Chapter VI: Part 6

“It is no new or uncertain doctrine, that the quality of the mother’s milk is affected by her own health and conduct, and that in its turn it directly affects the health of the nursling. Even medicines given to the parent act upon the child through the medium of the milk; and a sudden fit of anger, or other violent mental emotion, has not unfrequently been observed to change the quality of the fluid so much as to produce purging and gripes in the child. Care and anxiety, in like manner, exert a most pernicious influence, and not only diminish the quantity, but vitiate the quality of the milk.

“It is a common mistake to suppose that, because a woman is nursing, she ought, therefore, to live very fully, and to add an allowance of wine, porter, or other fermented liquor, to her usual diet. The only result of this plan is to cause an unnatural degree of fullness in the system, which places the nurse on the brink of disease, and which of itself frequently puts a stop to, instead of increasing, the secretion of the milk. The health and usefulness of country nurses are often utterly ruined by their transplantation into the families of rich and luxurious employers. Accustomed at home to constant bodily exertion, exposure to the air, and a moderate supply of the plainest food, they live in the enjoyment of the best health, and constitute excellent nurses. But the moment they are transplanted from their proper sphere, their habits and mode of life undergo an unfavourable change. Having no longer any laborious duties to perform or any daily exposure to encounter, they become plethoric and indolent; and as they are at the same time too well fed, the digestive functions become impaired, the system speedily participates in the disorder, and the milk, which was at first bland, nourishing, and plentiful, now becomes heating and insufficient, and sometimes even stops altogether.”

_Cocoa shells_, made precisely like coffee, make a very pleasant and nutritious drink for nursing females.

_Weaning._—“Diet for infants after weaning may be pure milk, two parts, water, one part; slightly sweetened. This,” says Combe, “makes the nearest approach to the nature of the mother’s milk, and, therefore, is more suitable than any preparation of milk and flour, or any other that can be given.” A child, as a general rule, one year old, ought to be gradually weaned, and the appearance of the teeth shows the propriety of giving food a little more substantial than milk. Bread a day old, mixed with milk and sweetened, may be given in connexion with nursing. Gruel, arrowroot, plain bread, Indian and rice puddings as they grow older, and subsequently bread and butter, thickened milk, hasty pudding or Indian, potatoes, and vegetables. Not a particle of flesh should ever be given. By the use of meat the system becomes excited, and diseases of irritation are apt to be produced, which impede nutrition, and lead ultimately to the production of scrofula and other organic changes in the glands and bowels, and not unfrequently also in the brain and lungs. In these instances the child generally eats heartily, but, nevertheless, continues thin, and is subject to frequent flushing and irregularity of the bowels, headache, and restlessness. His mind partakes of the general irritability of the system, and peevish impatience takes the place of the placid good humour natural to healthy childhood. In this state the ordinary diseases of infancy—measles, scarlet fever, and hooping-cough—are often attended with an unusual and dangerous degree of constitutional disturbance; and when inflammation takes place it is borne with difficulty, and the system does not easily rally; or the digestive organs become irritated, and the various secretions immediately connected with digestion are diminished, especially the biliary secretion. Constipation of the bowels soon follows; congestion of the hepatic and abdominal veins succeeds, and is followed by the train of consequences which have already been detailed. In reality the wonder comes to be, not that so many children die, but that so many survive their early mismanagement. A morbid condition of the system arises, extremely favourable to the production of scrofulous, consumptive, dyspeptic, and other diseases, under which, perhaps, the infant sinks; and yet, strange to state, parents will stuff their children with flesh and grease two or three times a day.

Says Combe, “One of the most pernicious habits in which children can be indulged is that of almost incessant eating. Many mothers encourage it from the facility with which, for a time, the offer of ‘something nice’ procures peace. Even from infancy the child ought to be gradually accustomed to eat only when hungry, and when food is really required. After two years of age an interval of four hours between meals, will rarely be more than enough; and to give biscuit, fruit, or bread, in the meantime, is just subtracting from the digestive power of the stomach. Like almost every organ of the body, the stomach requires a period of repose after the labour of digestion; and accordingly, in the healthy state, the sensation of appetite never returns till it has been for some time empty. To give food sooner, therefore, is analogous to making a weary traveller walk on without the refreshment of a halt.”

“When we reflect that the object of digestion is, to furnish materials for the growth of the body, and to supply the waste which the system is constantly undergoing, it must appear self-evident that, if the digestive powers be impaired by disease, by improper quantity or quality of food, or by any other cause, the result must necessarily be the formation of an imperfect chyle, and, consequently, of imperfect blood. The elements of the blood are derived from the chyle, and, if _it_ be vitiated, the blood also must suffer: if the blood be diseased, so must necessarily be all the organs which it supplies; and if the body be thus debilitated, can any wonder be felt that it should no longer be able to resist the action of offending causes which full health alone can withstand?”

_Clothing._—Infants and children are often injured by improper clothing. It is customary for some nurses to wrap them in such a quantity as to injure their health; moderation in this respect should be observed, due regard being paid to that which is sufficient to render them comfortable. Infants, when first born, have clothing enough almost to smother them.

_Medicine._—Another very reprehensible custom is, to pour down some nauseous drug, such as paregoric, Godfrey’s cordial, or some other articles, every time the child begins to cry or is fretful, by which it becomes habituated to the use of opium, and makes it necessary to increase the dose in order to produce the same effect.

