The avoidable causes of disease, insanity and deformity

Front matter

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THE

4Y0IDABLE CAUSES OF DISEASE,

Contents

< PREFACE.

OtsMses can generally be avoided if the requisite knowledge is poeeeesed.— Are our American People physically Degenerating » — Importance of the Subjects Discussed. — The only True Foundation for a Real Beformatioa of the Evils of Society, 5

CHAPTER L Spiritual or Mental Causes of Disease,

Preface

Fob many years, while engaged in the practice of medicine, the author of this volume has been more and more impressed wth the idea that the causes of the suffering, diseases, and premature deaths, which we witness around us on every hand, lie nearer our own doors than the transgression of the fair mother of our race ; and that the men and women of to-day are, at least, equally as reprehensible for existing suffering, as those who have gone before them, and often much more so. In fact, he feels satisfied that by far the greatest, portion of all the suffering,, .disease, deformity, and premature deaths which occur, are the direct result of either the violation ofj or the want of compliance with the laws of our being ; calamities, which, were the requisite knowledge possessed hy the community, can , and should be avoided. The physician, while he confines Inmself to the treat • ment and cure of diseases and deformity, does nothing but plaster over the evils of humanity. He is at best but a simple scavenger— useful, it is granted, in a low degree — so long as he confines himself entirely to the removal of the effects, or symptoms and diseases, which are the result of causes still operative. Every true lover of humanity, in the medical profession, has before him a nobler calling, and he neglects the great duty of his life if he fails to point out to the community the causes of the ills which he is called upon to treat; and if he does not, by his own example, strive to induce others to shun them, he is unworthy of that noble calling.

Whatever may be the value of this volume, it is not the muah

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room production of a night, but it is the result of years of car© ful observation and reflection, and has been written after having carefully read many volumes bearing upon the subjects discussed in it. It has been the aim of the author to furnish the reader with the greatest amount of useful information possible in a small com' pass; and as far as practicable, to give the why and wherefore, in language which all can understand. He has endeavored to point out distinctly the causes of diseases, and to show the reader how to avoid them, and how to ward diseases of^ at theii commencement, by obedience to the laws of health and life: but for their proper treatment, when they are fuUy developed, the reader is referred to his physician.

Several of the chapters contained in this volume were first pr< pared as lectures, and delivered in Detroit, Cleveland, and othel places. They afterwards appeared in a series of articles in different periodicals. Six of the chapters are now for the first time in print. The portions heretofore published have been carefully revised, and have received much additional matter, the result of further observation, reflection and reading.

The first part of the chapter on Education, when it appeared in the Detroit Tribune, attracted so much attention that it was published in a pamphlet form, by some of the fiiends of education in Detroit, and twenty -seven hundred copies were circulated gratuitously, The pamphlet had for its title, “ The Physical Degeneracy of the American People : showing that an Imperfect System of Education, and abuse and neglect of Children, are among the Chief Causes of this Degeneracy.’’ So firm was the conviction in the mind of the author at the time of writing, that our American people are degenerating, that he only devoted about two pages to a superficial view of the evidences that such a change is taking place, as he did not for a moment suppose that any one would seriously call it in question. In this he waa mistaken, as several periodicals in noticing this pamphlet, earnestly denied there being any such degeneracy. It is not the aim oi the author, in this volume, to advocate either side of this quea tion, for he does not feel prepared to do justice to the subject furthermore, he loves his native la:id and his countrynwu

PREFACE.

VI and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to find aftef a thorough examination of the subject, and comparison of Americans with the races from which they have sprung, that he has been mistaken in supposing that the American people are degenerating. He hopes to have an opportunity, after tlie census of 1860, to thoroughly examine all the evidence upon both sides of this question, in the light of statistics, physiology and pathology; and to lay the result, whatever it may be, before the public. In the mean time he has thought that it might not be either miinteresting or unprofitable to the reader, to have placed before him what has already been written upon both sides of the question, although it may be, as it certainly is, superficial and unsatisfactory. The portion of the pamphlet referring to this subject will first be inserted, then will foUow a notice of the same fi'om the New York Evening Post, which embodies the substance of all which the author has seen upon that side ; after which will follow a copy of a reply which was forwarded to the Evening Post, with some slight alterations made to prevent unnecessary repetition, and remedy defects,

[For the Detroit Tribune.]

PHYSICAL DEGENERACY OP AMERICANS.

