Chapter 37

It was formerly supposed that when a union proved infertile, it was the wife who was at fault. That belief is long since exploded, but, even yet, a man is generally far more concerned about his potency, that is, his ability to perform the mechanical act of coitus, than about his fertility, that is, his ability to produce living spermatozoa, though the latter condition is a much more common source of sterility. "Any man," says Arthur Cooper (British Medical Journal, May 11, 1907), "who has any sexual defect or malformation, or who has suffered from any disease or injury of the genito-urinary organs, even though comparatively trivial or one-sided, and although his copulative power may be unimpaired, should be looked upon as possibly sterile, until some sort of evidence to the contrary has been obtained." In case of a sterile marriage, the possible cause should first be investigated in the husband,for it is comparatively easy to examine the semen, and to ascertain if it contains active spermatozoa. Prinzing, in a comprehensive study of sterile marriages ("Die Sterilen Ehen,"Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft, 1904, Heft 1 and 2), states that in two-fifths of sterile marriages the man is at fault; one-third of such marriages are the result of venereal diseases in the husband himself, or transmitted to the wife. Gonorrhœa is not now considered so important a cause of sterility as it was a few years ago; Schenk makes it responsible for only about thirteen per cent. sterile marriages (cf.Kisch,The Sexual Life of Woman). Pinkus (Archiv für Gynäkologie, 1907) found that of nearly five hundred cases in which he examined both partners, in 24.4 per cent. cases, the sterility was directly due to the husband, and in 15.8 per cent. cases, indirectly due, because caused by gonorrhœa with which he had infected his wife.When sterility is due to a defect in the husband's spermatozoa, and is not discovered, as it usually might be, before marriage, the question of impregnating the wife by other methods has occasionally arisen. Divorce on the ground of sterility is not possible, and, even if it were, the couple, although they wish to have a child, have not usually any wish to separate. Under these circumstances, in order to secure the desired end, without departing from widely accepted rules of morality, the attempt is occasionally made to effect artificial fecundation by injecting the semen from a healthy male. Attempts have been made to effect artificial fecundation by various distinguished men, from John Hunter to Schwalbe, but it is nearly always very difficult to effect, and often impossible. This is easy to account for, if we recall what has already been pointed out (antep. 577) concerning the influence of erotic excitement in the woman in securing conception; it is obviously a serious task for even the most susceptible woman to evoke erotic enthusiasmà proposof a medical syringe. Schwalbe, for instance, records a case (Deutsche Medizinisches Wochenschrift, Aug., 1908, p. 510) in which,—in consequence of the husband's sterility and the wife's anxiety, with her husband's consent, to be impregnated by the semen of another man,—he made repeated careful attempts to effect artificial fecundation; these attempts were, however, fruitless, and the three parties concerned finally resigned themselves to the natural method of intercourse, which was successful. In another case, recorded by Schwalbe, in which the husband was impotent but not sterile, six attempts were made to effect artificial fecundation, and further efforts abandoned on account of the disgust of all concerned.Opinion, on the whole, has been opposed to the practice of artificial fecundation, even apart from the question of the probabilities of success. Thus, in France, where there is a considerable literature on the subject, the Paris Medical Faculty, in 1885, after some hesitation, refusedGérard's thesis on the history of artificial fecundation, afterwards published independently. In 1883, the Bordeaux legal tribunal declared that artificial fecundation was illegitimate, and a social danger. In 1897, the Holy See also pronounced that the practice is unlawful ("Artificial Fecundation before the Inquisition,"British Medical Journal, March 5, 1898). Apart, altogether, from this attitude of medicine, law, and Church, it would certainly seem that those who desire offspring would do well, as a rule, to adopt the natural method, which is also the best, or else to abandon to others the task of procreation, for which they are not adequately equipped.

When sterility is due to a defect in the husband's spermatozoa, and is not discovered, as it usually might be, before marriage, the question of impregnating the wife by other methods has occasionally arisen. Divorce on the ground of sterility is not possible, and, even if it were, the couple, although they wish to have a child, have not usually any wish to separate. Under these circumstances, in order to secure the desired end, without departing from widely accepted rules of morality, the attempt is occasionally made to effect artificial fecundation by injecting the semen from a healthy male. Attempts have been made to effect artificial fecundation by various distinguished men, from John Hunter to Schwalbe, but it is nearly always very difficult to effect, and often impossible. This is easy to account for, if we recall what has already been pointed out (antep. 577) concerning the influence of erotic excitement in the woman in securing conception; it is obviously a serious task for even the most susceptible woman to evoke erotic enthusiasmà proposof a medical syringe. Schwalbe, for instance, records a case (Deutsche Medizinisches Wochenschrift, Aug., 1908, p. 510) in which,—in consequence of the husband's sterility and the wife's anxiety, with her husband's consent, to be impregnated by the semen of another man,—he made repeated careful attempts to effect artificial fecundation; these attempts were, however, fruitless, and the three parties concerned finally resigned themselves to the natural method of intercourse, which was successful. In another case, recorded by Schwalbe, in which the husband was impotent but not sterile, six attempts were made to effect artificial fecundation, and further efforts abandoned on account of the disgust of all concerned.

