LIBRARY OF ME Dl CI NE NA jo »ii»«in ivnoiivn iNoiasw jo a « v a ■ i i ivnoiivn inoiojw LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL JO AdViail IVNOIIVN INI3IQ1VI dO A IIV II B I 1 IVNOIIVN 3NIDI03W : I^N. Laa ii ivno u v N 3NI3IQ3W JO AdVdail IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W JO AdV I , r OF MEDICI NE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDI CI NE N A T I O N A I I I B R A R i. •£! v3 to , nil IVNOIIVN 3NI3KI3W JO Advaau ivnoiivn jnoicjsw JO AdV ((dflll IVNOIIVN 3N 1310 3W JO AdVddll IVNOIIVN 3 N I 3 I Q 3 W J O A d V bWfTf ? W>d® THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL WORKS ALEXANDER WALKER. A NEW EDITION. in THREB-veTrrrM'E^Tr^.- r^-* n ".Tk i 0 VOL. II. '7 INTERMARRIAGE. NEW YORK: J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 57 CHATHAM STREET. 1843. Grt INTERMARRIAGE: OR THE MODE IN WHICH, AND THE CAUSES WHY, BEAUTY, HEALTH, AND INTELLECT, RESULT FROM CERTAIN UNIONS, AND DEFORMITY, DISEASE, AND INSANITY, FROM OTHERS; DEMONSTRATED BY DELINEATIONS OF THE STRUCTURE AND FORMS, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FUNCTIONS AND CAPACITIES, WHICH EACH PARENT, IN EVERY PAIR, BESTOWS ON CHILDREN,— IN CONFORMITY WITH CERTAIN NATURAL LAWS, AND BY AN ACCOUNT OF CORRESPONDING EFFECTS IN THE BREEDING OF ANIMALS. WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWIISGS. BY ALEXANDER WALKER. NEW YORK: HENRY G. LANGLEY, 8 ASTOR-HOUSE I84i. " Apres nous etre occupes si curieusement des moyens de rendre plus belles et meilleures les races des animaux ou des plantes utiles et agreables; apres avoir remanie cent fois celle des chevaux et des chiens: apres avoir trans- plants, greffe, travaille de toutes les manieres, les fruits ct les fleurs, combien n'est il pas honteux de negliger totalement la race de l'homme!" Cabanis. "The highly interesting subject upon which you are writing is remarka- bly suited to the passing time in our country. Our aristocracy, by exclusive intermarriages among ancient families, proceed blindly to breed in contempt of deformities, of feeble intellect, or of hereditary madness, under the insti gation of pride or the love of wealth, until their race becomes extinct; while another portentous cause, that of unwholesome factories, threatens to dete- riorate the once brave manhood of England. I believe that, among mankind, as well as domesticated animals, there are physical and moral influences which may be regulated so as to improve or predispose both the corporeal and moral aptitudes; and certainly the most obvious course is that of select- ing the fit progenitors of both sexes." Sir A. Carlisle, in a Letter to the Author Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by J. & H. G. Langley, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. DEDICATION. TO THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT, ESQ., F.R.S. So L.S. PRESIDENT OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, &C. &C. &C. My Dear Sir, One of the newly-discovered laws of nature, which are announced in this work, gives to man, for the first time, a precise rule for the guidance of inter- marriage in his own race, and for that of breeding among animals. According to that law, one parent gives to progeny the forehead and organs of sense, together with the nutritive organs contained within the trunk of the body; while the other parent gives the backhead and cerebel or organ of the will, together with the loco- motive organs composing the exterior of the trunk and the whole of the limbs. I had no sooner announced to you this law, and brought before you a family clearly exemplifying its a* IV DEDICATION. operation, when the vast experience and observation which has long placed you at the head of scientific breeders, enabled you to state to me a practical cir- cumstance both as to man and animals, which at once corroborates every portion of the law. You stated that if, in woman, you were shown merely a face short and round, full in the region of the forehead, and having what are commonly called chubby cheeks, but contracted and fine in the nose and mouth, you would unhesitatingly predict the trunk to be wide and capacious, and the limbs to ta- per thence to their extremities; and, so unfailing was this indication also in regard to inferior animals, that if, in adjudging a prize, there were brought before you an apparently well-fed animal of opposite form, or having a long and slender head, you would suspect it to be crammed for show, and, as such, should be disposed to reject it. In this, your vast experience discovered a practical fact independent of all theory—a fact constituting an unerring guide in the most important decisions of husbandry—a fact of immense extent and bearing in its various relations. Your ready prediction of the capacity of the trunk from a view merely of the forehead and face—these anterior parts, is a proof of so much of the law as states that, with the form of the forehead and face, DEDICATION. V goes that of the nutritive organs contained in the trunk, for to these its capacity is adapted. Regarded, moreover, even thus far, it leaves it as at least probable, that the remainder of the law is equally well founded, namely, that with the form of the backhead and cerebel—these posterior parts, goes that of the locomotive organs composing the rest of the body. Your beautiful observation, however, does much more than render this remainder of the law a mere probability.—I have shown in this work, that, with the dimensions of the backhead and cerebel, go those of the locomotive system, and consequently those of the more muscular and moveable parts of the face, the mouth and nose. The shortness and fineness, therefore, of the mouth and nose, mentioned in your observation, being concomitant effects of the same cause with the tapering limbs, become as sure an indication, not merely of such limbs, but of the small backhead and cerebel, as the short and round face with full forehead were of the wide and capacious trunk. Thus that observation confirms also the re- mainder of the law. As this fact is of such immense extent in its bear- ing and relations, and as it so irrefragably confirms the law, the work which announces and illustrates it, cannot be so appropriately dedicated to any one as to vi DEDICATION. you; and this accordingly it is, with great respect and esteem. Alexander Walker. Postscript.—Since the whole of this work was printed, and since this dedication was written and presented to Mr. Knight, the death of that distin- guished naturalist has occurred. The dedication, as accepted by him, remains as a testimony of my deep respect for his memory, and my sincere gratitude for his generous and unwearied communication of so many valuable facts. LETTER RESPECTING THIS WORK FROM GEORGE BIRKBECK, Esq., M.D. F.G.S. PRESIDENT OF THE LONDON MECHANICS' INSTITUTION, &C. &C. &C TO THE AUTHOR. 38, Finsbury Square, May 23,1838. My dear Sir, I have derived much pleasure from a perusal, in its progress through the press, of the work in which you have clearly devel- oped, and satisfactorily established, those views of the formation of organized beings, communicated by you to me, in various con- versations of very great interest. After having unsuccessfully although not unproductively, inspected with vast industry and ingenuity the rudiments, the minima visibilia of animal existence. it is peculiarly gratifying to find, much of the mysterious process of generation, unfolded by a comparison of the entire and en- larged being with its producers : and thus obtaining a solution of the obscure and difficult question, of the effect contributed by each sex in the appointed work of reproduction, not from the intricacies of the ovaria, uterus or seminal fluid, but from the condition and configuration of the visible and tangible result. The general inquirer, not less than the philosophical physiolo- gist, will, I am persuaded, feel grateful to you for the copious collection of facts, which you have provided on this hitherto perplexing subject: and whatever may be the decision, with re- spect to any of the curious and important natural laws which viii LETTER FROM DR. BIRKBECK TO THE AUTHOR. you have so logically deduced, it will be admitted, I doubt not that you have established the communication of organization by each parent in e formation of their offspring; and therefore that simple impression or simple stimulus, is not the whole actual effect of either party. It will be admitted likewise, that you have fully demonstrated the value of a due observance of several of your laws relating to reproduction, in promoting the physical, moral, and intellectual well-being of the human race, not less than the beauty and utility of form and action, of animals of every rank in the creation. And it must be admitted, I am sure —and the admission involves no common approbation-----that in pursuing these most delicate inquiries, your language and your modes of expression, are always calculated to impart a knowledge of the fact or the inference which you propose to communicate, without awakening any feelings, which may dis turb the chaste sobriety of philosophical research. You have in deed, in wending your way through this beautiful and physiolo- gically attractive portion of natural science, verified if I mistake not, an exquisite expression, handed down to us with many truths of mighty moment, that " to the pure all things are pure." I wait, with eager expectation, the appearance of your next volume, (already announced as prepared for the press) which completes this extraordinary series; and remain, My dear Sir, Sincerely and respectfully your's, George Birkbeck To Alex. Walker, Esq. NOTICES OF WALKER ON INTERMARRIAGE. From " The Literary Gazette." " The author has struck out a new theory of generation, the leading points of which may be gathered from the following :— " One of the newly discovered laws of nature, which are an- nounced in the work, gives to man, for the first time, a precise rule for the guidance of intermarriage in his own race, and for that of breeding among animals. o" According to that law, one parent gives to progeny the fore- head and organs of sense, together with the nutritive organs contained within the trunk of the body; while the other parent gives the backhead and cerebel or organ of the will, together with the locomotive organs composing the exterior of the trunk and the whole of the limbs. " Upon these principles, Mr. Walker advises us how wivei and husbands should be chosen, so that their progeny may be healthy, vigorous, and endowed with rich gifts in body and mind. * * * " Here we must stop; for we dare not venture further into Mr. Walker's very uncommon investigations." From " The Satirist." " Mr. Walker's work on Intermarriage is the most curious and interesting book that has appeared for many a day. " It is indeed strange that men should have been looking in one another's faces for some thousand years, without finding out till now—1st, That every child resembles one parent in forehead, NOTICES OF WALKER ON INTERMARRIAGE. face, organs of sense and vital organs, and the other parent in backhead and muscular organs; 2dly, that the parent whom the progeny resemble in forehead, face, organs of sense. &,c, is al- ways the one whose sensibility was most excited at the moment of conception, and the parent whom the progeny resemble ii. backhead and muscular system, is always the one whose volitior and locomotion were most excited at the same moment; anc 3dly, that therefore the beauty, health and intellect of progenj are entirely under our control, and subject only to the choice we are pleased to make in intermarriage, and the state of the two minds at the instant of reproduction. " All this is established by cases both among men and ani- mals, as well as by the corresponding testimony of physiologists and physicians, and of the ablest breeders of horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, birds, &c, whose reports are here given.—The book is full of the most extraordinary and interesting matter." From " The Atlas." " The work is essentially scientific, although Mr. Wafker has written it with a view to general circulation, and has treated the subject in as popular a spirit as its peculiar nature would admit Some curious facts in the physical conformation of man are de- veloped in the course of Mr. Walker's researches ; and the laws in nature which he establishes, are placed in a clearer light than we are aware they were ever placed in before.—The book is full of the most extraordinary and interesting matter." From " Sherwood's Monthly Miscellany." " This is a work combining great learning with depth of re. search, and is of paramount interest to the higher classes of the community, who, by exclusive intermarriages among ancient families, perpetuate races of deformed persons, of unhappy be- ings of feeble and attenuated intellect, and in many cases keep up the breed of hereditary insanity.—This calamity, instigated by false family pride, or by the basest cupidity, may be averted or greatly modified by an attentive perusal of this important volume.—The work is preceded by a very intellectual letter from that philosophical physiologist, Dr. Birkbeck." ADVERTISEMENT. The great object of this work is altogether new and heretofore unattempted—the establishment not merely of a new science—but of that science which is by far the most interesting to humanity—the science which, for the first time, points out and explains all the natural laws that, according to each particular choice in intermarriage, determine the precise forms and qualities of the progeny,—which unfolds the mode in which, and the causes why beauty, health and intellect result from certain unions, and deformi- ty, disease and insanity from others,—and which en- ables us, under all given conditions, and with abso- lute certainty, to predict the degree and kind of these, which must result from each intermarriage. The philosophical bases of this science have, more- over, nothing to do with hypothesis or supposition ;— they are the indisputable, though hitherto unapplied, facts of anatomy and physiology;—and their present popular applications are rendered subjects of absolute demonstration by descriptions and drawings of fami- lies (some of them well known to the public;) while every reader has the power of adding to their number among the families of his acquaintance. They are further subjected to demonstration by all the more important facts, here stated, as to the breeding of do- mesticated ammajs^-facta which have not hitherto 1 2 ADVERTISEMENT. been explained or understood, and consequently hare not hitherto afforded those principles on which the breeder may now act, with perfect certainty of the desired result. In the First Part of the work is given an account of the physiological conditions connected with and terminating in Love,—the period of puberty, and the remarkable and interesting changes which it causes in the locomotive system and the voice, in the vital or nutritive system, and in the mental or thinking sys. tem, especially of woman. This is rendered altoge. ther popular. In the Second Part are described the sexual rela- tions arising from these conditions, and connected with or leading to Intermarriage,—useful guidance and dangerous restraint, unnatural indulgence and absolute continence, and the necessity of intermar- riage— subjects entirely popular and deeply interesting to both sexes. In the Third Part are described the circumstances resulting from the preceding relations, and connected with or productive of Progeny,—the natural prefer. ence for the various kinds of beauty for the first time explained, the state of marriage, and the propagation of forms and qualities. In the Fourth Part are enunciated the newly dis- covered laws regulating the Resemblance of Pro. geny to Parents,—the law of selection where both parents are of the same variety, the law of crossing where each parent is of a different variety, the law of in-and-in breeding where both parents are of the same femtfy* the law of sex, and, the law of maternal mitri- advertisement. 3 tion (none of them heretofore observed, and all of them here physiologically demonstrated,) as well as the circumstances modifying these laws, and the con- sequent easy improvement of families in beauty of forms and excellence of functions. In the Fifth and Sixth Parts are described the vague methods of regulating progeny adopted in the breeding of Domesticated Animals,—in in-and-in, selection and crossing, and the application of the na- tural laws to the breeding of these animals—horses, cattle and sheep. In the Seventh and Eighth Parts are described the vague methods of effecting progeny adopted among Mankind,—in in-and-in, selection and crossing, and the transcendently important subject of choice in inter- marriage, as prescribed by the natural laws, and as calculated to correct each particular defect of the lo- comotive, the vital or nutritive, and the mental or thinking system, that may exist in any family or any individual. It is here perhaps that I should add, to what has now been said, whatever regards my means of accom- plishing this work, and a few further remarks on the chief purpose which I have in view therein. To its anthropological views I have long been habi. tuated; and, for several years, I have carefully ob- served the resemblance and the other relations of pro- geny to parents. Most of the sciences, however, of which man is the subject, have derived such advance- ment from those which regard animate-comparative physiology, has thrown such light on human phys- iology, that, on every thing relating to iatermar- 4 advertisement. riage and progeny, it was evident, that those who had devoted their time and attention to the breeding of domestic animals might be able to furnish very valuable information. The laws of nature are simple and uniform ; the functions of organs differ no more than their structure; and as nearly all the organs of man are greatly resembled by those of domestic an- imals, the same resemblance exists in their functions. I consulted, therefore, the most distinguished breed- ers in every department; and they have kindly and zealously given me their best assistance, for which I beg here to express my gratitude. In a letter of the 4th February, 1837, my corres- pondent * * *, whose devotion to the interests of British husbandry is not more remarkable than his frank and generous communication of knowledge, says, " For the last ten or twelve years, I have at. tended very much to this subject, and, as I have been breeding cattle upon a very large scale, I have been enabled, I think, to satisfy myself, that some of the common opinions are unfounded, and to establish some theoretical principles which generally prove cor- rect in practice. If Mr. Walker thinks it worth his while to take the trouble to write to me, I will, with the greatest pleasure, give him the result of my ex- perience, if it should turn out that I have any experi- ence which can be useful to him." In a letter of the 11th of April, 1837, Mr. Knio-ht of Downton, president of the Horticultural Society, says, " I have made so many experiments in cross- breeding, during more than half a century, that I believe I shall be able to communicate to you a good ADVERTISEMENT. 5 deal of information upon a subject which I agree with you in thinking very highly important; and I shall be happy to give you any assistance in my power." Of what immense value this has been, as regards man as well as inferior animals, the reader will see in the work, and especially under the laws regulating the re- semblance of progeny to parents. To that gentleman, indeed, I owe its earliest and most perfect confirmation. In a letter of August, 1837* from Dr. Hancock, the South American traveller, he says, " I am fully sen- sible of the importance of regulating the breed amongst animals, which is, I suppose, generally recognized and acknowledged. But to me it has appeared, as it has to yourself, a matter of much surprise, that so little regard (if any) has been given to the same principles applied to our own species—as though we either con- sidered our race to be perfect, or else of inferior im- portance compared with plants and animals in gene- ral.—I have had, as you seem to think, many oppor- tunities of observing the practical application of these principles. I had even entertained an idea of com. posing a small treatise on the subject; but I am well pleased it should have fallen into abler hands." Dr. Hancock's information respecting the American races, is highly important. To many other philosophical observers of nature—- Sir Anthony Carlisle, Dr. Copland, Mr. Malcolm Walker, &c, as well as the ablest of the professional breeders of domesticated animals—I am deeply in- debted. Of the chief purpose of this work, I need only fur- ther say, that the knowledge of the laws here estab- 1* 6 ADVERTISEMENT. lished, in the case of all intermarriages, is evidently of great importance, though a very narrow and mis. taken interest may lead to their neglect. Means, altogether repugnant to the habits of mo. dern society (in climates where clothing is necessary, and where morality is modified by that circumstance,) have been recommended even by illustrious writers, in order to accomplish but a small portion of the pur- poses which, as mere applications of natural science, are rendered simple, beautiful, and easily practicable by the methods pointed out in this work. Happily even the least offensive of these means w rendered unnecessary by the simple, beautiful, and eas- ily practicable application of natural science pointed out in this work ; by which, at the same time, that pre- science of the physical forms and menial capacities of progeny is attained, which is impossible by all other means. In the execution of the work under obligations so manifold and great, I have scrupulously acknowledged all those that are of an original character, by naming the persons to whom they are due, and inserting the date of the communications.* I have also profited by most of the good works having any reference to the subject; and whenever the subjects described, or the opinions expressed, from them, seemed original or peculiar to the writer, I have as scrupulously marked the quotation by inverted commas ; but when these • To render the insertion of the year unnecessary, I may hero say, that all the communications referred to were made be- tween March 1837 and March 1838. AD VERTI3E ME NT. 7 appeared to be the common property of science, em- ployed by many writers, I have not done so nor could I, indeed, with any propriety, seeing that I have gene. rally abridged, enlarged, or corrected their expression. To avoid, moreover, the possibility of my being thought to claim that which may belong to others, I here subjoin a list of the more important original facts and opinions which the work contains :— 1. The brief view of a natural system of anatomy and physiology, constituting the Preliminary; 2. The assignment of the cause of early puberty, and of the catamenia in woman', 3. The physiological reasons for concluding that love is more essential to woman than to man, though she can more easily suspend or defer it,—afforded by the proportionally greater developement of her organs of sense and vital system, and the smaller size of her cerebel as the organ of will, dec.; 4. The explanation of the natural preference of the various kinds of beauty; 5. The showing that conception cannot take place under horror and disgust; 6. The pointing out the indestructibility of organi- zation in propagation from parents to progeny, and the consequent impossibility of faulty organization being either soon or easily got rid of by mankind ge- nerally ; 7. The establishment of the natural laws regulating the resemblance of progeny to parents; 8. The establishment of the law of selection, where both parents are of the same variety, and when either parent gives either of two distinct series of organs; 8 ADVERTISEMENT. 9. The explanation of the accompaniment of par. ticular organs; 10. The explanation of the influence of the poste- rior series of organs upon the anterior ones, and vice versa; 11. The showing the cause of the division of the nervous or thinking system ; 12. The explanation of the difforero?? in the fea- tures of children, who yet resemble the same parent; 13. The showing that fatuity is the disease of he- reditary royalty, and hereditary aristocracy ; 14. The application of this law to the prevention of fatuity in progeny ; 15. Its application to the correction of defects ol the locomotive or of the nutritive system : 16. Its application, and that consequently of the pro- pagation of organization in two series of organs, or in halves, to the exposure of the hypothesis of blood, and the practices founded upon it ; 17. The establishment of the law of crossing, where each parent is of a different variety, and when the male gives the backhead and locomotive organs, and the female the face and nutritive organs; 18. The showing the cause why, in crosses, the male gives the backhead and locomotive system • 19. The showing the cause of the apparent o'r real want of permanence in cross-breeds by the re-forma- tion of the original races, and the mode of obviating it; 20. The pointing out the perpetual reformation of the original races inhabiting the British isles—Celtic Saxon, Danish, Norwegian, Sclavonic, &c.; ADVERTISEMENT. 9 21. The conclusion from the law of crossing, as to the limits of what may be obtained by its means; 22. The establishment of the law of in-and-in breeding, where both parents are of the same family, and when the female gives the backhead and locomo- tive organ?, and the male, the face and vital organs : 23. The showing the cause why, in in-and-in, the female gives the backhead and nutritive organs; 24. The explanation why nearly perfect animals breeding in-and-in must degenerate ; 25. The better explanation of in-and-in breeding; 26. The showing the cause of the rapid improve. ment of the Turks by polygamy; 27. The assignment of the philosophical basis of the general superiority of the modern practice of norse-breeding, in depending greatly on the male; 28. The statement of the fact that, though either parent may give the vital system to progeny, it may have the opposite sex, the communication of the re- productive organs being thus apparently independent of the general vital system ; 29. The explanation of this fact; and the remarka ble confirmation thereof; 30. The establishment of the law of sex, by which either kind is, along with the general vital system, given by either parent; 31. The establishment of the law of maternal nu- trition, by which a certain likeness is spread over the countenances of all the children of a family; 32. The showing the cause of this law; 33. The pointing out the modifications of these laws according to age • 10 ADVERTISEMENT. 34. The pointing out the modifications of these laws according to sex ; 35. The pointing out the modifications of these laws according to the various new parts which are combined ; 36. The explanation of atavism ; 37. The statement of the fact of the resemblance of old married couples, and the explanation ; 38. The demonstration of the easy improvement of families by the operation of these laws; 39. The statement of the fact, that a man may have no rational interest, physical or moral, in his second generation, or that a grandson may not have the slightest resemblance, external or internal, to his grandfather. 40. The statement of the fact, that a man has the power to reproduce and preserve either series of or- gans—the best or the worst portion of his organiza- tion ; 41. The statement of the fact, that the means of improved general organization and beauty of counte. nance in progeny, are equally subject, by intermar- riage, to the control of man; 42. The pointing out the particular means of this as to beauty of face; and the cases which illustrate it- 43. The showing the reason why beautiful parents may produce ugly children, and ugly parents, beauti- ful children; 44. The application of the natural laws to the breeding of horses; 45. The statement of the fact, that it is preferable that the male should give to progeny the voluntary ADVERTISEMENT. 11 and locomotive systems; and the female, the sensitive aud vital systems; if these respectively be well con. formed; 46. The statement of the fact, that pace and speed depend on the posterior organs, and action on the an. terior ones ; 47. The admirable illustration afforded by the Arab horse, that organization is propagated in halves, as well as that he has introduced more perfect sensitive and vital systems, while the British stock have given the more powerful voluntary and locomotive systems; 48. The mode of discovering the mental qualities of animals; 49. The clearer view of the relative uses of the posterior and anterior extremities of quadrupeds ; 50. The statement of the fact, that, in cattle, both fattening and milking are dependent on a good vital system; 51. The indication of the characteristics of fatten. ers and milkers respectively, as opposed in tendency, as distinguished by the structure of the mammae and the degree of sensibility, and as influenced by cli- mate ; 52. The application of the natural laws to the breeding of cattle; 53. The statement of the fact, that, in sheep, fat. tening is entirely, and the production of wool greatly, dependent on a good vital system; 54. The pointing out the circumstances respective. ly influencing fattening and the production of wool, as in some measure opposed, and related to sensibility and climate. 12 ADVERTISEMENT. 55. The application of tho natural laws to the breeding of sheep; 56. The observation of the reproduction of the hymen; 57. The showing that the great condition of apti. tude for reproduction is the greatest possible perfection of the vital system ; 58. The pointing out that want of adaptation of the anterior and posterior series of organs which causes the impressions made on the skin of the abdomen and mammae during gestation and lactation ; 59. The affording the surest means of determining the parentage of children ; 60. The affording the surest guidance of their edu- cation ; 61. The pointing out the mode of improving the organization where there is a tendency to mental weakness. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION The following work of Mr. Alexander Walker has received strong marks of public favour in England, where it first appeared, and has been considered by many, as eminently worthy of republication here. On examining it, however, it was soon perceived, that though highly original in its design, and peculiarly valuable in its details, still its phraseology was some- times exceptionable, as it seemed to violate those con- ventional forms of language, to which American rea- ders are mostly accustomed. It was therefore deemed expedient to modify, and in some cases, change certain modes of expression, so as to obviate all objections on the score of refinement, and thus render the work acceptable to the most fastidious taste. This has been done, however, without in the least abridging the original, and without the suppression of a single sentence, necessary to the complete elucidation of the author's views. We are aware that there is a class of persons, who condemn all works of a physiological character, ad- dressed to general readers ; who seem to regard Physi- ology—that science which teaches us all we know of the laws of Life,—as " the tree of knowledge of good and evil," the taste of whose fruit, if not like 2 14 PREFACE TO THE Eve's transgression, death to our physical being, is still fatal to all refinement and delicacy of soul! Ac cordingly, it is not strange to find such persons con- demning every kind and degree of knowledge, relating to our wonderful organization, and the still more wonderful functions of our curiously constructed or. gans ; while at the same time, perhaps, they advocate Journals of Moral Reform and works of fiction, whose sole influence, if not object, is, to excite the baser passions, and minister to a morbid taste. Believing therefore, as we conscientiously do, that this is nothing more nor less than a false delicacy, a perverted sensi- bility—that such opinions, whether pretended or real, spring from inexcusable ignorance, or still more inex- cusable prejudice, we have consented to prepare this Preface; and in doing so, we embrace the occasion of laying before the reader at the hazard of being considered out of place, a few of the many reasons, in favour of a general diffusion of Physiological science. In the first place, such knowledge is intimately connected with the preservation of health. As this depends on an observance of the natural laws, it would seem to follow, that an acquaintance with these laws, is essential to the attainment of this object. The man, for example, who has learned the effects of alco. hoi upon the delicate tissue of the vital organs, will be guarded in its use, or abstain from it altogether. He, who understands the structure of the human skin, and the important office which it performs, by means of its millions of pores, will properly appreciate the importance of cleanliness, and the danger of suddenly AMERICAN EDITION. 15 checking the insensible transpiration. The individual, who has studied the laws of developement, and knows how all the organs are matured and strengthened by exercise, will avoid the numerous evils consequent on inactivity and indolence. The female, who understands the wonderful and complicated function of respiration, —how the free and full expansion of the lungs is ne- cessary to the complete vitalization of the blood—that fluid which carries life, and health, and vigour to every fibre in the system, will, most certainly, shun tight. lacing, and all other practices which impede this truly vital function. The parent also, who has learned the delicate texture of the instrument of thought—the brain, will, instead of encouraging mental precocity in his offspring, rather aim to suppress all unnatural de- velopement; and pursue such a course as is rather calculated to produce early physical, than mental su- periority. He also who has attended to the process of healthy digestion, and marked the causes, by which it is impeded, will know how to preserve the integrity of this important function, by avoiding all those influ- ences, which interfere with its regular performance. And lastly, the invalid, suffering under a load of dis- ease, the effect of causes which he might, and doubt. less would, have escaped, had he been acquainted with his own structure, or the relations of its different parts to each other and to external objects; even he, for the want of this knowledge, stands but a feeble chance of recovery, as he cannot properly appreciate the ad. vice of his medical attendant, and yields either a re- luctant consent to prescriptions given, or, which is more likely still, disregards them altogether. Wo la PREPACK TO TTIB might pursue this kind of illustration at great length, and show, step by step, the connection between phy- siological knowledge, and the preservation and recov- ery of health. But it is unnecessary ; our object is attained, if the attention of the reader is excited ; satisfied as we are, that a little reflection will lead him to a safe and correct conclusion. In the second place, an acquaintance with Physi- ology is the only certain and sure preventive against the dangers, and evils of empiricism. That some an- tidote is required, for these, no one will deny. The unblushing impudence and pretension, displayed in the countless quack advertisements of our periodical prints, are without a parallel in the history of any age or nation, and speak little in favour of the intelli gence and good sense of the American people. From the cancer-quack, whose arsenical plaster draws out, at the same time with the disease, the life of the un- happy sufferer, to the shameless female, whose pills " are not to be given during a certain condition," and whose effects are often death, to both parent and off- spring,—all seem to ply their death-dealing trade, with reckless rapacity, and generally fatal consequences. But this is a free, a gloriously free country, and the good people have a perfect right, if they choose, to get themselves, and families poisoned by wholesale or retail, by habitual pill-swallowing, plaster-application, or any other mode, more in fashion. A slight knowledge of the structure of the human frame, and those laws that regulate its functions, in health and disease, would soon lead them, at the same time, to avoid the causes of disease, and those pretenders, whose measures are AMERICAN EDITION. 17 far more likely to render it fatal, when present, than to contribute towards its removal. In the third place, physiological science is of the very highest importance in the education of our race, and therefore to mothers. The following remarks of Dr. Southwood Smith, will apply equally well, to the females of this country, as those of England. " The communication of the knowledge and the formation of the habits, which are necessary to the due perfor- mance of the duties of women, constitute no essential part of their education ; the direct tendency of a great part of their education is to produce and foster opinions, feelings, and tastes, which positively disqualify them for the performance of their duties. All would be well if the marriage ceremony, which transforms the girl into the wife, conferred upon the wife, the qualities which should be possessed by the mother. But it is rare to find a person, capable of the least difficult part of education, namely that of communicating instruc- tion, even after diligent study with a direct view to teaching; yet an ordinary girl, brought up in the or. dinary mode, in the ordinary domestic circle, is en- tiusted with the direction and control of the first im- pressions that are made upon the human being, and the momentous physical, intellectual, and moral results that arise out of those impressions. Women are the earliest teachers; they must be nurses; they can be neither, without the risk of doing incalculable mis- chief unless they have some acquaintance with physi. ology. On these grounds, I rest their obligation to study it; and I look upon that notion of delicacy which would exclude them from knowledge calculated 2* 18 PREFACE TO TnE in an extraordinary degree, to open, exalt, and purify their minds, and to fit them for the performance of their duties, as alike degrading to those to whom it affects to show respect, and debasing to the mind that entertains it." The author of the following work, treats of neither of the above departments of physiological science, but striking out comparatively a new path, and going back to the period before birth, he endeavours to establish such rules and observances, as tend to the physical, as well as moral perfection of our species. He has aimed, so to speak, to forestall the bodily deformities, and mental obliquities so frequently met with, and by pointing out certain laws, well known to the scientific agriculturist, to raise the standard of human perfecti- bility to its highest point of attainment. He has sue- ceeded in demonstrating the inseparable connection between beauty, health and sound intellect, and per- fect physical organization, and explained how defor- mity, disease, and imbecility of mind and body result from certain causes. The writer has also done a valuable service, by showing how marriages among blood-relations, tend to the degeneracy of the off- spring, and thus illustrating the wisdom of those Levi tical regulations which have appeared to some sceptics as arbitrary, and not founded in nature. From a care ful analysis, and a beautiful train of inductive reason. ing, he has deduced the important fact, that the means of improving general organization and beauty of coun- tenance in progeny, are subject in a great decree to the control of man; and hence it follows, that it is the duty of every man who aspires to be the father AMERICAN EDITION. 19 of a family, to become acquainted with these facts and rules, which insure such invaluable results. In- deed, there is nothing either in morals or religion, in scripture or tradition, in reason or common sense, which forbids man from availing himself in his choice of a companion, of all the knowledge, whether deduced from observation, or science, or both, which enables him to leave to his children, a legacy more valuable than riches or noble blood, health, strength, a sound physical and mental organization "mens sana, in corpore sano." On the contrary, every thing, both in nature and revelation, goes to show, that it is his imperative duty to avail himself of all these advan- tages, and that he would incur a fearful responsibility, if he knowingly selected a partner, whose offspring would inherit a trait of hereditary insanity, imbe- cility, or bodily deformity. Those who understand the hereditary nature of diseases, how the sins of the parents, are literally visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation, will need no arguments to convince them of the importance of information on this subject. To those who are not acquainted with this fact, the following case may be valuable by way of illustration. A gentleman, with whom the writer is acquainted married a lady, whose mother had, for many years, been afflicted with insanity, and whose brother, was at the very time of the marriage, resident in a lunatic asylum. Her nervous system was peculiarly suscep. tible, and she possessed that high order of intellect and genius, which belongs to such a delicate organiza- tion. In less than three years, she became hopelessly 20 PREFACE TO THE insane, and is now an inmate of a lunatic retreat, and the only child to whom she has given birth, shows every indication of having inherited its mo- ther's peculiarities. But we need not detail cases ;— the reader's own observation will furnish sufficient facts on this subject. In presenting the following work to the public, we have only, in conclusion, to remark that, if some pas- sages appear obnoxious to the charge of indelicacy, our only answer is, " to the pure, all things are pure.' " Honi soit qui mal y pense." New York. June 12th 1939. CONTENTS Page dedication . . iii Letter from Dr. Birkbeck to the Author vii Advertisement, with List of Original Facts and Opin- ions contained in the Work ..... 1 Preface to the American Edition . . . . 13 Preliminary, explaining Scientific Terms ... 25 Part I.—Physiological Conditions connected with, AND TERMINATING IN LoVE. Section I.—Puberty......29 Its period ........ 29 The changes caused by it ..... 37 Section II.—Changes in the Locomotive System . . 37 Section III.—Changes in the Vital System ... 39 Chlorosis illustrating these ..... 42 Natural Defects illustrating these .... 43 Extirpation illustrating these ..... 44 Retardation in the Male illustrating these . . . ib. Castration illustrating these . . , . . 45 The Catamania ....... ft3 Section IV.—Changes in the Mental System . . 58 Mode in which Uterine Influence produces Changes in that System ........ 58 Consequent State of Mind previous to Love . 61 Love ........ 64 Part II.—Sexual Relations arising fuom these Condi- tions, AND CONNECTED WITH OR LEADING TO INTERMAR- RIAGE. Section I.—Useful Guidance and Dangerous Restraint . 72 Useful Uuidance .... . . ib. Dangerous Restraint ...... 80 22 CONTEXTS. Section II.—Unnatural Indulgence and Absolute Conti ncnce ..... Unnatural Indulgence Absolute Continence Section III.—Necessity of Intermarriage Part III.—Circumstances resulting from the preced- ing Relations, and connected with, or productive op Progeny. Section I.—Natural Preference of the various kinds of Beauty, for the first time explained Section II.—State of Marriage .... Section III.—Forms and Qualities propagated Part IV.—Newly discovered Natural Laws regulat ing the resemblance of Progeny to Parents. Section I.—Laws of Resemblance I Law of Selection, where both Parents are of the same Variety 1. Organs communicated by one Parent—the Anterior Scries 2. Organs communicated by the other Parent—the Posterior Series ....... Explanation of the Accompaniment of the particular Or- gans in each . . ... Either Parent may give either Series Slight Illustrations ..... Various Corroborations both as to Man and Animals . Mode of verifying this Law, by examining Parents and Chil- dren ....... # Influence of the Posterior Organs upon the Anterior ones, and vice versa ...... Cause of theDivison of the Mental or Thinking System Hypothesis as to the Increased Energy of that System The Directions of its Functions Hereditary Explanation of the Differences in the Features of Children who yet resemble the same Parent Importance of this Law . . • II. Law of Crossing, where each Parent is of a diflerent Variety III L.aw of In-and-in Breeding, where both Parents are of the same Family : IV. Law of Sex ' J * ! . . V. Law of Maternal Nutrition : . j Section II.—Circumstances Modifying these Laws CONTEXTS. 23 Page Section III.—Consequent Easy Improvement of Fami- lie..........251 Part V.—Vague Methods of regulating Progeny adopted in the Breeding of Domesticated Animals. Section I.—General Principles.....257 Section II.—Breeding In-and-in . 259 Section III.—Selection......263 Section IV.—Crossing......266 Part VI.—Appucation of the Natural Laws to the Breeding of Domesticated Animals. Section I.—General Observations .... 272 Section II.—Horses......275 Section III.—Cattle......292 Section IV.—Sheep...... 303 Part VII.—Vague Methods affecting Progeny adopt ed among Mankind. Section I.—Breeding In-and-in .... 312 Section II.—Selection......314 Section HI.—Crossing......317 Part VIII.—Choice in Intermarriage, as prescribed by the Natural Laws. Section I.—General Observations on Age, Stature, &c 321 Section II.—As to the Locomotive System . . • 325 Section III.—As to the Vital System . . .332 Section IV.—As to the Mental System . . .372 LIST OF PLATES. I. The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Queen Victoria, as affording a General Illustiation of I he Law of Se. lection . . . .To face the Title II. Napoleon, Maria Louisa, and their Son, as serving the same purpose .... 147 III. Front View of a Father, Mother and two Sons, more minutely illustrating the Law of Selection 156 IV. Profile View of the same, serving the same purpose 156 V. Front View of a Father, Mother and two Daughters il- lustrating the Influence of the Posterior Organs upon the Anterior ones .... 158 VI. Profile View of the same, serving the same purpose 158 VII. Figures 1 and 2—Front and Profile of a Mulatto, illus- trating the Law of Crossing : Figures 3 and 4—Front and Profile view of a Sambo, serving the same pur. P0<=e 186 VIII liantam Fowls, illustrating the effects of Breeding In- and-in ..... 207 INTERMARRIAGE. PRELIMINARY. The anatomical and physiological knowledge neces- sary to the understanding of this book, is comprised in this page and the two following ones. It is merely a brief view of a Natural System of Anatomy and Physiology,—the former describing the particular structures or organs of animals, and the latter the actions or functions of these organs—drawn from the first account given of such a system, which was pub- lished by me, above thirty years ago, in several ele- mentary works, and especially in Preliminary Lec- tures, (Edinburgh, 1808,) with expositions of the errors of Bichat, Richerand, oruered. and Increased Function J and in. article, of Materia Malica will bold i CLASS III. DISEASES OF THE MENTAL FUNCTIONS. ' Order I. Order II. Order 1IL Diseases of Diseases of Diseases of Sensation. Perception, Volition. tec. roar nvselaarr Lho rar.ma af Ik* Batten. PART I. PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS CONNECTED WITH, AND TERMINATING IN, LOVE. SECTION I. TUBERTY.—ITS PERIOD.