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Pure Books on Avoided Subjects
_Books for Men_
_By Sylvanus Stall, D. D._
“What a Young Boy Ought to Know.”
“What a Young Man Ought to Know.”
“What a Young Husband Ought to Know.”
“What a Man of 45 Ought to Know.”
_Books for Women_
_By Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M. D., And Mrs. Emma F. A. Drake, M. D._
“What a Young Girl Ought to Know.”
“What a Young Woman Ought to Know.”
“What a Young Wife Ought to Know.”
“What a Woman of 45 Ought to Know.”
PRICE AND BINDING
The books are issued in uniform size and but one style of binding, and
sell in America at $1, in Great Britain at 4s., net, per copy, post free,
whether sold singly or in sets.
PUBLISHED BY
IN THE UNITED STATES
THE VIR PUBLISHING COMPANY
2237 Land Title Building Philadelphia
IN ENGLAND
THE VIR PUBLISHING COMPANY
7 Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus, London, E.C.
IN CANADA
WILLIAM BRIGGS
29-33 Richmond Street West Toronto, Ontario
[Illustration: EMMA F. ANGELL DRAKE, M.D.]
PRICE $1.00 NET
4S. NET
PURITY AND TRUTH
WHAT A YOUNG
WIFE
OUGHT TO KNOW
(_THOUSAND DOLLAR PRIZE BOOK_)
BY
MRS. EMMA F. ANGELL DRAKE, M. D.
Graduate of Boston University Medical College; formerly
Physician and Principal of Mr. Moody’s School at Northfield,
Mass.; Professor of Obstetrics at Denver Homœopathic Medical
School and Hospital; Author of “What a Woman of 45 Ought to
Know,” “Maternity Without Suffering.”
PHILADELPHIA, PA.: 2337 LAND TITLE BUILDING.
THE VIR PUBLISHING COMPANY
LONDON: TORONTO:
7, IMPERIAL ARCADE, WM. BRIGGS,
LUDGATE CIRCUS, E. C. 33 RICHMOND ST., WEST.
COPYRIGHT, 1901, by SYLVANUS STALL
COPYRIGHT, 1902, by SYLVANUS STALL
Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England
Protected by International copyright in Great Britain and
all her colonies, and, under the provisions of the Berne
Convention, in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Switzerland, Tunis, Hayti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway,
and Japan
_All rights reserved_
[PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES]
Dedicated
TO THE YOUNG WIVES WHO DESIRE THE BEST FOR THEMSELVES, FOR THEIR HUSBANDS
AND FOR THEIR OFFSPRING
PREFACE
To this generation as to no other, are we indebted for the awakening of
woman. Not the awakening alone which has led her out of the old lines
into nearly every avenue open to man in his pursuit of the necessities
and luxuries of life; but that other and larger awakening which has set
her down face to face with herself, and in her study of woman she has
shown herself courageous.
Bravely acknowledging her own limitations, she has set herself the task
of fortifying the weak points, curbing the more daring aspirations, and
getting herself into trim, so to speak, that she may traverse the sea of
life, without danger to herself, her cargo, or to any of the countless
ships which follow in her wake, or that pass her in the day or the night.
Not all women have yet awakened, and for those who have eyes to see, and
have seen, a great work is still waiting to be done. They must reach out
and rouse their sisters. Will they do it? With our young wives rests
the weal or woe of the future generations. To them we say, “What of the
future, and what sort of souls shall you give to it?”
EMMA F. A. DRAKE.
DENVER, Colorado,
United States of America.
_February 1st, 1901._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE YOUNG WIFE.
Out of girlhood into wifehood.—The setting up of a new
home.—Woman’s exalted place.—Earlier influences.—Importance
of intelligence.—Woman fitted by creator for wifehood
and motherhood.—The position of reproductive organs in
the body.—Dangers of crowding contents of abdomen.—What
all young wives need to know.—Premium previously set
upon ignorance.—Heredity.—Failures and successes of our
ancestors.—Faults and virtues transmitted through heredity, 21-35
CHAPTER II.