Opinion, on the whole, has been opposed to the practice of artificial fecundation, even apart from the question of the probabilities of success. Thus, in France, where there is a considerable literature on the subject, the Paris Medical Faculty, in 1885, after some hesitation, refusedGérard's thesis on the history of artificial fecundation, afterwards published independently. In 1883, the Bordeaux legal tribunal declared that artificial fecundation was illegitimate, and a social danger. In 1897, the Holy See also pronounced that the practice is unlawful ("Artificial Fecundation before the Inquisition,"British Medical Journal, March 5, 1898). Apart, altogether, from this attitude of medicine, law, and Church, it would certainly seem that those who desire offspring would do well, as a rule, to adopt the natural method, which is also the best, or else to abandon to others the task of procreation, for which they are not adequately equipped.

When we have ascertained that two individuals both belong to sound and healthy stocks, and, further, that they are themselves both apt for procreation, it still remains to consider the conditions under which they may best effect procreation.[462]There arises, for instance, the question, often asked, What is the best age for procreation?

The considerations which weigh in answering this question are of two different orders, physiological, and social or moral. That is to say, that it is necessary, on the one hand, that physical maturity should have been fully attained, and the sexual cells completely developed; while, on the other hand, it is necessary that the man shall have become able to support a family, and that both partners shall have received a training in life adequate to undertake the responsibilities and anxieties involved in the rearing of children. While there have been variations at different times, it scarcely appears that, on the whole, the general opinion as to the best age for procreation has greatly varied in Europe during many centuries. Hesiod indeed said that a woman should marry about fifteen and a man about thirty,[463]but obstetricians have usually concluded that, in the interests alike of the parents and their offspring, the procreative life should notbegin in women before twenty and in men before twenty-five.[464]After thirty in women and after thirty-five or forty in men it seems probable that the best conditions for procreation begin to decline.[465]At the present time, in England and several other civilized countries, the tendency has been for the age of marriage to fall at an increasingly late age, on the average some years later than that usually fixed as the most favorable age for the commencement of the procreative life. But, on the whole, the average seldom departs widely from the accepted standard, and there seems no good reason why we should desire to modify this general tendency.

