proper remedies, will check the unnatural loss in most of these cases
very promptly. In the first place, absolute rest, chiefly in a supine
position, must be observed not only during the menstrual period, but
for a few days previous to its commencement. If this does not restrain
the flow, then cool and even cold compresses may be applied to the lower
part of the abdomen and to the small of the back. In severe cases no
harm will come from the use of an ice-compress, made by inclosing
pounded ice between the folds of a towel. Great care must be taken to
make the hands, arms, feet, and limbs thoroughly warm by the application
of warm bottles and woolen blankets. These measures will scarcely fail
to accomplish the desired end, if employed thoroughly and judiciously.
It may be well to add just here that the popular fear of using cold
in such cases is groundless. No harm can come so long as the extremities
are kept warm, and the circulation well balanced. The patient must not
be made chilly, however. It is also of importance that the patient be
kept mentally quiet as well as physically so.
Much good will result from these simple measures at the time of the
period; but a radical cure can only be effected by removing the cause
of the difficulty. The patient's general health must be improved, and
local congestion must be removed. This will be accomplished by
attention to general hygiene, gentle exercise out-of-doors between the
periods, abundance of good food, tonic baths and other necessary
treatment if there is derangement of the digestive organs, and daily
hip baths with a local douche. The hip bath should be taken in water
of a temperature of 92 degrees at the beginning. After five minutes
the temperature may be lowered 5 degrees. After five minutes more, it
may be lowered a few degrees more. By taking a warm foot bath at 95
degrees or 100 degrees at the same time, quite a cool bath may be endured
without chilling. The bath should be continued 15 minutes to 30 minutes,
according to the strength of the patient. A shorter bath than this will
do little good, as the sedative effect will not be obtained.
The douche may be taken at the same time with the bath, or before, as
is most convenient. The fountain or syphon syringe should be employed,
and the water used should range from 95 degrees to 105 degrees, as best
suits the sensations of the patient, being cooled a little toward the
last. In general, the hot douche, of a temperature from 100 degrees
to 115 degrees, or even 120 degrees, is not only more agreeable, but
much more beneficial.
By these simple remedies alone we have successfully treated scores of
cases of this sort. In some cases other remedies may be required, and
in nearly all, accessory remedies can be employed to advantage; but
the measures described are the main features of the most successful
mode of treatment.
Dysmenorrhoea.--This condition is that in which there is more or less
pain and difficulty in connection with the menstrual process. The
causes are various, as congestion of the uterus, malformation, and
displacement or distortion of the organ. Some of these conditions
require the attention of a skilled physician to remedy; but all will
be palliated more or less by a course of treatment similar to that
described for the previous condition. A warm sitz or hip bath just at
the beginning of the period will often give almost magical relief. The
application of fomentations over the lower part of the abdomen, and
the corresponding portion of the spine, or of hot bags, bottles, etc.,
in the same localities, is a measure of great utility. The patient
should be covered warm in bed, should keep quiet, and great care should
be used to keep the extremities well warmed. The use of electricity
is a very valuable aid in numerous cases, but this requires the services
of a physician, who should always be employed in severe cases when
within reach.
In many cases of this form of disease the suffering is so great that
the constant dread of its periodical repetition becomes a source of
great unhappiness, and casts a gloom over the life of an individual
who would otherwise be as happy as could be desired.
Amenorrhoea and Chlorosis.--These are serious disorders which require
prompt and vigorous attention. They depend less frequently on disorder
of the sexual organs themselves than upon some disorder of the general
system. They usually demand the attention of a competent physician,
and require a more accurate description of their nature and of proper
modes of treatment than we have space to give here.
Hysteria.--From the most remote ages of medical history this disease
has been regarded as intimately connected with morbid states of the
female organs of generation, especially the uterus. That it is not
exclusively produced by causes of this kind is evidenced by the fact
that men also sometimes suffer from this curious malady. The phases
which it assumes are so numerous that we shall not attempt an accurate
description of it; neither is this required, as there are few who are
not familiar with its peculiar manifestations. It simulates almost
every disease. Even consumption and other formidable maladies have been
so completely simulated by this disorder as to deceive physicians of
long experience. We have met cases in which young ladies were supposed
to be in the last stages of pulmonary disease, were apparently gasping
almost their last breath, panting, coughing, and experiencing the usual
symptoms which accompany tuberculous disease of the lungs, when, upon
making a thorough physical examination of the chest, we could find no
evidence of pulmonary disease. In one case we incurred the everlasting
displeasure of a young lady by disclosing the real state of affairs;
but we were repaid in seeing an immediate disappearance of the symptoms,
and complete recovery within six weeks, although the young woman had
been considered hopelessly ill by her friends and physicians for six
months, and was tenderly watched over, petted, and mourned by friends
as one who must soon fall a victim to fell disease.
