CHAPTER XVII.
REPRODUCTION.
Every individual derives existence from a _parent_, which word literally means one who brings forth. We restrict the meaning of the term _reproduction_, ordinarily, to that function by which living bodies produce other living bodies similar to themselves. _Production_ means to bring forth; _reproduction_, the producing again, or renewing. To protract individual existence, nutrition is necessary, because all vital changes are attended by _wear_ and _waste_. Nutrition is always engaged in the work of reparation. Every organism that starts out upon its career of development depends upon nourishing materials for its growth, and upon this renewing process for its development. Nutrition is all the while necessary to prolong the life of the individual, but at length its vigor wanes, its functions languish, and, finally, the light of earthly life goes out. Although the single organization decays and passes away, nevertheless the species is uninterruptedly continued; the tidal wave of life surges higher on the shores of time, for reproduction is as constant and stable as the attractive forces of the planetary system.
It is a fact, that many species of the lower order of animals which once existed are now extinct. It has been asserted and denied, that fossil remains of man have been found, indicating that races which once existed have disappeared from the face of the earth. The pyramids are unfolding a wonderful history, embracing a period of forty-five hundred years, which the world of science receives as literally authentic, and admits, also, that fifty-four hundred years are _probably_ as correctly accounted for. The extinction of races is not at all improbable. At the present time, the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent seem to be surely undergoing gradual extinguishment! It, therefore, seems to be possible for a weaker race to deteriorate, and finally become extinct, unless the causes of their decadence can be discovered and remedied. All people are admonished to earnestly investigate the essential conditions necessary for their continuance, for the rise and fall of nations is in obedience to natural principles and operations. Viewed from this standpoint, it is possible that a careful study of the human temperaments and their relations to reproduction may be of greater moment than has hitherto been supposed, and a proper understanding of them may tend to avert that individual deterioration, which, if suffered to become general, would end in national disaster and the extinction of the race.
Until recently, even naturalists believed that descendants were strictly like their parents in form and structure. Now it is known that the progeny may differ in both form and structure from the parent, and that these may produce others still more unlike their ancestry. But all these peculiar and incidental deviations finally return to the original form, showing that these changes have definite limits, and that the alterations observe a specific variableness, which is finally completed by its assuming again the original form. (See page 16, Figs. 2 and 3).
_Reproduction_ may be _sexual_ or _non-sexual._ In some plants and animals it is non-sexual. The propagation of species is accomplished by buds. Thus the gardener grafts a new variety of fruit upon an old stock. The florist understands how to produce new varieties of flowers, and make them radiantly beautiful in their bright and glowing colors. The bud personates the species and produces after its kind. Some of the _annelides_, a division of articulate animals, characterized by an elongated body, formed of numerous rings or annular segments, multiply by spontaneous division. A new head is formed at intervals in certain segments of the body. (See Fig. 97).
Something similar to this process of budding, we find taking place in a low order of animal organization. Divide the fresh water polyp into several pieces, and each one will grow into an entire animal. Each piece represents a polyp, and so each parent polyp is really a compound animal, an organized community of beings. Just as the buds of a tree, when separated and engrafted upon another tree, grow again, each preserving its original identity, so do the several parts of this animal, when divided, become individual polyps, capable of similar reproduction.
The revolving volvox likewise increases by growth until it becomes a society of animals, a multiple system of individuals. There are apertures from the parent, by which water gains a free access to the interior of the whole miniature series. This monad was once supposed to be a single animal, but the microscope shows it to be a group of animals connected by means of six processes, and each little growing volvox exhibits his red-eye speck and two long spines, or horns. These animals also multiply by dividing, and thus liberate another series, which, in their turn, reproduce other groups.
Generation requires the concurrence of _stimuli_ and _susceptibility_, and, to perfect the process, two conditions are also necessary. The first is the sperm, which communicates the principle of action; the other is the germ, which receives the latent life and provides the conditions necessary to organic evolution. The vivifying function belongs to the male, that of nourishing and cherishing is possessed by the female; and these conditions are sexual distinctions. The former represents _will_ and _understanding_; the latter, _vitality_ and _emotion_. The father directs and controls, the mother fosters and encourages; the former counsels and admonishes, the latter persuades and caresses; and their union in holy matrimony represents one; that is, the blending of vitality and energy, of love and wisdom,--the elements indispensable to the initiation of life under the dual conditions of male and female,--_one in the functions of reproduction_.
Let us consider the modes of Sexual Reproduction, which are _hermaphroditic_ and _dioecious_.
HERMAPHRODITIC REPRODUCTION.
