personal experience. The writer will never forget the night he spent in watching at the bedside of a man who should have been "in the prime of life," but who lay prostrate, almost totally paralyzed, from excessive use of tobacco. Other- wise his habits had not been far from right, but he was so saturated with tobacco poison that it not only stained his skin, but it soaked deeply into the nerve centres themselves until the paralysis became general, and extended to the heart, causing death. Our Home Jour- nal has gathered and contributes the following facts in regard to tobacco: "One of the members of the French Academy of Medi- cine, in a very elaborate paper, drawn up with great care, asserts that 'statistics show that in exact proportion with the increased consumption of tobacco by its habitues is the increase of dis- BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 147 ease in the nervous centres (insanity, general paralysis, paraplegia). and certain cancerous affections.' It may be said in reply, that the Turks, Greeks, and Hungarians are inveterate smokers, and yet are little affected by these nervous diseases. But M. Jolly accounts for their exemption by the fact that the tobacco used by them is of a much milder form,containing slight proportions of nicotine,and sometimes none at all. Excessive indulgence therefore, does no harm in this direction; and no case of general or progressive paralysis has been discovered in the East,where this mild tobacco is in use. M. Moscan says : ' The cause is plain enough, and evidently physiological. In all the regions of the Levant they do not intoxicate themselves with nicotine or alcohol: but saturate themselves with opium and perfumes, sleeping away their time in torpor, indolence, and sen- suality. They narcotize, but do not nicotize themselves, and if opium, as has been said, is the poison of the intellect of the East, tobacco may one day in the West prove the poison of life itself. It is the nicotine, in the stronger tobacco used in England, France, and the United States, which proves so pernicious, and the French physicians hold that paralysis is making rapid advance under the abuse of alcohol and tobacco.'" The German physicians state in their periodicals that, of the deaths occuring among men in that country, between eighteen and thirty-five years of age, one-half die from the effects of smoking. They unequivocaUy assert, that " tobacco burns out the blood, the teeth, the eyes, and the brain." It has been observed, that the manu- facturers of this article carry pale, ghastly countenances; and it is also said that few of them live to old age. Agriculturists say that it soon poisons the soil on which it grows, or rather that it impover- ishes the soil more than any other plant in the vegetable kingdom. All the foregoing facts have been gathered up from various sour- ces, and enough more might be presented to fill a volume like this. But there is one difficulty induced by tobacco which I have not seen other medical writers advert to. Tobacco is the cause of impotency among men. All violations of the laws of health exhibit their effects first upon the weakest parts of the system. Every individual has some part less able to resist disease than another, and as the procreative system, from childhood to age, is usually more abused than any other, not excepting that ever-to-be-pittied organ, the poor stomach, it is more liable than any other portion of the human ma- DEFECTIVE STICKS. 1*8 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS, chinery to suffer from the nerve-destroying effects of tobacco. To illustrate this proposition, let me give yott in Fig. 44 a picture of three sticks of wood hav- Flg 44, ing weak points. The one marked a ha3 a knot in its centre. A strain coming upon the stick will mani- festly break it in two in the middle ; b has a worm-hole near the right end, and any child would say that in bending it, if it breaks, it will give way where the worm has punctured it; c has been whittled down pretty small to the left, and here it will break when any pressure \s placed upon it. Now we will call a a man with weakened procrea- tive organs, b a person with a weak stomach, c an individual with contracted chest and weak lungs. The gradual use of tobacco will make a impotent, b a melancholy dyspeptic, c a victim to consump- tion. But, as before remarked, more have abused or neglected the organs of generation than have even injured the stomach, or lungs, and consequently, it is no uncommon thing for the physician to be called upon by athletic-looking smokers, chewers, or snuffers, who com- plain that they have lost all power in the genital organs. The effect tobacco had produced in these cases is made still more apparent when the reader remembers the paralyzing properties of the plant. Then again, let young men remember that in addition to impotency often resulting from the habitual use of tobacco, the beau- ty of the face is impaired by it. The " Scalpel" has presented this fact in language which I cannot do better than quote here: " Both Bmoking and chewing," remarks the editor, "produce marked alterations in the most expressive features of the face. The lips are closed by a circular muscle which completely surrounds them, and forms their plumpy fulness. Now every muscle of the body i9 developed in precise ratio with its use, as most young men know— they endeavor to develop their muscle in the gymnasium. In spit- ting, and holding the cigar in the mouth, the muscle is in constant uae; hence the coarse appearance and irregular development of the BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 149 lips, when compared to the rest of the features, in chewers and smokers." It is not pleasant to think of becoming impotent and ugly, and still it is a more alarming reflection that so many people are poisoning themselves. In some countries Indian hemp is the fashionable poison, in others the betel nut, and to sum up all, there are about three hundred rail- lions of opium-eaters! Verily, it seems as if mankind were univer- sally bent on self-destruction, and that those who put the razor to the throat are the impatient few who cannot await the gradual results of the popular methods of suicide. The prevalence and fatal consequences of intemperance in the use of ardent spirits have been fully considered under the head of " The Liquids we Drink;" likewise the injurious results of excessive meat- eating under the caption of "The Food we Eat." It is only neces- sary to advert to them in this place, in order to remind the reader that there are other popular habits, equally as destructive to health as the use of tobacco. It is a peculiarity of human nature " not to see ourselves as others see us," and frequently the tobacco-chewer will upbraid his brother for drinking, and vice versa, and the exces- sive meat-eater moralize on both of these practices, while the pork- eater considers himself the very paragon of sobriety and Christianity. Probably two-thirds of the temperance philanthropists who are mak- ing such strenuous efforts to put down the rumsellers, are themselves constant patrons of the hog-butcher, and do not dream that they are inconsistent. By eating distillery-fed pork, they actually consume second-hand liquor, or in other words, eat it after the hogs have drank it, and still they would religiously refuse a piece of mince pie which was known to contain brandy. Now, my object in writing thus, is not to throw ridicule upon the philanthropic movements of the day, but rather to suggest for them a wider scope. Bad habits in dress have been investigated under the head of " The Clothes we Wear," but as I declined in that place to treat of the evils of tight lacing, I will devote a little space to them here, inasmuch aa it is a practice more destructive to health and longevity in fashionable circles than tobacco-chewing, liquor-drinking, or pork-eating. The ladies who " will not put their arms through rum-jugs" (as some have appropriately termed the elbows of liquor topers), must net 150 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. consider themselves immaculate, which they may be inclined to do, if one of their iniquitous habits is not exposed in this connection. One of the most injuri- ous effects of tight lacing can be seen in noticing the peculiar office of the diaphragm as represent- ed in Fig. 45; d d exhibit the diaphragm, and m m M the abdominal mus- cles. The first view rep- resents the diaphragm as it appears when air is inhaled, the other as when the air is expelled. The diaphragm rises and falls to aid the lungs in inhaling vital air, and exhaling that which has been deprived of its elec- tric property and loaded with animal effluvia. How common it is for women to complain of shortness of breath ! Strange it is that they do not know the cause, when they compress the chest so tight that the free action of the diaphragm is interrupted. Of the many thousand ladies whose lungs I have examined, at least seventy-five per cent, of them could expand the upper parts of their chest from one to three inches, by tape measurement, while the expansive powers of the lower portions were often less than half an inch, and seldom exceeded one. In those persons who have not habituated themselves to the wearing of tight clothes, the expansive power of the upper and lower portions of their lungs varies only about a quarter to half an inch, whereas, in fashionable ladies, it almost invariably varies from one to three inches. Any woman can try this experiment and oonvince herself,' with a tape measure, placing it first around the chest immediately under the arms, and then to th« lower extremity of the lungs. The experimenter, after adjusting the tape, should exhaust the air from the lungs and then draw the tape iwolosely as possible; then inhale, gradually allowing the tape to slip POSITIONS OF THE DIAl'ilKAG.M. BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 151 through the fingers until the lungs are swelled out to their utmost capacity. The figures on the tape generally give a result which will convince the fair experimenter that she has been from childhood a constant violator of nature's laws. The disturbance of the functions of the diaphragm is by no means the only evil of tight lacing. The circulation of the blood and the electrical radiations are impeded.thereby, in addition to which there is a still greater and more alarming evil. I allude to the pressure which is thrown upon the bowels, and from the bowels upon the womb. The peculiar organization of woman renders the practice tenfold more injurious to her than it would be to the male. The shocking prevalence of prolapsus uteri, commonly termed falling of the womb, is greatly owing to the pernicious practice of tight lacing. The greatest mystery tome is that women lace at all. A majority of them who do are members of Christian churches, and are instructed weekly from the pulpit that the works of God are perfect; do they then mean to willfully insult the wisdom of their Creator by attempt- ing to improve upon them? Now this question is a poser to those who belong to the Church of Christ, but as a faithful physiologist I am in duty bound to ask it. The fact is, it is a mistaken notion that wasp waists are pretty. They look perfectly horrible! I would rather see a woman's wraist as big round as a bushel basket than to Bee it contracted to a size a trifle larger than the neck. I am glad to see that many of the ladies themselves are beginning to regard Bmall waists as physical deformities. One of them, a Mrs. Merrifield, speaks right out as follows:— " The very expression ' a small waist' implies a disproportion. A small waist is too small for the general size of the figure to which it belongs, just as a low-pitched room or a narrow room is too low or too narrow in proportion to its height. A well-proportioned room has none of these defects, and the waist of a well-proportioned per- son should be in harmony with the other parts of the figure. "The ancients do not appear to have recognized the virtue of small waists; and a modern lady would be in agony if her waist were of the proportional dimensions of those of some antique statues. The celebrated Venus de Medicis—' the bending statue that enchants the world'—has what would, at the present time, be called a large waist; yet modern connoisseurs and artists have unanimously de« 152 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. ciared that this is the most perfect female form which the art of ancient or modern times has transmitted to us. They commend, noj only the faultless shape of each part, but the admirable proportion of one part to another. Let us devote a short space to a few observa tions relative to the dimensions of the waist of this figure. Fig. 46. Fig. 47. A CONTRACTED WAIST. H NATURAL WAIST. "The Venus has been frequently measured, and with great accu- racy, by artists; but the view taken is a painter's view ot a flat instead of a round surface; consequently, instead of the whole cir- cumference of the waist, we have only its breadth from side to side, and from back to front. " The whole figure is divided into seven heads and three-quarter parts; each head into four parts, and each part into twelve minims. The diameter of the waist from side to side is one head (or four parts) and eight minims, or nearly one-seventh of the entire height; the diameter from front to back is only three parts and soven minims: it is, therefore, nearly one-fourth longer in one direction than the other. This is the first point in which fashion is at variance with the finest forms of nature and art. Fashion requires that the waist shall be round instead of oval, and she attains her object by compressing the lower ribs? which are forced closer together, To such an e*tqat ij BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 1,1;.! this constriction sometimes carried, that the impression of the ribs is left permanently upon the liver. Fig. 48. FRAGMENT OP ANCIENT (GREEK) MARBLE STATUE OP VENUS, PRESERVED IN NAPLES MUSEUM, ILLUSTRATING DUE PROPORTIONS OP WAIST IN AN IDEAL FEMALE PORM. " But it is not sufficient that the waist should bear a due propor- tion to the height, it must also be proportioned to the breadth of the shoulders. Now, the Venus is just two heads, three parts, and eight 7* 154 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMEtfT& minims across the shoulders—exactly half a head more than the diameter of her waist from side to side. When, therefore, there is more or less than half a head proportionate difference between the breadth across the shoulders and the waist, the figure is deficient in just proportion. It is to be observed that some individuals are tall and slight, others short and broad; "in all cases, however, there must be a corresponding agreement between the breadth of the shoulders and that of the waist. " As we know the two diameters of the waist, we are able to cal- culate the circumference, which is equal to three heads and four min- ims, or somewhat more than two-fifths of the entire height. We shall assume this approximation to be correct. Now, the real height of the Venus de Medicis being four feet, eleven inches, and two lines, and her proportionate height seven and three-quarter heads, the pro- portionate circumference of her waist, being three heads and four minims, is equal to twenty-four inches, eight minims, more than two-fifths. It may be considered, then, that a well-proportioned waist should be at least two-fifths of the height of the figure: what- ever is smaller than this, is disproportioned. According to this scale, therefore, the waist of a person five feet three inches high should not be less than twenty-five and a quarter inches; of five feet five inches, twenty-six inches; of five feet seven inches, twenty-six and three- quarter inches; of five feet eight inches, twenty-seven and a quarter inches. " We have heard of a young lady of the middle height,«or perhaps somewhat under that standard, who found fault with her stay-maker for having made her stays nineteen inches round the waist, when she knew that the young lady's measure was eighteen inches! Eighteen inches! According to scale of two-fifths of the entire stature, which, as we have seen, is under the mark, the height of a young lady whose waist did not exceed eighteen inches, should have been three feet nine inches !—the height of a child, with the proportionate of a woman. "Enough has been said," concludes Mrs. M., "to convince our readers that a very small waist i3 a defect rather than a beauty, and nothing can be truly beautiful which is out of proportion. Would that we could also convince them that they cannot possess an excessively small waist without the certain sacrifice of their health!" bad Habits of manhood and Womanhood. 155 Would that the female portions of civilized society were made up of Mrs. Merrifields, and my word for it, men would have merrier and more beautiful wives, and healthier children. I have never had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Merrifield, and know not if she is pretty or ugly, but if, by any possibility, she be the latter, her offspring cannot fail to be both handsome and healthy, as a reward to the mother for her obedience to nature's laws. In the next place I should treat of some of the pernicious habits of married people, in their private relations, were it not for the fact that extended remarks on these will be given in Part Third. They might with propriety be introduced here, for they are common causes of nervous and blood derangements. But the consideration of all matters relating to marriage, its excesses, etc., will be deferred for the place specified. There is one habit growing with fatal rapidity in the United States, which demands the criticism of the physiologist, and that is medicine-taking. The country is flooded with patent medicines, and every village store has shelves appropriated to the display of this kind of semi-apothecary merchandise. If they would remain shelved no injury could ensue from their preparation; but, unfortunately, there is a ready market for them, as is evinced by the rapid accumu- lation of wealth by those who manufacture them. The origin of each one of these medicines is something like this: Mr. Unfortunate has a wife or other relative sick with consumption; he tries every thing and everybody with little or no success; finally he resorts to something which his own fertile brain suggests, and, astonishing to say, the invalid actually recovers. The surprised discoverer at once thinks he has found an infallible remedy for consumption, and the bottle-maker and the printer at once receive stupendous jobs—the former to make some quart bottles with a jaw-breaking name blown in one or all sides, the latter to get up labels and flaming posters. He is received at once by credulous invalids as a great benefactor, and by the old-school doctors and "knowing ones," as a huge hum- bug. But, reader, he is neither of these two—only a mistaken man. He does not understand the law of temperaments. Many physicians do not. I might say further: the majority of the medical profession do not 156 CAUSES 0E NERVOUS AND • BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Notwithstanding the adage " what is cure for one is poison for another," has become trite from daily repetition, its true import ia not comprehended. It should be understood, that every variety of temperament denotes as many varieties of human beings, the same as the leaves and bark of trees indicate different varieties of trees. For this reason a medical man or a discoverer of patent medicine should not give to a black-haired, brown-complexioned man the same medicine which has cured a light-haired and fair-complexioned indi- vidual, even if his disease is the same. It is plain that patent medicines must act upon the principle of "kill or cure." They are absolutely dangerous, and the amount of mischief they are doing is incalculable. Many an invalid is rendered hopelessly incurable by experimenting with these nostrums before consulting a skillful physician. I have frequently been called upon by poor emaciated creatures who have swallowed forty or fifty bottles of different panaceas. If their cases are at all curable, a great deal has to be undone before any relief can be administered. If people would exercise half as much discrimination in dosing as they do in many other things of less importance, patent medicines would be robbed of half their power to harm. They understand why Parson A's coat will not fit Oapt. B's back—why the pretty dark dress of blue-eyed Mary does not become "black-eyed Susan," and why a hymn in long metre does not sound well to a tune of short metre, but it does not occur to them that the rule of adaptation extends equally to medicine. Let it be understood, then, that differ- ence in form, size, and complexion, indicates difference in tempera- ment, and that difference in temperament indicates difference in con- stitutional peculiarity. Next we arrive at the irresistible inference that what is beneficial to a man of a nervous temperament may be in- jurious to one of a bilious temperament, etc. The intelligent farmer understands the temperaments of soils, and throws on such manure as they require. On soil deficient of alkali he strews ashes of lime; on that deficient of ammonia, the gleanings of the stable, etc. A ma- jority of intelligent physicians do not understand the laws of tempera- ment, and such not unfrequently have to bear the name of "kill or cure doctors," and such they manifestly are. In medicating, however, not only temperaments, but complication* must be considered. The organ has many stops, as they are called by the musician, and one drawn out, or another pressed in, modifies BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 157 or changes the whole tone of the instrument. By changing the posi- tion of these numerous stops, all sorts of variations in tone may be produced. Now the human system is likewise full of its little stops. Every organ of the body has its stops, and all these must be consid- ered by the intelligent physician before he administers medicine, and the medicine must be prepared to suit the complications. If it is not, it will, while benefiting one difficulty, aggravate another, and the unlucky invalid finds relief in one organ, or one organ stop, at the expense of one, or may be all, of the rest. It is for the purpose of thoroughly understanding" any case presented by letter, that the " Questions to Invalids " presented in another place in this book, are so impertinently inquisitive. It will be seen by the preceding that while those who buy and take patent medicines are often ingloriously humbugged, the manu- facturers are by no means in all instances humbugs. Many honest men and women think they are doing a great amount of good in the world by compounding and selling "one-cure-alls." Their error lies in the head, and not in the heart. Patent-medicine eaters and drinkers should, therefore, be careful what they put down, and take nothing in the form of medicine unless necessary. It is said that there is a tombstone in one of the English cemeteries, on which are inscribed the following words:— "I was well, took medicine to feel better, and here am I." There are thousands of tombstones in America which might truthfully bear this same inscription. Arsenic-eating is a habit to which many ladies are addicted for the improvement of their complexions, and the obliteration of the marks of age. So long as our fashionable women are ashamed of old age, and insist on being considered thirty when in fact they are on the shady side of fifty, such desperate remedies for the marks of time will be resorted to by many. Young girls, too, who are willing to sacrifice life itself to look pretty, and especially those who admire "languishing beauties," will continue to eat arsenic, or any other powerful drug, if by the means the complexion may be improved. Until common sense, and the laws of health and life are taught in the family and common schools, it is almost useless for the physician to " croak," as his voice of warning is often called. Turning night into day is an injurious and prevalent custom, par- 158 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. ticularly in fashionable life. Observation and experience have taught almost every one of adult age, that the habit is destructive to the nervous system, but these teachers often fail to improve any one in the absence of testimony founded on philosophy. I have looked in vain in the writings of medical men and physiologists for any rational reason why man should lie down at night and rise with the sun. The effects of the non-observance of this hygienic rule are plainly exhibited by many popular medical authors, but frequently not so forcibly in their literary productions on the subject as in their own faces, which betray the secret that the physiological teacher does not always practise what he preaches. Such is the happy predominance of the social faculties in the best classes of human beings, the social circle is more attractive than the embrace of Morpheus, and most persons are ready to attribute the injurious physical effects of unseasonable hours for rest, to any other cause than the true one. There is, therefore, great need of new light on this subject—something which will appeal to the reason of men, and demonstrate the fact that one hour of sleep at night is worth more than three after the sun has risen. From the investiga- tions I have made, I have come to the conclusion that during the day the magnetic or electric currents from th» sun predominate, and descending perpendicularly or obliquely the upright body is brought in harmony with the descending currents ; while at night the magnetic or electric currents of the earth predominate, and flow from north to south horizontally, in consequence of which the human body should be in a recumbent position, with head to the north, in order to pre- serve the harmonious circulation of the nervo-electric fluids. That this hypothesis will be favorably received by those who have had much experience as electrical therapeutists, I am confident; for all who understand the proper application of electricity, know that, with few exceptions, the electrical currents from the machine must be passed from the positive to the negative in the directions which the nerves ramify. This being the case, ought not the electrical currents from the sun during the day, and those of fche earth from north to south during the night, be made to observe the same rule by a conformity of the position of the body to them ? In applying the galvanic battery, if the electrical currents are passed contrary to the nervous ramifications, or from their termini to their source—the brain—nervous irritation ensues, and the patient is rendered more BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 159 nervous. Such it seems to me, must also be the result of a non- conformity to the directions of the currents of the earth and sun. In fact, we see it exhibited in a majority of those who turn night into day. True, there are a few whose strong nervous organizations appear to resist all such influences, but the continual dropping of water wears away a stone, and these exceptions finally favor the truth of this philosophy. The sun exerts a powerful magnetic influence on the earth, arous- ing all animal life to activity, from the merest insect to the noblest work of God. The fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and all human beings who obey the laws of nature, feel inspired with new life when the golden rays of the rising sun radiate from the east. The activity of the animal fluids increases till he reaches his merid- ian, and then gradually decreases until he sinks to rest in the west. When " old.Sol" retires, the colder magnetic currents of the earth prevail with greater power; animal life becomes more sluggish; the wearied body seeks repose; and the most perfect repose is obtained by reclining in a position consonant with the earth's currents. Fast eating, a universal habit with Anglo-Americans, is highly injurious to the nervous and vascular systems, and induces those conditions in the stomach which usually ultimate in dyspepsia. It is eminently characteristic of the Yankee to do every thing in a hurry. Not satisfied with praying fast, walking fast, working fast, and trav- elling fast, he generally, and that, too, unconsciously, eats fast. His jaws keep time with the locomotive's wheels, and his arms and elbows with the rapid alternate movements of the piston rods. I was once much amused with an illustration an Italian gave of a Yan- kee at a steamboat table. Just previous to the sounding of the din- ner gong, he was descanting most wittily in broken English on the customs of the Americans, and, when dinner was announced, he pro- posed to show how a Yankee enjoyed (?) a good meal. With true Yankee impetuosity he rushed to his seat at the table; knives and forks flew in every direction; one arm shot to the right for one thing, and the other to the left for another; while the fork was per- forming a rapid trip to the mouth, the knife, which had just dis- charged its load, was nervously returning to the plate. A few such spasmodic motions, and impulsive calls to the waiters, ended tho repast, and with a whirl of his chair, he turned almost breathless 160 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. from the table. Nor was his delineation overwrought. I have my. self seen just such spectacles hundreds of times at public tables. At home, at his own table, the Anglo-American is not much more moderate in eating. The mouth is crowded with food, and success- ively washed down with tea, coffee, or some other liquid. Now it is the duty of the physiological writer to admonish the reader of the effects of this habit, and if, after knowing the consequences, it is still persisted in, no one will be in fault but the sufferer, if the worst form of dyspepsia is the result. Fig. 49. THE SALIVARY GLANDS. 1, Parotid gland; 2, its ducts; 3, Submaxillary gland; 4, its ducts; 5, Sublingual gland. The thorough lubrication of the food with saliva is necessary to promote good digestion. Saliva is an alkali, and electrically speak- ing, a negative, while the gastric fluid in the stomach is an acid and a positive. When, therefore, food descends into the stomach, only half masticated, and lubricated with some other fluid than saliva, digestion for some time is almost suspended, because the negative fluid is wanting to attract the immediate action of the positive fluid, and the presence of other liquids tends to dilute and destroy the power of the latter. In addition to this, the. labor of the jaws aad. BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. ]gl teeth is thrown upon the disabled stomach. How 3urely, then, must the electrical or nervous machinery of the digestive apparatus br disturbed. Then, again, food in the stomach, unless at once acted upon by the gastric fluid, commences a process of decomposition and fermentation, by which means the blood also becomes involved in the pernicious results which follow. If a person eats slowly, mas- ticates thoroughly, and omits all drinks, nature furnishes three ot four ounces of salival fluid with which to moisten his food, prepara- tory to its entrance into the stomach. No one requires liquids to drink at the table. This habit is the result of fast eating. The salivary glands cannot furnish lubricating fluids fast enough for the rapid eater, so he depends on artificial liquids, which dilute what little saliva is used as well as the gastric juices. Liquids should never be swallowed till after eating, and then not to the extent that they are usually. Eat slowly, and depend only on the fluid nature furnishes to moisten your food. Still another habit—not, however, peculiar to our fast-living Americans—is that of stuffing the stomach with hearty food on va- rious holiday occasions, when the system does not at all require it. A grand reception is to be given to a live prince, a president, a diplo- mat, a governor, a general, a congressman, or to one of our ever over- fed aldermen. A " big dinner " is gotten up, regardless of expense, and at about twelve o'clock, midnight, all sorts of game, turtle soup, turkey, roast beef, roast pig, lobster salad, and a thousand other things dignified with French names, and well wet down with cham- pagne, etc., etc., are served to a crowd of red-faced gentlemen, whose vascular fluids are already engorged with red corpuscles and with inflammatory properties by over-eating, done on many a previ- ous occasion. And these big dinners are carried home to the bed- ihamber to fill the mangers of night-mares, and feast the hobgob- lins of the night which perch upon the bed-posts, and make the sleeper jump from his disturbed rest whenever the sensitive nerves of the brain are pressed and fired by the inflammatory blood. It is surprising that this gluttony—this making a sewer of the mouth and the oesophagus—this midnight bedaubing of besotted lips, has not made mankind ashamed of the moutb and digestive apparatus, as masturbation and sexual pollution have made them ashamed of the aexual organs, which were created, by (Jod mainly for reproduciioti| 162 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS, as eating was instituted chiefly for the purpose of supporting life. 1 have read of a people, somewhere, who are ashamed to eat in public; every one seeks solitude while partaking of food; and it may be a debauched ancestry led to this peculiar custom. On thanksgiving day,Christmas, and various other holidays, fami- lies get together and abuse their stomachs. Nearly everybody, at such times, eats too much, and does it wilfully; and some eat and drink things on such occasions that are so hurtful to them, that they do not think of touching them at any other time. Now, why eat any more on these days than on any other ? Associate together if you choose — have a good dinner—have some dishes you cannot afford to have every day—let your table literally groan under the load of good things; but why so com- pletely shift the burden as to groan yourselves? Let the table continue to tiiese are rrr for a feast. bear the burden, while you bear away from it no more than you can comfortably carry. As to public dinners, and all meals prepared simply for entertain- ment, why would it not be better to cover the tables with light, delicious food? How beautifully they would look on such occasions,, provided with rustic arbors, entwined by artificial vines, and loaded with real grapes; with baskets of apples here, and oranges there, interpersed with bouquets of natural flowers, filling the room with their delicious fragrance; gotten up, in brief, with a material and taste one meets with at a horticultural fair? How do you suppose the atmosphere of such a feast would seem to a well-fed man, com- pared with that which is loaded with the fumes of onions, and the odor of scorched animal fats? And, if people are not hungry, but eat simply to be sociable, why not nibble grapes, apples, and other wholesome fruits which are light, and easy to digest, whilst toasting and chatting, instead of cramming the stomach at midnight with BAD HABITS OF MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. 163 food only suitable at seasonable hours for that of a man who follows the plough, or bends over the anvil ? The prevalent practices of ban- queting, not only injure the stomach, induce disease, and abbreviate life, but they make wise men talk silly. This nation had a President who filled every office of honor, from that of a mayor of a small city, to the highest place in the gift of the people; but banquets and feasts made this great man talk like the habitue of a common oyster- cellar ! A man of distinction certainly requires a peculiarly organ- ized brain, an enormous stomach, and a discreet tongue, to accept and endure proffered honors. Would it not be better—incomparably better—to never partake of solid, hearty food to a greater extent than is necessary to support life and health, and on all public and festive occasions, when it is proposed to have a "feast of reason and flow of soul," to cover the tables with fruits rather than cooked animals? The demands of the social circle are very different from those of hunger. " Habit is second nature." So says the proverbialist. How important then it is that we should form such habits as will tend to develop physical health and mental vigor, instead of physical decay and mental imbecility. Habit is not acquired in a day—seldom in a year. It creeps upon an individual gradually, and if its effects are disastrous to health and longevity, so imperceptible are the changes it produces in the system from day to day, the victim is seldom aware of the cause of a disease which is developed by it. Experiment has demonstrated that a man may endure, without pain, the heat of an oven hot enough for baking purposes, if he be placed there while the oven is cool, and the heat is slowly raised to the baking point. But does any one believe that a person kept in such a temperature, however comfortable it may become to him, will live as long as if he were surrounded with a temperate atmospheric element ? Dr. Kane, and his gallant band of Arctic navigators, became so habituated to a cold temperature, that they could walk themselves into a comfortable perspiration with the thermometer at forty-two degrees below zero, or seventy-four degrees below the freez- ing point! But their enterprising adventure made sad inroads upon their physical organizations, and the brave commander of the Ameri- can Polar Expedition, with several of his heroic companions, have since paid the forfeit with their live3. Thus we see the flexibility of 164 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. the human body to conform to whatever conditions we force upon it, and we also perceive how fatal to longevity are all deviations from the injunctions of first nature. We may change our natural habits of eating, drinking, sleeping, etc., to some others acquired, as easily as we can accustom our systems to extreme temperatures, and expe- rience no immediate discomfort; but first nature will some time demand a settlement, and second nature will turn bankrupt, throwing the loss upon his superior. Those who strive to save the souls of men counsel all to take a daily retrospect of their conduct, to see if they have violated any moral law. I would also advise a daily retrospect to ascertain if any physical law has been disregarded; for how can the immortal spirit maintain purity and complacency in a corrupt tabernacle? It is also the duty of the Christian mother to watch over the physical as well as moral tendencies of her children, and to train them into habits which will conduce to a healthy corporeal and mental development. Social Magnetism versus Sexual Isolation. Some of my readers who have given little or no attention to the sub- ject of animal magnetism, personal magnetism, individual electricity, etc., as it is variously denominated, will be Fig. 51. startled at the above heading, in the chapter giving some of the principal causes of blood and nervous derangements. Especially, will coarsely made, blustering men, who never deny themselves any indulgence of appetite or passion, and frigid, unsympathetic women, who could live in the Arctic seas on an iso- lated cake of floating ice, turn up their nosea at this new bubble of sickly sentimentality. There are two classes, however, of both sexes, who will instinctively comprehend the subject under consideration before reading any thing more than the caption. One is composed of girls and boys, and women and men, who possess fine sympathetic organizations, easily affected by atmospheric changes, or by social or domestic discord, and whoso condition in life has been such as to cause them to live more or kaa THE ISOLATED GIRL. SEXUAL ISOLATION". 165 Isolated from those of their opposite sex. The other embraces warm- blooded, affectionate, impulsive people of both sexes, who have been compelled by various circumstances to live in sexual isolation. Both of these classes will understand me, and say amen, when I place sexual starvation among the principal causes of derangements of the nervous and vascular systems. There is, throughout all nature, a male and female element, be- tween wrhich there is an irresistible attraction. The observer at once recognizes it so soon as he leaves the mineral kingdom, and the higher he ascends in the vegetable and animal world, the more prominently sexual distinction and attraction present themselves. In the vegetable kingdom, and among the lower orders of animal life, sexual attraction and magnetic interchange find expression only in physical contact for reproduction. Among the higher types of ani- mal life, before reaching the human being, they find expression chiefly in sexual contact, in performing the function of reproduction, but to a moderate degree in physical contact in unimpassioned asso- ciation. When we ascend to the family of mankind, we find speci- mens of low spiritual and mental development, but one remove from the brute creation, who are governed by the instincts of the latter. Above them, we meet men and women with considerable mental and spiritual development, but with a preponderance of the animal organization and impulse, whose sexual attraction leads to considera- ble interchange, socially, but more to the impetuous interchange which characterizes sexual contact. Looking still higher in the family whose members were created in God's image, we find individ- uals of greater moral, mental, and physical perfection, in whom spirituality and mentality predominate over the animal instinct, and among whom sexual attraction leads chiefly to magnetic interchange by social proximity, while direct sexual contact occurs only incident- ally and occasionally, and is in no instance premeditated. In other words, the reservoirs of sexual magnetism in these people are located in the superior brain at the head of the spinal column, among the intellectual and affectional faculties, from which the element radiates diffusively, and envelops the object of attraction, and occasionally extends to, and ignites the magnetic combustible elements below ; and not in the inferior brain, seated between the hips, near the extrem- ity of the spinal column, from which, when so located, the element radiates more intensely, but seldom so diffusively, as to light the i££ CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. fires of the affectional nature above. Tt should be understood in this connection, that the plexus of nerves located near the extremity of the spine is sometimes known by the name of the inferior brain. Looking neither higher nor lower in the mass of humanity, we find a few who possess appaiently no susceptibility to the influence of sexual magnetism. If absolutely none, they are not a whit more celestial than their more susceptible neighbors, and are invariably found on examination, to be diseased specimens, and not a distinct type having healthy physical organizations. If now, reader, you are prepared to dismiss all question as to sexu- al attraction being natural, and to admit that interchange of sexual magnetism is instinctively demanded, you are also prepared for the logical conclusion that sexual association is beneficial, and sexual iso- lation injurious, for nature's laws are imperious. There are two essentials to the immediate support of animal life which are known to all, viz.: air and food. Without the first an individual must perish in a few moments; without the latter, in a limited number of hours. There are four essentials to physical &nL spiritual health which are too seldom recognized, viz.; vital electrical air; food possessing not one, nor two, nor three, of the elements of nutrition, but all the heat-producing and blood-making properties of true aliment; sunlight; sexual magnetism. Especially are the two latter more instinctively and impulsively than intelligently sought after, and a house-builder strains his inventive genius to shut us out from the sunlight, while the conservative tinker of our social insti- tutions labors to isolate the sexes, suppress sexual attraction, and ignore the existence of sexual magnetism. Do some readers inquire why the nervous system requires sexual magnetism to preserve it in health? If so, and you will enter into the mysterious science of life sufficiently to tell me why the nervous system requires sunlight, I will undertake to answer the question propounded. I have no doubt that plausible reasons could be given for both of these necessities with a little reflection, but it is not necessary for the purposes of this essay to enter upon any long-winded theory to account for them. Enough is contained in this essay to lead ir- resistibly to the conclusion, that the sexes cannot maintain perfect health in isolation. Where the isolation is only partially maintained, as in Shaker communities, the effects of sexual starvation are indi- cated. As a body, they look physically dried up. The health of the SEXUAL ISOLATION. 1fi7 women, who the more rigidly and conscientiously carry out the princi- ples of Ann Lee, is, according to the testimony of a seceder, not up to the standard of women outside of their communities; insanity is com- mon among them; and yet among these people, under certain restric- tions, the sexes have times of meeting. In nunneries we meet with the most marked cases of sexual starvation. Nuns are seldom if ever vigorous looking. Even if they are apparently healthy, there is a paleness about them which indicates a deficiency of that magnetic vitality and red corpuscle which give the true indications of health. They may protest that they are healthy, but their countenances tell a different story, especially to the practised eye of a medical man. Only lately, I was called upon by a well-dressed, intelligent-looking woman, having in charge a delicate, bloodless, cadaverous appearing young woman, of about twenty years of age. On examining her ease, I found no indications of organic disease. She seemed to be simply bloodless, and completely wanting in electrical or magnetic vitality. I instinctively diagnosed her case as one of sexual starva- tion, and, turning to the elderly lady, remarked that I should sup- pose this young woman had been carefully restricted to the society of her own sex. What visible effect this announcement had upon the young invalid, I know not, as I was addressing and looking directly at the one who accompanied her, and who appeared for a moment surprised and confused, but finally sufficiently recovered her self-pos- session to remark that her niece had been till very lately for several years in a convent! Now this young woman had on nothing of the dress peculiar to a nun, and I had not even suspected the aunt and niece of being Catholic in their religious proclivities. I simply diag- nosed the case according to its physical aspects, with no word, hint, or suspicion to aid me in forming an opinion. But observation had taught me that such physical prostration is often produced by sexual starvation, and I was convinced it was the cause in this instance, without mistrusting the verdict would receive instant confirmation. My advice was—" Take no medicine—let doctors alone. Go at once into the society of both sexes, encourage the attentions of honorable men, and by social contact draw out of them all the masculine mag- netism yon can." The case cited is not the only one I have examined, coming from convents, giving indications of sexual starvation. I have had also from young ladies' seminaries similar cases. Institutions for young 168 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. ladies where the exclusion of gentlemen's society is too rigidly en- forced, are quite as bad for the pupils as convents. Large factories and cctton mills where females are almost exclusively employed, generally contain hundreds of pale, emaciated women who are slowly dying of sexual starvation, their physical exhaustion being aggravat- ed, of course, by the sedentary character of their labor. The Christian world is full of women contemptuously called " old maids" who are drying up, and daily growing more fretful and nervous in consequence of sexual isolation; for men, as a rule, cruelly avoid women of a certain age, when Mrs. Grundy brands them with the common distinguishing epithet by which they are known. It is one of the great evils of the marriage institution that a woman may not remain single, enjoying the social consideration of the married, and the social attentions of men, especially when marriage is such a " leap in the dark," and often proves so disastrous to the happiness of her sex. Large cities and villages have swarms of women, young and old, belonging to what are denominated the "working classes," a large number of whom are excluded from good society while possessing native refinement, which renders it impossible for them to associate with uncouth and often unprincipled men, who ever stand ready to extend the hand of pretended sympathy and affection to females in their position. Men morally and mentally suited to the best of this class of women, have so many better advantages in a business way to rise above indigency and humble social position than their female equals, there are never enough of the former in the social circle of the latter to keep up any thing like an equilibrium between the male and female magnetic elements, and woman of course is the sufferer. Wealth, however, does not always place woman in a position to receive a healthful supply of masculine magnetism. The pride of aristocracy often steps in between the young women of wealth and those young men of little money, but much virtue, who would gladly associate with them; while the young men pecuniarily able to move in the social sphere of the former, are, in a great majority of instances, at- tracted to association with those with whom their money will pur- chase the most unlimited privileges. As a rule, having quite too few exceptions, young men of wealth are given to habits of dissipation and licentiousness which disqualify them for association with the respectable daughters of affluent parents, and consequently, if the SEXUAL ISOLATION. 169 latter have the pride of caste common to people of this class, their daughters are deprived of the society of men, and, with all their advantage of position and material comfort, must suffer from sexual starvation. Occasionally, we hear of men effecting great cures by the "lay- ' ir.g on of hands,"' and the response is often playfully made,'' Pshaw ! SOCIAL MAGNETISM. He only cures women!" While this is not strictly true, and while the male magnopath sometimes effects cures by imparting his healthy magnetism to a debilitated person of his own sex, it is neverthe- less a fact that a majority of his cures are effected in cases of women; the simple reason for which is, that the want of masculine magnetism led to the nervous derangements, which, in turn, produced the diseases 8 170 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS from which thev seek relief. In any given case we may not always find the invalid to be a single woman. She may be the wife of a sickly man, who generates scarcely enough magnetism to keep Lis own vital machinery in motion, and if he give off any, it is of an unvitalized quality ; she may be the wife of a husband who is mag- netically repulsive to her; the husband and wife may be so much alike in temperament, that the forces each generates have, by years of contact, become similar in character or quality. In any such case. if the wile goes to the magnopath, and he manipulates with his mag' netic hand some part of her body which has become the seat of dis- ease, she receives benefit and possibly experiences an entire cure. She receives what her system required, for the time being at least, and she revives. Women often cure male invalids by the " laying on of hands," " magnetic manipulation," etc. I recently saw a letter from one conservative gentleman to his equally conservative brother, in which, after telling how much he had suffered from nervous prostra- tion, he said: " I have experienced marked relief from Mrs.----'s rub- bings, which put the animal magnetism into me, and they are more powerful and reviving than any electrical battery. You," he contin- ued, "may laugh at this, but I as one who has suffered so much, and received such decided relief, and in so short a time, could not doubt her wonderful power." This letter was shown to me with quite an expression of surprise by the party to whom it was written, but its contents to me were not at all surprising, for the philosophy of the whole thing was entirely familiar to my mind, for I had been cogni- zant of many cures of male invalids by the hands of female magno- path s. Cases of disease produced by sexual starvation are not so common with the masculine as with the feminine sex. " Men are privileged." Why, the God of nature cannot tell, but undoubtedly Mrs. Grundy can. Men only are allowed to make advances—they do all the courting—often shabbily—but they do it all; they even allure young and thoughtless girls into trouble; get drunk; swear; chew tobaoco, etc., without greatly affecting their personal or family respectability. They may become the fathers of illegitimate children, with the ap- plause of the vulgar, the harmless jests of their associates, and the mild censure of staid people; while the mothers of illegitimate children are turned out of good society, and frequently from their mother's door, witnout shelter for themselves, or the innooent victim SEXUAL ISOLATION. 171 of their thoughtlessness. With all their privileges and opportunities, however, I have met with some men, old as well as young, of consci- entious or bashful traits of character, or without social opportuni- ties, who were really suffering from physical derangements caused by sexual starvation. There are those who think they should bestow no attention upon a young woman unless with the intention of mar- riage, and their moral nature revolts at association with disreputable women. There are conscientious young men in large villages and cities, who, not having opportunity for introduction into good soci- ety, live as isolated from women as hermits, having no other society than that of men with whom they are employed. Many of these, however, are finally conquered by their instinctive longing ft e the society and magnetism of the opposite sex, and, denied the society of the good and respectable, they lay their conscientious scruples a sacrifice at the feet of harlots. Years ago the New York Tribune, in speaking of the social life of young men, made some remarks which might appropriately find place here. The editor was calling attention to the large and in- creasing number of youths between fifteen and thirty years of age in our large cities who were without resident friends or kindred, "striving to conquer a foot-hold, and," exclaimed the writer, "how hard the contest! What daily widening gaps between those who have succeeded, and those just entering the field! Neither the re- ligion nor the social enjoyment of our prosperous men seems broad enough to include their employees. Look at the growth of aristoc- racy and seclusion; the world of folly, luxury, and fashion; the enormous cost of subsistence; the meagre salaries in vogue, and see what chance of comfort or sympathetic ease the town has to proffer her clerks, apprentices, and students. Herded together in the beds and attics of boarding-houses, shut out from the happy homes estab- lished by long residence and success, they are almost driven to the public saloons for light and warmth, and for that friendly com- panionship" (and I will add magnetism), "which, either for good or evil, youth instinctively craves and wiU obtain." "The employers are surrounded with all the appurtenances which make virtue attractive. The employees are not only urged into . vice by their discomforts, but it is vice alone which tenders them an alluring hospitality. She sets forth her convenient bar-rooms, her billiard-tables, her concert-saloons, her houses of prostitution—in 172 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. all of which he wiU find a nierry welcome." It may be added that the young men of larger means and opportunities have their clubs, and the more favored individuals of the other sex have their exclu- sive associations, each not only giving facility to sexual isolation, but rather encouraging the same. Young .men crowd the beer saloons where " pretty waiter girls are employed, and really simply for magnetic association with women. Lager, wine, or some other beverage is called for, and often drank reluctantly, for they wish it to appear that the drink is what they are after, at least to those who observe them descending or ascending the steps of the saloon. Sometimes the contents of the glasses are left undisturbed. Many of these young men enter with no libidinous intentions. They feel thirsty or hungry for something) they hardly know what; it is not whiskey—it is not beer—it is not tobacco—all these tbey may purchase at almost any corner, and the tobacco may be chewed or smoked in the streets. No, nothing will satisfy the physical and soul yearnings but the magnetism of women. They may not have thought of this element—they may never have asked themselves, or anybody else, what animal and sexual magnet- ism is; they may never have thought of any such thing; but here they get what they hanker for without asking the name or quality of the article. People of both sexes generally recognize the fact of sexual attrac- tion ; few have given the least attention to the subtle element which constitutes it. This element, if investigated, is found not only to be a nutrient, but a stimulant more potent than alcohol, and natu- rally possessing none of the injurious properties of the latter. It gives vigor, and, in reality, it imparts erectile power to all the tissues of the body, and aids in producing and preserving plumpness of form. It stimulates ambition, imparts elasticity to the muscles, and brilliancy to the eye, of those who are favored with its influence. Both sexes have an appetite for it, and frequently without knowing it. They long for something, they know not what, and seek to ap- pease an indefinable desire by resorting to narcotics, stimulants, and nervines. Herein, drunkenness has an incentive, which has perhaps never before been thought of; but it is a fact that, with the imperfect social arrangements which characterize our so-called civilization, and which attempt to regulate the social intercourse of the sexes, men and women go up and down the earth famishing for something, SEXUAL ISOLATION. 173 they cannot, or will not, tell yon what—unhappy, unsatisfied, hungry, starving—in some cases stark mad—and finally, in their blind search for what their systems crave, take to liquor, tobacco, or opium. There are, in fact, to cover the whole ground, two kinds of invisi- ble sustenance, for which nearly all men and women are starving, viz.: the spirit of good, and sexual magnetism. One nourishes the moral nature, and by its elevating effects upon the corporeal system, imparts physical health. The other nourishes the physical structure, and by its exhilarating effect upon the nervous system, makes the spiritual nature buoyant and receptive. Both may be made attain- able. To invoke, and receive the spirit of good, one has only to sin- cerely and heartily resolve to make moral improvement the chief aim and most important work of his life, and he finds at once a steady influx of the elevating influence. To obtain sexual magnetism, nothing is necessary but association of the sexes, and Society and State should institute such regulations as will not unnecessarily restrict this. Many suggestions bearing directly or indirectly on this subject will be found in Part Third. But I will here present one way in which sexual starvation might to some extent be remedied, without weakening, but rather strengthening, the props of our social system. I would advise the establishment in every community, large or small, at public expense, reading and conversation rooms, numerously in cities, where the sexes may socially intermingle, whether acquainted or not. They should be under the supervision of a certain number of eminently respectable ladies and gentlemen, appointed as trustees, whose duty it should be to enforce order and decorum, and to exclude only persons of dangerous character. Such rules and regulations could be easily devised and enforced as would effectually prevent those who would contaminate the moral atmos- phere of the place from being admitted ; but with these precautions not too strictly instituted, all who are allowed to enter should be admitted without fee, and allowed free social intercourse, without the formality of introduction, unless a committee, with badges to designate it, be organized for the purpose of conducting personal introductions, a practice already in vogue to some extent at balls and sociables. These reading and conversation rooms should be well supplied with books and papers of interest, and open alike to rich and poor of both sexes, and all conventional reserve should be thrown off while at these places, even if put on again when outside 174 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Fig 53. of them. Would not such places of resort be full of entertainment for women, and also full of attraction for men ? Would they not, if properly managed, successfully compete with the drinking saloons, gambling hells, and houses of prostitution, in arresting the interest, and securing the presence of young men who are now the patrons of demoralizing attractions ? If we create free public schools for the education of our children, may wo not with equal benefit to the com- munity, create institutions which shall encourage moral, intellectual, and physical development of men and women ? At what fixed age should the State abandon the intellectual and physical culture of its people ? Prostitution. It is sickening to reflect that in Christian countries there exists, to an extent even greater than in the vast domain where the Christian religion is not taught, a class of women who, for a sum of money varying from 25 cents to $100, will put themselves in sexual contact with men for whom they entertain no sentiment of love, no sense of physical attraction, and toward whom they, in many cases, feel an aversion if not disgust. It is also humiliating to all who are working for, and have faith in, the ultimate moral and physical regeneration of the human race, that tho amative pas- sions of men can be so morbid as to lead them for one moment to'value an indul- gence of this nature which can be pur- chased like a paper of tobacco or a glass of rum ; but look whichever way we will, we are confronted by a mascu- line element wherein the sentiment, of love is so perverted that there is a perpetual demand for demoralizing indulgence ; and a female ele- ment wherein perverted love, pride of dress, and destitution, stand ready to supply it. Hence, sexual gratification becomes an article of commerce, purchased by the male and sold by tho female, greatly to the moral and physical degradation of both. The first effect upon the female is moral debasement. Her countenance may have exhibited all the marks of trouble, disappointment, and want; but now she THE INNOCENT GIRL CHANGED BY HARDSHIP AND VICE. PROSTITUTION. m has the additional mark of shame. She has lost her self-respect, and painfully suspects that she has forfeited the respect of others. When this suspicion is confirmed, she becomes bold and reckless. An ex- pression of hardness creeps over her features, and all the artlessness and sweetness of her former face have given way to a look of dis- grace, defiance, and self-abandonment. In a little while the violation of her moral nature exhibits its effects in her nervous system, and she is obliged to live under constant excitement of some kind in order to feel at all comfortable in mind or body. If the social sur- roundings are not sufficient to furnish this, liquors, drugs, and nar- cotics are excessively resorted to for this purpose. Finally, physical corruption, by venereal distemper, is inaugurated. How could this be otherwise? Suppose a person should post himself in a conspicuous corner of the street, or in some building accessible to everybody, and should propose to eat every thing that the crowd chose to give him, provided he were paid for it. Then picture to yourself any number of wanton men and boys patronizing bis folly—one giving him something he possibly likes; a dozen, something he perfactly loathes, and twenty more, something he is entirely indifferent to, but which he knows he does not physically need. Let thi3 abuse of his stomach go on day after day, and night after night, for months, and years. What person is there whose stomach, under such treatment, would not become frightfully diseased ? Even voluntary excesses in eating bring on the various derangements of the stomach, known by the one common name of dyspepsia; but what sort of a malady do you suppose the person would have that I have just instanced? Heaven only knows! Well, now, it is unnecessary for me to assure any one that the procreative system of the female is just as sensitive as the stomach, and that with abuse it is even more liable to disease. With voluntary, unpaid for, excesses, various difficulties, such as leucorrhoea, prolapsus of the womb, etc., ensue; but when a female gives herself up to sexual pollution to every one who will pay her for it—often entertaining several in one day or night, for whom she cares little or nothing, or cordially dislikes, what may we more naturally look for than the vitiation of the vaginal secretions, and the generation of poison capable of inoculating the blood of both sexes, and producing local affections of a most frightful character? There is, consequently, in addition to the original stock of venereal disease, about which there is so much dispute as to its origin, a new 176 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. supply constantly being manufactured in the dens of harlotry, and of a quantity and quality not in the least inferior to any which has been imported. With such inevitable results attending marketable promiscuity, prostitution may be compared to a vast sea of physical corruption, in whose waters the licentious lave and come out lepers. Where the beautiful river, lake, or ocean, contributes to the commercial prosperity of any city, there also this great sea of corruption rolls along unobstructed, and thousands of peaceful villagers who daily or nightly frequent the metropolis, in an unguarded moment become submerged in its dirty waters, and then carry home to their faithful wives a disease more loathsome than a suppurating cancer. In 1894 Dr. L. Duncan Bulkley, of New York City, published a prize essay in form of a four hundred page book on " Syphilis in the Innocent," to show to what a large extent, and in how many insidi- ous ways, it is spread about among those who never deserve any such terrible fate. He estimated that even among men, ten per cent, of the cases may be due to heedless use of tools, toilet articles, pipes, wearing apparel, or unclean closets, while of the cases among women, twenty-five to fifty per cent, acquire the disease in some manner they cannot be held responsible for. Even children become inoculated with the loathsome disease by many unexpected channels other than heredity, such as nursing, kissing, circumcision, contact with syphilized nurses, unclean handling, and especially by vaccina- tion, of which Dr. Bulkley cites 1,863 cases. It is a curious as well as sickening account which this writer gives of the methods and frequency of transmitting syphilis to the innocent, and it more than ever proves the necessity of extending a knowledge of such facts to the general public, and warning the innocent, those not addicted to vice, against too careless relations with those who may be. It is simply one more evidence that there is no safety in favoring ignorance, and however unfortunate it may seem to contaminate innocent minds with information regarding such a disease, it is more unfortunate to leave them liable to become easy victims in a hundred unexpected ways, especially when the disease thus acquired is no less virulent than when inoculated in the worst way. The male, however, is not simply liable to venereal affection. Ner- vous derangements and spermatoiThoea are almost sure to afflict him PROSTITUTION. 177 in time, if the female simply submits to the act, and does not partici- pate in its pleasures; and it is a well-known fact that the courtesan nearly always has her paramour, upon whom she exclusively lavishes the intensity of her passion, while all manifestations of enjoyment with her patrons are merely pretence. The physical injury which the patrons of the houses of ill-fame suffer in this respect, is more extensive than many who have given attention to the evils of prosti- tution dream of; but the effects of venereal poison are more indisput- able and immediately apparent, and these are sufficient to occasion wide-spread alarm. It has been argued, and with a show of plausibility, that prostitu- tion is a necessary evil. That did it not exist, our wives and daugh- ters would be unprotected from the insidious advances of libertines, and the forcible outrages of men of reckless passion. My own ob- servation has convinced me that libertines in towns of moderate size, where prostitution is not tolerated, are more given to the seduc- tion of thoughtless wives and unsophisticated young girls than the same class in large cities. But the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw asks, and with propriety,—"What special title have the wives and daughters of those who employ this plea to the protection of their virtue, more than other wives and daughters? Why are theirs to be protected at the expense of others, and not the others at the expense of theirs ? Who, in the community, are to be the victims—the vice-doomed safe- guards of the virtue of the rest—the wretched safety-valves of un- principled and unbridled passions? Are we to have a decimation, by lot, of the virginity of the country?—or is some inferior class to be sacrificed to the demon of lust for the benefit of those above them ? Is vice essential to the preservation of virtue? That were indeed a hard necessity. Where is the individual, male or female, and in what rank soever of society—whom I am not to dissuade from vice?— whom it would be wrong so to dissuade?—the successful dissuasion of whom would be an injury to the public?—by prevailing with whom to give up the evil course, I should incur the responsibility of one who shuts a high pressure safety-valve ?—where the individual whose body and soul I am bound to leave to death and perdition, lest per- chance some others should come to be exposed to temptation ?" These questions are suggestive, and cannot fail to awaken reflec- tion on the part of those who claim that prostitution is a necessary evil. Perhaps a little inquiry into the c*"ses of prostitution will set- 8* 178 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. tie this difficult question. One of the primitive causes, I maintain, ia the premature development of the amative passions of youth by a too stimulating diet. Most parents allow their children in swaddling clothes to indulge in a diet only suitable for adult age. Do they not know that condiments, animal food, and coffee, early arouse the Blumbering sexual passions of the young? These articles of diet at once impart undue warmth to the blood, and awaken early sexual de- Fig. 54. WHEN 6CTCII REWARD IS OFFERED FOR VICE. sires in their children, leading boys to early acquire the arts of the libertine, and rendering girls susceptible to the amorous advances of the opposite sex. Thus, from one parental error, spring up on one side a host of amative libertines, and on the other, scores of voluptu- ous women who have not the power to resist temptation, all of whom are required by custom to abstain from legal marriage until PROSTITUTION. 179 Jhey have nearly or quite passed their teens. The remedy for this evil suggests itself. Another cause is unhappy marriage. This creates thousands of bad men and bad women. The indissolubility of the marriage contract drives both parties to desperation; makes the husband a willing pa- tron of the harlot, and the wife an easy victim to the libertine. Ig- norant of the laws that should govern marriage, men and women are Fig. 55. AND WANT AND THREATENED STARVATION HELD OUT TO VIRTUE. daily rushing into matrimony whose physical, mental, and magnetic uncongenialities are only discovered to them after the "honey-moon" has cooled down their impulses, and left their reasoning faculties un- obscured by the infatuation of passion. When they awaken from their dream, they find the civil law a reality, and that they must con- tent themselves to live in their adulterous relation one with the other 180 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. or incur public disgrace by the commission of some crime which will entitle them to a divorce. They may not in all cases aim directly at this, but they feel a kind of recklessness which leads them to decide that they cannot, under any circumstances, plunge themselves into a worse condition. Some suggestions for removing this evil will be given in Part IV. Another fruitful cause of prostitution in large cities is the small compensation awarded to female labor. In consequence of this, few are able to earn more than enough to supply present necessities; and when "hard times" prevail, they have neither work nor other resources for subsistence. In such extremities, a few, whose pure souls abhor a life of shame, choose death rather than the princely abode of the courtesan, and end their existence by poisoning or drowning. Many rush into harlotry, for observation has taught them the humiliating fact that men will pay dollars for sexual gratifica- tion, who will bestow only pennies in charity. It is estimated that six and one-half millions of dollars are annually paid in this city alone to " pretty waiter girls " and courtesans! When such reward is offered for vice, and want and threatened starvation held out to virtue, it is only surprising that more do not abandon the flickering night-lamp and needle for the dazzling chandelier and the easy-cush- ioned tete-a-tete of the fashionable brothel. Hard times and lack of employment drive unknown numbers into a life of prostitution, and in a large city like New York, where there are probably 100,000 women working at an average wage of only sixty cents a day, the margin between life and death is so narrow that absolute necessity must too often be the direct cause of "the first step downward." Imagine their extremity when work slacks, and there are no savings to tide over a dull spell. The periodical expansions and contractions in all business as at present carried on, are a factor in the causes of prostitution which indicate the impossibility of eradicating it without an entire change in busi- ness methods and the social arrangements. It is said that out of 5,000 prostitutes in Paris, whose cases have been minutely examined, 1,400 were reduced to that state by sheer destitution! A writer remarks that " there are fifty or sixty families in Edinburgh, who are almost wholly supported by the secret pros- titution of the mother, and three times that number who are partially maintained in the same manner. A daughter had struggled PROSTITUTION. 181 on six years to support herself and bed-ridden mother by the needle; before sacrificing her virtue she sold the last blanket from her mother's bed, and her own last dress. " Who will deny that these are startling considerations. And what is true of European cities, is true of American ones, to a greater or less degree. Young girls can always get money in our large cities by bartering their virtue. It is an unfailing dernier resort. Why should it be thought strange that a female, pressed by pale want, should do that which a male will do in the absence of this neces- sity, and without a scruple? And why, especially, should it excite wonder, while black-hearted seducers and procuresses, knowing this want, swarm thick around, ever ready to take advantage of their distressed condition?" For this evil it is difficult to suggest an immediate remedy, such is the spirit of rivalry, speculation, and selfishness, in the commercial world; but there is one which time and change in public opinion may introduce. It is to educate girls as we do boys in the practical business matters of life, and then open to their pursuit all the trades and professions, in order that their fields of industry may not be so unreasonably circumscribed. Our social regulations, which so greatly limit the industrial sphere of women, frequently place them in a condition of want, without shelter for their heads, or food for their stomachs. They are confronted by only two alternatives, beggary or prostitution. In pursuing the former, they meet the frowns and whining excuses of those more fortunate in life; while in the latter, money comes freely from the hands of willing patrons, who not only give them sustenance, but privily flatter their vanity. Another cause of prostitution has its origin in the ignorance which prevails concerning the power and phenomena of animal electricity, or magnetism, as it is generally termed. All classes of females, from the daughters of the affluent to the pretty shop-girls, contribute in- mates to the brothel. In consequence of ignorance in this matter, they are not aware that some men possess electrical power to charm like the snake. Nor are they sufficiently educated in regard to the strange passion existing within themselves, to know how weak, under Bome circumstances, they may become to resist temptation. The philosophy of this charming power will be thoroughly explained in Part Fourth, but the consequences admit at least, an allusion here. Coquettish ladies are apt to invite the attention of prepossessing 182 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS strange young gentlemen, and coquettish young ladies, I am sorry to say, are numerous. They commence flirting with their admirers with the predetermination of keeping their affections to themselves; still they will venture much to ascertain the sentiments of their pretended lovers. Sometimes tbey are pleased to see how they can amatively exasperate them; but gradually tbey become practically mesmerized, when pretty coquettes find themselves, like the flutter- ing bird before the charming serpent's mouth, utterly unable to con- trol themselves. The keepers of houses of ill-fame in large cities know that many men possess this singular power to charm, though perhaps not one of them knows the mysterious agent they employ to produce this fascination. The result is, that men who are so power- fully electric or magnetic as to be able to exercise such a controlling influence over young women, are stationed in all large manufactur- ing towns, where female operatives are numerous, to obtain fresh victims for the fashionable dens of prostitution. A partial remedy for this evil may be given in a few words. Young ladies must not make too free with young gentlemen, whose characters are not favorably known in the neighborhood in which they reside. Ob- servance of this rule may sometimes cause Julia to turn her back upon an angel; but as devils are more numerous in travelling pants and waistcoats, so serious a slight will seldom be given to celestial broadcloth. Still another cause of prostitution is "sexual starvation." As the preceding essay is devoted to this subject, I will only allude to it here as a promoter of licentiousness. There is a natural appetite— an insatiable craving, if denied—of one sex for the society and mag- netism of the other. If free social intercourse between men and women be provided and encouraged in some rational and elevating manner, magnetic equalization would take place in a great measure simply by social contact, and that intoxicating attraction, aggra- vated by isolation, which, when the sexes come together, is lia- ble to lead to direct venery, would be forestalled. The free inter- change of the sexual magnetic elements in an elevated social way, would greatly tend to prevent those earthquake and tornado out- breaks of passion, which result in rape and sexual pollution. The man who is stomach-starved will devour the flesh of his fellow-man, or even his own flesh, as illustrated in narratives of shipwrecks; and the man of strong amative passions, who is sexually starved and PROSTITUTION. 183 isolated from the female element will, when opportunity occurs, out- rage the persons of passionless little girls; or appease his heated desires in sexual contact with women reeking with disease, in the low dens of harlotry. It is utterly useless to shut one's eyes to these facts, and the only way to avert them is to try, by morally elevating means, to so equalize the magnetism of the sexes as to prevent thunder-storms of passion, such as newspapers daily chron- icle from one end of Christendom to the other. A partial remedy for sexual starvation is given in the essay on this subject, and those philanthropic men and women, who hope by combined ac- tion to repress or exterminate the natural passion of amativeness in other people, while they do not expect to effect such a result in them- selves individually, had better expend their ammunition in the direc- tion I have pointed out. In reviewing some of the principal causes of prostitution, can we not see that if it really be a necessary evil, it is so because of im- portant errors in the training of children; unsuitable civil laws regulating marriage; despotic customs circumscribing the indus- trial sphere of woman; ignorance of the electrical power of every individual for good or evil; and of the social despotism which separates the sexes ? Reformation in the training of children is the first place to begin to extinguish prostitution. So long as the sexual passions of children are stimulated to precocity by an exciting regimen, and goaded to illicit gratification by all sorts of fictitious and exciting literature ; so long will there be men who will violate the marriage bed, and destroy virgin purity where the institution of prostitution is not tolerated ; and so long will houses of ill-fame be annually furnished with voluptuous young females from all ranks of society. Were it universally known to what an alarming extent the perni- cious physical effects of prostitution are felt throughout all commu- nities, more decided measures would be adopted under the paternal roof to cut off one of the main tributaries to this gigantic evil. The word of the mother is the law of the household, and she seldom dreams, even if suffering with disease induced by venereal poison, that prostitution can ever inflict a pang in her sheltered home. Why, I have cured hundreds of ladies from nearly every State in the Union, whose diseases arose directly or indirectly from syphilis, and who would h^ve died of grief had I divulged to them the real nature of 184 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. their complaints. I will not venture to compute how many have been my patients for the cure of venereal disorders, or diseases arising therefrom. Fowler, in a little work on Amativeness, remarks, " Many do not know how prevalent this disease is in its various forms. Its victims keep their own secret as long as possible, and doctor themselves, except when their case becomes desperate; and then confide it only to their medical adviser, whose very profession forswears him to keep the secret. Oh! how many of our young men have ruined their constitutions, and become invalids for life, solely by means of this disease or attempts to cure it. Indeed, its prevalence at the Sandwich Islands actually threatens the extinction of that nation, which, at its present rate of mortality, it is computed to effect in about sixty years! And if it goes on to increase in the ratio of its past progression, it will ultimately cut off our race itself! " The fact that several thousand copies of a little work of less than twenty pages, on the cure of venereal diseases, are sold every month, at one dollar per copy, and that other works of this class sell in proportion, shows conclusively that there are several thousand new victims every month! No patient wants more than a single work, yet twenty thousand per month does not equal the sales of these works, and of course falls short of the number of victims, for none but venereal patients will pay thus dear for so small a book, of no manner of interest to those not thus afflicted. All this, besides all those who indulge with other than harlots by profession ! Almost incredible, but nevertheless true!" I have not the least doubt—and my estimate is based on authorita- tive " figures which cannot lie "—that thirty thousand males are daily infected with venereal poison in the large cities of the United States, a majority of whom are residents of inland towns, whither they return to spread the seeds of the loathsome disorder ! Men of vicious habits in cities are generally too well acquainted with the different grades of courtesans to contract disease. They know who are "sound," as they express themselves. Their acquaintance with lewd women is not so limited but that they can exercise the privilege of choice. Still, the boasted smartness of these men does not always avail. When the medical seine is drawn, this class is numerously represented. In the public institutions of New York city, about 150,000 cases of venereal disease are annuaUy treated, to say nothing of those wbo seek the advice of their own physicians. PROSTITUTION. 185 The reader cannot fail to see from the foregoing that prostitution is a prolific source of blood disease, and that it is rapidly converting the great fountain of life, as originally imparted to man by his Crea- tor, into a slough of death. Of all blood impurities, there are none which lead to such endless varieties of disease as those induced by the virus with which whoredom is inoculating the whole human race. Then, too, the nervous disorders resulting from marketable promiscuity should not be lost sight of in the summing up. On opening this essay I spoke of the depressing effect which a sense of disgrace inflicts upon a young woman who takes to her embrace a man for whom she has no affection, solely for the money he pays her. Her innate, womanly delicacy is affected from centre to circumference, and if she possesses a particle of natural religion, her moral nature is no less agitated. How, under such disturbing influences, can the nervous system maintain its normal vivacity and strength ? I have also alluded to the injury visited upon the nervous system of the patron of the harlot when no venereal affection is contracted. Unless the female is magnetically responsive to the amative delirium of her companion, the latter has simply practised the act of mastur- bation, and the effects upon his nervous system are no less injurious than when this outrage upon the genital organs is self-inflicted. There is, too, such a thing as diseased magnetism, which the courte- san may impart when she has no local difficulty with which to infect her patron. If she has repeatedly had venereal disorders, her nervous or electrical fountains, as well as her blood, have been vitiated, in consequence of which her very atmosphere is physically, as well as morally deteriorating. In full view of the moral and physical degeneracy of the condemn- ed courtesan, however, it is wrong and unchristian for her sex to abandon and leave her in her unhappy situation without persistent effort for her reformation. Popular opinion and action are all wrong here. Let a woman—no matter how destitute—no matter what palliating circumstances may be urged in her behalf, once become the inmate of a brothel, she is condemned to stay there until she comes to moral and physical rottenness, unless she have force of character sufficient to rise unaided from her degradation; and even then she must buffet, perhaps during the remainder of her natural life, social isolation, and the chilling contempt of her more fortunate iBO CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Bisters! What wonder the poor prostitute considers herself an abandoned woman! Even when death rescues her soul from social and physical wretchedness, her body is denied a Christian burial I Think of it, men and women, and then call to mind the words of Christ:—"The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." There are thousands of women to-day whose naturally pure spirits are chafing, and their divine forms wasting in the atmosphere of prostitution, who are better educated and possess better qualities to make good wives, mothers, and thorough workers in the cause of humanity, than many daughters of affluent parents. All they need is a sympathetic, encouraging, and loving hand extended to them across the almost impassable gulf which a false society has too rigidly fixed between the condemned ground upon which they stand, and the fields of usefulness and respectability. A little moral and material assistance, extended by women, and encouraged by men, would deliver thousands of females—naturally good—circumstan- tially bad, from brothel hells. Shall they receive it, or will women continue to be cruel, unchristian, and unjust, to the more unfortunate of her sex, who are perishing morally, and whose gradually dying bodies are inoculating the whole human family with putrefactive disease ? There exists in our city, a society called "The Midnight Mission," which is making some effort in the way of reclaiming those who are pursuing vice as a vocation, but it is said that it receives more sup- port from men than from women. Women seem to persistently hold back from bestowing any united effort for the reclamation of the un- fortunate of their own sex. The Rev. 0. H. Dutton, in a discourse delivered at Trinity Church, some time since, presented the design and plan of the organization, according to the reporter, as follows: "It is, in brief, a scheme for the rescue and redemption of the class known as ' fallen women.' To them " he said, " it appealed in a two- fold manner: first, by affording a temporary refuge, and striving to obtain a permanent home for those who, of themselves, desire to abandon a reckless life ; and second, by endeavoring to awaken those who seem careless to the real dangers ot their position. Foi this purpose a place is provided where, at stated periods, meetings are held under the conduct of the men and women connected with the mission, where religious instruction, advice, sympathy, and material UNHAPPY MARRIAGE. 1S7 assistance are given to those who need it; and on the occasion of these meetings, the male members connected with it, go forth to the haunts of those whom they wish to reach, and invite them to come in. During the daytime, also, kind and Christian women attend at the rooms and offer advice, sympathy, and assistance to such as seek it. Of course," he remarked, "when aid was sought to advance the scheme, it was met with many objections: ' It was hopeless ; these women cannot be reclaimed'; 'they do not wish it.' 'It is danger- ous to the morals of those who attempt it'; 'the work is too great'; ' the subject is too delicate a one to meddle with,' etc., etc. But, said he, "such objections were controverted and overthrown by irrefutable facts. Scores and hundreds of these women had a desire to reform, if only the way is open. The task of reformation is diffi- cult, but not impossible. Not only the experience of members of the society, but the records of similar institutions prove this." The speaker gave some statistics of the results of six years' operations of "The Midnight Mission" in London, by whose influence and aid nearly 3,000 women had been rescued from a life of crime. He spoke of the many good qualities which these women, as a class, are known to possess; showed the magnitude of the good which might be wrought; and closed with a thrilling appeal to the men and women present, to give what aid was in their power for the furtherance of so great a work. Such associations ought to be cordially promoted by every woman, and by multiplying them they would do a vast amount of good ; but when it is considered how many in London alone, maintain themselves by prostitution, and that during six years but 3,000 were rescued, it is readily seen how primarily essential it is to eradi- cate the causes which drive women to a life of degradation. The cure is important, and should not be neglected; but prevention is the main thing, and our system of society must prove itself a failure if it cannot ultimately succeed in supplying a prevention which will prove radicaUy effectual. Unhappy Marriagei This contributes to destroy the tone and vigor of both the ner- vous and vascular fluids. The mind, chafing in the galling fet- ters which bind it to an uncongenial companionship, almost forgets Mb corporeal dependency, and consumes within itself the nervo- 188 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. electricity which should be dispensed through the nervous system, to impart healthy action to the blood and the organic machinery. Unhappy marriages are unlike any other Fig. 56. troubles, because society is so constituted that a majority of their victims prefer rather to fall suicides to their self-inflic- tions, than to encounter the frowns of their friends and acquaintances by practi- cally severing a contract which yields little but mental disquietude, affectional suffoca- tion, and nervous and vascular debility. The world little knows the extent of ' matrimonial inharmony. Each pair who find themselves unhappily mated, imagine that tbey belong to the unfortunate few unhappy marriabb. -who have made the great " mistake of a life-time; " but the physician, in whom is generally confided the secrets of the broken heart, after the con- stitution has also become broken, knows, from the frequency of sucli confessions, that they form a part of the great majority instead of the minority. An English paper several years ago stated that in the year 1854. there were in London 1,132 runaway wives; 2,348 runaway husbands; 4,175 married people legally divorced; 17,345 living in open warfare; 13,279 living in private misunderstandings; 55,340 living in mutual indifference; while only 3,175 were regarded as happy; 127 nearly happy; and 13 perfectly happy. In what way the English statistician obtained these facts, if they are facts, I am unable to say. In this country it would be impossible to gain correct information of the amount of connubial infelicity as compared with the real happiness in the domestic relation, unless every physician of extensive practice should contribute the results of his observations. Seldom are the most gossiping neighborhoods of the United States acquainted with tho actual state of feeling exist- ing between the husbands and wives which live therein, and it is not uncommon for husbands and wives to deceive each other, with regard to their real sentiments when they find that they have mistakenly entered into a companionship distasteful, and perhaps disgusting, to one or both. IMPURE VACCINATION. 189 1 was once called upon by a lady, in one of the New England States, whose mind was distracted and nervous system nearly ex- hausted, because she had formed an unhappy alliance with a man whom she found she could neither respect nor love. But she had great benevolence, and rather than make him unhappy by a disclosure of her feelings, she had concealed them from him, and they were secretly gnawing away the nervous threads that connected her spirit with her body. Ah! how many wives whose eyes fall upon this story, will see in it the mirror which reflects their own miserable situation. Rest assured, that lady is not the only one whose benevolence and pride bind her to an unnatural union, and a concealment of her wretchedness. Unhappily, the victims to uncongenial marriages, are not alone sufferers thereby. The nervous, puny offspring, which is the issue of such adulterous alliances, opens his eyes on a world of physical and moral wretchedness, and hence the sin of the parents is visited upon their children of the first and every succeeding generation. So marked are the physical influences of unhappy marriage on the off- spring, I can generally tell at once, when I see a family of children, whether the father and mother are happily or unhappily mated. Both mental and physical suffering is the inevitable inheritance of the unfortunate child who is born of ill-mated parents; and if ne survives the fatal tendencies of a poor constitution till he himself becomes a father, his child, in turn, will possess at least a trace of his progenitor's infirmities, and so on through the whole line of his posterity. For further remarks on this subject, embracing a treatise on the causes, effects, and partial remedies for unhappy marriages, the reader is referred to Part Fourth of this work, where it will receive the attention its importance demands. Impure Vaccination. In the seventeenth century, a country-woman astonished her sur- geon by telling him that she could not have the small-pox, because she had already been affected by the cow-pox. The woman was fresh from the cow-yard and the country, and the surgeon was Dr. Edward Jenner, a physician at that time of no very great prom- inence. Dr. Jenner at once set himself to the work of investigat- ing the country-woman's whim wheu he found that the dairy- Fig. 57. 190 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. maids frequently contracted a disease from an eruption on the ba$ of the cow, which affection was caUed cow-pox. Jenner therefore supposed, and attempted to prove, some close relationship between cow-pox and small-pox, with the hope of placing the practice of vaccination on a scientific basis. He experimented with several forms of pox disease with vari- able results, but finally settled down on the theory that a disease of the horse's hoof, known as "horse-grease," was the source of human small-pox and of cow- pox. A boy named Baker, whom he inoculated with "humanized grease," taken from the hands of a man who had caught it from the heels of a mare, died from the severity of the disease, and so he was induced to modify it by working it through the cow. His own child he inoculated with swine-pox, and this he would have advocated as a regular prac- jbnner vaccinating his child tice, except that he appreciated that it WITH SWINE-POX. ,. j. , , was too disgusting to secure popular ac- ceptance. Jenner's "great discovery" has been celebrated by an artist's statue (by Monteverde) which pictures him in the act of " vaccinating his son," but it doesn't seem so pretty when we remem- ber that it was " porcination " instead of vaccination he was inflict- ing on his first-born, and that the boy subsequently died of con- sumption before reaching manhood; but that is only one of thou- sands who have since that time succumbed to scrofulous and infectious diseases implanted with the virus used in vaccination. It seems remarkable that with Jenner's few experiments, shifting ar- guments, and the many early failures of vaccination to protect, that he should have succeeded in overcoming the numerous objections to it, and establishing a general belief in its efficacy, which in course of time led to its official adoption and legal enforcement in many of the xnost civilized countries of the world; but this is after all but one of many curious medical errors and superstitions that have dominated the minds of men; and in the home of its birth, Eng- land, there is a strong and growing reaction against it which is IMPURE VACCINATION. 191 surely destined to lead to its abolition. With our increasing prone- ness to ape English customs, when vaccination shall be turned down in England our " scientists " and authorities will be pretty sure to follow master. For many years arm-to-arm vaccination had the preference, be- cause the local sores thus resulting were less liable to take on severe forms, but as it became generally known that other diseases might be also transmitted, including syphilis (many hundred cases are on record) and leprosy, the profession, for the sake of allaying popular prejudices, favored "bovine virus," that cultivated on the ab- domen of calves in farms conducted with a view to provide a safe and "pure virus"; but the most competent students of the matter are obliged to admit, as Dr. Klein has done in an official report, that they cannot recognize in any virus the precise elements (mi- crobes, probably) which they presume to be useful, while mixed colonies of undesirable bacteria have been observed in "points" obtained from all "reliable" sources of supply in the United States, as stated by Surgeon Walter Reed of the United States Army in the Journal of Practical Medicine for July, 1895. High authorities among the advocates of vaccination could be quoted to show their admission of the possibility of as many as twenty-two complications resulting from vaccination, including nine forms of skin disease, erysipelas, tuberculosis, leprosy and syphilis, though it is claimed that instances of the three latter are rare, and can arise only from the use of "humanized virus," and that erysipelas and other serious local "accidents" need not occur if a pure animal lymph is used with sufficient care—at least, so says Dr. Geo. F. Shrady, editor of the New York Medical Record (June 15, 1895); and if hie position be tenable, it is fair to say that the frequency of the occurrence of serious and crippling complications of vaccination, and the occa- sional deaths directly traceable to it, offer damning testimony against the care and expertness of the vaccinators and the purity of the virus they use. I am not disposed to lay more than half the blame of accidents, risks, dangers and complications upon careless operating, fully believing that with the utmost care, some propor- tion of vaccinations would turn out badly, and some deaths occur. The history of vaccination shows great changes of opinion among its most ardent supporters, and never any unanimity of opinion as to very important practical points, so that there are generally aa 192 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. many contradictory opinions regarding its essentials as there are about religious creeds; and yet the one claim that most of them are agreed upon is that vaccination is so great and good a method of protection against small-pox that it is above criticism, and that its utility is so thoroughly settled as to b*» beyond dispute. Mr. Alexander Wheeler, in an article entitled "A Changing Medi- cal Dogma," written December, 1883, reviewed the history of vac- cination from its origination by Jenner to the last statement which had then been made from the side of those favorable to the prac- tice, by Dr. Guy, a statistician as well as a vaccinist, who wrote for the "Statistical Society's Journal" a resume of two hundred and fifty years' history of small-pox. " Taking,"concludes Mr. Guy, "a careful and comprehensive view of all the facts that bear upon the question, it is allowable to conjecture that while vaccination does not act as a sufficient protection in epidemic years, it does effectually guard against attacks of small-pox in all other years, and that where it does not protect it mitigates." If, in the opinion of one favorable to vaccination, it is "merely allowable to conjecture" these small benefits from its practice, we unhesitatingly affirm that its known dangers far outweigh its doubtful benefits; but let us quote, after Dr. Guy's feeble apology for the continuance of the practice, Mr. Wheeler's brief review of the gradual modification of opinion favor- able to vaccination. "Thus we find," says Mr. Wheeler, "the original dogma, that one vaccination protects absolutely for life; the doctrine of 1804, that it protects with exceptions; doctrine of 1809, it gives as much protection as small-pox itself; doctrine of 1818, it does not protect absolutely, but modifies the disease; doc- trine of 1868, it requires repetition, as it wears out (the doctrine of many marks, the more the merrier); doctrine of 1877 (Grayton), ' a repeated vaccination after a certain age confers an almost absolute protection;' doctrine of 1881 (Guy), «it is allowable to conjecture,'" etc. Mr. Wheeler asks, "May I not be permitted to think that a confession of absolute failure must before long close this series? " Two of the most effective contributions for dispelling the vaccina- tion delusion have been the writings of Prof. E. M. Crookshank, M.D., of King's College, London, and Dr. Creighton. Both made original, deep, and thorough investigation of the subject, and have expressed themselves decidedly opposed to it in works whose 8Cien« tifio facts and arguments have not been disproved. ADULTERATED MEDICINES. 193 Prof. Crookshank's work on the " History and Pathology of Vac- cination," in two volumes, scientifically demolishes the theoretical foundation for vaccination, and exposes the insincerity, Incapacity, and vacillation of its founder, Edward Jenner. Dr. Creighton, in the last edition of the great "Encyclopaedia Brittanica," and in special books, demonstrates the fallacy of the statistical or prac- tical-experience basis of vaccination, so that now it has no demon- strable value except what it is worth in fees for the doctors, busi- ness profits for vaccine farms, public jobs for health(?) officials, and other incidental interests. Space cannot be spared here for further discussion of the claims for and objections to vaccination, but those seeking fuller informa- tion can find it in several interesting books and pamphlets, free from technicalities, and suitable for the general reader. A list of such publications can be had from the office of " The Vaccination Enquirer," published monthly at No. 4 Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, London, E. C, England. The publishers of this book are pre- pared to offer a dime pamphlet on " Bacteria"—a discussion of the germ theory of disease, by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., and several handy, cheap tracts for distribution by those who wish to spread the light and strengthen the opposition to the extension or enforcement ot xnnpulsory vaccination laws. Adulterated Medicines. That man's cupidity should so far transcend his native humanity as to lead him to imperil the lives of thousands of his fellow-beings by the base adulteration of those things to Fig. 58. which the sick resort for relief from their physical sufferings, thus depleting their pockets simultaneously with corrupting the vascular and nervous fluids of their already enervated systems, is a fact almost suf- ficient, one would suppose, to destroy what little confidence men do entertain in the integrity of each other. The extent to which the adulteration of medicines is carried, is truly surprising. Says Normandy, " adulteration is a wide- spread evil, which has invaded every the hand that dom it. branch of commerce: every thing which can be mixed, or adulterated* 9 194 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. or debased in any way, is debased." There is, indeed, better oppor- tunity for adulteration of medicines than of foods, and more tempta- tion because of greater profits in such fraud. AU adulteration is not necessarily directly injurious, since much consists in merely weakening the proper article with some inert substance, but this spoils the physician's reckoning as to dosage, and is responsible for, much of the disappointment in medical practice. Whenever State officials make their rounds they discover many inferior samples. A writer remarks that "more than half of many of the most im- portant chemical and medicinal preparations, together with a large quantity of crude drugs, come to us so much adulterated, or other- wise deteriorated, as to render them not only worthless as medicines, but often dangerous." Nearly all kinds of vegetable medicines, such as sarsaparilla, yellow dock, elder flowers, uva ursi, rhubarb, Iceland moss, and other use- ful roots and herbs which are thrown into the medicine market, are either adulterated in such a way as to elude the detection of thoee unacquainted with the botanical description, fragrance, and flavor of the pure articles, or have been rendered inefficient by being gath- ered at the wrong season of the year. Many herbs and roots used in my practice, I have been compelled to have gathered by my own agents, in order to have them possess that genuineness and efficiency necessary to produce a successful result in obstinate cases. It is impossible for a physician to predict, with any certainty, the effects of a prescription upon a disease, if it be prepared from the in- gredients furnished by most medicine dealers, however honorable, for if they do not themselves practise adulteration, those of whom they purchased may have done so, and the worthlessness of any root or herb cured in the wrong season, can only be determined by a trial of its strength. Those who reside in the country, surrounded with the numerous antidotes which nature furnishes for the diseases of mankind, might easily avoid this species of imposition, and do much to preserve and restore their own health, by acquiring a little knowledge of the medicinal properties of the numerous plants springing up about them, and preserving, in their season, such as are valuable in sick- ness. It is true that adulterations in roots and herbs are not so positively injurious as those of mineral medicines, which 7 shall soon consider, but time is too valuable in sioknesa to be ADULTERATED MEDICINES. 195 trifled with by the administration of medicines of an uncertain efficacy. The Botanic System of practice has not gained that high reputa- tion for success which it would have gained, had its practitioners been their own botanists, and gathered by their own hands, or by those of agents of integrity and ability, in their season, the many health- restoring plants which they rely upon in the treatment of the sick. The industrious farmer knows how difficult it is for him to buy as good corn, potatoes, eggs, and butter in the city markets, as he can raise himself. Now, it is just as difficult for the botanic physician to purchase at random, at the medicine stores, as efficient medicines as he can collect through private sources with a little extra trouble and expense. I have cured hundreds of cases of difficult chronic diseases with botanical medicines bearing the same name as those the invalids had been using for weeks and months without benefit, under the direction of other physicians, which fact can only be explained by the sup- position that adulteration, or carelessness in curing, had been practised upon those administered by my medical contemporaries. There are, of course, some medicinal vegetable productions of foreign countries, which we can only get by importation. Nearly all are generally more or less adulterated, which fact should lead the careful physician to double diligence. Indian opium, for instance, is often adulterated with mud, sand, powdered charcoal, soot, cow-dung Giold your stomach, opium eater)! powdered poppy-petals, and pow- dered seeds of various descriptions. Smyrna scammony frequently contains chalk, guaiacum, jalap, sulphate of lime, gum tragacanth, bassorin, etc., and some samples are met with which do not possess a particle of that drug which it is pretended to represent. The Mexican jalap is of two varieties, one of which is almost worthless. The latter is called male jalap, and often comes mixed with the better article, and sometimes unmixed. The Spanish liquorice is also much adulterated. Eassal found in twenty-eight samples of the powdered, eleven which were adulterated, and the extract can sel- dom be obtained pure. When so much injury results from the adulteration of vegetable medicines, what shall be said of those arising from the adulteration of mineral medicines, whose counterfeits are often more pernicious in their effects than the genuine ? According to Normandy, Bingley, 196 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. and Wakley, calomel is adulterated with chalk, sulphate of barytes, white lead, clay, sulphate of lime; mercury, with lead, tin, bismuth; mercurial ointments with Prussian blue, clay, etc.; nitrate of silver with nitrate of potash, and so on through the whole catalogue of mineral remedies. Why, the disclosure of this wholesale deception in drugs and medi- cines is enough to make a man see red and blue lights in the apothe- caries' windows, if all the "big bottles" of colored fluid were taken out. It is no wonder that the patients of old-school physicians make up ugly faces at their family doctors, and call them hard names. Mineral doctors, under the most favorable circumstances, are unsuc- cessful enough, without having their already uncertain remedies per- verted. As a general rule all internal medicines, whether vegetable or mineral, are potent for good or evil. They seldom have a passive effect, but a positive, or negative. It is all important, therefore, that they should be just what the prescriber supposes them to be, or serious mischief must necessarily occur. It is always advisable, when possible, for the medical practitioner to prepare with his own hands the prescriptions he would give to his patients. And if he aims to know precisely the effect any medicine will have on a disease, he him- self mast also collect, or have carefully collected, through trusty agents, the ingredients which enter into its composition. Any thing like an approach to unerring success is impossible without these precautions. Although the records of crime indicate that mankind places a trifling estimate on human life, its most depreciated value is quite too great to warrant the carelessness which is often manifested in the prepa- ration and administration of drugs, particularly when the extent to which adulteration is practiced is so widely known among the intel- ligent members of the medical profession. I most candidly confess that one of the secrets of my success lies in the fact, that I spare ueither labor nor expense in obtaining the best things from the vege- table kingdom that mother earth furnishes for the ills of mankind. Brutality and Inhumanity. Shocking instances of brutality and inhumanity are constantly straining the nerves of aU good people, and affecting to a frightful degree those who are finely organized physically. Some people delight in whipping horses; others in kicking dogs; and there are BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY. 197 those who cartnot pass an animal of any kind without hitting it with stick or stone. Almost everybody seems to enjoy to some extent the destroying of life. Boy3, for the mere fun of the thing, catch flies in order to kill them. Very bad boys delight in putting pins through insects, and fastening them to boards to watch their painful writhings and flutterings. Older boys and men find pleasur3 in shooting little birds, rabbits, squirrels, and other pretty animals the Creator made to beautify and enliven the landscape. Very bad men enjoy pummel- ling and killing each other. In brief, nearly all men possess the impulse, to some extent, to destroy life. It is small in those who simply like to step on worms, pull the wings from flies, and catch and torture the busy honey-bee ; but at the same time this is one of the worst and most inexcusable exhibi- tions of the impulse. It is larger in those who can entertain them- selves for clays and weeks with gun3 on their shoulders, searching the wood and stream for something to destroy, merely for the pleasure of taking life. It is tragically enormous in men who delight in the carnage of war; who boast how much they like to fight; and who can look with fiendish complacency upon the bleeding form of a brother slain; but it presents the dimensions of a fiend incarnate, and a power incomprehensible even to those we commonly esteem as bad, when it compels a man in the absence of any serious provoca- tion, to murder a large family, as illustrated in the case of Probst. As I see the wasp, ever ready to inflict his sting; as I read of the 9erpent, ever alert for an object into which he may fasten his poison- ous fang ; when I am told by the traveller of the blood-thirsty habits of the tiger, the panther, and other animals of this class, I some- times think that this disposition to inflict pain and destroy life, is, in a measure, derived from man. Man fills the whole animal world with magnetism bearing more or less of his qualities of mind and disposition. Place a good man for a while in the magnetic atmos- phere of those who are bad, even if the latter be mute or asleep, the good qualities of the former will be, in a measure, modified. No one can habitually live in the atmosphere of wicked people without 198 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. being to some degree contaminated. There are places which good men cannot enter without having their moral nature somewhat injured. Now, if men are so under the influence of their fellow- men, may not the inferior animals also be affected by the moral atmosphere of mankind. We find where men are the most savage, most brutal, and most given to the pastimes of torturing and killing; that there, too, animals of all kinds exhibit the most blood-thirsty instincts. The same animals removed to regions of civilization, and among men of greater kindliness of feeling, lose very much of their savage disposition; and, too, these ferocious animals are often suh- dued by the presence of one noble, generous man. Look at the story of Daniel in the lions' den—thrown there by his persecutors. How confident the haters of Daniel were that those lions would fall upon, and destroy him. This has often been counted a miracle, and indeed it must have been, if it was not the overpowering magnetism of good radiating from Daniel's noble nature which overcame the ferocity of the beasts. All successful tamers of ferocious animals, as well as our best horse trainers, are men of kind hearts. It ia impossible to subdue the tiger with a club, or a vicious horse with a whip ; and may it not be that the promised millennial era, " When the lion and the lamb shall lie down together," will make its advent on earth so soon as man shall have subdued all his cruel passions— so soon as he shall recognize the rights of animals of every grade, to exist and enjoy life—shall love his neighbor as himself—and shall love every thing that creeps upon the earth, because his Father made it. The health of the nervous system of many good people is, as it were, sacrificed by their being compelled to witness cruelty to ani- mals. The more sensitive are shocked at cruelty to insect life; but all noble souls tremble in their nervous centres when they see horses lashed; dogs kicked; and other animals rudely treated. No really generous, kind-hearted man can see the songsters of th> forest, and the quadrupeds which enliven wild and uninhabited resorts, shot down from pure wantonness, without experiencing a feeling detri- mental to the nervous harmony. Inhuman conduct between man and man, however, produces the greatest discord in the nervous system. It not only affects injurious- ly the perpetrator and victim of the cruel act, but it convulses the nervous systems of those who witness it, and tliose in the radius BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY. I99 of thousands of miles, who may read, or be told the affecting tale. Burns, ever glowing with sympathy, never uttered truer poetic words than those in which he said :— "Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn." It is shamefully the rule, instead of the exception, that men, created, as we are told, in the image of God, do not treat each other more kindly. Selfishness abounds everywhere, and constantly generates a spirit of inhumanity. This, in turn, leads to acts of cruelty, and when these culminate in murder, then again we witness the in- humanity of scores of people gathering in mobs to be revenged upon the unfortunate murderer; and the law, through its officers, jealous of its inhuman prerogatives, protects its victim, not only from the ferocity of the mob, but with stomach-pump takes from the wretched man the poison he has swallowed, in order that it may have the sat- isfaction of putting out his poor life; and when he has sufficiently recovered from this attempt upon his life, he is conducted trem- blingly, to the guillotine, the garrote, the scaffold or electric chair ! Readers, not one in ten of you have stopped to consider the moral and physical injury the human family suffers from the inhuman practices of beheading, choking to death, and hanging those who, through unfortunate mental organization, or more unfortunate cir- cumstances, commit murder or other crime. The effect upon the child, and in fact upon all, is to create the impression that murder is justifiable, if the provocation is what the law regards a capital offence; and the result is that many people, impatient of the law's delay, take, as they say, the law into their own hands, making them- selves judge as well as executioner. This is true, not only of mobs organized to lynch and kill some offender, but often of individual action. A man feels himself aggrieved by the supposed or real injustice of another; thinks he ought to be killed; and fearing or knowing that it cannot be effected by due course of law, he does the bloody work himself, after arraigning the accused before his own excited im- agination, and pronouncing sentence of death upon him. Now, if law will not countenance killing for any cause whatever, will it not have a healthful effect upon the passions of men who are now taught by its example that killing is right under certain circumstances, and by methods prescribed by law, and who, consequently, convinced in 200 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS, their heated judgment that some enemy of their happiness should bd killed, proceed at once to do the murderous work ? Would it not be far better to teach our children, as they are growing up, impress- ible and easily moulded, that no one, ruffian or sheriff, has a right to slay his fellow-man; that the life of every human being is in the hands of God, and that He shall determine when any disturber of the peace shall die ? Is it, indeed, reasonable to suppose that the Almighty, when the instrumentalities within His reach are so numer- cus for removing wicked men, if He chose to do so in any particular case, should brutalize man by making him the instrument ? Should not the law be made a good exemplar, in order that immature minds cay be correctly formed, and those which have received the develop- ment of adult age, impressed with the sacredness of human life There is no difficulty in placing the murderer where his existence -ill no longer be dangerous to society. Let it be the law, if neces- sary, that men guilty of capital offences shall not be pardoned by President, by governors, or other officials, and we may safely await the providence of God, as to when our erring brother shall be called before the great tribunal. So long as the law recognizes murder as necessary in some aggravated cases, individuals will entertain the same sentiment, and act upon the conviction. While writing, my eye falls upon a newspaper containing the following paragraph, dated at the office of Wells, Fargo, & Co., San Francisco :—" San Juan and Nevada stage robbed at four a. m. of $3,000; reward offered at seven a. m. ; robbers shot and all the money recovered at two p. m. ; coroner's inquest at three p. m. ; funeral of the thieves at six p. m. The fore- going programme of a 'spirited little affair,' came off on the 15th of May. First part of programme not so pleasant as the last." Of course all of this must have been done under the law of Judge Lynch, and as the newspaper seemed to regard it as a cute way of disposing of such matters, it is presumable that public sentiment also> approved of it. With this and other precedents in mind, somebody will shoot bis neighbor for invading his orchard ; some lover send cold lead into the heart of his rival; and some fellow, in a bar-room brawl, plunge the fatal knife into the breast of his adversary; for each one feels that the object of his dislike should be speedily put out of the way, and that killing is not, in all cases, morally and; legally wrong. It is urged by many that capital punishmeat restrains people from BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY. 201 committing crimes for which that penalty is inflicted; but statistics «how that more murders are committed in Massachusetts where the death-penalty is rigidly administered, than in Wisconsin where it has been for several years abolished. People laboring under violent passion seldom pause to consider consequences; while, as before remarked, the fact that public opinion and the law approve the tak- ing of life in some cases, affords them an excuse for so doing, for they frantically imagine, for the moment, that there never was so great a provocation—never a better cause for the adoption of extreme measures. The death-penalty, happily, is becoming unpopular, though too slowly. In the earlier period of man's history, a murderer was pur- sued and slain by the friend of the murdered man. The early Hebrews punished blasphemy, disobedience to parents, desecration of the Sabbath, idolatry, witchcraft, and many other misdemeanors, with death. The Athenians considered people guilty of open dis- respect for religious rites or popular faith deserving of the death- penalty. From those earlier periods to the present time, public sentiment has been slowly, but steadily, undergoing a wholesome change, and laws have, accordingly, been made more humane. It is, however, less than one hundred years since a woman was hung on Boston Common for snatching a bonnet and reticule from a lady on one of the streets leading from Fort Hill. It was pronounced a clear case of highway robbery, upon which charge she was con- victed, and for which the penalty was death. To-day, in New York, only treason, murder, and homicidal arson are visited with death. The death-penalty, according to Gen. N. M. Curtis, was abolished in Michigan in 1847, in Rhode Island in 1852, in Wisconsin in 1853, and in Iowa in 1872. In one or two of these States there have been some changes allowing the jury to decide if in any case the death- penalty should be executed. In regard to Wisconsin, Governor Washburn, when occupying the executive chair, said: " It is twenty years since the abolition of capital punishment. No State," he added, " can show a greater freedom from homicidal crime." Crime decreased instead of increased with the growth of the State. The statistics of Rhode Island bearing on this matter are equally favor- able to the abolition of the death-penalty. They show in aU the States that have done away with these barbarous methods that con- victions are more easily obtained, and that a far less number of 202 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. capital crimes are committed within their boundaries as compared with contiguous States wherein the death-penalty hangs merci- lessly over the head of the murderer. The difficulty in convicting those who are charged with murder under the existing statutes in the majority of States is illustrated in the following facts gathered by General Curtis: "In 1885 there were 1,808 murders, only 108 exe- cutions, while there were 181 lynchings. In 1886, 1,499 murders, only eighty-three executions, and 133 lynchings. In 1887, 2,333 murders, seventy nine executions, and 123 lynchings. In 1888, 2,184 murders, eighty-seven executions, and 144 lynchings. In 1889, 3,567 murders, ninety eight executions, and 175 lynchings. A little over 3 per cent, of the murderers are legally executed, while the efficiency of Judge Lynchs court seems to be from two to three times as great. It is worthy of note, that Judge Lynch's proceedings are wholly carried on within the limits of capital States." If we cast our eyes abroad we shall find confirmation of the views of those who advocate the abolition of capital punishment. "Ex- amine," says General Curtis, " the criminal statistics of Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Tuscany and Portugal, and you will find homi- cidal crimes have lessened since the abolition of the death-penalty." Those who have given attention to the subject are impressed with the conviction that the death-penalty has no deterrent influence upon the criminal mind. "The pretext of warning," says Prof. Alexander Wilder, M. D., "is gossamer. The experience of England demonstrated that the more capital punishment was resorted to, the more occasion was found for it. Indeed, the severest courts and the most rigidly enforced penalties are found on pirate ships, yet we hardly look to such a community for personal security. There is something in the familiarity with bloodshed that maddens men to be murderers. * * * Children reading or hearing particu- lars of an execution imitate it in their play. Men attending such an occurrence are maddened and made murderous in temper. This fact has led to the executing of men in private with only witnesses enough to make sure that the work has been properly done. Yet if it were so holy, so religious, so necessary for an example the logic is inevitable that executions ought to be public and that every man, woman, and child ought to be encouraged if not forced to attend them for the sake of the moral influence." In New York it was attempted to exclude from the daily press aU BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY. 203 descriptions of the events of the death-chamber when the electric chair succeeded the gallows. This was found to be impracticable, and the reading public is served up with a chapter of horrors when- ever a condemned man is shocke I to death. It seems difficult for the mind of man to devise any means of killing criminals humanely. Electricity is clearly a disappointment, and those who are called to witness the execution by this method are nearly shocked to death themselves by the contortions of a fellow-being strapped to the chair while the painful current is doing its murderous work. Better than this plan would be to put the unfortunate man in a car and sink it to the bottom of a river, as the pound-master used to drown dogs, for we should at least be saved the horror of beholding the victim in his last agonies! But there can be no humane or ele- vating device for perpetrating judicial murder. When statute law ceases to provide physical torture as a punish- ment for crime, we may reasonably hope to see less cruelty exhibited by man toward his fellow-man, and to the lower orders of animal life. Remove this barbaric example from high places and the influ- ence will be Christianizing to the whole human family; and with this regeneration of man, even the ferocity of beasts will ultimately be subdued by the magnetic power of benevolence and fraternal love. This is not too much to hope for by those who heartily believe in the predicted millennium; but let us not lose sight of the sanitary motive for reform in this particular. Let every one remember that all cruelty, and all inhumanity is not only felt by the victim thereof, but by all good men and women who are cognizant of the violence or unkindness, and that their nervous systems are seriously impaired by all that is commonly and correctly denominated "Shocking," and that the perpetrator suffers physically, to some extent, in consequence of the allowed presence of the passions which instigate him to com- mit the offence. Let me also add that it would greatly conduce to health of nerve, if people of delicate organizations would suppress the morbid taste or curiosity which leads them to witness a stage, or real tragedy; which makes them attentive readers of a tragical story, or accounts of actual murder; which induces them to apply to the sheriff for permission to witness the dying convulsions of a convicted murderer, or fly to the newspaper for the harrowing description of the last momenta of the condemned man. Let us rather try, so far as possible, to turn away our eyes froin the bloody aots of depraved 204 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. human nature and barbaric laws, and thus preserve our nerves in tranquillity while watching and applauding the examples of the good, and trying to make kindness of heart a quality of earnest and uni. versal aspiration. Wealth. Wealth, with its attendant dissipations, is a prolific source of ner- vous derangements and blood-impurities. Many physiologists have described money as the " elixir of both mind and body." Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health remarks as follows:— " This idea of the hygienic value of money on men is strikingly illustrated in the report of M. Vallerme: secretary of the poor-house commissioners in Havre, where the average age of the rich is twelve years greater than that of the poor. Thus, 1.088 prosperous persons died at an average age of 42 years; 4,791 of the middling classes at 29 years; and 19,849 poor at 20 years." Now these statistics, at first glance, look like "knock-down arguments;" but those who argue from them that wealth is a promoter of health and lon- gevity, overlook one important consideration which strikes at the very root of their philosophy, to wit: health begets wealth, instead of wealth begetting health. It must be remembered that a large pro- portion of mankind is born into the world with hereditary disease or enfeebled constitution, which disqualifies them for the active pursuits of life, and consequently, unless they become heirs to wealth they must live and die poor. Look over our country now, and learn tho history of its wealthy men; what do we find? two-thirds at least have been the architects of their own fortunes. They have amassed their wealth by that indomitable perseverance and industry which they could only have maintained under the encouragement of vigor- ous physical organization. What chance has the invalid to gain wealth, or even a competency? He U interrupted in Im business pnisuits by the visitations of disease, and the harvests he may reap during the intervals of comfortable health, are at onoe absorbed in $e expenses of sickness -which follows. If, as the statistics indicate, WEALTH. m the average age of wealth over poverty is only twelve years, the argument is in favor of the latter: for if, with good health to start with, and subsequent wealth to enable them to live as they choose, rich people cannot exceed an average of twelve years over a class, a majority of which is born in sickness and physical deformity, we may justly conclude that wealth, with its usual dissipations, shortens the lives of its possessors. Dr. Hall has fallen into the same error that many other physiological writers have in treating on this sub- ject Men who have been gifted with that mental and physical energy, united with extraordinary powers of endurance, which has enabled them to stem with success the opposing currents of life, ought to live from twenty to fifty years longer than the sickly crew who fol- low in their wake with spirited oars to-day, and exhausted strength to-morrow. But it appears they can only average twelve more, and probably these are obtained from the extraordinary longevity of the minority of wealthy men, who have attained remarkable age in con- sequence of an adherence to temperate and industrious habits, unal- lured by the vices of wealth. A few men use riches as if they were a loan from God—strewing the paths of indigency and suffering with blessings; many men value riches only because they enable them to live in sluggish idleness—to glut their bellies with besotting wines and rich viands—to gratify in full measure their stimulated passions, and dazzle the world with glittering gew-gaws. The former possess placidity of mind and har- mony of body; the latter, mental uneasiness and physical debility, and from the dissipations of these arise the common evils of wealth. The mind, under constant excitement, the blood hot with excessive stimulus, and the muscles paralyzed with habitual inactivity, cannot fail to destroy the tone of the nervous and vascular system. There is a happy medium between wealth and poverty, which pro- motes physical health and social comfort, and beyond this boundary it were well if none could pass. Inasmuch as man can carry nothing with him at the close of life except a record of good works, he who possesses a competency during life enjoys all the pleasures that money can buy, without surfeit. But some wish for wealth to be enabled to do good. An excellent lesson for such may be found in the life and sayings of Socrates: A Grecian youth, who saw the errors and fol- lies of the people, and wished to reform the world, exclaimed : " Oh, 206 Causes of nervous and blood derangements. that I were rich, and famous as an orator, I would move the world so soon! Here are sins to be plucked up, and truths to be planted. Oh, that I could do it all 1 I would reform the whole world—-and that 30 soon!" Socrates, hearing the youth, said: "Young man, thou speakest as silly women. This gospel in plain letters is written for all—' Let him that would move the world, move first niMSELF.' It asketh neither wealth nor fame to live out a noble life. Make thy light thy life; thy thought thy action. Others will come round, and follow in thy steps. Thou askest riches to move the world. Foolish young man, as thou art, begin now. Reform thy little self, and thou hast begun to reform the world. Fear not; thy work shall never die." The general tendency of wealth is not benevolence, but prodigality, selfishness, idleness, and gluttony. There is more true benevolence exhibited by the poorest than the wealthiest classes. Hon. Geo. S. Hilliard has beautifully remarked—" I confess that increasing years bring with them an increasing respect for men who do not succeed in life, as those words are commonly used. Heaven is said to be a place for those who have not succeeded on earth ; and it is surely true that celestial graces do not best thrive and bloom in the hot blaze of worldly prosperity. Ill success sometimes arises from a superabun- dance of qualities in themselves good—from a conscience too sensi- tive, a taste too fastidious, aself-forgetfulness too romantic, a modesty too retiring. I will not go so far as to say, with a living poet, that the ' world knows nothing of its greatest men,' but there are forms of greatness, or at least excellence, which 'die and make no sign;1 there are martyrs that miss the palm, but not the stake; there are heroes without the laurel, and conquerors without the triumph." The view I take of the physical effects of riches is sustained by Dr. Channing. He gives it as his opinion that the difference between the rich and the poor in regard to physical suffering is not as great as has been imagined, in support of which he says: "That some of the indigent among us die of scanty food is undoubtedly true; but vastly more die from eating too much than from eating too little; vastly more from excess than from starvation. So as to clothing, many shiver from want of defence against the cold; but there is vastly more suffering among the rich from absurd and criminal modes of dress which fashion has sanctioned, than among the poor from defi- ciency of raiment. Our daughters are oftener brought to the grave failures in business. 207 by their rich attire, than our beggars by their nakedness. So the poor are often over-worked; but they suffer less than many among the rich who have no work to do nor interesting object to fill up life; to satisfy the infinite cravings of man for action. According to our present modes of education, how many of our daughters are victims of ennni, a misery unknown to the poor, and more intolerable than the weariness of excessive toil." Failures in Business. Of those casualties which, through their depressing influence upon the mind, disturb the harmony of the nervous system, there are none, which prudence has power to avert, more prolific of nervous derangements than failures in business. In fact, financial pros- perity often sustains men in apparent health, whose systems are loaded with diseases in embryo, and the first stroke of misfortune which causes the brain to withhold and consume within itself the measure of vital electricity which it habit- ually dispenses to the various organs of the body, removes the restraining power which holds the latent disorders of the system in check, and, all at once, the unfortunate °™«-">'s occupation gone. business-man becomes the tenant of a sick-bed, or the inmate of a lunatic asylum. The human brain sustains a similar relation to its dependency— the body—that the bank does to the commercial world. Its medium is not "rags," but vital electricity; and its depositors and patrons are not merchants and manufacturers, but organs and functions. When trouble overtakes a man, a physiological "panic" ensues, and the brain discounts sparingly. If a " run " is made upon it, it par- tially or wholly "suspends." The process of digestion and the action of the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, etc., are dependent upon the vital electric forces emanating from the brain, and wlieii the lat- ter is over-exercised with trouble and hard thinking, it reserves its electricity for its own use, leaving the body only partially supplied ; and if the organs retaliate by denying nourishment to the brain, aa they -are obliged to do, in a measure, the delicately-organized man 208 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. becomes a lunatic, and the vigorous man, whose system is filled with inflammatory matter, a victim to some corporeal disease, acute or chronic. "Hard times" invariably increase the labors of a physician, although they do not always increase the gold in his coffers. A bankrupt man is generally an invalid, a prostrate patieut, or a men- tal imbecile. The commercial revulsion of 1857 increased the num- ber of inmates in lunatic asylums more than twenty-five per cent., and in Pennsylvania, where its effects were the most immediately and severely felt, the Insane Hospital in West Philadelphia, and the State Asylum at Harrisburg* were filled to the extent of their accom- modations. Such wwe the commotions between mind and matter, that many severed the unhappy relation existing between the two by suicide. Failures in that year were numerous, and disease, insanity, and suicide increased pro rata. Such being the effects of business failures upon the health of a people, they should be avoided, as far as possible, by prudence nnd economy. "Live within your means," is an old and good proverb, and he who does not, almost invariably brings upon him- self nervous derangements which are sure to lead to fatal results. Every married man should confide to his wife the real condition of his finances. Much is said of the extravagance of married ladies. Their conduct is often pronounced the cause of their husbands' ruin. Much truth is uttered in such assertions, but not the whole truth. Men are apt to represent their pecuniary resources much greater than they actually are. As a sequence, wives laugh at their admonitions of economy—think their consorts " stingy "—and govern their wants by the supposed capacity of their purses. Nothing short of a failure reveals to them their insolvency. The wife's condition, under the most favorable circumstances, is a hard one, and she cannot be blamed for reaching for the good things of life, if her husband leads her to believe he is rich, particularly if he gives plausibility to her delusion by indulging in such superfluities as Havana cigars and expensive wines. It is high time that men began to appear to their wives exactly what they are, pecuniarily, morally, and socially. Frankness in these respects would not only tend to lessen the number of business failures, but would greatly diminish the evils of prostitution. But deception, in most cases, commences in the moonlight nights before FAILURE IN BUSINESS. 200 marriage, and continues until some pecuniary or physical disaster reveals things as they are. This sometimes happens unexpectedly early. Fowler gives an amusing illustration in commenting on the motive which induces many to marry:— " A distinguished young man from the South, making great pre- tensions to rank and wealth at home, paid attentions to a young lady residing near New York Bay, whose father had been very wealthy, but owing to reverses had become quite reduced in circumstances ; still, the family maintained their style, and the display of affluence equaled fully what it had been in their palmier days, and, by so doing, sustained their reputation in society, in order to allow tho young ladies a better opportunity of settling in life. The new-comer, prompted by the desire of securing the prize, and thinking she pos- sessed sufficient of the 'needful' to pay all expenses, dashed out in fine style, ran into every extravagance, and displayed the fastest and most beautiful horses, etc. Finding debts accumulating and becom- ing pressing, he hurried on the wedding day, this being the only prospect for their discharge. Meanwhile, she, not suspecting that he had falsely represented his situation, and delighted at the idea of obtaining so liberal and generous a husband, encouraged his expenses, and was profuse herself, thinking he had the means to settle the bills. They were married—wrhen, to their astonishment and shame, they found themselves not only destitute of the means to discharge their lia- bilities, but unable to buy the necessary furniture for housekeeping." Deception on both sides rather hastened the result in this instance. Had it only been practised by the gentleman, the lady really possess- ing the supposed wealth, the deluded wife would have probably put her fortune into a princely establishment, relying on his purse for its maintenance, when a failure involving extensive loss would have ulti- mately followed. There are unquestionably some wives who, with full knowledge of their husbands' limited resources, endeavor to vie with their wealthiest neighbors, and bring upon their indulgent providers pre- mature ruin and death. Such, however, are exceptions, and when the grave closes over the victims of their foolish extravagance, they bitterly reflect on the errors of their conduct. . Running in debt to an extent beyond all present prospect of liqui- dation, is a common cause of failures in business. This error is almost characteristic of the Yankee, whose enterprising spirit leads 210 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD- DERANGEMENT* him to embark in hazardous speculations. His organ of " Hope,* generally predominates over his "Causality," and "Caution," and, urged on by largely developed propelling faculties, he frequently finds himself in deep water, without plank or life-preserver. He ia too, of all men, least calculated, physically, to endure reverses, for although he may succeed, by his indomitable will, in buffeting the waves of adversity, his physical health suffers from all such en- counters. Here, too, the proverbialist whispers—" Live within your means." Dishonesty causes many failures. Let one man of extensive repu- tation and high standing in the commercial world, turn trickster and defraud a bank or railroad of a large sum of money, and the whole community suffers. Public confidence is shaken. Men who have contracted debts with a good prospect of being able to pay, can- not extricate themselves from an unexpected dilemma. Failure after failure follows in the wake of the defaulter, destroying the prospects of many careful as well as careless men. Do defaulters ever reflect that their dishonesty carties thousands to premature graves? Obser- vation proves such to be the fact. But reckless men seldom look at consequences, and if they can only raise themselves from the ashes of a financial ruin, which their dishonesty has brought upon a com- munity, their humane curiosity is not sufficiently awakened to inquire how many have been buried in it. Burns truly said, " Man's inhu- manity to man makes countless thousands mourn." Commercial men, who are supposed to regulate the monetary affairs of the world, should realize the powerful influence they exert over the physical well-being of the race. Recklessness by the few should not be tolerated by the many, or at least, not countenanced. Every "false step" brings with it multitudinous failures, and failures in business produce depression of mind, and depression of mind disturbs the harmony of the nervous system, and this leads to men- tal and corporeal diseases of every variety, according to the predis- position of victims. Do not strive to acquire sudden fortune. Re member that contentment is wealth, and that there is no real wealth without it. He who passes through life with a sufficiency of food and clothing, and a contented heart, has the benefit of all the wealth the world possesses. EXCESSIVE STUDl. 211 Excessive Study- "The mind, Just like the stomach, takes Its food for pleasure, profit, use, Reflection all the virtue makes, And serves it for Its gastric Juice." The mind may be overloaded as well as the stomach. Reading too constantly and studying too closely, is as injurious to the mind and nervous system as is eating too ™ g2 much to the stomach and blood. The back doors of many of our colleges and semina- ries open into lunatic asylums and cemete- ries. The literary world is full of physical wrecks, and many a mind has become • bankrupt by trying to acquire knowledge too fast, like the ambitious business-man who fails, through his over-exertions to get rich. Avarice for knowledge is gen- erally more successful than avarice for money, but while the failure of the former leads to an empty head, that of the latter T,,E 8T™E*'r AT nis BO°«- only leads to an empty pocket. Every man is born into the world with a certain amount of mental capacity which will admit of cultivation, but not of forced growth. By gentle discipline the mental powers of a man will gradually develop, and reach maturity as early as good physical health will permit, but when the student attempts to crowd his mind with learning all at once, he not only fails to reach the high summit of his inordinate ambition, but often falls a helpless imbecile. "Professor Houghton, of Trinity College, Dublin," says a news- paper writer, "has published some curious chemical computations respecting the relative amounts of physical exhaustion produced by mental and manual labor. According to these chemical estimates, two hours of severe mental study, abstract from the human system as much vital strength as is taken from it by an entire day of mere hand-work. This fact, which seems to rest upon strictly scientific laws, shows that the men who do brain-work should be careful, first, not to overtask themselves by too continuous exertion, and secondly, that they should not omit to take physical exercise each day suffi- 212 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS. Fig. 63. cient to restore the equilibrium between the nervous and muscular systems. Studies, to be improving, must be pursued with a relish, the same as good edibles are sought after by the epicure. If the mental appe- tite is too craving, gratify it sparingly, as every man should his cor- poreal appetite ; if too dull, nurse it gently. An observance of this rule will prevent our institutions of learning from sending thou- sands of mental dyspeptics into the world to flash and flicker with intellectual light, and then go out like a used-up tallow candle. Excessive Labor. " The night is come, but not too soon,— The laborer's hand is weary growing/1 Foolish pride and aspirations for wealth more frequently than necessity, drive men to excessive labor. Both the mental and phys- ical system demand rest, and inflict a penalty on the individual who refuses to grant it. Not only has nature ordained night as a season of repose, but the God of nature has commanded that one day in each week shall be observed as a period of rest for all human beings, and has so impressed the necessity of such a regulation on the hu- man mind, that, however diverse may be the religious opinions of different people, all have a day professedly set apart for that purpose. Tims, Sunday is appointed by the Christians, Monday by the Grecians, Tuesday by the Persians, Wednesday by the Assyrians, Thursday by the Egyptians, Friday by the Turks, and Saturday by the Jews. The strict observ- ance of the day is, however, unusual. The business man, although he be a constant attendant at church, is apt to look over his accounts and lay down his programme for the week, while the literary char- acter meditates on what he will write or speak, regardless of the sentiment of the Roman philosopher, Seneca, who said that "the mind of man is like the fields, the fertility of which depends on their being allowed a certain period of rest at the proper season." And a great deal of this over work is for the frivolous purpose of driving TIIE OVERWORKED MAN IN BIS COUNTING-ROOM. MELANCHOLY. 213 a prettier span of horses than some neighbor, wearing a finer coat, holding larger estates, or possessing more of that attractive com- modity—gold! The best remedy for this evil is contentment. This should be cultivated, for it is wealth. A contented man with fifty cents in his pocket, and a clear conscience, is far wealthier than the millionaire, whose Sunday, week-day, and night dreams are all about gold, and how more may be accumulated. Dismiss your avocations, all who can, at night and on Sundays, and acquire contentment if you would preserve your nervous systems in health, and your minds in happy placidity. There are, it is true, many so pressed with want that they can hardly do so. Our sewing-women are the most unfor- tunate representatives of this class; but even they would be able to accomplish more in the end by religiously observing some hours for rest, divided between sleep and out-of-door exercise. Sickness, and consequent compulsion to entirely abstain from work for weeks and months, would not occur so often, if those who are obliged to support themselves by the needle would pursue this rule. A healthful position can hardly be maintained in plying the needle steadily, in conse- quence of which the activity of the vital organs is interrupted, and the circulation of the blood impaired. Exercise of some kind every day, and a reasonable amount of repose every night, are absolutely necessary to preserve health of body and mind. To assist in preserv- ing the strength of the eye, it has been wisely suggested by the Sur- geon of the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital of London, that "needle- women, embroiderers, etc., should work in rooms hung with green, and have green blinds and curtains to the windows. In China, this rule is adopted by the exquisite embroiderers of that country." Melancholy. Some writer has facetiously remarked that " there are many peo- ple who keep pet griefs as certain other people keep iap-d©gs, that they carry about with them wherever they go. These are the people who feel the best when they feel the worst, and are never so happy as when they are utterly miserable. Like the maiden w who milked the cow with the crumpled horn,'they are always 'all forlorn,' and tbey keep a figurative dog to be ' tossed,' and a cat to be 'worried,' and a rat to be ' killed ' upon every possible occasion. They turn down the leaf at, ' Oh, that my head were water*, and mine eyes a fonntaio 214 CAUSES OF NERVOUS AND BLOOD DERANGEMENTS of tears,' as if griefs were like bulrushes, and flourished best in wet places." Melancholy seriously disturbs the circulation of the nervo-electrio P^ u forces, and causes an undue consumption of the latter in the brain. Melancholy people are almost invariably dyspeptic, be- cause a full supply of the electric element is withheld from the pneumo-gastric nerve, which conveys from the brain the force that gives tone and activity to the diges- tive organs. Despondency of mind, in fact, affects all the organs of the system, more or less, on the same principle; the brain consuming, in its excitement, more than its natural allowance of nervo-electricity, thb MULAucnoLY man. an(^ ag a consequence, withholding the vital element from the various organs which aro dependent upon it for healthful action. Cheerfulness should be cultivated by every one. It is an antidote for many ills; and a laugh is of immense value, physiologically. It produces an electric effect throughout the whole system. It is felt in no one place particularly, but every nerve, muscle, and fibre is simul- taneously titillated with the electric flash from the brain. All who have melancholy friends should try to excite them to laughter A few hearty laughs will cure the most desperate case of melancholy. It is a Christian duty to look cheerful, and a blessed privilege to laugh. "Away with melancholy." Conclusion. Really the only melancholy which we may be excused for indulging, is that which must come over every one in observing the general ill- health with which we are surrounded, by the unfortunate customs and habits which we recklessly observe and blindly pursue. They are so multitudinous, and so impertinently insinuating, that they may be compared to the inseots of summer. They creep into a man's hat; they crawl into his boots; they nestle in woman's waistbands, and they conceal themselves in her trailing drapery. They fall into the food we eat, and drop into the liquids we drink. With the greediness of fabled vampires, they suoi out the little \>rm WBW CONCLUSION. 215 people bring into the world with them, leaving a sting that destroys all moral sense. They penetrate not only the tenement basement, but the drawing-rooms of the affluent. They mark the faces of the poor with pock-pits, and cause the rich to hobble about on gold- mounted crutches. Science must find a cure for their sting, and common sense must devise means for their extermination. A CUBE FOR MEtANCHOlY, CHAPTER ITf. PREVENTION OF DISEASE. " If half the thought and sentiment that are spent on the subject of death, were be- Btowed on the practical duty of strengthening, lengthening, and ennobling life, we Bhould be more fit to live worthily and die contentedly,"—Harriet Martineau. HIS proposition may sound shocking to many, but it is a living truth ; and it may be added, that if half the time and money expended by the sick to recover health had been timely devoted to the preservation of health, life would be a more enjoyable and less expensive luxury. The trite maxim that " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," applies with greater force, in this connection, than it can in any other. If people would properly consult temperaments in marriage; then, if they would take some thought and pains to prepare themselves to become the healthy parents of healthy children; and then again, if the children of such careful progenitors would take reasonable care of the valuable legacy bequeathed to them, after a few generations, the good people could tip their hats with a sarcastic good-bye to the doctors, use patent nostrums for poisoning troublesome insects, and limit the business of the under- taker to the burial of those who die by accident or old age. A writer in the Atlantic Magazine says:—"In our civilized sedentary life, he who would have good health must fight for it. Many people have the insolence to become parents, who have no right to aspire to th&t dignity; children are born who have no right to exist; and skill preserves many whom Nature is eager to destroy. Civilized man, too, has learned the trick of heading off some of the diseases that used to sweep over whole regions of the earth, and lay low the weakliest tenth of a population. Secondly, while the average dura- tion of human life has been increased, the average tone of human. PREVENTION Of DISEASE. ^17 health has been lowered. Fewer die, but fewer are quite well. Many of us breathe vitiated air, and keep nine-tenths of the body quiescent for twenty-two or twenty-three hours out of every twenty- four. Immense numbers cherish gloomy, depressing opinions, and convert the day, set apart for rest and recreation, into one which aggravates some of the worst tendencies of the week, and counter- acts none of them. Half the population of the United States violate the law of nature every time they take sustenance, and the children go, crammed with indigestion, to sit six hours in hot, ill-ventilated, or unventilated school-rooms. Except in a few large towns, the bread and meat are almost universally inferior, or bad; and tho only viands that are good, are those which ought not to be eatea at all. At most family tables, after a course of meat, which has the curious properties of being both soft and tough, a profusion of inge- nious puddings, pies, cakes, and other abominable trash, disagrees with the young, disgusts the mature, and injures all. From bodies thus imperfectly nourished we demand excessive exertions of all kinds." The proprietor of an expensive steam-engine would never permit such a "Gump" to take care of it, as he allows to take care of his own delicate physical machinery. He will not employ an engineer who does not fully understand the entire mechanism of the engine. He will employ one who knows when to increase and when to decrease the amount of fuel; when to let off some of the superfluous steam, and when to augment it; when to clean out the ashes and cinders ; and when to add a lubricator to all the various parts subject to friction. Well, now, the human system is a thousand times more intricate and delicate in its mechanism than the steam-engine, and yet peo- ple all over the world are "running it," who know nothing of its complicated parts—are in absolute ignorance of the functions of many of them; and are entirely incapable of selecting the proper food (fuel) to keep it in first-rate order. To the car of an observant, reflective physiologist, it sounds almost like an insult to our Creator to say that Providence has taken this or that young relative or friend from the family of which it is a dearly loved member. An anonymous writer disposes of this fallacy with the following pointed interrogatories and sensible re- plies:—"Take for example, the young girl bred delicately in a town ; shut up in a nursery in her childhood, in a boarding-school 10 gig PREVENTION OF DISEASE. through her youth, never accustomed to air or exercise — two things that the law of God makes essential to health. She marries; her strength is inadequate to meet the demand upon it. Her beauty fades early. ' What a strange Providence that a mother should be taken in the midst of life from her children!' Was it Providence? No! Providence has assigned her three-score and ten years, a term long enough to rear her children, and to see her children's children; hut she did not obey the laws on which life depends, and, of course, she lost it. "A father, too, is cut off in the midst of his days. He is a useful and distinguished citizen, and eminent in his profession. A general buzz rises on every side, of 'What a striking Providence!' This man has been in the habit of studying half the night, of passing his days in his office and the courts, of eating luxurious dinners, and of drinking various wines. He has every day violated the laws on which health depends. Did Providence cut him off? The evil rarely ends here. The diseases of the father are often transmitted ; and a feeble mother rarely leaves behind her vigorous children. " It has been customary in some of our cities for young ladies to walk in thin shoes and delicate stockings in mid-winter. A healthy blooming girl thus dresses in violation of Heaven's laws, pays the penalty—a checked circulation, cold, fever, and death. "What a sad Providence!' exclaim her friends. Was it Providence, or her own useless and sad folly ? " A beautiful young bride goes night after night to parties made in honor of her marriage. She has a slight sore throat, perhaps, and the weather is inclement; by day her shoulders are loaded with furs, but on these occasions she must wear her neck and arms bare, for who ever heard of a bride in a close evening dress? She is con- sequently seized with an inflammation of the lungs, and the grave receives her before her bridal days are over. 'What a Providence!' exclaims the world. Alas ! Did she not cut the thread of life her own self? "A girl in the country exposed to our changeful climate, gets a new bonnet instead of getting a flannel garment. A rheumatism is the consequence. Should the girl sit down tranquilly, with the idea that Providence has sent the rheumatism upon her, or should she charge it on her own vanity, and avoid the folly in future ? Look, my young friends, at the mass of diseases that are incnrred by intemper- PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 21d ance in eating and drinking, in study or in business; by neglect of exercise, cleanliness, and pure air; by indiscreet dressing, tight lacing, etc, and all is quietly imputed to Providence! Is there not impiety as well as ignorance in this? Were the physical laws strictly observed from generation to generation, there would be an end to the frightful diseases that cut life short, and a long list of maladies that make life a torment or trial. It is the opinion of those who best understand the physical system, that this wonderful machine, the body, this ' goodly temple, would gradually decay, and men would die as if falling asleep.' " We should look upon our Heavenly Father as the author of all good, and if we will but observe and think a little, we shall discover that nearly all physical suffering and premature death arise from our own follies and ignorance. " How about the loss of our dear baby?" some afflicted mother may inquire: " It surely had committed no physical sin; and I was careful in feeding and clothing it; and scarcely allowed it out of my sight." Ah, woman, you must look farther back for the causes of your infant's early death. They may have been as remote as the violations of the laws of health by its grand-parents, or great grand-parents. They may have originated in your ignorance, or willful non-observance of those laws which govern healthy propagation, and of which I shall shortly speak. Health and longevity great'y depend upon what is termed a good constitution at the outset. Many a baby is conceived with the germ of disease and early death, and it strikes me that the kind hand of Divine Providence has little to do with the removal of such a child. The disease may not be apparent at its birth. It may even have a healthy appearing skin and plump body, while in its blood lurks a poison or taint of disease which needs only the contact of the atmos- phere of scarlet fever, measles, or whooping-cough, to develop. Its blood may be possessed of properties which render it susceptible to colds, resulting in croup, diphtheria, inflammation of the brain, or something equally fatal. I have picked open the fairest of rose-buds, and found beneath its delicate leaves, worms that would have prevented it from ever blossoming. I have eaten apples that had the external appearance of soundness, and the rich complexion of perfection, which were rotten at the core. You cannot always conclude that your children are constitutionally healthy because they are fat and fair. Indeed, scrofulous babies are usually remarkable gQO PREVENTION OF DISEASE. for clearness of skin and plumpness of body. I shall therefore tell you, in the opening essay of this chapter, How to Have Healthy Babies. With some childless people, I am aware, it is a question of chief Importance, "How to have babies at all?" All such persons I would refer to Hints to the Childless, in another part of this work The relevant question to be considered here is, what means are ne- cessary to secure healthy offspring when people are physically capa- ble of healthy reproduction. The human family is not sufficiently interested in it, I know, but the physiologist should, nevertheless, endeavor to improve the physical and moral condition of the human race by calling attention to it. If boys and girls, and men and women were marketable in the civilized world, as they are in some semi-barbarous countries; if they could be sold like horses, cattle, and sheep, the commercial and practical spirit of the age would, irresistibly demand an improvement in the stock of human beings, as it demands, and is busy in securing, an improved stock of domes- tic animals. Celebrated stock-raisers in Europe and America, and many of our scientific farmers, are superintending with much care in field, stall, and pen, the propagation of fine breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs, while at home, their offspring are creatures of acci- dent; conceived, in many instances, under circumstances which render them inevitably puny, sickly, and ill-natured, if not constitu- tionally immoral. Now, certainly, an argument is not necessary here to show that we should devote as much attention to the proper propagation of children as we do to the breeding of calves and colts, I shall, therefore, defer no longer in coming directly to the advice I proposed to give in this essay. My first proposition embodies the proscription of a certain class. People who are physically infirm should not have children while such infirmities exist, because they are almost certain to transmit them to offspring, and the combined infirmities of each parent (when both are diseased) frequently result in most lamentable conse- quences to the innocent victims of this indiscretion. In some semi-barbarons countries, diseased and malformed children are de- stroyed as soon as born, or when the abnormal manifestations appear, find to the little sufferers this seeming inhumanity may be in reality ^ mercy; but disregard of the true laws of propagation, followed by HOW TO HAVE HEALTHY BABIES. 