civilization, in his external habits and customs, but very little in
his fundamental physiological processes; therefore we should be able
to judge what will be best suited for his needs by studying the
process of the development of his organs during the millions of
years that preceded the historic period. This plane of life is best
seen today in the case of savages unacquainted with fire, and in the
case of anthropoid apes.
With this general survey of evolution, and a clear understanding of the
principles involved, I trust the reader will consider the facts here
presented in the unprejudicial spirit of the true scientist.
LESSON XX
SEX AND HEREDITY
THE ORIGIN OF SEX
That part of human life and living that is associated with the functions
of sex and reproduction is at once the cause of the world's greatest
misery and the world's greatest happiness. It is the subject of the
greatest popular ignorance and superstition, and at the same time the
field of the most wonderful of all scientific knowledge.
For the origin of sex we must look back into the remote ages of creation
in the early stages of organic evolution.
[Sidenote: Fundamental function of the cell]
The first essential property of matter that makes life possible is the
power of nutrition, which means the ability of the living cell to
transform other chemical substances into its own protoplasm or living
substances.
But this world would have remained a barren mass of igneous rock if
nutrition had been the only function with which the earlier forms of
life were endowed. Not only must the living cell be enabled to grow by
absorbing other substances, but it must reproduce itself, or multiply
the number of living individuals.
[Sidenote: First form of reproduction]
The first method by which this was accomplished was undoubtedly one of
simple division; that is, the living cell grew by absorbing other
substances and when sufficient size had been attained, divided, forming
two daughter-cells. This division process of reproduction is the form by
which all bacteria (so-called dis-ease germs) and many other lower forms
of life increase their numbers.
[Sidenote: Second form of reproduction]
[Sidenote: Strength in fusion of cells]
This process of reproduction, by simple division, was early supplemented
by another process of reproduction in which two living cells first fused
or combined and then divided to form two or more daughter-cells. This
form of reproduction seems to have added stimulus or vitality to the
organisms. The supposed reason for this is that the isolated cell was
inclined to weaken or lose its chemical balance or tone. The exact
nature of this deterioration is not very clearly understood, but in a
higher form of life it is well illustrated by the tendency of certain
plants to "run out" when grown continually in the same soil, or of
animals to become weakened when inbred. At least, all scientists concede
that with the process of fusion or the combining of two cells there is
added a stimulating and invigorating force which enables life to combat
more successfully the unfavorable elements of its environment, and to
change or evolve into higher forms.
[Sidenote: Sexual reproduction in plants]
[Sidenote: Fertilization of orchids]
Throughout the range of plant and animal life this process of cell
union, or sexual reproduction, has grown and become elaborated into most
varied and wonderful forms. Large volumes could be written describing
the many wonderful adaptations of plant and animal life, the purpose of
which is to secure sexual reproduction. All those who have studied
botany are familiar with the many ways in which the seeds of plants are
fertilized by pollen. For instance, certain species of orchids have a
receptacle in the blossom, shaped like a teapot, which is filled with a
fluid resembling water. This little teapot has an entrance and an exit.
Near the entrance is sweet-scented nectar which attracts the bee. As the
bee passes through this gateway he is tripped up on a little trap-door
arrangement and precipitated into the fluid. His wings having become
wet, he is obliged to crawl out through the exit.
[Sidenote: The wonderful process of flower fertilization]
The object of this elaborate device is as follows: In the entrance
passageway is located the stigma (female organ), while in the exit
passageway the male or pollen-bearing organ of the orchid is found. The
bee visits several of these flowers consecutively, and, as he makes his
exit from each flower, he bears away on his body a portion of the
pollen, which is transferred to the stigma of the next flower visited;
while the bee, being forced to go through a "plunge bath" before
visiting another flower, acquires a fresh load of pollen in each case.
This scheme is a certain means of securing fertilization or sexual
reproduction, and positively prevents inbreeding (the fertilization of a
flower by its own pollen). This is merely one of the wonderful
adaptations of nature in the solution of the sex problem.
[Sidenote: Reproduction among fishes]
[Sidenote: Nature's wasteful methods]
In the animal kingdom the methods of sexual reproduction are also varied
and wonderful. In many of the lower forms of animals, such as the
various sea-creatures, the methods of reproduction may be those of
division, as first mentioned, or a method combining division with true
sexual reproduction. In the case of fishes, the eggs of the female are
deposited in the bottom of a stream and are later fertilized by the
sperm-cells of the male fishes. This involves a tremendous waste of
reproductive cells, scarcely less extravagant than the waste of pollen
in plants, such as is seen in a corn-field when the ground becomes
yellow, during the tasseling season, with the myriads of pollen grains
that failed to secure lodgment upon the silks of the young ears of corn.