We have said that two kinds of cells represent reproduction, namely, sperm and germ-cells. These may be furnished by different individuals, or both may be found in one. When both are found in the same individual, the parent is said to be a _natural hermaphrodite_. A perfect hermaphrodite possesses the attributes of both male and female--uniting both sexes in one individual. Natural hermaphroditic reproduction occurs only among inferior classes of animals, and naturalists inform us that there are a greater number of these than of the more perfect varieties. These are found low in the scale of animal organization, and one individual is able to propagate the species. In the oyster and ascidians no organs can be detected in the male, but in the female they are developed. Polyps, sponges, and cystic entozoa, may also be included among hermaphrodites.
It is only very low organisms indeed in which it is a matter of indifference whether the united sperm-cells and germ-cells are those of the same individual, or those of different individuals. In more elaborate structures and highly organized beings, the essential thing in fertilization is the union of these cells specially endowed by _different_ bodies, the unlikeness of derivation in these united reproductive centers being the desideratum for perpetuating life and power.
In other classes, as _entozoa_, there appear to be special provisions whereby the sperm-cells and germ-cells may be united; _i.e._, the male organs are developed and so disposed as to fecundate the ova of the same individual. Sexual and non-sexual modes of reproduction are illustrated by that well-defined group of marine invertebrate animals, called _cirripedia_ Fig. 98 represents one of this genus.
Some of these are not only capable of self-impregnation, but likewise have what are called _complemental males_ attache to some of the hermaphrodites. In the whole animal kingdom, it may be doubted if there exists another such class of rudimentary creatures as the parasitic males, who possess neither mouth, stomach, thorax, nor abdomen. After exerting a peculiar sexual influence, they soon die and drop off; so that in this class of animals may be found the sexual distinctions of male, female, and perfect hermaphrodites.
There is a class of wheel-animalcules termed _rotifera_, of which the revolving volvox is one example. They have acquired this name on account of the apparent rotation of the disc-like organs which surround their mouths and are covered with _cilia_, or little hairs. They are minute creatures, and can best be viewed with a microscope, although the larger forms may be seen without such assistance. They are widely diffused on the surface of the earth, inhabit lakes as well as the ocean, and are found in cold, temperate, and tropical climates. The rotifera were once supposed to be hermaphrodites, but the existence of sexes in one species has been clearly established. The male, however, is much smaller, and far less developed than the female. In some of these species, germ-cells, or eggs, are found, which do not require fecundation for reproduction or development, so that they belong to the non-sexual class.
The third variety of hermaphrodites embraces those animals in which the male organs are so disposed as not to fecundate the ova of the same body, but require the co-operation of two individuals, notwithstanding the co-existence in each of the organs of both sexes. Each in turn impregnates the other. The common leech, earth-worm, and snail, propagate in this manner.
_Unnatural hermaphrodism_ is characteristic of insects and crustaceans, in which the whole body indicates a neutral character, tending to exhibit the peculiarities of male or female, in proportion to the kind of sexual organs which predominates. Half of the body may be occupied by male, the other half by female organs, and each half reflects its peculiar sexual characteristics. Some butterflies are dimidiate hermaphrodites; _i.e._ one side of the body has the form and color of the male, the other the form and color of the female. The wings show by their color and appearance these sexual distinctions. The stag-beetle is also an example. We have accounts of dimidiate hermaphrodite lobster, male in one half and female in the other half of the body.
Among the numerous classes of higher animals, which have red blood, we have heard of no well-authenticated instance of hermaphrodism, or the complete union of _all_ the reproductive organs in one individual. True, the term _hermaphrodite_ is often applied to certain persons in whom there is some malformation, deficiency, or excess, of the genital organs. These congenital deformities consisting of combined increase or deficiency, supernumerary organs, or transposition of them, which usually render generation physically impossible, have been called _bisexual hermaphrodism_ and classed as monstrosities. We have many published accounts of them, hence, further reference to them here is unnecessary. We would especially refer those readers who may desire to make themselves further acquainted with this interesting subject, to the standard physiological works of Flint, Foster, Carpenter, Bennett, Dalton, and others equally eminent in this particular branch of science.
Certain theories have been advanced concerning conditions which may influence the sex of the offspring. One is that the right ovary furnishes the germs for males, the left for females that the right testicle furnishes sperm capable of fecundating the germs of males, and the left testicle, the germs of the left ovary, for females. That fecundation sometimes takes place from right to left and thus produces these abnormal variations. We merely state the hypothesis, but do not regard it as accounting for the distinction of sex, or as causing monstrosities, though it is somewhat plausible as a theory, and is not easily disproved. In the lower order of animals, as sheep and swine, one of the testicles has been removed, and there resulted afterward both male and female progeny, so that the theory seems to lack facts for a foundation.