“Mr. Editor: — noticed in your paper of April 1st, an article on this subject. If it is true, that the people of the United States are physically deteriorating, it would seem that the subject should command the serious attention of every patriot and pliilanthropist, to say nothing of the Christian portion of the community. With what force the subject appeals to the latter, will be evident if we bear in mind that men and races of men do not deteriorate, physically, without a cause. If it is true, that, while we are justly pitying the poor benighted heathen nations on earth, and are spending our money and the lives of philanthropic men, to send them kmowledge, we are ourselves being slowly and surely destroyed as a race, through a lack of knowledge of the physical laws of our being, or still worse, wilfully violating known laws, how much more do we need the active labors of efficient miwioQ. iaries at home.

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“ l^hat t.Tie people of the United States are' deteriorating, is ia acccrdance with the testimony of travelers who have been among the nations of Europe, from which ours has sprung ; and its truth can be very easily confirmed by comparing our citizens with the foreign emigrants who flock to our shores. 'Wb shall find the emigrant more robust, hardy, and firmly built ; and that this ia not simply an external appearance, will be manifest if we carefully compare the different structures of the body. Even if we descend from the most delicate, to the very bones : Compare the teetli, if you please, of foreigners, with the teeth of Americans, and you will find the most surprising deterioration in the latter. Toothache, decayed teeth, and toothless gums, are far more common ; nor is this aU, for even the very jaws themselves will be found more perfectly developed in foreigners than in Americans ; the former ■having, Usually, thirty -two teeth and room for them in the jaws; but the latter, in a far greater number of cases, are compelled to lose four teeth, one on each side of each jaw, or to have them crowded and deformed. Here, then, we see that the most solid structures of the body are degenerating ; and how much more manifestly the more delicate structures are deteriorating, may be seen in the delicate and slender form of the body, attenuated face, and expression of the countenance. It is not necessary that a man or a race of men should be large in order to be well built and healthy. Why do we have all this deterioration of our race in the United States? We are told by some that it is the effect of the climate. If this were true, there would be httle or no prospect of its being remedied ; but I shall endeavor to prove that it is not true — that the Lord has not permitted one race of people to be swept off from this broad continent and another to take its place, and yet the latter not capable of taking the place of the former residents. I think that it can be easily shown, that there are actual evils of life, voluntarily indulged in, (notwithstanding all the lights of science and the gospel,) either.one of which is doing more — ^yes, many times more — towards destroying our American people, than all the effects of climate. I have no hesitation in asserting, that climate has comparatively very little to do with causing the delicate, d.eformed, nervous, dyspeptic and consumptive

PEEFACK rice of n:.en and women we see around us. Almndant evidence of the truth of this is to be found in the very simple fact, that oul females do not enjoy as good health, and are not proportionally as hardy and robust as our males, showing conclusively that the causes are more active among them than among the males ; and yet climate affects both alike. Again, pass over into Canada, beyond immediate contact with our people, and we shall find that the writer in the '•Atlantic Monthly' states the truth, when he says, that ‘certainly no one can visit Canada without being struck with the spectacle of a more athletic race than our own. On every side one sees rosy female faces and noble manly forms,’ even m the latitude of Detroit, central New York, and New England,

“Is there anything in the atmosphere of our republic, which is inconsistent with symmetry of form, substantial structures and physical health ? If there is we had better forthwith change our form of government. But no I the causes of this degeneracy are to be found deep within tlie human soul ; in the perversion of God-given faculties, and the resulting vanity, sensualism and miserly selfishness of the day, which ultimate themselves in the neglect and ill-treatment of our children, and in the violation of physical laws, and consequent deformity and disease.

“With your leave, Mr. Editor, I propose to point out, with a gentle hand, some of the causes of this physical degeneracy, in a series of articles for your paper ; and if, without much ceremony, I may chance to expose some of the cancerous ulcers of our present social fabric, you will pardon me, as I shall have but one end in view, and that will he to expose them in the light of reason, that the proper remedies may be the more effectually pressed home to the consciences of our citizens, that our race may be saved from dwindling away ; our men saved from destruction by dissipation, which is so fearfully prevalent among the young ; our ladies from spinal distortion and irritation, neuralgia, hysteria, and female diseases ; and that our children may be saved from an untimely grave. As the violation of natural laws commences at tha cradle — or even before our children are born, but I forbear — I propose to review some of the shortcomings of our present system of education."

