Produced by Jana Srna and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from scanned images of public domain material
from the Google Print project.)
[ Transcriber's Note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation;
changes (corrections of spelling and punctuation) made to the
original text are listed at the end of this file.
]
Plain Talks
on
Avoided Subjects.
by
Henry N. Guernsey, M. D.,
Ex-Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children in the
Homoeopathic Medical College of Penn'a; Ex-Professor of Materia
Medica and Institutes in the Hahnemann Medical College
of Philadelphia and Dean of the Faculty; Author of
Guernsey's Obstetrics, including the Disorders
peculiar to Women and Young Children;
Lectures on Materia Medica, &c.
Honorary Member of the Hahnemannian Medical Institute of Phila-
delphia; of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New
York; of the Instituto Homeopatico, Mexicano; of the Hahn-
emannian Society of Madris de Tulio, Spain; Member of
the American Institute of Homoeopathy; Consulting
Physician to the West Philadelphia Homoeo-
pathic Hospital for Children, &c. &c.
PHILADELPHIA
F. A. DAVIS COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
1905
Copyrighted, 1882,
by
H. N. Guernsey. M. D.
This little volume is fervently and solemnly dedicated to its Mission.
Those who conscientiously read and faithfully apply its teachings to
life, cannot fail to become wiser, better and happier members of the
Home circle and of Society at large.
PREFACE.
For many years I have wished that some able pen would place before the
community at large the knowledge contained in the following pages. Some
of this information has appeared from time to time in such books as
"Graham's Lectures on Chastity," "Todd's Students' Manual," and a few
popular works of a similar kind, which have been of immense service to
the human race in preserving chastity and in reclaiming the unchaste.
But all these are now inadequate to the growing demand for more light on
these vital topics. It has been too much the custom for everyone,
parents included, to shrink from instructing their own children, or
those entrusted to their care, on these points; consequently, many young
people _solely from their ignorance_ fall into the direst evils of a
sexual nature and are thereby much injured and sometimes wholly ruined
for life's important duties.
An experience of forty years in my professional career has afforded me
thousands of opportunities for sympathizing with young men, and young
women too, who had unconsciously sunk into these very evils merely for
want of an able writer to place this whole subject truthfully and
squarely before them, or for some wise friend to perform the same kind
office verbally. The perusal of a work by Wm. Acton, M. R. C. S., of
London, on "The Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs in
Childhood, Youth, Adult Age, and Advanced Life," has, by his purity of
sentiments, which have ever been identical with my own, both inspired
and emboldened me to write a work of similar import. But his is for the
profession while mine is for the profession and the laity, of both sexes
and of any age. May its perusal inspire the readers with a higher
appreciation of the matters herein treated, and with a greater effort to
reformatory measures everywhere. Whenever I advise the consulting of a
"judicious" (a term I use many times) physician, I mean one fully and
practically qualified, both by inherent qualities and education, for the
fullest confidence of his patients.
I am indebted to my son, Joseph C. Guernsey, M. D., for assistance in
editing and carrying this work through the press.
Henry N. Guernsey, M. D.,
1423 Chestnut St., Philad'a.
June, 1882.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory, 13
CHAPTER II.
The Infant, 24
CHAPTER III.
Childhood, 27
CHAPTER IV.
Adolescence of the Male, 42
CHAPTER V.
Adolescence of the Female, 68
CHAPTER VI.
Marriage.--The Husband, 84
CHAPTER VII.
The Wife, 90
CHAPTER VIII.
Husband and Wife, 100
CHAPTER IX.
To the Unfortunate, 110
CHAPTER X.
Origin of the Sex, 117
CHAPTER I.
Introductory.
In the creation of the world and all that therein is, we should consider
it an axiom that "Everything was created for use." All individual
substances, or beings, that come to our notice bear certain relations to
one another, have connection one with another, and are dependent upon
and useful to each other; and nothing could possibly exist or subsist
without this co-relation: connection with and use to each other. This is
a law which needs only a little reflection to be accepted as a truth in
every particular--in the greatest as well as in the least created form.
This is more plainly seen in the animal kingdom than in the mineral or
vegetable, because its members associate and finally become conjoined in
pairs. Man and woman, who represent the crown and glory of all created
beings, in whom are embodied all the lower orders, were and are still
created to associate in pairs--each created for the other, the one to
help the other; the two to love and to belong to one another. This
principle, fully carried out, justifies and shows the necessity for the
creation of man and woman precisely as they are, having bodies, parts
and passions, will and understanding. It is my intention in the
following pages to explain the relations existing between the sexes, for
the purpose of showing that the greatest happiness to the human race
will be found in living a life in full accord with these relations. In
order that the subject may be fully understood, let us examine the
physical development of man and woman in detail, particularizing the
different organs of the body as they appear in their order of formation,
from the very inmost or beginning, to the ultimate or end, in their
respective natures.
