Another, when speaking of the effects of coition during this period, says: "The organ of amativeness is frequently too largely developed in the embryonic offspring by the excessive indulgence of parents in sexual pleasures during the period of gestation. After the birth of the child, he is usually fed on meat, tea and coffee, and other stimulating food and drink, fit only for persons of adult age, by which sexual precocity is produced."
Dr. John Cowan, in "The Science of a New Life," says, with emphasis: "I will again repeat that during this 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 Christendom it is never violated. Animals will not permit it—savages will not permit it, and over three-quarters of the world it is looked upon as infamous by our own species. A man acting out the licentiousness of his nature with his wife during gestation is worse than a brute—in fact, there is no species of the animal to which he can be compared, unless it be to the tobacco, whiskey-soaked hanger-on to a rum-shop—whose life is an epitome of tobacco, whiskey and licentiousness. Do not, I pray you, oh, parents, do this unclean thing. Do not taint your clean bodies, do not foul your pure souls with the lustful of your natures, while a new body is being developed, a new soul being organized; but by sweet words, loving caresses, endearing action and warm kisses cultivate within you the love element that, in its pure exercise, joins together two souls, and brings in its path such a measureof peace and happiness as must be realized ere it can be appreciated."
Writing of the physical needs of the mother during the period of gestation, Dr. Napheys says: "During this period the whole force of the economy at these times is taken up with providing sustenance for the new being, and there is no nervous power left to be wasted in barren pleasures. In those exceptionable cases where this does not hold, every excitement is visited upon the child, and it has to suffer in health and growth for the unnatural appetite of the mother."
Dr. J. R. Black says: "Coition during pregnancy is one of the ways in which the predisposition is made for that terrible disease in children, epilepsy. The natural excitement of the nervous system in the mother by such a cause cannot operate otherwise than inflicting injury upon the tender germ in the womb."
Dr. J. H. Kellogg says: "Indulgence during pregnancy is followed by the worst results of any form of marital excess. The mother suffers doubly, because laden with the burden of supporting two lives instead of one. But the results upon the child are especially disastrous. During the time when it is receiving its stock of vitality, while its plastic form is being molded, and its various organs are acquiring that integrity of structure which makes up what is called constitutional vigor—during this most critical of all periods in the life of the new being, its forces are exhausted and its structure is depraved, andthus constitutional tendencies to disease are produced by the unnatural demands made upon the mother."
The same author adds: "Still another terrible consequence results from this practice so contrary to nature. The delicate brain, which is being molded with the other organs of the body, receives its cast largely from those mental and nervous sensations and actions of the mother which are the most intense. One of the most certain effects of sexual indulgence at this time is to develop abnormally the sexual instinct in the child. Here is the key to the origin of much of the sexual precocity and depravity which curse humanity. Sexuality is born in the soul of a large share of the rising generation."
In her book, entitled "Tokology," Dr. Alice B. Stockham says: "If the law of continence is not the law to govern one's entire life, it is natural and reasonable that the mother should be exempt from the sexual relation during gestation."
In an excellent little book, entitled "Approaching Maternity," a physician of experience says: "A man once told me that the easiest delivery his wife had ever had took place two days sooner than expected, and one day after he had had connection with her! Thank heaven, there are not many such brutes as this! What really took place was a miscarriage, in my opinion, superinduced by coition. That it was not troublesome was a piece of good luck, and must have been the result of the woman'sexcellent condition. It is better that during the entire pregnancy sexual intercourse should be abstained from. During coition the uterus is subjected to great disturbance; congestion of many of the parts follows, and the effect upon the nerves is of a harmful nature. The entire vital energy of the woman is needed and should be saved for the coming event, and the husband should practice self-control and forego selfish indulgence at this time. Strive rather to elevate and develop the intellectual side of the woman, and if her mind is kept occupied upon helpful, entertaining subjects, a good result will show later on."
When we remember that in procreation God has endowed us with the power to continue his work of creation and realize the sacred responsibilities in calling a new life into being, we cannot but feel that from the very hour of conception the mother is overshadowed by the Most High. In the fulfillment of her sacred office she should surely be delivered from all polluting intrusions, and be permitted to live a life of spotless purity. To say the very least, there surely is something very suggestive in the statement of the first chapter of Matthew concerning the parents of the child Jesus. When he had been begotten of the Holy Ghost, Mary was not to be deprived of the companionship, love and sympathy of Joseph, and therefore when he thought to put her away privily, he was told "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife,and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son." While it was essential that the fatherhood of the Messiah should be above all question, yet may it not be true that the development and bringing forth of a child which shall be most like unto this Prince of Peace always demands an undisturbed maternity?
We would not like to take an extreme position upon this subject, but we are persuaded that what we have presented here is worthy of the thoughtful consideration of all husbands and wives who seek their own highest good and the greatest blessing and well-being of the children which are to be.
It is well for young husbands and wives to know that by incautiousness in their relations during this period miscarriage is often easily and actually produced, and unsuspecting parents have oftentimes been the authors, not only of the death of their own child, but the consequences have entailed permanent injuries upon the young wife, and oftentimes resulted in death itself.
Fromthe moment of conception, during the months of gestation, at the time of childbirth and after, changes of great interest take place in the germ of human life and in the body of the mother. Her body is marvelously fitted for the reception and development of the ovum, the embryo and the fetus through the various stages of fertilization, germination, development, maturity, to the time of the eventual exit of the child into the outer world to begin its own independent life.
Something of the adaptation of the body of the mother to its marvelous purpose may the better appear if we think of some of the greatest mechanical achievements of man.
A watch is one of the best products of human ingenuity. It has taken nearly six thousand years to produce it. It is a wonderful piece of mechanism, yet it is, after all, not a complex product like the human body. If a watch could be constructed that could oil and renew its own parts, so as not to stop or break, or need repairing or oiling or cleaning, such a product would be more complex. But if, in addition to running on uninterruptedly for a long series of years, or almost an entire century, suppose it could beso constructed and constituted that, without interrupting the orderly movement of its works or its accuracy and correctness, it should, at intervals, produce other watches like itself. Truly such a watch would be a marvelous complexity. Yet just such a complexity is found in all the forms of vegetable and animal life about us. Interesting as is the study of life at any stage, it is specially interesting and impressive during the periods which preface, accomplish and follow the wonderful period of gestation; and it is specially important that the individual who stands so closely related to this profound and awe-inspiring mystery as does a young husband should have such knowledge of what this condition has to teach as comes within the realm of human understanding—both because of its importance to his own happiness, the happiness, safety and well-being of the mother and her offspring, and because such knowledge will tend to purify the mind of those gross and debasing thoughts which too frequently cluster about the most important and most sacred relations of married life and the endearments of home.