223 suon wholesale butchery of the products, would forever keep a people in barbarism, notwithstanding f heir efforts to preserve only the best specimens of humanity they might find themselves able to produce. It may be hard for the hopelessly incurable to deny themselves the pleasure of becoming parents; but it is questionable if this self-denial brings more suffering to their philoprogenitive nature, than the sickness and early death of offspring inflict upon them, while their enlightened, moral and benevolent faculties—if they possess such—must upbraid them for the evil they achieve by bringing into the world, a little, living, conscious being, susceptible to the keenest suffering, immediately coupled with physical derangements only capa- ble of inflicting pain. To do such a deed premeditately would require the fiendish attributes of a demon. It is the ignorance of infirm parents which brings into the world such pitiful specimens of hu- manity ; and it is to the credit of the intelligence and benevolence of some hopelessly diseased men and women, that they do not become parents, for the reason, simply, that they do not wish to bring chil- dren into the world certain heirs to their own sufferings. There is, however, a large class, embracing invalids of both sexes, who think themselves hopelessly incurable, when really, under prop- er treatment, they might be restored to a comfortable degree of health. Physicians of the reformed school of practice often meet these wrecks of the old-school methods, and triumphantly set them on their feet. In some cases these people may not attain firm health, but if they will unite with those of opposite temperament, having perfect health, and have connection for the purpose of offspring only at such times as they feel in the most buoyant physical and spiritual condition, they may be blessed with healthy children, if other necessary rules given in this chapter are observed. The prop-. er combination of temperaments is a very important consideration. If the parents themselves possess perfection of health, and they have coalesced without reference to physical adaptation, the children may be physically as imperfect as they would be, if they were the products of diseased progenitors. In Part Fourth this subject of temperamental adaptation will be presented in such a way as to afford a guide to those contemplating marriage. The second proposition embraces hints to those who, having health, do not make the most of it in the act of propagation. People claim- ing entire immunity from diseaee, have seasons of feeling less vigor- 222 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. ous and vivacious than at others, and unfortunately for offspring, coition is sometimes resorted to at such periods, by way of experi- ment, to see if better feeling may not be induced. If more conve- nient, a glass of wine, beer, or other stimulant, or a narcotic is taken for the purpose; but if the drug fail, the exhilarating delirium of sex- ual excitement is sought; and if offspring is produced, it not only re- ceives at the moment of conception the organic impression of the phys- ical derangements leading to the momentary depression of the parent, but probably also, the embryonic formation of vitiated appetite and passion. With people of this class, offspring should not be acci- dental, and propagation should only be allowed when they are in the enjoyment of their best physical and spiritual moods. My third proposition possesses something of value to people who are subject to periods of fretfulness; to attacks of melancholy; to fits of violent temper; to quarrelsomeness, etc. Such persons should be made acquainted with the fact that if, while under the influence of any such feelings or passions, or for some time after they have been subdued, the germ of a new being is planted in the womb, it is liable to be marked or influenced by them. The settling up of a matrimo- nial misunderstanding is, for instance, a most inopportune time to beget offspring, yet the conception of many a child has celebrated the conclusion of a family fracas. It should be understood that it takes time for the system to recover from the effects of bad passions, and that the incoming good feeling, incident to "making-up," does not for some hours erase the impressions produced on the nervouf system, the fluids of the body, and the germs inhabiting the pro- creative organs of either sex. In my first chapter I have spoken of how all the organs and secretions are affected by the various passions of the mind, and that matter need not be repeated here. With people belonging to the class under consideration, offspring should not he accidental, and conception should take place only when both parties have been in good temper, spirit, and health for at least a period of twenty-four or thirty-six hours. My fourth proposition should be heeded by the woman pregnant and those who are associated with her during this important period. She should avail herself of every means at her command to preserve her physical health unimpaired; and she should avoid all influences cal- culated to fret, annoy, or distress her. He who is to be the recognized father of her child, should employ every resource witUio k\s reach to HOW TO HAVE HEALTHY BABIES. 223 preserve tranquillity of mind and vigor of body to this woman, who is freighted with a germ which is developing the soul and body of a new human being. Critical ° . Fig. 65. period! How greatly it decides, and, too, how early, whether the earth- ly existence of the future man or woman shall be happy or miserable.— Shall the foetus of to-day wish twenty or fifty years hence that it had never been born? The friends of the pregnant woman, and those of all who surround her, should be united to pre- vent this. She may main- tain her physical health by seeking for residence Buch locations as are pro- verbially healthful; liv- ing and sleeping in well- ventilated rooms; care- fully watching diet—eat- ing only those things which seem to agree with stomach and mind ; avoiding excessive and irregular eating; exer- cising daily in the open A' CLUSTER OF BABIES. No. 1 represents poor scrofulous little Job—the off- spring of parents who ought not to have had children. No. 2 represents suffering John—the offspringof p*" ats in an unhealthy condition. No. 3 is fretful Pe' .—the child of fretful, bad tempered parentage. No. 4 is poor Benny—the child of sensuality, liquor, and tobacco. No. 5 is healthy Charley—the fortunate offspring of healthy and intelligent parents. air without reference to the criticism of Mrs. Grundy on one corner, or the smoking loafer on the other; observing habits of personal cleanliness; and, in brief, by patient, constant watchfulness, doing every thing within her power to pro- mote a feeling of health, and avoiding every thing which in any way produces the contrary effect. Mental tranquillity may be maintained by carefully keeping up the physical health; by association with those who are cheerful and entertaining; by reading books and news- papers of an interesting and elevating character; by doing acts of 224 PREVENTION OF DISKASR. kindness and benevolence when opportunity offers; by prayerfnlness, if a religionist; by communion with God and nature if a moralist; by avoiding jealousy, selfishness, peevishness, and outbursts of tem- per ; by indulging in the passion of hatred toward no one; and by cultivating a love of humanity. The more closely a pregnant woman can observe the foregoing rules, the more nearly she will succeed in giving birth to a being that shall possess at once a healthy, vigorous brain, a happy temper, and a spirit of philanthropy. There are some general hints to be observed which could not be properly classed under any of the foregoing heads. Conception should not be allowed to take place without a preparatory season of absti- nence from sexual indulgence, in order that the procreative systems of both parties may be free from morbid excitability and exhaustion. It should not occur when the muscular system is exhausted by over- work or exercise. It should not happen immediately, or for some time, after eating, when the nervous forces are being largely employed by the digestive organs in doing their work, and consequently refuse to be sufficiently engrossed to perform the function of reproduction as well as the procreative organs are capable of performing the latter function when the stomach is at rest, and can "lend ;i hand." It should not happen while the mother is already nursing, thereby causing a division of nourishment between two, which is suf- ficient for one only ; for it must be borne in mind that the pregnant mother has to feed the growing unborn babe, as well as the one in the arms. It should be known to the reader that some women conceive | during the period of lactation, and that this evil should be guarded against. Nor should it be allowed to occur in less than two or three ! years after the birth of a child ; and in some cases, five years should intervene between the ages of the children, for the mother to suffi- ciently regain a physical condition capable of imparting health to j one in utero-life. During the period of pregnancy, excessive sexual indulgence unduly develops, in the unborn child, the passion which leads so many young people to a destructive vice. Even amative excitement, on the part of the mother, without indulgence, has a tendency to do this. She should consequently avoid such food and drink as stimulate the amative impulse. When the impulse becomes strong—when the de- sire is so great as to take possession of the mind, it is then better that it should be gratified, lest the foetus be marked by this unsatisfied HOW TO HAVE HEALTHY BABIES. 225 appetite, thereby producing the very evil sought to be avoided. Sleep- ing in separate beds may be advisable in some cases, to prevent the tendency to excitement by contact. Association with deformed peo- ple, or those having birth-marks, or diseases which cause unnatural manifestations and expressions, should be avoided so far as practica- ble, to avert the danger of marking the unborn child with any of these peculiarities. Cramped positions in sitting, stooping, bending and sleeping; falls and contusions; and violent coition in sexual in- tercourse, should L>e cautiously avoided, to save the precious little being in the womb from displacement of its limbs, or spinal distor- tion, which might result in permanent physical deformity; for al- though remarkably well protected by surrounding membranes, fluids, and the muscular walls of the uterus, the foetus is sometimes deformed by one or more of these causes. Lastly, when labor-pains commence and the doctor is called in, do not urge or allow him to hasten a work which old Dame Nature is usually able to do herself, without intervention or aid. If you do. you may injure the child. Especially is this danger imminent if in- struments are employed. Women in tabor are naturally impatient, and surrounding friends must not be too much in sympathy with this impatience. Physicians are often impelled by the solicitations of those present to make the period of labor as brief as possible; and it would be well for all to know that this effort to help matters along not unfrequently results in retarding them, and increasing the suf- ferings of the patient. It is better to give her moral encouragement; cheer her up; keep up a running conversation, that will divert her from the discomfort of the moment; but keep hands off—at least do not employ them locally to hasten the birth. It is well for her to move about, for by exercise and bodily motion labor may be safe- ly accelerated. In some parts of Mexico, the native women fasten ropes in the beams above their heads, and, taking one in each hand, suspend themselves perpendicularly, and remain in this position until the affair is over. This position is a good one to facilitate the process, and some such arrangement might well be adopted by wo- men generally, for labor is often rendered unnecessarily tardy and painful, by a bad position of the patient, as well as by the drugs and instruments employed to assist. With this brief caution to women at the critical period of parturition I will close this essay,and proceed to answer the next question in order, 226 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. How to Preserve the Health of Children. After the baby arrives, the next duty is to take care of it properly, The nurse, grandma, aunt, or some other hind attendant knows how , to wash it, and sometimes, not often, how to dress it. Babies arc generally dressed too tightly, Their bones are as elastic as cartilage. and their flesh is spongy, in consequence of which the little lunqs of humanity give way easily to pressure. The baby clothes whiili have been so studiously prepared in anticipation of the event, arc unconsciously, if not intentionally, pinned or sewed on too closely to allow circulation and physical development to go on naturally. The 1 next error is usually an excess of clothing both by day and by night. Mothers think their babies are such tender little things that they must be warmly clad, hence the flannels, etc., are i ut on like so | many layers of onions. As a consequence the little sufferers wriggle, i and twist, and cry all day to get out of them; and kick them off altogether by night, which last act of the triumphant young heroes gives them a cold. It is a popular delusion that babies need more clothing than adults, and I am sorry to see that at least one physiologist who has gained considerable reputation as a lecturer, falls into it. He says— " Place a thermometer under the arm of an adult person, and it will run up to ninety-eight degrees; this is the average the world over; under the arms of children or old people it will run up to only ninety | degrees or less, therefore children and old people should be dressed ' warmer than the middle-aged" This looks like a 'knockdown argument," at first thought, does it not? Put if we look into the animal kingdom below us, we shall find that God does not clothe the inferior animals on any such principle. Sheep, which aie full of J animal heat He covers with a thick coating of wool; cattle, horses, ' and dogs, whose blood is of a little lower temperature, with hair—a covering of less warmth and depth; fkh, of a still lower tempera- ture, with scales, and the reptiles, which are coldest of all, with neither wool, hair, nor scales—having nothing but the bare skin itself. Now, in the light of God's example, let us sift this matter a little and understand it. The child at ninety degrees is in a normal condition; the old man at the same temperature, is in an abnormal state. The child is as God and nature made him; the old man is HOW" TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN 227 where the bad habits of life, and the infirmities of age have placed him. To prematurely raise the temperature of the child, is to violate the law of its nature, and consequently induce disease; to raise the temperature of the old man, is to restore his system to its wonted condition, and consequently to induce the glow of health. In one case, we shall but assist nature in the development of the physical organization by not unduly shutting in or generating animal warmth; in the other we assist nature in carrying on the physical processes, which have become sluggish, by confining and creating, by every possibie means, animal warmth. Need I say more in answer to what, at first glance, looks like a plausible argument. THE TRIUMPHANT BABT AND SURPRISED MOTHER, Let me now appeal to the observation of mothers. You know, don't you, that your babies at night will kick the clothes off? You tuck them in here, and pin them down there, but when you rub your eyes open at midnight, or near morning, you are surprised to find them nearly or wholly outside of their bed-covering. What can it mean ? Now will you tell me what causes you to kick off your bed-clothes sometimes ? Do you do it because you are cold ? Is it always because you are nervous or fidgety ? How often, an hour or two after you have put your child to bed, you will find by laying your hand on its brow, that it is bathed with 228 PREVENTION O? DISEASE. perspiration. Is it necessary that you should give it a sweat? It not, why do you not remove a portion of its covering ? The skin should not be wet; it should be scarcely perceptibly moist. If you have night-sweats, you become frightened, and run to the doctor; but you persist in giving your babies night-sweats! By careful ob- servation you may ascertain just how much clothing your child needs, and just how to vary it to suit all atmospheric changes. Nearly always when it wriggles out of, or kicks off clothing, yon may rest assured that it is too warmly blanketed. Remove a little of the covering and watch again. If it repeats the same thing, tako off still more, and so continue to do until the restlessness of the little creature subsides. You will be surprised, at last, to see how very little covering an infant needs. In rigorous winter, the indigent mother sometimes freezes to death : not so the baby beside her. Who cannot call to mind some illustration of this remark ? I think I have fully demonstrated the assertion that babies and children require less clothing than adults; but if any fail to be convinced, let mo ask them which they suppose will best conduce to the health of the child—to make it tender by much clothing, so that by getting the clothes off at night, or some other exposure, it inevitably takes cold ; or by clothing it sparingly so as to accustom it to cold weather and its changes ? Another important suggestion in regard to clothing is, that it be so distributed to the various parts of the body, that the circulation may not be impaired. In my essay on the clothes we wear, and in some observations in other places on tight-lacing, I have sufficiently cautioned the reader against tight-fitting clothing, and I will not '.a this place do more than call attention to. those remarks; but let me here speak of the great error of dressing the neck, chest, and abdo- men warmly, and leaving the limbs scantily covered. 1 have seen children dressed like Highlanders—with nothing on the limbs at all, while the upper portions of their bodies were clad in flannels. "The dear little things look pretty don't they ?" Wei!, I must confess that they do to those who do not know the physical consequences of such an unequal distribution of raiment. Their plump legs, white or rosy skin, and dimples in the knees are charming ; but the exposition of them should only take place when their whole bodies are equally exposed. Everybody knows, or ought to know, that the circulation of the blood in any part is more or less governed by the temperature HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN. 229 of that part. Warm dressing of the feet and limbs, for instance^ in- vites the blood into them ; and if they are more warmly dressed than the rest of the body, there will be an undue presence of blood in the extremities. If this habit of dress be reversed, and the upper por- tions of the body be more warmly clad, then the lungs, liver, stomach, heart and head become congested by the excessive pres- ence of blood, while the extremities are cold, and the circulation iii them insufficient. Want of common sense on this point, is a great cause of nervous and blood derangements; and in many cases, the immediate cause of headache, congestion of the lungs, dyspepsia, and constrpation among adults, particularly women. I once heard Dr. Dio Lewis very felicitously describe the dress of women before a gymnastic class. I will not attempt to give any portion of his re- marks, but some tilings I have to say here were substantially pre- sented by him. Let us for a moment look at the dress of women especially that worn in winter. An ever-varying head-dress, ex- posing, during the continuance of one fashion, that part of the head which had been covered by the style of hat and head-dress in vogue immediately previous. Fur collars about the neck, and in many instances fur cloaks enveloping the whole upper portion of the body. Flannels extending from the neck to the waist, with some times many other garments over them, thus producing undue warmth in that part of the body containing the vital machinery, while the limbs are protected only by cotton, or cotton-flannel, at best one thickness of flannel in the shape of drawers, corning a little below the knee, where they meet and lap under white cotton stockings. Now, with such a costume as this, where does the blood go? Crinoline and a petticoat or two, will not compensate for the furs and other garments about the neck and waist, and the blood will congest those parts wliich by warm covering are kept at the highest temperature. Hence the complaints:—"Oh, what an awful head- ache I do have!" "Doctor, what do you suppose is the matter with my stomach?" "I am habitually constipated," etc. It would be well for all women to remember, both in clothing themselves and their children—if they are mothers—the whole body should be equally clad to insure a good circulation. The mere fact that you have lung difficulties will not excuse you for covering your chest with woolen and fur unless you put precisely the same covering on your limbs. For every garment put over the chest, one of equal warmth should 230 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. be placed over the limbs, or you will defeat the very object yat desire to attain; and mothers, if you will be reckless of your owr. comfort, health, and life, by obeying the caprice of fashion rather than the laws of hygiene, I pray you heed the hints herein given for taking care of your children; for, possibly, by the time they become men and women, health will become more attractive than dress. Leaving the criticism of dress, we will next turn our attention to the food of children. It would seem hardly necessary to start out with the remark that babies should not be fed on cow's milk when that from the breast of a healthy mother or nurse can be obtained ; hut observation proves that mothers are careless—willfully ignorant—or wantonly indifferent in regard to this matter. 1 would call the atten- tion of all who are interested in it, to the comparison between the milk of the cow and that of the human mother, in the essay on milk, in Chapter II. The breasts of women are nowadays too much culti- vated with reference to a pretty form and figure; and while thia need not be discouraged, the necessity of developing the mammary glands, with a view to making them productive of nutritious milk when their possessors become mothers, is of far greater importance. It is especially so when young mothers decline to nurse their babies, lest the breasts should become flabby, or otherwise affected in their symmetry. Speaking of women, the Rev. O. B. Frothingham very truly remarked :—" It may be a great thing to be a merchant, a finan- cier, an advocate, judge, writer, or orator, but before these can exist, there must be men; before these can be what they should be, there must be healthy, disciplined men ; there must be well-bred youths, carefully instructed, and carefully trained children ; infants lying on deep motherly bosoms, and sucking rich motherly milk. Yes, mine than that, inhaling the pure womanly spirit. It may be a fine thing to have control of their property ; to help in making the laws they live under ; but to be good mothers of men and women, is the great- est thing in all this world." Many mothers in fashionable life, who are endowed by nature with well-developed organs for nourishing their babies, shirk the responsibility because it is a task—it soils their fine clothes—or what is a still more insulting excuse to tho Deity—because suckling their young is doing so much like the infe- rior animals. To such folly has an undue love of ease, and a false idea of refinement led many women ! When, however, such considers- UOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH 01?' CHILDREN. £2,1 tions govern mothers, or when an imperfectly developed body has failed to endow the mother with the power to nurse her child, it should not be fed on the milk of cows or goats if a wet-nurse can lie obtained, for it is quite unlike human milk in its qualities, as already remarked; and then, too, some discrimination should be used in the selection of a nurse. A cross, ill-natured woman ought not to be employed, because bad temper affects the secretions of the mammary glands, as well as it does other secretions. A scrofulous nurse will not answer, because she not only gives the child scrofulous food from her breasts, but daily bodily contact with her, affects a healthy baby injuriously. Recollect what Dr. Combe said about the atmosphere of a scrofulous person being contagious. A puny, sickly nurse, is also incapable of imparting to a child the nourishment it re- quires. A nurse must, indeed, be a healthy, temperate, good- natured, kindly woman, with the milk of human-kindness flowing from her soul, and pure, wholesome milk issuing from well- freighted bosoms. When such a nurse cannot be obtained, there is manifestly no nourishment so wholesome for babies as the milk of healthy animals diluted sufficiently to agree with the infant stomach, for all vegetable preparations for babies, have a tendency to cause acidity, and contain particles which the young digestive machinery is not strong enough to dissolve. Meats, and the juices of meats will not answer, as they are too stimulating. They are not, indeed, fit for a child under ten years of age, as the reader will observe in my next essay on dietetics. In addition to clothing and feeding babies properly, attention must be given to bathing and exercising them. If they are fat and full of animal spirits, they should be sponged every morning with tepid water and a little (very little) castile soap. If lean in flesh, they should be so treated only every alternate morning; but their little bodies should be rubbed down gently with a healthy hand, from head to foot, every day. If the child be absolutely wasted so that marasmus is threatened, it would be better to use a good quality of sweet oil instead of water, and rub them from head to foot with the magnetic hand ; after which wipe them down with a dry nap- kin. This will keep the skin healthfully active and cleanly ; and tho absorbing pores may be provoked to take up some of the oleaginous matter, and with it assist in inaugurating plumpness. Babies should be carried into the open air daily in all weather, and shaken and 232 PREVENTION OF DISEAoE. jostled by their nurses. Babies, as much as adults, need muscular exercise to develop the muscular system. They are not strong enough to take that exercise themselves, and it is, therefore, ne- cessary to tumble them about, squeeze their muscles, pat them, and attend to all those little matters which go to promote muscular de- velopment. A writer in Blackwood's Magazine very sensibly advisee nursery tales, rhymes, and other good things. " I would," he says, " say to every parent, especially to every mother, sing to your chil- dren ; tell them pleasant stories; if in the country, be not careful lest they get a little dirt upon their hands and clothes; earth is very much akin to us all, and children's out-of-doors plays soil them not inwardly. There is in it a kind of consanguinity between all crea- tures; by it we touch upon the common sympathy of our first sub- stance, and beget a kindness for our poor relations, the brutes. Let children have free, open-air sport, and fear not though they make acquaintance with the pigs, the donkeys, and the chickens ; they may form worse friendships with wiser-looking ones. Encourage a famil- iarity with all that love them. There is a language among them which the world's language obliterates in the elders. It is of more importance that you should make your children loving, than that you should make them wise. Above all things make them loving ; and then, parents, if you become old and poor, these will be better than friends that will neglect you. Children brought up lovingly at your knees will never shut their doors upon you, and point where they would have you go." Babies must also bo carefully guarded from all poison, external and internal. Impure vaccination often destroys the health, if not the life of a cl.'ld. Read what I have said under this head in the chapter on the causes of nervous and blood derangements. Mothers should be careful that their nipples are free from eruptions which might possibly inoculate the baby with their impure secretions. Nurses and other attendants should have clean hands and well-washed calico gowns. Look out for the napkins and towels which are em- ployed about the baby. Carefully exclude from the nursery all poisonous or unwholesome things which the baby can, on floor or in chair, lay hold of. Every thing you know, goes into the mouth of an infant. Painted toys have sometimes caused the most serious conse- quences in the hands of babies. Excessive and injudicious dosing is a common cause of ill health HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN. 233 among children. If a child take a slight cold—if it have a little pain in the stomach—if tho bowels move a little too frequently—if it have ear-ache—if it be restless and fretful—the doctor is sent for, who, either through ignorance of the injurious effects of unnecessary drugging, or from fear of not pacifying the mother, deals out a little of this, that, and tho other thing, to be taken at various hours of the day or night. In the majority of cases children do not need medi- cating, and a mother more often injures her child by sending for the doctor too soon, than by delaying too long. External applications of proper remedies will, in a majority of cases, cure all sorts of baby complaints. I do not exactly want to assume tho character of a panacea pedler, but I feel moved to say, in this connection, that if you possess a bottle of my magnetic ointment, such as I speak of in the closing part of my book, a doctor need seldom be called. If a child have a cold, attended with any affection of the throat or lungs, apply the ointment thoroughly to the throat and chest; if wind colic, cramping of the stomach or bowels, loss of appetite, worms, diarrhoea, or the opposite—constipation, apply the ointment to the stomach and bowels for several minutes with the hand. If the child receive a bruise, cut, or burn, the ointment will prove a never-failing remedy. For weakness of the spine, weakness or pain in the limbs, stiff neck, for cold feet, etc., it may be successfully applied to the part affected. It may be effectually applied to the region of the bladder in incontinence of the urine, or other affections of the bladder. In brief, there is hardly an infant ill which the external use of this ointment will not relieve, and generally com- pletely cure; while grown-up children, who have once introduced it as a family medicine, feel that they cannot pass a night without it in the house. Simple hand friction will often relieve the local difficul- ties of children. Do any thing—do every thing, mother, but admin- ister to the sensitive little stomach a dose of medicine. Soothing syrups are invariably anodynes in their properties, and almost inva- riably contain morphine or opium. Rather than use them for a nervous or fretful child, I would resort to the ridiculous remedy proposed by a Buffalo Editor. "As soon," he says, "as the squaller awakens, set the child up, propped by pillows if it cannot sit alone; smear its fingers with thick molasses ; then put half a dozen feathers into its hands, and the young one will sit and pick the feathers from one baud to another, until it drops asleep. As soon as it awakes— 234 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. Fi -. CT. more molasses and more feathers, and, in tho place of nerve astound- ing yells, there will be silence and enjoyment unspeakable." One word in regard to the corporal punishment of children, and I will close this essay and enter upon other subjects of equal interest l/o ail who have or are about to have babies, as well as to those who have only themselves to care for. First, do not strike a child on the head. The brain is the great nervous reservoir where all the nerves centre, and a blow here may kill it outright, or make it idiotic. Do not " box its ears," there ia danger, by doing so, of rupturing the ear- drum, thereby render- ing it deaf, if no greater evil ensue. Do not whip it with stick or lash—such a punishment deranges the action of the capillaries, and the circulation of the blood through them. Do not fill its imagination with hobgoblins, and shut it into a dark room. Kept for moments or hours under the influence of fright, the nervous system is fearfully affected, and made susceptible to attacks of a spasmodic nature. Do not punish it by depriving it of its regular food, for then stomach derangements are inaugurated. AU kinds of punishment should be avoided if the child can be con- trolled by moral influences; but where punishment is necessary, a "good spanking" is the only physical chastisement the body presents a proper place to receive; while those acting upon the fears of the child should be avoided altogether. Dietetics for Old and Young. Little space will be occupied under this head, because the reader may learn from the essay entitled "The Food we Eat," in the second chapter, the author's views on what may be regarded as wholesome food; but I have pomething important to ofter in this place which, THE EDITOR'S PLAN FOR DIVERTING THE BABY. DIETETICS FOR OLD AND YOUNG. 235 if observed, will have a tendency to build up the physical man, and guard against the insidious approach of disease. Nowadays, children and youth accustom their systems to a stimulating diet, suited only to the sluggish systems of older people, so that when old-age comes upon them, they have nothing to turn to but medicinal tonics to im- part to the infirm body and mind strength and vivacity. So long as animal food continues to find a place upon our tables, and stimulating liquids are tolerated by nearly all, and used by a large portion of mankind, the rule should be as follows :— "Milk for babes," and that only, if possible, which issues from the breasts of healthy mothers. " Mush and milk," for children un- der six years of age; and during this period all wholesome vegeta- bles may be permitted, but no stronger animal food than milk. Passing the sixth year—butter, eggs, and fish may be allowed to enter sparingly into the diet of the child; and, from the twelfth year—poultry, broths, and the soups of other meats. Not before he is fifteen or twenty should he be permitted to taste of steak, roast beef, or other strong meat. Not before he is twenty-five or thirty, should he allow himself to drink coffee or tea. Not earlier than forty or fifty should beer or other liquors pass his lips. Then, when the infirmities of age begin to creep upon him (and they will come later under this regimen), if it be necessary to resort to stronger stimu- lants, such inventions as Bourbon whiskey, French brandy, Holland gin, Jamaica rum, etc., may be called to the rescue. But, understand me—I J0 not advise malt or strong drinks; I merely say so long as animal food and stimulating liquors are used, the foregoing rule is the proper one to be pursued, and now for the reason:— A child cannot well endure a stimulating diet. His little vital machinery, fresh from the ingenious hands of nature, is full of life, electricity, and animation. At birth his palpitating little heart con- tracts from 130 to 140 times per minute. At the age of three, his pulse is about ninety, while that of an adult averages seventy-two. Stimulating food, of course, quickens the activity of the vital organs of children, and this morbid activity renders them susceptible to in- flammatory diseases. Hence the prevalence of measles, scarlet-fever, canker-rash, chicken-pox, and other ills, hardly known to adults. I really believe that these disorders would never affect children if they were fed and clothed properly, or in such a way as not to derange the activity of their vital machinery as set agoing by good old Darae 236 PREVENTION OF DISEAbE. A HEALTHY MOTHER AND CHILD. Nature. The blood of children is richer in solid constituents, and especially in blood corpuscles, than that of adults, and as animal food tends to increase this richness and solidity to a greater extent than veg- etable food, allowing to a child the former, inevitably causes an undue proportion of those constituents to go to the blood, thereby render- ing the vascular fluids as ignita- ble to the breath of contagion, as powder is to the touch of fire. Let intelligent mothers, who set their children's blood on fire with the flesh of animals as food, and then let their doctors kill them in endeavors to quench it with pois- onous drugs, hesitate before they add fuel to the flame. Children do not crave meats—they would not eat them if they were not introduced into their toothless mouths while they are in swaddling clothes, while they have not sense enough to reject them, by which means they acquire a taste for this kind of diet. If meats are denied the children, strong drinks will not be craved by the middle-aged; for in a perfectly healthy condi- tion of the human race, meats and strong drinks would not be need- ed, and the promptings of appetite might be trusted; but now Pande- monium exists in the palates and stomachs of men because they are not started right in babyhood and childhood; and the hydra-headed gourmand looks forth from behind decayed and broken-down teeth, for things totally unsuited to the development of the inner man. Fruits are excellent preventives of disease in children and men. The value of apples as food is suggested by Liebig, who says—" The importance of apples as food has not hitherto been sufficiently esti- mated or understood. Besides contributing a large portion of sugar, mucilage, and other nutritive compounds in the form of food, they contain such a fine combination of vegetable acids, extractive sub- stances, and aromatic principles, with the nutritive matter, as to act powerfully in the capacity of refrigerants, tonics, and antiseptics: and when freely used at the season of ripeness by rural laborers and Others, they prevent debility, strengthen digestion, correct the DIETETICS FOR OLD AND YOUNO. %tf putrefactive tendencies of nitrogenous food, avert scurvy, and main- tain and strengthen the power of productive labor." Nature has kindly looked to sanitary effects in providing summer fruits. As mankind emerges from the winter season, more or less loaded with carbonaceous dregs which have accumulated under the influence of a keen appetite, and the use of hearty food to warm the body in spite of the cold atmosphere, strawberries, currants, and other acid fruits of a relaxing nature to the bowels are presented for his use; and these dissolve and wash away the effete accumulations of the liver, stomach, and bowels. Lest, however, this process be carried too far, raspberries, with a mild astringency, quickly follow, checking any undue activity of the bowels; and finally when hot weather comes upon us, rendering the system an easy prey to diar- rhoea, along come the luscious, dimpled-faced blackberries, with still greater astringent qualities, which have the power even to cure an attack of summer complaint. The provident housewife not only welcomes their advent, and provides them abundantly for the table, but from their rich juices she prepares blackberry syrup for use in all seasons when the little ones are attacked with bowel complaint. Good, loving, kind-hearted, old Dame Nature; and wise, maternally affectionate, and ever-to-be-remembered mother, who receives and properly uses the fruits of her bountiful hand! These remarks of course apply to our latitude where these fruits are raised, but it will be found in all climes that there are fruits of corresponding qualities, whose effects aid nature in keeping up a healthy condition of the system. Next, a word about fasting. If people would enjoy good health, fasting should only be resorted to in obedience to physiological requirements. While fasting, the solid constituents of the blood decrease rapidly. It is customary even in the Nineteenth Century for our rulers, moved by a mistaken religious sentiment, to appoint days of fasting, which, unhappily, are generally observed exclusively by the very people whose abstemious and religious lives not only ren- der them unnecessary, but whose bloodless condition makes it really a sin for them to fast. Our Creator manifestly never desires us to vio- late physical law for his worship. It is said that " the monks and the anchorites of old sought to serve God and win an immortal crown, by spending their lives in self-inflicted penances and mortifications, the severity of which seems almost incredible. It is related of them 238 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. that they would live for years, in cells and caves scooped out of rocks, which were scarcely large enough to turn round in. They would load themselves with heavy crosses and chains; or put collars and bracelets of massive iron about their limbs. They would stand in uncomfortable attitudes until permanently deformed; or look at the sun without winking, until they were blind. They would pass many days without food, many hours without sleep, and many years without speaking. One of the most celebrated of these ascetics, Simon Stylites, lived on the top of a column sixty feet high, for thirty years, exposed alike to the heat of summer and the cold of winter, and at length died without descending!" All of these things look ridiculous to people nowadays, just as the present custom of fasting will ultimately appear to coming generations. There ia not a particle of doubt but that fasting would do thousands of people good, but the days appointed for tie purpose are only in exceptional cases observed by these; while good and weakly men and women who cannot possibly afford to fast, almost invariably do so, most scrupulously, much to their injury. Fasting, unless called for to counteract the effects of gluttony, also deranges the stomach. This organ must have its due and regular supply of aliment to pre- serve the digestive machinery unimpaired. Parents should never punish their children by depriving them of their dinner, as is some- times the practice. A dinner neglected to-day, prepares an un- natural appetite and a weak stomach for to-morrow. A plain dinner in place of the usual family dinner, would answer just as well for a punishment for a child, and physically do him good; and plain living for the glutton would be better than fasting, while regu- larity in eating is important on fust days as well as on others. A few remarks on regulating the diet and selecting the food ac- cording to the condition of the bowels, and I will close this essay. Many people predisposed to constipation, and others affected in an opposite way, are ever hitting wrongly in their eating. Those who are habitually costive should not eat their meats and vegetables cooked brown; nor such binding food as boiled rice, boiled milk, wheat bread, toast, etc. Such things will do for those who are predisposed to excessive and too frequent movements of the bowels. Nor should the latter eat meats rarely cooked, brown, Graham, and corn bread, hominy, baked beans, or other relaxing articles of food. These are just suited to constipated people. Among fruits—oranges, figs, sour PHYSIOLOGICAL INSTRUCTION OF CHILDREN. 230 apples, etc., are well known as relaxing in their properties; while sweet apples, raspberries, blackberries, black currants, and all fruits having a puckering flavor, are binding. Consequently fruits should be selected in their season, suited to the over active or inactive con- dition of the bowels. As remarked before, other matters regarding food and diet would be relevant here, were they not treated upon in chapter second; I will therefore leave this subject and invite the reader's attention to The Physiological Instruction of Children. In view of the startling wretchedness and vice growing out of physiological ignorance, an essay bearing the above title may proper- ly find place in this chapter. An essay in the second chapter, aa well as facts appearing in various pages of this book, exhibit the ne- cessity of proposing some radical course for the proper instruction of children in regard to their bodies, the organs composing their bodies, and the functions of those organs* In our favored country, every district in our cities, and every village in the rural regions, has its school-house. Now, is a knowledge of the alphabet, of spelling, of reading, of writing, of grammar, of arithmetic, of history, of phi- losophy, etc., more important than a knowledge of anatomy, physiol- ogy, and hygiene ? Some schools, public and private, have introduced physiological works, which treat in a " gingerly manner " of the hu- man system. They are doing good, but are not just what we want. The most important organs, and those which are most abused, are so delicately alluded to, if spoken of at all, that the student obtains little information regarding them. In our large public schools, academies, and colleges, teachers, male and female, should be appointed to at- tend to the anatomical, physiological, and hygienic departments, where children and youths should be classed according to age and sex, and instructed, not in the technical, jaw-breaking name of each nerve, muscle, and bone (these may be acquired in a medical college) ; but in the uses, and consequences of the abuses, of the vari- ous organs of the body, not omitting those most sinned against—the organs of generation. To girls just entering womanhood, lectures should be given on conception and pregnancy, and the duties attend- ing maternity—on every subject, in fact, which prepares them to be- come the healthy mothers of healthy children, when they shall be ready to assume such responsibility. In smaller village-schools, al- 240 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. though as thorough training may not bo practicable in this depart- ment, a very successful plan may be adopted where but one teacher is employed. A female should be kept in the instructor's chair dur- ing tho summer, and a male teacher during the winter—a custom not uncommon now in many country places, as a matter of economy. These teachers should be supplied with two sets of plainly written lectures on all the organs, functions, diet, etc., suited to various ages. One set of lectures should bo adapted to girls, and the other to boys. In summer, the girls should be classified according to age, and daily, during the boys' recess, the teacher, with such assistance as she might select from the older female pupils, should deliver, in as effect- ive a manner as possible, to the various classes, a lecture appropriate to each. In winter, the male teacher should pursue the same course with the boys, during tho recess of the girls. These lectures could be interspersed with such further instruction as the teacher might be qualified to give. A good manikin would be a profitable investment for any school, large or small, with which to illustrate the instruc- tions given in this branch of study. Anatomical plates might also be prepared for school purposes, exhibiting the formation of the sexual organs, or those organs which are the more commonly injured in boy- hood and girlhood—those which the Creator has instituted for per- petuating the human family. Some such plan will be carried out in a not far distant future, depend upon it. Let us all try and hasten the day. It is necessary, however, that something be done imme- diately. Boys and girls are annually destroying themselves or making wrecks of their constitutions, for the want of physiological instruc- tion. Parents must take this matter in hand, until our institutions of learning are complete in this respect. If unwilling to counsel their children themselves, then they should throw in their way books containing the needful information. Almost daily am I receiving let- ters from young men and women, who commence their epistles with something substantially ts follows: " If I had only read your Med- ical Common Sense five years ago, I should have saved myself the necessity of addressing you now." It should be borne in mind that, if children do not obtain physiological information from proper sources, they learn enough to contract vice, through hidden and vitiated channels, and sooner or later the physician is consulted for the relief of diseases which never would have presented themselves, if parents had religiously discharged their whole duty. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 241 Mental and Physical Recreation Is necessary to the preservation of health. In this busy practical age, both the mental and physical energies are too much concen- trated upon money-making. Business men wear themselves out in their counting-rooms, and die just as they are about to reap the gold- en fruit of their labors, having denied themselves all social and physical enjoyment, ;vith the delusive promise to themselves and their friends, that after a certain end is attained, they will give rest to their overworked faculties. This end reached, another one is sub- stituted, and still another, till the worn-out, cheated brain seeks in the repose of death that rest which its possessor denies it in the whirl of busy life. The tiller of the soil, who caresses mother earth, and inhales her vital breath, lives longer, but his mental faculties are dwarfed by the monotonous drudgery with which he seeks tojobtain the golden bauble, and his overworked muscles shrink, and his shoulders droop with excessive toil. He, too, plants his ambitious stake afar off moves it onward still farther as he approaches it, and finally reaches it too exhausted to enjoy what he has so long labored to attain. The wealthy idler too often pursues his avocation of doing nothing with such singleness of pui-pose as to induce depression of spirits, and thereby enfeeble both mind and body. His imagination becomes tired at grasping empty shadows, and his faculties wear themselves out in striking at nothing. Many people mistakenly imagine that mental and physical recrea- tion consists in idling away time, while it really consists in doing something all the while, but with such a change of thought and ac- tion as to give rest to those powrers which are the more constantly employed. There is, for instance, but little recreation in a game of chess for a man who has been employed in the counting-room all day. His play should be out of doors, and his diversions of a char- acter to free the mind from calculation, and give healthy exercise to the enervated muscular system. The farmer may advantageously shorten his days of toil, and spend some hours in every twenty-four in visiting his neighbors, and in the perusal of books and newspa- pers. The wealthy idler will find happiness and health in industry of some kind, even if it be not remunerative. For the accountant, arofessional man, or for any one closely engaged in sedentary pur- 11 242 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. suits, there is probably no exercise so beneficial as horseback riding, Much walking exhausts the magnetic forces of the system, if they are deficient, but in riding a horse, the animal does the work, and the rider takes the exercise, and not only do the stomach, liver, and other internal organs get wholesomely jostled, but every muscle of the arms and limbs partakes of the invigorating shaking. Then, Fig. 69. MAGNETIC EXERCISE. too, the horse is a regular battery for the generation of animal elec- tricity. The vapors from his nostrils, and the steam from his body, are loaded with magnetic life. The busy brain-worker, seated upon the saddle, is enveloped in an atmosphere of vital magnetism, which bis attenuated body drinks in as the parched earth takes in the even- MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 243 mg shower. Dr. Frank Hamilton grew enthusiastic in a lecture, free from exaggeration, when he said:— " My friend, a well-known and very distinguished doctor of divin- ity, believes that I also ride a hobby, since I will prescribe no medi- cine for him but a horse; and I frankly confess that he has good reason for his belief. It is part of the speaker's creed that all reli- gious congregations should build a barn, and buy a horse with a sad- dle and bridle; all which should be endowed so as to cover every future necessary expense; and that as soon as the horse is properly installed, and not before, they may proceed to install a pastor. This doctrine in which we fully believe, has reference no less to the inter- est of the church than to the interest of the clergyman. It will secure one original sermon on every Sabbath morning; it will obvi- ate the necessity of assistant chaplains, and save the expense of a voyage to Europe once in five years. It commends itself especially, therefore, to the consideration of poor and feeble congregations. " The utility of horseback exercise is not limited, however, to cler- gymen and their congregations. It is, in our humble opinion, the best exercise for both men and women, whether within or without the church—combining, as it does, the largest amount of active and passive motion, with agreeable excitement. The trout may refuse to nibble, and the game to start, but upon the horse there is certain pleasure beyond all contingencies. The rider is above everybody else, he goes faster than anybody else. He has, for the time, a kind of ideal, and not actual being, and rides his horse as a poet rides his Pegasus. At one moment he imagines himself a general at the head of an army; at another, an emperor, making a triumphal entry ; now he is a knight, returning from conquest; and now, perhaps, he rushes in battle ; or he is riding a fierce race, and he springs in his saddle as if ten thousand bright dollars depended upon the result. Not that he actually believes all this, but only that he feels some- what as if it were so, or might be so. "When he presses his spur into the tender flank, and his horse plunges and prances, he also plunges and prances like his horse. He feels as if, in riding him, he was a part of the noble animal himself, and that he is indeed what the Thessalians were reputed to be, half man and half horse—a real Centaur. " We cannot tell you what a horse will do with that precision and minuteness with which an empiric recounts the diseases which his 244 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. hobby will infallibly cure, but we are certain that our hobby will reach a great variety of cases; and we believe, that a horse—one horse a day—is good for almost everybody, if properly administered. Some will require to be cautioned against riding too violently, while for the benefit of others, you must add the directions usually given in the old polypharmic prescription: 'when taken to be well shaken.'" Although consumption prevails to a serious extent in the British Army, investigation has proved that the cavalry regiments suffer much less than the infantry. There is no other way for accounting for this fact excepting this; while the infantry are exhausted by their weary marches, the cavalry have the exercise and magnetism of horseback riding while performing their military duties. For women of sedentary habits in our civilization, horseback riding is deprived of a good share of its advantages by the cramped position they are obliged to take on the detestable side-saddle. It seems as if every pernicious crotchet entering into the popular sense of propriety, invariably bears the most heavily upon woman. We call her the '• weaker vessel," and while we pile upon her shoulders the most unhealthful burdens, we also require her, whether walking or riding, to be trammelled with something that lessens the value of her exercise. If she walks, her limbs are impeded in their motion by cumbersome skirts; and if she rides one limb is put to sleep on the pommel of the sadde and her body placed in an attitude which would naturally nearly face the side her limbs occupy, while she is required to face and address her attendant back of her. In Peru, the Sandwich Islands, and among many people we call heathen, or semi-barbarian, women ride astride; and since the ad- vent ot ihe bicycle this sensible position is being encouraged in Eng- land and our own country. Mrs. Clara B. Colby says: " The ' New "Woman' is only copying after the ancient dame when she rides astride, as is now the fashion of the royal princesses and the leading equestriennes of both England and America. Joan of Arc rode astride at the head of the French Army, and Queen Eliza- beth used to ride to falcon hunt in this fashion behind Lord Leices- ter. It was only in the sixteenth century that the side-saddle came into use in England, and women rode astride in Germany until the close of the eighteenth century. In most foreign countries the fashion of riding on one side has never been adopted by women." For people of sedentary habits who have not the means to keep MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 245 horses, or to Lire them, dancing and gymnastics afford healthy recrea- tion, if the former be not carried to the extreme of midnight dissipa- tion, and the latter to the point of physical exhaustion. Among the ancient Hebrews, dancing formed a part of their religious ceremonies and even in the Christian church at an early period, " the dance was united with the hymn in Christian festivities." To-day the Shakers The Coming Fashion fob Ladies on Horseback. (From a cartoon in Philadelphia IAfe.) of our own country unite dancing with worship, but among what are popularly denominated orthodox people, dancing is considerably in disrepute, unless conducted in private assemblies, or in the parlors of tliose whose means enable them to entertain rooms full of their friends on appointed occasions. Dancing ought, for the benefit of all ciasses, to again become a part of religious worship. Every thing Which has a tendency to perfect/ the physical organization also gives 246 PREVENTION OF DISEASE strength and growth to the spiritual nature, or at least it makes spiritual growth possible. If conducted without excessive eating and drinking—at seasonable hours and in healthful costumes, dan- cing is an exercise which promotos health of body, and grace of motion. It has been remarked that a young woman fond of dancing. traverses in the course of a single season about 400 miles, while no lady would think of walking that distance in six months. Nor is it simply by the exercise of the muscles, and grace of movement, that benefit is derived. The commingling of the sexes is highly beneficial. In an assemblage of ladies and gentlemen where there is almost constant contact of hand with hand, and interchange of sentiment, there is also an interchange of sexual magnetism, which imparts a daintier glow than paint is capable of giving to the cheek of the maiden or matron, and to those of the " sterner sex" who participate in these festivities, it gives mental and muscular vivacity never de- rived in association of gentlemen alone. At the opening of dancing soirees, the ladies generally begin the festivities with cold, clammy hands and feet, but after a few commands from the prompter of " right and left, all around" their circulation becomes healthful, and the pleasant temperature of the hand is an evidence that the feet too have become warm by exercise and masculine magnetism. God has ordained it, and man-and-woinan-kind cannot disregard the law that sexual isolation impairs the physical health, and renders the mind more or less fretful, peculiar, and taciturn. It still further enfeebles the nervous systems of the weak, and inaugurates nervous derange- ments and mental eccentricities in the strong. It makes man rude and gross; it makes woman weak and capricious. Had not the Almighty intended that women and men should commingle in their work and play, the earth with its flowers and birds would have been given to women, and the moon, with its rocks and arid mountains, would have been the abode of men, and like some of the representa- tives of the lower order of animal life, each sex would have had within itself the power of reproduction. This would have been a small matter in the hands of the Creator, and easily enough got along with. But enough on this point. If the reader is interested in this partial digression, he may turn to the essay in Chapter Second, on Sexual Starvation. Dr. Fish, in a work intended to show how consumption may be prevented, remarks as follows;— MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 247 " Dancing is the king and queen of in-door exercise. It is suitable for all classes, all ages, both sexes. It is a most elegant and most exhilarating exercise. It is one of the most ancient, and one of the most salutary. I do not speak of it as a dissipation, but as an exhil- arating and valuable exercise. Among the exercises it is second to none. It is extremely suitable for the sedentary, for invalids, and for consumptives. I have known one of the worst cases of consumption cured by dancing alone, practised daily for many months. The cure was permanent and complete. " It is deplorable that dancing, and amusement of nearly all kinds, should have fallen under the ban of the clergy, and should be preached against as sinful. It is doubtful whether the morals of mankind are benefited by forbidding all amusements, and it is most certain that the health of thousands are sacrificed by it. Who are those that sink- earliest into consumption among ladies? Allow me to say it is those who take least exercise, and refrain from all amusements;—who at school, at church, at home, are marked as models, whose walk iy slow, and whose conversation is always on serious subjects. " In a few years death does his work, and their long prayed-foi heaven is soon obtained. No greater truth was ever uttered, than that— ' Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less.' " Neither in its letter or spirit does our happy and blessed reli- gion—the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be eternal praise and obedience—anywhere forbid pure, rational pleasures and gratification. ' Use the things of this world as not abusing them,' is the injunction of the apostle, and is a complete summary of all the teachings of the Bible upon this subject." Differing a little from the writer of tho foregoing, my own opinion is that what are variously denominated light gymnastics, parlor gym- nastics, and by some, musical gymnastics, introduced into this coun- try mainly by Dr. Dio Lewis, of Massachusetts, may be pronounced " the king and queen of in-door exercise." This system of gymnastics encourages the commingling of the sexes in physical movements, which are so devised as to bring every muscle of the body into exercise. It possesses all the social and magnetic charm of dancing, while the movements more fully and uniformly develop the whole muscular system. Especially is this remark trup 248 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. when placing light gymnastics in comparison with the modern fash- ionable style of dancing, which precludes all lively motion of the limbs, or other parts of the body. Tho gymnastic inarch brings the sexes together in a frolicking exercise, which gives as much motion to the limbs as the old-fashioned "jig." The ring exercise again unites the sexes in movements and attitudes which bring into play every muscle belonging to our wonderful bodies. With the wooden dumb- bells and wands, a series of exercises may be indulged in at home or in the class, which call into play muscles which men or women of sedentary habits hardly know tl,«sy possess. The " breathing exer- cises," give ladies, who, from long habit of pernicious dress and short breathing, might imagine their lungs were no larger or deeper than a chicken's crop, some rational idea of their respiratory capa- city. In the vocal exercises, the voice receives not only cultivation, but an increase of strength, and these, combined with the breathing exercises, afford an excellent medicine for people of a consumptive diathesis. In the class, all of these movements are made under the inspiration of music, and music itself is better than medicine for many people. " Luther and Milton found the greatest solace in mu- sic." "Nothing," said Alfieri, the Italian tragic poet, "so moves my heart, and soul, and intellect, and rouses my very faculties like music; almost all my tragedies have been conceived under the imme- diate emotion caused by music." There is one peculiar advantage which light gymnastics possess over dancing so long as the latter remains in disrepute among strict religionists, and that is, they are encouraged and patronized by the clergy, and no one could reasonably object on religious grounds, if they were introduced as a part of the education of children,in all the schools, or made a part of the festivities at ministers' donation par- ties, and social entertainments of all kind, public or private, religious or secular. Gymnastics originated with the ancient Greeks, who made it a rule to spend not less than two hours each day in physical develop- ment. Their children were required to take exercise in a nude state, so as not to encumber the muscles while undergoing motion and development. And here I may say, that one of the peculiar advan- tages of light gymnastics over dancing is, that in all classes where they are taught, the men are required to dress in loose pants and blouses, and the ladies in loose-waisted and short dresses. Bathing MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 249 Fisr. 71. was religiously attended to by the Greeks of old, and every conceivable plan was devised and practiced to build up and strengthen their physical organization. They despised themselves for any manifesta- tion of physical weakness. The Spartans were the first to require their women to be good gymnasts. They were not allowed to marry till they publicly exhibited their proficiency in this kind of physical exercise. In our day, the Germans seem to have some of the spirit of the ancient Greeks. They give much attention to gymnastics, both light and heavy; but among our American people, the credit is due to Dr. Lewis for having perfected and introduced a system of gymnastics suited to all ages, and to both sexes, and conducted like dancing to the time of inspiring music. Those not familiar with his system, and who may feel interested in looking into it, may find at the book stores an illustrated work, by Dr. L., descriptive of the series of exercises which he recommends for muscular development. Swimming may be reckoned among the ac- complishments which promote physical health. Buoyed up by the water, the limbs are at liberty to move without imped- iment, and while the arms are moving in such a way as to develop the chest, shoulders, and hack, the action of the limbs strengthens their own muscles and those which are remotely con- nected with them. This exercise is not available to all, nor can it be in- dulged in in all climates at all seasons, but for those living near rivers, or lakes, or for those who visit the sea-side, it is a recreation in which both sexes, during months of the year when exercise is apt to be neglected, may ki- ll* THE SWIMMESB. 250 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. dulge to advantage, because it cleanses and invigorates the skin at the same time that it develops every muscle of the body. The art of swimming is so easily acquired, those who make a practice of bathing, should also learn to swim. Many are injured by bathing who would be benefited by swimming. It is never well to creep or step cring- ingly into the water. The slow movements, the fear, the low tem- perature of the water, all tend to drive the blood to the head, and the bather, under these circumstances, emerges from the water with chills and disturbed circulation. Not so with the swimmer. He plunges in with the alacrity of the frog; his head is as cool as his body ; his motions to keep afloat send the blood frolicking through the veins to the extremities. He comes out of the water with a glow of warmth. A little friction with a towel makes him feel as if he had experienced a new birth. There is no reason why women, as well as men, may not swim. There is no better fun for a party of girls and boys than to put on bathing suits, and imitate the pranks of the finny tribes in the water. I have seen many expert female swimmers. One young woman of my acquaintance, who recently acquired the art, in one brief summer expanded her chest several inches by the exercise, so much, indeed, as to attract the attention of her friends on her return from the sea-side. Her avowed experience was that bathing injured her. Before learning to swim, if she entered the water she came from it cold and shivering, but so soon as she became a swimmer, her aquatic exercises became beneficial, and were no longer attended by the recession of the blood from the extremities. There are, in addition to equestrian exercises, dancing, gymnastics, and swimming, various other sports which afford mental and physical recreation, such as croquet, billiards, ten-pins, base-ball, parlor and pond skating, etc., all possessing more or less merit ; but those should be chiefly encouraged which bring the sexes together, because they are not only more beneficial physically, but also because women are too generally neglected, and too often left at home by fathers, husbands, and brothers, and even lovers, when they drop the cares of business for rest and relaxation. In addition to this consideration, the sexes should fraternize in their sports, in order that men may become more womanly and kindly, and women more manly and reasonable in their characteristics. We are slowly, but I think 3urely, approaching an age of greater sexual equality, and the race MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RECREATION. 251 will be better and happier when it is reached. We have had enough of rough and heartless men, and of debilitated and babyish women. The lawyer and sheriff fatten on the former, and the latter mainly supply the bread atid butter wherewith the doctors are fed. Among popular modes of exercise, outing, and "sport," bicycle riding is the fin-de-siecle craze of the nineteenth century, and has, without doubt, tempted more people of all classes to healthful effort than any other form of exercise. It has been taken up by men, women, and children, of all ages from three to eighty, and is even being recommended as a new "cure-all" for a large variety of com- mon complaints. Many physicians have not only experimented with its effects upon themselves, but also made a close study of the effects upon the people in general. Veteran riders have been sub- jected to inspection, to discover if any impairment of physique or function has been occasioned by it, but the tests thus far reported are very favorable to riding "the wheel." The lung capacity is markedly increased (about half an inch), and the heart (itself mainly a bundle of muscles) is somewhat increased in size and power—an effect which may in some cases be carried too far. In short, the whole muscular sys- tem shows development, for the muscles of the back, chest and arms are largely called into action, as well as those of the legs. Even in the men who ride "hump-backed" it has not been possible to discover any permanent physical deformity; but taking a spin, those who carry bicycling to excess, especially when not originally extra robust, are likely to suffer from nervous exhaus- tion, or by over-strain of the heart and arteries; and many sudden deaths, some from apoplexy, have followed speedy or long "runs." The greatest evil of this exercise is the tendency to overdo it, and while this may be said of any good form of exercise, the temptation to excess in speed or distance on the wheel is a propensity inherent in its fascinations. In reasonable moderation it seems suitable for all who need exercise of any kind; but can seldom be recommended to those who have weakness or disease of the circulatory system (heart or arteries), or affection of the kidneys. Specialists in dis- eases of women seem pretty well agreed that even many having dis- eases peculiar to women need not necessaiily be ruled off—that it may even help to relieve local congestion and improve the position 252 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. of the parts by restoring a better muscular tone. In cases of func- tional nervous disease, dyspepsia, constipation, and even gout and diabetes, the use of the bicycle has been reported as of good effect. The young especially need cautioning and restraining, lest in their impetuous and emulative ardor they overtax their strength, and do themselves irreparable injury; and the man of fifty or more years must remember that he has not the elasticity of youth, and may overstrain or burst a blood-vessel if he attempt to keep up the hot pace of men in their prime. Women, too, handicapped as most of them are by heavy machines, skirts, and muscles less trained to severe and continuous effort, should make haste slowly in their attempts to become experts, and be especially particular to have a comfortable saddle. The perfect saddle for women is not yet in- vented, but the long, soft and springy leather ones are generally found most comfortable, and therefore least liable to bruise. Sleep. Nearly every one who is not a baby sleeps too little. Babies are ii' the way, and are c'.oswd with soothing syrups and put to sleep - " the troublesome little things! " But when they grow up, excess of sleep is exchanged for too little. Business, social intercourse, and, in many cases, dissipation, occupy so many of the twenty-four hours, that rest is neglected. Many do not seem to know the value of sleep. They overlook the fact that it is the season of vital recu- peration; that while the body is recumbent, the eyes closed, and the faculties at rest, repairs go on which are no less necessary for the duration of iife, than for the health of every individual. " Without the proper amount of sleep," says Professor Hubland, "the vital energy is dried up and withered, and we waste away as a tree would, deprived of the sap that nourishes it. The physical effects of sleep are, that it retards all the vital movements, collects the vital power, and restores what has been lost in the course of the day, and sepa- rates us from what is useless and pernicious. It is, as it were, a daily crisis, during wliich all secretions are re-formed in the greatest tranquillity and perfection." Many medical writers have given their testimony upon this sub- ject, and instead of originating a new essay, it is hardly necessary to do more under this head, than to quote what has already been well-written. Dr. J. C. Jackson 1 emarks :— SLEEP. 253 " As a habit and fashion with our people, we sleep too little. It is admitted by all those who are competent to speak on the subject, that the people of* the United States from day to day, not only do not get sufficient sleep, but they do not get sufficient rest. By the preponderance of the nervous over the vital temperament, they need the recuperating benefits which sleep can afford during each night as it passes. A far better rule would be to get at least eight hours' sleep, and, including sleep, ten hours of recumbent rest. It is a sad mistake that some make, who suppose themselves qualified to speak on the subject, in affirming that persons of a highly wrought, nerv- ous temperament need—as compared with those of a more lym- phatic or stolid organization—less sleep. The truth is, that where power is expended with great rapidity, by a constitutional law, it is re-gathered slowly; the reaction, after a while demanding much more time for the gathering up of new force, than the direct effort demands in expending that force. "Thus, a man of the nervous temperament, after lie has establish- ed a habit of overdoing, recovers from the effect of such overaction much more slowly than a man of different temperament would, if the balance between his power to do and his power to rest is de- stroyed. As between the nervous and lymphatic temperaments, therefore, where excess of work is demanded, it will always be seen that, at the close of the day's labor, whether it has been of muscle or thought, the man of nervous temperament, who is tired, finds it difficult to fall asleep, sleeps perturbedly, wakes up excitedly, and is more apt than otherwise to resort to stimulants to place himself in a condition of pleasurable activity. While the man of lymphatic tem- perament, when tired, falls asleep, sleeps soundly and uninterrupt- edly, and wakes up in the morning a new man. The facts are against the theory that nervous temperaments recuperate quickly from the fatigues to which their possessors are subjected. Three- fourths of our drunkards are from the ranks of the men of nervous temperament. Almost all opium-eaters in our country—and their name is legion—are persons of the nervous or nervous-sanguine tem- peraments. Almost all the men in the country who become the victims of narcotic drug-medicine, are of the nervous or nervous- sanguine temperament." Every medical man of much observation, and every intelligent non-professional man, who has given any attention to the laws of 254 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. health, will not hesitate to indorse Dr. Jackson's views, as expressed in the foregoing paragraphs. People of the nervo-3anguine tempera- ment are not so successful at manufacturing, £.3 they are extravagant in expending, the vital forces, and as you would control the prodigal- ity of a money spendthrift by keeping him employed, so you should control the prodigal expender of nervous vitality by keeping him asleep as many hours of the twenty-four as can be done without re- course to pernicious drugs, Insanity often results from want of sleep. " The most frequent and immediate cause of insanity," says Dr. Cornell, ia the Educa- tor, " is want of sleep. Notwithstanding strong hereditary pre-dis- position on the part of some people, if they sleep well they will not become insane. No advice is so good, therefore, to those who have recovered from an attack, or those who are in delicate health, as that of securing by all means sound, regular, and refreshing sleep." Dr. Spicer says: "There is no fact more clearly established in the physiology of man than this: That the brain expends its nerves and itself during the hours of wakefulness, and that these are recuper- ated during sleep ; if the recuperation docs not equal its expenditure, the brain withers—this is insanity. Thus it is that in early English history, persons who were condemned to death by being prevented from sleeping, always died paving maniacs; thus it is also, that those who starve to death become insane; the brain is not nourished, and they cannot sleep." With a little sensible advice, which I quote from Dr. Flail's Journal of Ilealth, as to how to go to bed, I will close this essay. " In freezing winter-time," says Dr. Hall, " do it in a hurry, if there is no fire in the room, and there ought not to be unless you are quite an invalid. But if a person is not in good health, it is best to undress by a good fire, warm and dry the feet well, draw on the stockings again, run into a room without a fire, jump into bed, bundle up, with head and ears under cover for a minute or more, until you feel a little warmth ; then uncover your head, next draw off your stockings, straighten out, turn over on your right side and go to sleep. If a sense of chilliness comes over you on getting into bed, it will always do you an injury ; and its repetition increases the ill effects without having any tendency to ' harden' you. Nature ever abhors vio- lence. We are never shocked into good health. Hard usaga makes no garment last longer." CLEANLINESS. 255 Fig. 72. One word more before concluding. It is really quite important that a person should retire on the right side. This position favors the passage of the contents of the stomach into the duodenum, or lower stomach. It is well that what remains in the stomach on g:jing to bed, should be disposed of, and that position which will the best conduce to the digestion and removal of this matter, is the one which should be adopted. By the time the sleeper has become tired of resting on his right side, unless he has taken a late supper, his digestive organs will have been sufficiently relieved to allow him, without dis- advantage, to turn upon the left. Sleeping upon the back is a bad hab- it, because the pressure of the con- tents of the bowels upon some im- portant arteries, interferes with a free circulation of the blood, result- ing in frightful and disagreeable dreams, and nightmare. Cleanliness. Insomuch as uncleanliness is the parent of epidemics, so is cleanli- ness a preventive of disease. Many do not know, while others who do, overlook the fact, that the skin is full of little sewers, called pores, through which are emptied out from the blood, five-sevenths of all its impurities. It must be remembered that while the intes- tines carry off one kind of waste matter, and the bladder and urethra perspiratory gland anb tobb. another, there are over twenty miles of perspiratory tubes engaged in disposing of effete matter, unless obstructed by neglect j and unclean- 256 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. ly accumulations on the skin, are, in a measure, as injurious to the health, as constipation or suppression of the urine. The annexed cut, Fig. 72, represents, magnified, ore of the perspiratory glands and tubes. Dr. Wilson has counted G,528 in a square inch, on the palm of the hand, of these minute but useful organs. When the skin is neg- lected, these tubes, or pores become literally dammed up, and if na- ture cannot force a passage through them for disposing of effete mat- ters, her next attempt is to throw them out in the form of pimples, ulcers, or boils. If this effort is not successful, they remain in the circulation, poisoning the blood and making that fluid, which should be the dispenser of health, the fountain of corruption and disease. Daily bathing is not indispensable to protect the outlets of these little sewers. Many people cannot bathe every day. The friction of the hand over the whole surface of the body, with an occasional bath, will answer in many cases. Comparatively few, however, are injured by an excess of soap and water, and every one who is not advised by his own symptoms, or his physician, not to do so, may use plenty of water without injury by employing that temperature which best promotes subsequent good feeling. The after effect is a good monitor to govern the frequency of bathing, and to direct as to the temperature most conducive to individual health. But while keeping the excretory pores active, it is also necessary to see that the liver and kidneys are performing their offices, for if they are not, the active skin will become the outlet of an undue share of the .vaste matters of the system, and cause odors to be emitted which are obnoxious to all who value pure air, and especially to those who have sensitive olfactories. If men and women were careful in eating and drinking, it would be necessary that all the outlets of waste matter should be kept free from obstruction; but when excesses in eating and drinking are the rule, rather than the exception, when the mouth and the stomach are made receptacles of every thing which tickles the palate, whether the system requires it or not, it becomes still more necessary that the various sewers which nature has provided for the emptying out of useless matter, should be kept active and free from every thing that obstructs the performance of their functions. A good breath is greatly dependent upon the healthful activity of the skin, liver, and kidneys. If these are all in working condition, the rubbish of the system passes off freely. If they are not, it goes through a process PURE AIR. 257 of decomposition, and sends its odorous gases through the blood to the lungs, from which they are carried out with the vapors exhaled. Pure Air. Little need be said under this caption in addition to what may be found in the essay entitled, " The Atmosphere We Live In ;" but the importance of pure air as a preserver of health is so great, that this chapter would be incomplete without at least an allusion to it. "People have often said," remarks a writer in the Scientific Ameri- can, "that no difference can be detected in the analyzation of pure and impure air. This is one of the vulgar errors difficult to dislodge from the ordinary brain. The fact is that the condensed air of a crowded room gives a deposit, which, if allowed to remain a few days, forms a solid, thick, glutinous mass, having a strong odor of animal matter. If examined by the microscope, it is seen to undergo a remarkable change. First of all, it is converted into a vegetable growth, and this is followed by the production of multitudes of animalcules—a decisive proof that it must contain certain organic matter, otherwise it could not nourish organic beings. A writer in Dickens' Household Words, in remarking upon this subject, says that this was the result arrived at by Dr. Angus Smith, in his beautiful experiments on the air and water of towns, wherein he showed how the lungs and skin gave out organic matter, which is, in itself, a deadly poison, producing headache, sickness, disease, or epidemic, according to its strength. Why, if a few drops of the liquid matter obtained by the condensation of the air of a foul locality introduced into the vein of a dog, can produce death by the usual phenomena of typhus fever, what incalculable evils must it not produce on those human beings who breathe it again and again, while rendered fouler and less capable of sustaining life with every breath. Such contamination of the air, and consequent hot-bed of fever and epidemic, it is easily within the power of man to remove. Ventilation and cleanliness will do all, so far as the abolition of this evil goes; and ventilation and cleanliness are not miracles to be prayed for, but certain results of common obedience to the laws of God." Few people take in enough fresh air to keep their systems well supplied with electricity. Thousands of women in our large towns do not venture out of their house? oftener than once a week in cole! 258 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. weather, and these houses are protected by patent weather-strips, and every possible device for excluding the breath of heaven; and when the dear creatures do summon the courage to face a north or east wind, they so envelop themselves in heavy clothes, furs, and veils, that they can hardly see out. Beneath all this muffling, they breathe over and over again their own exhalations, with scarcely enough fresh air to even partially disinfect them. Of course their verdict is, on re-entering their residences, that it does not agree with them to go out; so they stay in until some necessity compels them to go out again. Professional men cloister themselves in their offices, and work up with hard thinking what little vitality they derive from imperfectly digested food. Business men stick to their counting- rooms with as great pertinacity as the bull-dog hangs to the nose of a stag, and expend their nervous forces in business-planning, and be- laboring their brains with long columns of figures. With such practices in vogue, the stone, the brick, the mortar, the double window-sashes, the weather-strips, etc., which are devised by cun- ning hands to protect us from the storms of winter, and to shelter us from the oppressive heat and dust of summer, form so many barriers between man within and the health-giving element without. With stoves to furnish heat to destroy what little life the confined air originally possessed, he breathes over and over a few hundred cubic feet of air, as if it were an expensive commodity delivered at the door by the conscienceless express companies, instead of the free gift of God which can be had by opening a door or window. Besides opening our houses for the ingress of pure air, our clothes should not be made of such water-proof material as to exclude it. Besides going out to parks, cleanly streets, and the country for '", an air bath before going to bed, is an excellent promoter of sleep. Dr. Franklin found this so; and many philosophical men and women nowadays take air-baths. An intelligent woman informed me that she could not sleep without spending an hour in a nude state in a well-ventilated room before retiring. This may appear a little incon- sistent with Dr. Hall's suggestion as to making haste Luto bed; but I have no doubt that there are many people who would be benefited by this practice. Such, for instance, as are full of blood and animal ca- loric ; and those who, instead of experiencing a chill, would find sim- ply a sense of coolness creeping over the skin, followed by a reaction immediately after covering up warmly, We breathe through the '* SUNSHINE. 259 pores of the skin as well as by the lungs. These microscopic lungs cannot be safely insulated from the air. Especially should the sick-room be well ventilated. Not only should the air therein be cautiously changed in inclement seasons, but disinfectants should be freely used. It is not difficult to obtain these, nor are they expensive. A large bowl of water standing in a sick-room will absorb an immense quantity of impure gases. " Few," remarks a writer, " are aware of the valuable antiseptic properties of charcoal in the sick-room, or of its purifying effects in crowded chambers. A dozen pieces, the size of a hazel-nut, placed in a saucer or soup-plate, daily moistened with boiling water, will, in the course of a week, have gathered their own weight in impure air. At the end of the sixth day they should be removed, and the former ones burned, as in cases of disease they have gathered the poisonous exhalations, and are, therefore, no longer without danger." In sick- ness or health, we cannot afford to do without pure air, and as it comes to us without money and without price, it is one of those God-given blessings which the poor may enjoy as well as the rich. Let us all have plenty of it. Next, let me call the attention of the reader to— Sunshine. It is said that if a potato is put into a warm cellar with one small window, the potato will sprout, and that the leading vine will run along the floor of the cellar until it reaches the window, when it will make directly for it, and continue to grow in that direction as long as it can support itself. House-plants instinctively turn their leaves toward the windows, thirsty for sunlight. A running vine planted in a shady locality, seems almost to possess intelligence in creeping around where the rays of the sun may fall upon it. Now, shall not mankind be as wise as the plant, or as sagacious as the potato ? Dr. Moore, the metaphysician, speaking of the necessity of sunlight, says that:—" A tadpole, confined in darkness, would never become a frog; an infant, being deprived of heaven's free light, will grow into a shapeless idiot instead of a beautiful and responsible being. Hence," continues the same writer, "in the deep, dark gorges and ravines of the Swiss Valais, where the direct sunshine never reaches, the hideous prevalence of idiocy startles the traveller. It is a strange melancholy idiocy. Many of the citizens are incapable of articulate 260 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. speech. Some are deaf; some are blind; some labor under all thesa privations; and all are misshapen in every part of the body. 1 he- lieve there is in all places a marked difference in the healthfuluess of houses according to their aspect with regard to the sun, and those are decidedly the most healthful, other things being equal, in which all the rooms are, during some part of the day, fully exposed to the direct light. Epidemics attack inhabitants on the shady side of the street, and totally exempt those on the other; and even in epi- demics such as ague, the morbid influence is often thus partial in its labors." Sunlight not only imparts vital magnetism to the extent of pre- venting disease, but it has been resorted to with success as a curative agent. One of our journals commenting upon the healing influence of light, remarks that, " Sir James Wylie, late physician to the Em- peror of Russia, attentively studied the effects of light as a curative agent in the hospitals of St. Petersburg; and he discovered that the number of patients who were cured in rooms properly lighted, was four times greater than that of those confined in dark rooms. This led to a complete reform in lighting the hospitals of Russia, and with the most beneficial results. In all cities visited by the cholera, it was universally found that the greatest number of deaths took place in narrow streets, and on the sides of those having a northern expo- sure, where the salutary beams of the sun were excluded. The inhab- itants of the southern slopes of mountains are better developed, and more healthy than those who live on the northern sides ; while those who dwell in secluded valleys are generally subject to peculiar dis- eases and deformities. " The different results above mentioned are due to the agency of light, without a full supply of which, plants and animals maintain but a sickly and feeble existence. Eminent physicians have observed that partially deformed children have been restored by exposure to the sun and the open air. As scrofula is most prevalent among the children of the poor in crowded cities, this is attributed, by many persons, to their living in dark and confined houses—such diseases being most common among those residing in underground tenements." In scrofulous affections and bodily deformities, Dr. Edwards advised isolation in the open air, and nudity where it would not be incompatible with comfort, as calculated to restore the sufferer. People having a consumptive diathesis, or those having » coq- SUNSHINE. 261 8umpt!ve ancestry, should pay particular attention, In the choice of a location for a dwelling, to select one which has a southern exposure. Sick people are too apt to be regardless of their surroundings, and depend entirely upon their physician to cure them. A thoughtful man, when he is affected with illness, will seek to discover the cause, and also the influences surrounding him which may aggravate the complaint. On making an investigation, he may not only find that his rooms arc not well ventilated ; that the location is not free from swampy dampness; but that his dwelling is so situated behind hills, or under so much shade, as to entirely shut him in from the light of the sun. Discovering these disadvantageous conditions, he should at any sacrifice of business or property, if he values health and life, betake himself to some spot where he may secure all of nature's agencies for his recovery. Occasionally, some one daily exposed to the sun in the heat of sum- mer, gets an over-dose of the curative agent, and has an attack of sun-stroke. All active medicines are injurious taken ia over-doses; but sometimes the sun's heat is censured for what bad habits have induced. If a man eats and drinks excessively, or sets his blood on fire with " camphene whiskey," he is more liable than anybody else to have sun-stroke. Some medicines become injurious by mixing, and it could hardly be supposed that the pure sunlight, fresh from God's laboratory, would mix well with the vile drinks of our low groggeries. As, however, the lightnings of heaven sometimes kill innocent people, continuous exposure to a summer's sun may, in some cases, strike down sober, temperate men. To avoid this, those who are compelled to work in the sunlight during the hottest days of the year, would do well to wear a wet napkin or handkerchief on the top of the head, under the hat. The farmer or gardener has something still better in the cabbage leaf, which may be dipped in water and worn in the same way. Actual sun-stroke, however, requires stimulants to be employed, and not bleeding or depleting medicines, as in the treatment of apo- plexy. A writer correctly remarks that it " resembles apoplexy in some of its external features, and is often mistaken for it, but in truth is very different; the brain is not congested as in that disease, no effusion of blood or serum on the brain's surface; the patient is pale, cold, and quiet; or, as is often the case, he is convulsed and has trem- ors like one in delirium tremens, both on approaching and recovering from insensibility—his pulse weak, quick, and frequent, 100 to 160. 262 PREVENTION OP DISEASE. On the contrary, in apoplexy be is flushed, heaving, and stertorous, or his breathing is very hard—pulse full, strong, and slow." Let no one, however, be afraid of sunlight because of occasional ca- ses of sun-stroke. If statistics could be obtained regarding tliose who die directly or indirectly from want of sunshine, we should find that this class would number a thousand to one who dies of an over-dose. People in the country are apt to bury themselves beneath the foliage of shrubs and trees, and bid defiance to the few rays that do pene- trate, by closing the green blinds which shelter the parlor windows. Mechanics and a great many of the business men in cities, are con- tented to pursue their avocations all day by gas-light. There is said to be an office in Nassau Street, in this city, the window of wliich is so shut in by its contiguity to another building, that the sun- light never enters it; and that every one who has occupied it for the past ten or fifteen years, died of consumption. People who break away from their business for summer recreation, and make tours to the watering-places, think that they derive great advantage from change of air. It is true that they do. The qualities of the air are greatly modified and affected by the geological forma- tions beneath the surface, and the vegetable products wliich present themselves above; so that one cannot breathe the air of any of these locations, without extracting certain properties which the system re- quires. In this way, change of air frequently proves highly beneficial; but, in many of these cases, benefits are attributed to this cause, when they are more greatly due to exposure to sunlight. When people allow the sun to paint their faces brown, torpid livers are less liable to paint them yellow. Good Temper, And, I might also add, a clear conscience, are necessary for the preservation of health; but, in my essay on the " Violation of the Moral Nature," all has been said that need be in regard to the importance of having the conscience free from a sense of self-accusation and re- morse. I will, however, say something in this place, about good-tem- per, and its beneficial effects upon the system. Just exactly to that degree in which men and women are improved by a cheerful, un- prejudiced condition of mind, they are physically injured by a morose, bigoted, and selfish habit of thought. Anger, jealousy, envy, distrust, and personal dislikes, all tend to induce nervous diseases. When the white man hates the Indian, when the Irishman detests the colored man; when the Yankee feels like fighting the "cockney;" when the Hindoo, laboring under prejudice of caste, will not associ- ate with the European; when the Mohammedan regards the Chris- tian as a hog; when a full-blooded African disdains to associate with a mulatto or quadroon; there are certain mental emotions ex- perienced, which contort the features and disturb the harmony of the whole system. The indications of such feeling are at once conveyed to the face, and, to some extent, leave their impress on the facial muscles, giving to the individual habitually indulging therein, a countenance more or less disagreeable. They make themselves felt upon the nervous system, by irritating it, and disturbing the harmo- nious circulation of the nervous forces. They also impair digestion, and interfere with the healthy action of the liver. Chronic grumblers are never really well. They cannot be. They keep their sensitive nerves constantly vibrating with discordant emotions; yet grumbling is indulged in by people of all religions and nationalities. The farmer leans over his fence and grumbles about his crops. Showers have been too frequent and the ground is too wet; or a drought is scorching his growing vegetables. The trades- man grumbles because trade is too dull; or, when customers are coming in numerously, he grumbles because of overwork. Even the parson grumbles because his parishioners fail to " come to time " in requiting him for his labors in the pulpit. Grumbling gives the features a pinched, "sour-milk," appearance; vitiates the gastric juices, and dries up the secretions. These effects are only just pen- alties on the person who allows his temper to be thus disturbed; but his innocent family and friends suffer with him, as they are kept in a perpetual "nettle," and this induces nervous derangements in them. Many a good wife has been worn into her grave by a grum- bling husband; and many a good husband has been driven from inti- mate association with his family by a fault-finding wife. The chil- dren in either case, are brought up in a hot-bed of discontent, which makes its impress first on the buoyancy of their young spirits, and then on their nervous systems. Petulance is worse than grumbling. Many people are like snap- ping bugs, that cannot be touched without snapping; or like rattle- snakes that cannot be looked at without hissing from tneir throats and rattling their bones. Such folks are said to be " full of bile;" 264 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. but the petulance causes the bilious condition, instead of the latter causing the petulance. Petulance often causes hysteria among women, and hypochondriasis among men. Artemus Ward said, that "G. Washington never slopped over." Petulant men and women are con- stantly slopping over, and there is no nervous rest or happiness for those who get bespattered with their venomous utterances. Even dogs stand about them with ears and tail down, and with an increased susceptibility to distemper and hydrophobia. Perfect health is in- compatible with a petulant disposition, and cannot be maintained by those who are compelled to associate intimately with petulant people. Violent temper is worse than petulance. It is absolutely danger- ous to life as well as to health. I have known people to bring on attacks of hemorrhage by indulging in explosive anger. Such tempestuous emotion causes congestion. At such moments the blood presses the brain, and jumps violently through the delicate machinery of the heart; it unduly fills the arteries and veins of the lungs; it completely arrests digestion, and suspends biliary secretion. All the vital machinery is clogged with the undue presence of the perturbed vascular fluids. People who have naturally good temper deserve no credit for being habitually good-natured; but tliose who have a fretful disposition or violent temper, are censurable for indulging in grumbling or rage. There is no work so necessary and ennobling as that of rooting out inherited bad qualities. As soon as they are discovered the work should begin in earnest, nor should it be suspended till they are completely eradicated. If the aspiration for moral perfection is not sufficient to prompt this effort, then selfishness should, for every one desires to have health, and this is not permanently compatible with the indulgence of an irritable or violent temper. Move around good-naturedly. Let your soul shine out as brightly as the sun at noon-day. It will warm yourself within, and all those whom you hold dear without. It will promote harmony of action in your intricate physical machinery, and make ail about you happy and more nearly healthy. Keep the Feet Warm, Almost every reader of this book is undoubtedly aware of the prevalence of cold feet. You, who ar# at this moment perusing these pages, may have cold feet, and think this condition of little conse- KEEP THE FEET WARM. 205 qnenee. Yon know your neighbor across the way is affected in the same way ; and perhaps you know hardly anyone who is not subject to cold feet, at least during the winter. The husband often jokes his wife in the presence of friends, " that her feet are like icicles," and the levity which follows shows the entire misapprehension on the part of the popular mind, of the serious character of the impaired circu- lation which is indicated by this affection. When there is little hlood in the extremities, where do you suppose that fluid is ? It is certainly confined within the skin somewhere. Perhaps it has not occurred to your mind that the frequent headaches with which you are affected, arise from an undue supply of blood in the head; or, that you have fluttering and palpitation of the heart, from a pressure of the fluid in that organ; or, that the pain in your right side pro- ceeds from the congestion of blood in your liver; or that an affec- tion of your lungs or stomach is caused by a pressure of blood in them. There is really no such thing as computing the number of those who die annually from cold feet, or, what is the same thing, from diseases induced by congestion of some vital part, or parts, at the expense of th. 1'cet, which are left without a sufficient supply of blood. Although cold feet do not directly kill the patient, warm feet would jure him, and the invalid dies because this equilibrium in the circulation is not established. Let us look for a moment into the cause of cold feet. It is probably known to most intelligent readers that the healthy action of the heart, and of all the arteries and capil- laries, is dependent upon a generous supply of nervous stimulus; and this nervous stimulus, I have already shown to be a kind of animal magnetism or electricity. Whenever, then, the vital forces become de- ficient in the extremities, there is an insufficiency of nervous stimulus given to them, and the arteries and capillaries become, as an inevitable consequence, sluggish in their action; and this failure of the arteries and capillaries to perform their functions in the extremities, leads to an insufficient supply of blood in the feet, just as a defective pump will give an inadequate supply of water to a country kitchen. The blood may be too thick, or it may be loaded with impurities; still if the arterial and capillary action is sustained by an abundant supply of nervous or magnetic force, the blood keeps moving to the feet, and the toes are made warm by the presence of an abundance of blood. It is true, however, that if the blood is in a diseased state, its circu- lation to the extremities is retarded, unless nature supplies a sui 12 266 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. ficiently increased nervous stimulus to off-set this difficulty. Thig qualification does not in the least affect the accuracy of my first statement as to the cause of cold feet; for it still remains true that the nervous forces must precede the blood circulation, and prepare the way for it, and that any means which may be used to supply, divert, or stimulate these forces in the bloodless part will, if followed up with reasonable patience, result in a cure. To preserve the warmth of the feet, one of the first things neces- sary is, to keep them warmly dressed. I have alluded in the essay on "The Clothes we Wear," and also in a preceding essay of this chapter, to the importance of dressing the feet and extremities as warmly as the shoulders and chest are dressed. The next thing to be observed, is to avoid disturbing the harmony and force of nervous action in the arteries and capillaries of the feet by too much fire warmth. Holding the feet habitually to the stove, grate, register, or fireplace, will induce cold feet, even in those who are not subject to them, by relaxing the capillaries and arteries, and destroying the harmony of that nervous action which in health is very busy in mov- ing the blood through its natural channels, whether we are wrapped in unconscious slumber, or engaged in the festivities of the dance. Habitually bathing the feet in warm water will also, in time, produce arterial and capillary relaxation in the extremities. Those who oc- casionally have cold feet, and resort to hot-water foot-baths to cure them, obtain momentary relief, but the difficulty is made worse and worse every time the hot bath is resorted to. If there existed in all cases, constitutional vitality enough, cold-water foot-baths would be excellent treatment for cold feet, as hot water really is for uncom- fortably hot feet; for the reaction from cold baths is warmth, and the reaction from hot baths is coldness. In a great many, perhaps in a majority of cases, the vitality is too low to effect a warm reac- tion when cold is applied; while the less vitality a person has, the more certain are hot water applications to produce a cold reaction. Hence it will be perceived that popular habits are entirely wrong in the management of cold feet. By this time, some fair reader is mentally inquiring, What am I to do, doctor? I must not put my feet to the tire, nor into warm water, and I cannot go to sleep with cold feet. Now, you will laugh when I tell you; but if you will try it, you will in less than ten days, bless me for the suggestion. It is simply this: Have some kind KEEP THE FEET WARM. 267 friend, for about twenty minutes, or half an hour, every evening, hold your feet in his or her hands as represented in the annexed cut. The shoes must remain on, and morocco, or other leather, is better than prunella or cloth. Place the feet in the lap of your friend, and have him or her place the hands over them, so that the palms will rest upon the toes and instep, while the thumbs and fingers grasp the soles of the shoes with sufficient firmness to exclude the air from between the hands and the parts of the shoes covered by the hands. Fig. 75 WARMING the feet magnetically, and stimulating arterial and capillary ACTIVITY. In this way preserve the grasp immovably, with a gentle, but not pinching pressure, until the feet become warm, which will not re- quire many minutes. This method is invaluable because it imparts magnetic warmth, which acts as a tonic to the arteries and capilla- ries ; it diverts the nervous circulation to the extremities by that in- evitable interchange of animal magnetism which always takes place between two persons when they are in contact; it gives to the feet more permanent warmth than artificial heat, each warming improv- ing the condition of the patient instead of making it worse; and it pffcen vitalizes one who is deficient in nervous vitality, and thereby 268 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. improves the general health. The foregoing reasons will suffice, yot still more could be given. When some other person is available, the husband should not employ the wife, nor the wife the husband, to do this feet-warming, because they are so frequently in contact that there is less difference In their magnetisms than there is between those less familiar, and consequently a less active interchange of magnetic forces during the process. One of the opposite sex is always preferable to one of the same sex, because there is a greater difference between the magnet- isms of male and female than usually exists between two of tho same sex. There is still another way of warming the feet, by electricity, which may be pursued by those who have no friends to take sufficient interest in them to admit of their adopting the first method proposed. It is to put on thin-soled slippers, and scuff the feet, without raising them, repeatedly over a woollen carpet, in a room comfortably warm, and to continue the exercise until the feet become burning hot. This should be repeated as often as once or twice a day, and oftener if convenient, until a good circulation is established. This process will not accomplish the object as speedily, nor will it so greatly benefit the general health, as the plan previously advised ; but it is incomparably better in every respect than fire warmth, or the im- mersion of the feet in hot water. I will add one more suggestion on feet-warming. Those who have plenty of vitality and are nevertheless affected with cold feet, pan generally restore active circulation in the extremities by spring- ing out of bed every morning, dashing the feet into cold water for a moment, wiping .them dry, returning to bed and remaining there with plenty of covering upon the feet until they become warm. In conclusion, I will say, that I have not patented either of the pro- posed plans, and consequently there is no expense in making the experiment. Perhaps the cheapness of the treatment is its only ob- jection, as people are apt to undervalue that which costs nothing. Spring Renovation, Such are the habits of mankind in those portions of the world called civilized, almost every man, woman, and child emerges from the winter season with a decided susceptibility to what are common- SPRING RENOVATION. $Q§ ty denominated " Spring Disorders." The liver is torpid—the skin is sallow—the head feels heavy—sleep is disturbed—the bowels are either constipated or relaxed—the tongue is furred—the digestion is imperfect—and an overpowering sense of lassitude creeps over the whole muscular system, and so affects the mind as to render it rest- less or inactive. It is true that lassitude to some extent is the inevi- table result of the peculiar properties of the atmosphere of spring. The relaxing air which is supplied by nature for the purpose of swelling and opening the buds of vegetation, is such as to relax and weaken to some degree the muscular fibre, and lessen mental energy; but this condition is greatly aggravated, and the symptoms before named produced, by bad habits in eating and drinking, and by con- fined air, during a season when the appetite is sharpened by frosty air, and warm, illy-ventilated apartments are sought for refuge from cold. Overloaded stomachs, late entertainments, artificially warmed and vitiated air, poison the blood, lower the stock of nervous vitality, and thus cripple the motive powers which Nature employs in keep- ing the vital machinery in healthful activity. The advent of spring, consequently, becomes the harvest of the renders of all sorts of panaceas, for these are resorted to by almost everybody. Nature has spread her green carpet over the grim soil, beautified the wood- land with foliage, festooned the arbors with vines, and the birds seem happy. Old Sol looks as if indulging in laughter—and the insects creep from the walls and fences to join in the chorus which seems to issue from the countless throats of animate nature, and the sallow-faced lord of creation cannot understand why he too uoes not feel in the mood to enjoy the exit of winter and the presence of spring. So he takes bitters—not because he knows any thing about their properties—but because something must be done; if not bitters, then cathartics; and he fancies they improve him, for bitters are usually stimulating, and cathartics are liable to give him something of a cleaning out. If these remedies be not the best that could be devised for the purpose, they appear to afford some relief, and as they can be obtained about as handily as bread, they are swallowed down, q. s. Most of the bitters with which the country is flooded are simply abominable decoctions, with no medicinal property excepting alcohol. If stimulus were wanted, it would be better by far to purchase and use some good brandy, rum, or gin; and if a bitter is desired, steep and 270 PREVENTION Or DISEASE. add a strong decoction of equal parts of hops and chamomile flowers. But in most cases of spring disorders, stimulants of any kind pro- duce only temporary exhilaration, while the blood is thickened and made worse by them. The blood needs cooling and renovating in those who are fleshy, and purifying and enriching in those who are lean. Therefore, bitters are not what nature requires for spring repairs, and the alcoholic property cheats the drinker by making him feel momentary improvement, while the real sources of weak- ness and discomfort remain undisturbed. Cathartics usually act locally upon the contents of the stomach and bowels by dissolving them, and quickening peristaltic action, without in the least stirring up healthful activity of the liver and gall-ducts. Consequently, tliose who resort to simply purgative or cathartic medicines are only improved by the local unburdening of the stomach and bowels, while the blood and inactive liver remain untouched. The result in this case is, no permanent relief, and nature is left, after all, to help herself as best she can. The course which ought to be pursued by those who find them- selves physically out of order in the spring, is to consult some phy- sician in whom they have confidence. Reliance cannot safely be reposed in the thousand and one blood-purifiers and sarsaparillas which stand in solid battalions on the shelves of the apothecary, nor in the anti-bilious pills, or liver pills, which are advertised in the newspapers. The former are little more than colored sweetened water and alcohol, and the latter possess usually no other than purgative properties. Summer sickness may be prevented by spring renovation, but any hap-hazard attempt at the latter may only the more surely prepare the system for the former. If " a stitch in time saves nine," when applied to our garments, it may apply with equal truth and felicity to the body the garments envelop. But all botch-work should be avoided as the least economical in the end. Other Suggestions For the prevention of disease may be found in various parts of this volume, and especially in the chapter immediately preceding, to which this is simply a correlative. It would be supererogatory to make this cbapter as complete as the subject would require, if the one on the "Causes of Nervous and Blood Derangements" were omitted. Then, again, in matter coming after this, on chronifl maladies, marriage, etc., hints on the prevention of disease will naturally find expression where infirmities growing out of physical or social discord are treated upon. In taking leave of this chapter, therefore, with its seeming incom- pleteness, the author takes consolation in the belief that the reader will find somewhere in the pages of this volume, the information wliich may possibly be sought and not found in the essays herein presented. HEALTH AND BEAUTY ABE BOON COMPANIONS. CHAPTER IV*. Common sense remedies. jAVHtfO glanced at the proximate and many of the remote causes of disease, and made some suggestions for their prevention, next in order is a consideration of appropriate remedies. In pointing out and commenting on these, I expect to encounter the universal denunciation of old-school physicians, and some opposition from the new. I am often asked the question—"To what school of medicine do you belong?" My reply is—no school, except the school of nature, which I shall christen the Utilitarian School. I have been a diligent pupil of all the old masters, and have investigated all systems. I am now a devoted pupil of nature; intuition is my counselor; common sense my pharmacopoeia. In other words, I am independent—bound by the tenets of no medical association, and consequently prejudiced against no new discovery which can be made subservient to suffering humanity. Whatever I find in earth, air, water, and science, useful as remedial agents, I appropriate, and resort thereto, when occasion demands, without fear of being confronted by a conservative brother who sees merit in nothing which has not the sanction of antiquity I have wasted much time in the exploration of what is inappro- priately termed medical science, but have always found instruction and entertainment in the great book of nature. The literary pro- ductions of old-school writers are often interesting and contain much sophistry; nature is refreshing and pregnant with truth. Hippocrates flourished over eighteen hundred years before the modern science (?) of medicine was founded. He was even unac- quainted with the circulation of the blood; yet he was styled the VEGETABLE MEDICINES. 273 "father of medicine," and his success in curing disease so excited the superstition of the ancients, that many of them believed he stayed the plague of Athens. Some are born physicians. Hippoc- rates was. Every man possesses a special talent for something, and he who becomes a doctor when nature designed him for a reaper, will mow down human beings when he should be cutting wheat. Redfield, the physiognomist, says that he can tell who arc natural physicians by the bones in the face. He describes them a?, men hav- ing an elevation of the arch of the cheek-bone, called tho zygomatic arch. He says that one possessing this peculiarity, other things being equal, " is not only inclined to study and practice, but will have a certain instinct for it, which will materially assist his snien tific knowledge." " Without this faculty, and its sign, in a superior degree," continues that popular physiognomist, "no person ever attained to skill and eminence in the medical profession, or even made a good nurse. The North American Indians have this sign very large, one of their characteristics being high cheek-bones, and they are equally remarkable for their ' medicine men'—so much so, that some persons consider the name 'Indian Doctor' a sufficient offset for ignorance and presnmption." With regard to my natural qualifications, my interested readers will pardon me fur saying that, besides possessing the sign Redfield describes, my medical pro- clivities manifested themselves at an early age. My parents have often reverted to my boyhood, when pill-making, &c, entered con- spicuously into the diversions in which I indulged, and facetious neighbors dignified the contents of my juvenile waistcoat with the title of " Doctor." With these remarks, prefatory and egotistic, I will enter upon the legitimate mission of this chapter, which is to advocate the merits of those classes of remedies wliich have rendered my practice so eminently successful and popular, and to expose some of the most prevalent medical errors of the day. Vegetable Medicines. The trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants, I contend, possess, in a refined form, all the medicinal properties of the mineral kingdom. Their numerous and far-reaching roots span rocks, ramify in various strata of soil, and extract from good old mother earth her hidden medicinal treasures, which are transposed to regions of air, light 12* 274 COMMON SENSE REM EDI K6. find heat, where chemical changes are effected which at once depriva them of their grosser characteristics, and render them far more effi- cacious and harmless, as antidotes for human infirmities, than they can possibly be made in the laboratory of the most skilful chemist. It is said that " if a bone be buried just beyond and a little at one side of a root, the latter will turn out of its direct course and go in pursuit of the bone, and when it finds it, it will stop and send out numerous little fibres which, forming a net-work, will envelop the bone; and when all the nourishment has been sucked out of it, the root will again pass on its way, and the temporary fibres thrown out around the bone will gradually disappear." Thus the inflexible relic of a decomposed carcass may be transformed into a beautiful flower! What human chemist can do this? And yet it is trifling, com- pared with what nature is daily producing in her boundless laboratory. The roots of herbage and trees have the same power to extract the useful proper- ties of minerals, and, in a measure, derive their nour- ishment from the various ingredients of the soil. An intelligent writer tells us, that " one of the most re- markable properties of plants is the power with which they are endowed of selecting their food. The soil contains various kinds of aliment for vege- tation, and the little fibrous roots that fill the ground select from the whole, and suck in through their minute openings just the kind suited to the nature of the plant or tree to which they belong. All plants will not thrive on the same SPECIMEN OF WHAT CHEMIST NATURE PRODUCES IN HER LABORATORY. VtfU-ETAJiLE MEDICINES. 275 soil any more than all animals will live on the same kind of food. Grass and grain require a soil that contains an abundance of silica or flint." The soil of Herefordshire, England, is so genial to the oak, that the trees bearing this name are called, in that region, " The weeds of Herefordshire." It is this power of selecting nutriment which renders plants so va- rious in their medicinal properties. When we reflect that the earth is covered with an endless variety of vegetable products, no two of which possess precisely the same properties, how absurd appears the conduct of those who wander from the vegetable to the mineral world, in search of remedial agents. Even that greatly prized min- eral, iron, which enters so extensively into the materia medica of modern practitioners, is possessed by vegetables, and may be admin- istered without resorting directly to the mineral kingdom for a sup- ply. A writer remarking upon the influence of iron on vegetables, says: "A curious discovery has recently been made on the chalky shores of France and England. Where there is an absence of iron, vegetation has a seared and blanched appearance. This is entirely re- moved, it appears, by the application of a solution of sulphate of iron. Haricot beans watered with this substance, acquired an additional weight of sixty per cent; mulberries, peaches, pears, vines, and wheat derive advantages from the same treatment. In the cultiva- tion of clover, wonderful advantages have been gained by the appli- cation of the sulphate of iron on soils in which that ingredient is wanting, and in cases where it is desired to produce an early crop." Some herbs produce the properties of iron to such an extent that they are easily detected in them, and these herbs growing on soil where iron ore is found in great abundance, contain it sufficiently to answer all the medicinal purposes of the mineral, and in a form much more suited to the needs of the animal organization than that worked np in the laboratory of the chemist. The vegetable kingdom prac- tically steps in between man and the mineral world, and says—"Do not, 0 man, eat dirt or the crude indigestible substances that are found therein. I will send my roots deep into the earth, seek out the medi- cines buried beneath its surface, filter them through my fibres, expose fchem to the magnetic rays of the ripening sun, and then hand them over to you, deprived of the dregs that would otherwise obstruct the wonderful machinery whereby you move and exist." I have already alluded to the instinct of plants in searching out 876 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. bone3, and taking from them the mineral properties tbey posses*. A curious illustration of this is found in the fact, that when the grave of Roger Williams was opened in Providence, some years ago, it was discovered that the roots of an apple-tree had struck into the skull, and following the course of the spine, had branched at the legs, and turned up at the feet I Besides this instinct to search out suste- nance, there is evidence that vegetation possesses sensorial power to some degree. There are plants which, when you touch their leaves in the most gentle manner, fall to the ground as if wilted and dead, and then in a few moments after recover their usual appearance. There are flowers which only open when the rays of the morning sun reach out from the east and touch their folded leaves; there are others which are so sensitive to sunlight, they remain closed during its presence, and only display their beauties and fragrance to the stars. The sensorial life of a plant is probably not unlike that of man when in that condition of repose which renders him unconscious intellectually of what is passing about him, and yet fully appreciative of existence arid the luxury of rest. All of you have experienced this sleep in your morning naps. The bite of a fly, or the slight prick of a pin causes the flesh to recoil, or the muscular fibre to quiver when you are in this condition. And if you will take pains to observe, you will discover that the breaking of a leaf, or the pluck- ing of a flower, produces to a perceptible degree some such motion in the ordinary plant or tree, while there are specimens of vegetable life which seem absolutely to suffer pain when their foliage is rudely disturbed. It is pleasant, therefore, to believe that that very restful semi-unconsciousness which still allows an appreciation of existence, such as we have in conscious sleep, constitutes the sensorial life of the vegetable Avorld, and confers upon it at least passive enjoyment. And when we find the vegetable world so near us, so in sympathy, if you please, with our existence, so instinctive in seeking and d> gesting the useful minerals of the soil, so assimilating when taken into our bodies, what folly to excavate the earth for medicine 1 Paracelsus was the Adam of the medical world. Through him came sin into the profession. He was the introducer of mineral medicines. He is the prototype of the old school. Read what hi» biographer says of him :— " Paracelsus was a man of most dissolute habits and unprincipled character, and his works (opera) are filled with the highest flighta VEGETABLE MEDICINES. 277 of unintelligible bombastic jargon, unworthy of perusal, but are such as might be expected from one who united in his person the qualities of a fanatic and a drunkard." Gross minds beget gross ideas—demand gross food and gross reme- dies. They naturally turn from the study of the green trees and beautiful flowers, with which the brown earth is adorned, and whose luxuriant branches point upward to heaven and health. Thus it was with Paracelsus, wt1io, in the fifteenth century, exalted quicksil- ver, or quack-silver, usually called mercury, to the family of medi- cines. For this great exploit he earned the name of Quack. This epithet was never applied before. His followers like his remedy, but not his name, and have ever since been trying to shift it upon the Botanies, who desire neither the " game " nor " name." But those who know the origin of the term, cannot, with propriety, mis- apply it. They may loom up in science as high as they will, The odor of quack must stick to them still. The value of mercury as a remedial agent has been ably handled in the Journal of Medical Reform, and for the benefit of those whose " one cure-all" is the blue-pill, or other preparation of mercury, I can not do better than copy it in full:— "If evidence were wanted," says the writer, "to prove the inju- rious effects of the various preparations of mercury on the organism, we know not where we may look for more decided testimony than is to be found in the admissions of those physicians who have the most extensively employed them in their own practice. The same amount of evidence against any other article of the materia medica would have rendered its use a matter of universal reprehension. It would, doubtless, have become obsolete, or, possibly, have been made a penal offence, under all circumstances, to exhibit it. " That mercury has destroyed more lives than it has saved, and entailed upon the human family a train of disorders, and an amount of suffering past computation or description, no physician who is not wholly wedded to the errors of early education, or a slave to the authority of musty books and the edicts of self-constituted medical tribunals, will venture to deny. The system of medical training in this country—the abject deference which is rendered to the opinions of the graybeards of the profession, the ceaseless iteration in the ears of students of $he stale axioms and mouldy dogmas pf 'the fathers,' 278 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. and the love of mental ease and indolence which characterizes so large a portion of the old-school physicians, explain the reason why no many worthless and destructive remedies are still retained. Said a physician not long since—' vV e discover first, the pathological con- dition of our patients, then administer such remedies as the books prescribe. If they live, well; if not, they die secundum artem.% There spoke a host of allopathic practitioners and professors, who are too submissive, or too lazy, or too stubborn to think, act, and investigate as becomes a free, inteDigent being, living ina day oi light, improvement and progress. " Some people have insensibly learned to regard this metal as in- dispensable—as possessing such peculiar virtues and adaptability to cure the ailments to which mankind are subject, that the resources of the physician would be fatally restricted if he were deprived of its use. But if in all the range of argument, the experience of the med- ical world and the history of the Healing Art, one sound, irrefragable reason can be advanced in proof of this supposition, we will cheer- fully abandon all further opposition to its employment. And more, if in the animal, mineral, or vegetable kingdom a solitary agent can be found, the use of which has caused, universally, more permanent suffering, or wrought more disastrous consequences to the human frame, we will confess our ignorance, and charge to the account of prejudice or stupidity all the disfavor it has encountered from both friends and foes. "If, for a long succession of years, the milder as well as the se- verer forms of disease bad not yielded to the influence of harmless remedies, our attack might be considered misdirected and imperti- nent. But, fortunately, the truth lies in the reverse of this; and it is an insult to the honesty and intelligence of a large class of physi- cians, both in this country and in Europe, who are combating suc- cessfully with every phase and character of physical disorder, with- out in a single instance subjecting the systems of their patients to the effects of mercury, to tell them and the world that the changes from a state of illness to a condition of health cannot be promoted without its agency, or if at all, not as well, as speedily, or as safely. Opinions and speculations here are valueless. Facts, unanswered and unan- swerable, can be and have been brought to support our assertions. It Lb well known by all who have paid any considerable attention to fcfye history of medicine in the United States, that it is but a few years VEGETABLE MEDICINES 279 since mercury was the principal remedy depended upon by allo- pathic physicians for the cure of scarlet fever. If the judgment of the 'Faculty' was to be taken as final, how does it happen at the present day that but few intelligent physicians can be found who ever venture to give it in that disease? If it was indispensable twenty years ago, nothing has occurred in the nature of the disease itself to render it needless and positively hurtful now. A medical journal of the old school, published in this city, told its readers, a few months since, that the unprecedented success of botanic physicians in treat- ing scarlatina, and the great mortality consequent on a course of mer- curial treatment, had forced 'the Profession' to abandon it altogether. The truth is, our doctors, learned though they may be in the mys- teries of the art, are not infallible—they are liable to mistake; and if they have committed one such fatal error, they being judges, in so important a matter as life and health, we may with propriety chal- lenge the correctness of their opinions regarding its necessity and virtue in the cure of other maladies. "We well recollect, during the early prevalence of an epidemic that visited some of the counties of this State five or six years since, that this ' indispensable' remedy was exhibited without stint or scruple in those cases that came under the charge of allopathic phy- sicians. The proposition that every effect must have a cause, prob- ably set the people to inquiring why it was that a very large majority of the cases so treated terminated fatally, while, with scarcely an exception, those patients who were attended by botanic practitioners recovered. And the inquiry was a very natural and a very proper one. The ' accumulated wisdom of a thousand years ' said ' give calomel, and give it again and again ;' and it was given; but new graves were dug day after day, notwithstanding. Mercury was not indispensable here. It was a withering, blasting scourge to whole families. Death needed no better auxiliary. The contrast in .these cases is too important and too significant to be wholly disregarded. " If a substitute for mercury is demanded, we answer, no substi- tute is wanted,—none required. It is a pernicious poison, that has no legitimate right or claim to a place in the list of medicines adapted to the necessity of a human being; and it was hundreds of years after it stole its way into the materia medica before any but the most reckless and empirical ventured to employ it. Agents there ire in rich profusion, adapted to the cure of every physical ill—safe, 280 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. innocent and efficacious. God has scattered them with an unspar- ing hand wherever man suffers, or an antidote is required. In the days of his primitive simplicity—before he had begun to seek out ' many inventions,' or had learned to disregard the instincts of his own nature, man turned to the vegetable kingdom in the hour of sickness ; and if we do not mistake the signs of the times, the day is not far distant when he will be brought back to a just appreciation of the wisdom of his original choice." Fig. ;r. NATURE'S LABORATORY—GOOD FOOD AND MEDICINE, Henry Ward Beecher truly remarked in one of his sermons, thai '' there are medicinal roots in every field which have never been dis- covered. Many and many a man has been buried within a yard of plants, that, if their healing properties had been known, would have saved his life." It is difficult to regard the system which Paracelsus introduced, in any other light than a great stumbling-block in the way of prog- ress in the healing art. Had the undivided attention of the medical VEGETABLE MEDICINES. £81 profession, for the past three hundred years, been turned in the right channel—had physicians studied more to ascertain the properties of plant?, and left the mineral kingdom t^> tho researches of professed mineralogists, what sublime results would reasonably have accrued for the promotion of the s'.ill of the physician .v.d tho convalescence of the sick of the present century ! Like unto the children of Israel, a largo majority of medical professors have been worshipping the metal calf which Paracelsus,—not Aaron,—set up for them, seeing which, the anger of ^Esculapius waxed hot against them, and he commanded them to "go in and out from gate to gate thrnnghout the camp,"* in the language that Moses used to tho idolaters of old, ;' and slay every man his brother and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." [Exodus xxxii. 27.] How many have been slain since the God of medicine issued this edict, there are not figures enough, Roman or Arabic, to compute. "The present system of medical education," says a smart news- paper writer, " imparts a knowledge of books, and the precedence established by certain ancient practitioners; it explores the narrow channel of usage and custom, deferring to names and opinions, but neglects the stndy of the natural remedies by which we are surround- ed. In the commonest of our fields, springing unnoticed by the brook-side, and among the pastures, or growing neglected along stone walls, are hundreds of plants possessing valuable medicinal properties, but of which, not one in forty of our physicians can tell the name, much less the use. And yet nothing can be plainer than the fact that Nature has furnished a remedy for every disease, and that nearly every remedy exists in the vegetable kingdom. Why then is the study of the plants, the roots, and the herbs of the field, the forest, and the mountain-side neglected in the education of those who are styled doctors ? Is the acquisition of Latin terms and a general reliance upon mercury and the knife deemed to be more important or safe ?" Now and then an old-school physician is encountered who volun- tarily confesses the results of his medical experience and research. Prof. Magcndie, of Paris, is reported to have addressed the students of his class in the allopathic college of that city in the following language :— "Gentlemen: Medicine is a great humbug. I know it is called a science—science indeed ! It is nothing like science. Doctors are 282 COMMON SEN BE namnuitaa. mere empirics when they are not charlatans. We are as ignofant as men can be. Who knows any thing in the world about medicine? Gentlemen, you have done me the honor to come here to attend my lectures, and I must tell you frankly now, in the beginning, that I know nothing in the world about medicine, and I don't know any- body who does know any thing about it. Don't think for a mo- ment that I haven't read the bills advertising the course of lectures at the Medical School. I know that this man teaches anatomy, that man teaches pathology, another man teaches physiology, such a-one therapeutics, such another materia medica—Eh Men! et apresf What's known about all that ? Why, gentlemen, at the school of Montpelier (God knows it was famous enough in its day!), they dis- carded the study of anatomy, and taught nothing but the dispensa- tory ; and the doctors educated there knew just as much and were quite as successful as any others. I repeat it, nobody knows any thing about medicine. True enough we are gathering facts every day. We can produce typhus fever, for example, by injecting a certain substance into the veins of a dog—that's something; we can alleviate diabetes, and, I see distinctly, we are fast approaching the day when phthisis can be cured as easily as any disease. " We are collecting facts in the right spirit, and I dare say in a century or so the accumulation of facts may enable our successors to form a medical science; but I repeat it to you, there is no such thing now as a medical science. Who can tell me how to cure the head- ache? or the gout? or disease of the heart? Nobody! Oh! you tell me, doctors cure people. I grant you, people are cured. But how are they cured ? Gentlemen, nature does a great deal; imagination does a great deal. Doctors do . . . devilish little . . . when they don't do harm. Let me tell you, gentlemen, what I did when I was the head physician at Hotel Dieu. Some three or four thousand patients passed through my hands every year. I divided the patients into two classes: with one I followed the dispensatory, and gave them the usual medicines without having the least idea why or wherefore; to the other I gave bread pills and colored water, without, of course, letting them know any thing about it . . . and occasionally, gentle- men, I would create a third division, to whom I gave nothing what- ever. These last would fret a good deal, they would feel they were neglected (sick people always feel they are neglected, unless they are well drugged), . . . . (les imbeciles !) and they would irritate them- VEGETABLE MEDICINES. 283 selves until they got really sick, but nature invariably came to the rescue, anft all the persons in the third class got well. There was a little mortality among those who received but bread pills and colored water, and the mortality was greatest among those who were care- fully drugged according to the dispensatory." Now, this is talking right out. Here we have the experience and consequent inferences of an eminent allopathist. What do his brother professors think of it ? We shall not probably know what they think, for few of them are so candid as this one. When it is borne in mind that the curability of any disease is determined in each school of practice by the results of its labors, there is one point particularly noteworthy in Prof. Magendie's address. He asks— '• Who can tell me how to cure the headache ? or the gout ? or dis- ease of the heart?" and then replies—"nobody." This conclusion, as well as that of any other of his brother professors, that con- sumption is incurable, is manifestly drawn from the results of the allopathic practice. It is not strange, then, that he pronounces the diseases mentioned incurable, for it is contrary to the rules of allo- pathy to acknowledge any skill outside of its bigoted ranks. Did its members not willfully shut their eyes to the astonishing cures effected of these very diseases, by those who have entered a more comprehensive field of medicine, they would not give utterance to such truthless assertions. If Prof. Magendie will regale himself for one season in New York, and spend his leisure moments in my office, I will convince him, by the palpable results of my practice, that the diseases he enumerates can be cured. The closing portion of his address, concerning his experiment with dispensatory medicines, bread pills, colored water, etc., is also sug- gestive. He says there was the greatest mortality among those who took his drugs; a little among those who used the colored water, and that those to whom he gave nothing got well. This result is just what any man of a particle of common sense would have expected. His mineral drugging, as a matter of course, only added another load to nature, already burdened with disease; and colored water was not nutritive, but, on the contrary, poisonous, as almost all dye-stuffs are. The presence of this in a weak stomach could not fail to have lomething of an injurious effect. There are certainly hopes of the reclamation of this professor. He may yet learn that all the sick man needs is simple nourishment 2s4 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. adapted to the nature of his system and disease, such as can always be found in the forests and fields, and the electrical or magnetic elements which surround him. All enfeebled nature wants is a little mild assistance, and if (to use the language of tree-climbing boys) you attempt to "boost" too fast, you are sure to upset her. The brute creation is more enlightened to-day in medicine than the allo- pathic profession. When the horse feels unwell, he eats dock and other herbs, if he can get them, and recovers. The cat, subject to fits, eats catnip and dispels the disease. If any of my readers have a sick cat, just give her some catnip herb, and observe the delight which she manifests in rolling on it, snuffing its aroma, and finally eating it. Naturalists say that the fox, rabbit, and many other ani- mals, keep themselves from madness by the use of the medicinal plants with'which their wild abodes are surrounded; and it is related of the grizzly bear of California, that, when he gets wounded, he gathers leaves from the bush called "grease-wood," and forces them tightly into the wound. If the animal had the intelligence (or rather the want of it) to call on an allopathic physician, he would probably get a mercurial plaster ! Botanic physicians deserve censure for not being more particular in obtaining good herbs and roots. They have often earned an unfa- vorable reputation by their remissness, when fame would have other- wise been their reward. Herbs and roots gathered in the wrong season of the year are worthless. Two-thirds of those sold in bo- tanic stores are, on this account, but little better than chips. Then, too, medicinal plants should always be raised and gathered on their native soil. Fishbough very correctly says, that " the vegetation indigenous to any particular clime or locality always bears a relation to the temperature, soil, and moisture prevalent in that locality. The mountains of tropical regions, which rise from a realm of per- petual summer to an altitude of eternal snow, are clothed at their different elevations by different genera and species of plants, adapted to all the gradations of temperature, from tho tropic to the arctic. An artificial transplantation of any of these vegetable forms is either fatal to the latter, or else causes in it a gradual change of constitu- tion until it is fully adapted to its new condition." This change in constitution is a virtual change in medicinal properties. Those who cultivate, either by transplantation, or sowing seed, any medicinal plant, in a soil not natural to it, fail to obtain the plant with its full THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 285 and native properties. Consequently, all who raise in a garden, herbs, etc., of every variety, for the market, contribute in a degree to the ill success of those physicians who purchase them. During the first two years of my practice I collected with my own hands nearly all the medicinal plants used in my laboratory—not only gathered, but bagged them, and carried them to a convenient place to extract, by various processes, the valuable health giving medicinal properties hidden away in their fibres. What they yielded was as precious as gold, and laid the foundation for a practice so large and so exacting of time and energy, that no more of that de- lightful botanizing has been possible for me. Whatever may be discovered in the way of curative agencies nothing can wholly take the place of the modest little plants that hide away in the fields and woodlands, or the hardy shrubs or stalwart trees that stand like sen- tinels to guard them from unfriendly elements, the former pregnant with properties adapted to the upbuilding of diseased tissue, and the latter endowed with strength which can be transmitted to en- feebled nerve or muscle. Hygienists take them when ill. There are thousands of intelligent man and women who do not believe in what is usually termed drug treatment, but who are not averse to using extracts of roots and herbs. Why should they be? In the interchange between the blood and tissues, the food eaten enables nature to put in a new particle wherever an old one is removed. In the use of well-selected vegetable remedies a new particle of a better quality is supplied, or encouraged to replace the old. Call it blood- food if you please, for such it is. It is not only nourishing, but stimulative of reparative action—a clearing away of old substance and substitution of new. Life in health consists of putting off the old and putting on the new, and much disease is merely due to inaction or stagnation in the processes of tissue change. Give the weakened system the right material and it will make good use of it. Therapeutic Electricity. If my theory, as given in chapter first, is correct, regarding the important part which electricity performs in the animal economy, it does not require facts or arguments to prove the value of elec- tricity as an auxiliary agent in the treatment of disease. The fact is rendered self-evident. It will be remembered that I assume and 286 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. give facts to prove that the same agent (electricity), which the Al- mighty employs to move and regulate the sublime planetary world, is used by the mind to move the feet, arms, limbs, and perform the various functions of the animal mechanism. The only plausible objection to this theory, which I have observed, is given by Dr. Ure, who says that electricity will pass through nerves which are almost severed and divided, and produce contractions in the muscles over which they are distributed, while the nervous force* will cease to pass through and perform any muscular motion when the nerves are thus lacerated. To one who has failed to discover the almost omnipotent power and instinctive wisdom of the mind, this objection would appear decisive. But my reply is, that animal electricity is controlled by the mind to which it belongs, while chemical or other electricity is con- trolled by the will of the operator who employs it. In other words, animal electricity is governed in its distribution through the system by the intelligent mind whose seat is in the brain, and who volunta- rily withdraws it from any nerve which may be disabled, lest the severed or divided nerve be entirely destroyed by the continued per- formance of its legitimate function while in this sorely lacerated con- dition. The mind constitutes what is called the vis medicatrix naturce, or healing power in any animate body, by which, when dis- eased, the system is assisted to recover. It is the " family doctor " of the organs, over which it presides. Consequently, notwithstand- ing the mind has not the power to resist electricity artificially applied to any disabled nerve, by an operator, it can and does control its own electricity, and will not allow it to traverse a wounded nerve. Nor can this peculiar power of the mind be overcome by the will in such a case, any more than the will can arrest the action of the involun- tary organs, which are under the control of the immortal principle or mind of the individual; and who can stop the pulsations of the heart by an effort of the will ? The perfect control which the mind has over its own electrical agent is again exhibited when business or family troubles or bereave- ments overtake an individual. The brain, stimulated to painful activity, consumes more than its due proportion of the nervo-electric fluid, and the mind withdraws enough from the stomach and vital organs to supply the demands of its most important dependent. In consequence of this physiological "panic," the heart, liver, stomach, THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 287 etc. (corresponding to the merchants), fail, and the brain (bank) takes care of itself. In diseases induced by mental depression, we there- fore find electricity valuable as an assistant, although, in consequence of the blood derangements entailed thereby, insufficient unless sup- ported by nutritive and purifying vegetable remedies. It is the interruption or partial withdrawal of the nervo-electric circulation, which causes what we term "nervous diseases;" and there are more affections of this character than were ever dreamed of in the allopathic philosophy. There is often an inharmonious action of the nervous forces in lung, liver, heart, and kidney diseases. All these organs perform their appropriate offices under the stimulus of electricity. For instance—the lungs are not expanded and contracted by the inhalation and exhalation of air, but the diaphragm is thrown downward, and the air vesicles opened by the nervo-electric forces acting on the muscles controlling the former, and on the little mus- cular fibres and tissues composing the latter. By this electric move- ment, air of necessity rushes in to fill the vacuum; when the same forces contract them, exhalation necessarily follows. In diseased lungs and shortness of breath, there is frequently an interruption of the nervo-electric circulation, and hence the necessity of electrical remedies of some sort, in addition to internal medical treatment, in the cure of many cases of pulmonary disease. The same remark holds good in respect to many disorders of all the vital organs. In dyspepsia, the interruption of a free passage of nervo-electricity through the pneumo-gastric nerve leading to the stomach is not unfrequently the principal cause. Cut the pneumo- gastric nerve in the neck of any animal, and the process of digestion ceases at once—apply the galvanic battery to the end leading to the stomach, and it is immediately resumed. The further this subject is investigated, the clearer the reader will see the value of electricity in the treatment of disease. "Water," it has been beautifully re- marked, "is valuable as a medical agent, but its efficiency consists, not in the element itself, but in its subservience as a handmaid of electricity. Electricity is the queen of medicine: water merely a pool in which she bathes her feet." The author of this quotation is, however, a little sanguine, and makes electricity the queen instead of duchess. Golding Bird, who has devoted much time to the investigation and application of electricity, says : " Conscientiously convinced that the 288 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. agent in question is a no less energetic than valuable remedy in the treatment of disease, I feel most anxious to press its employment upon the practical physician, and to urge him to have recourse to it as a rational but fallible remedy, and not to regard it as one either expected or capable of effecting impossibilities." The same writer adds, that " electricity has been by no means fairly treated as a therapeutic agent, for it has either been exclusively referred to when all other remedies have failed,—in fact, often exclusively, or nearly so, in hopeless cases,—or its administration has been care- lessly directed, and the mandate, ' Let the patient be electrified,' merely given without reference to the manner, form, or mode of F1 m the remedy being for once taken into consider- ation." In this country there are hundreds of good mechanics who make various electro- magnetic machines, and sell them for family use, with a circular or pam- phlet professing to give unerring directions for their use in different diseases. As a rule, having a few honorable exceptions, they are ridiculously incorrect, But few of them, that have ever come under my eye, can be safely relied upon. They abound in errors which would be laughable were it not for the reflection that they mislead the " drowning man catch- ing at straws." It is a serious matter to trifle with a man who has lost health, and perhaps all hope of recovery. Think not from these remarks that it is an easy matter to give cor- rect directions for popular use. So much depends upon the constitu- tional peculiarities of the patient, the complications which exist, and a correct knowledge of the disease or diseases, no such chart can be safely put into the hands of those who do not make pathology, anat- omy, physiology, and electrical therapeutics a study. Much must ne- cessarily depend upon the diagnostic skill of the operator, and his judgment in making the application. Each complication which the patient has,otnust be duly considered in its relation to the others. Constitutional causes must also be duly considered. The proper course for a physician to pursue, who wishes to obtain proficiency as an elec< AN ORDINARY ELECTRO-MAGNETIO MACHINE. THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY^ 289 trical operator, is to place himself under the personal tuition of a competent electrician, and during his pupilage witness all important operations, just as he who wishes to become a good surgeon, attends the cliniques, and witnesses the dexterity exhibited by his instructor in the use of the knife. An invalid who wishes to employ electricity without submitting to the experienced operator, should obtain, from an intelligent source, special directions for his individual case. Guided by the directions which are furnished by mechanical electri- cians, isolated cases do occur wherein remarkably successful results are realized. " Accidents will happen in the best of families;" and, inasmuch as electricity possesses peculiar curative powers, now and then one who knows nothing of the science of electricity; knows nothing of the peculiar structure of the human organism ; a mere novice in the art of detecting the nature and extent of a disease, will stumble into success. Many more not only fail to derive benefit, but injure themselves by random experimenting. Fatal results may not be as likely to follow as if the same persons had plied themselves with blue-pills and other allopathic inventions, for the reason that light- ning in any form is a safer agent to deal with. It is related of Ben Johnson, a revolutionary soldier, of Milford, Mass., that he was struck with lightning several years ago, and remained insensible for two days, when two doctors were called, who said he would die; but just at that moment his power of speech returned, and he ejaculated: " I have stood cannon, musket-balls, and bayonets, and I can stand thunder and lightning if the doctors will only let me alone." The old man recovered. Now no one supposes that such an overwhelm- ing dose of mercury would have ever let the veteran soldier speak again. It takes a vast amount of electricity, even in the form of a bolt of lightning to kill any one. Hence the seeming impunity with which electro-magnetic machines are employed by persons who do not know the negative pole of the instrument from the positive, and who are much less acquainted with the nature of the various currents wliich may be employed. The reputation of electricity has suffered by its bungling applica- tion in the hands of inexperienced operators. As the effect must depend upon the form and mode of application, it is obvious that no one should apply it without definite instructions, unless he is ac- quainted with the science of therapeutic electricity and has some knowledge of anatomy and pathology. 13 290 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. 