CHAPTER XVII.

REPRODUCTION.

Every individual derives existence from a _parent_, which word literally

means one who brings forth. We restrict the meaning of the term

_reproduction_, ordinarily, to that function by which living bodies

produce other living bodies similar to themselves. _Production_ means to

bring forth; _reproduction_, the producing again, or renewing. To

protract individual existence, nutrition is necessary, because all vital

changes are attended by _wear_ and _waste_. Nutrition is always engaged

in the work of reparation. Every organism that starts out upon its

career of development depends upon nourishing materials for its growth,

and upon this renewing process for its development. Nutrition is all the

while necessary to prolong the life of the individual, but at length its

vigor wanes, its functions languish, and, finally, the light of earthly

life goes out. Although the single organization decays and passes away,

nevertheless the species is uninterruptedly continued; the tidal wave of

life surges higher on the shores of time, for reproduction is as

constant and stable as the attractive forces of the planetary system.

It is a fact, that many species of the lower order of animals which once

existed are now extinct. It has been asserted and denied, that fossil

remains of man have been found, indicating that races which once existed

have disappeared from the face of the earth. The pyramids are unfolding

a wonderful history, embracing a period of forty-five hundred years,

which the world of science receives as literally authentic, and admits,

also, that fifty-four hundred years are _probably_ as correctly

accounted for. The extinction of races is not at all improbable. At the

present time, the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent seem to be

surely undergoing gradual extinguishment! It, therefore, seems to be

possible for a weaker race to deteriorate, and finally become extinct,

unless the causes of their decadence can be discovered and remedied. All

people are admonished to earnestly investigate the essential conditions

necessary for their continuance, for the rise and fall of nations is in

obedience to natural principles and operations. Viewed from this

standpoint, it is possible that a careful study of the human

temperaments and their relations to reproduction may be of greater

moment than has hitherto been supposed, and a proper understanding of

them may tend to avert that individual deterioration, which, if suffered

to become general, would end in national disaster and the extinction of

the race.

Until recently, even naturalists believed that descendants were strictly

like their parents in form and structure. Now it is known that the

progeny may differ in both form and structure from the parent, and that

these may produce others still more unlike their ancestry. But all these

peculiar and incidental deviations finally return to the original form,

showing that these changes have definite limits, and that the

alterations observe a specific variableness, which is finally completed

by its assuming again the original form. (See page 16, Figs. 2 and 3).

_Reproduction_ may be _sexual_ or _non-sexual._ In some plants and

animals it is non-sexual. The propagation of species is accomplished by

buds. Thus the gardener grafts a new variety of fruit upon an old stock.

The florist understands how to produce new varieties of flowers, and

make them radiantly beautiful in their bright and glowing colors. The

bud personates the species and produces after its kind. Some of the

_annelides_, a division of articulate animals, characterized by an

elongated body, formed of numerous rings or annular segments, multiply

by spontaneous division. A new head is formed at intervals in certain

segments of the body. (See Fig. 97).

Something similar to this process of budding, we find taking place in a

low order of animal organization. Divide the fresh water polyp into

several pieces, and each one will grow into an entire animal. Each piece

represents a polyp, and so each parent polyp is really a compound

animal, an organized community of beings. Just as the buds of a tree,

when separated and engrafted upon another tree, grow again, each

preserving its original identity, so do the several parts of this

animal, when divided, become individual polyps, capable of similar

reproduction.

[Illustration: Fig. 97.

An annelid dividing spontaneously, a new head having been formed toward the

hinder part of the body of the parent.]

The revolving volvox likewise increases by growth until it becomes a

society of animals, a multiple system of individuals. There are

apertures from the parent, by which water gains a free access to the

interior of the whole miniature series. This monad was once supposed to

be a single animal, but the microscope shows it to be a group of animals

connected by means of six processes, and each little growing volvox

exhibits his red-eye speck and two long spines, or horns. These animals

also multiply by dividing, and thus liberate another series, which, in

their turn, reproduce other groups.

Generation requires the concurrence of _stimuli_ and _susceptibility_,

and, to perfect the process, two conditions are also necessary. The

first is the sperm, which communicates the principle of action; the

other is the germ, which receives the latent life and provides the

conditions necessary to organic evolution. The vivifying function

belongs to the male, that of nourishing and cherishing is possessed by

the female; and these conditions are sexual distinctions. The former

represents _will_ and _understanding_; the latter, _vitality_ and

_emotion_. The father directs and controls, the mother fosters and

encourages; the former counsels and admonishes, the latter persuades and

caresses; and their union in holy matrimony represents one; that is, the

blending of vitality and energy, of love and wisdom,--the elements

indispensable to the initiation of life under the dual conditions of

male and female,--_one in the functions of reproduction_.

Let us consider the modes of Sexual Reproduction, which are

_hermaphroditic_ and _dioecious_.

HERMAPHRODITIC REPRODUCTION.

We have said that two kinds of cells represent reproduction, namely,

sperm and germ-cells. These may be furnished by different individuals,

or both may be found in one. When both are found in the same individual,

the parent is said to be a _natural hermaphrodite_. A perfect

hermaphrodite possesses the attributes of both male and female--uniting

both sexes in one individual. Natural hermaphroditic reproduction occurs

only among inferior classes of animals, and naturalists inform us that

there are a greater number of these than of the more perfect varieties.

These are found low in the scale of animal organization, and one

individual is able to propagate the species. In the oyster and ascidians

no organs can be detected in the male, but in the female they are

developed. Polyps, sponges, and cystic entozoa, may also be included

among hermaphrodites.

It is only very low organisms indeed in which it is a matter of

indifference whether the united sperm-cells and germ-cells are those of

the same individual, or those of different individuals. In more

elaborate structures and highly organized beings, the essential thing in

fertilization is the union of these cells specially endowed by

_different_ bodies, the unlikeness of derivation in these united

reproductive centers being the desideratum for perpetuating life and

power.

In other classes, as _entozoa_, there appear to be special provisions

whereby the sperm-cells and germ-cells may be united; _i.e._, the male

organs are developed and so disposed as to fecundate the ova of the same

individual. Sexual and non-sexual modes of reproduction are illustrated

by that well-defined group of marine invertebrate animals, called

_cirripedia_ Fig. 98 represents one of this genus.

[Illustration: Fig. 98.

Pollicipes Mitella.]

Some of these are not only capable of self-impregnation, but likewise

have what are called _complemental males_ attache to some of the

hermaphrodites. In the whole animal kingdom, it may be doubted if there

exists another such class of rudimentary creatures as the parasitic

males, who possess neither mouth, stomach, thorax, nor abdomen. After

exerting a peculiar sexual influence, they soon die and drop off; so

that in this class of animals may be found the sexual distinctions of

male, female, and perfect hermaphrodites.

[Illustration: Fig. 99.

Rotiferia; Brachionus Urceolaris;

largely magnified. ]

There is a class of wheel-animalcules termed _rotifera_, of which the

revolving volvox is one example. They have acquired this name on account

of the apparent rotation of the disc-like organs which surround their

mouths and are covered with _cilia_, or little hairs. They are minute

creatures, and can best be viewed with a microscope, although the larger

forms may be seen without such assistance. They are widely diffused on

the surface of the earth, inhabit lakes as well as the ocean, and are

found in cold, temperate, and tropical climates. The rotifera were once

supposed to be hermaphrodites, but the existence of sexes in one species

has been clearly established. The male, however, is much smaller, and

far less developed than the female. In some of these species,

germ-cells, or eggs, are found, which do not require fecundation for

reproduction or development, so that they belong to the non-sexual

class.

The third variety of hermaphrodites embraces those animals in which the

male organs are so disposed as not to fecundate the ova of the same

body, but require the co-operation of two individuals, notwithstanding

the co-existence in each of the organs of both sexes. Each in turn

impregnates the other. The common leech, earth-worm, and snail,

propagate in this manner.

_Unnatural hermaphrodism_ is characteristic of insects and crustaceans,

in which the whole body indicates a neutral character, tending to

exhibit the peculiarities of male or female, in proportion to the kind

of sexual organs which predominates. Half of the body may be occupied by

male, the other half by female organs, and each half reflects its

peculiar sexual characteristics. Some butterflies are dimidiate

hermaphrodites; _i.e._ one side of the body has the form and color of

the male, the other the form and color of the female. The wings show by

their color and appearance these sexual distinctions. The stag-beetle is

also an example. We have accounts of dimidiate hermaphrodite lobster,

male in one half and female in the other half of the body.

Among the numerous classes of higher animals, which have red blood, we

have heard of no well-authenticated instance of hermaphrodism, or the

complete union of _all_ the reproductive organs in one individual. True,

the term _hermaphrodite_ is often applied to certain persons in whom

there is some malformation, deficiency, or excess, of the genital

organs. These congenital deformities consisting of combined increase or

deficiency, supernumerary organs, or transposition of them, which

usually render generation physically impossible, have been called

_bisexual hermaphrodism_ and classed as monstrosities. We have many

published accounts of them, hence, further reference to them here is

unnecessary. We would especially refer those readers who may desire to

make themselves further acquainted with this interesting subject, to the

standard physiological works of Flint, Foster, Carpenter, Bennett,

Dalton, and others equally eminent in this particular branch of science.

Certain theories have been advanced concerning conditions which may

influence the sex of the offspring. One is that the right ovary

furnishes the germs for males, the left for females that the right

testicle furnishes sperm capable of fecundating the germs of males, and

the left testicle, the germs of the left ovary, for females. That

fecundation sometimes takes place from right to left and thus produces

these abnormal variations. We merely state the hypothesis, but do not

regard it as accounting for the distinction of sex, or as causing

monstrosities, though it is somewhat plausible as a theory, and is not

easily disproved. In the lower order of animals, as sheep and swine, one

of the testicles has been removed, and there resulted afterward both

male and female progeny, so that the theory seems to lack facts for a

foundation.

We sometimes witness in the child excessive development, as five

fingers, a large cranium, which results in dropsical effusion, or

deficient brain, as in idiots; sometimes a hand or arm is lacking, or

possibly there is a dual connection, as in the case of the Siamese

twins; or, two heads united on one body. It is difficult to give any

satisfactory explanation of these abnormal developments. From age to

age, the type is _constant_, and preserves a race-unity. The crossings

of the races are only transient deviations, not capable of perpetuation,

and quickly return again to the original stock. This force is

persistent, for inasmuch as the individual represents the race, so does

his offspring represent the parental characteristics, in tastes,

proclivities, and morals, as well as in organic resemblances. This

constancy is unaccountable, and more mysterious than the occasional

malformation of germs in the early period of foetal life. If to every

deviation from that original form and structure, which gives character

to the productions of nature, we apply the term _monster_, we shall find

but very few, and from this whole class there will be a very small

number indeed of _sexual_ malformations. If the sexes be deprived of the

generative organs, they approach each other in disposition and

appearance. All those who are partly male and partly female in their

organization, unite, to a certain extent, the characteristics of both

sexes. When the female loses her prolific powers, many of her sexual

peculiarities and attractions wane.

DIOECIOUS REPRODUCTION.

_Dioecious_ is a word derived from the Greek, and signifies _two

households;_ hence, _dioecious reproduction_ is sexual generation by

male and female individuals. Each is distinguished by sexual

characteristics. The male sexual organs are complete in one individual,

and all the female organs belong to a separate feminine organization. In

some of the vertebrates, impregnation does not require sexual congress;

in other words, fecundation may take place _externally_. The female fish

of some species first deposits her ova, and afterwards the male swims to

that locality and fertilizes them with sperm.

In higher orders of animals, fecundation occurs _internally_, the

conjunction of the sperm and germ cells requiring the conjugation of the

male and female sexual organs. The sperm-cells of the male furnish the

quickening principle, which sets in play all the generative energies,

while the germ-cell, susceptible to its vivifying presence, responds

with all the conditions necessary to evolution. The special laboratory

which furnishes spermatic material is the _testes_, while the stroma of

the _ovaries_ contributes the germ-cell. Several different modes of

reproducing are observed when fecundation occurs within the body, which

vary according to the peculiarities and organization of the female.

MODES OF DIOECIOUS REPRODUCTION.--A very familiar illustration of one

mode is found in the common domestic fowl, the egg of which vivified

within the ovarium, is afterward expelled and hatched by the simple

agency of warmth. This mode of reproduction is called _oviparous

generation_.

The ovaries, as well as all their latent germs, are _remarkably_

influenced by the first fecundation. It seems to indicate monogamy as

the rule of higher sexual reproduction. The farmer understands that if

he wishes to materially improve his cows, the first offspring must be

begotten by a better, purer breed, and all that follow will be

essentially benefited, even if not so well sired. Neither will the best

blood exhibit its most desirable qualities in the calves whose mothers

have previously carried inferior stock. So that there are sexual

ante-natal influences which may deteriorate the quality of the progeny.

The Jews understood this principle, in the raising up of sons and

daughters unto a deceased brother. The fact that the sexual influence of

a previous conception is not lost, is illustrated when, in a second

marriage, the wife bears a son or daughter resembling bodily or

mentally, or in both of these respects the former husband. This

indicates a union for life by natural influences which never die out.

With some species of fish and reptiles, the egg is impregnated

internally, and the process of _laying_ commences immediately, but it

proceeds so slowly through the excretory passages, that it is hatched

and born alive. This is called _ovo-viviparous generation_.

As we rise in the scale of organization, animals are more completely

developed, and greater economy is displayed in their preservation. The

germ passes from the ovary into an organ prepared for its reception and

growth, to which, after fecundation, it becomes attached, and where it

remains until sufficiently developed to maintain respiratory life. This

organ is called the _womb_, or _uterus_, and is peculiar to most

mammalia. This mode of reproduction is termed _viviparous generation_.

The kangaroo and oppossum are provided with a pouch attached to the

abdomen, which receives the young born at an early stage of development.

They remain in contact with the mammæ, from which they obtain their

nourishment, until their growth is sufficiently completed to maintain an

independent existence. This is called _marsupial generation_. The

variety of reproduction which is most interesting, is that of the human

species, and is called _viviparous generation_. It includes the

functions of copulation, fecundation, gestation, parturition, and

lactation.