At the same time, it by no means follows that wide variations, under special circumstances, may not only be permissible, but desirable. The male is capable of procreating, in some cases, from about the age of thirteen until far beyond eighty, and at this advanced age, the offspring, even if not notable for great physical robustness, may possess high intellectual qualities. (Seee.g., Havelock Ellis,A Study of British Genius, pp. 120et seq.) The range of the procreative age in women begins earlier (sometimes at eight), though it usually ceases by fifty, or earlier, in only rare cases continuing to sixty or beyond. Cases have been reported of pregnancy, or childbirth, at the age of fifty-nine (e.g.,Lancet, Aug. 5, 1905, p. 419). Lepage (Comptes-rendus Société d'Obstétrique de Paris, Oct., 1903) reports a case of a primipara of fifty-seven; the child was stillborn. Kisch (Sexual Life of Woman, Part II)refers to cases of pregnancy in elderly women, and various references are given inBritish Medical Journal, Aug. 8, 1903, p. 325.Of more importance is the question of early pregnancy. Several investigators have devoted their attention to this question. Thus, Spitta (in a Marburg Inaugural Dissertation, 1895) reviewed the clinical history of 260 labors in primiparæ of 18 and under, as observed at the Marburg Maternity. He found that the general health during pregnancy was not below the average of pregnant women, while the mortality of the child at birth and during the following weeks was not high, and the mortality of the mother was by no means high. Picard (in a Paris thesis, 1903) has studied childbirth in thirty-eight mothers below the age of sixteen. He found that, although the pelvis is certainly not yet fully developed in very young girls, the joints and bones are much more yielding than in the adult, so that parturition, far from being more difficult, is usually rapid and easy. The process of labor itself, is essentially normal in these cases, and, even when abnormalities occur (low insertion of the placenta is a common anomaly) it is remarkable that the patients do not suffer from them in the way common among older women. The average weight of the child was three kilogrammes, or about 6 pounds, 9 ounces; it sometimes required special care during the first few days after birth, perhaps because labor in these cases is sometimes slow. The recovery of the mother was, in every case, absolutely normal, and the fact that these young mothers become pregnant again more readily than primiparæ of a more mature age, further contributes to show that childbirth below the age of sixteen is in no way injurious to the mother. Gache (Annales de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique, Dec., 1904) has attended ninety-one labors of mothers under seventeen, in the Rawson Hospital, Buenos Ayres; they were of so-called Latin race, mostly Spanish or Italian. Gache found that these young mothers were by no means more exposed than others to abortion or to other complications of pregnancy. Except in four cases of slightly contracted pelvis, delivery was normal, though rather longer than in older primiparæ. Damage to the soft parts was, however, rare, and, when it occurred, in every case rapidly healed. The average weight of the child was 3,039 grammes, or nearly 6¾ pounds. It may be noted that most observers find that very early pregnancies occur in women who begin to menstruate at an unusually early age, that is, some years before the early pregnancy occurs.It is clear, however, that young mothers do remarkably well, while there is no doubt whatever that they bear unusually fine infants. Kleinwächter, indeed, found that the younger the mother, the bigger the child. It is not only physically that the children of young mothers are superior. Marro has found (Pubertà, p. 257) that the children of mothers under 21 are superior to those of older mothers both in conductand intelligence, provided the fathers are not too old or too young. The detailed records of individual cases confirm these results, both as regards mother and child. Thus, Milner (Lancet, June 7, 1902) records a case of pregnancy in a girl of fourteen; the labor pains were very mild, and delivery was easy. E. B. Wales, of New Jersey, has recorded the history (reproduced inMedical Reprints, Sept. 15, 1890) of a colored girl who became pregnant at the age of eleven. She was of medium size, rather tall and slender, but well developed, and began to menstruate at the age of ten. She was in good health and spirits during pregnancy, and able to work. Delivery was easy and natural, not notably prolonged, and apparently not unduly painful, for there were no moans or agitation. The child was a fine, healthy boy, weighing not less than eleven pounds. Mother and child both did well, and there was a great flow of milk. Whiteside Robertson (British Medical Journal, Jan. 18, 1902) has recorded a case of pregnancy at the age of thirteen, in a Colonial girl of British origin in Cape Colony, which is notable from other points of view. During pregnancy, she was anæmic, and appeared to be of poor development and doubtfully normal pelvic conformation. Yet delivery took place naturally, at full term, without difficulty or injury, and the lying-in period was in every way satisfactory. The baby was well-proportioned, and weighed 7½ pounds. "I have rarely seen a primipara enjoy easier labor," concluded Robertson, "and I have never seen one look forward to the happy realization of motherhood with greater satisfaction."The facts brought forward by obstetricians concerning the good results of early pregnancy, as regards both mother and child, have not yet received the attention they deserve. They are, however, confirmed by many general tendencies which are now fairly well recognized. The significant fact is known, for instance, that in mothers over thirty, the proportion of abortions and miscarriages is twice as great as in mothers between the ages of fifteen and twenty, who also are superior in this respect to mothers between the ages of twenty and thirty (Statistischer Jahrbuch, Budapest, 1905). It was, again, proved by Matthews Duncan, in his Goulstonian lecture, that the chances of sterility in a woman increase with increase of age. It has, further, been shown (Kisch,Sexual Life of Woman, Part II) that the older a woman at marriage, the greater the average interval before the first delivery, a tendency which seems to indicate that it is the very young woman who is in the condition most apt for procreation; Kisch is not, indeed, inclined to think that this applies to women below twenty, but the fact, observed by other obstetricians, that mothers under eighteen tend to become pregnant again at an unusually short interval, goes far to neutralize the exception made by Kisch. It may also be pointed out that, among children of very young mothers, the sexes are more nearly equal in numberthan is the case with older mothers. This would seem to indicate that we are here in presence of a normal equilibrium which will decrease as the age of the mother is progressively disturbed in an abnormal direction.The facility of parturition at an early age, it may be noted, corresponds to an equal facility in physical sexual intercourse, a fact that is often overlooked. In Russia, where marriage still takes place early, it was formerly common when the woman was only twelve or thirteen, and Guttceit (Dreissig Jahre Praxis, vol. i, p. 324) says that he was assured by women who married at this age that the first coitus presented no especial difficulties.There is undoubtedly, at the present time, a considerable amount of prejudice against early motherhood. In part, this is due to a failure to realize that women are sexually much more precocious than men, physically as well as psychically (seeantep. 35). The difference is about five years. This difference has been virtually recognized for thousands of years, in the ancient belief that the age of election for procreation is about twenty, or less, for women, but about twenty-five for men; and it has more lately been affirmed by the discovery that, while the male is never capable of generation before thirteen, the female may, in occasional instances, become pregnant at eight. (Some of the recorded examples are quoted by Kisch.) In part, also, there is an objection to the assumption of responsibilities so serious as those of motherhood by a young girl, and there is the very reasonable feeling that the obligations of a permanent marriage tie ought not to be undertaken at an early age. On the other hand, apart from the physical advantages, as regards both mother and infant, on the side of early pregnancies, it is an advantage for the child to have a young mother, who can devote herself sympathetically and unreservedly to its interests, instead of presenting the pathetic spectacle we so often witness in the middle-aged woman who turns to motherhood when her youth and mental flexibility are gone, and her habits and tastes have settled into other grooves; it has sometimes been a great blessing even to the very greatest men, like Goethe, to have had a youthful mother. It would also, in many cases, be a great advantage for the woman herself if she could bring her procreative life to an end well before the age of twenty-five, so that she could then, unhampered by child-bearing and mature in experience, be free to enter on such wider activities in the world as she might be fitted for.Such an arrangement of the procreative life of women would, obviously, only be a variation, and would probably be unsuited for the majority. Every case must be judged on its own merits. The best age for procreation will probably continue to be regarded as being, for most women, around the age of twenty. But at a time like the present, whenthere is an unfortunate tendency for motherhood to be unduly delayed, it becomes necessary to insist on the advantages, in many cases, of early motherhood.

