The Eugenic Marriage, Volume I. (of IV.)
W >> W. Grant Hague, M.D. >> The Eugenic Marriage, Volume I. (of IV.)Venereal Diseases, fake medical treatment for, II, 167; ten million victims
of, I, 11.
Vomiting, of children between feedings, II, 226; significance of after
feeding, II, 230.
Washing dishes, III, 391.
Water, drink plenty of, III, 429.
Weaning, I, 123; care of breasts when, I, 125; menstruation and, I, 124;
methods of, I, 123; rapid, when it is necessary, I, 124; when to start, I,
124.
Wedding night, its medical aspect, III, 334.
What to eat and wear in hot weather, III, 426.
When delays are dangerous, III, 423.
Whey, II, 244.
Whitlow, or felon, IV, 640.
[xi]
Whooping Cough, IV, 613; symptoms of, IV, 614; treatment of, IV, 615.
Wife, her part, III, 353; the cheerful, III, 400; the indifferent, III,
401; what she owes to herself, III, 357.
Wifehood, first weeks and months of, III, 336.
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, on education, I, 23.
Womb, function of, II, 180; how baby gets nourishment in, II, 183; how held
in place, II, 189.
Women, ailing, are inefficient, III, 434; diseases of, III, 433; who don't
want children, III, 439; medicine concern run by, III, 475; most popular,
III, 365; use of patent medicines in diseases, III, 473.
Work, must be interesting, III, 351.
Working for something, III, 395.
Worms, intestinal, IV, 548; round, IV, 548; symptoms of tape, IV, 551;
symptoms of thread, IV, 549; tape, IV, 551; thread, IV, 549; treatment of
round, IV, 549.
Worry, freedom from, III, 348.
Wound, cleaning a, IV, 637; closing and dressing a, IV, 637; removal of
foreign bodies from, IV, 636.
Wounds, IV, 634; of the scalp, IV, 640.
X-Ray, treatment and diagnosis, IV, 652.
* * * * *
VOLUME I
* * * * *
[xv]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EUGENICS. RACE CULTURE
CHAPTER I
CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE EVOLVED THE SCIENCE OF EUGENICS
Infant mortality--Marriage and
motherhood--Heredity--Environment--Education--Disease and
vice--History--Summary ... PAGE 1
CHAPTER II
THE EUGENIC IDEA
The value of human life--The eugenic principle--"The fit only shall
live"--Eugenics and marriage--The venereal diseases--The utility of
marriage certificates--The marriage certificates and vice--Eugenics and
parenthood--The principle of heredity--Eugenics and motherhood--Eugenics
and the husband ... PAGE 9
CHAPTER III
EUGENICS AND EDUCATION
The present educational system is inadequate--Opinions of Dr. C.W. Saleeby,
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Luther Burbank, William D. Lewis, Elizabeth Atwood,
Dr. Thomas A. Story, William C. White, Dr. Helen C. Putnam--Difficulty in
devising a satisfactory educational system--Education an important
function--The function of the high school--The high school system
fallacious--The true function of education ... PAGE 21
CHAPTER IV
EUGENICS AND THE UNFIT
The deaf and dumb--The feeble-minded--A New York magistrate's
report--Report of the Children's Society--The segregation and treatment of
the feeble-minded--What the care of the insane costs--The
alcoholic--Drunkenness ... PAGE 37
CHAPTER V
WHAT EVERY MOTHER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EUGENICS
PAGE 47
[xvi]
CHILD-BIRTH
CHAPTER VI
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONFINEMENT
The birth chamber--What to provide for a confinement--Ready to purchase
obstetrical outfits--Position and arrangement of the bed--How to properly
prepare the accouchement bed--The Kelly pad--The advantages of the Kelly
pad--Should a binder be used--Sanitary napkins--How to calculate the
probable date of the confinement--Obstetrical table--When should a pregnant
woman first call upon her physician--Regarding the choice of a
physician--How to know the right kind of a physician for a confinement--The
selection of a nurse--The difference between a trained and a maternity
nurse--Duties of a confinement nurse--The requisites of a good confinement
nurse--The personal rights of a confinement nurse--Criticizing and
gossiping about physicians ... PAGE 61
CHAPTER VII
THE HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY
Daily conduct of the pregnant woman--Instructions regarding household
work--Instructions regarding washing and sweeping--Instructions regarding
exercise--Instructions regarding passive exercise--Instructions regarding
toilet privileges--Instructions regarding bathing--Instructions regarding