HOME AND DRESS.
Preparations for successful home-makers.—The importance of
sensible dress.—An opportunity for reform.—The conditions of
attractive dress.—A question of healthfulness.—What wives need
to know concerning dress.—The kind to be avoided.—Injurious
dress destroying the race.—The ailments caused by wrong
dressing.—The corset curse.—A summary of the evils of dress, 37-46
CHAPTER III.
HEALTH OF THE YOUNG WIFE.
Health insures happiness.—Be ambitious for health.—The scarcity
of perfectly healthy women.—Fashion to the Rescue.—The boon
of health.—Necessity of ventilation and fresh air.—Duties to
the home.—The greatness of woman’s sphere.—In the society
drift.—The extreme of wholly avoiding society.—Keeping in
the middle of the road.—Pleasures and recreations taken
together.—Taking time to keep young.—Mistakes which some
husbands make.—Wrecks at the beginning of married life, 47-55
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHOICE OF A HUSBAND.
Higher standards are being set up in the choice of a
husband.—Should be worthy of both love and respect.—Love
likely to idealize the man.—The real characteristics
necessary.—Deficiencies in character not to be supplied after
marriage.—The right to demand purity.—Young men who “sow wild
oats.”—Importance of good health.—Weaknesses and diseases which
descend from parents to children.—The parents’ part in aiding
to a wise choice.—The value of the physician’s counsel.—One
capable of supporting wife and children.—A dutiful son makes
a good husband.—Essential requisites enumerated.—The father
reproduced in his children.—The equivalents which the wife
should bring to her husband, 57-64
CHAPTER V.
WHAT SHALL A YOUNG WIFE EXPECT TO BE
TO HER HUSBAND?
The young wife should seek to be her husband’s equal, but not
his counterpart.—The recognized centre of the home.—Woman’s
true greatness.—Man’s helpmeet.—Mrs. Gladstone’s part in her
husband’s greatness.—Should attract her husband from the
club to the home.—Continuing to be attractive in dress and
manners.—Should accept both wifehood and motherhood.—Should
keep pace with his mental growth.—Guarding against improper
use of literary clubs, reading circles, etc.—Solomon’s picture
of the model young wife.—A converted heathen’s estimate of his
Christian wife, 65-72
CHAPTER VI.
TROUSSEAU AND WEDDING PRESENTS.
Husband and wife ruined before their “crane is
hung.”—The foolish and ruinous display at weddings.—An
illustration given.—How wedding presents lead to debt and
unhappiness.—Living does not need much machinery.—Mistake
of copying after people of large wealth.—Wise choice of
furniture.—The best adornments for the home.—The trousseaux of
our foremothers.—The need of simplicity.—Artificialities that
make a veil between our souls and God, 73-78
CHAPTER VII.
THE MARITAL RELATIONS.
The subject approached with reluctance.—The marital state
should be the most sacred of sanctuaries.—Wrongly interpreted
it is the abode of darkness and sin.—Its influence for good or
evil upon character.—Responsibility of mothers for the unhappy
lives of their daughters.—Commercial marriages.—Marriage as
it should be.—The husband’s danger from “aggressiveness.”—The
wife should not provoke the wrongs she suffers.—Marital
modesty.—Parenthood the justification of the marital
act.—Reproduction the primal purpose.—Harmony of purpose and
life.—Love’s highest plane.—The value of continence.—The right
and wrong of marriage.—The relation during gestation.—Effects
of relation during gestation illustrated.—The wrong-doings of
good men.—The fruits of ignorance.—The better day coming, 79-96
CHAPTER VIII.
PREPARATION FOR MOTHERHOOD.
