Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life.

PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix-xx
INTRODUCTION Objections considered — Is knowledge dangerous? — When shall information be given? — How to impart proper knowledge — Eminent testimony. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-32
SEX IN LIVING FORMS. Living beings — Microscopic life — Animals and vegetables — Protoplasm — Life force — Life and organization — Life force a mystery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33-38
REPRODUCTION. Reproduction common to all living things — Spontaneous generation — Germs — Origin of life — Simplest form of generation — Low forms of life — Sex — Hermaphrodism — Sex in plants — Sex in animals — Other sexual differences — Men and women differ in form — The male and the female brain — Vital organs of man and woman — Woman less muscular, more enduring — A pathological difference — Why a woman does not breathe like a man — The reproductive elements — Sexual organs of
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plants — Vegetable husbands — Polygamous flowers — The female organs of flowers — Sexual organs of animals — The spermatozoon — Spermatozoa — The ovum — Ovulation — Fecundation — Fecundation in flowers — Natural adaptations — Curious modes of fecundation in animals — Union of the ovum and zoosperm — Curious modes of reproduction — Parthenogenesis — Human beings are developed buds — Complemental males — Development — Unprotected development — Partial protection of the ovum — Development in the higher animals and man — The uterus — Gestation, or pregnancy — The primitive trace — Curious relation to lower animals — Simplicity of early structures — The stages of growth — Duration of gestation — Uterine life — How the unborn infant breathes — Parturition, or childbirth — Changes in the child at birth — Nursing . . . . . 39-78
ANATOMY OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. Male organs — The prostate gland — Female organs — Puberty — Causes which delay puberty — Influence of diet on puberty — A caution — Brunettes precocious — Remarkable precocity — Premature development occasions early decay — Early puberty a cause for anxiety — Changes which occur at puberty — Menstruation — Nature of menstruation — Extra-uterine pregnancy — Twins — Superfetation — Monsters — Strange freaks of development — Hybrids — Law of sex — Controlling sex — Heredity — Pangenesis — Gemmules — Circumcision — Castration — Spaying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79-108

SEXUAL HYGIENE. Sexual precocity — Astonishing ignorance — Premature passion — Inherited passion — Various causes of sexual precocity — Senile sensuality — Satyriasis. . . . . . 109-116
MARRIAGE. Time to marry — Application of the law of heredity — Early marriage — Mutual adaptation — A dangerous doctrine — Disparity of age — A domestic purgatory — Courtship — Courtship in France — A Jewish custom — An immoral custom — Prevailing customs of evil tendency — Long courtships — Advice about getting married — Flirtation — Youthful flirtations — Polygamy — A defense of polygamy — Arguments of polygamists answered — Polyandry — Queer family arrangements — Divorce — Who may not marry — Physical influence of marriage — Diseased persons should not marry — Should cousins marry? — Deformed persons should not marry — Criminals should not marry — Inter-marriage of races not advisable — Improvident persons should not marry — Reformed rakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117-157
CONTINENCE. Continence not injurious — Continence does not produce impotence — A hint from lower animals — Difficulty of continence — Helps to continence — The will — Diet — Exercise — Bathing — Religion. . . . . . . . 158-168