We sometimes witness in the child excessive development, as five fingers, a large cranium, which results in dropsical effusion, or deficient brain, as in idiots; sometimes a hand or arm is lacking, or possibly there is a dual connection, as in the case of the Siamese twins; or, two heads united on one body. It is difficult to give any satisfactory explanation of these abnormal developments. From age to age, the type is _constant_, and preserves a race-unity. The crossings of the races are only transient deviations, not capable of perpetuation, and quickly return again to the original stock. This force is persistent, for inasmuch as the individual represents the race, so does his offspring represent the parental characteristics, in tastes, proclivities, and morals, as well as in organic resemblances. This constancy is unaccountable, and more mysterious than the occasional malformation of germs in the early period of foetal life. If to every deviation from that original form and structure, which gives character to the productions of nature, we apply the term _monster_, we shall find but very few, and from this whole class there will be a very small number indeed of _sexual_ malformations. If the sexes be deprived of the generative organs, they approach each other in disposition and appearance. All those who are partly male and partly female in their organization, unite, to a certain extent, the characteristics of both sexes. When the female loses her prolific powers, many of her sexual peculiarities and attractions wane.
DIOECIOUS REPRODUCTION.
_Dioecious_ is a word derived from the Greek, and signifies _two households;_ hence, _dioecious reproduction_ is sexual generation by male and female individuals. Each is distinguished by sexual characteristics. The male sexual organs are complete in one individual, and all the female organs belong to a separate feminine organization. In some of the vertebrates, impregnation does not require sexual congress; in other words, fecundation may take place _externally_. The female fish of some species first deposits her ova, and afterwards the male swims to that locality and fertilizes them with sperm.
In higher orders of animals, fecundation occurs _internally_, the conjunction of the sperm and germ cells requiring the conjugation of the male and female sexual organs. The sperm-cells of the male furnish the quickening principle, which sets in play all the generative energies, while the germ-cell, susceptible to its vivifying presence, responds with all the conditions necessary to evolution. The special laboratory which furnishes spermatic material is the _testes_, while the stroma of the _ovaries_ contributes the germ-cell. Several different modes of reproducing are observed when fecundation occurs within the body, which vary according to the peculiarities and organization of the female.
MODES OF DIOECIOUS REPRODUCTION.--A very familiar illustration of one mode is found in the common domestic fowl, the egg of which vivified within the ovarium, is afterward expelled and hatched by the simple agency of warmth. This mode of reproduction is called _oviparous generation_.
The ovaries, as well as all their latent germs, are _remarkably_ influenced by the first fecundation. It seems to indicate monogamy as the rule of higher sexual reproduction. The farmer understands that if he wishes to materially improve his cows, the first offspring must be begotten by a better, purer breed, and all that follow will be essentially benefited, even if not so well sired. Neither will the best blood exhibit its most desirable qualities in the calves whose mothers have previously carried inferior stock. So that there are sexual ante-natal influences which may deteriorate the quality of the progeny. The Jews understood this principle, in the raising up of sons and daughters unto a deceased brother. The fact that the sexual influence of a previous conception is not lost, is illustrated when, in a second marriage, the wife bears a son or daughter resembling bodily or mentally, or in both of these respects the former husband. This indicates a union for life by natural influences which never die out.
With some species of fish and reptiles, the egg is impregnated internally, and the process of _laying_ commences immediately, but it proceeds so slowly through the excretory passages, that it is hatched and born alive. This is called _ovo-viviparous generation_.
As we rise in the scale of organization, animals are more completely developed, and greater economy is displayed in their preservation. The germ passes from the ovary into an organ prepared for its reception and growth, to which, after fecundation, it becomes attached, and where it remains until sufficiently developed to maintain respiratory life. This organ is called the _womb_, or _uterus_, and is peculiar to most mammalia. This mode of reproduction is termed _viviparous generation_.
The kangaroo and oppossum are provided with a pouch attached to the abdomen, which receives the young born at an early stage of development. They remain in contact with the mammæ, from which they obtain their nourishment, until their growth is sufficiently completed to maintain an independent existence. This is called _marsupial generation_. The variety of reproduction which is most interesting, is that of the human species, and is called _viviparous generation_. It includes the functions of copulation, fecundation, gestation, parturition, and lactation.
For the full and perfect development of mankind, both mental and physical chastity is necessary. The health demands abstinence from unlawful intercourse. Therefore children should not be allowed to read impure works of fiction, which tend to inflame the mind and excite the passions. Only in total abstinence from illicit pleasures is there moral safety and health, while integrity, peace, and happiness, are the conscious rewards of virtue. Impurity travels downward with intemperance, obscenity, and corrupting diseases, to degradation and death. A dissolute, licentious, free-and-easy life is filled with the dregs of human suffering, iniquity, and despair. The penalties which follow a violation of the law of chastity are found to be severe and swiftly retributive.
