A physician's counsels to woman, in health and disease

Preface

The most eminent physicians both here and in England have united in deploring the ignorance which produces the vast amount of disease and suffering among women. All agree that information is needed, but few come forward to give it. I have endeavored in this work to supply the want, in the same manner, as in my " Counsels to Man" I pointed out to him the weak parts of his nature, and provided him with resources to fortify them.

It may be asserted that there are already works of this character in the market, sufficiently full and explicit. I feel confident that even a superficial examination will prove that none of them embrace the subject as completely as this which I now present. INot confining myself to mere i* (5)

6 PREFACE.

matters of physiology and hygiene, as is too commonly the case, I have given especial attention to the real kernel of the subject — Disease, its prevention, its detection, its causes, its cure. Strangely enough, in some works professing to instruct woman in the care of her health, this is wholly omitted ; in others it is wrapt in such ambiguity of technical phrase, or else described in such coarse and vulgar terms, as to be useless and repulsive.

Seeing the faults committed by others, I have endeavored to avoid them; and dare to natter myself with the belief that I here offer a work to the women of America, open to none of these objections, and which, if they once peruse, they will not willingly be without.

Contents

Preface page 5—6

Part I. What Makes Woman

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS . . • 15-27 Her form— Her height and weight— Her strength— Her pulse and respiration— • Her temperament — Her disposition— Her statistics of life— Her longevity— Her health and peculiar diseases— Conclusions on the differences of the sexes.

28—54

PUBERTY

The signs of puberty— When it comes— Its perils— Green sickness— Nervousness— The care of puberty— The hidden sin.

THE MONTHLY CHANGE 55 - 65

Its nature— Its duration and amount— Its hygiene. . ^ v

CONTENTS.

NUBILITY

Its period — The laws of marriage — The age of marriage — The clangers of early matrimony — The dangers of late matrimony.

PAGE

66—76

THE SINGLE LIFE

77—80

THE CHANGE OF LIFE 81—95

The age of decline — Its signs — Its diseases — Its hygiene.

THE PRELIMINARIES OF MARRIAGE . The difference in age of bride and groom— The union of May and December — Who should not marry — Should the marriage of cousins be forbidden ?

96—105

PAET II.

WOMAN" A WIFE.

ANIMAL AND SPIRITUAL LOVE . . . 107- The first experiences — The indulgence of desire — The sleeping apartment — The bed and its coverings.

•115

WHAT PARENTS TRANSMIT TO THEIR

OFFSPRING 116-134

The physical peculiarities we inherit — Can we have beautiful children at will ? — The muscular and vital powers capable of transmission — The intellectual powers capable of transmission — The diverse in-

CONTENTS. 9

PAGE

fluence of fathers and mothers — The moral qualities capable of transmission — The diseases capable of transmission.

ON THE VOLUNTARY PRODUCTION OF

Various causes which influence the sex of the child — The effect of the relative age of the parents — The alleged effect of the physical condition of the parents — Which sex is the more numerous ?

THE LIMITATION OF FAMILIES . . . 146—153 The crime of abortion.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PREGNANCY . 154—158 How the presence of twins may be known. *

THE HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY . . . 159—187 The diet — The dress — Air and exercise — The nervous system — The influence of the mother's mind on the unborn child — Precautions during pregnancy in the interests of the child — Is pregnancy useful or hurtful to female health and beauty ? — Influence of pregnancy on the intellectual faculties.

THE PERILS OF PREGNANCY , . . 188—201 Puerperal mania — The influence of pregnancy upon chronic and recent diseases — The treatment of morning sickness—

10 CONTENTS.

PAGE

Marital relations during pregnancy — How to ascertain the probable date of confinement.

Part III. The Wife A Mother

RULES CONCERNING NURSING . .' . 203—241 Why a mother should nurse her own child — What the mother needs to fit her to nurse her child — What makes nursing difficult — What forbids* nursing — Conclusions relative to maternal nursing — Important hygienic facts — How soon after birth should the mother give the breast ? — Precautions in giving the breast — What is the best position in which to nurse ? — How often ought the child nurse during the day? — Is it necessary at night to give the breast so often as in the daytime? — The amount of milk the infant needs — The influence of the mother's food upon her milk — The influence of the monthly sickness upon the milk — The influence of the marital relation on the milk^-The influence of pregnancy on the milk — The influence of emotion on the milk — Other influences which modify the nature of the milk — Means of recognizing changes in the milk — Too much or too little milk — At what age may the child have other food than milk? — The proper food for infants — At what age should the child be weaned? — The food of the child after weaning.

CONTENTS. 11

PAGE

THE HYGIENE OP THE INFANT BEFORE

WEANING 242—248

The air it breathes — Its light — Its temperature — Its sleep — The clothing it wears.

WHAT THE MOTHER SHOULD DO IN SLIGHT

ACCIDENTS TO THE CHILD . . . 249—254

Accidents which do not require the physician's care — Small wounds and cuts — The dressing of small wounds — Means of quieting children and checking their bursts of passion — Burns and scalds — % The immediate dressing of burns and scalds — The first cares in grave falls, dislocations and fractures.

THE ROLE OF THE MOTHER IN THE DIS- EASES OF CHILDHOOD 255—273

Useless and dangerous medicines for children — Injurious medicated soaps — The diseases of the child while teething — The scrofulous constitution.

Part IV. Woman In Disease

THE CAUSES OF DISEASE IN WOMAN . 275—280 Folly in- dress^-The neglect of exercise and fresh air — Improper nervous excitement — Imprudences during the monthly periods — The production of abortion — Want of care after childbirth.

12 CONTEXTS.

PAGE

THE PRETENTION OF DISEASE IN WOMAN 280—287

Systematic health culture — Precautions during the monthly periods — A well-assorted marriage — Pregnancy.

PAINFUL PERIODS ...... 288—299

Different forms of the affection — Painful periods due to neuralgia, causes, symptoms, and treatment — Painful periods due to congestion, causes, sj'mptoms, and treatment— Painful periods* due to obstruction — Useful receipts.

PROFUSE PERIODS 300—303

The causes, effects, and treatment — Useful receipts.

SCANTY AND SUPPRESSED PERIODS . 304—318

The causes, effects, and treatment — Useful receipts.

STERILITY IN MARRIAGE .... 319—330

Influence of the age of marriage on the probable size of the family, on the birth of the first child, and on the period of childbearing — Periods of temporary sterility — Constitutional causes of sterilitj*, excessive obesity, extreme leanness — Counsel to sterile wives.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

WHITE FLOWING ; ' 331—339

The nature and character of "the whites" —The causes— The treatment— The proper manner of using injections— Directions for soothing, cooling, astringent, and deodorizing injections.

POVERTY OF THE BLOOD .... 340—351 An unfortunate opinion in regard to impoverished blood— The causes and how to avoid them— The symptoms and how to distinguish them— The treatment aud how to conduct it— Iron a necessity —The methods of administering it- How to combine it with vegetable bitters—Other valuable tonics— Useful receipts.

NEURALGIC PAINS . . . . • • • 352-356 •Rheumatism and neuralgia of the womb and ovaries; symptoms, prevention, and treatment— Useful receipts.

HEADACHES 357-383

Sick headache; symptoms, causes, and treatment— Nervous headache; symptoms, causes, and treatment.