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UNCHASTITY. Mental unchastity — Mental uncleanness — Amativeness — Filthy dreams — Unchaste conversation — Foul gossip — Causes of unchastity — Libidinous blood — Early causes — Diet versus chastity — Clerical lapses — Tobacco and vice — Obscene books — The work of Mr. Comstock — Sentimental literature — "Religious novels" — A modern plague — Idleness — Dress and sensuality — How young women fall — Fashion and vice — Reform in dress needed — Fashionable dissipation — The influence of luxury — Round dances — A woman's view of dancing — Physical causes of unchastity — Constipation — Intestinal worms — Local uncleanliness — Irritation of the bladder — Leucorrhœa — Modern modes of life — Nervous irritability. . . . . . . . . . . . 169-198
THE SOCIAL EVIL. Unchastity in ancient times — Egyptian vice — Religious debaucheries in Phœnicia-Prostitution in repute in Greece — Caligula, Messalina, Vitellius, Nero, — State of modern society — Pall Mall Gazette exposures — "The maiden tribute of modern Babylon" — Responsibility of mothers — Causes of the social evil — Precocious sexuality — Man's lewdness — Fashion — Lack of early training — Poverty — Ignorance — Disease — Nymphomania — Results of licentiousness — Thousands of victims — Effects of vice ineradicable — The only hope — Hereditary effects of venereal disease — Origin of the foul disease — Cure of the social evil — Prevention the
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only cure — Early training — The White Cross Army — Teach self-control — Mental culture — Early associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199-230
SOLITARY VICE. Alarming prevalence of the vice — Testimony of eminent authors — Not a modern vice — Victims of all ages — Unsuspected rottenness — Causes of the habit — Evil associations — Corruption in schools — Wicked nurses — Not an uncommon case — The instructor in vice — Local disease — An illustrative case — Other physical causes — Influence of stimulants — Scythians — Sexual perversion — Signs of self-abuse — Suspicious signs — General debility — Early symptoms of consumption — Premature and defective development — Sudden change of disposition — Lassitude — Dullness — Sleeplessness — Failure of mental capacity — Fickleness — Untrustworthiness — Love of solitude — Bashfulness — Unnatural boldness — Mock piety — Timidity — Confusion of ideas — Round shoulders — Weak back — Paralysis — Gait — Bad positions — Deficient development — Capricious appetite — Perverted appetite — Use of tobacco — Palor — Pimples — Biting finger nails — Lusterless eyes — Moist, cold hands — Palpitation — Hysteria — Chlorosis — Epilepsy — Enuresis — Positive signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231-261
RESULTS OF SECRET VICE. Effects in males — Local effects — Urethral irritation — Stricture — Enlarged prostate — Urinary diseases — Priapism — Piles — Hypospadias — Extension of irritation — Wasting of the testes — Varico-
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cele — Nocturnal emissions — Exciting causes — Are occasional emissions necessary or harmless? — Emissions not necessary to health — Eminent testimony — Diurnal emissions — Causes of diurnal emissions — Internal emissions — An important caution — Spermatorrhœa — Impotence — General effects — General debility — Consumption — Dyspepsia — Heart disease — Throat affections — Nervous diseases — Epilepsy — Failure of special senses — Spinal irritation — Insanity — Idiocy — A victim's mental condition pictured — Effects in females — Local effects — Leucorrhœa — Uterine disease — Displacements of the womb — Sterility — Atrophy of mammæ — Pruritis, or itching genitals — Nocturnal ejaculation in females — General effects — Spinal irritation — A common cause of hysteria — Effects upon offspring — Neglect dangerous. . . . . . . . . 262-289
TREATMENT OF SELF-ABUSE AND ITS EFFECTS. Prevention of secret vice — Cultivate chastity — Timely warning — Early instruction — A dark picture — Curative treatment of the effects of self-abuse — Cure of the habit — Cure of the habit in children — Cure of the habit in adults — A curative operation — How may a person help himself? — Hopeful courage — General regimen and treatment — Mental and moral treatment — Control of the thoughts — Exercise — Diet — Sleeping — Dreams — Can dreams be controlled? — Bathing — Improvement of general health — Prostitution as a remedy — Marriage — Local treatment — The warm sitz bath — The ascending douche — The abdominal band
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age — The wet compress — Hot and cold applications to the spine — Local fomentations — Local cold bathing — The enema — Electricity — Internal applications — Use of electricity — Circumcision — Impotence — Varicocele — Treatment of the disease in women — Drugs, rings, etc. — Quacks — Closing advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290-327
A CHAPTER FOR BOYS. Genuine boys — Human mushrooms — "What are boys for"? — Boys the hope of the world — Man, the masterpiece — How a noble character is formed — How a noble character is ruined — A wonderful machine — What the microscope reveals — The nutritive apparatus — The moving apparatus — The thinking and feeling apparatus — The purifying apparatus — The reproductive apparatus — The down-hill road — Self-abuse — A dreadful sin — Self-murderers — What makes boys dwarfs — Scrawny, hollow-eyed boys — Old boys — What makes idiots — Young dyspeptics — A cause of consumption — The race ruined by boys — Cases illustrating the effects of self-abuse — Two young wrecks — A prodigal youth — Barely escaped — A lost soul — The results of one transgression — A hospital case — An old offender — The sad end of a young victim — From bad to worse — An indignant father — Disgusted with life — Bad company — Bad language — Bad books — Vile pictures — Evil thoughts — Influence of other bad habits — Liquor and tobacco — Bad diet — Closing advice to boys and young men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328-374

