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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.
The Eugenic Marriage
A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies
By W. GRANT HAGUE, M.D.
College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University), New York; Member of County Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association
In Four Volumes
VOLUME I
New York
THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS COMPANY
1916
Copyright, 1913, by W. GRANT HAGUE
Copyright, 1914, by W. GRANT HAGUE
* * * * *
[i] INDEX OF THE FOUR VOLUMES
NOTE—The Roman numerals I, II, III and IV indicate the volume; the Arabic figures 1, 2, 3, etc., indicate the page number.
Accidents and emergencies, IV, 629.
Accouchement Beds, how to prepare, I, 65.
Acne, IV, 576.
Adenoids, IV, 519; how to tell when child has, IV, 520; treatment of, IV, 521.
Adentitis, acute, IV, 558; causes of, IV, 558; symptoms of, IV, 558; treatment of, IV, 558.
Advice to young wives, III, 357.
After-birth, expulsion of, I, 101.
After-pains, I, 103.
Age at which to marry, III, 331.
Albumen water, II, 245.
Alcohol, in patent medicines, III, 455.
Alcoholic drunkenness, I, 44; Dr. Branthwaite on, I, 45; Dr. Sullivan on, I, 44.
Amenorrhea, causes, II, 192; absence of menstruation, II, 191; treatment of, II, 192.
Anemia, severe, IV, 567; simple, IV, 565; treatment of various forms, IV, 567.
Anesthetics, new, IV, 654; use of in confinements, I, 112.
Angina, IV, 508.
Anti-meningitis, serum, IV, 656.
Aperient waters, abuse of in constipation, III, 326.
Appendicitis, IV, 546; treatment of, IV, 546.
Appetite, loss of, II, 287; poor, II, 286; treatment for loss of, II, 288.
Arrest of hemorrhage, IV, 635.
Artificial Food, II, 249; formulae for, II, 253; mistakes in preparing, II, 267.
Aseptic surgery, IV, 653.
Baby, amusing the, II, 217; bathing the, II, 213; care of eyes, II, 215; care of genital organs, II, 216; care of mouth and teeth, II, 215; care of newly-born, II, 210; care of skin, II, 216; clothing of, II, 214; constipation in bottle-fed, II, 309; food for first year, II, 261; fresh air for, II, 232; how it gets nourishment in womb, II, 183; how long it should sleep, II, 236; how to weigh, II, 220; hygiene and development of, II, 209; intervals of feeding, II, 225; night-clothes of, II, 215; overfeeding the, II, 224; proper way to lay in bed, II, 235; what to prepare for the coming, II, 209; why it cries, II, 237.
Baby's comforter, II, 241.
Bacteria, what happens if we inhale, III, 410.
Barley gruel, II, 244.
Barley water, II, 244, 256.
[ii] Bath, bran, IV, 591; cold, for reducing fever, IV, 590; cold sponge or shower, IV, 592; during pregnancy, I, 76; hot air or vapor, IV, 591; hot, IV, 591; mustard, IV, 590; tepid, IV, 592; various kinds of, IV, 590.
Bathing, the baby, II, 213.
Bed, proper way to lay baby in, II, 235.
Bed-wetting, IV, 580.
Beef juice, II, 262.
Beef or meat pulp, II, 244.
Bichloride of mercury solution, IV, 627.
Binder, how to apply, I, 66.
Birth, management of, I, 99.
Birth-chamber, the, I, 61.
Birth marks, I, 128.
Bites, dog, IV, 638.
Blackheads, IV, 576.
Blood, children suffering from poor, IV, 566; poor, IV, 565.
Boils, IV, 559.
Boracic Acid, solution of, IV, 626.
Bottle-feeding, method of, II, 256; what a mother should know about, II, 264.
Bowels, daily movement necessary, II, 307; how to wash out, IV, 586; importance of clean, II, 306.
Boy, building of, II, 139; chancre, the, II, 145; gonorrhea or "clap," II, 142; sex-hygiene for, II, 139; social evil, II, 141; sources of immorality, II, 141; syphilis or "pox," II, 144.
Brain, complications of in syphilis, II, 146.
Bran, as a food, II, 292; bath, IV, 591; muffins, recipe for, II, 311.
Branthwaite, Dr., on alcoholic drunkenness, I, 45.
Bread, II, 273.
Breasts, care of when weaning, I, 125; colostrum in, I, 108; how long should baby stay at, II, 225; putting baby to after labor, I, 108.
Bronchitis, IV, 511; chronic, IV, 515; diet for, IV, 513; drugs in, IV, 514; external applications for, IV, 514; inhalations for, IV, 513; in older children, IV, 512; symptoms of in infants, IV, 512; treatment of IV, 512.
Broncho-Pneumonia, acute, IV, 516; symptoms of, IV, 516; how to tell when child has, IV, 517; treatment of child with, IV, 517.
Bruise, or contusion, IV, 633.
Burbank, Luther, on education, I, 24.
Burning Clothing, how to extinguish, IV, 641.
Burns, and scalds, IV, 641.
Calomel, II, 297; how to take, II, 297.
Cancer, in women, III, 442; what every woman should know about, III, 442.
Carron oil, solution of, IV, 627.
Castor oil, II, 295; how to give dose of, II, 296.
Catarrh, acute nasal, IV, 500; symptoms of, IV, 500.
Catarrh powders, III, 458.
Cathartics, calomel, II, 295; castor oil, II, 295; citrate of magnesia, II, 298; how to give children, II, 295.
Cereals, II, 273.
Chancre, the, II, 145.
Change of life, conduct during, III, 446; the menopause, III, 443; symptoms of, III, 444.
Cheerful wife and mother, III, 400.
Chicken broth, II, 244.
[iii] Chicken-pox, IV, 606; symptoms of, IV, 607.
Child, the delicate, II, 281; diet of sick, II, 279; most helpless living thing, II, 279; rate of growth of, II, 221; sick, should be in bed, II, 277; washing mouth and eyes after birth, I, 102.
Child-Birth, I, 61; fear of, I, 111.
Children, acute intestinal diseases of, IV, 529; constipation in, II, 303; hysterical, II, 293; rheumatism in, IV, 569; temperature in, II, 217; with whom milk does not agree, IV, 535.
Cholera infantum, IV, 540.
Chlorosis, IV, 566; symptoms of, IV, 566.
Chronic Nasal catarrh, IV, 503; treatment of, IV, 504.
Circumcision, should it be advised, II, 169.
Citrate of magnesia, II, 295; how to take, II, 298.
Clap, or gonorrhea, II, 142.
Clothing, baby's, II, 214.
Coddled egg, II, 245.
Cold-pack, IV, 589.
Colds, catching, IV, 497.
Colic, IV, 544; symptoms of, IV, 545; treatment of, IV, 545.
Colitis, chronic, IV, 538.
Colon, irrigation of, IV, 587.
Colostrum, uses of, I, 108.
Condensed milk feeding, II, 227; objections to, II, 257.
Confinement, choice of physician, I, 69; convalescing after, I, 131; domestic problem following first, I, 131; how to calculate date of, I, 66; how to prepare bed for, I, 65; lacerations during, I, 116; how long woman should stay in bed after, I, 114; position and arrangement of bed for, I, 64; preparations for, I, 61; selection of a nurse, I, 70; use of anesthetics in, I, 112; what to provide for, I, 62.
Confinement chamber, presence of friends in, I, 113; presence of relatives in, I, 113.
Constipation, II, 315; abuse of cathartics and aperient waters, II, 326; always harmful, II, 321; chief cause of, II, 315; cost of, II, 317; diseases of women and, II, 320; during pregnancy, I, 84; in bottle-fed infants, II, 309; in breast-fed infants, II, 308; in girls between 16 and 20, II, 321; in children over two years old, II, 309; in infants and children, II, 303; lack of bulk in food, II, 326; lack of exercise and, II, 325; lack of water, II, 325; negligence of, II, 324; pregnancy and, II, 321; significance of, II, 305; social exigencies and, II, 319; treatment of, II, 323; treatment of obstinate, II, 311.
Consumption cure, III, 461.
Consumptives, information for and those living with, III, 421.
Contagious diseases, IV, 599; conduct and dress of nurse for, IV, 600; convalescence after, IV, 603; rules to be observed in treatment, IV, 599; what isolation means, IV, 600.
Contusion, or bruise, IV, 633.
Convulsions, IV, 577; treatment of child with, IV, 579.
Cord, cutting, the, I, 102; dressing the, II, 210.
Cough, treatment of, IV, 505; nervous or persistent, IV, 504.
[iv] Cream, for constipation in infants, II, 309.
Croup, false, IV, 506; treatment of false, IV, 507; spasmodic, IV, 507; treatment of spasmodic, IV, 507.
Deaf and dumb, I, 37.
Detention, symptoms of, II, 219; treatment of, II, 219.
Desserts, II, 273.
Diarrhoea, inflammatory, IV, 535; summer, IV, 539; symptoms of summer, IV, 540; treatment of inflammatory, IV, 537; treatment of summer, IV, 541.
Diet, of nursing mother, I, 121; of the pregnant woman, I, 77; of sick child, II, 279; for constipated child, II, 310; older children, II, 271.
Dinner, the first after labor, I, 109.
Diphtheria, IV, 610; symptoms of, IV, 611; treatment of, IV, 613.
Disease, how we catch, III, 409; tendency to, III, 416; vice and, I, 4; of womb, ovaries or fallopian tubes, II, 199.
Disinfecting, Clothing and linen, IV, 601; mouth and nose, IV, 602; sick chamber, IV, 604.
Dislocations, IV, 640.