Something of what these changes are which precede, attend and follow reproduction in the human family may be beautifully seen in a conservatory or garden, or even learned from the frail flower that blooms by the roadside.
When, in the springtime or summer days, the plant has reached its maturity, as instinctively as if it foresaw in the coming days of autumn and in the ice and snow of winter the possibilitynot only of death but of total extinction, its entire nature centres in one grand struggle to escape pending extermination and live, if not in its own body, yet in the life and beauty that shall be reproduced in the plants that are already begotten in the longing for the perpetuity of its own life. The dual parent-nature is quickened. Forgetting the present, and longing for a place and a part when the warm and quickening breath of spring shall again usher in a new day of life and beauty upon the earth the plant henceforth lives, not for the present, but for the future; not for itself, but for those that are to be. The buds begin to form. The plant has learned the purpose of being and throbs with the mystery of life. In the thought of death it has learned to live. In fear of extinction it has learned to perpetuate and multiply itself a hundredfold. The flower unfolds. The dual parent-nature of the plant lives with intensity in their common effort. The flower is in a passion of beauty, in an agony of splendor, perfuming the nuptial hour with a sweetness that distills upon the air, arresting the hurrying steps of all who pass by. Who shall dare to interrupt that ceremonial, whose ruthless hand shall dare defeat that high and holy purpose? The fragrance invites the bees and insects to the nuptial feast. For them there is pollen and nectar in abundance. They bear gifts of quickening pollen from other plants, or swing the anther censers that waited the coming of expected guests. The corolla of beauty screens the enchanted participants. The ceremonial is over, the hour is ended. The ovules have felt the thrill of life, the beauty fades, the fragrance is gone, the wedding-garments are laid aside, and henceforth the father-nature and the mother-nature of the plant live not for themselves, but for the life they have begotten, and the plants that shall be. Their joy abides, and they live in the glad hope of participation, in the succeeding resurrection of the life and beauty and fragrance that is to await the coming of another springtime.
What we have written in allegory takes place in fact. Every intelligent observer has noted the depth of color, passionate beauty, and sweet fragrance of the flower as the hour approaches when the stigma awaits the pollen which is to fertilize the ovules that lie hidden away in the ovary or pod. When that union has been effected the flower fades, its petals fall off; the calyx, which as a vase held the corolla erect in its splendor, but which remains to shield and protect the ovules or little seeds which are being formed and perfected, now droops, turning toward the earth. Is this a sign of sadness, or that there is no longer any joy in life? No, no, not at all. It is the evidence of its fidelity to the sacred trust that has been committed to it. It has found a new joy, a more abiding happiness. Then it held up the corolla that the sun and the angels might look in upon the happy and holy beginnings of life, while now, in the protection of its sacred trust, itturns down, that it may shed the rain and everything that might intrude or hurt the tender plant that is so mysteriously encased in that pod that enlarges with the growing life that is within it.
What is true in the reproductive life of plants is also true in the reproductive life of man. The changes that take place at the moment of conception and during the period of gestation are full of marvelous beauty and profound mystery. The bright eyes, the ruby lips, the ruddy glow on the cheeks, the comely attire, the attractive manner, the persuasive sweetness, the subtle but indescribable attractiveness, are manifestations in human life of what may be seen and studied with such impressiveness in the reproductive life of the flower. The changes which follow may not be as immediate; and while, to the unknowing and unobservant, they may not at first be totally unobserved, yet to the devout student they are quite as manifest and pronounced as in the flowers; and the study of these changes which attend the beginning, the growth and the completion of reproduction is one of great interest to every intelligent person, although its clear presentation to those who have no knowledge whatever of the subject is attended with some difficulty.
As the birds at the mating season put on their most gorgeous plumage, sing their sweetest songs, and in the building of their nests work in sweetest accord, so it is also in human life. When the nest is completed, the eggs laid, andthe incubation or hatching begins, the plumage soon loses some of its lustre, the songs become less frequent, and the parent birds prepare for the feeding and care of the bird-life that is soon to fill the nest.
But all this quickening of life and growth that takes place in the egg within the nest under the warm body of the mother-bird, in the human mother takes place within the nest or cradle which God has prepared within her body. Her young is of a higher order. The protection and preservation of the unfolding human life is more important, and hence the greater care displayed in guarding and nourishing it.
The future mother, whose nature only recently craved her husband's caresses and embraces, now, perhaps all unconsciously to herself, changes, to fit her for the better completion of the sacred and holy work which God has assigned her. The eye loses somewhat of its lustre, the cheek its ruddy glow, and her entire being something of that pervasive sweetness which but recently made her peculiarly attractive. But to the intelligent husband and true father she is none the less, but rather the more, an object of love and adoration; and if she is intelligent, and understands the high and holy nature of that which is being wrought within her own body, and the exalted honor which God has bestowed upon her in making her a co-creator with himself, she will not manifest the belligerent and uncompanionable spirit whichtoo often characterizes the bearing of some women during this period of unfolding life.
While it is true that the changes which accompany this period are more marked in woman than in man, yet when we remember that a close study of the reproductive nature of man in married life discloses a responsiveness to her condition and desires, it will readily be understood that during the period of his wife's gestation his nature is measurably moderated by her condition, for in health the reproductive nature of man is responsive to the promptings of his wife. The poet wisely says:
"As unto the bow the cord is,So unto the man is woman.Though she bends him, she obeys him;Though she draws him, yet she follows—Useless each without the other."
"As unto the bow the cord is,So unto the man is woman.Though she bends him, she obeys him;Though she draws him, yet she follows—Useless each without the other."
Where existing facts in any particular case are discordant with this poetic figure the causes can usually be found in an abnormal passion in the man, or a measurable absence of sexual inclination in the woman, frequently caused by ruinous modes of life and dress. While human beings are generally very different in this respect from the lower animals, yet something of what these changes are may be suggested by noting the changes which take place in bird life. As the wave of life rises to its crest in the male nature, every department of his being is aroused to greatest activity and perfection. His plumage becomes lustrous, he sings with sweetest note. In some of the animals the intensity of his vitality bursts out in a growth of great antlers; but when the mating season is passed the plumage fades; the antlers drop off as the receding tide of life sets in. These marked changes among the animals are by no means paralleled in man; yet there are semblances or faint shadows of them in the modifying of the male nature.
