Fruits of FMiosopfay. 
A TH35ATWS1K 
ON THE 
POPULATION QUESTION 
CHARLES BRADLAUGH. 
Mrs. ANNE B.EBANT. 
BY 
Charles Braikagb & Mrs, lane Besaai 
GAKDEN orfy PUBLISHING CO. Standard Masonic Expositions.' 
By Past Master E. Ronayne, late: of Key- 
stone Lodge, No. 639, Chicago, 111. 
‘TREEMASONRY AT A GLANCE,” IIlus 
trates every Sign, Grip and Ceremony of the 
Order. Paper covers, 25 page: Single 
copy, 10 Cents 
“HANDBOOK/OF FREEMASONRY,” gives 
the Corrector “Standard” W( rk and Ritual 
of Symbolic Masonry. Paper covers 184 
pages. Price 60 Cents 
•‘THE MASTER'S CARPET, OR M ASON - 
1 lllT AND BAAL WORSHIP IDEN T1CAL.” 
Explains the true source and meaning of 
every Ceremony and-Symbol of the Lodge, 
and proves that Modern Masonry is identi- 
cal with the “Ancient Mysteries!10! Pagan 
ism. Bound in hoards, 429 page?. Price 
75 Cents- 
‘‘MA IT HAH-BONE,” comprising tlie “Hand 
hook” and “Carpet” in one. ' Bound in 
boards, 589 pages Pfice.$1.00 
All these books are fully and accurately il- 
lustrated, atid are the ONLY OfNVINE, 
as they are the Very latest expositions of Free 
masonry i?i America, or, in fact, in the world, 
the author having been for years a Masonic 
Teacher, as well as Worshipful Master of his 
Lodge. 1 
CUPID’S YOKES AND THE HOLY SCRIP 
TURKS CONTRASTED, by a letter from 
Parker Pillsbury fo E. H. Heywood. Price, 
\ 10 cents. To the Trade, 6 cents. 
YOURS OR MINE. Explaining the true 
Basis of Property and the causes of its In- 
\ equitable Distribution. Fortieth thousand, 
By E. II. Heywood. Price, 15 cents 
THE LAW OF POPULATION. Its Conse- 
quences and its Bearing upon Human Con- 
duct and Morals. By Annie Besant. Au- 
thorized American from the 25th thousand, 
English Edition. Price, 50 cents. 
WOMANHOOD.—ITS SANCTITIES AND 
FIDELITIES. By Isabella Beecher Hook- 
er. This is a very able and attractive 
work on Motherhood; the Social Evil, and 
kindred subjects. Paper, 50 cent?-, cloth 
75 cents. 
FRyiTS OF PHILOSOPHY, or the Private 
Companion of Adult People. By ChaUes 
Knowlton, M. D.,-an old time and highly , 
esteemed physician of Ashfield, Mass. 
First published by the author in 1834. This 
is the book the sale of which, in England, 
caused the arrest of Mr. Bradlaugh ana Mrs. 
Besant. 125,000 sold in three months after 
their arrest. It should be read by every 
one. Price, 50 cents. 
MORAL PHYSIOLOGY. A treatise, pop- 
ulation by Robert Dale Owen. ThL work 
is one of the first importance, not oily as 
a reply to Malthus, but also supplying to 
every" father and mother of a fami> the 
knowledge by which, without injury to 
health or violence to the moral feeling, any 
further increase which is not desired, may 
be prevented, more especially in case* 
where the health of the mother, or the di- 
minished income of the father, imperative- 
ly advises no further addition to the num- 
ber of offsprings. This work is illustrated 
with a frontispiece! Price, including pos 
tage, 1.25 
SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY. A scientific and 
popular Exposition of the Fundamental 
Broblems in Sociology, by R. T. Thrall, M. 
'. The great interest now being felt in all 
subjects relating to human developeuient 
wifi make this book valuable to every one. 
Besides the information obtained by its 
perusal, the bearing of the various subjects 
treated, in improving and giving directions 
and va|uc- to Human Life cannot be Over- 
eetiniated. This work contains the laics., 
and most important discoveries in tlie-An- 
atomy and Physiology of both sexes,explains 
the origin of Human Life; how and when 
Menstruation, Impregnation, and. Concept* 
tion occur; giving the laws by which tile1 
number and sex of offspring are controlle 1, 
and valuable information in regard to the l 3- 
gettingand rearing of beaut iful and lieatll w 
children. It should be read by every fa) K 
ily. With .eighty fine engravings. Fix f,* 
Wilder, of Corhcll University, says iQy| 
the best work yet written on "the subjSKj 
Thirtieth Thousand. Price, $2.00 - 
VITAL FORCES; HOW WASTED AOT> 
HOW PRESERVED. This book teat Ip 
both young and old to shun those exhaijs 
tive and injurious practices that impair 
their vitality and destroy life. ByDr.fi 
P. Miller. 50 cents, * ' ' 
THE TALMUD, Being Specimens of Ae 
Contents of that Ancient Book; its Cora 
mentaries, Teachings, Poetry, and Legends. 
Also, Brief Sketches of the men who made 
and commended upon it. Translated frousjj 
the original by II. Palano, professor of thfc 
Hebrew language, and author of the He- 
brew Speller. 16mo. Cloth, $1.25 
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN. Advicrfto 
the Maiden, Wife, and Mother. By George 
II. 'Naplieys, M. D., member of the Phiii 
delpliia Medical Society; Authbr of tire 
“Transmission of ’Life.'’ 426 
250,000 copies sold. $2.00. Bev.W.LLH, 
Murray says it is with sincere gratitude to 
- the author that I give my endorsement to 
' The Physical Life of Woman.’ I should 
' rejoice at its introduction among the peo 
pie until every wife and mother in the 
country and the world had a copy in her 
possession. The author deserves the 
thanks of every Christian and 
of the race.” » 
Any of the above books sent prepaid by mail on receipt of Price. 
P* W. CARROLL* ICM East Randolph Street, Chicago, 111, tottto fllf PUTT fRflPHY 
J1 Ullu U1 1 illLUuUl III. 
v. 
A TREATISE 
ON THE 
POPULATION QUESTION. 
BY 
CHARLES BRADLAUGH 
AND 
Mrs. ANNE BESANT. 
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING COMPANY. PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
The pamphlet which we now present to the 
public is one which has been lately prosecuted 
under Lord Campbell’s Act, and which we repub- 
lish in order to test the right of publication. It 
was originally written by Charles Knowlton, M. 
D., whose degree entitles him to be heard with 
respect on a medical question. It was first pub- 
lished in England, about forty years ago, by 
James Watson, the gallant Radical who came to 
London and took up Richard Charlile’s work 
when Carlile was in jail. He sold it unchal- 
lenged for many years, approved it, and recom- 
mended it. It was printed and published by 
Messrs. Holyoake and Co., and found its place, 
with other works of a similar character, in their 
“Freetbouglit Directory” of 1858, and was thus 
identified with Freetbouglit literature at the 
then leading Freethought depot. Mr. Austin 
Holyoake, working in conjunction with Mr. 
Bradlaugh at the National Reformer office, 
Johnson’s Court, printed and published it in his 
turn, and this well known Freethought advocate, 
in his “Large or Small Families,” selected this 
pamphlet,together with R. D. Owen’s“Moral Phy- 
siology” and the “Elements of Social Science,” 
for special recommendation. Mr. Charles Watts, 
succeeding to Mr. Austin Holyoake’s business, 
continued the sale, and when Mr. Watson died, 
in 1875, he bought the plates of the work (with 
others) from Mrs. Watson, and continued to ad- 
vertise and to sell it until December 23, 1876. 
For the last forty years the book has thus been 
identified with Freethought, advertised by lead- 
ing Freethinkers, published under the sanction 
of their names, and sold in the headquarters of 
Freethought literature. If during this long 
period the party has thus—without one word 
of protest -circulated an indecent work, the less 
we talk about Freethought morality the better; 
the work has been largely sold, and if leading 
Freethinkers have sold it—profiting by the sale— 
is mere carelessness, few words could be strong 
enough to brand the indifference which thus 
scattered obscenity broadcast over the land. 
The pamphlet has been withdrawn from circu- 
lation in consequence of the prosecution institu- 
ted against Mr. Charles Watts, but the question 
of its legality or illegality has not been tried; a 
plea of “Guilty” was put in by the publisher, and 
the book, therefore, was not examined, nor was 
any judgment passed upon it; no jury registered 
a verdict, and the judge stated that he had not 
read the work. 
We republish this pamphlet, honestly believ- 
ing that on all questions affecting the happiness 
of the people, whether they be theological, po- 
litical, or social, fullest right of free discussion 
ought to be maintained at all hazards. We do 
not personally indorse all that Dr. Knowlt 
says: his “Philosophical Proem” seems to usfi 
of philosophical mistakes, and—as we are neitl 
of us doctors—we are not prepared to indoi 
his medical views; hut since progress can on 
be made through-discussion, and no discussi 
is possible where differing opinions are suppr< 
sed, we claim the right to publish all opinion 
so that the public, enabled to see all sides of 
question, may have the materials for forming 
sound judgment. 
The alterations made are very slight; the bool 
was badlyiiflntedr'and and t 
few clumsy grammatical expressions have beer, 
corrected; the subtitle has been changed, and ic 
one case four lines have been omitted, becausf 
they are repeated word for word further on. Wr 
have, however, made some additions to th 
pamphlet, which are in all cases kept disti 
from the original text. Physiology has m 
great strides during the past forty years, and 
considering it right to circulate erroneous ph 
ology, we submitted the pamphlet to a docto 
whose accurate knowledge we have the fulk 
confidence, and who is widely known in allpa' 
of the world as the author of the “Elements 
Social Science”; the notes signed “G. R.” a 
written by tliis gentleman. References to oth 
words arc given in foot-notes for the assistan 
of the reader, if he desires to study up the su 
ject further. 
Old Radicals will remember that Richard Os 
lile published a work entitled “Every Womei 
Book,” which deals with the same subject ai 
advocates the same object as Dr. Knowltoi 
pamphlet. R. D. Owen objected to the “styl 
and tone” of Carlile’s “Every Women’s Book, 
as not being in “good taste” and he wrote hi 
“Moral Physiology” to do in America what Ca 
lile’s work work was intended to do in Engl? - 
This work of Carlile’s was stigmatized as 
cent” and “immoral,” because it advoca 
does Dr. Knowlton’s, the use of prevc 
checks to population. In striving to carry < | 
Carlile’s work, we cannot expect to escape Ca 
lile’s reproach; but, whether applauded or co 
demned, we meau to carry it on, socially as wr 
as politically and theologically. 
We believe, with the Rev. Mr. Mai thus, tl 
population has a tendency to increase fas 
than the means of existence, and that sc 
checks must therefore exercise control overp 
ulation. The checks now exercised are se 
starvation and preventable disease; the ei 
mous mortality among the infants of the po 
one of the checks which now keep down 
population. The checks that ought to coi 
population are scientific, and it is these whic PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
3 
advocate. We think it more moral to prevent 
the conception of children than, after they are 
born, to murder them by want of food, air, and 
clothing. We advocate scientific checks to pop- 
ulation, because, so long as poor men have large 
families, pauperism is a necessfiy, and from 
pauperism grow crime and disease. The wages 
which would support the parents and two or 
three children in comfort and decency is utterly 
insufficient to maintain a family of twelve or 
fourteen, and we consider it a crime to bring into 
the world human beings doomed to misery or to 
premature death. It is not only the hard-work- 
ing classes which are concerned in this question. 
The poor preacher, the struggling man of busi- 
ness, the young professional man, are often made 
wretched for life by their inordinately large 
families, and their years are passed in one long 
battle to live; meanwhile the woman’s health is 
sacrificed and her life embittered from the same 
cause. To all of these, we point the way of re- 
lief and of happiness; for the sake ot these we 
publish what others fear to issue; and we do it, 
confident that if we fail the first time, we shall 
succeed at last, and that the English public will 
not permit the authorities to stifle a discussion of 
the most important social question which can in- 
fluence a nation’s welfare. 
Charles Bradlaugh. 
Annie Besant. 
I 
PREFACE TO SECOND NEW EDITION. 
We were not aware, when we published the 
first edition, that the editions published by 
James Watson, and professing to be reprinted 
by Holyoake &Co., Austou & Co., F. Farrali, J. 
Brooks, and Charles Watts, contained any vari- 
ations. Those variations are all of the most 
unimportant character; but as it was the edition 
issued by Mr. Watson, which was prosecuted, 
and as on careful reading we find there are 
some slight differences, the present edition is 
reprinted from his, with the exception of errors 
in printing and grammar 
Charles Bradlaggh. 
Annie Besant. 
PREFACE. 
BY ONE OF THE FORMER PUBLISHERS. 
It is a notorious fact that the families of tbe 
married often increase beyond a regard for the 
young beings coming into existence, or the hap- 
piness of those who gave them birth, would 
dictate; and philanthropists of first-rate moral 
character, in different parts of the world, have 
for years been endeavoring to obtain and dissem- 
inate a knowledge of means whereby men and wo- 
men may refrain at will from becoming parents, 
without even a partial sacrifice of the pleasure 
which attends the gratifications of the productive 
instinct. But no satisfactory means of fulfilling 
this object was discovered until the subject re- 
ceived the attention of a physician who had 
devoted years to the investigation of the most 
recondite phenomena of the human system, as 
well as to chemistry. The idea occurred to him 
of destroying the fecundating property of the 
sperm by chemical agents; and upon this princi- 
ple he devised “checks,” which reason alone 
would convince us must be effectful, and which 
have been proved to be so by actual experience. 
This work, besides conveying a knowledge of 
these and other checks, treats of Generations, 
Sterility, Impotency, etc., etc. It is written in 
a plain yet chaste style. The great utility of 
such a work as this, especially to the poor, is 
ample apology, if apology be needed, for its 
publication. PHILOSOPHICAL PROEM. 
Consciousness is not a “principle” or sub- 
stance of any kind, nor is it, strictly speaking, 
a property of any substance or being. It is a 
peculiar action of the nervous system, and the 
system is said to be sensible, or to possess the 
property of sensibility, because those sentient 
actions which constitute our different concious- 
nesses may be excited in it. The nervous sys- 
tem includes not only the brain and spinal mar- 
row but numerous soft white cords, called 
nerves, which extend from the brain and spinal 
marrow to every part of the body in which a sen- 
sation can be excited. 
A sensation is a sentient action of a nerve and 
the brain: a thought or idea (both the same thing) 
is a sentient action of the brain alone. A sen- 
sation or a thought is conciousness, and there 
is no conciousness but that which consists either 
in a sensation or a thought. 
Agreeable conciousness constitutes what we 
call happiness, and disagreeable consciousness 
constitutes misery. As sensations are a higher 
degree of consciousness than mere thought, it 
follows that agreeable sensations constitute a 
more exquisite happiness than agreeable 
thoughts. That portion of happiness which 
consists in agreeable sensations is commonly 
called pleasure. No thoughts are agreeable 
except those which were originally ex- 
cited by or have been associated with agreeable 
sensations. Hence if a person never had exper- 
ienced any agreeable sensations, he could have 
no agreeable thoughts, and would of course be 
an entire stranger to happiness. 
There are five species of sensation,—seeing, 
hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. 
There are many varieties of feeling,—as the 
feelings of hunger, thirst, cold, hardness, etc., 
Many of the'se feelings are excited by agents 
that act upon the exterior of the body, such as 
solid substances of every kind, heat, and various 
chemical irritants. These latter feelings are 
called passions. 
Those passions which owe their existence 
chiefly to the state of the brain, or to causes 
acting directly upon the brain, are called the 
morat passion. They are grief, anger, love, etc. 
They consist of sentiment actions, which com- 
mence in the brain and extend to the nerves in 
the region of the stomach, heart, etc. But when 
the cause of the internal feeling or passion is 
seated in some organ remote from the brain, as 
in the stomach, genital organs, etc., the sentient 
action which constitutes the passion commences 
in the nerves of such organ and extends to the 
brain, and the passion is called an appetite, in- 
stinct, or desire. Some of these passions are 
natural, as hunger, thirst, the reproductive in- 
stinct, the desire to urinate, etc. Others are 
gradually acquired by habit. A hankering for 
stimulants, as spirits, opium, and tobacco, is one 
of these. 
