Homo-Culture; Or, The Improvement of Offspring Through Wiser GenerationHolbrook, M. L. (Martin Luther)
Philosophy
Homo-Culture; Or, The Improvement of Offspring Through Wiser Generation
Holbrook, M. L. (Martin Luther)
Eugenics; Heredity
Great mothers must have a certain sort of hardihood which comes from a
wise physical culture, not necessarily an artificial one,--a life in the
open air, and the avoidance of all social dissipation.
_Degeneracy of the Breasts and Motherhood._
A sign of degeneracy is pointed out by Hegar, who appeals to young men
on behalf of posterity to choose for wives women with well-developed
breasts; he quotes statistics to prove inability to nurse a child a sign
of degeneracy which produces degeneracy in the offspring. Among other
facts he points out that in a district of his knowledge, which supplies
a large number of wet nurses to the city, the percentage of men
incapable of military service amounts to 30 per cent., while in the
neighboring districts, where the mothers remain at home with their
families, it is only 18 per cent. He remarks upon the surprising number
of deformed nipples encountered in the hospitals. Fehling mentions
"hollow nipples" as occurring in 6.7 of his obstetric cases. He warns
mothers not to allow the clothing to constrict the growing breasts of
their daughters, and urges general hygiene as the best method to develop
them.
In this connection the question may be asked, Is it possible for women
with defective breasts to become mothers of a virile race of men and
strong women. In most cases it is not. A defect in this part of their
nature is evidence of a weakened constitution. It may be said, that the
breasts do not always develop before marriage and parentage. This is
true, and if the health is robust, and the constitution and ancestry
good, the mother will, in most cases, be able to nurse her child. If it
is known in advance that such cannot be the case, and it may generally
be known, then the responsibilities of motherhood should be undertaken
with the greater precaution. In modern times we have far better means of
bringing up children by hand than formerly. Still, a mother able to
nurse her own children should always be preferred.
_Location of Birth._
In Manchester, England, in 1892, 37,674 boys out of every 100,000 died
before they reached their fifth year. In healthy districts only 17,314
out of 100,000 died. About the same condition prevails in other places.
The lesson it teaches us is, that we should choose a healthy region in
which to live if we would rear the healthiest offspring.
_Evolution._
This word means progress and progress implies improvement, without which
there could be no evolution; but improvement of the human race will not
be further possible unless the marriage relation is regarded from a
higher stand-point than that of sexual indulgence.
The practical superiority of man over animals consists in his knowledge
of the _aim_ of his conduct. Animals exercise the reproductive function
instinctively at particular seasons, but man knowingly always; and thus,
unless the latter subordinates his passion to reason he is worse than a
brute, as he knows himself to be such.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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