1 have observed with regret the infatuation some men exhibit after witnessing its beneficial effects in one or two cases. Having cured themselves or perhaps a neighbor with electricity, the conceit at once overcomes them that they are natural physicians, and that that agent alone is capable of healing every ill that flesh is heir to, while perhaps they are "natural ninnies," tampering with the sublime phenomena of an omnipotent and mysterious element. Such operators, unschooled in physiology and the science of materia medica, have done much mischief with electrical machines, often ap- plying them when there was no occasion, and with a power too intense for even a person in health to endure. Some parts of the human system are more sensitive than others, and while a powerful current is necessary to affect some organs, a weak and almost imper- ceptible one is required to have a beneficial effect on others. But the most contemptible men are those who, taking advantage of the reputation electricity enjoys, set up regular "Peter Funk" estab- lishments, from which they advertise to cure every disease that flesh is heir to by an operation or two. While skillful electricians are, by their good works, imparting faith in the therapeutic power of electricity, these despicable charlatans are imposing on the confi- dence thus created, by humbugging unfortunate invalids who happen to fall into their meshes. Among the later developments of electri- cal humbuggery are a large variety of appliances in the form of belts, pads, corsets, hair-brushes, and garments. All are "loaded" with metal parts, but very few will show by a galvanometer test the power to develop any electrical current or effect, and those which can by such test be shown to be honest are cumbersome and dis- agreeable nuisances for daily wear, and invariably cost as much or more than a first-class electro-medical battery. Every good thing has its counterfeit, but it would seem that electricity has had rather more than its share of such debasement. Cleveland, in treating on galvanism as a remedial agent, very sensibly remarks :—" In making use of galvanism as a therapeutic agent, it should not be relied on to the exclusion of every other treatment; neither should a cure of the disease for which it is applied, be anticipated in a miraculously short space of time. Disease in any organ produces a change in the condition of the organ dis- eased, and time must be allowed for the process of absorption and deposition necessary to bring the organ back to its normal con- THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 291 ditlon. Galvanism, when properly applied, will be found of great advantage in hastening these processes; yet it will not do to apply it with such power as to destroy the organ from which we wish to remove the abnormal accumulations, or even to carry the action of that organ beyond the condition of health." In this connection I would say that shocks are not only unne- cessary but are often injurious in treating diseases. I have never found it necessary, with the beautiful machine I have had constructed for therapeutic purposes, to administer shocks, except in obstinate cases of paralysis of both nerves of motion and sensation, and in these cases the nerves of sensation are not sufficiently active to allow the patient to suffer any pain or discomfort from them. The most delicate and sensitive females who have submitted to my electrical manipulations, have, from the first operation, considered the influence agreeable rather than otherwise; and many of my patients have continued their use longer than was actually necessary, because the sensations, during the operation, were not only exceed- ingly agreeable, but the after effects inspiring and invigorating. As regards making electricity in any form a "one-cure-all," Cleve- land is eminently right. I meet with very few diseases that can be cured by electricity, galvanism, or electro-magnetism, alone. Nervous affections almost invariably inflict an injury upon the vital organs and blood, which is not removed by the correction of the nervous harmony merely. Here recourse must be had to mild medication. In mercurial diseases, it will not answer to merely cleanse the system of the offending mineral by the electrical pro- cess, particularly if the mercury has been many years in the system. It is, of course, of paramount importance to remove this corroding cause, but, having done this, effects, which have become diseases in themselves, remain, and must be disposed of. Here, too, mild, nutritious, and blood-toning medicines, must be given in connection with electricity. It is idle prattle to talk of making the lame walk by the use of a single electro-chemical bath. Instances do occur upon which to base such exaggerations, it is true : I have ,seen many such surprising results attend my own operations. But he who indiscriminately prom- ises such success does positive injury in eight cases out of ten. It is enough to say that a skillfully administered electro-chemical bath will expel mineral poisons. This is a great achievement, and opens 292 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. the avenues of health to thousands who are suffering from tho effects of old-school malpractice. After having cleansed the system of tho vile poison, it only remains for the skillful physician to remove the injuries the system has sustained by its former presence. Let not the temperate tone of the preceding paragraph lead any one to suppose that the blusterers, who startle whole communities with the announcement that they are curing everybody and every thing nv ith electricity, are any better posted regarding its marvellous curative powers than the writer of this; I doubt if any one's experience in its employment can more than parallel my own. I say this, not in a spirit of boasting, but only in simple justice to myself, while cautioning the afflicted against exaggerated statements put forth by impostors. For the past forty years I have been a faith- ful student in electrical therapeutic, and have employed the agent in thousands of cases. A large practice has given mo every oppor- tunity to test its effects in all sorts of chronic diseases. The results, in a majority of them, have been truly wonderful; and those who have witnessed my operations have turned away with tho settled conviction, that all a physician needs for permanent success, in every form of disease, is a well-constructed electro-magnetic machine, and a thorough knowledge of its use. One instance made an in- delible impression on my mind. A German physician, who had been through the best European schools, and had had much experi- ence in various hospitals, ridiculed the claim I set up for therapeutic electricity, and, under the supposition that he would sec something to strengthen his prejudices, took pains to witness some of my opera- tions. The results of his investigations were to him perfectly over- whelming, and after giving some applications himself, under my directions, he proposed to procure an electro-magnetic machine, and adopt electropathy as a specialty! I have made both rheumatic and paralytic invalids run and rejoice in the restoration of painful, contracted, stiff, and withered limbs. I have caused the haggard, downcast, cadaverous face of the dyspeptic to light up under the exhilarating effects of currents of electricity sent down tho pneumo- gastric nerves to the stomach. I have imparted an elastic step and glow of health to many a woman who had for years before crept about her domicile under tho debilitating effects of female weak- nesses. I have given the neuralgic sufferer occasion to rejoice in ray discoveries in electrical therapeutics. An interesting young woman, THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY 293 & tsacher in a popular New England institution of learning, once called upon me with a neuralgic difficulty. She had suffered a thousand deaths in the period of about ten years. From early girlhood, a rain-cloud had never darkened the horizon without aggravating her tortures to such an extent that she often implored her medical attendant to open an artery and let the horrors of such a life ebb away with the arterial fluid. She had tried everything old school and new school had recommended, and her faith in all Fig. 79. dr. foote's OFFICE BATTERY. had vanished. The principal of the institution, however, had called on me and investigated the principles of my practice, and under his solicitation she determined to make one more attempt. After the fifth operation, a long, drizzling spring rain of nearly two weeks' duration set in, but her old tortures did not return. She wisely adopted a course of vegetable medication to render this good work permanent, and a year afterward she wrote that she had been en- 294 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. tirely free from neuralgia. I might relate enough wonderful instances of my success in the employment of electricity to fill this volume; I have only given the foregoing instance because of its peculiarity. In the practice of a life-time, a physician would hardly meet with another such sufferer. From the foregoing paragraph it will be seen that the position I take in only recommending electricity as an auxiliary agent in the treatment of disease, is not at all in consequence of questionable suc- cess in its employment. I have a room in my offices well equipped with therapeutic electricity for the treatment of invalids, and in all cases where such treatment is appropriate it is skilfully and care- fully applied by means suitable to the special requirements of each case. Great progress has been made during the last quarter of a century in the invention of new apparatus, and a great variety of instruments for successful application of electricity for the relief of human ills. Back in the fifties any one resorting to this agency had to depend largely on his own ingenuity in making a convenient and effective machine, but, happily, all this is changed, and many great manufacturers of electrical goods vie with each other in pro- viding physicians and electrical specialists with the most complete outfits, including meters for accurately gauging the amount and in- tensity of the various currents employed. In the middle of the nineteenth century only the independent and enterprising physicians of this country, who were derisively called "irregular," sought to cure human ills with electricity. The medical profession, as a whole, looked upon such innovations with little favor, and some of its professors even went so far as to denounce those who made them. A few bold spirits have preferred professional martyrdom to old-fogy despotism. To such the public is indebted for what advancement has been made in the healing art in this country. Here a physician is not considered orthodox who does not keep a straight coat-tail behind him. Happily our trans- atlantic neighbors have been more tolerant and given to investiga- tion, and methods that have been adopted abroad are received as proper and regular here. So it happened that the electrical dis- coveries of Galvani, Faraday, Cross, and others were made useful therapeutically in the universities and hospitals of England, France, and Germany, long before they were considered regular enough to be adopted here. Too much praise cannot be given to Golding Bird, THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 295 Jonovan, Le Roy d'Eliolle, Palaprat, Smee, Matteucci, and others of the old world, and to the derided "irregulars" of the new, for the new system they originated, which has come to be known as "Electrical Therapeutics," and to have its classes, clinics and pro- fessorships in all the live medical schools of this country. Not only are the irregulars who forced this method of treatment into notice, and proved its utility, deserving of thanks and due recognition, but also the mechanics, electrical machinists, and certain business houses which have, as it were, thrust their wares upon the members of the medical profession, and made them familiar with the useful appliances ready for their use. Now nearly every physician in large practice, all hospitals and public institutions for the care of the sick, and particularly specialists in the treatment of chronic diseases, have the apparatus necessary for electrical "treatments" or opera- tions, for in many lines of surgery, too, it has been found very use- ful. It offers the best, handiest, and most speedy means for removal of many abnormal growths, and enables the operator to get at many that would be out of reach of ordinary surgical operations. It enables the examiner to light up interior parts for inspection, where no other light could be safely put, and has indeed shed new light on many an obscure case of disease. Its employment for the eradi- cation of so insignificant a blemish as superfluous hair is a utility which renders it of very great interest to some people. In the early part of my practice it was one of my most common resources in the management of diseases peculiar to men and women, and it is per- haps a noteworthy fact that this domain of electrical treatment is now one of the favorites of those who make any considerable use of electricity at all. Especially in the treatment of diseases and tumors of the womb has it become a useful auxiliary. Yet, a good, properly constructed electro-magnetic machine, and every necessary appliance, will not produce marvellous results, ex- cept in the hands of a good operator. Some physicians of high repu- tation cannot distinguish between the positive and negative poles of a machine, and much less explain the difference in the nature of the various currents and the proper one to be applied in a case. They apply it hap-hazard, and, as a consequence, will sometimes be thrown into ecstacies over its beneficial effects, and at others startled with its inefficiency. Such persons regard electricity as an uncertain thera- peutic agent, and only employ it after every other expedient has been 196 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. resorted to in vain. To be a hard student as well as a practitioner; to investigate the causes of various phenomena; to labor to know precisely why a certain operation is to be performed in a particular way, and why it must be varied to suit the various "ills" and idiosyncrasies of different patients, is to be a hard worker, and, un- fortunately for a wrorld of invalids, too many who enter the medical profession, do so to escape labor and to secure for themselves social )position and influence. After learning how to use electricity, the giving of an application is not as pleasant as sitting down with gold pencil over a sheet of gilt-edged paper and writing a prescription. In the latter instance, the pharmaceutist has the work to do, and he does not have to exercise his perception and muscle like an electro- pathic manipulator. The lazy, straight-jacketed, old-fogy disciples of iEsculapius received some pretty hard raps recently, in cue of our largest metropolitan journals. In commenting on a controversy which sprang up between old-fogydom and medical progress, the editor said :— " We do not, however, hear of any one on the side of Jie public, who, it strikes us, are the real sufferers in the matter. Tl e journals have aired the theories of the Sangrados in articles of du > ./eight and properly mysterious technicality. We speak a fe,\v plfic words for the patients of the contending schools—for it is a w;ti of schools, and nothing more. It is the bitter quarrel between 1 he old-school fashionable practitioner, who adheres to the traditions of the last cen- tury, and the man of science who brings to his aid tie newest dis- coveries. It is tho theory of your fashionable physician to keep his delicate patients in such a condition that the yearly bill will be ple- thoric. He attempts no new-fangled experiments; he does not rudely tell inadame that nothing really ails her, exccp' laziness, but gives her a good deal of the latest gossip and a little hirmless medi- cament. He is a nice doctor—affable to the ladies, an< not unpopu- lar with the men, and so kind to the children. He lives in a good quarter of the city, has a fine equipage, and altogether makes a good thing of it. He is an amiable man, takes Jhing ">they are, and when his patients die he lets them down easily. His funeral manner is superb, and nothing can be finer than the way in wliich he carries his work home. But sometimes the even tenor of the good man's life is disturbed by a horrid fiend in the shape of a new-light doctor —a fellow that has kept his eyes open ; one who walks the hospitals, THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 297 is constant at cliniques, a hard reader, and thoroughly informed upon all the latest experiments, operations, and discoveries of European savans. The fashionable doctor is afraid of the new light. He com- mences by calling him young—which is a terrible blow, but one which is easily got over. Then he is a specialist. The old ladies- like the apple-woman who was called a paral.ellogram—don't exactly know what a specialist is, but conclude it must be something awful. * * * * * ****** " Woe to the new light if he loses one of his patients. No Ian- guage is strong enough to express the rage of the family doctor when he loses the chance of finishing up every member of it. * * * Tho scalpel kills more than the sword ; the Latin prescription is often the death-warrant without the chance of a reprieve. * * * " The medical faculty seem for the most part to be groping and guessing in the dark; a fact which, considering the difficult nature of their duties, would not reflect so much discredit upon them but for the obstinacy with which they persevere in shutting out such lights as are to be gleaned from the scientific labors of those who refuse to be guided by the formula of the old-school practition- ers." It is not often that a secular journal gives so much truth in so few words, and it seems specially hazardous for a newspaper to thus pitch into the allopathic doctors. Verily new-school must be be- coming popular. New-school doctors have generally imagined them- selves rowing against the popular tide; but when an influential journal publishes such sentiments as I have quoted, it looks as if we had outridden the storm, while allopaths are in danger of being "swamped." Albeit, physicians should not be censured because they do not all become electrical operators. I have shown the necessity for having a perfect instrument for generating therapeutic electricity, and the great importance of knowing just how, when, and where to employ the proper currents; also the necessity of having ingenious appli- ances. But still one more qualification is essential to make a man an eminently successful operator. It is not something he can acquire by lifelong study ; it is not a secret which a mechanical electrician can impart, with all his ingenuity; it is not a "kink" he can " get the hang of" by experience in applying the subtle agent. It is a God-given gift. It is the possession at all times of a good supply of 13* 298 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. animal magnetism. To be a first-rate operator, a physician must be a battery in himself. In the treatment of many diseases, the current sent out of an instrument must be modified by individual electricity, or, as it is more commonly termed, " animal magnetism." There is great difference in individuals in the possession of this. While soma are very positively magnetized, others are, naturally, extremely neg- ative, and cannot impart to another the first particle of this invigor- ating influence. The annexed cut, figure 80, will serve to illustrate this proposition. We will suppose the dots to represent the animal magnetic currents. The hand held above the head illustrates the magnetic power of a person who is highly electrical; the one above the right shoulder, that of a person considerably so; while the one over tho left shoul- der fairly illustrates one nearly destitute of animal magnetism, or individual electricity. Not that any one is entirely destitute, but many do not possess a sufficient supply to exert any perceptible influence over any one. To be a successful eleotropath, one must possess the highest amount of positive indi- vidual electricity, as represented by the hand above the head in the picture. Now, while I am well aware of the fallibility of this mode of treating disease, when adopted as a specialty by persons possessing the greatest amount of magnetism, and while I know that cures ap- parently effected by this power or agency alone, are seldom permanent ones, but reliefs of temporary duration, the truth cannot be gainsayed that the possession of this magnetic power is of vital importance to one who desires to be a successful electrical operator. I have found, in giving instructions in therapeutic electricity to physicians, that they differed greatly in the MAGNETIC HANDS. THERAPEUTIC ELECTRICITY. 299 power of employing it efficiently, even when they seemed to be equally proficient in the theory and practice. In other words, while they perfectly understood the modus operandi of making the manip- ulations, and the currents to be employed, the results of their experiments were widely different. This want of uniformity in their success I have attributed to the difference in the magnetic powers of different individuals, and how wisely, I leave it for the reader to de- cide, after having perused what I have herein written, and what will be further found in Part Third of this book. In all disorders involving the nervous system, electricity, applied properly by a good operator, is an excellent substitute for popular anodynes. It has been the general custom of the medical profession to resort to stupefying narcotics to allay nervous irritability, which unquestionably produce temporary relief, but, as certainly, ultimate injury. I may truly say, that I have always found electricity to be eminently a nerve medicine, yielding timely relief, and no unwelcome reactive results. For my patients residing at a distance, and who cannot avail them- selves of treatment at my office, I prepare what I term electrical medication. I do not mean to shock the good sense of my readers by saying that an electrical property can be imparted to medicines, of such a nature that a metallic wire can conduct it off as from a galvanic battery or a Leyden-jar; but I do affirm, that I can prepare medicines in such a way that they will possess latent electrical prop- erties which are at once rendered active by coining in contact with the gastric fluids of the stomach. I can, by my process, make medi- cines which will produce nervous force, and regulate its action. Such medicines are eminently recuperative, when prepared with reference to the requirements of each case, and while they are active enough for the successful treatment of all curable chronic diseases, and of hundreds supposed to be incurable, they possess no property which unduly excites or debilitates the patient. Electrical medication as- similates most charmingly with the nervous fluids; regulates their circulation; assuages pain; and invigorates the whole nervous sys- tem from the brain and spine, through all the nervous ramifications; while at the same time the individual properties of the ingredients are retained, and work thoroughly but mildly in the blood, casting out all impurities, and regulating the action of the various vital or- gans, In many cases, electrical medication is far more beneficial 300 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. than applications of electricity, and in all oases it is more efficacious than the manipulations of ordinary operators. With this nutritious, blood-toning, nerve-regulating, and vitalizing system of medication, I have annually treated, successfully, hundreds of patients laboring under difficult chronic diseases, whose faces I have never seen. My files contain letters from every State and Territory in the United States, and also from nearly every province of British and Spanish Amer- ica; and I will further say that if I could, without violating confi- dence, publish their contents, my readers would almost conclude that the days of miracles are not past. Occasionally, a case presents it- self, which absolutely requires the application of the element gener- ated by mechanical and chemical apparatus. Such invalids, to obtain the required benefit, must present themselves in person, for the ne- cessary electrical manipulations. After what I have said, it is hardly necessary to warn the reader against the impositions of inexperi- enced and unskillful electricians. Animal Magnetisnii "Animal magnetism is a humbug!" No, reader, you believe in it. Your reason, perhaps, is not convinced, and you may think you do not. Then, why should I know better than you do what you have faith in ? Let me tell you. The other day you came in col- lision with a chair and bruised your shin. Instinctively you bent over and rubbed the contused limb with your hand. The baby fell from your lap upon the floor; you picked it up hastily and rubbed its little head till it stopped crying. One night you were attacked with cramps in the stomach, and the hand flew there immediately; you pressed and manipulated the region where the suffering was felt until you were relieved. But a few days ago your wife had the headache, and as she reclined on the sofa, you sat beside her and passed your hand gently over her feverish temples. Now all these instinctive, and I may almost say involuntary applications of the hand, in cases of physical distress, show that with all your professed scepticism, you, practically, believe in the efficacy of animal mag- netism, and it is your experience and mine, and my observation as a medical man, that leads me to place animal magnetism promi- nently among what are denominated in this chapter Common Sense Remedies, ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 301 Thus I introduced this curative and mysterious agent in this work in 1869. Few in this country had any knowledge of, or faith in, Animal Magnetism at that time. Drs. Dodd, Sutherland, Benton and others had lectured upon the subject and, by experiments, exhibited some of the wonderful effects of this peculiar force. The gentleman last named was especially successful in showing what could be done by the power now called "hypnotism." Most of my readers are doubtless somewhat familiar with the strange perform- ances of susceptible subjects while under the influence and control ' of a good mesmerizer. Well, all these things were done repeatedly by Benton in various parts of this country between the years 1840 and 1860. The medical profession, however, were sceptical, and lay- men shook their heads with incredulity. They were sure there was some deception practised, notwithstanding the fact that those who were put in the mesmeric sleep allowed pins to penetrate their flesh, burning hot irons to be applied to their arms, and teeth to be drawn, without flinching. Under the will of the operator timid young men could be "made to personate orators and deliver long speeches before large audiences. Invalids were relieved of various ills by the laying on of hands, etc. Knowing ones exclaimed '' Humbug!" —and those who took all ideas second-hand echoed the verdict of their superiors. Now all is changed. Learned professors come before the public with lectures and experiments. "Hypnotism" is popular I They are not disposed to award due honor to Mesmer by calling it Mes- merism. Everything is "Hypnotism." Let us briefly review its history. Dr. Frederick Anthony Mesmer was the first in what is called the Christian world to recognize the wonderful powers of animal mag- netism, and employ this agent in the cure of disease. He promul- gated his theory in 1778, and was denounced by the medical faculty, as a matter of course. Two commissions were appointed to investi- gate what was called mesmerism. In one of these commissions our own honored Dr. Benjamin Franklin took part; he who, with the kite and key, coaxed lightning to come out of the clouds and prove to us that it was not a stranger, but the same kind of wonder elec- tricity is. And these two commissions, one having the wisdom of Franklin to guide it, dismissed the doctrine of Mesmer as a delusion! Still the people flocked to Mesmer, and, although he was derided by J the medical profession, condemned by scientists, and watched with 302 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. suspicion by all inteUigent communities, his success in healing the sick brought him support, so that poverty was not added to perse- cution to embitter his useful life. The great naturalist, Joseph Francis Deleuze, the friend of Cuvier and Von Humboldt, visited Paris to gather material to expose the humbug I He returned to proclaim the wonders of mesmerism and to practise it himself. He wrote and published a volume giving accounts of cures as remark- able as those to-day ascribed to Mental Scientists, Christian Scien- tists, Faith Healers, and others of the occult school. The Marquis de Puysegur became a pupil of Mesmer, and discovered in his ex- periments that some people could be put in an unconscious sleep by the power of animal magnetism, and this condition was called mes- meric sleep. Dr. Braid, of Manchester, following in the wake of the originals, found he could produce the same phenomena, and he was first to call the mesmeric sleep "hypnotism." Had not ethereal anaesthesia been discovered by Morton and others it is probable that mesmerism or hypnotism would have been more speedily brought to the attention of the public as an anaesthetic in dentistry and sur- gery. It had been tried with more or less success when Dr. Morton introduced his important discovery. For many years mesmerism was in a profound mesmeric sleep, when it suddenly awoke between 1870 and 1880 with such men as Charcot, Hansen, Weinhold, and others in the Old World, and Drs. R. A. Gunn, Wm. A. Hammond, and others in the New World, surprising large audiences with ex- amples in mesmerism such as Dr. Benton and other pioneers in this field had exhibited long years before, when the '' regular " profes- sion would have nothing to do with them. The doctors disagree as to the nature of the phenomena. Dr. Braid did not believe that any magnetic fluid emanated from the operator. The hypnotic state, as he called it, was induced by certain physiological modifications in the nervous system induced by "suggestion." He has his disciples, but the intelligent masses are quite ready to believe that everybody has a magnetic atmosphere of his own, and that everyone possesses magnetic forces which can be made to influence, and in some cases control susceptible persons. I have met with no more rational theory to account for mesmeric phenomena than the one given on page 189 of my work entitled " Medical Common Sense," published in 1858, and reproduced on page 624 of this volume. Indeed, this theory has been adopted by many writers upon the subject. Wha> ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 303 ever differences exist in the minds of medical men as to just what causes mesmeric phenomena, all now recognize and believe in them, and the employment of mesmerism or hypnotism is recommended in many cases of nervous diseases. In the summer of 1889 a con- vention of scientists in Paris had hypnotism under consideration, and it was resolved that the study and application of this agent should be introduced into the teachings of Medical Science. And thus have the claims of Mesmer and his followers been vindicated. My theory of mesmeric power is quite essential to support many of my views as given in this work, and hence I was pleased to find, many years ago, that the experi- ments of Mr. Wil- liam Crooks as re- ported in a work entitled "Spirit- ualism Answered by Science,"by Ed- ward W. Cox, served to confirm it. Mr. Cox was a member of the London Dialectic- al Society's In- vestigating Com- mittee, and was present at the ex- periments of Mr. Crooks. The object of his pamphlet was to show that the so-called spirit- ual manifestations Japanese manipulators. were produced by something he called psychic force. He says, "this force is generated in certain persons of peculiar nervous organization in sufficient power to operate beyond bodily contact," and, he continues, " there can be little doubt that the force is pos- sessed by every human being—that it is a necessary condition of the living nerve if, indeed, it be not the vital force itself," and that i< 304 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. Is possessed by psychics in extraordinary degree. Mr. Crooks, he adds, "has recently constructed an instrument of extreme delicacy, which seems to indicate the existence of the psychic force more or less in every person with whom he has made trial of it. The exist- ' ence of such a force is asserted by Dr. Richardson, in a recent article in the Popular Science Review, in which he contends that there is a nerve-fluid (or ether), with which the nerves are enveloped, and by whose help it is that the motion of their molecules communi- cates sensations and transmits the commands of the will. This nerve-ether is, he thinks, no other than the vital force. It extends with all of us some- &g- 62. What beyond the Now the psychic force referred to by Mr. Cox, and the nerve-ether so-called by Dr. Richardson, are manifestly only other names for what Mesmer and his followers called mesmeric force, all of which so-called forces are one and the same as animal magnetism. The same writer speaks of "nerve-ether or ner\e-atmosphere,n which emanates from eveiy animal body. It may as well be called mag- netic atmosphere. So long as we recognize its existence it matters little what name we give to it. When we acknowledge its presence ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 305 and Its power it is not difficult to account for all the seeming mira- cles performed in the name of Christian Science, Mental Science, Faith Cure, Prayer Cure, and the Bones of St. Anne I How are these alleged cures effected? First stop and think how vitiated and noisome the ah- becomes by confinement; how impure and full of miasma water is found to be when stagnant. Then think for a moment what may be the pathological condition when nervous force is moving sluggishly and languidly through the human organ- ism. What but disease can result when the nervous forces become thus inactive, and in some cases insufficient in intensity to perform their functions in the system? In this condition whatever can impart more force and set in action the sluggish nervous circulation; what- ever may be brought to bear in the way of superstitious faith or great expectation to produce profound emotion in the sufferer, may quicken nervous circulation, and thus, for the time being at least, change conditions which predispose to disease. In nearly all these cases, however, animal magnetism plays an important part. Those wdio resort to Christian Science methods are what Cox would call Psychics, or what I would call good magnetists. The same may be said of those who practise the Mind Cure, Faith Cure, etc. It is even reported that on days when the devout Catholics visit the bone of St. Anne, priests are in charge of the sacred relic, and there is a relay of priests, so to speak, some retiring when fatigued, and others, fresh and full of animal spirits, coming in to conduct the services while the faithful sufferers are crowding to the front. The book already referred to, written by Deleuze, tells us that "the magnetizer causes a headache or side-ache to cease simply because he wills it;" then he says, "There are men endowed with such mag- netic power they can act upon patients who are very susceptible, and in perfect communication with them, while directing the action upon this or that part by the thought and by the look." Many stories are told of Colonel Ingersollwhich are not true. I will relate one for which I am unwilling to vouch, but which will illustrate a point I desire to make:—A minister asked the Colonel what he would have different from what the Almighty had instituted. "I would," replied the Colonel, "have had health catching instead of disease." Well, the real fact is, health is catching, and an invalid cannot associate with persons full of health and vitality without receiving benefit. If persons with whom they come in contact are 306 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. very magnetic, the benefit is well marked. Let me here relate a little incident in my own experience confirmatory of this statement: While in Troy, N. Y., on a professional visit many years ago, a gentleman hobbled up-stairs to my rooms to consult me regarding rheumatism in one of his knee-joints, which had been very painful, and which had made his limb stiff for over a year. It appeared very difficult for him to walk, and the invalid exhibited in his counte- nance that contortion of features so peculiar to one suffering pain, that no one in health could possibly imitate. Then, too, the knee was red and swollen. I gave it a very careful examination, follow- ing up each muscle that could be reached, with my fingers, for several inches, to see if I could discover any adhesion or rigidity. I then examined his blood, stated my opinion, and my terms for treatment. He expressed himself favorably impressed with the interview, and promised to call in the afternoon and decide whether or not he would place himself under my care. He had hardly been out of my rooms ten minutes, when he returned with a look of inde- scribable surprise, and exclaimed—"What have you done to my knee, Doctor?" "Why do you ask?" I interrogated. His reply considerably astonished me, for he said he had both descended and ascended the stairs without pain, and at the same time gesticulated with the limb, moving it backward and forward to show its mobility. I of course saw at once what my magnetism had done for it while manipulating his muscles, and explained the philosophy of the phenomenon. I say I was astonished because I did not exercise my will-power, as I am in the habit of doing in imparting animal magnetism. It was an act of unintentional magnetic piracy on his part, and he bore off his booty in triumph. I could not have been more successful if I had seated myself deliberately and magnetized his painful joint. I could fill several pages with similar incidents—I will, however, occupy space with but one other. A young woman called upon me in consultation, and I made a note of her most prominent symptoms, but gave no treatment. One of these symptoms was a life-long headache. Six weeks after this call she visited my office again for treatment, and as she said nothing of headache I expressed my sur- prise, when she replied, " Why, Doctor, I have not had a particle of headache since I called on you before." Having been a reader of my publications she seemed to understand how it had been relieved. ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 397 In all such cures, if cures indeed they can be called, I am inclined to question their permanency unless the magnetic treatment is sup- plemented with good vegetable alteratives to remove the deep-seated predisposing cause or causes. Magnetism should not be relied upon to the exclusion of other remedies. Those who do ride the "one hobby "have a great many hard things said of them, which they partly deserve. They also bring to contempt an agency for the amelioration of human suffering wliich is worthy the attention of all intelligent physicians, and.of their patients whose maladies might be benefited by its employment. While there are some invalids so peculiarly affected that they cannot be restored without magnetic treatment, the majority of these very cases cannot be radically cured by this agency, unaided by suitable medicine. The benefits derived from Massage are largely due to the magnet- ism of the operator, and the more magnetic the operator, if his magnetism is agreeable to the patient, the greater will be the relief obtained. The massage, as defined in the dictionary, is "a system of remedial treatment consisting of manipulating a part or the whole of the body by percussion." A " Masseur " is a male massag- ist. A "Masseuse " is a female massagist. As most of my readers are aware, massage is widely practised, especially in large cities, where specialists are well supported. The kneading, the slapping, and the rubbing, as performed by the experienced operator, greatly benefits enfeebled muscles, vitalizes weak nerves, and promotes cir- culation. Such manipulations would doubtless impart some benefit without the magnetism of the operator, but with it they are far more efficacious if the magnetic quality of the operator is suited to the patient. It is doubtful if one could derive any help from a masseur or masseuse who is distasteful, or whose touch is not agree- able. Nor is a masseur as efficacious with one of his own sex as with a person of the opposite sex, or vice versa, for reasons that will appear obvious to one who reads what I have said under the head of Sexual Starvation. " In civilized communities," according to Dr. Balls-Headley, in so conservative a medical paper as the Medical Record, "more than half the women under thirty years of age are unmarried; in other words, the sexual instinct, during the first half of its existence, is in most women ungratified. Hence spring," in Dr. Balls-Headley's opinion, "many sexual disorders." Now it is not indispensable that sexual intercourse should take place to supply 308 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. a much-needed want to women thus affected. They need not only animal magnetism, but masculine magnetism, and this they could obtain under the professional and entirely proper treatment of a masseur. With the greater freedom enjoyed by men there are com- paratively few young men who greatly suffer from a want of female magnetism, and yet there are cases to be found among men that might be materially benefited by the manipulations of a masseuse of the right adaptability. In Japan the natives have successfully practised the massage from away back, and their manipulators are usually blind men who go about with a long wand in their hand and a reed whistle in their mouth, as represented in Fig. 81. The whistles are used to acquaint the residents along the thoroughfares through which they are pass- ing of their presence, as the horn or the bell of the huckster is em- ployed in our streets to attract customers. In Fig. 82 is a picture of a Japanese masseur applying his cure to a female patient. In the picture the latter is represented with drapery, but I am assured by E. A. Wilson, for a long time attached to the Naval Service off the coast of Japan, that in the actual operation female patients as well as male are entirely nude, for in that part of the world neither men nor women make any effort at concealment when taking their daily baths. It is therefore manifest that blind operators are not chosen for the purpose of avoiding the exposure of the person of the patient; just why, Mr. Wilson could not inform me. In this coun- try, where even the nude in art is considered objectionable by our most conventional people, blind masseurs and masseuses would be considered especially qualified for the practice of this art. But even with two good eyes in the head of the operator the practice of the massage is steadily growing. People are often relieved of pain by animal magnetism without knowing the active agent employed. There are many embrocations extensively advertised, and sold, which possess absolutely no merit in themselves, while the real benefit attending their use arises from the direction—" Rub in briskly with a warm hand for several min- utes 1" External remedies possessing valuable properties are always' rendered more efficacious by the observance of such directions. In the religious world we find people employing animal magnetism combined with religious faith in the curing of disease, notwith- standing the fact that Mesmer was denounced by the clergy, and WATER. 309 hi3 discovery pronounced an attempt to use demoniac influence in relief of the sick. Not only does the devout Catholic resort to the influence of magnetism in an indirect way, but the church of the Latter Day Saints depends almost wholly upon it when overtaken by disease. While anointing the sufferer with oil (sweet oil) they practise the laying on of hands, first rendering the patient passive and receptive by prayer. A correspondent in Utah, a reader of the earlier editions of this work, wrote the author that he had been exceedingly interested in my views on electricity and animal mag- netism after observing what the elders of the church could do with their sick disciples by the laying on of hands and the use of "sanc- tified oil." He said the results looked like miraculous phenomena, but after what he had read in this work he was satisfied they were due simply to animal magnetism. While spending a little time in Salt Lake City, I found that the Mormons had quite an aversion to medicine, but they seemed willing to take mine, for when their own resources failed they had more confidence in botanical remedies than in any other. Dr. Cox's work attributes the success of "spiritual mediums" to what he calls psychic force, which, as I have already claimed, is only another name for animal magnetism. But even if the medium is made the instrument of some unseen power, as claimed by the faithful believer, in the light of what has already been presented, it is fair to suppose it is the magnetism of the disembodied spirit, if not of the medium, that gives relief to the patient. Dr. Jas. R. Cocke, in his work on Hypnotism, says he believes it " has played a great part in the political and religious histories of the world, and is as important as a sociological factor as a healing agent." Water. In all ages of the world, and in all nations, civilized and barbarous. water has ever been held in high estimation as a remedial agent. Hippocrates, Pindar, Thales, Virgil, Pliny, Galen, Charlemagne, Hahnemann, Priessnitz, Wesley, and all distinguished philosophers, physicians, and theologians, ancient and modern, have extolled its virtues. It was Priessnitz who made it a "one-cure-all." He was the first to open a " Water-Cure." Priessnitz was great, but Priessnitz was an enthusiast. Still his enthusiasm was the result of extraordi- nary success, compared with the medical exploits of the allopathio 310 COMMON SENSE REMEDIES. profession with which his rural abode was surrounded. His hydrop- athy cured thousands—hundreds managed to survive the barbarities of allopathy. He killed a few—allopathy slaughtered daily more than Priessnitz healed. The zeal of a military chieftain heightens with the number he slays; that of a medical practitioner with the number he keeps alive. Is it strange that Priessnitz was an enthu- siast ? Yet the establishment of the school called hydropathy was an error. Water is not an infallible remedy, and less so in the hands Fig. 83. of the disciples of Priessnitz than in those of the great founder himself. The latter was naturally gifted with peculiar skill in the application of water, which characteristic exhibit- ed itself in the juvenility of the son of the Graefenberg farmer. But a medical education would have ma- terially modified his "one-ideaism." Priessnitz did not possess that. Had he explored the green fields and forests of nature, as well as laved in her limpid waters, he would have been less exclusive in his choice of remedies, and his practice, and that of his imitators, would have been more uniformly successful. Many hydropathic physicians are begin- ning to see what their prototype, in his blind enthusiasm, failed to perceive, and already mild medication and therapeutic electricity are being introduced in water-cure establishments to some ex- tent. While I do not deny the contracting and relaxing influences of water, according to its temperature, and the beneficial effects of each of these in appropriate cases, I maintain that the real philosophy of " water-cure " is based on electrical principles. Water possesses a great amount of electricity. If the blood of an individual contains its natural supply of iron, it attracts the electricity from the water, thereby rendering the body of the invalid in an electrically positive con- PBIESSNITZ'S MKDIOINB. WATER. 3H dition compared with the atmosphere. As soon, then, as the application has been made, an active radiation of electricity from the system takes place, which accelerates the escape of effete matter, and renders the pores, skin, and other organs more active. It is therefore diametri- cally wrong to resort to water in the treatment of invalids with thin blood. Did hydropathists, generally, understand this philosophy, " water-cure " would not prove so often water-kill. My theory is indirectly supported by that of Priessnitz. According to Claridge, he held: — 1st. "That by the hydropathic treatment, the bad juices are "brought to, and discharged by, the skin." 2d. "That a new circulation is given to the diseased or inactive organs, and better juices infused into them." 3d. " That all the functions of the body are brought into a nor- mal state, not by operating upon any particular function, but upon the whole." Now when we consider that whatever moves has a motive power, and that "better juices " cannot enter, or "bad juices" depart from the system, without some active agent to move them, my theory is not only rendered plausible, but probable. Thus, when the electri- city of the water enters the body, water must necessarily go wTith it, because its relations are such with that element that it forms a part of it; and in this way better juices are infused. When the applica- tion of water ceases, the body being electrified by that fluid and rendered strongly positive, compared with the surrounding atmos- phere, active electrical radiation ensues, carrying with it the " bad juices " which nature, in its instinctive wisdom, is ever ready to dis- pose of when opportunity is presented. The great amount of electricity possessed by water has been demonstrated by Prof. Faraday, and is now generally admitted by chemists. His experiments show that the quantity of electricity set free by the decomposition of ten drops of water is actually greater than exists in the most vivid flash of lightning. In bloodless patients, tepid and hot baths are injurious, because the blood does not possess the attractive property or iron to draw in the electricity of the water, while its temperature relaxes the tissues and leaves the system open to the ingress and progress of disease. It is safe to say that a majority of invalids suffering with debility, nervousness, consumption, and predisposition to apoplexy, should 312 COMMON SEXSE REMEDIES. not receive full hydropathic treatment. In many cases of these descriptions it should not be administered at all, and in most only sparingly and with great discrimination. Satisfied of the virtues of water as an auxiliary agent, I have resorted to it extensively in my practice, and by exercising the most careful discrimination, with uniform success. Simple and abundant as this remedy is, it is something which cannot be trifled with. Many a good man and woman have unwittingly committed suicide with water. Hydropathy is not as popular to-day as it was forty years ago, on this account. It is a great pity that mankind is dis- posed to abuse and misuse almost every good thing. " The universal application of water," says Prof. Cook, " may be safely called in question. The assertion that it is equally efficacious in any and every form of disease is so at variance with past experi- ence in single remedies, that it has induced the greater portion of practitioners to discard it at once. The success of hydropaths is undoubtedly great; but it is well known that a prominent feature in their institutions is a rigid adherence to hygiene. Wholesome diet, fresh air, exercise, mental relaxation, etc., which, of themselves, have a very great effect in restoring the patient, are more strictly enjoined by them than by any other school; and as most practition- ers are too inattentive to these matters, the hydropaths have the advantage on this point. Besides, without any disparagement to water-cures, it must be remembered that those cases in which water fails are not reported, any more than the failures of other schools. Many cases have occurred' under my own observation for which hydropathy, as applied in one of the best establishments In this State, had failed, but which subsequently yielded, and were cured by botanical remedies. This goes strongly to convince me that it is not universally applicable." " In union there is strength," is a political proverb of universal application. The Botanies, Hydropaths, Electropaths, and Magno- paths should coalesce, under the name of the Utilitarian practice. Such a coalition could not fail to defeat disease in every aspect which it presents itself. By a discriminate application of one or all, according to the indications of a case, many valuable lives might be daily saved which are now lost in consequence of bigoted medical " one-ideaism." I have assiduously pursued all these systems in my practice) and would rather abandon my profession than to discon- MEDICATED INHALATION. 313 tinue any one of them, although I must candidly confess that 1 would rather give up hydropathy than vegetable medication and therapeutic electricity, were I obliged to remove one plank from my medical platform. If forced to drop one, the choice would rest between water and electricity, and I am thoroughly convinced that the latter can be made far more conducive to tho requirements of the invalid than the former. My attention is wholly devoted to the treatment of chronic diseases, and in such my experience demon- strates that electricity can be made more available. In the treat- ment of acute disease, particularly fevers, water may be, and) without doubt is, preferable. Medicated Inhalation. Having found this system of treating pulmonary diseases a valua- ble assistant in my practice, I should not close this chapter on reme- dies without, at least, an allusion to it. I have heard much said of curing lung and bronchial diseases by medicated inhalation. Allow me to make the bold assertion that a disease of the pulmonary organs was never radically cured by medicated inhalation alone. In support of this view, I have only to invite the attention of the reader to a consideration of the causes which lead to pulmonary and bronchial complaints. It is well known that an abscess under the arm, tubercles on the skin, and ulcers on the limbs, denote an im- pure condition of the blood, from which they all arise. Is it not then, self-evident that any of these difficulties located in the delicate membranes of the respiratory organs give evidence of and spring from the same cause ? Is there an ^Esculapian wiseacre who can command enough sophism to seemingly disprove this? The blood is not impartial in the distribution of its impurities, but invariably sends them to that part of the system which has tiie least power to resist them. Hence, persons having a scrofulous or canker humor in the blood, and at the same time a predisposition to weak lungs, the worst form of ulcerous or tuberculous consumption is in time developed. The question then arises, will medicated inhalation cleanse the blood of its impurities? If not, how can a radical cure be effected ? There arc other forms of consumption, such as those induced by ,:menorrhcea, thin blood, solidification of the lungs, etc. The first, 14 814 COMMON SENTSE REMEDIES. cf course, is peculiar only to females. Will inhalation remove the cause from wliich springs the effect? Tho second arises from general debility, and a diseased action of the liver and kidneys. Will inha- /ation arouse the lethargic functions of the system, and restore to tha blood its strength and nutrition ? The third either grows out of one of the different forms of consumption first considered, or else from a weakness of the nerve or electric force, which expands and contracts the air vesicles and moves the diaphragm. The medicated vapors inhaled must therefore possess miraculous powers in the restoration of the tone of the vascular and nervous system, or a cure cannot be effected. Consumptive invalids, who resort to inhalation alone for relief, as well as physicians who practice on that system, lose sight of one important fact—i. e., consumption of the lungs and bronchitis are only the effects of other derangements of the system. It is unnecessary to occupy space with an argument to show how certainly a convalescent consumptive must relapse when effects are treated and causes left undisturbed. If this essay should happen to meet the eye of any one who thinks he has been cured of consump- tion or bronchitis by inhalation, let mo assure him that either his physician was mistaken in the diagnosis of his disease, or his old complaint still lurks in his system, ready at any favorable time, when exposure occurs, to return with redoubled virulence. I prescribe inhaling remedies in pulmonary and bronchial difficul- ties, for the same reason I do washes and ointments in tho manage- ment of cutaneous diseases. Local applications are often necessary, while the slow but sure work of purification is going on internally; but to rely on them exclusively, is presumptuous, to soy the least. 1 often find it necessary to summon electropathy or magnopathy to my aid in battling the hydra-headed disease—consumption. I always prescribe invigorating and purifying blood medicines in addi- tion to medicated inhalation, and should as soon think of dipping out the Croton river without cutting off its tributaries, as to attempt to cure consumption without them. Conclusion. The successful physician does not ride " one hobby." One-ideaism in medical practice is perfectly incompatible with uniform success. CONCLUSION. 315 Then, too, different constitutions require different remedies. A "one cure-all" is an impossibility. One hat will not fit everybody's head—one coat everybody's back, nor one circumscribed medical system everybody's disease. The medical profession generally must mount a more comprehensive platform. Outward appearance and Internal structure of the lung. 2, 8, outer sur- face; 4, great bronchial tube; 5, artery; 6, vein; 7,nerve; 8,lobules; 9, magnified lobules; 10, air sacs in a lobule. A dia- gramatic picture, of course. CHAPTER V. DOCTORS. EFORE passing a criticism upon the profession myself, allow me to give a few specimens of the hard raps they receive from various sources. Some graceless wag has said that "Physicians are the nut-crackers used by angels to get our souls out of the shells that surround them!" When Voltaire was informed that a friend was preparing for the practice of medicine, he exclaimed: "Why will he be so mean? He will have to thrust drugs of which he knows little, into a body of which he knows less!" A story is told of a doctor and a military officor who became enamored of the same lady. Some- body inquired of her which of the two suitors she intended to favor. Her reply was, that "It was difficult for her to determine, as they were both such killing creatures." The Portland Transcript relates that at a "Medical Convention holden at Lewiston, the clergy and members of the bar were invited to a repast given at a hotel by the followers of Galen; and after the cloth was removed, during the interchange of sentiments, the Rev. Mr. B., while alluding to tho intimate relations between the clergy and the physician, in all seri- ousness remarked, that it was a somewhat singular fact that ' When the doctor was called, the minister was sure to follow.'' The doctors gave him three cheers." A newspaper at Lynn, noticing this scrap, remarked that it was reminded of a hard hit at the doctors, which may be found in the Bible, in the lGth chapter of the second book of Chronicles: "And Asa in the thirty-ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceedingly great; yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign." Still another editor thought he discovered a harder rap on the medical fraternity, in Mark's Gospel, 5th chapter and 26th verse, DOCTORS. 317 relating to a "certain woman who had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse." Where the editors stopped in this tirade it is difficult to say; but one of our city physicians received a " stunning " surprise from a red- man, when on a summer vacation in Michigan, a few years ago. Dr. G. was being rowed across the St. Clair River by two Indians, who had a stupid half-drunken companion stowed away in the bow, whom they familiarly called "Doctor." Dr. G.'s curiosity was aroused, and he inquired why they called that man Doctor. The red-men rowed away lustily without replying, knowing that their guest and patron was a physician. Again he asked, and received no response. The Indians evidently did not like to tell. As they neared the shore, Dr. G. could endure the suspense no longer, and approaching within whispering distance, again repeated the ques- tion—" Why do you call that fellow Doctor ?" " Cause," said the red- face, very vehemently, "he d—n fool!" Dr. G. gracefully subsided! While all the foregoing are jokes, the perpetration of them indi- cates an undercurrent of prejudice against the profession, which quite universally exists. Few entertain it toward any honorable member of the profession individually; but they regard doctors as :i class, as necessary evils, and by no means equal to what is required of them by suffering humanity. One reason for this is that so many men of mediocre ability enter the profession. The rich man who has a son mentally unqualified to be a lawyer, morally unfitted to be made a minister, and who has not the capacity to make a successful busi- ness man, is very likely to be sent to a medical school. He may there acquire, parrot-like, the names of the various organs of the body, and by tolerably hard study, a passable knowledge of the dis- pensatory; and, concealing his natural incapacity in a dust of tech- nicalities which he ostentatiously kicks up when he emerges from tha college, diploma in hand, he passes among quite intelligent people for an accomplished physician. 'Then there are many young men who work their way up through poverty, and desiring to enter some one of the professions, are quite apt to select that of medicine, without once asking themselves if they have any natural aptitude for the discharge of its duties. Thus the medical schools are annually grad- uating young doctors as numerously as the Yankee factories ar© turn- ing out all sorts of "actions." , 318 DOCTORS. Another reason for want of confidence in the profession at large is its want of originality in devising means to relieve suffering human- ity. There are not enough inventive and independent men among the doctors. Surgery makes some progress, but medicine very little, excepting among men who are willing to be reviled as " quacks," rather than follow the beaten paths of the " regulars." Young phy- sicians enter upon the practice of medicine with the idea that they have only to follow the rules given in their books, and the precepts of their alma mater, to raise the sick from beds of suffering, and make themselves famous for skill. The thinking ones discover their mistake in a few months or years, and make amends by embracing the remedies and systems of other schools. Some do this without attempt at concealment, and others vary the practice of their particu- lar school while claiming to remain true to its teaching. They have too much professional-caste-pride to admit that they at all deviate from the creed of their faculty. The non-thinking, booby-class, stick to the text blindly. They shut their eyes to every new medical invention; will not listen to any report of good coming from any other school; fully believe, every time they lose a patient, that it is in the dispen- sation of Divine Providence that people should die at the particular juncture that they yield up their last breath; they are entirely satis- fied that they have done the best that could be done, and they feel perfectly resigned to the will of the Supreme Being! Men of no medical attainments whatever often succeed, through good sense and ingenuity, in curing people who have been set aside to die by the doctors. It has almost become a proverb that a good nurse is better than a physician; and an invalid is more ready to take the advice and herb tea of some good old mother or "aunty," than the counsel and drugs of the polished physician. Indeed, the latter is often em- ployed for no other reason than to silence the clamor of friends, who would be shocked if the patient should die without the attendance of a popular doctor. The chaise at the door, and the gold-mounted cane in the hall, are evidences that nothing is left undone which may in any way contribute to tho restoration of tho one prostrated on a bed of sickness! Still another reason for tho lack of confidence of the people in physicians, and the partial failure of the latter in making themselves worthy of confidence, will be found in the next essay, DOCTORS "JACKS AT ALL TRADES." 319 Doctors "Jacks at all Trades." There can be no greater folly in a physician than to attempt, within the brief period of his mundane existence, to acquire skill in the treatment of all diseases to which mankind is subject. A large majority of the members of the medical profession are like the versa- tile mechanic, who is said to be a "jack at all trades and master of none." Any man who tasks his ingenuity by trying to unite in himself the house-carpenter, the joiner, the cabinet-maker, the carver, the pump-maker, the ship-carpenter, and chair-maker, may generally be set down as a man of extensive pretensions and meagre executive abilities. The professional man who assumes to combine in himself the politician, the pedagogue, the editor, the pettifogger, the domine, etc., may possibly exhibit some little tact in all, but he will as surely excel in none. So with the physician who would be a skillful surgeon, an accomplished accoucheur, and a successful doc- tor, in diseases both acute and chronic ; he divides his attention to such a degree as to render him unskillful in the performance of the duties of any one of them. There ought, at least, to be three distinct branches in the medical profession. The Surgeon : He must be a natural mechanic, and as well acquainted with the mechanism of the human system, as the watchmaker is with the fine works of a time-piece. His sympathies must be suflicently blunt to enable him to take the human system apart with a steady nerve. He must be as deaf to the cries of his patient as if he were moved by machinery like an automaton. The Physician in acute diseases: He must have a fair knowledge of anatomy, and be thoroughly accomplished in materia medica. He must be sympathetic ; a constant student, and thoroughly acquainted with all the symptoms presented in what are called acute diseases. He must have a taste for the duties of his vocation, and not pursue them simply with an eye to business. The Physician in chronic diseases: He, too, must have a pretty good knowledge of the organs and functions of the body, and of the science of materia medica. He must have the sympathetic nature of a woman, and the patience of a mother. He must possess that intuition which will enable him to seek out the hidden causes of disease—to comprehend the relation which one complication sustains to another. He must move around 320 DOCTORS. with his eyes and ears open—ready to enlarge his medical resourced. He must, in brief, possess ingenuity, observation, intuition, sympathy, patience, and a spirit of perseverance and industry. He must love humanity, and pursue his profession mainly because he loves to do good. These are three entirely different vocations, even more dis- similar than house-building, cabinet-making, and ship-building. Surely surgery is totally uniike prescribing for the sick, and it may he easily shown that there is no similarity whatever between acute and chronic diseases. Now, why should the physician be a jack at all trades any more than the mechanic, the lawyer, the school-teacher, or merchant? Look at the various departments in mercantile pursuits. The jewel- ler does not traffic in dry-goods, nor the dry-goods merchant in hard- ware, nor the grocer in watches, nor the furniture dealer in tin- ware, nor the crockery merchant in sugar. Occasionally these branches are united in sparsely-settled villages, and in such localities a physician might be excused for playing the surgeon and doctor in acute diseases, but a person residing in a small place suffering with a chronic complaint can avail himself of a city physician who devotes hie entire attention to such disorders, and the village doctor should not tamper with this class of diseases if he desires to be suc- cessful and to do injury to no one. In large towns there is not a shadow of an excuse for a physician to practice all branches of his profession, to the manifest detriment of a large portion of his patients. Every physician knows, or ought to know, in what class of diseases he is most successful, and in the treatment of which his mental capacities and acquirements best qualify him, and to this particular class he should devote his undi- vided attention, and not, like a patent medicine, proclaim himself an infallible cure for every disease. With such a classification as I propose, the man who wants a limb amputated would go to the surgeon whose daily experience qualifies him to do his work skillfully ; one with a fever would send for a doctor whose experience is daily ripened in his exclusive attendance upon the calls of sufferers with acute diseases; one with consumption, or other lingering disease, would call upon a physician whose atten- tion is solely given to the treatment of chronic disorders, in the constant management of which he is daily acquiring additional skill. •I* trying to cover the whole ground, a physioian cannot possibly FEMALE DOCTORS. 321 acquire superior skill before his locks are hoary and his energies paralyzed with age, and then, to use a common expression, " he is too lazy" to put to active use the acquirements which long years of study and experience have bestowed on him. How many, too, the old man has killed in preparing himself for skill and eminence, which he cannot bequeath to any younger relative or friend. What nonsense, then, for men to attempt to grasp knowledge and skill in all branches of the healing art, blundering along through years of unproficiency, dodging from the operating chair of a sur- geon to the sick-bed of a feverish patient, and from the accouchement bed to an examination of, and prescription for, a chronic disease of the lungs, liver, kidneys, stomach, or something else. So far as I am concerned, I wish it distinctly understood that I have nothing to do with surgery or acute diseases, my whole study and practice being solely devoted to complaints of a chronic nature. In these I claim to be proficient, and stand ready to compare the re- sults of my practice with that of any ten physicians, put together, who essay to treat all classes of disease. For the benefit of such of my patients as need surgical operations of any kind, I have a separate surgical bureau under the manage- ment of a physician skillful in this department; but personally, I meddle with nothing outside of my specialty. If physicians gener- ally would pursue this course, the public would in time entertain a better opinion of the medical profession, and doctors would cease to be the butts of ridicule. Female Doctors. There is a great deal of debate nowadays as to the fitness of women for the profession of medicine. Is the serious consideration of this question intended to dignify and inflate the hordes of mascu- line boobies who throng our medical universities, or, to utterly disparage the intelligence of women? Which ? For all who grave- ly entertain it I would make the following infallible prescription ;- IJ Common Sense, gr. j. Justice, 3 j Mind your business, q. s, Mix. 322 DOCTORS. Make this compound into ten pills, and take one every five minutes when the question disturbs your conservative mind, until relieved. The disease is strictly a mental one, proceeding in men, from excess- ive vanity, and in women, from a servile zeal in flattering a sex already bloated with arrogance. It seems really difficult to write a word seriously under this head, for the reason that when the question is presented to any impartial mind, it would appear that if there is any one avocation to which woman is better suited by nature than to another, it is the care of the sick. Look for a moment at the qualities requisite to make a good physician. They are: keen perception—intuition—sympathy— patience—gentleness—love. No one, who has ever been stretched upon a bed of sickness, will omit from the category one of these qualities as unnecessary. Only two qualifications remain to be add- ed, viz.: an enthusiasm to undertake the duties of the profession, and a thorough education. No one will dispute that the first quali- ties named, are generally possessed to a greater degree by women than by men. Of the qualifications last mentioned, there is as little danger of women becoming doctors without a natural taste for the labors of the profession, as there is of men doing so ; and if any are disposed to assert that they are mentally incapable of acquiring an accomplished medical education when proper facilities are afforded, I suppose that person must be answered, although I blush at the indignity offered to women, while undertaking the task. How do we generally find it in schools ? Is it indeed the case that boys learn more rapidly than girls? Reverse the question, and teachers will respond " Yes." Some claim that girls cannot attain proficiency in mathematics. This has never been established by any satisfactory evidence ; and if it were, what need has a physician of a complete mathematical edu- cation ? Others have said that she is not inventive. It is true that Bhe has not flooded the patent office with caveats and applications for patents ; possibly because husbands and fathers have usurped for their personal benefit nearly every thing which the female mind may have suggested. But an objection of this kind may be effectually met by the facts that Madame Ducoudray invented the manikin, and Madame Boivin some of the most useful obstetrical instruments in use. The lady last mentioned is the author of several medical works, which are regarded as authorities by many eminent medical men in Europe and America, Professor Meigs, of Philadelphia, id FEMALE DOCTORS. 323 alluding to the valuable services this eminent woman has rendered to the medical profession, remarks that: " Her writings prove her to have been a most learned physician, and as she enjoyed a very large practice, her science and her great clinical experience, as well as her personal knowledge, are more to be relied on than that of all male physicians together." In England, a person must pass a rigid ex- amination to become a druggist, and a Miss Garrett passed " a five years' apprenticeship; a preliminary examination in arts, and two professional examinations, each comprising five subjects." Miss Garrett was reported to have acquitted herself brilliantly, and the chairman of the apothecaries, after complimenting her ability, ex- pressed a wish " that all men in the profession were as well pre- pared." The time is rapidly approaching, however, when the success of women in the practice of medicine will be so well established that no one will have the effrontery to question her capacity in this pur- suit. Since Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from the medical school at Geneva, New York, in the year 1849, various medical colleges and hospitals have been established for the benefit of women. There are medical institutions for the instruction of women in this city, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and perhaps other cities of the United States. There are about three thousand female phy- sicians in this country, who graduated regularly from chartered institutions. Some of these have incomes often or twenty thousand dollars per year from their practice. In England, France, Germany, and Austria, women have been admitted to practice. At this rate it will not take many years to convince the most knotty conservative mind that women will prac- tice medicine, and that, too, with credit to themselves and satisfac- tion to their patients. There is one point wherein those favorable to women as practition- ers of medicine fail to appreciate the benefit wliich may accrue when female practitioners become available in every part of the country. The presentation of it at this time will sound as ridiculous as the claim of women to study medicine did twenty years ago ; but I trust that another score of years will not pass before it is recognized. It is this: male invalids should have female physicians, and female inva- lids should have male physicians. One great argument used at this time for the admission of women 324 DOCTORS. to the practice of medicine is, that they may attend to the diseases peculiar to their own sex; but if the truth were fully known, the Becret of the opposition of women to their own sex aspiring to fame in the medical profession, springs out of repugnance, in a measure, to any such arrangement. Women do not want female doctors to attend l them. There are, of course, some actual and many seeming excep- | tions to this rule; but if there were as many eminent women in prac- tice at this moment as there are men, the majority of women would at heart prefer that the latter attend them ; and so soon as women become famous as doctors, men will not hesitate to exhibit a prefer- ence for female skill. This secret crops out even now, and may be perceived by any observer. The sick man who has a skillful female nurse in his room is charmed with her attentions, and takes her ad- vice and the little dainties she prepares, without hesitation. The visit of his physician is accepted as an evil that cannot be dispensed with, and when he has departed, the patient sagely questions the ra- tionale of his counsels and prescriptions. On the other hand, the sick woman, if her preferences in the selection of a physician have not been wantonly disregarded, dotes on the call of her doctor, and feels better when he is present. She takes his doses about as sub- missively as the sick man swallows the pleasant things the nurse pre- pares. The philosophy of all this may be discovered in the essay on " Sexual Starvation," commencing on page 164. I have taken some pains to ascertain the sentiments of intelligent patients of both sexes on this point, and although they at first appeared startled at the novelty of the idea, having never thought of such a thing before, they almost withou t exception, on reflecti on, agreed that such an arrangement would best accord with their individual preferences, if skill were equally divided between doctors of each sex. As things now are, the most steadfast friends of the family doctor are women. Every woman who has a really good physician, recommends him to everybody, and is impatient because she cannot induce her next-door neighbor to em- ploy him. To her imagination, he is about the nicest man, and the most skillful doctor the world has ever produced. Men never get so enthusiastic over their medical adviser, although they may express gratitude when relieved of pain by him. In the latter case, the relief is obtained mainly through the effects of medicaments admin- istered ; but with the woman, the benefit is about equally derived from the medicines and the magnetism of the doctor, He presjge FEMALE DOCTORS. 325 his hand on her brow, feels of her pulse, sits for awhile beside her, and chats as only a person of one sex can talk with one of the other. The conversation becomes flippant and cheerful; the spirits rise like mercury in the thermometer when held in a warm hand; the effect is magical; and when he departs, she looks forward with pleasure to the next call, while taking his prescriptions with confi- dence and alacrity during the interval. This, understand me, when she has the physician of her choice. Woe to the doctor if she does not like him personally! She hesitates to send for him when her friends think it necessary. She never did take such nasty stuff be- fore ! She knows it can do her no good ! " Oh, dear! how can my husband have any confidence in that fellow?" Now, reader, here is a new crotchet for you to mentally digest. Bring the results of your observation, your personal experience, physiological and magnetic law, to bear upon its consideration. Dis- miss all idea of any impropriety in employing a female doctor if a man, or a masculine doctor if a woman. Indeed, the latter have had very little medical care from any other source than that of their opposite sex; but scarcely anybody seems to have discovered any impropriety in the custom which sanctions it. I speak now as a man's-rights-man ! I demand for our sex the medical education of women in order that we may, when sick, have their sympathy, ad- vice, and medical care. Who can consistently oppose the proposi- tion ? Certainly not those women who have objected to the medical education of women because they are satisfied to have only male doctors; this would be selfish. Nor yet men who think the latter may be with propriety employed to attend their wives and daughters in all cases however delicate. " What is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander!" It is, then, left for those only who are in favor of female medical schools and practitioners, to urge an objection. Nothing can consistently come from this quarter; for when female physicians become numerous, it may, in sparsely-settled regions, be quite as difficult to employ a male practitioner as it is now to find a female physician. The latter may take the place of many of the former entirely in some localities; so it will be perceived that "things will become, mixed," unavoidably, unless we have some definite idea of the distinct functions of male and female practition- ers, and act upon it. If it be decided that we must have female doctors for men, and male physicians for women, it will encourage 326 DOCTORS. the settlement of those of each sex in every neighborhood, large or small; and then, when any one has an affection of a very delicato character, peculiar to his or her sex, there will be an opportunity to "change base," and present the case to a physician of the same sex as the patient. Rapacious Doctors. The finny inhabitants of the sea have sharks among them. On land there are beasts and birds of prey. The human family is not exempt from analogous specimens. There are vampires among all classes, trades, and professions. Sharp practice in trade, however, produces no immediate effect upon any thing except the pocket; hut the physician who prostitutes his profession by frightening, and then picking the pockets of the sick, places himself on a level with those monsters inhuman shape, who, amid the crash and ruin of earthquakes, sack falling buildings and rifle the bodies of the prostrate and dying. " Your money or your life!" is the ejaculation of the highwayman, and it is morally and practically the demand of the rapacious physi- cian. These strictures by no means apply to those who, by assidu- ous devotion to the studies and duties of the profession, acquire a reputation which enables them to charge and receive large fees for their services. It is perfectly consistent with the commercial spirit of our imperfect civilization, and in exact keeping with the business understanding which our social system has established, to do so. The minister of the gospel who possesses the greatest power to edify a congregation, generally finds it his Christian duty to accept a call from the church which pays "the highest salary. The lawyer who has gained a reputation in his profession, is so beset with clients that he can keep his practice within the limits of his physical endurance only by charging such fees as will frighten away from his office what j are commonly denominated "small fry." The merchant who pos- sesses a mind that enables him to conduct an extensive establishment, makes his millions per year, while his smaller competitors arc satis- fied with their thousands or hundreds. The experienced navigator, who can trace a path covered by fathomless water, commands a larger salary than the captain of an oyster sloop, who guides his craft by landmarks and light-houses. The mechanic who has acquired such skill in handicraft as to be able to construct a steam-engine, receives greater pay than one who can only hammer out a pot-hook. The RAPACIOUS DOCTORS. 327 farmer who has studied so deeply into the science of agriculture that he rivals his less enterprising neighbors in the production of fine crops, receives a correspondingly larger compensation for his wisdom and industry. Even Bridget, in the kitchen, who understands all the arts of cooking, receives five or ten dollars more per month than her muscular sister who can only do the household scrubbing. It is, therefore, entirely in harmony with the established law regulating compensations, for the skillful physician to limit his personal labors to his power to do, by charging fees commensurate with his ability; but the rapacious doctor is one who, for the express purpose of mak- ing fees, alarms those who consult him. I will give a couple of il- lustrations of an aggravating character which came under my imme- diate observation. One Sabbath morning I was summoned to my consultation room by a woman of about thirty years of age, who looked the picture of despair. Every feature betokened agonizing distress. She had passed many sleepless nights in apprehension of an early and painful death. This apprehension was occasioned by the consultation of a doctor who pronounced her disease, cancer in the stomach; and, as if this diagnosis was not sufficiently alarming in itself, he told her she would not live six weeks if she did not have im- mediate medical attention. Fortunately he placed his fees above her ability to pay. I say fortunately, because had she become his patient, she would have been frightened and drugged into a condition of disease. Unable to raise the required money, she sought other advice. After examining her case, I assured her that there was nothing in the world the matter but a slight attack of gastritis, caused by some imprudence in eating. She had consulted the doctor only on account of momentary pain, such as anybody may have by eating something which might disturb the digestion. After some effort, I quieted her fears, and sent her away without fee or medicine. Some months after, she called to assure me of the correctness of my diag- nosis, and to thank me for the mental relief my opinion had render- ed. Case number two was a planter from Louisiana, who had come to the city to sell a cargo of sugar. He had the appearance of a man of means, and was a capital subject for a rapacious doctor. He called upon me with the remark that he had stricture of the urethra. Upon examination, no symptom warranted any such supposition, and I asked him why he had imagined that he was strictured. He replied that he had, before leaving New Orleans, a disease of the 328 DOCTORS. urethra liable to result in stricture, and that on arriving in Netf York, he had consulted a physician to ascertain if such a difficulty was developing. The doctor examined his case, and gravely decided that the urethra had already become the seat of stricture. He pre- scribed for him, and received a fee of thirty dollars I Making further investigation, to be sure that I was quite right, and finding not the first indication of any complaint, I assured him that there was nothing at all the matter, and advised him to let medicines and doctors alone; but the idea seemed fixed in his imagination that there was, and with strange persistency, he inquired if I would not undertake his case. What, thought I, shall I do with this man ? My business and moral faculties had a soliloquy. The latter told me that if I accepted his money it would burn my pocket and disturb my sleep. Finally, I said, "Mr. A----, let this alone for four weeks, and if at the end of that time any thing like stricture shows itself, I will prescribe for you." He departed, and in less than ten days called again, and informed me that he felt an unusual uneasiness in the urethra. On examination I found the orifice inflamed, and inquired if he had not j been using bougies. " Yes," was his response, " the doctor who before prescribed for me, advised them." I urged him to let the supposed J affection alone, as he was causing irritation; and made him promise that he would wait the time I had before advised; but before the expiration of twenty days he fell into the hands of another rapacious medical concern, more ravenous than the first—had paid $100; and now they demanded $1,400 more before they could perfect a cure! The man was so thoroughly scared that he actually thought of ac- cepting these exorbitant terms, and it was with difficulty that I ' talked him out of the notion which the doctors had talked into him. | Determining not to be remotely accessory to the robbery of this ' frightened man, I refused, from first to last, to receive one cent I from him. I say this in justice to myself, for it is due to my self- ' respect, at the close of this remarkable story, that I should publicly | wash my hands of all participation in the revenue accruing from the sharp practice of the doctors in this case. Whether he finally fol- lowed my advice I am unable to say, as he did not call again. i While some people aro not apt to realize the danger they are in when diseased, many become unduly alarmed on the slightest occa- j sion of pain or other physical disturbance; and it is better that the former die ia their ignorance, than that the latter should be frightened CONCLUSION. 329 to death by an intentionally deceptive, or a careless diagnosis. It, therefore, should be the aim of the honorable physician to avoid arousing unnecessary alarm in the minds of invalids or those who may imagine that they are sick; and the latter should not be too credulous when a doctor tells them that their symptoms indicate danger. Indeed, the honesty of any physician may be suspected when he takes apparent pains to impress on the invalid a sense of anxiety about himself. This duty may safely be left to the friends of the invalid if he be not himself sufficiently concerned to take the necessary steps for effecting bis recovery. Anxious mothers, sisters, husbands, and wives are generally quick to observe the signs of failing health in one they love, and unfortunately they sometimes unduly alarm the invalid by their expressions of solicitude. In no case is it necessary for the doctor to do so, even in expressing a candid opinion, as there is a way of pronouncing an unfavorable diagnosis without arousing the timidity of the patient. Fortunately for the sick, the practice of medicine has a human- izing effect upon the hearts of men who pursue it. Daily contact with suffering humanity develops sympathy and liberality, so that even the mercenary doctor of to day, may in time become too considerate of the health and life of those who consult him, to prej upon their fears. Conclusion. With the close of the foregoing essay we reach not only the end of this chapter, but the termination of Part I. The author hopes that the reader has been interested and benefited by tho perusal of " Medical Common Sense" thus far, and so trusting, he introduces you to Part U, 330 THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY LAID C-rEN. The Intestines are mostly removed, showing the descending aorta, A; the as- cending vena cava, V; the liver raised up, exposing its under surface, L; gall- bladder, G; pancreas, P; kidneys, K; spleen, S; rectum, R; bladder. B, P. H. T. PART II. CHAP. I PLATE III. VITAL ORGANS, BACK VIEW. THE SKELETON AND VITAL ORGANS, relative positions, observed from behind, AS BY AN X-RAY VIEW, BUT FAR MORE DISTINCT THAN THAT WOULD SHOW. THE LUNGS (NOT PICTURED) NATURALLY LIE BEHIND THE HEART, SPLEEN AND LIVER AS HERE 8HOWN. PLATE IV. VITAL ORGANS, FRONT. PLAIN HOME TALK. FRONT VIEW OF VITAL ORGANS of chest and abdomen, showing the lungs over- lapping THE HEART, THE BORDER OF THE LIVER ABOVE THE STOMACH, AND THE INTES- TINES COVERED BY THE OMENTUM. THIS PICTURE EXHIBIT8 THE NATURAL P08ITION AND RELATION OF THE PARTS. PART II . Chronic Diseases: their Causes and Successful Treatment. OPENING CHAPTER. CHRONIC DISEASES. HIS portion of " Medical Common Sense" designated as Part Second, ' will be devoted to essays on those forms of disease usually known by the name of chronic. To the treatment of chronic affections the author has given his undivided personal attention for a period of forty years. Physicians devoted to what is commonly termed "Family practice," are so occupied with the management of acute disease, they have little patience and less skill if called upon to remove any thing more than the physical ills which confine their patients to their bed or CT^r^\^^ room. Consequently, when a person is out of health and yet able to be about, he imagines he must "grin and bear it," as his family physician fails to prescribe any thing which affords more than present relief. If he decides to trr 6kill which is regarded as eminent, he is then liable to fall into 332 CHRONIC DISEASES. the hands of some surgeon who has carved out of the flesh and bones of his fellow-beings, an immortal name. The public fails to discrim- inate between the qualifications necessary for a successful surgeon, and those requisite for success in medicine. Dr. Knife has performed operations in cutting out tumor; in removing an entire nose, and making a new one; in taking out a portion of the jaw ; in taking somebody pretty much all to pieces and putting him together again, etc. etc; all of which operations have been duly chronicled in the columns of the daily press, and excited tho surprise of the multitude. On the other hand, Dr. Herb has actually taken cases pronounced as consumption ; others considered as incurable dyspeptics; and still others of women dragging out a miserable existence with female complaints; and these supposed incurables, he medicates and advises until they are thoroughly restored, much to the surprise of their friends. The newspapers take no notice of these remarkable cures; and they are known to but the limited circle of those immediately interested. Why ? Because a reporter for the press could not be on the spot those long weary weeks or months to witness the grow- ing strength and ultimate triumph. The doctor's story told to the editor, seldom elicits his earnest attention, as he hardly considers the hero of this medical feat, a competent witness. If he takes the pains to inquire about the matter in the neighborhood, it is quite likely some envious resident physician will "put a flea in his ear;" Poh ! Poh ! at the whole thing ; and gravely declare that the in- valid was in a fair way to recover before the " quack" was employed. So Mr. Editor thinks it is quite as safe to say nothing about the matter. Thus in this little illustration it will be seen how easily an expert surgeon can build up a great reputation by a few important operations, and how slowly the skillful man of medicine rises by a gradual extension of a knowledge of his ability; and even at the apex of his success, he has not attained that celebrity which the surgeon acquired by the extraordinary 6tories of his surgical feats, published as they were in widely circulating journals on both sides of the Atlantic. This country has produced surgeons who have a world-wide celebrity, and justly so; but whose medical attainments, or at least success in medicine, have been less marked than those of Borne obscure village doctors. Indeed I could name two or three who are as well known in Europe as in America, having performed operations that made their names famous, but whose advice I would WHAT IS A CHRONIC DISEASE. 333 not accept in any ca9e of disease, acute or chronic, requiring the administration of medicine, I would sooner put my case, if I were not able to take care of it myself, in the hands of somebody's grand- mother than to trust to their combined skill. The public, however, seldom notice the means by which the sur* geon acquires reputation; and consequently, when the family physician fails to cure an invalid, and it is thought best to try other skill, he is almost sure to fall next into the hands of some man eminent in surgery, and bitter is the disappointment if this great physician (?) fails to produce any change for the better. Heart-sick and discouraged the patient abandons his avocations and prepares for the other world, if the medicines have produced adverse instead of beneficial results. " My fate is sealed" mutters the disconsolate invalid, " if this great man can do me no good." The world is full of these discouraged people, many of whom are naturally so enduring —so tenacious of life—that they cannot die, while existence to them is but prolonged misery. But is it really true that there is no help for these sufferers? From the experience and success I have had in an extensive practice exclusively devoted to this very class of diseases, I can conscientiously assure my readers that there is. Not that all can be cured; this would be an extravagant assumption; no miracles are proposed. In a majority of cases, however, pro- nounced incurable by the faculty, and esteemed in the neighborhood where they exist as hopeless,—-there is help—there is permanent relief; but that succor must be sought at the hands of some one who is as familiar with the peculiarities of these diseases as the sur- geon is with anatomy and the instruments he uses in his operating room. Do not go to the blacksmith for bread, nor to the baker to have your wagon repaired. What is a Chronic Disease 7 There is a deal of vague apprehension in the minds of professional as well as non-professional men and women, as to what constitutes a chronic disease. Some physicians in family practice denominate every thing chronic which their advice and prescriptions do not cure. Not a few people conjecture that it Is a term applicable only to diseases of a disreputable character. An advertisement was once re- Jected by one of our leading daily journals, because it contained the 334 CHRONIC DISEASES. word chronic! Even Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy, held that all diseases not ultimately curable by nature's spontaneous effort, were not only chronic, but had their origin either immediafcly or remotely in syphilis or badly treated itch. To many there is a ter- ror in the name chronic, to the extent that they at once imagine themselves consigned to uninterrupted suffering and a lingering death, when the family physician gravely looks over his spectacles and remarks—"Your disease has assumed a chronic form." Webster defines it as a disease of an inveterate nature, or of long continuance, in distinction from an acute disease which speedily terminates. This definition is not strictly correct. A chronic affection is one in which disease has insidiously taken possession of the human system, or become triumphant after a pain- ful struggle of long or short duration; while an acute affection is one in which the struggle is actually going on, at which juncture it ia difficult to tell, from hour to hour, whether nature will prove victo- rious and the patient get well, or the disease come off conqueror, and leave the patient stone dead or physically infirm. If the latter, then chronic disease has succeeded the acute attack. Through improper habits of living, impurities may creep into the blood, and infirmities take possession of the system as quietly as filibusters sometimes creep one by one into a country, and peacefully revolutionize it. The fili- busters become too powerful to be resisted, before the native in- habitants are apprised of their presence. So the seeds of chronic disease may stealthily and steadily gather in the system until they become too formidable for the recuperative powers of nature to re- sist, when, as one patient remarked to me, " Disease became my normal condition." Or, a person may be born diseased, in which case the recuperative powers from birth were bound as with cords. In either case, whether disease has quietly taken possession of the system, or been handed down from generation to generation, nature may in time sufficiently rally to make an attack, and then comes the acute struggle, called acute disease, just as when disease is acting on the offensive. This is an important combat, and when the smoke of battle clears away, the patient may find that he has recov- ered or attained to a condition of health ; if not, he relapses into his former condition of lingering infirmity, and his diseases are called chronic. Acute disease may precede and usher in the chronic form. With* WHAT IS A CHRONIC DISEASE. 835 out any symptom of warning, the victim may be prostrated with contagion, poison, or fever. In this case disease comes with banners and trumpets, and a fierce conflict ensues between the bold enemy and the vis-medicatrix-natura?. Friends watch anxiously at the bed- side ; the countenance of the attending physician is studied for en- couragement ; unnecessary w ork is suspended to attend to the suf- ferer ; all is excitement and anxiety as when a fierce battle is raging between your own armies and those cf an enemy. The day and night pass. The sun glimmers through the lattice-windows, and rests upon the face of the sick man. Is nature coping successfully with the enemy ? If so, the patient will in a few days or weeks be restored to his wonted health. If nature's powers waver, the enemy triumphs, and the victim is either slain or released from his bed on parole. If the latter, the patient bears about with him what may properly be termed a chronic disease. One word more, and I will take leave of this chapter. Let it not be inferred from what has been said, that chronic disease can be cured only by bringing on what the hydropathists call a " Crisis." The predisposing or perpetuating causes may be gradually overcome without precipitating a struggle such as is presented in the conflict between nature and disease, just as chronic disease is sometimes ac- quired by the gradual ingathering of blood-impurities and nervous derangements. This gradual revolution of the system may be re- versed in favor of health, and although it will not be possible in all cases to avoid a crisis, it had better be averted if possible, even though the patient pursue treatment longer. We may better take more time in physical as well as moral reform, than to precipitate a stormy conflict. CHAPTER It CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHINQ ORGANS. EFORE entering upon an investigation bt tLe causes, nature, and management of affections which should be considered under this headj let us stop for a moment and observe the importance of the organs With which we breathe. Every liv- ing thing has to have air to enable it to exist. Even the plants and trees have lungs ; but by a strange provision of nature, they are enabled, in cold climates, to do without them during the winter. (It would be a happy arrangement for consumptive people if they could do so too.) The foliage constitutes the lungs of vegetation, and if a tree be girdled so as to prevent the sap (blood) from passing up through its branches (bronchial tubes) to the leaves (lungs), it will perish. By this plan of girdling, a woodman may strangle a forest of oak as easily as an orchard of apple-trees. In Fig. 84 we have a representation of the respiratory system of a tree, and in Fig. 85 a representation of the breathing passages of the human system. By this comparison we find them quite analogous; but if we dissect the two we shall at once be struck with the greater completeness of the respiratory organs which appertain to animal life. The minutest insect must breathe or die. Corked in a bottle, or otherwise confined, the tiny gnat, as well as the noisy bee, will die so soon as the vitalizing properties of the air in the confined vessel are consumed. Fishes must breathe or cease to swim. Their lunga are so wonderfully formed, and fringed by what are called their gills, that they separate the air from the water; and while the water passes into their mouths and through their gills, they receive the life-giving properties of air. When taken out of the water they live CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. 33? Fig. 84. until the slimy secretions of their delicate breathing apparatus be- comes gluey, and then, as one by one the air-passages are sealed up, respiration becomes more and more difficult, until the function of breathing ceases altogether. It is iot impossible that human ingenuity may some time invent something that will perform the peculiar function of the gills, so that the appliance at* tached to the head and shoulders of a human being will enable him to live for hours under water ; but it will be time better employed for the present to devise means to enable all to breathe above water. Many are troubled to do this, and die for want of breathj when all other but the re- spiratory organs are unimpaired. A majority of the doctors, and all the surgeohs, seem to rather hasten than to arrest disease affecting the organs with which we breathe. One emi- nent surgeon has remarked that, "Consumptives are not subjects for medical treatment, except when it is necessary to smooth the path to the grave." This is honest, and it would be well if all surgeons and physicians in family practice would make haste and come to the same conclu- sion, and act consistently therewith. The public are slowly discover- ing that to obtain relief from this class of affections, they must go out of the " Regular Practice," and employ the services of some- body who gives special attention to what are termed chronic diseases. The breathing passages of the human body begin at the nose, where the air should in all cases be received, in order that it may be filtered of dust, and warmed by its passage through the spongy mass of animal fibre which intervenes between the nasal cavities and the vesicles of the lungs. On entering the nostrils, the air passes down through the filtering membranes to the throat and bronchial tubes, and is by these latter organs conducted into the little cells called 15 EE8PIRATOET SYSTEM OF A TREE. 338 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. Fig. S5. vesicles, which are so numerous that it is computed the lungs con- tain six hundred millions of them, and that their entire surface is equal to fifteen hundred square feet ! Here, with only a thin trans parent membrane intervening, it comes in contact with the venous blood. This venous blood has tra- versed the whole system, and gathered up the useless gases to be respired. Quickly as the touch of strawberry juice on your clean white collar imparts a stain of red, the dark carbonaceous blood is changed to a rich arterial complex- ion, and then goes on its way to distribute the valuable properties it has derived from its commercial visit to one of the great physiological marts. The blood, indeed, carries on a regular trade between the various organs of the body and the atmosphere, the lungs being one of its principal ports. It barters off carbonic acid gas for oxygen, and although it seems almost like sharp practice, the atmosphere does not seem to realize that it is cheated, but at once makes use of what it receives in its great laboratory, as if it had made a capital exchange; but we would hastily adjudge the gardener a fool who would give a pound of vegetables for a pound of compost! Considering, there- fore, the liberal arrangement nature has made for this unequal ex- change, the least we can do is to keep the roads in good order, so that the carbonic acid gas may be brought without impediment to the place where it may be disposed of on such generous terms. To do this we must keep the breathing passages of the head, throat, bron- chia, and lungs in a healthy condition, and the essays given in this chapter will point out the most common difficulties which interfere to prevent this, and present some important suggestions on their pre- vention and cure. RESPIRATORY SYSTEM OF MAN. CHRONIC CATARRH OP THE HEAD. 339 Chronic Catarrh of the Head. There is no affection of the breathing passages, excepting actual consumption, that more effectually obstructs the action of the respi- ratory apparatus than chronic catarrh of the head. The purulent mucous secretions which characterize this difficulty, not only block up in many cases the air-passages of the head, but they pass along down into the larynx ; run into, and coat the bronchial tubes; and not unfrequently lodge in the air-vesicles of the lungs. Thus ob- structed, thus coated, thus filled up, in the act of respiration, the air with difficulty passes the blockade, and when it enters the cells of the lungs it finds them muffled almost to imperviousness ; in conse- quence of which the blood Fi„ S(! . is but partially relieved of its carbonaceous qualities, and is insufficiently vital- ized by oxygen. The an- nexed cut, Fig. 86, rep- resents the canals and sinuses, or cavities, in the bones of the face, in which catarrhal secre- tions are liable to occur. The dark patches are in- tended to illustrate the cavities, and the black lines the canals. The lat- ter are not separate and distinct tubes, as might be inferred by the lines made to represent them. The lines are simply designed to trace the course of the smaller cavities which unite the larger ones, and further to illustrate how catarrhal secretions are conducted into the respi- ratory organs below, and also how they may reach and affect THE CAVITIES IN THE BONES OF TIIK. FAOK SUBJECT TO CATARRII. 840 CHRONIC DISEASES OP THE BREATHING ORGANS. the eyes and ears. This cut beautifully illustrates the parts liablt to the affection under consideration, and was designed expressly for this book. Catarrh is a common complaint. Almost everybody, at times, has a touch of it, while some never know what it is to be free from the distemper. Many people are affected with it who do not mistrust that it is a disease. They imagine that the discharges from the head are but the natural wastes of the mucous membrane. Such persona ought to be informed that the healthy mucous membrane secretes only a sufficiency of mucus fcd keep it moistxor free from uncomfort- able dryness, and that when ta%r& is a discharge from the nose or an expectoration of mucus from the throat, there exists a disease of that membrane known by the name1 bf catarrh. This affection in many cases, produces no painful symptoms, and presents no evidence of its existence other than the accumulation of phlegm in the breathing passages. In others, it is attended with heaviness and per- haps pain in the base of the forehead; redness of the eyes; dulness of hearing, and ringing in the ears. In more susceptible cases it produces inflammation of the eyes, and deafness ; or tickling in the throat and cough; or foul breath and decomposition of the facial bones; or loss of taste and smell. The medical profession are about as much befogged in regard to the cause of catarrh as the masses of the people. In the days of Hippocrates, it was supposed to be the effete secretions of the brain, which found vent at the nose, eyes, and ears I When Galen was accounted authority, it was thought that there was a kind of animal Vapor constantly rising in the human system, which on reaching the arch of the skull, gathered there, and, passing through a process of condensation like the steam in the cover of a tea-kettle, drizzled down through the facial orifices 1 It was not suspected until tho eeventoenth century, that catarrhal matter emanated from the glands of the mucous membrane, and ever since then, the doctors have been mainly treating it as if it were simply a local disease; and it has been a favorite target for all sorts of medical sportsmen to fire at. Some Bhoot astringent liquids into the nostrils; others play fine streams of medicated spray into the breathing passages; another attempts to flank the enemy by throwing dust into his eyes in the form of catarrh snuff; while still another medical wiseacre thinks he will smoke or steam him out with some newly invented fumes or vapors. CHRONIC CATARRH OP THE HEAD. 341 It is not to be disputed that some of these inventions may prove valuable as adjunctives; but they should only be so employed, for catarrh is really the result of a diseased state of the blood. It seems to me very easy to account for catarrh, and I will here present a theory which I have never seen promulgated, but which the intelli- gent reader will, I am confident, regard as coramon-senseful. Checked perspiration, such as may occur whether a person is con- scious of having taken a cold or not, confines within the skin the acidulous and effete vapors which in health pass off in the form of insensible perspiration; and these properties, thrown back upon the blood, cause inflammation, and this inflammation decomposes some of the corpuscles and other solid substances of the blood; reduces a portion of them to purulent matter, just as the inflammation of a run- ning sore eats away and decomposes the animal fibre about it. As this melting of the solid constituents of the blood proceeds, an outlet must be found for decayed matter, and as it more nearly resembles mucus than any other of the secretions, the mucous glands come to the rescue, and this purulent matter sweats through the mucous membrane as profusely in some cases, as common perspi- ration pours through the skin of an excited man on a sultry day. When the checked perspiration, the cold, or influenza, is overcome, and the skin becomes again active, the catarrhal symptoms may possibly disappear without treatment; but if they do not, one of two conclusions may be fairly deduced: either the blood has been so poisoned by the effete matters thrown back upon it, that it has not recuperative power sufficient to recover and arrest this rotting of its solid constituents; or else the blood possessed beforehand impurities which rendered it susceptible to attack, and which have become too active to subside without the aid of medicine calculated to enrich and purify the vascular fluids. Upon this hypothesis regarding the pathology of catarrh, I have cured cases of this disease of twenty years' standing. Whenever a case of catarrh outlasts the cold which precipitated it, the difficulty may reasonably be called chronic, and it will be found upon examination with the speculum that the mucous membrane appears blanched and thickened, with here and there raw and in- flamed patches. The secretion by this time is either thick and gluey, so as to coat over the delicate lining of the breathing passages below, pr possessed of less consistency and greater acrimony, so that it 342 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. scalds and inflames the membrane over which it passes. In all cases of a pulmonary .diathesis, either of these conditions is threatening, and will lead to serious lung complications unless timely arrested, la other cases of different idiosyncrasy, it may confine its operations so much to the sinuses and the organs of special sense, that deafheea blindness, loss of smell and taste may be the results—one or all—oi its progress. Or it may limit its action entirely to the breathing passages of the head, causing simply bad breath and unwholesome expectoration. In no case, however, can the full benefit of tha function of respiration be obtained while catarrh in any form exists. If it does not absolutely stop up the air-passage3 of the head, it ** vitiates every breath of air the person inhales; for in its mildest form the viscid matter is corrupt, and imparts a taint to the air which comes in contact with it. Then, just to the extent that it spreads itself over and coats the membrane lining the bronchial tubes and air vesicles, it renders these organs less capable of performing their work of vitalizing the blood. So it will be seen that catarrh is self-supporting when once established in the head; for while it ia perpetuated by impure blood, it so poisons the air inhaled, and so obstructs the meeting of the air and blood in the vesicles of the lungs, that the vascular fluids are still further impaired and made capable of supplying indefinitely the diseased matter, which the mucous glands will secrete. The catarrhal secretions of to-day poison the blood, and this poison decomposes enough of the sub- stance of the blood to cause a copious catarrhal secretion to-morrow —and that to-morrow repeats the process, and so on inimitably. If this action and reaction be arrested simply by local means for a few weeks or months, the patient is pretty sure to have a return of the distemper unless all the offensive matters have been expelled from the circulation; consequently, even in the lightest cases of catarrh, constitutional treatment should be used in conjunction with what may be done locally. In cases of women when only topically treated for catarrh, the disease in some instances is driven to the vagina, causing copious leucorrhoea, then the latter treated locally results in the re- sumption of the catarrh of the head. In this way it is driven from one point to the other, alternately, until the patient becomes nearly discouraged. I might occupy considerable spaoe here in presenting the history of some cases illustrative of this statement, but as the pergonal experience of many female readers will corroborate it, this CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE THROAT. 343 Fig. ST. course is hardly necessary. Those having catarrh who have become faithless as to its curability are invited to a perusal of the extracts of letters from patients given in the closing chapter of this part. My success is the result of combining constitutional with local treat- ment. By pursuing this course I have found catarrh, in most cases, a disease which may be easily and permanently disposed of. Chronic Affections of the Throat. Now let us take a peep into the throat. Bring a spoon or some thing with which to hold the tongue down. We are supposed to have a patient affected with throat difficulties as represented in the annexed cut. You see those spongy-looking bodies on either side of the orifice leading to the throat ? They are the tonsils, which in some cases become so inflamed and swollen as almost to obliterate the passage. By pressing them, instead of send- ing out a transparent mucous fluid as they do in health, a thick white, green, or yellow matter issues from them. They are enlarged, and your doctor may advise you to have them clipped off a little, but I would dis- countenance haste in this emergency. An operation of this kind should not be performed unless other means have failed. Generally, medicine will cure them. That little round pendulous thing that hangs down between the tonsils is the uvula. That too, in some cases, is inflamed and unduly elongated—so much so, that when the mouth is closed it will rest upon the tongue. It may be thought best to take off a little piece of that; but it is not well to allow any operation of the kind, unless it be too long when no inflammation is present. Sometimes there is what may be called a congenital elon- gation, in which case only it may be abridged by the surgeon. That arch like membrane over the entrance to the throat, from the upper central part of which the uvula is suspended, is popularly called the "Soft Palate>M Behind, and below that, the membrane cover- TIIE DISEASED THROAT. 544 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. ing the back wall of the throat has a fiery red appearance, with patches of white or yellow matter here and there; or perhaps a few ulcers are interspersed. Your family doctor will want to cauterize the diseased membrane. Do not accept too quickly of this advice. It may he well to resort to cauterization in some cases, but the cautery had tetter be avoided until more gentle means are tried. The application of caustic to the mucous membrane always leaves it in a sensitive con- dition; and if the blood is overloaded with impurities, the ulceration is absolutely made worse by its application. It acts like a local irritant, and diverts the impurities to the place where it is applied. There are many people who are subject, whenever there is a change of weather, to sore throat. They are said to be predisposed to affections of the throat. Why this predisposition ? The immedi- ate cause is generally known. Some stubborn man "with a big overcoat" in the cars, would keep the window open and our neighbor caught an awful cold. This, in his opinion, was the caus< of his difficulty, and, indeed, so it was the immediate cause, but if he had escaped this exposure some other would have precipitated the same difficulty, because his system was in a condition to predispose him to just such an attack. Perhaps the predisposing cause waa hereditary—perhaps it was incurred by impure vaccination to pre- vent the much dreaded small-pox—possibly it was contracted in youth by dissipated habits—it may be that the invalid had a scrofu- lous ancestry; but however this predisposition may have been obtained, it will in all such cases be found to exist in the blood. Consequently, an impure quality of the vascular fluids may be set down as the predisposing cause. There are those who constantly carry about with them enlarged and inflamed tonsils, and possibly ulcerated throats. In these cases, it will be found on investigation that their troubles arise from syphilitic impurities; or an inherited scrofu- lous taint; or possibly from contracted scrofulous impurity; but syphi- litic or scrofulous blood, one or the other, is the predisposing cause. There is still another affection called laryngitis, or " clergyman's sore throat," which arises from milder impurities of the blood. While clergymen appear more subject to it than other people, it is, nevertheless, a common disease among the members of the legal profession, public singers, school-teachers, lecturers, auctioneers, and those who are obliged to exercise their vocal organs to a con- siderable extent, In talking, public speaking, and singing, the air, ex» CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. 945 pelled as it always is, with vehemence, has a frictional effect upon the mucous membrane, just as rubbing the finger on the cuticle produces friction of the skin. This friction pro- duces heat—the heat attracts the humoral properties of the blood—the presence of these produces irritation— irritation induces inflammation, and if the blood is in a scrofulous or syphilitic condition the inflammation may cause ulceration. Laryngitis is characterized by hoarseness and weakness of voice; dry cough; and sometimes with pain and soreness about the throat. Catarrh of the head often so irritates the throat as to invite blood-impurities there, and in childhood diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, colds, &c, are the immediate causes. Gargles of various kinds are generally resorted to for relief from throat affections; but they are as insufficient, ' ULUKKATKIJ so far as any permanent relief is concerned, as snuff and larynx. vapors are for catarrh. The blood must receive the most attention. The sufferer from throat troubles, catarrh, or other difficulties, is always tempted to go to work at once locally. He imagines that if he can only bring something of a healing character in contact with those irritated or ulcerated surfaces, he can overcome the evil; and after having tried all sorts of local panaceas, he is too liable to con- clude that his difficulty is incurable, and that he must go through life with it; but in nearly all cases when the faith of this class of patients can be sufficiently established to enable them to go patiently at work in the use of remedies, skillfully prepared, to act upon con- stitutional or predisposing causes, they are agreeably surprised to find that this class of difficulties may be disposed of permanently with comparatively little trouble. The faithless are commended to a perusal of Chapter XIII. in this part. Chronic Bronchitis. Here is a disease which often proves obstinate in the hands of those physicians who have had limited experience in its treatment, and those who so imperfectly comprehend its nature and origin as to resort to little else than inhalants and expectorants. In this, as in diseases of the head and throat, the predisposing cause is apt to be overlooked. Bronchitis has its root in an impure condition of the 15* 346 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. blood. Some imprudence or unavoidable exposure may have brought ou the difficulty, but if it does not pass off readily with the cold which ushered it in, doubt should not exist for a moment that the blood of the patient is mainly at fault. When this disease first makes its appearance, it usually presents the acute form, and is attended with a dry cough, showing a preponderance of the posi- tive fluids; but when it becomes chronic, excessive expectoration ensues, evincing an entire inversion of the disease, and a preponder- ance of the negative alkaline fluids. Unless checked or cured in season, bronchitis not unfrequently leads to diseases of the lungs. As will be observed in Fig. 89, the bronchial tubes are extensively distributed in the lungs for the Fig. S9. WIND PIPE OBBRONCUUS AND BRONCHIAL TUBES, AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS IN THB LUNGS, SHOWING THEIR INTIMATE RELATIONS WITH BLOOD- VESSELS PROM THE HEART. purpose of conducting the air to the vesicles, and when inflamma- tion exists in the former, it is very easy for it to extend to the latter. CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. 347 Every person has doubtless noticed how inflammation in the finger or hand, produced by soreness or accidental causes, will frequently communicate to the arm, and gradually extend toward the shoulder until the whole arm becomes affected. Now the bronchial tubes are as closely allied to the lungs as the hand to the arm, and the inflammation affecting one, will very soon affect both unless timely attended to. Bronchitis is often mistaken for consumption. It sometimes pre- sents all the symptoms of lung disease, so much so, that physicians not familiar with pulmonary diseases diagnose it incorrectly, much to the discomfort of the patient. There is one rule, however, which in most cases is reliable for non-professionals to go by. Invalids affected with bronchitis are apt to be easily discouraged, and at times depressed, while the consumptive is almost always hopeful. The hopefulness of consumptive patients is proverbial—they are seldom disposed to believe that they have the disease, while those affected with throat or bronchial affections are nearly always appre- hensive, hypochondriacal, and disposed to imagine themselves the victims of consumption. Persons affected with bronchitis should, as much as possible, avoid coughing. It is sometimes difficult to do so, but coughing tends to extend the disease. It is a kind of involuntary effort of nature to ease the irritation. All persons who have ever had an itching erup- tion of the skin, know how natural it is to scratch. People will #oratch when they do not think of it. In this case it seems to be an involuntary movement to ease the irritation, bT it it generally makes it worse, and the humor and redness of the cuticle spread over more surface in consequence of it. The same in coughing: the mucous membrane, instead of the surface skin, being irritable, and the seat of annoyance being unapproachable with the hands or fingers, a sudden discharge of air from the lungs is resorted to, the friction of which administers temporary relief, but as certainly increases the latitude of the disease. For this reason coughing should be suppressed so far as practicable, and bronchitis should not be neglected. It is consumption in embryo, and many times as obstinate to cure as a deeply-seated pulmonary disease. There is no one habit better calculated to bring on bronchitis and to perpetuate it than the habit of bundling up the throat. By this practice the throat is rendered tender and sensitive and susceptible g48 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. to colds on the slightest exposure. My personal experience in this connection may be interesting. When a boy I was constantly afflicted with this disease, and falling into the error that most people do who are troubled with the complaint, I never stepped out of doors without winding a great woolen comforter two or three times around my neck. One doctor after another was applied to—one dosing me with calomel; another advising the application of gargles; and another swabbing my throat with nitrate of silver, until I was nearly doctored into my grave. As I became older, and began to exercise my own judgment, I resorted to simpler remedies of my own invention with partial relief, still continuing, however, the injurious practice of enveloping my neck in woolen; but at the age of about fourteen I determined to make my neck tough like my face, and not only throw off the neck-dressing customary in cold weather, but also the cravat, and turn down my collar on a level with the collar- bone. At once the difficulty was improved, and, by the aid of medication to purify the blood, every vestige of the disease departed. I have so far back-slidden as to resume the necktie but in no case is it my habit to wear fur, tippet, or other extra clothing about the neck in winter. No one in the habit of bundling his throat can at all times avoid exposure when the neck is not guarded. The atmosphere indoors is sometimes as cold as that outside, and he who envelops his throat to his ears in furs, or woolen, on stepping out, must keep them on after returning, or a cold will be the result. If neckwraps are to be discarded in winter, of course it should be done gradually, and the neck should be bathed every morning iu cold water. Exposed to the air, the neck becomes no more sensitive than the face or hands, and who with any frequency takes cold in the latter ? Let me not, however, be understood to say that the abandonment of neckwraps will effect a cure in cases of bronchitis. The expo- sure of the neck toughens it, and renders it less liable to attacks of cold, as previously remarked, and in this way victims of bronchitis may be benefited without other treatment. Cases of bleeding bronchitis sometimes present themselves in an extensive practice. In some of these their difficulty has been mis- taken for hemoptysis or bleeding of the lungs. A case of this kind some years ago visited me from New England, and it was generally supposed by his physicians that he was affected with hemorrhage of ASTHMA. 349 the pulmonary organs, but I was convinced, after an examination, that the blood proceeded from a certain portion of the bronchia which I pointed out, and proceeding upon this diagnosis, I cured my patient after he had been given up to die by his doctors at home. The treatment of bronchitis, to be successful, must be about the same as in a case of consumption. Asthma. Asthma is a word on a Greek basis, meaning " I blow," because its distinctive symptom is difficult breathing, with a wheezing sound. It comes on in periodical attacks. The most common time is about two o'clock in the morning, and the patient, if not aroused by premonitory symptoms of distress through chest and bowels, as many are, may be promptly aroused from slumber, and compelled to assume a sitting attitude, bolstered up by pillows in order to breath at all. The attack gets worse before it gets better, so that to one unaccustomed to it " it seems as though I would die," and the onlooker is even more liable to think so; but the "old-stager," through long experience, comes to take his nightly turn at it quite philosophically, learning that its persistence is consistent with a long life and a very useful one. The man who built up the New York Times, George Jones, was a steady victim till he died at the age of seventy-nine, and Mr. Geo. T. Angell, the active though aged leader of the National and Massachusetts Societies for the Abolition of Cruelty to Animals, finds consolation in the good ideas that come to him in the long and lone vigils of the night, when he has to sit up with himself. In moderate attacks the difficult respiration is the only important symptom, but in severe ones there may be cold extremities and sweating, even vomiting (often, however, induced by the medicines used). After two ox three hours of such suffering the spasm relaxes, some mucus is expectorated, and exhaustion leads to a morning nap. For the rest of the twenty-four hours the asthmatic may be i quite like other folks, not showing evidence of the disease; but \ many cases (about eighty per cent.) are attended with more or less constant bronchitis or catarrh, and others are dyspeptic. The dis- ease rarely stands distinctly alone, unrelated to other constitutional disorders. It is often founded on a gouty state, and may take turns ot alternate with attars of gout, or of its eczem^tops skin m^rd" 350 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. festations (salt rheum). Acidity of the stomach, heartburn, and other forms of indigestion are frequently observed in asthmatics. Malaria and syphilis have also been found responsible for then- torments. Asthma must, therefore, be generally due to blood humors, and we are reminded how almost impossible it is to write about a chronic disease of any kind without coming back to them as the basic cause; but in asthma the nervous system must also be taken into account, since in many respects it goes hand in hand with what are called neuroses, or derangements of nerve-action. In the actual spasmodic attack the nervous system plays a most important part, for the diffi- cult breathing is very directly due to spasm of the many muscles surrounding the bronchial tubes, partially closing them, and this is due to a stimulus to spasmodic action received from the nerves which control these muscles, so that an attack of asthma is, like a periodical attack of neuralgia or sciatica, due to spasm originating in the nerves, but why a spasm there?—because it is excited by prop- erties in the blood which are irritants to the nerves. Thus asthma becomes clearly a disease due to blood impurities and nervous de- rangements, and the best line of treatment for cure is clearly indi- cated, but before saying more of treatment, it will be well to consider the various immediate or external causes that take a hand in stimu- lating asthmatic attacks. Many cases suffer their regular attacks whatever their abode or manner of living, but often it is evident that the "touchy" nerves are set off and the spasm brought on by states of the atmosphere, floating dust, plant spores or pollen, the emanations from a feather bed or from animals. Various odors, as from cooking or perfumes, may act as an exciting cause, and so may errors in diet, bringing on indigestion, or merely mental storms, such as anger or fright. The exciting cause is not always discoverable or necessarily present, but the predisposing causes in the states of the blood and nervous system must be ever present to render such exciting causes operative. Many an asthmatic, though really uncured, may avoid the attacks if he can discover some particular climate suited to him, but what gives comfort to one may do the reverse for another, and not infrequently the smoky and dusty air of cities is less stimulating, and so more bearable than the bracing and clear out-of-town air. Extremes of temperature, and of dryness or moisture in the m, are known to CONSUMPTION. 351 act as exciting causes; and variations in the electrical state of the atmosphere are very likely as influential as they are obscure. Some say that heredity can be traced in forty per cent, of asthmatics. The treatment is of two kinds, palliative and curative. When the attack comes on, it is natural to seek immediate relief, even by such nauseous doses as ipecac and lobelia, which help to relax spasm. Indian hemp and chloral are also employed for this purpose, but many get most prompt relief from breathing the stifling fumes of burning stramonium leaves and paper that has been soaked in nitre and dried. Strong coffee is a common resource, and even mustard plasters to the feet are enjoyed by some folks on such occasions. The curative treatment is such as is appropriate to removal of causes, to improve the state of the blood, and relieve the irritability of the nerves and their proneness to explosive action. This means the eradication of scrofula, gout, or malaria, if they be in the back- ground. Sometimes there is a nasal obstruction, such as nolypus, to be removed. Probably the seeming incurability of some persons is due to the impossibility of repressing their tendency to over- activity. They are full of business, nervous, active, energetic, and perpetually over-tax the nervous system, and keep it continually " unstrung," or below par, so that spasmodic asthma becomes even " natural" to them. The author has no recollection of ever failing in a case of asthma when the patient was under fifty years of age, while he has been successful in many on the shady side of fifty. The combination of electricity and medicine seems admirably adapted to the require- ments of asthmatic patients, and must almost invariably succeed. Consumption. We now come to an affection of the respiratory organs which is indeed serious. There is a terror in the name ! Published statistics show that one-fourth of all the deaths occurring in North America, France, and England, when no wide-spread epidemic prevails, are caused by diseases of the lungs. Make no account of infant mortality and the percentage is still larger. Is this mortality among consumptives inevitable? Is consumption, indeed, an incurable disease ? The results of enlightened new-school practice, it seem3 to me, prove otherwise. There is only a handful of doctors, com- paratively, on either continent, who know how to treat consumption. 352 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. The « National Cyclopaedia of American Biography," published by James T. White & Co. in 1893, Vol. III., speaking of the author of " Plain Home Talk," said: " In fact, he has, during his entire profes- sional career, demonstrated the curability of consumption." Nearly all educated physicians are perfectly acquainted with the disease as it is locally presented. One of the best descriptions of tubercle in its incipient and progressive stages is given in tho "American Cyclopaedia." "In the earliest stages the tubercular matter," remarks the writer, "presents itself in one of two forms: first as small, rounded, semi-transparent granulations, of a grayish color, varying in size from a A Fig. 90. millet seed to a pea, dissemin- ated throughout the affected portion of the lungs; in the progress of the disease a yellow spot is formed in the centre of the grayish matter, and this gradually increases until the whole becomes of a uniform color; second, the grayish mat- ter is infiltrated into the sub- stanceof the lungs in irregular masses; the yellowish points make their appearance in these masses, increase and coalesce, until the whole forms irregu- larly round bodies, varying in size from a pea to a hen's egg, more or less soft and friable, breaking down like cheese under the pressure of the fin- B, a pulmonary lobule, magnified in A, to gers. After a time these yel- ^Eg^gj#££&&& J « low bodies undergo a new sis involves these air-sacs. transformation; they begin to soften in the centre, and gradually become converted into a thick, yellowish fluid or semi-fluid matter. The abscesses containing this matter are termed vomicae; by degrees their contents find their way into the bronchial tubes, and are expec- porated, leaving ragged, irregular cavities in the lungs. These cavi* Mes at first; are rounded; old cavities are irregular in then* form, CONSUMPTION. 353 presenting anf ractuosities,and are commonly lined with a dense false membrane, while their walls and the neighboring pulmonary tissue are infiltrated with tubercle. The mucous membrane lining the bronchial tubes which are connected with old cavities, is almost in- variably inflamed and thickened. In a certain number of cases the trachea presents ulcerations varying in size and number ; the larynx is more rarely affected, and here the ulcerations are mostly confined to the vocal cords and the epiglottis," The symptoms of consumption the doctors mainly agree upon. They are, briefly : wasting of the flesh ; more or less cough in most cases ; shortness of breath ; expectoration of matter which falls below the surface of water, or sinks to the bottom, and, in some cases, streaked with blood ; growing contraction of the chest; quick pulse ; dry heat in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet ; flushes at times on the cheeks ; gradually increasing debility; and,in advanced stages of the disease, hectic fever ; chills ; copious expec- toration, in some cases with, and in others without blood ; night sweats ; eyes sunken and glassy ; cheeks hollow ; lips compressed ; nose pinched in its appearance ; complexion bloodless when fever is absent; and, in the last stages, great emaciation ; swelling of the extremities ; expectoration ash-colored and heavy ; relaxation of the bowels ; disturbed digestion ; and, in many cases, ulceration of the mouth and throat. Some cases pass through all of these stages with little or no cough, or pain in chest; but usually at the outset there is a hacking cough, which gradually increases as the disease progresses, both in severity and frequency; and weakness, pain,and constriction of the chest are experienced. What are tubercles ? Without wasting time and space with an investigation of old-fogy theories as held by a majority of medical writers, I shall denominate them inverted eruptions ; or, in other words, they consist of the presence of humors in the delicate sub- stance of the lungs, and in the lining of the air-vesicles, instead of the external skin. This view is sustained by the experience of hun- dreds who have been my patients with tuberculous difficulties, and whose pulmonary attacks dated with the disappearance of humors, or ulcers, from the cuticle. Once I had a case whose lung trouble commenced immediately after a suppurating ulcer on the knee had been healed up ; others were taken with consumptive symptoms when ealt-rheum, with which they had been for years troubled, left 354 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. the external skin; still others, whose lungs became affected imme- diately on the disappearance of an external humor from the chest. In these cases their family physicians had pronounced their diseases tuberculous consumption. Before effecting a cure, in many of them the cutaneous difficulty reappeared, and as soon as it did so the lungs were perceptibly relieved. Many persons, it is true, have tuberculous lungs who have never had a blotch or pimple on the skin. In these cases tho humors in the blood seem predisposed to attack the mucous membrane rather than the cuticle. Many invalids think their blood pure, because they have ever been free from any external signs of humors. Such per- sons, if affected with blood-impurities, have the most to fear from tubercles and ulcers in the lungs, because of the persistency of the blood to deposit its impurities on the internal linings. In all cases where consumption is a family disease, it will be dis- covered on investigation that scrofulous impurities are the cause. What I mean by family disease, is, when any affection is prevalent in a family, and usually the cause of the death of its members. In some cases consumption sweeps off a whole family. In othert, it picks them out here and there, a mother, a daughter, an uncle, a cousin, stc.; while other members of the family may appear quite well, or be affected with other local difficulties quite different in their character; but in both instances given, the physician should look for a scrofulous taint, and he will in a majority of cases find it. Treatment of Chronic Diseases of the Bheathing Organs.— In all of these difficulties excepting asthma (and in many cases this affection may be included), the main thing to be accomplished is to purify, enrich, and build up the corpuscles of the blood. In all cases of catarrh, inflammations or ulcerations of the throat, bronchitis, and consumption, the blood, on examination, is found to be inflam- matory and impure, or else deficient of red corpuscles, while all the substantial constituents of the blood exhibit a disposition to decay. I am constantly treating, and with gratifying success, invalids affected with the diseases under consideration, as will be observed in some extracts of letters given in Chapter XIII. of this part, and the reme- dies I employ are such as are calculated to restore the blood to its wonted richness and strength, and impart nervous vitality to the wasted and enervated system. It is held by many that the cause of this disease is an abortive or CONSUMPTION. 355 perverted nutrition, tubercle being produced instead of true tissue, and that the faulty nutrition, which results in tubercle, is caused by a deficiency of oily substances ! On the strength of this presump- tion, Dr. Hughes Bennett, some years ago, introduced cod-liver oil as a remedy. If there is nothing better to sustain the correctness of this theory than the results of the remedy employed, no argument is required to exhibit its fallacy. Cod-liver oil has been extensively resorted to by the medical profession in this country and Europe, for the last half of the nineteenth centuiy, and with what success, the public is too well aware to make statistics necessary. That oleagin- ous food and remedies are good, provided the patient is not dyspeptic as well as consumptive, there can be no doubt, because they furnish nutriment to the failing adipose tissue. But that cod-liver oil leads all other oleaginous remedies, facts thus far fail to demonstrate. A good story is related by a Pennsylvania paper of a German, residing in York City, in that State, who recently, while suffering from pulmonary attack, sent for one of the village doctors. In a short time the doctor called on him, prescribed two bottles of cod- liver oil, and receiving his fee of $8, was told by the German, who disliked the size of the bill, that he need not come again. The Ger- man, who, by the by, had not heard the doctor's prescription very well, supposed he could get the oil and treat himself. The doctor saw no more of his patient for some time; but one day, riding past the residence of the German, he was pleased to see him out in the garden digging lustily. The case seemed such a proof of the virtues of cod-liver that he stopped to make more particular inquiries about it. " You seem to be getting well," said he to the German. " Yaw, I ish well." "You took as much oil as I told you," queried the doctor. " Oh, yaw, I have used more as four, gallons of the dog-liver oil." "The what?" queried the astonished doctor. " De dog-liver oil dat you said I shall take. I have killed most every fat little dog I could catch, and the dog-liver oil has cured me. It is a great medi- cine, that dog-liver oil!" The doctor had nothing to say, but rode quickly away, and noted in his memorandum-book that consumption might be as readily cured with dog-liver as cod-liver oil. He might also have added in his diary that lamp-oil is as good as cod-liver oil. While in New Bedford (from which port a great number of whaling vessels are annually fitted out) some years ago, I was informed by some of the captains (they are all captains there!) that immense 356 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. quantities of pure sperm-oil were annually supplied to druggist? throughout the United States for the cod-liver oil trade ! There is a very simple process by which any one may determine whether any sample of cod-liver oil is genuine or not, and for those who are dis- posed to make use of cod-liver oil I will give it. Add nitric acid t' the oil. If it is pure, the color will be changed to a delicate carmine i ed. If it be impure, or adulterated with whale oil, or other animal fats, the color produced by adding the acid will be a brown or dirty red. In making the test, after adding the acid, agitate the mixture a little. Without resorting to any obnoxious oils like those just mentioned, any consumptive patient can obtain all the oleaginous matter neces- sary to supply the waste of his system, by eating those articles of wholesome food like roast and boiled beef, and boiled mutton, while his medication should be such as to deprive his blood of its impuri- ties. Dyspepsia is a very common companion of diseased lungs, and in such cases cod-liver oil, or even fat meats, are loathsome to the stomach, Dr. Pereira remarks that " fixed oil or fat is more diffi- cult of digestion and more obnoxious to the stomach than any other alimentary principle." " Indeed," adds he, " in some more or less obvious or concealed form, I believe it will be found the offending ingredient in nine-tenths of the dishes which disturb weak stomachs." Here, then, cod-liver oil not only ceases to be a remedy, but becomes an injurious medicine. What are cod-liver oil doctors to going to in such an extremity ? I have a suggestion which may help them out a little. It is to apply the oil externally with the friction of the hand. Any whole- some oil may be employed for this purpose, and the frequency of the application must depend upon the condition of the patient. If he be greatly emaciated, every other day would not be too frequent, bul che skin should be well frictionized with the naked hand, and the person making the application should be one in the full vigor of health. Any oily matter remaining after this application may be removed with a dry napkin. Fresh air is an indispensable aid in curing consumption. " It is wonderful," remarks Dr. Hall, "how afraid consumptive people are of fresh air, the very thing that would cure them, the only obstacle to a cure being that they do not get enough of it; and yet what infi- CONSUMPTION. 357 nite pains they take to avoid breathing it, especially if it is cold, when it is known that the colder the air is the purer it must be; yet; if people cannot get to a hot climate, they will make an artificial one, and imprison themselves for a whole winter in a warm room, with a temperature not varying ten degrees in si-x months; all such people die, and yet we follow in their footsteps. If I were seriously ill of consumption, I would live out of doors day and night, except it was rainingor mid-winter, then I wouldsleep in an unplastered log-house." It is quite common for the faculty to recommend consumptive invalids to go South, after they have made iome good round fees out of them! Probably this is because they want to get them off their fist of patients. They get tired of hearing them say—"I'm no better, doctor." Cold air is just as good for consumptives as warm, provided it is dry. This is the important consideration. There is almost invariably an excess of mucus in lung diseases, which causes profuse expectoration. A dry and negative atmosphere excites ac- tive electrical radiation from the system, wThich carries off the inter- nal moisture, rendering the mucous membrane less relaxed and the mucous secretions less copious. I would sooner go to Maine than to Florida if I had tuberculous lungs, although I would advise patients to go where they please, only taking care to avoid damp localities. " A change of climate," a newspaper writer remarks, " has been commonly believed to be beneficial to the person suffering with con- sumption. Sir James Clark, of England, has, however, assailed the doctrine with considerable earnestness, and a French physician, M. Carriere, has written against it; but the most vigorous opponent of it is a Dr. Burgess, of Scotland. He contends that climate has little or nothing to do with the cure of consumption, and that, if it had, the curative effects would be produced through the skin, and not through the lungs. That a warm climate is not of itself benefi- cial, he shows from the fact that the disease exists in all latitudes. In India or Africa, tropical climates, it is as frequent as in Europe and North America. At Malta, right in the heart of the genial Mediterranean, the army reports of England show that one-third of the deaths among the soldiers are by consumption. At Nice, a favorite resort of English invalids, especially those affected with lung complaints, more native-born persons die of consumption than in any English town of equal population. In Geneva this disease is almost equally prevalent." 358 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATmNG ORGANS. Notwithstanding, however, the opinions of Clark, Carriere, and Burgess, the results of my observation lead me to decide that chango of scene and climate is good for consumptives. The real mistake ig to depend upon any particular temperature of climate for restoration. If the patient travel through various localities, his system will gather up those properties of which it is deficient. If he lack iron, breath- ing the air, and drinking the water of a section where iron is largely produced, will of course benefit him. If lime be deficient in his system, the air and water of limestone countries will prove useful. For almost all cases of pulmonary disease, breathing the atmosphere of a pine region administers to the diseased mucous membrane a balsamic property which is beneficial. In this particular Dr. Burgess is wrong. The lungs and skin both take in what the system hankers after. You have only to place a diseased body in a position to come in contact with what it wants, and the vis medicatrix naturae will take it in and use it, just as a dry sponge will absorb water. The South, however, is no better than many northern climates. Some parts of Wisconsin are said to have superior climate for lung diseases. I have been told that horses with heaves, soon recover when driven to the central part of that State. Minnesota, too, has been highly recommended, and I have known of some cases visiting that State with benefit. It may be put down as a pretty good rule that persons living on the sea-shore, affected with pulmonary difficulties, may be benefited by a visit to Wisconsin, or Minnesota, or to some mountains in the interior; while those who have been accustomed to an inland climate may visit the sea-shore to advantage; but the theory that tropical climates favor the recovery of pulmonary invalids, is entirely exploded. The soil of Key West is enriched with the bones of deceased consumptives. People of a pulmonary diathesis, living on the northern and western slopes of mountains, may sometimes avoid the development of the disease, and when it actually exists, may be invariably bene- fited by seeking southern and eastern slopes. A proper understand- ing of this proposition may be obtained from a perusal of the essay, "Sunshine,"commencing on page 259. Inasmuch, however, as the subject introduced in this paragraph is a most important one, aa verified by my own experience in the treatment of pulmonary dis- ease, and also by the observation of others, I wish to present here an extract of an interesting letter written in 1858, by the Rev. CONSUMPTION. 359 Theodore Parker, to Dr. Bowditch. He had promised Dr. B., to write the result of some of his observations on consumption, and it was in fulfillment of this promise that the letter was written. The matter quoted may be found in the appendix to John Weiss's Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker. "I will begin," says Mr. Parker, "with the consumptive history of a single family which I will call the P.'s. "1st P. came to this country in 1634, and died 1690, aged eighty- one, leaving many sons and daughters. He had no consumption. " 2d P., his son, died aged eighty-six, leaving also many sons and daughters, and no consumption. "3d P., the son of the preceding, born 1664, at the family seat, in 1709 moved to another new settlement, and built him a great house which was thus situated: on the south-east slope* of a large range of hills, screened from the north and west winds, but open to the south and south-east; all the hills were heavily timbered, chiefly with oak, hickory, and pine. To the north-east, at the distance of some miles, hills of small elevation; these also, thickly covered with woods, shut out the sharp cold wind from that quarter. " The ground about the house, above it and below, was then wet, springy, and spongy, in consequence of the great woods on the hills; the culture and drainage have since remedied that evil. " But about fifty rods from the house, and perhaps sixty feet below it, there began a great fresh meadow of spongy peat, from two to fifteen feet in depth. This meadow, with its ramifications and spongy adjuncts, reaching up the hill-sides in various places, and filling the wooded ravines, would contain, say, perhaps, two or three hundred acres. " It was always wet all the year through; its neighborhood damp and chilly, especially toward evening; fogs could often be seen gather- ing there toward night of a clear day. " P. died at the age of eighty-two, with no sign of consumption in him, or his family, or their paternal or maternal ancestors. "4th P., son of the preceding, was born before his father removed to L----; but attended him in that removal, and died at the age of ----, leaving many sons and daughters, still with no signs ol ion- sumption. He inherited his father's house, and his children were born in or near it. * Mark this—smith-east slope. 360 CHRONIC DISEASES OP THE BREATHING ORGANS. " 5th P., son of the preceding, and in the same house, married a Miss S., who was descended from a similar family, which had lived for a hundred or a hundred and fifty years in a similar situation, a mile and a half off, where the house stood on the north-west side of a lull* and near a similar range of wet, spongy meadow, though less in depth and extent. Hitherto consumption had appeared in neither the P.'s nor the S.'s. "P. had eleven children, and himself died a hale old man at seventy-seven ; but his wife had passed away from him by consump- tion at about the age of sixty. Of his children, eight died of con- sumption, two of them between sixteen and nineteen; the rest were married, and attained various ages from twenty-five to forty-nine. Only two of his children are now living: one sixty, with no sign of pulmonary disease; the other forty-eight, I hope equally free from the family taint. " Two of the grandchildren of P. have also died of consumption. One son of P. moved from the family homestead, and settled on the piece of wet, spongy land, exposed to the bleakest west, north, and north-east winds. " He had six children, all of whom died of consumption between twenty and twenty-four. The parents soon followed, dying of a broken heart. " Early branches of the P. family who were settled in dry and sound localities, remain to this day, I think, free from that malady. " Another large family, settled in the neighborhood of the same great meadow for, perhaps, the same length of time, has been con- sumptive for two generations, though many of them have removed to better situations, or were even born therein. " The S. family in the generation I spoke of consisted of ten sons and two daughters. " Both daughters died of consumption, but I think none of the sons, though the daughters of the sons and several of their male children who grew up temperate did. One of the daughters married P. ; the other one married a strong, hearty man of enormous stature, with no tendency to any specific disease. She had four sons, one intemperate, who is now fifty-five years old and well; three temperate, all settled in healthy places, and at wholesome business, and all died of consumption between twenty and twenty-five. * Mark this—north-west slope. CONSUMPTION. 361 "Hence," continues Mr. Parker, "I draw carefully these infer- ences:— " 1st. That the healthiest of families, living in such a situation as I have described, generation after generation, acquire the consump- tive disposition, and so die thereof.* "2d. That it sometimes requires several generations to attain this result. " 3d. That members of the family born with this consumptive dis- position often perish thereby, though they live and are even born iu healthy localities. "4th. Intemperate habits (when the man drinks a pure, though coarsa and fiery liquor, like New England rum) tend to check the consumptive tendency, though the drunkard who himself escapes its consequences, may transmit the fatal seed to his children. '•In addition to what I have already mentioned, here are two striking cases:— " 1. I know a consumptive family living in a situation like that I have mentioned, for perhaps the same length of time, who had four sons. Two of them were often drunk, and always intemperate, one of them as long as I can remember; both consumptive in early life, but now both hearty men from sixty to seventy. The two others were temperate, one drinking moderately, the other but occasionally. They both died of consumption, the oldest not over forty-five. " 2. Another consumptive family in such a situation as has been Already described, had many sons and several daughters. Th« laughters were all temperate, married, settled elsewhere, had chil- dren, died of consumption, bequeathing it also to their posterity. But five of the sons whom I knew were drunkards, some of the sxtremest description; they all had the consumptive build, and in early life showed signs of the disease, but none of them died of it; some of them are still burning in rum. There was one brother temperate, a farmer living in the healthiest situation. But I was told he died some years ago of consumption." This letter of Mr. Parker's illustrates two facts, namely : the value of a healthful location, and the benefits which may be derived in some cases from the use of alcoholic stimulants. As the reader will * There Is no evidence given In Mr. Parker's letter, of consumption having been pro- duced in any situation described, excepting the ones he speaks of as located on the " north-west or north-east side of a hilL" 16 362 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. observe, Mr. Parker evidently intended to call attention to the effects of that peat meadow; but by analyzing the facts as presented, it will be observed that the P----family, so long as they remained on the south-eastern slope, were healthy, but when one of them camo to marry into another family on the north-western slope and reside there, consumption presented itself. The presence of this damp meadow was undoubtedly prejudicial to both slopes, but it will readily be perceived how, with surroundings no more prejudicial to one slope than the other, consumption was not developed on tho south-eastern, but was produced on the north-western slope. So far as the influence of liquor is concerned ia preventing the develop- ment of pulmonary disease, as Mr. P---- was personally a total abstainer and a zealous advocate of temperance reform, Avhat is said about the effects of New England rum upon families of a consump- tive tendency, cannot be attributed to any personal predilections in favor of rum drinking. The precise way in which alcoholic stimulus affects favorably a person of scrofulous or consumptive tendency, is explained in what I have presented on Vinous and Distilled Liquors commencing near the close of page 81. Many physicians, however, depend too greatly upon this treatment. I have had many consumptive invalids come to me, who, without a moment to spare in the adoption of some thorough and skillful treatment, were mainly depending upon Bourbon whiskey and cream, which had been recommended by their physicians. In some cases they were absolutely using nothing else! Many consumptive invalids are especially alarmed when hemor- rhage occurs. This fear is not well-founded. Men often survive even the severest accidents to the lungs, and live to a good old age. The old Indian chief, O'Brien Skadogh, received, during the Revolutionary war, a bayonet wound in the right lung while fighting under General La Fayette. Yet it is said that v ~ was a strong, erect, and lofty man of 104 years! General Shields received a severe wound in one of his lungs in the Mexican war, and entirely recovered. During the great rebellion, cases came under ray own observation, where soldiers were absolutely shot through the lungs, and still lived. If such lacerations can be survived when nature is attacked without warn- ing, there is certainly every chance to cure bleeding lungs, gradually induced by disease, when nature is watching the affected parts and assisting every good remedy employed for mending a breach. CONSUMPTION. 363 'xfc is not a little curious that the pulmonary artery and vein, when approached by tubercles, contract and sometimes fill up with a fibrous substance, so as to prevent or stop hemorrhage. But when the bayonet, the sword, or the bullet suddenly pierces any part of the lungs, nature for the moment is overpowered, and it is almost surpris- ing how she ever recovers herself in season to heal the wounded part. When, therefore, nature exhibits such miraculous power to save lacerated lungs, let not the consumptive despond because, per- chance, he raises blood. My success, and that of many others who have given much attention to affections of the lungs, has established the possibility of curing pulmonary hemorrhage, whether induced by tubercle or suppressed menstruation. The entire destruction of one lung by tubercles or ulceration need not excite serious apprehension, if the invalid is so situated as to be able to avail himself of superior medical skill. Persons often live to a good old age with only one lung. I Ig' ' particular, illustra- tive of this remark : a lady, whose case was given up as hopeless by a score or more of physicians, but who has been kindly spared to her husband and children through the instrumentality of my treat- ment, Ju her case the left lung had been entirely consumed, and the 364 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. destructive disease had made considerable inroad on her right lung. The last examination which I had the pleasure of making showed that the right lung had so expanded as to fill nearly one-half the cavity occasioned by ihe destruction of the left. The reason of this is obvious. The right lung having to perform the same amount of labor intended for two, the air-vesicles by degrees enlarged, and with their expansion the lobes extended their increased dimensions into the vacant chamber of the left chest. Accounts are given in the records of some of the French hospitals, of old people who have died of other than pulmonary diseases, and whose chests on being opened, exhibited the fact that they had lived many years with only one lung. Healed cavities have also been found in the lungs of such subjects, showing that either nature or the physician had cured them of consumption. President Jeremiah Day, of Yale College, during his early life was interrupted in his studies by lung disease and alarming pulmonary hemorrhage, but he lived to the age of 95 years! " An autopsy revealed the existence of cicatrices or scars of former ulcers in the upper part of both lungs, showing that extensive consumptive disease had existed more than sixty years before, the recovery from which had been com- plete." "Here, then," says Dr. Hubbard, in a paper read before the annual convention of the Connecticut Medical Society, " was all that remained to mark the beginning, progress, and cure of a case of tubercular consumption, occupying twelve years in its period of activity, and with its incipient stage dating back more than three- quarters of a century. A legible record, surpassing in interest and importance to the human race those of the slabs of Nineveh, or the Runic inscriptions." It will be observed that President Day was affected with ulcers in both lungs. Many times only the right lung is attacked. When this is the case a cure is comparatively easy, because the right one lias three lobes as exhibited in Fig. 89. One of these may be obliter- ated by disease without serious harm to the invalid, while the loss of one of the left lobes can hardly be afforded. Cheerfulness and freedom from mental excitement are essential to the recovery of a consumptive patient. This fact becomes apparent when the philosophy of respiration is explained. It is held by all medical writers whose books I have read, that respiration is wholly produced by the upward and downward motion of the diaphragm CONSUMPTION. 365 which divides the stomach fuoni the lungs. This is only true in part. Besides the movements of the diaphragm, I am convinced by experiments, that the air-vesicles, permeated as they are by minute nerves, have a contractive and expansive power in themselves, so that when the diaphragm is in any way disabled or prevented from per- forming its functions freely, the lungs can in a measure supply them- selves with air. The unprofessional reader must understand that the lungs are not expanded by the a;r entering into them. The dia- phragm falls and the air-vesicles are opened by the same electric force which is employed by the brain in producing the pulsations of the heart. A vacuum created, and the air rushes in—this is the act of inhaling. The diaphragm contracted and drawn up, and the vesicles closed by the electric force acting on the nerves ramifying through these organs, and the air is expelled—this is exhaling. Were the human system wholly dependent upon the upward and downward movement of the diaphragm for respiration, women who compress their chests with corsets, and other close-fitting garments, would be unable to breathe at all. It is true that such foolish people breathe but little, and that the air penetrates only the upper portion of the lungs. But what little air they do inhale is chiefly obtained by the expansion of the air vesicles, nearly or quite inde- pendent of the movements of the diaphragm, which becomes literally paralyzed. The action of the nervo-electric forces on the nerves ramifying through the respiratory organs, being the motive power which keeps them in motion, and the brain being the reservoir from which the nervo-electric forces are derived, the reader can readily perceive how necessary is tranquillity of mind for the promotion of convalescence in the consumptive, and also how pulmonary diffi- culties may be induced by grief and trouble. The possibility of the development of consumption out of nervous prostration, through a partial paralysis of the nerves which control the nutrition of the lung-tissue is explained in Chapter XII., on Nervous Diseases. Some writers have even gone so far as to claim that consumption is invariably of such origin, and that there is never a chance for microbes to settle and tubercles to develop until the failure of nutritionhas prepared the soil for these seeds of tuber- culosis. This idea is favored by the success of electricity or elec- trical medication in many cases. Vital electricity is undoubtedly more intense than any which can be artificially produced; but as 366 CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE BREATHING ORGANS. quantity can be obtained to any desirable extent by various electrical contrivances, it often surpasses intensity in effectiveness. In all cases of affection of the lungs the blood must be properly attended to. As intimated in various portions of this essay, almost all the diseases of these organs arise from impurities of the vascular fluids. It is for this reason that inhalants should not be depended upon to the exclusion of other remedies. There are physicians who treat pulmonary diseases exclusively with remedies to be inhaled. Their success is in no instance permanent, excepting in those cases wherein the affection had been induced by simply an inflammatory condition of the blood. The inflammation subsiding, and the irri- tated mucous"membrane healed by the inhalants, a cure in this way may have been possible. The value of inhalants is not for a moment to be questioned. They must in nearly all cases be employed to some extent, but to rely upon thein exclusively is almost as absurd as to stake the life of the patient upon the success of whiskey and cream. What I have said, commencing on page 313, on the subject of inhalation, may be interesting to the consumptive reader. With the advancement which has been made by a few independent medical men in the treatment of consumption, no one suffering with this disease should for a moment entertain the idea that his or her case is hopeless. The popular systems of drugging have of course proved futile, and because you have failed to receive relief at the hands of your family physician, or from the use of some popular panacea, you may settle down into the belief that your disease is beyond the reach of human skill. From this despondency, rally, I pray you. Waste no time in uncertain experiments, but place your case in the hands of some physician who devotes his exclusive attention to the treatment of chronic diseases. Many years ago in northern Vermont a well-known merchant was stretched upon a bed in the last stages of consumption, as was confidently supposed. The best physicians of his county had given him up, and celebrated medical skill of Montreal had been resorted to, but the wise men of the profession shook their heads. It was expected that he could not survive many days. In this hour of gloom, his devoted wife deter- mining to make one more effort, sat down by. the bedside of the sick man, and in a letter to the author presented the symptoms. Guided simply by this presentation of the case, I prepared and forwarded medicines which fortunately arrived in time. Immediately on taking CONSUMPTION. 367 them, his strength revived, and so rapidly, that it was feared the treatment consisted of some strange and powerful stimulant. It was gravely predicted by the doctors and neighbors, that a fatal reaction would soon follow. I was even blamed for the presumption of holding out any encouragement of cure in this hopeless case ; but, to the happy disappointment of his friends, he steadily gained until he was restored to the family circle, his business avocations, and his former health. Although I had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman after his recovery, I have been instrumental in curing- hundreds that I have never seen ; one case, in the same section of country as the above, of hemorrhage of the lungs, which had also been pronounced hopeless by resident physicians. The case, indeed, was regarded as so far beyond the reach of medicine or other means of cure, that at the time he consulted me the doctors had ceased .to prescribe, and he was simply keeping up on stimulants. In recent years much has been said of the Consumption Bacilli, discovered by the German physician, Dr. Koch. But after pro- tracted discussion it has been pretty generally conceded that the bacilli are an incident to the disease, rather than in any way a cause. In some cases they are not found. If the blood is in a good condition tubercle cannot locate in the lungs, and without the tubercle there can be no bacilli. The latter may have something to do with communicating the disease to a healthy person, but care of the sputa by burning it as soon at it is raised will prevent the communicability of the malady. In treating consumption, whatever is done to meet the acute symptoms, the main thing to be aimed at is the blood. Use all the adjunctive means which observation and experience approve, but do not neglect the important work of restoring strength and purity to that fluid which circulates through all parts of the system, and imparts to every organ the atoms it needs for preserving its whole- ness and integrity. Auxiliary remedies may better be dispensed with than this one for the regeneration of the blood ; but the wise and experienced physician, while he works with the main lever, will employ as many assisting ones as can be usefully adopted. In conclusion let me urge all who have perused the foregoing essays on diseases of the breathing organs, to turn to Chapter XIII. in this part, and read it attentively. CHAPTER III. CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. LL of the organs named in the heading of Urn chapter are in some way accessory to the functioc of digestion. Let us examine, then, the process w-hich food goes through to nourish and support animal life. First, it is taken into the mouth, and is, or should be, thoroughly mixed with the saliva, by proper mastication. This (the saliva) is electrically a negative, be- cause an alkaline fluid. Descending the oesophagus, or canal leading to the stomach, it is precipitated into the gastric juices of the stomach, which are electrically a positive, be- cause an acid fluid. Here, under the laws of electrical attraction, the gastric or positive fluid takes hold in earnest in pene- trating and dissolving the particles of matter already permeated by the saliva or negative fluid. This process is further stimulated by the presence of nervous or electrical forces sent from the brain, through the pneumo-gastric nerves, which keep up a constant tele- graphic communication between the brain and the stomach. (See page 28.) By the time the digestible portions of the food become dissolved, and well saturated with the gastric or positive fluid, it is next carried into the lower stomach, or duodenum. Here it meets with two fluids: one, the bile, sent by the liver through the gall-blad- der and its duct; and the other, the pancreatic fluids furnished by the pancreas or sweetbread. Now the latter, like the saliva iB strongly alkaline, or negative, and, inasmuch as that portion of the food which has been reduced to the finest pulp contains the greatest quantity of gastric or positive fluid, a combination at once takes place between them. Then the bile is slightly alkali»e, or negative, while the indigestible portions of the food are only slightly saturate! with the gastric or positive fluid, consequently these very naturally DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. ,'}C<] coalesce under the laws of chemical or electrical attraction. Fig. 92 will assist in giving a proper understanding of this ex- planation. Thus we see how the nutritious mat- ter is separated from the innutritious or useless. Under the laws of electro- chemical attraction, mar- riages take place between inanimate as well as be- tween animate bodies. The pancreatic fluids mar- ry the nutritious, and the bile marries the innutri- tious. The former com- bination is sucked up by the absorbents to nourish the system, while the lat" ter passes along down into the colon, where there is a sort of rendezvous for fecal matter. How well adapted the bile is to act as a consort must be seen when it is remembered that it is a soapy kind of fluid, well calculated to lu- bricate the faeces and make them pass easily through the intestines. The bile, too, gives the yellow color to the fecal discharges. I have never seen in any medical work, nor have I ever heard, a philosophical description of the process Fig. 92. DIGESTIVE MACHINERY. This figure gives in a diagramatic way a good idea of the digestive organs, a, mouth; b, tongue; h, oesophagus; i, stomach; o, gall- bladder; m, duodenum; n, bile-duct orifice; q, small intestines; p. pancreas; s, ileo-ccecal valve where small intestine joins large; u, ascending colon; v, transverse colon; x, de- scending colon; y, flexure of colon; z, rectum. 