Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

In the human subject, the child now becomes conscious of the sexual instinct, however chaste or virtuous her mind, for we must not dull our intelligence with the idea that the sexual function is unholy; it is no more so than to say our prayers; so that an additional duty is now incumbent upon mother or guardian.

The child must be made to know that she must be more reserved and guarded in her relations with the male sex; that she no longer can romp or play on the knees of male friends or visitors, and that it is dangerous and unbecoming to be left alone with them. A little later on, she must be apprised that she too may become a mother, and that that would be a great disgrace for one so young and not married. The child thus learns to protect herself against the insidious smiles and snares of the seducer, for he is ever abroad, and often family friend and trusted adviser.

There are beings who are men in form only, but at heart are black villains, and selfish brutes. When the mischief is done, then it is too late to repent of a mother’s negligence, or to bewail a child’s disgrace and man’s perfidy; the three combined make one of the most distressing scenes that it has ever been my misfortune to behold.

Successive crops of eggs ripen, and are discharged by the adult female at each menstrual period.

I have already said that the ovum is contained in the Graafian vesicle, in which it grows and matures, as the fruit ripens on a tree, so the Graafian vesicle gradually ripens for the expulsion of the ovum, which gradually makes its way to the surface of the ovary. Within the Graafian vesicle the serous fluid accumulates, so that it ruptures and discharges its little ovum, which is taken up by the fringed extremity of the Fallopian tube, and carried along the oviduct into the womb, from which it escapes into the vagina, and is lost, provided conception has not taken place.

Investigations have been made as to the number of ova certain mammalia discharge, and it has been found to correspond with the number of young that the animal produces at birth. Where a litter consists of from three to twenty, as in the bitch and the sow, a similar number of eggs ripen, and are discharged at the period of œstruation.

In the cow or mare, and in the human female, as a rule, only one egg is discharged at each period of ovulation.

The discharge of ripened ova does, however, occur in exceptional cases without any sign of the menstrual show, and the person may be susceptible to conception, so that we may reasonably infer, that ovulation constitutes the most important function of the menstrual period.

MENSTRUAL DISORDERS.