Motherhood the glory of womanhood.—Maternity natural and
productive of health.—Prevalence of knowledge of methods used
to prevent conception.—Mothers should prepare their daughters
for maternity.—Motherhood the sanction for wifehood.—Effect of
fixed habits of mother upon offspring.—Adjustment of clothing
to expectant motherhood.—Importance of proper exercise.—The
sitz bath.—Effects of environment upon the unborn.—Why Italian
children resemble the madonnas.—The child the expression of the
mother’s thoughts.—The five stages of prenatal culture stated
and illustrated.—The mother of the Wesleys.—The child the heir
and expression of the mother’s thought and life, 97-112
CHAPTER IX.
PREPARATION FOR FATHERHOOD.
The command to “replenish the earth.”—Preparation for
motherhood more written about than preparation for
fatherhood.—Questions which would test the fitness of
young men for marriage.—Parents should know the character
of young men who desire their daughters in marriage.—Many
young men of startling worth.—The improving of a good
heritage.—Effects of bad morals and wayward habits.—Effects
of tobacco and alcoholics.—How young women help to contribute
bad habits in young men.—The years of rooting and weeding
necessary.—Attaining the best.—The father reproduced in his
children, 113-121
CHAPTER X.
ANTENATAL INFANTICIDE.
The alarming prevalence of this hideous sin.—How daughters
are initiated.—How expectant mothers appeal to reputable
physicians.—Young women should be taught to associate the idea
of marriage with motherhood.—Destruction of own health and life
go hand in hand with prenatal murder.—Effect of such attempts
upon the physical life and character.—Life from the moment of
conception.—The injustice and cruel wrongs inflicted upon wives
by uncontrolled passions of husbands.—Obligation of motherhood
should be recognized.—Its blessings.—The duty of the physician
as educator of public sentiment, 123-134
CHAPTER XI.
THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS IN
HEREDITY.
The duty of the present to future generations.—Darwin on
heredity.—Nature inexorable.—The mother’s investment of
moulding power.—The father’s important part in the transmission
of heredity.—The parents workers together with God.—Parents
must reap what they sow.—The law and the gospel of heredity
contrasted.—The children of inebriates and others.—Lessons
from reformatory institutions.—The outcast Margaret.—The
mother of Samson.—How a child became an embodiment of “The
Lady of the Lake.”—The woman who desired to be the mother of
governors.—Importance of this study, 135-145
CHAPTER XII.
AILMENTS OF PREGNANCY.
Pregnancy not an unnatural but a normal state.—Tendency to
neglect hygienic rules.—Morning sickness.—How to correct
it.—Important questions of diet.—Displaced uterus as cause
of nausea.—Mental states.—Companionship.—Various gastric
troubles.—Insomnia.—Hysteria.—Constipation and how to correct
it.—Longings.—Self-control.—With proper care, as a rule all
goes well, 147-154
CHAPTER XIII.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FŒTUS.
Minuteness of the germ of human life.—The embryo cell and
its store of food.—Its journey to the uterus.—Meeting the
spermatozoön, conception occurs.—The changes which take place
in the uterus.—Life is present the moment conception takes
place.—The mysterious development of the embryo.—The sin of
tampering with the work of the infinite.—The various changes in
the development of the embryo and fœtus set forth.—The changes
that occur each month.—Parenthood the benediction of husband
and wife, 155-162
CHAPTER XIV.
BABY’S WARDROBE.
The question that comes with fluttering signs of
life.—Importance of wise choice of material and style of
dress.—The blessedness of mother’s joy in preparing baby’s
clothing.—The questions of dress important.—Formerly
seemingly planned for discomfort.—The “binder” an instrument
of torture.—Better methods now prevail.—The napkin.—How to
establish regular habits for baby.—The pinning blanket.—The
little shirt.—Baby’s earliest and best dress described.—The
complete wardrobe described.—The furnishings of the
basket.—Things which are not to baby’s taste or comfort.—The
later wardrobe, 163-171
CHAPTER XV.
THE CHOICE OF PHYSICIAN AND NURSE.