Dog-bites, IV, 638.
Douche, how to give after labor, I, 108; the use of when pregnant, I, 76.
Draw-sheet, the, I, 65.
Dried bread, II, 245.
Dusting and cleaning, II, 391.
Dysentery, cause of, IV, 535; symptoms of, IV, 536.
Dysmenorrhea, II, 193.
Ear, foreign bodies in, IV, 631; inflammation of, IV, 556; method of removing foreign bodies, IV, 632; treatment of inflammation, IV, 556.
Earache, IV, 555.
Ears, do not box, IV, 554; do not pick, IV, 554; let them alone, IV, 554.
Eczema, IV, 562; of the face, IV, 563; rubrum, IV, 563.
Education, and the educator, I, 29; eugenics and, I, 4; Dr. C. W. Saleeby on, I, 22; Dr. Helen C. Putnam on, I, 27; Havelock Ellis on, I, 33; Herbert Spencer on, I, 35; Luther Burbank on, I, 24; Wm. D. Lewis on, I, 25; true province of, I, 35; what place sex hygiene will find in, II, 162; Ella Wheeler Wilcox on, I, 22.
Educational systems, difficulty in devising, I, 27; inadequate, I, 22.
Efficiency, requisites of, III, 346.
Egg, coddled, II, 245; white of, II, 262.
Ellis, Havelock, on Education, I, 33.
Emergencies and accidents, IV, 629.
Enema, High, IV, 588; hot, 586.
Enteritis, cause of, IV, 535; symptoms of, IV, 536.
Entero-colitis, IV, 535.
Enuresis, IV, 580.
Environment, I, 3.
Eruptions of the skin, II, 145.
Establishing toilet habits, II, 240.
Eugenic clubs, mother's, I, 54.
Eugenic idea, the, I, 9.
Eugenic principle, I, 10.
Eugenics, I, 12; definition of, I, 12; education and, I, 21; and history, I, 5; husband and, I, 19; marriage and, I, 11; motherhood and, I, 16; [v] parenthood and, I, 15; the unfit and, I, 37; what every mother should know about, I, 47.
Exercise enough for husband, III, 347; lack of and constipation, III, 347.
Eye, foreign bodies in, IV, 630; method of removing foreign bodies from, IV, 631.
Fake medical treatment, for venereal diseases, II, 167.
Father and the boy, II, 163.
Fault-finding, III, 350.
Feeble-minded, the, I, 37; Dr. John Punton on, I, 42; Dr. Max Schlapp on, I, 39; segregation and treatment of, I, 42.
Feeding, artificial, II, 249; artificial from birth to twelfth month, II, 254; the delicate child condition which will justify artificial, II, 266; during second year formulae for artificial, II, 253; how to prepare milk mixtures, II, 259; intervals of, II, 225; overfeeding, II, 223; regularity of, II, 227; what a mother should know about, II, 264; why regularity is important, II, 228.
Felon, run-around, or whitlow, IV, 640; treatment of, IV, 641.
Female, beginning of, disease, III, 434; chief cause of diseases, III, 436; diseases are avoidable, III, 439; generative organs, II, 178; weakness cures, III, 470; what woman with disease should do, III, 441.
Fermentation, of the stomach, II, 304.
Fertility, conditions which affect women, II, 196.
Fever, cold packs for, IV, 589; cold sponging for reducing, IV, 589; ice cap for reducing, IV, 589; methods of reducing, IV, 589.
Finger, biting the nails, IV, 585.
Fit, the, only shall be born, I, 10.
Fits, IV, 577.
Fly, dangerous house, IV, 645; to kill, IV, 648.
Fomentations, hot, IV, 593.
Food, allowable during first year, II, 261; bran as a, II, 292; formulae for baby, II, 243.
Foodstuffs, IV, 647.
Foreign bodies, in nose, IV, 632; in throat, IV, 633.
Formative period, the, III, 339.
Fraudulent testimonials, III, 467.
Friends, choosing your, III, 367; your husband's, III, 363.
Fruits, II, 273.
Garbage, IV, 647.
Gastric indigestion, acute, IV, 527; treatment of, IV, 527.
Gastro duodenitis, IV, 547.
Generative organs, female, II, 178.
Genital organs, care of, II, 26.
Girl, what a mother should tell her little, II, 173.
Glands, swollen, IV, 558; treatment of swollen, IV, 558.
Gleet, II, 143
Gonorrhea, symptoms of in a man, II, 142; wife infected with, II, 147.
Good health, requirements of, II, 316.
Government investigation of patent medicines, IV, 486.
ǐ Habits, of delicate child, II, 285.
Hair, falls out in syphilis, II, 146.
Headache, IV, 585; during pregnancy, I, 83; remedies, III, 457; treatment of, IV, 585.
Heartburn, during pregnancy, I, 84.
Hemorrhage, arrest of, IV, 635; nasal, IV, 522.
Heredity, I, 3; and eugenics, I, 16; function of education, I, 32.
Hiccough, IV, 523.
High School, system fallacious, I, 29.
Hives, IV, 559; cause of, IV, 559; treatment of, IV, 559.
Home, good housekeeper, III, 389; owning a, III, 400; the ideal, III, 393; what makes the, III, 394.
Honeymoon, the, III, 335; marital relations during, III, 336.
Hot pack, IV, 589.
Housefly, dangerous, IV, 645.
Housekeeper, what constitutes an efficient, III, 390.
Husband, and home, III, 404; is he to blame, II, 151; the, and eugenics, I, 19.
Hysterics, and children, II, 293; treatment of, II, 294.
Ice-cap, for reducing fever, IV, 589.
Ileo-colitis, chronic, IV, 538; treatment of, IV, 539.
Imperial Granum, II, 245.
Incontinence, IV, 580.
Indigestion, acute gastric, IV, 527; acute intestinal, IV, 532; symptoms of acute intestinal, IV, 532; treatment of acute gastric, IV, 527; treatment of acute intestinal, IV, 533.
Infants, constipation in bottle-fed, II, 309; jaundice in, IV, 547; mortality of, I, 2; records of, II, 222.
Infection, direct, IV, 499.
Infectious diseases, IV, 599.
Inflammatory diarrhea, IV, 535.
Influenza, IV, 608; symptoms of, IV, 608; treatment of, IV, 609.
Injections, oil, II, 312.
Insane, care of, I, 43.
Insomnia, during pregnancy, I, 86.
Interior organs, complications of in syphilis, II, 146.
Intermittent fever, IV, 571.
Intestinal diseases of children, IV, 529.
Intestinal Indigestion, acute, IV, 532; symptoms of acute, IV, 532; treatment of, IV, 533.
Intestinal worms, IV, 548.
Jaundice, catarrhal, IV, 547; in infants, IV, 546; in older children, IV, 547.
Junket, II, 244.
Kelly pad, the, I, 65.
Knowledge, two ways of gaining, III, 377.
Labor, after-pains, I, 103; beginning of, I, 95; clothing during, I, 95; conduct during second stage of, I, 96; conduct immediately following, I, 103; douching after, I, 107; first breakfast after, I, 105; first dinner after, I, 109; first lunch after, I, 109; first stage of, I, 96; importance of emptying bladder after, I, 106; the Lochia, or discharge after, I, 104; management of, I, 93; putting baby to breast after, I, 108; second stage of, I, 96.
Lacerations during confinement, I, 116.
[vii] La Grippe, IV, 608; treatment of, IV, 609.
Laryngitis, acute catarrhal, IV, 506; treatment of, IV, 507.
Leucorrhea, cause of sterility, II, 201; in girls, II, 190.
Lewis, Wm. D., on education, I, 25.
Life and insurance, III, 400.
Lithia water, III, 458.
Lochia, or discharge after labor, I, 104.
Lunch, the first after labor, I, 109.
Malaria, intermittent fever, IV, 571; serum for, IV, 656; treatment of, IV, 571.
Malformation, II, 201.
Man, building a, II, 151.
Marital relations, when they are painful, III, 337; when they should be suspended, III, 337.
Marriage, and motherhood, I, 2; best age for, III, 331; certificate and vice, I, 15; certificate, utility of, I, 13; evils of early, III, 333; failures in, I, 2.
Mastitis, in infancy, IV, 553; in young girls, IV, 554.
Masturbation, or self-abuse, II, 157.
Meats, medical essentials of good, III, 393; preparation and selection of, III, 390.
Measles, IV, 616; complications in, IV, 618; Koplik's spots in, IV, 617; rules of department of health, IV, 619; symptoms of, IV, 616; treatment of, IV, 618.
Medical, letter brokers, III, 482; reliable advice, III, 486.
Medicine chest, contents of family, IV, 629.
Medicine concern run by women, III, 475.
Menstruation, II, 187; irregular, II, 187; painful, II, 193; should not be accompanied with pain, II, 189; symptoms of, II, 189; treatment for painful, II, 194; why it occurs every 28 days, II, 180.
Milk, children with whom it does not agree, IV, 535; difference between human and cows, II, 252; mixture, how to prepare, II, 259; peptonized, II, 262.
Mind, training the, III, 360.
Miscarriage, II, 202; after treatment of, II, 205; causes of, II, 203; course and symptoms of, II, 204; what to do when threatened with, II, 204; tendency to, II, 206; womb displacement in, II, 198.
Mosquitoes, regarding, IV, 572; rules of Department of Health, IV, 574.
Mother, the cheerful, III, 400; education of the, II, 277; existence of the average, III, 437; what she should know about eugenics, I, 47; what she should tell her little girl, II, 173; what she should tell her daughter, II, 173.
Motherhood, eugenics and, I, 16; function of, I, 17; preparing for, II, 187.
