The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-06-25
IN RIMS IN TTIE FAMILY"


There is a story in All old booi Of Orien-
tai travel Of two Turks who sat smok-
ing in the doorway of their house while an
earthquake was shaking the city to ruins
Hurrying parties of fugitiyes called TO them
that the walls were tottering. "Allah wills
it, uttered the Moslems revcrently,
scarcely taking the pipe-stems from their
lips. The falling building crushed them
where they sat.
Fifty years ago the word IIeredity was
seldom heard iii everyday talk, and the
awful import of the thing it represents, as
we face it now, was imperfcctly eompre-
hended. When disease Of body or mind
pursued successive generations, wiseacres
and gossips said. at runs in the family. 2,
and bowed to the inevitable with pious. or
impious, despair. The stoIid fatalism of
the doomed Turks had a parallel in chris
tian homes, Where was the use Of war
ring against Providence ,
We recognize heredity rs something
more than a name-as a power. Ii is a
key to riddles that might without it shake
our faith in the All-Father's leye and wis
dom. But in acknowledging the principle
we overlook the possibilities Of undoing.
each in his measure, the evil wrought by
the ~misdoings Of our predecessors.
The mother is. in effect, her ehiId's
physician more truly than is the paid prac-
t%itioner. That she is also nurse. play
fellow and teacher, fits her the better for
the office. She, and often she alone. knows
the weak spot in his constitution, the point
left unprotected by Nature. If she be a
sensible woman she asks sadly Whose
was the fault, since chance has no place in
Gods world ," Many a loving heart has
broken under the belief, ''jf54e was the
disturbing influence that introduced con-
fusion where divine order slonld have
borne rule
For, in the teeth Of the Declaration OF
independence, our children are not born
with equal rights to health and happiness.
| do not speak now ofthose whose dcfofm-
ity or imbecility is patent, such a. are
esteemed smitten of Heaven from the
birtli-honr. Far exceeding the number of
these is the great army who are plagued by
inherited propensities which may never be
more than menaces, yet may develop into
maladies. The mothers sore throat. the
fathers dyspepsia, the grandfather's
.'liyef complaint, the great-gramdfathcr's
rheumatism, are accepted as Sir Leister
Dedlock, Baronet. took his gout-"yield-
ing up his family legs TO the family dis
order. as if he held his name and fortune
on that feudal tenure
The Dcdlock govt was much in my
mind during a certain summer Of wander
ings when my opposite n~eighbors at the
pension table was an American family.
kindly and laxative. The h~ale-looking
father suffered at times with bilious head
aches; the mothers specially was neural
gia.
Our children inherit beth r the wife
proclaimed in dismal exultation. Dear
little Frank. although but six. has ihfoier-
able attacks Of nervous headache: and
even Baby Florence, who is just four,
almost dies in paroxysms precisely resemb-
ling her fathers. As for tho Older chill
dren, each takes her turn every few weeks.
1t is mysterious the way such things run in
families! Oar legacy has come down to
us through several generations, and we try
to bear ii with christian fortitude.
To generate sufficient supplies Of for
titude, the afflicted children drank coffee
and ate crabs, devoured pastry, pickles,
patcs, fried fish and ~fritters. vanilla creams
and uolaH-pents, maearoni and ~mayonnaise,
marmalade-pui1s and nullagatawny, with
impartial zeSt horrible Ia behold. The
mother boasted that they had always
despised 'baby-food, and nothing seemed
to hurt them. In further demonstration
of health they sat up until what old-fash-
toned fulks call ''all hours" and dotted on
dancing and late suppers. They were sal
low and hystcrical-hints which went for
nothing in view Of the abnormal appetites
and nervous energy that testified to 'fne
constitutions" american children were
not apt 10 be red-faeed and lumpish like
English aud Germans"
Nearer home live an American husband
and wife, whose only daughter, as often
happens, inherits the fathers physique.
while the boys are Ike their mother in
coloring, features and robustness. The
little girl was at five tall for her age.
slight, pale and pretty. with the pensive
winsomeness that deepcns parental love
into nameless and wordless yearning. The
mother is a woman Of independent thought.
Her husband is a prey 10 exerueiating
headaches attended by nausea and delirium !.
They are a heritage from his parents.
Not one OF his brothers or sisters has es-
capped the curse, They submit to it with
resignation which would brighten a mar
tyr'S crown. thankful, they say, that the
malady is nothing more serious. When
they state that the plague is ''constitu-
%tional, and therefore proof against
remedial measures, the topic is dismissed.
Baby Maiorie's father. most happily for
all concerned, married a girl who never
had a headache in her life. He gave the
fact no thought iii seeking and wooing
her. She bestowed as little upon his con
stitutional i~nfirmity. Thar young people