University of Virginia Library

17. A Chapter for Young Women.

THE young women of the present generation are to be the mothers of the next, and it is of vital importance for the generation to come that the individuals composing it shall come into the world with vigorous constitutions, free from the sad entailments of hereditary disease, and prepared to grow up into vigorous, noble, useful men and women. In order that this should be the case, it is necessary that our young women should become intelligent respecting those functions of the body which are specially liable to become deranged, and which are to be instrumental in bringing into life the generation yet unborn.

At the period of puberty, the girl passes, within a few months, from girlhood to young womanhood. New vital processes are set up within her body; new functions are assumed. It is the duty of every mother to explain to her daughter, in advance, the import of these new processes, and to give her such information as will enable her to so care for herself at this critical period as to prevent the great amount of unnecessary suffering which grows out of the neglect arising from ignorance upon this subject. The failure of mothers to do their duty in this respect, and more than this, the lamentable ignorance of the mothers themselves, is one of the considerations which have induced the author of this book

to prepare this special chapter in which to impart the information so much needed, and to make such suggestions as, if carefully followed, will save a vast amount of suffering and wretched uselessness, or years of invalidism.

Symptoms of Puberty. — As the period of puberty approaches, the whole system seems to take on an increased activity. The growth becomes more rapid; the hips begin to broaden, the abdomen to enlarge; the breasts increase in size; and by degrees the various changes in the functions of the body, noted elsewhere as occurring at puberty, make their appearance. The nervous system is also more or less affected. Girls at this age are apt to be somewhat irritable and nervous, and in many cases the first symptoms of a sentimental disposition make their appearance.

Hygiene of Puberty. — Too early an appearance of puberty should be looked upon as a misfortune, as it predicts, in the great majority of cases, premature decay. Hence, if indications of the approach of puberty appear at too early an age, such measures should be adopted as will have the effect to delay the approaching change. The most important of these are abundant exercise in the open air, and plenty of muscular work, though not of an exhausting character, a simple diet of fruits, grains, and milk, with abstinence from flesh food, and all excesses which tend to exhaust the nervous system.

In case the indications are that puberty is delayed beyond the proper time for its appearance, special attention should be given to the girls general health. It is probable that there is some disturbance of nutrition which prevents the appearance of the menstrual function at the proper period. Whatever the cause is, it should

be carefully sought out and corrected. We have frequently succeeded in bringing about the desired results in these cases by a few weeks' treatment by electricity, massage, and systematic exercise in a gymnasium, with proper regulation of the diet. These means are almost uniformly successful in these cases.

A Critical Period. — As the first occurrence of menstruation is a very critical period in the life of a female, and as each recurrence of the function renders her especially susceptible to morbid influences, and liable to serious derangements, a few hints respecting the proper care of an individual at these periods may be acceptable.

Important Hints. — 1. Avoid taking cold. To do this, it is necessary to avoid exposure; not that a person must be constantly confined in a warm room, for such a course would be the surest way in which to increase the susceptibility to cold. Nothing will disturb the menstrual process more quickly than a sudden chilling of the body when in a state of perspiration, or after confinement in a warm room, by exposure, without sufficient protection, to cold air. A daily bath and daily exercise in the open air are the best known means of preventing colds.

2. Intense mental excitement, as well as severe physical labor, is to be sedulously avoided during this period. At the time of its first occurrence, special care should be observed in this direction. Intense study, a fit of anger, sudden grief, or even great merriment, will sometimes arrest the process prematurely. The feeling of malaise which usually accompanies the discharge, is by nature intended as a warning that rest and quiet are required; and the hint should be followed. Every

endeavor should be made to keep the individual comfortable, calm, and cheerful. Feelings of apprehension arising from a continual watching of symptoms, are very depressing, and should be avoided by occupying the mind in some agreeable manner not demanding severe effort, either mental or physical.

There is no doubt that many young women have permanently injured their constitutions while at school by excessive mental taxation during the catamenial period, to which they were prompted by ambition to excel, or were compelled by the "cramming" system too generally pursued in our schools, and particularly in young ladies' seminaries. It is not to be supposed, however, that the moderate amount of sound study required by a correct system of teaching would be injurious to a healthy young woman at any time, and we have no doubt that a very large share of the injury which has been attributed to overstudy during the catamenia has been induced by other causes, such as improper dress, exposure to taking cold, keeping late hours, and improper diet.