--THE CHANGES CAUSED BY IT. Puberty and its Period. Man, in common with the more perfect animals, is not born with the faculty of immediately producing his like. The organs which, at a future period, per- form that important function, appear to remain entirely torpid long after birth: and the appetites connected with them do not exist. As, moreover, the infancy of man is longer, so is his puberty, or the period when tiie 'reproductive faculty is coming into action, more tardy than that of the other races of animals. In the human race in particular, the most general difference as to the period of pubert3r, is attached to the difference of sex. Puberty is universally earlier in woman than in man. 3* 30 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. Some authors, says Roussel, " have derived the rca. son of that difference from the smallness of the organs of woman : they observe that she is sooner fit for re- production, because her organs being smaller, arc earlier formed, and the organic or nutritive molecules which contribute to their formation and development, become an excess destined to repioduction. The cir. cumstance of the smallness of the organs of woman is indeed favourable to this opinion; and it is reason. able to suppose that nature is not occupied about the species until the individual is perfected. But this order is often inverted ; we frequently see marriagea. ble girls who have not attained their full growth." I have quoted this passage at length, because it ex- presses not merely a common and universal error, but a fundamental one, and I am anxious to correct it. The immediate cause of the earlier puberty of wo- man is the circumstance that her vital or nutritive system is proportionally larger than that of man. In early life, the three classes of organs and functions*— the locomotive, the vital or nutritive, and the mental or thinking systems, bear the same proportion to each other in woman as in man ; and the girl is scarcely distinguishable from the boy. In woman, this propor- tion is gradually departed from ; her vital system, occupying chiefly the trunk, becomes larger in general, as well as in particular parts ; it grows out of propor- tion to the other two systems—occupying chiefly the head, or composing the limbs ,• its functions follow its * it is supposed, that the pages entitled preliminary have been perused by the reader. PUBERTY, IT'S PEKIOD, ETC. 31 structure ; and hence alone the earliness of that aggre. gate of them which is denominated puberty. The imputation of disproportion to the vital or nu- tritive system of woman, is not here made without due reflection. It has not been understood or noticed; but it really exists. Observation will show that this disproportion is absent in early life; that it takes place at puberty ; that it alone enables woman to dis- charge all her peculiar functions; and that, when it is useless for these purposes, it secretes the adipose sub- stance which distinguishes the period of fatness, which the French call the age de retour, or, shrivelling up, leaves flaccidity and deformity in its place. Hence, an old woman is a kind of new being, differ ing from the mature woman in all her chief charac- teristics ; and so odd is this felt to be by the vulgar, that it is sometimes made by them the subject of ridicule or of reproach. No change so remarkable takes place in man, because there has in him been no necessary out-of-proportion in any of the systems. This final change in woman is the more remarkable, because old age in her is, in other respects, less marked than in man ; her hair does not become grey so speedily ; she rarely becomes bald ; and, with little Buffering, she in general attains an advanced age. That this disproportionate development of the vital system is the cause of the earlier puberty of woman, is further illustrated by the time at which some varie- ties of the human species attain that period, inde- pendent of such influences as climate, aliment, temperament, &c This is remarkable in the Mongolic or north-eastern 33 CONDITIONS TEKMUATlMi IW LOVE. broad-faced variety. Not only in China and Japan, but even in countries much colder than our own, does puberty commence in the female sex much earlier than with us. A French writer asserts, that a Kal. muc or a Siberian woman of the Mongolian race is marriageable at the age of thirteen even in a climate as cold as that of Sweden, whilst a Swedish female is scarcely so at fifteen or sixteen; that, still further north, and even on the confines of the icy sea, the Samoeides are nubile at eleven, and are frequently mothers at twelve ; that the women of Lapland begin to evince maturity at twelve; and that the same appears to be the case with all the races of the polar regions,—as the Ostiacs, the Yakoutes, the Kamschat- dales, and even the American Esquimaux. This precocity has, indeed, been assigned to other causes than that to which I have ascribed it. Virey imagines that the early arrival at puberty amongst Mongolic nations may arise partly from the smallness of their stature, but, in a great measure, from the na- ture of their fish diet, which is supposed to be of a stimulating and aphrodisiac quality, and from dwell. ing continually in subterraneous places subject to the suffocating heat produced by the vapour of water poured upon hot stones. The inadequacy of these causes, which apply but to a few of the Mongolic tribes, is evident to every observer of nature. But no one can notice the large vital system of the north-eastern people, without dis- covering a sufficient cause for this precocity, in the vast developement of that system. In all the sketches of women of the Mongolic variety, which have been PUBERTY. ITS PERIOD, ETC. 33 furnished by our recent voyagers, the trunk, which contains the principal organs of that class, is large, the abdomen wide and prominent, the mammae exten- sive, and their habits as to food correspond. These natural organic causes apply, moreover, to all the wo- men of the Mongolic variety, whether they inhabit cold, or temperate, or warm climates; and they can alone account for the early precocity of all. It is a miserable physiology which, finding an event common to a whole race, must seek, like this of Virey, a differ- ent cause for the same event, in every different sec- tion of that race. Upon the same natural principle, which I have now pointed out and illustrated, there are also some fami- lies and some individuals in whom we may expect this precocity. Peculiar temperament naturally produces, in each person, some variation in the period of puberty. A girl of sanguine temperament must be earlier subject to a condition characterised by fullness of the circu- lating system and general excitement, than one in whom the lymphatic temperament predominates. Such is the great natural, organic and fundamental cause of early puberty, which is, howerer, liable to modification from various external influences. Of these, the most extensive in its operation is, the temperature of climate. As heat increases the vital energy in all organized bodies, and renders their growth more rapid, it must necessarily hasten the period of puberty. It is in- deed notorious, that warm climates increase the de- 34 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. velopement of the reproductive organs, and excite erotic desires in both sexes. This cause, moreover, if operating with great force during many ages, must produce organic effect so per- manent, that they will remain long after removal from its direct or immediate influence. Individuals of the Ethiopic variety, even when transported to Europe or North America, arrive at puberty sooner than the white population. On the contrary, the inhabitants of low moist coun- tries receive a flaccid and cold temperament that na- turally retards puberty ; and, under all circumstances, they long retain it. A second cause that modifies the developement of puberty, is the quantity and quality of aliment. Very nutritious food, stimulating meats, aromatics, the habitual use of coffee, wine, liqueurs, dec, greatly accelerate this period. Farinaceous substances, roots and vegetable diet, and even the habitual use of milk, cheese, &c, rather retard it. Hence we observe, that the rich and the inhabitants of towns, who eat animal food and live in abundance, reach maturity sooner than the poor and the peasant. ry, who rarely eat meat, and can obtain but a limited proportion of bread or of less nutritious food. Hence, also, we see that well-fed persons are capable of re- producing at an earlier period than those who have suffered from scarcity, or who have been compelled to use unwholesome or unnutritious aliment. The use of stimulating and aromatic lotions amongst the rich, is also a sure means of accelerating puberty. puberty, its period, etc 35 A third cause, modifying the developement of pu- berty, is the moral condition. To this must be im- puted the difference, independent of aliment, which we observe in this respect, between women of towns and those of the country. In the former, the mode of living differs according to the degree of opulence ; but even the poor struggle to imitate the rich, and many other circumstances multiply excitement—as the reading of fashionable novels, voluptuous pictures, licentious theatrical scenes, conversations upon love, the constant proximity of the 6exes, exciting dances, and many other causes, some of them of still more injurious character. The result is, that persons thus excited almost always reach pu- berty several years earlier than those who pass their childhood in the tranquillity of rural life. Puberty may then occur about twelve years of age—a prema- ture developement, which diminishes strength of body and vigour of mind, deteriorates all moral qualities, and is extensively fatal to life and its permanent en- joyment. In the country, on the contrary, the children of the peasantry are brought up coolly, are much in the open air, and of necessity actively employed. Toil directs the blood and the vital powers chiefly to the organs of motion, and augments perspiration. The locomo- tive system consequently increases at the expense of the vital one; and the developement of the bones and of muscular power predominates over every other. Amongst country people, moreover, the manners are generally simple, the sexes are less in contact, and their 3d conditions terminating in love. presence has less influence. Hence, in the country many girls do not reach puberty before eighteen. It has been observed that, at all times, the retab. dation of puberty retards also the developement of the intellectual powers, but preserves energy and fresh. ness to the sentiments, and developes vigorous bodies; and that if, in woman, this state be prolonged after the ordinary period, she appears to approximate to man both in some of her tastes and in some of her external characteristics. In taking a general view of the period of puberty thus modified, it appears that, in Europe, women reach it later in the north than in the south. In some ele. vated northern regions, it does not occur till after twenty years of age. In our own country, it occurs from fourteen to sixteen in girls, and from sixteen to eighteen in boys. In most parts of France, puberty in women commences usually at fourteen years of age ; and, in the southern departments and the great towns, at thirteen. In Italy, it takes place at twelve. This is also the case very generally with the Spanish women; and, at Cndiz, they often marry at that age. In Greece, it is not unusual for puberty to occur at ten years of age. In Persia, according to Chardin, it occurs at nine or ten. Nearly the same is the case in Arabia, Barbary, Egypt, Abyssinia, Senegal, and various parts of Africa. Thus, puberty in women commences generally, in tropical climates, from nine to ten years of age. This early developement of the reproductive organs and functions is by no means advantageous. In the changes in the locomotive system. 37 nations that reach maturity early, the union of the sexes before the completion of growth diminishes the stature of young persons; beauty fades and perishes at a tender age ; and they become aged early: citius pubescunt, citius senescunt. Their old age is a long one. On the contrary, the northern nations, who more slowly arrive at maturity, obtain sufficient time for strengthening of the body; and they retain their strength, youthful aspect, and reproductive power to an advanced age. The Changes caused by Puberty, When puberty takes place in a regular manner, it produces a general change in existence, new relations to society are created;—in short, the child ceases to be so, and its relation to the species is proclaimed by characteristics which more and more tend to distin. guish the sexes. SECTION II. CHANGES IN THE LOCOMOTIVE SYSTEM. It is at this period that we often observe youths to increase suddenly several inches in stature; and if the growth be equal throughout the body, it forms handsome individuals. There often occurs, however, at this period, a weak- ness of the muscles, with a great developement of the 4 38 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. bones, and especially of the joints, which gives to young men a clumsy and awkward appearance. While, moreover, growth is proceeding in all direc- tions, the weaker parts appear not always to receive sufficient nutritive supplies, and the strong parts ac quire an excess of energy: hence we frequently ob. serve something out of proportion at this period. Upon the whole, however, the muscles, as well as the bones, acquire greater developement and vigour, and the arms and legs increase in size and power. Their muscular forms appear, indeed, the more de- veloped, because their cellular tissue sinks down, in consequence of the diminution of its vital activity. A young man consequently possesses muscles more square, limbs more robust, a firmer gait, a bolder de- meanour. The motive organs connected with the voice are not less affected than those of the general system. The hyoid bone, or bone of the tongue, is frequently completed about eighteen; and the muscles of the glottis then acquire a peculiar increase of growth, which, in young men, renders the voice lower by an octave. In young women, also, the muscles of the glottis receive an increase and a vigour which confer force and brilliance upon speech. " Hence," says a French writer, «young girls like to sing and to display the attractions of their voice." CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 39 SECTION III. CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. The general influence of puberal developement is, at an early period, manifested in the organs of digestion, by the want of much food, and by deranged appetite. There naturally follows a superabundance of those humours that nature had previously applied more exclusively to growth. The power of the arte- ries augments, and the circulation assumes an un- wonted activity. All the vital functions dependent on this are executed with vehemence. The chest in- creases, and respiration becomes free. The blood also, being acted upon by a stronger impulse, produced probably by a more powerful excitement from the nerves, their organ the heart, warms, colours, and com- municates fulness and freshness to the system. Such changes in the state and circulation of that liquid from which all others are formed, necessarily bestows, on each of these, qualities, and communicates to them impulsions, of a corresponding description. Those vessels which enter into the secretory organs redouble their action; the glands of the neck* breasts, arm-pits and groins, swell and sometimes become pain- ful. This tendency necessarily and especially extends towards the glandular or more essential parts of the reproductive organs. There is this, then, in common to both sexes at the time of puberty, that the blood is specially directed towards the parts subservient to reproduction; and, as 40 CONDITIONS TERMINATING lit fcOVE. this is accompanied by increased sensibility, these organs awake from their torpor and rapidly expand. They are then no longer subordinate, but become a powerful source of vital activity, and have a general influence over the whole of the economy. In the male, the flow of blood towards the repro. ductive organs, accompanied by sensibility, causes secretion. A sensation of heaviness, however, and a general numbness, affect the loins and the vicinity of these parts, and a confused tumult pervades the body. Meanwhile, the external reproductive organs are fur. ther developed.—In some persons, it should be observed, the testes remain, during infancy, concealed in the cavity of the pelvis; but, at the period of puberty, they descend. The down which afterwards forms the beard, begin to grow ; and it is now that hair makes its appearance in the arm-pits and on the chest, die. and that the whole body is covered with a still softer down. It is at this period, also, among animals, that the produc- tion of horns of certain callous protuberances takes place. In some animals, the reproductive liquid communi. cates to all the other liquids a strong odour, which causes both the species and the sex to be easily dis- tinguished. In the female, the ovaries secrete a particular liquid, which concurs in furnishing elements for the embryo. This is contained in the vesicles which are denominated ova, as these are in the ovaria. There is now felt a weight about the loins and a general supineness. The matrix receives an increased CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 41 gupply of liquids, and becomes a centre of actions with which the vital powers are greatly connected. An excess of vitality would seem to pass also to those parts that are sympathetically connected with the ovaries and matrix. The canal of the vagina, though pressed by the swelling of the neighbouring organs, becomes capable of dilatation, as well as of acquiring an intense sensibility. The nymphae swell, redden, and become highly sensitive ; the clitoris is developed, and the hymen is distended. The cellular tissue surrounding the external repro- ductive organs has a greater quantity of fatty matter deposited in its cells, in consequence of which it Dwells, and gives an elastic contraction to the vulva. The bones of the pelvis augment in size, width, and strength. The developement of the mammae increases in pro- portion to the greater activity of the matrix. The lobes of which they are composed augment in size, and are separated by fatty masses; their lacteal ves- sels acquire a state of erection ; they become rounded ; the nipples enlarge, and acquire a lively sensibility; and they thus form in front of the chest very consi- derable firm projections, that at once fulfil the first object of nature. A general excitement appears to be given to the cellular tissue, which pervades all parts of the body, and which, being replete with juices, fills up the in. terstices of the muscles, communicates to the body a soft, elastic fulnes=, and, renders it projecting, defines its outlines, and forms those fine and delicate contours which are constant objects of admiration. 4* 42 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. The developement of the mammae, already described, generally precedes the first appearance of the cata- menia, and is their indicator. The matrix then re- ceiving a remarkable activity, the blood flows thither, and determines a plethora, which is monthly dis- charged. The reproductive organs in woman now no longer subsist in a subordinate condition, but, on the con. trary, dominate over the whole animal economy. Chlorosis, illustrating these Changes. Instead of the natural progression of these pheno- mena, there sometimes occurs a state of debility, an absence of excitability, in those organs by which the female participates in reproduction. This appears to cause the non-appearance of the catamenia, and of the other phenomena of puberty, as well as great derange- ment of the general economy, evidenced in extraordi- nary tastes and depraved appetites. The majority of chlorotic girls eat with avidity salt, plaster, hair, charcoal, sealing-wax, and drink vinegar and a variety of other unnutritious substances. This is generally accompanied by disorders, more or less intense, of the digestive organs, a softness of the flesh, and the almost cedematous swelling of the lower mem- bers, a discoloration of the exterior of the body, a com- plexion pale and sickly white, with a greenish tint, sunken eyes, extreme nervous susceptibility, and a multitude of nervous disorders. ' That these maladies depend on the state of the organs of reproduction, is proved by their yielding in proportion as the activity of these is increased; by CHANGES IN THE VITAL SVSTE3I. 43 their being remedied only when the matrix and the ovaries enter into the regular order of their functions ; and by the possibility even of curing them suddenly, by leaving a free course to the exercise of those facul- ties which have just been developed. Under these circumstances, it becomes dangerous to increase the young woman's desire for inactivity, or aversion to society ; and it is wisely recommended, that she should be induced to read works of imagina- tion, to cultivate music, painting and poetry, and to pass from study to amusement. With those interested in her, it is urged, that every opportunity should be seized of procuring for her lively and pleasing amuse- ment; that she should be constantly led to combat her natural frigidity, and increase her activity. Natural Defects, illustrating these Changes. The observations of the most accurate physiologists have shown, that those women in whom the matrix and the ovaries have remained, owing either to or- ganic fault, or defect of sensibility, in complete repose during the whole of their lives, have always had forms and manners very similar to those of men—a sufficient proof that their presence gives the feminine character. Morgagni observed that the skin of sterile women is commonly coarse, and destitute of that softness and delicacy which are peculiar to the female sex. Nuns, as well as old women, often present moustaches and beards, which made Bartholine say, " Ob desuetudi. nem virorum ct mensuum defectum barbatae fiunt." 44 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. Extirpation, illustrating these Changes. When young pullets are made capons, by cutting out the floating horn3 of the matrix which join the ovaries, the operation prevents their laying eggs, and makes them avoid the male. These mutilated females live solitarily, avoid herding with others, and are use- ful only to bring up the offspring of others. In the same manner, as observers worthy cf credit assures us, in women from whom the ovaries have been removed, erotic desire diminishes, the catamenia cease, a beard appears, the mammae fade away, and the voice becomes rough; in short, the results of that operation in women are generally the reverse of those which occur to men from the operation of castration. It can scarcely, I think, be better proved that the female character depends on the presence of the ovaries. Retardation in the Male, illustrating these Changes. If the retardation of puberty in the male is of long continuance, his osseous and muscular parts gradually approach, in their forms, to those of the female, and give a corresponding resemblance to his general figure. He even presents that greater proportional size of the pelvis which characterises woman, and he consequently walks similarly, describing a greater arch around the centre of gravity. In this case, as usut.-.1, the condition of the locomo- tive system is participated by that of the voice. In some of these persons, the voice is as acute as in woman. CHANGES IN TIIE VITAL SYSTEM. 45 It should be added, that the whole texture of the body is more soft, and that, in these cases, the physi- cal condition appears always to be accompanied by a corresponding moral disposition. • Under these circumstances, stimulating and strength- ening food, as well as an active life, travelling and manly exercises, tend to give tone to the organs Castration, illustrating tliese Changes. How powerful the irradiation of the reproductive organs must be, is also proved to us by the effects of castration. The ancients succeeded in depriving men of the procreative faculty, by destroying the testes by means of the long-continued application to the scrotum of the inspissated juice of the hemlock. We are also told that the priests of Cybele cured mania by means of actual castration:—" Qui ante castrationem maniaci erant, sanam aliquanto mentem ab illo recuperant." Aetius says that some who were tormented with priapism, were castrated by their own hands :—" Novimus quosdam audaciores qui sibi ipsis testes ferro resecarunt." It is well known that Origen mutilated himself, in order that he might no longer have to struggle continually with an erotic tempera- ment. In modern times, castration has been performed in western Europe, principally in Italy, in order to pro. vide soprani singers for the pope's chapel and the stage of the opera. In Naples, at one time, there were barbers' shops with the sign, " Qui si castrano rcgazzi a buon mercato." 46 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. In those times, an absurd notion prevailed that the quality of voice thus attained, would, in some measure, depend on the state of the weather at the time of the operation. The occurrence of bad weather was thought extremely prejudicial: hence the anecdote of Paesiello, that when one day, I forget whether at church or theatre, a chorus of eunuchs were uttering discordant Bounds, he rose in a rage and cried out to them, »' Maledetti da Dio foste voi tutti castrati in cattivo tempo ?" at which old Ferdinando exclaimed, " Bravo, bravo, Paesiello!" and the congregation loudly ap. plauded. In consequence of this operation, not only do the desires disappear, but the general organization is sin- gularly affected. Eunuchs increase in stature like other men, and even more in proportion; but they have a configura- tion and habits very analogous to those of women. In them the bones, which form the prominence of the haunches, are much expanded, and therefore form a pelvis of uncommon capacity; the thigh-bones are less arched than in man ; and the knees incline more inward, which proceeds from the greater distance existing between the heads of the thigh-bones, in con- sequence of which eunuchs, like women, when they walk, render very evident the change of their centre of gravity, marked as it is by the arch which they de- scribe at every step. The curvatures of some bones also change direction. The articulations swel!. There are few eunuchs who have the limbs muscular, athletic and well marked : they are generally round, soft and covered with a fine and delicate skin. The muscles CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 47 themselves become enfeebled, the strength decreases, and even the pulse loses its elasticity. To be convinced of the influence which the testes exercise over muscular power and courage in every species of animals, it is sufficient to observe the dif- ference between a ram and a tup, a bull and an ox, a cock and a capon. The narrowness of the larynx is a remarkable cha- racteristic of the eunuch. All who have examined the larynx of castrati, to discover the reason of their preserving the infantine voice, have acknowledged the truth of this observation. Dupuytren, in dissecting the larynx of a person who had been castrated in in- fancy, was enabled to satisfy himself of this. He observed that, in this person, the larynx was less, by one-third, than in adults of the same age and stature; that the glottis was much narrower; and that the laryngeal cartilages were little developed; so that all these parts resembled those of a woman or a boy. The change that takes place in the voice of castrati is well known; and nearly the same changes are ob. servable in castrated animals. The lymphatic glandular system of castrati is generally gorged and inert. The cellular tissue be- comes more abundant, more, loose, and more replete with fat. It is, indeed, known to be a common prac- tice to castrate animals, in order to fatten them, and to give to their flesh a more delicate taste. Hence the older writers tell us, "Cutis castratorum tenera est instar mulierum et levis," and "Eunuchi omnes habent alvum laxum, levitatem cutis." 48 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. I have now to mention some of the most remarkable approximations of castrati to women. Chlorosis, the peculiar affection of young girls, does not spare the eunuch. Cabanis tells us that he ob- served this disease in various yeung men, with this difference, that in them it was of short duration, and disappeared with age, whilst in castrati it remained a long time, nor had age any influence over it. A fact which is constant, though little observed, is, that castrati are subject to periodical haemorrhages, which ordinarily proceed from the haemorrhoidal ves. eels. In this case, it would seem that the blood necessary to the developement of the reproductive organs and of the beard, and likewise that destined for the secretion of the reproductive liquid, is directed towards the haemorrhoidal veins, and distends them, so that, being debilitated, they open and throw it out. There is, then, established a haemorrhoidal flux, which gradually becomes periodical. Ossiander made this observation even in many beardless men; and he also observed that bearded women have no catamenia. The change which takes place in the moral dispo- sitions of castrati is equally remarkable. Their understanding in reality appears to suffer from the absence of those impressions which give to the brain of men so much activity, though that ac tivity is excited by sexual impressions. It is, indeed, asserted that this faculty is altered from the moment when the knife cuts them off from nature. Sinibaldi says, that the minds of eunuchs are changed, and be- CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 49 come artful and depraved, and that there was never one of first-rate understanding.* Even the castrati who acquire some celebrity on the stage of the opera, and in the churches of Roman Catholic countries, owe a great part of their merit rather to a good organization of the organs of hear- ing and of voice, than to their understanding. In general, they infuse even into music, neither feeling nor expression; and it is asserted that not one of them was ever able to compose a decent air. Huart asserts that even the person endowed with remarkable genius and great ability, when the testes are removed, begins to lose his genius; and he adds, u if any one doubt this, let him consider that out of a thousand eunuchs who have devoted themselves to learning, scarcely one has become learned."f The castrato is cowardly and incapable of great enterprises. Narses is perhaps the only imposing exception to this rule, by having displayed some talent in war. Cut off as he is from all social relations, he can think only of himself, and becomes an egotist from necessity. Eunuchs have, moreover, all the defects of feeble beings. Imperious and despotic in good fortune, they become vile slaves under reverses. They are perhaps * Eaiiuchornm animos mutarl, evadere dolosos ac pravos, nee unquam castratum fuisse optimi intellectus. tTestatur nobis expmenlia, ille qui test'bus orbattis fuerit, quum ante In- eigni ingenio inuliikiin- habilitate pncditus fuerit, pnsteaquam e.xacta illi pen- sili.i sunt, ingeniuin perdere incepit. . . duod si quis noil' credit, eonsideret uti ego quidem plurics feci, e niille spadoiiibus qui Iitterarura •tfudus operam adduere, vix unum aliqueia doctuiu evasissa. 5 60 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. the most degraded class of the human species—« cow. ardly and deceitful, because they are feeble ; envioua and wicked, because they are wretched." The greater number of castrati see women only to slander them. It is, perhaps, a rage on account of their own degradation that renders them fit guardians of the harem : it is not improbable that " they find a satisfaction in opposing the slightest amusements of women, as it is the desire of every feeble and incapa- ble being to see others reduced to his own state of im. potence." The organs of reproduction doubtless dispose of much of the sensibility and nervous action of the cerebro-spinal system. But when this ceases, by the amputation of the former, these nervous influences are, no doubt, dispersed over the other organs. Hence we observe that castrati are subject to a morbid sensi. bility, become liable to nervous diseases or vapours, as they are called, and, on the slightest mental com. motion, fall into deliquium. Often a profound apathy takes possession of them, and they sink into a gloomy and fatal melancholy. It has, moreover, been observed that, even in the case of early impotence, as well as in certain diseases, which, without producing that state, particularly affect the organs of reproduction, the whole existence is singularly affected ; that in men who in the vigour of age become suddenly impotent, although they are otherwise in good health, are much occupied, and habits of moderation cause little regret for the desires which they have lost, yet their disposition becomes gloomy and morose, and their mind appears, ere long. CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 51 to be daily enfeebled; and that (which is most re- markable) these conditions of the reproductive system particularly dispose to superstitious terror—a singular effect, says Cabanis, which appears always to follow a very marked degradation of the reproductive organs. The differences as to the mode and the period of castration, produce much difference in its effects. When men or animals are subjected to this opera. tion at an early age, they are much more denaturalised than when it is performed after puberty. In the former case, the cause of the great phenome- na which characterise puberty is destroyed, and the members never acquire their beautiful masculine forms; the vocal organs remain in the state of imper- fection in which they are found at first; the voice continues harsh and acute; and the beard never grows. When, on the contrary, castration takes place after the age of puberty, the nature of man is less changed ; the larnyx dilates and grows rapidly; the voice as- sumes its grave and powerful tone ; the beard remains; erotic desires continue for a long time; and the ex- ternal manifestations of masculine power occur.* But reproductive power is lost for ever. The same is observed in various animals. The characteristic signs of the masculine sex do not ap- pear. An example is furnished by the stag, in which horns grow at the period when he becomes fit for re. production. If he is castrated before this, he remains * " Et niajoris petulantitr fieri," says Arnobiua," atque omnibus propositi. pudorin ct verecundiac frenis in obseoenam prorumpere virilitateu.." 52 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. for ever deprived of that ornament. But if that ope. ration be performed after the horns have gained their full growth, they neither fall nor are renewed. It appears, also, that the complete amputation of all external organs of reproduction, destroys the dc sires associated with them much more completely and more generally than partial amputation. On this, Mojon, to whom I am indebted for many facts on the subject, makes the following observations, which I leave in the original Italian. 4,VE riconosciuto che l'uomo castrato, benche ste. rile, e peraltro suscettivo di gustare in parte i piaceri del coito, purche non gli sieno state amputate tutte le parti esterne della generazione. Cio che gli rimane non acquista che pochissimo accrescimento, restando presso a poco nello stato in cui era prima dell' opera. zione. Un fanciullo mutilato all' eta di sei anni, si trova a diciotto anni, per cio che spetta al pene, nella stessa condizione di quella sua prima eta. Coloro al contrario che hanno sofferto I'operazione all' epoca della puberla. cd anche piu tardi, hanno la verga press'a poco come quella degli altri uomini, e capace di ere- zione piu durevole ed anche piu ripetuta che nei non castrati. " Giovenale rimprovcra alle Romane i loro eccessi con gli eunuchi. Sunt quos eunuchi imberbes ac mollia semper Oscula delectcnt, et desparatio barbie, Et quod abortivo non est opus. "Rainaud, nel suo libro De Eunuch is, narra molti esempi di commercio impuro tra donne e uomini mu- tilati; ed egli si ride della confidenza che molti hanno CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 63 in costoro. Andrea De Verdier dice la stessa cosa, appoggiando la sua opinione alle sentenza di Apollo. nio Tianeo contro un eunuco del re di Babilonia che fu sorpreso a letto nelle braccia d'una favority del re stesso. " Mi e noto, dice P. Frank, un luogo popolato in cui quattro castrati s'arrischiavano ad imprese che non avrebbero tentate nello stato loro naturale, ed in cui una parte del bel sesso non senza grave scandalo e pregiudizio aveva seco loro stretta tal practica, che il governo non pote piu lungamente dissimularla. "Non potendo soddisfare che al desiderio della came, alia semplice sensualita, alia lussuria, alia dis- solutezza, essendo nell' assoluta impossibilta di pro- creare, essi divengono piu propri ai delitti che gli uomini perfetti; e sono piu ricercati dalle donne de- pravate, giacche loro danno il piacere del matrimonio senza ch'esse ne corrano il rischio. Essi emettono con qualche poco di volutta un umore mucoso che pro- babilmente e segregato dalla prostata. " Amurat HI. essendosi avveduto che un cavallo castrato copriva una giumenta, fece tagliare ai suoi eunuchi, rientrando nel seraglio, tutte le parti esterne della generazione. Vi e chi pretende che sia da quell' epoca, che, oltre i testicoli, si taglia ancora la verga agli uomini destinati per la custodia de' serragli." No proofs, then, can be more complete than those which we possess of the omnipotence of the ovarian influence over the character of woman. Tiie Catamenia. Woman is every month subject to a sanguineous 5^ 54 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. flow from the matrix, an universal and essential event in the life of the female. The cause of this is evidently the same with that of her early puberty—the disproportion in which the vital system is, to the locomotive and nervous sys. terns. Thus, the female becomes possessed of a greater quantity of blood than is required for her individual preservation. Thus, she is enabled, when pregnant, to supply a sufficient quantity for the nourishment of the foetus. Thus, when suckling, she can afford the vast secretion of milk. And thus, at all other periods, this blood, being voided, furnishes the catamenial flow. The law which regulates the period of this occur. rence, seems to be of extensive influence in nature. The erotic orgasm of quadrupeds and birds occurs about the vernal or the autumnal equinox : but, if its purpose be not attained, it is said to resemble the catamenia in woman, by recurring at about monthly periods. The first period of the occurrence cf the catame- nia is the same as that of puberty. But causes of excitement hasten it, and reproduce it when its inter- ruption has been caused by debility. Its precocious occurrence produces weakness and premature old age. Any common account of this event is sufficient for our purpose. The first eruption of this flow is announced by signs denoting fulness of the circulation, and by phenomena accompanying disturbance and even change in the CHANGES IN THE VITAL 8Y9TEM. 53 other functions. There is a general lassitude and anxiety, indefinite pains, or numbness of the loins, arm-pits, pelvis, thighs and fundament. The head becomes heavy, heated and painful; respiration ceases to be as free as usual; and the pulse is full, unsteady and quickened. The mammae swell, harden and suffer a painful tension. The cutaneous system, par. ticularly the skin of the feet, is frequently the seat of superficial inflammations, slight efflorescences and even pustular blotches. The eyes are generally red, weak and watery; the eye-lids, the lower one espe- cially, assume a brownish tinge, and bleeding at the nose and spitting of blood are by no means uncom- mon. The external reproductive organs, for some time swollen, are moistened by a lymphatic humour, at first of a light colour, but in a few days assuming the cha. acter of red and vermilion-coloured blood.— The vital excitement then decreases, and a general loosening of the whole economy takes place; the eyes lose their brilliance, become dull and sunken; and the lower eyelid is bounded by a livid circle. This is followed for some time by a state of feeble- ness and languor. At last, the uterus, which had fallen a little, rises and resumes its position ; it is then fit for conception; everything is again in order; tranquillity is again established; and the object of nature is fulfilled. Nearly similar symptoms, though generally much less severe, announce the return of the flow. At first, it occurs at irregular periods ; and sometimes it does not reappear for several months; but it constantly SrJ eONDITIONB TERMINATING IN LOV8. tends more and more to assume the periodical charac. ter. The vessels of the whole of the matrix, but princi. pally those of its fundus or bottom, appear to be the immediate sources of the catamenia. It continues ordinarily from three to six or seven days. Its quantity is generally from two to three ounces; and, in temperate climates, the most sanguine woman does not discharge more than from eight to twelve ounces. This quantity varies according to climate. The Lapland and Samoiede women void but a very small quantity; and the Greenland women, scarcely any. The nearer we approach the equator, the more the quantity increases ; and, in Italy and the south of Europe, it sometimes reaches twelve ounces. Under the tropics, it is said to rise to twenty ounces; and it sometimes occurs twice in a month. There are great varieties, in this respect, according to constitution. In general, it is more considerable in dark women of ardent temperament, than in fair wo. men of milder character. It is also more copious in towns, and among sedentary women, and those who indulge in pleasure, than among countrywomen and those whose life is laborious and simple. The catamenial blood is as pure as that of the gen- eral mass; though it is rendered less so in passing through the vagina, owing to the secretions with which it is then mixed. These secretions proceed from small glands at the internal surface of the vagina and of the external parts, glands perfectly analogous to CHANGES IN THE VITAL SYSTEM. 57 those which, in female animals, during their oestrum, fur. iiish a secretion so powerfully odorous, as to produce near tliem, emanations by which the male is attracted. This evacuation recurs every month with great regularity, except during pregnancy ; and it corres- ponds in some females to the phases of the moon. Many women are subject to it about the time of the new moon. A vast number of cases, no doubt, deviate from that order; and there are women to whom it occurs twice a month. Generally, this flow docs not begin before the maiden is nearly fit to become a wife and a mother. As it does not occur until woman is capable of re- producing, as she is commonly sterile when it is per- manently wanting, and as she becomes so when it finally ceases, it was natural to conclude, that the catamenial blood, withheld during pregnancy, becomes the means of nourishing the fcetus. Hence its occur- rence has been regarded as one of the essential condi- tions of fruitfulness in woman. Yet there have been fruitful women who never were subject to it. The periodical return of this flow constitutes, from about fifteen to forty-five, a function with which in woman every other is connected. And though pregnancy and suckling suspend this phenomenon, they doubtless do so only by changing its object and direction. During the whole of this period, the exercise of this function is indispensable to health ; and if it be irreg- ular in its returns, or be suppressed, beauty as well as health disappears. When it finally ceases, woman loses the power of 58 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. conceiving. Among northern nations, there are many women who conceive after the age of forty-five or fifty, and men who are capable of begetting at the age of seventy. Among the eastern nation?, the reproductive power decreases after thirty. Thenceforward, accord. inglv, the women of these regions confine themselves to domestic duties and the education of children. In all cases, when ago finally destroys the energy of the reproductive organs and the faculty of concep. tion, greater power is obtained by the rest of the or- ganization ; the mind increases in clearness, extent and vivacity ; and even woman is more under the influence of reflection than feeling. With intellect, masculine character is assumed ; an additional quantity of hair makes its appearance on the face ; and the voice becomes rough. In the same manner, female quadrupeds and birds, after the age for reproduction, acquire the darker fur or plumage of mal°s. AXtcr the time when this flow ceases, the critical age, women may expect to live longer than men. SECTION IV. CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. Mode in tchich the Uterine Influence produces Changes in that System. It is well known, that the number of vessels in animal bodies is so much the greater, us they are CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 59 nearer the period of their first formation. This, as Cabanis observes, not only bestows great facility in the course of the blood, and the various liquids, and great readiness in the exercise of the dependent func- tions, but the sentient nervous extremities are thereby placed in a state of remarkable expansion, which in- creases the means of impression, and gives to every sensation a vividness which it can attain only at that age. These nerves carry sensibility and action to and from all the organs of the body ; and each organ, by the impression it receives and the functions it performs, influences the whole nervous system. Hence, the effects of a local affection frequently become general. The more that parts are supplied by nerves derived from different trunks, or from trunks formed by differ. cnt nerves united, and the more their communications are consequently free and rapid, the more ought their influence to produce phenomena, sudden, varied, and extraordinary. Now, the nerves of the reproductive organs in both srxes, though not very remarkable as to volume or number, are formed from various other nerves; they have relations with those of all the viscera of the abdo- men ; by means of the great sympathetic nerve, which forms among these a common union, they are connected with the whole nervous system ; and it is by these communications that the matrix is interested in almost all the affections of the female. T!k" organs of reproduction, then, by their mulfi- plied connexions, their great sensibility, and their extensive functions, ought naturally to react with 00 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. power on the nervous centres of life, on the brain, and on all the highly sensible parts with which they are connected ; and this reaction ought to be especially remarkable when their functions commence. At the period of nubility, accordingly, the matrix forms a centre, whence innumerable nervous irradia. tions issue; and the activity of that vital centre increases daily. Hence the effects which the repro. ductive organs have upon the whole economy of woman—talents bursting forth suddenly towards the age of puberty—a newly inspired desire of pleasing— emotions of jealousy—not only sexual love, but that of children, and, finally, strange and wayward cere. bral impressions, caprices of affection or of antipathy, which submit not to her control. We are told, however, that those facts which would thus seem to prove the influence of the matrix over erotic desires, and the development of the moral phe- nomena of puberty, are contradicted by facts of a nature diametrically opposite. Thus, if, on one hand, females have been met with who, throughout life, have exhibited the most perfect indifference, and, after death, have presented no traces of the matrix, yet, on the other hand, women have been known entirely destitute of the reproductive organs in whom passions existed even in an excessive degree. The error here committed is, in not distinguishing between the matrix and the ovaries, and in consider. ing the former as the fundamental and more important organ.—Wherever erotic passions are present, ovaries will be found: wherever these passions are absent, no ovaries will bo discovered. CHANGES IN TIIE MENTAL SYSTEM. 61 Tims, all the changes which occur in the feelings and conduct of girls at puberty, are only the conse- quence of not less remarkable physical changes. Consequent State of the Mind previous to Love. Under these circumstances, the sports of infancy no longer afford pleasure to girls; and they neglect those companions younger than themselves whose society formerly pleased them. They feel, indeed, a void in the heart, which they strive in vain to fill. The innocence, candour, frankness and gaiety of childhood continue, indeed, for a time, which varies with temperament and education. Ere long, however, they check their frankness and gaiety ; they become timid, reserved, absent and thoughtful; they find pleasure in silence, avoid observation, and hanker after solitude. The memory, if employed, appears to retrace occur- rences which were previously disregarded, but which young women now imagine may assist them in unrav- elling the seeming mysteries of their condition. Ima- gination, however, by preventing their ideas from being fixed on any particular point, only increases their trouble, and adds to their embarrassment. They are plunged, therefore, into a state of continued rev- eric, which, though it has no definite subject, is not without attraction. They sigh, without knowing its object, and feel relief in tears, which are quite unac countable. The puberal and catamenial revolution, however, is sometimes complicated by symptoms indicating a sin. 6 62 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. gular derangement of sensibility, and establishes itself with great difficulty. The maiden then experiences strange inequalities of temper, and unaccountable caprices, feelings of joy, sorrow, or anger, to which she retadily yields, and even desire of death, or contemplation of suicide, long before she experiences the disappointments of love. These phenomena were noticed by Hippocrates, who says—" We then hoar women wishing for the worst calamities. They talk of throwing themselves into wells, or hanging themselves, and of seeking a death preferable to their situation. Sometimes, indeed, without being tormented with the idea of spectres, they appear to contemplate death with pleasure. When the attack is over, these patients make vows to Diana, carry their jewels to the temples, and hang their most precious dresses on the walls, deceived by the priests v/ho require these sacrifices of them.. . I think that, in such an unhappy situation, the most certain remedy is marriage." In this state of excessive susceptibility, reproof has been observed to drive a girl to despair, and expres- sions of regard, to inflame her into passion. Eveiy. thing, therefore, which can irritate and maintain this sensibility, should be carefully removed. Now, may be observed, not merely the preference which draws one sex towards the other, and is re- strained by fear and reserve, but extravagant friend- ships, and secret confidenees between individuals of the same sex. And in this way seemed to be first formed the greater number even of sympathetic and CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 68 benevolent dispositions, as well as romantic ideas, and illusions of every description. Vague passions transport the youth ; and he becomes unbending, fiery and desperate at control. Gentler affections lead the maiden to love. This may render her insane; and is indeed one of the great causes of insanity. Hence, it is a frequent remark, that mad- ness scarcely ever shows itself in the first period of life. It is at this period also, that, in young women, sometimes occur great fertility of ideas, and aptitude for the elegant arts, which afterwards give place to mediocrity. The same is sometimes the case with young men. The age at which we have thus the greatest number of sensations, at which memory is so earnestly em- ployed, in which imagination enjoys the greatest activity, in which new talents are thus excited, is also that in which are collected the greater number of ideas, and in which are perhaps first attempted those higher mental processes which afterwards distinguish the character. Thus, on the activity, the languor, or disorder of the organs of reproduction, would appear, in a great measure, to depend the elevation of genius, the abundance of ideas, the highest achievements of mind, or their utter and eternal absence. The proof that, in woman, all this is produced by the influence of the ovaries, has already been seen to be, that, when these glands do not exist, when they remain in the torpor of infancy, or when they have been removed, none of these phenomena occui. The nervous excitement attending the first appear- 04 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. ance of the catamenia is partially renewed at each monthly occurrence—sensibility becoming more defi. nite and vivid. And this observation may be ex. tended to the time of pregnancy. At last, then, the mind of the young woman re- ceives more accurate notions of an affection which is to be the principal affair of her life. Love. From the physical state which has now been de. scribed, there results in woman a superabundance of sensibility, which seeks, as it were, to diffuse and to communicate itself. All is then animated in woman. Her eyes acquire an expression previously unknown, and seem, by a sort of electric spark, to light up the amorous flame in every breast formed to sympathy. Her figure displays all the light and simple graces, which man is equally unable and unwilling to resist. Now, accordingly, the sexes mutually feel a tender and vivid interest in each other. As each is the sole object of the other's desire, they at last see in nature nothing but themselves; extravagant imagination flings over both all possible excellences; they indulge in intoxicating dreams of beauty and perfection ; and each becomes, in the conviction of the other, an abso- lute divinity. Even man thinks thus, although he has before his eyes the very ordinary mother and other relatives of his goddess—the perhaps repulsive beings whom she is destined in a few years to resemble. One of the symptoms generally occurring to young people, which characterises nascent love, which con- CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 65 Bumes a valuable portion of life, and which leads to derangements and disorders of every kind, is an indo lent and idle melancholy. The early stage of love is also characterised by a desire which is the cause of moral love—a desire to live in chastity, a feeling that enjoyment would debase the object of love. Each, then, values existence solely for the beloved being, and would cheerfully lose life for the object of idolatry. While this insanity exists in man, even the name of the beloved person makes the heart beat; in her presence, a torrent of fire seems to fly through the arte. rics ; the voice and the reason are nearly annihilated ; self-possession is totally lost. Even when out of the immediate sphere of this influence, every thing takes its hue from this passion, and is called on to aid its progress. The lover, like all who suffer, desires to associate all objects in his interest; and he is ordina- rily humane, beneficent and generous, because the want which he experiences, disposes him to feel for others. The maiden begins to have more rational ideas of the relations of the sexes, and no longer deceives her- self as to the position in which she must stand in re- gard to the other sex. This she is at last taught by love. She then delights to dwell upon the good qualities with which imagination has invested her lover; he is ever in her mind ; to him every thought is referred; he is the hero of all her romances of love ; and his Liia^e is present in her dreams. 