The religion of health / by Elizabeth Blackwell.

  • Blackwell, Elizabeth, 1821-1910.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The religion of health / by Elizabeth Blackwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    observance of all the laws of om- complex natiu-e; it applies to the roind as well as the body. A deteriorating influence which pro- ceeds fi-om within is more to be dr-eaded than one that comes fi-om without. The nervous system (fi-om mental or physical causes) may be completely shattered, leaving the individual a wreck. The senses (fi-om mental or physical causes) may be rendered so crav- ing and m-itable that the noble proportion of the natm-e is lost. An hysterical, feeble person is an imhealthy one; equally tmhealthy is a coarse brutal one. In either case, health, in the true meaning of the word, is thoroughly impaked. Those classes of society who are able to command everj' physical apphance that wealth will pm'- chase are often, fi'om then- kind of suffering, more dangerously diseased than the laboming classes. I need only mention the spread of luxmy, the delaj- of marriage, the fi'ail progeny of unsuit- able unions, to show how inextricably the mind and body are blended in all that concerns health. The highest authority on this subject thus condenses the lessons of his gi-eat work on health: Hygiene is based upon the physical and moral pei-fectibiUty of man, of which it fm-nishes the proof. Health may be described in two words—morality, competence. The general deterioration of health prevailing in all classes and both sexes is most strikingly seen among women. It is proved by the increase of neiwous and special diseases, the prevalence of scro- fula by general fragility of constitution, and inability to bear the unavoidable burdens of hfe. The health of the mass of educated women is a matter of serious national concern. These women fonn the heait of the nation: they mould its family hie; they create society; they exercise an unbounded influence on the lower classes. If the health of the mother breaks down, family happiness is desti'oyed; so if the health of this class of a people is deteriorated, the welfare of the nation is imperilled, both in the present and the futm-e. Young parents enter upon the heavy responsibflities of family life, in deplorable ignorance of then- duties to one another, and to their childi-en. As parents it is then- lii'st duty to secm-e right con- ditions of health for the iufant, for the child, and for youth, until they leave the parental roof. Each age demands a varjdng set of conditions, which become continually more complicated as the necessities of the mind mcrease in proportion to the physical wants. The conditions that will keep an infant in perfect health will not suffice to secui-e the health of the boy or girl of fifteen. As a weak stomach will impah- the temper, so a vacant or corrupt mind wiU injure the body. Comprehensive knowledge is needed to embrace the wants of every age, and such knowledge all parents should possess. In seeking the cause of this destruction and deterioration of life, thus briefly statdl, wn find it in the universal ignorance or neglect