A. JACOBI, M. D. 45 



confinements, the days of sickness are 70 per cent, larger than 

 those of the unmarried. Girls of 16 work 11 hours a day, in- 

 terruptions not being counted. Women with child work to the 

 last day possible, and have beside some domestic work to do; 

 their food is scanty and improper, their bodies over-tired and 

 defective. The law orders a recess of six weeks after con- 

 finement but it is rarely obeyed. That is why in Hanover 10 

 per cent, of all women working in factories have pelvic diseases. 

 In England, of 77 married women employed in lead factories, 

 15 had no children, 35 had 90 miscarriages; of that number 

 15 never had a living child; 36 others had 113 living children, 

 61 of whom died very soon. We out-Herod Herod. One 

 woman had 8 miscarriages ; of her 4 living children, 3 died 

 very soon. The average percentage of stillbirths in Switzer- 

 land was 3.91 ; among factory women, 8.2 per cent. 



Women working at home are worse off. Their constant labor 

 at the sewing machine undermines their health; seamstresses 

 develop anaemia, tuberculosis, and consumption, pelvic irregu- 

 larities and diseases; cigar makers who work at home such 

 as they call home reap consumption to the amount of 90 per 

 cent. That kind of work and distress begins when puberty is 

 not, or is barely reached. Such is the kind of woman who, 

 while living in dwellings without air and light, and full of dirt 

 bears children that are starved before being born, infected with 

 hereditary diseases, and destined to be born only to perish. And 

 children, frequently not far removed from infancy and fed on 

 coarse material, are forced to work an impossible task school 

 or no school, until 9, 10, and 11 o'clock at night. Laws intended 

 to protect them are disobeyed whenever possible, and wondrously 

 possible it is. They, too, are expected to be men and women 

 and to elevate the citizenship of the future. What they accom- 

 plish is to populate asylums, hospitals, protectories, peniten- 

 taries, or the streets, or the cemeteries. 



The number of babies that die in the first week or two is very 

 large. The death rate should be lowered by expert knowledge 

 and stubborn attendance. Forty years ago I sat with a new- 

 born, whose nose was obstructed by adenoids and hypertrophic 

 nasal mucous membrance, for three days and nights no nurses 

 being accessible in antediluvian times cauterizing its nares and 

 keeping its mouth open to allow it to breathe. No undertaker's 

 bill in that case. Congenital debility can mostly be prevented 

 by attending to the parents. The healthy generation of today 

 secures a healthy one tomorrow. 



Mismanagement of labor kills many babies. Fractures of 

 the upper arm or clavicle, or thigh, should be avoided. Paralysis 