Of more importance is the question of early pregnancy. Several investigators have devoted their attention to this question. Thus, Spitta (in a Marburg Inaugural Dissertation, 1895) reviewed the clinical history of 260 labors in primiparæ of 18 and under, as observed at the Marburg Maternity. He found that the general health during pregnancy was not below the average of pregnant women, while the mortality of the child at birth and during the following weeks was not high, and the mortality of the mother was by no means high. Picard (in a Paris thesis, 1903) has studied childbirth in thirty-eight mothers below the age of sixteen. He found that, although the pelvis is certainly not yet fully developed in very young girls, the joints and bones are much more yielding than in the adult, so that parturition, far from being more difficult, is usually rapid and easy. The process of labor itself, is essentially normal in these cases, and, even when abnormalities occur (low insertion of the placenta is a common anomaly) it is remarkable that the patients do not suffer from them in the way common among older women. The average weight of the child was three kilogrammes, or about 6 pounds, 9 ounces; it sometimes required special care during the first few days after birth, perhaps because labor in these cases is sometimes slow. The recovery of the mother was, in every case, absolutely normal, and the fact that these young mothers become pregnant again more readily than primiparæ of a more mature age, further contributes to show that childbirth below the age of sixteen is in no way injurious to the mother. Gache (Annales de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique, Dec., 1904) has attended ninety-one labors of mothers under seventeen, in the Rawson Hospital, Buenos Ayres; they were of so-called Latin race, mostly Spanish or Italian. Gache found that these young mothers were by no means more exposed than others to abortion or to other complications of pregnancy. Except in four cases of slightly contracted pelvis, delivery was normal, though rather longer than in older primiparæ. Damage to the soft parts was, however, rare, and, when it occurred, in every case rapidly healed. The average weight of the child was 3,039 grammes, or nearly 6¾ pounds. It may be noted that most observers find that very early pregnancies occur in women who begin to menstruate at an unusually early age, that is, some years before the early pregnancy occurs.

