The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tokology, by Alice B. Stockham
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Title: Tokology
A book for every woman
Author: Alice B. Stockham
Release Date: April 3, 2023 [eBook #70448]
Language: English
Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOKOLOGY ***
[Illustration: _Alice B. Stockham._]
TOKOLOGY
A Book for Every Woman
BY
ALICE B. STOCKHAM, M. D.
ILLUSTRATED
Maternal love! Thou word that sums all bliss;
Gives and receives all bliss, fullest when most
Thou givest!
--_Pollock_
_REVISED EDITION_
R. F. FENNO & COMPANY
18 EAST 17TH ST., NEW YORK
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893,
BY ALICE B. STOCKHAM, M. D.
In the office of Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886,
BY ALICE B. STOCKHAM, M. D.
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883,
By ALICE B. STOCKHAM, M. D.
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TOKOLOGY IS DEDICATED
FIRST:
TO MY DAUGHTER,
WHOSE FAITH IN THE PHYSICAL
REDEMPTION OF WOMAN BY CORRECT
LIVING HAS BEEN A CONSTANT
INSPIRATION IN ITS
PRODUCTION!
SECOND:
TO ALL WOMEN
WHO, FOLLOWING THE LESSONS
HEREIN TAUGHT, WILL BE SAVED THE
SUFFERINGS PECULIAR TO
THEIR SEX.
CONTENTS.
PORTRAIT OF AUTHOR.
CHAPTER I.
PAINLESS CHILDBIRTH.
Painless childbirth--Testimony of travelers, missionaries and
physicians--Sufferings in childbirth greater in this country than in
any other--Is this a curse upon woman?--Indian women do not suffer
in labor--Dr. Dewees--Prof. Huxley--Remarkable cases of parturition
without pain--Author’s professional experience--Anecdote
of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes--Proofs of science--Lay aside
prejudice 17-24
CHAPTER II.
CONCEPTION--FETAL DEVELOPMENT.
The reproductive apparatus--The ovaries--The oviducts--The uterus--The
vagina--Mammary glands--Conception--Law of conception--Development
of the embryo--The placenta--Fetal circulation--Blue
baby--Duration of pregnancy--Growth of the embryo--Eight
months baby 25-36
CHAPTER III.
PREGNANCY--SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS.
Four physical signs--Cessation of menses--Increase of
size--Quickening--Fetal heart-beat--Positive indication of
pregnancy--Pathological symptoms--Physicians offer no relief--A
woman’s sad experience 37-41
CHAPTER IV.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY--INDIGESTION, NAUSEA, ETC.
Indigestion a common ailment--Starch and fats the prime cause of
dyspepsia--Children’s food is given to the pigs--Morning sickness--Is
it a natural symptom?--Biliousness, what is it?--Enemas,
their uses--Do not force the appetite--Tradition’s teachings--Will
the fetus starve? 42-50
CHAPTER V.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY--CONSTIPATION.
Most women suffer from constipation--Causes--Hot bread--White
flour--Baking powders--Errors in dress--Cathartic
drugs--Treatment--Wally and the Lockport entire wheat
bread--Wheatlet--Cracked or rolled wheat--How Charlie was
cured--Feast on fruits--Foods, laxative and constipating--Special
exercises--Going without supper 51-73
CHAPTER VI.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY--HEADACHE, NEURALGIA, HEARTBURN.
Headache--Tea and sick headache--Headache can be
cured--Treatment--Heartburn--Flatulence--Hemorrhoids--Greedy
appetite-Loss of appetite--Longings--Diarrhea--Neuralgia--Case from
practice--Burning feet--Cramps--Swelling of
extremities--Sleeplessness--Leucorrhea--Pruritus 74-89
CHAPTER VII.
HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY--DRESS.
Congenial surroundings--Overtaxed mothers--An old lady’s story--An
every-day experience--Lucrative work--An author’s interesting
testimony--Prophecy for the future--Dress and fashion--Common sense
shoes--Can ladies stand in street cars?--Union under-garments--The
chemiloon--The princess garment--Bates
waist--The divided skirt--Equestrian tights--Dress and freedom
for women--Dress in pregnancy--What corset can be worn--Fashion
in deformity 90-110
CHAPTER VIII.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY--BATHING.
The water cure mania--The “ounce of prevention”--“A coat of mail”--The
sitz-bath the very best bath for a pregnant woman--Fomentations--Save
doctors’ visits--Hot water bottles--Cold compress--Foot
and leg bath--The Turkish bath--Thermal bath at
home--Queen of baths 111-123
CHAPTER IX.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY--DIET.
Avoid fats and sweets--The chemist’s theory--Proper food prevents
pain in childbirth--Mrs. Rowbotham’s experience--Marvelously
easy labor and rapid recovery--Interesting testimony from the
wife of a Michigan judge--Mrs. ---- could get no doctor, and
child born without pain!--She believes pain in childbirth
unnecessary--Extraordinary experience!--Scientific theory accidentally
proved--A boon to every woman--Bill of fare for every day in the
week--Analysis of food 124-137
CHAPTER X.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY--EXERCISE.
Motion a law of nature--Nest building--Home labor delights the
heart--Contact with the earth a “cure-all”--Waist breathing--Educate
the muscles--Massage--Muscle beater--Military position--Exercises
in pregnancy--Climbing stairs during gestation--Rules
for climbing stairs and hills--Delsarte 138-149
CHAPTER XI.
CHASTITY IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION.
Rights of children--Popular theories--Social evil--Who are the
prostitutes?--Touching experience--Lessons for husbands--Theory of
continence--A New Testament Lesson--Continence in pregnancy--Its
influence upon pain at parturition--Influence upon
offspring--Men reverence the maternal in woman--Parenthood
and progress--Motherhood, central fact in human
life 150-162
CHAPTER XII.
VENTILATION--REST.
A pregnant woman breathes for two--Open fire places in sleeping
rooms--Charcoal pit easily constructed--Fresh air in
bedrooms--Drafts--Cold air not pure air--The nose a
sentinel--Unslaked lime and charcoal--Interesting experiments--A
daily siesta needed--How one mother slept--Recapitulation--Mrs.
Stanton’s experience--A girl is as good as a boy 163-173
CHAPTER XIII.
PARTURITION.
What are labor pains?--Stages of labor--Bag of waters--Necessary
preparations--Directions for making the bed--Management during
the first stage--Meddlesome midwifery--Cutting the cord--A
new heresy--No child should be washed as soon as it is born--Delivery
of the after-birth--Should the bandage be applied?--Castor
oil--Rest, the best remedy 174-182
CHAPTER XIV.
DYSTOCIA.
Difficult labor--Caustic treatment a frequent cause--Hot sitz-bath
overcomes rigidity--A very remarkable case--Notes from practice--Ergot
and cohosh--Their poisonous effects--Instruments--Temptation
of physicians--Women can make instruments known in
tradition only 183-189
CHAPTER XV.
POST PARTUM DISEASES.
Daily bath--Compress--Sitz-bath--Very best food--Cases in Home of the
Friendless--No need of milk fever--Abscess of the breast--Excoriated
nipples--Insufficient milk--Drink new or hot milk--Do
not use ale or beer--Excessive flow of milk--After-pains--The
lochia--Hemorrhage--Childbed fever--Causes to be avoided--Dr.
Playfair’s opinion--Treatment must be prompt 190-203
CHAPTER XVI.
INFANTS, THEIR CARE AT BIRTH AND DURING EARLY INFANCY.
A new being--Need of rest--An oil bath--Dressing the
navel--Clothing--Useful suggestions--Habits of cleanliness can be
secured--Nursing--Mother’s milk the natural food--Best artificial
food--Causes of mortality in hand-fed children--Artificial human
milk--Analysis of milk--Care of the bottle--Time of
weaning--Meat-fed children 204-216
CHAPTER XVII.
DISEASES OF INFANTS.
Aphtha--Excoriation--Colic--Mother’s friend--Soothing
syrup--Constipation--Diarrhea--Dysentery--Summer
complaint--Inflammation of the bowels--Dentition--Lancing
the gums--Starchy food Remedies 217-231
CHAPTER XVIII.
DISEASES OF INFANTS--CONTINUED.
Worms--Incontinence of urine--Retention of urine--Croup, the mother’s
terror--True and false croup--A sovereign remedy--Diphtheria--Popular
remedies--Contagious diseases--Scarlet fever--Tabular
differences between scarlet fever and measles--Whooping
cough--Convulsions--Practical suggestions 232-242
CHAPTER XIX.
ABORTION.
Prevention--Treatment--Feticide--Viability of the embryo--Two
wrongs cannot make one right--Maternal instinct inherent--Incentives
to produce abortion--Unwelcome children 243-251
CHAPTER XX.
MENSTRUATION.
Definition--Cause--Should be devoid of
suffering--Disorders--Suppression--Painful menstruation--Errors in
dress--Lack of exercise--Romping girls--Wrong diet--Heat, a sovereign
remedy--Remarkable cases--Flowing, Remedies 252-262
CHAPTER XXI.
DISEASES OF WOMEN.
Nine-tenths of American women have these maladies--Common-sense
hints--Inflammation--Mental sufferings--A cause of
insanity--Ulceration--Induration--Errors in dress and
diet--Sitz-bath--Thermal bath--Injections--Valuable
exercises--Caustic treatment--Acids and probes--Sufferings induced
and prolonged--Physicians taking the back track--Reforms effected by
the protest of the people--Leucorrhea--Displacements--Hysteria 263-275
CHAPTER XXII.
CHANGE OF LIFE.
A scape-goat of physicians--What is the meno-pause?--Irregularity--Hot
flashes--Profuse perspiration--Hemorrhage--Mental symptoms--Nature
creates no pathological conditions--Therapeutic
measures--Natural remedies--Simple habits 276-285
CHAPTER XXIII.
DIETETICS.
Nearly two hundred recipes, including: Drinks for the
sick--Gruels--Jellies--Bread--Gems--Toast--Puddings--Eggs--Oysters
and miscellaneous dishes--The outgrowth of experience on a scientific
basis--Healthy food made palatable, suiting the fastidious and
capricious taste of the invalid--Dainty dishes for the sick 286-320
A FAMILIAR LETTER.
TO THE READER FROM THE AUTHOR.
Regulating sex--Various theories--Limiting offspring--Maternal
instinct sovereign in women--Law of ovulation--Law of
continence--Other methods--Effects of tobacco--Testimonials--Reasons
of failure--“Mind cure” a reality 321-350
AUTHOR’S SPECIAL REQUEST 351
GLOSSARY 351
INDEX 357
INDEX OF DIETETICS 364
ILLUSTRATIONS AND EXPLANATION OF PLATES--_See Pocket_.
TOKOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
PAINLESS CHILDBIRTH.
“I know of no country, no tribe, no class, where childbirth is attended
with so much pain and trouble as in this country.” Thus replied
a traveler who had been many years in foreign lands, upon being
interrogated as to the comparative sufferings of savage and civilized
women. His occupation and sympathies had brought him into close
relationship with all classes of people, and therefore fitted him for
an intelligent and discriminating judgment in this matter.
Neither in India, Hindostan, China, Japan, the South Sea Islands, South
America, nor indeed in any country do women suffer in both pregnancy
and parturition as they do in this. Possibly among the higher classes
in Europe there may be equal suffering; but the peasantry everywhere is
comparatively exempt.
The usual testimony of missionaries and travelers is that the squaws
of our own Indian tribes experience almost no suffering in childbirth,
and the function scarcely interferes with the habits, pleasures or
duties of life. I have myself seen a squaw of the Ottawa tribe carrying
her pappoose upon her back, strapped to a board, when it was only
twenty-four hours old.
Mrs. Armstrong, one of the early missionaries in the Sandwich Islands,
says: “With native women the labor was not long nor severe; the mother,
instead of remaining in bed, arose, bathed in cold water, walked and
ate as usual.”
Dr. Storer says: “There is probably no suffering ever experienced which
will compare, in proportion to its extent in time, with the throes of
parturition.” Dr. Meigs says: “Men can not suffer the same pain as
women. What do you call the pains of parturition? There is no name for
them but _agony_!”
It is too true that women _go down to death_ in giving birth to
children. Thousands of women believe that this pain is natural and that
for it there can be no alleviation. “In sorrow shalt thou bring forth
children” is thought to be a _curse_ that applies to all women of all
time.
If this pain and travail is a natural accompaniment of physiological
functions--if it is a _curse_ upon women, then why are the rich, the
enlightened and more favored daughters of earth greater sufferers
than the peasantry, the savage, the barbarian, and those who we call
heathen? Is it not possible, by research and comparison, to learn
the natural and true mode of life, so that motherhood may, among
enlightened people, be relieved from this burden of suffering? May it
not prove that our traditions and teachings upon this subject have been
altogether erroneous?
American women in education and enlightenment, in freedom and progress,
are the peers of the best and noblest of their sex. From individual,
social and national interests, they ought to be conversant with all
that pertains to this subject, so closely allied to the interests of
the race.
We find in women of superior education and marked intelligence an
exaggerated development of the emotional nature, and a corresponding
deterioration of physical powers. Weakness, debility, and suffering
is the common lot of most of them. Not one in a hundred has health
and strength to pursue any chosen study, or to follow any lucrative
occupation, and what is vastly worse, most are unfitted for the duties
and perils of maternity.
Dr. Gaillard Thomas says: “Neither appreciation of, nor desire for,
physical excellence sufficiently exists among refined women of our day.
Our young women are too willing to be delicate, fragile and incapable
of endurance. They dread above all things the glow and hue of health,
the rotundity and beauty of muscularity, the comely shapes which the
great masters gave to the Venus de Medici and Venus de Milo. All these
attributes are viewed as coarse and unladylike, and she is regarded as
most to be envied whose complexion wears the livery of disease, whose
muscular development is beyond the suspicion of _embonpoint_, and whose
waist can almost be spanned by her own hands.
“As a result, how often do we see our matrons dreading the process of
child-bearing, as if it were an abnormal and destructive one; fatigued
and exhausted by a short walk, or ordinary household cares; choosing
houses with special reference to freedom from one extra flight of
stairs, and commonly debarred the one great maternal privilege of
nourishing their own offspring. These are they who furnish employment
for the gynecologist, and who fill our homes with invalids and
sufferers.”
Understanding and following physiological laws, pregnancy _ought_ to
be as free from pathological symptoms, and parturition as void of
suffering with American women as with any on earth, or even with the
lower animals.
Dr. Dewees says: “_Pain in childbirth is a morbid symptom_; it is a
perversion of nature caused by modes of living not consistent with the
most healthy condition of the system, and a regimen which would insure
a completely healthy condition might be counted on with certainty to do
away with such pain.”
The great English scientist, Professor Huxley, says: “We are indeed,
fully prepared to believe that the bearing of children may and _ought_
to become as free from danger and long debility to the civilized woman
as it is to the savage.”
The following paragraphs from one of the essays in Dr. Montgomery’s
classical work on Pregnancy, give practical details of cases in
illustration of the belief in painless parturition.
“In a letter to me Dr. Douglas states that he was called about 6 A. M.,
Sept. 26, 1828, to attend a Mrs. D., residing on Eccles St.
“On his arrival he found the house in the utmost confusion, and was
told that the child had been born before the messenger was dispatched
for the doctor. From the lady herself he learned that, about half an
hour previously, she had been awakened from a natural sleep by the
alarm of a daughter about five years old, who slept with her.
“This alarm was occasioned by the little girl feeling the movements,
and hearing the cries of an infant in bed. To the mother’s great
surprise she had brought forth her child without any consciousness of
the fact.
“A lady of great respectability, the wife of a peer of the realm, was
actually delivered once in her sleep; she immediately awakened her
husband, being alarmed to find one more in bed than there was before.
“I have elsewhere mentioned the case of a patient of mine who bore
eight children without ever having labor pains. Her deliveries were so
sudden and void of sensible effect that in more than one instance they
took place under most awkward circumstances, but without any suffering.”
Dr. J. King, in his work on Obstetrics, speaks of attending cases where
there was no sensation of pain.
He found that by placing the hand upon the abdomen, the muscular
contractions were distinctly felt, and examination proved the progress
of labor, while, excepting a suppressed breath, the patient experienced
no change from the ordinary condition.
Some very marked cases have come to my own knowledge proving the
possibility of painless labor. I attended a neighbor of mine in four
different confinements. I never was able to reach her before the birth
of the child, although I lived only across the street, and according to
her injunctions, always kept my shoes “laced up.” She sent for me, too,
at the first indication of labor. There was always one prolonged effort
and the child was expelled. The heads of her children were temporarily
distorted, showing pliability of the osseous structure.
Another lady patron had two children without a _particle of pain_.
With the first she was alone with her nurse. During the evening she
remarked that she felt weary and believed that she would lie down. She
had been on the bed no more than twenty minutes when she called to her
nurse, saying: “How strangely I feel! I wish you would see what is the
matter,” when to their astonishment the child was already born.
Two years later I was summoned to the same lady about ten at night.
The membranes were ruptured, but no other visible indication of
labor. Investigation revealed dilatation of the cervix and although
she soon fell into a quiet slumber, I noticed regular and distinct
contractions. The child was born about two in the morning _without any
sensation of pain_. I have no doubt that in her previous confinement
the contractions went on the same, and if she had been one to mark
her symptoms closely, she would have felt them as one feels muscular
contractions in the performance of other natural functions.
The cases that have been cited, so far as is known, were persons in
excellent health, and some were persons of exceptionally fine and
strong constitutions. Dr. Holbrook in his “Parturition without Pain,”
says: “Those women of savage nations who bear children without pain
live much in the open air, take much exercise, and are physically
active and healthy to a degree greatly beyond their more civilized
sisters. These instances tend directly to prove that parturition is
likely to be painless in proportion as the mother is physically perfect
and in a sound condition of health. They certainly tend even more
strongly to prove that pain is not an absolute necessity attendant on
parturition.
“The course of modern scientific investigation, moreover, has gone
far to justify a belief that this terrific burden upon humanity can
be almost entirely removed, and that the pain can be as completely
done away with as the danger and disfigurement from small-pox. At the
same time, this immeasurable benefit to humanity cannot be obtained
without _proper use of means_, and the continuance of such use for a
considerable period.
“The doctrine of the ablest thinkers on the subject will be found to
agree in this: That it is the previous life of the mother--_the whole
of it_, from her birth to the birth of the child--which almost entirely
determines what her danger, her difficulty, and her pain during
childbirth shall be. Her easy or difficult labor, in fact, is almost
entirely her own work. Her conduct during gestation, it is true, is
more immediately influential in the result than remoter periods, and
bears more greatly upon the future life of her offspring than even upon
herself.”
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that he believed that any disease,
no matter how virulent, how malignant or how deep-seated, whether it
was cancer, consumption or cholera, any disease could be _cured_ if
the physician was called in time. But with his wonted humor he added:
“There are cases in which the physician should be called at least two
hundred years in advance.”
With Dr. Holmes, I believe it will take many years to eradicate
diseased conditions which are the heritage of this generation, and
thus to produce men and women of physical perfection. Science has
proven, however, that any woman possessing sufficient vitality to make
procreation possible, can do much, even during pregnancy, to alleviate
the sufferings of that period, as well as the final throes of travail.
Pain and suffering have so long been the customary attendant upon the
maternal functions, that many are slow to believe they can ever be
alleviated. Painless childbirth is thought to be an impossibility.
The reader is begged to lay aside all previous prejudices, and it is
believed that when this volume has been thoroughly studied he will be
convinced that women in bearing offspring should furnish no exception
to the laws of nature, and that pregnancy and parturition may and
_ought_ to be devoid of suffering.
In Tokology, technical terms have been avoided as much as possible.
For the few used the reader will find helpful hints in the Glossary,
page 354. If possible, the few remedies prescribed in Tokology should
be procured at a Homœopathic Pharmacy, or of a Homœopathic Physician.
They are, however, sometimes found already prepared in a drug store.
CHAPTER II.
CONCEPTION--FETAL DEVELOPMENT.
THE REPRODUCTIVE APPARATUS of woman consists essentially of ovaries,
oviducts, uterus, vagina and mammary glands.
THE OVARIES (Plates II and VI) are two almond-shaped bodies, situated
about two and one-half inches distant on either side of the uterus.
They are inclosed in the broad ligaments and suspended by a thread-like
cord from the womb, also attached to the outer extremities of the
oviducts. They consist of a stroma in which vesicles are imbedded. It
is within these vesicles that the _ova_, or eggs, are found. Every four
weeks, during the child-bearing period an ovum matures, and bursting
through the vesicle, as well as the surrounding membrane of the ovary,
is conveyed to the womb by the oviduct.
While not the largest, the ovary is the most important of the
generative organs of woman. Upon these apparently insignificant
structures depends the creative power giving the grand office of
motherhood, a power akin to the divine. Maternity! the holiest shrine
of human life, to which poets do homage, and true men bow in reverence!
The ovaries contain the fructifying principle, and also bestow on
woman the characteristics of sex. These mysterious bodies are the
grand source of feminine attractions. Remove all other generative
organs and you do not change her in this regard--remove the ovaries,
and she becomes masculine not only in character but appearance. Her
figure changes, her voice becomes coarse and of lower pitch, her
throat enlarges, and, in some instances, whiskers appear. Any diseased
condition, too, of the ovaries produces great constitutional as well as
emotional disturbances.
THE OVIDUCTS OR FALLOPIAN TUBES (Plates II and VI) are minute
cylindrical openings from the superior and lateral portion of the
uterus, about three inches in length and terminating in fimbriated or
finger-like extremities. The latter are minute muscular bodies, which
grasp the ovum as it bursts through the membranes of the ovary, and
convey it into the oviduct on its way to the uterus. The ovum is less
than ¹⁄₁₂₀ of an inch in diameter, and the cavity of the oviduct is so
small that it would scarcely allow the entrance of a hog’s bristle.
THE UTERUS (Plates II, III, IV, V and VII) is a pear-shaped muscular
organ situated in the inferior portion of the pelvis, between the
bladder and rectum. It is less than three inches length and two inches
in width, and one in thickness. It is pear-shaped, the _cervix_
naturally pointing to the coccyx.
The _canal_ or opening into the _uterus_ through the cervix is small,
capable of admitting a probe ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄ of an inch in diameter. The
walls are muscular, and in the unimpregnated state about half an inch
in thickness. The cavity of the uterus is small and conical, having
three openings, two at its upper portion into the oviducts, and one
into the vagina. The latter is called the _Os uteri_ or mouth of the
womb. The upper broad portion is called the _fundus_. It weighs from
one to two ounces. It is difficult to realize how very diminutive this
organ is in the virgin state, especially when we consider its power of
distension during pregnancy.
The external portion of the uterus is covered by the _peritoneum_, a
serous membrane which is continuous with the lining of the abdomen and
covering of all the viscera. The uterus is held in place by ligaments
formed of folds of the peritoneum. The broad ligament enveloping the
oviduct and ovaries extends to either side, and is firmly attached to
the sides of the pelvis. The round ligaments, formed from obliterated
bloodvessels of fetal life and peritoneal covering, pass from the upper
portion of the womb to the outside of the pelvic bone and terminate in
muscular and cellular tissue beneath the integument. There are also
folds of peritoneum between the womb and bladder in the front, and the
womb and rectum in the back, that assist in holding it in position.
It is besides largely supported by the elasticity of the vagina and
muscles of the perineum. So well sustained is the uterus that only
serious violations of physical laws can cause deviations of position.
THE VAGINA (Plates II and III) is simply the external outlet or passage
from the uterus. It is longer in back than in front, being from three
to four inches in front and from five to six inches in the posterior
portion. It is a cylindrical tube of firm elastic tissue, capable of
great distension. The neck of the _uterus_ dips into the upper part of
the vagina about three-fourths of an inch. The communication between
these organs is the _cervical canal_, which in health is found closed,
admitting a probe with difficulty. The _uterus_ and _vagina_ are not
one and the same as many suppose, yet communicate with each other. The
vagina serves as a passage for the menstrual fluid, for the fetus at
birth, and for the reception of the male organ in copulation, and in a
state of health assists the perineal muscles in sustaining the uterus.
THE MAMMARY GLANDS or breasts (Plate XI) are accessory to the
generative system. They secrete milk which supplies the child with
nourishment after birth. They are rounded and prominent, keeping their
form and position through life, if the surrounding muscles and tissues
have not been weakened by pressure of clothing.
CONCEPTION OR IMPREGNATION takes place by the union of the male sperm
and female germ. Whether this is accomplished in the _ovaries_, the
_oviducts_ or the _uterus_, is still a question of discussion and
investigation by physiologists.
The _ovum_, or egg, matures and is taken up by the fimbriated
extremities of the oviducts at the time of menstruation. To reach the
outer world it must pass the length of the oviducts, the cavity and
canal of the uterus and vagina. The fructifying principle of the semen
consists of zoosperms, which under strong magnifying powers are seen to
be filaments endowed with power of propulsion.
Once entering the uterine cavity there is no reason why they should
not be able to pass into the oviducts or even to reach the ovaries.
The probabilities are impregnation can take place at any point in the
generative tract, providing the ovum and sperms come in contact while
they still live. It is pretty well proven that the ovum after maturing
and being dislodged from the ovaries may retain its life from six to
eight days, and also be that length of time in making its exit from the
uterus. That the sperms are viable, also, for some days, if retained in
their own element at a certain temperature, has been established quite
definitely.
With many women the ovum passes off within twenty-four or forty-eight
hours after menstruation begins. Some, by careful observation, are able
to know with certainty when this takes place. It is often accompanied
with _malaise_, nervousness, headache, or actual uterine pain. A minute
substance like the white of an egg, with a fleck of blood in it, can
frequently be seen upon the clothing. Ladies who have noticed this
phenomenon testify to its recurring very regularly upon the same day
after menstruation. Some delicate women have observed it as late as the
fourteenth day.
NOURISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO.--There are three distinct
periods of nutrition in the uterine development of the human being:
First--Yolk nutrition.
Second--Tuft nutrition.
Third--Placental nutrition.
The period of yolk nutrition in the human is brief and probably
variable. The minute size of the egg renders it impossible for it to
furnish nutriment for any length of time, as is the case with the
embryo of the fowl. From five to eight days after conception takes
place, a membrane is formed around the ovum, called the chorion.
Outside of this is still another membrane attaching itself to the
womb. The internal surface of the chorion is supplied with villi or
tufts resembling mulberry seed. Through these the embryo receives its
nutrition, until at the close of the second month, from these tufts the
_placenta_, or after-birth, begins to be developed. This is attached to
some portion of the uterus, usually the upper lateral portion.
THE PLACENTA is a spongy, vascular organ, at full term eight to ten
inches in diameter, and two or three inches thick at center, thinning
at the edges, weighing from three-fourths to one and one-fourth pounds.
In appearance it is not unlike a piece of liver, only less solid.
It is the proper vascular apparatus serving the combined purpose of
fetal nutrition, respiration and excretion. At least, through its
absorption all these functions are accomplished.
This, with the membranes surrounding the fetus and umbilical cord, is
called the _after-birth_.
The placenta (Plates VIII and IX) lies in complete juxtaposition with
the uterus, with an almost imperceptible membrane interposed. The
fibers and bloodvessels of the uterus and placenta do not interlace, as
some suppose; each has a distinct set of bloodvessels and capillaries,
and a separate circulation. Nutrition and excretion are carried on by
_exosmosis_, or transudation through this very attenuated membrane.
THE FETAL CIRCULATION is an especially interesting phenomenon. Instead
of the blood going to the lungs for oxygenation, the entire circuit is
performed without this, the placenta serving the office of lungs as
well as of the digestive organs.
From the placenta oxidized blood is brought through the umbilical
vein, a large portion of it passing to the liver, but all eventually
enters the heart by the ascending vena cava. By the Eustachian valve it
is directed through the foramen ovale to the left auricle, from this to
the left ventricle, which conveys it to the aorta.
Part of the blood, instead of taking this course, enters the right
ventricle, and in place of going to the lungs through pulmonary
arteries, passes at once to the aorta, through what is called the
ductus arteriosus. After traveling the entire circuit, it is taken back
to the placenta by two umbilical arteries, which are given off from the
iliac arteries.
At birth the _ductus arteriosus_ closes; the umbilical veins form the
round ligament of the liver, and the umbilical arteries the round
ligament of the uterus in the female, and the urachus, a ligament of
the bladder, in the male.
The _foramen ovale_ also closes, establishing a complete septum between
the auricles of the heart.
_A blue baby_ or _cyanosis neonatorum_ is the result should this valve
fail to close. The venous blood commingles with the arterial blood, and
death is the result sooner or later.
THE UMBILICAL CORD is made up of two arteries and one vein. It is from
two to four feet in length, attached at one extremity to the placenta,
and at the other to the navel of the child. This is the medium of the
circulation between the placenta and the fetus.
The _membranes_ all unite before birth to form one thick, tenacious
covering for the child, and also for the cord and fetal surface of the
placenta.
This incloses the fluid--the _liquor amnii_--which serves to protect
the fetus from blows or sudden jars. The membranes and the contained
fluid form what is known as the “bag of waters.” Not rupturing before
birth, they make what is called a _veil_ or _caul_ over the child’s
face, to which is attached various superstitions, such as the gift of
“second sight,” clairvoyance, etc.
HEALTHY NUTRITION of the _fetus_ depends entirely upon the mother. The
placenta not only represents the digestive organs, but the lungs of
the _fetus_. Consequently upon the condition of the mother depends the
condition of the child. It has no other means of getting nutriment, or
of disposing of waste material. After birth it has the same advantage
as the adult in correcting errors in diet and nutrition by elimination.
The skin, with its miles of perspiratory ducts, then conveys effete
matter from the system, the lungs keep up by respiration a constant
interchange of oxygen for carbon, while the liver, kidneys and bowels
are active in their functions of depurition. _In utero_ these functions
are all dormant, consequently giving the fetus a disadvantage for
healthy growth. Mothers often show a great solicitude about diet and
conditions during lactation, while they are comparatively indifferent
to these matters during pregnancy.
Especially should they breathe deeply, and that, too, of pure air.
Trall says: “If the mother does not breathe sufficiently the child
must suffer. Many a mother gives birth to a frail, scrofulous child,
for no reason except that during the period of gestation she is too
sedentary and plethoric. I have known women of vigorous constitutions,
who had given birth to several healthy children, become the mothers of
children so puny and scrofulous that it was impossible for them to be
raised to adult age. The reason is that the mother is obstructed in her
respiratory system, and although she may breathe enough to sustain her
own organization in a fair condition, she does not inhale oxygen enough
to supply the needs of an intra-uterine being. Many ‘still births’ are
explainable on this principle.”
THE DURATION OF PREGNANCY is nine calendar months or ten lunar months,
about 280 days. If the date of impregnation is not known, the _count_
should be made from the beginning of the last menstruation, and add
eight days on account of the possibility of its occurring within that
period. It is possible in some diseased conditions for the period to
extend much beyond this time. I knew one case of amniotic dropsy where
pregnancy extended forty-four weeks.
Helen Idleson, M. D., in the _Med. Wochenschrift_, sums up the results
of her investigations as follows: “1. The duration of pregnancy amounts
to 278 days, or nearly 40 weeks. 2. The sex of the infant influences
the duration, this being longer in female infants. (?) 3. The heavier
the child, the longer is the duration. (?) 4. The duration is longer in
multipara than in primipara. 5. The younger the woman the longer is the
duration. 6. The duration is longer in married than in unmarried women.
7. The first movements of the child are felt, on an average, on the one
hundred and thirty-fifth day, but later in primipara than in multipara.
“The _growth of the embryo_ after fecundation is very rapid. On the
_tenth_ day it has the appearance of a semi-transparent, grayish
flake. On the _twelfth_ day it is nearly the size of a pea, filled
with fluid, in the middle of which is an opaque spot, presenting
the first appearance of an embryo, which may be clearly seen as an
oblong or curved body, and is plainly visible to the naked eye on
the _fourteenth_ day. The _twenty-first_ day the embryo resembles an
ant or a lettuce-seed; its length is from four to five lines and its
weight from three to four grains. Many of its parts now begin to show
themselves, especially the cartilaginous beginnings of the spinal
column, the heart, etc.
“The _thirtieth_ day the embryo is as large as a horse-fly, and
resembles a worm, bent together. There are as yet no limbs, and the
head is larger than the rest of the body. When stretched out it is
nearly half an inch long. Toward the _fifth_ week the heart increases
greatly in proportion to the remainder of the body, and the rudimentary
eyes are indicated by two black spots turned toward the sides, and the
heart exhibits its external form, bearing a close resemblance to that
in the adult.
“In the _seventh_ week bone begins to form in the lower jaw and
clavicle. Narrow streaks on each side of the vertebral column show the
beginning of the ribs. The heart is perfecting its form, the brain
enlarging and the eyes and ears growing more perfect, and the limbs
sprouting from the body. The lungs are mere sacs, about one line in
length, and the trachea is a delicate thread, but the liver is very
large. In the seventh week are formed the renal capsules and kidneys.
“At _two months_ the forearm and hand can be distinguished, but not
the arm; the hand is larger than the forearm, but it is not supplied
with fingers. The distinction of sex is yet difficult. The eyes
are prominent. The nose forms an obtuse eminence. The nostrils are
rounded and separated. The mouth is gaping and the epidermis can be
distinguished from the true skin. The embryo is from one and a half to
two inches long and weighs from three to five drachms, the head forming
more than one-third of the whole.
“At the end of _three months_ the eyelids are distinct but shut; the
lips are drawn together; the forehead and nose are clearly traceable,
and the organs of generation prominent. The heart beats with force, the
larger vessels carry red blood; the fingers and toes are well-defined,
and muscles begin to be developed.
“At the _fourth_ month the embryo takes the name of _fetus_. The body
is six to eight inches in length and weighs from seven to eight ounces.
The skin has a rosy color, and the muscles produce a sensible _motion_.
A fetus born at this time might live several hours.
“At _five_ months the length of the body is from eight to ten inches,
and its weight from eight to eleven ounces.
“At _six_ months the length is twelve and a half inches; weight, one
pound. The hair appears upon the head, the eyes closed, the eyelids
somewhat thicker, and their margins, as well as the eyebrows, are
studded with very delicate hairs.
“At _seven_ months, every part has increased in volume and perfection;
the bony system is nearly complete; length, twelve to fourteen inches;
weight, two and a half to three pounds. If born at this period the
fetus is able to breathe, cry and nurse, and may live if properly cared
for.
“At _eight_ months, the _fetus_ seems to grow rather in length than in
thickness; it is only sixteen to eighteen inches long and yet weighs
from four to five pounds. The skin is very red, and covered with down
and a considerable quantity of sebaceous matter. The lower jaw, which
at first was very short, is now as long as the upper one.
“Finally, at _term_ the fetus is about nineteen to twenty-three inches
long, and weighs from six to nine pounds. The red blood circulates in
the capillaries, and the skin performs the functions of perspiration;
the nails are fully developed.”
There is a superstition that a child born at eight months is not as
liable to live as if born at seven months; indeed, many suppose that
an eight months’ child never survives. Facts do not prove this idea
correct.
Personally I have known several eight months’ babies to live and do
well, and I believe that their chance of life is much greater than if
born at seven months.
POSITION OF THE FETUS.--The fetus usually lies with the head downward,
the chin resting upon the breast. The feet are bent in front of the
legs, the latter flexed upon the thighs. The knees are separated from
each other, but the heels lie close together on the back of the thighs;
the arms are crossed upon the breast, so placed that the chin can rest
upon the hands.
In this way it forms an oval, whose longest diameter is about eleven
inches. This is the usual position, yet it often varies from it.
CHAPTER III.
PREGNANCY--SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS.
THE SIGNS OF PREGNANCY are physiological and pathological;
physiological, those common to all women; pathological, those which are
the result of and accompany diseased conditions.
Of the physiological, the four principal ones are cessation of
menstruation, increase of size, quickening, and the fetal heart beat.
CESSATION OF MENSTRUATION in a married woman may ordinarily be
considered a sign that conception has taken place. Yet suppression
may be the result of cold, of inflammation, of some chronic uterine
diseases, more especially dropsy or tumors, also of any slow, wasting
disease like scrofula, consumption and diarrhea.
Occasionally, too, women menstruate during the entire time of
gestation. This, without doubt, is an abnormal condition, and should be
remedied, as disastrous consequences may result. Also, women have been
known to bear children who have never menstruated.
Pregnancy seldom takes place where menstruation has never occurred, yet
it frequently happens that women never menstruate from one pregnancy
to another. In these cases this symptom is ruled out for diagnostic
purposes.
INCREASE OF SIZE begins to be experienced at about the third month,
when the uterus enlarges and rises above the brim of the pelvis. Any
enlargement previous to this time must be due to bloating, flatulence
or excess of fat, to which some are inclined in gestation. This
sign, taken alone, can not be relied upon as diagnostic. It may be
occasioned by various causes, and often accompanies the very same
conditions attending menstrual suppression. Instances occur in every
town and neighborhood where women have made elaborate preparations for
confinement, only to be disappointed by finding they were suffering
from some serious disease causing suppression.
QUICKENING.--The involuntary movements of the child occur from the
eighteenth to the twentieth week. Sometimes these motions begin as
early as the third month, and then are a feeble fluttering only,
causing disagreeable sensations of faintness and nausea. The “motion”
of the child is regarded by women, especially if they have previously
borne children, as an unfailing sign. But cases are common where the
throbbing in a tumor, or the peristaltic action accompanying flatulence
has been mistaken for fetal movements.
Unless the _motion_ is very marked, quick, elastic and distinct, it
alone cannot be relied upon as a diagnostic symptom. Taken together
with other signs it aids both physician and patient to a positive
conclusion.
THE FETAL HEART BEAT.--The sign by which physicians can with certainty
determine pregnancy is by noting the difference between the beating of
the fetal and maternal hearts. The ordinary pulse of a woman is from
70 to 80 per minute, while that of the fetus is from 120 to 140.
Auscultation through a stethoscope will reveal this fact, and thus give
a certain diagnosis. If it is a throbbing or pulsating in a tumor it
would be synchronous with the maternal cardiac action. This symptom
is not of much value till after the fourth month. By that time, if a
physician’s ear is educated to fine discriminations, he will never make
a mistake in his diagnosis.
I can not leave this subject without urging upon women the necessity
of educating their own fingers to judge of the heart’s actions by the
radial pulse. Get your physician to tell you and study in your books
the meaning of a quick, a throbbing, a slow, a weak, feeble or wiry
pulse. It is one of the surest guides to abnormal conditions, and is a
great aid to nurses in the administration of remedial measures, besides
often determining the necessity of medical aid. In my _conversations_
with women, often in an audience of one hundred ladies, I find none who
know even the frequency of the normal pulse.
The enlargement of the breasts at about the third month, the secretion
of a fluid in them, also the darkening of the areola around the nipples
are of frequent or usual attendance upon gestation--but not always;
consequently of themselves can not be taken as diagnostic symptoms.
THE PATHOLOGICAL symptoms are more numerous. Indeed, almost any symptom
accompanying any disease may attend gestation. This is a sad reflection
upon our enlightened civilization. Were it not for this, Tokology would
have no special mission. The facts now are that with most American
women the 280 days of pregnancy are days of disease and suffering.
The inconvenience, the discomfort and the pains attendant upon this
condition, together with the dread of the final throes of travail,
transform this period, which should be one of hope, of cheerfulness,
of exalted pleasure, into days of suffering, wretchedness, and direful
forebodings. It is one long night-mare, and child-bearing is looked
upon as a curse and not a blessing. Motherhood is robbed of its
divinest joys.
Dr. Cowan says: “The period of pregnancy should be one of increased
health, rather than increased disorders. The mother who has hitherto
led a true life, will, during this period, experience an exhilaration
of spirits, a redundancy of health and cheerfulness of mind that is not
to be enjoyed at any other time.” Alas! how few have this experience.
Ordinarily pregnancy is classed both by physicians and women among
the diseases. Physical sufferings and mental agonies are the common
accompaniments of the condition. Murderous intent fills the mother’s
heart, and the fearful crime of feticide is daily committed.
Do physicians offer any relief for this state of things? It is a
lamentable fact that most do not. In one of my conversational lectures
a lady testified that for seven months before her child was born she
never knew one hour’s relief from nausea--that she was not conscious
of retaining any nourishment upon her stomach, and that no day elapsed
without vomiting blood. No words can describe her sufferings through
all those dreadful weeks, even up to the hour of delivery. She
consulted three different physicians, and each one told her nothing
could be done except to wait for “nature’s relief.” She went home in
despair and suffered to the end. When she heard the theories I teach,
with suppressed emotion she exclaimed: “Thank God for the hope you
give. To my dying day I shall use my feeble voice to promulgate these
truths, that others may not grope in the valley as I have done.”
Yes, women can be saved much suffering even during pregnancy. If they
study this work intelligently, practicing the precepts therein given,
they will ever be thankful for the light and hope obtained.
CHAPTER IV.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY--INDIGESTION--NAUSEA, ETC.
The most common ailments of pregnancy are dyspepsia, nausea, vomiting,
constipation, headache, heartburn, flatulence, salivation, diarrhœa,
piles, greedy appetite, loss of appetite, longings, neuralgia,
toothache, cramps, swellings of the extremities, pain in the side,
insomnia, drowsiness, palpitation of the heart, leucorrhœa, pruritus,
etc.
INDIGESTION OR DYSPEPSIA is the most frequent complaint afflicting the
human family. It is at the foundation of almost every other disease,
many of the above symptoms of pregnancy being attendant upon and caused
by it. Men and women in every station of life are more or less subject
to it; few are entirely exempt. “A good digestion turneth all to
health.” Indigestion is usually attributed entirely to a failure of the
stomach to perform its functions. The term is also applied to a defect
in any of the assimilative operations throughout the digestive tract.
The limits of this work will not permit a dissertation upon these
processes and their abnormal conditions.
In passing, however, let me say while there are many causes of
dyspepsia, there is no one more potent than the common attempt to
nourish the body from food which cannot be digested in the stomach.
The principal articles upon which the acid gastric juice has no effect
are starch and fats. They can be rendered soluble in alkaline fluids
only, which are the saliva, pancreatic juice and the bile. By partaking
of the starch and fats to excess, the stomach is overtaxed in expelling
them, besides which the body fails to get elements of nutrition in
proper proportions from them.
The natural food of the infant contains no starch, the carbonates of
milk being sugar and butter. Usually the first solid food given to a
child contains little else but starch, such as bread from white flour,
and potatoes, rendered more indigestible by the addition of butter and
rich gravies. These are lacking in nitrogenous and saline products,
consequently the muscles, bones and nerves may not be nourished.
A substitution of the products of the entire wheat, barley, oats and
other grains would obviate this difficulty, and lessen the frightful
mortality of children. Dr. Bellows says: “So perfectly ignorant are
people generally of the laws of nature that they give their pigs the
food which their children need to develop muscle and brain, and give
their children what their pigs need to develop fat. For example, the
farmer separates from milk the muscle-making and brain-feeding nitrates
and phosphates, and gives them to his pigs in the form of buttermilk,
while the fattening carbonates he gives to his children in butter. He
sifts out the bran and outer crust from the wheat, which contains the
nitrates and phosphates, and gives them also to his pigs and cattle,
while the fine flour containing little else than heating carbonates,
he gives to his children. Cheese, which contains the concentrated
nutriment of milk, is seldom seen on our tables, while butter, which
contains not a particle of food for brain or muscle, is on every table
at all times of day.”
Cheese, when digested, furnishes more muscle-feeding properties than
any other food, and hence is desirable for working men, and all people
engaged in out-door pursuits, but should be taken as food, not as a
relish only.
The elements digested in the stomach are fibrine (its type found in
lean meat), albumen, casein, gluten of the grains, and the nitrogenous
principles of fruits and vegetables.
These are the elements that build up the muscles, while the
carbonaceous elements, such as sugar, starch and fats, by combination
with oxygen, furnish animal heat. Too much of the latter tend to
produce inflammatory conditions, and should be partaken of moderately
by all people who do not lead an active out-door life.
The pregnant woman, however, is especially liable to suffer from the
multiform miseries of dyspepsia. Her nervous organization is peculiarly
sensitive at this time. Many symptoms are also caused by reflex action
from the gravid uterus upon the sympathetic ganglia which control the
alimentary processes.
MORNING SICKNESS.--Nausea, with or without vomiting, occurs
so frequently in pregnancy that most women think it a natural
accompaniment of their condition, relying upon it as a diagnostic
symptom. It may begin the day following conception, but usually
appears from the sixth to the eighth week. It is unlike nausea which
accompanies biliousness, fevers, the effect of drugs, or even
sea-sickness. It is a nausea that one feels from the crown of the head
to the soles of the feet; one is “sick to the stomach” all over.
Asking the cause of this, ninety-nine out of a hundred aver they
believe it to be natural, and more than all, not to be avoided.
Besides, the _grandmother_ of the neighborhood has told them that on
account of this, the child will be more healthy, and the delivery
easier. Facts do not bear her out in either assertion.
_The real causes_ are to be sought in the violation of physical laws,
in dress, diet, exercise, etc. The conditions are, first, an irritation
in the womb caused by some existing derangement, which by sympathetic
or reflex action is communicated to the stomach, and second, that state
commonly called biliousness.
The whole body is supplied with nerves distributed from the brain and
spinal column. Besides these, ganglia of sympathetic nerves communicate
with all nerves and with each other, being so interlaced that almost
every part of the body is in communication with every other part. It is
really a complete system of telegraphy. Both the uterus and stomach are
remarkable in their supply of nerves, and any disturbance in the former
is instantly conveyed to the latter.
It is not unusual that an inflammation or displacement of the womb
gives no local symptoms--but by reflex action there are headaches,
indigestion, neuralgia, and various ailments. So, of the gravid
uterus, if from any existing local disease or any cause in the system,
it does not take kindly to its new function, and derangement in the
organ ensues, instead of causing local pain and distress it will be
communicated to other organs, most frequently to the stomach, producing
nausea, vomiting, as well as often acute suffering.
What is _biliousness_? Ladies, you know the condition to which you
apply this term. Frequent headaches, aversion to food, aching of the
bones, languid, sleepy and tired feeling. You get up in the morning
weary, cross, irritable, out of sorts with everybody, and everybody
retaliates by being out of sorts with you. What has happened in the
human organism? What do you understand by biliousness? Listen to the
answers. One says, “It is an overflow of bile,” others, “Too much
bile,” “The liver don’t act,” “The bile has reverted back to the
blood,” “The bile is secreted by the stomach,” “Too high living,” etc.
Dr. Dio Lewis says: “Biliousness is piggishness.” My habit has been
to define it simply as _overfeeding_. At least, the elements of the
bile are in the blood in excess of the power of the liver to eliminate
them. This may be caused by either inaction of the organ itself, or
superabundance of the materials from which the bile is made. Being thus
retained the system is burdened, or to use a homely but expressive
phrase, is _clogged_. To produce this, food may be too great in
quantity, or too rich in quality. Especially is it caused by the
excessive use of fats and sweets. How does this biliousness produce
nausea in the pregnant woman, and why does it show itself in this way,
when she was comparatively well previous to this condition?
In the new process of gestation the whole system is roused to action,
and nature makes an effort to relieve the organs of all foreign or
_bilious_ matter. Her first means to produce this result is by nausea
and vomiting. Many women have an attack of bilious fever, more or less
severe, in the first months of pregnancy.
Three causes may induce this state of the system: food which is too
nutritive or too abundant; lack of exercise conducive to normal action
in the assimilative organs; and clothing that in any way restricts this
action. At any time, the bands and corsets so universally comprising a
part of woman’s dress are injurious, because they restrict the action
of the liver and other organs, but they are doubly deleterious when
there is a natural increase in size. The direct pressure of the viscera
upon the uterus will also produce irritation in that organ.
I was spending a few days with an old friend who was four months
advanced in pregnancy. She had had no unpleasant symptoms. One day as
we were on the street walking, she was suddenly seized with vomiting.
Trying to investigate the cause, I asked her if she wore the dress she
was accustomed to. “No,” she said; “I have not had this on for months,
and it is too tight.” She loosened it under her cloak, when the symptom
disappeared.
In the last months of pregnancy, vomiting is often caused by pressure
of the enlarged uterus upon the stomach. This cannot occur where the
natural figure has always been unquestionably preserved.
One potent cause of morning sickness is the habit of entering upon the
sexual relation frequently during gestation. By this means a hyperæmia
in the reproductive organs as well as exhaustion of the nerve supply
is produced. By reflex action nausea is the result. Incalculable
benefits would be derived if married people imitated the lessons of
lower animals in this matter--thereby conserving all forces for the
benefit of offspring.
TREATMENT FOR MORNING SICKNESS.--If inflammation or ulceration of the
uterus is chronic, one can not expect to overcome the nausea entirely
in a short time (Chap. XXI.)
IN THE CASE OF BILIOUSNESS, a plain, light diet with plenty of acid
fruits, avoiding _fats_ and _sweets_, will ameliorate if not remove it.
Don’t force the appetite. Let _hunger_ demand food. In the morning the
sensitiveness of the stomach may be relieved by taking before rising
a cup of hot water, hot milk, hot lemonade, rice or barley water,
selecting according to preference. For this purpose many find coffee
made from browned wheat or corn the best drink. Depend for a time upon
liquid food that can be taken up by absorbents.
The juice of lemons and other acid fruits is usually grateful, and
assists in assimilating any excess in nutriment. These may be diluted
according to taste. With many, an egg lemonade proves relishing and
acceptable.
IN BILIOUSNESS, with or without nausea, hot fomentations in the region
of the stomach and liver, for an hour once or twice a day, followed by
tepid bathing and hand friction will be found invaluable.
WARM OR HOT ENEMAS are exceedingly beneficial. In order to be
effectual, follow minutely these directions. Place in a Fountain
Syringe two or three quarts of soft water as warm as can be taken. A
tablespoon of salt will make it more effective. Suspend the reservoir
as high as the hose will allow. Lie upon the right side with knees
flexed. Introduce the long rectal tube, or what is better for many, the
vaginal tube far enough in the rectum to pass the internal sphincter
muscle. It ought to enter three or four inches. Let the water pass into
the bowels slowly, having them manipulated upward by an attendant,
especially making passes up the right side.
This causes the water to pass through the ileocæcal valve from the
large to the small intestines. Once in the latter, it is taken up by
the capillaries of the portal vein, and more or less of it conveyed to
the liver. This stimulates a secretion of bile and it is not unusual
for five or six free evacuations to follow. It is quite as effectual
as an active purgative without any poisonous results of the drug.
This enema should be retained from twenty minutes to half an hour.
It is also much more efficacious when preceded by the use of a hot
fomentation over the liver. This injection is an exceedingly valuable
remedial agent both in acute and chronic difficulties. By its use in
sick headache, bilious colic, congestions in the stomach or abdominal
viscera, the physician’s visit and fee will often be saved.
The exercises recommended in Chap. V, for constipation, are invaluable
for biliousness.
Before closing this chapter, let me repeat and emphasize, “_Do not
force the appetite._” Food which neither relishes nor digests will
do more harm than good. Tradition and prejudice have all conspired
to so engrave in your being that you must not only eat, but _stuff_,
because you are eating for two, that both you and your friends think
food _must_ be taken at all hazards. So, what is your custom? You
rise in the morning sick and disgusted. The very _smell_ of food is
intolerable. Still you sit at the table instead of getting away from
it, and eat probably beefsteak and hot bread, washed down by a cup of
coffee. Of course you must take what is the most nourishing! These are
scarcely swallowed until you have proofs that so much provision is
wasted.
By nine o’clock you make another attempt. You go to the pantry, find
some cold chicken, a piece of lemon pie, and a pickle. But no, the
stomach refuses these. At eleven o’clock a confidential friend calls.
She commiserates you, and knows that both you and the fetus will
starve. She goes to her own larder, brings you a piece of pound cake,
some custard and jelly; possibly a piece of mince pie. Do these share
the same fate? Perhaps not. Her cheery laugh and neighborly sympathy,
and the more propitious time of day, make it possible for this to
be retained. But pause, my friend. Has the blood received the best
nutriment for building a healthy organization for yourself or child?
Very little, if any extra food is essential to nourish the fetus,
especially the first few weeks of pregnancy. The total average increase
of weight is less than one-half an ounce a day, and one-fourth of this
would be an approximate estimate for the first three months. It can
readily be seen that simply the suppression of the menses would give
nearly, if not quite, all the extra nutriment for the first few weeks,
at least. Appropriate food, and the proper conditions for assimilation
are far more important than increase in quantity.
CHAPTER V.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY.--CONSTIPATION.
CONSTIPATION OF THE BOWELS is not only a frequent attendant upon
pregnancy, but is a common ailment of both men and women. From year to
year this symptom is on the increase, until fully nine-tenths of the
American women and one-half of the men are afflicted with it.
Every person should have a free, soluble, satisfactory evacuation of
the bowels daily. In pregnancy especially, _not for one day_ should
constipation be allowed.
Constipation is usually the first notice of bodily derangement, and may
be the precursor of a chronic state of ill health. The approach, too,
of this affection may be insidious, existing when the subject is not
aware of it. The evacuations may be regular, yet not sufficiently free
and copious to be compatible with health.
The slightest torpidity of the bowels results in retention of residual
matter, which becomes reabsorbed into the system, acting as a foreign
and poisonous substance. Other organs of elimination must, on this
account, be overtaxed, in the vain attempt to overcome the obstruction.
The urine becomes thick, turbid and highly colored, if not offensive.
The skin emits an offensive odor and sooner or later becomes dry
and scaly. The surface, from obstruction of the pores and venous
capillaries, is alternately hot and cold, making the person sensitive
to drafts and changes in temperature. The lungs must do double duty and
the breath is loaded with offensive exhalations. Here is the beginning
of most cases of catarrh, bronchitis and phthisis. Indeed, there is no
disease of the human organism which may not be traced to constipation.
What are the principal causes of constipation?
Mainly sedentary habits, errors in diet, overtaxed brains, the use of
cathartics, and in women _errors in dress_.
Many persons, even some authors upon the subject, consider that
constipation is the result of torpidity of the liver only, causing a
lack of bile furnished for diluent purposes. While this is frequently
the case, still there may be a diminution in the pancreatic juice as
well as in the secretions peculiar to the intestines, causing a lack of
moisture in the excrement.
There may, too, be lack of bulk in the residual matter to be acted upon
by the fluids and impelled by the muscular coats of the intestines;
which, again in their turn may want power to perform their peculiar
function. In a _sedentary life_ the weakness of these muscles is
enhanced and respiratory power is lacking. All processes of digestion
depend upon deep breathing, which stimulates action in the abdominal
viscera. Any exercise that tones or develops the involuntary muscles
of breathing is an incalculable adjuvant to all the functions of the
body. The person of sedentary habits not only loses the advantage
of exercise, but is usually engaged in some occupation that gives
great strain upon the nervous organization. This takes away the nerve
stimulant so essential to assimilative processes. Dr. James H. Jackson,
in his admirable treatise upon constipation, in speaking of the effects
of _occupation_, says:
“It is not the man or woman who lives regularly, eats temperately, and
exercises the brain moderately, or even severely, if the habits are
correct, and sufficient out-door air and exercise are had to oxygenize
the blood and keep up muscular tone; it is not the muscle-worker,
the agriculturist, the mechanic, the machinist; it is not the maid
of all work, as a general thing. It is the brain-worker--the lawyer,
merchant, doctor, banker, minister, teacher; it is the man who sits in
his office or works in his store or shop in poor air and light, having
little or no muscular exercise, who constantly thinks, is anxious,
worried, careworn, a victim of the intense competition and excitement
which modern business life imposes; it is the wife and mother who
lives in the house all day, who is continually worried by household
cares and anxieties, who is _socially_ taxed and excited; it is she
who idles away her time, passing it in in-door indolence, who dresses
unphysiologically, eats badly, feeds upon sensational literature, and
lives under the reign of her emotional and passional nature; it is the
poor factory girl or seamstress, plodding away through weary days,
in stifling air and on starvation diet, as of baker’s bread and tea,
debarred from all out-door recreation; or the school teacher who barely
earns her living, though she works brain and nerves, almost daily, to
the point of exhaustion. In these classes, subject to unphysiological
habits of work, want of recreation, unfavorable surroundings,
irregularity in eating, sleeping, etc.--more from lack of knowledge
than from necessity--are found the victims.”
IMPROPER FOOD, prominent in the causes of constipation, poisons rather
than nourishes the body, inducing congestion of the alimentary canal by
the irritation set up.
Highly seasoned food and stimulating drinks excite extra secretions
when first taken, but the reaction or secondary effect of the
overstrain is torpor, and consequently absence of secretion. Notably,
too, we have the same effect from aperient drugs. Even the too free
and constant use of salt causes a dryness of the intestinal canal,
probably from the fact of its stimulating power. Nature daily attests
this statement by the demand for drink after partaking of salted meats,
fish, etc.
Food lacking in elements of nerve nutrition proves constipating;
foods that are too concentrated are usually those that are highly
carbonaceous, notably _fats_ and _sweets_, as well as those abounding
in starch. In these the insufficient residue fails to furnish the
needed volume to fecal matter. The absence of water, too, furnished
by vegetables and fruits, causes a dryness of the contents of the
intestinal canal, which of itself is an impediment to their onward
passage through the bowels.
