Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

Warmth of the lower extremities is a very important point in a female’s apparel, and of more importance than all the other questions raised on this subject. The exposures endured by women, from ignorance or indifference to this fact, is, in my experience, a fruitful source of disease. The chilling blast which sweeps under the skirts must be mitigated and the moist vapor arising from a damp and cold earth neutralized. If the limbs are only protected by thin cotton fabrics, they are insufficiently clad to avoid the evils above mentioned. It is of the greatest importance that the limbs of women should be incased in flannel drawers, and these can be worn underneath the white muslin or linen ones, and the hose, especially in cold or damp weather, should be made of woolen material; the soles of the shoes should be sufficiently heavy so as not to be permeable by the moisture from the ground, and in wet or rainy weather rubber overshoes are always a necessity. When the feet and lower limbs are kept warm, the whole body is more or less protected against cold.

Superfluous or too warm garments are the cause of an endless variety of diseases. The rule is this, that any garment which by its weight or thickness excites perspiration when the wearer sits quietly or exercises moderately, is either superfluous or too thick or heavy, and, as perspiration relaxes and softens the skin, it makes one susceptible to take cold. It is reported on good authority that sealskin wraps cause more deaths among those who wear them than typhoid fever and for the reason above mentioned. Loosely-woven woolen goods make the best wraps and the best underwear. If we were called upon to state a single proposition which we considered of the greatest importance in preventing disease, we would frankly say that, next to an irregular and unwholesome diet, excessive clothing is the most mischievous factor in causing or predisposing to disease.

The same rule applies to bedcovering; if it be so heavy as to make the sleeper sweat during the night, he is almost sure to take cold from the sudden change, from a warm, moist bed to the cool room or comparatively chilled clothing.

Imprudence during menstruation. A heedless disregard, ignorance, or carelessness of the precautions above referred to is, during the catamenial days, quite sure to lay the foundation for disease. Every practitioner has met with a great number of cases where the disease originated during menstruation from some indiscretion, and it ran on for years, until a condition of affairs was developed which was well-nigh incurable.

The female organism is particularly sensitive about this time and much easier affected than at any other.

During this period the ovaries and uterus are intensely congested, and the Fallopian tubes which connect the former with the latter share this condition, and if a cold should suddenly check or interfere with the natural functions of these organs, it might result in inflammation of the ovaries or in a catarrh of the tubes and womb. Any one of these conditions is painful and often troublesome to cure, but when all these organs are complicated in the diseased process, which we frequently find to be the case, it may entail serious consequences.

Dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation, will be a prominent symptom, if any of the above organs have suffered from imprudence, during this period, and I have known of cases which gave me no end of trouble before they were restored to health.

Measurements of the healthy uterus. In a grown person the average length is three inches, two inches in breadth and an inch in thickness. It weighs from an ounce to an ounce and a half. The size of the uterus is an important guide to the physician in establishing the presence or absence of certain diseases.

In the child-bearing period measurements and weight change, because the organ grows correspondingly large to accommodate the growth of the child.