If there is any class of persons deserving of pity, it is that large class of girls and young women who are in every large city employed as clerks, seamstresses, flower makers, and in other taxing and confining occupations. In order to keep their situations, they are required to be on hand daily, being allowed no opportunity for rest at the menstrual period. In many cases, too, they are compelled to remain upon their feet all day behind a counter, or at a work table, even at periods when a recumbent position is actually demanded by nature. There should be less delicacy in relation to this subject

on the part of young women, and more consideration on the part of employers. Here is a field for philanthropic effort which is well worthy the best efforts of any person of influence who will engage in it.

Custom of Indian Women. — The ease with which Indian women perform the parturient act is proverbial. They suffer scarcely at all from the pains of childbirth; and without doubt one reason of this is the preservation of their sexual health by rest during the menstrual period. At those seasons they invariably absent themselves from the lodge, and enjoy absolute rest. We may readily suppose, from the nature of some of the Mosaic laws, that a custom somewhat similar prevailed among the ancient Hebrew women. If the hardy women of the forest are benefited by rest, certainly our more delicate civilized women may be thus benefited All need a degree of rest; with some it should be absolute.

Criminal Carelessness. — The reckless manner in which some young women treat themselves at the menstrual period, is quite appalling to one who is acquainted with the painful and inveterate character of the evils which arise from such abuse. It is no uncommon thing for young ladies to attend balls, visit skating rinks; and otherwise expose themselves to influences in every way the best calculated to do them the most harm at this particular period, observing not the slightest precaution. Such recklessness is really criminal; and the sad consequences of physical transgression are sure to follow. A young lady who allows herself to get wet or chilled, just prior to or during menstruation, runs the risk of imposing upon herself life-long injury.

Mothers should look carefully after their daughters at these periods, and impress upon them the importance of special care.

3. A third hint, which is applicable to both sexes and at all times, is the necessity of attending promptly to the demands of nature for the relief of bowels and bladder. School-girls are often very negligent in this respect; and we have seen the most distressing cases of disease which were entirely attributable to this disregard of the promptings of nature. Obstinate constipation and chronic irritation of the bladder are common effects. When constipation results, purgatives in the shape of pills, salts, or "pleasant purgative pellets," are resorted to with the certain effect of producing only temporary relief, and permanent damage.

To escape these evil consequences, (1.) Establish a regular habit of relieving the bowels daily at a certain hour; (2.) Discard laxative and cathartic drugs of every kind; (3.) To aid in securing a regular movement of the bowels, make a liberal use of oatmeal, wheat-meal, fruit, and vegetables, avoiding fine-flour bread, sweet-meats, and condiments; (4.) Take daily exercise, as much as possible short of fatigue; if necessarily confined indoors, counteract the constipating influence of sedentary habits by kneading and percussing the bowels with the hands several minutes each day; (5.) Never resist the calls of nature a single moment, if possible to avoid it. In this case, as in numerous others, "delay is dangerous." Ladies who desire a sweet breath — and what lady does not? — should remember that retained feces is one of the most frequent causes of foul breath. The foul odors which ought to pass out through the bowels,

find their way into the blood, and escape at the lungs. A medical man whose sense of smell is delicate, soon learns to know a constipated person by his breath. As one says, "What is more offensive than the breath of a costive child?"

A Doctor's Advice. — Boerhaave, a famous Dutch physician, left to his heirs an elegantly bound volume in which, he claimed, were written all the secrets of the science of physic. After his death, the wonderful book was opened, when it was found to contain only the following sentence: —

"Keep the head cool, the feet warm, and the bowels open."

An old Scotch physician once gave the following advice to Sir Astley Cooper for the preservation of health: —

"Keep in the fear of the Lord, and your bowels open."

4. Perhaps nothing tends more directly to the production of menstrual derangements, as well as uterine diseases of every sort, than fashionable modes of dress. We have not space here to give the subject the attention it deserves; it will be found treated of in works devoted to the subject of dress exclusively. Some of the most glaring evils are, —

(1.) Unequal distribution of clothing. The trunk, especially the abdomen and pelvis, is covered with numerous layers of clothing, an extra amount being caused by the overlapping of the upper and lower garments. Very frequently, the amount of clothing upon these, the most vital parts, is excessive. At the same time, the limbs are sometimes almost, in a state of nudity. A single cotton

garment, or at most one of thin flannel, is the only protection to the limbs beneath the skirts, which often serve no better purpose than to collect cold air and retain it in contact with the limbs. A thin stocking is the only protection for the ankles, and a thin shoe is the only additional covering afforded the feet. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that a woman catches cold if she only steps out-of-doors on a chilly or damp day.