sexual intercourse--Clothing during pregnancy--Diet of pregnant
women--Alcoholic drinks during pregnancy--The mental state of the pregnant
woman--The social side of pregnancy--Minor ailments of pregnancy--Morning
nausea, or sickness--Treatment of morning nausea, or sickness--Nausea
occurring at the end of pregnancy--Undue nervousness during pregnancy--The
100% baby--Headache--Acidity of the stomach, or
heartburn--Constipation--Varicose veins, cramps,
neuralgias--Insomnia--Treatment of insomnia--Ptyalism, or excessive flow of
saliva--Vaginal discharge, or leucorrhea--Importance of testing urine
during pregnancy--Attention to nipples and breasts--The vagaries of
pregnancy--Contact with infectious diseases--Avoidance of drugs--The danger
signals of pregnancy ... PAGE 75
CHAPTER VIII
THE MANAGEMENT OF LABOR
When to send for the physician in confinement cases--The preparation of the
patient--The beginning of labor--The first pains--The meaning of the term
"labor"--Length of the first stage of labor--What the first stage of [xvii]
labor means--What the second stage of labor means--Length of the second
stage--Duration of the first confinement--Duration of subsequent
confinements--Conduct of patient during second stage of labor--What a labor
pain means--How a willful woman can prolong labor--Management of actual
birth of child--Position of woman during birth of child--Duty of nurse
immediately following birth of child--Expulsion of after-birth--How to
expel after-birth--Cutting the cord--Washing the baby's eyes immediately
after birth--What to do with baby immediately after birth--Conduct
immediately after labor--After pains--Rest and quiet after labor--Position
of patient after labor--The Lochia--The events of the following day--The
first breakfast after confinement--The importance of emptying the bladder
after labor--How to effect a movement of the bowels after
labor--Instructing the nurse in details--Douching after labor--How to give
a douche--"Colostrum," its uses--Advantages of putting baby to breast early
after labor--The first lunch--The first dinner--Diet after third day ...
PAGE 93
CHAPTER IX
CONFINEMENT INCIDENTS
Regarding the dread and fear of childbirth--The woman who dreads
childbirth--Regarding the use of anesthetics in confinements--The presence
of friends and relatives in the confinement chamber--How long should a
woman stay in bed after confinement--Why do physicians permit women to get
out of bed before the womb is back in its proper place?--Lacerations, their
meaning, and their significance--The advantage of an examination six weeks
after the confinement--The physician who does not tell all of the truth ...
PAGE 111
CHAPTER X
NURSING MOTHERS
The diet of nursing mothers--Care of the nipples--Cracked nipples--Tender
nipples--Mastitis in nursing mothers--Inflammation of the breasts--When
should a child be weaned?--Method of weaning--Nursing while
menstruating--Care of breasts while weaning child--Nervous nursing
mothers--Birthmarks--Qualifications of a nursery maid ... PAGE 121
CHAPTER XI
CONVALESCING AFTER CONFINEMENT
The second critical period in the young wife's life--The domestic problem
following the first confinement ... PAGE 131
* * * * *
[xix]
INTRODUCTION
Despite the fact that much has been written during the past two or three
years with reference to Eugenics, it is quite evident to any one interested
in the subject that the average intelligent individual knows very little
about it so far as its scope and intent are concerned. This is not to be
wondered at, for the subject has not been presented to the ordinary reader
in a form that would tend to encourage inquiry or honest investigation. The
critic and the wit have deliberately misinterpreted its principles, and
have almost succeeded in masking its supreme function in the garb of folly.
The writer has yet to meet a conscientious mother who fails to evince a
reasonable degree of enthusiastic interest in eugenics when properly
informed of its fundamental principles.
The eugenic ideal is a worthy race--a race of men and women physically and
mentally capable of self-support. The eugenist, therefore, demands that
every child born shall be a worthy child--a child born of healthy, selected
parents.
No one can successfully assail the ethics of this appeal. It is morally a
just contention to strive for a healthy race. It is also an economic
necessity as we shall see.
