Part 11

Every woman who has any kind of liability to be a mother, or a nurse of the sick, or to meet other exhausting emergencies of the family state needs a _reserved_ force of vital strength which many women who seem to be in perfect health find lacking in such emergencies. This want of this is one cause of the frequent failure of health after marriage, and is one result of a transmitted delicate constitution.

I also ask special attention to the fact that women in the country of the industrial classes have not the robust health of earlier generations. In addition to other causes, for this, is the overworking and anxiety consequent on increased civilization. The fashions and expenditures of cities stimulate the country, and the mothers strain every nerve to secure for sons and daughters a style of dress and furniture in former days unknown. This and the desire to accumulate, wears out many a wife and mother before half her days are accomplished, making her a perpetual invalid or sending her to an early grave.

LETTER EIGHTEENTH.

STATISTICS OF FEMALE HEALTH.

During my extensive tours in all portions of the Free States, I was brought into most intimate communion, not only with my widely-diffused circle of relatives, but with very many of my former pupils who had become wives and mothers. From such, I learned the secret domestic history both of those I visited and of many of their intimate friends. And oh! what heartaches were the result of these years of quiet observation of the experience of my sex in domestic life. How many young hearts have revealed the fact, that what they had been trained to imagine the highest earthly felicity, was but the beginning of care, disappointment, and sorrow, and often led to the extremity of mental and physical suffering. Why was it that I was so often told that "young girls little imagined what was before them when they entered married life?" Why did I so often find those united to the most congenial and most devoted husbands expressing the hope that their daughters would never marry? For years these were my quiet, painful conjectures.

But the more I traveled, and the more I resided in health establishments, the more the conviction was pressed on my attention that there was a terrible decay of female health all over the land, and that this evil was bringing with it an incredible extent of individual, domestic, and social suffering, that was increasing in a most alarming ratio. At last, certain developments led me to take decided measures to obtain some reliable statistics on the subject. During my travels the last year I have sought all practicable methods of obtaining information, and finally adopted this course with most of the married ladies whom I met, either on my journeys or at the various health establishments at which I stopped.

I requested each lady first to write the _initials_ of _ten_ of the married ladies with whom she was best acquainted in her place of residence. Then she was requested to write at each name, her impressions as to the health of each lady. In this way, during the past year, I obtained statistics from about two hundred different places in almost all the Free States.

Before giving any of these, I will state some facts to show how far they are reliable: In the first place, the _standard of health_ among American women is so low that few have a correct idea of _what a healthy woman is_. I have again and again been told by ladies that they were "perfectly healthy," who yet, on close inquiry, would allow that they were subject to frequent attacks of neuralgia, or to periodic nervous headaches, or to local ailments, to which they had become so accustomed, that they were counted as "nothing at all." A woman who has tolerable health finds herself so much above the great mass of her friends in this respect, that she feels herself a prodigy of good health.

In the next place, I have found that women who enjoy universal health are seldom well informed as to the infirmities of their friends. Repeatedly I have taken accounts from such persons, that seemed singularly favorable, when, on more particular inquiry, it was found that the greater part, who were set down as perfectly healthy women, were habitual sufferers from serious ailments. The delicate and infirm go for sympathy, not to the well and buoyant, but to those who have suffered like themselves.

This will account for some very favorable statements, given by certain ladies, that have not been inserted, because more accurate information showed their impressions to be false. As a general fact, it has been found that the more minute the inquiry, the greater the relative increase of ill health in all these investigations.

Again, I have found that ladies were predisposed usually to give the _most favorable_ view of the case; for all persons like to feel that they are living in "a healthy place" rather than the reverse.

Again, I have found that almost every person in the result obtained, found that the case was worse than had been supposed, the proportion of sick or delicate to the strong and healthy being so small.

It must be remembered, that in regard to those marked as "sickly," "delicate," or "feeble," there can be no mistake, the knowledge being in all cases _positive_, while those marked as "well" may have ailments that are not known. For multitudes of American women, with their strict notions of propriety, and their patient and energetic spirit, often are performing every duty entirely silent as to any suffering or infirmities they may be enduring.

As to the terms used in these statements, in all cases there was a previous statement made as to the sense in which they were to be employed.

A "perfectly healthy" or "a vigorous and healthy woman" is one of whom there are _specimens_ remaining in almost every place; such as used to _abound_ when all worked, and _worked in pure air_.