370 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. of digestion, and the separation of nutritious from innutritioul matter. I presume the theory I have given will be new to all my readers, professional as well as non-professional; but when tha chemical constituents of the bile and the pancreatic fluids are taken into consideration, together with those of the saliva and gastric juices, does it not perfectly accord with common sense? If so. and I think it does, it is eminently proper that the pages of this book should give birth to it, for the author of Medical Common Sensb desires to make them the disseminators of original views, bearing the impress of self-evident truth. Chrcnic Affections of the Liver. The liver is the largest organ in the body, and is subject to a variety of chronic as well as acute disorders. The office of the liver is to suck up from the blood those properties which constitute bile, and to send them to the duodenum to assist digestion, as explained in the foregoing essay, and then to the intestines to lubricate and soften the excrementitious matters, and conduct them through the serpen- tine intestinal canal. The most common derangement to which the liver is subject ia Torpidity. This is the result of nervous disturbances. Either the nervous forces are unequally distributed among the organs, or there is an insufficient supply of nervous vitality in the system. In either case, the liver lacks nervous stimulus, and the organ may be said to be partially paralyzed. Grief, fright, dissipation, or some bad habit, may produce an unequal distribution of the nervous forces among the different organs of the system. I often meet with cases wherein there is too great an expenditure of nervous force upon the heart, producing too rapid pulsations or palpitation, while the liver is almost deprived of it. Other organs may sometimes receive an excess at the expense of the liver. When nervous debility exists, or when the patient is unconscious of any such debility, and his system does not contain its ordinary supply of nervous vitality, with which to keep the various vital organs active, N^hire, ever disposed to avoid greater evils, is apt to withdraw a portion or the nervous stimuli from the liver. Why ? Because no one of the other vital organs can be slighted with the same impunity. Partially deprive the heart of the nervous forces, and CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE LIVER 371 itt pulsations would become so feeble that death would soon ensue. Partially deprive the diaphragm and lungs of them, and respiration would become difficult. The patient would gradually die of suffoca- tion. Partially deprive the kidneys of them, and the secretions of the urine would be retarded, speedily followed with dropsy or some- thing worse. Digestion of food in the stomajb must go on, however imperfect, or the system wastes for the want of nourishment, and nervous forco must be supplied in abundance to stimulate the digest- ive process. In brief, the partial withdrawal of the nervous or elec- trical forces from any other vital organ than the liver would be followed with more dangerous consequences. Still, good old dame Nature, the common-sense nurse, will not deprive the liver of its due share of nervous stimuli, without giving notice at the same time to the invalid. She paints his face yellow with the bile which the liver fails to secrete from the blood. She constipates his bowels, and in some cases, to urge him on to give proper attention to himself, afflicts him with a painful and annoying difficulty in the rectum and anus called piles. While thus urging the invalid to give her means whereby to relieve the liver, she often gets insulted with a dose of calomel. She "asks for bread and gets a stone." But she gra- ciously pockets the insult, knowing that it is the result of ignorance, and applies the nervous force, generated by the contact of the mer- curial substance with the gastric juice or acid of the stomach, to the stimulation of the liver. The good old dame is then pestered to know how to get rid of the mercury, and, in some cases, allows it to attack eome muscle, bone, or nerve, in order that the pain resulting therefrom may drive the victim to efforts to get rid of it. Although torpid livers are found almost everywhere, they are more common in the South and newly-settled West than in any other local- ities in this country. I scarcely ever examine an invalid from the South, who has not a dead liver. My theory for this is, that in trop- ical latitudes, in consequence of the expansion of the air by heat, less oxygen by weight is inhaled, and that consequently there is not so much oxygen or electricity imparted to the system, through the medium of the lungs, as in colder climates, while, at the same time, the blood is less decarbonized, leaving more for the liver to do. Under such a climatic influence the system is apt to become deficient in nervous vitality, and overloaded with carbon, unless the habits 01 the people are good. 372 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. Proper attention to diet and other habits would, in a majority of cases, avert such a tendency; but our friends in hot climates like living up to the northern epicurean standard, and not unfrequently absolutely exceed it. Thus an excess of work is given to the liver by tho use of too much carbonaceous food, and less nervous force ia supplied by respiration to enable it to perforin the labor. While, in the extreme north, barbarous epicures may glut their stomachs with the blubbers and skins of whales, putrid whales' tails, decayed seals, the entrails of the rypeau, mixed with fresh train-oils, etc., without serious consequences, those of southern latitudes should eat but little animal food, and particularly avoid rich gravies, and other aliments which fill the system with carbon. " Greasy matters," says a popu- lar writer, " though composed mostly of waste, useless, and excre- mentitious materials, which have accumulated in the cellular reposi- tory because the process of alimentation was increased beyond that of elimination, are not strictly poisonous. They doubtless contain a very small quantity, yet very impure quality, of substances converti- ble into nutriment. But as food they are to be regarded as next to venous blood in grossness and impurity." Considering, then, that the liver has to filter out a great share of this impure and gross matter, it can be readily seen why, at least, those living in climates predisposing them to inactive livers, should not eat such food. Instead of being more careless in their diet, the inhabitants of warm countries should be much more careful than those living in colder climates, so that, by preserving a healthy liver, this organ may do part of the work usually given to the lungs. Where the air is expanded by heat, and conse- quently less oxygen by weight inhaled at each inspiration, there is need for this. In unborn infants, who are entirely shut out from the oxygen of the air, the liver has to do the work of the lungs in decar- bonizing the blood, but nature provides for this necessity by making the liver larger than all the internal viscera, and still larger in propor- tion in utero life. After birth, when the lungs begin to perform their functions, this relative disproportion is modified, and it then behooves the more developed being to keep both organs in a healthful state. People living under a southern sun can do this with care and the exercise of a little self-denial. Their food should be nutritious rather than stimulating. Gluttony and dissipation above all things should be rigidly avoided. Remember that the golden rays of the sun may CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE LfVER 373 Fig. 98. THE ETHIOPIAN. paint the complexion brown, while every organ is faithfully perform- ing its functions, but that when old dame Nature brings in a tint of yellow, the liver has failed in the performance of its duty. What I have just said regarding the Influence of the atmosphere of the tropics on the liver, is applicable to the Caucasian rather than to the Ethi- opian race. The Creator has done all things well, and those who were es- pecially made to breathe the scorched air of tropical climes have broader nostrils and greater depth and breadth of the respiratory apparatus (see fig. 93), so that they may inhale a greater quantity of the heat-expanded atmosphere at each inspiration than can the Caucasian (see fig. 94), with his compressed nostrils and less capacious throat and lungs. The liver, too, of the negro, is propor- tionately larger, while his nervous system does not possess that acute sensitiveness and liability to disorder which characterize the finely organized nervous structure of the white man. Nor does he seem to require so much nervous stimulus to carry on his sluggish physical machinery. Our sable brother is almost a stranger to nervous dis- eases. He sometimes has liver derangements arising from vascular impurities, but even then he gets off with comparatively little suffer- ing, for the reason that his excretory pores are as much more open than those of his white neighbor as the texture of his skin is coarser. Hence the odorous effluvia which proverbially emanate from the skin of the unadulterated negro. In perfect health, the excretions of his skin greatly relieve the depurating labors of his liver, and when hepatic difficulties do overtake him, the amount of the excretions is considerably increased, unless the pores are simultaneously closed. The physical organization of the Ethiopian also better enables him to withstand the deleterious influences of bad air in malarious dis- tricts. It has been found that the hanging of wet blankets or sheets at the open windows in malarious regions, greatly purifies the air which enters an apartment. This is because water is a disinfectant, rendered so by its disposition to take up poisonous gases. Well, now, the negro has as good protectors as wet blankets or sheets at 374 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. his mouth and nasal passages. The red lining of the lips and nostrils in health is always moist, as all know. Hence the large lips and nostrils with which he is provided, with their large surfaces of the moist red lining or mucous membrane, serve as disinfectant protectors, such as the Caucasian, with his thin lips and compressed nostrils, does not possess. And tho rule may be put down as invariable, that those persons, black or white, who have the thickest and widest lips, and the largest and broadest nostrils can the best endure the depressing atmosphere of malarious tropics. Disturbances in the purity and tonicity of the air, are what pre- dispose the people of new countries to torpid livers. The miasmatic emanations from the soil of a country recently cleared of its timber and shrubbery, greatly adulterate the atmosphere, and thereby in- duce those nervous disturbances which are so apt to leave the liver without sufficient nervous stimuli. Our Western friends are famous for torpid livers. Nearly all of them are enveloped in sallow skins; and in those presenting themselves to me for medical examination, I usually find the liver seriously involved, whatever other complica- tions may exist. Even the livers of beef cattle driven here from those regions, and slaughtered for our market, are seldom free from disease. It may not be possible, therefore, for the pioneers of new coun- tries to entirely escape hepatic or liver complaints; but it is never- theless true that such difficulties are more prevalent among them than would be the case if proper regard were paid to hygienic laws. Western farmers are proverbially great pork-eaters, and pork-eating overloads the blood with carbon, and gives the liver too much work to do. Nor are farmers alone addicted to the use of filthy swine's flesh. The denizens of Western cities glut their stomachs with spare- ribs and sausages. The farmers usually carry more healthy counte- nances than citizens, because their physical exercises are better cal- culated to dispose of the excess of waste and impure matter by per- spiration, There is another reason why citizens wear a more sallow 53 CHRONIC AFFECxiUiNiS OF THE LIVER 375 skin than the industrious farmer, which is, the vice in all cities of turning night into day, while farming communities, exhausted with physical labor, retire early. A Western citizen supposes he can ex- pose himself to night air with no greater injury than the indweller of the old Eastern cities receives who does the same foolish thing. This is an error. Miasmatic vapors, as before remarked, are more excessive in new cities, and at night-time they mingle more freely with the lower strata of air. Then, too, vegetation which, during the day, takes up carbon and gives off oxygen, reverses this process at night, so that carbonic gases are its nocturnal exhalations. Here, then, we see why our Western neighbors can not imitate the vices of our Eastern metropolitans without suffering a severer penalty by bringing upon themselves greater derangements of the nervous harmony and biliary system. To avoid these derangements they should not indulge, excessively, in carbonaceous food and drink; they should retire early, select for sleeping-rooms those apartments most elevated from the ground, in order to get beyond the miasmatic gases which hover near the earth's surface at night-time ; open the windows for ventilation, and if the sleeping-room be near the ground, to escape the poisonous vapors, hang wet curtains before the windows, for water, as before remarked, is an excellent disinfectant, and readily takes up deleterious gases. In the most unhealthy localities it ia better to ventilate sleeping apartments by thio process than to breathe, over and over again, the air which has been poisoned by the exhala' tions from the lungs and skin. Persons of sedentary habits m all countries, can see from the preceding suggestions, the necessity of breathing pure air and observ- ing correct dietetic rules if they would preserve healthy livers and a skin free from the sallow tint of bile. Probably the ubiquitous patent medicine almanacs and advertise- ments are in the main responsible for the fact that the liver i,s blamed for the greatest number of human ills. A large class of chronic complaints find some satisfaction in the ready-made diag- nosis " Oh ! my liver is out of order," and, though the doctors are inclined to laugh at the diagnosis, the chances are that the people are more than half right. When we consider the size and the numerous important functions of the liver, and its close relations with all the vital organs, it would seem that if anything goes wrong with any of them the liver must get "out of order" too, If it be 376 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. not deserving of all that is charged to its account, yet it is general]} one of the delinquents; but in justice be it said, it is less the fault of the liver than of the man who carries it, and who puts impossible tasks upon it. In fact the liver does nobly, and compensates for much that other organs fail to do. It not only supplies bile to take part in the intestinal digestive processes, but it stands as a filter between the absorbent veins of the intestines and the general blood Fig. 95. The liver, under side, showing 1, 2, 3, right, left, and middle lobes; 8, gall- bladder; 9, 10, 11, gall ducts; 12, artery; 13, portal vein, which conveys blood from stomach and intestines to the liver; 15-18, veins conveying blood to heart. circulation, receiving all that has been taken up by them, working some over into proper shape for use, holding some in its storage for a better time, and eliminating in the bile those products which it would be unsafe to let pass. So it is a sort of rag-sorter, and a fac- tory for working raw materials into finer form and eliminating the dross. Digestion is not half completed in the alimentary canal; the liver has its turn, and the products of digestion get a final cleansing in the process of oxygenation in the lungs. The liver carries on several important lines of work—more than can be told here—and as yet physiologists don't comprehend them CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE LIVER. 377 all; but it is pretty certain that one of its most important functions is to act as a sentinel against poisons sent to it from the intestinal absorbents. Digestion is seldom perfect, in spite of the gastric juice and numerous other digestive fluids, so that considerable food undergoes putrefactive change instead of digestion, and thus poisons develop which would do great harm if taken into the general circu- lation, but, being carried in the portal vein to the liver, they are arrested and transformed or cast out in the bile. If the contents of the intestines become too rotten day after day, the extra work thrown on the liver may tire it out, so there is reason enough why it should often become torpid. Then the poisons slip through it and bring on symptoms of biliousness, feverishness, and various depressing effects on the nervous system. The ordinary symptoms of biliousness are dull, heavy, drowsy feelings, even to sick headache, sallow or yellow stained complexion, sometimes approaching that of jaundice, yel- low-coated tongue and unpleasant taste, tendency to nose-bleeding or to hemorrhoids (from interference with blood circulation through a sluggish, congested liver), and mental moods of gloomy, despond- ent, and irritable kind. Locally there may be a sense of aching, heaviness, or weight in the right side. A catarrhal state of the blood is one of the results of liver torpor, and it is hardly possible to check catarrhal discharges anywhere until the liver has been re- stored to pretty normal activity. It is now being taught that when such disordered states are pro- • longed, they may lead to diabetes and Bright's disease, for Prof. Bouchard and others have proved, by actual experiment on dogs, that when portal blood is sent into the general circulation without passing through the liver poisonous symptoms appear, consisting of fever, nephritis (Bright's disease), and albuminuria. No doubt the fiver itself suffers and flinches when overloaded with poison prod- ucts of imperfect digestion, and so in course of time its own tissue may become altered through inflammatory action, and what has been a torpid, overworked, tired, and functionally deranged liver becomes a hard, knotty, and contracted liver, one organically dis- eased, and that is called cirrhosis. Its duties are then more neg- lected than ever, the blood takes on a chronic state of self-poisoning, and its circulation through the narrowed blood vessels is so impeded that dropsy develops, generally abdominal, and matters go from bad to worse till the end. 378 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. When the liver becomes irritated enough to harden and contract it is too late to talk of a cure, and therefore it is well to take notice of its first signals of distress, and give it a rest, or make things aa easy for it as possible by a course of diet, abstemiousness, and medi- cines that help to make its tasks easier. From what has been said of the liver's functions it is easy to conclude that all means that will improve or perfect the first digestion will be of service to a torpid or an overstrained liver. Further, since all food products, good or bad, must pass its inspection and manipulation, its day's work can be lessened by eating lightly, especially of concentrated foods, such as meats, fats, and sweets, and allaying the appetite mainly with fruits, green stuff, and succulent vegetables, with plenty of water to flush the main pipe and sewer. Morbid appetite is one unfortunate symptom of congested liver, and ignorance of this fact is a large factor in the obstinacy of liver and digestive disorders. It must be held in check, as all the "liver invigorators " ever devised cannot relieve congestion when it is not. Another unfortunate symptom or effect of liver torpor is constipa- tion, because the bile is an important element for stimulating peri- staltic (muscular worm-like) action of the intestines, besides its saponifying effect on their contents, which renders fecal matter more easily movable. Liver torpor favors constipation, and con- stipation aggravates liver torpor. Some say that calomel, long famous for its supposed stimulative effect on the liver, has no effect on that organ, but affords relief only by hurrying the bile down and out of the intestines. Much of the unwise employment of mercurial preparations has been laid aside, but the relief of biliousness and constipation by cal- omel is seemingly so prompt and efficient, that very likely it is as much misapplied in this manner as ever—possibly more. Mercury is a foreign body to the human system, and can have no rightful place in its economy in health or disease. It is a mineral not nor- mally found in any of the bodily tissues, but with a peculiar power of amalgamating with them, and settling down as a permanent ele- ment, much to their discomfort. It would do far more damage except that most of it is cast out with the cathartic effort of nature to get rid of it; but when regularly used the little that is absorbed of every dose accumulates to undermine the constitution, as surely as it softens and disintegrates metals with which it comes in con- CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE LIVER. J7Q tact. Even the old school practitioners ax-e learning that there are "eclectic specifics" which give as prompt relief as mercury, and which may be repeated time after time, and employed year after year without injury. My "vegetable anti-bilious pills" afford a combination of safe and pleasant persuaders of norma] function, that is a perfect substitute for blue pill, suitable for all ages, tem- peraments and climates. The difficulty of separating liver and "stomach disorders" in diagnosis will also be made evident in considering another way in which the liver suffers from its relations to its neighbors. The bile- duct (see Fig. 92 o N) is a small tube which conveys the bile to the duodenum, or that portion of the small intestine which leads off from the stomach, and in which intestinal digestion begins. When this part suffers from inflammation and catarrh, the trouble extends into the bile-duct, narrows the calibre, and impedes the flow of bile, besides vitiating it. This diseased action may go so far as to cause a full blockade, a damming back of bile, and jaundice, with its characteristic yellow stain of the whole skin. Except when the liver becomes torpid and ineffi- cient because of lack of nervous stimulus, it is fair to suppose that it would have the right to say to The *»««" »«iits duct3 th™S* wWch . the pancreatic fluids pass to the duodenum. its neighbors, when charged with disorderly conduct, "You began it," but when the doctor is called to repress disorder, he must deal with all parts involved. When matters in this region have been permitted to go wrong for some time, it often happens that gall-stones are formed, and their passage through the slender duct is attended with terrific spasmodic pains, cold sweats, and vomiting—an attack of gall-stone colic— and such attacks may occur periodically for years, unless corrective treatment be applied. Very large stones may be formed in the gall- bladder, and be removed by cutting through the abdominal walls. The largest we ever saw pictured was like a small potato, two inches long by over an inch in diameter. The pancreas is a near-by glandular organ that secretes a fluid of great digestive power, and no doubt suffers much as the liver does from its similar relations to bad neighbors. If the truth were known, possibly torpid pancreas is as common as torpid liver, but 380 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH AND BOWELS. as ic has only one function instead of the numerous duties 01 „he liver, it is a less important organ, and if it naps occasionall we are less liable to know it, When seriously affected it is supposed to bring on diabetes, and cancer is another one of its possible dis- eases, but its worst forms of disease are seldom attended with well- defined symptoms, and so are not easily discovered. Dyspepsia. This is one of the most common diseases that afflict humanity, and the suffering is by no means confined to the greatly abused stomach. The brain at once enters into sympathy with this important organ of digestion when it is disordered. So intimately are the head and stomach connected by the nervous system that mental dis- turbances will destroy appetite, and arrest the progress of digestion; and digestive derangements will produce depression of spirits, irri- tability, hypochondria, and almost insanity. The immediate causes of dyspepsia, nearly everybody is familiar with. They are—rapid, immoderate, and irregular eating; excessive drinking; injudicious drugging; tight dressing of the waist; exces- sive brain labor; grief; anxiety; and jealousy. Tobacco smoking and chewing, in many cases, cause such a waste of the salival fluids by expectoration that the food enters the stomach insufficiently mixed with them. The importance of the salival fluids in perform- ing the digestive function, is given in the introductory matter of this chapter. The excessive use of alcoholic liquors irritates and inflames the lining of the stomach, and this leads to dyspepsia. Only those who have weak or feeble stomachs without irritation, are benefited by the use of tonics or stimulants. The immoderate use of condi- ments also induces irritation or inflammation of the lining of tho stomach. I am often surprised beyond expression at the test of endurance some people put upon their stomachs in the wholesale use 'of pepper, mustard, and horse-radish. The amount of any one of these things swallowed at one meal by some individuals, would draw a blister in an hour or two if applied to any external part of their persons. How the stomach manages to dispose of these things with- out getting burned, is a mystery to anybody who realizes how much more susceptible the mucous membrane is to the effects of irritants, than is the cuticle. Hence, it is perceived, the immediate causes of DYSPEPSIA. 381 dyspepsia are as numerous as are bad habits. The predisposing and perpetuating causes, however, are what are generally overlooked. What are they ? The predisposing Flg_ 97 and perpetuating causes of dyspepsia ere, impure blood, and derangements of the nervous sys- tem. When the blood is at fault, the lining of the stomach is liable to an attack of eruption, or irrita- tion, or inflamma- tion. In this form of dyspepsia the invalid experiences pain, soreness, gnawing, burning, or other inflamma- tory symptoms ; with an empty feel- ing, sourness, wind, trembling, nausea, etc., at the stomach. Not all of these symptoms in any one case, but some one or more NEEVES OP THE STOMACH. Ot The above figure shows how extensively the stomach and diges- them. When the tive apparatus is permeated with nerves. The liver (1) is turned up to exhibit the anterior surface of the stomach; also the gall bladder (2). The organic nerves are marked 3, 3, while the pyloric extremity of the stomach and the con- tracted portion of the pylorus are indicated by the figures 4 and 5; 7, 7, 7, mark the omentum. dyspepsia proceeds from nervous de- rangements, the symptoms are, usu- ally palpitation of the heart; trembling at the pit of the stomach ; a weak or all-gone feeling at the stomach ; while the body appears attenuated, and the countenance pale; the sleep disturbed; the 382 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. spirits more continually depressed; and the mental and physical energies subdued. In either of the foregoing forms of dyspepsia, the food passes through more of a rotting than of a digesting process, and the gases emanating from the decomposing mass, cause acidity and flatulency. Then the nutritious substances are so contaminated by properties calculated to irritate or inflame tho blood, that rotten apples would answer about as well for food as sound vegetables and meats; an'1 they would impart about as much benefit to tho system. Epicures, good feeders; or those who are denominated " fast livers;" and those who have plenty of flesh on their bones, are the most liable to that form of dyspepsia which is perpetuated by blood impurities. Imprudence in eating produces in, and sends forth from, the stomach to tho vascular fluids, impurities which in time " come home to roost." They pay a visit to their maternal home, and theii presence is any thing but agreeable ; for like wanton children, they mark and deface the walls, and turn every thing topsy-turvy. Some unfortunate people, however, have this form of dyspepsia, who have not been seemingly irregular in their habits. This is because they either inherited or contracted scrofulous impurities ; or took injuri- ous medicines, or were poisoned in some way. These dyspeptics are lean or fleshy according to their temperaments. I have met with dyspeptic invalids whose parents on one side were scrofulous, and on the other, predisposed to diseased livers, and weak s'omachs—a capital hereditary combination to produce dyspeptic progeny. The children of such parentage are as sure to inherit dyspepsia as those of affluent parents are to inherit wealth. Professional men, students, and other brain-workers are most liable to that form of dyspepsia, which is perpetuated by nervous derangements. By too close mental application they exhaust nerv- ous vitality, and consequently, too little nervous stimulus is given to the stomach to render digestion properly active. Dyspepsia of this form may also proceed from nervous derangements induced by any excessive mental emotion, or by venereal excesses; masturba- tion ; or from diseased procreative organs of either sex, as these affections invariably prostrate the nervous energies. Dyspepsia, in many cases, is perpetuated by both blood and nerv- ous derangements; or, in other words, the blood of the dyspeptic being impure and tho nervous forces insufficient or misapplied, a DYSPEPSIA. 383 complicated form of the disease exists. Mental depression and irri- tability, if not imaginary horrors, are ever present when both of these constitutional derangements form the root of the digestive dis- turbance. "Physically," a writer speaking of this class of invalids, remarks, "the dyspeptic has many evils to contend with; pain in the chest, and other parts of the body, particularly the left side and the sternum. The muscles of the body become weak and flabby, mani- festing soreness on the least unusual exertion, with lameness in the limbs, etc. There is tenderness in the region of the stomach and the hips, felt upon pressure. The extremities are cold and rigid ; the skin dry, rough, and pale; hands and feet usually cold, are some- times hot and burning. The patient at times is distressed with night-sweats, bad sleep, and worse dreams. He seems heir to a thousand evils, changing in their nature—old ones vanishing, new ones appearing. Some of the most alarming to the sufferer are palpitation and cough. He is troubled with vertigo, ringing and other sounds in the ears. Sometimes he hesitates in his speech—has uncertain action—is pleased with nothing—pleases nobody—has abundant occasion for regretting blunders of manners and morals. Moral power he seems greatly to lack; he has lost self-control, follows this whim and that, but never the doctor's prescription to tho end—he cannot remain in the mood long enough. Hence the disease is prolonged, especially as time is necessary to a cure. He has no patience for that, he is so moody, so wavering. In a word he ia only the shadow of himself." This is a very fair description of the condition of body and mind in a case of complicated dyspepsia. A man or woman so affected cannot be a practical Christian! Tho victim grumbles and frets involuntarily, and creates a domestic hell at his or her own fireside. Surrounding friends try to be forbearing and make all due allowance for the unfortunate physical derangements of the invalid; but incidents will occur when patience is strained almost to the point of breaking, when relatives and friends are com- pelled to cry out, " What next?" as the tadpole has been reputed to exclaim when he loses his tail! There is still another class of dyspeptics who suffer little except from leanness; susceptibility to cold; and general lassitude. Per- sons thus affected have stomachs so inactive that the food might abot I as well pass down outside as inside. A soup bath might answer still better! The stomach is never provoked into making 384 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. ase of what is put into it, and in many cases the appetite of these invalids is perfectly enormous. Everybody wonders where so much food goes to. It seems as if the hungry and wasted system was con- stantly crying for food, causing a disposition to eat voraciously, while the stomach remains an idle spectator to all that is passing. It is questionable whether invalids so affected derive any nourishment at all from the usual digestive process. As the food passes along the oesophagus, and through the upper and lower stomach, and finally along the crooked path of the intestines, the mucous membrane absorbs enough nutriment to keep the person alive by the aid of air, sunlight, and social magnetism. The predisposing and perpetuating causes of this form of dyspepsia are, deficiency of red corpuscles in the blood, and lack of nervous vitality ; and these causes are aggra- vated in every case by the very disease they have induced. There is a too general propensity to let up on normal digestion, and to look for " pre-digested " foods and artificial aids to digestive processes, instead of trying to give all digestive functions a fair and normal amount of work. Of course there is, too, the tendency to overtax by gluttony, or excess of concentrated ("rich") foods, besides the habit of throwing the duty of one part on another, as of swallowing food without mastication, seemingly with the idea that the stomach has teeth, claws, or other apparatus for comminuting the food. Most folks seem too tired or hurried to work their jaws and teeth as nature intended, and in this laxness they have even been encouraged by short-sighted teachers of the physiology of digestion. For a long time the physiologists, even influential writerf; of text- books, have been in serious error regarding mouth-starch digestion and the function of the saliva. Food, even when sufficiently mas- ticated, is not long held in the mouth, subject to salivary action, and it was taught that when it was swallowed, the acid secretion of the stomach at once checked salivary digestion, and postponed fur- ther change in starchy foods until they could be passed through the stomach and take another turn at being digested by intestinal fluids and pancreatic juice; but later investigation has shown that thor- ough mixing of food with saliva counts for more than the short time of mouth-mastication, and that for a while the saliva is very active even after the food has been swallowed. Not at once is the food mass rendered acid by gastric juice, and while it ia yet alkaline DYSPEPSIA. 38i> and neutral, which may be half an hour, the saliva, if it has been well mixed with the food, "gets in its fine work," so that even eighty-five per cent, of the starch may be digested before the con- tents of the stomach is forwarded to the small intestine to complete the job. For this recent revelation of new light on salivary digestion we are indebted to Dr. Kellogg, editor of Modern Medicine, and he further claims that saliva aids the food in "stimulating glandular activity on the part of the stomach whereby an active and abundant supply of gastric juice is produced." Dr. Kellogg's statements are bused on over 4,000 analyses of the contents of the human stomach at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. What he says is well worth listen- ing to, remembering and acting upon, and to help " drive it in " the minds of our readers, and so encourage renewed activity of their jaws, more bites to each morsel, longer lingering on its sweetness and thorough ensalivation, we quote from him as follows : " It is more than probable that hasty mastication is one of the principal causes of dyspepsia in Americans. The gastric juice can> not act upon the starch ; it can only act upon gluten and other nit- rogenous elements of bread and other cereal foods after these ele- ments have been set free by the action of the saliva upon ths starch which constitutes the greater bulk of these food substances. "This neglect of mastication, and resulting salivary indigestion, explains the enormous demand for malt preparations (we do not refer to beer, which is worthless as a digestive agent) which has sprung up within the last few years. The product of malt diges- tion, or maltose, is precisely the same as that of salivary digestion, the action of the saliva upon the starch resulting in the production not of glucose, as was formerly supposed, but of maltose. "Another cause of salivary indigestion which we should men- tion is the abundant use of sweets. In order that the saliva shall exercise its properties efficiently, it is necessary that it should act in a suitable medium. A temperature of 100° and an alkaline or neutral reaction are necessary for prompt and vigorous action on the part of the saliva upon the farinaceous elements of food. A low temperature hinders this action, and acidity stops it altogether. The presence of a large amount of sugar also hinders the action of the saliva. " It is thus evident that the copious drinking of cold water, or 38G DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. the taking of ice foods in connection with meals, is a means of pro- ducing salivary indigestion. The free use of strong acids, such as vinegar, in connection with cereal foods, is equally objectionable. Nothing could be more absurd than the combination of strong acids with vegetable elements, as in pickles. This is probably the reason why many persons find themselves unable to use acid fruits with- out fermentation. The acidity may be sufficient to neutralize the action of the saliva upon the starch. "Evidently it is not only physiologically absurd to add sugar to farinaceous foods, since the starch, which composes one-half the weight of these foods, is all converted into sugar in the process of digestion, but the practice is also highly injurious, since it prevents tide normal action of the saliva upon the starch." Constipation. To properly understand the causes which may produce this common and troublesome difficulty, it is necessary to know the process by which the solid waste matters thrown from the stomach, are dis- posed of. It has already been explained at the beginning of this chapter how the liver, if active, supplies a saponaceous fluid called bile to mix with, soften, and lubricate them. Then on entering the intestines, there is a worm-like motion technically called peristaltic action of these tubes; or, in other words, a contraction of the fibres of the intestines above the matter to be removed, which carries it constantly along. Then at stool the breath is inhaled so as to depress the diaphragm, which produces a pressure downward upon the intestines; and the muscles of the abdomen contract so as to produce pressure in front of them ; and it is by this process that the residuum of the food taken into the mouth, and the excrementi- tious secretions of the colon are cast out of the body. It will be interesting here, if the reader has not already done so, to turn to figure 92, and observe the convolutions of the intestines, and the circuitous route which the faeces are compelled to pursue before leaving the system. To prevent a blockade, and to encourage the peristaltic action of the intestines; and, in fact, to properly relieve the human machinery of waste matters, every person ought to have one thorough evacuation of the bowels at least once a day. Some very hearty eaters may better have two. If the faeces are dry, and much straining is required CONSTIPATION. 387 Fig. 98. for their expulsion, even if the bowels move regularly once a day, the person so affected may very correctly be said to be constipated. Simply this sluggish condition is liable to induce serious derange- ments, such as falling of the rectum and piles; and, when the blood is in a scrofulous condition, difficult stooling may induce ulceration, abscess, or fistula. The immediate causes of consti- pation are—a diseased liver, by which an insufficient supply of Baponaceous bile is given to the waste substances to soften and lubricate them; a retention of the faeces until their fluidity has been absorbed or evaporated in disagree- able gases; the use of food that too greatly absorbs the fluids; the use of astringent food or medicine; the habitual use of too concen- trated nutrition—for there must be bulk as well as true aliment; over-eating, by which the digestive apparatus and the intestines are unduly distended; relaxation of the an illustbation showing how thb malk muscular fibres of the intestines, organs abb affected by constipation. so that they contract feebly; contraction of the respiratory organs by tight lacing or disease, so that the diaphragm cannot be deeply depressed; weakness or flabbiness of the abdominal muscles, in con- sequence of which the bowels can give little or no pressure in front; and partial or complete paralysis of the rectum, in which case it has not the power to expel substantial faaces. The predisposing causes are usually sedentary habits which depress the nervous energy, and weaken those forces which give activity to the various parts depended upon for the energetic expulsion of tho useless solid matters of the system. Blood-impurities, in many cases, intercept the nervous forces, and practically produce the same result. Everybody who has ever,been affected with constipation is familiar 388 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. with many of the effects: the crowded, distended feeling of tha bowels; the drowsiness and lassitude; headache; and, in some cases, disagreeable breath and offensive effluvia. But most people are not aware of the injury inflicted upon Flg" 99, the procreative organs of those of both sexes. For this reason I have had designed and engraved the annexed illustrations, figures 98 and 99. The relative location of the rectum and seminal vesicles, and pros- tate gland, is given in figure 98. In the illustration marked A the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland are exhibited as they appear when they are not crowded by a constipated rectum. The prostate gland is that bulblike formation just over the anus or mouth of the rectum. The seminal vesicles lie back of the prostate gland between the bladder and rectum. The location of these vesicles may be still better understood by turning over to figure 136. Now look at B, in figure 98, and see how, when the rectum is engorged with excrementitious matter, the gland and vesicles are pressed. Unless the person so affected is remarkably strong an illustration showing how jQ these parts there must be inevitably an THE FEMALE ORGANS AKE AF- . , 1 ,. „ , ,-, „ i involuntary exudation of both semen and FECTED BY CONSTIPATION. J prostatic fluid. Especially must this be the case at stool when by straining this pressure is aggravated. Then, too, when the anus becomes irritated and inflamed by the straining and friction, that irritation is almost always communicated to the prostate gland and spermatic vessels, producing, or greatly aggravating involuntary nocturnal seminal emissions. When pin- worms exist, as they often do in this diseased and engorged condi- tion of the rectum, the itching and tickling caused by the move- ments of the parasites, also predispose the one so affected to invol- untary emissions. The frightful consequences of these seminal losses are presented in an essay on seminal weakness in a chapter farther on. CONSTIPATION. 389 Now, let me call your attention to figure 99, representing the female organs. The illustration designated by the letter A presents all the organs in their proper condition—the bladder in front; the vagina next; and the rectum behind. Above the vagina an outline of the womb is given and its cavity dotted out. Below this picture, l> represents these same organs when the lower part of the rectum, marked 2, is distended with fecal matter. The cavity of the vagina, it is noticed, is nearly obliterated, and the womb is somewhat pressed above its natural position. This engorgement, in many cases commences even above figure 1, and in these instances the womb is pressed downward and forward, and sometimes frightfully displaced. When badly prolapsed, it becomes inflamed, congested, and swollen; and in this condition it retaliates upon the rectum, and to such an extent in some instances as to almost close the canal through which the excrementitious matters pass out. Here is a combination which in its effects is very troublesome. It is most unfortunate for a person of either sex to suffer with this mutual antagonism and crowding of the organs represented in the illustrations given. In health there is space enough for them all, and elbow-room sufficient to enable each to perform its allotted function; but when the rectum or intes- tines above become engorged with waste matter, disorder commences, and a regular family fracas ensues, or a sort of civil war, which in time involves every organ of the system. In some cases the intestines and upper part of the rectum succeed very well in moving along the waste matters, while the lower part of the rectum is nearly paralyzed. In such persons the blockade takes place at about the point designated by figure 2, in illustration B, representing the female organs. Here a regular fecal plug forms, and in a little time becomes as hard as a rubber ball. The disposi- tion is constantly felt to go to stool, but after repeated failures, in which the rectum is painfully irritated, and the adjoining organs most uncomfortably pressed and strained, the person affected is apt to give up the effort, ard turn to cathartics to remove the obstruc- tion ; but it is soon discovered that the dissolving effects of the ca- thartics do not reach the plug at all, while the intestines and their contents above are disagreeably affected by the action of the medi- cine. When at last the physician or some knowing friend is con- sulted, an injection of oil, or molasses and water, or something else, to act looally upon the plug, is prescribed. By these means the 390 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. patient is relieved, and with the removal of the plug there comes a regular freshet of what had been retained above, and changed almost to a scalding mixture by medicine. The parts now smart and burn with irritation; and the sufferer is fortunate if piles do not attack the rectum. As this plug may be easily reached, the better way at the outset, before either medicine or injection is used, is to take to the water-closet a vessel of either sweet or castor oil, or any relaxing ointment, and while making a gentle straining effort, lubricate the rectum well with the oil, and actually pick to pieces the indurated fecal plug. Then look out next time and not go too long without another effort to effect a movement; for this difficulty is not unfre- quently induced by deferring attention to nature's call. In some cases, if a strong inclination to evacuate the bowels be disregarded for twenty minutes, this fecal plug will form low down in the rec- tum, and harden so rapidly, that when an effort is made, it cannot be moved a particle without artificial aid. An inactive liver and obstinate constipation, in many cases, com- pel nature to dispose of the bile and waste matters through the ex- cretory pores of the skin. When so expelled, the effluvia of the per- son are very offensive, and the linen worn next to the skin quickly discolored. If the under garments are worn for a day, they look as if they had been colored by a dyer. Such invalids owe it not less to their companions and friends than to themselves to adopt early and thorough medical treatment. They are a stench in everybody's nos- trils, or, in brief, traveling nuisances, which should be speedily cured or abolished. Such persons generally feel pretty comfortable, he- cause nature manages to dispose of the excrementitious matter. The atmosphere becomes their privy or water-closet, and no one would be surprised at the intuition of the dog in smelling out the tracks of his master, if all men were thus diseased. In the treatment of constipation, the causes should be ascertained; and so long as the popular mind is so ignorant of the human ma- chinery, a physician should be consulted to avoid mistake. Those wishing to consult the author, can answer the questions on page 600. Before taking this step, however, it is well enough to see what care in regard to diet will effect. It is not uncommon to see persons of constipated habit, make a breakfast of wheat-bread toast, or a luncheon of crackers and cheese. These are the worst things that can be eaten in a case of constipation. They will constipate a per CONSTIPATION, 391 Fig. 100. Bon in perfect health if eaten to any great extent. Fried and baked potatoes; vegetables and meats cooked brown; fine wheat bread; rice in any form; sweet apples; blackberries, fresh or preserved; and all food and fruit of an astringent quality, are bad for people of costive habit. Among those things which maybe used to advantage, are brown, corn, Graham, and rye bread; wheaten grits, or cracked wheat; hominy; mush; tomatoes; beans; peas; squashes; green corn, fresh or canned; boiled or stewed potatoes; meats cooked rare, etc. Constipation may often be relieved by relaxing fruits. Grapes are useful in such cases when the seeds are swallowed with the pulp. The Medical Magazine, in speaking of the vir- tues of the grape, re- marks as follows: " When in health swal- low only the pulp; when the bowels are costive and you wish to relax them, swallow the seeds with the pulp, ejecting the skins; when you wish to check a too relaxed state of the bowels, swallow the /^rv^iMList? pulp ejecting the seeds, also masticate the skins well and swallow the astringent juice of them. Thus may the grape be used as a med- icine, while at the same time, it serves as a laxative, unsurpassed by any other fruit. An adult may eat from three to four pounds a day with benefit. It is well to take them with or immediately after your regular meals." The French say of the grape that "it not only dilutes the thick blood but sends the circulation to the surface, giving color to the pale A DELICIOtrS-LOOKING MEDICINE. 392 DISEASES OP LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. cheek ; that it removes obstructions from the liver and lungs, aida digestion, brings the stomach and bowels into a healthy state, dis- lodges gravel and calculi from the kidneys, and confers vigor and health upon the prostrate system." All acidulous fruits act 'avorably in cases of constipatiou : such, for instance, as sour apples; granges; lemons, etc.; while figs, though sweet, are relaxing and beneficial. Perfect regularity at stool is essentially necessary to prevent and cure constipation. When at stool, kneading the bcwels with the hands, or otherwise pressing and manipulating them, aids in producing an evacuation. Fixing the mind upon the function of expelling the faeces, also aids; while the action of the mind in thinking of other matters, or reading, greatly retards a free movement of the bowels. All the foregoing rules in regard to diet, etc., should be religiously observed by constipated people, and then if the difficulty continues, ascertain to a certainty where the causes lie, and adopt treatment suitable to their removal. Chronic Diarrhoea. Here we have an affection of the bowels directly opposite to that considered in the preceding essay. Diarrhoea is characterized by frequent thin or watery stools; heat, and sometimes smarting, in the bowels; a dragging or downward pressure in the rectum; and, in severe cases, faintness at stool. In the chronic form of the disease, one or more of these symptoms may or may not present themselves prominently. There are those affected with chronic diarrhoea who have but one passage of the bowels per day; but that passage is loose, perhaps watery, and possibly attended with great flatulency. There are other cases in which the bowels move frequently during every twenty-four hours, who experience no other disagreeable symptoms or inconvenience. They seem to feel pretty well, but are compelled to attend to the calls of nature so frequently as to greatly annoy them, whether indulging in recreation, sociality, or engaging in their usual avocations. Especially will persons thus affected feel an inclination to stool when under any excitement. Then again there are those who are alternately relaxed and constipated. For a few days or weeks they are uncomfortably bound up, having no evacuations of the bowels ; when suddenly and almost without warning the flood' CHRONIC DIARRH03A. 393 gates give way and the excrementitious matters pass off in a softened or fluid form every few hours for a certain length of time. The causes of chronic diarrhoea are various. In that form last mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the liver remains in a state of stubborn torpidity for a time; then it changes to an activity reversely as excessive, and the bile wliich has been dammed up in tho system, pours down the ducts into the lower stomach and bowels, and dissolves to fluidity the excrementitious matters, and they run off in streams much to the discomfort and annoyance of the invalid, who, while feeling relieved from the heaviness, drowsiness, and fulness of the costive condition, suffers from a sensation of weak- ness and a bearing down or dragging sensation almost unendurable, together with a scalding or smarting feeling after each stool. The derangement of the liver in these cases proceeds from a want of regular nervous action in that organ, and the disposition of the recuperative powers in some persons to force hepatic action and over- come obstructions when the circulation becomes loaded with bile and the intestines engorged with fecal accumulations. Diarrhoea may also arise from the blood being so impure as to render the bilious secretions acrimonious and too solvent, in con- sequence of which the fecal contents of the intestines are rendered watery and irritating to the coatings of the intestinal canal. Sorce' times blood-impurities cause eruptions along the lining of this canal, and these eruptions give off a catarrhal secretion, which acts as a solvent and irritant. In persons of a scrofulous diathesis, ulcera- tions sometimes take place in the bowels, the discharge from which mixes with the faeces, and gives them a diarrhceal consistency. Ex- cessive drugging for liver derangements, constipation, and other dif- ficulties, has often induced intestinal irritation, which in turn has caused chronic diarrhoea. A dyspeptic stomach, which gives rise to great acidity and flatulency, may impart to the waste matters that pass from it undue solvent qualities, and thereby cause diarrhoea. At the close of the great rebellion I was consulted by a Union sol- dier, who received a bullet-wound in the abdomen three years pre- viously, since which time he had been constantly affected with chronic diarrhoea. The ball had been extracted, but irritations re raained which caused catarrhal and ulcerous secretions, and sympa- thetically affected the digestive organs. He was greatly reduced in flesh, and looked as bloodless as one in the last stages of consump- 11* 394 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. tion. Notwithstanding, however, the peculiarity of the case, and hia repeated failures to get well, under various systems of medication, his difficulty readily yielded to my remedies, which were prepared with reference to the restoration of his blood, and the vitalizing of his wasted nervous system. In all cases of chronic diarrhoea, it will be found that the blood is low, and usually impure. In nearly all cases there are nervous de- rangements. In a majority of them the liver is out of order; and in not a few cases the stomach is diseased and digestion impaired. It is not well, therefore, to resort simply to astringents. In many cases no more unfortunate result can be obtained than the arrest of the frequent passages while the causes remain undisturbed. As a rule, having few exceptions, those affected with chronic diarrhoea should have no astringent medicines whatever. The shutting up of this outlet of acrimonious matter, is liable to produce bilious or other fevers. Still, many imagine that if they can only stop the flux, all will be right with them; and acting upon this hypothesis, they ply their stomachs and bowels with astringent drugs, or allow an indiscreet doctor to do it for them. In any case of chronic diar- rhoea, if the questions given on page 600 are answered, I can easily ascertain the cause or causes, and by removing that or them, effect a radical cure. All the astringents necessary may be obtained by a proper selection of food. Wheat-bread toast; cracker toast; boiled rice ; rice gruel; baked potatoes ; toast prepared with boiled milk; blackberries, fresh or canned; baked sweet apples; grape pulps, and the jnice of the skins, without the seeds; black currants; brandy peaches; wild cherries; and any other wholesome vegetables and fruits, possessing mild binding qualities. Astringent drinks may also be prepared and used moderately. Rice scorched and prepared in the same way as we prepare the coffee berry; crust coffee; toast water; blackberry-jelly water ; and diluted blackberry-brandy are all useful in chronic diarrhoea, if used with sufficient moderation, and not depended upon for effecting a cure. Hemorrhoids, or Piles. In introducing this essay, I will first explain that the rectum is tha third and last portion of the large intestines, and was so named by tho unstAiceu anatomists of old, under the supposition that this nor. HEMORRHOIDS, OR PILE& 395 fcion of the gut was straight. The illustrations, figures 98 and 99, show just about how straight it actually is, and how erroneous "t was to christen it after the Latin term rectus / As the name, how- ever, does not give anybody any distress, we will turn our attention to those diseases of the rectum which do. The most common affection of the rectum and its termination, is piles. All persons subject to constipation, or diarrhoea, are apt to be troubled with piles, and some have them who are not subject to irregularity of the bowels. Itching piles are those which often pre- sent no distinct elevations, but great irritation of the anus and some- times a puffiness of the surrounding membranes. Then there are cases where an eruption of an itching character breaks out about the anus which may also be called itching piles. The most troublesome piles, however, are those of a tumorous and varicose nature, such as are represented in the annexed illustration, figure 101. The arteries of the rectum are numerous, and whether the enlarge- ments are simply varicose or tumorous, the blood presses in upon the affected parts, and alarming hem- orrhages in some cases take place. I once had an interesting case of this kind, who before becoming my patient had for more than a year been subject to daily excessive hemorrhages from the rectum, and to such a frightful extent as te give her a deathlike pale- ness, and such weakness that she could with difficulty keep from her bed. ner friends despaired of her recovery after the failure of the family physician to relieve her. She was a Jewess, and fier gratitude on being restored under Fig. 101. TUMOROUS AND VARICOSE TILES AS THEY APPEAR IN THE ANUS. my treatment found expression in the A, anal rim or sphincter muscle which . holds the tumors tightlj naming of her first-born after the author, who, by invitation, was pres- ent at the peculiar ceremony of cir- cumcision. This was all contrary to religion, which forbid the adoption of Christian names, and prohibit religious fellowship with those entertaining the Christian faith. But she insisted tfiat Dr. F. had saved her life? and that the baby was the htly after they are extended; B, piles formed of swollen mucous membrane and en- larged vessels; C, anal aperture. the canons of the Jewish 396 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH. AND DOWELS. offspring of her recovery, and the opposition of her friends to the course she chose to pursue, did not prevail. The immediate cause of piles may be briefly given as every thing which tends to irritate or unduly heat the anus or rectum. Hard fecal plugs, and watery and scalding stools may induce an attack of piles. Considering tho vascularity of the rectum, it is frightful to think of a large dry fecal plug, as hard and irregular as a stone, descending the rectum, scratching and pushing along, abrading the lining in one place, and so distending it in another that the blood actually exudes from the congested membrane. But there are those who are so ignorant of the peculiar structure of the rectum that they allow constipation to produce these fecal plugs which are thrown off every few days for -weeks and months, until the most obstinate dis- eases of the rectum are induced. Carelessness in the selection of instruments for cleansing the parts after stool often induces irritation which develops piles. This evil is so excessively prevalent, particularly in rural districts, that I must beg the indulgence of the reader for a moment while I call attention to it. Nothing is more common than to find in the "little-house " of a farm-yard, a huge pile of corn-cobs for the purpose indicated. Even chips are sometimes resorted to. Now, to frictionize the external skin with a harsh substance like either of those, would be sufficient to produce eruptions or sores upon any one affected with blood impurities; but applied to the delicate membrane of the anus, no one addicted to the practice can escape having piles unless his blood is remarkably pure. Leaves of plants are often used with like results. The leaves of almost all descriptions of vegetation are more or less bearded or coated with a kind of fuzz which, when brought in contact with the mucous membrane, causes irritation. Coarse brown paper is nearly as unsuitable, inasmuch as it is too rough and harsh, while newspaper is equally objectionable, because of the irritating properties of the ink with which it is printed. It would be well if all would regard this matter of sufficient importance to provide themselves with paper which is manufactured and sold expressly for the purpose. If not, only the softest, and most pliable brown paper, such as would answer to wipe the mouth or nose in the absence of a handkerchief, should be employed. People of sedentary habits should also be guarded as to what they use for seats. Sitting in cushioned chairs covered with worsted j HEMORRHOIDS, OR PILKs. 397 enameled cloth, or other heating material, tends to produce irrita- tion in the anus. If a person is at all predisposed to piles, cane- seated chairs are far preferable to any other, and a wood-bottomed chair is decidedly better than one that is luxuriously upholstered. The anatomical relation of the blood-vessels of the rectum to the liver is such that the return flow of blood from the hemorrhoidal veins at the rectum or anus is obstructed when the liver is con- gested, and therefore liver torpor is the most common cause of the engorgement and swelling of the veins which constitute pile tumors. It is seldom possible to do much for permanent relief of piles with- out giving due attention to the liver, and relieving the torpid state of circulation there wliich dams back the blood into the veins below, at the rectum. Local treatment, whether medicinal or surgical, ia not likely to be truly curative. Soothing ointments (particularly my Magnetic Ointment) will give great relief from soreness, heat, and the results of chafing, and for a time seem to cure; and the various operations by knife, clamps, and cautery will of course at once destroy the piles thus treated, but the veins there are numer- ous, tortuous, and lengthy, so that after a few pile tumors have been removed, if the cause is not, another lot is likely to be pro- duced. Some cases are so severe as to call for very prompt relief by the aid of surgery, and some of the most successful operations are done without any pain to speak of, but unless constitutional treat- ment be at once adopted for removal of causes, there may soon be another call for operation. On the other hand, if the patient can bear his discomfort a little longer, the right sort of constitutional treatment, combined with soothing and astringent local applica- tions, will often do wonders in the way of reducing large, protrud- ing, and bleeding piles, and render any sort of surgical operation unnecessary. Piles that bleed enough to gradually impair the gen- eral health, and weaken sexual vigor in course of time, do not always protrude and cause soreness and chafing. Their main annoy- ance is from bleeding at stool, and perhaps some pain then, and these may not be enough to compel due attention to proper treat- ment, but it is unwise to neglect it. The most skillful treatment, however, is liable to fail in any case, unless proper attention is paid to personal habits. I have already spoken of constipation, and advised means for overcoming the diffi- culty, in an essay devoted to that subject; but the importance of £98 DISEASES OP LIVER, STOMACH, AttD BOWELS. Fig. 102. avoiding a constipated condition of the bowels is so essential to success in removing hemorrhoidal affections, I must be pardoned for jitroducing matter here which may almost seem like repeti- tion. First, and all-important, after giving attention to dietetic rules, is regularity in attending to the calls of nature. Every man, woman, and child should have a stated hour, from which he or she should reluctantly deviate if the house is on fire. Persons accus- toming the bowels to move at a certain time each day, will find that organ ready to respond to his or her efforts, and they will further find that if they pass much beyond the usual time, constipation will exhibit itself. The habit many have, of reading or thinking intently on business or domestic affairs, of nursing griefs and taking a re- trospect of a gloomy past, or in fact, of en- gaging the mind either in reflection or diversion, while at stool, tends to retard the bowels in the exercise of their func- tions, and consequently produces constipa- tion. The " Harbinger of Health " very sensibly gives utterance to the following language on the subject: "Any mental oc- cupation foreign to the proper and prompt performance of the function, is positively The Rectum laid open, to show certain to stamp the impress of disease its appearance when affected with x Piles. upon the weakest part; and, inasmuch as, while engaged in this particular function, the vessels and fibres of the rectum are distended and principally taxed, so is inattention at the time most likely to produce one or more of the above-mentioned forms of hemorrhoidal disturbances." By concentrating the will upon the parts which expel the faeces, costive persons will find it much easier to relieve themselves of excrementitious matter. Prominent among the remedial exercises suited to persons affected with piles, is horseback-riding. The jolting of the diseased parts upon the saddle, quickens circulation, and helps thereby to relieve congestion, and when piles are tumorous, it promotes absorption. Theodore Parker once facetiously remarked that the " outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man." This was said, of course, with more especial reference to dyspeptics and those who do not FISTULA IN ANO. 399 take much exercise, for the outside of ahorse is equally good for the outside of a man. Ladies would be quite as much benefited by horseback-riding as gentlemen, if they would invent some costume which would enable them to ride gracefully astride. It is question- able whether they derive any greater advantages from equestrian exercise than exhilarating joltings and the breathing of the pure at- mosphere of heaven. Their cramped-up position on the saddle does not allow a free and easy play of the muscles, such as gentlemen experience with both feet in the stirrups, and presenting an untwist- ed front. Women have yet to work a reform in this matter. There is no good reason why a lady should put one of her limbs to sleep over the pommel, and occupy a distorted position every time she takes a horseback-ride. While fashion may treat with scorn and contempt the suggestion that a woman should ride astride like a man, common sense cries, out against the present ridiculous custom. For external piles, and especially those of a varicose nature, or falling of the rectum, the Pile Compressor (sec page 911) yields great relief and comfort. The effect of the wearing of this ingenious in- strument in cases of external piles, is very similar to that produced by frequent horseback-riding. The continuous gentle pressure of the congested parts serves to relieve them of their painful and some- times unendurable distention, and to induce a more natural circula- tion of the blood in them. For thoco who have not the time or means to indulge in equestrian exercise, and particularly for ladies who are compelled by King Custom to so seat themselves on the saddle as to derive little advantage therefrom, the Pile Compressor is invaluable. Even if under skillful treatment for the removal of both the disease and its cause, something is needed to give relief while the good work is going on, for piles cannot be permanently cured in a few weeks under any system of treatment, unless driven in by injudicious local embrocations. Then, there are persons ad- vanced in life, who cannot be cured, and who, consequently, require something to render them comfortable. To such I would most urgently recommend the Pile Compressor; while those of all ages, suffering with falling of the rectum or bowel who adopt it, will pro- nounce this mechanical invention an inestimable blessing. Fistula in Ano Is a troublesome and dangerous affection, which is liable to result from neglected or badly treated piles. It may also occur in persona 400 DISEASES OP LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. of scrofulous diathesis without the provocation of any previous di» ease in the anus or rectum. It commences not far from the anus, and usually announces its approach by itching, or pain, or uneasiness, although in some cases no unpleasant symptom is experienced until it begins to discharge its purulent matter, and then this discharge may be the only evidence of its existence. So long as it has but one opening it is called incomplete, but when the abscess has proceeded so far as to penetrate the rectum, or any other cavity, it is said to be complete. The annexed cut, figure 103, represents a complete fistula in ano. Sometimes it has several openings into the rectum or other „.a parts, and the canal is in some cases so complete as to have a lining almost like the mucous membrane. I once had a case of fistula which opened perfect com- munication between the rectum and the urethra, so that at stool some of the fluid portion of the faeces passed out of the mouth of the penis. When the abscess is active, large quantities of purulent COMPLETE FISTULA IN ANO. . ,. t. . ,, matter issue therefrom, especially at stool when it is pressed by the descending faeces. When much inflamma- tion is present the affection is terribly painful. In all cases of fistula, the blood should receive the first attention of the physician, and the knife should be the last resort, because if the latter be employed, it still remains necessary to purify the blood, or the fistula, or an abscess of some kind will return. It would con- sequently seem the more sensible plan in all cases, to have suitable blood-treatment at the outset. This may suffice to cure the diffi- culty. If it does not, neither time nor money will have been unne- cessarily wasted, because the constitutional treatment cannot bo safely dispensed with, however successful the operation. I have succeeded in curing fistula in ano, with blood-purifying medicines alone, after noted surgeons had expressed a decided opinion that nothing but the knife could possibly remove the local affection. Stricture of the Rectum Is an annoying and generally pauiful affection which may result from neglected obstinate constipation, local inflammation, cancer or syphilitic ulcers, or anything whioh causes an abrasion or great DISEASES OF THE RECTUM. 401 irritation in the lining of the canal. The stricture may consist of a thickening of the walls of the rectum, causing a partial obliteration of the canal; adhesion of some portions of the walls, after the heal- ing of abrasions or abscesses ; or it may be caused by indolent tumors forming therein, or remaining after a severe attack of piles. Stricture of the rectum is a most troublesome difficulty, because it obstructs the passage of the excrementitious matter, and in some cases to such a degree as to prove fatal. The symptoms attending stricture in this locality are—difficulty in passing faeces even when they are soft and pliable ; passage of faeces in small fragments, sometimes streaked with blood; and, when caused by thickening of the walls of the rectum, the expulsion of narrow flattened faeces. In a case of stricture of the rectum, both constitutional and local treatment are necessary, and the patient cannot do better than to rely wholly upon the advice of the physician in whom he may entertain confi- dence. In cases living at a distance, the author can give such directions as will enable the patient to administer the necessary local treatment himself, or herself. Falling of the Rectum. The technical name given to this troublesome affection is prolap- sus ani. It consists of a faUing or protrusion of the bowels. In some cases of this kind the lining of the rectum protrudes constant- ly; and in others it only decends at stool. Neglected piles are usually the immediate cause of this difficulty ; but in nearly all cases there is great weakness, and in some complete paralysis of the sphincter muscle, or that ring-like muscle which encircles the anus, and which in health closes the orifice at all times except when the excrementi- tious matters are being expelled. In a case of prolapsus ani the fall- ing of the bowels should be returned carefully by manipulation with the use of some soothing ointment, or common oil, to soften the swollen and congested parts while they are being placed back. Then a pile compressor (see page 911), should be adjusted, and treatment at once adopted calculated to strengthen the sphincter muscle, stimulate healthful circulation in the lining of the rectum, and to remove whatever may be the inciting cause. Ulceration of the Bowels. Ulcerations are liable to take place in any part of the body when anvthiiig like a scrofulous or a syphilitic taint exists in the system. 402 DISEASES OF LIVER, STOMACH, AND BOWELS. Chronic ulcer of the stomach is perhaps more frequent than ulcera- tion of the bowels, but the most common, if least serious, ulcer occurs at the anus, and is quite analogous to a " crack in the lip" of the mouth. It is called "anal fissure," and is painful out of all pro- portion to its size, the pain being sharp and severe during stooling, and continuing long after. Bleeding may occur with it. It is prac- tically incurable while constipation lasts, owing to the wear and tear of its situation, and even when the bowels move comfortably it is often obstinate. Anodyne ointments relieve; lunar caustic touching stimulates healing action ; a knife operation is sometimes necessary ; but with this, as in cases of ulceration elsewhere, there is a fault in the blood which must be corrected to encourage nature's own reparative processes. Another very distressing disease of this part, often with very little to show for it, but generally due to more or less local eczema, is obstinate itching, or pruritus ani, which may. either disturb sleep at night or make its victim uneasy all day. It is due to either the visible, local lesion, to irritating (unnatural) secretions from the in- testines, or worms, or in some cases it seems to be purely nervous. All these anal troubles may be considerably relieved by appropriate local treatment, but removal of the particular cause in each case is the only means of permanent relief. Intestinal Parasites. It is not pleasant to think of, but the fact is that men as well as animals are prone to be wormy, and the number and variety of parasites that find a home along the course of the alimentary canal is almost legion; but the common forms that most folks need to know something about are the long, round worms, the little pin- worms, and several kinds of curious tape-worms. If adults and children would be more particular about what they eat and drink, there would be far less complaint on account of worms. If all maintained a first-class digestion, and clean blood and secretions, these internal vermin would have less opportunity to take up their abode and thrive and breed. The appendix of this book gives some good formulae for routing them out. Injections of salt and water, quassia water or sweet oil are useful in drowning out pin-worms, but they are very persistent, and the victim must be more so. As to tape-worms, a book as large as this would be required to tell all INTESTINAL WORMS. 403 tnat is known of the various kinds; but the man who has one generally seems to want to know nothing of his tenant except how to be well rid of him-and-her—for it is hermaphrodite. A recipe for cooking a hare started out with " First catch the hare;" and so, before beginning to take medicine to dislodge a tape-worm, it is wise to catch enough of one to prove its presence. It is produced in sections, or joints, which may prolong it to a length of forty feet, and these break off, and tome away separately or in ribbons. A single large joint is an inch long by a quarter of an inch wide, slimy, soft, and white, but without head or tail. A few such cap- tures are enough to make a diagnosis, but many persons with bowel disturbances and "queer rumblings," or "gnawing feelings," have the notion that they have tape-worm instead of having the thing itself. Dyspepsia and bowel irritations of the ordinary kind are aggravated by the rather severe dosing necessary to dislodge a tape- worm, and the treatment should be avoided except where really required. Tape-worms are provided with a wonderful arrangement of suckers or hooks about the head, which enable them to hold on for "dear life" (no doubt life is dear to them), and so long as the head clings to the lining membrane of the human intestine, it can go on producing " sections" and piecing itself out. So the passing away of parts day after day means little loss to the worm—that's his business—and little gain to the patient—who grows impatient. To sunder these relations of house-owner and tenant requires a dose of something that will paralyze Mr. Tsenia—knock him senseless— and then a brisk cathartic to sweep head and tail all out in one fell swoop. If it happens to be truly taenia solium (solitary), nothing remains to be done but repair the damages to the premises by a suitable course of treatment; but there are some people who pro- vide quarters for two or more such tenants, and more than one writ of ejectment may be necessary. Anyone afflicted with a trouble- some customer of this kind, or with some obstinate disease of the class treated of in this chapter, may consult the author in person or by latter, and further information or advice will be cordially given. CHAPTER IV. ACHES AND PAINS. F all the aches and pains that afflict a few people, were distributed among the many, there would be one constant ache apiece for everybody, including the domestic animals of the household. There are as many heart-aches among young misses, as there are headaches among the matrons; and as many back-aches among dissipated young men, as there are brain- aches in the counting-rooms of opulent merchants, or the offices of overworked lawyers. There are, in brief, acres of aches on either side of life's pathway. It is necessary to walk a line as narrow as a crack to avoid them. Then, of pains, how many of them are so concentrated, so double- distilled, that one person could spare enough to set a whole family in contortions, and not cease himself to make involuntary grimaces at the contented cat under the table, or the complaisant dog on the door-step; nor hesitate to wish he had been born feline or canine. Considering, therefore, the quantity and concentrated quality of the pains, and the variety of the aches which afflict humanity, the author shrinks from any attempt in this chapter to circumvent many of them, and will consequently content himself to speak of less than half a dozen of those most commonly met with in every-day lire, while promising to give his attention unremittingly in practice to tnv alleviation of aches and pains of every description. Bilious Headache. Had I not recently heard of a child just born out West without a visible head—the mouth, breathing passages, and eyes being located in the chest—I should start out in this essay with the unqualified statement that nobody ever lived without sometime having had BILIOUS HEADACHE. 405 headache. As the child alluded to must be an exception, and, as there may have been other children born in the same likeness, to say nothing of some people who behave very much as if they were head- less, I must limit my statistical assertion by saying that all having visible heads, and, with heads, symptoms of brains, have had, and are liable to have, headache, if they live conformably to the con- ventionalities of the civilized portion of our planet. Bilious headache is the most common. What produces it? I can tell you in a few words. The liver in health extracts from the blood certain properties which, when collected together, constitute bile—a carbonaceous, soapy compound which, poured into tho duodenum, becomes one of the agents of digestion, as described in the beginning of the foregoing chapter. When, therefore, the liver becomes so diseased as not to do this, the blood becomes loaded with these bilious properties, and the digestion becomes in a measure impaired. These irritating matters in the blood visit the head aa well as other portions of the body, and coming within sensible con- tact with the delicate nerves therein, cause irritations which make themselves felt in the form of aches; and these aches are aggravated by the disturbed digestion en- suing from the absence of the bilious properties from the lower stomach. The bile is just where it is not wanted. In the duodenum it is useful; in the circulation it is a mis- chief-maker; and while neg- lecting its own business, it is meddling with that of others; a result not unfrequently met with when people do not attend to their own affairs. There is still another way in which bilious headache of a periodical kind may be pro- duced. In some constitutions, the accumulation of bile in the circulation causes little else but drowsiness or heaviness, until all *t pnce a crisis arrive^ 406 ACHES AND PAINS. the liver suddenly awakens from its inaction, and takes up and pours into the lower stomach, bile in such immoderate quantities as to irritate the duodenum, causing it to contract and eject quantities of the irritating fluid into the upper stomach where the food is first received after passing the mouth and the oesophagus. The presence of this intruder causes intolerable nausea or sickness, and such a disturbance of the stomach nerves, that the nerves of the head become involved, producing what is commonly called sick-headache, which usually continues until relief is obtained by vomiting. When the bile is entirely removed from the stomach by this effort, the headache disappears. If in any case, or at any time, the duodenum can prevent this reverse action, and carry the deluge of bilious matter downward into the intestines, bilious diarrhoea instead of headache takes place. It is for this reason that some persons subject to sick- headache are also liable to bilious diarrhoea, and it will be noticed in such cases that the attack of headache passes by, or presents itself very slightly, when the bilious matter takes this course. Nearly all persons subject to bilious headache have sallow com- plexions derived from the influence of the bilious matter in the circulation, and usually, too, they are greatly annoyed with drowsi- ness during the day, and with a predisposition to restlessness at night; while those who do drop off to sleep without difficulty awaken in the morning with the remark, that they have slept too soundly, and feel uncomfortable in consequence. Bad tasting, bitter mouth, also frequently contributes to the discomfort of bilious people, because the blood, overloaded with bile, allows some of these bitter, nauseous properties to sweat through the mucous membrane lining the mouth and stomach as well as through the external skin; and when the coatings of the stomach are covered with this un- wholesome secretion, the tongue usually presents a yellow, furred appearance. This internal bilious perspiration often destroys the purity of the breath, just as the external perspiration in such cases renders the effluvium disagreeable; but the latter is not so readily noticed because it passes off more diffusively from the whole surface of the body, while the former is thrown out with each exhalation in a concentrated stream from the breathing passages. No person need suffer with bilious headache. Because it is not regarded fatal, many people who pay thousands of dollars for fine Douses, nice furniture, sumptuous tables, and other ireature con]- NERVOUS HEADACHE. 407 forts, go through life with this discomfort, which greatly disqualifies them for the enjoyment of the things they provide so lavishly for the enjoyment of themselves and friends. If they would stop for a moment to reflect upon it, they would see how much more they would enjoy were they to drop off a few superfluities, if necessary, and make an appropriation for "internal improvements;" for, not- withstanding all political wrangles on this topic, I can confidently assure them that in all cases of this kind, it is strictly " constitu- tional." A little attention to the liv-er as well as the liv-ing would result in greater comfort and happiness than is now enjoyed by thousands in all conditions of life. Those persons laboring und<~r a predisposition to bilious headache, who accept this proposition, are commended to a perusal of the essay on the liver in the preceding chapter. Nervous Headache. It is seldom that headache exists without liver derangements; but cases occur in which the difficulty arises purely from nervous dis- turbances. Incipient neuralgia may present all the symptoms of nervous headache. The affection of the nerves not having proceeded far enough to induce irritation or inflammation sufficient to cause distinct neuralgic pains, the sensations are those which are best described by the term ache. Overworked brain may induce nerv- ous headache, or establish a predisposition to its attacks. The nerves as well as the muscles may be overstrained by over-exercise, and in such cases they will cry out, and their voice will be an ache or a pain. The brain actually swells in some cases from over-exercise. I have had for patients authors and professional men and women, whose main difficulty might with propriety be called swelled brain. Overwork of any particular part or organ of the body may bring about inflammation and congestion, and consequently enlargement. The brain is not an exception to this rule, and when it is thus affected, the bony frame-work called the skull, will not allow much expansion of its contents, in consequence of which a sense of great pressure and aching will be experienced, together with labored pulsation of its arteries. This sense of pressure is more often ex- perienced in the top of the head than elsewhere, but sometimes Shere seems to be a sense of pressure throughout the brain. People not subject to neuralgia, or giveu to excessive mental 408 ACHES AND PAINS. labor, may in some instances be predisposed to nervous headache. Grief, disappointment, and other excessive mental emotions may occasion it; too much use of the eyes may induce it; when the optio nerve is weak or irritable, sunlight or gaslight may bring on an attack; if the auditory or hearing nerves are much affected, dis- agreeable noises may cause nervous headache; an affection of the spine may predispose a person to it; morbid conditions of the pro- creative organs of both sexes are liable to disorder the brain and develop a tendency to headache; and, lastly, it may be caused by a bad circulation of the nervous forces, or a deficiency of them. In the later case when nervous vitality is low, the brain lacks strength and becomes tired by the slightest care, or the most ordinary thinking, just as the limbs, when weak, may become so tired by a little walk- ing as to ache like toothache when the person so affected sits or lies down after exercise. For nervous headache there is nothing so salutary as the kind of medication referred to on page 299, Congestive Headache. This kind of headache is most liable to affect people who are fleshy and full-blooded. The arteries and veins of those who are so fat that their skins are stuffed to their fullest capacity of expansion, are often so crowded as to circulate the blood very sluggishly, and in such cases the head is liable to ache from the presence of too much sluggishly moving blood. When a person thus affected stoops over, the head swims on assuming an upright position; and when head- ache is constantly present, there is experienced a sense of fullness; a predisposition to vertigo ; and, in some cases, throbbing in the tem- ples and over the eyes. People thus affected should pursue a course of medication calculated to thin the blood; and pursue a course of dietetics and exercise calculated to reduce the plethora. In lean persons, congestive headache is sometimes a troublesome companion, proceeding from an imperfect circulation. In these cases, while the extremities are cold, and the veins in them almost collapsed by the absence of the vascular fluids, the brain is unduly sup- plied and pressed with blood. A good remedy for this is given in the essay for keeping the feet warm, in the chapter on the prevention of disease. Women are sometimes victims of periodical attacks of congestive headache when they are subject to menstrual derangements. The NEURALGIA. 409 blood, instead of flowing off at the proper period, determines to the head and face, giving to the latter a flushed or florid appearance, and to the former a sense of pressure which often amounts to severe headache. Women are especially liable to these attacks, when the function, generally known by the name of the "monthly flow," is just about being established; and when that period arrives in older womanhood, commonly called "change of life ;" but there are those who suffer at every recurrence of the menses, with flushed face and congestive headache. The only remedy is, of course, to give ouch medical attention to the ovaries and womb, and to the extremities if cold, as will eradicate the causes. It is hardly necessary to say that menstrual difficulties proceed from disease, and are natural to no one. In women of health the flow will come on with little or no warning in the way of pain, and at the age for it to cease, it will simply fail to appear, with no symptom whatever of discomfort. Neuralgia. Neuralgia is a disease of the nerves, and may affect any part of the nervous system, although it most commonly attacks the nerves of the face, jaws, breast, and feet. Its • , , , Fig- 105. presence is announced by the most piercing, darting pains, recurring in paroxysms, followed with brief inter- vals of relief; but hardly a moment elapses after a lacerating pain darts along the course of the affected nerve, ere another shoots forth, inflicting pain equally distressing to the patient. The annexed cut presents in the prominent black lines the nerves of the fifth branch, which are most liable to attacks of neuralgia. Many a victim to the distressing disease will be able to recognize in those lines the tracks of the pains which so often afflict them. The pathology of this disease is about as little understood by the medical profession as the science of aerial navigation. As well might a person look into patent-medicine almanacs, Robinson Crusoe, or the yellow-covered literature of the day, for a correct explana- 18 , 410 ACHES AND PaINS. tion of the nature of the disease, as into the pages of medical pub- lications. Medical authors generally attribute its cause to nervous debility. What is nervous debility ? Why, it is simply a relaxed and enfeebled condition of the system resulting from an insufficient supply of nervous vitality. Persons so affected are troubled with lack of strength and want of vivacity or animation. Now every one knows that neuralgia is often found among persons of robust appear- ance, who have a fair degree of strength, and that it sometimes manifests itself in those possessing extraordinary muscular power and physical vigor. How can this fact be accounted for, if nervous debility be the cause? Now, then, let us take a common sense view of the disease. An impure condition of the blood, or the presence in the system of some poisonous mineral, like mercury or lead, may cause inflammation in any nerve which the impurity or mineral may attack, and when the nerve is attacked by either, so that there is danger of the nervous communication being blocked up, the available nervous forces are gathered up and suddenly precipitated at intervals upon the ob- structed nerve by the efforts of nature to keep the communication open. These violent propulsions of the nervous forces through the inflamed nerve, cause the sharp darting pains. Nature always at- tempts to get rid of any functional intruder. This is illustrated when something gets in the eye; a sudden gush of liquid from the tear-glands, attempts to carry it out. If something offensive to the olfactory nerves, or not suitable to breathe into the lungs, enters the nose, an involuntary sneeze takes place for its removal, or, at least, to prevent its entering the pulmonary organs. If the stomach is crammed with a mixture of unwholesome food, nature often visits upon the careless gormandizer a diarrhoea to carry it off. If corro- sive or acrimonious secretions of the bronchial tubes roll down to- ward the air-vesicles of the lungs, a cough involuntarily takes place to bring them up. Now, all these efforts of nature to effect relief, may sometimes not only prove unavailing, but go too far, unless remedies are resorted to for the removal of the intrusion which she has faithfully tried to dispose of. The tears may flow too copiously or too continuously ; the sneezing may become convulsive and pain- ful ; the diarrhoea may become excessive, continuous, and debilita- ting ; and the cough may become rasping, exhaustive, and alarming. go with the precipitation of the nervous forces on the nerves w RHEUMATISM. 411 tacked by unwholesome humors or mineral poisons, which threaten to cut off communication through those nerves; it may become too painful, too continuous, and even threatening, unless remedies are adopted to assist nature in getting rid of the offensive visitors ; but that natural effort, that sharp-shooting of the nervous forces through the invaded and inflamed nerves for the expulsion of the invaders, that, I say, is neuralgia. Neuralgia is a regular pitched battle be- tween the forces circulating through the nerves and the offensive humors or minerals which attempt to obstruct their pathway, and when they are defeated, paralysis of the parts follows, for the nerves of sensation, or motion, or both, become lifeless when the passage of animal electrical currents is completely obstructed. Sometimes the warfare will be kept up for years, at intervals, unless something sensible is done to assist nature. The assistance needed, is readily suggested by a proper understanding of the disease as herein ex- plained. If blood impurities are attacking the nerves, remedies suitable to cleanse and nourish the vascular fluid, must be taken by the patient at the same time electricity is being locally applied to relieve the painful paroxysms and the inflammation which has taken place in the affected nerve. If mineral poisons are lurking in the system and permeate the delicate nervous structure, the electro-chemi- cal baths, skillfully administered, are necessary to remove the cause, and electrical applications or medication, according to the indications of the case, essential for a cure of the effects. The advances made in the science of electrical therapeutics have placed neuralgia in the list of curable diseases, notwithstanding the bigoted carpings of allo- pathic old fogies, many of whom even at this late day, deny its cura- bility ; and why ? Simply because they have not been able, with their obtuse comprehension, to see into the occult science suffi- ciently to successfully employ it in the treatment of the more diffi- cult ills which afflict mankind. I would refer those suffering with neuralgia to page 299. Rheumatism. The theory of this disease has never been correctly explained by any one. In fact there is not even a show of plausibility in any of the written views of medical writers respecting its cause. As sensi- ble » description of this painful affection as any that has fallen under eaj eye, was given some time ago in "All The Year Round." The 412 ACHES AND PAINS. Fig. 106. writer says—" Put your toe in a vice ; turn the screw until you can bear the pain no longer; that is rheumatism. Give the screw one more turn—that is gout." When this book was first written, I, too, misled by popular errors, gave a very imperfect idea of the real nature of the disease, but my experience and success in treating it has, I am confident, suggested to my mind the correct pathology. In this revision I feel constrained to substitute a new essay for the old one, and in submitting it to my intelligent readers, I feel confident it will be accepted as rational and sensible. It must be understood by the reader that the arterial blood com tains the elements of vitality and nutrition, which it empties into what is called the capillary sys- tem. This capillary system is a kind of filterer of the blood, and after the nutritious particles have been filtered from the arte- rial fluid the latter is sucked up by the minute branches of the venous system, and carried back to the lungs for vital recuper- ation. Then the atoms of nutri- tion, composed of fluid bone, fluid muscle, etc., move by the laws of affinity to the various parts they are adapted to build up. Now, it so happens that through the effects of bad hab- its, bad medication, etc., this stream of blood emptied into and diffused through the capil- lary system is not always pure There are corrupt and corrosive They, too, are emptied RHEUMATISM. or free from inflammatory particles. adulterations. What becomes of them? into the capillaries and are sucked up with the venous blood into the veins, so that they continue in the circulation, or else pass off with the insensible perspiration outwardly, or with the waste mattet of the system inwardly. But the coagulation of several of these corrupt particles is apt to take place whenever the pores of the skin are closed by exposure to wet or cold or other causes, or the internal RHEUMATISM. 413 drainage and sewerage are inactive. These coagulated particles of corrupt matter may make their appearance under the skin, produc- ing pustules, scaly eruptions, or running sores. They may attack the skin called the mucous membrane, lining the throat, bronchia, stomach, and other cavities. They may locate about a nerve and induce neuralgia, as explained in the preceding essay, and—now we come to it—they may attach themselves to the arterial tubes and veins, large or small, and inflame them by their corrosive influence. Mercury often forms a part of these coagulated particles of acrimoni- ous matter, and any other injurious mineral may do so. The lodg- ment of these and the inflammation they induce, render the channels of the blood sensitive, and the circulation of the vital current through these affected parts becomes painful, just as it is painful to drink when the throat is sore; to pass the faeces when the rectum is affected with piles; to pass the urine when the urethra is inflamed or other- wise diseased. What does nature do now? She sends blood in abundance to drench out or dislodge, if possible, these corrosive particles, and the parts become very red from the congestion or pressure of blood therein. This is called acute rheumatism. What if nature does not succeed in washing out these acrimonious atoms? She withdraws the undue supply of the blood from the parts, gives up the contest, and continues to perform the function of circulation as best she can, but the passage of the currents of blood through their affected channels still continues painful. This is called chronic rheumatism. When the seat of the affection changes in a single day, night, or hour, as it often does, then it is that these corrosive quicksands have been washed from one position to another. By a sudden dislodgment they may be carried by the circulation to some part far distant from the place they previously annoyed. Now, who will say that here is not, in few words, the whole philosophy of that painful disease called rheumatism ? As my successful treatment of the disease suggested the theory, the theory in turn points to the correct treatment. Any thing which wTill dislodge the corrupt particles, dissolve and expel them from the system, and purify the blood, will give permanent relief. Electricity well applied, in conjunction witn the administration of blood-purify- ing medicines, will do this. Or electrical medication (see page 299) will usually do as well. Many think they are cured when the coagulated particles are merely dissolved and dispersed. But such 414 ACHES AND PAINS. cures are never permanent. They must be expelled and Vie blood restored, or the corrosive particles will reunite whenever a sudden change in the weather or exposure to dampness closes again tlit pores or other avenues through which they escape; for so long as the blood remains impure, so long will the circulation, the insensible perspiration, the faeces and urine be loaded with those which daily accumulate. A eareful regard to air, exercise, and diet, should be observed by the sufferer with chronic rheumatism. A dry atmosphere is of the utmost importance, and dry stove-heat is far preferable to the damp atmosphere out of doors on a rainy day. In dry weather, out-of- door exercise is exceedingly beneficial, and if the invalid is so badly affected as to preclude the possibility of walking, carriage rid- ing should be resorted to. The diet should be regulated according to the general condition of the patient, the digestive capacities, and the stage of the disease. In plethoric persons of so-called "full habit," plenty of rich red blood and tendency to be fleshy, a diet of fruits, grains, and especially succulent (watery) vegetables is prefer- able, and such diet is generally advisable where the digestion is pretty good, and the rheumatism affects the muscles, or mainly the smaller joints, as in rheumatic gout. In chronic cases, where the tendency is to poor nutrition, anaemia, pale lips, leanness, and gen- eral debility, a meat diet may be the best, and more especially when vegetables are likely to cause sour stomach. As all rheumatism is more or less allied to disorders of digestion and assimilation, the peculiarities of each case should be carefully observed with a view of selecting a simple, nutritious diet that shall best agree with the stomach, and in many acute cases the duration of the disease can often be shortened by great abstinence—the starving-out plan. Much might be said of the unhealthful conditions that favor the production and accumulation in the blood of irritating poisons which, according to their kind or quality, may be the cause of rheumatism, neuralgia, headaches, and so forth, but this would require a long chapter in itself, explaining the operations of the vital organs in health, and their perverted action in disease. This may be found in a pamphlet by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., on " Auto-tox- aemia," which explains the method of self-blood-poisoning by which a great variety of blood impurities become developed through dis- order of the digestive and eliminative organs. CHAPTER V. AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. T is no slight undertaking to get through this world with a pair of good eyes, and a brace of ready ears. Nor do those people get along very well who do not "keep their eyes and ears open." To have any thing like a fair chance in love or trade, two eyes are as few as anybody can well do with. The schoolmaster, the man who enters Wall Street, the woman of great personal beauty, the widow of wealth, the reputed millionaire, and the mother of twelve children, need eyes all around them, and ears as long as those of that much abused animal which is accused of having had a hand in the inven- tion of the mule. A medical work would therefore be incomplete without a chapter upon the affections of the eyes and ears. Old Eyes. When anybody begins to hold his book or newspaper at an un- usual distance from him, it is said that his eyes are getting old. The difficulty is technically called presbyopia, and by some people "Far-sight;" but I have chosen for the title of this essay, "Old Eyes," as it will be better understood ; and under it I will present some suggestions which will receive a cordial welcome by all sensi- ble people whose eyesight is becoming impaired by age. Those who imagine that it adds to the dignified appearance of a lady or gentleman to have the eyes hidden behind convex glasses, and the head nearly encircled with golden bows, cannot bo expected to pur- sue the subject of this essay with interest. Happily the latter class is in a decided minority compared with those who dislike the adoption of any and all paraphernalia indicating the approach of age and infirmity. If any species of vanity is excusable, it is that 416 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. Fig. 107. which leads an individual to adopt every means science and art have provided, to overcome or even disguise the infirmities of age. If age is venerable, youth is desirable and admirable, and every one may be pardoned for striving to preserve vigor of eye and limb, and even the pristine beauty of skin and feature. Admiration irresist- ibly takes possession of the mind when "we see an old person of either sexy who has preserved from infirmity the mental faculties and physical energies. And such persons are morally deserving of this admiration as a reward for having properly used and taken caro of, instead of abused and neglected, the mysterious powers a good God has planted in the mind and body of his most perfect work- man. But that vanity whicli leads young persons to seek to appear prematurely infirm, gives positive evidence of their possession of one infirmity at least, i. e., mental imbecility. If these premises are correct, we may logically conclude that the wearing of glasses or spectacles is certain evidence of infirmity. Either the eyes are defective or the mind is 1,1,1,1, the sclerotic membrane, or what is n . , . . ., . A, osually called the white of the eye; 2,2, the demented, and in the latter cornea; S, 3, 3, 3, the retina; 4, crystalline lens ; Case, it WOllld be better to in- 5, 5, iris; the aqueous humor which forms the case the whole face in calf- aqueous lens occupies the space between the , . .-, , , ., ,, <-«. * * a ♦». „ o o c e «. * - - skin than to merely hide the iris, 5, 5, and the cornea, 2, 2 ; 6, 6, the posterior J or back chamber of the eye, which is filled with eyes behind transparent glass. the vitreous humor. As yet unfortunately, sci- ence has revealed no certain means for the cure of the too great convexity or sharpness of the organs of vision, and therefore near- sighted people are entirely excusable for employing concave lensea to aid their imperfect vision ; but when the fact becomes generally known that long-sight, requiring the use of convex lenses, such as old people wear, in most cases may be prevented or removed with very little expense and trouble, may we not hope that glasses will less frequently cover the eyes of people in middle and advanced life. Before proceeding further with this subject, the non-professional VERTICAL SECTION OF THB EYE. .«•>*— ty*^yjfiT%Yf-^^ .fti reader should be made acquainted with the organs of vision. What is the eye? What are its functions, and how does it perform the mysterious office of seeing? The human eye, taken as a whole, may be regarded as a globe; and although it cannot, like the planet, be divided into eastern and western hemispheres, it may nevertheless be divided into hemispheres which are subject to many subdivisions. The several parts of the eye necessary to be defined for the purposes of this essay are the sclerotic covering of tho globe, to which should be added the cornea, the two lenses—aqueous and crystalline—tho vitreous humor, the retina, and the optic nerve. Reference to figure 107, and its explanations, A\-ill enable the reader to learn the location of these. The sclerotic is a firm, fibrous, opaque, o- untransparent membrane, covering and protecting four fifths of the globe, while the cornea, of a dark hue, covers and protects the balance, or front, central portion of the globe. At the center of the cornea is a trans- parency of the size of, or perhaps somewhat larger than, a pin's head, through which light is admitted into tho dark chamber of the eye. This cornea also forms the anterior or front capsule of tho aqueous lens, convex in form, so as to converge or bring together tho rays of light as they pass this medium more dense than the atmos- phere. Behind the aqueous or fluid lens is located the crystalline lens, the capsules of which are of a firm, delicate, transparent texture, and its face convex, so as to still more converge or bring together the rays of light which have passed through the aqueous lens. The retina lies in tho posterior or back hemisphere of the globe, as represented in figure 107, and presents a concave or hollow surface, upon which to receive rays of light, giving the form or image of any object the eyes arc turned upon. If the two lenses—aqueous and crystalline, arc neither too greatly nor too slightly convex, a perfect image of any object presented, is daguerreotyped on the retina, as represented in figure 108. If too convex, the image is formed before it reaches the retina, as shown in figure 109, and the person is near-sighted, so that objects must be held close to the eye to throw the image far enough back to produce tho perfect picture on the retina; if flattened or not sufficiently convex, the retina is not far enough back to receive a perfect image of near objects, and the latter must be removed away a suitable distance, to have the picture of the image fall correctly on tho retina (see figure 110.) Persons thus affected are long-sighted, and their eyes are said to be impaired by age, 18*~ - •..*.,. 418 AFFECTIONS OF TDIE EYES AND EARS. It remains to speak of the optic nerve. This nerve is attached to the retina, or more properly speaking, the retina is a continuation or expansion of the optic nerve. It perforates the sclerotic back of the eye, enters the cranium and connects with the sensorium, by means of which, as by a telegraph wire, intelligence is communicated to the brain of the various images which are from time to time formed Fig. 108. AN EVE WTrn PROPER CONVEXITY, «, is the object seen; b, the cornea, which catches the rays of light reflecting the image of the object; c, the image properly focalized on the retina. on the retina, and made mysteriously to pass before the mind's eye. So far, we are allowed to understand how vision is effected; but after having fully pursued the philosophy of the material we come to the spiritual, and here philosophy must end and faith begin. Now, the several parts of the eye when put together, form an optical instrument—a mechanical machine—which will perform its Fig. 109. TOO GREAT CONVEXITY, OR SHARPNESS OF THE CORNEA. a, object; 5, the too convex, or sharp, cornea; c, the rays of light converged, or focalized, forming the image before reaching the retina. A person so affected is called near- sighted. functions after death, and, what is still more mysterious, after the globe has been removed from its socket. Hence it is perceived the eye is so organized as to receive and converge, or draw near together the rays of light, and thus perform the office of glass-lens. Place the convex surface of a lens to the solar rays, and those rays will be refracted, converged, or in plainer words, bent toward each other, OLD EYES. 419 till they finally reach a focus behind the lens at a greater or less distance in proportion to its convexity ; the more convex the sooner they will be brought together; the less convex the more remotely will they touch each other. A glass with a flat surface will not alter the direction of the rays of light, and if the eyes were flat, they could not receive the image of any object unless they were as large as the object itself. For instance, to see an elephant near by, the eyes would need to be as large as an elephant; and to see a build- ing, as large as the building itself. Now, every one can see without eyes that it would be inconvenient to carry around such immense organs of vision! A concave glass refracts the rays asunder, and were the eyes to be concave, the retina would not be large enough to receive the image of an object. It will therefore be perceived that the lenses of the eyes should possess just the right degree of convexity. Fig. no. CORNEA TOO FLAT. «, the object; b, the cornea, too flat to converge or draw together the rays of lipbh re- flecting the image of the object sufficiently to form the focus on the retina; c is where the image should be formed, but d, is where the image would fall if the retina were there to receive it. A person thus affected is called long-sighted. Most old people have this difficulty, and they can, consequently, discern objects at a distance better than tbey can th«se near by. Nature, the greatest of architects, in the structure of the eye sel- dom makes mistakes. We occasionally meet with those whose eyes are too convex, and who, as a consequence, are what is called near- sighted ; but when the lenses of the eye are too flat for correct vision, it may generally be regarded as the result of artificial moans, such as rubbing the eyes from the nose outwardly, either in washing or in frictionizing them when irritated. The theory that it is oc- casioned by physical decay has been exploded by modern philoso- phers, and has been and can be proven to be false. John Quincy Adams preserved the convexity and perfectneas of hia sight till his death (and he died at eighty-one) by pursuing from early age, the 420 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. habit of frequently washing the eyes and making the manipulations in so doing, toward instead of from the bridge of the nose. There are multitudes of cases of men retaining perfect vision after the ravages of time have crippled all the other organs and faculties. Some authors claim that presbyopia, or long-sight, is often induced by age diminishing the quantity of the aqueous humor, but the fact is. that as the aqueous humor decreases in quantity, it increases in den- sity, and, inasmuch as increase in density adds to its refractive power what may be lost by the lens becoming less convex, is made up by its denser quality, so that the perfectness of the vision is retained. It is in consequence of this humor being rarer or denser, according to its quantity, that a large and small eye of equal con- vexity may distinguish objects equally well. By this explanation, too, the return of the sight may be accounted for in some old people who, after years of long-sightedness, requiring the constant use of convex glasses, gradually regain their sight. The rubbing of the eyeballs in the wrong direction from childhood, flattens the cornea, and then sight becomes defective. But old age brings density to the aqueous humor, and the old eyes become as good as new. From the foregoing it appears evident that all that is required to preserve the sight in perfection till death, unless accident or disease destroys the structure or paralyzes the nerves of the visual organs, is to sustain the convex form of the eye. Whether or not, simply care as to the manner and direction of manipulating it from childhood to age be sufficient to do this in all cases, is not only uncertain, but, if certain, could prove of no very great practical benefit to the present generation. Correct manipulations can neither save the convexity of the eyes of those who are just becoming long-sighted, nor restore those wrho are already laboring under the infirmity. To reap the benefit of such a custom in middle or advanced life, it must have been adopted in the; nursery—learned with the ABO, and followed np with the persistency which characterizes habits generally. Its influence is not sufficiently marked to restore convexity to the eyes of those already beginning to experience the inconvenience of flat- tened lenses. They require something more potent—something which will produce more immediate results. Knowledge regarding the tendency of right and wrong manipulations, is of value to those who have not yet emerged from childhood, and parents should Instruct their children according to the hints herein given. Kaowl- OLD EYES. 421 edge of this kind will also be serviceable to those who regain the convexity of their organs of sight, for art appears ready to come to the rescue of those whose vision is already impaired or becoming so. We have knife-sharpeners, scissors-sharpeners, and pencil-sharpeners, and why not have eye-sharpeners? Every part of the human organ- ism is susceptible to physical impressions, except the large bones of the osseous structure. Ladies, by wearing tight clothing about the waist, acquire small waists; the constant wearing of garters makes an indentation in the flesh of the limb, which is noticeable after death; tight-fitting shoes make small feet, as is illustrated by the habits and physical characteristics of the Chinese; tight-fitting rings worn long on the finger, produce ineffaceable evidence of their having been worn; the common practice of Germans, especially in their " fader land," of carrying burdens on their heads, has undoubtedly some- thing to do with the proverbial flatness of their craniums; children who get into the habit of reclining exclusively on one side, exhibit the effects in formation of the face and head; the infants of mothers who can only nurse them from one breast, are liable to grow up with a depression of that side of the face and head which came next to the breast during the months they derived their nourishment from the mother; the hair will curl if done up in papers or twisted around the curling iron; naturally curly hair, unless we except that incor- rigible sort which grows on the head of an Ethiopian, becomes straightened by combing and brushing persistently for a time. Now, it is equally true that physical impressions may be made on the human eye, and that it can, with a suitable instrument, be restored to its proper convexity. This is no mere theory but a fact demon- strated by the experience of thousands who have, after years of slavery to glasses, been emancipated through the agency of a simple mechanical invention. The use of it is perfectly harmless, and can in no way whatever injure the visual organs. The trouble of em- ploying it, is nothing compared with the daily annoyance of glasses, nor is its daily use necessary after a few months, according to the length of time the eye has been flattening. Only a very few appli- cations are necessary for those who are just beginning to think it advisable to adopt spectacles. I would most urgently commend this instrument to such persons before they become slaves to glasses, for artificial lenses are liable to be laid down anywhere, and at any place to the most aggravating inconvenience of the wearer, while ±*2 AFFECTIONS OF THE BYES AND EARS, Fte. 111. the natural lenses, if carefully preserved, are always where they affl wanted, and never left at home, or the office, or workshop. Those who are already enslaved to the spectacle-makers, will need no urging to induce them to avail themselves of the discoveries of science and art, to overcome their optical infirmity. However defective their vision, their eyes will not become tired of reading this essay, which they will peruse, from beginning to end, witb eagerness and pleasure, and hail w7ith gratitude their deliverer. A complete history of this remarkable instrument, together with the testimony of many who have employed it, interesting to all who wear glasses, is given in a pamphlet—"Old Eyes made New." By mail, 10c. Enough letters commendatory of its utility have been received to fill every page of this book, and in the place above referred to, a few will be given as fair specimens of the many in the hands of the author. Near-sight, or Myopia. The foregoing essay gives little but discouragement to a large cla99 of people who are affected with near-sight. Since I first introduced the instrument for restoring far- sight, many years ago, I have been called upon by swarms of pre- tending inventors—some greedy —others addle-pated—having in their hands some device for flat- tening the eye. Of course it is not logical to say that side pres- sure upon the eye will impart convexity, while a flat pressure upon the face of the same, will not result in causing less con- vexity ; but there are two objec- tions to the use of instruments for flattening the cornea in cases of near-sight. First: near-sight is in nearly all cases congenital. In other words, those so affected, were born with just such eyes, and consequently it is more diffi- THE APPLICATION OF THE FINGERS FOR NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS, OHRONIC SORE EYES. 423 cult to change nature by attempting to flatten such eyes, than it is to restore to convexity those which were originally right, but have become flattened by age or bad manipulations. Second: no instrument can be devised for producing pressure upon the face of the eye, so complete as the balls of the fingers. I do not by any means deny the utility of pressure upon the face of the eye in cases of near-sight; I only call in question the merit of any mechanical instrument for that purpose, while reminding all near-sighted per- sons that they cannot expect as much nor as speedy benefit from this flattening pressure, as far-sighted people receive from the means I have devised for restoring the convexity of the eye. Every one having a particle of discrimination can see this; but were I near- sighted my fingers should always be employed, in my leisure mo- ments, by placing the ball of the first finger of my right hand on my right eye; the next one on the bridge of the nose to steady the hand ; and the third on the left eye—both eyes being closed. With the elbow resting on a table, and the head slightly bent forward to give an easy position, you have in this way, near-sighted reader, the best instrument ever devised for improving your vision, and I would urgently advise you to adopt it and use it perseveringly every day, though you may perceive no change for the better in three months. In time it will affect your sight favorably, and you might as well substitute a habit of thus pressing your eyes, for some other habit which you are conscious injures you—smoking, perhaps. The press- ure may be gentle, and continued at each sitting for fifteen or twenty minutes. Illustration, figure 111 represents the position the fingers should occupy in the act of imparting this pressure. Chronic Sore Eyes. The mechanism of the eye is such, that the presence of inflamma- tion or congestion in them is exceedingly mischievous. To perform its office easily it has to be kept well lubricated. To this end the lining of the socket is not only provided with sebaceous glands, but over each eye, in the upper part of the cavity it occupies, there is a reservoir called the lachrymal gland, which pourr out upon the ball a fluid slightly mucous and saline; and, to make the arrangement complete, at the inner corner of each eye there is a canal, the orifice of which is large enough to admit a bristle, and which in health con- ±24: AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. veys off any excess of this fluid, as well as that which has become too old to be made useful. These canals connect with the nasal duct. To prevent the lachrymal fluid or tears from running down over the face of the eye when open, there are a number of minute glands along under the edges of the lids which secrete an oily sub- stance. This, with the imperceptible pressure of the edges of the lids upon the eyes, holds back the watery secretions, which pass down around the inner edges (as if eave-troughs confined them) to the tear ducts before described. The oil glands at the edges of the lids also prevent the latter from becoming a-glued or stuck together during sleep. Without them it would be difficult to get the eyes open in the morning. Even the eyelashes at their roots have the oily secretions common to all hair, which lubricate them, and prevent them from becoming adhesive when moistened with the watery secretions of the lachrymal glands. In addition to all this ingenious and wonderful mechanism, the veins of the eyes in health are too small to admit the red corpuscles of the blood, and it is by this ar- rangement that the whites of the eyes in health preserve their clear- ness, and the lenses are enriched by colorless blood, for otherwise the vision would be obstructed by <•• specks, spots, patches, etc., even in jji health. With the foregoing brief descrip- tion of some of the mechanical f.r- rangements of the eyes, it may bo readily seen how inflammation or any undue pressure of blood upon the organs of vision and their immediate surroundings, will interfere with the proper performance of their functions. When inflamed, red, feverish corpuscles enter the veins; they redden the sclerotic or white of the eye ; they distend the veins of the eyelids and linings of the sockets; they vitiate the secretions of the lachrymal glands, or reservoirs over the eyes, making them scalding in their properties; they dry up or make gluey the oily secretions of the glands along the edges of the eyelids, and also those which keep the eyelashes from becoming matted or stuck together. When all these derangements CHRONIC SORE EYES. 425 take place a person has what are commonly called sore eyes, and technically, ophthalmy. When the difficulty survives the immediate cause which precipitated it, whether that immediate cause be cold or catarrh, or something getting into the eye, or local infection, or contusion, or, if it comes on gradually without any known immediate cause, it may be called chronic sore eyes, or chronic ophthalmy. Sore eyes induced by a ccld may simply present an inflamed and swollen appearance, with a profusion of water, and sensitiveness to light; induced by catarrh, similar symptoms with an exudation of unwholesome mucus; indnced by something entering the eye, sore- ness, and sometimes great pain attended with an excessive flow of the lachrymal fluid; induced by contusion, similar symptoms to those just described; but when induced by infection stch as leucor- rhceal or gonorrhceal or syphilitic matter, or perpetuated by scrofulous or syphilitic impurities in the blood, the discharges are purulent, with all the foregoing symptoms combined; and the poisonous matter which is exuded, if brought in contact with the lids of healthy eyes, proves contagious. It is believed by some people that simply look- ing into such eyes will affect healthy ones ; but I am confident that all such supposed cases came some way in contact with at least a particle of the diseased virus. In a family, for instance, where chronic sore eyes attack one of the children, and then the difficulty spreads to several others; it will probably be found on close investi- gation that they have played with each others' toys, or wiped on the same towel, in either of which ways a little grain of the diseased matter may have been communicated to the eyes of the healthy child. Women having bad leucorrhoea, and men affected with gonorrhoea; or others of either sex having syphilitic ulcers or sores, should always be extremely cautious not to touch the fingers to the eyes after they have been in contact with the affected parts, and should carefully avoid wiping the face with the same towel used for wiping the hands. In the treatment of chronic sore eyes the blood must receive the main attention. No case will become chronic unless the blood was previously impure, or became so by the infectious matter with which the eyes were inoculated. I have cured many cases without any Jocal treatment whatever; but when the latter is resorted to, it should be of a mild healing nature, and always accompanied with thorough medication for the blood. 4U0 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EAltS. The deeper as well as the superficial layers of the eye are -ubject to a variety of inflammatory diseases, but their diagnosis can only be accurately made by means of examination with the ophthalmo- scope, a little but great instrument which enables the physician to see into the interior parts. Most of these deep-seated diseases, even to cataract of the lens, or atrophy of the optic nerve, are as surely the outgrowth of blood disorders as is a simple stye on the lid, and some of the most serious of them are symptomatic of diabetes, Bright's disease, syphilis, etc. The diagnosis of such diseases, in- volving and threatening the precious sense of vision, can only be safely entrusted to those who have opportunities to make special study of the subject; but from the nature of these diseases their treatment often falls more appropriately to the general specialist than the oculist. Here it may be well to say that an optician is not an oculist and though many of the defects in vision requiring ad- justment of glasses can be tested for and attended to by opticians, especially many of the highly educated ones in large cities, it is generally safer to take an oculist's opinion and prescription even on what seems to be so small a matter as the selection of glasses. Be- sides far-sight and near-sight, already explained, there are the common faults of astigmatism and hypermetropia, defects which can only be overcome by just the right kind of lenses. Hyperme- tropia, by the way, is a sort of far-sight occurring in children, for which the eye-sharpener is not at all adapted. Astigmatism is due to a defect of form in the eye-ball, which can not be relieved by operation, manipulation, or instrument, though fortunately it can be "corrected" by lenjes; many headaches are thus cured. Cross-Eyes. An affection of this kind is technically called strabismus, and by many " squint." People thus affected not only look very queerly, but it is generally difficult for an observer to tell exactly what par- ticular object they are looking at. Cross-eyed schoolmasters are always a great bother to the boys, who naturally perpetrate their mischief when the eyes of the teacher are apparently not on them; but when the tutor has optics like any of those given in the annexed illustration, and especially if like c, tho boys are entirely adrift, and find it unsafe to look off their books, or throw paper bullets at their fellow-students, There can be no doubt that all ooo- CROSS-EYES. 427 genital formations of this kind were originally intended for school- masters and schoolma'ams, but the fall of man has so mixed up things, that cross-eyes seem to present themselves here and there without a particle of reference to avocation, and school-boys are not often enough afflicted with teachers having them. In the annexed illustration, a repre- sents a single convergent squint; b, a double convergent squint; c, a double divergent squint; and d a convergent and divergent squint. The displace- ment of the eye in any one of the cases illustrated, if congenital, or in other words, when the person affected was born so, results from the natural con- traction of one set of muscles, and the natural extension or relaxation of those on the opposite side ; but this same po- sition of the eyes may be produced by disease affecting the muscles; or it may be acquired by practising it for sport; or a weakness of one set of muscles and a contraction of the other may gradually take place without any visible cause. Strabismus generally must be treated both medically and surgically, and in my surgical department all op- erations of this kind are performed in a few minutes, by an experienced op- erator, who does the work so expertly as to give the patient scarcely a particle of pain. When there is cerebral affec- tion or weakness of the eyes, medica- tion alone will sometimes overcome the difficulty, but if not, it should either precede or immediately follow an op- eration. Other Diseases of the Eye Will not be presented here, as more space than was originally apportioned to this division of the chapter is already occupied, I 428 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. will, therefore, call the reader's attention to diseases of the ear, after remarking that all affected with any diseases of the eyes, are at lib- erty to consult the author in relation thereto. In all letters of con- sultation, answers to the questions on page 600 should be given. Defective Hearing. If the non-professional reader could follow me through all the circuitous paths of the ear without becoming befogged with the technical names anatomists have bestowed upon the various organs therein; if the common mind could be made conversant with the complex physical machinery of the organs of hearing; and then, if we could all of us comprehend the mysterious, ever-hidden connec- tion existing between the physical organs of sense and the conscious principle, wc might cease to wonder at, but never to admire, the peculiar mechanism by which all of us, gifted with the sense of hear- ing, are made conscious of so much that is passing in the material world through that remarkable something we familiarly denominate sound. Your friend speaks to you. How are you made aware of the fact, and of the impression he wishes to convey to your mind ? He expels from his lungs currents of air, shaped by the organs of the throat and modified and chopped off here and there by the motions of the tongue and lips, so that the air moves toward you in what may be called articulate waves. These fa!l upon the external ear, a perfect acoustic instrument, which is so modeled as to conduct them into the orifice, where they soon come in contact with the ear-drum, technically called the tympanum. This instantly vibrates in perfect accord with the motions of the articulate waves, and the vibrationn of this organ in turn set in motion other waves in the air confined in the cavity beyond, when motion is communicated to reeds of delicato bones—the smallest bones in the body—and to fibres of muscle, which vibrate like the reeds of an organ when acted upon by cur- rents of air, or the strings of a violin when agitated by the finger or bow. Thus further modified and intensified, these waves move onward through irregular cavities, circuitous canals, convoluted tubes, and delicate membranes, all of the most wonderful complexity, until reaching the labyrinth, or parlor of the ear, where there are cushions of fluids upon which they fall and set in motion multitudin- ous little granules of calcareous matter, whose agitation frictionizes. DEFECTIVE HEARiNd, 429 the sensitive, minute branches of the auditory nerve, which penetrate the sacs confining the granults. This influence conveys to the mind what is commonly called sound ; but just how this is effected no human anatomist or physiologist is likely everto be able to determine. Considering the complexity of all this hearing machinery, and the delicacy of the various parts composing it, exceeding in some re- spects the wonderful mechanism of the eye, it is not at all strange that many are affected with partial and some with entire deafness. Fig. 114. TIIK HITMAN' KAIl. Not a single tube can be closed, not a bone or fibre destroyed, not a particle of change in quantity or quality of the fluids of the sacs, or those moistening or bathing the membrane lining the canals or cavities, occur, without affecting the accuracy of the impressions conveyed to the mind through the mechanism of the ear. Let us briefly look into the most common causes of defective hear- ing. We will commence as soon as we penetrate the orifice. In what is called the external opening, between the outer orifice and . 430 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. the ear-drum, there are yellowish colored glands which potir out upon the lining of this canal a fatty, albuminous, yellow substance, possessing some of the properties of bile, which we call the ear-wax. The true office of this secretion, is probably to exclude insects from the ear, as it is disagreeably bitter and adhesive. Flies, mosquitoes, fleas, and the minute inhabitants of the tenement bed-chamber could make as little headway through this secretion as they could through molasses, while its flavor to their epicurean teeth would he far less palatable. So long as this secretion is not deficient, exces- sive, or vitiated, this portion of the ear generally performs its func- tion properly. But if it dries up, insects may nestle there, irritate the canal, and obstruct the vibrations of the air; if it becomes exces- sive, or gluey and dense, then the canal is obstructed, and in some cases completely filled up. A deficiency, excess, or vitiation of this secretion, called ear-wax, may therefore render the hearing defective. The external opening of the ear terminates with an organ called the tympanum or ear-drum, a membrane nearly circular in form, and fastened in a bony ring. Its external surface xorms a conical concav- ity, highly polished, and in the living subject the membrane is nearly transparent. Naturally it is without orifice, but in some persons, by disease or accident, it may have become slightly perforated without materially affecting the hearing. If, however, this organ be greatly perforated, or nearly or quite obliterated; or if it be thickened or indurated; or if the muscles controlling it be weakened or de- stroyed, hearing may be defective or lost altogether. The inner side of the ear-drum is what is called the cavity of the tympanum. This must be supplied with air to make the hearing complete. The air reaches it by what is called the Eustachian tube, which opens like a trumpet, large enough to insert a pencil point, in the throat, and extends along upward and backward, for neavly two inches, when it opens into this cavity ; but the lining of the latter secretes a mucus, with which to moisten its walls, and in dis- ease this secretion may be thick and excessive, in which case it fills up the Eustachian tube, and thereby excludes air from this cavity, and in many cases fills the cavity itself. Or, if the mastoid cells or sinuses, which have an opening in the cavity of the tympanum, nearly opposite the Eustachian tube, be the seat of irritation, the secretions of these may deluge the cavity or clog the tube. In some cases, these walls, cavities, and tubes are affected with catarrh, and DEFECTIVE HEARING. 4Si become congested with catarrhal matter. Whenever or howevei they are obstructed, the person so affected cannot hear distinctly, if at all. It sometimes happens that the labyrinth, with all its delicate appurtenances, becomes the seat of disease, obstructing communica- tion with the tympanum, or causing such a change in the fluids of the sacs containing the calcareous granules, that the auditory nerve fails to receive any impression from the vibrations going on in the tym- panum, or its vicinity. In either case, partial or entire deafness must ensue. Ulcerations sometimes take place in the delicate organs of the ear. It is terrible to have such visitations here, for they are liable to de- stroy the walls of the tubes, canals, and cavities; to eat away entirely the ear-drum, and to break up and destroy the delicate bones and muscles, forming the reeds and strings, and to expel them through the external opening in the form of offensive matter. Entire deaf- ness sometimes results from these ulcerations. No form of disease, however, can be more complete than that caused by paralysis of the auditory nerve. All the other organs of the ear may be in complete order, and mechanically vibrate to every atmospheric impulse. The articulate waves may move along regu- larly through all the natural cavities and tubes, and enter the laby- rinth with the greatest precision and order; they may set in motion all those peculiar little granules which play upon the termini of the auditory nerve, but if the latter be paralyzed, no intelligence what- ever is conveyed to the brain. This line of telegraph is practically down, and although the brain may be in communication with the external world by telegraphic connection with the eyes and other organs of sense, no message whatever is received via ear- dom. The approach of paralysis of the auditory nerve is usually heralded by noises in the head, ringing and roaring in the ears, and, in some cases, by acute pain. There are constantly motions taking place in the atmosphere of so slight a nature that the healthy auditory nerve is not impressed by them. If you please to call them sounds, then there are sounds of which the normal auditory nerve takes no notice. But when that nerve becomes irritated or inflamed—aa sensitive as a tender tooth—it feels every impulse of the air, how- ever slight, and considering the forms of tho canals through which these impulses pass, the sensation conveyed through the irritated £32 AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES AND EARS. nerve to the brain, is more commonly that of roaring. This Is nn doubtedly mainly due to what is called the cochlea, which is a coni- cal tube so convoluted that its form resembles the shell of the snail. having, however, two cavities, one of which begins at the vestibule and the other at the tympanum, and continues through its whole extent. Nearly everybody has undoubtedly noticed what a roaring noise a large shell produces when held near the ear. When the au- ditory nerve has only the sensitiveness natural to it in health, the shell needs to be nearly or quite as large as a hen's egg; but when it has the acute sensibility which irritation or inflammation imparts, even the action of the air in this little convoluted tube, having the form of a shell, conveys to the nerve and thence to the brain a sound similar to that experienced when a large shell is held against the ear. This is a new theory, of my own, but I think it will commend itself to physiologists. All the peculiar noises experienced in the ears of persons having affections therein, like the singing of a tea kettle, ringing and ticking, indicate an undue sensibility of the auditory nerye, which is made conscious of motions of air in the tubes, canals, and cavities of the ear, of which, in health, it is not cognizant. When these noises continue for a long time, a reaction is liable to follow, and the auditory nerve changes from this acute sensibility to partial or entire insensibility, and at this juncture of the disease, defective hearing or complete deafness ensues. Complete deafness is usually incurable. If, however, a person can hear a little ; if by the aid of ear-trumpet the human voice can be heard and its language understood, it is generally prophetic of the possibility of recovery, if the right course be pursued by the physician having the case in charge. Every one affected with partial deafness should intrust his case to a skillful physician who is thoroughly acquainted with the anatomy of the ear, and who has had experience in the treatment of its diseases. No practitioner defi- cient in these qualifications should attempt to treat partial deafness, and especially should the victim of this affection refrain from any attempt to devise or apply local remedies unless guided by the advice of a physician. Persons observing the approach of difficult hearing may many times prevent the development of deafness by taking remedies Buitable for purifying and strengthening the blood, because all the secretions of the ear are derived from the circulation, and will be DEFECTIVE HEARING-. 433 healthy or unhealthy according to the pure or impure condition of the vascular fluids ; but when the affection seems to be steadily com- ing on in spite of gentle constitutional treatment, obtain without delay the advice of a medical man in wnom you have confidence. Paralysis of the auditory nerve has in some instances been cured by the judicious application of electricity. Deafness resulting from the obstinate obstruction of the Eustachian tube has been relieved by admitting air into the cavity of the tympanum by slightly per- forating the ear-drum. Defective hearing caused by entire destruc- tion of the ear-drum has in some cases been greatly benefited by wearing a false tympanum (see page 911). Catarrhal people affected with deafness have many times entirely recovered from the latter by the cure of the former. Scrofulous people who have nearly lost all sense of hearing may generally have that sense restored by the eradication of the scrofulous impurity if ulcerations have not im- paired the structure of the ear. The miraculous cures of deafness are generally effected by remov- ing a plug of wax from the outer canal. This sort of "stopper " of hearing can be extracted by a physician with instruments, or, at home, by persistent warm water injections, and the cure is immedi- ate if the plug has not been there so long as to paralyze or injure the deeper parts. Hot water injections are the safest and best treat- ment for many affections of the ears, while oils and soothing oint- ments may do much to soften tympanums that have become too hard and stiff to vibrate. Placing the finger tips firmly in the ears and wriggling them there is a good way of vibrating the drums, to loosen them, and holding the nose while forcing air from the lungs to the head tends to inflate the Eustachian tubes, and balance the air pressure on both sides of the ear-drums. The latest device for loosening adherent ear-drums is an electrical instrument that causes them to vibrate very rapidly by sounds. The usual mechanical aids to hearing, various forms of ear trumpets, are not as fashionable, convenient, or effective as the glasses used to aid defective vision; and although various instruments are largely advertised to cure deafness that can be almost concealed in the external canal, we never knew any of them to be worth the price. \ CHAPTER VI. DISEASES OF THE HEART. OME nervous reader who may imagine that ho has a heart disease, will undoubtedly thumb theso leaves for the symptoms which indicate the ex- istence of such affections; but he will be disap- pointed. I am not going to give them. This will be the most incomplete chapter in the book. The late Artemus Ward once gave out notice in the New York jour- nals that he would lecture on the Russian Bear. The hall was crowded, and after making the audience roar with his drollery for an hour or more, perpetrating jokes no way relevant to the subject, he concluded by saying he should not have time to touch upon the topic proposed, but that tickets would be issued at the door to those who chose to hear him expatiate upon it, which tickets would entitle the holder to attend his next lecture to be given in San Francisco! The author will not attempt to mitigate the dis- appointment of the nervous reader, by the pleasantry characteristic of Artemus, but will frankly avow the reason for avoiding any thing like a serious essay upon the diseases named in the heading. It ia this: all nervous or dyspeptic persons who hear or read a descrip- tion of the symptoms attending affections of the heart, invariably imagine that they are victims to them. It is, therefore, quite as well to confine information of this kind to the pages of medical works written expressly for the profession, inasmuch as nervous or dyspep- tic difficulties often produce symptoms so closely resembling thoso resulting from actual diseases of the heart, that a critical medical examination is necessary to determine the question with certainty. No one knowing fully the symptoms, can rely upon his own judg- ment in the matter, and to save unnecessary apprehension in tho minds of those who have a disease of the imagination rather than of the heart, it is well to avoid every thing in a work intended for the DISEASES OF THE HEART. 435 people, that can by any possibility aggravate the whimsical tendency of a distempered brain. Dyspeptic and nervous persons are not the only ones who are apt to imagine that they are victims of heart disease. There is a mem- brane or sac which F. 11S envelops the heart, called the pericardi- um. This is often the seat of inflam- mation, and when it is, pains in that re- gion and palpitation of the heart are gen- . erally experienced, together with all the symptoms which are supposed to charac- terize a disease of the heart itself. Palpitation of the heart may be in- duced by various causes. There may be too great an ex- penditure of nerv- ous force upon this organ, and when this is the case, it is gen- erally found that it is at the expense of other organs. When the liver becomes torpid, it will often he discovered that THE HEART. a, b, the left and right ventricles; c, e, f, the aorta; ff, h, i, the innominata, left carotid, and left subclavian; I; tha pulmonary artery which is given off from the right ventricle, and conveys the blood to the lungs; I, I, branches of the pul- monary artery distributed to the right and left lungs; m, m, the pulmonary veins, which bring the oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left auricle; n, the right auricle; o, q, the ascending and descending venaB cavse, which return tha blood from the general system to the right auricle ; p, Veina which convey the blood from the liver, bowels, and spleen ; s, the coronary artery which carries blood into the substance of the heart, the nervous stimuli belonging to that organ, have in some way been diverted to the heart, resulting, of course, in the inactivity of the former, and the excessive activity of the latter. Persons subject to cold extremities often have all the nervous forces and vascular fluids which should be occupied 436 DISEASES OF THE HEART. in keeping the feet and limbs warm, acting in and about the heart, causing the latter to jump and beat unnaturally, violently, and inju- riously. There are affections of the procreative organs, which are attended with such nervous derangements as to give both to them and the heart an undue supply of nervous stimuli. Persons of both sexes are subject to them, and when they exist all of the other or- gans of the body are robbed to supply this abnormal diversion, which sets the amative organs of the brain on fire, and makes the heart leap with morbid excitement. The stomach may become so dis- tended with wind, when digestion is sluggish, as to encroach upon the cavity occupied by the heart, and interfere with its action to such a degree as to cause palpitation or labored pulsation. Excess of flesh, in some cases renders the space naturally allotted to the heart, too limited, and the same symptoms are then experienced aa when the stomach invades it. Excess or insufficiency of blood, ex- cessive mental emotions, whether of joy or sorrow, and too severe and protracted physical exercise, may induce an unnatural action of the heart. Considering, therefore, how greatly the action of the heart is influenced by a variety of causes not at all implicated in any disease of tho organ itself, it would be difficult to make this chapter physiologically and pathologically exact, without arousing in the mind of the unprofessional reader some apprehensions in regard to the condition of the heart, if he be at all imaginative. Most of the true heart diseases of a chronic kind are due to distor- tions (called lesions) of the valves of this double-barreled pump, arising sometimes suddenly from extreme effort, or brought on by repeated attacks of inflammatory rheumatism. These valvular dis- eases impair the heart's power as a force-pump, but nature has ways of compensating for many defects by bringing on gradual enlarge- ment of the heart, so that many hypertrophies are more in the nature of a cure than a disease—improving instead of impairing health. All abnormal hearts are prone to rack themselves to a break-down in course of time, but those thus afflicted who will adopt moderation in all things and judicious habits, may prolong life thirty or forty years. Physicians can do much to regulate the action of rickety hearts, something by medicines influencing its ner- vous control, but more by relieving the weak heart of impediments to blood circulation in congestion of other parts, or quieting that unruly member, the stomach, which resides just below the heart. CHAPTEE VIZ CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS [HEN the skin and lungs are in a healthy con- dition a large amount of the waste fluids of tho system passes off in the form of sensible or in- sensible perspiration and in vapors exhaled, but the excretory pores and lungs would be quite insufficient, unaided, to dispose of the soluble effete matters, and consequently the divine Artificer created in the human body and in the bodies of all vertebrate ani- mals, organs, called the kidneys, together with other organs which have been named, by anatomists, the ureters, bladder, and urethra, to act subordinately to them. The kidneys in the human system are brownish red, bean-shaped glands, located on either side of the spine in what is denominated the lumbar region. They are largely made up of tubes and cells and of membrane of so thin texture, that as the blood passes through the kidneys, the watery portions pass through the membrane as readily as water passes through muslin, and it then trickles down through tubes to little reservoirs in the kidneys, and from thence through the little canals called the ureters to the bladder, which is the great receiving reservoir of the urine. In health the bladder retains the water till it becomes full, or until it is convenient to dispose of it. In both sexes the bladder is located in the lower part of the bowels. In men it is bounded at the back by the seminal vesicles and rectum, and in women by the vagina. In front it lies just back of the lower abdom- inal walls. The bladder empties itself through the urethra, which in the male extends along the under part of the penis to the orifice at the end, and this same urethra is the conducting pipe of the semi- nal fluids when they pass off. In the female it performs only the office of carrying off the urine; it is very short and terminates just above the vaginal orifice, 438 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGAN& Fig. 116. In my practice I have a large percentage of cases suffering with diseases of a chronic nature, located in some part of the urinary apparatus. So closely connected, anatomically, are the urinary with the procreative organs, and so greatly are the latter abused, it is not surprising that the former are frequently the seat of painful and dangerous affections. In both sexes the ama- tive passions are prematurely developed and stimulated. These, at an early age, too often lead boys and girls into private vices, and the mature and married into sexual excesses and pernicious modes for the prevention of con- ception, all of which physical violations are well calculated to disturb the nervous harmony of the parts, impoverish and vitiate the blood, and to lay the foundation for serious derange- ments of those organs which secrete and dis- charge the urine. The most common of these diseases are:—chronic inflammation in the kid- neys ; weakness in the kidneys; consumption of the kidneys ; stone in the kidneys; chronic inflammation in the bladder; paralysis of the bladder; gravel; chronic gonorrhoea; stricture of the urethra; etc. The office of the kidneys is to secrete the useless alkaline and calcareous particles and The kidneys at the top r are connected by canals the soluble waste matters from the blood. Ihe called the ureters leading bladder, as before remarked, is the reservoir for to the bladder. The neck of ^ and thfi urethra js the waste-pipe for the bladder connects with ; ...... the urethra, which is not carrying them off. Everybody living in given in the illustration, as houses supplied with aqueduct water knows the latter is without seX how much trouble it gives the kitchen-maid and stands to represent the ° urinary organs of both when something, by her own carelessness, sexes. obstructs the waste-pipe. Now old dame Nature has double the trouble of any " Bridget " in keeping human water-pipes in order, not from any dereliction of duty on her part, but from the carelessness and imprudences of man and woman kind generally. Mechanical water-pipes could never endure the abuses which are almost daily inflicted by men, women, and children, on tUt>89 organs made in part, by the economy of nature, for the pur. TUB HUMAN WATEE-WOETTS. DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 439 pose of carrying off the waste fluids which nature wishes to dispose of. Albeit, it is useless to moralize, even in this quaint way. Genera- tion after generation passes off the stage of life, one profiting little by the experience of its predecessor. Individuals suffering with such troubles only intrust the secret to their physician, and the mass of humanity goes recklessly on, vainly thinking that this first, second, or third abuse of the delicate nrino-genital structure will not be followed with a penalty, until a large proportion of all have at last tasted the bitter cup, while some drink it to the dregs. It is, there- fore, waste of words for the medical writer to do more than point out the dangerous shoals and breakers, and then turn his attention to those already wrecked, and who are too often catching at straws to Bave themselves. I will therefore pass to the consideration of some of the diseases I have adverted to. Diseases of the Kidneys. The kidneys are very vascular organs, and are so arranged an- atomically that they receive constantly a large amount of blood which, in passing through them, is purified of many forms of waste matter and deprived of much of its water, the latter being necessary to hold the impurities in solution until they may be cast out from the body. The kidneys are therefore in intimate relation with the circulatory system, the heart and blood-vessels, and they not only suffer when disease invades the heart and arteries, but if the kid- neys become first affected, the circulatory system is, sooner or later, weakened also. The kidneys are also sensitive to any faults in digestion, whether in stomach or liver, for if any unusual amount of impurities are thrown into the blood through faulty digestion, the kidneys are put to extra strain in eliminating them. On the other hand, if through disease of the kidneys, the blood fails to be steadily and sufficiently purified, the retained impurities are likely to irritate the digestive organs and derange their action. They stand in equally intimate relations with the lungs and skin. Therefore the indications of kidney disease are generally round- about, indirect sort of symptoms affecting other parts. They are too deeply situated to be seen or felt, and are not in themselves very sensitive. Even cancer may eat them up without causing pain, and the back-aches which people so commonly attribute to kidney 440 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS. troubles are generally in the tenderloin muscles of the back, and not in the kidneys themselves, though it may be their sluggish action which causes the accumulation of irritants that render the muscles painful, as in lumbago. It is hardly to be doubted that the kidneys, like other important organs, may be functionally dis- ordered, or slow and inefficient in their action, without being act- ually diseased with what is called an organic lesion, and, like other parts, they may be subject to sudden congestion from "colds," ren- dering them for a time practically of little use; but it is also true that repeated attacks of congestion are liable to impair the substance of the kidneys, and bring on a chronic form of inflammation now- pretty generally known as Bright's disease. This is the most com- mon form of chronic disease of the kidneys, named after Dr. Rich- ard Bright, of England, who first gave a fair description of its symptoms and lesions in 1830, but it is only since 1860 that it has been thoroughly studied and understood, even by physicians, and perhaps only in the last ten years that the general public has learned, through familiarity, to fear it. It is the most insidious form of chronic disease, and may be far advanced before any symptom develops by which its presence could be suspected. Many a man who dies suddenly of apoplexy, in seem- ing fair health, has really had, for years preceding that event, a slow fever in the kidneys, and disintegration of the blood-vessels of the brain where the fatal break at last occurred. Dr. Francis M. Delafield once reported on the case of a policeman who had passed a critical physical examination for promotion, with a rating of ninety points, only three months before his death by inflammation of the bowels, when the post-mortem examination showed his kid- neys greatly wasted by chronic nephritis—another name for Bright's disease. It could not be learned from his friends that he had ever complained of its ordinary symptoms. While such reports are not rare, the disease as a rule offers plenty of warning in a variety of symptoms, the real meaning and importance of which must be deter- mined by taking one thing with another. The ordinary symptoms are those common to many other chronic diseases originating from general debility or blood impurity. Among the early symptoms are apt to be simple indigestion and much flatu- lence, sometimes with nausea or vertigo and persistent headaches; or there may be only a gouty joint, sciatic rheumatism, or facial DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 441 Fig. 117. neuralgia as evidence of retained waste matters. Sometimes the latter only tickle the surface, but when thus operating in the skin they may cause most distressing itching. There may be pale and numb finger tips, cold feet, cramps, or other sign of impeded blood circulation. The subject often complains of general sensitiveness to cold, and yet the pulse will be hard and firm. Palpitation of the heart, languor, early fatigue, and inability for prolonged effort are commonly present, soon or late, while pallor, aneemia, or at least a general appearance of being below par, assist the professional eye to detect a subject of this disease. The mental tendency is gloomy, to "blues" and irritability of temper, and lack of hope and ambition. In advanced cases an inflammation of the retina (the deep light-sensing mem- brane of the eye), called retinitis, is quite characteristic of the disease; while the ears are subject to noises not at all distinc- tive, except, per- haps, in their per- sistence. (Edema, in form of puffy lower eye-lid and swelled ankles, is one of the common The kidney cut through; I, vein; 2, artery; 3, ureter leading to bladder. later symptoms, while general dropsy from weakening heart comes toward the last. It must not be supposed that any one case will include all, or even a fourth of all these symptoms, and yet in the course of yearb the majority of tham may appear in turn, or a few at a time. When 442 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS. some such symptoms are present, and the question arises as to diag- nosis of the true state of the patient, an examination of the urine will aid in settling whether the kidneys are or are not subject to this disease. One of the proofs of its presence is the discovery of albumen in the urine, by special tests which will readily detect the presence of so small an amount as one part in 10,000. The signifi- cance of albumen thus found is yet undecided. Many physicians claim that under some circumstances it may be found in the urine of healthy persons, as of soldiers or athletes after prolonged effort, while others claim that it cannot occur without some weakness or predisposition to Bright's. Life insurance examiners, as a rule, " hold off" a candidate for insurance if even a small trace of albu- men is detected, until repeated examinations show that it no longer occurs. Yet, on the other hand, there have been observed many true cases of chronic nephritis, in whose urine albumen was never detected. Another more certain evidence is the discovery, by aid of the microscope, of little "casts," which have been shed from the lining cells of the kidney tubes, and are found in the sediment that settles in the urine. There are several varieties of such casts, which tell much of the stage of the disease, its seriousness, and rate of prog- ress. Their presence proves much, but their absence does not neces- sarily prove that there is no form of Bright's disease. To the possible subject of this affection, the most interesting facts are those relating to its curability. In one sense it is incurable; that is, whatever portion of the kidney lias been wasted and destroyed by inflammation cannot be rebuilt, but must remain a scar. A good deal of one kidney may be reduced to scar tissue without throwing the remaining parts out of work, and a cure, so far as it is possible, consists in checking the destructive process, and saving all that can be. The disease is slow, as a rule, and if diagnosed and attended to in time, much can be done for its relief. In a comparison of views of eminent professors of all countries, there is a remarkable unan- imity of opinion to the effect that in cases of Bright's disease, life can be indefinitely prolonged by hygienic and medicinal means. At a meeting of the Practitioners' Society of New York, on3 speakei told of a commodore in the navy, still in service, who was pronounced to have Bright's disease thirty-five years ago; while another re- spected authority expressed the opinion that a person with albumen DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS. 443 ftnd casts In the urine "might live as long as anybody." A life insurance examiner almost acknowledges that the Britique may do better than that, because, if warned of his weakness, he will be more careful than the robust man, take less risks, and escape many dangers that are liable to suddenly pick off the latter from the list of the living. Thirty-three years ago I was called to treat a case of Bright's dis- ease in Worcester County, Massachusetts, of three years' standing; the patient's local physicians said she could not live a month. She had been for several months bed-ridden, and a dear sister had been called home from a distant city under the supposition that she could not long survive. In two months I had her off her bed, and she is living to-day—a healthy old lady—but she says the sensation has ever since been present as if there was a cavity in one of the kid- neys. Since treating that case I have had many similarly but not so seriously affected, who have been to all appearances restored under my treatment. In the case here referred to I did not have the advantage of seeing the patient personally before or during the treatment. Her sister was the bearer of the first course of remedies, and the subsequent treatment was conducted by letter and express. Years after she favored me with a visit to express her gratitude. Probably there is no chronic organic, or so-called " wasting" dis- ease, in which good advice, management, and treatment can be so effective in staying progress as in Bright's disease. In the main its hygiene consists in moderation in all things, avoidance of hard labor, severe exertion, and rapid exercise, restriction to a vegetable, cereal and fruit diet, with eggs and milk, and abundance of pure water to flush the kidneys. It is important to maintain sufficient bodily warmth by suitable clothing, and always to avoid a "chill," or anything approaching thereto. With the inflammation of the kid- neys subdued by appropriate treatment, and the adoption of a course of life tempered to the tender condition of these delicate organs, " even an advanced grade of contracted kidney may be compatible with great mental and physical activity," says a writer on this sub- ject. The trick of prolonging life on one kidney, as it were (and, by the way, the left kidney, for well understood anatomical reasons, is most prone to disease), consists in so living as to give it as little as possible to do, by avoiding such foods as make ashes for the kid- neys to secrete (i.e., nitrogenous substances, especially meats), and 444 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS. exercise that excites the heart's action and hastens the production of waste matter for the kidneys to handle. Bright's disease is quite a common complication of pregnancy, going from bad to worse until delivery occurs. The poisonous state of the mother's blood often blights the foetus so that premature birth or abortion occurs spontaneously, as nature's own way of sav- ing the mother, for if this ordeal be safely passed, the kidneys may quickly be relieved of their dangerous condition; but sometimes it becomes necessary to effect this mode of relief artificially, and wise physicians nowadays keep watch of their "confinement cases," and make frequent examinations of the urine so that they may know if the kidneys are becoming congested, and to what extent. Kidney Colic. When, through perverted nutrition, the blood becomes impure and the urine abnormal, it may happen that certain ingredients will not remain in solution, but crystallize into solid particles prema- turely—before the urine leaves the kidneys. Such accumulations are called calculi, or stones, and are apt to have pricking points or sharp corners, which, as the stone descends through the narrow ureter, scrape along, attended with terrific pain, until it drops into the bladder. Persons who have one such experience are likely to have more, and soon learn that they are victims of kidney colic. The treatment necessary is of two kinds. During a spell of "horn- ing " a baby stone, relief can be had by hot baths, opiates, and relax- ing medicines, like lobelia; but the wise treatment is, of course, such as will cure the cause, and put a stop to the formation of the calculi; for there is not only the distress of the colic, but the further danger that the gravel may linger and agglutinate in the bladder to form a stone which will some day require a surgical operation for its removal. Such operations are generally successful, but not always; and in no phase of disease is it more evident that preven- tion (by appropriate medicinal treatment) is better than cure (by surgical operation). Cystitisi Inflammation of the bladder may arise from a variety of causes, and produce an amount of suffering that can only be appreciated by one who has had it. The bladder may smart under the influence of a hot and acrid urine sent down from inflamed kidneys, until its CYSTITIS. 