For the full and perfect development of mankind, both mental and

physical chastity is necessary. The health demands abstinence from

unlawful intercourse. Therefore children should not be allowed to read

impure works of fiction, which tend to inflame the mind and excite the

passions. Only in total abstinence from illicit pleasures is there moral

safety and health, while integrity, peace, and happiness, are the

conscious rewards of virtue. Impurity travels downward with

intemperance, obscenity, and corrupting diseases, to degradation and

death. A dissolute, licentious, free-and-easy life is filled with the

dregs of human suffering, iniquity, and despair. The penalties which

follow a violation of the law of chastity are found to be severe and

swiftly retributive.

[Illustration: Fig. 100.

Male]

[Illustration: Fig. 101.

Female]

[Illustration: Fig. 102.

Outline of the Female Urinary and

Generative Organs.]

The union of the sexes in holy matrimony is a law of nature finding

sanction in both morals and legislation. Even some of the lower animals

unite in this union for life, and instinctively observe the law of

conjugal fidelity with a consistency which might put to blush other

animals more highly endowed. It is important to discuss this subject and

understand our social evils, as well as the unnatural desires of the

sexes, which must be controlled or they lead to ruin. Sexual

propensities are possessed by all, and they must be held in abeyance,

until they are exercised for legitimate purposes. Hence parents ought to

understand the value of mental and physical labor to elevate and

strengthen the intellectual and moral faculties of their children, to

develop the muscular system and direct the energies of the blood into

healthful channels. Vigorous employment of mind and body engrosses the

vital energies and diverts them from undue excitement of the sexual

desires.

[Illustration: Fig. 103.

Outline of the Male Reproductive Organs.]

Sexual generation by pairing individuals is the most economical mode of

propagating the species. The lower orders of animals possess wonderful

multiplicative powers and their faculty for reproduction is offset by

various destructive forces. The increased ability for self-maintenance

implies diminished reproductive energy; hence the necessity for greater

economy and safety in rearing the young. As certain larvae and insects

increase, the birds which feed upon them become more numerous. When this

means of support becomes inadequate, these same birds diminish in number

in proportion to the scarcity of their food. Many have remarked that

very prolific seasons are followed by unusual mortality, just as periods

of uncommon prosperity precede those of severe disaster.

The increased mental and moral cultivation of mankind imposes upon them

the necessity for greater physical culture. "Wiser and weaker," is a

trite saying, and means that the exercise of the higher nature discloses

the equivalent necessity of culturing the body, in order to support the

increasing expenditures of the former. Mental and moral discipline are

essential for a proper understanding how to provide for the body, for

physical training increases the capacity of the individual for

self-preservation. Constant vigilance is the price of health as well as

of liberty.

It is an interesting physiological fact that, while the growth and

development of the individual are rapidly progressing, the reproductive

powers remain almost inactive, and that the commencement of reproduction

not only indicates an arrest of growth, but, in a great measure,

contributes toward it. From infancy to puberty, the body and its

individual organs, structurally as well as functionally, are in a state

of gradual and progressive evolution. Men and women generally increase

in stature until the twenty-fifth year, and it is safe to assume that

perfection of function is not established until maturity of bodily

development is completed. Solidity and strength are represented in the

organization of the male, grace, and beauty in that of the female. His

broad shoulders represent physical power and the right of dominion,

while her bosom is the symbol of love and nutrition. The father

encounters hardships, struggles against difficulties, and braves dangers

to provide for his household; the mother tenderly supplies the infant's

wants, finding relief and pleasure in imparting nourishment, and

surrounds helpless infancy with an affection which is unwearied in its

countless ministering attentions. Her maternal functions are indicated

by greater breadth of the hips. Physical differences so influence their

mental natures, that, "before experience has opened their eyes, the

dreams of the young man and maiden differ." The development of either is

in close sympathy with their organs of reproduction. Any defect of the

latter impairs our fair ideal, and detracts from those qualities which

impart excellence, and crown the character with perfections. Plainly has

Nature marked out, in the organization, very different offices to be

performed by the sexes, and has made these distinctions fundamental.

Likewise, Nature expresses the intention of reproduction by giving to

plants and animals distinctive organs for this purpose. These are

endowed with exquisite sensibility, so that their proper exercise

produces enjoyment beneficial to both. Excessive sexual indulgence not

only prostrates the nervous system, enfeebles the body, and drains the

blood of its vivifying elements, but is inconsistent with intellectual

activity, morality, and spiritual development. The most entrancing

delights and consummate enjoyments are of the emotive order, ideal,

abstract, and pure, so inspiring that they overpower the grosser sensual

pleasures and diffuse their own sweet chastity and refining influence

over all the processes of life.

Hence, the gratification of the sexual instincts should always be

moderate. It should be regulated by the judgment and will, and kept

within the bounds of health. No person has a moral right to carry this

indulgence so far as to produce injurious consequences to either party,

and he who cannot refrain from it is in no proper condition to propagate

his species. In all culture there must be self-control, and the practice

of self-denial at the command of love and justice is always a virtue.

Self-government is the polity of our people, and we point with pride and

laudable exultation to our political maxims, laws, and free

institutions. The family is the prototype of society. If self-restraint

be practiced in the marital relation, then the principle of self-control

will carry health, strength, and morality into all parts of the

commonwealth. The leading characteristics of any nation are but the

reflection of the traits of its individual members, and thus the family

truly typifies the practical morality and enduring character of a

people.

OVULATION.

The _Ovaries_ are those essential parts of the generative system of the

human female in which the ova are matured. There are two ovaries, one on

each side of the uterus, and connected with it by the Fallopian tubes;

they are ovoidal bodies about an inch in diameter, and furnish the

_germs_ or ovules. These latter are very minute, seldom measuring 1/120

of an inch in diameter, and frequently are not more than half that size.

The ovaries develop with the growth of the female, so that, finally, at

the pubescent period, they ripen and liberate an ovum, or germ vesicle,

which is carried into the uterine cavity through the Fallopian tubes.

With the aid of the microscope, we find that these ova are composed of

granular substance, in which is found a miniature yolk surrounded by a

transparent membrane, called the _zona pellucida_. This yolk contains a

germinal vesicle in which can be discovered a nucleus, called the

_germinal spot_. The process of the growth of the ovaries is very

gradual, and their function of ripening and discharging an ovum every

month into the Fallopian tubes and uterus is not developed until between

the twelfth and fifteenth years.

This period, which indicates, by the feelings and ideas, the desires and

will, that the subjects are capable of procreation, is called _puberty_.

The mind acquires new and more delicate perceptions, the person becomes

plumper, the mammæ enlarge, and there is grace and perfection in every

movement, a conscious completeness for those relations of life for which

this function prepares them. The period of puberty is also indicated by

MENSTRUATION.

The catamenial discharge naturally follows the ripening and liberation

of an ovum, and as the ovaries furnish one of these each month, this

monthly flow is termed the _menses_ (the plural of the Latin word

_mensis_, which signifies a month). The menstrual flow continues from

three to five days, and is merely the exudation of ordinary venous blood

through the mucous lining of the cavity of the uterus. At this time, the

nervous system of females is much more sensitive, and from the fact that

there is greater aptitude to conception immediately before and after

this period, it is supposed that the sexual feeling is then the

strongest. When impregnation occurs immediately before the appearance of

the menses, their duration is generally shortened, but not sufficiently

to establish the suspicion that conception has taken place. The germ is

the contribution of the female, which provides the conditions which only

require the vivifying principle of the sperm for the development of

another being. The period of aptitude for conception terminates at the

time both ovulation and menstruation cease, which, unless brought about

earlier by disease, usually occurs about the forty-fifth year of her

age.

FECUNDATION.

Since in the beginning God created male and female, and said unto them,

"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," it is evident that

what was originated by creation must be continued by procreation. The

process of generation the reader will find described on pages 12 and 13.

Then commences a wonderful series of transforming operations,

rudimentary changes preliminary to the formation of tissues, structures

and functions, which finally qualify the organism for independent

existence. The ovum, when expelled from the ovary, enters the

fimbriated, or fringe-like extremity of the Fallopian tube, to commence

at once its descent to the uterus. The process of passing through this

minute tube varies in different animals. In birds and reptiles, the bulk

of the expelled ova is so great as to completely fill up the tube, and

it is assisted in its downward course, partly by its own weight and

partly by the peristaltic action of the muscular coat of the canal. In

the human subject, however, the ova are so minute that nature has

supplied a special agent for their direct transmission; otherwise they

might be retained, and not reach their destination. Accordingly, the

fimbriated, trumpet-shaped extremity of the Fallopian tubes, which is

nearest to the ovaries, and, consequently from the ovary first receives

the ovum when expelled; is provided with a series of small hairs, termed

_cilia_, forming the lining or basement membrane of the tubes, and, the

movements of these cilia being towards the uterus, transmit, by their

vibrating motion, the ovum from the ovary, through the Fallopian tubes,

to the uterus.

The mature ovum, however, is not by itself capable of being converted

into the embryo. It requires fecundation by the spermatic fluid of the

male, and this may take place immediately on the expulsion of the ovum

from the ovary, or during its passage through the Fallopian tube, or,

according to Bischoff, Coste, and others, in the cavity of the uterus,

or even upon the surface of the ovary. Should impregnation, however,

fail, the ovum gradually loses its vitality, and is eventually expelled

by the uterine secretions. It occasionally happens that the descent of

the impregnated ovum is arrested, and the formation of the embryo

commences in the ovary. This is termed _ovarian pregnancy_. Or again,

the ovum may be arrested in its passage through the Fallopian tube,

causing what is termed _tubal pregnancy_; or, after it has been expelled

from the ovary, it may fail to be received by the fimbriated extremity,

and escape into the cavity of the abdomen, forming what has been termed

_ventral pregnancy_. If the microscopic germ lodges in some slight

interstice of fiber, during its passage through the walls of the uterus,

it may be detained long enough to fix itself there, and when this

occurs, it is termed _interstitial pregnancy_. All these instances of

extra-uterine pregnancy may necessitate the employment of surgical

skill, in order that they may terminate with safety to the mother. Their

occurrence, however, is very rare.

The intense nervous excitement produced by the act of coition is

immediately followed by a corresponding degree of depression, and a too

frequent repetition of it is necessarily injurious to health. The

secretions of the seminal fluid being, like other secretions, chiefly

under the influence of the nervous system, an expenditure of them

requires a corresponding renewal. This renewal greatly taxes the

corporeal powers, inducing lassitude, nervousness, and debility. It is a

well known fact that the highest degree of mental and bodily vigor is

inconsistent with more than a moderate indulgence in sexual intercourse.

To ensure strength, symmetry, and high intellectual culture in the human

race, requires considerable care. Consideration should be exercised in

the choice of a companion for life. Constitutional as well as hereditary

ailments demand our closest attention. Age has also its judicious

barriers. As before stated, when reproduction commences, growth, as a

rule, ceases, therefore, it is inexpedient that matrimony should be

consummated before the parties have arrived at mature stature.

PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION.

Much has been written upon the question whether married people have a

right to decline the responsibilities of wedlock. The practice of

inducing abortion is not only immoral but criminal, because it is

destructive to both the health of the mother and the life of the embryo

being. If both the parties to a marriage be feeble, or if they be not

temperamentally adapted to each other, so that their children would be

deformed, insane, or idiotic, then to beget offspring would be a

flagrant wrong. If the mother is already delicate, possessing feeble

constitutional powers, she is inadequate to the duties of maternity,

_and it is not right to lay such burdens upon her_. Self-preservation is

the first law of nature, which all ought to respect. The woman may be

able to discharge the duties of a loving wife and companion, when she

cannot fulfill those of child-bearing. If the husband love his wife as

he ought, he will resign all the pleasure necessary to secure her

exemption from the condition of maternity. It seems to us, that it is a

great wickedness, unpardonable even, to be so reckless of consequences,

and so devoid of all feeling, as to expose a frail, feeble, affectionate

woman to those perils which almost insure her death. To enforce

pregnancy under such circumstances is a crime. Every true man,

therefore, should rather practice self-control and forbearance, than

entail on his wife such certain misery, if not danger to life.

Undoubtedly, the trial is great, but if a sacrifice be required, let the

husband forbear the gratification of passions which will assuredly be

the means of developing in his delicate wife symptoms that may speedily

hurry her into a premature grave. Before she has recovered from the

effects of bearing, nursing, and rearing one child, ere she has regained

proper tone and vigor of body and mind, she is unexpectedly overtaken,

_surprised_ by the manifestation of symptoms which again indicate

pregnancy. Children thus begotten are not apt to be hardy and

long-lived. From the love that parents feel for their posterity, from

their wishes for their success, from their hopes that they may be useful

from every consideration for their future well-being, let them exercise

precaution and forbearance, until the wife becomes sufficiently healthy

and enduring to bequeath her own vital stamina to the child she bears.

From what has been said on this subject, it behooves the prudent husband

to weigh well the injurious, nay criminal results which may follow his

lust. Let him not endanger the health, and it may be the life, of his

loving and confiding wife through a lack of self-denial. Let him

altogether refrain, rather than be the means of untold misery and,

perhaps, the destruction of the person demanding his most cherished love

and protection. On so important a subject, we feel we should commit an

unpardonable wrong were we not to speak thus plainly and openly. An

opportunity has been afforded us, which it would be reprehensible to

neglect. We shall indeed feel we have been amply rewarded, if these

suggestive remarks of ours tend in any way to remove or alleviate the

sufferings of an uncomplaining and loving wife. Our sympathies, always

susceptible to the conditions of sorrow and suffering, have been

enlisted to give faithfully, explicitly, and plainly, warnings of danger

and exhortations to prudence and nothing remains for us but to maintain

the principles of morality, and leave to the disposal of a wise and

overruling Providence the mystery of all seemingly untoward events. In

every condition of life, evils arise, and most of those which are

encountered are avoidable. Humanity should be held accountable for those

evils which it might, but does not shun.

By a statute of the national government, prevention of pregnancy is

considered a punishable offense; whereas every physician is instructed

by our standard writers and lecturers on this subject, that not only

prevention is necessary in many instances, but even abortion must

sometimes be produced in order to save the mother's life. As we view the

matter, the law of the national government asserts the ruling principle,

and the exceptions to it must be well established by evidence, in order

to fully justify such procedure. The family physician may, with the

concurrence of other medical counselors, be justified, in rare cases, in

advising means for the prevention of conception, but he should exercise

this professional duty _only_ when the responsibility is shared by other

members of the profession, and the circumstances fully and clearly

warrant such a practice.