Another injurious practice is to give frequently worm lozenges (the basis of which is calomel or mercury) upon any attack of illness, under the impression that the disorder is occasioned by worms. By this imprudent course both the health and life of the child are endangered. Therefore those who wish to bring up their children in a healthy condition must avoid these evils, and be content to follow the simple path of nature and common sense.

Few things tend more to the destruction of children than drenching them with drugs. Medicine may be _sometimes_ necessary for children; but that it injures them ten times for once it does them good, I will venture to assert. A nurse or mother, the moment her child seems to ail anything, runs immediately to the doctor or the apothecary, who throws in his powders, pills and potions, till the poor infant is poisoned; when the child might have been restored to perfect health by a change of diet, air, exercise, clothing, or some very easy and simple means.

Care must be taken to keep the bowels regular, which may be effected in most cases by the milk of the mother alone. Most of the complaints in children arise from flatulence or wind; to remove which give common catnip or fennel seed tea, let them drink it freely, and let the mother regulate her diet.

When children complain of pain in the stomach and bowels, it may be necessary sometimes to give a moderate dose of vegetable physic; _senna_ and _manna_ is very good; after the operation of physic let the diet be attended to. Green fruit must be avoided, and whatever is hard of digestion. The feet should be often bathed in warm water, the bowels must be fomented with bitter herbs, and it is also necessary to give the child sufficient exercise in the open air.

_Bathing_ should never be neglected, as it contributes much to health. Many complaints of the skin and the system are caused by the neglect of this practice. Filth collects on the surface, obstructs perspiration, which retains morbid humors, and which are thrown upon some of the internal organs and create irritation. Is it not owing to this that infants fret and cry so much? Daily bathe with tepid water; this is also good for galling, chafing, excoriations, &c.

_Pure Air and Exercise._—This is very necessary; impure and confined air with the want of exercise, causes disease; and hence children in cities are more pale, feeble, and sickly than those who live in the country and breathe pure air and play in the dirt. Confining children at home, in low, confined, dirty houses, cellars, and in school-rooms, is pernicious; also crowding too many in sleeping-rooms. When children are confined in small apartments, the air not only becomes unwholesome, but the heat relaxes their solids, renders them delicate, and disposes them to colds and many other disorders. Nor is the custom of wrapping them too close in cradles less pernicious. One would think that nurses were afraid lest children should suffer by breathing free air, as many of them actually cover the child’s face while asleep, and others wrap a covering over the whole cradle, by which means the child is forced to breathe the same air over and over all the time it sleeps. Children, therefore, must have as much _exercise_ and _air_ as possible, and should be employed in something useful and interesting.

Again; “The premature exertion of intellect to which the mind is stimulated at our schools, by the constant emulation and vanity, far from strengthening, tends to impair the health and tone of the brain, and of all the organs depending on it; and hence we rarely perceive the genius of the school manifesting in future years any of the superiority which attracted attention in early life.”

BARRENNESS.

Sterility proceeds from either a temporary or permanent incapability of conceiving or retaining the embryo, till it acquires a form. The causes producing this incapability, may consist in some malformation or deficiency of the womb, or its appendages, which cannot always be discovered during life, or in merely a weakness in the action of the womb. This last is by far the most frequent cause, and it is occasioned by local weakness of the womb, or general affections of the whole system; and is marked usually by an obstruction, deficiency, or redundancy of the menstrual evacuation, or by the complaint termed female weakness.

It may be considered as highly probable, that the absence of the capacity to be impregnated, will sometimes depend upon the imperfect condition of either the uterus itself or of the ovaries. If the former, it may consist in some derangement of the secreting surface of this organ; for, though there may be a regular discharge of a colored fluid, and this so nearly resembling the perfect secretion as to deceive the senses, it may yet want an essential condition or quality, and thus entail barrenness—hence, all women are not fruitful who may have a regular catamenial discharge; though, as far as can be determined by appearances, this discharge is every way healthy, and at the same time, the ovaries free from fault.

If it depend upon an imperfection of the ovaria, it may not, perhaps, admit of relief. The diseases of the ovaria may consist, 1st, in their imperfect development; 2dly, in derangement of structure; 3dly, in a want of a healthy organization of the ova themselves. Now, either of these conditions of the ovaria may be so complete as to altogether destroy their influence upon the secreting surface of the uterus; the catamenial discharge may, therefore, continue, with all due regularity, and yet the woman may be barren; and, hence, this discharge cannot be considered, rigidly, as a constant sign of fertility.

Yet it may be safely admitted, as a general rule, that women who menstruate regularly without pain, or the expulsion of coagula, or false membrane, are fecund; and that the reverse of these conditions is almost sure to be attended with sterility. It may also be observed, that we cannot attach much consequence to the quantity evacuated; for the woman who may evacuate double the quantity of another, is not for this reason more certainly prolific. I have known a number of instances of repeated impregnations, where, as far as could be ascertained, not more than two ounces were habitually evacuated; and this not occupying more than a day and a half, or two days, for its elimination: while, on the contrary, I have known women who were barren, discharge three or four times this quantity; and the fluid bear all the sensible marks of a healthy secretion. From this it would appear, that mere regularity in returns, the elimination of a proper quantity of fluid, and this fluid apparently of a healthy character, do not always declare the woman to be fecund. Yet, when the woman has never menstruated, or when this discharge has altogether ceased, agreeably to the ordinary arrangement of nature, or from disease, she either never becomes impregnated, or ceases to become so, if she ever have been.

We proceed on the principle of rectifying the constitution, where it is injured or weak, and of restoring the menstrual evacuation, to its due and healthy state. The means for effecting these purposes, must depend on the situation of the individual.

