EMORY UNIVERSITY
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
LOVE-MAKING IN THE DAYS OF SLAVERY.
VIRGINIA AND HER PETS.
HAPPY AND CONTENTED.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
FAMILY LIFE VERSUS SINGLE BLESSEDNESS.
Golden Thoughts
ON
CHASTITY AND PROCREATION
INCLUDING
HEREDITY, PRENATAL INFLUENCES, ETC., ETC.
Sensible Hints and Wholesome Advice for Maideo and Young Man,
Wife and Husband, Mother and Father
BY
PROF, aod MRS. J. W. GIBSON
ASSISTED BY
W. J. TRUITT, M. D.
(Formerly Associate Professor of Obstetrics, National Medical College, Chicago}
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
HENRY R. BUTLER, A. M., M. D.
Physician and Surgeon at Morris Browt) College
Editor of tbe Negro Department of tbe Atlanta Constitution
3
FINELY ILLUSTRATED
PUBLISHED BY
J. L. NICHOLS & CO.
TORONTO, ONT. NAPERVILLE, ILL. ATLANTA, GA.
"Vice has no friend like the prejudice which claims to be virtue.'^
—Lord Lytm.
"A pure mind in a chaste body is the mother of wisdom and deliberation."
—Jeremy Taylor.
Copyright, 1903, by
J. L. NICHOLS & CO.
This volume, including many illustrations, is protected by copyright, and any
infringement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
INTRODUCTION
In introducing this book to the reading public, I am conscious of
the fact that I am presenting a work that is sure to bear its many
readers glad tidings of great joy.
Well may it be called "Golden Thoughts," for it contains the best
thoughts of many of the most able thinkers and writers upon social
and other topics—subjects that have never been presented to the
public in this form before. These are of vital importance to the
human family, and should be taught and practiced in every American
home, be that home a hut or a palace.
Its subject matter, if carefully read, will benefit the reader mor¬
ally, socially and spiritually. It points out the way of good health,
honor, prosperity and happiness.
The art work is especially interesting and important. I wish to
call the reader's attention to these illustrations. They are the work
of colored artists, and the pictures are all of colored Americans, and
it is a fact that the best of these pictures represent the inside home
life of fully one-third of the ten million colored Americans. I entreat
you to study these pictures as well as the reading matter; they tell
their own story; they tell of the coming of a new aristocracy, a peo¬
ple powerful in strength, morals, culture, wealth and refinement.
They tell you of the steady growth, development and advancement
of the colored American in the very teeth of all kinds of obstacles,
hindrances and farcical laws. These people simply put their trust in
God, sing the songs of Zion, and the red seas of difficulties divide and
they move forward like the rush of so many waters. This book will,
therefore, fill a two-fold mission, coming as it has at this most critical
period in the existence of the colored American. .It brings to my
people the golden thoughts on how to perfect themselves in all things
social, economical, physical, political and financial; it also proves
to those who are inclined to think otherwise that some good thing
can come out of Ethiopia. Not only to those, but to all lovers of
advanced thoughts and seekers after truth and light, do I most heartily
introduce "Golden Thoughts."
H. R. BUTLER, A.M., M.D.
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 23, 1903.
Authorities Consulted in the Preparation
of This Work
Wm. Acton, M. R. C. S.
Mary Wood Allen, M. D.
E. D. Babbitt, M. D., LL. D.
D. Campbell Black, M. D., L. R.
P. H. Chavasse, F. R. C. S.
R. L. Dugdale.
S. B. Elliot, M. D.
E. B. Foote, M. D.
Prof. F. C. Fowler.
Prof. O. S. Fowler.
Geo. F. Hall.
Chas. C. Haskell.
H. S. Hastings.
Karl Heinzen.
C. A. Hoff, M. D.
Dio Lewis, M. D.
Mary R. Melendy, M. D., Ph. D.
Geo. H. Naphey, M. D.
T. L. Nichols, M. D.
S. M. Pancoast, M. D.
L. C. Parker, M. D.
Philadelphia Medical Journals.
;. S. H. S. Pomeroy, M. D.
Newton N. Riddell.
P. C. Remindino, M. D.
J. E. Scott, M. D.
E. R. Shephard.
Rev. B. D. Sinclair.
Lyman B. Sperry, M. D.
Alice B. Stockham, M. D.
Rev. Sylvanus Stall.
R. R. Sturgis, M. D.
R. M. Tucker, M. D.
R. T. Trail, M. D.
Rev. Henry Varley.
S. R. Wells.
John D. West, M. D.
PREFACE
Were we required to state in a few words the character of this
book, we would say that it discusses in a general, as well as a special
way, the hygiene of sexual life. It does not purport to be a treatise
on medicine, but, on the contrary, it seeks, so far as possible, to avoid
its use.
Health, honor, wealth, pleasure, each stands ready to enter into
our lives, if we are ready to pay the price. But in striving for wealth,
we may be compelled to pay the price of our health; pleasure may
fome at our bidding, but honor may flee at his approach. Ignorance
is the friend of vice, the companion of ill-health and misery. Our
object is to awaken and enlighten men and women, and to create in
them a desire to know themselves.
Intelligence is the main hope for the redemption of a stricken race.
The Great Teacher said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free." Not only must we be educated along
the line of the sexual life, but the dangers from violating its laws must
be burned into our very consciences.
This book, in discussing the hygiene of life with reference to the
sexual relations of man and woman, does not confine itself to the
span of one life—a possible threescore years and ten—but to three
times threescore years and ten. In the chapters on heredity and pre¬
natal culture, the influence of the lives which flow into one life, and
the lives which may emanate from this are taken into account. Each
new being coming into the world should be a veritable "Child of
Light," in whom is no shadow of darkness or mark of disease. It
should receive a hearty welcome into the home. Its coming should
be anticipated with watchful and loving care. Every man and woman
should know whether or not he or she is fitted, for parentage; and if
so fitted, the proper time and conditions for reproduction.
If the amount of inherited suffering could be fully known and
appreciated, thoughtful people would be startled at the responsibility
of parentage, and would seek, as best they could, by proper study,
PREFACE.
careful physical culture and correct habits of living, to give the coming
generation a happier lot, so far as health and morals would do it.
Maudsley, in his "Pathology of the Mind," says: "If it were
desired to breed a degenerate human being, sinful, vicious, criminal,
or insane, what would be the safest recipe? To impregnate his pro¬
genitors thoroughly with alcohol or with hypocrisy, with syphilis or
with selfishness, with gluttony or with guile, with an extreme lust of
the flesh or an extreme pride of life. When mankind has learned the
ways by which degenerate beings have come to be, it will be able to
lay down rules to prevent their production in time to come, but in
order to do that, it must substitute for the notion of sin and its con¬
sequences in a life to come after death, the notion of fault or organic
manufacture and its consequences from generation to generation in
the life that now is." ^
"If the penalties meted out to the impure are so many, there is yet
comfort to the unmarried man in these pages, which show that perfect
continence is quite compatible with perfect health. * * * Impurity,
of course, leads downward to decay and death; and out of considera¬
tion for the law of self-preservation, any wise man will adopt the
course of repressing his appetite, for the penalties which attend it are
so inexorable as to be beyond accepting."
It is our nature to be heedless of the future while enjoying the
present blessings. We are naturally careless of the disease or death,
misery or happiness, strength or weakness, wisdom or folly of those
who are to live fifty or a hundred years hence. But the question,
"Am I my brother's keeper?" comes to the honest conscience again
and again, and presses for an honest, unselfish answer.
What we are is our offspring's inheritance. Better, far better,
that they have pure minds, sound bodies, impulses toward nobler and
vigorous manhood and womanhood as an inheritance, than boundless
wealth, with a corrupt body and vicious tendencies. We are each
our brother's keeper in a very large sense. Our brother's keeping is
in the reach of our present influence, and we are guardians of the
future brotherhood.
With an earnest hope and expectation that this book will
strengthen and sweeten thousands of lives, we send it forth as an
evangel of mercy and love, THE AUTHORS.
CONTENTS
Part One
LIFE, HEREDITY, PRENATAL INFLUENCES
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I The Origin of Life 11
II Hereditary Influences 19
III Prenatal Influences 39
Part Two
WHAT A YOUNG WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
•IV The Girl at Home 59
V Looking Toward Marriage—Girlhood 90
VI Looking Toward Marriage—Essential 105
VII After Marriage—Home 150
VIII Wifehood—What a Bride and Mother Should Know 186
IX The Mother and the Child 207
X A Phase of Parent Study 227
Part Three
WHAT A YOUNG MAN SHOULD KNOW
XI The Growing Boy 242
XII Secret Sin or Masturbation 258
XIII A Life of Chastity—A Struggle 271
XIV What a Young Man Should Know—Love 288
XV Who Should Marry—Who Should Bear Children 297
XVI What a Young Married Man Should Know 302
XVII Confidential Chat with Husband and Wife 312
Part Four
VENEREAL DISEASES—ABORTION—FAMILY—VENTILATION
XVIII Venereal Diseases 319
XIX Criminal Abortion % • 346
XX Large or Small Families—Which? 354
XXI The Climacteric Period 364
XXII Ventilation 372
PART ONE
Origin of Life
Heredity
Prenatal Influences
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE.
. The lowest form of anything in nature that may be said to have
life is protoplasm. It marks the boundary-line between organic and
inorganic nature. Perhaps it would be better to say that protoplasm
is the beginning of organic life. But it does not in itself constitute
organic life, but, as Professor Huxley says, "It is the physical basis of
life."
Organic Life. All organic life originates in the cell; all physical
growth is by means of cells. But the basis of cell-life is protoplasm;
it is a necessary constituent of all cells.
Protoplasm as found in the vegetable cells can not be distinguished
in any way from that found in the animal cells. It would seem,
therefore, that the dividing-line between the plant and the animal
must be in the cell itself, and not in the protoplasm. It is well to
note here that plant and animal life approach each other as life-forms
descend and diverge in the higher forms of life. To illustrate: the
sponge can hardly be distinguished from the plant; but the horse is
not much like the pine tree.*
Animal Life Basis of Intellectual Activity. It will be seen that
we have gone back as far as pure science can take us, when we place
the origin of organic life in the protoplasmic cell. Whence came
the life of this cell? Science can not tell. It were the merest folly
for the scientist to attempt to account for the origin of life within the
narrow limits of his science.
It is quite evident to the thoughtful observer that all intellectual
activity has for its basis the animal life. Not a thought passes
through the brain, not the wink of the eye, nor the drawing of a
breath, but causes the destruction of a multitude of cells. Life can
be preserved only by the rebuilding of these cells. Life through
death, and death through life, is the order of nature. All life is a
struggle for supremacy. If one part finally overcomes the other,
then comes rest—death. Emerson, in his compensation says: "Polan-
ity, or action, or recreation, we meet in every part of nature; in dark-
9
16
SOCIAL PURITY.
Male Principle and Female Egg. In the animal kingdom the same
law governs the reproduction of animal life. The male produces a
live, active germ, perfect as an organism. This germ corresponds to
the pollen in the flower. We may, for convenience, call this the male
principle, or element. The female also produces a germ, perfect in
itself as an organism. This is usually known as the ovum, or egg,
though in most cases the egg includes much more than the life-germ.
The ordinary hen's egg may be used as an illustration of all egg-life.
In this the life-germ is but a small part of the egg, the larger part
being food stored away for the support of the chick while in the shell.
As in the case of the plant, so here the male principle must, in a
proper place and under proper conditions, come in contact with the
female germ, or egg. While both are perfect formations, neither has,
in itself, vitality to produce a new life. Each is a half of a perfect
whole. Each without the other dies. All females, from the lowest
insect to the highest mammal, may produce eggs without the presence
of the male, but all eggs thus produced are sterile.
Animal Life. Animal life has its origin in the egg-germ. In all
the higher types of animals, the male and the female have an inde¬
pendent existence; they are separate animals. In some of the lower
forms of animal life, the sex-elements seem to dwell in the same body.
Some of the lower forms, as the coral and sponge, are compound ani¬
mals. They sometimes multiply, or reproduce, themselves, by divi¬
sion; that is, parts are broken off and become individuals, either
simple or compound, similar to the parent. But even where animals
thus multiply, they multiply by the egg-germ. The two processes
of multiplying the species are well known and understood in the plant
life; but multiplication by division seems to us more out of the order
of nature when seen in animal life; but this is because we are not as
familiar with the lower forms of animal life.
Egg-Germ Vitalized by Male Element. In mammals and birds
the egg-germ is vitalized by the male element while the egg is yet in
the body of the female.
The writer, while dissecting a clam in school, was instructed that,
if he found a clam whose gills seemed to be thickened, he should
remove a small quantity of the granular-looking substance, and place
under the microscope. He did so, and was delighted to see a great
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE.
23
The Ovum. As we know, the hen's egg is quite large, but the
ovum, the life-germ, is small. We remember that most of the egg is
food, stored away for the use of the chick while growing in the shell.
Now in all mammals the mother nourishes her young with her own
blood; hence there is no necessity for the storing away of food. From
this we might suspect that the ovum of a female mammal is_ quite
small. So it is; the human germ, or egg, is but of an inch in
diameter.
Spermatozoa. It must be remembered that the spermatozoa of
the mammalia are living, active semi-creatures, with the power of
locomotion, while the ovum of the mother is passive, with no power
to move itself from place to place. The ovum, in passing through
the tube which leads into the womb from the place where it had its
origin and growth, is moved of forces outside of itself, very much as
food passes down the sesophagus into the stomach. In her book on
"Love and Marriage," Margaret Warner, in speaking about the action
of the spermatozoa as it unites with the female ovum, says: "Under
the microscope these active forms have been seen eagerly moving
around and around the egg, until one, more fortunate than the rest,
finds admission and dissolves into the substance of the egg. Not to
be finally lost, however, for, as we know, this inexplicable union
results in the growth of a new creature like neither parent, and yet
like both, each cell having given to the new life certain character¬
istics of the creature from which it was derived.''