After fecundation, the length of time before conception takes place is

variously estimated. Should impregnation occur at the ovary or within

the Fallopian tubes, usually about a week elapses before the fertilized

germ enters the uterus, so that ordinarily the interval between the act

of insemination and that of conception varies from eight to fourteen

days.

DOUBLE CONCEPTION.

If two germs be evolved simultaneously, each may be impregnated by

spermatozoa, and a twin pregnancy be the result. This is by no means a

rare occurrence. It is very unusual, however, to have one birth followed

by another after an interval of three or four months, and each babe

present the evidences of full maturity. Perhaps such occurrences may be

accounted for on the supposition that the same interval of time elapses

between the impregnation of the two germs as there is difference

observed in their birth; that after the act of insemination, sperm was

carried to each ovary; that one had matured a germ ready for

fecundation, then impregnation and conception immediately followed, and

the decidua of the uterus hermetically sealed both Fallopian tubes, and

thus securely retained the sperm within the other Fallopian canal. The

stimulus of the sperm so pent up causes that ovary to mature a germ,

although it may do so slowly, and after two or three months it is

perfected, fertilized, and a second conception occurs within the uterus.

If each embryo observe a regular period of growth and each be born at

maturity, there must be an interval of two or three months between their

births. But it is far more common for the parturition of the first,

displaying signs of full maturity, to coincide with the birth of a

second which is immature and which cannot sustain respiratory life. The

birth of the latter is brought about prematurely, by the action of the

uterus in expelling the matured child.

UTERINE PREGNANCY.

There are many who manifest a laudable desire to understand the

physiology of conception, the changes which take place, and the order of

their natural occurrence. When impregnation takes place at the ovaries

or within the Fallopian tubes, there is exuded upon the inner surface of

the womb a peculiar nutritious substance. It flows out of the minute

porous openings surrounding the termination of the Fallopian tube within

the uterine cavity, and, thus, is in readiness to receive the germ, and

retain it there until it becomes attached. Undoubtedly, the germ imbibes

materials from this matter for its nurture and growth. This membranous

substance is termed the _decidua_, and disappears after conception is

insured. Two membranes form around the embryo; the inner one is called

the _amnion_, the outer one the _chorion_. Both serve for the protection

of the embryo, and the inner one contains the _liquor amnii,_ in which

it floats during intra-uterine life. Immediately after conception, the

small glands in the neck of the uterus usually throw out a sticky

secretion, filling the canal, or uniting its sides, so that nothing can

enter or leave the uterine cavity.

The fertilized ovum rapidly develops. After its conception it imbibes

nourishment, and there is a disposition in fluids to pass into it,

through its delicately-organized membranes. If this process is not

involuntary, it is, at all events, at the convenience and use of the

developing germ. After three months the embryo is termed the _foetus_.

Its fluids are then so much more highly organized, that some of them are

tinged with sanguine hues, and thenceforward acquire the characteristics

of red blood. Out of red blood, blood-vessels are formed, and from the

incipient development of the heart follow faint lines of arteries, and

the engineers of nutrition survey a circulatory system, perfecting the

vascular connections by supplementing the arteries with a complete

net-work of veins and capillaries.

THE PLACENTA OR AFTERBIRTH.

Whenever conception occurs, a soft, spongy substance is formed between

the uterus and the growing ovum, called the _placenta_. It is composed

of membrane, cellular tissue, blood-vessels, and connecting filaments.

The principal use of this organ seems to be to decarbonate the blood of

the foetus, and to supply it with oxygen. It performs the same function

for the foetus that the lungs do for the organism after birth. It allows

the blood of the foetus to come into very close contact with that of the

mother, from which it receives a supply of oxygen, and to which it gives

up carbonic acid. This interchange of gases takes place in the placenta,

or between it and the uterus, through the intervening membranes. This

decarbonating function requires the agency of the maternal lungs, for

the purpose of oxygenating the mother's blood.

The placenta is attached to the uterus by simple adhesion. True, in some

instances, morbid adhesion takes place, or a growing together in

consequence of inflammation, but the natural junction is one merely of

contact, the membranes of the placenta spreading out upon the cavity of

the uterus, so that, finally, the former may be entirely removed without

a particle of disturbance or injury to the latter. Formerly, it was

supposed that the placental vessels penetrated into the substance of the

uterus. We know now there is no such continuation of the vessels of the

one into the other. The decarbonation of the blood requires the

placental and uterine membranes to be in contact with each other.

If the union were vascular, the mother's blood would circulate in the

foetal body, and the impulses of the maternal heart might prove too

strong for the delicate organism of the embryo. Besides, the separation

of the placenta from the uterus might prove fatal to both parent and

offspring. The placenta is only a temporary organ, and when its

functions are no longer required, it is easily and safely removed.

THE UMBILICAL CORD.

The foetal blood is transmitted to and fro between the body of the child

and the placenta, by a cord which contains two arteries and one vein.

This is called the _umbilical cord_, because it enters the body at the

middle of the abdominal region, or _umbilicus_. It is composed, also, of

its own proper membranous sheath, or skin, and cellular tissues, besides

the blood-vessels. Two months after pregnancy, this cord can be seen,

when it commences to grow rapidly.

QUICKENING.

Not until the mother feels motion is she said to be quick with child.

That is, the child must be old and strong enough to communicate a

physical impulse, which the mother can distinctly perceive, before it is

regarded as having received life. This is a fallacy, for the germ has to

be endowed with life before organization can begin. The act of

impregnation communicates the vital principle, and from that moment it

starts upon its career of development. A long period elapses after this

occurs before it can make the mother feel its motions. Before

quickening, the attempt to destroy the foetus is not considered so grave

a crime by our laws, but after this quickening takes place, it is deemed

a felony.

THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE PREGNANCY.

The expediency and the moral right to prematurely terminate pregnancy

must be admitted when weighty and sufficient reasons for it exist. Such

a course should never be undertaken, however, without the advice and

approval of the family physician, and, whenever it is possible, the

counsel of another medical practitioner should be obtained. There may be

so great a malformation of the pelvic bones as to preclude delivery at

full term, or, as in some instances, the pregnant condition may endanger

the life of the mother, because she is not able to retain nourishment

upon the stomach. In such cases only, is interference warranted, and

even then the advice of some well-informed physician should be first

obtained, to make sure that the life of the mother is endangered before

so extreme a measure is resorted to.

Those who are qualified for maternal duties should not undertake to

defeat the intentions of nature, simply because they love ease and

dislike responsibility. Such persons may be considered genteel ladies,

but, practically, they are indifferent to the claims of society and

posterity. How such selfishness contrasts with the glorious, heroic,

Spartan spirit of the young woman who consulted us in reference to the

acceptance of a tempting offer of marriage! She was below medium size

and delicately organized. She hesitated in her answer, because she was

uncertain as to her duty to herself, and to her proposed husband, and on

account of the prospective contingencies of matrimony. After she was

told that it was doubtful whether she could discharge the obligations of

maternity with safety to herself, and yet that she might prove to her

intended husband a true and valuable wife, she quickly answered, her

black eyes radiant with the high purpose of her soul: "If I assent to

this offer, I shall accept the condition and its consequences also, even

if pregnancy be my lot and I know it will cost me my life!" She acceded

to the proposal, and years found them one in happiness; then a daughter

was born, but the bearing and nursing were too much for her delicate

constitution, and she continued to sink until she found rest in the

grave. Of all her beautiful and noble sayings, none reflect more moral

grandeur of spirit than the one in which she expressed her purpose to

prove true to posterity.

THE SIGNS OF PREGNANCY.

The symptoms which indicate pregnancy are cessation of the menses,

enlargement of the mammæ, nausea, especially in the morning, distention

of the abdomen, and movement of the foetus. A married woman has reason

to suspect that she may have conceived, when, at the proper time, she

fails to menstruate, especially when she knows that she is liable to

become pregnant. A second menstrual failure strengthens this suspicion,

although there are many other causes which might prevent the appearance

of the menses, such as disease of the uterus, general debility, or

taking cold, and all of these should be taken into account. In the

absence of all apparent influences calculated to obstruct the menses,

the presumption ordinarily is that pregnancy is the cause of their

non-appearance. The evidence is still more conclusive when the mammæ and

abdomen enlarge after experiencing morning sickness. Notwithstanding all

these symptoms, the audible sound of the heart, or the movements of the

foetus, are the only _infallible_ signs of a pregnant condition.

THE DURATION OF PREGNANCY.

The ordinary duration of pregnancy is about forty weeks, or 280 days. It

is difficult to foretell exactly when a pregnancy will be completed, for

it cannot be known precisely when it began. Some gestations are more

protracted than others, but the average duration is the time we have

given. A very reasonable way to compute the term, is to reckon three

months back from the day when the menses ceased and then add five days

to that time, which will be the date of the expected time of

confinement. It is customary, also, for women to count from the middle

of the month after the last appearance of the menses, and then allow ten

_lunar_ months for the term. This computation generally proves correct,

except in those instances in which conception takes place immediately

before the fast appearance of the catamenia. A few women can forecast

the time of labor from the occurrence of quickening, by allowing

eighteen weeks for the time which has elapsed since conception, and

twenty-two more for the time yet to elapse before the confinement. With

those in whom quickening occurs regularly in a certain week of

pregnancy, this calculation may prove nearly correct.

The English law fixes no precise limit for the legitimacy of the child.

In France a child is regarded as lawfully begotten if born within three

hundred days after the death or departure of the husband. There are a

sufficient number of cases on record to show that gestation may be

prolonged two, and even three, weeks beyond the ordinary, or average

term. The variation of time may be thus accounted for: after

insemination, a considerable interval elapses before fecundation takes

place, and the passage of the fertilized germ from the ovary to the

uterus is also liable to be retarded. There are many circumstances and

conditions which might serve to diminish its ordinary rate of progress,

and postpone the date of conception. This would materially lengthen the

_apparent_ time of gestation.

It is likewise difficult to determine the shortest period at which

gestation may terminate, and the child be able to survive. A child may

be born and continue to live for some months, after twenty-four or

twenty-five weeks of gestation; it was so decided, at least, in an

ecclesiastical trial.

We have not the space to describe minutely, or at length, the formation

and growth of the foetal structures, and trace them separately from

their origin to their completion at the birth of the child. The student

of medicine must gain information by consulting large works and

exhaustive treatises on this interesting subject.

What trifling contingencies defeat vitality! Conception may be prevented

by acrid secretions, the result of disease of the reproductive organs.

Leucorrheal matter may destroy the vitalizing power of the sperm-cells.

There are many ways, even after impregnation, of compromising the

existence of the frail embryo. Accidents, injuries, falls, blows, acute

diseases, insufficient nutrition and development, in fact, a great

variety of occurrences may destroy the life of the embryo, or foetus.

After birth, numerous diseases menace the child. By what constant care

must it ever be surrounded, and how often is it snatched from the very

jaws of death!

What, then, is man but simply a germ, evolving higher powers, and

destined for a purer and nobler existence! His latent life secretly

emerges from mysterious obscurity, is incarnated, and borne upon the

flowing stream of time to a spiritual destination--to realms of

immortality! As he nears those ever-blooming shores, the eye of faith,

illuminated by the inspired word, dimly discerns the perennial glories.

Quickened by Faith, Hope, and Love, his spirit is transplanted into the

garden of paradise, the Eden of happiness, redeemed, perfected, and made

glorious in the divine image of Him who hath said, "I am the Way, the

_Truth_, and the LIFE."

* * * * *

PART II.

HYGIENE.

CHAPTER I.

HYGIENE DEFINED.--PURE AIR.

The object of hygiene is the _preservation of health_. Hitherto, we have

considered, at some length, the science of functions, or _Physiology_,

and now, under the head of _Hygiene_, we will give an outline of the

means of maintaining the functional integrity of the system. It is

difficult to avoid including under this head Preventive Medicine, the

special province of which is to abate, remove, or destroy the many

causes of disease.

The Greeks bestowed divine honors upon Aesculapius, because he remedied

the evils of mankind and healed the sick. The word hygiene is derived

from Hygeia, the name of the Greek goddess of health. As male and female

are made one in wedlock, so Medicine and Hygiene, restoration and

preservation, are inseparably united.

Hygiene inculcates sanitary discipline, medicine, remedial discipline;

hygiene prescribes healthful agencies, medical theory and practice,

medicinal agencies; hygiene ministers with salubrious and salutary

agents, medicine assuages with rectifying properties and qualities;

hygiene upholds and sustains, medical practice corrects and heals; the

one is preservative and conservative, the other curative and

restorative. These discriminations are as radical as health and

sickness, as distinct as physiology and pathology, and to confound them

is as unnatural as to look for the beauties of health in the chamber of

sickness.

The true physician brings to his aid Physiology, Hygiene, and Medicine,

and combines the science of the former with the art of the latter, that

restoration may be made permanent, and the health preserved by the aid

of hygiene. But when any one makes Hygiene exclusively the physician, or

deals wholly in hygienic regulations with little respect for physiology,

or lavishly advertises with hygienic prefixes, we may at once consider

it a display, not of genuine scientific knowledge, but only of the

ignorance of a quack. Some of the modern twaddle about health is a

conglomeration of the poorest kind of trash, expressing and inculcating

more errors and whims than it does common sense. Many persons dilate

upon these subjects with amazing flippancy, their mission seeming to be

to traduce the profession rather than to act as help-mates and

assistants. We do not believe that there is any real argument going on

between the educated members of the medical profession but rather that

the senseless clamor we occasionally hear comes only from the stampede

of some routed, demoralized company of quacks.

In the following pages we shall introduce to the reader's attention

several important hygienic subjects, although there are many more that

ought to receive special notice. Such as we do mention, demand universal

attention, because a disregard of the conditions which we shall

enumerate, is fraught with great danger. Our lives are lengthened or

shortened by the observance or neglect of the rules of common sense, and

these do not require any great personal sacrifice, or the practice of

absurd precautions.

PURE AIR FOR RESPIRATION.

