Fig. 122. Only fashions as those who are in future to become grandmothers, and ORGANS OF WOMAN, To which allusion is made in this chapter-1, top of notions" by those whose the womb; 2, neck of the womb; 3, vagina, or cavity, fast habits of living are as opening in front, and extending back and encircling the of physical preservation neck of the womb; 4, the bladder, with the urethra; 5, fully up to the customs of It is by no means a pleasing diversion to startle the public with the utterance of strange facts, and with opinions entirely at variance with those popularly entertained, nor to place one's self in a position antagonistic with everybody else, so as to stand like a target for the venomous arrows of envious cotemporaries. But I have so little respect for error, modern or antiquated, I would let ว my pen rest and rust rather than use it in pandering to ridiculous fancies and propping up dogmas which, if not bolstered up by a rigid conservatism, would fall through their own inherent rottenness. This book is not written to gloss over prevalent vices or to eulogize customs and views founded only on the whims and caprices of mankind, but to take a common-sense view of the subjects on which it treats. Uterine diseases are becoming so common, that women entirely exempt from them are more rarely to be met with than those who are suffering to a greater or less degree with them in some form. Nor do these difficulties affect women merely locally. So complex and delicate is the procreative system, and so intimately connected is it by the nervous ramifications with every organ in the body, it cannot be the seat of disease without affecting the general health. Even so natural a process as foetal formation in the uterus disturbs the health and comfort of nearly every woman who becomes pregnant. Particularly in the first stages of pregnancy, nausea at the stomach and other disagreeable symptoms are usually felt, while some females, through the whole period of gestation, have painful, and others, alarming symptoms. In the case of a woman of Lyle who had five children at one birth, during the last two months of her pregnancy, according to the statement of the Journal des Annonces, all objects before her eyes were several times repeated, but after her delivery her sight returned to its natural state. Now, if a woman is so liable to suffer, however slightly, when the womb is simply performing one of the functions it was made to perform, is it not self-evident to every person, that the presence of disease must produce incomparably greater suffering? I can, at least, truthfully affirm that in a large majority of all my female patients, I have found more or less uterine disease; and, further, that it was the intermediate cause of whatever other difficulties existed. What I mean here by intermediate cause, is that which, following nervous and vascular derangements, produces, in turn, other physical ills. Let, then, common sense, rather than preconceived notions or popular prejudices, govern the minds of my female readers, while I proceed to treat of the most common chronic diseases which affect the female organs of procreation. Derangements of the Monthly Flow. Every little girl should be early informed by her mother or guardian, that at some time during her girlhood, if her system is in a healthy condition, a flow of blood will appear from the sexual organs and recur once in about every four weeks. This function is termed menstruation. For want of proper information in this matter, many a frightened girl has resorted to every conceivable device, to check what she supposed to be an unnatural and dangerous hemorrhage; and thereby inaugurated menstrual derangements which have prematurely terminated her life or enfeebled her womanhood. I have been consulted by women of all ages who frankly attributed their physical infirmities to the fact of their having seated themselves in a snow bank, applied ice, or made other cold applications locally, in their frantic endeavors to arrest the first menstrual flow! Intelligent mothers, who in girlhood, escaped this ignorance, this crime against nature, and this penalty, I beg of you, as you value the health and happiness of your daughters, not to take it for granted that they will be as fortunate as you have been, but take it upon yourselves to discharge your whole duty to them, and impart such information in regard to their physical functions as will insure their safety. Menstruation commences generally between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and there are all kinds of unaccountable variations from this rule. In the year 1858 there was living in the town of Taunton, Mass., at the public charge, a mother who was not quite eleven years of age! One instance came under the author's observation in which the menses made their appearance at the age of only three years, and accompanying the premature advent of this function, was the development of the breasts as at the age of puberty. Another wherein a young woman married at the age of seventeen, and died childless with consumption at about thirty, without having had a menstrual flow, or any known affection of the uterine organs. No examination was made after death, but it is altogether probable that there was some obscure malformation of the upper part of the womb, the fallopian tubes, or the ovaries. Immediately preceding the first appearance of the menses, girls, reared according to the customs of our as yet imperfect civilization, feel considerable