445 own lining membrane becomes inflamed; or an inflammation in the urethra may extend into the bladder; but, no doubt, catarrhal in- flammation of the mucous membrane of the bladder may originate as catarrh does anywhere else from the irritating properties of the bluod sent through its capillaries. The symptoms referable to the bladder are pretty much the same whatever the cause of the inflam- mation, but the determination of the cause may be very essential to successful treatment. Pain and soreness over the region of the bladder, low down in the abdomen, are prominent symptoms, and frequent calls to pass water, inability to retain long after notice is given, and smarting while urinating are among the symptoms to be expected. The urine is apt to be " off color" or high colored, and to contain an excess of mucous sediment or catarrhal matter. Even pus and blood are found in it in serious cases. The microscope is a useful aid in examining the sediment to decide the exact nature of the case. Of course the presence of a stone in the bladder is cause enough for cystitis, and accurate diagnosis of its presence or absence can sometimes only be made by a "sound" (steel probe) passed into the bladder through the urethra. The sound of a "sound " striking a stone settles any question as to its presence. In the treatment of cystitis, after the kidneys and urethra? have received due attention, the bladder itself may often be considerably eased by cleansing, antiseptic solutions injected through a catheter or soft rubber tube, which a patient can easily learn to introduce to the bladder. This means of clearing out all ferment and urinary remnants is of great service, but the main reliance for cure must be resources for removal of the cause, or chronic cystitis may continue obstinately and develop most distressing and even fatal complications. A neighbor of the bladder, from which it suffers much inconvenience is the prostate gland, which in elderly men is very prone to be- come enlarged so as to obstruct the free flow of urine from the blad- der, for the prostate gland surrounds the urethra where it joins the bladder. So troublesome is this form of obstruction that many of its subjects are willing to submit to anything for relief. The "last thing out" in the way of surgical treatment is the removal of the testicles, which many old men are willing to part with for so great a consideration as relief from enlarged prostate. The theory is that their removal induces a withering, or atrophy of the pros- tate, and practice, in the few dozen cases, so far reported, seems to 446 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS. support the theory. Whether there will be occasion to regret cas- tration for this purpose because of subsequent impairment of gen- eral vigor remains to be seen. If all-round atrophy or progressive senility should be one of its results, there will be "cause why " to seek a better way. In any case, try medicine first. Gravel is a name given to a disease which produces calcareous, earthy, or sandy deposits in the bladder. It is caused by an excess of calcareous or limy matter in the blood, and an insufficient supply of acid in the urine to hold these particles in solution. The disease is most common in limestone regions, or where the water used for drinking purposes is hard. Scrofulous people are liable to this dis- ease in any location, but manifestly more so where the water is hard or limey. Coffee is advised by many as a preventive against this painful disease, but, of course, this remedy is only admissible for those who are not rendered bilious by its use. " Dr. Mosley observes, in his ' Treatise on Coffee,' that the great use of the article in France is supposed to have abated the prevalence of the gravel. In the French colonies, where coffee is more used than in the English, as well as iu Turkey, where it is the principal beverage, not only the gravel but the gout is scarcely known. Dr. Faur relates, as an extraordinary instance of the effect of coffee in gout, the case of Mr. Deverau, who was attacked with gout at the age of twenty-five, and had it severely until he was upward of fifty, with chalky stones in the joints of his hands and feet; but for four years preceding the time when the ac- count of his case had been given to Dr. Faur to lay before the pub- lic, he had, by advice, used coffee, and had had no return of the gout afterward." Inasmuch as gout and chalky stones in the joints are difficulties known only to persons of a scrofulous diathesis, it is ap- parent that coffee is a remedy only in so far as it affeets the scrofula favorably. Coffee is a partial antidote to scrofula when the temper- ament of the person favors its employment, and consequently, when scrofula is the cause of gravel, it may be beneficial to the patient to use it. But I am inclined to doubt its success as a remedy when em- ployed alone. Electrical medication seems best adapted to the re- moval of those constitutional derangements wliich produce gravel. Gonorrhoea and Stricture. In sexual intercourse, when the discharge of the seminal fluids by the male takes place, these fluids are ejaculated in distinct jets, pro- GONORRHOEA AND STRICTURE. 447 Fig. 119. LETTCORKIICBAL MATTES. Fig. 120. pelled by not only the ejaculatory ducts, but by a spasmodic con- traction and dilatation of the urethra, each jet being simultaneous with the contraction of this canal. Each dilatation however, creates a vacuum in the urethra, at which moment, if the va- ginal secretions are abundant, they are drawn into the urethra; then, if these secretions be infectious, they cause inflammation in the urethra, followed, after the lapse of a few days, by a purulent discharge. This affection is vulgarly called clap, and technically named gonorrhoea. The inapplicability of the latter name might be exhibited here if it would be jf any practical use to do so, but so long as this term is popularly understood to apply to an affection like the one under con- sideration it will be well enough to employ it. When a female has leucorrhoea of a very acrimonious nature this disease may be com- municated to the urethra of the male, but it is more commonly con- tracted in the dens of harlotry, where women, for a pecuniary consideration, give themselves up to the embrace of men for whom they entertain no affection. The gonorrhoea of the courtesan is always more virulent than the leucorrhoea of the respectable female, but the latter sometimes causes ia the urethra of the male a disease having all the characteristics of the distemper peculiar to prostitutes. Ordinarily under the microscope, quite a difference is observable between leucorrhceal and gonorrhceal matter. A drop of the leucor- rhceal secretien presents the appearance of decayed or vitiated mucus, as represented in figure 119, while that of gonorrhoea appears nearly the same with the exception of possessing something resembling 9mbryonic animalculae, as represented in figure 120. Men suffering with leucorrhceal or gonorrhceal infection may in turn communicate it to healthy women, but in the latter it is more liable to affect the vagina than the urethra because the last-named canal in the female is shorter and more obscurely located than it is in the male; yet, the infectious matter sometimes finds the female urethra, and when ifc does it affects her pretty much iu the same way that it does the male. The symptoms of gonorrhoea in the male generally make their appearance within a week after an exposure. First an un- comfortable feeling, accompanied with an unnatural redness at the GONORRHCEAL MATTER. US CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF TTIE URINARY ORO orifice of the penis is experienced. In some cases a sense of itching, and in others pains almost like those caused by the pricking of a needle. Next, a discharge commences from the mouth of the urethra, slight at first, but gradually increasing. The color of this is variable. In some it is white or yellow, in others it is greenish or muddy. There is a tenderness on pressure to the urethra about an inch from the end of the penis, and usually a burning or scalding feeling while urinating. In some aggravated cases of this disease the passing of water is attended with the most intense pain. The in- flammation of the urethra is sometimes so great that the canal will not stretch with an erection of the organ, and consequently, when erections do take place, it assumes a curved shape, its extremity being drawn downward by the urethra which, in its inflamed state, possesses none of its natural elasticity. Proceeding thus far, the affection ia called chordee, and it is a most distressing one. The symptoms of gonorrhoea in women are less definite ; only an experienced physician can determine, when a woman has a vaginal discharge, whether she is affected with gonorrhoea or leucorrhoea; and when the latter is very acrimonious, the difference is simply in the name, for the effects, when it is communicated to the male, are precisely similar. If it be known that she has been exposed to the former, and in a few days thereafter a discharge, attended with burn- ing and scalding in passing water, follows, it may be safely decided that her disease is gonorrhoea. But she might have this with no other symptom than simply a discharge from the vagina, differing slightly from that attending common leucorrhoea. Almost every one, " fast enough " in his habits to contract gonor- rhoea, generally has in his possession, what some friend has handed him as an "infallible recipe" for its cure. More people are strict- ured by these " infallible recipes " than by the disease itself. In- deed, between these "recipes" the advertised panaceas of quacks, and the heroic treatment of the regulars, it is almost impossible for the victim of gonorrhoea to escape stricture. What is stricture of the urethra ? It is, in few words, a partial or entire obliteration of the urethral canal- by inflammation or induration of portions of the walls. The annexed illustration, figure 121, represents stricture of the urethra in the male organ. In the first picture the urethra is laid open, to show the boundaries of that canal when obstructed by strictures; there are two prominent ones given. The second picture GOJSORRHCEA AND STRICTURE. 440, Fig. 121. presents simply a tube, with dotted lines, exhibiting the points of stricture. The third is intended to represent a cast of the strictured cavity, to show how nearly closed in some cases it becomes. In some cases there is but one stricture, and that is located about an inch or two from the mouth of the ure- thra. Then, again, it will be found in a few cases that the walls of the urethra are knot- ted up with them throughout their whole length, so that the canal is about as much obstructed as a stone culvert would be if it were caved in from its opening to its outlet. In some cases, the symptoms of stricture are so painfully unmistakable, that the affected person is unable to pass his water without introducing a small metal or gutta-percha tube in the obstructed canal, as far as the bladder, when the water passes oft" through this tube. In most cases, however, the urine can be voided naturally, except that it flows in t» much smaller stream than normal, gen- erally with rather more than usual effort, and often with a painful sensation which seems to be in the head of the organ, but the stricture itself may be several inches down. While stricture of the urethra is most generally caused by neglected or badly treated gonorrhoea, it may be induced by inflammation of the urethral canal, brought on by other causes, such as colds, ure- thral catarrh, contusion of the parts, strains, passage of calcareous accretions with the urine, the excessive use of condiments and stimulating drinks. Whatever may be the immediate cause, while that cause exists, internal treatment must be given to modify the acrimony of the urine, to cool and purify the blood, together with local treatment of injections into the urethra of something soothing and disinfecting. When the worst stage of the affection supervenes, and stricture actually takes place, a combination of constitutional and surgical treatment is necessary in the most difficult cases, while in those of not a very serious character, constitutional remedies, to- gether with such local treatment as the patient can administer him- self witkout the aid of a physician or surgeon, may be successfully STRICTURES OF THE tTBBTHBAi 450 CHRONIC AFFECTIONS OF THE URINARY ORGANS. prescribed; but in no case of gonorrhoea or other inflammatory affection of the urethra, nor in a case of stricture, should the person affected trust to his own judgment and remedies, unless he be him- self an expert in the treatment of these maladies. Among "young men about town," gonorrhoea is regarded far too flippantly, and many are heard to say they " don't mind it any more than a cold in the head," but most of these reckless fellows learn their mistake in course of time. Aside from stiictures and the no end of trouble that may arise from them, gonorrhoea may be early followed by the most intractable form of rheumatism, and lay a man up for six months, or it may bring on orchitis, swelled and in- flamed testicle, one of the most painful diseases known, and keep him out Of business on that account from three to six weeks. If both testes be thus affected, the inflammation may seal them up for life and render him sterile, or incapable of paternity. In woman, gonorrhoea has opportunity to do more lasting harm than in men. The gonococci (microbes of the pus) may find their way into the womb and along the Fallopian tubes, and light the fire of an inflammation that can hardly be quenched, or if it be, the scars left in its wake will be very likely to cause barrenness. Another serious complication of gonorrhoea in either sex is its infection of the eyes, when through carelessness a particle of the discharge is conveyed to them on the finger. Innocent children also may become victims of the disease when gonorrhoeal relatives or boarders in the family are reckless in the use of towels and hand- kerchiefs. The discharge is always extremely contagious, and should be handled with care, and cloths that have come in contact with it should be destroyed by fire. Perhaps no disease is more often treated with medicine recom- mended by a friend, or bought ready-made of druggists; but the possibility of serious complications and sequelae make it eminently wise for any and every victim of it to obtain the best advice and treatment he can afford. It is not a disease to trifle with in any case. The author has long been accustomed to invite free consultations concerning all the diseases of the urinary organs, including several not common enough to be described herein. Where analysis of the urine is necessary, three dollars is charged for this, except to those already undergoing treatment. Samples should be sent by express, prepaid, or, if by mail, only in special mailing boxes. PLATE V. P. H. T. PART II. WOMB ANATOMY. 1. BLOOD-VESSELS OF WOMB AND OVARY 2. LYMPHATICS OF THE WOMB. INQ PARTS, SHOWN IN WHITE Y8TEM. ABDOMEN AND PELVIS. PLATE VI. PLAIN HOME TALK. SIDE VIEW OF ABDOMEN AND PELVIS, showing the diaphragm, uver, gall-blad- der AND STOMACH DRAWN UP, OUT OF NATURAL POSITION; THE "REFLECTIONS" OF PERITONEUM OR SACK WHICH COVERS THE ORGANS AND HOLDS THEM IN PLACE ; AND AL80 THE RELATIONS OF WOMB, BLADDER AND RECTUM. CHAPTER VIII. PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. WANT the attention and candid consideration of my female readers, to what I have to say regarding the common affections of the amative and procreative organs of their sex. It will not do to pass this sub- ject over as too vulgar or indelicate for investigation. If it be pretended by any woman that she places no value whatever on the enjoyment which may be derived from the reasonable use of healthy procreative organs, she will not certainly be ashamed to admit that physical health is a blessing, and that disease, whether in the head, stomach, or the organs of generation, is an evil which she should employ her faculties of reason to avoid. If the subject is delicate, the complex sexual organization is also delicate, and a vast amount of human suffering, not only to women themselves, but to posterity, results from a foolish squeamishness on the part of many females, old and young, who shut their eyes upon every thing calculated to teach them how to preserve the strength and healthfulness of the organs peculiar to their sex. It is said u Catherine Beecher goes from one village to another in New England and reports that there are no healthy women to be found within their limits, though the oldest inhabitant remembers one, his grandmother." Now there are reasons for this unhealthi- ness among females, and it will not extenuate the matter to say that while our grandmothers were apparently more healthy than women at the present day, they were quite as destitute of physiological knowledge. This may be true. But if the advance of civilization carries with it great blessings, it also drags in its trail pernicious evils, which science as well as religion must do much to avert. Our grandmothers were not so much the slaves of pernicious customs and 452 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. Fig. 122. fashions as those who are in future to become grandmothers, and consequently many precautions which are necessary to maintain health to-day, were not necessary in their day and generation. I do not wish to neglect this opportunity to remark, however, that past generations of women are credited with having possessed more universal health than was actually the case. Only the living grandmothers are pointed to and quoted, while it is not borne in mind that many of their generation died even be- fore they became mothers. Young unmarried women, and young mothers, have died in all ages of the world, a large number of whom might have been saved to become grand- mothers, had they proper- ly understood and regard- ed all the laws of life and health, or what are fre- quently contemptuously termed "new fangled To which allusion is made in this chapter—1, top of notions " bv those whose the womb; 2, neck of the womb ; 3, vagina, or cavity, »,,,.. />■<•• opening in front, and extending back and encircling the fast hablts °f llV,nS iirea9 neck of"the womb; 4, the bladder, with the urethra ; 5, fully up to the customs of left external lip of the vagina; 6, the clitoris, or the civilization as their ideas organ in woman corresponding with the head of the „ , . , • • t. * -tiT * -o , . . , , ,, of physical preservation penis in man, but without orifice; 7 is intended to * J I designate at its upper part, the location of the hymen are far down in fossiliza- in young women; 8, rectum ; 9, minute terminal £ion. branches of one of the fallopian tubes ; 10, one of the -,, . , i ,„ . .. ,. eA Itisbynomeansapleas- fallopian tubes; 11, one of the ovaries. j.u.ol.j l ing diversion to startle the public with the utterance of strange facts, and with opinions entirely at variance with those popularly entertained, nor to place one's self in a position antagonistic with everybody else, so as to stand like a target for the venomous arrows of envious cotemporaries. But I have so little respect for error, modern or antiquated, I rather my OEGANS OF WOMAN, I)EUANUEMEXT,S OF THE MONTHLY PLOW. 45:s my pen would rest and rust than use it in pandering to ridiculous fancies and propping up dogmas which, if not bolstered up by ;i rigid conservatism, would fall through their own inherent rottenness. This book is not written to gloss over prevalent vices or to eulogize customs and views founded only on the whims and caprices of mankind, but to take a common-sense view of the subjects on which it treats. Uterine diseases are becoming so common, that women entirely ex- empt from them are more rarely to be met with than those who are Buffering to a greater or less degree with them in some form. Nor do these difficulties affect women merely locally. So complex and delicate is the procreative system, and so intimately connected is it by the nervous ramifications with every organ in the body, it cannot be the seat of disease without affecting the general health. Even so natural a process as foetal formation in the uterus disturbs the health and comfort of nearly every woman who becomes pregnant. Par- ticularly in the first stages of pregnancy, nausea at the stomach and other disagreeable symptoms are usually felt, while some females, through the whole period of gestation, have painful, and others, alarming symptoms. In the case of a woman of Lyle who had fivy children at one birth, during the last two months of her pregnancy, according to the statement of the Journal des Annonces, all objects before her eyes were several times repeated, but after her delivery her sight returned to its natural state. Now, if a woman is so liable to suffer, however slightly, when the womb is simply performing one of the functions it was made to perform, is it not self-evident to every person, that the presence of disease must produce incomparably greater suffering ? I can, at least, truthfully affirm that in a large majority of all my female patients, I have found more or less uterine disease ; and, further, that it was the intermediate cause of whatever other difficulties existed. What I mean here by intermediate cause, is that which, following nervous and vascular derangements, pro- duces, in turn, other physical ills. Let, then, common sense, rather than preconceived notions or popular prejudices^ govern the minds of my female readers, while I proceed to treat af the most common chronic diseases which affect the female orgaws of procreation. Derangements of the Monthly Flow. Every little girl should be early informed by her mother or guar- dian, that at some time during her girlhood, if her system is in a 454 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. healthy condition, a flow of blood will appear from the sexual organs and recur once in about every four weeks. This function is termed menstruation. For want of proper information in this matter, many a frightened girl has resorted to every conceivable device, to check what she supposed to be an unnatural and dangerous hemorrhage; and thereby inaugurated menstrual derangements which have pre- maturely terminated her life or enfeebled her womanhood. I have been consulted by women of all ages who frankly attributed their physical infirmities to the fact of their having seated themselves in a snow bank, applied ice, or made other cold applications locally, in their frantic endeavors to arrest the first menstrual flow! Intelligent mothers, who in girlhood, escaped this ignorance, this crime against nature, and this penalty, I beg of yon, as you value the health and happiness of your daughters, not to take it for granted that they will be as fortunate as you have been, but take it upon yourselves to discharge your whole duty to them, and impart such information in regard to their physical functions as will insure their safety. Menstruation commences generally between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and there are all kinds of unaccountable variations from this rule. In the year 1858 there was living in the town of Taunton, Mass., at the public charge, a mother who was not quite eleven years of age! One instance came under the author's observation in which the menses made their appearance at the age of only three years, and accompanying the premature advent of this function, was the devel- opment of the breasts as at the age of puberty. Another wherein a young woman married at the age of seventeen, and died childless with consumption at about thirty, without having had a menstrual flow, or any known affection of the uterine organs. No examination was made after death, but it is altogether probable that there was some obscure malformation of the upper part of the womb, the fallo- pian tubes, or the ovaries. Immediately preceding the first appearance of the menses, girls, reared according to the customs of our as yet imperfect civilization, feel considerable languor, aching in the back, pains in tho limbs, chilliness and restlessness, and, if they come on tardily, pressure of blood in the head, headache and dizziness are usually experienced. The establishment of the function gives relief, and if the person possesses an average degree of health, the flow will take plaoe with uniform periodicity, without unpleasant symptoms, till what is called DERANGEMENTS OE THE MONTHLY FLOW. 455 the '* turn of life," except when interrupted by child-bearing and nursing; and occasionally an instance is met with wherein preg- nancy does not put a stop to the menstrual flow. " Turn of life," is when nature terminates the menstrual function, and woman becomes emancipated from the pains, anxieties, and cares of child-bearing. This takes place in some cases as early as thirty, and as late as fifty-five or sixty; but, in most cases, not far from forty-five. A statement appeared in one of the journals a few years ago, that a woman in Batavia, N. Y., was safely delivered of a male child at the age of sixty-four years! "Extremes meet," when we place this case in contrast with the one mentioned a moment before of the little girl having all the functions of womanhood at the age of three years! Change of life often takes place prematurely in per- sons who have suffered long from physical weakness. In these cases the flow will make its appearance irregularly, at intervals of several months, and greatly aggravate all difficulties previously existing. It was once generally supposed, and the same opinion is now enter- tained by many, that the menstrual flow is in some way produced by the detachment of ova or eggs from the ovaries. Physiologists thus believing, claim that pregnancy can only take place a little before, or a little after, the menstrual period. But every physician in large practice who has been disposed to give the matter investigation, finds that the ova are developing and descending at no regular period, and that nearly all women are liable to become pregnant at any time. I know that some physicians, recognizing the latter fact, account for it by saying that the zoosperm of the male enters the womb and there awaits the descent of the ova. This is improbable for two reasons, viz.: the zoosperm will not live to exceed thirty-six hours in the vagina, however healthy its secretions, and there is no reason to believe it will live longer in the cavity of tho womb without nourishment; and, secondly, the exudation of blood from every part of the lining of the womb when menstruation takes place, would rather have the effect to sweep it out than to retain it, till it could find an ovum. If the two germs coalesce, some few hours or days before menstruation, it may obtain sufficient develop- ment and attachment to the walls of the uterus, to remain. But it is unphilosophical to suppose that either the zoosperm or ovum singly and alone could eflect lodgment in the womb when the cavity of that organ is perfectly drenched with blood. Ther too what becomes 456 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. of the million of ova or eggs found in the ovaries by the microscope, if only one or even quite a number descend once a month 1 No, it is evident that the only relation that menstruation sustains to ovala- tion is, that the excessive presence of blood in the female generative organs, once in about twenty-eight days, stimulates the generation of the female germs. The blood that passes off, exudes from the congested vessels of the womb and from its walls, just as profuse perspiration sometimes bathes the brow, trickles in rivulets down the face, and runs in a stream from the chin. And this profuse exuda- tion is sufficient to sweep every thing from the cavity of the womb, excepting a foetus which may have obtained sufficient development to possess at least the rudiments of a placenta attached to its walls. "What is the use of menstruation," some one may inquire, "and what part does it perform in the physical economy ?" The doctors do not essay a reply to this question, and it is consequently presum- able that they do not know. They look wise, but they do not say any thing. It is perhaps one of those secrets that should not be divulged to the public! I have a theory and I am going to present it: Menstruation is nature's wash-day. The ovaries above the womb carry on a pretty extensive manufacturing establishment, and throw off the ova and the waste matters, or chips, through the fallopian tubes into the cavity of the uterus. While this work of generation is going on, nature has a wash-day once in about four weeks, and pouring the blood into the womb's cavity, washes its walls, and empties all outside; and in order to waste no vital material the poorest blood in the circulation is used for the purpose, for menstrual blood possesses none of the vital properties peculiar to that taken from the arm, or to that which escapes when hemorrhage occurs. While pregnancy exists, house-cleaning is generally laid aside, for a period of about nine months, and if the activity of the glands of the breasts is sufficient to arrest the production of germs in the ovaries, wash-days are not resumed until the mother has weaned her child, and the suspension of the manufacture of milk in the breasts allows the ovaries to return to their work. When at forty-five, or thereabouts, the shop is permanently closed and ovala- tion ceases, there is no frrther necessity for the wash-days, and the menstrual function disappears. The breasts and the uterine organs of the female exhibit the most intimate relationship. When menstruation commences in girlhood, DERANGEMENTS OF THE MONTHLY FLOW. 457 the breasts at once begin to enlarge. Diseases of the womb or ovaries often give rise to pain or aching in the breasts. Barrenness, arising from inactive ovaries, arrests the development of the breasts, and in some cases causes the latter to shrink away to simply the prominence of the nipple. I once examined a case of suppurating tumor in the breast of a woman who informed me that when the tumor discharged daily, she did not have her menses, but when it dried up, the menses appeared regularly, and that there had been for several years an alternation between the tumorous and menstrual discharges. With these necessary preliminary observations for the proper understand- ing of the subject, I will now proceed to speak of the derangements of the menstrual flow. Irregular and painful menstruation is among the most common of the many menstrual derangements. I group irregular and painful because these symptoms usually present themselves together, although cases of irregular menstruation do occur without pain, and of painful menstruation, without irregularity. Irregular men- struation may result from the deficiency of blood in the system to perform the function so often as once a month, and in this case it may take place without pain. Painful menstruation may arise from inflammation or other disorders of the womb, in cases where nature is strong enough to force all barriers, and present the periodical flow with mathematical regularity. In most cases, however, those causes which are sufficient to produce one, are such as may induce the other. In some young women, the menses are irregular and painful, be- cause the hymen has not been ruptured, or in consequence of the aperture of the hymen being too small to allow the free passage of the menstrual blood. Then, partial retention and decomposition of the menstrual blood poisons the general circulation, and the impuri- ties so generated and absorbed return to inflame and congest the womb, so that in a little time the menses do not make their appear- ance periodically, or without pain, even after the hymen has become ruptured. The same condition of things has often been produced by checking the menses in the manner alluded to in the first part of this essay, and by contracting colds just before, or during the flow. Strictures, obstructing the orifice through the neck of the womb are often the cause of painful derangements of the menstrual function. Any thing, in fact, which may obstruct the orifice leading to the cavity of the womb, is liable to disturb the regularity and freedom 20 458 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. of the menstrual flow. Ulcers in the neck of the womb may do this, and so may any tumorous formations therein. In some cases the womb becomes so displaced that the menstrual function is interfered with. For instance, if the womb be so fallen as to imbed the mouth of that organ in the back wall of the vagina, the outlet is as effectu- ally stopped as is the mouth when the hand is closely pressed over it. In such a case as this, the womb becomes engorged with blood before it forces the outlet, and then it passes out sluggishly and in a way to cause the person so affected much distress. In all cases of ulcers or tumors, impurities of the blood give rise to them, and the predispos- ing cause of displacements of the womb, is want of vitality in the vascular fluids, with which to give strength to that organ, although other causes may have immediately precipitated the difficulty. Con- gestion and inflammation of the ovaries and womb are frequent causes of painful and irregular menstruation, and these with the causes previously alluded to, are the ones most commonly en- countered in medical practice. Among those causes which appear less frequently, I may give as examples—polypi of the womb, hardening of the inner lining of the uterus, and the periodical shedding of the lining of the interior cavity of the womb. In cases coming under the head last mentioned, the lining in some instances comes away almost complete ; in others, it is broken into strips or shreds. Then, cases are met with of fruit- less women who become pregnant so far as the union of the zoosperm and ovum are concerned, and nature makes an effort to retain the germ of a new being, but either because of inflammation or weak- ness of the procreative organs of the female, or in consequence of want of vitality in the foetus itself, it simply protracts the appearance of the menses for a few days, or a few weeks, when suddenly the flood-gates are opened and the menses make their appearance out of season, and in some cases attended with great pain. Immoderate flowing, or flooding, may arise from irritability or inflammation of the womb, and when protracted, there is evidence of continued inflammation and congestion. Women of strong ama- tive passion are more predisposed than others to a difficulty of thi9 kind, although instances are not wanting of those possessing little or no passion being thus affected. Insufficient or slight menstruation may also arise from inflam- mation and congestion of the womb. In some cases the inflammation DERANGEMENTS OF THE MOxNTILLY FLOW. 459 may be so great as to nearly or quite obliterate the cavity of that organ, or to obstruct the outlet, in which case the flow is slight and labored, and in many instances protracted. Slight menstruation may arise from a bloodless condition, the person so affected having really too little blood to perform the function properly. Cases of this kind often suffer from great depression and lassitude at such times. It seems as if the nervous forces and vascular fluids are barely sufficient to carry on the daily work of the body, and when this extra work ia added, it can hardly be accomplished. It is as when an engine is producing just enough steam to revolve a certain number of wheels in a factory and an extra belt and wheel are added, when all at once the whole machinery moves sluggishly, and as if about to stop. Suppressed menstruation may arise from an aggravation of any one or more of the causes already stated in the foregoing ; or, it may occur in consequence of conception. If the cause be disease and the person be not bloodless, the face is usually flushed, the head con- gested, while headache, vertigo, and more or less pain in the ovaries, womb, and back are experienced. If the suppression is not overcome by the healing powers of nature or by proper treatment, hemor- rhages of the lungs may take place with the same periodicity that menstruation should appear; or the blood may flow every month from the nostrils, mouth, eyes, stomach, or from the rectum. If sup- pression be caused by pregnancy, the common symptoms are a grad- ual change in the rednes3 around the nipple to a purple color; enlargement of the breasts and abdomen; sickness at the stomach mornings; unaccountable aversion to some article of food previously much relished; and longing for something little thought of before. All of these symptoms do not usually manifest themselves in one case, for while nearly all women in this condition have the first three, the others are distributed about, according to individual peculiarities. Then again, the fact should not be overlooked that other causes may produce these very symptoms. For instance, dropsy may enlarge the abdomen and breasts and arrest menstru- ation. Tumors in the womb or ovaries may produce the same results, and the disturbance of the menstrual flow by any one of these causes, may induce some one or more of the other symptoms which usually attend pregnancy. Even physicians are sometimes* obliged to wait and let time determine the question. It may b§ 460 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. asked "What can be done in such cases?" My reply is, give only such remedies as will have a tendency to strengthen and impart health to the procreative apparatus. Indeed, in no case should remedies be given to force the menses. This is the common method of treating such difficulties, I know, but not by any means a safe one; and no physician can reasonably excuse himself for the act of effecting abortion on the plea that he did not positively know preg- nancy existed in a given case. It is sufficient, and much better for the patient, to use remedies that have a tendency to impart health to the womb, ovaries, and contiguous organs. This treatment can do no harm when pregnancy is the cause, and will allow it to go on to the full natural period with no injury to the foetus, while in cases of disease, if properly selected and prepared, they will remove the obstructions and prepare the circulation for the function so that nature will be enabled to resume it at as early a day as possible without disturbance to the general health. Menstrual derangements should never be neglected, for in all cases, excepting suppression by pregnancy, they lead to other dis- eases which are liable to prove troublesome, and perhaps fatal. In women of slender figure they are apt to induce consumption either of the blood or lungs; in those of full habit, they are liable to cause affections of the brain, liver, heart, and stomach, predisposing these organs to congestion and the person affected to apoplexy. In many cases, when neglected, they induce hemorrhages of a troublesome and dangerous character. Answers to the questions given in another place in this book will enable the author in all cases to discover the causes and suggest the best means of overcoming them. Leucorrhoea. By some this disease is called fluor albus; but among women generally, it is better known by the name of "whites." It exhibits itself usually at the outset by a slight discharge of a thin, watery fluid from the vagina. In time this discharge thickens and becomes more copious. In its advanced stages it may present a green, a yellow, a brown, or a florid appearance. Often in one case the dis- charge will change from time to time not only in its color, but in its consistency and quantity. The disease is usually accompanied with a great degree of lassitude, particularly in the morning; fainting; variable appetite; palpitation of the heart j shortness pf breath-, LETJCORRHCEA. 4C1 paleness; dark circles around the eyes; pain in the back and loins; and, in many instances, smarting of the water, as in a case of unmis- takable gonorrhoea. Indeed, in aggravated cases, it possesses all the acrimony and characteristics of the last-named disease. As I have already referred to the similiarity of gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea, when the latter possesses peculiar acrimony, I need not repeat it here. What I allude to is presented under the head of Gonorrhoea and Stricture in the preceding chapter. Considering the infectious qualities of leucorrhoea in many instances, it is well to suggest to married people in this connection, not to be too suspicious of each other when something having the appearance of gonorrhoea pre- sents itself. I have on several occasions been called upon by men suffering with discharges from the urethra, who were jealous enough to suspect their wives of infidelity. On the other hand I have been consulted by women, who on the first appearance of an acrimonious leucorrhoea, imagined that their husbands had been up to something not exactly consistent with matrimonial fidelity. An excellent imita- tion of gonorrhoea may be often worked up between husband and wife when one is scrofulous. If both parties possess a scrofulous diathesis, the chances are still greater that an affection of this kind may be generated. Leucorrhoea is a disease which is generally very prostrating in its effects. Now and then a woman may be met with who preserves all the bloom and exuberance of health while a discbarge of this kind is going on daily; but these are rare exceptions to a general rule; for, in by far the greater number of cases, the difficulty is attended with all the symptoms peculiar to it, and in time with those of a more distressing character. The constant drain, if not checked, leads to general uterine derangements; irritability of mind ; nervous- ness; hysteria; difficult respiration; and consumption. In dissect- ing a subject who has died of the effects of this distemper, the surface of the uterus presents a pale, relaxed, and flabby appearance. It is, indeed, an affection in women corresponding in many respects with spermatorrhoea, or involuntary seminal emissions in men ; and it gradually undermines the constitution of females who are its victims. The predisposing causes which produce leucorrhoea are vascular impurities and nervous derangements, and then there are exciting or immediate causes, the most common of which I will examine. (I may add here that all exciting causes derange the nervous and vascular 462 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. health, and that consequently there exists a reciprocal relation be- tween predisposing and immediate causes.) It is humiliating to say that masturbation among young ladies is a prolific cause. But the truth should be told for the benefit of those who, from ignorance of its consequences, are slaves to the vice, and nowhere can it be revealed so appropriately as in the pages of a medical work. Under sixteen or eighteen years of age, girls are not so much addicted to the pernicious habit as boys ; but after that age, and until marriage, the rule i3 reversed. This anomaly can be accounted for. Rakish young men are always admitted to good society, while the appearance of wildness among young ladies awakens the bitter tongue of slander, which only the most modest and retiring demeanor on their part can silence, while defiance to it banishes them from all good society. Thus the hot blood of budding man and womanhood, stimulated by exciting food, drinks, and con- diments, leads the young man to the embraces of the harlot, and the young woman to the vices of the secret chamber, so that the former sacrifices his moral sense, and the latter her physical bloom and health. True, the young man exposes himself to a fatal inoculation of venereal poison; but with all this risk, his -nee, so far as the men- tal and bodily health is concerned, is the safer. I remember being consulted by a father concerning the poor health of his two daughters, aged respectively, twenty-two and twenty-four years. From the description of their cases, they ap- peared to be physical wrecks, suffering with almost every complica- tion that ever afflicted poor mortals. I saw by an analysis of their Bymptoms, that although nervous and vascular disturbances were the present causes of their coraplain+s, celf-abuse had induced these. I informed the father as to the nature of the present causes, but to spare the feelings of the young ladies, I dropped a private note to each of them, revealing the whole truth in regard to the terrible vice which was destroying them. With commendable frankness they responded to my letters, acknowledging the accusation, and informed me of their ignorance of its hurtfulness. They further stated that they had long been troubled with leucorrhoea, and that they were even disturbed with lascivious dreams, from which they were awakened in the highest state of amative excitement. Many similar cases have been presented to me for my opinion and medical aid, but never before any so hopeless as those I have just mentioned, LEUCORRHCEA. 4^3 for they were on the verge of insanity, and already affected with oc- casional mental hallucinations as terrible as those which attack the degraded inebriate. Sexual excesses among the married, bad habits for the prevention of offspring, cohabitation with uncongenial husbands, for whom no love is entertained, sedentary habits, retention of part of the men- strual blood in the folds of the vagina, are also among the immediate or exciting causes of leucorrhoea. If proper regard were paid to cleanliness (excuse me, ladies, but it is so), there would be much less liability to this debilitating distem- per. Every female who has arrived at the age of puberty should thoroughly syringe the vagina with pure water every morning, ex- cepting while having her menses, and at the same time apply plenty of soap and water to the labia or lips of the vagina, for there are located about the clitoris and contiguous parts, glands and follicles which secrete an oily fluid for the preservation of their moisture. If this secretion is allowed to remain too long, it undergoes a chemical change, which imparts to it not only a disagreeable odor, but an acrimony which is liable to induce irritation. All oily sub- stances become rancid and disagreeable by age and neglect, and these secretions, provided by nature for moistening, softening, and preserving the health of these parts, are subject to the same law. When the vagina and labia are kept cleanly, they are as pure and as sweet as the mouth and lips of the face when they are properly taken care of. In a previous edition of this work I spoke adversely to an excessive use of water in the vagina immediately after the copulative act, for the prevention of conception, and I may call attention to this point again. In order that I may not appear inconsistent, let me here explain that immediately after great amative excitement, the nerves of the procreative organs and the lining of the vagina are in an unfit condition to receive a deluge of any fluid. If the fluid be cold, it gives a shock to the excited nerves which, if frequently repeated, in time deadens their sensibility, and whether cold or warm, the absorbents of the lining membrane are so active at such a mo- ment that considerable quantities of the fluid are absorbed, greatly to the ultimate injury of the general health. When, however, the nerves and membranes of these organs are not under the influence of amative excitement, or just recovering from it, they may be 4f,4 TRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN, cleansed as frequently as the mouth' may be, not only without injury, but with decided benefit. Within two days after the cessation of the flow of the menses, there should be a general drenching of the walls of the vagina with castile soap-suds, followed with clear water, so as to remove every particle of menstrual blood that may linger, and then every day until nearly time for the menses to reappear, copious injections of water should be made to preserve the healthi- ness and cleanliness of the parts. " But, Doctor, you would not thus advise unmarried women, would you ?" Certainly I would, simply because it is just as necessary for them as for married women. Health is of more consequence than the whims of society. As I am a physician I shall not feign ignorance of the anatomy or structure of the orifice of the vagina in young women, nor shall I, as an in- habitant of this mundane sphere, where a great many funny customs and foolish notions exist, overlook tho supposed evidence of virginity which young husbands in their own immaculate purity (?) usually expect to find in their newly made brides. Nor can I, in justice to my views, ignore the fact which my extended observation as a phy- sician has presented, that many a young husband has been disap- pointed in finding such evidence, when his bride was as innocent as an infant, and she consequently, the victim of the most unjust and shameful suspicion. It is a custom more in keeping with the drolleries and phantasms of the barbarians than with the common sense and scientific light of the nineteenth century, to esteem those only as virgins who have an unruptured hymen. The Lex Africanus describes one of the wed- ding customs of the Africans as follows : " After they were married, the bridegroom and bride were shut up in a chamber while the wedding dinner was preparing, and an old woman stood by the door to receive from the bridegroom a sheet having the bloody tokens of the wife's virginity, which she showed in triumph to all the guests, and then they might feast with joy; but, then, if there was no blood to be seen, the disappointed guests went home sadly without their dinner." Now this custom, although revolting to people of intelli- gence, is excusable in heathens; but does it look well for those en- joying the light of civilization to so far imitate it as to require an unbroken hymen as an evidence of virginity? Physicians know it is a very fallible test of virginity; that the hymen is often ruptured by various accidents ; that cutaneous eruptions near the labia many LETJCORRHCEA. 465 times exist of such an irritating nature that the hymen is broken by the incessant scratchings of the victim; that the hymen is often de- stroyed by surgical operations in childhood ; that sneezing, coughing, violent straining, and any number of other causes may break it; that the test is in fact no test at all, and only subjects those who happen to have the hymen broken to unjust and cruel suspicions. It is only a few days since I was called upon to examine a little girl only seven years of age, whose hy- men had been destroyed in conse- quence of an irritating eruption on the labia causing her to scratch and frictionize the parts even in her sleep, and I could mention many other instances coming un- der my observation in which the hymen had been destroyed by the same cause or by accident. Why, then, preserve the hymen? Why regard it as an evidence of vir- ginity when such a test only ex- cites mortification and a sense of disgrace in a large proportion of all young females, not a small number of whom have always been chaste and unexceptionable in their character? Besides, the mortifi- cation of a broken hymen only falls on those the most innocent, and such as have become the least acquainted with the vices of the world Fig. 123. NATUKAL POSITIOK OP THE WOMB. h, the vagina, and above it the uterus ; a, the bladder; i, the rectum. The courtesan and mistress, and even respectable young women, who have eaten of the fruit of knowledge and trespassed against social statutes, know how to resort to deceptive means to throw off all suspicion when they are married. There are inventions devised for the express purpose of deceiving young husbands, and so well do they effect their object^ ?0* 4C6 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. that those meft who actually know of their existence may be com. pletely deceived by them. Even a physician may be hoodwinked by these artifices unless he ungallantly requires his bride to submit to an examination. Now, as a rule, those females who are "fast" enough to have carnal connection with a man, are also sharp enough to possess themselves of these devices, while only those who have been innocent of such wildness enter marriage so unsophisticated aa to be ignorant of these things. In asserting that the hymen is a cruel and unreliable test of virgin- ity, I do not stand alone. Every intelligent physician, particularly in extensive practice, knows the fact, if deference to popular prejudice leads him to conceal it. But many have freely proclaimed it. Pan- coast states—" The presence of the hymen was formerly considered a certain test for virginity, on account of its being ruptured during coition. This idea has long since been repudiated, for it is not un- frequently lost through accident, disease, etc. In many instances it does not give way in the first or subsequent connections and preg- nancy. In such cases the spermatozoa of the male work themselves through the opening of the hymen, and finally pass up through the vagina, uterus, and into the Fallopian tubes, where impregnation occurs. Therefore medical writers no longer regard the presence of the hymen a proof of chastity or its absence a proof of immorality." Dr. Ferguson says—" The sides of the vagina are in contact ordi- narily, but it is capable of enormous distention and of again return- ing to its natural size. The opening is closed by a fold of the mucous membrane, which is called the hymen. This membrane is easily rup- tured, or it may become so relaxed as scarcely to be perceptible, which will account for its rarity in adults. From very early times it has been made the test of virginity, its absence being considered conclusive proof of sexual intercourse having taken place. Modern investigations have proved, not only that it may be destroyed by many causes unconnected with sexual indulgence, but that intercourse may take place, followed by pregnancy, without its destruction. It is, therefore, of no value as a test." Dr. Parr states—" The hymen naturally shrinks with years, or is torn by straining, and often disappears at an early age. It can there- fore be no proof of virginity." Dr. Wilson remarks, that "the hymen must not be considered a necessary accompaniment of virginity, for its existence is very un- LEttCORRH(EA. 467 certain. When present it assumes a variety of appearances; it may be a membraneous fringe with a round opening in the centre ; or a semilunar fold leaving an opening in front, or a transverse septum leaving an opening both in front and behind; or a vertical, bored with an opening on either side." The natural purpose of the hymen is to protect from colds and ex- posures the sensitive sexual organization of the female before the age of puberty, for until this is sufficiently developed to perform the men- strual function it is extremely delicate. The provisions of nature are admirably calculated to arouse in the minds of intelligent beings veneration for the beneficent Creator whose handiworks are exhibited on every side. The " leaves of the common chickweed approach each other in pairs, so as to include within their upper surfaces the tender rudiments of the young shoot." The bud of every flower is so enveloped as to protect its delicate internal structure till maturity, when it bursts forth with its fresh beauty and imparts delightful fragrance to every passing zephyr. Nuts of every variety are pro- vided with an outer bur or shuck to protect them in their embry- onic state, and by the time the autumnal frosts come, the shell which contains the meat becomes strong enough without protection, so that the outer one can be dispensed with. It is difficult to tell how much the hymen may have to do in shield- ing the procreative organs of females from exposure and disease, during the early period of their development. It is only known that young girls who, through any accident, have lost this protecting membrane, are more liable to uterine affections. But the age of puberty, indicated by the appearance of the menses, is one in which the hymen may be altogether dispensed with ; for whether accident «r marriage happens to the young female within six days or six years after the appearance of the menses, it is certain her reproductive organs are fully matured, and that the hymen has fully subserved the purpose for which it was made. In some cases the hymen proves so great an obstacle to the flow of the menses that the whole vaginal canal becomes blocked up, when hysteria and other spasmodic af- fections ensue. Under such circumstances it must necessarily be ruptured, and, when very strong, with the knife of the surgeon. When the hymen remains unbroken until after marriage, it oc- casionally occurs that it has become so cartilaginous by age that the vagina cannot be entered, in which case the unfortunate bride is 468 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. obliged to submit to a surgical operation for its removal. Now, if this membrane was not so carefully protected and valued, such an- noyances as these would be avoided, while the hundreds and thous- ands who have, by accident, ruptured it, would not be the objects of crushing suspicion on the part of those who possess so little ana- tomical knowledge that they are not aware such accidents ever happen. The commencement of menstruation marks a new era in the life of a female. She becomes more graceful in her manners; her face changes; her breasts rapidly develop ; she loses her childish airs and becomes more attractive and womanly. It is then that she should be treated as a woman, not only socially, but hygienically and medically. The. menstrual blood was supposed by the ancient Jews and the medical men of Arabia, to possess peculiar malignant properties, and in some countries the laws and customs required that females should be cloistered during the menstrual periods. In Isaiah, xxx. 22, the writer speaks of the defilement of graven images, which shall be cast away as a menstruous cloth; and in Ezekiel, xviii. 6, and xxxvi. 17, allusions of the same import are made. " It was formerly supposed, and so stated by Pliny and others, that the menstrual blood contained principles of a noxious and poisonous character. Pliny informs us that 'the presence of a menstrual woman turns wine sour, causes trees to shed their fruit, parches up their young fruit, and makes them forever barren ; dims the splendor of mirrors and the polish of ivory, turns the edge of sharpened iron, converts brass into rust, and is the cause of canine rabies.' " While I have no respect for antiquated notions, unless sustained by reason and philosophy, I am disposed to agree with these ancient views so far as this: that the menstrual blood becomes acrimonious if it is permitted to remain and decompose in the folds of the female vagina, and that leucorrhoea and ulceration of the vagina or womb are often the results of the excoriating properties developed by par- ticles retained in the vagina, and particularly in that of young females, whose hymens have not been ruptured. My observation fully sustains these conclusions, but I do not think the menstrual blood malignant or injurious, if a woman takes care that the vaginal cavity is cleared of all relics of the fluid. Mankind entertain a thousand whims, and I am not disposed in this work to meddle with any which do not interfere with cleaniineaa LEUCORRH(EA. 469 and good health ; but I consider it my prerogative to attack those which do interfere with physical development, and the comfort and health of the human race; and I cannot but regard that one which leads a young husband to suspiciously and sneakingly seek to know if his young bride has an unruptured hymen, as humiliating and de- grading to all the nobler attributes of a moral and intellectual being. My advice therefore is, that single females, as well as married, should keep the vagina cleansed of every decomposing particle of menstrual blood, and that the female syringe should be thoroughly used within forty-eight hours after the menses have ceased. The more efficient the instrument used the better. In fact, the common glass and metallic syringes are little better than none. The various patterns of india-rubber syringes are the best, because they can throw such a volume of water, and that, too, with so much force, that every particle of decomposing blood can be washed away. The annexed cut represents the best article of the kind, considering its simplicity and little liability to get out of order (see page 911). Young unmarried women, of course, value (or at least should) as of first and paramount importance in the regulation of their cus- toms and habits, the advice of intelligent and Christian mothers. I would not urge upon them the use of the syringe at the end of each monthly period without the consent of their maternal guardians. But may I not hope that sensible mothers who watch with anxious eye the first symptoms of disease and decline in daughters just blooming into womanhood, will take a practical view of the hints I have given, and advise them to regard more scrupulously the requisites of health than the morbid and foolish notions of sen- sual mankind! As for married women, there is no possible excuse for their non-observance of the most rigid rules for the maintenance of cleanliness. They should use the female syringe very thoroughly at the end of each catamenial flow, with soap and water, and then daily with pure water, as before directed. The use of astringent injections is the most popular mode of treat- ing leucorrhoea, but however ffluch relief may be obtained in this RUBBER 8TEINOE. By compressing the oblong rubber-ball, a, the water is drawn in at b, and expelled at c. From b to c, is a con- tinuous rubber tube, which ia wound up so as not to take up too much room in the illustration. 470 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. way, it is usually of the most temporary nature, unless accompanied with such medicaments as will improve the general health and impart vitality to the whole procreative system. A bad case of leucorrhce.i is of quite too threatening a nature to trifle with ; and in its incipi- ent stages, it had much better receive skillful treatment, for it is liable at any time to assume a troublesome and prostrating form, which may end in premature decline. Falling of the Womb. This difficulty may almost be said to be co-existent with civiliza tion. Travelers report that among the women of savage and semi- barbarous countries this affection is hardly known. This fact, taken in conjunction with the proverbial one that falling of the womb is a prevalent disease with women living under our system of society, furnishes a subject worthy of the consideration of medical men, Bocial reformers, and of those who have the good of humanity at heart. When the abdominal muscles, or those of the womb itself, be- come relaxed by insufficient nervous stimuli; when the vagina be- comes weak through the debilitating effects of leucorrhoea so that it fails to do its part in sustaining in its place the organ suspended within its walls; when a pernicious fashion induces a woman of not very strong muscular organization to compress her waist so as to press down the stomach and bowels below their normal position; when constipation engorges the intestines with fecal matter so as to produce a pressure at the top or back of the womb ; or when a preg- nant female, bound on expelling from the uterus the embryo of a human being, resorts to some means to effect abortion ; through any one or more of these causes, the advent of a distressing disease, usually termed prolapsus uteri, may very reasonably be looked for. Although more common to married women, the unmarried are not exempt from it. If correct statistics of the prevalence of this dis- ease could be presented, they would astonish the reader. The position of the womb when it is prolapsed is various. In some cases it falls over to one side or the other ; sometimes it turns almost a complete somersault; in a few cases there will be found to be a prolapsus not only of the womb, but of the vagina, so that the neck of the womb absolutely protrudes; in some cases it is found to lie crosswise—the top pressing one side of the vagina, and the. AFFECTIONS OF THE WOMB. 471 neck the other; or the neck may press the back wall of the vagina while the top lies against the front wall, or vice versa. In most cases the womb falls either forward or backward, keeping rather more of an oblique than a horizontal position. The illustration, Fig. 125, Fig. 125. THE WOMB FALLEN FORWARD ON THE BLADDER. represents pretty well the position of the womb when it is fallen forward. When the organ occupies this position, the mouth of the womb is generally found to be somewhat imbedded in the back wall of the vagina. This point is not so well illustrated in the figure pre- sented. Its position, however, against the bladder is well shown, and when in this position it causes a frequent desire for micturition. TVhen fallen backward, as representee! in Fig. J26, it then interferes 472 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. with the free expulsion of the faeces by its pressure against tho rectum, thereby predisposing the one affected to constipation; and if, as is sometimes the case in this unnatural position, the neck of the womb presses against the neck of the bladder, micturition becomes difficult, Fig. 126. THE WOMB FALLEN BACKWARD AGAINST THE RECTUM, and at times painful. This may also be the case when the womb is fallen forward, if the muscular relaxation is so great as to drop tho womb below the upper or main part of the bladder. The common symptoms of falling of the womb are dragging or bearing-down sen- sations in the lower part of the abdomen; pain and numbness in the limbs 5 weakness in the loins and lower part of the back; general AFFECTIONS OF THE WOMB. 473 debility, and nervous irritability. I say these are the common symptoms, but I should here mention that I have often encountered cases of prolapsus of the womb in my practice, in which there were no unpleasant local symptoms whatever. The displacement had oc- curred at such an early age that the system had been made gradually to tolerate its unnatural position. In these cases, when the physician suspects something wrong about the uterine organs, the patient quickly informs him that she is perfectly sound in that locality; and she has reason to think so because she has no one of the symptoms common to an affection of this kind ; but an examination reveals the correctness of her physician's opinion; and it is generally found in cases of this kind that their ill-health proceeds directly or indirectly from the uterine displacement. Leucorrhoea generally precedes, and in most cases attends, falling of the womb. When chronic irritation or inflammation, with more or less congestion, is also present, existence is a burden, and married life a curse rather than a blessing. Unless relieved or cured, months or years of misery, according to the endurance of the sufferer, are fastened upon her, until consumption, or some other disease in a fatal form, forever relieves her of her physical distress. In the incipient stages of the disease the exercise of walking is necessary to keep up what is left of the muscular strength ; but in advanced stages this exercise is generally too painful to be endured, and in such case3 frequent manipulation of the abdomen with the hand should be resorted to. All the muscles may indeed be benefited by pressure and manipulation by a healthy hand. To cure prolapsus, various utero-abdominal (should read abomina- ble) supporters or pessaries have been invented, more for the purpose of making money than doing good. These mechanical means are irritating to the womb and vagina, which are so delicately organized and permeated with sensitive nerves, that constant contact with any wood, glass, earthen, or metallic contrivance used to support the parts, can only give temporary relief and ultimate injury in most cases; while instances do occur in which the first effects are so irritating and distressing that the patient dies from inflammation induced thereby. These worse than senseless things should be dispensed with entirely, and the disease treated locally and consti- tutionally as the common sense of the skillful physician naturally suggests. 4tf4 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. Ulceration of the Wombfl This disease is common to women of a scrofulous diathesis; • venereal taint in the system may also produce it. Other less virulent impurities of the blood occasionally induce it. The neck of the ute- rus is its most common location, and it is attended with an offensive discharge from the vagina, and much burning heat and pain in the region of the abdomen. Aside from its debilitating, painful, and offensive effects, it is liable to lead ultimately to cancer of the womb, a distressing disease which is generally difficult to cure, particularly in its advanced stages. Taken in season, ulceration may be easily eradicated, and even cases of cancer of the womb are not always incurable. When either ulceration or cancer affect the vagina or womb, the acrimonious nature of the purulent secretions are such as to impart disease to the organ of the male in copulation, unless the membraneous envelope is used. Polypus of the Womb. This is a tumorous affection characterized by the growth of fleshy fungus, which often attains great size. This disease seldom occurs, except in cases which are affected more or less with scrofula. In such cases, often more than one tumor presents itself, some of which are hard «nd firm in their fibres, and others soft and spongy. Fe- males affected with this difficulty are often suspected of pregnancy. I was once called upon by a lady affected with polypus of the womb, who had been pronounced pregnant by several physicians, some of whom had made private examinations. Had her disease been per- mitted to run on until a period when time would have disclosed the mistake, she might have become hopelessly incurable. A thorough examination satisfied me at once as to the nature of her disease, aad I was enabled to prescribe remedies appropriate thereto. -\ Dropsy of the Womb. This is a uterine disease which is not so common as the ones I have previously considered. Occasionally, cases are met with in a large practice, and in mine I have found it quite as prevalent as , AFFECTIONS OF THE WOMB. 475 other dropsical affections. This disease often leads to the suspicion that the invalid is pregnant, and sometimes physicians who ought to discriminate more correctly, are deceived by it. It was owing to the palpable ignorance of those who were considered the first physicians of England, that Lady Flora Hastings, a maid of honor to Queen Victoria, was driven in disgrace from the court. She was supposed to be enceinte, and being a single lady, for her to become a mother would have had a most prejudicial effect upon the character of the court. The most notable matrons and physicians were summoned to make an examination, and their decision was confirmatory of the ter- rible suspicion. The broken-hearted lady soon afterward died of dropsy of the womb, wrhich had deceived her medical examiners. Greater medical stupidity cannot be conceived of! Had her physicians possessed -the skill which they should have possessed, to wisely dis- charge the responsible duties of their position, the disease of the lady would have been readily detected, and her life and reputation saved. In both polypus and dropsy of the womb, the delicacy of ladies to sub- mit to private examinations, and the destitution of diagnostic skill in the medical profession, lead to some mischievous blunders. Although I seldom find it necessary to resort to such examinations, to decide as to the true nature of the disease, cases occasionally occur in which such examinations are necessary; and when necessary, the good sense of the patient should overcome all feelings of delicacy. I had opportunity once, to admire the courage and good sense of a very respectable and modest young woman of sixteen or seventeen, who had cancer on one of the lips of the vagina, which was so far advanced as to require local treatment. Although she possessed all the mod- esty and refinement common to the well-bred of her sex, she submitted without objection, and with commendable heroism, two or three times a week to the necessary topical treatment; and I am fully convinced that my success in treating her case, was greatly owing to the freedom which enabled me to give the disease the attention it required. Had she been more prudish than sensible, there can be no doubt that her distressing affection would have proved fatal. When women suffering with uterine difficulties apply to a physi- cian, they must bear in mind that there is no part of their system with which he is not thoroughly familiar. 476 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. Chronic Inflammation of the Womb. When, succeeding childbirth, abortion, contusion, or other cause, acute inflammation ensues, if not properly treated by the medical attendant, either death, or chronic inflammation of that organ, is the result. The chronic form of the disease is characterized by soreness in the region of the uterus, great pain in cohabitation, nervousness, fretfulness, and, in many cases, pains in the breast. Sometimes the uterus will enlarge, and the courses become irregular, scanty, or pro- fuse. The inflamed and swollen uterus may press upon the bladder so as to interfere, more or less, with the urinary organs. This dis- ease may be aggravated by hot and stimulating foods, condiments, violent exercise, and grief. Local treatment, alone, cannot cure chronic inflammation of the womb, for in all cases of this kind, there are constitutional disturbances which must be removed. Vaginal Affections^ It would hardly seem necessary at this point in this chapter, to explain what the vagina is; but still it may be that some have failed to draw any inferences from the preceding matter, relative to its lo- cation, construction, or office. I will therefore describe it as a canal of cylindrical form, five or six inches in length, situated between the bladder and rectum, its mouth forming the front external open- ing below the pubes, and its upper extremity encircling the neck of the womb as illustrated, not only in some figures presented in pre- vious essays in this chapter, but also in those representing the effects of constipation upon the procreative organs. It is lined, internally, by a mucous membrane, and around this membrane is a layer of spongy, erectile tissue. It is provided with muscles, veins, and nerves, and its office is to receive the male organ in sexual intercourse, and conduct the spermatic fluid to the womb for the purpose of reproduction. The membranes, muscles, nerves, etc., are liable to be affected by disease. The lining may be the seat of ulceration, in which case, smarting and pain are experienced, and a disagreeable discharge from the orifice observed, as when the womb is ulcerated. The lining is sometimes attacked by eruptions, causing the most intense itching, and when, to allay this itching, the membrane is frictionized, a NYMPHOMANIA. 477 swelling or puffiness arises, attended with distressing smarting. In some cases, this eruption extends to the lips of the vagina; and when these parts are rubbed or scratched to allay the itching sensa- tion, they become greatly inflamed and swollen. When either ulcer- ation or eruption affects the vagina it indicates an impure condition of blood, from which the difficulty arises; and, although the local affection may be somewhat benefited by washes and injections, con- stitutional treatment is necessary to effect a permanent cure. In cases of ulceration, astringent injections of decoctions of white-oak bark, or of alum-water, or of a weak solution of nitrate of silver, are sometimes useful. When the vagina and its external parts are af- fected by irritation and itching, a free use of castile soap-suds as an injection, and as a wash, frequently allays the troublesome symp- toms. A weak solution of sugar of lead may also be applied in cases of this kind, as a local application; but whatever is done locally should be accompanied with thorough treatment for the blood. The muscles of the vagina are so much relaxed sometimes, by leucor- rhoea and other causes, that the lining becomes loose and flabby, and in some cases actually protrudes. Electricity, locally applied, is ad- vantageous in affections of this kind; but even this should be ac- companied with internal treatment calculated to strengthen and build up the muscular system. Nymphomania! This is a name given to a disease not unfrequently occurring among females of both high and humble life, and which is char- acterized by a violent desire for coition. Hooper describes it as "a species of madness, or a high degree of hysterics. Its presence is known by the wanton behavior of the patient; she speaks and acts with unrestrained obscenity, and as the disorder increases she scolds, cries, and laughs by turns. While reason is retained she is silent, and seems melancholy, but her eyes discover an unusual wanton- ness. The symptoms are better or worse until the greatest degree of the disorder approaches, and then by every word and action, her condition is too manifest." Hooper's description applies, of course, to the most marked cases of nymphomania. But it exists in various degrees of intensity, and in the mildest cases causes only desire for excessive venery, without symptoms which betray her feelings to those about her. The cause 478 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. of this singular difficulty is altogether attributed by medical writers to a local irritability of the procreative organs. I cannot acquiesce fully in this explanation. That nervous irritability, or, rather, that too much nervous or electrical stimulus is present in these organs there can be no doubt; but an inharmonious distribution of the nerv- ous forces among the organs of the brain, manifestly precedes or co-operates with the former condition. It is a fact that ought to be well understood, that the nervous forces, sometimes in consequence of some violation of nature's laws, are withdrawn, or partially so, from one or more organs, and the excess given to another, so that, while one or more may be deprived, or nearly so, of their vitalizing or stimulating presence, the recipient of the excess is excited to au unusual degree. Thus one or more of the organs of the brain may become abnormally excited at the expense of inactivity to the rest, so that a person will be fanatical on some one subject, and think and talk of little else. In brief, he has a "hobby." In consequence of this mental inharmony, growing out of an unequal distribution of the nervous forces among the organs of the brain, we often meet with crazy poets, fanatical religionists, mad politicians, luny inventors, harum-scarum doctors, etc., etc. Now, when the causes of these peculiar conditions of mind are understood, according to my explana- tion, is it not easy to see how an excess of nervous force may be sent to the organ of amativeness, at the expense of other organs of the brain ? If the reasoning and moral organs are robbed to supply this excess, how natural that a woman who may have previously sus- tained a spotless character for modesty and reserve, should, with such an abnormal condition of the mental faculties, exhibit uncontrollable emotions in the presence of men, in extreme cases, or a disposition to indulge to excess in venereal pleasure, with husband or paramour, when able to restrain her emotions in company. The intellectual organs are almost paralyzed, and the nervous or electrical stimulu.i which should give them activity is expended upon amativeness; and this organ, very naturally, expends its excess upon the nerves center- ing in the sexual or procreative system, of which it is the head and director. Females laboring under nymphomania deserve rather the sympathy than the condemnation of friends. It is a species of monomania, and as such should shield its victim from unjust and uncharitable asper- sions. AMOROUS DREAMS 470 When the blood is diseased and nymphomania exists, inflammation, irritation, and sometimes ulceration, locate about the pudenda, vagina, and uterus, rendering the parts sore and extremely tender. But this condition of the organ is not sufficient to deter the female from the act of coition if the opportunity offers. A very respectable married woman, afflicted with this malady, whose desire for coition.was incessant, in describing her symptoms to me in a letter, skidT " In describing myself, I cannot think of any better way of expressing myself than to say it feels good to be hurt." This quaint and frank statement conveys the idea exactly, for the nervous excitability of the organs of amativeness and the sexual parts, demands gratifica- tion, however sensitive the latter may become by the presence of ulcerous or inflammatory diseases. My mode of treating nymphomania without complications, is such administrations of electricity as are calculated to equalize the nervous circulation, and draw off the excess from the organ of amativeness and the sexual parts. In complications growing out of blood impuri- ties, the treatment must combine both electrical and blood-purifying remedies. My theory of the disease is original, as is also my mode of treating it, but my success in its management convinces me that both are correct. Amorous Dreams. Women, as well as men, are subject to these, and they are nearly as debilitating to the former as they are to the latter. Although no very vital secretions are lost by a woman so affected, the vital or nervous forces are expended without recompense, as in masturba- tion. An amorous dream is indeed practically an involuntary act of masturbation. It has often been remarked that no exercise is so tiresome to the muscular system as to kick or strike at nothing. All know, too, how it wrenches one to step down a foot or two while walking. What this wrench is to the muscular system, an amative dream is to the nervous system. A volley of nervous force is gath- ered up from all parts of the body, and directed with the greatest impetuosity toward a supposed companion in the sexual embrace, and it passes off with violence and is lost, while the compensative nervous or electrical volley from the supposed companion is not received. In men this nervous loss is accompanied with an expen- diture of some of the most vital fluids of the system—those secreted 480 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. by the testicular glands, and which are composed of the most vital elements of the blood. In women, the nervous waste is simply ac- companied with an expenditure of glandular secretions of not much more vital value than the saliva or spittle of the mouth. But the nervous waste—the nervous shock—the wrench to the magnetic sys- tem, is such as will, if frequently repeated, prostrate the nervous ener- gies, destroy the memory, and weaken all the faculties of the mind. Some married women have these dreams who do not enjoy natu- ral intercourse. The function of the amative organs is so perverted that the imagination can affect those organs when contact with a male companion cannot arouse them. This morbid and unnatural condition has, in most cases where it exists, been caused by mastur- bation. The amative organs of the brain, and those occupying their proper position in the body below, have been trained as it were to act alone or without the help of a companion of the opposite sex ; and after marriage it is found, much to the mortification and disap- pointment of the wife, that she is unable to participate in the pleas- ures of the sexual act, while her dreams are made delirious with imaginary pleasure. It seems as if the erectile muscle and tissue of the clitoris, labia, and vagina had become so accustomed to receive their inspiration or magnetism from, to use a homely illustration, the back-door, that they are perfectly dead to any raps at the door in front. The organs have been accustomed to simply unmagnetic friction locally, and that of the most violent nature, so that the milder friction of the male organ, and the presentation of a magnetic force to the nervous termini, produce no sensibility whatever. They Beem to shrink from it. Married or single women awaken from these dreams with a sense of weakness they are often unable to account for. They do not suspect for a moment the true cause. General want of energy, in both mind and body, and sometimes back-ache, weakness of the limbs, faintness, and entire want of appetite, are experienced in the morning, especially when one of these dreams has taken place during the preceding night. Masturbation is not in all cases the cause of these debilitating dreams; sexual isolation, diseased wombs, ovaries, etc., many times induce this morbid condition of the amative organs; but whatever the cause, the disastrous effects are the same, and no woman, young or old, should allow these dreams to occur without making thorough, SEXUAL DVSPEFSIA. 481 effort for their cure. Some have them once a month, others much oftener. I have had cases wherein they occurred every night. This frequency is frightful. Once a week is sufficient to overcome the strongest constitution in a few years. For their cure I have found electrical applications very efficient; but for those at a distance, or for such as prefer to consult me by letter, I prescribe such treatment as I allude to on page 299. It is necessary, the same as in the treat- ment of nymphomania, to equalize the nervous circulation, and to restore those nerves centering in the sexual organs to their natural condition, and the treatment referred to seems sufficient to effect this result. As these are not new cases in my practice, no person affected should hesitate through feelings of false delicacy to present her case for advice. Consultations in person or by letter, are strictly confidential. Anthropophobia and Sexual Apathy. These are the very antipodes of nymphomania. The first causes repugnance to, or dread of coition ; and the other a perfect disinclina- tion for the act. These are much more prevalent diseases than nym- phomania. I term them diseases because they are manifestly entitled to this classification. All perfectly formed females, if their organs of amativeness are properly active, and their sexual organs in a nor- mal condition, are susceptible to amative desires and emotions, and pleasurable sexual excitation. Inasmuch as the size of the organ of amativeness varies in different females, of course this susceptibility varies in a corresponding degree; but when repugnance or total indifference exists, one of the faculties which God designedly im- planted in women, is paralyzed, as much as the arm is paralyzed if it is deprived of sensation and motion. It is not, however, my design to treat of these diseases here. 1 choose to reserve a further consideration of them to an essay in Part [V., to which the interested reader is referred. I merely desire to name them in this connection, because I regard sexual repugnance and indifference as diseases of so prevalent a nature as to deserve mention in this chapter on chronic diseases of the female organs of procreation. Sexual Dyspepsia. Probably this is the first time the term dyspepsia has been applied to any other affection than that of the stomach when digestion is in 21 £gg PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. some way interfered with; but there is an affection to which some married women are subject, presenting, mentally, all the symptoms of dyspepsia when the stomach is free from disease, and the digestion tolerably active, or entirely so. As it proceeds from derangements of the amative and procreative organs, I shall denominate it "sexual dyspepsia." The affection is unlike anthropophobia, because this is characterized by dislike of men, and decided aversion to sexual intercourse. It is unlike sexual apathy, for this simply consists of inability to enjoy the sexual embrace. In sexual dyspepsia there il often a morbid desire for coition, just as in some cases of stomach dyspepsia, there is a voracious appetite for food with no capacity to digest it. Intercourse in this case makes the female irritable, dis- satisfied, and wretched. She may momentarily experience pleasure, locally, and then all at once every particle of sensation flies away, and at the close of the act, she finds herself exhausted, disappointed, and annoyed by the fluctuating moods which she experienced during its continuance, and in a condition of mind, for days afterward, which renders her peevish, irritable, whimsical, and discontented. Even when sexual desire is moderate, and coition is attended with variable sensibility and final disappointment, the result upon the mind is just about the same as I have described when a morbid desire exists. Indeed, the mind, in these cases, exhibits all the varying and incon- sistent moods peculiar to one affected with confirmed dyspepsia of the stomach. Every movement and motive of the husband is misin- terpreted ; and if the affected wife be of a jealous disposition, the atmosphere of the house is loaded with vapors of restlessness which settle down upon the innocent heads and hearts of every inmate like soot from a smoky kerosene lamp. The magnetic atmosphere in thick, stifling, and poisonous, completely destroying social enjoy- ment. There is, indeed, no restful happiness for any one under the same roof; and the worried, half-crazed husband runs his hands through his hair; presses his temples; lays hold of his boots, and reaches out to touch other things mundane to satisfy himself that he has not " waked up " in Hades. The immediate causes of sexual dyspepsia are various. It mav arise from marriage of convenience rather than of affection; from displacements of the uterus; from vaginal irritations, or uterine con- gestions; from too great similarity of temperaments; from local inadaptation; and fr«m a oaprioious disposition, or ever-changing OVARIAN DISEASES. 483 temper, on the part of the wife. When it proceeds from either the first or last mentioned cause, it is not in the power of a physician to remedy the evil; but when it arises from any of the causes named intermediately, a medical man wko has given proper attention to the treatment of affections of the sexual organs, may usually prescribe successfully for its removal. It will be noticed that the first cau6o referred to, as well as the last, is not dependent upon physical derange- ments, while the other causes, with two exceptions, are so depend- ent. Any one affected with sexual dyspepsia, or with sexual apathy, or anthropophobia, is at liberty to consult the author. Ovarian Diseases. The consideration of these diseases might properly find place in this chapter, but as I shall have to go over the same ground when I come to treat upon barrenness, space will be saved heve by referring the reader directly to the chapter "Hints to the Childless." The subject of bar- renness itself, the reader may think, properly belongs to this chapter, but on perusing that, it will be found that barrenness is not alone peculiar to women, and as I have considerable to say in regard to sterility and its cure, I prefer to place the suggestions I have to offer under that head, in a chapter by themselves. Treatment of Diseases referred to in this Chapter.—More or less has already been said, under each head, of the treatment best adapted to these affections, but a few words more may be properly added. It is quite too commonly the custom of physicians to depend entirely upon the application of caustic, or to injections, or to some- thing else which simply affects the part immediately diseased. The result is, that any encouragement which the patient receives through temporary benefit is followed by discouragement in consequence of ultimate failure; and there are thousands of women to-day suffering with uterine derangements who really believe that there is no help for them. There are even some physicians who have been led by their poor success in these cases, to pronounce them incurable. Now I am confident that all thi3 discouragement on the part of tho patient, and all this failure on the part of the physician, is mainly, if not entirely, due to the fact that those constitutional derange- ments which either preceded the local difficulty, or became compli- cations after the local difficulty had made its appearance, are over- 484 PRIVATE WORDS FOR WOMEN. looked. In my practice I have generally found myself able to permanently cure these supposed incurable cases. I first satisfy my mind regarding the constitutional complications which coexist, and give especial attention to them at the same time I am treating the local difficulties. What I have in various parts ofthe foregoing os ays denominated immediate, intermediate, exciting, or provoking causes of uterine derangements, may be properly termed sub causes. The vascular or nervous system, or both of these systems, must have been antecedently deranged, to allow the sub-causes to which I have alluded, to fasten chronic affections upon these organs, unless they were directly caused by mechanical injuries, abortions, or venereal contagion ; and even in these cases, the blood and nervous system become involved, and then react upon the local diseases, so that perfect recovery in all cases depends upon the comprehensive treat- ment I have named. Many of my patients of this class very likely get tired of hearing me advise dress reform as one of the first essentials to successful treatment. Much criticism has, in previous chapters, been given to the unfortunate features of women's mode of dress, and the gen- eral advantages to be expected if they could be removed; but it is especially when some congestion or mal-position of the womb exists that it is absolutely necessary to "let up on it." Constrictions about the waist, heavy skirts hanging on the waist for support and excess of clothing over the congested parts, are so literally depressing in their effects on the womb that there is small chance of getting it into normal place and condition until all such evils are removed. To effect this, it is not even necessary to make any considerable change in the outer garments, or adopt bloomers. It can be effected by so altering the clothing as to carry all its weight from the shoul- ders, and relieve the soft abdominal region of all constriction. weight, and pressure. This subject, and other matters relating to the successful management of diseases of women, with a view to saving them from the necessity of many surgical operations, have been clearly presented in a dime pamphlet by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., on "Gynecology, or Diseases of Women." Those who may not have learned just what they need to know from this chapter, will very likely find it there, or, if not, the author stands ready to make Up for the deficiency by freely answering letters of inquiry, CHAPTER IX. HINTS TO THE CHILDLESS. ARRENNESS is a word which designates a physic cal condition abhorrent to every one in married life, who has not already become a parent. The exceptions to this rule are only those who have but recently entered matrimony, or such as have not yet acquired means sufficient to enable them to under- take the expense of rearing a young family. Whether love of children is limited or universal, the idea of being barren, is one from which every individual who has been long married, and has not at least one child to enliven the family circle, instinctively recoils. Such a condition has in all nature but one parallel, and that, the great desert which spreads its vast expanse wearily before the eye without a blade of grass, leaf, twig, or tree to nod a welcome to the passing breeze, nor the first crystal of water to reflect in prismatic colors the golden rays of the sun. With many females, the grave is more cheerfully looked forward to than childless longevity, and not a few husbands would rather die in the prime of manhood, leaving an heir, than to live to gray old age and be esteemed incapable of reproduction. The care- less world cannot know the secret yearnings of the hearts of such unfortunate persons so well as the physician; nor is the family doctor so liable to find them out as one engaged in a national practice like myself. A majority of childless married people will strive to make their neighbors think they cannot endure children, while the physi- cian in whom they have confidence, living ten, twenty, or a thousand milea off, is intrusted with the secret of their hearts' desire. Now, I am betraying the confidence of no one in making these general remarks. I never breathe the professional secrets intrusted to my keeping, nor would I make these general allusions to them, except 486 HINTS TO THE CHILDLESS. for the fact that those of my readers with a houseful of babies might feel surprised to find space, however limited, devoted to the subject of barrenness. A wife who has had four or five children, generally wishes herself ban-en, feeling that she has done her share toward populating the world, and she is entirely unfitted by her fruitfulness, to sympathize with one, who, loving children, has none of her own to love. But, taking a serious view of the matter, however badly children may sometimes turn out, childless old age is a dismal future for the mind to dwell upon, and, having reached it, the present is no less cheerless. The hearthstone of a married pair, in the vigor of life, is electrified with the presence of the bright roguish eyes which mischievously watch the smiles and frowns of approving and reproving papas and mammas, while no vernacular is so enchanting as the hesitating and rambling utterances of " our baby " when it first begins to kill the king's English. The new father seems more dignified, and stands several inches higher in his stockings, while the mother is never tired of relating the extraordinary feats and accomplishments, or quoting the wise remarks of her prodigy. Passing the meridian of life, doting parents watch with pride the developing genius of a promising son, or the unfolding brilliancy, beauty, or goodness of a favorite daugh- ter, while the infirmities of old age are deprived of their depressing influences by the affectionate attentions of grateful children. There- fore the desire for children is natural, and all honorable means to obtain them excusable. A woman who is devotedly attached to them cannot imagine how far she might go in her attempts to become a mother, unless placed right in the position of one who has spent many years of married life without a sign of pregnancy. The female members of the human family very early give evidence of their love of children. A little girl who knows nothing of the process of obtaining a living child, nor possesses sufficient physical development, to produce one, evinces her love of offspring by making rag babies, and dressing and caressing the dolls which are purchased for her at the store. As she becomes older, she loses attraction for this imitation of the real article, and loves to attend a live baby. A noble woman has said: "Motherhood is the ideal state of woman- hood to every woman not arrived there. * * * Woman must yearn for motherhood because she is woman." The long and short of the matter is, no woman, in the secret recesses HINTS TO THE CHILDLESS. ±$H of her own heart, will felicitate herself with the reflection that she is physically incapacitated to bear a child. You who read this and who, m middle or advanced age are without children, will whisper to yourselves-" This is true." Aside from the incentive to child- bearing, which proceeds directly from the love of children on the part of woman, the wife naturally fears that she will lose the affec non of the husband if, after many years of marriage, there is no wsue; nor is this fear without foundation, for instances are not wanting wherein separations have occurred simply on this account. tfapoleon and his Josephine present a notorious example of this kind, and probably every reader will remember some such case com- mg under his or her immediate observation. At least, I am confident every physician in large practice has personally known of one or more such cases. Considering, then, the importance of the subject, do not require me to go around that information which may be most useful to you for the purpose of employing words and illustrations which cannot'pos- sibly offend the false modesty of some who are unwilling to take a sensible view of any thing relating to the organs of procreation. these pages have been written for the childless by one who has given much attention to what is popularly called barrenness; but those belonging to this unfortunate class, who are at all given to prudery, should avoid even a cursory perusal of the matter presented Herein. Our Creator has as yet, so far as the writer's observation extends, provided only one process for procreation. That process may be varied to meet the necessities of various cases; but in some way or other the germ generated in what is called the testicles of man, must be brought in contact, in the womb, with the germ gen- erated in one of the ovaries of woman. Wo who call ourselves .niman beings, properly belong to the animal kingdom, and must consequently be governed by the laws which govern animal life and us perpetuation. However sexual intercourse may be regarded as an act indulged in for merely sexual gratification, for the single high purpose of reproduction, it should be considered not only free from vulgar criticism, but as one divinely chaste, and, indeed, indispensa- ble, unless we can all adopt Shaker philosophy and theology. In fact, it is not participation in this peculiar physical contact for the main purpose of reproduction, that has led the whole affair to be [>rivately esteemed attractive and unavoidable, and to be publicly 4*5 HINTS TO THE CHILDLESS. considered disgusting; but rather excessive copulation for the mere sexual pleasure it affords. A man who gluts bis stomach with rich viands and libations from his breakfast hour until bed-time, ultimately becomes dyspeptic, and when his appetite has become cloyed, and his stomach painfully sensitive, he regards nearly all food as disgust- ing and nauseating. Forgetful of his former habits, he is surprised at the gluttony of his more fortunate neighbors who have not yet reached the stage of diseased stomach, and he thinks the world in made up of despicable gourmands. Now, a large majority of men and women are sexual dyspeptics. In other words, they and their ancestors have drank so deeply and so unnaturally from the cup of sexual pleasure, that the act by which God designed mankind to per- petuate itself, and the organs which he gave to perform the function of procreation, are looked upon as not only inherently disgusting, but beneath the worthy attention of Christianized people. Sexual connection may be indulged in as an animal necessity in the privacy of the bedchamber, or even in the abode of the harlot; but a treatise upon these organs and the most effectual plans for securing fruitful- ness to those who have been denied the pleasures of maternity and paternity, may not unlikely be regarded as impure, obscene, and unfit for perusal. My idea is simply this: That sexual intercourse for merely sensual pleasure when true affection is absent, may not be morally or religiously elevating; for the purpose of procreation, it is neither socially, morally, nor religiously debasing, but rather obe- dience to a divine mandate. It may be entirely right, and in har- mony with the design of the Almighty, that men and women should cohabit to a moderate extent for pleasure only. There are those who question this. It is, certainly, in harmony with the design of our Creator that cohabi* -tion should take place between the sexes for perpetuating our species. This cannot be questioned by a reason- able person who has not a Shaker cavity in his brain. The repro- ductive organs then, instead of being morally neglected and treated as too vulgar for our consideration, should be regarded as the most valuable of all our organs, and the most worthy of our care, so that they may be employed, at least, for the most important object of their creation. The stomach digests the food which supports life; the organs of the brain give rise to various thoughts, feelings, and emotions; our eyes enable us to see objects beautiful, or disagreeable about ue; our ears to hear sweet sounds or grating discord • our THE CAUSES OF BARRENNESS. 489 noses to smell delightful odors or disgusting fumes; and all the other organs of the human body, excepting the reproductive, minister simply to the being who now lives; but none of them possesses the mysterious power of a creator; none can reproduce themselves; and, excepting for the procreative organs, all those I have named would cease to exist in a little time. When we consider this fact, L is hardly strange that the people of the pagan world worship images fashioned like the procreative organs of both sexes; but it is strange that any process of refinement, or any school of civilization should have been able to lead the human family to be ashamed of them. It has been said very truly, that " many people are ashamed that they have bodies ;" and it may be still further said that nearly all are ashamed of the most complex and wonderful of all the or. gans of those bodies. If, as a large share of the human family believe, this false sentiment is the result of sin—if the fall of man led him to envelop himself in fig-leaves, it seems to me that we had better all get up as soon as we can, and comport ourselves as obedient children of our common Father. The child may be to blame for falling, but there is not a particle of excuse for his not making an effort to regain his feet. Let it be understood that this chapter is intended for sensible peo- pie—for those who can look beyond the prudery of Mrs. Grundy, and appreciate the true uses of things—for true men and women who are disposed to take a scientific view of important matters, however delicate, without a too sensitive regard to the conventional preju- dices to which civilization in its infancy has given rise; in brief, for those who possess all the foregoing qualities, with a laudable desire to be happy fathers and mothers. ! The Causes of Barrenness. I do not propose in this chapter to treat upon every possible cause., but rather to confine myself to those causes which may in some way or other be overcome. Those causes which may be put down as irremediable in any way whatever, are those arising from some con- genital malformations of the organs of procreation which are some- times met with, or some organic destruction of the completeness ot the procreative system by disease, accident, or surgical operation. Among the former may bo mentioned deformities of the vagina. 490 HINTS TO THE CHILDLESS. womb, fallooian tubes, and ovaries of the female; or testicles, sper- matic tubes, or penis of the male. Among the latter may be named strictures of the womb of an obstinate character, caused by inflam- mation or ulceration of the cavity, stricture of the fallopian tubes, misplacement of the fimbriated extremities of the fallopian tubes, permanent adhesions of the fimbria to the ovarios, and a partial destruction of the ovaries of the female; and of the male, the removal of the testicles by disease or the surgeon's knife, their partial destruc- tion by self-pollution and sexual excesses, the permanent consolidation or obstruction of the tubes carrying the semen from the testicles to the seminal vessels, and such a permanent obstruction of the canal of the urethra as to resist the propelling force of the ejaculatory ducts, causing the seminal fluids to be emptied into the bladder. Those which may be regarded as common, and which may bo obviated by some means, may be classified in the order of their fre- quency, as follows—First: local inadaptation. Second: diseased condition of the wife. Third: diseased condition of the husband. Fourth : excessive amativeness. Fifth : temperamental inadaptation. Local Inadaptation. This is pretty faithfully represeuted iu all its varied phases in figures 127 and 128, which I have had designed and engraved express- ly to illustrate this essay. No attempt has been made at anatomical accuracy in giving the form of either the male or the female organs. The obvious reason for this, is to avoid unnecessary offence to what is popularly regarded as refined taste. I am more and more convinced, every year of my practice, that local inadaptation is the commonest cause of barrenness. While it is true that some women are so susceptible to impregnation that they will conceive if the seminal fluids be but deposited within the lips of the vagina, whatever may be the position of tho womb, there ani very many who cannot, unless the local adaptation is so perfect as to cause the fluids of tho male to be poured directly into or upon the mouth of the womb. In an excited state of the healthy uterus, the mouth draws toward itself and sucks up at least a portion of the male fluids, if deposited near it; but this absorbing or suction power differs to a remarkable degree in women,—so much so, indeed, that in some who greatly enjoy the copulative act, it is feebh?. ftR It is undoubtedly easier, however, to give such advice than to practise it, for many such unfortunate people are so pleasantly united in taste and social companionship that the thought of separation cannot be entertained for a moment. Then there are many more so situated in property and family matters, or so awed by village opinion, or swayed by some other consideration pertaining in some way to money, position, influence, or the opinions of Mrs. Grundy, that such a step seems to them impracticable. From all these sources will come up the inquiry,—" Is there no other help for us?" To which I must reply—hardly any thing that is legitimate. Yon may derive some advantage from suggestions given in what I have to say on "Physical Adaptation," beginning on page 805, but either temporary or permanent reassortment is, in most cases, the only expedient that can be successfully resorted to, excepting arti- ficial impregnation, and then the male germs must be obtained out- side the family. Many, in their determination to have at least one child, have adopted the first, and a few the last of these alternatives. Some have severed altogether old ties and formed new ones. Those who have a baby every year or two will think these facts strange; but, according to Paul Gide, " the desire for offspring has been, in all antiquity, the prime motive of marriage—the first sentiment that impressed upon the union of the two sexes a moral character and a regular form of marriage." In ancient times fidelity to a barren wife was considered a crime against the gods, and still later, in civilized Europe the husband of a barren women was compelled to renounce her. Manon says—" In India, if the wife is sterile, the husband forsakes her and takes another; if the husband be sterile lie cedes temporarily to his brother or one of his male relatives his rights to his wTife. This being done to render the marriage fruitful, it is believed to be stripped of all impurity and regarded as a religious duty." In ancient Athens a man could repudiate a wife who could bear him no children, and take another; or, if he preferred, he could take a concubine and legitimatize her children. In the early history 518 HTNTS TO THE CHILDLESS. of man, as given in the Old Testament, instances are found wherein the fruitless wife gave to her husband a favorite servant for the pur- pose of offspring. Human nature has not greatly changed by time or the advance of civilization, and though social regulations forbid recourse to some of the means mentioned for becoming a parent, such expedients nevertheless are privately adopted by those who have become maddened by disappointment after years of fruitless marriage. Before concluding this essay, I have a word to say to the jealous husband who is, or may become, the father of an only child after years of unproductive married life, followed, after the birth of one child, with years no less sterile. In some cases, the causes producing barrenness are temporarily removed, even when husband and wife have been pursuing no medical treatment for that purpose. A barren wife may, under an unusual, and only temporarily improved condition of the procreative organs, develop a perfect egg, which may be impregnated and become a healthy foetus ; or a barren hus- band under a temporarily improved condition of his genital organs, may give to the wife a healthy spermatozoon with like result, but sub- sequent sterility ought not to lead the husband to suspect the fidelity of his wife, because the reproductive organs of either sex are liable to sudden and temporary convalescence when abnormal, as any other organ in the body. Cases have occurred of persons who have been nearly all their lives blind, but who have suddenly received the gift of sight for a moment, for a day, for a week, for a month, but as suddenly relapsed into the same darkness which had so long envel- oped them. Confirmed dyspeptics will occasionally, or'for once, he able to eat a hearty meal without suffering the usual distress, in con- sequence of a sudden temporary improvement of the organs of digestion. So all the organs of the body are liable to fluctuations. If usually in health they have an hour or a day of disease. If usually diseased, they may have an hour or a day of freedom from that disease. The procreative organs are not exempt from this liability. The foregoing hints are suggested to my mind by some cases of matrimonial unhappiness which have come under my observation. I will relate one in this connection. A lady once called on me who had been married twelve or fifteen years, and had had but one child, and that after nine fruitless years. Her previous and subsequent periods HOW TO PROMOTE CHILDBEARING. 5l9 of sterility aroused the green-eyed monster in her husband and she assured me that her home had been a perfect pandemonium ; first; because she did not have k child, and next, because having one, she did not have more, from which latter fact he imagined he was not its natural father. I would advise all husbands who are afraid to father children which in their jealousy they think do not belong to them, to read my Philosophy of Child-marking (see page 887), which I think, will have the effect to make husbands more attentive to their wives, in order that they may so win the love of those who are to become the mothers of their offspring, that a child will be marked by them in embryo life. Jealousy and abuse of the wife will do more to insure the birth of children by her resembling other people than could possibly result from actual impregnation by the spermatozoa of others if confidence and kindness be generally man- ifested by the husband. Treat a wife badly, if the spermatozoon which impregnates her may have oeen produced in you, the chances are the child will resemble someone her mind more agree- ably dwells upon. Treat her kindly, and though she may, under a momentary impulse, be impregnated by another, the chances are ten to one the child will resemble you, and, in fact, be your own as much as if the little germ, insignificant in itself, had originated in your own organs of reproduction (see page 894). But, aside from these suggestions, do not suspect unchastity in your wife merely because, after years of barrenness, she accidentally conceives, and then, after the birth of one child, relapses into the former sterile condition ; such a circumstance is not uncommon when the mother of the first and last baby never for a moment relinquished the chastity and fidelity which Caesar demanded that a wife should possess. [Though the pamphlet entitled " Borning Better Babies," by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., was written mainly to interest those who com- plain of being too fertile, and who seek after what have been called means for " artificial sterility, " it contains a chapter on sterility of the involuntary kind, which may be of use to those who are espec- ially interested in this subject.] CHAPTER X. PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. S a rule, men know more of women than they do of themselves, and I will venture the prediction that a majority of them will read the chapter "Private Words for Women" before reading this one which is esoecially intended for them. Still, it may be said that they are generally better informed on the structure of the male organization, than the women are on the anatomy and physiology of the female body. The igno- rance of men, however, in regard to themselves, is highly discreditable when their advantages for information are taken into account. The writer once directed a patient of good general intelligence, filling a government appointment, to make an injection into the rectum for pin-worms, and after a few weeks received word from him that he could not use half the quantity of liquid advised. Upon further inquiry, I found he had mistaken the urethra for the rectum ! Persons have told me that they were affected with sore- ness and swelling of the bladder, when, on examination, I found they were talking about the scrotum ! Some men actually suppose that the water and the seminal fluids come from the same reservoir, and that that reservoir is the scrotum! A majority of men imagine that the testicles are connected by short direct ducts with the urethra, and that the seminal fluids are injected directly upward into and out of it. A perusal of this chapter will show what a cir- cuitous route the semen pursues to reach the seminal vessels in which it is held in reserve until emptied by amative excitement. I trust every male reader will carefully lsok over and digest all I have to present in this chapter; for by so doing he will better compre- hend the complexity of his sexual organs and probably be induced to take better care of them. THE PENIS AND ITS DISEASES. 521 The Penis and its Diseases. The penis, two views of which are presented in the annexed cut, is mainly composed of two oblong cylinders, placed side by side, Fig. 136. VKRTICAL SECTION OP THE MALE ORGANS. The small cut marked B gives a view of the organ as it would appear if chopped off with a knife or axe. having within a cellular structure, capable of being greatly distend- ed when filled with blood. These two cylinders, which are repre- sented in the small cut B, Marked 1, 1, run parallel, leaving a groove above and underneath. The upper groove is occupied by a large vein marked 2, and the under one by a third tube called the urethra marked 3. The urethra is composed of an exceedingly spongy 523 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. . substance which expands at tho apex as represented ia tho large cut, forming what is called the glans-penis. Through tho canal ot the urethra the urine is emptied from the bladder, and in sexual in- tercourse the semen is injected into this canal from the seminal ves- sels which are exhibited as lying back against the bladder in the large figure. The main branch of the pubic artery enters the penis, the blood from which inflates it during erection. The whole organ is enveloped by a loose skin which is attached at the neck formed by the junction of the glans or head with the external termini of tho two cellular cylinders, at which point it doubles upon itself and forms what is called the prepuce or foreskin, which in infancy com- pletely envelops the glans, and in adult age may be drawn over or pressed back of the glans. In repose the penis is shrunken and flac- cid, measuring not more than one-third its length and diameter when in the state of erection. When, by amative excitement or titillation, the blood is diverted to the organ, it congests all the cellular and erectile tissue to their utmost limit of expansion ; then its average length is five or six inches, and the average diameter an inch or an inch and a half. There are all sorts of deviations from this measure- ment. I have been consulted by those whose organ distended would not measure more than one inch, and others where it meas- ured over eight inches. Either of these extremes may be regarded as a deformity, and so indeed may be one of four or seven inches. As I am frequently asked the question by letter and otherwise, if this organ when diminutive can be enlarged, let me reply: not a Very great deal unless it be shrunken by disease or abuse. When weakened by any cause, its restoration to a condition of health pro- duces a corresponding increase ia its vigor and size, observable mainly in cases of spermatorrhoea, where treatment provided to improve nerve tone, and blood circulation, naturally results in improved nutrition aud growth ; but when congenitally small it is likely so to remain. The penis is subject to various diseases and some deformities. The most common of the former are those maladies contracted from impure coition. The glans-penis is often scalded by acrimonious leu- corrhceal and gonorrhceal secretions with which it comes in contact in the female vagina. When the secretions possess unusually poi- sonous properties, or when they are syphilitic in their character, tho glans-penis coming in contact therewith becomes the seat of pus- tules and sores called chancre, or, in vulgar parlance, "the pox ;" and THE PENIS AND ITS DISEASES. 523 Fig. 137. CHANCEB. A, Hunterian Chancre. B, Phagadenic Chancre. these local affections, unless skillfully managed, diffuse syphilitic poi- son throughout the entire system, and render it liable to all sorts of ulcerous and I may say rotting distempers. There are two kinds of chancre, which are represented in the annexed figure, marked A, B. In from one to four weeks after coition with a syphilitic female, an itching and a slight burn- ing sensation are experienced at the spot where the infection has taken place ; next a small red spot makes its appearance, upon which a clear vesicle of the size of the head of a pin soon pre- sents itself, the contents of which speedily be- come purulent. Usually a discharge from this sore follows of matter variable in quantity and appearance, and, in the advanced stages, greenish or grayish and tinged with red. When the base of the ulcer is quite round and hard it may be regarded as Hunterian chancre, such as is rep- resented by A. The upper one gives a view of the side, and the one below it a view of the face of the chancre of this description. When the ulcer has an irregular boundary, with indentations rather than elevations, and a thin coating of grayish matter, accompanied with fetid and bloody discharges from the numerous small vessels it so rapidly destroys, it may be regarded as a phagadenic chancre, such as is represented by B, in which a view is given of the margin as well as the face of the ulcer. The margin of a venereal sore of this description is usually ragged, thin, uneven, and brown or violet colored. The Hunterian chancre is more liable to produce constitutional syphilis, and the phagadenic more apt to destroy the penis and surrounding parts, for it eats away the flesh more rapidly than cancer. It would be useless to attempt to lay down here any rules for the treatment of these dangerous local disorders, for even the attending physician, with all his experience in the management of them, *o be success- ful is obliged to tack about in all sorts of ways to meet the ever- changing phases of the disease, and thereby counteract its destructive effects. Not a moment should be lost by a person who has con- tracted this disease, in obtaining the advice and medical treatment of a physician in whom he can place the most implicit confidence, for of alj the ways to leave this world none are so terrible as to rat 524 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. with the virus from a Hunterian chancre or to be eaten up alive with a phagadenic ulcer. When men are not cleanly in their habits, the glans-penis may become excoriated by its own secretions. There are located about the neck of this organ, little glands and follicles which secrete an unctuous fluid for preserving the moisture of the glans and foreskin which falls over it. This oily lubricator is as pure as that which is supplied to the eyelids, if the parts are kept clean, but when neg- lected a chemical change occurs which imparts to it a disagreeable odor, a caseous consistence and color, and sometimes an acrimony which produces inflammation and ulceration. These glands and folli- cles are less active and their secretions less oily before the age of pubescence, but after this period the genital organs should be washed with soap and water every day, and the foreskin pressed back to receive the full benefit of the ablution. If proper habits of cleanli- ness were observed by those of both sexes, there would exist less prudery respecting the organs of generation, which in health, with the same care that is usually given to the organs of the face, would be equally sweet and wholesome. No one has the moral right to min- gle in social life and come in social contact with his or her friends whose body from neck to feet is not as clean in every respect as the face. No amount of "Night-blooming Cereus" or "French Co- logne " about the person will compensate for personal uncleanliness. Affections of the urethra might appropriately find place here, but as they have already been treated in the chapter on diseases of the urinary organs, it would be mere repetition to more than allude to them in this connection. I may remark, however, that chancre of the urethra is a more common difficulty than many of the profes- sion imagine, because physicians are not apt to discriminate between ordinary and syphilitic gonorrhoea. It should be remarked that the virus of primary syphilis sometimes fails to produce chancre on the glans, while it does take effect in the urethra; and the inexperi- enced doctor pronounces it gonorrhoea of the ordinary type, and treats it as such, but, of course, without success. I have often been called upon to prescribe for cases of this description which had been badly managed by physicians having little practice in this class of disorders, and who did not for a moment mistrust the true char- acter of the venereal poison. I am not alone in believing chancre of the urethra to be a common disorder. Professor Sigmund of Yi- THE PENIS AND ITS DISEASES. 525 eiina stated in a lecture upon the subject, in 1853, that of four hun- dred and eighty-three cases of chancre coming under his observa- tion, in forty-seven of them the disease Was located in the urethra. The prepuce or foreskin of the penis is often greatly inflamed when the glans penis or urethra is affected with venereal disorder. It may also become irritated or inflamed by other causes,.such as gcalding of the urine, uncleanliness, canker, etc. In nearly all of these cases a weak solution of sugar of lead frequently applied every day to the irritated or inflamed part will remove the difficulty. Con- sidering the unhealthy condition of the human family, its habits of uncleanliness, and the prevalence of uterine diseases among women, it is well, so soon as the age of puberty is reached, to teach the fore- skin to remain back so as to expose the glans. Pressing it back every day for a little while will accomplish the object, and the exposure of the glans will toughen this sensitive part so as to render it less liable to contagion and irritation. As an extra pre- caution, well worth the trouble, the foreskin should be drawn over the glans when visiting a strange "privy" or water-closet, or when sleeping away from home. Then, in coition, if the Membranous Envelope were always employed where there are any uterine affec- tions on the part of the wife, diseases of the glans, urethra, and fore- skin would rarely occur. However acrimonious or poisonous the secretions of the vagina may be the Envelope is an infallible safe- guard. When, after the age of pubescence, the foreskin cannot be pressed back of the glans, the difficulty is called Phimosis. In many cases of this kind the foreskin is very long and its orifice contracted or inelastic. Both for the purpose of preserving the liealth and cleanliness of the glans, and for convenience in coition, this should be removed by a new and valuable discovery—a painless process—devised by the author. See advertisement on Phimosis on page 911. By this plan no cutting is done. Most of my readers are doubtless aware that the ordinance of circumcision practised by the Jews consists in the entire removal of the foreskin by excision, and observation proves that those people are less liable than others to venereal affections. When habitually covered by the foreskin, the membrane covering the glans is remarkably delicate and sensitive, but when exposed by the removal of the foreskin, whether moved back, or cut away as in circumcision, it becomes gradually toughened 526 PRIVATE WOtiDS FOR MEN. and consequently made less susceptible to the attacks of any venereal poison which may accidentally or otherwise come in contact with it. Thus exposed it is also less liable to irritations proceeding from chemical changes in the secretions of the glands and follicles. Be- fore concluding my remarks regarding the penis, I should say that this organ is as it Were an open door for the entrance of many of the diseases which affect the human race. It is so abundantly provided with absorbent vessels and so frequently brought in contact with un- wholesome secretions, the system is often poisoned when no local disorder manifests itself. If it were made of ordinary sponge it could hardly be a better conductor of impure fluids directly to the circulatory system; and, if this fact were fully understood by the male portion of the human family, dens of harlotry would soon be closed up for want of patronage, and a man would as quickly bend to quench his thirst at a public sewer, as visit the abode of the courtesan for the gratification of his amative appetite. The Scrotum and its Diseases. By turning back a few pages, and looking at Fig. 136, the location of this pendulous pouch which encases the testicles will be observed. As remarked before, some quite intelligent men think this is the bladder. All such persons should study the figure referred to at- tentively, and they will see that the location and offices of the scro- tum and bladder are widely different and distinct. The scrotum consists of a wrinkled or corrugated pouch, the skin of which has the same structure as that of the other parts of the body, excepting that it is thinner, more delicate, and perhaps more sensitive. A small raised line begins at the root of the penis and extends back on the scrotum so as to divide it into two parts. This pouch is pro- vided with numerous follicles, which bathe tho parts with a seba- ceous fluid which preserves their moisture and softness. Here is another reason why daily ablutions of the parts should be resorted to by every man to keep these secretions wholesome and free from rancidity and acrimony. The scrotum itself is only liable to such irritations, dropsical affections, etc., as may affect any part of the skin or cellular tissue, and I shall consequently forbear dwelling upon its diseases. THE TESTICLES AND THETR DISEASES. ^2? The Testicles and their Diseases. Under this head I shall briefly refer to not only the structure and diseases of these glands, but to those of the spermatic cords, semi- nal conductors, vessels, etc. Very few men who carry about these important organs, know much about them. It is difficult to fully explain their structure without employing technical names which would not be understood by the non-professional reader. I will nevertheless try to avoid these, and give as correct an idea as I can without making it necessary for the reader to refer to the medical dictionary. The testicles are formed in the male babe in womb-life, immedi- ately below the kidneys. This provision of nature is undoubtedly for the purpose of insuring their proper development, for if thus early lodged in the scrotum, they would be liable to contusions by the blind, unintelligent movements of the foetus, and to a deficient supply of blood if the spermatic arteries were thus early elongated. While nestling beneath the kidneys a cord proceeds from the lower part of each testicle, down through a canal, on each side of the ab- domen, in the groin, to the scrotum or pouch which is to be their future residence. The lower ends of these cords are attached to the scrotum. Between the fifth and eighth month they gradually con- tract, and with their contraction the testicle on each side slowly de- scends. As the testicles descend, the peritoneum in the lower part of the abdomen, to which the cords described adhere, moves down on either side immediately in advance of the testicle, forming a pouch which becomes one of its permanent coatings. After its de- scent into the scrotum this portion of the peritoneum closes at the upper ring by adhesion, and this adhesion advances down the track of the spermatic cord, so that the testicles cannot again return to the cavity of the abdomen. The line of this descent is well marked by the spermatic cord, which is designated by 8 in Fig. 139. The journey of the testicles from their original location near the kidneys down to the pouch which becomes their future residence, is usually completed by the eighth month ; but instances do occur wherein one or both never entirely leave the abdominal cavity, and others wherein they tarry in the groin. The detention of one or both within the abdomen, or in the inguinal canal in front of the groin, does not materially interfere with their functions, and hence there are 528 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. Fig. 13a men who are the progenitors of healthy children, who, to all exter- nal appearances, are without testicles. The same fact exists in the case of men in whom only one of the glands has descended. Unless therefore the testicles have made their appearance in the scrotum and been removed by disease or the surgeon's knife, no one having this defect need be apprehensive of inability to perform all the du- ties of a husband, nor think himself incapa- ble of becoming a father. The testicles do not obtain their full size till about what ia usually called middle age, at which time their average dimensions are about an inch and a half in length, and an inch wide and three-quarters of an inch thick. The right testicle is usually a little larger and is held a little higher in the scrotum than the left one. The annexed cut, Fig. 138, represents the in- ternal structure of one of these glands, and the ducts, etc., leading from it. Those lobes, presented one above another, are composed of convoluted tubes and they connect with ducts which terminate in two canals which conduct the secretions of the testicles to the seminal vessels, as will be explained by and by. These seminiferous ducts in the testicle are only about one two-hundreth part of an inch in diameter, and when unraveled and drawn out are nearly a mile long! Let us look for a minute at the wonderful complexity of the pro- creative machinery of man. Along the track of the descent of the testicle on each side of the body, there passes down what is called a spermatic cord, which consists of an artery and veins and lymphat- ic vessels and nerves. (See 8 in Fig. 139.) The artery is about the size of a crow's quill. This conveys to the testicle the blood from which the gland with all its peculiar mechanism secretes and generates the vital elements of the semen. As before remarked, many imagine that in coition, at the climax of excitement, the testicles inject the semen directly up into and through the urethra. This is not so at all. As the testicular glands make their secretions, they pass them up through a canal called the vas deferens on each side. These TIIE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE TESTICLE. THE TESTICLES AND THEIR DISEASES. 52!) Fig. 139. canals nave an outer coating like cartilage, but their linings are com- posed of mucous membrane and their orifices are only large enough to admit a bristle. They ascend with the spermatic cord till they enter the cavity of the abdomen, when they curve over each side of the bladder and bend down and connect with the seminal vessels. (Pause a few moments and look over Fig. 139 with its ex- planations.) Instead therefore of the testicles participating at all in the sexual act, they are comparatively at rest, and at the climax of amative excitement, their secretions which have been accumulated in the spermatic vessels, are propelled outward by what are called ejaculatory ducts, and passing the prostate and Cowper's glands are mixed with the secretions of these, which contributions add con- siderably to the volume of the semen. Propelled by the ejacu- latory ducts and the simultane- ous spasmodic contractions of the urethra, the seminal fluids are emitted with much force in distinct jets from the mouth of the urethra. Considering the complexity of the male organs of generation and the abuses to which they are thoughtless- ly subjected, it is not surpri- sing that they are often af- fected by disease. Venereal excesses on the part of the male, are much more disastrous than those on the MALE ORGANS. 1. One of the testicles. 2. Stands above one of the tubes called the vas deferens (the white line), where it leaves the spermatic cord, and conveys the semen to tho seminal vessels marked 3. This tube runs with the spermatic cord till it reaches the point just below 2, when it strikes off by itself and dips down to the spermatic vessels marked 3. 4. The penis with the urethra passing through it; 5, one of the kidneys ; 6, one of the ureters which conveys the urine from the kidneys to the bladder; 7, the bladder; 8, the spermatic cord; 9, the aorta from which the testicle derives its supply of blood ; 10, the rectum. part of the female. The reason for this is that the spermatic secre- tions arc composed of the most vital properties which the blood is 530 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. capable of imparting. A drop of semen, such as may be taken np kon the point of a pin and placed under the microscope, presents hun- dreds of those little animalcules called spermatozoa, and from this Tact it may be reasonably inferred that the vital resources must be Severely taxed when the spermatio fluids are prodigally wasted. The injurious effects of an excessive waste of them are well known to every physician who has given a reasonable share of attention to this branch of physiology. In the sexual orgasm the female simply gives off a glandular secretion, possessed of no more vital properties, if as many, as the salival fluids. It is true that in most cases she also contributes a germ called the ovum ; but this passes away at its period of ripeness whether sexual intercourse takes place or not. The ovaries are constantly generating ova or eggs and as rapidly as they reach perfection they pass off, so that the loss of these is of no consequence whatever to the health of the female organs. Excesses are however injurious to the female mainly because the nerv- ous system is injuriously affected by too much venereal excitement. In some cases these excesses lead to undue activity of the organ of amativeness, so that even in her dreams she is excited by amative de- lirium. Sexual excesses and self-abuse on the part of the male lead to what is commonly called seminal weakness or the disease techni- cally called Spermatorrhoea. This trouble is so prevalent and disas- trous to health and longevity, I shall leave it here with simply this allusion and resume its consideration in an essay by itself. The testicular glands are liable to inflammation, congestion, swelling, dropsy, and abscess. I once had a case of abscess of the testicles which had caused an adhesion of the glands to the scrotum, with open- ings through which the ulcerous matter was poured out. He became the father of one child previous to this affection, but at the time I made the examination he had not for a long time passed a particle of semen in coition, and his testicles were nearly wasted away. It was a remarkable fact, however, that his passions according to his own statement were even stronger and his pleasure in intercourse greater than they were prior to the partial destruction of the glands. It ia supposed by many that the loss of the testicles by disease or castra- tion destroys the erectile power. This has never, I believe, been tho case in any known instance. Frequently it only destroys the pro- creative power, leaving amative desire and power of erection intact. In some it paralyzes desire, while local titillation will cause erection. !rHE TESTICLES AND THEIR DISEASES. 531 Varicocele is a common affection among men. This difficulty consists of a distention of the veins of the scrotum and spermatic cord, feeling when manipulated like a bunch of earth-worms. The disten- tion usually increases from below upward, and is less prominent in a recumbent than in an upright position. This difficulty is some- times mistaken for hernia and vice versa. Physicians have sometimes sent their patients to me to be fitted to a truss, when on examination I would find varicocele rather than hernia to be the real affection. "Varicocele is not easily cured except by tying the enlarged vein, and this is rather hazardous. The most successful operation and one which answers a very good purpose is to remove a portion of the scrotum so as to render the latter a natural bandage, as proposed originally by Sir Astley Cooper. The least painful mode of obtain- ing relief is to wear a scrotal supporter. (See page 911.) In all affections of the testicles and spermatic cord, a physician should be consulted, and for this reason I shall not enter into a mi- nute description of the various diseases of these organs. Physicians who have not had extensive experience in their treatment sometimes make mistakes in deciding upon the exact nature of a case, and therefore it would be useless for me to attempt to make the non-pro- fessional mind sufficiently familiar with the variety of diseases to which these organs are subject, to enable the reader to diagnose cor- rectly for himself. Uncomplicated sarcocele may be distinguished from hydrocele by the fact that the former enlargement does not change materially the oval form or hardness of the gland, while the distention peculiar to the latter imparts a degree of softness and greater enlargement of the lower than the upper portion of the or- gan. Sarcocele does not usually obliterate all trace of the spermatic cord, while hydrocele fills the scrotum to the ring through which the cord descends so that the cord cannot be felt. When the testicle is held between a light and the eye of the examiner, if sarcocele be present nothing but the dark enlarged body of the testicle can be seen; if hydrocele affects the sack of the gland, that portion dis- tended by the water is transparent, for hydrocele, as its name indi- cates, is nothing more or less than a dropsy of the membranous sack which envelops the testicle. It often happens, however, that these two affections, sarcocele and hydrocele, exist together, or are com- plicated with other enlargements of the glands growing out of irri- tation or gonorrhceal affections of the urethra, or from a condition of 532 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. the blood favoring tumorous or cancerous developments, in cons©- quence of which the discriminating eye and touch of the experienced physician should be sought in all such cases if the patient would avoid mistakes and the possible ultimate necessity of castration growing out of neglect or maltreatment. Seminal Weakness. This disease is technically termed Spermatorrhoea, and is usually the offspring of masturbation or self-abuse, although occasional in- Fig. no. stances are met with in which the dif- ficulty was unquestionably inherited from the father. It exhibits itself lo- cally by involuntary discharges of the seminal fluids through the orifice of the penis, or, more properly speaking, from the urethra. In the advanced stages of the disease there is also a wasting awray of one or both of the testicles. In the illustrations, Fig. 140, A repre- sents a healthy testicle, and B one which has become wasted by mastur- bation and seminal weakness. I am almost daily called upon by young men who ask if it is not perfect- ly natural to have involuntary noctur- nal emissions occasionally—say once in a week or two. They have been so informed by their physicians 1 Such young men are excusable perhaps as they have not had opportunities of knowing better; but it is disgraceful for any man laying claim to a knowledge of physiology to make such an assertion. It is too true that men who are in the habit of cutting up dead bodies, know too little of living ones. Good anatomists are not always astute physiologists. Those who are reputed to be expert surgeons are apt to be the poorest physicians, and really seem incapable of giving any common- sense advice on subjects like the one under consideration. Only recently one of our most eminent surgeons, in a lecture before the Young Men's Christian Association, stated that involuntary emissions were inevitable occasionally, unless prevented by living in THE TE8TES, IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. A represents one in health; B, one wasted by masturbation. SEMINAL WEAKNESS. 533 natural relations with the opposite sex. It would seem as though common sense would teach him better; and it would almost seem as if young men themselves ought to know better without being told. It is a rule, having few exceptions, that a person subject to involuntary emissions feels the debilitating effect of them invariably the next morning after their occurrence, while every man of experience knows that sexual connection, when the companion is responsive, leaves no depressing effect upon mind or body, but on the contrary a buoyancy of the former and elasticity of the latter. Throwing aside, however, all reference to effect, with which nearly every one troubled with involuntary emissions is familiar, do we find nature so ready to cast off its vital substances and nervous forces ? Is it a fact that Dame Nature is a prodigal—following the profligate and dissipated example of her sons? The seminal fluids are in part made up of the purest and most vital elements of the body. The best material of the whole system is concentrated in the secretion which contains the germs of a new being. Now, why should nature throw away this fluid any more than it should throw away blood ? We find that in all cases involuntary expenditures of blood are hemorrhages, result- ing from a diseased state of the system. The fluids which are of no use to the system are secreted by the kidneys, and thence poured into the bladder to be removed at the convenience of the person. The more solid effete matters are gathered into the colon to be ex- pelled periodically through the rectum. Even these functions are not performed involuntarily unless disease exists. Now if it were necessary that the seminal fluids should be disposed of at certain in- tervals, why are they not absorbed and removed by those channels provided by nature for the expulsion of waste matters, instead of disturbing the rest and quiet of the dreamer and so far deranging the nervous system as to produce depression of spirits, headache, and lassitude the succeeding morning ? To all this it may be object- ed that once a month, the female loses blood, from the age of pu- berty to the turn of life, in what is called the function of menstru- ation. If the objector be a physician, knowing as he should the quality of that blood, I would ask if he really believes that men- strual blood possesses any vital properties ? Is it blood at all in the sense in which we employ that term in speaking of the fluid that circulates in our arteries and veins and supports life ? Does he not know, and does not every woman know, that when pure arterial, 534 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. instead of menstrual, blood flows from the vagina of the female, it Is at once called uterine hemorrhage instead of menstruation ? Does such a physician believe for a moment that any such draft is made upon the system to supply the menstrual secretion as takes place when the spermatic vessels are supplied with their secretions? Will he for one moment place the spermatic secretions and menstrual fluids side by side as possessing equal life and vitality ? Is it not a fact that while the spermatic secretions are teeming with life, the menstrual secretions are as effete in their properties as the urine ? In another place it will be observed that I speak of the ova of women passing off involuntarily. But these ova or eggs are not com- posed of vital constituents. Calcareous or earthy substances combine with various animal matter of a non-vital character to produce them. They exhibit no actual life under the microscope, and possess only earthy matters in common with semen. It may be asked, if the seminal secretion is so vital, how it hap- pens that married men and others who are perhaps excessive in its expenditure do not feel injury from its loss ? To these queries I would reply, that in natural intercourse there is at least a partial if not complete compensation received in the act, as explained in my es- Bay on the philosophy of sexual intercourse (see page 622). Excesses, however, will lead to seminal weakness and in time induce a train of disorders not unlike those developed by masturbation or involuntary seminal emissions. I have said in one place that it is a rule, having few exceptions, that unpleasant effects follow involuntary losses of semen, such as physical lassitude, mental depression, etc. I might have added that even these exceptions finally arrive at the same con- dition ; and that the weakness, if not cured, invariably leads to that injury of the parts which induces losses with the urine and at stool; the weakness finally eventuating in impotency. I know all about it, because I am perfectly conversant with the history of thousands of people who have been affected with this difficulty; have met them daily in my office for forty years, and probably have had a larger practice in this class of diseases in office and by mail, than any other physician in New York City; and any medical man who has so little knowledge of spermatorrhoea as to say that it will naturally occur in young men at certain intervals, should lose no time in explaining why nature provides such a function when it leads to such fearful results. Such advice, unless correct^ is mischievous ^nd tepde t° &tiU SEMINAL WEAKNESS. 535 further demoralize the patient. I have been told by young men labor- ing under the supposition that these involuntary emissions were natural, that they had practised masturbation once in a week or ten days to prevent this natural overflow, remarking that they felt better when they did so than when they allowed the loss to take place without assistance. There is not a particle of doubt in my mind that the immediate effect is better. The ultimate effect is worse, simply because it is continually aggravating the spermatic weakness which they are endeavoring to palliate. Some patients have said that they felt better by continuing their practice of masturbation. This was because the habit had induced such an unnatural activity of the testicular glands that the spermatic vessels became congested with the seminal secretion, and the removal of this secretion at such times produced possibly as great a sense of relief as bleeding at the nose in those persons who are subject to congestions in the head. This, however, is a most ruinous way to re- lieve congested vessels, for no sooner are they emptied, than they begin at once to fill, and soon reach the state of renewed con- gestion. The proper remedy is to restore them to their normal action, and not still further increase their excessive activity by re- peating that which led originally to the whole difficulty. I have been asked what becomes of the seminal secretions if not passed off naturally or involuntarily. I answer : they are re-absorbed or taken back into the circulation, the vital constituents going to vital centres to strengthen them, and the earthy properties to the bones, hair, nails, etc., to build up the masculine qualities of the man. (See page 612.) But in no case does nature dispose of these vital fluids by involuntary emissions exoepting when the parts are diseased. There are, in reality, two kinds of spermatorrhoea, which are of so opposite a nature that treatment beneficial to one is injurious to the other. One results from excessive expenditure of nervous stimuli on the organ of amativeness and the organs of procrea- tion ; and the other, from a want of nervous vitality in the pro- creative organs, while the organ of amativeness may or may not be abnormally excited. In the former, or where there is undue ex- citability of the organs of amativeness and generation, emissions occur with erections, and usually under the influence of lascivious dreams. The victim is suddenly aroused under the most intense amative excitement, just as the seminal fluids are ejected; or, iq somo 536 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. cases, he may not discover what has happened until some time after. ward, although he remembers, either clearly or vaguely, the amo- rous dream under which the excitement and seminal loss took place. A person predisposed to this form of the disease may have it greatly aggravated by pin-worms in the rectum, or by any affection of the vascular system which produces an itching humor in the urino-geni- tal organs. The worms will so titillate the nerves leading to the sexual parts, that erections and losses of semen result. A slight in- flammation or eruption in the neck of the bladder may, when the lat- ter becomes distended with urine in sleep, cause an erection ; and if the person becomes sufficiently awakened to get up and urinate, an unnatural emission of semen may be avoided. If he does not, tho debilitating discharge is almost sure to take place. The other form of spermatorrhoea, arising from a relaxed condi- tion of the organs, or, in other words, from a want of proper nervous stimulus to give strength to the spermatic vessels and ducts, is usually the most difficult and troublesome. It is the open door to impotency, and frequently the latter exists with it, or perhaps I had better say, that it continues after impotency has taken place. A Fi„ ]41 person afflicted with sperma- torrhoea of this character loses the seminal fluids on almost any occasion giving rise to amative emotion, or physical effort. They exude when in the company of ladies, or in riding, walking, or urinating, and particularly at stool, if costive. Fig. 141 represents a microscopic view of the floating mucus and sperma- tozoa as found in the urine of one afflicted with this disease. The spermatic fluids may bo wasted in this way for weeks, months, and sometimes years, if the constitution of the victim holds out so long, without his being aware of the drain which his system is laboring under, although he cannot fail to suffer from its effects. Some persons of constipated habit, troubled with this form of spermatorrhoea, eject large quantities at SPERMATOZOA, ETO., Discovered, by the aid of the microscope, in the urine of one having the worst form of sperma- torrhoea. SEMINAL WEAKNESS. 537 every stool; others will merely find, by examination, a drop or two oozing from the urethra. These diurnal losses are, if possible, more exhaustive than the nocturnal, and the mental sufferings of the pa- tient are usually intense. I have yet to speak of a more difficult and debilitating form of spermatorrhoea than what I have already mentioned, and that is a complication involving both of the forms described. Persons affect- ed in this way will have occasional erections, attended with frightful losses, while they are almost constantly suffering with diurnal dis- charges. Their procreative organs seem to be vibrating between an excess of nervous stimulus and an entire want of it. There is seldom, in such cases, any control of the parts. Erections will take place involuntarily, when cohabitation is not thought of, but when desired, the erectile tissue and muscles are flabby and powerless. The local symptoms attending the several phases of spermatorrhoea I have already given. The constitutional symptoms are various, ac- cording to the temperament and idiosyncrasies of the invalid. In some cases only a little nervous irritability or debility is experienced, while the mind gradually loses its vigor and activity. The victim is no more aware of the gradual approach of imbecility than an old, in- firm man who is losing his faculties day by day and seems uncon- scious of declining intellect, and feels exasperated if his abilities are questioned. Another is alive to his actual condition—finds his mem- ory waning—his powers of concentrating thought declining—and both his bodily and mental energies wasting away. Still another loses suddenly his mental powers, and becomes idiotic or insane. Still a greater number live in the greatest mental and physical despair, if not actual wretchedness. Hypochondriasis siezes upon them;—they are full of whims and bugbears; they imagine the ap- proach of all sorts of evils; feelings of dread constantly overpower them; and they fear death as if it were a plunge into a pit of burn- ing sulphur or something worse, and nothing in nature can excite their admiration or awaken within them pleasurable emotions. They are blind to the beautiful things a generous Creator has strewn in their pathway, and a look upward at night-time into the begemmed heavens bewilders rather than enchants their depressed and troubled spirits. Their imaginations are wrapped in a pall of horrors; and though they may occasionally peep through its folds, and catch a ray of hope and sunshine, a little thing startles them, and they 538 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. turn from a world of horrors without to a temple of terrors within. If these mental hallucinations do not harass them they are dizzy- headed, short of breath, dyspeptic, victims to sleeplessness, neuralgia, pains in and palpitation about the heart, debility, nervous irritabili- ty, fretfulness, and melancholy. I do not mean to say that one per- son suffering with spermatorrhoea has all these troubles; but every sufferer has one or more of them, depending upon the sensitiveness of his nervous organization and the length of time his disease has af- fected him. What adds most to the horrors of this malady, which drains off the most vital fluids of the organism, and strikes at the intellect and manhood of its victim, is the ignorance of the profession generally in its treatment. As a rule, medical men treat one form of the dis- ease precisely as they do the other, and this lack of discrimination and discernment aggravates the trouble, and destroys the confidence and hope of the patient. Then, too, local remedies are generally too greatly relied upon. I have already shown that the disease in its various forms, is perpetuated by nervous derangements, or I have at least explained the manner in which nervous irregularities produce the losses. There is either an excess of the nervous forces precipi- tated on the organ of amativeness and the procreative system, or else there is a moiety, except iu cases of complications such as I last referred to, in which there is a vibration between the two extremes. Consequently the nervous system must receive especial attention. To regulate the nervous circulation, or, in other words, to restore the nervous harmony, is in fact to effect a cure. At least that is the conclusion I have come to after treating successfully nearly every case which has been placed under my care, and I have had many which were regarded as extremely difficult, and any number of those which were considered incurable under the ordinary systems of medication. After perusing my remarks at the commencement of this essay, the reader cannot infer that I am unaware that masturbation and sexual excesses are usually the first causes ; that in consequence of children not being properly instructed by parents with regard to the evils of self-pollution, they nearly ruin themselves before they know any better ; that'grown-up boys, or those calling themselves men- married men—destroy the tone of their reproductive organs by sexual excesses and other pernicious practices treated of in this book. SEMINAL WEAKNESS. 539 But all these evil practices induce the troubles wliich follow, by de- ranging the nervous circulation, or by robbing the system of nervous vitality. It is true, the vascular fluid or blood suffers from a waste of the seminal fluids, because the latter are largely composed of its very best properties; but the nervous system is always the more disturbed, and requires the more particular attention. My custom is, to treat the disease with reference to all derangements involved, combining the remedies in such a way as to reach all, and yet the nervous derangements command my greatest care, and the removal of these is invariably succeeded by a discontinuance of the involun- tary discharges. While, as remarked in the preceding paragraph, the causes are usually self-induced. I have met with cases wherein seminal weakness was undoubtedly inherited. One of the most marked illustrations of this kind occurring in my practice, was that of a young man of about twenty-five, who, at the early age of eight years commenced having nocturnal losses without any knowledge of the practice of masturba- tion. At first they occurred about once a week ; at the age of six- teen they happened as frequently as every alternate night, and before twenty, while losses continued both night and day, he was entirely impotent. At the time he first called at my office he had been pur- suing the advice of various doctors for some five years without ma- terial benefit. Having become interested in a young lady whom he desired to marry, he had, on the confident assurance of a cure from one of the most eminent surgeons of New York, made an en- gagement of marriage. A t the close of several months of surgical treatment, as unsuccessful as it was painful, the young man became frantic with a realizing sense of his position. Said he to me—"Doc- tor, if you fail, I die a suicide; I cannot tell this young woman of my infirmity ; I cannoc enter marriage with it; I cannot break my prom- ise. My mind h fa-mly made up. I have heard of your success in these difficulties, and if you cannot cure me I shall put an end to this wretched existence." A minute history of the events attending the treatment of this case would be too lengthy to be interesting—the ups and downs of the young man's hopes—the encouragements and discouragements of physician as well as patient for the first two or three months; but by the end of the fifth, victory seemed promising, and at the close of the sixth, certain. At the end of eight months, the unmistakable success of the treatment was celebrated by hia 54:0 'PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. marriage. Although this was some four years ago, since which time I occasionally meet my former patient, the cure seems permanent, and the young man is grateful and happy. Persons afflicted with spermatorrhoea cannot be too strongly cau- tioned against the various clap-traps and catchpennies of quacks and empirics who profess to have some remarkable panacea for the dis ease. It cannot be too generally known that a " one-cure-all" can- not be made to suit everybody's case, even if it be possessed of some degree of virtue ; but by far a greater number of the advertised specifics are not only worthless but positively injurious. Some of the more powerful of them tend more to dry up the seminal secre- tions than to impart power to the vessels and ducts to retain them. Thus sterility or impotency instead of the restoration of the parts is effected. Those who have tried them, need not be assured of what I have stated, but I give currency to these facts, for the benefit of those who have not yet been victimized by these pretentious, worth- less, and too often harmful panaceas. It is a false supposition en- tertained by many that marriage cures seminal weakness. There may of course be exceptions, but as a rule a cure cannot be effected by taking this step. It simply amounts to this: the secretions of the testicular glands are discharged by a natural process, before time is allowed for them to pass off unnaturally. The weakness and ner- vous irritability of the organs still remain. Unless cured, premature impotency eventually takes place. With this difficulty it not infre- quently happens that a middle-aged man is as powerless in the organs of generation as the majority of men are at the age of eighty years. Treatment, to be efficient, must be especially prepared for the case, for an invalid can ill afford time in experimenting in the use of nostrums of doubtful utility. Every reader at a distance should state frankly, in answer to the questions on page 600, every symptom at- tending his case, so that a correct diagnosis can be given, and all who become my patients may rest assured that my best efforts will be used for their permanent restoration. Such revelations need not be made by those who call on me at my office, for I can readily detect the na- ture and extent of the disease in cases personally presented. While most physicians inquisitively examine their visitor, the marks pro- duced by the affection are reliable tale-bearers to my perception. 1 have treated too many affected with spermatorrhoea not to recognize its victims. SATYRIASIS. 541 Satyriasis. The title of this essay is the name used to designate a morbid amative passion in males. This disease, for such only can it be called, is barely recognized by the medical profession, entirely ignored by the legal fraternity, and any violent manifestation of it denounced as a crime by the judiciary. While the intelligence of mankind has so far advanced that many life insurance companies have come to re- gard a suicide as an insane person, whose death entitles his heir to the insurance money, the law in many States of our Union inflicts the penalty of death upon a man who, through the insanity induced by ungratified amative passion, commits an act which is denounced as the crime of rape. Woman, more merciful, if she had power to make laws, would probably consider the destruction of the sexual organs of the unfortunate criminal as a penalty fully commensurate with the magnitude of the offence. Indeed we had an illustration of this in an orphan asylum in this State, now long ago. A boy of ten years of age, who was detected in an act of impropriety toward a little girl—also an inmate of the institution—was spared his life by the gracious matron, who was satisfied with causing the destruc- tion of the offending juvenile's genital organs by the application of that soothing emollient, oil of vitriol ! It is perhaps a little difficult always to discriminate between will- ful perversity and "moral insanity," but offences are sometimes committed, wherein the circumstances attending their perpetration plainly show that the offender was not of sane mind. When the wife of an affluent and highly respected citizen, surrounded at home with every luxury heart could desire, is so afflicted with a propensity to steal, that the husband gives notice to the merchants to watch her and charge her thefts to his account, the doctors and men of law pronounce the insane peculiarity a disease which they call klepto- mania. There are ever so many manias, the victims to which should be placed where they can do no harm to their stronger minded and more fortunate neighbors, but who do not deserve punishment as a penalty for crime. Orderly, sound-minded people need pro- tection from the unaccountable freaks of those who are subject to some kind of mania ; but it seems to me no mania is so injurious to the public peace as to deserve the extermination of those who are liable to its attacks. 