Concluding Thoughts. We have traced in outline the origin of
life, so far as science has revealed it. But what is life? One group
of plasmac-cells may produce a toadstool, or an oak, a mouse, or a
man. Two necro-organisms uniting may evolve a Caesar or a Newton.
Whence come the moral and intellectual powers? Science and phi¬
losophy do not know. The plummet-line of reason can not sound
these profound depths.
But scientific investigation can and does read the laws which gov¬
ern the action of the physical, intellectual and moral powers of man.
In most of the schools of the country, and especially the public
schools, the principles of physiology and hygiene are taught. But
one of the most important functions of life is, necessarily, ignored in
the schools. Perhaps in some better, purer age, the reproductive
CHAPTER II.
HEREDITARY INFLUENCES.
A New Declaration of Independence. Could we but formulate a
new "Declaration of Independence," it would read something like
this: When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for
people to dissolve their ancestral fetters which connect them one with
another, and to assume, among the people of the earth, a separate
and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle
them, it becomes them that they should declare the* causes which
impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident:
That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these is the right
to be well born, that they may have unhampered life, perfect liberty
and freedom in the pursuit of happiness. That whenever any form of
existence becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right, nay, the
duty of the people to so alter it and to institute a new life, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form
as to them shall seem most likely to effect the safety and happiness of
mankind.
All experience hath shown that mankind is more disposed to suffer
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by altering the
forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses
and usurpations evinces a design to reduce them to limited or absolute
despotism, it is their right, nay, their bounden duty, to throw off such
bondage and to provide new guards for their future security. Such
has been the sufferance of the sons of men. To prove this we submit
facts.
We Are Not Equal. We are not equal because of inherited or
prenatal influences. Some are well born with admirable traits of
character, lofty aspirations and symmetrical physiques, while others
are handicapped by impediments, physical, mental and moral. David
recognized this fact when he said: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.'' The Lord passed by Moses
and proclaimed: "The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffer-
28
HEREDITARY INFLUENCES.
33
Heredity or Prenatal Influences. In the discussion of this subject
it is well to have a clear and definite understanding as to what is
meant by the term heredity or prenatal influence.
By prenatal influence we mean all those influences—mental, moral
and physical—which, acting through the parents, stamp their impress
—desirable or otherwise—upon the child before he comes into the
world as a separate being. Dr. Sydney Barrington Elliot gives us
this definition of heredity:
Heredity and Prenatal Influence Defined. " Heredity is that law
by which permanent and settled qualities of the parents or of the
more remote ancestors appear in the child; while prenatal influence
signifies the effect produced upon the future being by temporary con¬
ditions of the parents, as by temporary mental states (anger, fear,
happiness), or by temporary conditions (activity, health, exhaustion
of a part or of the entire body)." The latter refer to the time of
conception, or shortly prior to it.
A distinction should also be made between hereditary transmission
and the possession of qualities of the child which are due to impres¬
sions operating upon the mind of the mother during pregnancy.
Professor Riddell says: "Heredity is the science of transmission.
It deals with that process of nature whereby characteristics of one
generation are transmitted to the next. It is the perpetuating factor
of biology and evolution. Considered in its broadest sense, heredity
includes all those laws, factors and forces which enter into the origin,
and determine the character of the new life."
The Law of Heredity. The great fundamental law is that "like
produces like.'' This law is modified by a secondary law, namely,
that the acquired characters of one generation are transmitted to the
next. In a sense these two laws stand in direct opposition to each
other. The terms "fixed characters'' and "acquired characters" must
be considered only as relative terms. There are in reality no fixed
characters in nature. Through the operation of the primary law
the fixed characters of the species are reproduced and their established
peculiarities maintained.
Atavism or Intermittent Heredity must be admitted as a fact.
We frequently find physical appearances or some mental character¬
istics reappearing after they have been dropped for a generation or
36
SOCIAL PURITY.
Races and Nationalities. Races and nationalities have certain
mental and physical peculiarities. There will be little difficulty in
distinguishing a Chinese from an Indian, a Negro from a European,
an Irishman from a German, an Englishman from an Italian, a French¬
man from a Turk, and these by physical distinctions alone. The
intellectual characteristics are as widely marked as are the physical.
We note the slow, stolid persistence of the Laplander; the intrigue
and tyrannical duplicity of the Spaniard; the observant cunning of the
American Indian; the conservativeness of the Chinese; the caution of
the Scotchman; the provident and domestic traits of the German; the
cruelty and voluptuousness of the Turk; the ready wit of the Irishman;
the alert vigilance of the Yankee; the proud and sturdy justice of the
Englishman, and the shrewd pertinacity of the Jew.
The Jewish Characteristics. Probably the most strongly marked
of all people is the Jew. Through all his captivities and wanderings
to and fro over the earth his Jewish blood tells. From the scheming
Jacob and the exacting Shylock down to the tradesman of our own
time, he possesses the same shrewd,, calculating propensities. Through
all his varying changes he retains his religious teachings and beliefs,
and practices his peculiar rites and ceremonies regardless of his sur¬
roundings. An idea once established in his mind is retained forever,
and is re-established in the minds of his children. It was owing to
this quality of the Jewish nature that made them receptive to the
teaching and training that God, in early time, gave them. This
nationality God chose as a medium through which to speak to man¬
kind. To them he taught the idea of the one true God, and he kept
them a separate people that through them he might give to the world
its Redeemer. God said to that faithful Jew, Abraham: "For I know
him that he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment."
George Eliot says of the Jew: "Can a fresh-made garment of cit¬
izenship weave itself into the flesh and change the slow deposit of
eighteen centuries?"
Family Traits. Not only races and nations, but families, from
generation to generation, are noted for traits of character, good or
bad, honest or dishonest, temperate or intemperate, talented or stupid,
generous or selfish, vile or virtuous through every phase common to
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
CHILDREN OF PURE AND INTELLIGENT PARENTS.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
CHILDREN OF THE POOR AND UNEDUCATED.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
CELEBRITIES—THE FRUIT OF PURITY, INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION.
1. Dr R. F. Boyd. 2. Prof. J. W. E. Bowen. 3. Mrs. J. W. E. Bowen.
4. Rev. Hugh Procter. 5. Prof. Washington. 6. Bishop Turner.
7. Tanner, the Artist. 8. Miss N. H. Borroughs. 9. Prof. Councill.
10. Dunbar, the Poet. 11. Black Patti. 12. Prof. Du Bois.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
BLOOD-MARKS OF CRIME—PROGENY OF DEPRAVED AND
IGNORANT PARENTS.
HEREDITARY INFLUENCES.
4f!
Physical Features. The physical features are just as certainly
marked, as, for example, the "Bourbon nose," alluded to before, and
the peculiar lip of the Hapsburg family of Austria.
Personal Observation. But to be more personal, have you never
seen the awkward gait of an uncle, or the comical squint or gesture of
a grandp&fent in the boy in your own home, or have you never noted
the dimple of" an aunt, the tone of a mother's voice, or the musical
laughter of a sister in your own daughter? Or, sadder, have you never
observed your own defects renewed in the child of your love? Have
you never marked the transmitted gift of musical harmony or of elo¬
quence, of patriotism or statesmanship, or even the skilful handling
of a needle or a tool?
Inheritance of Noted People. History furnishes many examples
of marked inheritance. For literary genius we present the names of
Lord Bacon, whose parents were eminent for their mental and literary
powers; Lord Byron, whose poetic genius was inherited from his
talented mother, while from both parents were transmitted less desir¬
able qualities; Sir Walter Scott, whose mother was of a romantic
nature, reveling in poetry and art; John, Charles and Samuel Wesley,
whose parents were possessed of much literary ability, and whose
mother was remarkable for her executive qualities. We must not
omit Emerson, the essayist, poet and philosopher, whose ancestors
for eight generations numbered among them a learned minister of the
Gospel; also the Beecher family, every member of which possessed
high scholarly attainments. But the cream of the whole family seemed
to rise in the powerful eloquence of Henry Ward Beecher and his
gifted sister, Mrs. Stowe, whom we may call the emancipator of the
black man. The Adams family of Revolutionary fame is another
example of intellectual force and moral excellence. It is said that
the good traits of this noble family were augmented by their careful
marriages.
Inheritance of Crime and Ignorance. On the other hand, crime,
ignorance, vice and insanity are as much an inheritance as the talents
and virtues. "If a man sows to the flesh, of the flesh he reaps cor¬
ruption." This is also true of nations, which are but the massing of
individuals. History has again and again shown the fulfilment of the
prophecy: "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given
48
SOCIAL PURITY.
Blood-marks of Crime. Defects of character, abnormal instincts,
go through families like the measles or some other contagious disease.
The James boys, the Younger brothers and the Daltons, all of whom
were related, are well-known examples. We personally know a large
family, many members of which are afflicted with a jealous, pouting
disposition. In some, this is considerably under control. But of one
member it was said by an observant pastor: ''He belongs to the
family, without the grace of God."
Dr. O. W. Holmes, in "Elsie Venner," says: "It is frightful to
be in an atmosphere of family idiosyncrasies; to see all the hereditary
uncomeliness or infirmity of body, all defects of speech, failing of
temper intensified by concentration, aso that every fault of our own
finds itself multiplied by reflection like our own images in a saloon
lined with mirrors. * * * A house is like a large pod with a human
germ or two in each of its cells; it is opened by the dehiscence of the
front door by-and-by,'and projects one of its germs to Kansas, another
to Colorado, another to Chicago, and so on; and this that Smith may
not be Smithed to death and Brown may not be Browned into a mad¬
house, but mix in the world again and struggle back to an average
humanity."
Investigation of Criminal Records. Investigation confirms the
opinion that a proneness to yield to the habit of strong drink is handed
from parent to child. Mr. Morel, who has made a profound study of
this phase of the subject, says: "I have never seen the patient cured
of his propensity whose tendencies to drink were derived from hered¬
itary predisposition given to him by his parents. * * * I constantly
find sad victims of the alcoholic intoxication of their parents in their
favorite resorts, the asylums for the insane, prisons and houses of cor¬
rection. ''
The Jurke Family. Professor Pellman, of the University of Bonn,
Germany, gives the following facts, collected by himself, of Frau Ada
Jurke, who for sixty years was a resident of Cologne, and who died
there about a century ago. She was a confirmed profligate, addicted
to all debasing vices, and frequently convicted of crime; was the
mother of several children, and six generations of her posterity, num¬
bering altogether 834 persons, can be traced. Professor Pellman
located and obtained the history of 709 members of this remarkable
CHAPTER III.
PRENATAL INFLUENCES.
Definition. By prenatal influences we mean those temporary
operations of the mind, or physical conditions of the parents previous
to birth, which stamp their impress upon the new life.
We may consider this subject as one which naturally divides itself
into three periods: the preparation which precedes conception, the
mental, moral and physical conditions at the time of conjunction, and
the environment and condition of the mother during the period of
gestation.
A. E. Newton says: "Numergus facts indicate that offspring may
be affected and their tendencies shaped by a great variety of influ¬
ences, among which moods and influences more or less transient may
be included.''
Causes and Effect. As to methods which produce these effects we
are somewhat in the dark, but that certain effects are produced by
certain conditions is manifest.
Prof. O. S. Fowler says: "For precisely the same reason that
children inherit constitutional or permanent character of parentage,
so they also take on those particular parental conditions existing at
the time they receive being and character. In other words, as they
inherit the constitutional character of parents, so when circumstances
excite even feebler faculties in the latter to temporary predomi¬
nance long enough to affect the character of those materials
employed in the manufacture of life and mentality, children imbibe
along with their very being these temporarily prevailing character¬
istics of parentage by the action of that same great law which trans¬
mits the permanent physiology afid mentality when they predominate.
We might cite many instances where a genuine sympathy exists
between mother and child, 'organ for organ, part for part.' " Dr. S. B.
Elliot says on this subject: "The child's body is growing rapidly in
all directions, building material is plentiful, and the energies that can
utilize it seem tireless. If any portion of the mother's body, whether
it be an intellectual faculty or the stomach, is either continuously or
55
60
SOCIAL PURITY.
Like Parent, Like Children. It is folly to expect strong and vig¬
orous children from weak and sickly parents, or virtuous offspring from
impure ancestry.
The farmer breeds only his best stock. Dr. James Foster Scott
tells us that, "Purity is, in fact, the crown of all real manliness; and
the vigorous and the robust, who by repression of evil have preserved
their sexual potency, make the best husbands and fathers, and they
are the direct benefactors of the race by begetting progeny who are
not predisposed to sexual vitiation and bodily and mental degeneracy.
These are laws which are universally recognized by all breeders of
stock and by those who have made a study of the races of mankind."
Hysteria in the mother may develop insanity in the child, while the
drinking habits of the father may produce not only a like habit in the
child, but also epilepsy or some other form of insanity.
Responsibility of Parents. Selden H. Tascottsays: "Ungoverned
passions in the parents may unloose the furies of unrestrained mad¬
ness in the minds of their children. Even tempered religious enthu¬
siasm may beget a fanaticism that can not be restrained within the
limits of reason." In view of the preceding statements what a
responsibility rests upon the parents! No step in the process of
parentage is unimportant, from the lovers' first thought of marriage
to the birth of the child, every step of the way should be paved with
snow-white blossoms of pure thought. Kindly words and deeds
should bind the prospective parents more closely together. Not mine
and thine, but ours, should be the bond of sympathy. Each should
be chaste in thought and word and deed as was Sir Galahad who went
in search of the Holy Grail, saying: "My strength is as the strength
of ten, because my heart is pure.''
