Mothers and daughters: practical studies for the conservation of the health of girls

Front matter

tiW^L^iaqpp^^

-Mh

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Preface

THERE was a time when medicine, or what was supposed to be the medical art, was the property of necromancers, or of high-priests who consulted the oracles. A tithe was paid for the oracle ; the larger the tithe the more favorable the answer : and the wise men of those days anathematized all philosophers daring to get a peep at the works of nature.

We have the same wise men now, only not so bold, as human intelligence has risen above ignorance and superstition. Yet we have them ; and they hold that medicine is their province, and that attempts made to induce the people to seek information in its realms are flagrant violations of their inherited and sacred rights.

But w T ith the development of human intellect came a desire of independence which even these high-priests could not restrain. Thousands of learned physicians severed the chains of professional slavery to teach the people that the mystical philosophy of the physician is but the study of nature, which even the humblest citizen should have the privilege of enquiring into. These teachers are not condemned to the stake now

— civilization forbids it ; but in the scarlet chambers where they hold council the high-priests condemn these humanitarians to the pillory of their scorn and to the denunciation of the faculty. The times are more auspicious, however ; bigotry is daily loosening its grasp, and more physicians are now converted to faith in freedom than ever before.

Exclusiveness having heretofore been the practice of medical men, it is not surprising that the people remained ignorant of even the simplest rules for the preservation of their health. Under that system the functions of the human economy were, in polite society, a sort of forbidden ground, a discussion or a mention of which could not be tolerated. This unreasonable custom finally degenerated into prudery and false modesty. Woman, naturally more delicateminded than man, under this social restraint became very reticent, and it was with difficulty that she would mention any organ of her body, even though she suffered general discomfort, and even great pain. The mother watched the roses fading on the cheeks of her daughter, and yet did not dare to ask for the causes that induced the apparent disturbance. It was only when disease became fully developed, or the girl had fallen into an extremity of debility, that the physician was called in, who would often find that neglect or diffidence had allowed a simple disorder to grow into a permanent disease.

PRE FA CE. 3

These erroneous notions of propriety have largely contributed to the degeneracy of the health of girls, particularly in the higher spheres of social life.

In every household will be found young women who, from the day of their entrance upon womanhood, have become victims of periodical sufferings ; mothers, who, after giving birth to a child or two, are exhausted for the remainder of their lives; women who drag a suffering body in the exercise of family duties.

The learned physician now looks upon these social customs and practices as the cause of the deterioration of women, drops the purely medical art — the drug, that cannot bring blood to their arteries, tissue to their muscles, or bone to their frames — and studies the organization of their nature and the requirements for its preservation. The Hygeia of antiquity was a mythological idea ; Hygiene of to-day is a science. It is the science that teaches how to conduct, how to preserve life; it is not the art of curing disease, it is the science of preventing it. Shall we keep it from the young, who have a life to preserve, to offer it to the old, whose life's thread has passed from Clotho to Lachesis, and is already held by Atropos the inexorable ?

Invalidism prevails amongst the women of our generation. This fact should concern not only the physician, but the statesman, the political economist and the lover of mankind. Has the civilization of the last century done no more for woman than to reduce her strength and her capacity ? If so, it is high time that it direct its best efforts to her moral and physical improvement. Is not the present system of female education founded upon a radical error, when it is proven by statistical observations that the physical condition of the educated woman is far inferior to that of her illiterate laboring sister? Parents should reflect upon this fact so often stated and reasserted by every medical authority.

Education cannot imperil the life of a student if in the curriculum of her studies the science to preserve her life is included. In every school there should be taught anatomy, physiology and hygiene — and the latter practiced within its walls. Let every

organ of the body be called by its right name, — as

* the arches or pillars of a building; the angles or triangles of geometrical figures; the petals or the stamens of flowers, — and the absurd notions that have driven a study so important to the preservation of life from the conversation and the teachings of home, disappear. It is often said that " a little learning is a dangerous thing." This is untrue. In the practice of medicine it is found that even a .little knowledge of the various branches of medical science is useful to the patient and to his attendant ; that the observations he is capable of making greatly assist the physician ; that his description of the symptoms is more reliable; that the physician's counsels are more strictly observed ;

PREFACE. 5

that the intercourse between physician and patient is more satisfactory. The fears of nervous people, which seem to have given rise to that saying, invariably spring from ignorance. Knowledge lessens fear, while it enhances vigilance and circumspection.