6* 66 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. It is worthy of remark that, for the purpose of obtaining strong and vigorous progeny, nature has assigned to strength the preference in the love of the female. Hence all animals become bold and warlike at the season of amorous orgasm. Hence man is proud of his physical power, and woman loves conque- rors; as Venus loved the God of War. Nature fits the sexes for different parts. While the male is thus bold, the female is bashful. Modesty, therefore, establishes an equilibrium be- tween the superiority of man and the delicacy of woman : and enables woman to ensure thereby for herself a supporter, a defender; and while man thus barters his protection for love, woman, is a match for his power, and the weaker, to a great extent, governs the stronger. In aid of the physical suitableness of woman, she employs two moral qualities, coquetry and modesty, which, though opposed in their first or immediate effects, contribute to one great end. Natural coquetry, if the mere desire of pleasing and attracting by innocent artifices may be so called, exists long before the period when love modifies the character. The look of the girl, the sound of her voice, her language, her whole demeanour seem to court the affections. With increasing opportunity, she learns what is passing in the minds of men, and understands the meaning of every look, word and action. Finally, she in particular perceives attention, distinguishes the look of affection, &c—invaluable attainments [or CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 67 her to whom nature has rendered it necessary to seduce and subjugate the stronger by the charms of beauty and grace. Rousseau correctly perceived the relations of coquetry to the constitution of women, and regarded it as one of the happiest affections. Painting it even among birds, he says, « Step by step the white dove follows her well beloved, and flees from him directly he returns. If he remain inactive, she arouses him with gentle taps of her beak; if he return, she pur- sues him; if he defend himself, a little flight of six steps attracts him again: the innocence of nature contrives these allurements and this gentle resistance, with an art that the most skilful coquetry can scarcely equal."* Defects are now concealed; charms are enhanced ; and attention is called to them in every way. Dress becomes an important agent; and, at this age, its style is cheaper and in better taste than afterwards. Plain stuffs acquire elegant shapes; and every fold of drapery is calculated to produce the greatest effect. Some notion even of the agreement, adaptation and distribution of colours is acted upon; and if women cannot assist the complexion by well-managed con- trasts and harmonies, they at least produce an agree- able agitation on the organ of sight, fix observation * La blanche cnlombe va suivant pas a pas son bien aime, et prond chasse elle-mr-me aussitot qu'tl retourne. Reste-t il dans l'inaction, de lexers coups de bee le reveillent; s'il se retire, elle le poursuit; s'il se defend, un petit vol de six pas I'attlre encore; rinnocence de la nature manage les a;aceries et la molie resistance, avee un art qu'aurait a peine la plus habile coquette. 68 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. on themselves, avoid every offensive distraction, and render every movement, every attitude graceful. " Ruinous whims," says Rousseau, " freaks of wealth, diamonds, rich draperies, and the splendour of strange ornaments, are tacit avowals of the outrages of time and the decay of beauty. Being no longer able to appear beautiful, women strive to dazzle; but young girls are too sensible of the value of their privi leges to abuse them in that way." The importance of coquetry in the constitution of woman has now been seen. She thereby learns to increase her attractions; she cultivates every agree. able art; she derives from dress resources which at once improve and announce her taste; and she studies to acquire the graces. Coquetry also diffuses a gene- ral emulation to please, gives to society a cheerful aspect, and contributes much to the attractions of life. This natural and useful sentiment is abused, how- ever, when it becomes a desire to captivate all men, without attaching to any one—an art habitually prac tised. And when it is combined with excessive vanity, and supported by wealth, it perverts sensibility, and stifles all the affections and virtues. Thus perverted, it leads to actions the most ridicu- lous or blameable. " Who," says Montaigne, " has not heard of the girl at Paris, who had herself skinned, solely to acquire a complexion of fresher hue ?" And who, we may add, is ignorant how universally the natural beauty of the shape is sacrificed to the foolish mandates of fashion 1 Maidenly differs from matronly form chiefly as to the slenderness or the thickness of the waist. No CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 69 wonder, then, that the maiden prefers her proper cha- racteristic ! But this is generally carried to an excess as ridiculous as it is frightful. Complete deformity of the figure is earned, only at the cost of deep weals cutting the sides to the quick, a dangerous compres- sion of the chest producing aneurism, curvature of the spine, &c, a pressure upon the mamniie which may cause either swelling and cancer, or withering and absorption, a turning inward of the brim, and that general deformity of the pelvis, which, becoming too narrow to permit the head of the foetus to pass, may render delivery possible only by the Cassarian -opera- tion, or dividing the symphysis pubis, and separating with the knife the bones of the pelvis. Modesty is not less peculiar to woman than coquetry. Under the influence of love, the young man exhibits his feelings; the modesty of the girl conceals hers. By some, it is contended, that modesty is not a natural feeling, but one of social regulation. In our own days, it certainly seemed to be unknown amongst the women of Otaheite : they came naked to the South Sea voyagers when they landed, and offered to them the charms which they exposed, striving, too, to increase their effect by expressive movements and postures. On the contrary, we are told that, in an- cient times, owing to the frequency of suicides at Miletus, the magistrates declared that the first female who committed suicide should be exposed naked in the public square ; the Milesian women consequently became reconciled to life; and it is thence concluded that modesty is a natural sentiment. Now, giving equal credence to the ancient story 70 CONDITIONS TERMINATING IN LOVE. and to the modern facts, it seems rational to inquire what conditions most remarkably distinguished the two races alluded to. Nothing is more striking in this respect, than that the Otaheiteans were nude, the Milesians clothed; and clothing, as I have shown elsewhere, has generated passions and created offences. Under the influence of clothing, it is probable, as observed by Roussel, that modesty derives its causo in woman from a certain mistrust in her own merit, and from the fear of finding herself below that very affection which she is capable of exciting, and of which she is the object. This sentiment is more dif- ficult to be overcome in women when they have any imperfection to conceal. It is natural, at a period when sensibility is exces. sive, that this sentiment of modesty should reach a high degree of intensity. It is equally natural that, from that time, it should gradually decline. In relation to herself, modesty restrains the maiden from yielding precipitately to tender feelings, and compels her love to assume that form by which nature has taught her so universally to express it—to present it under the mask of friendship, gratitude, and a thou- sand other guises. In relation to the lover, it is remarkable that the first affections are presented to him under the appear. ance of estrangement. The maiden flics that she may be pursued by him, and his love is kept alive by mo. desty. It has been observed by all physiologists, that this disposition is not only necessary, but indispensa- ble, for the continuation of the human race. Thus even modesty is a means of attraction with CHANGES IN THE MENTAL SYSTEM. 71 which nature inspires all females. But those who de- claim against this know nothing of nature. Every separation, every obstacle renders desire only more urgent; and nature appears to have accomplished this in the only way possible among beings endowed with sensibility and locomotion. Nature, then, leads man to the performance of the reproductive function by the attraction of pleasure. Addition to Castration in the preceding Section III. As an exception to the want of talent in eunuchs, should have been mentioned Aga Mohammed Khan, who may be called the modern Narses. He preceded the late Futteh Ali on the throne of Persia, was re- markable for the cruelty, treachery and guile, which usually characterise his anomalous class, but was also signally distinguished in the annals of his country, as a hero who first fought his way to the throne amidst difficulties apparently insurmountable, and then, in a short but glorious reign, humbled, or at least success. fully resisted, the power, and prevented the encroach- ments, of Russia. His vigilance, in his long career (eighteen years) of blood, previously to and after his ascension to undisputed sway over Persia, is very re- markable. He seems to have had all the energy of an unmutilatcd man. He was capable of enduring any fatigue, and almost lived on horseback. The chase was his sole amusement.—He murdered his own brother after inviting him to his palace on pre- tence of kindness, and committed great cruelties on all who provoked his jealousy or his vengeance. He was at length slain by a domestic. PART II. SEXUAL RELATIONS ARISING FROM THESE CON- DITIONS, AND CONNECTED WITH, OR LEADING TO, INTERMARRIAGE. SECTION I. USEFUL GUIDANCE AND DANGEROUS RESTRAINT. It has now been seen that, at puberty, life is super. abundant; that that superabundance is employed in the reproduction of itself; and that, in doing so, the passions and the will are engaged. Accordingly, the habits contracted at this age are very powerful, and are intimately connected with future health or disease. Hence, at this age, the importance of Useful Guidance. Every effort ought, of course, to be made so to di. rect young persons, that they may be least exposed to the evils that now beset them. Those who are too robust should be occasionally confined to a more meagre diet; and all the exciting substances which accelerate precocity should be care- USEFUL GUIDANCE. 78 fully shunned, such as chocolate, ragouts, meat sup. pers, and vinous or spirituous drinks. For the same reason should be avoided retention of urine and con. stipation, which attract the blood towards the parts whence it is desirable to withhold it. The habit of cleanliness, practised from the earliest youth, becomes a valuable corrective at puberty. An important subject of observation is clothing, and the necessity of habituating young people to cold, particularly with regard to the reproductive organs. "Trousers," it is observed, "either very warm, or lined with woollen stuff, are highly improper, both on account of uncleanliness, and consequences which it is desirable to prevent. Young persons should not be permitted to lie on down beds; nor, if long sedentary, to sit on soft chairs, to which rush, or wooden bottomed ones are greatly preferable. Neither should they be allowed to remain in bed longer than requisite, or to lie down needlessly on couches. While the languishings of love spring up in soft repose, strong exercise extinguishes tender sentiments, and at the same time produces a revulsion to the other organs. The history of the goddess of hunting is a philosophical allegory, which expresses the great truth, that bodily exercise extinguishes all violent disposition to pleasures. " Otia si tollas, periere cu. pidinis arcus," is a sentiment that ought never to be forgotten. Care should even be taken to prevent young per. sons habitually leaning against anything, so as not to have all their muscles in action. 7 74 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. In lads, activity, so necessary to an equal distribu- tion of the nutritive juices, must be fostered by all the means described by Donald Walker, in the most accurate and perfect work on the subject, entitled, Manly Exercises, in which are described, and illus- trated by plates, walking, running, leaping, vaulting, balancing, skating, climbing, swimming, rowing, sail- ing, riding, driving, &c. To young women, exercise will be frequently neces. sary to prevent attachment to fanciful objects, as well as the tendency to dwell on those subjects which it is desirable to avoid. With this view, and eminently to improve personal beauty, the work of the same author, entitled Ladies' Exercises, illustrated by numerous plates, is absolutely indispensable. The work is not merely the only thing of the kind worthy of being named, but it is highly original, founded entirely on physiological principles, and strongly approved by the most distinguished members of the medical pro. fession. The directing of the habits is an important branch of education. Ignorant mothers know not how frightful those habits are which they first teach by tickling. It is a modification of this, leading only to degrading sensu- ality, which the effeminate Indians practise under the name of shampooing—a kind of pressing and knead- ing of the naked body when they come from the bath, which is performed by the delicate hands of females instructed in the operation, and which leaves those subjected to it in a state of voluptuous debility, incon- sistent with all manly faculties. This was practised I'SEFUL GUIDANCE. 75 bv the degenerate Romans, among whom women, on quitting the bath, were shampooed by slaves, for the almost avowed purpose, that, by means of the sympa- thy between the skin and the reproductive organs, certain influences might be excited. And it is the be- ginning of this art that senseless mothers and servants practice when they tickle children. It is the duty of such persons, on the contrary, even to prevent children from sitting with their knees crosseJ, a circumstance particularly injurious, and from playing at such games as riding upon sticks, see- sawing, striding across the edge of a chair, or over the knees. The back, also, and spinal marrow should never be directly exposed to the fire, as that has a powerful in- fluence on the reproductive system. The best means of warmth, is exercise ; and even additional clothing, which may be thrown aside when no longer requisite, is preferable to fires. As to flowers, their odour causes a shock to the sense of smell, which infuses throughout the body a voluptuous feeling. In regard to particular pursuits, the guide should choose those best adapted to the young person's taste. Sedentary professions requiring more skill than strength, should be left to women, who would perfect- ly succeed in them, while a vast number of vigorous men must then be employed in labours more worthy of them. Cold ablutions diminish the sensibility which must otherwise do mischief; and swimming and exercise in cold water are remarkably useful. 76 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. If a young person gives unequivocal signs of ex- cessive sensibility, all books depicting exaggerated sentiments must be withheld. The reading of fash. ionable novels is sure to falsify the judgment of the young by the most absurd exaggerations, to render their duties distasteful, and even to predispose to disease. " The classics," observes Friedlander, " can be given them only in extracts, if we are desirous that they should meet with nothing that we deem obscene." If, very unfortunately, such a thing should occur, it must pass unnoticed. Montaigne, speaking of a young girl, says, " She was reading a French book in my presence, and a word, which is the name of a tree, occurred. The lady who acted as governess stopped her short rather sharply, and made her pass over this supposed naughty word. I did not interfere because I would not derange their rules, for I do not interfere with this mode of government: the female police is very mysterious, but it must be left to them. But, if I mis- take not, the conversation of twenty footmen would not, in six months, have impressed upon the fancy, the meaning, application, and all the consequences of the sound of these naughty syllables, as strongly as this good lady did by her reprimand and interdiction." Even the study of the fine arts may render the im- agination too active. Of these, drawing is the least objectionable ; and music, being the language of pas. sion, is the most dangerous, especially music of the more impassioned and voluptuous nature. A better means of discouraging the passions, is the cultivation of the intellectual faculties. Great advan- tage would result, to a young girl, from the study of USEFUL GUIDANCE. 77 history, geography, and the various branches of natu- ral history, pursuits which at once dissipate the pas- sions, and are useful to rural economy, and many of the arts of industry. For the sake, indeed, of the powerful influence which maternal education has on progeny, all the faculties with which reasoning, calculation, the me- chanical and various positive sciences are associated, should be in some degree employed; and, on such subjects, habitual exercise of the memory would use- fully engage much valuable time and prevent all inju. rious use of it. In fine, every occupation of the mind likely to pro- duce or foster emotions ought to be proscribed. On the important subject of example, it need scarce- ly be said, that young persons arc sure to observe and interpret any loose joke, or indecent language that coarse-minded people utter before them. Not less carefully ought the example of improper conduct to be guarded against. Several young per- sons should never be suffered to sleep together in one bed, nor even in the close vicinity of domestics. For similar reasons, education in boarding-schools is highly dangerous, especially at this period. Inti. macies spring up between pupils nearly of the same age; they repose confidence in each other as to their most secret thoughts; and they endeavour to verify the conjectures they have formed. Meanwhile, some other friend in the confidence of this tvgendbund, who had returned home and seen the world, visits the un- fortunates still remaining at school, when a speedy disclosure takes place of all her discoveries made as 78 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. to the subjects they have so often discussed; and to show that her generosity is commensurate with her new importance, she occasionally supplies those works whose amorous pages have been kindly made known to them by the most positive interdiction of the teach. ers. Hence, the barriers raised up by modesty are surmounted, and depraved habits are contracted. But, though a boarding-school is a hot-bed of vice to all who have reached puberty, that is far from being the time for introduction to the world and to the other sex; and retirement among elder female relatives is then the wisest mode of life. Theatres should be carefully avoided, particularly representations in which the softer passions are excited, or seductive music is the principal portion. When, in spite of the best management, a young girl exhibits change or irregularity of character, becomes subject to sighs and tears, of which no cause is apparent, and betakes herself to solitude, then, mus. cular exercise sufficient lo produce slight fatigue, agreeable society, and powerful diversions, are means that must be adopted. It is equally foolish and dangerous, in parents and others charged with the education of girls, to try to conceal from them all knowledge as *o the results of the position in which they are placed by the circum- stance of nubility; for girls, in spite of watchful vigi- lance and every obstacle, are soon enabled, bv natural instinct and by unremitting observation, to instruct themselves in those false notions which are most lil.ely to be followed by fatal results. Love assuredly, such as it is described in the mis. DANGEROUS RESTRAINT. 79 chievous trash called fashionable novels, or even as artificial society often presents it, is at utter variance with the plan of nature. It is denaturalised and fac- titiously exalted by the obstacles which it encounters from prejudices relative to birth, rank and fortune, and by the want of employment and of objects of real in- terest among the easy classes. Without such obsta- cles, love might produce happiness, instead of delirium, might be the embellisher, not the occupier, the conso- ler, not the arbiter of life. To the youth, the argument may well be employed, that it is his interest to restrain his desires, even though he may be capable of reproduction; that he must learn to earn the means of living before he increase the number of those requiring it; and that moreover his sole object in the world is not to find food and procreate his species, without leaving an) trace of honourable advancement behind him. Finally, other sentiments may be awakened ; ambition, dignity, and the universal respect of his fellow men. So, also, it is the duty of her guide, when the maid- en has reached a certain age, to explain to her the general nature of the sexual relations to which she is destined, to put her upon her guard against the disguises which passion assumes and the stratagems it employs, to place it, on the contrary, before her in the character it must assume in marriage, to make her aware of the modifications that possession produces in the arrlour of mankind, and the certainty of its being eventually calm and moderate, and to teach her to control her affections till they are in accordance with 80 BELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. those proprieties upon which the conduct of life is made to depend. Unluckily, experience too often presents obstacles to nnions passionately desired. In such a case, if the maiden cannot be united to the object of her attach- ment, the nervous system must be weakened, and the muscular system strengthened, by a more active mode of life, by long walks, and as much bodily exercise as possible, beginning always by gentle tasks, and gradually imposing upon herself others that in a greater degree exercise the organs. There are, however, youths and maidens whose temperaments are, on the contrary, lively, fickle, and incapable of attachment, and with whom, consequently, means of a directly opposite tendency must be em. ployed—all those, in short, which were deprecated in the former case. Dangerous Restraint. To prevent the increase of population, mechanical means, such as infibulation, have been employed. The comedians and tragedians of Greece employed this method to preserve their voice ; and Winkelman, in the " Monumenti Inediti," has given us a drawing of a bronze antique representing that condition. Simi. lar was the fibula worn at Rome by the singers, to preserve their voices. Brown found infibulation practised in Darfour, the operation being performed at the age of eleven or twelve years. Among the civilized nations of modern times, the same object is kept in view, though means so rude DANGEROUS RESTRAINT. 81 are not adopted. Laws and injunctions, more or less severe, answer the same purpose. While laws, to prevent too early unions, impose on the maiden the duty of chastity before legal marriage, mothers frame the most austere injunctions, which, for a while, domi. nate over youthful timidity. She dare not advance a step, utter a word, or cast a look, but at the hazard of severe reproof or of malignant comment. Strug- gling to guard against herself, she must learn to stifle nature ; and at the age of gaiety and happiness, must pass life "in a state of exhibition, in vestments constricting the chest, compressing respiration, imped- ing the circulation and the movement of the limbs," and producing the frightful diseases already desoribed. While the condition of a young woman is thus a state of violence against nature, and our manners de- mand so vigilant a surveillance, it is not very wisely complained that girls are dissembling, nor very won- derful that they escape from this struggle, and that inactivity of them which society demands. The most fatal consequences, indeed, accrue from this, both to the physical and moral state of woman: escape is frequent; ruin inevitable. Grimm says, "La morale des femmes est toute fondee sur des principes arbitraires; leur honneur n'est pas le vrai honneur; leur decence est une fausse decence; et tout leur merite, tout la bienseance de leur etat, consistent dans la dissimulation et le tra vestissement des sentimens naturels qu'un devoir chi- merique leur prescrit de vaincre, et qu'avec tous leur efforts elles ne sauraient aneantir." The most ungenerous portion of all this is, that, 82 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. when the worst consequences ensue from these regu- lations, their victims alone are blamed ; and that even philosophers have endeavoured to show, that, in such cases, woman alone is criminal, because, as they assert, woman has no motive to err. This unjust con. elusion renders the discussion of this delicate subject indispensable. I have already shown that woman has a vital sys- tern larger than that of man. I may now add that she has a larger reproductive system. It follows, that their functions are corresponding. It is with these vital and reproductive organs and functions, that the whole life of woman is associated. To know, indeed, the precise degree of their importance to her, and the necessity of their frequent or enduring employment, it is only necessary to observe their relatively greater development. On this ground alone, then, all that is connected with love is far more essential to woman than to man. This affords the anatomical and physiological foundation of the mere, though true, assertions of the writer of the thesis,—" Estne viro fcemina salacior?" who says, "Oblitam sui mulierem facilius reperias quam salacitatis. Exlex est et aXoyog in ea libido quae statim expleri cupit, nee patitur moros. Astyan- assae sunt quarum lascivia novos concubitus modos quotidie comminiscitur. Non desunt et Messalinae quae resupinae jacentes, absorptis multorum ictibus, lassatae quidem viris, sed non satiatae recedunt. Nee infrequentes Dionysire, quarum in octava lascivia sur- gere messe cceperat, et dulces fingero nequitias. In- clamantes etiam saepe audiuntur QuartiUae, < Junonem USEFUL GUIDANCE. 83 meam iratam habeam si unquam me meminerim vir- ginem.' Quid plura ?" But, to advance in this argument—I have also shown that, in reproduction and progeny, the organs of sense and the anterior part of the brain go always along with the vital system; and anatomy shows that these parts are relatively larger in woman than in man. It follows, that, in her, sensibility and its per- ceptions are greater. So the author of the thesis says, " Mulieribus datum genialibus in ludis amatoria. voluptate dissolvi; nega- tum viris. Horura laetitiae sequax est dolor, haeresque tristitia; illarum contra gaudiis succedunt nova. Virorum statim tristis langucscit amor; mulierum re- missionis vix patiens flamma, veneris aliud unde con- tinuo nutriatur pabulum arcessit vorax.—The fable says that the prophet Tiresias lost his sight for hav- ing, in the presence of Juno, decided this question in favour of woman. But I have also shown that the cerebel, or organ of the will, is small in woman; and therefore, though the pleasures of love are more essential to her organi- zation, ypt they are less determined, and more easily suffer suspense or renunciation. Neglect of anatomy and physiology has made all writers mistake on this subject, as is done in a following statement, not under- stood by the writer, and explicable only by the ana- tomical- and physiological fact expressed in the first sentence of this paragraph. "Women constantly re- tard enjoyment, or prevent it altogether, solely by the influence of the will, acted upon by the most trifling 84 BE1.ATI0N8 LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. motive. They even do more: they sometimes re. nounce it without a murmur." The statement of these truths, and exposition of the common errors on the subject, render it unneces- sary to reply further to the false representations that have been made as to the absence of necessity and the diminished degree of these pleasures in woman. In the following passage, " It has always appeared to me unreasonable to suppose that nature has be. stowed the most powerful desires upon that sex which is prevented by its own weakness from seeking to satisfy them according to inclination; that the most imperious inclination should be joined to the necessity of waiting and to the pretence of refusal; that the in- dividual in whom a passive state predominates almost constantly should be of a warmer constitution than the male who carries in himself a cause of permanent activity,"—in this passage, the error, indicated by the words in italics, is in not seeing that, though in con. formity with the larger vital and reproductive system of woman, is the necessity for its frequent or enduring employment, and in conformity with her larger organs of sense and anterior part of the brain (parts, as will be seen, always accompanying the vital and reproduc five system,) is the possession of greater sensibility and capacity for pleasure,—yet her smaller cerebel or organ of will renders her less determined in pleasure, and enables her to yield to suspense or renunciation,— in fact, that there is greater necessity for and greater capacity of pleasure, but greater power of yielding to momentary circumstances affecting these,—a fact which is in perfect analogy with the whole of the DANGEROUS RESTRAINT. 85 female character. But, to yield is one thing; to forego is another. The necessity and the capacity of pleasure, are as clearly established as is the power of yielding to circumstances. All, however, that has been said on this subject, is interesting chiefly because it exposes the injustice and wickedness of the following conclusion, founded solely on the statements which have just been refuted,— " That man is not so unjust as he is accounted, in re- quiring from woman that strict fidelity which, in par- ticular circumstances (such as absence,) he is unable to exercise himself." I have just said, with respect to woman, that, " to yield is one thing; to forego is another: the necessity and the capacity of pleasure, are as clearly established as is the power of yielding to circumstances." It is gratifying that here pathology comes in aid of physio. logy. Caflfcnis says, " In general, women, in this re- spect, support excesses more easily, and privations more difficultly: at least, these privations, when they are not absolutely voluntary, have ordinarily for wo- men, especially in a state of solitude and indolence, inconveniences which they have but rarely for men." SECTION II. UNNATURAL INDULGENCE AND ABSOLUTE CON- TINENCE. As soon as puberty is accomplished, instinct leads 8 66 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. the youth to satisfy desire, and if no object is cast in the way, and he is unchecked by timidity or other considerations, he falls into Unnatural Indulgence. Of this, it is necessary to trace rapidly the origin and effects as described by the best observers, for those whose duty it is to protect youth from its fatal consequences. " Surprising artfulness and obstinacy are employed by young people in maintaining secrecy respecting crimes of this description. But a youth may be sus- pected, when, at the period of puberty, he seeks to remain in solitary places generally alone, more rarely with a particular comrade. " This vice soon renders him careless of his parents and the persons who have the care of him, as well as indifferent to the sports of his equals; rr£ falls into a distaste for everything except the opportunity of in- dulgence; all his thoughts are directed to the parts at this period subject to irritation; sensibility, imagina- tion and passion are inflamed; and the secretion of the reproductive liquid augmenting, withdraws a very precious portion from the blood. "The muscles of the youth consequently become soft; he is idle; his body becomes bent; his gait is sluggish ; and he is scarcely able to support himself.— The digestion becomes enfeebled ; the breadth, fetid; the intestines, inactive; the excrements, hardened in the rectum and producing additional irritation of the seminal conduits in its vicinity. The circulation, being no longer free, the youth sighs often; the com- UNNATURAL INDULGENCE. 87 plexion is livid; and the skin, on the forehead espe- cially, is studded with pimples.—The corners of the mouth are lengthened; the nose becomes sharp; the sunken eyes, deprived of brilliance and enclosed in blue circles, are cast down ; no look remains of gaiety; the very aspect is criminal. General sensibility be- comes excessive, producing tears without cause ; per- ception is weakened, and memory almost destroyed; distraction or absence of mind renders the judgment unfit for any operation; the imagination gives birth only to fantasies and fears without grounds; the slightest allusion to the dominating passion produces motion of the muscles of the face, the flush of shame, or a state of despair; the desires become capricious, and envy rankles in the mind, or there ensues a total disgust. The wretched being finishes by shunning the face of men, and dreading the observation of wo- men ; his character is entirely corrupted, or his mind is totally stupificd. Involuntary loss of the reproduc- tive liquid at last takes place during the daily mo- tions; and there ensues a total exhaustion, bringing on heaviness of the head, singing in the ears, and fre- quent faintings, or a sensation as if ants were running from the head down the back, together with pains, convulsive tremblings, and partial paralysis." Long previous to these severe effects, the losses which have been described arrest the increase of stature, and stop the growth of all the organs, and the developement of all the functions. It is an earlier puberty which renders the southern people shorter than the northern. And a sense of this seems to have prevailed from the remotest times. Amongstthe Ger- 88 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. mans, according to Julius Caesar, the act of reproduc tion was not permitted to adolescents before twenty without incurring infamy; and to this he attributes the stature and strength of that simple people. An incapability of ever giving life to strong and robust children, is another effect of these losses, which precedes the total ruin of the individual. Intelligent instructors will know both how to divine the bad habits of their pupils, and how to avoid all excitement of them. Much attention has recently been paid to the nature of punishments. There are few of them that should not be avoided ; but to punish a child by shutting him up alone in a room, is a sad error, if there be any reason to suspect him of bad habits. Medicinal remedies, astringents, sudorifics, &c, are weakening and injurious in other respects; and me. chanical means directly applied to the organs, are likely to draw the attention, and determine the blood, to the part whence it should be diverted. Moral means consist of good habits previous to puberty, the influence of fear and respect, and that of the nobler feelings predominating over the baser passions. This assuredly will be more easily accomplished in well-directed private education, than in public schools. When conviction of the existence of bad habits is acquired, it becomes necessary to speak to the subject of them mildly and rationally respecting his injurious practice.—It is feared that the works on the subject, if they have cured some, have made others acquainted UNNATURAL INDULGENCE. 69 with vice of this kind. But there can be no danger in placing such works in the hands of children whose conduct has given rise to suspicion. In such cases, exciting and superabundant food is highly injurious. The diet should be chiefly or alto- gether vegetable; and no vinous or spirituous drinks should be permitted. The latter are indeed, of them- selves, quite sufficient to produce, at any time, the worst habits; and the parent who has suffered their use, has no right to complain either of precocious pu- berty, or of unnatural indulgences. As it is well known, that the almost unremitting employment of his muscles diverts the labourer from this vice, whilst shepherds, who watch their flocks in sequestered places, have been generally accused of it, it is evident that if, in youths, the superabundance of nervous power were carried off by exercise, they would be rendered more tranquil and more attentive to instruction, and would consequently make greater progress in knowledge. When boys suffer nocturnal affections of this kind, involuntarily produced, similar care and treatment are required. All that heats the imagination and is likely to recur in dreams must then be avoided, as should every physical circumstance tending to assist it— suppers, down beds, hot bed-clothing, &c. Such affections when awake, are the results of con- firmed disease, requiring the union of medical treat- ment with physical and moral education. The vice which has now been described in boys, appears among girls, and produces similar symptoms. In general, the victims of this depravity are an. 8* 90 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. nounced by their aspect. " The roses fade from the cheeks; the face assumes an appearance of faintness and weakness; the skin becomes rough; the eyes lose their brightness, and a livid circle surrounds them ; the lips become colourless ; and all the features sink down, and become disordered." If the depravity be not arrested, general disease and local affections of the organs of reproduction en. sue—acrid leucorrhcea, ulcerations of the vulvo-uterine canal, falling and various diseases of the matrix, abor- tions, and sometimes nymphomania and furor uterinus, terminate life amidst delirium and convulsions. Sapphic tastes (xleiTooiul;eiv) form another aberra tion of love, of which Sappho and the lovers of their own sex were accused by Seneca, St. Augustine, &c. " Her ode, breathing the languor, abandonment, deli- rium, ecstasy, and convulsions of love, was addressed, not to a lover, but to one of her female companions; and, amongst the fragments of her poetry, are some voluptuous verses addressed to two Grecian girls, her pupils and lovers." As there were many women at Lesbos who adopted the habits of Sappho, the term Lesbian habits was used to express these.—The wo. men of Lesbos also fell into other errors, which gained them the epithet of Fellatrix. These turpitudes, as if they were natural but unfor- tunate compensations to women subject to polygamv, are said to be still well known to the Turkish arid Syrian women at their baths. And it is not improba- ble, that this occasioned, in southern countries, the excision of the clitoris. It is evident that the victims of this depravity de ABSOLUTE CONTINENCE. 91 mand the most active vigilance of mothers, if they desire to preserve either the morals or the health of their daughters. It is evident, also, that the same practices are scarcely less injurious at a more ad- vanced age. Absolute Continence. This consists in abstaining, owing generally to re- ligious notions, from the indulgences of love, although the individual feels the strongest desire for them ; and, in general, it is attended with the most deplorable re- sults. In such cases, the effects vary, but they generally are continual priapism, inordinate desires, taciturnity, moroseness, or ferocity, determination of blood to the head, lassitude and disgust at e\erything abstracting the mind from the prevailing passion, incapability of averting attention from voluptuous images, and partial madness, succeeded by general insanity and termi- natcd by death. An ecclesiastic, mentioned by Buffon, forwarded him a memoir describing the torments of his celibacy, and the various sensations and ideas experienced by him during an erotic delirium of six months' dura. tion. "This ecclesiastic, Monsieur M———, presented all the attributes of a sanguine temperament, the pre- mature developement of which commenced at the age of eleven. Paternal despotism, the direction of his studies and affections, superstitious habits, Pythago- rean regimen, fastings and macerations, were all era. 92 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. ployed to change, to stifle, or rather to mutilate nature. " At the age of thirty-two, being then bound by a vow of eternal celibacy, he began to feel the action of the reproductive organs in a more lively manner, and his health was injured. " At this period, he says, in his own account, «my forced continence produced through all my senses a sensibility, or rather an irritation, I had never before felt.—I fixed my looks on two females, who made so strong an impression on my eyes, and through them on my imagination, that they appeared to me illumi. nated, and glittering with a fire like electric sparks: I retired speedily, thinking it was an illusion of the devil. "' Some days afterwards, I suddenly felt a contrac- tion and a violent tension in all my limbs, accom. panied by a frightful convulsive movement, similar to that which follows an attack of epilepsy. This state was succeeded by delirium.—My imagination was next assailed with a host of obscene images, suggested by the desires of nature.—These chimeras were soon followed by warlike ardours, in which I seized the four bed-posts, made them into a bundle, and hurled them against my bedroom-door, with such force as to drive it off the hinges.* « exusta solis adoxibus, horridum monachis prtebit habitacuium, puta^am me ABSOLUTS CONTINENCE. 95 And this is the confession of a father of the Chris- tian Church !—Man ! be just to feebler powers ! In other cases, if free from monomania, man falls a victim to acute diseases, apoplexies in particular. The state of woman, under similar circumstances, is not less severe. If love acquire a determined cha- racter in one whose nervous system is at all excitable, the state of virginity, at variance as after puberty it is, with the impulses and intentions of nature, becomes one of great suffering. A strong feeling of duty, and the emotion of fear, may lead her for a time to withstand the powerful im- pulse of nature. But that power is unceasingly op- erating ; imagination is constantly filled with pictures of the happiness for which she longs ; desire at last bursts through the restraints of reason. If she then redouble her efforts, and, by unceasing attention and unrelaxing resolve, stifle the voice of nature, this struggle speedily immerses her in languor and melan- choly. Such a state must finally become morbid. Chlorosis is frequently the first malady that makes its appearance. The catamenia, too, are frequently suppressed, occur at irregular periods, or are compli- Fomani?interesse deliciis. S"d'>bam solus, quia amaritudine rppletus eram Horrcbant sarco membra deformia, et squalida cutis situm ^Etliiopicae carnls obdurat. Quotidie lachrymte, quitidie gemitus; et si qunndo rrpugnantem somnus imminens oppressisset, nudo humo ossa vix hterentia cnllidebam. Di' cibis vero et potu taceo. . . . llle igitur ego qui, ob gehennae inrtum, tali me carccre ipse damnaveram, scorpionum tantum socius et fer rarmn. fsppe rhoris inter eram puellarum. Pallebant ora jejuniis, et mens de- sideriis a-stuabat in frigido corpore, et ante hommem suum, jam come pr»- mortua, sola libidinum inceadia buUiebant." 96 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. cated by painful symptoms—the consequences of the irritability of the reproductive organs, produced by privation and inactivity. The stomach frequently becomes unable to retain any substance, however light. The nervous suscepti- bility often affects the heart; its movements, either by fits or permanently, becoming quick, irregular and strong, and constituting palpitation. Frequently also this nervous predominance is felt throughout the or- ganization; and syncopes form the prelude to what are called vapours. Sometimes, likewise, girls fall into profound melancholy, and abandon themselves to despair. If marriage be not permitted to terminate this state, injury fatal to life may be its consequence. In the extravagance of passion, suicide may be perpetrated. More frequently occur a general perver- sion of sensibility, and all the degrees of hysterism, especially if the maiden has a strong tendency to love, nurtured by good living, an easy sedentary life, the reading of fashionable novels, or exciting conver- sations with the other sex, while she is still kept under the eyes of a vigilant superintendent. An attack of hysteria is generally characterized by yawning, stretching, a variable state of mind, or ex. travagant caprices, tears and laughter without cause, fluttering and palpitation with urgent flatulence, rum- bling in the belly, a flow of limpid urine, a feeling as if a ball (the globus hystericus, were rolling about in the abdomen, ascending to the stomach and fauces, and there causing a sense of strangulation, as well as of oppression about the chest, and difficulty of rcspi • ABSOLUTE CONTINENCE, 97 ration, fainting, loss of sensation, motion and speech, death-like coldness of the extremities or of the body generally; also muscular rigidity, and convulsive movements, the patient twisting the body, striking herself, and tearing the breast; and this followed by a degree of coma, stupor and apparent sleep; but con- sciousness by degrees returning, amidst sobs, sighs and tears. Hysterical epilepsy may take place, the paroxysms of which are sometimes preceded by dimness of sight, vertiginous confusion, pain of the head, ringing in the ears, flatulence of the stomach and bowels, palpitation of the heart, and occasionally of the aura epileptica, or feeling as if cold air, commencing in some part of the extremities, directed its course up to the head. During the fit, the patient falls upon the ground, and rolls thereon; the muscles of the face are distorted; the tongue is thrust out of the mouth, and often bitten j the eyes turn in their orbits; she cries or shrieks, emitting a foaming saliva; and she struggles with such violence that several persons are required to hold her. The belly is tense and grumbling; there are frequent eructations; and the excretions, particularly the urinary, are passed involuntarily. After a time more or less considerable, the patient gradually re- covers, with yawning and sense of lassitude, scarcely answers, and is ignorant of what has occurred to her. These effects, we are told, have been observed in Canary birds, which if, when separated from their fe- males, they can see them without being able to reach them, sing continually, and never cease till their dis- tress is terminated by an attack of epilepsy. 9 98 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. Other affections, as catalepsies, extasies, &c, fro. quently depend upon the reproductive organs ; and in Roman Catholic countries, in former times, half insane devotees were found among old maids thus affected, and became, in consequence, the fitting instruments of the artful propagators of ridiculous creeds. In some cases, the dominant passion interferes with the other operations of intellect, and produces insanity. It has been already observed, that no one becomes in. sane before puberty; and that the period of the great. est reproductive ardour is that of the highest mental excitement. Accordingly, many young women become insane either from erotic excitement, from the love even of the beings of their own imagination ;—for it is justly observed, " Such arc the wants of the heart in women, that they are caught by and attach themselves to chi- meras, when the reality is wanting to their sensibility." The worst disease resulting from this cause is nym- phomania, or furor uterinus. The women whom celibacy renders most liable to it, have been observed to be of small stature, and to have somewhat bold features, the skin dark, the complexion ruddy, the mammae quickly developed, the sensibility great, and the catamenia considerable. The very commencement of puberty is generally the time when the disease of which furor uterinus is the aggravated form, begins to arise out of the tempe- rament just described and from various accidental causes, as loose reading or conversation, obscene paintings or engravings, and bad example arising from close intercourse with dissolute persons. NECESSITY OF INTERMARRIAGE. 