What preparation shall the father make for the coming child?
Perhaps the following instance from the pen of Dr. Dio Lewis will
give some light upon the foregoing question:
Experience of Col. , who was born among the hills of a
neighboring state, and who served throughout the whole of the late Civil
war, attaining honorable rank in the service, in speaking of this sub¬
ject, said: "Why, doctor, you do not know one-half of the misery
that comes to men and women in the way of which you are now speak¬
ing. Take my own family, for example. My father was intellectually
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
LIKE PARENTS, LIKE CHILDREN.
Mental and Physical Debility.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
LIKE PARENTS, LIKE CHILDREN.
Health of Body and Mind.
PRENATAL INFLUENCES.
65
Physical Power Transmitted. We give an illustration from Pro¬
fessor Riddell showing the result of a change in the habits of the father.
He says: I have a friend in New York who was engaged in a
sedentary occupation. For years he had taken but little bodily exer¬
cise, and consequently was low in physical strength and energy. His
little boy, born under these conditions, had a splendid brain and
excelled in mathematics (the father was a book-keeper), but was
sadly wanting in physical development and vitality. His lower limbs
were spindling, his chest narrow, and his whole constitution weak.
After my conversation with the father touching the possible cause,
he was determined to see what could be done by a little vigorous
training on his part. He therefore took up systematic physical cul¬
ture, putting in an hour a day in a gymnasium for nearly two years,
with the result that he gained twenty-five pounds of solid muscle, and,
as he said, 'twice as much energy,' becoming a well-developed athlete.
"At the end of the two years the initial of another life took place.
This child, also a boy, had as good a brain as his older brother and a
strong physique as well. He surprised his mother, and greatly
delighted his father, when only a few months old, by suspending his
weight by his hands from a bar, and doing numerous other feats that
indicated superior muscular power. When the two entered school,
the elder was inclined to study beyond his strength, did not care for
exercise or play, and had to be driven from his books. The younger,
although there were several years between them, handled his brother
like a bag of bran, took an active part in all active sports, yet kept
up his studies easily. The father, after seeing the unquestionable
benefit that his younger child had derived from his own training, said
to me: 'I would give all I have in the world and five years of my
life, to have had my eldest son as well born as his brother.'''
Mental Power Transmitted. The acquired characteristics of the
mind are also transmitted, as shown in the instance I am about to
quote from the same authority.
At Strang, Neb., in a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railway sta¬
tion, Professor Riddell saw a girl twelve years old, selling tickets,
checking baggage, receiving and sending telegraphic messages, dis¬
patching trains, directing passengers, and otherwise superintending
the station. He made inquiries for the agent, and was informed that
70
SOCIAL PURITY.
Brilliant Example of Prenatal Influence. In the Arena of Sep¬
tember, 1894, is an article by M. Louise Mason, from which I quote
to illustrate what environment of a pleasant nature and grdent desires
on the part of the mother will do for a child:
"I would often sit alone in my room, overlooking scenes that were
pleasant, and, in a peaceful attitude of mind, perfectly passive, desire
that my child should be a girl; that she should have a slight figure,
chestnut hair and beautiful eyes; that she should be a musician, a
singer, and that she should be proficient in everything she undertook;
that she should be superior to all those I had ever known. Here is
the result: a beautiful woman in mind and body, with chestnut hair,
slight physique and a phenomenal voice—contralto; she is a phi¬
losopher, a student in Delsarte, astronomy, astrology, and masters
every study; is eloquent and has one of the most amiable dispositions.
* * * My love for the unborn was so intense that it has created invis¬
ible lines which have grown with the years. * * * She has returned
that love a thousand fold. She is all I desired and more."
Napoleon probably owed his military achievements and active,
energetic endowment to the fact that a few months prior to his birth
his mother rode side by side with her soldier husband and witnessed
the stirring events of a warrior's life. She partook of the enthusiasm
inspired by martial music and moving troops. She even endured the
fatigue and hardships imposed by camp life. So fascinated was she
with the accouterments of war and excitement of military scenes that,
notwithstanding her condition, she would have dared almost anything
to witness a battle, or braved any danger to go through a war from
beginning to conquest.
The mother of the authoress of the well-known French novel, "Mai
Moulee," says of herself during her pregnancy for this child: "When
I was pregnant with my third child I put my whole energies to bring
forth a poet. I read poetry, doted on it, lived in it, and when during
the day, unable to read it, thought of it, and when asleep dreamt of
it. Byron being my favorite, I devoted to him more than a due pro¬
portion of my reading. My daughter is now a poetess, and her poems
partake so much of Byron's style that her critics have asked her often
why she did not sometimes select another model. * * * When next I
became pregnant, my desires had been satisfied, and I did not care
PART TWO
The Girl in the Home
Looking Toward Marriage
Marriage—Bride—W ifehood
Mother and Child
Parent Study
75
CHAPTER IV.
THE GIRL AT HOME.
The Little Daughter a Blossom of Beauty. There is an old song
entitled, "What is Home without a Mother?" that finds an echo in
every heart because of its tender pathos. Longfellow, the household
poet, asks, "What would the world be to us if the children were no
more?" then adds the thought so true to every parent heart, "We
should dread the desert behind us worse than the dark before."
And many a father and mother would be unsatisfied if among the
children were not found the dutiful daughter, the faithful and loving
sister. In far-away India, where the little girl baby must make room
in the home for the long-wished-for boy, she yet finds her a place
because of her docile disposition and faithful service to the honored
father and mother. But the Christian home has a seat of honor
unoccupied, a niche in its temple unadorned, a pedestal ungraced,
unless there be a daughter within its sacred walls.
The Heavenly Father, seated on the great white throne, bethought
him of the daughterless home and gave order that the pearly portals
should be left ajar whence the pure white blossoms of a sisterly soul
might be wafted out and drift to earth on its mission of love. The
bloom of Heaven was thus transplanted to earth, and the mother
arms opened to receive her heaven-born gift, while her heart swelled
with gratitude, and her tuneful lips parted to praise the Giver.
To the father, the daughter is a blossom of beauty and fragrance;
to the mother, she is a dream of bliss, a spot of ethereal brightness.
We may comprehend something of the feelings of the mother as
she welcomes the daughter to her heart and care, for the little one
not only requires love, but much, very much patient, tender care.
Maidenhood. Do you owe this mother anything? Your childhood
days are about over. You have done playing with your doll, and
mud pies and the jumping-rope have lost their charms for you. The
frolicsome games with your brothers and sisters, while still engaged
in for their amusement, are not so fascinating as in former years.
The freshness of the morning breeze has ceased to lure you from your
76
BAD LITERATURE
FLIRTINQAWCOQUETTERY
FAST LIFE DISSIPATION
AN OUTCAST
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
~j~HE above repre¬
sents a beautiful
little girl at seven—as
pure as a sunbeam.
Going to the left you
see her at thirteen
reading Sapho—a vile
novel. At nineteen a
Flirt. At twenty-six
a step lower — Fa s t
Life, and at forty,
the last stage, cm
Outcast.
To the right we
have a brighter
picture — Study and
Obedience, Virtue and
Devotion„ Next,
motherhood — W o -
man's greatest bless¬
ing. At sixty, an
honored and beloved
grandmother.
ST U D OBEDIENCE
VIRTUE—DEVOTION
A LOVING MOTHER
ANHONOREDGRANDMOTHER
TWO P/\y-
•AXIHfld
Copyright, 1933, by J. A. Hertcl.
Age CO. Age 23.
ILL-MATED IN AGE AND DISPOSITION.
THE GIRL AT HOME.
85
Her Place in the Home. The place of our girl in the home is,
therefore, just such a place as she has a mind and an effort to make
it. It may be large or it may be small. That will depend upon her
ideal, and the endeavor she makes to realize it. It is really a creative
place, one in which she may be the jewel of light and real worth, a
most helpful and sunny influence in the home, or simply a participant
in the comforts and protection of the home, without a thought that
anything is expected of her in return. Too many girls are thoughtless
in this aspect. We say thoughtless because we believe that few mean
to be selfish and unkind to those whom they know to be their best
friends. Others there are in many an humble home who are gems of
purest ray, not because of their learning and accomplishments, but
because of their cheerful obedience to the promptings of an unselfish
heart.
Earning a Living. Not every girl is obliged to fold up her child¬
hood pleasures and lay them on the shelf as she does her apron, and
happy is she who may retain them to womanhood's sedate years.
Doubly happy is she who knows how to appreciate a good home where
every need is supplied, and where love of kindness is unstinted. If
our girl is wise, and it is not necessary that she should go out into the
world to earn a livelihood, she will hesitate long and consider seri¬
ously the question of seeking a wider sphere.
^ These are days of restless activity and aspiration. The time has
long since gone by when school-teaching and millinery were the only
occupations open to women. To-day young women are tempted on
every hand to lay aside the sweeter ministries of the home for the
seemingly larger career of a business or a professional life. An ambi¬
tious girl, conscious of her native resources and acquired ability,
prompted by a desire to achieve something commendable, or to
further improve her abilities or character, is often induced to step out
from the quietude of the home circle into the busy competitions
which a public life offers. She argues that she has no right to with¬
hold her talents which have been so carefully cultivated at a great
expense, and which may be made useful and helpful to larg:; numbers
of other people less fortunate. Or, as Margaret Sangster says, "She
wonders why there should be limitations hedging her about, when, in
the case of her brother, not better equipped, not more aggressive than
96
SOCIAL PURITY.
Kitchen Angels. Sarah V. Dubois, in the "Christian Intelli¬
gencer, '' speaks of another form of home service for the young girl
which is just as valuable as any before mentioned. Perhaps it is even
more valuable because it is such a service as every member of the
family can appreciate, and one to which many of our talented young
ladies are apt to give the least attention. Too many young women
of the prosperous classes in our country are educated to do nothing
but light housework and fancy work; to play the part of daughters at
home, and when abroad to be agreeable members of society. These
are all very pleasant and agreeable, as far as they go, but the trouble
is, they don't go far enough.
One of Murillo's pictures represents a number of angels in a
kitchen engaged in performing ordinary household duties. At first
thought, we are disposed to be amused, perhaps, having associated
ideas of angels with performing on harps in streets of gold. Few of
us would dream of looking into a kitchen to find a company of angels
engaged in doing culinary work.
Yet why not? Is there a more blessed or beautiful ministry than
that of serving others in the ordinary ways of life? To be happy, one
must be useful; and who can gainsay the usefulness of the young
maiden who resolves to make wholesome and happy the atmosphere
of her home? Baking bread, serving cake and delicious viands, may
not be exactly angelic in its daily routine, but I am sure the bright
and healthy mind employed in such labor may find in it a peculiar and
enduring pleasure.
Winning Qualities. People call our girl so nice, because she
shields others at her own expense.
When a sacrifice is made, she does it cheerfully.
She avoids discussions in the presence of a third party.
She speaks politely to all classes of people.
She apologizes readily when an apology is necessary.
She never notices an accident to others unless she can help them.
She never accepts a gift or enjoys a pleasure without returning
hearty thanks for the same.
She avoids personal jokes that would wound another.
Business Education for our Daughters. Should our girl receive a
business education, is a question of serious importance. Many girls
A SYMPATHETIC FRIEND.
ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED
Copyright, 1903, by J A. Hertel.
BEFORE MARRIAGE.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
AFTER MARRIAGE.
CHAPTER V.
LOOKING TOWARD MARRIAGE—GIRLHOQD.
Your attention has been directed to the general laws of health and
the habits and practices of every-day living which are equally appli¬
cable to both sexes.
We now come to a province peculiarly your own. There came a
time in your life when a change occurred both in mind and body,
and so marked was it, that you scarcely knew yourself, and you were
tempted to ask, "Is this I or some one else?"
In body there was a feeling of general weariness, quite unlike your
former care-free life. Perhaps you were troubled with headaches,
pains in the limbs shifting from place to place, now here, now there,
now somewhere else. Often there was a sense of heaviness in the
small of the back, and a presence about the ovaries as if something
were weighing down the abdomen.
You often had nervous, chilly sensations, and if out walking, you
lagged behind from depressive weakness. These were the accompa¬
niments of a great physical change. If you remember, you grew tall
very rapidly. If you met a friend who had been absent for a year or
two, she said: "Is it possible this is the same little girl who played
'fox and geese' in our door-yard-only a year or two ago?" Your
clothing needed altering, not only as to length, but as to width. If
you were chubby arid short-waisted, you grew more slender at the
waist, but fuller and more rounded at the chest; the hips widened,
and hair grew under the arms and upon other parts of the body. Per¬
haps you were of a delicate, slender build; if so, you probably grew
larger and more robust in appearance after the change was fully made
and you had settled into regularity. At this time, from the age of
twelve to sixteen, the organs which mark your sex waken as if from
a deep sleep and become energetic and active. The blood becomes
richer and more vigorous, so that there are apt to be congestions of
various organs, which frequently find relief in nosebleeds.
As the changes progress and become settled, you recover from your
languor and the present outlook is more cheerful, and the future vivid
101
110
SOCIAL PURITY.