_Causes._

There are chiefly two states of the constitution productive of those deviations in the action of the womb, which cause barrenness. The first is a state of fulness, and a disposition to obesity.

The person gradually becomes fat and inactive, the menstrual evacuation continues regular for some time; but at last diminishes, and becomes obstructed, or goes to the opposite extreme, and becomes frequent or profuse. The patient is either barren or subject to false conceptions. This state is to be rectified by spare or vegetable diet, total abstinence from malt liquor, regular and constant exercise, especially early in the mornings and on horseback, the prudent use of laxatives, and after some time the cold bath. These means will, if persisted in prudently, effect the desired changes; but if pushed to an undue degree, and especially if repeated purgatives, and much vinegar, or great abstinence be resorted to, the health may be completely ruined.

The second state is that of relaxation; the habit is spare, instead of corpulent; the mind lively, and, perhaps, even irritable; the menstrual evacuation either profuse, or it recurs too frequently, and at times clots and shreds are discharged.

This requires a different treatment: the diet, if not unusually nutritive, is at least not to be sparing, the exercise must not be carried the length of fatigue, the cold bath is useful, and strengthening medicines are required.

Such remedies as have been pointed out for the removal of irregularities of the menstrual evacuations, or of the fluor albus, must be employed when necessary.

There are also certain diseases of the female genital organs, which, when they exist, are found to cause sterility. Polypus in utero is very generally considered to belong to this class; but although the opinion is generally correct, it is not universally true, for it has happened that conception took place notwithstanding the presence of a very large tumor in the uterus. Of this the late Dr. Beatty (Trans. of the Association of Coll. of Phys. in Ireland, vol. 4) has described a very remarkable instance, which occurred in Dublin in the year 1820. The patient was a lady twenty-five years old, who, in consequence of the indisposition of her husband, had left his bed in May, 1819, to which she did not return until August, 1820. In the previous May she first perceived what she termed a “lump in her womb,” attended with external swelling and soreness on pressure at the lower part of the abdomen. This swelling was not permanent, but was observed to disappear during the menstrual period. Finding an increase in her unpleasant symptoms, she applied to Dr. Beatty in September, and on the 28th of that month he made an examination per vaginam. The os uteri was found dilated to the size of a dollar, and in its opening was a large dense substance with a regular smooth surface. On the 10th of November, while out in her carriage, she had a moderate discharge of blood from the vagina, and upon examination the parts were found as they were a month before. At two o’clock the following morning she miscarried, the embryo was entire, the membranes not being ruptured: the contained fœtus was about three months old—a period corresponding with the time at which the connubial intercourse had been resumed, and at which she had last menstruated; and just three months after she first experienced uterine uneasiness. The tumor was expelled in six days afterwards by pains resembling labor, the uterus was inverted by its descent, but on separation of the slight attachment between it and the tumor it was easily reduced. The weight of the tumor was found to be nearly four pounds. This lady was delivered of a healthy boy on the 10th of February, 1822. This was an instance of pregnancy during the existence of a tumor of considerable magnitude in the uterus; but we believe it to be an exception to what usually takes place.

Inflammation, suppuration, calculous depositions, cancer, cauliflower excrescence, corroding ulcer, the irritable uterus of Dr. Gooch, and any disease in which the texture of the uterus is much engaged, or with which the constitution sympathizes strongly, are so many obstacles to impregnation, as are diseases of the ovaria, in which the natural structure of these organs is obliterated, and both of them engaged. Leucorrhœa, when profuse, is very often also attended by barrenness; but this is by no means a constant effect, as we have known instances in which this disease existed to a great extent without preventing impregnation.

A question has arisen whether menstruation is necessary in order that a woman shall be prolific; and it is generally stated that women who do not menstruate cannot conceive. (_Paris and Fonblanque_, Med. Jur. vol. i., p. 214.) This is true when applied to those who have never menstruated, but is not in cases that have had even a single monthly discharge. Foderé (Méd. Légale, vol. i., p. 397, ed. 2me) states that, in the first edition of his work, he had maintained that females who do not menstruate are sterile: but he afterwards was obliged to change his opinion, from having observed some patients under his own care enjoying good health without this evacuation, and bearing many children. One of them was a woman thirty-five years old, the mother of five children, the last of which she was suckling. She was in good robust health, and had never menstruated but once at the age of seventeen years. It would appear that a single occurrence of this periodical evacuation is a sufficient indication of generative power; and although irregularity in subsequent years is frequently attended by sterility, it is not to be taken as an absolute cause of it. There is a form of dysmenorrhœa described by Dr. Denman (Denman’s Midwifery, 6th edit., p. 90), and Dr. Dewees (Dewees’ Midwifery, p. 154) of Philadelphia, which both these authors state to be productive of barrenness. The striking peculiarity in this disease is the formation of an adventitious membrane in the uterus, which is expelled after severe and protracted suffering at each menstrual period. This membrane is sometimes thrown off in pieces, and at others entire, at which time it bears the strongest resemblance to the decidua, so much so that, when it occurs in unmarried females, it may and sometimes does give rise to most painful suspicions. There is a preparation in the museum of the College of Surgeons, Dublin, of an entire membrane of this kind, which might deceive the most experienced eye. Morgagni relates a very remarkable instance in which pregnancy occurred during the existence of the habit just described, but it is probable that there was a suspension of the disease for a time in that case, when the capability of conceiving might exist.