542 PRIVATE WORDS FOR MEN. Satyriasis is most unquestionably "moral insanity," and is gener- ally, not always, the result of sexual starvation. It is a noticeable fact that abstinence from carnality on the part of woman generally leads to partial or entire loss of amative desire, while the abstinence of a passionate man, in most instances, aggravates his amative appe- tite and drives him to madness. It will be found on investi- gation usually that the perpetrator of rape has either been so isola- ted from the society of females as to be sexually starved, or to have been fed on the husks of harlotry till ho is driven mad with desire for wholesome sexual gratification. He is like the beggar who has been for a long time without food, or else fed on the pickings from ash barrels, until, finally, standing before the tempting window of tho bakery he madly dashes his hand through the pane for the coveted loaf. Rape is a terrible offence to a pure woman, married or single ; but morally and physically, unless the perpetrator be diseased, she receives not much greater injury than if, under fright she had fallen on something which had inflicted a similar shock to nerve and physi- cal tissues. I say physically and morally, because I am aware that public sentiment makes a good deal more of it. It is due to society that a man who has thus given way to unbridled passion be placed where he cannot again commit the offence ; but it is murder to take his life with legal hemp or to dispatch him with the bullet. He is an insane man. He should be confined and put under mental and moral treatment and low diet. There is better chance of making a good citizen of hini than there is of making an honest and peaceable man of a pickpocket or housebreaker. Under the influence of honorable marriage he might become a worthy citizen—a good husband—a kind father. The very act he has committed is not considered a crime in wedlock, although when committed against the remon- strance of the wife it should be so ! The law takes no cognizance of legal rape ! I That I may be fully understood I will add a word or two by way of qualification of the foregoing paragraph. A pickpocket or house- breaker or a shrewd swindler possesses traits of character which must be actually eradicated to make him a good citizen ; his character must undergo a radical change. The perpetrator of a rape may be a man of genial disposition, of strict business integrity, but of such unconquerable passion as to outrage another for its gratification, SATYRIASIS. 54 His fault may be overcome—his passions subdued or at least placed within his control by marriage. He consequently possesses no quality which must be thoroughly rooted out, such as the reformer always encounters in making a good man of an ordinary criminal, to refit him for honorable and peaceful citizenship. The man conscious of having ungovernable passion and sincerely wishing to reduce it to proper limits has remedies within his reach which will in most cases enable him to maintain self-control. They are—a plain vegetable or frugiverous diet; avoidance of condiments and stimulating drinks ; the use of refrigerent medicines, such as epsom salts, seidlitz powders, citrate of magnesia and mineral wa- ters ; a daily ablution of the genital organs with hot water, followed with cider vinegar freely applied with a sponge. The local baths should be hot rather than cold, because when warm they produce a cooling reaction. When this treatment proves insufficient, consult some sensible physician, who, if familiar with the management of satyriasis and the adaptation of remedies to temperaments, will have little difficulty in affording relief. To conclude this essay let me urge a change in public sentiment in regard to this form of disease in both sexes which manifests itself in ungovernable amative passion. It is invariably the result of de- rangement of the procreative system or of sexual starvation. In either case the offender deserves pity, and aid in reformation. In its most flagrant manifestations it is without question necessary to confine the patient until the mania subsides and there is positive evi- dence of so complete recovery and reformation that pardon and re- lease will not imperil personal safety. To treat the subjects of this chapter in a manner entirely satisfac- tory to the writer would require another book of a thousand pages, and, considering the prevalence of such diseases and their far- reaching influences, it might be fairly charged that they have been too briefly handled here, except that they receive a good deal of further consideration in Parts III. and IV. As there must be a limit to the size of this book, the author would refer the unsatisfied reader for further special information to several dime pamphlets treating of the subjects of their respective titles, viz.: " Spermator- rhoea," "Phimosis," and "Varicocele." Furthermore, as intimated in other places, anyone in need of special advice may freely consult the author in person or by letter, See Chapter XIII. CHAPTER XI. IMPOTENCY. HIS term may be properly applied to that inactivity of the organ of amativeness, or that interruption of its nervous or electrical communication with the procreative organs, which paralyzes the erec- tile tissue or muscles of the latter. It is usually only used in speaking of such difficulties among males. But it is a physiological truth, promulgated for the first time in this place, unless contained in some medical work which I have not had the pleasure of perusing, that females aa well as males are sometimes impotent. I know how the lexi- cographer defines the term, but I claim for it a more extended appli- cation than is usually conceded, and the correctness of my position will be made plain in a few paragraphs. What is termed " erectile tissue" seems to consist of loose elastic tissue intimately interwoven with nerves, and divided into multi- tudinous cells, into which, under excitement, blood is forced, filling or congesting them to their utmost capacity. The penis and glans- penis of the male, and the clitoris, nymphae or internal labia, and a portion of the vagina of the female, are largely composed of this tissue, and the nerves in these parts being numerous, and in a healthy state sensitive, a little titillation will give them prominence and tur- gidity. Or, if the organ of amativeness becomes aroused without any such local titillation, it precipitates such a supply of electrical stimuli upon the nerves of the organs under its control, that they suddenly become erected. The nervous forces so sent not only con- tract the muscles of the arteries adjacent to the erectile tissue, by which their blood is forced into the latter, but the heat which the presence of the nervous stimuli creates^ also invites the pressure of IMPOTENCY. 545 blood. Every person who has ever immersed his feet in hot water, has undoubtedly noticed how distended the veins of them become. This is not in consequence of the contact of the water itself with the feet, but because the water imparts its heat to them, while the blood is ever ready to congest any part of the system which is un- duly heated. Now, wheth- er or not the external temperature of the erectile tissue is heightened, so as to be perceptible, when the organ of amativeness warms it up with its mag- netic influence, certain it is, an unusual degree of heat is present therein, and that there is every incen- tive given for the blood to occupy and distend it, as well by invitation as by coercion. But it is not by congestion of the erectile tissue alone that the penis of the male and the clitoris, nymphse, etc., of the female be- come erected under amative excitement. All of these organs are also provided with erectile muscles, which, when free from the presence of the electrical excitation, are flabby and shrunken in size, and un- der excitement, extended and rigid. The fallopian tubes of the female which carry the egg from the ovaries to the uterus, not only seem to be spongy bodies, capable of distention by congestion of blood in their cells, but like the penis, clitoris, and other erectile organs of both sexes, are also provided with erectile muscular fibres. These tubes, commencing at the uterus and terminating in a fringe-like protuberance called the fim- briae, in juxtaposition with the ovaries, are represented by T and P in Fig.142. During coition, if the female is not impotent, the fallo- pian tubes are erect, and at the climax of the act, the fimbriae grasp the ovaries. If the egg or ovum is matured, it is sucked up by them Fig. 142. WOMB, OVARIES, FALLOPIAN TUBES, ETC. U, uterus; c, cervex (neck and mouth); v. vagina laid open; o, ovary; t, fallopian tubes; r, broad ligaments; 1, round ligaments; os the left side the nmbras of the tube are grasping the ovary, which happens when an ovum has ripened, and is ready to be carried to the womb. If this delicate adaptation of parts should never occur, from any cause, all ova are lost and the woman is sterile. 546 IMPOTENCY. and carried to meet the spermatozoa of the male for impregnation. I know it is disputed by some physiological writers that the fimbria grasp the egg under the influence of the sexual orgasm, but their objections are poorly supported, or I might better say, well refuted by facts. Blundell says : "The vaginal canal during heat is never at rest; it shortens, it lengthens, it changes continually in its circular dimen- sions, and when irritated, especially, will sometimes contract to one- third its quiescent diameter. In addition to this, the vagina per- forms another movement, which consists in the falling down, as it were, of that part of the vagina which lies in the vicinity of the womb, so that every now and then, it lays itself out flatly over this orifice, as we should apply the hand over the mouth in an attempt to stop it." The entrance to the vagina is also provided with a sphincter muscle, which, in health, contracts so as to prevent, in a measure, the escape of the seminal fluids injected therein. Now, then, in my opinion, when the organ of amativeness is cut off from proper electrical communication with the erectile tissue and muscles, so that the erection and proper action of the procreative organs are imperfect, the disease may be properly termed impotency, whether the person so affected be female or male. The disease, whether it exists in one sex or the other, is certainly identical in its nature and effects. The fact that the organ of amativeness in the congress or parlia- ment of the mental faculties, is the member who governs the amo- rous impulses, that the organs of generation act under its direction, and that it communicates with the latter by the nervous telegraph between them, is illustrated in cases where the cerebellum (the part of the brain where amativeness resides) becomes diseased or im- paired by accident. I have, at this time, a very respectable married woman under my treatment, whose cerebellum is the seat of painful neuralgia, and since the advent of this disease, she expresses the be- lief that neither marriage nor sexual intercourse is right, and it is with difficulty her friends can prevent her from separating from a kind and devoted husband, to whom she had, previous to this attack, been fondly attached. Pancoast mentions the case of a young officer, who, on the eve of marriage, received a " blow on the occiput (back of the head) by falling from a horse. He became impotent without any other derangement of his bodily or mental functions, and in hia IMPOTENCY. 547 distress, upon discovering his imperfection, committed suicide on the morning fixed for the wedding." The various members of the body are, in health, under the control of the congress of mental organs. If a mechanic wishes to build a house. Mr. Constructiveness telegraphs to the hands and feet to pro- ceed to execute the work. A congress of the various organs con- venes, and Messrs. Causality, Comparison, Size, Ideality, etc., etc., all have a voice in the matter. But Mr. Constructiveness is the " boss of the job " and sees that the work is done up "ship-shape." But if Mr. Constructiveness is shut off from all communication with the hands and feet by what is termed paralysis, then the hands cannot perform the work, and Mr. C. might as well shut up shop until the telegraphic or nervous communication is opened, and he obtains control of the wires or nerves. Now amativeness and philoprogenitiveness have agents to do their wrork. But if telegraphic communication is cut off between the base of the brain and the organs of procreation, impotency is the result. Excessive study will sometimes so divert the nervous forces from the base of the brain that perfect disinclination for sexual intercourse will ensue, to those who previously possessed much amative passion. Here the intellectual organs consume all the brain nerve-force and starve out amativeness. On the other hand, cases occur, in which both men and women, by thinking too much of sexual matters, or from some other cause, which inharmonizes the distribution of the nervous forces among the mental faculties (so that the organ of amativeness is unduly excited), become crazy in ungovernable de- sires for constant gratification of their sexual instincts. This disease, when it affects females, is called nymphomania; when it affects males, satyriasis. Sometimes, the erectile tissue and muscles of the procreative organs are supplied at intervals, with nervous or electrical stimuli from what is called the inferior plexus, near the terminus of the spinal column, while all direct or instantaneous communication be- tween them and the organ of amativeness, seems to have ceased. In these cases erections will occur involuntarily or by titillation of the parts, but they generally become flabby and powerless in any at- tempt at copulation. Such cases are not at all uncommon among males, for I have treated many of this description, and it is probable the difficulty is quite as common among females, although I have not 548 IMPOTENCY. Fig. 143. had so many cases from among the latter, nor does it prevent them from indulging in a spiritless union with the opposite sex. Impotency in either sex, does not necessarily produce barrenness. If the testicles of the male secrete semen, containing healthy sperma- tozoa, and the ovaries of the female produce completely formed ova or eggs, then they are not in the strict signification of the term barren. In fact, impotent women do in many cases conceive by tho spermatozoa being injected into the mouth of the womb, and there finding a matured egg, which, if not taken up by the fimbria) of tho fallopian tubes during coition, may have eutered and descended one of the tubes a short time before. The organ of philoprogenitiveness is often active when the organ of amativeness is power- less, and the difficulty in the way of the im- potent man, if he has healthy spermatozoa, lies in his inability to penetrate the female organs. Still, under a local excitation of tho parts, if taken advantage of, the act may be ac- complished. In some cases, amativeness may even be active, and the person may have tho strongest desire for sexual intercourse without the ability to perforin the act satisfactorily. When this is the case, amativeness is suffi- ciently stimulated by the nervous forces in the brain, but either the nervous communication between it and the sexual organs, or else the nerves in the sexual organs themselves, are paralyzed or partly so. The causes of impotency are as numerous as erectile tissue under the those which produce nervous inharmony of any microscope; u, orifice or r J J the urethra; c,the fore- kind. Perhaps the most common are, intemper- skin; d, the great vein; ' . be,nerves; ff, arteries; ance in the use of stimulating food and drinks, a a, cavernous bodies in__ , , j.- i 1 a___-„ the penis; h, urethra; masturbation, and sexual excess. Among 11, fee erector muscles. ' WOmen, sedentary habits may be the most frequent cause. Their muscular systems become relaxed, and their nervous systems disordered, for want of pure air and out-of-door exercise. , FBONT VIEW OF THE PENIS. A, the glans-penis, the cor- rugated lines indicating the appearance of the nrpoTENCY.: 549 In acute diseases, when the powers of nature are employed in the effort to combat them, it is a conservative factor to be acquiesced in, if sexual desire and power are temporarily suspended, and in some forms of chronic and wasting disease impotency may be re- garded as one of the symptoms. There are several such diseases in which it is unwise to attempt to stimulate the return of potency any faster than it can be re-established by means calculated to relieve the main disease. Impotency may be an accompaniment of general paresis, locomotor ataxia, anaemia, diabetes, Bright's dis- ease, and lead-poisoning. In such cases, to treat for impotency and ignore the real disease may be very unfortunate. Opium habitues and inveterate users of tobacco may lose their sexual power from the depressing effects of these drugs upon the sexual system, and excessive use of beer may put either a temporary or permanent quietus on desire or capacity. A lady who, through being addicted to opium had become apathetic, resolutely gave up this habit for the greater love of her husband, being advised by the writer that this was her only hope of becoming again normal, and she was rewarded in accord with her highest anticipations. Tobacco-smok- ers have been often similarly advised with equally happy results, though after some years of the depressing influence of such drugs on the sexual nerve-centres, there is often required a few months' treatment by means of antidotal medicines to aid in restoring nerve- sensibility and power of complete control. The causes of impotency are not only numerous, but oiuen diffi- cult to determine, and offer quite a puzzling problem to the physi- cian as well as the patient. The psychic state may be at fault, as in imaginary impotency, where everything is physically sound enough, but the fear of failure, or, perhaps, the "conscience that makes cowards of us all" acts as a damper. Even where all con- ditions are favorable, including the legal and moral sanction, mere timidity or bashfulness, inexperience, or the novelty of the situa- tion, may suffice to incapacitate a man who is in no ordinary sense impotent, and it often happens that the first failure under such cir- cumstances so aggravates the lack of self-confidence as to lead to further failure, and establish a state of chronic fear with mental depression that constitutes a true psychic or imaginary impotency. Such doubt or fear may have for its basis the consciousness of an unwholesome past record or self-inflicted injury, even after all 550 IMPOTENCY. symptoms of physical fault or sexual disease may have been relieved by skillful treatment. It is in such cases that the encouraging ad. vice of an experienced physician, even if consisting only of the methods of "mental science," or " faith cure," can aid wonderfully to reassure the unfortunate patient, and cure his psychic im- potence. Merely adopting an "expectant" attitude, and waiting for the spirit to move, is good advice in general for such cases. It is further true that the most potent men may be impotent with some women, and incurably so, but, except for " marriages of con- venience," or for money, it is not at all probable that such incom- patibles would marry, as the familiarities of courtship enable the parties to judge of their magnetic adaptability. It is no small objec- tion to marriages arranged wholly by correspondence, often begun through advertisement, that this method enables the correspondents to judge only of mental compatibility, without giving them any chance in advance to test physical attractions or magnetic reactions which are necessary to harmony and happiness. Even where all necessary adaptation exists at the outset, it may disappear with changes of time, and true lovers grow away from each other; but the less the original fitness the greater the liability to early dissocia- tion. From what has been said in this chapter regarding the origina- tion of amorous impulses and forces in the brain, and what will be said in the next chapter of the nature of bankruptcy of the nerve- centres, it will be readily understood that impotency is almost in- variably a psychic or nervous disease, and that erectile power is no more to be expected when the sexual nerve-centres are "played out" or the lines down, than a trolley-car could be made to run if the dynamos at the power-house stopped or a break occurred in the wires. Treatment, to be successful, must rest, restore, feed, recharge and revitalize the storage batteries in the brain and spinal column, and re-establish the normal current of the nerve-force circulation, so that sensation-impulses shall be transmitted to the sexual nerve- centres, and muscular-power im pulses be sent to the erectile muscles. I will close this essay by inviting all who are laboring under this mortifying disease to call on me in person or Gonsult me by letter, (See Chapter XHI). CHAPTER XII. CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. j AVLNG already occupied a greater amount of space than was originally assigned for Part HI., to save all fractions of blank pages which are liable to occur at the conclusion of each chapter, I propose to pre- sent, under the above heading, a few brief essays on diseases of too important a character to pass over in silence. It may be thought by some that I have given undue prominence and unnecessary length to my treatises on the procreative organs of each sex, and that a portion of the space occupied by them might have been more profitably used in the consideration of the pathology and treatment of diseases of other organs. If so, from this hypothesis I must dissent, for the reason that the affections alluded to are found to exist as troublesome compli- cations in nearly every case of chronic malady which comes under the care of a physician. It is pleasant to know that this rule, like most others, has its exceptions; and all those who are fortunate enough to belong to this class must bring their observation, rather than their ex- perience, to bear in judging of the correctness of my statement. Furthermore, it is possible in very many cases of chronic disease to trace them back through various Stages, or lines of cause and effect, to the originating cause in some injury inflicted on or through the reproduc- tive system by mismanagement or abuse of that function. It would, of course, be going too far to attempt to ensign this as the basic cause of all insidious chronic diseases, but having just left the consideration of these very prevalent diseases of the sexual system, and being about to describe the most common and allied diseases, including their causes, and relations to each other, it is convenient to pass to our new subject over the broad natural bridge by which so many are found travelling from the former domain to the latter. This is now known as neuras- thenia. 552 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. Neurasthenia. This word, of comparatively new coinage, was not employed by physi- cians when the first editions of this work were published, and yet has come within the last fifteen years into such common use that one may frequently find it in ordinary literature, taking the place of the old familiar phrase of nervous debility. It is a new name rather than a new disease that confronts us, but it has come to stay, and we accept it as a name that is employed wisely and well to cover a large range of nervous symptoms which may occur without any actual lesion or permanent destructive change in nerve-tissue, such as occurs in organic nervous diseases. Neurasthenia simply means nerves without strength. Those who have read the brief summary of constitutional symptoms of spermatorrhoea on page 537, have already a fair idea of what consti-, tutes neurasthenia, but, when combined with spermatorrhoea, it is better called sexual neurasthenia. As a similar train of symptoms may arise from other causes, and be indicated by some other special name, it may be well thus early to emphasize the fact that neurasthenia in general is not invariably due to the exhausting effects of spermatorrhoea, since over-work, or worry, sudden shock or extreme grief, as well as acute fevers or exhausting disease, may afford the foundation for it; but, remembering also how common neurasthenic symptoms are among women as a result of uterine or ovarian irritations, it is fair to say that at least three-fourths, if not more, of all cases of neurasthenia may be properly prefixed with the qualifying adjective indicating sexual origin. It is further true, that even those cases of neurasthenia not developing out of disease of the sexual system are liable in time to be attended with symptoms of irritability of the genito-urinary organs, such as frequent urination, involuntary seminal losses, impotency, or, in women, with local pains, menstrual disorders, and other evidences of irritation of the womb or ovaries. While, therefore, we must recognize cases of neurasthenia aside from sexual diseases, based often on brain-fag, nervous shock, eye-strain, dyspepsia, etc., the fact is that it is most commonly associated with more or less symptoms of sexual disorder, and it is in this respect that the subject has received most attention from physicians. The late Dr. M. Beard, who awakened a deep interest in it by a series of articles written about the year 1879, was probably the first among old-school physicians of this country to recognize and urgently advocate that involuntary seminal losses may be pathological—the basis of serious disease. From the predominance of nervous symptoms, and perhaps from some indis- position to regard spermatorrhoea alone as a disease, but rather as a svmptom, he was accustomed to write of it as sexual neurasthenia. HYPOCHONDRIA. 553 Though he did not go as far as to consider involuntary losses in all cases as evidence of disease, he forcibly combated the disposition so common among his associates to regard them as of no consequence, even when followed by such complaints as headache, languor, nervousness, and general or local pains. He said: "It is the common belief that patients suffering from this form of disease magnify—create symptoms which really never existed. This belief is an erroneous one; there are more persons who overlook many of their symptoms, forget them, or regard them simply as signs of health, than of those who create symp- toms that do not exist, or over-estimate their importance." He further described many who drag along, never knowing what real health is, handicapped unnecessarily by a variety of troublesome symptoms, which, though for a while permitting a fair amount of activity of mind and body, in time lead to serious or incurable conditions. Hypochondria. In those cases where hypochondria exists, he regarded it very properly as a symptom—just like sweating of the hands, back-aches, dizziness, tremors, palpitation, or cold hands and feet—a result of the exhausted state of the brain, which, like other symptoms, disappears with improve- ment in general nerve-tone. Opposing the too common and slip-shod way of shirking attention to obstinate subjective symptoms by dubbing them "only hypo" (hypochondria), Dr. Beard said: "In the majority of cases of hypochondria there is some real and demonstrable disease as the basis of the mental trouble which can be found if ve but look closely into the condition of every organ; the term hypochondria being quite often a cover for our lack of thoroughness in examination. Very rarely do I find a case of morbid fear of disease where the kidneys, liver, stomach, and the prostatic urethra are in health." In fact he found, as all physicians will, who look deep enough, the cause of hypochondria where the ancients did who happily named it, that is, under the lower border of the ribs—in the abdominal regions—in conditions that send either reflex nervous influences or oppressing poisons in the blood to the brain. In hypochondria there is, as part of the disease, a tendency of the victim to magnify his ailments, but it and they have, at bottom, a true foundation in disordered vital functions, which may, by due attention, be cleared up, or, by neglect, be permitted to develop a form of insanity called melancholia. Hypochondria is therefore one phase, or symptom, of that lowered state of the nervous system which we call neurasthenia, but it is only one of many peculiar fears which the suffering mind con- jures up. One neurasthenic sufferer may dread to meet other persons, especially strangers, sometimes even friends, and for short we say he 554 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. has anthropophobia; another may dread to be alone, monophobia, while others become subject to curious, fortunately rare, and almost original fears of particular places or acts. It would be an endless story to tell all the queer mental and nervous symptoms complained of by neurasthenic sufferers, but here is a list of those most frequently occurring, whether real or imaginary, reported by cases of neurasthenia of whatever origin, in men and women. Fortunately no one sufferer presents all—at least, not all at one time— though in the course of this variable disease, with dropping out of one symptom and creeping in of another, even one neurasthenic may run through the list; perhaps, more accurately, the list runs through him. One of the most dominant, though not invariable symptoms, is debility, weakness, disinclination for effort, mental or physical, and a sense of incapacity, with loss of memory, mental depression, and abject hopeless- ness. Perhaps more distressing than the debility are the symptoms of irritability, mental or nervous, such as fretfulness, restlessness, peevish- ness, " groutiness," tremors of muscles, jerking of limbs, twitching of eye balls or lids, itching or formication (a feeling as though insects were creeping on the skin), chilly feelings, hot flashes, or sweating in parts or all over, wakefulness in hours for sleep and drowsiness during the day. Still other symptoms are aching eyes, blurring of sight, inability to use the eyes long, ringing sounds in the ears, palpitation of the heart, catching pains there, poor circulation, cold extremities, a sense of full- ness or oppression in the head, aches on the top or back of the head, a feeling as though the brain were "in a vice," dizziness, vertigo, explo- sions in back of head, pains all down the spine, dull backache, heat in small of back, shooting pains and neuralgia in any part of the body. Some neurasthenics are of fair exterior, or present the outward aspects of health, and exhibit their nervous weakness only in spots, or under special circumstances that arouse or depress them. Some seem especi- ally to lack nerve-balance and self-control, and have periods of excite- ment as though a storm swept through the emotional nerve-centres. Many are easily influenced, either to laughter or weeping, to sympathy or anger, through inability to hold the passions in check. Hysteria. An attack of hysteria, with exhibition of hilarity, excitement, and convulsions, may not at first thought seem to indicate a lowered state of the nerve-forces, but it is, in fact, the result of an irritable and ex- plosive state of the emotional and lower nerve-centres, with lack of power and control in the higher. It is, likejiypochondria, a phase of neurasthenia, and not liable to occur in a well-ordered, well-nourished and well-toned nervous system. It is often associated with sexual nej> HYSTERIA. 555 vous irritations, arising from diseases peculiar to women, and takes its name from the womb (Greek, hystera), but it occurs also in men, and more often in boys, from disturbances arising in sexual neurasthenia, and it may occur either in men or women from a neurasthenic state not dependent upon sexual disease. Hysteria is, however, far more common among women than men, while the reverse is true of hypochondria. Often the description of some'one case in the patient's own way gives a better idea of a disease than mere general statement of the symptoms. While writing this there comes to hand a letter from a lady who is plac- ing herself under treatment for a severe and typical form of neuras- thenia, bordering on hysteria, brought on or precipitated by an attack of La Grippe about four months previous, though evidently the final collapse was invited by causes dating back even to childhood, as well as five years of working nine hours a day, with no time for dinner, as a telegraph operator. Besides being melancholy, she is sometimes over- come, when about to go to sleep, by a sort of frightful paralysis of body and mind. "Now, when I begin to feel that way, I sit up and it passes off. My sleep is restless—dream all night long; have not had a good night's rest in five years; have had to give up my position on this account, as my nerves were too unstrung for work. Am always drowsy, sleepy, good-for-nothing during the day. Hands and feet always cold and moist. Headaches every day—sometimes so severe I fear it will affect my mind; half of my head aches, but a constant pain in back of head near the neck; also very dizzy at times, and rush of blood to the head when the least bit excited; heavy, oppressed feeling, expecting all the time something terrible to happen. . . . Chronic catarrh. . . . Palpitation of the heart, seems to flutter, then stop, and I get short of breath. . . . Indigestion, I feel hungry after a hearty meal, and have a sense of trembling and faintness in stomach; bowels constipated. . . . I feel very weak, nervous, and trembly all over, and sore, as though I had been beaten with a club, and sometimes it seems as though the life was gradually dying out; it commences in my wrists, or pulses, and they get weaker and weaker, my sight becomes dim, and my face turns very pale—I have completely fainted away in such spells." She has no doubt given a very accurate account of her condition in spite of her dis- tressing mental hebetude, and such are the symptoms, with infinite variety, and no end of new combinations and individual peculiarities, which can all be cleared up by raising the tone of the nervous system, as a fog clears with the rising sun. Almost enough has been said of the causes and symptoms of neuras- thenia, a disease which is said to be more common in the United States than in foreign countries. Some think our climate induces an over-ex QJtable state of the nerves, by which they wear themselves out prema 556 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. turely, but whatever the stimulus to drive, hurry, cram, jam, haste and waste, certain it is that we are a nation of energetic, ambitious hustlers, making heavy calls on " nerve " in the every-day affairs of life. So we hear much on all sides of confession of over-work, too close application to business, etc., etc., and yet, to some who lend the ear in the medical confessional, the doubt often arises whether all this could not be pretty well borne if it were not for the added strain of over-play, the "early indiscretions," and late night-hours dissipated in amusement, and the insatiable appetite for emotional excitement. Too much of a good thing is good for nothing, whether work or fun; no doubt some exhaust them- selves, and bring on premature old age of the nervous system by over- work alone, others by dissipation, but the lively, all-round man of the world, who devotes himself assiduously to work, and also indulges in all that's going on in the way of so-called fun, is burning the candle at both ends too literally, in consuming his nerve-forces at both top and bottom of the spinal column as well as along its whole course. Neurasthenia is the warning signal of danger for such reckless men, but if, by plentiful use of narcotics and anaesthetisers, such as alcohol, tobacco, and opiates, they still the cry of the nervous system, its disorganization, or utter break-down in paresis or general paralysis is one of the ways that nature has of settling her account with them. Records of Ward's Island insane asylum, from 1885 to 1895, show that one-third of all the cases that terminate fatally are of paresis, at ages from twenty-two to seventy-nine. Neurasthenia may lead, through impairment of the action of the vital organs, to break-down and death by almost any of the wasting diseases, or render its victim easy prey for some infectious disease or epidemic, but the transition from nerve-ex- haustion to paresis is a direct, if imperceptible, change from a functional and curable to an organic, incurable form of nervous disease, and affords a good opportunity to study the difference between the two in their nature, or what doctors call their pathology. It may be some time since the reader began the first chapter of this book, and probably he will be helped to understand what follows in this chapter by refreshing his memory in what the opening chapter tells of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. One must understand something of their normal operations in order to get any idea of what happens when anything goes wrong with them. The brain was called the capitol, or headquarters of the combined human organism, and the nerve-cords connecting the brain with all other parts were compared to telegraph wires sending messages to and from the capitol. The head, when it is level, controls all below, regulates all vital functions, the movements of heart and lungs, and co-ordinates or harmonizes all, either automatically or through exercise of intelligence and will but there may be, in NEURASTHENIA. 557 •rdered states of the brain, not only impairment of mind and will, but also of the automatic nerve-regulators, so that important functions, for lack of proper stimulus and control, become irregular, as when the heart palpitates, or mus- cles twitch involuntarily. Even the sensory nerves, those ubiquitous reporters who stand as sentinels at millions of points in the surface of the skin, may begin to send in "fake," or '' sensational" news, and inform the brain that insects are crawling on the skin, or water trickling on it, pins pricking it or needles stabbing deeply, when in fact there is no such state of the case. Sometimes it is not the outer sentinels who are responsible for false alarms, but the receiving operators in the central office are either misinterpreting despatches, or creating them out of their own imagination, as it were. Let us, then, look after these re- sponsible officials at headquarters and find out what is wrong with them when there are signs of local or general disturbance in the human nervous c ganism (i.e., nervous disease). Students of what is called minute or microscopic anatomy long ago ferreted out the units or cells of the nervous system, and found the gray or ash-colored brain-substance to be made up of innumer- able microscopic "cells," connected together by even more in- numerable "processes," lines, cords, or wires, in comparison with which even a spider's thread would be larger than any bridge-cable ever constructed; but it is only since 1890 that they have dis- covered and been able to describe just what difference there is be- tween a nerve-cell in its healthful and unhealthful states. This is an interesting achievement of modern research, and its main facts will be now presented as briefly and clearly as possible. The elements or units of the nervous system are now called neurons, and as that is an easy word to speak and write, it may as well be made popular as well as technical. It consists of the nerve- cell and its branches. The cell, or body-part, is of various forms. It consists of protoplasm, or soft, egg-like substance, with a part more con- densed than the rest, and called its nucleus, but it has one or more branches, which spread out and divide like the roots of a tree, to connect ( the neurons with each other and with the nerve- cords or wires that extend to all parts of the body. Our illustration shows one neuron with its branches, and pictures one leading away to Fl«. 144 558 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. a sense-testing nerve-bulb located, may-be, in the tip of the finger. The bulb is the " transmitter " of an impression, and the neuron the "receiver." If the news be important the neuron informs other "operators," whose business it is to know, and perhaps the result is the neuron becomes the "transmitter" of a command or telegram along another nerve-cord to a "receiver" nerve-plate in a muscle that responds by an action that jerks the finger tip away—if, for instance, it has come in contact with a lighted match or sharp tool. The neurons are then operators whose function it is to receive impressions from all the special senses, interpret or arrange them, distribute the news as does an "American Press Asso- ciation " to all its subscribers, and lastly to act promptly, even auto- matically, or deliberately, which means that many neurons confer in what we call conscious cerebration before any one of them is authorized to issue an order for action. This brief outline of nerve-anatomy and action is but a mere glimpse at the wonderfully complex functions by which we feel, think, and act, and is only preparatory to showing what happens to the neurons when they become ill, and make us feel, think, and act abnormally. Let it first be understood, that the function carried on by Mr. Neuron makes him tired, uses him up, so to speak, and tends to unfit him for business. This is compensated for by his power to recuperate, to recoup his substance from the blood, and "pull himself together again;" but if he is held down too long hours in business, "rushed," or "rattled," he misses food and sleep, and shows signs of exhaustion. How does he appear then ? The observers who have caught him in this predicament under the microscope say that this is how the neurasthenic neuron looks: " There is a gradual diminution in the size of the cell, a lessened power to absorb staining substances (dyes which color some particles more than the rest), which may be taken as evidence of imperfect power of nutrition, vacuolation (open-like spaces) which may be taken as proof of the using up of its own substance, and alteration in the nucleus (the 'heart' of him), which is decreased in size, and changes from a smooth and rounded to a jagged and irregular outline. As the cell be- comes changed in its structure by constant work, it becomes more and more exhausted, so that finally there comes a time when it is no longer capable of sending out impulses, and requires a period of rest to make up what it has lost of form and substance, and to regain a store of energy. . . . These results have been reached by stimulating cells to work in living animals either by electricity, or by keeping up move- ments, such as running, or by exposing one eye to light while the other was kept dark, and then contrasting the appearance of the cells made to work with those which were kept at rest. It is evident, then, that we can now study the exact mechanical and chemical effects of nervous NEURASTHENIA. 559 fcctivitv. When a stimulated cell is allowed to rest, it gradually resumes Us original appearance; but the period of rest must be adequate." Almost everyone who reads this description of a "played-out" neuron will be likely to see many points to remind him that "that's just how I feel myself when I'm used up," and therefore not be inclined to doubt the truth of the observation. It may be of use to him if he will take pity on the countless millions of neurons which constitute his nervous system, and remember that it is when many of them feel gaunt, vacuous, and jagged, that "he knows how it is himself"—a phrase which, though common, needs no apology, since it fits so well. How does Mr. Neuron recuperate? His means of "bracing up" are much like our own, but his success in the attempt depends on what we do for him. The '' bread and butter question " is with him, as with us, the one of first importance. He lives on what he feeds on, and takes the best he can get Anatomists say "there is no part, every cell of which is so constantly bathed in the vital fluid, as the neuron." To cut off his supply means paralysis for him, and for at least some part of the man he belongs to. It is a rather remarkable fact, though of course a very conservative factor in human. economy, that when a man is com- pelled to starve, and live by self-consumption, the nerve-substance of his body is the last to be called upon to give itself up "to keep the pot a-boiling," the fires up, and life's forces at work. It is, indeed, for the good of the whole organism that the nerve-man has the nerve to preserve himself till the last hope of food is gone; but toward the end, Mr. Neu- ron too literally caves in. Though he long shrinks from yielding, yet at last he shrinks indeed, and wastes to a mere skeleton of a nucleus— so far gone that, if at this late day food comes to the rescue, it is many weeks before he can be made to look like himself again. The lower the state of nervous exhaustion the slower the recuperation. Another fact to bear in mind is that Mr. Neuron is particular, and wants good nourish- ing food, and is easily irritated by foul, impure things. Neuralgia has been well denned as tho cry of the neuron for better blood. So even when the body as a whole is in a fair state of fullness, there may be hungry and unsatisfied neurons that have not had their fill of what they need, because the blood did not bring it to them; or there may be neu- rons that sicken and wilt from the stupefying effects of poisons circu- lating in the blood, as in cases of acute fevers, syphilitic infections, and chronic autotoxaemia, where the system is charged with its own excre- mentory waste matters when they are not being eliminated fast enough. The man who is bilious, jaundiced, diabetic, rheumatic, or uraemic, is sensible of the fact that all his neurons are depressed, under a cloud, or melancholic, or in some states of self-blood-poisoning. The neurons may be irritated to such a degree of irrepressible excitement as to develop 560 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. explosive storms made evident by epileptic fits, or attacks of acum mania. The subject of autotoxaBmla, or how, why, and when a man becomes ill in many ways through accumulation and retention of blood-poisons produced within himself, thus accounting for a large range of chronic diseases, is very thoroughly treated, and made plain for the average reader, in a pamphlet entitled " Auto toxaemia—self-blood-poisoning," by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., and those who wish to know more of the subject than we can tell here will find much of interest in the pamphlet. It makes little difference as to the appearance presented by Mr. Neu- ron whether he has been overworked, ill-fed, or poisoned. In any event he becomes shrunken, pale, haggard, vacuolated, and in function inat- tentive, irregular, careless, unreliable. Shakespeare said: "O that men should put an enemy in their mouths, to steal away their brains!'' The effect was evident, but the almost omniscient poet didn't know, as we do now, how alcohol acts directly on a man's neurons to steal away their power. Andriezen has discovered that when a man "gets a jag on," the neurons become "jagged "too. The first effect is to cause soften- ing and swelling of the neuron's branches, and next the substance of the neuron itself becomes disintegrated and vacuolated—"channeled and tunneled by holes and seams of liquefaction." Along with these dis- coverable alterations of substance go the noticeable symptoms of drunk- enness, the weakened faculties of attention, memory, and will, and the loss of muscular power and steady control. "If this destructive process has gone on beyond the power of regeneration, the disease progresses to chronic alcoholic dementia. If, however, regeneration is possible, re- covery ensues." Repeated assaults in this manner upon the integrity of the neuron cause gradually diminished power of recuperation, and what began as a vice becomes fixed as a disease. Either periodical sprees or steady moderate drinking may bring on permanent changes in the structure of the neurons, impairing all mental and bodily function, will-power, "nerve" and muscular strength, and so knock out the finest specimens of brute humanity, as shown by the early decline, downfall, and premature death of many celebrated champions of the prize-ring. Knowing now what the neurons look like, the wonders they can do in health, how they wilt when abused, and recuperate when they have a chance, we get a fair idea of the physical or tissue difference between a state of healthy nerve-tone, a functional nervous disease, and an organic one. In health the neuron is well-fed, not overworked, and has fair hours of rest; when it is overworked, or under-fed, or poisoned (it would be impossible to say from which of these evils it suffers most), it becomes lean, hungry gaunt, liaggard, "soft," weak, and incapable of steady attention to business, and the possessor ot such neurons be- NEURASTHENIA. 561 ««mes neurasthenic, or has functional nervous disease, manifested by symptoms of debility and irritability; but until the neurons have be- come utterly exhausted, degenerated, and wasted, they may be enabled to revive, and the disease be cured. When they become soft beyond repair, or hardened by another process of degeneration, called sclerosis, the nervous system is the subject of an organic, incurable disease, more or less serious according to location and extent of the "lesion." The well known disease brought on from softening is general paresis, a prostration of both mental and bodily powers, which renders the sub- ject a candidate for some insane asylum, where most of them vegetate to the end—sometimes in a long-drawn-out period of uselessness neces- sitating much care. Probably the most common cause of this degenera- tive disease is the state of mal-nutrition of the neurons, due to blood- poisoning by syphilis, through its destructive effect on the blood-ves- sels. There are several other causes which operate through the circulatory system to rob the neurons of blood-supply, and thus bring on apoplexy, and various forms of localized paralysis, affecting half the body or less. Small arteries in the brain may become so thinned or " varicose" as to burst, and others may become blockaded by plugs of clotted blood. H these obstructions can be removed by absorption before the neurons in their field of blood-supply become too far starved to death or softened, such an "organic nervous disease" may be curable. It would hardly be possible to present in a book for popular reading the means of deciding between functional and organic nervous diseases, or between curable and incurable nervous affections, for, as we have just shown, all organic diseases are not incurable, neither are all (seemingly) functional diseases curable; but in a general way it may be said that while most of the symptoms of neurasthenia may belong to organic dis- eases, none of them necessarily indicate it, and the important thing for all sufferers from nervous symptoms to remember is that they must not let their neurons run so far on the down grade of mal-nutrition as to become softened beyond repair, and that the nearer they go to the line of degenerative change, the more difiicult and tedious will be the task of restoring them to the mormal state. They who would save their life must lose it—that is, the mode of life which has seemed good, but proved to be destructive—and rigorously or religiously adopt such means as strict nygienic living; avoidance of all intense excitement, worry, over- work, or idleness; moderate systematic exercise, short of the fatigue point; regular and long hours of rest; plain, nutritious fare, and plenty of it, and an appropriate course of treatment by electricity, baths, or medication that will enrich the blood, renourish and revitalize the neurons, and reorganize all vital functions on a harmonious basis. 662 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. , Paresis and Paralysis. There will probably be no better opportunity or appropriate place than this to give a brief description of the most common and serious nervous diseases. General Paresis, or general paralysis of the insane, has been mentioned, and its mode of origin explained as due to a breaking down from malnutrition and exhaustion of the nerve-elements—brain soften- ing, as it is shortly stated and commonly expressed. It is not at all easy to judge by the symptoms in any case just when it passes from being one of mere neurasthenia to one of general paresis—i.e., when the process of actual softening beyond repair has begun, when the line of degeneration is passed, beyond which there is no turning back. It is like the passing of day into night when the sun is behind the clouds. The recognized symptoms of this disease are mental failure, loss of memory and concentration of thought, flighty notions, extravagance of the imagination, false ideas of wealth, ability, and power, "crankiness," restlessness, sleeplessness, progressive weakening of muscular power and control, with irregular drunken gait, thickness of speech, and un- equal size of the pupils. The weakness gradually becomes utter paral- ysis, and the mental state degenerates to imbecility. This comes about in from one to ten years. Most of such cases, becoming well denned, are fit subjects for asylum treatment, as epileptic and maniacal attacks are apt to be occasional occurrences. Paralysis is the name applied to cases in which there is loss of power in some part, owing to loss of ner- vous control. There is often also a loss of sensation, or ability to feel a touch or injury of the paralyzed part. When due to apoplexy, already explained as an injury to nerve-centres resulting from a rupture of a weak blood-vessel, and the pressure of an oozed clot of blood, the paral- ysis is likely to affect only one side of the body, including the arm and leg of the same side, and that is called hemiplegia, but when the lesion or accident has occurred in the spinal cord, as from " breaking the back/' or the growth of a tumor, the loss of power is in the lower half of the body and the legs, and the arms are seldom involved—this is called paraplegia. A sensation as of a girdle around the body often helps to locate the site of the injury in the spine. Of course the curability or prognosis in cases of paralysis depends mainly on the nature of the lesion, and what may be done to repair the damage. The apoplectic kind is most often cleared up in course of time by the absorption of the blood-clot, and the main danger to fear and provide against is the repeti- tion of such attacks. While paralysis of this origin is truly enough a nervous disease, it is not primarily such, and the treatment needs to be directed mainly to the blood and circulatory system, since it is weak •spots in the smaller arteries which are the source of danger (from run* PARALYSIS. PALSY. LOCOMOTOR ATAXY. 5(>3 ture), and the probable cause of such erosions of the arteries is a bad quality of the blood favoring either malnutrition or a slowly corroding inflammation. Facial Paralysis. Facial Paralysis occurs on one side of the face in the region of th« nerve that controls its muscles, and is usually due to pressure on the nerve where it passes through a narrow, bony canal. "Catching cold " may cause a swelling along this nerve, and there would be room to accommodate it almost anywhere else, but this nerve gets itself pinched by swelling, and then that side of the face "falls," becomes lifeless, ex- pressionless, powerless. The eyelid cannot be closed to wink, or the mouth puckered to whistle. Most such cases clear up in a couple of months, especially if proper local and constitutional treatment be em- ployed. It is one of the many manifestations of the rheumatic state of the blood. Locally, hot water applications, massage, and electricity are the favorite remedies. Shaking Palsy. Paralysis agitans, or shaking palsy, is an affection of advanced age, in which there are occasional or constant tremors (trembling) of the hands and feet, and maybe rigidity of the muscles, impairment of walking, loss of equilibrium, and cramp-like pains. The head and neck are free from tremors, but become rigid or fixed in a forward position. There is difficulty in talking, and maybe in swallowing. The mental state is one of restlessness and irritability, and gradual failure. It is a disease of slow progress, and the possibility of arresting it depends, of course, on the age of the patient, and the general state of bodily vigor. Locomotor Ataxy. Locomotor Ataxy is a disease located in the spinal cord, an atrophy of nerve-fibres, and fatty degeneration, impairing the nerve-muscular con- trol and sensation of the lower limbs. Its most noticeable objective symptom is the "ataxic gait," which is unsteady by jerks, with a pecul- iar prance or kick, but the worst subjective symptoms are the stabbing or shooting neuralgic pains. The limbs are anesthetic—slow to sense a prick—heavy and numb. Such symptoms may later affect the arms and hands also. The eyes are liable to be "crossed," or to double vision and other disturbances. Among the early symptoms which lead us to suspect this disease are difficulty in going down stairs, or in standing still with the eyes closed, especially on one foot. The patient does not sense the ground properly, and feels as though "walking on air." On rising to walk he hesitates a moment, to get well balanced for a start, 564 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. and when well started he cannot well stop. "Rheumatic» pains, shift ing, coming or going suddenly, or fixed in one spot for hours, often pre- cede the more certain diagnostic signs. The causes are various, includ- ing exposure, fatigue, all forms of dissipation, and especially sexual excess and venereal disease (syphilitic). Excepting when the disease is due to " the bad disease," there is no specific treatment, but it can often be arrested by diligent enforcement of general measures for improving all vital functions, and providing a good, clear, and rich quality of blood. Epilepsy. Epilepsy (fits, or falling sickness) is one of the most common of the serious and obstinate nervous diseases, and yet it is generally supposed to be functional, or, if there be some change from the normal state of the nerve-cells (neurons), it has not yet been discovered (except in those cases of epilepsy directly following injury to the skull, or coverings of the brain). In an epileptic person these nerve-centres are peculiarly "touchy," irritable, and predisposed to volcanic eruption of nervous energy, whereby the whole body is thrown into spasms, and conscious- ness is lost for a time. Just why these neurons are ready to "go off half-cocked" on slight provocation is not understood, but the fact is well settled that some persons are "born that way," with an unfortunate inheritance of a nervous system which may be said to be in a constant state of unstable equilibrium. This does not mean that the parent of an epileptic by heredity must have had the disease, but if one of the parents had not some marked disorder of the nervous system, then the lack of proper adaptation in marriage was such as to transmit an un- stable nervous organism. When the nervous system is thus susceptible to spasmodic action, it is "set off" in epileptic attacks by slight provocation, as by emotional excitement, some indigestible substance in the intestines, or a little ex- cess of some autotoxic impurity in the blood. Dr. Brown-Sequard wrote that "Sympathetic Epilepsy is frequently due to an irritation of the sexual organs, especially brought on by masturbation. In Anglo-Saxon countries, where children are less watched and warned against the dan- gers of that fatal habit than in other civilized countries, epilepsy due to that cause is particularly frequent." He showed also that in Hasse's record of a thousand epileptics, 364 of them were found to be between ten and twenty years of age. If, when the nervous system is prone to epileptic seizures the individual could be so carefully guarded through the tender period of youth as to avoid unnecessary sources of irritation, very likely when reaching adult age the propensity would have been outgrown—the dangerous period passed; but the susceptible nervous system, together with some abnormal and continuous aggravation of its EPILEPSY'. 565 infirmity, leads to the establishment of a confirmed form of epilepsy, and one that will yield only to prolonged and careful treatment. In considering the aggravating causes of epilepsy, it is difficult te decide whether to lay the greater blame on irritations originating in the sexual organs or the digestive organs. At all ages, but especially in un- guarded youth, the chance of evil from both sources is unfortunately very great. During infancy it often takes but little "belly-ache " to give rise to convulsions in children who do not really belong to the epileptic class, and as boys and girls are brought up to gourmandize on meats and sweets, and partake of everything set on the table, there is abundant source of irritation for their nervous systems in the almost perpetual disturbance going on in their stomachs, so that, wherever there is a ten- dency to epileptic disease, it is pretty sure to be stimulated into activity, either through ignorant or reckless abuse of the digestive and genera- tive functions. A general epileptic attack generally exhibits these symptoms: pale- ness, loss of consciousness, a cry, general spasms, a fall, biting of tongue and lips, congestion and redness of face, short, difficult breathing, froth- ing at the mouth, perspiration, relaxation of spasms, stupor, sleep, and, on waking, headache, and fatigue. In the mildest cases, called petit-mal (little sickness), there is only a momentary lapse of consciousness, and spasm of a few muscles of the face or neck. Whether great or small, the attacks recur periodically, often with some regularity, from ten a day to one in ten years. Some such cases have premonitory or warning symptoms, in form of queer sensations, irascible temper, cold hands or feet, or some optical illusion, occurring a few hours or seconds before an attack. Epileptics generally have other evidence of poor health, and no doubt the nervous system suffers from every new attack. In time memory fails, and other mental faculties are impaired. Excitability of temper, depression of spirits, and even symptoms of insanity develop in some of these eases. In the treatment of epilepsy little can be done during an attack except to guard the subject against self-inflicted injury. After an attack he should be turned on his side and the tongue drawn forward, so as not to obstruct breathing while he is permitted to "sleep it off." The curative treatment demands that the general health should be attended to all round, the nerve-centres nourished, the blood made rich and pure, all sources of irritation removed, especially from the mind, the diges- tive and the sexual organs, and lastly, not firstly, as most cases are treated, a sedative compound may be used to subdue the over-excit- ability of the nervous system, and so stave off its explosions. The bro. midee, though much abused for this purpose, are still indispensable, but their utility, W& especially their harmless application, requires good 566 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. judgment in selection and combination, with an eye to the objects first stated in speaking of treatment. The writer has found simplicity and abstemiousness in diet, and a preference for a vegetarian bill of fare, very conducive to success. The Question of Functional or Organic Disease. In contrasting functional and organic diseases we have been accus- tomed to think of the former as presenting no discoverable change in the actual structure of parts, while in the latter there is evident change or loss of substance; but the latest facts in regard to the changes ob- served in neurons coincident with neurasthenia, which have been above described, favor the idea that there is not likely to be disordered func- tion without some physical basis, whether we are smart enough to dis- cover it or not. We find it difficult in all problems of life to draw hard and fast lines, and make definitions that will always stand. It is not easy in all cases to distinguish living from non-living matter, plant from animal, vital force from the other forces operating on or in matter, health from disease, or even life from death. The bounds of true func- tional disease are likely to be narrowed. We can easily see the changes in a lung destroyed by phthisis, and know that it is organic, while in asthma the lung-tissue may show no deviation from normal, however much the breathing may be interfered with, and, so far as the lungs are concerned, the disease may be entirely functional, but if we could find a way to see into the neurons in control of respiration, very likely we should find some change in tho "operators," or in the wires by which they confer and send out their messages. This would apply as well to a large number of functional diseases of vital organs, by tracing the trouble first to the nerve-centres (neurons) that control their action, and then assuming some flaw in their relative neurons. Having shown how these neurons are subject to abnormal conditions, and how these may develop into the most serious forms of nervous dis- ease, the next business in hand is to show the relation between the dis- orders of the nervous system and the more common constitutional diseases and localized chronic ailments, but to do this it is now neces- sary to explain another important function of the nervous system, which up to this time has been purposely left almost out of sight, in order to bring it out in the strongest light when most needed. It may be well introduced with a little story. In a case before a coroner's jury of a man killed by accident, whom, for the sake of argument, we assume to have been a rare specimen, " in perfect health," a juror asked the coroner, a German doctor whom some folks regarded as somewhat eccentric, whether the organs had been, in the post-mortem examination, found to be in a healthy itfttfr FUNCTIONAL OR ORGANIC DISEASE. 567 The coroner replied: "No! the man was dead," and some who heard the story didn't know whether "the laugh was on" the coroner or the juror, but the coroner was, in fact, telling a great truth, and one which it is well to remember. Any organ, to be in a healthy state, must be operat- ing—alive. The body of the man, and all his parts, may have been without a flaw in structure or substance, if he were killed by a shock from a trolley-wire, but he was dead, and, without the spark of life, the organs, being functionless, were not healthy. Health implies life and action, as well as wholeness of parts, and if one organ be "all there," but not "up to duty," there is ill-health, disorder, and disease. The great function of the nervous system, aside from its relating us to the outer world—adapting us to our environment—is its business of admin- istering the affairs of the body itself in all its parts. It stimulates, regulates, controls, and harmonizes a great variety of processes which we call vital functions because vitally necessary to maintenance of life and health. If, because of any sleepy neurons, or break in the wires, this administration fails, there is lack of proper adjustment of the affairs of life, and proportionate illness. Though the brain is, as already said, the capitol and referee and main ™ 14_ storage and distributing reservoir for the supply of nerve-energy, there are many sub-treasuries and minor administrative offices scattered through the chest and abdomen in what are called the ganglia (masses) of "the sympathetic nervous system," one of the largest being the "solar plex- us," situated at " the pit of the stomach," or where ^ a man may be easily "knocked out," if you hit Neuron from a gan- w „ wh ^ Hves „ n ig weU shown in fi glion of the sympa- . ? thetic nervous system, 97, on page 381, and m the first colored plate, in its capsule, with its where the intimate relations of the sympathetic " processes " cut away. gangiia an(j the spinal cord are shown in the white cords that join them, but the most direct connection between the brain and the vital nerve-centres is by means of two pneumogastric (chest- stomach) nerves, wliich afford not only a steady flow of energizing nerve- influence to the vital organs, but exert also a controlling or restraining action, as though holding the rein over them as well as the whip. Evidently this is a great business with "a beautiful system," but the story of its far-reaching influence is not yet half told. It has only been traced as far as the vital organs themselves, for controlling their opera- tions, even to the number of heart-beats per minute, but now we must follow the nerves along the routes of the blood-vessels in what is called "the vaso-motor system," because they regulate the size of the blood- vessels, and w the blood-supply of every part, but they go even farther, 568 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. Fig. 146. even to the elementary cell or fibre, to influence its nutrition as well as its operation. It is through some disturbance of this finely adjusted patent lever regulator of our watch-works that the face blushes or pales, the mouth becomes dry, or the eyes moist from emotion; and when ex- treme shock occurs to headquarters, whether from physical or mental cause, it is through this endless chain of nerve-network that all blood- circulation and other business of the corporation may be brought to an end in fatal syncope. In tracing the nerve-influence down to this microscopically fine point —the ultimate elementary cell of every tissue—and finding even its nu- trition dependent upon the constant galvanic current of vital nervo-electricity, the way is made easy to under- stand how every failure of function or wasting of sub- stance from malnutrition may result from a fault in the administration and sup- ply office—the nervous sys- tem—and it will be a local or general disease according to the number of neurons that wilt and become inattentive to business. Other chapters of this book have traced heart, lung, dyspeptic and liver derangements to nerve- A CASE 0F hemiatrophy, failure. Though written sev- or wasting of the tissues of one side of the eral years ago, they stand the face, from nervous disease. test of scientific study as well as professional experience; but since we have come to understand the greatness of the fact of the dependence for nutrition of every bodily cell upon its supply of nerve-stimulus, what wonder that there is a disposition to bring more and more all wasting diseases in the category of nervous diseases. This influence of the nervous system ;.s called trophic, from a Greek root meaning to nurse or feed, and if the body-tissues cannot feed and reconstruct themselves from the blood so generously distributed within their reach, without being coaxed to do so by some nerve-influence, then that is well named trophic or mother-nurse influence. There are well-recognized nervous diseases in which some part becomes atrophied —starved out—because its neurons are fading, still fading. The best known cases, though fortunately not eoinmon. are seen in the "living SCROFULA. 560 ikeletons," which are cases of "wasting palsy," or "progressive mus- cular atrophy." In them the gradually wasting muscles indicate that a process of atrophy has begun in the neurons of the nerve-roots of the spinal column, but this sort of wasting may be localized instead of gen- eral, and only affect one arm, or a small portion of the face in the domain of one nerve, and, knowing of such cases, the question naturally arises whether in every instance of wasting disease, even though, as in phthisis, there be an invasion of microbes to hurry along the "consumption" of tissue, the real cause may not be in a shortage of the trophic nerve- energy, which the cells need to enable them to keep well fed, and cap- able of warding off invaders. It is admitted that the Koch bacilli cannot take up their abode except in soil prepared for them, and now the ques- tion arises whether this acceptable soil means a particular (abnormal, of course) state of the blood, or a deficiency of trophic nerve-influence; and the probable fact is that it is generally both, since impoverished blood and deficient nerve-energy so often go together, constituting that preliminary stage of the disease in which a person is said to be "run- ning into consumption." It is more often a slow drifting, with symp- toms of neurasthenia (showing that the neurons are getting weary of well-doing) and of scrofula, with the familiar train of symptoms usually attributed to bad blood. Scrofula. Having thus stumbled upon scrofula in this relation, let us see what there is to be said of it in this chapter. We have been accustomed to look upon it as essentially a blood disorder, and in earlier editions of this book it was attributed to a blood-poison whose effects were evident, even though the poison itself had not been discovered. The origin of the disease, not only by heredity, but by an unhealthy mode of life, was dwelt upon, such as "residence in damp localities, habitually sleeping in chambers where the sunlight seldom penetrates, daily exposure to cold, damp air, insufficient food, a pork diet, impure air, and personal uncleanliness—also impure vaccination—and finally, vitiated and dissi- pated habits, and all influences which have a tendency to depress the vital forces, may open the doors of the system to the devil's breath and inaugurate scrofula." Though we still know that such conditions of life render us easy vic- tims to malign influences from without, such as malaria, it is now known that a " depressed state of the vital forces" implies sick neurons, and leads to such derangement of vital functions that poisons are self- developed—right at home, in our r ii bodies—and the scrofulous poison, if not always, certainly is often r ;his kind. A late English writer (in Quain's Dictionary of Medicine) s the chief characteristics of scrofula 570 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. "consist, structurally, in a defect in the blood, and functionally in languor. It is a special form of constitutional weakness, debility, or de- generacy of mankind, manifesting itself in two ways, in a defective power of resistance to external influences and a defective power of growth and development in some or all parts of the body. Whatever lessens health and strength tends to beget scrofula, and once produced it is highly hereditary," and so commonly congenital, meaning from birth. Scrofula, therefore, originates in self blood-poisoning, debility and mal-nutrition, and as we have found the trophic neurons to be in con- trol of all this important business, we trace the "languor"to them, and so find scrofula not out of place in a consideration of nervous diseases. Its hereditary transmission also goes to confirm this view. Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson, one of England's most fertile and popular medical writers, says that '' in cases of hereditary disease the impression which has been made on the affected person, and which ia transmitted to the offspring, is inflicted primarily upon the nervous cen- tres. This view is contrary to the common belief wliich fixes the taint in the blood, and which is expressed in such every-day terms as ' bad blood, good blood, ancestral blood,' terms which are applied as freely to mental as to physical proclivities. The view which assigns the seat of the taint to the nervous matter (neurons) rather than to the circulating blood is most in accord with modern observation.....Moreover, we learned by direct experiment that physical nerve injuries inflicted on parents are transmitted to offspring. Epilepsy induced by nervous in- jury has been thus transmitted.....It is observable that the injuries to nervous matter which are capable of producing hereditary diseases must be inflicted either on a nervous centre or on a trunk of a nerve. Injuries inflicted on the extremities of nerves do not seem to be fol- lowed by changes transmissible by heredity.....It is not until the nutrition of a part directed by central nervous control is perverted by a central injury that the inherited mischief is established.....Whether some- thing material and active is passed on from one generation to another, or whether it is a purely physical impression or vibration which is trans- mitted, we cannot pretend to say." My preference is for the theory that normal nerve action (life itself) is a mode of motion (vibration), and that the several "taints" or hereditary diseases are abnormal modes of motion, resident in the neurons (central nervous matter), and trans- missible as unpleasant memories to offspring. The initial impulse thus implanted in the germ decides in the main how it shall grow, develop and act—in short, what kind of life it will live and how long. Dr. Richardson says the "view is now gaining ground that the scrofu- lous taint is a variety of the syphilitic." This book always maintained SCROFULA. 571 their close relationship and their resemblance in physical effects. Pre- vious editions said: "Syphilis is own cousin of scrofula." The syph- ilitic taint is recognized as the most intense and far-reaching of any of the hereditary "diatheses," though syphilis in its more virulent or active form is acquired by direct innoculation; but however acquired, while it is liable to invade, mar or destroy every tissue or organ, the deepest impression is made on the nervous system, which fact is en- tirely consistent with its power of hereditary transmission even to the third and fourth generation. In the first generation, as in the victim of acquired syphilis, it may be responsible for epilepsy, chorea, loco- motor ataxy, paralysis, and an almost endless variety of degenerative changes in the bones, skin and mucous membranes; but as its power wanes in further generations the results are symptoms such as are com- monly called "scrofulous," of which there are twenty or more. Among the more common symptoms of scrofula are enlarged glands, especially in the neck, catarrh of any mucous membrane, bronchitis, consumption, ulceration of the bowels, many varieties of skin eruptions, chronic abscesses, which, if they form in the bones of the spine, lead to Potts' Disease, humpback, rickets, hip-joint disease, tumors, notched teeth, hydrocephalus, ophthalmia, blindness, ulceration of the ears and deafness, and yet the whole truth is not told, and space cannot be spared for it. When children early display signs of a scrofulous tend- ency everything favorable to its relief should be religiously employed, for it is through neglect that we see the many sad deformities that re- sult from early caries (decay) of the bones, or the rickety soft state which leads to bow-legs. Rickets in children may be suspected when there is much tendency to diarrhoea, fever, thirst, perspiration, swelling of the knees, wrists and ankles and poor teeth. The early symptoms of Potts' disease (of the bones of the spine) are pain on motion of certain parts, with a disposition to keep the body fixed while stooping, and pain on pressure over some point of the spinal column, often noticeable soon after a fall, blow or wrench, and, though constitutional treatment must not be neglected, the first effort should be to give the inflamed part rest by means of a suitable apparatus for sup- port, which will permit the child to go out in the sunshine and air. Many cases of mere curvature of the spine imply no disease of the bones, but merely a bad habit of position in sitting, sleeping or working, and are better treated without apparatus than with, the patient being made to brace up and strengthen his or her own muscles by suitable exercises. While my views in regard to the nature of scrofula have advanced rather than changed, I see no occasion to modify what I have always advised and found satisfactory as to treatment—consisting in the main of all those hygienic means explained at length in the chapters relating 572 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. to causes and prevention of chronic diseases, together with vegetable alterative medication selected according to temperament and symptoms with a view to eliminating the scrofulous poison, enriching the blood, and thus renourishing and revitalizing the neurons. It is said that charity will cover a multitude of sins, but it will not atone for them, and when the human body exhibits the effects of sins of omission and commission, the only effectual atonement is to sin no more, and apply all possible regenerative means that will restore the integrity of the neurons and their ability to evolve, store and distribute the vital forces. We have traced the possibilities of disease resulting from weak and weary neurons far enough already to see that when the nerve energies are debilitated, the vital functions sluggish or disordered and the blood impoverished or impure, the subject of such tendencies "has a right," as our Hibernian friend would say, to take on or run into almost any form of chronic disease, but which of them will develop, what part be chosen for the seat of the disease, or what "taint" become established as the habit and display its trade-marks on its "subject" will depend on various influences of which we know something but not all. Her- edity, temperament, habits, environment, and even accident will all help to decide whether the taint shall be mainly scrofulous, tuber- culous, syphilitic, gouty, cancerous or mixed. It may tend one way in one generation and another in the next, and be aggravated or mitigated by various combinations in marriage. Cancer. The last disease of uncertain origin to be claimed in the list of dis- eases of malnutrition through perverted nerve action is cancer, and the claim is plausible, as will be soon shown; but first let it be said that cancer as yet appears to consist of nothing but the body's own cells gone wrong, and there is no proof of the presence of any parasitic or microbic invaders. As Prof. Virchow says: "The cellular elements of a tumor are derived from the pre-existing cells of the body," which for some cause have reverted to a rudimentary or simple state of life and begun to increase and multiply regardless of other parts, as though their neuronic guardians had lost all control of them. It is a sort of war among our tissue elements, in which one kind proceeds to run wild at the expense of the rest. It has seemed very reasonable to suppose that such abnormal growth was stimulated by some impurity of the blood, and it has even been sug- gested that cancerous tumors were evolved as a new excretory organ to rid the system of some poisonous property; but now there are many studious observers who believe that the various forma of tumors are CANCER. 573 but the results of some failure of the trophic nerves whose duty it is to regulate nutrition and cell growth; and this view is encouraged by the facts that cancer increases in frequency as age advances, and as vital power declines, that mental and nervous depression are predisposing causes; and, finally, the fact that it is most prevalent and increasing in conditions of high-pressure civilization involving nerve-strain, tiredness and exhaustion. Senility of tissue predisposes to cancer, so that where causes of early death are reduced more enfeebled aging folks are left as probable victims for the cancerous mode of death. Cancers are hard or soft according to whether they are built up of fibrous or soft-cell tissue, and they differ, too, in rapidity of growth. The evil a cancer may do depends largely on where it is located, how early it can be discovered, and the possibility of eradicating it. All tumors are not cancers. Some are called "benign," because compara- tively slow and harmless, as fatty tumors and wens, but true cancers are "malignant," rapid, ugly, and tend to reappear after removal. It is not always possible, even when a clipping from a tumor can be taken and examined microscopically, to say "for sure" whether it is benign or malignant, and so operative means (knife or plaster) get credit for curing more cancers than they really do; but generally a microscopic examination will decide, and whatever the nature of the growth, if re- moval be possible, it is "good policy." Fig. 147. Whether knife or plaster shall be the method must be decided by the nature and location of the tumor, and some- times the subject may decide for him- self, there being little preference. The "painless" claim of the plaster plan is generally a delusion and a snare, and with anaesthetic surgery the cutting operation really causes far less suffering; but whatever local treatment be adopted it is most important to resort at once to constitutional measures that will fortify the tissues generally against the progress of this degenerative change, and hold the unruly members (cells that have re- volted) in subjection. They are prone to spread through the lymphatic chan- nels to glands in other parts of the body, and start other tumors of the same sort—branch offices. These tumors all enlarge by "cell infiltration," multiplication of cells in all directions. as a vine grows through a tree, until they exhaust their source of sup- A nest of cancer cells from the tumor in Gen. Grant's throat. 574 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. plies by getting too far from blood vessels and then ulceration begins— a " break-down" and sloughing. If permitted to go so far the blood itself becomes contaminated with absorbed poisons which stain the " complexion " all over to a peculiar yellow hue—the stage of cancerous cachexia. Syphilis. Another of the great constitutional diseases the nature of which yet baffles the most earnest investigations of students of disease is syphilis. Like cancer it may be said of it that as yet no true parasite has been found in the sores or secretions which in case of syphilis are so surely the means of communicating the disease from one to another. (It is not yet proven, however, that cancer can be transmitted in this man- ner.) As it was said of cancer, so it may be said of syphilis, that the changes produced in the diseased tissues seem to be such as may occur from simply a perverted or degraded action of the body's normal cells, as though they were operating wholly "on their own hook," without reference to the disturbance to other parts thus occasioned. Yet it may be said that they are stimulated to this diseased action by the presence of some microbe that has so far eluded the vision of micro- scopists; and this is made probable by the similarity of syphilis in some features to the acute infectious fevers and in others to leprosy, an even more chronic form of infection, which is now generally regarded as of microbic origin; but leprosy, if "catching," is far less so than syphilis. Whatever the nature of the syphilitic virus, it is undoubtedly easily communicated wherever it comes in contact with an abraded surface. It is extremely fortunate that the virus is not erosive, that it cannot eat its way through the natural protective scaly covering of the skin and mucous membranes, for if it were able so to force itself upon us its devastation would be far greater than at present, since the disease is not only acquired through venereal (sexual) contact, and its infectious sores are not limited to the sexual organs. Even a chancre may occur upon the lip and be directly given to another lip, while a mucous patch inside the mouth secretes a matter which if left upon a cup, pipe or musical mouth instrument may be the means of starting a syphilitic sore on the lips or mouth of the next person who uses the infected article, if that person have an abrasion or crack on the lip. Specialists who have traced the origin of syphilis in thousands of cases estimate that twenty-five per cent, of the cases among men and fifty per cent, among women are acquired "innocently," and the great variety of unexpected ways in which this may occur is astonishing. The extreme prevalence of syphilis in Russia is attributed more to the uncleanly habits of the people in general than to sexual promiscuity, PLATE VII. P. H. T. PART II. VARICOCELE. VARICOCELE, SHOWN by enlarged and tortuous veins on one side, IN CONTRAST WITH NORMAL BLOOD-VESSELS ON THE OTHER, THE SCROTUM BEING LAID OPEN TO EXPOSE CONTENTS. SYPHILITIC LESIONS. PLATE VIII. PLAIN HOME TALK. / SECONDARY—" COPPER-COLOR " ROSEOLA. / SYPHILIS. 575 and its medical men advise "vulgarization" of a knowledge of this sub- ject as the only means of counteracting the tremendous evils of igno- rance. No space need be given here to the history or origin of syphilis as a disease. It dates back of recorded history, and it would take much less space to name the nations, if any, which may have escaped it than of those which have long suffered. Races as well as individuals seem to acquire some immunity through experience. Those of Asia and Europe bear it far better than did the aborigines of Hawaii, among whom it was introduced by Capt. Cook's sailors one hundred years ago, with very fatal results and great reduction in population—much the same result as when measles is first disseminated among Pacific islanders who are unaccustomed to its presence. It is rather fruitless to speculate as to whether the disease may be generated anew under the conditions of recklessness, excess and all un- cleanness, where it is so generally distributed; for the seeds of the dis- ease are so widely scattered in all the dens of harlotry that most new cases are easily traceable to some such source, while the multitude of roundabout routes by which its virus may be conveyed to innocent victims makes it fair to suppose in any case of doubtful origin that it has been picked up somehow, even though we cannot trace surely the manner of its invasion. Whether it be in the most innocent or most reckless manner, if the syphilitic virus find itself implanted upon a slightly abraded mucous membrane, or a crack in the skin of the finger or lip, it becomes the spark by which a slow fire is started that may never be quenched, for in some scrofulous and impaired constitutions (by gout or Bright's disease) the disease develops with a rapidity and severity that can be moderated but not controlled. It so happens that because of suscepti- bility its innocent victims often suffer more than its vicious ones. From tne time that the impure contact occurs there is a period of from ten days to four weeks, called "the incubation period," during which the virus is taking root and hatching mischief unsuspected. Then ap- pears at the point of infection a red spot which becomes raised in a few days to a nodule or papule, which scales and softens on the surface until it ulcerates and secretes a thin liquid, which is more virus. Though this virus might provide material to innoculate a hundred more sores on other persons, it seldom starts another such sore on the same person. The base and edges are hard, so that it is called a "hard chancre." It is often painless, generally slow to heal, and may last several months, generally about two months. What is called "the ini- tial gore" may be so slight as to be unnoticed—a mere dry, scaling patch, or, in persons of very low, reckless or filthy habits or '' depraved 576 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. constitution," it may become phagedenic or gangrenous, so that it may fail to be "characteristic" in being more slight or more malig. nant than usual. Within two weeks from the first "lesion"(the initial sore) the virus spreads through the lymphatics to the near- est glands, which become enlarged—perhaps in an effort to arrest it, and so ends the first stage, or " primary." The virus almost always pushes its way through the glandular system and reaches the blood (in about six weeks), and then the disease is called "secondary syphilis," and becomes manifest in slow fever, malaise, headaches (sometimes terrific) and a rash of numerous mottled red spots on chest, abdomen or thighs, called roseola. The color fades on pressure. About the same time there may occur ulcers on the ton- sils, sore throat and mouth, and falling out of hair. The red spots gradually become raised to papules—small, tense, firm, with smooth and slightly scaly tops, of the color of raw ham, without much irrita- tion or itching about them. These are apt to come on the border of the scalp, on the limbs, palms and soles. Vesicles and pustules also may begin to appear, or there may be "mixed eruption." Syphilis seems to have the 'ijj-$:. power to develop any or all of •* v the diseases of the skin, one at ^; a time or mixed, but the pe- vftv culiarities of its eruptions are H|i/ their coppery color, absence of itching and symmetrical ap- pearance, occurring on both sides in the same places. Rupia is one of its results in case it lays deeper hold on the Bkin, when papules ulcerate and leave accumulating crusts. All the euMMT tumoeb. secretions in this stage, whether from skin sores or mouth, are dangerous to others, and should be handled with care and destroyed. Some of the pustules leave scars or stains that last a long while. Syphilitic warts, wide and flat, are apt to occur about moist surfaces. The blood may become so anaemic as to cause a general pallor, so im- pure as to cause rheumatic pain in muscles, bones and joints, or in- flammation of the eyes. Iritis, the most common, is an inflammation of the iris, the curtain that makes the pupil of the eyes. The syphilitio rirus seems to have as affinity for all the tissues, and to excite in them SYPHILIS. 577 a low-grade destructive inflammation. I fc softens the bones, consumes cartilages, and leaves scars of its destructive devastation everywhere. After this active all-around course, during a bout one or two years of what is called the secondary stage,there may be a period of three to five years, or even twenty, of quiescent brood ing— if it has not been effect- ually cleaned out of the system—and the symptoms which then follow are called ' 'tertiary''—or the third stage. They are mainly due to devel- opment of large or small "gummy " tumors or nodules in the skin, where they may be seen or felt, or in the brain, nerves or vital organs, and the symptoms are varied according to size and location of these lumps. Whenever symptoms are peculiar or hard to account for a physician is apt to think of this "specific" disease and inquire for its history. Tertiary lesions of the skin and mouth are likely to ulcerate and "act mean." At this stage the disease is no longer transmissible, by contact or heredity, according to the experts, but we should regard it a sorry fate for a child tobeparented by such a case. Dr. George W. Fox no doubt expresses the present sentiment of the profession in say- ing " the old iron-bound division of syphilis into secondary and tertiary is being given up to-day, because some of the tertiary symptoms occur in the early course of the disease, while some of the so-called sec- ondary lesions might appear fifteen or twenty years after infection." There yet remains a great difference of opinion among physicians as to the curability of syphilis and the propriety of advising marriage and parentage to those who have ever had the disease, even though no symptoms have appeared for many years. Some declare that' 'syphilis once, syphilis ever," must be the fate of anyone who has it, while others write at length and quote numerous authorities to prove it may bemild, benign, curable, and even that the disease itself may "die a natural death" untreated, as in India, China and Brazil, where, though the disease is very prevalent its treatment is generally neglected. Such differences of opinion among men equally capable are due to the long duration of the disease and the difficulty of keeping such cases and theii descendants under observation until the health of their children and grandchildren can be fairly judged ; and the other difficulty of knowing when the disease has exhibited its last symptom, and when it is simply latent or lying low, to appear again in the dim, distant future Furthermore, it has been the custom of most doctors to rely on mercu- rial treatment, in spite of the fact that many of them admit it can only subdue symptoms and cannot cure the disease, and one eminent Eng- lish writer, who has practically nothing else to offer in way of treat- ment, says of it: "The drug has a better chance for producing its full- est beneficial effect when the patient is kept a little below his ordinary standard of health." In assisting nature to throw off every other dis- 578 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. ease it is thought best to aid in working to maintain the highest pos- sible standard of health, and the success with which nature aloiif copes with syphilis in countries above noted, where physicians and mercury are not employed, tends to show that if mercury tempora- rily represses the symptoms it helps also to fix the disease in the system—to bind it down in a Rip Van Winkle nap, from which it may too often awaken and surprise its spouse after twenty years. In reference to treatment I have nothing to suggest to the unpro- fessional victim who wants to treat himself. It is far too serious a disease, both in immediate danger and ultimate possibilities of perma- nent injury of important parts, to permit of trifling or tempoi'izing, and as soon as anyone has occasion to suspect its presence he will be wise to seek the diagnosis and advice of a trustworthy physician, for if an eruption on the privates be not syphilis it may be a simple skin eruption that might occur anywhere else, or it may be another form of venereal ulcer called chancroid that is often more speedily destructive locally than is true chancre. The progress of the dis ease, especially in its secondary and later stages, is so slow, and its symptoms are generally so unmistakable to an expert, that I am able to advise concerning such cases by mail, without the necessity of a personal examination. The exhibition of local or surface erup- tions on Plate X. of the color plates, will enable the reader to get a good idea of how the most common ones appear, but it must also be remembered, as above remarked, that syphilis is a great imitator of many other skin lesions, and may be the cause back of a mere rash, an eczema or spreading ulcer of small or large extent. It is by the " history " of a case rather than by any one symptom, super- ficial or constitutional, that its syphilitic nature can be diagnosed. Those personally interested in further information should read the next chapter and page 911. Skin Diseases. Books on skin diseases describe over one hundred kinds, but fortu- nately for mankind many of the most interesting to doctors are very rare, and only the most common need be mentioned here ; but before 3ven naming them the way for a clear understanding of them will be made easy by a very brief description of the anatomy of the skin and of the primary signs of its diseases. The skin is one of the organs of the body, spread out in a thin layer all over its surface instead of massed in one place like the liver. It is quite a complex organ, having many parts and several functions. It is generally described in layers, and, like an onion, may be dissected into few or many; but the main ones are the deep " true skin," the papillary layer and the epidermis, the latter consisting of horny scales w hich, under a mild magnifying glass SKIN DISEASES. 679 tneke our finest skin look as rough as a crocodile shoe. In and through these layers are found multitudes of sweat-glands, sebaceous glands and hair papilla?. -These parts indicate the several functions of the skin. The horny layer is for protection, the papillary layer to afford place for nerves of touch; the sebaceous glands secrete an oily substance, to keep the skin soft and moist; the sweat-glands excrete perspiration and aid in elimination and in cooling the body, and the thick, firm skin affords a basis tissue for these useful parts and for the blood-vessels that supply them. Diseased action may begin in only one of these skin elements, though other parts are apt to become more or less changed also, and thus is pro- duced the great variety of what are ca-ied skin "lesions,"meaning changes from the natural condition. It will simplify the study of skin diseases themselves if the main "lesions" are first described. They are the "ob- jective'' (that is, the visible) symp- toms. A mere excess of blood in some part of the skin produces redness—a rash— wjiich may occur in spots, called macules, or, when diffused, erythema. If the red spot becomes projected in a small, solid lump, it is a papule, or, if sbghtly prominent, with a broader base, it may be a wheal (as in hives). If a pin-head spot becomes elevated, with a watery fluid, or, if it be as large ;is a pea. it is a bleb ; if the contents are more creamy it is a pustule; while, if deeper and larger still, it is a boil. Hard, deep, small lumps may be tuber- cles, while larger ones are called tumors. An excessive production of the horny layer makes scales, and if hard with cracks they are fissures. A loss of horny layers makes an excoriation, which, if it goes deeper, causes an ulcer. If excessive secretion dries and hardens on the surface crusts are formed. Scars and atrophy (wasting) are relics of skin disease, but a stain may be a symptom or a relic. The subjective symptoms are those which the patient feels, such aa Pig. 148. A magnified cross-cut of skin, showing: (1) Fibrous and muscular layer, (2)(3) Cuticle, or horny layer, (4) Pigments, or color layer, (5) Gland and vascular layer, (6) Pap- illary, or sensitive layer, (7) Sweat- gland, and (8)(9) its tube. 5SU CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. itching, tingling, burning, pain, tenderness, heat and "formication" (as though insects were crawling on the skin), and such symptoms may be present without any visible evidence of skin lesion. There are still other symptoms, such as an excess or lack of moisture (gland secretion), local perspiration, atrophy of the skin and falling out of hair, which may be present without other sign of local disease, but indicating some fault in the blood or nerve supply. Some writers have preferred to classify skin diseases according to their symptoms, but the most simple and useful classification in help- ing to an understanding of their nature and treatment is that based on causes. Owing to its large exposed surface, and being the part where we come in contact with all the outer world, the skin is subject to in- jury such as most of the internal organs escape, and if it become burned, chafed, bruised or inflamed, it is further aggravated by the invasion and irritation of parasites, always ready to pounce upon it ami lend a hand in increasing its afflictions. There is a great variety of animal and vegetable parasites, from the ubiquitous microbes, to the penetrating itch-mite and the peripatetic louse. As to the microbes and some vegetable fungi, it is a debatable question whether they ever lay hold on a man's hide and begin a disease as first cause, but certain it is that there are plenty of them ready to revel in it if " the soil is prepared" by a letting down of general health, or if an opening be offered by local injury. In one skin disease due to "constitutional weakness," as many as eighty varieties of bacteria and fungi have been found in the scaly secretions—a rich field. It may be that there are some persons upon whom the itch-mite, the lovj=e, the ringworm or bar- bers' itch fungi will not take hold, but there is no surety that a state of health offers invulnerability to them, any more than it would to pre- dacious wild beasts. Aside from hereditary birth-marks and the purely local results of in- jury and parasitic irritation, the causes of skin diseases are nervous or blood, or both. The champion blood disease—syphilis—ha3 been called "the great imitator," because it has manifested itself in all forms of skin disease, and from this fact it is fair to conclude that all these vari- eties, when syphilis is not present, may be due to blood impurities of some other origin. In short, what one blood poison can surely do another may, and so we find some of the most common forms of skin disease accompanying those states of mal-nutrition and imperfect elimination which constitute what has long been known as the scrofulous state. This affords a foundation upon which to erect a great variety of skin eruptions, from lichen scrofulosum, a rash of pin-head papules in patches of various sizes, without much itching, to strumous ulcers, which spread slowly and el- PLATE IX. P. H. T. SEE PART I. VACCINATION. I. LIFE-SIZE LARGE ULCER THAT A NEW YORK HEALTH BOARD OFFICIAL CERTIFIED AS PERFECT VACCINATION," ON TWELFTH DAY. THI8 CHILD'S INFANT BROTHER DIED FROM VAC- CINATION. 2. A " NOT UNCOMMON " CASE OF PAPULAR ERYTHEMA, ALL-OVER BODY, FROM VACCINATION. 3. TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY, WRECKED BY VACCINATION ; SKETCHED FOR JOHN PICKERING. F. R. G. S. , F. 6. S. , LONDON, 1890. «, 6 AND 8 8HOW SMALL POX ERUPTION, VACCINA .ION AND CHANCRE (oREAT POx) AT SIXTH DAY ; 5 AND 8 ARE MORE ALIKE THAN 4 AND 5. VACCINATION IS POXIFICATION. PI. FACE ERUPTIONS. PLAIN HOME TALK. PIMPLES—ACNE. COMEDONES. HERPES. SETN DISEASES. 581 hibit slight disposition to heal, or lupus vulgaris, in which the bacilli of tuberculosis play an active part, taking advantage of the congenial soil which scrofula offers them. Urticaria—Hives. Plate IX. The irritating eruption which we early learn to call hives comes with an over-acid state of the blood, induced by some error in diet or indiges- tion, and is generally promptly relieved by a few doses of any suitable alkaline medicine. Yet urticaria is put in the class of nervous diseases by a writer of a very recent and readable text-book on this subject—Mr. Malcolm Morris, of London, England. He seems indisposed to make any class of skin diseases due to blood derangements, and even writes of eczema without giving it any particular place in his arrangement of classification by causes, although admitting there must oe "some con- stitutional peculiarity" as a basis, and that the state of gout or rheum- atism is "favorable to the continuance of the skin affection." This author is pleased to include urticaria in his list of nervous skin diseases, because he finds it the result of a "reflex vasomotor disturb- ance." In writing of nervous diseases it was explained how the size of blood-vessels and processes of nutrition are under the control of the vasomotor branches of the sympathetic nervous system, and how through any disturbance of normal action of one of these nerves dis- orders arise in the parts supplied by it. As the tissue-changes or nutri- tion of the cells which make up the skin as well as its blood-supply are under control of "trophic nerves," the direct relation between nervous and skin diseases is easily understood; but the blood state cannot be safely overlooked, since it is often an impurity in the blood that irri- tates the nerves and through them brings about the disorder in the skin. There are some skin diseases apparently due to nerve disturbance alone, but it is better to recognize as due to blood impurity those which can be relieved mainly by the removal of that impurity. Yet there will be cases enough where both the nervous system and the blood are so evidently out of order that it would be an error to lay the blame on either one alone for a skin disease which could only be relieved by giving due attention to both blood and nerves. Rosacea. Plate VIII. A blush is a temporary reddening of the skin due to an emotion caus- ing a nervous failure to control the blood circulation through the vaso- motor nerves, and no blood disorder is a necessary factor. If through some more lasting disturbance of nerve-control the flushing becomes a permanent blush, the congestive redness, as of cheeks and nose, is called erythema or rosacea—rose-face would be a straighter name. TL.i 582 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. glands being over-stimulated secrete too much, and pimples arise until, after a time, "grog blossoms" develop. This may happen to persons not addicted to excessive use of liquors, but the fact that over-induJg- ence in alcoholics and chronic dyspepsia are cited as causes, shows that it is a skin disease in which the blood as well as the nerves must be looked after. Chilblains, dusky red or bluish patches, tender and itchy, occurring on hands and feet of scrofulous children and enfeebled elderly persons, are erythematous, and frost-bite is a" further stage of the same process. Pruritus—Itching. Dr. Morris includes pruritus also among "neuroses," meaning that sort of itching which occurs "without any visible cause to account for it;" but farther on he says: "The causes of it are mostly constitu tional—gout, rheumatism, jaundice and functional derangement of the liver; diabetes, Bright's disease, dyspepsia, uterine disease or preg- nancy. Many sufferers from pruritus are the subjects of lithaemia or oxaluria" (meaning a retention f acids which ought to be eliminated by the kidneys). Whether the.:e held-in impurities titillate the super- ficial nerve-sense bulbs directly or indirectly, the disease is more in the blood than the nerves, and can only be relieved by cleansing the blood or paralyzing the sensitive nerves, and of course the first method is the rational and truly curative one. It is remarkable how serious this pruritus, without apparent skin disease, may be—enough at times to "drive one wild," as its victims say, especially on going to bed. It is generally quite extensive, skipping all over the body, but it may localize about the genitals or anus, and then seems to be aggravated by the neighboring excretions. Such troubles are often due to errors in diet, especially excessive use of coffee, nnd the way out of them is to clean house. Prurigo.—When the blood state is a little worse there may be some- thing to see «\s well as feel, and on the parts which itch intensely will be seen slightly raised papules, giving a nutmeg grater-like feel to the touch, often with blood crusts on them, if there has been much scratch ing, and it is almost impossible to keep the hands off. It occurs in in- fants and adults. Herpes. Plate VIII. Herpes may be accepted as a skin disease of purely nervous origia, and there are many varieties, from slight to serious. Ordinary herpetic vesicles, about pin-head size, occur in clusters about the face, mouth and genitals> with a sense of heat, tension and some itching. They are apt to disappear in a week or two, and the cure is hastened by applica- P. H. T. PART II. PLATE XI. THROAT DISEASES. THESE PICTURES WILL AID IN DIAGNOSIS OF THROAT DISEASES. AFTER SKETCHES FROM ACTUAL CASES BY LENNOX BROWNE, F.R.C.S. E. I. CHRONIC PHARYNGEAL CATARRH (COMMON). 2. TYPICAL SYPHILITIC MUCOUS PATCHES. 3. ACUTE TONSILITIS IN A GOUTY SUBJECT. *. QUINSY SORE THROAT, OR TONSILITIS. 5. CHRONIC SCROFULOUS, ENLARGED TONSILS. 6. CHRONIC ENLARGED TONSILS FROM QUINSY. 7. DIPHTHERITIC MEMBRANE ON THE TONSILS. S. SORE THROAT OF SCARLET FEVER. 1 L.lUP^W COMMON SKIN DISEASES. PLAIN HOME TALK. Jfr& flll^W HIVES—URTICARIA SKIN DISEASES. 58a tion of spirits of camphor. On the genitals the eruption is apt to cause more irritation, and hence sooner attracts attention than real venereal sores, and as there may be enlarged glands in the groin at the samo time the fear occasioned is not surprising. Herpes Zoster is an eruption of such vesicles in the region controlled by one particular (diseased) nerve branch on any part of the body. It lasts from two to four weeks, and may leave permanent scars and dis- figurement. This eruption, commonly called shingles, is apt to occur on the body, below the arms and above the hips, but only on one side. There may be a patch of it as large as a silver dollar, or a strip extend- ing almost halfway around the body. There may be no discomfort other than heat and stinging, but some cases are extremely painful. Soothing local applications and warmth are helpful, and my Magnetic Ointment has served well. Eczema—Salt Rheum. Plate IX. Eczema, commonly known as salt rheum, may be described as a typical example of skin disease due to blood humor, or to scrofulous, catarrhal, rheumatic or gouty states of the blood. "Catching cold" or getting a chill may produce an internal catarrh of the head, the lungs, or the bowels, muscular rheumatism, joint inflammation or eczema. What de- termines the location of diseased action, when the blood is thus suddenly thrown into a state of fever, is not known; but it is evident from its relations as well as its appearance that an eczematous eruption is " a catarrhal inflammation of the skin, originating without visible external irritation," and attended by serous discharge. Dr. Piffard says: "No form of external irritation is capable of exciting true eczema in a per- fectly healthy individual.....It is due to retention and accu- mulation in the blood of an undue amount of excrementitious substances which, under normal conditions, would be removed by the kidneys as fast as formed." Eczema makes its appearance in various forms, and often mixed lesions, including erythema, papules, pustules, vesicles, scales, cracks r.nd crusts. Its appearance depends on location, chance of local irrita tion, and other factors; but essentially it is an inflammation, with red- ness, swelling, heat and discharge—a catarrh. The oozing moisture (serum) cakes, crusts, cracks, makes fissures, and when the scales come off there is left an angry, moist surface. Itching, heat and dis- comfort attend it more or less, according to the space involved, intensity of inflammation, and general state of the patient. A little may drive some folks wild, while in others a good deal may be borne with slight complaint. All parts of the skin are liable to it, but it is prone to attack as its favorite places the scalp, ears, palms, soles, surfaces about 584 CONCLUDING ESSAYS <>N DISEASE joints, and in women the breasts. The anus and genitals are places where a little of it will go a great way in making life seem not worth living. The skin becomes thick and tender, and cracking makes per- formance of the usual functions painful. It may take a turn occasionally and be substituted by dyspepsia, gout or asthma, and Brocq (of Paris) says that in children its rapid disappearance may be followed by danger- ous congestion of the lungs. It is not comfortable outside, but may do worse inside; and hence the importance of always employing against it means for removal of causes as well as local palliatives or stimulants, Inasmuch as eczema appears as a symptom of many different blood de- rangements, and in both acute and chronic forms it is not possible even to outline a treatment suitable to all cases, in the choice of local applica- tions one will find comfort or relief in what is to another an unbearable irritant. Fresh water is a local irritant to most cases, and should be used as little as possible. A little salt added to water makes it less so, and salt-water bathing may be advantageous. Its secretions, cracks and crevices naturally offer an inviting field for parasitic microbes, and their multiplication in such nests may easily make matters worse. Some eminent teachers have attributed all eczemas to parasites, but while this is claiming too much, some cases appear to be contagious, for Jamieson has found the arms of nurses to become affected from carrying babies with eczema about the nates, and it seems possible to auto-inoculate it or extend the diseased surface on one's own body by scratching, thus plowing up new susceptible soil and transplanting it. Other Scaly Skin Diseases. Eczema in its many forms stands at the head of the list of the eight- een more common skin diseases. Of the many thousand cases recorded by members of the American Dermatological Association during ten years eczema figured over thirty per cent., while even syphilitic skin eruptions only gave eleven per cent.; acne, seven per cent. There are other inflammatory diseases of the skin of the scaly kind, and some- times of doubtful causation, but pretty surely not parasitic, which can- not be described here fully enough to enable anyone to make a diag- nosis. Indeed there are cases that puzzle experts for a while to name them confidently. In Pityriasis there is an excessive exfoliation of flaky, bran-like scales, of dirty gray color. In Lichen there are solid, red, pin-head or pea size papules, with glazed, shiny or scaly top, oc- curring in groups, mainly on the limbs. Treatment, local and consti- tutional, is based on the same principles as in eczema. Psoriasis is a more common disease that may easily be mistaken for eczema; but its scaly patches are more dry, sharply defined, and less encrusted. Its erup- tion varies in size from a pin-head lesion to a silver-dollar, and its SKIN DISEASES. 585 scales are silvery white. This process of free coinage is often as per- sistent or irrepressible as the advocates of free silver. It occurs on the body and limbs and on the face only along the border of the scalp. It can often be quickly cleared off by pretty strong local applications, but of the milder sort tar in ointment or solution is one of the best: and generally constitutional treatment is also called for. Seborrlwea is a dis- ease common to the face and scalp, which is like, and perhaps allied to, eczema; and yet different enough to deserve another name. It is due to excessive action of the sebaceous glands, wliich on the forehead or near the nose may only cause too much oiliness, or on the scalp dry scales called dandruff, with falling out of hair; but more commonly it produces greasy crusts, or large masses that mat the hairs together. There is less itching and inflammation than with eczema, but it is gen- erally more extensive. The crusts can be removed by shampooing, and the part treated locally by my Magnetic Ointment or a sulphur lotion, but to prevent recurrence it is generally found necessary also to attend to other symptoms of impairment of health, such as indigestion, anaemia, scrofula, or general debility. Overaction of the sweat glands, Hyperidrosis, also results from de- bility, and it may be general or troublesome only on hands and feet, or about the axilla or genitals, and occurring thus locally it may be malodorously offensive (bromidrosis). Astringent lotions, disinfecting soaps, dusting powders, and stimulating ointments, are of much service; but a true cure is likely to require an improvement in the action of the other organs of elimination—liver, bowels, and kidneys—for the relief of the skin. Comedones, Blackheads, Worms. in many conditions of ill-health the secretions of the sebaceous glands are liable to become too viscid and stick instead of flow, thus filling the glands with comedones or black-heads, which can be pinched, squeezed or pressed out in little plugs. These plugs, that some call "worms," are condensed sebaceous matter, but in them may sometimes be found, by aid of a magnifying glass, a demodex parasite, with eight JSFS3P stubby legs and a long tail. 4K3&Kf|^^ As it is not always found in ^^M^^mmmMM^ comedones, and may be found Demodex> magnIfied two hundred times. in healthy follicles (not block- aded or black-headed) it is not considered causative. Squeezing out the blackheads, with as little hurting as may be, gets rid of them, but to prevent more coming the face should be steamed or washed with hot water and ichthyol soap, and my Magnetic Ointment applied to relieve 586 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. irritation and stimulate healthy action. This ointment, being anti- parasitic and sedative (soothing), as well as slightly stimulating, is very useful in a large variety of skin diseases, and especially good for hair and scalp. Acne. Plate VIII. Acne vulgaris, the ordinary pimply eruption, is an inflammation of the sebaceous glands, causing papules or pustules scattered over the face, neck or body, mostly on young persons, and generally traceable to blood and nervous derangements, though here, too, parasitic microbes flourish, md Morris even includes it, somewhat apologetically, with boils, among inoculable affections. It is more common than eczema, but fails to so appear in the dermatological records because so many cases exist that the doctors are not asked to attend to. Some persons never bother with a face full of them, while others are greatly annoyed by even a few such spots on the complexion, and their common relation with sexual disorders in youth makes many very squeamish about them, and anxious to be relieved. Pimples are apt to break out anew in spite of all sorts of local treatment, unless the constitutional cause be attended to, and many are continually affected with them because they "will not bother with a course of treatment for only a few pimples." The local treatment for comedones must be rather more persistently em- ployed for pimples, but because of the pustules anti-parasitic soap is advisable in alternation with ichthyol soap for cleansing. The pustules may be punctured and evacuated before a hot water washing, but if done before they are ripe matters are made worse. Boils—Carbuncles. Boils are pimples of a larger growth, beginning in the sweat as well as sebaceous glands, and laying deeper hold on the skin. They frequent the buttocks as well as the face and neck, and one is apt to be followed by more. It often seems as though the pus from one might carry the seeds (microbes) to start others, but Morris admits "this does not take place as a rule unless the patient is in a bad state of health," such as anaemia, or retained impurities from defective kidney action. If the process goes still further and deeper, involving several glands, as it may in diabetics or persons of very impure blood, a carbuncle develops, which may lead to deep sloughing, septic poisoning and death. Even the mildest specimens are generally serious and painful enough to make the victim want a physician to look after it, but he will be shortsighted if after pulling through with one he does not take advice and treatment to help him out of the state that predisposes to them. SEIN DISEASES. 587 Parasitic Skin Diseases. Even though all persons may not be equally susceptible to annoyance by parasites, it is fair to classify as parasitic those skin diseases in which the parasite can be discovered, and where anti-parasitic treat- ment cures the patient by killing off the parasites. Various skin dis- cuses have been found directly due to the irritation of either animal or vegetable parasites, and in the brief space to be allotted to their de- scription we may as well take up the worst first, omitting more than mere mention of bedbugs and other insects, which, though responsible for many a skin irritation, do not abide with us, or rather upon us. Scabies i.s a disease caused by the doings of the acarus scarabiei, and, though it is only the female that goes below the surface in burrows, she "sticketh closer than a brother." She may bore half an inch under the BURROW OF AN ITCH-MITE, HER EGGS AND EMPTY SHELLS. horny layer (epidermis), leaving her fifty eggs behind her, and then die in her tracks, which, except in very uncleanly persons, may be seen. The skin naturally exhibits inflammatory lesions from so much irrita- tion, and the results may be mistaken for eczema or other disease, for there is great itching, which may add to and obscure the symptoms. The burrows are most commonly found between the fingers and toes, or on the wrists or breasts, and there is a vesicle where she went in. If one can be picked up on the point of a pin it is visible as "a pearly object," though less precious than pearls. They "catch on" from one person to another, or are acquired by sleeping in another fellow's bed or borrowing his clothes; but since they have been discovered, and hos- pitals abound, the "itch" is far less prevalent than of yore, for a free bath with soft soap and plenty of sulphur ointment will rout them if used diligently twice a week until the new generations are disposed of, but the clothing must be treated as well as the patient, by boiling v) fumigating with sulphur. 588 CONCLUDING ESSAYS ON DISEASE. Pediculi—Lice. PedicuU, familiarly known as lice, being several times larger than itch-mites, perhaps need no description for some of my readers, if their memory carries them back to the time of mothers and fine-tooth combs. What most persons able to read are not aware of is the terrible state of disease that may occur to the heads of neglected children among the slovenly poor for lack of the mother's combing. Mere itch- ing is caused by the wounds made by the lice in feeding, but this, with scratching and filth, may lead to suppuration, scabs and a "terrible mess." Oleate of mercury (five per cent.) with equal parts of ether effectually kills them out, but nits glued to the hair will develop a new crop un- less removed by frequent washing with vinegar or a solution of soda and borax. Besides head lice there are two other kinds, one that prefers the body and another that enjoys the pubic hairs ("crabs.") When there is much itching then a search is in order, and if the lice or their nits be found then "seeing is believing." The most effectual remedy is local use of tincture of staphisagria (which, since it is not everywhere to be found, may be obtained of the Sanitary Bureau Department). There are many other interesting animal parasites (to the naturalist), since "for ways that are dark" they are peculiar, but they are not common and troublesome enough to deserve particular mention here. Coming to the vegetable parasites or fungi that make a heaven of the home afforded by the human skin, we find several called tinea, not because they are so tiny that only a high power microscope can show their spores and filaments, but that fact may help to remind us of the name. Since man lives so largely on plants, it is perhaps to be expected that some forms of plant life should retaliate and make a moss-bank of him, but whatever "the economy of nature" may have to do with para- sitism, the fact is that many persons are physically as well as intellect- ually moss-backs; while, on the other hand, it is far easier to clear away many of the spots on the skin than spots on character. Tinea Trichophytina-Ringworm. Plate X. Most of us as children have learned to recognize ringworm, but we haven't learned yet to call it by a better name—say ring-plant. We notice it in variable sized rings on the face and hands of children, or in the scalp. The centre is scaly and dull, while the margin is distinct, red and raised. On the scalp the hair becomes brittle, leaving a "field of stubble" amid grayish scales. In adults it invades the beard only P. H. T. PART II. PLATE XIII. HUMAN EYE. 1. HUMAN EYE ; fibrous, hard wall cut away to show blood-vessels (red and blue LINES) AND NERVES (WHITE LINES). BLACK OVAL 18 THE PUPIL, AND AROUND IT THE IRIS ANO CILIARY MUSCLE. 2. HEALTHY RETINA, as seen by opthalmoscope, showing optic nerve (white disk) AND BLOOD-VESSELS. 3. PALE WHITE DISK AND SHRUNKEN VESSELS seen in blindness from atrophy OF THE OPTIC NERVE. PLATE XIV. SKIN PARASITES. PLAIN HOME TALK. TINEA VERSICOLOR. SKIN DISEASES. 589 (not the scalp), and Is called barbers' itch, or tinea sycosis or barbce. There it develops lumpiness or nodules and pustules, each one in a hair- follicle, destroying the hair. By careful examination of bits of hair or softened crusts under the microscope a vegetable fungus can be found. It is contagious from child to child, or from dogs and horses that have it, and through combs, brushes and shaving materials. Such infected articles may remain dangerous for two years unless thoroughly cleansed with ammonia solution. Ring-plant of the non-hairy surface is easily cured by any of many parasiticides—kerosene, iodine, sulphur, mercury, carbolic acid, salicylic acid or chrysarobin (see Appendix); but when on the scalp it may in- volve a year's hard fighting, for the fungus is deeply rooted in and about the hair-follicles, where it is difficult to reach them with killing agents, and such cases had better be put in a doctor's care. It is gener« ally necessary to pull out every hair in the diseased area and a few around it, in order to get the lotions into the hair-follicles where the fungus has penetrated. In the beard, too, it is a "stayer," and may leave permanent scars and bald spots, if not properly weeded out. Its growth is favored by warmth and moisture, and it is well not to wash affected spots with water alone. Tinea Versicolor—Pityriasis. Plate X. Tinea versicolor is another fungus that spreads on the skin, and may occur over large areas of the trunk, causing a yellowish brown or "fawn"-colored stain, with slight itchiness, increased by getting over- warm. It extends slowly, does no harm, prefers adults and men, and is contagious; but there seems to be some state of the system which makes it easy for it to take root and hold on. Morris claims that "neither good health nor absolute cleanliness is a sure protection," but my experience is that "alterative" treatment aids to prevent new crops when there is great tendency to their development. Thorough washing with soft soap and water, rubbing with a flesh brush, and the application of a solution of hyposulphite of soda (one dram to make one ounce), is the "regular" treatment; but I have found my "Magnetic Ointment" to be a very effective antidote to this growth. In smaller areas some call this stain "liver spots,"a name more appropriate for other discolorations really due to torpid liver and constipation. Facial Blemishes. Facial blemishes cause more worry to most people than some diseases would, but space cannot be spared here for any due consideration of the subject. The reader is referred to page 914 for a few practical remarks concerning them. CHAPTER XIII. TREATMENT OF DISEASE. N this chapter of practical matter, will be thrown to- gether, without any waste of labor in classification, suggestions of such importance to the invalid reader, that it is hoped every sentence will be perused with care and reflection. There are many truths, medical and moral, which the mists of ignorance, or popular preju- dice, partly or wholly, shut out from the mental vision, and, inasmuch as the great mass of people know more of every thing else than they do of that which pertains to the laws of physical and spiritual health and life, and to a rational art of healing, it is not surprising that many dose themselves to death with their own uncertain concoctions ; that thousands become the dupes of wicked charlataus; that tens of thousands allow them- selves to become sewers for patent nostrums ; and that millions are the patrons of a so-called scientific school of medicine, which cures (?) the sick by making them life-long cripples. I trust that a candid perusal of this chapter will serve to dispel these mists, or what might be properly called medical and moral fogs, for no harm can possibly result from an effort to impress upon the public mind the necessity of doing for the invalid the best that can be done at the very outset, instead of experimenting from week to week, and month to month, with something or somebody which or whom it is thought " wilj do," until the disease-burdened body nearly sinks into the grave embalmed with a thousand drugs. With this brief prologue I will pass to the presentation of matter appropriate for this chapter. EVERYBODY HIS OWN DOCTOR. 593 Everybody His Own Doctor. This is an attractive motto which graces the title-page, or gleams from the preface of many a medical work gotten up for the patron- age of a too credulous public. It would be no less pleasing to the author than to the reader if, in this volume, instructions could be given, which would enable every invalid who peruses its pages, to treat his or her own case without the aid of a physician. Such a task, notwithstanding the assumptions of many to the contrary, would be simply impossible, as every one of genuine good sense must per- ceive. So much depends upon the constitution or the temperament of the sick man or woman (see page 156), only one who makes these idiosyncrasies his constant study, is capable of prescribing success- fully, especially in the thousands of cases in which there is a variety of blendings or mixtures of temperaments. If ray system of practice were at all similar to that of physicians who make calomel or some other drug a favorite remedy for every disease, with only an occasional deviation, the task of instructing non-professional readers in the healing art—if art, in that case, it could be called—would not only be possible but easy; or if my system was like that of medical men who have a specific for every ill, and who would treat a dozen patients afflicted with one kind of disease in precisely the same way, then would it be but a pleasant pastime to sit down and instruct the world's sufferers just how to doctor them- selves. But the attentive reader cannot have failed to perceive that I entirely disapprove of treating the sick on this " hit or miss" prin- ciple, and insist on the necessity of prescribing, not only for disease, but for constitutions or temperaments. Never, yet, has there been written for popular use, medical books in which prescriptions or recipes were given for the ostensible purpose of enabling the sick to treat their own diseases, that did not prove failures, and in a majority of cases, worse than failures, for the reason that they lead people re- quiring the best of medical skill and experience, to tamper with them- selves till their diseases became incurable, or to employ active reme- dies (the nature of which they did not fully understand) when the complications contra-indicated their employment. The chief aims of the author in placing this work before the public, are to give publicity to a volume of original ideas which he believes will be of advantage to the world j to exhibit to the reader the causes 592 TREATMENT OF DISEASE. of disease and social unhappiness, in order that the rocks and shoals which lie hidden in the turbid sea of life may be avoided; to impart to those possessing ordinary intuition, the ability to judge wisely of the merits of the various systems of therapeutics in vogue, and to put all on their guard against—not only the unjust prejudices and old fogyism of the " regular practitioner," but the impositions of the em- piric. If I were writing this book for the exclusive use and benefit of the medical profession, it would be necessary to make it volumi- nous, expensive, and not a little obscure to the non-professional reader, for lengthy details in regard to the treatment of every case, with its many possible peculiarities and complications would have to be scrupulously given, the comprehension and appreciation of which would require the possession, on the part of the reader, of ex- tensive pathological knowledge. I may yet make such a contribution to medical literature, but I doubt my ability to produce a work of this description, which would enable readers of little or no medical attainments, to act as their own physicians. Doctors will continue to be "necessary evils" till mankind for several generations, shall have strictly obeyed the laws of life and health; or, in other words, until disease shall have become an annoyer and destroyer of only those who have passed temperately through the spring and summer of life, and entered the closing winter of their earthly career; or, on the other hand, they will have to be endured until physiology, pathology, materia-medica, hygiene, and surgery become household sciences, taught, not only in all institutions of learning, but in the nursery and family; and then, as " practice makes perfect" in every art, profession, or trade, an invalid laboring under any difficult dis- ease, would rather^ trust his case in the hands of one whose sole la- bors are devoted to the relief of the sick, than in the hands of an artist, a lawyer, a parson, a merchant, a mechanic, or a farmer, however devoted a student he may have been in matters pertaining to the healing art. If a man possesses the necessary attainments and natural gifts to practise medicine successfully, every day's experi- ence adds to his skill; every case upon which he attends, the better prepares him for successfully managing the next, and while his suc- cess extends his practice, his practice, in turn, augments his skill. "Everyman to his trade," is an old adage, and in no sphere of life does it apply with greater force than to the physician. None but those who are engaged in the practice of medicine with EVERYBODY HIS OWN DOCTOR. 593 eyes and ears open, can realize how complicated are nearly all cases of chronic disease. Seldom is a single organ or function involved; several affections usually coexist, each of which aggravates the other, and any one remedy, which is favorable to the cure of one, oftentimes gives disturbance to the rest. In no such case can a sin- gle prescription effect, favorably, these combinations ; nor can direc- tions be laid down in a popular work, which will enable the invalid reader to go understanding^ to work to concoct a set of prescrip- tions adapted to his particular case. But suppose such a plan prac- ticable, then the adulterations practised in drugs and medicines, would put to hazard the reputation of a popular author (see p. 194). In this connection I may make a quotation which bears directly on the point last referred to in the preceding paragraph. While reading the proof sheets of the foregoing matter my attention is called to an article in one of our most influential city papers. The editor has been reading an expose of the extent to which drugs are adulterated, in The Journal of Applied Chemistry, published in New York, and, after presenting some startling facts, proceeds to comment as follows: " Hence the physician either increases the doses or condemns the drugs entirely; or, should he fix upon the amount required by his experience in the use of such an article, and afterward obtain that which is pure, he will find his patient exhibit the symptoms of being poisoned. Nor is the adulteration limited to a few unprincipled dealers here and there through the country, but it is so general that the leading importers of drugs are aware of it; nor do they deny it, although it might be supposed that their interest lies in the concealment." " In discussing the remedy," remarks the same editor, " it is said that too great reliance is placed on the manufacturer; for the apothecary seldom applies the proper tests to his purchases. We are informed, also, that it is no uncommon practice for clerks to put up a different drug from that named in a prescription, both to avoid the trouble of getting it elsewhere and to be sure of making a sale, and, in calculating the chances of escaping detection, they rely mainly upon the ignorance of the patient and the inattention of the physician. As an effectual remedy for these crimes and stupidities, our authority proposes t*aat honest drug inspectors shall be ap- pointed alike for large ant small places; it shall be their duty to examine every invoice o£ drugs purchased hy the retail dealer, and 594 TREATMENT OF DISEASE. also to do all in their power to prevent the druggist from ' sophisti- cating such drugs, or in any way defrauding his patrons.' In addi- tion, what are called patent medicines should be sold with a state- ment of the articles of which they are composed, by which meana it is thought that dishonest quacks will become obsolete; when the motto with regard to their preparations, ' Open your mouth and shut your eyes' will cease to have application. But the inspectors should critically examine all of this class of medicines; for it is charged that the proprietors are in the habit of buying damaged drugs, worthless for any other purpose, and they also use bad wines and alcoholic liquors in the preparation of 'invigorating bitters,' 'health cordials,'and the like. It is proposed also to forbid those who refine aloes to sell the dregs to brewers; nor may the manu- facturers of quinine and morphine sell their exhausted bark and opium to druggists, for, we are told, ' they will invariably dry and pulverize these articles, and use them for the adulteration of genu- ine drugs.' As to wines and liquors, none must be allowed to be sold for medical purposes unless they have the stamp of approval of the inspectors." " It must be confessed," continues the same writer, '' that this is an alarming exhibit to such as take medicine and beer. But it does not seem likely that the proposed examination will effect the desired object, since it will be easy for any druggist to keep on hand samples for inspection other than such as will be sold. If we look deeper and further, it will be seen that the trouble arises from an adulteration of quite another kind, and, in our opinion, no remedy can be found until one is applied to this. We refer to the adulteration of human nature; for this is a necessary pre- liminary, not only to the adulteration of drugs but of food, and of every commodity from which money by this practice can be made, In the same journal from which we have quoted, a certain firm ad- vertises with large heading, ' Pure White Lead,' and they add, in a sort of postscript, that they also manufacture a special article equal to that produced by any other establishment. The inevitable ten- dency of this wide-spread debasement is to destroy the moral sen- timent in man; and there seems no hope of reformation until fraud and rascality pervade society to such an extent that the social structure breaks down with the weight of its iniquity, when the world will begin again." EVERYBODY HIS OWN DOCTOR. 595 The foregoing, from a disinterested source, presents a stronger inducement than the author can modestly offer, to induce invalids to employ only those physicians who prepare the remedies they dis- pense; and who, by so doing, have opportunities of judging cor- rectly of the therapeutic value of the medicines they propose to administer. Self-interest and reputation, if no nobler motive, in- evitably prompt physicians of this class to labor diligently to avoid the evils of adulteration. Here there is no divided responsibility. The failure of a prescription cannot be-laid to the incapacity, dis- honesty, or carelessness of the druggist. In the first edition of this work, I proposed to furnish written pre- scriptions on the reception of a full description of a case, but I soon found myself compelled to abolish this plan, for, notwithstanding my almost uniform success in the treatment of cases wherein I prepared and supplied medicines myself, those to whom I furnished written prescriptions did poorly indeed. This was chiefly owing to the fact that drug and botanic stores, almost everywhere, are more or less stocked with stale and adulterated herbs and roots, which are worth- less, in consequence of having been kept too long, or mixed with in- ferior species; or with those which had been gathered at the wrong season of the year, before their medicinal properties had matured, or after the changes of the season had destroyed them. Many per- sons whom I have employed at the proper seasons of the year to collect such things as I need in my laboratory, have made it their business out of season to gather for the market. Furnishing pre- scriptions, however, was more practicable at that time than now, for the reason that many of my processes of preparing medicines are entirely changed. Some of the processes are original, so much so that the apothecary could not well prepare the remedies if the pre- scriptions were given. Aside from these considerations many cases require electricity in some form. Inasmuch as many who read the common-sense theories advanced in this book, will desire to avail themselves of the system of treat- ment they naturally suggest, I will say that if invalids at home or abroad (see Questions to Invalids) will give me the opportunity of doing for them as each individual case seems to require, I can treat such as I may be willing to undertake with confidence of success. Invalids under my treatment are not restricted in diet or exercise; and those who are able to pursue their business, can do so without 596 TREATMENT OF DISEASE. any interruption from the effects of the medicines, which will onlj the better enable them to follow successfully their vocations. This, to the business man, is an important consideration. Such being the debilitating effects of most things bearing the name of medicine, it is not singular that those who have a business or profession requiring their personal supervision, feel that they must live and suffer on till death ends their infirmities, rather than adopt any system of medi- cation. My mode of treatment does away with this objection, for I do not " tear down to build up, ' nor are the medicines I admin- ister usually unpleasant to the taste. I give nutritious instead of drug treatment. Dietetics. With regard to dietetics, I should perhaps remark that I do not mean by any thing said in the closing portion of the foregoing essay that invalids can always eat just what a vitiated appetite may call for without injurious conseouences. There are many kinds of food whic.i only the strongest stomachs can digest, and these, it is palpable to every mind, should be avoided by the invalid whether the diges- tive organs are impaired or not. But it would hardly seem necessary for a physician to advise an invalid to abstain from warm bread, mince-pies, rich pastries of every kind, pork, cucumbers, boiled cab- bage, snd such edibles as are doubtfully wholesome for healthy per- sons. My injunction to the sick is—eat only such food as seems to agree with you, and that which distresses you, avoid. Perhaps some dys- peptic will say : " Why, Doctor, all kinds of food distress me." To such I would reply, you know something of the digestible qualities of the food set before you, and from it you must select that which is the most nutritious, and inflicts on your stomach the least disturb- ance. This is a good rule to observe, and may beneficially take the place of those starve-to-death dietetic prescriptions so often given by physicians of Grahamite proclivities. The system tottering undev the burden of chronic disorders, much more than the healthy body, needs nutrition, and nothing can be more foolish than to weaken tha healing powers of nature by the adoption of a system of starvation. Clear Conscience Better than a Petted Stomach. It seems to me that those physicians who direct so particularly in regard to the taking care of the stomach, would do a better thing if they would take the 6ame amount of pains to impress on those un- CLEAR CONSCIENCE BETTER THAN A PETTED STOMACH^ 597 der their treatment the necessity of keeping the conscience clear. An overloaded stomach will not half so much depress the physical health as a sin-loaded conscience. I have already spoken in various portions of this book, of the influence of the mind on the body, and it may be set down as an absolute fact, that if a sick man or woman is daily doing things which he or she believes to be wrong, the re- grets which follow cannot fail to seriously aggravate whatever phys- ical trouble may exist, while cheerfulness, or, at least, an undisturb- ed mind, greatly aids medicaments in effecting cures. If we may "laugh and grow fat," it is reasonable to suppose that by being at peace with ourselves, we may with proper remedies to assist nature, find relief from bodily infirmities, if curable at all. I may be asked, "What do you mean by a sin-loaded conscience?" I answer, a conscience harassed by the commission of acts which you believe or know to be wrong. I do not intend, in this place or in any other, to don the robe of the theologian. I am a physiologist and physician, very little acquainted with theology. This volume will undoubtedly fall into the hands of Protestants, Catholics, Swe- denborgians, Jews, Mormons, Deists, Atheists, Pantheists, and it may possibly be read by Mohammedans, Simonians, Supralapsarians, and may not impossibly find readers among the Jumpers, Whippers, Diggers, and others of the more eccentric class of religionists. Hence it would be useless to require my patients to conform to any particular standard of morals or creed in religion; but I can, with- out questioning the correctness of any one's religious opinions, insist on their living up fully to their highest conceptions of right; to their living at peace with themselves and the inward monitor. Though an act may not, in itself, be wrong, it should not be commit- ted by one who thinks it wrong, for not only does unhappine^ss follow in tho \ rake of such conduct, but the effect on the moral sense is pre- cisely r z bad as if it were an actual wrong, and it opens the way for the perpetration of the latter. In other words, persons may become heedless of the dictates of conscience by doing what they think they ought not to do, and in the end, actual as well as supposed sins are committed, while in either case remorse usually succeeds, and depresses the physical energies no less than the spiritual complacency. It is therefore properly within the province of a physician to insist on correct moral deportment on the part of the patient, aa well OS to direct in regard to diet, doses, etc. 598 TREATMENT OE DISEASE. I am often told by invalids consulting me, that they are distressed with doubts on religious subjects. Now, there is no good reason why any person should keep his mind in painful commotion because he cannot square his faith and belief with that of his neighbor. So long as people's brains differ in shape and size, so long will it be dif- ficult for them to think alike, and no one should allow himself to be- come distressed because he eannot put on his neighbor's opinions any more than he should weep because he cannot put on his neighbor's hat, coat, and boots. To all such I say, live true to yourselves and the light you possess. Do just as you think you ought to do. Cul- tivate your understanding and your conscience, and be guided by both. If at any time you doubt the correctness of any opinion or creed you have long cherished, investigate cheerfully and carefully, and if a Christian—prayerfully, but not painfully and impatiently; then leave the result with a merciful Providence. It is really more important that the mind of a patient should be free from distress than that the stomach should be free from the pres- ence of unwholesome food. A sin-loaded conscience has brought many a stalwart man upon a sick-bed, and it is useless to try to con- ceal the fact that it preys heavily on the remaining energies of the sick. I have thought proper, in another part of this volume, to pre- sent an essay on "Violating the Moral Nature," for the purpose of showing the effects of outrages of the moral sense on the nervous and vascular systems, for as the inner suffers with the outer man by the violation of physical laws, so does the outer suffer with the inner man by the violation of moral laws. With this view of the matter, I would say to my patients, be just as particular in not overloading or offending your conscience as in not overloading or offending your stomachs. I cannot tell you just what you can or must believe; neither can I tell you just what yon oan or must eat. I can confidently assure you that you must not lie, cheat, steal, nor murder; that you should not eat pork,warm bread, rich pastries, nor shingle nails; but there are thousands of practices which you may or may not pursue, according to the condition of your consciences and stomachs that may or may not inflict physical pain. As your physician—not your parson—I advise you to do nothing you believe to be wrong; eat nothing which seems to distress you. So far as a life of honesty is concerned, I would advise no one to liye so? merely because honesty is the best policy, WARRANTING CURES. 599 Warranting Cures. The question is often asked me: " Will you warrant a cure?'* In order that those who read these pages may understand my position on this point without interrogating me, I reply to this question em- phatically no. Invalids must remember that they have as much to do, and often more, in effecting cures in their cases, than the physician. Medicine must be used with regularity, and general directions strictly observed to insure success, and it is not reason- able, therefore, to ask the physician to shoulder the whole responsi- bility. However skillful a physician may be, however adapted his medicines to any particular case, however wise his hygienic ad- vice, unless the patient does his or her part faithfully, treatment never so appropriate, never so skillful, may prove abortive. As well might a man carrying one end of a stick of timber ask his companion at the other end if he would warrant the stick not to drop. The latter would doubtless reply: " I can only speak for my end." Those who arc disposed to employ me may rest assured of one thing, viz.: that I shall not hazard my reputation, gained at the ex- pense of close application and years of toil, by giving any unwar- rantable encouragement or uncandid diagnosis. The course I have pursued has been strictly in accordance with this principle, and I shall not, under any circumstances, in the future pursue any other. I may not, in all cases, be as successful as I at first expect, but I will guarantee that I will cure as large a percentage of my patients after they have been given up by old-school practitioners, as the most successful of allopathic doctors do in treating cases first pre- sented to them, many of which are neither difficult nor complicated. Nearly all becoming my patients have been under the treatment of five to twenty different physicians before employing my services, and I now invite the most obstinate and intractable cases to con- sult me, for it is my ambition to rescue the most hopeless cases from the grasp of disease. Ordinary cases can be cured by ordinary remedies. Every town must have its physician; as before remarked, they are "necessary evils," and I will not utter a word to their dis- paragement, if they do not poison their patients with pernicious drugs and mineral preparations. I only invite the consultations of those who have failed to find relief under their treatment 600 TREATMENT OF DISEASE. To Consultants. Those at a distance, who wish to avail themselves of my services need not hesitate because of their inability to visit me. I have treated, successfully, patients in all the States and settled Ter- ritories, and in all the civilized countries of the world. Send answers to the following questions, and I can judge correctly of your diseases and temperaments. Those who prefer to indemnify me for my time and trouble in examining their cases, can inclose a fee of one dollar, and those who do not, need simply inclose a letter stamp with which to reply. Answers to the following questions will enable mo to judge nearly, if not quite, as correctly of the nature and extent of a dis- ease as a personal examination. Many of the questions pertaining to complexion, height, weight, measure, etc., may appear, at first sight, trifling, but they are of first importance, because on answers to these I must depend in forming my opinion of the temperament of one whom I am not permitted to see; therefore, no one should pass over them in describing his or her case. When perfectly con- venient to do so, in addition to the answers to the questions, a daguerrotype, ambrotype, or photograph might be sent with the letter. Many invalids at a distance pursue this plan in consulting me, and, although it is by no means important, something may oc- casionally be gained by the patient so doing. All may safely con- fide in the Doctor in describing fully and frankly a case, or giving the result of treatment. I am daily in receipt of letters from pa- tients giving the most gratifying accounts of the effects experi- enced in pursuing my advice, and which, if published, would greatly redound to my credit, but I never publish any letter or parts of letters, with the name of the author, unless his or her con- sent has been expressly given, and even then, but seldom, as the good results of my practice are quite too well known to need any evidence of this kind. In previous editions of this work about a dozen pages were given to the publication of extracts from letters from about one hundred cases of chronic disease of all sorts, in evi- dence of their curability under the author's system of practice, but in revising the book it was thought best to devote these pages to the new matter which has been presented in Chapter XII., and to refer those who may have any interest in such testimonials to the "Free Book of Eighty Pages, or Evidences of Success"—a large pamphlet, ^rhich is mailed free to any address by the publishers. LIST OF QUESTIONS. 601 List of Questions. In answering, correspondents need not say tbey are not trouble d with this, that, or the other difficulty, but mention only the symptoms they have, as they look over the questions one by one. Correspondents are also requested not to simply say Yes or No, after putting down the figures before each set of ques tions, but state the symptoms fully. Write plainly, and with ink, if possible. Better still, send for our regular question blank, and fill it out. What is your name? What is the name of your post-office? County? What State? To what office should express packages be sent? By what express company? Have you previously written regarding your health? If so, when? Have you the book, en- titled, " Evidences of Dr. Foote's Success ?"............1st. What is the color of your hair? Eyes? What your complexion? Age? Height? Weight? Ever weighed more?............2d. Is your skin soft and moist, or rough and dry? Is it sallow?............ 3d. Parents living? If so, at what age? If dead, of what did they die? Any hereditary disease in your family? Any disease com- mon in it?............4th. Are you affected with melancholy, or the "blues?" Any trouble of the mind? If so, what causes it? Have you ever had fits or spasmodic difficulties? Have you ever been badly frightened? What is your occupation? Ever over- taxed your mind with study or business? Are you troubled with loss of memory? Do you sleep well? Any disagreeable or amorous dreams? If wakeful, at what time of night? Are you drowsy during the day?............5th. Have you any deformity, by birth or accident? Ever been injured by an accident? Any pimples, salt-rheum, ulcers, boils, cancer, or eruptions? Been vaccinated? Did it produce any unusual soreness? Ever been poisoned intei-- nallyor externally? Ever taken mercurial medicine? Have you any tumors or swellings? If so, what and where? Are you rupt- ured? Any lumps about the groin or navel? If so, do they disap- pear when you lie down? Or protrude more on sneezing or strain- ing? Do you feel strong or weak in body? How far can you walk? Is your flesh firm or soft and flabby? Do you like exercise or avoid it? Are your hands and feet warm or cold? Are they moist, dry, or hot at times?............6th. As to your daily habits: Are you regular to bed? How many hours sleep do you get? Do you use stimulants? Tea or coffee (how often)? Do you use tobacco in any form? Opium, or other narcotic? Do you eat much meat? Pork? Or rich pastries, pickles, condiments? Have you injured fi02 TREATMENT OF DISEASE. yourself by any bad habit?........7th. Any trouble in the head: Headache, pains, neuralgia, in the front, back, or side of the head? Any dizzy sensations? Rush of blood to the head? Heavy, op- pressed feelings? Any excess of mucous discharges from the nose or throat (catarrh)?............8th. Have you weak or inflamed eyes? Any dullness or fault of vision? Stars, specks, or streaks floating before the sight? Clouds or mists? Any twitching of the lids? Pains in the eyeballs? Gumming during sleep?........9th. Any trouble about the ears? Defective hearing? Roaring or singing? Earache? Discharges? Excess of wax? Dryness? ..............10th. Is the tongue coated? All over? White or yellow? Any small red points, pimples, deep furrows, or wrinkles on the tongue?............11th. Any trouble in the mouth? Dis- eased teeth or gums? False or filled teeth ? Canker in the mouth? Dryness ? Excessive moisture ? Bad taste ? Bad breath ?........ 12th. Any affection of the throat? Irritation, discharge, hawking, tickling, soreness? Choking sensations? Hoarseness or weakness of the voice? Enlarged tonsils?...........13th. Do you take cold easily? Where is it likely to affect you?............14th. Any symptoms affecting the lung3? Dry or loose cough? Nights or mornings? What is your chest measure in inches, under the arms, with full breath? Without? What is the number per minute of your pulse when lying down? Sitting? Standing? Any tender- ness, pain, soreness, constrictions, or weakness about the chest? Do you raise water from the lungs? Does it sink in water? Is it yel- low, chunky? Is it streaked with blood ? Did you ever raise blood.' How often? Are you short of breath on slight exertion? Do you have swelled ankles? Chills during the day? Night-sweats? Flushed face afternoons ? Have you had pneumonia, or any serious fever? Fever and ague ...........15th. Have you palpitation of the heart? Pains or soreness about the heart? Any unusual or disagreeable sensation there ? Sense of stoppage ?............16th. Have you dyspepsia, heaviness, soreness, gnawing, burning or pain in the stomach? Any sourness, wind, trembling, nausea, or sick- ness? Is the appetite good, poor, variable, or voracious? Are you, or have you been, careless about what or when you eat ?.......... 17th. Do the bowels move regularly? One or more times daily? Easily or not ? Is there any bloating, tenderness on pressure, or griping? Have you piles? External or internal? Itching or LIST OF QUESTIONS. 000 bleeding ? Have you fistula ?..............18th. Have you weak- ness, pain, soreness, or lameness across the lower part of the back ? Pain or uneasy feeling in the lower part of the bowels, over the bladder ? Do you pass water often ? Much or little at a time? Any pain or smarting? Is there much smarting? Is there much sedi- ment? Red, white, brown, yellow, or gritty? Is there any unusual color or deposit in the urine? Any blood or gravel? Have you had any venereal disease? If so, what and when, and how long? ............19th. Do you have pains, weakness, soreness, numb- ness, or other disagreeable sensation in any part of your body not mentioned already ?............20th. Are you married ? Ever been? Have you children? Are they healthy? If married and without children, do you desire them? Is husband or wife sterile? If children are desired, describe eyes, hair, complexion, height, weight, age of both parties, stating how many years married, and give all the information you can think of as important in enabling a physician to ascertain the cause of unfruitfulness on a separate sheet of paper. Have you read the chapter on " Local Inadapta- tion" in "Plain Home Talk," and studied Figs. 127 and 128?....... 21st. Do you have involuntary seminal emissions day or night? How many during a month at night ? How often and when during the day? Do you know the first or real cause? Are there any casual, direct, or present causes? Is your sexual power impaired? If married, is the seminal discharge premature? Did you have losses before marriage? Are your testicles diminished, wasted, pwollen, enlarged, aching, tender? Is there any feeling as of a bunch of earth-worms in the scrotum (varicocele)?............22d. If a female, are you troubled with leucorrhoea or whites? Contin- ually or occasionally? Have you bearing down or dragging feeling in the region of the womb? Have physicians told you that the womb is fallen down, back, or forward? Is marital relation pain- ful? Are you sexually apathetic? Are the periods regular? How many days do they continue? Is there any pain before, after, or during the flow? Or other derangement? Is the quantity about right, slight, or profuse? Do you have soreness, irritation, smart- ing, or itching in the vagina? Have you ever had miscarriages? If so, how many, and at what period of pregnancy? Were the causes accidental, medical, or surgical?............23d. Is your pla*.e of residence considered healthful? .-._. 604 CIVILIZATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, PART I I I. PLAIN TALK. ABOUT THE SEXUAL ORGANS; THE NATURAL RELATIONS Of THE SEXES; CIVILIZATION, SOCIETY, AND MARRIAGE. OPENING CHAPTER. INTRODUCTORY WORDS. »N entering upon a brief consideration of the subjects which will be presented in Part III., I do so in obedience to that monitor within, whose voice has ever chided me when doing wrong, and encouraged me in every step toward my own moral and physical improvement, and in every effort I have ever put forth to rescue my fellow-beings from the bondage of disease, and the grasp of moral and social wretch- edness. It is indeed impossible, at this stage of the world's development, to achieve perfect physi- cal health, or attain unalloyed happiness. Our planet has not yet developed a crust that may not be broken by earthquakes and volcanoes; nor has it yet obtained such a perfect atmospheric equilib- rium that the hurricane may not sweep the sea or the tornado devastate the land. Science has not yet taught us how we may fully avoid the effects of atmospheric changes, the breath of malaria, or how to live in such a way as to wholly avoid the 606 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. approach of disease; nor has yet God's revelation to man become suffi- ciently understood by our finite minds, to enable us to lay in His arms the soul of a beloved relative or friend without wetting the cold brow which is left us with burning, bitter tears. From all these inevitable terrestrial disasters, physical sufferings, and mental griefs, we must patiently and hopefully turn to those afflictions wliich it is in our power to avert or miti- gate, to the end that we may achieve for ourselves and our children all the happiness which the Almighty has given us power to attain; for whilo human life is too brief to mako wickedness, however seemingly attractive, a bauble worth touching, life is too long to be fettered and embittered by customs and conventionalities which have no root in religion or morality. All over the world, to-day, individual happiness is " trampled out" by imperial, kingly, sectarian, and social usurpation and tyramy. Scarcely any one dares to utter his real sentiments. The powers of speech, which should be employed for conveying from one to another frank and truthful suggestions and opinions, have become so prostituted, that no one marvels at the saying of Talleyrand, that " language was made to conceal our thoughts." This, indeed, has become axiomatic. In this peculiar condition of national and social government, of political and social morality, it is not Btrange that men and women all over the world are unwittingly poisoning their individual enjoyments with opinions and customs bearing the emboss- ed and bronzed labels of religion and civilization, which, when weighed by the plain religious assayer, or probed by the votary of seience, are as base- less and unnatural as those whieh sway the minds and habits of ringed-nosed and tattooed-faced heathen. In justice to our civilization, however, it may be said that if it does pres- ently stultify the brain with rum, bedaub the mouth with foul tobacco, fire the soul with envy and jealousy, graduate expert swindlers, create social and religious ostracists, encourage caste based on accident of birth or for- tune, and dispense power partially and unequally, it is only in its infancy; and if those who are born head and heart foremost—if those who do not begin the world by inflicting pain and consternation, by a breached presen- tation—will speak out frankly and make one original suggestion for the benefit of humanity during their natural lives, instead of following, body and mind, in the popular rut, what is now called Christian civilization will event- ually become, in fact, what it now is only in name. Civilization has indeed, thus far, dono comparatively little for the moral and social elevation of man. It has quickened the wheels of commerce; it has covered the seas and rivers with the graceful canvas of innumerable vessels; it has connected the two great oceans with rails of iron; it has so linked continents that intelli- gence is conveyed from one distant point to another on the wings of light- ning ; it has arrayed our rich men and women in fine raiment, and the poor INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 607 in rags less ornamental than nature's covering; it shelters our smart people with costly edifices, and the less knowing ones with tenements which scarcely exclude the cold; it has constructed steam carriages which make our. remotest friends neighbors, and our neighborly feeling less cor- dial ; it has invented steam ploughs, and turned handsome cattle into the shambles of the butcher. Indeed, our civilization, instead of being Christian, is only the shadow falling before the incoming Christianity, and that shadow is yet so dark and obscure in many of its aspects, that it is but little more than the monstrous caricature of the beautiful spirit whose approach produces it. Believing, nay, knowing—after a long and extensive practice, during which I have been a kind of "father confessor" and confidential counselor, and a receiver of secrets and individual experiences, to thousands of men and women all over the northern continent of America, who have called upon me in person or addressed me by letter—that a very large proportion of the physical ailments and mental disquietudes which afflict humanity grow out of ignorance of the true functions and uses of the procreative organs, incorrect notions regarding the natural relations of the sexes, and erroneous views concerning marriage, I have felt that I should fail to perform my whole duty, if I omitted to present in this volume, as plainly and fully as space and time will permit, such views as my unequaled opportunities for observ- ing human nature, in all its usually concealed peculiarities, have compelled me to accept. In presenting them I must speak as a physiologist, for the best part of my life has been devoted to the duties of my profession. I wish I were also a theologian, for then I am sure I should be able to recon- cile with the true precepts of religion every thing herein written, which may possibly seem to conflict with popular theology, for there can be no question that physiological law is God's law. No one believes that the great Creator ever made conflicting laws. We may misinterpret them, and our misinterpretations may be antagonistic, but the laws themselves are all in perfect harmony. I may misinterpret physiological law, but it would seem as if a parson would be more likely to stumble on this ground than a physi- cian who daily walks over it, and is consequently familiar with its peculiar prominences and declivities. Not professing infallibility, I may make mis- takes ; but with the love of God and humanity in my heart, I shall endeavor in these pages to say nothing that shall injure the cause of true religion, or imperil the happiness of the human family; for my ainir on the contrary, ia to promote both. \ CHAPTER 11. THE SEXUAL ORGANS. rs T the very outset of this investigation, it will be prof- itable to return to the consideration of those organs which prominently distinguish the sexes. Considerable space has been devoted to them in Part II., but not sufficient to answer the purposes of Part III. It is not necessary to reiterate a description of their anatomy; if the reader has not already perused the previous pages, it would be well to turn back and familiarize the mind with the anatomical and physiological facts presented in private words to women and men, and then resume the reading of the matter hereinafter pre- sented.. The Cause of their Disgrace. The question has occurred to the minds of many thinking men and women of the present day, how the procreative organs came to be regarded with so much disfavor, silence, and a sort of contempt? To any mind divested of popular teaching it would appear strange why anybody should be ashamed of these organs, any more than of the neck or face. The artless child, male or female, unsaturated with popular notions of propriety, is continually shocking its mamma with its total disregard of any attempt at concealment of its person. Men and women, living in a wild state, never envelop them- selves in clothing, excepting in cold latitudes, where the furs of animals are adopted as raiment simply for the purpose of preserving warmth. In parts of Mexico which are not wholly outside of the influence of our civilization, people of both sexes bathe together in the lakes and rivers, entirely divested of clothing. In the peculiar civilization of the Japanese, a traveler informs me that the sexes enter the baths together in a nude state. Nowhere, ex- cept in our civilization, and in that peculiar to the Mohammedan people, are the sexual organs looked upon with such disgust as to call in question the wisdom of the Divine Artificer; and, again, nowhere does sensuality, in its grossest and most demoralizing aspects, confront the moral and social re- former to so great a degree as in the large cities of Christendom, and in the harems of the followers of Mohammed. CAUSE OF THEIR DISGRACE. 