Ever since the primal creation of man and woman, the human race has been
perpetuated by a series of births. Children have been conceived in
harmony with the natural order of events, in such matters, and have been
born boys and girls. A boy is a boy to all intents and purposes from his
very conception, from the very earliest moment of his being; begotten by
his father he is a boy in embryo within the ovule of his mother. The
converse is true of the opposite sex. At this very early age of
reproduction the embryo has all the elements of the future man or
woman, mentally and physically, even before any form becomes apparent;
and so small is the human being at the earliest stage of its existence
that no material change is observable between the ovule that contains
the product of conception and a fully developed ovule unimpregnated.[A]
[A] For fuller particulars see Guernsey's Obstetrics, 3d edition,
pages 79-89, inclusive.
It is about twelve days after conception before the impregnated ovule,
which undergoes many changes during this time, makes its escape from the
ovary where it became impregnated and enters one of the Fallopian tubes,
thence gradually descending into the cavity of the womb. Here it begins
to mature and become fitted for its birth into the outer world. Soon now
the embryo (for such it is called at this early stage) begins to assume
form. The first indication of formation that it is possible to discover,
even by the help of the microscope, consists of an oblong figure, obtuse
at one extremity, swollen in the middle, blunt-pointed at the other
extremity. The rudimentary embryo is slightly curved forward, is of a
grayish white color, of a gelatinous consistence, from two to four lines
long and weighs one or two grains. A slight depression representing the
neck, enables us to distinguish the head; the body is marked by a
swollen centre, but there are as yet no traces of the extremities. So
much can be observed about the end of the third week after conception.
At about the _fifth week_ the embryo presents more distinctions. The
head is very large in proportion to the rest of the body, the eyes are
represented by two black spots, and the upper extremities by small
protuberances on the sides of the trunk. The embryo at this stage is
nearly two-thirds of an inch in length and weighs about fifteen grains.
The lower extremities now begin to appear in the shape of two minute
rounded tubercles. Till about this time a straight artery has been
observed to beat with the regularity of the pulse; but now it appears
doubled somewhat into the shape of an adult heart, although as yet it
has but one auricle and one ventricle. As time advances we find the
perfect heart with its two ventricles and two auricles, all developed
from the original straight artery. At this period the lungs appear to
exist in five or six different lobes and we can barely distinguish the
bronchial tubes; about the same time the ears and face are distinctly
outlined, and after awhile the nose is also faintly and imperfectly
perceived.
At about the _seventh week_ a little bony deposit is found in the lower
jaw. The kidneys now begin to be formed, and a little later the genital
organs. The embryo averages one inch in length.
At _two months_ the rudiments of the extremities become more prominent.
The forearm and hand can be distinguished but not the arm above the
elbow; the hand is larger than the forearm, but is not supplied with
fingers. The sex cannot yet be determined. The length of the embryo is
from one inch and a half to two inches, and it weighs from three to five
drachms. The eyes are discernible, but still uncovered by the
rudimentary lids. The nose forms an obtuse eminence, the nostrils are
rounded and separated, the mouth is gaping and the epidermis can be
distinguished from the true skin.
At _ten weeks_ the embryo is from one and a half to two and a half
inches long, and its weight is from one ounce to an ounce and a half,
the eyelids are more developed and descend in front of the eyes; the
mouth begins to be closed by the development of the lips. The walls of
the chest are more completely formed, so that it is no longer possible
to see the movements of the heart. The fingers become distinct and the
toes appear as small projections webbed together like a frog's foot. At
about this period the sexual organs show their development as follows:
On each side of the urinary locality an oblong fold becomes
distinguishable; in course of progress if these folds remain separate, a
little tubercle forms in the anterior commissure which becomes the
clitoris; the nymphae develop, the urethra forms between them, and the
female sex is determined. If, on the other hand, these folds unite into
a rounded projection the scrotum is formed, the little tubercle above
becomes the penis and hence the male sex. The testicles forming within
the body, descend later into the scrotum, and organs similar to them,
their counterparts, form in the female and are called ovaries. These
ovaries are found attached to an organ called the womb, and this again
is united with the vagina, which leads downwards and outwards between
the labia majora.[B]
[B] For fuller particulars see Guernsey's Obstetrics.