It is well known that instances have happened in which persons have lived for years in unfruitful matrimony, and being after divorce remarried, have both had children. This is a fact which in the present state of our knowledge we are not able satisfactorily to explain, and we will not delay the reader by offering any speculative opinion upon it.

_Treatment._

The treatment of impotence and sterility must be influenced by the causes from which they spring, some of which are incurable, whilst others may be removed by appropriate remedies. Those cases which depend upon congenital deficiency of the penis, testicles, vagina, uterus, Fallopian tubes, or ovaria, belong to the former; but we have seen that some of those arising from malformation and disease of these parts are susceptible of cure. Such are phimosis, adhesion of the prepuce to the glands with diminution of the orifice of the urethra, priapism, partial paralysis, strictures in the urethra, diseases of the neighbouring parts, contracted vagina, occlusion of the mouth of this canal by adhesion of the labia, or by a dense hymen, prolapsus and procidentia uteri, polypus in utero, leucorrhœa, dysmenorrhœa: all these are more or less capable of removal either by operation or general treatment.

By persisting carefully in a proper plan, sterility may at length be frequently removed. There are many instances of women bearing children, after having been several years barren.

Various remedies have been recommended for the cure of barrenness, among which tincture of cantharides is the most prominent, but its effects being evanescent, are invariably succeeded by lassitude and debility, and therefore can be attended with no good results. The various preparations of sassafras and sarsaparilla are useless and not in the least calculated to reach the nature of the case. The specific known as the most successful in curing sterility or barrenness—and it has certainly performed wonderful cures—is the celebrated Morand’s preparation, called “Morand’s Elixir,” which appears to be specially adapted to give tone and healthiness to the generative functions, for the discovery of which, he received a handsome donation from the French government, as also frequently rewarded by the liberality of private individuals, who have realized their fond wishes by his discovery.

Its effects, it is said, are so wonderful upon the general health, and particularly upon the generative functions, that a medical writer of some note says that he has recommended its use in several instances, and, with one single exception (a case of malformation), with invariable success. He says:

“I was acquainted with a very worthy married couple whose life was, if not embittered, at least unhappy, because of their having no offspring. They were of respectable and influential standing, possessed of property, surrounded by friends and relatives, were then married nearly ten years, and desirous only of having children to make them happy. Physicians were consulted without success, because physicians mostly look upon sterility as incurable.

“About this time I visited a patient who had been married about seven years without having children, who was affected with fluor albus (whites), and was using ‘Morand’s Elixir,’ by my recommendation, to eradicate this weakening complaint from the system. This lady having been married seven years, as I before observed, without offspring, had nearly resigned herself to a conviction that she was destined to have none. In recommending ‘Morand’s Elixir,’ I had the fullest confidence that it would accomplish a thorough cure of her complaint, because I had often used it in my practice, and with invariable success, but I had neither hope nor expectation of its ability to remove what I then considered confirmed sterility, or barrenness, as I then gave no credence to the various marvellous properties it was alleged to possess, classing it merely among the impositions of the day. The lady continued its use, and I found her health evidently and perceptibly improve. The fluor albus entirely disappeared and her health was restored. Under pretence that she derived great benefit from it she still continued its use, however, and to my utter surprise, as well as the great joy of her husband, four months after she commenced its use, she became pregnant, and in due time was delivered of a fine, fat, healthy daughter, and had two more children in close succession after.[49]

“The lady being of the most pure and irreproachable character, it may well be supposed that it gave me the greatest confidence in recommending this truly wonderful ‘Elixir,’ in like cases. When, therefore, I was consulted by the husband of the lady first mentioned, I did not hesitate to recommend ‘Morand’s Elixir,’ and informing him of its effect in the case described. My advice was followed. In due course of time this worthy couple had their fondest wishes realized. Since which time they also have had several children. Their gratitude to me for recommending its use, was unbounded. My confidence in the virtues of ‘Morand’s Elixir,’ was confirmed, and I have heard of its success in other instances. Indeed, I am convinced, that if the case is curable, ‘Morand’s Elixir’ is infallible.”

It has attained a pre-eminent celebrity in France, Germany, on the continent of Europe generally, as well as in England, for its unexampled success in removing general debility, weakness, physical imbecility and _supposed_ barrenness (for judging from the astonishing results of ‘Morand’s Elixir,’ it is denied that it really exists). The truly wonderful effect of the “Morand’s Elixir,” has now established the fact that most, if not all, _supposed natural_ incurable defects, are _only artificial_ ones, within the powers of the skill and scientific combination of the virtues and essences of the most nourishing, strengthening and invigorating fruits and plants of Italy to remove. Its action is not sudden and ephemeral, leaving the system but the more debilitated by reason of the previous unnatural excitement, but is gentle and gradual, by degrees displacing the latent causes affecting the body, strengthening and invigorating the generative functions, cheering the mind, enlivening the spirits, engendering a free, full and healthy circulation, and thus arousing the sexual feelings.

Great and surprising as are the results of the skilful and scientific combination in the composition of “Morand’s Elixir,” it is not idly pretended that without any reference to the circumstances of each individual case of supposed barrenness, it will, unaided and unassisted, in a few weeks, remove deep seated and obstinate cases of unfruitfulness—causes which had been growing, strengthening and fastening for years. Far from it. The absurdity of such pretence is manifest on the face of it. Assistants, in many instances, must be resorted to for successful treatment, in respect to diet, clothing, occupation, &c. Instant and immediate relief is neither to be expected nor practicable; and even if practicable would lead to the most injurious results, aggravating instead of relieving. A remedy, therefore, to be permanent, must be gradual to an almost imperceptible degree, slowly but surely removing the stagnant humors and impure secretions, by the searching and penetrating virtues of the “Elixir,” systematically purging the system of those dormant and inactive particles, which frustrate the action of the generative functions, and thus dislodging the cause of unfruitfulness. It may take some time ere this is accomplished; but, by a proper perseverance in the course marked out, success, sooner or later, is inevitable. Thousands who had imagined themselves irretrievably doomed to descend to the grave unpitied and unmourned by interesting and affectionate children have, by the use of “Morand’s Elixir,” been blessed with offspring to love and adore in infancy and youth, and to look to for comfort and solace in old age.