The foundation of this disease is almost always laid in some
indiscretion by means of which disease of the uterus is induced, and
the most careful attention to this part of the organism is required.
It should not be treated as a trivial matter which is wholly the result
of a diseased imagination, and requires only mental treatment, since
it is a real malady, dependent upon morbid states of the system. It
requires substantial and thorough treatment as much as rheumatism,
dyspepsia, or any other of the numerous diseases to which humanity is
subject.
Prevention Better than Cure.--We might mention numerous other diseased
conditions which grow out of inattention to the laws of health relating
to the sexual organism; but to dwell longer upon this part of the subject
would be to depart from the plan of this work, and we must forbear.
This whole class of maladies is noted for obstinacy in great numbers
of cases when the morbid conditions have existed for a long time. In
addition it should be remarked that some of the most inveterate
disorders of the nervous system originate in this same manner. The
thousands of ladies who are suffering with spinal irritation, organic
disease of the spine and other nervous disorders, are witnesses to this
fact. It is apparent, then, that prevention of these serious maladies
by attention to sexual hygiene, especially to the hygiene of
menstruation at the first establishment of that function, is a matter
of gravest importance. In fact, attention to hygiene is about all that
is required. With this, drugs will be rarely required; without, they
will be utterly useless.
Extra-Uterine Pregnancy.--Sometimes the ovum becomes fecundated
before reaching the uterus, and, instead of passing onward into that
organ as usual, remains in its position in the Fallopian tube or even
on the surface of the ovary. Occasionally an ovum falls into the cavity
of the abdomen instead of passing into the tube. Even in this situation
it may be fecundated. Impregnated ova thus left in abnormal positions,
undergo a greater or lesser degree of development. They commonly result
in the death of the mother.
Twins.--The human female usually matures but one ovum at each menstrual
period, the two ovaries acting alternately. Occasionally two ova are
matured at once. If fecundation occurs, the result will be a development
of two embryos at the same time. In rare cases, three or even four ova
are matured at once, and by fecundation produce a corresponding number
of embryos. As many as five children have been born alive at one birth,
but have not lived more than a few minutes.
The occurrence of multiple pregnancies may be explained by the
supposition that ova matured subsequent to the first fecundation are
also fecundated.
In lower animals, the uterus is often divided into two long segments
which afford room for the development of a number of young at once.
Some ancient writers make most absurd statements with regard to the
fecundity of females. One declares that the simultaneous birth of seven
or eight infants by the same mother was an ordinary occurrence with
Egyptian women! Other statements still more extravagant are made by
writers. For example: A traveler in the seventeenth century wrote that
he saw, in the year 1630, in a church near the Hague, a tablet on which
was an inscription stating that a certain noted countess gave birth
at once, in the year 1276, to 365 infants, who were all baptized and
christened, the males being all called John, and the females, Elizabeth.
They all died on the day of their birth, with their mother, according
to the account, and were buried in the church, where a tablet was erected
to their memory.
Monsters.--Defects and abnormalities in the development of the embryon
produce all degrees of deviation from the typical human form. Excessive
development may result in an extra finger or toe, or in the production
of some peculiar excrescence. Deficiency of development may produce
all degrees of abnormality from the simple harelip to the most frightful
deficiency, as the absence of a limb, or even of a head. It is in this
manner that those unfortunate individuals known as hermaphrodites are
formed. An excessive development of some parts of the female generative
organs gives them a great degree of similarity to the external organs
of the male. A deficient development of the male organs renders them
very similar in form to those of the female. Redundant development of
the sexual organism sometimes results in the development of both kinds
of organs in the same individual in a state more or less complete. Cases
have occurred in which it has become necessary, for legal purposes,
to decide respecting the sex of an individual suffering from defective
development, and it has sometimes been exceedingly difficult to decide
in a given case whether the individual was male or female.
Such curious cases as the Carolina twins and Chang and Eng were formerly
supposed to be the result of the union of two separate individuals.
It is now believed that they are developed from a single ovum. It has
been observed that the primitive trace--described in a previous
section--sometimes undergoes partial division longitudinally. If it
splits a little at the anterior end, the individual will have a single
body with two heads. If a partial division occurs at each end, the
resulting being will possess two heads and two pairs of legs joined
to a single body. More complete division produces a single trunk with
two heads, two pairs of arms, and two pairs of legs, as in the case
of the Carolina twins. Still more complete division may result in the
formation of two perfect individuals almost entirely independent of
each other, physiologically, but united by a narrow band, as in the
remarkable Siamese twins, Chang and Eng.