Such is the nature of things that our most 
vivid and agreeable sensations cannot be excited 
under all circumstances, nor beyond a certain 
extent under any circumstance, without giving 
rise in one way or another to an amount of 
disagreeable consciousness or misery, exceeding 
the amount of agreeable consciousness which 
attends such ill-timed or excessive gratification. 
To excite agreeable sensations to a degree not 
exceeding this certain extent is temperance; to 
excite them beyond this extent is intemperance; 
not to excite them at all is mortification or ab- 
stinence. This certain extent varies with differ- 
ent individuals, according to their several cir- 
cumstances, so that what would be temperance 
in one person may be intemperance in another. 
To be free from disagreeable consciousness is 
to be in a state which, compared with a state of 
misery, is a happy state; yet absolute happiness 
does not exist in the absence of misery; if it do, 
rocks are happy. It consists, as aforesaid, in 
agreeable consciousness. That which enables a 
person to excite or maintain agreeable conscious- 
ness is not happiness: but the idea of having 
such in one’s possession is agreeable, and or 
course is a portion of happiness. Health and 
wealth go far in enabling a person to excite and 
maintain agreeable consciousness. 
That which gives rise to agreeable conscious- 
ness is good, and we desire it. If we use it in- 
temperatcly, such use is bad, but the thing itself 
is still good. Those acts (and intentions are 
acts of that part ot man which intends} of hum- 
an beings which tend to the promotion of hap- 
piness are good; but they are also called virtuous, 
to distinguish them from other things of the 
same tendency. There is nothing for the word 
virtue to signify but virtuous actions. Sin signi- 
fies nothing but sinful actions, and sinful, wick- 
ed, vicious, or bad actions are those which are 
productive of more misery than happiness. 
When an individual gratifies any of his in- 
stincts in a temperate degree, he adds an item to 
the sum total of human happiness, and causes 
the amount of human happiness to exceed the 
amount of misery farther than if he had not 
enjoyed himself, therefore it is virtuous, or, to 
say the least, it is not vicious or sinful for him 
to do so. But it must ever be remembered that 
this temperate degree depends on circumstances; 
that one person’s health, pecuniary circum- 
stances, or social relation may be such that it 
would cause more misery than happiness for 
him to do an act which being done by a person 
under different circumstances would cause more 
happiness than misery. Therefore it would be PHILOSOPHICAL PROEM. 
5 
right for the latter to perform such act, but not 
for the former. 
Again: owing to his ignorance, a man may 
not "be able to gratify a desire without causing 
misery (wherefore it would be wrong for him to 
do it), but with knowledge of means to prevent 
this misery, he may so gratify it that more 
pleasure than pain will be the result of the act, 
in which case the act, to say the least, is justi- 
fiable. Now, therefore, it is virtuous, nay, it is 
the duty, for him who lias a knowledge of such 
means, to convey it to those who have it not, for 
by so doing he furthers the cause of human hap- 
piness. 
Man by nature is endowed with the talent of 
devising means to remedy or prevent the evils 
that are liable to arise from gratifying our appe- 
tites; and it is as much the duty of the physician 
to inform mankind of the means to prevent the 
evils that are liable to arise from gratifying the 
productive instinct, as it is to inform them how 
to keep clear of the gout or dyspepsia. Let not 
the old ascetic say we ought not to gratify our 
appetites any further than is necessary to main- 
tain health and to perpetuate the species. 
Mankind will not so abstain, and if ft means to 
prevent the evils that may arise from a farther 
gratification can be devised, they need not. 
Heaven has not only given us the capacity of 
greater enjoyment, but the talent of devising 
means to prevent the evils that are liable to arise 
therefrom and it becomes us, ‘-‘with thanksgiv- 
ing,” to make the most of them. 
CHAPTER I. 
Showing how desirable it is, both in a political 
and a social point of view, for mankind to be 
able to limit at will the number of their off- 
i spring, without sacrificing the pleasure that 
i attends the gratification of the reproductive-in- 
i stinct. 
First.—In a political point of view.—If pop- 
ulation be not restrained by some great physical 
calamity, such as we have reason to hope will 
not hereafter be visited upon the children of 
men, or by some moral restraint, the time will 
come when the earth cannot support its inhabi- 
tants. Population unrestrained, will double 
threee times in a century. Hence, computing 
the present population of the earth at 1,000 mill- 
ions, there would be at the end of 100 years from 
the present time, 8,000 millions. 
At the end of 200 years, 64,000 millions. 
“ “ 300 “ 512,000 “ 
And so on multiplying by eight for every 
additional hundred years. So that in 500 years 
from the present time there would be thirty-two 
thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight times 
as many inhabitants as at present. If the nat- 
ural increase should go on without check for 
1,500 years, one single pair would increase to more 
than thirty-five thousand one hundred and eighty- 
four times as many as the present population of 
the whole earth! 
Some check then there must be, or the time 
will come .when millions will be borne but to 
suffer and to perish for the necessaries of life. 
To what an inconceivable amount of human 
misery would such a state of things give rise! 
And must we say that vice, war, pestilence, and 
famine are desirable to prevent it? Must the 
friends of temperance and domestic happiness 
stay their efforts? Must peace societies excite , 
to war and bloodshed? Must the physician , 
cease to investigate the nature of contagion, ' 
and to saarch for the means of destroying its ; 
baneful influence? Must he that becomes dis- , 
eased be marked as a victim to die for the pub- < 
lie good, without the privilege of making an > 
effort to restore him to health? And in case of ! 
a failure of crops in one part of the world, must < 
the other parts withhold the means of supporting i 
life that the far greater evil of excessive popu- 
lation throughout the globe may be prevented? 
Can there be no effectual moral restraint, at- 
tended with far less human misery than such 
physicial calamities as these? Most surely 
there can. But what is it? Malthus. an Eng- 
lish writer on the subject of population, gives 
us none but celibacy to a late age. But "how 
foolish it is to suppose that men and women 
will become as monks and nuns during the 
very holiday of their existence, and abjure 
during the fairest years of life the nearest and 
dearest of social relations, to avert a catastrophe 
which they and perhaps their children will not 
live to witness. But besides being ineffectual, 
or if effectual, requiring a great sacrifice of en- 
joyment, 1 his restraint is highly objectional on 
the score of its demoralizing tendency. It would 
give rise to a frightful increase of prostitution, 
of intemperance and onanism, and prove de- 
structive to health and moral feelings. In spite 
of preaching, human nature will ever remain 
the same; and that restraint which forbids the 
gratification of the reproductive instinct will 
avail but little with the mass of mankind. 
The checks to be hereafter mentioned are the 
only moral restraints to population known to 
the writer that are unattended with serious 
objections. 
Besides starvation, with all its accompanying 
evils, over-population is attended with other 
public evils, of which may be mentioned ignor- 
ance and slavery. Where the mass of the peo- 
ple must toil imcessantly to obtain support, they 
must remain ignorant; and where ignorance pre- 
vails, tyranny reigns.* 
* The scientific part of Malthus’s Doctrine of Popula- 
tion is not very clearly or correctly given in the above 
passages. His great theory, now or generally held by 
the most eipinent political economists, is that the in- 
crease of population is always powerfully checked in 
old countries by the difficulty of increasing the supply 
of food ; that the existing evils of poverty and low wages 
are really at bottom caused by this check,and are brought 
about by the pressure of population on the soil, and the 
continual over-stocking of the labor markets with lab- 
orers ; and hence that the only way in which society can 
escape from poverty, with all its miseries, is by putting 
a strong restraint on their great natural powers of mul- 
tiplication. “It is not in the nature of things,” he says, 
“that any permanent and general improvement in the 
condition of the poor can be effected without an increase 
in the preventive checks to population.”—G. R. 6 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
Second.—In a social point of view.—“Is it not 
notorious that the families of the married often 
increase beyond what a regard for the young 
beings coming into the world, or the happiness 
of those who give them birth, would dictate? In 
how many instances does the hard-working fa- 
ther, and more especially the mother, of a poor 
familv remain slaves throughout their lives, 
tugging at the oar of incessant labor, toiling to 
live, and living to toil; when, if their offspring 
had been limited to two or three only, they might 
have enjoyed comfort and comparative affluence? 
How often is the health of the mother, giving 
birth every y$*ar to an infant—happy if it be not 
twins—and compelled to toil on, even at those 
times when nature imperiously calls for some re- 
lief from daily drudgery,—how often is the 
mother’s comfort, health, nay, even her life thus 
sacrificed? Or if -care and toil have weighed 
down the spirit, and at length broken the health 
of the father, how often is the widow left un- 
able, with the most virtuous intentions, to save 
her fatherless offspring from becoming degrad- 
ed objects of charity, or profligate votaries of 
vice! 
“ Nor is this all. Many women are so consti- 
tuded that they cannot give birth to healthy, 
sometimes not to living qliildren. Is it desirable, 
is it moral, that such women should become preg- 
nant? Yet this is continually the case. Others 
there are who ought never to become parents; be- 
cause, if they do, it is only to transmit to 
their offspring grievous hereditary diseases, 
which render such offspring mere subjects of 
misery throughout their sickly existence. Yet 
such women will not lead a life of celicacy. They 
marry. They become parents, and the sum of 
human misery is increased by their doing so. 
But it is folly to expect that we can induce such 
persons to live the lives of Shakers. Nor is it 
necesssary; all that duty requires of them is to 
refrain from becoming parents. Who can esti- 
mate the beneficial effect which a rational moral 
restraint may thus have on the health and beauty 
and physical improvement of our race through- 
out future generations." 
Let us now turn our attention to the case of 
unmarried youth. 
“Almost all young persons, on reaching the 
age of maturity, desire to marry. That heart 
must be very cold, or very isolated, that does 
not find some object on which to bestow its af- 
fections. Thus, early marriage vrould be almost 
universal did not prudential consideration inter- 
fere. The young man thinks, 1 cannot many 
yet; I cannot support a family. I must make 
money first, and think of a matrimonial settle- 
ment afterwards.’ 
“And so he goes to making money, fully and 
sincerely resolved in a few years to share it with 
her whom he now loves. But passions are strong 
and temptations great. Curiosity, perhaps, in- 
troduces him into the company of those poor 
creatures whom society first reduces to a depen- 
dence on the most miserable of mercenary 
trades, andtnen curses for being what she has 
made them. There his health and moral feelings 
alike made shipwreck. The affection he had 
thought to treasure up for their first object are 
chilled by dissipation and blunted by excess. 
He scarcely retains a passion but avarice. Years 
pass on—years of profligacy and speculation— 
and his first wish is accomplished, his fortune is 
made. Where now are the feelings and resolves 
of his youth? 
‘Like the dew on the mountain, 
Like the foam on the river 
Like the bubbles on the fountain, 
They are gone—and forever.’ 
“He is a man of pleasure, a man of the world. 
He laughs at the romance of his youth, and mar- 
ries a fortune. If gaudy equipage and gay par- 
ties confer happiness, he is happy. But if there 
be only the sunshine on the stormy sea below, 
he is a victim to that system of morality which 
forbids a reputable connection until the period 
when provision has been made for a large ex- 
pected family. Had he married the first object 
of his choice, and simply delayed becoming a 
father until his prospects seemed to warrant it, 
how different might have been his lot. Until 
men and women are absolved from the fear of 
becoming parents, except when they themselves 
desire it, they will ever form mercenary and de- 
moralizing connections, and seek in dissipa- 
tion the happiness they might nave found in do- 
mestic life. 
“I know that this, however common, is not a 
universal case. Sometimes the heavy responsi- 
bilities of a family are incurred at all risks; and 
who shall say how often a life of unremitting 
toil and poverty is the consequence. Sometimes, 
if even rarely, the young mind does hold its first 
resolves. The youth plods through years of 
cold celibacy and solitary anxiety, happy if, be- 
fore the best hours of his life are gone and its 
warmest feelings withered, he may return to 
claim the reward of his forbearance and his in- 
dustry. But even in this comparatively happy 
case, shall we count for nothing the years of as- 
cetic sacrifice at which after-happiness is pur- 
chased? The days of youth are not too many, ' 
nor its affections too lasting. We. may, indeed, 
if a great object require it, sacrifice the one and 
mortify the other. But is this, in itself, desir- 
able? Does not wisdom tell us that such a sacri- 
fice is a dead loss—to the warm-hearted often a 
grievous one? Does not wisdom bid us temper- 
ately enjoy the springtimes of life, ‘while the 
evil day come not, nor Die years draw nigh, when 
we shall say we have no pleasure in them/ 
“Let us say, then, if we will, that the youth 
who thus sacrifices the present for the future, 
chooses wisely between the two evils, profligacy, 
and asceticism. This is true. But let us not 
imagine the lesser evil to be a good. It is 
not good for man to be alone. It is for no man 
or woman’s happiness or benefit that they should 
be condemned to Shakerism. It is a violence 
done to the feelings and an injury to the charac- 
ter. A life of rigid celibacy, though infinitely 
preferable to a life of dissipation, is yet fraught 
with many evils. Peevishness, restlessness, va- 
gue longings, and instability of character are 
amongst the least of these. The mind is unsettled 
and the judgment wrapped. Even the very 
instinct which is thus mortified assumes an un- 
due importance, and occupies a portion of the 
thoughts which does not of right or nature be- 
long to it, and which during a life of satisfied 
affection it would not obtain." FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
7 
In many instances, the genital organs are ren- 
ered so irritable by the repletion to which un 
atural continency gives rise, and by the much 
hinking caused by such repletion, as to induce 
disease known to medical men by the name of 
lonorrhcea Dormientium. It consists in an em- 
ssion or discharge of the semen during sleep, 
’liis discharge is immediately excited in most 
instances by a lascivious dream, but such dream 
s caused by the repletion and irritability of the 
genital organs. It is truly astonishing to what a 
legree of mental anguish the disease gives rise 
n young men. They do not understand the na- 
ure, or rather the cause of it. They think it de- 
pends on a weakness-indeed, the disease is of- 
ten called a “seminal weakness”—and that the 
east gratification in a natural way would but 
,erve to increase it. Their anxiety about it 
weakens the whole system. This weakness they 
irroneously attribute to the discharges: they 
hink themselves totally disqualified for entering 
nto or enjoying the married state. Finally, the 
genital and mental organs act and react upon 
:ach other so perniciously as to cause a degree 
cf nervousness, debility, emaciation and mel- 
ancholy—in a word, wretchedness that sets des- 
cription at defiance. Nothing is so effectual in 
curing this diseased state of a body and miud in 
roung men as marriage. All restraint, fear and 
olicitude should be removed. 
“Inasmuch, then, as the scruples of incurring 
leavy responsibilities deter from forming moral 
connections, and encourage intemperance and 
destitution, the knowledge which enables man 
■o limit the number of his offspring would, in the 
cresent state of things, save much unhappiness 
md prevent many crimes. Young persons sin- 
cerely attached to each other, and who might 
wish to marry.should marry early, merely resolv- 
ng not to become parents until prudence per- 
mitted it. The young man, instead of solitary 
,oil and vulgar dissipation, would enjoy the so- 
ciety and the assistance of her he has chosen as 
his companion; and the best years of life, whose 
pleasures never return, would not Ice squandered 
in riot, nor lost through mortification.’’* 
CHAPTER II. 
On Generation. 
I hold the following to be important and un- 
deniable truths: That every man has a natural 
eight both to receive and convey a knowledge of 
ill the facts and discoveries of every art and 
science, excepting such only as may be secured 
;o some particular person or persons by copy- 
•ight or patent. That a physical truth in its 
general effect can not be a moral evil. That no 
act in physics or in morals ought to be con- 
cealed from the inquiring mind. 
Some may make a misuse of knowledge, but 
that is their fault: and it is not right that one 
person should be deprived of knowledge, of 
spirits, of razors, or of anything else which is 
harmless in itself and may be useful to him, be- 
cause another may misuse it. 