It is clear, however, that young mothers do remarkably well, while there is no doubt whatever that they bear unusually fine infants. Kleinwächter, indeed, found that the younger the mother, the bigger the child. It is not only physically that the children of young mothers are superior. Marro has found (Pubertà, p. 257) that the children of mothers under 21 are superior to those of older mothers both in conductand intelligence, provided the fathers are not too old or too young. The detailed records of individual cases confirm these results, both as regards mother and child. Thus, Milner (Lancet, June 7, 1902) records a case of pregnancy in a girl of fourteen; the labor pains were very mild, and delivery was easy. E. B. Wales, of New Jersey, has recorded the history (reproduced inMedical Reprints, Sept. 15, 1890) of a colored girl who became pregnant at the age of eleven. She was of medium size, rather tall and slender, but well developed, and began to menstruate at the age of ten. She was in good health and spirits during pregnancy, and able to work. Delivery was easy and natural, not notably prolonged, and apparently not unduly painful, for there were no moans or agitation. The child was a fine, healthy boy, weighing not less than eleven pounds. Mother and child both did well, and there was a great flow of milk. Whiteside Robertson (British Medical Journal, Jan. 18, 1902) has recorded a case of pregnancy at the age of thirteen, in a Colonial girl of British origin in Cape Colony, which is notable from other points of view. During pregnancy, she was anæmic, and appeared to be of poor development and doubtfully normal pelvic conformation. Yet delivery took place naturally, at full term, without difficulty or injury, and the lying-in period was in every way satisfactory. The baby was well-proportioned, and weighed 7½ pounds. "I have rarely seen a primipara enjoy easier labor," concluded Robertson, "and I have never seen one look forward to the happy realization of motherhood with greater satisfaction."

The facts brought forward by obstetricians concerning the good results of early pregnancy, as regards both mother and child, have not yet received the attention they deserve. They are, however, confirmed by many general tendencies which are now fairly well recognized. The significant fact is known, for instance, that in mothers over thirty, the proportion of abortions and miscarriages is twice as great as in mothers between the ages of fifteen and twenty, who also are superior in this respect to mothers between the ages of twenty and thirty (Statistischer Jahrbuch, Budapest, 1905). It was, again, proved by Matthews Duncan, in his Goulstonian lecture, that the chances of sterility in a woman increase with increase of age. It has, further, been shown (Kisch,Sexual Life of Woman, Part II) that the older a woman at marriage, the greater the average interval before the first delivery, a tendency which seems to indicate that it is the very young woman who is in the condition most apt for procreation; Kisch is not, indeed, inclined to think that this applies to women below twenty, but the fact, observed by other obstetricians, that mothers under eighteen tend to become pregnant again at an unusually short interval, goes far to neutralize the exception made by Kisch. It may also be pointed out that, among children of very young mothers, the sexes are more nearly equal in numberthan is the case with older mothers. This would seem to indicate that we are here in presence of a normal equilibrium which will decrease as the age of the mother is progressively disturbed in an abnormal direction.

The facility of parturition at an early age, it may be noted, corresponds to an equal facility in physical sexual intercourse, a fact that is often overlooked. In Russia, where marriage still takes place early, it was formerly common when the woman was only twelve or thirteen, and Guttceit (Dreissig Jahre Praxis, vol. i, p. 324) says that he was assured by women who married at this age that the first coitus presented no especial difficulties.

There is undoubtedly, at the present time, a considerable amount of prejudice against early motherhood. In part, this is due to a failure to realize that women are sexually much more precocious than men, physically as well as psychically (seeantep. 35). The difference is about five years. This difference has been virtually recognized for thousands of years, in the ancient belief that the age of election for procreation is about twenty, or less, for women, but about twenty-five for men; and it has more lately been affirmed by the discovery that, while the male is never capable of generation before thirteen, the female may, in occasional instances, become pregnant at eight. (Some of the recorded examples are quoted by Kisch.) In part, also, there is an objection to the assumption of responsibilities so serious as those of motherhood by a young girl, and there is the very reasonable feeling that the obligations of a permanent marriage tie ought not to be undertaken at an early age. On the other hand, apart from the physical advantages, as regards both mother and infant, on the side of early pregnancies, it is an advantage for the child to have a young mother, who can devote herself sympathetically and unreservedly to its interests, instead of presenting the pathetic spectacle we so often witness in the middle-aged woman who turns to motherhood when her youth and mental flexibility are gone, and her habits and tastes have settled into other grooves; it has sometimes been a great blessing even to the very greatest men, like Goethe, to have had a youthful mother. It would also, in many cases, be a great advantage for the woman herself if she could bring her procreative life to an end well before the age of twenty-five, so that she could then, unhampered by child-bearing and mature in experience, be free to enter on such wider activities in the world as she might be fitted for.

Such an arrangement of the procreative life of women would, obviously, only be a variation, and would probably be unsuited for the majority. Every case must be judged on its own merits. The best age for procreation will probably continue to be regarded as being, for most women, around the age of twenty. But at a time like the present, whenthere is an unfortunate tendency for motherhood to be unduly delayed, it becomes necessary to insist on the advantages, in many cases, of early motherhood.