The union of the sexes in holy matrimony is a law of nature finding sanction in both morals and legislation. Even some of the lower animals unite in this union for life, and instinctively observe the law of conjugal fidelity with a consistency which might put to blush other animals more highly endowed. It is important to discuss this subject and understand our social evils, as well as the unnatural desires of the sexes, which must be controlled or they lead to ruin. Sexual propensities are possessed by all, and they must be held in abeyance, until they are exercised for legitimate purposes. Hence parents ought to understand the value of mental and physical labor to elevate and strengthen the intellectual and moral faculties of their children, to develop the muscular system and direct the energies of the blood into healthful channels. Vigorous employment of mind and body engrosses the vital energies and diverts them from undue excitement of the sexual desires.
Sexual generation by pairing individuals is the most economical mode of propagating the species. The lower orders of animals possess wonderful multiplicative powers and their faculty for reproduction is offset by various destructive forces. The increased ability for self-maintenance implies diminished reproductive energy; hence the necessity for greater economy and safety in rearing the young. As certain larvae and insects increase, the birds which feed upon them become more numerous. When this means of support becomes inadequate, these same birds diminish in number in proportion to the scarcity of their food. Many have remarked that very prolific seasons are followed by unusual mortality, just as periods of uncommon prosperity precede those of severe disaster.
The increased mental and moral cultivation of mankind imposes upon them the necessity for greater physical culture. "Wiser and weaker," is a trite saying, and means that the exercise of the higher nature discloses the equivalent necessity of culturing the body, in order to support the increasing expenditures of the former. Mental and moral discipline are essential for a proper understanding how to provide for the body, for physical training increases the capacity of the individual for self-preservation. Constant vigilance is the price of health as well as of liberty.
It is an interesting physiological fact that, while the growth and development of the individual are rapidly progressing, the reproductive powers remain almost inactive, and that the commencement of reproduction not only indicates an arrest of growth, but, in a great measure, contributes toward it. From infancy to puberty, the body and its individual organs, structurally as well as functionally, are in a state of gradual and progressive evolution. Men and women generally increase in stature until the twenty-fifth year, and it is safe to assume that perfection of function is not established until maturity of bodily development is completed. Solidity and strength are represented in the organization of the male, grace, and beauty in that of the female. His broad shoulders represent physical power and the right of dominion, while her bosom is the symbol of love and nutrition. The father encounters hardships, struggles against difficulties, and braves dangers to provide for his household; the mother tenderly supplies the infant's wants, finding relief and pleasure in imparting nourishment, and surrounds helpless infancy with an affection which is unwearied in its countless ministering attentions. Her maternal functions are indicated by greater breadth of the hips. Physical differences so influence their mental natures, that, "before experience has opened their eyes, the dreams of the young man and maiden differ." The development of either is in close sympathy with their organs of reproduction. Any defect of the latter impairs our fair ideal, and detracts from those qualities which impart excellence, and crown the character with perfections. Plainly has Nature marked out, in the organization, very different offices to be performed by the sexes, and has made these distinctions fundamental.
Likewise, Nature expresses the intention of reproduction by giving to plants and animals distinctive organs for this purpose. These are endowed with exquisite sensibility, so that their proper exercise produces enjoyment beneficial to both. Excessive sexual indulgence not only prostrates the nervous system, enfeebles the body, and drains the blood of its vivifying elements, but is inconsistent with intellectual activity, morality, and spiritual development. The most entrancing delights and consummate enjoyments are of the emotive order, ideal, abstract, and pure, so inspiring that they overpower the grosser sensual pleasures and diffuse their own sweet chastity and refining influence over all the processes of life.
Hence, the gratification of the sexual instincts should always be moderate. It should be regulated by the judgment and will, and kept within the bounds of health. No person has a moral right to carry this indulgence so far as to produce injurious consequences to either party, and he who cannot refrain from it is in no proper condition to propagate his species. In all culture there must be self-control, and the practice of self-denial at the command of love and justice is always a virtue. Self-government is the polity of our people, and we point with pride and laudable exultation to our political maxims, laws, and free institutions. The family is the prototype of society. If self-restraint be practiced in the marital relation, then the principle of self-control will carry health, strength, and morality into all parts of the commonwealth. The leading characteristics of any nation are but the reflection of the traits of its individual members, and thus the family truly typifies the practical morality and enduring character of a people.
OVULATION.
The _Ovaries_ are those essential parts of the generative system of the human female in which the ova are matured. There are two ovaries, one on each side of the uterus, and connected with it by the Fallopian tubes; they are ovoidal bodies about an inch in diameter, and furnish the _germs_ or ovules. These latter are very minute, seldom measuring 1/120 of an inch in diameter, and frequently are not more than half that size. The ovaries develop with the growth of the female, so that, finally, at the pubescent period, they ripen and liberate an ovum, or germ vesicle, which is carried into the uterine cavity through the Fallopian tubes. With the aid of the microscope, we find that these ova are composed of granular substance, in which is found a miniature yolk surrounded by a transparent membrane, called the _zona pellucida_. This yolk contains a germinal vesicle in which can be discovered a nucleus, called the _germinal spot_. The process of the growth of the ovaries is very gradual, and their function of ripening and discharging an ovum every month into the Fallopian tubes and uterus is not developed until between the twelfth and fifteenth years.
