The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother Part 31

'tonics,' and so forth, at such times. They can only result in injury, and should be shunned. The pains in the back and loins often experienced, can generally be removed by rubbing the parts with hot mustard-water and taking a gentle purgative, or by placing against the lower part of the spine a hot brick wrapped in a flannel cloth wrung out in warm water or laudanum and water.

Once safely through this critical period, the woman has a better chance for long life and a green old age than the man of equal years. Tables of human life show this conclusively. With the sweet consciousness of duty performed, she is now prepared to a.s.sist others by intelligent advice, cheerful counsel, and tender offices; she can now surround herself with that saintly halo of kind words and good works which wins a worthier love than pa.s.sion offers; and, pa.s.sing onward to the silence of eternal rest, she will leave in the memory of all who knew her, pleasant impressions and affectionate reminiscences.

NOTES.

P. 20. HERMAPHRODITES AND As.e.xUALISM.--Rokitansky decides Hohmann to be a case of _hermaphrodita vera lateralis_, and all who examine her say the same. See _Wiener Medicin. Wochenschrift_, October, 1868, and the _Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 487. A marked case of as.e.xualism, proven so by a _post mortem_ examination, is reported in the _Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal_ for April, 1869, p. 338; and another in the _Medical Times and Gazette_ of about the same date. We might refer to many more recent and authentic cases.

P. 25. AGE OF p.u.b.eRTY.--See case by Dr. T. H. Twiner, in the _Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal_, March, 1869, Raciborski, _De la Menstruation et de l'Age Critique chez la Femme_, p. 130. The quotation (p. 26) is from Dr. Edward Smith, _Cyclical Changes in Health and Disease_,--a profound work. Raciborski is the princ.i.p.al authority for this and the following section. Our own inquiries fully confirm his statements.

P. 32. INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON MENSTRUATION.--On this question, see the researches of M. Parchappe, _Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences_, tom. xvi. p. 550. See also Dr. Shrye, _Tractatus de Fluxu Menstruo_, in the _Acta Lipsiensia_ for 1686, p. 111; Dr. W. Charleton, _Inquisitio Physica de Causis Catameniorum_, p. 78; and Galen, _De Diebus Decretoriis_, lib. iii., for other curious particulars.

P. 37. CHLOROSIS.--For the pathology of this disease, see Dr. Gaillard Thomas, _Diseases of Women_, p. 625, and Dr. C. H. Bauer, in the _Weiner Medicin. Zeitung_, No. 33, 1868. Occasionally the change at p.u.b.erty leads to an affection very closely resembling typhoid fever, but which is strictly due to the s.e.xual crisis; and often goitre commences at this period. See a review of Raciborski, in the _Bulletin de Therapeutique_, June, 1869.

P. 39. MASTURBATION IN GIRLS.--See Miss Catherine E. Beecher, _Letters to the People on Health and Happiness_, p. 159. The late medical literature on the subject is abundant. See _Ueber die Behandlung der Masturbation bei kleinen Madchen, Journal jur Kinderkrankheiten_, Bd.

li. p. 360; H. R. Storer, _Western Journal of Medicine_, July, 1868; and _Journal of the Gynecological Society_, vol. i. No. 1.

Pp. 50, 51. PREMATURE MARRIAGES.--See Dr. Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility_, etc., p. 241; Reich, _Natur und Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, p. 518.

P. 56. HOLY LOVE.--The distinction between [Greek: haghape] and [Greek: irhohe] is too familiar to all scholars to need extended mention. See Trench, _Synonyms of the New Testament, sub voce._

Pp. 57, 58. SINGLE LIFE IN ITS RELATION TO SANITY AND MORTALITY.--The extraordinary statements in the text are vouched for by Dr. Casper, _Medicinische Statistik_, vol. ii. p. 164, and Dr. Reich, _Geschichte, Natur, und Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, pp. 510, 511. We have compared the reports of a number of asylums for the insane, and find the proportions very nearly as great as stated by these authorities.

P. 70. INTERMARRIAGE OF RELATIVES.--The view we advocate on this point, we know, is neither the received nor the popular one. In the middle ages it was forbidden to intermarry within the seventh degree of consanguinity; but this and all other regulations were based on theological and political, not physiological, grounds. Among others, Dr.