609 Albeit, the question presented in the opening of the preceding paragraph is easily answered. In the early history of the world, the people of pagan nations, struck with the mysterious powers of the procreative organs to reproduce human beings, defied them—made idols in their image, and worshipped them. These people were in time confronted by those who worshipped the true God, and who were so shocked at the peculiar idolatry of the pagans, that their prejudices to their idois in time degenerated into prejudices to the natural organs God fashioned with his own hands. This prejudice has ripened with each century, and has been handed down from generation to generation, till it forms a part of our religion and civilization. As the fact of pagan worship of idols fashioned in imitation of the organs " of procreation may be new to some of my readers, I will state that archae- ologists, in their researches, found at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and in various parts of continental Europe, enough of these peculiar idols to form a museum at Naples. This depository of peculiar relics of antiquity bears the name of the "Secret Museum." These idols are made of stone, metal, pottery, ivory, etc., varying in size from charms, which were manifestly worn about the neck, to statues of gigantic size.* " Not confined to the ancient Romans, this kind of worship spread through parts of Germany and the British Islands, as is attested by the discovery of its monuments in these countries,"—(MSS. American Bureau for Literary Reference, by F. H. Norton.) "It is curious that while in one country the male organ was considered all powerful, in another it would be that of the female to which the won- derful powers of deity were ascribed. Thus, in Ireland, carved figures, rep- resenting the female organ, have been found over the entrance to churches, while it is related that one of the early kings of Egypt raised columns in some of the countries he had conquered, on which he caused to be sculp- tured the same symbol."—(Ibid.) It may be a bit of information quite interesting to those who nail horse- shoes over their doors for "good luck," that this is one of the relics of the pagan worship under consideration. " It was the universal practice of the Arabs of Northern Africa to nail up in front of their tents, over their doors, the generative organs of the cow, or mare, or the she-camel, to keep away witches and the evil eye. When impossible to obtain these, a rude drawing of the same was substituted. This being crudely and inartistically executed, it assumed various shapes, always, however, approximating to nature. Thus it finally took the shape of a horseshoe, and when the original mean- ing of this sign had been forgotten, the horseshoe became the talisman, and may be frequently met with all over the world."—(Ibid.) * The facts regarding this kind of idolatry are derived from "A Discourse on the Wor- ohip of Priapus," by Eichard Payne Knight. do THE SEXUAL ORGANS Secular writers affirm that phallic worship, as that form of religion ig called which deifies the idols alluded to, is the oldest of any religion or belief now known. It certainly antedates the Christian era many centuries. It was before Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle. It existed extensively in the pagan world in apostolic times, and long after. Indeed, it prevailed in Isernia, in the kingdom of Naples, until that kingdom was devastated by the earthquake of 1805, and, stranger still, it continues to a considerable extent in Japan at the present time. A gentleman, who visited that coun- try in the United States service a few years ago, informs me that they have various little gods, and among them those made in imitation of the male organs of generation. These are prayed over by barren women when they desire children. They are publicly exposed in the toy shops for sale. At Kamaquara, a place where there are many temples, there is a large bowlder, upon which is a perfect representation of the female organs of generation (external). They say the stone was found with this device upon it, which, in the light of the discoveries of archaeologists, is quite likely. It may have been the work of some pagan artist, many centuries ago, and, from the fact of its having been found in its present shape, it possesses, to those who deify it to-day, a greater degree of sacredness. This bowlder is inclosed in a railing, and barren women go there and kneel and pray and make offerings of money, etc., which they put into the priests' box attached thereto, thinking it will remove their unfruitfulness. The middle and lower classes are said to be all thus superstitious. "Among many nations," remarks a writer, '• it was the custom for the virgin to saciifice her virginity to a phallic ilol before the marriage cere- mony, in order to prevent sterility. This custom prevailed in India, Japan, many islands of the Pacific, and, to a considerable extent, still continues. In a public square in Batavia thero is a cannon taken from the natives and placed there as a trophy by the Dutch government, the peculiarity of which is, that the orifice for firing it off is made on a phallic hand, the thumb being the phallus. At night the Malay women go to this cannon and sit upon the thumb for the purpose of insuring fruitfulness. When leaving, they make an offering of a bouquet of flowers." It is a matter of no practical consequence to the question under consid. eration, when phallic worship began; but every one who has observed tha intensity of religious zeal when thoroughly aroused, may imagine and may reasonably imply, by a study of the Bible, with what vehemence the Israel- ites of old and the early Christians attacked the worship of these pagans, and how naturally prejudices were formed, not only to the phallic idols, but to the least exposure of the organs after which they were fashionod. Can we not discover in all this the origin of the excessive notions of sex- oal propriety which exist throughout all Christendom, and not only CAUSE 01" THEIR DISGRACE. 611 throughout Christendom, but wherever any higher religion has been pitted against that of the phallic idolaters ? In oriental countries, where the female organs were originally deified more universally than elsewhere, and where the Mohammedan religion has made headway against phallic idol- atry, the reaction has been so marked and the prejudice so intensified by religious conflict, that the disciples of Mohammed, not satisfied with simply concealing tiie female organs with raiment, keep their women wholly secluded from public observation. Even their faces must be closely veiled in public. So it seems that the Mohammedans have carried their crusade against phallic worship even further than we have, and consequently, if our prejudices and conventionalities in regard to the organs of propagation are well founded, should we, indeed, with our Bible, be behind those who reverence the Koran? If not well founded, will it not do in this age of com- parative enlightenment to unite reason and philosophy with our religion ? Although there is not a particle of danger of our ever adopting phallic worship, it may not be best for us to become so rude in our ideas of pro- priety as the pagans of old, or as our new acquaintances, the Japanese; but is it expedient to surround the organs of procreation with so much mystery, and maintain such studied silence respecting them in our social and moral intercourse, as to render men and women prudish, ignorant, morbid, and downright foolish, and our civilization a curse rather than a blessing to that portion of our race which accepts it ? Will it not answer for us all in this age of reason and Christian religion, to thoroughly know ourselves, and look about us without unnecessary restriction for the means for the promotion of our physical as well as our moral happiiaess ? It seems to me there can be but one reply. Next in order is the question—where may the public look for enlighten- ment in regard to those things which pertain to their sexual organizations, and that share of their social happiness in any way depending upon proper knowledge and use of them? May I not suggest in reply, medical and physiological works, written in language that everybody can comprehend? Imbued with this idea, and trusting to the good sense of an enlightened public, I have thus far in this work climbed no fences to get around, nor made bridges to get over what are popularly regarded as muddy currents, when I thought the best interests of my readers would be promoted by my wading right through. I desire that this work may be worthy the acceptance of the public as an encyclopedia of useful physiolo- gical knowledge for children and adults of both sexes. 612 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. Their Influence on Physical Development. See here, reader: I hold in my hand an acorn and a plum-stone; littlf things no larger than the end of your thumb. Plant these in indigenous Fig- 147. soil, and what do we find ? From the acorn springs up a twig, slender and tiny at first. The sprout from the plum-stone is, if any thing, a stouter-looking sprig. The two grow side by side, and for 6ome time an ob- server unacquainted with the THE SEED OF THE OAK AND OF THE PLTJM-TREB. characteristics Of the tWO young sprouts would be as likely as any way to say that the little plum would be the larger and stouter tree in the end. Let us leave the pair long enough for them to develop. Years roll around, and we return. Lo! the twig of the acorn has become the "king of the forest I" You cannot, with the arms of another added to your own, span its immense trunk, and how scraggy its great moss-covered limbs 1 But what of the plum? In your surprise, you have not thought of it. Ah I Here it is. a beautiful and graceful tree; its limbs are shaped as handsomely as i( the gardener had continually watched and pruned it. Its top is no higher than the first limb of its sturdy brother—the oak. The stately, the majes- tic, the moss-grown oak; the slender, the graceful, the mossless plum-tree ' Thus the two sexes of the human family grow up. In a group of children Fig. 148. IB IT CHARLIE OB IS IT MART ? tirely opposite directions. composed equally of boys and girls, there is at first no very remarkable difference in form or figure. Discerning people will distinguish correctly, but the world's blunderers are as likely to call the little black-eyed girl in pan- talets, " Charlie," and the blue-eyed boy in petticoats, " Mary," as any way. Then, too, the little girls seem more hardy than the boys, as the plum sprig seemed stouter than the oak twig; and below the age of puberty the rate of mortality is greater among the young mascu- lines. The age of puberty reached, mark the change! The two sexes seem now to develop in en- The voice of the boy grows rough and deep; INFLUENCE ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 613 his bony framework develops rapidly ; his shoulders grow broader; the soft down of his childish face is fast turning to a heavy beard. Soon we shall see in him the sturdy, withy, and rao3sy characteristics typified by the oak. But with the girl all development of bone or any thing dependent upon earthy properties nearly or quite ceases when puberty is reached. True, a little prior to and for a while after, she widens at the hips. Why ? Because on each side of the womb there rises upward and sideward a tubular arm, called the fallopian tube, with fimbria? which might be likened to the ends of the fingers, and these grasp those important organs called the ovaries. (See fig. 142.) Well, these arms and these ovaries must have room ; so, as the girl approaches the age of puberty, when the tubes and the ovaries must begin their labors, they demand elbow-room, and as the hard skull expands to the development of the brain, so the bony structure of what is called the pelvis widens, and it is consequently the generative organs of the woman that give her the peculiar breadth from hip to hip. But why does she grow physically fine, or what is called feminine, and the young man physically coarse, or what is termed masculine? I will tell you a secret, which the profession has not yet discovered; at least, I have never met with it in medical literature, and I claim for it priority of discovery. It is this: The ovaries of women absorb and throw away those earthy and calcareous properties which go to develop bone, flinty hair, and coarseness of fibre; while the testicles of men secrete these properties largely, and send them to the seminal vessels, from which, if not expended in coition, masturbation, or involuntary emissions, they are re-absorbed, and go to build up the coarse or masculine physical characteristics. What is called ovala- tion in women, or, in other words, the generation of seed in the ovaries, commences at the age of puberty, whether sexual connection occurs or not. These ova are continually forming, and as constantly passing off; if not through the fallopian tubes and uterus, why then dropping into the cavity of the abdomen, from which they are absorbed and carried away with the waste matters. If dropped as last described, they cannot be re-absoibed as living material any more than the semen could be re-absorbed if forced by com- pression at the moment of emission into the bladder; or the blood of the bleeding nose returned to the circulation by injecting it into the nostrils. The ova, or eggs, once detached from their ovary, must go to waste unless met by the zoosperm of the male, and held in the uterus to form offspring. Then, during pregnancy, the ovaries cease their periodical waste of the earthy matters by arresting the process of ovalation, so that the develop- ing foetus may draw from the pregnant woman the material whereby to build up its cartilage, its boue, and its scalp of hair. This cessation of work on the part of the ovaries usually continues, too, during the period of 614 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. nursing, when the food of the infant must possess its due supply of calca- reous matter, and it is found by analysis that the ashes of the milk of women contain phosphate of lime, chloride of potassium, phosphate of mag- nesia, and phosphate of iron. At that period of woman's life when ovalation ceases, her physical characteristics have become too fixed to be materially changed by the arrest of the calcareous waste; although in perfect health it is noticed that she does grow more muscular, and in some instances it may be observed that the upper lip becomes somewhat bearded after what is called " the change of life." Analysis of the semen of the male tends to sustain the foregoing theory, for, according to Vauquelin, it contains " 900 parts of water, 60 of animal mucilage, 10 of soda, and 30 of calcareous phosphates." Observation of effects of the retention or loss of this fluid also sustains it, for, when by masturbation, sexual excess, or involuntary emissions, young men sustain a frequent loss of semen, they become effeminate, timid, less firm in bone and muscle, and generally less hairy about the face and body. Even the voice, in some instances, becomes less masculine. Then, again, observe the effects of the removal of those little organs which in the male economically save and return to the system when wanted, the calcareous or earthy matters, which they largely secrete. In Italy, in tho eighteenth century, about four thousand boys were annually castrated for opera singing, and celebrating the mass! Why ? Because the opera- tion arrested the full development of the masculine voice. Without the ovaries of women to waste the coarser properties, their vocal organs became stronger and larger than women's; and consequently more efficient for singing those parts in music usually allotted to the female voice; but, without testicles to act as savings banks to the masculine properties, so that any part of the body could be supplied by " drafts paya- ble at sight," the vocal organs could not obtain that development which gives to the voice of uncastrated men the intonation of heavy bass. These boys, too, grew up beardless, having more down than women, but none of the flinty beard so peculiar to men who have not lost the acorns of their manliness. Analysis of the contents of an egg also sustains my theory. The egg of any animal—fish, reptile, or bird—contains a large percentage of phos phate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, oxide of iron, and sulphur. I am not aware that any analysis of the egg, or ovum of the human female, has been made; but, under the microscope, its organization presents about the same appearance as that of the egg of other animals, whether viviparous or ovip- arous, even to containing a yolk; and it probably differs little, excepting in size, and in the quality of its animal matter. The effects of the loss of the ovaries on the viviparous .jmmals is analo- INFLUENCE ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 015 gous to those happening under the same circumstances to women. Hens losing their ovaries by disease or accident, are known to acquire tail feath- ers and spurs like the cock, and often to crow pretty well. I recollect meet- ing with one of these masculine hens in my boyhood, and I have heard of others. It is a fact known to naturalists, that in many instances female birds, after passing the age of fruitfulness, acquire the plumage and characteristics of the male. Women losing their ovaries, by disease or surgical operations, become, if the loss occurs at an early age, quite masculine, acquiring a heavy down upon the upper lip, and sometimes upon the cheeks. The voice and other characteristics also become more masculine. In all cases of women having much hair upon the upper lip, the ovaries or seed-gener- ating organs are comparatively inactive, although, in many instances, their amative instincts are more intense. When amativeness is abnormally increased, and the activity of the ovaries diminished, in early womanhood, the masculine characteristics are not only more prominent so far as relates to muscle, bone, beard, and voice, but the breasts flatten and the clitoris obtains unusual size. I have met with a few cases of this kind in my prac- tice, and I find, by investigation, that some centuries ago this species of deformity was so common in Egypt and Arabia, that the surgeons made a practice of amputating a portion of the clitoris. It became in some in- stances as large aDd prominent as the male organ. On the other hand, castration of the male develops the breasts. The practice of spaying female calves, or heifers, as they are called by the farmers and stock raisers, is practised in portions of Canada and elsewhere, for the purpose of making working cattle of them. Spaying, it snould be understood, is the act of removing the ovaries, or destroying them. When thus operated upon, the organs which secrete and excrete, or throw away, the calcareous properties being removed, they grow more bony and muscu- lar, and even their horns take more of the form and likeness of the stag. 1 am informed by a medical man to whom I have read a portion of this essay in manuscript, that be once saw a yoke of cattle composed of a male which had been castrated, and of a female which had been spayed, and that they appeared to be physically what are generally known as "matched cattle." This would be the natural result, for the absence of the ovaries of the female would prevent the castrated male from taking on all the characteristics of the female, and the absence of the testicles of the male would prevent the spayed female from developing all the characteristics of the male, and the two would consequently meet at a point of physical development intermediate between a bull and a cow. The reader can apply my philosophy to other animals castrated or spayed while young, and find that facts sustain my theory. There are innumerable opportunities to carry out or test the cor- rectness of my philosophy, for it is no new discovery that castration and 616 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. spaying make the subjects on which the operations are performed more alike in their physical development; many are fully aware of the fact, but no one, so far as I am informed, has ever before attempted to account for it It is left to the good sense of the reader to decide if I have not succeeded in doing so, Their Influence on Health. The divergent physical growth of the respective sexes caused by the F1e- 149- influence of the sexual organs as explained in the preceding essay, if investigated fully with reference to its ulti- mate as well as proxi- mate results, explains the phenomena of sex- ual attraction. The spiritual aura of two such distinct organiza- tions must be corre- spondingly as unlike as their physical bod- ies. Before the age of puberty, and conse- quently before the tes- ticles of the male begin to impart marked mas- culine characteristics, and the ovaries of the female the work of eliminating the coars- er physical properties, the attraction between them is almost wholly the male. the female. platonic, and their mutual attentions and juvenile gallantries mainly in imitation of what they see going on between the older ones; but after arriving at puberty, and the machinery of sex begins its work in each, the delicately organized girl begins to feel like leaning against the broad shoulders of some fa- vorite of the opposite sex, and absorbing from him the masculine magnetism which emanates from breath of lung and pore, and he, in return, drinks in her sublimated electrical aura, which his coarse physical THEIR INFLUENCE ON HEALTH. 617 organization is incapable of generating. All you who, blessed with health, " have crossed the line "—passed the age of pubescence—know all about this from experience, and I need not multiply words in any attempt to describe the desires, the emotions, the sensations which suddenly took possession of your whole being. I will simply remind you that the mag- netism which emanates from a true representative of each sex, is as unlike in quality as the voice of each is dissimilar in sound. From which may be made the following deductions:— First.—Women need the magnetism of men; it strengthens them; it sup- plies something their peculiar organizations are incapable of producing. Physicians who have never for a moment stopped to inquire why, recognize this fact, and often tell frail, debilitated, too effeminate young women, " My advice to you is, get married," and many who read these pages can bear wit- ness with me that this advice, judiciously taken, by the selection of a truly congenial companion, has saved a multitude of young women from debility and early death. No doubt, too, instances will arise in the mind of nearly every one, in which young women in declining health have suddenly ex- hibited physical improvement, when Madam Gossip began to rumor it about that this Miss Somebody had a beau. . Secondly.—Man needs woman's magnetism; without it his surplus mas- culine elements either petrify and make him intolerably coarse and boorish, or they drive him to solitary vice and ultimate decay of his masculine quali- ties, if not, indeed, to final imbecility. How often physicians advise young men to marry, because their pent-up masculine elements have swept away the dam, carrying away, involuntarily, not only the calcareous or earthy properties of their semen, but the vital—I may almost say brain matter— which it possesses, and which cannot consistently with health be expended thus wastefully. This is not always good advice, for it is better to repair the local weakness first, unless proper attention be given to it immediately after marriage, which precaution is too apt to be neglected under the suppo- sition that natural indulgence will overcome the difficulty, while it too often simply conceals it. Lastly.—The sexes need the magnetism of each other not simply for tha benefit resulting from the interchange, but because there is good reason to believe that the union of male with female magnetism actually creates magnetism. That is, this union of the two distinct elements reproduces magnetism just as the union of the male germ with the female germ repro- duces the human being. I know this is an hypothesis which is not perhaps, demonstrable, but it is a fact that may not have escaped the observation of some and the experience of other readers, that two bloodless and unmag- netic persons of opposite sex, if congenial, emerge from social or sexual inter- course, filled with a magnetic power and vivacity which they did not pos- 618 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. sess before. It is more apparent after the latter, if the union takes place between persons temperamentally adapted. It is, therefore, unfortunate that the demands of nature, and the fiat of custom, are so widely at variance. Nature makes known her want usually under the age of fifteen, while cus- tom in our civilization holds the sexes apart from six to ten years thereafter; long enough to make women feeble, sexually apathetic, and disqualified to become satisfactory companions or healthy mothers ; long enough to make our boys coarse, rakish, or imbecile, and in marriage the fathers of puny children. In our large cities, and to a considerable degree everywhere that our civilization extends, we have reached an era when a young woman is left to select for her husband one who is weakened by solitary vice, or poisoned with syphilis; when a man may take for a wife a buxom widow, or a frail, breathless young virgin. Perhaps this last statement may appear somewhat exaggerated; but, if not always frail in appearance, pray how many young women can you find in fashionable society who are physically sound ? Free social intercourse between the sexes, when not too greatly tram- meled by excessive notions of propriety, may do much to promote that exchange of magnetism between thei l so essential to physical develop- ment and sweetness of temper. Nature has, however, provided the true conductors to this interchange, which are as perfectly fitted for their func- tion as the eyes are suited to convey to our minds the form and color of surrounding objects; the ears to gather up atmospheric vibrations, and make us conscious of sounds; and our stomachs to digest the food which rebuilds our constantly decaying bodies. Nor arc tliose organs in health and cleanliness, and under circumstances which permit their normal exercise, one iota less beautiful, respectable, or less conducive to our enjoyment. The rude caricatures of them in ivory, stone, and pottery, as fashioned by the pagans of old, produced prejudices in the minds of our religious ancestry which have been transmitted by inheritance to us; in childhood those pre- judices are revived and are fed to us with our milk; in adult age they are quickened to activity by uncleanliness, disease, and excessive sensuality. Who is to blame—rGod, who modeled the human body, or his ignorant, err- ing, dissipated, and diseased children, diseased no less in imagination than iu body ? When shall we enfranchise ourselves from the " body of this death," open the windows of our souls to the light of God and Nature and allow our understandings to become impressed with the true uses of things? There are those who professedly, I think not sincerely, advocate the en- tire suppression of the passions; but it must occur to every philosophic mind that tho passions are an integral part of the individual. It is pleasant to hear from the pulpit sentiments which may profitably find place in a physio- logioal work. Clergymen ought all to be physiologists. There should be 00 THEIR INFLUENCE ON HEALTH. 619" one side, an anatomical, and on the other a physiological wing to every theological seminary, and no student should be allowed to graduate until symbolic of his alma mater, the wings of physical knowledge have sprouted on his theological body. But let me make haste to present for the consider- ation of the reader a couple of paragraphs from one of the sermons of Henry vVard Beecher. " That inward life is not from a part of the faculties but from all of them. Whatsoever," remarks Mr. Beecher, "belongs to man, belongs to God in Christ. It does not, for instance, partition off a few moral faculties, and call their products religioa, and set them to watch the rest of man, calling that secular. It is the current and popular notion of Christianity that there is some part of the soul which is capable of being religious, and that the rest is an outlying province which the religion is called to govern—a sort of consular district, with consuls and pro-consuls of God's Spirit appointed to look after it, and see that it does not break out into insurrection, and do the best they can by it. But Christianity claims every part of man. The religion of the individual includes the sum total of the action of every part of his nature." "The soul," continues this popular preacher, "is a symmetrical whole. There is nothing superfluous in man; if be were to be made again, ho doubtless would be made as he is. Man's faculties are well constructed. The fault is not in the faculties themselves, but in the use of them. Every part is needed. In religion are included, not the moral feelings alone, but also the imagination; and not the moral feelings and the imagination alone, but also the reason; and not the moral feelings, the imagination, and the reason alone, but the affections; and not all these combined alone, but all the organic passions and physical appetites; subordinated, controlled, applied to normal and proper ends; but, nevertheless, the passions and appetites. For a man without his appetites and passions would be like a man pulled up by the roots. As long as a man lives on the physical globe, and is dependent upon a physical structure to think, feel, and act in, so long be must have appetites and passions. They are not averse to grace in their true function; and religion claims, not just so much of the mind as is called the religious faculties, but the whole soul and all its parts." The foregoing paragraphs contain in two small kernels all the food perhaps that reflecting minds require for mental digestion under this head, but I will grind them up and make a penny cake for one, a biscuit for another, and a whole loaf for thoso who are ready to receive it. There are those, as remarked before, who profess to believe that the human passions should be completely subdued, and, if possible, rooted out. Asceticism has had its votaries in all ages of the world, and presents itself to-day in a variety of forms not free from inconsistency, in nearly ever. 620 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. community under the sun. Now, according to phrenology, all the organic passions have their bumps behind the ears, and those who do not accept phrenology as a science, must admit that a large cerebellum denotes strong passions. Root out the passions, if such a thing were possible, what would be the result to the physical man? A small cerebellum and diminutive lungs. As a rule, you will observe that those having prominence in the intellectual organs without a fair development of the head back of the ears, have contracted chests; while those who have large back heads have broad shoulders and large lungs: therefore, if it be possible to crush out tho pas- sions, and you succeed in doing so, you shall find the human race reduced to a puny condition physically, and not only that, but to a mental condition devoid of propelling power, for these faculties are necessary to impart energy to mind and body. Look about you, analyze the developments and charac- teristics of your neighbors, and see if I am not correct. The Divine Architect intended that these organs should be preserved, or they never would have been assigned a place in the human organization; as well talk of abbreviating the arms or amputating the limbs of a man in obedience to a supposed divine law, as to propose to dwarf the development, or paralyze the normal action of these faculties! All of them may be exer- cised without harming your neighbor; it is a perverse use of them that leads to disorder, disease, and unhappiness. The organs of " combativeness " and " destructiveness " find their proper field of labor and usefulness in attack- ing and demolishing popular errors, and as the human race rises to new light, there will ever be something old to destroy to make room for some- thing, new and better adapted to the wants of the times. These organs are misapplied when they lead men to pummel each other in or out of the prize ring, and to the needless destruction of life. Amativeness may bo employed in developing and gratifying naturally the social and affectionate instincts; in imparting to woman the strong magnetism developed by man; in modi- fying the masculine elements of man with the spiritual aura of woman; and in making both sexes healthier and happier. It is an escaped tiger from a menagerie when it takes on the spirit of selfishness, and seeks the gratification of its impulse without regard to the happiness and the rights of others; and a monster without name when it leads to unnatural indulgen- ces, such as self-abuse, pederasty, and connection with lower animals. Philo progenitiveness finds its most admirable exercise in prompting the produc- tion, and sensible moral and physical development of children; it becomea disorderly when it willfully plants the germ of a new being in the womb of an unwilling companion, and verily cruel when it attempts to propagate children through the instrumentalities of sickly progenitors. Thus all the natural passions have their uses and abuses. There are some unnatural passions and emotions which have no distinctive beatiop qi THEIR INFLUENCE ON HEALTH. 621 * bump " in the brain, and which it should be one of the chief labors of life to root out. Prominent among these are jealousy and envy; and selfish- ness, which is the mother of these troublesome twins. They are weeds of rank growth, and when they once get seated in the organs of thought and emotion, they choke and dwarf the development of the moral and social faculties. There are two very distinct and opposite classes of people who need especial criticism, and all sorts of folk between them. One consists of those who give little thought or attention to any thing else but their appe- tites, and consequently run to sensuality and coarseness; the other of bloodless debilitated men and women, who are absolutely running to moral and intellectual seed. They grow up like a flower, with a single stem, drooping at the top for the want of support. As the first class are being constantly lectured by the clergy and exemplary—and unexemplary—laity, I will direct these words to the neglected class last mentioned. You feeble women and men give yourselves up too exclusively to moral or mental pursuits. You have but little blood, and that congests your brain, leaving your extremities cold and your digestion weak; all activity is concentrated in your head and heart to the manifest detriment of other portions of your physical body. It is necessary that you proceed at once to develop your animal nature. Your appetite is poor, because your stomach is weak; you cannot, therefore, begin by crowding your stomach with undesired food; you may, however, advantageously vitalize your nervous system • with sexual magnetism; sexual association, and, when honorable, possibly sexual gratification, to a reasonable extent, will divert the blood to the extremities; the social intercourse which this change in your habits must inevitably encourage, will make your mind more cheerful and life more enjoyable. With this distribution of your circulating fluids, this mental cheerfulness, will follow appetite for food. Having obtained this healthy equilibrium, take care to preserve it. Neither gravitate toward coarse sensuality, nor relapse into your former non-vital condition. Either extreme is prejudicial to health and fatal to happiness. Owing to the peculiar customs of society, females are the greater sufferers from sexual starvation, and in this connection I cannot do better than to make an extract from Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes' "Autocrat of the Break- fast Table." <:The great mystery of God's providence is the permitted crushing out of flowering instincts. Life is maintained by the respiration of oxygen and of sentiments. In the long catalogue of scientific cruelties there is hardly any thing quite so painful to think of as that experiment of putting an animal under the bell of an air-pump, and exhausting the air from it. (I never saw th9 accursed trick performed. Laus Deo!) There comes a time when the souls of human beings—women, perhaps, more even than 622 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. men—begin to faint for the atmosphere of the affections they were made to breathe. Then it is that society places its transparent bell-glass over tha young woman who is to be the subject of one of its fatal experiments. The element by which only the heart lives is sucked out of her crystalline prison. Watch her through its transparent walls; her bosom is heaving, but it is in a vacuum. Death is no riddle compared to this. I remember a poor girl's story in the 'Book of Martyrs.' The 'dry-pan' and the gradual fire were the images that frightened her most. How many have withered and wasted under as slow a torment in the walls of that larger Inquisition which we call Civilization 1 "Yes, my surface-thought laughs at you, you foolish, plain, overdressedi mincing, cheaply-organized, self-saturated young person, whoever you may be, now reading this—little thinking you are what I describe, and in bliss- ful unconsciousness that you are destined to the lingering asphyxia of soul which is the lot of such multitudes worthier than yourself. But it is only my surface-thought which laughs. For that great procession of the un- loved, who not only wear the crown of thorns, but must hide it under the locks of brown or gray, under the snowy cap, under the chilling turbaD — hide it even from themselves, perhaps never know they wear it, though it kills them—there is no depth of tenderness in my nature that pity has not sounded. Somewhere,—somewhere,—love is in store for them; the uni- verse must not be allowed to fool them so cruelly. What infinite pathos in the small, half-unconscious artifices by which unattractive young persons seek to recommend themselves to the favor of those toward whom our dear sisters, the unloved, like the rest, are impelled by their God-given instincts!" In concluding this essay, I will refer those who are disposed to pursue this subject further, to the article on "Sexual Starvation," on page 164, if Part I. has not already been perused by the reader. How they are made Instruments of Conjugal Association! I have already shown, in Part I. of this work, and particularly in the second chapter of the beginning, that electricity permeates every atom of animate as well as inanimate matter, and that every organized being pos- sesses within itself the requisite apparatus and elements for its generation and absorption. The office of this essay will be to show bow it acts upon the sexual organs, to produce sensual enjoyment. I shall employ the word electricity in this essay, because it will better convey to the mind, by the illustrations given, a clear idea of the philosophy of sexual intercourse. The word magnetism has been in previous, and will be in subsequent, essays, employed when it best answers the purpose of making the subject understood to the non-professional reader. Electricity and magnetism are not precisely alike in (heir nati'-o p.n-1 effects, but I have neither time nor INSTRUMENTS OF CONJUGAL ASSOCIATION. C23 space to enter into an explanation of their distinctive characteristics, nor ts it necessary, for the reader will know when I employ either term iu speak- ing of its action in the body, I refer simply to that invisible element which gives activity to all its organs, and makes it radiant with life, and attrac- tive or repulsive to other bodies coming within its influence. To the pure in mind this dissertation will appear neither carnal norunin- structive, for no parts of tho human system are more deserving the atten- tion of philosophers, physiologists, and the public at large, than those which perform the superior functions through which the Divine Creator establishes sexual love, and perpetuates the noblest work of his Almighty hand. In consequence of the silly fastidiousness which a false state of society has engendered, science has heretofore contributed nothing toward unfolding the philosophy of the action of these mysterious faculties, and knowing the prejudices which frequently arise against those who aare to meddle with the delicate subject, I have myself felt many misgivings in giving publicity to my views; but surrounded, as I am, with wrecks of humanity, cast away through the ruinous consequences of matrimonial infi- delity, sexual excess, and secret vice, I feel impelled to contribute what I can to avert these evils. The warnings of physiologists to the young have thus far availed little, if any thing, because good reasons have not been adduced to show that secret indulgences are more deleterious than natural gratifications of the amative passion, while little has been written argumentatively at all calculated to root out matrimonial vices. I shall not, therefore, withhold the results of my careful investigations, but give them plainly for the good of both single and married. To the end that the unprofessional reader may fully comprehend what I am about to say, an important physiological fact should be mentioned, viz.; no organs of the body, except the brain, are so extensively permeated with nerves or electrical conductors, as those embraced in the sexual parts. Located in close proximity to the plexus, at the inferior terminus of the spinal column, they receive an extraordinary share of those curious little cords, which, by the aid of animal electricity, impart to the animal organization the sense of feeling. In the act of cohabitation, these sensitive nerves are exercised by electricity in three forms; and in masturbation by electricity in only one form. I will now proceed to explain each of these several forms, under their appropriate heads. 1st. Individual Electricity.—The fact that every animal body has within itself the requisite machinery for the generation of vital electricity does not necessarily establish the conclusion that electricity is alike in capacity and equality in all persons. On the contrary, it would be pre- posterous to entertain such an idea for a moment, when we take into 624 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. consideration the difference which exists in size, shape, solidity, activity, age, and sex. The inference is irresistible, that people differ electrically as much as they do physically. This being a fact nearly or quite self-evident, it is apparent that two persons of different sex and temperament sustain the electrical conditions of positive and negative to each other, aDd that contact, if of sufficient duration, produces an equilibrium, unless the one possessing the greater amount, restrains it by the action of the will. Electricity, unless interrupted, seeks an equilibrium the same as water seeks a level. The mind having control of its own agent, may sometimes retain it, and at others discharge it with an effect as perceptible as that produced by the discharge of a cannon-ball. The power of individual electricity is manifested by the magnetizer, who fastens a man's limb so that he cannot move it, his eyelids so that he cannot raise them, and his tongue so that he cannot speak. Probably every reader of these pages has witnessed the experiments of a mesmerizer, and marveled at bis peculiar powers—perhaps imagined, uncharitably, that he was leagued with tho devil—inwardly accused him of being, at least, a devout disciple of " his Satanic Majesty." Unfortunately for them- selves, mesmeric operators, so far as I know, cannot philosophically account for the powers tbey possess, and hence superstitious people very naturally imagine tbey are under the direct patronage of that ubiquitous indi- vidual—"the evil one." But I flatter myself that I have discovered the secret. It must be remembered that in an audience of two or three hundred, a mesmerizer seldom finds more than fifteen or twenty whom he can affect. These, let it be understood, are in a condition relatively negative to the operator, who, by the effort of his will or sundry manipulations, imparts an overpowering quantity of his own individual electricity to them. Imparted to these subjects, the operator still retains the control of his own individ. ual electrical elements, and by a simple effort of the will makes them walk, Stand still, hold up a hand, raise a limb, or perform any other motion he may desire. How do you raise your own band ? Simply by setting in mo- tion a current of your vital electricity, which contracts one set of muscles on the top of the arm, and relaxes those which are under. Now, if you should practise yourself in the art of imparting to other persons, in a nega- tive condition compared with your own system, a portion of your own elec- tricity, sufficient, at least, to overpower their3, you could soon become a mesmerizer, and make them, while under tho influence of your electricity, raise an arm, bold it still, or produce any other motion that you can perform with your own limbs. The psychologist possesses this power to a greater degree than the mea> merizer, lor be can impart bis electricity to the brain of a susceptible bud- INSTRUMENTS OF CONJUGAL ASSOCIATK )N. C2f» ject, and by exercising its various organs, produce any sort of mental hal- lucination he may invent. " Should you aim to produce those effects of mind upon mind called ' psychological,'" says a writer, " it will not be necessary to go through the tedious process of the passes. If you can succeed in rendering the mind of your patient so fixed for several moments upon a coin or a spot on the wall, or any point—it matters not which, provided that he brings himself to the requisite degree of susceptibility—you will be able to slip your influence between bis brain and bis physical system, and so be able to control bis sensations and perceptions. If it is desired that you make him believe himself an orator, musician, or monk, have in your mind a clear conception of the character, and make an effort to impart the impression." Now, what is this influence but the nervo-electricity which the immortal principle of man employs to perform the various phenomena of animal life? Mesmeric power is possessed to a wonderful extent by some persons, who can impart their nervo-electricity to inanimate matter, and make it exhibit the appearance of life for a few moments. I can never forget an ex- periment I once saw performed before I understood the philosophy of mes- merism. I was on a trip up Lake Michigan. A veteran vessel captain was a fellow-passenger—a jolly tar, full of good jokes and anecdote. I formed one of a social group who gave him audience. I had a favorite hickory cane in my band, and the old captain proposed to make it dance " Yankee Doodle." The deck was cleared sufficiently to allow room for the incredible exploit, when the old necromancer (as we all thought him) made several rapid passes from the top to the extremity of the stick—then stood it off at a dis- tance of three or four feet. He immediately commenced whistling, and the cane commenced dancing—i. e., hopping up and down a distance of half to three-quarters of an inch. It performed this motion only a few moments, however, not long enough for the captain to go through with his tune. His music was accompanied with a violent motion of the hand, which the cane imitated, in a measure, just so long as it remained charged with the old man's electricity; when that left, as a matter of course the stick, in obedi- ence to the laws of gravitation, felL At each repetition of the experiment he stopped to manipulate the cane. It is not at all probable the old tar knew the philosophy of his feat, or for a moment imagined that be possessed the requisite qualities to make a good mesmerizer or psychologist. The oldest hieroglyphics indicate that the production of mesmeric phenomena was known to the ancient Egyptians long before any book was written. Perhaps their philosophy was understood, though it is doubtful. The power of individual electricity is manifested in the successful public speaker, and distinguished military hero. " Every age," says a newspaper writer "has exhibited manifestations of man's electric powers. Behold 27 g26 THK SEXUAL ORGANH. the generals of Greece and Rome! See that untutored enthusiasm which but a few words to the soldiers would create with manifestations of a mag- netic power of man over man. Behold, too, in the force of Napoleon Bona- parte, an illustration of the same principle. Even a movement of his hand toward the enemy, when the conflict was doubtful, seemed to beget new energies. - " Take another class in a different field. Imagine yourself in the forum at Rome, listening to the soul-stirring eloquence of Cicero. Behold that living mass of minds swayed by his magnetic power as the bosom of the deep ia tossed by the winds of heaven—made to heave and swell with agitation and commotion. See the more mild and pathetic and elevating appeals of his eloquence calming their troubled bosoms like the sun bursting from a storm- cloud and calming its fury. " At the moment when his soul was inspired by its own energies and the inspiration of his theme, his whole system evolved an immense amount of electric force. He should say more in ten minutes in that condition than in an hour—yea, two hours, and sometimes four hours, in a negative state." But we need not go beyond the limits of our own country or turn to past ages for illustrations. We have had in our Congress, our army, and in our pulpit, men who have soared head and shoulders above all the rest, all of whom have given evidence of the possession of electric powers to an em, inent degree. No man can distinguish himself as a public speaker, or a military chieftain, whose system has not the power to generate a large quantity of the electric element. There are in the Christian ministry many distinguished sermonizers and writers, who can produce only an imperceptible effect on a congregation. Let such a man as Col. Ingersoll, who is a well-charged battery, take the productions of these men and enter the pulpit, out of place as he would be, the effect would be thrilling. He would psychologize every auditor. Reich- enbach, it is said, has demonstrated that the hands arc constantly sending off streams of what he calls " Odic force, "and what I term animal electricity; also that the eyes are foci for this influence. " Odic force" is but another name for electric force, sublimated animal electricity being the element which constitutes it. The power of individual electricity is manifested in the successful liber- tine. His presence, his gaze, and his touch are magnetic. The innocent virgin and the reserved matron unconsciously fall victims to his singular powers. Aaron Burr was a distinguished illustration of this class. He could electrify and call into action the most latent passions of apathetic women; only those who possessed a powerful will to repel electrical in- fluences could resist his licentious advances. All great men may be successful libertines, by perverting their electrical INSTRUMENTS OF CONJUGAL ASSOCIATION. 627 powers. The mental or phrenological organization of a man decides hia electrical character. If his intellectual faculties predominate, he will em- ploy his electric forces in the pursuit of honorable avocations and profes* sions; if the intellectual and animal faculties are nearly equal in their de- velopment, then will be make both good and bad use of these forces, unless the brain is well balanced with the morr.l and religious organs; if the latter are small and the animal organs are larger or more active than tho in- tellectual, then will the man use tho subtle element generated in bis system in vicious pursuits. John Randolph's head was mainly before bis ears, iu consequence of which he had no disposition to use his electrical pow- ers for sensual purposes. Indeed, he was said to be a " woman hater." Many of his political compeers, however, presented very different phrenological organizations, which, in some instances, produced a marked and in- ' r BANDOLPH. jurious influence upon their distinguished career. Again, the power of individual electricity is manifested in social life. We often meet with persons of both sexes, whose features and forms are not pretty, nor their mental endowments striking, but still very attractive. We say of some lady, '' She is very fascinating, but not at all handsome ; there is something about her very agreeable, although she is far from being mentally or physically prepossessing." Now, what is this mysterious some- thing but her individual electricity which she unconsciously uses in com- manding the respect and admiration of her acquaintances ? She, in fact, magnetizes every one she meets, and makes them admire something, and they do not know exactly what. Others are repulsive at first sight. Their magnetic influence is unpleasant, and we dislike them without being able to give a definite reason. They cannot magnetize us into respect for them, and the electrical radiations from their bodies and minds are uncongenial to our feelings. Finally, individual electricity is strongly manifested in the sexual embrace, when the masculine and feminine forces are focalized and blended in the sensitive nerves which concentrate in the sexual organs. In a congenial embrace, the mind of each party summons all the available electric powers of his and her organization, and employs them to the fullest extent in exciting in each pleasurable emotions. The greater the dissimilarity in the nature of their individual electricities, the more satisfying is the effect. Hence, persons of similar physical organizations, whose electricities, in 628 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. consequence, are of a similar nature, have not the power to gratify eack other to the extent those have whose temperaments are unlike. Some persons are so dissimilar in their physical organizations that any contact, such as the shaking of hands, imparts to each a pleasurable magnetic effect. The reader should peruse with attention this essay on individual electricity, as it is the basis of some of the most important original theories and sug« gestions of this volume. 2d. Chemical Electricity.—I term that chemical electricity which ia produced by a galvanic battery, a voltaic pile, or the union of acids and alkalies. I have explained in Part I. that experiments have proved the fact that if an acid and alkaline solution be so placed that their union be effected through parieties of an animal membrane, or through any porous diaphragm, a current of electricity is evolved. Now, what is it that affords the current f simply the porous diaphragm. But what produces the electricity which forms the current ? I reply, the union of the acid and alkali. Then the interposition of the diaphragm is only to establish a medium for a definite current, while electricity is produced by the commingling of acids and alkalies, whether a porous diaphragm intervenes or not. This leads U3 to the conclusion that electricity is produced when tartaric acid is added to soda, the latter being an alkali, and that it is altogether probable the titillating effects of a glass of soda are produced in part by the electricity generated by the combina- tion of a positive and negative fluid. I know tho effervescent property is claimed to be produced by the liberation of carbonic acid; but Dr. Bird says, liitis impossible that any two elements can be rent asunder without setting free a current of electricity.," In the commingling of acid and alkali, tho carbonic acid "is rent asunder" from the elements with which it was united ; and may we not then attribute a part of the visible effect produced to the elec- tricity generated ? Admit that electricity is generated by the union of acid and alkali, and we find that chemical electricity is produced in the act of copulation. It ha3 been shown, in the first chapter of this work, that the whole extent of the mucous membrane, excepting the stomach and caecum, is bathed with an alkaline fluid. The vagina of the female i3 superabundantly supplied with this fluid. And, also, that the external surface of the body is constantly exhaling an acid fluid. The penis of the male, except the glans-penis, exudes an acid fluid; and in the act of copulation, I am inclined to think, the secre- tion of the alkaline fluid by the female, and the exudation of the acid fluid by the male, is greatly augmented. I have before adverted to the pleasing sensations produced in the mouth and on the palate in drinking a combina- tion of an acid and alkali, called soda; now, what must be the effect pro- duced on the sensitive and highly excited nerves in the sexual organs, when animal alkalies and acids are united? True, these fluids are not sup« INSTRUMENTS OF CONJUGAL ASSOCIATION. 629 plied in sufficient quantities to produce any marked effect; but still the electricity so generated adds to the excitement of the sexual organs, and the emotions induced. In order that the male may not be insensible to the influence of the chemical electricity generated during copulation, the male organ is supplied with a sensitive membraneous apex called the glans-penis, which not only serves this purpose well, but also constitutes an electric, as will be shown by and by. Our investigations thus far, therefore, indicate that individual and chemical electricities are employed in the act of copula- tion. Next we will consider— 3d. Frictional Electricity.—This may be produced in various ways. The rubbing of apiece of glass, amber, or sealing-wax, with a piece of flan- nel, silk, or fur, will so charge the former with electricity, that, when held near light bodies, tbey will be attracted and adhere to them. Many per- sons, by sliding the feet with rapidity over a Brussels carpet, can accumulate so much frictional electricity in their bodies, as to be able to light gas by snapping the fingers over the burner of a gas chandelier. I have a relative who frequently performs this interesting experiment. He can also adminis- ter quite a perceptible shock with electricity thus accumulated. "It is a general truth," remarks a Lowell newspaper, "that friction de- velops electricity, and most workmen know that a machine belt at high speed by its friction with the air is highly electrified. It has for years been a common experiment for a workman to light gas-burners by holding one hand to a fast-going belt and the other to the open burner. This matter was curiously demonstrated in the Appleton Mills of this city recently. A strong smell of fire being noticed, the premises were carefully searched, and a small quantity of cotton lint, inside a belt casing, was found on fire. The lint lay upon a beam which was within four inches of a belt some fifteen inches wide, and moving some two hundred and twenty revolutions a minute. In the beam was an iron bolt, the head of which was toward the belt. From the belt to the bolt was passing a stream of electric sparks, which had set the cotton lint on fire. After attending to this case, Mr. Motley, the agent, opened the casing of a similar belt in another mill. The beam in this case was fourteen inches from the belt, but the stream of electric sparks was at once seen jumping across the beam, although it had not set fire to any thing." Frictional electricity may be produced by rubbing the hands together with rapidity, or by rubbing any part of the body. Every external part of the Bystem may be, in a measure, electrically excited by rubbing; but no part of the animal organization is so susceptible to this influence as the glans- penis of the male and the clitoris of the female. It is by the excitation of these organs that masturbation is performed—a vice which is daily ruining the health of thousands of young men and women. They think that the 630 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. warnings of physiologists are only intended to frighten them—that occa- sional secret indulgence is no more injurious than sexual intercourse. To the victims of this vice let me say, that in the act of masturbation, only one form of electricity is employed, and that is drawn from the nervous system and returned with frightful loss. Nature designed that the generative organs should be acted upon by individual, chemical, and frictional electricities; you employ only the latter, and that is not produced but extracted from your nervous organizations. In a natural gratification of the passions, the elec- tricity produced by the commingling of the animal acids and alkalies, coition and the interchange of individual electricity, compensates the nervoua systems of both sexes for any losses which would otherwise be sustained. The pubes, I am disposed to think, are useful in perfecting the curious electrical machinery of the generative organs. Hair being a non-conductor of electricity, may aid in confining the element generated and exchanged during the act of coition, to the sensitive nerves; or, in other words, serve to insulate the external parts of the sexual organs. Every thing has been created and given its appropriate place for some wise purpose, and this may be the office of the pubes. Be this so, or not, the generative systems of both sexes arc the very perfection of divine mechanism, admirably adapted to the purposes for which tbey were created. Ignorance of their philosophy and physiology has ever led to their serious perversion, both by the married and unmarried. In this case, ignorance is not bliss, nor wisdom folly. Man- kind should learn to make good use of them, but knowledge so desirable cannot be obtained unless their philosophy is correctly understood. For this reason I have indited this essay. How they are made Instrumental in Perpetuating the Race. In the opening of this essay, let me say to the reader that the amative or sensual function of the sexual organs is really separate and distinct from the procreative. This fact is not announced for the first time in this place, but was first promulgated, I believe, by the Rev. J. H. Noyes, founder of tho Oneida Community. It stands out as a self-evident fact the moment it is presented. On one side, at least (the female), impregnation often takes place without amative excitement; some men affected with seminal weakness or involuntary losses of semen, if the spermatozoa be viable, may impregnate women by simply momentary connection, without remaining long enough to induce pleasurable emotion. These are facts well known to the observing and experienced of the profession. In the fishes the dis- tinctive character of these two functions is more marked, for their pleasure is simply in the emission—the female, of her eggs, and the male, of his impregnaticg germs; there is no physical connection between the male and Concerning the Color Plates of this Edition. In this edition of "Plain Home Talk" for the year 1900 the color plates have been increased from ten- to eighteen in number, (Eight more than in any previous edition), but in so doing it was necessary to re-arrange the numbers of the plates. So it happens that these numbers for the chapter on Skin Diseases do not correspond, as they ought, with the reference numbers in the text. In the text, for instance, eczema is referred to as pictured on plate IX, whereas in this edition the color sketches of eczema are on plate XII ; but this need not confuse the. reader, because under each color sketch is given the name of the disease which it pictures. With this brief explanation no one.need be confused, while all purchasers of the book get the bene- fit of a great increase in color plates. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION, Embryonic Life or Foetal Development. [PLATES ARRANGED TO ACCOflPANY PLAIN HOflE TALK.] DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATE XVI. Fig. 1. Spermatozoa—the vital, reproductive elements of the male, as seen in field of microscope. Fig. 2. The ovule or the unimpregnated ovum of the female. Fig. 8. Fecundation, or the union of the female and the male germs. Fig. 4, 5 and 6. Segmentation of the vitelhis or internal mass of the ovum, forming what is called the "mulberry mass" of cells. Fjg. 7. The blastodermic membrane, composed of contiguous polygonal cells, on one part of which there appears a '•germinating area" and primitive trace—the first indication of an embryo. Fig. 8. An embryo located in the mucous membrane of the womb, and being inclosed by projected portions of it— the "decidua." Fig. 9. An embryo at three weeks exjwsed by dissection of its membranes, of which the outer one is the chorion with its projecting suckers or villi. Fig. 10. An embryo at four weeks, showing disproportionately large head. Fig. 11. Head and face of embryo at four weeks. Fig. 12. Embryo as it lies in womb cavity, attached by umbili- cal cord and placenta. [Figures 1 to 7, inclusive, are greatly magnified,— the originals being only visible by aid of microscope. Figures 8, 9, and 10 aie about "life size."] PLATE XVII. Fig. 13, 14 and 15. Development of face : fifth, sixth and seventh week. Fig. 16. Embryo of dog at sixth week, comparing it with the next figure, and showing striking similarities. Fig. 17. Embryo of human being at eighth week. The position and shape of brain and spinal cord arc indicated in light blue tint. Fig. 18. Embryo of human being ai ninth week, one-third actual size. Fig. 19. Kmbryo of twelfth week—chorionic membram- dis- sected off, leaving it in the amniotic membrane. IM.ATK XVIII. Fk'\ v?0. Foetus at "full term," just previous to time of birth. V\'2. 21. Twin pregnancy, each foetus in its own membranes. PLATE XV. P. H. T. PART III. BREA8T CHANGES. '*,*. ■•> ■ s, -_..' ..' ' ; V"«. •O &&*\a,^ft , (d$~j!&s Ir ' ' ' C^*" >< 'u^jkS ."".s-f* "•i ' "m& Jf- ■^'JSs v rv SIGNS OF PREGNANCY IN THE BREASTS. 1. VIRGIN BREAST OF THE BLONDE TYPE. 2. VIRGIN BREAST OF THE BRUN2TTE TYPE. 3. CHANGES SEEN AT THIRD MONTH IN No. 1. 4. CHANGES SEEN AT THIRD MONTH IN No. 2. THE CHANGES CONSIST IN DARKENING OF AREOLA AROUND NIPPLE, tNLAROEMENT OF VEINS ANO PROMINENCE OF NIPPLE ANO OF THE FOLUCLE8 SURROUNDING IT. EMBRYONIC LIFE. PLATE XVI. PLAIN HOME TALK. P. H. T. PART III. PLATk xvn. FOETAL DEVELOPMENT. \^K~ I V y ■'** PLATE XVIII. PLAIN HOME TALK. INSTRUMENTAL IN PERPETUATING THE RACE. Qgl female at all, and unless the former emits bis germs among the de- posited eggs of the latter, reproduction cannot occur. The Rev. Mr. Noyes' analysis of the sexual relations appears in a later part of this book (page 876), and therefore, without further departure - from the legitimate purpose of this essay, I will at once proceed to give, in brief outline, some description of the wonderful processes of repro- duction, by which the perpetuation of the human race, and, indeed, of most animal life, is accomplished through the operations of the sexual or reproductive organs. The anatomy and physiology of these parts in the two sexes has in previous chapters been presented, beginning on pages 451 and 520. Readers of those chapters have already learned that the testicles of the male and the ovaries of the female produce the germs of life, the spermatozoa and the ova, and that it is in the meeting and union of these two different elements that a new being originates. Stu- dents of physiology have spent weeks and months in experimentation and close observation in order to answer the questions how, when, and where do these elements meet, and what happens when they do meet ? Yet these questions have not been answered to their complete satisfac- tion. The essential facts which bave been pretty definitely ascertained will be herein presented. Let us start with the ovule, and, without debating whether there is authority for it or not, we will call it an ovule until it shall have become fecundated or impregnated by the spermatozoa. It is first discovered in the ovule factory, or ovary, an elongated oval body, of soft, spongy feel, which, when cut in slices and put under a microscope, shows a fibrous texture enclosing numerous spaces called follicles. It is estimated that an ovary contains about 36,000 follicles, and each follicle contains the germ of one or more ovules. After the age of puberty, and during the childbearing period, the ovary presents a rough or uneven surface, comparable to a pimply face ; and though the simile is not elegant, it is useful in explanation, to say that periodically, at least once a month, one or more follicles acts like a pimple, in that it projects, points, softens at the surface, and finally discharges its contents, consisting of an ovule embedded in mucous or granular matter. Leaving its abode in the ovary, the ovule is wafted by fluid currents to the Fallopian tube, which is lined by myriads of whip-like threads, called cilise, and the motion of these ciliae is such that the ovule is borne along toward the womb. The Fallopian tube is the connecting link between the ovary and the womb, about three or four inches long, and has a calibre that will permit the passage of a small straw. It is generally agreed that the meeting of the ovule with spermatozoa occurs somewhere in the Fallopian tube, and it occasionally happens (an apcideut and misfortune) that the oyurn goes 632 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. on to develop here, instead of passing on to its proper abode, the womb. It is both claimed and denied that the meeting (fecundation) may occur in the womb or in the ovary, but the infrequent accident of ovarian pregnancy (the development of the foetus in the ovary) would indicate that spermatozoa may travel as far as the ovary, and there impregnate the ovule before its escape from its follicle. The ovule when it leaves its follicle is a typical but minute cell, or egg, consisting of an outer membrane containing a semifluid, albumi- nous (white-of-egg-like) substance called the vitellus, in which floats a similar but firmer substance called the germinal vesicle, which itself con- tains a dark nucleus called the germinal spot—in short, a wheel within a wheel within a wheel. At the beginning of its journey through the Fal- lopian tube the ovule ripens, loses its germinal vesicle and spot, becomes a homogeneous body, and takes on an extra layer of albumen, or proto- plasm, which it picks up in the tube as a snowball gathers substance in rolling. It seems probable that the blood-congestion and nervous ex- citement attendant upon coition is often the cause of the rupture of an ovarian follicle, and that it so happens that an ovule escapes about the same time that the seminal fluids of the male are deposited at the mouth of the womb. Then, while the ovule is being gently wafted toward the womb from above, there are millions of spermatozoa starting at the mouth of the womb and fighting their way, in a vigorous contest for speed and supremacy, through the channel of the womb's neck and cavity, in the eager search for that one infinitesimal little egg. The ovule measures only about one-two-liundredth of an inch in diameter, but the spermatozoon is still smaller. The latter may be compared to a tadpole, having an oval, flattened, wedge-shaped bead, or body, with a long, slender, filiform, or thread-like tail. The bead measures about one- six-thousandth of an inch, and the whole length is one-six hundredth to one-four-hundredth of an inch. Dr. W. T. Lusk writes of them : " The spermatozoa do not simply float in the seminal fluid, but possess the capacity of moving from place to place, as though endowed with volition. Indeed, as the observer sees them advance, now singly and now in shoals, now diving down and then rising again to the surface, now avoiding some obstacle or skilfully picking their way between masses of epithelium, it is difficult to resist the conviction that they are really, what they were long supposed to be, distinct organisms, capable of a cer- tain degree of voluntary action; but there is little doubt at the present day that the undulatory movements of the tail, which furnish the pro- pelling force, are due to purely molecular changes, similar to those which give rise to the amoeboid movements of iirotoplasin or the oscillations of the hair-like processes of ciliated epithelium." Thus their motion is INSTRUMENTAL IN PERPETUATING THE RAGE. ($33 compared to that of the ciliae of the tube, which bear along the ovule toward the womb, for such ciliae, when detached, will move about free as spermatozoa; but since spermatozoa are very numerous and very vig- orous in their movements, and, further, since it is possible for them to continue these movements several days under favorable conditions (as in the womb), it is not difficult to understand bow, when a million are striking out in all possible directions, a few should discover even so small a body as the ovule. One observer has calculated that a spermato- zoon can travel one inch in seven and a half minutes, and at this rate, assuming that it follows the most direct route, not more than thirty minutes would be required for it to reach the ovule and produce con- ception. The meeting and coalescence of these two elements constitutes fecundation, impregnation, conception, or pregnancy. Considering the coadaptation of delicate and intricate parts and functions necessary to make fecundation possible, it becomes easy to suggest many causes for sterility, as inactive or diseased ovaries, strictured or obstructed Fallopian tubes, dislocation of parts, constriction of the neck of the womb or plugging of its opening by dried mucus, or the presence of acid or acrid secretions that may impede the progress or destroy the activity of spermatozoa. It is also known that spermatozoa may lack the vigor necessary to fecundation, and it is supposable that sterility may be due in some cases to molecular incompatibility between ovules and sper- matozoa. (See discussion of "Temperaments" on page 805.) The ovule and spermatozoa have been traced to their place of meeting in the tube; what next ? Many spermatozoa find their way into the ovule (probably through pores in its outer membrane, for such have been discovered in ova of fishes and insects), and become lost or dissolved in its substance. The ovum, now fecundated, develops a new nucleus, this soon divides into two, the two become four, four make sixteen, and so on until there is a thorough " segmentation " of the yolk. The cells thus produced condense under the egg-membrane, leaving a clear fluid within. These cells agglomerate in what is called a "blastodermic membrane," composed at first of two, and later of four, strata or layers of cells. On one part of the sphere (ovum) the cells thicken in a germi- nating area, in which soon appears the "primitive trace" of an organ- ized being. Then follow changes, evolutions, contortions, transforma- tion scenes, extremely difficult to follow or describe, and wonderful beyond any other process of life. In short, the ovum depends for awhile, like a hen's egg, on its own internal substance and vital re- sources, and in eight to ten days from the time of conception finds its way into the womb, where it finds a nidus in the soft, tumefied mucous membrane, that makes a sort of nest for it. The primitivo trace becomes 634 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. an embryo, which very early begins the development of a nervous sys- tem and a system of blood-vessels, and puts forth a sac like projection with wliich to establish a relationship with the mother. The first attachment between the ovum and the womb is effected by hollow, slender projections from the outer membrane of the ovum, called the chorion, and these tendrils or rootlets are called the villi or vitlosi- ties of the chorion. By the third week the whole surface of the chorion is covered with a dense mass of these rootlets, which take root or hold in the soft mucous membrane of the womb, for this in the meantime lias been accommodating itself to its charge, the ovum, by projecting itself in all directions about it, enveloping or surrounding it with what is called a " decidua," and thus providing a soil or ground from which the absorbent villi of the chorion may draw nourishment. This is, how- ever, but one of the temporary expedients by which the ovum is enabled to gain material for growth ; for when the embryo has put forth its sac-like projection, containing two arteries and a vein, the villi are provided with capil- lary blood-vessels, and take on unusual growth in one part while disappearing elsewhere, so that the ovum becomes bald, or smooth, except in the one spot, where it forms a pretty close attachment to the lining of the womb, and this is called the "placenta." and makes the bulk of tha "after-birth," which, hav- ing served its purpose, is thrown away (burned) when the child is born. The attachment of the embryo to the placenta by means of the umbilical cord is illustrated in Fig. 154. The blood-vessels from the embryo, when they reach the placenta, do not run into those of the womb, b: t there is a close commingling of the two, comparable to clasping of hands. In the fourth week the embryo is about ono-third of an inch long as it lies, but is nearly an inch from top of head to tip of taii; first traces are shown of eyes, ears, arms, and legs. By the twelfth week it hag grown to three inches in length and weighs about an ounce •, the placenta is well formed, and to it the embryo is attached by the " umbilical cord ;" the ovum fills and distends the womb, and its outer membranes have coalesced with the membranes of the womb, forming one sac, in which the embryo floats in the "amniotic fluid" during the rest of " gestation " and until the " waters break " and labor begins. During the fifth month the foetus becomes fully formed, though its head re INSTRUMENTAL IN PERPETUATING THE RACE. QS5 mains disproportionately large; it weighs about a pound, and its move- ments begin to be felt by the mother. In its further growth the head waits for other parts of the body to attain well-proportioned dimensions, and the tissues become firmer. If prematurely born, during the seventh or eighth month, life may, in some cases, by extreme care, be preserved, but " full term " is reached at the end of the ninth month, or in about two hundred and seventy five days, when, if all goes well, the foetus is born into the world head first, though still attached by the umbilical cord and placenta. These come away as the "after-birth," the chib' separated from them by cutting the cord a few inches from its bo after tying the cord to prevent bleeding, and in a short time the part of the cord left on the child withers away, leaving the navel. The child at birth averages about seven pounds in weight and twenty-one inches in length; but there are all sizes, from one pound to sixteen. Their Influence on the Social Position of Women. '' Might makes right," or rather might overpowers right in every commu- nity where the moral standard is not sufficiently elevated to make might the conservator of right. Wo have seen in the essay on the influence of the Bexual organs on physical development, how the ovaries of woman eliminate from her the qualities we find in an athlete, and how tho testicles of man secrete and prevent the wholesale waste of those qualities, by which phy- siological law woman is made less powerful than her brother—man. Could "angels of light, or ministers of darkness," have believed that man would have taken advantage of the fact to oppress and ever keep in a secondary position his less powerful companion ? Yet such is the disgraceful spectacle pre- sented in all history. Where we find even a partial exception, it is not due to the supposed humanizing influence of what i.; improperly called Chris- tian civilization. In the traditions of the past, we read of a race of Amazons who maintained an ascendency over, and isolation from, men by their practice inarms. " They lived," says a writer, "near the river Thermadon (now Termah), in Cappadoc.ia, just south of the Black Sea." "They never had any commerce with the opposite sex, except for the purpose of propagation, visiting the neighboring people for a few days at a time when necessary for this. The male children were given to their fathers, but the females were carefully educated with their mothers in warlike labors; their right breast was burned off that they might hurl the javelin more effectually." Brave women I I wish their spirits, clothed in their pagan bodies, and armed with the javelin, might descend to earth to-day and enfranchise their sex, who, after many centuries of pagan civilization before Christ, and nearly nineteen hundred years of Christian civilization, have yet to permanently attain the position of equality which they enjoyed among the barbaroua 636 THE SEXUAL ORGANS, tribes of ancient Germany and Scandinavia,, before Christian teachers ever penetrated their wild abodes. Look at the facts which history presents, my fellow-men, and blush for the honor, the magnanimity, the humanity of our sex. Aristotle, 'the great Greek philosopher, said: " There are' three classes of persons who cannot act for themselves ; these are the slave, the child, and the woman. The slave has no will, that of the child is incomplete, and that of the woman powerless." But long before Aristotle's time, accepting the narratives of the Old Testament, behold how the rights of women were ignored I The patriarchs of old treated woman with less consideration than they did their herds. Among the early oriental tribes, and in many of the nations of Asia to-day, she was and is sold like a cow or an ass; not by some supernatural being, but by man. She descended with the estate of man to his nearest relative, and was in all essential respects the property of man. In the early history of Rome and Greece she was treated as a child; man was her sovereign. In the later periods of the Roman republic, when she was allowed to participate in a measure in legislation, when, in brief, she was attaining equality with man, the latter, jealous of his declining suprem- acy, tamely submitted to the ambition of Augustus, and allowed him to change the republic to an empire, doubtless, among the knowing ones, with the view of once more grappling woman, and replacing her under his tyran- nical control. At least one of the first developments of his " policy" was to make regulations 'curtailing the rights and privileges of woman. As if to "add insult to injury," men said then, and our sex publish it occasionally to-day, that the debauchery of women caused the fall of the republic. Probably some, may be a great many, of the women were publicly and noto- riously "bad." If so, what must the men have been ? There are certain vices and excesses which women cannot practise without the equal partici- pation of men; but supposing woman had not yet learned to make good use of freedom and partial equality, we nevertheless find that her temporary elevation produced the most noteworthy crop of great men of any country or age. "In the beginning of the empire," says Ricord, "Rome was at its height and splendor; its dominion had been extended over all the nations of Europe, excepting some powerful northern tribes that still maintained their independence. Within the limits of its empire were England, France, Spain, and all the states of Italy, Greece, the country now occupied by Turkey in Europe, and many other nations; its sway extended over Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, Arabia, Parthia, and the northern part of Africa; over Morocco on the west, and to Ethiopia on the east. Throughout all this country the people of Rome had extended the arts cf painting, sculp- ture, and architecture, so that a multitude of cities in various parts of Europe, INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN. 637 ^flia, and Africa, were filled with costly temples, palaces of marble, beautiful statues, and valuable paintings; but Rome itself, was, of all cities in the world, the most wonderful. It was fifty miles in circumference, and con- tained four millions of inhabitants. * * * In polite learning the Romans made proficiency, which has never been excelled. Besides Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, poets whose names are familiar to every one, Livy, the historian, graced this period. In slwrt, the glories of this age reflect a lustre on Human Nature itself. Now, this remarkable prosperity, this unexampled proficiency in knowl- edge and art, were the products of the republic; these great men were conceived and cradled by the women who lived just previous to, or at the time of the fall of the republic. Ovid was born in the very year which witnessed the fall of the Roman consuls. Cicero perished in the same year, and to the gradual elevation of woman during the last century or two of the republic, alone can be attributed that development of the human mind which led to the glory of Rome; for was it not in the wombs of "her matrons, under the inspiring influence of female culture and liberty, that these great men were conceived, and the elements of their greatness formed? Although not allowed equal opportunities with the men of those times, women never before nor since enjoyed so much political liberty and personal freedom, and to this freedom is attributed by some writers the decline of the repub- lic I What evidence is there of it ? Men are willing to grasp this weapon and flourish it in the faces of those who advocate the enfranchisement of women. I imagine that I can see the more probable reasons for the fall of the Roman republic, and the rise of the empire. One of them has been already incidentally stated; another may be given, as the ambition, the shrewd- ness, and powerful influence of the Csesars; but there is another which may possibly be mightier than all the rest. It is this: Rome was an attractive republic, just as ours is to-day. You see what Ricord says of her, and what historians generally say of that great nation. Her greatness, her prosperity, her comparative freedom, attracted not only other peoples, but other nations to her. Those who did not fall into her lap voluntarily, were one by one brought in forcibly; for Rome was aggressive—ruinously so. These peoples—these nations had not been schooled as the early Romans had been in the political wisdom necessary to maintain such a republic; they were indeed like young profligates who inherit wealth instead of making it; tbey do not know how to preserve it as those who gather experience with their material accumulations; and when Rome became so sick with an overloaded stomach, with diverse opinions, incongruous political ele- ments, vices, and personal ambition, that it could no longer survive, ifc perished just as our republic will if it does not possess a sufficiently power- 638 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. ful political stomach to digest the influx of foreign and heterogeneous element! which are entering it, not only from the civilized nations of Europe, but from those which have for ages isolated themselves from the rest of mankind in China and Japan. As a physician, accustomed to the study of constitutional peculiarities and diseases, I have a good deal of faith in our national strength, and think she will survive the engorgement, if she only takes that which voluntarily falls into her mouth, without glutton-like reaching for all the outlying nations and islands which present exterior attractions I But if she does, and then falls, it certainly cannot bo laid to the possession of too great liberty by American, women, unless a radical change comes over the sentiments and customs of the people. But more about American women by and by. For the present we will look farther back. In the patriarchal days of Rome, woman was regarded as morally and physically inferior to man. This sentiment was in striking contrast to that of the northern barbarians, who regarded her as simply physically inferior to her masculine companion; and as one traces back the origin of the customs and sentiments of to-day, he will bo surprised to find that what share of liberty the women of Europe and America now enjoy, is mainly a legacy from the rude people of northern Europe. True, tho Romans became infected with the "heresy" of woman's rights at an early day, and gradu- ally—very slowly—improved tho condition of the sex. Then, as before re- lated, women grew more intelligent, more influential, and Rome grew mightier. How, indeed, could it bo otherwise? Were not the women the mothers of her sons? The first symptom of jealousy cf tho rising power of woman, if I mistake not, appeared in the family of the Catos, who were disposed to abridge her pecuniary independence. This small cloud which arose in the republic grew into a storm of sufficient magnitude at the be- ginning of the empire, to overwhelm woman in the reign of Augustus. This reaction was nearly at its height under Tiberius, considering which, it is not strange that the apostles were infected with the prevailing anti-woman's rights mania. Saint Paul, according to his own admissions, occasionally gave forth a sentiment "on his own hook;" the following must be one of them:—" Let your women keep silence in churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." Now, if old Saint Paul was a good Methodist, or a superintendent in any Sunday school in the present century, he would be mortally ashamed of the above. Indeed, all that was written derogatory to the true position of woman by the apostles may be directly traced to the popular and all per- vading sentiment of the times in which they lived. Nor did these prejudices die with them, Tertullian, one of the distinguished Latin fathers, born INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN. after Christ one hundred and sixty years, after his conversion and ordination as a presbyter, said to women: " You ought always to be clothed in mourn- ing and in rags, presenting to tho eyes only a penitent, bathed in tears, thus atoning the crime of having lost human kind. Woman, thou art the daughter of the devil. It is you who have corrupted the one whom Satan dared not attack face to face; it is on your account that Jesus Christ is dead." The Church of the fourth century decided that woman should be- sub- ordinate to man, and that man only was created in the imago of God. The canonic law excluded her from all but strictly domestic avocations. She could not even appear as a witness; her word could not be accepted under oath. Thus woman was debased even by the church, until she became almost a slave. Gradually, as Roman civilization became mixed with northern barbarism, after the disintegration of the empire, the sentiments of civilized Europe in regard to woman slowly changed. The adoration which the intelligent Germans and Scandinavians exhibited for the physi- cally weaker sex entered little by little into the social life which overspread the continent and tempered the prejudices of the people and the church. We are far from being up to the old Germanic standard as yet in Europe or America, but let us hope that we are moving steadily toward it. If we will but add the spirit—not the arbitrary letter—of Christianity to the old barbaric sentiment, woman will emerge from her thraldom, and will stand morally, socially, and politically equal with man; for no birthmark, be it variation in bodily conformation, orincolorof skiu, can justlyfixalimitto the development and social freedom of any member of tho human family. All such distinctions are arbitrary and self-evidently unjust; they cannot exist in a true republic; they die with kings. If woman is morally equal to man, it is simply upon the savage rule that "might makes right," that she occupies a subordinate position to him. I will, not occupy time and space here with the presentation of woman's wrongs. Some of them will find place in other portions of this volume. It seems hardly necessary to allude to them at all, as they are presented in the every-day drama and tragedy of life. Those of my sex who are so blinded by selfishness, and of the opposite sex who are so contented with empty flattery that they cannot see them, must slumber on for the present, unconscious of the fact that one of the prime causes of crime and human misery is attributable to imperfect propagation, and that we can never hope for strong-minded sons, until the world is filled with strong-minded mothers. No reasonable mind will question that if a certain degree of progress is made jwhen only one- half of a people are permitted to develop themselves mentally and physically up to their highest possible culture, just twice that progress may be made When the other half is allowed equal advantages. It is a popular delusion 640 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. that American women have as many, if not the same privileges as men. The conservative man exclaims, "We worship them as angels;" and thoughtless women of affluence, and less favored women in humbler posi- tions, bidding for masculine applause, respond, " We have all the rights we Want." Gallantry is mistaken for justice, and soft soap for equity. Even these exist only on the surface. They compose the cream that rises to the top of polite society, and this is fed only to the handsome, rich, and other- wise-fortunate; all beiow is skim milk, and this is dealt out sparingly and grudgingly to toiling women, unhappy wives, and to all, indeed, who most r.eed sympathy and help. But let no man who suddenly awakens to this injustice, suppose in his arrogance that he can give women her rights. Tho very fact that men talk of allowing women this or that liberty is evidence in itself that authority has been usurped. As well might a pickpocket talk of giving a porte-monnaie to somebody from whom he had clandestinely filched it. I tell you, reader, we men have no rights to give woman; the possesses naturally the same rights that we do. If s-he does not enjoy them, some one is a robber. Who is the thief? Let him make restitution with the full understanding that he is entitled to neither reward nor thanks. With all her physical disabilities, as compared with man, woman can ac- complish more for herself and her sex in this competitive world without his sympathy and with her freedom, than she can without her freedom and with bis sympathy and support. But whether she can or not is none of our masculine business, nor have we any right to stand in the path of her prog- ress, to discuss the possible effect upon society, if she be allowed to pass. Here again might is interposed to trammel right. There can be no question of expediency where one of justice is involved. The establishment of im- partial rules of justice can never overthrow a social system that is grounded in truth, nor imperil the permanency of a true republic. Let it be impressed upon the minds of the rising generation that man holds his superior position wholly in consequence of his greater physical strength; that the same brute force which made her a salable commodity in the early history of the world, makes her ihc plaything and foot-ball of man to-day ; and if our children in the light cf the nineteenth century have any justice, any filial love, or, both being absent, any sense of shame, the time draws nigh when the world-wide oppression of woman will exist only as a disgraceful blot on the pages of human history. Their Influence on Civilization. The origin of man is one of the great questions which agitates the scien- tific mind, and, while avoiding its discussion in these pages, it is necessary for a starting-point, that I state two or three of the prominent prevailing opinions. The popular conviction among the church people of Christendom INFLUENCE ON CIVILIZATION. 641 Is, that the race sprang from one pair—Adam and Eve. Among the phi- losophers, there are divers opinions—some accepting tho Bible history, others holding that there must have been, originally, various tribes of men created at the outset, just as there were varieties of lower animals, vegeta- bles, fruits, and flowers, each adapted to the latitudes in which, since the beginning of the historical period, they were found; others believing that the human being was the product of gradual development from animal life beneath him. Whichever opinion is entertained, I believe that it is con- ceded by all that there is no very connected or consecutive history of the human family as a whole from the time of his creation, down, at least, to the days of Moses. At the very outset of Bible history, we find Cain taking to himself a woman of whom no previous account was given. The first traditions that historians gathered up presented a variety of tribes living without law or morals. According 'to the testimony of Herodotus, five hundred years before Christ, and Diodorus and Solinus, the first century before Christ, as given us by Paul Gide, " among the wandering tribes of Africa marriage was unknown. Men and women lived together like beasts of the field. When a child reached maturity the people caused him to be delivered to the man whose disposition most resembled his, as this resemblance was thought to be sufficient evidence that he was the child's father. These savage customs of the tribes of Africa were also found on the shores of the Euxine (Black) Sea, and on the great plateau of Scythia Here women and children, according to Strabo, were held in common. Xenopbon and other writers, flourishing between two and three hundred years before Christ, speaking of other people of Asia, present them as holding to the same customs." * "In ancient Europe," continues Paul Gide, substantially, "traces of this barbarity seemed to have been rapidly effaced. At the time of the classic writers we find them in only a few remote regions at the foot of the Cauca- sus mountains, on the shores of the Euxine (Black) Sea, on the coast of Dalmatia (east of the Adriatic Sea in southern Europe), and in some of the remote islands, as the Balearic islands (now Majorca and Minorca), Brittany, and Ireland. But in the more civilized nations, Greece and Italy, have pre- served in their traditions the memory of a state of promiscuity which might have preceded the institution of marriage. At Athens, according to Clear- cus, writing the fourth century before Christ, the relations between the sexea had been without rule and without law; prior to the invention of marriage by Cecrops, no child could reoognize his natural father. The historian, The- * It should not be inferred by the reader that the periods in which these historians wrote, were cotemporaneoua with those in which the historical facts presented by them occurred. As will be seen by and by, we have the history of marriage for over five thousand years. What they presented were the early traditions, which they were ahlq tq gather up ia the tunes ia watch, they lived, 642 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. opompus, three hundred and fifty years before Christ, speaks !n about the same terms of the early inhabitants of Italy: ' Among the Tyrrheni,' saya this writer, 'the custom willed that all women should be common; all children were also trained in common, for no one could tell of which child he was the father.' Testimony to this effect is abundant, and what is most remarkable, it is unanimous." "All writers agree," continues Gide, "that marriage did not exist at the earliest stages of human society, but has been the work of civilization, and its first great gift." The closing part of Mons. Gide's statement may meet with some dissenters, unless Christianity and civilization make the institution more perfect than it now is. It appears from the foregoing that the human family, like the birds and the beasts, at the beginning of creation, held all things in common; exactly when some smart people first took it into their heads to fence off the portion of the planet they inhabited, history does not tell. But the moment it was done, and this patch of ground was understood to belong to Joshua, that to Jeremiah, and the other to Ezekiel, it became necessary to institute regula- tions governing the intercourse of the sexes; otherwise, man would occupy a more advantageous position than woman. He could plant the germ of a new being with as little care as he would drop a kernel of corn in the mel- low earth for germination ; but for weary months she must carry about in her body this growing, living freight—must lie down in the fullness of time and give forth the fruit of her womb, and then for many months thereafter nurse and take care of the helpless product. Here, then, we first begin to Bee the influence of the sexual organs making itself felt in the invention and development of civilization. From the best sources of information attainable, it seems reasonable to infer that no ideas of the rights of women, further than those relating to her support, entered into the undeveloped heads of the early fathers of the race, for the first constituents of family organization—if we except those in the case of Adam and Eve—revealed by tradition or history, were found to present one man and just as many women as he could maintain. He counted them by the hundreds, as he did his flocks and herds. This mo- nopoly of the women by the opulent caused so great a scarcity, that the female sex became a merchantable commodity—part of an estate. Hence polygamy among the successful tribes resulted in compulsatory monogamy (the union of one woman to one man) among those who were less so. Aa these family associations became more thoroughly organized, and as the expenses of living increased, they were inevitably confronted finally by men who could not support one woman. Hence there arose at that early period two customs of which ancient history gives an account, namely, polyandry and prostitution. The former consisted of one woman and eev« era! husbands, and attained no very permanent foothold, although there art INFLUENCE ON CIVILIZATION. 643 relics of this sort of family organization still existing, as will be seen in a subsequent chapter. The latter was inaugurated by the advent in every community, where customs or laws protected the family association, of a class of women who would gratify the amative appetites of men for a pecuniary consideration. No doubt, originally, the women adopting this profession were mainly the homely or ugly ones, who were not available in the matrimonial market at any price. In the lapse of ages, however, pros- titution has incomparably outgrown polyandry, having increased so steadily that wherever the laws of civfiization maintain with the greatest rigidity the institutions of marriage, prostitution is found side by side with it. Not only so, but in early times prostitution was openly encouraged by the heads of families as necessary for the protection of the chastity of their own women. In Rome, under Augustus, the laws did not punish prostitution, but visited death upon the adulterers; they also held out rewards to the fathers of large families, and this combination of circumstances actu- ally led ambitious husbands who were physically incompetent of becom- ing fathers to cause their wives to become public prostitutes, in order that numerous progeny might be obtained, and therewith the promised political favor and reward. In ancient Greece, in the days of Socrates, courtesans "were the honored companions of their statesmen and philosophers." "That distinguished philosopher," says a writer, "not only visited them himself, but took his wife and daughters, that they also might have the advantage of their superior elegance and refinement; for these courtesans, who were foreigners, were rich, educated, and highly accomplished, and in these respects superior to the secluded and uncultured wives of Greece. They occupied the same social position in ancient society, that is now occupied by our distinguished female poets, novelists, actresses, singers. and artists." Lady Augusta Hamilton, who wrote in the beginning of the present cen- tury, spoke of public-houses in the Netherlands which were licensed by the state for the reception of girls of the town. To these places, remarked this writer, " people of character resorted openly without fear or shame; there was as little scandal in being seen in one of them as being seen at a play-house or any other place of amusement. The entertainments at these places were music and dancing; those not engaged in dancing were seated around the room with their paramours. Any one choosing to retire with one of them, there were small rooms adjoining, furnished with a bed and other conveniences. Their entrance to and exit from these rooms attracted no more attention than if they had stepped out to speak with a friend. It was the opinion that if they did not indulge the people in this particular, they should never be able to keep their wives chaste, and therefore of two evils they chose the least" 644 THE SEXUAL ORGANS. In Japan, to-day, as will be seen further on, publio women, or courtesans, may contract honorable marriage or return to the family hearth. Society does not point the finger of shame at them, and I make bold to say that if, as some contend, " prostitution is a necessary evil," this treatment of this unfortunate class is just as it should be. If our civil institutions cannot be so amended as to overcome the evil, or to put the proposition as it prac- tically presents itself—if prostitution is an inevitable companion of our civilization—why, then, it is enough that the doomed women who must fill this social chasm be physically cursed, without being morally and socially condemned. For reasons presented in the essay on Prostitution in Part I., it is hardly possible that they can avoid becoming the victims of disease. Must they, in addition to all this physical misery, be social outcasts—candi- dates for physical, social, and moral damnation—coupled with the certainty of election by the action and voice of both sexes and the decree of a mer- ciful Providence? All this, too, with the preservation of the personal respectability and possible sanctification of the souls of the men who have reduced them to this condition, and retain them in it? Poor women I Until mankind learns how to redeem you, the tears of sainted mothers will so whiten your stains that our gracious Father will not put his finger upon them. In our civilization we have a heterogeneous mixture of the elements of past social organizations. We practically adopt the old Scandinavian idea that woman is physically the inferior of man—the old patriarchal Roman sentiment that she is morally inferior, for we attribute all her short com- ings, physical or moral, to the alleged fact that she is the " weaker vessel." In law governing our family relations, descent of property, etc., we partly adopt the old Scandinavian rule; in the complexity of all law, and our adhesion to it without too fine regard for equity, the peculiarities of the Roman empire under Augustus and Tiberius; in our sexual practices, privately—not publicly—the Greeks at the time of Socrates; in our prodi- gality and display, the Romans of the "Augustan" age; in our personal adornments, the rings and furbelows of the pagan world; in our religion, a mixture of the morals of the Mosaic dispensation, the word rather than the spirit of the Christian dispensation, and the idolatry of the worshippers of the golden calf. In our marriage customs we have the monogamy of the ancient Romans, the polygamy of the old Israelites, the omnigamy of the second century; and in our prostitution, practically the polyandry of some of the ancient communities of Africa. Ia our languages, with one common Latin root, we have as many branches and bondings as ever graced a water willow. Then we have gathered up all the bad habits of early oriental and European life, and added to them the chewing and Booking practices of the aborigines of America, While it may not appear INFLUENCE ON CIVILIZATION $45 On Investigation that we have, in forming our civilization, gathered only the dregs of the past, it is certain we have not taken the cream. We have not fallen further short of the vices of oriental nations than we have of the virtues of the ancient Germans. In conclusion, allow me to remind the reader, that to fully observe the influence of the sexual organs on civilization, it is necessary to peruse the second essay in this chapter, and the one immediately preceding this. In the light of the three essays we see that they gave to man physical power over woman—that these powers were used to make woman hardly more than a slave in the early ages, and a " second fiddle " to man in nearly all ages and countries. When at any period she seemed likely to take an equal place with man, a reaction came in the masculine mind that remanded her to a secondary position. His advantage in physical strength has made him her master in the organization and continuation of unequal marriage regulations; in the formation of every plank in our social system; in the construction and working of our political machinery. And in this injustice is undoubtedly the concealed wormwood that embitters social life so extensively wherever our so-called Christian civilization prevails. CHAPTER IU HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. HE customs governing the intercourse of the sexes previous to the establishment of any arbitrary rules, are given in the last essay of the preceding chapter. We now come to the first attainable historical accounts of social or legal regulations appertaining thereto. The first man to inaugurate any civil code for the governance of man and woman in their sexual relations that the author is able to trace out was Menes, the first king of Egypt, who flourished about three thousand five hundred years before Christ. Some historians say three thousand eight hundred years. Previous to this epoch we have no account of marriage whatever, excepting that given in the Old Testament, at which period men took to themselves wives and concubines, according to their individual proclivities, with- out legal restraint. The next lawgiver we encounter is Fu-hi, who invented a marriage system for the Chinese, two thousand six hundred and fifty years before Christ. Next we find Moses, the leader and legislator of the Israelites, about the sixteenth century before Christ, laying down a va- riety of rules for the regulation of intercourse between man and woman. Cecrops, 1550 B. o, concocted a code for the Greeks; and the Romans at the very outset of their birth into the family of nations, are said to have had some stringent social—not legal—regulations for the governance of the sexes. Most of the northern nations of Europe were also discovered at the period of the Roman conquests to have rules as inviolable as law in the construction and maintenance of the family. In the new world we can- not go far back in this investigation; but we find that the early Peruviana attributed the origin of their marriage system to Manco Capac, in the twelfth century after Christ; and the Spanish invasion of Mexico, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, revealed the existence of a marriage institution •ustained by law in the then most powerful empire in America. In this chapter, I shall endeavor to give as brief and connected a history as possible of the rise and progress of the principal marriage systems which started with the dawn of civilization, and which have been handed down to us through successive ages. In collecting the facts upon which the essays HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 647 given in this chapter and those contained in the one which follows on the marriage customs of to-day are based, I beg leave to say that neither time, patience, nor expense have been spared to make the historical matter com- plete, and though it is not as much so as I could wish, owing to the scarcity of reliable works giving information on the subject, it is probably more suc- cinct, comprehensive, and connected than can be found in any volume printed in the English language at the present writing. Possibly some inaccura- cies may occur, for most of this volume has been written in the intervals of fatiguing professional labors. I am greatly indebted to the industry of my wife for translating from the dry legal pages of a new and able French work, some of the most valuable facts herein presented. This work is entitled "Study upon the Private Condition of Wom'an in Ancient and Modern Law," etc., by Paul Gide, and was undoubtedly written for the legal profession. The work having received the approval of the French Academy of Science, it may be regarded as reliable authority. I am under great ob- ligations to a clergyman of this city, for having called my atteution to this work, and for the use of probably the only copy in this country at this time; also to the same gentleman for commeuding to my perusal a work entitled the "History of European Morals, from Augustus to Charlemagne," by William Edward Hartpole Lecky, M. A. Many facts have been obtained from the American Bureau of Literary Reference, Mr. Frank H. Norton, formerly connected with one of our large city libraries, having been employed by that useful institution to collect them especially for these pages. Many more have been extracted from standard works, musty old books, magazines, and newspapers, by the au- thor, who has endeavored to arrange all these detached fragmentary facts into a connected and entertaining history. With the foregoing introductory and explanatory words, the reader's attention will first be invited to the History of Polygamy. In writing any history of marriage whatever, it is difficult to avoid the controversy going on between the theologists and scientists as to the origin of man, the unity of the races, etc., and yet be thorough in its presentation. But the author pleads lack of ability, preparation, time, and space to enter into this limitless arena of debate. Whether or not the reader accepts the belief entertained by so many in Christendom of the descent of the whole human family from one pair, traditions both sacred and profane point to polygamy as the oldest form of marriage. It Adam had but one wife, " cir- cumstances over which he had no control" (!) might have prevented him from having more, for we do not descend far in the history of his family before we find Lamech with two. Then, in Noah's time, we find, accord. ing to Genesis [Chapter 6], that "the sons of God saw the daughters ftj$ HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all whlon they chose." These matrimonial arrangements, too, it seems, ga7e pi^ i56# birth to children which be- came giants, as we read a little further on. Following the old Scriptural story, the world became so wicked, a deluge came, which destroyed all but the family of Noah; then came another forced period of monogamy among this people, the exact length of wliich cannot be ascer- tained frota the account given in Genesis, which simply speaks of the descending heads of families down to the time of Abraham, the father of the Hebrews, who, we find, without question, was a polygamist; nor ia there any doubt that those who preceded him were, for at that period of the world's history women had no rights which men, white or black, felt bound to respect. Reaching Abraham, we come to a period only about two thousand years before Christ, and we must therefore go back a few centuries, for Egyptian civilization dates back considerably farther than this era. Menes is said to have been the founder of marriage among the Egyptians three thousand five hundred years before Christ. I have found it a little difficult to obtain any positive information as to the character of this early Egyptian marriage system, but feel justified in placing it in the history of polygamy, because, if a plurality of wives was not allowed, concubinage unquestionably was, and this, of course, is practically polygamy. The fact that early historians speak of the wife of an Egyptian king, indicates the existence of ostensible monog- amy. That those kings at least were allowed concjbines, would inferen- tially appear, from several facts which might be quoted if necessary, but perhaps it is sufficient to state, that Mr. Samuel Birch, the distinguished hierologist, speaks of one of the early Pharaohs as having married an Asiatic princess, giving her the title of " Ra-neferu, the king's chief wife." Then, again, we may judge something of the habits of the Egyptians at a later THE POLYGAMIC FAMILY. HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 649 date, say fifteen hundred years after Menes, from the Scriptural account of Abraham, going down to Egypt to avoid famine, filled with terror, lest he Bhould be killed by them, on account of the personal attractions of his wife Sarai. To avoid this peril he passed her off for his sister. So soon as they entered Egypt, sure enough, Pharaoh's eyes fell upon Sarai, and she was at once installed aa a member of his household. But it so happened that every thing went wrong with the king, from the moment he kidnapped this He- brew woman, and when, on investigation, he found she was the wife of Abraham, . having been plagued sufficiently on her account, he seemed glad enough to restore her to her husband, and get rid of the whole family without further molesting them. There is reason to believe that concubinage gradually grew unpopular in Egyptian civilization; for, at the time Alexander the Great penetrated Egypt with his conquering army, about three hundred and thirty years before Christ, it is said of concubinage, " though it may have been lawful, it was not common," and, though the "kings sometimes indulged in it, polygamy was at that time expressly forbidden." " According to Alex- ander, this system of marriage presupposes women to be slaves." (Query: Was Alexander the first woman's rights man?) "Harems," remarks Mr. Norton, " which always formed a portion of the Persian and Turkish household, were unknown in Egypt; nor were the females secluded from public observation, as in other oriental countries." All this last quoted matter, however, relates to Egypt at a comparatively recent period. We have passed the history of neighboring people with old Fu-hi, the originator of Chinese civilization and marriage, and the story of Hebrew polygamy in early times. We read that Fu-hi established civilization among the Chinese, and founded a system of marriage two thousand six hundred and fifty years before Christ. It seems to me, in the light of all the Chinese history we possess, and the well-known marriage customs of China to day, there can be no reasonable doubt that the marriage system instituted by Fu-hi was polygamous, at least practically so. From the earliest information we obtain in regard to the customs of the Chinese, we find that while the law allowed them but one wife, tbey could have as many concubines as they chose. Having, in a few words, disposed of Fu-hi, who lived before Abraham, we will now return to the "Father of the Hebrews," about two thousand years before Christ. The Bible account in the beginning of Genesis [Chap. 16] is as follows: "Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, bare him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abraham, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee, go in unto my maid: it may be (hat I may obtain children by her, And Abraham hearkened unto the voice 650 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. of Sarai * * * and he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived." After a while, we find that Abraham marries another, according to chapter 25th of Genesis: "Then, again, Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah," by whom he had six sons. We find, too, that Abraham's pos- terity on the masculine side rather enlarged than restricted the plurality system. We perceive also that these family arrangements sometimes gave rise to feelings of envy and jealousy among the wiviss. We read that " Reuben went, in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said unto Leah, Give me, I praj thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto ber, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband, and wouldst thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore shall he lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes," etc. During the period between the times of Abraham and Moses, the mar- riage customs of the Hebrews were not materially altered, and according to Nichols, in his book on marriage, " the description of patriarchal life in the book of Genesis would apply with little alteration to the customs of most oriental countries." The second Hebrew patriarch was Isaac, and hia son Jacob had a favorite son named Joseph, who was sold in Egypt by en- vious brothers. But, from the position of slave, Joseph was raised to be the prime minister to one of the Pharaohs, who allowed him to bring all hia father's family, numbering seventy males, and probably ever so many fe- males, into the land of Goshen, where they multiplied so rapidly, that the land was filled with them—according to Scriptural account—which seems likely under the thon prevailing system of polygamy and concubinage. At the death of Joseph, the Egyptians commenced a series of oppressions of the Israelites, for by this name were the children of Jacob called. A new king, too, arose over Egypt, who knew not Joseph, and consequently felt unfriendly to his people, and jealous of their increasing number and power. After trying various ways to limit their increase, with no other result than a more rapid multiplication of them, the same as we find it in our day, in our treatment of the Mormons, this king ordered the midwives to slay all the sons born to the women of Israel; but this proved ineffectual, for, according to the complaints of the midwives, the Hebrew women were too healthy and too smart for them, so that an opportunity was not offered the midwives to smother the Hebrew sons. Finally the king, about one thous- and six hundred years before Christ, charged all his people, that every son that was born should bo cast into the river. About this time, Moses, whc was to become the future lawgiver of the Israelites, was born, au< HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 651 his mother, after hiding him for three months, made a little boat of bul- rushes, slime, and pitch, and laid him in it among the flags, by the river. Here his sister watched him afar off, and one of Pharaoh's daughters happening to visit the river side, espied the little fellow, and, taking com- passion on him, carefully removed him from his perilous position. The anxious sister, unable to control her solicitude, made her appearance and asked to know if she might not obtain a Hebrew woman to nurse it. The daughter of Pharaoh, much to her gratification, responded favorably to the singular proposition, and providentially Moses' own mother was employed, and paid wages by the daughter of the king. The further history of Moses may be read in the Old Testament, by those who are interested. I have quoted so much to show how indebted Moses was to woman, under God, for his preservation. First, the untiring efforts of his mother; then, the watchfulness of his sister; and, finally, the com- passion and motherly care bestowed on him by the daughter of the king. Surely Moses, under these circumstances, would be just to women, when he should become a ruler in Israel 1 But was he ? According to Numbers [Chap. 30], a woman had no power to obligate herself by oath, by vow, or otherwise; her husband or her father must in all cases act for her. In brief, be says, " every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void." According to the Mosaic law, a man could repudiate his wife for the slightest cause. Tho wife constituted a part of the estate, and reverted to heirs the same as property. Moses looked upon woman as only an instrument of procreation. Under his laws, polygamy prevailed to a greater extent than in all oriental Asia. In his expedition against the Midianites, an immense number of prisoners were taken, and he directed that every male among the little ones, and that every woman who had known man by lying with him, should be killed, while those female chil- dren which had not known man should be kept alive, and be divided among the people, the army, the priests, etc.; and it seems that there were thirty- two thousand women who had not known man. From a Christian stand- point all this looks like shocking cruelty and injustice, and so indeed it was; but in justice to Moses, it may be said, that some of his laws were more favorable to women, and it may be that at that age of the world he was kinder to the abused sex than any other ruler. We find, for instance, in Exodus [Chap. 21], that, " if a man sell his daughter to be a maid servant, she shall not go out as the men servants do. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeem- ed : to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing that he hath dealt deceitfully with her. And if he hath betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. If he take hua 652 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish. And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money." The number of wives was not limited by Moses, but the rulings of the rabbis subsequently fixed it at four, after the example of the patriarch Jacob. He forbade the kings to have many wives, which injunction was disregarded by nearly all of them. He forbade the Israelites to marry aliens; and this law was violated by Moses himself, who espoused an Arab. Some four or five hundred years after Moses, we find that King David, ",the man after God's own heart," disobeyed the Mosaic law in various ways, and besides having concubines, he committed adultery with Bath- sheba, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, and, causing her husband to be slain, married her, and this woman became the mother of Solomon. He shut up ten of his concubines until the day of their death, because of their infidelity with his son Absalom. Solomon flourished about one thousand years before Christ. We find that he loved many strange women, together with the daughters of Pharaoh; women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites, and of other nations. He married an Egyptian princess, and it is further related of him, that he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. It was probably his excessive matrimonial experience which led him to say in Ecclesiastes [Chap. 7]—"I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands. Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. * * * Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not:' one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found." Solomon was certainly in a very peculiar situation, surrounded by one thous- and women! Artemus Ward, when shut in a room with only seventeen widows of a departed saint at Utah, was excessively frightened, and begged to know if their intentions were honorable. In subsequent times there were various modifications of Mosaic law among the indwellers of Palestine. Samai, according to Gide, " had held that one could repudiate his wife only for adultery," but this rule was disregarded. When the people of Judea became subject to Roman law, a woman was allowed a dowry, and a wife without a dowry was considered only a concubine. According to Norton, wives and concubines of foreign origin were after a time "excluded from the large cities, as Jerusalem, and were driven to live in booths and tents on the high roads, where they plied the trade of the prostitute. At length they gathered around them male companions, and to offer inducements to the traveler, they instituted rites and ceremonies of the most disgusting character to Moloch, Baal, and Belphegor, who, rep- HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 653 fesented by lewd images, were worshipped with forms which dearly indicated the existence among them of the worship of Priapus." " Polygamy," remarks Gide, " was more largely permitted in Judea than in all Eastern Asia; not only was a man permitted to have many lawful wives, but also concubines; and to divorce one he had only to address her a letter of divorcement." Even after the Jews became subject to the Romans, polygamy among them to a considerable extent continued. Herod the Great, if I remember rightly, is said to have had seven wives. Those who had fled to Europe after their dispersion by Titus, a. d. TO, held tenaciously to their customs, including polygamy, as long as they could. According to Maimonides, a distinguished rabbi, the Jews of Europe had a plurality of wives as late as the thirteenth century. Again we will return to an age fifteen hundred and fifty years before Christ, and follow Cecrops out of Egypt to Athens, where the civilization and marriage of ancient Greece first took root. The system introduced by him was unquestionably a second step toward a national recognition of monog- amy, the Egyptians having mada the first. It was more monogamic than the marriage of Egypt at that time, and yet a man was allowed one legal wife and one concubine, so that it cannot be placed under the head of " His- tory of Monogamy," though many writers, nearly all, in fact, treat of it as a system of monogamy. It might perhaps be classified as a connecting link between polygamy and monogamy. But really such were the practices of the ancient Greeks, it is difficult to determine under which head in this chap- ter their marriage system should properly find place. It almost requires a separate one. When Athens was founded, women in that part of the world were undoubtedly scarce. They were monopolized by those who could afford to carry out the practice of polygamy on a large scale. Whether this scarcity, or some advanced ideas entertained by Cecrops, influenced him, he made it a rule, that a man should have but one lawful wife, whose children should be regarded as legitimate,—such was the marriage system first inaugurated at Athens. Concubinage being permitted to such as could afford it, or, in other words, a man having been allowed a plurality of women, if not of wives, was it not, indeed, practically polygamy? After the lapse of several centuries, however, we find a new feature in Greek civilization. Concubinage died out; the wife was kept at home for raising children and attending strictly to household affairs, while foreign women, taking the part of courtesans, assumed great liberty and received extraordinary attention. Speaking of them, Paul Gide says : " There was however, a class of women, who, free from all domestic restraint, could min- gle with the men, share their labors and their pleasures. They were the cour- tesans. The ancients presented them to us, as applying themselves with earnestness to the loftiest studies, and equaling men by the strength of 654 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. their mind, as well aS the extent of their knowledge. Their Society offered to the Greeks those intellectual pleasures they could not find among their wives or sisters. Thus the Athenian courtesans knew how to appropriate that influence which women always exert among a free and intelligent peo- ple. The courtesan filled, in Athenian history, the role which the chaste matron took in th6 annals of Roman history." When Grecian society reached this stage, and concubinage disappeared, perhaps their marriage deserved the name of monogamy as much as ours does to-day. Nichols, speaking of Greece at this period, remarks: "In Athens, the most refined city of Greece, prostitution was as common as in New York, or London, or Paris; but the Athenians were too honest to dis- grace and degrade their courtesans, who were the public and honored com- panions of their statesmen and philosophers. The Athenians did not differ from our civilizees in fact so much as in pretension. They were, in this respect, less hypocritical. The Aspasias, Phrynes, and Laises of Greece have their counterpart in every modern capital; but we have a conventional standard of morals, which, though everywhere disregarded, imposes upon us the meanness of a continual hypocrisy of a very deprav- ing character. It was not so in the age of Pericles and Alcibiades. Solon, the great Athenian lawgiver, six hundred years before Christ, commended the young men who kept accomplished mistresses." One of the most vir- tuous of the Greeks, it is related, admitted an Aspasia to his philosophical entertainments, and even admitted her to his bedside to attend him in his last moments, when his own wife was excluded. "In the time of Pericles," remarks Dr. S. Pancoast, "there appeared and flourished at Athens a class of females who gloried in their wild excesses. In the Greek colonies of Asia, temples were erected to the earthly Venus, and courtesans not merely tolerated but honored as priestesses of that con- descending divinity. The wealthy and commercial city of Corinth was a nursery of courtesans. In the temple of Venus, as we are told by Strabo, there were no less than one thousand beautiful damsels, who, to gain the goddess's favor, prostituted themselves for hire. Hence arose the saying, 'to act the Corinthian is to commit fornication.' * * * Beauty and talents often raised great estates. A remarkable instance is that of Phryne, who offered the Tbebans to rebuild the walls of their city, when demolished by Alexander, on condition that they would engrave on them this inscription: ' These walls were demolished by Alexander, but raised by Phryne, the courte- san' * * * iu Athens, the number of brothels was incredible. Solon found it necessary to allow the courtesans and prostitutes to enter the temples and forums for the purpose of public prostitution." While the freedom and power of the courtesan were almost illimitable, those of the wife were no less circumscribed. In fact, the native women of HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 655 Greece, those who constituted the legitimate wives and daughters, were treated as children. Before marriage they were governed by the will of the father; after marriage, by that of the husband; if without a male pro- tector, they were taken care of by the state. They were not allowed to participate with the men in public f estiviites. They were instruments sim- ply for bearing children. Men were compelled to marry ; a reward wafi offered to those who would rear large families. A husband was required by law to cohabit with his wife as often as once a month, and she could enter complaint at the public tribunal if he failed to comply therewith. "Grecian laws concerning divorce," writes Lady Hamilton, "were dif- ferent in many places. * * * The Athenians permitted divorce upon very slight occasions, but it was not permitted without a bill specify- ing tha reason of their separation, which the magistrate must see and approve. The Athenian women were allowed to separate from their hus- bands upon any just ground for complaint; but they were under the necessity of appearing in person and publicly exhibiting their complaint to the archon, that, by so doing, their husbands might have an opportunity of seeing and prevailing on them to return. Plutarch relates, that Hipparete, the wife of Alcibiades, being a virtuous woman and very fond of her husband, was at last induced, from his debauched life and contin- ued entertainment of the courtesans, to leave him and retire to her brother Callias's house. Alcibiades still continued his loose manner of living; but his wife being obliged, before she could obtain a divorce, personally to appear before the magistrate, her husband came and took her away by force, and carried her home through the forum, where she remained with him till her death, no one daring to interfere. "It was not unusual, " continues this writer, " to dissolve the marriage tie by mutual consent; in which case the parties were at liberty to dispose of themselves as each thought proper. Nor was it unusual in some parts of Greece to borrow each other's wives." A great variety of singular customs prevailed in various parts of Greece, which I have neither time nor space to relate. The period when the courtesan was so much honored, was, I think, mainly the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ. Gradually, as Grecian and Roman civilization met. there became more or less of a blending of national characteristics, the Greeks becoming somewhat less prominent in their sexual excesses, and the Romans less exclusive and loyal to matrimonial ties. And when Greece became a Roman province about one hundred and fifty years before Christ, their system of marriage, like that of the Romans, became what might be called a loose form of monogamy; less monogamic than that of the firsi Romans, and less polygamic and omnigamic tha"1 *hat of the Grecians at the time of P&ricles, £56 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. In ancient Persia, whose empire was founded by Cyrus about five hun- dred and sixty years before Christ, the system of marriage was undoubt- edly polygamous. At the very beginning, indeed, Persia, prior to its be- coming an empire, and the empire, ancient and modern, may be placed among the countries where polygamy has been sustained by law, religion, and custom- Its earliest condition may be inferred from the fact that Zoroaster, the founder Cf the religion of the Persians many centuries before the empire (the most authoritative writers placing his time somewhat over twelve hundred years before Christ), allowed polygamy among his followers, and further, by a perusal of the book of Esther in the Old Testament; and its later con- dition, by what is said in the '* New American Cyclopedia " of the Golden Age of modern Persia, in the sixth century after Christ, when the mon- arch Chosroes II. had "fifty thousand Arab horses and three thousand beau- tiful women, the most lovely of whom was Shirin, or Irene, a Greek and a Christian, whose beauty and whose love formed the subject of a thousand poems." Persian monarchs, remarks Norton, "never had less than four hundred wives and concubines." The ancient Parthians were also polyg- amous before they became subject to the Persians, and continued to be after they became independent of Persia, and made for themselves a power- ful empire. They were allowed marriage with sisters and mothers. The ancient Scythians, who were cotemporaneous with the Persians, practised polygamy. Outside of these larger ancient nations, there were any number of communities and kingdoms, large and small, where polygamy was the popular form of marriage; but it will hardly interest the reader, while it will greatly consume time and space, if even a brief history of each one of them is given. I will therefore pass from the domestic history of vari- ous peoples before Christ, and come down to a period comparatively more recent, simply reminding the reader that oriental polygamy has not only passed around, but bridged over, the times of Christ and his apostles, who were supposed by many to have been inimical to the polygamic system of marriage. The most extensive religious body springing up after Christ and sustaining the ancient institution of polygamy was that originated by Mohammed. This man was an Arab; born about the year 670 after Christ; nursed for two years by a Bedouiu nurse who had fits, attributed to evil spirits; married at twenty-five to a rich woman of forty. He visited a cave frequently between his thirty-fifth and fortieth years, aud therein had fits and visions. Mohammed and his wife were puzzled to know whether these visions were from good or evil spirits; but a Christian priest, named Waraka, related to Mrs. Mohammed in some wav, told them how to decide this matter, and by the test he gave them,' it became HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 657 evident that the visions were of divine origin, whether the fits were or not. So Mohammed hired some secretaries, and straightway made up the book of Koran. Like Joseph Smith of our times, Mohammed met with much opposition j but he was personally as invincible as Smith's religion is inextinguishable. An amiable gentleman, by the name of Omar, went out to slay Mohammed; but instead of Mohammed falling a victim to his blade, he fell a victim to Mohammed's religion. Next, a whole caravan of Christians, from Nadjaran, taking with them one skilled in casting out evil spirits, went forth unto Mohammed, to relieve him of the devil; but instead of their possessing a sufficient number of good spirits to overcome Mohammed, he seemed to have a devil apiece for all of them; for when they met the prophet, they, too, became converts to his faith. An enraged Jewess fed Mohammed on poisoned lamb, but it only took away his health. He continued to live and extend his religion by persuasion and force of arms, till he was able to visit Mecca at the head of forty thousand pilgrims I Some may imagine that he incorporated polygamy into his religion and practice, in consequence of his first wife being fifteen years older than him- self. This is not so. It was not till after the death of his first wife, Kadi- jah, that he married several wives, and it seems that at his death he only left nine widows 1 The religion of Mohammed, with its polygamy, has penetrated Europe and spread over Asia and Africa, until, as estimated by Hayward, in his " Book of Religion," his followers number not less than one hundred and forty millions. It appears from statistics that the spread of Mohammedan- ism has been proportionately greater than that of Christianity; for in the seventh century there were only about forty thousand accepting the religion of the Arabian prophet, while there were twenty-five millions accepting that of our Saviour. In the eighteenth century, according to M. Laffon de Ladebat, there were two hundred millions of Christians, by which it ap- pears that the followers of Mohammed have been more active in proselyting than those of Jesus of Nazareth. Hayward attributes the rapid increase of Mohammedanism to its remarkable adaptation to the peculiarities of Eastern nations, and then he remarks: " To these causes of the progress of Moham- medanism we may add the bitter dissensions and cruel animosities that reigned among the Christian sects—dissensions that filled a great part of the East with carnage, assassinations, and such detestable enormities that rendered the very name of Christianity odious to many. Other causes of the sudden progress of that religion will naturally occur to such as consider attentively its spirit and genius, and the state of the world at this time." The same writer, after describing the Mohammedan heaven with all its luxuries,remaxks, "But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent 653 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. and ravishing girls of Paradise, called, from their large black eyes, Bur-ol Oyun, the enjoyment of whose company will be the principal febcity of the faithful These, they say, are created not of clay, as mortal women are, but of pure musk, being, as the prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all natural impurities, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public. view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be not less than sixty miles square." One of these pearls would suit the writer better than the women of musk I The Turks and Persians, as is well known, are mainly Mohammedans. In the turnings and overturnings of nationalities and sects after the Christian era, there was a grand mixture of polygamy, polyandry, omnigamy, and monogamy. "Polygamy," remarks Mr. Norton, "seems not to have been entirely eradicated among the Christians of the sixth century, as we find it then enacted in the canons of one of their councils, that if any one is married to many wives, he shall do penance. Even the clergy themselves in this period practised bigamy, as we find it ordained at another council held at Narbonne, that such clergymen as were bigamists should only be presbyters and deacons, and should not be allowed to marry and conse- crate." "In the eighth century," says the same writer, "Charlemagne had two wives. Sigebert and Chilperic had also a plurality, according to Gregory of Tours. But we even find an instance of bigamy and polygamy as late aa the sixteenth century. Philip, a German prince of Hesse Cassel, obtained permission from Luther and a synod of six Reformers, to marry a second wife during the life of his first one, and he accordingly did so. In this remarkable case Luther exercised an authority which even the most daring of the popes in the plenitude of his apostolic power had never ventured to attempt." Again this writer remarks, " that .the celebrated John of Leyden (a leader of the Anabaptists in Munster, Germany, in 1533) announced his right to marry as many wives &c he chose, following the custom of the kings of Israel, and put it in practice so far as to marry seventeen." Passing over the bigamy or polygamy of various dissolute kings of Europe, open polygamy had made no progress in the nations of Christen- dom till early in the present century, when Joseph Smith founded his re- ligion, which he claims to be Christian, and based on the Bible as well ns upon the book of Mormon, which he interpreted from the golden plates excavated from a hill in Ontario County, New York. As an account of him and his followers will be given in the succeeding chapter, I will omit here the story of Mormon polygamy. The Mormons, however, were not the first to inaugurate polygamy on American soil. "It was," says Norton, "practised among the ancient HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 659 Mexicans and Peruvians, as well as the more barbarous tribes in both North and South America. Montezuma, the emperor of Mexico, at the time of the Spanish invasion had three thousand women. The Incas in the twelfth century married only their own sisters, but were allowed a great number of concubines. The Peruvians, before the coming of the Incas, are said to have had their women in common, with no recognized marriage relation, but subsequently adopted polygamy. " The Brazilians practised polygamy in ancient times, and I believe now do in portions of their empire. In Nicaragua, polygamy was formerly allowed, and adulterers were simply divorced. In Carabani, caziques had as many wives as they wished, and, when they made long journeys, had them stationed along the road, like post-horses, for their convenience. The other inhabitants had as many wives as they could support. Polygamy, indeed, seems to have obtained among the ancient inhabitants of the whole of Central and South America, and, as a result, little adultery or violence was committed. The aborigines of North America, though generally con- tent with one wife, sometimes took two or three. In conclusion," remarks this writer, " it is stated on good authority that, from the creation of the world, polygamy has been the rule with four-fifths of the human race." History of Monogamy. If the marriage institution of Greece, as originated by Cecrops, can be regarded as monogamic, then its adoption as a national institution dates back to fifteen hundred and fifty years before Christ; and if Grecian mar- riage was monogamic, why may not that of the Egyptians also be re- garded as such ? Admitting Egyptian marriage to be monogamic, we are carried back some thirty-five hundred years before the Christian era in Bearch of the age when this system of marriage commenced. The mar. riage of one man to one woman, with the license of concubinage, wap doubtless one step out of polygamy, and another step toward monogamy and in this light we must view the marriage of the ancient Egyptians and Grecians, instead of adopting it aa legitimately belonging to the mono- gamic system. Having placed the early Egyptian and Grecian marriages under the polygamic head, because of their concubinage, it may be said that monogamy originated in Italy between seven hundred and one thousand years before Christ, unless it can be shown that it was first practised by the barbarous tribes of Northern Europe. Traditions place its origin at least as far back as the foundation of Rome, seven hundred and fifty-three years before Christ. Monogamy, unquestionably, was originally the offspring of mascu- line poverty and female scarcity. The opulent polygamic tribes held the world's wealth, and bought up all the handsome women in those early 660 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. times in Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe. In Northern Europe, the climate was too inhospitable, and the soil too sterile, td favor the luxury and extravagance which polygamy engendered. Henco the northern tribes of barbarians, and the poor people of African, Asiatic, and Southern European civilization, were obliged to be content with one womau, while many a luckless scalawag (then as now) was compelled to pursue "life's thorny pathway," with only a "semi-occasional" glance at one, which momentary diversion rendered him liable to stumble into1 the inferential brier bushes aforesaid. It is presumable, that from the agonized experience of one of those unfortunate bachelors, originated that Fig. 156. trite adage, " There never was a rose without a thorn;" and to this day the removal of this thorn is one of the com- monest feats of medicine and surgery. The founders of Rome were poor, hard-working people; but industry produces ita fruits, and, in a little while, we find in its traditions men- tion made of a rich as well as a poor class, known respect- ively by the designation—pa- trician and plebeian. At this early age of Roman civiliza- tion, the civil law had nothing to do with marriage; it waa an affair of the family. Cus- tom, rather than law, took charge of the function of fam- tiib monogamic familt. Hy organization ; but custom was then, as it now is, an arbitrary ruler in all things it presumed to regulate. In the oldest form of Roman marriage, according to Paul Gide, the woman gave up all family ties on her side, on becoming a wife, and entered with all her effects into the family of her husband. After a time, there Bprang up a party which opposed this absorption of the daughter and her property into the family of the husband, and custom began to allow the woman to remain at home after marriage, in consequence of which, her family was aggrandized by the industry and prosperity of the husband. For many generations these two customs co-existed, some abiding by the first, and others governing themselves by the latter one, and eventually tho HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 661 former became extinct in all cases, excepting those wherein the woman was an heiress in her own right, or otherwise possessed of property belonging wholly to herself; a woman thus situated was allowed, if she chose, to become a member of the household to which her husband belonged. When the wife remained at her father's house, she was mainly subject to his control. He could take her from the husband, punish her, or even take her life. The husband, too, had the right to whip, kill, or sell her. When the will of the husband came in conflict with that of the father, the diffi- culty was submitted to a tribunal composed of the relatives of the parents and friends of the wife, and finally, if necessary, to the censor, who was a public functionary, acting under no rules of law, but simply upon principles of equity. Webster defines a censor as "an officer in ancient Rome, whose business was to register the effects of the citizens, to impose taxes accord- ing to the property which each man possessed, and to inspect the manners of the citizens, with power to censure vice and immorality by inflicting a public mark of ignominy on the offender." In the original marriage customs of the Romans, when the wife went, with all her personal effects, to the house of the parents of the husband, her own father forfeited control, and she was also removed from the influence of her relatives. Neither her family nor the censor could interfere, except- ing in cases of unjust chastisement or threatened repudiation. At the death of her husband, she was placed on a level with her children as an heir to the estate, sharing equally with each one of them, as if she were a sister rather than a mother. Even at this early day, it was almost as necessary for every marriageable girl to have a dower as it is to-day, in France, for her to have her dot. She might, if she chose, before marriage, hire her services out for the purpose of acquiring a dower. Falling short of this in her girlhood, she was in many instances allowed to hire out after marriage, and the fruit of this labor constituted her dower, which belonged exclusively to herself. It has often been said that there were no divorces in Rome for the first five hundred years of her national existence. It is true that while her laws did not interfere with the liberty of divorce, it was forbidden by religion and by custom. "A man who repudiated his wife," remarks Gide, "was dishonored by the censor, and excommunicated by the priest; and the only way atonement could be made was by placing upon the altars of the divini- ties who presided at the union, a portion of the husband's goods. This moral penalty was more efficacious than the laws have ever been. Divorce was not illegal, but morally impossible, and," reiterating the common state- ment, this writer avers that, "according to all antique authors for five cen- turies, there was not a case of divorce." While this may be so, it is difficult to see how these antique authors can speak positively on this point, for. 662 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. according to this same writer, "under the republic of ancient times, a case of adultery and divorce was tried in the family to hide the shame." Now is Monsieur Gide, or any writer, prepared to demonstrate the supposed fact that no divorce occurred for five hundred years, when domestic discords were treated with the utmost privacy? It is certainly to be inferred from the last-quoted statement, that cases of divorce were tried; and the tribunal having been made up of the immediate family of the parties interested, with the possible intervention of the censor, is it not quite probable that occa- sional divorces did occur, all publicity of which was avoided, in obedience to the well-known sentiment of the people in favor of concealing matrimo- nial infidelity or disruption ? The censor and priest, if kindly disposed to the families involved in trouble, could prevent a case from becoming public, and, of course, those pagan divinities of wood and stone, "who presided at the union," could at least be bribed to "keep mum!" Nevertheless, from all the light we are able to obtain concerning the early Romans, they were a pretty respectable people, or would have been, if they had treated the women as equals rather than as children, subject to the same discipline and punishment as the juvenile element of the household. [Query: If condign punishment was fashionable in those days, were the women Bpanked?] "Never," remarks Paul Gide, "did the Christian legislators better define marriage than did the lawgivers of ancient Rome. It is," he says, according to the pronounced Roman idea, "the union of two lives, the joining of two patrimonies, the putting in common of all temporal and religious interests. This was in the first four centuries of Rome. In this ancient notion of marriage," continues this writer, "already appear the two principles which are the foundation of modern Christian marriages, the indissolubility of the marriage tie, and monogamy." Under the republic, the Romans were a progressive people, for before its fall, we find, according to the language of Paul Gide, " woman was no longer powerless and oppressed; she was the matron, the mother of the family; respected by the slaves, children, her own husband, and cherished by all; mistress of her own house, and extending her influence outside to the heart of popular assemblies and councils of the senate; while allowed to go everywhere, her habitual place was at home; all treasures were under her care ; she educated her children, and governed her family. The father was the lord of the household; the daughter had equal rights with the son; this was the first time in woman's history that we have discovered thai she had any rights. Over her was a guardian whose authority only related to her property and not her person. She had the liberty to choose her own husband, guided by the advice of her parents or friends." During this period the growth of the republic made her a neighbor to Greece, and she soon began to feel the influence of Grecian civilization. In ► HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 663 jiact, an interchange of laws and eustoms gradually took place. The Greeks learned from the Romans bow to treat their wives with greater consideration, and the Romans contracted from the Grecians the vice of concubinage ; but not so just as the Grecians, they treated the children of these concubines with disfavor. The Romans adopted Grecian law as originated by Solon, and gradually it crept into the management of the family. Originally, in Rome, "law," says Gide, "did not interfere with family government £3 in Athens, for it was thought that the family hearth was too sacred for public tribunals. . . . Roman legislation did not wish to touch the independence of the family, nor confiue by legal restraint the ties which natural affection had formed." In time, however, law " pene trated the bosom of the family. It insured the woman a dower, and it constrained her to marry. It established various regulations concerning marriage and divorce; it overwhelmed with favor the couple that gave birth to the most children," and in all family matters it took an imperti- nent interest. I am not sure though, that, like the law of the Greeks, it required the husband to cohabit with his wife as often as once a month I Finally, in a little less than a century and a half before Christ, Greece was wholly absorbed by the Roman republic. During those one hundred and forty-six years Rome was overrun with "new men—strangers—and her •aristocracy disappeared." Radical changes from ancient usages were subse- quently greatly accelerated by the conquests of Julius Caesar. " Marriages became only passing unions of passion and convenience. Children no longer submitted to parental authority, and parricide was common." Rome grew rapacious as she grew larger, and surrounding nations that would not come voluntarily to her standard were made to submit to her rule by the sword of the conqueror. Glutton-like, she devoured all the smaller nationalities within her reach, and became sick. She would gladly have made Julius Caesar emperor, but he fell by the hand of an assassin, forty-four years before Christ. Then came Octavius, who assumed the title of Augustus, by which he has ever since been known. With him came new laws, and, as Paul Gide ironically remarks, " a man who would judge the Romans after their Taws, would not fail to think morality and the private virtues had progressed with this people from age to ag*, and bad never shone more brightly than at the times of Augustus and Tiberius." Under Augus- tus, law pretended to repress divorce and punish adultery; a father was obliged to dower his daughter, and she could enter complaint against him if he did not find her a husband. The state undertook to avenge the honor of the husband. If the latter killed his wife for adultery, he was punished as a murderer; but the father could kill the guilty daughter and her paramour. The adulteress might be tried before a judge, but seven 664 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. witnesses were required to convict her. Under the empire, the personal freedom which woman acquired under the republic was, in a legal point of view, subverted; but the subversion of many of woman's privileges began to take place long before the birth of Caesar. It remained for the latter to complete, what had been undertaken in a measure by the legislator!! before the change of the republic to an empire. During the reign of Augustus and Tiberius, the atmosphere was foggy with law respecting woman, marriage, and divorce, and at the same time never hi the whole history of Rome had there been so much matrimonial infidelity and sexual promiscuity. It was during the reign of the former that Jesus Christ was born, and within that of the latter that he founded what is now known as the Christian religion. It was during the reign of these two emperors that Rome sought to rigorously maintain, by law, the exemplary matrimonial life which bad in the early days of the republic been sustained without law. It had swallowed the most heterogeneous mixtures of laws in absorbing and conquering other powers, so that, while its sick stomach was " throwing up" some laws, it was gobbling down any quantity of others, and nothing scarcely was talked of by the people of those times excepting the question as to the true status of woman, the proper relations of the sexes in mar- riage, divorce, adultery, and the law—law—law I Then the anarchy among the Jews, which was inaugurated by Augustus, at the death of Herod the Great, by the division, among Herod's three sons, of the territory • ruled by the father, was at its very height. This bit of history will account, in the minds of those not before acquaint- ed with it, for the continual harping of the scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, and all sorts of cees, upon the law in these matters, as found in the New Tes- tament. Jesus of Nazareth was set upon by them as soon as he began his ministry, and while repeatedly telling them that there would be no marriage in heaven, he taught them to respect the laws of the Caesars, and, above all things, the compacts they solemnly entered into with women when assum- ing the marriage relation. Our Saviour evinced a disposition to avoid, as far as possible, the consideration or promulgation of rules bearing upon the details of human action, for such was the bigotry and intolerance of the people, that their already inflamed passions would only have been more furiously manifested against him, if a word inimical to the Caesars or their laws could have been seized upon for his condemnation. Hence, he was con- tent to enunciate principles broad enough to cover all the rules whioh Bhould govern the conduct of the human family, well knowing that, in process of time, the seed of truth which he was planting would spring up, and grow and ripen from generation to generation, as the human race pro- gressed. When pressed to answer impertinent questions, his answers were then, e,s they are to-day, variously iqterpretad. Some claim now that he did. HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 665 not prohibit polygamy, and that the example of Moses and the prophets favored it; others, that he commanded the people to observe the monogamic principle; still others, that he believed marriage to be simply a necessary evil, which time and progress would remedy. It will be interesting to stop at this point in Roman history, and take a peep at a few domestic views from the northward, through the historical stereoscope furnished by Tacitus. Judging from the accounts given by this historian in the first century, monogamy, or the marriage of one man to one woman, was probably in vogue among the northern barbarians prior to the Christian era, and possibly at the very time the Romans, many centuries be- fore Christ, were making an experiment of this system of marriage. It seems the ancient Germans attributed the origin of their marriage system to " Odin." When he lived is a problem I have been unable to solve, after rummaging all the authorities within my reach; but as Tacitus wrote his treatise on the " Manners and Customs of the Germans" ia the first century, and Odin was then only to be heard of in the ancient traditions of his people, ho must have been decidedly an antique chap, and possibly drank samples of tea expressed to him by old Fu-hi over two thousand years before Christ. He may also have been the inventor of " Lager," as well as of German marriage. We may infer from the character of the latter, that he was something of a woman's rights man, for while in oriental countries woman was considered incapable because of moral weakness, in Germany she was simply regarded inferior to man in physical strength, and was admitted to the councils of the father, husband, and brother. If she could not with her own hand defend herself, she could command the masculine hand of some relative or friend to do so, and while she could not be the guardian of her children, she was con- sulted on all the acts appertaining to the governance of her offspring. The ancient Germans had a superstitious confidence in the moral if not supernatural power of woman; so much so, indeed, that when in peril if they found their wives and daughters near them, they were inspired with new courage. Hence, the women accompanied them to the field of battle, and though they did not physically participate in the contest, they gave to their fathers, husbands, and sons, moral support. Not alone in the battles of contesting tribes were they the cherished companions of men. They mingled with them in all their amusements and exercises, and at tho beer tables filled their cups and drank with them. We see in this the origin of the custom now common among the German people, of men, women, and children con- gregating at the beer gardens in this country as well as in Europe. In their marriage usages the father disposed of the hand of the daughter; if he were absent or dead, then the elder brother officiated, the mother par- ticipating with him; if the mother was a widow without sons, it was her exclusive prerogative to give her daughter's hand in marriage. 