for the fact that those of my readers with a houseful of babies might feel surprised to find space, however limited, devoted to the subject of barrenness.

A wife who has had four or five children, generally wishes herself barren, feeling that she has done her share toward populating the world, and she is entirely unfitted by her fruitfulness, to sympathize with one, who, loving children, has none of her own to love. But, taking a serious view of the matter, however badly children may sometimes turn out, childless old age is a dismal future for the mind to dwell upon, and, having reached it, the present is no less cheerless. The hearthstone of a married pair, in the vigor of life, is electrified with the presence of the bright roguish eyes which mischievously watch the smiles and frowns of approving and reproving papas and mammas, while no vernacular is so enchanting as the hesitating and rambling utterances of "our baby " when it first begins to kill the king's English. The new father seems more dignified, and stands several inches higher in his stockings, while the mother is never tired of relating the extraordinary feats and accomplishments, or quoting the wise remarks of her prodigy. Passing the meridian of life, doting parents watch with pride the developing genius of a promising son, or the unfolding brilliancy, beauty, or goodness of a favorite daughter, while the infirmities of old age are deprived of their depressing influences by the affectionate attentions of grateful children. Therefore the desire for children is natural, and all honorable means to obtain them excusable. A woman who is devotedly attached to them cannot imagine how far she might go in her attempts to become a mother, unless placed right in the position of one who has spent many years of married life without a sign of pregnancy.

The female members of the human family very early give evidence of their love of children. A little girl who knows nothing of the process of obtaining a living child, nor possesses sufficient physical development to produce one, evinces her love of offspring by making rag babies, and dressing and caressing the dolls which are purchased for her at the store. As she becomes older, she loses attraction for this imitation of the real article, and loves to attend a live baby. A noble woman has said: "Motherhood is the ideal state of womanhood to every woman not arrived there. Woman must yearn for motherhood because she is woman."

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The long and short of the matter is, no woman, in the secret recesses

of her own heart, will felicitate herself with the reflection that she is physically incapacitated to bear a child. You who read this, and who, in middle or advanced age are without children, will whisper to yourselves "This is true." Aside from the incentive to child bearing, which proceeds directly from the love of children on the part of woman, the wife naturally fears that she will lose the affection of the husband if, after many years of marriage, there is no issue; nor is this fear without foundation, for instances are not wanting wherein separations have occurred simply on this account. Napoleon and his Josephine present a notorious example of this kind, and probably every reader will remember some such case coming under his or her immediate observation. At least, I am confident, every physician in large practice has personally known of one or more such cases.

Considering, then, the importance of the subject, do not require me to go around that information which may be most useful to you, for the purpose of employing words and illustratious which cannot possibly offend the false modesty of some who are unwilling to take a sensible view of any thing relating to the organs of procreation. These pages have been written for the childless by one who has given much attention to what is popularly called barrenness; but those belonging to this unfortunate class, who are at all given to prudery, should avoid even a cursory perusal of the matter presented herein. Our Creator has as yet, so far as the writer's observation extends, provided only one process for procreation. That process may be varied to meet the necessities of various cases; but in some way or other the germ generated in what is called the testicles of man, must be brought in contact, in the womb, with the germ generated in one of the ovaries of woman. We who call ourselves human beings, properly belong to the animal kingdom, and must consequently be governed by the laws which govern animal life and its perpetuation. However sexual intercourse may be regarded as an act indulged in for merely sexual gratification, for the single high purpose of reproduction, it should be considered not only free from vulgar criticism, but as one divinely chaste, and, indeed, indispensable, unless we can all adopt Shaker philosophy and theology. In fact, it is not participation in this peculiar physical contact for the main purpose of reproduction, that has led the whole affair to be privately esteemed attractive and unavoidable, and to be publicly