Nathan Allen has insisted on the danger of consanguineous marriages (_Journal of Psychological Medicine_, Volume ii). But other very careful and recent students adopt the view of our text: for instance, Dr. F. J.

Behrend, _Journal fur Kinderkrankheiten_, December, 1868, p. 316; Dr. A.

Voisin, in the reports of the _Paris Academie de Medecin_,1864, 1865, and 1868; and Dr. H. Gaillard, in the last edition (1868) of the _Dictionnaire de Medecine et de Chirurgie Pratique_. All the statements in the text are supported with incontrovertible evidence by these writers. If we are asked how to meet the seemingly alarming array of allegations by Dr. Bemiss, the Kentucky physician referred to in the _Transactions of the American Medical a.s.sociation_ for 1859, we would refer to Dr. Behrend's articles, where the researches of Bemiss are severely criticised. For Dr. Edward Smith's a.s.sertion, see his _Essay on Consumption_, p. 244 (Philadelphia, 1865).

P. 80. COMMUNICATION OF VENEREAL DISEASES.--Many instances are recorded where a drinking-gla.s.s, a spoon, a fork, or a handkerchief has infected innocent persons with these terrible diseases (see Cullerier, _Atlas of Venereal Diseases_, p. 43). They are communicated from the male to the female, or from the female to the male, with equal facility, and either parent can transmit them to the children. The physician referred to is Dr. Sigmund, in the _Humboldt Medical Archives_, 1868.

P. 83. SYMBOLISM.--See Dr. Carus, _Symbolik der Menschlichen Gestalt_, the most scientific work ever written on physiognomy, phrenology, and allied subjects.

Pp. 90, 91.--See Raciborski, _De la p.u.b.erte et de l'Age Critique chez la Femme_, p. 133; Tilt, _Uterine Therapeutics_, p. 315.

P. 94. CONTAGION OF PHTHISIS.--See Dr. William A. Hammond's _Treatise on Hygiene_, p. 438, for air-s.p.a.ce required by a healthy person. The contagion of phthisis is maintained by many authorities--among others, Dr. W. W. Gerbard (see Pennsylvanian Hospital Reports for 1868, p.

266). Professor Castan has recently collected, in the _Montpelier Medicale_, a variety of facts, which seem to show that tuberculosis may be communicated from a diseased to a healthy person by transpiration, breathed air, and living together (_Press and Circular_, March 10, 1869). In regard to the inoculation of tubercle, we have reference to the well-known experiments of M. Villemin, of the Hopital Val-de-Grace, Paris. In this connection we may record an instance of recent medical heroism. M. Lespiaud, attached to the surgical department of the Val-de-Grace, in presence of several of his colleagues, extracted granular matter from the body of a phthisical subject, and introduced it under his own integument. This zealous investigator into the etiology of tuberculosis has thus exposed himself in a courageous way for the benefit of science, to the effects of a most dangerous and merciless disease.

P. 96. THE DIGNITY AND PROPRIETY OF THE s.e.xUAL INSTINCT.--Dr. Edward John Tilt is the medical writer referred to (see _Uterine Therapeutics_, pp. 95, 313). See also Bosquet, _Noveau Tableau de l'Amour Conjugal_, vol. ii. p. 2, etc.; Rousel, _Systeme Physique et Moral de la Femme_, p.

211; Menville, _Histoire Medicale et Philosophique de la Femme_, vol. i.

p. 36 et seq.; Raciborski, _De la p.u.b.erte_, etc., p. 45.

P. 99. ON THE INDULGENCE AND RESTRAINT OF s.e.xUAL DESIRE.--Menville, vol.

ii. p. 91; Bosquet, vol. ii. p. 280; _Economy of Life--or, Food, Repose, and Love_, by George Miles. Dr. Edward Smith, in his valuable work on _Cyclical Changes in Health and Disease_, has collected extensive statistics showing the effect of the time of conception on the viability of the ftus. The quotation is from Carpenter's _Human Physiology_, p.

753.

P 103. See _Lancet_ for March 6, 1869, p. 337, for report of discussion in the Pathological Society of London upon the physical degeneracy resulting from procreation during intoxication. Authorities could be cited at length upon this subject, but it is not necessary. See Huleland's _Art of Prolonging Life_, p. 207.