In all cases of incontinence of urine, fluor albus, gleet, painful and difficult menstruation, incipient stages of consumption, languor, debility, night sweats and wakefulness, it is surprisingly efficient and certain. Its chief and great celebrity, however, in eradicating every symptom of that state of the functions superinducing barrenness or sterility, is too well established to require comment. Indeed, such has been its success, as to make it doubtful that what is usually termed barrenness in fact exists, since by the use of this wonderful remedy, properly persevered in, a cure has in all cases been effected, and what had been supposed incurable natural defects proved to be only some deranged state of the functions.

As there are many who pine and grieve for children—who feel desolate and lonely without the enlivening and cheering influence of children around the domestic hearth, the author does not deem it inappropriate or out of place to present this celebrated specific for the consideration of those to whom it might prove a great blessing. He has taken its Agency for the United States, at his Office, 129 Liberty street. Letters must be postpaid and addressed to Box “1224,” New York City.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

In conclusion, the author of this work trusts that it may prove an invaluable blessing as well to the unmarried as married, to those in affluence as well as to those in penury. To the matured woman in the full enjoyment of the elasticity and vigor of health, its pages direct how to retain that precious boon. To the weak, sickly, debilitated one, it lays bare the causes of her malady, and points out the remedy. To the young female about blooming into maturity—that critical juncture, involving her future health and welfare, its pages reveal the shoals and quicksands, surrounding her on all sides, and the necessary steps to avoid them. To the female already suffering from various complaints, arising either from retention or stoppage of the menses, their irregularity, or too profuse flow, the means of a thorough and effectual cure are pointed out. To the woman suffering in health from a too rapid increase of family, the perusal of these pages shows that pregnancy can and should, under some circumstances, be prevented. To those unblessed with children, from a supposed existence of barrenness, the indubitable facts herein contained, demonstrate that by following certain suggestions the result may not be _fruitless_.

In short, in all the relations of life in which a female can be placed, whether as a daughter, a wife, or a mother—whether in the enjoyment of good, or suffering under ill health—whether physically formed capable of enduring the various trials imposed upon her by nature, or whether mal-formed or physically incapable to endure them, this little book is one that no female having a regard for her own welfare, or that of her husband or children, will be without.

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Footnote 1:

The following table exhibits the ages of three hundred and twenty-six
females, at which they began to menstruate. It is furnished me by Mr.
Robertson, in the _North of England Medical and Surgical Journal_.

In their 11th year, 6
12th „ 12
13th „ 31
14th „ 60
15th „ 72
16th „ 54
17th „ 50
18th „ 19
19th „ 18
20th „ 4

To this list may be added the case related by Madame Boivin, in her
account of a new case of abortion. The subject of this case commenced
to menstruate at seven years of age, and did so regularly after her
tenth year.

Footnote 2:

We could record a number of instances where the menses were continued
much beyond their ordinary period, and where, after ceasing some time,
they were resumed with their accustomed regularity; but we shall limit
our observations to one case, and that because it is recent and well
authenticated. This case is recorded in the _Ann. Univ. de Med._ A
female aged ninety-four continued to menstruate from the fifty-third
to the ninety-fourth year. Her relatives were remarkable for their
longevity; she is at present in perfect health.—_American Journal of
the Medical Sciences for Feb. 1831._

Footnote 3:

_Diaphoretic Powder._

Take of Gum Opium, half a drachm
Camphor, two drachms
Pulverized Ipecacuanha, one drachm
Cream of Tartar, or super-carbonate of soda, one ounce

Pulverize all separately, then mix. It is best to use pulverized
opium.

_Dose_—Ten grains, or half a teaspoonful, as often as may be
necessary.

_Use_—This forms a valuable anodyne, diaphoretic and sudorific. It is
beneficially administered in fever, St. Anthony’s fire, diarrhœa,
dysentery, and cholera morbus, and in all cases where an anodyne,
combined with a sudorific, is required. In these diseases it should be
administered in small doses. It is also applicable to many other
diseases, such as rheumatism, gout, &c. It promotes perspiration
without increasing the heat of the body. It produces a constant
moisture of the skin for a great length of time, while it allays
irritation.

Footnote 4:

The most successful specific, and one almost invariably certain in
removing a stoppage, irregularity, or suppression of the menses
(monthly turn), is a compound invented by M. M. Desomeaux, of Lisbon,
Portugal, called the Portuguese Female Pills. It would appear that
they are infallible, and would, undoubtedly, even produce miscarriage,
if exhibited during pregnancy. And what is equally important, they are
always mild, healthy, and safe in their effects.

In the female hospitals in Vienna and Paris, their exhibition has
entirely superseded the use of the ordinary remedies; because, where a
cure is attainable by medicinal remedies, they are certain of success.
Their astonishing efficacy would be almost incredible, if not vouched
for by indubitable testimony, in numerous instances producing returns
of the monthly periods after all hope had been abandoned. A remarkable
case is related by Dr. A. M. Mauriceau, during his residence in Paris.