The Use of Stimulants. Of one pernicious habit I would warn
every bride and prospective mother, and that is the practice of indulg¬
ing in alcoholic stimulants, be they ever so light. The young are
peculiarly sensitive to the evil effects of stimulants. Alcohol has more
power on the babe unborn than on the mother herself. Undiluted
alcohol is one of the most deadly poisons, and a single draught of it
will cause a person's death almost as surely as a draught of prussic
acid. Some people think that the milder drinks, such as wine, beer
and cider, do not intoxicate, hence are harmless. The stinging, prick¬
ling sensation given by these finer drinks, shows that they contain
alcohol, and they are intoxicating in just such a degree as they con¬
tain alcohol.
Alcoholism in the parent, especially in the mother, will produce
nerve degeneration, and nerve degeneration may be the factor in
producing inebriates. Weak and degenerate nerves crave a stimulant
and the weakened will yields, and stimulant in the milder form is
taken. The nerves demand stronger and stronger stimulants, and
inebriety results. On this topic Mrs. Dr. Allen says:
"As a young woman you hold a great power over the race in your¬
self, . and through your influence over others, especially over young
men. Your influence, wisely used, may save more than one from a
drunkard's fate, and to.use it wisely, you should be instructed as to
the real character of alcohol and its effect on the system."
Age to Marry. It has been thought by some that when the age
of puberty overtakes a young woman that she is capable of reproduc¬
tion, and therefore ready for marriage. This is an error, for marriage
should be consummated only between a physiologically perfect man
and woman. Physical perfection implies ripeness, a full growth of
every organ of the body.
When puberty first shows itself, the framework of the system,
which supports the muscular, nervous, arterial and digestive parts, is
not full grown. This implies also that the productive element also
is not fully grown. There are many of the bones that are not com¬
pletely ossified or full grown until the twenty-fifth year. The collar¬
bone does not attain its full growth till the eighteenth year, the
scapular or shoulder-blade is not fully formed until the twenty-fifth
year, as also the bones of the pelvis and leg. It is folly then to argue
LOOKING TOWARD MARRIAGE—GIRLHOOD.
121
True Marriage. "True marriage is the life union of one man and
one woman who are in suitable conditions of health in mind and
body, of age, of temperament, of convictions and of tastes to enable
them to live together in harmony and happiness, to assist each other
in fulfilling the general ends of human life in the development of
character and performance of duty, and to become the parents of
healthy offspring; marriage means just this, no more, no less. * * *
"The Creator has, for wise ends, implanted certain instincts and
passions in each member of the human family; as these instincts and
passions are intimately connected with important ends, they have
been made strong, and have been closely connected with the central
organs and functions of the body and mind. They are invaluable
servants, but bad masters. They must be judicially directed and
controlled, else harm and degradation are certain.''
Mutual Understanding. It seems to us wise that a young woman
should not enter into the physical relations of marriage until she has
talked freely with her companion of these relations. It will save her
much suffering and perhaps a feeling of utter degradation.
Henry G. Wright, in a word to young women by way of advice,
says: "Learn distinctly his views and feelings and his expecta¬
tions in regard to that purest and most ennobling of all the functions
of your nature, and the most sacred of all the intimacies of conjugal
life. Your self-respect, your beauty, your glory, your heaven as a
wife, will be more directly involved in his feelings, views and prac¬
tices in regard to that relation than in all other things. As you
would not become a weak, miserable, imbecile, unlovable and
degraded wife and mother in the very prime of your life, come to a
perfect understanding with your chosen one ere you commit your per¬
son to his keeping in the sacred intimacies of home. Beware of that
man, who, under pretense of delicacy, modesty and propriety, shuns
conversation with you on this relation, and on the hallowed function
of maternity. Concealment and mystery in him towards you on all
other subjects pertaining to conjugal union, might be overlooked; but
if he conceals his views here, rest assured it bodes no good to your
purity and happiness as a wife and a mother."
Marital Indulgence. The two, however, are naturally combined
for a wise purpose, and a moderate amount of sexual indulgence in a
CHAPTER VIII.
WIFEHOOD—WHAT A BRIDE AND MOTHER SHOULD KNOW.
The Prospective Mother. The family begins properly with the
baby. Men and women may love, court, marry and live together, but
there is no family until the husband and wife can say to each other:
"Two times one are two, and one to carry, makes three."
Every household is a small kingdom, and the cradle is the royal
throne. The little king or queen is the imperial personage who com¬
mands our loyalty and devoted affection. Much has been said con¬
cerning the influence of the mother upon the child, but have you ever
thought of t-he child's influence upon the mother? It is difficult to say
positively which is the greater and more potent educator—the mother
or the child. In the care of the child the mother's selfishness and
vanity disappear. Where once she sought only her own ease and
pleasure, now she studies the best good of the child. Where once
she gave way to passionate and intemperate words, her language is
now temperate and soothing.
Where once she sought only her own gratification, she now sacri¬
fices such indulgence that she may bring a nobler ministry to the new
being, the product of a virtuous love.
A mother of experience says: "The duty of a mother to her babe
begins before its birth. Every irritable feeling should then be
restrained, and overflowing joy and hope be the daily aliment of life."
It should be a season of calm and quietude. The unfolding organs of
the new life require the nursing of silence and joyful love. As the
little being takes its hold upon life, every influence should be brought
to bear upon the forming of a perfect organization.
Herbert Spencer says: "Of all bequests of parents to children, the
most valuable is a sound constitution." Intelligent married people,
if addicted to right habits of living, may klmost certainly have bright,
intelligent and healthful children, provided that the ancestry have not
been tainted by promiscuous sexual indulgence, for we can not gather
figs of thistles.
Every prospective mother should use every means at her command
166
WIFEHOOD—WHAT A BRIDE AND MOTHER SHOULD- KNOW. 177
When Conception Takes Place. When the union of the ovum and
male principle (sperm) is accomplished, conception or impregnation is
said to have taken place. This ovum is so small as to be invisible to the
naked eye, and with many women passes off within forty-eight hours
after menstruation begins. With some delicate women it is retained
as late as fourteen days after.
At the time of menstruation the ovum is thrown off from the
ovary, and passes along the Fallopian tube to the womb, where it
remains usually for two days.
Should it come in contact with the male principle while in the
womb, or on its journey there, a new life is begun. It is still an
unsettled question in just which place impregnation occurs. It is
thought by scientists that it may take place either in the ovaries, the
oviducts or the womb.
If the union of germ and sperm has not been effected, the ovum
passes off in the excretions.
The Only Safe Rule. Conception can not then occur until another
ovum takes up its line of travel, which is usually two weeks later than
the fourteenth day from menstruation, that is, at the commencement
of the next period of menstruation.
These periods of sterility are not fixed, however. Conception may
occur during this latter two weeks, as sometimes the ovum may be
ripened before its time on account of prolonged sexual excitement,
and may have made its advent in the womb before its presence is
suspected. Then again the male principle may be unusually lively
and may live in the uterus until the new ovum arrives at the proper
time, so that it is not altogether certain when conception may be
avoided, though the above rule holds good in a general way.
Signs of Pregnancy. When a married woman ceases to menstru¬
ate, it may usually be taken as a sign that conception has taken place,
, yet this is not always evidence, as the suppression may be caused by
a severe cold, by some uterine difficulty, or by a wasting disease like
consumption.
If in two or three weeks after the time for the appearance of the
menses, a distressing morning sickness visits a woman, which contin¬
ues with vomiting, until the third or four month, and with a change
of the form, such as the enlargement of the breasts with tender or
184
SOCIAL PURITY.
Continence During Gestation. Dr. Cowan says: "During the full
period of gestative influence, as well as during the period of nursing,
sexual congress should not be had between husband and wife.
"This is the law of nature, the law of God, and outside of Christen¬
dom is never violated. Animals will not permit it—savages do not
practice it—and in over three-quarters of the world it is looked upon
as infamous by our own species."
Professor Riddell says: "Unchaste maternity is the principal cause
of the hereditary tendency toward sexual dissipation. Most of the
human race have been subjected to this unnatural, debasing influence
during their prenatal development. Thousands of noble men and
women, whose lives are spotless, struggle against these maternal
impressions from early youth to the decline of life; while millions who
are considered chaste, are so only because the present ethics of mat¬
rimony allows the unrestricted expression of their abnormal desires.
"Breaking the law of chastity during the period of gestation and
lactation is one of the great causes of infant mortality.
"Many parents, by the abuse of the marital rights, have robbed their
offspring of physical strength, mental vigor or moral purity. Many
who are anxiously caring for a puny little weakling, who would gladly
sacrifice all and deny themselves every comfort to save its life, find,
alas, that they began their self-denial too late!
"Others whose children are strong and healthy early manifest ten¬
dencies that betray their unnatural prenatal training. * * *
Absolute Freedom Necessary. "The prospective mother should
enjoy absolute freedom. She should be relieved from needless care
and anxiety, • and be allowed to assert the queenly rights of her own
person, and follow the mandates of her own instincts and choice.
This absolute freedom is not only highly essential to her comfort and
welfare, but it is also of great importance to her child. If the mother
is a slave, if she is compelled to subject her will to the will of the
husband, if she is made to feel that she must obey the dictates of
another, rest assured that her child will be a slave, a born serf, lack¬
ing in self-reliance, independence, sense of freedom and the self-
respect and dignity that belong to the well born. * * *
"No republic can survive that enslaves womanhood, and no mon¬
archy can maintain its power to rule over men born of free women."
FAITHFUL TO DUTY.
CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.
JUST HOME FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel. EVENING PRAYER—THEN READY FOR BED.
Who can estimate the power and influence, either for good or bad, that may be wrapped up in an innocent child!
The familiar prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep," taught at mother's knee, has been the means of bringing home many a prodigal
son and daughter.
CHAPTER IX.
THE MOTHER AND THE CHILD.
Nothing in the world is, perhaps, more pathetic nor more signifi¬
cant than the cry of a babe for its mother. No cry so touches the
heart of humanity and is so readily heeded. The wail of the infant
says in plainest words, "I want my mother," and in all the universe
that is the one thing and the only thing he does want, and that is the
one thing he should have. To supply the ever-coming babe with a
good mother is a problem worthy the most serious study of human¬
kind. Nothing can take the place of a true and wise mother, and if
the child is to reach the wholesome, well-rounded maturity of body
and mind, the quality of motherhood must be of the very best. We
have seen in the study of heredity that the defects of the mother are
stamped indelibly upon the physical, moral and spiritual character
of the child. We have read in the testimony of the wise and good
of the influence of the early training of careful and pious motherhood,
and we are confirmed more than ever in the opinion that what man¬
hood, womanhood, childhood and babyhood most want is more
mothering. Another has said: "While education can not take
the place of common sense, it does rectify the mistakes of ignorance,
and drills even the most stupid into a right-doing routine. And even
the most highly developed maternal instinct and the most sterling com¬
mon sense often need the guidance of the light of the experience of
other common-sense folks. It is this guidance that science seeks to
supply. For science is not the theories of schools, but the facts that
men and women with common sense have discovered—sometimes at
an enormous cost of human life."
Mother's Anxiety. The mother's anxiety for the child is not
chiefly in the first few months of babyhood when it draws all its com¬
fort from her presence and depends upon her for its existence. And
yet, perhaps, the tiny beginnings of an influence which may continue
to extreme old age, may be earlier than we think. There is no power
over a child—even babe—more potent than a kind voice, every intona¬
tion of which tells of a throbbing, boundless love. The soothing
195
198
SOCIAL PURITY.
Respect for Children's Tastes. One who should know says: "If
a child shows a marked distaste for any particular kind of food, it is
wrong to force it to eat that kind. Firstly, such enforced obedience
creates ill-feeling; secondly, food which is disagreeable is likely to
cause indigestion; and thirdly, there may be some organic idiosyncrasy
which renders that food obnoxious to the system. There is a case on
record of a man on whom mutton seemed to act as a kind of irritant
poison, and similar cases are not very rare. On the other hand, if a
child has a strong desire for any one kind of food it is unwise to deny
it unless you can show a very good reason for so doing, when you
should tell the child that reason as simply as possible; as, for instance:
'No, dear, that will give you a pain in your stomach, or make you
sick.' Never be misled into saying, 'Such things are not good for
little boys and girls,' for children do not see why grown-up people
should have the good things which they are forbidden to enjoy. If,
however, you give a reason which at once appeals to their own experi¬
ence of the order of nature, they are ready to recognize it as a sound
one."
Teaching Children to Play. "Don't do this," and "Don't do
that," "Run away," "Leave that alone," "Don't bother me," are
phrases children hear continually. If mothers would take the time to
show them how to amuse themselves instead of repeating these well-
worn reproofs, they would spend less time in the end, and would find
the results very gratifying.
A little attention given to a new play, or a few minutes' instruc¬
tion in a fresh occupation would mean hours of quiet pleasure for
the children, and rest and freedom for the mother. It is in the child's
nature to play, his make-up requires it. It is his work, and who works
harder than a healthy child at play? More grows out of a child's play
than parents are apt to realize, and he should be taught how to make
the most of it. If the child's playthings are left scattered about the
floor, if his corner of the room is in a continual state of disorder, if
he can never find his cap or ball, the future belongings of that grown¬
up child will fare no better, unless a radical change takes place. If
in childhood toys and clothing are carelessly misplaced or destroyed,
the more valuable property of later years will not be likely to receive
any more care or attention. If children are taught to play properly,
CHAPTER X.
A PHASE OF PARENT STUDY IN THE HOME.
For a number of years our scientists and educational leaders have
discussed the subject of psychology, but not until recent years has the
common mind dared to reach out into its mazes and labyrinths.
Since the subject has assumed the less euphonious title of "Child-
Study," all kinds and conditions of people are giving it more or less
attention.
Scarce a teachers' association, a woman's club, or a mothers'
meeting but has this subject on one or more of its programs. The
University of Chicago supports a chair for the promotion of this par¬
ticular branch, and a paper published in the same city is devoted to
its discussion.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first organiza¬
tion in this country to take up this study in its practical bearings.
