242 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The second section of the book deals 

 with the facts obtained in reply to this 

 circular. These facts relate to the condi- 

 tion of health of childhood, and of parents 

 or sisters ; the age of going to and leaving 

 school ; the number of hours of study, of 

 exercise ; the nature of the study or occu- 

 pation ; pain during menstruation ; the 

 need and length of rest during the continu- 

 ance of that function, and the time when 

 rest first became necessary. The strength 

 is measured by exercise, and several other 

 conditions naturally suggested by the ques- 

 tions are given. These facts are tabulated 

 under groups distinguished by either the 

 total absence of pain or its presence at va- 

 rious periods. The author makes ingenious 

 but legitimate use of her figures, hampered 

 by the small number of individuals subject- 

 ed to analysis. The number is sufficient, 

 however, to foreshadow what is probably 

 the amount of disability entailed upon 

 women by the need of rest. Too much 

 stress appears to be laid upon the mere 

 presence of pain and the incapacity to work 

 resulting from it, as if this were the only 

 source of disability. Women are sometimes 

 obliged to take rest from the nervous de- 

 pression and mental disturbance which at- 

 tend the exercise of the ovarian function ; 

 but it is possible that it is the better way, 

 when the interpretation of the causes of in- 

 capacity is left to the average individual, 

 that some well-understood term like " pain " 

 be adopted. The section on statistics being 

 long and complicated, we must overlook the 

 steps of the process, and confine ourselves 

 to the results. 



Out of the number of women inter- 

 rogated (286 cases), 94, or 35 per cent., de- 

 clare themselves always free from discom- 

 fort (pain ?) during menstruation; by adding 

 to this number 46, who only suffered slight- 

 ly, or occasionally during that period, this 

 proportion is raised to 59 per cent. ; on the 

 other hand, 128 women, or 41 per cent., 

 suffered seriously from pain ; in them men- 

 struation was, therefore, a morbid pro- 

 cess. " In all such cases," remarks the au- 

 thor, " rest during the existence of such 

 pain is as desirable as during the occur- 

 rence of any other." Of the 162 painful 

 -, including all degrees of pain, 53 per 

 cent, hail been so from the beginning; and 



in 47 per cent, the habit had been acquired. 

 The relation of the age at which schooling 

 began and the time spent in school to this 

 catamenial pain is not very evident, as this 

 condition is very nearly alike in all the 

 groups. Of the painful group 18 per cent, re- 

 ceived very little education, while in the nor- 

 mal group none are so specified. Of the first 

 only eight per cent, pursued advanced studies 

 beyond the age of twenty-two against 16 per 

 cent, in the latter. Dr. Putnam-Jacobi is led 

 to the conclusion from her figures, which 

 are unfortunately too limited to afford even a 

 guess at the real truth, that the highest edu- 

 cation given to women is the most favorable 

 to menstrual health ; the least favorable be- 

 ing the ornamental education. In the mat- 

 ter of physical education, it was found that 

 those who never suffered pain exercised 

 more than the other class ; but all classes 

 were found to exercise too little during 

 childhood and girlhood. The tables show 

 that the family history exerts a greater in- 

 fluence over the menstrual life than occu- 

 pation. The figures prove that two-thirds 

 of those who suffered periodical pain inher- 

 ited some special or general constitutional 

 defect. Physical vigor, as measured by the 

 capacity for exercise, was shown among 

 those free from pain in the ability to walk 

 an average of five miles ; the average for 

 those who habitually suffered pain was three 

 and a quarter miles ; and for the cases of 

 slight or acquired pain four miles. " Capa- 

 city for exercise was nearly always in in- 

 verse proportion to the habit of pain." The 

 tables show that persons without occupa- 

 tion suffered from painful menstruation in 

 much larger proportion than those who 

 were occupied. One would infer from this 

 that the author, in a measure, traced this 

 result to the want of occupation ; while we 

 should reverse the conditions of cause and 

 effect, and explain the lack of occupation 

 by the incapacity resulting from the peri- 

 odical pain. The conclusion is also reached 

 from the fact that marriage is opposed to 

 the existence of habitual periodical pain. 

 And, lastly, " as regards rest the most im- 

 portant question for our purpose we have 

 seen that the above data do not suffice to 

 inform us of its influence ; " and thus, so far 

 as the main theme of the book is con- 

 cerned, the author leaves the " question of 