Such a woman is one who can through the whole day be actively employed on her feet in all kinds of domestic duties without injury, and constantly and habitually has a feeling of perfect health and perfect freedom from pain. Not that she never has a fit of sickness, or takes a cold that interrupts the feeling of health, but that these are out of her ordinary experience.

A woman is marked "well" who usually has good health, but can not bear exposures, or long and great fatigue, without consequent illness.

A woman is marked "delicate" who, though she may be about and attend to most of her domestic employments, has a frail constitution that either has been undermined by ill health, or which easily and frequently yields to fatigue, or exposure, or excitement.

In the statements that follow, I shall place first those which are _most reliable_, inasmuch as in each case personal inquiries were made and the specific ailments were noted, to show that nothing was stated without full knowledge. As a matter of delicacy, the _initials_ are changed, so that no individual can thus be identified.

MOST RELIABLE STATISTICS.

_Milwaukee, Wis._ Mrs. A. frequent sick headaches. Mrs. B. very feeble. Mrs. S. well, except chills. Mrs. L. poor health constantly. Mrs. D. subject to frequent headaches. Mrs. B. very poor health. Mrs. C. consumption. Mrs. A. pelvic displacements and weakness. Mrs. H. pelvic disorders and a cough. Mrs. B. always sick. Do not know one perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Essex, Vt._ Mrs. S. very feeble. Mrs. D. slender and delicate. Mrs. S. feeble. Mrs. S. not well. Mrs. G. quite feeble. Mrs. C. quite feeble. Mrs. B. quite feeble. Mrs. S. quite slender. Mrs. B. quite feeble. Mrs. F. very feeble. Knows but one perfectly healthy woman in town.

_Peru, N. Y._ Mrs. C. not healthy. Mrs. H. not healthy. Mrs. E. healthy. Mrs. B. pretty well. Mrs. K. delicate. Mrs. B. not strong and healthy. Mrs. S. healthy and vigorous. Mrs. L. pretty well. Mrs. L. pretty well.

_Canton, Penn._ Mrs. R. feeble. Mrs. B. bad headaches. Mrs. D. bad headaches. Mrs. V. feeble. Mrs. S. erysipelas. Mrs. K. headaches, but tolerably well. Mrs. R. miserably sick and nervous. Mrs. G. poor health. Mrs. L. invalid. Mrs. C. invalid.

_Oberlin, Ohio._ Mrs. A. usually well, but subject to neuralgia. Mrs. D. poor health. Mrs. K. well, but subject to nervous headaches. Mrs. M. poor health. Mrs. C. not in good health. Mrs. P. not in good health. Mrs. P. delicate. Mrs. F. not in good health. Mrs. F. not in good health.

_Wilmington, Del._ Mrs. ——, scrofula. Mrs. B. in good health. Mrs. D. delicate. Mrs. H. delicate. Mrs. S. healthy. Mrs. P. healthy. Mrs. G. delicate. Mrs. O. delicate. Mrs. T. very delicate. Mrs. S. headaches.

_New Bedford, Mass._ Mrs. B. pelvic diseases, and every way out of order. Mrs. J. W. pelvic disorders. Mrs. W. B. well, except in one respect. Mrs. C. sickly. Mrs. C. rather delicate. Mrs. P. not healthy. Mrs. C. unwell at times. Mrs. L. delicate. Mrs. B. subject to spasms. Mrs. H. very feeble. Can not think of but one perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Paxton, Vt._ Mrs. T. diseased in liver and back. Mrs. H. stomach and back diseased. Mrs. W. sickly. Mrs. S. very delicate. Mrs. C. sick headaches, sickly. Mrs. W. bilious complaints. Mrs. T. very delicate. Mrs. T. liver complaint. Mrs. C. bilious sometimes, well most of the time. Do not know a perfectly healthy woman in the place. Many of these are the wives of wealthy farmers, who _overwork_ when there is no need of it.