While such external and manifest changes as we have indicated are taking place, marvelous things are being wrought within the mother's body. The ovum or egg (for that is what it truly is), after it has left the place where it matured in the ovary, is impregnated by the spermatozoön, which, in its restless search for the ovum, presses forward from the place where it was liberated in the vagina, up through the womb, and out through the Fallopian tube toward the ovary; or the ovum may pass through the Fallopian tube and into the womb, to await for a brief period or a few days the coming of the sperm or spermatozoön, without which it must remain incomplete and perish.
God might just as easily have ordained that the ovum should be complete in itself, and that, without any intervention or co-operation, at appointed intervals the mother should bring forth her offspring. But there were reasons why this should not be. The begetting and bringing forth of human life involves issues too vast to be committed to a single individual. Without a defender or protector during this period whenthe mother is rendered measurably helpless by her condition, would imperil the safety and even the life of both parent and child. Two must share the risks and the responsibilities. The father, during this period and that which follows, is to bear the burdens of life largely alone. He is to provide food and shelter. He is to be the guardian and the defender of his more dependent companion. Should exposure or peril result in the death of the mother, the child must not be left without a natural guardian and caretaker. This young life is too precious to be exposed to possible peril. Its care, its nurture, its education is too important even to be risked with a single parent. The mother might "forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb," and it was important that the child should then have another, who is bound by natural and moral obligations, and by bonds of personal interest and tenderest affection, to care for it. This double parentage gives the child four grandparents instead of two, and eight great-grandparents instead of four. In this wise way the child is knit to many in an obligation to nurture and care for it, should necessity arise. If physical, mental and moral infirmity should exist in the mother, the force of such infirmity must be reasonably broken by a new stream of influences which tend to liberate the child from any inheritance of incapacity. If the father is wicked or worthless, the child is to find its defender and caretaker in its mother;or, should the mother possess these bad qualities, the child may find in its father its defense and help. The life and well-being of the child is so important that it must have two chances to be well-born and well-reared.
But this relation of interdependence is not only for the well-being of the offspring, but for the highest physical, intellectual and moral development and well-being of both parents. Parenthood comes not only to the mother, molding, fashioning and perfecting her in every department of her being, but when intelligently and reverently assumed, when discharged with fidelity and self-denial, it has its priceless endowments for the father as well. In view of the Creator's full and sacred purpose, who shall dare invade, or even lightly assume, the far-reaching responsibilities which God has united to parenthood? "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
What intelligent man or woman shall dare trample under their feet all the sacred relations of life, and call into being an immortal spirit whose temporal and eternal destinies are to be affected by its advent into a world that is waiting to brand it because begotten of an illicit union? What husband or wife can regard with dishonor, or dare debase, the God-given powers of reproduction?
But to return to the subject of the changes which take place within the body of the mother during this period of wondrous interest. When the spermatozoa have been liberated in theupper portion of the vagina at the cervix, or small opening which forms what is called the neck of the womb, although such minute microscopic objects that when laid end to end it would require five hundred of them to make an inch in length, yet, with that wonderful activity of which we have written in a previous chapter, they immediately seek the doorway into the womb, that mysterious chamber where the ovum may naturally be expected to await their coming. We correctly think of persons, and not of things, as possessed of intelligence and acting in accordance with reason, but this mysterious natal chamber within the mother's body appears instinct with intelligence. It seems almost as though across its portals were written, in a language which every object and every spermatozoön might read, the prohibition: "None save those who bear the gift of life may enter or tarry within these portals." The ovum may remain for a period, and the spermatozoa that seek the ovum may enter, but neither may tarry unless each yields itself to the other in that mysterious union which results in life. Apart or alone, after a brief period, they must alike be cast out; no idler may tarry there; but that semblance to innate intelligence which rejects or casts out any incomplete part as a foreign substance accords a hearty welcome to the ovum that has been quickened into a new life by the entrance of a spermatozoön. No mother ever embraced her newborn child more lovingly, or regarded itwith greater tenderness, than the womb receives the quickened ovum. When the ovum is quickened, every fibre of being thrills with a new purpose. A royal place is speedily prepared for the safety, nurture and development of the ovum. The entire nature of the mother now centres upon the accomplishment of a special work—that of developing and bringing forth the new life begotten within. Great changes are to be wrought not only in the ovum, but the enlarging life and new necessities are to be met by corresponding changes in the womb itself. Not only is the minute speck of life which is laid within this human cradle to develop into a fully-organized human being, but the cradle is to enlarge with the growth of its occupant, and respond to the varying needs of the unfolding and developing body within.
It will require the aid of a microscope to discover and observe the object of our search and study. The egg of the bird bears some proportion to the size of its producer, for in them is stored up the nourishment which is to maintain the unfolding life that can be fed in no other way until it has reached an advanced stage of maturity, and has broken its shell and emerged into the outer world. The human egg is so small that it would require two hundred and forty of them laid side by side to make one inch in length. They contain the nourishment which is to foster this minute beginning of human life for a brief period, after which it is to derive all its nourishment from the mother.Her food is to furnish the material for its upbuilding. Its blood is to flow from her heart. The egg of the bird is encased in a porous covering through which pure air, with its transforming power, is to find its way to the developing life within; but this human egg and the life which it is designed to unfold must owe all to its mother. Her lungs must impart the oxygen it needs, and her body must minister to every function of the body of the child, until after a period of months, when it shall have reached that stage of development when it is prepared to enter upon its own independent life in the outer world.
This minute germ of human life, this egg so small that a thousand could be laid upon a ten-cent piece, this atom, which under the microscope shows a speck of oil and albumin, which in the course of a few brief months is to constitute a complex human organism, with all the perfected parts and wonderful adjustment of a human body, already contains the elements of a new human soul. Embodied in this undeveloped human germ is the future man or woman. Here are all the elements which are to make the successful mechanic, the farmer, the orator, or the statesman. Ingrained in these forming tissues may be scrofula, consumption or insanity. Here, already, are the inheritances which are to determine whether this being shall be temperate or intemperate, chaste or licentious. The moral nature has already received that bent which will incline it to reach out after God andheaven and holy things, or which will incline it downward to all that is base, destructive, and that tends to death. The history of this immortal being is already measurably outlined in the past life of the father and the mother. What they have been in their thought, in their character, in their being, that their child is largely to become. This outline is now subjected to modifications by the thought and life of the mother during the few months while the body of her child is being unfolded, fashioned and developed beneath and so close to her own heart. During these months, her life is to tell both upon the body and the soul of her child.