In a curious case reported not a great while ago, a partially developed
infant was amputated from the cheek of a child some time after birth.
The precise cause of these strange modifications of development is as
yet, in great degree, a mystery.
Hybrids.--It is a well-known law of biology that no progeny result from
union of animals of different species. Different varieties of the same
species may in some cases form a fertile union, the result of which
is a cross between its two parents, possessing some of the qualities
of each. The mule is the product of such a union between the horse and
the ass. A curious fact is that the offspring of such unions are
themselves sterile almost without exception. The reason of this is that
they do not produce mature elements of generation. In the mule, the
zoosperms are either entirely absent or else very imperfectly
developed; hence the fact that a colt having a mule for its sire is
one of the rarest of curiosities, though a few instances have been
reported. This is a wise law of nature to preserve the purity of species.
Law of Sex.--If there is a law by which the sex of the developing embryon
is determined, it probably has not yet been discovered. The influence
of the will, the predominant vitality of one or the other of the parents,
and the period at which conception occurs, have all been supposed to
be the determining cause. A German physician some time since advanced
the theory that the two testicles and ovaries produce elements of
different sexual character, the right testicle forming zoosperms
capable of producing only males, and the right ovary producing ova with
the same peculiarity. The left testis and the left ovary he supposed
to form the female elements. He claimed to have proved his theory by
experiments upon animals. Even if true, this theory will not be made
of practical importance. It is, in fact, nothing more than a revival
of an old theory held by physicians who flourished more than two
thousand years ago.
More recently another German physician has advanced the theory that
the sex may be controlled at will by observing the time of fecundation.
He asserts that when fecundation occurs shortly after menstruation,
the result will be a female; but if impregnation occurs later in the
month, and prior to the three or four days preceding the next menstrual
period, a male will almost certainly be produced. This theory was
proposed by Prof. Thury of the academy of Geneva, who claims to have
thoroughly tested it in a great variety of ways, and always with an
affirmative result. Dr. Heitzman, of New York, an instructor in
pathological histology, and an eminent physiologist, informs us that
he has thoroughly tested this theory, and finds it to be entirely
reliable. There are numerous facts which seem to corroborate the truth
of this theory, and future investigations may give to it the dignity
of an established physiological fact.
Heredity.--The phenomena of heredity are among the most interesting
of biological studies. It is a matter of common observation that a child
looks like its parents. It even happens that a child resembles an uncle
or a grandparent more nearly than either parent. The same peculiarities
are often seen in animals.
The cause of this resemblance of offspring to parents and ancestors
has been made a subject of careful study by scientific men. We shall
present the most recent theory adopted, which, although it be but a
theory, presents such an array of facts in its support, and explains
the phenomena in question so admirably, that it must be regarded as
something more than a plausible hypothesis. It is the conception of
one of the most distinguished scientists of the age. The theory is known
as the doctrine of _pangenesis_, and is essentially as follows:--
It is a fact well known to physiologists that every part of the living
body is made up of cellular elements which have the power to reproduce
themselves in the individual, thus repairing the damage resulting from
waste and injury. Each cell produces cells like itself. It is further
known that there are found in the body numerous central points of growth.
In every group of cells is found a central cell from which the others
originated, and which determines the form of their growth. Every minute
structure possesses such a center. A simple proof of this fact is found
in the experiment in which the spur of a cock was grafted upon the ear
of an ox. It lived in this novel situation eight years, attaining the
length of nine inches, and nearly a pound in weight. A tooth has been
made to grow upon the comb of a cock in a similar manner. The tail of
a pig survived the operation of transplanting from its proper position
to the back of the animal, and retained its sensibility. Numerous other
similar illustrations might be given.
The doctrine of pangenesis supposes that these centers of nutrition
form and throw off not only cells like themselves, but very minute
granules, called gemmules, each of which is capable, under suitable
circumstances, of developing into a cell like its parent.
These minute granules are scattered through the system in great numbers.
The essential organs of generation, the testicles in the male and the
ovaries in the female, perform the task of collecting these gemmules
and forming them into sets, each of which constitutes a reproductive
element, and contains, in rudimentary form, a representative of every
part of the individual, including the most minute peculiarities. Even
more than this: It is supposed that each ovum and each zoosperm contains
not only the gemmules necessary to reproduce the individuals who
produced them, but also a number of gemmules which have been transmitted
from the individuals' ancestors.