Ordinary atmospheric air contains nearly 2,100 parts of oxygen and 7,900

of nitrogen, and about three parts of carbonic acid, in 10,000 parts;

expired air contains about 470 parts of carbonic acid, and only between

1500 and 1600 parts of oxygen, while the quantity of nitrogen undergoes

little or no alteration. Thus air which has been breathed has lost about

five per cent. of oxygen and has gained nearly five per cent. of

carbonic acid. In addition the expired air contains a greater or less

quantity of highly decomposable animal matter, and, however dry the

atmospheric air may be, the expired air is always saturated with watery

vapor, and, no matter what the temperature of the external air may be,

that of the exhaled air is always nearly as warm as the blood. An adult

man on a average breathes about sixteen times in a minute and at every

inspiration takes in about thirty cubic inches of air, and at every

expiration exhales about the same amount. Hence, it follows that about

16-2/3 cubic feet of air are passed through the lungs of an adult man

every hour, and deprived of oxygen and charged with carbonic acid to the

amount of nearly five per cent. The more nearly the composition of the

external air approaches that of the expired air, the slower will be the

diffusion of carbonic acid outwards and of oxygen inwards, and the more

charged with carbonic acid and deficient in oxygen will the blood in the

lungs become. Asphyxia takes place whenever the proportion of carbonic

acid in the external air reaches ten per cent., providing the oxygen is

diminished in like proportion, and it does not matter whether this

condition of the external air is produced by shutting out fresh air from

a room or by increasing the number of persons who are consuming the same

air; or by permitting the air to be deprived of oxygen by combustion by

a fire. A deficiency of oxygen and an accumulation of carbonic acid in

the atmosphere, produce injurious effects, however, long before the

asphyxiating point is attained. Headache, drowsiness, and uneasiness

occur when less than one per cent. of the oxygen of the atmosphere is

replaced by other matters, and the constant breathing of such an

atmosphere lowers vitality and predisposes to disease.

Therefore, every human being should be supplied, by proper ventilation,

with a sufficient supply of fresh air. Every adult individual ought to

have at least 800 cubic feet of air-space to himself, and this space

ought to communicate freely with the external atmosphere by means of

direct or indirect channels. Hence, a sleeping-room for one adult person

should not be less than nine by ten feet in breadth and length and nine

feet in height. What occurred in the Black Hole at Calcutta is an

excellent illustration of the effect of vitiated air. One hundred and

forty-six Englishmen were confined in a room eighteen feet square, with

two small windows on one side to admit air. Ten hours after their

imprisonment, only twenty-three were alive.

VENTILATION OF SCHOOL ROOMS. The depression and faintness from which

many students suffer, after being confined in a poorly ventilated school

room, is clearly traceable to vitiated air, while the evil is often

ascribed to excessive mental exertion. The effect of ventilation upon

the health of students is a subject of universal interest to parents and

educators, and at present is receiving the marked attention of school

authorities. Dr. F. Windsor, of Winchester, Mass., made a few pertinent

remarks upon this subject in the annual report of the State Board of

Health, of Massachusetts, 1874. One of the institutions, which was

spoken of in the report of 1873, as a _model_, in the warming and

ventilation of which much care had been bestowed, was visited in

December, 1873. He reports as follows: "I visited several of the rooms,

and found the air in all, offensive to the smell, the odor being such as

one would imagine old boots, dirty clothes, and perspiration would make

if boiled down together;" again, in the new _model_ school-house the hot

air enters at two registers in the floor on one side, and makes (or is

supposed to make) its exit by a ventilator at the floor, on the other

side of the room." The master said "_the air was supposed to have some

degree of intelligence, and to know that the ventilator was its proper

exit_." Thorough ventilation has been neglected by many school officials

on account of the increased expense it causes. In our climate, during

seven months at least, pure atmospheric air must be paid for. The

construction of vertical ducts, the extra amount of fuel, and the

attendant expenditures are the objections which, in the opinion of many

persons, outweigh the health and happiness of the future generation. It

is necessary for the proper ventilation of our school rooms that an

adequate supply of fresh air should be admitted, which should be warmed

before being admitted to the room, and which should be discharged as

contaminated, after its expiration. The proper ventilation of the school

room consists in the warming and introduction of fresh air from without,

and the discharge of the expired and unwholesome air from within. This

may be accomplished by means of doors, windows, chimneys, and finally by

ventilators placed, one near the level of the floor, and the other near

the ceiling of the room. The ventilators ought to be arranged on the

opposite sides of the room, in order to insure a current, and an

abundant supply of air. When trustees and patrons realize that pure air

is absolutely essential to health, and that their children are being

slowly poisoned by the foul air of school rooms, then they will

construct our halls of learning with a due regard for the laws of

hygiene, and students will not droop under their tasks on account of the

absence of Nature's most bountiful gift, _pure air_.

VENTILATION OF FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS. This is a subject which demands

the immediate attention of manufacturers and employers. The odors of

oil, coal gas, and animal products, render the air foul and stagnant,

and often give rise to violent diseases among the operatives. From two

to four hundred persons are often confined in workshops six hundred feet

long, with no means of ventilation except windows _on one side only_.

The air is breathed and re-breathed, until the operatives complain of

languor and headache, which they attribute to overwork. The _real_ cause

of the headache is the inhalation of foul air at every expansion of the

lungs. If the proprietors would provide efficient means for ventilating

their workshops, the cost of construction would be repaid with compound

interest, in the better health of their operatives and the consequent

increase of labor. Our manufacturers must learn and practice the great

principle of political economy, namely, that the interests of the

laborer and employer are mutual.

VENTILATION OF OUR DWELLINGS. Not less important is the ventilation of

our dwellings; each apartment should be provided with some channel for

the escape of the noxious vapors constantly accumulating. Most of the

tenements occupied by the poor of our cities are literally dens of

poison. Their children inhale disease with their earliest breath. What

wonder that our streets are filled with squalid, wan-visaged children!

Charity, indeed, visits these miserable homes, bringing garments and

food to their half-famished inmates; but she has been slow to learn that

fresh air is just as essential to life as food or clothing. Care should

be taken by the public authorities of every city, that its tenement

houses do not degenerate into foul hovels, like those of the poor

English laborer, so graphically portrayed by Dickens. But ill-ventilated

rooms are not found exclusively in the abodes of the poor. True, in the

homes of luxury, the effect of vitiated air is modified by food, etc.

Men of wealth give far more attention to the architecture and adornment

of their houses, to costly decorations and expensive furniture, than to

proper ventilation. Farmers, too, are careless in the construction of

their cottages. Their dwellings are often built, for convenience, in too

close proximity to the barn. Because they do not construct a suitable

sewer or drain, the filth and refuse food is thrown out of the back

door, where it accumulates and undergoes putrefaction; the vitiated air

penetrates the interior of the house, and, there being no means of

ventilation, it remains to be breathed by the occupants. The result is,

that for the sake of saving a few dollars, which ought to be expended in

the construction of necessary flues and sewers, the farmer often sees

the child he prizes far more than his broad acres gradually decline, or

suddenly fall a victim to fevers or malignant disease. Parents, make

your homes healthy, let in the pure, fresh air and bright sunlight, so

that your conscience may never upbraid you with being neglectful of the

health and lives of your little ones.

SITE FOR HOMES.

MALARIA. When about to construct our residences, besides securing proper

ventilation and adequate drainage, we ought to select the location for a

home on dry soil. Low levels, damp surroundings, and marshy localities

not only breed malaria and fevers, but are a prolific cause of colds,

coughs, and consumption. Care should be taken not to locate a dwelling

where the natural currents of air, or high winds, will be likely to

bring the poison of decayed vegetable matter from low lands. Certain

brooks, boggy land, ponds, foggy localities, too much shade, all these

are favorable to the development of disease. Then the walls of a

building should be so constructed as to admit air between the exterior

and interior surfaces, otherwise the interior of the house will be damp

and unwholesome. In the dead of winter in northern latitudes the house

ought to be kept slightly tempered with warmth, both night and day, a

condition very favorable to the introduction and change of atmospheric

currents. The invigorating tendencies of a dry, pure atmosphere are

remarkably beneficial, while air charged with moisture and decay is

exceedingly baneful, introducing diseases under various forms.

Neither should the dwelling be shaded by dense foliage. The dampness of

the leaves tends to attract malaria. Trees growing a little distance

from the house, however, obstruct the transmission of unhealthy vapors

arising beyond them. Malaria generally lurks near the surface of the

earth, and seems to be more abundant in the night time. Persons sleeping

in the upper story of a house may escape its morbid influence, while

those occupying apartments on the lower floor, become affected.

DAMP CELLARS.

Damp cellars, under residences, are a fruitful cause of disease. Dr.

Sanford B. Hunt, in an article in the _Newark Daily Advertiser_,

speaking of the recent epidemic of diphtheria in New York City, says:

"Pestilences that come bodily, like cholera, are faced and beaten by

sanitary measures. Those which come more subtly need for their defeat

only a higher detective ability and a closer study of causes, many of

which are known, but hidden under the cellars of our houses, and which

at last are only preventable by public authority and at public expense

in letting out the imprisoned dampness which saturates the earth on

which our dwellings are built. Where wood rots, men decay. This is

clearly shown in the sanitary map printed in the _Times_. In the great

district surrounding Central Park, and which participates in its

drainage system, there are no cases. On the whole line of Fifth Avenue

there are none. The exempt districts are clearly defined by the

character of the soil, drainage, and sewerage, and by the topography,

which either has natural or artificial drainage, but most of which is so

dry that only surface-water and house-filth--which does not exist in

those palaces--can affect the health of the residents. But in the

tenement houses and on the made lands where running streams have been

filled in and natural springs choked up by earth fillings, diphtheria

finds a nidus in which to develop itself. The sanitary map coincides

precisely with the topographic map made by Gen. Viele. Where he locates

buried springs and water-courses, there we find the plague spots of

diphtheria and in the same places, on previous maps prepared by the

Board of Health, we find other low types and stealthy diseases, such as

typhoid and irruptive fevers, and there we shall find them again when

the summer and autumnal pestilences have yielded place to those which

belong to the indoor poisoned air in the winter. The experience of other

cities, notably London and Dublin, once plague spots and now as healthy

as any spot on earth, proves that most of the causations of disease are

within the control of the competent sanitary engineer, even in

localities crowded beyond American knowledge, and houses built upon soil

saturated for centuries with the offal of successive and uncleanly

generations. Wet earth, kept wet by the boiling up of imprisoned

springs, is a focus of disease. Dry earth is one of the most perfect

deodorizers, the best of oxydizers and absorbents, destroying the germs

of disease with wonderful certainty. On those two facts rests the theory

of public hygiene."

DUST AND DISEASE.

The air we breathe is heavily loaded with minute particles of floating

dust, their presence being revealed only by intense local illumination.

Professor Tyndall says: "solar light, in passing through a dark room,

reveals its track by illuminating the dust floating in the air. 'The

sun,' says Daniel Culverwell, 'discovers atoms, though they be invisible

by candle-light, and makes them dance naked in his beams.'"

After giving the details and results of a series of experiments in which

he attempted to extract the dust from the air of the Royal Institute by

passing it through a tube containing fragments of glass wetted with

concentrated sulphuric acid, and thence through a second tube containing

fragments of marble wetted with a strong solution of caustic potash,

which experiments were attended with perfect failure, the Professor

continues, "I tried to intercept this floating matter in various ways;

and on the day just mentioned, prior to sending the air through the

drying apparatus, I carefully permitted it to pass over the tip of a

spirit-lamp flame. The floating matter no longer appeared, having been

burnt up by the flame. It was, therefore, of _organic origin_. I was by

no means prepared for this result; for I had thought that the dust of

our air was, in great part, inorganic and non-combustile." In a foot

note he says, "according to an analysis kindly furnished me by Dr.

Percy, the dust collected _from the walls_ of the British Museum

contains fully fifty per cent of inorganic matter. I have every

confidence in the results of this distinguished chemist; they show that

the _floating_ dust of our rooms is, as it were, winnowed from the

heavier matter." Again he says: "the air of our London rooms is loaded

with this organic dust, nor is the country air free from its presence.

However ordinary daylight may permit it to disguise itself, a

sufficiently powerful beam causes dust suspended in air to appear almost

as a semi-solid. Nobody could, in the first instance, without

repugnance, place the mouth at the illuminated focus of the electric

beam and inhale the thickly-massed dust revealed there. Nor is the

repugnance abolished by the reflection that, although we do not see the

floating particles, we are taking them into our lungs every hour and

minute of our lives." "The notion was expressed by Kircher and favored

by Linnaeus, that epidemic diseases are due to germs which float in the

atmosphere, enter the body, and produce disturbance by the development

within the body of parasitic life. While it was struggling against great

odds, this theory found an expounder and a defender in the President of

this institution. At a time when most of his medical brethren considered

it a wild dream, Sir Henry Holland contended that some form of the

germ-theory was probably true." Professor Tyndall proposes means by the

application of which air loaded with noxious particles may be freed from

them before entering the air passages. The following embodies his

suggestions on this point:

COTTON-WOOL RESPIRATOR.

"I now empty my lungs as perfectly as possible, and placing a handful of

cotton-wool against my mouth and nostrils, inhale through it. There is

no difficulty in thus filling the lungs with air. On expiring this air

through a glass tube, its freedom from floating matter is at once

manifest. From the very beginning of the act of expiration the beam is

pierced by a black aperture. The first puff from the lungs abolishes the

illuminated dust, and puts a patch of darkness in its place; and the

darkness continues throughout the entire course of the expiration. When

the tube is placed below the beam and moved to and fro, the same

smoke-like appearance as that obtained with a flame is observed. _In

short, the cotton-wool, when used in sufficient quantity, and with due

care, completely intercepts the floating matter on its way to the

lungs_.

The application of these experiments is obvious. If a physician wishes

to hold back from the lungs of his patient, or from his own, the germs

or virus by which contagious disease is propagated, he will employ a

cotton-wool respirator. If perfectly filtered, attendants may breathe

the air unharmed. In all probability the protection of the lungs and

mouth will be the protection of the entire system. For it is exceedingly

probable that the germs which lodge in the air-passages, or find their

way with the saliva into the stomach with its absorbent system, are

those which sow in the body epidemic disease. If this be so, then

disease can be warded off by carefully prepared filters of cotton-wool.