Mothers, eugenic clubs, I, 54; girls must not become, II, 184.
Moths, IV, 648.
Mouth, how to disinfect, IV, 601; sore, IV, 523; treatment for ulcers in, IV, 525; treatment of sore, IV, 524.
Mucous patches, and ulcers, II, 145.
Mumps, IV, 605; symptoms of, IV, 605.
Mustard bath, IV, 590.
Mustard paste, how to make, IV, 593.
[viii] Mustard pack, how to prepare and use, IV, 594.
Mutton Broth, II, 244.
Napkins, sanitary, I, 66.
Nasal discharge, chronic, IV, 502.
Nausea, during pregnancy, I, 80.
Nettle-rash, IV, 559; cause of, IV, 559; treatment of, IV, 559.
Night losses, or "wet dreams," II, 158.
Nightmare or night terrors, IV, 583; treatment of, IV, 581.
Nipples, care of, I, 121; cracked, I, 122; tender, I, 122; treatment of cracked, I, 122; what mother should know about bottle and, II, 264.
Normal salt, solution of, IV, 627.
Nose, chronic discharge of, IV, 503; complications of in syphilis, II, 146; foreign bodies in, IV, 632.
Nose-bleeds, IV, 522.
Nosophobia, or the dread of disease, III, 380.
Nursery maid, qualifications of, I, 129.
Nursing mothers, I, 121; diet of, I, 121; mastitis in, I, 122; nervous, I, 126.
Oatmeal water, for constipation in infants, II, 309.
Oat-water, II, 244.
Obstetrical outfits, ready to purchase, I, 63.
Oil injections, II, 312.
Oiled silk, IV, 594; what it is and why it is used, IV, 594.
Orange juice, II, 262; for constipation in infants, II, 309.
Organs, transplanting from dead to living, IV, 655.
Otitis, acute, IV, 556.
Ovaries, disease of, II, 199; function of, II, 179.
Overeating, II, 289; III, 327; symptoms of, II, 290.
Overfeeding the baby, II, 223.
Parents, and the Boy, II, 153; a word to, II, 161; eugenics and, I, 15.
Parotitis, epidemic, IV, 605.
Patent Medicines, and education, III, 493; and eugenics, III, 494; and the newspaper, III, 484; conspiracy against freedom of press, III, 483; dangers of, III, 489; fraudulent testimonials, III, 467; intoxicating effects of, III, 453; government investigation of, III, 486; pure food and drug act, III, 452, 490.
Patent Medicine Evil, III, 451, 489; and the duty of mothers III, 489; what mothers should know about the, III, 451.
People, two kinds of, III, 363.
Peptonized milk, II, 262.
Physicians, what they are doing, IV, 649.
Pimples, IV, 576.
Pneumonia, IV, 516.
Poultices, IV, 593.
Pox, or syphilis, II, 144.
Precautions to be observed, IV, 647.
Pregnancy, avoidance of drugs during, I, 90; clothing during, I, 77; constipation during, I, 84; headache during, I, 83; heartburn during, I, 84; hygiene of, I, 75; insomnia during, I, 86; minor ailments of, I, 76; morning nausea, I, 80; sexual intercourse during, I, 76; social side of, I, 79; undue nervousness during, I, 82; vagaries of, I, 90; vaginal discharge, I, 88; varicose veins, cramps and neuralgia during, I, 85.
[ix] Pregnant, few ailing women become, III, 435; conduct of woman, I, 75; diet of woman, I, 77; mental state of woman, I, 78; when woman should first call upon physician, I, 68.
Prickly Heat, IV, 560; treatment of, IV, 560.
Principle, differences of, III, 344.
Privy Vaults, IV, 647.
Procreative Function, abuse of, II, 153; III, 440.
Procreative Power, period of, II, 155.
Puberty, age of, II, 179; period of in the female, II, 178.
Pulse, rate in children and adults, II, 221.
Punton, Dr. John, on feeble-minded, I, 42.
Pure Food and Drug Act, III, 452, 490.
Putnam, Dr. Helen C., on education, I, 27.
Quacks, how they dispose of confidential letters, III, 481.
Quarrel, the first, III, 349.
Quinsy, IV, 523.
Race Culture, I, II.
Radium, IV, 652.
Rashes, of childhood, IV, 574; other, IV, 575; treatment of, IV, 576.
Records, Infant, II, 222.
Rectal Irrigations, to reduce fever, IV, 590.
Reproductive Organs, changes in, II, 178; function of the, II, 179.
Resolves, making, III, 371.
Rest and recreation, III, 398.
Rest and sleep, III, 347.
Rheumatism, in children, IV, 569; treatment of acute attack, IV, 570; treatment of tendency to, IV, 570.
Rhinitis, chronic, IV, 503.
Rice water, II, 244.
Ringworm, of the scalp, IV, 561.
Rubbers, practice of wearing needs consideration, IV, 498.
Run-around, or felon, IV, 640; treatment of, IV, 641.
Rupture, IV, 551.
Saleeby, Dr. C.W., on education, I, 22.
Sanitary napkins, how to prepare, I, 66.
Santonin, for worms, IV, 549.
Scalds and burns, IV, 641.
Scalp, ringworm of, IV, 561; wounds of, IV, 640.
Scarlet Fever, IV, 620; complications in, IV, 621; eruptions, IV, 621; measures to prevent spread of, IV, 621; treatment of, IV, 622.
Scarlatina, IV, 620.
Scientific Dressing, III, 427.
Schlapp, Dr. Max, on the feeble-minded, I, 39.
Self-abuse or Masturbation, II, 155.
Self-culture, young wife's incentive to, III, 379.
Serum, Anti-meningitis, IV, 656; for malaria, IV, 656.
Sexual excesses, II, 159; treatment of, II, 160.
Sexual intercourse, during pregnancy, I, 76.
Shock, the condition of, IV, 637.
Sitz bath, during pregnancy, I, 87.
"606," IV, 655.
Skin, care of, II, 216; care of in contagious diseases, IV, 602; eruptions of, II, 145.
Sleeplessness, causes of, IV, 583; treatment of, IV, 583.
Social Evil, what parents should know about, II, 161.
Solutions, normal salt, IV, 627; various, IV, 626.
Soothing syrup, III, 458.
Sore Mouth, IV, 523; treatment of, IV, 524.
[x] Sore throat, IV, 508.
Sowing wild oats, II, 167.
Spasms, IV, 577.
Spencer, Herbert, on education, I, 35.
Spermatozoa, functions of the, II, 181; the male, or papa egg, II, 181.
Sprains, IV, 639.
Sprue, IV, 525; treatment of, IV, 525.
Stables, IV, 646.
Sterility, II, 195; causes of, in women, II, 198.
Sterilizing, food for day's feeding, II, 260.
Stomach, diseases of, IV, 527; fermentation of, II, 304; function of the, II, 304.
Stomach bitters, alcohol in, III, 455.
Stomatitis, IV, 523.
Story, Dr. Thomas A., on education, I, 26.
Study habit, the, III, 374.
Sullivan, Dr., on alcoholic drunkenness, I, 44.
Success, attainment of, III, 345; formula of, III, 373.
Summer Diarrhea, IV, 539; symptoms of, IV, 540; treatment of, IV, 541.
Summer diseases of intestines, IV, 529.
Surgery, aseptic, IV, 653.
Syphilis, or the "pox," II, 144.
Tape worms, IV, 551.
Teeth, care of the, II, 219; how they come, II, 218.
Temperature, in children, II, 217.
Thiersch's solution, IV, 627.
Thought, bad habits of, III, 360; what is a, III, 359.
Thread worm, IV, 549.
Throat, foreign bodies in, IV, 633; sore, IV, 508.
Thrush, IV, 525; treatment of, IV, 525.
Thumb-sucking, IV, 585.
Tonsilitis: Angina, "sore throat," IV, 508; treatment of acute, IV, 510.
Transplanting organs of dead to living, IV, 655.
Tuberculosis, best treatment for, III, 418; facts about, III, 414.
Turpentine stupe, the, IV, 594.
Typhoid, how to keep from spreading, IV, 625; how to prevent getting, IV, 624; symptoms of, IV, 623; vaccine in, IV, 654.
Ulcers, in mouth, IV, 525; mucous patches and, II, 144.
Vacant lots, IV, 647.
Vaccination, method of, II, 299; symptoms of successful, II, 299; time for, II, 299; treatment, II, 300.
Vaccine in typhoid fever, IV, 654.
Vapor bath, IV, 591.
Varicella, IV, 606.
Varicose veins, during pregnancy, I, 85.
Vegetables, II, 272.
Venereal Diseases, fake medical treatment for, II, 167; ten million victims of, I, 11.
Vomiting, of children between feedings, II, 226; significance of after feeding, II, 230.
Washing dishes, III, 391.
Water, drink plenty of, III, 429.
Weaning, I, 123; care of breasts when, I, 125; menstruation and, I, 124; methods of, I, 123; rapid, when it is necessary, I, 124; when to start, I, 124.
Wedding night, its medical aspect, III, 334.
What to eat and wear in hot weather, III, 426.
When delays are dangerous, III, 423.
Whey, II, 244.
Whitlow, or felon, IV, 640.
[xi] Whooping Cough, IV, 613; symptoms of, IV, 614; treatment of, IV, 615.
Wife, her part, III, 353; the cheerful, III, 400; the indifferent, III, 401; what she owes to herself, III, 357.
Wifehood, first weeks and months of, III, 336.
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, on education, I, 23.
Womb, function of, II, 180; how baby gets nourishment in, II, 183; how held in place, II, 189.