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In noticing the pamphlet from which the above is taEen, the New York Evening Post says:

“ It has been popular for a long time to represent the inhabitants of this country as undergoing physical degeneration. Educational, medical, and other journals, print essays, showing how the decay may be arrested. The introduction of athletic games, archery, and other exercises into school disciphne, are constantly recommended by ‘ progressive educators.’ A physician of Detroit has pubhshed a pamphlet, setting forth that our imperfect system of education is one of the principal causes of the physical degeneracy of our people. This is probably not unjust; our teachers not only instruct too much and educate too httle, but confine their efforts to the intellect, to the neglect of the body. Such a state of things so far as it exists should receive attention.

“ But it may be doubted whether this great degeneracy really exists. We will not deny that there is a margin for improvement ; but is it not quite probable that our people, even now, are making upward progress ? Is the average duration of life shortening? It may be that we have fewer old men and old women, but a larger proportion of children attain maturity than formerly. Statistics indicate that the ratio of mortality is actually on the decrease. It must be admitted then that our people possess a larger aggregate of vitality, though perhaps exhibiting fewer ‘remarkable instances of longevity.’ The French nation has lost two inches and more in average stature within fifty years, while the Americans are taller than their European progenitors. It is argued that we have less fat upon our muscles, and that we exhibit signs of over-taxed energies. The rapidity with which we make our way in the world shows the possession of high vital stamina ; while large accumulations of fat are only proof that there is an inactivity of the vital functions. Lean men will generally endure severer privation, and they are more ready for physical and mental exertion than the fleshy. The dread which CiEsar entertained of Cassius is the tril.ute paid to the men who really perform most of the work of tho world.

“ It is true that Americans ‘ study much,’ and that severe mental labor taxes the energies. But few persons die from this caus«^

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xi

for the most laborious students the world over have been the longest livers. Only when had habits have existed, or other duties to the mind have been neglected, has much study resulted in deterioration of the health. They are mistaken who imagine that mental development involves physical degeneracy. Without intellectual cultivation the liability is far greater. Thus in our prisons, the labor, though forced, is less severe than that of farmers and mechanics, merchants and editors ; and very often the apartments are better ventilated than our residences and school-houses. Yet convicts are of a lower type of health than people outside pursuing similar employments.

“ In unfavorable localities, particularly in cities densely populated, there exist many counterbalancing circumstances. There is not that equal distribution of labor which is necessary to develop the highest physical power. Fashions of dress are often pernicious ; so are residences, public buildings and workshops, when badly constructed or located in unhealthy places. But there evils may be obviated, and such examples are not illustrative of the general principle.

“ The immigrants added to our own population do not appear to equal our own people in vital power. Epidemics are more fatal among them, more of them die in early life, and they are less able to do manual labor. At the plough and hoe, the axe and carpenter’s plane, in the haying and harvest field, Americans will achieve more in a given time than they. The Arab and Tartar are not our equals in power of endurance. Even the Indian possesses a smaller stock of vitality, and fails when required to perform stated labor.

“The energy of our people is due to the high cultivation of their faculties. So far from being in a state of decadence, they are yet in early manhood, with an eventful future before them. Luxuries that kings could not afford, five centuries ago, are now enjoyed by our common laborers. The comforts of life in profusion are in our grasp. We have much to learn yet, but our attainments already achieved are neither small nor unimportant ; and not among the least of these is the enhancement of our stock of vital power.” — N. Y. Eve. Post.

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Soon after the publication of the above the following reply wai written by the author, and forwarded to the Evening Post.

“ Mb. Editor: — A late number of your paper contains a notice of a pamphlet, composed of the first ten of a series of articles I am writing for the Detroit Eailg Tribune. The pamphlet was published by some of the fiiends of education, for gratuitous circulation in Detroit. In your notice you call in question the position assumed in this work — that the American people are physically deteriorating — and intimate that they are actually progressing, and you have given certain reasons why you suppose this to be true.

‘ “Upon the supposition that neither of us have any motive for writing upon this subject, except the welfare of our race, I have good reason to hope that you will cheerfully permit me, through your columns, to call in question your positions. If you are right, no harm will result to your readers. If I am correct, and can show that the people of the United States are degenerating, good may result, by inducing our citizens to examine into the causes of such degeneracy, and to put them away.

