On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    shall be better understood when we now proceed ; to show the metaphysical nature of his coftception . The law * he proposes , we give in his own statement : " The great general law then , which , as it seems , really regulates the increase or decrease botk of vegetable and of animal life , iff this , that whenever a species or genus is endanger ^ » c © n *» ponding effort is invariably made by nature lor its preservation , and £ 0 DtiaaaQfift v by an increase of fecandifcy or fertility ; ana that this especially takes- place whenever suah danger arise * from st dinunation erf proper nourishment or food , so that conaequeatly the state of depletion , of the deplethorie state , is unfavourable to fertility , in the * at » , « £ thfeiotetnuty of each st&ta , and this probably thsongUout nature universally ^ in the vegetable aft w « U as toe animal world ; further , that as applied to mankind this Urn produces the fbllo « iQg-conafiqneaG « s ^ asd acts thus : — . " There is in all societies a constant increase going on amongst that portion of it which

    U the woert . supplied with food ; in short , amongst the poorest . " AmongpfctUMMi iathe state of affluence , and well supplied with f ood and luxuries a constant deaMaae goes on . Amon ^ . those who fo * m the mean or medium between these two opposite states—that is to say , amongst those who are , tolerably well supplied with good & ( xi , and not overworked , nor yet idle—population is stationary . Hence it follows , that id is upon Ox * numerical proportion whisk these three states bear to each other in any society that increase ©* decrease upon the- whole depends * . " lo , a nation , where the affluence is sufficient bo balance ,, by the decrease which it causes amongst th « rich , th » increase ariaiag from the poor , population will be stationary . lit a nation bigjbty aad generall y affluent and lu&arfoaa , population will decrease and decay . In fMor ^ uidili-ftd caouaanities , populatiw * will incnaaee- in the ratio of tlie poverty , and tlie « OJasequenfed « tarior » tioaanAdlraination of the food , of a large portion of the members of wick eomnranltie 8 > , This ia the seal and great liwwof human population ^ and to show that ; it ufrquestKtfwbly is so ,, most be thfc aia * of th * fi * ttowiug pAges *" JJere among the conditions which determine Reproduction we note a primary and essential the metaphysical conception of " effort to avert danger . ^ ' Thky like Nature ' s " horror of a vacuum , " or the ms medicatrix , is ; not a scieotific but a metaphysical conception . It runs through the work . Speaking of gardeners who remedy the plethoric state of plants too well fed ,, ty " giving ** check" to growth * he ad 4 s : — * ¦ * In other words ,, they jnrf the species in dangpr in order to product a correspondingljt determined effort of nature to ensure its perpetuation , and the end is invariably attained Thus , in order to make fruit trees bear plentifully , gardeners delay or impede the rising of the sap br cutting rings in the bark round the tree . TPlHs to the tree is the production ' of st « tate of depletion , and the abundance of frutt is the , effort qf nature to counteract th « danger ?* And running along with this ideological torch ia his hand , he elsewhere exclaims : —

    "What can be more pleasing than to contemplate this beautiful provision o f the Governor « faH things , by wHeh trnitfiilnessis increased whan the dancer arises from insufficient nourishment for the plant or vegetable ,, and , on the other hand , decreased irhea . the peril springs from a . »« rplusage of what is needfjuL" , So that even the love-combats of animals have this "final cause "' : — " The conflicts thai take place amongst all wild grazing animals at the time of rutting ¦ or breeding are no doubt intended for the same end—to lower their condition to the prolific f aint , " It may be thought , perhaps , that this metaphysical leaven is of * little consequence , and that Mr . Doubleday ' s speculations maybe accepted without it . But no . Xhe mischief of all such conceptions is that they leaven the whole mass . Deprived of this , Mr . Ihmbleday ' s theory / amounts to the statement that luxury and overfeeding destroy populations , aolid moderate feeding keep them , stationary , and poverty increases them . But this is not a scientific law * It is a general statement , which includes within it so many of the conditions that determine Reproduction , as to make it useful as an empirical een « rali * ati « n ; but n » ittore . A scientific law admits of no exceptions . The exceptions to this statement are thousandfold . Are there not innumerable examples o noble and wealthy parent * with large families ? Moreover , is it not demonstrated that the domestication of animals—which means