This period, which indicates, by the feelings and ideas, the desires and will, that the subjects are capable of procreation, is called _puberty_. The mind acquires new and more delicate perceptions, the person becomes plumper, the mammæ enlarge, and there is grace and perfection in every movement, a conscious completeness for those relations of life for which this function prepares them. The period of puberty is also indicated by
MENSTRUATION.
The catamenial discharge naturally follows the ripening and liberation of an ovum, and as the ovaries furnish one of these each month, this monthly flow is termed the _menses_ (the plural of the Latin word _mensis_, which signifies a month). The menstrual flow continues from three to five days, and is merely the exudation of ordinary venous blood through the mucous lining of the cavity of the uterus. At this time, the nervous system of females is much more sensitive, and from the fact that there is greater aptitude to conception immediately before and after this period, it is supposed that the sexual feeling is then the strongest. When impregnation occurs immediately before the appearance of the menses, their duration is generally shortened, but not sufficiently to establish the suspicion that conception has taken place. The germ is the contribution of the female, which provides the conditions which only require the vivifying principle of the sperm for the development of another being. The period of aptitude for conception terminates at the time both ovulation and menstruation cease, which, unless brought about earlier by disease, usually occurs about the forty-fifth year of her age.
FECUNDATION.
Since in the beginning God created male and female, and said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," it is evident that what was originated by creation must be continued by procreation. The process of generation the reader will find described on pages 12 and 13. Then commences a wonderful series of transforming operations, rudimentary changes preliminary to the formation of tissues, structures and functions, which finally qualify the organism for independent existence. The ovum, when expelled from the ovary, enters the fimbriated, or fringe-like extremity of the Fallopian tube, to commence at once its descent to the uterus. The process of passing through this minute tube varies in different animals. In birds and reptiles, the bulk of the expelled ova is so great as to completely fill up the tube, and it is assisted in its downward course, partly by its own weight and partly by the peristaltic action of the muscular coat of the canal. In the human subject, however, the ova are so minute that nature has supplied a special agent for their direct transmission; otherwise they might be retained, and not reach their destination. Accordingly, the fimbriated, trumpet-shaped extremity of the Fallopian tubes, which is nearest to the ovaries, and, consequently from the ovary first receives the ovum when expelled; is provided with a series of small hairs, termed _cilia_, forming the lining or basement membrane of the tubes, and, the movements of these cilia being towards the uterus, transmit, by their vibrating motion, the ovum from the ovary, through the Fallopian tubes, to the uterus.
The mature ovum, however, is not by itself capable of being converted into the embryo. It requires fecundation by the spermatic fluid of the male, and this may take place immediately on the expulsion of the ovum from the ovary, or during its passage through the Fallopian tube, or, according to Bischoff, Coste, and others, in the cavity of the uterus, or even upon the surface of the ovary. Should impregnation, however, fail, the ovum gradually loses its vitality, and is eventually expelled by the uterine secretions. It occasionally happens that the descent of the impregnated ovum is arrested, and the formation of the embryo commences in the ovary. This is termed _ovarian pregnancy_. Or again, the ovum may be arrested in its passage through the Fallopian tube, causing what is termed _tubal pregnancy_; or, after it has been expelled from the ovary, it may fail to be received by the fimbriated extremity, and escape into the cavity of the abdomen, forming what has been termed _ventral pregnancy_. If the microscopic germ lodges in some slight interstice of fiber, during its passage through the walls of the uterus, it may be detained long enough to fix itself there, and when this occurs, it is termed _interstitial pregnancy_. All these instances of extra-uterine pregnancy may necessitate the employment of surgical skill, in order that they may terminate with safety to the mother. Their occurrence, however, is very rare.
The intense nervous excitement produced by the act of coition is immediately followed by a corresponding degree of depression, and a too frequent repetition of it is necessarily injurious to health. The secretions of the seminal fluid being, like other secretions, chiefly under the influence of the nervous system, an expenditure of them requires a corresponding renewal. This renewal greatly taxes the corporeal powers, inducing lassitude, nervousness, and debility. It is a well known fact that the highest degree of mental and bodily vigor is inconsistent with more than a moderate indulgence in sexual intercourse.
To ensure strength, symmetry, and high intellectual culture in the human race, requires considerable care. Consideration should be exercised in the choice of a companion for life. Constitutional as well as hereditary ailments demand our closest attention. Age has also its judicious barriers. As before stated, when reproduction commences, growth, as a rule, ceases, therefore, it is inexpedient that matrimony should be consummated before the parties have arrived at mature stature.
PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION.
