616 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY . 



Where is there a physician who does not know of countless num- 

 bers of women among the wealthier classes who are beset by all man- 

 ner of ailments, for no other reason than because they have nothing 

 to do, or rather because they have brought nothing into their lives 

 which called forth the strong motive forces of their natures ? The 

 petty, selfish considerations which have dominated them have been 

 too shallow to float them out into the broader channels, and they have 

 become poor, stranded wrecks, with no interests but their aches and 

 pains, no comfort but in the doctor's daily visit. The contemplation 

 of these wasted lives, powers for good gone to rust and decay for lack 

 of use, should make the angels weep. God forgive the man or woman 

 who would wish to keep alive the baleful thrall of old prejudices and 

 customs which work such irremediable evil to the human race ! John 

 Stuart Mill has said that " there is nothing after disease, indigence, 

 and guilt so fatal to the pleasurable enjoyment of life as the want of 

 a worthy outlet for the active faculties." He might have added that 

 nothing so tends to promote disease and physical poverty as such a 

 want. 



Of the barbarous inflictions of fashion, of the effects of social dissi- 

 pation upon the impressionable nervous system of a young girl, of the 

 neglect of such exercise as is necessary to her vigorous health, I have 

 no time to speak more fully, but among these are found some of the 

 greatest hindrances to health, some of the most serious obstacles to 

 motherhood. 



One of the greatest of living physicians, Sir Spencer Wells, says : 

 "As for the outcry against women taking up mens' work, it is breath 

 wasted. For my own part, I think women capable of a great deal 

 more than they have been accustomed to do in times past. If over- 

 work sometimes leads to disease, it is morally more wholesome to 

 work into it than to lounge into it, and if some medical practitioners 

 have observed cases where mental overstrain has led to disease, I can 

 not deny that I also have at long intervals seen some such cases. But 

 for every such example I feel sure that I have seen at least twenty 

 where evils equally to be deplored are caused in young women by 

 want of mental occupation, by deficient exercise, too luxurious living, 

 and too much amusement." 



That a strong disinclination to bear children is manifested by many 

 American women no one can deny, and the rich even more than the 

 poor seem averse to giving themselves to the cares and deprivations 

 incident to' the rearing of a family. These women are ready and will- 

 ing to marry, but they have no intention of burdening themselves with 

 the laudable results of matrimony. 



"Women with one or two children, wealthy, living in palatial resi- 

 dences, will tell you that they can not afford to have more children ; 

 also that they are cpnte worn out with their present cares, and that to 

 have a large family would break them down completely; so by their 