There are other conditions favorable or unfavorable to procreation which it is now unnecessary to discuss in detail, since they have already been incidentally dealt with in previous volumes of theseStudies. There is, for instance, the question of the time of year and the time of the menstrual cycle which may most properly be selected for procreation.[466]The best period is probably that when sexual desire is strongest, which is the period when conception would appear, as a matter of fact, most often to occur. This would be in spring or early summer,[467]and immediately after (or shortly before) the menstrual period. The Chinese have observed that the last day of menstruation and the two following days—corresponding to the period of œstrus—constitute the most favorable time for fecundation, and Bossi, of Genoa, has found that the great majority of successes in both natural and artificial fecundation occur at this period.[468]Soranus, as well as the Talmud, assigned the period about menstruation as the best for impregnation, and Susruta, the Indian physician, said that at this time pregnancy most readily occurs because then the mouth of the womb is open, like the flower of the water-lily to the sunshine.

We have now at last reached the point from which we started, the moment of conception, and the child again lies in its mother's womb. There remains no more to be said. The divine cycle of life is completed.

[421]

Spencer and Gillen,Northern Tribes of Central Australia, p. 330.

[422]

Academy of Medicine of Paris, March 31, 1908.

[423]

The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, vol. ii, p. 405.

[424]

Population and Progress, p. 41.

[425]

Cf.Reibmayr,Entwicklungsgeschichte des Talentes und Genics, Bd. II, p. 31.

[426]

"The debt that we owe to those who have gone before us," says Haycraft (Darwinism and Race Progress, p. 160), "we can only repay to those who come after us."

[427]

Mardrus,Les Mille Nuits, vol. xvi, p. 158.

[428]

Sidney Webb,Popular Science Monthly, 1906, p. 526 (previously published in theLondon Times, Oct. 11, 16, 1906). In Ch. IX of the present volume it has already been necessary to discuss the meaning of the term, "morality."

[429]

Thus, in Paris, in 1906, in the rich quarters, the birthrate per 1,000 inhabitants was 19.09; in well-to-do quarters, 22.51; and in poor quarters, 29.70. Here we see that, while the birthrate falls and rises with social class, even among the poor and least restrained class the birthrate is still but little above the general average for England, where prevention is widespread, and very considerably lower than the average (now rapidly falling) in Germany. It is evident that even among the poor class there is a process of leveling up to the higher classes in this matter.

[430]

I have developed these points more in detail in two articles in theIndependent Review, November, 1903, and April, 1904. See also, Bushee, "The Declining Birthrate and Its Causes,"Popular Science Monthly, Aug., 1903.

[431]

Francis Place,Illustrations and Proofs of the Principle of Population, 1822, p. 165.

[432]

See,e.g., a weighty chapter in theSexualleben und Nervenleidenof Löwenfeld, one of the most judicious authorities on sexual pathology. Twenty-five years ago, as many will remember, the medical student was usually taught that preventive methods of intercourse led to all sorts of serious results. At that time, however, reckless and undesirable methods of prevention seem to have been more prevalent than now.

[433]

Michael Ryan,Philosophy of Marriage, p. 9. To enable "the conservative power of the Creator" to exert itself on the myriads of germinal human beings secreted during his life-time by even one man, would require a world full of women, while the corresponding problem as regards a woman is altogether too difficult to cope with. The process by which life has been built up, far from being a process of universal conservation, has been a process of stringent selection and vast destruction; the progress effected by civilization merely lies in making this blind process intelligent.

[434]

Thus, in Belgium, in 1908 (Sexual-Probleme, Feb., 1909, p. 136), a physician (Dr. Mascaux) who had been prominent in promoting a knowledge of preventive methods of conception, was condemned to three months imprisonment for "offense against morality!" In such a case, Dr. Helene Stöcker comments (Die Neue Generation, Jan., 1909, p. 7), "morality" is another name for ignorance, timidity, hypocrisy, prudery, coarseness, and lack of conscience. It must be remembered, however, in explanation of this iniquitous judgment, that for some years past the clerical party has been politically predominant in Belgium.

[435]

It has been objected that the condom cannot be used by the very poorest, on account of its cost, but Hans Ferdy, in a detailed paper (Sexual-Probleme, Dec., 1908), shows that the use of the condom can be brought within the means of the very poorest, if care is taken to preserve it under water when not in use. Nyström (Sexual Probleme, Nov., 1908, p. 736) has issued a leaflet for the benefit of his patients and others, recommending the condom, and explaining its use.