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A CHAPTER FOR YOUNG MEN. Pure manners — Irreligion — Wrong ideas about women — Sowing wild oats — Getting married — Self-preparation — Caution — Avoid a devotee of fashion — The young husband. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375-383
A SHORT CHAPTER FOR OLD MEN. The period of decline — Moderation required — Economizing of vitality — A dangerous waste — Extreme disparity of ages — Exhaustive effects of the sexual act — Found dead — Repugnant to nature — A somber perspective — Children of old men — Senile lovelaces — Cicero on old age — Love in old age — Brutish lasciviousness — Nature's punishment — The career of a debauchee — Human satyrs — A case in point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384-394
A CHAPTER FOR GIRLS. Girlhood — How to develop beauty and loveliness — The human form divine — A wonderful process — Human buds — How beauty is marred — A beauty-destroying vice — Terrible effects of secret vice — The cause of break-downs — "The little health of women" — Remote effects — Causes which lead girls astray — Vicious companions — Whom to avoid — Sentimental books — Novel-reading — Various causes — Modesty woman's safeguard — A few sad cases — A pitiful case — A mind dethroned —
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— A penitent victim — A ruined girl — Danger in boarding-schools — A desperate case — A last word. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395-421
A FEW WORDS TO BOYS AND GIRLS. The men and women of the next generation — Association of the sexes proper — Responsibility of parents and teachers — "Small talk" — The true boy a gentleman everywhere — The true girl a lady at home — "Have the heart right, and then act natural". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422-424
A CHAPTER FOR YOUNG WOMEN. Puberty — Symptoms of puberty — Hygiene of puberty — A critical period — Important hints — Evils of excitement — Improper occupations — Custom of Indian women — Criminal carelessness — Recklessness — Regularity of habits — Advice of Boerhaave — Tight-lacing — Other perils — Bad social customs — "Fast girls" — Improper liberties — Getting a husband — On old maids-An "incumbrance" — Personal worth — Maidenly reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 425-438
CHAPTER FOR WIVES AND MOTHERS How to treat a husband — Wives' rights — The young mother — Pregnancy — Signs of pregnancy — Quickening — Leucorrhœa — The curse removed — Important suggestions — A Hayti mother — Ante-natal influences — Law universal — A source of crime A bad family — The "Juke" family — A physiological
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fact — Something for parents to consider — The origin of evil — How to beget sound children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439-452
HYGIENE FOR WOMEN IN ADVANCED LIFE. Change of life — When the change occurs — Physical changes — Nervousness — Flushings — Perspirations — Night sweats — Morbid growths — Tumors of the womb — Cancer — Lacerations — Urethral inflammations — Hygiene of the menopause — Cause of suffering at the menopause — How to prevent suffering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453-456
A CHAPTER FOR MARRIED PEOPLE. Object of the reproductive functions — The sexual function in lower animals — Periodical reproduction — A lesson from instinct — Summary of important facts — A hint from nature — Some valuable opinions — Results of excesses — Effects upon husbands — Consequences of excess — Continence of athletes — Cause of throat disease — A cause of consumption — Prostatic troubles — Effect on wives — An illustrative case — Something for husbands to consider — The greatest cause of uterine disease — Legalized murder — Accidental pregnancies — Indulgence during menstruation — Effects upon offspring — Indulgence during pregnancy — Effect upon the character — Other limitations — A selfish objection — Brutes and savages more considerate — What may be done? — Early Moderation — Prevention
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of conception — Conjugal Onanism — "Male continence" — Shaker views — The Oneida community — Moral bearings of the question — Unconsidered — murders — The charge disputed — Difficulties — Woman's rights — What to do — A compromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467-506
INFANTICIDE AND ABORTION. Not a modern crime — Causes of the crime — The nature of the crime — Instruments of crime — Results of this unnatural crime — An unwelcome child — The remedy — Murder by proxy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507-521
DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. Causes of disease among women — Carelessness at menstruation — Sexual sins — Neglect of the bowels — Drugging and doctoring — Errors in dress — A muddled professor — Diseases of women — General suggestions — Leucorrhœa, or whites — Vaginitis — Vaginismus — Uterine catarrh — Inflammation of the womb — Ulceration of the womb — Amenorrhœa, or suppressed menstruation — Scanty menstruation — Menorrhagia — Hemorrhage from the womb — Dysmenorrhœa — Ovarian irritation — Inflammation of the ovaries — Cellulitis — Prolapsus, or falling of the womb — Pessaries, or supporters — Other forms of displacement — Prolapsus of the ovaries — Rectocele — Cystocele, or prolapsus of the bladder — Sterility — Nymphomania — Hysterical breast — Painful sitting — Dyspareunia, or painful connection — Urethral tumors — Bladder disorders Constipation — Chlorosis, or green sickness —
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Lacerations at childbirth — Vesico-and retro-vaginal fistula — Tumors of the womb — Cancer of the womb — Deficient development of the womb and ovaries — Ovarian tumor — Stricture of the neck of the womb — Floating tumor — Relaxed abdomen — Imperforate hymen — Tumor of the breast — Cancer of the breast — Hysteria . . . . . . . . . . 522-556
DISEASES PECULIAR TO MEN. Spermatorrhœa — False spermatorrhœa — Seminal weakness, or nocturnal losses — Diurnal losses — Diseased prostate — Stricture — Balanitis-Venereal warts — Phimosis — Paraphimosis — Hydrocele — Varicocele — Impotence — Sterility — Gonorrhœa — Chancroid — Syphilis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557-592
GENERAL HEALTH HINTS. Hygiene of the muscles — Spring biliousness — The tobacco bondage — A healthy smell — Clothing of children — Capnizomania — Popular medical education — Depraved appetites — Hygiene of old age — Mouth-breathing — Coffee and dyspepsia — About water filters — Barricading against fresh air . . . . . . . 593-638
ONE HUNDRED CHOICE HEALTH THOUGHTS. Health is wealth — Air bathing — Function of pain — Test for impure water — How to purify the blood — An error about running water — Damp beds — Tea and temper — Physical culture — Disposal of garbage — Purifying the blood — Stomach "goneness" — Nervous dyspepsia — Smoking a cause of consumption and Bright's disease — Coffee poisoning — Diet for diabetics — The Wilford Hall Secret, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593-638
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653-660

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