Women, ailing, are inefficient, III, 434; diseases of, III, 433; who don't want children, III, 439; medicine concern run by, III, 475; most popular, III, 365; use of patent medicines in diseases, III, 473.
Work, must be interesting, III, 351.
Working for something, III, 395.
Worms, intestinal, IV, 548; round, IV, 548; symptoms of tape, IV, 551; symptoms of thread, IV, 549; tape, IV, 551; thread, IV, 549; treatment of round, IV, 549.
Worry, freedom from, III, 348.
Wound, cleaning a, IV, 637; closing and dressing a, IV, 637; removal of foreign bodies from, IV, 636.
Wounds, IV, 634; of the scalp, IV, 640.
X-Ray, treatment and diagnosis, IV, 652.
* * * * *
VOLUME I
* * * * *
[xv] TABLE OF CONTENTS
EUGENICS. RACE CULTURE
CHAPTER I
CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE EVOLVED THE SCIENCE OF EUGENICS
Infant mortality—Marriage and motherhood—Heredity—Environment—Education—Disease and vice—History—Summary ... PAGE 1
CHAPTER II
THE EUGENIC IDEA
The value of human life—The eugenic principle—"The fit only shall live"—Eugenics and marriage—The venereal diseases—The utility of marriage certificates—The marriage certificates and vice—Eugenics and parenthood—The principle of heredity—Eugenics and motherhood—Eugenics and the husband ... PAGE 9
CHAPTER III
EUGENICS AND EDUCATION
The present educational system is inadequate—Opinions of Dr. C.W. Saleeby, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Luther Burbank, William D. Lewis, Elizabeth Atwood, Dr. Thomas A. Story, William C. White, Dr. Helen C. Putnam—Difficulty in devising a satisfactory educational system—Education an important function—The function of the high school—The high school system fallacious—The true function of education ... PAGE 21
CHAPTER IV
EUGENICS AND THE UNFIT
The deaf and dumb—The feeble-minded—A New York magistrate's report—Report of the Children's Society—The segregation and treatment of the feeble-minded—What the care of the insane costs—The alcoholic—Drunkenness ... PAGE 37
CHAPTER V
WHAT EVERY MOTHER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EUGENICS
PAGE 47
[xvi] CHILD-BIRTH
CHAPTER VI
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONFINEMENT
The birth chamber—What to provide for a confinement—Ready to purchase obstetrical outfits—Position and arrangement of the bed—How to properly prepare the accouchement bed—The Kelly pad—The advantages of the Kelly pad—Should a binder be used—Sanitary napkins—How to calculate the probable date of the confinement—Obstetrical table—When should a pregnant woman first call upon her physician—Regarding the choice of a physician—How to know the right kind of a physician for a confinement—The selection of a nurse—The difference between a trained and a maternity nurse—Duties of a confinement nurse—The requisites of a good confinement nurse—The personal rights of a confinement nurse—Criticizing and gossiping about physicians ... PAGE 61
CHAPTER VII
THE HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY
Daily conduct of the pregnant woman—Instructions regarding household work—Instructions regarding washing and sweeping—Instructions regarding exercise—Instructions regarding passive exercise—Instructions regarding toilet privileges—Instructions regarding bathing—Instructions regarding sexual intercourse—Clothing during pregnancy—Diet of pregnant women—Alcoholic drinks during pregnancy—The mental state of the pregnant woman—The social side of pregnancy—Minor ailments of pregnancy—Morning nausea, or sickness—Treatment of morning nausea, or sickness—Nausea occurring at the end of pregnancy—Undue nervousness during pregnancy—The 100% baby—Headache—Acidity of the stomach, or heartburn—Constipation—Varicose veins, cramps, neuralgias—Insomnia—Treatment of insomnia—Ptyalism, or excessive flow of saliva—Vaginal discharge, or leucorrhea—Importance of testing urine during pregnancy—Attention to nipples and breasts—The vagaries of pregnancy—Contact with infectious diseases—Avoidance of drugs—The danger signals of pregnancy ... PAGE 75
CHAPTER VIII
THE MANAGEMENT OF LABOR
When to send for the physician in confinement cases—The preparation of the patient—The beginning of labor—The first pains—The meaning of the term "labor"—Length of the first stage of labor—What the first stage of [xvii] labor means—What the second stage of labor means—Length of the second stage—Duration of the first confinement—Duration of subsequent confinements—Conduct of patient during second stage of labor—What a labor pain means—How a willful woman can prolong labor—Management of actual birth of child—Position of woman during birth of child—Duty of nurse immediately following birth of child—Expulsion of after-birth—How to expel after-birth—Cutting the cord—Washing the baby's eyes immediately after birth—What to do with baby immediately after birth—Conduct immediately after labor—After pains—Rest and quiet after labor—Position of patient after labor—The Lochia—The events of the following day—The first breakfast after confinement—The importance of emptying the bladder after labor—How to effect a movement of the bowels after labor—Instructing the nurse in details—Douching after labor—How to give a douche—"Colostrum," its uses—Advantages of putting baby to breast early after labor—The first lunch—The first dinner—Diet after third day ... PAGE 93
CHAPTER IX
CONFINEMENT INCIDENTS
Regarding the dread and fear of childbirth—The woman who dreads childbirth—Regarding the use of anesthetics in confinements—The presence of friends and relatives in the confinement chamber—How long should a woman stay in bed after confinement—Why do physicians permit women to get out of bed before the womb is back in its proper place?—Lacerations, their meaning, and their significance—The advantage of an examination six weeks after the confinement—The physician who does not tell all of the truth ... PAGE 111
CHAPTER X
NURSING MOTHERS
The diet of nursing mothers—Care of the nipples—Cracked nipples—Tender nipples—Mastitis in nursing mothers—Inflammation of the breasts—When should a child be weaned?—Method of weaning—Nursing while menstruating—Care of breasts while weaning child—Nervous nursing mothers—Birthmarks—Qualifications of a nursery maid ... PAGE 121
CHAPTER XI
CONVALESCING AFTER CONFINEMENT
The second critical period in the young wife's life—The domestic problem following the first confinement ... PAGE 131
* * * * *
[xix] INTRODUCTION
Despite the fact that much has been written during the past two or three years with reference to Eugenics, it is quite evident to any one interested in the subject that the average intelligent individual knows very little about it so far as its scope and intent are concerned. This is not to be wondered at, for the subject has not been presented to the ordinary reader in a form that would tend to encourage inquiry or honest investigation. The critic and the wit have deliberately misinterpreted its principles, and have almost succeeded in masking its supreme function in the garb of folly.
The writer has yet to meet a conscientious mother who fails to evince a reasonable degree of enthusiastic interest in eugenics when properly informed of its fundamental principles.
The eugenic ideal is a worthy race—a race of men and women physically and mentally capable of self-support. The eugenist, therefore, demands that every child born shall be a worthy child—a child born of healthy, selected parents.
No one can successfully assail the ethics of this appeal. It is morally a just contention to strive for a healthy race. It is also an economic necessity as we shall see.
The history of the world informs us that there have been many civilizations which, in some respects, equalled our own. These races of people have all achieved a certain success, and have then passed entirely out of existence. Why? And are we destined to extinction in the same way? We know that the cause of the decline and ultimate extinction of all past civilizations was due primarily to the moral decadence of their people. Disease and vice gradually sapped their vitality, and their continuance was impossible. [xx] It would seem to be the destiny of a race to achieve material prosperity at the expense of its morality. When conditions render possible the fulfilment of every human desire, the race exhausts its vitality in a surfeitment of caprice. The animal instincts predominate, and the potential vigor of the people is exhausted in contributing to its own amusement. Each succeeding civilization has reached this epochal period, and has fallen, victim of the rapacity of stronger and younger invading antagonists, themselves to succumb to the same insidious process.
The present civilization has reached this epochal—this transition—period. In one hundred years from now we shall either have accomplished what no previous civilization accomplished, or we shall have ceased to exist as a race. Our success depends on the response of the people to the eugenic appeal. Few appreciate the responsibility involved.
It is not necessary, however, to combat or deplore the evils of the past. Civilization has failed in the task of race-maintenance; it failed, however, in ignorance. We cannot plead the same excuse. We are face to face with conditions that we must solve quickly or our destiny will be decreed before we apply the remedy.
A function of the eugenist is to gather and attest statistics, and to establish conclusions based on these statistics. It has been conclusively demonstrated that, if the race continues to progress as it exists now—that is, if conditions remain the same, and our standard of enlightenment, so far as racial evolution is concerned, does not prompt us to adopt new constructive measures—every second child born in this country, in fifty years, will be unfit; and, in one hundred years, the American race will have ceased to exist. We mean by this that every second child born will be born to die in infancy, or, if it lives, will be incapable of self-support during its life, because either of mental degeneracy or physical inefficiency. This appalling situation immediately becomes a problem of civilization. No state can exist under these conditions. If these statistics are reliable—and we know they are true and capable of verification by any individual who will go to the trouble of [xxi] investigating them—it is self-evident that a radical change must immediately be instituted to obviate the logical consequences that must follow as a sequence. The eugenic demand, that "every child born shall be a worthy child," is, therefore, the solution of the problem.
This does not imply, however, that the eugenist must solve the elementary problem of how the state will ensure its own salvation by guaranteeing worthy children. Worthy children can come only from fit and worthy (clean and healthy) parents. It becomes the imperative function of the state—the function on which the very life of the state depends—to see that every applicant for marriage is possessed of the qualities that will ensure healthy, worthy children. We must, therefore, sooner or later devise a system of scientific regulation of marriage, and it is at this point we stumble against the problem that has prompted the ebullitions of the wit and the sarcasm of the critic. A casual reference to the science immediately suggests to the layman an impossible or quixotic system of marriage by force. Even the word "eugenics" is associated in the minds of many otherwise estimable old ladies, and others who should know better, with a species of malodorous free love, and their hands go up in holy horror at the intimation of a scientific regulation of this ancient function.