The history of the world informs us that there have been many civilizations
which, in some respects, equalled our own. These races of people have all
achieved a certain success, and have then passed entirely out of existence.
Why? _And are we destined to extinction in the same way?_ We know that the
cause of the decline and ultimate extinction of all past civilizations was
due primarily to the moral decadence of their people. Disease and vice
gradually sapped their vitality, and their continuance was impossible. [xx]
It would seem to be the destiny of a race to achieve material prosperity at
the expense of its morality. When conditions render possible the fulfilment
of every human desire, the race exhausts its vitality in a surfeitment of
caprice. The animal instincts predominate, and the potential vigor of the
people is exhausted in contributing to its own amusement. Each succeeding
civilization has reached this epochal period, and has fallen, victim of the
rapacity of stronger and younger invading antagonists, _themselves to
succumb to the same insidious process_.
The present civilization has reached this epochal--this transition--period.
In one hundred years from now we shall either have accomplished what no
previous civilization accomplished, or we shall have ceased to exist as a
race. Our success depends on the response of the people to the eugenic
appeal. Few appreciate the responsibility involved.
It is not necessary, however, to combat or deplore the evils of the past.
Civilization has failed in the task of race-maintenance; it failed,
however, in ignorance. We cannot plead the same excuse. We are face to face
with conditions that we must solve quickly or our destiny will be decreed
before we apply the remedy.
A function of the eugenist is to gather and attest statistics, and to
establish conclusions based on these statistics. It has been conclusively
demonstrated that, if the race continues to progress as it exists now--that
is, if conditions remain the same, and our standard of enlightenment, so
far as racial evolution is concerned, does not prompt us to adopt new
constructive measures--_every second child born in this country, in fifty
years, will be unfit; and, in one hundred years, the American race will
have ceased to exist_. We mean by this that every second child born will be
born to die in infancy, or, if it lives, will be incapable of self-support
during its life, because either of mental degeneracy or physical
inefficiency. This appalling situation immediately becomes a problem of
civilization. No state can exist under these conditions. If these
statistics are reliable--and we know they are true and capable of
verification by any individual who will go to the trouble of [xxi]
investigating them--it is self-evident that a radical change must
immediately be instituted to obviate the logical consequences that must
follow as a sequence. The eugenic demand, that "every child born shall be a
worthy child," is, therefore, the solution of the problem.
This does not imply, however, that the eugenist must solve the elementary
problem of how the state will ensure its own salvation by guaranteeing
worthy children. Worthy children can come only from fit and worthy (clean
and healthy) parents. It becomes the imperative function of the state--the
function on which the very life of the state depends--to see that every
applicant for marriage is possessed of the qualities that will ensure
healthy, worthy children. We must, therefore, sooner or later devise a
system of scientific regulation of marriage, and it is at this point we
stumble against the problem that has prompted the ebullitions of the wit
and the sarcasm of the critic. A casual reference to the science
immediately suggests to the layman an impossible or quixotic system of
marriage by force. Even the word "eugenics" is associated in the minds of
many otherwise estimable old ladies, and others who should know better,
with a species of malodorous free love, and their hands go up in holy
horror at the intimation of a scientific regulation of this ancient
function.
Unfortunately, the popular mind has received the impression that this
incident constitutes the sum total of the eugenic idea, while the truth is
that the eugenist is only slightly concerned with its modus operandi. This
feature has been so magnified by widely published disingenuous discussion
that it has assumed the aspect of a test problem, a judgment on which shall
decide the utility of the science itself. Should this decision be
unfavorable, it would seem, according to its exponents, that it would not
be worth while promulgating the doctrines of the science beyond this point.
It is as though we were asked to deny ourselves the inspiration and
pleasure of a trip abroad because the morning of the day on which the ship
sailed happened to be cloudy.
It is certainly no part of the function of the eugenist to uproot [xxii]
instinct, or to trample into the dust age-long rights, though the instinct
is simply the product of an established habit, based on an erroneous
hypothesis, and the so-called rights simply acquired privileges, because
the intelligence that would have builded differently was not awakened.