Of these carbonaceous foods, pastry, cakes, hot bread and white flour
bread stand prominent. As elsewhere stated, hot breads, starch, and all
of the fats do not digest in the acid fluid of the stomach. Passing
into the duodenum the alkaline bile and pancreatic juice emulsify and
liquify them. If the quantity of these substances taken be too great
there will be much the same result as the soap-maker gets when he
puts in his kettle too much fat for his lye. The substances are not
dissolved, and can not be taken up by the villi of the intestines for
nutrition, and a concentrated mass lacking residuum passes into the
excrement.
The prevalent, if not foolish fashion of using only bolted or white
flour for bread, a flour abounding in starch and lacking in gluten,
is largely the cause of indigestion and constipation. The gluten lies
next the bran and contains the nitrates and phosphates which digest in
the stomach and feed muscles, brain and nerves, while the bran itself
furnishes residuum for fecal matter.
Another factor especially answerable for the recent increase of
constipation, is the prevalent use of baking powder. This makes a
beautiful, light, friable and delicious bread, requiring but little
time or care in its preparation. If adulterated with alum, astringent
effects follow. Even in a pure powder, we have an acid and an alkali,
which, after chemical union has taken place, leaves a residual salt
that has a depressing influence upon the nervous system. A sensitive
person not accustomed to the use of bread from yeast powder, even if
eaten cold, will in a few hours feel depressing influences, upon both
mind and body.
Dr. Beaumont, who had the privilege of watching the process of
digestion in the stomach of Alexis St. Martin, tells us that “hot bread
does not dissolve in the fluids of the stomach.” This is owing to the
presence of carbonic acid gas in the bread, and to the fact that it
is not friable, consequently becoming an insoluble, doughy mass that
can not be permeated by the gastric fluid. Of course it passes in this
state into the intestines, and much of it must become waste material.
It is estimated that 8,000,000 lbs. of baking powder is used annually
in the United States alone. What wonder is it that dyspepsia and
constipation are on the increase!
Fat meats, dried and salted meats, are constipating. Fresh poultry has
a like effect. There are few persons who do not remember the old time
practice of arresting the action of a cathartic drug by the use of a
chicken broth.
Eggs and milk are constipating to many. The latter is especially so
if boiled or if the two articles are combined in custards, puddings,
etc. Among the vegetables, beans (dried) are constipating. This,
however, is largely the result of the mode of preparation. They may
not be sufficiently cooked, and the fat incorporated with them renders
them indigestible. Cheese is constipating to many, also chocolate and
cocoa. Of the fruits, blackberries and raspberries are constipating,
especially if the seeds are taken. More than any other articles of
diet, these induce and aggravate hemorrhoids.
Any of the above mentioned foods may not prove constipating when eaten
with a mixed diet.
THE ERRORS IN DRESS conducive to torpid bowels, are lack of covering
to the extremities, and excess of clothing in the abdominal region,
thus favoring congestion of the vital organs. Garments that are tight
and improperly supported restrict respiration, infringe upon all the
digestive organs, and impede the circulation.
When women are freed from the trammels of dress, they will have taken a
long stride toward freedom from invalidism. Is it Utopian to hope that
it will also aid in giving them both political and social freedom?
A very common means taken to overcome constipation only increases it
and renders it less amenable to common sense treatment, and that is the
prevalent use of _cathartic drugs_. “They all depend for effect upon
a certain quality they possess of exciting secretion and peristaltic
activity. Of course they do this through the nervous system, few if
any of them being mechanical in their action, but accomplishing their
results by stimulating the nervous system to extra effort. In doing
this, they necessarily exhaust the source of supply; for the tendency
of all stimulation is to induce exhaustion as the consequence of
unnatural exhibitions of nervous force. Persons using these so-called
remedies--laxatives, cathartics, and purgatives--thus securing
temporarily the movement of the bowels, find that after their use it is
more difficult to secure natural passages, and that the dose must be
increased to produce any effect. Meantime the continued use of these
drugs not only exhausts nervous force, but often creates inflammation
of mucous surfaces, disturbing digestion, and poisoning the blood.”
This is more especially true of the saline cathartics.
Such cases are much more rationally, comfortably and effectively
treated by the use of enemas. (Chap. IV).
Pregnancy aggravates or causes constipation, by reflex nervous action
from an irritable uterus or mechanically by pressure of fetus upon the
colon or rectum.
Other causes of this difficulty will be thought of--such as excessive
exercise, violent emotions, as anger, grief, etc., wounds in any part
of the body, irregularity in meals, late suppers, eating between meals,
etc., etc. Practically it is not essential to enter into details in
regard to them. No matter what the cause, all will experience benefit
in adhering to the following hints upon the
TREATMENT OF CONSTIPATION.--First ascertain the cause or causes, and
remove them. One might as well expect to cure a burn, while pouring
scalding water upon it, as to cure torpid bowels if the cause remains.
Every person should establish the habit of
REGULARITY IN SECURING EVACUATIONS.--The nervous system acts under the
law of periodicity to a large degree in controlling the functional
operations of the body. This tendency should not only be generally
heeded, but utilized in regulating the bowels. A little intelligent
care will generally secure a call for defecation at a specified
time, which may be established to suit convenience, and which once
established, should not be allowed to pass, except for the most urgent
reasons.
The number of evacuations per day will vary with the quality and amount
of food consumed, and the vocation and temperament of the person.
If two evacuations each day is the rule, then one should be after
breakfast and the second shortly before the regular retiring hour for
the night. If only one evacuation each day is the habit of the person,
then if convenient, let it be the hour before retiring, unless a
satisfactory habit is already fixed at some other hour. There are few
things that promote good, sound, refreshing sleep, like a thorough
emptying of the bowels before going to bed.
If one would _prevent_ constipation and its evils, this practice should
be heeded; and if one would _cure_ constipation, it should be enforced
in connection with any other necessary measures, as follows: “Go to the
closet at the appointed hour, sit for a few minutes, gently straining
to effect a passage. The practice of forcing an evacuation by severe
muscular effort is all wrong, and should never be indulged. Far better
take an enema of water if necessary. The practice of sitting long at
stool is also to be condemned. The bowels may be made lazy in this way,
and it leads to waste of time, and to hemorrhoids. If not successful,
go till next day at the stated hour if you comfortably can; then try
again, and if you do not succeed, take an enema of water sufficient to
produce the desired movement. The next day repeat this effort at the
given time, and so continue.”
I am more and more convinced that _all_ straining should be avoided.
When the bowels do not move readily, wait a few moments passively for
_nature’s call_, avoiding all anxiety in the matter. Should this method
fail, then, by will power, press the sphincter muscles back by short,
quick, and repeated movements. This will lubricate the rectum, force
back the feces, and shortly after result in a satisfactory discharge of
the bowels. A little practice will bring these muscles under complete
control, and by this means a habit of constipation may be cured. This
same course is also found very beneficial for piles.
Other simple measures will overcome constipation, especially if of
recent origin or of mild form. Drinking one or two glasses of cold soft
water before breakfast is often sufficient. Some eat ice for the same
purpose. These are diluents, besides acting upon the nerves producing
contractile effects of the muscular coats of the digestive tract.
With others, eating a raw apple or orange before breakfast is
sufficient. Drinking a glass of water, into which a tablespoonful of
bran has been stirred, is very efficacious for some. A lady in Iowa had
had very obstinate constipation for years. Allopathic and homeopathic
remedies had no effect. Exercise and the strictest hygienic living
seemed equally of no avail. If, however, before eating her breakfast,
she would eat half a cup of bran stirred in water or milk, the desired
result would be obtained. This affords _residuum_ for the alimentary
canal, as well as mechanical stimulus to the mucous coat.
In long standing, obstinate cases, these simple remedies will not
suffice. There must be an entire and radical change in diet as well as
other rational measures used to overcome the conditions.
Our native wheat meets the need for this change, perhaps more fully
than any other food, provided the whole of the grain is used. Such
preparations of it may be found in varied and attractive forms, first
among which, because almost everywhere procurable and easily prepared,
is graham flour. Complaints are sometimes made against this excellent
and nourishing food, that it is too harsh for delicate stomachs.
The complaint should rather be made against careless and ignorant
millers, who put upon the market an article ground from their
lowest grade of wheat, often, too, without proper cleaning. When the
best wheat is properly scoured and prepared by a skillful miller,
very few will find difficulty in its digestion. Rolled or cracked
wheat, wheatlet, and flour of the entire wheat, are very useful in
establishing a correct habit.
In these the gluten which lies next the bran is preserved--this
contains the nitrates that feed muscular tissues and the mineral
product that nourishes and sustains the nervous system. For
constipation, these foods are the natural remedy and preventive, as
they give the ganglionic nerve centers nutriment, and hence enable them
to preside over the functions of digestion.
Entire Wheat Flour, Franklin Mill Co., Lockport, N. Y., fulfills
these conditions, and is one of the noblest additions to the foods
of the world. The grain is denuded of the outside silicious bark and
then ground into a fine flour, and all the elements of the grain are
preserved.
Wheat, more than any other article of food, furnishes all the elements
and in the right proportion required to nourish the body. In bolting
the flour to make fine white flour, four-fifths of the gluten, the very
most nutritious part of the grain, is taken out to be fed to cows and
hogs.
Dr. Ephraim Cutter, of Harvard, in an able illustrated article on
“Cereal Foods” in the _American Medical Weekly_, says: “The gluten
of cereal foods is their nitrogenized element, the element on which
depends their life-sustaining value, and this element is, in the white
and _foolishly fashionable flour_, almost entirely removed, while the
starch, the inferior element, is left behind and constitutes the entire
bulk and inferior nutriment of such flours. To use flour from which the
gluten (in the bran) has been removed, is _almost criminal_. That it is
foolish and useless needs no further demonstration. In sickness, and in
the sickness of infants especially, starch is highly injurious, while
gluten is life-giving and restorative.”
In the valuable article from which the above extract is taken,
microscopical examination is given of forty-four kinds of flour and
health foods. Of the Franklin Mill Co. flour he says: “The field is
filled with gluten cells. Repeated examinations prove this to be the
_best flour_ examined.” One can readily see, being more nutritious, in
point of economy, even, this flour is invaluable. It is preferable for
making anything that is ordinarily made from white flour; makes better
pie crust, better cake, and griddle-cakes, and for toast, pudding and
gems, has no comparison with other flour. Still further, what will with
many be considered the best argument for its use, the taste of this
flour is sweeter and more “nutty.” Once accustomed to the “Flour of the
Entire Wheat,” white flour seems tasteless and insipid, and none will
return to its use from choice. Hundreds of cases within my knowledge
attest to this fact.
The effect of this food in alleviating and curing constipation is
something of which all should know. A family at one time came to live
near me in which was a baby boy about sixteen months of age. I was
attracted by his pretty ways, but saw that he was far from well, his
skin being white and waxy, his flesh puffy. I said to the mother,
“Your little boy is not well.”
“Do you think so?” she answered in surprise. “Everybody thinks he looks
so well.”
“He certainly is not well with that appearance of his skin. What is the
matter?”
“Why, nothing at all, except that he is dreadfully constipated, and
has been for months. His bowels do not move oftener than once in two
or three days, and then he suffers terribly, screaming and crying
piteously. His rectum often protrudes, and blood comes with the
passage.”
“Poor little fellow. That will never do. What do you feed him?” “Mostly
bread and milk.”
“White bread?” “Yes, baker’s bread.”
“Did you ever use bread of the entire wheat flour?”
She had never heard of it but was willing to try anything that might
give relief. I sent her a nice loaf, and not only the baby but all the
family enjoyed it. The mother desired to learn how to make the bread,
and Wally soon made his chief living off it, and was in a short time,
without the use of any other means, entirely cured of his distressing
ailment. After that, a sweeter, more joyous baby I never saw, hearty
and happy; roses supplanting lilies on his cheeks, his flesh becoming
firm and hard, and his fretful, nervous temper growing sweet and even.
The happy mother could not sufficiently attest her gratitude, saying
many times that she should always be glad that she moved into our
neighborhood, simply on account of having learned of this one useful
article of diet.
WHEATLET, a new preparation which is manufactured by the Franklin Mill
Co., of Lockport, N. Y., meets a demand for a food adapted to the
relief of constipation. It is equally good for the use of dyspeptics
and those who are nervously debilitated. It is rich in the nitrogenous
and phosphatic elements of the wheat, and being highly nourishing,
strengthens the nerve system which presides over the organs of
digestion. For some stomachs in a diseased and highly sensitive state,
it is preferable to cracked wheat or rolled oats, being more delicate
than either. It is invaluable for children, especially when they are
first weaned.
CRACKED OR ROLLED WHEAT STANDS with or above the entire wheat flour in
its value to overcome torpid bowels. Often by making no other change in
diet, but adding this one article properly cooked, constipation will be
entirely removed. I have been recommending it for thirty years, with
uniformly satisfactory results. In a family with whom I staid while
lecturing in Southern Illinois, was a bright boy three years of age.
The next morning after my arrival, the mother entered my room, her face
the picture of despair.
“Can you, doctor, tell me anything I can do for Charlie? For nearly
twelve months he has not had a natural passage. Strong cathartics have
ceased to have any effect, and he has a terror of enemas.”
I noticed the night previous that the child ate a late supper,
consisting entirely of cold mutton and sweet cake. I wondered then if
it was possible he could feed on such food and be well. I said to her,
“Have you tried diet?”
“Only to give him figs, and these he dislikes. I don’t know what to
give him.”
Alas, how many mothers do not know!
“Do you not ever use graham bread?”
“None of us like it.”
“Have you ever given him cracked wheat?”
“I never heard of it.”
“Send and get a package. I will show you how to cook it, and we will
lunch upon it.”
Charlie ate of it, not freely, for his lunch and supper. The following
day he had two natural, easy evacuations. I counseled her to give him
less meat and cake, have him eat the wheat at least once a day, and
partake of more fruit. Months afterward she reported no return of the
constipation. Oftentimes it is the simplest things that are the most
effectual.
FEAST ON FRUITS! Would that this could be a motto upon the wall of
every dining room in the land! Next to the whole of the wheat, fruit is
the best laxative to the bowels.
Dr. Jackson says: “I advise the use of fruit in the morning if taken
only once a day; but I heartily approve of its forming a part of every
meal, though I strongly condemn the indulgence in fruit between meals.”
I coincide with him, and _emphasize_ by saying _feast on fruit freely_!
Don’t stint the supply to _sauce dishes_. Use large saucers and not
only once full but twice or thrice full at every meal. Acid fruits are
preferable. They are the staple, and properly prepared, one never tires
of them. The acid of the fruit is largely oxygen, and uniting with the
carbon of other food, in this way assists in digestion.
For constipation some of the dried fruits well cooked are valuable.
Of these peaches, plums, prunes, apricots, etc., that are rich in
hydrocyanic acid, are preferable. Get the best, stew several hours.
Never prepare a meal without it. Do not say it is expensive, and you
cannot afford it. Take half the money you put in meat and lard, and
purchase fruit. You will get interest and principal returned in health
for yourself, in rosy, buoyant children, and noticeable absence of
doctors’ fees.
Most of the garden vegetables are also valuable. Rhubarb, onions,
tomatoes, asparagus, green peas, squash, cauliflower, green corn, etc.,
etc., are good, and should be well cooked without butter. The fruits
and vegetables supply water, laxative in its effects upon the mucous
surfaces. They increase the residual matter of the excrement, and
supply stimuli for peristaltic action.
Avoid strong tea, especially if steeped a long time. Tannic acid is
developed, giving an astringent effect. _Coffee_, especially the higher
grades, in the occasional use, stimulates the bowels to action, but
the _habit_ of taking strong coffee gives the secondary effect, and
torpidity is the result.
It may be a wise provision of nature that the poorer and cheaper the
coffee, the less deleterious is its character. Java and Mocha may be
really poisonous to an individual, while Rio is quite inoffensive.
Most of the adulterations of coffee are harmless. One “feasting on
fruits freely” will not feel the need of any drink at meals, and in
_total abstinence_ great gain will be made in overcoming symptoms of
indigestion.
LAXATIVE.
Rolled and cracked wheat.
Bread, gems, biscuit, griddle cakes, crackers and mush from flour
of the entire wheat, and graham flour.
Granula.
Bran gruel and jelly.
Fruit puddings.
Fruit pies.
All fresh acid fruits, including tropical fruits, like bananas,
oranges, lemons, etc.
Dried figs.
French prunes and prunellas, eaten raw.
Stewed dried fruits, containing hydrocyanic acid, of which peaches,
plums and prunes are the best.
New Orleans molasses.
Rhubarb.
Onions.
Celery.
Tomatoes.
Cabbage, _raw_.
Corn.
Squash.
Cauliflower.
Green peas.
Spinach.
Beets, etc.
Liver.
Oysters.
Wild game.
CONSTIPATING
Hot bread.
White bread.
White crackers.
Black pepper and spices.
Pastry made of white flour and lard.
Bread, rolls, dumplings, etc., made with baking powders.
Cake.
All custard puddings.
Salted meats.
Salted fish.
Dried meats.
Dried fish.
Smoked meats.
Poultry.
Cheese.
Chocolate.
Cocoa.
Boiled milk.
Tea.
Coffee.
Coffee made from wheat, corn, barley, toast, etc.
Beans (dried).
Potatoes.
Farina.
Sago.
Starch.
Tapioca.
Rice.
Raspberries.
Blackberries.
Lean fresh meats, fresh fish, eggs, raw milk, oatmeal, barley,
buckwheat, corn meal, and sweet potatoes have no marked action either
way, unless in exceptional cases.
APPROPRIATE AND SUFFICIENT EXERCISE is next in importance to having
proper food, in overcoming constipation. General and habitual exercise
is essential to promote good circulation, a healthy nervous tone,
complete respiration, and also power and elasticity of the muscles. The
stomach, liver and indeed all the alimentary tract require also local
exercise in order that a healthy standard may be gained and maintained.
The worm-like or peristaltic action of the intestines is produced by
the contraction of the muscular coat. It is by this action that the
contents of the canal are carried forward. Is it not plain that if
exercise can develop the muscles of the arm or leg it can give tone and
power to _these_ muscles as well? Dr. Taylor, in “Health by Exercise,”
says: “It is a curious and most interesting fact that children and
young animals, whose desire for motion is inherent, are inclined
chiefly to those exercises and those positions which necessarily affect
the abdominal contents.
“It is in such exercises as _climbing_, _rolling_, _crawling_,
_jumping_ and _playing_ generally that these contents are most
disturbed. We are convinced that the means prescribed by nature will
secure healthful development and power in these most essential parts
of the body. As if to insure these healthful effects, nature has
ordained that by _respiration_, as an efficient and constant means,
these motions shall be secured to the alimentary canal. The abdominal
contents may be considered as being located between two great muscular
organs, the diaphragm and abdominal walls. These muscles act conjointly
and _simultaneously_ and upon all the included parts, causing them
to play incessantly upon each, and subjecting them to a constant and
gentle pressure.”
_Deep breathing_, using the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, of which
the majority of women have no practical knowledge, gives the most
efficient exercise to the digestive tract. The A, B, C, of health
lessons is in _deep natural respiration_. The lungs must be _filled
to the bottom_, and the involuntary muscles of breathing brought into
action. The most eminent vocal teacher of this country asserts that
in breathing “the main action should be at the waist and below the
waist.” Animals and children have this natural breathing. Men and women
lose it from lack of exercise, and constrictions of dress. _Health_,
_strength_, _longevity_ and _power of endurance_ _depend mainly upon
lung capacity_.
For constipation, those exercises must be taken that develop the
diaphragm and other respiratory muscles, that strengthen the muscles of
the abdomen and trunk as well as the muscular tissue of the intestines
themselves.
SPECIAL EXERCISES FOR CONSTIPATION.
1. Lying upon the back, with abdomen relaxed, have bowels thoroughly
kneaded: make rapid, gentle movements with balls of the fingers and
palm of the hands, not the knuckles.
2. Same position, move diaphragm up and down without breathing. This
requires a little experience and can be aided at first by external
pressure of the hand, following the motion. This is one of the most
desirable for the object required, and must not be abandoned because
of a few failures. The diaphragm can be taught to obey the will.
3. Reclining on the back on a spring bed; flex the knees, inflate the
lungs; move hips up and down with the springs twenty or thirty times.
This can be performed by even quite a weak person, and is beneficial to
the strongest. Brings into action moderately a great variety of muscles.
4. Flex the knees and elevate the hips, resting the body on shoulders
and feet. Move slowly up and down ten times. Hold to count ten, and
then rest to count the same. Lungs with this had better be inflated. No
exercise is more valuable for developing deep breathing. Sick and well
would be benefited by taking this exercise morning and night.
5. Stand with toes at angle of 45°, knees together, hands crossed upon
the back. Bend the knees. The body is kept perpendicular and slowly
descends until sitting upon the heels. Then slowly straightened,
keeping trunk in same position. Count four with each movement, and from
four to ten with the rest. This is a severe exercise, and needs to be
taken cautiously at first by the invalid. There is no better, however,
for torpid bowels.
6. Stand as before. Palms of hands placed over lower ribs, fingers
forward. Inhale through the nostrils and expand the waist as if to
burst the belt. Expel the breath slowly and assist it by pressing with
the palms against the ribs.
7. Same position; inhale through the nostrils; retain, to count twenty;
expel through the mouth as whispering the syllable Hoo! to a person
forty feet away.
8. Sit on the floor; limbs horizontal and parallel; lungs inflated;
hands joined over the head; move backward and forward slowly as far as
possible; rest; same position, move sideways.
9. Horizontal position on back; hands clasped over the head; raise
both feet and head at same time making the body assume a curved shape;
hold to count ten; repeat this only five or six times at first. This
is a powerful exercise, affecting the abdominal viscera and general
circulation.
10. Lie in the horizontal position; hands clasped over the head; the
head and heels only resting on supports, as two stools, while the
body is quite free; hold in this position from five to ten minutes,
according to strength, practicing waist breathing; at first one might
place the stools nearer together.
11. Kneel with one leg; place the other forward with the foot firm upon
the floor; arms parallel, stretched upward to the side of the head;
move backward and forward slowly, while counting four to each movement,
and for rest; repeat three or four times, and change to the other knee.
This is a good exercise for hips, groin and lower abdomen.
12. Upon both knees wide apart, hands on hips, fingers forward. Move
quickly from right to left, and back as far as possible. This is a good
exercise for liver, spleen and muscles of the side.
Nos. 5, 10, 11 and 12 should not be attempted by a weak person until
the others have been practiced at least a month, and then begin with
caution. All these exercises should be taken in a loose wrapper. There
must be no restraint upon any part of the body. One walking or working
need not be deterred from taking them. They bring into action unused
muscles, and consequently rest those that have been overworked. I knew
a lady who did much of the heavy labor of a large greenhouse. She never
retired without performing gymnastics similar to the above. She claimed
that they rested her by the derivative effect, and the sleep that
followed was more satisfactory.
Women cannot expect to successfully and permanently overcome
constipation, if the organs are in any way restricted by dress.
Nature’s laws are inexorable, and the penalty of violation must be
paid. See Chap. VII.
_Do not resort to drugs, even for temporary relief._ Almost all
aperient medicines act through the nervous system, stimulating the
secretions to increased flow. All stimulation of the nervous system is
followed by a corresponding or increased depression. In consequence the
torpor of the bowels is worse after a few days, instead of better. If
people would only note _real_ results, instead of _seeming_ ones, very
little medicine would be taken, at least such as has only palliating
effects.
In constipation, until permanent benefits can be obtained by the means
proposed, if it is necessary to have temporary relief, resort to enemas
in preference to drugs. A small quantity of tepid water will usually
remove the contents of the rectum. If a thorough evacuation is desired,
follow directions on page 48.
Retaining a pint of warm water over night has proved beneficial in
many cases. Very obstinate impaction in the rectum can be relieved by
injecting from one to two ounces of linseed oil in the rectum, and
retaining it over night. Use a rubber piston child’s syringe for this
purpose.
Making one meal of raw grains often proves invaluable in constipation.
Many persons are adopting for diet, what they call Edenic food. They
live entirely upon uncooked food, claiming that it gives natural
nutriment, and overcomes morbific conditions. For many years I have
occasionally recommended the use of raw grains, rolled oats or wheat,
for constipation, nervousness, sleeplessness, etc. It serves its
purpose best by being eaten dry, but may be taken with honey, fruit
juice or milk.
Going entirely without supper, or adopting the _two meal_ system
has proved beneficial in obstinate cases where all other means have
failed. The frequency and time of eating is a great matter of habit. By
constant feeding, one gets himself to crave food five or six times a
day, while the system can be satisfactorily nourished upon one meal a
day. Brain workers especially, will find great advantage in taxing the
alimentary processes less frequently. On deciding to do without supper,
at the usual meal time a craving for food can be satisfied by taking a
cup of hot water, hot lemonade, or some fruit juice.
Finally, let me urge _thoroughness_ and _persistence_ in the means laid
down to overcome torpidity of the bowels. Do not expect a miracle, but
know that by giving proper conditions, normal action will surely be
restored, consequently great advantages gained in every direction. Once
the functions of the bowels become perfectly normal, all complaints of
the system have a fair chance to _cure themselves_.
CHAPTER VI.
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY.
_Headache--Neuralgia--Heartburn, etc._
Headache in pregnancy is caused either by uterine irritation, by
derangement in digestion, or by both combined.
If caused by uterine irritation, there will be burning pain in the
top of the head or at the base of the brain, accompanied by great
soreness, which the patient describes as a _sore pain_. This pain, too,
is constant, and likely to affect both vision and memory. It usually
increases toward evening, and is relieved by lying down.
For this, take warm sitz baths daily, apply hot fomentations to back of
the head, and keep in a reclining position as much as possible. (See
Chap. XXI.)
SICK HEADACHE is a severe pain in the forehead and through the
temples, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, often, too, by coldness
of the extremities and great prostration. The attacks are irregular
in frequency and duration. The causes are indigestion, biliousness,
constipation, fatigue, anxiety, etc.
One under ordinary circumstances _ought to be ashamed to have sick
headache_. A little _common sense_ in the methods of living will do
away with the causes.
TEA-DRINKING as a habit has much to do in producing headaches. Tea
is stimulating. One ever so weary, after drinking a cup of tea, feels
as _good as new_, is invigorated, hopeful, chatty, and entertaining.
The social cup of tea! Has it really restored wasted tissues? Is it a
genuine nerve feeder? Or does it stimulate native forces to greater
action? Is it like a whip to the fagged horse, spurring it on to more
toil? Very little tea is appropriated to build up worn-out tissues.
It gives false strength. In the reaction headache ensues. It is the
penalty that follows over-wrought vitality.
Dr. Gregg’s article in the _Homeopathic Quarterly_ on tea as a cause
of sick headache is worthy of the attention of those who suffer with
this common malady. The doctor alleges that this beverage is the cause
of this disease more than all other causes put together, and gives
a number of instances where, after leaving off its use, persons who
had previously been afflicted were exempt from further attacks. One
evidence the doctor gives of the injurious effect of this agent is the
fact that tea-drinkers are liable to have headaches if they omit its
use at the regular times of taking it, and that the pain ceases on
again resuming the cups.
“This latter, with many other facts contained in the article, has often
been observed,” says the doctor, “not only on myself but on others, for
I had inherited the disease from my mother. It had been the plague of
her life as well as my own. We had both been not excessive but regular
tea-drinkers; and although she lived to be over eighty years of age,
she was never exempt from an attack of greater or less severity, for
more than a few weeks at a time, for a period of nearly or quite half a
century.
“Knowing this fact, and that from my earliest recollection I had been
similarly affected, I was content when the pain returned, to relieve
it with the appropriate remedies, with little hope or thought of ever
being able to eradicate it. Some twenty years ago I had abandoned the
use of coffee and green tea, using only the black and Japan. Pork,
pastry, spices, acids and most kinds of raw fruits were sure, if
indulged in, to bring on an attack of my old trouble; and this weakness
of the stomach seemed to be gradually on the increase, besides a train
of nervous symptoms, such as sleeplessness, palpitation of the heart,
unsteadiness of the hand when writing, etc., etc., giving me no little
annoyance.
“After reading the article referred to, I concluded some three months
ago, to use no more tea, substituting in its stead hot water with a
little milk. The result for the first week or ten days was much as
I had anticipated, being, during the whole of that time, scarcely
ever free from headache. At length the pain became lighter and when
it did return, was of short duration. My nervous symptoms grew less,
palpitation left entirely, my stomach became much stronger. I can
now eat with impunity many things which for years had been sure
to disagree. The headache now very rarely returns, and never with
severity; besides, within the past two months my weight was increased
sixteen pounds.”
For many years I was subject to sick headaches at irregular intervals.
They would come on from a cold, from want of sleep, or under mental
strain. When I began to travel and lecture I gave up the use of butter
because I could not always get that which was good. Since that I have
never had a severe attack of headache. I have recommended many others
to deny themselves of butter and other fats with good results, using
honey, fruit juice or milk instead.
With many, potatoes cause sick headaches, especially if mashed with a
great deal of butter. They become soggy, and cannot be penetrated by
the gastric juice. Some think that they should never be eaten at the
same meal with acid fruits.
The very _worst sick headaches_ can be cured by temperate living. A
delicate lady was subject to fearful attacks of sick headache, at least
twice a month. They would last from twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Her sufferings were simply terrible. She had dyspepsia, with grave
uterine complications. She was liable to die in one of these attacks,
and could not get well at home. By my advice she went to a hygienic
institute where she could get baths, the best diet and proper attention.
After beginning treatment she never had a _severe_ headache. Every
attack was warded off, and she returned not only thoroughly cured, but
a convert to the belief that _fruits_ and _grains_ afford the best
diet for health and longevity. One has not always the appliances or
the determination (for long sickness weakens the will) to carry out a
settled and desirable course of treatment at home. In such a case, a
well regulated hygienic institute should be sought.
For prevention of attacks, the treatment for biliousness and
constipation will be effectual. Rubbing, spatting, brushing and combing
the head often wards off the pain. Large drafts of hot water, or hot
lemonade, or salt and water may give relief. Put hot applications to
the feet and fomentations upon the stomach. Also take a hot enema of
three quarts of water and two tablespoons of salt. The latter seldom
fails to ward off an attack if taken in time.
The following remedies have proved invaluable:
_Cimicifuga, 2d._--Sore, aching pain at base of brain, heat in top of
head, boring pain in the eyeballs, aching in the limbs, restlessness.
Six pellets every hour.
_Ignatia, 2d._--Pain in forehead, nausea, fainting, depression of
spirits. Pain relieved by lying down. Six pellets every two hours.
_Sanguinaria, 3d._--Sick headache, worse from motion, noise or light,
pain in back of head and running upward, dull, heavy pain in stomach.
Six pellets every half hour.
_Nux Vom., 2d trit._--Sick headache with vomiting, pains intermittent,
feet cold, congestion, with pale face. Put one grain in six spoons of
water, and take a spoonful every half hour.
_Puls., 3d._--Pain in top of head, sharp pains in back and limbs. Six
pellets every hour.
_Gelseminum, 2d._--Pain in right side of head, running down the
spine. One feels herself getting blind, pain relieved by tipping head
backward, recurs periodically. Six pellets every half hour.
HEARTBURN is acidity of the stomach, caused by improper food or a
failure in digestion. Avoid starchy foods, fats and meats. Avoid
gravies. I know a lady who always has extreme acidity after partaking
of chicken or turkey gravy, while nothing else has a similar effect.
To remedy heartburn, take the meals entirely without drinking. The
gastric juice that dissolves the food is not secreted until the
liquids have passed from the stomach by absorption. Anything that
lowers the tone of the stomach prevents it having power to perform
both of these functions, consequently the food remains, to ferment and
sour. If acidity is present, the gastric juice can be stimulated by
eating a piece of burnt toast, or taking pulverized charcoal. Some,
understanding this, make crackers containing charcoal. A few mouthfuls
of these after the meal will answer the purpose.
Avoid a variety at one meal. Choose such articles as experience has
proved to be best assimilated. Do not take magnesia, lime, soda, or
any other alkaline for this trouble. They injure the mucous coat of
the stomach, and the difficulty is more likely to recur another day.
Drinking copiously of warm water may be resorted to, if the burning
is severe. This will cause vomiting, and give relief. Abstain from
food until the following day, and eat sparingly until the stomach has
recovered a healthy tone.
FLATULENCE AND COLIC arise from a failure of intestinal digestion.
Many of the vegetables are inclined to cause flatulence: beans, sweet
potatoes, and cabbage most frequently. Corn meal, oat meal, and rolled
wheat will produce flatulence, if not thoroughly cooked. All of these
require more time in preparation than is usually given. See chapter on
Dietetics for proper cooking of these.
To remedy flatulence, drink hot water warm water enemas, or use the
fomenter over the stomach. Avoid such articles of food as cause the
trouble.
HEMORRHOIDS OR PILES are often caused in pregnancy by inflammation
of the rectum or pressure of the gravid uterus. Yet they are many
times a local indication of a constitutional disturbance, and local
applications can give only temporary relief. The most obstinate cases
can be overcome in time by correct living. The diet and exercises
should be similar to those for constipation.
Dr. Shew says: “There is nothing in the world that will produce so
great relief in piles as fasting. If the attack is severe, live a whole
day or even two days, if necessary, upon pure, cold, soft water alone.”
I would substitute hot water and hot lemonade, followed for several
days by liquid foods only. Of these _bran gruel_ is the best. When
there is some internal heat, and even considerable inflammation, tepid
sitz-baths and cold compresses are of great benefit. An enema of hot
water relieves the pain incident to hemorrhoids. For cases not of long
standing, the following recipe will seldom fail to relieve:
℞ Fl. Ex. Hamamelis, ʒij.
Linseed oil, ℥ij.
Mix.--Apply externally two or three times a day, or inject with a small
syringe.
EXCESSIVE SECRETION OF SALIVA is only another indication of
indigestion, and rarely troubles one who lives plainly. Drinking hot
water will relieve it. Also holding in the mouth very hot or very cold
water, or pieces of ice, will give temporary relief. It rarely fails
to disappear under the _fruit diet_. Eating a few almonds or a peach
kernel after a meal frequently produces desirable results. Indeed,
these are often valuable for indigestion.
GREEDY APPETITE is more to be feared than loss of appetite. One is
hungry at all times, complains she can not get enough to eat. This is
strong evidence that there are morbid conditions. The system is likely
to take on excess of fat, and become loaded with poisonous elements.
To fight an excessive appetite is the hardest battle of the pregnant
woman. If convinced herself that over-eating is injurious, her friends
are delighted to see her _enjoy her food_, and furnish everything that
pleases her taste, and she eats in season and out of season. She even
“gets so hungry she can not sleep,” and in the night partakes of a
pantry feast. If the best conditions are sought for self and child,
this morbid appetite must be overcome.
Observe religiously a few rules:
On no account eat between meals.
Partake mostly of fruits and vegetables.
Keep away from the odor of food.
Take plenty of outdoor exercise.
When a sense of hunger comes on, drink hot water, or hot lemonade. Have
a _strong will_ to conquer and the victory will be won.
LOSS OF APPETITE is seldom sufficiently persistent to occasion anxiety,
unless accompanied by nausea, or constipation. (See Chapter V.) Usually
it is nature’s method of restoring normal conditions, and if _let alone
completely_ will right itself. One, however, is so imbued with the fear
of not being nourished that she _forces_ herself to eat, and hence
thwarts nature. _If there is no appetite, eat nothing_, for the food
will not be digested. If in following this rule one feels a faintness
or a “goneness” at the stomach, drink thin bran gruel hot, or a cup of
wheat coffee. Wait for the next meal--if still there is no appetite,
pursue the same course.
LONGINGS.--Many women all through pregnancy seem possessed to fill
their systems with the vilest _trash_. They _must have_ chalk, slate
pencils, magnesia, starch, condiments, etc. Sometimes these longings
are from an actual want in the system; then, again, morbid conditions
crave what they feed upon. No one lives a sufficiently natural life
to depend upon the instinct for food. Without knowing the case it
would be hard to say whether the fancy should be gratified. Hundreds,
however, can testify that by adopting the diet laid down in this book,
the system is naturally fed, is fully nourished in all the elements,
and one seldom suffers from craving demands. If the article desired
is known to be injurious, like cloves, pickles, alcoholic stimulants,
magnesia, starch, etc., it is better to overcome the desire. The juice
of a lemon in hot water, a brisk walk, a ride, or a merry chat with
a friend will dissipate the fancy. Put the mind on something above
physical desires. Commit to memory a poem, learn a song, paint a
picture, make a garment, or do a good, generous deed. If possible, rise
above appetite.
DIARRHEA in pregnancy is not of frequent occurrence. Ordinarily, it
is only an effort of nature to correct abnormal conditions; in such
cases it requires no attention. If, however, it becomes persistent and
troublesome, it will, contrary to common prejudice, usually yield to
the use of acidulated drinks or the fruit diet. It may be best for a
few days to keep quiet and avoid solid food. Enemas of hot water are
frequently beneficial.
The following remedies are indicated:
_Arsenicum, 3d._--Discharges light and copious with great thirst. Six
pellets every four hours.
_Merc. Cor., 6th._--Frequent urging and straining, severe pain.
Discharges slight, greenish, or mixed with mucous. Six pellets four
times a day.
The symptoms of pregnancy treated thus far are usually the result of
some disturbance in the operations of alimentation. The few remaining
to be considered would scarcely ever occur, if the entire system were
rightly nourished. Still, not being immediately the result of failure
in the digestive act, they merit special attention.
NEURALGIA and neuralgic toothache are common and distressing symptoms
during gestation. The child of the forest, the peasant girl of Europe
and the dusky cotton picker of the South probably have no conception of
a neuralgic pain.
Our _cultured_ civilization incurs the infraction of so many physical
laws that it is difficult to find the cause of any disease. Neuralgia
is not unfrequently the constant companion of the bilious, _overfed_,
or perhaps, I should say, the carbonaceously fed subject. Too much
fuel, and too little oxygen!
Lack of nerve food is another cause. The phosphates and other saline
elements are insufficient. Also exhausted and weakened nerves, making
an effort to recuperate, give the possessor great suffering. The
mother, who already has several children, wearied and worried by their
many wants, whose domestic cares are a continual burden, who has no
surcease from the sexual relation, is the one likely to suffer from
neuralgia. Often the pregnant woman strains every nerve that her
house be put and kept in order. She spends anxious days and sleepless
nights in weary watching over a sick child or husband. Suffering must
surely follow. The tonics, stimulants and opiates prescribed by most
physicians cause worse symptoms than the original trouble. Nature
demands only rest. The relief obtained by drugs is at too great a
sacrifice of vital force. Nearly all that take opiates attest that
on the following day sufferings ensue from nausea, headache, loss of
appetite, constipation, etc.
In most cases hot applications will give sure relief. Why is it, that
simple measures are the last thought of? Use the fomenter locally; if
that is not sufficient, give a full hot or thermal bath. (See Chap.
VIII.)
Human magnetism is superior to all other agents for neuralgia. Nearly
every family has some member that possesses the gift of healing by the
“laying on of hands.” The spine and extremities should be manipulated,
and then the affected part. The patient will fall into a restful sleep,
awaken refreshed, if not cured, and have no poisonous drugs to be
eliminated from the system.
Some years ago I was called late at night to a lady who for days had
suffered untold agony from facial neuralgia. Her face was greatly
swollen and the pain was so intense that she had nearly lost her
reason. An eminent physician, under the popular delusion that it was
_malaria_, had prescribed quinine. As she had protested against its
internal administration, he ordered her bathed in an unction of quinine
and cosmoline. Each day finding the patient worse, he increased the
frequency of the quinine bath.
Upon my entering the room, she seized my hand with a vise-like grip
and cried: “Doctor, give me something, or I must die of this agony!”
I assured her that she should have help. Turning to her husband, I
said: “Bring me a wash-bowl with hot water and ammonia in it. Put four
bricks in the furnace as soon as you can.”
Quickly the whole surface was cleansed of the obstruction to the pores.
The heated bricks were wrapped in wet cloths and one placed each side
of her face. Friction was applied to the extremities, and in less
than half an hour after I entered the house the anxious husband and
friends were rejoiced to see the patient enjoying a restful sleep. She
made a speedy recovery. There are few cases of neuralgia that can not
be relieved by this, or similar means. “Will not the pain return?”
Perhaps, but not as likely as where the nervous sensibility has been
benumbed with drugs.
If the mother has facial neuralgia or toothache, and can not be spared
from family cares to take the needful bath and rest, or can not get
magnetic treatment, temporary relief can be obtained by bathing the
affected part in the tincture of aconite. This is rarely followed by
unpleasant results, but should be used cautiously and only externally.
BURNING FEET are best relieved by bathing them in very hot water. A
sand bath, too, is excellent. Have a box of moist sand, in which bury
the feet for thirty or forty minutes. In summer one will find it very
grateful to allow the bare feet to come in contact with green grass or
freshly turned earth.
CRAMPS in the limbs are occasioned by pressure upon the crural and
sciatic nerves; are frequently the direct result of pressure from
clothing. For temporary relief lie flat upon the back, head and
shoulders low, and hips elevated. Apply hand friction to the limbs and
back. The only permanent relief is to take the exercises that will
expand the ribs and walls of the abdomen, thus giving more room for
fetal house-keeping.
SWELLING OF THE EXTREMITIES is caused from biliousness and sluggish
circulation. Oftentimes the venous circulation is so deficient that
_varicose_ veins are the result. Sometimes these swell and form knots
and tumors of great size. I recall a patient who had a varicose tumor
as large as the doubled hand, situated upon the labia. These knotted
veins give great distress, and cause much anxiety. I have never known
of their annoying a person who had adopted the _fruit diet_ and other
hygienic measures.
Temporary relief can be obtained by bathing the limbs in cold water,
and putting on a roller bandage made of strips of rubber. This should
be from an inch and a half to two inches wide. It must be put on
smoothly and equably. Begin at the toes, lap the edges about half an
inch, make reverses to prevent creases, and extend above the swelled
veins.
PAIN IN THE SIDE, either right or left, may be from the same cause as
cramps or pains in the limbs. Put on hot fomentations and follow the
directions for cramps. These pains may extend to the abdomen, and may
be neuralgic in their character, or may assume an intermittent form,
producing what is called _false pains_. They often simulate labor pains
so closely as to deceive patient and friends. To distinguish them,
place the hand upon the abdomen during the pain. If contraction of the
uterus is felt, there is true labor, but if there is no change in the
walls, they are false pains. Frequent warm sitz-baths will give relief.
The temperature should be about 95° Fr.
FOR RIGIDITY OF THE INTEGUMENT of the abdomen, bathe in hot water,
then rub in olive oil or cosmoline. This symptom is not likely to be
troublesome if the exercises recommended are being taken.
INSOMNIA is the result of reflex nervous action from stomach or uterus.
The causes must be removed. Bathing feet and legs in cold water, or
taking a sitz-bath, temperature 90 degrees, followed by thorough
friction, will usually give sound, refreshing sleep. A compress applied
to the back of the neck is good, especially if there is heat in the
head. Try changing from the customary bed to a lounge or another
apartment. Hand magnetism or the magnetic cap will afford relief to
many. Tea and coffee often produce wakefulness, and should be omitted.
In place of the evening meal, take a cup of hot water or wheat coffee.
When all other means are without avail, this abstinence seldom fails to
secure sound, refreshing sleep, that is truly “Nature’s sweet restorer.”
Avoid opiates. Mother and child suffer less from insomnia itself than
from the effects of drugs that produce sleep by their anodyne effects.
By these the processes of nature are disturbed and all the operations
of the body deranged. After going to bed sip slowly a cup of hot water
and milk, equal parts. This is especially desirable where there is
nervous irritability and weak digestion.
For many years I was subject to insomnia. I found temporary benefit
from looking steadily at one object, keeping the eyes wide open. It is
better to have the object above and back of the head, so that the eye
is forced to roll backward and upward. Keep the eyes open as long as
possible. When at last they close, still in imagination look at the
object, keeping the mind steadily upon it. There is one measure still
better than this for insomnia; that is, to become entirely indifferent
as to whether you sleep or not. Possess yourself of the belief that
sleep is unnecessary for you, that you are as well off without it.
Occupy your mind by reciting poetry, recalling the past, or planning
work for the future, assuring yourself that your body is getting rest.
If you can become entirely convinced of this fact, with no lurking
combative belief, you will be surprised to see that you have obtained a
condition which will soon result in oblivion.
LEUCORRHEA.--A thin, milky greenish or watery discharge is not
unfrequently a great annoyance in pregnancy, and a drain upon the
vitality. It is usually the result of inflammation in the uterus and
vagina, or an irritation set up by hardened feces in the rectum.
Leucorrhea is not a disease, but is simply the symptom of a disease,
as the cough or sputa are symptoms of bronchitis. This is nature’s
effort to throw off inflammation. She fails in the attempt, and such a
condition is produced that the discharge becomes chronic.
Do not use astringents for leucorrhea. They only palliate by drying the
secretion for a short time. When the remedy is omitted the discharge
returns, or more grave symptoms appear. The cause should be treated.
For many cases good results will follow the use of hot injections
of carbolic soap suds. Two hours a day, wear cotton in the vagina
saturated with glycerine. This temporarily increases the discharge, but
aids to remove irritation. Like other symptoms this yields to thorough
hygienic measures.
PRURITUS of the vulva often becomes very troublesome; may be the result
of a sanious leucorrhea, excessive dryness, inflammation or eruptions.
For the first cause, treat accordingly. For inflammation of the labia
apply cloths in a cold lotion of borax, one teaspoonful to a quart of
water. For dryness apply glycerine upon cotton. Pruritus will usually
be relieved by the following lotion:
℞ Tincture Lobelia }
} a a ʒij
” Benzoin }
Glycerine }
} a a ℥j
Alcohol }
Add benzoin last, slowly.
Apply upon absorbent cotton or oakum. Cleanse the parts frequently with
carbolic soap suds.
As hygienic treatment of pregnancy is fully given, other symptoms are
omitted. Remember that suffering is the result of violated laws. With
physical as moral law:
“Each man’s life
The outcome of his former living is.
The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrow and woes;
The bygone right breeds bliss,
That which ye sow, ye reap.”
CHAPTER VII.
HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY.--DRESS.
What more charming sight than a rosy, robust young woman! Full of
vigor, life, strength, power; her step elastic, bounding, her face
radiant, her presence magnetic! To such there are no fears, no
forebodings in maternity!
She needs not the counsels of physician or books. Her own life fulfills
the law. It is not for her I write, but for those who, constantly
violating physical laws, never know the blessedness of health.
A woman possessed of a good constitution, having had proper physical
training, is fully prepared to assume the responsibilities of marriage
and maternity. As Nature’s own child, she needs to make but little
change in her habits during the period of gestation.
Realizing her obligations to offspring and posterity, long before
assuming the marriage relation she has practiced all known laws of
health.
Dr. Holbrook says: “Those ailments to which pregnant women are liable,
are, most of them, inconveniences rather than diseases, although they
may be aggravated to a degree of real danger. Arising, as they do, from
the temporary physical condition of the organism, what they require is,
not such medical treatment as may be needed for a true disease, but
rather a general hygienic regimen. For a similar reason, while on the
one hand it may not be possible to remove them entirely, yet on the
other they can almost always be greatly alleviated.
“In general, however, it may be first observed that such a way of
living as _shall maintain and elevate the usual standard of mental and
physical health, will, of course, increase the power of resisting and
surmounting all ailments whatever_.”
The aim of this work is to show how this standard may be gained and
maintained. The directions given in the following pages are simply
teachings of nature. No nostrums or mysterious prescriptions are
recommended, but the simple lessons herein given are an effort to teach
women how to regain that which they have lost through the errors of
civilization.
CONGENIAL SURROUNDINGS are essential for health of both mother and
child. Wealth and luxuries are not needful, but comfort and agreeable
companionship are desirable, with freedom from excessive physical
burdens and mental anxieties.
Men and women are to-day suffering from lack of vitality, caused by
the overwork and burdens of our pioneer mothers during gestation. The
farmer who would not work his mare in foal, counsels or provides for
his pregnant wife no relief from toil and care. The mechanic’s wife,
knowing the need of making every dollar do its utmost, performs the
severest drudgery, with only aches, pains and puny offspring for her
compensation.
It is true that gestation often gives to woman more than ordinary
ambition, which may excel her physical strength. With usual health and
suitable surroundings, she frequently experiences a mental state of
exaltation. She expresses herself as feeling “as if she trod upon air.”
Her whole being drinks from the fountain of life. She is brought _en
rapport_ with all things divine. She herself is a creator, and is it
not divine to create?
In this state of exaltation she is no judge of her physical strength.
The prudent, watchful husband and loving friends must be her guardians.
She must be held in check and admonished of self-interest and the
well-being of her child. Otherwise great injuries are likely to be
inflicted upon herself and offspring.
I am acquainted with a charming old lady, whose seventy-eight summers
have left her in possession of health and happiness, as a heritage of a
well-spent life. In talking of these things, she says:
“Doctor, why is it that my daughters, Jane, Rebecca and Mary Ann, have
no powers of endurance? Their father was never sick. My own health and
strength have been a marvel to every one. Why! the three girls together
cannot do the work I could when I was their age. Girls are no account
now-a-days. When I was _like_ for my children, I could get up and milk
the cows, churn and make cheese. This was not all; I could take the
wool from the sheep’s back, wash, card, spin, weave and make it into
garments. I could walk two miles to church. I slept soundly and ate
heartily. Why, what would have become of us, if I had been lying about
in wrappers and slippers, dosing with drugs as my girls do now?”
Bless the heart of the dear old lady! Just _because_ she did all this,
her daughters are not her equals in strength. She robbed them of their
inheritance, by spending all her vitality in exhausting labor, and
vicariously they atone for her wrong-doing.
The woman who indulges in the excessive gayety of fashionable life,
as well as the overworked woman, deprives her child of vitality.
She attends parties in a dress that is unphysiological in warmth,
distribution and adjustment, in rooms badly ventilated; partakes of
a supper of indigestible compounds, and remains into the “wee, sma’
hours,” her nervous system taxed to the utmost.
Although faint, weary and exhausted, the following day is spent in
receptions and calls, closing with theater or opera. If abortion
is not the result, can any sane woman expect her child under such
circumstances to be in possession of vigor and strength? Bounding
health is the inheritance of childhood. Woe to the parent who robs it
of this inheritance!
I was summoned one morning by a Mr. B., a cheery, successful business
man, to see his wife.
He says: “Doctor, I have exhausted my skill, and must have advice from
higher authority.”
“What is your diagnosis?”
“Pregnancy, five months, accompanied by hysteria; unlike herself,
she is irritable, fretful and morose; sleeps but little, and has no
patience with the children or servants.”
This is no unusual case. I found Mrs. B. living in a handsome
three-story dwelling elegantly furnished. Every luxury was at her
command. She had a delicate, sensitive organization, extremely
susceptible to all influences. Her five children were full of spirit,
noisy and exacting. A late breakfast caused hurry and confusion
in preparation for school. Upon arriving I found my lady weeping
uncontrollably, and apparently in great trouble. I took her hand,
saying: “My poor child, what is it?”
“Oh, I wish I could get away from myself; life is not worth living.”
“None can do that; tell me all, and let us see if your sorrows and ills
cannot be alleviated.”
The truth was that, although an indulged wife, her burdens were beyond
her strength. The Irish cook, good-natured and efficient, had been
detected in carrying provisions to a sick friend. The second girl had
a beau every night, who remained so late that she had insufficient
sleep. In consequence she was fretful to the children and unfitted for
all her duties. The youngest child, still a mere baby, was teething and
required attention night and day. Though surrounded by every comfort
that love could procure, her strength was too greatly taxed. Later in
the day her husband called at my office.
He says: “What is _your_ diagnosis, doctor?”
“Overtaxed; her nervous system is worn out.”
“Why, she has all the help she wants, and needs to do nothing.”
“True; but there is no help to be had for the very things that have
worn her out. No one can take a mother’s place. She has children too
fast for her strength. She is a conscientious mother, desiring to
give every child proper training. To do this requires that domestic
arrangements be systematic and complete. Successful housekeeping, under
modern improvements, requires the combined heads of an army general and
a secretary of state.”
“Well, doctor, what is your prescription?”
“Take her away from it all.”
“Where had she better go?”
“To her mother, a hygienic institute, or what is better, can’t you get
away from business awhile, and go with her yourself? It would do her a
world of good. Have a second honeymoon; let her see, hear and do what
pleases her best, and, mark my word, you will be well paid.”
“I declare! I never thought of matters in that light before. I believe
that you are right. I can get away next week, and I will. Mother can
come in and take care of the children while we are gone just as well as
not.”
To parents I would say with Fowler: “By all the value of splendid
children over poor or none, should all other interests be subservient
to maternity, not it to them. Brush aside, like cobwebs, pecuniary,
ambitional, and all other ends, and make it imperious lord over all.
Your family may better live on bread and water, and you have splendid
children, than do all this work, and have ill-natured, sickly ones.
What are stylish rooms and furniture, many and high-seasoned dishes,
in comparison with a sweet and healthful child?... Your child-rearing
mission is your one duty. Do this in the very best manner possible,
but _make all else secondary_. See that the prospective mothers want
nothing. They deserve, and, as society advances, will yet receive
universal sympathy, along with the utmost care and affection.”
On account of the foregoing remarks, do not suppose that an idle,
dependent life is counseled. By no means. A woman in pregnancy, as
at other times, should be actively employed, and if it can be in
some absorbing, congenial, lucrative work, so much the better. It is
the incessant nothings of woman’s work which, while accomplishing so
little, yet wear out the nerves, and exhaust the patience.
“Labor is life! ’Tis the still water faileth!
Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth!
Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth;
Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon.
Labor is glory! The flying cloud lightens:
Only the waving wing changes and brightens,
Idle hearts only the dark future frightens.
Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune!”
A lady well known to a large circle of friends as a successful writer
and business woman, the mother of a large family of sons and daughters,
who, at the age of forty-five is the personification of health and
energy, had this remarkable experience: During the period preceding the
birth of her fourth child, pecuniary misfortune, and the ill-health
of her husband, combined to make it necessary for her to carry on his
business. She was obliged to walk nearly two miles every day to his
store, where she staid all day absorbingly engaged in the duties of
looking after the details of sales, keeping the books, accounts, etc.,
after which day’s work she walked back to her home.
Everybody said Mrs. B. would surely break down, but instead of doing
so she preserved the most vigorous health, and experienced none of
the sick and nervous feelings usually incidental to pregnancy. When
the child was born, the extraordinary circumstance that its birth was
attended with scarcely any pain, led the physician and the lady herself
to inquire what might be the cause of such a happy departure from the
usual rule.
No other reason could be assigned than the long, regular walks, and the
vigorous state of her bodily health. Taking a hint from these facts, in
all her subsequent pregnancies, she adopted the plan of taking a large
amount of out-door exercise, and keeping her mind occupied by useful
employment, and in every succeeding birth the same happy results were
obtained.
That she was engaged in an absorbing and congenial occupation, no doubt
had much to do with the fact that maternity to her seemed only one of
the incidents of life. She had no time to foster aches and pains. The
conviction that, by her business management, the support of the family
was maintained during her husband’s illness, inspired her with unusual
energies and hopes. Could women uplift their _home life_, realizing the
noble work they are accomplishing in their every day duties, they would
find in them an inspiration which avails much against physical debility.
Let me prophesy that different and improved methods will be devised
to accomplish woman’s work. The mothers of the future will be less
burdened, and at the same time achieve more satisfactory results in the
labor performed.
This can be done, and the ideal home preserved. Under the present
system, many instances of demoralization in domestic life are in
consequence of the mother’s inability to fulfill all the requirements
of her position. She is the tie that holds the home--the mainspring of
home-life. In the prophesied future, she may not wash all the dishes
and bake all the bread, any more than she now does the spinning and
weaving; yet the maternal love, life and instinct will build a nest
far more adapted to successful rearing of offspring than is done under
present conditions.
DRESS.
“Give me a form, give me a face
That lend simplicity and grace;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free,--
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the adulteries of art;
They strike mine eyes, but not mine heart.”
From first to last, the pregnant woman’s dress should be physiological
and hygienic. Perfect freedom for every physical power must be secured.
What does this demand? Emphatically looseness and lightness, as well
as sufficient and equable warmth. See to it that not one article of
dress impedes, in the slightest degree, the functions of the body. To
accomplish this, one must do away with bands, bones and petticoats.
One already dressing healthfully needs to make but little change for
pregnancy. Under all circumstances and at all times, dress should
cause no restriction to respiration; no interference with digestion;
no obstruction to circulation. In pregnancy, furthermore, there should
be no hindrance to the development and elevation of the uterus. To
accomplish this, a radical change must be made in the usual dress of
woman. It is now a complete failure as far as fulfilling any useful
requirements, and for decorative purposes rules of art are violated.
Dr. Trall says, “If he were asked what one agency stands at the very
head of morbific influences, in causing frailty and malformation, he
should answer _woman’s dress_.”