Unfortunately, the popular mind has received the impression that this incident constitutes the sum total of the eugenic idea, while the truth is that the eugenist is only slightly concerned with its modus operandi. This feature has been so magnified by widely published disingenuous discussion that it has assumed the aspect of a test problem, a judgment on which shall decide the utility of the science itself. Should this decision be unfavorable, it would seem, according to its exponents, that it would not be worth while promulgating the doctrines of the science beyond this point. It is as though we were asked to deny ourselves the inspiration and pleasure of a trip abroad because the morning of the day on which the ship sailed happened to be cloudy.
It is certainly no part of the function of the eugenist to uproot [xxii] instinct, or to trample into the dust age-long rights, though the instinct is simply the product of an established habit, based on an erroneous hypothesis, and the so-called rights simply acquired privileges, because the intelligence that would have builded differently was not awakened. Eugenic necessity will render imperative the state's solution of this fundamental problem, for the reason that civilization will be driven to demand its just inheritance—the right to exist. The eugenist will not be compelled to open the door; it will be opened for him. We can afford, therefore, to wait with supreme confidence, because the good sense of the people will not always submit to the tactics of the jester when it needs a saviour.
The eugenist does not seek to interfere with the liberties of the rising generation: a boy may choose whom he will; the girl may select the one who appeals to her most, and they may enjoy all the vested rights and romance that custom has decreed the lover; but, when they resolve to marry, the state must decide their qualifications for parenthood. This must be the crucial test of the future. The life of the state depends on it. The continuance of the race must be the supreme object of all future constructive legislation. We must recognize that "life is the only wealth," and that every other criterion of an advanced civilization must measure its success according to its wealth in worthy parenthood.
The eugenist does not even dictate what the test for parenthood shall be. Common sense, however, suggests that it will assume some form that will eliminate those physically or mentally diseased. He believes that, when the people are sufficiently educated to appreciate the object in view, they will devise a system that will meet with universal approval.
Eugenics concerns itself with problems on which the destiny of the race depends. It must not, therefore, be limited to questions relative to mating and breeding. Every factor that contributes to the well-being and uplifting of the race, every subject that bespeaks physical or mental regeneration, that aids moral and social righteousness and salvation, and promises a greater social happiness and contentment, has a eugenic [xxiii] significance. So long as there exists an unsupported mother or a suffering child; so long as we rely on hospitals and prisons, penitentiaries and the police, to minister to the correction and regeneration of the unfit and degenerate; so long as we tolerate grafting politicians and deprive the poor of breathing spaces, sanitary appliances, and a hygienic environment; so long as war and pestilence deprive posterity of the best of the race for parenthood; so long as we emphasize rescue rather than prevention, so long must the eugenist strive unceasingly to preach his propaganda of race regeneration.
The scope of eugenics is too far-reaching in its beneficent purpose to be fettered by the querulous triflings of the ancient or intellectual prude; nor should it be belittled by the superficial insight of the habitual scoffer. It is not a fantasy nor an idle dream. It is not even an inspiration. The destiny of the race has brought us face to face with conditions unparalleled in the history of this civilization, and the very existence of the race itself may be wholly dependent on the foresight of the minds that have made the science of eugenics possible.
A brief consideration of the conditions that actually exist, with which we are face to face, and which certainly justify the existence of a science whose function it should be to demand serious investigation of methods of race regeneration, may help the reader to an intelligent and practical understanding of the tremendous importance of the subject.
It has been already remarked that, at the present rate of decrease, the birth-rate will be reduced to zero within a century. If the birth-rates in England, Germany, and France should continue to decrease as they have since 1880, there would be no children born, one hundred years hence, in these countries. While we do not assert, and probably none of us believes that either or all of these nations will actually be out of existence in a hundred years—unquestionably because we feel, at least we hope, that our methods will be so changed in that time that the necessary modification will ensure a continuance of the race, nevertheless, the fact remains that the inevitable result of continuing along present lines will be [xxiv] that, within the period of one hundred years, these peoples will cease to perpetuate themselves.
It is not necessary to enquire closely into the various causes for this unparalleled situation. The falling birth-rate in itself is not the prime cause. Even admitting that there are enough babies born, too many of them are born only to die in infancy. We need no further proof of the urgent need for conscientious inquiry, call it by what name you please. The science of common sense is all-sufficient. The seemingly intelligent individual who can only find material for ribaldry in this connection is a more serious buffoon than he imagines. It is apparent that our methods are wrong. Any constructive effort to correct them is commendable. When it is stated that 20 per cent. of the American women are unable to bear children, and that 25 per cent. of all the others are unwilling to assume the burden and responsibility of motherhood, we partly realize the gravity of the case.
On the other hand, statistics show that the majority of men have acquired disease before they marry, and that a very large percentage of these men convey contagion to their wives. This condition, to a very large extent, accounts for the inefficiency of women as mothers. It is responsible for at least 75 per cent. of the sterility that exists. The effect of this deplorable condition is directly responsible, also, for the ill health that afflicts women and that renders necessary the daily operations of a serious nature that are conducted in every hospital in every city in the civilized world. As a result of the dissemination of this poison, children are born blind, or are born to die, or, if they live, they are compelled to carry all through their helpless lives the stigma of disease and degeneration. It would surely seem that the individual to whom God has given intelligence and a conscience cannot think of these, the saddest facts in human experience, without resentment and humility. Surely the time has arrived when every boy should know, from his earliest youth, that there is here on earth an actual punishment for vicious living as frightful as any that the mind of man can conceive. [Page xxv]
When we inquire into the cause of this trend toward race degeneracy, we find that poverty and the inability of the workingman to support large families, luxurious living, and the life of ease and amusement on the part of the women of wealth; the fact that an increasingly large number of women have entered professions that prevent motherhood, and that the number of apartment-houses where children are not wanted are on the increase, all play their part. In this age of intense living, it is not to be wondered at that many shrink from the responsibility of rearing children, and the same conditions that contribute to this decadent ideal intensifies sex-hunger, and it is this dominating passion that tolerates and makes possible the most frightful crime of the age—infanticide. Greece and Rome paved the way for their ultimate annihilation when their beautiful women ceased to bear children and their men sought the companionship of courtesans.
Baby contests have demonstrated that only one child in ten was found to be good enough to justify a second examination. In a test examination in the public schools, only eight in five thousand were competent to qualify in all the tests. One of these eight was a Chinese boy and another an American-born son of a native Greek. Of the twenty million school-children in the United States, not less than 75 per cent. need immediate attention for physical defects.
While man has been assiduously improving everything else, he has neglected to better his own condition. Every animal that man has taken from its native haunts and domesticated, he has efficiently improved. He has even produced more marvelous results by the application of the same principles to the vegetable kingdom. In his haste to civilize himself, however, he has failed to apply the principles that are essential to self-preservation. It is regrettable, also, to know that, while the government has spent many thousands of dollars in sending out literature to the farmers, instructing them how to raise profitable crops and to breed prize horses and pigs, absolutely none of the public money has been used in instructing American mothers how to raise healthy children. [Page xxvi]
A distinguished insurance expert has proved that there was an increase of nearly 100 per cent. in the mortality from degenerative diseases in the United States between 1880 and 1909. The growing prevalence of these diseases indicates a falling-off in the vitality of the race. It means that the diseases of old age are invading the younger ranks.
The Life Extension Institute, of New York City, in its recent report, states that "forty of every hundred men and women employed in the Wall Street district require medical attention; twenty of the forty need it immediately, and ten of the forty must have it to avert serious results."
There are from one-quarter to three-quarters of a million of preventable deaths every years in this country. That number of individuals could have been saved with proper care and attention to health in the early stages of disease, or before it gained a start. Practically all the diseases that carry business men off prematurely are curable in the early stages.
Of the percentage of Wall Street men who need medical attention immediately, most have kidney or heart disease. The others are victims of typical unhygienic habits, such as fast, gluttonous eating, neglect of exercise, too much tobacco and liquor, and bad posturing in the office. The business man considers these trifles, but they count heavily.
Business efficiency is greatly increased, first, by selecting men physically fit for work, and, second, by keeping them in that condition. There is a tremendous waste from inefficiency constantly going on, due to impaired health. Wall Street has an astonishing corps of neurasthenics.
We need a broader interpretation of the term Eugenics, so that we may gain a more sympathetic and tolerant audience. The remedy does not lie in an academic discussion of these problems; to continue the debate behind closed doors will not lead anywhere: the public must be educated to a just appreciation of existing conditions and the remedy must be the product of effort on its part.
Any condition that fundamentally means race deterioration must be [xxvii] rendered intolerable. The prevalant dancing craze is an anti-eugenic institution, as is the popularity of the delicatessen store. No sane person can regard with complacency the vicious environment in which the future mothers of the race "tango" their time, their morals, and their vitality away. We do not assume to pass judgment on the merits of the dance; we do, however, emphatically condemn the surroundings.
The moving-picture shows, vaudeville entertainments, dancing carnivals, the ease of travel, the laxity of laws, the opportunities for promiscuous interviews, all tend to give youth a false impression of the reality of life and to make the path of the degenerate easy and attractive.