Much has been written upon the question whether married people have a right to decline the responsibilities of wedlock. The practice of inducing abortion is not only immoral but criminal, because it is destructive to both the health of the mother and the life of the embryo being. If both the parties to a marriage be feeble, or if they be not temperamentally adapted to each other, so that their children would be deformed, insane, or idiotic, then to beget offspring would be a flagrant wrong. If the mother is already delicate, possessing feeble constitutional powers, she is inadequate to the duties of maternity, _and it is not right to lay such burdens upon her_. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, which all ought to respect. The woman may be able to discharge the duties of a loving wife and companion, when she cannot fulfill those of child-bearing. If the husband love his wife as he ought, he will resign all the pleasure necessary to secure her exemption from the condition of maternity. It seems to us, that it is a great wickedness, unpardonable even, to be so reckless of consequences, and so devoid of all feeling, as to expose a frail, feeble, affectionate woman to those perils which almost insure her death. To enforce pregnancy under such circumstances is a crime. Every true man, therefore, should rather practice self-control and forbearance, than entail on his wife such certain misery, if not danger to life.
Undoubtedly, the trial is great, but if a sacrifice be required, let the husband forbear the gratification of passions which will assuredly be the means of developing in his delicate wife symptoms that may speedily hurry her into a premature grave. Before she has recovered from the effects of bearing, nursing, and rearing one child, ere she has regained proper tone and vigor of body and mind, she is unexpectedly overtaken, _surprised_ by the manifestation of symptoms which again indicate pregnancy. Children thus begotten are not apt to be hardy and long-lived. From the love that parents feel for their posterity, from their wishes for their success, from their hopes that they may be useful from every consideration for their future well-being, let them exercise precaution and forbearance, until the wife becomes sufficiently healthy and enduring to bequeath her own vital stamina to the child she bears.
From what has been said on this subject, it behooves the prudent husband to weigh well the injurious, nay criminal results which may follow his lust. Let him not endanger the health, and it may be the life, of his loving and confiding wife through a lack of self-denial. Let him altogether refrain, rather than be the means of untold misery and, perhaps, the destruction of the person demanding his most cherished love and protection. On so important a subject, we feel we should commit an unpardonable wrong were we not to speak thus plainly and openly. An opportunity has been afforded us, which it would be reprehensible to neglect. We shall indeed feel we have been amply rewarded, if these suggestive remarks of ours tend in any way to remove or alleviate the sufferings of an uncomplaining and loving wife. Our sympathies, always susceptible to the conditions of sorrow and suffering, have been enlisted to give faithfully, explicitly, and plainly, warnings of danger and exhortations to prudence and nothing remains for us but to maintain the principles of morality, and leave to the disposal of a wise and overruling Providence the mystery of all seemingly untoward events. In every condition of life, evils arise, and most of those which are encountered are avoidable. Humanity should be held accountable for those evils which it might, but does not shun.
By a statute of the national government, prevention of pregnancy is considered a punishable offense; whereas every physician is instructed by our standard writers and lecturers on this subject, that not only prevention is necessary in many instances, but even abortion must sometimes be produced in order to save the mother's life. As we view the matter, the law of the national government asserts the ruling principle, and the exceptions to it must be well established by evidence, in order to fully justify such procedure. The family physician may, with the concurrence of other medical counselors, be justified, in rare cases, in advising means for the prevention of conception, but he should exercise this professional duty _only_ when the responsibility is shared by other members of the profession, and the circumstances fully and clearly warrant such a practice.
After fecundation, the length of time before conception takes place is variously estimated. Should impregnation occur at the ovary or within the Fallopian tubes, usually about a week elapses before the fertilized germ enters the uterus, so that ordinarily the interval between the act of insemination and that of conception varies from eight to fourteen days.
DOUBLE CONCEPTION.
If two germs be evolved simultaneously, each may be impregnated by spermatozoa, and a twin pregnancy be the result. This is by no means a rare occurrence. It is very unusual, however, to have one birth followed by another after an interval of three or four months, and each babe present the evidences of full maturity. Perhaps such occurrences may be accounted for on the supposition that the same interval of time elapses between the impregnation of the two germs as there is difference observed in their birth; that after the act of insemination, sperm was carried to each ovary; that one had matured a germ ready for fecundation, then impregnation and conception immediately followed, and the decidua of the uterus hermetically sealed both Fallopian tubes, and thus securely retained the sperm within the other Fallopian canal. The stimulus of the sperm so pent up causes that ovary to mature a germ, although it may do so slowly, and after two or three months it is perfected, fertilized, and a second conception occurs within the uterus. If each embryo observe a regular period of growth and each be born at maturity, there must be an interval of two or three months between their births. But it is far more common for the parturition of the first, displaying signs of full maturity, to coincide with the birth of a second which is immature and which cannot sustain respiratory life. The birth of the latter is brought about prematurely, by the action of the uterus in expelling the matured child.
UTERINE PREGNANCY.