* The passages quoted are from Robert Dale Owen’s 
■Moral Physiology.” (Published by E. Truelove) — 
[Publishers’Note. 4 
The subject of generation is not only interest- 
ing as a branch of science, but it is so connected 
with the happiness of mankind that it is highly 
important in a practical point of view. Such, 
to be sure, is the custom of the age that it is not 
considered a proper subject to investigate before 
a popular assembly, nor is it proper to attend 
the calls of nature in a like place, yet they must 
and ought to be attended to,for the good, the hap- 
piness of mankind require it; so too, for like 
reason, the subject of generation ought to be in- 
vestigated until it. be rightly undertoocl by all 
people, but at such opportunities as the good 
sense of every individual will easily decide to be 
proper. This I presume to say, not simply upon 
the abstract principle that all knowledge of na- 
ture’s workings is useful, and the want of it dis- 
advantageous, but from the kn*»wn moral fact 
that ignorance of this process has in many in- 
stances proved the cause of a lamentable “mis- 
hap,” and more especially as it is essential to 
the attainment of the great advantages which it 
is the chief object of this work to bestow upon 
mankind. 
People generally, as it was the case with physi- 
cians until late years, entertain a very erroneous 
idea of what takes place in the conception. 
Agreeably to this idea the “check” which 1 con- 
sider far preferable to any other would not be 
effectual, as would be obvious to all. Consequent- 
ly entertaining this idea, people would not have 
due confidence in it. Hence it is necessary to 
correct a long held and widely extended error. 
But this I cannot expect to do by simply saying 
it is an error. Deeply rooted and hitherto undis- 
puted opinions are not so easily eradicated. If I 
would convince any one that the steps in one of 
the most recondite processes of nature are not 
such as he has always believed, it will greatly 
serve my purpose to show what these steps are. 
I must first prepare him to be reasoned with, and 
then reason the matter all over with him. I 
must point out the facts which disprove his opin- 
ion, and show that my own is unattended with 
difficulties. 
But what can be more obvious than that it is 
absolutely impossible to explain any process or 
function of the animal economy, so as to be un- 
derstood, before the names of the organs which 
perform this function have been defined, that is, 
before the organs themselves have been describ- 
ed. Now it is well known to eveiy anatomist, 
and indeed it may be obvious to all, that in de- 
scribing any organ or system of organs we must 
always begin with some external and known 
parts, and proceed regularly, step by step, to the 
internal and unknown. As in arithmetic, “every 
thing must be understood as you go along.” 
Fully to effect the objects of this work, it is, 
therefore, a matter of necessity that I give an 
anatomical description of certain parts—even 
external parts—which some, but for what I 
have just said, might think it useless to mention. 
It is not to gratify the idle curiosity of the 
light-minded that this book is written, it is for 
utility in the broad and truly philosophical sense 
of the term; nay, father, it shall, with the ex- 
ception of here and there a little spicing be* 
* This is an Americanism, which appears to us to 
convey a false idea. If it refers to the cases used as 8 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
confined to practical utility. I shall, there- 
fore, endeavor to treat of the subject in this 
chapter so as to be understood, without giving 
any description of the male organs of genera- 
tion; though 1 hold it an accomplishment for 
one to be able to speak of those organs, as dis- 
eases often put them under the necessity of 
doing, without being compelled to use low and 
vulgar language. But I must briefly describe 
the female organs; in doing which I must, of 
course, speak as do otfyer anatomists and phy- 
siologists; and whoever objects to this will dis 
cover more affectation and prudery than good 
sense and good will to mankind. 
The adipose, or fatty matter, immediately 
over the share bone, forms, a consider- 
able prominence in females, which, at the age 
of puberty, is covered with hair, as in mules. 
This prominence is called Mons Veneris. 
The .exterior orifice commences immediately 
below this. On each side of this orifice is a 
prominence continued from the mons veneris, 
which is largest above and gradually diminishes 
as it deseends. These two prominences are 
called the Labia Externa, or external lips. Near 
the latter end of pregnancy they become some- 
what enlarged and relaxed, so that they sustain 
little or no injury during parturition. Just 
wdthin the upper or anterior commissure, formed 
by the junction of these lips, a little round ob- 
long body is situated. The body is called the 
clitoris. Most of its length is bound down, as 
it were, pretty closely to the bone; and it is of 
very variable size in different females. Instan- 
ces have occurred wdiere it wras so enlarged as to 
allow the female to have venereal commerce 
with others; and in Paris this fact wms once made 
a public exhibition of to the medical faculty. 
Women thus formed appear to partake in their 
general form of the male character, and are term- 
ed hermaphrodites. The idea of human beings, 
called hermaphrodites, which could be either 
father or mother, is, doubtless, erroneous. The 
clitoris is analogous in its structure to the penis, 
and like it, is exquisitively sensitive, being as it 
is supposed the principal seat of pleasure. It is 
subject to erection or distension, like the penis, 
from like causes. 
The skin which lines the internal surface of 
the external lips is folded in such manner as to 
form two flat bodies, the exterior edges of which 
are convex. They are called the n vmphae.They ex- 
tend downwards, one on each side, from the clit- 
oris to near the middle of the external orifice, 
somewhat diverging from each other. Their use 
is not very evident. The orifice of the urethra 
(the canal, short in females, wdiich leads to the 
bladder) is situated an inch or more farther in- 
ward than the clitoris, and is a little protuber- 
ant. 
Passing by the external lips, the clitoris, the 
nymphae, and the orifice of the urethra, we come 
to the membrane called the hymen. It is situat- 
ed just at or a trifle behind the orifice of the 
urethra. It is stretched across the passage, and 
it a complete septum, it would close up 
the anterior extremity of that portion of the 
illustrations, Dr. Knowlton is more sparing in his use 
of them than either Dr. Bull or Dr. Chavasse—[Publish- 
ers’ Note]. 
passage ■which is called the vagina. But tl 
instances in which the septum or partition 
complete are very rare, there, being, in almo 
all cases, an aperture either in its centre or moi 
frequently in its anterior edge, giving the mer 
brane the form of a crescent. Through this ape 
ture passes the menstrual fluid. Sometime 
however, this septum is complete, and tl 
menstrual fluid is retained month aft< 
month, until appearances and symptoms mud 
like those of pregnancy are produced, givin 
rise perhaps to unjust suspicions. Such case 
require the simple operation of dividing tl 
hymen. In many instances the hymen is very in 
perfect, insomuch that some have doubted whetl 
er it is to be found in the generality of virgins 
Where it exists it is generally ruptured in th 
first intercourse of the sexes, and the female 
said to lose her virginity. In some rare instac 
ces it is so very strong as not to be ruptured b’ 
such intercourse, and the nature of the difficult 
not being understood, the husband has sued fc 
a divorce. But everything .may be put to right 
by a slight surgical operation. The parts hei 
described are amoug those called the externr 
parts of generation. 
The internal organs of generation consist i 
the female of the-"Vagina, the Uterus, the Ovai 
ies and their appendages. 
The Vagina is a membranous canal comment 
ing at the hymen and extending to the uteru 
It is a little curved, and extends backwards an 
upward between the bladder, which lies befoi 
and above it, and that extreme portion of tl) 
bowels called the rectum, which lies behind i 
The coat of membrane which lines the in term 
surface of the vagina forms a number of tran 
verse ridge<. These ridges are to be found on] 
in the lower or anterior half of the vagina, an 
they do not extend all round the vagina, but ai 
situated on its anterior and posterior sides, whi 
their lateral sides are smooth. I mention thes 
ridges because a knowledge of them may lead t 
a more effectual use of one of the checks to b 
made known hereafter. 
The Uterus or womb is also situated betwee 
the bladder and the rectum, but above the vaj 
ina. Such is its shape that it has been con 
pared to a pear with a long neck. There is, c 
course, considerable difference between the bod 
and the neck, the first being twice as broad f 
the last. Each of these parts is somewha 
flattened. In subjects of mature age, who hav 
never been pregnant, the whole of the uterus ? 
about two inches and a half in length, and moi 
than an inch and a half in breadth at the broai 
est part of the body. It is near an inch i 
thickness The neck of the uterus is situate 
down-wards, and may be said to be inserted ini 
the upper extremity of the vagina. It extern 
down into the vagina the better part of an incl. 
In the uterus is a cavity which approaches th 
triangular form, and from which a canal passe 
down through the neck of the uterus into th 
vagina. This cavity is so small fliat its side 
are almost in contact. So that the uterus is 
thick, firm organ for so small a one. Compat 
ing the cavity of the uterus to a triangle., we sa; 
the upper side or line of this triangle is trans 
verse with respect to the body, and the other tw 
lines pass downwards and inward, s. FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY 
9 
that they would form an angle below, 
did they not before they meet take 
a turn more directly downwards to form 
the canal just mentioned. In each of the 
upper angles there is an orifice of such size as to 
admit of a hog’s bristle. These little orifices are 
the mouths of two tubes, called the fallopian 
tubes, of which more will be said presently. The 
canal which passes through the neck of the 
uterus, connecting the cavity of this organ with 
that of the vagina, is about a quarter of an inch 
in diameter. It is different from other ducts, 
for it seems to be a part of the cavity from which 
it extends, inasmuch as when the cavity of the 
uterus is enlarged in the process of pregnancy, 
this canal is gradually converted into a part of 
that cavity. 
The lower extremity of the neck of the uterus 
is irregularly convex and tumid. The orifice of 
the canal in it is oval, and so situated that it 
divides the convex surface of the lower extrem- 
ity of the neck in two portions, which are called 
the lips of the uterus. The anterior is thicker 
than the posterior. The orifice itself is called os 
tincoe or os uteri, or in English, the mouth of the 
womb. When the parts are in a weak, relaxed 
state, the mouth or neck of the uterus is quite 
low, and in almost all cases it may be reached 
by a finger introduced into the vagina, especially 
by a second person who carries the hand behind. 
The Ovaries are two bodies of a flattened or 
oval form, one of which is situated on each side 
of the uterus at a little distance from it, and 
about as high up as where the uterus becomes 
narrow to form its neck. The longest diameter 
of the ovarium is about an inch. Each ovarium 
has a firm coat of membrane. In those who have 
not been pregnant., it contains from ten to twenty 
vesicles, which are little round bodies, formed 
of a delicate membrane, and filled with a trans- 
parent fluid. Some of these vesicles are situ- 
ated so near the surface of the ovarium as to be 
prominent on its surface. They are of different 
sizes, the largest nearly a quarter of an inch in 
diameter.* 
In those in whom conception has ever taken 
place, some of these vesicles are removed, and 
in their place a cicatrix or scar is formed which 
continues through life. However, the number 
of cicatrices does not always correspond with 
the number of conceptions. They often exceed 
it, and are sbmetimes found where conception 
hasnot been known to take place. The Fallopian 
Tubes are two canals four or five inches in length, 
proceeding from the upper angles of the cavity 
of the uterus, in a transverse direction in respect 
to the body. Having so proceeded for some dis- 
tance, they turn downwards towards the ovaries. 
At their commencement in the uterus they are 
very small, but they enlarge as much as they 
progress. The large ends which hang loose, 
terminate in open mouths, the margins of which 
* The vesicles here mentioned are the so-called Graaf- 
ian vesicles, or ovisacs, each of which contains in its in- 
terior a little ovum or egg. In the human female the 
ovum is extremely minute, so as only to be visible with 
the aid of a lens. The Graafian vesicles are not limited 
to a certain small number, as was formerly thought, but 
continue to be formed in the ovaries, and to discharge 
at intervals mature ova during the whole of the fruitful : 
period of life.—G. R. 
consist of fimbriated processes, and nearly touch, 
the ovaria. 
We are now prepared to treat of conception. 
Yet, as menstruation is closely connected with 
it, and as a knowledge of many things concern 
ing menstruation may contribute much to tin 
well-being of females, for whom this work is at 
least as much designed as for males, I shall fir.-t 
briefly treat of this subject. 
Menstruation.—When females arrive at the 
age of puberty they begin to have a discharge 
once every month, by way of the vagina, of the 
color of blood. This discharge is termed the 
menses. To have it. is to menstruate. The age 
at which menstruation commences varies with 
different individuals, and also in different clim- 
ates. The warmer the climate the earlier it 
. commences and ceases. In temperate climates 
it generally commences at the age of fourteen or 
fifteen, and it ceases at forty-four, or a little 
later.* 
Whenever it commences the girl acquires a 
more womanly appearance. It is a secretion of 
the uterus, or in other words, the minute vessels 
distributed to the inner coat of the uterus, select 
as it were, from the blood, and pour out in a 
gradual manner the materials of this fluid. It 
has one of the properties, color, of blood, but it 
does not coagulate, or separate into different 
parts like blood, and cannot properly be called 
blood \ When this discharge is in all respects 
regular, it amounts in most females to six or 
eight ounces, and is from two or four days’ con- 
tinuance. During its continuance the woman is 
said to be unwell, or out of order. Various un- 
pleasant. feelings are liable to attend it; but when 
it is attended with severe pain, as it not unfre- 
quently is, it becomes a disease, and the woman 
is not likely to conceive until it be cured. Dur- 
ing the existence of the “turns,” or “monthlies,” 
as they are often called, indigestible food, danc- 
ing in warm rooms, sudden exposure to cold or 
wet, and mental agitations, should be avoided 
as much as possible. The “turns” do not con- 
tinue during pregnancy, nor nursing, unless nurs- 
ing be continued after the “turns” recommence. 
Some women, it is true, are subject to a slight 
hemorrhage that sometimes occurs with consider- 
able regularity during pregnancy, and which has 
led them to suppose they have their turns at 
such terms; but it is not so; the discharge at 
such times are real blood.** 
The use of the menstrual discharge seems to 
be, to prepare the uterine system for conception. 
For females do not become pregnant before they 
* Dr. Chavasse, on p. 94 of his “Advice to a Wife” 
(published by W. H. Smith & Son), gives instances of 
very early menstruation and consequent fecundity.— 
[Publishers’ note. 
f “The menstrual discharge,” says Dr. Kirks, “con- 
sists of blood effused from the inner surface of the 
uterus, and mixed with mucus from the uterus, vagina, 
and the external parts of the generative apparatus. 
Being diluted by this admixture, the menstrual blood 
coagulates less perfectly than ordinary blood; and the 
frequent acidity of the vaginal mucus tends still further 
to diminish its coagulability.”—Handbook of Physiology, 
8th ed„ p. 727, 1874.—G. It. 
** Consult on the whole of this Dr. Chavasse’s book, 
pp. 91—101, where full details are given.—[Publishers’ 
note. 10 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
commence, nor after they cease having their 
turns; nor while they are suppressed by some 
disease by cold or by nursing. Some credible 
women, however, have said that they become 
pregnant while nursing, without having had any 
turn since their last lying-in. It is believed that 
in these cases they had some discharge, colorless 
perhaps, which they did not notice, but which 
answered the purposes of the common one. Wo- 
men are not nearly so likely to conceive during 
the week before a monthly, as during the week 
immediately after.f But although the use of 
this secretion seems to be to prepare for concep- 
tion, it is not to be inferred that the reproduc- 
tive instinct ceases at the “turn of life,” or 
when the woman ceases to menstruate. On the 
contrary, it is said that this passion often in- 
creases at this period, and continues in a greater 
or less degree to an extreme age. 
Conception.—The part performed the male 
in the reproduction of the species consists in ex- 
citing the organism of the female,and depositing 
the semen in the vagina. Before I enquire what 
takes place in the females, I propose to speak of 
the semen. 
This fluid, which is secreted by the testicles, 
may be said to possess three kinds of properties, 
—physical, chemical, physiological. Its physi- 
cal properties are known to every one,—it is a 
thickish, nearly opaque fluid, of a peculiar odor, 
saltish taste, etc. As to its chemical properties, 
it is found by analysis to consists of 900 parts of 
water, 60 of animal mucilage, 10 of soda, 30 of 
Phosphate of lime. Its physiological property is 
that of exciting the female genital organs' in a 
peculiar manner. 
When the semen is examined by microscope, 
there can be distinguished a multitude of small 
animalculse, which appears to have a rounded 
head and a long tail. These animalculse 
move with a certain degree of rapidity. They 
appear to avoid the light and to delight in the 
shade. Leeuwenhoek, if not the discoverer of 
the seminal animalculse, was the first who 
brought the fact of their existence fully before 
the public. With respect to their size, he re- 
marked that ten thousand of them might exist 
in a space not larger than a grain of sand. They 
have a definite figure, and are obviously differ- 
ent from the aniinalculse found in any other fluid.* 
Leeuwenhoek believed them to be the beginnings 
of future animals—that they are of different 
sexes, upon which depends the future sex of the 
foetus. Be this as it may, jt appears to be ad- 
mitted on all hands that the animalculse are 
present in the semen of the various species of 
male animals, and that they cannot be detected 
when either from age or disease the animals are 
rendered sterile. “Hence,” says Bostock, “we 
can scarcely refuse our assent, to the position 
that these animalculse are in some way or other 
instrumental to the production of the foetus.” 
