Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-15

past partieularIy directed TO the subject
I aud am convinced that the remark
undoubtedly true to sn alarming extent
| Not only i the average health Of on
countrywomen much less robust tina,
/ thar enjoyed by corresponding elssses y
Europe, and particularly in Great Bri
/ tain, but it is much more infirnl THAI
/ that Of the other sex in our cimntry
I With respect to their inferiority 10 poin
of vieoF, strength and robustness, TO th'
women Of England, believe there j
! not one dissenting voice among thtHe Wh'
I have enjoyed the most ample apportuni
| ties for comparison, and whose attention
has been directed to the subject. The Eng
/ ilishwoman has much more iio1d ano
! heslthful complexion, much mere Wig
orors person. and is capable Of enduring
much more fatigue and exposure. The
slender, delicate and fragile form, the
pale. sallOw and waXen complexion,
which are so common among lis, are
much schooner seen in Europe" The
late Mr.. George Combs, who quoted this
massage in his notes on the United
States, saws that the American ladies as
cribe their maladies to the variable
nature of the climate; but declares his
opinion to be, that their own habits
OF life contribute much more than
the climate TO their sufferingsi that
thew do not, as a rule, walk abroad for
the sake of either air or exercise that
thew pass their time both by day and
might ia over-heated and unwhOlesome
apartments; and that they eat teo much
pastry, sweets and animal fool. If
American physicians did not prsclaim
the same facts, il would be considered
a
EnQlish traveller even 10 allude TO q sub
iect so delicate. One great result Of this
chronic iII-hehIth Is that, a5 u rule,
American mothers do not have large
families, and are not nearly SO prolific
as their European sisters. The registrar
OF the city of Boston, Mass, in his
report for the present year, states, " that
while the population Of Boston has been
uniformly increasing for many yetrs, the
birth-rate has, with equal uniformity
been declining, and has fallen from one
in twenty-six in 1880, to one ia thirty-six
in 1865. The birih-rate,n he says " has
been declining throughout the United
states for the last seventy years. II APP
only one in four Of the chill
dren born In Boston in Se5 was the off
spring Of parents both of whom wiare ma
tiyes Of the United States. The msiority
of the children born in Boston IN the year
were the offspring Of parents both for
eign born"
A. New York paper, in commenting
upon these remarkable, and to Ameri-
cans, alarming facts, represents that the
Of American wOmeE to be
mothers OF large families is to be partly
attributed to the Unruliness Of American
children. But as there are wheels within
wheels, aud causes within causes, this
very unruliness may he the result Of the
own weakness Of body, which
leads her TO let her children have their
lwn way out of her sight, and may
proceed also from the system Of
life already alluied TO
10. That American women are as natu-
rally fond of children as other people;
hat their families are not so gTeaG as the
'amilies Of the people in the British Isles,
md that barren marriages are but too
,olnmon, may be seen at a glance by any
)ue who will take up an American daily
of any city in the union and
ook over the advertising columns. Tine
number Of American ladies' who wish TO
lIopt children, and make known their
wants 10 that way, is very large, and the
number Of poor Irish and Germans, who
IRE in the position of the old woman of
he nursery tale who lived in Shoe,
shs are willing to supply the cemaud !
Or a consideration, is q striking peculi- |
.rlty of American domestic life.
There Is one other peculiarity, with ]
which we shall conclude our observations
N this subject. Tie American ltewspa- !
,eTs announce marriages and deaths, but |
leyar or very rarely, announce births. /
T the English n0f"rtGWRius should ask |
Why? the only reply to be given is, that !
or some reason or other il is thOiIght in |
Ielicate TO proclaim TO the world that |
,ou have had an addition oyour family, |
iui why it should be more indecent to /
,e born than 10 be married or to die, not |
ven an American can tell.