9f) In persons suffering under this disease, says Dr. M. Good, " there is often, at first, some degree of melan- choly, with frequent sighings; but the eyes roll in wanton glances, the cheeks are flushed, the bosom heaves, and every gesture exhibits the lurking desire, and is enkindled by the distressing flame that burns within . . . The disease is strikingly marked by the movements of the body, and the salacious appearance of the countenance, and even the language that pro- ceeds from the lips." They, indeed, use the most las. civious language and gestures, even invite men with- out distinction, and abuse them if they repel their advances. The diseases also of the matrix and mammae occur chiefly amongst unmarried females. Old maids are especially liable to these diseases, because their organs have not fulfilled their functions. Schirrous indura- tions and cancers often form in these parts, especially at the final cessation of the catamenia. Hydatids also form in the matrix or ovaries, so as to resemble pregnancy. SECTION III. NECESSITY OF INTERMARRIAGE. Friedlander observes, "It is a very difficult, and a very delicate question to decide, whether there are cases in which it is absolutely necessary to favour the 100 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. union of the sexes at a very early age, for the purpose of arresting the evil effects of unnatural indulgences. I think, however, that our country and climate afford very few instances of passions so violent and precoci. ous as to require premature marriages. Suppose an imagination constantly agitated by images of love, and inflamed by absorption of the reproductive liquid, it may still be diverted from sensual ideas, and the effervescence be directed to poetical compositions," &c. Now, no man is more deeply impressed than this writer with the frequency and the fatal effects of un- natural indulgences; and, that being the case, his estimate of early marriage must be alarming indeed. Its evils, I believe, are only those imposed by an arti- ficial state of society, and the unequal distribution of wealth. And as to poetical composition as a cure, it would evidently be only adding fuel to the fire. When all the thoughts of the young man begin to be occupied by the desire of pleasure, every hour that passes adds to desire; almost every individual of the opposite sex seems fascinating to him; his heart pal. pitates when they approach ; and a flame seems to fly through all his members. Even during the night, the physical condition of the external organs necessary to reproduction annoys him, and his sleep is often de- stroyed. Gratification or disease inevitably follows.— Of the young woman, however modified her affec tions, the same is true. Marriage ought, then, to succeed the celibacy of earlier life—Marriage, says Buffon, " is man's natu- ral state after puberty. This is, therefore, the period NECESSITY OF INTERMARRIAGE. 101 when the female, pressed by a new want, and excited to employ her faculties, should renounce that inexpe- rience in love which was becoming in tranquil youth." Of young men, under these circumstances, Kames, in a manly and philosophic spirit, says more in detail, " I have often been tempted to find fault with Provi- dence in bringing so early to perfection the carnal appetite, while a man, still in early youth, has ac- quired no degree of prudence nor of self-command. It rages, indeed, the most when young men should be employed in acquiring knowledge, and in fitting them- selves for living comfortably in the world. I have set this thought in various lights ; but I now perceive that the censure is without foundation. The early ripe- ness of this appetite proves it to be the intention of Providence, that people should early settle in matri- mony. In that state, the appetite is abundantly mo- derate, and gives no obstruction to education. It never becomes unruly, till one, forgetting the matri. monial tie, wanders from object to object. It is pride and luxury that dictate late marriages ; industry never fails to afford the means of living comfortably, pro- vided men confine themselves to the demands of na- ture." Taking up the subject at this very point, Dr. John. son says, " I have been told that late marriages are not eminently happy. This is a question too impor- tant to be neglected, and I have often proposed it to those whose accuracy of remark and comprehensive- ness of knowledge, made their suffrages worthy of regard. They have generally determined, that it is dangerous for a man and woman to suspend their fate 9* 102 RELATIONS LEADING TO INTERMARRIAGE. upon each other, at a time when opinions are fixed, and habits arc established; when friendships have been contracted on both sides, when life has been planned into method, and the mind has long enjoyed the contemplation of its own prospects. " It is scarcely possible that two travelling through the world under the conduct of chance, should have been both directed to the same path, and it will not often happen that either will quit the tract which custom has made pleasing. When the desultory levity of youth has settled into regularity, it is soon succeeded by pride ashamed to yield, or obstinacy de. lighting to contend. And even though mutual esteem produces mutual desire to please, time itself, as it mo. difies unchangeably the external mien, determines likewise the direction of the passions, and gives an inflexible rigidity to the manners. Long customs are not easily broken: he that attempts to change the course of his own life, very often labours in vain, and how shall we do that for others which we are seldom able to do for ourselves ?" "Those who marry at an advanced age, will proba- bly escape the encroachments of their children ; but, in diminution of this advantage, they will be likely to leave them, ignorant and helpless, to a guardian's mercy: or, if that should not happen, they must at least go out of the world before they see those whom they love best either wise or great. "From their children, if they have less to fear, they have less also to hope, and they lose, without equiva. lent, the joys of early love, and the convenience of uniting with manners pliant, and minds susceptible NECESSITY OF INTERMARRIAGE. 103 of new impressions, which might wear away their dissimilitudes by long cohabitation, as soft bodies, by continual attrition, conform their surfaces to each other." As to young women more especially, it is certain, that the happiest effects must result to those of an erotic temperament, excited by diet, inactivity, and everything that can stimulate desire. When hyster- ism especially is caused by unsatisfied love, the advice of Hippocrates is as applicable as ever :—"Ego autor sum ut virgines hoc malo (chlorosi) laborantes, quam celerrime cum viris conjugantur, iisqua cohabitent; si enim conceperint, convalescent." Uterine epilepsy also ceases with marriage. Lan- zoni gives the case of a widow of thirty-one, who, after the death of her husband, was subject to attacks of epilepsy twice a month :—" After she had, for some time, followed medical advice without benefit, I ad- vised her to marry a second time. The widow fol- lowed my advice, and made choice of a young and loving husband; and the epileptic attacks disappeared and never returned." In these epileptic convulsions of young women, women neglected, &c, many authors have not hesi- tated to recommend what is contrary to our notions of propriety. And to those that object, F. Hoffman distinctly says, " I am aware that we ought not to do ill to produce good ; but this is my answer: of two evils equally inevitable, it is our duty to choose the least—others will perhaps add, and the least painful." The same means, we are told, has often cured uter. ine cholics, and nervous diseases. 104 Delations leading to intermarriage. It is evident that the cure of nymphomania must consist in marriage. The fact that such diseases are the result of conti- nence, is nature's declaration that marriage is the sole method of curing them; and Pinel justly exclaims, " What can be done by medical art, which always looks at human nature independently of social institu- tions, if the immutable laws of fecundity and of re. production are perverted!" When, therefore, a young marriageable maiden exhibits symptoms of the approach of any of these diseases, she should, if possible, be united to the object of her affections. Such symptoms then speedily disap- pear ; health and happiness take their place ; and there is preserved to her family and to society, a being who may be one of their most amiable and valuable mem- bers. There are indeed young girls, observes a medical writer, " sufficiently artful to counterfeit hysteric epi. lepsy and other affections for which they have heard marriage recommended as the only remedy, in the hope of being inducted into that state." But, if they employ such a subterfuge, is it not a proof of the in- tensity of their desires, sufficient to give us cause to fear that, in yielding to the transports of their pas- sion, they may shortly experience in reality the trouble and disorder they have counterfeited for the moment! Independently of morbid affections which marriage removes, it augments the energy of the sanguineous system; the distended arteries carry warmth and ani. mation throughout the body; the muscles become more vigorous; the walk is freer; the voice firmer • NECESSITY of intermarriage. 105 the demeanour unembarrassed; in short, the sanguine temperament predominates. Of the greater chances of longevity possessed by married people, sufficient reason may be found in de- sires at once gratified and rendered moderate, in the activity required for the support of a family, in regu- larity of occupations, in the certainty of ever having a friend and confidant, in the endearing attentions lavished upon each other, and in mutual succours dur- ing every affliction and infirmity. It must not, however, be forgotten, that manifest as may be the impulses of Nature, and great as may be the desire of complying with her wishes, several causes may oppose these, and neglect of them may still more surely prove fatal to the health or life of the maiden. Marriage would, for instance, be deeply injurious before the young woman is in a condition to perform its functions. In our climate, young girls who are married before the age of from twenty to twenty-five, are ill adapted to sustain the crisis of pregnancy, de- livery and suckling; beauty departs; enfeeblement and nervous affections ensue; and these impede the general growth. The limbs, consequently, are shorter; and, though the body is less affected as to develope- ment, the breaking up is greater. Other insurmountable obstacles to marriage, arising from such choices as ensure misery to the married couple, disease or insanity in children, &c, will be described in the sequel of this work. PART III. CIRCUMSTANCES RESULTING FROM THE PRE- CEDLN'G RELATIONS, AND CONNECTED WITH OR PRODUCTIVE OF, PROGENY. SECTION I. NATURAL PREFERENCE OF TIIE VARIOUS KINDS OV BEAUTY FOR TIIE FIRST TIME EXPLAINED. There is a positive and a relative beauty: in other words, beauty differs not only in the two sexes, and in every individual in each sex, but each individual forms a different estimate of it in relation to himself. Hence, while he confesses the supremacy of a general model of beauty, and grants the superiority of the woman who most nearly approaches it, he, for him- self, decides in favour of another woman whose beauty is less regular, but more suitable to his desires. This curious fact has been often noticed, but never explained. Madame Necker says, "It is easy to assio-n a rea- son why a female appears generally beautiful, but it would be impossible to understand what renders her NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED- 107 more agreeable to one person than to another. How can we explain this unknown connexion between our organs and the object perceived ? As well might we inquire why red is preferred to black!"* Sir Walter Scott advances a little further:—«As unions are often formed betwixt couples differing in complexion and stature, they take place still more fre- quently betwixt persons totally differing in feelings, in tastes, in pursuits, and in understanding; [functional is never more frequent than structural difference,] and it would not be saying, perhaps, too much, to aver, that two-thirds of the marriages around us have been contracted betwixt persons, who, judging a priori, we should have thought had scarce any charms for each other, [because, on this subject, principles have not been sought for.] " A moral and primary cause might be easily as- signed for these anomalies, in the wise dispensations of Providence, that the general balance of wit, wis- dom and amiable qualities of all kinds, should be kept up through society at large. For, what a world were it, if the wise were to intermarry only with the wise, the learned with the learned, the amiable with the amiable, nay, even the handsome with the handsome t and, is it not evident, that the degraded castes of the foolish, the ignorant, the brutal, and the deformed *On pcut bi«n dire pourquoi une femme parait gendralement belle, mala 11 scrait impossible de trouver la raisin qui la rend plus agreable a pcrsonna qu'a une autre. Comment expliqiier ce rapport inconnu entre nos organea et I'objet qu'ils apcrroivent I Cost vouloir decouvrir pourquoi Ton prefer* le rouge au noir. 108 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENY. (comprehending, by the way, far the greater portion of mankind,) must, when condemned to exclusive intercourse with each other, become gradually as much brutalized in person and disposition as so many ourang-outangs ? When, therefore, we see the «gen- tie joined with the rude,' we may lament the fate of the suffering individual, but we must not the less ad. mire the mysterious disposition of that wise ProvU dence which thus balances the moral good and evil of life,—which secures for a family, unhappy in the dis- positions of one parent, a share of better and sweetei blood, transmitted from the other, and preserves to the offspring the affectionate care and protection of at least one of those from whom it is naturally due. [If this were true, then would the dispensation of Provi- dence be counteracted, if the wise man married not a foolish woman, the learned man an ignorant one, the amiable man a brutal one, &c.—all which is ab. surd.] " When, indeed, we look a little closer on the causes of those unexpected and ill-suited attachments, we have occasion to acknowledge, that the means by which they are produced do not infer that complete departure from, or inconsistency with, the character of the parties, which we might expect when the result alone is contemplated. The wise purposes which Providence appears to have had in view, by permit- ting such intermixture of dispositions, tempers and understandings, in the married state, are not accom- plished by any mysterious impulse by which, in con. tradiction to the ordinary laws of nature, men and women are urged to an union with those whom the NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED. 109 world see to be unsuitable to them. The freedom of will is permitted to us in the occurrences of ordinary life, as in our moral conduct; and in the former as well as in the latter case, is often the means of mis- guiding those who possess it. Thus it usually hap- pens, more especially to the enthusiastic and imagina- tive, that, having formed a picture of admiration in their own mind, they too often deceive themselves by some faint resemblance of some existing being, whom their fancy as speedily as gratuitously invests with all the attributes necessary to complete the beau ideal of mental perfection. [This view is ingenious, and ap- proaches nearer to truth.] No one, perhaps, even in the happiest marriage, with an object really beloved, ever found all the qualities he expected to possess; but, in far too many cases, he finds he has practised a much higher degree of mental deception, and has erected his airy castle of felicity upon some rainbow, which owed its very existence only to the peculiar state of the atmosphere. " It is scarce necessary to add, that these observa tions apply exclusively to what are called love-match. es; for when either party fix their attachment upon the substantial comforts of a rental, or a jointure, they cannot be disappointed in the acquisition, al. though they may be cruelly so in their over-estima- tion of the happiness it was to afford, or in having too slightly anticipated the disadvantages with which it was to be attended." The question, however, is—Whence comes the mental picture supposed by Scott ? What relation has 10 110 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENY. it to the organization of the painter of it 7 What is its respective character ? Rousel somewhat similarly says, "This difference of taste is derived from this, that each has in himself a model with which he compares the objects which strike him; and this model varies according as he is disposed to mix more or less of the moral with the physical of love, or according to the images under which pleasure is presented to us for the first time. The physical impulse may be so powerful that it di- vests us of all the moral proprieties, to present to us only material objects. Then it may occur that, even in these, we sacrifice elegance to other relations more intimately connected with the vividness of desire, or with the sentiment which we have of its power. On the contrary, those in whom the action of these last causes is more moderate, will seek, in moral considera- tions, a supplement to the pleasures of nature: the qualities of the mind, announced always by the fea. tures, the figure, the deportment, the gestures, the sound of the voice, will make upon them an impres. sion so much the more vivid as they have more analo. gy with their character." This only further tells us, that we, in different degrees, prefer physical or moral qualities. But the question is—Why do we prefer them ? Besides, there are great varieties in each of these kinds of qualities; and the question again is—Why is each particular quality preferred by a different individual ? The reply demands a different mode of procedure, at well as a more minute and careful investigation. Preference as to ages may first be considered. NATURAL PREFERENCES EXPLAINED. Ill In my work, entitled, "Beauty, illustrated CHIEFLY BY AN ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF Beauty in Woman," it has been shown that, though one particular species of beauty will be found at all times to predominate in each individual woman, yet that there is ever a tendency, in the young woman, to beauty of the locomotive system : in the middle-aged woman, to beauty of the vital or nutritive system; and, in the older woman, to beauty of the mental or thinking system. It is not less remarkable, that men of various ages generally admire precisely those species of beauty which prevail in women at corresponding ages. The young man admires beauty of the locomotive; the middle-aged man, beauty of the vital;—and the older man, beauty of the mental system. Wieland, in his letters of Aristippus, has pointed out these diversities, though not quite accurately; and, in quoting him, I shall therefore supply the words required to express them more perfectly. The extract is valuable, as showing how far a man without systematic knowledge or accurate nomenclature, had, from feeling and experience, discovered the truth. " Nature has wisely varied our tastes, as she has varied our features; but, in addition to this natural variety, there is another, the offspring of age, or rather of experience. "I have observed, that the youth, the full-grown man, and the old man, independently of personal tastes and circumstances, differ in their opinion with regard to the beauty of women. " The youth is always attracted by a pretty face, 112 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENY. enchanted with pleasing or regular features, [he should have added—and a slender and light figure—locomo. tive beauty,] and sees no beauty but that. As he knows not enjoyment, he is not aware that a pretty face is the very thing of which a lover is soonest tired; he knows not that this presents fewer resources and incitements to pleasure than any other charm." Independent of the omission supplied above, there is an error here as to the value of a pretty face. Men who write on such subjects, should be perpetually on their guard against the influence of particular female association over their notions of beauty. Whenever a man fails to appreciate any species of beauty, he should suspect his judgment, and ought to be suspected by others. Herrin Wieland was doubtless the beau ideal of this description ; and her other good qualities were doubtless sufficient to render a pretty face not indispensable. " The adult man, who has been often deceived, has learnt, to his cost, that a pretty face should be regard. ed only as a fine sign that attracts but often deceives the traveller; he knows that which deceives not are the graces; he knows especially that the only thing which never palls, which seems ever fresh, and daily procures new enjoyments, and whose charm never de. cays, (or at all events very late,) is a soft skin, forms that the eye is never tired of beholding, or the hand of caressing, and which seem to possess the magic power of incessantly awakening in the breast desire which seemed torpid or even extinct, [that is, beauty of the vital system.] " As to old men, who have long retired from the NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED. 113 worship of the face, [and figure,] but find themselves also compelled to relinquish that of [vital] forms, [in- cluding the embonpoint above implied,] they generally find attraction in countenances that b^peak goodness, complaisance and intelligence, [beauty of the mental 6ystem,] that is to say, all the qualities that are neces- sary to them, and all the charms they are still enabled to enjoy." As, however, woman is more precocious than man, she becomes more advanced in reference to sex, than man at the same age; and consequently, to be duly matched to her husband, the wife should be the younger. Of this admiration, then, and the consequent pre- ference, modified as it is by age, it is necessary that the foundation should be explained. That foundation appears to be the similarity of objects and interests which are inseparable from similar periods of life, the association of these with a similar intensity of desire, the consequent production of similar sympathy, and the resolve that it shall be permanent. This admiration and preference of corresponding ages secure, in their turn, those objects and interests without which there could be no happy superstructure ; and whenever this law is much violated, it will be found that the pecuniary or other interests of one or both have been preferred to better ones. Suitable states of the vital system happily accom- pany this sympathy, admiration and preference as to ages. This is of the greatest consequence as to chil- dren, their rearing, maintenance and provision—the great purpose for which these sentiments exist. 10* 114 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF TROGENY. Public opinion, however vague, is formed on all these views, however obscurely perceived; and, in its turn, serves to vindicate and confirm them. It would appear, then, that sympathy, admiration and preference being thus formed, each sex naturally and necessarily seeks next, not for qualities which are its own, but for those of which it is not in possession. It seeks not these, however, in other species, where not only due adaptation for sexual purposes, but all relations of sympathy are wanting. It seeks them the less even in the varieties of its species, that such adaptation and relation are very defective, as will be shown in the sequel. No being, then, can desire that of which it is al. ready in possession ; and the preference of that which is different from itself is founded on the absolute ne- cessity of difference to all excitement. An animal cannot feel sexual excitement towards itself; it can feel little toward that which is like itself; it must feel most toward that which is most unlike it. There is a beautiful analogy in this respect in phy. sical nature. The attraction of affinity takes place between opposite or totally different bodies, as acids and alcalis, &c. This is one of the links by which the science?, vul. garly distinguished as physical sciences and moral sciences, are in reality closely connected, and consti- tute one universal science, as I shall show in Outlines of a Natural System of Science, to which all the leisure I have been able to obtain in life has been de- voted, and of which the present and other works are but a few leaves. The originality of that work will NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED. 115 not, in any one of its portions, be less than that of the present work in all its fundamental principles. Numerous and fundamental as they thus are, if inac- curate or false, they will be worthless; if true, they must affect the general aspect of science. Mr. Knight, whose great observing faculties and vast experience, well entitle him to be heard on this subject, attests the effects produced on progeny by the existence in parents of the differences here alluded to. In a letter of the 1st of December last, he says, "I am disposed to think that the most powerful human minds will be found in offspring of parents of differ- ent hereditary constitutions. I prefer a male of a different colour from the breed of the female, where that can be obtained; and I think that I have seen fine children produced in mere than one instance, where one family has been dark and the other fair. I am sure that I have witnessed the bad effects of mar- riages between two individuals very similar to each other in character and colour, and springing from ancestry of similar character. Such have appeared to me to be like marriages between brothers and sis- ters." Man consequently looks for delicacy, flexibility and gentleness in his mate ; woman, for strength, firmness and power. This is, indeed, a natural and happy protection against unnatural and infamous indul- gences. As this involves the consideration of beauty in wo. man, I again refer to the work on Beauty, of which the title has been given, for more correct notions of 110 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENY. beauty, generally considered, than are commonly en. tertained. In the locomotive system, man generally prefers a less stuture ; woman a taller. Love from a man to- wards a masculine woman, would be felt by him as an unnatural association with one of his own sex; and an effeminate man is equally repugnant to woman, whose weakness seeks support in the wants which it feels, or in the dangers which it imagines. If unluckily an unnatural condition occur—if sex. ual proportions be reversed, by man being little, and woman tall, even those opposites will be accepted or sought for. An effeminate man is indeed better matched with a masculine woman who sustains the character of which he is incapable. But, for him, it is a despicable position. In the vital system, the dry seek the humid; the meagre, the plump; the hard, the softer; the rough, the smoother; the warmer, the colder; the dark, the fairer, &c, upon the same principles; and so also, if here any of the more usual sexual qualities are re versed, the opposite ones will be accepted or sought for. In the mental system, the irritable seek the calm the grave, the gay ; the impassioned, the modest; the impetuous, the gentle, dec.; or, in opposite cases, the opposite. In all, it is not what we possess in ourselves; it is something different, something new, something capa- ble of exciting, which is sought for; and this con- forms to the fundamental difference of the sexes NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED. 117 The same principle operates with reference to mar. riages between persons closely related. Moreover, other sentiments existing from infancy, in consequence of such relationship, tend powerfully to diminish phy- sical love, or to produce the most injurious effects. Incest amongst the Persians, permitted by Zoroaster, produced either diseased or degenerate offspring, or ab- solute sterility, as we see in breeding in-and-in among animals. A remarkable illustration of this occurred to the writer, at a time when he was less acquainted than he now is, with the differences of taste in this respect, and with their causes. Observing, in a tlamsgate steam-boat by which he travelled, a gentleman who was characterised, as far as man well can be, by beau- ty of the vital system—not certainly the most suita- ble to man, but who was nevertheless so good-looking as to attract general observation, he could not help saying to himself, " If that gentleman has a sister, she is no doubt a delightful creature—her fine flaxen hair,—the sweet and innocent expression of her face,—her soft blue eyes,—the velvet texture of her skin,—the rose and lily of her complexion,—her softly rounded shoulders,"—when his ear was struck by the words, " I admire the women of Kent," and, looking up, he saw they were uttered by the very man whose sister had suggested the preceding train of reflection! " Are they not," said the astonished writer, " in gene. ral a little too tall ?" " O ! not at all," said this rather short gentleman ; " I admire a tall woman ?" " Are they not," said the writer, " a little too thin ?" " Not more so, I think," said this fat gentleman, " than is 118 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF TROGENV. essential to elegance!" "Are they not," said the writer, " a little too dark ?" " Ah," said this fair gen. tleman, " I admire a brunette !" " Perhaps," said the writer, confounded and vexed at all this,—" perhaps you also admire the occasionally roughish voices and slight mustaches of their cousins, the French women of the opposite coast ?" " That," exclaimed this ra- thcr womanly-looking gentleman,—" that is the very thing I am delighted with!" After this, as the writer then thought frightful perversion of ideas, the conver- sation dropped. Thus, then, the points of resemblance and agree. ment as to age, and those of difference and disagree. ment as to all other qualities, are accounted for. It will be seen, however, how manifold and power. ful are these differences and disagreements a3 to a" sexual qualities; and it consequently will not be won- dered, if, in a matter which regards the sexes, the love of such difference and disagreement overcome, under certain circumstances, the consideration of agreement as to age. It has been seen, that the desire of conformity in age springs out of the first notion of want, love, sym. pathy, and especially of resolve of permanent posses. sion. If, however, under any circumstances, the idea of permanence is got rid of, even difference of age may obviously be desired. Hence, in temporary attach. ments, such difference is sometimes actually sought— the elder of either sex seek the young ; and the young the elder. As, during youth, even women who are not abso- Iutely beautiful have some charms, and afford the con. NATURAL PREFERENCE EXPLAINED. iiO trasts desired, we see that such women are sought by men in advanced age.—The zeal, however, with which this is desired, has been justly observed to be the measure of decline. It has already appeared, that the vital system is the most essential to woman, and that, in middle life, there is always a tendency to beauty of that species. This is the cause of another deviation from the gene. ral preference just described, by which the young sometimes, and especially those whose irritable minds seek a kind of voluptuous repose, prefer, by an appa- rent anomaly, women of more advanced age and more developed vital system. Even in this case, however, the preference is but a partial one. It is a passion which expires with its gratification, and which its subject would perhaps blush to acknowledge. In all that is temporary in love, there are even physical causes of such preferences, which it would not be proper here to discuss. There are also both physical and moral consequences of these preferences, which it would be equally improper to enter upon. Thus love does net depend on abstract beauty, but on such differences as are consistent with an instinct. ive feeling of suitableness, which deeply affects us, which first acts upon and agitates the imagination, and that faculty afterwards acts upon and aggrandises. The rapidity of these effects depends on individual temperament, so that sometimes a sudden and violent passion is produced by first sight. Sometimes an accidental, subordinate and injurious difference, and the association founded upon it, influ- ence this affection; and, by a strange blunder, the 120 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENY. mere accidental circumstance, in after life, is substi. tuted for that with which it was associated. Hence, even Descartes, a man capable of discrimination in other things, said that all squinting women pleased him, because the first woman he had loved had that defect. From both these causes, the circumstance arises, that we frequently see women, in spite of ugliness and the absence of other commendations, attract and en. gage in marriage men who might have commanded beauty, accomplishment and fortune. Certain it is, that love, thus excited by differences, is favourable to fecundity; and those marriages in which it exists, are always more prolific than such as are founded on interest. Hence, while a married couple have been known to be sterile, each, after di- vorce, has become prolific with an individual of oppo- site constitution; and it is stated, that Congress was abolished, in the seventeenth century, owing to the circumstance of M. de Langeais, incapable of the duties of marriage with his own wife, being very fruit- ful with another lady better suited to him. Thus, while, in love, similarity is required as to the variety of species and as to age, difference is looked for in all other respects, and is necessary not only to its existence, but to all its best effects. Hence the practical observation has been made, that if persons of similar temperament are joined together, as Vol. taire and Madame de Chatelet, who could neither quit nor endure each other long, this similitude both pro- duces a series of quarrels, and becomes a remarkable cause of sterility. STATE OF MARRIAGE. 121 The beneficial tendency of this love of difference does not terminate here : it leads to those slight crosses in intermarriage between persons of different organi- zation, which are as essential to the improvement of the races of men as we have found them to be to those of animals. It is the operation of this principle, an operation which may be morally less desirable, that, acting most powerfully when the passion of love is strongest and the system most vigorous, seeks to exhaust itself in that variety which is to be found even in a succes- sion of objects. Indeed, every moral error or impru. dence of this kind originates in a natural law. SECTION II. STATE OF MARRIAGE. Marriage is the result of the preference which has just been described; and in its first act, the neglect of care, management and patience may produce se- rious injury. In general, danger is less a few days after the catamenia, in other respects the proper period. Dr. Plazoni describes the case of a young woman in whom the vulvo-uterine canal was ruptured; and Diemerbroek states, that two young Dutch women died of hemorrhage. It is at this moment, that the Fallopian tubes be- come active : their fimbriae clasp the ovaries, forming a tubular communication between these and the ma- ll 122 CIRCUMSTANCES PRODUCTIVE OF PROGENT. trix; and an ovum, detached by the excitement, enters the open mouth of one of the tubes, and by it is slowly conveyed to the matrix; after which tho wound thus made on the surface of the ovary, is closed with a cicatrix, and leaves behind a corpus luteum. It is probably at the moment of spasm by which the ovum is burst from the ovarium, that takes place the general shudder which women of great sen. sibility feel at conception. It has been inquired, says Beck, "whether preg. nancy may follow defloration ? I apprehend that this is to be answered in the affirmative, although the instances are comparatively rare. It is quite com- mon, in cases of seduction, to swear that there has been only a single coitus ; and although this may be doubted in some, yet, in others, there is hardly just ground to disbelieve a solemn affirmation. It also has occasionally, I presume, occurred to most physi. cians, on comparing the term of gestation with the period of marriage, to render it probable that the pregnancy must have happened at the earliest possi- ble term." This, I believe, has been too easily con. ceded. The phenomena, above described, are succeeded by a sinking, which is proportioned to the previous ex- citement, and which endures for a short tim^. The nervous and muscular systems fall into collapse, and the countenance expresses apathy and wonder. Love, however, by satisfying desire, restores to the vital or. gans regular action, and to the mind tranquillity, and a tendency to repose. The first acts of love tend to complete the develops STATE OF MARRIAGE. 123 ment of the organs of which they are the functions. The sympathetic swelling of glandular parts, especial- ly in the neck and mammae, is often their consequence. Hence, in ancient times, physicians considered the increased thickness of the neck in young women, as a sign of defloration; and they were wrong only in regarding it as certain. On the subject of force, I quote the observations of Beck,—changing, however, both in him and some other writers here quoted, all coarse and indelicate terms employed by them. "I have intimated that doubts exist whether vio- lence can succeed against a grown female, in good health and strength. . . . The opinion of medical jurists is generally very decisive against it. Metzger allows only of three cases in which the crime can be consummated:— where narcotics have been administered,—.where sev- eral are engaged against the female,—and where a strong man attacks one v/ho is not arrived at the age of puberty. " It may with justice be supposed, that, in addition to the cases allowed, fear or terror may operate on a helpless female,—she may resist for a long time, and then faint from fatigue, or the dread of instant mur- der may lead to the abandonment of active resist- ance." Dr. A. T. Thomson, in his lectures, agrees in the main with the author I have quoted. He sugges Dr. Robert Lee, Dr. Sweatman, and Mr. Hallion, inform me that twins are generally alike in physiog- nomical character, especially if of the same sex. 233 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. This observation is also popular.—" Is thiV says Mary to Catherine Seyton, in the Abbot, "thy twin. brother as like thee in form and features as former. ly?" Dr. Copland has mentioned to me a case lately in the Middlesex Hospital, of twins of the same sex, both alike, and both having an enlargement of the spleen— by no means a common disease in children. The sexual character of progeny is less frequently the same—doubtless because the more or less abund. ant secretion on which it depends, is divisible in va. rious degrees. Dr. Collins, in his Midwifery, gives a table contain. ing 240 cases of twins, of which 140 were of the same sex and 100 of different scxe.s. Here, of the same sex, there is a predominance of 40; and it may fairly be said that there is a tendency toward the same sex. V. Law of Maternal Nutrition. A certain degree of likeness generally pervades the countenances of all the children of a family. At first sight, it would seem that there should be no resemblance between those children who have the father's forehead and mother's backhead, and those who have the father's backhead and the mother's fore- head, for they have no part in common.—But such resemblance exists. On close and frequent observation, it will be seen that this resemblance is always a maternal one, or has a maternal character; and it is doubtless derived from the circumstance that the whole of the children CIRCI MSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. 239 of a family, arc, previous to birth, nurtured by the same mother, and generally suckled by her afterwards. This resemblance, accordingly, disappears where children have at once the opposite organization and different mothers. SECTION II. CIRCUMSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. Some modifications are dependent on age. It may, in the first place, be observed, that no child greatly resembles its parents at birth; and that the similarity of its features to those of its father or mother, is greatly increased as it increases in growth. In various states of the developement of functions, a child will even resemble one parent more at one time, and the other at another time. Every child, however, even at birth, resembles most the parent who gives the forehead and organs of sense, and gradually becomes liker the other parent as it advances in life, because the reaction of the cerebel is then more manifested. A child is most like the parents after puberty, both because this is the age at which the child begins to resemble the adult, and because the physiognomical character is then fixed. Some modifications are dependent on sex. As the backhead is proportionally smaller in woman 240 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. than in man, its size, when communicated by the foi rner to a male child, is always exaggerated. Some modifications are dependent on the influence of the new parts added by the other parent. If to a given forehead, a more projecting backhead and cerebel be added, the forehead will, in the pro- geny, be elevated and projected. The influence of the cerebel in elevating the fore. head, is evidently exerted through the cerebellic ring, Ace.—as will appear from my work on " The Nervous System." If, to a given forehead, a broader backhead and cerebel be added, the forehead in the progeny will be broadened—by similar means. If to a round face, a more projecting backhead and cerebel be added, the face will, in the progeny, be elongated and projected inferiorly. The influence of the cerebel in lengthening the face, is probably exerted through the facial voluntary nerves. If to a narrow face, a broader backhead and cerebel be added, the face, in the progeny, will be broadened —by similar means. The influence of the cerebel over the muscular parts of the face falls under the first law of resemblance, and was there described. The nose, I should, however, observe, sometimes presents an apparent anomaly. Not only may one parent modify the form of that organ as given by the other, as its more moveable extremity, but, in some in. stances, the middle part of the nose, by the influence of the new combination of organs, rises, or falls, (1 CIRCUMSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS.' 241 Bhould rather say, retains through life its infantile form,) so as to deviate from both parents. There are children, we are told, who do not resem- ble their father, but their grand-father; and there are nephews who resemble their uncles or aunts. This fact has been noticed by Lucretius :— " Fit quoque ut lnterdum similies existere avorura Possint, et refeient proavorum sspc figuras; Propterea quia multa modis primordia multia Mista suo celant In corpore saepe parentes, Quae patribus patres tradunt a stirpe profectm. Inde Venus varift producit sorte figuras, Majorumquc refert voltus, vocesque, comasque." The term Atavism has been adopted to describe this appearance, prevailing throughout animal races, and by some supposed to prevail among plants. M. De Candolle, however, does not consider the latter fact as fully established, but thinks it probable from analogy, and as serving, if true, to explain some re- markable appearances. On this subject, Dr. Pritchard says, " In general the peculiarities of the individual are transmitted to his immediate descendants: in other instances, they have been observed to re-appear in a subsequent generation, after having failed, through the operation of some cir- cumstances quite inexplicable, to show themselves in the immediate progeny." M Nor less inexplicable," says Dr. M. Good, «* is the generative power of transmitting peculiarities of tal- ents, of form, or of defects in a long line of hereditary descent, and occasionally of suspending the peculiari- ty through a link or two, or an individual or two, with an apparent capriciousness, and then ef exhibiting it 21 242 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. once more in full vigour. The vast influence, which this recondite, but active power, possesses, as well over the mind as the body, cannot, at all times, escape the notice of the most inattentive. Not only are wit, beauty and genius, propagable in this manner, but dulness, madness and deformity of every kind." Mr. Blaine observes, that " if it were not for the irregularities which occasionally occur by mental in. fluence, we might be led to conclude, that a family character was originally imprinted on the reproduc. tive organs, or that the ova or germs of the future race were formed after one common hereditary mould; for it is often observed, not only among dogs, but among other domestic animals, and even in man, that their progeny bear a greater resemblance to the gran. dam or grand-father than to their immediate parents. . . . This tendency is greatest in the accidental varieties or breeds, in which a few succeeding genera. tions are sufficient to destroy all appearances of varia- tion from the original; but in breeds more nearly approaching the original, as well as such as have been long established, it requires a much longer time wholly to degenerate them. The tendency to resume the original type is, however, inherent in all our domestic animals, and in none more than the dog; and judi- cious efforts employed to counteract this property form a principal part of the art of successful breeding in rural economy." The resemblance of a child to its grand-father or grand-mother, or to its uncle or aunt, has in it nothing mysterious; but depends upon one of its parents in- troducing a tendency to some feature, a thicker or CIRCUMSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. 243 thinner lip, a longer or shorter nose, and darker or ighter eye, which was lost in the parent more imme- diately connected with those relatives, and which, now again introduced, calls into action modifications of form and function which in that parent were at least rendered subordinate, and consequently obscure, by other and more dominating ones. As to the ten- dency among domesticated animals, mentioned by Mr. Blaine, it is a mere re-formation of the original breeds by man without his being aware of it, as has been already explained ; and it is very natural that it should be least observed in breeds which are likest the original. " The ancients," says Camper, " thought that the child was susceptible, solely through the effects of the mother's imagination, of acquiring a likeness to a particular individual at the very moment of concep- tion, although they were not otherwise ignorant of the fact, that fecundation takes place unknown to the parents. The moderns have carried this power of the imagination still further : they have maintained, even obstinately, that the child already conceived may be injured or modified by the mother's imagina- tion, even up to the moment of the birth." . . . '•The human race," adds Camper, "would indeed be much to be pitied, if the fate of children depended on the foolish, depraved, and frequently insane imagina. tion of the father or mother." For the likeness of a child to one who nhould not bave been the father, it would be very fail to admit the reason, that the mother's imagination was occu- pied with him at the moment of conception, though 244 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. it might be ridiculous enough to regard that as a suf. ficient excuse for the resemblance. But as to the modern notion of the influence of imagination, it ii not so destitute of foundation as Camper supposes. Roussel remarks, that " children have been subject all their lives to convulsions, in consequence of their mothers having been, during pregnancy, struck with terror or some other powerful emotion. Haller, in. deed, observed that, from the want of nerves to estab- lish a communication between the mother and the foetus,—nerves which are the only means by which the movements of the mind can be transmitted, the mother cannot cause the infant to experience the im. pressions which she feels. But if, by his own ac. knowledgment, a mother may communicate to her in. fant the convulsions into which extreme terror has thrown her, it is evident that the mother may com. municate her affections to the foetus without the in. termediate assistance of nerves." Some remarkable instances of the influence of ma. ternal imagination have been observed among female quadrupeds. An Arabian mare, belonging to the Earl of Morton, which had never been bred from before, after having a mule by a quagga, had, in succession, three foals by a black Arabian horse. The first two of these are described as follows.—They have the character of the Arabian breed as decidedly as can be expected; but, both in their colour, and in the hair of their manes, they have a striking resemblance to the quagga. Their colour is bay, marked more or less liko thl quagga in a darker tint; and both are distinguishet| CIRCUMSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. 