[436]

Thus, Kisch, in hisSexual Life of Woman, after discussing fully the various methods of prevention, decides in favor of the condom. Fürbringer similarly (Senator and Kaminer,Health and Disease in Relation to Marriage, vol. i, pp. 232et seq.) concludes that the condom is "relatively the most perfect anti-conceptual remedy." Forel (Die Sexuelle Frage, pp. 457et seq.) also discusses the question at length; any æsthetic objection to the condom, Forel adds (p. 544), is due to the fact that we are not accustomed to it; "eye-glasses are not specially æsthetic, but the poetry of life does not suffer excessively from their use, which, in many cases, cannot be dispensed with."

[437]

L'Avortement, p. 43.

[438]

There are some disputed points in Roman law and practice concerning abortion; they are discussed in Balestrini's valuable book,Aborto, pp. 30et seq.

[439]

Augustine,De Civitate Dei, Bk. XXII, Ch. XIII.

[440]

The development of opinion and law concerning abortion has been traced by Eugène Bausset,L'Avortement Criminel, Thèse de Paris, 1907. For a summary of the practices of different peoples regarding abortion, see W. G. Sumner,Folkways, Ch. VIII.

[441]

Die Neue Generation, May, 1908, p. 192. It may be added that in England the attachment of any penalty at all to abortion, practiced in the early months of pregnancy (before "quickening" has taken place), is merely a modern innovation.

[442]

Even Balestrini, who is opposed to the punishment of abortion, is no advocate of it. "Whenever abortion becomes a social custom," he remarks (op. cit., p. 191), "it is the external manifestation of a people's decadence, and far too deeply rooted to be cured by the mere attempt to suppress the external manifestation."

[443]

Cf.Ellen Key,Century of the Child, Ch. I. Hirth (Wege zur Heimat, p. 526) is likewise opposed to the encouragement of abortion, though he would not actually punish the pregnant woman who induces abortion. I would especially call attention to an able and cogent article by Anna Pappritz ("Die Vernichtung des Keimenden Lebens,"Sexual-Probleme, July, 1909) who argues that the woman is not the sole guardian of the embryo she bears, and that it is not in the interests of society, nor even in her own interests, that she should be free to destroy it at will. Anna Pappritz admits that the present barbarous laws in regard to abortion must be modified, but maintains that they should not be abolished. She proposes (1) a greatly reduced punishment for abortion; (2) this punishment to be extended to the father, whether married or unmarried (a provision already carried out in Norway, both for abortion and infanticide); (3) permission to the physician to effect abortion when there is good reason to suspect hereditary degeneration, as well as when the woman has been impregnated by force.

[444]

Cf.Dr. Max Hirsch,Sexual-Probleme, Jan., 1908, p. 23.

[445]

Bausset (op. cit.) sets forth various social measures for the care of pregnant and child-bearing women, which would tend to lessen criminal abortion.

[446]

Gomperz,Greek Thinkers, vol. i, p. 564.

[447]

F. E. Daniel, President of the State Medical Association of Texas, "Should Insane Criminals or Sexual Perverts be Allowed to Procreate?"Medico-legal Journal, Dec., 1893;id., "The Cause and Prevention of Rape,"Texas Medical Journal, May, 1904.

[448]

P. Näcke, "Die Kastration bei gewissen Klassen von Degenerirten als ein Wirksamer Socialer Schutz,"Archiv für Kriminal-Anthropologie, Bd. III, 1899, p. 58;id."Kastration in Gewissen Fällen von Geisteskrankheit,"Psychiatrisch-Neurologische Wochenschrift, 1905, No. 29.

[449]

Angelo Zuccarelli, "Asessualizzazione o sterilizzazione dei Degenerati,"L'Anomalo, 1898-99, No. 6;id., "Sur la nécessité et sur les Moyens d'empêcher la Réproduction des Hommes les plus Dégénérés," International Congress Criminal Anthropology, Amsterdam, 1901.

[450]

Näcke,Neurologisches Centralblatt, March 1, 1909. The original account of these operations is reproduced in thePsychiatrisch-Neurologische Wochenschrift, No. 2, 1909, with an approving comment by the editor, Dr. Bresler. As regards castration in America, see Flood, "Castration of Idiot Children,"American Journal Psychology, Jan., 1899; also,Alienist and Neurologist, Aug., 1909, p. 348.