Delicacy is undoubtedly a charming characteristic of woman; nay, it is to her what perfume is to a flower ; but true knowledge never trespasses upon delicacy. Ignorance leads to coarseness and slovenliness of thought, to insinuation and suspicion; and therein lies the vulgar fear of knowing anything regarding the human economy.

During a continued family medical practice of twenty years, it has fallen to the lot of the author to see many girls driven to invalidism by ignorance and neglect ; also, many young married women who were quickly prostrated by the natural duty of bearing and rearing their children ; even nursing seems to have become the business of the cow, rather than the contribution of the mother. This strange and almost fatal transference is not from the indifference of the mother towards performing a sacred duty to her child, but from her physical inability. The ratio of mortality of infants has thereby greatly increased, and yet there seems to be no remedy. The so-called "summer complaint," that mows down children like a scythe, is, in most instances, induced by this unnatural feeding of infants.

In the face of these startling facts, is it not the physician's duty, nay, the parent's, to raise the young with a thorough knowledge of the laws of health? A diseased plant can produce but sickly shoots. To improve the physical condition of our race, we must begin with the young. The girls of to-day are the mothers of the future, and upon their health, more than upon that of the fathers, will depend the vigor and the strength of the generations to come. It is to them, therefore, that we dedicate this work; it is to them that we commend it, for, if they heed its suggestions, if they practice its precepts, although imperfect in construction and limited in extent, it will guide them safely through many a vicissitude that otherwise would plunge them into- the afflictions, not only of a diseased body, but of diseased and feeble offspring hereafter.

This little volume is offered to the Mothers of the land, for their guidance and that of their Daughters; to teachers and guardians of young girls, for help in their difficult and delicate task; to young women, for their instruction in the most important interest of their lives. It is written as for my own daughter, and is inscribed to her; and when she is of the proper age to need and understand it, her mother will put it into her hands. With this object before me and the desire to benefit my kind, the following pages have been

written.

T. S. V.

Co mg §ait^to,

As the Emblem of her Sex,

This Book is Affectionately Dedicated.

May it impart Health as boundless

as my Love for her,

that every mother in the land may bless her.

Contents

Preface.

Chapter I. The Mother's Duty

The Mother's duty to her Daughter. — Responsibility of Parents and Teachers for the Girl's Ignorance of the Modes to Preserve her Health. — Relative Position of Man and Woman in their Struggle for Existence. — Disability of Girls for Work. — Triumph of Health and Strength. •••...... 7-15

Chapter II. A Vexed Question

Importance of Studying the Body. — Distinctive Characteristics of the Sexes. — Physical Vigor the Foundation of Man's General Advantage. — Comparison of Man and Woman as Workers. — Soundness of Body Woman's Greatest Present Need . ..... 16-26

Chapter III. Physiology As A Moral Teacher

What are Anatomy and Physiology. — Force. — Health. — Laws of Nature and their Infringement. — Responsibility of Man for the Infraction of Natural Laws. — Accident. — Sanitary Science and Disease. — Helplessness of Ignorance. ........ 27-30

Chapter IV

MORAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO SEXES IN RELATION TO THEIR GROWTH AFTER PUBERTY.

Man's Strength, Woman's Heroism. — Illustrations. — Specific Differences of Physical Structure. — Adaptation of their Physical Nature to the Requirements of the Two Sexes ...... 31-39 i v CONTENTS.

Chapter V. The Pelvis

PAGE

Anatomy of Woman's Pelvis, and its Mode of Growth. — Important Reflections. — Necessary Protection to the Pelvis of Little Girls. — Dangers of Deformed Pelvis from the Dressing of Infants and very Young Girls. . . . . • . . 40-45

Chapter VI. The Womb

Anatomy of the Womb. — Manner of Growth. . • . . 46-48

Chapter VII. Fallopian Tubes And Ovaries

Anatomy of the Fallopian Tubes and Ovaries. — Their Functions and

Relative Positions. ........ 49-51

Chapter VIII. The Mammae Or Breasts

Relations of thes'i Organs to the Development of Beauty and Utility of Woman. — Anatomy of the Same. — How Dress Affects the Development of the Breasts. — Sympathy of the Breasts with the Generative Organs. — Necessity to Protect their Growth. .... 52-58