The Greatest Thing in the World. Professor Drummond says:
"The greatest thing in the world is love," but to us, it seems that the
greatest thing in the world is the embodiment of love—a little child,
for we are told, "And a little child shall lead them."
It is not our purpose to be confined to the study of the child, but
rather to reverse the observation. Back of the child is the parent.
Let us turn the glass upon him for a time, and let the term parent
include both father and mother.
All will agree in the general statement that a child's best friends
are his parents; but perhaps there may be some dissent to this state¬
ment, that the parent as often sins against the child as does the child
against the parent. At any rate, it may do us good to think about it.
Have you ever thought how many times you have said "no" to your
little one's request when you had no particular reason for doing so?
Have you ever noticed how many times you have rejected his care¬
fully thought-out plans and wiped them away as carelessly as dust
upon the floor? Have you ever observed how you have postponed
his proper, and even laudable, projects from time to time, subject to
somebody else's convenience, and perhaps never fulfilled them at all?
211
218
SOCIAL PURITY.
An Exacting Teacher. We have in mind the experience of some
young people whose father was of a very exacting but just nature; that
is, he meant to be just and true as a parent. He loved his children
devotedly, but seemed to have no power of expressing it in words in
their presence.
No parent would do more to shield them from danger, no one
would sacrifice more for their education or for their real advancement
in the pursuits of life. The children loved him, and knew that all his
foresight and sacrifices were the outcome of his love for them; yet
they longed for some expression of their father's appreciation of their
efforts in various lines. Many times they would gladly have opened
their hearts and thanked their father for the sacrifices he was making
for them, had they known how. But the avenues of speech had so
long been unused to carry such messages that something in the nature
of an explosion was needed to break up the natural course. A few
instances may be noted which you may make in your own observation
or experience.
One day three of these boys, now grown to young men, were sit¬
ting on the porch in the cool of the evening, wondering what the
father would say of their work which they had just finished. They
had agreed among themselves that they would take the utmost pains
to do the job well and as they thought would be the most pleasing
to their father. Now as they reviewed their work, they could see
nothing to be done to improve it. One of them said: "But father
will find something not right about it." Another one said: "I don't
see how he can; I've looked it all over for the purpose of finding
something wrong." Another said: "Well, I'll bet the ice-cream that
this time he won't find anything." "Agreed," said the first. Shortly
after, the father came and sat down beside them. As he looked over
their work, about the first thing thing he said was: "That tree isn't
bandaged straight.''
The boys looked knowingly at each other, and it probably would
have needed a carpenter's square to discover the true line.
The daughter in this home was painstaking and conscientious to do
her best both for herself and for the honor of her parents.
Often in her work at school she would say: "Oh, if I only knew
what father thought of it." When congratulated by friends upon her
PART THREE
The Growing Boy
Secret Sin or Masturbation
Life of Chastity—a Struggle
Love—Courtship—Marriage
What a Young Married Man Should Know
Confidential Chat with Husband and Wife
225
CHAPTER XI.
THE GROWING BOY.
The Growing Boy. A growing boy just merging into manhood
sometimes thinks that good manners and politeness of speech are
marks of femininity, and seeks to rid himself of all such signs by
affecting roughness and bluntness. He imagines this a sign of vigor
and manliness, and that other young men will like him better for this
supposed superiority. He has heard of some unscrupulous scoundrel
who was courteous and well-bred, and of some rough, but manly
characters; therefore, he argues that politeness and weakness or vil¬
lainy go together, and that roughness and honesty pair.
Mistaken again, young man! Because some polite men are dis¬
honest and some good, honest men blunt, does not prove that good
manners are to be avoided. It only shows that courteous behavior is
so appreciated, so well liked, that it is, like good goods, often coun¬
terfeited.
Respect to Age. There is a lack in these days of respectful speech
to older people. The young man is apt to forget, if he ever knew,
that age should be reverenced.
It costs something now and then to be courteous. Yet a gentle¬
man will not hesitate to pay the price. Several years ago three young
men, just graduated from college, went on a hunting tour through
West Virginia, seeking sport and health. One day they stopped at a
farmer's house to take dinner. They were cordially welcomed by the
good man and his wife, whose table was bountifully spread. At the
close of the meal a basket of apples and pears was placed on the
table.
"Mr. Ames, will you take apples or p'ars?" asked the farmer's
wife, addressing one of the young men.
The young man was perplexed. He wanted pears. "But," he
said to himself, "if I say 'pears,' I may mortify my hostess by seem¬
ing to correct her pronunciation. Should I say 'p'ars,' the boys
would laugh." "An apple, if you please," he answered, denying him¬
self, that he might be courteous.
226
THE GROWING BOY.
231
Appearance and Cleanliness. Cleanliness is a mark of character.
A man's appearance describes him better than a whole book of his
qualities. Dirty linen, spotted clothing, black finger-nails and dusty
shoes are no recommendation for a young man looking for employ¬
ment. The young man we would choose should be clean clear
through to the skin, he should thoroughly cleanse that, and then go
deeper. Don't be content to wash only "the outside of the cup and
platter;" have clean thoughts and pure motives also. Let the lips
and tongue be clean that no unclean utterance pass their door. No
broadcloth can cover a foul man long, the stench will force its way
through. A young man to be clean must control his thoughts, his
desires, his passions, his habits. They must be made to bow to his
will, and he must firmly say to them, "Stand there in thy place, I am
master here." This with a pure heart cleansed in the fountain
opened for sin and unrighteousness constitutes a clean man—a
gentleman.
Habits—Cigarettes. A young man to do his best must lay aside
every weight. One of these weights is the cigarette or cigar habit.
As a boy he should never have taken it up, but if such has been his
misfortune, let him lay it aside so positively that he will never touch
it again.
Every thoughtful and observant person has noticed the slouchy
dress, the sleepy eyes, the lifeless complexion, the listless movements
of the cigarette or the tobacco user among young men. Their use not
only affects the exterior appearance, but it extends also to the heart,
and brain. They can not be so clean, so clear, so alert and quick-T;
they are just like the outside, dull and sluggish. If the habit is begurr*
in boyhood and allowed to continue, the boy once bright in his
studies, quick to see a point, and having a memory to retain it,
becomes dull of comprehension and his memory fails him. He
becomes unable to concentrate his thoughts, his nerves quiver with
the slightest excitemeir^nd he has no power to control them unless
he seek the stimulant again.
Business and educational men recognize this fact. Very few cigar¬
ette and cigar smokers graduate from our colleges and higher schools
of learning, and almost none come off with first honors. Business
firms are coming to learn more and more that the cigarette users can
CHAPTER XII.
SECRET SIN OR MASTURBATION.
We come now to an extremely distasteful subject for discussion;
but duty calls and we must proceed to obey.
Intelligence the Only Safety. Prudery says: Keep still; do not
talk about our sexual natures. Duty says: Cry aloud; let the truth
be known; publish it to the world; save the people from pollution and
destruction, from death. God says: "My people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge." Hosea iv, 6. Duty and the Divine Voice must
be heeded. Multitudes might have been saved in the past had but
the warning voice been heard. Multitudes may yet be saved to the
future by a proper understanding of the duties and dangers of life.
Keep still, and die; cry aloud, and live. Pollution, disease, idiocy,
death lie on this side; purity, health, manly vigor, life, on the other.
Which shall it be? The tempter comes to the young in a hundred
ways; we can not guard all these avenues of danger. The youth of
both sexes should be taught to be their own guards. This can only
be done by intelligent instruction from those whose duty it is to give
it. Information, often from the most vicious sources, will ultimately
reach the child, though his parents may believe that he is secure from
danger. Intelligence and moral training are the only safeguards.
If they fail, as they do in many cases, there is little hope elsewhere;
surely, ignorance can not save, if training and intelligence fail.
Influence of Imagination. "The imagination alone," says Dr.
Sperry, "is able to produce, and to maintain for a long time, a high
degree of sexual excitement. This excitement is accompanied by a
severe and exhausting tension of the nervous system. The spinal
cord and the brain become irritated under the tension, and the special
senses are often seriously injured by it. After a while the back, the
head, the eyes and the ears of the abuser-of-self suffers serious dis¬
comfort, and in various ways are made to behave badly. * * * The
imagination is allowed to work as much havoc in and through the
reproductive sphere as is brought about by mechanical means."
In regard to the polluted imagination, Rev. John Todd says: "In
240
SECRET SIN OR MASTURBATION.
245
Circumcision—Its History. Circumcision is the act of cutting off
the loose, projecting foreskin (prepuce) of the penis of the male child.
We first learn of circumcision in connection with Abraham, the
father of the faithful. From the time of Abraham to the present age,
this custom has been practiced by the Jewish race.
In Genesis xvii, 9-13, we read: "And God said to Abraham, As
for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant; thou and thy seed after thee
throughout their generations. "This is my covenant which ye shall
keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every male among
you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh
of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and
you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you,
every male throughout your generations, he that is in the house, or
bought with money of any stranger who is not of thy seed.'' Abraham
was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised; and all faithful
Jews keep this covenant instituted so long ago, though they have
been ridiculed, persecuted and driven from land to land. Ishmael,
the son of Abraham and Hagar, was circumcised when a lad twelve
years old. For that reason the Arabs, who are his descendants, cir¬
cumcise their male children at about the same age.
Though Mohammed did not institute this rite, all his followers,
though not Arabs, circumcise their boys. Mohammed himself was cir¬
cumcised when a boy, and, of course, before there was such a religion
known as Moslemism.
The Abyssinian Christians also practiced circumcision.
We are somewhat surprised to learn that this rite was practiced
among some of the native tribes of Africa, and also among the Indians
of America, especially the Peruvians of South America. Both history
and the monuments teach us that circumcision was performed among
the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians. It is not known how this rite
originated among the peoples so widely distributed over the world.
We might assume and theorize, but it would be without profit to any
one. We only know that God instituted the rite as a covenant with
Abraham and his seed after him. It would perhaps be presumption
in us to attempt to give all the reasons why this was commanded to
be done. But among the reasons there was, doubtless, a hygienic
basis for its requirement. We have learned that the Mosaic law?
CHAPTER XIII.
A LIFE OF CHASTITY—A STRUGGLE.
The first thought a young man should firmly fix in mind is that a
life of chastity is a life struggle. It is very easy to follow where
passion leads.
A Warning. We are apt to reason wrongly when passion is the
father to the thought. Again, results of violated law are so very far
away that our strong desires shut out the more distant view, and we
see only present gratification. If all could only see the misery, pain,
torture, anguish that is liable to overtake all violators of physical
laws, the world would be freed from much of its misery. Nature says:
Take what you want and pay for it. We accept that invitation and
proceed many times to pay the tremendous price for what we get.
We think we may cheat nature and get much present gratification, and
defer payment indefinitely. But in due time payment is demanded
with interest, and though we cry out like Esau, we must abide by our
own choice, though we may have sold our birthright—health and
purity—for a mess of pottage—present gratification.
The Battle for Purity. The struggle for sexual purity is a battle
royal, extending over a period of from thirty-five to forty-five years.
The fierceness of the fight depends principally on two things, viz.:
(i) the strength of the sexual nature of the individual, and (2) the
number of the victories won or lost in the early years of the struggle.
If often defeated at the beginning, the struggle will be the longer
continued, and the victory longer delayed. But the effort for sexual
purity will be royally repaid with health and vigor of manhood.
Some False Teachings. The idea is quite general among men that
the loss of some seminal fluid is essential to health. Most men of any
breadth of information know that excessive loss is injurious. A mod¬
erate loss in a proper way is according to nature's laws and may be
beneficial. But there are some physicians who teach that some loss
of the male element is essential to good health. This idea in the
mind of a young or old man is an open door for the tempter to enter.
If there must be loss it must come to the unmarried man either
256
A LIFE OF CHASTITY—A STRUGGLE.
261
Facts Better than Logic. But this is not all; facts are better than
logic, especially if the logic be defective or one-sided. Many of them
have lived for years without the loss of a drop of the vital fluid, and
yet have had the most vigorous health. On his deathbed, Sir Isaac
Newton, one of the greatest men that ever lived, told his physician
that he had never, to his knowledge, lost a drop of semen. Other
bachelors of note are named by authorities as classed with Newton.
The Sex Force within Man. Thus far we have combated the false
notion that the loss of the Vital fluid is essential to man. That is
purely defensive; we propose now to take the offensive and marshal
some irresistible battalions to show that it is of the highest value to
keep the sex force within man. Riddell, in his "Child of Light,"
says: "A hint to the wise is sufficient. He who would improve any
attribute of body, mind or soul, and wield the scepter of power, who
would feel in mature years the buoyancy of youth, should learn and
obey the law of sex. He who would thrill with the power of mag¬
netism and inspire others with its subtle force, who would realize
the romance of love and the poetry of an ardent soul, who would
feel ambition mount from weird earth to vaulted sky and know the
potency of noble aspirations, should retain the sex force within his
being. He who would be able to reason clearly and comprehend
readily, who would vibrate with another's sympathy and feel another's
woe, who would know what it is to be a free man and have that
moral courage that will not bear a feather's weight of slavery's chain
for small or great, who would stand in the presence of God and man
an uncrowned king—resplendent with the glories of human achieve¬
ments, conscious of the divinity there is in him—let him deny himself,
and follow the Christ in the life of chastity!"