I should be most willing to test their efficacy in my own person. But

apart from all doubtful applications, it is perfectly certain that

various noxious trades in England may be rendered harmless by the use of

such filters. I have had conclusive evidence of this from people engaged

in such trades. A form of respirator devised by Mr. Garrick, a hotel

proprietor in Glasgow, in which inhalation and exhalation occur through

two different valves, the one permitting the air to enter through the

cotton-wool, and the other permitting the exit of the air direct into

the atmosphere, is well adapted for this purpose. But other forms might

readily be devised."

LIGHT AND HEALTH.

Our dwellings ought freely to admit the sunlight. Diseases which have

baffled the skill of physicians have been known to yield when the

patients were removed from dark rooms to light and cheerful apartments.

Lavoisier placed light, as an agent of health, even before pure air.

Plants which grow in the shade are slender and weak, and children

brought up in dark rooms are pale, sallow, and rickety. It is a bad

practice to avoid the sunlight through fear of spoiling the complexion,

since the sun's rays are necessary to give to it the delicate tints of

beauty and health. Air is necessary for the first inspiration and the

last expiration of our lives, but the purity and healthfulness of the

atmosphere depend upon the warming rays of the sun, while our bodies

require light in order that their functions may be properly performed.

We know that without solar light, there can be no proper vegetable

growth, and it is equally necessary for the beauty and perfection of

animal development. Our dwellings should therefore be well lighted and

made as bright and cheerful as possible. Women who curtain the windows,

soften the light, and tint the room with some mellow shade, may do so in

order to hide their own faulty complexions. The skin of persons confined

in dungeons or in deep mines becomes pale or sickly yellow, the blood

grows watery, the skin blotches, and dropsy often intervenes. On the

other hand, invalids carried out from darkened chambers into the bright

sunlight are stimulated, the skin browns, nutrition becomes more active,

the blood improves, and they become convalescent. Light is especially

necessary for the healthy growth of children. There is nothing more

beautiful and exhilarating than the glorious sunlight. Let its luminous,

warming, and physiological forces come freely into our dwellings, enter

into the chemistry of life, animate the spirits, and pervade our homes

and our hearts with its joy-inspiring and health-imparting influences.

* * * * *

CHAPTER II.

FOOD. BEVERAGES. ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. CLOTHING.

The human body is continually undergoing changes, which commence with

the earliest dawn of existence and end only with death. The old and

worn-out materials are constantly being removed to make room for the

new. Growth and development, as well as the elimination of worn-out and

useless matter, continually require new supplies, which are to be

derived from our food. To fulfill these demands it is necessary that the

nutriment should be of the proper quality, and of sufficient variety to

furnish all the constituents of the healthy body. In order that food may

be of utility, like other building materials, it must undergo

preparation; the crude substance must be worked up into proper condition

and shape for use, in other words, it must be _digested_. But this does

not end the process of supply, each different substance must be taken by

the different bands of workmen, after due preparation in the workshop,

to its appropriate locality in the structure, and there fitted into its

proper place; this is _assimilation_. In reality it becomes a portion of

the body, and is advantageous in maintaining the symmetry and usefulness

of the part to which it is assigned; this constitutes the ultimate

object of food, _nutrition_.

EATING is the process of receiving the food into the mouth, _i.e.,

prehension; mastication and insalivation_--minutely dividing and mixing

it with the saliva; _deglutition_--conveying it to the stomach. Plenty

of time should be taken at meals to thoroughly masticate the food and

mix it with the saliva, which, being one of the natural solvents, favors

its farther solution by the juices of the stomach; the healthy action of

the digestive powers is favored by tranquility of mind, agreeable

associations, and pleasant conversation while eating. It is proverbial

of the American people that they bolt their food whole, washing it down

with various fluids, thus forcing the stomach to perform not only its

own duties, but also those of the teeth and salivary glands. This manner

of dispatching food, which should go through the natural process above

described, is not without its baleful consequences, for the Americans

are called a nation of _dyspeptics_.

Eating slowly, masticating the food thoroughly, and drinking but

moderately during meals, will allow the juices of the stomach to fulfill

their proper function, and healthy digestion and nutrition will result.

If the food is swallowed nearly whole, not only will a longer time be

required for its solution, but frequently it will ferment and begin to

decay before nutritive transformation can be effected, even when the

gastric juice is undiluted with the fluids which the hurried eater

imbibes during his meal.

REGULARITY OF MEALS cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The stomach,

as well as other parts of the body, must have intervals of rest or its

energies are soon exhausted, its functions impaired, and _dyspepsia_ is

the result. Nothing of the character of food should ever be taken except

at regular meal times. Some persons are munching cakes, apples, nuts,

candies, etc., at all hours, and then wonder why they have weak

stomachs. They take their meals regularly, and neither eat rapidly nor

too much, and yet they are troubled with indigestion. The truth is they

keep their stomachs almost constantly at work, and hence tired out,

which is the occasion of the annoyance and distress they experience.

EATING TOO MUCH. It should always be remembered that the nutrition of

our bodies does not depend upon the amount eaten, but upon the amount

that is digested. Eating too much is nearly as bad as swallowing the

food whole. The stomach is unable to digest all of it, and it ferments

and gives rise to unpleasant results. The unnatural distention of the

stomach with food causes it to press upon the neighboring organs,

interfering with the proper performance of their functions, and, if

frequently repeated, gives rise to serious disease. People more

frequently eat too much than too little, and to omit a meal when the

stomach is slightly deranged is frequently the best medicine. It is an

excellent plan to rise from the table before the desire for food is

quite satisfied.

LATE SUPPERS. It is generally conceded that late suppers are injurious,

and should never be indulged in. Persons who dine late have little need

of food after their dinner, unless they are kept up until a late hour.

In such cases a moderate meal may be allowed, but it should be eaten two

or three hours before retiring. Those who dine in the middle of the day

should have supper, but sufficiently early so that a proper length of

time may elapse before going to bed, in order that active digestion may

not be required during sleep. On the other hand, it is not advisable to

go wholly without this meal, but the food eaten should be light, easily

digestible, and moderate in quantity. Persons who indulge in hearty

suppers at late hours, usually experience a poor night's rest, and wake

the next morning unrefreshed, with a headache and a deranged stomach.

Occasionally more serious consequences follow; gastric disorders result,

apoplexy is induced; or, perhaps, the individual never wakes.

FEEDING INFANTS. For at least six or seven months after birth, the most

appropriate food for an infant is its mother's milk, which, when the

parent is healthy, is rich in all the elements necessary for its growth

and support. Next to the mother's milk, that of a healthy nurse should

be preferred; in the absence of both, milk from a cow that has recently

calved is the most natural substitute, in the proportion of one part

water to two parts milk, slightly sweetened. The milk used should be

from but one cow. All sorts of paps, gruels, panadas, cordials,

laxatives, etc., should be strictly prohibited, for their employment as

food cannot be too severely censured. Vomiting, diarrhea, colic, green

stools, griping, etc., are the inevitable results of their continued

use. The child should be fed at regular intervals, of about two hours,

and be limited to a proper amount each time, which, during the first

month, is about two ounces. From 11 P.M. to 5 A.M. the child should be

nursed but once. As the child grows older the intervals should be

lengthened, and the amount taken at a time gradually increased. The plan

of gorging the infant's stomach with food every time it cries, cannot be

too emphatically condemned.

After the sixth or seventh month, in addition to milk, bits of bread may

be allowed, the quantity being slowly increased, thus permitting the

diet to change gradually from fluid to solid food, so that, when the

teeth are sufficiently developed for mastication, the child has become

accustomed to various kinds of nourishment. Over-feeding, and

continually dosing the child with cordial, soothing syrups, etc., are

the most fruitful sources of infant mortality, and should receive the

condemnation of every mother in the land.

PREPARATION OF FOOD. The production of pure blood requires that all the

food selected should be rich in nutritious elements, and well cooked. To

announce a standard by which all persons shall be guided in the

selection and preparation of their food is impossible. Especially is

this the case in a country the inhabitants of which represent almost

every nation on the face of the globe. Travelers are aware that there is

as much diversity in the articles of food and methods of cookery, among

the various nationalities, as in the erection of their dwellings, and in

their mental characteristics. In America we have a conglomeration of all

these peoples; and for a native American to lay down rules of cookery

for his German, French, English, Welsh, and Irish neighbors, or _vice

versa_, is useless, for they will seldom read them, and, therefore,

cannot profit by them. There are, however, certain conditions recognized

by the hygienic writers of every nation. The adequate nutrition of the

organic tissues demands a plentiful supply of pure blood, or the

digestive apparatus will become impaired, the mental processes deranged,

and the entire bony and muscular systems will lose their strength and

elasticity, and be incapacitated for labor.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD REQUIRED. The different periods and

circumstances of life require their appropriate food, and the welfare of

mankind demands that it should supply both the inorganic and organic

substances employed in the development of every tissue. The inorganic

elements employed in our construction, of which _Phosphorus, Sulphur,

Soda, Iron, Lime,_ and _Potash_ are the most important, are not

considered as aliments, but are found in the organic kingdom, variously

arranged and combined with organic materials in sufficient quantities

for ordinary purposes. When, however, from any cause, a lack of any of

these occurs, so that their relative normal proportions are deranged,

the system suffers, and restoration to a healthy condition can only be

accomplished by supplying the deficiency; this may be done by selecting

the article of food richest in the element which is wanting, or by

introducing it as a medicine. It must be remembered that those

substances which enter into the construction of the human fabric, are

not promiscuously employed by nature, but that each and every one is

destined to fulfill a definite indication.

_Lime_ enters largely into the formation of bone, either as a

_phosphate_ or a _carbonate_, and is required in much greater quantities

in early life, while the bone is undergoing development, than

afterwards. In childhood the bones are composed largely of animal

matter, being pliable and easily moulded. For this reason the limbs of

young children bend under the weight of their bodies, and unless care is

taken they become bow-legged and distorted. Whenever there is a

continued deficiency of the earthy constituents, disease of the bones

ensues. Therefore, during childhood, and particularly during the period

of dentition, or teething, the food should be nutritious and at the same

time contain a due proportion of lime, which is preferable in the form

of a phosphate. When it cannot be furnished by the food, it should be

supplied artificially. Delayed, prolonged, and tedious dentition

generally arises from a deficiency of lime.

With the advance of age it accumulates, and the bone becomes hard,

inelastic, and capable of supporting heavy weights. Farther on, as in

old age, the animal matter of bone becomes diminished, and lime takes

its place, so that the bones become brittle and are easily broken. Lime

exists largely in hard water, and to a greater or less extent in milk,

and in nearly all foods except those of an acid character.

_Phosphorus_ exists in various combinations in different parts of the

body, particularly in the brain and nervous system. Persons who perform

a large amount of mental labor require more phosphorus than those

engaged in other pursuits. It exists largely in the hulls of wheat, in

fish, and in eggs. It should enter to a considerable extent into the

diet of brain workers, and the bread consumed by them should be made of

unbolted flour.

_Sulphur, Iron, Soda_, and _Potash_ are all necessary in the various

tissues of the body, and deficiency of any one of them, for any

considerable length of time, results in disease. They are all supplied,

variously arranged and combined, in both animal and vegetable food; in

some articles they exist to a considerable extent, in others in much

smaller quantities. _Sulphur_ exists in eggs and in the flesh of

animals, and often in water. _Iron_ exists in the yolk of eggs, in

flesh, and in several vegetables. _Soda_ is supplied in nearly all food,

and largely in common salt, which is a composition of sodium and

hydrochloric acid, the latter entering into the gastric juice. _Potash_

exists, in some form or other, in sufficient quantities for health, in

both vegetable and animal food.

CLASSES OF FOOD. All kinds of food substances may be divided into four

classes. _Proteids, Fats, Amyloids_, and _Minerals_. Proteids are

composed of the four elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen,

sometimes combined with sulphur and phosphorus. In this class are

included the _gluten_ of flour; the _albumen_, or white of eggs; and the

_serum_ of the blood; the _fibrin_ of the blood; _syntonin_, the chief

constituent of muscle and flesh, and _casein_, one of the chief

constituents of cheese, and many other similar, but less frequent

substances.

Fats are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen only, and contain more

hydrogen than would be required to form water if united with the oxygen

which they contain. All vegetable and animal oils and fatty matters are

included in this class.

Amyloids consist of substances which are also composed of carbon,

oxygen, and hydrogen only; but they contain just enough hydrogen to

produce water when combined with their oxygen, or two parts of hydrogen

to one of oxygen. This division includes _sugar, starch, dextrine_, and

_gum_. The above three classes of food-stuffs are only obtained through

the activity of living organisms, vegetable or animal, and have been,

therefore, appropriately termed by Prof. Huxley, _vital food-stuffs._

The mineral food-stuffs may, as we have seen, be procured from either

the living or the non-living world. They include water and various

earthy, metallic, and alkaline salts.

VARIETY OF FOOD NECESSARY. No substance can serve permanently for food

except it contains a certain quantity of proteid matter in the shape of

albumen, fibrin, casein, etc., and, on the other hand, any substance

containing proteid matter in a shape in which it can be readily

assimilated, may serve as a permanent vital food-stuff. Every substance,

which is to serve as a permanent food, must contain a sufficient

quantity, ready-made, of this most important and complex constituent of

the body. In addition, it must also contain a sufficient quantity of the

mineral ingredients which enter into the composition of the body. Its

power of supporting life and maintaining the weight and composition of

the body remains unaltered, whether it contains fats or amyloids or not.

The secretion of urea, and, consequently, the loss of nitrogen, goes on

continually, and the body, therefore, must necessarily waste unless the

supply of proteid matter is constantly renewed, since this is the only

class of foods that contains nitrogen in any considerable quantity.

There can be no absolute necessity for any other food-stuffs but those

containing the proteid and mineral elements of the body. From what has

been said, it will readily be seen that whether an animal be carnivorous

or herbivorous, it begins to starve as soon as its vital food-stuffs

consist only of amyloids, or fats, or both. It suffers from what has

been termed _nitrogen starvation,_ and if proteid matters are withheld

entirely, it soon dies. In such a case, and still more in the case of an

animal which is entirely deprived of vital food, the organism, as long

as it continues to live, feeds upon itself, the waste products

necessarily being formed at the expense of its own body.