060 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. Family matters were not regulated by the state. Families organized and defended themselves, and the state was composed of these distinct families. Those only who could bear arms were allowed to rule. Tho monogamic system of marriage exclusively prevailed among these people. " The ancient Germans," remarks Norton, " were such strict monogamists. that they held it as a kind of polygamy for a woman to marry a second husband after the death of the first." If a husband did an injury to his wife, he was pursued by her family, and. if taken, was compelled to pay damages. The wife could have a separation from her husband if his habits were corrupt, and her parents defended her from any abuse of the marital power; these barbarians abhorred adultery, and the women were so chaste that their virtues were celebrated by their husbands and fathers. As Christianity, clothed in the civilization of the Romans, permeated these people, they were as much shocked at the vices of the Romans as the latter were surprised at the virtues of the Germans. We might next take a peep up into the cold regions of Scandinavia, where, also, monogamy was strictly practised; but we will reserve the picture of Scandinavian domestic life for a future paragraph, for such was her aversion to the Romans, she would not accept any thing from them— not even Christianity, until about the tenth century, and then it made little headway for several centuries after. We will therefore return, like the oft- snubbed Romans, from the honest but barbarous shores of the Baltic, and see how marriage in the Old Empire flourishes. Here we find little change. The national marriage system remains prac- tically the same, although there may be greater local diversities than for- merly. However ostensibly rigid the laws may be, sexual excess and matrimonial perfidy were never more rampant than during the reign of Nero, commencing a. d. 54. In the latter days of the pagan empire, some measures are adopted to repress the profligacy that so extensively prevails. Domitian enforces tbe old Scantinian law against unnatural love. This refers to the love of a man for a man, or a woman for a woman, or of those of either sex for animals below them. Vespasian moderates the luxury of the court. Macrinus requires those who have committed adultery to be bound together and burned alive. Hadriau condemns the practice of men and women bathing together, but it remains for Constantine to suppress this practice altogether. Christianity is slowly spreading, though encounter- ing great opposition. During the first century, according to the "New Ameri- can Cyclopedia," "it enters into nearly all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, especially in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, and the north of Africa," but we must go down to the beginning of the fourth century before it is strong enough to give to the nation a Christian emperor. Constantine the Great begins his rule in 30), and five years thereafter HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 667 embraces Christianity; in twenty years more transfers the seat of govern- ment from Rome to Byzantium (now Constantinople). " Transformed by the Greek law," remarks Gide, "Roman law had become the prevailing rule of all nations. Finally transformed by the Christian law, it was about to be- come the common law of all civilized peoples." But how do we find marriage under the new Christian regime ? Strange enough I The old pagan law urged marriage ; the new Christian law urged celibacy. St. Jerome, who flourished in the fourth century, and to whom the Christian world is greatly indebted for the early translations and revisions of the Old and New Testaments, and other Christian works, said: " Let us put the hand to the axe, and cut by its roots the sterile tree of marriage. God had well permitted marriage at the commencement of the world, but Jesus Christ and Mary have consecrated virginity." " It was," says Gide, " the accepted opinion of the Fathers of the Church of the fourth century, that marriage was the consequence of the original sin, and that, without the first transgression, 'God' would have provided otherwise for the per- petuation of human kind." This doctrine would hardly have suited the modern old lady, who was told that a Yankee had invented a machine for manufacturing babies, and thereupon responded, that she thought the old-fashioned way was the best: nor is it exactly in harmony with the law governing nearly the whole animal kingdom, only the human portion of which ate of that troublesome apple. But let us resume. "From the fourth century," continues Gide, "such was the doctrine of the universal church, and the sanctity of the conjugal union had for de- fenders only some heretics. From the writings of the Fathers this doctrine soon passed into a law. The church forbade marriage to its clergymen, and, not being able to control the simple faithful, they applied themselves to restraining them. For though they allowed it was permitted to marry once, all second marriages, they claimed, were at the bottom only adultery. But ecclesiastical canons finally tempered this a little. They tolerated, though with marked disfavor, a second union in case of the death of the first wife, but they forbade absolutely this course in case of repudiation ok divorce. To employ modern language, they substituted for divorce the separation of body. Later, the interpreters of the canonic law make one step more in this dangerous path; the law imposes restrictions to the rela- tions of the couple, and starting always from the principle 'that marriage Is a necessary evil,' they deduce from it, with the subtle logic familiar to casuists, the proposition that licit conjugal relations are those which have for their object only the procreation of children." It was unfortunate for the early Christians that old St. Paul, through some love-disappointment in youth probably, was an old bachelor, and always threw his influence in favor of celibacy. He was like the fox who lost his tail, and would have pre- 003 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. ferred that all other foxes should get along without this caudai extremity. He wrote to the Corinthians, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." Again he said, "For I would all men were even as I myself; but every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they bide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn." Tn giving this advice, however, he said he spoke by permission and not of commandment. There is a great deal of individ- uality in all of St. Paul's writings, and it is not likely that this apostle was so much different from other men as not to have been considerably in- fluenced by his personal experience and prejudice in giving advice to his hearers. The Shaker sect we have to-day, wliich advocates celibacy, was founded by a woman, Ann Lee, who married and had four children, all of whom, husband included, died; and there can bo no doubt that her dis- agreeable experience in married life so wrought upon her mind as to lead her to think intercourse with the opposite sex was sinful, or at least attended with trouble and sorrow; and she thereupon organized a society which abjured marriage and all intercourse sexually with man. We will return, however, from this digression to our history. It was under the Christian emperors that the patrimony of the family was made to descend to the children. It was the opinion of the Christian rulers that parents should benefit and enrich their children, instead of the latter laboring for the aggrandizement of parents as under ancient Roman usage, This idea carried in the right direction, *'. e. their proper propaga- tion, and moral and physical development, rather than material advance- ment, would better represent the true Christian spirit. The Christian emperors, according to Gide, "were the first to encourage the family to conceal the disgrace of adultery, or to take into their own hands the right to avenge it by the destruction of the invader. Constantino discouraged and tried to destroy the system of concubinage. He made bas- tards odious, and proposed to legitimatize the children of those living in thia relation who would marry." This, of course, was simply to remedy one evil by the substitution of another, for, be it constantly borne in mind, celibacy was rewarded by the early Christian rulers as much as marriage was by the old pagan legislators. The spirit of those times was, first: if possible, make the people celibates; secondly: if they married, the marriage must be regarded as indissoluble; and thirdly: if separation occurred, the parties must not again marry. It was disposed to remove some of the disabilities which the earlier emperors had imposed upon woman so far as related to her control and power to sell property; but comparatively little freedom was allowed to the sex. Cats were allowed to have kittens, and women wnjoy ing in a r^asure the same freedom, were allowed to have babies in HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. 669 (Srect antagonism to the rules of the church, however, were the practices of the clergy, for in 370 the Emperor Valentinian, shocked at the prevalence of their vice and licentiousness, found it necessary to enact a law visiting severe punishment " on every ecclesiastic who visited the houses of widows and virgins." During the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century, known by the des- ignation of the " Dark Ages," the civilization of the early pagans, that of the Christians, that of the Mohammedans, and the social and religious in- ventions of the northern barbarians, may be said to have been thrown into one immense heap of compost, from which later customs and religious and political institutions sprung. Polygamy, monogamy, omuigamy, polyandry, prostitution, and all sorts of customs relating to the intercourse of the sexes, prevailed in Europe as well as in Asia and Africa. Even Christianity was almost obliterated; the sexual morality of those ages may be inferred from one of the edicts of Charlemagne, which was as follows: " We have been informed, to our great horror, that many monks are ad- dicted to debauchery and ell sorts of vile abominations, even to unnatural sins. We forbid all such practices in the most solemn manner; and hereby make known that all monks who indulge in the gratification of such lusts will be punished by us so severely, that no Christian will ever care to com- mit such excesses again. We command our monks to cease swarming about the country, and we forbid our nuns to practise fornication and intoxi- cation. We shall not allow them any longer to be whores, thieves, murder- ers, etc.; to spend their time in debauchery and singing improper songs; priests are herewith forbidden to haunt the taverns and market-places for the purpose of seducing mothers and daughters," etc. A newspaper critic, in a review of a work by Henry C. Lee, giving " An Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church," presents further evidence to the same effect at a still later period. " During a suc- cession of centuries," this writer remarks, " the enforcement of the celibate discipline was attempted with various results; but not until after the fourth Council of Lateran, in 1215, do we cease to find frequent instances of mar- riage among those devoted to holy orders. At this date the triumph of Bacerdotalism may be regarded as complete. In theory, at least, all who had assumed the sacred ministry were exclusively devoted to the solemn service. The effect was doubtless to strengthen the pretensions of the church to spiritual supremacy ; but the influence on the morals of the clergy only repeated the deplorable vices of past centuries. There had not been wanting voices of awful rebuke to denounce the ambition of the church in imposing such unnatural restrictions. St. Bernard, the most conspicuous ecclesiastic of the day, uttered a vigorous protest against the endeavor to enforce a purity at war with the instincts of human nature, .Deprive the 670 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. church of honorable marriage, he insisted, and you fill her with concubinage, incest, and all manner of nameless vice and uncleanness. His warnings were fulfilled to the letter. Notorious illicit unions, or still more degrading secret licentiousness, became the universal vice of the church throughout Christendom. '' The degradation of the clergy became so complete that even an organized system of concubinage was welcomed by the friends of virtue as a safeguard against promiscuous licentiousness. It was deemed preferable to the mis- chief which the unbridled passions of the pastor might inflict on his flock. Even Chancellor Gerson, the celebrated advocate of mystical asceticism, did not hesitate to recommend concubinage; which, though scandalous in itself, might serve as a preventive to greater scandals. In some of the Swiss can- tons it was the custom to oblige a new pastor, on entering upon his func- tions, to select a female companion, as a necessary protection to the virtue of his parishioners, and the peace of the families intrusted to his spiritual direction. Indeed, it appears, on the authority of the Council of Palencia, in 1322, that such a practice was not uncommon in Spain A dreadful encouragement to the wantonness of the clergy was presented by the exam- ple of the supreme authorities at Rome. Sacerdotal marriage had been scarcely driven entirely from the church when the morals of the Roman ecclesiastics became the disgrace of Christendom. The removal of the Papal See to Avignon, during the period of the Great Schism, only made matters worse. We have a remarkable picture of society at that time by Petrarch. He could find no language of sufficient strength to express his abhorrence of that ecclesiastical Babylon, though he was restrained by fear from giving full utterance to his feelings. Chastity was a reproach, and licentiousness a virtue. The aged prelates surpassed their younger brethren in wickedness, as in years. The vilest crimes were the pastimes of pontifical ease. Juve- nal or Brant6me describe no scenes of more shameless corruption." According to Lecky, " an Italian bishop of the tenth century, epigrammati- cally described the morals of his time, when he declared that if he were to enforce the canons against unchaste people administering ecclesiastical rites, no one would be left in the church except the boys; and if he were to observe the canons against bastards, these also must be excluded 1 A tax, called cullagium, which was in fact a license to clergymen to keep concu* bines, was during several centuries systematically levied by princes." There was, however, throughout all this period, a class of ascetics, who held out firmly against not only marriage, but also against all carnal inter- course. " Thus St. Jerome relates an incredible story of a young Chris- tian being, in the Diocletian persecution, bound with ribbons of silk in the midst of a-lovely garden, surrounded by every thing that could charm the ear and the eye, while a beautiful courtesan assailed him with her bland HISTORY OF MONOGAMY. (571 lshments. Whereupon, he protected himself by biting out his tongue and spitting it in her face." "The-object of the ascetics," remarks Lecky, "was to attract men to a life of virginity, and, as a necessary consequence, marriage was treated as an inferior state. The relation which uature has designed for the noble purpose of repairing the ravages of death, which, as Linnaeus has shown extends even through the world of flowers, was invariably treated as a con- sequence of the fall of Adam, and marriage was regarded almost exclu- sively in its lowest aspect. Whenever any strong religious fervor fell upon a husband or wife, its first effect was to make a happy union impossible. The more religious partner immediately desired to live a life of solitary as- ceticism, or, at least, if no ostensible separation took place, an unnatural life of separation in marriage. Saint Nilus, when he had already two children, was seized with a longing for the prevailing asceticism, and his wife was persuaded, after many tears, to consent to their separation. Saint Ammon, on the night of his marriage, proceeded to greet his bride with an harangue upon the evils of the marriage state, and they agreed, in consequence, at once to separate. Saint Melania labored long and earnestly to induce her husband to allow her to desert his bed, before he would consent. Saint Abraham ran away from his wife on the night of his marriage. Nominal marriages, in which the partners agreed to shun the marriage bed, became not uncommon. The Emperor Henry II., Edward the Confessor, of Eng- land, and Alpbonso II., of Spain, gave examples of it." We therefore see that the asceticism of the few was as extreme and as mischievous as the licentiousness of the many. " The extent to which the ascetic feeling was carried," says Lecky, " is shown by the famous vision of Alberic in the twelfth century, in which a special place of torture, consist- ing of a lake of mingled lead, pitch, and resin, is represented as existing in hell, for the punishment of married people who had lain together during the church festivities or fast days." The new social systems of Europe that emerged from the grand hetero- geneous " stew " of the Middle Ages, mainly adopted ostensible monogamy. Ancient Scandinavia, however, was not involved in the European Salma- gundi of those times, for she had all along possessed and maintained fixed institutions of her own. Her ice-bound coast isolated her from the war and carnage, and the social and sexual revolutions of her southern neigh- bors ; and as she looked down upon their miseries she was content to remain in her isolation. Nor would she to any great extent accept Christi- anity, till, in the sixteenth century, it came to her cleansed by the reforma- tion of Luther, and to-day Norway and Sweden are mainly Protestant. The position of the Scandinavian women was rather lowered than bet- tered by the influx of the new civilization. In no country or age had she 672 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE been treated with so much justice. With these barbarous people a period of majority was recognized among women as well as among men, and a woman could own and dispose of property after becoming of age; and although she could not defend or prosecute a legal action in person, she could choose or change her male representative at will. The property of the wife was not liable to be seized for the debts of the husband, unless Bhe had jointly with him contracted the obligation. What was earned by the husband, or by the. united efforts of the couple, was one-half her prop- erty, and this much, or at least one-third, was set off to her in case of separation. Monogamy had been their system of marriage from earliest antiquity, and their marriages were preceded by betrothals of a most solemn and obligatory character. According to Gide, the man said to the woman: " To thee the honor and rights of wife—to thee the keys of my house—the half of my bed —the third of all that which I possess, and all that which we may acquire together." It is proper to remark that among some of the tribes one-half instead of one-third was stipulated to be the wife's portion. Although a man, on taking a wife, usually paid something to her guardian for his trouble in taking care of her during the period of her minority, wives were in no case bought nor women sold among these people. Although in marriage a woman surrendered the control of her property to her husband, in case of separation he was obliged to return it or its equivalent, together with half of the products of their mutual industry. The early Scandinavians had religious teachers and bishops, although they were neither Christian nor Hebrew. These religious functionaries had noth- ing to do with marrying people, but in case of matrimonial infelicity, their interposition was sought. If a husband was dissipated, by appeal to the bishop, the wife might have separation of property without dissolution of marriage; or, by his decree, entire separation. There was no law or rule to prevent separation when it was mutually conceded to be best. The wife could return to her father's family if she wished, and with them make a united effort against any meditated wrong of the husband. If she became a widow by death or separation, she had personal control of her property and could again marry without the consent of her family. The people of Norway and Sweden have changed but little in ages, and most of their institutions differ little from what they were hundreds of years ago; in their social habits they have taken on the excesses and vices of Roman and Grecian civilization. With this account of the early Scandinavians, I shall close the history of monogamy, as any one at all familiar with modern literature can. with the aid of the next chapter, trace its further history to the present time. As the reader carefully peruses the foregoing pages, he readily observes the origin Of many of the customs of to-day, and the female reader will peroeive quite aa HISTORICAL CHIPS. 673 readily that what freedom her sex enjoys m the 19th century, is mostly de- rived from the institutions of the ancient Germans and Scandinavians. Without assuming, as most boys do, to know more than our Father, I cannot repress the expression of the opinion that if Christianity had been sown among the virtuous and vigorous barbarians of Northern Europe, rather than in the corrupt and decaying civilization of Rome, the Goths and Vandals would have carried it with triumphant banners over the crumbling Roman empire, and the whole civilized world would now be enjoying the light rather than the mist of Christianity. As it is, to Germany under God belongs the honor of filtering it to some extent from the scum with which it was mixed when it came up from the Romans. Martin Luther was a German. Historical Chips. When the pioneer builds his log-cabin, chips accumulate. In building this history of marriage, I find myself surrounded with entertaining iacts which could not relevantly find place in the narrative. We will gather these up in one pile at the close, and call them the "historical chips." They exhibit the odd cus- Fig. 157. toms of various peoples in different ages, and may lead the reader to analyze our own, to see if some of them are not, to use a forcible ex- pression, ridiculous. It may certainly be set down as a palpable fact, that every thing in our customs which is in any way prejudicial to our moral and physical health, and true happiness, may some day receive the /ust ridicule of posterity. I shall place quotation marks before and after each of the various facts presented, for though the phraseology is sometimes my own, the matter is derived and con- densed from various sources, aDd to save space and the repetition of names, I will present my authorities in a lump. They are, then, Gide, Picart, Montfaucon, Alexander, Lecky, Lady Hamilton, Nichols, Norton, etc. 29 674 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. " Betrothing and espousals were held at night or at day-break among the Romans, and never at a period of earthquake or stormy weather. The pledge given by the groom to the bride was an iron ring without a stone, a crow was often offered as a sacrifice among the ceremonies, it being coi ■ eidered a bird of good omen, from the popular belief that when it had lost its mate it always remained in a state of celibacy. Another ceremony waa to comb the hair of the bride, and divide the locks with the point of a spear which had been dipped in the blood of a gladiator, as an omen that she would be the mother of valiant offspring, and also that she was under the dominion of her husband. The Romans, too, washed the feet of then newly married women, as an emblem of that purity which was required of them when they entered the marriage state. At one time there was a law that restrained a Roman from marrying any one who was not a Roman, 01 a denizen of Rome. Nor were senators allowed to marry their daughters to the sons of plebeians, nor nobles to freedmen." "The parable of the virgins—that at midnight there was a cry mad*: 'Behold the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him,' is explained bj a custom of the nations bordering on Judea, which was for the bridegroom and bride to absent themselves from their house until midnight, when they returned, and were received with loud shouts, music, and rejoicing." ''• Formerly, among the peasants of Great Britain, when a bride was brought to the door of the bridegroom's house, a cake was broken over her head, for the fragments of which the attendants scrambled. These fragments were laid under the pillows of the young men and maidens, and were supposed to De endowed with a power of making them dream of their future wives and husbands. The latter part of this custom has come down to our own times, and is commonly practised half in jest and half in eai'^st, after weddings." " The custom of betrothal seems to have originated in the very earliest ages; children were betrothed in their infancy, to strengthen families by binding them together. According to the Talmud, there were three ways of betrothing. First, by written contract; second, by a verbal agreement in the presence of witnesses, and made more binding by the presentation of a piece of money; a third, by the parties simply uniting and living aa husband and wife, which was considered as a tacit agreement. These three forms were the origin of the common law in regard to contracts and partnerships of every sort." " Among the Romans, a long time prior to the rise of the empire, their manners were more rigid than those of our Puritan fathers. A senator was censured for indecency, because he kissed his wife in the presence of their daughter. It was, moreover, considered disgraceful for a Roman mother to delegate to a nurse the duty of suckling her child. The courtesan class, at that time, though probably numerous and certainly uncontrolled, were HISTORICAL CHIPS. G75 regarded with much contempt. The. disgrace of publicly professing them- selves members of it was believed to be a sufficient punishment, and an old law, which was probably intended to teach iu symbol the duties of married life, enjoined that no such person should touch the altar of Juno- It was related of a certain asdile, that he failed to obtain redress for an assault which had been made upon him, because it had occurred in a house of ill fame, in which it was disgraceful for a Roman magistrate to be found. Iho sanctity of female purity was believed to be attested by all nature. The most savage animal became tame before a virgin. When a woman walked naked around a field, caterpillars and all loathsome insects fell dead before her. It was said, drowned men floated on their backs and drowned women on their faces; and this, in the opinion of Roman natural- ists, was due to the superior purity of the latter." " An inundation of Eastern luxury and Eastern morals near the close of the republic and the rise of the empire submerged all the old habits of austere simplicity of the Romans. The civil wars and the empire degraded the character of the people, and the exaggerated prudery of republican man- ners only served to make the rebound into vice the more irresistible. In the fierce outburst of ungovernable and almost frantic depravity that marked this evil period, the violations of female virtue were infamously prominent. The slaves were chosen from the most voluptuous provinces of the empire; the games of Flora, in which races of naked courtesans were exhibited; the pantomimes, which derived their charms chiefly from the audacious indecencies of the actors; the influx of the Greek and Asiatic courtesans, who were attracted by the wealth of the Roman metropolis; licentious paintings, which began to adorn their houses—all these causes, combining with the intoxication of great wealth suddenly acquired, with the disruption through many causes of all the ancient habits and beliefs, etc., had their part in preparing those orgies of vice which the writers of the empire reveal." " The extreme coarseness of the Roman disposition prevented sensuality from assuming that ajsthetic character which had made it in Greece tho parent of art, and had very profoundly modified its influence; while tho passion for gladiatorial shows often allied it somewhat unnaturally with cruelty." " There have certainly been many periods in history," says Lecky, '■ when virtue was more rare than under the Caesars; but there has proba- bly never been a period when vice was more extravagant or uncontrolled." " There was a disposition during the reign of Augustus to avoid marriage, which this emperor attempted in vain to arrest by his laws against celibacy, and by conferring many privileges on the fathers of three children. The disposition to avoid the annoyances and responsibilities of marriage evi- dently existed before the close of the republic A singularly curious 676 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. speech is preserved, which is said to have been delivered on this subject by Metellus Numicus. 'If, Romans,' he said, 'we could live without wives, we should all keep free from that source of trouble; but since Nature has ordained that men can neither live sufficiently agreeably with wives, nor at all without them, let us consult the perpetual endurance of our race, rather than our own brief enjoyment.' " " The Romans admitted three kinds of marriage: 'Confarreatio,' which was accompanied by tho most awful religious ceremonies, was practically indissoluble, and was jealously restricted to patricians; the ' coemtio,' which was purely civil, which derived its name from a symbolical sale, and which like the preceding form, gave the husband complete authority over tho person and property of his wife; and the 'usus,' which was effected by a simple declaration of a determination to cohabit. This last form of mar- riage became general in the empire. Cicero evidently regarded sexual in- tercourse necessary for the physical health of at least young men. He, of course, like every other masculine legislator, did not express himself as to the necessities of young women. 'If there be any one,' he says, 'who thinks that young men should be altogether restrained from the love of courtesans, he is indeed very severe. I am not prepared to deny his posi- tion; but he differs not ouly from the license of our age, but also from the customs and allowances of our ancestors. When, indeed, was it not done 7 When was it blamed ? When was it not allowed ? When was that which is now lawful not lawful ?' Alexander Severus, who of all the Roman em- perors was probably tho most energetic in legislating against vice, when appointing a provincial governor, besides providing him with horses and servants, if he was unmarried also procured for him a concubine, 'because,1 as the historian very gravely observes, ' it is impossible that he could exist without one.' " "The Romish Christian Fathers seem to have thought dissolution of mar- riage was not lawful on account of the adultery of the husband; and that it was not absolutely unlawful, though not commendable, for a husband whose wife had committed adultery, to remarry. Charlemagne pronounced divorce to be criminal, but did not venture to make it penal; he practised it himself." "After the triumph of the Christian Church, the intermarriage of Jews and Christians was made a capital offence, and was stigmatized by the law as adultery." " It is related, that at Babylon, a law compelled every woman, at least once in her life, to make a public sacrifice in the temple of Venus; and that in Lydia and Cyprus, no woman was allowed to become the exclusive wife of one man until she had accumulated a dowry by public prostitution." " The wives of Formosa, in olden times, were not permitted to have chil- dren until they were six or seven and thirty years old; this custom may hare HISTORICAL CHIPS. 677 become modified through the advance of civilization; to enforce rigidly the old custom, certain women, delegated as priestesses, performed abortions upon those who became pregnant at an early age." " The object of the laws instituted by Julian, in the fourth century, was to preserve the Roman blood from corruption, and still further, to degrade prostitutes. These aims were partially attained by prohibiting the inter- marriage of citizens with the relatives or descendants of prostitutes, by exposing adulterers to a severe penalty, and declaring the tolerant husband an accomplice ; by laying penalties on bachelors, and married men without children." " It used to be the custom of the Russians to crown the bride with a garland of wormwood, as typifying the bitterness of the marriage state. After the marriage, the bride and groom were allowed to remain together for two hours, when they were visited by a deputation of old women, who came to search for the signs of the bride's virginity; if these were apparent, the young lady tied up her hair, which before the consummation hung in loose tresses over her shoulders. She was then allowed to visit her mother and demand of her her marriage portion. It was the custom of both sexes of these people, not more than half a century ago, to bathe together. A writer of those days related what he had seen as follows: ' I am only just returned from being a spectator of one of their customs, at which I could not help being a little surprised; it was a promiscuous bath of not less than two hundred persons of both sexes. There are several of these public bagnios in Petersburg, and every visitor pays a few copecks for admittance. There are, indeed, separate spaces intended for the men and women; but they seem quite regardless of this distinction, and sit or bathe in a state of abso- lute nudity among each other.' In those days, if a woman was barren, the husband generally persuaded her to retire to a convent; and if he did not succeed by fair means, he was at liberty to whip her into condescension. If a woman killed her husband while he was chastising her, she was buried in the ground with her head uncovered, and in this state left to perish; in some instances they remained several days in this position before death relieved them. In the early part of the present century, however, the very attempt to procure abortion was esteemed a capital crime in woman; if twins were born, it was required that one of the innocents should be destroyed." " As has been before mentioned, the institution of marriage in China was originated by Fu-hi. He ordered that the men should distinguish them- selves from the women by their dress; and his laws against consanguineous marriage were so severe, that they could not marry a wife of the same name though the relationship were ever so distant. This custom is said to be strictly observed to this day." "In ancient Sparta the function of woman was to give strong and healthy g78 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. children to the state; and it was ordered that old or infirm husbands snould cede their young wives to strong men who could produce vigorous sol- diers for the Spartan armies. Young men and women ran races, wrestled, and in a nude state bathed together; and it was adjudged that a man had the best right to a woman who was the most suitable to become the father of her children. Once, when a Spartan army had been absent for a long period, a delegation was selected and sent home to perform the duties of husbands for all." " The Athenians bestowed no considerable posts, such as governors and ambassadors, on those who were unmarried, or who had not lands and pos- sessions. January was the month when nuptials were mostly celebrated, and the fourth day was considered the most fortunate." " Infidelity, among the orientals, consisted not ingoing with other women, but in the husband neglecting his own wife, and not discharging toward her conjugal duties. The state not only required that a man should be a husband, but also a father." "Under Hadrian, a. d. 117, woman first obtained the power to make a will. Under Marcus Aurelius, in 171, the children of a woman inherited her property by law. Among the Mussulmans the husband is obliged to leave a dower to the wife he forsakes; if the marriag3 is broken by tho death of the husband, his heirs are obliged to protect and support the widow. Manon first prohibited the buying of wives in India, and later the prohibi- tion extended throughout Eastern Asia, and later still the same thing was effected in Western Asia. In tho Talmud, as in the Koran, it was no longer to the father, but to the girl herself that the man gave presents when about to become her husband; and the price of a wife had been changed to a kind of dower for her good." '• In China, it used to be the custom for one of tho public officers to causr to be assembled, in a public square, all men wno were thirty years of age, and all women who were twenty, who were not married, and have them pun- ished." ■' Polygamy is an institution which has remained unchanged throughout the whole East, through all changes of time, races, religion, and climate. Those even who have given to Asia the purest laws—Zoroaster and Moses even—were obliged to make their rigid doctrines conform with this custom, Polygamy is an institution characteristic to Asia, as monogamy is of Europe. Montesquieu seems to admit that in warm climates it is natural to have many wives, and this for the following reasons: In these countries more girls than boys are born; it costs less to support many wives and a numer- ous progeny. But that which proves that it exists in all climates and all zones, is, that it is found among the Indians of the two Americas, the Tar- tars of the two Russias, and Kamschatka, as well as in the heat of the HISTORICAL CHIPS. 679 tropics." "It is not," remarks Paul Gide, "the result of climate and cir- cumstances, but a certain state of civilization, or rather of barbarism." " Under the law of Moses, marriage, even with polygamy, and the facility of divorce, might be insufficient to give heirs to a family; the union might be unfruitful through the fault of the husband." The Hebrews, however, claiming greater morality on the score of detesting adultery, but in reality feeling simply greater jealousy of their women than the people of India, did not allow sharing of conjugal rights, but if husbands, while living, could not give these rights to a brother, they transmitted them to this relative at death ; the widow passed with the property into the hands of the brother, who, it was thought, should marry her, and give posterity to the departed. If he failed in this, and refused to marry the woman, he was dishonored in the eyes of the people, and forfeited his inheritance, which went to the next nearest relative. If a widower left no wife, but did leave a daughter, she went with the property, in the same way, and the first male child took the name of her father. " Among the Romans," says the missionary Casalis, "the wife was the sister of the husband's children; when a father spoke of himself and children, the wife was always considered among the latter." Captain Cook, after his voyage round the world, said of the natives of Oceanian, " that although they were religious, and believed in the immor- tality of the soul, they seemed strangers to all notions of marriage, or of family, or to even any feeling of modesty." Other travelers confirm this account. " Among other savage tribes the women possess some authority. Among the tribes of the Tonga Islands, and among some of those of the Vest Indies, the children belong to their mother, and not to the father; the women participated in all manual labor: rowed the boats, waged war, and advised in council." " Tho law of marriage among the Philistines was very crude and illy regu- lated, cs appears from the fact that the father-in-law of Samson gave away his daughter Delilah to another husband, upon Samson being some time absent from her." '• The ancient Assyrians assembled together once every year all the mar- riageable girls, who were then put up for sale, one after another, by the public crier; the amount received from the sale of the prettier ones was divided up into dowries for those who, by deformity, or other reasons, could find no purchasers. These dowries, in turn, were employed by such unfortunates in the purchase of husbands, or in influencing men to marry them." " Among all the nations of antiquity, marriage was looked upon as purely a civil contract, no priest or prophet having any thing to uo with its celebr* tion." "It used to be the practice of the Turks, during the festival of the Bayram, 680 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. to give their wives the privilege of going abroad closely veiled, and without an attendant. This liberty they improved very extensively in illicit mt.ma- cies with the Christians at taverns and other public places, as they managed to take out under their clothes a change of attire, with which they disguised themselves. It is related that on one occasion a young Frenchman, whose acquaintance was thus formed by a Turkish lady of quality, was, by the aid of a bribed Jew, duly installed in woman's attire, in the household of the old Turk, as a servant, and while there, the favorite -wife became a mother, much to the gratification of the husband, who had supposed himself inca- pable of becoming a father. When the young man's beard began to grow, he was compelled to escape to avoid detection, but, when he left, his mis- tress loaded him with jewels." - " Formerly, it was a custom to examine into a person's procreative abili- ties, either in the presence of a spiritual or secular judge, and several sur- geons and matrons; but it was abolished in Franco in 1677, after having been observed for nearly one hundred and twenty years. Justinian, one of the early emperors, felt called upon to forbid this and otner such customs enacted for examining candidates for matrimony." " Lacedaemonians were remarkable for their severity against those that deferred marriage, as well as those who abstained therefrom. No man among them could live singly beyond tho time limited by their lawgiver, without incurring several penalties, as: first, the magistrates commanded such ones every winter to run around the public forum quite naked, and, to increase their shame, they sang a song, the words of which aggravated their crime, and exposed them to ridicule; another was to exclude them from those exercises in which, according to the Spartan custom, young virgins contended naked; a third penalty was inflicted upon a certain solemnity, wherein the women dragged them around the altar, beating them all the time with their fists." "In Rome, during the empire, under tho Caesars, the Roman maidens could not walk through the streets without'seeing temples raised to the honor of Venus; that Venus who was the mother of Rome, as the patroness of illicit pleasures; in every field, and in many a square, statues of Priapus, or, in other words, statues fashioned in the image of the procreative organs, presented themselves to view, often surrounded by pious matrons in quest of favor from the god." " The Jews thought so strongly of the importance of marriage, that they counted neither man nor woman complete alone, and the man who did not produce offspring was in their view a homicide. Among the Brahmins, the first three castes chose their wives before they had arrived at puberty, and it was considered a disgrace among them to pass that period without being married. Among the Amerioan Indians, in early times, particularly those HISTORICAL CHIPS. 681 located, in Canada, and by Hudson's Bay, barrenness was considered the chief grounds for divorce. In China the increase of population was thought to be of so much importance to the state, that a bachelor of twenty waa pointed at and ridiculed as an object of contempt. Throughout the whole history of marriage, we find, in all countries, the desire of fruitfulness held up as the chief end, until later civilization, with its accompanying education of the female sex, brought other tastes into play; it would seem that the sole end of woman was to bear children; thus, at the marriage ceremonies in many countries, brides were strewn with hops, and other flowers and plants noted for fruitfulness; and the heads of bridegrooms were decorated with figs and other fruits known to be prolific." " In the Spanish dominions, in early times, females were reckoned mar-' riageable at twelve, and males at fourteen; and nothing was more common in that country, than for a husband and wife to be met with, whose united ages would not exceed thirty. Every girl who had attained the age of twelve might compel a young man to marry her, provided he had reached his fourteenth year, and she could prove he had anticipated the rights of a husband with her." " Nearly a century ago, at Venice, the girls of pleasure received tha protection of government. They belonged to tho entertainments of the carnival which could not do well without them. Most of these unfortunate females were sold by their parents in their tender infancy; the agreement with the lovers or dealers in virginity was done before a notary public, and was considered valid in every court of justice. These nymphs observed most strictly their fasts, went daily to mass, and had their special tutelar saint, under whose auspices they exercised their profession with a good conscience. The courtesans had often the figure of the Virgin in their bedrooms, before whose face they drew a curtain previously to sleeping with their gallants. In the matrimonial market, matches were commonly made between persons who had never seen each other. Concu- binage was a common custom, frequently ending, though, with marriage performed at the death-bed of one of the parties." "In ancient Peru the marriageable young maidens, nearly or distantly re- lated to the Inca, were given in marriage by him, the age being eighteen to twenty for the maidens, and twenty-four for the men. This occurred annually on a certain day, after which the ministers appointed by him for the purpose in the same manner mated the sons and daughters of the inhabitants of Cuzco. The governors of provinces were obliged to follow the same rule in their own districts; the heir to the crown married his own sister- in default of one, he married his nearest female blood-relation. Among the ancient Peruvians a man felt himself injured if his wife had bWB cUtoj aimuax feeling is said to have wife* ift Thibet, and.flome of 682 HISTORY OF MARRIAGE. the South Sea Islands. Women were freely offered to strangers by their husbands, fathers, or themselves among the natives of Brazil, Pegu, Siam, Cochin China, Cambodia, coast of Guinea, and most groups of Polynesia. Indeed, the inhabitants of the Pacific groups, separated from each other and from all the world, did not appear to have the least idea that chastity was a virtue, or its opposite a vice. If women were constant to one man, it was simply from inclination, and not from the force of opiniou, custom or law. These usages still exist to some extent among the peoples mentioned in the foregoing." " Among the Tartars, a century ago, a woman never saw her husband till she was just about to become his wife; girls went to their marriage just about as culprits nowadays go to the gallows. Often they fainted, and so greatly did they dread marriage, they would run out of the room when it was mentioned." " The Zaporog Cassocks used to live in separate communities, the males in one place and the females in another. The women were not allowed under penalty of death to visit the residence of the men; but each Zaporog had a right to go to the settlement of the women, and select those he chose. No man gave himself any trouble to ascertain who was the father of the children that wero born; boys were early taken to the settlements of the men, and the girls retained in those set apart for the women. The women had no freedom in the selection of men, but wero obliged to submit to the embrace of any free Zaporog who might take a fancy to cohabit with her. Four men always lived in the samo hut together. If a man fell in lovo with a girl, he was allowed to marry her; but lie lost all right to share in the produce of the chase, and was obliged to till the land, and pay a certain tribute, which was divided among the Zaporogs of the settle- ment, who styled themselves free and noble." " Among the ancient Mexicans, marriages were solemnized by tho priests, and a public instrument was drawn up giving an inventory of the posses- sions of the wife, which, in case of separation, were returned to her. The hearth or fire was looked upon by these people with religious veneration, and considered as a mediator in all domestic disputes; it answered to the domestic gods of the Romans. At Tlascalla they shaved the heads of both bride and groom, to signify that in the married state they must put off all personal adornments. Divorces were very common, the only law being mutual consent." " Perhaps the most remarkable instance in connection with the sale of women as wives was that of the Thracians, who put up their fairest virgins at public sale for the benefit of government, an important means of increasing the national revenue which has since been neglected." " Among the JCoreki, a people belonging to Russia in the seventeenth. HISTORICAL CHIPS. 683 century, those not given to a wandering life were remarkably free from jealousy. The settled Koreki, always when one man visited another, pre- sented the wife or daughter for him to lie with ; but those who led a wander- ing life were very jealous, and frequently put their wives to death if even suspected of infidelity." " In the island of Mitylene there was, half a century ago, a small town about three days' journey from the capital, where every stranger, upon his arrival, was compelled to marry one of the women, even though his stay should be for a night only. If the stranger had property, he had his choice of several females, as to which one he should espouse, but a traveler of inferior rank was compelled to accept the lady offered him, no matter how ugly or plain. In any case the husband could depart the next morning. The wife of the night always felt herself under obligation to the stranger, for having delivered her from the reproach of virginity, which it was ignominious for her to retain, or to surrender to a native of the island." " The early Christians, as is well known, were divided into as many sects perhaps as now. Among these, the Adamites, as they were called, a sect of the second century, who held that the merits of Christ restored them to a condition of Adamic innocence, appeared naked in their assemblies, and rejected marriage; they practised promiscuous intercourse, and held it as one of the surest means of salvation. This sect was twice revived, once in the twelfth century at Antwerp, and again in the fifteenth, among the Hussites, in Germany and Bohemia. The Gnostics and Manicheans, sects from the second to the sixth century, held the same tenets of promiscuous intercourse and rejection of marriage." " In Wales, in some portions of Germany, and in our own country some fifty years ago, a custom of courtship was quite common, known by us by the name of Bundling or Tarrying; the lover generally came under the shadow of the night, and was taken without much reserve to the bed of his sweetheart. Here he breathed to her his tender passion, and told her how truly he loved her." It is questionable, however, if there were any more illegitimate births under that system of courtship than occur nowadays. As is usually the case, many chips are wasted, and the writer has picked up the last one of any interest which has been saved, in searching for his- torical facts, upon which to base this chapter, entitled the History of Mar- riage. Those who are interested in these fragmentary narratives of cus- toms will be entertained by perusing the next chapter, wliich will be found to contain- the prevailing customs of to-day. Much of the chapter which follows however, will be found to possess something more than items for the curious. It will pay for everv one to give it a thoughtful and carefuj perusal, CHAPTER IV MARRIAGE AS IT IS IN BARBARISM AND CIVILIZATIOr S we have, in the perusal of the foregoiug chapter, had our eyes turned so long to the past, we will rest them by looking a while at the customs of the present day. We shall find many of them as strange as those of past ages. What remains of barbarism have their queer usages, and those of civilization are not such as are best calculated to promote the happiness of the human family. If children in Christendom are not betrothed before they are born, they are generally fettered by parental dictation when they arrive at a marriageable age; and if girls are not told by the public crier, as in ancient Assyria, they are by ambitious mothers, and often by themselves, to men who carry long purses. Mankind has not yet ceased to traffic in virginity, nor yet have men learned to respect the rights of those who differ from them but little in those qualities which distinguish the human from the brute creation. I will not, in the outset, however, enter extensively into deductions, but proceed to present facts. Let us first take a " bi/d's-eye view" of Marriage in the Old World. In Egypt, where, over five thousand years ago, the first step toward monogamy was made by the institution of the marriage of one man to one woman, but with a polygamic admixture of concubinage—polygamy, under the auspices of the Mohammedan religion, is now the rule. After marriage the women enjoy considerable freedom, but their abhorrence of those who do not hold to their religious faith, added to their fear of punishment, makes them extremely faithful. Then, too, they are usually attended by a eunuch whenever they leave the harem. Emmeline Lott, recently writing from Egypt to an English newspaper, thus speaks of Egyptian women: — "The Egyptian women generally pass their time in frivolities, except on certain days, when they attend to their menage, as I have already explained in 'The English Governess in Egypt,' in pleasing and wheedling their hus- bands, studying their gastronomic tastes, and satisfying their whims and MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 685 Caprices. They delight in relating stories of themselves to their ladies of the narem, slaves, and eunuchs, congregated of an evening enfamide, a kind of conversazione, or in listening to the songs of the almehs and their own slaves, having their horoscopes cast, and asking their mothers of the harem to interpret the dreams they have had during their kf, as Joseph did those of Pharaoh of old. The splendid halls of ' the mansion of bliss' of the great resound also with complaints. One woman murmurs at her barrenness another at the favor bestowed by her lord upon her ikbal for the time, which raises her jealous feelings to fever pitch. A question of engrossing interest is how they can obtain heirs. Their habitual conversation among themselves is disgusting beyond conception to European ears; but they have been trained up from childhood to converse in that manner, without having the slightest idea that by so doing they outrage the feelings of their sex; they do not think there is any harm iu so doing, and all a European woman could say to them would not convince them to the contrary." The Chinese are probably living under about the same marriage system established some four thousand five hundred years ago by Fu-hi, but it has undoubtedly undergone some modification. Those of the higher class, I am informed by a patient residing in Shanghai, are betrothed by the parents at three or four years of age, and although the marriage may not take place for twenty years, the parties are bound by the arrangement thus made by the parents. The betrothed children wear their hair differently from other children, so that they are known. The female of this cfess becomes the first wife of the one to whom she is betrothed; but the Chinaman is al- lowed as many wives as he can support, and these he has to purchase. These purchased wives are born slaves, and are wholly subject to the con- trol of the first wife. It not unfrequently occurs, however, that some of the purchased wives are prettiest, and most loved by the husband. ' Poly- gamy," remarks Norton, "is the custom in China, but the relations and the gradations between the wives are strongly marked. In the emperor's family, the first wife is the empress, and is attended by nine other wives, and they in turn are assisted by thirty-six of a lower grade, though they all bear the title of wives. Marriages among the lower classes are con- ducted by professional match-makers, usually old women, who are paid high sums for their management of such affairs. The intended bride and groom never see each other until their nuptials are prepared. Marriages are never made while either of the parties is in mourning. Widows are allowed to marry again, except in the case of the ladies of honor of the empress, who are expected to live in celibacy the remainder of their lives." The wives who are bought are entirely at the mercy of their " liege lords,:' who can treat them as they please, and put them away on the forfeiture of the purci«.se-money. A celestial is forbidden to marry a person bearing ggg MARRIAGE AS IT IS. the same name as himself, a musician, or an actor of any kind, or a widow whose husband had distinguished himself, or one who has.been convicted of any crime. The bamboo is the penalty attached to all violations of thia law. Those in matrimony who cannot agree are allowed to separate. Divorces are also granted for the following causes: theft, a jealous temper, sterility, immorality, contempt of the husband's father or mother, propensity to slander, and habitual ill-health. Fig. 158. CHINESE MARRIAGE. The marriage ceremony of the Chinese is fully described by a contributoi to Harper's Weekly. "While staying in Shanghai," he says, "I was invited by the compradore of a mercantile hong to visit his house upon an occasion of this interesting nature. The bridegroom was a man of thirty-five, one of the agents of the firm at Ilakodadi; the bride was twenty years of age, and daughter of a wealthy Shanghai native merchant. All the company wore their best dresses: loug loose coats or pelisses of dark purple silk, lined with skins or embroidered, under which they had lighter gowns of MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 68? blue silk; their heads were covered with silk or velvet hats, topped with colored glass buttons and tassels. They sat at several littlo tables, six guests at each, and feasted on twenty-six different dishes. The bridegroom, who was distinguished by wearing a large necklace of crystal and green jade, assisted the host and other friends in serving the company. After dining, smoking, and drinking tea, they enjoyed a concert of music per- formed on shrill instruments. A salute of guns was fired and a few crackers let off in the court-yard and street outside. A gorgeously-decorated sedan- chair, or rather cage, was then sent to fetch the bride, who arrived at four o'clock in the afternoon. The dining-room, in which the ceremony was to take place, had been cleared and garnished; only two tables being left, on which were placed several large candlesticks, decked with paper flowers, and containing lighted candles; some joss-sticks were likewise set burning on the tables, in front of which a scarlet foot-cloth and cushions were laid upon which the wedded pair were to pledge their mutual vows. The com- pany was by this time increased by the arrival of many ladies, wives of the male guests, handsomely attired in sky-blue silk pelisses, lined with ermine, and a profusion of jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, rings, with gold pins, and other ornaments in their hair; they had also their pretty tiny shoes. The chair in which the bride was carried having been borne into the room with a stately procession, the curtains around the chair were then drawn aside by the bride's nurse, who at ouce led her forth; a bird of the most gorgeous plumage, quite a bundle of embroidery, in scarlet, black, and gold, with a belt of pink silk and ivory round her waist, and her head crowned with a tiara of false jewels, and further decorated with crimson paper flowers upon a chignon, and with a crimson silk veil, two feet in length, entirely hiding her face. The bridegroom had meantime come in from an adjoining room, preceded by a master of the ceremonies, with a lighted candle in each hand. Standing near one of the tables, he took three burning joss-sticks in his hands, and responded to the questions put to him by a priest, bowing re- peatedly at the shrine of the joss or idol, some pictures of whom hung on the walls. The bride, having been placed beside him, supported by the old nurse, who had a little scarlet flag in her hand, was similarly addressed, and made the proper responses. A green ribbon was then handed to the bridegroom, and a red one to the bride; these were knotted together, and the new husband, amidst a nourish of music, led off his new wife to their nuptial chamber. Here several of their family and friends, including two older wives of the same man, awaited them, ranged on each side of the bed- stead, to pronounce the prescribed benedictions, and to bestow a quantity of ground seed and nuts, of different sorts mixed together, which they did not eat, but had sprinkled over them. After a little time the newly-married couple returned into the dining-room and sat down to a sumptuous repast, 688 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. The old nurse first carefully tasted every article of food, to see whether it was fit for her young lady to eat. A baby, two or three months old, was then brought and placed on the bride's lap, to test her love for chil- dren. The bride and bridegroom were afterward formally introduced, in their new character, to every one of their respective friends and rela- tives on each Me, the names being proclaimed by a herald or usher. This lasted an hour or more, but the gentleman and lady were at last permitted to retire. Large bowls of oil, with floating wicks alight, had been placed around the marriage bed, as a votive sacrifice to the deity on their behalf. The bride's trousseau, filling ten huge boxes or trunks was deposited in one corner of the room. After three day's seclusion the newly-wedded pair began to receive visits of social congratulation." The Japanese, "as a general thing," remarks Picart, " have but one wife, but they can put her away on the smallest provocation. The wives of princes and noblemen, who are permitted to have a number, are kept secluded in harems, but much less rigorously than among the Moham. medans. Like the Chinese and other Eastern nations, they betroth their children when very young, being careful to avoid any disparity in their ages; they never receive any dower or gifts with their wives, but return to the parents all belonging to them, that their wives may not have the slightest reason for being wanting in respect toward their lords and masters. The marriage ceremonies are in many respects like those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the use of torches, nuts, fruits, and leaves, to signify virility and fruitfulness, is common among them- The Chinese and Japanese are very similar in their ceremonies and rites of marriage, as well as in the laws and customs that govern them, and in- deed the whole Mongolian and Tartar races follow these laws, customs, and ceremonies to a great degree." A recent traveler informs us that while they are allowed one legal wife, they may have as many others as their means will permit. The law regulates the matter in this law. When a girl's relatives are too poor to support her, she may become the member of a plural house- hold, instead of a beggar, but the legal wife adopts all the children It is, therefore, a wise Japanese who knows bis own mother! The nominal emperor may have twelve legal wives, and as many others as he chooses. As soon as married, the wife of a Japanese is compelled, by the custom of the country, to shave off her eyebrows, and dye her teeth entirely black with a preparation of urine, filings of iron, and saka. A gentleman who has seen the Japanese in their country, says the married women, at a distance of two hundred yards, look as if they wore black patches over their mouths, their teeth are so black and prominent. This ugly stain upon the teeth is made still more conspic- uous when they make their toilet on an extra occasion, for then they paint their face and neck white, and color their lips with a preparation MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 689 which changes the natural hue to a rich vermilion. Married women aro said to be true to their husbands, but the latter take no pains to return the compliment. The law defends the husband who kills the seducer of hia wife, provided he also kills the faithless wife; not otherwise. He must not slay one without killing the other. If a man finds he cannot have children by his first wife, he invariably marries or purchases another; but the first is the acknowledged mother of the offspring which may result therefrom. The women do not suffer much in having children, and the general health of the people is good; they also appear tolerably happy. The politeness of the Japanese exceeds that of the French. As Japan, with a population of 38,000,000, has, until comparatively a recent period, been a locked nation, with the key inside, something of the religious and social, as well as marriage customs of that country, will be interesting to the reader. Its civilization is entirely unlike ours. A gentle- than the Christian religion is among our people. Tradesmen, if they have not had good luck one day, put up tapers in their rooms for good luck on the next. Their gods have little bells to them, which the people jingle when they begin worship. The bells are to waken up the gods. The Japanese at the beginning of the year pay off all their debts, and if neces- sary to enable them to do so, they sell their daughters to prostitution for 690 MARRIAGE AS IT 13. one or more years, or hire them out for the same purpose. A man can buy a Japanese girl out and out, as long as he wants her, for $200. Some of these girls who are sold in this way are very well educated. If sold for a few years only, they return again to their parents at the expiration of the period, and frequently marry. To be sold or hired out this way is not con- sidered a disgrace, and they are as much respected afterward as before. The women are more passionate than the same class in China. At fifteen years of age the girls go to a custom-house to get a bcense before they can be hired out. The license costs about two or three cents. Prostitution in Japan is regularly licensed by the government, and tho houses occupied for the purpose often cover large blocks in the cities. Licensing these places, however, is not so cruel, or so incompatible with morality there as in Christian nations, because the inmates are not dis- graced by their vocation. In the casto to which they belong they are entirely respectable, and are not regarded with less esteem by the higher castes in consequence of their sexual practices. They may leave at any time and contract honorable marriage. The consequence of this treatment is an avocation which in Christian cities renders its votaries dissipated, irreligious, and abandoned, has little effect upon the moral and reli- gious character of Japanese women who aro disposed to pursue it; but in physical health, they, too, must become victims more or less to those dis- eases which are contracted or generated by excessive and promiscuous cohabitation where passion or affection is absent. It is said, however, that they are comparatively healthy, and if so, it is undoubtedly mainly due to their habits of frequent bathing. Personal uncleanliness does not appear to constitute one of their vices. This fact would naturally do much to limit the production and dissemination of venereal disorders, usually so com- mon in the dens of harlotry. "Bathing-houses," remarks a writer, "are among the institutions of Japan, but their regulations are very peculiar. Looking into one, we saw a platform about two feet above the floor, on which stood a number of adulta of both sexes, and also several children, washing themselves, and romping about in a state of entire nudity. People were passing in and out all the time, and several women with children in their arms wero chatting with the bathers in the most unconcerned manner. As we looked in, our strange countenances attracted attention for a moment, and then the bathers resumed their ablutions with a pleasant air of nonchalance." " Among the humbler population of Japan," remarks another writer, "the birth of female children is not regarded as a misfortune, as in China—a missgo to be averted by infanticide. Here sufficient avenues for employment are not wanting. Besides the light labors of the farm and loom, tho picking of tea, the culture of silk-worms, there is em- MARRIAGE IN TETE OLD WORLD. (}9l Of i, ployment in many light manufactures, in the shops as assistants, saleswomen, keepers of the accounts, keepers of the purse for more indolent or unoccupied, ... v ' Fig. 160. or possibly more sub- missive husbands. Let our social reformers take heart that this is in conservative Japan, a place shut up and sealed up for three cen- turies from the benign influences of accidental civilization 1" "The farmers as a class," continues the same writer, " hold an ^t! intermediate rank in v the social scale. all whose position is not hereditary, they hold the best place. It is from their ranks that th6 government infuses new strength into the soldier caste, and the grades of civil service are possible to conspicuous and well- sustained merit. And in a land like this, where family alliances are the touchstone of caste, it is no mesalliance for a noble to wed the daughter of the great landholder, and the proudest chief in the land lifts to his side as concubine the farmer's daughter, by whose charms of person he has been captivated, and whose offspring maj inherit all his rank and privileges. She may not be his wife, but she may be his ' side-wife,' as her title indicates, and may, as in patriarchal days, be his best beloved, and the mother cf his heirs. For though other things being equal, the son of the real wife has precedence by custom, there is nothing to prevent the course of descent being directed, when interest, or love, or pride, or natural incapacity or unfitness in the wife's children intervenes, to the children of the side-wife, or even to an adopted son." In Asiatic Russia, the Calmuck Tartar seizes the woman of his choice, A JAPANESE GIRt, OP HUMBLE RANK. 692 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. carries her off on horseback, and if successful in keeping her over night, she becomes his wife. The Tungoose Tartars try races on horseback foi their wives. The lady has a good start, and if her pursuer overtakes her, she must become his wife. The ladies are distinguished for their eques- trian accomplishments, and are seldom caught unless they desire to be. "Among the Crim Tartars," remarks Goodrich, "courtship and marriage are encumbered with ceremonies. The parties seldom see each other till the ceremony, and the contract is made with the heads of the tribe. At the period of the wedding, the villagers near are feasted for several days. The bride is bound to show every symptom of reluctance. There is a contest between the matrons and girls for her possession. The priest aska the bride if she consents, and on the affirmative, blesses the couple in the name of the prophet, and retires. There is great ceremony and cavalcade when the bride is carried to her future home. She is conveyed in a close car- riage, under the care of her brothers, while the bridegroom takes en humble station in the procession, dressed in his worst apparel, and badly mouuted. A fine horse is led for him by a friend, who receives from the mother of the bride a present of value, as a shawl." Among the Siberians, of one tribe, it is said "the wife pulls off her hus- band's boots, as a sign of her obedience." In another, "the bride's father presents the bridegroom with a whip, with which he is instructed to disci- pline her as often as he finds occasion." In another, "the bride is carried on a mat at night to the bridegroom, with the exclamation ' There, wolf, take thy lamb!'" In Persia, according to the New American Cyclopedia, " there are two kinds of marriages: those which are permanent and respectable, and in which the husband is restricted to four wives; and another kind, called seegha, in which a contract of marriage is made for a limited period never exceeding ninety years." This is a reasonable limit! "The latter speciea of marriage may be contracted with an indefinite number of women, who are generally, however, of an inferior rank, and perform menial services for the proper wives. The children of both classes are regarded as perfectly equal in station and legitimacy. Among the great mass of the people, a man has rarely more than one wife, and the condition of the women seems to be easy and comfortable. The ladie3 of the upper class lead an idle, luxurious, monotonous life. Contrary to the common opinion in Christendom, they enjoy abundant liberty, more, perhaps, than the same class in Europe; the complete envelopment of the face and person disguises them effectually from the nearest relatives, and destroying, when convenient, all distinction of rank gives unrestrained freedom. Much of their time is spent in the public bath- house, and in visits to their friends. Women of the higher class frequently MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 693 acquire a knowledge of reading and writing, and become familiar with the works of the chief Persian poets. These, however, are the best aspects of fe- male life in Persia. On the other hand, Fig. 161. it is certain that in the anderoons, or har- ems of the rich, there is often much cruel- ty and suffering, and the greatest crimes are perpetrated with impunity. There is nothing to check the severity of an ill-tempered or vicious husband; though sometimes an ill-treated slave or wife redresses and terminates her wrong by administering a dose of poison." Picart remarks that the priests in Persia "can have but one wife, unless she proves barren, when they can put her away and take others, until they find one more fruitful." Notwithstand- ing the Persians share the oriental idea that women were created for the main purpose of reproduction, accord- iug to the author last quoted, they , , ., . ., , , . „, A PER6IAN LADY! strangely enough consider child-birth n „„„.., „„ ... . . o ' 6 Or so much or her as we are permitted to to carry with it pollution; lying-in see! What pretty eyes! What volup- tuous lips! What rosy cheeks 1 Isn't she beautiful ? women are obliged to be purified, and also kept at a distance from their friends and neighbors. The early Christians, sharing this idea to some extent, used to call in the priests after the birth of a child, who carried on some ceremony over the bed of the mother, which was supposed to absolve her from all uncleanliness. In the Island of Formosa, as related in Alexander's History of Woman, " daughters are more regarded than sons, because as soon as a woman is married, contrary to the custom of other countries, she brings her husband homo with her to her father's house, and he becomes one of the family, so that parents derive aid and family strength from the marriage of a daughter; whereas sons, on their marriage, leave the family forever." The Formosans, in company with the inhabitants of most of the Indian Islands, are, according to Picart, practically polygamists, and leave their wives whenever it suits their inclination. " The fact is," says this writer, " the whole system of marriage among the island nations resolves itself into a species of concubinage, governed by certain rites and ceremonies, having no special legal or religious character," 694 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. In the Island of Java, we are told, by Lady Hamilton, " when any one of the emperor's wives commits infidelity, she is punished with death. Thirteen of these unfortunate creatures were executed in one day for this crime; they were tied to posts, and poisoned with the upas." At Pegu, according to tho same writer, " parents sell their daughters to strangers for a longer or shorter period, at will. The king of Pegu has but one wife, though he has a large army of concubines. The Druses, remarks Lady Hamilton, " are the most jealous people in the world, being so much so that no one dares to ask another after the health of his wife and family, for fear of causing their death at the hands of the infuriated husband and father." In the BuKMAN Empire polygamy is prohibited, but a man may have aa mauy concubines as he can comfortably support. Wives are sold into con- cubinage or prostitution on actions of debt, if the husband has not the means to liquidate. In Hindostan marriage takes place at eleven, or as soon after as the parties arrive at puberty, the arrangements for which are usually conducted by the parents, who, on the bride's side, expect and generally receive ex- pensive presents as payment for the wife furnished. A father or guardian cannot dispose of a younger daughter in marriage before the elder. When the husband is absent, it is expected of the wife that she will appear mourn- ful, dress herself in the plainest clothing, eat plain food, and keep away from the window of her apartment; she must indeed appear sorrowful and wretched. " The Hindoos," says Lady Hamilton, "allow polygamy ouly to the Brahmins. The women venerate marriage, believing that those that die virgins are excluded from the joys of paradise." (This is discouraging to old maids, if true!) "As is well known, the Hindoo women love and re- spect their husbands, and at their death willingly immolate themselves on the funeral pyre. They begin to bear children at twelve, and as this duty is considered the only important one of the wife, they have them in largo numbers." In the west of Hindostan, on the coast of Malabar, women aro allowed a plurality of husbands. A traveler remarks that "they are a martial people, and possess a great deal of the spirit of knight-errantry, in- somuch that their tournaments frequently end in blood. The husbands are not exactly tenants in common in regard to her favors. Each enjoys her attentions exclusively at appointed periods, according to her inclinations, and no one is allowed to enter her apartments while the arms of a co-partner in domestic affairs are over the door. She resides at the domicile of her friends, and, when she becomes a mother, nominates a father in each case, and he is bound to maintain the child." A writer in the Literary Album teljs us of a curious people called the MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 695 "Todas," who live upon a range of mountains, called in English vernacular, Blue Mountains, in the southern part of the empire of Hindostan. "One of the worst traits in their character," remarks this writer, "is their destruc- tion of most of their female children, and the barbarous manner in which it is effected. The infant is placed within the buffalo camp, and is then trampled to death by the animals which are driven in. The natural con- sequences which result from this are a scarcity of the female sex, and the institution of polyandry among them. Each woman is permitted to have as many as seven husbands, who are mostly brothers, when the case will per- mit of it. It is said that no jealousy or ill-feeling arises from this singular custom." It appears from the further narrative of this writer, that the Todas have their prejudices growing out of caste. There are the aristocrats, the middling kind of people, and the common people, and a Toda belonging to one class cannot marry a Toda belonging to another class. So it is seen that they are even with us in some respects. It is pleasant to know that in this one particular we are not inferior to barbarians! In Thibet, remarks a writer, "one woman becomes the wife of a whole family of brothers; and this custom prevails in all classes of society. The oldest brother chooses the bride and consummates the family marriage. Travelers relate instances of five or six brothers living under one roof, in this manner, in great harmony." The women are active and industrious, and are said to " enjoy a higher consideration than in other oriental coun- tries." In Abyssinia a kind of free-love system prevails. "Mutual consent," remarks Lady Hamilton, "is one form of marriage among them, and this dissoluble at pleasure. They cohabit together when they please, and annul or renew the contract in the same manner. Thus a woman or man of the first quality may be in company with a dozen who have been their bride- groom or bride, though perhaps none of them may be so at present. Upon separation, tbey divide the children. The eldest son falls to the mother's choice, and the eldest daughter to the father. There is no distinction, from the prince to the beggar, of illegitimate or legitimate children." In the Barbary States marriage negotiations are conducted entirely by parents, the candidates for matrimony not seeing each other, in many cases, before the bargain has been agreed upon. The marriage is attended with rejoicing, and the " bride is carried home in a cage, placed on a mule, at- tended with music. Divorce is easy for both parties, and the wife can dis- Bolve the contract if her husband curses her more than twice. For the first curse he must pay her eighty ducats, and for the second a rich dress. A man may have four wives, and as many concubines as he chooses. The Jews in Barbarv are numerous and much oppressed. The house of a Jew, 696 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. and all its sacied relations, is open to every Moor who chooses to violate it." The Moors sell their daughters in marriage, and the whole nego- tiation is conducted by the parents, without respect to the wishes of those most interested. The Congoes of the Congo River, according to the Rev. Isaac Cad- man, who was for many years a missionary in Central Africa, have peculiar customs. The account he has kindly prepared for the author re- garding them is as follows: "Descent is reckoned from mother and not from father; the Congoes believe it is a wise child who knows its own father. Polygamy is prevalent among them for these reasons: First- Women will not know a man after she finds that she is pregnant (they— the women—insist on this, as custom is on their side). Second—They have a great desire for children. Third—A man is respected according to the number of his wives. Fourth—One wife cannot support herself and children and husband by her work. " In order to be engaged a man must take food to the parents of the girl, and, if they partake, it is favorable to the man's interest; then he must make a 'rozamba,' or dress, for the girl, and, if she accept of it, the preliminaries are settled. He then takes cloth to the amount of thirty dollars to the parents and the matter is finally settled, and if the girl is old enough and desires cohabitation, and the man has his hut prepared, they start out on a period of probation which, if it prove the unsuitability of either party for the other, the girl returns to her mother. The Congoes justify this by saying they do not wish to see their daughters unhappy. The majority of the Congo girls are innocent creatures up to this age, notwithstanding that they know all the facts of marital life, and many of them dread the initial period of connubial life. They have no terms for husband and wife; the term used to ex- press this relationship is 'ukasi,' or partner. The woman must find all the utensils for cooking, and hoes for her fields; the man must find a house, keep it in repair, fish, hunt and barter, and sew the woman's clothes. The man uses the woman sexually, but has no share in the fruit of her womb. If the man dies and the woman is a free woman, she takes her children to her tribe. If the woman is free, children aro free, even though the father is a slave, and vice versa. "The man pays his 'cloth' for the services of the woman in the field only, and if she fail to keep her part of the agreement and supply him with food, he can demand the return of his 'cloth' and send her back to her village, and she takes her utensils with her." [The practice in Congo of returning their wives to their mothers if not satisfactory has been opposed by the missionaries, according to Nor- ton, "but the natives insist that it is not right to risk the happinessbf tjhafr daughters in qu indissoluble union with persons with whose habits MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 697 and tempers they are not acquainted." There is some sense in this, even though it be an idea emanating from the brain of a Congo negro. A doting and fond mother in our civilization, when she commits her daughter to the hands of the one who becomes her husband, experiences very much the same sorrow that she does when she commits her to the tomb. With all the festivity usual upon a wedding-day, there may almost always be found two anxious hearts, if the parents are living spectators. A mother of strong affections generally watches with many misgivings her daughter, as she approaches the marriageable age; and it is no uncommon thing to hear her give expression to her solicitude as to the future happiness of her ehild, and her wish that her daughter had not reached the age which constitutes her a candidate for matri- mony.] In continuation of Mr. Cadman's narrative, women are isolated from their houses when passing through the menstrual period. When giving birth to children, the scene is open to every one's gaze. Children howl and make a noise which the elders accentuate to the best of their lung- power. The woman bends herself back on her limbs and forces the child down the vaginal passage. "Circumcision is prevalent among the men. Little boys will willingly undergo this operation, incited to do so by their mothers, who tell them Fig 168. that they will not be able to get a wife unless they are circumcised. I believe it is a fact, as I have been informed by the women, that they will not allow a Congo man to know them unless he is circumcised. While the girls are often betrothed at an early age, yet the men do not know them until they are fully developed." The Amazultt Tribes of the Bantu, as described by Mr. Cadman, surpass the Congoes in their strange usages. Polygamy is practiced among them, and for substantially the same reasons as given by the Congoes. A young man selects a girl and pays her atten- tion, and if he be her choice she will allow him to sleep with her, and then an incomplete copulation, known in their language as 'hlabonga,' takes place. The young woman ap- pears to be much impressed by this act, either in favor of or against the young man. "While this practice is common among the Amazulu people, and is ^>; A ZULU DOCTOR. 698 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. often indulged in by the young men and women, very seldom, if ever, does a case of illegitimacy occur from it. Their native laws act as a salutory preventive to the energies of the young overstepping the bounds of custom. When the young man and woman have arrived at the marriageable age the young man consults his father about the mat- ter, who then interviews the father of the girl, and the fathers settle between them the dower to be paid, the amount of which is largely de- termined by her beauty and rank. This dower is paid in cattle or sheep or goats. Twelve cows are considered the just equivalent of an ordi- nary Zulu woman. Many of them are married with the understanding that some of the girls (offspring of the marriage) shall be the children of the mother's father. The marriage is celebrated with great pomp and gayety, such as feasting, dancing and song by the warriors and women gathered together. The bride wears a veil, and has a knife in her hand during the dancing and while she is attended by the women of her tribe. The ceremonial part is over when the bridegroom leads the bride into a hut and removes the veil, which signifies that her face is hidden to all men but her husband. Then commence the orgies of eating and drinking unlimited quantities of beef and ' joualla' (native beer). Finale—broken heads and spears! " The bride may be enciente in a few weeks after her marriage, and if this be so, according to custom, her husband visits her no more until the child is weaned from the breasts. It is no uncommon thing to see a Zulu woman working in the fields on the very eve of her motherhood, leave the work of hoeing for a few hours until maternity pangs have passed, and then resume her occupation of planting or hoeing, as the case may be, having triumphantly passed out of the valley of death bringing with her a young life. " The women are excluded from the rest of the village during the period of menses. The men are circumcised, and wear a kind of egg- shell-shaped thing called ' uwate' in their language, on the head of the organ. This is considered to be full dress for the men and no woman dreams of being annoyed if this brief little dress is in its proper place on the person of the man when he appears in her presence!" This missionary gave some further information orally in respect to the Zulus, He says both the men and women shave the hair from the sexual organs every dr ,y, or every other day, with an instrument of sharp flint. He knows of no sexual diseases among the Zulus excepting those brought among them by the whites. Wherever the white settlements are there are cases of syphilis, but not where the Zulus are living by themselves. He knew of no cases of spermatorrhoea among the young Zulus. He thinks they are remarkably strong in their sexual organs, and that the men are unusually large in their sexual development. MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 600 Among the Caffres of Southern Africa weddings are celebrated after the consent of the parents and the girl, there being no ceremony. If the girl looks coldly on her lover, he wins her by force of arms, fighting all his rivals seriatim until he has fought himself into her affections. In the more civilized portions of the old world are found both th« monogamic and polygamic systems of marriage, and in the customs of the people the latter prevails to a greater extent than is guaranteed by their Liu's. Ix England, the monogamic system of marriage, as in our own country, is professedly established by law, but public opinion tacitly sustains poly- gamy for husbands, as may be reasonably inferred from her new divorce law, which denies tho wife a decree of divorce for adultery (unless incestu- ous) on the part of the husband, but entitles the husband tc such a decree for any adulterous acts on the part of the wife. " The grounds of the dissolution of marriage are, on the part of the wife, simple adultery; but on tlie part of the husband, the adultery must be incestuous (that i% adultery with any woman, wliom, if his wife were dead, he could w>t lawfully mirry, by rea 0:1 of lier being within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity) or azcompanied with bigamy, whether this bigamy occurred within or without Hie British dominions, or accompanied by cruelty such as would by itself entitle the wife to a judicial separation or by desertion, without reason- able exousc, for two years and upward. Rape, and tho crime against nature com- mitted by tho husband, are also grounds upon which the wife can obtain a divorce. But the court must be satisfied not only of the fact of the adultery alleged, but also that the petitioner was not accessory to it, nor connived at it, nor has condoned, that is, pardoned it, and also that there is no collusion between the parties—in any of which cases, the petition is to be dis- missed ; nor is the court bound to pro- nounce a decree of divorce if it should be made to appear that the other party had also been guilty of adultery, or of un- reasonable delay in presenting and prose- cuting the petition, or of cruelty toward the other party, or of desertion without tie fnglisu giel. reasonable excuse, or of such willful neglect or misconduct as has conduced to the adultery. " The court has the power in all cases, according to its discretion, to Fig. 163. 700 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. grant alimony to the wife, either by way of a round sum or an annual pay- ment during her life, and to make interim orders, by way of alimony or otherwise. The latter power also extends to the judges authorized to grant judicial separations. "If the husband is the petitioner, he must make the alleged adulterer a co-respondent, unless excused from it by the court. If the wife is the petitioner, it is in the discretion of the court to require that the woman with whom the adultery is alleged should also be made a co-respondent. If the adultery is established, the court is authorized to impose the whole or a part of the costs of the proceeding upon the adulterer. Either of the parties is entitled to insist on a trial by jury. The petitioner is liable to be examined under oath, at the discretion of the court, but is not bound to answer any question tending to show that lie or she has been guilty of adultery. "The husband, either in connection, with a petition for a judicial separa- tion, or a divorce, or by a distinct process, may claim damages against an adulterer, which damages, if recovered, shall bo applied, at the discretion of the court, for the benefit of the children of the marriage, if any, or as a provision for the maintenance of the wife." Tho foregoing is a condensation of the new law, as given by one of our daily journals. Although a decided improvement on its predecessor, it lacks the liberality which the spirit of the age demands, and indicates most strik- ingly the prerogative married men arrogate to themselves. It also exhibits a curious kind of sexual morality, when it renders the petitioner for divorce liable to examination under oath, with the understanding that he or she need not answer any question tending to show that the petitioner had been guilty of adultery. An adulteress's husband may obtain divorce from her, if he can prove that she is guilty of adultery, notwithstanding his own conduct may have been at variance with what he requires of his wife. During tho discussion of the new bill, one of the members of Parliament in substance remarked, that if the law should be made equally binding on the husband, every gentleman in the house might be legally deprived of his wife I Marriages among'the higher classes of English are governed by considera- tions of wealth and title, with little reference to love. The marriage of an aristocrat with a person in humble life cannot be tolerated. All sorts of incongruous companionships are therefore formed in high circles. " Espe- ciahy-have English princesses," remarks a writer, "been unlucky in their matrimonial connections. More particularly is this true of princesses of the house of Hanover. To go back to Sophia, daughter of George the First, who married the first William Frederick of Prussia, she, poor thing, was almost daily beaten by her husband, a man Whose brutality amounted almost to insanity. Once she was nearly kUled by him, with her daughter, and MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 701 Fig. 164. often was in imminent fear of her life. He denied her sometimes the common necessaries of life. She used to say, sarcastically, in her old age, that the only kind words he ever addressed to her were, 'Sophia, get up and see me die.' "The eldest daughter of George the Second made a match only less unhappy. She was twenty-four before she was married at all; and then had to take the deformed Prince of Orange, because he was the only Protestant prince in Europe of suitable age. Her father expostulated with her on the malformation of her proposed bridegroom. 'Were he a Dutch baboon,' she answered tired out with her position at home, 'I would marry him.' It was the custom of that coarse age for a bride and groom, on tho nuptial evening, to sit up in bed, in costly night-dresses, to receive the com- pliments of their friends. On this oc- casion, as the roval family and nobility denied past the prince and princess, who were magnifi- cent in lace and sil- ver, the queen, the bride's own mother, declared that when she looked at the victoria in the prime op life. bridegroom from behind, he seemed to have no head, and when she looked at him in front, she could not for the life of her, tell where his legs were. Walpole or Henry, we forget which, records the anecdote. The princess lived to regret her maiden condition at her father's court, even with all the neglect that attended it. "Another daughter of George the Second married the Landgrave of Hesse, the same who afterward sold his soldiers to England, in order to assist in conquering these colonies. He was so brutal, his wife had to desert him and seek refuge in her native country. A third married 702 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. the king of Denmark, who abused her shamefully, openly insulting her in the presence of an unprincipled woman, who shared what he had of affection. She died, partly of a broken heart, partly of a cruel disease, at the early age of twenty-seven." The undercurrent of English married life jets out a little in one of Thack- eray's novels, where ho asks : " Who dared first to say that marriages are mada in heaven ? We know that there are not only blunders, but roguery in the marriage office. Do not mistakes occur every day, and are not tho wrong people coupled ? Had heaven any thing to do with the bargain by which young Miss Blushrose was sold to old Mr. Hoarfrost? Did heaven order young Miss Fripper to throw over poor Tom Spooner, and marry the wealthy Mr. Bung? You may as well say that horses are sold in heaven,which, as you know, are groomed, are doctored, aro chanted on to the market, and warranted by dexterous horse-venders as possessing every quality of blood, pace, temper, and age. Against these Mr. Greeuhorn has his remedy some- times ; but against a mother who sells you a warranted daughter, what remedy is there ? You have been jockeyed by false representations into bidding for the Cecilia, and tho animal is yours for life. She shys, kicks, stumbles, has an infernal temper, is a crib-biter—ani she was warranted to you by her mother as the most perfect, good-tempered creature, whom the most timid could manage! You have bought her She is yours. Heaven bless you I Take her home, and be miserable for the rest of your days. You have no redress. You have done the deed. Marriages wero made in heaven, you know; and in yours, you were as much sold as Moses Primrose was when he bought the gross of green spectacles." Among the lower classes more freedom is allowed by tho social rules by which they are governed, but still tho glitter of goll is frequently more captivating than the throbbings of a good heart, among these. Many a marriage is consummated where a purse is held by one or the other, which would hardly be contemplated in its absence. Marriages in England are legal if solemnized by customary formalities, civic or ecclesiastic. Marital con- tracts to take place at some future date, if recognized by both parties, and fol- lowed by cohabitation, have also been decided as legal. The marriage laws of Ireland correspond in all essential particulars with those of England. In Scotland, however, there is less difficulty in " getting spliced," a simple declaration of the parties before a competent witness being sufficient to make the "twain one flesh." As in some of the States in this country, it is no trick to get the knot tied, but a mighty difficult one to get it untied. Gretna Green, located near the border of England, was famou3 at one time as a marrying place, and was resorted to extensively by English fugitives, who found a blacksmith ready to listen to all such declarations for a snail fee- ' MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 7o3 In Spain little fidelity is known among married people. Jealousy never finds place in the Spanish breast, and the " liberty of married women has no limit except their own discretion," which, owing to an ardent temperament, interposes but a feeble restraint. Marriages are generally arranged by the friends or parents of the parties, and solemnized by the priests, whose powers in that country are despotic. Lord Byron, in describing the cus- toms of the Spaniards, in a letter to his mother, from Cadiz, wrote as follows:— " I beg leave to observe that intrigue here is the business of life; when a woman marries she throws off all restraint, but I believe their conduct is chaste enough before. If you make a proposal which in England would bring a box on the ear from the meekest of virgins, to a Spanish girl, she thanks you for the honor you intend her, and replies, ' Wait till I am mar- ried, and I shall be too happy.' This is literally and strictly true. "The Spanish lady may have her cortejo as well as the Italian her cicisbeo. It is Spanish etiquette for gentlemen to make love to every woman with whom they have the opportunity, and a Spanish lady of rank has said that she would heartily despise the man who, having a proper opportunity, did not strenuously solicit every favor she could grant. Every Spanish woman reckons this as a tribute duo to her charms; and, though she may be far from granting all the favois a man can ask, she is not the less affronted if he does not ask them." Yet the husbands of Spanish ladies, like those in all other countries, are under still less restraint than their wives. It wag once a custom in Barcelona, Spain, to lead out of the foundling hospital in procession all marriageable girls brought up in it, and as the pro- cession passed, the masculine bystanders in search of wives indicated their selections by throwing a handkerchief at the object of their choice. In France, marriages among the higher classes are arranged by the parents or relatives of the parties, and generally solemnized by the priests. Separations are more common than divorces, "agreeing to disagree " being settled upon by the parties themselves. " The boudoir," remarks Goodrich "is the sanctuary of a married dame, and the husband who sh' aid enter it unbidden would regard his power more than bis character; he would bear the reproach of society, and be deemed a brute; for it is a great evil in French society that the unmarried females have too little freedom, and the married quite too much. The boudoir is a fit retreat for the Graces, and other females of the mythology. Paintings, statues, vases, and flowers, nature and art, combine to adorn it. It is the palace Armida, the bower of Calypso; but it breathes of Helicon less than of Paphos." Professional engagements have prevented me from spending much time in social stufHes in European countries, and desiring to know something of Parisian 704 MARRIAGE AS IT 18. society, I addressed a letter of inquiry to a personal friend—an inteUi- gent and gifted young woman, at this writing a resident of Paris—who favored me with an interesting response. "In the first place," remarks my correspondent, "woman is not very much esteemed in Paris. The clever Frenchwoman, Madame Audouard, says that women exist for the Frechmen only while they are young and pretty. A woman is loved, but not esteemed, and almost never spoken of as an intelligent creature. All this is the result of the system of education of the young girls. Not to seem to judge too harshly, I find that the young girl of Paris, with the well-to-do and aristocratic classes, after subtracting from her her dot (dower), is a woman more or less in- nocent, but helpless, and almost a nonenity. The system pursued which accomplishes this result, as near as I can gather, is to keep her as de- pendent as possible, the parents dictating the minutest details of her life. Neither familiar conversation or general reading give her the slightest hint of 'indelicate' subjects. She is scarcely ever permitted to be alone, never to go into society, to walk or to receive company alone. There are mothers willing to vouch to any gentlemen willing to take their daughters off their hands, that they have never been in the society of man one moment without the presence of their mothers, or some other person competent to take charge of them. This, of course, is a highly satisfactory guaranty for the past, but, in my opinion, a worse than nj guaranty for the future. Young girls must not read Moliere, who is moral as far as plot is concerned, but sometimes free in language, like our Shakespeare. Neither must they read the journals, which, it is true, are sometimes quite beyond the stretch of decency. The young girls employ themselves in various little feminine arts, and read a litera- ture written expressly for them. "When mademoiselle, with her dot (dower), is married, this unnatural pressure is removed, and the more or less ignorant girl has her liberty at a single stroke. Timid natures cling to their families, and are still the child. Instances are very common here where the young wife pre- fers her mother's home, and it is with difficulty that the husband can keep her with him. It is the other sort of natures that rush into dis sipation, and if a little wild, society does not turn its back upon them. "I have heard it said here that any man can kiss a French girl tht second time he meets her. This must depend upon individual charac- ter; if she is inexperienced some people would call it a weakness, others a fault. In America one might have a worse misfortune befall them than to be kissed; not exactly the same here, though, where Frenchmen, to state it very mildly, are rather impetuous. Having by caprice a poet- ical, but never a practical respect for women, they consider the least favor a carte blanche for more. If a young girl gazes around at a ball or MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 705 theaue, as many American girls do. she is pretty sure to receive a chal Fig, 165. EUGENIE IN HER YOUNGER DAYS. "The conversation with married women is very much more free than with us. In common table-talk it is considered nothing to remark that such a lady is enceinte—that such an animal or individual is in chaleur. Many 30* 706 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. Riings that certainly are natural but which our taste forbids, are spoken of by then* real names, and with perfect coolness. This freedom of conversa- tion is carried into the other details of life. Married women may go out with other men if they choose, and are often excessively independent of the husband. In cases where the wife is untrue, it depends on circumstances and the character of the husband, whether he make a fuss or not. If not chaste in his own habits, he generally takes it easy." After giving some notable instances illustrating tho truth of the last remark, which I omit on account of the names of the distinguished individuals being given, my cor- respondent continues: "The courts do not punish a man who shoots his wife's lover. But, if taken in the act, both man and woman may be pun- ished ; but this latter case occurs almost never, "Divorce, previous to the passage of the Naquet bill in 1883, was almost an impossibility, but judicial separations were granted at the rate of about 5,000 per year. It was said that there were enough jiidb cially separated men and women in France to people a large city. It was believed that this condition of things did not conduce to the morality or happiness of the people. It was even urged that in many instances wife muKtef Could not be punished as a capital offense, be- cause it was difficult in such cases to obtain a jury that would convict. Since the passage of the Naquet bill it is estimated that there have been annually about 13,000 cases of divorce! Many cf them are among those who have been for several years judicially separated. Out of regard for the large Catholic element the party bringing action is free to sue for eitner separation or absolute divorce, „R 'I*"11? °W ^^ ^ ab°Ut aS free aDd «** the *™° ^cial privileges Xt wtth L u™ ^ apartmentS liVe8 a COunt' **> * <" old Dacneior, with Mademoiselle ----, who is an «ih ™<>,vi v ^ no one seems to think or speak erilrf ,h! hVeff I ™M'7 ^'^ *** «*«%; oo,ofteoesta psssiooatoTovo of ISulv„ T ^ »** MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 7Q7 be a general disposition to help them up. They are not regarded as unpar- donable sinners; and the illegitimate children are not excluded from soci- ety. There is an institution in Paris, ' Des Enfants Trouves,' designed for the reception and support of illegitimate children. To this place come poor women unable to support their offspring, or rich women too proud to own their fault. Into a little box or car, running on a little railroad, is deposited the infant, which enters the institution without the slightest clew to the person who placed it there. In many cases where the mother intends to reclaim her child, she attaches a name, necklace, or some mark, which is preserved by the institution. I think a good motto to put over the gates of this house would be—The rich and the poor meet together, for the devil is the maker of them alL "I have not been able to find put any thing of the marriage customs of the provinces of France. Of course the peasants do not have any dot (dower). The women work as hard as men, and quite as much in the fields. These women are short, stunted, bony, strong, with large hands and feet, voices like men, and are very ignorant and very Catholic. "The dot, or dower, is an institution in Pari3. It is made necessary by the extreme difficulty of a young man to earn more than his support. Daugh- ters often are a drug in the market. Marriages from love are common; but I believe these things usually go by the wishes of the parents. I am acquainted with a young gentleman here twenty-six years old; his mother wishes him to marry; he has no faith in woman; prefers his gay bachelor life ; adores his mother. She wrote to him that she had selected a wife for him; a young girl of forty thousand francs dot. He did not answer the letter for six weeks, when there arrived an angry letter from his mother; he became contrite, and wrote back his acceptance of the young girl, who, meanwhile, had been trotted by her parents to his father's house. The latter did not consider the young lady good enough for his son, and negotiations were broken off without either of the young people having seen each other. Another anecdote, which is also true, is of a young gentleman who visited a family for the purpose of marrying one of the daughters. After a time, the parents demanded which daughter was his choice ? The reply was— 'Either, if they both have the same doV " This interesting letter is con- cluded with a little qualification for the fair correspondent's freedom in pre- senting the subjects upon which she had written. She says: "I have done the best 1 could, from my limited opportunities for observation, to let you know of Paris. I've laid aside my demoisellish scruples, put on common sense and spoken on forbidden topics with the utmost frankness," etc. Marriages of convenience have always a decided tendency to make hus- band and wife discontented, and these being in the majority in the higher circles of France, it is not singular that many liberties are taken and 708 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. tolerated by both husband and wife. " In France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and much the largest part of the continent of Europe," says Nichols, " marriages are arranged by tho parents of at least one of the parties. A girl, educated in seclusion, sees her intended but twice before he leads her to the hymeneal altar, once to be formally introduced, and once to sign the marriage contract. If ho has suitable position, it is enough; he may be old, ugly, repulsive; he has been chosen a3 her husband by those who ought to know what is best for her, and she accepts him with disgust because she must, or with indifference because she knows no better." In Portugal the marriage customs do not differ much from those of Spain, except that ladies when married retain their maiden names. Fe- males are more secluded than in Spain, but are quite as much given to intrigue and matrimonial infidelity. The Swiss, who are noted for their free political institutions, while sur- rounded with despotism, cannot marry without the consent of the magis- trates, whose permission or refusal is governed by the fitness of parties pre- senting themselves for marriage. If is required that there shall be adapta- tion between the parties, and this peculiar system of legalizing marriage results in happy families and hardy children. "At Geneva," says Good- rich, " the mode of life is extremely social. The soirees are constant from November to spring. These meetings resemble family assemblages, in their freedom from the constraints imposed by etiquette. A stranger is struck with the affectionate manner by which the women of all ages address each other. This comes from the influence of certain ' Sunday Societies,' in which children meet at their parents' house, where they are left to them- selves and have a light supper of fruit, pastry, etc. The friendships thus formed endure through life, and the youthful expressions of fondness are never dropped." Divorces are very uncommon. The front door of mar- riage is guarded more than the back, and those who enter are generally too well satisfied to wish to get out. In Italy, it has been remarked " that marriage is not a bond, but the reverse." Before marriage a lady is the prisoner of a convent, or the parental mansion, and is not allowed the society of gentlemen; but after she has become the wife, she may also become the lover of from one to three more besides her husband. Byron, in one of his letters from Venice, said: " The general state of the morals here is much the same as in the Doges' time. A woman is virtu- ous, according to the code, who limits herself to her husband and one lover; those who have two, three, or more, are a little wild; but it is only those who are indiscriminately diffuse, or form a low connection, who are consid ©red as overstepping the modesty of marriage. There is no convincisg a MARRIAGE IN THE OLD WORLD. 709 Woman nere that she is in the smallest degree deviating from the rule of right, or tho fitness of things, in having a lover. The great sin seems to lie in concealing it, or in having more than one—that is, unless such extension of the prerogative is understood and approved of by the prior claimant." The same author further says, "They marry for their parents and love for themselves," and that a "person's character is canvassed, not as depending on their conduct to their husbands and wives, but to their mistress and lover." Still, remarks a noted historian, " a person may pass through Italy, or live there for years, and not once he shocked with such undisguised vice, as in one night will intrude upon him in an English city." Prostitution, as a trade, cannot flourish in such society. It is, of course, uncalled for, where infidelity among married ladies is so fashionably allowed, or where polygamy is legally tolerated. In Greece, girls are kept in separate parts of the houses, in a state of seclusion, much the same as in Turkey. They are not permitted to enter society till after marriage, when the restriction is removed. Weddings there are celebrated with great eclat. A procession attends the bride to her future home, preceded by music and young girls dressed in white, who strew the path with flowers. In Prussia, parties contemplating marriage are required to announce the fact in the newspapers. Matrimony among the higher classes is contracted on the title and "specie basis," as in most European countries. Infi- delities, if discovered, are not overlooked, and divorces are of frequent occurrence—to the number of two or three thousand a year. The Russian nobility conduct their marriages much the same as other Europeans. The peasantry, however, according to popular authority, have peculiar customs. The suitor applies to the mother, saying, " Produce your merchandise, we have money for it." When the bargain is concluded, the bride, at the wedding, is crowned with a chaplet of wormwood. " Hops are thrown over her head, with the wish that she may prove as fruitful as the plant. Second marriages are tolerated, the third are considered scandalous, and the fourth absolutely unlawful." The wives of the lower classes of Russians are treated in a shameful manner and their position is only one remove from that of a slave. In Austria, where the monogamic system is the law, one might almost sup. pose that free love is the practice, if allowed to judge of the country at large by the official tables of the illegitimate children born annually in Vienna; these comprise nearly one-half the total births in that city. In 1853 there were about ten thousand legitimate and ten thousand illegitimate births. In 1854 there was a fraction over eleven thousand legitimate births, and nearly eleven thou sand of those whifi'i were illegitimate; ia 1855 there were about ten and one 710 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. half thousand legitimate, against nine and one-half thousand illegitimate. In 1856 there were only about five hundred more legitimate than illegiti- mate offspring born in that city. If, as is claimed by many, illegitimate children are smarter, the Viennese ought to be a remarkable people I In Wallachia, one of the Danubian principalities, " the bride wears a veil the day before, and on that of her marriage. Whoever unveils her,'1 says a writer, "is entitled to a kiss; but to prevent too much impertinence, the bride may in return demand a present, and the request must be com- plied with." Unless kisses are decidedly scarce, and an object of considera- tion with the ladies of Wallachia, it would seem like an act of prudence to keep the lips and purse-strings closed. In Sw-eden and Norway, the monogamic system is the law, and practical polygamy the violation; in the country first named, a species of practical omnigamy, or free love, prevails to a remarkable extent, though not under the sanction of law. Bayard Taylor, in a letter from Stockholm, remarked as follows:— "After speaking of the manners of Stockholm, I must not close this letter without saying a few words about its morals. It has been called the most licentious city in Europe, and I have no doubt with the most perfect justice. Vienna may surpass it in the amount of conjugal infidelity, but certainly not in general incontinence. Very nearly half the registered births are illegiti- mate, to say nothing of illegitimate children born in wedlock. Of the ser- vant-girls, shop-girls, and seamstresses in the city, it is very safe to say that scarcely one out of a hundred is chaste, while, as rakish young Swedes have coolly informed me, a large proportion of girls of respectable parentage, belonging to the middle class, are not much better. The men, of course, are much worse than the women; even in Paris one sees fewer physical signs of excessive debauchery. Here the number of broken-down young men, and blear-eyed, hoary sinners, is astonishing. I have never been in any place where licentiousness was so open and avowed—and yet where the slang of a sham morality was so prevalent. There are no houses of prostitution in Stockholm, and the city would be scandalized at the idea of allowing such a thing. A few years ago two were established, and the fact was no sooner known than a virtuous mob arose and violently pulled them down. At the restaurants, young blades order their dinners of the female waiters with arms around their waists, while the old men ptace their hands unblushingly upon their bosoms. All the baths in Stockholm are attended by women (generally middle-aged and hideous, I must confess), who perform the usual scrubbing and shampooing with great nonchalance. One does not wonder when he i3 told of young men who have passed safely through the ordeals of Berlin and Paris, and have come at last to Stockholm to be ruined," MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. 71] xN Turkey the first marriage is contracted by the parents of children, who are sometimes betrothed at the age of two or three years. When they arrive at adult age, the bride is carried in a procession to the house of the husband. But polygamy is the law of the Ottoman empire, and the husband is allowed to purchase as many more wives as he chooses. They purchase many girls of the Circassians, for which they pay from twenty to thirty dollars apiece for handsome ones. Once they were considered cheap at five hundred dollars. The wives of a Turk are kept in what is termed a harem, a place gorgeously fitted up, and attended by eunuchs. Formerly, a Turkish lady never left the harem without concealing her face behind a great number of veils. The war between Turkey and Russia has effected considerable change in this custom, and now only one thin veil is used, through which the eyes of strangers look on beauties whilom concealed from the gaze of foreigners. The ladies of Turkey are said to enjoy nearly as much liberty as the females of Christian countries, where polygamy is not tolerated, and where ladies sell themselves to wealthy husbands. Turk- ish women bear more female than male children, a noticeable fact in all countries where the plurality system of marriage is maintained. A Turk can divorce a wife at pleasure, for if he have no real cause, he can make a false accusation, and sustain it by perjured witnesses, which can be obtained without difficulty; but he is not permitted to take her back again for the fourth time, unless, during the interval of tho separation, she has been the wife of another man. Notwithstanding the little regard manifested for the marriage contract, death is the penalty for adultery. With this cursory view of the matrimonial customs of the old world, we will now turn our eyes to our own continent, and see how we find Marriage in the New World. In South America, the marriage institutions of the people compare at least favorably with those of the semi-barbarous portions of the old world. The Araucanians, in the southern part of Chili, with a population of four hundred thousand, believe that marriage is perpetual in this world and the world to come. Every man is allowed to have as many wives as his means will permit, the first being considered superior to the rest. Tho husband selects his partner for the night at the supper-table, by requesting her to prepare his bed. Buying and selling wives is practised to some degree. " Marriage is always celebrated with a show of violence, for even after consent is obtained, the bridegroom conceals himself on the road, seizes the bride, and carries her to his house." It is required that each wife shall present her husband with a fine cloak. 712 MARRIAGE Af-4 IT IS. In Brazil, the civilized portion of its inhabitants maintain the monogamic system of marriage, and are said to be "exemplary in their domestic rela- tions." It is not uncommon, however, to see an old man united with a young girl in marriage. Disparity in ages is considered no obstacle to a happy union. Among the uncivilized natives, polygamy is upheld, and ornaments are more profusely bestowed on the person than clothing Fig. ICG. by both sexes, and yet they have a fair reputation for chas- tity. Adultery is punishable with death. In the foundling hospi- tal at Rio de Janeiro, the girls at a marriageable age may be select- ed at each anniversary for wives, if the applicants are approved by the managers of the institution. In Central America akd Mexico, polygamy, monogamy, and omnigamy are practised, ac- cording to the respective condi- tions of their heterogeneous popu- lation. Only about one-fifth are white, and those are of Spanish origin, and imitate, in a measure, the customs of their ancestors. The marriages among this class are generally celebrated with some pomp, " and the fee for the priest, even from parties of the lowest rank," says Goodrich, " is not less than twenty-two dollars, and this in a country where the houses of the poor cost but four dollars, where the price of labor is half a dollar a day, and where the church observances leave but one hundred and seventy-five working days in each year I" The remaining population is divided be- tween Mestizos, Mulattoes, and Zamboes, many of whom are but little above the savage, go naked, and have no established forms of marriage. The Mestizos are the offspring of whites and Indians, and many of the females are said to be very beautiful. Those who do not associate with and imitate (he customs of the whites, are omnigamic, and governed by their impulses. A MESTIZO OIKL. MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. fl3 In North America, the customs of the aborigines are interestingly daguerreotyped in a quotation from Mcintosh's " Book of Indians," which I find in " Marriage, its History and Philosophy," by L. N. Fowler. "They are," he says, "generally contented with one wife; but they sometimes take two, and seldom more than three. The women are under the direction of their fathers in the choice of a husband, and very seldom express a pre- dilection for any particular person. Their courtship is short and simple. The lover makes a present, generally of game, to the head of the family to which belongs the woman he fancies. Her guardian's approbation being obtained, an approbation which, if the suitor is an expert hunter, is seldom refused, he next makes a present to the woman, and her acceptance cf this signifies her consent. The contract is immediately made and the match con- cluded. As soon as he chooses he is admitted to cohabitation; but the time of the consummation is always a secret to every one but themselves. All this i3 transacted without ceremony, without even a feast. The husband gener- ally carries his wife among his own relations, when he either returns to the tent which he formerly inhabited, or constructs a new one for their own use. They sometimes, but seldom, remain with the wife's relations. When the wife is removed, if game be plentiful, he gives an entertainment to her relations. These contracts are binding no longer than both parties are willing. If they do not agree, they separate—the woman returns to her relations, and if they have any children she takes them along with her; but after they have children a separation very seldom takes place. If a woman be guilty of adultery, and her husband be unwilling to divorce her, he cuts her hah, which is the highest female disgrace. On the woman is devolved every domestic charge. She erects the tent, procures wood for the fire, manages the agricultural affairs, dresses the provisions, catches fish, and makes traps for small animals. The husband only employs himself in the chase. " When a woman is with child, she works at her ordinary occupations, convinced that work is advantageous, both for herself and child; her labor is easy, and she may be seen on the day after her delivery, with her child at her back, avoiding none of her former employments. They suckle their children till they are at least two years of age. Their cradle was anciently a board, to which they laced their children, after having wrapped them in furs to preserve them in heat. This is set down in a corner, or hung up in a tent, and without loosening it from its cradle, the mother often takes it on her back and in that manner carries it about. "Among the Indians, women caunot contract a second marriage with- out the consent of those on whom they depend, in virtue of the laws of widowhood. If they can find no husband for the widow she finds herself gnder no difficulties; if she has any sons to support her she may continue fl4 MARRIAGE AS TT IS. in a state of widowhood, without danger of ever wanting any thing. If she is willing to marry again she may, and the man she marries becomes the father of her children; he enters into all the rights and obligations of the first husband. "The husband does not weep for his wife, because, according to the savages, tears do not become men; but this is not general among all nations. The women weep for their husbands a year; they call him with out ceasing, and fill their village with cries and lamentations, especially at the rising and setting of the sun ; at noon in some places; when they go out to work and when they return. Mothers do much the same for their children. The chiefs mourn only six months, and may afterward marry again. " It appears that the Indians have their merriments on the marriage occasions, although their celebrations go off commonly without much cere- mony. There are in all nations some considerable families, which cannot marry but among themselves, especially among the Algonquins. In gen- eral the stability of marriage is sacred in this country, and for the most part they consider as a great disorder those agreements which some persona make to live together as long as they like, and to separate when they are tired of each other. A husband who should forsake his wife without any lawful cause must expect many insults from her relations, and a woman who should leave her husband without being forced to it by his ill-conduct would pass her time still worse. " Among the Miamis, the husband has a right to cut off his wife's nose if she runs away from him; but among the Iroquois and Hurons they may part by consent. This is done without noise, and the parties thus separated may marry again. They cannot even conceive that there can be any crime in this. ' My wife and I cannot agree together,' said one of them to a mission- ary, who endeavored to make him comprehend the indecency of such a separation; ' my neighbor's case was the same, we changed wives and we were all happy; for nothing is more reasonable than to make each other happy, when it is so cheaply done without wronging anybody.' Neverthe- less, this custom, as we have already observed, is looked upon as an abuse, and is not ancient, at least among the Indians." "The Greenlanders," Fowler remarks, "pay some little regard to the affections in their matrimonial alliances. In the negotiations, the parents never, or rarely, interfere; the lover thinks but little of a dowry with his wife. If she will make a good, kind, affectionate, and obedient wife, hia highest anticipations are fully realized, and he has all he desires. About the time of the celebration of the nuptials, the bride pretends to be opposed to the marriage, runs away, screams, and is finally taken home by force by the bridegroom, which constitutes the sum total of the marriage ceremony, MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. 715 Polygamy is occasionally practised, and divorce is said to be exceedingly common." In the United States and Territories, which enjoy the most exalted posi- tion among the nations of the new world, all existing systems of marriage are more or less represented. In the States, the monogamic system only is recognized by law; pretty generally observed by wives, professedly so by nearly all husbands, and strictly so by many. In no country in the world arf" greater immunities enjoyed by the people in the selection of conjugal companions than in our own, and still wealth, distinction, and parental Fig. 167. dictation exert a mighty influence in match-making. Did the thought ever occur to the reader that daughters here are oftentimes sold in marriage by their parents or themselves, just as truly as they are in many heathenish countries? Such is a lamentable fact, and one which has not failed to make an impression on the minds of many observers. " The accursed term, ' marriage of convenience,' fit only to be found in the mouths of an unfortunate or a libertine," says Dixon, "is now by no means too shocking to escaoe the lips of a fashionable mother, alarmed at; 716 MARRIAGE AS IT IS. her husband's prospective failure, and the consequent loss of her box at the opera. She must make profitable sale of her daughters, because she cannot influence her sons, or their wives when they get them Whether the article be merchantable or not. a sale must be effected. The father is too often so immersed in business, that he is scarcely consulted; the family physician never; or if he be, he is perhaps a time-server, and looks forward to a profitable return for withholding the truth." Continues the same writer: " Riches, when combined with a tolerably decent family genealogy, are an object of boundless ambition, and in New York take precedence of all other recommendations. From the clergyman to the market-woman, all are equally blinded by it; neither dissipation nor an empty head are often drawbacks, whether in man or woman ; and alli- ances are every day contracted where nothing but disgrace and mortification can reasonably be anticipated." The almost invariable inquiry among friends, when a marriage takes place, is, "Has she done well?" which generally signifies, has she married a house and lot, a good supply of pretty furniture, or a large amount in bank and railroad stock, and a comfortable pile of money. This question is almost universally so regarded, so much so that the respondent, in reply, at once begins to tell either how rich or poor the husband is. If a wealthy position has been attained by the bride, parents and friends congratulate themselves on the success of the daughter, and the unanimous exclamation is, " She has done well," Young women in the highest circles often sell themselves to old men double or triple their age, or are so sold by parents, and do not seem to dream that they are bartering away their virginity and womanly charms for gold, the same, virtually, as the abandoned woman who walks the pavement in New York. True, there may be cases where mutual love exists in such unequal copartnerships, but these are manifestly rare excep- tions. On the other hand, a woman possessing wealth, though ugly in person or disposition, can always obtain a husband. Many young men at the outset stifle all love for girls in humble life, however amiable in disposition and prepossessing in appearance they may be, with the avowed object of marry- ing a fortune. When considerations of wealth have little or no influence, parents often interfere to an unwarranted extent in tho marriage of their sons and daugh- ters. My eye has this day fallen upon two instances illustrative of thia remark. A Chicago paper says: " The village of Colchester, on the Chicago, Quincy, and Burlington road, was the scene of a sad affair one day last week. A young lady of that place, the daughter of an estimable citizen, had for some time past received the addresses of a young man in opposition to the wishes of her parents. They remonstrated with her again and again, MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. 717 but to no purpose. Finally, her father told her he would rather follow her to the grave than see her the wife of a man whom he regarded as unworthy of her. Shortly afterward the young lady was seized with an alarming ill- ness, and in three hours more was a corpse. Just before dying, and when she knew she was beyond the reach of remedy, she confessed to having pro- cured and taken a large portion of arsenic. The unhappy father's alterna- tive was presented to him sooner than he could have believed it possible." A Cincinnati paper records the following: "A beautiful German girl was taken to the Commercial Hospital yesterday, a raving maniac; her reason completely overthrown by disappointment in love. It seems that she had been engaged to one of her countrymen for some months, and had fully ex- pected to become his wife, when her father informed her last Saturday that she should not marry. " Upon the announcement she fell, as if struck by lightning, to the floor, and it was with much difficulty she was restored to consciousness. She then began raving frightfully, and with cries and screams and groans and tears and lamentations, startled the whole neighborhood of Bremen Street, where she resided. Nothing could be done to calm or appease her; she grew worse and worse, until it was determined to remove her to the hos- pital. " When there she continued to rave, and would have died from exhaustion very soon, had not chloroform been administered to keep her quiet. It was found necessary, too, to bind her to the floor, else she would have taken her life, leaped out of the window, or done any thing desperate. The physicians who saw her say they never beheld so violent a maniac. " It is pitiable to observe this young and beautiful woman, just in the spring of life, suffering—and how intensely she must suffer—all the horrors of madness, because of a generous and absorbing passion, which might and should have been made her happiness ou earth." These are by no means isolated cases; the press teems with such sad recitals. Let me not be understood as disparaging parental counsel—only parental tyranny. Parents should always give advice to children in matters pertaining to the selection of a conjugal companion, and at this point all interference or dictation on their part should stop. If the laws of physical and mental adaptation were more generally understood by them, and their positive interference in the selections of their sons and daughters based unselfishly on these rules, then might their prohibitions in all cases be regarded as best for the interests of their children. But seldom are parents qualified to decide in this matter, all dictation on their part arising from their own likes or dislikes, as if their children were bound to love every- body whom they love, and dislike all who are not prepossessing to them. This kind of interference oftener thwarts physical and mental adaptation 7ls MAURI AG K AS IT IS. than favors it, because love seldom springs up spontaneously between A youth and maiden, when there is mental and physical uncongeniality. For this reason parental interference, ungoverned by phrenological and physio- logical knowledge, oftener prevents than effects the right kind of marriages. American wives, with occasional exceptions, aro faithful to their husbands, and many husbands, particularly in the rural districts, aro faithful in return. 'But the fact that over one hundred thousand public prostitutes, and at least an equal number of private mistresses, are supported in the United States, and many of them in extravagance and splendor, leads us to the irresistible rconclusion that, while monogamy is the law in state and society, polygamy ;is the custom of not a small proportion of tho male population. It is a proverbial remark in New York, that the abandoned females of this city aro maintained chiefly by the patronage of married men visiting tho metropolis. Singular disclosures in fashionable life, growing out of a recent notorious affair, go to show that it is not impossible for wives to imitate their hus- band's vices. Occasionally cases occur of mutual exchanges, transient or permanent. There once lived in a New England city, a couple of husbands, in respect- able position, who traded wives by consent of all parties concerned, several years ago. The gentlemen wero copartners ia business at tho time of the exchange, and the two families have since lived on terms of friendship, with no desire to trade back I Although this may sound like a strange story, it is a veritable fact, and indeed not so strange as an account I recently read o! a couple of husbands in Illinois who traded wives, one of them receiving " boot." The one who was so ungallant as to receive the premium on the exchange, however, was driven from the village by some of the indignant villagers, while the other was allowed to remain unmolested in the posses- sion of his newly-acquired spouse. From the fact that names and location were all definitely given, I presume this story is true. Transient exchanges are not uncommon among some of the married people »• H "»• u " " females.............................. 5 " 4* " •« " " males and females...................?•• 6 " 7$ ;* 726 COMPLEX MARRIAGE. " We have one girL only fourteen years old, that might have gone into the above table with credit; but we reserve her case for future reports, aa she is growing yet. Her present weight is 131 pounds, and height 5 feet 6* inches I These are selected specimens of course. Farmers always send their best to the fair. But we had to leave out others as good as these, in making out the dozens. They do not exaggerate the strength of our rising generation. Now let us see what our young folks have done and are doing. We will not confine ourselves to those named in the tables, but take into view all of what we call the 'second generation,' who have grown up in tho Community, and are now taking its business and burdens from their fathers' shoulders. And first we will name some of the oldest class, who were not inmates of the children's house, but yet owe much of their breeding to the Community. " Henry and George Allen were the chief representatives of the Commu- nity in the New York Agency, and have contributed largely to its business reputation by their labors as traveling agents for its various manufactures. Martin and Myron Kinsley are known extensively as enterprising business men. One is now head of the farming department at Wallingford. The other is general superintendent of our trap works. Otis and George Kel- logg are also well known as agents of the Community at the banks, tele- graph offices, and freight depots, here and at Wallingford. Boswell and Victor Hawley are among our best machinists. The former has done invaluable service in the trap business by many inventions. John F. Sears is a genius of high order in mechanics, an expert in microscopy, and has made several microscopes of great merit. Among this older class of the second generation we may name also on the women's side, Harriet Allen, who is now mother of the children's house; Elizabeth Hutchins, who is the general superintendent of the silk-works, having fifty hired girls under her care; and Carrie Macknet, who has served with distinction as chief book- keeper of the Community. Coming to the younger set, who were trained in the children's house, we mention: Charles A. Cragin, the founder of our silk business. After serving (in connection with Harriet Allen and Eliza- beth Hutchins) an apprenticeship of four months at a silk factory in Willi- mantic, Conn., he commenced manufacturing at Willow Place, and achieved at once complete success and a first-rate reputation in the silk market. He is now making one hundred and fifty pounds of machine twist (worth $2,000) per week. Edward Burnham is superintendent of the children's house. Francis W. Smith is an accompUshed violinist, and was several years leader of our orchestra. Frederick Norton is a skillful and scientific dentist, versed in mallet-filling, and all the latest improvements. George N. Miller is an expert in drawing and wood-engraving. Edward P. Inslee ia foreman in the machine-shop. Charles Burt is foreman of the carpenter's MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. 727 department. Alfred Hawley was foreman of the finishing part of the trap- Bhop before he was twenty years old. Sydney Y. Joslyn is foreman of the horticultural department. TirzahC. Miller is editress of the Circular. Mary L. Prindle, Augusta Hamilton, and Helen C. Miller, are expert phonographic reporters. Ann S. Bailey is present chief book-keeper, dealing with banks, assessors, and business men all over the country. "Our students at the scientific school of Yale University, at the present time, are William A. Hinds, who has formerly served the Community as financier, business agent, superintendent of various businesses, writer, reporter, printer, etc., and is now in good standing as a scholar; and Joseph J. Skinner, now in his third year at Yale, and said to be the first scholar in his class. A part of his record is, that with only the common advantages of Community boys in his previous education, he undertook to prepare himself to enter the scientific school on the short notice otseventeen days, and at the end of that time actually passed a rigorous examination in geometry, trig- onometry, algebra, and history, besides the common branches of geography, grammar, etc. "Theodore R. Noyes and George E. Cragin, both alumni of the children's house, were our first 6tudents at Yale, and graduated there a year ago in the medical department of the University. Their previous education in the Community gave them a standing in mental discipline and general informa- tion fully equal to that of college graduates. Their proficiency as medical students was indicated by the fact that one of them was selected by a leading surgeon of New Haven, as his office assistant, and the other by the Professor of Physiological Chemistry, as his assistant in a course of chemi- cal lectures before the college classes. The committee that examined them at their graduation, reported as follows, in the ' Proceedings of the Con- necticut Medical Society for 1868,' Vol. 3, No. 1 :— " ' The following gentlemen were examined and recommended for the degree of M. D.:— " ' George E. Cragin, Wallingford. Thesis, Oxalic Acid in Rhubarb. " 'Theodore R. Noyes, Wallingford. Thesis, Experimental Researches on the Elimination of Urea. " 'Julian Newell Parker, Mansfield. Thesis, Sleep. " 'Alfred Eastman Walker, B. A., New Haven Thesis, Inflammation. " 'William Virgil Wilson, New Haven. Thesis, Wounds in general. " ' The theses of the first two gentlemen were based upon very elaborate original research—and the results obtained were deemed so important that the Board voted that the thesis of Mr. Noyes be sent for publication to the " American Journal of Medical Sciences." and that the thesis of Mr. Cragin be recommended for publication in the Transactions of the Conn. Med. Soci- ety,' 728 COMPLEX MARRIAGE. "These two young mon are now engaged in the general business of the Community, T. R. Noyes as director of finances and silk-dyer, and G. E. Cragiu as superintendent of fruit-preserving. At the same time they attend to the sick and wounded, and look after the general hygiene of our camp. " This account of our young people is by no means exhaustive. Many creditable examples are necessarily omitted. If it were intended to be a roll of honor, it would be very incomplete. But it is sufficient as an answer to those who disparage our rising generation, and pretend to fore- see the failure of Communism, in the degeneracy of its children" Readers who have thus far perused this account of a new and novel sys- tem of society, springing up right in the midst of our own, will unquestion- ably feel interested in the following extract of a letter by a physician respecting the health of the women of the Community, for it is well known to every reader, how common it is for those living in our system of society to possess and exhibit physical infirmities of some kind. The letter was addressed to the Communists and published in their paper in 1868, and I transcribe it entire, with the qualification that while my observations during one visit to the smallei Community at Wallingford do not enable me to indorse all that ha says, I saw nothing to cause me to doubt the correctness of his entire testimony. "I too," writes the medical man, " would like to give my impressions on first visiting your family; that you may better understand me, I will tell you briefly the circumstances which led me to make my first visit. I had observed in my practice as a physician, that in all cases of chronic disease of women there was sexual derangement, and that physicians who ignored this would only alleviate present symptoms and not effect a permanent cure. Nor could they secure as good results as with men. I saw that I could have no success as a physician, by prescriptions that would produce present comfort without reaching the radical cause of the disease. If I relied upon hygienic means I must understand all the causes of derangement, as well as the physiological condition to be established. "The most superficial observation convinced me that the cause of this frequent prostration of woman must be in her sexual experiences. AD could not be congenital, or from any other cause that makes woman's life different from man's. It needed but little reflection to be convinced that the divine law was not sought—was habitually broken—and the conse- quences fell most heavily upon woman. The cause was soon apparent, and I became enthusiastic in my investigations and reflections, and they resulted in the conviction that the sexual relation has a double purpose—physical and spiritual—that both are ignored in the common practice of the world m cohabitation, in and out of marriage, and lustful desire, most frequently on the part of one, was substituted for divine law. I never thought of ques- MARRIAGE Itf THE NEW WORLD. 720 tioning the sanctity of marriage, but only of reforming its abuses. I had analyzed the consequences of the sexual love, seen the distinct spiritual and physical effects—knew that the one could be secured without the other. But how to educate men and purify the relations of marriage I could not see, and I was sure the diseases of women must increase till there was &. change. " While deeply exercised on these points, a young man from Illinois came into my family and school, then in Jamestown, Chautauqua Co.. N. Y., and showed me the first copy of the Circular I ever saw, and gave me the first knowledge of the 0. O, I ever had. An article on Education, I think from Mr. Noyes, so interested me and was so in accord with an essay I had published, that every thing about you interested me, and nothing more than the young man's statement that you rejected the institution of marriage oa religious grounds. Crude as were his ideas of your motives and prac- tices, they led me to say that, 'If I could once put my eye upon the women of such a community, I could satisfy myself whether or not my own theory was correct' This was the sole object of my first visit, though I had held to a community of property for ten years. I was received hospitably, and spent three days very delightfully, asked few questions, and none about your social relations, but probably made as careful observations of all social and affectional expressions as have been made before or since. I am sure no one ever prayed more earnestly for light, for I felt that the whole human race was rushing into a terrible emergency. '• On my return I reported that the won^n of the Community seemed more healthy than the average,—they showed more intelligence,—they had more and better use of the physical faculties; hut what interested me more than all, was that in their social intercourse, which seemed very free and unrestrained, there seemed less of that morbid craving of one sex for the other, than I had ever known in any people I had visited. I had studied the effects on the countenance of uterine disease until I could often determine quite accurately from the countenance the phase of disease that afflicted the patient before me, and I was rejoiced at not finding any of these signs in the countenances of those I met while at Oneida. "I was not blind to the advantages of varied occupation, better food than the average, extended social privileges and many other things that go to make up the advantages of community life, but I was sure the practices of the Community in the sexual relation did not enfeeble women as in mar- riage. Still I had ouly the most general idea of your theory, and I have since learned that then I had not a correct idea. I was not ready to express my own convictions, nor did I care to bias my mind by the conclusions of others until I bad further confirmed the result of my own previous obser- vations. 31* 730 COMPLEX MARRIAGE. J " After four or five visits to the two Communities, I have frequently said to those who iuquired of me, that I had never seen elsewhere, women that showed such harmonious and integral culture,—so many indications of physical health,—so cheerful and thoughtful expressions of countenance, and so much general ability to execute what they undertake. " Since my first visit I have had much experience, medical and social, that has made this social question of more interest to me, especially while making insanity a specialty. I am satisfied the terrible wrongs resulting from the prevailing social state, must soon be corrected. But I need not dwell oi» that. I wrote only to express my admiration of the effects of community life on all its members, but especially on woman. My opportunity to judge of the relative condition and promise of the children has been limited, and I pronounce no opinion, but for myself I have no doubt." Next I will introduce the reader to a "Declaration of Principles " as held by the Communists and promulgated in one of the issues of their weekly paper. The article is headed " Free Love." " This terrible combination of two very good ideas—freedom and love,"—they remark, " was probably first used in our writings twenty years ago, and originated iu the Oneida school of socialists. It was, however, soon taken up by a \„>ry different class of speculators scattered about the country, and has come to be the name of a form of socialism with which wo have but little affinity. Still it is sometimes applied to our Communities ; and as we are certainly respon- sible for starting it into circulation, it seems to be our duty to tell what meaning we attach to it, and in what sense we are willing to accept it as a designation of our social system. "The obvious and essential difference between marriage and whoredom may be stated thus :— " Marriage is a permanent union. Whoredom is a temporary flirtation. " In marriage, communism of property goes with communism of persons, In whoredom, love is paid for by the job. " Marriage makes a man responsible for tho consequences of his acts of love to a woman. In whoredom a man imposes on a woman the heavy burdens of maternity, ruining, perhaps, her reputation and her health, and then goes his way without responsibility. " Marriage provides for the maintenance and education of children. Whoredom ignores children as nuisances and leaves them to chance. " Now in respect to every one of these points of difference between mar- riage and whoredom, we stand with marriage. Free love with us does not mean freedom to love to-day and leave to-morrow; nor freedom to take a woman's person and keep our property to ourselves; or freedom to freight a woman with our offspring and send her down stream without care or help; or freedom to beget children and leave them to the street and the MARRIAGE IK- THE NEW WORLD. ^\ poor-house. Our Communities are families, as distinctly bounded and sepa- rated from promiscuous society as ordinary households. The tie that binds us together is as permanent and sacred, to say the least, as that of marriage, for it is our religion. We receive no members (except by deception and mistake), who do not give heart and hand to the family interest for life and forever. Community of property extends just as far as freedom of love. Every man's care and every dollar of the common property is pledged for the maintenance and protection of the women and the education of the children of the Community. Bastardy, in any disastrous sense of the word, is simply impossible in such a social state. Whoever will take the trouble to follow our track from the beginning, will find no forsaken women or children by the way. In this respect we claim to be a little ahead of mar- riage and common civilization. "We are not sure how far the class of socialists called 'free lovers,' would claim for themselves any thing like the above defence from the charge of reckless and cruel freedom; but our impression is that their position, scattered as they are, without organization or definite separation from sur- rounding society, makes it impossible for them to follow and care for the consequences of their freedom, and thus exposes them to the just charge of licentiousness. At all events their platform is entirely different from oure, and they must answer for themselves. We are not 'free lovers,'in any sense that makes love less binding or responsi- ble than it is in mar- riage." Under the head of " A Social Analysis " they present the follow- ing disquisition on mar- riage, prostitution, old maidhood and Commu- nism: "Let us," they say, "analyze tli9 posi- tion of women in ordi- nary society, and see what are the chances that are offered to them. Wo- the late bev. j. h. notes. men require, like men, or The Founder of the Oneida Community. perhaps more than men, two things for their proper existence, viz.: 1, a guaranty of bodily support; and 2, love, or social appreciation. These two Fig. 169. 732 COMPLEX MARMAGE. things sum up, for women, the primary natural Wants arOUnol which all others are grouped. Now the last-named necessity—the love part—would take care of itself if allowed to act separately. The attractions with which women are created would secure their due supply of affection, free from all conditions or exactions, if they could have independent play. But the weak- ness of women on the point of support enables society to complicate thia matter with the love question, so as to enforce their being treated to- gether ; and the consequence is that man is placed in a position to offer women certain alternatives, one of which she must accept. Having ap- propriated to himself the learned professions and the lucrative industrial pur- suits ; having made it disreputable for women to pursue much other business than that of millinery work and attending the nursery, and having shaped their education accordingly; having in short got immensely the start of wo- man in the opportunities of self-support and made her substantially depend- ent on him for her maintenance, he then comes forward with his proposal. He says to woman, I will furnish the two wants of your nature, love and sup- port, if you will make yourself over to me, and become my property for life, be at my disposal, rear my children, and wear yourself out if need be in my service. This is the offer of marriage, which society sanctions and deems an honorable destiny for woman. As it is the best alternative that is offered, women generally accept it. Their youth is spent in looking at marriage, as the crisis of their life, hopefully it is true, for it is to be the advent of love ; but misgivingly also, for it is to be the end of their personal freedom. Their attitude reminds one too much of the wistful gaze of a party of slaves about to be sold, seeking to discover their future fate in the faces of their masters. Their lot is fixed by marriage—the die for them ia cast—their liberty is surrendered—for better or for worse, their identity ia sunk in that of their accepted lords. One cannot wonder at the solicitude with which such an event must be expected, or fail to admire the patient grace with which the sex has made the best of its hard conditions. Though in many cases the promises on the part of the man, of love and support, are left wholly unfulfilled, yet woman being married, disdains to complain, buries her wrongs in silence, and looks for happiness in the world beyond the grave. " So much for the marriage alternative. But there are two others. Bear in mind that loving and being loved is a necessity of women, nearly as much aa subsistence, and if for any reason they are deprived of the chance of secur- ing both these wants by selling themselves in marriage, then they are under an inducement at least, to try to gain one of them regardless of the other. To women iu this situation men are always ready to say, We will offer you our love, or a passion which is its representative, providing it is to be temporary, and that you do not ask us to be responsible for your support. A class of MARRIAGE IN THE NEW WORLD. 733 women in every country take up with this second alternative, enjoying a quasi social existence, but generally ending life in the hospital or alms- bouse. This is prostitution. " The third and last alternative of women is to reject albance with man both in the respectable and the disreputable way, and consent to spend lonely, thriftless, anomalous lives, as old maids, living on the merest alms of society. These different arrangements comprise all the chances offered to woman by civilization as it is, and may be presented thus:— " I. Man offers woman love and support (not always paid). He exacts of woman—sacrifice of maiden name and of independence; life-long servitude , personal surrender to his ownership, even to the ruin of her health if lie pleases. State—marriage. " II. He offers woman love without support (of equivocal quality). He exacts—sacrifice of reputation; conditions tending to vice; final deser- tion, poverty, and misery. State—prostitution. "III. He offers to woman toleration and alms. She realizes social insignificance. State—old maidhood. " Of the three conditions, that of marriage is by far the best, and yet one cannot but see that it is imperfect. It savors of selfishness driving a hard bargain. There is something essentially base in the act of society reducing women to dependence, and then taking advantage of their necessity to exact terms which obliterate their individual freedom and place them fbr a life-time at the mercy of the man who buys them. It is true the evil is not all on the woman's side; nature revenges injustice by giviug man often- times but a barren empire over the person, while the heart that he seeks is beyond his reach. And it is true also, that tho better nature of both parties often conceals the odious features of the contract under an affection which produces happiness in marriage. But the marriage institution itself, view it as we may, remains a one-sided, usurious transaction, extorted by man's strength out of woman's necessities. "If men could lay aside for a moment tradition, ancient usage, and, above all, the selfishness which makes right of might, and look at their duty to women in the clear light of the golden rule, they would see a better way than to shut up their sisters to the hard alternatives which society now makes for them. A truly noble and generous man would desire to say to woman, You shall at least be free ; you shall stand fair and equal with me in opportunities of self-support. I disdain forcing you to dispose of your- self by the compulsion of necessity. Whatever alliance is between us shall be that of pure and spontaneous affection, unbribed and unfettered. In fact a chivalric mind in mau would go further than this, and say to woman, I Will offer vou both love and support free from all conditions and stipula- Vons, trusting to your affection and fidelity to reward my sex, if not me 734 COMPLEX MARRIAGE. individuaby. Such a compact, worthy of the spirit of Christianity, and which we may suppose regulates society in heaven, would be formularized thus:— " Man offers woman lovb and support (unconditional). Woman, en. foying freedom, self-respect, health, personal and mental competency, gives herself to man in the boundless sincerity of an unselfish union. State— communism." Again, under the caption of " Civilization and Communism " they present some quaint views on social matters, which will be interesting to those who are thinking of or laboring for social reform. The literature of these people whether correct or not is suggestive, and inasmuch as the time has arrived when thoughtful attention should be given to the improve- ment of the social and moral condition of mankind, I feel confident that the excerpts I am making from their publications, will be followed by some good results. "The definition of the word civilization," says the writer, " as we find it in Webster's Unabridged is—'the state of being civilized, refinement, cul- ture.' While this definition may be sufficient for the ordinary purpose of a dictionary, it is manifest that the distinction between the conditions of savage and civilized man, is susceptible cf a much more thorough explana- tion. The leading characteristic of savages is their mutual independence and distrust; that of civilized people is their mutual dependence and trust. It occurs to me in passing, that the words trusi ana distrust are synony- mous with faith and unbelief. It follows then that faith and unbelief are characterizing elements of civilization ani barbarism. " By way of demonstration of this proposition, we need only to consider the wants of the two classes, and the different means by which they are supplied. The wants of the savage are few, simply because his means of supplying them are so limited. He satisfies the cravings of hunger by his own right arm, and an appeal to nature's most obvious and direct means of supply, which is the wild game, fish, and fruits which his native foresta and waters produce. He finds ready woven clothing covering the bear, the deer, the buffalo, and furred animals, which he appropriates to his own use. He approaches as near as possible to our ideal of independence, because his few wants are supplied by his own efforts, without an appeal to his fellow- men for help in the operation. Nevertheless, so.far as he is dependent on his relations to his family or tribe, or on his traditions for wisdom and skill in procuring the supply of all his wants, just so far his life and nature partake of the characteristics of civilization. An utterly savage man, is an utter impossibility, unless a specimen ean be discovered that was never in any sense dependent on his fellow-man for the supply of any of his wants. , MARRIAGE IN THIS NEW WORLD. 735 1 "In civilized society, on the contrary, human wants are numerous, because they have been fostered by an abundant supply. This abundant supply is the result of that faith in, and dependence* on each other, which characterize civilization. In the place of the few, timid, Wild animals of the forest, affording an uncertain sustenance to the sparse population' of flavage men, we have the 'cattle upon a thousand hills,' yielding of their abundance to their numerous and wealthy owners. Instead of such it scarcity of fruit that the Indian could picture the glories of his heaven in 110 more luxurious way than by representing it as pre-eminently a land of Strawberries, We have Single" acres that yield their hundreds of bushels of that delicious fruit. In the place of the scant clothing stripped from the backs of the) Wild denizens of the forest, we hate whole villages devoted to the fabrication of cotton, woolen, and silk material for human apparel. " All these, and much more of the good fruits of civilization, We say, are" the result of mutual faith or trust, which is the characterizing element of civilization. By way of illustrating the method by which this faith mani- fests itself, let it be supposed that I devote" my whole time and attention to raising strawberries. How is it that I can afford ta git© the whole of my business attention to cultivating that single production 1 What security have I, that my manifold other wants, such as the demand for food, cloth- ing, shelter, means of traveling, books, etc., will be supplied, if I give alii my energies to this single branch of business? The answer to these* questions' Is, that I have secure faith or trust-so deeply rooted that I am quite unconscious of it-that my neighbors will furnish the means of supply- ing aU these wants; and therefore I may safely give my whole time and talents to the work of raising strawberries. I am thus at liberty to improve the business so as to produce tho brgest quantity and finest quality. My temporal prosperity in all things, U measured by my success in this one thing. Indeed Christ's terse, and condensed summing up of his gospel 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you,' might most appropriately be paraph asad into a summary of true business doctrine thus: Seek ye first the ?-« abundance of your own productions, and all other good things shall be added ^^Thus'we demonstrate that civilization is the fruit of faith. The pro- Zucev believes that he shall have a sure market for his productions He beeves also that his neighbors, or in other words society^« manifold wants. Therefore he presses forward m the wo * °<^^» and most perfect production with the full assurance of faith and the high st encouragement: He gets his reward by serving his neighbors The est enc°ur*f ™! in society, and believes only in his own right arm ZZ 'p" ££ ridV he «, « *,»■** B- *IM 736 COMPLEX MARRIAGE. man, when hVgoeV abroad on a hunt for a livelihood, searches not directly for the food and clothing that he wants, but he searches for a want in society and for the means of supplying that want, well knowing that for such work he shall not fail of his reward. " The grand results of this faith are, 1st, a division of labor In its thou- sand-fold branches, assigning individuals to each branch; 2d, a system of exchange or commerce whereby each partakes of the fruit of his neighbors' toil; 3d, a multiplication of human wants, with abundant production of the means of their supply. " Finally we may say that civilization, so far as it has a foothold in the world, is nothing less than the glorious state of things which Paul ascribes to the church of Christ, and which he illustrates by the perfect unity, com- bined with diversity of gifts, in the members of the human body, which is the very image of God. Civilization considered by itself, pure and simple, is a beautiful, a glorious thing. The injustice, the oppression, and all the foul abominations that haunt modern society, are the result, not of a spirit of civilization, but of the lack of it. We may say that a little civilization is a dangerous thing, in the same sense that we say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It gives power to individuals and corporations, which wielded by a savage spirit, produces enormous evil. The history of the world has thus far been simply that of the power of civilization on the one hand, invading and overcoming barbarism on the other. In the crash of the con- flict we can form no just estimate of the glorious results that civilization is capable of when she shall have fairly conquered her heritage, "It has been shown in the foregoing that civilized society is distinguished, first, by its division of the work of production into an almost infinite number of branches, with individuals separately assigned to each; and secondly, by the establishment of a system of commerce whereby each may enjoy the fruit of his neighbors' industry. We have shown also that this state of things is founded on mutual trust or confidence, and that it results in an interweaving of interests and a grand unity which are unattainable in the savage condition of mankind. "If this analysis of the elements of civilization is correct, it follows that we have a good test for determining the character of the various forms of society, the institutions, manners, and customs that we observe around us. By it we may compare and ascertain in a measure whether they partake more of the character of civilization or its opposite. " How is it in regard to the prevailing system of holding private property 1 Of which element does this system partake the most—that of civilization, or that of barbarism? We say that the essence of civilization consists in the working of that mutual faith or confidence which enables an individual to trust others for the supply of his multifarious wants, while he gives hiB