Continency and Chastity. Dr. Napheys says: "The man is con¬
tinent who commits neither fornication, nor adultery, nor secret vice;
but for all that his mind may be foul as hell within, and he may nour¬
ish his fancy on vile imaginations. Such a one is not chaste. Only
he, pure in thought and life, who withstands and overcomes the
promptings of his carnal nature, deserves this noble epithet; he it is
who dwells in the condition of chaste celibacy; and we say at once,
physically speaking, he alone escapes the disadvantages of celibacy,
and her escapes them completely. We emphatically condemn, as a
268
SOCIAL PURITY.
A Life of Virtue is a Life of Health. Another writer says: "A
life of virtue is a life of health. Self-denial leads to self-development
on higher planes. Patient battling against lower lusts ends in assured
victory. To one man, and to one only, is life worth living, and that
man is he who resolves on nothing less than perfection of the body,
mind and soul.''
The Battle for Purity—How Fought. First, by not letting false
ideas of life and health pierce our moral armor. Perhaps no one thing
has ever done so much to drag young manhood down, as the false
teaching that the loss of a certain amount of the life principle is
essential to good health. It has smothered the consciences of a multi¬
tude of young men who wanted to be virtuous, but whose passions
cried out for satisfaction; the tempter whispered in the ear, "Nature'
demands relief;" the bars are thus left down, and the tempter walks
in with all his persuasive powers. This false idea is at the root of
that other falsehood that there are two standards of virtue, one for
the man and another for the woman.
The second step is to commence in time to win victories. Every
victory won makes the next one easier; every defeat makes the next
victory more difficult. The battle must be fought in the will. Here
we must commence in time. It is possible by nerve force to hold
down the safety-valve or to close the throttle-valve; but the better
way is to keep down the fires—do not let the steam generate. Com¬
mence in time! Let the first lascivious thought or the first impure
glance be checked.
An Attorney's Method. Many years ago an old, gray-headed
attorney-at-law explained to the writer his method of conducting a
case in court. It was something after this manner: His first effort
was to destroy the egg; if unsuccessful in this, his next effort was to
kill the tadpole; if still unsuccessful, he put forth his best efforts to
kill the young frog; if he failed in this, he put forth his supreme effort
to kill the bull-frog. To all who wish to fight a successful battle of
sexual purity, this is good advice. To give way to our natural
impulses is to let the egg of evil develop into at least the tadpole
state, and perhaps it may reach the bull-frog state of passion that is
usually successful in dodging our efforts to stone him to death. Rev.
John Watson, the famous Scottish divine and writer, says in his unique
CHAPTER XIV.
WHAT A YOUNG MAN SHOULD KNOW—LOVE.
The word love has many shades of warning, but in no case does it
express an abstract idea; it is objective in its manifestation; it is
directed toward some object of affection. A parent loves his child, a
brother his sister, the philanthropist his race. Then there is a higher
love known as charity that "suffereth long and is kind."
But the love of one sex for the other has all the elements of the
other loves plus sexual desire. Because sexual desire permeates all
conjugal love—is the foundation of such love—many believe it to be
the sum and substance of all love between the sexes. Many sensitive
wives have misgivings, at times, at least, as to the character and purity
of their husband's love. Doubtless many have abundant reason for
such misgivings, but let it be understood that man does not live in
the cellar because his house has a foundation.
Is Wife's Love Purer than Husband's? Some writers and think¬
ers claim that the love of the wife and mother is much more pure,
unselfish and profound than that of the husband and father. Perhaps
there is a difference, but we are inclined to the opinion of Lyman B.
Sperry, in his "Husband and Wife," where he says: "I insist that
men naturally can, and do, love as purely, as deeply, as absorbingly,
as wonderfully as woman. Give sex the same environment and equal
obligations, social, legal and commercial; give them the same or
equivalent occupations and duties; hold each to the same degree and
kind of social and moral accountability, and we shall see that, while
they naturally differ somewhat in taste, impulses and judgment,
neither is the superior of the other in constancy of love, in depth of
devotion, in purity of heart, or in chastity of conduct. Our present
conditions and customs are so* artificial that it is difficult to discover
just what is natural. * * * If we were to punish the man for infidelity
as surely, promptly and fiercely as we now stone the woman for
offenses against virtue; if we were to have the same code of morals
for each, female prostitutes would soon be as abundant as male liber¬
tines, '' but there would be fewer libertines.
2*71
286
SOCIAL PURITY.
The Same Standard of Virtue for Both Sexes. Man is a bundle of
1 inconsistencies. Like a guide-board he often points in different direc¬
tions at the same time.
The author of the Declaration of Independence was, at the time
he wrote it, a slave-holder. "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness." All America approved these sentiments,
our fathers were proud of them when proclaimed to an admiring
world, yet many of them held the black man in bondage, and others,
with scarce an exception, justified the system of slavery.
Men who followed the Author of the Golden Rule as their divine
leader, until recent years advocated the doctrine of human slavery.
These unseemly contradictions are still found in civilized Christian
communities. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" was not intended
for one sex alone. What is adultery in the woman is also adultery in
the man. The "Scarlet Letter" should be worn by both and with
equal conspicuousness. Before God and conscience, there is but
one judgment for both.
In his admirable book on "Chastity," Dio Lewis gives an account
of a man who came to him in a nervous breakdown on the very verge
of insanity.
A Heroine, though Fallen. The man's wife, who had been at a
summer resort, had been led astray by a heartless libertine.
In a penitent letter to her husband she had bravely confessed all.
We quote her letter in part: "My outraged, but adored husband, I
have fallen. God only knows how it happened. It seems a horrid
dream. May God forgive me! I am sure you never can."
The young husband's outraged feelings found expression in these
words: "I will not kill her; I will not touch her; but as soon as I get
possession of my little girls, the woman can go back to her paramour.
I will never see her again."
All this seems to you but natural in a wronged husband. But listen.
On closer inquiry, the doctor found that this badly-abused young
husband had frequently visited a young woman in a neighboring town,
and he confessed that he had been in the habit of visiting an unchaste
woman in New York while making business trips to that city. On
CHAPTER XV.
WHO SHOULD MARRY AND WHO SHOULD BEAR CHILDREN.
From Dr. S. B. Elliot we glean the following: "Nature meant that
only the finest, strongest, most beautiful and only those of most spirit,
energy and brains should mate. This is shown among the lower
animals in their natural state, and was true of the ancients; but in
modern times any one and every one marries regardless of their con¬
dition and of all reason. If children did not result from such unions,
little harm would be done; however, if people who are unfit to
become parents will marry, then let them avoid conceiving children."
Early Marriages. Very early marriages are injurious to the off¬
spring, if there be any. The man is not up to his full standard of
sexual power until he is from twenty-three to twenty-five years of age.
But perhaps the worst feature of such marriage is the injury to the
parents themselves. Youthful passions, lack of discipline and
immature judgments lead the young couple into excesses, which
debilitate all the powers and arrest the bodily and mental develop¬
ment of both.
Again, love alone can not feed, clothe, educate and maintain a
rapidly-increasing family. Sense, judgment, financial means are
required to support and properly bring up a family. It is the duty of
a young man to gravely consider the welfare of those who will be
dependent upon him. A young man has no right to selfishly ask or
expect a young woman to unite with him, to leave a well-provided
home where her every need is supplied with loving solicitude, until
he has made some provision to supply the necessities of a home.
We say necessities, not the luxuries, of a home. If the young woman
happens to have something of her own, that ought to be laid aside as
a nest-egg to provide for emergencies, which are sure to come, sooner
or later, in the best regulated families.
Many a young woman, thinking it a sign of greater love for her
husband, has bestowed this upon her husband in the beginning of her
married life, only to find that it would have been wiser, and a greater
kindness to him and her dependent little ones, had she assumed the
29]
298
SOCIAL PURITY.
What Man Loves in Woman, and What Woman Loves in Man.
It is not that she is like him that a man loves a woman, but because
she is unlike. For the same reason she loves him. The qualities
which the one lacks are those which in the other attract and hold the
fancy and the heart. The more womanly the woman, the greater her
power over men; and in proportion as she approaches the masculine
in person or in character, will she repel the other sex; while a woman
admires no less in man true manliness, and feels for effeminacy and
weakness in him either pity or contempt. A too-close similarity in
constitution should be avoided, while a union of opposites is not
insisted upon.
One should seek in a life companion those qualities and character¬
istics which he or she finds lacking in himself or herself. One should
be a complement to the other, that the united parts may form a com¬
plete symmetrical whole.
Should the mental temperament of man and wife be strongly
developed there would be a still further tendency to mental action
which may already be too great; and they would transmit to their
children an excessive development in this line, while the physical
temperament might be sadly lacking.
The vital or life-giving element in the constitution should be
strong in one or the other parties to a union so that the children may
be properly balanced.
Aim for Proper Balance of Temperament. A man with an excess
of mental temperament and little vital stamina should marry a woman
abounding in vital qualities, or remain single. Should he marry a
woman like himself in temperament their children, if they had any,
would probably be weak and puny. The excess of mental activity
which they would inherit from such parents would soon wean out
their frail bodies.
When the motive t^inperament is strongly indicated, there is
needed in the one selected as partner for life a predominance of the
vital or nutritive system to impart vivacity and cheerfulness to the
family circle, and to transmit to offspring the proper degree of mental
and physical activity, warmth, amiability and suavity of character,
as well as to give a desirable softness and plumpness to the physical
system; while a good development of the mental is requisite to refine
CHAPTER XVI.
what a young married man should know.
The lover for months before marriage has been under restraint;
propriety, virtue, continence and other moral and virtuous forces
have held his sexual passions under control.
But now the wedding bells have chimed, the marriage vow been
spoken, and the temptation of the newly-made husband to claim the
marital right comes upon him like the opening of the flood-gates; the
bonds of restraint are strained to the point of breaking. Let us
caution the young husband that he still be the thoughtful lover; that
he should continue to hold the animal passions in check.
A rudeness, a want of that delicate consideration so prominent in
the lover, may, and many times does, so shock the refined sensibilities
of the newly-made bride, that she never recurs to this time without a
shudder of disgust or a feeling of regret and disappointment. In his
haste to consummate the new relation, she has been rudely awakened
to the thought that the one she fancied the embodiment of refinement
and unselfishness is willing to risk her respect and love for the grati¬
fication of his untimely pleasure. Her heart sinks within her, and she
wonders if this is all he wanted her for. These first impressions of
doubt and disappointment, after a blissful courtship of tender thought-
fulness, are difficult to overcome. It may take years to efface them
from the memory.
Care of the Bride. Ignorance upon the part of the bride, and
ungoverned passion and lack of delicate attention on the part of the
husband, combine, many times, to cause serious difficulties and life¬
long regrets and even divorce. All this, perhaps, as the result of the
first meeting in the bridal chamber.
Rev. Sylvanius Stall, in "Self and Sex Series," says: "It is
enough to make a thoughtful and considerate man blush to think of
the scores of wives who annually confess to their physicians that the
only rape ever committed upon them was by their own husband the
first day of their married life. We recently heard of an instance where
the expressed impatience and manifest impetuosity of the young hus-
301
316
SOCIAL PURITY.
Passion in Women, Dr. Napheys says with proper emphasis:
"Every woman, every physician, nearly every married man will sup¬
port us in what we are going to say. It is in reference to passion in
woman. A vulgar opinion prevails that they are creatures of like
passions with ourselves; that they experience desires as ardent, and
often as ungovernable, as those which lead to so much evil in our sex.
Vicious writers, brutal and ignorant men, and some shameless women
combine to favor and extend this opinion." Nothing is further from
the truth. 4
Many a man thinks that some other man's wife is more responsive
to her husband's ardent passion than is his own. While the husband
referred to judges his wife very moderate in comparison to other
women of his acquaintance whose natures he thinks he understands.
Both husbands are probably mistaken in their opinion, and should
they compare notes, would find their wives in this respect considerably
alike, while most other women of their acquaintance are not widely
different.
Counsel for the True Husband. The old English divine, in his
"Rules and Exercise of Holy Living," says: "Married people must
be sure to observe the order of nature and the ends of God. He is
an ill husband that uses his wife as a man treats a harlot, having no
other end but pleasure. The pleasure should always be joined to one
or another of these ends—with a desire of children, or to avoid forni¬
cation, or to lighten and ease the cares and sadness of household
affairs, or to endear each other; but never with a purpose, either in
act or desire, to separate sensuality from these ends which hallow it.
Married people must never force themselves into high and violent lusts
with arts and misbecoming devices, but be restrained in the use of
their lawful pleasures."
Excess Injures Health. When we look into the haggard faces of
men and women; when we hear men complaining of weak back, pains
and aches of body; when we see delicate, broken-down wives, with all
the sweetness of joy squeezed out of their lives, note the fact that a
very large part of this want of vitality is the result of excessive sexual
indulgence.
It is impossible to lay down any definite rule in these matters,
which shall govern all men and women. In general, we may say,
CHAPTER XVII.
CONFIDENTIAL CHAT WITH HUSBAND AND WIFE.
The Sexual Embrace. There are three general views on this
subject:
First. That which claims that such intercourse is necessary to
man, but not to woman.
Second. That which considers sexual intercourse a love act,
intended for the mutual enjoyment of both parties, and not neces¬
sarily and exclusively an act of procreation.
Third. That which teaches that there never should be sexual
intercourse unless for procreation, pure and simple.
The first theory leads logically to either masturbation or prostitu¬
tion or some other abominable practice. But we have shown under
another heading, that the theory of necessary ejection of the vital
fluid is not correct. If the semen be permitted to be absorbed by the
lymphatics and sent coursing throughout the system, it becomes the
source of greater intellectual powers and manly vigor. The first
theory carried to its legitimate conclusion in the marriage relation
leads to the humiliation and prostitution of the wife in order to meet
the supposed demands of the husband's nature. A truthful, but old
saying is, 4 4 One half the world does not know how the other half lives.''