245 oy the dark line along the ridge of the back, the dark stripes across the forehead, and the dark bars across the back part of the legs. Both their manes are black: that of the filly is short, stiff, and stands upright; that of the colt is long, but so stiff as to arch upwards, and to hang clear of the sides of the neck, in which it re- sembles the hybrid : this is the more remarkable, as the manes of the Arabian breed hang lank, and closer to the neck, than those of most others. The explanation of these phenomena by Mr. Mayo is, that the connexion with the male produces a phy- sical impression, not merely upon the ova, which are ripe for impregnation, but upon others likewise, that arc at the time immature. As, however, there are ample proofs of the power of the mother's imagination among quadrupeds, especially over colour, this explan- ation is very improbable. « Some physiologists," says Mr. Knight (4, Decem- ber,) " have been disposed to think, that the imagina. tion of parents operates upon the character of the off- spring. The strange fact of Lord Morton's mares having continued to produce, in a declining extent, striped horses, is perhaps, to some extent, favourable to such opinions." In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, Mr. Bos- well says, " One of the most intelligent breeders I ever met with in Scotland, Mr. Mustard, of Angus, told me that one of his cows chanced to come in sea- son, while pasturing on a field, which was bounded by that of one of his neighbours, out of which an ox jumped, and went with the cow, until she was brought home to the bull. The ox was white, with black 21* 246 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. spots, and horned. Mr. Mustard hao not a horned beast in his possession, nor one with any white on it. Nevertheless, the produce of the following spring was a black and white calf with horns." Mr. Blaine says that, "Imprinting3 which hare been received by the mother's mind previous to repro. duction, are conveyed to the germs within her, so as to stamp one or more of them with characteristic traits of resemblance to the dog from which the im. pression was taken, although of a totally different breed from the real father of the progeny. In these instances of sympathetic deviation, the form, size and character are, in most, principally the mother's; but the colour is usually the favourite's, with, perhaps, a few characteristic blendings of external resemblance intermixed. " It would appear that this mental impression, which is perhaps usually raised at some period of oestrum, always recurs at that period, and is so inter. woven with the organization even, as to become a stamp or mould for some if not all of her future pro- geny ; and the existence of this curious anomaly in the productive system is confirmed by acts of not un- frequent occurrence. " I had a pug bitch whose constant companion was a small and almost white spaniel dog of Lord Rivers' breed, of which she was very fond. When it became necessary to separate her, on account of her oestrum, from this dog, and to confine her with one of her own kind, she pined excessively ; and notwithstanding her situation, it was sometime before she would admit of the attentions of the pug dog placed with her. At CIRCUMSTANCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. 247 I length, however, she did so; impregnation followed; and, at the usual period, she brought forth five pug puppies, one of which was elegantly white, and more slender than the others.—The spaniel was soon after- wards given away, but the impression remained; for, at two subsequent litters (which were all she after- wards had,) she presented me with a white young one, which the fanciers know to be a very rare occurrence. " The late Dr. Hugh Smith used to relate a similar instance which occurred to a favourite female setter that often followed his carriage. On one occasion, when travelling in the country, she became suddenly so enamoured of a mongrel that followed her, that, to separate them, he was forced, or rather his anger irri- tated him, to shoot the mongrel, and he then proceeded on his journey. The image of this sudden favourite, however, still haunted the bitch, and for some weeks after, she pined excessively, and obstinately refused intimacy with any other dog. At length, she accepted a well-bred setter; but when she whelped, the Doctor was mortified with the sight of a litter which, he per. eeived, bore evident marks, particularly in colour, of the favoured cur, and they were accordingly destroyed. The same also occurred in all her future puppings: invariably, the breed was tainted by the lasting im. pression made by the mongrel." In the Transactions of the Linnaen Society of Lon. don, is an account, by Mr. Milne, of a pregnant cat, his own property, the end of whose tail was trodden on with so much violence, as to give the animal intense pain. When she kittened, five young ones appeared, perfect in everv other respect except the tail, which 248 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. was, in each of them, distorted near the end, and en. larged into a cartilaginous knob. Of the influence of climate, Sir Anthony Carlisle says, (16, August,) " It has been for some time noto. rious, and I think recorded in the larger volumes descriptive of the convict colony of Botany Bay, that the children of European parents there are generally born with white hair and fair complexions. Inquiries made by myself assure me, that the children of Euro. pean descent in the second generation, are almost uni. versafiy fair and white haired, nothwithstanding the colour and complexion of their parents. This was confirmed by a surgeon who was lately examined at the college, and who had resided seven years at Sidney Town as a medical man. " The same gentleman stated that the second gene. ration of European descent at Botany Bay, partook ef the ugly visages of the aboriginal inhabitants.—I rather suspect that the present descendants of the elder North American settlers, begin to resemble in figure the original Indians." That the long cohabitation and intimacy of two individuals, induces similarity of countenance, I have often observed. It is to be seen chiefly in old mar. ried couples, in the most moveable features of the face, and principally about the mouth. It is doubtless the result of sympathetic feeling and similar expression. Dr. Hancock, the American traveller (15, August,) says, "It has appeared to me that very obvioue changes are produced in a few generations, from cer- tain assimilations independently of intermarriage. We find, in negro families which have loDg dweh CIBCUMSTAKCES MODIFYING THESE LAWS. 240 with those of the whites as domestics, that successive generations become less marked in their African fea* tures, in the thick lip and flat nose ; and, with skins of a shining black, they gradually acquire the Euro- pean physiognomy. This is more especially observa- ble amongst the older settlers, and in the smaller islands, such as St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat—where there had been but small accessions of native Afri- cans. » Under such circumstances, we may often distin- guish a Dutch negro by the countenance alone. This difference can scarcely be described by words, but frequently we observe that obliquity of the eye so common to the Hollander.—I have never read or heard of any discussion on this subject; but I have long thought it curious and deserving the considera- tion of anthropologists. I cannot pretend to account for this, and I merely state the facts, which I doubt not you will find confirmed by those who have enjoyed similar opportunities of observation." On the influence of domestication, Mr. Lawrence, in his Lectures, says, " In endeavouring to account for the diversities of features, proportions, general form, stature, and other particulars, I must repeat an observation already made and exemplified in speaking Df colour: namely, that the law of resemblance be- tween parents and offspring, which preserves species, and maintains uniformity in the living part of crea- tion, suffers occasional and rare exceptions; that, un- der certain circumstances, an offspring is produced with new properties, different from those of the pro- genitors ; and that the most powerful of these causes 250 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. is that artificial mode of life which we call the state of domestication. " At present, we can only note the fact, that the do. mestic condition produces, in great abundance, not only those deviations from the natural state of the or. ganization, which constitute disease, but also those departures from the ordinary course of the gcneratire functions, which lead to the production of new che. racters in the offspring, and thus lay the foundation of new breeds. The domestic sow produces young twice a year; the wild animal, only once. The former frequently brings forth monstrous foetuses, which are unknown in the latter." In a philosophical point of view, Mr. Blaine ob. serves, "We have no such thing as a pure breed among any of our domestic animals. Our most boasted specimens are either altogether degenerated, or produced from congenital varieties : the native and original types are mostly unknown to us. " In tracing the natural history of the dog, we must feel convinced, that what we call breeds are but varic ties, which have been generated by various causes, ai climate, peculiarity in food, restraint and domestica- tion. Man, active in promoting his own benefit, hai watched these gradual alterations, and has improved and extended them by aiding the causes that tend to their production, and by future care has perpetuated and made them permanently his own. " Many varieties among dogs and other domestic animals are the effect of monstrosity, or have arisen from some anomaly in the reproductive or breeding process When these accidental varieties have exhib. EASY IMPROVEMENT OF FAMILIES. 251 ited a peculiar organization or form which could be applied to any useful or novel purpose, the objects have been reared, and afterwards bred from; and when the singularity has been observed in more than one of the same birth, it has been easy to perpetuate it by breeding again from these congeners, and confin- ing the future intercourse to them. " To these accidental variations from general form and character among dogs, we are to attribute our most diminutive breeds, our pugs, bull-dogs, wry-leg. ged terriers, and some others; our general breeds are, however, rather the effect of slow cultivation than of sudden and extraordinary production." --------------------_ ( j SECTION III. Consequent Easy Improvement of Families. I have already shown that organization is neaily indestructible, because, although the two series of or- gans in parents may be dislocated in progeny, they still exist, and enter into new combinations, or are re. formed. I have also shown that perfection is unattain. able by any race, because, long ere it could be reached, parents would resemble each other, sexual excitement would cease, and reproduction would fail. The first of these facts presents the great obstacle to the general and speedy improvement of the human race. The second proves that no advantages, limited even to privileged families, and enjoyed by them in the highest degree, would exempt them from the im- 252 LAWS OF RE6EMBLAN0E. perfection and the ills, which are in reality essential to all existence. i Neither of these facts, however, can in any degree discourage either nations or families in the career of improvement, from the highest degree of which all are so vastly remote. In relation to the first of these facts, I have said that organization is nearly indestructible, because il cannot be doubted that education, though far more slowly than zealous persons imagine, yet if general— an important condition—would slowly ameliorate it And this is one source of hope for humanity. Even without that systematic and universal educa. tion, which any enlightened government would estab. lish, we see what the education derived, amidst fright- ful hazards and infinite suffering, from the mere acci- dents of life, can accomplish. The poor man, born with happy organization, and reared in the stern school of misfortune, often becomes superior to the aristocracy of the land, who, in the destitution of talent inseparable from their education, are compelled to court his aid, especially when that can render them more secure in rank, and richer in emolument. Certain it is that families, by intermarriages found. ed on rational principles, and in conformity with the natural laws so clearly established, as prevailing equally among men and lower animals, may, surely, easily and quickly (some in their first, others in their second generation) raise themselves, in some at least of their members, from deformity to beautiful organi EASY IMPROVEMENT OF FAMILIES. 253 sation, from disease to health, and from stupidity to -high mental ability. Moreover, if the importance of judicious crossing were seen, among the variously organized tribes com- posing a nation like the British, these benefits, in moderate degree, would be proportionally extended among the mass of the people. In the subsequent part of the work, devoted to the subject of Choice, the application of these principles, in its most essential details, will be made to all the great individual varieties. It is here only meant to be shown that, on these principles, the means of improvement are in the pow- er of every family. A little reflection on the laws of descent will snow, that a son can resemble his father only in half his or- ganization. It similarly follows, that on this son in- termarrying, he may not communicate to the grandson the share which he has in his father's, but that which . he has in his mother's, conformation. Thus one-half the father's organization must be lost in the son, accident at present alone determining whether it shall be the best or the worst portion; and the other half may disappear in the grandson so that the latter shall not have the slightest degree of the organization, nor the slightest reesemblance to his grandfather. Hence it follows, that a man may have no rational interest, physical or moral, in his second or third generation. On how slender a basis, then, are at present found- ed the claims of hereditary descent—the certainty that the son must have a very partial resemblance to 22 254 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. the father—that the grandson may have none—and that there are many chances against subsequent gen. erations having the slightest! Similar reflections, however, on these laws will show, that, by placing himself in suitable relation to an appropriate partner in intermarriage, man, unless all the most undisputed facts of breeding he false, has (precisely as the breeder has among lower animals) the power to reproduce and to preserve either series of organs—the best, instead of the worst, portion of his organization. It can, indeed, be only passion, venality or pride, that can prevent man from doing, for his own pro. geny, that which natural and universal laws permit him to do for the progeny of every domesticated ani. mal. The only reply that, under these circumstances of actual and daily demonstration, he can make to the invitation of nature and science, is, that he prefers a blind passion to an enlightened one,—brutal indul- gence, succeeded by life-long disgust, to exquisite en- joyment and permanent happiness,—or money, a mere means of pleasure, at the cost of domestic mise- ry—perhaps of conjugal or filial insanity, to actual pleasure for himself and all around him, as well as the progress of children in intellectual improvement and honourable arts—the sole means of abiding fortune,— or rank from which he may look up to those above, who despise and spit upon him because he would vainly overtake them in their idiot scramble for a bubble, and down on those below, who therefore natu. rally hate him for his insolent assumption. To those of higher aspirations than these—to those EASY IMPROVEMENT OE FAMILIES. 255 who seek for the improvement of their race, and for the mental advancement both in themselves and their progeny, it cannot be wrong, in passing, to say that the other functions will diminish in energy as the cc-ebral functions become more intense. Hence men of the highest intelligence are more liable than others to cerebral affections. There are, therefore, prudent lin its even to the best employment of the mind. But not only is the means of improved general or- ganization in progeny subject, by intermarriage, to the control of man, beauty of face is, by the same means, equally in his power. An equality or similar proportion between the or- gans combined in children, is always productive of more or less beauty, whatever the size of these organs may be. On the contrary, an inequality or dispro- portion between the combined organs, is always pro- ductive of ugliness. Accordingly, where there is a symmetry of head, there is symmetry of face, or beauty ; and where there is want of symmetry of head, there is want of symmetry of face, or ugliness. A perfect correspon- dence must indeed exist in this respect. The reason is obvious. The backhead being the originator of all voluntary motions—those of the moveable parts of the face as well as others, they go together, and the agreement or disagreement of these parts becomes striking. The greatest degrees of ugliness occur in the lower half of the face. I may, therefore, take thence my examples. A prominent backhead added to a smaller forehead, 256 LAWS OF RESEMBLANCE. always produces a disagreeable projection of the lower parts of the face—generally of the underlip and lower part of the nose. The Ethiopic negro, with a large backhead, has prominent alveoli and lips. On the contrary, a small backhead added to a very large forehead, always produces a not less disagreeable contraction of the lower part of the face. Beautiful parents produce ugly children, when the organs in the new combinations are worse adapted to each other than the old ones. Ugly parents produce beautiful children, when the organs are better adapted to each other than the old ones. Thus the mere relative proportion of the organs combined in children is a great cause of beauty or of ugliness ; and there are no exceptions to its influ. ence. As already said, however, this is not the place foi details. PART V. VAGUE METHODS OF REGULATING PROGENY ADOPTED IN THE BREEDING OF DOMESTICAT- ED ANIMALS. SECTION I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. Mr. Cline appears to have been the first anatomist who called the attention of breeders to the scientific principles of their art. In this respect, he did indeed little; and he certainly had no idea either of the num- ber and importance of these principles, or of the con. elusions to be drawn from them. But it was still something to point out the value of a little knowledge of anatomy, and the importance of capacity in the chest of animals. Mr. Cline's first proposition, that the external form of domestic animals is an indication only of internal structure, and that the principles of improving that form, must therefore be founded on a knowledge oi the structure and use of internal parts, is quite indis- putable. 22* 258 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. It is mere nonsense and ribaldry, therefore, when Mr. Hunt says, " If the breeders have long been ac. customed to select those best formed for breeding without an anatomical examination, the old method must certainly have the preference, as it would be impossible to breed from these animals after they had been dissected. It will not prove a sufficient objec. tion to this argument to assert that, by the dissection of one animal, the merits of the whole breed may be ascertained, as it is well known to those who under. Btand the business, that great varieties of perfection will take place in the same family; and it must be also evident, that if the degree of perfection is only to be known by dissection, it will be impossible to estab. lish any other criterion of choice but family con. nexion ; and though the own brother to the martyr of this scientific sacrifice be made choice of, it will also be impossible to estimate his perfections till his viscera have been made the subject of anatomical investiga. tion."—Mr. Cline asks for anatomical knowledge, not for dissection. Dissection, indeed, first taught us such truths; but we should have been more stupid than we are, if we had not long ere now learned thereby some of the relations of external forms to internal structure. In breeding, the hereditary tendency of peculiar structure was well known to the ancients. Among the moderns, it is a matter of common observation. The principle of breeding is the axiom, that " like produces like"—meaning thatAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. by breeding in-and-in, Sir John says, " The Leicester. shire breeders of sheep have inherited the principles, as well as the stock, of their leader, Mr. Bakewell: he very properly [that must be qualified] considered a propensity to get fat, as the first quality in an animal destined to be the food of man: his successors have carried this principle too far; their stock are become small in size, and tender, produce but little wool, and are bad breeders." To breeding in-and-in, says the author of the Use- ful Knowledge Society's work on cattle, "must be traced the speedy degeneracy—the absolute disappear. ance of the new Leicester cattle, and, in the hands of many an agriculturist, the impairment of constitu- tion and decreased value of the new Leicester sheep and the short-horned beasts." In breeding in-and-in in dogs, Mr. Blaine observes, " One thing it is but just to state, which is, that breed- ing in-and-in among dogs, seems to have more oppo- nents than it has in the multiplication of any other domestic race of animals." In the same manner, do the best observers generally agree as to in-and-in breeding causing degeneracy, loss of reproductive power, &c, in the offspring—data from which, with others, I deduced the law of in-and- in already enunciated, in which the mother gives character to progeny.—For the sake of pointing out that circumstance, as well as of showing the general opinion on the subject, I have quoted the preceding observations. I must add, however, that it is truly observed, that breeding in-and-in may, to a certain extent, be em- SELECTION. 203 ployed in strengthening good properties, in fixing any variety that may be thought valuable, or in developing and establishing the excellent form and quality of a breed. I must further add, that it appears to me, that no cross can be established and maintained, without what some would call, breeding in-and-in between those ani- mals resulting from it which have the homogeneous or corresponding organization meant to characterize the breed. SECTION III. SELECTION. Here it is first necessary to know the best charac- teristics of animals, in order continually to select those which most nearly approach these. By taking advantage, moreover, of the natural ten- dency to transmit any accidental quality which hap- pens to arise, further power over the race is acquired ; and attention to the same points is continued till,, in consequence of the effect increasing, a particular figure, proportion of limbs, or any other quality is established in the breed. It is not merely by putting the best male to the best female, that the desired qualities can be obtained; but by other means not clearly defined in the common practice, and dependent on the principles already laid 264 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. down.—But my present business is with the authori. ties as to selection. " The alteration," says Sir John Sebright, « which may be made in any breed of animals by selection can hardly be conceived by those who havo not paid some attention to this subject: they attribute every improvement to a cross, when it is merely the effect of judicious selection." By this process, says Dr. Pritchard, " distinct breeds of animals, of horses for example, are formed, which are adapted by their peculiar conformation to various purposes of utility. Strength and the more unwieldy form, necessary to great power of limbs, become the character of one race ; while another is distinguished for a light and more graceful shape, favourable to agility and celerity of motion." So " among the varieties of dogs, one race is re- markable for acute sight, another for fine scent, and a third for greater strength and weight of limbs, point. ing them out as fit for the purpose of nightly protec tion." " What has been produced by art," says Sir John Sebright, "must be continued by the same means. . We must observe the smallest tendency to invperfection in our stock, the moment it appears, so as to be able to counteract it before it becomes a de. feet; as a rope-dancer, to preserve his equilibrium, must correct the balance, before it is gone too far, and then not by such a motion as will incline it too much to the opposite side. . . . The breeder's success will depend entirely upon the degree in which he may happen to possess this particular talent. SELECTION. 265 "If one male and one female only, of a valuable breed, could be obtained, the offspring should be sepa- rated, and placed in situations as dissimilar as possi. ble; for animals kept together are all subjected to the effects of the same climate, of the same food, and of the same mode of treatment, and consequently the same diseases. By establishing the breed in different places, and by selecting, with a view to obtain differ- ent properties in these several colonies, we may per- haps be enabled to continue the breed for some time, without the intermixture of other blood." "Degeneracy of breeds," says Mr. Knight, (21, December) " I have some reason to believe, may be prevented to some extent at least, by proper use of pastures of a different kind. I had a breed of cattle, so excellent, that I did not like to cross-breed with any other, and I tried the effect of keeping some of the individuals on one pasture and some upon another. The soil of one pasture was strong, argillaceous and red, that of the other, light sandy loam ; and I am in- clined to think that one individual grown upon one of those soils, afforded some of the benefits of crossing, when caused to breed with another individual of the same family, but reared upon a different soil and pas- ture." In this notice of selection as commonly practised, I have omitted all the reasons which I deem erro- neous, and have confined myself entirely to facts. 23 ' 266 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. SECTION IV. CROSSING. Here, as in the two preceding sections, I shall as briefly as possible, state the opinion of a good autho. rity as to each more important point. " Although close breeding," says Mr. Berry, » may increase and confirm valuable properties, it will also increase and confirm defects. . . . It impairs the constitution, and affects the procreative powers. . . .It will, therefore, always bo necessary, after it has been resorted to, to throw in a strong cross, as respects blood, and to refer to such animals, for the purpose, as are unquestionably vigor. ous and healthy." In breeding from stock with qualifications of differ. ent descriptions, and in different degrees, the breeder "will decide what are indispensable or desirable quali. ties, and will cross with animals with a view to esta- blish them. His proceeding will be of the »give and take' kind. He will submit to the introduction of a trifling defect, in order that he may profit by a great excellence; and between excellences, perhaps some. what incompatible, he will decide on which is the greatest, and give it the preference." Unfortunately, as the breeder has never been ablo scientifically, so he has been unable certainty, to ac- complish this. Mr. Wilkinson observes that " the thing generally to be expected from mixing the breeds of animals, CROSSING. 267 possessing properties differing in degree, is such an union of those properties in the progeny, that they may be greater than in the ancestry on one side, but less than in that of the other. . . . .In crossing a cart-mare with a blood horse, no man ex- pccts to obtain from the produce, the strength of the former with the speed of the latter: but an animal that is swifter than the cart-horse, yet incapable of drawing so great a burthen." I have quoted this in order to explain the cause of the fact stated by Mr. Wilkinson.—The intermediate character of the qualities thus reproduced, is owing, not to each parent imperfectly giving its share in the progeny's organization, but to the circumstance that, in their new combination, each series of organs acts with, and therefore modifies, the other. In connexion with crossing, an interesting discus. sion has arisen out of a doctrine of Mr. Cline, as to the relative size of parents. " Experience," he says, " has proved, that crossing has succeeded, in an eminent degree, only in those instances in which the females were larger than in the usual proportion of females to males; and that it has generally failed when the males were disproportionably large ... When the male is much larger than the female, the offspring is generally of an imperfect form. If the female be proportionally larger than the male, the offspring is of an improved form. "The improvement depends on this principle ; that the power of the female to supply her offspring with nourishment, is in proportion to her size, and to tho 268 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. power of nourishing herself from the excellence of her constitution. " The size of the foetus is generally in proportion to that of the female parent; and, therefore, when the female parent is disproportionately small, the quantity of nourishment is deficient, and her offspring has all the disproportions of a starveling. But when the fe. male, from her size and good constitution, is more than adequate to the nourishment of a foetus of a smaller male than herself, the growth must be propor. tionately greater. The larger female has also a greater quantity of milk, and her offspring is more abundantly supplied with nourishment after birth." My correspondent * * *, alluding to Mr. Cline'a tract, observes, (4, February,) " I need not say that, from such a source, the theoretical views stated are excellent; but I think, in practice, I have found some of them incorrect;" and (21, March) " It is always desirable for the purpose of breeding healthy animals, that the females should be large.—But if, as will sometimes happen, some exceptions should occur in a man's herd or flock, and he should wish to breed from females of a small size, according to my experience, he will do right to select large males to put them to. This is contrary to the theory of Mr. Cline." Mr. Hunt says, "If we search the whole animal creation, we shall find that the superiority of the male character, both in size and power, is strongly marked ... I am well informed by all the breeders I am acquainted with, that it is the general practice to make use of males which are larger than the females. " I have been favoured with the following interest- CROSSING. 209 ing observations from my friend Mr. Stone, of Knight. on." According to " Mr. Cline's opinion, a bull of this variety [a long-horned bull bred by Mr. Honeyborn of Dishley is referred to] put to a Lincolnshire, York- shire, Durham or Hereford cow (they being of a larger sort) would be advantageous; but put to a small Devon, or still smaller Scotch, it would be otherwise. But from a number of experiments, I am decided in my opinion, that he is mistaken. I have had, from the latter cross, as true symmmetry of shape, as healthy constitutions, as profitable animals brought to market at unusually early ages, under three years old, as any I ever experienced. " Let us suppose a Leicestershire tup put to a Charn- wood Forest, or Ryland (both particularly small,) or South Down, ewe,—I have seen their offspring as healthy and useful in every respect as from the large Lincolnshire, Durham, Wilts, or any other variety larger than the Leicestershire tup." " The grand solution of this question," resumes Mr. Hunt, " is made to depend on the ability of the female parent to nourish the foetus; for which pur. pose it is supposed to be necessary that the female pa- rent should be larger than the male. But, supposing the argument in no other respect objectionable, I have no doubt that, on examination, it will appear evident that small females are best calculated for the purpose. Small cows not only give the greatest quantity of milk, but it is reasonable to suppose that they give the greatest quantity in proportion to their quantity of food. [Why?] A large-bodied animal must certainly 23* 270 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. require more nourishment than a small one ; and con. sequently a small animal has more nourishment to bestow upon the foetus, or to supply her offspring with after birth." It would seem, however, that she would have to spare, according to her size. The non sequitur here committed may be removed, if the vital system is larger in the smaller animal. " I am well persuaded that small females less frc. quently fail, both in the production and support of a healthy offspring. " On the good effects of crossing, we are told [by Mr. Cline] that ' the great improvement in the breed of horses in England, arose from crossing with those diminutive stallions, Barbs and Arabians ; and the in. troduction of Flanders mares into this country was the source of improvement in the breed of cart horses.' " With respect to the matter of fact, I have nothing to allege, but that all might be as here stated: but surely no one ever doubted that a bad breed might be improved by a mixture with a good one ; and if the horses in England ever were a set of large, ill-formed, awkward animals, and small, neat, well-formed stallions were procured from Barbary or Arabia, it is reason- able to suppose that great improvements would take place." Mr. Knight (16, April,)says, "Mr. Cline's opinions upon this subject are altogether wrong,—whether the animal to be produced be intended for labouring, or living and fattening, upon little food;" and he adds that he has obtained offspring from Norwegian pony CROSSING. 271 nares, by a London dray-horse, which had the power- ul osseous system of the former, the legs only being hortened in order to accompany the mother. " The error of Mr. Cline," Mr. Knight observes 23, November) " and of those from whom he derived nformation, arose from their having seen the result f breeding between males of large size, much dispo- ition to fatten, and permanent habits through succes- ive generations, with small females, of hardy consti- utions, and without permanent hereditary habits. rhe male here vastly improved the offspring, the fe. nale giving hardiness of constitution, and generally nuch milk." PART VI. APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO THE BREEDING OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. SECTION I. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. The same laws, it has been already seen, are as applicable to animals as to man:—the law of Selec- tion operating where both parents are of the same va- riety, when either gives the organs of sense, fore. head, and vital system, and the other, the cerebel and locomotive system ;—the law of crossing opera. ting wnere each parent is of a different variety, when the male gives the backhead and locomotive system; and the female, the forehead, organs of sense and vital system ;—and the law of in-and-in breeding ope- rating where both parents are of the same family, when the female gives the backhead and locomotive system, and the male, the forehead, organs of sense and vital system. But no law is dreamt of in the common practice of breeding. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 273 In breeding hunters, says the author of the article Horse in the EnclyclopaBdia Britannica, "observe similarity of shape in horse and mare. As length of frame is indispensable in a hunter, if the mare be short, seek for a stallion likely to give her length. \gain, if the mare be high on her legs, put her to a jhort-leggcd stallion, and vice versa; for it is possible lhat even a hunter's legs may be too short; a racer's :ertainly may be." It is very true that stallions have been known both [o give length of body and shortness of limbs. But Ihis effort is as often unsuccessful as successful. How hall it be insured?—As these laws show—by the nale, possessed of these forms, having higher voluntary and locomotive power than the female. " Much more dependence," says the same article, '• is now placed on the stallion than on the mare. The racing calendar, indeed, clearly proves the fact. Not- withstanding the prodigious number of very highly bred and equally good mares that are every year put to the horse, it is from such as are put to our very best stallions that the great winners arc produced. This can in no other way be accounted for, than by such horses having the faculty of imparting to their proge- ny the peculiar external and internal formation abso- lutely essential to the first-rate race-horse." Such horses do so, because they have the » faculty" of doing so ! A very satisfactory way of accounting, indeed ! Now, the cause is the same here as were the means indicated in the preceding case. Among good stallions, the best is he who is possessed of the 274 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. highest voluntary and locomotive powers, which he accordingly stamps upon his progeny. But it may be asked, of what consequence is it whether we call the stallion the " very best," or say he has the " highest voluntary and locomotive powers." The difference is, that the first expression states only the fact; the second, at the same time, assigns its reason, which enables us to connect the mere fact with causes and effects, with other facts, and to derive from them useful conclusions. Opposite conditions would enable the mare to stamp her voluntary and locomotive system upon the proge. ny—always with some disadvantages. These remarks exemplify the use of understanding the application of the law of Selection.—The utility of the law of crossing may be similarly exemplified. "I have often been told," says Sir John Sebright, " that from the beautiful shape of Mr. El man's South Down sheep, they must have been crossed with the new Leicester; and that from the fineness of their wool, they must have been crossed with the Merino breed; but I do not conceive, that even the skill of this very distinguished breeder could have retained the good shape of the former, without any appearance of the coarseness of its wool, or the fine fleece of the latter, without the deformity of its carcass, had he crossed his flock with either of these breeds." If " shape" here expresses the locomotive system, and if the wool be an appendage of that system, it is evident that they could not be thus obtained. These, though brief, are sufficient proofs of the im- HORSES. 276 portance of a knowledge of the application of the laws here announced. It is rather more difficult to observe the application of these laws to animals than to man: 1st. because animals are generally examined in a state of imperfect growth ; 21y. because the details of their forms are more or less obscured by hair, wool, &c.; and 3ly. because, when it is, not only not a cross, but when there is nearly a perfect homogeneity of form be. tween the male and female, no difference can be ex- pected in the result. Hence my correspondent * * *, who could not per ceive such difference in his homogeneous herds and flocks, justly observes (23, February, 1838,) "It may possibly be that my experience relating only to ani- mals which have been bred for many generations by persons having the same objects in view, are all of them so similar in their shape and constitution, that it is difficult to say which parent is the one that the progeny take after." And he adds, "I must beg to add that if you could prove upon scientific principles and practical experience any theory to be correct of the nature of the one you have adopted, you would do a great service to all those engaged in breeding ani- mals." SECTION II. HORSES. In speaking of horses, the circumstance which will occur to every thinker as interfering with these laws, 276 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. is the hypothesis of Wood ; for certainly, if that could be transmitted in fourths, eighths, sixteenths, &c, it would be opposed to a doctrine, like that of these laws, according to which it is organization alone which in interchanged, and that always by halves given or taken away. Indeed, I do not hesitate to acknow. ledge that, if there were the slightest truth in the hy. pothesis of blood, there could be none in the doctrine now laid before the reader. It is curious, however, that although that unfound. ed hypothesis exists in the works of almost all writers, yet it was long ago refuted by Osmer; and I cannot do better than quote from his work on the subject, which is so perfectly in harmony with my own. " Horses who have the finest texture, elegance of shape, and most proportion, are the best racers, let their blood be of what kind it will ... If I was asked what beauty was, I should say proportion: if I was asked what strength was, I should say proportion ... A proper length also will be wanting for the sake of velocity : no weak, loose, disproportioned horse, let bis blood be what it will, ever yet was a prime racer. " If it be objected, that many a plain ugly horse has been a good racer,—I can even allow a very plain horse to be a prime racer, without giving up the least part of this system : for instance, if we suppose a horse (with a large head and long ears, like the Godolphin Arabian,) a low mean forehead, flat sided, and goose rumped,—this, I guess, will be allowed to be a plain ugly horse; but yet if such a horse be strong, and justly made in those parts, which are im- mediately conducive to action, if his shoulders incline HORSES. 277 well backwards, his legs and joints in proportion, his carcase strong and deep, his thighs well let down, we shall find he may be a very good racer, even when tried by the principles of mechanics, without appeal. ing to his blood for any part of his goodness. " We are taught by this doctrine of mechanics, that the power applied to any body must be adequate to the weight of that body, otherwise such power will bo deficient for the action we require. . . . The force and power of a muscle consists in the number of fibres of which it is composed; and the velocity and motion of a muscle consists in the length and extent of its fibres. Let us compare this doctrine with the language of the jockey : he tells us if a horse has not length, he will be slow; and if made too slen- der, he will not be able to bring his weight through. Does not the observation of the jockey exactly cor- respond with this doctrine ?" I may here observe that my general law, applicable not only to muscles but to all organs, that the intensi- ty of function is as the length of organ, and the per- manence of function as the breadth of organ, is the foundation of all rational distinction between horses for speed and horses for endurance in draught, &c. " When we consider a half-bred horse running one mile or more, with the same velocity as a horse of foreign extraction, we do not impute that equality of velocity to any innate quality in the half-bred horse, because we can account for it by external causes: that is, by an equality of the length and extent of his levers and tendons.—And when we con- sider a half-bred horse running one mile, or more, 24 278 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. with the same velocity as the other, and then giving it up, what shall we do ? Shall we say the foreigner beats him by his blood, or by the force and power of his tendons? Or can we, without reproaching our own reason and understanding, impute that to be the effect of occult and hidden causes in one of these in. stances, and not in the other ? " How many instances have we of different horses beating each other alternately over different sorts of ground! How often do we see short, close, compact horses, beating others of a more lengthened shape over high and hilly courses, as well as deep and slip- pery ground. . . . And how comes it to pass that horses of a more lengthened shape, have a superiority over horses of a shorter make, upon level and flat courses 1 Is this effected by the difference of their mechanical powers, or is it effected by the blood ? Jf, by the lat- ter, then this blood is not general, but partial only, which no reasoning man will be absurd enough to allow. " How many revolutions of fame and credit, have all sportsmen observed in these high-bred families. . Observation shows us that on one hand, we may breed horses of foreign extraction too deli. cate, and too slight for any labour; and on the other hand, so coarse and clumsy as to be fitter for the cart than for the race. Shall we wonder that these cannot race, or shall we doubt that degrees of imperfection in the mechanism, will produce degrees of imperfection in racing! and when we find such deficient, shall we ridiculously impute it to a degeneracy of that blood, which once was in the highest esteem, or to the want of judgment in him who did not properly adapt the HORSES. 279 shapes of their progenitors! . . Shall we con- fess this, or is the fault in nature ? " If we should be asked why the sons of the Godol. phin Arabian were superior to most horses of their time, I answer, because he had great power and sym- metry of parts, (head excepted) and a propriety of length greatly superior to all other horses of the same diameter, that have been lately seen in this kingdom. " If any man who doubts this excellence to be in the blood, should ask how it comes to pass that we often see two full brothers, one of which is a good racer, the other indifferent, or perhaps bad, I know of but two answers that can be given: we must either allow this excellence of the blood to be partial, or else we must say, that by putting together a horse and a marc, different in their shapes, a foetus may be pro- duced of a happy form at one time, and at another the falius partaking more or less of the shape of either, may not be so happily formed. Which shall we do ? Shall we impute this difference of goodness in the two brothers, to the difference of their mechanism? or shall we say this perfection of the blood is partial? If the latter, then we must own that blood is not to be relied on, but that the system of it, and whatever Is built on that foundation, is precarious and uncer- tain, and therefore fall to the ground of its own ac- cord. "Where shall we find one certain proof of the effi- cacy of blood in any horse produced in any age or any country, independent of the laws of mechanics? « He who has a fine female, and judgment enough 280 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. to adapt her shapes with propriety to a fine male, will always breed the best racer, let the sort of blood be what it will." Having made this valuable quotation from Osmer, I now make Application of the Natural Laws to the breeding of Horses. 1. These laws show, that the qualities of the sire and dam are communicated to their progeny, not in various and minute fractional parts, but in halves—in the anterior, or the posterior, series of organs, and in no other way. 2. They show that we must neither expect one parent to communicate to progeny both series of organs, or any part of both series of organs; nor, on the con- trary, must we expect both parents to communicate to progeny one and the same series of organs, or any parts of the same series of organs. 3. They show that, by regulating the relative youth, vigour and voluntary power of the sire and dam, either may be made to give to progeny the voluntary and locomotive systems, and the other, the sensitive and vital systems; though, if they be well conformed, it is preferable that the sire should give the former and the dam the latter, as being the systems in which naturally they, respectively excel. 4. The details arising out of these laws show that pace and speed depend on the posterior series of or- gans—the locomotive system in particular, and that action depends on the anterior series of organs—the sensitive system—the eye in particular, and that HORSES. 281 therefore these qualities must not be expected from one parent. 5. The conclusion which may be drawn from these laws as to individual parts of these systems and their corresponding qualities, are innumerable. The pre- ceding general applications indicate the mode of pro- ceeding as to all of them. A consideration of these laws will show how erro- neous are the usual directions for attaining improve- ment in breeding. Both parents, we are told, " must not have a ten- dency to the same defect, although in ever so slight a degree; for then it will in general be in excess in the p^)duce."—It will be no more in excess than it is in the one parent who gives to the progeny the system in which that defect exists. We are told " not even to breed from those having a defect in any attribute, unless there is a redundaney in the same attribute in the mate."—The defect will be of no injury, and the redundancy of no advantage, except the system which contains one or the other be propagated. Such blunders arise out of ignorance of the pre- ceding laws, and of the natural concatenation of or- gans which they express. The fourth of the preceding applications will be il- lustrated by what I have to say of the eye and action of the Arabian. That form of the race horse is deemed most perfect which is best adapted to produce speed; that of the hunter which gives both speed and power; and that of the draught horse which gives power alone. '24* 282 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. To the first of these, for the sake of a few new re. marks, I first turn attention. The native breed of English horses formed the parent stock of the English racer, by furnishing the posterior series of organs, directly or indirectly, and especially superior size and proportion of moving parts. The Arab did the rest, by furnishing the an. terior series of organs—the forehead, organs of sense, (eye and, by the 4th application, action,) the vital system, and therefore the density of every fibre, &c. The enlightened reader will see, that this undeniable partition of qualities from these two breeds,—one giving the whole of the anterior organs, and the other the whole of the posterior ones, illustrates the important truths I have enunciated in the natural laws. This will be farther impressed on the reader by considering the Arab, to whom we are so deeply in* debted. To a cross with the Byerly Turk, we are indebted for the Herod and Highflyer organization; to the Go. dolphin Arabian, said to be a Barb, for the Matchem organization; to the Darley Arabian for the Flying Childers and Eclipse organization ; and to the Welles. ley Arabian, believed to be a Persian, for what is said to be the only advantage gained to English race horses, by foreign cross, in later years. Let us look more closely to the qualities of the. Arab, and it will be seen that the whole of them de- pend on the anterior series of the organs, which, thus going together, corroborate what has been said. To commence with the organs of sense, it is ac HORSES. 