Chapter IX. Temperaments

Temperaments as the Guide for Moral and Physical Education. — Description and Hygienic Requirements of the Sanguine, Lymphatic Bilious, Nervous, Mixed Temperaments. — Modification of the Temperaments by Climate, Education, Habits and Social Condition. . . 59-69

Chapter X. Puberty

The Four Periods of Life, Infancy, Adolescence, Virility, Dementia.— Development of Puberty in Woman. — Vital Importance of this Period. — Menstruation. — Warning Symptoms of the Approach of Puberty in Girls. ........ r . 70-78

Chapter XI. Philosophy And Physiology Of Menstruation

Physiology of Menstruation and Mode of Appearance.— History of Menstruation.— Menstruation in Relation to Ovulation.— Ovulation. — Menstrual Crisis.— Epoch of its Commencement and Mode of its Course. — Northern and Southern Girls. — City and Country Girls. — Effect of Temperaments.— Periodical Calculations.— Specific Course of Menstruation . . . . . . . . 79-92

CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Hygienic Generalities

PAGE

Hygienic Generalities. — Light. — Heat.— Exercise. — A Warning to Mothers 95-99

Chapter II. Society, In Its Relation To The Health Of Girls

Communities. — Social Laws. — Fashion. — Dress. — Diet. — Amusements. — Exaggerations of Life. — Mme. George Sand's Lament. — How to Preserve the Health and. Life of Woman ..... 100-113

Chapter III. Exercise And Its Relation To Bodily Functions

Physiological Effects of Exercise. — Excessive Exercise. — Adequate Rest. — Sedentary Life. — Modes of Exercise.— Walking.— Riding. — Dancing. —Rowing. — Games. — Passive Exercise. — Driving . — Sea-Going. — Singing. — Gymnastics ....... 1 14-124

Chapter IV. Food

Its Relations to the Preservation of Life. — Digestion. — Assimilation.— Absorption. — Experiments of Dr. Beaumont. — Liebig's Division of Food in Classes. — History of Food. — Food and the Human Family. — Food and Civilization. — Physiology of Food. — Bad Digestion and Human Happiness. — Food and its Elements. — Direction for Kinds and Qualities of Food. — Classification of Food. — Time Required for Digesting Articles of Food.— Food Affecting Individual Character. — Rules for Diet. .......... 125-149

Chapter V. Clothing

Its Lessons in the Preservation of Life. — Clothing and Climates.— Reasons for Clothing. — History of the Corset, and its Baneful Effects. — Materials for Clothing. — Articles of Clothing and their Heat Condcuting Power. — Color in Relation to Dress. — Heat Conducting Power of Colors. — Clothing of Special Parts ; Head, Neck, Trunk, Extremities. — Moisture, Malaria Prevented by Modes of Dressing. — Partial and General Dressing. — Partial Dressing a Cause of Disease. — How Dress May Affect Girls. — Constipation of Women Induced by Unphysiological Dressing of Young Girls. — " The Cowl Does not Make the Friar." ......... 150-172 vi CONTENTS.

Chapter VI

Atmospheric Conditions in Relation to Human Health.— Hot and Dry, Cold and Dry, Damp and Hot, Cold and Humid. — Movement of the Air. — Mountain Air. — Sea Air. — Rapid Changes of Temperature. — Impure Air of Dwellings. — Cubic Feet of Pure Air for each Person. — Carbonic Acid in the Atmosphere of Dwelling and Schools.— Ventilation.— Air of Sleeping Rooms. — Combustion of Coal, Wood, Gas, Oil, Candles and the Carbonic Acid they Emit. — Atmosphere of Water- Closets, Bath-Rooms. — Sewage Gases Coming into Inhabited Rooms, How to Prevent it. . . . . . . . . 173-188

Chapter I. Symptoms Of Disturbance

PAGE

Signs of Puberty.— Menstruation. — Colic. — Coldness of Feet. — Rest. — Dress. — Food and Drink. — Demeanor. — Different Temperaments. — Symptoms that may Occur ....... 191-196

