The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 3 (of 4) / A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies

Mother and Child, by Lorado Taft
So strong is becoming the ambitions of the mothers of to-day to give the world children that will be an honor to-morrow, that this piece of marble statuary was erected by the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago to express the ideal of the most wonderful thing that can come to any woman—motherhood.
College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University), New York; Member of County Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association
New York THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS COMPANY 1916
Copyright, 1913, by W. Grant Hague Copyright, 1914, by W. Grant Hague


The achievement of an object is dependent upon our determination. Effort is a matter of will. Failure is a product of misdirected determination.
The Best Age at Which to Marry—Incompatibility of Temperament—A Happy Marriage Need Not Be a Successful One—The Evils of Early Marriage—The Wedding Night, its Medical Aspect—The Honeymoon—When Marital Relations are Painful—Times when Marital Relations Should be Suspended—The First Weeks and Months of Wifehood—The Formative Period—A True Marriage—A Wife's True Position in the Household—Only Five Per Cent. of Happy Marriages—Period of Adaptation—Differences of Opinion—Differences of Principle—The Attainment of Success—Arguing Trifles—You Must Know What You Want—The Right Kind of Wife—Contributing to Her Husband's Efficiency—What Are the Requisites of Efficiency—Good Health—Thoroughly Cooked Meals—Rest at Night—Having a System—Enough Exercise—Freedom from Worry—Do Your Part—The First Quarrel—Fault Finding—The Husband's Efficiency Depends Upon the Wife—Work Must be Interesting—The Wife's Part.
In order to determine the best age at which to marry, we must be guided by certain fixed standards. We must find out from statistics the average age of the parents of the best babies. We must determine and analyse the qualifications of what constitutes the best babies, according to the eugenic ideal. We should give heed to the fixity of temperamental characteristics in order to determine their adaptability to conditions that prevail at certain ages. We should select an age in advance of the period at which science has determined individuals to have outlived any hereditary tendencies.