The secretion of the semen commences at the age 
of puberty. Before this period the testicles se- 
crete a viscid, transparent fluid, which has never 
been analyzed, but which is doubtless essenti- 
ally different from semen. The revolution 
which the whole economy undergoes at this period 
such as the tone of the voice, aud development 
of hairs, the beard, the increase of the muscles 
and bones, etc., is intimately connected with the 
testicles and the secretion of this fluid. * “Eunuchs 
preserve the same form as in childhood; their 
voice is effeminate, they have no beard, their 
disposition timid; and finally their physical and 
moral character very nearly resembles that of 
females. Nevertheless, many of them take de- 
light in venereal intercourse, and give themselves 
up with ardor to a connection which must always 
be unfruitful.f 
The part performed by the female in the re- 
production of the species is far more complicat- 
ed than that performed by the male. It consists, 
in the first instance, in providing a substance 
which, in connection with the male secretion, is 
to constitute the foetus; in furnishing a suitable 
situation in which the foetus may be developed; 
in affording due nourishment for its growth; in 
bringing it forth, and afterwards furnishing it 
with food especially adapted to the digestive 
organs of the young animal. Some parts of this 
process are not well understood, and such var- 
iety of hypotheses have been proposed to ex- 
plain them that Drelincourt, who lived in the 
latter part of the 17th century, is said to have col- 
lected 260 hypotheses of generation. 
It ought to be known that women have con- 
ceived when the semen was merely applied to 
the parts anterior to the hymen, as the inter- 
nal surface of the external lips, the nymphse.etc. 
This is proved by the fact that several cases of 
pregnancy have occurred when the hymen was 
entire. This fact need not surprise us, for, agree- 
able to the theory of absorption, we have to ac- 
count for it only to suppose that some of the 
absorbent vessels are situated anterior to the hy- 
men—a supposition by no means unreasonable. 
There are two peculiarities of the human spe- 
cies respecting conception which I will notice. 
First, unlike other animals, they are liable and for 
what has been proved to the contrary,equally li- 
able—to conceive at all seasons of the year. Sec- 
ond, ajwoman rarely, if ever, conceives until after 
having several sexual connections; nor does one, 
connection in fifty cause conception in the mat- 
rimonial state, where the husband and wife live 
together uninterruptedly. Public women rarely 
conceive owing probably to a weakened state of 
the genital system, induced by too frequent and 
promiscuous intercourse. 
It is universally agreed, that some time after 
a fruitful connection, a vesicle [two in case of 
twins) of one or the. other ovary becomes so 
enlarged that it bursts forth from the ovary and 
takes the name of ovum, which is taken up, or 
rather received, as it bursts forth, by the fim- 
briated extremity of the fallopian tube, and is 
t See however, Dr. Bull’s "Hints to Mothers,” pp. 
61—58, and 127—129 (published by Longmans, Green & 
Co.)—[Publishers’ note. 
* See Dr. Carpenter’s "Animal Physiology,”p. 55S (pub- 
lished by H. G. Bohn) ; Nicliol’s “Human rhvsiology,” 
pp. 253—255 (Published by Trubner & Co.)— [Publishers' 
note. 
* Niohol’s "Human Physiology,” pp. 257, 256.—[Pub- 
lishers’ note. 
t Magendic’s Physiology.—[Author’s note. FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
11 
then conducted along the tube into the uterus, 
to the inner surface of which it attaches itself.* 
Here it becomes developed into a full grown 
foetus, and is brought forth about forty-two 
weeks from the time of conception by a process 
termed parturition. But one grand question is, 
how the semen operates itself, or any part there- 
of, reaches the ovary, and if so, in what way it 
is conveyed to them. It was long the opinion 
that the semen was ejected into the uterus in 
the act of coition, and that it afterwards, by 
some unknown means, found its way into and 
along the fallopian tubes to the ovary. But 
there are several facts which weigh heavily 
against this opinion, and some that entirely for- 
bid it. In the first place, there are several wrell- 
attested instances in which impregnation took 
place while the hymen remained entire, where 
the vagina terminated in the rectum, and where 
it was so contracted by a cicatrix as not to admit 
the penis. In all theses cases the semen could 
not have been lodged anywhere near the mouth 
of the uterus, much less ejected into it. Second- 
ly, it has followed a connection where, from 
some defect in the male organs, as the urethra 
terminating some inches behind the end of 
the penis, it is clear that the semen could not 
have been injected into the uterus, nor even 
near its mouth. Third the neck of the unim- 
pregnated uterus is so narrow as merely to ad- 
mit a probe, and is filled with a thick tenacious 
fluid, which seemingly could not be forced away 
by any force which the male organ possesses of 
ejecting the semen, even if the mouth of the 
male urethra were in opposition with that of the 
uterus. But fourth, the mouth of the uterus is 
by no means fixed. By various causes it is made 
to assume various situations, and probably the 
mouth of the urethra rarely comes in contact 
with it. 
Fifth. "The tenacity of the male semen is such 
as renders its passage through the small aperture 
in the neck of the uterus impossible* even by a 
power of force much superior#to that which we 
may rationally suppose to reside in the male 
organs of generation.” 
♦Since Dr. Knowlton’s work was-written, the very im- 
portant tact has been discovered that ova are periodi- 
cally discharged from the ovaries in the human female 
and other animals, not in consequence of fruitful con- 
nection having taken place, as was formerly believed, 
but quite independently of intercourse with the male. 
Such a discharge of ova occurs in the lower animals at 
the time of heat or rut, and in women during menstrua- 
tion. At each menstrual period, a Graafian vesicle be- 
comes enlarged, bursts, and lets the ovum which it con- 
tains escape into the fallopian tube, along which it pass- 
es to the uterus. “It has long been known,” says Dr. 
Kirk, “that in the so-called oviparous animals, the sep- 
aration of ova from the ovary may take place independ- 
ently of impregnation by the male, or even of sexual 
union. And it is now established that a like matura- 
tion and discharge of ova,, independently of coition, 
occurs in Mammalia, the periods at which the matur- 
ed ova are separatedfrom the ovaries and receivedinto 
the fallopian tubes being indicated in the lower Mam- 
malia by the phenomena of heat or rut; in the human 
female by the phenomena of menstruation. Sexual de- 
sire manifests itself in the human female to a greater 
degree at theseiperiods, and in the female of mammif- 
erous animals at no other time. If the union of the 
sexes takes place, the ovum may be fecundated, and if 
no union occur, it perishes. From what has been said 
it may therefore be concluded that the two states, heat 
and menstruation, are analogous, and that the essential 
accompaniment of both is the maturation and extrusion 
of ova,’’—“Handbook of Physiology,” page 724.—G. R. 
Sixth. "Harvey and DeGraaf dissected animals 
at almost every period after coition for the ex- 
press purpose of discovering the semen, but 
were never able to detect the smallest vestige of 
it in the uterus in any one instance.”* 
Aware of the insurmountable objection to this 
view of the manner in which the semen reach- 
es the ovary, it has been supposed by some 
physiologists that the semen is absorbed from 
the vagina into the great circulating system, 
where it is mixed, of course, with the blood, and 
goes the whole round of the circulation subject 
to the influence of those causes which produce 
great changes in the latter fluid. 
To this hypothesis it may be objected, that 
while there is no direct evidence in support of 
it, it is exceedingly unreasonable, inasmuch as 
we can scarcely believe that the semen can go 
the whole round of circulation, and then find its 
wray to the ovary in such a pure unaltered state 
as the experiments of Spallanzani prove it must 
be in, may impregnate. 
A third set of theorists have maintained that 
an imperceptible something, which they have 
called aura seminalis, passes from the semen 
lodged in the vagina to the ovary, and excites 
those actions which are essential to the develop- 
ment of an ovum. Others, again, have told us 
that it is all done by sympathy. That neither 
the semen nor any volatile part of it finds its 
wTay to the ovary ; but that the semen excites the 
parts with which it is in contact in a peculiar 
manner, and by a law of the animal economy, 
termed sympathy, or consent of parts, a peculiar 
action commences in the ovary, by -which an 
ovum is developed. 
To both these conjectures it may be objected1 
that they have no other foundation but the sup-, 
posed necessity of adopting them, to account for 
the effect of impregnation ; and further, they 
"rnaKe no provision for the formation of mules ; 
for the peculiarities of, and likeness to, parents, 
and for the propagation of predisposition to dis- 
ease, from parent to child; for the production 
of mulattoes,’’ etc. 
A fifth, and to me far more satisfactory view 
of the subject than any other, is that advanced 
by our distinguished countryman, Dr. Dewees, 
of Philadelphia. It appears to harmonize with 
all known facts relating to the subject of con- 
ception, and something from analogy may also 
be drawn in its favor. It is this, that there is a 
set of absorbent vessels leading directly from 
the inner surface of the labia externa and the 
vagina to the ovaries, the whole office of which 
vessels is to absorb the semen and convey it to 
the ovaries.f 1 do not know that these vessels 
♦Dowees’Essay on Superfoetation.— [Author’s note. 
+This view is not held at the present day. The com- 
monly received doctrine now is that the seminal fluid 
enters the uterus, whether during the intercourse or 
alter it, and passes along the fallopian tubes to the 
ovaries : and that fecundation takes place at some point 
of this course, most frequently in the tubes, but also at 
times in the ovary itself, or even, perhaps, in the uterus. 
It is essentially necessary for fecundation that the 
spermatozoa should come into actual contact with the 
ovum. “That the spermatozoa make their way toward 
the ovarium, and fecundate the ovum either before it 
entirely quits the ovisac or very shortly afterward,” 
says Dr. Carpenter, “appears to bo the general rule in 
regard to the Mammalia; and their power of movement 12 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
have yet been fully discovered, but in a note on 
the sixteenth page of his “Essays on Various 
Subjects,” the doctor says: “The existence of 
these vessels is now rendered almost certain, as 
Dr. Gartner, of Copenhagen, has discovered a 
duct leading from the ovary to the vagina.” 
Another question of considerable moment re- 
lating to generation is from which parent are the 
first rudiments of the foetus derived. 
The earliest hypothesis with which we are 
acquainted, and which has received the support 
of some of the most eminent of the moderns, 
ascribes the original formation of the foetus to 
the combination of particles of matter derived 
from each of the parents. This hypothesis na- 
turally presents itself to the mind as the obvious 
method of explaining the necessity for the co- 
operation of the two sexes, and the resemblance 
in external form, and even in mind and charac- 
ter, which the offspring frequently bears to tne 
male parent. “The principal objections,” says 
Bostock, “to his hypothesis, independent of the 
want of any direct proof of a female seminal 
fluid, are of two descriptions, those which de- 
pend upon the supposed impossibility of unor- 
ganized matter forming an organized being, and 
those which are derived from observations and 
experiments of Haller and Spallanzani, which 
they brought forward in support of their theory 
of pre existent germs. 
In relation to these objections I remark, first, 
that those whose experience has been with hale 
females, I suspect, can have no doubt but that 
the female organism increases like that of the 
m de. until an emission of fluid of some kind or 
other takes place. But whether this secretion 
may properly be called semen, whether any part 
of it unites with the male semen in forming the 
rudiments of the foetus, is another question. For 
my part, I am inclined to the opinion that it does 
not.* I rather regard it as the result of exalted 
excitation, analogous to the increased secretion 
of other organs from increased stimulation ; and 
if it be for any object or use, as it probably is, 
it is that of affording nature a means of relieving 
herself ; or, in other words, of quieting the ven- 
ereal passion. If this passion, being once roused, 
could not by some means or other be calmed, it 
would command by far too great a portion of our 
thoughts, and with many constitutions the indi- 
viduals, whether male or female, could not con- 
duct themselves with due decorum. One fact 
which leads me to think that the female secretion 
in the act of coition is not essential to impregna- 
tion is, that many females have conceived, if 
their unbiassed testimony may be relied on, 
when they experienced no pleasure. In these 
cases it is more than probable that there was no 
orgasm, nor any secretion or emission of fluid on 
the part of the female. 
As to the objection of the supposed impossi- 
bility of unorganized matter forming an organ- 
ized being, I do not conceive that it weighs at all 
against the hypothesis before us, for I do not 
believe such a thing takes place, even if we ad- 
mit that “the original formation of the foetus is 
a combination of particles of matter derived 
from each of the parents.” What do, or rather 
what ought we to mean by organized matter ? 
Not, surely, that it exhibits some obvious physi- 
cal structure, unlike what is to be found in in- 
organic matter, but that it exhibits phenomena, 
and of course may be said to possess properties 
unlike any kind of inorganic matter. Matter 
unites with matter in three ways, mechanically, 
chemically and organically, and each mode of 
union gives rise to properties peculiar to itself. 
When matter unites organically, the substance 
or being so formed exhibits some phenomena 
essentially different from what inorganic bodies 
exhibit. It is on this account that we ascribe to 
organic bodies certain properties, which we call 
physiological properties, such as contractility, 
sensibility, life, etc. When, from any cause, 
these bodies have undergone such a change that 
they no longer exhibit the phenomena peculiar 
to them, they are said to have lost these proper- 
ties, and to be dead. A substance need not pos- 
sess all the physiological properties of an animal 
of the higher orders, to entitle it to the name of 
an organized or living substance, nor need it pos- 
sess the physical property of solidity. The blood, 
as well as many of the secretions, does several 
things, exhibits several phenomena, which no 
mechanical or mere chemical combinations of 
matter do exhibit. We must therefore ascribe 
to it certain physiological properties, and regard 
it as an organized, a living fluid, as was con- 
tended by. the celebrated John Hunter. So with 
respect to the seqjen, it certainly possesses phys- 
iological properties, one in particular, peculiar 
to itself, namely, the property of impregnating 
the female; and upon no sound principle can it 
be regarded in any other light than as an organ- 
ized, and of course a living fluid. And if the 
female secretion or any part of it unite with the 
male secretion in the formation of the rudiments 
of the foetus in a different manner than any other 
substance would, then it certainly has the pro- 
perty of doing so, whether we give this property 
a name or not; and a regard to the soundest 
principles of physiology compels us to class this 
property with the physiological or vital, and of 
course to regard this secretion as an organized 
and living fluid. So, then, unorganized matter 
does not form an organized being, admitting the 
hypothesis before us as correct. 
That organized being should give rise to other 
organized beings under favorable circumstances 
as to nourishment, warmth, etc., is no more won- 
derful than that fire should give rise to fire when 
air and fuel are present. To be sure, there are 
some minute steps in the processes which are not 
fully known to us; still, if they ever should be 
known, we should unquestionably see that there 
is a natural cause for every one of them; and 
must obviously be both vigorous and long continued to 
enable them to traverse so great an extent of mucous 
membrane, especially when it is remembered that they 
ascend in opposition to the direction of the ciliary move- 
ment of the epithelial cells, and to the downward peris- 
taltic action of the fallopian tubes . . . There can be no 
•doubt that it is the contact of the spermatozoa with the 
ovum, and in the changes which odcur as the immediate 
consequence of that contact, that the act of fecundaiion 
essentiallv consists ”—“Principles of Human Physiolo- 
gy,” 8th ed., p. 961, 1876.—G. B. 
* With regard to this secretion in the female, which 
has nothing of a seminal character, Dr. Carpenter ob- 
serves : “Its admixture with the male semen has been 
supposed to have some connection with impregnation ; 
hut uo proof whatever has been given that any such ad-, 
mixture is necessary.”—“Human Physiology,” p. 961.— 
«&. B. fruits of Philosophy. 
13 
that they are all consonant with certain laws of 
the animal economy. We should see no necess- 
ity of attempting to explain the process of gene- 
ration by bringing to our aid, or rather to the 
darkening of the subject, any imaginary princi- 
ple, as the nisus formativus of Blumenbach. 
As to the “observations and experiments of 
Haller and Spallanzani,” I think with Dr. Bostock 
that they weigh but little, if any, against the 
theory before us. I shall not be at the labor of 
bringing them forward, and showing their futil- 
ity as objections to this theory, for 1 am far from 
insisting on the correctness of it; that is, I do 
not insist that any part of the female secretion, 
during coition, unites with the male semen in the 
formation of the rudiments of the feetus. 