Chapter II. Causes Of Functional Derangements

Indispositions of Girls During Menstruation. — Causes of Derangement of Uterine Functions. — Remote Causes. — Temperaments. — Diet. — Bad Air. — Want of Exercise. — Mind and Imagination. — Opinions of High Authorities Regarding School Exercises and Girls' Debility. — A Mother's Story of her Daughter's Death from too Close Application to Study. — Effects of Wet, Heat and Cold on Menstrual Functions. — Uncleanliness. — Dress. — Occupation. — Immediate Causes. — Exposures. — Emotions. — Accident and other Causes .... 197-217

Chapter I. The Mother's Duty

THIS little volume will be devoted to the physical perfection of woman ; and in the effort to impart to her a knowledge without which her health must be in constant peril, the mother, and through her, the daughter, will be addressed in the relation they sustain towards each other ; the mother as the wise and faithful counselor of the daughter, and the latter as the very inception of the coming mother; two halves which, united, complete the circle of woman's life, the unbroken ring of physical and moral continuity.

We feel no hesitation in addressing the mother, who, having passed through the vicissitudes of a girl's life and progressively risen into the mother's sphere, is conscious of the inadequate knowledge of the daughter; while it is far more difficult to address the girl, who, self-satisfied and in the delusion of the untaught, may not comprehend our solicitude. But if a girl can descend from the wings of sentimentality and see herself as a human being, having a physical nature, and subject to all its laws for good and for evil, this treatise may be of sufficient importance not only to claim her recognition, but to secuie her gratitude.

A girl, who, like a morning rose-bud, enters into the first development of that life which will soon ripen into effulgent beauty, and disseminate around exquisite perfume, may too soon wither, like many others who have been treated inconsistently with the true principles of life and health.

It is hard for her, at the age when she sees life through a kaleidoscope that yields but beautiful and ever-changing colors, and dreams poetically of sentimental pictures, to come down to actual matter, and to the study of the laws that regulate it. Yet, should she make the attempt in earnest, she would soon find that there is as much of the wonderful and of the beautiful in this constitution of hers as there is in the exquisite flower that adorns her bosom.

It is sad to reflect upon the fact that that very knowledge of ourselves, so necessary to our preservation, is looked upon as the realm of grosser minds, and unworthy to be inquired into. It is still more sad, that parents, and mothers particularly, with a full understanding of its importance, through educational prejudices too frequently evade a branch of education so important to the well-being of their children. Prudery, mock and false modesty, have cast into early graves many young women who would otherwise have adorned society with their presence, and with love, virtue, prosperity and health aided in the great problem of human happiness.

It may be useless to attempt to discuss here, or determine, the causes that have thus deflected feminine edu-

THE MOTHER'S DUTY, g

cation from the study of the human economy. Whatever they may be, the medical man is often brought in contact with the sad results of this illogical prudery. Many girls grow into womanhood only to perish as soon as they become mothers, in consequence of their ignorance of the simplest rules that would preserve their lives. A mother who sends her daughter from the paternal roof to become a wife, ignorant of the laws that will govern her as such, is guilty of a crime of omission which may consign that daughter to a life of misery.

Nature prepares a human being, as it does everything else, for the destiny designed for it; hence growth,. as to time, size, shape, etc., is in conformity with the requirements of that specific object. Animals destined to but a limited sphere of action grow quickly, and are short-lived ; animals whose sphere is greater, requiring a more refined intellect, and a more enduring muscular system, require longer time, and their grow T th is regulated by an unalterable method which cannot be improved, but may be damaged. If it is interesting to watch the growth of a plant, to study its physical life and to provide for its necessities so as to have it grow beautiful and yield abundantly, how much more so should it be to watch the growth of our children, to become intimately acquainted with their physical necessities in order to have them grow beautiful and luxuriant, and to yield abundantly ?