During the brief period while the germ within the fertilized egg is being nourished by the vitellus or yolk of the egg, great changes are taking place in the soft and delicate linings which surround it within the womb. While, of course, the greatest changes which take place during the period of gestation are chiefly within the ovum or egg, yet those which take place in the body of the mother herself are more manifest, and scarcely less marvelous. The mucous membrane within the walls of this enclosure begins to thicken; the small vessels which compose the structure of the inner surface begin to multiply, enlarge, and lengthen, until they are manifest to the unaided eye. This soft, velvety lining becomes thick and rich, but loses none of its softness and delicacy.
Every preparation is speedily made, and the fertilized egg finds lodgment in the thin, delicatefolds of the membrane in the upper central portion or dome of the womb. The folds begin to grow about the egg, partially enclosing it, and shutting it off from the general cavity of the womb. At last the borders of this growing envelope meet, and form a complete and distinct enclosure. This thin, transparent tissue, which constitutes a living envelope or sac, shuts off the egg or growing embryo from the rest of the cavity of the womb, which its increasing proportions are soon completely to fill.
The original membranous lining which covers the entire interior of the womb, and which has now become thickened or tumefied, as medical men say, is technically called the decidua vera, while that portion of the membrane which forms the sac that surrounds and encloses the egg is called the decidua reflex. These are known as "decidua," which means "not permanent"—a word applied to those things in nature which after a period drop away, as leaves, teeth and horns, which are shed or fall off. So the decidua reflex is to pass away with the birth, and the decidua vera is to change back again into its normal condition.
The egg, which during this period has considerably enlarged, begins to throw out upon all sides threadlike tissues, by which this germ of life becomes attached to and grows into the mother-life upon which it is engrafted.
It is through these filaments that the fluids which are to nourish and develop this unfolding life are imparted from the mother and received by the embryo.
As the attachment between the sac which encloses the egg more firmly and securely adheres to the walls of the womb the filaments which had formed upon all sides of the enclosing sac begin to disappear, except upon the side in contact with the womb. Upon that side they become more pronounced, and in the third month the permanent attachment known as the placenta, through which the embryo is to receive its increasing supply of nourishment from the body of the mother, begins to be formed. The placenta is circular in shape, from one to two inches in thickness in its thickest part, and about six or eight inches in diameter. It forms the temporary medium of communication between the life of the mother and that of the child, and, properly speaking, is not a part of either. It is formed for a temporary use, which terminates with the birth of the child; and at that time the placenta, the umbilical or navel cord, and the membrane we have named, constitute what is called the afterbirth.
The placenta is a flat, soft disk which is attached to the walls of the womb connecting the embryo by the navel cord, through which it respires or breathes, and receives nourishment, and discharges the worn-out particles of matter. It is through this attachment or cord that an intimate connection is established between the growing life of the ovum and the currents oflife which flow in the mother's body. Through this placentic cord the embryo receives oxygen and all the elements necessary for its growth, upon the one hand, while, upon the other, it also transfers to the body of the mother the carbonic acid gas and other impurities which in the process of life are necessary to be thrown off.
Butwhile these changes have been taking place within the womb itself, and the decidua or thickened membrane has been forming about this developing germ of life, let us consider some of the changes which have taken place within the ovum itself. If observant when opening a hen's egg, the observer will notice that the yolk is covered by a very thin membrane which encloses and separates it from the other portion of the egg, and holds it in its rounded form. The membrane is exceedingly delicate, but sufficiently thick and strong to serve its intended purpose. Now, the human ovum or egg consists of a vitellus or yolk, which is covered by a similar membrane, known as the vitelline. When this ovum or egg has been fertilized or impregnated, remarkable changes take place. This vitellus or yolk undergoes a series of segmentation or dividings which are known as spontaneous segmentation. The single minute yolk divides itself into two smaller balls or segments. These again subdivide into four; these four subdivide into eight, the eight into sixteen, and so on, resulting inthe rearrangement of the yolk into a finely divided granular mass. While this division is in process, the divided parts arrange themselves orderly about the inner surface of the vitelline or yolk membrane, with the minute microscopic spaces between filled with a transparent fluid. While these cells have been multiplying and become so abundant as to be flattened against the internal surface of the yolk membrane, they have developed into true animal cells. The edges of these cells, where they come in contact with each other, form a continuous organized membrane, which lies just within the yolk membrane. This membrane is called the blastodermic membrane.
This new membrane, formed within the sac which originally enclosed the yolk of the ovum, now divides or separates itself into two distinct layers, known as the outer and inner blastodermic membranes, also called epiblast and hypoblast. The egg at this stage of development presents the appearance of a small round sac, the walls of which consist of three layers, each succeeding layer lying immediately within and in contact with the other which encloses it. The outer one of the three is the primitive yolk sac, the second is the outer layer of the blastodermic membrane, and the third the inner layer, while the interior cavity of the egg is filled by the transparent fluid previously mentioned.
In order to understand the beginnings of life it is important to have a clear conception ofthese different sacs, for these two membranes lying within the yolk sac, and together known as the blastodermic membrane, and separately as the outer and inner layers of the blastodermic membrane, contain the anatomical elements from which the organized being with its fully-formed body is to grow. Indeed, it may be said that these two blastodermic membranes are the body of the embryo which is to develop into the fully-formed physical man.
The noting of this division into two separate layers is important, for the outer one develops into the skin, spinal cord, muscles and bone, while from the inner layer is formed the intestinal canal and the organs of vegetative life.
Between these two blastodermic membranes other minute tissues are formed, the office and end of which are not so fully understood, and the consideration of which would lead us into intricacies beyond our present purpose.
The first visible sign of the organic structure of the human form is discovered as it takes shape upon the exterior wall of the blastodermic membrane, known as the embryonic spot, and known also as the primitive trace or furrow. It is supposed that from this is formed the spinal canal, with the dorsal plate upon either side, from which springs the framework of the bony structure, and at one end of which is the large rounded cavity which forms the receptacle for the brain and the medulla oblongata, or the upper cranial portion of the spinal cord, which is to control respiration, and at theother extremity of which, in a later stage, will sprout or grow the legs and feet.