Eugenic necessity will render imperative the state's solution of this
fundamental problem, for the reason that civilization will be driven to
demand its just inheritance--the right to exist. The eugenist will not be
compelled to open the door; it will be opened for him. We can afford,
therefore, to wait with supreme confidence, because the good sense of the
people will not always submit to the tactics of the jester when it needs a
saviour.
The eugenist does not seek to interfere with the liberties of the rising
generation: a boy may choose whom he will; the girl may select the one who
appeals to her most, and they may enjoy all the vested rights and romance
that custom has decreed the lover; but, when they resolve to marry, _the
state must decide their qualifications for parenthood_. This must be the
crucial test of the future. The life of the state depends on it. The
continuance of the race must be the supreme object of all future
constructive legislation. We must recognize that "life is the only wealth,"
and that every other criterion of an advanced civilization must measure its
success according to its wealth in worthy parenthood.
The eugenist does not even dictate what the test for parenthood shall be.
Common sense, however, suggests that it will assume some form that will
eliminate those physically or mentally diseased. He believes that, when the
people are sufficiently educated to appreciate the object in view, they
will devise a system that will meet with universal approval.
Eugenics concerns itself with problems on which the destiny of the race
depends. It must not, therefore, be limited to questions relative to mating
and breeding. Every factor that contributes to the well-being and uplifting
of the race, every subject that bespeaks physical or mental regeneration,
that aids moral and social righteousness and salvation, and promises a
greater social happiness and contentment, has a eugenic [xxiii]
significance. So long as there exists an unsupported mother or a suffering
child; so long as we rely on hospitals and prisons, penitentiaries and the
police, to minister to the correction and regeneration of the unfit and
degenerate; so long as we tolerate grafting politicians and deprive the
poor of breathing spaces, sanitary appliances, and a hygienic environment;
so long as war and pestilence deprive posterity of the best of the race for
parenthood; so long as we emphasize rescue rather than prevention, so long
must the eugenist strive unceasingly to preach his propaganda of race
regeneration.
The scope of eugenics is too far-reaching in its beneficent purpose to be
fettered by the querulous triflings of the ancient or intellectual prude;
nor should it be belittled by the superficial insight of the habitual
scoffer. It is not a fantasy nor an idle dream. It is not even an
inspiration. The destiny of the race has brought us face to face with
conditions unparalleled in the history of this civilization, and the very
existence of the race itself may be wholly dependent on the foresight of
the minds that have made the science of eugenics possible.
A brief consideration of the conditions that actually exist, with which we
are face to face, and which certainly justify the existence of a science
whose function it should be to demand serious investigation of methods of
race regeneration, may help the reader to an intelligent and practical
understanding of the tremendous importance of the subject.
It has been already remarked that, at the present rate of decrease, the
birth-rate will be reduced to zero within a century. If the birth-rates in
England, Germany, and France should continue to decrease as they have since
1880, there would be no children born, one hundred years hence, in these
countries. While we do not assert, and probably none of us believes that
either or all of these nations will actually be out of existence in a
hundred years--unquestionably because we feel, at least we hope, that our
methods will be so changed in that time that the necessary modification
will ensure a continuance of the race, nevertheless, the fact remains that
_the inevitable result of continuing along present lines will be [xxiv]
that, within the period of one hundred years, these peoples will cease to
perpetuate themselves_.
It is not necessary to enquire closely into the various causes for this
unparalleled situation. The falling birth-rate in itself is not the prime
cause. Even admitting that there are enough babies born, too many of them
are born only to die in infancy. We need no further proof of the urgent
need for conscientious inquiry, call it by what name you please. The
science of common sense is all-sufficient. The seemingly intelligent
individual who can only find material for ribaldry in this connection is a
more serious buffoon than he imagines. It is apparent that our methods are
wrong. Any constructive effort to correct them is commendable. When it is
stated that 20 per cent. of the American women are unable to bear children,
and that 25 per cent. of all the others are unwilling to assume the burden
and responsibility of motherhood, we partly realize the gravity of the
case.