Choice of physician and nurse of real consequence.—Choose
a physician whom you can trust implicitly.—A cleanly
man.—The wife should make the selection.—A Christian
physician.—Choice of nurse.—Wife most capable of making
choice.—Advice of the physician desirable.—She should be
pleasing to the wife.—Cleanliness.—Gentleness.—A person of
individuality.—Neatness in manner and clothing.—Should be
intelligent.—Physician and nurse should work in sympathy.—A
good cook.—Able to converse, but not a gossip.—Many such
physicians and nurses, 173-177
CHAPTER XVI.
THE BIRTH CHAMBER.
Memory’s dissimilar pictures of birth-chamber scenes.—Newborn
souls welcomed to mother’s arms and love.—The rebellious
mother with empty heart and unwilling arms.—The older
children reflect the spirit of the mother toward the
newcomer.—Illustrations of conduct of intelligent children
toward mother at birth period.—How to calculate date of
confinement.—Birth chamber no terror for those who live
hygienically.—Anæsthetics.—Their use explained.—Allaying
anxiety.—Earliest premonitions.—Preparation.—The three stages
of labor.—Tying the cord.—The rest and joy that complete and
crown labor, 179-187
CHAPTER XVII.
SURROUNDINGS AND AFTER-CARE OF THE
MOTHER.
Maternity should have the largest and brightest room in the
house.—It is her coronation room.—Simplicity of labor with
healthy women.—Science has reduced risk to the minimum.—The
exaltation of motherhood.—The rest after labor.—How to prepare
a bed for the parturient.—Deliverance of mother from friends
and visitors.—Sanitary pads.—Regular nursing.—Undisturbed
sleep.—No binder necessary for mother.—The care of the
breasts.—Diet.—Sitting up.—Six or eight weeks needed to regain
normal condition.—The use of the douche.—Sore nipples.—The
bearing of children not to be dreaded.—The joy of
motherhood, 189-200
CHAPTER XVIII.
CARE OF THE BABY.
The more thoughtful treatment of babies than formerly.—The
first attention that baby needs.—Its oil bath.—The care
of the eyes.—The care of the placentic cord.—Baby’s first
bath.—Its covering after the bath.—The basket.—Regularity
in nursing.—Waking at night.—Rocking to sleep.—Quantity of
food.—The appointments of the nursery.—The mother and the care
of her own children.—To her children the mother should be the
dearest creature in the world.—The babies born of love.—The
babies born in bitterness.—The responsibilities and joys of
motherhood, 201-212
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MOTHER THE TEACHER.
Food, clothing and restraint not the mother’s full duty to her
children.—Teach them self-knowledge.—Mother should give honest
answers to honest inquiries.—Ignorance leads to vice, and vice
to ruin.—When shall children be taught physical truths.—How to
teach little children physical truth.—Questions of sex should
be the most sacred things of their knowledge.—How to teach the
children in this sacred way.—Mothers should teach their boys as
well as the girls.—How boys grow away from their mothers.—How
mothers may win and hold their boys.—An honest mother’s
reward, 213-228
CHAPTER XX.
COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDREN.
Little ailments.—Nursing babies affected by condition of
mother.—Sleep and health.—The baby’s food.—Why babies are
restless when nursed from the right breast.—Children’s symptoms
often more grave than the ailment.—Illustrations.—Fevers
and teething.—Vomiting.—The cause of rash.—Pallid
children.—Chafing.—Babies do not cry without cause.—Need
of water and fresh air.—Sleeping in open air.—Relief in
constipation.—Important suggestions, 229-236
CHAPTER XXI.
GUARDING AGAINST SECRET VICE.
The mother’s preparation as guide and protector of her
children.—Safeguards for tiny babyhood.—Cleanliness,
regularity, chafing, pin worms, servants, nurse girls, etc.,
etc.—How to teach and guard them during childhood.—Safeguarding
the children with knowledge.—Inborn curiosity concerning
physical mysteries.—How to meet these questions.—Sleeping
alone.—How to correct vice where it exists. The duty of
physicians to the public.—Symptoms which call for parental
watchfulness.—Results of secret vice.—Rewards of parental
vigilance, 237-244
CHAPTER XXII.
THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN.
The training which develops talents.—When child-training should
begin.—The training of her children the mother’s all-important
calling.—The influence of the mother’s own character and
life.—The children imitators of their parents.—Importance of
earliest training.—Spoiled children.—Children’s rights.—The
proper correction of children.—Broken promises and parental
falsehoods.—Value of tact in parental discipline.—Value of
parental sympathy.—The mother, herself, the best gift to her
children.—The choice of books and stories.—The choice of
companions for the children.—Toys, sports and amusements.—An
appeal to mothers, 245-262
CHAPTER XXIII.
BODY-BUILDING.
Our duty to nourish, strengthen and build up strong
bodies.—Eradicating inherited infirmities.—Children inherit the
permanent states of their parents.—The parents’ duty to those
who are not well born.—What has been accomplished along these
lines.—The relation of babies’ clothing and food to physical
growth.—Unwise feeding.—The laws of nutrition.—The relation
of food to national greatness.—A list of good foods.—The
relation of exercise to appetite.—Comparative value of meat
and vegetables.—Importance of rest and sleep.—Regular sleeping
hours.—Schools and nervousness in children.—Many children
are not properly nourished.—Food poorly prepared and poorly
served.—The importance of hygienic cooking.—The cause of
weak eyes in children.—Children and bare feet.—The dosing
of children with nostrums.—The use of brandy and wine in
cooking, 263-285
CHAPTER XXIV.
MOTHERS’ MEETINGS, STUDY CLUBS AND
BOOKS.
The awakening along new lines.—A better brand of
mothers.—Books that will help along this line.—Mothers’
clubs as factors.—Their need in cities, villages, and rural
communities.—A rich mine, 287-292
CHAPTER I.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE YOUNG WIFE.
Out of Girlhood into Wifehood.—The Setting up of a New
Home.—Woman’s Exalted Place.—Earlier Influences.—Importance
of Intelligence.—Woman Fitted by Creator for Wifehood
and Motherhood.—The Position of Reproductive Organs in
the Body.—Dangers of Crowding Contents of Abdomen.—What
all Young Wives Need to Know.—Premium Previously set
upon Ignorance.—Heredity.—Failures and Successes of our
Ancestors.—Faults and Virtues Transmitted through Heredity.
What a young wife ought to know is a large question, and one which we
neither hope nor expect to answer fully in this little book, but if what
we shall say shall set our girls to thinking a little more seriously and
more exaltedly, of the great possibilities which await them: if it shall
prepare them to enter the sacred realm of marriage with holier thoughts
of the high duties they are assuming, we shall be content, feeling we
have accomplished our purpose.
Out of girlhood into wifehood, seems a short step, but it is one fraught
with grave responsibilities. If all along your girlhood way, your
aspirations have been high, and you have been living for the best, you
are prepared for the new life and its duties; if, on the other hand, you
have been drifting thoughtlessly, as so many girls are allowed to do, you
will have little conception of what the future holds for you.
A new home at your touch is to be called into being; a new altar reared,
upon which the sacrificial offerings shall be those of love, and
confidence, and life, and mutual endeavor, and work, not for self, but
for that other self whom you have chosen out of all the world to be the
sharer of everything that life means and that you hold dear.
“And the Lord said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will
make him an help meet for him.” And have you ever thought that in all
these years we have made the mistake of writing these words together as
one? We lose half of the designed meaning when we do this. “Meet means
to have bestowed upon or sent to one: to have befall one, to have happen
appropriately or deservedly. How full of meaning with this definition do
the two words become. As if the Creator left the calling into life of
woman, until he saw the great need, and then bestowed her as a blessing
upon man: that goodness was only accomplished when he made woman to be a
helper to man.”
We are very sure that there was nothing in the creative thought, of
degradation, in this giving of woman to man. Nothing of degradation in
the thought of her sphere and work. It is a work distinct from that of
man, and yet supplemental to it; in many ways unlike his and yet not
inferior to it. It is a large half of the work of the great busy world—a
work that is beautiful, noble, helpful, uplifting; and when done in the
spirit of love and willingness that should always characterize it, it
beautifies and ennobles the worker.
