SEXUAL HYGIENE 177 



respecting the history of the malady. Said he, "Doc- 

 tor, it may seem strange, but I believe I inherited con- 

 sumption from my wife, who died of consumption a 

 few years ago. ' ' Excepting the wrong use of the term 

 inherit, we were not prepared to dispute the old gen- 

 tleman's ideas respecting the origin of his disease. 

 Living for years in close association with his wife, 

 who was slowly dying with disease of the lungs, it was 

 quite possible for him to have received the disease from 

 her. So many cases of this kind have been reported 

 that it is now generally believed by medical men that 

 consumption is communicable from one person to an- 

 other by the reception into the system of the well per- 

 son of the exhalations from the lungs of the person 

 affected. 



Physical Influence of Marriage.— Another point 

 worthy of mention here is the well-known fact that the 

 intimate association of married people modifies even 

 the physical form of both. Almost every one has no- 

 ticed how much alike in appearance married people 

 often come to be who have lived many years together. 

 This physical change undoubtedly extends farther than 

 to the features only. The whole constitution is modi- 

 fied. 



A remarkable illustration is found in the frequent 

 observation that the children of a woman by a second 

 husband often resemble in appearance the first hus- 

 band much more than their own father. It has been 

 observed that the children of a negro woman, by a 

 husband of pure negro blood, are much lighter in color 

 than usual, if she has had a child by a white man pre- 

 viously. 



The same fact is observed in lower animals. In 

 England, some years ago, a cross was effected between 