283 knowledgcd that "his fine and nearly hairless skin, softened and cleansed as it is by frequent copious per- spiration, is highly sensible." That his nostril is wide, and his eye open, are two of his most palpable characters. And on these, his great observing facul. ties—his mind is dependent. In illustration of these observing faculties, I may remark that, in examining Mr. Theobald's thorough. bred stallions, I was struck with the circumstance that each, in succession, turned and stood with his eyes toward me, while I remained in his box; and, on speaking of it, Mr. Theobald's stud-groom observed that thorough-bred horses never fail to turn their faces to persons who are met to observe them ; and that half- bred horses do the reverse. Mr. Hillier, the Master of the Horse at Astley's, whose opportunities of observation are very great, assures me of the accuracy of this observation, and adds that thorough-bred horses, in threatening, are apt to lift one of their forefeet, instead of a hind one, as half-bred horses do. As to their mind generally, some may question even its existence, and still more, our means of knowing its peculiarities. But, in default of a better knowledge of the brain—the organ of the highest faculties of the mind, we need only know what are the habits and the wants of any animal, in order to know its mind. The horse must know well the qualities of the ground in relation to his pace and speed, the extent of leaps, the nature and the strength of the obstacles that oppose him, (hence he breaks through a hedge or a slender bar, but clears a strong gate) his own velocity 284 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. compared with that of his opponent, the degree of skill possessed by his rider, &c. He has not, there. fore, his large brain without its use ; and these views will lead to a better investigation of it, by the com. parison of organization and function. But the Arab has all his faculties cultivated or ca. pable of great cultivation. " The horse of the desert," as Gibbon says, " is educated in the tents among the children of the Arabs, with a tender familiarity which trains him in the habits of gentleness and attachment." And of the great superiority of his observing faculties over those of all other horses, Mr. Hillier assures me. Yet the author of the article Horse in the Encyclo. poedia Britannica, says, " their efforts to win a race, we consider to be merely limited by their physical powers, the effect of a proper arrangement of their parts; and that the operation of the mind or spirit, has nothing at all to do with it. . . The spirit of emu- lation cannot be ascribed to the race-horse ;" and, as might have been expected, he inconsistently adds, " If his temper be really bad, he either runs out of the course, to the great danger of his rider, and to the in. evitable loss of his owner and those who have betted on his winning, or he 'shuts himself up,' as the term is, and will not head his horses, although in his powei to do so."—His spirit of emulation is known to every groom. So much for his organs of sense, forehead and their functions.—Now as to his vital system, comprising the rest of what, for brevity's sake, I have called his an. terior series of organs. It is not for the size and proportion of his locomo- HORSES. 285 tivc system, that the Arab is renowned, but for its in- timate structure. Now, the intimate structure of every organ—the number and density of their fibres —are entirely dependent upon the vital system, and particularly on the capillary arteries by which they are secreted. In the Arab, therefore, we see the ex- cellcnce of his vital system in the peculiar character of the intimate structure of his organs—not in their size and proportion. Accordingly, the writer last quoted says, " the Ara- bian horse possesses a firmness of leg and sinew un- equalled by any other in the world . . . Bones being the weight to be lifted, serve only to extend the parts; and it is evident, that such as are small, but highly condensed, like those of the deer, and the horse of the desert, are, by occupying less space, and containing less weight, more easily acted upon by muscular force, than such as are large and porous, and for a greater duration of time, without fatiguing the acting powers ... All the muscles and fibres of his frnme are driven into closer contact than those of any other breed; and by the membranes [tendons] and ligaments being composed of a finer and thinner sub- stance [his leg being flat and wiry,] he possesses the rare quality of union of strength with lightness, so es- senlial to the endurance of fatigue in all quick mo- tions. He thus moves quicker and with more force, by reason of the lightness and solidity of the materials of which his frame is composed. Thus his anterior series of organs is nearly perfect. But more is wanted than this.—The size and pro- portion of his locomotive system is defective. Osmer, 286 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. accordingly, says, " The Turks choose these Arabian horses when young, becauso, if continued long in the hands of the Arabs, they are small, stunted and de. formed in shape ; whereas, when brought into Turkey, a land of greater plenty than the deserts of Arabia, they acquire a greater perfection both of size and shape . . . Shall we wonder that his offspring, pro. duced in [England] a land of plenty, of whom the greatest care is taken, who is defended from the ex. tremity of heat and cold, whose food is never limited, and whose vessels are filled with the juices of the sweetest herbage—shall we wonder, I say, that his offspring, so brought up, should acquire a more perfect shape and size than his progenitor ?" As to the defects of the locomotive system in the Arab, the author of the article Horse in the Encyclo. paedia Brittannica, says, "Accurate observers must have noticed, that the greater part of the horses brought to this country as Barbs and Arabians, have exhibited a palpable deficiency in the points contributing to strength, and the waif of general substance." Osmer enters further into details. " We seldom see," he says," any of these horses sent us from abroad, especially from Arabia, but what are more or less dis. proportioned, crooked and deformed in some part or other . . . Though their shoulders in general exceed. ingly incline backwards, yet their forelegs stand very much under them ; but in different horses this position is more or less observable ... The Godolphin Arabian,* * Tiie Godolpliin Arabian wbb purchased out of a water carl iii Pari«, M< HORSES. 287 when I saw him, stood bent at knees, and with his forelegs trembling under him." The posterior series of organs having, then, been improved in proportion and shape by the English horse, we cannot wonder, that, as observed by the Ency- clopaedist, "The immediate [uncrossed] descendants of the Eastern horses, have, almost without an excep- tion, proved so deficient of late years, that our breed- ers will no more have recourse to them than the far. mer would to the natural oat, which is little better than a weed, to produce a sample that should rival that of his neighbours in the market . . . Were the finest Eastern horse that could be procured, brought to the starting-post at Newmarket, with the advantage of English training to boot, he would have no chance, at any weight, or for any distance, with even a sec ond-rate English race-horse." But I cannot agree with that writer when, in a tone consequently of uncertain caste, but evidently the horse of the desert. He was taid, on what authority I know not, to be a Barb. As to his great head, there was more in it, I suspect, than even Osmer seems to have imagined. This brings to recollection what the Rev.----Daniell says of a fox-hound.— "Although a small head is mentioned as one of the requisites of a fox-hound, that is to be understood as relative to beauty only; for as to goodness, large- headed hounds are in no wise inferior. As an instance : amongst a draft of young hounds from Earl Fitzwilliam's was one, of whom Will Deane, his huntsman, made this remark in his letter, ' that he could not guess at Lord Foley's dislike to the hound called Glider, then sent, which was of the best blood in the country, being got by Mr. MeyneU's Glider out of Lord Fitzwil- liam's Blossom, and was moreover the most promising young hound he had era entered; unless his Lordship took a distaste to the largeness of the head; but he begged leave to assert, that although it might appear a trifle out of size, there was a world of serious mischief to the foxes contained In it.' The event justified Deane's prediction in its utmost latitude, for Glider was n most capital chase, and long a favourite stallion-hound, notwithstanding the iMcartude and inckgance of his head.'' 288 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. of unwarrantable triumph, he says, " Having once gotten possession of the essential constitutional parts necessary to form the race-horse ... we ourselves have, by a superior knowledge of the animal, and the means of availing ourselves of his capabilities, not only by rearing and training, but by riding him aha, brought him to a pitch of excellence which will not admit of farther improvement."—The result has in. deed been excellent; but it has not been owing to " superior knowledge." We could cross the Arab only with what we had ; what we did was done from sheer necessity, not from knowledge; and the best proof of that is, that, till this moment, the theory of that cross was unexplained. Having, some years ago, communicated to a person employed on the subject, a few observations on the relative offices of the posterior and anterior limbs of quadrupeds, I have transcribed them, as peculiarly applicable to the horse. The length and conformation of the posterior ex- tremities, especially constitute the point of speed. The longer these extremities cceteris paribus, the grrater the speed. Running, physiologists observe, is a sue- cession of leaps, and it is undeniable that those ani. mals are the best leapers which have the longest pos- terior extremities, whether they be quadrupeds or in- sects, as the hare, grasshopper, dzc. I say, calms paribus, or other circumstances being the same; for if these circumstances are less advantageous, as is the diminished tension of muscles, and quickness of con. traction in the frog, &c, then the resumption of HORSES. 289 the spring may not take place, and the succession of leaps, which constitutes running, may be imperfect. I shall now show that speed depends entirely on the construction of the posterior extremities of the ani- mal. 1st. The greater weight of all swiftly running ani- mals must be toward their anterior part; for (as may be illustrated by throwing from the hand any missile loaded at the end) if this were not the case, if swiftly running animals were heaviest a posteriori, they would, at every leap, be actually thrown heels over head. 2ndly. The heaviest parts of animals are those which are chiefly passive, or have nothing to do with speed, as the head, neck, chest, spine anteriorly, ribs, viscera, &c.; and hence it is that these parts must as inevitably be placed forward in animals, as the most powerful organs of motion, the posterior extremities, must be placed backward. 3rdly. A mass thus thrown forward is much more easily and swiftly moved than a mass that is dragged; for the mass which is thrown forward clears obstacles, free from impediment; while the mass which is dragged suffers from both. Hence it follows, that it is the posterior extremities alone which can by any possibility cause speed. Having thus determined the function of the poste- rior extremity, I shall now advert to that of the ante- rior one, I have no hesitation in asserting that this part con- tributes little to speed. Its chief action is, not to im- pel, but to stop; and the little it does contribute to progression, is merely in dragging up the posterior ex- 25 290 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. tremitv towards its place through a part of the space covered by the extension of the body. Examine its functions in every way, and it is evi. dent that it can do no more than this. While the posterior extremity has the power of projecting the body through space, occasionally to the distance of several times its own length, the anterior extremity, after receiving and stopping that impulse, can only drag up the posterior through a portion of space co- vered by the body, without causing it to pass through one inch of free space. Mr. Knight is of opinion that we err in cultivating the race horse only for speed, and not for endurance. " Horses," he says (23, November,) " with compara- tively short legs, are best made to win long races; the force necessary to move long legs rapidly for a con. siderable time exhausts the power of the animal; and compact animals, other qualities being given, feed up. on the least food.*'—(8, January) " What enormous expense has been employed in improving the blood horse in this country : yet the blood horse is most certainly a much feebler animal in respect to power of carrying weight, or of sustaining the fatigue of a long race, or any race if the ground be soft and wet, than it was fifty years ago. The breeders have destroyed the con- 6titutional powers of the breed of the animal by ex- cess of stimulation, in over feeding the young animals through successive generations, and they have looked to the legs of the animal for speed, instead of the con- stitutional power, which gives motion to his legs." In breeding horses, subject to the laws enunciated, it is not only necessary that the organization of the HORSES. 291 animals selected should be of the most perfect kind, a certain age, exercise and perfection in every func tion are essential. Mr. Theobald thinks that "the horse should be positively mature before covering." A mare may breed at three or four years old: at an earlier period, breeding will interfere with the developement of her structure and strength. That developement which is conferred by exercise is not less essential, both during growth and in adult age. A stallion will then have progeny far superior in such attributes, to those of a sire kept in inactivity. Hence it is indispensable that a stallion kept for co- vering, should be duly exercised. Mr. Thacker ob- serves, that, if a stallion be prevented even by acci- dental lameness from obtaining exercise, he is sure to be deficient in muscular powers, and to convey that deficiency to his offspring."* It is of great importance, that the parents should have all their natural powers in absolute perfection. A. horse or a mare's being no longer capable of ordina- ry work, or having suffered from hard and continual labour, is certainly injurious to progeny. Constitutional infirmity, or the having a tendency to fail in their legs and feet, during training is fatal; and the mare that has slinked her foal is always liable to that accident. • I tanw a lioree who broke his leg in running a race when three years old, anil who has since been kept for covering inures, not being capable of any thing else, or even of travelling for ihat; b-it his stock are not pro- mising, thvugh he is exceedingly well bred, of a good size, and not deficient of good genural shape. 292 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. As, then, are the organization, the maturity, the ex. ercise, and the perfection of the natural powers in the parents at the time of reproduction, so will be the perfection of the progeny. And all these conditions may, with advantage, be applied to man and woman. SECTION III. CATTLE. The best cattle have the face rather short; the muzzle small; the horns fine; the neck light, partial- larly where it joins the head; the chest wide, deep and capacious ; the tail broad and fat toward the top, but thin toward the lower part, which it will always be, when the animal is small boned ; the lower part ot the thigh small; the legs short, straight, clean, and fine boned, though not so fine as to indicate delicacy of constitution ; the flesh, rich and mellow to the feel; the skin of a rich and silky appearance ; the countc- nance calm and placid, denoting the evenness of temper essential to quick feeding and a disposition to get fat. Two of our finest varieties of cattle are the Hereford and the Durham. Of these, Mr. Knight (23, Novem- ber) says the form of a perfect Hereford, and that of a perfect Durham, ox, or bull, or cow, are very similar, except that the Durham breed have shorter horns. " The improvers, as they are called, of the Durham cattle, feed very highly; their young animals »ro CATTLE. 293 kept in a fattened state from their birth; and they have brought to market more perfect animals, at an early age, than any other. But every breed of ani- mals which has, through a few generations (two or three is sufficient,) been overfed, requires similar feeding; and the extraordinary animals which the Durham breeders have sent to Smilhfield, have come there, I am sure, deeply insolvent—in other words, they have not nearly repaid the expenses of feeding them. The offspring of such animals require and can digest more food than others who have lived upon little. The Durham breeders once tried their breed against the Hereford, when the Durham consumed 12,775 lbs. more of turnips, and 1,714 lbs. more of hay, in the winter in which they were fattened; whilst they gained much less in value than the Herefords. Our breeders have tried hard, by offering 100 guineas to 10, to provoke them to another trial; but without success. " All growing animals including mankind, ought to be sufficiently well fed to preserve health and strength, but never to be stimulated by excess of food. The children of parents, however, who have, through many generations, been well fed, would perish if given no more food than would be sufficient for an Irish or Highland Scots peasant child." In reply to the imputation that, in the hands of some breeders, even the Herefords are falling into the defect of fat preponderating over flesh, he says (16, March, 1838,) " Some varieties of the Hereford cattle certainly have this defect; but not all. In re. 23* 294 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. fining the muscle, some breeders have certainly re- duced it too much ; but the modern Herefords present generally much more lean flesh than either the Dcv. ons or Sussex." The chief qualities sought for in cattle arc the ten. dency to fatten on little food, and that to yield abun. dance of rich milk. The tendency to fatten is indicated chiefly by the capacity of the chest. " Animals of all species," says Mr. Knight (8, Ja. nuary,) " all other qualities being given, are, I think, capable of labour and privation, and capable of fat- tening, nearly in proportion, as their chests are capa- cious : but the habits of ancestry will operate gener. ally very powerful." " It is the width and depth of frame," says Mr. Berry, " which confers weight, and not the mere cir- cumstance of great height . . . While equally great, if not greater, weights can be obtained with shorter legged animals, they are, independently of other re- commendations, generally found to possess better con. stitutions and greater propensity to fatten." It is curious that those who breed cattle and sheep for the butcher, should not consult him on the subject; and that he is not admitted among the judges at the Smithfield Club. They ought certainly to see and understand the dead animal as well as the living one, in order to knew whether they have judged correctly in the awards they have made. Without this test, may they not commit great injustice ? Mr. Giblett, of Bond street, whose business and experience are among the most extensive in London, CATTLE. 295 and whose mind is observant and reasoning, dissents entirely from so much of the doctrine of Mr. Bake- well as asserts that the best animals are those which fatten quickest on least food; for although he advo- cates proneness to fatten fast, with good form and symmetry, yet it is a sine qua non with him that every animal should also have a much larger propor- tion of muscle than of fat, and he has publicly de- clared that, for want of attention to this, most of the sheep, in particular, bred on Mr. Bakewell's principle, are made more fit for the tallow-chandler than the consumer. In addition to this testimony, Mr. Giblett favoured me with a striking demonstration of this fact in the carcasses of two bullocks, one weighing one hundred and twenty stone, the other eighty only, but of which the latter was relatively by far the more valuable. It will be gratifying even to the artist to know that Mr. Giblett's beau ideal of cattle does not differ from his own—that it is the animal displaying all its natu- ral power in highly developed muscular masses, and not the artificial monster consisting of masses of vi- brating fat laid on in lumps and patches. The breeder looks to a narrow interest—he thinks he can get a quicker return for fat than flesh—-his herds and flocks are calculated chiefly to produce the former—his bulls and rams fetch him immense sums —and he will maintain this system till he finds it a losing one, which ere long he must do, unless he profit by the hint now given. As to the characteristics of a good milker, my cor- respondent, * * * (11, January) says, "Some persons 296 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. believe that they can form some judgment upon this: I cannot." Certainly, both fattening and the production of milk appear to require a good vital or nutritive sys- tem—meaning still the tubular system, which trans. mits and transmutes the animal liquids. Women and cows wanting that system in good state, will be desti- tute both of fat and milk. In relation to the latter, French women who have a bad vital system, are at once meagre, bad breeders, flat busted, mustached, hoarse-voiced, bad complexion. ed. And something analagous will doubtless be found in kine. On this subject, Mr. Knight (8, January) says, "I am afraid that some of the defects of the French wo- men are to be found amongst the superior classes, particularly, in this country. The girls are generally much more * flat-busted' than they were sixty years ago. I now see them with different feelings; but I can see forms with the same eyes; and several ob- servant women have noticed the change. Look at the pictures of women a century or a century and a half ago, and the bosoms of the women there represented are not similar to those of modern times. Excess of application to acquire accomplishments, and particu- larly music, has, I suspect, operated injuriously; and I do not think that such stimulants, as tea and coffee, have been beneficial." Thus much seems generally true as to both proper. ties—fattening and milking. The next object is to trace the distinctions which subsist between them. Now, fat women appear to have relatively a smaller CATTLE. 297 besom; and what bosom they have is less formed of the glandular masses with secrete the milk, than of the fatty substance which is interposed between these : their bosom, therefore, as a secreting organ, is less than it appears to be. Thinner woman, on the con- trary, (always providing the vital system is good,) have a larger bosom; and it is composed of palpable glandular masses, not of fat. There is, therefore, a foundation for the popular preference of wet nurses who are rather thin than fat. I believe there is a pretty general feeling of the same kind with regard to cows as milkers. And I believe the Alderneys, while they produce rich milk, (having long heads, &c.) have little power of fattening. If it be so, it is important, even if there were no other consequences to be drawn from it. In reply to these observations, Mr. Knight (8, Jan. uary) says, "The constitutional disposition to form fat, is certainly hostile to the disposition to give milk. . Cows which give little milk often present large udders, which contain much solid matter; and, to inexperienced eyes, a two years old Hereford cow would give a promise of much milk, where very little would be given. . . .A narrow forehead, and a long face, nearly of the same width from end to end, as in the Alderney cow, certainly indicates much more disposition to give milk, than the contrary form, which I have pointed out as indicative of a dis- position to fatten." This tcnd3 to corroborate what I have said as to hinnoss, with a glandular structure of mamma?, being avourable to milking. 298 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. If, however, we could discover, between fattenen and milkers, a difference of organization in other re. spects—a difference existing prior to their becoming milkers, it might enable us to predict, at an early age, what the maiden or the heifer will become in this re. spect. Now, fat animals are more generally those of the north, where cold diminishes sensibility. Fat, indeed, appears to be the means which nature very extensively employs to lower sensibility by interposition between the skin and the central parts of the nervous system. Fat women and other animals, accordingly, have not only less sensibility and irritability of the skin, but of the organs of sense generally, eyes usually blue, soft, languid, not brilliant, penetrating, &c. Thinner animals, on the contrary, are more generally those of the south, and have more acute sensibility, and, among women, more brilliant eyes, and large mamma —themselves organs of exquisite sensation. Hence, the women of Egypt and Africa generally, who have a good vital system, have also large organs of sense, and have, both in ancient and modern times, been famed for the magnitude of their mamma?, capable even of being turned over the shoulder to suckle the infant on the back. " In Meroe crasso majorem in- fante papillam," said Juvenal; and the fact is equally notorious at the present day. In reply to these observations, Mr. Knight (previoiu date) says, " I do not doubt that you are right re- specting the use of fat in cold climates; all sleeping animals, through winter, go to sleep in a fatted state. . I do not think that breeds of cows, which CATTLE. 299 give much rich milk, are very hardy. The Alderney cows are what the Herefordshire farmer calls very nesh, that is, very incapable of bearing hardship of any kind, and particularly cold. [Consequently of greater sensibility.] Cows which give much milk have the power of eating and digesting much food, and they require, whilst they give much milk, a very abundant and good pasture. The breeds of cows which give less milk, and present greater disposition to become fat, are generally less nesh, and will fatten upon less food. . . . The influence of the feelings is very considerable. I have observed that whenever a young Hereford cow disliked being milked by the dairy-maid, she soon ceased to give milk; and I do not doubt that, in all cases, if the calves were twice every day permitted to suck after the dairy-maid had finished her labour, the cows would longer continue to give milk, and in larger quantity." This tends to corroborate what I have said as to greater sensibility being favourable to milking. If this led only to distinction of these two kinds as lo milking—namely, that of fatness and thinness, and that of smaller and larger organs of sense and greater or less sensibility,—it would still be valuable, as show- ing, either at a later or an earlier period, what we may expect in this important particular. But per- haps its utility may exiend still further, and enable us to improve the race. It may form a basis for our determining whether, in endeavouring to improve a breed, fatteners may most easily become also milkers, to some extent; or 300 APPLICATION TO DOME3TIC ANIMALS. milkers may, to a similar extent, become fattenew; and what are the circumstances which would most favour such partial interchange, if not absolute im- provement.—Indeed, from these principles, I would conclude, that an animal fattening in the north would become a better milker in the south, where more genial temperature would render fat less necessary, would increase sensibility, and would cherish the se. cretion of milk, so intimately connected with that excitement of the reproductive functions which warmer climates produce. These views as to animals appear to be confirmed by some facts as to woman. We know that the flow both of the catamenia and of milk is less in cold cli. mates, and greater in warm ones. Accordingly, while the mammae are small and the milk scantier in dry, high and windy regions, the very opposite is the case in warm, low and humid ones, where women suckle their infants for a long time. Thus, as these two desirable qualities are both de- pendent upon one system, and as they arc opposed to each other, (for excess of one secretion is always more or less at the cost of the rest,) they will be most easily obtained by being distinctly sought for, and the animal of diminished sensibility will most easily fat- ten, while the animal of increased sensibility will most readily yield milk. These views are confirmed by the conduct of the London dairy-men. While they acknowledge that the Alderneys yield the best milk, they keep none of them, whatever they may pretend, because these aui- mals are peculiarly delicate, and more especially CATTLE. 301 because they cannot, after being used as milkers, be fattened for the butchers. The York and Durham cows suit them best. In certain constitutions, however, and, to a certain extent, there is a compatibility between fattening and milking. Mr. Knight (23, November) says, " The disposition to give much and rich milk, and to fatten rapidly, are to some extent at variance with each other; but I have seen cases in which cows which have given a great deal of rich milk, have given birth to most excellent oxen, the cows themselves, however, always continuing small and thin whilst giving milk. " I very confidently believe in the possibility of ob taining a breed of cows which would afford fine oxen, and would themselves fatten well; but, as great milk- ers require much more food than others, the farmer who rears oxen, does not think much, perhaps not enough, about milk, and is in the habit (which is cer- tainly wrong) of breeding his bulls from cows which have become his best owing only to their having been bad milkers." My correspondent * * * says (11, January) that " fattening and milking to a certain extent are compat- ible." Mr. Wilkinson says rather more strongly than is consistent with physiological laws, " I have frequently found cows that are great milkers, to keep themselves at the same time in high condition, to feed with the quickest despatch when dried of their milk, and whose descendants will arrive at the earliest maturity—a 26 302 VAGUE METHODS OF BREEDING ANIMALS. practical proof, that a great tendency to feeding is not incompatible with a great tendency to milking." They are to be procured, he thinks, " by selecting those animals that are most perfect in point of form, in quality of flesh, and so on ; and again by selecting out of these the very best milkers." He adds, " the property of milking is inherited as readily as that of peculiarity of shape." "In the selection of bulls," he observes, "that be. sides attending to those properties which belong to the male, we ought to be careful also, that they are descended from a breed of good milkers, at least if we wish the future stock to possess this property." These last observations bring me naturally to the Application of the Natural Laws to the Breeding of Cattle. The first three applications are the same as for the horse. To save the trouble, however, of referring to them, I repeat them here. 1. These laws show that the qualities of the sire and dam are communicated to their progeny, not in various and minute fractional parts, but in halves—in the anterior, or the posterior, series of organs, and no other way. 2. They show that we must neither expect one pa. rent to communicate to progeny both series of organs, or any part of both series of organs ; nor, on the con- trary, must we expect both parents to communicate to progeny one and the same series of organs, or any parts of the same series of organs. SHEEP. 303 3. They show that by regulating the relative youth, vigour and voluntary power of the sire and dam, either may be made to give to progeny the voluntary and locomotive systems, and the other, the sensitive and vital systems ; though it is preferable that the sire should give the former and the dam the latter, as being the systems in which naturally they respectively excel. 4. The details arising out of these laws show, that the capability of fattening and that of producing milk being dependent on the same system—the vital, and abundance of one secretion being attended by diminu. tion of others, either capability is best insured by be- ing distinctly sought for, the former in the animal of diminished sensibility, and the latter in that of in- creased sensibility—a rule which, on being submitted to Mr. Knight, is well borne out by his observations, and which must, wherever one of these qualities alone is sought for, be of the greatest utility. SECTION IV. SHEEP. In breeding sheep, the first object is to procure the kind of animal which, on a given quantity of food, will produce the greatest quantity of mutton. Here Dr. Jennets observation to Sir John Sebright (the truth of which, Sir John says, has since been con- firmed by his own experience)-that no animal whose chest is narrow can easily be made fat, is well illus- 304 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. trated in the meagre Merino sheep, which are in gene. ral contracted in that part. In this, however, there is some inconsistency with Mr. Hunt's account of the Dishley sheep, for which he refers to Marshall's Rural Economy of the Midland Counties. "The carcass of the Dishley sheep," he says, " when fully fat, takes a remarkable form ; much wider than it is deep, and almost as broad as it is long ; full on the shoulders, widest on the ribs, narrow. ing with a regular curve towards the tail; approach. ing the form of the turtle nearer perhaps than any other animal ... I have," says Mr. Hunt, " lately seen a very fine example of one of these high-bred sheep which was exceedingly fat, and was astonished to find the lungs so remarkably small. Mr. Giblett's objections to excessive fattening are as applicable to sheep as to cattle. Both fattening and the production of wool appear to require a good vital or nutritive system, and sheep defective in that system will be more or less defective both in fat and wool. Large heads, and long necks and legs, are incon- sistent with excellence in that system. It has been already observed, that fat appears to be the means which nature very extensively employs to diminish sensibility by interposition between the skin and the central parts of the nervous system. Accord. ingly, we find that, when sheep fe.ed upon luxuriant plains, where little muscular exertion is required, a great accumulation of fat accomplishes this purpose. When, on the contrary, they feed upon the scanty herbage of mountains, where great and iacessant mus- SHEEP. 305 cular exertion is requisite, fattening becomes impossi- ble, and sensibility, which would otherwise be unpro- tected, obtains an exterior covering of the finest wool. The sheep of the Spanish sierras and those of Shetland equally exemplify this. In such localities, not merely does muscular exertion prevent the deposi- tion of fat, and expose the nervous system to more powerful impressions, but increased cold attacks it, and renders the finest and densest woolly covering in- dispensable. In Shetland, even the bristles of pigs are sometimes crisped, and converted into a coarse wool; and it is remarkable that, in that country, when the few summer months produce a more luxuriant her. bage, the sheep fatten rapidly. This last fact I have from the personal observation of Dr. Copland, and nothing can more strongly confirm the views I have here presented. From these principles, I am disposed to conclude, that an animal fattening in the south or on the plains, would produce finer wool in the north or on the moun- tains. In corroboration of these views, Mr. Knight, (8, January) says, " The fineness of wool is certainly in- jured by heat; but the attention of man and heredi- tary habit can do much." »On the whole," says Dr. Pritchard, " it appears that a considerable change is speedily produced on the fleece of the sheep by the influence of climate . . . The argali, according to Pallas, is covered with hair, which in summer is close like that of a deer, but in winter becomes rough and curled, resembling coarser hair intermixed with wool." 26* 306 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. Dr. Hancock, from his own observation, informs me, that in Guyana, the English sheep loses Us fine wool in about two years, and has its place supplied by coarser hair. " If sheep are highly kept," says Sir John Sebright, "their wool will become less fine, but in other respects its quality will not be deteriorated ... A regular supply of food to the sheep is essential to the growth of good wool; for that part of the hair which grows when the animal is in a high state of flesh, will be thick, and that which is grown when it is reduced by hunger, will be weak and thin ; and consequently the thickness of hair will always be irregular, if the ani- mal passes from one extreme to the other." The observation made with regard to fattening and milking in cattle appears to be applicable to fattening and the production of wool in sheep—namely, that the animal of diminished sensibility will most easily fat- ten, while the animal of increased sensibility will most readily produce wool. It is with physiological reason on his side, that Sir John Sebright says, " Perhaps the great secretion of yolk, [bulb] so essential to the production of fine wool, and which is excessive in the Merino sheep, may be incompatible with the fattening quality." Fattening and the best wool appear, however, in some constitutions, not to be altogether incompatible. Dr. Copland, in the following letter, testifies that he had seen the Shetland sheep, remarkable for fine. ness of fleece, become fat when well fed during the summer. SHEEP. 307 Dear Sir, The Shetland sheep are very small; their faces are small and short; and their legs are long, relatively to the proportions of the south country breeds.—Their fleeces are generally fine and soft, commonly white, but sometimes grey, brown, or brownish black, and rarely spotted or of different colours. The finest fleeces are usually white, and the points of the wool are somewhat coarser and more curled than the rest. The Shetland mutton is delicate and finely flavoured. The stunted heath, the grassy sides of the bare hills, and the commons of the country, are the chief pasturages, both in summer and winter. During the latter season, the sheep have no other shelter than is afforded them by the cliffs or abrupt acclivities within their range. In the spring, however, those which are intended to be killed at the end of summer or autumn, are, in parts of the country, conveyed to small islands, which abound with a rich grass, or other pasture, where they often become as fat as the best south- country sheep ; but, in their usual ranges of common pasturage, they are rarely very fat. These ranges are commonly elevated from two or three hundred to one thousand or one thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea; but about the end of autumn and winter, the sheep leave the highest for the lowest elevations. And even on the approach of a storm or of inclement weather in summer, they choose the lower and more sheltered situations. When they re- main towards night near the summits of the higher hills, it is a sure indication of some continuance of very temperate or fine weather. 308 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. In situations near the sea, they sometimes como down to the shores, particularly in winter, and when the ground is covered by snow, or the milder sea air thaws the snow in these parts, and allows a scanty herbage to spring up for their sustenance. When the ground is more completely covered by snow, they sometimes have recourse to the fuci on the sea shore as the tide retires, but this is rarely the case. They as rarely receive any sustenance from their owners; and, when they do, it consists chiefly of refuse cab- bage-leaves, &c. I believe that in many parts, the fine wool is much coarser than formerly, owing to the introduction of south-country breeds of sheep. I am, dear Sir, yours truly, Bulstrode-street, 2, Feb. 1838. James Copland. To Alexander Walker, Esq. In answer to the question, " In sheep, are fatten. ing and the production of the best wool incompatible ?" my correspondent * * * (11, January) says, "My ex- perience is in long-wooled sheep: and among the Leicester breed, the inclination to become fat and to the production of the best wool is certainly quite com- patible. I rather think that the sheep which produce the finest wool will fatten quicker than those that pro- duce coarser wool." Of our two most remarkable breeds of sheep, Mr. Knight says, (8, January) "The Spanish sheep is (I can adduce satisfactory evidence) the old Tarantine sheep ; and its habits are so established that, even in rich pastures in this country, it retains through many SHEEP. 309 generations its fine wool not perceptibly changed . . . A well-formed Leicester sheep will gain in a short time great weight of flesh and fat, and it must be ad- mitted to have a good constitution: but it is never- theless a very nesh animal—it can bear neither fa- tigue, nor hunger, nor hardship of any kind." Sir J. Sebright, as already observed, doubts the as. sertion that the beautiful shape of Mr. Elman's South Down sheep was obtained by crossing with the new Leicester, and their fine wool by crossing with the Merino Breed. In putting to my correspondent * * * the question, " Is the supposed origin of Mr. Elman's South Down sheep, or rather their improvement by crosses with the new Leicester and the Merino, probable ?" his re- ply (11, January) was, "I believe Mr. Elman always denied that there was any such cross in his sheep, and I know that a skilful man may produce so great an alteration in the character of any breed of domestic animals by carefully and steadily selecting from among them, as breeders, such as possess the qualities he wishes to obtain, and rejecting such as he does not, that no outward appearance of any such breed would induce me to disbelieve the word of a respectable man. It certainly is possible that Mr. Elman may have crossed with the Leicester; but for the reason first given, I do not believe he did. It is in the highest degree improbable that he ever could have crossed with the Merinos." I have already observed that the error which all Buch questions imply—an error which I did not per. ceive when putting the one last mentioned—is, that 810 APPLICATION TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS. they suppose the production of wool not to depend on the same system with the shape of the animal. As, however, they both depend on the locomotive system, it is evident that, in every cross, they must both be given by the same animal, and consequenty that the wool cannot be derived from one, and the shape from another. It is scarcely necessary to observe, with Sir John Sebright, that the fineness of the fleece, like every other property, may be improved by selection in breeding. Cattle and sheep, are alike required to be mature, of full stature, in good health, perfect vigour, and in entire possession of all their faculties, when the male is put to the female for breeding. The Application of the Natural Laws to the Breed. ing of Sheep corresponds so nearly to that for the breeding of cattle (except as to the 4th head,) that it need not be repeated here.—An additional rule also springs out of the third paragraph preceding this one. PART VI. VAGUE METHODS AFFECTING PROGENY, ADOPT. ED AMONG MANKIND. As, under the vague methods regulating progeny adopted in the breeding of domesticated animals, I availed myself of the authority of the best observers, I follow the same plan here. Of these methods, Camper gave a melancholy pic- ture. Some, he says, "for the purpose of having handsome children, have recourse, as Pliny observes, to ridiculous means and magical conjurations; while others consult the state of the stars, as Quillet ad- vises in his Callipaedia. In short, nothing has been too whimsical or too absurd to be resorted to for this purpose." In more recent times, many have indistinctly seen that " the hereditary transmission of physical and mo- ral qualities, so familiarly acted on in breeding do- mesticated animals, is equally true of man." 312 VAGUE METHODS AFFECTING CHILDREN. SECTION I. BREEDING IN-AND-IN. Of in-and-in breeding among mankind, Dr. Han. cock (15, August) says, " To the want of renovation, I conceive, we may chiefly attribute the barbarism which, for unnumbered ages, has reigned in Africa, and probably in the South Sea Islands, and amongst the aboriginal tribes of America; and a jealousy of strangers, perhaps, has kept the Chinese stationary for many thousands of years. " The Arowacks and other American tribes roam at perfect liberty through their native forests and savannahs, but, as it were by one universal magic spell or enchantment, they are all kept most strictly to their respective tribes; and by such isolation, through a long succession of ages, they have dwindled into pigmies compared with those whose races are renovated and refreshed by inosculation, or engrafting of other varieties." For the obstacles that, among ourselves, are fre- quently opposed to the union of persons of different classes, the chief motive is the desire of keeping in a state of wealthy ease the few who support aristocracy against the many who obey. The marriages of the former, therefore, frequently depend upon wealth and rank, without any regard being paid to personal qua- lities ; and the consequences are, that the qualities that originally elevated one class above another pass away, and their families rapidly degenerate. BREEDING IN-AND-IN. 813 «The marriages^of high rank and of hereditary wealth," says Sir Anthony Carlisle, who has long and well observed these things, " are generally concocted in their muniment rooms, where the estates of heirs and heiresses are entailed, together with the personal pecu- liarities, moral defects, and hereditary diseases of each family, and perpetuated as far as law, sheep-skins, signings and seals can extend them. Hence the fre- quent termination of such inbred races; while, in every ancient village, of considerable, though not shifting population, the names of humble families have continued for more ages, although ill recorded, than those of the proudest gentry." We cannot, therefore, be astonished to see that, in marriages thus founded wholly in interest, and accom- panied either by perfect indifference or by inconceiva- ble antipathy, the results are domestic misery, ster- ility, or weak and unhealthy children, and numerous crim. con. actions. Moreover, as Mr. Lawrence observes, it is in the rulers, in those to whom the destinies of nations are entrusted, and on whose qualities and actions depend the present and future happiness of millions, that the evil is at its height. laws, customs, prejudices, pride, bigotry, confine them to intermarriages with each other, and thus degradation of race is added to all the pernicious influences inseparable from such stations. . . . The strongest illustration of these principles will be found in the present state of many royal and aristocratic houses in Europe : the evil must be pro- gressive, if the same course of proceeding be con. tinued. 27 014 VAGUE METHODS AFFECTING CHILDREN. SECTION II. SELECTION. Mr. Lawrence observes, that " a superior breed of human beings could be produced only by selections and exclusions similar to those so successfully employ. ed in rearing our more valuable animals. Yet, in the human species, where the object is of such conse- quence, the principle is almost entirely overlooked ... Hence all the native deformities of mind and body, which spring up so plentifully in our artificial mode of life, are handed down to posterity, and tend, by their multiplication and extension, to degrade the race. Consequently, the mass of the population in our large cities will not bear a comparison with that of savage nations, in which, if imperfect or deformed indivi. duals should survive the hardships of their first rear. ing, they are prevented by the kind of aversion they inspire, from propagating their deformities." " If the same constraint were exercised over men," says Dr. Pritchard, " which produces such remarkable effects among the brute kinds, there is no doubt that its influence would be as great. But no despot has ever thought of amusing himself in this manner, or at least such an experiment has never been carried on upon that extensive scale, which might lead to impor. tant results . . . Something of this kind was indeed attempted by the kings of Prussia, but their project referred to stature ... It is well known, that the king of Prussia had a corps of gigantic guards, coo. SELECTION. 315 sisting of the tallest men who could be drawn toge- ther from all quarters. A regiment of these huge men was stationed during fifty years at Potsdam. «A great number of the present inhabitants of that place,' says Forster, 'are of a very high stature, which is more especialy striking in the numerous gigantic figures of women. This certainly is owing to the connexions and intermarriages of the tall men with the females of that town.' " Certain moral causes, however, have an influence on mankind, which appears in some degree to lead to similar ends. . . .In countries where the people are divided into different ranks or orders of society, which is almost universally the case, the im- provement of person which is the result of the above- mentioned caHse, will always be much more conspi- cuous in the higher than in the inferior classes." "In no instance, perhaps," says Lawrence, "has the personal beauty of a people been more improved, by introducing handsome individuals to breed from, than in the Persians, of whom the nobility have, by this means, completely succeeded in washing out the stain of their Mongolian origin. 'That the blood of the Persians,' says Chardin, 'is naturally gross, ap. pears from the Guebres, who are a remnant of the ancient Persians, and are an ugly, ill-made, rough- skinned people.' This is also apparent from the in- habitants of the provinces in the neighbourhood of India, who are nearly as clumsy and deformed as the Guebres, because they never formed alliances with any other tribes. But, in the other parts of the king- dom, the Persian blood is now highly refined by 316 VAGUE METHODS AFFECTING CHILDREN. frequent intermixtures with the Georgians and Cir- cassians, two nations which surpass all the world in personal beauty. There is hardly a man of rank in Persia who is not born of a Georgian or Circassian mother; and even the king himself is commonly sprung, on the female side, from one or other of these countries. As it is long since this mixture commenced, the Persian women have become very handsome and beautiful, though they do not rival the ladies of Georgia. The men are generally tall and erect, their complexion is ruddy and vigorous, and they have a graceful air and an engaging deportment. The mildness of the climate, joined to their temper. ance in living, has a great influence in improving their personal beauty. This quality they inherit not from their ancestors; for, without the mixture men. tioned above, the men of rank in Persia, who are descendants of the Tartars, [Mongols,] would be extremely ugly and deformed." These effects are every where observed. Captain Cook, describing the people of Owhyhee, says, "The same superiority which is observed in the Erees (nobles) in all the other islands, is found also here. Those whom we saw were, without exception, perfect. ly well formed, whereas the lower sort, besides their general inferiority, are subject to all the variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace of other countries." CROSSING. 