“ That there is nothing in the climate to prevent the highest and most perfect development and health of the human body, when the laws of physical development and preservation are heeded, wc have abimdant evidence ; for no finer specimens of men can be found in any part of the world, than can be found in almost any part of the United States; so that, if we are, as a race, physically degenerating, there is no need of it, and it should be checked by a speedy reformation of bad habits ; and such a reformation becomes a duty, which we owe, not only to ourselves, hut also to our country, and to the future of our race. That there are causes enough operative among us to destroy any race, must be manifest to every intelligent and careful observer. Causes always have and always will produce their effects. With a knowledge of how our children are fed, housed, dressed and educated ; of the habits and fashions of our ladies ; of what w« ■eat and drink, at our meals, and of the various poisonous suh ■taaces wliich are so generally used, any one, possessing- a reasori

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KUl able amount of knowledge of the laws of physical development and pr sservation, would be able to say with certainty, without even looking around him, that we are degenerating. I am not among those who ‘ imagine that mental development involves physical degeneracy.’ No mistake could be greater, or more pernicious. It is only when such development is one-sided, — the intellect educated, and the body neglected — that this results. It is true that ‘ the most laborious students the world over, have been the longest hvers,’ when they have inherited good physical constitutions, and have hved according to the laws of health. The highest intellectual development, of which the individual is capable, is only attainable in a well developed and healthy body, which alone can withstand prolonged mental application.

“ Is the fact that emigrants, subjected to a change of air, water and food, cannot withstand the diseases of our chmate as well as our own people, and that more of them die young, any evidence that they do not equal us in ‘ vital power ? ’ If so, we must figure very low in vitality, when compared with the Mexicans ; for where are the young men, who, but a few years ago, enlisted for the Mexican War ? What proportion of them ever returned, and how many of those brave soldiers are ahve to-day ? Is the 4<tct that the emigrant, Arab and Indian, cannot endure an amount of physical labor for which their muscles have not been trained, and to which they are not accustomed, equal to Americans, any evidence that they possess less vitality than the latter ? Could our farmers, imtrained, excel the Indian in the race? or the Arab in endurance on horseback? The question is asked: ‘Is the average duration of life shortening’ with us? The admitted fact tliat we have fewer aged persons than in days past, is sure evidence, it seems to me, that our vitahty is being impaired, and our race becoming degenerated. If it could be proved by statistics that fewer children die, owing, perhaps, to greater care and .improved medical treatment, and thereby, the average duration of human life has been increasing, it would be no positive evidence that we are not on the decline ; for some diseases, like the small pox, which were formerly very fatal, des- Uoy but comparatively few to-day; and many diseases, whick

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manifest unmistakably a loss of vital power, suck as the consumption, dyspepsia, insanity, nervous and female diseases, are rarely manifested during childhood, even when there is a strong heredi tary predisposition. Is not the increasing prevalence of such chronic and constitutional diseases, far better evidence of deca> dence, than deaths from acute diseases, war, starvation, and accidents, even although the latter may carry off a larger proportion of a commimity while young ? Then, again, many of the habits and fashions which are doing so much towards destroying our race now, were comparatively moperative, except, perhaps, in our cities, thirty or fifty years ago. Young men used less tobacco then than now; children, especially girls, were not so recklessly deprived, then, of the necessaries of life — sunlight, air, active exercise and labor — as in our day. Those monstrosities of the Press, the fashion-plates of our popular periodicals, containing most miserable caricatures of the female form, represented as model forms, had not then reached the fireside of the farmer, and mechanic, to destroy their daughters. A pale, bloodless skin, and delicate body, were not regarded as essential to beauty, and cultivated, by carefully excluding by the aid of bhnds and curtains, the life-giving light of the ‘ god of day.’ Active, useful labor was honorable among the young ladies who were to be the mothers of the present generation, and the spinning-wheel and loom were heard in almost every farm-house. To such mothers, comparatively well formed and industrious, do we owe much, for the physical strength and mental force of the present adult generation. What is the prospect for the future ? Statistics have not had time to tell their story ; one or two generations more must pass away first.

“But has the careful observer no signs by which ho can judge whether we, as a people, are physically progressing or retrogressing? Surely he must have. I have already alluded to the increase of chronic and constitutional diseases among us. It is certainly true that an excess of fat is no evidence of an excess of vital power, but rither the reverse; and the same is true of premature wrinldes. Nor is the fact that men are very tall, any evidence of superior health and vital power; or that they are short

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XT any evidence that they are lacking in these respects. Bnt we find positive evidence of degeneracy in the thin sharp faces of Americans; not thin from the absence of fat only, but from the absence of bone, for we find the bones of the face not as well developed as m foreigners. Every dentist can testify that the teeth of the Americans are far more liable to decay early, from being less perfectly developed, than the teeth of foreigners; yet the teeth and jaws are among the most substantial structures of the body. Narrow chests, round shoulders, and slender bodies, denote a lack of vital force. It must be manifest, to every observer, that the causes of this degeneracy are much more active among the female portion of our population, than among the male ; for the American women are not so healthy, and robust, when compared with the women of other nations as they should be, for with us they hold no comparison in either of these respects, or capacity for endurance, to the men. Can any one say that the females of our country are not physically degenerating? Miss Catherine Beecher truly says ;