The relations of husband and wife are secret in their nature and can
not be made public, but if they were, what unsightly revelations
would be unfolded I
If many wives could properly let the world know to what degrada¬
tion they are compelled to submit, a wild protest would compel their
husbands to hide themselves, and "call upon the rocks to fall upon
them to hide them from the wrath of their fellow men.''
Wife and Husband Equal Rights Sexually. Many an otherwise
honorable man has subjected the wife he solemnly promised to love
and cherish to gross indignities through the want of proper consider¬
ation, and through false ideas and teachings in regard to this subject.
Both husband and wife have rights in the marital relation, and justi®e
says they should be equal. True love also says the same thing and
331
340
SOCIAL PURITY.
Should Husband and Wife Occupy the Same Bed? Standard
authorities on physiology and hygiene discuss this subject to some
extent. In the light of hygiene, pure and simple, the arguments are
decidedly in favor of a single bed.
Unless the room is quite large, the effluvia from two bodies and
the breath from two pairs of lungs will contaminate the air to an
unhealthful condition. Then, again, if one be strong and the other
feeble or diseased, there is danger of the health of the strong one,
without a corresponding benefit to the weaker one.
But one of the main reasons given why married people should not
occupy the same bed is that the temptation to over sexual indulgence
is too great. The close and constant contact of bodies naturally leads
to excitement, and so requires a greater amount of will-power to
overcome.
The writer fully agrees with the hygienic idea of the case, but has
some doubts as to the other subject in question. Without doubt in
sleeping apart there is loss of that affection that should subsist between
man and wife. Again, it is questionable whether the constant pres¬
ence of each in the same bed leads to greater temptation or not. In
the early days of marriage it may be so, but as time passes, the condi¬
tions become so constant, and each becomes so accustomed to the
presence of the other, that the contact ceases to be a temptation.
In the continual separation of husband and wife there is danger
that the bond of union may be loosened, and possibly broken. We
all know it to be a law of our being that we love and care for those
most whose presence is most familiar to us. Separation generates
coldness, if it does not breed distrust and indifference. This is a
general law, as applicable in friendship as in love; but the law has the
double force in the case of married people.
Cleanliness of Person. Dr. Galopin whimsically remarks that
"love begins at the nose," and we are inclined to think he may be
more than half right. Married people, who would be married lovers
to the end, should be scrupulously particular about the cleanliness of
their bodies. An unpleasant odor always manifests itself about the
person of those who neglect the bath. Bad smells lead to aversion.
Persons whose feet perspire unpleasantly, or whose bodily exhalation
is offensive, are extremely disagreeable companions, especially when
PART FOUR
Venereal Diseases
Criminal Abortion
Size of Families
Heating and Ventilation
345
CHAPTER XVIII.
VENEREAL DISEASES.
The Pour Periods of Man's Life. Man's allotted age of threescore
years and ten may be divided, so far as his sexual functions are con¬
cerned, into four periods, based on the number seven, or its multiple:
From birth to puberty, fourteen years, childhood, or the neutral period;
from fourteen to twenty-one, seven years, adolescence, or the period
of development of the sexual functions; from twenty-one to forty-nine,
twenty-eight years, the period of man's greatest virility, or the child-
bearing period in woman; from forty-nine to seventy, twenty-one
years, decline in man's virile powers, or the barren period in woman.
Nature, of course, is not so exact in her division of time as indicated
above, but these divisions are approximately correct for both sexes.
The second period ranges from eleven years of age to twenty-three,
according to the heredity of the individual. Climate also has some¬
thing to do in the matter; puberty comes earlier in warm than in cold
climates. Woman also attains her full sexual powers two or three
years earlier than does her brother. In the fourth period, woman's
sterile period, as a rule, comes somewhat earlier than forty-nine
years, though many women bear children after that age. In the
fourth, or last period, there is a compensation to man, in the fact that
the battle for purity has been fought, and the mind being thus clari¬
fied, ought to be at its best, and in many cases is so. The virile age
(twenty-one to forty-nine) is the period of activity; the following age
is one of meditation and intellectual vigor—that is, it should be so, if
his vital forces have not been sapped by excesses. In the clerical
profession we hear about the "dead live at fifty." By physiological
and psychological laws man should then be at his best, intellectually.
Spermatorrhea Not a Disease. This is not a venereal disease;
in fact, some question the propriety of calling it a disease at all. The
difference of opinion may rest in the definition of disease. It does,
doubtless, lead to very serious results, and the subject should be dis¬
cussed in a book of this kind.
Causes of Spermatorrhea. Some of the causes of spermatorrhea
346
VENEREAL DISEASES.
351
Millions Tainted. No diseases are more common than those grow¬
ing out of illicit intercourse between the sexes; there are none more
insidious and pestilential. The number suffering from these diseases
can not be accurately determined, tho'ugh it is estimated that five mil¬
lions of people in this country are, or have been, tainted with syphilis;
the number of these affected with gonorrhea is undoubtedly much
greater than this. And yet this subject receives comparatively little
attention as compared with its far-reaching consequences.
No statistics can measure the destructiveness of syphilis or gon¬
orrhea; death rates indicate but a fraction of their results, but every
medical man knows the terrible consequences that too often follow
them. The horrible mutilation and disfigurement of neglected syphilis
is not less dreadful than the later outcroppings of the disease after
the interval of hope and forgetfulness, and less disastrous than its per¬
petuation in the lives of another generation.
A Menace to Our Race. The effects of this festering mass of dis¬
ease upon the future welfare of our race is more than a subject of
speculation. Its destructiveness has been observed in the past, and
there is reason to believe that it is even now threatening that enor¬
mous vitality which has given supremacy to the Anglo-Saxon people.
* * * This subject is tabooed in good society, only to be jested at
over the wine, or hinted at, with bated breath, over the teacups.
Venereal diseases are insidious. They are born in the night, and
go through life hidden. * * * The sufferer from "private disease" is
usually to outward appearances sound of body, though he may be
physically and morally rotten.
Treacherous and Baneful. This serious ailment may remain slum¬
bering for years, after an apparent cure, causing few or no symptoms
which are appreciable to the infected sufferer, and then break out into
a number of sub-acute attacks which are but recurrences of the orig¬
inal one. * * * In the female its effects are most horrible and appal¬
ling, leading, as in the male, to severe bladder and kidney inflamma¬
tion.
Illicit Pleasures Always Dangerous. Dr. H. T. Garrigues says:
"If, then, the young man decides to avail himself of the offers of those
women who sell their favors, he exposes himself to infection with
syphilis and gonorrhea, both of which may be communicated to an
CHAPTER XIX.
CRIMINAL ABORTION—ITS HISTORY.
Criminal abortion, or foeticide, has been practiced among all
nations, with, perhaps, the exception of the Jews. Jewish wives con¬
sidered it an honor to bear large families to their husbands. The
sexual hygienic laws of Moses were strict; hence the wonderful Jewish
race as we still see it scattered among all the other nations of the
world, even in our own day.
The Mohammedan laws condemn foeticide, yet it is extensively
practiced among that people.
In the far east, China, Japan and India, foeticide is practiced to
a horrible extent. These people place little value on human life, even
after birth. The teeming millions of these countries have a fearful
struggle for existence. There are millions who, from birth to death,
never have their hunger satisfied fully for any length of time. In this
awful struggle for existence these people have none of the restraining
influences of the teachings of Christ. No wonder then that infanticide
should, in these benighted, poverty-stricken lands, be so fearfully
prevalent. But what shall we say of our own favored land, yes, even
the most favored parts of it, when we learn that foeticide is here prac¬
ticed also, even to an alarming extent?
Some of the Greek philosophers taught that foeticide was not only
justifiable, but was beneficial to the race. But the result of these
teachings became so bad that the practice was vigorously condemned
by the later Roman writers. Rome became a carnival of crime in
this matter; "history repeats itself." This crime of child-killing was
confined largely, as in our own day, to the upper stratum of society.
It is estimated that in modern society in as high as twenty per
cent, of the cases of pregnancy, accidental abortion (unpremeditated)
overtakes the mothers. So frequently does this accident occur,
unintentionally and regretably, that one must be exceedingly loth to
impute wrong motives to a woman when he may have cause to believe
that she has so suffered. But with every allowance for the great fre¬
quency of accidental abortion, it is well known by those who are in a
368
CRIMINAL ABORTION—ITS HISTORY.
371
What Is It? "Criminal abortion is the act of causing abortion or
miscarriage in a pregnant woman unless when necessary to preserve
her life."
For over eighteen hundred years a war of ideas has waged in Chris¬
tian nations as to when life begins. The significance of this discussion
rests on the practice of abortion. If life begins only after the "quick¬
ening' ' in the mother, then criminal abortion can be performed only
after that period. If life begins at the fertilization of the ovum in
the mother, then the intentional expulsion of the foetus, however
small, is criminal abortion.
Laws Regarding1 Abortion. The English law makes no distinc¬
tion. It says, "Every woman being with child," regardless of the'
age of the foetus.
Some states of our Union place criminal abortion after the "quick¬
ening." It is hoped that all the states will follow the example of the
British law in this matter.
Let the reader turn back to the chapter on the "Origin of Life,"
and carefully consider for himself whether or not there is life after
the spermatozoon of the male has dissolved itself into the ovum of
the female. Within that germ are all the possibilities of a human
life. Perhaps a Shakespeare, a Mendelssohn, or a Webster; perhaps,
and probably, only an ordinary human being, and yet a human being.
Dare we take that life and stand guiltless before our own conscience
and our God?
Penalty. In all Christian nations the penalty for producing crim¬
inal abortion is severe. In England and Ireland the punishment is
imprisonment for a longer or shorter time. Should the mother die,
the crime becomes murder, with its penalties. With some variations,
the penalties in the different countries of Europe are severe. The
different states of the Union vary, but all are severe, especially so if
the mother dies.
A committee of the Medo-Legal Society of New York in 1872
made a report in regard to the subject of criminal abortion. This
committee was composed of leading members of the bar and of the
medical profession. Referring to the efforts of the early Christian
Church to purge itself of unholy practices, the committee makes the
following statements: "At length Christianity came to measure swords
376
SOCIAL PURITY.
Position of the Catholic Church. In the Pastoral Letter of the
Tenth Provincial Council of Baltimore was sent out the following
concerning infanticide: "The abiding interest we feel in the preserva¬
tion of the morals of our country, constrains us to raise our voice
against the daily increasing practice of infanticide, especially before
birth. The notoriety which this monstrous crime has obtained of
late, and the hecatombs of infants that are annually sacrificed to
Moloch, to gratify an unlawful passion, are a sufficient justification
for our alluding to a painful and delicate subject. * * * The inhuman
crime might be compared to the murder of the innocents, except that
the criminals in this case exceed in enormity the cruelty of Herod. If
it is a sin to take away the life even of an enemy, in what language
can we characterize the double guilt of those whose souls are stained
with the innocent blood of their own unborn offspring?
"The murder of an infant before its birth is, in the sight of God
and the Church, as great a crime as could be the killing of a child
after birth."
Position of the Presbyterian Church. The following are the
words of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States concerning infanticide: "Nor can we shut our eyes to
the fact that the horrible crime of infanticide, especially in the form
of destruction by parents of their own offspring before birth, also pre¬
vails to an alarming extent. * * * This Assembly regards the destruc¬
tion by parents of their offspring before birth with abhorrence, as a
crime against God and against nature; and as the frequency of such
murders can no longer be concealed, we hereby warn those that are
guilty of this crime that, except they repent, they can not inherit
Eternal Life."
Other churches have also hurled their thunderbolts of condemna¬
tion against child-murder, in resolution, but, as a rule, the pulpits
make slight reference to it.
Report of State Board. The following paragraph is found in the
Report of the Special Committee on Criminal Abortion of the Mich*
igan State Board of Health: "To so great an extent is abortion now
practiced by American Protestant women that, by calculation of one
of the committee, based upon correspondence with nearly one hundred
physicians, there come to the knowledge of the profession seventeen
CHAPTER XX.
LARGE OR SMALL FAMILIES—WHICH?
Two Sides to the Question. Which are the most desirable, large
families or small families? Which will produce the higher, nobler,
cleaner race? Which will bring more pleasure, physically, intellec¬
tually, morally and spiritually, into the world? It is not our purpose
here to attempt to decide so important a question. That must be left
to the individual. There are doubtless two sides to the question.
Perhaps it would be better to say that the truth lies on both sides.
Each individual case must be settled by itself. There are so many
conditions and exceptions that general statements express too much
or too little. The ultimate decision must be made by clean, con¬
scientious men and women after mature deliberation. In too many
cases the bearing of children is left to passion and blind chance.
It should be clearly understood that the methods of limiting off¬
spring are assumed to be pure, chaste, virtuous. The motive which
leads to a decision may be pure or impure, noble or ignoble. In this
discussion we assume pure motives in the mind of the actor.
Some advocates of large families assume base motives in those
who seek to limit their offspring, accuse the other party of pandering
to their own want of self-control. But we wish to eliminate all incor¬
rect motives from the discussion as unworthy a place in the mind.
Doubtless improper motives so warp the better judgment of many.
A Desire for Offspring Natural. A desire for offspring is as
natural to man or woman as is the desire for food. When the desire
is otherwise, there must be something in the way, some artificial
reason; a violation or perversion of the instinct for parenthood. This
fact suggests causes which lead to undue limitation of the family.
Let nature have her reasonable demands in this matter. We cite the
opinions of some who advocate large families.