Pp. 106-114. STERILITY.--For statistics referred to, see Dr. Matthews Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and Sterility_ (Edinburgh, 1866), p. 181 _et seq._; Dr. Tilt, _Uterine Therapeutics_, p. 291; Dr. Edward Reich, _Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, Th. ii.

Dr. J. Marion Sims, _On the Microscope as an Aid in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Sterility_, _New York Medical Journal_, January 1869, p.

406; Charles Darwin, _The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication_, vol. ii. p. 198; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, November 2, 1867, p. 384; A. Debay, _Hygiene et Physiologie du Mariage_, p. 288 (Paris, Quarante-quatrieme edition); Raciborski, _De la p.u.b.erte_, etc., p. 451; Virey, _De la Femme sous ses Rapports Phys._, etc., p. 332; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _The Principles and Practice of Obstetrics_, p. 107.

P. 115. THE LIMITATION OF OFFSPRING.--We have taken great pains to avoid giving false or dangerous impressions in this section. The references in the order of quotation are:--Dr. Tilt, _Hand-Book of Uterine Therapeutics_, p. 317; Dr. Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, Sterility, and Allied Topics_, pp. 289, 290; Dr. Hillier, _Diseases of Children_, p.

114; John Stuart Mill, _Principles of Political Economy_, p. 591; Dr.

Drysdale, _London Medical Press and Circular_, December, 1868, p. 478; Raciborski, _De l'Age Critique chez la Femme_, p. 484; _The Nation_, June 1869; Dr. Edward Reich, _Natur und Gesundheitslehre des Ehelichen Lebens_, p. 493; _Boston Medical and Surgical Journal_, February 1867; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 305; Sismondi, _Principles of Political Economy_, book vii. chap. v.; Dr.

MacCormac, in _London Medical Press and Circular_, March 1869, p. 244; Dr. Gaillard Thomas, _Diseases of Women_, p. 58; _Leavenworth Medical Herald_, April, 1867; Dr. N. K. Bowling, in _The Nashville Journal of Medicine and Surgery_, October 1868. We have rather let others speak than spoken ourselves, and have collected the opinions of many most distinguished physicians and statesmen, who thus p.r.o.nounce against excessive child-bearing. Any intelligent physician will acknowledge the weight to be a.s.signed to such names.

P. 128. SIGNS OF FRUITFUL CONJUNCTION.--Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 772; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _Principles and Practice of Obstetrics_, p. 304; Menville, vol. i p. 295; Montgomery, _Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy_, p. 90.

P. 132. INHERITANCE.--Darwin, _Animals and Plants under Domestication_, pp. 42, 473; Sir Henry Holland's _Medical Notes and Reflections_, p. 30; Pritchard, _Researches into the Physical History of Mankind_, vol. ii.

p. 551; Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 779; A. Debay, _Hygiene et Physiologie du Mariage_, p. 173; Fleurens, _De la Longevite et de la Quantie de Vie sur le Globe_, p. 256 (Paris, 1860); Hufeland, _Art of Prolonging Life_, pp. 91, 206; Hammond's _Hygiene_, p. 116; _American Journal of Medical Sciences_, July, 1865, p. 82; Francis Galton, _On Hereditary Talent and Character_, in _Macmillan's Magazine_, vol. xii.

pp. 157, 318; Madden, _The Infirmities of Genius_, vol. ii. p. 107; _Lancet_, December 22, 1868, p. 825; _The British Medical Journal_, January 11, 1868, p. 25; Dr. Prosper Lucas, _Traite de l'Heredite Naturelle_; Victor Hugo, _L'Homme qui Rit_, le seconde chapitre preliminaire; Watson's _Practice_, p. 1153; Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, _Guide-Book to Florida and the South_, Pt. iii.; Dr. J. V. C. Smith, _Physical Indications of Longevity in Man._

P. 163. PLURAL BIRTHS.--Duncan, _Fecundity, Fertility, and Sterility_, p. 69; Ramsbotham, _System of Obstetrics_, p. 461; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 508, xx. p. 98.

