INTRODUCTION.
I now present to the public a few thoughts in book form, trusting that they will be accepted on their merits alone. The following pages contain a few simple appeals to common sense, and are addressed to mothers, nurses, and women generally. All honor is due to a far-seeing legislation which has recognized the importance of fitting woman for the great and natural office of nurse, or doctress of medicine; for by it facilities are offered to each member of a community for the promotion of Christian enlightenment. By frequent visits through various parts of the United States, at all seasons of the year, as well as by quite an extensive opportunity while in the capacity of family nurse, and subsequent practitioner, I have become quite familiar with those ailments and diseases which afflict many infants from birth to the close of the teething period, or till after the fifth year of their age.
It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to be in a position to relieve the sufferings of others. Later in life I devoted my time, when best I could, to nursing as a business, serving under different doctors for a period of eight years (from ’52 to ’60); most of the time at my adopted home in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. From these doctors I received letters commending me to the faculty of the New England Female Medical College, whence, four years afterward, I received the degree of Doctress of Medicine. I then practised in Boston, but desiring a larger scope for general information, I travelled toward the British Dominion. On my return, after the close of the Confederate War, my mind centred upon Richmond, the capital city of Virginia, as the proper field for real missionary work, and one that would present ample opportunities to become acquainted with the diseases of women and children.
During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was enabled, through the agency of the Bureau under Gen. Brown, to have access each day to a very large number of the indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored. At the close of my services in that city I returned to my former home, Boston, where I entered into the work with renewed vigor, practising outside, and receiving children in the house for treatment; regardless, in a measure, of remuneration. Although not now in a locality where my constant attendance is required, I do not fail to notice the various published records of the condition of the health of Boston and vicinity.
That woman should study the mechanism of the human structure to better enable her to protect life, before assuming the office of nurse, few will agree. But that good service has been performed by those who were entirely ignorant of it, every one must admit. In my own experience, there was much that to me was obscure, yet, strange to say, I never met with an accident. A kind Father directed every thought in behalf of the helpless.
I believe matrimony to be a divine institution; and that the results arising from a union of the sexes should be considered an important study for each party concerned. If we as intelligent beings sit still in this matter of physical security, premature decay must take the place of perfection. Since I have, with no small degree of diffidence, consented to submit my long-kept journal to the public in the form of a book, I desire to present the different subjects by the use of as few technical terms as possible; and to make my statements brief, simple, and comprehensive. Indeed I desire that my book shall be as a primary reader in the hands of every woman; and yet none the less suited to any who may be conversant with all branches of medical science. If women are permitted to read and reflect for themselves, it is hardly possible that they will say it is uninteresting to them, or that it should only be read by men.
In dealing with subjects that bring to mind thousands of premature mortalities, as, for instance, those from cholera infantum or pneumonia, I deem it expedient to speak only of what I know and to which I can testify. I have endeavored to give some domestic or ready palliative reliefs for the several cases described; thereby hoping to avoid the possibility of a remedy’s being applied without an acquaintance with the character and phases of the complaint for which it is intended. There is no doubt that thousands of little ones annually die at our very doors, from diseases which could have been prevented, or cut short by timely aid. People do not wish to feel that death ensues through neglect on their part; indeed they speak of consumption, cholera infantum, and diphtheria, etc., as if sent by God to destroy our infants.
They seem to forget that there is a cause for every ailment, and that it may be in their power to remove it. My chief desire in presenting this book is to impress upon somebody’s mind the possibilities of prevention.
Medical Discourses.
CHAPTER I.
HOW TO MARRY.
At what age should a girl marry? is a question frequently asked by young girls of some confiding friend, and almost as frequently unsatisfactorily answered. Suppose the question be amended thus:—At what age and how should young girls marry? The answer to the last clause I would say, taking all things into consideration, with the consent of parents or guardians, it is best for a young woman to accept a suitor who is respectable, vigorous, industrious, and but a few years her senior, if not of an equal age. One who gives evidence, previous to wedlock, of being both capable and willing to take the entire responsibility of a wife upon himself. No objections, of course, to a union with wealth, all other things being equal. No sickly, sensitive young girl need expect to have it all sunshine, even with an industrious, well-meaning man for a husband, rich or poor. The age of a young woman should be about 19 or 20. It should be remembered that the union of persons of premature growth, that is before the body is well developed on either side, favors weakly children. And the same is true of the union of persons far advanced in years. Weakly mixtures also produce delicate children. A union of persons whose parents are of unmixed blood, and whose statures are nearly in proportion, usually turns out well. A man’s age should be between 22 and 25 when taking the responsibility of a family upon him. I will add just here that the way to be happy after marriage is to continue in the careful routine of the courting days, till it becomes a well understood thing between the two.
