The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother

by George H. Napheys

This operation, to which every infant should be subjected, is one of great practical importance. The attempt has been made of late to shake the public faith in its efficacy, and to revive the old fabulous stories and foolish notions as to the production of serious affections of the blood and skin in this manner. At the same time, the increasing frequency and virulence of small-pox are becoming only too evident. We therefore consider it our duty, in treating of the maternal management of infancy, to lay some stress upon the necessity for vaccination as a preservative of life and health. If observation and experience ever taught anything, they have taught the protective power of this operation against the most loathsome and one of the most fatal diseases that ever afflicted the human race. And that mother who is careless and indifferent in this matter neglects for her children a means of preventing disfigurement and saving life, compared with which all other means are scarcely worthy of mention.

In order to appreciate the value of vaccination, it is only necessary to consider what small-pox was before its discovery,—to look at that disease through the eyes of our fathers and grandfathers. Until the close of the last century it was the most terrible of all the ministers of death. It filled the churchyards with corpses. When Jenner published his great discovery, about seventy years ago, the annual death-rate from small-pox in England was estimated at three thousand in the million of population. In other countries of Europe the rate reached as high as four thousand in the million. And these fatal cases must be multiplied by five or six, to give the entire number of persons annually attacked by the disease. It spared neither high nor low. Macaulay informs us that Queen Mary, the wife of William III., fell a victim to it. Those in whom the disease did not prove fatal, carried about with them the hideous traces of its malignity; for it 'turned the babe into a changeling at which the mother shuddered,' and made 'the eyes and cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover.' Few escaped being attacked by this fell disease. Nearly one-tenth of all the persons who died in London during the last century died of this one cause. Children were peculiarly its victims. In some of the great cities of England more than one-third of all the deaths among children under ten years of age arose from small-pox. Two-thirds of all the applicants for relief at the Hospital for the Indigent Blind had lost their sight by small-pox. The number of hopeless deafened ears, crippled joints, and broken-down constitutions from the same cause cannot be accurately computed, but was certainly very large. Vaccination is all that now stands between us and all these horrors of the last century.

Is the strength of this barrier doubted?—Its efficacy is readily proved. In England, during the twelve years (1854-1865) in which vaccination has been to a certain extent compulsory, the average annual rate of deaths by small-pox has been two hundred and two in the million of population. Contrast this with the annual death-rate of three thousand to the million, which was the average of thirty years previous to the introduction of vaccination. Mr. John Simon, medical officer of Her Majesty's Privy Council, one of the best statisticians in England, has collected a formidable array of figures, 'to doubt which would be to fly in the face of the multiplication-table.' From his mountain-height of statistics Mr. Simon says: 'Wheresoever vaccination falls into neglect, small-pox tends to become again the same frightful pestilence it was in the days before Jenner's discovery; and wherever it is universally and properly performed, small-pox tends to be of as little effect as any extinct epidemic of the Middle Ages.'

Are other diseases ever produced by vaccination?—The popular belief would answer this question in the affirmative. All affections of the skin and swelling's of the glands noticed in children soon after vaccination, are attributed by parents in many cases to this operation. They forget that such diseases are met with constantly in infancy and childhood, as often among the unvaccinated as the vaccinated. Observation does not show that they occur with greater frequency among the vaccinated. An English physician has been at the trouble to examine and record a thousand cases of skin disease in children: he found no evidence whatever that vaccination disposes the constitution to such affections. It has been stated with apparent justness, that parental complaints of this kind frequently arise from their unwillingness to believe there is anything wrong in their offspring. Hence, when other diseases follow, vaccination gets blamed for what is really and truly due to other causes. So far from doing any harm to the system, it has been observed in those countries where vaccination has been most thoroughly practised, that, leaving small-pox out of the question, there have been fewer deaths from other maladies. This is especially true of two of the most important classes of diseases, namely, scrofulous affections and low fever. For this reason, some medical statisticians have attributed to vaccination an indirect protective influence against these disorders.

At what age should the child be vaccinated?—If the health permit, the operation should always be performed in very early infancy. The chief sufferers from small-pox are young children. One-fourth of all who die from this fatal disease in England are children under the age of one year. In Scotland, where until recently vaccination has been much more neglected than in England, the proportion even amounted to nearly one-third; and of these, one-fourth were under the age of three months. The great risk, particularly in large towns, where small-pox is seldom absent, of delaying vaccination is obvious. City children, if hearty, should be vaccinated when a month or six weeks old. Rarely or never ought it to be delayed beyond two or three months. This early period of life is also particularly suitable to vaccination, because the accompanying fever will then be over before the disturbing influence of teething begins.

RE-VACCINATION.

If the first vaccination be found imperfect in character, that is, if it has not properly 'taken,' the operation should be repeated at the earliest opportunity. It has been recommended, in all cases, to perform a second vaccination not later than the sixth or eighth year. If small-pox be prevailing, it is proper to vaccinate all who have not been vaccinated within three or four years. In any event, re-vaccination at or after the period of puberty is of extreme importance. It will give additional security even to those whose original vaccination was perfect. In some cases, the susceptibility to small-pox is not wholly exhausted by one vaccination. Inasmuch as it is desirable for every one to escape this disease, even in its most modified form, re-vaccination should always be performed, as it affords a very sure and trustworthy means of such escape. After successful re-vaccination, small-pox, even in its mildest shape, is rarely met with. In girls especially, in whom the changes which occur at puberty are most marked, re-vaccination should be performed about the age of fourteen.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

During infancy the body grows with great rapidity. About the end of the third year one-half of the adult height of the body is attained. After this period growth is more gradual; for in order to reach the remaining half, about eighteen years more are required. At twenty years of age the height is somewhat more than three and a half times that at birth, and the weight about twenty times. Development does not go on at an equal rate in all parts of the body. The lower limbs, small at birth, increase proportionally more rapidly, while the head, relatively large at birth, developes more slowly. The muscular system is gradually strengthened. At the end of the third month the infant is able, if in good health, readily to support its head; at the fourth month it can be held upright; at the ninth month it crawls about the floor; by the end of the year it is able with assistance to step; and between one and two years, at different times, according to its vigor and activity, it acquires the power of standing and walking alone. The periods of greatest and least growth of the child are, on the one hand, spring and summer; on the other, autumn and winter. It has long been known that animals grow more rapidly in the spring than at any other season of the year. This has been attributed to the abundance of herbage they are then able to obtain. It has been ascertained by actual measurement, that children grow chiefly in the spring.

At six months of age the child begins to lisp, and at twelve months it is usually able to utter distinct and intelligible sounds of one or two syllables. The development of the senses and of the mind proceeds gradually. The sense of hearing is more active and further advanced than that of sight. Sounds are appreciated sooner than light or bright colored objects. The next sense which is developed is perhaps that of taste; then follow smell and touch.