“While residing in Paris, I had frequent opportunities of witnessing
the astonishing efficacy of the Portuguese Female Pills in obstinate
cases of the suppression of the menses. Their effect, in one instance
in particular, seemed almost miraculous. A young lady, about twenty
years of age, of wealthy and respectable parentage, had not
menstruated for nearly two years before her application to me. On
inquiry, I ascertained that her health was not seriously affected
(except at intervals of about four weeks, occasioned, doubtless, by
the efforts of nature to perform her functions), until within the
preceding four months, when her symptoms began to assume an alarming
appearance. Her medical attendants here prescribed the usual remedies
without success.

“I must confess, I thought her case desperate, and had but little hope
that Desomeaux’s celebrated Portuguese Pills, which I determined to
put to the test, would here avail, as I had never known them to be
administered under circumstances quite so apparently hopeless for a
cure. But I resolved upon a trial. Accordingly I recommended their
use, watching their effects upon the patient. At first their virtue,
so to speak, seemed to be only negative—that is, the young woman got
no worse. This, however, under the circumstances, I considered a point
gained. In the course of three weeks favorable indications began to
present themselves. The appetite was better; the deathly-sallow
complexion giving place to a healthy hue; the eyes, also, becoming
clearer, but still no menstrual discharge. The improvement, however,
meanwhile, became more and more apparent, till, at the end of the
ninth week after commencing their use, a slight, somewhat reddish
discharge took place. Here was a beginning; the patient still
improving, taking moderate exercise, with light but nourishing diet.
Their exhibition was then dispensed with until within five or six days
just previous to the expected return of the menses, when they were
again used, and their use continued during the seven days; on the
eighth the menses again appeared—on this occasion somewhat freer, but
still not in sufficient quantity. Their exhibition ceased with the
cessation of the menses, which lasted irregularly about four days.
This treatment continued to the end of the fourth month, when the
monthly returns were perfectly established. At each successive
appearance they assumed a healthier color, freer in quantity, and less
obstructed by coagula. The patient entirely recovered, and became
possessed of sound health.”

He then relates another instance still more surprising.

“A woman applied to be treated for suppression. It appeared that she
had been subject to irregularity, or stoppage of the monthly turns,
and as she appeared to be free from the usual symptoms attending
pregnancy, it was not supposed that the stoppage arose from that
cause. She commenced using Desomeaux’s Pills. After using them about
five days—from certain indications attending miscarriage—apprehensions
began to be entertained that the suppression might have arisen from
pregnancy, which, upon examination, proved to be the case—too late,
however, to prevent the miscarriage. In a short time the expulsion
took place, and on about the third day after she entirely recovered,
with but little comparative inconvenience to her general health.”

He further states that their efficacy and certainty are such, that
they are sometimes administered in cases of malformation of pelvis,
when the female is incompetent to give birth at maturity. But when
such is the case, M M Desomeaux’s “Preventive to Conception,” treated
of in another part of this work, under the head of “Conception, when
it should be Prevented,” is the proper remedy.

These proofs of their wonderful powers have induced Dr. Mauriceau,
since his return from France, to take the sole agency for the United
States. They are to be obtained of him only, as they can be
transmitted by mail to any part of the Union. For whole boxes the
price is five dollars; half-boxes, three dollars. Address to “Box
1224, New York City.” Dr. Mauriceau attends to all diseases of women,
especially those arising from suppression of the menses, in the
successful treatment of which M. M. Desomeaux’s Pills have been of
such eminent service to him. Office 129 Liberty street.

Footnote 5:

_Antimonial Powders._—Take of tartar emetic, three grains, nitre, two
drachms. Mix, and divide into two doses. One dose to be taken every
two or three hours by adults. In obstinate cases, the addition of ten
or twelve grains of calomel to the above recipe, will render the
medicine more salutary.

_Febrifuge Powders._—Take of ipecacuanha, two scruples; nitre, two
drachms.—Mix, and divide into twelve doses. One dose to be taken every
two or three hours by adults.

_Febrifuge Mixture._—Take of nitre, two drachms; lemon juice or
vinegar, one ounce; water, half a pint; sugar, a sufficient quantity
to sweeten.—Mix. A wineglassful to be taken by adults every two hours.
It will be rendered more active by the addition of two drachms of
antimonial wine.

Footnote 6:

_Pills of Sugar of Lead._—Take of sugar of lead and ipecacuanha, each
six grains; opium, one grain; syrup sufficient to form a mass.—Divide
in four parts; one part to be taken every three hours, until the
hemorrhage ceases; or pulv. opii, four gr.; pulv. sugar of lead,
twelve grs. Mix, and divide in four parts; give one in a little water,
in an hour give half of another.

Footnote 7:

I have had, very lately, a lady under my care, who menstruates with
the most perfect regularity; though she had labored under a prolapsus
of the uterus to a great extent for several years. She is now in her
sixty-fifth year. Her uterus is now effectually supported by a
pessary, which has much improved her general health.—_Dewees._

Footnote 8:

Indeed, it would seem that this period of female life is freer from
diseases causing death, than almost any other. By some late
observations made on the bills of mortality in France, by M. Boiniston
of Chateauneuf, it appears that fewer women die between the ages of
forty and fifty, than men, or indeed at any other period of their
lives, after puberty. And, further, that if this change is effected
without much disturbance, that they live not only longer than men, but
are free from morbid inconveniences.