The second hypotheses or theory, I shall no- 
tice, as to the rudiments of the feetus, is that of 
Leeuwenhoek, who regarded the seminal animal- 
cules of the male semen as the proper rudimeuts 
of the feetus, and thinks that the office of the fe- 
male is to afford them a suitable receptacle, 
where they may be supported and nourished 
until they are able to exist by the exercise of 
their own functions. This is essentially the view 
of the subject which I addopt, and which I in- 
tend to give more particularly presently. 
I know of no serious objections to this hypo- 
theses, nothing but the “extreme improbability,” 
as its opponents say, “that these animalculse 
should be the rudiments of being so totally dis- 
similar to them.” ButI wish to know if there is 
more difference between a feetus and a seminal 
animalcule than there is between a foetus and a 
few material particles in some other form than 
that of such animalcule? 
The third hypotheses, or that of pre-existing 
germs, proceeded upon a precisely opposite view 
of the subject to that of Leeuwenhoek, namely, 
that the feetus is properly the production of the 
female; that it exists previous to the sexual con- 
gress, with all its organs, in some part of the 
uterine system; and that it receives no proper 
addition from the male, but that the seminal 
fluid acts me rely by exciting the powers of the 
feetus, or endowing it with vitality. 
It is not known who first proposed this hypo- 
theses; but strange as it may appear, it has had 
the support of such names as Bonnet, Haller, and 
Spallanzani, and met with a favorable reception 
in the middle of the last century. Agreeable to 
this hypotheses, our- common mother, Eve, con- 
tained a number of homuncules (little men) one 
Within another, like a nestof boxes, and all with- 
in her ovaries, equal to all the number of births 
that have ever been, or ever will be, not to reck- 
on abortions. Were I to bring forward all the 
facts and arguments that have been advanced in 
support of this idea, it seems to me I should 
fail to convince sound minds of its correctness; 
as to arguments against it, they surely seemed 
uncalled for. Having now presented several 
hypotheses of generation, some as to the manner 
in which the semen reaches or influences the ov- 
ary ,*and others as the rudiments of the feetus, I 
shall now bring together those views which up- 
on the whole appear to me the most satisfac- 
tory. 
I believe with Dr. Dewees that a set of absorb- 
ent vessels extend from the inermost surface of 
the labia externa, and from the vagina to the ov- 
ary, the whole office of which is to take up the 
semen or some part thereof and convey it to the 
ovary. I believe with Leeuwenhoek that the 
seminal animalcules are the proper rudiments of 
the foetus, and are perhaps of different sexes; 
that in case of impregnation one of them is car- 
ried not only to, but into a vesicle of an ovary, 
which is in a condition to receive and be duly af- 
fected.by it.* It is here surrounded by the al- 
buminous fluid which the vesicle contains. This 
fluid being somewhat changed in its qualities by 
its new-comer, stimulates the minute vessels of 
tire parts which surround it, and thus causes more 
of this fluid to be formed, and while it affords 
the animalcule material for its development, it 
puts the delicate membrane of the ovary which 
retains it in its place upon the stretch, and finally 
bursts forth surrounded probably by an exceed- 
ingly delicate membrane of its own. This mem- 
brane, with the albuminous fluid it contains and 
the animalcule in the centre of it, constitutes the 
ovum or egg. It is received by the fimbriated 
extremety of the fallopian tube, which by this 
time has grasped the ovary, aud is by this tube 
slowly conveyed into the uterus, to the inner sur- 
face of which it attaches itself, through the med- 
ium of the membrane, which is formed by the 
uterus itself in the interim between impregnation 
and the arriving of the ovum in the way, I have 
just mentioned. 
The idea that a seminal animalcule enters an 
ovum while it remains in the ovary was never 
before advanced to my knowledge; hence I con- 
sider it incumbent upon me to advance some rea- 
son for the opinion. 
First, it is admitted on all hands that the sem- 
inal animalcule are essential to impregnation, 
since “they cannot be detected when either 
from age or disease the animal is rendered 
sterile.” 
Second, the ovum is impregnated while it re- 
mains in the ovary. True, those who never 
met with Dr. Dewees’ theory, and who, conse- 
quently, have adopted the idea that the semen 
is ejected into the uterus, as the least improba- 
ble of any with which they were acquainted, have 
found it very difficult to dispose of the fact that 
the ovum is impregnated in the ovary, and have 
consequently presumed this is not generally the 
case. They admit it is certainly so sometimes, 
and that it is difficult to reject the conclusion 
that it is always so. Dr. Bostoclc—who doubt- 
less had not met with Dewees’ theory at the time 
he wrote, and \yho admits it impossible to con- 
ceive how the semen can finds its way along the 
fallopian tubes, how it can find its way towards 
the ovary, farther, at most, than into the uterus, 
and, consequently, cannot see how the ovum 
can be impregnated into the ovary—says, “Pe-L, 
haps the most rational supposition may be that 
•The opinion that the spermatozoa of seminal filam- 
ents are real animalcules is now abandoned, but it is 
held by Dr. Carpenter and other authorities that they 
actually, as here stated, penetrate into the interior of 
the ovum. “The nature of impregnation,” says Dr. 
Hermann, “is as yet unknown. In allj probability it is, 
above all, essential, in order that it should occur, that 
one or more spermatozoa should penetrate the ovum. 
At any rate, spermatozoa have been found within the 
fecundated eggs of the most diverse species of animals.” 
—“Elements of Human Physiology,” translated from 
the oth ed., by Dr. Gamgee p. 534, 1875.—G, R. 14 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
the ovum is transmitted to the uterus in the un- 
impregnated state: but there are certain facts 
which seem almost incompatible with this idea, 
especially the cases which not unfrequently 
occur of perfect foetuses having been found in 
the tubes, or where they escaped them into the 
cavity of the abdomen. Hence it is demons- 
trated the ovum is occasionally impregnated in 
the tubes (why did he not say ovaria?), and we 
can scarcely resist the conclusion that it must 
always be the case.” . . . “Haller discusses 
this hypothesis (Bostock’s ‘most natural suppo- 
sition, perhaps’) and decides against it,” . . . 
“The experiments of Cruikshank, which were 
very numerous, and appear to have been made 
with the requisit degree of skill and correctness, 
led to the conclusion that the rudiment of the 
young animal is perfected in the ovarium.” . . 
“A case is detailed by Dr. Granville of a foetus, 
which appears to have been lodged in the body 
of the ovarium itself, and is considered by its 
author as a proof that conception always takes 
place in this organ.” 
The above quotations are from the third vol- 
ume of Bostock’s Physiology. 
Now, as the seminal animalculse are essential 
to impregnation, and as the ovum, is impreg- 
nated in the ovarium, what more probable con- 
jecture can we form than an animalcule, as the 
real proper rudiment of the foetus, enters the 
ovum, where, being surrounded with albuminous 
fluid with which it is nourished, it gradually be- 
comes developed? It may be noticed that 
Leeuwenhoek estimates that ten thousand ani- 
malculae of the human semen may exist in a space 
not larger than a grain of sand. There can, 
therefore be no difficulty in admitting that they 
may find their "way along exceedingly minute 
vessels from the vagina, not only to, but into 
the ovum, while situated in the ovarium. 
I think no one can be disposed to maintain 
that the animalcule merely reaches the suface of 
the ovum, and thus impregnates it. But possi- 
ble soma may contend that its sole office is to 
stimulate the ovum, and in this way set going 
that train of actions which are essential to im- 
pregnation. But there is no evidence in favor 
of this last idea, and certainly it does not so 
well harmonize with the fact that the offspring 
generally partakes more or less of the character 
of its male parent. As Dr. Dewees says of the 
doctrine of sympathy, “It makes no provision 
for the formation of mules; for the peculiarities 
of, and likeness of parents; and for the propag- 
ation of predisposition to disease from parent 
to child; for the production of mulattoes,” etc 
Considering it important to do away with the 
popular and mischievous error that the semen 
must enter the uterus to effect impregnation, I 
shall, in addition to what has been already ad- 
vanced, here notice the experiments of Dr. 
Haighton. He divided the fallopian tubes in 
numerous instances, and found that after the 
operation a foetus is never produced, but that 
corpora lutea were formed. The obvious con- 
cessions from these facts, are that the semen 
does not traverse the fallopian tubes to reach 
theovaria; yet that the ovum becomes impreg- 
nated while in the ovarium, and, consequently, 
that the semen reaches the ovum in some way, 
except by the uterus and fallopian tubes. I may 
remark, however, that a corpus lutuem is not pos- 
tive proof that impregnation at some time or 
other has taken place; yet they are so rarely 
found in virgins that they were regarded as such 
proofs until the time of Blumenbach, a writer of 
the present century.* 
“Harvey and DeGraaf dissected animals at 
most every period after coition, for the express 
purpose of discovering the semen, but were nev- 
er able to detect the smallest vestige of it in the 
uterus in any one instance.”—Dewees’ Essay on 
Super/citation. The fact of Superfoetation fur- 
nishes a very strong argument against the idea 
that the semen enters the uterus in impregna- 
tion. 
A woman being impregnated while she is al- 
ready impregnated constitutes superfoetation. It 
is established beyond a doubt thatsuch instances 
have occurred, yet those who have supposed 
that it is necessary for the semen to passthrough 
the mouth of the uterus to produce conception 
have urged that superfoetation could not take 
place, because, say they—and they say correctly 
—“so soon as impregnation shall have taken 
place, the os uteri closes and becomes imper- 
vious to the semen ejected in subsequent acts of 
coition.” 
Dr. Dewees related two cases, evidently cases 
of superfoetation, that occurred to his own per- 
sonal knowledge. The first shows that, agree- 
able to the old theory, the semen must have met 
with other difficulties than a closed mouth of the 
uterus,—it must have passed through several 
membranes, as well as the waters surrounding 
the foetus, to have reached even the uterine ex- 
tremity of a fallopian tube. The second case I 
will give in his own words: 
“A white woman, servant to Mr. H., of Abing- 
ton township, Montgomery count}'', was deliver- 
ed about five and twenty years since of twins, 
one of "which was perfectly white, the other per- 
fectly black. When I resided in that neighbor- 
hood I was in the habit of seeing them almost daily 
and also had frequent conversations with Mrs. lit. 
respecting them. She was present at their birth, 
so that no possible deception could have been 
practised respecting them. The wrhite girl is 
delicate, fair-skinned, liglit-haired and blue-eyed, 
and is said very much to resemble the mother. 
The other has all the characteristic marks of the 
African; short of stature, flat, broad-nosed, 
thick-lipped, woolly-headed, flat-footed, and 
projecting heels; she is said to resemble a negro 
they had on the farm, but with whom the woman 
never would acknowledge an intimacy: but of 
this there was no doubt, as both he and the white 
man, "with whom her connection was detected, 
* A corpus luteurn is a little yellowish body, formed in 
the ovary by changes that take place in the Graafian 
vesicle, after it has burst and discharged its consents. 
Corpora lutea were formerly considered a sure sign of 
impregnation, as they were thought to be developed 
only or chiefly in cases of pregnancy, but it is now known 
that they occur in all cases where a vesicle has been 
ruptured and an ovum discharged ; though they attain a 
larger size and are longer visible in the ovary when preg- 
nancy takes place than when it does not.—G. R. 
* I say surface of the ovum, for it is probably not a 
mere drop of fluid, but fluid surrounded -with ,an ex- 
ceedingly delicate membrane.—[Author’s note. .FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
15 
ran from the neighborhood so soon as it was 
known the girl was with child.” 
I am aware that some have thought they had 
actually discovered semen in the uterus, while 
Ruysch, an anatomist of considerable eminence, 
who flourished at the close of the 17th century, 
asserted in the most unequivocal manner that lie 
found the semen in its gross white state in one 
of the fallopian tubes of a woman, who died very 
soon after, or during the aot of coition; but says 
Dewees, “the semen, after it has escaped from 
the penis, quickly loses its albuminous appear- 
ance, and becomes as thin and transparent as 
water. And we are certain that Ruysch was 
mistaken. Some alteration in the natural secre- 
tion of the parts was mistaken for semen. This 
was nowise difficult for him to do, as he had a 
particular theory to support, and more especially 
as this supposed discovery made so much for it. 
It is not merely speculative when we say that 
some change in the natural secretion of the parts 
may be mistaken for semen, for we have the 
testimony of Morgani on our side. He tells us 
he has seen similar appearances in several in- 
stances in virgins and others, who had been sub- 
ject during their lives to leucorrhoea, and that it 
has been mistaken by some for male semen.” 
On the whole I would say, that in some instanc- 
es, where the mouth of the uterus is uncommon- 
ly relaxed, the semen may, as it were, accidental- 
ly have found its way into it; but that is not 
generally the case, nor is it essential to impreg- 
nation; and further, that whatever semen may at 
any time be lodged in the uterus, has nothing to 
do with conception. It is not consistent with 
analogy to suppose that the uterus has vessels 
for absorbing the semen and conveying it to the 
ovaria, considering the other important functions 
which we know it performs. 
The circumstances under which a female is 
most likely to conceive are, first, when she is in 
health; second, between the ages of twenty-six 
and thirty; third, after she has a season been de- 
prived of those intercourses she had previously 
enjoyed; fourth, soon after menstruating. Re- 
specting this latter circumstance, Dr. Dewees 
remarks, “Perhaps it is not erring greatly to say, 
that the woman is liable to conceive at any part 
of the menstrual interval. It is generally suppos- 
ed, however, that the most favorable instant is 
immediately after the catamenia have ceased." 
Perhaps this is so as a general rule; but itis cer- 
tainly liable to exceptions,* and he relates 
the following case which occurred to his own 
notice:— 
“The husband of a lady who was obliged to 
absent himself many months in consequence of 
the embarrassment of his affairs, returned one 
night clandestinely, his visit being only known to 
his wife, his mother, and myself. The conse- 
quence of this visit was the impregnation of his 
wife. The lady was at that time within a week 
of her menstrual period; and as this did not fail 
to take place, she was led to hope that she had not 
suffered by the visit of her husband. But her 
catamenia not appearing at the next period, gave 
rise to a fear that she had not escaped; and the 
birth of a child nine months and thirteen days 
from the nightof clandestine visit proved her ap- 
prehensions too well grounded.” 
I think this case is an exception to a general 
rule; and, furthermore, favors an idea which 
reason and a limited observation rather than 
positive knowledge liasledmeto advance above, 
namely, that a woman is more likely to conceive, 
other things being the same, after being deprived 
for a season of those intercourses she had pre- 
viously enjoyed. Had this lady’s husband re- 
mained constantly at home, she would probably 
either not have conceived at all, or have done so 
a fortnight sooner than she did. 
This case is also remarkable for two other 
facts; one, “that a woman in perfect health, and 
pregnant with a healthy child, may exceed the 
period of nine monthsby several days; the other, 
that a check is not always immediately given to 
the catamenial flow by an ovum being impreg- 
nated.” Probably it is not so generally so as 
many suppose. 
The term of utero-gestation, or the length of 
time from conception to .the commencement of 
labor, is not precisely determined by physiolog- 
ists. “It seems, however,” says Dr. Dewees, 
“from the best calculations that can be made, 
that nine calendar months, or forty weeks, ap- 
proaches the truth so nearly that we can scarcely 
need desire more accuracy, could it be obtained. * 
Unquestionably, however, some cases exceed 
this period by many days, or even weeks, and 
it has been a question much agitated, how far 
this period is ever exceeded. It is a question of 
some moment in a legal point of view. Cases 
are reported where the usual period was ex- 
ceeded by five or six months; cases, too, where 
the circumstances attending them, and the re- 
spectability of their reporters, are such as to 
command our belief. Dr. Dewees has paid much 
attention to this subject, and he declares himself 
entirely convinced, “that the commonly fixed 
period may be extended from thirteen days to 
six weeks, under the influence of certain causes 
or peculiarities of constitution.”* 
These occasional departures from the general 
rule will, perhaps, be the more readily admitted 
* This view, which concerns a question of the utmost 
practical importance, is held at the present day by the 
great majority of physiologists. It is believed that al- 
though conception may occur at other times, it is much 
more likely to happen from intercourse a few days before 
or after the menstrual periods; that is to say, during 
the time when ova are in process of being ripened and 
detached from the ovaries, and before they perish and 
are conveyed out of the body. “There is good reason to 
believe,” says Dr. Carpenter, “thatin the human female 
the sexual feeling becomes stronger at the period of 
menstruation; and it is quite certain that there is a 
greater aptitute for conception immediately before and 
after that epoch, than there is at any immediate period. 