Without complicating the subject too much for the clear understanding of the ordinary reader by undertaking to explain minute changes which are very interesting to specialists, but likely to detract from its interest and value to the ordinary reader, let it suffice to say that in the course of a brief period the embryo which has grown mainly from the two blastodermic membranes which we have described, and is attached to the walls of the womb by the placenta and cord which carries the blood and life-currents from the body of the mother to the growing body of the child within, is at this period of its development surrounded and enclosed by a number of membranes. The outer one of these is the inner lining of the womb itself, known as the decidua vera. Within this is the decidua reflex, the membrane of the womb, which extended itself and grew around the ovum, completely enclosing it. The third is the chorion, forming the outer membrane which encloses the fetus, and within which is the amnion, or innermost membrane which surrounds the fetus, and between which is another membrane, called the allantois.
The amnion, which is the innermost of the membranes surrounding the fetus, seemingly has a special office, which is to secrete the fluid technically called the amniotic. This fluid is popularly known as "the waters." This secretion performs several important offices. It protects the fetus from any local pressure or blow, and so distributes any pressure as to enable all the parts to grow without danger of distortion and deformity. It also affords the fetus greater freedom of motion, and protects the womb and other parts from injuries which might otherwise be inflicted by the fetus after quickening. Within this fluid the fetus floats during its formative period, and when the time of birth comes the breaking of the sac which contains this fluid enables it to flow out, lubricating the parts, or channel, through which the newly formed being is to pass in its exit into the outer world. The importance of this fluid in this latter office is of great moment. When the sac breaks and the waters flow away too much in advance of the birth of the child, there generally occur the inconveniences that attend what is called a "dry birth."
As already mentioned in a previous paragraph, during the first weeks of growth the embryo is nourished the same as the young chick within the egg, by the yolk, in which its earliest nourishment has been stored.
Soon the delicate union is formed between the chorion by the gathering and multiplication of the villi or minute hair-like membranes, which gather into a compact mass and adhere to the adjacent portion of the womb. This formation is known as the placenta, previously described, which is constituted of two portions—the maternal side,which is toward the walls of the womb, and the fetal side, which is toward the growing fetus. Upon the inner side, the placenta is united with the fetus by two arteries which are wrapped around the one vein, which together unite with the body of the placenta. Through these the life-currents flow; and, while the circulation between the bodies of mother and child are not direct or uninterrupted, for the fetus has its own measurably independent circulation, yet from the time the connection is formed until the cord is severed at birth the fetus derives all its nourishment from the mother.
Let us turn now to note the rapid changes which take place within the germ or egg from the time of its impregnation to the hour of the birth of the child. The changes, although seemingly very minute at first, are nevertheless very rapid from the beginning to the period of maturity and birth. The following account, taken from "Plain Talks on Avoided Subjects," by Henry N. Guernsey, M.D., constitutes a goodly portion of the introductory chapter of that excellent little book, and presents the matter in the intelligible and impressive manner we desire for this place, and is quoted in full by permission:
"The first indication of formation that is possible to discover, even by the help of the microscope, consists of an oblong figure, obtuse at one extremity, swollen in the middle, blunt-pointed at the other extremity. The rudimentary embryo is slightly curved forward, is of a grayish-white color, of a gelatinous consistence, from two to four lines long, and weighs one or two grains. A slight depression, representing the neck, enables us to distinguish the head; the body is marked by a swollen centre, but there are as yet no traces of the extremities. So much can be observed about the end of the third week after conception.
"At about thefifth weekthe embryo presents more distinctions. The head is very large in proportion to the rest of the body, the eyes are represented by two black spots, and the upper extremities by small protuberances on the sides of the trunk. The embryo at this stage is nearly two-thirds of an inch in length and weighs about fifteen grains. The lower extremities now begin to appear in the shape of two minute rounded tubercles. Till about this time a straight artery has been observed to beat with the regularity of the pulse; but now it appears doubled somewhat into the shape of an adult heart, although as yet it has but one auricle and one ventricle. As time advances we find the perfect heart, with its two ventricles and two auricles, all developed from the original straight artery. At this period the lungs appear to exist in five or six different lobes, and we can barely distinguish the bronchial tubes; about the same time the ears and face are distinctly outlined, and after awhile the nose is also faintly and imperfectly perceived.
"At about theseventh week, little bony deposit is found in the lower jaw. The kidneys now begin to be formed, and a little later the genital organs. The embryo averages one inch in length.
"Attwo monthsthe rudiments of the extremities become more prominent. The forearm and hand can be distinguished, but not the arm above the elbow; the hand is larger than the forearm, but is not supplied with fingers. The sex cannot yet be determined. The length of the embryo is from one inch and a half to two inches, and it weighs from three to five drachms. The eyes are discernible, but still uncovered by the rudimentary lids. The nose forms an obtuse eminence, the nostrils are rounded and separated, the mouth is gaping, and the epidermis can be distinguished from the true skin.
"Atten weeksthe embryo is from one and a half to two and a half inches long, and its weight is from one ounce to an ounce and a half; the eyelids are more developed, and descend in front of the eyes; the mouth begins to be closed by the development of the lips. The walls of the chest are more completely formed, so that it is no longer possible to see the movements of the heart. The fingers become distinct, and the toes appear as small projections webbed together like a frog's foot. At about this period the sexual organs show their development, as follows: On each side of the urinary locality an oblong fold becomes distinguishable; in course of progress, if these folds remain separate, a little tubercle forms in the anterior commissure which becomes the clitoris; the nymphæ develop, the urethra forms between them, and the female sex is determined. If, on the other hand, these folds unite into a rounded projection, the scrotum is formed, the little tubercle above becomes the penis, and hence the male sex. The testicles forming within the body descend later into the scrotum, and organs similar to them, their counterparts, form in the females and are called ovaries. These ovaries are found attached to an organ called the womb, and this, again, is united with the vagina, which leads downwards and outwards between the labia majora (or larger lips).
"At the end of thethird monththe weight of the embryo is from three to four ounces and its length from four to five inches; the eyeballs are seen through the lids, the pupils of the eyes are discernible, the forehead, nose and lips can be clearly distinguished. The finger-nails resemble thin membranous plates, the skin shows more firmness, but is still rosy-hued, thin and transparent. The sex can now be fully determined.
"At the end of thefourth monththe product of conception is no longer called an embryo, but a fetus. The body is from six to eight inches in length, and weighs six or seven ounces. A few little white hairs are seen scattered over the scalp. The development of the face is still imperfect. The eyes are now closed by their lids, the nostrils are well-formed, the mouth is shut in by the lips, and the sex is still moresharply defined. The tongue may be observed far back in the mouth, and the lower part of the face is rounded off by what a little later will be a well-formed chin. The movements of the fetus are by this time plainly felt by the mother, and if born at this time it may live several months.