considered disgusting; but rather excessive copulation for the mere sexual pleasure it affords. A man who gluts his stomach with rich viands and libations from his breakfast hour until bed-time, ultimately becomes dyspeptic, and when his appetite has become cloyed, and his stomach painfully sensitive, he regards nearly all food as disgusting and nauseating. Forgetful of his former habits, he is surprised at the gluttony of his more fortunate neighbors who have not yet reached the stage of diseased stomach, and he thinks the world is made up of despicable gourmands. Now, a large majority of men and women are sexual dyspeptics. In other words, they and their ancestors have drank so deeply and so unnaturally from the cup of sexual pleasure, that the act by which God designed mankind to perpetuate itself, and the organs which he gave to perform the function of procreation, are looked upon as not only inherently disgusting, but beneath the worthy attention of Christianized people. Sexual connection may be indulged in as an animal necessity in the privacy of the bedchamber, or even in the abode of the harlot; but a treatise upon these organs and the most effectual plans for securing fruitfulness to those who have been denied the pleasures of maternity and paternity, may not unlikely be regarded as impure, obscene, and unfit for perusal. My idea is simply this: That sexual intercourse for merely sensual pleasure when true affection is absent, may not be morally or religiously elevating; for the purpose of procreation, it is neither socially, morally, nor religiously debasing, but rather obedience to a divine mandate. It may be entirely right, and in harmony with the design of the Almighty, that men and women should cohabit to a moderate extent for pleasure only. There are those who question this. It is, certainly, in harmony with the design of our Creator that cohabitation should take place between the sexes for perpetuating our species. This cannot be questioned by a reasonable person who has not a Shaker cavity in his brain. The reproductive organs then, instead of being morally neglected and treated as too vulgar for our consideration, should be regarded as the most valuable of all our organs, and the most worthy of our care, so that they may be employed, at least, for the most important object of their creation. The stomach digests the food which supports life; the organs of the brain give rise to various thoughts, feelings, and emotions; our eyes enable us to see objects beautiful, or disagreeable about us; our ears to hear sweet sounds or grating discord; our

Roses to smell delightful odors or disgusting fumes; and all the other organs of the human body, excepting the reproductive, minister simply to the being who now lives; but none of them possesses the mysterious power of a creator; none can reproduce themselves; and, excepting for the procreative organs, all those I have named would cease to exist in a little time. When we consider this fact, it is hardly strange that the people of the pagan world worship images fashioned like the procreative organs of both sexes; but it is strange that any process of refinement, or any school of civilization should have been able to lead the human family to be ashamed of them. It has been said very truly, that "many people are ashamed that they have bodies ;" and it may be still further said that nearly all are ashamed of the most complex and wonderful of all the organs of those bodies. If, as a large share of the human family believe, this false sentiment is the result of sin—if the fall of man led him to envelop himself in fig-leaves, it seems to me that we had better all get up as soon as we can, and comport ourselves as obedient children of our common Father. The child may be to blame for falling, but there is not a particle of excuse for his not making an effort to regain his feet.

Let it be understood that this chapter is intended for sensible people-for those who can look beyond the prudery of Mrs. Grundy, and appreciate the true uses of things-for true men and women who are disposed to take a scientific view of important matters, however delicate, without a too sensitive regard to the conventional prejudices to which civilization in its infancy has given rise; in brief, for those who possess all the foregoing qualities, with a laudable desire to be happy fathers and mothers.

The Causes of Barrenness.

I do not propose in this chapter to treat upon every possible cause, but rather to confine myself to those causes which may in some way or other be overcome. Those causes which may be put down as irremediable in any way whatever, are those arising from some congenital malformations of the organs of procreation which are sometimes met with, or some organic destruction of the completeness of the procreative system by disease, accident, or surgical operation. Among the former may be mentioned deformities of the vagina,

womb, fallopian tubes, and ovaries of the female; or testicles, sper. matic tubes, or penis of the male. Among the latter may be named strictures of the womb of an obstinate character, caused by inflammation or ulceration of the cavity, stricture of the fallopian tubes, misplacement of the fimbriated extremities of the fallopian tubes, permanent adhesions of the fimbria to the ovaries, and a partial destruction of the ovaries of the female; and of the male, the removal of the testicles by disease or the surgeon's knife, their partial destruction by self-pollution and sexual excesses, the permanent consolidation or obstruction of the tubes carrying the semen from the testicles to the seminal vessels, and such a permanent obstruction of the canal of the urethra as to resist the propelling force of the ejaculatory ducts, causing the seminal fluids to be emptied into the bladder.

Those which may be regarded as common, and which may be obviated by some means, may be classified in the order of their frequency, as follows-First: local inadaptation. Second: diseased condition of the wife. Third: diseased condition of the husband. Fourth excessive amativeness. Fifth: temperamental inadaptation.

Local Inadaptation.

This is pretty faithfully represented in all its varied phases in figures 127 and 128, which I have had designed and engraved expressly to illustrate this essay. No attempt has been made at anatomical accuracy in giving the form of either the male or the female organs. The obvious reason for this, is to avoid unnecessary offence to what is popularly regarded as refined taste.

I am more and more convinced, every year of my practice, that local inadaptation is the commonest cause of barrenness. While it is true that some women are so susceptible to impregnation that they will conceive if the seminal fluids be but deposited within the lips of the vagina, whatever may be the position of the womb, there are very many who cannot, unless the local adaptation is so perfect as to cause the fluids of the male to be poured directly into or upon the mouth of the womb. In an excited state of the healthy uterus, the mouth draws toward itself and sucks up at least a portion of the male fluids, if deposited near it; but this absorbing or suction power differs to a remarkable degree in women,-so much so, indeed, that in some who greatly enjoy the copulative act, it is feeble, and