This question has been made the subject of special in- 
quiry by M. Raciborski, who affirms that the exceptions 
to the rule—that conception occurs immediately before 
or after or during menstruation—are not more than six 
or seven per cent. Indeed, in his latest work on the sub- 
ject, he gives the details of fifteen cases, in which the 
date of conception could be accurately fixed, and the 
time of the last appearance of the catamenia was also 
known, and in all but one of them the correspondence 
between the two periods was very close.”—“Human 
Physiology,” p. 959. So, too, Dr. Kirkes remarks, that 
"although conception is not confined to the periods of 
menstruation, yet it is more likely to occur within a few 
days after cessation of the menstrual flux than at other 
times.”—“Handbook of Physiology,” p. 725. 
* See tables in Dr. Bull’s “Hints to Mothers,” jap. 
130—141.—[Publishers’ note. 16 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
when we consider that they are not confined to 
the human species. From the experiments of 
Tessier, it appears that the term of utero-gesta- 
tion varies greatly with the cow, sheep, horse, 
swine, and other animals to which his attention 
was directed. 
Properly connected with the subject of gene- 
ration are the signs of pregnancy. Dr. Dewees 
remarks that “our experience furnishes no cer- 
tain mark by which the moment conception 
takes place is to be distinguished. All appeals 
by the women to particular sensations experienc- 
ed at the instant should be very guardedly re- 
ceived, for we are certain they cannot be relied 
upon; for enjoyment and indifference are alike 
fllaacious. Nor are certain nervous tremblings, 
nausea, palpitation of the heart, the sensation 
of something flowing from them during coition, 
etc., more to be relied upon.” Burns, however, 
says, “Some women feel, immediately after con- 
ception, a peculiar sensation, which apprises 
them of their situation, but such instances are 
not frequent, and generally the first circumstan- 
ces which lead a woman to suppose herself preg- 
nant are the suppression of the menses”; a fickle 
appetite, some sickness, perhaps vomiting, es- 
f>ecially in the morning; returning qualms, or 
anguor in the afternoon; she is liable to heart- 
burn, and to disturbed sleep. The breasts at 
first often become smaller, and sometimes ten- 
der; but about the third month they enlarge, and 
occasionally become painful. The nipple is sur- 
rounded with an areola or circle of a brown 
color, or at least of a color sensibly deeper or 
darker than before. She loses her looks, be- 
comes paler, and the under part of the lower 
eyelid is often somewhat of a leaden hue. The 
features become sharper, and sometimes the 
whole body begins to emaciate, while the pulse 
quickens. In many instances particular sym- 
pathies take place, causing salivation, toothache, 
jaundice, etc. In other cases very little disturb- 
ance is produced, and the woman is not certain 
of her condition until the time of quickening, 
which is generally about four months from con- 
ception. It is possible for woman to mistake 
the effects of wind for the motion of the child, 
especially if they have never borne children, and 
be anxious for a family; but the sensation pro- 
duced by wind in the bowels is not confined to 
one spot, but is often felt at a part of the 
abdomen where the motion of a child could not 
possibly be felt. Quite as frequently, perhaps, 
do fleshy women think themselves dropsical, and 
mistake motions of the child for movements of 
water within the abdominal cavity. The motion 
of the child is not to be confounded with the 
sensation sometimes produced by the uterus ris- 
ing out of the pelvis, which produces the feeling 
of fluttering. At the end of the fourth month, 
the uterus becomes so large that it is obliged to 
rise out of the pelvis, and if this elevation takes 
place suddenly, the sensation accompanying it 
is pretty strong, and the woman at the time feels 
sick or faint, and in irritable habits even a hys- 
terical fit may accompany it. After this the 
morning sickness and other sympathetic effects 
of pregnancy generally abate, and the health 
improves. 
very soon after impregnation, if blood be 
drawn, and suffered to stand a short time undis- 
turbed, it will become sizy, of a yellowish oi 
bluish color, aud somewhat of an oily appear- 
ance. But we cannot from such appearances ol 
the blood alone pronounce a woman pregnant, 
for a suppression of the menses, accompanied 
with a febrile state, may give the blood a like 
appearance as pregnancy, so also may some 
local disease. Of the above-mentioned symp- 
toms, perhaps there is no one on which we can 
place more reliance than the increased color of 
the circle around the nipple.* 
Six or eight weeks after conception, the most 
sure way of ascertaining pregnancy is to exam- 
ine the mouth and neck of the uterus, byway of 
the vagina. The uterus will be found lower 
down than formerly, its mouth is not directed so 
much forward as before impregnation, it is more 
completely closed, and the neck is felt to be 
thicker, or increased in circumference. When 
raised on the finger, it is found to be heavier or 
more resisting. Whoever makes this examina- 
tion must have examined the same uterus in an 
unimpregnated state, and retained a tolerably 
correct idea of its feeling at that time, or he will 
be liable to uncertainty, because the uterus of 
one woman is naturally different in magnitude 
from that of another, and the uterus is frequent- 
ly lower down than natural from other causes 
than pregnancy.f 
It has not been fully ascertained how long it is 
after a fruitful connection before any effect 
is produced upon the ovaria, that is, before any 
alteration could be discovered, were the female 
to be dissected. But Haigliton’s experiments 
have established the fact, that with rabbits, 
whose term of utero-gestation Is but thirty days, 
no effect is propagated to the ovaria until nearly 
fifty hours after coition; we should judge, there- 
fore, that with the human species it must be sev- 
eral days, and it is generally estimated by Physi- 
ologists that the ovum does not reach the uterus 
until the expiration of twenty days from the 
time of connection.** 
It is probable that in all cases in which any 
matter is absorbed from any part of the animal 
system, some little time is required for such 
matter, after its application, to stimulate and 
arouse the absorbent vessels to action; hence it 
is probable that after the semen is lodged in the 
vagina, it is many minutes, posibly some hours, 
before any part of it is absorbed. 
CHAPTER HI. 
Of Promoting and Checking Conception. 
Sterility depends either on imperfect organ- 
ization, or imperfect actions of the organs of gen- 
eration. In the former cases, which are rare, 
the menses do not generally appear, the breasts 
are not developed, and the sexual desire is incon- 
siderable. There is no remedy in these cases. 
* See “Advice to a Wife” P. H. Chavasse, pp. 115— 
124, where many details are given.—[Publishers’ note. 
+ No one but a doctor, or one trained in physiology, 
could, of course, make any such examination with safety 
and utility.—[Publishers’ note. 
**"Tbe time occupied in the passage of the ovum from 
the ovary to the uterus," says Dr. Kirkes, “occupief 
probably eight or ten days in the human female.”— 
“Handbook of Physiology,” p. 741.—G. R. The action may be imperfect in several re- 
spects. The menses may be obstructed or spar- 
ing, or they may be too profuse or frequent. It 
is extremely rare for a woman to conceive who 
does not menstruate regularly. Hence where 
this is the case the first step is to regulate this 
periodical discharge.* For this purpose 
the advice of a physician will generally be 
required, for these irregularities depend upon 
such various causes and require such a variety 
of treatment, that it would be inconsistent with 
the plan of this work to give instructions for 
remedying them. A state of exhaustion, or 
weakness of the uterine system, occasioned by 
too frequent intercourse, is a frequent cause of 
sterility. The sterility of prostitutes is attrib- 
uted to this cause, but I doubt it being the only 
one. With females who are apparently healthy, 
the most frequent cause is a torpor, rather than 
weakness, of the genital organs. 
For the removal of sterility from this cause, I 
shall give some instructions, and this I do the 
more readily because the requisite means are 
such as will regulate the menses in many cases, 
where they do not appear so early in life, so 
freely or so frequently as they ought. 
In the first place it will generally be necessary 
to do something towards invigorating the system 
by exercise in the open air, by nourishing food 
of easy digestion, by sufficient dress, particular- 
ly flannel, and epecially by strict temperance in 
all things. With this view also, some scales 
which fall from the blacksmith’s anvil, or some 
steel filings, may be put into old cider or wine 
(cider the best), and after standing a week or so, 
as much may be taken two or three times a day 
as can be borne without disturbing the stomach. 
All the while the bowels are to be kept rather 
open, by taking from one to three of Pill rufi 
every night on going to bed. These pills consist 
of four parts of aloes, two parts of myrrh, and 
one of saffron, by weight. 
These measures having been regularly pursued 
until the system be brought into a vigorous 
state, medicines which are more particularly cal- 
culated to arouse the genital organs from a state 
of torpor may be commenced, and continued 
for months if necessary. The cheapest, most 
simple (and I am not prepared to say it is not the 
most effectual in many casesj, is cayenne, 
All the virtues of this article are not generally 
known even to physicians. I know it does not 
have the effect upon the coats of the stomach 
that many have conjectured. It may be taken 
in the quantity of from one to two rising tea- 
spoonsful, or even more, every day, upon food 
or on any liquid vehicle. Another medicine of 
much efficacy is Dewees’ Volatile Tincture of 
Guaiac. It is generally kept by apothecaries, 
and is prepared as follows: — 
Take of Gum Guaiacum, in powder eight 
ounces; carbonate of Potash, or of Soda: or 
(what will answer) Salaratus, three drachms; 
Allspice, in powder, two ounces; any oommon 
spirits of good strength, two pounds or what is 
about the same, two pints and a gill. Put all 
into a bottle, which may be shaken now and 
then, and use of it may be commenced in a few 
•Chavasse, pp. 87—107, deals very fully with this point. 
—[Publishers’ note. 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
17 
days. To every gill of this, at least a large tea- 
spoonful of Spirits of Ammonia is to be added. 
A teaspoonful is to be taken for a dose, three 
times a day in a glass of milk, cider, or wine. It 
is usually given before eating; but if it should 
chance to offend the stomach when taken before 
breakfast, it may in this case be taken an hour 
after. 
Dr. Dewees found this tincture, taken perhaps 
for months, the most effectual remedy for pain- 
ful menstruation, which is an obstinate com- 
plaint. If there be frequent strong pulse, heat, 
thirst, florid countenance, etc., it is not to be 
taken until these symptoms be removed by low 
diet, a few doses of salts, and bleeding, if re- 
quired. 
A third medicine for arousing the genital or- 
gans is tincture of Spanish Flies. But I doubt 
its being equal, in sterility, to the above-men- 
tioned medicines, though it may exceed them in 
some cases, and may be tried if these fail. A 
drachm of them may be put to two gills of spirits. 
Dosej 25 drops, in water, three times a day, in- 
creasing each one by two or three drops, until 
some degree of stranguary occurs, then omit un- 
til this pass off, as it will in a day or two. Should 
the stranguary be severe, drink freely of milk 
and water, slippery elm, or flax-seed tea. 
In many cases of sterility, where the general 
health is considerably in fault, and especially 
when the digestive organs are torpid, I should 
have much confidence in a Thomsonian course. 
It is calculated to arouse the capillary vessels 
throughout the whole system, and thus to open 
the secretions, to remove obstructions, and free 
the blood of those effete and phlegmy materials 
which nature requires to be thrown off. The 
views of the Thomsonian as to heat and cold 
appear to me unphilosophical. But this has 
nothing to do with the efficiency of their meas- 
ures. 
In relation to sterility, I would here bring to 
mind, what has been before stated, that a wom- 
an is most likely to conceive immediately after 
a menstrual turn: And now, also, let me sug- 
gest the idea that nature’s delicate beginnings 
may be frustrated by the same means that put 
her agoing. This idea is certainly important 
when the woman is known to have miscarried a 
number of times. Sterility is sometimes to be 
attributed to the male, though he apparently be 
in perfect health. It would be an interesting 
fact to ascertain if there be no seminal animal- 
cules in these cases; and whether medicines of 
any kind are available. 
It has been ascertained that a male and female 
may be sterile in relation to each other, though 
neither of them be so with others. 
The foregoing measures for sterility are also 
suitable in cases of impotency. This term, I be- 
lieve, is generally confined to, and defined as a 
want of desire or ability, or both, on the part of 
the male; but I see no good reason why it should 
not conprehend the casein which there is neither 
desire or pleasure with the female. Such females, 
it is true, may be fruitful; but so, on the other 
hand, the semen may not have lost its fecunda- 
ting property. Impotency, at a young or middle 
age, and in some situations in life especially, is 
certainly a serious misfortune, to say the least 
of it. The whole evil by no means consists, in 18 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
every case, in the loss of a source of pleasure. 
All young people ought to be apprised of the 
causes of it,—causes which in many instances 
greatly lessen one’s ability of giving and receiv- 
ing that pleasure which is the root of domestic 
(nippiness. I shall allude to one cause, that of 
premature, and especially solitary gratification, 
m another place. Intemperance in the use of 
spirits is another powerful cause. Even a mod- 
erate use of spirits, and also of tobacco, in any 
form, have some effect. It is a law of the 
animal economy, that no one part of the system 
can be stimulated or excited, without an expense 
of vitality, as it is termed. The part which is 
stimulated draws the energy from other parts. 
And hence it is, that close and deep study, as 
well as all the mental passions when excessive, 
impair the venereal appetite. All excesses, all 
diseases and modes of life which impair the gen- 
eral health, impair this appetite, but some things 
more directly and powerful than others. 
As to the remedies for impotency, they are 
much the same as for sterility. It is of the first 
importance that the mind be relieved from all 
care and anxiety. The general health is to be 
improved by temperance, proper exercise in the 
open air, cheerful company, change of scenery, 
or some occupation to divert the mind without 
requiring much exercise of it; nourishing food of 
easy digestion; flannel worn next to the skin. 
The cold bath may be tried, and if it be followed 
by agreeable feelings, it will do good.4 The bow- 
els may be gently stimulated by the pills before 
mentioned; and preparation of iron also, already 
mentioned, should be taken. 
To stimulate the genital organs more directly, 
cayenne, Dewees’ tincture of guaiac, or tincture 
of flies may be taken. I have given directions 
for making and taking the tincture of flies, 
chiefly because it is esteemed one of the best 
remedies for impotency caused by or connected 
with nocturnal emissions, to which I have be- 
fore alluded. 
It is in cases where little or no pleasure, nor 
erection attend these emissions—cases brought 
on by debauchery, or in elderly persons—that I 
would reeommend tincture of flies, and the other 
measures above mentioned. In some bad cases, 
enormous doses of this tincture are required, 
say two or three hundred drops. Yet the best 
rule for taking it is that already given, namely, 
begin with small doses, and gradually increase 
until some stranguary be felt, or some benefit 
be received. In this affection, as well as in all 
cases of impaired virility, the means I have men- 
tioned are to be pursued for a long time, unless 
relief be obtained. These have cured after hav- 
ing been taken for a year or more without the 
result. In all cases of impotency not evidently 
depending upon disease of some part besides the 
genital organs, I should have much confidence in 
blisters applied to the lower part of the spine. 
Occasional nocturnal emissions, accompanied 
with erection, and pleasure, are by no means to 
be considered a disease, though they have given 
many a one much uneasiness. Even if they be 
frequent, and the system considerably debili- 
tated, if not caused by debauch, and the person 
be young, marriage is the proper measure. 
There have been several means proposed and 
practised for checking conception. I shall briefly 
notice them, though a knowledge of the best is 
what most concerns us. That of withdrawal im- 
mediately before emission is certainly effectual, 
if practised with sufficient care. But if (as I be- 
lieve) Dr. Dewees’ theory of conception be cor- 
rect; and as Spallanzani’s experiments show that 
only a trifle of semen, even largely diluted with 
water, may impregnate by being injected into 
the vagina, it is clear that nothing short of entire 
withdrawal is to be depended upon. But the 
old notion that the semen must enter the uterus 
to cause conception has led many to believe that 
a partial withdrawal is sufficient, and it is on 
this account that this error has proved mischiev- 
ous, as all important errors generally do. It is 
said by those who speak from experience, that 
the practice of withdrawal has an effect upon 
the health similar to temperance in eating. As 
the subsequent exhaustion is probably mainly 
owing to the shock the nervous system sustains 
in the act of coition, this opinion may be correct. 