The history of civilization is, curiously enough, the story of masculine brutality, self-indulgence, and vice. The history of the world also proves that woman's sphere has been to submit patiently and silently to injustice and imposition. Practical eugenics is the first worthy effort in the history of all time to hold men and women responsible for their mode of living. It is a mighty problem. There is no greater nor more difficult one to be solved. It has taken eons to bring men to the point of questioning their right to do as they please; it will take time to compel them to realize their disgrace and acknowledge their duty. When we consider that there are eighty thousand women condemned to professional moral degradation in the City of London, and that every so-called civilized city on the globe contributes its pro rata share to this army of potential mothers, we begin to appreciate the vastness of the task.
Eugenics has already accomplished what no other movement has ever accomplished: it has created the spirit that gave birth to the thought of men's responsibility, and it has taught us that the female of the race has rights. We can now speak without fear; the light is no longer hidden.
Women must realize, however, that they have contributed, and continue to contribute, to race degeneracy. We hear and read much about the double standard of morals. As long as woman are willing to marry their daughters to reformed rakes, providing they have money and social position, [xxviii] so long shall we have a double standard. So long as young society women go into hysterics over pedigreed dogs and horses and then marry men reeking in filthy unfitness for parenthood, mothers cannot expect any other standard of morals. So long as one marriage in twelve ends in divorce, the ethics of the female need enlightenment. We shall not get another standard of morals until women themselves demand it and insist on it. If they lend themselves to breaking down the conspiracy of silence, the women may solve the marriage problem by refusing to marry rakes.
We need a more liberal construction of the intent of eugenics in order to clarify the obtuse minds so that its propaganda of education may be easily and justly comprehended.
There is no field for speculation in the analysis of right living. It conforms to the law of cause and effect. It is positively concrete in substance. A recital of the life history of Jonathan Edwards, in comparison with that of the celebrated "Jukes" family, emphasises this assumption with a degree of positiveness that is tragic in its significance.
Jonathan Edwards was born in England in Queen Elizabeth's time. He was a clergyman and he lived an upright life. So did his wife. His son came to the United States, to Hartford, Connecticut, and became an honorable merchant. His son, in turn, also became a merchant, upright and honored. His son, again, became a minister, and so honored was he that Harvard University conferred two degrees on him on the same day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This learned man again had a son, and he became a minister. Jonathan Edwards was his name.
Now let us see, in 1900, what this one family, started by a man in England who lived an upright life and gave that heritage to his children, produced: 1,394 descendants of this man have been traced and identified; 295 were college graduates; 13 were college presidents; 65 were professors; 60 were physicians; 108 were clergymen; 101 were lawyers; 30 were judges; 1 was Vice-President of the United States; 75 were Army and Navy officers; [xxix] 60 were prominent authors; 16 were railroad and steamship presidents; and in the entire record not one has been convicted of a crime.
Twelve hundred descendants have been traced from the one man who founded the "Jukes" family. This record covers a period of seventy-five years; out of these, 310 were professional paupers, who spent an aggregate of two thousand three hundred years in poorhouses; 50 were evil women; 7 were murderers; 60 were habitual thieves; and 130 were common criminals.
It has been estimated that this one family was an economic loss to the state, measured in terms of potential usefulness wasted; costs of prosecution; expenses of maintenance in jails, hospitals and asylums; and of private loss through thefts, and robberies, of $1,300,000 in seventy-five years, or more than $1,000 for each member of the family.
It would seem to be worth while to be well born, after all.
In order to succeed in the regeneration of the race, we must believe that race regeneration is possible, and, that it is worth while. We must preach its principles as we would a religion. The power of knowledge is a mighty lever. We are living in a period of transition, but we are nearer the future than the past.
We are told by the average individual that it will be impossible to arouse the public to an intelligent appreciation of the scope of race regeneration. When the writer conceived the happy phrase, "Better Babies," a few years ago, he builded better than he knew. It has become the slogan of splendid achievement already, and there are a multitude of signs and tokens that the propaganda is established on a sure foundation.
If the annihilation of all past civilizations was due to the refusal of its members to breed for posterity, may we not reasonably assume that we have, according to our statistics, reached the same crisis? If this is logical reasoning, and every factor warrants this conclusion, have we not reached the time when the perpetuation of the race is the most serious question of our times? Is it not a problem for the enthusiastic and immediate [xxx] support of every statesman, politician, teacher, and preacher alike? Can any question be of more importance? What will our marvelous material splendor avail if the race is destined to immediate extinction?
We need the assistance of every intelligent citizen, we need most, the awakening impulse of the mothers of the race. We who are alive are responsible for environment and nurture, and we must believe that the purpose to be achieved is of supreme importance. Every mother, through the power of knowledge, may become a practical eugenist. It is to aid her in an intelligent appreciation of the practical intent of the science that this work is presented.
W. GRANT HAGUE, M.D.
New York City.
* * * * *
[1] THE EUGENIC MARRIAGE
CHAPTER I
"Nations are gathered out of nurseries."
CHARLES KINGSLEY.
"To be a good animal is the first requisite to success in life, and to be a nation of good animals is the first condition of national prosperity."
HERBERT SPENCER.
CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE EVOLVED THE SCIENCE OF EUGENICS
INFANT MORTALITY—MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD—HEREDITY—ENVIRONMENT—EDUCATION—DISEASE AND VICE—HISTORY—SUMMARY.
There has been evinced during recent years a desire to know something more definite about the science of eugenics.
Eugenics, simply defined, means "better babies." It is the art of being well born. It implies consideration of everything that has to do with the well-being of the race: motherhood, marriage, heredity, environment, disease, hygiene, sanitation, vice, education, culture,—in short, everything upon which the health of the people depends. If we contribute the maximum of health to those living, it is reasonable to assume that the future generation will profit thereby, and "better babies" will be a direct consequence.
We are frequently told that we must take the world as we find it. This has been aptly termed, "the motto of the impotent and cowardly." "Life is what we make it," is the more satisfying assertion of the optimist, and most [2] of us seem to be trying to make existence more tolerable and more happy. It is encouraging to know that intelligent men and women to-day seek an opportunity to devote serious consideration to the betterment of the race, while yet the pursuit of wealth and pleasure are enticing and strenuous occupations.
It would be superfluous in a book of this character to enter into any lengthy explanation as to how the science of eugenics proposes to work out its problems. We hope only to excite the interest of mothers in the subject, and to instruct them in its rudiments and principles.
It will be of distinct advantage, however, first to briefly consider the conditions,—which are known to all of us,—which have led up to the present status of the subject.
INFANT MORTALITY.—No elaborate argument is necessary to prove that the present infant mortality, in every civilized country, is too high. It is conceded by every authority interested in the subject, no matter what explanation he offers, or what system he advances as a solution of the problem.
MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD.—Every intelligent person knows that most young girls enter into the marriage relationship without a real understanding of its true meaning, or even a serious thought regarding its duties or its responsibilities. We know that their home training in domestic science is generally not adequate, and that their educational equipment is inefficient. We also know that economic necessity has deprived them of the tutelage essential to social progress and physical health, and has endowed them with temperamental characteristics undesirable in the mothers of the race. Maternity is thrust upon these physically and mentally immature young wives, and they assume the principal role in a relationship that is onerous and exacting. We know that the duties of wife and mother require an intelligence which is rendered efficient only by maturity and experience. We know that many, if not most, young wives acquire habits which undermine their health and their morals unwittingly, and we also know that the product of this inefficiency results in the decadence and the [3] degeneration of the race.
HEREDITY.—Much remains inexplicable at the present time regarding this intensely interesting department of science. We do know, however, that its truths are being investigated and tabulated. Our present knowledge of its principles has demonstrated the existence of laws from which we can ethically deduce explanations of conditions which were, in the past, not amenable to any classification. These relate to individual and racial characteristics. We are beginning to learn that we can modify these characteristics by proper selection, by environment, and by education. This process will, to an eminent degree, redound to the permanent advantage of mankind. We may reasonably aspire to a system of race-culture which will eliminate the undesirable or unfit, and conserve all effort in the propagation of the desirable or fit. This is a consummation to be desired, and if by any system of eugenics the promise of the future is realized it is deserving of the intelligent interest and the active cooeperation of every aspiring mother.
ENVIRONMENT.—By environment we mean the provision of suitable surroundings in its largest sense. A child to be fit and efficient must be born of selected parentage, the home surroundings must be desirable, the educational possibilities must be advantageous, the sanitary and hygienic conditions must be suitable, opportunities for physical and spiritual culture must be provided, and the State must ensure justice and the right to achieve success. We know that—generally speaking—these conditions do not exist. We know that the dregs of the human species—the blind, the deaf-mute, the degenerate, the imbecile, the epileptic, the criminal even,—are better protected by organized charity and by the State than are the deserving fit and healthy. We know that in the slums thousands of desirable children waste their vitality in the battle for existence, and we know that, though philanthropy and governmental supervision and protection are afforded the deaf, the dumb, the blind and degenerate child, no helping hand is held out to save the healthy and efficient child, who must pay in disease and inefficiency the price of his normality in degrading toil, [4] in factory and pit, where child labor is tolerated. We need the awakening which is the promise of the eugenist, that these wrongs will be righted, not by the statesmanship which believes that empires are founded and maintained by the power of material might, but by a process which will ennoble selected motherhood and give to every child born its due and its right.