Dear young wives, begin your married lives with the thought that it is no
mean place that you are called to fill, and make it your highest pleasure
to fit yourselves for it worthily.
Some of you have come from homes of wealth, where you have been
accustomed to have every wish gratified, often before it was expressed;
and it may be that the one you have chosen will not be as able to gratify
your wishes. Be very sure that in the light of his love and companionship
you will not miss the abundance to which you have hitherto been
accustomed, and take great care that you keep fast hold of this thought,
and work it out into reality daily, through your oneness with him, and
your sweet, strong, self-assertive love. Together you can work up to the
greater affluence in worldly things and grow the richer in character as
you attain.
Others of you have come from homes where the necessities of life must be
planned for carefully, and where luxuries were few. Perhaps the man who
has chosen you for his mate, may rejoice that the hard work and careful
planning to make the ends meet, which has been your lot hitherto, will
no longer be necessary, for he will lift you to a home and position of
plenty, and his heart delights in so doing. Take care, dear young wife,
your lot will be beset with more difficulties than those spoken of above.
The invitations to ease and prodigality, to which you have not been
accustomed, but which seem so delightful now, will prove a snare to your
higher womanhood and nobler self-contained independence of character, if
you do not put your better self on guard; and all your strong lessons
that were learned in your earlier life of patient endeavor will be
forgotten in the new life of ease and pleasure.
Others of you will begin from the same level the united climb towards
success, and your care will be, that you do not let into your hearts
the dangerous guests, envy and greed. Either will spoil your home if
entertained, and prevent your gathering the sweets of life by the way.
In the days which precede marriage, everything relating to it has been
idealized, and the awaking to the knowledge that ideality and reality are
two very different things, will come to you with a severe shock, unless
you bring to the issue all the good common sense and womanliness you
possess. The rose-color which everything assumed in courtship, is now
toned down to a more sober hue, and it is yours to see that it becomes
not too sombre; but rather mingle with it enough of the vermilion and the
rose to brighten the entire day of married life, and glorify its sunset.
After all, you have only reached the haven towards which your bark has
been tending since your earliest recollection. Every day of your girlhood
life has had in it some hope, some confident thought, some sweet vision,
of the days when you would be a woman, and some one, the only one in all
the world for you, would come a-wooing and prove to you surely that your
life was planned as the complement of his; that the home he intends to
set up shall be perfect only when you consent to be its queen; that his
life, in short, is only waiting for its fulfilment—which really means
fillfullment when you shall come in to fill it full.
Should your love compel consent to this, and should you have courage,
and unselfishness, and power, and real character, and self-abnegation,
and hopefulness, and help-fullness, and uplifting patience, and hidden
leadership sufficient, you will make of the two-in-one life a beautiful
strength that shall bless the world.
Now you have come to the realization of these dreams, and never for
a moment must your courage falter, never for a moment your ideals be
lowered.
If perchance some of you have come to wifehood uninformed upon all the
questions of girlhood and womanhood, which will prepare you for the
sacred duties and responsibilities before you, it is not yet too late
to learn; although this disadvantage confronts you, that very much must
be crowded into a short space of time, and that many experiences will
overtake you before you are prepared for them. Even at this do not be
discouraged. Everything is possible to her who wills, and if you will
to prepare yourself better for wifehood and motherhood, even at so late
a day, the way is open. By enquiry you will find many books to help
you, and many motherly women, who, having learned in the dear school of
experience, are fitted to teach you the pitfalls you must avoid, and
encourage you with promises of success, if you are patient.
Perhaps some of you approach wifehood with a dread of its cares and
duties. Wrongly taught, or wrongly thinking, you have a nameless dread
that you cannot shake off, and it distresses you. There is nothing to
alarm you. Physically, woman as created, answers the question of fitness
for the work laid upon her.