It is further said that this practice serves to keep 
alive those fine feelings with which married peo- 
ple first come together. Still I leave it for every 
one to decide for himself whether this check be 
so far satisfactory as not to render some other 
very desirable. 
As to the baudruche, which consists in a cov- 
ering used by the male, made of very delicate 
skin, it is by no means calculated to come into 
general use. It has been used to secure from 
syphilitic affections. 
Another check which the old idea of concep- 
tion has led some to recommend with consider- 
able confidence, consists in introducing into the 
vagina, previous to connection, a very delicate 
piece of sponge, moistened with water, to be im- 
mediately afferward withdrawn by means of a 
very narrow ribbon attached to it. * But as our 
views would lead us to expect, this check has 
not proved a sure preventitive. As there are 
many little ridges or folds in the vagina, we can- 
not suppose the withdrawal of the sponge would 
dislodge all the semen in every instance. If, 
howrever, it were well moistened with some liquid 
which acted chemically upon the semen, it would 
be pretty likely to destroy the fecundating pro- 
perty of what might remain. But if this check 
were ever so sure, it would, in my opinion, fall 
short of being equal, all things considered, to 
the one I am about to mention,—one which not 
only dislodges the semen pretty effectually, but 
at the same time destroys the fecundating pro- 
perty of the whole of it. 
It consists in syringing the vagina immediately 
after connection with a solution of sulphate of 
zinc, of alum, pearl-ash, or any salt that acts 
chemically on the semen, and at the same time 
produces no unfavorable effect on the female. 
In all probability a vegetable astringement 
would answer—as an infusion of white oak bark, 
of red rose leaves, of nutgalls, and the like. A 
lump of either of the above-mentioned salts, of 
the size of a chestnut, may be dissolved in a pint 
of water, making the solution weaker or stronger, 
as it may be borne without producing any irrita- 
tion of the parts to wrhich it is applied. These 
solutions will not lose their virtues by age. A 
•This was a check advocated by CarlUe.—[Publish- 
ers’ note. FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
19 
female syringe, which will be required in the use 
of the check, may be had at the shop of an apoth- 
ecary for a shilling or less. If preferred, the 
semen may be dislodged, as far as it can be, by 
syringing with simple water, after which some 
ef the solution is to be injected, to destroy the 
fecundating property of what may remain lodged 
between the ridges of the vagina, etc. 
I know the use of this check requires the wo- 
man to leave her bed for a few moments, but 
this is its only objection; and it would be un- 
reasonable to suppose that any check can ever 
be devised entirely free of objections. In its 
favor, it may be said, it costs nearly nothing; it 
is sure ; it requires no sacrifice of pleasure ; it is 
in the hands of the female ; it is to be used after, 
instead of before connection, a weighty consid- 
eration in its favor, as a moment’s reflection will 
convince any one ; and last, but not least, it is 
conducive to cleanliness, and preserves the parts 
from relaxation and disease. The vagina may 
be very much contracted by a persevering use of 
astringent injections, and they are constantly 
used tor this purpose in cases of procidentia 
uteri, ora sinking dowm of the womb; subject 
as woman are to fluor albus, and other diseases 
of the genital organs, it is rather a matter of 
wonder that they are not more so, considering 
the prevailing practices. Those who have used 
this check (and some have used it, to my certain 
knowledge, with entire success for nine or ten 
years, and under such circumstances as leave no 
room to doubt its efficacy) affirm that they would 
be at the trouble of using injections merely for 
the purposes of helath and cleanliness.* 
By actual experiment it has been rendered 
highly probable that pregnancy may, in many 
instances, be prevented by injections of simple 
water, applied with a tolerable degree of care. 
But simple water has failed, and its occasional 
failure is what we should expect, considering 
the anatomy of the parts, and the results of 
Spallanzani’s experiments heretofore alluded to. 
Thus much did I say respecting this check in 
the first edition of this work. That is what I 
call the chemical check. The idea of destroying 
the fecundating property of the semen was orig- 
inal, if it did not originate with me. My atten- 
tion was drawn to the subject by the perusal of 
“Moral Physiology.” Such was my confidence 
in the chemical idea that I sat down and wrote 
this work in July, 1831. But the reflection that 
I did not know that this check would never fail, 
and that if it should I might do some one an in- 
jury in recommending it, caused the manuscript 
to lie on hand until the following December. 
Some time in November I fell in with an old 
acquaintance, who agreeably surprised me by 
stating that to his own personal knowledge this 
last check had been used as above stated. I 
have since conversed with a gentleman with 
whom I was acquainted, who stated that, being 
in Baltimore some few years ago, he was there 
informed of this check by those who have no 
doubt of its efficacy. From what has as yet fell 
under my own observation, I am not warranted 
in drawing any conclusion. I can only say I 
have not known it to fail. Such are my views 
on the whole subject, that it would require many 
instances of its reputed failure to satisfy me that 
such failures were not owing to an insufficient 
use of it. I even believe that quite cold water 
alone, if thoroughly used, would be sufficient. 
In Spallanzani’s experiments warm water was 
unquestionably used. As the seminal animal- 
culse are essential to impregnation, all we have 
to do is to change the condition of, or, if you 
will, to kill them; and, as they are so exceedingly 
small and delicate, this is doubtless easily done, 
and hence cold water may be sufficient. 
What has now been advanced in this work 
will enable the reader to judge for himself or 
herself of the efficacy of the chemical or syringe 
check, and time will probably determine whether 
I am correct in this matter. I do know, that 
those married females who have much desire to 
escape will not stand for the little trouble of 
using this check, especially wThen they consider 
that on the score of cleanliness and health alone 
it is worth the trouble. 
A great part of the time no check is necessary, 
and women of experience and observation, with 
the information conveyed by this work, will be 
able to judge pretty correctly when it is and when 
it is not. They may rest assured that none of the 
salts mentioned will have any deleterious effect. 
The sulphate of zinc is commonly knowrn by the 
name of white vitrol. This aswellas alum, have 
been extensively us#d forleucorrhcea. Acetate of 
lead would doubtless be effectual—indeed, it 
has proved to be so; but I do not recommend it, 
because I conceive it possible that a long con- 
tinued use of it might impair the instinct. 
I hope that no failures will be charged of 
inefficacy of this check which ought to be attrib- 
uted to negligence or insufficient use of it. I 
will therefore recommend at least two applica- 
tions of the syringe, the sooner the surer, yet it 
is my opinion that five minutes’ delay would 
not prove mischievous,—perhaps not ten. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Remarks on the Reproductive Instinct. 
I scarcely need observe that by this instinct 
is meant the desire for sexual intercourse. 
Blumenbach speaks of this instinct as "superior 
io all others in universality and violence.” 
Perhaps hunger is an exception. But surely no 
instinct commands a greater proportion of our 
thoughts, or has a greater influence upon happi- 
ness for better or for worse. “Controlled by 
reason and chastened by good feeling, it gives 
to social intercourse much of its charm and zest, 
dut directed by selfishness or governed by force 
it is prolific of misery and degradation. In it- 
self it appears to be the most social and least 
selfish of all instincts. It fits us to give even 
while we receive pleasure, and among cultivated 
beings the former power is even more highly 
valued than the latter. Not one of our instincts 
perhaps affords larger scope for the exercise of 
disinterestedness or fitter play for the best mor- 
al feelings of our race. Not one gives birth 
to relations more gentle, more humanizing and 
endearing; not one lies more immediately at the 
• There is no doubt that many diseases of the female 
organs might be prevented by greater personal cleanli- 
ness, and by the use of the syringe.—[Publishers’ note. 20 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
root of the kindliest charities and most gener- 
ous impulses that honor and bless human nature. 
It is a much more noble, because less purely 
selfish instinct than hunger or thirst. It is an 
iustinct that entwines itself around the warmest 
feelings and best affections of the heart.”— 
Moral Physiology. But too frequently its 
strength, together with a want of moral culture, 
is such that it is not ‘‘controlled by reason;” and 
consequently, from time immemorial, it has 
been gratified, either in a mischievous manner, 
or to such an intemperate degree, or under such 
improper circumstances, as to give rise to an 
incalculable amount of human misery. For 
this reason it has, by some, been regarded as a 
low, degrading, and “carnal” passion, with which 
a holy fife must be ever at war. But, in the in- 
stinct itself, the philosopher sees nothing de- 
serving of degrading epithets. He sees not that 
nature should war against herself. He believes 
that in savage life itts, and in wisely organized 
societies of duly enlightened and civilized beings 
it would be, a source of ten-fold more happiness 
than misery. 
A part of the evil consequences to which this 
instinct is daily giving rise under the uresent 
state of things, it belongs* more particularly to 
the moralist to point out; whilst of others it tails 
within the province of the physician to treat. 
But let me first remark, that physicians have 
hitherto fallen far short of giving those instruc- 
tions concerning this instinct which its impor- 
tance demands. In books, pamphlets, journals, 
etc., they have laid much before the public, 
respecting eating, drinking, bathing, lacing, air, 
exercise, etc.; but have passed by the still more 
important subject now before us, giving only 
here and there some faint allusion to it. This, it 
is true, the customs, not to say pruderies, of the 
age have compelled them to do, in publications 
designed for the public eye, yet, in some small 
work, indicated by its title to be for private 
perusal, they might, with the utmost propriety, 
have embodied much highly useful instruction 
in relation to this instinct.* 
This instinct is liable to be gratified at improp- 
er times, to an intemperate degree, and in a mis- 
chievous manner. 
True philosophy dictates that this and all other 
appetites be so gratified as will most conduce to 
human happiness—not merely the happiness at- 
tending the gratification of one of the senses, 
but all t he senses—not merely sensual happiness, 
but intellectual—not merely the happiness of the 
individual, but of the human family. 
Fir<t.—Of the times at which this instinct 
ought not to be gratified. With females it ought 
not to be gratified until they are seventeen or 
eighteen years of age, and with males not until 
they are a year or two older. The reason is, if 
they refrain until these ages, the passion will 
hold out the longer, and they will be able to de- 
rive much more pleasure from it in after life, 
than if earlier gratified, especially to any great 
extent. A due regard to health also enjoins 
with most persons some restraint on this instinct 
—indeed, at all times, but especially for a few 
years after the above-mentioned ages. It ought 
not be rashly gratified at first. Begin temper- 
ately and as the system becomes more mature, 
and more habituated to the effects naturally pro- 
duced by the gratification of this instinct, it will 
bear more without injury. Many young married 
people, ignorant of the consequences, have de- 
bilitated the whole system—the genital system 
in particular; have impaired their mental ener- 
gies; have induced consumptive and other dis- 
eases; have rendered themselves irritable un- 
social, melancholy, and finally, much impaired, 
perhaps destroyed their affection for each other 
by an undue gratification of the reproductive 
instinct. In almost all diseases, if gratified at all, 
it should be very temperately. It ought not to 
be gratified during menstruation, as it might 
prove productive to the man of symptoms similar 
to those of syphilis,* but more probably to the 
woman of a weakening disease albus. 
In case of pregnancy a temperate gratification 
for the first two or three months may be of no 
injury to the woman or the forthcoming offspring. 
But it ought to be known that the growth of the 
foetus in utero may be impaired, and the seeds 
of future bodily infirmity and mental imbecility 
of the offspring may be sown, by much indul- 
gence during utero-gestation or pregnancy, es- 
pecially when the woman experiences much 
pleasure in such indulgences. 
Having already glanced at some of the bad ef- 
fects of an undue gratification of this instinct, I 
have but little more to offer under the head of 
Intemperate Degree. It will be borne in mind 
that intemperance in this thing is not to be de- 
cided by numbers, but that it depends on cir- 
cumstances; and what wTould be temperance in 
one, may be intemperance in another. And 
with respect to an individual, too, what he might 
enjoy with impunity, were he a laboring man, or 
a man whose business requires but little mental 
exercise, wrould, were he a student, unfit him for 
the successful prosecution of his studies. In- 
temperance in the gratification of this instinct 
has a tendency to lead to intemperance in the 
use of ardent spirits. The languor, depression 
of spirits, in some instances faintness and want 
of appetite, induced by intemperate gratification, 
call loudly for some stimulus, and give a relish 
to spirits. Thus the individual is led to drink. 
This inflames the blood, the passions, and leads 
to further indulgence. This again calls for more 
spirits; and thus two vicious habits are com- 
menced, which mutually increase each other. 
Strange as it may appear to those unacquainted 
with the animal economy, an intemperate in- 
dulgence sometimes gives rise to the same dis- 
ease—so far as the name makes it so—that is fre- 
quently cured by a temperate indulgence; viz., 
nocturnal emissions. 
Every young married woman ought to know 
that the male system is exhausted in a far 
greater degree than the female by gratification. 
* Gonorrhoea, or a purulent discharge, and not syphilis, 
is evidently what is here meant by Dr. Knowlton. The 
two affections were at one time confounded together and 
were often thought to be different forms of the same dis- 
ease, but they are now known to be quite distinct. 
Syphilis is the product of a peculiar blood-poison, and 
never arises except by contagion, from another person: 
suffering from a similar disease.—G. R. 
* 8ince this was written many such popular medical 
works have been issued and publioly sold.—[Publishers1, 
note. FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
21 
It seems, indeed to have but little effect, com- 
paratively, upon some females. But with re- 
spect to the male, it has been estimated by Tis- 
sot that the loss of one ounce of semen is equal 
in its effects upon the system of 40 ounces of 
blood. As it respects the immediate effects, 
this estimation, generally speaking, may not be 
too great. But a man living on a full meat diet 
might, doubtless, part with fifty ounces of semen 
in the course of a year, with far less detriment 
to the system than with 2000 ounces of blood. 
It is a fact, that mode of living, independent of 
occupation, makes a great difference with re- 
spect to what the system will bear. A full meat 
diet, turtles, oysters, eggs, spirits, wine, etc., 
certainly promote the secretion of semen, and 
enable the system to bear its emission. But a 
cool vegetable and milk diet calms all the fiercer 
passions, the venereal especially. Most men 
adopting such a diet as this will suffer no incon- 
venience in extending the intervals of their 
gratification to three or four weeks; on the con- 
trary, they will enjoy clear intellect, and a fine 
flow of spirits. This is the diet for men of liter- 
ary pursuits, especially the unmarried. 
As to the mischievous manner, it consists in 
the unnatural habit oftonanism, or solitary 
gratification; it is an anti-social and demoraliz- 
ing habit, which, while it proves no quietus to 
the mind, impairs the bodily powers, as well as 
mental, and not unfrequently leads to insanity. 
While the gratification of the reproductive in- 
stinct in such manner as mentioned leads to bad 
consequences, a temperate and natural gratifica- 
tion, under proper circumstances, is attended 
with good; besides the mere attendant pleasure, 
which alone is enough to recommend such grati- 
fication. I admit that human beings might be 
so constituted that if they had no reproductive in- 
stinct to gratify, they might enjoy health; but 
being constituted as they are, this instinct can- 
not be mortified with impunity. It is a fact 
universally admitted, that unmarried females do 
not enjoy so much good health and attain to so 
great an age as the married; notwithstanding 
that the latter are subject to the diseases and 
pains incident to child-bearing. A temperate 
gratification promotes the secretions, and the 
appetite for food; calms the restless passions; 
induces pleasant sleep; awakens social feeling; 
and adds a zest to life which makes one conscious 
that life is worth preserving. 
APPENDIX. 
[I here connect with this work, by way of Ap- 
pendix, the following extract from an article 
which appeared in the “Boston Investigator,” 
a paper which, mirabile dictu, is so “crazy” as 
to be open to the investigation of all subjects 
which mightily concern mankind.] 
The only seeming objection of much weight 
that can be brought against diffusing a know- 
ledge of checks is, that it will serve to increase 
illegal connections. Now, this is exactly the 
contrary effect of that which those who have 
diffused such knowledge most confidently be- 
lieve will arise from it. To diminish such con- 
nections is indeed one of the grand objects of 
these publications,—an object which laws and 
prisons cannot, or, at least, do not, accomplish. 
Why is there so much prostitution in the land? 