The present movement in dress reform, or correct dress, combines art,
health and utility. One of the most notable features is that each lady
is free to construct her own styles, and in no wise feels bound to
conform to fashion. This movement is wide-spread and seems to have a
firm foothold among women of all classes.
One can be dressed decently, decorously, harmoniously; yes, even
elegantly, and still commit no grave violation against physiological
law. How can this be done? What changes from the ordinary dress does
this involve? Let us begin at the foundation:
_A common sense shoe_ should be worn. This is constructed upon
anatomical principles, allowing freedom of all the muscles and
producing no pressure upon the nerves or blood-vessels. The sole is _as
wide_ as the bottom of the foot, the heel is little if any higher than
the sole. The curve and elasticity of the arch and the freedom of the
toes are assured.
Many women suffer from headache, defects in vision, loss of voice,
indigestion, backache, etc., simply from reflex action of the pressure
of the shoes upon nerves of the foot. I have seen young girls often
relieved of tedious backache, by following simply, and only the
prescription of a change to common sense shoes. An elocutionist of
fine physical development, weighing at least 170 pounds testified
that he could not command the chest tones of his voice, if his boots
caused the slightest compression of his feet. Are not women’s nerves as
tell-tale in their communications as were those of this stalwart man!
Two bright, intelligent young ladies entered a very crowded south side
car. One, with a scowl of pain and fatigue upon her face, said, “I
do wish some gentleman would give me a seat. My feet are just coming
off.” Her companion answered gaily: “Oh, I don’t care to sit down. I
can stand as well as any man, and so could you if you wore common sense
shoes.”
Reader, this is not all you could do “as well as a man” if your feet
were your untrammeled servants.
Do you say that these shoes are inelegant and you can not endure them?
No sensible person can really suppose that there is anything in itself
ugly or even unsightly in the form of a perfect human foot; and yet all
attempts to construct shoes upon its model are constantly met with the
objection that something extremely inelegant must be the result. It
will perhaps be a form to which the eye is not accustomed; but there
is no more trite saying than the ordinary nature of fashion in her
dealings with our outward appearance, and we all know how anything that
has received her sanction is for the time being considered elegant and
tasteful, though a few years later it may come to be looked upon as
positively ridiculous.
That our eye would soon get used to admiring a different shape may
be easily proven by any one who will for a short time wear shoes
constructed upon a more correct principle. The prevailing shoe,
suggestive of cramped and atrophied toes, soon becomes positively
painful to look upon! These improved shoes are gradually gaining ground
even in the fashionable world. We see them worn by the best dressed
ladies on the streets of our cities. They are found in show cases and
windows of shoe-dealers who clothe the feet of aristocracy.
If one persists in wearing the customary shoe in pregnancy, the feet
may swell, and untold discomfort result. Relief is frequently obtained
at the expense of the husband’s slippers. Let him provide his wife
a pair of youth’s slippers at least two sizes larger than those she
ordinarily wears. This will save his Christmas gift and possibly teach
the wife a valuable lesson about common sense shoes.
In the _Union Under Garments_, or combination suits, there is a world
of comfort and freedom. No woman once adopting these garments, properly
fitted, will “back-slide” to the old chemise and drawers.
The chemise, as the word indicates, is of Arabic origin. Being made
of wash material, its original intent was to protect other clothing
from emanations of the body. In its native country it is high necked
and long sleeved. Its present uncomfortable style had its origin
with Parisian _demi-monde_. It constricts the shoulders, and affords
insufficient warmth to the arms and upper part of the back and chest.
The superior portion of the lungs needs even more protection than the
lower, especially on the back. The drawers can never be so adjusted
that the band will allow the free use and development of the muscles
upon which it presses.
The union suits can be found in dress reform rooms, and in most shops.
They are made of silk, all wool, half-wool, and lisle thread. Not being
able to procure them, one can herself readily convert the ordinary
undergarments into a union suit. Rip off the band from the drawers, try
them on with the vest, and adjust them perfectly. Remove the surplus
length in the front from the drawers, and in the back from the vest;
put them together with a lap seam, leaving the extra fullness of the
drawers in the back. In this way a satisfactory suit can be produced.
These can be worn winter and summer, if demanded by the needs of the
climate or individual.
The _chemiloon_ is a union of the chemise and drawers. In the summer
this garment can be made of cotton or linen, and worn with or without
the union under flannels. It can be trimmed and embroidered to one’s
taste. In the winter it should be of flannel or ladies’ cloth.
Chemiloon patterns can be obtained of pattern dealers. Do not expect
that other people’s patterns, or those that you buy will be perfectly
adapted to you. It is well to fit a suit from old material first. Be
sure that it is sufficiently long in the back. Shortness in the seat
is a prevailing fault with patterns for sale. Remedy this by putting a
two inch fold in the cloth on the side, where the back of the pattern
comes. The sleeves of these chemiloons should be long, especially the
flannel for winter. Remember always that the comfort of these garments
depends upon a perfect fit.
A _princess_ garment is a waist and skirt combined. This can be made
of muslin, pongee, or other wash silks. For extra warmth use of tennis
flannel. It can be cut from a polonaise or princess dress pattern,
having it about the length of an ordinary underskirt.
This undergarment can have eyelet lacings in the front darts and thus
make it adjustable to the increasing size.
A princess lining to a dress with the same dart lacings makes a
convenient _maternity gown_. The outside goods of any material can be
draped upon this according to taste or fashion.
_The Divided Skirt_ has become a popular garment with those making a
change in dress. This is made of pongee or other wash silks, mohair
or ladies’ cloth. It is cut like drawers, but has a width of 44 to 50
inches of goods in each leg. This is attached to a yoke, instead of
a band, and cut on the bias, to fit the hips. A combination of the
Divided Skirt and Bates Waist makes a very satisfactory garment. This
is made by cutting the front of the waist and the skirt or drawers in
one. The back of the skirt is cut separate from the waist, and made
longer at the top. The extra fullness is put in at the hips and back.
It should lap about two inches in the back. This is worn over a union
suit, and takes the place of all underskirts or petticoats.
_Equestrian Tights_ are now worn by many ladies as a complete
substitute for petticoats. These are usually black, and are woven of
silk, wool and cotton. Some ladies purchase those that cover the entire
body, like the Union Suits, others wear the drawers only. They can
be found in the prominent dry goods houses of our large cities. With
some fullness or drapery to the dress, the absence of skirts is not as
noticeable as one would suppose.
The dress itself is made on a princess lining, style and drapery being
adjusted and trimmed to suit the taste and need of the wearer.
Clothed in the above garments, with the dress loose enough for the
performance of every bodily function, one will feel as if she had
really broken chains, or escaped prison bars.
A tall, noble, brilliant, queenly woman had been a great sufferer from
disease, drugs, doctors and dress. To regain health, she had with
characteristic energy made a complete change in her garments. No one
who saw her will forget her electrifying expression of triumph as she
exclaimed: “For the first time in my life I am an emancipated woman.”
Freedom in dress had given her freedom to breathe, live, think, walk
and work. Freedom in dress, with physical training, makes it possible
for every young girl to possess the form of a Venus or Minerva.
What is a test of the dress being sufficiently loose? This is good: lie
flat upon the back, and with the hips slightly elevated, be able to
take a full, deep and prolonged respiration without hindrance. Another
is to hold a book between the tips of the middle fingers, raise the
arms _perfectly perpendicular_ and parallel to the sides of the head,
inflate the lungs, and promenade the room. If this can be done easily,
the dress offers no restraint for any movement.
By the ordinary dress, even if there is not actually tight lacing,
simply a _snug fit_, we get alterations in the shape and position of
the organs. “When it is considered that the organs compressed are
those by which the important functions of respiration, circulation and
digestion are carried on, as well as those essential to the proper
development and healthy growth of a fetus, it is no wonder that people
suffer who have brought themselves under such conditions.”
The present styles afford many pretty ways for making wrappers and
snug-fitting gowns. In the true woman any morbid sensibility in regard
to appearance will be lost sight of in the great good gained for
herself and child by having a healthful dress.
Hark! I hear a distant murmur of questions. From many, these reach my
ear: Are the garments you describe all a lady is to wear? Does she not
need a corset? What if one cannot hold herself up without a corset?
Will she wear a corset under or over the princess waist? Does a loose
corset do any harm? Wouldn’t you recommend Madame Foy’s corset? Won’t
she be benefited by a health (?) corset? What about health reform
corsets? And faster and faster the questions come, until my ears are
deafened with corset! corset! corset!
If women had _common sense_, instead of _fashion sense_, the corset
would not exist. There are not words in the English language to express
my convictions upon this subject. The corset, more than any other one
thing, is responsible for woman’s being the victim of disease and
doctors.
Mark this: that part of the body around which we place corset and bands
has no bony structure for its protection. This very pliability renders
it possible for one unconsciously yet easily to produce a deformity in
a few weeks.
Who can begin to prophesy the untold and manifold sufferings for which
a factory full of corsets must be responsible? And where is the end? If
the wearer only had to pay the penalty with pain and weakness, we might
hold our peace.
What is the effect upon the child? One-half of the children born in
this country die before they are five years of age. Who can tell how
much this state of things is due to the enervation of maternal life
forces by this one instrument of torture?
I am a temperance woman. No one can realize more than I the devastation
and ruin alcohol in its many tempting forms has brought to the human
family. Still I solemnly believe that in weakness and deterioration of
health, the corset has more to answer for than intoxicating drinks.
What affects the physical affects the spiritual; what affects the
animal life affects the mental. Given a physical body dwarfed and
deteriorated in any respect, and a corresponding deficiency in
spiritual, intellectual and moral worth is likely to exist. Look at our
men and women who have been grand and successful in achievement, noble
in purpose, and vigorous in intellect. With few exceptions they are
men and women of harmonious, strong, athletic physiques. Women cannot
possibly attain to this condition under the restricting influence of
boned and steeled garments.
“What possible harm can a corset do if worn loose?” My friend, put a
band quilted full of cords and bones upon the arm of your active boy,
whose athletic feats are your pride; let him wear it ever so loosely,
and witness the deteriorating effect upon his biceps and triceps
muscles! Put a similar bandage upon your pet cat or dog, just as
loosely as can be retained, and watch the result upon respiration,
digestion and circulation! Mark my word, in less than a month it will
take more than pepsin to make the food of that animal digest, or
magnetic insoles to keep its feet warm.
At the close of one of my medical conversations a bright, intelligent
young married woman took me aside and asked me very confidentially how
far advanced a woman should be in pregnancy before she laid aside the
corset. I had for several days repeated and reiterated in strongest
terms my convictions that it was _always_ to be deprecated and _never_
tolerated. Consequently I was greatly astonished at the question. I
replied: “Is it possible that with all these illustrations and with all
this strong language I have not made myself plain? Have I talked in
vain?” Then loud enough for the group standing about to hear, I said,
“_The corset should not be worn for two hundred years before pregnancy
takes place._ Ladies, it will take that time at least to overcome the
ill effects of this garment which you think so essential!”
Abandoning the corset _entirely_ and adopting a physiological dress,
aside from lessening suffering in pregnancy, goes very far toward
alleviating, yes, even _curing_ many of the diseases peculiar to women.
Once a woman begins to _think_ outside of Fashion’s dictum, she fully
thinks herself out of the _bars_ of dress. Once free, her road to
recovery is made clear. With other common sense rules of living, health
becomes restored and precious life saved.
In an Iowa college, the professor of natural history, a petite lady,
became very enthusiastic upon examining some dress reform goods, and
gave quite a lecture to the students upon their advantages. She said
that in her school days and first years of teaching she could not walk
over three blocks without fatigue and actual pain. When her day’s work
was done she was compelled to lie down, being unable to see friends or
do extra work. Four years previously, however, she had adopted “common
sense” shoes, the reform underwear, also a skirt supported by a waist,
and the dress itself made loose and light, as well as short enough to
clear the mud in walking. By this change in her habits she had become
able to walk miles in her search for specimens, and knew nothing of
weariness or the necessity of rest, save the regular hours of sleep.
This is not an exaggerated case, and thousands of delicate, tired,
useless girls can become strong and useful if they will “go and do
likewise.”
Prof. N. H. Flower closes his admirable work upon “Fashion in
Deformity” with these valuable thoughts: “The true form of the human
body is familiar to us from classic models. It is, however, quite
possible that some of us may think the present fashionable shape the
more beautiful of the two. In that case it would be well to consider
whether we are sure our judgment is sound on this subject. Let us
remember that to the Australian, the nose-peg is an admired ornament;
that to the Thlinkeet, the Botocudos and Congo negro, the lip dragged
down by a heavy plug, and the ears distended by huge disks of wood,
are things of beauty; that the Malay prefers teeth that are black. Let
us carefully ask ourselves whether we are sure that in leaving nature
as a standard of the beautiful, and adopting a purely conventional
one, we are not falling into an error exactly similar to that of
all these people whose tastes we are so ready to condemn. The fact
is, that in admiring such distorted forms as the constricted waist
and pointed foot, we are opposing our judgment to the Maker of our
bodies, we are neglecting the criterion offered by nature; we are
simply putting ourselves on the level in point of taste with those
Australians, Botocudos, and negroes. We are taking fashion, and nothing
better, higher or truer for our guide, and may we not well ask with
Shakespeare: “Seest thou not what a deformed thief this fashion is?”
Prof. O. S. Fowler, ever a staunch and fearless advocate for health and
temperance, only emphasizes what all sensible persons must believe:
“_Tight lacing_ is the chief cause of infantile mortality. That it
inflicts the very worst forms of physical ruin on woman and offspring
is self-evident. No evil equals that of curtailing this maternal supply
of breath; nor does anything do this as effectually as tight lacing.
If it were merely a female folly, or if its ravages were confined
to its perpetrators, it might be allowed to pass unrebuked; but it
strikes a _deadly blow_ at the very life of the race. By girting in
the lungs, stomach, heart and diaphragm, it cripples every one of
the life-manufacturing functions, impairs the circulation, prevents
muscular action, and lays siege to the child-bearing citadel itself. By
the want of abundant maternal vitality, air, exercise and digestion,
is this practice murderous to both. It often destroys germinal life
before or soon after birth, by most effectually cramping, inflaming
and weakening the vital apparatus and stopping the flow of life at
its fountain-head. It slowly but surely takes the lives of tens of
thousands, and so effectually weakens and diseases millions more,
as ultimately to cause their untimely death. No tongue can tell, no
finite mind conceive the misery it has produced, nor the number of
deaths directly or indirectly of young women, bearing mothers, and
weakly infants it has occasioned; besides the millions on millions
it has caused to drag out a short but wretched existence. If this
murderous practice continues another generation, it will bury all the
middle and upper classes of women and children, and leave propagation
to the coarse-grained but healthy lower classes. Most alarmingly has
it already deteriorated our very race in physical strength, power and
constitution, energy and talents. Let those who had rather bury than
raise their children marry tight lacers.
“Moralists, Christians, reformers, philosophers and philanthropists of
all sects and grades, come, let us unite in presenting a frowning front
to this race-ruining practice, and bachelors insist on _natural waists
or no wives_, and frown down a practice your patronage imposes! Woman
will cease to lace just when you cease to require it.”
Would it not gladden the heart of Prof. Fowler to see the present
wide-spread movement among women for _correct dress_, and also to know
that the number is on the increase of those who understand and realize
their obligations to posterity. The true mother is everywhere to be
found.
CHAPTER VIII.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY--BATHING.
FREQUENT BATHING in pregnancy is of the greatest importance. When the
“water cure” fever first ran like wild-fire through the country, many
were alarmed lest the child-bearing woman should do herself great harm.
Although the _cold_ water washing was carried to great excess, few
cases came to light where any one was injured by it, while hundreds
bear testimony that they were greatly benefited. Relief was obtained
for the suffering both during pregnancy and at confinement. One step
at least was taken in advance which never can be retraced. Previous to
that time women were actually afraid of water. It might be well for
others, but tradition and prejudice taught that if a pregnant woman
bathed in cold water, she ran great risk, and if her hands even were
put in cold water after confinement _she would surely die_.
The “water cure” people took the other extreme. The woman doused and
swam the whole nine months, and fifteen minutes after her child was
born, she would be lifted into a full or sitz-bath of cold water. The
doctor and the good grandmother could not account for the fact that
she survived, save by attributing it to some special providence. Forty
years only have worked wondrous changes, and now all intelligent women
know the luxury of the bath in this condition, and many recognize its
therapeutic value.
The processes of nutrition and waste are more active in the pregnant
woman than in any other. Her condition is more like that of a child,
consequently she can bathe more frequently with advantage.
THE SPONGE OR TOWEL BATH, taken in the morning two or three times a
week, is stimulating and invigorating. No more than two minutes is
required for this bath. It should be taken immediately upon rising,
while the temperature of the body is warm enough to insure thorough
reaction. The colder one can use the water, the more sure the reaction.
The first few mornings bathe the upper part of the body only. In
a short time one can venture upon the whole surface. It should be
followed by friction with a Turkish towel or coarse mitten, and if
the person is not strong, with rubbing by an assistant. Then for five
minutes take deep inspirations of fresh air, and the people are few who
do not _feel good_ after this ablution. It is par excellence the “ounce
of preventive.” It is a “coat of mail” against colds, catarrhs and
influenzas. To the pregnant woman it is life and vitality, and atones
for a multitude of physical sins.
A man once wrote that, “by wearing magnetic appliances, ozone was
developed in the blood.” Whether he knew what ozone was, or what
condition the blood was in when ozone was in it, is not proven. If,
however, it is possible to get a condition in which you feel that there
is “ozone in the blood,” it is after one of these quick, cold, tonic,
invigorating baths. My experience in prescribing it has proven that
it is not debilitating, even when taken twice daily. Too many warm
baths may, in time, reduce the physical standard. But simply wetting
the surface, with hand, sponge or towel in cold water, or, what some
prefer, dashing cold water quickly over the body, is a decided tonic.
A little courage and perseverance is required to form the habit--once
formed, few relinquish it. If no reaction follows, and the person
remains cold, it should not be persevered in.
THE SITZ-BATH is one of the most desirable baths for the pregnant
woman. A tin tub made especially for this bath (procured of dealers in
tinware), requiring but little water, ought to be in every household.
If unable to procure one, a small-sized wash-tub can be used, raising
one side on a block of wood. Tepid water is the most beneficial, unless
for the relief of pain or acute inflammation, when hot water should
be used. Commence taking it with the temperature at 90° Fahrenheit,
and gradually reduce it, until, during the last months, it is as low
as 60°. Remain in it from three to eight minutes, then have towel and
hand friction, followed by rest in the reclining position, and sleep
if possible. If it causes a rush of blood to the head, remain in for a
less time, and put a wet napkin around the neck.
From ten to twelve o’clock in the morning is the best time to take this
bath. If one has not time to rest at this hour, it can be taken just
before retiring. Without the rest, half the value is lost. This bath
is a tonic, sedative, alterative, laxative, diuretic, anti-spasmodic,
anti-periodic, anti-phlogistic, etc.; indeed it will do almost
anything desired to be done for the pregnant woman. It restores nervous
equilibrium, it removes obstructions from the surface, is invaluable
for portal congestion, and for inflammation of any of the abdominal
or pelvic viscera. Nothing is better for insomnia, facial neuralgia,
nausea, biliousness, constipation, hemorrhoids, cramps, varicose veins,
weariness, headache, nervousness, etc., etc.
A woman has omitted the most effectual remedial agent for pathological
symptoms, if she has not tried this bath; and not once only, but has
taken it every day, or twice a day for at least a month. She may have
taken any amount of remedies, may have used outside appliances, but if
she has not had this tepid sitz-bath, she has omitted the _very best_
and surest means of relief. It cannot do harm, and it _can do great
good_.
For severe pain from colic, neuralgia or acute inflammation, the bath
should be taken warm, and in some instances, quite hot; this should be
continued fifteen or twenty minutes, protecting the patient carefully
with blankets, after which she should, without removing them, lie on
the bed and rest.
HOT FOMENTATIONS are usually administered by applying to the affected
part a flannel cloth wrung out of simple or medicated hot water. Some
physicians prescribe bags of hops, tanzy, smart-weed, etc., or Indian
meal or flaxseed poultice, to be kept hot in a steamer. All these
appliances are remonstrated against by patients and nurses. They are
disagreeable and untidy. The bed gets wet and soiled, the patient
likewise. Moist heat is wanted, but one is more likely to get moist
cold, which has a dampening effect upon both body and mind. The
nurse scalds her hands, ruins clothing, and execrates the doctor who
prescribed them.
The very best method of making hot applications is by means of the
rubber “hot water bottle.” These hold from one to four quarts, and
can be readily procured. Boiling water can be used in them, and the
heat will be retained many hours. They are soft, pliable and agreeable
to the touch, and adjust themselves to every part of the body. When
moisture is desired, place a wet cloth under them. _No well regulated
family should be without a hot water bottle._
When, however, this is lacking, there are several convenient modes of
making hot applications. Put part of a sheet or blanket around the
patient, to protect the bed and clothing. Then lay a newspaper upon a
cook stove, or flat top of a heating stove. Wring a large flannel cloth
dry as possible out of cold or tepid water. Lay it between the folds of
the paper, and it will soon steam hotter than can be handled. Take it
to the patient and place it underneath the sheet, in contact with the
body. Have another cloth heating, to take the place of this one when it
ceases to be hot. The moist cloth can also be kept hot by putting it on
a tin plate which is in the oven or on top of a stove. The virtue of a
fomentation is in the heat, and it must be kept hot.
Another still more simple method, desirable where the patient must
wait upon herself, is to place over the part affected a cloth wrung
from warm water; then lay over it a hot stove lid, wrapped securely in
paper. This will retain heat for a long time, and gives the patient
opportunity for rest.
THE HOT FOMENTATION is a valuable remedial agent. It is rare to find
acute suffering, where it is not indicated. It alleviates neuralgia and
rheumatic pain. It is good for biliousness, constipation and torpid
liver. It relieves colic and flatulence, and is of special value in
menstrual pain or suppression. Thoroughly applied, acute diseases may
be arrested without other aids.
The precautions that must be taken in using hot fomentations,
especially if moist, is to have them hot and keep them hot while they
are continued. When removed, replace them with dry flannel or bathe
the part in tepid water, rub dry and put on the ordinary clothing. The
latter is desirable when used in chronic affections. In acute attacks,
especially of inflammation, it is well to follow or alternate with
a compress from cold water. Don’t use paregoric, Dover’s powders,
morphine, or even a homeopathic preparation until you have tried
thoroughly the hot fomentation. Remember that when you get relief from
an application like this you will not suffer from the poisonous effects
of drugs. You rally more quickly, and are not as liable to another
attack, for nature has had a better opportunity to throw off diseased
conditions.
THE COLD COMPRESS is a convenient, safe, desirable and effectual
domestic remedy. Like the fomentation, it requires knowledge and
skill in its application. Take a worn linen towel, wring dry from
_cold_ water, apply to the affected part, then cover well with several
thicknesses of flannel, securely excluding the air. Reaction soon
follows, warmth ensues, and the same or better result is obtained than
from a poultice. It can remain on one or two hours or else all night.
Should always be followed with thorough bathing in cold water and
friction.
_This compress must not be wet in warm water._ In that case it _grows
cold and keeps cold_. If wet in cold water, the colder the better, it
sends the blood from the surface, and the _reaction causes it to get
warm and keep warm_. To make it subserve its purpose these three rules
must be observed.
1. Wring from cold water.
2. Wring dry.
3. Cover thoroughly with flannel.
The compress should never be continued where warmth and reaction
can not be obtained. In persons with a cold surface and a sluggish
circulation it is well to precede it for half an hour with a hot
fomentation.
The compress is beneficial both for acute and chronic inflammations.
In sore throats, croup, bronchitis and inflammation of the lungs it is
invaluable. Many persons use no other means for croup, wringing the
cloth from ice-cold water. In inflammation of the abdominal and pelvic
viscera it is equally good. In pregnancy, if there is irritation in
the stomach, congestion of the liver, constipation or distress of the
bowels, accompanied by heat, the compress in these regions will be
beneficial.
The heat and dull aching pain in the back, that is so often complained
of, is the result of some irritation in the uterus. The compress worn
at night or when taking the daily rest, will give great relief. It
can simply be put across the back, or may extend entirely around the
abdomen. The frequency and length of time continued must depend upon
the case.
THE FOOT AND LEG BATHS are good derivative appliances. Taken warm they
will relieve nervousness, sleeplessness and irritability.
For habitual cold feet there is no better remedy than bathing the feet
in cold water at bed-time. Have everything ready for retiring. In the
foot-tub put three-fourths of an inch of cold water. Hold the feet in
that half a minute. Then dry with coarse towel and spat them well with
the hand. The reaction gives warm feet for the night, and if persisted
in for three or four weeks, habitual cold feet are often cured.
THE TURKISH OR THERMAL BATH affords one of the best, surest and
safest sanative and therapeutic agents known to medical science. In
a well-appointed establishment for this bath, the subject enters a
room heated from 130° to 160° Fahrenheit; remains there until copious
perspiration is induced. He is then taken to a room, temperature
about 90° deg., where he is laid upon a slab or table and thoroughly
shampooed with soap and water. This is followed by a spray, douche,
shower or plunge bath; then he is dried and thoroughly manipulated by
an attendant, after which he lies upon a couch from half to one hour
to cool and rest. This bath is an expensive luxury, and not within the
reach of rich or poor in any but our larger towns and cities.
A TURKISH OR THERMAL BATH AT HOME, with a simple and inexpensive
apparatus, has equal value as a hygienic or therapeutic agent. Any
woman with ordinary _common_ or _nurse sense_ can give these baths
satisfactorily by observing the following directions:
Take a chair with a wooden seat, an armed office chair preferable,
place in it a piece of flannel blanket so folded that it will fall
down in front; under the chair put a coffee cup one-third filled with
alcohol. If any other vessel is used, be sure the opening is no larger
than a cup, as this gives sufficient surface for the combustion of the
amount of alcohol; have a foot tub in front of the chair, with warm
water for the feet.
The patient is seated in nature’s raiments only, or as Mark Twain says,
“in her complexion,” enveloped closely in woolen blankets. One of these
is put over her in front and the other at the back, outside of the
chair. After she is seated and covered, light the alcohol with a taper.
Don’t risk burning yourself by using a match. The subject will begin to
perspire in from three to five minutes. If blood rushes to the head,
giving a red face and feeling of fullness in the brain, put a napkin
round the neck, wrung from tepid water. This is better than wetting the
head, and it has the advantage of not taking the “crimp” out of her
hair.
If she is faint or sick at the stomach, as one may be with the first
bath, or very _bilious_, let her drink copiously of hot water or very
weak ginger tea. If the perspiration is slow in starting, or if the
heat is excessive, the surface may be bathed with a sponge dipped in
cold water. Let her remain fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer if
necessary, to induce copious perspiration. She can then be bathed and
rubbed sitting in the chair. If weak, or if longer perspiration is
desired, let her lie upon bed or couch enveloped in the blankets, where
she can be bathed under cover if necessary. Let the manipulation be
thorough. Squeeze, press and pinch every muscle in the body and spat
the surface with the ends of the fingers, having the wrist free. Using
the entire arm and palm of the hand makes hard work, and does not give
good results. If the attendant is magnetic, the fingers cause tingling,
like hundreds of needles. Let the patient lie for an hour after this
treatment to rest, cool and sleep.
How readily and easily this luxury and remedial agent can be carried
into every home! The apparatus required is simply a wooden-seated
chair, two and a fraction woolen blankets, an old cup, a foot tub and
five cents’ worth of alcohol.
This bath should be taken at least two hours after eating. If taken
sooner, it is nearly impossible to induce perspiration, besides
interfering with digestion. For invalids, the preferable time is about
ten or eleven in the forenoon. The business man or woman can take it
upon rising in the morning, or just before retiring. If necessary, one
can go out immediately after the bath. There is no _danger of taking
cold_ if one is bathed in cold or tepid water, and has thorough massage.
As a _sanative measure_ the _Thermal Bath_ can be taken at least once a
week; for diseases, the frequency depends upon the case.
It is not weakening. Invalids, unable to sit up, gain strength with
the daily use of this bath. In the first renovating process that is
induced, one may have a _sense_ of weakness or faintness, similar to
the effects of medicine that rouses up the vital functions, but the
cases are rare that this does not pass off in a few hours, leaving
a corresponding gain. The _Thermal Bath_ is valuable in health and
disease.
1. It cleanses and promotes the healthy action of the skin as no other
bath can do, thus relieving the other excretory organs.
2. It equalizes the circulation of the blood, and removes all local
congestions of any and every part, which is one of the most important
things to be accomplished in the treatment of diseased conditions.
3. It is the quickest, easiest and most effectual means known to
man for purifying the blood. It literally washes the blood of its
impurities. The patient drinks pure water, it is absorbed, passes
into and mingles with the blood, by which it is carried to the
capillary network of the skin and poured upon the surface in the form
of perspiration; not pure as when it was taken into the stomach, but
mingled with the impurities of the blood. If this were its only use,
the Thermal Bath would be invaluable.
4. It soothes and tranquilizes the nervous system, sweeps the cobwebs
of care from the brain, leaving it clear and refreshed.
The Thermal Bath is _specially_ useful in the treatment of all diseases
arising from impurity of the blood, inactivity of the skin, local
inflammations, or unbalanced nervous action. It is invaluable for
Drug Poisoning, Scrofula, Consumption, Diseases of the Skin, Dropsy,
Remittent and Intermittent Fevers, Coughs, Colds, Catarrh, Croup, Gout,
Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Diseases of the Liver and Kidneys, Bronchitis,
Chronic Diarrhea, etc.
THE THERMAL BATH will break up a cold in its first stages, and at any
time it will give certain alleviation. For ague it should be taken
about the time the chill is anticipated, and given thoroughly. The
cases are rare that will resist the third or fourth bath, using no
other means.
In chronic rheumatism it has no equal in therapeutics. For this it can
be taken every day. Some have taken twice a day with benefit. Cases
long resisting all other methods of treatment have been entirely cured
by this bath.
Most eruptive diseases are helped by it. A lady had salt-rheum all
over her body. A ten-cent piece could not be laid on a spot free from
eruption. She took these baths _daily_ for three months, without any
other remedy, and cured herself. She gained in strength, flesh and
appetite, and besides, found herself freed from many minor ailments.
The Thermal bath is valuable in pregnancy, when there is dryness of
the skin, coldness of the surface, with sensitiveness to cold. If the
pregnant woman has any of the diseases mentioned above, she will find
this bath just as efficacious as if she was not _enciente_. She should
have a good, skillful attendant, and take ample time to rest after
it. Do not fear disastrous results. Ladies have taken them once or
twice a week during the entire pregnancy with benefit. The following
testimonials only emphasize what they have written.
They purify and invigorate.--_D. Wark, M. D._
Unsurpassed, as combining luxury and utility.--_R. M. Lackey, M. D._
The Turks have always considered the public baths of Constantinople
as supplying the place of a certain number of hospitals, which would
otherwise have to be built.--_Dr. Haughton._
Ladies, note this: The use of the Turkish bath renders the complexion
more delicate and brilliant--the eye becomes clearer and brighter--the
whole person is rendered fragrant, and all personal charms are
enhanced.--_Dr. Barter._
After a day of labor and care, which had quite exhausted me, I have
just taken one of the Turkish baths, and come out feeling as completely
rested as when I arose from my bed in the morning--in short, as good as
new.--_L. H. Thomas, M. D._
The only sure cure for a cold is the Turkish bath. It opens the pores
and starts the system afresh into working order. I cheerfully commend
it, even to persons in good health, as the best means to keep the
secretions healthy.--_Dr. D. F. Clinton._
Rely upon it, it is the _ne plus ultra_ of baths.--_Dr. J. E.
Westervelt._
CHAPTER IX.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY--DIET.
PROPER FOOD in pregnancy is not more necessary for health and strength
of the mother, than for giving normal development to the child. If
the food does not afford suitable nourishment, or is not properly
assimilated, pathological conditions inevitably result. Besides, few
have learned that the _kind_ of nutriment taken has much to do with the
ease or severity of labor.
The food of the pregnant woman should consist of articles that are
nutritious, but not stimulating or heating to the blood. It should be
eaten at regular intervals and under favorable conditions.
An important matter is to avoid fluids while eating. Liquid, taken
into the stomach, must be removed by absorbents before the gastric
fluid can be secreted to dissolve the food and convert it into chyle. A
strong, healthy stomach may perform both processes easily. One weakened
by dyspepsia or the reflex action in pregnancy may not be able to
accomplish this double duty; consequently very much is gained by taking
the food dry. Drink, if there is thirst, half an hour before a meal,
and not within three hours after. Eat less salt and there will be less
thirst.
Avoid all condiments, and for the most part _fats_ and _sweets_. The
two latter are pure carbon, therefore cause and increase febrile
conditions. Sufficient carbon can be obtained in the farinaceous food.
Lean meats, the very best beef, mutton boiled, roasted or smothered,
cooked quickly and rare, and wild game may be eaten by some without
injury. But owing to their stimulating elements, and their effects upon
the formation of character, parents desiring to give the world the best
reproduction of themselves will avoid the use of animal food.
A woman has for her diet a choice from all the grains, all the
vegetables and all the fruits. When a working animal thrives and
retains its strength upon two articles only, viz., corn and straw or
oats and hay, can not the human make a bill of fare of sufficient
variety to please the most fastidious out of all the grains, fruits
and vegetables? If foods were ordinarily chosen to supply the _needs_
of wasted tissues rather than to pander to perverted and capricious
appetites, there would be less necessity of a special diet for
pregnancy.
Physiologists have within a few years advanced the theory that if a
pregnant woman avoids food rich in elements that nourish and develop
bone, labor would be comparatively easy and painless. This theory was
first made known in a small pamphlet published in England in 1841. It
was written by Mr. Rowbotham, a practical chemist of London. His wife
had been such a sufferer in two confinements that he had reason to
fear she would not survive the third. The work gives an account of an
experiment which met with such favorable results that he felt it his
duty to publish it for the benefit of others. His theory was that “in
proportion as a woman subsists during pregnancy upon aliment that is
free from earthy and bony matter, will she avoid pain and danger in
delivery; hence the more ripe fruit, acid fruit in particular, and
the less of other kinds of food, but particularly of bread or pastry
of any kind is consumed, the less will be the danger and suffering in
childbirth.
“The subject of this experiment had, within three years, given birth
to two children; and not only suffered extremely in the parturition,
but for two or three months previous to delivery her general health
was very indifferent, her lower extremities exceedingly swelled and
painful; the veins so full and prominent as to be almost bursting;
in fact to prevent such a catastrophe, bandages had to be applied;
and for the last few weeks of gestation, her size and weight were
such as to prevent her attending to her usual duties. She had on this
occasion, two years and a half after her last delivery, advanced _full
seven months_ in pregnancy before she commenced the experiment at
her husband’s earnest instance; her legs and feet were, as before,
considerably swelled; the veins distended and knotty, and her health
diminishing.
“She began the experiment in the first week of January, 1841. She
commenced by eating an apple and an orange the first thing in the
morning, and again at night. This was continued for about four days,
when she took just before breakfast, in addition to the apple and
orange, the juice of a lemon mixed with sugar, and at breakfast two
or three roasted apples, taking a very small quantity of her usual
food, viz., wheaten bread and butter. During the forenoon she took
an orange or two, and an apple. For dinner took fish or flesh in a
small quantity, and potatoes, greens and apples, the apples sometimes
peeled and cut into pieces; sometimes boiled whole with the potatoes;
sometimes roasted before the fire and afterward mixed with sugar. In
the afternoon she sucked an orange or ate an apple or some grapes, and
always took some lemon-juice mixed with sugar or treacle.
“At first the fruits acted strongly on the stomach and intestines,
but this soon ceased, and she could take several lemons without
inconvenience. For supper she again had roasted apples or a few
oranges, and rice or sago boiled in milk; sometimes the apples peeled
and cored, were boiled along with the rice or sago. On several
occasions she took for supper apples and raisins, or figs with an
orange cut among them, and sometimes all stewed together. Two or three
times a week she took a tablespoonful of a mixture made of the juice
of two oranges, one lemon, half a pound of grapes, and a quarter of a
pound of sugar or treacle. The sugar or treacle served mainly to cover
the taste of the acids, but all saccharine matter is very nutritious.
The object in giving the acids was to dissolve as much as possible the
earthy or bony matter which she had taken with her food in the first
seven months of her pregnancy.
“She continued this course for six weeks, when to her _surprise and
satisfaction, the swelled and prominent state of the veins_, which
existed before she began this regimen, had _entirely subsided_; her
legs and feet, which were also swelled considerably, had returned to
their former state; and she became so light and active she could run
up and down a flight of twenty stairs, with more ease than before she
was pregnant. Her health became unwontedly excellent, and scarcely an
ache or a pain affected her up to the night of her delivery. Even her
breasts, which at the time she commenced the experiment, as well as
during her former pregnancies, were sore and tender, became entirely
free from pain, and remained in the very best condition after delivery
and during nursing.”
It is evident Mr. Rowbotham obtained more than he anticipated for his
wife. He had only expected to arrest or decrease the development of
bone, but by eating so largely of acid fruits, the inflammatory or
“bilious” condition was overcome. The oxygen of the acids united with
the excess of carbon previously taken, thus relieved the pathological
symptoms under which she was suffering. It is doubtful whether the
final favorable results would have been attained had this not been
the case, as prolonged suffering often accompanies a premature labor,
even when there is little osseous development. The fact that Mrs. R.’s
general health was so much improved adds to the interest and importance
of the experiment.
He continues: “At nine o’clock A.M., after having cleaned her
apartments, she was in the yard shaking a carpet, which she did with as
much ease as any one else could have done. At half-past ten she said
she believed her ‘time was come,’ and the accoucheur was sent for. At
one o’clock the child was born, and the surgeon had left the room. He
knew nothing of the experiment being made, but on being asked on paper
by the husband two days afterward if he could ‘pronounce it as safe and
as easy a delivery as he generally met with,’ he replied on paper: ‘I
hereby testify that I attended Mrs. Rowbotham on the 3d inst., and that
she had a safe labor and more easy than I generally meet with.’ On his
asking the midwife if she thought it as easy as usual, she replied:
‘Why, I should say that a more easy labor I never witnessed--I never
saw such a thing, and I have been at a great many labors in my time!’
“The child, a boy, was finely proportioned and exceedingly soft,
his _bones resembling gristle_. He became of large size and very
graceful, athletic and strong as he grew up. The diet of his mother was
immediately changed, and she ate bread and milk and all articles of
food in which phosphate of lime is to be found, and which had been left
out before. She also got up from her confinement immediately and well.
After her previous delivery, July, 1838, full ten days elapsed before
she could leave her bed, and then she swooned at the first attempt; on
this occasion, March, 1841, she left her bed the fourth day, and not
only washed, but partly dressed herself. Had she not been influenced by
custom and also been somewhat timid, she might have done so sooner. To
be assisted appeared like a burlesque to her, not to say annoyance. She
had no assistance from medicine.
“During former pregnancies, she had subsisted very much on bread,
puddings, pies, and all kinds of pastry, having an idea that solid food
of this kind was necessary to support the fetus. Nutritious food can be
had without this hard and bony element, which is so large an ingredient
of wheaten flour. Sago, tapioca, rice, etc., have little of it.”
This is a remarkable case, indeed, in some respects seems almost
incredible. The theory expounded certainly deserves consideration. If
there is any reasonable method by which the throes of parturition can
be mitigated, women want to and ought to know it.
I have tested this theory thoroughly, and know many physicians who
have instructed their patients accordingly. For a number of years
I have been teaching it to women in _conversations_, and have many
testimonials of good results. One commencing to practice this method at
the beginning of pregnancy need not eat so plentifully of the fruit as
did Mrs. R.
A woman who, all her life, has violated natural laws, and consequently
has been an invalid, is diseased by deleterious diet and deformed by
unnatural modes of dress, can not expect to have a perfectly painless
labor. Even such can, however, do much to mitigate her suffering by
fidelity to these teachings. Like Mrs. R., comfort, health, strength
and vivacity can be obtained during pregnancy, and the _agony_ of
parturition, that usually continues from twenty-four to forty-eight
hours, can be reduced both in duration and violence. The consequence
will be a speedy restoration of the organs to a normal condition.
For further proof of this theory, the reader’s attention is called to
the following notable experience: A Mrs. W., the wife of a prominent
judge, in the northern part of Michigan, is a woman of fine physique
and apparently robust health. She is the mother of four children.
With the first three, she suffered prolonged and agonizing labor,
lasting in the expulsive stage from thirty to fifty hours. Becoming
pregnant again, her heart was filled with terror lest she should not
survive the ordeal. She was four months advanced in pregnancy when she
became acquainted with the “fruit diet” theory, and lived accordingly,
subsisting almost entirely upon fruits, rice and vegetables.
Her health became unusually good. The pains, aches and discomforts she
had experienced during the last months of previous pregnancies were
entirely wanting. The time of delivery had arrived. At five o’clock in
the morning she was suddenly awakened with a severe cramp in her limbs.
She arose and walked the floor without relief. Returning to the bed,
she obtained ease by applications of warmth and friction.
She fell into a quiet sleep, which lasted, perhaps, half an hour. From
this she was awakened by a labor pain. The doctor was hastily summoned,
and although he lived across the street and came at once, the child
was born before his arrival. This occurred before seven o’clock, less
than two hours from the time she was awakened with the cramps. She
avers that the effort that expelled the child could not be called a
pain, only a sense of discomfort, or of continued pressure. Her child
is now three years old, is unusually healthy and robust. The bones
were pliable at birth, but soon solidified. When it is known that many
of the bones of the human body under any circumstances are not fully
ossified until about the 20th year, it need be no source of uneasiness
that the osseous structure is more than usually pliable at birth. In
most cases the gain for the child is as great as for the mother.
Mrs. K. with her first child had the usual three months of “morning
sickness,” which, in her case, continued the entire day. She suffered
fearfully from bloating and lameness, so much so that she was unable to
leave the house during the last weeks of gestation. She bathed in warm
water only frequently enough to answer the demands of cleanliness. Her
labor was both severe and prolonged. She had convulsions, and after
forty-eight hours of agony the child was removed with instruments. Her
confinement was followed by broken breasts, metritis and cellulitis,
and she was unable to sit up a moment until the child was five weeks
old.
With her second child she bathed freely in cold water and lived upon
the “fruit and rice” diet. She had no morning sickness, no heartburn,
no neuralgia, and scarcely any bloating or lameness. It may be said
that the child was born _without any labor_ as she _had no sensation
of pain_. She had slept unusually well, awakened about three o’clock
with the “breaking of the waters,” called her husband, who sprang
from the bed, but could not get dressed to call her mother who was
upstairs, before the lusty cry of the little stranger pressed him into
the work of an amateur accoucheur. She used cold water freely after her
confinement, and had no gathered breasts, no inflammation, or trouble
of any kind. Felt able to get about the house the following day; seemed
quite absurd to lie in bed. She speaks of it joyfully as one of the
greatest triumphs of her life, and preaches the doctrine to all she
meets. She could not be convinced that there is any need of childbirth
being accompanied by severe pain.
The following case came under my notice, and proves the efficacy of the
“fruit diet.”
Mrs. L. T. Colburn, living in Eureka, Kansas, is a woman, short,
fleshy, and what is called _solid built_. She has five children: with
the first four, her labors were severe and prolonged. Some of them only
terminated with instrumental interference. Relays of neighboring women
were worn out in rendering her the customary aid, and some of her male
relatives had to be pressed into service. During her last pregnancy,
_accidentally_, she lived upon fruit and rice, and her experience was
as unlike the former deliveries as night is unlike day. Her husband
kept a grocery and provision store, and the family lived over the
store; Mrs. C. was in the grocery frequently. She had a _craving_ for
lemons and oranges, and ate of them very freely, often consuming half a
dozen of either at one time. Her greediness for these fruits became the
by-word of friends and neighbors.
Previous to this time her eldest son, showing symptoms of irritation
of the brain, subsisted upon rice. From this the entire family came
to living almost totally upon rice. As usual, she made very elaborate
preparations for her confinement; her physician, nurse and friends were
engaged. At the end of nine months she was awakened with the “breaking
of the waters.” She aroused her husband. He thought he had better go
for a doctor. “Why, there is no use,” she said, “I have not a particle
of pain.” However, he feared there was something wrong, and after
calling her sister, went with all possible haste for medical aid.
The sister, too, was alarmed, and went to the next door to call a
neighbor. Before either returned, while Mrs. C. was entirely alone, the
child was born, _without the sensation of pain_.
Mrs. C. had talked her experience over many times with her husband and
friends, and was never able to account for the very marked difference
in her confinements until at my _conversations_ she heard me expound
the “rice and fruit diet” theory. With tears streaming from her eyes
she recounted her story; she said: “I am so glad to know that this is
not the result of chance--that it is the truth and philosophy by which
all may profit.”
Mrs. C. is a true woman; she told me she was willing her name and
experience should be used for the benefit of others, and handed me this
testimony:
“This is to certify that I know what Dr. Stockham teaches in regard to
‘Fruit Diet’ is true. When pregnant with my last child, I accidentally
lived upon rice and fruit, and my child was born with comparatively no
pain or sensible effort; could not get a physician in time, nor did I
need one. In four previous deliveries I had physicians with me over
twenty-four hours, and had prolonged and severe labors. I can account
for the difference only through the fruit and rice diet.
L. T. COLBURN,
May 2, 1882.
_Eureka, Kansas._
Food and drink should be chosen that lack in bone forming materials.
The carbonaceous elements of the grains are not objectionable, while
to prevent inflammation the free use of _fats_ and _sweets_ should
be avoided. Of the legumina and grains: beans, barley, rye and
oats, in order, contain the largest amount of mineral product; wheat
not quite so much; corn, almost none. Lean meat, chicken, oysters,
clams, lobster, crab, etc., abound in the mineral salts. All garden
vegetables, save beans, are desirable. Eggs, wheat and milk can be used
moderately.
_Feast on fruits freely_ should be the pregnant woman’s motto. The
oxygen of acid fruits unite with the carbon, hence besides dissolving
the phosphates tends to prevent inflammation.
That the _fruit diet_ prevents the diseases of pregnancy and the
sufferings of parturition, is a _boon to every woman_, and all knowing
this ought to preach it.
THE BILL OF FARE below suggests dishes desirable in pregnancy. Remember
always to add fruit. Next to lemon and oranges, apples, peaches
and plums should be chosen. For supper it is better to take simply
rice or corn gruel, or, if in summer, a dish of ice cream. It must
be understood that this bill of fare is _merely_ suggestive, being
intended to show that a variety of attractive dishes can be made
entirely compatible with the theory.
BREAKFAST FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK.
MONDAY.--Rice balls, baked apples, baked potatoes, corn muffins, corn
tea.
TUESDAY.--Japanese rice, apple sauce, creamed potato, corn-meal griddle
cakes, barley coffee.
WEDNESDAY.--Rice muffins, fresh fruit, rhubarb on toast, breakfast
patties, wheat coffee.
THURSDAY.--Hominy, stewed fruit, rice omelet, potato balls, corn
muffins, hot milk.
FRIDAY.--Rice griddle cakes, stewed potatoes, milk toast, sago and
cream, barley coffee.
SATURDAY.--Corn mush, tomato on toast, egg omelet, graham muffins, hot
milk.
SUNDAY.--Fresh fruit, codfish balls, baked potatoes, rice muffins,
chocolate, maple syrup.
DINNER FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK.
MONDAY.--Macaroni soup, asparagus on toast, mashed potatoes, sago-apple
pudding or rice snow.
TUESDAY.--Noodle soup, raw oysters, potato puffs, succotash, baked
macaroni, cold slaw, baked rice pudding or apple-tapioca pudding, fruit.
WEDNESDAY.--Tomato soup, fresh fish, mashed potatoes, beets, baked
Indian pudding or rhubarb pie.
THURSDAY.--Vegetable soup, tomatoes on toast, creamed potatoes, stewed
macaroni, corn, cracked-wheat pudding or cornstarch blanc-mange, fruit.
FRIDAY.--Rice soup, creamed codfish, green peas, spinach, boiled
potatoes, strawberry shortcake or fruit blanc-mange.
SATURDAY.--Potato soup, macaroni and cheese, vegetable oysters, creamed
cabbage, baked rice omelet, fruit shortcake, fruit.
SUNDAY.--Baked chicken, sweet potatoes, celery, unleavened bread,
potato puffs, corn, farina blanc-mange with jelly, nuts and fruits.
Copy this bill of fare and paste in the kitchen, where it will be handy
to refer to. If one is not accustomed to the use of grains it requires
some patience to learn to prepare the food so that it will prove both
nourishing and satisfactory to a delicate appetite. See chapter on
dietetics for recipes.
The following table has been carefully prepared from Payen’s food
analysis. It will afford assistance in selecting appropriate diet, and
should be studied with care.
ANALYSIS OF FOOD.
====================================================================
ARTICLES. | Nitrogenous | Carbonaceous |Mineral | Waste.| Water.
| | | Salts. | |
----------+-------------+-----------------+--------+-------+--------
Wheat[1] | 18 | 77 | 2 | 3 |
Rye[1] | 13 | 81 | 3 | 3 |
Barley[1] | 13 | 79 | 3 | 5 |
Oats[1] | 14 | 75 | 3 | 8 |
Maize[1] | 12 | 80 | 1 | 7 |
Buckwheat | 13 | 67 | 2 | 4 | 14
Rice | 5 | 82 | 0 | 4 | 9
Beans | 30 | 57 | 4 | 1 | 8
Lean Meat | 19 | 4 | 5 | | 72
Potatoes | 2 | 24 | 1 | | 73
White Fish| 18 | 3 | 1 | | 78
Eggs | 16 | 30 | 2 | | 52
Milk | 4 | 9 | 1 | | 86
Sugar } | | 100 | | |
Butter } | | | | |
----------+-------------+-----------------+--------+-------+--------
[1] A dry state. In any ordinary state grains contains 11 to 18 per
cent. water.
CHAPTER X.
HYGIENE IN PREGNANCY.--EXERCISE.
_Motion is a law of nature._ All animal life is full of activity.
Remaining quietly in closely heated rooms frequently causes disease in
the pregnant woman. Without exercise, food cannot be assimilated, the
processes of depurition are imperfect, the muscles lose tone and power,
and the nervous system becomes prostrated. On the other hand, excessive
labor often proves injurious. Some muscles are overtaxed and local
strains produced. It is difficult to give directions applicable to all
cases. Exercise should not be carried to actual fatigue. A weariness
that _makes the bed feel good_ can do no harm.
General housework is desirable, avoiding the more laborious portion,
like washing, scrubbing and heavy lifting. In housework one brings into
action nearly all the muscles of the body, with the exception of some
of the trunk and those used in deep respiration. Even these would not
lack development if clothing caused no restrictions. In the home work a
woman reaches, stoops, turns, walks, lifts and climbs stairs.
Housekeeping usually interests a woman during pregnancy if at no other
time. She is _nest building_, and the home work is a labor of love. She
rests in the quiet of a cozy, retired home. How easy to perform the
duties that the heart sanctions and impels!
If a woman has no functional derangement, walking and carriage riding
are invaluable. _She cannot be too much in the out-door air._ Properly
clothed, brisk walking brings into action nearly every muscle, and is
invigorating to every function. American women, as a rule, walk too
little. Wearing common sense shoes, having the arms free, the dress
short and loose, one can accustom herself to walking long distances
with positive benefit.
_Light gardening_ can not be too highly recommended. It has the
advantage of being _out doors_. It gives postures that bring into
action the unused muscles of the trunk and abdomen.
Coming in contact with the earth carries off any excess of electricity.
Besides, the result, either in a supply of fresh vegetables for the
table, or in floral decorations, are always satisfactory. My own
experience proves that getting out and working in the ground is a
cure-all for _ennui_, indigestion, torpid liver, anxiety, despondency;
indeed, any slight physical derangement or mental disturbance.
Possessing no garden to cultivate, lying flat upon the ground without
blanket or pillow answers a good purpose. More rest can be obtained
in five minutes than in five hours upon lounge or bed in the house.
Although this is contrary to all tradition and teaching, many have
proved its value.
What is the object to be gained by exercise in pregnancy? Evidently
absorption, nutrition and excretion. All the functions must be kept to
a normal standard, so that the processes of assimilation and waste can
be perfectly performed.
The involuntary muscles of respiration must be educated. Those
required in parturition must be developed and strengthened. There are
the muscles of the abdomen, pelvis, perineum and groin, also some of
the muscles of the trunk.
_Full and deep breathing_ is not only necessary to perfectly oxygenate
the blood and by the attendant motion to promote digestion, but it
makes room for the fetus as well. It expands the wall of the abdomen
and chest, and strengthens the sustaining power of the uterus. Is it
not possible, too, that it gives a needed _exercise_ to the fetus,
a constant gentle motion promoting the functions necessary to its
development and growth?
Breathing for the most part is an involuntary action, and in children
and animals is performed naturally from the abdomen or flank. “Look
upon that quietly sleeping cat on the rug. Its sole indication of
vitality is the bellows-like motion of its body in breathing. You must
also have observed that in _all_ domestic animals, at each respiration,
an undulating motion extends quite through the whole trunk, and that
this motion terminates only at the hindermost limbs. This is natural
respiration as it is performed throughout quadruped existence.
“Have you a perfectly healthy lady friend? Lay your hand upon her
and you will find that her abdomen rises and falls in exactly the
same way at every respiratory act; not only so, but that this act is
involuntarily performed in a more profound manner every few moments,
and that this increased motion operates _particularly_ upon the lowest
portion of the trunk.
“Observe in the same way your own person. If you are an invalid, you
will find this motion diminished, perhaps suppressed. When one half
breathes he only half lives.”
The lungs or air receptacles are enclosed within the walls of the chest
or thoratic cavity; beneath the lungs is the great breathing motor, the
diaphragm, of a convex shape when in repose. In all correct inhalation
the air filling the lungs flattens the diaphragm. This must result in
the expansion of the body adjacent to and surrounding the diaphragm.
Natural breathing should be accomplished without any upheaval of the
chest or hoisting of the shoulders.
That adults, and especially women, have not this deep _waist_
breathing is on account of disuse of the muscles. The young man who
is stoop-shouldered, walks the streets with his hands in his pockets
or sits bent over his desk, soon diminishes the action of these
muscles. The girl, deprived of pockets, may keep her head and shoulders
erect, yet by faulty dress, compresses and fixes the lower muscles of
respiration and breathes only with the top of the lungs. When either
man or woman has lost the ability to breathe deeply, a long road must
be traveled to educate the muscles back to natural use.
A man in Colorado had broncorrhœa and occasional lung hemorrhage.
Although he could walk six or seven miles he could not breathe below
the eighth rib. I said: “I did not know a man could live, and breathe
no deeper. By all your hopes of life, you must learn to breathe. To
be sure you can walk, but the muscles of your legs don’t help your
respiration. You must take exercises that develop the diaphragm and
abdominal muscles. Breathe down, _down_, and relieve the congestion
of the upper lungs.” He said: “I have consulted many physicians the
last six years, and why have none told me this before?” Several months
afterward he wrote me that by simply developing the lower muscles of
respiration, he had saved funeral expenses.
The gymnast and vocalist take pains to teach deep breathing, which is
simply restoring natural processes. The cow will low all day for her
lost offspring without fatigue or hoarseness, because she does it with
expiration, and breathes from her waist or flanks. The boy who roams
the woods, gathers nuts and hunts squirrels and keeps his hands out of
his pockets, can _hallo_ hours without weariness. He breathes naturally
and uses his voice naturally. He does only what the singer and orator
are taught to do, because through disuse this has become a _lost art_
to them.
The blacksmith or stone-cutter desiring to strike a heavy blow, does it
with expiration, and the breath is driven from the lungs with an _ugh!_
that is almost a groan. No matter what knotted muscles he may have upon
his arm, if the great converging muscle below the lungs is not equally
strong and powerful, he can not strike an effective blow. It is said
that out of three hundred recent candidates for the Navy school, two
hundred and twenty-five were rejected simply because of contracted
chests and inefficient breathing. Manhood, womanhood, endurance and
longevity depend upon lung power, and this is within the reach of all.
EDUCATE THE MUSCLES OF RESPIRATION. “To learn deep breathing be as
passive as possible; that is, assume a position in which all the
voluntary motor muscles are inactive. Lie flat on the back, perfectly
horizontal, without even an elevation of the head. Shut the mouth and
draw the air in through the channel provided by nature--the nose. As
a result of bad habits, most persons will raise the upper ribs, yet
this expansion will soon yield to a movement of the lower ribs, and
this again will gradually cease by continued practice, as will also
every distension of the ribs. All these faulty movements will be
superseded by a bulging out of the abdomen, which will be proportioned
to the amount of air inhaled.” Exhale also through the nose, letting
the breath out slowly. Alternate costal and abdominal breathing. That
is, with one inspiration swell out the sides; _burst the belt_; this
retracts the abdomen; with the next bulge out the abdomen, which is
done by pressing the diaphragm down.
MASSAGE is a most desirable mode of exercise, especially for invalids
and delicate people. This is a thorough manipulation by an attendant of
all the muscles.