There are many who manifest a laudable desire to understand the physiology of conception, the changes which take place, and the order of their natural occurrence. When impregnation takes place at the ovaries or within the Fallopian tubes, there is exuded upon the inner surface of the womb a peculiar nutritious substance. It flows out of the minute porous openings surrounding the termination of the Fallopian tube within the uterine cavity, and, thus, is in readiness to receive the germ, and retain it there until it becomes attached. Undoubtedly, the germ imbibes materials from this matter for its nurture and growth. This membranous substance is termed the _decidua_, and disappears after conception is insured. Two membranes form around the embryo; the inner one is called the _amnion_, the outer one the _chorion_. Both serve for the protection of the embryo, and the inner one contains the _liquor amnii,_ in which it floats during intra-uterine life. Immediately after conception, the small glands in the neck of the uterus usually throw out a sticky secretion, filling the canal, or uniting its sides, so that nothing can enter or leave the uterine cavity.
The fertilized ovum rapidly develops. After its conception it imbibes nourishment, and there is a disposition in fluids to pass into it, through its delicately-organized membranes. If this process is not involuntary, it is, at all events, at the convenience and use of the developing germ. After three months the embryo is termed the _foetus_. Its fluids are then so much more highly organized, that some of them are tinged with sanguine hues, and thenceforward acquire the characteristics of red blood. Out of red blood, blood-vessels are formed, and from the incipient development of the heart follow faint lines of arteries, and the engineers of nutrition survey a circulatory system, perfecting the vascular connections by supplementing the arteries with a complete net-work of veins and capillaries.
THE PLACENTA OR AFTERBIRTH.
Whenever conception occurs, a soft, spongy substance is formed between the uterus and the growing ovum, called the _placenta_. It is composed of membrane, cellular tissue, blood-vessels, and connecting filaments. The principal use of this organ seems to be to decarbonate the blood of the foetus, and to supply it with oxygen. It performs the same function for the foetus that the lungs do for the organism after birth. It allows the blood of the foetus to come into very close contact with that of the mother, from which it receives a supply of oxygen, and to which it gives up carbonic acid. This interchange of gases takes place in the placenta, or between it and the uterus, through the intervening membranes. This decarbonating function requires the agency of the maternal lungs, for the purpose of oxygenating the mother's blood.
The placenta is attached to the uterus by simple adhesion. True, in some instances, morbid adhesion takes place, or a growing together in consequence of inflammation, but the natural junction is one merely of contact, the membranes of the placenta spreading out upon the cavity of the uterus, so that, finally, the former may be entirely removed without a particle of disturbance or injury to the latter. Formerly, it was supposed that the placental vessels penetrated into the substance of the uterus. We know now there is no such continuation of the vessels of the one into the other. The decarbonation of the blood requires the placental and uterine membranes to be in contact with each other.
If the union were vascular, the mother's blood would circulate in the foetal body, and the impulses of the maternal heart might prove too strong for the delicate organism of the embryo. Besides, the separation of the placenta from the uterus might prove fatal to both parent and offspring. The placenta is only a temporary organ, and when its functions are no longer required, it is easily and safely removed.
THE UMBILICAL CORD.
The foetal blood is transmitted to and fro between the body of the child and the placenta, by a cord which contains two arteries and one vein. This is called the _umbilical cord_, because it enters the body at the middle of the abdominal region, or _umbilicus_. It is composed, also, of its own proper membranous sheath, or skin, and cellular tissues, besides the blood-vessels. Two months after pregnancy, this cord can be seen, when it commences to grow rapidly.
QUICKENING.
Not until the mother feels motion is she said to be quick with child. That is, the child must be old and strong enough to communicate a physical impulse, which the mother can distinctly perceive, before it is regarded as having received life. This is a fallacy, for the germ has to be endowed with life before organization can begin. The act of impregnation communicates the vital principle, and from that moment it starts upon its career of development. A long period elapses after this occurs before it can make the mother feel its motions. Before quickening, the attempt to destroy the foetus is not considered so grave a crime by our laws, but after this quickening takes place, it is deemed a felony.
THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE PREGNANCY.
The expediency and the moral right to prematurely terminate pregnancy must be admitted when weighty and sufficient reasons for it exist. Such a course should never be undertaken, however, without the advice and approval of the family physician, and, whenever it is possible, the counsel of another medical practitioner should be obtained. There may be so great a malformation of the pelvic bones as to preclude delivery at full term, or, as in some instances, the pregnant condition may endanger the life of the mother, because she is not able to retain nourishment upon the stomach. In such cases only, is interference warranted, and even then the advice of some well-informed physician should be first obtained, to make sure that the life of the mother is endangered before so extreme a measure is resorted to.
