The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1875-01-27
AMERICAN WOMEN,
Their Physical Degencr"ey - Where
shall We Get Our wives
From the Westminster Review for october

Their physical Degencrhcy - where
shall We Oct Our wives , VI
From the westminstcl Review for octoberl
.,oIna October 1879, Dr. Il, ILL.,
Clarke, Of Boston, Massachusetts, n
physician of tho foremost rank, We
believe, in that city, and formerly u
professor Of matcria mcdica in iiar-
yard college, published a little book,
tho "Sex in Education; on, A Fair
Ghance for the Girls" In his IN
troductory chapter he says;
'"Thc delicate bloom, early but
rapidly fading beauty and singular
pallor Of American girls and WON
en,{have almost passed Into II pro.
verb, The first observation Of a
European that lands upon our
shores il that our women are u
feeble rate and If hc 10 q physi-
illogical observer, he is sure TO add
They will give birth TO n feeble
race, aihot of iowomon only, but
of men as well.n Il never saw DO.
iore so many pretty girls together,
said Lady Amberly TO The writer,
after visit TO- tho public schools of
Boston, and then added, 'rhey all
looked sick Circumstances have
repeatedly carried me to Europe,
whore ! am always surprised by
the rod blood which fills aud colors
the faces of the ladies and peasant
girls, reminding ncof the canvas
Of, Rnbehs and Mni'illo; and | nun
always, equally surprised on my
return by crowds Of pale, bloodless
female faces, that suggest consump-,
ton, scrofula, anemia and neural
gia,,"'i7 (p. 0223p'd And il part 3,
"Chiehy Clpical,",h says; rGirls
I Of bloodless. skins and intelligent
faces may be seen any day by those
who desire the spectacle among the
higher scholars of our higher and
normal schools faces, that crown,
, and skins. that cover curving spines,
which should be straight, and ncur-
algic nerves that should know no
pain. Later on, when marriage
and maternity overtake these girls,
and they live 'laborious days in II
sense not intended by Millions line,
they bend and break beneath the
labor, like loaded grain before a
storm, and bear little fruit again"
(p. 49, .s1l...m
DR.. Clarke adduces the testimony
of several other observers in con
firmatlon of his own statement
Mrs, Beecher Stowe says; The
race of strong, hardy, cheerful girls
that used to grow up in country
places, and made the bright, neat
New England kitchen Of olden,
times--the girls that could wash,
iron, brew, bake, harness y horse
and drive him, no less than braid
: straw, embroider, paint, and read
innumerable books--this race Of
women, pride ofolden time, is daily
lessehing, and in their stead comes
the fragile, easy-fatigued, laAguid
girls of a modern age, drilled in
book-learning, ignorant of common
things" mT oF
DR.. Wier Mitchell, whom DR.,
Clarke justly desgpates as one of
the most eminent American physi.
plogists, writes in II similar strain :
To-day the American women is, to
speak plainly, physically anfit for
her duties as woman, and is, per
haps, OF all civilized females the
least qualified to undertake those
weightier tasks which tax 80 heav.
lily the nervous system Of man. She
is not fairly up to what nature asks
of herias wife and mother. How
will she sustain herself under the
pressure of those yet more exacting
duties which nowadays she is 50
eager to share with the MANI"
Another American physician,
after remarking that Sin the nor
NAL state nature has made ample
PROVISIONAL the structure of the fe-
male for the nursing of her off
spring" says: "Formerly such an
organization was very generally
possessed by American women, and
they found but little difficulty in
nursing their infants 1t was only
occasionally, in case of some defect
in the organization, or where sick
ness of,some kind had overtaken
the mother, that it became necessary
to resort to the wet nurse. or to
feeding by hand. And the English.
the Scotch, the German. the Cana.
dian French, and the Irish women
now living in this country generally
nurse their children the exceptions
are rare. But how is it with our
American women who become
mothers? To those who have
never considered this subject, and
even 10 medical men who have
never carefully looked into it, the
facts, when correctly and fully pre-
sented, will beis1rprising. &c has
been supposed by some that all, or
nearly all, our American women
could nurse their offspring Just as
well as not; that tbea disposition
only was wanting, and that they