Although proteid matter is the essential element of food, and under

certain circumstances may be sufficient of itself to support the body,

it is a very uneconomical food. The white of an egg, which may be taken

as a type of the proteids, contains about fifteen per cent. of nitrogen,

and fifty-three per cent. of carbon; therefore, a man feeding upon this,

would take in about three and a half times as much carbon as nitrogen.

It has been proved that a healthy, adult man, taking a fair amount of

exercise and maintaining his weight and body temperature, eliminates

about thirteen times as much carbon as nitrogen. However, if he is to

get his necessary quantity, about 4000 grains of carbon, out of albumen,

he must eat 7,547 grains of that substance; but this quantity of albumen

contains nearly four times as much nitrogen as he requires. In other

words, it takes about four pounds of lean meat, free from fat, to

furnish 4,000 grains of carbon, the quantity required, whereas one pound

yields the requisite quantity of nitrogen. Thus a man restricted

exclusively to a proteid diet, must take an enormous quantity of it.

This would involve a large amount of unnecessary physiological labor, to

comminute, dissolve, and absorb the food, and to excrete the superfluous

nitrogenous matter. Unproductive labor should be avoided as much in

physiological as in political economy. The universal practice of

subsisting on a mixed diet, in which proteids are mixed with fats or

amyloids, is therefore justifiable.

Fats contain about 80 per cent. of carbon, and amyloids about 40 per

cent. We have seen that there is sufficient nitrogen in a pound of meat

free from fat, to supply a healthy adult man for twenty-four hours, but

that it contains only one-fourth of the quantity of carbon required.

About half a pound of fat, or one pound of sugar, will supply the

quantity of carbon necessary. The fat, if properly subdivided, and the

sugar, by reason of its solubility, pass with great ease into the

circulation, the physiological labor, consequently, being reduced to a

minimum.

Several common articles of diet contain in themselves all the necessary

elements. Thus, butchers' meat ordinarily contains from 30 to 50 per

cent. of fat; and bread contains the proteid, gluten, and the amyloids,

starch and sugar, together with minute quantities of fat. However, on

account of the proportion in which these proteid and other components of

the body exist in these substances, neither of them, by itself is such a

physiologically economical food, as it is when combined with the other

in the proportion of three to eight, or three quarters of a pound of

meat to two pounds of bread a day.

It is evident that a variety of food is necessary for health. Animals

fed exclusively upon one class, or upon a single article of diet, droop

and die; and in the human family we know that the constant use of one

kind of diet causes disgust, even when not very long continued.

Consequently, we infer that the welfare of man demands that his food be

of sufficient variety to supply his body with all of its component

parts. If this is not done the appetite is deranged, and often craves

the very article which is necessary to supply the deficiency. After the

component parts of the organism have assimilated the nutritious elements

of particular kinds of food for a certain length of time, they lose the

power of effecting the necessary changes for proper nutrition, and a

supply of other material is imperatively demanded. When the diet has

been long restricted to proteids, consisting largely of salt meats,

fresh vegetables and fruits containing the organic acids, become

indispensable; otherwise, the scorbutic condition, or scurvy, is almost

sure to be developed. Fresh vegetables and fruits should be eaten in

considerable quantities at the proper seasons.

VALUE OF ANIMAL FOOD. The principal animal food used in this country

consists of _Pork, Mutton, Beef_, and _Fish_. Beef and mutton are rich

in muscle-producing material. Although pork is extensively produced in

some portions of this country, and enters largely into the diet of some

classes, yet its use, except in winter, is not to be encouraged. The

same amount of beef would give far greater returns in muscular power.

In addition to the meats mentioned, _Wild Game_ furnishes palatable,

nutritious, and easily-digested food. _Domestic Fowls_, when young, are

excellent, and with the exception of geese and ducks, are easily

digested. _Wild Birds_ are considered much healthier food than those

which are domesticated. All of these contain more or less of the

elements which enter into the composition of the four classes of foods.

VEGETABLE FOODS. _Wheat_ is rich in all the elements which compose the

four classes, and, when the flour is unbolted, it is one of the best

articles for supplying all the elements.

_Barley_ stands next to wheat in nourishing qualities, but is not so

palatable.

_Oats_ are rich in all the elements necessary for nutrition. Oatmeal is

a favorite article of diet among the Scotch, and, judging from their

hardy constitutions, their choice is well founded. In consequence of the

large proportion of phosphorus which they contain, they are capable of

furnishing a large amount of nourishment for the brain.

_Rye_ is nutritious, but it is not so rich in tissue-forming material.

_Indian Corn_ is an article well known and extensively used throughout

the United States, and is a truly valuable one, capable of being

prepared in a great variety of ways for food. It contains more carbon

than wheat, and less nitrogen and phosphorus, though enough of both to

be extremely valuable.

_Rice_ is rather meagre in nutriment; it contains but little phosphorous

matter, with less carbon than other cereals, and is best and most

generally employed as a diet in tropical countries.

_Beans and Peas_ are rich in nutritious matter, and furnish the manual

laborer with a cheap and wholesome diet.

The _Potato_ is the most valuable of all fresh vegetables grown in

temperate climates. Its flavor is very agreeable, and it contains very

important nutritive and medicinal qualities, and is eaten almost daily

by nearly every family in North America. Until very recently it, with

the addition of a little butter-milk or skim-milk, constituted almost

the sole diet of the Irish people. The average composition of the potato

is stated by Dr. Smith to be as follows: Water 75 per cent., nitrogen

2.1, starch 18.8, sugar 3.2, fat 0.2, salts 0.7. The relative values of

different potatoes may be ascertained very correctly by weighing them in

the hand, for the heavier the tuber the more starch it contains.

_Turnip and Cabbage_ are 92.5 per cent. water, and, consequently, poor

in nutrition, though they are very palatable. The solid portions of

cabbage, however, are rich in albumen.

It is evident that the quantity necessary to maintain the system in

proper condition must be greatly modified by the habits of life, the

condition of the organism, the age, the sex, and the climate. The daily

loss of substance which must be replaced by material from without, as we

have seen, is very great. In addition to the loss of carbon and

nitrogen, about four and a half pounds of water are removed from the

system in twenty-four hours, and it is necessary that about this

quantity should be introduced into the system in some form or other,

however much it may be adulterated. Professor Dalton states: "From

experiments performed while living on an exclusive diet of bread, fresh

meat, and butter, with coffee and water for drink, we have found that

the entire quantity of food required during twenty-four hours by a man

in full health and taking free exercise in the open air is as follows:

Meat, . . . . . . 16 oz., or 1.03 lb. avoir.

Bread, . . . . . . 19 " 1.19 " "

Butter or fat, . . . 3½ " 0.22 " "

Water, . . . . . 52 fluid oz., 3.38 " "

That is to say, rather less than two and a half pounds of solid food,

and rather over three pounds of liquid food."

CLIMATE exerts an important influence on the quantity and quality of

food required by the system. In northern latitudes the inhabitants are

exposed to extreme cold and require an abundant supply of food, and

especially that which contains a large amount of fat. On this account

fat meat is taken in large quantities and with a relish. The quantity of

food consumed by the natives of the Arctic zone is almost incredible.

The Russian Admiral, Saritcheff, relates that one of the Esquimaux in

his presence devoured a mass of boiled rice and butter which weighed

twenty-eight pounds, at a single meal, and Dr. Hayes states that usually

the daily ration of an Esquimau is from twelve to fifteen pounds of

meat, one-third of which is fat, and on one occasion he saw a man eat

ten pounds of walrus flesh at a single meal. The intense cold creates a

constant craving for fatty articles of food, and some members of his own

party were in the habit of drinking the contents of the oil-kettle with

great apparent relish.

DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. Unless an article of diet can be digested it is

of no value, no matter how rich it may be in nutriment. The quantity of

food taken, will influence to a considerable extent, the time consumed

in its digestion. The stomachs of all are not alike in this respect, and

the subject of time has been a difficult one to determine. The

experiments of Dr. Beaumont with the Canadian, St. Martin, who

accidentally discharged the contents of a loaded gun into his stomach,

creating an external opening through which the process of digestion

could be observed, have furnished us with the following table, which is

correct enough to show relatively, if not absolutely, the time required

for the digestion of various articles:

======================================================

ARTICLES OF DIET. | Mode of | Hours. Min.

|Preparation.|

----------------------------|------------|------------

Milk........................|Boiled......| 2 00

" ........................|Raw.........| 2 15

Eggs, fresh.................| " .........| 2 00

" " .................|Whipped.....| 1 30

" " .................|Roasted.....| 2 15

" " .................|Soft boiled.| 3 00

" " .................|Hard boiled.| 3 30

" " .................|Fried.......| 3 30

Custard.....................|Baked.......| 2 45

Codfish, cured, dry.........|Boiled......| 2 00

Trout, salmon, fresh........| " .........| 1 30

Trout, salmon, fresh........|Fried.......| 1 30

Bass, striped, " ........|Broiled.....| 3 00

Flounder, " ........|Fried.......| 3 30

Catfish, " ........| " .........| 3 30

Salmon, salted..............|Boiled......| 4 00

Oysters, fresh..............|Raw.........| 2 55

" " ..............|Roasted.....| 3 15

" " ..............|Stewed......| 3 30

Venison steak...............|Broiled.....| 1 35

Pig, sucking................|Roasted.....| 2 30

Lamb, fresh.................|Broiled.....| 2 30

Beef, fresh, lean, dry......|Roasted.....| 3 30

" with mustard, etc........|Boiled......| 3 10

" " salt only...........| " ......| 3 36

" " " " ...........|Fried.......| 4 00

" fresh, lean, rare........|Roasted.....| 3 00

Beefsteak...................|Broiled.....| 3 00

Mutton, fresh...............| " .....| 3 00

" " ...............|Boiled......| 3 00

" " ...............|Roasted.....| 3 15

Veal, fresh.................|Broiled.....| 4 00

" " .................|Fried.......| 4 30

Porksteak...................|Broiled.....| 3 15

Pork, fat and lean..........|Roasted.....| 5 15

" recently salted.......|Raw.........| 3 00

" " " .......|Stewed......| 3 00

" " " .......|Broiled.....| 3 15

------------------------------------------------------

ARTICLES OF DIET. |Mode of Preparation. |Hours/Min.

---------------------------|---------------------|----------

Pork, recently salted----- |Fried------------ |4 15

" " " ----- |Boiled----------- |4 30

Turkey, wild ------------- |Roasted---------- |2 18

" tame ------------- | " ---------- |2 30

" " ------------- |Boiled ---------- |2 25

Goose, wild -------------- |Roasted --------- |2 30

Chickens, full-grown ----- |Fricasseed ------ |2 45

Fowls, domestic ---------- |Boiled ---------- |4 00

" " ---------- |Roasted --------- |4 00

Ducks, tame -------------- | " --------- |4 00

" wild -------------- | " --------- |4 30

Soup, barley ------------- |Boiled ---------- |1 30

" bean --------------- | " ---------- |3 00

" chicken ------------ | " ---------- |3 00

" mutton ------------- | " ---------- |3 30

" oyster ------------- | " ---------- |3 30

" beef, vegetables, | |

and bread ---------- | " ---------- |4 00

" marrow-bones ------- | " ---------- |4 15

Pig's feet, soused ------- | " ---------- |1 00

Tripe, soused ------------ | " ---------- |1 00

Brains, animal ----------- | " ---------- |1 45

Spinal marrow, animal ---- | " ---------- |2 40

Liver, beef, fresh ------- |Broiled --------- |2 00

Heart, animal ------------ |Fried ----------- |4 00

Cartilage ---------------- |Boiled ---------- |4 15

Tendon ------------------- | " ---------- |5 30

Hash, meat, and vegetables |Warmed ---------- |2 30

Sausage, fresh ----------- |Broiled --------- |3 20

Gelatine ----------------- |Boiled ---------- |2 30

Cheese, old, strong ------ |Raw ------------- |3 30

Green corn and beans ----- |Boiled ---------- |3 45

Beans, pod --------------- | " ---------- |2 30

Parsnips ----------------- | " ---------- |2 30

Potatoes ----------------- |Roasted --------- |2 30

" ----------------- |Baked ----------- |2 30

" ----------------- |Boiled ---------- |2 30

Cabbage, head ------------ |Raw ------------- |2 30

" " with vinegar | " ------------- |2 00

" " ------------ |Boiled ---------- |4 30

Carrot, orange ----------- | " ---------- |3 13

Turnips, flat ------------ | " ---------- |3 30

Beets -------------------- | " ---------- |3 45

Bread, corn -------------- |Baked ----------- |3 15

" wheat, fresh ------ | " ----------- |3 30

Apples, sweet, mellow ---- |Raw ------------- |1 30

" sour ------------- | " ------------- |2 00

" " hard --------- | " ------------- |2 50

Milk is more easily digested than almost any other article of food. It

is very nutritious, and, on account of the variety of the elements which

it contains, it is extremely valuable an article of diet, especially

when the digestive powers are weakened, as in fevers, or during

convalescence from any acute disease. Eggs are also very nutritious and

easily digested. Whipped eggs are digested and assimilated with great

ease. Fish, as a rule, are more speedily digested than is the flesh of

warm-blooded animals. Oysters, especially when taken raw, are very

easily digested. We have known dyspeptics who were unable to digest any

other kind of animal food, to subsist for a considerable period upon raw

oysters. The flesh of mammalia seems to be more easily digested than

that of birds. Beef, mutton, lamb, and venison are easily digested,

while fat roast pork and veal are digested with difficulty. According to

the foregoing table vegetables were digested in about the same time as

ordinary animal food, but it should be remembered that a great part of

the digestion of these is effected in the small intestine. Soups are, as

a rule, very quickly digested. The time required for the digestion of

bread is about the same as that required for the digestion of ordinary

meats. Boiled cabbage is one of the most difficult substances to digest.

COOKERY. "Cookery," says Mrs. Owen, "Is the art of turning every morsel

to the best use; it is the exercise of skill, thought, and ingenuity to

make every particle of food yield the utmost nourishment and pleasure,

of which it is capable." We are indebted to this practical woman for

many valuable suggestions in this art; and some of our recommendations

are drawn from her experience.