Footnote 9:

A remarkable case is mentioned by Morgagni:—“I was acquainted,” he
says, “with a maiden of a noble family, who married before
menstruation took place, though the menses had been expected for some
years; nevertheless she became exceedingly fruitful. We were the less
surprised at this circumstance because the same thing had happened to
her mother.

Frank attended a patient who gave birth to three children without ever
having been unwell. Capuron, also refers to several cases of this
description, and Foderé assures us of the fact. A case of the kind
occurred too in the practice of Mr. Montgomery. Low likewise mentions
a similar instance. Sir E. Moore relates the case of a young woman who
married before she was seventeen, and never having menstruated, became
pregnant, and four months after delivery was pregnant a second time;
the same thing occurred again, and after the third pregnancy she
menstruated for the first time, continued to do so for several
periods, and became pregnant again.

It should be remembered, however, that some women are very irregular
in the return of their menstrual periods—having them prolonged much
beyond the usual interval. Mr. Montgomery once attended an unmarried
woman of forty, who assured him that returns of the menses had
frequently been delayed more than six months without causing ill
health. Instances of menstrual suppression for shorter periods are
frequent. Zacchias mentions that he attended a patient who used to
menstruate regularly, but who never conceived until the discharge had
been suppressed for three or four months previously. Mauriceau relates
a somewhat similar case, and remarks that cases of this character give
rise to the supposition of protracted pregnancy.

Footnote 10:

The following cases, as well as others, are extracted from my Note
Book.

Footnote 11:

Mr. Robertson of Manchester inquired minutely into the result of one
hundred and sixty cases, in which he found that eighty-one women had
become pregnant once or oftener during suckling.

Footnote 12:

Dr. Heberden was acquainted with a lady who never ceased to have
regular returns of the menses during four pregnancies, quite to the
time of her delivery.—_Heberden Commentaries._

This opinion is confirmed by Gardien, Dewees, Hamilton, Desormeaux,
Puzos, Francis, &c.

Footnote 13:

“A woman came to me one morning,” says Dr. Gooch, “with a note from a
medical man, containing the following statement: The patient’s age was
forty-two; she had been married twenty-two years without ever being
pregnant. About seven months ago she had ceased to menstruate; a few
months afterwards the abdomen began to enlarge, and was now nearly
equal to that of full pregnancy. For several months the practitioner
had been using various means for reducing the tumour, but in vain. I
examined the case, pronounced her pregnant, and seven weeks afterward
she brought forth a child at the full time.”

Dr. Montgomery says: “A lady in her forty-third year, who was married
to her present husband twenty years ago, remained without any promise
of offspring until within the last few months; but having missed her
menstruation in September last, and finding her size increasing, I was
requested to see her in January, when she exhibited evident symptoms
of pregnancy. She was subsequently delivered of a healthy boy, after a
natural labor of about four hours.”

Mosse, one of the medical officers of the Dublin Lying-in-Hospital in
1775, states, that eighty-four of the women delivered in the
Institution under his superintendence were between the ages of
forty-one and fifty-four; four of these were in the fifty-first year,
and one in her fifty-fourth.

In May, 1816, Mrs. Ashley, wife of John Ashley, grazier, of Frisby, at
the age of fifty-four years was delivered of two female children.

The succession to an estate was disputed in France because the mother
was fifty-eight years old when the child was born. The decision was in
favour of the fact.

Footnote 14:

It may, however, be considered almost a settled fact, that when a
female has menstruated regularly up to the time of cohabitation, and
immediately after ceases to menstruate at the time of their usual
return, especially if attended with morning sickness—that pregnancy
has taken place.

Footnote 15:

Cours de Méd. Légale, p. 52.

Footnote 16:

North of Eng. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. i., p. 230.

That the presence of milk in the female breast shall take place
independent of pregnancy, from the above and other recorded facts,
there can be no doubt; but the following beautiful exemplification of
its formation in that of the _male_, places the question in a still
stronger light. This interesting fact is cited from Captain Franklin’s
narrative of his journey to the shores of the Polar Sea.

“A young Chipewyan had separated from the rest of his band, for the
purpose of entrapping beaver, when his wife, who was his sole
companion, and in her first pregnancy, was seized with her pains of
labor. She died on the third day, after giving birth to a boy. The
husband was inconsolable, and vowed in his anguish, never to take
another woman to wife; but his grief was soon in some degree absorbed
in anxiety for the fate of his infant son. To preserve its life he
descended to the office of a nurse, so degrading in the eyes of a
Chipewyan, as partaking of the duties of a woman. He swaddled it in
soft moss, fed it with broth made from the flesh of the deer; and to
still its cries, applied it to his breast, praying earnestly to the
Great Master of Life to assist his endeavors. The force of the
powerful passion by which he was actuated produced the same effect in
his case as it has done in some others which are recorded: a flow of
milk actually took place from his breast. He succeeded in rearing his
child, taught him to be a hunter, and when he attained the age of
manhood, chose him a wife from the tribe. The old man kept his vow in
never taking a wife for himself, but he delighted in tending his son’s
children; and when his daughter-in-law used to interfere, saying, that
it was not the occupation of a man, he was wont to reply, that he had
promised the Great Master of Life, if his child was spared, never to
be proud like other Indians. Our informant, Mr. Wenkel (one of the
Association) added, that he had often seen this Indian in his old age,
and that his left breast, even then, retained the unusual size it had
acquired in his occupation of nurse.” P. 157.

Man possesses the same organization as woman for secreting and
conveying milk, which enables us readily both to understand and
believe in the truth of the foregoing singular statement.