"At the end of thefifth monththe body of the fetus is from seven to nine inches long, and weighs from eight to eleven ounces. The skin has a fairer appearance and more consistence; the eyes can no longer be distinguished through the lids, owing to the increased thickness of the latter. The head, heart and kidneys are large and well-developed.
"At the end of thesixth monththe fetus is from eleven to twelve and a half inches in length, and weighs about sixteen ounces, more or less. The hair upon the scalp is thicker and longer, the eyes remain closed, and very delicate hairs may be seen upon the margins of the eyelids and upon the eyebrows. The nails are solid, the scrotum small and empty, the surface of the skin appears wrinkled, but the dermis may be distinguished from the epidermis. The liver is large and red, and the gall-bladder contains fluid.
"At the end of theseventh monththe length of the fetus is from twelve and a half to fourteen inches; its weight is about fifty-five ounces, and it is both well-defined and well-proportioned in all its parts. The bones of the cranium, hitherto quite flat, now appear a little arched, and,as the process of ossification goes on, the arching increases until the vault is quite complete. The brain presents greater firmness, and the eyelids are opened. The skin is much firmer, and red. The gall-bladder contains bile.
"At the end of theeighth monththe fetus seems to thicken up rather than to increase in length, since it is only from sixteen to eighteen inches long, while its weight increases from four to five pounds. The skin is red, and characterized at this period by a fine downy covering, over which is spread a quantity of thick viscous matter, called the sebaceous coat, which has been forming since the latter part of the fifth month. The lower jaw has now become as long as the upper one, and in the male the left testicle may be found in the scrotum. Convolutions appear in the brain structure.
"Atnine monthsthe anxious time of parturition (or birth) has arrived. The fetus is from nineteen to twenty-three inches in length, and weighs on an average from six to eight pounds. Children at birth sometimes weigh as much as fourteen pounds; but such extremes are very rare. At this period the white and gray matter of the brain are distinct, and the convolutions are well marked; the nails assume a horny consistence, hair upon the head is more or less abundant, the testes are in the scrotum, and the entire external genital organs of both male and female are well formed.
"Howwonderfully and how instructively are all organs in the animal body disposed andarranged! In the highest place we find the brain to govern and rule over all below. It is the first organ formed, and in an orderly life should control all the others. Next in order and importance are the heart and lungs, which put into motion all other parts and enable the animal frame to continue in motion. So each and every organ is developed in its proper order, all to obey the commands of the first and most important—the brain, the seat of the reason and the will. Happy are they of either sex who will govern themselves by a pure, enlightened reason and a pure, affectionate will."
While we may note the various stages of change and progress, yet to the thoughtful student there lies back of all these outer manifestations a hidden life, a divine unfolding of the human body which is mysterious and awe-inspiring. While we know something of what takes place, yet the declaration of the Book of Ecclesiastes is impressively true: "Thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child." All who study it thoughtfully and reverently can exclaim with David: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written,which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."
Let us turn now to the mother who has nourished and who is about to bring into the world the body of an immortal being. Some of the changes most easily noted in the body of the mother occur as she reaches the period when approaching maturity has prepared the body of the child for an early entrance into the outer world. Marvelous as are the less noticeable changes which have earlier taken place, the time has now come when others which are more marked are soon to manifest themselves. Several days prior to the event there is a dropping or subsidence of the womb. This is preparatory to the distention and enlargement of the vagina through which the exit is to be made. The stomach and lungs are relieved of pressure, the mother feels more easy, is more inclined to move about, breathes more freely, and the sense of oppression which formerly caused her to desire inaction passes away, and Providence thus fits her to make such necessary preparations as are important in view of the event which is soon to take place. As the days approach, the external parts give indication of the distention and enlargement which has taken place in the vagina and the preparations which nature is making for the more easy exit of the life which has developed within.
The entire physical nature of the mother is in a state of preparation for the great event. A large quantity of blood is being sent to thebreasts, the lacteals are developing, and the preparation is being completed for the secretion of milk, so that there may be no lack when the little stranger arrives.
One of the earliest indications that the event is about to take place is the discharge of the small plug of mucus which has served to hermetically seal the neck of the womb against the entrance of any foreign substance; but its office or work is now completed. The cervix, or neck of the womb, enlarges, and this little plug, popularly known as "the show," passes away with some streaks of blood. While the neck of the womb, the vaginal passage and the external parts have greatly enlarged, the womb itself is beginning to contract preparatory to the expulsion of that which it has fostered and nourished for a period of about nine months.
The earliest premonition that these contractions are taking place is found in the grinding pains, which come at irregular intervals, sometimes a couple of hours apart, or only separated by a half hour, or even a shorter period. These contractions of the abdominal muscles are soon followed by the true labor-pains, which come at more regular intervals. These grinding pains are felt in the back and loins. The contractions rise to a certain pitch of intensity, and then as gradually abate. Usually, as the regular labor-pains begin, the fluid contained in the amniotic sac, and within which the child has floated during its period of growth, is now liberated by the breaking of the sac, flows throughthe vaginal passage, lubricating the parts and preparing all for an easy exit of the body of the infant into the outer world. When the presentation is normal the head comes first, and usually in a period varying from a few minutes to a few hours the child is born. In exceptional cases the labor may be extended over a day or more, but such cases are relatively rare.
The apprehensions of dangers which associate themselves in the minds of many with childbirth are not often realized. If the parts are not diseased, and the mother is in good health, and the laws of the unfolding life have been carefully observed, there is little peril, although, generally, considerable pain. There are many physicians who have attended hundreds of women in confinement who have never lost but an exceptional case or two. The extreme pain endured by many women is largely due to the lack of that knowledge which would have enabled the mother to approach this period with but little apprehension, and to have passed through the period of parturition or childbirth with but slight inconvenience and pain.
While the perils may be greatly reduced and the pains greatly diminished, it is nevertheless a period of wonderful revolution throughout the entire physical nature of the mother. The blood which flowed from her heart to nourish and foster the growing body of her child is now turned in other directions, and the fountains atwhich the child is to receive its food and its strength begin to flow with their richness of life-giving currents.
After the placenta and the sacs which enclosed the fetus, which together constitute what is known as "the afterbirth," have passed away, the recuperating and renewing powers with which God has so wonderfully endowed the body of the mother beyond that of the father become active. The muscular tissues of the womb, vagina and the external parts at once begin to contract, and the entire nature of the mother begins to adjust itself to the new relations of her child to her own body and the necessities of nourishing and guarding it upon the external portion of her body, rather than within that mysterious chamber which God prepared for its beginning and the earliest unfoldings of its infant life.