On the other hand, statistics show that the majority of men have acquired
disease before they marry, and that a very large percentage of these men
convey contagion to their wives. This condition, to a very large extent,
accounts for the inefficiency of women as mothers. It is responsible for at
least 75 per cent. of the sterility that exists. The effect of this
deplorable condition is directly responsible, also, for the ill health that
afflicts women and that renders necessary the daily operations of a serious
nature that are conducted in every hospital in every city in the civilized
world. As a result of the dissemination of this poison, children are born
blind, or are born to die, or, if they live, they are compelled to carry
all through their helpless lives the stigma of disease and degeneration. It
would surely seem that the individual to whom God has given intelligence
and a conscience cannot think of these, the saddest facts in human
experience, without resentment and humility. _Surely the time has arrived
when every boy should know, from his earliest youth, that there is here on
earth an actual punishment for vicious living as frightful as any that the
mind of man can conceive._ [Page xxv]
When we inquire into the cause of this trend toward race degeneracy, we
find that poverty and the inability of the workingman to support large
families, luxurious living, and the life of ease and amusement on the part
of the women of wealth; the fact that an increasingly large number of women
have entered professions that prevent motherhood, and that the number of
apartment-houses where children are not wanted are on the increase, all
play their part. In this age of intense living, it is not to be wondered at
that many shrink from the responsibility of rearing children, and the same
conditions that contribute to this decadent ideal intensifies sex-hunger,
and it is this dominating passion that tolerates and makes possible the
most frightful crime of the age--infanticide. Greece and Rome paved the way
for their ultimate annihilation when their beautiful women ceased to bear
children and their men sought the companionship of courtesans.
Baby contests have demonstrated that only one child in ten was found to be
good enough to justify a second examination. In a test examination in the
public schools, only eight in five thousand were competent to qualify in
all the tests. One of these eight was a Chinese boy and another an
American-born son of a native Greek. Of the twenty million school-children
in the United States, not less than 75 per cent. need immediate attention
for physical defects.
While man has been assiduously improving everything else, he has neglected
to better his own condition. Every animal that man has taken from its
native haunts and domesticated, he has efficiently improved. He has even
produced more marvelous results by the application of the same principles
to the vegetable kingdom. In his haste to civilize himself, however, he has
failed to apply the principles that are essential to self-preservation. It
is regrettable, also, to know that, while the government has spent many
thousands of dollars in sending out literature to the farmers, instructing
them how to raise profitable crops and to breed prize horses and pigs,
absolutely none of the public money has been used in instructing American
mothers how to raise healthy children. [Page xxvi]
A distinguished insurance expert has proved that there was an increase of
nearly 100 per cent. in the mortality from degenerative diseases in the
United States between 1880 and 1909. The growing prevalence of these
diseases indicates a falling-off in the vitality of the race. It means that
the diseases of old age are invading the younger ranks.
The Life Extension Institute, of New York City, in its recent report,
states that "forty of every hundred men and women employed in the Wall
Street district require medical attention; twenty of the forty need it
immediately, and ten of the forty must have it to avert serious results."
There are from one-quarter to three-quarters of a million of preventable
deaths every years in this country. That number of individuals could have
been saved with proper care and attention to health in the early stages of
disease, or before it gained a start. Practically all the diseases that
carry business men off prematurely are curable in the early stages.
Of the percentage of Wall Street men who need medical attention
immediately, most have kidney or heart disease. The others are victims of
typical unhygienic habits, such as fast, gluttonous eating, neglect of
exercise, too much tobacco and liquor, and bad posturing in the office. The
business man considers these trifles, but they count heavily.
Business efficiency is greatly increased, first, by selecting men
physically fit for work, and, second, by keeping them in that condition.
There is a tremendous waste from inefficiency constantly going on, due to
impaired health. Wall Street has an astonishing corps of neurasthenics.
We need a broader interpretation of the term Eugenics, so that we may gain
a more sympathetic and tolerant audience. The remedy does not lie in an
academic discussion of these problems; to continue the debate behind closed
doors will not lead anywhere: the public must be educated to a just
appreciation of existing conditions and the remedy must be the product of
effort on its part.
Any condition that fundamentally means race deterioration must be [xxvii]
rendered intolerable. The prevalant dancing craze is an anti-eugenic
institution, as is the popularity of the delicatessen store. No sane person
can regard with complacency the vicious environment in which the future
mothers of the race "tango" their time, their morals, and their vitality
away. We do not assume to pass judgment on the merits of the dance; we do,
however, emphatically condemn the surroundings.