_Crown Point, N. Y._ Mrs. H. bronchitis. Mrs. K. very delicate. Mrs. A. very delicate. Mrs. A. diseased in back and stomach. Mrs. S. consumption. Mrs. A. dropsy. Mrs. M. delicate. Mrs. M. G. delicate. Mrs. P. delicate. Mrs. C. consumption. Do not know one perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Batavia, Illinois._ Mrs. H. an invalid. Mrs. G. scrofula. Mrs. W. liver complaint. Mrs. K. pelvic disorders. Mrs. S. pelvic diseases. Mrs. B. pelvic diseases very badly. Mrs. B. not healthy. Mrs. T. very feeble. Mrs. G. cancer. Mrs. N. liver complaint. Do not know one healthy woman in the place.

_Oneida, N. Y._ Mrs. C. delicate. Mrs. P. scrofula. Mrs. S. not well. Mrs. L. very delicate and nervous. Mrs. L. invalid. Mrs. L. tolerably well. Mrs. A. invalid. Mrs. W. broken down. Mrs. D. feeble. Mrs. W. pale but pretty well.

_North Adams, Mass._ Mrs. R. scrofula and liver complaint. Mrs. R. consumption. Mrs. C. consumption. Mrs. B. liver complaint. Mrs. B. consumption. Mrs. B. general debility. Mrs. F. consumption. Mrs. W. paralytic. Mrs. W. confined always to her bed. Mrs. R. scrofula.

_Charlotte, Vt._ Mrs. W. spinal complaint. Mrs. D. spinal complaint. Mrs. N. spinal complaint. Mrs. R. bilious and paralytic. Mrs. R. pelvic disorders. Mrs. H. heart disease and dropsy. Mrs. B. dropsical. Mrs. H. pelvic disease and palsy. Mrs. H. scrofula and consumption. Mrs. S. quite delicate. Knows but one perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Maria, N. Y._ Mrs. H. consumption. Mrs. E. dyspepsia. Mrs. T. dyspepsia. Mrs. D. consumption. Mrs. P. dyspepsia. Mrs. R. sickly. Mrs. M. sickly. Mrs. R. delicate. Mrs. S. sickly. Mrs. R. consumption. Knows not one perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Vergennes, Vt._ Mrs. L. delicate. Mrs. H. consumption. Mrs. H. consumption. Mrs. C. sickly. Mrs. S. liver complaint. Mrs. S. asthma. Mrs. S. sickly. Mrs. B. bronchitis. Mrs. S. consumptive. Mrs. B. delicate. Does not know a perfectly healthy woman in the place.

_Brooklyn, N. Y._ Mrs. B. very delicate. Mrs. G. scrofulous. Mrs. R. pelvic displacements. Mrs. I. nervous headaches. Mrs. A. pelvic diseases. Mrs. W. heart disease. Mrs. S. organic disease. Mrs. B. well but delicate. Mrs. L. well but delicate. Mrs. C. delicate.

_Berlin, Conn._ Mrs. A. dyspepsia. Mrs. B. quite delicate. Mrs. C. nervous headaches. Mrs. G. pelvic disorders. Mrs. M. weak lungs. Mrs. F. not sound. Mrs. C. delicate. Mrs. N. vigorous and healthy. Mrs. C. well. Mrs. A. delicate.

_Whitestown, N. Y._ Mrs. A. consumptive. Mrs. P. well but delicate. Mrs. M. well but delicate. Mrs. S. pelvic disorders. Mrs. R. dropsy. Mrs. B. pelvic disorders. Mrs. H. sick headaches. Mrs. K. organic disorder. Mrs. B. well but delicate. Mrs. T. bronchitis.

_Proctorville, Vt._ Mrs. B. well. Mrs. H. well. Mrs. S. pelvic and stomach disorders. Mrs. S. not healthy. Mrs. F. not healthy. Mrs. B. sickly. Mrs. C. not healthy. Mrs. W. not healthy. Mrs. A. vigorous and usually well. Knows no other strong and healthy woman.

_Saratoga, N. Y._ Mrs. M. pelvic disorders. Mrs. H. pelvic disorders. Mrs. A. pelvic disorders. Mrs. C. well. Mrs. C. neuralgia. Mrs. P. well. Mrs. T. consumptive. Mrs. J. tolerably well. Mrs. B. consumptive. Mrs. B. not well. Knows only one more well one among her acquaintance.

_Saratoga, N. Y._ (by another resident). Mrs. T. pelvic disorder. Mrs. C. pelvic disease. Mrs. H. not well. Mrs. S. well and strong. Mrs. B. tolerably well. Mrs. M. usually well. Mrs. O. headaches. Mrs. H. O. well. Mrs. S. delicate. Mrs. P. not well.