Let us consider a little, her peculiar adaptation, and the suitability of
each part to the purpose intended by the all-wise Creator.
The nervous system is a little more highly organized than in man; the
heart and blood vessels adjusted to swifter work; the brain quicker; the
muscles not so hard and tense. In place of the logical, she possesses the
intuitive mind, which makes her capable of reaching a conclusion while
man is thinking about it. She has less strength, but greater endurance;
less daring in achievement, but more patience; less forcefulness, but
more quiet insistence; less practicality, but more of the æsthetic;
less ambition to assume the great responsibilities of life, but more
painstaking in the little and no less important things which go so far
towards making the days sweet and peaceful. All these differences from
man, her companion, but make her the more desirable and attractive.
Unlike man in her physical form, her departure from his type, was to fit
her for motherhood. Narrower shouldered and less muscular, because not
needing the brawn for lifting and laboring with her hands in the harder,
coarser way; she is broader through the hips to give ample room for
cradling her children.
The pelvis is the broad flat basin, at the lower part of the body, formed
by the union of the two large bones, the ossa inominata, which bound it
on either side and in front, and the sacrum and coccyx which complete it
behind. The sacrum and coccyx are the nine lower vertebræ of the spinal
column, five in the sacrum and four in the coccyx.
All the bones in the pelvis in woman are lighter and more delicate
than in man—in whom they are designed mainly for strength—and the
protuberances for the attachment of muscles are less prominent, making
a smoother inner surface in the pelvis of woman. Neither are the joints
so inflexible as in man; that of the coccyx with the sacrum being quite
movable, while the union of the two bones in front will permit slight
separation during the act of childbirth.
Within this pelvis lie the internal generative organs, namely, the
uterus, or womb, the ovaries and fallopian tubes, and beside these the
rectum and bladder. The pelvis belongs to these organs and to these
alone; but how often their sphere is trespassed upon by the crowding down
of the organs above, is matter for grave consideration. To each of these
organs is given space sufficient, if their room be not infringed upon by
each other or by the abdominal viscera above.
First let us consider the unlawful demand made by one or the other organ
within the pelvis for more space than rightfully belongs to it. Girls
very often from want of thought, and from ignorance of the gravity
of results which such carelessness may lead to, neglect the regular
evacuation of the bladder and bowels, and the result is from the fulness
of the bladder long continued, a pushing of the uterus backward which
may, if the habit be kept up, result in permanent displacement. On the
other hand, from a neglect of the bowels, a full rectum may force the
uterus forward and downward. If this carelessness is persisted in, a
displacement becomes a permanent condition, and a consequent adhesion of
the walls of the uterus to the neighboring organs often follows. This,
as you can readily see, will make serious difficulty for the uterus
when performing its functions in pregnancy, and brings on many nervous
troubles which greatly affect the entire organism.
The womb too, by its false position, crowds the blood vessels of the
pelvis, and thus interferes with the circulation of the pelvic organs
and all parts below. Added to this it interferes with the portal
circulation,—or circulation through the liver,—and thus disturbs the
distribution of blood in the digestive organs, and all parts supplied
by the blood-flow through the liver. For this reason, you can readily
understand how many stomach troubles may be caused by wrong conditions in
the pelvis.
As the bladder and rectum are capable of great distension, when full
they allow little space for the womb. If when distended these organs
always pushed the uterus upward, the displacement would cause less
serious results; but on the contrary, from the natural position of all
the organs, when crowded, the tendency is downward; especially is this
so as the result of a neglected and distended rectum, which causes the
prolapse, or falling of the womb with all its attendant ills. And the
evil does not always stop with this organ alone, but may lead to grave
bladder difficulties, and to hemorrhoids and other rectal diseases.
The abdominal cavity, or space between the diaphragm above and the pelvis
below, has also sufficient room for all the organs located in it, but
this cavity too is abused, by faulty dressing, and not only are the
contents of the abdomen compelled to suffer; but by their being crowded
downward the contents of the pelvis are encroached upon, and the ills I
have already alluded to in the pelvis are further aggravated.
