Life history album / prepared by direction of the Collective Investigation Committee of the British Medical Association ; edited by Francis Galton.

Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Life history album / prepared by direction of the Collective Investigation Committee of the British Medical Association ; edited by Francis Galton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    To the Owner of this Book. This Album is designed to contain the Chart of your Life, and to be a record of your own Biological experience. It is obvious that such a record must be of personal interest, but, independently of this, if the observations are regularly made and registered according to the direc- tions, the Album will prove of great value hereafter to yourself and to your children in the following ways:— 1. It will show whether, and in what way, your health is affected by the changes that take place in your residence, occupation, diet, or habits. 2. It will afford early indication of any departure from health, and will thus draw attention to conditions which, if neglected, may lead to permanent disorder. Without such a record, the early signs of disease which are commonly slight and gradual, are very likely to pass un- recognised, and thus the opportunity will be lost of seeking advice at the time when preventive or curative measures can be most successfully taken. 3. A trustworthy record of past illnesses will enable your medical attendants to treat you more intelligently and successfully than they otherwise could, for it will give them a more complete knowledge of your “constitution” than could be obtained in any other way. This knowledge is so important that life itself may in many illnesses depend upon it. 4. The record will further be of great value to your family and descendants; for mental and physical characteristics, as well as liabili- ties to disease, are all transmitted more or less by parents to their children, and are shared by members of the same family. “ The world is beginning to perceive that the life of each individual is in some real sense a prolongation of those of his ancestry. His character, his vigour, and his disease, are principally theirs The life-histories of our relatives are, therefore, more instructive to us than those of strangers ; they are especially able to forewarn and to encourage us, for they are prophetic of our own futures.”—(.Fortnightly Review, Jan., 1882, p. 31.)