_Canandaigua, N. Y._ Mrs. A. well. Mrs. B. an invalid. Mrs. C. delicate. Mrs. H. delicate. Mrs. H. an invalid. Mrs. J. well. Mrs. P. delicate. Mrs. A. well. Mrs. C. an invalid. Mrs. W. well.

_Livonia, N. Y._ Mrs. H. rheumatic. Mrs. R. healthy and vigorous. Mrs. S. well. Mrs. R. good health. Mrs. P. very poor health. Mrs. B. well. Mrs. G. an invalid. Mrs. S. delicate. Mrs. T. poor health. Mrs. ——, pelvic disorders.

_Turkhannock, Penn._ Mrs. P. delicate and sickly. Mrs. L. delicate and well. Mrs. R. well and vigorous. Mrs. S. tolerably well. Mrs. C. well. Mrs. S. healthy. Mrs. T. consumption. Mrs. M. healthy. Mrs. R. well. Mrs. ——, pelvic disorders.

_Bath, N. Y._ Mrs. H. an invalid. Mrs. H. rheumatic. Mrs. H. healthy and vigorous. Mrs. S. vigorous. Mrs. K. delicate. Mrs. K. very healthy. Mrs. W. broken down. Mrs. W. tolerably well. Mrs. W. an invalid. Mrs. H. poor health.

_Castleton, N. Y._ Mrs. S. sickly. Mrs. W. healthy. Mrs. S. very delicate. Mrs. H. delicate. Mrs. H. delicate. Mrs. B. delicate. Mrs. W. not healthy. Mrs. H. not healthy. Mrs. D. not healthy.

The following were furnished by ladies who simply arranged the names of the ten married ladies best known to them in the place of their residence, in three classes, as marked over the several columns:

+------------------------+----------+---------+---------+ | |Strong and|Delicate |Habitual | | Residence. |perfectly | or |Invalids.| | | Healthy. |Diseased.| | +------------------------+----------+---------+---------+ |Hudson, Michigan | 2 | 4 | 4 | |Castleton, Vermont | Not one. | 9 | 1 | |Bridgeport, Vermont | 4 | 4 | 2 | |Dorset, Vermont | Not one. | 1 | 9 | |South Royalston, Mass. | 4 | 2 | 4 | |Townsend, Vermont | 4 | 3 | 3 | |Greenbush, New York | 2 | 5 | 3 | |Southington, Connecticut| 3 | 5 | 2 | |Newark, New Jersey | 2 | 3 | 5 | |New York City | 2 | 4 | 4 | |Oneida, New York | 3 | 2 | 5 | |Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1 | 3 | 6 | |Rochester, New York | 2 | 6 | 2 | |Plainfield, New Jersey | 2 | 4 | 4 | |New York City | 3 | 6 | 1 | |Lennox, Massachusetts | 4 | 3 | 3 | |Union Vale, New York | 2 | 5 | 3 | |Albany, New York | 2 | 3 | 5 | |Hartford, Conn. | 1 | 5 | 4 | |Cincinnati, Ohio | 1 | 4 | 5 | |Andover, Mass. | 2 | 5 | 3 | |Brunswick, Maine | 2 | 5 | 3 | |Southington, Connecticut| 3 | 5 | 2 | |Rochester, New York | 2 | 6 | 2 | |Albany, New York | 2 | 4 | 4 | |Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1 | 3 | 6 | |Plainfield, New Jersey | 2 | 4 | 4 | |New York City | 3 | 6 | 1 | |New York City | 2 | 4 | 4 | |Worcester, Massachusetts| 1 | 6 | 2 | |Newark, New Jersey | 2 | 3 | 5 | |Bonhomme, Missouri | 3 | 5 | 2 | |Painted Post, New York | 1 | 3 | 6 | |Wilkins, New York | 2 | 3 | 5 | |Johnsburg, New York | 3 | 6 | 1 | |Burdett, New York | 4 | 3 | 3 | |Horse Heads, New York | 3 | 2 | 5 | |Pompey, New York | 4 | 4 | 2 | |Tioga, Pennsylvania | 3 | 4 | 3 | |Lodi, New York | 2 | 5 | 3 | |Seymour, Connecticut | 3 | 7 | 0 | |Williamsville, New York | 4 | 2 | 4 | |Herkimer, New York | 3 | 2 | 5 | |Hudson, Michigan | 2 | 4 | 4 | |Kalamazoo, Michigan | 3 | 6 | 1 | +------------------------+----------+---------+---------+

The following are those not so reliable as the preceding, as the papers were some of them not clear, and some uncertainty about others for want of personal inquiry:

_Cattskill, N. Y._ Three vigorous, two well, three delicate, two sickly.