[Sidenote: Reproduction in higher forms of life]
In the types of animals that are of higher form than fishes, that is,
reptiles, birds, and mammals, the fertilization of the germ-cell (egg)
takes place within the body of the female. In the case of the latter
group--mammals--the true egg is hatched within the body of the female,
and the offspring, or embryo as it is known to scientists, grows there
for a considerable period before birth.
A RATIONAL VIEW OF SEXUAL HEALTH
The anatomy and the physiology of reproduction will not be considered in
detail in this work, as this would require a very lengthy and technical
treatise. The remainder of the lesson will be devoted to the relation of
the reproductive functions to general health and happiness.
[Sidenote: Development of reproductive instincts]
In the process of evolution this function of reproduction was vitally
essential to the life of the race. As a result there developed in all
animal life strong sexual or reproductive instincts. As is plainly
evident, all animals, including man, with such instincts most strongly
developed would be the most successful in producing young, and through
these offsprings the race or species would inherit like reproductive
desires.
[Sidenote: Kinship of the sexual, paternal and social instinct]
In the case of man and the higher form of animals, this general
instinct, the purpose of which was to produce offspring, became
diversified in to many instincts. Not only does the reproductive
instinct in this broad sense include what is commonly known as sexual
passion in man, but it may very truly be said to be the essence of
sexual love and parental love. Broad-minded scientists are even inclined
to believe that the so-called social instinct or love for our fellowmen
is but a distant reflection or shadow, as it were, of the original or
natural instinct to produce offspring.
There has arisen among civilized man a tendency to separate and class as
two distinct things the strictly physical element of sexual desire, and
the associate emotion of intellectual love between the sexes. As a
matter of fact there is no distinct line of demarcation.
[Sidenote: Overindulgence, degenerating and destructive]
That the former instinct has grown into disrepute and has come to be
considered a forbidden topic in polite society, is due to the fact that
sexual passion, like all other human acts which may be a source of
gratification, can degenerate by overindulgence into a destructive and
demoralizing vice. This is equally true of other forms of appetite, but
the reason that the instinct of sex, when degenerated, becomes such a
tremendous source of destruction and death is because of the important
part played in the game of life by the reproductive function.
[Sidenote: Relation of sexual functions to the nervous system]
The functions of reproduction are, in both sexes, very intimately and
closely associated with the nervous or vital mechanism of the entire
body. For this reason, when the sexual function are perverted or abused
the result is serious injury to the general nerve tone or vital force of
the system. Likewise the contrary proposition is true; therefore, when
for any reason, the general nervous tone or vital force of the body is
deranged, the associated result is frequently abnormal passion or
weakened sexual functions.
[Sidenote: Necessity for popular knowledge concerning sex]
A great deal of literature has been written and circulated throughout
the country by well-intentioned individuals purporting to give popular
knowledge regarding the subject of sex. But such literature has greatly
exaggerated the evils and the dangers connected with sexual health.
Outside of specific germ dis-eases transmitted through the sexual
organs, and which, while serious, have been painted much darker than the
facts justify, there is little excuse for all this horror and scare
about sexual weakness and perversion.
[Sidenote: Relation of nutrition to sexual health]
Sexual health, like mental or muscular health, is a matter of common
sense and right living. Proper feeding, proper oxidation, proper
circulation (exercise), perfect elimination of waste-products, and a
suitable distribution of both mental and physical work will result in
perfect nutrition. This means normal, wholesome body-fluids and
body-cells. With these things gained, the sexual organs and sex-function
will have a fair opportunity for normal existence, and the matter of
sexual health, and the consequent happiness which accompanies it, is
then simply a matter of temperance, common decency, and self-control.
EMBRYOLOGICAL GROWTH--PRENATAL CULTURE
[Sidenote: Superstition concerning prenatal culture]
Upon the growth of the human embryo, or so-called prenatal culture,
there exists a great deal of popular superstition, which is utterly
groundless from the standpoint of accurate science. The views that have
been promulgated regarding prenatal culture are for the main part
harmless, and, for that matter, may be productive of good.
[Sidenote: Theory of prenatal culturists]
The idea of the prenatal culturist is that the mental as well as the
physical growth and development of the unborn child can be controlled by
the mother. The only ground for this belief is as follows: The child is
nourished from the blood or nutritive fluid of the mother, with the
result that the growth and the development of the child may be very
readily influenced by the nutrition of the mother.
[Sidenote: Influence of fright, anger, etc.]
The mental condition of the mother has an influence on the growth of the
child, but it is indirect. All organs and functions of the human body
are controlled by the nervous system, and if the nervous impulse be
deranged or weakened it may result in a serious impairment of nutrition.
For this reason fright, anger, and other strong passions may result in
lasting injury to the unborn child, but this injury is at most a matter
of stunting or malnutrition, and cannot result in the voluntary mental
life of the mother being transmitted to the child.