Massage is one of the most effective of all manipulations to promote
nerve currents and blood circulation. It renders the skin soft and
elastic. The action extends deeply in the body, thus promoting the
activity of all the blood-vessels. It restores the circulation to the
extremities, thus relieving the plethora of the viscera generally
attendant upon chronic diseases.
The _muscle-beater_ is a convenient and inexpensive substitute for the
hand, in Massage and Swedish movement cures, as it gives excellent
muscular treatment without the aid of an assistant. This little
instrument consists of three rubber tubes, fastened together toward
the handle. With this, one can treat the skin and muscles in any part
of the body.
Always in standing and walking, assume the
MILITARY POSITION.
1. Heels in line, and together.
2. Feet turned equally outward, forming an angle of forty-five degrees.
3. Knees straight.
4. Body square to the front.
5. Chest expanded and advanced, but without constraint.
6. Arms hung easily to the side. (Swing them out and let them drop like
a pendulum).
7. Shoulders equal height.
8. Shoulder blades flat.
9. Head erect, raised at the crown (as if suspended by a cord), not
tipped in any direction.
10. Chin _slightly_ drawn in.
11. Form raised to full height.
12. Body poised slightly forward, so that the weight bears mainly on
the ball of the foot.
13. Eyes straight to the front.
14. Whole figure in such a position that a line will pass through ear,
shoulder, hip, knee and ankle.
Get this position before a glass and practice it, until it can _always_
be maintained. It gives ease, grace and strength. Teach it to every
child.
The following exercises, as well as those in Chap. V will be found
invaluable to equalize the circulation, to aid digestion, as well
as to promote natural breathing and develop the muscles required in
parturition. Begin cautiously with the first five, increasing the
number and time devoted to them as strength is gained.
EXERCISES ADAPTED TO GESTATION.
1. Standing position. Carry the weight of the body as far forward and
backward as possible, without lifting heels or bending knees. Count
four to each movement.
2. Same position. Bend body slowly from side to side. Keep knees
straight and feet firm.
3. Hands forward on hips, bend trunk at hips slowly forward; rise
slowly and bend backward, always keeping the head in position with the
body.
4. Inflate the lungs. Touch the shoulders lightly with the tips of the
fingers. Bring the elbows slowly in front of the body, touching them
together. Lift them as high as possible. Throw elbows back and up,
the fingers still touching shoulders. Bring them back to commencing
position. Expel air. This exercise elevates the ribs and expands lower
part of chest.
5. Erect position. Inhale. Finger tips to shoulders. Hold the breath
to count twenty, then with clenched fist strike downward and forward.
Stop suddenly as if striking an object. Expel breath forcibly with the
motion. If the motion is decisive the breath will naturally be expelled
by the diaphragm.
6. Kneel on a cushion, knees far apart, stretch arms upward, parallel
with each other by the side of head, bend trunk slowly backward as far
as possible, remain to count four, return forward as far as possible,
keeping knees and feet firm. This is one of the best exercises for
strengthening the muscles of the back and pelvis.
7. Same position, hands clasped on top of head, move the body from side
to side slowly, count four with each movement and then rest. In the
same position twist the body from right to left.
8. Same position, arms extended horizontally forward, throw them
backward in a direct line as far as possible. This may be practiced
quickly or slowly as if carrying a weight.
9. Reclining upon back, flex the knees and sway them from side to side.
10. Same position, flex and thrust the limbs downward alternately.
11. Reclining, face downward, flex knees and sway feet from right to
left.
12. Same position, with the help of an assistant flex and extend the
limbs, using resistance.
13. Same position, rest on elbows and sway shoulders from right to left.
14. Same position, elevate the body slowly, resting only on toes and
elbows.
15. Recline on back and make hand thrusts, with or without weights,
upward, outward, forward and downward.
In all these exercises it is persistent, patient effort that gives
decided results. One will not see their effects in one day, nor one
week, unless it is in greater freedom of breath. At first soreness may
follow the use of muscles unaccustomed to exercise. A wet compress or
a warm bath will relieve this. These exercises should always be taken
in a loose wrapper and at stated hours. The best time is before the
forenoon bath and before retiring at night.
The following is a heresy but nevertheless is a truth. A pregnant woman
having a comfortable degree of health, _will derive as much benefit
by going up and down stairs as by any other exercise_, providing she
observe the following conditions:
1. Wear a dress that is loose, light and short.
2. Keep the mouth closed.
3. Fill the lungs with air, hold the breath until the top is reached,
and then expel slowly.
4. Maintain the erect position.
Notice what has been accomplished. The diaphragm and abdominal muscles
have been brought into action by the deep breath, while the muscles
of the thigh, pelvis, perineum and groin are all engaged in elevating
the body. Each time the thigh is raised, pressure is made upon the
abdominal viscera, which, if there is no outside counteracting force,
are pushed outward and upward, and with the opposite movement resume
their place.
The _reason climbing stairs_ may injure women is, that with each upward
movement, as the bowels are pushed out, they come in contact with the
outside constricting pressure of corset and bands. Where can they go?
Not being able to go outward they must go upward, arresting the breath,
or downward, pressing the pelvic viscera upon the perineum. Is it not
unjust to attribute the mischief to the stairs, when all the time it is
the clothing that does the harm? Who would ever think of its hurting
a boy to go up stairs, even if he takes three steps at a time, and
goes up three flights without catching his breath? Dress a girl as
sensibly; neither will it hurt her, for really the little anatomical
difference in their organization is in the girl’s favor.
Going up stairs is the best way to get desired exercise in a short
time. A successful, self educated man of this city said that, when
studying, and his brain became weary and stupid, he left his books and
ran up and down stairs three or four times, accomplishing more for
himself than by half an hour’s walk, or by gymnastics.
When I was in medical college, some of our lecture rooms were on the
fourth floor, and my own room was also on the fourth floor; both of
these buildings had high ceilings. I used to pride myself in starting
at the first floor, and running to the top without stopping. I then
wore the “American costume,” and was nearly as free in my dress as a
man. Ever since, stairs have presented no more difficulties to me than
a level floor.
A lady told me that with her third child she practiced going up and
down stairs on purpose for the exercise. The result was the easiest
labor and the best recovery she ever had experienced.
In climbing hills, observe the same rules--_keep the mouth closed_,
expel slowly through the nose, and stand erect. Not long since I read
a long letter, upon running, written to boys (and why not to girls
as well?) The writer claimed that the whole secret of being able to
run and defy all competitors, was to _keep the mouth closed_. Why?
Simply because it _forces deep breathing_, and compels the use of the
diaphragm. Any one can prove this. So with any exercise, but especially
in climbing hills or stairs, _keep the mouth closed_.
Let me urge and emphasize that the pregnant woman must walk, ride,
take gymnastics, climb hills and stairs, beginning according to her
strength, and increasing the amount from day to day. Upon strength,
power and vigor of muscles, largely depends easy labor.
The _Delsarte_ system of esthetic gymnastics is a method of physical
training leading to the cultivation of grace and strength. Truthful or
natural expression of one’s individuality is the key-note of Delsarte’s
thought. This is really a desirable means of obtaining rest, for it
teaches giving up all unnecessary tension. In this it is quite the
opposite of other methods of gymnastics. This _letting go_ or _giving
up_, can not be done all at once. The teachers of the system give a
series of exercises to free the different parts of the body; first the
head, then the hands and feet, then the muscles of the waist and chest.
Deep breathing aids in freeing the vital organs. _All_ forces of the
body are thus allowed a natural and graceful expression.
Annie Payson Call, in her tract on the Regeneration of the Body, says:
“The soul can be regenerated and the body remain disorderly; the body
can be trained to a fine physical life and action and the soul remain
unregenerate; but certainly the _fulness of life_, both for this world
and the next, must come from a more perfect harmony of the material
body with the soul.”
CHAPTER XI.
CHASTITY IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION.
“So dear to heaven is saintly chastity,
That when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried angels lackey her.”
--MILTON.
Many years ago during a visit to my cousin, a young married woman
called with her four months old baby--a thin-necked, bloodless, blue
looking child. After she left, cousin observed, “Is it not a shame that
young people have so little knowledge? That poor child is suffering
because the parents too frequently practice the privileges accorded
in the marriage relation. The milk is deprived of its vitalizing
and nutritious elements.” So little of such matters had come to my
knowledge that all she meant was not comprehended. From what my
instincts had taught me, and what had been seen in animal life, I had
no thought that this relation ever was frequent, especially during
child-bearing.
To this day the picture of that wan, pale baby is impressed upon my
memory, its very emaciation making an eloquent plea for the rights
of children. Soon after this, I heard H. C. Wright’s lecture upon
“Marriage; its Duties and Responsibilities.” He urged men and women to
transmit the best of themselves to their children, and to be certain
that offspring were not deprived of vitality and strength by lustful
indulgence. For the sake of the improvement and progress of posterity,
the life of married people must be temperate. After this I read his
“Marriage and Parentage,” and “Unwelcome Child,” with increased
interest in this subject.
At that time the need of such lectures and books was not understood. In
long years since, the agonizing cries of heart-broken, suffering women,
the terrible death rate of little children have proven that in the
marriage relation there is such a perversion of nature, such grievous
wrongs committed that one needs a pen of fire to express the living,
burning thoughts, and carry the conviction of truth into the very lives
of men and women. Unless by some divine miracle, the eloquence of a
thousand inspired pens cannot stay the floodtide of wrong and injustice
now done to women and children under the cover of the marriage law.
Among animals, except in rare instance under domestication, the female
admits the male in sexual embrace, only for procreation. Among some
savage tribes this same rule has few exceptions. Is it not true that
civilized people, boasting of their moral and religious codes, hold,
teach and practice that sexual union shall occur in season and out of
season, averring this to be the fulfillment of nature’s law?
Briefly consider different views upon this subject.
_First._ Those who hold that sexual intercourse is a “physical
necessity” to man but not to woman.
_Second._ Those who believe the act is a _love relation_, mutually
demanded and enjoyed by both sexes, and serving other purposes besides
that of procreation.
_Third._ Those who claim the relation should never be entered into save
for procreation.
Physicians and physiologists teach, and most men and women believe:
That sexual union is a _necessity_ to man, while it is not to woman.
That there is implanted in his being demands that cannot be restrained
without injury to health.
That restraint is followed by absorption of the elements of generation,
producing effects not unlike the absorption of a virulent foreign
element.
That woman naturally has not so much passion as man, has not so much
secretion, also has an outlet in menstruation, consequently has not the
same demands nor the same injury if not gratified.
Are these claims based upon truth? What are the facts from which to
infer what men and women _naturally_ are?
When woman _only_ is taught that virtue is the brightest jewel in her
crown, when the popular verdict is that womanliness and modesty are
synonyms for repression, when she lives in fear of maternity, and
believes restraint on her part prevents vitality of life germs, when,
too, erroneous habits pervert every function, how can we tell what is
natural for her?
Then, on the other hand, when man is taught that virtue is _not_
synonymous with manliness, when the passions are stimulated by
unnatural habits of living, by impure conversation, thoughts, books and
practices, can we say this strength of passion is purely natural and
healthy?
A. E. Newton says: “They who have never carefully noted the effects
of alcoholic stimulants, of coffee, oysters, eggs, spices and animal
food, as well as they who find pleasure in filthy conversations, can
not surely, with any justness, charge _nature_ with the exuberance of
their amatory desires.”
We teach the girl _repression_, the boy _expression_, not simply by
word and book, but the lessons are graven into their very being by all
the traditions, prejudices and customs of society.
What are some of the results of this theory?
Notably, in the first place, we have what is called the “social evil.”
Women, licensed by men, make a business of prostitution, selling
their bodies that this demand--this _necessity_--of the male shall be
supplied. In visiting these women, men simply yield to this supposed
necessity of their nature; consequently commit no violation of law.
Women not having the same demands, by entering this life, or even
permitting the act once, violate the laws of their being; according to
the social codes, perpetrate the greatest crime in the calendar! They
become outcasts. If they fill their lives with noble and philanthropic
deeds, this one sin is so foul and rank, is such an offense, they have
little hope of remission, even from a just and all-loving God.
Can the fact that men are upheld, their crime even condoned, while
women, as partners in this terrible evil, are not only ostracised, but
irretrievably lost, be explained in any other way?
Witness the effect of this same theory in the marriage relation! The
man who has been accustomed to gratify his passions promiscuously,
seeks and marries a lovely, virtuous girl. She is not supposed to have
needs in this direction. Neither has she learned that her body is
her own and her soul is her Maker’s. She gives up all _ownership_ of
herself to her husband, and what is the difference between her life
and the life of the public woman? She is sold to one man, and is not
half so well paid. Is it too strong language to say she is the one
_prostitute_ taking the place, for the man, of many, and not like
her, having choice of time or conditions? In consequence she not only
suffers physically, but feels disgraced and outraged to the depths of
her soul.
She is liable to a chance maternity and the _unwelcome_ child is
deprived of physical vigor, and may be endowed with lustful passions
and morbid appetites, if he does not indeed curse his own existence.
At the close of one of my health _conversations_ after speaking upon
this subject, a lady tremblingly, but touchingly, gave her experience.
She said: “Ladies, when I was married two years I was the mother of
a puny, sickly baby; it had required incessant care and watching to
keep it alive. When it was only seven months old, to my surprise,
astonishment and horror, I felt _quickening_, and for the first time,
I knew I was pregnant again. I was abased, humiliated. The sense of
degradation that filled my soul, cannot be described. What had been
done? The babe that was born and the babe that was unborn were robbed
of their just inheritance. Remorsefully and tearfully I told my mother.
She says: ‘Why child, you should not grieve; don’t you know your
children are legitimate?’ My whole being arose in protest; I stamped
my foot and almost screamed; ‘Although my husband is the father of my
children, they are not legitimate. No man-made laws, nor priestly rites
can ever make an act legitimate that deprives innocent children of
their right to life and health.’ With sobs and moans, reaction came and
I fainted in her arms. What was the sequel? Two years later both of
these children after a brief existence lay in the ‘city of the dead,’
and until my husband and I learned _the law_ we could not have children
to live.”
Parties holding the _second theory_ claim:
That coition is a love act.
That it should never occur except when there is mutual participation on
the part of both man and woman, and should be governed and guarded so
as to control the creative power.
Thus this act is the emblem of love; by it there is a mutual exchange
of subtle elements which gives health and vigor, and more firmly
cements the union.
That if the lives of married people accorded to this theory, the demand
of the man would be no more frequent than that of the woman.
That the husband cannot sustain this relation satisfactorily and
without injury to himself unless there is reciprocation on the part of
the wife.
That under this mutual relation there is _no loss_ to either party, but
a mutual compensation.
This theory has its arguments and certainly is more humane than the
first.
A woman once consulted me who was the mother of five children, all born
within ten years. These were puny, scrofulous, nervous, and irritable.
She herself was a fit subject for doctors and drugs. Every organ in her
body seemed diseased, and every function perverted. She was dragging
out a miserable existence. Like other physicians, I had prescribed
in vain for her many maladies. One day she chanced to inquire how she
could safely prevent conception. This led me to ask how great was the
danger. She said: “Unless my husband is absent from home, few nights
have been exempt since we were married, except it may be three or four
immediately after confinement.”
“And yet your husband loves you?”
“O, yes, he is kind and provides for his family. Perhaps I might love
him but for this. While now--(will God forgive me?)--I _detest_, I
_loathe him_, and if I knew how to support myself and children, would
leave him.”
“Can you talk with him upon this subject?”
“I think I can.”
“Then there is hope, for many women cannot do that. Tell him I will
give you treatment to improve your health, and if he will wait until
you can respond, _take time for the act, have it entirely mutual from
first to last_, the demand will not come so frequently.”
“Do you think so?”
“The experience of many proves the truth of this statement.”
Hopefully she went home, and in six months I had the satisfaction of
knowing my patient was restored to health, and a single coition in
a month gave the husband more satisfaction than the many had done
previously, that the creative power was under control, and that my lady
could proudly say “I love,” where previously she said “I hate.”
If husbands will listen, a few simple instructions will appeal to their
_common sense_, and none can imagine the gain to themselves, to their
wives, and children and their children’s children. Then it may not be
said of the babes that their “Death borders on their birth, and their
cradle stands in the grave.”
_The third theory_, that the sexual relation should never be sustained,
save for procreation, has many adherents. They teach that there
are other uses for the procreative element than the generation of
offspring--far better uses than its waste in momentary pleasure.
This element, when retained in the system, the mental powers being
properly directed, is in some way absorbed and diffused throughout the
whole organism, replacing waste, and imparting a peculiar vivifying
influence. It is taken up by the brain and may be coined into new
thoughts--perhaps new inventions--grand conceptions of the true, the
beautiful, the useful, or into fresh emotions of joy and impulses of
kindness, and blessings to all around. It is a procreation on the
mental and spiritual planes instead of the physical. _It is just
as really a part of the generative function as is the begetting of
physical offspring._
They claim that men eminent for grand achievements in fields of
science, philosophy, invention, religion and philanthropy, have been
men whose lives accorded to this theory, referring us as illustrious
examples to Plato, Newton, Lamb, our own Irving and Whittier, and
always remembering the humble Nazarene.
They also claim that to woman belongs the “creative power,” that she
must choose when a new life shall be evolved, and only by adhering to
this law can she be protected in the highest function of her being--the
function of maternity. Mrs. Chandler in “Motherhood,” says: “Every
mother from the hour when the new life commences, is overshadowed by
the Most High. Could she understand her needs and powers, and secure to
herself respect due to her sacred office, and, free from all polluting
intrusion upon herself, bathe her spirit in the influxes which the
life within attracts, very rapidly would disappear the loathesome
deformities, the discordant spirits now blotting the fair proportions
of humanity.”
She claims that in the Scripture statement in reference to the parents
of the child Jesus, that Joseph “knew not” Mary from the hour when the
announcement of the new life was made until the birth of the child, is
involved a deeper and more important meaning than the Christian world
or the medical profession have discovered. Thus this “undisturbed
maternity, which was essential to the ushering in of the Prince of
Peace, is equally in all cases a vital and indisputable necessity for
the improvement of humanity. Motherhood should be a shrine unpolluted
by selfishness. O woman! This would be thy recompense for all the
sufferings and agonies which pertain to physical womanhood and
motherhood.”
It is encouraging for those who believe this thought to know that not
only woman but men standing high in learning and literature espouse
and teach it. “The Science of a New Life,” by Dr. Cowan, gives what
he terms the _law of continence_ as a central thought. It is full of
practical lessons for married people, and has had a large sale.
“The Better Way,” a pamphlet, by A. E. Newton, teaches that only
through continent lives can we hope for progress.
“_Plain Facts_,” by Dr. Kellogg, has had an immense sale. He, too,
teaches the same thought.
Note, all these books are written by _men_--not by women, with some
fancied wrongs to redress; but by men strongly in sympathy with the
needs of the race. They claim that a better and higher generation can
only be attained through continent lives. This is a subject demanding
the serious consideration, at least, of scientists, philosophers and
philanthropists.
If the law of continence is not the law to govern one’s entire life,
it is natural and reasonable that the mother should be exempt from the
sexual relation during gestation. The husband should ever be ready to
comfort and cheer with his sympathy. He should bear in mind that at
this time his wife and child need the conservation of all forces, and
consequently he should “observe all laws that will _let reason reign
and passion serve_.”
The observance of the law of continence will do much to palliate the
many nervous symptoms of pregnancy. I have known women so sensitive
during gestation that even a touch or a kiss from the husband caused
nausea and other distressing symptoms.
“The sexual relation at this time exhausts the mother and impairs the
vitality of the child, inducing in its constitution precocious sexual
development. The mind should be free from the subject, and every
circumstance that has a tendency to promote desire should be studiously
avoided. For this reason separate beds and even sleeping rooms for
husband and wife are to be recommended.”
It is worth investigating, whether the cause of suffering in pregnancy
and much of the pain at parturition may not also be removed by the
practice of continence during gestation.
Cannot those in charge of hospitals and charitable institutions
make a study of the subject? A collection of statistics would help
to establish or refute this theory. The influence of continence on
offspring invites the serious thought of all who desire the progress
of purity. Thoughtful parents will question whether by living during
the mother’s gestation on the low plane of physical love, they are not
implanting in their child the seeds of sensuality. Keeping their lives
in the higher spiritual love they may have offspring to whom a life of
purity and self-control will be natural.
“In brief, the law seems to be that, such is the intimate connection
between the mother and the embryo, the exercise of any faculty of her
mind or soul, or of any organ of her brain or body, stimulates and
develops in proportionate degree the corresponding faculty or organ in
the incipient child.”
Of what use is it to teach the young lessons of purity and morality,
when by prenatal culture, they have graven in their very lives lessons
of prostitution? Many men violate this law of reproduction through
ignorance. Were they taught the results, and how to live lives of
self-control, many would gladly accept the lesson.
To live continent lives, avoid food containing aphrodisiac stimulants,
such as coffee, eggs, oysters, and animal food. _Omit the evening
meal_; for the purpose desired this stands paramount to all other
means. Let the life be temperate in every respect, and with a strong
will the victory can be won. Remember that it is the action of the
_mind_ chiefly, that stimulates excessive seminal secretion. The
husband being the devoted lover, with similar untiring, delicate
attentions, can attain the same self-control he practiced during
courtship. The wife will more surely retain her health and youthful
charms in bearing welcome children. Women will rejoice in a glad
maternity, and a higher, nobler and more God-like posterity will people
the earth.
A few years since I read a paper entitled, “The Hygiene of Pregnancy,”
before a Medical Association. In it were sentiments similar to the
above. It was read hesitatingly, anticipating only adverse criticism
from the men composing that body. Previous to the reading of my paper,
the members had taken but little interest in the convention except
to promulgate pet theories. The weather was warm, and groups were
sitting on the piazza, smoking cigars, indifferent to subjects under
discussion. The reading had not proceeded far, however, when cigars
were thrown away, and the entire convention were listeners. Judge of
my surprise when the thoughts expressed received a long and hearty
applause. Most of those men used tobacco, some drank beer, and all ate
animal food. They were not the class of men from whom recognition of
such radical sentiments would be expected.
Let the justness of this subject be properly presented to them, and
most men will be convinced of its truth. Men naturally reverence the
maternal in woman, and if taught that _continence_ serves the best
interests of motherhood and posterity, will cheerfully accord their
lives with it.
A principal of a high school in Iowa was a married man many years
before he knew that the sexual relation was ever sustained during
pregnancy. When he learned it, he asserted that his whole soul was
filled with shame and disgust that his sex had no better knowledge of
their protective duties relating to maternity.
Those desiring the best reproduction of themselves should learn:
That motherhood is the central fact of human life.
That the first right of a child is to be well born.
That every mother should be set apart during pregnancy for the
ante-natal culture of her child.
That control of appetite is the first step in human culture.
That no man should become a father who can not and will not observe the
demands of temperance in all things for the benefit of his child.
CHAPTER XII.
VENTILATION.--REST.
_The pregnant woman breathes for two._ While pure air is desirable for
all persons under every condition, it is doubly so for her. Nothing is
more essential to the healthful nourishment of the fetus than that the
blood be thoroughly oxygenated. Otherwise the child may be weak and
feeble, and liable to disease.
_Everywhere_, in railroad cars, streets, shops, public halls and
dwelling houses, there is _foul air_--air that is loaded with
_exhalations_ from the lungs, _emanations_ from the body, and is often
vitiated by _tobacco_ and _alcohol_. Architects, builders and occupants
pay but little attention to ventilation. The most important purpose of
a building is evidently to keep the heat in during the winter, and keep
it out in the summer.
With every breath a person exhales quite a large proportion of
carbonic gas, which is a deadly poison, and at the same time inhales
the life-giving oxygen, constantly exhausting the supply. Yet the
great fear of drafts, as well as need of economizing heat, causes most
persons to breathe the same air over and over again. Gases that are
inimical to health and life are constantly inhaled. If one breathed
deeply and only pure air it would atone for violation of many other
physiological laws. The proof of this is seen in the effects of a
hunter’s or a pioneer’s life.
The following from the _Lancet_ gives some practical ideas upon the
ventilation of bedrooms:
“If a man were deliberately to shut himself for some six or eight hours
daily in a stuffy room, with closed doors and windows (the doors not
being open even to change the air during the period of incarceration)
and were then to complain of headache and debility, he would justly be
told that his own want of intelligent foresight was the cause of his
suffering. Nevertheless, the great mass of people do this every night
of their lives, with no thought of their imprudence.
“There are few bedrooms in which it is perfectly safe to pass the night
without something more than ordinary precautions to secure an inflow of
fresh air. Every sleeping apartment should, of course, have a fireplace
with an open chimney, and in cold weather it is well if the grate
contains a small fire, at least enough to create an upward current to
carry off the vitiated air of the room. In all such cases, however,
when a fire is used, it is necessary to see that the air drawn into the
room comes from the outside of the house.
“Summer and winter, with or without the use of fires, it is well to
have a free ingress for pure air. This should be the ventilator’s
first concern. Foul air will find an exit if pure air is admitted in
sufficient quantity, but it is not certain that pure air will not also
be drawn away. So far as sleeping rooms are concerned it is wise to
let in the air from without. The aim must be to accomplish the object
without causing a great fall of temperature. The windows may be drawn
down an inch or two at the top with advantage, and a fold of muslin
will form a ‘ventilator’ to take off the feeling of draft. This with
an open fireplace will generally suffice, and produce no unpleasant
consequences, even when the weather is cold.”
While the open fireplace, ’tis true, gives splendid ventilation, at
the present price of fuel it is a luxury within the reach of few. Yet,
taking into consideration how effectually it “slams the door on the
doctor’s nose,” it is an economical investment.
Recently there have been open stoves constructed on a new principle,
that are very desirable. They are cheerful and decorative in
appearance, equal to other stoves for cleanliness, economical of heat,
and what is so needful in every dwelling, furnish a constant change of
air--are in themselves ventilators.
One building a new house can easily have ventilation by making a
dry well of good dimensions in the yard and filling it with coarse
charcoal. There should be an air-shaft leading to it and one from
it into the house. The air from it must go directly to the furnace.
It should be so constructed that water will drip slowly through the
charcoal. In this way the moisture and charcoal purify the outside air,
freeing it from dust and smoke, while the pit cools it in the summer,
and modifies the temperature in the winter. Better air is obtained than
if let in by windows and doors.
The house should have flues for the escape of impure gases. Common
grates will answer the purpose. An abundance of pure air constantly
supplied.
In regard to fresh air in sleeping rooms, Dr. James H. Jackson says:
“There appears to be a want of a clear understanding of the difference
between the terms cold air and pure air, and many persons do not seem
to comprehend that the air of a room may be both pure and warm. They
seem not to know that the temperature does not affect the purity of the
air so long as there is opportunity for proper circulation. Pure air is
not necessarily cold, nor is cold air always pure.
“In order to have good ventilation, provision should always be made for
a _circulation of air_. It is not sufficient to provide an entrance for
outside air; exit through an opposite door or window or flue should
also be secured. A good way to do this is to let down a window two
or three inches at the top, and the air thus let in becomes somewhat
warmed by the heat which rises. Here then you have warm fresh air. Now
bad air, being loaded with carbonic acid gas, sinks to the bottom of
the room. Some way must therefore be provided for its escape. A transom
near the bottom of the door would answer the purpose; an open fireplace
furnishes an outlet for impure air, or if both these are wanting, the
door may be left slightly ajar, or a simple or inexpensive ventilator
may be made by fitting into the stove-pipe, above its damper, another
piece of pipe that shall be cut off within two inches of the floor;
this pipe also to be provided with a damper which can be opened at
will. A very effective draft is thus created near the floor, which
takes all foul air up into the chimney.
“I do not approve, on the contrary I condemn the habit of sleeping,
even in the coldest weather, in a small room, windows closed, weather
strips on the doors and sashes, and every possible device used to
keep out the outside air. In such a room one must necessarily respire
the same air many times, and the fact that it is cold does not make
it the less injurious. Nature throws off by the breathing process
certain poisonous elements which to re-breathe and re-absorb is most
pernicious. No one who is not robust should sleep in a room so cold
that the windows and doors must all be closed to keep warm. A much
more healthful way is to have the temperature of the sleeping room the
same as that of the living room; under no circumstances do I deem it
advisable for an invalid to sleep in a room that can not have pure,
warm air.
“Remember that the important point is _circulation_, and that this may
be had without letting in a great volume of cold air.”
A small amount of outside air can be let into a room by raising the
window four or five inches and fitting a board at the bottom. There is
a space left between the sashes that allows some air to enter. This,
however, is not sufficient in a small bedroom, unless for the coldest
weather. “The only objection to a draft is, that the draft is generally
not strong enough. An influx of fresh air into a room is a ray of light
into darkness, a messenger of Vishnu visiting an abode of the lost.”
Even the weak and enfeebled can accustom themselves to plenty of pure
air, and also to drafts.
To test the condition of a sleeping room, leave it closed in the
morning, go into the fresh air for ten or fifteen minutes, return
to the room, and if the air seems less pure than the outside air
the ventilation is imperfect. _The nose is a sentinel to warn us of
danger._ It should be educated to tell the condition of the air we
breathe. What a benefit to mankind if some one would invent a gauge
to determine the amount of impurities in the air, as heat is tested
by a thermometer. Would it not on many occasions give us startling
revelations?
To aid in improving the air of a house, and especially of a sleeping
room, we have a safe, efficient and economical means in the use of
unslaked lime and charcoal. A small basket of these should be placed
in every invalid’s room, or where children sleep, for the purpose of
absorbing the carbonic acid gas of the lungs, and the effluvium of the
human body.
The discovery of this simple method is attributed to Dr. Bonizzardi,
of Italy. He claims, “That people die much more rapidly through the
deleterious effects of miasma and carbonic acid gas than by the want
of oxygen in the air. To prove his theory, he put three fowls on a
perfectly even floor, under three glass cases, and placed in the case
containing the first bird nothing but the fowl, in the second one
a piece of unslaked lime, while the third contained some pieces of
charcoal. In half an hour after the birds were confined he examined
them, and found that the bird having neither lime nor charcoal was
dead, that the one in the second case containing the unslaked lime was
barely alive, while the bird in the case containing charcoal was quite
active, and showed no sign of suffering.
“The first fowl, having neither lime to absorb the carbonic acid gas of
the lungs, nor charcoal to collect on its surface the effluvium of the
surrounding air, died of blood poisoning, produced solely by the action
of the carbonic acid expelled from the lungs.
“The fowl that was supplied with the lime was only quite ill, because
the lime had removed one of the causes of death by absorbing the
carbonic acid gas; while the bird confined in the case containing the
charcoal was only slightly indisposed or ill, because the charcoal
absorbed all the exhalations of the lungs and body.
“These experiments prove that people die far more quickly from the
deleterious action of bodily exhalations than from any deficiency of
oxygen in the air. The moral of these experiments is: That a small
basket of charcoal should be placed in the room of every invalid, in
order that it may absorb the carbonic acid gas floating in the air, and
thus render the atmosphere purer and more wholesome.”
REST.
A daily _siesta_ ought to be taken by the pregnant woman. Even if she
feels well and is not accustomed to rest during the day, it would be
far better for her to take it regularly. She should plan for it as for
any other duty, and will gain by the ability to accomplish more.
Near noon is the best time for resting; let it follow the bath. She is
then refreshed for her dinner and afternoon occupations. This habit
cannot be too religiously observed. If she rests better alone, she
should go by herself, and never be disturbed. Some people can sleep
better to lie down where others are talking or reading. The hum of
voices quiets them by diverting their own thoughts. I knew one mother
that could only get a nap in the daytime, even if she had been deprived
of much sleep, by lying down in the room where her children were
playing. Nothing they could do, except to quarrel, would disturb her.
They could laugh, sing, scream and jump--she would sleep soundly, but
if one wrangling word passed between them she was instantly aroused.
Do not acquire the habit of sleeping in a chair, more speedy
restoration is given by lying flat upon the back, without a pillow.
RECAPITULATION.
To give a woman the greatest immunity from suffering during pregnancy,
prepare her for a safe and comparatively easy delivery, and insure a
speedy recovery, all hygienic conditions must be observed.
THE DRESS must give:
1. Freedom of movements;
2. No pressure upon any part of the body;
3. No more weight than is essential for warmth, and both weight and
warmth evenly distributed.
These requirements necessitate looseness, lightness and warmth, which
can be obtained from the union under-clothes, a princess skirt and
dress, with a shoe that allows full development and use of the foot.
While decoration and elegance are desirable, they should not sacrifice
comfort and convenience.
LET THE DIET be light, plain and nutritious. Avoid fats and sweets,
relying mainly upon fruits and grains that contain little of the
mineral salts. By this diet bilious and inflammatory conditions are
overcome, the development of bone in the fetus lessened, and muscles
necessary in labor nourished and strengthened.
EXERCISE should be sufficient and of such a character as will bring
into action gently every muscle of the body; but must particularly
develop the muscles of the trunk, abdomen and groin, that are
specially called into action in labor. Exercise, taken faithfully
and systematically, more than any other means assists assimilative
processes and stimulates the organs of excretion to healthy action.
BATHING must be frequent and regular. Unless in special conditions the
best results are obtained from tepid or cold bathing which invigorates
the system, and overcomes nervousness. The sitz-bath is the best
therapeutic and hygienic measure within the reach of the pregnant woman.
Therefore, to establish conditions which will overcome many previous
infractions of law, _dress_ naturally and physiologically; _live_ much
of the time _out of doors_; have _abundance of fresh air_ in the house;
let _exercise_ be _sufficient_ and _systematic_; pursue a _diet of
fruit_, rice and vegetables; _regular rest_ must be faithfully taken;
_abstain_ from the sexual relation. To those who will commit themselves
to this course of life, patiently and persistently carrying it out
through the period of gestation, the possibilities of attaining a
healthy, natural, painless parturition will be remarkably increased.
If the first experiment should not result in a painless labor, it,
without doubt, will prove the beginning of sound health. Persisted in
through years of married life, the ultimate result will be more and
more closely approximated, while there will be less danger of post
partum diseases; and better and more vigorous children will be produced.
Then pregnancy by every true woman will be desired, and instead of
being a period of disease, suffering and direful forebodings, will
become a period of health, exalted pleasure and holiest anticipations.
Motherhood will be deemed the choicest of earth’s blessings; women
will rejoice in a glad maternity, and for any self-denial will be
compensated by healthy, happy, buoyant, grateful children.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, in a lecture to ladies, thus strongly states
her views regarding maternity and painless parturition: “We must
educate our daughters to think that motherhood is grand, and that God
never cursed it. That the curse, if it be one, may be rolled off, as
man has rolled away that of labor; as it has been rolled from the
descendants of Ham. My mission among women is to preach this new
gospel. If you suffer, it is not because you are cursed of God, but
because you violate his laws. What an incubus it would take from woman
could she be educated to know that the pains of maternity are no curse
upon her kind. We know that among the Indians the squaws do not suffer
in childbirth. They will step aside from the ranks, even on the march,
and return in a short time bearing with them the new-born child. What
an absurdity, then, to suppose that only enlightened Christian women
are cursed.
“But one word of fact is worth a volume of philosophy; let me give
you some of my own experience. I am the mother of seven children. My
girlhood was spent mostly in the open air. I early imbibed the idea
_that a girl is just as good as a boy_, and I carried it out. I would
walk five miles before breakfast, or ride ten on horseback. After I was
married, I wore my clothes sensibly. Their weight hung entirely on my
shoulders. I never compressed my body out of its natural shape. When
my first four children were born, I suffered very little. I then made
up my mind that it was totally unnecessary for me to suffer at all;
so I dressed lightly, walked every day, lived as much as possible in
the open air, ate no condiments, and took proper care of myself. The
night before the birth of the child I walked three miles. The child was
born _without a particle of pain_. I bathed it and dressed it myself,
and it weighed ten and one-half pounds. The same day I dined with the
family. Everybody said I would surely die, but I never had a moment’s
inconvenience from it. I know this is not being delicate and refined,
but if you would be vigorous and healthy, in spite of the diseases of
your ancestors, and your own previous disregard of nature’s laws, try
it.”
Every woman can not attain to as perfect health as Mrs. Stanton, for
all have not as good conditions of heredity, nor did all learn early
that “A girl is as good as a boy.” Mothers in earnest for the best good
of their children, will by constant purpose and deliberate effort,
approximate the high standard she established, and emulate her example
in using the means to enhance desired results.
“For life is not to live, but to be well.”
CHAPTER XIII.
PARTURITION.
The hour arrives, the moment wished and feared;
The child is born by many a pang endured!
And now the mother’s ear has caught his cry;
Oh! grant the cherub to her asking eye!
Labor is effected by dilatation of the _cervix uteri_ and contraction
of the uterine and abdominal muscles. This dilatation is the first
stage. In the second, expulsive efforts occur, causing the advance and
birth of the child. The action of the uterus in expelling the fetus
is analagous to that of the rectum in expelling its contents. In each
case the abdominal muscles powerfully co-operate with the peristaltic
action of the organ. Uterine contractions, once established, continue
intermittently until the contents are expelled. These contractions are
usually attended and recognized by pain. They are called _labor pains_.
It is well established by physiologists that the suffering attendant
upon labor is abnormal, and only a result of the violation of nature’s
laws; that by a more or less thorough compliance with those laws,
most women can approximate to a condition in which there shall be no
suffering in childbirth.
A few days preceding labor, there is usually a muco-sanguineous
discharge from the vagina. This is called the show. It indicates
dilatation of the cervix and relaxation of the vagina. It is often
accompanied by _malaise_ and restlessness, and in some by headache and
loss of appetite.
In 96 per cent. of all cases, the head of the child is the presenting
part. At first the long diameter of the head is in the oblique
diameter of the pelvis; as it passes the pelvic brim, it turns so as
to lie across from back to front, the chin pressing upon the breast,
and the crown of the head advancing. The first pains are _grinding_,
_scattered_ and irregular, felt mostly in the anterior portion of the
pelvis and groin. With these, dilatation of the os progresses, which
is often accompanied by severe sufferings, especially when diseased
conditions exist. Afterward the pains are in the abdomen. As the head
advances there is great suffering in back, hips and groin, with a
disposition to _bear down_.
This disposition need never be urged by attendant, nor forced by the
patient. Old ladies often say, “Bear down! make an effort!” supposing
that this will facilitate labor. The fact is that these attempts to
assist nature are retarding instead of helpful, and are often the cause
of accidents. Nature indicates all effort essential to progress.
_The bag of waters_ consists of the membranes which enclose the fetus
and liquor-amnii.
Protruding through the os, when dilatation is effected, it precedes the
head, prepares the way for it, and lessens the liability of contusion
of the soft parts. These membranes usually rupture with an expulsive
effort, before the close of the labor. The uterus then contracts firmly
on the body of the child, and labor advances rapidly to completion. In
rapid labor, however, the bag is sometimes expelled entire with the
child.
The physician requires the assistance of but one attendant besides the
husband. This should be an educated nurse or a friend, who can command
herself in emergencies. The old time custom of having a neighborhood
party on the occasion of an increase of the family, has happily gone
out of date.
When this custom was in vogue both patient and physician were often
seriously annoyed by the crowd of neighbors who thronged the house.
Many times the grand “set out” for the table was so expensive as to
take the whole month’s salary of the working man, while perhaps the
“doctor’s bill” remained long unpaid.
Conversation should be cheery and foreign to the occasion. Obscene
anecdotes and direful childbirth experiences should be avoided.
During the entire process of parturition, the patient should have the
advantage of pleasant, comfortable and sanative surroundings. Her mind
should be free from care and anxiety. The best in the house should be
appropriated to her use. Her room should be light and airy.
Every necessity and convenience should be in readiness for the
occasion. Provide two yards of rubber cloth for protecting the bed,
a fountain syringe, a hot water bottle, safety pins, antiseptic
absorbent cotton, glycerine, arnica, ammonia, carbolic and castile
soap, calenduline, olive oil, and cosmoline. Also have an abundant
supply of soft rags. They should be large and clean. Remove the seams
and buttons. Old sheets torn in quarters or pillow slips are the most
desirable.
Make the bed as if one were going to sleep in it. Place the rubber
cloth over the under sheet. Cover it with an old quilt or comfort that
will wash easily. Have the bed set out from the wall so that both sides
can be used. Prepare the side for the patient that will enable the
physician to use the right hand.
Let the patient wear the garments she desires to have on after
confinement, having care to protect them by folding back smoothly,
and fastening a sheet loosely about the waist. After labor begins,
she should take only liquid food. The bladder should be relieved
frequently. If the bowels have not been moved within twenty-four hours,
a copious enema of warm water should be taken.
Until the last stage, the patient can assume any position affording the
most comfort. Usually, she is inclined to change frequently, sitting,
lying, walking and even kneeling. When expulsive efforts occur, she
ordinarily prefers to recline upon her back, with knees flexed and hips
elevated. At this time, she naturally pushes with her feet, and pulls
with her hands. A padded box should be firmly fixed at the foot of the
bed for the feet. She can grasp the hand of an assistant, or have some
reliable mechanical contrivance for her hands. The simplest is a strip
of new muslin, ten inches wide, put around the foot of the bed, and
tied, leaving it the desired length for a good purchase. In a prolonged
labor, the _obstetric harness_ is the most valuable assistance. This
is a padded belt for the back, with straps extending to the knees and
feet. From the knees are counter straps, with handles for the hands.
With this simple contrivance, a physician requires less assistance.
_Supporting the perineum is not only absolutely unnecessary, but also
apt to be exceedingly injurious._ Meddlesome midwifery is always to
be deprecated. A natural labor needs no manual local interference.
Although many authors and teachers recommend support to the perineum in
the last stages, yet more ruptures may be attributed to this practice
than to leaving it entirely untouched. A Canadian physician asserts
that he has attended 1,700 women in confinement without giving support
to the perineum, and yet in no case did rupture occur.
When the head is born receive it in the hand and support it until the
shoulders are expelled. If the next contraction does not bring them,
put a finger in the axilla of the child, and make slight traction. The
whole body will soon be born. Pass both hands under the child and lay
it as far from the mother as possible without stretching the cord.
Place it upon the right side, shoulders and head slightly elevated.
Wipe any mucus there may be from mouth and nostrils. Cover baby with a
warm, soft flannel. Make the mother comfortable. Change her position,
straighten the bed, put dry cloths to her, give her a drink, etc.,
leaving the infant _until the pulsation has entirely ceased in the
cord_. This will require from ten minutes to half an hour.
Usually, as the child is ushered into the world, it sets up a lusty
cry, indicating that respiration is established. Crying is not
essential, as some authors claim, and the prompt covering usually
causes it to desist. If it does not breathe at once, a little brisk
spatting on the breast and thigh may establish respiration. If this is
not effectual, dash cold water in the face and on the chest. Still
failing, artificial respiration must be established. To do this, close
the nostrils with two fingers, blow into the mouth, and then expel the
air from the lungs by gentle pressure upon the chest. Continue this as
long as any hope of life remains.
_Sever the cord when pulsation has entirely ceased in it._ Use a dull
pair of scissors, cutting about two inches from the child’s navel.
Following these directions, _no tying is essential_. This method has
its advantages. By tying, a small amount of blood is retained in
vessels peculiar to fetal life. This blood by pressure or irritation
may prevent perfect closure of the foramen ovale, and be a cause
of hemorrhage. Besides, it must be absorbed in the system, causing
jaundice and aphtha, so common in young babes. Prejudices exist against
adopting this treatment, as it is contrary to that usually adopted.
I first heard of this manner of treating the cord in 1870. It was so
clearly explained that I was convinced that leaving the cord untied
would result in great gain to the child. Still, my education and habit
had been to the contrary, and my prejudices prevented my venturing
upon the new method. A few years after this I met a German physician
who had not tied a cord in eighteen years. He said: “Don’t be afraid;
your babies will do better, and there is less danger of losing them.” I
tested it and proved to my own satisfaction that it is the best method.
One has only to recollect to wait until the _pulsation in the cord
ceases entirely_, and sever as before stated.
_By no means wash and dress the baby as soon as it is born._ Consider
the marvelous change that has taken place in all its functions.
Respiration is established and the blood, instead of going to the
placenta for oxygenation, goes to the lungs; the stomach and all the
organs of digestion and elimination are brought into action; the skin,
also, with its innumerable perspiratory ducts, begins its work. Give
nature time to establish these processes before the system is taxed
by being washed and dressed. An Indian papoose might be plunged into
water at once without detriment, but no white baby of this country has
sufficient vitality to safely undergo this shock. Rub the baby all over
with olive oil, cover warmly, and leave it to rest and sleep.
While the baby is resting the mother demands especial attention.
Contractions of the uterus will soon be renewed to expel the placenta.
Usually these do not recur for half an hour, and it may be two hours
before the after-birth is expelled. Should there be no hemorrhage and
the walls of the uterus contract, there is no cause for uneasiness.
_For expelling the placenta_ contractions can be induced by laying upon
the bowels cloths wrung from cold water, or by manipulating the abdomen
after dipping the hands in cold water. Also, the patient may blow into
her closed hand, or give a slight cough. If there is hemorrhage, the
vein of the umbilical cord should be injected with cold water. This, in
many cases, removes a retained placenta. This valuable suggestion is
a fact unknown to many practitioners. The placenta does not adhere as
often as some suppose. If attached there is seldom danger from delay in
removal, unless there is hemorrhage. After it is expelled it should be
burned or buried.
The mother must be bathed in tepid water, sponging carefully her back,
abdomen, thighs and perineum. Lay a cloth to the vulva wrung from a
lotion of arnica, one tablespoonful to a quart of water. If there is
soreness in the pelvic region a compress wet in the same lotion can be
worn.
_The parturient woman requires no bandage._ If a compress is needed
a towel can be pinned around to keep it in place. Also, if there is
discomfort from undue enlargement and relaxation of the abdomen, a
bandage applied loosely will give relief. Otherwise no bandage is
essential. The common belief that it restores a woman’s form is a
mistake. She returns to her former size better without than with it.
If worn at all snug it is likely to cause inflammation that will
produce bloating. It also presses the uterus down in the pelvis and in
the relaxed condition of all the parts may cause prolapsus uteri. The
frequency with which prolapsus occurs may justly be attributed to the
unnatural pressure thus exerted. A parturient woman makes a more speedy
and excellent recovery without the bandage.
After the bath, change the soiled quilts and cloths for fresh ones.
Apply a large cloth over the arnica cloth at the vulva, make the
bed look tidy, and leave the patient to rest. The house should be
made quiet and every means used to encourage complete repose. If it
is night, let the attendants retire and darken the room, the nurse
remaining within call.
In case of thirst let her have cold or hot water, weak tea or thin
gruel, as she feels inclined. Ordinarily she needs no remedies. Nature
simply demands rest. Only a few years since a woman was not allowed
to go to sleep until she had taken a bowl of panada and the inevitable
dose of castor oil. One woman told me she dreaded the castor oil more
than having the baby. It is unnecessary and likely to produce harm.
For a few days torpidity of the bowels is natural, and if forced to
action, inflammation and piles are likely to result. Surgeons have
long been familiar with this same state of the bowels in other cases.
Constipation is the natural sequence of amputation or fractures. The
system rallies to meet one great demand and temporary torpidity of the
bowels may be expected. Do not be influenced to take any drug. Simply
rest. Surely at no time in one’s life is rest so sweet.
The long months of anticipation, doubt and endurance are over, the hour
long feared has culminated in the bestowment of a gift which an angel
might receive with rapture. A babe, the object of woman’s profoundest
and most sacred passion has been given her for her very own, to
nourish, guide, develop and instruct, of which even death cannot rob
her. A solemn joy beyond words fills her soul, which none should
needlessly disturb.
He comes--she clasps him; to her bosom pressed,
He drinks the balm of life, and drops to rest.
CHAPTER XIV.
DYSTOCIA.
In difficult labor a physician’s skill and knowledge is imperatively
demanded. Yet a few practical hints for emergencies may be advantageous.
Presence of mind, with the knowledge given in the preceding chapter,
will enable even an inexperienced person, in the chance absence of the
doctor, to conduct a case of natural labor satisfactorily.
_Prolonged and difficult labor may occur_ when one has not had the
benefit of the “fruit diet” and other hygienic measures herein
recommended, or who on account of disease and deformity, has not been
able to accomplish desired results. In malformations of the pelvis,
in face or shoulder presentations, placenta previa, etc., surgical
interference will be required.
Muscular contractions may be inefficient or the os slow to dilate from
rigidity. Caustic treatment, so prevalent for ulceration, destroys
the natural elasticity of the cervix. Severe and prolonged suffering
without dilatation is often the consequence. (See Chap. XXI.) Few women
realize the injury done by the prevalent use of caustic treatment. One
lady told me that she had been treated by eleven physicians, every one
using similar measures. At last in despair she “gave up doctoring,” and
by hygienic methods had attained to a comfortable degree of health.
The time must come when people will protest against the burning of
mucous surfaces as they now protest against blistering and bleeding,
which only a few years since were universal.
The head advancing may meet with resistance from dryness, heat, and
rigidity of external parts.
The _hot sitz-bath_ is the best temporary means to overcome rigidity
of both os and vulva, and to relieve pains that are neuralgic in
character. Seat the patient in a sitz-bath tub, containing very hot
water, her feet also in a hot foot bath. Envelop her with blankets and
increase the temperature of the water by pouring in hot water as she
can bear it. Let her remain until profuse perspiration is induced. Dry
her under the blankets and let her lie down without removing them.
Sometimes she can remain in the bath an hour with advantage, though a
shorter time is usually sufficient. The pains entirely or partially
subside, and she seldom fails to fall into a refreshing sleep. Local
relaxation will be accomplished, the pains assume an effective
character, and a speedy termination of the case can be expected. To
accomplish the desired result, the bath must be _hot_, not warm, and
continued until perspiration is induced. When prolonged labor is caused
by rigidity of the soft parts, good and speedy results are sure to
follow. The following cases prove the value of the hot bath:
Mrs. N---- engaged my services for her seventh confinement, stating
that I might expect a tedious case, as in all previous labors the skill
of physicians had been baffled. She had lingered in labor from 48 to
96 hours, attended with convulsions and other distressing symptoms;
several times had been delivered with instruments. Summons came for me
on a bright June morning at 5 o’clock. She had had irregular pains all
night, was very nervous and had great dread of her sufferings, having
no hope of relief for at least two days. I found no dilatation, and no
real contractions were taking place.
I gave her remedies, hoping to arrest the suffering until relaxation
could be produced, and left her. At 10 o’clock I returned, armed
with one of Dickens’ novels, for a two days’ pastime. Found the
pains increased in severity, attended with rigidity of os, still no
dilatation, but pressure of the uterus upward. Although a woman of
great self-control, she could not repress the most piercing screams
with each pain. A hot sitz-bath was administered, increasing the
temperature until most copious perspiration was induced, after which,
enveloping her in blankets, I bade her sleep, while I sat down to
Dickens.
She obeyed orders, slept soundly, having contractions every fifteen
minutes, when she would rouse and exclaim, “What relief!” “Heaven
surely can be no sweeter than this rest!” “What a blissful change!” I
would say, “Don’t talk, don’t bear down, sleep all you can,” and still
read Dickens. About one o’clock expulsive pains came on. Examination
revealed full dilatation of cervix, and head advancing. At 3:30 P. M.
the child was born, no spasms, no instruments, and no medicine had
been required. This is only one of many that I have seen relieved
in the same way, and always find the bath effectual where there is
no deformity of the pelvis. I am confident that this hot bath, if
generally used, would save thousands of instrumental deliveries.
Mrs. N. was a very grateful patient, and believes that the same means
would have given relief in former labors, as the first symptoms were
the same. The only unpleasant sequel in the case was, the novel
remained unfinished.
Mrs. L----, primapara, aged thirty-three, a severe, tedious labor,
with slow dilatation. Gave the hot bath with the happiest effect;
patient, nurse, and all but the husband went to sleep. Contractions
continued, accompanied by profuse perspiration, but for two hours
did not awaken the patient. Expulsive efforts finally setting in,
labor was completed in one hour. It was, however, almost immediately
followed by violent hemorrhage inducing fainting. Examination revealed
the placenta attached, the fibers so closely adhering to the uterus
that the least attempt at removal caused the greatest suffering. The
placenta was grasped and partially brought down into the cervix. By
this interference the hemorrhage was arrested, and the placenta allowed
to remain for about twelve hours, when it was expelled without any
assistance. The patient made a rapid recovery.
At first I feared that the excessive relaxation from the bath caused
the flowing, but became convinced that it was only exposure of the
bloodvessels from the partial adhesion of the placenta. Its removal
from the body of the womb allowed the organ to contract upon the
exposed bloodvessels, and consequently the hemorrhage ceased.
The hot bath is also effectual for flagging pains that are annoying
and worrying, and “seem to do no good.” In such cases the patient
takes a long rest after the bath, and real contractions and expulsive
efforts may not occur for hours or even days. This gives nature time to
overcome all obstacles, and the final termination is more satisfactory.
ERGOT AND COHOSH are administered by physicians of all schools for
insufficient contractions. These cause violent uterine contractions and
great expulsive efforts. If the soft parts are relaxed, labor will be
facilitated. If not, great injury may be done. Rupture of the uterus
and laceration of the perineum are frequently the consequence. The
effects after confinement are liable to be even more disastrous. Among
these are violent hemorrhage, puerperal peritonitis which runs a rapid
course, cellulitis, milk leg, nervous chills, gathered breasts, etc.
These drugs are well understood to be poisonous to any one in a normal
state. Surely no reason can be given why a parturient woman may hope
to escape their dire effects. Without doubt they lay the foundation
for many chronic uterine ailments. Please mark the following, which
are only a few of the toxicological symptoms of these drugs taken by a
person in health.
_Ergot_ induces rigors, pinched, pale countenance, extreme anxiety,
great fear of death, violent headache, stupor, loss of voluntary
motion, spasmodic jerking, sudden paralysis, debility and fainting,
cold, dry, shriveled skin, knotted veins, tongue cold, livid and pale,
_vomiting violent_, enlargement and pain in the liver, watery diarrhea,
swelling of the limbs with cold surface, _violent_, _cramp-like_,
_intermittent pains_ in the pelvis and groin, hemorrhage, congestion of
the womb, local gangrene.
_Macrotis_, _or black cohosh_, causes weak but rapid pulse, pains in
the back with debility, rheumatic pains in the muscles, limbs seem
powerless, drawing pains with trembling, great restlessness, headache
with soreness of the eyes and of the base of the brain, heat and pain
in the top of the head, dimness of vision with objects floating before
the eyes, prickling of the skin, cold extremities, bruised feeling
all over, dizziness, loss of memory, great nervousness resulting
in hysteria, vomiting, leucorrhea, hemorrhage, etc. Both of these
drugs are violent in their action and poisonous in the doses usually
administered in labor.
It is rare that one recovers entirely from their effects. They cause
uterine inflammation, ulceration, displacement, etc., that are
accompanied by amaurosis, loss of memory, headache and many nervous
symptoms which are ignorantly attributed to the “last confinement.”
Rupture of the cervix, for which ladies so often must be treated in
these days, is frequently the result of rapid forced labor by the use
of these drugs. As you value good health, never take these remedies in
poisonous doses. If uterine contractions can not be increased by the
hot bath or cold compresses placed on the abdomen, an _attenuated_ dose
of the drug will be followed with as speedy results as a cup full of
the infusion or a drachm of fluid extract, and the toxicological effect
will be avoided.
PROTEST POSITIVELY AND PERSISTENTLY against taking a poisonous dose of
ergot or black cohosh. Better wait for nature than suffer the effects
that are sure to follow.
INSTRUMENTS will rarely be called in use if women learn the laws of
life and obey them. Malformed and diseased as women are, instruments
are resorted to far more frequently than necessary. There is a feeling
in the profession that dextrous instrumental delivery often saves
women suffering, and consequent nervous prostrations. Most women, on
the contrary, have a horror of forceps, and this, with the temporarily
increased suffering aggravates rather than lessens the prostration.
Remember, the physician has selfish temptations for instrumental
interference. It entitles him to an extra fee, it saves him time, and
possibly gives him _eclat_ as an accoucheur.
In most cases where instruments are now used, speedy results could
be obtained from the _hot sitz-bath_, without danger of subsequent
difficulties. Occasionally a case may require instruments, but the
experience of many successful physicians, especially the women in the
profession, proves that if there is careful preparatory treatment,
artificial delivery need seldom be called in requisition. In several
hundred obstetric cases in my own practice, instruments were never
required where the previous preparation of the patient had been under
my own direction.
Women have it in their power to produce such healthful conditions that
obstetrical instruments shall be known only in tradition.
CHAPTER XV.
POST PARTUM DISEASES.
“Mysterious to all thought,
A mother’s prime of bliss,
When to her eager lips is brought
Her infant’s thrilling kiss.”
Proper bathing and diet are as essential after as before confinement.
At least once a day the patient requires a bath. Ordinarily use tepid
water. Sponge and dry a portion of the body at a time, keeping the
balance protected. If there is heat in the back, bathe it several times
a day. Should the patient be nervous and uneasy, try dry hand friction.
A compress, too, is often serviceable, worn across the back for two or
three hours, followed by bathing and rubbing. The breasts should be
bathed frequently, and the colder the water the better. This prevents
sensitiveness to cold, and may consequently prevent gathered breasts.
