The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-02-28
Maternal Impressions.

tnOrOUKuly PSLuDllSnPu lnHn tHe
doctrine Of "heredity," thanks to
the efforts Of great thinkers and
observers like th,t bid srintist
and splendid Englishnan who, to
our sorrow has jr1t passed away
Habits, repeated aul persisted in
for generations, become Instincts,
aud faculties of body and mind,
cultivated for heightened period
become more or less transnissible.
There may be occasional breaks In
the chain--the natural variants
and flaws of continuity-and also
frequent symptoms of atavsm, but
the mysterious forces that influence
form and vitality, when once fixed
in the blood, become apparently
ineradicable. Thus the vices of the
fathers are visited upon he chill
dren, and their virtues reproduced
for ages. Like begets like, even to
our feelings, thoughts, aud actions,
this consideration should alone be
a sufficient bar to vice and power
ful incentive to virtue.
But the character of the indivi-
dual Is also largely determined by
maternal impressions between its
conception and birth. Many re-
markable instances have been re-
corded, and prove how strong is
the reaction of the mothers
thoughts and feelings upon her
unborn child. A 81 lden fright or
a disgusting spectacle, an unpleas-
ant Imagination or an impulsive
and unsatisfied desire, may become
the cause of much evil and of bitter
disappointment. An infant, for
instance, was born with all its
limbs broken, owing to this shock
OccasiOned to its m ,thnr during Il
severe thunderstorm. And many
a deformed or defective child, bor
of healthy and well-formed parents
owes It's misf ortune TO the un-
expected appearance Of some wan
dering monstrosity in our streets.
On the other side, it Is believed
that some of the noblest characters
had their impulses to greatness be-
slowed upon them in the womb by
theis mothers care to avoid noXi0us
impressions and to receive only
stimulating and salutary ones.
Perefixe tells us in his history Of
Henry the Great of FIR ,nce, that
"Henry d. Albert, his grandfather,
made his daughter promise to sing
a song to him while she was in
lubOur; In order said he, that you
may bring me child who will
neither weep nor make wry faces.
The princess had fortitude enough,
in the midst of her pains, to keep
her word, and sing song in
Bearnoise, her own country lau-
guage. AS soon as Henry entered
the chamber, the child came into
the world without crying; his
grandfather Immediately carried
him to his own apartment, and
there rubbed his little lips with a
Glove of garlic, and made him suck
some wine out of gold cup to
make his constitution strong and
vigorous 49,. MY ewe,' said Henry
d. Albert, has brought firth lion,
This child will revenge me on
Spain for the injuries | have re-
ceived from her. 80. lie was
brought up in the castle of Coarasse
In Bearn, situated amidst rocks
and mountains. Henry d. Albert,
his grandfather, would II ave him
clothed and fed like other children
in that country. They even accus-
toned him to run up and down the
socks. IL Is said that his ordinary
food was brown breul, beef. cheese,
and garlic; AMI that they often
made him walk barefoot and hare
headed.' Can IL be doubted that
the Qneen of Navarro, who showed
30 much heroiem to make her child
worthy, had communicated to him
before his birth, as well AS after,
those patriotic and lofty impulses
which dominated her and which
made him the victor of Ivry, and
the noblest prince and bravest
warrior Of Europe? The memoirs
OF his great Minister, Sully, show
that Lord Macaulay used no exag'
geration when he made the Hugue.
n0fs sing Of him;
"Oh! was there ever such knight IN friend
ship or In war.
AS our Sovereign Lord, King Henry, III,
soldier OF Navarro"
1t was not physiUlogists, but The
poets, who first suggested the mys
terious power which mother.
impressions have upon her child,
as well as the subtle influence o.
the mind upon the body. From
Plato's time dOwnwards, they hav,
not ceased t0 teach that ths form