So much for the knowledge of the physical needed by the young wife, and
this is but a beginning. In a book of this compass scarcely more than
hints can be given.
Every young woman before entering into marriage should have at least a
fair knowledge of the following subjects.
1. The human organization, the various organs which compose it, and the
functions of each.
2. The care requisite to the healthy maintenance of these organs, and the
food required to nourish them.
3. How to dress so that organic functions may not be disturbed, and so
that beauty and form may be preserved.
4. How to exercise so that muscles and nerves may be kept in vigor, and
the blood in active circulation.
5. How much rest to take thoroughly to recuperate the wasted energies,
and keep the spirits buoyant.
6. What to deny one’s self, that health may be preserved and the temper
kept sweet.
7. As a part of the great human family, what is one’s responsibility to
herself, to her family, to the best use of her time, and the generation
which shall come after her?
8. Is reproduction a multiplying of one’s self; and if so, is she willing
that herself, just as she is, should be reproduced.
9. What faults and failings has she, that she would not like to entail
upon her offspring?
10. A thorough knowledge and understanding of the reproductive system.
11. Hereditary influences, and her moral responsibility in the
inheritance of the generations to follow her.
To quote from Dr. Wm. Capp, “An appreciation of the situation cannot,
however, be expected in the young who, in the surge of mental and bodily
development, with its charming surprises of novelty, heedlessly float
along in the present quite unconscious of future dangers, of which it is
impossible for them to know, except they be warned by trusted guides.” He
then adds, “The best social interests of the race are in the keeping of
faithful mothers. Their education, both of intellect and heart, should be
of the highest order.”
Instead of any inducement having been offered our young people for
extending their knowledge of self, a premium has been put upon ignorance,
and the result has been in many cases disastrous to both health and
morals. The time is not far distant, we believe, when our young people
will refuse any longer to be considered, in the knowledge of self,
ignorantly pure. Ignorance is _not_ purity, but is often the _cause_ of
the grossest _impurity_; while intelligent knowledge is productive of
purity of the highest and noblest type.
Further if our young wives would know themselves, they must of necessity
become acquainted with the peculiarities, physical and mental, of
father, mother, grandfather and grandmother. In other words, they must
not only know themselves as they are, but the families from which they
sprang; then will they know, measurably, the possibilities of their
natures, and their limitations.
As well might the botanist talk of knowing the lovely American Beauty
rose, when he had only studied its form and color, its budding and
blossoming. He could tell you of its beauty, its fragrance, its colors
and its season; but to know it perfectly, he must go patiently back,
through every member of the rose family which has a share in its
production; and study until he knows every strain which has combined to
produce the beautiful harmonious entirety, which we find in this full red
rose. So, my dears, go patiently back through the lines of your ancestry
and learn your heritage—mental, moral and physical. Could you add to this
knowledge the share that environment and education can rightly claim, and
then deduce the possibilities which belong to such a life, you would be
at the threshold of achievement, at the morning of a successful life, if
you are ready to enthrone a consecrated will, and put real purpose into
your life.
There is something, perhaps, in a family tree that is desirable; but
one to my liking must contain more than the names of the ancestors. Each
must have his prominent characteristics attached, his failures and his
successes, as necessary guides for his descendants. It might not in many
instances engender family pride, while on the other hand, were these
records possessed, they could certainly be made a great incentive to
noble endeavor.
Is the human family of less consequence than the horse? It would be an
interesting study and full of suggestiveness, to take down the books
which contain the pedigree of our blooded horses, and note how sire and
dam through generations, have transmitted their faults and virtues to
their offspring. Further note how the possibilities of a colt are based
upon the achievements of his progenitors. Alas! Man in his study and
knowledge of the equine race has gotten far ahead of man in his study
of the human family. I fancy that if a college for the training of fine
horses were established, one of the chief things in the curriculum would
be a knowledge of pedigree. And why? Because upon such knowledge is based
the possibilities of the individual.