SOUPS. The nutritious properties, tone, and sweetness of soup depend in

the first place upon the freshness and quality of the meat; secondly on

the manner in which it is boiled. Soups should be nicely and delicately

seasoned, according to the taste of the consumer, by using parsley,

sage, savory, thyme, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, or any of the

vegetable condiments. These may be raised in the garden, or obtained at

the drug stores, sifted and prepared for use. In extracting the juices

of meats, in order that soups may be most nutritious, it is important

that the meat be put into _cold_ water, or that which is not so hot as

to coagulate the albumen (which would prevent it from being extracted),

and then, by slow heat and a simmering process, the most nutritious

properties will be brought out.

BEEF SOUP may be made of any bone of the beef, by putting it into cold

water, adding a little salt, and skimming it well just before it boils.

If a vegetable flavor be desired, celery, carrots, onions, turnips,

cabbage, or potatoes, may be added, in sufficient quantities to suit the

taste.

MUTTON SOUP may be made from the fore-quarter, in the same manner as

described above, thickened with pearl-barley or rice, and flavored to

suit the taste.

BOILED FISH. Clean the fish nicely, then sprinkle flour on a cloth and

wrap it around them; salt the water, and, when it boils, put in the

fish; let them boil half an hour, then carefully remove them to a

platter, adding egg sauce and parsley. To _bake fish_, prepare by

cleaning, scaling, etc., and let them remain in salt water for a short

time. Make a stuffing of the crumbs of light bread, and add to it a

little salt, pepper, butter, and sweet herbs, and stir with a spoon.

Then fill the fish with the stuffing and sew it up. Put on butter, salt,

pepper, and flour, having enough water in the dish to keep it from

burning, and baste often. A four pound fish will bake in fifty or sixty

minutes.

BROILED STEAK. Sirloin and porter-house steaks should be broiled

quickly. Preserve them on ice for a day or two and their tenderness is

much increased. Never broil them until the meal is ready to be served.

BOILED HEAT. When meat is to be boiled for _eating,_ put it into boiling

water, by which its juices are coagulated and its richness preserved.

The slower it boils, the more tender, plump, and white it will be. Meat

should be removed as soon as done, or it will lose its flavor and become

soggy.

PORK STEAKS. The best steaks are cut off the shoulder--ham steaks being

rather too dry. They should be well fried, in order to destroy the

little living parasites, called Trichinae which sometimes infest this

kind of meat. They are introduced into the stomach by eating ham, pork,

or sausages made from the flesh of hogs infested by them. Thorough

cooking destroys them, and those who will persist in the use of swine's

flesh can afford to have it "_done brown._"

BAKED MUTTON. To bake mutton well, a person should have a brisk, sharp

fire, and keep the meat well basted. It requires two hours to bake a leg

of mutton, weighing eight pounds.

BREAD. The health and happiness of a family depend, to a certain extent,

on good, well-baked bread. At all events, our enjoyment would be greater

if it were only better prepared. We make the following extract from an

article printed by the State Board of Health, concerning the food of the

people of Massachusetts: "As an example of good bread we would mention

that which is always to be had at the restaurant of Parker's Hotel, in

Boston. It is not better than is found on the continent of Europe on all

the great lines of travel, and in common use by millions of people in

Germany and France; but with us, it is a rare example of what bread may

be. It is made from a mixture of flour, such as is generally sold in our

markets, water, salt, and yeast--nothing else. The yeast is made from

malt, potatoes, and hops. _The dough is kneaded from one and a half to

two hours, and is then thoroughly baked."_ The truth seems to be that

the kneading, which in this country takes the housewife's time and

muscle, in Europe is done by the help of machinery. So here, in large

villages and cities, people might furnish themselves with good bread, by

means of co-operative associations, even at a less cost than at present.

BEVERAGES.

WATER. The importance of water in the economy of nature is obvious to

all. It is the most abundant substance of which we have knowledge. It

composes four-fifths of the weight of vegetables, and three-fourths of

that of animals. It is essential to the continuance of organic life.

Water is universally present in all of the tissues and fluids of the

body. It is not only abundant in the blood and secretions, but it is

also an ingredient of the solids of the body. According to the most

accurate computations, water is found to constitute from two-thirds to

three-fourths of the entire weight of the human body. The following

table, compiled by Robin and Verdeil, shows the proportion of water per

thousand parts in different solids and fluids:

QUANTITY OF WATER IN 1,000 PARTS.

Teeth, 100

Bones, 130

Cartilage, 550

Muscles, 750

Ligaments, 768

Brain, 789

Blood, 795

Synovial fluid, 805

Bile, 880

Milk, 887

Pancreatic juice, 900

Urine, 936

Lymph, 960

Gastric juice, 975

Perspiration, 986

Saliva, 995

THE NATURAL DRINK OF MAN. Water constitutes the natural drink of man. No

other liquid can supply its place. Its presence, however, in the body is

not permanent. It is discharged from the body in different ways; by the

urine, the feces, the breath, and the perspiration. In the first two, it

is in a liquid form, in the others in a vaporous form. It is estimated

that about forty-eight per cent. is discharged in the liquid, and

fifty-two per cent. in the vaporous form; but the absolute as well as

the relative amount discharged depends upon a variety of circumstances.

Water is never found perfectly pure, since it holds in solution more or

less of almost every substance with, which it comes in contact. Rain

falling in the country remote from habitations is the purest water that

nature furnishes, for it is then only charged with the natural gases of

the atmosphere. In cities it absorbs organic and gaseous impurities, as

it falls through the air, and flowing over roofs of houses carries with

it soot and dust. Water from melted snow is purer than rain-water, since

it descends in a solid form, and is therefore incapable of absorbing

gases. Rain-water is not adapted to drinking purposes, unless well

filtered. All water, except that which has been distilled, contains air,

and it is due to this fact, that aquatic animals can live in it; for

example, put a fish in distilled water and it will soon die.

MINERAL IMPURITIES. Rain-water, which has filtered through the soil and

strata of the earth, dissolves the soluble materials, and carries them

down to lower levels, until they finally collect in the sea. Common

well, spring, and mineral waters contain from 5 to 60 grains to the

gallon; sea-water contains 2,000 grains while in some parts of the Dead

Sea there are 20,000 grams to the gallon. The principal mineral

impurities of well and spring water are lime, magnesia, soda, and oxide

of iron, combined with carbonic and sulphuric acids, forming carbonates,

sulphates, and chloride of sodium, or common salt. The most general,

however, are carbonate and sulphate of lime.

Mineral waters are usually obtained from springs which contain a

considerable amount of saline matter. Those waters which abound in salts

of iron are called _chalybeate_ or _ferruginous_. Those containing salt

are termed _saline_. Those in which contain sulphur are termed

_sulphurous_. Water derives the quality of hardness from the salts of

lime--chiefly the sulphates--which it contains. Hard water, being an

imperfect solvent, is unsuitable for washing purposes. There are two

varieties of hardness, one of which is temporary, being due to the

presence of carbonic acid gas in the water which holds the salts in

solution and may be removed by merely boiling the water and thus

expelling the gas when the salts are deposited, while the other is

permanent and can only be removed by the distillation of the water. It

has been ascertained that twelve pounds of the best hard soap must be

added to 10,000 gallons of water of one degree of hardness before a

lather will remain and, consequently, 0.12 lb. to 100 gallons of water

is a measure of one degree of hardness. Since hard water is not so

useful in cooking and other domestic purposes, as soft water, causing a

great waste of labor and material, it is often highly desirable to

soften it, which is effected by the addition of lime in what is known as

_Clark's process_. One ounce of quicklime should be added to 1000

gallons of water for each degree of hardness. It should be first slacked

and stirred up in a few gallons and then thoroughly mixed with the

entire quantity. Then it should be allowed to remain, and will become

clear in about three hours, but should not be drunk for twelve hours.

The purity of drinking water is a matter of much importance. That which

contains a minute quantity of lead will give rise to all the symptoms of

lead poisoning, if the use of it be sufficiently prolonged. An account

is given of the poisoning of the royal family of France, many of whom

suffered from this cause when in exile at Claremont. The amount of lead

was only one grain in the gallon. Care should therefore be taken to

avoid drinking the water which has been contained in leaden pipes. It

should always be allowed to run a few minutes before being used.

An excess of saline ingredients, which in small quantities are harmless,

frequently produces marked disorders of the digestive organs. A small

amount of putrescent matter habitually introduced into the system, as in

the use of food, is productive of the most serious results, which can be

traced to the direct action of the poison introduced. A case is recorded

of a certain locality favorably situated with regard to the access of

pure air, where an epidemic of fever broke out much to the astonishment

of the inhabitants. Upon observation it was found that the attacks of

fever were limited to those families who used water from a neighboring

well. The disagreeable taste of the water which had been observed, was

subsequently traced to the bursting of a sewer, which had discharged a

part of its contents into the well. When the cause was removed, there

was no recurrence of the evil effects.

ORGANIC IMPURITIES. "Water is liable to organic contamination from a

multitude of causes, such as drainage from dwellings, dust, insects, the

decaying of vegetable and animal matter. These impurities may be

mechanically suspended or held in solution in the water. Although

organic impurities, which are mechanically suspended in water, are

poisonous, yet they are generally associated with animalculea, and these

feed upon, and finally consume them. Good water never contains

animalculæ. They are never found in freshly fallen rain-water, remote

from dwellings, but abound, to a greater or less extent in cisterns,

marshes, ponds, and rivers. These little workers serve a useful purpose

since they consume the dead organic matter from the water, and, having

fulfilled their mission, sink to the bottom and die. Water which

contains organic matter is exceedingly dangerous to health, and its use

should be carefully avoided.

In low lands where the current of streams is sluggish, and shallow pools

abound, the water is apt to be more or less infected with decaying

vegetable substances. Many people living in such localities, and wishing

to obtain water with as little trouble as possible, dig a hole in the

ground, a few feet in depth, and allow the stagnant surface water to

accumulate. This water is used for drinking and cooking. The result is

that ague prevails in such localities.

Care should be taken that wells, from which the water is used for

household purposes, are located at a distance from barn-yards, privies,

sinks, vaults, and stagnant pools.

PURIFICATION OF WATER. There are various methods of purifying water. It

may be accomplished by distillation, which is the most perfect method;

by filtration through sand, crushed charcoal, and other porous

substances, which deprives it of suspended impurities and living

organisms; by boiling, which destroys the vitality of all animal and

vegetable matters, drives out the gases and precipitates carbonate of

lime, which composes the crust frequently seen upon the inside of

tea-kettles or boilers; by the use of chemical agents, which may be

employed to destroy or precipitate the deleterious substances. Alum is

often used to cleanse roily water, two or three grains in solution,

being sufficient for a quart. It causes the impurities to settle to the

bottom, so that the clear water can be poured or dipped out for use. One

or two grains of the permanganate of potassium will render wholesome a

gallon of water containing animal impurities.

HOW TO USE WATER. Very little if any water should be taken at meal time,

since the salivary glands furnish an abundance of watery fluid to assist

in mastication. When these glands are aided with water to "wash down"

the food, their functions become feeble and impaired. The gastric juice

is diluted and digestion is weakened. Large draughts of cold water ought

never to be indulged in, since they cause derangement of the stomach.

When the body is overheated, the use of much water is injurious. It

should only be taken in small quantities. Thirst may be partially

allayed, without injury, by holding cold water in the mouth for a short

time and then spitting it out, taking care to swallow but very little.

Travelers frequently experience inconvenience from change of water. If

the means are at hand, let them purify their drinking water, if not,

they should drink as little as possible. Persons who visit the banks of

the Ohio, Missouri, or Mississippi rivers and similar localities, almost

invariably suffer from some form of gastric or intestinal disease. Water

standing in close rooms soon becomes unfit to drink and should not be

used. A drink of cold water taken on going to bed, and another on rising

are conducive to health, especially in the case of persons troubled with

constipation. "_Drink water_" said the celebrated Dubois to the young

persons who consulted him, "_drink water, I tell you!_" Du Moulin, the

great medical authority of his time, wrote, just previous to his death,

"_I leave two great physicians behind me--diet and water_."

TEA AND COFFEE. These substances are almost universally used as

beverages, and when properly employed, serve a four-fold purpose: they

quench thirst, excite an agreeable exhilaration, repress the waste of

the system, and supply nourishment. In consequence of being generally

used at meal times, their stimulant properties are employed to promote

digestion, and consequently they are not so objectionable as they might

otherwise be. The liquids introduced into the stomach at meal times

should not be cold. Tea and coffee are drunk warm, while water, except

in a few instances, is always drunk cold, the effects of which have

already been shown. That their inordinate use may be injurious no body

can deny, but this is equally true of other beverages, even pure, cold

water. Scientific investigators inform us that the use of these agents

as beverages, when judiciously employed, is not injurious. It has been

urged that they are poisonous, but if they are, they are very slow in

their operation.

When properly prepared, they are very agreeable beverages, and as man

will drink more or less at meals, they are allowable; for if their use

were excluded, some other beverage would be sought after, and quite

likely one of an alcoholic character employed, so of two evils, if this

be an evil, let us choose the least. Unlike alcoholic stimulants, they

exhilarate without a depressing reaction after their influence has

passed off. But one cup should be drunk at a meal, and it should be of

moderate strength. The use of large quantities of drink at meals retards

digestion by diluting the digestive fluids. The excessive use of large

quantities of strong tea or coffee stimulates the brain and causes

wakefulness, and produces irritability of the nervous system. When they

are productive of such effects, their use is injurious, and should be

considerably moderated or wholly discontinued. No criterion can be given

by which the amount the system will tolerate can be regulated. What one

person may take with impunity, may be deleterious to an other.

Individuals differ greatly in this respect. There are some who cannot

tolerate them at all, either because of some peculiarity of

constitution, or on account of disease. And sometimes when tea is

agreeable and beneficial, coffee disagrees with the individual and _vice

versa._ Persons of nervous habits whether natural or acquired, are apt

to find their wakefulness and irritability increased by the use of tea,

particularly if strong, while coffee will have a tranquilizing effect.