317 SECTION III. CROSSING. "In some parts of Ireland," says Dr. Pritchard, " where the Celtic population of that island are nearly unmixed, they are, in general, a people of short sta- ture, small limbs and features: where they are mixed with English settlers, or with the Lowlanders of Scot- land, the people are remarkable for fine figures, tall stature, and great physical energy. "Pallas informs us, that even intermarriages of Russians and Tartars with the Mongolians, who differ widely from both of these races in their physical cha- racter, are very frequent in Mongolia. . The children born from these marriages are thus de- scribed in Pallas's Memoir on the Mongolian Nations. These children have agreeable and sometimes beauti- ful features, whilst those of an origin purely Kalmuc or Mongol, preserve, till ten years of age, a counte- nance deformed and bloated, a cacochymous aspect, which disappears only with the growth of the body." " In Paraguay, the mixed breed constitutes, accord- ing to Don Felix de Azara, a great majority of the people termed Spaniards or white men; and they are said to be a people superior in physical qualities to either of the races from which they have sprung, and much more prolific than the aborigines.* * " Ces metis B'unirent en general les uns aux antres, parcequ'il ne passe •n Ameri. CWOTCE IN INTERMARRIAGE. ceptible of cure, and do not present any obstacle to conception. Even with regard to these, however, it should be remembered that accidental monstrosities, malformations and changes produced by habit and education, either in forms or qualities, pass from the parents to their posterity. Exterior imperforation may sometimes be remedied by the surgeon's skill.—Dupuytren in his Essay on Laceration of the Perineeum during Labour, mentions two cases. He delivered a young woman secretly. The perineeum was ruptured, but by the use of the su- ture it again united. Several years afterwards, a man and woman visited him: the husband was unable to consummate his marriage. On examination, the aperture of the vagina was found very narrow, and a cicatrix was on the perinogum. It was his old patient. He advised patience ; and, in a short time, the female became pregnant, and was safely delivered.—In a parallel case, the husband deemed it a most unequivo- cal proof of previous purity. The contraction of the conduit itself may be en- larged by gradual dilatations. Should pregnancy inter. vene, dilatation gradually takes place before the period of delivery; this occurs more readily in young fe. males than in those of advanced years. In a case reported by M. Villaume, the hymen was present, but there was merely a mass of cellular tissue in place of the vagina; and by an operation, an open ing was made to the matrix. Dr. Pliysick is also stated to have operated with success in a case where the vagina was entirely closed up to a considerable distance within the os externum. VITAL SYSTEM. 353 The obliquity of the matrix merely requires some management in the act of reproduction. After malformations should follow diseases, as more or less to be guarded against in choice. In men, mutilations, or severe wounds of the repro- ductive organs, carcinoma of the testes or penis, and a schirrous or a paralytic state induced by injury to the nerves or muscles of the parts, are all likely to prevent cohabitation. Owing to complete and constant abstinence from coition, the internal spermatic organs, as well as the penis, shrink, and become inert, constituting impo- fence.—As an infant, says the canon law, is unfit for marriage because it is unable to perform its duties, in the same manner men who are impotent have no right to contract this obligation. It is moveover an act of deceit and felony.—In this case, even a desire to live with a fair fame should induce the deceived wife to claim the dissolution of a contract entered into with imposture and fraud. With regard to both sexes, everything that tends to diminish the energy of either, as debauchery, is at va- riance with reproduction. Thus, in very voluptuous women, conception may sometimes have really taken place, and its product be, immediately after its arrival in the matrix, destroyed by sanguine and other exhalations produced by fre- quent and excessive indulgence. Even a structural change would in such persons seem to cause sterility in some instances. Mr. Lang. staff in several dissections, found the fimbriated ex- tremities of the fallopian tubes on one or both sides 30* 354 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. adherent to some of the neighbouring parts; and it is probable that a constant state of inflammatory turges. cence in the reproductive organs led to this. Women who marry late in life conceive always less readily, and those who exercise the mental organs severely and continually are in most cases barren, while in others they become subject to serious acci- dents in pregnancy, because they carry all their pow- ers towards the brain, and deprive the sexual organs of their natural energy. Among the causes of sterility of an incurable na- ture in women, and sensible to the sight or touch during life, Beck reckons the following:—enlarged and schirrous ovaries; a schirrous or cartilaginous matrix; a cancer of the vagina or matrix, owing to the pain that accompanies it; a stricture in the cavity of that organ ; a polypus in the interior of the matrix. *l Where," says Dr. M. Good, " there is a manifest retention of the catamenial flux, after it has been once established, producing the general symptoms of disorder noticed in describing this disease, it is rarely that conception takes place, in consequence of the morbid condition of the organs that form its seat. " For the same reason, it seldom occurs where the periodical flow is accompanied with great and spas. modic pain, is small in quantity, and often deteriora- ted in quality. And if, during any intermediate term, conception accidentally commence, the very next paroxysm of distressing pain puts a total end to all hope, by separating the germ from the matrix. "There must be a healthy degree of tone and energy in the conceptive organs, as well as of case VITAL SYSTEM. 355 and quiet, in order that they should prove fruitful: and hence, wherever the catamenia are more frequently repeated than is natural, or are thrown forth, even at the proper time, in great profusion, and, as is generally the case, intermixed with genuine blood, there is as little chance of conception as in the difficult flow. The organs are too debilitated for the new process; and, not unfrequently, there is as little desire as elas, ticity." Cancer of the mammae, as well as of the matrix, when it consists merely of that state of chronic inflammation termed induration, is almost always ag, gravated even by the most moderate indulgence in the pleasures of love, to which is frequently owing its rapid progress and mortal character. There exist general diseases which are so injurious, ly influenced by marriage, that they constitute grounds of celibacy. Pulmonary phthisis is one of those, of which plea- sure, as a powerful stimulant of the circulatory system, must hasten the progress. In women with marked disposition to aneurisms, or already subject to them, the increased activity of the heart must drive the blood more forcibly against the sides of the vessels ; the lateral effort of this liquid must constantly tend to distend them; and if the effort operate upon a part already weakened, it must continually offer less and less resistance, until, even death as sudden as alarming may occur. Among the curable causes of impotence in men may lie enumerated the following :—retraction of the penis, originating from stone in the bladder, or some other 356 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. urinary disease; obliteration of the canal of the ure- thra, from stricture or other causes ; malformation as to the place of the aperture of the urethra; a natural phymosis, confining the glans in such a manner as to prevent the emission of the reproductive liquid ; atony of the parts arising sometimes from local disease or external injury, and at others from masturbation; inability to propel the liquid out of its vessels—this is frequently an absolute cause, but generally it is a cu- rable one. Among the diseases that are considered compatible with the act of reproduction, are asthma and the early stages of phthsis pulmonalis. In many chlorotic girls, marriage would tend to de. velope the attributes of their sex; but, to marry a chlorotic girl of fifteen or sixteen, with a view to fa- vour the developement of puberty, and especially of the catamenia, is not only to subject her to dangerous risks, but to desire a wife and daughters with similar tendencies to disease. A state of exhaustion of the uterine system pro. duced by excessive excitement, and added to this the most perfect indifference, explain why courtezans rarely conceive. In the female addicted to bad habits, the relaxation of the uterine organs, and its consequence, an inability to retain the reproductive liquid, render all who yield to these habits barren. Long-continued haemorrhage, recent prolapsus of the matrix or vagina, and even protracted fluor albus, are of course eminently unfavourable. Narrowness of the vagina occasionally originates VITAL SYSTEM* 357 from accidental causes, tumors, callosities, cicatrices remaining after ulcers, or lacerations from difficult la. bour ; and in these casesj dilatation may be made by surgical means. There are many cases of constitutional sterility, which cannot be at present explained. As the mare that has slinked her foal is always liable to that accident, so it is with women who have once miscarried. Having now first described beauty of the vital sys. tem and its modifications, pointed out the suitable conditions as to the age and form of the pelvis, shown the uncertainty of all signs of virginity, and indicated those of child-bearing, and having, after these gene- ralities, given some account of the particular causes of impotence-^hermaphrodism, malformation and dis- eases, I now proceed to describe those of aptitude for reproduction—the chief considerations as to choice which fall under the vital system. I need scarcely say that, in the first place, the re- productive organs must possess a certain degree of de- velopment. The three following conditions* we are told, may in- duce us generally to expect aptitude for generation in a female : the growth of desire at the period of pu- berty, the eruption of the catamenia at the right time, and moderate enjoyment of matrimonial embraces. But it is not less truly added, that we meet with fe- males combining all these, who are nevertheless childless, though married many years to men of good constitutions who had previously given proofs of repro- ductive powers, and that, on the other hand, the ab 359 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. sence of these three conditions is not always a certain proof that a woman will not conceive, as some become pregnant without ever having had the catamenia. It is a nearer approach to a correct view, to observe that " there are temperaments and constitutions more adapted for reproduction than others, in consequence of organic peculiarities and dispositions that it is not in the power of the anatomist to discover ; women possessed of such a temperament conceiving generally with great readiness*" A similar approach to the truth is made, when we are told, that " it has been thought that the handsom. est women are the most fruitful; that beauty and health should correspond ; that there exists an inti- mate relation, between the perfection of forms and the principal faculties of an individual; and that the principal attributes of beauty in a woman seem to depend, by a secret Connexion, on the circumstances of organization most proper to insure conception, and favour the developement of the product." The simple solution of all these " undiscoverable peculiarities" and "secret connexions" is, that the great condition of aptitude for reproduction is the greatest possible perfection of the vital system. And here it may be first observed, that the luxu- riance of the plains and abundance of nutritious food are favourable to the developement of the nutritive system. The vital system is relatively largest in little wo- men, especially after maternity. The chief points in this system are the following; The length of the neck should be proportionally VITAL SYSTEM. 359 less than in the male, because the dependence of the mental and locomotive systems On the vital one, is naturally connected with the shorter course of the vessels of the neck. The neck should form a gradual transition between the body and head, its fulness concealing all promi- nences of the neck and throat* The shoulders should slope from the lower part of the neck, because the reverse shows that the upper part of the chest owes its width to the bones and muscles of the shoulders. The upper part of the chest should be relatively short and wide, independent of the size of the shoul- ders, for this shows that the vital organs which it con- tains are sufficiently developed. The waist should taper little farther than the middle of the trunk, and be marked, especially in the back and loins, by the approximation of the hips. The waist should be narrower than the upper part of the trunk and its muscles, because the reverse in- dicates an expansion of the stomach, liver and great intestine, resulting from their excessive use. The back of woman should be more hollow than that of man; for otherwise the pelvis is not of suffi- cient depth for parturition. Woman should have the loins more extended than man, at the expense of the superior and inferior parts; for this conformation is essential in gestation. The abdomen should be larger in Woman than in man, for the same reason. Over all these parts, the cellular tissue, and the 360 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. plumpness which is connected with it, should oblite* rate all distinct projection of muscles. The surface of the whole female form should be characterized by the softness, elasticity, smoothness, delicacy and polish of the forms, and by the gradual and easy transitions between the parts; The moderate plumpness already described, should bestow on the organs of woman great suppleness. Plumpness is essential to beauty, especially in mothers, because in them the abdomen and mamma necessarily expand, and would afterwards collapse and become wrinkled. An excess of plumpness, however, is to be guarded against. Young women who are very fat are cold, and even sometimes barren. At the period of the cessation of the catamenia, fatness may exist in a greater degree. It is then that, in well-constituted women, the fat, accumulated in the cellular tissue, rounds the outlines anew, re- stores the look of youth, and constitutes the age of return. In no case should plunlpness be so predominant as to destroy the distinctness of parts. In a young woman, the mammas should occupy the bosom, rise from it with nearly equal curves all around, and similarly terminate in their apices; and, in the mature woman, they should, when supported, seem to protrude laterally. The space between their apices should be as great as from these to the depression above the breast-bone. The thinner women (providing the vital system is VITAL SYSTEM. 361 good) have a larger bosom, composed of palpable glan. dular masses, not of fat; and accordingly thinness, with a glandular structure of the mamime, appears to be favourable to the production of milk. Women yielding much milk are further distinguish. ed by greater sensibility-. A narrower forehead, and longer facej accordingly, indicate more disposition to give milki than the contrary form* Excess of application to acquire accomplishments, and particularly music* operate injuriously upon the developement of the vital system generally, and there fore of the bosom in particular^ The skin of woman should be fine, soft and white, delicate, thin and transparent* fresh and animated; the complexion should be pure and vivid; the hair should be fine, soft and luxuriant; and the nails should be smooth, transparent and rose-ColoUred. What the vital system will be, even though yet un- developed, is very well indicated by Mr. Knight's observation, that if in women, he were shown merely a face, short and round, full in the region of the fore. head, and having what are commonly called chubby cheeks, but contracted and fine in the nose and mouth, he would unhesitatingly predict the trunk to be wide and capacious, and the limbs to taper thence to their extremities. As to excess of the vital system, it should be remem- bered that the impressions made on the skin of the abdomen during gestation, and on that of the mammas during lactation, result chiefly from a large vital sys- tern being united with a small locomotive system, in at 362 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. which case, the skin of the abdomen and breast is al- ways too tight. It is preferable that the female should give to pro- geny the vital system, which in her is always most developed. In concluding these guides as to the vital system, I must observe that an irritable and impassioned tern- perament is unfavourable to conception. So is exces- sive voluptuousness. Chastity, on the contrary, adds to the force of love, and to the vigour of its organs, and is a sure means of fecundity. Hence animals which yield to the re- productive impulse only at the rutting time, conceive easily. Hence Lycurgus forbade any intercourse be- tween the sexes till a fixed age, which rendered tho maidens andromancs. Moreover, intercourse between the Spartan husband and wife, as they could obtain only furtive enjoy- ments, was always attended with strong passion and volition. This not only rendered enjoyment more intense, but generated children strong both in mind and body. Nature uses the same means for the pre- servation of nobleness and beauty among inferior ani- mals : the most vigorous males are always preferred by the females, and the former repel the weaker by force. This vigour of love, however, has nothing to do with morbid passion or spasm. If woman experi- ences any spasmodic convulsion, it interferes with conception. Voluptuous spasms are succeeded by weakness and relaxation; the local contraction and closing of the matrix occurs less frequently and less VITAL SYSTEM* 663 perfectly; and women thus circumstanced are bar- ren. We accordingly find that the inhabitants of hot cli. mates, though of warm temperament, have fewer children than those of colder climates, whose passions are more moderate. We also know that the Arabs race their mares till they are fatigued, before they are put to the stallion, as it renders them weaker and less lascivious ; and, in this country, the practice of throwing cold water over the body of a too lascivious animal has evidently for its object to lower the erotic temperament, and to pro- duce a closing of the matrix. Considering this question in its connexion with pregnancy, it is evident that these frenzies of love counteract the views of nature, and are injurious to the developement of the foetus. Certain it also is, that children born of parents either too young or too old, or in a state of mental or bodily disease, in intoxication, or in languor, never possess the excellent organization, observable in children engendered under more favourable circum- stances. The first exercise of her new faculty causes some remarkable changes in woman. Her neck sometimes swells and augments in size: the cause being that the brain at this period becomes more subservient to purposes connected with generation; the communi- cation between the trunk and the head is more frequent, intense and sustained; and the neck, which contains the communicating organs, necessarily in creases in size* 364 cnOICB IN INTERMARRIAGE'. The women of calmer temperament, whose placid features announce a gentler and more passive love*, often owe to marriage more splendid beauty; while in impassioned women, freshness disappears* and flac- cidity succeeds to elasticity. During pregnancy and suckling, the former gene. rally retain plumpness,- while the latter generally be. come meagre. Renewed conception, pregnancy, delivery and suck- ling, hasten debility in feeble*; ill-constituted, unhappy and dissipated women* Having now said all that seems necessary as to the" particular causes of aptitude for reproduction,—the chief considerations as to choice which fall under the" vital system,—we naturally arrive at the special suit- ableness of individuals to each other respectively. It has already been seen that, for the object of na* ture to be attained, there must not be too great a dis- proportion of age between the husband and wife. It is necessary to consider intermarriage, as corrcct> ing faulty organization in the vital system. Excessive length of body, shortness of limbs, and fulness of form, common to our south-eastern counties*. may, in progeny, be corrected, as already indicated, by intermarriage with the shorter bodied, longer limbed, and meagre framed northern races. As to minuter circumstances in the vital system, it has been seen that the dry seek the humid; the mea. gre, the plump; the hard, the soft; the rough, the smooth; the warm, the colder ; the dark, the fairer, &c.; and that, if here any of the more usual sexual r VITAL SYSTEM. 365 qualities are reversed, the opposite ones will be ac- cepted or sought for. Even as to colour, Mr. Knight's remark should be borne in mind.—" I prefer a male of a different co- lour from the breed of the female, where that can be obtained; and I think that I have seen fine children produced in more than one instance, where one family has been dark, and the other fair." The union of different temperaments and opposite organic predominances, should be favoured; but the notion that the bilious might advantageously be joined with the lymphatic or the sanguine, or that a person in whom any organ is too much developed or too irri- table, might contract an alliance with one in whom the same organ is inferior to the others in strength and irritability, is founded in the error that both pa- rents may communicate parts of the same system. Pleasure, or, at all events, the absence of antipathy in the mental nervous system, seems necessary to the formation of a new being; and at least unity or sim- ultaneous concurrence in the vital nervous system are evidently essential. When, on the contrary, there is too great a difference of character, and a married pair cannot enter even into momentary harmony, barren- ness must be the result. We are, indeed, assured that there have been cases in which antipathy, disgust, hatred and even anger, have not proved positive causes of sterility.—But, in these cases, there were periods of conciliation. Sometimes a difference, an unconquerable incompa- bility of certain points of character, may render any kind of union impossible between two persons, who, 31* 366 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. when afterwards paired with other mates, have large families, or who obtain these when age or custom has reduced them to relative harmony ; and hence couples, that have been childless for fifteen or twenty years, give birth to children at a more advanced age. Upon the whole, it appears, as has been already said, that of marriages founded solely on interest, and accompanied either by indifference or antipathy, the results are domestic misery, sterility, or weak and un- healthy children, and numerous crimes. Place and time, is relation to fruitfulness, are next worthy of notice. Races inhabiting countries that are moderately cold, are generally more fruitful than those inhabiting hot climates. In a given number of inhabitants, the provinces furnish a greater quantity of births than their capital cities ; notwithstanding the poverty of the peasantry, their coarse and scanty diet, and the toils of agricul- ture. The poor quarters of a large town swarm with chil- dren ; while those inhabited by the wealthy are al. most deserted. Indeed, if our cities were not recruited with the surplus population of the country, they would soon become dreary solitudes. Observation has proved that the spring and summer are the seasons most favorable to conception. This is determined by the number of births not being distributed over the different periods of the year, but mostly occurring in winter. According to an in- vestigation of the civil registers of Paris for six sue cessive years, the months in this respect range in the VITAL SYSTEM. 367 following order,—March, January, February, May, August, October, September, July, November, June, December. The months, therefore, most favorable to concep- tion are June, April, May, July, August, November.— w It is observed, however, that in the richer classes of society in France, who live in the midst of all the ac- cessories of luxury, and make winter their season of enjoyment, the majority of conceptions occur in the months of January, February, and March, and the births in Autumn. Observation shows that conception takes place more easily after the eruption of the catamenia. Enligh- tened practitioners now universality grant that "a frugal diet and light food is equally desirable for chil- dren both before and after birth; and that milk is more plentiful in a mother who lives upon vegetables and the milk of some quadruped, than in her who pampers herself with delicate and substantial food." Wine, which is injurious to all men without distinc- tion, cannot fail to be very prejudicial to pregnant women. During this period, it is also granted that women who lead an active life perceive scarcely any change in themselves, excepting the cessation of the periodi- cal flow and a great sensibility of the mammae. It would therefore be of great importance to abrogate the custom, so prevalent at present amongst females, of remaining constantly idle. " The very easy labours of Negresses, native Ame- ricans, and other women in the savage state," says Mr. Lawrence, " have been often noticed by travellers. 868 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. This point is not explicable by any prerogative of physical formation ; for the pelvis is rather smaller in these dark-coloured races than in the European and other white people. Simple diet, constant and labo. if| rious exertion, give to these children of nature a har- diness of constitution* and exempt them from most of the ills which afflict the indolent and luxurious fe-, males of civilized societies." Some important data* however, are here overlooked by Mr. Lawrence. Roussel observes that* " The wo, men of the Ostiaks have no anxiety as to the time of their lying-in, and do not take any of those precau,. tions which the delivery of European women renders almost indispensable to them. They lie-in wherever they may be, without being embarrassed ; they, or the persons who assist them, plunge the new-born infant into water; and the mothers speedily resume their; usual occupations, or continue their progress if they are on a journey. As these people are situate near the Samoiedes, and are found between the fifty-ninth and sixtieth degrees of northern latitude, this vigor. ous constitution has been ascribed to the severity of the climate . . . The women however of the island of Amboyna, toward the third degree of southern lati- tude, are similarly circumstanced; and authors dis- cover the cause of this in the heat of the climate, which renders, say they, the members of women supple and capable of adapting themselves without difficulty to the efforts of delivery. We may, from this, see how manageable upon this subject are the exp'ications de- rived from cold and from heat." The fact is, that the function of parturition is al. VITAL SYSTEM. 369 ways more painfully discharged in intellectual regions than in barbarous ones. Travellers have observed this fact, without knowing how to account for it. Nay, they have observed, without attempting to explain the decisive fact, that, in countries where child-birth is naturally easy, it generally becomes difficult if the native woman has been impregnated by a European man. " This wonderful facility," say Lewis and Clark, " with which the Indian women bring forth their chil- dren, seems rather some benevolent gift of nature, in exempting them from pains which their savage state would render doubly grievous, than any result of ha- bit. If, as has been imagined, a pure dry air, or a cold and elevated country, are obstacles to easy deli- very, every difficulty incident to that operation might be expected in this part of the continent: nor can another reason, the habit of carrying heavy burthens during pregnancy, be at all applicable to the Shos- honee women, who rarely carry any burdens, since their nation possesses an abundance of horses. We have indeed been several times informed by those conversant with Indian manners, and who asserted their knowledge of the fact, that Indian women preg- nant by white men, experience more difficulty in child-birth than when the father is an Indian. If this account be true, it may contribute to strengthen the belief, that the easy delivery of Indian women is wholly constitutional."—This fact is worth a thou- sand volumes of speculation. It cannot indeed be doubted that our early eduea tion and subsequent life, consisting in thought and 370 CHOICE IS INTERMARRIAGE* study, even in the artisan, develope the cerebral or. gans. The difficulty of parturition is greatly owing therefore to the increased capacity of the head. In Genesis it is said, that God condemned woman, after she had tasted of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, to a painful delivery. The allegory, if it is one, as St. Jerome and other fathers of the Church have thought, is beautiful and just. The round head of the English corresponds exactly with their round pelvis. I had long remarked these separately, without seeing the connexion between them. The pubes, however, which is round in round- headed nations, as the English, is prominent in long. headed nations, as the Scottish. Hence an English woman will suffer more in giving birth to a child by a Scottish man. Sir Anthony Carlisle informs me, that " Mrs. Wol. stonecraft, one of the heroines of her time, and an extraordinarily sensible woman, informed him that the stories about the pains of parturition were excessively exaggerated. And although she died in child-bed, the event was entirely owing to the mismanagement of an impatient doctor." Professor Chaussier, in solving a question that has reference to medical jurisprudence, is said to have hit upon the idea of examining what point is the middle of the body in an infant of a certain age. He ob. served that, at six months, it is under the breast-bone or sternum; at eight months, above the navel; and at forty weeks, at the navel itself. The utility of this examination, if it be well founded, is evident, as it would serve to prove whether a child is born at its VITAL SYSTEM. 371 proper time, and, in a more enlarged view, to fix the fact whether at a certain epoch one portion of the body is or is not in just proportion with the rest. This would open a new field to the researches of the artist who wishes to study the character of each age, and to the physiologist who takes an interest in gaining an improved knowledge of individuals. A knowledge of the laws announced in this work, is of great importance in determining the parentage of a child. Thousands of doubtful cases occur, in consequence of the face presenting little resemblance to one of the parents, and from other causes which may really or seemingly corroborate this one. These laws, however, phow that the lineaments of the other parent will always be discovered in the figure, &c. Here it must be observed, that the doubts arising from this want of resemblance in the face, would much more frequently occur, were it not, that, along with the form of the backhead, which the other parent imparls, go the common appetites, sympathies and passions which bind them together as insensibly as surely. This explains why the parent is generally most attached to the child which is least resembled in face. The importance of these laws in the guidance of education is not less obvious; for it is evident that they not only indicate the capacity of the child, but corroborate this by all the parent's own experience, whence he will naturally seek eagerly to profit in the person of his child. As to diseases, parents transmit to children organi 372 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE* zation more or less developed and irritable, and corres- ponding functions; and hence must arise hereditary dispositions to disease—scrofula, consumption, gout, rheumatism, insanity, &c. "There is more doubt," says Mr. Lawrence, " in some other cases, as hair-lip, squinting, club-foot, hernia, aneurism, cataract, fatui* ty, &c.; of which, however, there are many well* authenticated examples.—-I have attended, at different times, for complaints of the urinary organs, a gentle. man, whose father and grandfather died of stone." Mr. Knight (1, December) says, " Has it ever been publicly noticed that, in consumptive families, the hazel and. black-eyed children die, and the blue-eyed live ? In observations which I have made during the last fifty years, I have never seen a blue-eyed young subject grow into a consumption, that is, I never saw a blue-eyed young person, who grew rapidly, who was tall and slender, with narrow shoulders, contract- ed chest, and who died about the age of puberty. Whether this circumstance has or has not been no. ticed by pathologists, the fact is, I am quite certain, correct. A man whose constitution has a consump- tive tendency, should therefore choose a blue«eyed wife." SECTION rv. as To the mental system. This system is not to be sought for, at the cost or to the neglect of the vital system. "Powers of MENTAL system. 873 thought," as Mr* Knight observes, (1, December) "when much exercised, require powers of stomach, for if the stomach feels disordered, the head does not continue clear." On the other hand, the vital system must not be sought for, to the neglect of the mental* " It deserves well," says Karnes," to be pondered by the young and the amorous, who in forming the matrimonial society, are too often blindly impelled by the animal pleasure merely, inflamed by beauty. [That of the vital sys- tem being evidently here alluded to.] It may indeed happen after pleasure is gone, and go it must with a swift pace, that a new connexion is formed upon more dignified and more lasting principles: but this is a dangerous experiment; for even supposing good sense, good temper, and external merit of every sort, which is a very favourable supposition, yet a new connexion upon these qualifications is rarely formed J it generally or rather always happens, that such qualifications, the only solid foundation of an indissoluble connexion, are rendered altogether invisible by satiety of enjoy. ment creating disgust." " In the woman possessing this species of beauty," as shown in my work on that subject, »the greater developement of its upper part gives to the head, in every view, a pyriform appearance;—the face is gene- rally oval 5—-the high and pale forehead announces the excellence of the observing faculties;—the in- tensely expressive eye is full of sensibility;—in the lower features, modesty and dignity are often united ; she has not the expanded bosom, the general plump- ness, nor the beautiful complexion of the second 32 374 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. species of beauty ;—and she boasts easy and graceful motion, rather than the elegant proportion of the first. The whole figure is characterized by intellectuality and grace. " This species of beauty is less proper to woman,— less feminine, than the preceding. It is not the inteh lectual system, but the vital one, which is and ought to be most developed in woman." The first modification of this species of beauty, is that in which the developement of the organs of sense is proportionally large, and the sensibility great. The second modification of this species of beauty is that in which the developement of the brain, the forehead excepted, is proportionally small.—Hence the mental system, in woman, is subordinate to the vital; and the reverse is inconsistent with the happy oxer. cise of her faculties. The third modification of this species of beauty is that in which the developement of the cerebel or organ of the will, as well as its muscles, is proportion. ally small. Conformably with the smaller size of tho cerebel, and especially with its smaller breadth—its elongated form, (the influence of which is explained in my works on " The Nervous System," " Physiog. nomy," and " Beauty,") the disposition of woman to sustained exertion is much less than that of man. Scott describes a subordinate modification of beauty of the mental system, when, speaking of Lady Binks, he says, " The sultana-like beauty of the haughty dame, which promised to an admirer all the viscissi- tudes which can be expressed by a countenance lovely in every change, and changing as often as an ardent MENTAL SYSTEM. 375 and impetuous disposition, unused to constraint, and despising admonition, should please to dictate." In this peculiar modification, the locomotive system is generally handsome; the vital system displays the sanguine temperament; and in the mental system, in- telligence is considerable, though emotion and passion dominate. This modification I have observed to prevail among the women of Italy, who, by means of it, obtain that command over their lovers for which they are cele- brated—a command, however, which they could nei- ther achieve nor maintain, were it not that they blend with this, no inconsiderable degree of the uterine, or, more correctly, the ovarian temperament, and every art of inspiring love. I have also observed that to men who require ex- citement, whether in consequence of cold temperament or of exhaustion amidst pleasures, this modification of beauty has great attractions : the slightly offended movement of the elegant figure, the flush of the beau- tiful cheek, and the flash of the kindling eye, awake them to life, admiration and pleasure. They forget that, of all passion, premature old age and ugliness are the sure results. To the last of these works, I must refer the reader for an account of the points of beauty in the mental system; and in the head and face in particular: it would be unfair to transfer them to this work. I will here only observe, that the facial angle of Camper shows the developement of the most impor- tant portion of the brain in the anterior, or, as Dr. Barclay more correctly terms it, the antinial direction, 376 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. and the proportion which it bears to the organs of sense and expression in the face ;—that the height of the forehead cannot, without deformity, and injury to various functions, exceed the space from the forehead to the bottom of the nose, or that from the nose to the bottom of the chin:—and that the nose should descend in nearly the same line with the forehead and with little indentation under the glabella or space between the eye-brows, the reason of which I first pointed out. I may add, that the skin should be thin and deli* cate ;—that the mouth should be small, the lips deli. cately outlined, and becoming thin towards their commissures, while the under lip should be most de- veloped and turned outward;—that the nose should be as already described:—that the eyes should be large and elongated, with irides blue, hazel or black, eyelids very gently inflected, eyelashes long and silky, and eyebrows, fine, arched and moderately separated; ■—that the ears should be rather small, with unbroken curves, and with little prominence;—that the cheek- bones should display beautiful curves, the teeth form a longer ellipsis than in man, and the chin be softly rounded ;—'and that the facial muscles should be feeble. Finally, I may observe, that the whole countenance should be softly rounded; that the colour of the fore. head, temples, eyelids, nose, and lips where undevel. oped, should be of rather an opaque white, that of the approach to the cheeks and the middle of the chin of a slight tint of rose-colour, and that of the middle of the cheeks altogether rosy but delicate;—that, from MENTAL 8YSTEM. 377 the anterior part of the head, the hair should divide in a vertical direction;—and that the faulty feature, which is found in all faces, and which always exag- gerates, should be carefully looked to. Such being the essential characteristics of this sys- tem in woman, the best guidance in choice is thereby offered. One or two observations may be added, as to the exercise, employment and combination of these organs in relation to choice. It is known that the more any of the organs of the body are employed, the more they are developed in size, and vice versa. Now, in the opulent classes, the organ of thought being less employed, its volume gradually diminishes, and intellectual power is gradually lost. It has further been seen that, when one parent com. municates to a child the form of the face generally and the forehead, the other will be found to communi. cate the form of the posterior part of the head ; and, while the child has the observing, imitating and other faculties of the former, it will be found to have the passions, acts of the will, &c. of the latter. The pro. portion therefore which exists between these parts in the heads of parents, is nearly decisive of the charac- ter of their progeny : if they be feeble in both pa- rents, they must also be so in the offspring. Hence the perpetually increasing degeneracy of aristocratic families. Moreover, in this case, the degraded organization is every hour still further degraded by the operation of the same circumstances on the child which operated pn the father. 32* 378 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. Hence the justice of Mr. Knight's observation, (1, December) " Amongst ancient families, quick men are abundant; but a deep and clear reasoner is seldom seen. How well and how readily the aristocracy of England speak ! how weakly they reason !" This leads to the observation that " there is a feel- ing very generally entertained by literary and scien. tific individuals, that only those physical and moral qualities need be looked for in a wife which render her a good mother and a domestic house-keeper, and that a cultivated mind is of little importance." But this is a great error, not merely because these men be- ing compelled by their profession to remain much at home, are obliged, from having no one to comprehend them, to think alone, but because uneducated women are sure to communicate lower mental faculties to children. Karnes very sensibly observes, " that in the com- mon course of European education, young women are trained to make an agreeable figure, and to behave with decency and propriety : very little culture is be- stowed on the head; and still less on the heart, if it be not the art of hiding passion. Education so slight and superficial is far from seconding the pur- pose of nature, that of making women fit companions for men of sense. Due cultivation of the female mind, would add greatly to the happiness of the males, and still more to that of the females . . . Married wo- men in particular, destined by nature to take the lead in educating their children, would no longer be the greatest obstruction to good education, by their igno- ranee, frivolity, and disorderly mannors of living. MENTAL SYSTEM. 379 Even upon the breast, infants are susceptible of im. pressions ; and the mother hath opportunities without end of instilling into them good principles, before they arc fit for a male tutor."—Karnes, however, takes no notice of the transmission of organization and func- tion. The better education of women is thus of greater importance to their progeny than is commonly ima- gined. Habits and pursuits long followed in families, de- velope, as Mr. Knight observes, the organs which they employ. It is important, therefore, as he also ob- serves, that the minds of the ancestry should have been exercised in some way; and the progeny will generally be found best calculated to do that which the parents, through successive generations, have done. Confining our observations, however, even to the individuals themselves. Two persons who are equally violent, passionate and capricious, are rarely suscepti- Ke of union. It is well therefore that in the mental system, the irritable seek the calm ; the grave, the gay; the impassioned, the modest; the impetuous, the gen- tle ; &c, or in opposite cases, the opposite. As to insanity, it must, in choice, be especially re- membered that if, in one parent, the forehead and the observing, imitating and other faculties are very de- fective, and if, in the other parent, the backhead and the exciting faculties, the passions and the will, are equally defective,—as each parent may communicate either the anterior or the posterior organs, in this case, the offspring may receive the very defective forehead and observing faculties of one parent, and the very 380 CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. defective backhead and motive faculties of the other, and that the idiocy of such offspring would be the in- evitable result;—that if, in one parent, there be but one of the portions of the head well developed, and in the other, neither portion, then there is but one chance of sanity against three of insanity or of de. feet;—and that if, on the contrary, in one parent, there be both portions of the head well developed, and in the other one portion, then there are three chances of sanity against one of defect. Now, suppose mental incapacity or aberration to exist in a slight degree, in consequence of defect or excess of any of the great portions of the brain alluded to, and on this it will generally be found to depend, the most prejudiced will not dispute that, in this case, if marriage be inevitable, its victim should have the very opposite structure. A little reflection will show that a family having either forehead or backhead ill developed, may correct this in one generation; while a family having both forehead and backhead ill developed, cannot correct it in less than two generations—that is, by a substitu- tion of both portions of the organization, by two sue cessive intermarriages. In regulating the first changes produced, it must be remembered :— That the forehead may, in progeny, be elevated and projected, if a more projecting backhead and cerebel be united with it; That the forehead may, in the progeny, be broad- ened, if a broader backhead and cerebel be united with it; MEN*AL SYSTEM. 881 That a round face will, in progeny, be elongated and projected inferiorly, if a more projecting backhead and cerebel be united with it; That a narrow face will, in progeny*, be broadened, if a broader backhead and cerebel be united with it; That an equality or similar proportion between the organs combined in children, is always productive of more or less beauty* whatever the size of these organs may be, and that) on the contrary, an inequality or disproportion between the combined organs is always productive of ugliness; That, accordingly, where there is symmetry of head* there is symmetry of face, or beauty ; and where there is want of symmetry of head, there is want of synn mctry of face, or ugliness ; That thus a prominent backhead added to a smaller forehead, always produces a disagreeable projection of the lower parts of the face—^generally of the under lip and lower part of the nose ; That, on the contrary* a small backhead added to a very large forehead always produces a not less disa* greeable contraction of the lower part of the face ; That beautiful parents produce ugly children, when the organs in the new combinations are worse adapted to each other than in the old ones; That ugly parents produce beautiful children, when the organs are better adapted to each other than in the old ones; That thus the mere relative proportion of the organs combined in children is a great cause of beauty or of ugliness, and there are no exceptions to its influence; That while muscular power depends on the poste- CHOICE IN INTERMARRIAGE. rior series of organs—the locomotive system in par- ticular, beautiful action depends on tho anterior series of organs—the sensitive system—the eye in partial- lar, and that therefore these qualities must not be ex- pected from one parent; That if, in one parent, sensibility exceed volition iri a greater degree than in the other, that parent must communicate the anterior series of organs—the organs of sense, the anterior part of the brain, and the vital system; That, on the contrary, if in one parent, volition ex- ceed sensibility in a greater degree than in the other, that parent will doubtless communicate the posterior series of organs—the cerebel and the muscular sys- tern: That, therefore, by regulating the relative youth, vigour and voluntary power of the father and mother, either may be made to give to progeny the voluntary and locomotive systems, and the other, the sensitive and vital systems—though it is preferable that the sire should give the former and the dam the latter, as be- ing the systems in which naturally they respectively excel. That all the differences in the features of children who yet resemble the same parent, are mere modifica- tions of those of that parent (those produced by the cere- bel of the other parent excepted,)—such modifications as that parent might assume under the influence of different emotions—such modifications a3 that parent actually has assumed, and therefore has in these very instances communicated. That, in the act of reproduction, the senses cod. HENTAL SYSTEM. 383 nected with intellect, the eye and the ear, or those connected merely with life, may be employed, and the new being may be the product and the personification either of mere intellectual or mere sensual pleasure ! That, according to the state and action of each of these organs in the parent, will each be feeble, mode- rate, or greatly developed, faintly out-lined, delicate, or coarse, in the progeny. Finally, it is frightful to observe the manner in which some writers speak of insanity as a bar to mar- riage.