[451]

It is probable that castration may prove especially advantageous in the case of the feeble-minded. "In Somersetshire," says Tredgold ("The Feeble-Mind as a Social Danger,"Eugenics Review, July, 1909), "I found that out of a total number of 167 feeble-minded women, nearly two-fifths (61) had given birth to children, for the most part illegitimate. Moreover, it is not uncommon, but, rather the rule, for these poor girls to be admitted into the workhouse maternity wards again and again, and the average number of offspring to each one of them is probably three or four, although even six is not uncommon." In his work onMental Deficiency(pp. 288-292) the same author shows that propagation by the mentally deficient is, in England, "both a terrible and extensive evil."

[452]

This example is brought forward by Ledermann, "Skin Diseases and Marriage," in Senator and Kaminer,Health and Disease in Relation to Marriage.

[453]

I may here again refer to Lea's instructiveHistory of Sacerdotal Celibacy.

[454]

In England, 35,000 applicants for admission to the navy are annually rejected, and although the physical requirements for enlistment in the army are nowadays extremely moderate, it is estimated by General Maurice that at least sixty per cent. of recruits and would-be recruits are dismissed as unfit. (Seee.g., William Coates, "The Duty of the Medical Profession in the Prevention of National Deterioration,"British Medical Journal, May 1, 1909.) It can scarcely be claimed that men who are not good enough for the army are good enough for the great task of creating the future race.

[455]

The recognition of epilepsy as a bar to procreation is not recent. There is said to be a record in the archives of the town of Luçon in which epilepsy was adjudged to be a valid reason for the cancellation of a betrothal (British Medical Journal, Feb. 14, 1903, p. 383).

[456]

British Medical Journal, April 14, 1906. In California and some other States, it appears that deceit regarding health is a ground for the annulment of marriage.

[457]

Sir F. Galton,Inquiries Into Human Faculty, Everyman's Library edition, pp. 211et seq.;cf.Galton's collectedEssays in Eugenics, recently published by the Eugenics Education Society.

[458]

For some account of the methods and results of the work in schools, see Bertram C. A. Windle, "Anthropometric Work in Schools,"Medical Magazine, Feb., 1894.

[459]

The most notable steps in this direction have been taken in Germany. For an account of the experiment at Karlsruhe, seeDie Neue Generation, Dec., 1908.

[460]

Wiethknudsen (as quoted inSexual-Probleme, Dec., 1908, p. 837) speaks strongly, but not too strongly, concerning the folly of any indiscriminate endowment of procreation.

[461]

On the scientific side, in addition to the fruitful methods of statistical biometrics, which have already been mentioned, much promise attaches to work along the lines initiated by Mendel; see W. Bateson,Mendel's Principles of Heredity, 1909; also, W. H. Lock,Recent Progress in the Study of Variation, Heredity, and Evolution, and R. C. Punnett,Mendelism, 1907 (American edition, with interesting preface by Gaylord Wilshire, from the Socialistic point of view, 1909).

[462]

The study of the right conditions for procreation is very ancient. In modern times we find that even the very first French medical book in the vulgar tongue, theRégime du Corps, written by Alebrand of Florence (who was physician to the King of France), in 1256, is largely devoted to this matter, concerning which it gives much sound advice. See J. B. Soalhat,Les Idées de Maistre Alebrand de Florence sur la Puériculture, Thèse de Paris, 1908.

[463]

Hesiod,Works and Days, II, 690-700.

[464]

This has long been the accepted opinion of medical authorities, as may be judged by the statements brought together two centuries ago by Schurig,Parthenologia, pp. 22-25.

[465]

The statement that, on the average, the best age for procreation in men is before, rather than after, forty, by no means assumes the existence of any "critical" age in men analogous to the menopause in women. This is sometimes asserted, but there is no agreement in regard to it. Restif de la Bretonne (Monsieur Nicolas, vol. x, p. 176) said that at the age of forty delicacy of sentiment begins to go. Fürbringer believes (Senator and Kaminer,Health and Disease in Relation to Marriage, vol. i, p. 222) that there is a decisive turn in a man's life in the sixth decade, or the middle of the fifth, when desire and potency diminish. J. F. Sutherland also states (Comptes-rendus Congrès International de Médecine, 1900, Section de Psychiatrie, p. 471) that there is, in men, about the fifty-fifth year, a change analogous to the menopause in women, but only in a certain proportion of men. It would appear that in most men the decline of sexual feeling and potency is very gradual, and at first manifests itself in increased power of control.

[466]

See, in vol. i, the study of "The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity."

[467]

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