Three to five days after confinement the patient can be put into a
sitz-bath with benefit. Let the temperature of the water be from 85°
to 95°. This bath is restful, cleansing and restorative, and is really
as beneficial after as before parturition. A woman can often sit in a
bath for a few moments when the same time spent in a chair would prove
injurious.
Change the linen of bed and person daily, and the napkins every three
or four hours. Keep the room light and well ventilated. The temperature
of the room should never exceed 70°. A few years since not a ray of
light or a breath of fresh air was allowed in the parturient room, and
if the woman was to touch cold water, it was deemed sure death. In
some parts of this country, within twenty years, the bed even was not
changed for nine days after confinement. With frequent bathing and a
constant supply of fresh air the patient will not be sensitive to cold,
and inflammation and other post partum diseases will in consequence be
rare.
The vagina must be syringed at least twice a day with water in which
there are a few drops of carbolic acid. Use a fountain syringe, and
have the patient recline over a bed pan. Thus the parts will be kept
cleansed, and carbolic acid prevents septic poisoning. If the bowels do
not move naturally by the third or fourth day, give an enema, one quart
of tepid water. The regimen advised in this book having been followed,
one will rarely be troubled with constipation. Beware of cathartics.
Most of them have a specific action upon the uterus as well as upon
the bowels, and will do harm. This is notably the case with aloes and
podophyllum.
The _food_ must be simple in character and easy of digestion,
especially until after the milk is established. Bran or graham gruel is
the _very best food_ the first day or two. Having been withheld from
the diet during pregnancy, on account of containing the phosphates
which have a tendency to harden the bones, it should now be taken for
that very purpose.
Many are prejudiced against graham gruel, yet it has been proven that
most women relish it better than anything else after labor. In the Home
of the Friendless, Leavenworth, Kan., are many cases of confinement
every year. Almost universally the inmates are prejudiced against
graham in any form, and rarely taste it before confinement. A former
matron had been a nurse in a Water Cure. Invariably she brought a bowl
of graham gruel to the mother a few hours after delivery. She never
had one express any repugnance to it. On the contrary, they would say,
“That tastes good;” “That goes right to the spot;” “Can any one eat too
much of anything that is so good?” and similar expressions, showing
that there was an actual relish for the dish. The gruel should be made
thin at first, and without cream or milk. After a few days it can be
made thick like mush, and eaten with fruit or cream and sugar. New
milk, wheatlet, cracked wheat, barley, oatmeal, graham gems, fruit,
etc., can be added to the diet as desired.
_There is no need of milk fever._ Women have been led to expect more or
less constitutional disturbance accompanying the advent of the milk.
With the bathing and diet recommended above, even if she has not had
the best conditions during pregnancy, one hardly realizes any change
in the system at that time. When patients were fed on brandy panada,
wine whey, strong tea, and beef broth, were kept in unventilated rooms,
deprived of water externally and internally, and besides were poisoned
with drugs, it is no wonder they had milk fever, and were liable to
other post partum diseases.
The child should be placed to the breast several times a day, even if
there seems to be no milk. The act of nursing stimulates secretion,
prevents engorgement, and from sympathetic relation causes uterine
contractions. When the breasts become filled and are knotty and tender,
bathe them in hot water and have them drawn. If the child does not
empty them sufficiently, the nurse or some member of the family should
do it. This is better than a breast pump, and can be easily done by
remembering to lap the tongue around the nipple until it meets the
upper lip.
The old tradition used to be that a woman, on no account, must leave
her bed before the _ninth day_. No matter how well she felt, the
nine days must be spent in bed. There is no positive rule. One must
be guided by her strength. Probably few women can expect to be about
before four or five days. The cases where they can leave their beds
earlier than that are exceptional.
MAMMARY ABSCESS, or inflammation of the breast, often called “gathered”
or “bealed” breast, is usually ushered in with a chill, succeeded by
feverish symptoms. Darting pains are felt in the breast, which, as the
disease progresses, extend to the arm-pits. The breasts swell, become
hard and tender to the touch--even nursing is painful. If pus forms,
the skin becomes dark red, the enlarged breast softens, accompanied
by a throbbing pain. The patient is feverish, nervous, irritable, has
irregular chills, night sweats, debility, etc.
_Hot fomentations_ should be used promptly and thoroughly at the first
threatening symptoms. Wring a cloth out of an infusion of phytolacca,
and _keep hot_ by applying the water bottle containing a small
quantity of very hot water. If too much water is put into the bottle it
is made uncomfortably heavy. If the fresh root cannot be obtained, use
the fluid extract, ten drops to a pint of water. Keep the breast well
drawn and persevere in the hot applications; suppuration can usually be
prevented. Farmers know the value of phytolacca, and use it with their
new milch cows in case of caked bag.
_Aconite_ should be taken internally if there is alternate chill and
fever, with thirst and throbbing pulse, one drop of tincture in ten
tablespoons of water, a spoonful every half hour.
_Bryonia_, 2d.--Constant aching in the bones and soreness of the flesh.
Dose, six pellets every hour.
Use only liquid food until the disease is surely arrested. Keep quiet
and have plenty of fresh air. Unless the suppuration is very deep the
breast should never be lanced.
FOR EXCORIATED NIPPLES, bathe in a warm borax lotion, two grains to
one cup of soft water; after which apply carbolated cosmoline or
calenduline. If the base of the nipple is deeply cracked, before using
the cosmoline, wash with a solution of nitrate of silver, one grain to
two ounces of water. Protect with a shield while the child is nursing.
None of the above preparations are harmful to the child, except the
nitrate of silver, and the cases where this is needed are rare.
FOR INSUFFICIENT MILK, drink freely of new warm milk. Have it brought
to the bed, and drink at least a pint. Take it one or two hours before
breakfast. If milk cannot be obtained possessing animal warmth, take
new milk, add one-tenth water, and heat over a water bath to a
temperature of 120 degrees. Cheese makers testify that the addition of
water prevents rennet from coagulating the casein. In the stomach also,
warm water prevents the pepsin from curdling the milk. If it is as warm
as the stomach, and does not coagulate, it will be taken up by the
absorbents and conveyed directly to the blood, without going through
the process of digestion. Mothers who have a great aversion to milk,
learn to cultivate a decided relish for it for the sake of the child.
Dr. R. P. Harris, in speaking of milk as a diet for delicate mothers,
says: “Those who with ordinary food invariably fail to nurse longer
than a few weeks, are capable by this diet of becoming not only
good nurses, but also of gaining flesh while secreting the milk in
abundance. When a delicate mother of eighty-six pounds’ weight, who
had failed after a month with each of three infants, is enabled by it
to nurse a child eighteen months, and gain at the same time nineteen
pounds, the diet must be an effective one.” The article next best for
promoting the secretion of milk is cocoa or chocolate, prepared with
plenty of milk.
_Every form of malt and spirituous liquors_ should by all means be
_avoided_. They derange the nervous and digestive systems of both
mother and babe. Custom, happily, has to a large extent done away with
the idea that “nursing women _must_ have ale or beer.” To those who
still maintain this view, I would recommend the study of the question,
whether the help expected is at all commensurate with the danger
incurred of a pernicious appetite being cultivated in both mother and
child.
Good digestion is usually all that is essential for an abundant flow
of milk. The food should be simple but nutritious. Depend upon grains
and fruits mainly, and by no means exclude the bran from the wheat
flour. The saline elements in the bran not only stimulate digestion,
but excite the secretion of milk as well. Try the experiment of feeding
an Alderney cow upon fine flour, excluding the bran. By the lack of
milk you will prove that the bran contains elements pre-eminently
stimulating to lacteal secretions.
Oysters eaten raw or slightly cooked are said to increase the flow
of milk. Honey, too, often proves invaluable. With bread and gems,
instead of the carbonaceous butter, eat honey. It stimulates all the
secretions. It is evident that foods rich in phosphates are the best
to increase lactiferous flow. Therefore, study well the food table in
Chapter IX, and partake of foods which were avoided in pregnancy.
In the first days after confinement, if the milk is slow to secrete,
apply bruised castor bean leaves.
FOR EXCESSIVE FLOW OF MILK, once or twice a day use hot fomentations
upon the breast, and apply cosmoline, in which there is a trace of
camphor. Avoid salt and liquid food. Wear folds of cotton batting over
the breast. In either insufficient or excessive flow of milk, guard
against pressure of clothing. It is absolutely essential that the blood
should circulate freely to and from the breasts.
(No one thing more frequently causes atrophied breasts in any woman
than the pressure of corsets and padding ordinarily worn. It is not
unusual for a fine development of the breast to result from the
removal of all pressure, accompanied by bathing daily with cold water,
and following the bath by friction. Should this fail, an apparatus on
the principle of dry-cupping is used. This seldom fails of giving the
desired results.)
AFTER PAINS often accompany the contraction of the uterus. It is
not true that women never have them with the first child and always
have them subsequently. Like most of the sufferings of maternity,
they are the effect of abnormal conditions. Women, who, in two or
three confinements have suffered days with after pains, threatened
with spasms and not relieved except by chloroform, have by previous
preparation recovered without a twinge of pain.
After pains usually occur periodically every ten or fifteen minutes.
They are cramp-like pains accompanied by a feeling as if pricked by
many needles. They make one very impatient and nervous, depriving
her of needed rest. They are often the result of poisonous doses of
ergot taken during labor. The _hot water bag or hot fomentations_
will usually give relief. Must be very hot and kept hot, consequently
dry heat is to be preferred. Administering a hot sitz-bath is also
excellent treatment. If relief is not obtained, and the physician is
not within call, inhale ether moderately. Do not take it internally.
THE LOCHIA is the flow from the vagina which occurs after confinement.
At first it has the appearance of fresh blood, then becomes lighter
in color, and finally is only a glairy mucus. This varies greatly
in amount and duration. As a rule the healthier the woman, and more
natural the labor, the less the flow. Cases have come to my knowledge
where there was no sanguineous flow, and the patient made a rapid
recovery. It is said that healthy squaws have no flow of blood with
menstruation, or after delivery. If there is no constitutional
disturbance, there need be no anxiety about a scanty flow. If caused
by a chill, fever or inflammation, etc., prompt attention will be
required, according to accompanying symptoms.
METRORRHAGIA, or profuse flow, often requires treatment before
medical aid can be secured. Hot fomentations, hot sitz-bath and hot
vaginal injections are the very best applications. Recently the
medical profession recognize that heat is better than cold, to arrest
hemorrhage. In surgery, hot water is applied to exposed bleeding
vessels. Cases are known where hot vaginal injections have instantly
arrested bleeding that had resisted applications of ice, styptics and
the tampon.
A lady in Michigan, during the menopause, was taken suddenly with
violent hemorrhage. For seven days and nights everything was tried in
vain to arrest the bleeding. She became cold and clammy, had frequent
fainting spells, and death seemed imminent. An old nurse came to take
care of her over night. She set aside the physician’s potions and
applications. She filled the big wood stove with bricks, and as fast
as they were heated wrapped them in wet cloths and put them about
the patient, who thus obtained her first sleep for days. The hot
bricks were kept to her four days and nights. There was no return of
hemorrhage. She made a rapid recovery.
If there are clots, retained placenta or membranes, or any foreign
growth present in the uterus, they must be removed by surgical
interference, before uterine contractions can be effected and
maintained.
PELVIC PERITONITIS, PUERPERAL OR CHILD-BED FEVER. “There is a word of
fear that I shall pronounce when I utter the name of Puerperal Fever;
for there is almost no acute disease that is more terrible than this.
The small pox itself, which reduces the fairest form of humanity to
a mass of breathing corruption, can not be looked upon with greater
dread. Child-bed fever, like an inexorable Atropos, cuts the thread of
life for those to whom Clotho and Lachesis would give the longest span.
“There is something so touching in the death of a woman who has
recently given birth to a child; something so mournful in the
disappointment of cherished hopes; something so pitiful in the deserted
condition of the new-born, helpless creature, forever deprived of those
tender cares and caresses necessary to it, that the hardest heart is
not found insensible to the catastrophe. It is a sort of desecration
for an accouchee to die.”
Thus feelingly writes Prof. Meigs, of Philadelphia, of this disease,
the very thoughts of which strike terror to the stoutest heart. This
disease is an inflammation of the uterus and its peritoneal covering,
and often extends to the entire membrane lining the abdominal cavity,
and possibly involves all the pelvic viscera.
The attack ordinarily commences from the third to the ninth day after
delivery. Previous to this, the patient has seemed all right, when
suddenly, often apparently without cause, she is taken with a chill.
Rigors more or less severe extend up and down the spinal column.
Clothing does not seem to impart any warmth. Almost simultaneously with
the chill, periodical pains will be felt in the womb, and if there is
not much constitutional disturbance, may be taken for _after pains_.
Usually, however, they are accompanied by great soreness and tenderness
in the pelvis; the abdomen soon bloats and becomes tympanitic; the
legs are flexed to relieve the tension; the weight of the clothes,
even, cannot be borne. The milk dries up, the lochia cease, there is
headache, great thirst, increase of temperature, a quick, wiry or
bounding pulse.
All of these appalling symptoms are accompanied by great anxiety of
mind and distressed expression of countenance. A dark circle forms
about the eyes, which are sunken, the nose pinched, and the lips drawn,
and the face is flushed or very pale. The course of this dread disease
is extremely rapid. “It will not unfrequently happen that she shall die
within thirty-six or forty-eight hours from the onset of the malady,
and some cases terminate fatally even in eight hours. They are to be
cured promptly or not at all. Such a malady as this hurries with hot
and furious haste to a turn, beyond which there is not and cannot be
any useful therapia.”
Perhaps I shall be condemned for picturing to the sensitive imagination
of the pregnant woman the possible dangers of this dread disease.
Her attendants will look out for it, and she should not be led to
anticipate it. For two reasons, however, she should be forewarned:
_First, that she may at once summon her medical attendant._
_Second, that the causes of this disease being known, she may avoid
them._
Do not delay one moment in calling your physician. Having the symptoms
indicated, procrastination is suicidal. The doctor would better come
ten times for a nervous chill or after-pains, if by chance the mistake
should be made, than that you should fail once to notify him of an
attack of puerperal fever.
Under improved methods of treatment this disease does not terminate
fatally as frequently as formerly.
The causes of this disease are:
_First._ The inflammatory condition of the system before delivery. If
the _fruit diet_ has obviated this, there is nothing to fear.
_Second._ The use of ergot in confinement. Puerperal fever following
poisoning by ergot is very rapid in its course, and soon terminates in
gangrene. If this drug were banished from practice, child-bed fever
would be rare.
_Third._ Contusions and bruises from instruments not handled dextrously
cause inflammation.
_Fourth._ The use of cathartics, tonics, stimulants and other drugs
after delivery.
_It is within the power of every woman_ that she shall not be subject
to these causes of puerperal fever.
Some late teachers claim that all child-bed fever is pyæemia,
blood-poisoning, and can not be avoided. Why is it, then, that it is
notably absent in those who have led a hygienic life? Why is it that
those physicians who insist on preparatory treatment seldom meet with
it in their practice? Others claim that the disease is contagious, and
that the poison can be conveyed by physician and nurse.
Dr. W. S. Playfair, of London, who gives to this disease the name
of Puerperal Septicæmia, says: “The whole tendency of recent
investigations is daily rendering it more and more certain that
obstetricians have been led into error by the special violence and
intensity of the disease, and that they have erroneously considered it
to be something special to the puerperal state, instead of recognizing
in it a form of septic disease, practically identical with that which
is familiar to surgeons under the name of pyæmia or septicæmia.
“If this view be correct, the term ‘puerperal fever,’ conveying the
idea of a fever such as typhus or typhoid, must be acknowledged to
be misleading, and one that should be discarded as only tending to
confusion.
“According to this theory, the so-called puerperal fever is produced by
the absorption of septic matter into the system. It is not essential
that the poison should be peculiar or specific; for, just as in
surgical pyæmia, any decomposing organic matter either originating
within the generative organs of the patient herself, or coming from
without, may set up this morbid action.”
THE TREATMENT OF PERITONITIS should be prompt and thorough. Sweat the
patient as soon as possible. Place several steaming bricks or ears
of boiled corn about her. Frequent hot enemas by rectum and vagina
are beneficial. If gangrene threatens, it is often arrested by the
application of a yeast and charcoal poultice. Take any good lively
yeast, make a sponge of corn meal and graham flour, equal parts. When
light, add two tablespoons of charcoal to one pint, put on to a large
cloth covered with thin gauze and lay over the entire abdomen. Must be
changed frequently, not allowing it to get dry. An injection should be
given per rectum every three hours, of weak carbolic soapsuds.
The nutriment should be diluted hot milk, or oatmeal gruel. Small
pieces of ice will be grateful.
When these directions are followed faithfully, accompanied by
appropriate remedies, most cases can be saved.
Even if it should be proven that this disease is septic poisoning,
a healthy tone of the organs resists the absorption of the foreign
agent, which proves a poison. In twenty years of general practice
I never had a fatal case outside of the hospital. My experience
emphasizes what I have stated, that the hygienic life and habits,
and the avoidance of drugs and instruments go far toward preventing
child-bed fever.
CHAPTER XVI.
INFANTS.--THEIR CARE AT BIRTH AND DURING EARLY INFANCY.
“What am I?
An infant crying in the night;
An infant crying for the light;
And with no language but a cry.”
--TENNYSON.
What more helpless and dependent than the newborn infant! A human soul,
with all the possibilities of life, yet of itself it cannot supply its
slightest need.
No wonder that so great a wealth of maternal love is called forth in
administering to such helplessness! No wonder that the mother’s heart
is humbled at the greatness of her mission as special guardian of the
little one! May divine love and wisdom aid and guide her!
The newborn babe has had a sleep, at least a rest. It has entered upon
its new life, and all the functions of the body are well established.
The first thing in lending a helping hand to the little stranger is to
give him a bath. This is done ordinarily by using soap and warm water.
The _vernix caseosa_, a thick, white, unctuous material that usually
covers the child, and is abundant in the axilla and groin, is much more
easily and thoroughly removed by cleansing it entirely with some oily
substance. For this purpose olive oil or lard can be used. It should
be applied with a soft, worn piece of flannel, keeping the child well
covered. When it is entirely clean, rub all over with a fresh piece of
flannel, and the skin is left in a soft, smooth condition.
R. P. Harris, M. D., says: “As the _vernix caseosa_ is readily miscible
with pure lard, and can be easily removed by its means, the practice
prevails with many obstetricians in the United States of ordering the
infant well anointed, and then wiped from head to foot with soft rags,
until all the vernix disappears, and the skin retains an oily trace,
not enough to soil the clothing. By this means water is avoided, and
with it much risk of taking cold; the skin is left much less sensitive,
after the sudden change which it is made to endure at birth than when
subject to soap and water.”
DRESS THE NAVEL with absorbent antiseptic cotton. Put a piece three
or four inches square on the left side of the abdomen, just above the
navel, the remnant of the cord laid upon it, with its cut end pointing
to the left, and upward--the cotton arranged to embrace the base of the
cord, and another piece of cotton the same size placed over the cord,
the whole kept in place by a soft flannel band. This is preferable to
linen. It absorbs the secretion more readily, making less liability
of an unpleasant odor. It is kept in place better, and the cord comes
off much sooner. Can often be entirely removed the fourth day. There
needs to be no grease or oil upon the cotton. After the separation of
the cord, the navel should be dressed with a little simple cerate or
cosmoline, and still use the absorbent cotton.
_Any pouching of the navel_ can be relieved by using a thin slice of
cork or a piece of thick pasteboard two inches in diameter. Wrap it
with several thicknesses of linen and place it outside of the cotton,
applying the bandage sufficiently snug to keep it in place.
THE CLOTHING of the child should be soft, warm, light, loose, and
easily adjusted. Superfluous garments should be avoided, and waistbands
dispensed with.
Activity is so natural to child-life that it seems almost life itself.
Months before it is born a babe is in ceaseless motion, and after birth
it is never still during its waking hours. This activity is synchronous
with its development and should be encouraged rather than hindered. A
child’s dress, while it serves the purposes of warmth, protection and
adornment, should in no way prevent this activity.
Only a few years since, the dress for all infants was cut low in the
neck and with short sleeves. A sensible reform made it fashionable
to protect the necks and arms of the little ones. It is equally as
essential and is just as desirable a reform, that the dress should be
so constructed that the natural activity of any part of the body is not
hindered. To accomplish this the skirts must be shortened and all bands
abolished. Is there any reason why a child’s clothes should be so long
that they are a burden to him and an inconvenience to all who handle
him?
Many mothers, noting their babies’ constant struggle for exercise,
frequently uncover their feet in order to give them an opportunity to
kick and stretch. It is not unusual, also, for them to get them out of
long clothes by the time they are three months old.
One lady writes that she tried making her baby’s first clothes very
short. They were only twenty-seven inches in the entire length, from
the shoulder to the hem at the bottom. This experiment proved so
satisfactory that she says she will never put long dresses on a child
again. Not only was her baby so much more comfortable, but he was so
much more easily handled that she felt repaid in the comfort it was
to herself. Aside from this, there was no necessity of making short
clothes for him until he walked, which was a saving in time and money.
A new-born child requires the following garments:
A Shirt and Band Combined: This should be made of soft flannel or
knitted wool. If of flannel, turn hems but once, and cross-stitch down
smoothly. Finish the neck and arm’s eye with a button-hole stitch,
using silk or worsted. Lay a fold in back of shirt, to make it fit the
child, and stitch down smoothly and lap in front and fasten as if it
were a band. The shirt has this advantage over the ordinary band, that
it cannot wrinkle up if the napkin is pinned to it as it should be.
One-half yard of thirty-six inch flannel will make four shirts. This
garment is worn mainly to keep the dressing upon the navel in place,
and can be discarded when that necessity no longer exists.
Foot blanket: Made of flannel, twenty-seven inches square, and hemmed
on three sides. Lay a double box-plait in the center of fourth (or
upper) side, stitch down one inch, and face the same width, with
a strip of cotton, cut bias. Fasten over the diaper with a small
safety-pin. This garment protects other clothing and wraps the feet up
nicely until the child is large enough to wear socks. If the weather
is cold woolen socks are advisable from the first. However, it is not
absolutely necessary, and some mothers dispense with it altogether.
A Flannel Skirt: Is made with long sleeves, and is cut from the same
pattern as a night-dress or day-slip. Fine, all-wool flannel is
generally used for this skirt, but I would recommend the use of the
eider-down flannel, which is also so desirable for baby cloaks. The
outside dress can be made as a Mother Hubbard, or slip, and where
taste inclines, it may be of finest material and exquisite embroidery.
Besides the diaper, the flannel skirt and slip are all the clothes a
young baby actually requires. The skirt should be put inside of the
dress and the two put on the child at the same time.
Thus an infant may be dressed in less than five minutes, instead of the
long, tedious process of the customary dress.
Once clothing a baby in this simple fashion, one would never be
inclined to again adopt the long full skirts, the bands and pins, that
are a torture to infants and trying to the patience of the mother.
The same general principle may be followed for a child’s wardrobe until
he is put into drawers; then these require to be attached to a light
waist without sleeves.
The first few months the child’s feet are most comfortable in crocheted
socks. The first shoes may be made like moccasins, of broadcloth or
chamois skin. A lady in Cincinnati makes many of the latter for the
trade, supporting her children and an invalid husband by their sale.
These directions for infants’ clothing are so simple that many may
think they are not worth following, but when we see the little ones
bandaged and burdened as we do, is it not time to make a protest that
will reach every mother? A child’s dress should always serve the
purposes of protection and warmth without any hindrance to its activity
and development.
HABITS OF CLEANLINESS can be taught every child. The clumsy diaper can
be dispensed with by the time it is three or four months old. Let the
mother practice holding out her baby immediately after nursing it, and
it will easily be taught to urinate at this time, and also to have a
passage from the bowels at a stated time in the morning and evening.
The actual comfort secured to mother and child through this habit,
more than repays for the labor and patience in securing it. Teach your
children to be cleanly. _A dirty child is a mother’s disgrace._ When
a child begins to creep and walk, the diaper (necessarily large and
bulky) has to be pinned too tightly for comfort and health, in order to
keep it in place.
A BATH may be given to the child every day or every other day. By the
time it is two months old, it can be put into a bath daily. Should
remain in the water not more than five minutes. The temperature should
not exceed 90°, and it is quite as well to accustom the child to a
lower temperature gradually. Don’t trust the hand to determine the
heat. _Always have a thermometer._ Do not bathe a child immediately
after nursing. Avoid the use of soap. A child’s skin is naturally oily,
and should be preserved so.
NURSING.
“The starting beverage meets the thirsty lip;
’Tis joy to yield it, and ’tis joy to sip.”
_The newborn infant needs no artificial food._ It should be put to the
breast whenever it shows an inclination. The true mother will delight
in the privilege of nursing her child, and will allow nothing but the
most entire inability to prevent the exercise of this maternal office.
The mother’s milk is the natural food, and nothing can fully take
its place. Every means should be used to secure and maintain this
natural nutriment before resorting to artificial food. The nursing
process, by sympathetic action, assists in restoring the uterus to
normal conditions. A few years since everybody supposed the baby must
be fed artificially the first two days of its life, that there was a
break in nature’s provision for its sustenance. The consequence was
the poor little victim was dosed with all sorts of slops, catnip tea,
panada, gruel, cracker water, cream tea, etc., etc. Remember, it _needs
nothing_ but the secretion that is in the breast, which is laxative at
first, and removes the meconium from the bowels. If for any reason the
mother has not milk for her child, or is separated from it, the best
substitute is a wet nurse, whose babe should be near the same age. The
nurse should be well and strong, having abundant and nourishing milk.
THE BEST ARTIFICIAL FOOD is cream reduced and sweetened with sugar of
milk. Analysis show that the human milk contains more cream and sugar
and less casein than the milk of animals. The reduced cream, sweetened,
closely approximates human milk. The difference in the quality of cream
presents a great difficulty. No rule can be given for its reduction.
Most nurses leave it too rich, and the child’s system is soon deranged.
To obviate this difficulty, let new milk stand from four to six hours,
take the top off, reduce one-half with hot water; to one pint add one
teaspoonful of sugar of milk and one grain of phosphate of lime. When
the child is from three to five months old, oatmeal, barley or bran
gruel can be added.
_Children have not sufficient secretion of saliva to convert starch
into sugar._ Therefore never use arrowroot or corn starch; these do not
digest in the stomach, and intestinal derangement is likely to follow.
Bran or barley gruel furnishes phosphates, which are essential to
stimulate digestion.
Microscopical examination of the artificial foods prepared and sold
for infants, proves many of them deficient in gluten and too abundant
in starch to make them desirable nutriment. The following extract from
“Playfair’s Midwifery” explains the
“CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN HAND-FED CHILDREN.--Much of the mortality
following hand-feeding may be traced to unsuitable food. Among the
poorer classes especially there is a prevalent notion that milk alone
is insufficient, and hence the almost universal custom of administering
various farinaceous foods, such as corn-flour or arrowroot, even from
the earliest period. Many of these consist of starch alone, and are
therefore absolutely unsuited for forming the staple of diet, on
account of the total absence of nitrogenous elements. Independently of
this, it has been shown that the saliva of infants has not at first
the digestive action on starch that it subsequently acquires, and this
affords a further explanation of its so constantly producing intestinal
derangement. Reason, as well as experience, abundantly proves that
the object to be aimed at in hand-feeding is to imitate as nearly
as possible the food which nature supplies for the newborn child,
and therefore the obvious course is to use milk from some animal, so
treated as to make it resemble human milk as nearly as may be.
“ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK.--An admirable plan of treating cow’s milk, so
as to reduce it to almost absolute chemical identity with human milk
has been devised by Professor Frankland, to whom I am indebted for
permission to insert the receipt. I have followed this method in many
cases, and find it far superior to the usual one, as it produces an
exact and uniform compound. With a little practice nurses can employ
it with no more trouble than the ordinary mixing of cow’s milk with
water and sugar. The following extracts from Dr. Frankland’s work will
explain the principles on which the preparation of the artificial human
milk is founded: ‘The rearing of infants, who can not be supplied with
their natural food, is notoriously difficult and uncertain, owing
chiefly to the great difference in the chemical composition of human
milk and cow’s milk. The latter is much richer in casein, and poorer in
milk-sugar than the former, whilst asses’ milk, which is sometimes used
for feeding infants, is too poor in casein and butter, although the
proportion of sugar is nearly the same as in human milk. The relation
of the three kinds of milk to each other are clearly seen from the
following analytical numbers, which express the percentage amounts of
the different constituents:
Woman. Ass. Cow.
Casein 2.7 1.7 4.2
Butter 3.5 1.3 3.8
Milk-sugar 5.0 4.5 3.8
Salts .2 .5 .7
These numbers show that by the removal of one-third of the casein from
cow’s milk, and the addition of about one-third more milk-sugar, a
liquid is obtained which closely approaches human milk in composition,
the percentage amounts of the four chief constituents being as follows:
Casein 2.8
Butter 3.8
Milk-sugar 5.0
Salts .7
The following is the mode of preparing the milk: Allow one-third of
a pint of new milk to stand for about twelve hours, remove the cream
and add to it two-thirds of a pint of new milk, as fresh from the cow
as possible. Into the one-third of a pint of blue milk left after the
abstraction of the cream, put a piece of rennet about one inch square.
Set the vessel in warm water, until the milk is fully curdled, an
operation requiring from five to fifteen minutes, according to the
activity of the rennet, which should be removed as soon as the curdling
commences, and put into an egg cup for use on subsequent occasions,
as it may be employed daily for a month or two. Break up the curd
repeatedly, and carefully separate the whole of the whey, which should
then be rapidly heated to boiling in a small tin pan placed over a
spirit or gas lamp. During the heating a further quantity of casein,
technically called ‘fleetings,’ separates, and must be removed by
straining through muslin. Now dissolve 110 grains of powdered sugar of
milk in the hot whey, and mix it with the two-thirds of a pint of new
milk, to which the cream from the other third of a pint was added, as
already described. The artificial milk should be used within twelve
hours of its preparation, and it is almost needless to add that all the
vessels employed in its manufacture and administration should be kept
scrupulously clean.
Any babe can be fed from the first with a spoon, and in a few weeks
it will drink from a cup or glass. When it seems necessary to use the
nursing bottle the utmost care should be taken to keep it clean and
sweet. Two bottles should be used alternately. The one not in use
should be thoroughly rinsed, and then laid (without the nipple) in an
earthen or granite dish, containing a solution of common soda. Let it
remain there until needed, then rinse it well, and you may feel that it
is in good condition. Cleanse the nipple by hand. Do not use the rubber
tube.
A young babe should not be fed more frequently than once in two
hours, and by the time it is three months old once in three hours
is preferable. Most children, when four or five months old, can be
taught to sleep all night without nursing. Nothing deranges a child’s
digestion more than irregular and constant nursing. I have seen a
mother give her child the breast five times during a half-hour’s
conversation. It is unreasonable to suppose that a child is hungry
every time it nestles and frets. Consider the time since it has nursed,
and look for other causes of uneasiness before giving it the breast.
A babe should be weaned when it is from twelve to eighteen months
old. The exact time depends largely upon its development, and also
upon the mother’s condition. Begin weaning by omitting nursing once
a day for several days, then twice a day, and so on. In this way the
little one is weaned almost, or quite unconsciously, is never for a
minute unhappy, and the mother is saved great anxiety and worry. Before
weaning and some time after, it should be fed upon oatmeal, barley
meal, wheat meal, graham bread and milk, wheatlet, etc. The digestive
organs are not in a condition for a mixed diet until the teeth are
developed, and, as has been indicated above, the saliva is not yet
an efficient aid for digesting starchy food. Many a case of summer
complaint, convulsions, etc., is due to the meat, pie and cake upon
which the child has been fed.
Meat-fed children are cross, irritable and quarrelsome. Some three
years since a kind, conscientious mother said: “The greatest trial
of my life is that my children quarrel so with each other. I cannot
understand the reason. Nothing they do annoys me so much, and by
teaching, persuasion or punishment I have been unable to change their
habit.”
Hoping to give her aid, I asked many questions--among other things in
regard to diet. She told me they were great meat eaters; her husband
and brother must have it three times a day, and the children often
ate scarcely anything else. I told her the story of the bear that was
kept at the museum in Giessen; when fed on bread only it was quiet
and tractable--even children could play with it with impunity--but a
few days’ feeding upon meat would make it ferocious, quarrelsome and
dangerous.
She agreed to try the experiment upon her children. I counseled her,
as her husband did not dine at home, to make a special dinner for the
children. Instead of giving them scraps of cold meat, pies and cake,
etc., make them milk toast, tiny graham or corn meal gems, cracked
wheat or wheatlet moulded in small cups with fruit sauce, fruit
puddings, etc. Spare no pains in making it attractive and palatable.
Decorate the table with fruit and flowers, and make the occasions
frequent when their own holiday presents of china should be used.
Follow this with a light lunch at night, of simple, farinaceous food
before the ordinary family dinner. In this way they would be tempted
with the meat only at breakfast, and even then, fresh fish, fish balls,
omelets, etc., might often be made to supplant the platter of steak or
ham.
This lady entered into the plan heartily, and was more than amply
paid. In less than a month she could see a difference in the habits of
her children, and a year later she testified that it would hardly be
recognized as the same family. The children were cheerful, playful,
gleeful, and full of spirit--but in place of fretfulness and quarrels,
were kind, benevolent and considerate to each other. They were
also more than ordinarily exempt from acute attacks of fevers and
inflammation.
CHAPTER XVII.
DISEASES OF INFANTS.
The diseases herein treated are mainly those for which a physician is
seldom called. A few suggestions are also added upon those in which the
severity of the attack necessitates attention before medical aid can be
obtained.
APHTHA is sometimes the result of scrofula, otherwise it is caused by
improper quality or quantity of food, either natural or artificial.
In bottle-fed babes it often results from the milk not being
sufficiently diluted, or from the use of starchy food. Neglect of
general cleanliness in many cases give rise to this ailment. The
child is feverish, fretful, and often refuses the breast on account
of pain experienced in nursing. Sometimes there is vomiting and thin
watery diarrhea. The tongue, gums, palate and inside of cheeks and
lips are thickly specked with white flecks; sometimes there is a dirty
diphtheritic-like membrane. Aphtha usually runs its course in a few
days. Those cases are exceptional which are followed by unpleasant
results.
TREATMENT.--Sometimes the case requires merely the washing of the mouth
two or three times a day with a weak solution of borax, ten grains to
one ounce of water. The mouth should be cleansed after each meal, as
should also the mother’s nipple.
℞ Hydrastis 10 gr.
Sugar, 100 gr.
Pulverize thoroughly and put a small quantity into the mouth two or
three times a day.
_Arsenicum, 3d._--Patches of a dark color; severe, watery, painless
diarrhea, thirst and great prostration. Dose, six pellets every three
hours.
_Merc. Sol., 3d._--Dribbling saliva, offensive breath, greenish
diarrhea with pain. Dose, six pellets every four hours.
EXCORIATION of groin and axilla frequently trouble very fat, scrofulous
or bottle-fed babies. The surface becomes raw, inflamed, and often
painful.
Bathe frequently in tepid soft water, or what often proves better, milk
and water. Dry with a soft linen cloth. Or hold the sufferer over a
tub or basin, and from a large sponge squeeze tepid soft water on the
affected part. Repeat every two or three hours. This is grateful and
healing. The occasional use of cosmoline or of sweet cream in which
clover blossoms have been steeped is beneficial. Avoid nursery powders.
If the methods advised fail, scorch flour and apply several times a
day. Should there be eruptions or ulcers use a powder of the following:
℞ Scorched Flour ℥j
Powdered Hydrastics ʒj
Mix. Apply through a powder bag after washing.
_Borax_, half a drachm to a pint of soft water, gives relief where
great inflammation attends the excoriation. Lay upon the affected
part for an hour or two at a time soft cloths wet in the cold lotion.
Frequent washing and perfect cleanliness are really the best
preventives and cures.
COLIC is the torture of babyhood, as well as a constant source of
parental solicitude. It is not considered a dangerous disease, but the
sufferings of the little one are a great tax upon sympathetic nerves.
There is no special age when the infant is subject to colic. It occurs
more frequently when it is from two to five months old. However,
children may suffer from it before they are two weeks old.
Severe colics are usually the result of derangements of the liver, and
when mothers are badly nourished, the child is frequently born with the
trouble. The condition is largely due to a deficiency of nitrogenous
elements and phosphates in the food. The system is over supplied with
carbonates in the shape of starch, fats and sugar, and deficient in
elements that build up the tissues, such as gluten, fibrin, albumen,
etc. The mother partakes of food that produces an inflammatory
condition, and lacks in that which makes muscle, bone and nerve. She
should be cautious about eating of mixed dishes and also of greasy and
highly seasoned food.
Let her diet be chiefly of barley, wheatlet, rolled wheat, and bread
from graham flour, or Lockport entire wheat flour, with the addition of
fish, milk and eggs. Fruits can be partaken of freely, avoiding those
that are exceedingly acid. It is only when fruit is not eaten all the
time, that colic in the child is caused by the mother’s partaking of
it. If it has been eaten freely during pregnancy, it will do no harm
during lactation. Until the causes of colic can be removed, palliative
treatment must be resorted to.
A colicky baby must be kept warm, avoiding all changes in
temperature.[2] A rubber bag or bottle filled with hot water and put in
the crib will keep the child, once quieted, asleep for hours. During
the paroxysms put the child’s feet in a basin of hot water, or place
cloths wrung from hot water over its bowels, and if the attack is very
severe, a full hot bath will often give relief.[3]
[2] An interesting account has lately appeared in medical journals,
entitled, “Incubating Babies.” Some physician had charge of foundlings,
and tried the experiment of keeping them devoid of clothing in
ventilated boxes, at an even temperature of 80°. They were fed at
regular intervals. They slept most of the time. During the waking
periods, kicked, laughed and crowed, but seldom cried. He lessened
the mortality very greatly, and possibly proved to the world that the
_hardening_ or toughening process is begun too soon for the best vigor
of childhood.
[3] A warm bath, indeed, let the cause of “griping” be what it may,
usually affords instant relief.--_Chevasse._
_Avoid giving opiates._ They constipate the bowels and derange
digestion. In acute attacks following their use, the brain and spine
are likely to be seriously involved. Nearly all cordials sold for colic
contain opium. Analysis reveals morphine, one grain to the ounce, in
Winslow’s soothing syrup.
The following from a daily paper only shows that many medicines are
the mother’s enemy, instead of the “Mother’s Friend.” “The Tewksbury
almshouse horror once more calls attention to the frightful abuse
of narcotics for which the medical profession is to a great extent
responsible. In the Tewksbury child’s hospital the nurses were provided
with morphine in half-pint bottles! No wonder the babies were kept so
still that they died at a rate never before heard of. An idea of the
extent to which narcotics are given to infants in English manufacturing
towns is gleanable from the deposition of a Hanley chemist before a
coroner’s jury. He testified that he made up and sold six gallons a day
of an article called ‘Mother’s Friend.’ This stuff contains seven and
one-half drops of laudanum to the ounce. With this it is customary to
dose their babies so that they shall sleep during the time the young
mothers are engaged at the factories. Of course the infant mortality of
the place is frightful.
“In contradistinction to this practice of barbarously working young
mothers, Mr. Schneider, the owner of the great Creuzot iron works in
France, compels a mother to stay from work for a few months before and
after a child is born. For the carrying out of this humane purpose he
has created a fund out of which the wages of the mother during the
period of her incapacity are paid.”
Convulsions, brain fever, summer complaint, etc., are often the result
of the early use of opiates. I can recall many cases where spasms in
summer complaint were caused evidently and directly by the use of
opiates employed to check a slight ailment, in itself harmless.
FOR COLIC.--Some diffusible stimulant is preferable to narcotics. In
mild cases, a few tea-spoonfuls of hot water suffice, and there is but
little objection to the old-fashioned catnip tea.
_Peppermint essence._--One drop in six tea-spoons of hot water often
affords relief. Feed slowly.
_Camphor, tincture._--Pain is severe and cramp-like, knees flexed,
hands and feet cold, face livid, especially if there is diarrhea;
put one drop on a tea-spoonful of sugar, mix thoroughly, then add six
tea-spoons of hot water. Dose--A tea-spoonful every ten minutes.
_Chamomilla, 2d._--Stools are green and every diaper is stained. The
child is very restless, nurses often, constantly desires change of
position and attendants, wants to be carried from room to room. If the
homeopathic preparation does not give relief, make an infusion of the
blossoms. To six grains of the bloom, pour one gill boiling water. Feed
slowly. Four or five tea-spoonfuls are usually sufficient. Any of these
preparations, except camphor, should not be sweetened.
_Nux Vomica, 3d._--Constipation or undigested curds of milk in the
feces. Child starts in its sleep, has short naps and throws its head
back when it cries. To one grain add six tea-spoons of warm water,
and give every ten minutes in half tea-spoonful doses. For colic of
children and grown people, I have found more frequent relief from
this remedy than all others. It promotes digestion, equalizes the
circulation and feeds the nervous system. The nursing mother should
also take it once or twice a day when the child has these symptoms, and
an occasional dose taken by both, prevents subsequent attacks. She must
remember, too, to take sufficient rest and sleep, using every means to
promote her own best health.
CONSTIPATION is not a very frequent ailment of infants, but is
occasionally met with, and sometimes becomes very obstinate. When a
nursing child is thus affected, the mother will usually be found to be
suffering from the same conditions. In such a case, she should follow
the directions in Chap. V, and through correct habits in her own
system, she will doubtless find the child relieved.
Want of regularity in its habits often produces costiveness in an
infant. If he is fed or nursed regularly, and held out at the same time
of each day, and as he gets older is put upon a chair, he will seldom
be troubled with this complaint. It is wonderful how soon the bowels in
most cases, by this simple plan, may be brought into a regular habit.
_A soap suppository_ should be used after a day or two, if this method
fails. This is a safe, speedy and certain method of moving the bowels.
Make it by paring a piece of white castile soap round. Should be about
the size of a lead-pencil, pointed at the end, and two inches in
length. Moisten in warm water and introduce nearly the whole length.
After remaining from one to five minutes it will be expelled and the
bowels will be comfortably and effectually relieved.
If the feces are very hard, like little balls, it is better to give an
enema of castile soapsuds, to one cupful of which, one tea-spoonful
of sweet oil has been added. Squeezing cold or tepid water over the
child’s bowels, followed by hand friction, aids to stimulate them to
action.
Some advise rubbing the bowels with castor oil, getting thereby the
aperient effect, without the irritation of an internal dose.
Do not begin by giving a little baby aperient drugs. Chevasse says: “If
you once begin, and continue it for a while, opening medicine becomes a
dire necessity, and then woe betide the poor unfortunate child.”
Purgative medicines irritate beyond measure the tender organs of an
infant and ordinarily result in constipation.
DIARRHEA of infants is nature’s first method of removing obstructions
and overcoming derangements of the system, and in nine cases out of ten
should not be interfered with.
The natural movements are usually thin, and of a bright orange color.
One author describes them as being of the “consistence and color of
mustard mixed for the table.” They are nearly devoid of smell, or at
least have only a faint, disagreeable odor. Many children at first have
from three to six movements in a day. If they should increase to from
six to twelve and still not change materially in consistence, color or
odor, there is no cause for uneasiness.
Many an attack of sickness is the result of checking a diarrhea with
opiates and astringents. If the discharges become watery, green,
attended with griping, or streaked with mucus or blood, are of an ashen
or chalk color, or if they have undigested curds of milk, then they
demand attention. Above all, keep the child quiet and apply heat. The
hot water bottle is most excellent. An enema of hot water often gives
entire relief without the use of other remedies. I have known large
families of children, in which for years no other means was used for
the successful control of this disease.
DYSENTERY is indicated by mucus and blood with straining. It is an
inflammation of the rectum and large intestines. Warm flaxseed tea
injections after the discharge give great relief. Compresses should be
put on the bowels for an hour or two at a time, three or four times a
day.
_A general pack_ is exceedingly helpful where fever attends this or
other affections.
To pack a child, remove all its clothing, put on its nightdress, lay in
the crib on a woolen blanket: wet the nightdress in tepid water, using
a sponge, put a hot bottle to the feet.
Wrap the child closely in the blanket and be sure reaction takes place.
Let it lie in this one hour, when it should be sponged carefully and
wiped dry. This pack is indicated in any disease of children where
there is sufficient fever and heat to produce reaction. Remember, the
simplest measures are often the most effectual. (The above suggestions
are equally valuable in giving packs to adults.)
SUMMER COMPLAINT is an inflammation or irritation of the mucus membrane
of the intestines. Owing to dentition and change of food, children
are more liable to this affection in their second summer. They are
then constantly the subject of anxious solicitude by their parents and
friends.
If the discharges are only frequent and yellow, unaccompanied by pain
and fever, there is no cause for anxiety. It is simply an effort of
nature to restore normal conditions, and should not be interfered with.
Too hastily checking this diarrhea is frequently the cause of spasms
and other serious affections.
The symptoms of summer complaint proper, are frequent, watery
movements; at first may be green but soon become gray, brown and
frothy, sometimes having a mixture of phlegm and mucus; frequently are
fetid, and, at times, contain undigested food. It may or may not be
accompanied by pain. Nausea and vomiting are frequent symptoms, and if
severe, constitute cholera infantum. The surface of the body is cold,
often in a cold perspiration, while the soles of the feet and palms of
the hands are dry and hot. It is usually attended with great thirst, a
quick pulse and increased temperature.
Some children are prostrated at once by the attack, losing flesh and
strength rapidly, while others keep about many days. Appetite fails, or
else there are morbid cravings, often for the very things that increase
the irritation. If the disease is not abated, the fever and thirst
increase, the tongue becomes dry and brown, pulse is more rapid, the
strength fails, great restlessness ensues, the brain becomes affected,
coma ensues, and death closes the scene.
Impure air and improper diet are the principal causes of this disease.
Sleeping and living rooms not being sufficiently ventilated, the blood
becomes poisoned. Children are fed a mixed diet too soon. Rich and
highly seasoned food that is even unsuitable for adults, except in
a vigorous outdoor life, is given them, and at irregular hours. The
delicate organs are overtaxed, and inflammatory conditions produced.
When a child is weaned it should be fed upon oat, wheat and corn meal
mush, bread and milk, rice, cracked wheat, wheatlet, barley, and ripe
fruits. Meats, condiments, tea and coffee, and food containing fats
should be avoided. Even most of the vegetables are not adapted to
children.
Give them simple but nutritious diet, turn them, like colts, outdoors
to run and play, and you will save yourselves anxiety, save doctor’s
bills, and best of all, save your children. Blood that is too
carbonaceous can be oxygenized by plenty of outdoor exercise, both by
adults and children. The less clothing a child wears in hot weather
the better, only I would advise that flannel be worn next the skin.
This will prevent sudden checking of perspiration. By all means let the
little children go barefoot. A child that has a sand pile to play in,
and is allowed to run barefoot, must be of a very delicate organization
if he can have summer complaint. By direct contact with the earth,
superabundance of electricity is carried off, and thus is lessened the
possibility of inflammation. _The child that spends most of its waking
hours outdoors, barefooted, seldom gets summer complaint._ He has:
“Sleep that wakes in laughing day;
Health that mocks the doctor’s rules;
Outward sunshine; inward joy;
Blessing on thee, barefoot boy!”
In summer complaint give but little food, and that only in a liquid
form. Barley water, rice water, oatmeal gruel, bran jelly, lemon jelly
and orange whey, are all good. Milk can be used, if relished and
digested. It is ordinarily better to be reduced by adding one-third
boiling water. All of these must be given in small quantities and at
regular intervals. The best drink is soft water. If there is vomiting,
a drink made by steeping whole parched corn, is excellent. Also oatmeal
coffee is good. The juice of acid fruits is beneficial, and can be used
freely. But on no account allow the pulp, seed or skin to be eaten.
Remember, very little nourishment can be appropriated. The child,
especially if nursing, often takes food on account of thirst.
A COMPRESS wrung from cold water should be applied if there is local
heat, and allowed to remain for two or three hours, then removed, and
the parts bathed in tepid water. If there is pain, hot fomentations or
hot enemas, will be advantageous.
Under all circumstances avoid opiates and astringents. These stop the
discharges without removing the cause, and if the disease does not
recur in the same form, some other organ is liable to become affected.
If the child seems to need nourishment and is not able to take it, an
enema of a thin bran tea will prove nourishing without being irritating.
_Keep the child quiet_, in a well ventilated room, or in the open air.
A bed made of the inside corn husks stripped fine, is the best. A new
material for bedding made of Florida moss is excellent. A child, sick
or well, should not sleep on bed or pillows of feathers. By observing
these simple directions most cases of this dread disease can be saved.
REMEDIES for dysentery and summer complaint.
_Arsenicum, 3d._--The discharges are thin, watery, yellow, accompanied
by thirst, hands and feet hot. Six pellets every two hours.
_Cuprum, 3d._--Discharges green, frequent and small, with much pain.
Six pellets every two hours.
_Camphor tincture._--Discharges watery, frequent vomiting, coldness of
extremities. Prepared and given as on page 221.
_Mercury sol., 3d._--Discharges watery, gush out, followed by sinking,
have a bad odor. Six pellets every three hours.
_Mercury cor., 3d._--Green discharges streaked with mucus or blood,
accompanied by straining effort. Six pellets every four hours.
_Veratrum Viride, 3d._--Coldness of extremities, head hot, thirst,
nausea, vomiting. Six pellets every two hours.
_Phosphorus, 3d._--Odorless, clay colored discharges. Four pellets
every hour.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS is inflammation of the intestines, involving
either all their coats or only their mucus lining. The symptoms are
rigors, followed by dry, hot skin; quick, wiry, strong pulse; thirst,
nausea or vomiting, diarrhea or constipation; severe pain in the
abdomen, especially around the navel, aggravated by pressure. Lies on
his back with his knees drawn up.
_Causes._--Errors in diet, cold, use of drugs, especially of purgatives
and strong medicines used to check diarrhea. Remember what is said
of diarrhea on page 224, and do not be in haste to check the first
symptoms. Use liquid food only. It is seldom necessary to give remedies.
_Hot fomentations_ alternated with _cold compresses_ carefully
adjusted, will prove very efficacious. _Hot enemas_ should also be
given.
DENTITION under natural and proper conditions should not be accompanied
by constitutional disturbances. Some law must have been violated to
have caused derangements with teething.
The symptoms of the disorders of dentition are hot, swollen gums,
accompanied by feverishness and restlessness, starting, as if in
fright, or interrupted sleep, increased flow of saliva, various
eruptions on the head or body, derangements of the digestive organs.
Summer complaint is the most frequent of the ailments peculiar to
teething, which see page 225.
The most prevalent and serious cause for these ailments is to be found
in the adoption of a mixed diet at too early an age. A teething infant
cannot with impunity be thus fed. This is sufficiently proved by the
lack of a full complement of teeth needful for mastication. Disturbed
conditions of the mother, as worry, anger, over-heating, and fatigue
often result in serious effects on the nursing child.
Let the gums be bathed frequently in cold water. Lancing is seldom
necessary.
Starchy foods and sweets should be avoided. It has been proven that the
love for sweets often manifested by children is an unnatural appetite.
It is doing injury to the teething infant to cultivate this taste by
universally sweetening its food. Supplement the milk diet with graham
mush, wheatlet, granula, or bread of the fine flour of the entire wheat.
Keep the child much in the open air. See that the head is cool and the
feet warm. Bathe daily in cold water, and keep a flannel band or shirt
about the abdomen.
_Chamomilla, 2d._--An excellent medicine for most cases of disordered
dentition, especially in the absence of fever. Also when there is
bilious purging, intestinal irritation, cough, nervousness and
fretfulness. Six pellets every hour.
_Aconitum, 2d._--Feverishness, restlessness, inflamed gums. Ten drops
in half a glass of water, teaspoonful every half hour. A cloth wet in
this preparation given to a child to hold in its mouth will alleviate
heat and pain in the gums, and will be highly appreciated by the little
one.
_Calcarea Carb., 3d._--Slimy diarrhea in scrofulous patients. Six
pellets every three hours.
_Arsenicum, 3d._--Thirst, hot hands and feet, great emaciation. Six
pellets every hour.
_Bell., 3d._--Flushed face, nervous irritability, uneasiness in sleep.
Six pellets every hour.
_Pod., 2d._--Diarrhea with pain of an intermitting character, prolapsus
ani. Six pellets every three hours.
_Silicea, 6th._--Perspiration about the head upon falling asleep. Six
pellets three times a day.
CHAPTER XVIII.
DISEASES OF INFANTS.--CONTINUED.
Worms--_Thread or pin worms_ and _round worms_ are most common.
_Thread-worms_ are about half an inch in length, white in color, and
move rapidly. They are found in the anus or lower part of the rectum.
Thread-worms give rise to restlessness and itching about the anus,
especially in the evening after first falling asleep. Give with a
child’s syringe a small injection of a tablespoonful of raw linseed
oil. In some instances annointing externally with the oil or with
cosmoline will give relief. Keep the parts well cleansed, using suds
of carbolic soap. The _round-worm_ is from six to fifteen inches long,
resembling the common earth-worm, but of a paler color. It is supposed
to feed on the chyle, and lives generally in the small intestines,
but it sometimes passes upward into the stomach, and is expelled by
vomiting, or downward, and is ejected with the evacuations.
The presence of the round-worm may be indicated by indigestion,
swelling of the abdomen, restlessness, grinding of the teeth in sleep,
convulsion, etc. It is the result of a mixed diet, and is rarely found
when the child has been fed on the product of the grains.
_Santonine, 1st._--Grain doses, three times a day for three days.
Follow this on the fourth day by a copious enema, one pint of water, to
which one tea-spoon of salt has been added. After three days, if the
symptoms still continue, repeat treatment.
INCONTINENCE OF URINE.--This annoying ailment is common among children.
Mothers and nurses often deal impatiently with the unfortunate child,
believing it to be a _habit_, which may be easily overcome. It is
more often a malady than a habit. In neither case is it ever cured by
scolding. If a habit, a promised reward is more effective than harsh
treatment. Give the child a light supper devoid of liquids. Take him up
once or twice in the night to urinate. Bathe the spine at bedtime with
equal parts of alcohol and ammonia, followed by hand friction.
RETENTION OF URINE.--The child is restless, uneasy and unable to pass
water, beyond perhaps a small quantity, though there is frequent
urging. It may be caused by cold, injuries or acute disease. _A full
hot bath, or hot fomentations_ nearly always produce relief.
_Aconitum, 3d._--Retention from cold, fever, or inflammation, hot, dry
skin, thirst, etc.
_Cantharis, 3d._--Frequent urging, with total suppression; or the
discharge, with pain, of a few drops of bloody urine.
CROUP is liable to attack a child any time from the age of one month,
until nine or ten years old. The attacks occur most frequently when
about two or three years of age. Nothing will more quickly make a
mother’s heart stand still with alarm and terror than to hear the
hoarse, whistling, sonorous breathing of croup. A few directions will
be of service until medical attendance can be obtained.
Authors recognize two varieties, the spasmodic and membranous,
and recently some speak of diphtheritic croup. In the first, the
inflammation does not run so high, and the hoarseness may be simply
nervous. It runs its course rapidly. Usually the child goes to bed all
right and awakens about 11 or 12 o’clock with a loud ringing or rasping
cough, and some difficulty of breathing. The attack relieved, will
seem all right through the following day, unless an occasional cough.
Usually recurs three or four successive nights, is seldom fatal.
In _membranous croup_, there may be a slight hoarseness and difficulty
of breathing several days before the attack becomes severe. The mucus
membrane of the throat becomes red and inflamed, with a thick ropy
exudation that forms in a membrane, covering the entire fauces. Fever
may or may not be present. Symptoms remain much the same, day and
night. Duration of the disease from two to fourteen days.
The following are a few of the symptoms to aid in distinguishing
between the different forms of croup:
TRUE OR MEMBRANOUS CROUP
Begins any time.
First symptoms catarrhal.
Symptoms slight at first.
Cough harsh and rough.
Voice weak, whispers.
Membrane always visible.
No fetor.
Membrane lies upon mucus membrane, is loose, and can be removed easily.
Membrane invades the larynx from below and progresses upward. Membrane
always continuous and glairy.
FALSE OR SPASMODIC CROUP.
Begins from ten to twelve o’clock at night.
Severe at first.
Cough loud and ringing.
Voice hoarse.
No membrane.
DIPHTHERIA.
Fetid breath.
Membrane dips down in the mucus membrane.
Is tenacious, firm, adherent.
Membrane invades the larynx from above and progresses downward, and
often is seen in patches.
Many cases of spasmodic croup are relieved entirely by using promptly a
compress of ice cold water; should be worn day and night, and kept well
covered with a woolen cloth. Apply to the throat only. Renew in one or
two hours, if the first application does not give relief. Many families
never resort to any other means for croup, being confident that this
will give certain relief.
The following remedy I have used for years with the happiest result.
Families that have croupy children keep it in the house, and I seldom
have to be called out at night for croup by regular patrons. It can
be put up at any homeopathic pharmacy. Do not try to get it at the
drug store, as the ordinary drug clerk has no inkling of homeopathic
trituration.