When the child is born into the world its body also undergoes a wonderful revolution. Then, for the first time, its heart takes up its own independent action; air for the first time enters the cells of the lungs, and with the early shock, if it might so be called, of taking its first breath, the child usually utters its first cries. During the period of its fetal life the lungs have received only so much blood as was necessary for their own growth and development, but with the first breath they expand and receive the inflowing of the blood from the right side of the heart. This involves the opening of some passages and the closing of others. These arebut the first of a series of transformations which are early to take place. The various veins, arteries and ducts which have hitherto received the supplies of blood from the placenta and returned the worn and wasted material to that same centre, or distribute the supplies for special service throughout different portions of the body, by the cutting of the umbilical or navel cord, and the separation of the child from the placenta and body of the mother, now assume a new relation to the independent body of the newborn child. Some of these ducts and arteries soon entirely close, and in some instances degenerate into impervious cords with new and important offices; some are transformed into true ligaments, while others remain pervious. Now that the primitive purposes of some of these parts have been fulfilled, the parts themselves disappear, while still other parts take upon themselves new offices and duties which are imposed by the changes incident to birth—the separation from the body of the mother and the entrance upon its own independent life in the outer world.
Truly, "we are fearfully and wonderfully made." The infinite Author of all things has left the stamp of His wisdom upon everything that He has created. Whether we take the microscope and study the earliest beginnings and mysterious unfoldings of this spark of human life; whether we study the blade of grass beneath our feet, or the stars that shine over our heads; everywhere we find the wonderful wisdom of our Creator. "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." It matters not whether we listen to the lessons of a flower, the history of an atom, or the song of the spheres, "there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard; their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
Atthe end of about 280 days after the conception, or what under ordinary conditions would have been the tenth menstrual period, the days are completed and the expectant mother is usually delivered of her child. The day when the indications are that the child is to be born is always one of great anxiety, but need not be one of apprehension or fear. Where the laws of health have been observed there is no cause for apprehension. With the birth of the first child the labor is oftentimes somewhat more prolonged and attended with more pain, but the after-pains are usually not considerable. Generally the pains which precede the birth diminish with each succeeding confinement, but the after-pains increase in a similar manner.
Where the mother has made intelligent preparation for this great event, the child may be, and generally is, born without the actual assistance of the doctor. An intelligent nurse would be in position to render every needed assistance, but the presence of a well-equipped physician always brings such added ease to the mind of the mother, by removing all unnecessary risks, that it is always desirable that the physician should have been apprised in advance, notified promptly, and be on hand as soon as possible after the labor-pains commence. This is especially important when it is the first child.
If the labor should be short and the birth take place before the arrival of the physician, the nurse or attendant should be careful to see that the cord is not wound about the neck of the child, but placed free, and the child with its head in position so that it can breathe naturally, and with its body warmly covered.
When the pulsing in the cord has ceased and the child has cried vigorously, any nurse who has been present at previous confinements, who is intelligent and capable, would be able to sever the cord after having made the necessary bindings upon it. Indeed, some authorities contend that when the pulsing hasceasedthe cord may be severed without any tying of the ends at all.
Dr. Alice B. Stockham, in "Tokology," makes the following sensible suggestions: "Usually, as the child is ushered into the world, it sets up a lusty cry, indicating that respiration is established. Crying is not essential, as some authors claim, and the prompt covering usually causes it to desist. If it does not breathe at once, a little brisk patting on the breast and thigh may establish respiration. If this is not effectual, dash cold water in the face and on the chest. Still failing, artificial respiration must be established. To do this, close the nostrils with two fingers, blow into the mouth, and thenexpel the air from the lungs by a gentle pressure upon the chest. Continue this as long as any hope of life remains.
"Sever the cord when pulsation has entirely ceased.Use a dull pair of scissors, cutting about two inches from the child's navel. Following these directions, no tying is essential."
Tying is done in order to prevent excessive bleeding; but whether to tie the ends of the severed placentic cord, or not, is a matter which should be left wholly to the attendant doctor. It is well for the young husband to be intelligent and well-read along these and kindred lines, but if he employs a physician he should accept the physician's judgment and have his instructions followed. If he is not satisfied with the doctor whom he has employed, but sees fit to change for one whose opinions harmonize more closely with his own, that is a matter for the husband's own judgment, but the physician who is employed should always be supreme and left without interference or dictation. The doctor in charge must have absolute control in a lying-in room. He should direct, and not be dictated to.
If the husband is intelligent, enters into the sympathies of his wife, and has her confidence, if the physician consents, as he doubtless will, it seems quite natural that he should desire to be present with his wife in this trying experience of her life. If he understands the nature of the experience through which she is called upon to pass, his sympathy will be helpful tohis wife, and if nature has endowed him with any of the qualifications of a good nurse, he can be of assistance to the doctor. Where the husband is without intelligence, is nervous, and exerts a depressing influence upon his wife, his absence may be more helpful than his presence. If the husband is intelligent and sympathetic, it seems to us that he could not but desire to be with his wife; but where he is wholly disqualified, his physician should not hesitate to express his judgment and preference in this matter.
The presence of a physician is always to be preferred, in order to determine the presentation, sever the cord, and look carefully after the afterbirth. The normal presentation is of the head foremost.
Where the inexperienced young husband is in an extremity, and finds himself alone at the hour of delivery, he should expect, as is most likely, that everything will move along normally, and he needs to be especially guarded only upon three points. When the head is born, see that the navel cord is not twisted around the child's neck. If this should be the case, it can easily be slightly loosened and then slipped over the child's head; otherwise the pressure of this tightened ligature would prevent its breathing and would result in strangulation. In anextremecase the cord could easily be tied in two places, a couple of inches apart, and cut between them. This should be done by an experienced person only, and as a last resort. After the child is born, the next and last important thing is the coming away of the placenta, or afterbirth. This often occurs at the end of twenty minutes or a half hour, or may be longer delayed. In the meantime the mother should be warmly covered, and any drink given her should not be either extremely hot or extremely cold. The afterbirth should be kept in a vessel prepared for it until the doctor has inspected it, so that he may know whether all the parts have come away or not. If any part remains, it might cause serious trouble.