_Batavia, N. Y._ One vigorous, two well, three delicate, one sickly.

_Ogden, N. Y._ Three well, five well but delicate, two sickly.

_Utica, N. Y._ Nine well but not vigorous, one invalid.

_Rhinebeck, N. Y._ One vigorous, six well but not vigorous, one delicate, one invalid.

_Cooperstown, N. Y._ Two vigorous, five well, two delicate, two sickly.

_Lima, N. Y._ Five well, three delicate, two sickly.

_Rockaway, N. Y._ Two vigorous, five well, one delicate, two sickly.

_Brockport, N. Y._ Three vigorous, six well, one delicate, one sickly.

_Buffalo, N. Y._ Five well, five delicate.

_Potsdam, N. Y._ Eight tolerably well, two sickly.

_Rome, N. Y._ Two well, seven tolerably well, one sickly.

_Rochester, N. Y._ Four well, three delicate, three sickly.

_Princeton, N. J._ Four well, five well but delicate, three sickly.

_Muncy, Penn._ Two vigorous, six well but delicate, two sickly.

The remainder of accounts furnished being less reliable, for want of opportunities of definite inquiry on my part, and will therefore be omitted. But they do not essentially differ from these presented.

I will now add my own personal observation. First, in my own family connection: I have nine married sisters and sisters-in-law, all of them either delicate or invalids, except two. I have fourteen married female cousins, and not one of them but is either delicate, often ailing, or an invalid. In my wide circle of friends and acquaintance all over the land out of my family circle, the same impression is made. In Boston I can not remember but one married female friend who is perfectly healthy. In Hartford, Conn., I can think of only one. In New Haven, but one. In Brooklyn, N. Y., but one. In New York city, but one. In Cincinnati, but one. In Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, those whom I have visited are either delicate or invalids. I am not able to recall, in my immense circle of friends and acquaintance all over the Union, so many as _ten_ married ladies born in this century and country, who are perfectly sound, healthy, and vigorous. Not that I believe there are not more than this among the friends with whom I have associated, but among all whom I can bring to mind of whose health I have any accurate knowledge, I can not find this number of entirely sound and healthy women.

Another thing has greatly added to the impression of my own observations, and that is the manner in which my inquiries have been met. In a majority of cases, when I have asked for the number of perfectly healthy women in a given place, the first impulsive answer has been "not one." In other cases, when the reply has been more favorable, and I have asked for specifics, the result has always been such as to diminish the number calculated, rather than to increase it. With a few exceptions the persons I have asked, who had not directed their thoughts to the subject, and took a favorable view of it, have expressed surprise at the painful result obtained in their own immediate circle.

But the thing which has pained and surprised me the most is the result of inquiries among the country-towns and industrial classes in our country. I had supposed that there would be a great contrast between the statements gained from persons from such places, and those furnished from the wealthy circles, and especially from cities. But such has not been the case. It will be seen that the larger portion of the accounts inserted in the preceding pages are from country-towns, while a large portion of the worst accounts were taken from the industrial classes.

As another index of the state of health among the industrial classes may be mentioned these facts: During the past year I made my usual inquiry of the wife of a Methodist clergyman, who resided in a small country-town in New York. Her reply was, "There are no healthy women where I live, and my husband says he would travel a great many miles for the pleasure of finding one."

In another case I conversed with a Baptist clergyman and his wife, in Ohio, and their united testimony gave this result in three places where his parishioners were chiefly of the industrial class. They selected at random ten families best known in each place:

_Worcester, Ohio._ Women in perfect health, two. In medium health, one. _Invalids, seven._

_Norwalk, Ohio._ Women perfectly healthy, one, but doubtfully so. Medium, none. _Invalids, nine._

_Cleveland, Ohio._ Women in perfect health, one. Medium health, two. _Invalids, seven._