THE BLACK PLAGUES
I promised to explain to you what I meant by the black plagues. It is
strange when anything is as widely spread as are these diseases that so
few people know anything about them, or realize their importance. At one
time epidemics of typhoid fever were regarded as a revelation of the
wrath of God. Now we know they are due to carelessness and lack of
sanitation. It is the same with the sufferings of women. We used to
think it was a dispensation of Providence if a woman were compelled to
undergo an operation. Now we know it usually is due to someone's lack of
care, to a desecration of Nature's teachings.
I remember when I was quite young hearing mention made of a "bad
disease." Concerning the nature of this disease I was ignorant but I
gathered the idea that it was some terrible disease which was contracted
only by the most depraved of mortals. How little I suspected its
widely-spread distribution, and how little I dreamed that among my
acquaintances might be any afflicted with these diseases! nor did I
dream of the danger of innocent contagion. Since then I have learned
what these diseases were. Now we call them the black plagues, because,
owing to the prejudice of the majority, we dare not use their correct
names generally. I have no doubt you will be as surprised and shocked as
I was at the things I am going to impart to you.
By black plagues we mean the two diseases spoken of by physicians as the
venereal diseases, because they usually are contracted during sexual
intercourse.
The most common of these diseases is gonorrhoea, or clap, as it often
is called by men. How common it is may be judged by a statement made by
a professor to his class in the medical college that at least eighty per
cent. of the men in the world have contracted it sometime during their
lives. Even the most conservative give the estimate as sixty per cent.
The prevalent idea common among men that it is no worse than a cold--a
mere annoyance that all men must expect and endure sometime--is
lamentable. The persistence of the disease in the deeper structures long
after it outwardly is cured leads to unexpected communication of it to
women, among whom may be the young wife. As a result she enters upon a
period of ill-health that ultimately may compel the mutilation of her
body by a surgical operation to save her life. Much of the surgery
performed upon the female organs has been rendered necessary by disease
contracted from the husband.
A few little germs of this disease left on even the external organs may
find their way up through the vagina to the uterus or womb. Here they
may produce an inflammation of the lining of the womb, causing severe
pain and other symptoms, such as profuse discharge. The germs may go
farther, or the inflammation may extend from the uterus to the tubes.
When we consider that the passage through the tubes is only about as
large as a broom straw, we see what serious trouble may result. The
tubes become enlarged and filled with pus. The opening from the tubes to
the uterus becomes closed, so there is no way for the pus to escape. The
accumulation of pus or the products of septic inflammation stretch the
walls of the tubes until the little nerves in the walls cry out in
rebellion. The pain becomes so great and the reflex symptoms are so
aggravated that finally the woman resorts to the only relief,--an
operation for the removal of the tubes.
When we consider that the ovule, the human egg, must travel through
these tubes to reach the uterus and, if they are destroyed, has no other
way of reaching the womb and, if it cannot reach the womb and be
impregnated, cannot develop into the babe, then we realize how this
disease is dooming women to childless lives,--women whose natural
instincts and desires cry out for motherhood. When we consider the
factors that promote race suicide we must not forget this important one.
Even though the woman refuses an operation, or in a case in which the
inflammation is not so severe and is reduced until she is nearly free
from pain, the result may be the same, for the tubes may remain closed
permanently.
The closure of the tubes is not the only result that may follow the
course of this disease. The infection may extend into the peritoneal
cavity causing peritonitis, which so often results in the untimely
death of the woman. Here let me say that not all cases of peritonitis or
of inflammation of the womb, tubes or ovaries are due to this infection.
There are other infections, other germs, that may produce similar
results. These germs may reach the organs in various ways. Sometimes the
woman herself is to blame and sometimes we can blame no one.
Inflammation of these organs may result from pressure of clothing,
colds, excitement, overwork, pregnancies, excesses or neglect. The
inflammation may spread to these organs from an inflamed appendix or
other neighboring organs.
Supposing, though, following this disease the tubes are not entirely
closed and the woman becomes pregnant. There is still the danger that
during labor the baby's eyes will become infected and may become
permanently blind. It is estimated that seventy per cent. of the
blindness in the world has this cause. How does this produce blindness?