(2.) Another glaring fault is in the manner of suspending the skirts. Instead of being fastened to a waist, or suspended so as to give them support from the shoulders, they are hung upon the hips, being drawn tight at the waist to secure support. By this means the organs of the pelvis are pressed down out of place, the uterus becomes congested, and painful menstrual derangements ensue.

(3.) Tight-lacing, or compressing the waist with a corset, is a barbarous practice which produces the same results as the one last mentioned. Reform in all these particulars is an imperative necessity for every woman who desires to secure or retain sexual health.

It is of the greatest importance that careful attention should be given to the proper establishment of the menstrual function at the outset of a woman's life of sexual activity. The first two years will be quite likely to have a deciding influence respecting her health during her whole future life. If a girl can get through the first two years after puberty without acquiring any serious uterine or ovarian disease, she will stand a fair chance of enjoying a good degree of sexual health during the balance of her life. The foundation

of a great share of the many thousands of cases of uterine disease is laid during this period.

At this early period the daughter is usually too young to appreciate the importance of observing slight deviations from the standard of health, even if she were sufficiently informed to be able to recognize them; hence it is a duty which no mother should neglect, to inquire into the exact frequency of the periods, the amount and character of the discharge, and other points necessary to ascertain whether or not there is any deviation from the natural condition of health. If there is pain, it is a certain evidence of something seriously wrong. If there is irregularity in any particular, it is a matter well deserving serious attention.

Other Perils. — After passing through the dangers incident to the establishment of the menstrual function, the young lady encounters dangers of a no less perilous character. Having become a young lady, she must now, according to the custom of the world, begin to enter society. Here she meets all sorts of influences, some good and some bad. At least, this is true of society in most civilized communities. The young lady very soon discovers that if she is to take equal rank with her associates, she must adopt their manners and customs, to a large extent at least.

Unfortunately, the social customs in this country are strangely prepared for a powerful tendency in the direction of evil. These influences soon begin to tell upon the character of a young woman who has not been fortified against them with intelligent care and correct early training, and even they are not always proof against the contaminating influences with which they

come in contact. Often enough has the writer met cases in which young girls of only fifteen or sixteen years have been permitted to enter the exciting whirl-pool of social life, and imitating the example of their elders, have accepted the attentions of young men of whose history they knew nothing, and of whose characters they were in no way competent to judge.

Moon-light rides, long evening walks, associations at parties, picnics, etc., give sly privileges, at first apparently accidental, but gradually becoming more audacious, until finally, within a few short weeks or months, the cloak of modesty with which the young girl's maidenhood had been protected, was torn in tatters, and she lacks but little, if anything, of having taken all the steps necessary to lead a woman outside the pale of virgin purity. Thousands of girls, thus early thrown into society, without experience in the world, with immature minds, warm-hearted and unsuspecting, are annually led down the road to ruin through the opportunities afforded by our lax social manners. The careful mother will restrain her daughters from exposure to any of the temptations of fashionable society until they have attained sufficient age and understanding, and until their principles have become so thoroughly established that they cannot be so easily led astray.

"Fast Girls." — Some young women, like a certain class of young men, imagine that there is something particularly smart in being fast. A walk, a ride, or a waltz with some fast young man, perhaps a notorious rake, is an adventure which has a peculiar fascination. They delight in those escapades and adventures which startle old-fashioned people who still have some sense

of propriety. What is the consequence? These young women soon find their moral sense so blunted, that before they are aware of it they are led to the commission of acts which, but a short time before, they would have regarded with the greatest horror. In an unguarded moment the fatal step is taken, and modesty, purity, and honor, all that a woman holds most sacred, are sacrificed, and they are rapidly swept away into the maelstrom of vice.