[Sidenote: Mother's nutrition the only factor in influencing her child]
As evidence of these assertions, I would call the reader's attention to
the fact that there is no nervous connection whatever between the embryo
and the mother, but after the fertilization of the germ-cell, the only
way in which the mother can influence the growth of the child is by the
nutrition which her blood supplies to the growing tissue of the embryo.
[Sidenote: Birthmarks]
As further proof of these statements, I will cite the investigations of
Darwin in regard to the popular superstition of birthmarks. At the
instance of Mr. Darwin, some seven or eight hundred women of a London
hospital were very carefully questioned before the birth of the child,
as to any incidents which had happened that, according to popular
notions, might result in birthmarks or deformities. In no instance was
any incident given which resulted in the expected deformity; but the
most interesting feature of the investigation was that several women
whose children were born with birthmarks recalled, upon seeing the
deformity, some incident which seemed to give a possible explanation,
thus showing to the mind of anyone familiar with psychology that the
true explanation of all so-called remarkable incidents of birthmarks and
of prenatal influence is merely one of superstition or self-deception.
HEREDITY
How often we hear someone remark upon the wonders of heredity. People
are astonished because John should look like John's father. As a matter
of fact, the astonishment should come the other way. The child is but a
continuation of the life of the parents. The cells from which the child
develops have within them the power to grow and to produce individuals
like the parents. This is wonderful, but it is only another form of the
wonder of a willow twig growing into a willow tree when placed in moist
earth.
[Sidenote: Why the child is not identical with parents]
To the scientist, then, the wonder comes, not in the fact that the child
resembles the parent, but in the fact that the child is not identical
with the parent. Part of the explanation of this lack of identity, or,
as it is known to science, variation, is due to the fact of sexual
reproduction; that is, to the fact that the child has two parents
instead of one.
[Sidenote: Microscopic study of reproductive cells]
The physiological process which takes place in the union of two
reproductive cells is truly most wonderful. Of late years this has been
studied under powerful microscopes and has resulted in some very
wonderful revelations of the mysteries of Nature.
[Sidenote: Chromosoms in different species]
The nucleus (center of growth) of the parent cells contains little
thread-like structures known as chromosoms. These chromosoms are
considered to be the physical basis of heredity. In each species of
animal there is a definite and a different number.
[Sidenote: Action of the chromosom]
When the sperm-cell unites with the female or germ-cell, these
thread-like chromosoms pair off and unite each chromosom with the
corresponding structure from the other cell. The combined structures
then divide, and half of each chromosom is cast out of the cell-nucleus,
and plays no part in the life of the future being; the other half is
retained and divides as each new cell is formed.
Thus we see that every part of the new individual is the result of the
fusion or combination of the two parents. This explains the variation of
inheritance, and through this source must be traced all traits of
heredity. After the original fusion of these microscopic physical
elements of heredity, the future development of the individual is wholly
a matter of environment and nutrition.
WHAT HEREDITY IS
[Sidenote: General characteristics due to heredity]
What heredity is and what it is not will now be considered in a
practical way. It is clearly a matter of heredity that a man is born a
man and not a monkey. Likewise, it is clearly a matter of heredity that
distinguishes the various races of men. We could go farther and trace
out and describe many of the physical distinctions which mark families,
and even individuals, such as general size of frame, form of
countenance, color of hair and eyes, etc.
[Sidenote: Characteristics not attributed to heredity]
Among mental traits we can safely ascribe to heredity only general
distinctions. Intellectual parents are more likely to give birth to
intellectual children than are parents whose natural mental faculties
are less developed. There is also no doubt that certain natural
characteristics of mind, such as quick temper, musical ability, etc.,
may be inherited. The belief, however, in the inheritance of many less
distinct features, both physical and mental, is not well established by
scientific investigation. Strength of muscle, control of the nervous
system, susceptibility to, or freedom from dis-ease, etc., are more
matters of nutrition and environment than of inheritance. The idea that
consumption, alcoholism, etc., are inherited, or that the education or
training of parents along certain lines will result in children with
faculties adapted to similar education, is not in accordance with
scientific knowledge.
SUMMARY OF FACTS REGARDING SEX AND HEREDITY
1 The function of sex has been developed in the process of evolution
for the purpose of perpetuating life.
2 The sexual functions are very closely related to the life of the
individual, and can be normal only when the laws of nutrition and of
general hygiene are observed.
3 The idea of prenatal culture as commonly taught is a delusion; the
only method that the mother can employ to control the growth of her
unborn child is to live a wholesome, normal life, physically and
mentally, and thus supply her own body and that of the child with
perfect material for the building of living cells.