Persons of a lymphatic or bilious temperament often find that coffee

disagrees with them, aggravating their troubles and causing biliousness,

constipation, and headache, while tea proves agreeable and beneficial.

Whenever they disagree with the system, the best rule is to abandon

their use. We find many persons who do not use either, and yet enjoy

health, a fact which proves that they are not by any means

indispensable, and, no doubt, were it customary to go without them,

their absence would be but slightly missed.

Tea and coffee are adulterated to a very great extent, and persons using

them will be greatly imposed upon. This is an evil we cannot remedy. If

people make use of them, their experience in selecting them must be

their guide; however, it is believed that the Black and Japan varieties

of tea are the least apt to be adulterated, and coffee, to insure

purity, should be purchased in the berry, and ground by the purchaser.

In preparing tea an infusion should be made by adding boiling water to

the leaves, and permitting them to steep for a few minutes only, for a

concentrated decoction, made by boiling for a long time, liberates the

astringent and bitter principles and drives off the agreeable aroma

which resides in a volatile oil.

Coffee should be prepared by adding cold water to the ground berry, and

raising it slowly to the boiling point. Long-continued boiling liberates

the astringent and bitter principles upon which its stimulant effects to

a great extent depend, and drives off with the steam the aromatic oil

from which the agreeable taste is derived.

ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.

These are divided into three classes: malted, fermented, and distilled.

They all contain more or less alcohol, and their effects are, therefore,

in some respects similar, and, in the words of Dr. B.W. Richardson, the

great English authority on hygiene: "To say this man only drinks ale,

that man only drinks wine, while a third drinks spirits, is merely to

say, when the apology is unclothed, that all drink the same danger. * *

Alcohol is a universal intoxicant, and in the higher orders of animals

is capable of inducing the most systematic phenomena of disease. But it

is reserved for man himself to exhibit these phenomena in their purest

form, and to present, through them, in the morbid conditions belonging

to his age, a distinct pathology. Bad as this is, it might be worse; for

if the evils of alcohol were made to extend equally to animals lower

than man, we should soon have, none that were tameable, none that were

workable, and none that were eatable." Researches have shown that the

proportion of half a drachm of alcohol to the pound weight of the body,

is the quantity which usually produces intoxication, and that an

increase of this amount to one drachm immediately endangers the life of

the individual. The first symptom which attracts attention, when alcohol

commences to take effect upon the body, is an increase in the number of

the pulsations of the heart. Dr. Parkes and Count Wolowicz conducted a

series of interesting experiments on young adult men. They counted the

pulsations of the heart, at regular intervals, during periods when the

subject drank only water; and then they counted the beats of the heart

in the same individual during successive periods in which alcohol was

drunk in increasing quantities.

The following details are taken from their report:

"The highest of the daily means of the pulse observed during the first

or water period was 77.5; but on this day two observations were

deficient. The next highest daily mean was 77 beats.

If instead of the mean of the eight days, or 73.57, we compare the mean

of this one day, viz., 77 beats per minute, with the alcoholic days, so

as to be sure not to over-estimate the action of the alcohol, we find:

On the ninth day, with one fluid ounce of alcohol,

the heart beat 430 times more.

On the tenth day, with two fluid ounces, 1,872 times more.

On the eleventh day, with four fluid ounces, 12,960 times more.

On the twelfth day, with six fluid ounces, 30,672 times more.

On the thirteenth day, with eight fluid ounces, 23,904 times more.

On the fourteenth day, with eight fluid ounces, 25,488 times more.

But as there was ephemeral fever on the twelfth day, it is right to make

a deduction, and to estimate the number of beats in that day as midway

between the twelfth and twenty-third days, or 18,432. Adopting this, the

mean daily excess of beats during the alcoholic days was 14,492, or an

increase of rather more than thirteen per cent.

The first day of alcohol gave an excess of one per cent., and the last

of twenty-three per cent.; and the mean of these two gives almost the

same percentage of excess as the mean of the six days.

Admitting that each beat of the heart was as strong during the alcoholic

as in the water period (and it was really more powerful), the heart on

the last two days of alcohol was doing one-fifth more work.

Adopting the lowest estimate which has been given of the daily work done

by the heart, viz., as equal to 122 tons lifted one foot, the heart,

during the alcoholic period, did daily work in excess equal to lifting

15.8 tons one foot, and in the last two days did extra work to the

amount of twenty-four tons lifted as far.

The period of rest for the heart was shortened, though, perhaps, not to

such an extent as would be inferred from the number of beats; for each

contraction was sooner over. The beat on the fifth and sixth days after

alcohol was left off, and apparently at the time when the last traces of

alcohol were eliminated, showed, in the sphygmographic tracing, signs of

unusual feebleness; and, perhaps, in consequence of this, when the

brandy quickened the heart again, the tracing showed a more rapid

contraction of the ventricles, but less power than in the alcoholic

period. The brandy acted, in fact, on a heart whose nutrition had not

been perfectly restored."

The flush often seen on the cheeks of those who are under the influence

of alcoholic liquors, and which is produced by a relaxed and distended

condition of the superficial blood vessels, is erroneously supposed by

many to merely extend to the parts exposed to view. On this subject, Dr.

Richardson says: "If the lungs could be seen, they, too, would be found

with their vessels injected; if the brain and spinal cord could be laid

open to view, they would be discovered in the same condition; if the

stomach, the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, or any other vascular

organs or parts could be laid open to the eye, the vascular engorgement

would be equally manifest. In the lower animals I have been able to

witness this extreme vascular condition in the lungs, and once I had the

unusual, though unhappy opportunity of observing the same phenomenon in

the brain of a man who, in a paroxysm of alcoholic delirium, cast

himself under the wheels of a railway carriage. The brain,

instantaneously thrown out from the skull by the crash, was before me

within three minutes after the accident. It exhaled the odor of spirit

most distinctly, and its membranes and minute structures were vascular

in the extreme. It looked as if it had been recently injected with

vermilion injection. The white matter of the cerebrum, studded with red

points, could scarcely be distinguished when it was incised, it was so

preternaturally red; and the pia mater, or internal vascular membrane

covering the brain, resembled a delicate web of coagulated red blood, so

tensely were its fine vessels engorged. This condition extended through

both the larger and the smaller brain, cerebrum, and cerebellum, but was

not so marked in the medulla, or commencing portion of the spinal cord,

as in the other portions.

In course of time, in persons accustomed to alcohol, the vascular

changes, temporary only in the novitiate, become confirmed and

permanent. The bloom on the nose which characterizes the genial toper is

the established sign of alcoholic action on the vascular structure.

Recently, physiological research has served to explain the reason why,

under alcohol the heart at first beats so quickly, why the pulse rises,

and why the minute blood-vessels become so strongly injected.

At one time it was imagined that alcohol acts immediately upon the heart

by stimulating it to increased motion; and from this idea,--false idea,

I should say,--of the primary action of alcohol, many erroneous

conclusions have been drawn. We have now learned that there exist many

chemical bodies which act in the same manner as alcohol, and that their

effect is not to stimulate the heart, but to weaken the contractile

force of the extreme and minute vessels which the heart fills with blood

at each of its strokes. These bodies produce, in fact, a paralysis of

the organic nervous supply of the vessels which constitute the minute

vascular structures. The minute vessels when paralysed offer inefficient

resistance to the force of the heart, and the pulsating organ thus

liberated, like the main-spring of a clock from which the resistance has

been removed, quickens in action, dilating the feebly resistant vessels,

and giving evidence really not of increased, but of wasted power."

The continued use of alcoholic liquors in any considerable quantity

produces irritation and inflammation of the stomach, and structural

disease of the liver. Dr. Hammond has shown that alcohol has a special

affinity for nervous matter, and is, therefore, found in greater

quantity in the brain and spinal cord than elsewhere in the body. The

gray matter of the brain undergoes, to a certain extent, a fatty

degeneration, and there is a shrinking of the whole cerebrum, with

impairment of the intellectual faculties, muscular tremor, and a

shambling gait.

Large doses of alcohol cause a diminution of the temperature of the

body, which in fevers is more marked than in the normal state.

In addition to the organic diseases enumerated above, and delirium

tremens, the following diseases are frequently the result of the

excessive use of alcoholic liquors: epilepsy, paralysis, insanity,

diabetes, gravel, and diseases of the heart and blood-vessels.

The physiological deductions of Dr. Richardson are so much in accord

with our own that we quote them in full:

"In the first place we gather from the physiological reading of the

action of alcohol that the agent is narcotic. I have compared it

throughout to chloroform, and the comparison is good in all respects

save one, viz.: that alcohol is less fatal than chloroform as an instant

destroyer. It kills certainly in its own way, but its method of killing

is slow, indirect, and by disease.

The well-proven fact that alcohol, when it is taken into the body,

reduces the animal temperature, is full of the most important

suggestions. The fact shows that alcohol does not in any sense act as a

supplier of vital heat as is commonly supposed, and that it does not

prevent the loss of heat as those imagine 'who take just a drop to keep

out the cold,' It shows, on the contrary, that cold and alcohol, in

their effects on the body, run closely together, an opinion confirmed by

the experience of those who live or travel in cold regions of the earth.

The experiences of the Arctic voyagers, of the leaders of the great

Napoleonic campaigns in Russia, of the good monks of St. Bernard, all

testify that death from cold is accelerated by its ally alcohol.

Experiments with alcohol in extreme cold tell the like story, while the

chilliness of the body which succeeds upon even a moderate excess of

alcoholic indulgence leads directly to the same indication of truth.

The conclusive evidence now in our possession that alcohol taken into

the animal body sets free the heart, so as to cause the excess of motion

of which the record has been given above, is proof that the heart, under

the frequent influence of alcohol, must undergo deleterious change of

structure. It may, indeed, be admitted in proper fairness, that when the

heart is passing through these rapid movements it is working under less

pressure than when its movements are slow and natural; and this

allowance must needs be made, or the inference would be that the organ

ought to stop at once, in function, by the excess of strain put upon it.

At the same time the excess of motion is injurious to the heart and to

the body at large; it subjects the heart to irregularity of supply of

blood, it subjects the body in all its parts to the same injurious

influence; it weakens, and, as a necessary sequence, degrades both the

heart and the body.

Speaking honestly, I cannot, by any argument yet presented to me, admit

the alcohols by any sign that should distinguish them from other

chemical substances of the paralysing narcotic class. When it is

physiologically understood that what is called stimulation or excitement

is, in absolute fact, a relaxation, a partial paralysis, of one of the

most important mechanisms in the animal body, the minute, resisting,

compensating circulation, we grasp quickly the error in respect to the

action of stimulants in which we have been educated, and obtain a clear

solution of the well-known experience that all excitement, all passion,

leaves, after its departure, lowness of heart, depression of mind,

sadness of spirit. We learn, then, in respect to alcohol, that the

temporary excitement it produces is at the expense of the animal force,

and that the ideas of its being necessary to resort to it, that it may

lift up the forces of the animal body into true and firm and even

activity, or that it may add something useful to the living tissues, are

errors as solemn as they are widely disseminated. In the scientific

education of the people no fact is more deserving of special comment

than this fact, that excitement is wasted force, the running down of the

animal mechanism before it has served out its time of motion.

It will be said that alcohol cheers the weary, and that to take a little

wine for the stomach's sake is one of the lessons that comes from the

deep recesses of human nature. I am not so obstinate as to deny this

argument, There are times in the life of man when the heart is

oppressed, when the resistance to its motion is excessive, and when

blood flows languidly to the centres of life, nervous and muscular. In

these moments alcohol cheers. It lets loose the heart from its

oppression; it lets flow a brisker current of blood into the failing

organs; it aids nutritive changes, and altogether is of temporary

service to man. So far, alcohol may be good, and if its use could be

limited to this one action, this one purpose, it would be amongst the

most excellent of the gifts of science to mankind. Unhappily, the border

line between this use and the abuse of it, the temptation to extend

beyond the use, the habit to apply the use when it is not wanted as

readily as when it is wanted, overbalance, in the multitude of men, the

temporary value that attaches truly to alcohol as a physiological agent.

Hence alcohol becomes a dangerous instrument even in the hands of the

strong and wise, a murderous instrument in the hands of the foolish and

weak. Used too frequently, used too excessively, this agent, which in

moderation cheers the failing body, relaxes its vessels too extremely;

spoils vital organs; makes the force of the circulation slow, imperfect,

irregular; suggests the call for more stimulation; tempts to renewal of

the evil, and ruins the mechanism of the healthy animal before its hour

for ruin, by natural decay, should be at all near.

It is assumed by most persons that alcohol gives strength, and we hear

feeble persons saying daily that they are being 'kept up by stimulants.'

This means actually that they are being kept down; but the sensation

they derive from the immediate action of the stimulant deceives them and

leads them to attribute passing good to what, in the large majority of

cases, is persistent evil. The evidence is all-perfect that alcohol

gives no potential power to brain or muscle. During the first stage of

action it may enable a wearied or a feeble organism to do brisk work for

a short time; it may make the mind briefly brilliant; it may excite

muscle to quick action, but it does nothing substantially, and fills up

nothing it has destroyed, as it leads to destruction. A fire makes a

brilliant sight, but leaves a desolation. It is the same with alcohol.

On the muscular force the very slightest excess of alcoholic influence

is injurious. I find by measuring the power of muscle for contraction in

the natural state and under alcohol, that so soon as there is a distinct

indication of muscular disturbance, there is also indication of muscular

failure, and if I wished by scientific experiment to spoil for work the

most perfect specimen of a working animal, say a horse, without

inflicting mechanical injury, I could choose no better agent for the

purpose of the experiment than alcohol. But alas! the readiness with

which strong, well-built men slip into general paralysis under the

continued influence of this false support, attests how unnecessary it

would be to subject a lower animal to the experiment. The experiment is

a custom, and man is the subject.

The true place of alcohol is clear; it is an agreeable temporary shroud.

The savage, with the mansions of his soul unfurnished, buries his

restless energy under its shadow. The civilized man overburdened with

mental labor, or with engrossing care, seeks the same shade; but it is

shade, after all, in which, in exact proportion as he seeks it, the

seeker retires from perfect natural life. To search for force in alcohol

is, to my mind, equivalent to the act of seeking for the sun in

subterranean gloom until all is night.