EDUCATION.—The present system of education is one of the great reflections on the intelligence of the human race. One of the greatest of contemporary writers has characterized it as "a curse to modern childhood and a menace to the future." Even the humblest of us—who would willingly believe the system efficient, who have no desire to invite criticism as to our opinion—are forced to acknowledge that there is something wrong with the educational system now in vogue. The writer is disposed to believe, however, that the fault is not wholly one of art. The conditions with which education has to contend are essentially hypothetical. It may be that the laws of heredity and psychology, when fixed, will evolve, at least, a more rational and a more ethical hypothesis. So far as eugenics is concerned with education, its limitation is defined and fixed. If the innate ability is not possessed by the child, no system of instruction, and no art of pedagogy, will ever draw it out. When the proper material is supplied by an adequate system of race culture, science may probably supply the requisite complementary data which will ensure an educational system that will really educate.
DISEASE AND VICE.—The eugenic idea is more directly concerned with disease which tends to deteriorate the racial type. The average parent has no means of adequately estimating the significance of this type of disease. It has been estimated that one-half of the total effort of one-third of the race is expended in combating conditions against which no successful effort is possible. Think what this means. The struggle of life is a real struggle, even with success as an incentive and as a possible reward. It becomes a tragedy when we think of the wasted years, the hopeless prayers and the anguish of those who fight the battle which is predestined to end in [5] apparent failure. We are disposed to doubt the justice of the Omnipotent Mind who created us and left us seemingly alone—derelicts in the eddies of eternity.
This is but a finite fault, however. The truth is that the scheme of the universe is unalterable, we are but part of the whole and must share in the evolution of the process. An apparent failure is not necessarily a discreditable one. Most lives are failures, if appraised by human estimate. Take for example the life of a young wife who marries a man with disease in his blood. She begins her wedded life with certain commendable ideals. She is young, enthusiastic, ambitious, strong, and she inherently possesses the right to aspire to become an efficient home-maker and a good mother. She gives birth to a child, conceived in love, and during her travail she beseeches her Creator to help her and to help her baby, as all women do at such a time. Her baby is born blind and it is a weak and puny mite. The mother recovers slowly, but she is never the same vigorous and ambitious woman. Later her strength fades away, her enthusiasm falters, the home is blighted and seems a desecrated spot. The baby is a constant worry, it is always sick, it needs expensive care and it exhausts the physical remnant of its mother's health. It finally dies and is laid away, not forgotten, but a sad, sad memory. The ailing and dispirited mother is informed that she must submit to an operation if she desires to regain her health, if not to save her life. She returns from the hospital—not a woman—a blighted thing, an unsexed substitute for what once was a happy, sunny, healthy, innocent girl.
This is not an overdrawn tale,—it is a true story, a common, every-day story. Who was to blame? Why were her prayers not heard? Why, indeed? One might as well ask why seemingly splendid civilizations decayed into forgotten dust, or why empires rotted away. The answer is the same.
HISTORY.—From the eugenists' standpoint history is prolific only in negation. A correct interpretation of its pages teaches us that it has not taught the lesson of the "survival of the fittest," but rather the survival of the strongest. That the strongest is not always the "fittest" needs [6] no commentary. That the fit should survive is the genetic law of nature, and it has been strictly obeyed by biology and humanity when these sciences have adhered to, and have been under the jurisdiction of the natural law.
When religious schisms swayed the world, the stronger party, in material strength or in actual numbers, massacred the weaker, which was frequently the fitter from the standpoint of desirability as progenitors of the race. Thus posterity was deprived of what probably was the representative, potential strength of generations.
At a later date religious schism changed her modus operandi but accomplished the same pernicious purpose, as the following shows:
"Whenever a man or woman was possessed of a gentle nature that fitted him or her to deeds of charity, to meditation, to literature or to art, the social condition of the time was such that they had no refuge elsewhere than in the bosom of the Church. But the Church chose to preach and exact celibacy, and the consequence was that these gentle natures had no continuance, and thus, by a policy, was brutalized the breed of our forefathers."
When religion was not the dominating power, mankind was ruled by militant tyrants. The non-elect were slaves,—uneducated, uncivilized, debased and diseased. The elect were licentious and indolent. Neither class practised any domestic virtues, or respected the institution of motherhood. The process of the selection of the fittest for survival for the purpose of parentage, and for the consummation of the evolutionary gradation, through which the human race is apparently destined to pass, was again in abeyance for a series of generations.
In our own times, the fate of nations and the destiny of their people would seem to depend upon the size of the fighting force and the efficiency of the ships we build; our ability to dicker and barter, to gain a questionable commercial supremacy, and the loquaciousness of our politicians. This, at least, is the criterion upon which the modern statesman estimates the quality of present-day civilization. He is not [7] apparently interested in the story of the ages. The progress of God's supernal scheme through aeons of bigotry and darkness neither suggests nor inspires in him a loftier constructive analysis. He is content to leave the destiny of nations to tons of material, tons of men and tons of talk.
Nowhere do we find any reference to the quality of the blood-stream of the people. Nor does it seem to have been discovered by those who wield authority, that the glory of a nation depends upon its brains, not its bulk; nor do they apprehend that the greatness of a people is not in its past history, but in its ever-existing motherhood; and that its battles, in the future, must be fought, not on battlefields, but in its nurseries. When we judge our national worth and wealth by the quality of our maternal material, and estimate our greatness and our glory by the record of our infant mortality, we will have carved an enduring niche in the celestial scheme that will be unchangeable and for all time.
There are in Britain to-day over a million and a quarter females of marriageable age in excess of the number of marriageable males. A war between Britain and Germany would unquestionably be the bloodiest war in all history, and it probably would be the last one, because it would only end in the dominance of one power over all the others. If we concern ourselves only with Britain—from the eugenic standpoint—who would dare compute the ratio of marriageable females over the males after the war was over? The consequence of such a war on posterity would be tragic. It would mean the annihilation of the fittest for fatherhood for generations. Only the unfit would be left from which to begin a new breed.
The multitude of females who would necessarily be left unable to participate in the highest function of womanhood would have to be self-supporting. The economic problem would, therefore, have a far-reaching influence and even if solved adequately as an economic problem, it could never be solved satisfactorily as a sociological, or as a problem in eugenics.
Infant mortality is too high. Apart from the statistical proof which [8] shows it, we may rightly construe as further proof of it, the widespread effort being made in every civilized country in the world to ameliorate the condition.
The laws and ethics of marriage are inadequate. Its true purpose is frustrated and racial and individual injustice and imperfection are the products of existing conditions.
Motherhood, in its every aspect is not, and has not in the past, been elevated to the plane which a true estimate of its supreme importance to the race justifies.
Heredity as a scientific principle is undeveloped, and because of maladministration in past generations, the present generation is endeavoring to do the work, the fruits of which it should be enjoying.
Environment in its highest sense is impossible because of inadequate laws, imperfect hygienic and sanitary knowledge, incomplete education, vice and disease.
If there was not some supremely important, cardinal error somewhere, it is reasonable to suppose that in one or other of the departments of human effort we would have reached the summit of idealism. The State, as an institution, would have evolved a perfection which would enable it to exist as an independent mechanism, complete and ideal in all its ramifications. We have had no such state, however. The highest type of empire has been ludicrously dependent upon the minor exigencies of individual human existence.
Science would have evolved the superman, but history, as we have seen, has persistently deprived science of the material wherewith to contribute him.
The institution of marriage would have been a fixed and an inviolable guarantee of the happiness of the home, but human wisdom has erred and the solution is as yet apparently undiscovered.
Investigation into every field of human effort shows that the ultimate aim in view, if any, was something other than the welfare of the race, as a race or as individuals.
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[9] CHAPTER II
"The public health is the foundation on which reposes the happiness of the people and the power of a country. The care of the public health is the first duty of a statesman."
LORD BEACONSFIELD.
THE EUGENIC IDEA
THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE—THE EUGENIC PRINCIPLE—"THE FIT ONLY SHALL LIVE"—EUGENICS AND MARRIAGE—THE VENEREAL DISEASES—THE UTILITY OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES—THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES AND VICE—EUGENICS AND PARENTHOOD—THE PRINCIPLE OF HEREDITY—EUGENICS AND MOTHERHOOD—EUGENICS AND THE HUSBAND.
The eugenist believes the cardinal error of the past has been a failure to recognize the worth or value of human life. In the past human lives have counted for absolutely nothing. As we have seen, each generation has practically deprived posterity of the best of its breed, and we shall see, when we consider the facts which affect the present vitality of the race, that the same preposterous conditions still exist.
It is not necessary to waste the reader's time in an effort to prove, simply from an argumentative standpoint, the logic of the eugenic idea. There is no existing economic problem that has established itself so firmly in the hearts of the people who understand it, as has the study of race culture. It is not the subject, but its scope of application, that is new. Biologically, we see the manifestations of eugenics on every side. In the flower garden we breed for beauty, in the orchard for quality. In the poultry yard and on the stock farm the same process weeds out the unfit and cultivates the desirable. The value of the eugenic idea is most strikingly illustrated in the cultivation, or breeding, of the horse from a primitive creature into the splendid animals which represent the various types of equine present-day perfection. It has taken generations of the most [10] painstaking intelligence to understand the traits which had to be evolved in scientific mating to reach the present standard. If the same rules, or lack of rules, applied to the mating of horses as applied to ourselves, there would be few, if any, "thoroughbreds" among them. The principle which we must recognize is that "Life is the only wealth."
Progress and efficiency will be ensured and of an enduring character, when all human effort is consecrated to this fundamental principle as a basic law, and not till then.
To cultivate the human race on prescribed scientific principles will be the supreme science of all the future, the object and the final goal of all honest governmental jurisprudence, and the ultimate judge of all true constructive legislation.