These things successfully accomplished, the bathing of the child and care of the mother are next in order. How soon these should be undertaken would have to be determined by conditions. With the mother, a period of rest is sometimes very desirable. When bathing her body, or changing her bed, the greatest care should be exercised to protect her from the danger of contracting cold. During these hours her physical nature undergoes a great revolution, and exposure at this time might entail permanent results of a serious character. Fevers, bealed breasts, the aches, pains and perils which so often accompany and follow confinement, are almost wholly due to lack of proper care at this period.
If the young husband is intelligent and desires the comfort and well-being of his wife he will see that for a sufficient period she is protected against callers, and even the visits of friends. She is weak and needs absolute rest. She needs at least several days or more beforeshe should be visited. If callers are allowed in her room, they are liable to remain too long. If you lack the nerve to decline callers the privilege they may expect, then ask your physician to order that no one see her at present.
The comfort, safety and well-being of the wife renders the selection of a good nurse a matter of as great importance as the choice of a good physician. In this matter the doctor is oftentimes the best counselor. He is constantly coming in contact with those who are in charge, where he is in attendance, and his suggestions ought to be most valuable. It is of the utmost importance that she should be a woman of pure blood; and for this a good moral character is the best guarantee. It is not wise to suppose that, since she is to remain but for a few weeks, the question of character is of no moment, for, without any outward evidences to arouse suspicion, she might bring with her, and by kissing and in other ways communicate to the child the results of venereal and other diseases which might entail, from this unsuspected source, consequences from which years could not bring subsequent relief.
Medical authorities assert that at least six weeks are required after childbirth before the womb assumes its natural size and position. An eminent physician, writing in the New YorkMedical Journal, says: "I have watched this very carefully in a number of women, and have seen in the perfectly clean womb of a non-nursing mother involution delayed as late as the third month."
It is perfectly safe to say that parents will make no mistake by observing the requirement of the Levitical teaching upon this subject.
After confinement or miscarriage, marital relations should be wholly omitted for a period. Upon this point the sanitary regulations of the Mosaic economy were very explicit. In the twelfth chapter of Leviticus instruction is given that after the birth of a male child at least forty days should elapse, and after the birth of a female, or maid child, at least eighty days should be permitted to elapse. Just why there should be this difference in time, six weeks after the birth of a male child and three months after the birth of a female child, seems not to be clearly understood either by theologians or medical authorities. When we know that this is intended and enjoined, we can rest assured that there are good and sufficient reasons, whether they be physical, social, sanitary or political.
No thoughtful or considerate husband would desire to impose upon his wife such exactions as would result in her certain discomfort, and possibly in such permanent physical injuries as are quite sure to follow.
One of the medical journals recently contained an incident narrated by a physician who had attended a woman in five different confinements. In each instance the physician noticed that about the seventh or eighth day the temperature of the patient indicated some unusual physical disturbance or irregularity. In the last confinement, when the physician called to mind similar conditions during previous periods of convalescence, he decided to discover the cause, and, by questioning the patient very critically, learned that the guilty husband was the occasion of his wife's trouble. While such occurrences are shameful in the highest degree, yet it is possible that such gross conduct is the occasion of many relapses upon the part of convalescing mothers, and to this it is probable that many deaths may easily be attributable.
That some husbands are brutal in this respect, we need but simply to name that an eminent physician of Philadelphia has stated that a legal friend had told him that he had procured a divorce within two years from her marriage for a wife whose charges of cruelty were sustained by the evidence that three days after her confinement her husband had driven the nurse out of his wife's room in order that he might make this cruel exaction of her.
After the little stranger is safely landed, bathed, dressed, and has had a sufficient period of rest, the matter of nourishment is likely to come up for consideration. The food which nature has provided is best suited to the physical requirements of the child, and is found in the mother's breasts. The earliest secretions of her breast constitute what is called colostrum, and is purgative in character, designed to cleanse the child's bowels of the meconium, ortar-like substance, with which they are filled previous to birth. Other food should never be substituted until failure has resulted in an honest, serious effort to conform to nature's purpose. If for any reason the child cannot obtain the nourishment which should be provided by the mother, it needs very little food until the third day.
If the serious results attendant upon artificial food and the provision of wet-nurses were fully understood, the terrible consequences which come to both the children and their parents, as the result of such courses, would be studiously avoided. The desire to escape the nursing and care of children, so as early to return to the rounds of social duties and marital excesses, is a great mistake. The well-being of the mother, as well as of the child, is dependent upon the fulfillment of the natural obligations which are inseparable from the relation of motherhood.
In large cities there are women who lead dissolute lives, put away their own children, and then rent themselves out as wet-nurses. When interviewed they tell plausible stories, and ingratiate themselves sometimes into good families, to render the double service of nurse and artificial mother. Many of these women are not only devoid of moral character, but bring to the child the degenerating influences which are inseparable from the vice and impurity which is a part of their own being. Not infrequently these women bring with them the after-effects of gonorrhea and syphilis, and the innocentchild, which is entitled to the nourishment from the body of its own mother, is subjected by unthinking parents to the necessity of feeding at fountains which flow with corruption, disease and death.
It is on this very account that the children of the middle and even lower classes are generally stronger physically, intellectually and morally, than the children of those whose wealth and inclination incline them to dissipation and excess, to late hours and rich food, and who from simple preference subject their children to artificial food, or to the dangers and diseases which are so often brought into the home by a wet-nurse and vicious nurse-girls.
Fatherhood, no less than motherhood, has its duties and its pleasures. It is not only the father's duty, but it ought also to be his pleasure, to look after his own children. Some husbands speak of "the baby" as though it belonged wholly to the wife, and not to them. The thought of caring for or tending the child seems to be as foreign to their minds as though it were a child adopted by their wives from a foundling asylum.
It is not only the privilege, but the honor of the father to be found enjoying the pleasure and satisfaction of holding and caring for his children at proper times and intervals of leisure.
One of the prettiest pictures of home life is a painting in one of the galleries of Europe of the king of Belgium, upon his hands and kneesupon the floor of the nursery, playing horse with his own royal children.
Some men seem to act as though it were a disgrace for them to carry their own children through the streets, or push the baby carriage when accompanied by their own wives. Every person has seen some strong, stalwart father, with weak character, walking by the side of a delicate, nervous wife, who is weak and faint because of the burden of carrying a child which belongs as much to the father as to the mother. Before they were married this same man would not allow the delicate darling by his side to carry her parasol; but now that they are married she is permitted to carry a child that weighs ten or twenty pounds, or even more, for great distances, because of the false pride of her unthoughtful husband.