P. 167. PREGNANCY.--Menville, i. p. 299; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _System of Obstetrics_, p. 144 et seq.; Montgomery, _Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy_; Dr. Edward Rigby, _System of Midwifery_, p. 47.

P. 180. MOTHERS' MARKS.--See a very interesting article by Professor Wm.

A. Hammond, in _The Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence_, January, 1868, p. 1, in which he says, in regard to the influence of the maternal mind over the ftus _in utero_: 'The chances of these instances, and others which I have mentioned, being due to coincidence, are infinitesimally small; and though I am careful not to reason upon the principle of _post hoc ergo propter hoc_, I cannot--nor do I think any other person can, no matter how logical may be his mind--reason fairly against the connection between cause and effect in such cases. The correctness of the facts only can be questioned: if these be accepted, the probabilities are thousands of millions to one, that the relation between the phenomena is correct.'

See also Dr. J. Lewis Smith, _Diseases of Infancy and Childhood_, 1869, p. 21; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 359.

Pp. 192-197. CONCURRENT PREGNANCIES.--Raciborski, _De la p.u.b.erte_, etc., p. 491; Dr. Gunning S. Bedford, _System of Obstetrics_, p. 442; _Dict.

des Sciences Medicales_, t. L. iii.; _Lancet_, August, 1856, p. 131; Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 779; Beck's _Elements of Medical Jurisprudence_, art. 'Superftation;' Rokitansky, _Pathological Anatomy_; _Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, May 1, 1869, p.

335.--Professor Pancost removed some years since, from the cheek of a child some months old, a rudimentary second child.

P. 198. CAN THE FTUS CRY IN UTERO?--Dr. Bedford Obstetrics, p. 264; _Lancet_, January 23, 1869.

P. 199. IS IT A SON OR DAUGHTER?--_Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xvii. p. 495; Dr. Frankenhauser, in the _Monatschrift fur Geburtskunde_; Dr. Packman, _On Impregnation_, _Lancet_, July 18, 1863.

P. 202. GARDNER PEERAGE CASE.--Dr. Bedford, _System of Obstetrics_, p.

299.

P. 204. PROLONGED PREGNANCIES.--Taylor, _Medical Jurisprudence_, p. 586; _Report of Proceedings against the Rev. Fergus Jardine_ (Edinburgh, 1839).

P. 207. CARE OF HEALTH DURING PREGNANCY.--Churchill, _On Women_, p. 451; Menville, ii. 114; Tilt's _Elements of Health_, p. 271.

P. 236. TO HAVE LABOR WITHOUT PAIN.--Professor T. Gaillard Thomas says, 'The rule should be to employ an anaesthetic in every case of labor, _during the second stage_, unless some contra-indication exists. After a delivery, under its influence patients recover more rapidly, are freer from complications, and show fewer signs of prostration.' See _Lecture on the Management of Women after Parturition_, in the _Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal_, February, 1869, p. 145.

P. 238. WEIGHT AND LENGTH OF NEW-BORN CHILDREN--_Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter_, vol. xix. p. 388; Carpenter, _Human Physiology_, p. 810; Ramsbotham, _Obstetrics_, p. 111; _Detroit Review of Medicine and Pharmacy_, March, 1869, p. 150.

P. 271. THE CHILD.--Dr. J. Lewis Smith, _A Treatise on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood_, 1869, p. 28 _et seq._; Dr. Thomas Hillier, _Clinical Treatise on the Diseases of Children_, p. 17; Dr. Edward Smith, _Cyclical Changes in Health and Disease_; Dr. John Marshall, _Outlines of Physiology, Human and Comparative_, pp. 761, 765, 998; Dr.

Charles A. Cameron, _Lectures on the Preservation of Health_, 1868, p.

174; Dr. Charles J. B. Williams, _Principles of Medicine_, p. 480; Dr.

J. Forsyth Meigs, _Diseases of Children_; Dr. E. J. Tilt, _Elements of Health and Principles of Female Hygiene_, p. 50 _et seq._; Dr. Andrew Combe, _The Management of Infancy_, p. 73 _et seq._ (ninth ed.

Edinburgh, 1860), _Report of Board of Health of Philadelphia_ for 1868, p. 43; _British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review_, April 1868, pp.

382, 454; _Southern Journal of the Medical Sciences_, November, 1867, p.