THE EUGENIC PRINCIPLE
The eugenic principle is, that "the fit only shall live." This does not mean that the unfit must die, but that only the fit shall be born. Occasionally, as a product of bad environment, or faulty training, or eccentricity, a horse gives evidence of vicious traits, but the scientific breeder never mates him. He is allowed to die out. If he were permitted to father a race, his progeny would develop murderous characteristics that would retard the type for generations.
THE FIT ONLY SHALL BE BORN.—This implies the exclusion of those, as parents, who are incapable of creating fit children. Fit children are children who are physically and mentally healthy. Parents who are unfit to create physically and mentally healthy children are those diseased in body or mind, especially if the disease is of the type which science has proved to be transmissible, or which directly affects the vitality of the child. In such a category we place those who are deaf, dumb, blind, epileptic, feeble-minded, insane, criminal, consumptive, cancerous, haemophilic, syphilitic, or drunkards, and those known to be victims of disease of [11] any other special type.
It must not be inferred that the above classification is made arbitrarily. There are many arguments which may be advanced limiting the eugenic applicability of certain of these diseased conditions. These, however, do not directly come within the province of the mother. They may be safely left to special state regulation. We simply make the assertion that no mother would willingly, or designedly, ally her offspring with any member of society afflicted with any of the diseases enumerated.
EUGENICS AND MARRIAGE.—The eugenic idea, practically applied to the institution of marriage, means that no unfit person will be allowed to marry. It will be necessary for each applicant to pass a medical examination as to his, or her, physical and mental fitness. This is eminently a just decree. It will not only be a competent safeguard against marriage with those obviously diseased and incompetent, but it will render impossible marriage with those afflicted with undetected or secret disease. Inasmuch as the latter type of disease is the foundation for most of the failures in marriage, and for most of the ills and tragedies in the lives of women, it is essential to devote special consideration to it in the interest of the mothers of the race.
It is estimated that there are more than ten million victims of venereal disease in the United States to-day. In New York City alone there are two million men and women—not including boys and girls from six to twelve years of age—actively suffering from gonorrhea and syphilis. Eight out of every ten young men, between seventeen and thirty years of age, are suffering directly or indirectly from the effects of these diseases, and a very large percentage of these cases will be conveyed to wife and children and will wreck their lives. No one but a physician can have the faintest conception of the far-reaching consequences of infection of this character. The great White Plague is merely an incident compared to it. These diseases are largely responsible for our blind children, for the feeble-minded, for the degenerate and criminal, the incompetent and the insane. No other [12] disease can approximate syphilis in its hideous influence upon parenthood and the future. The women of the race, and particularly the mothers, should fully appreciate the real significance of the situation as it applies to them individually. That they do not appreciate it is well known to every physician and surgeon.
It is first necessary to state certain medical facts regarding these diseases. They exist for years after all symptoms have disappeared; no evidences exist even to suggest to the patient that he, or she, is not entirely cured. After the germs have been in the patient for some time they lose a certain degree of their virility, and a condition of immunity is established. In other words the tissue ceases to be a favorable medium for the development, or activity, of the germs. If these germs, however, are conveyed to another person, who has never had the disease, or whose tissue is not immune, they will immediately resume their full activity and virulence, and will establish the disease, frequently in its most violent form, in the person so infected. The startling deduction which we must draw from these facts is, that a man may infect his wife, and may thereby be the direct cause of wrecking her entire life, and may, in addition, as a consequence of the infection, cause a child to be born blind, without even remotely suspecting that he is in any way responsible for it. In the light of this knowledge, what is the percentage risk a young girl takes when she selects a husband, remembering that eight out of every ten husbands bring these germs to the marriage bed? Reread the true story of the young woman on page five, accept my assurance that there are thousands and thousands of such cases, and ask yourself, who is to blame? We may certainly assure ourselves that no man living would wilfully desecrate his bride. He did not know,—did not even suspect that the disease he had years ago was still in his system. Society is to blame—you and I—the laxity of the law is the culprit. Had he been compelled to pass a physical examination before marriage he would have been told the truth.
It is a notorious fact, that in every civilized city in the world, the number of operations that are daily performed on women, is increasing [13] appallingly. Every surgeon knows that nine-tenths of these operations are caused, directly or indirectly, by these diseases, and in almost every case in married women, they are obtained innocently from their own husbands. It is rare to find a married woman who is not suffering from some ovarian or uterine trouble, or some obscure nervous condition, which is not amenable to the ordinary remedies, and a very large percentage of these cases are primarily caused by infection obtained in the same way.
When a girl marries she does not know what fate has in store for her, nor is there any possible way of knowing under the present marriage system. If she begets a sickly, puny child,—assuming she herself has providentially escaped immediate disease,—she devotes all her mother love and devotion to it, but she is fighting a hopeless fight, as I previously explained when I stated that one-half of the total effort of one-third of the race is expended in combating conditions against which no successful effort is possible. Even her prayers are futile, because the wrong is implanted in the constitution of the child, and the remedy is elsewhere. These are the tragedies of life, which no words can adequately describe, and compared to which the incidental troubles of the world are as nothing.
So long as these conditions exist need we not tremble for the future of the race? Is not this future welfare a personal issue, or can we trust the future of our daughters to the same indiscriminate fate that has written the pages of history in the past?
This problem has been debated from every possible angle without our reaching any seemingly practical solution. The promise of emancipation, however, came with the dawn of eugenics. It is the only solution that gives promise of immediate and reasonable success. For that reason alone it should receive the active support of every good mother in all lands.
THE UTILITY OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES.—There would seem to be no question as to the utility of marriage certificates. We must remember, however, that there is a distinction between marriage and parenthood, and that [14] eugenics is concerned only with parenthood. It is interested in the institution of marriage to the extent only that it may, by some system of regulation, be a positive and fixed factor in the production of exclusively healthy children. The eugenist demands fit children. If society can ensure fit children, as a consequence of any marriage system which may or may not include medical certification, the eugenic aim is fully met. At the present time the giving of a marriage certificate, which is really a permit to marry, would seem to be the most practical way promptly to accomplish the eugenic purpose. We should promptly question the honor of any prospective husband disposed to evade the examination simply because he was not compelled to obey by a legislative enactment.
We believe that when the public is educated to the truth and intent of eugenics, there need be no compulsory examination. Men and women will, of their own accord, desire to know if their marriage will jeopardize the race. There will be questions of heredity to elucidate, questions of inherited insanity, poison taints, of blindness and deafness, or it may be of drunkenness.
Further, marriage certificates, or permits, must be considered in regard to the future conduct of those to whom we refuse permits to marry. A refusal of the permission to marry will not change the desire to marry. Many, of course, to whom a permit is refused, will accept the situation, will be thankful to be possessed of the knowledge of their incompetency in order that they may seek medical aid. These individuals will remain under medical supervision until their ailments are cured and their competency established. In this way the eugenic aim is materially furthered. Others may not abide by the decree which forbids marriage. It would wholly defeat the eugenic idea if the unfit children were to continue to be born illegitimately. These individuals will comprise the few—probably the present unfit members of society—and the final solution of the matter must remain a question of education and evolution. When public opinion is educated to the degree necessary to establish a system of eugenic self-protection, we shall be provided with a race of children whose [15] culture will achieve the ideal of parenthood by a process of education rather than legislation.
THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE AND VICE.—If a prenuptial examination were made compulsory there is no doubt of the very prompt and salutory effect it would have on present-day vice. It has often been said that "You cannot legislate virtue or sobriety into a people." We are familiar too with the maxim that "You can lead a horse to the well, but you cannot make him drink." You can lead a horse to the well, however, and lo! he drinks. If you lead him at the right time he will always drink. If we legislate at the psychological moment we can legislate virtue and sobriety into a people.
A very large percentage of existing vice is the immediate product of ignorance, and the larger percentage of the remainder is the result of propinquity and the idea that it will never be found out. Very little of it is the outcome of innate degeneracy. It is an acquired degeneracy we must guard against, and that is the special educational motive of eugenics. Young men will be taught the truth about vice, and if they have been victims in the past, they will willingly submit themselves to a competent investigation of their fitness for marriage. If they are still pure, the desire to remain so, in order to be eligible for parenthood, will guard them against the risk of contamination. This will not only result in a distinct improvement of the moral tone, but the potential possibilities to posterity will be incalculable. Legislation might therefore be the vehicle through which eugenic education could enlighten and evolve a fit race.
EUGENICS AND PARENTHOOD
If the supreme end is a better race we must recognize that the great need for society to-day is to educate for parenthood. History teaches that a civilization that dissipates its virility in profligacy or spends its energy in political and commercial trickery, and gives no thought to the character of the men and women it produces, is destined to total failure. Parenthood and birth—in these we have the eugenic instruments of the [16] future. The only permanent way to cure the ills of the world is to prevent the multiplication of people below a certain standard. The elevation and the actual preservation of the race depends upon rendering it impossible for the unfit coming into existence at all. In other words the unfit or unworthy must be rejected, not necessarily as individuals, but as parents.
Eugenics is allied to the principle of heredity,—the principle that enables us to modify conditions so as to ensure the right children being born. The propaganda against infant mortality is directed only toward the provision of a good environment,—so that children, when born, may survive and attain the maximum of their hereditary promise. The two campaigns are essentially complementary. The one applies only before birth, the other after birth. The statistics of infant mortality unfortunately show that it is not a process that extinguishes the unfit only. The healthy succumb to unfavorable environment and it was to amend this condition that the campaign against infant mortality was undertaken. The two campaigns appeal to the same creed: that parenthood is the supreme function of the race, that it must not be indifferently undertaken; that it demands the most careful preparation; that it is a duty which can only be carried out eugenically by the highest attainable health of body and mind and emotions. |
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