“ An English mother at thirty, or thirty-five, is in the full bloom of womanhood ; as fresh and healthy as her daughters. But where are our American mothers who can reach this period unfaded and unworn? Mary Lamb writes to Miss Wordsworth, (both ladies being over fifty years of age :) ‘You say you can walk fifteen miles with ease ; that is exactly my stint, and more fatigues me.” How many young ladies have we who could walk fifteen miles, or even five ? How many healthy ladies, beneath the age of thirty or forty, with well developed chests and waists, can be found in our land? Comparatively very few. Is it possible for our delicate, pale-faced, small waisted women to become the mothers of healthy children? Never! The pale, delicate faces, and slender bodies of the children of such parents, which we witness around us on every hand, answer most emphatically, never I — ^that if the mothers of our land are degenerated, their children will inherit imperfect organizations, and the coming generation will be found wanting in physical development. Is it true that we as a nation have enhanced our stock of vital pow er? It certainly does not appear to be true; but we have xn

PEKFACE, our ne^ous excitability, activity and energy, and if we only had corresponding physical development, our nation would soon outstrip all others. Our soldiers possessed the energy to astonish the natives, and even the world on the plains of Mexico, but their frail physical bodies could not withstand such excessive draughts upon their vitality, and a fearful mortality, from the diseases of the climate was the result. Dr. Kane accomplislied wonders in his Arctic voyages ; and had he possessed physical capacity equal to his mental energy, he might have lived to have yet carried his explorations, perchance, to the very Pole, instead of resting from his labors with ‘our nation’s honored dead.’ How many of our young mothers do we witness, who have the mental energy, soon exhausting their feeble vital powers in the care of their children, and thus leave them to the care of strangers? It is impossible to do justice to this subject in the short space of a newspaper article, yet if the reader will but seek with ordinary diligence, he will find an abundance of evidence that the citizens of this great republic are physically in their decline, and tliat nothing but a speedy reformation of bad habits, especially so far as our children and ladies are concerned, can open to us, as a nation, a glorious and ‘ eventful future.’ ”

Detroit, Aug. 30, 1858.

As has already been stated, the object of this volume is neither to advocate nor defend the views contained above, still the author can but intimate that it will not be for the good of our nation and race for our citizens to allow their eyes to be blinded as to the probable destiny of the American people, if danger actually exists, and that duty would seem to require that we should not permit the voice of warning, which has been raised by so many observers, to pass unlieeded.

Although it may not be very flattering to the vanity of young America to be compelled to believe that we are physically in our decadence, and that tliere is reason to fear that a fate similar to that of tlie Spanish race i:i Mexico, is to be our fate ; still it will be best for us to look the truth in tlie face, and take timely warn ujg, if actual danger exists; for all liistory shows that if a natioE

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physically declines, it cannot long maintain its physical or even mental supremacy. If there is no cause for alarm, no harm will result from an examination of the subject, and the anxiety felt by many sincere lovers of our coimtry will, perhaps, thus ba quieted.

But surely, without raising the question whether our countrymen are degenerating or not, when we look around us and see the amount of disease and suffering, and the number of premature deaths, or deaths which occur before old age, we may well begin to enquire into the causes which produce such fearful effects, and especially when we bear in mind that the effects of these causes cease not with this life, but follow us to eternity. The rum-drinker’s and the tobacco or opium-user’s appetite, is not simply an appetite of the material body, but it is a craving of the spirit for unnatural excitement, and it is well known that the use of these substances excite the passions, and render reformation and regeneration difficult, if not impossible, so long as their use is continued. The infatuation of the love of approbation, when it leads Its victims to violate conscience, and to continue in known injurious practices, is not less injurious to physical and spiritual life than natural drunkenness.

Can any subject be more important to the sincere Christian at this day than the subjects discussed in this volume ? A man must know before he can do, he must see evil before he can put it away ; and nowhere can he see his own evils as distinctly as in his external acts ; and he must cease to do evil, before he can cease to think and will evil. That there are fearful evils running riot over our land, which are even threatening the physical destruction of the American people, is certain, and have we not reason to fear that a large portion of the nominal members of our Churches, are being overwhelmed by the flood, instead of seeking the ark of safety ? To bring those evils to hght, will be the aim of the author in this volume.