℞ Tartar Emetic, 2d trit. ʒ ij
Aconite Tincture, gtts. ij
Mix. Dry out, triturate half an hour. Put six grains in twelve
tea-spoons of water, and give in tea-spoonful doses every ten or
fifteen minutes. It is not necessary that the emetic effect of the drug
should be secured. It has a specific action upon the air passages, and
is an invaluable remedy in many of the acute affections of throat and
lungs. _Aconite_ alone gives relief frequently, and many physicians
use no other remedy. The two together in the above preparation have
seldom failed me, and as an old friend I recommend it. During the day
following the attack give a tea-spoonful of the remedy once in two
hours. Keep the child on a light diet and free from exposure.
In membranous or diphtheritic croup, the services of a physician will
always be secured if possible.
_Proto-iodide of mercury_ is my “sheet anchor” for both these
affections. Of this I give the second trituration in grain doses every
two hours. Often give the prescription recommended for spasmodic croup
at the same time, a tea-spoonful every twenty or thirty minutes. Other
remedies, such as _iodine_, _bromine_, _nitrate of amyl_, _bichromate
of potassa_, _phosphorus_, etc., are used as the symptoms indicate; but
the _proto-iodide_ or _bin-iodide_ of mercury will meet the exigencies
of more cases than any other one known remedy. Of course hot baths,
hot fomentations and cold compresses must be brought into requisition.
I have seen great relief, even where the disease seemed in the last
stages, from a poultice of fresh phytolacca (pokeroot), applied to
the throat. This is made by pounding the root and mixing it with hot
flaxseed or meal poultice. Not being able to procure the root, fluid
extract can be used.
DIPHTHERIA is now considered an infectious disease, produced by
bacteria or infusoria that inoculate the patient. Many claim to be able
to cure the disease by local means only, while the invasion is only
local, before the entire system is poisoned. A child in robust health
will usually resist the infection. The following methods of treatment
are highly vaunted for their efficacy. Both of the drugs recommended
are invaluable in destroying infusoria, and are used in the hands of
eminent practitioners with success:
_Sulphur._--Put a teaspoonful into a wine glass of water and stir it
with the finger instead of a spoon, as it does not readily amalgamate
with water. When well mixed, it is to be given to the patient to
gargle. When the fungus is too nearly closing to allow the gargling,
the sulphur should be thrown through a quill into the throat, and after
the fungus has shrunk to allow it, then the gargling. If the patient
cannot gargle, take a live coal, put it on a shovel, and sprinkle a
spoonful of flour of brimstone upon it; let the sufferer inhale it by
holding the head over it, and the fungus will die. Sulphur kills every
species of fungus in man, beast and plant, in a few minutes. At one
time at Princess Mary’s Cottage Home, London, an outbreak of diphtheria
attacked fifty of the inmates. One of the lady nurses cured them all by
causing the patients to gargle with sulphur, and to take it internally.
_Permanganate of potassium._--Take ten grains and mix with one ounce
of cold water. As soon as dissolved it must be applied with a rag or
sponge, mop or swab, to the whitish places in the tonsils and other
parts, on which is seen the diphtheritic membrane. Do this very gently,
but thoroughly, every three hours until better; then every six hours
until well. It does not give pain but is rather nauseous to the taste.
In the stinking form of diphtheria this solution soon destroys all
odor, and in most cases it destroys the membrane without leaving any
bad effect behind.
The following is given if the tongue is coated white.
℞ Hyposulphite of soda, ʒi.
Oil of sassafras, gtts. v.
Glycerine and water, aa ℥ij.
Mix. Give a teaspoonful every one to three hours.
If the tongue is not coated,
℞ Phytolacca tincture, gtts. xx.
Glycerine and water, aa ℥ij.
Tea-spoonful doses every one to three hours.
The phytolacca is the common poke-root, and as it loses its strength by
drying and age, the tincture should be from the fresh root, or it is
worthless.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES common to infants usually need cause no
apprehension. Under favorable conditions they run their course in a few
days. Ordinarily, the danger, and ailments following these diseases are
the result of the prevailing drug treatment. Give the patient light,
fresh air and all the water he wants, with frequent bathing, and in
most cases the physician will not be required. This is especially true
of measles. The prevailing custom of confining the patient in heated
and darkened rooms, smothering him with blankets, and dosing him with
hot teas will bring about the very conditions to be avoided.
Give him no food unless he craves it, then for a few days liquids only.
Remember that all eruptive diseases are only the expression of existing
conditions, and if not interfered with will leave the child in a
better state of health. If the intelligent mother has given birth to a
healthy child, she need not fear to encounter these affections in their
simple form. Indeed, children most in harmony with nature escape them
altogether.
SCARLET FEVER, or scarletina is more liable to assume a malignant form
than any other eruptive fever. When this threatens, the case should be
placed in the hands of a competent physician. It spreads by infection
rapidly and insiduously. The rash first appears on the breast, then on
neck, face, body and limbs. This is preceded by a sore throat, with the
usual symptoms of fever. Thorough and abundant ventilation is a most
vital point in the treatment. Use carbolic acid freely. Keep a sheet
wet in a solution of it hanging in the room. The patient should be
frequently sponged. If the throat is troublesome apply a wet compress,
and occasionally inhale steam. The wet pack, as prescribed on page 225,
is most valuable, if administered by an experienced person. An eminent
physician testifies that he never lost a case of scarlet fever in which
he used the wet pack.
In suppression of the eruption a hot bath or pack is efficacious in
bringing it out.
_Diet._--New milk and hot milk (reduced one-third). Milk is a good
antidote for poison, and lessens the virulence of the fever. Grapes,
oranges and fruit juice are excellent.
MEASLES. SCARLET FEVER.
1. Rash appears on fourth day. 1. Rash appears the second day.
2. Catarrhal symptoms are 2. Catarrhal symptoms are usually
prominent, watery discharge from absent, but there is great
the eyes and nose, sneezing, heat of the skin, sore throat, and
harsh cough, etc. sometimes delirium.
3. The rash begins near the 3. The rash begins on the neck
roots of the hair. and face.
4. The rash is of a pinkish red 4. The rash is of a bright scarlet
or raspberry color. color, and by pressing with
the finger a white spot is produced,
lasting a few seconds.
5. The eruption is somewhat 5. Eruption usually presents no
rough, so as to be felt by passing inequalities to sight or touch, and
the hand over the skin. is so minute and closely crowded
as to give the skin a uniformly
red appearance.
6. Has a peculiar fetid odor.
7. Liquid, tender, watery eye. 6. A peculiar brilliant glistening
stare of the eyes.
8. The cuticle is thrown off in 7. The cuticle is thrown off in
minute portions, like fine scales large patches, especially from the
of bran. hands and feet.
WHOOPING COUGH is both epidemic and contagious. It is usually mild in
a healthy child, but severe and sometimes fatal in others. The younger
the child the more dangerous the disease. The cough is generally
worse at night. Even after apparent recovery it may be brought back
by exposure to cold, by improper food, or by want of careful nursing.
A reasonable amount of outdoor exercise is conducive to the favorable
progress of the malady. Dampness should be avoided, as the skin is
generally sensitive to cold, especially after a fit of coughing.
Infants should be carefully watched, day and night, that they may be
placed in a favorable position during the paroxysms.
Light, digestible food in moderate quantities should be given
frequently. Hot milk is especially soothing and nutritious,
particularly during the first days of the attack, and may well take the
place of all other food.
CONVULSIONS rarely attack very young infants, unless from malformation
of the heart. Convulsions usually accompany teething, indigestion,
whooping cough, fevers, worms, indeed any disease that causes a reflex
action upon the brain. Occasionally a child has a convulsion without
any premonitory symptom, but usually there will be a restlessness in
sleep, a rolling of the head, twitching of the limbs, with clenched
fists, stertorious breathing, and heavy, lethargic sleep. From this
condition there is suddenly involuntary muscular contractions, rolling
of the eyes, frothing at the mouth, and the head drawn backward.
Whatever is to be done must be done quickly, and generally before
medical aid can be summoned. First, the mother and attendants must
command themselves. Nothing is more frightful than to see a little one
in convulsions, but upon no occasion is self-possession more needed.
Remember children rarely die in the first paroxysm.
Get the child into hot water as soon as possible. Don’t wait to remove
its clothing; put into a foot-tub or child’s bath having the water as
hot as can be borne, supporting it on two hands. And from time to time
as much hot water as the hands will bear. It should remain in the bath
until relaxation is produced, and then be wrapped in thoroughly heated
blankets.
If there is not sufficient warm water in the house for a bath, it is
often quite as effectual to take a pitcher of hot water, turn the child
upon its face, hold it over a pail, and pour the water on the back of
the neck. This is more easily managed than a bath, and often is all
that is requisite to bring about relaxation. A bag of hot salt laid to
the back of the neck will prevent a return. If there is constipation or
irritation in the bowels, give a copious enema of warm soft water. If
worms are suspected, add salt, a tea-spoonful to one pint of water.
For further treatment, as there are so many different things that will
cause spasms, one should better depend upon medical advice.
In closing these brief hints upon diseases of children, I wish to
impress upon the parent’s mind the fact that in nine cases out of
ten children need no treatment for their ailments. Their natural
recuperative power gives them ability to throw off disease in a
marvelous manner.
Too much care and nursing is quite as harmful as too little. It is
ordinarily better to make light of their ailments, and teach them the
power of self-resistance to the encroachments of disease. A cheerful,
hopeful manner, accompanied by the encouraging word, is quite as
helpful in sickness of children as in that of adults.
Do not discuss their ailments before them. Avoid hinting that sickness
is possible, or anticipating it for them as results of certain conduct.
Keep it from your own mind also. Never allow yourself to say: “If you
go out in the cold you will get sick.” “Don’t sit by the window you
will take cold.” “Now do get out of that draft.” “You must not eat so
much. Now, there, not one mouthful more, you will be sick.” “Do put on
your overcoat and rubbers.”
Now, dear mothers, this may be a new thought to you, but this very
caution, born of love and solicitude, creates a _fear_ that may make
it possible for your children to be sick. Let a child lead an active,
rollicking life in harmony with nature, and in himself will certainly
be developed power to resist disease.
It is possible to make health contagious.
“Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh as boyhood can.”
CHAPTER XIX.
ABORTION.
Abortion or miscarriage is the term applied to the death and expulsion
of the fetus previous to six months; after that and before full term it
is called premature delivery.
The liability to abortion is more frequent at the beginning and during
the third month. It is usually preceded by occasional loss of blood,
which rarely is excessive at first, but in from three days to three
weeks increases in frequency and quantity until it may absolutely
amount to hemorrhage. The first symptom in some instances is a violent
chill. In such cases soreness, heat and pain are soon located in the
pelvis and the flowing may be deferred for a few days. One may have
continuous pain, more or less severe, until the embryo is expelled; or
it may come up at irregular intervals from day to day for some two or
three weeks, there being such complete intermissions that the patient
hopes each time that all danger is over, and that gestation may be
completed.
The danger to the mother is from hemorrhage before the expulsion of the
embryo, and from retention of membranes after the fetus is born. These
decaying in the uterus, the poison is absorbed into the system and
septicæmia is the result.
The _causes_ of abortion, both remote and exciting, are numerous.
Any diseases of the womb that take away its vitality or prevent its
enlargement will result in death of the fetus. Any general disease or
condition of the system that results in weakness or feebleness may make
the continuance of life in the embryo impossible.
_Lack of room_ in the pelvis and abdomen is a frequent cause of
abortion in first pregnancies. This is the result of tight and heavy
clothing and insufficient exercise. Remaining too much in-doors and
suffering the debilitating effects of impure, heated atmosphere, is
also a remote cause. The violation of the laws of sexual congress is
another. Immoderation in this respect is exceedingly harmful, as it
diverts from its needed purpose the mother’s energies, and weakens
embryonic life. Any incontinence during pregnancy endangers a woman who
has once miscarried.
The recent causes are lifting, straining, a fall, a jar, a blow, a
violent cold, or an acute attack of disease, sudden mental emotions,
etc. The system so soon takes on any habit that, having once aborted,
one is very liable to a recurrence of the same results in subsequent
pregnancies, at the same period.
To _prevent_ a miscarriage, observe faithfully the hygienic rules
laid down in this book. Make the best possible conditions for health
in every direction. Especially observe the law of continence. Once
threatened with abortion, hemorrhage ever so slight having set in,
a woman should by all means take her bed and observe perfect quiet.
She must run no risks. Apply compresses and take frequent short,
tepid sitz-baths, live on a mild, cooling diet, and the danger may be
averted.
_Aconite._--Chill or fever, with quick pulse and flow of bright red
blood. Six drops of first dilution in a glass full of water; take a
tablespoonful every hour.
_Secale, 3d._--Cramp-like pains, blood clotted and dark, cadaverous
expression of face. Dose: Six pellets every two hours.
_Cimicifuga, 2d._--Pain in the back of the neck, aching in the limbs,
back and groin, with pressing, bearing down. Dose: One grain every two
hours.
A woman requires the same attention and treatment during and after a
miscarriage that she requires in a confinement. A labor at full term is
natural; a miscarriage is unnatural, and often requires a longer time
for the system to recover from the shock.
_Feticide is a produced abortion_, whether by drugs, intentional
shocks, electricity, or by instrumental interference, either by one’s
own hand or by the hand of a surgeon.
Many women have been taught to think that the child is not viable until
after quickening, and that there is no harm in arresting pregnancy
previous to the feeling of motion; others believe that there is no
_life_ until birth, and the cry of the child is heard.
A high legal authority says: “The absurdity of the principle upon which
these distinctions are founded is easy of demonstration. The fetus,
previous to the time of quickening, must be either dead or living. Now,
that it is not the former, is most evident from neither putrefaction
nor decomposition taking place, which would be the consequence of an
extinction of the vital principle. The embryo, therefore, before the
crisis, must be in a state different from that of death, and that can
be no other than life.”
When the female germ and male sperm unite, then is the inception of
a new life; all that goes to make up a human being--body, mind and
spirit, must be contained in embryo within this minute organism. _Life
must be present from the very moment of conception._ If there was not
life there could be no conception. At what other period of a human
being’s existence, either pre-natal or post-natal, could the union of
soul and body take place? Is it not plain that the violent or forcible
deprivation of existence of this embryo, the removal of it from the
citadel of life, is its premature death, and hence the act can be
denominated by no more mild term than murder, and whoever performs the
act, or is accessory to it, in the sight of God and human law is guilty
of the crime of all crimes.
The life of the babe in her arms is to the mother more precious than
all else; her heart is thrilled with a pang of agony at thought of the
least danger to its life. By what false reasoning does she convince
herself that another life, still more dependent upon her for its
existence, with equal rights and possibilities, has no claim upon her
for protection? More than this, she deliberately strikes with the red
hand of murder, and terminates its existence with no thought of wrong,
nor consciousness of violated law.
The woman who produces abortion, or allows it to be produced, risks her
own health and life in the act, and commits the highest crime in the
calendar, for she takes the life of her own child. She defrauds the
child of the right to its existence.
By a wise provision we are placed in this world for growth, development
and preparation for another life. As we leave this life, we must enter
the other. In so far as a human being is deprived of this existence,
to that extent he is deprived of schooling and preparation for the
other life. Pause for one moment and think of the thousands of stunted,
dwarfed beings that are prematurely ushered into an existence that can
not be normal and designed. Were infants to have been born into spirit
life, provision would have been made to that effect. That they are
born into this life is proof that this world is best adapted for their
growth and education.
There may be no harm in _preventing_ the conception of a life, but once
conceived it should not be deprived of its existence in that world
which in all its appointments is specially adapted to its development.
What are some of the incentives to produce abortion? An unmarried
woman seduced under false representations by a man who feels no
responsibility for his own offspring, suffers alone all the shame and
contumely of the act, and is tempted to cause miscarriage to shield her
good name.
Married women who fear that maternity will interfere with their
pleasures, are guilty of forcibly curtailing embryotic life. Others,
again, who are poor or are burdened with care or grief, or have
licentious or drunken husbands, shrink from adding to an already
overburdened existence.
The first class, the girls who have lost their virtue under promise of
marriage are most deserving of sympathy and commiseration, though none
receive less. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” At the
least imputation against a fair girl’s character, even those professing
to be the followers of the loving Christ, often have so little
leniency, so little of the Father’s love in their hearts, that they hug
their Christian robes to their bodies, lest they be contaminated by the
polluting touch of the victim. They “pass by on the other side” and
leave the poor broken-hearted child bleeding by the wayside.
The girl’s lessons of life and purity have been learned mainly from one
she loved and trusted, only to be betrayed. What wonder that in her
ignorance of the value of life she should be tempted to add a second
wrong to the first? She knows the shadow that has darkened her path;
she realizes:
“Alas! for the rarity
Of Christian charity
Under the sun.”
And if she can conceal the evidence of her guilt, she may hope by
honest endeavor to retrieve her good name, and thus is tempted to
produce an abortion.
_Two wrongs can not make one right._ Before God and her own conscience,
the only tribunals that in justice have any right to accuse her, she
can not by any act gain absolution.
When girls are given proper instruction upon the relation of the sexes
and understand how to govern and guard themselves; when young men are
taught that virtue has as high a meaning for one sex as another, that
the protective chivalry of which they boast does not imply that they
shall force the woman with whom they associate to the defensive; and
that the _paternal_ interest in, and responsibilities for a child are
equal to the _maternal_, then the temptation to produce abortion for
the purpose of shielding one’s character will not exist.
Of the second class, who produce miscarriage for pleasure and selfish
interest, there is little to say in extenuation. They may be victims of
ignorance or of a false education. The maternal instinct is inherent in
every woman’s heart. It seems strange that any morbid idea of pleasure
could antagonize the natural aspiration to such an extent that one
could destroy the viability of her own offspring.
I well remember years ago the wife of a well-to-do lawyer making
application to me to produce abortion. She had but one child, and he
three years of age. She was surrounded by every comfort a prosperous
business man could afford. I sought the cause of the unnatural
promptings of this intelligent woman’s heart. It seems that a trip
to Europe was contemplated and planned for in the early summer, and
that this unanticipated and chance maternity would thwart their
expectations. With all the arguments I then possessed, I showed her
the wrong she sought to do, but nothing seemed to weigh against the
proposed trip. She returned the second and third time even, armed with
a lawyer’s sophistry to endeavor to persuade me to be accessory to
the diabolical deed. No doubt one cause of her persistency was fear
of trusting her secret to me unless she could persuade me to be an
accomplice.
She probably found some one to assist her out of the “trouble,” for
she took the proposed trip, but I was not astonished to learn three or
four years later that she was lying at death’s door with consumption.
How many times she produced abortion I know not but I was told that
for months she suffered from uterine hemorrhages and in the weakened
state of her system a violent cold settled upon her lungs which soon
terminated her life. This was the physical result of the crime she had
committed.
Of the last class, who have an apparent need to limit the size of the
family, what can be said in extenuation of their committing this crime?
Shall not the mother who already has many children, who is herself
sick, nervous and prostrated, or else has a husband who is diseased
or a drunkard, leaving her the support of the family, save herself
additional care by arresting the life of the embryo? The heart goes out
in sympathy for all such, but even the most aggravating circumstances
can not atone for the crime. The whole nature of every true woman
revolts against forced maternity.
Thoughtful minds must acknowledge the great wrong done when children
are begotten under adverse conditions. Women must learn the laws of
life so as to protect themselves, and not be the means of bringing
sin-cursed, diseased children into the world.
_The remedy is in the prevention of pregnancy, not in producing
abortion._ When men and women have learned the wise control of the
procreative functions, then may we hope that children will be begotten
in love and unselfishness. It is the undesired and undesigned maternity
that is revolting to the nature of woman. As long as men feel that they
have a right to indulgence of the passions under law, no matter what
the circumstances, what the condition of the wife, or the probabilities
of maternity, so long will the spirit of rebellion take possession
of women and the temptation enter their souls to relieve themselves
of this unsought burden. May the day soon arrive when men will learn
that even passion should serve reason, and that gratification should,
at least, not be sought at the expense of conjugal happiness and
_unwelcome children_.
CHAPTER XX.
MENSTRUATION.
Menstruation is the sanguineous flow accompanying the maturation of the
ovum in the ovaries. It generally occurs regularly every twenty-eight
days, and in temperate climates continues from about the fifteenth year
to the forty-fifth.
Physiologists differ as to the cause of this phenomenon. It was for a
long time believed to be a cleansing process peculiar to women; that
Eve, having through her transgression entailed upon her daughters a
curse, they needed more renovation and regeneration than men; and that
aside from ordinary depurition this special secretion was given to them.
The theory now prevails that accompanying the maturation of the
ovum there is a flow of blood to the generative organs, which in
medical parlance is called hyperemia. The exudation of this venous
blood from the membrane of the uterus constitutes menstruation; also
that this menstruation is a provision of nature for the supply of a
superabundance of blood, which during pregnancy is appropriated to
the growth of the fetus. Thus is it allied to maternity leading us to
regard this function with reverence.
In a normal state the discharge is slight, being from one to three
ounces, and lasts two or three days.
Certain physiologists claim that all sanguineous flow is abnormal,
that there should be no show of blood in a perfectly healthy woman.
It is averred that the squaws of some Indian tribes have no show
accompanying either ovulation or parturition.
_Menstruation_ should be entirely devoid of suffering. A woman should
have no cognizance of this function, save by the discharge. Could
this be the rule, instead of the prevalent exception, the capacity of
strength and endurance either for work or pleasure would be increased
one hundred fold. The nation not only needs strong men but strong
women, strong in physical as well as mental development. This strength
is required for prosecuting a persistent warfare against prevailing and
existing wrongs, as well as for transmitting health and vigor to the
coming generation.
_A woman in perfect health_ need take no especial care and make no
change in her manner of life at this period. But under our artificial
habits of life, such a woman is the exception rather than the rule,
and in most cases some attention must be paid to the recurrence of the
menses.
Many young ladies in attendance upon school, feel a need of some
indulgence at that time, and are often granted respite from duty. Women
following any regular occupation have learned to plan a day of lighter
work at the recurrence of the period. Yet on the contrary some have
found that congestion and pain are relieved by occupation sufficient to
interest the mind, with exercise adapted to increase the circulation.
THE DISORDERS incident to menstruation are: Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea
and Menorrhagia.
_Amenorrhea_ is absence or suppression of the menses caused by cold,
a chronic ailment, an anemic condition or some ovarian or uterine
affection. It is also often the result of mental conditions, as grief,
fright or severe mental strain.
One need not be uneasy about suppression when there is no special
constitutional disturbance. Our grandmothers taught that the absence
of the menses was always greatly to be feared, the prevailing idea
being that serious results would follow to some vital organ. This is a
mistake.
Patients during treatment for uterine ulceration and inflammation often
gain steadily in health, although the menses cease for months. This has
been observed especially in hygienic institutions.
At all events, in treating suppression avoid strong remedies, such
as old-fashioned tansy tea, steel filings and ergot. These produce
congestion, and may be the source of severe chronic ailments.
See to it that a general condition of health is attained. With plenty
of out-door exercise, congenial employment and freedom from care, the
young girl may, with rare exceptions, trust to nature for correction of
suppression.
_Dysmenorrhea_, or painful menstruation, is of such frequent occurrence
that it deserves especial attention. Most young ladies experience more
or less suffering at this time. It may be only nervousness, wakeful
nights, a slight headache, some pain in the back or pelvic regions,
and a disposition to be alone; or the attacks may be severe, with pain
in the back and pelvis, running down into the limbs; the surface and
extremities cold, face pallid, with nausea, vomiting or fainting, and
perhaps spasms.
This ought not to be, and, in most instances, need not be. With our
present knowledge, the conditions for and causes of dysmenorrhea may be
removed.
Among causes we find inflammation of the ovaries, oviducts, or mucous
membrane of the womb, mechanical closure of the outlet of the womb, or,
simply constipation, neuralgia or rheumatism.
With inflammation of the ovaries there is, previous to the recurrence
of the menses and throughout its course, a dragging pain in the pelvis
with swelling and soreness of the breasts, and more or less mental
distress. These symptoms are not always relieved by the flow.
Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the uterus is the most frequent
cause of dysmenorrhea. With this the pain begins with the flow and
increases as the flow increases. There may be a discharge of shreds
of membrane or clotted blood, and sometimes a membrane having the
entire form of the cavity of the womb. This is produced by deposits of
fibrine, like that of membranous croup.
When there is undue closure of the cervix the pain precedes the
menstrual flow, and is relieved as the discharge becomes free.
The _remote causes_ for dysmenorrhea are errors in dress and diet, want
of exercise, etc.
_To errors in woman’s dress_ more than any other one thing is the
unnatural pain due. Women are burdened with heavy clothing, and every
vital organ restricted by bands and bones. It is not unusual to count
from sixteen to eighteen thicknesses of cloth worn so tightly about the
pliable structure of the waist that actual deformity is produced.
The pelvis and chest are naturally well guarded from intrusion by the
ribs and pelvic bones. But just at the point where belts are adjusted
there is no protecting wall. Thus these parts are easily deformed,
consequently digestion becomes imperfect, the circulation obstructed,
the respiration restricted, and what is worse than all, the viscera
crowd down upon the womb, the citadel of life.
Thus, by abuse, the maternal organism fails of fulfilling the divine
charge committed to it by the Creator. The wonder is that intelligent,
educated woman has ordinarily no thought of her relation to posterity,
and her responsibility to offspring.
_Exercises_ adapted to develop the muscles of the trunk and abdomen,
giving breathing power and room for all the viscera will be found very
satisfactory in their results, to women who will arrange their clothing
suitably.
The restraint placed upon young girls, according to the usages of
society, at the time when they most need exercise and muscular
development, is not only mistaken wisdom, but a cruel physical wrong.
They _must be ladylike_! So, perforce, they must not jump nor skip;
they must not run up stairs two steps at a time, _like a boy_. _No
romping allowed!_ The physical freedom which is everywhere accorded to
a boy, and by which he, all unconsciously fits himself for manhood, is
forbidden the girl.
So she grows up without strength of nerve or muscle, and readily
becomes a victim to all the ills that woman is heir to.
A very little care and planning devoted to this subject would bring
to women both health and happiness. Like Rose, in Miss Alcott’s
delightful story, a naturally frail girl may be developed into a hearty
and vigorous young woman, and this too without unduly subjecting her to
the mortification of singularity.
Neither is it necessary, in order to preserve health, that her thorough
education should be neglected. The hue and cry that has been raised
against the higher education of woman, on the ground of her physical
incapacity to endure severe mental training, is not well founded.
The fact is that girls and women can bear study, but they can not bear
compressed viscera, tortured stomachs and a misplaced uterus. The
impure air, almost universal in schoolrooms, has much to answer for in
the alleged incapacity of girls for mental wear and tear. Given pure
air, the Delsarte training, loose and light clothing and unimpaired
digestion, and our girls will in due time prove to the world that,
notwithstanding a vigorous pursuit of study, “a girl is just as good as
a boy.”
Out-door games and amusements are becoming more and more fashionable.
Among these lawn tennis, croquet, archery, rowing, bean-bags and
tri-cycling are popular and healthful in their tendency.
Next to errors in _dress_ and deficient _exercise_, errors in _diet_
may be responsible for painful menstruation. How can this be? Once,
on inquiring of a class of young ladies the cause of this trouble, I
received various replies; as skating, jumping rope, climbing stairs,
improper clothing, etc.
A little eleven-year-old girl raising her hand, asked: “Is it not
eating too much candy?” The rest of the girls laughed. But I replied,
“You need not smile; this young lady has sounded the keynote of your
trouble. It is not only too much candy, but you eat too freely of the
carbonaceous foods, fats and sweets, without taking sufficient exercise
to have them appropriated. Inflammation is the result and hence
suffering ensues.”
TREATMENT for dysmenorrhea must be palliative and curative. No young
girl should be allowed to endure this pain. It gives a shock to the
nervous system, which sooner or later will act upon her general health,
and depreciate her vitality.
In palliative treatment it has been customary to use alcoholic
stimulant in some form. Symptoms at first are relieved, the blood being
caused to flow to the surface, thus lessening congestion. The patient
is made perhaps not actually drunk, but is stupefied. My observation,
however, is that menstrual pain removed by this agency, recurs more
severely at subsequent periods. The reason of this must be that the
alcoholic stimulant increases the already inflamed condition. It is not
good treatment.
_The application of heat_ in some form will safely relieve almost any
case. A relay of hot lamp chimneys is available in sudden attacks,
even if at night; or a hot plate or stove-lid, wrapped in cloths is
excellent in an emergency. In more severe cases, use hot fomentations
(Page 114) or the hot water bottle.
_A hot sitz-bath_ (Page 184) is the best resort where cramp-like
symptoms with vomiting or fainting are experienced, or where the
patient is threatened with spasms. Anticipate suffering by this
treatment as soon as indicated by premonitory symptoms. Continue the
bath until a copious perspiration is induced, probably from thirty
minutes to an hour. Then rub off lightly without exposure, keeping
wrapped in the blankets, and applying the hot water bottle, lie quietly
for some time. Many who ordinarily suffer from three to five days can
be relieved in one hour by this means alone. This course will prevent a
recurrence of so severe an attack.
The _curative_ measures employed must accord with the pathological
condition of the patient. For local ailments, treatments must be that
indicated for them; neuralgia and rheumatism will demand their own
suitable remedial agents.
A lady, thirty-five years of age, had been for a long time a great
sufferer at every menstrual period, five or six days being spent in bed
each month. There was apparently no uterine disease. Ordinary treatment
proved ineffectual. A casual inquiry at length disclosed the fact
that she had long been afflicted with rheumatism, not confined to any
locality. This gave a clue to her case, and a short treatment for this
affection resulted in entire recovery from both that malady and the
distressing menstrual attacks. The thermal bath (Page 118) was mainly
depended on in her cure.
_Local treatment_ or remedies will seldom be found necessary, if the
whole system is kept in the best hygienic condition. A young woman had
for nine years been a martyr to dysmenorrhea, spasms attending every
period, often continuing for days. Like the woman in Scripture, “She
had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that
she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,” having had
in all nine doctors, one of whom had performed a severe operation.
Although still young, she was almost a perfect wreck. She had no
strength for manual labor, often being unable to walk across the room.
Her mental condition was equally deplorable, being scarcely able to do
for herself. She was very sensitive to the cold, and consequently wore
much heavy clothing suspended around her hips.
In her case few remedies were used. She was induced to make a radical
change in her dress, and put upon a thorough course of exercises
adapted to develop and invigorate the muscles of the abdomen, and
insure a healthy action of the viscera. She was also encouraged to
assist daily in light housework, with much free exercise in the open
air.
The change was marvelous. Upon the recurrence of her next period, a
hot sitz-bath was administered at the first symptoms of distress, and
relief was speedy. Her improvement steadily continued; she was no
longer agonized with pain and subject to convulsions. Before the three
months of her treatment had expired, she was entirely restored to
health.
The alteration in her appearance was great, buoyancy of manner
and vivacity of expression taking the place of the look of dumb
hopelessness which had been hers. The leaden load of physical suffering
was lifted from her brain, and a new mental life began. No patient
could evince or express more hearty and grateful appreciation of the
great change which had been wrought.
This is only one of many instances illustrating the efficacy of simple
hygienic methods. The cases are infrequent that will fail to respond
favorably when nature is given an opportunity to rally her forces.
_Menorrhagia_, or profuse menstruation, accompanies inflammation,
ulceration, polypus and other uterine diseases. It is not unusual to
find it with dysmenorrhea, as it may be induced by the same causes.
_The general treatment and remedies_ are similar in both disorders.
_Aconitum, crude tincture._--This is one of the first remedies to be
sought in any kind of hemorrhage, especially where there is throbbing
pulse, with cold hands and feet. _Dose_:--Two drops in half a glass
of water, tablespoon doses every ten to thirty minutes, according to
severity of case. It is important to remember that aconite is a number
one remedy in the first stages of hemorrhage from any organ. One can
hardly go amiss in giving it. It has a specific effect in controlling
the heart’s action, and thus relieves congestion and hemorrhage. An
old lady had for twenty years been subject to frequent attacks of
hemorrhage of the lungs. She never allowed herself to be without her
bottle of aconite, and was always able to check an attack by using it
promptly.
_Aconitum, 2d._--Is also indicated in cases of inflammation or
congestion of the uterus or ovaries, especially if attended with
febrile symptoms.
_Cimicifuga, 2d._--Heavy, aching pain in the back, extending to limbs,
restlessness, cannot keep still. Rheumatic or neuralgic dysmenorrhea.
It is also valuable for preparatory treatment, taken two or three doses
a day for ten days previous to the recurrence of the period.
_Belladonna, 2d._--Congestive enlargement of the uterus or ovaries,
bearing down pains, and heat in the vagina.
_Pulsatilla, 2d._--Vomiting, fainting, scanty menses, chilliness,
moving pains in abdomen, mental depression, hysteria. Discharges bright
in color.
_Caulophyllum, 2d._--Painful menstruation, with a normal discharge.
May be used as a palliative during the menses, and as a curative agent
meanwhile.
_Ergot, 3d to 6th._--Very severe, cramp-like pains, can not be endured.
Discharge dark, clotted and fetid; surface and extremities cold;
features pinched.
_Dose_:--In each of the above remedies ten drops in eight spoonfuls of
water. Take one spoonful every half hour.
CHAPTER XXI.
DISEASES OF WOMEN.
UTERINE DISEASES are the cause of many of the pathological symptoms
accompanying pregnancy, and may be the cause of the pain in
parturition. To attain to the best conditions for maternity, the
removal of these disorders is essential.
Nine-tenths of American women are more or less afflicted with these
maladies. They are thus unfitted for ordinary vocations, and the
functions of reproduction are so perverted that maternity becomes a
dreaded burden.
This book is not a “doctor book” in the ordinary understanding of that
term, neither is this chapter a regular treatise upon the diseases
of women. The causes of these ailments, however, and some simple
common sense hints are given. These will enable women to avoid and
to alleviate suffering, without resorting to drugs, or severe local
treatment.
INFLAMMATION is the most common derangement of the uterus; indeed, some
authors claim that it causes or accompanies all other uterine diseases.
Inflammation may affect either the mucous membrane, the cervix or the
fundus, or the entire organ may be involved. When the lining membrane
only is affected, the patient has heat and burning in the pelvis; with
or without pain, and there is a light, glairy discharge which later
may become dark and offensive and often irritating.
Inflammation in the fundus or cervix gives at first a dragging, heavy
pain in the pelvis, extending down the thighs and legs, with heat and
pain in the lower part of the back. It is also attended with swelling
of the organ and more or less discharge.
As the disease progresses there are usually sympathetic or reflex
symptoms. These are heat and pain in the top of the head, aching,
sore pain at the base of the brain, a pain and burning between the
shoulders, which may extend up and down the spine, and to the arms.
Physician and patient both are often deceived, and diagnose this
last symptom as neuralgia or spinal complaint. The patient may have
stricture and pain in the throat, with a dry, nervous cough. She also
is liable to severe attacks of headache, suffers from dyspepsia, and
indeed her symptoms are apt to assume the form of, or resemble any
disease.
Her mental sufferings are even worse than her physical. She has loss
of memory, is fretful and irritable. Carried to the extreme, her mind
becomes unbalanced and insanity results. Statistics show that uterine
disease is a very common cause of insanity in women.
_Ulceration_ is usually found upon the mouth of the womb, or
occasionally on the lining membrane. _The raspberry ulceration_ is the
most common form. This appears like granulation on the eyelids, and is
always preceded and accompanied by inflammation. The surface becomes
red, swollen and then abraded, resulting in ulcers. This is accompanied
by a thick, purulent, yellow discharge, which, as the disease
advances, becomes thin and bloody, with an offensive odor. The pain and
reflex symptoms are much the same as in inflammation.
_Induration_, or thickening and hardening of the cervix is a frequent
sequel of inflammation, especially where caustic treatment has been
used.
_Violations of physical laws_ cause the occurrence of the above named
diseases.
Women take it as a matter of course that the organs of generation
should be diseased, without one thought of their responsibility in the
matter. Physicians, too, as specialists, treat woman much as though she
were a machine to be adjusted at will.
_Errors_ in dress, in diet, want of exercise and the abuse of the
sexual relation are the principal causes of these ailments. The
frequent use of drugs that act directly upon the generative organs
induce and enhance these affections.
There is no doubt that the customary dress of woman, causing such
deformity, and such perversion of all her powers, is the prime factor
in producing ailments peculiar to her sex.
Being unequal in distribution, it leaves the extremities unprotected;
by pressure it restricts digestion, respiration and circulation, while
by its weight it burdens the weakened muscles.
Who has the power to save women from this one sin? Who has the pen or
voice to present the claims of unborn generations? Many women who have
suffered years from uterine diseases have finally recovered by simply
adopting a hygienic dress. One thing is certain; it matters not what
treatment one takes for these ailments, she can not hope to get well
and keep well if she does not remove the restraints of clothing. (See
Chap. VII.)
IN DIET, highly seasoned food, rich pastries, and indeed all food
containing in excess the carbonaceous elements, especially the fats and
sweets, will produce an inflammatory condition. Some irritating cause
locates the affection in certain organs. Constipation also will induce
and aggravate any uterine affection.
The _treatment_ of these disorders should be less local than
constitutional. The whole system must have the best conditions for
health, giving nature a chance to restore harmony in organic powers.
The _tepid sitz-bath_ will be found invaluable in both inflammation
and ulceration of the womb. It should be taken in most cases as often
as every other day, preceded by exercise, and followed by friction and
rest. Half the value of this bath is lost if one fails to lie down
after it. The best time for the bath is in the forenoon, but if, on
account of daily duties, this time is unavailable, there is no special
objection to taking it just before retiring. It is very quieting, and
prevents sleeplessness.
_The thermal bath_ (page 118) is especially desirable if the
circulation seems sluggish, the skin inert, and the patient sensitive
to cold. Take it twice a week.
_Hot vaginal injections_ are found invaluable for these affections.
They should be taken with a fountain syringe, using a large quantity of
water as hot as can be borne. If practicable the patient may recline
over a bed pan. Not having this, she should stand over a vessel,
elevated upon a chair. If the discharge from the womb is offensive, use
carbolic soap in the water.
Glycerine diluted one-third with water and applied by inserting
absorbent cotton or oakum, is excellent to reduce inflammation and
induration. This at first increases the discharge. In severe cases it
can be applied daily, but ordinarily every other day is sufficient.
Some mild remedies like hydrastis or calendula are useful in
stimulating healthy action, and can be used under the direction of the
physician.
_Exercise_ is one of the most valuable therapeutic measures for uterine
affections. If one is quite feeble, applied motion in the form of
Swedish movements, massage or muscle-beating is most desirable. Women
suffering from uterine diseases are unable to take needful exercise
in an erect position. Walking, riding, housework, etc., aggravate the
symptoms, increasing the local irritation and inflammation.
In most women the muscles of the trunk or the abdomen, and the
involuntary muscles of respiration, from lack of proper use, are weak
and atrophied. “They have not been trained to life’s occasions.” The
following exercises, taken in a reclining posture, will serve the
purpose of producing attrition and vigor of muscles, accelerating the
circulation of the blood, and developing the involuntary muscles used
in respiration; at the same time they increase the action of all the
digestive organs, and by a derivative effect remove local inflammation,
besides mechanically correcting mal-positions:
1. Reclining on back, holding knees and shoulders firm, move hips from
side to side ten times.
2. Same position, on spring bed, move hips up and down fifteen times.
This exercise can be taken by one that is weak, as the springs aid the
motion.
3. Flex knees, same as No. 1, twenty times.
4. Flex knees, same as No. 2, twenty times.
5. Flex the knees and sway them from side to side twenty times.
6. Flex the knees and elevate the hips, resting the body on shoulders
and feet. Move slowly up and down ten times, holding to count ten.
7. Elbows flexed to the sides, hands grasped by an assistant and slowly
brought to a horizontal position parallel with the head, patient
resisting. Bring them back to the sides, assistant resisting, ten times.
8. Same, only bring arms to a perpendicular position.
9. Reclining, face downward, flex knees and sway feet from right to
left fifteen times.
10. With the help of an assistant, flex and extend the limbs, using
resistance as in No. 7.
11. Rest on elbows, and sway shoulders from right to left ten times.
12. Elevate the body slowly five times, resting only on toes and
elbows. Hold to count ten.
13. Recline on back and make hand thrusts, with or without weights,
upward, outward, forward and downward.
14. Same position, flex and thrust the limbs downward alternately.
15. Kneel face downward, gradually raise the hips until the whole
weight rests upon the shoulders. Remain in this position for five
minutes. This is invaluable for prolapsus and retroversion, and should
be resorted to several times a day. One may get the position more
readily by sliding off from a bed or lounge head first; relatively,
standing on one’s head.
16. Lie face downward on two stools, 18 to 24 inches apart, resting the
knees upon one and the shoulders upon the other, five minutes.
17. Same position; have an assistant knead the bowels by gentle
pressure with clenched fists five minutes.
18. Same position, elevating hips five times.
The last three are quite severe, but if there is strength to adopt
them, they are valuable in retroversion of the womb.
If there is no pelvic inflammation, and it is required to aid digestion
and develop the muscles of trunk, the following are invaluable:
19. Sit upon a stool, feet firmly upon the floor, hands upon sides,
hips firm; sway body from side to side as far as possible.
20. Same position, hands clasped over the head; sway body backward and
forward.
21. Same position; combine Nos. 19 and 20 in a twisting motion of the
body. The effect of the three last can be varied by holding one or both
hands perpendicularly over the head.
22, 23, 24. Same as 19, 20 and 21, only standing position.
The beneficial effects are increased in the six last by inflating the
lungs.
THE SEVERE CAUSTIC TREATMENT that has been so universal in these
affections is greatly to be deprecated. There are fashions in medicines
as in other things, and the one fashion the last twenty-five years
has been local treatment for diseases of women. In no department of
medical practice has the physician’s prerogative been more abused. For
the slightest ailments the severest applications are often employed.
_Nitrate of silver_, _sulphate of zinc_, _corrosive sublimate_, _tannic
acid_, _nitric acid_, all violent in their action, are in common use.
Physicians are known to resort frequently to the application of a
probe, heated to a white heat, and, what is just as bad, to wet a swab
in fuming nitric acid, and introduce it into the womb. The delicate
mucus membrane is burned and scarified, the patient tortured, and the
nerves receive a severe shock. Patients able to be about are often laid
up for several days by one of these treatments.
One day I met a lady upon the street who had been confined to the house
for two years. I expressed pleasure at seeing her out. She told me that
she could get out because her doctor was absent and her local treatment
suspended. She said: “That always makes me sick in bed three or four
days.”
“What! do you permit such treatment?”
“The doctor says I cannot get well without it.”
She, like many other poor suffering women, was persuaded that all this
torture was necessary to her final recovery.
Physicians are known to keep women under treatment two or three years,
yet frequently, instead of improvement, there is only a constant
decline in health and strength.
The tide is now turning, and both physicians and patients begin to see
that a great wrong has been done. So high an authority as Dr. Gaillard
Thomas says: “Every one who has had experience in the treatment of
these disorders must have been impressed with the wonderful improvement
in cases _which have long resisted local treatment_, resulting from a
sea voyage, a visit to a watering place, a course of sea bathing, or a
few months spent in the country.”
Dr. George T. Elliott says:--“In cases of uterine diseases, the best
success will be attained by securing for patients a life of muscular
activity, so equalizing the circulation. And that thus the local
treatment, now so much in vogue, might commonly be dispensed with.”
“It is easy for a sensitive woman to persuade herself that her
afflictions from the toothache downward, are due to diseases of the
womb. Here comes in the charlatan, to exaggerate the disease, if any,
and to beguile the patient with promises of cure. The speculum, the
caustic and the knife look like work, and she feels that _something is
being done_ for her.
“By and by the bubble bursts, and for all the good that this torture
has accomplished, the poor woman might as well have adopted the
scientific treatment of La-potai, namely, the application of a blister
to the top of the head, to raise the fallen womb.”
Dr. E. R. Peaslee says of local treatments: “They have thus far
produced, on the whole, more evil than good.”
Dr. Taylor, in his valuable little volume, “Health for Women,” assures
us “that by using mere local treatment, the essential disease itself
is left neglected, untouched, and even unsought; that symptoms only
command the attention, and they will subside and become of trifling
account whenever the essential malady is recognized and provided for.”
Such words as these, from men high in the profession, give hope of
a tendency to a reaction from the prevalent dependence on local
treatment. When such men take the back course, and condemn their own
uterine surgery, hope may arise for long-suffering woman. _This local
treatment should be protested against by women._ It is a relic of the
past, and is contrary to science and common sense.
Within the memory of many now living, every patient under treatment for
acute or chronic diseases was bled. He was also tortured by blisters,
leeches and setons. Had he fever, he was denied water to quench his
thirst. How the mother’s heart has been wrung with anguish when her
darling babe, lying sick in her arms, has pleaded again and again for
water? Who has not heard “Drink! mamma, drink!” and turned to hide the
sympathetic tear, for, by the doctor’s orders, the little one must be
denied!
To-day, where is the physician who bleeds his patient, and applies the
blister? Many young doctors have never even seen a leech. Who would
think of denying the fever patient water, and all that he desires? What
has wrought this change? Mainly the protest of the people. Reforms in
medical practice have come because the people have demanded them.
Severe local treatment should be classed with the bleeding and
blistering, and, with them, be relegated to the past. Women must
protest positively and persistently against the burning, probing
and scarifying of the womb. As you value health and life, seek such
measures for restoration as are more in accordance with nature. With
these diseases as with others the simplest measures are the most
effective.
LEUCORRHEA is not a disease, it is only a _symptom_ of uterine
derangement, as a cough is of a lung or throat affection. It is an
increase of the normal mucus secretion, being an effort of nature to
throw off inflammation. As a symptom it need cause no uneasiness, and
should not be interfered with, unless by an occasional warm vaginal
bath to insure cleanliness. The conditions which cause the discharge
being removed, it will give no farther annoyance.
_At all events styptics and astringents_ should not be resorted to.
They only arrest the discharge temporarily, and do not remove the
cause. The general and local treatment for inflammation is usually
sufficient. Remember that as long as the uterine irritation exists one
is better to have this discharge than to have it suppressed.
THE DISPLACEMENTS of the uterus most frequently found are prolapsus,
retroversion and anteversion. Very much the same causes induce these
different deviations. The supporting muscles in the perineum become
weakened, it may be from a lack of exercise, or from the constant
pressure of hardened feces, consequent upon constipation, or sometimes
as the result of long continued inflammation.
The viscera are pressed down from above by the stricture and weight of
clothing. The mobility of the organ renders it susceptible to change of
position under these circumstances.
These conditions must be overcome, or treatment will prove futile. In
most cases the uterus can be readily restored to its natural position.
First remove the pressure from above, and then take the exercises
prescribed on page 267. This will give room for the pelvic viscera, and
strengthen the supporting muscles. Nature’s recuperative powers are
never more remarkably demonstrated.
The prevailing custom of introducing pessaries of rubber, glass,
etc., is to be deprecated. While they may give temporary relief, they
increase the relaxation of the vagina and muscles, besides constantly
drawing the attention of the patient to her ailment.
The connection of mind and thought with pelvic disorders is close,
and is susceptible of becoming permanently fixed upon any organ. The
effect is highly injurious. It must result in increasing this kind of
morbid action, thus fixing and perpetuating the disease. This should
most carefully be guarded against. In every way divert her mind from
the subject. Let her but forget that she has a womb, and she will have
found the best remedy for her affection.
HYSTERIA is only a culmination or exaggeration of the reflex or nervous
symptoms in diseases of the uterus. It is simply temporary insanity,
and should be treated as such. The patient loses self-control, and
gives way to violent paroxysms of laughing or crying, possibly fainting
fits and convulsions.
Some quiet, decisive means will restore her. Inhalation of ammonia,
cold water on the head, a hot foot bath, a full bath, or even a decided
word from a friend readily establishes her balance. The spoken word
must not be given in a combative spirit, but simply with cheerfulness
and decision. Banish fear from your own heart, and agitation from your
manner, and then say to the patient, “Why, you are all right! Listen to
me a moment.” Get her attention, then with tact relate some incident,
or make some startling statement that will change the current of her
thought. To prevent the attacks, treat the uterine affection from which
they arise.
_The mind can rise_ superior to the body in uterine affections, as in
all other bodily ailments, and thus aid in establishing harmony. One
can, by persistent argument with himself, conquer or dispel the thought
of pain or disease. Also, by engaging in some work which calls forth
the highest impulses.
By seeking to ennoble and enrich the lives of others, by ignoring
personal sense and pleasure, the soul, the _ego_, becomes in harmony
with the spirit of the universe, and this harmony should give health of
body, as well as peace of mind.
The body is only a reflection of the spirit, is constantly and entirely
subject to it, and if the spirit rises above error, discord and sin,
dwelling in the realm of truth and love, disease and infirmity of the
flesh cannot exist.
CHAPTER XXII.
CHANGE OF LIFE.
CHANGE OF LIFE is one of the scape-goats of physicians and bugbears
of patients. If any lady from thirty-five to fifty-five years of age
is afflicted with dyspepsia, neuralgia, rheumatism, consumption or
any other ailment, the doctor, not being able to cure her, pronounces
it the meno-pause, or “change of life,” and that time alone can bring
relief. Most women plan and expect to give up from eight to ten years
of the best part of their lives to this climacteric period. They
consider themselves of little account for business or social duties.
They must be petted and nursed, and have every passing whim gratified.
The _meno-pause_ is simply a cessation of ovulation. It is the
exhaustion of the germ-making power. If a woman menstruates because of
the monthly ovulation and deposit, she will cease to menstruate because
ovulation has ceased to be a physiological operation.
At puberty the ovaries enlarge. When fully developed they begin casting
off each month perfected ovula, which are taken up by the fimbriated
extremities of the oviducts and conveyed to the uterus. This function
of the uterus continues on an average thirty-two years. After the
meno-pause begins the ovaries become small and shriveled, resembling a
peach stone in shape and appearance.
“At the same time that the ovaries are undergoing this remarkable
degenerative change, a similar change is taking place in the other
organs of generation. The uterus diminishes in size, as does also the
vagina. The mouth of the womb becomes contracted and after a time
entirely closed. The upper part of the vagina is often contracted
to such a degree as to produce folds closely resembling those which
result from serious inflammation about the uterus. The breasts usually
diminish in size. These changes indicate unmistakably the decline of
the function of reproduction, preparatory to its entire suspension.
“As a rule, the capability of procreation ceases with the cessation
of menstruation; but this is not universally the case. Instances are
on record in which pregnancy has occurred before the appearance of
menstruation. This seeming anomaly is due to the fact that ovulation
and menstruation are really two distinct acts, although usually
coincident.”
Although menstruation usually ceases from the forty-fifth to the
fiftieth year, cases are on record in which “change of life” occurred
at much earlier, as well as later periods. Dr. T. J. Patchen relates
a remarkable case where a girl ceased menstruation at twenty-two,
accompanied by all the physical changes of the organism as well as
attended by the usual symptoms of that period. Cases are recorded where
menstruation continued with regularity until the seventieth year, and
the reproductive function remained unimpaired.
In a state of health the meno-pause should be attended by no unpleasant
symptom, by no change from the normal condition. Ordinarily all the
sufferings and ailments incident to this period can be accounted for
from some ovarian or uterine disease, dyspepsia, or other deviation
from health. Irritation or congestion in the ovaries, more than any
other cause, decides the numerous symptoms of the climacteric. Uterine
inflammation or derangement also causes many of the distressing
ailments of the meno-pause.
_Irregularity_ in menstruation may be looked for about the forty-fourth
year in temperate climates. In the torrid zone, where girls menstruate
as early as the tenth or twelfth year, it may occur much earlier. But
in this country it is often delayed even far beyond the fiftieth year.
There may be occasional absence of the menses, or it may first be
indicated by frequent and profuse menstruation. In rare cases the
menses cease suddenly, without any warning or any special derangement.
Women often feel alarmed at the sudden suspension of this discharge,
but their fears are groundless if all other functions are normal. With
some women the flow is alternately scanty and profuse for months.
The length of time in which these symptoms occur is extremely variable.
It may be only a few months or it may be several years. In extreme
cases the symptoms have continued nearly twenty years. The average
period, however, is about three years.
These changes are accompanied by various pathological symptoms. _Hot
flashes_ or “flushings” are especially peculiar to this period. First
one feels a decided glow or heat, as if suddenly transported to a hot
room; this is soon followed by a perspiration which may terminate in
a chill. They are often accompanied with a sense of suffocation or
violent throbbing. The phenomenon is precisely the same as blushing,
and indeed this may be said to be a sort of pathological blushing.
With some the chill is the precursor of the “hot spell.” The flashes
occur at all times of day, and often one awakens with them in the
night. They may occur but two or three times a day or every ten or
fifteen minutes, making one wretched by their frequency. They are often
the result of some sudden emotion as fright, anger, grief or anxiety.
They are wonderfully the product of thought. By observation the patient
will notice that they are also more frequent after drinking wine, tea
and coffee, or partaking of stimulating food. Sometimes nausea and
vomiting accompany flushings, as well as a feeling of weakness and
_malaise_.
_Profuse perspiration_, sometimes so copious as to saturate the bed
clothing, is also a common symptom of this period. This may follow the
hot flushes or occur independently, but occurs more usually during
sleep. It may accompany mental excitement of any kind.
_Uterine Hemorrhage_, common to the “change of life,” is the only
peculiar symptom which really need cause any special anxiety. This may
occur once a month or at longer intervals, or may be almost constant.
It may become so profuse as to endanger the life of the patient.
Indeed, one is often surprised that life can be sustained under the
great loss of blood that some experience.
The _appetite_ is sometimes capricious and fitful, as during
pregnancy, or at the beginning of menstruation. Frequent derangements
of stomach, liver and kidneys occur.
_Skin diseases_, often accompanying this period, are especially
distressing from being attended with great itching. One also may have
constipation, or diarrhea, swelled limbs or joints, swelled breasts,
headaches, with heat and burning in top of the head or a sore pain at
base of the brain; dizziness, dimness of vision with floating specks
before the eyes, loss of voice and aching at the base of the tongue,
insomnia, strange cravings, difficult breathing, neuralgia, hysteria,
etc.
_Tumors_, _cancers_, _polypi_, etc., are more frequent during the
meno-pause than at any other time of life. If the neck of the womb has
been injured by attempts at abortion or indurations caused by frequent
applications of caustics, conditions are produced that are liable to
result in cancer.
“_The mental symptoms_ are quite as marked and prominent in most
cases as are those which relate to any part of the system. _Loss
of memory_ to a greater or less extent is apt to be first and most
noticeable. Frequently there is an entire and most remarkable change
in disposition. A kind, patient mother, or forbearing, confiding,
exemplary wife, becomes irritable, unreasonable and suspicious.
“Her natural modesty may even give place to wantonness in extreme
cases, and the mother instincts may become so thoroughly obliterated
as to cause an almost uncontrollable desire to take the lives of
her little ones. The once happy woman becomes despondent, moody and
taciturn. She avoids company, has no taste for amusements, and spends
her time in watching the varying symptoms, and bewailing her real and
imaginary woes. In many cases, actual insanity, usually of a temporary
character, is the result of the profound disturbance which the system
undergoes at this time.”
_Constipation_ is not unfrequently attendant upon, and the cause of,
many symptoms of the meno-pause.
GENERAL TREATMENT.--First: Convince yourself that there is no actual
need of any indisposition connected with the “change of life.” Forget
all the traditions and teachings upon this subject, and learn that
_nature creates no pathological conditions_, and that if you live
according to her laws you can by no possible means experience suffering.
_You have no use for these ailments._ If you are possessed of any
stubbornness in your nature, bring it into requisition at this time.
Plant your foot down with emphasis, and say, with one of old, “Get thee
behind me, Satan.”
It is thoroughly proven that mind can control even malignant diseases,
and a woman that has lived until she is forty-five should know enough,
and be strong enough in her mental organization to say to these
symptoms, “I will not be your slave, you cannot dominate my life and
chain my energies.” Do not wait for some doctor to cure you with
bread-pills or placebo powders.
The _physical should be subjective to the mental_, and can be if one
learns the law. The world is only beginning to know how much can be
accomplished for physical health by the controlling power of the mind.
The charge must be laid to physicians that women have made such a
mountain of the meno-pause, and they must undo their work by teaching
that this is only a natural change, and removing it from the category
of diseases.
Before and during this period observe all conditions of hygiene.
Perfect health and vigor is more frequently attainable than women are
apt to believe. The maintaining of a hygienic life by proper dress,
diet, etc., will go far toward causing the “change of life” as a
deranged condition to be unknown.
SLEEP IN ROOMS so thoroughly ventilated that the air will be as pure
and sweet as the out-door atmosphere. If women would increase the
capacity of their lungs and breathe air abundantly charged with oxygen,
four-fifths of their ailments would be prevented. But who has the
wisdom to convince them of this?