At the end of the _third month_ the weight of the embryo is from three
to four ounces and its length from four to five inches, the eyeballs are
seen through the lids, the pupils of the eyes are discernible, the
forehead, nose and lips can be clearly distinguished. The finger nails
resemble thin membranous plates, the skin shows more firmness, but is
still rosy-hued, thin and transparent. The sex can now be fully
determined.
At the end of the _fourth month_ the product of conception is no longer
called an embryo, but a foetus. The body is from six to eight inches in
length and weighs six or seven ounces. A few little white hairs are seen
scattered over the scalp. The development of the face is still
imperfect. The eyes are now closed by their lids, the nostrils are
well-formed, the mouth is shut in by the lips and the sex is still more
sharply defined. The tongue may be observed far back in the mouth, and
the lower part of the face is rounded off by what a little later will be
a well-formed chin. The movements of the foetus are by this time plainly
felt by the mother, and if born at this time it may live several months.
At the end of the _fifth month_ the body of the foetus is from seven to
nine inches long and weighs from eight to eleven ounces. The skin has a
fairer appearance and more consistence; the eyes can no longer be
distinguished through the lids, owing to the increased thickness of the
latter. The head, heart and kidneys are large and well developed. At the
end of the _sixth month_ the foetus is from eleven to twelve and a half
inches in length, and weighs about sixteen ounces, more or less. The
hair upon the scalp is thicker and longer, the eyes remain closed, and
very delicate hairs may be seen upon the margins of the eye-lids and
upon the eye-brows. The nails are solid, the scrotum small and empty,
the surface of the skin appears wrinkled but the dermis may be
distinguished from the epidermis. The liver is large and red, and the
gall-bladder contains fluid.
At the end of the _seventh month_ the length of the foetus is from
twelve and a half to fourteen inches, its weight is about fifty-five
ounces, and it is both well defined and well proportioned in all its
parts. The bones of the cranium, hitherto quite flat, now appear a
little arched, and as the process of ossification goes on, the arching
increases till the vault is quite complete. The brain presents greater
firmness, and the eye-lids are opened. The skin is much firmer and red.
The gall-bladder contains bile.
At the end of the _eighth month_ the foetus seems to thicken up rather
than to increase in length, since it is only from sixteen to eighteen
inches long while its weight increases from four to five pounds. The
skin is red, and characterized at this period by a fine downy covering,
over which is spread a quantity of thick viscous matter, called the
sebaceous coat, which has been forming since the latter part of the
fifth month. The lower jaw has now become as long as the upper one, and
in the male the left testicle may be found in the scrotum. Convolutions
appear in the brain structure.
At _nine months_ the anxious time of parturition has arrived. The foetus
is from nineteen to twenty-three inches in length and weighs on an
average from six to eight pounds. Children at birth sometimes weigh as
much as fourteen pounds; but such extremes are very rare. At this period
the white and grey matter of the brain are distinct, and the
convolutions are well marked; the nails assume a horny consistence, hair
upon the head is more or less abundant, the testes are in the scrotum,
and the entire external genital organs of both male and female are well
formed.
The above particulars respecting the development of the human being have
been narrated to show that one organ is just as important as another,
and that each is really dependent upon the other; no one could exist
without the other and all are to subserve a use. First must be the
_esse_ (the inmost) the vital force imparted to the ovule. A little
later certain changes take place in the ovule, later still other
changes, and finally about the fifteenth day a slight development of the
new human being can just be outlined by the help of the microscope,
which, as before stated, has form at about the third week after
conception. First the vestige of a head and body, a little later the
heart and lungs appear lying in the open chest; then the hands are
protruded from the sides of the trunk, afterwards the forearms, then the
arms, all pushed out from the body; the feet and legs gradually protrude
from the lower end of the trunk, and the chest closes up so that the
heart and lungs can no longer be seen; the face, mouth and eyes take
form, the external genital organs make their appearance in conjunction
with other developments, and in due course of time the boy or girl is
born ready for further developments in childhood, and adolescence. When
the latter development has been attained, if due care has been taken by
all interested parties, we have pure men and pure women fitted to enter
upon the privileges and the _uses_ of a wedded life according to the
design of our Creator.
How wonderfully and how instructively are all organs in the animal body
disposed and arranged! In the highest place we find the brain to govern
and rule over all below. It is the first organ formed and in an orderly
life should control all the others. Next in order and importance are the
heart and lungs, which put into motion all other parts and enable the
animal frame to continue in motion. So each and every organ is developed
in its proper order, all to obey the commands of the first and most
important--the brain, the seat of the reason and the will. Happy are
they of either sex who will govern themselves by a pure enlightened
reason and a pure affectionate will.