—A French writer says, "All agree in prevent- ing marriage as long as the insanity presents any character of decided continuance, and all recommend it, if in her lucid intervals the young girl manifests any strong desire for marriage, or any inclination to unite with the object of her choice. [Her progeny, of course, will be as prone to insanity as herself!] The effects that marriage will produce on her may be judged of by observing the nature of the agreeable im- pression made upon her by the announcement of the approaching union. [The nun who plays so hazardous a game must be worthless.] But if she suffers a fresh attack when she first learns the certainty of her mar. riage, I think it Would be imprudent to solemnize it, unless her insanity assumed the character of erotic monomania, or nymphomania properly so called." [And then the man may hope that his daughters will only display their graces in furor uterinus!] " With somnambulism and melancholy, it is differ- ent. These two conditions rarely present any mo- tives for opposing the marriage of a young girl. It is more than probable that they will be removed by the 384 CHOICE IN INTERMARRtAOE. new kind of excitement this organ receives in the va- ried and lively emotions occasioned by the married state." [But they may not be removed !] They may recur under new circumstances! And it cannot be pleasant to reflect that a man may any night awake to discover that his wife has gone undressed upon a shopping excursion, or that his child is amusing an assembly of policemen on the other side of the street by journeying astride upon the house top; for if the por. tion of the organization on which this depends be communicated, the tendency to such disease will as surely be communicated.] It has been shown that, from ignorance of the rela- tive proportions of cerebral parts, and of the influence of such proportions over the mental capacity of pro. geny, sane parents often produce insane children. A fact more alarming Can scarcely be presented to a re- flecting mind ; nor can any conditioh more distressing to a parent be imagined. If the facts here stated be accurate, and the inductions from them be true, that condition henceforward will not be more distressing than criminal. =o CATALOGUE O F IMPORTANT WORKS PUBLISHED BY HENRY G. 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" We do not hesitate to pronounce this one of the best as well as one of the most useful, of Mrs. Ellis's highly popular works. Whatever she attempts is accomplished in a clear, vigorous and masterly manner—grappling her subject with a strength and grasp of mind truly astonishing to all, more especially to those who argue that depth of thought and wisdom are the attributes of the sterner sex only."—Washingtonian. vir. PICTURES OF PRIVATE LIFE, first and second series. Price 25 cents each. " This, we believe, was Mrs. Ellis's first work, and in some respects it is her best. It is a simple, truthful and touching delineation of the joys and sorrows, temptations, duties, and blessings of private domestic life, for the purpose of imparting useful instruction, and sound advice. The fiction is wrought with great interest and power, but is always subordinate to a high moral design, and is only assumed as a pleasing medium for the utterance of truths which would lose much of their impressiveness if proclaimed in a didactic form. There are few writers to whom a more cordial commendation can be given, by those who regard the interests of morality and religi„n, as well as the attractions of style and beauty of sentiment, than Mrs. Ellis."—Evana-elist. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 7 vnr. MRS. ELLIS'S POETICAL WORKS, Beautifully printed in duodecimo, with a finely-engraved Portrait of the Author. THE IRISH GIRL; AND OTHER POEMS, By Mrs. Ellis. Editions in muslin gilt, $1,25, and morocco extra, $2,25. IX. A FAMILY TREASURE. In one beautiful volume 8vo., cloth gilt. THE DOMESTIC GUIDES OF MRS. ELLIS, CONTAINING THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. THE WIVES OF ENGLAND. THE DAUGHTERS OF ENGLAND. THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND. " To wish prosperity to such a book as this, is to desire the moral and physi- cal welfare of the human species."—Bath Chronicle. " The unexampled success attending the works of this gifted writer in be- half of the moral elevation of her sex, has placed her at once at the head of the female authors of any country. The gentle and benign spirit, which is diffused through her various productions, awakens a ready response of the heart to integrity and faithfulness. She appears as a sort of universal mother of her sex, counselling and warning her children upon subjects that most in- timately affect their weal or wo ; and this she does with the deep fondness of a Niobe, yet with the stern inflexibility of a Minerva. Her writings exhibit throughout the keenest perception and accuracy of discrimination, coupled with sobriety of judgment, delicacy of sentiment, warmth of feeling, and nicety of adaptation ; and above all, a sweet Christian charity pervades every page. " Amiable and holy are these lessons, calculated to elevate and purify the young hearts into which they may be received, and to carry those best bless- ings of love and peace into many a family. Its purity, its morality, its integ- rity, are all unblemished ; it should be found in every family and carefully stu- died."—Metropolitan. THE SELECT WORKS OF MRS. ELLIS. " We have perused this honest and searching work with much satisfaction, and can confidently recommend it to every mother who wishes her daughters to become really useful members of society ; and to every young female who has the wisdom to prefer esteem to admiration."—Christian Advocate. "Mrs Ellis is not astern moralist, who frightens with her severity, but a winning instructress, to whom it is sweet to listen ; and though the volume before us is avowedly one of teaching, it will be read with pleasure, recommend- ed bv its taste, its sentiment, and its refinement, even by those whom it may reprove ; and this we think is saying much, for censure is seldom acceptable, and it is a rare thing for the medicine which gives health to give pleasure too."—Metropolitan. 8 HENRY G. LANGLKY'S PUBLICATIONS. A NEW JUVENILE BY MRS. ELLIS. In one volume, 18mo. BROTHER AND SISTERS, AND OTHER SKETCHES AND TALES. By Mrs. Ellis, Author of the " Mothers," " Wives," " Women," and " D'augh- ters of England," &.c. &c. Price 50 cents. POPULAR HAND-BOOKS, Elegantly bound in muslin, gilt edges, and ornamental stamps. Price 25 cents each, or $1 50 for the Series. I. HAND-BOOK OF DREAMS: Their Origin, History, and Interpretations. " Even the remembrance of ouidr«ammgs will teach us some truths.— Watts. II. HAND-BOOK OF DOMESTIC COOKERY : Containing directions for preparing upward of four hundred dishes. HI. HAND-BOOK of LETTER-WRITING for GENTLEMEN: Containing original letters relating to Business, Duty, Friend- ship, &c. IV. HAND-BOOK OF LETTER-WRITING FOR LADIES : Containing original letters on Friendship, Love, Marriage, &c. V. HANDBOOK OF THE LANGUAGE AND SENTIMENT OF FLOWERS : Containing the name of every Flower to which a sentiment has been assigned. VI. HAND-BOOK OF MANNERS: With Rules for the Regulation of Conduct. "The history of manners, the history of common life."—Dr. Johnson. M. CHATEAUBRIAND'S ATALA. In 8vo. neatly printed. Price one shilling. ATALA, A TALE. Translated from the French of Chateaubriand. By M. J. Smead & H. P. Lbfebvre. "This new translation, in the cheap popular form of publication, of so es- teemed and well-known a little classic as the ' Atala' of Chateaubriand, must prove universally acceptable to the lovers of elegant fiction everywhere."— Democratic Review. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 9 ONE HUNDRED GLEES FOR 81. THE NEW-YORK GLEE BOOK, Containing one Hundred Glees, Quartetts, Trios, Songs in Parts Rounds and Catches ; composed, selected, and harmonized with an ad libitum Accompaniment for the Pianoforte 1 vol. 8vo. paper $1, bound in cloth, $1,25. By George Loder. "Drawn from the rich stores of the old English composers, such as Webbe, Lock. Haves, &c, culling more largely from the moderns, Rossini, Auber, Strauss, Bishop, Weber, &c. For the fnmily circle there is no music so plea- sant, so universally acceptable, as the Glee ; and as family singing is deserved- ly in vogue, and becoming more so,.the appearance of this volume is timely : it supplies a want that has been much felt."—Commercial Advertiser. " The work embraces more than a hundred of the most choice and popular pieces of music, and possesses a high value. It is neatly printed in a conve- nient form."—Evening Post. "We bail the appearance of this work with great pleasure This volume ia one of the most desirable books in the world for a family of brothers and sis- ters, and even parents who are fond of family singing ; and we cannot con- ceive of a more delightful sight than the use of it around the domestic fireside. We recommend it with great satisfaction."—Herald. " We do not hesitate to say, that in publishing the work to which we here allude, Mr. Loder has become a public benefactor ! and we will endeavour to prove it. Of all the amusements of domestic circles, we believe it will be ad- mitted that music is both the most prominent, and one of the most rational. Now, a work containing a hundred pieces of the choicest kinds, written or selected by a man of taste, experience and skill, like the well-known editor nf the book before us ; one also, who can adapt those pieces with reerard to the capabilities of amateur musicians, put them in neat style to the musical world, and at so very reasonable expense, must needs be, as we have said, a public benefactor. We presume this excellent volume will have an immense circulation, as well from its convenient size as a hand-book, as from the fact of its comprising within its cover, a whole treasury of musical riches."— Anglo American. " This is a work which has been long needed : it will prove a source of great satisfaction to professors as well as amateurs ; the more so as the dif- ferent arrangements in it are easily conceived, and based on correct princi- ples."—IF. Scharfenberg. " The judgment shown in arranging popular melodies, as well as the mer- its of the original pieces, must render the New-York Glee Book highly ac- ceptable to the public."—Wm. Blondel. " On the whole, it is undoubtedly the best and cheapest work of its class ever published in this or any other country. The original contributions by the editor are graceful and inusician-like compositions, and the remainder select- ed or arranged by him, are in admirable taste : it is a work eminently cal- culated to cultivate and refine the general taste for this species of composi- tion."—Henry C. Watson. THE MEMOIRS OF SILVIO PELLICO, OR, MY PRISONS. Translated by Smead and Lefebvre. 1 vol. 8vo., paper, 25 cents. J " These memoirs are, in many instances, truly affecting, and replete with passages of the noblest feeling ; they contain a recital of evils suffered by the author, and an avowal of consolations to be found in the greatest misfortunes. Many scenes are described in a most vivid and graphic manner, and altogether the work is of a most interesting character."—JV". Orleans Crescent. 10 HENRY G. LANGLEY'S PUBLICATIONS. MR. C EDWARDS LESTER'S NEW WORK. In two vols. 12mo. beautifully printed and embellished by finely. engraved plates from designs of Chapman. THE CO NDITION AND FATE OF ENGLAND. BY THE AUTHOR OF " THE GLORY AND SHAME OF ENGLAHD." Price f I 75. The above new work is designed as a continuation and summing up of the arguments comprised in the author's former volumes, " The Glory and Shame of England ;" it presents a graphic picture of the actual condition of the English people, deduced from statistical documents of unimpeachable authority; develop- ing scenes of terrific and startling interest descriptive of the ap. palling distress of the British manufacturing classes, including notices of the present portentous aspect of affairs in that country. The following is a synopsis of the topics comprised in these interesting volumes .— Book I. Embraces a view of the power and magnificence of the British Empire, with illustrations of the spirit of the feudal and of the modern age. Book II. The general condition of the mass of the British people in past ages,—their burdens and sufferings during centuries of unrelieved oppression. Book III. The injustice, wrongs, and oppressive laws under which the ma- jority of the British people are now struggling. Book IV. A continuation of the same subject, including a Reply to a recent publication, entitled " The Fame and Glory of England Vindicated," by an anonymous libeller of the Democratic Institutions of this country, written over the signature of "JAbertas." Book V. The sufferings and crime, the ignorance and degradation caused by the oppressive burdens of the people. Book VI. Glances at the woes and struggles of Ireland under the tyranni- cal power of England, and her only hope of relief. Book VII. The feelings of the people under a sense of the deep injustice they have so long endured, and their determination to suffer the slavery no longer. Book. VIII. The opposition of the Aristocracy to the Liberties of the Peo- ple, and their determination still to keep them in subjection. Book. IX- The progress of the Democratic principle throughout the world, and especially in Great Britain. Book X. The final issue of this conflict—Reform or Revolution. " This work is a sequel to the " Glory and Shame of England," developing more fully its prominent points, and, repeating the opinions therein advanced concerning the past prosperity, the present misery, and the approaching down- fall of Great Britain. The author has manifested some industry in collecting snd skill in arranging his facts ; the style of the work is vigorous and exciting. Mr. Lester's style is sometimes elevated, and even eloquent, but it nfle» descends to that which is below the dignity of history, and is too much after the manner of a newspaper controversialist. Upon the whole, this work is oue in which the reader will find a good deal to arrest attention, and furnish food for reflection upon the rise and fall of kingdoms and States ; although we think the author dwells too much on " the dark portions of the picture," as do many British tourists when writing about our own country. We may think too, that he generalizes too much from isolated cases, and hence, that his conclusioni are not always just."—JVashville Whig. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 11 MISS ELIZABETH BARRETT'S POEMS. Preparing for speedy publication in one beautiful volume, A DRAMA OF EXILE, AND OTHER POEMS, By Elizabeth B. Barrett. The Poems of Miss Barrett, most of them now for the first time given to the world, will be issued almost simultaneously with a forthcoming London edition, the American edition being now reprinted from the early proof sheets of the ori- ginal. A recent critic of no mean pretensions to scholarship, pronounces the productions of this extraordinary poetess as being of the most empyrean order; her own most exquisite utterances of the divine soul of poetry that glows with- in, being generated of the sweetest union of womanly tenderness of heart, and masculine loftiness and power of intellect. The principal poem—one of'the most beautiful which our day has produced—has been declared by another excellent critic, the finest that has appeared since the Manfred. She writes like an inspired priestess—not without a most truthful heart, but a heart that isdevoted to religion, and while individuality is cast upward in the divine affla- tus, and dissolved and carried off in the recipient breath of angelic mmistrants. PICTURES OF WESTERN LIFE. In one vol. 8vo. Price 25 cents. ELLEN WOODVILLE: OR, LIFE IN THE WEST. This attractive work will find its way to numerous readers whose know- ledge of domestic life in the far-west is almost as limited in the atlantic cities of our own land, as it is in Europe itself. It is written in a felicitous style, and few works will prove more generally acceptable at the summer watering places, where our reading selections are specially made with reference to amusement.—Democratic Review. HERSHBERGER H. R. THE HORSEMAN; A work on Horsemanship, with Rules for Riding, and hints on the selection of Horses. With 30 engravings. 1 vol. 12mo., mus- Un, $1 00. " A work of great utility and value to all who are desirous of acquiring th« science of Horsemanship ; it being a characteristic feature of the present pro- duction lo reduce that subject to systematic exactness. It also includes copi- ous instructions on the Sword Exercise, and other matters of interest to the service, forming altogether a complete military manual."—Dem. Rev. THE MYSTERIES OF THE HEATHS. Translated from the French, by Geerge Fleming. 8vo. paper 25 cts. " One of the most interesting and exciting books ever published." This is a translation from the French of Frederic Soulie, to which the translator appears to have done every justice. It is a tale of considerable inter- est, said to be founded on fact, relative to the Gipsies of France, full of incident, which continues unabated from the first to the last page ; and but little re- course is had to sentiment or description, and consequently will be found to partake more of the form of real life than is usual in works of fiction. Its pe- rusal cannot fail but be gratifying to all that admire such works.—Hunt. 12 IIF.NRY G. LANGLEY S 11 BLICATIONS. ALEX. DUMAS' NEW WORK, Second edition, in one vol. V2mo. Price 1 00, muslin. THE PROGRESS OF DEMOCRACY, Illustrated in the History of Gaul and France, from the earliest period to the present day. Translated from the French of Alex. Dumas, by an American-. " As a historian, our author has displayed eminent ability, as the work now before us abundantly testifies ; its style, moreover, is the most delightfully interesting that we remember ever to have met with."—Knickerbocker. " The political theory of the work is' original, striking, and beautifully de- veloped."—Phila. ledger. " One of the most valuable as well as interesting compends that has ap- peared.!'—Boston Atlas. "This work is one of the most valuable, as well as most attractive, historical compends that have been published for many years."—Courier and Enquirer. " It is one of the most useful and readable books of the day ; full of striking and profound reflections, and enlivened by a style, the raciuess and brilliancy of which no living French writer can surpass."—AT. Y. Commercial Advertiser. " We are glad of an opportunity to call the attention of our readers to this work in an English dress : a work, the most original in design, and at least among the most able in execution, of all contemporary productions."— Jtoto World. " This work is a fit companion for the celebrated volumes of De Tocqueville, which have recently been issued in a splendid edition, by the same pub- lishers."—Brother Jonathan. THE ANTHROPOLOG ICAL] WORKS of Alexander Walker. New Complete Uniform Edition in three volumes. Price $3 75, muslin. As an evidence of the great value of these popular writings on Physiological Science, it is sufficient to state, that over forty thousand copies of his several works have been sold since their first appearance in the United States. These works comprise a large amount of curious and valuable information, equally adapted for popular use, and the advancement of science. " If ever writer chose an attractive theme, Mr. Walker is certainly that writer. His volumes contain a vast fund of original, profound, acute, curious, and amusing observation, highly interesting to all." — London IAUrary Gazette. "A rich accession to our literature in every sense. The author comes to the performance of his work with qualifications of a high order, and has sup- ported it with extensive philosophical research, and delightful attractions in illustrative anecdote."—Spectator. INTERMARRIAGE, Or, the Mode in which, and the Causes why, Beauty, Health and Intellect, result from certain Unions; and Deformity, Disease, and Insanity from others. Illustrated by Drawings By Alexander Walker. With an Introductory Preface and Notes by an American Physician. Eighteenth Edition, m one vol. 12mo. Price $1 25, muslin. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 13 WOMAN, Physiologically considered as to Mind,Morals,Marriage, Matrimo- nial Slavery, Infidelity, and Divorce. By Alexander Walker author of "Intermarriage;" with Notes and an Appendix adapting the work to this country, by an Amencan Physician. lenth Edition, in one vol. 12mo. Price $1 25. BEAUTY, Illustrated chiefly by an analysis and classification of Beauty in Woman. By Alexander Walker. Wth Notes and an Explanatory Introduction, by an American Physician. Sixth Edition, in one vol. 12mo. Price $1 25, muslin. " We have read this work with great delight ; the subject is treated in a masterly manner. To a complete knowledge of the scientific part of his sub- ject, the author adds immense practical information, and an elegance of style rarely found in works of science ."—London Athenwum. PATHOLOGY, Founded on the Natural System of Anatomy and Physiology, by Alexander Walker. A Philosophical Sketch, in which the natural classification of diseases, and the distinction between morbid and curative symptoms, afforded by pain or its absence, are pointed out, as well as the errors of Homoeopathy and other hypotheses. One vol. Price 75 cents, muslin. Another work from the pen of this popular Physiologist, embracing a new order of subjects, though not the less interesting, as the title fully exhibits. To the many admirers of his former works, this new production cannot fail of receiving a cordial welcome. DTSRAELPS NEW WORK. SIXTH EDITION. THE AMENITIES OF LITERATURE, By J. DTsraeli, Esq. Author of " The Miscellanies of Literature," " The Curiosities of Literature," &c. beautifully printed in two vols. 12mo. Price $2 25, muslin. " Quite worthy of an author who has done perhaps more than any other to illustrate and adorn the English language and literature ; this work will rank in all public and private libraries with the author's previous delightful mis- cellanies, ' The Curiosities of Literature,'' The Miscellanies of Literature,' &c."— New Wtrld. " The volumes are as invaluable and curious as interesting, and form history enough of the subject for any save the antiquary—and no modem history would content him."—Brother Jonathan. ■^ 14 RNRY G. LANGLEY'S PUBLICATIONS. » AMFvrriFs or LiterATURE.-We have ever considered the author of these^oE.= a^^ %X fr^btit^ »^r-^Z reg^mr SoroS ^'c^Ltm^' T^^ies' f JT&'K U *^i "i«Tt,t dM>™. a grater depth of research and as rt were a ind of h.storvof the minds of authors as well ns of their writings. kiKe wnaiever comes from thepen of this accomplished individual, it ■■ remarkable for pur, v of style and ...terestioir anecdote, and must become an especial favo.r.te with all classes of readers."— Lit. Gaz. THE RUINS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. In one beautifully-printed volume octavo, embellished by nearly fifty Illustrations, executed in a novel and effective style, from drawings taken on the spot. RAMBLES IN YUCATAN, OR, NOTES OF TRAVEL THROUGH THE PENINSULA, INCLUDING A VISIT TO ITS REMARKABLE RUINS, BY A MODERN ANTIQUARY.—Price $2 00. This beautiful volume, besides presenting a synoptical account of those interesting vestiges of antiquity in Central America, which have become recently so much the objects of public attention, will be found to comprise a Geographical, Political, and Statistical description of Yucatan, and the ancient cities of Chichcn, Kabah, Zayi, Uxmal, and also other places not previously visited by any other tourist; including a graphic and detailed account of their numerous stupendous ruins,—and a unique collection of rare and curious Idols, which have never before been discovered : to which is appended notices of the manners and customs of the present inhabitants of the penin. sula, including brief historical sketches of its churches, colleges, and other puhlic institutions, &c. &c. The following are among the principal embellishments :—Frontispiece in Vignette,—The Temple,—The Pyramid at Chichcn,—The House of the Caciques,—The Front View of the House of the Caciques.—The Nun'i House,—Pyramids,—Uxmal Ruins,—The Governor's House,—The Pigeon Houses,—The Fascade of Governor's House,—Zayi Ruins,—Lonato, or Na- tural Well,—The Road Side,—Yucateco Indian House,—The Plantain,—The Agave Americana,—Idols,—Map and Plans. Still more remarkablk Ruins in Central America.—We have lately looked over some drawings made by a traveller, recently returned from Central America, representing the ruins of an ancient city, not yet visited by any traveller, which are perhaps more remarkable than even those visited by Stephens and Catherwood."—N. Y. Evening Post. RYAN'S ALGEBRA—Price $1 00, sheep. AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON ALGEBRA, Theoretical and Practical, adapted for Schools, Colleges, &c, by James Ryan ; to which is added an Appendix by Robert Adrain, Professor of Mathematics in Columbia College. Eighth edition, greatly enlarged and improved by the author. ----- B 6, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 15 MISCELLANIES OF LITERATURE, By J. D'Israeli, Esq. Author of " The Amenities of Literature," " Curiosities of Literature." Three vols. 12mo. New Edition, with numerous Additions and Revisions by the author. Price $3 00, muslin. " In the volumes before us, there is not an uninteresting line from the title page to finis."—Brother Jonathan. " It is a work that enchains you from beginning to end'; in the perusal of which you feel reluctant to pause, till you find yourself compelled by the un- welcome finis."—Merchants' Magazine. " This valuable work puts us at once into fellowship with the master- spirits of the past, and brings up the scenes and events of other days with life-like freshness. This work supplies us with what we have long needed—a home description of literature and the master-builders of it ; their difficulties, hardships, dispositions, social wants and pleasures. It is a good counterpart to the 'Curiosities of Literature,'and like that will amuse as well as in- struct."—New- Yorkfr. " The writings of D'Israeli belong to a class no less peculiar in their character, than they are valuable in their kind. Few authors have laboured so assiduously, or rendered such efficient service to the interests of literature. His style is pre-eminent for its nervousness and classic beauty, and it is doubtless to this cause no less than to the immense collection of amusing and characteristic anecdote which he has supplied that we are to ascribe the high estimation with which his former writings have been received. We cordially recommend these delightful volumes to all who can appreciate the pleasing combination of the utile et dulce in books."—New World. " Take up either of the volumes, and open where you please, the reader will at once find his attention chained by something curious and new, though very old : indeed, for casual and curious reading, D'Israeli is incomparable."— JV Y. American. " Had this popular author now for the first time appeared before the read- ing world, these volumes would be amply sufficient to ensure him a proud rank among the first writers of the age. The work abounds in entertaining j anecdotes, pertinent quotations, and philosophic reflections ; there is a power of thought and patient research manifested throughout which has rarely if ever been equalled."—The Classic. JAMES'S LAST HISTORICAL WORK. LIFE AND TIMES OF RICHARD COZUR-DE-LION, By G. P. R. James, Esa. Author of " Richelieu," and " The Ancient Regime," &c. &c. 2 vols. 12mo. Price $1 50, muslin. " This new historical work by the author of' Richelieu,' is characterized by all the usual fascinations of style for which his pen is so distinguished : he has also chosen an epoch in English history, the most romantic and chivalrous that could have been selected, and the result has been, he has given us a most interesting and attractive book."—Boston Post. ■ " Indeed, the general history of the period of which he writes, is so rich and ] interesting, that had the subject of the Life of Richard fallen into far inferior i hands, a readable and entertaining work might have been reasonably ex- pected."—Albany Evening Journal. TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Entirely re-written and adapted for Children. Embellished with nearly fifty beautiful illustrations. Price 75 cents, muslin, gilt. j %= 16 HENRY G. LANGLEY S PUBLICATIONS. SIMM'S LIFE OF MARION. LIFE OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION, By the Author of " Guv Rivers." With numerous Engravings. 1 vol. 12mo. Ready in June. $1 00. " Few characters have stood out more boldly on our Revolutionary Annals, who have supplied more interestin? and exciting materials for tho historian, than that of General Marion : and it is not sayimr too much to claim for the work before us, no less the merit of accredited historical truth, than tho most stirring and absorbing attributes of high-wrought fiction."—Dem. Review. BEAUTIFUL NEW JUVENILES. New Edition, with numerous beautiful coloured drawings. ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRY FORESTERS. By Stephen Percy, Author of the "Kings of England," &c. Price $1 00, coloured—plain 75 cents. THE ANNALS OF THE POOR, Comprising " The Dairyman's Daughter," " The Negro Ser- vant," " The Young Cottager," " The Cottage Con- versation," " A visit to the Infirmary," &c. By Rev. Legh Richmond. A new edition, enlarged and illustrated, with an Introductory Sketch of the author, by Rev. John Ayre, A. M. 1 vol. l8mo. cloth gilt. With plates. Price 75 cents, muslin. The above popular works need no recommendation, having been long among the choicest works designed for present-books for the young :—it is only necessary to allude to the elegant style in which the present editions huve been produced, and which entitle them to take rank with the best specimens of the day. TEMPERANCE TEXT BOOK. Fifth Edition, in one vol. 12mo. Price $1 25, muslin. BACCHUS. the new temperance prize essay. An Essay on the Nature, Causes, Effects and Cure of Intern- perance. By Ralph Barnes Grindrod. Second American, from the third English edition. Edited by Charles A Lee A. M., M.D., &c. ' " A work so admirably complete must be hailed by the advocate of Temper- ance as an invaluable addition to the cause."—New Era. " The work is such a thorough examination of the theme, that it must serve as a text-book on the subject."—Pennsylvanian. " The most thorough, learned and satisfactory publication on this subject ever yet offered to the pubhe in any Iamjuage.»-CAri»tian Intelligencer. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 1? SEQUEL TO THE WORKS OF BURNS. Second edition, in one vol. 12mo. Price $1 00, muslin. THE LIFE AND LAND OF BURNS. By Allan Cunningham, with contributions by Thomas Camp- bell, Esq., Author of " The Pleasures of Hope ;" to which is prefixed, an Essay on the Genius and Writings of Burns, by Thomas Carlyle, Esq. "This hook is invaluable as completing the works of Bums, and as being also illustrative of them."—Cincinnati Gazette. "Written with all a poet's thought and feeling."—TottJer. " Another tribute to the memory of one of the truest poets that the world, perhaps, has ever seen. This posthumous volume will be regarded of peculiar and permanent value, as being a sequel to all the editions of the writings of the poet extant, to which it is the clue for their complete elucidation. The Essay of Carlyle, included in the present work, is a splendid effort, and among the finest specimens of this original and beautiful writer. The work will commend itself not only to every son of Scotia, but to all the admirers of poetry throughout our wide-spread borders."— New World. " All the admirers of Scotland's sweetest bard—and who will acknowledge that he is not one ?—will be delighted with this volume, filled as it is with various reminiscences and particulars about him, that have never belore ap- peared. It would be enough to say that it is a joint tribute to the memory ol the poet of nature, by Cunningham, Campbell, and Carlyle ; but it has even more than this to recommend it. It has several original letters, never before published in this country, and is altogether one of the pleasantest books that have appeared for a long while."—N. Y. Review. DR. FORRY'S NEW WORK. THE LAW OF POPULATION AND MORTALITY IN THE UNITED STATES. based upon the six censuses and other data ; With a condensed View of General Hygeine or State Medicine in its relations to Vital Statistics, as regards the promotion of Human Longevity and Happiness. By Samuel Forry,M. U., author of "The Climate of the United States," Editor of " The New York Journal of Medicine," etc. The above production is based upon an extended paper, read by Dr. *«rry before the New-York Historical Society, and at the su gges "» £ the eading members of which, he has been induced to expand the highly-interesting sub ject into a volume. , nn ] vol. 12mo. Price SI 00. DR. MARTYN PAINE'S NEW WORK. A THERAPEUTICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE M ATERI A MEDIC A, Or, the Materia Mcdica arranged upon phys.ological principles and in the order of general practical value which remed.al agents hold under their several denominations, and in confor- mity with the physiological doctrines set forth in the Medical and Physiological Commentaries. By Mart yn Paine, M.D., f Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, &c. in the New-York University. One vol. l2mo. Price $1 OU- 18 HENRY O. LANGLEY'S PUBLICATIONS. TIIE UNITED STATES MAGAZINE, AND DEMOCRATIC REVIEW. John L. O'Sullivan, Editor. By an increase in the number of pages, and by an alteration in its typogra- phical arrangements, the quantity of matter previously funiished to the readers of the Democratic Review, has been increased during the past two years about SEVENTY-FIVE PER CENT. The following are among the contributors to this work: Bancroft, Park Godwin, J. L. Stephens, J. F. Cooper, Hawthorne, Tilden, Amos Kendall, Davezac, Whittier, Paulding, Eamks, Bryant, Sedowick, A. H. Everett, Cass, Gilpin, Brownson, C. J. Ingersoll, Butler, Cambreleno. The monthly Financial and Commercial articles, which have frequently been pronounced by the most intelligent criticisms during the past year, in themselves alone worth the subscription to the work, will be continued from lae same able hand. Terms.—Five Dollars per annum, payable in advance : each number will contain one hundred and twelve closely-printed pages, and embellished with a finely-engraved portrait. Any person taking four copies, or becoming responsible for four subscribers, will be entitled to a fifth copy gratis. Committees or Societies, on remitting to the Publishers $50 in current New York funds, can receive thirteen copies of the work. Persons residing in the country, who may wish to receive the work by mail, can have it punctually forwarded, strongly enveloped, by remitting the amount of subscription to the publishers. Remittances may be made by enclosing the money and mailing the same in the presence of a postmaster. Bank notes that pass current in business generally in the State of New-York, will be received. The work will be punctually delivered free of expense to subscribers in the principal cities in the Union on the first of the mouth, and forwarded to mail subscribers and agents on the 25th of the month preceding publication. All communications for the Editor to be addressed (post-paid) to HENRY G. LANGLEY, Publisher, 8, Astor House, New York. critical notices. " The Democratic Review.—This matniificent periodical comes to us freighted with the richest cargo of literary wares that we have encountered many a day. On the whole, we think it as good a number of the Democratic Review as we have seen ; and that is equivalent to saying that it is quite equal to anything in the Magazine line extant."— Tribune, March, 30, lfc»44. " This ably-conducted Periodical exhibits the same vigorous features, and classical taste, which hnve distinguished it for a long period, and which con- stitute it at once a Mentor in grave matters and an agreeable companion in those of a lighter nature. We do not meddle with the political speculations of the United States, but are disposed to recommend the leading article on ' Constitutional Reform,' as a model of the style in which political controversy ought to be conducted."— Anglo-American. " A great work, which for the first time reflects a literary lustre upon Washington."—Nat. Intelligencer. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 19 the first^^nrri^SS^r agS'aT t^ ^ ZZ^Jw^htg^G^,^ «" >°^ ^stinies^ opinion thanNth^aSWit1ho^th.,Sv,C0U1,,try haS eV" Prescnte<3 * prouder array of talent han this. Wthout subscnbmg toils political tenets, or dissenting from hem for, on that point we choose to be non-committal we think tha? every impartial reader must acknowledge that the political papers in the Democratic Review are among those which will not die as mere ephemera, but be re- £n.£' £l ,T' aS ,Part ?.f the hist0'y «f O" times. And not only are they Zl \fi l^Wr'"cn'but the>- P°sse^ usually more impartiality than we v m^v , m- ^"'^l Wnt,"Ss- °" ?^^ national questions, and subjects vitally concerning our character and prospects as a people, we find the writers \J« t« Rev!ew> frequently soaring above the partisan policy and partisan in- terests, with a magnanimity which does them honour."-firotAer Jonathan. We never peruse this able magazine, without wishing it in the hands of every intelligent reader in the Union. It is not the partisan apologist, or de- fender of the acts of a party, but an able champion of the democratic principle -looking to the welfare of the whole family of man. It follows no beaten tracks, and is hampered by no prejudices-but taking truth for its guide, it follows natural and immutable laws to their source, and discusses their opera- tion with an energy and talent belonging to no other publication in the country. " We avail ourselves of this opportunity to recommend, as we have re- peatedly done before, this work to a liberal patronage from the public. No review in the country is conducted with more ability, or ranks higher than this. He who would see the great measures of the country discussed with the bold spn it of free inquiry, and who would at the same time encourage high literary merit and cultivate a correct taste, will do well to become a sub- scriber to this admirable publication."—Boston Post. " If there is any periodical worthy the support of an inquiring people, it is this—the best Review of the country."—Eastei-n Rock. NEW MEDICAL JOURNAL. NEW-YORK JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND THE COLLATERAL SCIENCES. Edited by Samuel Forry, M. D., Author of'' The Climate of the United States and its Endemic Influences,' $rc. The leading objects proposed in the establishment of this Journal are, to el- evate the character and dignity of the American Medical Profession generally, and especially to afford a medium, free from all individual interests and party views, through which the rich results of the experience of the profession in this city, much of which is now lost to the world, may be communicate!. As New-York is the largest city of the western continent, numbnnnj with its environs, 350,000 inhabitants, here are to be found the same materials which have served to build up the fame of the Clinical Schools of London and Paris. Considering that the State of New York has within its limits four Medical Schools, at which 800 students are annually matriculated, the fact that it ha.s not a single Medical Journal of its own, seems almost incredible. The work is issued at intervals of two months—a form that possesses un- doubtedly a decided advantage over the weekly as well as monthly journal, which, in consequence of their contracted limits, especially the fornior, can allow of the insertion of elaborate articles only in detached parts, thus im- pairing both their interest and value. It consists of three departments: 1. 20 hlxry o. la>cli:y's publications. Original Contributions ; 2. Critical Analysis ; 3. A condensed summary of whatever may be new and valuable in Foreign arid American journals. By the extensive business arrangements of the publisher, hn is enabled to obtain the earliest intelligence from abroad ; and as by the same means, this Journal will speedily reach the countries of Europe, the labours of its contributors will be rewarded by a widely-extended circulation. EDITOR The undersigned having assumed the publication of the above-named Jour- nal, is happy in statins that he has seenrpd the valuable services of an Editor, who is already most favourably known as a writer, both in this conntrv and in Europe, by his work on " The Climate of the United States and its Endemic Influences ;" and they would add. that he has also had the advantage of thir- teen years' experience in his profession, both in private practice and the pub- lic service, the latter having rendered him familiar with the diseases peculiar to the diversified regions of our widely-extended country. This Journal is published punctually on the first day of every olher month. The terms are three dollars per annum, payable in advance ; and as each num- ber contains 144 octavo pages, it is the cheapest publication of the kind in this country. Remittances may be made by enclosing the money and mailing it in the presence of a post-master, HENRY G. LANGLEY, Publisher, 8, Astor House, New- York. A BOOK FOR FAMILY USE. A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIET, With Observations on the Dietetical Regimen suited for disorder- ed states of the Digestive Organs, &c. &.c. By Jonathan Pe- reira, M. D. F. R. S. Edited, by express Desire of the Au- thor, by Dr Charles A. Lee. 1 vol. 8vo. Price, muslin, $1,25, paper, f 1 00. " This treatise contains much valuable information, conveyed in a form which will interest while it instructs. No family should be without if, since it will instruct and guide to a proper treatment of symptoms of disease, where the impossibility of obtaining medical aid might otheiwise prove fatal. As the effective detector of adulteration in food, it is most valuable ; while the in- structions for preparing diet arc excellent, and will economize outlay in the general consumption, as well as direct to the use of the kind of diet best suited to the preservation and promotion of health " TIIE CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES. In one Octavo Volume, with Explanatory Maps. THE CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS KNDEMIC INFLUENCES; Based chiefly on the Records of the Medical Department and Adjutant General's Office, United States Army. By Samuel Forrv, M. D. Price $2 50, muslin. " The hirhest praise that we can award to this great labour—for so it may be truly desiemated—is, that the older country, with all its industrious intelli- gence, has nothing of the kind ; most of the contributions in local medical to- pography that adorn the pages of the Transactions of the Provincial Medical Assuriation will not bear comparison ; and it reflects altogether the highest credit on the medical literature of the United States."—London Liteiary Gazette. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 21 DR. COPLAND'S MEDICAL DICTIONARY, IN MONTHLY PARTS. A DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE, Comprising (iuneral Pathology, the Nature and Treatment of Dis- eases, Morbid Structures, and the Disorders especially incident to climates, to the sex, and to the different epochs of life. With numerous prescriptions for the medicines recommended : a classification of disease according to pathological principles; a copious bibliography, with references, and an Appendix nf approved formula;, &c. &c. By James Coi-land, M. D., F. IL S., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, &c. &c. This work contains the opinions and practice of the most experienced wri- ters^ British and Foreign, digested and wrought-up with the results of the au- thor s experience. It also presents a diversified range of opinions, methods of cure, and authorities, and comprises the complications and modified states of disease which are even more frequently met with than those specific forms too often described by Nosologists as constant and unvarying types, to which mor- bid actions, occurring under a great variety of circumstances, can never close- ly adhere. It contains also a full exposition of the general principles of pa- thology, a minute description of the organic lesions of the human body, and a detailed account of those states of disorder incidental to the sex, the different periods of life, and to particular climates, with the peculiarities resulting from temperament and habit of body. Each article is methodically divided and headed : and to each a copious Bibliography, with references, is added. The above work will be issued in monthly parts, at fifty cents each. Part I. now ready. THEHOSPITALS AND SURGEONS OFPARIS. A General, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Public Hospitals of Paris, with Biographical Notices of the most Distinguished Living French Surgeons. By F. Campbell Stewart, M.D. 1 vol. 8vo., muslin, 2 00. " The author of this very agreeable book has succeeded admirably in making a volume that will be read with dec|> interest by persons both within and without the pale of the profession. Without claiming anything on the score of originality of thought, Dr. Stewart is entitled to the praise of having collect- ed a large amount of that very kind of matter about which every one is solici- tous to know something ; we know of no substitute for it, and therefore re- commend it strongly to our friends."—Boston Mtdical Journal. DR. SWEETSER'S NEW WORK. One volume 12mo. MENTA L HYGIENE, Or an Examination of the Intellect and Passions, with the de- sign of illustrating their influence on Health and the Duration of Life. By William Sweetser, M. D., Author of " A Treatise on Consumption ;" late Professor of Theory and Practice of Physic, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 22 HENRV O. LAX(iLi:\'s PUBLICATIONS. Under the Supervision or Valentine Mott, M. I). NEW WORK ON OPERATIVE SURGERY, In three vols. 8vo. NEW ELEMENTS OF OPERATIVE SURGERY. By Alf. A. L. M. Velpeau, Professor of Clinical Surgery, &c, Paris, Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine, &c. Carefully revised, entirely remodelled, and augmented with a Treatise on Minor Surgery ; including several hundred pages of new matter, comprising all the latest Improvements and Discoveries in Surgery in America and Europe, up to the present time ; the whole incorporated with nearly two hundred illustrative plates. Translated from the recent improved Paris edition, by P. S. Townsend, M. D. Under the supervision of, and with a Prefatory Notice and Observations, by Valentine Mott, M. D., Professor of Surgery in the University of New-York, &c. Accompanied by an Atlas in 4to., containing 22 finely engraved plates. The above work will comprise the latest advantages of the present advanced state of surgical art, and also include the rich experience of the eminent pro- fessor under whose editorial revision the work passes It is believed it will he found the most valuable contribution to medical science which has yet ap- peared. The first volume is now ready, and ttie entire work, consiMing of three large octavo volumes, and a beautiful atlas in quarto, will be com- pleted in the course of the spring. Subscribers' names respectfully requested to be addressed to the publisher, 11. (j. Langlev, New-York. Terms to Subscribers, $10 00 for the complete work. DR. TAYLOR'S NEW WORK. OBSERVATIONS ON 03STETRIC AUSCULTATION, With an Analysis of the Evidences of Pregnancy, and an Inquiry into the Proofs of the Life and Death of the Fouus in Utoro. By Evory Kennedy, M. D. With an Appendix containing Legal Notes, by John Smith, Esq. Barrister at Law; with Notes and Additional Illustrations. By Isaac'E. Taylor, M. D. Accompanied by seventeen fine Lithographic Plates. 1 vol. 12mo. Price &2 OU THE DUBLIN DISSECTOR, OR, manual of anatomy. Comprising a Dissectioii of the Bones, Muscles, Nerves and Viscera ; also the relative Anatomy of the different regions of the Human Body; together with the Elements of Pathology. From the revised Dublin Edition, considerably enlarged and improved. Edited by R. Watts, Jun, M. [>., I'rul'.rssor of Anatomy ia the New- York Medical College. One vol. 12mo. 550 pp. Price $ 2 00. 8, ASTOR HOUSE, NEW-YORK. 23 THE LATEST AND BEST WORK ON FORENSIC MEDICINE. PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, With so much of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and the Practice of Medicine and Surgery, as are essential to be known by Lawyers, Coroners, Magistrates, Officers of the Army and Navy, etc etc. By William A. Guv, M. B. Cantab Pro- fessor of Forensic Medicine, King's College, London: Phy- sician to the King's College Hospital, etc. etc. First American Edition. Edited by C. A. Lee, M.D., who has added two hundred pages of original matter, adapting the work to the wants of the Medical and Legal Professions in the United States. 1 vol. 8vo. The Editor has enjoyed the advantages of freely consulting Chancellor Kent, on many of the legal questions which come under discussion ; and the opinions of this eminent jurist on several important points will be found em- bodied in the text, from his own notes kindly furnished, and which he has permitted the editor to publish. The American Editor has, among other additions, (embodied with the text in brackets,) given the laws of the different States in relation to the questions discussed by the author; remarks on the duties of the coroner ; compensation of medical men, when culled on to make post-mortem dissections at coroners' inquests ; the importance of appointing medical men to the office of coroner; medical evidence ; the quotation of authorities by physicians in giving testi- mony; the duties of medical men in relation to the disclosure of professional secrets, or facts communicated in professional confidence ; the undue deference paid to personal experience ; its proper value ; identity of the living ; identity of the dead ; the influence of certain causes, localities, &c, in the preserva- tion of the human body, illustrated by examples from the cemeteries of this city and other places; the remarkable case of Timothy Monroe ; additional means of determining the age of the dead ; cases of hypospadias ; hermaphro- ditism ; St. Hilaire's division of the generative system ; causes of impotence in the male and female, with cases; impotence as a ground of divorce; questions raised in a late remarkable trial of a clergymen for seduction, with remarks on the medical testimony, &c. &c. STEWART'S TRANSLATION OF M. BILLARD ON INFANTILE DISEASES. New Edition, Improved. One volume 8vo. A TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF INFANTS. Founded on recent Clinical Observations and Investigations in Pathological Anatomy, made at the Hospice des Enfans- trouv^s ; with a Dissertation on the Viability of the Child. By C. M. BiLLARD, Docteur en Medecine de la Facuite de Paris,