Footnote 17:

I have found a Burgundy pitch plaster, the surface of which has been
well sprinkled with powdered opium, an admirable application to the
pit of the stomach. In many cases the nausea has been soon relieved,
and the irritability of the stomach subdued.

Footnote 18:

A teaspoonful of pulverized prepared charcoal in a tablespoonful of
lime-water, is oftentimes very useful in these cases.

Footnote 19:

Seidlitz powders with a little syrup of ginger are frequently
efficient, particularly if followed by a large draught of pure water.
Many who have taken the Seidlitz powders with little or no effect,
would be surprised at their efficacy, if one or two tumblers of water
be taken immediately afterwards.

Footnote 20:

In these cases, the oil of kreosote will be found a most valuable
remedy. It is given in doses of from half a drop to one drop. This
medicine, however, ought not to be used without the sanction of a
medical man.

Footnote 21:

Besides the morning sickness, the period of pregnancy is often
attended with another distressing symptom, described as a sinking at
the pit of the stomach: the patient complains, to use a common
expression, that she feels _all gone_. This feeling I have often
relieved by the free use of soda water. Another remedy which I have
often used, and which is by no means disagreeable, is a fresh egg,
beaten up with a tumbler of milk, and sweetened.

Footnote 22:

The _Red_ mixture, prepared by suspending equal parts of pulverized
rhubarb and magnesia in mint water, is a favorite prescription with
many.

Footnote 23:

In these cases medicine is not always necessary. Much benefit may be
derived from the use of a laxative diet. Brown bread, mush, or hasty
pudding made from rye or Indian meal, and eaten with molasses, the
free use of the dried laxative fruits, as figs, dates, stewed prunes,
and our native fruits when ripe, will often enable the patient to
dispense with medicine.

Footnote 24:

Mild lavements or enemata are here highly serviceable. Where the
excrementitious matter is hardened or compacted, the distension of the
bowels by from a quart to three pints of starch water, followed by
weak soap suds, is a very efficient remedy.

Footnote 25:

In many parts of New England, the moccasin root is much used to allay
the motions of the child. One tumblerful of the infusion of this root
is the usual quantity.

Footnote 26:

This decoction is made by taking four ounces of poppy-heads, breaking
them up, putting them into a vessel, pouring upon them four pints of
boiling water, boiling the whole for fifteen minutes, and then
straining off the liquor.

Footnote 27:

There are one or two complaints to which the pregnant female is
subject, upon which a few remarks seem advisable. Speaking of
headache, Mr. Fox remarks:—

“Headache, independent of accidents, may be a sympathetic affection
arising from disorders of the digestive, or other organs. It may be
the consequence of a feeble, or disturbed state of the nervous system:
or it may be the effect of the vessels of the head being distended
with too much blood; or even of a deficiency of blood in the head.

“Where headache arises from a disordered condition of the digestive
organs there will generally be an inactive, or irritable, state of the
stomach or bowels, which will frequently be accompanied by giddiness,
imperfect vision, or by specks floating a short distance from the
eyes, by loss of appetite, sickness, acidity of the contents of the
stomach, and by flatulence.

“If the stomach be loaded with undigested, or irritating food, it is
to be relieved by a gentle emetic. Having drunk a pint of warm
chamomile tea, or common tea from one ounce to one ounce and a half of
ipecacuanha wine should be taken, after which vomiting will ensue
almost immediately, and without any straining, or painful effort. If
ipecacuanha wine is not at hand, two or three teaspoonfuls of powdered
mustard, mixed in a little water, may be used in its stead.

“In almost every case, it will be found necessary to administer mild
aperients every four or five hours, till the bowels are emptied. The
aperients may be, rhubarb and Castile soap, of each one drachm, oil of
cloves six drops, mixed with a simple syrup, and divided into thirty
pills, of which from three to six are to be taken every four or five
hours, till the bowels act. Where no disposition to pills exists, from
one to two table spoonfuls of compound decoction of aloes may be taken
every four or five hours, till the bowels are relieved freely. Where
much acidity in the stomach is present, from fifteen to twenty grains
of magnesia, combined with six grains of powdered rhubarb, and the
same quantity of ginger, may be substituted for the above aperients,
and repeated in a similar manner.

“If the pain in the head continues to be severe, after an emetic has
operated, or before the aperients begin to act, it will be often
greatly mitigated by taking a moderate dose of some opiate; this,
however, should not be employed where attacks are frequent, as a habit
of taking opiates is productive of much injury.

“There are persons who do not experience relief from opiates, but on
the contrary, have the pain aggravated by their use. Strong green tea,
or hop tea, will occasionally give relief in mild attacks, or where
decided opiates are not productive of benefit.

“Where a feeble, or disturbed state of the nervous system gives rise
to headache, aperients are to be taken as recommended above; and
stimulants are to be employed, as camphor, ammonia, compound tincture
of valerian, æther, &c.

“Four grains of carbonate of ammonia, or fifteen or twenty drops of
spirit of hartshorn, are to be mixed in a wineglassful of camphor
julep.

“One or two teaspoonfuls of compound tincture of valerian are to be
added to a wineglassful of water, or camphor julep.

“From twenty to forty drops of æther are to be mixed in a wineglassful
of water or camphor julep.

“Any of the foregoing forms may be taken several times during every
twenty-four hours, if necessary.

“If the head is hot, linen wet with vinegar and water, or eau de
Cologne and water, is to be repeatedly applied to the temples and
forehead; or those parts may be occasionally moistened with æther, the
evaporation of which will cause the head to become cool.