Those who are qualified for maternal duties should not undertake to defeat the intentions of nature, simply because they love ease and dislike responsibility. Such persons may be considered genteel ladies, but, practically, they are indifferent to the claims of society and posterity. How such selfishness contrasts with the glorious, heroic, Spartan spirit of the young woman who consulted us in reference to the acceptance of a tempting offer of marriage! She was below medium size and delicately organized. She hesitated in her answer, because she was uncertain as to her duty to herself, and to her proposed husband, and on account of the prospective contingencies of matrimony. After she was told that it was doubtful whether she could discharge the obligations of maternity with safety to herself, and yet that she might prove to her intended husband a true and valuable wife, she quickly answered, her black eyes radiant with the high purpose of her soul: "If I assent to this offer, I shall accept the condition and its consequences also, even if pregnancy be my lot and I know it will cost me my life!" She acceded to the proposal, and years found them one in happiness; then a daughter was born, but the bearing and nursing were too much for her delicate constitution, and she continued to sink until she found rest in the grave. Of all her beautiful and noble sayings, none reflect more moral grandeur of spirit than the one in which she expressed her purpose to prove true to posterity.
THE SIGNS OF PREGNANCY.
The symptoms which indicate pregnancy are cessation of the menses, enlargement of the mammæ, nausea, especially in the morning, distention of the abdomen, and movement of the foetus. A married woman has reason to suspect that she may have conceived, when, at the proper time, she fails to menstruate, especially when she knows that she is liable to become pregnant. A second menstrual failure strengthens this suspicion, although there are many other causes which might prevent the appearance of the menses, such as disease of the uterus, general debility, or taking cold, and all of these should be taken into account. In the absence of all apparent influences calculated to obstruct the menses, the presumption ordinarily is that pregnancy is the cause of their non-appearance. The evidence is still more conclusive when the mammæ and abdomen enlarge after experiencing morning sickness. Notwithstanding all these symptoms, the audible sound of the heart, or the movements of the foetus, are the only _infallible_ signs of a pregnant condition.
THE DURATION OF PREGNANCY.
The ordinary duration of pregnancy is about forty weeks, or 280 days. It is difficult to foretell exactly when a pregnancy will be completed, for it cannot be known precisely when it began. Some gestations are more protracted than others, but the average duration is the time we have given. A very reasonable way to compute the term, is to reckon three months back from the day when the menses ceased and then add five days to that time, which will be the date of the expected time of confinement. It is customary, also, for women to count from the middle of the month after the last appearance of the menses, and then allow ten _lunar_ months for the term. This computation generally proves correct, except in those instances in which conception takes place immediately before the fast appearance of the catamenia. A few women can forecast the time of labor from the occurrence of quickening, by allowing eighteen weeks for the time which has elapsed since conception, and twenty-two more for the time yet to elapse before the confinement. With those in whom quickening occurs regularly in a certain week of pregnancy, this calculation may prove nearly correct.
The English law fixes no precise limit for the legitimacy of the child. In France a child is regarded as lawfully begotten if born within three hundred days after the death or departure of the husband. There are a sufficient number of cases on record to show that gestation may be prolonged two, and even three, weeks beyond the ordinary, or average term. The variation of time may be thus accounted for: after insemination, a considerable interval elapses before fecundation takes place, and the passage of the fertilized germ from the ovary to the uterus is also liable to be retarded. There are many circumstances and conditions which might serve to diminish its ordinary rate of progress, and postpone the date of conception. This would materially lengthen the _apparent_ time of gestation.
It is likewise difficult to determine the shortest period at which gestation may terminate, and the child be able to survive. A child may be born and continue to live for some months, after twenty-four or twenty-five weeks of gestation; it was so decided, at least, in an ecclesiastical trial.
We have not the space to describe minutely, or at length, the formation and growth of the foetal structures, and trace them separately from their origin to their completion at the birth of the child. The student of medicine must gain information by consulting large works and exhaustive treatises on this interesting subject.
What trifling contingencies defeat vitality! Conception may be prevented by acrid secretions, the result of disease of the reproductive organs. Leucorrheal matter may destroy the vitalizing power of the sperm-cells. There are many ways, even after impregnation, of compromising the existence of the frail embryo. Accidents, injuries, falls, blows, acute diseases, insufficient nutrition and development, in fact, a great variety of occurrences may destroy the life of the embryo, or foetus. After birth, numerous diseases menace the child. By what constant care must it ever be surrounded, and how often is it snatched from the very jaws of death!
What, then, is man but simply a germ, evolving higher powers, and destined for a purer and nobler existence! His latent life secretly emerges from mysterious obscurity, is incarnated, and borne upon the flowing stream of time to a spiritual destination--to realms of immortality! As he nears those ever-blooming shores, the eye of faith, illuminated by the inspired word, dimly discerns the perennial glories. Quickened by Faith, Hope, and Love, his spirit is transplanted into the garden of paradise, the Eden of happiness, redeemed, perfected, and made glorious in the divine image of Him who hath said, "I am the Way, the _Truth_, and the LIFE."
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