The possession of children is heavenly bliss to married people, and their pride and joy in them, and in living with youngsters, renders the parents young, as the German proverb says. But as every good thing, if in excess, may turn out to be harmful, _omne quod est nimium vertitur in vitima_, so too, many pregnancies may prove very harmful in the fight against old age, especially when the mother nurses for a long period each of the children. In women who produce much milk this may prove advantageous to health if not too greatly prolonged; but in women with a meager provision of milk—as in cases of thyroid insufficiency—it may prove disastrous by destroying the means of keeping youthful till an advanced period. In married women with many pregnancies much will depend on external circumstances of life, and it is certain that nothing will hasten the advance of old age as many pregnancies, the mother suckling all the children herself, in combination with deficient food, the wear and tear of poverty, and with anxiety as to the morrow. This cruel struggle for daily bread is what renders the women of the lower classes old before their youth has passed. To prevent the deleterious consequences of too many pregnancies on beauty, health, and wealth, in certain countries, as in France, the habit of having one or two children has been encouraged by artificial means. However, as is always the case when our acts disregard Nature, great mischief may thus arise, and even in cases where death has not followed abortions, very often such irreparable damage is caused to the organs on which youth and beauty depend that the oncoming of old age is still further hastened. The endometritis and peri- and parametritis of many years duration, which are sometimes the result of such procedures, influence the appearance of these persons more unfavorably than many pregnancies. Parents who have many children may be regarded as the happiest of mankind. Their name is forever perpetuated through their numerous sons, and their flesh and blood survives in their children, to quote the great German philosopher, Schopenhauer.