languor, aching in the back, pains in the limbs, chilliness and restlessness, and, if they come on tardily, pressure of blood in the head, headache and dizziness are usually experienced. The establishment of the function gives relief, and if the person possesses an average degree of health, the flow will take place with uniform periodicity, without unpleasant symptoms, till what is called the "turn of life," except when interrupted by child-bearing and nursing; and occasionally an instance is met with wherein pregnancy does not put a stop to the menstrual flow. "Turn of life," is when nature terminates the menstrual function, and woman becomes emancipated from the pains, anxieties, and cares of child-bearing. This takes place in some cases as early as thirty, and as late as fifty-five or sixty; but, in most cases, not far from forty-five. A statement appeared in one of the journals a few years ago, that a woman in Batavia, N. Y., was safely delivered of a male child at the age of sixty-four years! "Extremes meet," when we place this case in contrast with the one mentioned a moment before of the little girl having all the functions of womanhood at the age of three years! Change of life often takes place prematurely in persons who have suffered long from physical weakness. In these cases the flow will make its appearance irregularly, at intervals of several months, and greatly aggravate all difficulties previously existing. It was once generally supposed, and the same opinion is now entertained by many, that the menstrual flow is in some way produced by the detachment of ova or eggs from the ovaries. Physiologists thus believing, claim that pregnancy can only take place a little before, or a little after, the menstrual period. But every physician in large practice who has been disposed to give the matter investigation, finds that the ova are developing and descending at no regular period, and that nearly all women are liable to become pregnant at any time. I know that some physicians, recognizing the latter fact, account for it by saying that the zoosperm of the male enters the womb and there awaits the descent of the ova. This is improbable for two reasons, viz.: the zoosperm will not live to exceed thirty-six hours in the vagina, however healthy its secretions, and there is no reason to believe it will live longer in the cavity of the womb without nourishment; and, secondly, the exudation of blood from every part of the lining of the womb when menstruation takes place, would rather have the effect to sweep it out than to retain it, till it could find an ovum. If the two germs coalesce, some few hours or days before menstruation, it may obtain sufficient development and attachment to the walls of the uterus, to remain. But it is unphilosophical to suppose that either the zoosperin or ovum singly and alone could effect lodgment in the womb when the cavity of that organ is perfectly drenched with blood. Then, too, what becomes of the million of ova or eggs found in the ovaries by the microscope, if only one or even quite a number descend once a month! No, it is evident that the only relation that menstruation sustains to ovalation is, that the excessive presence of blood in the female generative organs, once in about twenty-eight days, stimulates the generation of the female germs. The blood that passes off, exudes from the congested vessels of the womb and from its walls, just as profuse perspiration sometimes bathes the brow, trickles in rivulets down the face, and runs in a stream from the chin. And this profuse exudation is sufficient to sweep every thing from the cavity of the womb, excepting a fœtus which may have obtained sufficient development to possess at least the rudiments of a placenta attached to its walls. "What is the use of menstruation," some one may inquire, "and what part does it perform in the physical economy?" The doctors do not essay a reply to this question, and it is consequently presumable that they do not know. They look wise, but they do not say any thing. It is perhaps one of those secrets that should not be divulged to the public! I have a theory and I am going to present it: MENSTRUATION IS NATURE'S WASH-DAY. The ovaries above the womb carry on a pretty extensive manufacturing establishment, and throw off the ova and the waste matters, or chips, through the fallopian tubes into the cavity of the uterus. While this work of generation is going on, nature has a wash-day once in about four weeks, and pouring the blood into the womb's cavity, washes its walls, and empties all outside; and in order to waste no vital material the poorest blood in the circulation is used for the purpose, for menstrual blood possesses none of the vital properties peculiar to that taken from the arm, or to that which escapes when hemorrhage occurs. While pregnancy exists, house-cleaning is generally laid aside, for a period of about nine months, and if the activity of the glands of the breasts is sufficient to arrest the production of germs in the ovaries, wash-days are not resumed until the mother has weaned her child, and the suspension of the manufacture of milk in the breasts allows the ovaries to return to their work. When at forty-five, or thereabouts, the shop is permanently closed and ovalation ceases, there is no further necessity for the wash-days, and the menstrual function disappears. The breasts and the uterine organs of the female exhibit the most intimate relationship. When menstruation commences in girlhood, |