Rev. D. B. Sinclair says: "The institution of marriage lies at the
foundation of the Church and State. Marriage is the Gibraltar of
virtue, the basis of home, the bulwark of the commonwealth, at once
the ward and the guardian of the Church of God. * * * The destruc-
383
388
SOCIAL PURITY.
Celebrities from Large Families. H. L. Hastings, in his essay on
"Small Families," notes several cases of large families. He says:
"It is stated that Napoleon Bonaparte was one of . a family of thirteen,
Benjamin Franklin one of eleven children, Charles Dickens one of
eight children, Gladstone one of seven children—or more, Dr. William
Makepeace Thackeray, grandfather of the noted author, was one of
sixteen children. * * * The children of Lyman Beecher numbered
thirteen, nine of them being the children of Roxanna Foote, his first
wife. His seven sons all became ministers of the Gospel; two of his
daughters were well-known writers—one of them being the most noted
female writer of her age, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was the seventh,
Henry Ward Beecher being the eighth. Daniel Webster was one of five
children, T. DeWitt Talmage was the fourteenth child in his father's
family. Charles H. Spurgeon was the eldest of a family of seven¬
teen children, and his father, John Spurgeon, was the youngest of
eight children. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was the
fifteenth child, his brother Charles, the author of more English poetry
than was written by any other man, being the nineteenth and young¬
est child of the gifted Susanna Wesley, whose ashes sleep in Bunhill
Field in London, and who was herself the twenty-fifth child of Dr.
Samuel Annesly, who was twice married. Dwight L. Moody was the
sixth child in a family of nine.''
High Authorities Cited. Dr. Sydney Barrington Elliot says:
"There are times and conditions when the birth of children is a wrong
to the community. It is a wrong, either knowingly or ignorantly, to
bring into the world, though no fault of its own, a being, unhealthy
and incomplete, only to suffer and die, or to live a life of misery and
imperfection, and perpetuate the curse in succeeding generations.
Yet so much is this fact disregarded that one-half of the human race
perish in early childhood.''
Charles Darwin writes: "There is no exception to the rule that
every organic being naturally increases at so high a rate that, if not
destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by the progeny of a single
pair. Even slow-breeding man has doubled in twenty-five years, and
at this rate, in a few thousand years there would literally not be room
for his progeny.''
Herbert Spencer writes: "If men's sympathies are left to work
THE CHALLENGE.
Copyright, 1903, by J. A. Hertel.
MATERNAL INSTINCT.
LARGE OR SMALL FAMILIES—'WHICH ?
397
How to Limit the Number of Offspring. It seems clear from the
foregoing discussion that there are some people who can not, or who
ought not to have offspring. Also, it is generally clear that, for the
welfare of the individual and of the race, others should be content
with small families. There are few women, indeed, who are so robust
that no restraint should be put upon their child-bearing. Stock¬
breeders know better than to breed their animals to the fullest extent.
Premeditated Abortions we have found to be dangerous, cruel,
criminal, sinful, murder. This method, then, is not to be entertained
for a moment. The one safe way, the only safe method of avoiding
parentage, is perfect abstinence from sexual intercourse. There are,
however, two principal objections to this plan. The standard of
chastity is too high for the ordinary man to attain unto. Doubtless
many do reach that lofty height, but what plan may be adopted that
the ordinary man can follow? None that does not come under the
will of man. The stock-man breeds his animals according to his will.
Why is it impossible for him to adopt the same method in the pro¬
duction of his own offspring? The second objection that may be
urged against these lofty ideas is that married life would be in danger
of partaking too much of the icicle nature.
A Safe Method. But there is a method, pure, chaste, innocent
and in perfect harmony with nature and the Divine law. Here, too,
self-restraint must play an important part; neither does it absolutely
secure the wife from child-bearing, and it is well that it does not.
We prefer to have physicians of high standing speak on this mat¬
ter. We first quote from Dr. Napheys: "The safeguard which nature
has thrown out against over-production is by constituting certain
periods of woman's life seasons of sterility.
"Before the age of puberty, during pregnancy and after the
change of life, they are always barren. During nursing most women
are so, but not all. Some even continue their monthly change at this
time. * * * A so-called agenitic or sterile period exists between each
monthly change, during the continuance of which it is not possible
for the female to conceive. This branch of our subject has attracted
more attention of late years from its practical character, but the con¬
clusions reached have so far not been as satisfactory as we could
wish.''
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CLIMACTERIC PERIOD.
Change of Life. Somewhere between the ages of forty and fifty
years, at about the average of forty-five, all women experience a
physical change, commonly known as the "change of life." At this
time the menses cease to flow, and the woman can no longer hope or
expect to become a mother; in short, she is now barren. The period
of possible motherhood is from thirty to thirty-five years. During
this change, whose effects may extend over several years, the woman
is in a critical period of life; physically, it is often a dangerous period,
through which, if she passes safely, she may reasonably expect an
extension of life in the enjoyment of health and mental vigor.
To many women this is a welcome change—a very oasis in a desert
of care—especially so if child-bearing and the anxieties of mother¬
hood have borne heavily upon her vital energies, or if hers has been a
life of suffering through diseases common to womankind.
We mention these facts in this connection for two reasons—first,
as a warning to the husband, and second, as a preliminary statement
in the discussion of this chapter.
During this critical stage, when certain organs are resting from
their labor and a physiological change is going on, the husband
should be very watchful and careful of his wife's health and comfort.
This change may be the continuation of a life of misery whose end is
the grave; or it may be the beginning of a glorious afternoon of life,
whose western skies shall be all aglow with the radiant tints of a
beautiful sunset.
"At evening time it shall be light." Undue care, severe labor,
anxiety, mental worry should all be lifted from her shoulders until
robust health is fully established.
This is a time when solicitous care on the part of the husband is
repaid a thousand fold.
A New Lease on Life. All this is especially emphasized in con¬
nection with the sexual relation. Again, the husband should become
the lover in his attentions. Let the wife have her way until the new
398
the climacteric period.
415
The Testimony of Wise Men. Sophocles, the old Greek poet,
when asked by a friend how he felt as to the pleasures of love, replied:
Softly, friend, most gladly, indeed, have I escaped from these
pleasures as from some furious and savage master." When Cicero,
the Roman orator, was asked if he still indulged in sensual gratifica¬
tion, he replied: "Heaven forbid! I have foresworn it as I would a
savage and a furious master." These and similar testimonies are
attributed also to other great men of antiquity. Such statements
from wise and brave men, because they vibrate in harmony with the
experience and sympathy of those of lesser note, will be repeated
through the ages, and become living maxims.
An old veteran, who has courageously endured hardships and
bravely fought for his loved country in many a desperate conflict,
feels a thrill of joy when about to receive an honorable discharge.
So it is with a pure-minded man who has fought many a battle for
purity, though, perhaps, sometimes defeated, as he now enjoys repose
and rest when the battle wanes.
The Nervous System of Old Men. The nervous system of men in
advanced years is most susceptible to the influence of disorders of the
sexual organs. There is much danger to the vital forces of the aged
from the slightest approach to excess. In this connection we again
refer to Dr. Parise: "One great purpose pervades the creation, to live
and to impart life. If men will conform to the laws of nature, they
must submit themselves to conditions of existence and of organiza¬
tion, and learn to limit their desires within the sphere of their real
wants. If they will do so, wisdom and health will bloom of them¬
selves, and abide without effort; but all this is too often forgotten
when the functions of generation are in question. This sublime gift
of transmitting life, at once the mastery of morality, by means of
family ties, and the powerful cause of depravity, the energetic spring
of life and health, the causeless source of disease and infirmity, this
faculty involves almost all that man can attain of earthly happiness
or misfortune, of earthly pleasure, or of pain; and the tree of knowl¬
edge of good and evil is the symbol of it, as true as it is expressive."
Thus, even love, by its excesses hastens and abets the inevitable
doom for which, in the first instance by the aid of passion, it had pro¬
vided the victims. The greater part of mankind, however, show
CHAPTER XXII.
VENTILATION.
General Statements. It is a fact well known to most intelligent
people that there are poisonous exhalations from the body even of
people in perfect health. Matter that has done its work in supplying
the body with material for growth and strength must be thrown off
when it has accomplished its purpose. When it is not promptly and
properly excreted, we become languid and feeble; we are sick and
diseased.
Why We Eat. We eat in order to supply the drain on this con¬
stant waste. Life is the result of keeping up the equilibrium of
waste and repair. We place fuel in the stove and apply a lighted
match. The oxygen of the air then unites with the fuel, producing
combustion and heat.
Neither the fuel nor the air is poisonous to man, but the result of
the combustion, the gas that escapes through the chimney, though
food and life to the plant, is a deadly poison to the animal.
The food we eat is the fuel of the body, and the oxygen in the air
we breathe, uniting with the fuel of our bodies, produces combustion
and heat. Thus are we warmed and nourished. Heat is life; cold is
death. When one starves, he grows cold. Death occurs when the
supply either of fuel (food) or of oxygen ceases.
Air Limitless. By the sweat of the brow do we earn our bread;
but the supply of pure air is limitless, and can be had for the taking.
No trust has the power to restrict its use. It is a free gift to mankind
from a boundless source. And yet men do not always take this free
gift so generously provided, largely because of want of information of
the evil effects of vitiated air. Others are intellectually persuaded
that it is injurious to health to breathe worn-out air, but are not suf¬
ficiently aroused to the facts concerning its bad effects upon the system.
Or, perhaps, they are puzzled to know how to substitute pure, warm
air for the foul, re-used air of our home and public buildings. We do
not hesitate to say that the sickness and suffering from the lack of
pure, life-giving air is but little less than that endured from want of
428
VENTILATION.
44i
Carbonic Di-oxide. The most common poison found in an ordi¬
nary room (and it is always present even in the most pure air) is
carbonic di-oxide, commonly known as carbonic acid gas. This is one
and a half times as heavy as air, hence it would naturally settle to the
bottom of a room were it not for the law of diffusion of gases. When
found in large quantities it does sometimes follow the law of gravita¬
tion to some extent and settle to the lower strata of air. We suspect
that the second error grows out of the first, viz., that cold air is purer
than warm air, for it is well known that the warmer air rises to the
top of the room.
The heat of the body is caused by combustion in its tissues. Oxygen
enters into the lungs, passes by means of the blood to the capillaries,
where it unites chemically with either hydrogen or carbon; each of
which is a waste product of the body, or a part of the food, fuel stored
in the system. The chemical union of oxygen and hydrogen forms
water, a harmless product. The chemical combination of oxygen and
carbon is carbonic di-oxide, a gas which, if inhaled in sufficient quanti¬
ties, is fatal to life. Expired breath is therefore unfitted for further
use in sustaining life.
Black Hole of Calcutta. To emphasize this statement, we re-state
the oft-told story of the "Black Hole of Calcutta."
A nabob of India, having captured a number of British soldiers,
confined one hundred and forty-six of them in a room twenty feet
square, with but two small windows through which to get air. Dur¬
ing the first night one hundred and twenty-three died from suffocation.
The survivors were saved by being removed in the morning.
A friend of the writer had a large number of chickens, the product
of an incubator. In order to keep them snug and warm one cold night,
he put them in a small space with insufficient ventilation. It proved
a veritable "Black Hole" to the chicks, as many of them were found
dead the next morning.
Another friend, in his effort to improve upon the heating apparatus
of his incubator, failed to make the. lamp burn in a closed box. The
chicks and the lamp flame both died from the same cause, want of
sufficient oxygen to sustain combustion.
A simple experiment showing that air coming from the lungs of
perfectly healthy people will not sustain life, may be made by means
CHASTITY
IS THE BREATH
OF TRUE
NOBILITY
"EVERY CHILD HAS A RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN"
Golden Thoughts
ON
CHASTITY
IS THE CROWN
OF ALL REAL
MANLINESS
CHAJTITY AND PROCREATION
INCLUDING HEREDITY, PRENATAL INFLUENCED, ETC.. Etc.
By PROF, and MRS. J. W. GIBSON
ASSISTED BY
W. J. TRUITT, M. D.
(Formerly Associate Professor of Obstetrics, National Medical College, Chicago).
GOLDEN THOUGHTS—An Instructor, Counselor and Friend for the Home. A Safe Guide for Maiden, Wife and
Mother. Wholesome Advice for the Young Man and Father.
Two things that should
not be: A home with¬
out a child and a child
without a home.
THE AMERICAN HOME IJ THE
CORNERSTONE OF OUR. NATION
Destroy the home by social impurity and dissipation and you destroy the Nation.
Two things that should
be: The same stand¬
ard of virtue for both
sexes and every pure,
healthy man married
at or before the age
of thirty.
GOLDEN THOUGHTS
Teaches by contrast. It shows that pure, healthy parents produce bright and healthy children, and vice
versa. Many examples are given from real life. Love, Courtship and Marriage are not overlooked.
Heart-to-heart talks with the bride and husband. Confidential talks with fathers and mothers in the home.
Prof, and Mrs. Gibson have had twenty-five years' experience in the training of the young. Dr. Truitt is a specialist on obstetrics, and
the instruction and advice given in this volume can be relied upon in every department.
The complete volume will contain between 438 and 450 pages. Illustrated with many full-page photo and half-tone engravings drawn
expressly for this book.
Sound In durable Cloth, $1.50
" " Half Morocco, marble edge, - 2.00
We, the undersigned, agree to take the number of copies set opposite our names and pay the specified price on delivery of same.
if equal to sample shown:
NAME.
ADDRESS.
STYLE OF BINDING.
This shows the style and color of leather used on the
back and corners of the half morocco binding. The half
morocco is marble edge and very handsome and durable.
Price #2.00.
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