Improper Liberties. — The first step usually taken by the young woman on the downward road, is the allowance of little liberties on the part of young men. They may be very slight at first, perhaps only a significant pressure of the hand, or the arm placed about the waist, or some similar impropriety. By degrees, slight advances are made along the same line, until the grossest breaches of immodesty are permitted. We are not over-stating the matter when we say that we have met many young women who have been led into wrong doing, who have confessed that this was the beginning of their downward course.

Every young woman should resent the first appearance of attentions of the sort referred to. There is no other safe point at which the line may be drawn. Indeed, we are of the opinion that the freedom with which mothers allow strangers to handle their children, caressing and fondling them, has a decided influence to break down the barriers of modesty, and to pervert the instincts so as to prepare them for the evils to which we have called attention, in later years.

Getting a Husband. — The women who are willing to "live and die as old maids," are very rare exceptions

among the sex. The average woman looks upon the lot of a spinster as the most wretched and undesirable possible; and yet it is unquestionably true that the average "old maid" is vastly happier in her lot, and more useful to the world, than quite a large proportion of wives. Certainly there is a vast deal of useful work which can be better accomplished by those who can give their undivided attention to the work in hand, than by those whose minds and energies are necessarily devoted to husband, children, and domestic cares. We doubt not that the world would be vastly better off if there were a much larger number of useful old maids, and a less number of helpless, good-for-nothing, sickly wives. Nevertheless, the average woman expects to marry sometime, and it may be worth while to devote a little space to the consideration of what sort of a man a husband ought to be. In another chapter the characteristics of persons of both sexes who ought not to marry at all have been pointed out. A man possessing any of the defects named, is not fit to be the husband of any woman worthy of a good husband. To the suggestions elsewhere made, we will add the following: —

1. Be sure that the man whom you accept as a husband is worth marrying. There are a great many excellent men in the world, but probably by far the great majority of husbands are not worth marrying. Some years ago we were stopping for a few weeks at a fashionable boarding-house in Boston. As we were preparing to leave, the young woman in charge of the dining-room, having learned of our connection with a medical institution in the West, desired us to apply for a position in it for her. As we had been greatly pleased

with her efficient management of the work she had in charge, we were strongly inclined to endeavor to make arrangements to employ her services, and offered her, by way of encouragement, some remark to that effect, to which she replied, "I suppose I ought to state to you that I have an incumbrance."

"What sort of an incumbrance?"

"Why, do n't you understand? I have a husband."

We found that she was indeed incumbered by a good-for-nothing husband, which fact prevented our engaging her services; and undoubtedly the same incumbrance has been directly in the way of her getting on in the world ever since.

There are plenty of women in the world who are capable of being of great service to society in various callings, who are handicapped in the most effectual manner by incumbrances of the same sort. If you have an ambition to do anything in the world, or to be anything more than a plodding character in the tide of human life, see to it that the man whom you are to marry is one who is competent to aid you in the attainment of noble and useful things, instead of being an "incumbrance" and a hinderance.

2. Make yourself worthy of a good husband. Study the arts of house-keeping and home-making. Give more attention to the cultivation of estimable qualities of mind and heart and character, to self-discipline and health-culture, than to external adornment of the person. Form a high ideal of what a grand, noble, and lovable woman ought to be, and endeavor to make yourself such.

3. Do not be in too great a hurry, and do not make

your favors too cheap. Maintain a maidenly reserve, which is vastly more attractive to intelligent and sensible men than the bold and flashy manners of many young women of the present day, which say as distinctly as words could speak, something like the following: —

"I am in the matrimonial market. Won't you buy? Speak quick! I am in a hurry to be sold as soon as possible."

Such vain creatures are usually "sold," to their infinite mortification and chagrin. They think that by their flashy manners and the great display of what is vulgarly known as "cheek," they will be able to catch a great prize in the shape of a wealthy or talented husband; whereas, in the majority of cases, they are picked up by some shallow-brained fop, who is skilled only in the arts of deception, in which he has trained himself to such perfection as to become an equal and suitable match for one of those vain and flashy daughters of fashion.

Again we say, Do not be in a hurry. Wait and work. Labor to make yourself purer and better, and more thoroughly sincere and genuine in your purposes, and you may be sure that in due time, and at the right time, the one man who is capable of making you the best possible husband will find you out. If you find that you are overlooked, do not begin to bemoan your lot, but be glad and thankful that you are not the wife of an incumbrance, and be sure that in all probability, if you were not single, you would be in that unhappy predicament.