Some few germs of this disease have remained in the vagina or birth
canal and as the baby passes along the canal they enter its eyes. They
are so very strong and work so rapidly that they can cause total
blindness within three days. This fact is so well known by physicians
that at the present time all reliable physicians pay especial attention
to the newborn baby's eyes, cleansing them with an antiseptic solution
immediately after birth. This precaution doubtless has saved the eyes of
thousands of babies. This is one of the reasons why it is dangerous to
employ an uneducated person at the time of labor. Even though she may
have assisted at hundreds of births yet often she is ignorant of the
many dangers and of the precautions that should be taken in every case.
Even adults may become blind from this infection. The disease is carried
to the eyes by polluted fingers or towels. In a few hours the eyes
become inflamed, pus forms, and unless heroic measures are taken, the
eyesight is soon destroyed.
In female children the vagina may become infected through the use of
tainted sponges, wash cloths, etc. An innocent girl may thus carelessly
acquire the disease. For this reason, we see how necessary it is to
caution girls never to use public towels or wash cloths that have been
used by another person. Even in the home, every member of the family
should have his exclusive towel and wash cloth.
The symptoms of gonorrhoea that often are noted first are a profuse
discharge from the vagina, usually creamy or yellowish in color. This
discharge is of such a nature that frequently it excoriates the external
parts so that they become very tender and inflamed. Backache, especially
across the hips, is a common accompaniment of this disease. There may be
general soreness in the pelvic region. If a woman suspects she has
contracted this disease, she should go immediately to some reliable
physician; for at first the disease may affect only the vagina but, if
neglected, may extend to the uterus and tubes. In its early stages it
may be cured by prompt treatment, but the majority of women postpone
treatment until it is too late.
The other loathsome disease, syphilis, infects the blood and therefore
all parts of the body. While under proper treatment it is not dangerous
to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of conveying the
contagion are numerous. In the second stage, which lasts for a number of
weeks, the mucous patches in the mouth are a source of danger. In this
stage the disease may be conveyed by a kiss or through the medium of
the public drinking cup, towel, or anything that comes in contact with
the virus. It may be contracted by a babe from a wet-nurse or the nurse
may contract it from the babe.
The most serious results of this disease appear years after its initial
appearance, when the individual has been lulled into a false sense of
security by long freedom from its outward symptoms. Many of the obscure
cases of stomach or nerve trouble may be traced to this disease. The
results not only affect the man, but, should he marry and have children,
his innocent babes may come into the world with an inherited taint.
These children seldom live to reach adult life and their lives usually
are burdensome and full of misery. They may be deformed or be
continually afflicted with ulcers or other horrible manifestations of
the disease. I will explain this more thoroughly when I speak of
heredity.
Many of the disastrous effects of these diseases might have been
prevented if they had been properly treated in their early stages.
Ignorance as to the nature and probable disastrous effects, if
neglected, prevents many a person from procuring proper treatment. It is
a common practice among men afflicted with these diseases to try
various remedies recommended by their friends or by the druggist. It is
strange that a person who would not think of trying to treat himself for
smallpox or other contagious disease will do so with these diseases.
With women, the cause of their neglect is a failure to realize the
importance of the symptoms. Unfortunately women have grown to think that
various female ills are their lot in life which must be endured and
regarded as a dispensation of Providence instead of being considered an
error in living that must be corrected the same as any other disease.
Some commence treatment but neglect it as soon as the noticeable
symptoms have disappeared. It generally is considered among physicians
that the treatment of syphilis should be continued for at least three
years after contracting the disease in order to remove all traces from
the blood.
It is a deplorable fact that the prevalence of these diseases might have
been prevented by proper instruction of young boys. No man ever
willfully contracted one of these diseases. Statistics tell us that the
majority of victims contract them before their twentieth year, before
the boy has learned anything of their dangers or perhaps of their
existence. If these patients received the right treatment immediately
and continued it until the disease had been eradicated the results would
have been less serious. Here, too, lack of early and proper instruction
is shown; for these immature boys do not realize the necessity for
prompt and wise treatment, or are misled by unscrupulous persons. I
shall talk to you again on this subject, for many of you will have sons
and you must know the dangers that beset them, so they can be prepared.