If this theory be true,--and we can see no sound objection to it,--it
is easy to understand all the problems of heredity. The gemmules must
be very small indeed, but it may be suggested that the molecules of
matter are smaller still, so this fact is no objection to the theory.
It will be seen, then, that each spermatozoon, or zoosperm, actually
contains, in an embryonic condition, every organ and tissue of the
individual producing it. The same is true of the ovum. In other words,
the reproductive elements are complete representatives, in miniature,
of the parents, and contain all the elements for producing an offspring
possessing the same peculiarities as the parents. Various modifying
circumstances sufficiently explain the dissimilarities between
parents and children.
This theory is strikingly confirmed by the fact, previously mentioned,
that in certain cases the ovum alone, a single reproductive element,
may undergo a degree of development approaching very near to completion.
It is supposed that fecundation is chiefly necessary to give to the
gemmules the requisite amount of nourishment to insure development.
As we shall see hereafter, this matter has a very important bearing
upon several practical questions.
Ante-Natal Influences.--There can be no manner of doubt that many
circumstances which it is entirely within the power of the parents to
supply, exert a powerful influence in molding both the mental and the
physical characteristics of offspring. By carefully availing himself
of the controlling power given him by a knowledge of this fact, the
stock-raiser is enabled to produce almost any required quality in his
young animals. Pigeon fanciers show wonderful skill in thus producing
most curious modifications in birds. The laws of heredity and
development are carefully studied and applied in the production of
superior horses, cows, dogs, and pigeons; but an application of the
same principles to the improvement of the human race is rarely thought
of. Human beings are generated in as haphazard and reckless a manner
as weeds are sown by the wind. No account is taken of the possible
influence which may be exerted upon the future destiny of the new being
by the physical or mental condition of parents at the moment when the
germ of life is planted, or by the mental and physical conditions and
surroundings of the mother while the young life is developing. Indeed,
the assertion of a modern writer that the poor of our great cities
virtually "spawn children," with as little thought of influences and
consequences as the fish that sow their eggs broadcast upon the waters,
is not so great an exaggeration as it might at first sight appear to
be.
Law Universal.--Men and women are constantly prone to forget that the
domain of law is universal. Nothing comes by chance. The revolutions
of the planets, studied by the aid of the telescope, and the gyrations
of the atoms, seen only by the eye of science, are alike examples of
the controlling influence of law. Notwithstanding this sad ignorance
and disregard of this vitally important subject, the effects of law
are only too clearly manifested in the crowds of wretched human beings
with which the world is thronged. An old writer sagely remarks, "It
is the greatest part of our felicity to be well born;" nevertheless,
it is the sad misfortune of by far the greater portion of humanity to
be deprived of this inestimable "felicity."
A Source of Crime.--Who can tell how many of the liars, thieves,
drunkards, murderers, and prostitutes of our day are less responsible
for their crimes against themselves, against society, and against
Heaven, than those who were instrumental in bringing them into the
world? Almost every village has its boy "who was born drunk," a
staggering, simpering, idiotic representative of a drunken father,
beastly intoxicated at the very moment when he should have been most
sober.
An interesting study of this question has recently been made by Mr.
Dugdale, a member of the Prison Association of the State of New York.
When visiting the various jails of the State, he found in one six persons
detained for crimes of various character, between all of whom there
was a family relation. Upon further inquiry, he found that of the same
family there were twenty-nine relatives in the vicinity, seventeen of
whom were criminals. Still further investigation developed the
following facts:--
Within seventy-five years, a family of 1200 persons have sprung from
five sisters, several of whom were illegitimate, and three of whom were
known to be unchaste, and who married men whose father was an idle,
thriftless hunter, a hard drinker, and licentious.
Of this family, the history of but 709 was traced. Of these, the facts
set forth in the following incomplete summary were found to be true:--
Paupers, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Years of pauperism, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798
Criminals, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Years of infamy, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
Thieves, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Murderers, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Prostitutes and adulteresses, . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Illegitimate children, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
No. of persons contaminated by syphilitic disease, . 480
Cost to the State in various ways, . . . . . $1,308,000
Without doubt a complete summary would make this showing still more
appalling, since of the 709 whose histories were traced, it was in many
instances impossible to determine whether the individuals were guilty
of crime or unchastity or not, even where there were grounds for
suspicion. Such cases were not included in the summary.
No amount of argument on this question could be so conclusive as are
these simple facts concerning the "Juke" family. It is certainly high
time that our legislators began to awaken to this subject, and consider
whether it would be an unprofitable experiment to make some attempt
to prevent the multiplication of criminals in this manner. We are not
prepared to offer a plan for securing such an end; but it is very clearly
important that something should be done in this direction.