Look at our girls, and particularly those of that class whose means are such as to enable them to leave the rough work of life for the education of their mental faculties, and from whom we should expect that knowledge which would make them thrive better than those of that

IO MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS.

less fortunate class whose life is a struggle of physical endurance. Are they healthier, stronger and more beautiful than their less favored sisters ? No. What a commentary upon refined society ! It is among the former that the scythe of death is busiest. What excuse have fathers and mothers, teachers and principals of educational institutions, for this criminal state of things ? Is it that they are afraid to taint the minds of the young with prurient ideas? Can the knowledge of truth be injurious to the human mind? No knowledge, that will lead the mind, however young, to understand the work that impels it to continue an existence, can be injurious to it. " Forewarned, forearmed.'' That instruction will suggest the avoidance of those mistakes which imperil life, morally as well as physically. The knowledge of evil teaches how to avoid it; the knowledge of right teaches how to pursue it. Away, then, with false modesty in teaching what will preserve the health of the young, and what will enhance their moral development! The fear of knowledge belongs to the coward; and the fear oi imparting knowledge is the mark of only such weak creatures, mentally, as cannot trust themselves, and to whom should not be entrusted the education of children.

Nevertheless, pulpits and educational chairs are full of such intellectual weakness.

The body is not corruption, uncleanliness, pollution : it is a grand conception ; it is a marvelous work ; it is beautiful. Its symmetry, its strength, its health, should be maintained. Body and mind cannot be separated ; when that is done death ensues. No mind without a body ; and what is a body without a mind ? The mind cannot be improved at the expense of the body ; their

THE MOTHER'S DUTY, IX

correlation is such that to do violence to one is to injure the other. A puny mind in a strong body is a monstrosity ; a puny body with a strong mind is another. Their relations are mutual ; both must be cultivated or both must perish. Then comes the corruption so constantly preached !

Woman, delicate and fragile from her very birth, is destined to become a mother, with all the sufferings and dangers attendant upon this exalted and beautiful privilege. She cannot therefore but excite the greatest interest, sympathy, and solicitude.

She has scarcely entered the charmed time of youth, and tasted the pleasures of life, ere she finds herself bound to periodical occurrences which demand her constant attention and the knowledge of her physical nature ; for here is a process to which she is subject monthly, which, if disregarded, may imperil her health and even her life. From that moment, and for thirty years after, this demand will be made upon the system, requiring the utmost vigilance lest irregularities occur that reflect upon her general economy. Yet when one thinks of how many causes, some of which, even apparently trivial, can derange this process of nature, one shugMers at the ignorance of our women regarding the means of preserving its integrity. And still more may we marvel at the indifference or neglect of the science that must acquaint girls with the physical laws of their existence, when we think of the consequences of such neglect ; for out of a. divergence from a periodical, normal continuance of that process, come such maladies as general weakness, neuralgias, spasms, hysteria, nervous headaches, backaches, which so disharmonize the whole system as to render the woman useless as a wife, feeble as a mother, worthless as a co-laborer, uninteresting as a friend, until, conscious of her own disability, and destined to pain and suffering, she feels that life is but a burden.

In the face of this our mothers and teachers are afraid or unwilling to instruct her !

Her very delicacy of construction should secure our greatest efforts for its preservation. In looking at a woman, young and beautiful, we would rather believe her a graceful flower on the meadow of life than a creature surrounded by all kinds of perils threatening her very existence. We need reflect but an instant upon the numerous vicissitudes to which she is destined, and the fact that her progress in life is through storms and dangers, to convince ourselves that her careeer should be assisted with all the knowledge and moral support we are able to give. Let not our admiration for her modesty lead us into the mistake that ignorance of her physical nature is the best means to secure the purity of her mind ; for sooner or later she will herself find the rugged path and rightfully blame us for not forewarning her, and supplying her with the staff that would have enabled her to climb the rocks with safety, and overcome all the obstacles in her way.

Modesty is a trait that well becomes woman. It is attractive by its very reservations. It never satiates inquiry by complete revelation. It is pleasing, because its lights and shades are mellow, and are seen or*ly through a haze of refining delicacy. Modesty adds to the beauty of character as pink adds to the beauty of the alabaster skin. But of modesty we discover two kinds : first, timid modesty, an offspring of ignorance, the shrinking

THE MOTHER'S DUTY. ^

of one who fears to tread upon unknown ground ; then, a modesty true and self-reliant, possessed of the full knowledge of the dignity of womanhood. The modest girl should yet be learned in the demands of propriety, for her own well-being, and for her own and others' happiness.