The true answer to the question is not, and never 
will be, Because the people have become ac- 
quainted with certain facts in physiology; it is 
because there are so many unmarried men and 
women,—men of dissipation and profligacy, ow- 
ing to their not having married in their younger 
days and settled down in life. But why are 
there so many unmarried people in the country? 
Not because young hearts when they arrive at 
the age of maturity do not desire to marry; but 
because prudential considerations interfere. 
The young man thinks: I cannot marry yet; I 
cannot support a family; I must make money 
first, and think of a matrimonial settlement 
afterwards. And so it is, that, through fear 
of having a family, before they have made a 
little headway in the world, and of being there- 
by compelled to “tug at the oar of incessant 
labor throughout their lives,” thousands of young 
men do not marry, but go abroad into the world 
and form vicious acquaintances and practices. 
The truth, then, is this, —there is so much of 
illegal connection in the land, because the people 
had not, twenty years ago, that very information 
which, it would seem to some, doubtless through 
want of due reflection, are apprehensive will in- 
crease this evil. I might qubte pages to the 
point from “Every Woman’s Book,” but I fear 
my communication would be too lengthy. I 
content myself with a few lines. “But when it 
has become the custom here as elsewhere to 
limit the number of children, so that none need 
have more than they wish, no man will fear to 
take a wife; all will marry while young; de- 
bauchery will diminish; while good morals and 
religious duties will be promoted.” 
It has been asked if a general knowledge of 
checks would not diminish the general increase 
of population? I think that such would not be 
the result in this country until such result would 
be desirable. In my opinion, the effect would 
be a good many more families (and, on the 
whole, as many births); but not so many over- 
grown and poverty-striken ones.! 
It has been said, It is best to let nature take 
her course. Now, in the broadest sense of the 
word “Nature,” I say so too. In this sense, 
there is nothing unnatural in the universe. But 
if we limit the sense of the word Nature so as 
not to include what we mean by art, then is civ- 
ilized life one continued warfare against nature. 
It is by art that we subdue the forest; by art we 
contend against the elements; by art we combat 
the natural tendency of disease, etc. 
As to the outrageous slander which here and 
there one has been heard to utter against the 
fair sex, in saying that fear of conception is the 
foundation of their chastity, it must be the sen- 
timent of a “carnal heart, which has been pec- 
uliarly unfortunate in its acquaintances. “To 
the pure all things are pure.” Chastity, as well 
as its opposite, is in a great degree constitution- 
al; and ought, in a like degree, to be regarded as 
a physical property, if I may so say, rather than 
a moral quality. Where the constitution is 22 
FRUITS OF PHILOSOPHY. 
favorable, a very indifferent degree of moral 
training is sufficient to secure the virgin without 
the influence of the above-mentioned fear; but 
where it is the reverse, you may coop up the in- 
dividual in the narrow dark cage of ignorance 
and fear, as you will, but still you must watch. 
An eminent moralist has said, “That chastity 
which will not bear the light [of Physiology] is 
scarcely worth preserving.’’ But verily 1 be- 
lieve there is very little such in the market. 
What there be is naturally short-lived, and, 
after its demise, the unhappily constituted in- 
dividual stands in great need of this light to save 
her from ignominy. What might it not have 
prevented in the Fall River affair? And if one 
' of two things must happen—either the destruc- 
, tion of fecundity or the destruction of life— 
, which of the two is the greater evil? In these 
cases, alone, this light is calculated to do sufflc- 
i ient good to counterbalance all the evil that 
would arise from it; so that we should have its 
important advantages to the married in a pol- 
: itical, a domestic, and a medical point of view, 
as so. much clear gain. This, of course, is my 
opinion; hut since I have probably reflected 
more upon the subject than all the persons con- 
cerned in my imprisonment put together, until 
it can be shown that I have not as clear a head 
and as pure a heart as any of them, I think it en- 
titled to some weight. Always in Stock and sent post-paid by Mail upon receipt of 
Price. 
Shakspeares complete New Works 12 mo. cloth hind $ 1 50 
Burns’ “ “ “ “ “ ** 1 50 
Byron’s “ “ « " “ “ 1 50 
Moore’s “ “ “ « “ “ 1 50 
Spencer’s “ " '?* “ “ “ 1 50 
Dryden’s “ « « « « « 1 50 
Milton’s “ “ “ “ « « 1 50 
Scott’s Poems " “ ** “ “ u 1 50 
Lytton’s « “ “ “ « « 1 50 
Tennyson’s “ « “ “ " “ 1 50 
Dr. Hollick’s Marriage Guide, cloth, new 1 00 
Dr. Hollick’s Diseases of Women, cloth, new 1 00 
Dr. Hollick’s Male Generative Organs, cloth, new 1 00 
Dr. Hollick’s Manual of Midwifery, cloth, new 1 00 
Dr. Hollick’s Venereal Diseases, cloth, new 1 00 
Dr. Hollick’s The Nerve and the Nervous, cloth, new 1 00 
Dante, complete, new 1 00 
Koran, complete, new 1 00 
Aidstotle’s Works, new 1 00 
S >ectator, complete, new 1 25 
Ju-iius’ Letters, complete, new 1 25 
ChrA Lamb’s Works, new 1 25 
Ho-ner’s Odyssey, complete new 1 00 
Homer’s Iliad, complete, new. 1 00 
Gentleman’s Letter Writter, new 35 
Ladies’ Letter Writer, new 35 
The Illustrated Pronouncing Pocket-Dictionary upward of 30,000 words.... 50 
Any of the above sent free Post Paid by Mail to any address 
upon receipt of Price. 
P. W. CARROLL, 
101 Randolph St., CHICAGO. Hurrah for CALIFORNIA and her NEW EIBLE! 
California's “Nineteenth Century 
BIBLE OF TRUTH, 
AND 
HEWER, TESTAMENT,” 
Will surely rank among her best Productions. The people crave light and This 
Book, written by a California “49’er,” can no more be hid under a bushel 
v than Edison’s Lamps. 
IX SELLS. y IX PLEASES XIIIINKERS. 
No Lecture of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll is better calculated to remove the scale* 
from the Eyes of Superstition. 
It teaches HUMANITY instead of “divinity”! and (if the 
plan it proposes be adopted) is most admirably calculated to cause 
“devines” to be once more “born again!” 
It comes highly recommended from California; and an Ex- 
CHIEF JUSTICE of IOWA writes: 
“It has afforded me much Food for Reflection and no 
little Amusement.” 
The first 50 cent Edition being exhausted, a NEW EDITION, 
printed from electrotyped plates, is put at so low a price as to be, 
within the reach of all: For EVERYBODY should read CALI- 
FORNIA’S 
Nineteenth Century Bible, 
who would like to have not only 
“MUCH FOOD for REFLECTION” but also “NO LITTLE 
AMUSEMENT.” 
Copyrighted and Published by Chs. A. Leonard. 
Single Copy sent by mail, post-paid, to any address for 25 cents 
To the trade, 8c., delivered. Agents wanted in all cities and villages. Address, 
P. W. CARROLL, 
101 Randolph Street, Chicago, H SEE BACK COVER. 
Any «sook named on the back coyer of this Book, sent to any 
addie. i upon receipt of price named. Postage Stamps taken. 
A1 o just published No. 23 Col. In ersoll’s Lectures, 
THE HUMAN IDEA OF A PERSONAL GOD. 
Delivered in Chicago, Sept. 19th. 
Price 5 Cents. 
No. 22 of Col. Ingersoll’s Lectures, 
WHAT MUST WE DO TO HE SATED. 
Delivered in Boston, April 13tb, 
TOGETHER WITH 
INCERSOLL’S WOODEN COD* OR YIEWS 
ON THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
Price, 5 Cents. 
ALSO JUST PUBLISHED 
HEROISM OF THOS. PAINE. 
A Lecture by the Rev. Brooke Herford, in Church 
the Messiah. 
Price, - - 5 Cents. 
SECRETS OF THE NUNNERY AND CON- 
FESS10NAL EXPOSED. 
Price, - * 10 Cents. 
The wonderful and startling Lectures of Rev. Geo. Chainey, 
HEADS AND HEARTS. 
The New Departure of Rev. Ceo. Chainey of 
Trinity Church. 
No. 1. Price - 5 cents. 
No. 2 of Rev. Geo. Chainey’s Lecture-*. 
Ecclesiastical Lynch Law or the Problem 
How Can One Outgrow a Creedless 
or Non-Sectarian Church 
Complete, Price - 10 cents. 
ICONOCLASM, OR, 
THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE. 
By Rev. Geo. Chainey, Unity Church, Evansville, Ind. 
No. 3. Price - 10 cents. 
COL. INGERSOLL’S GREAT REPUBLICAN 
SPEECH in Maine, Sept. I O. 
No. 26. Price - 5 cents. 
HENDRICKS’ GREAT SPEECH OH CAR- 
FIELD, Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 6. 
Price - 5 cents. 
By Prof. Van Buren Denslow, L. L. D., antht r of “Modern 
Thinkers.” 
A PLEA FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF RE- 
SPONSIBLE GOVERN ft*EHT. 
80 pages. Retail price - - - 25c 
A fir]rpaq 
BALDWIN’S BOOK STORE, 
191 SOUTH CLARK Sr., CHICAGO. 
■Sent post paid upon receipt of price. FRANK EGEHR, 
Lithographer, Printer and Publisher, 
259 RANDOLPH- STREET, CHICAGO. 
On K&i3Lcat8 ' 
A Large Assortment of Labels of all Kinas, 
Ear’ Canned Goods, such as Corn, Tomatos, Peached, Plums, Pears, Apples, Grapes, 
Strawberries, Pine Apples, Lobsters, Oysters, Salmon, &c. 
' _ / 
Ah- -Large Stock of Perfumery, and Wine and Liquor Labels, 
Camples sent free on application. Labels of all kinds made to order. 
Atiy of the Following sent free by mail on Receipt of Price. 
The “Universal” Cash Check Back. 
book contains 350 Checks with Stubs, numbered consecutively from 1 to 
50, stub and check numbered alike. $7.50 per 100. Sample sent on receipt of 10c. 
The "Favorite” Cash Cheek Back. 
r. Each book contains-100 Checks with Stubs, numbered consecutively from 1 to 
#00, stub and check numbered alike. $5.00 per 100. Sample sent on receipt of 10c. 
’fhesa bcroks are a sure safe-guard against discrepancies in Cash Accounts. 
YARD-MEASURES, 36 inches, 
heavy 150 lb,Manilla Paper;-*-excellent medium for advertising;—your advertise- 
* meut printed on reverse side; $8.00 per 1000 ; — send 3c. stamp for sample. 
Conversation Cards* 
Just tne tiling for gentlemen who wish to cultivate their, acquaintance with 
ladies. Send 15 Gts for sample-package of 20 cards,. 
Address; 
FEAIK EO'EHR, Publisher, ; / 
259 Randolph Street, Chicago. 
. * / '• ' " ■ ■ ' ' ' 'J ' ' ' \ '< ’ ' I ■' ■ ’ \ ■ t- ; ' » THE PEOPLE’S POPULAR LIBERAL LIBRARY 5IO. 7: “The Ignorant. Philosopher, and Adventures of Pythagoras in India, by * 
M. de Voltaire, Also, M. de Voltaire’s Essay on “Gods." Price 2? Gents- 
The Full and Complete Editions of the LECTURES of 
COL. R. 9. INGERSOLL. 
No. 1. MISTAKES OF MOSES. 
No. 2 SKULLS. 
No. 3. GHOSTS. 
No. 4. HELL. 
No. 6. LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN AND 
CHILD. 
No. 6. GODS. , 
No. 7. INTELLECTU AL DEVELOPMENT 
No. A HOMAN RIGHTS, 
No. 9. HEREAFTER. 
No. 10. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. 
No. 11. HERETICS AND HERESIES. 
No. 12. Col. INGERSOLL’S VINDICATION 
OF THOMAS PAINE. 
No. 13. PLEA FOR INDIVIDUALITY AND 
ARRAIGNMENT OF THE CHURCH 
No. 14. THE RELIGION OF OUR DAY. 
No. 15. PERSONAL DEISM DENIED. 
No. J6. THE PHILOSOPHER OF REASON 
— HUMBOLDT. 
No. 17. THE DECLARATION OF INDE- 
PENDENCE. 
No. la NOMINATING BLAINE FOR PBES- 
/ IDENT AT CINCINNATI. 
No. 19. LIFE and DEEDS OF THOS. PAINF 
No.' 20. FARMING. 
No. 21. SPEECH AT THE SOLDIERS’ RE 
UNION AT INDIANAPOLIS 1878. 
No. 22. WHAT SHALT. WE DO TO BE 
SAVED. 
No. 23. PAST AND PRESENT GODS, HOW 
GODS GROW. 
No. 24. THE CHINESE GOD. (Tugersoll t 
Views on the Chinese Questiocr 
and INGERSOLL’8 BRAIN PHHF, 
NOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED, 
i No. 26. MODERN THINKERS. 
TK2 PEOPLE'S HUMOROUS ANBSDOTE LIBRARY 110. i. 16 fcASBW-SOIrfc’ CTS 
No. 26, GREAT REPt?BLICAN SPEECH IN MAINE, September 10, 1880. 
No. 27, WHAT MUST WE DO IN ORDER TO BE SAVED, held at MoVicker’s Theater. 
Chicago, September 19, 1880. 
No, 28. FREE SPEECH AND AN HONEST BALLOT, held at Cooper Institute, NemFcrSd 
October 23, 1880. 
No. 29. COL, IJSGERSOLL’S REPLY TO HIS CHICAGO CRITICS, and 8PEK< 0 
THE BUSINESS MEN OF NEW YORK, in Wall St., on Nov. 1,1880. 
WOMAN'S Jbj.iEE.DOM “ AJuutiinii *ill uevei u« iree uutv wuunoiis tree." 
Col. Ingersoll and His Chicago Critics. 
A Lecture by the Rev. JAS. K. APPLEBEE. 
“LYING MADE EASY." A reply to Col. R. G. Ingersoll. By Rabbi H. Bien.4 
“LIFE AND TRIP A ROUND THE WORLD OF Gen. U. S. GRANT,*; 
with Portrait of Gen. Washington and Gen. Grant. | 
“SENATOR ZACH CHANDLER’S LAST SPEECH,” with a Bit| 
graphical Sketch and Large Portrait of Sen. Chandler on Cover Page. • * 
PRICE OF ANY OF THE ABOVE, 5 CENTS EACH. 
The People’s Popular Liberal Library. 
No. 1. THE AGE OP REASON, by Thomas Paine. Price. 15c. 
No. 2. COMMON SENSE, ESSAY ON DREAMS, THE RELIGION OF 
DEISM, in one volume, by Thomas Paine. Price, 15c. 
No. 3. THE RIGHTS OF MAN. by Thomas Paine. Written in defence of 
his fellow-man. A work almost without a peer in the world. Price, 15c 
No. 4. VOLNEY’S RUINS: Or, Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires 
Portrait of Volney on Cover Page. Price, 20c. 
No. 5. THE CRISIS, by Thomas Paine. Price 20c. 
No. 6. POCKET THEOLOGY, by Voltaire. With Portrait Price 20c 
Human Ignorance* or the Nineteenth CentuiY Bible of Truth, and th« 
Newer S Testament, etc.., the New Liberal Work. 25,000 sold. Price 2$c. 1 
Fruits of Philosophy. A Treatise on the Population Question By Charley 
Brad laugh and Anne Besant, with Portraits on Cover Page. Price 25c. | 
Full Report c?f the Sranif Re-Union of the Soldiers and Sailcr| 
of the Into war, bm3 at Chicj'.g), November 12—15,1879, with all the Speeches incidei# 
thereto, and Speeches made at rbe.Granr. B nquet tendered to Gen. Grant at the Palmei 
House,Novorabdr IS,'1*179. Price 10c. 
The Bible Inquirer; «r A Wey to T!:’A3 lavvatigatiou, containing 148 propositions, with 
references 'to the most niaja un -iking h-if-coatradictiona of the so-called inspired 
scriptures. By Ai Jfcesbsop: Tv. 
M>Mr.'v«7 ■)>,iw.".winrti',irMHiwirii*«Wh 
Lirat O . H. G. (ngersoll, size BxlO, price 15 Cts. * 
lo bo obtained from st| Nydvrs &oox$eHor$ throughout lbs United States.