THE DRESS AND EXERCISE that increase ability to breathe with the
diaphragm and abdominal muscles do more to prevent and cure diseases
of women, if not all diseases, than all other possible preventives or
medicines. When a mother thinks her rosy nine-year-old daughter is
deformed, and she must begin to put her in stays to change her _horrid_
figure to one that is trim and neat, what can we hope for the daughter
when she takes the responsibility of her own garments? If I could do
the greatest thing to stay degeneracy and disease of the human race
it would be to convince women that lung power more than anything else
contributes to health, longevity and power of endurance. To attain this
a radical change must be made in clothing.
A _sponge bath_ (page 112), upon arising in the morning, taken quickly,
three or four times a week, is valuable during change of life.
Accompany it by friction from the hand, a Turkish towel or flesh brush.
Follow it by a draught of cold or hot water, the latter if there is
dyspepsia.
_A hot sitz-bath_ should be taken in case of inflammation of the
ovaries or uterus. (See page 184.) This may be taken every day for a
week, and then every other day. In case of hemorrhage this bath is
invaluable, and will relieve it when all other means have failed. It
can be taken during the hemorrhage or at frequent intervals between
times.
_Hot or tepid vaginal injections_ are invaluable for controlling
hemorrhage and removing congestion of the uterus. For this it is best
to use a fountain syringe, hung very high so as to get good force to
the water. This measure alone often removes many of the unpleasant
symptoms of the meno-pause.
_Hot fomentations_ may be applied twice a day for pain in the back. The
hot water bottle is the best for this. Should be very hot and continued
thirty or forty minutes, or even longer. If there is pain at base of
the brain or in the pelvic region this same application is invaluable.
The _Thermal bath_ (page 118) taken three times a week will be found
invaluable in all the ailments of the meno-pause.
_Sanguinaria, 2d_, will give temporary relief from hot flashes. Dose,
six pellets every two hours.
_Alcohol_ and aqua-ammonia, equal parts, heated over steam, as hot as
can be borne, and applied with the hand, relieves profuse perspiration.
Or rub the entire surface with very _hot fine salt_. Hot baths will be
found useful for this also.
THE DIET during the change of life should be simple, consisting largely
of fruits and grains, moderate in quantity. These can be prepared in
many palatable and dainty dishes. (See Dietetics.) If one has been
accustomed to high living, to rich and greasy food, composed largely of
the carbonaceous starch, sugar and fat, a change to a simple diet will
work wonders in a short time.
The habit once established for a diet that furnishes the nutriment
demanded for the system, one cannot be induced to return to that which
gorges, stimulates and fattens, but does not nourish. The real relish
and gustatory pleasure found in a fruit and grain diet can never be
appreciated by those who indulge in inconsistent mixtures of stimulants
and disease-producing elements. If there is no appetite, wait for its
bidding; do not coax it by stimulants and appetizers. Rest of the
digestive organs is often the best and surest cure for many diseases.
Let the woman who is a sufferer from hot flushes, dizziness, neuralgia,
etc., give up strong tea and coffee, hot bread, pork, and rich pies
and cake. Eat only what the appetite demands; and until the severest
symptoms are relieved, partake of food not more than twice a day,
and possibly only once. In fasting, if the stomach has a feeling of
_goneness_ or craving, drink a cup of hot water, hot lemonade or thin
gruel, made from wheat, barley or oats. A sense of faintness and the
inability to omit or postpone a single meal is almost a sure indication
of dyspepsia. In hundreds of cases all the symptoms and diseases of
change of life will yield to treatment for this common ailment. (Page
42.)
Look to it that a constipated habit is entirely overcome. Study and
follow the hints in Chap. V., and the cases are rare that torpidity
of the bowels cannot be removed. For any serious illness accompanying
the change of life, a physician should be consulted. In all ordinary
cases, however, one can be relieved entirely and that in a short time
by religiously following the foregoing advice. Nature is kind and heals
all our maladies if we only give her the shadow of an opportunity. In
the climacteric period put yourself in harmony with nature’s laws and
you will have no occasion for the physician’s potions.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DIETETICS.
In what thou eatest and drinkest, seek from thence
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight,
So mayest thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou drop
Into thy mother’s lap; or be with ease
Gathered, not harshly plucked; for death mature.
--MILTON.
DRINKS FOR THE SICK.
LEMONADE.
Juice of half a lemon, one tea-spoon white sugar, one goblet water.
Grate into it a little peel if desired.
HOT LEMONADE.
Is made the same way, only using hot water. Is good for colds and
biliousness.
ORANGE WHEY.
The juice of one orange to one pint sweet milk. Heat slowly until curds
form, strain and cool. Good drink after confinement.
RENNET WHEY.
One quart milk, almost boiling; two table-spoons prepared rennet or a
piece of rennet which has been soaked in water. Sugar to taste. Stir
the rennet into the milk; let it stand until cool, then strain.
EGG LEMONADE.
White of one egg, one table-spoon pulverized sugar. Juice of one lemon,
one goblet water. Beat together. Very grateful in inflammation of
lungs, stomach or bowels.
GUM ARABIC WATER.
One tea-spoon gum arabic, one goblet cold water, stand until it
dissolves. Flavor with juice of lemon, orange, or any other fruit.
JELLY WATER.
Sour jellies dissolved in water make a pleasant drink for fever
patients.
OATMEAL TEA.
Two table-spoons raw oatmeal to one quart cold water, stand two
hours in a cool place, then drain off as it is wanted. Nourishing in
convalescence, and an unequalled drink for harvesters or moulders.
TOAST WATER.
Toast slowly a thin piece of bread till it is extremely brown and hard,
but not black. Put it in a bowl of cold water, and cover tightly. Let
it stand an hour before using.
SAGO MILK.
Three table-spoons sago, soaked in a cup of cold water one hour; add
three cups boiling milk, sweeten, and flavor to taste. Simmer slowly
half hour, eat warm. Tapioca milk is made in the same way.
FLAXSEED LEMONADE.
Two table-spoons of whole flaxseed to a pint of boiling water; let it
stand until cool, then strain and add the juice of two lemons and two
table-spoons honey. Invaluable for coughs and suppression of urine.
TAMARIND WATER.
One tumbler of tamarinds, one pint cold water. Turn water over
tamarinds and let it stand an hour; strain before using. Currant jelly
or cranberry jelly can be used similarly.--_Mrs. Owens’ Cook Book._
BEEF TEA.
One pound lean beef cut into small pieces, put into a bottle without
a drop of water, cover tightly and set in a pot of cold water; heat
gradually to a boil, and continue boiling steadily for three or four
hours, until the meat is like rags, and the juice all out. Salt to
taste.
Beef tea does not afford as much nutrition as people have been taught.
It is readily taken up by absorption, and is desirable where a mild
stimulant is required. In fevers and inflammations bran or oatmeal
gruel furnish much more desirable nutrition.
BEEF TEA A STIMULANT, AND NOT A FOOD.
Notwithstanding it has been repeatedly shown that beef tea is not a
food, the laity, and to a considerable extent the profession, are
slow to be convinced. That patients fed on beef tea slowly starve is
a fact, which the analysis only too conclusively supports, and which
is sustained by accurate clinical observation. In the _Lancet_ for
October, 1880, p. 562, Mr. G. F. Masterman publishes an analysis, which
shows that beef tea has a chemical composition similar to urine. Beef
tea, most carefully prepared, says Dr. Neale in the _Practitioner_
(November, 1881), does not contain, including alkaline salts, more than
from 1.5 to 2.25 per cent. solid matters, and such matter is mainly
composed of urea, kreatin, kreatinin, isolin and decomposed hematin. As
a stimulant, beef tea may be, and often is, highly serviceable, but as
a means of support during the exhausting drain of a long illness, it
does not compare in nutritive value to milk. Dr. Lauder Brunton raises
the question whether beef tea, a product of muscular waste, may not
under some circumstances be actually poisonous!--_Medical News_.
RICE GRUEL.
Two table-spoons rice, one quart cold water; steep slowly one hour;
strain through a gravy strainer; add a little cream and salt.
GRUEL FROM RICE FLOUR.
Wet one table-spoon flour, stir into boiling water, cook five minutes.
CORN TEA.
Parch common corn until browned through, grind, and pour on boiling
water. Drink with or without cream. Excellent for nausea, vomiting and
diarrhea.
WHEAT, OAT OR BARLEY COFFEE.
Brown the grain thoroughly, and grind. Can be mixed if desirable. Take
three table-spoonfuls. Mix with the white of an egg, pour over it one
quart of boiling water. When it comes to a boil, set it on the back
part of the stove and steep slowly fifteen minutes. A nourishing drink
and a good substitute for tea and coffee. When made right is very
palatable.
BRAN GRUEL.
Boil for half an hour one pint of bran of white wheat, in three pints
of water. Strain through a gravy strainer and add a little salt. This
is a good gruel for fevers and inflammations. Makes a good drink by
thinning and adding lemon juice.
CORN MEAL GRUEL.
One table-spoon finely sifted corn meal wet in cold water. Have one
quart boiling water in a gruel pan, dip a spoonful of this thin cold
batter into the water, stir, let it boil up, and then add another
spoonful, and so on until the gruel is of the right consistence. Let it
boil briskly twenty minutes or more. Salt to taste.
GRAHAM GRUEL.
Make like cornmeal gruel. Can be strained or not, as desired.
OATMEAL GRUEL.
Stir two table-spoons of oatmeal in one quart boiling water. If the
meal is coarse, boil one hour and strain through a gravy strainer.
Wheatlet gruel prepared in same manner.
MILK PORRIDGE.
One and a half table-spoons flour, wet to a paste, stirred in a quart
of boiling milk; add a pinch of salt; can substitute rice flour,
oatmeal, arrowroot, corn starch, or the Lockport entire wheat flour.
BAKED MILK.
Put half a gallon of milk in a jar and tie over it writing paper. Let
it stand in a moderate oven eight or ten hours. It will be like cream,
and is good for consumptives and invalids generally.--_Mrs. Owens’ Cook
Book._
HOT MILK.
Take nine parts of milk and one part of water, and heat to 110° F. in
a milk boiler. Sipping this slowly, the saliva combines with the milk,
and this with the added water will prevent coagulation in the stomach;
hence will be taken up at once by the absorbents. This is valuable food
in morning sickness of pregnancy and for nursing women. It is also good
in low fevers and nervous dyspepsia.
The _Medical Record_, speaking of hot milk as a beverage, says: “Milk
heated to much above 100° F. loses for the time a degree of its
sweetness and its density. No one who, fatigued by over-exertion of
body or mind, has ever experienced the reviving influence of a tumbler
of this beverage, heated as hot as it can be sipped, will willingly
forego a resort to it because of its having been rendered somewhat
less acceptable to the palate. The promptness with which its cordial
influence is felt is indeed surprising. Some portion of it seems to be
digested and appropriated almost immediately; and many who now fancy
they need alcoholic stimulants when exhausted by fatigue, will find in
this simple draught an equivalent that shall be abundantly satisfying,
and far more enduring in its effects.”
BUTTERMILK.
Buttermilk, when sweet and fresh from the churn, is nutritious and
wholesome. It contains about 88 per cent. of water, 4 of nitrogenous
food, 3 of sugar, only a trifle of fat, and considerable mineral
matter, by some estimated at over 5 per cent. There is also a small
amount of lactic acid. As a heat producing food, it is poor. There
are many forms of dyspepsia in which it “will set on the stomach”
when hardly anything else will. Often in fevers this organ becomes
rebellious from the effects of large amounts of medicine, and it is
then a serious question how to nourish the patient. In such cases
buttermilk is sometimes found to be the best food that can be given.
In diabetes it may be employed as a chief article of diet to great
advantage. Corpulent people who will not adopt the bread and fruit
regimen and take much exercise, may use buttermilk in preference to
milk. It may be put in clean bottles and canned or sealed, as in
preserving fruit, and kept for a long time. After a little, one becomes
fond of the taste and relishes it. It ought not be allowed to stand
till it is bitter before using.--_Dr. Holbrook._
BUTTERMILK POP.
Put one quart of buttermilk in the milk boiler. When nearly boiling,
add two table-spoons flour which has been rubbed with one tea-spoon of
milk. Stir until boiling. Good in nausea and heartburn of pregnancy.
Also for nervous dyspepsia. I knew one man that lived on buttermilk pop
alone for six months, and cured himself of dyspepsia.
CHICKEN BROTH.
In one quart of water boil the dark meat of half a chicken with a
table-spoon of rice or barley; skim off the fat; use as soon as the
rice is well done. When taken up, add a few narrow strips of bread
toasted--not too brown.
MACARONI SOUP.
Into a quart of boiling water put a handful of macaroni broken into
inch pieces. Let it boil an hour, then add two cups of strained
stewed tomato, and just before serving pour in half a cup of cream. A
delicious soup.
FARINA SOUP.
Add to any kind of soup stock one half cup of farina, the same of
cream, or an egg well beaten, and let it cook gently half an hour
before serving.
TOMATO SOUP.
Put one pint of canned or fresh tomatoes and one quart of water, in
a granite stew pan. When boiling, thicken with three table-spoons of
graham flour mixed with cold water. Add one quart milk and stir until
it boils, this prevents curdling. Season to taste. Can be made in ten
minutes.
PUREE OF SPLIT PEAS.
One cup of split peas. Soak over night. Put on in cold water. Boil two
hours slowly. Put through the colander. Heat in the kettle a cup of
sweet cream, into which has been stirred two large spoonfuls graham
flour, or that of entire wheat, and a pinch of salt. When it thickens,
return the peas to the kettle and stir. Then set back.
LEMON JELLY.
Moisten two table-spoons corn starch, stir into one pint boiling water;
add the juice of two lemons and one-third cup of sugar. Grate in a
little of the rind. Put in moulds to cool.
LEMON GELATINE.
Soak one ounce of gelatine in a quart of water. When dissolved, pour it
in a saucepan and let it come to a boil. Add the juice of three lemons,
a little grated rind, and one cup of sugar. Strain through a thin
cloth, put into moulds, and set on ice to cool.
SAGO JELLY.
Soak five table-spoons sago in half a pint cold water thirty minutes,
then add one cup sugar and two table-spoons lemon juice. Pour over
three cups boiling water; boil the whole in a farina boiler one hour;
pour into moulds; when cold turn out and serve with fruit juice.
SAGO CURRANT JELLY.
Soak in cold water five table-spoons sago one hour; strain off the
water, add half pint currant juice (strained); boil slowly fifteen
minutes, stirring occasionally, then add half a cup sugar. Pour into
moulds; serve the following day without sauce. Cranberries or other
acid fruits can be used. Makes a very tempting dish for an invalid.
NUTRINA OR BRAN JELLY.
1st. Go to the mill _yourself_, and watch the miller while he gives you
clean wheat bran.
2d. Have a kettle of boiling soft water on the stove. Sift with one
hand, stirring briskly all the while with a paddle or wooden spoon,
held in the other, until the mass is about the consistency of a thick
gruel. Let this boil slowly two hours. Place a sieve over the top of
a pan and pour this gruel in it to drain. When well drained place the
pan on the stove and allow it to come to a boil. Mix with cold water
a spoonful or so of sifted graham flour, enough to bring the boiling
gruel to about the consistency of a smooth gravy, or thick gruel.
Dip into moulds--coffee cups are nice for this--and allow to become
cold, when, if right, it will be a trembling, delicate jelly. Perhaps
it will be necessary to experiment a little, as the first trial may not
be entirely successful, but depend upon it, the outcome is well worth
painstaking.
Nutrina accompanied with various sauces makes a welcome dessert. People
who use milk or cream would like nutrina with a cream sauce. Nutrina
can not be too highly recommended, for it suits so wide a range of
conditions.--_Dr. M. Augusta Fairchild._
Nutrina contains the phosphates of the grain, hence it is a valuable
nerve nutritive. Is especially excellent for nursing mothers and
children when first weaned.
CEREALS.
Every table should be abundantly supplied with well-cooked cereals.
Cook in a farina or milk boiler. No housekeeper should be without this
important utensil. Do not soak cereals in cold water over night. All
of them, even rice, are far better to be put to cook in boiling water.
This bursts the starch cells at once, and prevents the raw taste and
stringy, dark look these preparations frequently have. Should not be
stirred while cooking, as it breaks the grains and makes them pasty.
CRACKED OR ROLLED WHEAT.
In two quarts boiling water stir one pint cracked wheat. Half
tea-spoon salt. Use a farina boiler or double kettle, and cook three
hours without stirring. When done, mould in dishes. Eat hot or cold
with fruit sauce or cream and sugar. Excellent in constipation or
biliousness. The rolled wheat is preferable. Not being able to procure
it ready prepared, one can crack wheat in an ordinary coffee mill.
OATMEAL MUSH.
Coarse oatmeal should be cooked like rolled wheat. If desired warm for
breakfast, can be left in a granite or porcelain farina boiler over
night, and heated in a few minutes. Do not soak oatmeal over night, nor
try to cook it sufficiently in the morning. It must never be stirred
while cooking. Fine oatmeal can be made in a mush, like Indian meal,
and be ready for the table in twenty minutes.
INDIAN MEAL MUSH.
Take fine meal of northern corn, a little salt; stir slowly in boiling
water until as thick as can be stirred easily. Stand it on back of the
stove and cook slowly one hour. Is better cooked in a milk boiler.
GRAHAM MUSH.
Stir graham flour in boiling water slowly, until it makes a thick
batter. Set on the back part of the stove ten minutes, then beat two
minutes and turn into the dish. To be eaten with fruit juice or cream
and sugar.
FARINA MUSH.
Stir a half cup of farina slowly into a quart of boiling water; cook
fifteen minutes in a milk boiler without stirring; add one-half cup of
cream just before removing from the fire. Served with stewed fruit or
fruit sauce.
HOMINY.
Mix one cup of hominy with three and a half cups boiling water, a
little salt. Cook in farina boiler four hours. Delicious eaten with
milk with or without sugar.--_Hygienic Cookery._
WHEATLET MUSH.
Use water, or equal parts of milk and water. Salt to taste. Have
_boiling_, _foaming_, _scalding_ hot, then sprinkle into it from the
hand sufficient wheatlet to make a thin pudding.
Keep it boiling hard for five minutes. Then set it back to cook slowly
ten minutes longer.
WHEATLET BLANC MANGE.
Pour wheatlet mush into forms and serve cold.
WHEATLET PUDDING.
Break up cooked wheatlet with a fork, add milk enough to make a thin
pudding; two eggs, currants and raisins to suit. Brown in a moderate
oven.
WHEATLET AND APPLE PUDDING.
Make as cracked wheat pudding, (page 311).
GRANULA.
Take equal parts of graham flour, fine oatmeal and cornmeal, mix to
a batter thick enough to cling to the spoon. Bake in thin cakes in a
quick oven. When baked, break into pieces and dry out thoroughly in a
slow oven until crisp. Then roll with the rolling pin into fine crumbs.
Delicious eaten in milk. Many families prepare it from their cold gems,
bread and corn bread, thus finding an economical use for “dry bread.”
RICE AND APPLE PUDDING.
One quart boiled rice, three pints tart chopped apples, half cup sugar,
put in layers in earthen baking dish, add half cup water, and bake two
hours slowly. Raisins, plums or prunelles can be used to flavor if
desired. Serve warm or cold, with cream.
RICE AND RAISINS.
Three cups boiling water, one cup sweet milk, one cup rice, half cup
raisins. Mix well together. Cook in steamer or farina boiler. Mould and
eat warm or cold, with cream or fruit sauce.
RICE SNOW.
One quart sweet milk, five tablespoonfuls rice flour or corn starch,
one-half cup sugar, whites of four eggs. Boil the milk, stir in the
rice flour moistened, and add the sugar. When cold whip a little at a
time into the eggs, after they are well beaten. Mould and serve with
cream or fruit sauce.
RICE SNOW BALLS.
Two quarts boiling water, one pint boiling milk, two cups rice; cook
two hours in farina boiler without stirring. Mould in small cups, and
serve with boiled custard or fruit sauce.
RICE GRIDDLE CAKES.
Two cups boiled rice, one cup sweet milk, two eggs, one cup sifted
flour. Bake slowly.
RICE OMELET.
Two cups boiled rice, one cup sweet milk, two eggs. Stir together
with egg beater, and put into a hot buttered skillet. Cook slowly ten
minutes, stirring frequently.
RICE AND BERRY PUDDING.
Two cups sweet milk, two cups cold rice, samp or barley; two cups
blueberries, currants, strawberries, seeded cherries or chopped apples;
one-third cup sugar, two eggs--yolks and whites separate. Time, one
hour; slow oven. Soften the cold rice (or other grain) with the milk,
working out all the lumps; then stir in the yolks and sugar beaten
together, and also the well whipped whites. Add the fruit, mixing it
in lightly; pour the batter into a dish, set in a dripping pan of
boiling water, and bake slowly one hour. Serve cold or lukewarm, with
or without a dressing of cream.--_Health in the Household._
BROWNED RICE.
Parch or brown rice slowly; steep in milk for two hours. The rice or
the milk only is excellent in summer complaint.
RICE CREAM.
Thicken a pint of scalding milk with rice flour to the consistency of
cream; sweeten and flavor to taste. Beat the whites of two eggs to a
stiff froth, put a half ounce of gelatine to half pint of cold water;
when well soaked, place over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved;
when cool, beat to a froth with an egg-beater; mix with the egg and
milk.
BOILED RICE.
Put two cups of rice to three pints of boiling water, half teaspoon
salt. Cook in a farina boiler four hours.
RICE.--JAPANESE METHOD.
Only enough water is poured on the rice to prevent burning. Cover
tightly and set over a moderate fire until nearly done. Remove cover
to allow moisture to escape. The rice turns out a mass of snow-white
separate kernels, each burst open like a mealy potato.--_Hygienic
Cookery._
It is far less trouble to cover the dish tightly and cook it in a
steamer.
BREAD.
Bread is the representative of human food, because wheat, of which it
is made, embraces all the elements of nutrition necessary to build
up and sustain every part of the system, keeping it in good working
condition and preserving it unimpaired to ripe old age. It is the only
single article of food upon which man can live after he is weaned,
without danger of impoverishing his system.
Bread to serve the best purposes of nutrition should contain all the
elements of the grain. White bread that holds a popular place as an
article of diet, is greatly deficient in the nitrates or muscle-feeding
elements. The gluten of the grain, in which these are found, is removed
in the bran. Besides, fermentation of flour is at the expense of the
gluten. Consequently to obtain bread that contains all the elements
of nutrition in the right proportion, it must be made from the popular
graham or Lockport entire wheat flour, and not raised with yeast or
chemicals. If raised with yeast, the less number of times it is mixed
the better. The most popular unleavened breads are gems, muffins and
rolls.
GRAHAM GEMS.
Take three cups of entire wheat flour or graham made from white wheat,
two cups of cold water, half cup of milk. A little more wetting may
be needed for graham. Omit salt. Heat gem pans very hot on the top of
the stove, fill them even full with the batter, place on the grate of
a very hot oven. Let them remain ten minutes, then bake thirty minutes
on the bottom of the oven. The “acorn” gem pans are essential. These
are small, round, deep iron pans. Notice, three things are necessary
for good gems: The _best white wheat_ flour, _very hot_ pans and oven,
and the “acorn” gem pans. No beating is required. These conditions
observed, the gems will be as light as sponge cake. They can be eaten
warm or cold, but are best heated over in a quick oven. They make
excellent toast and pudding. I was many years in learning to make good
gems without yeast or soda. This receipt never fails, even with a
“green” cook.
GRAHAM MUFFINS.
Take one pint of new milk, one pint graham or entire wheat flour. Stir
together and add one beaten egg. Can be baked in any kind of gem pans
or muffin rings. Salt must not be used with any bread that is made
light with egg.
UNLEAVENED BREAD.
Mix entire wheat flour with ice cold water, to a stiff dough; knead
for four or five minutes; cut in small pieces and roll into cakes size
of clothes-pins. Bake on wire pan or toaster in hot oven, leaving room
to rise. Very light and sweet. An addition of raisins and hickory nut
meats is much enjoyed.--_Mrs. Purdy._
OATMEAL AND GRAHAM GEMS.
Mix equal parts of graham and fine Irish oatmeal into a thick batter,
with equal parts of milk and water, fill hot gem pans, and bake with a
brisk heat. Very sweet and tender.--_Dr. Holbrook._
WHITE FLOUR GEMS.
Stir briskly into new milk, or milk and water, sufficient flour to
make a batter not too stiff to drop from a spoon--much depends on the
consistency; experiment only will decide. Add the whites of two eggs
whipped to a stiff froth and beat all together thoroughly. A little
cream put in at the last makes the gems more tender. Bake in hot gem
pans in a quick oven.
BROWN GEMS.
Mix with water equal quantities of rye and Indian meal, beat it to a
cream, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, bake in thin cakes in flat gem
pans.
BEST GRAHAM BISCUITS.
Make as thick a graham mush by stirring the flour into boiling water,
as is possible, then take it from the stove to the moulding board,
knead into it more graham flour, roll about an inch thick, cut into
biscuits, and bake in a hot oven.
LIGHT GRAHAM BISCUITS.
Make the dough of graham yeast bread a trifle stiffer, roll and cut
into biscuits. When light, bake thirty minutes.
DELICIOUS CORN BREAD.
One quart corn meal, partly scalded with one pint boiling water. Add to
this one pint sweet milk, stir to a smooth batter, dip a large cooking
spoonful at a time on your hot griddle in separate cakes, let it stand
to get the lower crust well started, then place the griddle in the hot
oven, on the top grate, and allow the baking to be finished there. The
cake should be a nice brown. About half an hour’s time will be required
for baking.--_Dr. M. A. Fairchild._
OATMEAL CAKE.
Take one pint of fine oatmeal, and warm water enough to stir up a
batter, like griddle cakes. Pour it into a shallow baking pan or
griddle, and bake twenty minutes in a hot oven. Or bake in small cakes
on the griddle, first putting in a handful of wheat flour and a little
more water.
BOSTON BROWN BREAD.
Three cups graham flour, one cup Indian meal, one cup molasses, two
cups sweet milk, one cup sour milk, one teaspoon soda. Steam three
hours and bake two hours.
GRAHAM BREAD.
Soak half a cake of compressed yeast, stir it into one quart warm
water and two quarts graham flour. Put into a deep sheet iron bread
pan which has been well greased. When light bake one hour or more. If
compressed yeast cannot be obtained, use home-made or baker’s yeast.
The dough should be as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. Make bread
from fine flour of the entire wheat the same way, only a trifle stiffer.
YEAST BREAD FROM WHITE FLOUR.
Make a sponge by boiling one pound of potatoes in two quarts of water;
stir up a pint of sifted flour as for starch, and pour the boiling
water over it, adding the potatoes when well mashed; when cool, add a
cup of yeast, or two ounces dried yeast soaked, and a table-spoon of
salt. Make this the day previous to baking; it will save labor to do it
at the same time you boil potatoes for dinner.
To make the bread, take three quarts sifted flour warmed, and wet with
the sponge, adding no more liquid or salt; knead at least half an hour,
keeping the dough soft and warm; put it in the baking pans, which are
well greased, and when it is light it is ready for the oven. Bake forty
minutes. The dough must be soft and _thoroughly_ kneaded.
This method preserves the gluten.
OATMEAL SNAPS.
Mix one cup sweet cream and three table-spoonfuls sugar; add fine
oatmeal till stiff; knead slightly; roll to the thickness of an eighth
of an inch; cut in shapes; bake crisp in moderate oven.--_Hygienic
Cookery._
GRAHAM FRUIT CRACKERS.
Two-thirds cup sweet cream; one cup dried currants picked and washed,
one-fourth tea-spoonful soda, one-half tea-spoonful cream tartar.
Use equal parts graham and white flour to make a very stiff dough.
Roll out less than an eighth of an inch in thickness. Cover thickly
with the fruit. Lay on another sheet of the dough, pass the rolling
pin over it. Cut in shapes; prick deeply; bake in a moderate oven
thoroughly.--_Hygienic Cookery._
GRAHAM WAFERS.
Take graham flour. Mix with pure cold water. _No salt._ Knead
thoroughly fifteen minutes; roll very thin, about half as thick as soda
crackers; cut in two inch squares and bake quickly. These will keep for
months in a dry place. It makes them crisp to place them in the oven
a few minutes before bringing them to the table. Better if made by a
baker, using the cracker machine. These are the best dyspeptic bread
made, and are soon relished by all who eat them.
GRAHAM CRACKERS.
Take one part cream to four parts milk, mix with flour, as soft as can
be handled; knead twenty minutes; roll very thin; cut square or round,
and bake quickly twenty minutes. Handle carefully while hot; pack away
when cool in a stone jar.
RICE MUFFINS.
One cup of boiled rice, two eggs, two cups of sweet milk, two cups of
flour. Beat well. Bake in gem pans or muffin rings.
BUCKWHEAT CAKES.
One quart of warm water, one quart of buckwheat flour, a cup of bread
sponge, one tea-spoon salt. Make over night, or will rise in three or
four hours in the daytime. Some batter being left will raise cakes the
following day.
Buckwheat contains a large proportion of gluten, and is very desirable
for batter cakes. It has been brought into disrepute for two reasons:
First, sufficient pains has not been taken to cleanse out the smut of
the grain, which is poisonous, producing eruptions, etc. Second, too
much butter and syrup are consumed with the cakes, supplying to the
system a superabundance of carbon. Substitute honey or fruit sauce to
make the cakes relish.
WHEATLET CAKES.
Make like buckwheat cakes. These are delicious, and are destined to
become very popular.
GRIDDLE CAKES FROM “SHORTS.”
Shorts, or middlings, are obtained in grinding wheat, between the fine
flour and bran. These are rich in gluten, and, prepared in the same
way, make cakes equal to buckwheat. Not being able to procure “shorts,”
use graham, wheatlet, or entire wheat flour.
RICE GRIDDLE CAKES.
One cup boiled rice, one egg, one cup sweet milk, one cup water, two
cups of white flour, entire wheat flour or “shorts.”
CORN GRIDDLE CAKES.
Pour boiling water on a pint of corn meal to make a stiff batter; let
it stand over night. In the morning add one cup of graham flour and
one cup of sweet milk. If not light, add a tea-spoon of baking powder;
except in cold weather, the corn will ferment sufficiently to make it
light. Can be baked in gem pans if preferred.
BREAKFAST PATTIES.
Make a thick gruel of equal parts of graham and corn meal. Let it stand
over night. Add sifted graham flour, or flour of the entire wheat,
until the batter is thicker than for batter cakes. Bake as griddle
cakes, giving them plenty of time. If just right, most delicious
breakfast cakes.
MILK TOAST.
Heat six slices of graham or entire wheat bread in the oven; toast an
even brown over coals. Boil one pint of milk and half a cup of cream.
Thicken with one tea-spoon corn-starch; half a tea-spoon salt. Pour
over the toast and serve hot.
GEM TOAST.
Split graham gems, toast the same as the bread, and cover with the same
dressing. This is the best toast made. Is not harmed by standing.
OYSTER TOAST.
Pour stewed oysters over graham gems or bread toasted. An excellent
breakfast dish.
CODFISH TOAST.
Toast graham bread or gems; lay upon a platter and cover with codfish
prepared in milk.
TOMATO TOAST.
Stew one quart tomatoes; season with one tablespoon sugar and half a
teaspoon salt; pour over graham bread or gems toasted.
EGGS ON TOAST.
Soften brown bread toast with hot water, put on a platter and cover
with poached or scrambled eggs.
ASPARAGUS ON TOAST.
Cut the green of one pound of asparagus in one pint hot water. Stew
thirty minutes; add half a cup of cream, a little salt, turn over
graham toast.
RHUBARB TOAST.
Take one pint water, half a cup of sugar; when boiling, put in two
pounds rhubarb cut in small pieces. Stew until done; when cold, pour
over a platter of hot toasted graham bread, having a little butter upon
it. This is an excellent breakfast dish, and as the toast absorbs the
peculiar rhubarb flavor, can be eaten by those who usually dislike it.
Gooseberries, tart apples, peaches and other acid fruits can be
prepared in the same way.
NOTE.--Never use white bread for toast when bread of the unbolted or
entire wheat flour can be had. The latter never becomes doughy, and is
much better flavored, besides being more nutritious.
EGGS AS FOOD.
Eggs, at average prices, are among the cheapest and most nutritious
articles of diet. Like milk, an egg is a complete food in itself,
as is manifested from the fact that from it a chick draws all the
nourishment needed in its development. This is one of the mysteries of
nature that the yolk and white of an egg can contain elements capable
of producing so many and such varied parts as constitute a living fowl.
An egg is easily digested if not damaged in cooking. Indeed, there
is no more concentrated and nourishing food than eggs. The albumen,
oil and saline matter are, as in milk, in the right proportion for
sustaining animal life. Two or three boiled eggs, with the addition of
a slice or two of toast, will make a breakfast sufficient for a man and
good enough for a king.
BOILED EGGS.
An egg should never be boiled. Immersed in boiling water for a few
moments the white part coagulates and becomes hard, and more or less
indigestible. If cooked at a temperature of 165° for fifteen or twenty
minutes the white part coagulates into a tender, delicate, jelly-like
substance, which is not only very digestible but delicious, while at
the same time the yolk becomes sufficiently hard. If placed in boiling
water and set back for ten minutes it will cook to perfection. A little
experience will enable any one to do it successfully.
POACHED EGGS.
In a skillet of salted boiling water, place muffin rings. Drop the egg
in them and let them stand ten minutes without boiling. Remove the
rings, and the eggs will be nicely moulded and evenly cooked.
EGGS POACHED IN MILK.
Take one cup of milk, half a cup of water, when boiling break in six
eggs. Cook slowly and serve on toast. A lady told me she cured herself
of nervous headaches by eating an egg every morning cooked in this way.
The milk prevents the poisonous effect of the sulphur in the egg, and
the nerves get decided nutriment.
SCRAMBLED EGGS.
Beat six eggs and one cup of milk together. Cook in a buttered skillet,
stirring occasionally. Take up before it is quite thickened.
STEAMED EGGS.
Break into egg cups and steam ten minutes.
BAKED EGGS.
Put unbroken eggs in one dripping pan and cover with another the same
size; bake in a quick oven twenty minutes.
EGG OMELET.
Beat the whites of six eggs separately. Beat the yolks with three
table-spoons of milk and one table-spoon of flour; stir the whites in
lightly. Cook in a hot buttered skillet. When the edge is cooked, turn
over carefully. In two minutes more, double together on a hot platter.
Use no salt.
ESCALLOPED EGGS.
Cut light bread in pieces about three inches square and one and a half
inches thick; dip in milk, then scoop out about two-thirds of the
center. Fill with egg prepared as for omelet, and bake in a quick oven.
RAW OYSTERS.
It is an old theory that a raw oyster digests itself. This is owing to
the diastase or glycogen in the liver. A fat oyster is half liver.
Cooking destroys this diastase. So also much vinegar and condiments
make it slow to assimilate. Alcohol also destroys the diastase.
Valuable in nervous dyspepsia, and consequently useful in the early
months of pregnancy.
STEWED OYSTERS.
Take one pint of milk, one cup of water, a tea-spoon of salt; when
boiling, put in one pint of bulk oysters. Stir occasionally and remove
from the stove before it boils. An oyster should not be shriveled in
cooking.
BROILED OYSTERS.
Put large oysters on a wire toaster. Hold over hot coals until heated
through. Serve on toast moistened with cream. Very grateful in
convalescence.
GRAHAM GEM PUDDING.
Take six cold gems, baked the day before, break into small pieces and
pour over them a pint of hot water and half cup of sugar; stir in six
large tart apples, cut in thin slices. Bake two hours. Other fruits are
sometimes used.
CRACKED WHEAT PUDDING.
In a deep two-quart pudding dish put layers of cold, cooked cracked
wheat, and tart apples sliced thin, with four table-spoons sugar.
Raisins can be added if preferred. Fill the dish, having the wheat
last, add cup of cold water. Bake two hours.
FARINA BLANC-MANGE.
Stir into a quart of boiling milk farina enough to make a thin pudding,
then set away to cool. Before the farina is quite cold, stir in the
yolk of one egg and a little sugar, then add the whites of two eggs
whipped to a stiff froth and beat thoroughly. It is more creamy if not
made too thick with farina. Serve cold with fruit or jelly.
RICE PUDDING.
One quart new milk, two table-spoons rice, two table-spoons sugar,
pinch of salt, one tea-spoon lemon extract, or if preferable, half cup
of raisins. Bake three hours in a moderate oven.
For summer it is delicious cold. Better made in a large quantity.
APPLE TAPIOCA PUDDING.
Soak a tea-cup of tapioca in a quart of warm water three hours. Cut in
thin slices six tart apples, stir them lightly with the tapioca, add
half cup sugar. Bake three hours. To be eaten with whipped cream. Good
either warm or cold.
INDIAN FRUIT PUDDING.
One pint cornmeal mush made with water. Add one pint stewed dried
apples, peaches or prunes, one half pint water, one cup sugar. Stir
ingredients well together. Bake five hours.
ORANGE PUDDING.
Pare and slice five large oranges, removing seeds. Lay in a deep dish
and sprinkle with half cup sugar; let them stand two hours. Make
a custard of one pint milk, yolks of three eggs, two table-spoons
corn-starch. When cool, pour over oranges. Beat the whites with two
table-spoons of powdered sugar and place on the top; brown quickly in
the oven.
CORN MUSH PUDDING.
One quart milk, one pint corn mush (page 296), two-thirds cup molasses,
one tea-spoon cinnamon. Bake four hours.
BAKED INDIAN PUDDING.
Boil one quart of milk, stir in seven table-spoons meal. Take from the
stove, add one quart cold milk, one cup molasses, one tea-spoon ground
mace. Bake in an earthen pudding dish five hours. Double the recipe
makes a better pudding, and it is good cold.
MOTHER’S APPLE PUDDING.
One pint rolled bread crumbs; two pints of tart apples, chopped; one
cup seedless raisins, half a cup sugar. Place in layers in an earthen
pudding dish; add one cup water; bake slowly two hours. Requires no
sauce. Peaches, cherries, plums, etc., can be used in place of apples,
and also stewed dried fruits.
HUCKLEBERRY BREAD PUDDING.
Heat one quart milk and pour it over one pint dry graham bread crumbs;
cool; add two beaten yolks, three table-spoons sugar, two well-whipped
whites. Stir in one pint huckleberries, dredged with flour, bake
in a pudding dish, set in a pan of boiling water forty or fifty
minutes.--_Hygienic Cookery._
PLUM PUDDING.
One cup seedless raisins, one cup currants, one quart chopped apples,
one cup sugar, one cup graham flour mixed in a pint of water. Mix all
together, and bake five or six hours.
STRAWBERRY DESSERT.
Place alternate layers of hot cooked cracked wheat and strawberries in
a deep dish; when cold, turn out on platter; cut in slices and serve
with cream and sugar, or strawberry juice. Wet the moulds with cold
water before using. This, moulded in small cups, makes a dainty dish
for the sick. Wheatlet can be used in the same way.
PIES.
A very palatable pie crust can be made of sweet cream and graham or
entire wheat flour. Should be worked soft, made thin, and baked in
a hot oven. Eaten the day it is baked. In a dietetic point of view
there is little objection to this crust. Any acid fruit can be used
for the filling. A crust of fine flour and lard does not make suitable
nutriment for sick or well.
PIE FOR DYSPEPTICS.
Four table-spoons of oatmeal, one pint of water; let stand for a few
hours, or till the meal is swelled. Then add two large apples, pared
and sliced, a little salt, one cup of sugar, one table-spoon flour. Mix
all well together and bake in a buttered dish; makes a most delicious
pie, which can be eaten with safety by the sick or well.--_Dr.
Holbrook._
STRAWBERRY PIE.
Place the under crust upon a deep plate, and the upper one--cut
just the right size--on a flat tin or sheet iron; prick to prevent
blistering, and bake. Fill the deep crust while hot with strawberries,
and cover with the flat crust. If the fruit is rather hard, replace in
the oven till heated; if quite ripe, the crust will steam sufficiently.
Raspberry and blackberry pie can be made in the same way. The flavor
of these delicious berries, when quite ripe, is greatly impaired by
cooking; they are also changed to a mass of little else than seeds and
juice.--_Mrs. Cox’s Hygiene Cook Book._
APPLE PIE CAKE.
Of flour of the entire wheat and cold water, make a batter soft enough
to level itself. If shortening is desired, use sweet cream. Fill a deep
pie-platter a third full of the batter, sprinkle over a little sugar.
Wash, quarter and core tart apples and place as many in the batter
(skin side up) as it will hold. Press down and level with a spoon. Over
the top sprinkle sugar and bake till brown.--_Dr. Holbrook._
CAKE.
Cake is hardly considered a dietetic food. A few recipes, however,
are given that experience has proved good, and may be eaten by
convalescents or invalids at the seaside or in the mountains.
STRAWBERRY SHORT-CAKE.
Bake a short-cake in three thin layers. Then put strawberries between,
having them mashed and sweetened, and on the top layer and all about
the side of a dish, put your finest large berries. This needs no sauce.
We also make a simple pudding, which is well cooked cracked wheat, with
the whole berries stirred in when done, and put in moulds. To be eaten
cold. Rice and corn mushes may be treated in the same way.
But best of all, is strawberries and plain unleavened bread. This
exceeds in wholesomeness, and really in gustatory delight, all the ways
that man has invented to punish strawberries.--_Dr. Fairchild._
The short-cake should be made of cream and graham or entire wheat flour.
GRAHAM CAKE.
One cup sugar, two eggs, half a cup sweet cream, one cup of flour, one
tea-spoon of baking powder. Bake in a deep tin. Adding currants and
chopped raisins and baking in small cake tins makes a nice children’s
cake.
EUREKA SPONGE CAKE.
Four eggs beaten with one and a half cups of sugar, two cups of sifted
flour, baking powder and lemon extract, each one tea-spoon. Beat
thoroughly together, and add three-fourths cup of boiling water. Is
very thin, but makes a delicious and wholesome cake. It is good made
from white or graham flour. Makes a nice layer cake by baking it in
jelly tins.
CORALINE CAKE.
Half a cup of sweet milk, half a cup of rich cream, one cup of sugar,
one egg, two cups graham or entire wheat flour, one tea-spoon baking
powder. Bake in two pie tins. When done split open with a sharp knife,
and fill in with raspberry or strawberry juice that has been thickened
with corn starch or gelatine. By using boiled custard for filling, it
will make what cooks call a French pie.
GRAHAM FRUIT ROLL.
To two and a half cups sifted graham flour add three cups sifted white
flour. Mix with two cups sweet cream, one teaspoon soda and two of
cream tartar. Roll the dough into two oblong sheets about a quarter of
an inch thick. Put layers of fruit between and on them, using one cup
each of chopped raisins and dried currants. Roll closely, pinching the
ends firmly together to secure the fruit. Bake in a moderate oven one
hour.--_Hygienic Cookery._
HUCKLEBERRY CAKE.
Beat together one-half cup butter and two of sugar. Then add one cup
of sweet milk, three of flour and four eggs. One tea-spoon of soda
dissolved in a little hot water. Add last one quart ripe berries.
FRUIT SAUCE.
Boil the juice of any acid fruit, adding an equal part of water. To
one pint put one table-spoon of sugar and one tea-spoon corn starch.
This makes a clear juice about the consistence of syrup, and is very
desirable to eat with wheat, mush, gems, griddle cakes and plain
puddings. Jellies and jams can be made into fruit sauce by adding four
parts of water, and thickening. Will not require sugar. These are
valuable sauces for invalids and children. Once learning how delicious
they are, persons in health will demand them. In many of the small
fruits the seeds are very objectionable. This method of using the
fruits obviates that.
PEACHES A LA STRAWBERRY.
Ripe peaches cut in small pieces, with soft, mild eating apples in the
proportion of three peaches to one apple, mixed with sugar, and left to
stand two or three hours, makes excellent mock strawberries. _Kansas
Home Cook Book._
BAKED APPLES.
Pare tart apples; core with a corer or small knife. Place them in pans
and fill cavities with sugar. Bake in a _slow_ oven until tender. If
sweet apples are used, it is better not to pare; sugar not needed.
APPLE SNOW.
Take apples, not very sweet ones, and bake till soft and brown. Then
remove the skins and cores; when cool, beat them smooth and fine; add
half cup of granulated sugar and the white of one egg. Beat till the
mixture will hold on your spoon. Serve with soft custard.--_V. Mills._
BAKED PEARS.
Take a stone jar, and fill it with alternate layers of pears (without
paring) and a little sugar, until the jar is full, then pour in
as much water as the jar will hold. Bake in a moderate oven three
hours.--_Kansas Home Cook Book._
BAKED PIE-PLANT.
Cut two pounds of pie-plant into a pudding dish, sprinkle over it half
a cup of sugar and half a cup of rolled bread crumbs or granula. Add
water until the pie-plant is two-thirds covered. Bake in a quick oven,
thirty or forty minutes. This method of preparing pie-plant removes the
medicinal taste, and makes an acceptable spring dish.
FRUIT BLANC-MANGE.
One quart of juice of strawberries, cherries, grapes or other juicy
fruit; one cup water. When boiling, add two table-spoonfuls sugar,
and four table-spoonfuls corn-starch wet in cold water; let boil five
or six minutes, then mould in small cups. Serve without sauce, or
with cream or boiled custard. Lemon juice can be used the same, only
requiring more water. This is a very valuable dish for convalescents
and pregnant women, where the stomach rejects solid food.
FRUIT ICE.
Apples, pears, quinces, or any fruit grated fine, sweetened to
taste, and frozen is delicious. May be taken where there is fever or
inflammation.
GRAVY FOR CHILDREN.
Stir a heaping table-spoon of whole wheat flour smoothly in half cup
cold milk. When a pint of milk boils, stir the above in slowly; add a
half tea-spoon salt. To prevent burning, melt a little butter in the
spider before pouring in the milk. It is more nutritious and wholesome
than meat gravy.
MACARONI, STEWED.
Cover half pound of macaroni with plenty of boiling water and stew
slowly two hours, without stirring. Before taking up, season with salt
and cream.
MACARONI, BAKED.
Break in small pieces half a pound of macaroni; mix with a half cup
shavings of cheese and a half tea-spoon salt. Put into a baking dish,
cover with boiling milk or water, and bake two hours in a moderate
oven. If cheese is not relished, use bread-crumbs and cream instead.
CRACKER OMELET.
Break one quart of oyster crackers in small pieces; pour over them one
pint of hot milk, with half tea-spoon salt. Stir in three eggs well
beaten and put into a hot buttered skillet. Cook slowly ten minutes,
stirring frequently.
TOMATOES WITH CORN.
Cook the tomatoes half an hour; then add one-third as much green
corn, cut from the ear. Stew slowly for half an hour, stirring
occasionally.--_Hygienic Cookery._
SCALLOPED TOMATOES.
Place in a pudding dish alternate layers of tomatoes and bread crumbs,
or thin slices of toast, letting the topmost layer be tomatoes. Add a
little salt. Bake slowly, covered an hour or more; uncover and brown
ten minutes.
A FAMILIAR LETTER
TO THE READER FROM THE AUTHOR.
In presenting a revised edition of _Tokology_, the author takes the
liberty of responding to inquiries upon different subjects of vital
importance.
“Can a law be given for regulating the sex of offspring?” This
is a subject which has elicited much study and discussion among
physiologists. Various theories have received the support of
investigators.
Dr. Sixt, a German physician, asserts that the right testicle and the
right ovary secrete the male principle, and the left the female, and
that in coition the sperm is injected from one testicle only. He claims
that experiments upon animals prove his theory; that whenever the left
testicle is removed, the animal begets males only, and when the right
one is wanting, females.
Mrs. Duffey, in mentioning this theory, very shrewdly adds: “He does
not, however, tell us what would be the result if the germ and the
sperm should proceed, the one from the right ovary and the other from
the left testicle.”
The fact also remains that a man who has been deprived of one testicle
has become the father of children of both sexes. Also, that a woman
having lost one ovary has conceived and brought forth both sons and
daughters.
Prof. Thury, of Geneva, gives the following theory: That if
impregnation takes place immediately or very soon after menstruation,
the child will be a female; but if not till some days later, the child
will be a male.
This theory is pretty generally depended upon by stock breeders,
who claim that _early_ union after _heat_ produces _females_, while
the _late_ produces _males_. Yet Darwin affirms that the results of
experiments have gone far to disprove Thury’s theory.
Girou, a French scientist, as well as some French and German
physiologists, claims that experiments show that if the male is older
and stronger than the female, the offspring will be more largely males,
and _vice versa_.
_Samuel Hough Terry_ gives as a tested and proved theory that if the
wife is in a higher state of sexual vigor and excitement at the time of
conception, boys will be conceived; but if the reverse is true, girls
will be the result.
A study of these various theories confirms our doubts as to whether
the true law has as yet been discovered. If, as I believe, sex is in
the soul, then the sex of offspring must be determined by a law of the
soul. So far human knowledge has not arrived in its investigations at
sufficient data for understanding that law.
The probabilities are that it will eventually be proven that the parent
whose mental forces previous to, and at the time of conception, are
most active and vigorous, controls the sex of the child.
Facts proving any of the above theories are solicited.
The _desirability and practicability of limiting offspring_ are the
subject of frequent inquiry. Fewer and better children are desired by
right minded parents. Many men and women, wise in other things of the
world, permit generation as a chance result of copulation, without
thought of physical or mental conditions to be transmitted to the
child. Coition, the one important act of all others, carrying with it
the most vital results, is usually committed for selfish gratification.
Many a drunkard owes his life-long appetite for alcohol to the
fact that the inception of his life could be traced to a night of
dissipation on the part of his father. Physical degeneracy and mental
derangements are too often caused by the parents producing offspring
while laboring under great mental strain or bodily fatigue. Drunkenness
and licentiousness are frequently the heritage of posterity.
Future generations demand that such results be averted by better
pre-natal influences. The world is groaning under the curse of chance
parenthood. It is due to posterity that procreation be brought under
the control of reason and conscience.
It has been feared that a knowledge of means to prevent conception
would, if generally diffused, be abused by women; that they would to so
great an extent escape motherhood, as to bring about social disaster.
This fear is not well founded. The maternal instinct is inherent and
sovereign in woman. Even the pre-natal influences of a murderous intent
on the part of parents scarcely ever eradicate it.
With this natural desire for children, we believe few women would
abuse the knowledge or privilege of controlling conception. Although
women shrink from forced maternity, and from the bearing of children
under the great burden of suffering, as well as other adverse
conditions, it is rare to find a woman who is not greatly disappointed
if she does not, some time in her life, wear the crown of motherhood.
An eminent lady teacher, in talking to her pupils, once said: “The
greatest calamity that can befall a woman is never to have a child.
The next greatest calamity is to have one only.” From my professional
experience I am happy to testify that more women seek to overcome
causes of sterility than to obtain knowledge of limiting the size of
the family, or means to destroy the embryo. Also, if consultation for
the latter purpose is sought, it is usually at the instigation of the
husband.
Believing in the rights of unborn children, and in the maternal
instinct, I am consequently convinced that no knowledge should be
withheld that will secure proper conditions for the best parenthood.
Many of our advanced physiologists and philanthropists teach that the
law of continence should be the law to govern married people in the
sexual relation. (See page 157.) However, if a woman is not convinced
of the truth of this theory, or is practically unable to accord her
life to it, we would suggest to her the study of the physiological laws
of ovulation.
Conception can take place any time after ovulation until the ovum
passes from the uterus. The time of viability is from two to fourteen
days. The balance of the month conception cannot ordinarily take place.
Sterile women desiring offspring should seek sexual union soon after
the appearance of the menses. Those not desiring offspring should avoid
copulation until the ovum has passed the generative tract.
Married people, in normal health, temperate in the sexual relation,
desirous of controlling the size of their family, can usually depend
upon this law.
Can conception possibly take place after sufficient time has elapsed
for the ovum to have left the uterus? Dr. Cowan says: “Sexual
excitement hastens the premature ripening and meeting of the germ-cell
with the sperm-cell, and impregnation may result, although intercourse
occurs only in the specified two weeks’ absence of the egg from the
uterus.”
Possibly this may be the case under some circumstances, such as
diseased conditions, or after long separation of husband and wife.
It is, however, of rare occurrence, where one’s life is governed by
moderation, and the act is mutual.
Many of the means used to prevent conception are injurious, and often
lay the foundation for a train of physical ailments. Probably no one
means is more serious in its results than the practice of withdrawal,
or the discharge of the semen externally to the vagina.
The act is incomplete and unnatural, and is followed by results similar
to and as disastrous as those consequent upon masturbation. In the male
it may result in impotence, in the female in sterility. In both sexes
many nervous symptoms are produced, such as headache, defective vision,
dyspepsia, insomnia, loss of memory, etc. Very many cases of uterine
diseases can be attributed solely to this practice.
The objection to the use of the syringe is that if the sperm has passed
into the uterus the fluid cannot reach it. A cold fluid may in some
instances produce contractions to throw it off, but cannot be relied
upon. Drugs that are used to destroy the germ are usually injurious,
and cannot accomplish the purpose beyond the vagina.
A theory has been advanced that conception is under the control of the
woman’s will; that by avoiding the last thrill of passion herself,
during coition, she can prevent the ovules being displaced to meet
the male germs. This is, however, inconsistent with the teaching that
ovulation is coincident with menstruation.
By some also a theory called sedular absorption is advanced. In this,
intercourse is had without culmination. No discharge is allowed. People
practicing this method claim the highest possible enjoyment, no loss of
vitality, and perfect control of the fecundating power.
When men and women learn that the procreative function is the highest
function of their nature, and consequently that passion instead of
dominating their lives should be under the reign of reason, then may we
hope for a wiser, happier and purer race of beings. Wiser parenthood
and intelligent generation is the surest regeneration.
In answer to inquiries for knowledge upon pre-natal culture, we refer
to A. E. Newton’s estimable work upon this subject. At first we were
jealous that such a needed work was not written by a woman, but we have
become thankful that that man lives whose heart is in sympathy with the
needs of the race, and was inspired to give us such words of wisdom.
He teaches us that we may take the crude metal, fashion and burnish it
into a thing of beauty.
He directs the attention especially to the truth that the father’s
responsibility to the child is equal to the mother’s. That his life
must be pure, his appetites subservient, and his soul filled with high
aspirations. To attain to such a life he must avoid stimulating food
and drink, as well as tobacco.
Few realize the ill effects of the latter, especially upon the
pregnant woman, the fetus and the infant. In the mother the sick
headaches, nausea, and many nervous ailments of pregnancy are directly
attributable to the effect of tobacco smoke which she must inhale.
The child _in utero_ and in the cradle, is also poisoned by it. Chorea,
paralysis, heart disease, convulsions, and many other maladies are the
result of the father’s tobacco habit.
TESTIMONIALS.
Many testimonials have been received from people who have derived
benefit from following the teachings of _Tokology_. By permission a
few extracts are taken from letters which are only similar to hundreds
received, giving wonderful proof of the efficacy of its teachings. In
some families the work is used as a reference book, while others loan
it to friends and neighbors, keeping it on its mission of health and
happiness. Frequently the writer says: “I would not take $10 for my
copy if I could not procure another.”
One writes: “It has been such a comfort to prepare dainty and
palatable dishes for an invalid mother from the recipes in dietetics.
It is a great gratification to her that she can have even pies and
puddings that can do her no possible harm.”
Mrs. W., of Forest City, says: “I have depended on _Tokology_ for
knowledge in bringing up my twin babies. Have taken them through
attacks of croup and summer complaint, and have never called a doctor.”
Mr. J. C. A., of Henderson, Ky., says: “I have been afflicted
twenty-five years with constipation, and rejoice to say I am entirely
relieved by following the diet and exercises recommended in _Tokology_.
I wish every one knew the value of these simple measures.”
Mrs. E. J. McElwain, of Michigan, says: “A friend of mine, advanced to
the seventh month of pregnancy, bought _Tokology_. She lived entirely
by the instructions contained therein. Last Monday was confined. The
child was born before the doctor or any one could get there. She is
a true woman, and desires every woman to have the benefit of her
experience.” This is only one of many similar testimonials.
Dr. E. M. Hale, of Chicago, says: “I consider _Tokology_ _the very best
book_ that can be put into the hands of a girl or young wife.”
MY DEAR DR. STOCKHAM:--I have had three children, and in the delivery
of each have suffered comparatively no pain. With the two first the
physician was not in the house ten minutes before the birth of the
child, while the last was born half an hour before his arrival,
although he made all possible haste. I had never heard anything in
regard to painless childbirth. I never was strong, and being over
thirty before my first child was born, it was a mystery to myself
and friends why I should have such easy labors. Several months ago I
read _Tokology_, and then I understood it, for accidentally I have
lived according to its teachings. My diet was entirely of fruits and
grains. Meats I had a positive dislike for, and never ate them. Lemons
I craved, and would eat three or four a day, also all kinds of fruits.