Timid modesty may win friends, but not retain them ; it may awaken curiosity, which shall grow into fervor and be mistaken for love, But, as ignorance ceases, in the same proportion timid modesty vanishes ; and then, disenchanting truth comes forth in defiance of sentiment. Ignorance is not innocence. Dignified modesty, springing from self-respect and self-knowledge, stands invulnerable and unchangeable. A woman thus endowed will be dignified in her love, self-reliant and strong in her affections. Such modesty conquers man's love and respect, and holds him through all the trying experiences of married life. Knowledge, therefore, is no enemy to modesty ; on the contrary, it enriches that lovely quality with the candor of truth, and a sense of rectitude which endears woman to all her associates.

There is nothing debasing in a study that teaches the anatomy and physiology of one's own mechanism; nothing prurient in the knowledge of the laws that govern it. It is through ignorance that these laws are violated, and that the precepts of virtue and the rules for health are disregarded.

We conjure then the mother, the natural protector of her offspring, to instruct her daughter in the multifarious changes to which she is liable, that the sufferings which might result therefrom be avoided.

Such instruction, coming, as it should, from the mother, herself a woman who has passed through the various phases of life, will suggest and even secure on the part of the daughter the vigilance and discretion that will best protect her moral and physical life.

Convinced of the truth that girls suffer from an ignorance of the principal functions of their sex ; convinced that mothers and teachers, through a mistaken sense of delicacy, and often through ignorance as well, are loth or unwilling to convey to a girl a knowledge so important to her well-being — not for the period of her girlhood only, but for the successive ones of womanhood and motherhood — we have devoted great care to the preparation of this volume, which, while it may instruct, will not excite morbid fancies, and in which the parent and the teacher will find a safe monitor on a subject of so much moment to the health of girls under their guidance. Ruskin says :

" Thus, then, you have first to mould her physical frame, and then, as the strength she gains will permit you, to fill and temper her mind with all knowledge and thoughts which tend to confirm its natural instincts of justice, and refine its natural tact of love.

" The first of our duties to her — no thoughtful persons now doubt this — is to secure for her such physical training and exercise as may confirm her health and perfect her beauty ; the highest refinement of that beauty being unattainable without splendor of activity and of delicate strength."

To the performance of this holy duty the author hopes

THE MOTHER'S DUTY. !j

that those entrusted with the care and direction of the present generation of girls will find a helpful guide in this little volume, the result of conscientious study and long experience in family practice.

Chapter II. A Vexed Question

ERE the topics of this volume are brought to the study of any girl she will probably have reached that age when she is willing to lay aside playthings for the soberer work of life. In her daily avocations and in the attainment of general knowledge she becomes aware that this world contains an immensity of things which will require all her industry, her deepest thoughts, her most earnest attention, to comprehend, to acquire, to estimate. As she in time becomes able to solve one problem after another, she will perceive that knowledge is obtained only through diligence and by a systematic, graduated method of study ; that one step brings her nearer to another, until she attains an intellectual height that seemed at first beyond her reach. All undertakings of any magnitude appear difficult at first, and often deter the lazy or the weak of purpose from starting, appalled at obstacles that he has not yet examined; while the industrious and wise go, looking forward, hourly decreasing the distance between themselves and the object of their desire, rejoicing at progress, stimulating vigor with hope, until they finally reach the goal with a full sense of victory. The man of success does not stop there, for others are abreast of him ; and he must win. His manhood, his ambition, his very success, spur him forward, until the laggard drops behind in the hopeless

A VEXED QUESTION. I?

attempt at competition. This race for attainment is an attribute of civilized man, and its object is a noble one. Body and mind are engaged in the strife, and it would be but a vain attempt if these should perish in the endeavor.

And this brings us directly to our subject — one often neglected ; one which never leaves you in life, if in death ; neither in joy, nor in sorrow, in sickness, nor in health; it is your best friend, or your worst enemy; one that you should know and control. Imagine an object upon which so much of your welfare depends, and then say if you would not shield it against every accidental evil? Would you not study it, that you might best serve and protect it? What then can it be — this object of such transcendent importance? It is your own body! Let not the reader hesitate to descend to a subject so unworthy, so unpoetical. Be assured that poetry, art and philosophy have failed to produce so grand, so perfect, so beautiful an object as the human body; that science and art, philosophy and poetry, are never more attractive than when they treat of that very object which so many affect to despise.