CANCER. 193 



of a madman to indulge freely in alcohol. By thus 

 attending to the laws of health and avoiding injuries 

 and irritations of organs, their chances of living to 

 die of something else than cancer will be greatly 

 increased, of this they may be certain, while their 

 pleasure and usefulness in life will assuredly not be 

 lessened. 



On the question of marriage it is difficult to give 

 advice. The thoughtful man 05 woman will hesitate 

 to take for a partner a member of a family in which 

 it is known cancer has occurred the careless and the 

 sordid will marry as of yore. 



I think no one whose parent or grandparent has 

 had cancer more especially if the ancestor be of 

 the same sex should marry without much thought 

 for the possible consequences. But if, after con- 

 sideration, they determine to risk all, then let them 

 choose as partners persons whose family histories 

 are good; persons in whose families neither cancer, 

 scrofula, epilepsy, drunkenness, gout, idiocy, nor 

 insanity is known, remembering that in doing so 

 they are lessening the sorrows and sufferings of their 

 offspring. 



If some such suggestions as these were carried out 

 for a period of time equal to two generations, I am 

 convinced that the amount of suffering from this 

 disease would be changed from what it now is to a 

 waning quantity. 



