It is admitted that a great majority of the human family, from the beginning of the world down, have been born by the aid of female midwives only, or without there being any assistant whatever at the birth, as is still the case with some of the savage tribes. At the present day even, of all births that take place in the world at large, probably not one out of twenty is superintended by a male practitioner. But all of this proves nothing in regard to the question, as to whether it is better for men or women to be employed in such practice. It proves to us the competency of nature to do, as a general thing, her own work. But to say that it proves that males should never practice midwifery, would be as absurd as to affirm that railroads, steamships, and magnetic telegraphs ought never to be brought into use. But I have already spoken on this subject in my introductory letter, and need not here enlarge upon it. The question regarding the extent to which the pains and perils of childbirth may be modified by the voluntary habits of individuals and nations, and by the appliances of art, is one of the greatest importance to society, a subject which has been probably more neglected than any other in both medical and scholastic lore. To prove that the evils and dangers attending child birth, even among the most civilized and enlightened portions of the human family, may be brought to a great extent within the range of man’s control, is the object of the following remarks. Let us look first at the habits and condition of the aborigines of our own country. The state of society among the Indians necessarily excludes the influence of many of those passions which are known to cause bodily derangement. If an Indian becomes angry, the turbulent effects of his passion are hushed in deep and lasting resentment. Envy and ambition also are, for the most part, excluded by the equality of savage life. “The weakness of love,” says Dr. Adam Smith, “which is so much indulged in ages of humanity and politeness, is regarded among savages as the most unpardonable effeminacy. A young man would think himself disgraced forever if he showed the least preference of one woman above another, or did not express the most complete indifference, both about the time when, and the person to whom he was to be married.” Thus the savage state, although being in many respects far from a truly natural one, exempts the individuals of both sexes from those violent and lasting diseases which are well known to arise from excesses in matters pertaining to the sexual and marital relations.