4 The powers of heredity are often overestimated, and many of the
weaknesses and disorders of life supposed to be inherent can be
overcome by proper nutrition and environment. All life, whatever be
the inherited tendencies, will be developed to the highest possible
capacity by obeying the laws of individual growth, for in the
individual, as in the race, Nature is always striving to bring the
products of her work to the highest degrees of perfection.
LESSON XXI
REST AND SLEEP
REST
[Sidenote: Opposing forces in nature]
Throughout all nature we observe the phenomena of universal rhythm,
manifested in opposing forces, such as heat and cold, light and
darkness, construction and destruction, etc. The human body is as much
affected by this rhythm as is any other form of life.
[Sidenote: Opposing forces in human system]
There are two forces continually at work within us, one toward
destruction and disintegration, and the other toward construction and
upbuilding. The common physiological terms for these activities are
"waste" and "repair," and we observe them as one of the distinct
manifestations of the universal laws of growth, progress, and evolution.
History moves in cycles. Even the life of nations depends somewhat upon
this same principle of the interplay of the positive and negative forces
of life.
[Sidenote: Life and death in changes of seasons]
We see the same thing in the changes of the seasons upon the face of the
earth. Throughout autumn and winter there is a process of decay, death,
and disintegration; leaves fall; plants and vegetables die; fruits
ripen, fall and decay. This process continues until former beautiful and
symmetrical bodies of matter are thoroughly disintegrated, and the
particles once composing them are separated into their original
elements, to be appropriated in new manifestations of life in springtime
and summer.
[Sidenote: Human body compared to a machine]
We are inclined to think of the human body as a machine--a marvelous,
intricate, and complex mechanism which serves our will and our desires;
as a tool with which we work out our earthly destiny. But unlike
man-made machines, it is self-repairing, self-adjusting, and contains
within itself the forces of construction, which are constantly tending
toward perfection, while our industrial machines are constantly tending
toward their own disintegration and destruction.
[Sidenote: Constant changes in body-tissue]
Every movement of the body, conscious or unconscious, even thought and
emotion, use up some part of the body-tissue which must be replaced by
new material. This constant change in the texture and the make-up of the
body we call "metabolism," involving the functions of digestion,
absorption, assimilation, and elimination.
While we may regard the body as a machine, there are many points in
which the favorite comparison to a steam-engine is not exact.
[Sidenote: Favorite comparison of the body with the steam-engine]
The inert metal composing the steam-engine has no power in itself, nor
does power act through the different particles of metal, but it is
controlled by the external application of force, which is the result of
chemical changes caused by combustion in the fire-box. The metal of the
engine has no part in the production of this energy. It does not need to
take periods for rest, and if it were possible to supply it continually
with water and fuel, it could run steadily from the time it was started
until one or more of its essential parts were destroyed through
friction.
[Sidenote: Necessity for rest]
But the engineer and the fireman who drive the engine find it necessary
to rest from their labors at certain intervals, not merely for fuel and
water, but to prevent serious destruction of body-tissue. This is true
because man is compelled by hitherto unrecognized laws to give his body
an opportunity, not only for readjustment in its composition, but also
for the actual renewal of that power which animates him and makes him an
intelligent, self-adjusting, and self-controlled being.
THE OLD PHYSIOLOGY
[Sidenote: The stomach as a fire-box]
[Sidenote: Phenomenon of rest and sleep]
According to the teachings of the old physiology, our stomachs were
fire-boxes of the human engine; food was fuel, and the stomach was
supposed to transform this fuel into work or energy by a process not
entirely clear. Just as it is impossible for the lifeless iron and
steel, within itself to transform coal and water into dynamic power, and
to apply that power to its own locomotion, so it is impossible and
entirely incompatible with reason for mere muscular tissue of the body
to extract enough energy from the food we eat to perform the work
necessary for that transformation itself, besides enough more to carry
on all the functional activities of the system, and at the same time to
do hundreds of foot-tons of physical labor. In this fact lies the key to
some understanding of the phenomenon of rest and sleep.
The old physiology was really never able to explain how it was possible
for the digestive apparatus to extract, from the amount of food
consumed, the enormous amount of energy which the average person expends
each day.
REST AND RE-CREATION
[Sidenote: Change of occupation not re-creation]
These terms are often confused. When one is engaged in some occupation
or activity other than his regular vocation, it is commonly called
"re-creation." This is a misconception, because it is merely a change
in activity and must also be more or less destructive to other sets of
nerves or muscular tissue. It is not in reality re-creation--it simply
throws the life-power into a new channel, which is more responsive, and
calls for less action from those parts of the mechanism which have been
employed in the work from which one is seeking relief. It is for this
reason that we find some pleasure in a new and different activity,
though it, too, may be destructive to the human cell.
[Sidenote: Specialization in business not conducive to health]