After marriage, if medical aid is required by the wife, let it be sought in a direction that there will never be cause to regret. Some women are over anxious for a family, and by their nervous whims make themselves and those around them unhappy. But it is to be deplored that there is a much larger class of young women whose minds are dark on the subject of preservation of health, and who soon forget, if they ever thought of the liabilities of a married life. On taking cold or feeling languid or nauseated a physician must at once be sent for. It should be borne in mind that many women begin to show signs of pregnancy by cold, severe pain in the head, back, stomach, or various parts of the body.
Numbers begin and continue for months with severe cramp colic, and if remedies of a powerful nature are applied, the mischief may be alarming. Many of the teas, sweats, baths, and potions that are effective in relieving a cold will be wholly ineffective when pregnancy is certain. Therefore repeated trials but disturbs the nervous system of the mother, through which all things are transmitted to the living germ. In all cases of suppression of the monthly flow after marriage, a careful physician should be at once consulted, if there is any reason to doubt that it is caused by pregnancy. Suffice it to say that too frequent physicking and over-indulgence in intoxicating liquors and tobacco, will cause sickly diminutive offspring, to say nothing of premature births.
CHAPTER II.
THE PRESENT MODES OF WASHING AND DRESSING THE NEW-BORN.
Usually, as soon as the birth of a child is announced, a basin or tub of hot water is ordered. The washing begins with a “wee bit of rag” and a great cake of perfumed soap purchased long, long before, for the occasion. Then follows wiping with a great linen towel, during which time the creature gets well aired, being indirectly exhibited to as many as have courage to look on and admire “the cunning little thing.”
“The water must be hot, to get off the grease,” said an old nurse. Aye, but with ignorant help would it be surprising if a little of the skin came off first? In more favored circles a nice bath tub is prepared, the water of an equal temperature with the room. Some fine soap is put in to make a suds, which is applied after the surface of the body is oiled. Some cold water adherents persist in using ice-cold water upon a new-born babe, depending on “rubbing it to get up a circulation.” I once knew a divine (divines have rules sometimes) whose customs led him to have his only child washed in this way, and believing in the adage of “the hair of the dog curing the bite,” he continued to doctor it himself for eighteen months; from its birth to its death, with cold water. The babe received a severe cold, stopping up its nostrils and air-tubes, and rendering its little life wholly miserable. To the cause of all this suffering they gave the technical name, Catarrh.
The methods of washing infants just described are more common even in this enlightened age of humanity than is generally known. The excuse for cold baths may exist in the mode of life of the erratic tribes, or among uncivilized nations whose minds are dark upon the construction and office of a nervous system. The several sad results that I myself have witnessed at times, and places, that it was not deemed my business to speak, have led me to adopt what seemed a more humane course. With the use of cold water some judgment is required, as many infants, when born, are weak, and ready to yield up life upon the application of the slightest sedative. The skin being so largely supplied with nerves which transmit all sensations to the internal organs, as telegraph wires do the electric current. Thus cold water may send a chill to some vital part, the result of which no effort in the power of man can counteract. It is next to impossible to keep a babe as warm as it should be going through with the customary routine. Indeed it is not at all uncommon for a babe to be laid beside its mother (if not alone in a crib) lips purple and cold as a lump of clay. I once looked upon a babe who from this cause had for three days resisted all attempts to get it warm. Thus, I fear, many come and go. Does any desire to preserve the vitality of a new being? Then it will not suffice to be too self-assured or too oriental to seek to improve in the matter.
I deeply regret to have to state that I have heard many apparently intelligent persons express opposition to the continuation of the human species. But let me ask, What devastating visitations may we not expect if we seek to diminish God’s images by any selfish or misguided motives?