Pastries I cared nothing for, living on rice, oatmeal, etc., and the
result was, as you teach, a painless child-birth. One of my friends,
Mrs. M. H., of Springfield, Ohio, in her first confinement, which was
severe and prolonged, came near losing her life, with that of her
babe. The cervix and perineum were lacerated, and her confinement was
followed by inflammation and prolonged prostration. Her physician said
she probably could not again become pregnant; if she did she would
surely die. This was five years ago. Last spring she again conceived,
and was very despondent, fearing the worst. When I heard of it I sent
her _Tokology_. Hopefully she began following its teachings. She was
amply repaid by being safely delivered, comparatively without pain,
and having no subsequent illness, in her own language, “feeling so
well, it seemed an absurdity to remain in bed.” I have known several
others who have followed _Tokology_, and in each case it has proved
equally successful. How I wish that every pregnant woman could have
this grand work. I know then that the agony so many women endure would
be prevented.
MRS. S. A. GOFF, _Lincoln, Kan._
DEAR DOCTOR:--I am astonished at the benefits derived from _Tokology_.
I had the book only a few weeks before confinement; when I procured
it my feet were so bloated I could scarcely walk across the room. I
followed the advice in the book faithfully, and in a short time got
so smart I could do my work with ease. The night before confinement I
walked two miles and came home, feeling well. I got up in the morning
and gathered up my clothes for washing, but soon found I had other
business on hand. At 10 o’clock A. M. I had a nice little daughter;
was sick only one hour, and no very hard pain. Always before, my
sickness at such times had been long and severe; have lain unconscious
for hours. My recovery, too, from previous labors, has been very
lingering. This time in five days I was dressed and stood upon my
feet; in two weeks was able to take care of my child, and do much
besides. No money could buy my book from me. I most cheerfully give my
experience for the benefit of others.
MRS. MAGGIE MEAD,
_Friend, Neb._
TO DOCTOR STOCKHAM, whom I call my best friend:--When about three
months advanced in pregnancy I bought _Tokology_. My health was very
poor; I was a constant sufferer. My children had all been weak and
puny, and died when from three to six months old. With the last I
lost my own health; many said I would not live to have another child.
I have followed the directions of _Tokology_ to the letter. From the
first my health improved, and I had a comfortable confinement. The
contrast to the previous labors was as day is to night. I can truly
say I owe my life to _Tokology_. Could I not get another, I would not
take $100 for it. I wish every woman knew the value of the work as I
do.
MRS. A. R. STEWART,
_St. Paul, Minn._
MY DEAR MISS STOCKHAM:--In presenting me your mother’s book, you add
another one to your many kind and thoughtful deeds, which will aid
me wonderfully in my mission as wife and mother. _Tokology_ contains
a wealth of enlightenment calculated to promote all that is pure and
noble. You and your mother are truly great philanthropists.
MARIE F. BORNEFELD,
_Galveston, Tex._
DEAR DR. STOCKHAM:--My delivery was the shortest and easiest I
ever had. The Lord was good to me in giving me what I needed.
_Tokology_ proved a great blessing, as my health improved all the
time. I have a fine little girl, who is perfectly healthy. I can,
with good conscience, recommend _Tokology_. My sister officiated as
midwife by the instructions in the book, though previously entirely
inexperienced, and did well. How can any one help understanding your
plain directions? I feel very grateful that _Tokology_ ever came into
my hands. Some of the suggestions are invaluable. Bathing the babe in
sweet oil worked like a charm. “Not tying the cord,” of which some
were fearful, worked nicely. I thank the Lord for giving you the power
to write such a valuable book.
MRS. L. A. SHERMAN,
_Litchfield, Ill._
MY DEAR MRS. TALBOT:--Your invaluable gift, _Tokology_, reached me
Christmas morning. I was in bed, suffering intensely from uterine
disease. I eagerly grasped the book and read as I never did before.
Many times I have said that God had shown no consideration for
_frail_, _delicate_ women; that bearing children was a _blight_ to
womanhood and a _curse_ to the marriage vow. Why was this? My heart
has been in one life-long rebellion. I could not be resigned to
the agony endured by wives and mothers. I knew there was something
terribly wrong. _Tokology_ has solved the problem for me. You cannot
imagine how happy it has made me. Already I begin to feel the joy of
returning health. I want all my friends and neighbors to have the
book. My parents and sisters must read it. I can never tell what a
blessing your gift has bestowed on me and _us_. I thank you a thousand
times.
S. L. PIGGOTT,
_Shreveport, La._
The following is a P. S. to a business letter from a lawyer:--Mrs. K.
wishes me to add that she faithfully followed your instructions in
regard to fruit diet and sitz-baths, and owes you very much for good
results obtained. The doctor did not reach the house until half an
hour after the child was born. She really experienced but one severe
pain, while our first child caused her much suffering. We are both
grateful for the science you teach.
W. F. K.,
_Huron, Dak._
MY DEAR DOCTOR:--In all previous confinements I had very severe
after-pains; when I asked the doctor for something to give relief, he
replied unfeelingly that this is nature’s method of restoring the womb
to its natural condition, and that our first mother had no medicine
for after-pains. Thanks to _Tokology_, I had no after-pains this time.
I followed the fruit and grain diet, often using three lemons a day.
I always took a glass of hot lemonade before breakfast. How good of a
woman to write these things as you have done for women. Yours truly,
MRS. K. J.,
_Louisville, Ky._
The following is from an experienced physician:
DEAR DOCTOR:--I am glad to add my testimony to the truths of
_Tokology_. I was past thirty-five when I first became pregnant,
but by hygienic training before and during pregnancy, I bore three
children without suffering. I ate food containing little or no
bone-forming material. Every day took plenty of exercise; gardening,
walking, gathering fruit, etc. I was careful that my dress caused no
restriction about my waist, abdomen or hips, not wearing _even one
band_ to an under-garment. I took sitz-baths before retiring, and
during the entire pregnancy enjoyed perfect health. Still, on account
of my age, I fully expected some suffering in child-birth.
On the morning of the 3d of December I noticed painless contraction of
the uterus, recurring regularly every hour, the intervals gradually
shortening to twenty minutes, by night. I spent the evening very
pleasantly entertaining company, no one suspecting I was in labor.
I went to bed and slept until 11 o’clock, when I was awakened by
a positive expulsive effort; still no pain. I aroused my husband,
asking him to prepare a hot sitz-bath, which was very grateful.
He was anxious to call the doctor and nurse, and also to arouse my
mother, who was in the house, but I assured him it was too soon.
Although I had lived carefully, I fully believed I must suffer, and I
begged him to disturb no one until I became _sick_.
In a few minutes I felt I must arise from the sitz-bath, and quickly
knelt beside a chair. The next expulsive effort brought a welcome
little stranger. I poured my heart out in gratitude for the knowledge
that had brought about such wonderful results. With my own hands I
tied the cord and removed the placenta. I fixed myself nicely in bed
and enjoyed the washing and dressing of my own darling with true
motherly delight. My own mother in an adjoining room knew nothing of
the event until all was over. The second day I was out doors, and
the third I took a short ride to visit a patient who needed a minor
surgical operation.
When my second child was born we had just made the trip by steamer
from New York to San Francisco. We had been out to an evening lecture,
and were guests at a Water Cure, separated from our baggage. I had
slept quietly about an hour, when I became aware that I must arouse my
husband to go for one trunk with all possible speed. Although he had
to go only a short distance, which he accomplished in haste, the child
was born without pain while I was entirely alone. I really felt no
need of assistance. With the dear boy who has blessed every hour since
his advent, we continued the journey to Santa Cruz the third day of
his life, with no bad results.
My third child was born with only half an hour’s painless expulsive
effort, and, as usual, I was up and out doors the second day after.
If women could be made to understand what is gained by _absolutely_
dressing the waist free from any pressure or constriction, we could
hopefully predict a near millennium of safety and freedom of pain
in child-birth. It seems almost hopeless to convince any lady that
the bands of her skirts and drawers are any detriment to her in the
performance of natural functions. I have known of hundreds of cases
where natural conditions have brought about results similar to my own
experience.
* * * * *
I must take from my diary one case, a strong proof of the truths
taught in _Tokology_. Mrs. H., of Philadelphia, in the fifth month
of pregnancy placed herself under my care. She was married at
thirty-five, and soon became pregnant. At her full term, surgeons
discovered deformity of the pelvis, and were forced to perform
craniotomy and instrumental delivery. She was told she never could
give birth to a living child. Twice subsequently, by eminent
surgeons, abortion was produced, in order to save her life. In this
last pregnancy she was told that her constitution was so undermined
it would be certain death to destroy the fetus, and she had better
take her chances by going full term. She came under my care with the
expectation of only four months of life, very feeble, and a great
sufferer. I was never more determined that any one should have the
advantage of the truths of _Tokology_. I kept her out doors lying on a
cot, and had her practice deep breathing and gymnastics. Three times
daily she had thorough _massage_, taking cool sitz-baths frequently.
She soon began to take short walks, although when she came she was
unable to cross the room alone. Previous to the birth of the child,
she could walk with ease a mile before partaking of her breakfast of
fresh fruit. Although deformed and apparently a physical wreck, by
reliance upon these simple methods only, discarding all drugs, she
brought forth a living child with only a few hours of suffering. She
has ever since been a proud, healthy, happy mother. May God bless you,
dear doctor, in your mission of good health to women. Ever faithfully,
HARRIET H. LARKINS, M. D.,
_Wright, Dickey Co., Dak._
A grateful woman writes:--My reason for wishing to sell _Tokology_ is
this: Twice I went down to death, suffering all the agony a woman can
suffer and live. For what? Only to receive into my aching arms a piece
of lifeless clay.
The last time I was pregnant I stumbled upon _Tokology_, and followed
its teachings. The result is a beautiful living daughter. These are
glad tidings of great joy.
MRS. GEO. N. JARVIS,
_Arapahoe, Neb._
The following letter is from a lady well known in philanthropic work.
She says,--I wish to give you the praise and credit of assisting me
in obtaining such an easy confinement, and such rest and good health
the last three months of pregnancy. I think it was remarkable, in
view of my age (forty years), and the length of time (fourteen years)
since I had borne a child. I was very poorly the first three months.
During my absence at Detroit, where I had been attending the W. C. T.
U. Convention, one of your circulars was sent to me. At the urgent
solicitation of my family I obtained the book. I am very thankful for
it. It has been of untold help to me. From the first it gave me great
encouragement.
I took a bath every other night. My food consisted of graham gems,
lean meats, cooked fruits and a little hot water and cream. I ate
nothing from my noon dinner until morning, and slept much better at
night. Women eat too much. If they would only try, they would soon get
over that feeling of hunger of which they complain. One thing they
should insist upon, and that is to sleep alone for at least the last
three months. The last night I slept well, arose in the morning and
assisted in preparing the breakfast. After the meal was over, I sent
for the nurse and physician, who arrived about nine o’clock. Before
eleven o’clock I had a beautiful nine-pound baby.
I had passed through my confinement with such comfort that I could
but wish that all mothers might do likewise, and that I could have
read your book twenty-five years earlier. It would have saved me great
suffering and trouble.
MRS. M. A. LULEY,
_St. Paul, Minn._
Mrs. Prof. Kinzie, of Emporia, Kansas, writes:
MRS. A. B. STOCKHAM, M. D.:
_Dear Madam_,--By direction of my physician, I followed the laws of
health as given in your valuable book, and feel amply repaid.
Ten years ago, in my first confinement, I suffered forty-eight hours,
twenty-four of hard labor, and in this second confinement not even
one hour. This was no comparison to the first. My baby (now four
months old) is the picture of good health, and I am myself more than
ordinarily well.
My diet was of fruit and vegetables, with graham mush for breakfast. I
was very regular the last three months with my sitz-baths, taking them
just before retiring, and finding them very quieting.
I took a walk every day for the first seven months. After that my only
exercise was my housework. I wish that this valuable book could reach
all. If anything I have said will help some poor mortal, I shall be
very glad to have you use my words.
Occasionally it has been reported to me that women following the
teachings of _Tokology_ in pregnancy have failed in securing desired
results. Almost invariably in such cases investigation has proven
that some of the directions have not been followed. Nearly always the
_fruit diet_ has been adopted quite faithfully, and sitz-baths taken
as directed. Often no special change has been made in _dress_, the
_exercises_ and the hot bath at confinement have been omitted, and the
teachings in Chap. XI. _entirely ignored_.
These are all equally important with diet and bathing. The millennium
for women, so far as health is concerned, would be at hand if they
could be convinced of the injurious results of corsets, bands and
heavy skirts. _These must be discarded._ There is no compromise if one
desires the physical development so essential to healthy child-bearing.
The stock-raiser would not allow one single girth around a mare in foal
that in any way restricted respiration, digestion and circulation,
lest the mare or her offspring be injured. In the physical life of
woman she is just as amenable to the laws of nature as is the animal.
If a man were to exchange and wear his wife’s clothing, for one month,
only he would show more interest that the mother of his child should
avoid the deleterious influence of the fashionable dress. The natural
and artistic lines of the body must be preserved to insure the noble
attributes and capacities of motherhood.
_Exercise_ is especially essential in pregnancy. Those recommended in
_Tokology_ increase the capacity of the pelvis and abdomen, develop
the muscles to be used in parturition, aid digestion, and equalize
circulation.
Many ladies, following faithfully the directions for exercise, have
been very lax in regard to diet and baths, and yet brought about
remarkable results in having an easy delivery. Several instances
have come to my knowledge of ladies who, having taken elocution
lessons during pregnancy, and with these lessons a thorough course
of gymnastics, have brought about a natural delivery, where labor
previously had been prolonged and severe. These were persons who had no
knowledge of special baths or _fruit diet_.
The following interesting letter is from an intelligent lady who is
selling _Tokology_ as missionary work:
DEAR DR. STOCKHAM:--Be sure to tell the ladies the importance of
exercise during pregnancy. Many are blinded to any measure save the
_fruit diet_. I had _Tokology_ only the last six weeks of pregnancy.
Previous to that I had exercised very little. As soon as I read
the work I began gymnastics and walking; took sitz-baths to remove
any lameness caused. I also went up and down stairs a great deal,
following directions in _Tokology_. To the very last week I continued
canvassing for your valuable work. I had _painless_ contractions of
the uterus every few moments during the entire day.
After eating my supper and refusing to play croquet, as I had an
_engagement_, I hastened to my room to prepare for the arrival of the
little stranger. The contractions began to cause some pain. I made use
of the hot sitz-bath, and it gave wonderful relief. I remained in the
bath a long time, until I became so sleepy it was necessary to go to
bed. I had _no hard pain_. The expulsive efforts were not as painful
as the first contractions, and those I had were in the abdomen. After
three bearing-down pains I laid down, and the fourth pain brought the
child from the uterus into the world, and without any of that tearing
pain usually experienced. All was over at 10:30 o’clock.
This was my third boy. With both of the others I was in labor all
night and half of the next day, and took chloroform for hours, the
_agony_ was so unbearable. Each time I was so sore and weak afterward
I could not move myself in bed. This time I could move right away to
any part of the bed; and the next day sat up to eat food three times.
I had my nurse only four days, while each time before I could not do
without her under three weeks. I was out selling _Tokology_ in less
than two weeks, and can assure you, dear Doctor, I never did any work
with such a good will as this. It is taking a blessed truth to women.
Sincerely your friend,
MRS. G. E. BROWN,
_Las Animas, Col._
It is probable, if a woman has had inflammation and ulceration of the
womb a long time, that she will be unable to bring about conditions to
insure a painless labor. This is true, especially, if caustic treatment
has been resorted to, resulting in induration. In such a case, a course
of hygienic treatment during pregnancy will be valuable, but to restore
the parts to their normal conditions may require years of right living.
I must again emphasize the need of continence between husband and wife
during pregnancy. A lady physician in Iowa relates many interesting
cases where labor was rendered almost painless, simply by the continent
life. Her theory is, that the repeated contractions of the vaginal
walls and vulva render them unyielding, and consequently there is
absolute mechanical obstruction to the passage of the head. The theory
is certainly worthy of consideration.
I have long been thoroughly convinced that sexual intercourse during
pregnancy is entirely inimical to the best conditions for maternity.
The natural repugnance that most women have for the act during fetal
growth, ought to cause right-minded people serious thought.
Col. A. B. Meacham, who has spent much time among the Modocs, says:
“There is a tradition among them that the Great Spirit blew his breath
upon a maiden, and said to her that she should become the mother of
the son of the Great Spirit. He forbade her to look upon the face of
man until the child was born. To this day no Indian woman of the tribe
who is to become a mother, ever looks upon the face of man.”
Is it not possible that here is one potent reason that Indian women
have so little suffering in child-birth? May not the intelligent white
man learn a lesson of purity, of self-abnegation, as well as of honor
to his wife and offspring, from the untutored savage?
We are counseled by eminent physicians, like Acton, Gerrish, Cowan
and Winslow, that the continent life gives to the individual the
best physical development, the greatest intellectual strength and
the highest moral excellence, as well as promotes conditions for the
improvement of the race.
Prof. Huxley says: “That man has had a liberal education who has been
so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will * *
* * and who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose
passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of
a tender conscience.”
Dr. F. H. Gerrish says: “Man’s procreative energy should be to him
a sacred trust, to be kept inviolate, and to be used only with the
distinct and definite purpose of perpetuating his kind. His children
would never be accidents, but begotten intentionally, at a time when
both parents are in good physical and mental condition.”
Further, in opposing the prevalent opinion that continence is a cause
of disease, he says: “I very much doubt if a member of this association
ever had to treat a disease resulting from _chaste_ continence. I
would emphasize the adjective, for nothing but harm can come from the
excitement dependent on the constant or frequent entertainment of lewd
imaginings, even if one abstain altogether from sexual indulgence.”
Rev. N. E. Boyd says: “Men need all their vital force not required in
fatherhood, for the performance of the labors, material, mental and
moral, whereunto they are called.”
A well-known author testifies: “Beyond doubt, as men now live,
continence is almost impossible. They drug themselves with tobacco
and excite themselves with wine. They enervate their powers in heated
rooms, and read books which arouse lascivious desires. Naturally,
sexual passion attacks them, and if it be refused gratification they
become fevered and restless, and declare that health demands frequent
intercourse, and suffers without. But it is not a _physical necessity_.
Under certain conditions absolute continence is consistent with the
highest health during the whole lifetime. To attain this, however, one
must live in perfect accordance with hygienic laws; he cannot expect to
suppress one vice and yield to another.”
The following wise counsels to fathers is in a pamphlet entitled “The
Better Way,” by A. E. Newton: “The matron, when once her organism
has entered upon the work of developing a new life, should be left
unmolested by intrusion in that department of her being. The work
cannot be well performed--it may be woefully defaced or ruined--if the
energies of her system are drawn upon by additional demands upon the
sexual organism. At all events, the intuition of the mother, when
against the practice referred to, should never be violated. To abstain
from all intrusive acts is a duty which no father can disregard with
impunity.
“The strength of the sexual appetite in men is unquestionably the grand
obstacle to the improvement of the race in the manner proposed. But
is this strength in all cases purely natural and healthy? Otherwise,
no one can rationally urge that its demands should be indulged to
their full extent--much less that the personal rights, the health and
happiness of the opposite sex, and the welfare of unborn generations,
should be sacrificed to its indulgence. * * * Experience has proven
that mastery can be attained. A determined will--an earnest, constant
aspiration for power from above to overcome, with a careful abstinence
from exciting foods, drinks, acts and thoughts, and the use of
appropriate means to allay excitement--these, persisted in, will bring
the victory in due time.”
William Acton, M. R. C. S., an English physician, eminent in his
profession, says: “True continence is complete control over the
passions, exercised by one who has felt their power, and who, were it
not for his steady will, not only could but would indulge them. * * *
Granted, that continence is a _trial_, a sore trial, a bitter trial,
if you will, what, I would ask, is the use or object of a trial but to
try, to test, to elicit, strengthen and brace whatever of sterling,
whatever of valuable, there is in the thing tried? To yield at once, is
this the right way to meet a trial? To lay down one’s arms at the first
threatening of conflict, is this a _creditable_ escape from trial,
to say no more? Nay, is it _safe_, when the trial is imposed by the
highest possible authority? Our object ought to be to preserve a pure
and healthy mind in a pure and healthy body. Judiciously directed,
training and exercise of _both_ toward this definite object would, I am
sure, in most cases, reduce the difficulty of living a chaste life to
the minimum, and indeed render the conflict rather a proud and thankful
sense of self-command than an arduous struggle. * * * The man who can
command even his thoughts will have an easier task in keeping himself
continent than he who cannot. He has great power who, when physical
temptations assail him can determinedly apply his mind to other
subjects, and employ the whole force of his will in turning away from
the danger.”
Carpenter, in a late edition of his work, says to those who urge the
wants of nature as an excuse for the illicit gratification of the
sexual passion: “Try the effects of close mental application to some
ennobling pursuit, in combination with vigorous bodily exercise, before
you assert that the appetite is unrestrainable, and act upon that
assertion.”
To parents desiring the best interests of offspring, these quotations
from men of known scientific and professional reputation are worthy of
careful thought. Lives based upon these truths will make motherhood
desired, and offspring a blessing.
To secure the best possible conditions for maternity, a lady should
never lose sight of the value of congenial, absorbing occupation.
There should be no leisure to foster morbid symptoms. Having neither
financial need nor desire for following a special vocation, the
systematic pursuit of some study, as geology, natural history or
botany, will make conditions for satisfactory pre-natal culture.
Who knows but by throwing her whole soul into the search, and thus
being carried out of herself by these ennobling pursuits, she may
become the mother of a Humboldt, an Agassiz or an Audubon.
A letter lies before me from a lady who had long been a sufferer from
chronic diseases. By following the instructions of _Tokology_ since her
marriage, and for some months previous to pregnancy, she has overcome
most of her troubles. She writes: “I have good news for you. Two months
from now I expect to become a mother. The past six months’ life has
been a constant joy. I never have had such good health, consequently
such good spirits and enjoyment in my work. I am now spending four
or five hours a day in study--German and music, and at his earnest
request, Latin, with my husband.
“I do my own housework, and with my sewing, social demands and daily
walks, am busy every moment, yet, strange to say, I never seemed to
have as much leisure as now. We live simply, and, I believe, sensibly,
and I try to do the things that are best physically and mentally for me
as a mother, and for the little one who is now part of my life.” This
lady finds absorbing interest in training classes of young girls for a
noble womanhood and motherhood.
So many objects of philanthropic interest now appeal to every woman
that there is abundant opportunity to reach out beyond self. In every
direction the needs of humanity demand of all who have hitherto
been idlers, that they try the blessedness of unselfish endeavor.
By responding bravely to these appeals in the days of prospective
maternity, the mother will find both present and future reward.
In pregnancy, as in chronic diseases, symptoms are often attributed to
_imagination_. It has been proven that the _imagination_ or _belief_
can create, not only symptoms, but actual disease. Physicians recognize
this fact, but are slow to acknowledge the correlative one, that this
same imagination or belief is of untold therapeutic value in medical
practice.
Dr. Evans says: “As thought and existence are identical, a change of
thought must necessarily modify our existence. To _think_ a change in
our bodily condition, and not merely to think about it, will determine
all the living forces toward that result, as certainly as a stream
issuing from a fountain will flow in another direction when we change
the direction of its channel.”
For self-healing, one can learn to abstract his thoughts from suffering
or from the organ affected, so as not to sense the pain. This is
somewhat different from opposing the _will_ power, as is usually
understood; indeed, it is rather the opposite. By an introversion of
thought, a _passive_ condition is secured and maintained. Evans styles
this an “_impressible conscious state_.”
Understanding the conditions, this state can be attained by any one,
and while in it pain and disease, _real only in thought_, can be
removed. In this way one _thinks_ himself out of morbid conditions. One
then, really is only to think the opposite of his seeming condition
steadily, persistently and honestly, to effect a change.
When a student at Olivet College, Michigan, I heard Professor Hosford
lecture upon “Health and Disease.” He asserted that sickness could be
induced by working upon the imagination or belief.
In support of this statement he related a case of a dose of flour,
supposed to be ipecac, producing the ordinary results of that drug.
Four of the fun-loving students determined to test this assertion.
In one of their rambles they saw a teamster on his way to procure
lumber at a place some miles distant. They resolved to experiment upon
him. Awaiting his return, they stationed themselves at considerable
distances and accosted him in a friendly manner. Each of them, however,
added to his cordial greeting words of dismay at seeing him look so ill.
To the first he stoutly denied any indisposition, but to the second
admitted slight indigestion; the third found him looking miserable and
suffering from colic. He was persuaded to stop walking beside his team
and ride on the lumber. The fourth easily induced him to resign the
reins, while the teamster, really ill at last, rode home reclining upon
his load, unable for the rest of the day to leave his home.
A curious experiment was tried by noted surgeons upon a condemned
criminal. He was made to believe that he was to be bled to death.
Stretched upon a table, bound and blindfolded, he awaited the
operation. The surgeon, with a sharp instrument, pricked his flesh to
simulate the opening of an artery. At once a small fountain, from which
water at blood-heat flowed, was opened over the supposed incision; the
water flowing freely at first, gradually became less and less copious.
The surgeons and attendants spoke among themselves of his failing
powers, of his pallor, of his loss of heat and pulse-beats. They
questioned him meanwhile as to these symptoms, which questioning he
answered in full faith that his life-blood was indeed passing from him.
He grew fainter and more faint, gasped for breath, and finally expired.
If a well person can be made to believe he is ill, yes, and really to
die of his affection, as in the case above noted, and also as is often
noticed in an epidemic, may not a sick person be led to believe he is
well? Sometimes a _silent suggestion_ of friend or physician to this
end is more potent than the spoken word. In the former case the thought
of the patient unconsciously seconds the thought of the friend, while
in the latter, argument and discussion rouse an opposing force.
A pregnant woman, by _ignoring_ her ailments, by abstracting from them
her thoughts, by occupying her mind entirely, can bring about wonderful
results in overcoming undesired conditions. In following the teachings
of _Tokology_, care must be taken that the mind is not directed to
watching for and fostering morbid symptoms.
The _mind_, the _real self_, controls all the functions pertaining
to life, and its supremacy can be directed toward removing morbid
tendencies. _One can train the mind to this end._ It is merely what is
usually termed “getting above one’s self,” or “putting sorrow, grief
and pain under one’s feet.” It is simply the conquest of self and sin,
as taught in different ways in religion and philosophy. Cheerfully,
hopefully bring the soul into harmony with _the good_ in the universe.
Where there is light there can be no darkness, where health reigns,
disease disappears. Learn to subordinate the body. Encourage all
indications of health. By a calm trust and a restful faith in the
Divine, sins of the body (disease) as well as sins of the soul may be
dethroned, and health and happiness reign supreme.
For the sake of human progress, may every parent lose sight of selfish
interest, and strive to the utmost for all conditions that shall favor
the highest good of offspring, “for to be well-born is the right of
every child.”
AUTHOR’S SPECIAL REQUEST.
The author earnestly solicits every lady who has followed the teachings
of _Tokology_ during pregnancy to communicate the result. Her name will
be suppressed if desired. For the sake of all suffering women she asks
a faithful report upon these points:
What has been your experience in previous labors?
How long before your confinement did you have _Tokology_?
What hindrances existed to your following the directions strictly?
Did you take all the exercises recommended?
Did you climb stairs and walk daily?
Did you follow any occupation or do housework?
How near did you dress according to instructions?
Did you take the baths prescribed, and which gave the most relief for
existing symptoms?
Were hot sitz-baths taken during confinement?
How faithfully was fruit diet followed?
Did you eat meat, pastry or butter?
Did you omit the products of the wheat?
How many meals a day were taken?
Did you live a continent life during the entire nine months?
Give the length and severity of labor, also condition of child at
birth, and its subsequent health?
Did you have trouble with the breasts or any post-partum disease?
State length of time and particulars of recovery.
Add other items of interest, also experiences of other persons coming
to your knowledge.
GLOSSARY.
_Abdominal._--Belonging to the abdomen or belly.
_Abnormal._--Unhealthy, unnatural.
_Aconite._--Aconitum Napellus. Monk’s-hood.
_Accoucheur._--Surgeon in childbirth.
_Adipose._--Fatty.
_Adjuvant._--Aid.
_Alterative._--A mild cathartic.
_Amaurosis._--Paralysis of optic nerve.
_Amenorrhea._--Suppression of the menses.
_Ammonia._--Hartshorn.
_Amnion._--The internal membrane containing the waters and fetus.
_Amniotic._--Pertaining to amnion.
_Anemia._--An impoverished state of blood. Bloodless.
_Anodyne._--Soothing pain.
_Anteversion._--Bending forward.
_Antiperiodic._--A remedy for intermittent affections.
_Antiphlogistic._--Counteracting inflammation.
_Antiseptic._--Preventing or retarding putrefaction.
_Anus._--Circular opening or outlet of the bowels.
_Aorta._--The great artery of the heart.
_Aperient._--Laxative, mild cathartic.
_Aphrodisiac._--To excite sexual desire, or to increase the generative
power.
_Aphtha._--Thrush. Infants’ sore mouth.
_Apis Mellifica._--Honey bee.
_Arnica Montana._--Leopard’s bane.
_Arsenicum Album._--White arsenic.
_Astringent._--Binding, contracting.
_Auricle._--Upper chambers of the heart.
_Auscultation._--Act of listening to sounds in any part of the body.
_Axilla._--Arm pit.
_Bacteria._--Infusoria. Microscopical insects.
_Belladonna._--Deadly nightshade.
_Benzoin._--Balsamic resin from styrax benzoin.
_Bronchorrhea._--Increased discharge of mucus from the bronchia.
_Bryonia Alba._--White bryony.
_Calcarea Carbonica._--Carbonate of lime.
_Calenduline._--Mixture of calendula and cosmoline.
_Cantharis._--Spanish fly.
_Capillaries._--Hair-like vessels for conveying the blood from the
arteries to the veins.
_Capsules._--Small membranous sacs.
_Cardiac._--Belonging to the heart.
_Catarrh._--A discharge from mucus surfaces of the body.
_Cathartic._--A drug that increases the action of the bowels.
_Caul._--The membranes which, not being ruptured, cover the child’s
head and face at birth.
_Cellular._--Composed of cells.
_Cellulitis._--Inflammation of the cellular tissues.
_Cervix._--Neck.
_Cervix Uteri._--Neck of the womb.
_Chamomilla Matricaria._--Wild matricary. Chamomile.
_Chorion._--The most external membrane enveloping the fetus.
_Cimicifuga Racemosa._--Macrotis. Black cohosh. Black snake root.
_Clavicle._--Collar bone.
_Climacteric._--A critical period.
_Coccyx._--Terminal bone of the spine.
_Cohosh._--Black snake root. Squaw root.
_Colocynthis._--Bitter cucumber.
_Congestion._--Over-fullness of blood-vessels.
_Contusion._--A bruise.
_Crural._--Belonging to the leg.
_Cystitis._--Inflammation of the bladder.
_Defecation._--The act of voiding excrement or feces.
_Depurition._--Removal of impurities.
_Diagnosis._--Scientific determination of diseases.
_Diaphragm._--Breathing muscle between chest and abdomen.
_Diaphoretic._--A remedy that produces perspiration.
_Diluent._--A substance that dilutes or thins liquid.
_Diphtheria._--A malignant membranous disease of the throat.
_Diphtheritic._--Pertaining to diphtheria.
_Diuretic._--Causing increased discharge of urine.
_Duodenum._--The first part of the small intestines.
_Dystocia._--Difficult and surgical delivery.
_Eclat._--Brilliant reputation, distinction, prestige.
_Emmenagogue._--Remedy that promotes the menstrual discharge.
_Emulsify._--Soften, make milky.
_Enciente._--Pregnant.
_Enema._--Injection.
_Enteritis._--Inflammation of the intestines.
_Epidermis._--Outer Skin.
_Ergot._--Smut of rye. A poisonous fungus growth.
_Etiology._--The science of the causes of disease.
_Eustachian valve._--A valve of the heart.
_Excoriation._--A chafing or abrasion of the skin.
_Excretion._--Anything thrown off from the system.
_Excretory._--Throwing off matter.
_Exosmosis._--Passage of liquids through membranes outward.
_Fallopian Tubes._--Tubes from ovaries to uterus. Oviducts.
_Fauces._--The upper part of the throat.
_Feces._--Discharge from the bowels. Excrement.
_Fecundation._--The act of impregnation. Fertilization.
_Fetal._--Pertaining to fetus or child in the womb.
_Fetus._--Child in the womb after the fifth month.
_Fimbriated._--Fringed, finger-like.
_Flatulence._--Gases in the stomach or bowels.
_Flex._--Bend.
_Fomentation._--Warm or hot application to the body.
_Foramen Ovale._--Opening between the auricles of fetal heart.
_Friable._--Easily crumbled or broken.
_Function._--The office or duty of any organ.
_Fundus._--Body.
_Ganglia._--Nerve centers.
_Ganglionic._--Pertaining to ganglia.
_Gangrene._--The first stage of mortification.
_Gastritis._--Inflammation of the stomach.
_Gelsemium Sempervirens._--Yellow Jessamine.
_Gestation._--Period of growth of child in the womb.
_Glairy._--Like the white of an egg.
_Gravid._--From gravis, heavy. A term applied to the uterus during
gestation.
_Gustatory._--Pertaining to taste.
_Gynecologist._--One who makes a specialty of gynecology.
_Gynecology._--The science which treats of female organs.
_Hamamelis Virginica._--Witch Hazel.
_Hemorrhoids._--Piles. Tumors in and about the anus.
_Hydrastis._--Golden seal, yellow root.
_Hygiene._--The art of preserving health.
_Hyperemia._--Excess of blood in any part.
_Ignatia Amara._--St. Ignatius’ bean.
_Impaction._--Hardened and packed closely.
_Impotence._--Incapable of procreating.
_Induration._--Hardening.
_Infusoria._--Microscopic insects.
_Insomnia._--Sleeplessness.
_Integument._--Skin.
_Intra-uterine._--Within the uterus.
_Introversion._--Turned within.
_Ipecacuanha._--Ipecac.
_Labia._--The lips of the vagina.
_Laxative._--Remedy increasing action of the bowels.
_Liquor Amnii._--Secretion in which the fetus floats.
_Lobelia Inflata._--Indian tobacco.
_Malaise._--Discomfort. Indisposition.
_Mammary._--Pertaining to the breast.
_Massage._--Manipulation of surface and muscles for remedial purposes.
_Maturation._--The formation of pus. The act of maturing.
_Meconium._--First feces of infant.
_Menopause._--Change of life.
_Menorrhagia._--Profuse menstruation.
_Menstruation._--Monthly discharge of blood from the uterus.
_Mercurius Corrosivus._--Corrosive sublimate.
_Mercurius Solubilis._--Black oxide of mercury.
_Metritis._--Inflammation of the womb.
_Metrorrhagia._--Hemorrhage of the womb.
_Miscible._--Capable of being mixed.
_Morbific._--Causing disease.
_Muco-sanguineous._--Composed of blood and mucus.
_Multipara._--Having had several children.
_Nux Vomica._--Strychnos. Vomit nut.
_Obstetrics._--Tokology. Midwifery.
_Os._--Mouth. Used as mouth of womb.
_Osmosis._--Transudation of fluids through membrane.
_Osseous._--Bony.
_Ova._--Plural of egg.
_Ovary._--Almond-shaped body in which the ova are developed.
_Oviducts._--Tubes which convey the ova from ovaries to uterus.
_Ovum._--An egg.
_Oxygenation._--The process of combining with oxygen.
_Parietes._--Walls of a cavity.
_Parturition._--Childbirth.
_Pathological._--Morbid, diseased.
_Peritoneal._--Pertaining to the peritoneum.
_Perineum._--The floor of the pelvis, or space between and including
the anus and vulva.
_Peristaltic._--The peculiar worm-like movement of the intestines.
_Peritoneum._--A membrane lining the walls and organs of the abdomen.
_Peritonitis._--Inflammation of lining membrane of bowels.
_Pelvic._--Pertaining to the lower part of the abdomen or pelvis.
_Phytolacca._--Pokeroot.
_Placebo._--A remedy to gratify the patient.
_Placenta._--The after-birth.
_Placenta Previa._--Placenta presenting before child-birth.
_Plethoric._--Full habit. Fleshy.
_Podophyllum._--Mandrake. May apple.
_Portal circulation._--Venous circulation of blood from the digestive
organs to the liver.
_Post partum._--Subsequent to childbirth.
_Primapara._--Woman who has brought forth her first child.
_Prognosis._--Prediction of the termination of a disease.
_Prolapsus._--Falling. Protrusion.
_Prolapsus ani._--Protrusion of the rectum.
_Prolapsus uteri._--Falling of the womb.
_Prolification._--Generation of offspring.
_Pubes._--External part of the organs of generation covered with hair.
_Pubic._--Pertaining to the pubes.
_Puerperal._--Belonging to or consequent upon childbirth.
_Pulmonary._--Pertaining to the lungs.
_Pulsatilla Nigricans._--Wind flower.
_Purulent._--Consisting of pus.
_Pruritus._--A skin trouble characterized by intense itching.
_Pyemia._--Poisoned by absorption of pus.
_Radial._--Belonging to the radius, one of the bones of the fore-arm.
_Rectum._--Lower portion of intestines.
_Renal._--Pertaining to the kidneys.
_Retroversion._--Falling backward.
_Retroverted._--Bent backward.
_Rigor._--Chilliness. Convulsive shuddering.
_Sacral._--Pertaining to the sacrum, the large, triangular bone near
the end of the spinal column.
_Saline._--Salty.
_Salivation._--Unnatural flow of saliva.
_Sanative._--Health producing.
_Sanguineous._--Bloody.
_Sanguinaria._--Blood root.
_Sanious._--Secretion tinged with blood.
_Sciatic._--Pertaining to the hip.
_Sebaceous._--Secreting fatty matter.
_Sedative._--Quieting. Soothing.
_Sedular._--Pertaining to seed.
_Sedular absorption._--Absorption of the seed or semen.
_Semen._--Secretion of the testes.
_Septic._--A substance that promotes putrefaction. Putrid.
_Septum._--Partition.
_Septicemia._--Poisoning by putrid substances.
_Serous membrane._--The lining of cavities which have no external
opening.
_Seton._--An opening in the flesh made and continued by drawing through
a skein of silk or linen thread or horsehair.
_Siesta._--A midday nap.
_Silicea._--Pure flint.
_Sitz-bath._--A bath in a sitting position.
_Sphincter muscle._--Circular, contracting muscle.
_Sperm._--Seed. Fecundating principle.
_Sputa._--Matter coughed up from throat and lungs. Phlegm.
_Sterility._--Barrenness.
_Stertorious._--Stertorous. Deep. Labored. Snoring.
_Stroma._--Connective tissue.
_Strumous._--Scrofulous.
_Styptic._--An astringent. A substance that arrests hemorrhage.
_Synchronous._--Happening at the same time.
_Tampon._--A plug to arrest hemorrhage.
_Term._--Full time of gestation.
_Testes._--Glands which secrete the semen.
_Testicle._--Gland that secretes the semen.
_Therapia._--Therapeutics. Remedies.
_Therapeutic._--The treatment of disease. Curative.
_Tissue._--The peculiar structure of a part.
_Tokology._--Science of midwifery. From Greek _Tokos_, childbirth and
_Logos_, discourse.
_Toxicological._--Pertaining to poisons.
_Trachea._--Windpipe.
_Transudation._--The oozing of blood through a membrane.
_Tympanitic._--Distension of abdomen. Drum-like.
_Umbilical._--Pertaining to the navel.
_Umbilicus._--The navel. The place in the abdomen from which the cord
is removed.
_Urachus._--A ligament that sustains the bladder.
_Urinary._--Pertaining to the urine.
_Uterus._--Womb.--The organ in which the fetus is developed.
_Vagina._--Passage leading from the womb.
_Varicose Veins._--Veins permanently dilated, with accumulation of
dark-colored blood.
_Vascular._--Relating to the bloodvessels.
_Vena Cava._--The large vein communicating with the heart.
_Venous._--Pertaining to the veins.
_Ventricle._--One of the lower chambers of the heart.
_Veratrum Album._--White hellebore.
_Vernix Caseosa._--Unctuous material found on a new-born babe.
_Vesicles._--A small cavity or sac in the human body.
_Viable._--Capable of life.
_Viability._--Capacity of living.
_Villi._--Minute papillary elevations for absorption.
_Viscera._--Organs within the cavity of the body.
_Vulva._--Outer lips of the vagina.
_Zymotic._--Caused by fermentation. A zymotic disease is one caused by
bacteria, or some morbific principle, acting like a ferment.
INDEX.
PAGE.
Abortion, 243
Absolute freedom of dress, 335
Accidental experience, 329
After pains, 197
” removed, 333
Agent’s testimony, 336
Alcoholic stimulant, 258
Amenorrhea, 253
Analysis of food, 137
Analysis of milk, 213
Aphtha, 217
Appetite, greedy, 80
” loss of, 81
Artificial human milk, 212
Author’s special request, 351
Bandage, 181
Bates Waist, 103
Bathing in pregnancy, 111
Bath, sitz, 113
” ” hot, 184
” sponge, 112
” thermal, 118
” Turkish, 118
Better way, 343
Biliousness, 46
Bill of fare in pregnancy, 135
Blue baby, 31
Breathing, waist, 141
” instructions for, 142, 143
Burning feet, 85
Cathartic drugs, 57
Caustic treatment, 269
Change of life, 276
Chastity in marriage, 150
Chemiloon, 102
Child bed fever, 199
Childbirth, painless, 17
Children’s rights, 151
Climbing hills, 148
” stairs, 147
Cohosh, 187
Colic of infants, 219
Common sense shoes, 99
Control of sex, 321
Compress, cold, 116
” ” in croup, 117
Conception, 28
Constipation, 51
” causes of, 52
” effects of, 51
” exercise in, 68
” exercises for, 69
” of infants, 222
” treatment of, 58
Contagious diseases, 238
” health, 242
Continence, theory of, 157
” in pregnancy, 159
Convulsions, 240
Corsets, 105
Cramps, 85
Croup, spasmodic, 234
” membranous, 334
Curse of suffering removed, 332
Dentition, 229
Diarrhea in pregnancy, 82
” of infants, 224
Diet in pregnancy, 124
Dietetics, 286
” index, 365
Difficult labor, 183
Diphtheria, 236
Diseases of women, 263
Displacement of the uterus, 273
Divided skirt, 103
Dress and freedom, 104
” errors in, 255, 265
” physiological, 98
” in pregnancy, 98
Duration of pregnancy, 33
Dysentery of infants, 224
Dysmenorrhea, 254
Dyspepsia, 42
Education of respiratory muscles, 139
Eight months child, 36
Embryo, development of, 29
” growth of, 33
Enema, warm or hot, 48
” for sick headache, 78
Eminent testimony, 234, 271.
Entire wheat flour, 61
Equestrian tights, 103
Ergot, 187
” cause of child-bed fever, 201
Errors in dress, 255, 265
Excess of milk, 196
Exercise in constipation, 68
” ” pregnancy, 138
” results from, 340
Exercises in constipation, 69
” ” pregnancy, 144
” for uterine diseases, 267
Excoriation, 218
Excoriated nipples, 194
Experience extraordinary, 133
” Mrs. Rowbotham, 125
” touching, 156
Fallopian tubes, 26
Fashion in deformity, 108
Fetal circulation, 30
” heart-beat, 38
” nutrition, 29, 32
Feticide, 245
Fetus, development of, 35
Fetus, position, 36
Flatulence, 79
Flour of entire wheat, 61
Fomentation, hot, 115
Food, analysis of, 137
” constipating, 67
” laxative, 67
Fowler’s clarion note, 109
Fruit diet for pregnancy, 126
” feast on, 65
Gardening, light, 139
Glossary, 354
Greedy appetite, 80
Habits of cleanliness, 209
Headache, 74
” enema for, 78
” sick, 74
” and tea-drinking, 74
” remedies for, 78
Health contagious, 242
” for all possible, 350
Heart-burn, 78
Hemorrhage, 198
” hot applications for, 198
” uterine, 279
Hemorrhoids, 79
Hot bread, 54
” flashes, 278
” fomentations, 114
” water bottle, 115
” sitz-bath, 184
Hygiene in pregnancy, 90
Hysteria, 274
Impregnation, 28
Indian tradition, 342
Induration, 265
” effects of, 341
Infants, 204
Infants, artificial food, 210
” bathing, 205, 209
Infant clothing, 206
” diseases, 217
” nursing, 210
Inflammation of the bowels, 229
Injections, 48
Insomnia, 87
Insufficient milk, 194
Instruments, 188
Labor, 174
” cohosh in, 187
” difficult, 183
” ergot in, 187
” instrumental, 189
” natural, 174
Law of continence, 157, 324
Law of Ovulation, 324
Lesson for husbands, 155
Leucorrhea, 272
” in pregnancy, 88
Lime and Charcoal, 168
Limiting offspring, 323
Liquor amnii, 31
Lochia, 197
Longevity and lung power, 142
Longings, 82
Loss of appetite, 81
Lucrative work, 96
Lung power, 142
Magnetism, 84
Mammary abscess, 193
” glands, 28
Measles, 239
Meat-fed children, 215
Meddlesome midwifery, 178
Membranes, fetal, 31
Menopause, 276
Menorrhagia, 260
Menstruation, 252
Menstruation, cessation, of, 37
Metrorrhagia, 198
Milk, analysis of, 213
” artificial human, 212
” excess of, 196
” insufficient, 194
” for nursing mothers, 195
Military position, 144
Mind cure, 275, 347
Morning sickness, 44
Mothers overtaxed, 92
Natural remedies, 282
Nausea, 44
Navel, dressing of, 205
” pouching of, 206
Neuralgia, 83
” treatment for, 84
Nutrition of the fetus, 29
Obstetric harness, 177
Offspring, best interests of, 345
Olivet students, 348
Opiates, 220
Ovaries, 25
Oviducts, 26
Ovulation, law of, 324
Pack, wet sheet, 225
” infant, 225
Pains in the side, 86
Painless childbirth, 17
Pathological symptoms, 39
Parturition, 174
” without pain, 17
Peritoneum, 27
Perspiration, profuse, 279
Physicians’ opinions, 19, 271
Piles, 79
Placenta, 30
” adhered, 180
Post partum diseases, 190
” ” treatment, 190
Pouching navel, 206
Pre-natal culture, 327
Pregnancy, diseases of, 42
” dress in, 98
” duration of, 33
” hygiene of, 90
” signs of, 37
” rest in, 169
Princess garment, 102
Prophecy for the future, 97
Pruritus, 89
Puerperal fever, 199
” ” treatment of, 202
” peritonitis, 199
” septicemia, 202
Quickening, 38
Regulating sex of offspring, 321
Removal of placenta, 180
Rest in pregnancy, 169
Rigidity of integument, 87
Rights of children, 151
Rubber nipples, 214
Saliva, excessive secretion, 80
Salt rheum, 122
Satisfactory results, 331
Scarlet fever, 238
Self healing, 275, 281, 349
Septicemia, 202
Siesta, daily, 169
Sitz-bath, 113
” hot, 184
Sleeplessness, 87
Soap suppositories, 223
Social evil, 153
Sponge bath, 112
Stairs, climbing, 147
Stanton, E. C., testimony of, 172
Summer complaint, 225
Swelling of limbs, 86
Table of foods, 67
Tea and sick headache, 74
Temperance worker’s words, 337
Testimonials, 327
Terry’s theory, 322
Thermal bath, 118
Thury’s theory, 322
Tight lacing, 109
Umbilical cord, 31
” ” treatment of, 179
Union undergarments, 101
” ” patterns of, 102
Unwelcome children, 154
Urine, incontinence of, 233
” retention of, 233
Uterus, 26
” inflammation of, 263
” ulceration of, 264
Uterine diseases, 263
” ligaments, 27
Vagina, 27
Ventilation, 163
” in bedrooms, 164
Vocation, value of, 346
Weaning, time for, 215
Wheat, rolled or cracked, 64
Wheatlet, 64
Whooping cough, 240
Wiser parenthood, 326
Worms, 332
INDEX OF DIETETICS.
PAGE.
Apples, baked, 318
Apple pie cake, 315
Apple snow, 318
Apple tapioca pudding, 312
Asparagus on toast, 308
Baked apples, 318
Baked eggs, 310
Baked Indian pudding, 313
Baked macaroni, 319
Baked milk, 290
Baked pears, 318
Baked pie plant, 318
Barley coffee, 289
Beef tea, 288
Blanc-mange, farina, 311
” fruit, 319
” wheatlet, 297
Boiled eggs, 309
Boston brown bread, 303
Bran gruel, 290
” jelly, 294
Bread, 300
” Boston brown, 303
” corn, 303
” graham, 303
” unleavened, 302
” white, with yeast, 304
Breakfast patties, 307
Broiled oysters, 311
Broth, chicken, 292
Brown gems, 302
Browned rice, 299
Buckwheat cakes, 306
Buttermilk, 291
Buttermilk pop, 292
Cake, 315
” apple pie, 315
” coraline, 316
” eureka sponge, 316
” graham, 316
” huckleberry, 317
Cereals, 295
Chicken broth, 292
Cracked wheat, 296
Cracked wheat pudding, 311
Crackers, graham, 305
” ” fruit, 305
Cracker omelet, 320
Codfish toast, 307
Coffee, wheat, oat or barley, 289
Coraline cake, 316
Corn bread, 303
Corn griddle cakes, 306
Corn meal gruel, 290
” mush pudding, 313
” tea, 289
Dessert, strawberry, 314
Drinks for the sick, 286
Eggs as food, 308
” baked, 310
” escalloped, 310
” boiled, 309
Egg lemonade, 287
” omelet, 310
” poached, 309
” ” in milk, 309
” scrambled, 310
” steamed, 310
” on toast, 308
Escalloped eggs, 310
Eureka spongecake, 316
Farina blanc-mange, 311
” mush, 296
” soup, 293
Flaxseed lemonade, 287
Fruit blanc-mange, 319
” ice, 319
” sauce, 317
Gelatine, lemon, 294
Gems, brown, 302
” graham, 301
” oatmeal and graham, 302
” white flour, 302
Gem toast, 307
Graham biscuit, 302
” best light biscuit, 303
” bread, 303
” Cake, 316
” crackers, 305
” fruit crackers, 305
” fruit roll, 317
” gems, 301
” gem pudding, 311
” gruel, 290
” muffins, 301
” mush, 296
” wafers, 305
Granula, 297
Gravy, 319
Griddle cakes, buckwheat, 306
” corn, 306
” rice, 299, 306
” shorts, 306
” wheatlet, 306
Gruel, bran, 290
” corn meal, 290
” graham, 290
” oatmeal, 290
” rice, 289
Gum Arabic water, 287
Hominy, 297
Hot milk, 291
Huckleberry and bread pudding, 313
” cake, 317
Ices, fruit, 319
Indian meal fruit pudding, 312
” mush, 296
Jelly, bran nutrina, 294
” lemon, 292
” sago, 294
” sago currant, 294
” water, 287
Lemonade, 286
” egg, 287
Lemonade, flaxseed, 287
” hot, 286
Lemon gelatine, 294
” jelly, 293
Macaroni, baked, 319
” soup, 293
” stewed, 319
Milk, baked, 290
” hot, 291
” porridge, 290
” toast, 307
Mother’s apple pudding, 313
Muffins, graham, 301
Muffins, rice, 305
Mush, farina, 296
” graham, 296
” Indian meal, 296
” oatmeal, 296
” wheatlet, 297
Nutrina, 294
Oat coffee, 289
Oatmeal cake, 303
” gruel, 290
” and graham gems, 302
” mush, 296
” snaps, 304
” tea, 287
Omelet, cracker, 320
” egg, 310
” rice, 299
Orange pudding, 312
” whey, 286
Oysters, broiled, 311
” raw, 310
” stewed, 311
Oyster toast, 307
Patties, breakfast, 307
Peaches, 317
Pears, baked, 318
Pie-plant, baked, 318
Pies, 314
Pie for dyspeptics, 314
Pie, strawberry, 314
Plum pudding, 313
Poached eggs, 309
” in milk, 309
Porridge, milk, 290
Pudding, apple tapioca, 312
” baked Indian, 313
” corn mush, 313
” cracked wheat, 311
” graham gem, 311
” huckleberry bread, 313
” Indian fruit, 312
” mother’s apple, 313
” orange, 312
” plum, 313
” rice, 312
” ” and apple, 298
” ” ” berry, 299
” wheatlet and apple, 297
Puree of split peas, 293
Raw oysters, 310
Rennet whey, 286
Rhubarb toast, 308
Rice and apple pudding, 298
” ” berry ”, 299
” boiled, 300
” browned, 299
” cream, 299
” griddle cakes, 299, 306
” gruel, 289
” Japanese, 300
” muffins, 305
” omelet, 299
” pudding, 312
” and raisins, 298
” snow, 298
” snowballs, 298
Rolled wheat, 296
Sago, currant jelly, 294
Sago, jelly, 294
” milk, 287
Scalloped tomatoes, 320
Scrambled eggs, 310
Snaps, oatmeal, 304
Soup, farina, 293
” macaroni, 293
” tomato, 293
” pea, 293
Steamed eggs, 310
Stewed macaroni, 319
Stewed oysters, 311
Snowballs, rice, 298
Snow, apple, 318
” rice, 298
Strawberry dessert, 314
” pie, 314
” short-cake, 315
Tamarind water, 288
Tea, beef, 288
” corn, 289
” oatmeal, 287
Toast, asparagus on, 308
” codfish, 307
” eggs on, 308
” gem, 307
” milk, 307
” oyster, 307
” rhubarb, 308
” tomato, 308
Toast water, 287
Tomatoes, scalloped, 320
Tomato soup, 293
” toast, 308
” with corn, 320
Unleavened bread, 302
Wafers, graham, 305
Wheat coffee, 289
” cracked, 296
” rolled, 296
Wheatlet and apple pudding, 297
” blanc-mange, 297
” griddle cakes, 306
” mush, 297
” pudding, 297
Whey, orange, 286
” rennet, 286
White flour bread, 304
” ” gems, 302
Water, gum Arabic, 287
” jelly, 287
” tamarind, 288
” toast, 287
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation and spacing errors have been corrected.
In the Table of Contents, “Abcess of the breast” changed to “Abscess of
the breast”
Page 25: “apparantly insignificant structure” changed to “apparently
insignificant structure”
Page 28: “the utering cavity” changed to “the uterine cavity”
Page 37: “cessation of menstrution” changed to “cessation of
menstruation”
Page 38: “action acccompanying” changed to “action accompanying”
Page 48: “benfit of offspring” changed to “benefit of offspring”
Page 49: “in sick hadache” changed to “in sick headache”
Page 56: “induce and agravate” changed to “induce and aggravate”
Page 67: “New Orleans asses” changed to “New Orleans molasses” “Starc”
changed to “Starch”
Page 70: “taking this execise” changed to “taking this exercise”
Page 79: “the fellowing day” changed to “the following day” There is
missing text between “drink hot water” and “warm water enemas,” in the
original as well as other editions.
Page 96: “ abor is life!” changed to “Labor is life!”
Page 102: “the the vest” changed to “the vest”
Page 120: “give give good” changed to “give good”
Page 137: “Carbonnaceous” changed to “Carbonaceous”
Page 140: “constnnt gentle motion” changed to “constant gentle motion”
Page 142: “fatigue or hoarsness” changed to “fatigue or hoarseness”
Page 161: “will cherfully” changed to “will cheerfully”
Page 169: “deficiency of oxgen” changed to “deficiency of oxygen”
Page 176: “comfortable and sanitive” changed to “comfortable and
sanative”
Page 180: “Indian pappoose” changed to “Indian papoose”
Page 181: “a banage applied” changed to “a bandage applied”
Page 188: “great restlesness” changed to “great restlessness”
Page 189: “far more freqently” changed to “far more frequently”
Page 214: “earthern or granite” changed to “earthen or granite”
Page 219: “is freqaently born” changed to “is frequently born”
Page 220: “child, once quited” changed to “child, once quieted”
Page 221: “to this practiee” changed to “to this practice”
Page 227: “drink make by steeping” changed to “drink made by steeping”
Page 234: “MEMBRANOUS CROU” changed to “MEMBRANOUS CROUP”
Page 240: “roling of the head” changed to “rolling of the head” “throw
of disease” changed to “throw off disease”
Page 241: “enroachments of disease” changed to “encroachments of
disease”
Page 245: “The embyro” changed to “The embryo”
Page 254: “enemic condition” changed to “anemic condition” “face palid”
changed to “face pallid”
Page 265: “were caustic treatmen” changed to “where caustic treatment”
Page 267: “absorbent cottton” changed to “absorbent cotton”
Page 269: “caustic treatmemt” changed to “caustic treatment”
Page 272: “Leuchorrhea” changed to “Leucorrhea”
Page 295: “various sa ces” changed to “various sauces”
Page 299: “yokes and whites” changed to “yolks and whites”
Page 303: “required for bkaing” changed to “required for baking”
Page 315: “dietic food” changed to “dietetic food”
Page 316: “should be make” changed to “should be made”
Page 321: “FAMILIAR LETTFR” changed to “FAMILIAR LETTER”
Page 324: “the embyro” changed to “the embryo”
Page 334: “the dear oy” changed to “the dear boy”
Page 353: “nystitis” changed to “Cystitis”
Page 358: “Toxocological” changed to “Toxicological” “Unctious
material” changed to “Unctuous material”
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