    their being better and more regularly fed—increases their fertility ? Thus the wild dog has but one litter in the year ; the domesticated dog has two . The wild pig has but one farrow yearly , and that farrow of eight or ten ; the domestic pig has two farrows , aad often as many as fifteen at a time . All accounts agree that domesticated man is more prolific than the savage . Now these facts show that the broad statement made by Mr . l > oubleday with respect to riches and poverty wiH not hold good , except in as far as it touches on the specific conditions which determine Reproduction , viz ., with respect to plethora . All his facts show that if you overfeed an animal , or « plant , you check or destroy its fertility . Perfectly true . But why ? W& will endeavour to answer this presently , but first we must show Mr . Doubleday in flagrant contradiction with himself . He announces it as a " law" that whenever the species is in danger of destruction Nature " makes an effort ' to counteract that danger , and her effort is increased fertility . But he also announces , as part of the law , " that plethora or repletion ia destructive of fertility ; " yet it is his principle that plethora endangers the existence of the creature—consequently of the species ; 44 extreme repletion ( as all medical nten know ) lays the foundation of more diseases than does depletion . " So that here , where the species is most endangered , Nature's " effort" is least employed ! Leaving this contradiction to Mr . Doubleday ' s meditation , we proceed to answer why plethora checks fertility , and why therefore there must be a great deal of truth summed up in the facts and statistics he has collected . Life is & cycle of definite changes , every one of which depends for its , manifestation upon sonic previous change ; the phenomena are all successive -and dependent . Among these phenomena there are those of Reproduction —very complicated , very delicate , very dependent . The reader will easily understand how , if it is necessary for the phenomena of growth that a certain < iejinite series of phenomena should precede them , it is equally necessary for a certain definite series of phenomena to precede those of reproduction . Now by altering those antecedent phenomena , of course , you affect the subsequent phenomena . Overfeeding will alter them . Mow wo do not know , but we know that it will ; and it will do so more readily than miserable feeding . Mr . Doubleday ' s book abundantly proves this proposition , and on reading the following passages among those which he has thrown into an additional chapter , and which ne emphatically declares " form no part of his intended argument , ' we were surprised that tlie writer could have so misconceived

    what is tha true law of population , as he misconceives it in the body of th « work . Alluding to ha own experiments in gardening , he says .:. — . " In pursuance of his course of experiments tie author , was , of course , i * d by-the nature of Ms , pursuit , to apply various substances- which he either knew , or deemed ! ukalr to contain in themselves , in combination , th * active principle of aoaature ,. to various tnea , DlantsI shrubs , and flowers , and to note the results . During this process , pne result became ajk last , strongly indicated to his mind ; ^ and ^ this was , that , whatever might be the principle of manure , or the substance that contained It , an overdose of it invariably induced sterility fn tbe plant , and * if the dose were increased , disease and dteath . When trees Were overl stimulated by manures they made a superfluity-of wood , blossomed extremely seantQ y and only towards the extremities of the branches , m situations farthest from tltoroot ; and finally , the blossoms rarely set , or produced ripe and perfect fruit . In cases of flowering shrubs , the same defect of flowers followed , ana with annuals and other flowers , the flower frequently became what is called double , and ceased to seed . To recover trees treated hi

    thw way , it became necessary to put an end to the oversturinlas caused b y tlie extra dose of manure by a reversed process . The tree was tor be debilitated to a certafe extent j _ and ringing the bark , extreme lopping , end trenching the rootS j were tin expedients .. With , plants and flowers a similar process of check or depletion ^ eitfier by lopping-, or , if greenhouse plants , by exposure to cold , was successful ; The effected ana debilitated plant flowered plenteously after a state of depletion ; and tha tree , after being lopped and ringed , began to near * That the perfect indication of this law , in the increase or decrease of the vegetable creation , should lead the writer onward to an extended ? ihcrarrr , was not only not unnatural , but almost inevitable . Be was natoxmflj induced' to ask if the same regulation extended through animated narture ? And , pursuing- the inqtrir ^ be found that ft did 801 that it pervaded the animal creation ; and finally-, was applied bj his . Creator to man himself . Stttt in the midst of all the varions phenomena , either indicated by actual experiment , or narrated by the various writers on physiology or nosology * whiieh theantbar was induced

    to read , h « found little or nothing to indicate the moditr opfinttuK ~ -tba& is tor any , the manner or mode by which sterility in one case , or ^ undt ty in , tno other , was ; brought about . That sterility in the human female was the frequent consec | uence > of plethora whether positive or relative—for so medical writers dividV it—and Ibst fiscnQoiij con-• tantly followed the opposite state , he met with abundant evidence to show ; To physicuuis and anatomists however , the immediate and proximate causes or sterility , or fta opposite , appear to be as great a mystery as they-are to the writer of tbe ftregoiogchaTterSi ^ TEhu » the writer of the article * impotence , * m the * Cyclopaedia of ^ Medicine . 'ssya ^ Iirthe < Str CDublin ) ,, where misery , poverty , and starvation exist , to a degree perhaps uimsralleled da the face of t&e globe , procreation proceeds vtUh extraordinary rvpicKtjj : ^ aodr ft , haa ^ imllat to tile writer ' s lot , through bis connexion with the Coombe Iijnng ; -m Hospital , to witness the birth oCnumberlesa infants , whose unfortunate parents had no ^ r ^ t ^ jjportoieit o ^ a wholesome meat . * Here we have evidence of tie ract of * starriitiou . « na tectuoditr iroinir on .

    hand in Band ; on this point the writer is decisive ; bttfr of M « dum » bf : irM Nature causes prolificness in the female to be a consequence of a constant state of depletion , he gives no hint . , The same knowledges , of the fact , join ed ^ with the same ignorance o f the mode , is evinced b those writeis who addu * e' rjirreoness as one consequence of & , state of plethora in the human female . Thus , . 8 te Coomb e > in his work * on Digestioa and Dietetics , * gives the follbwujg Tostractlre > statement : ^ - * A young woman of a healthy constitution , brought up in taL the simplicifcy df ( countrj habits , passed at once , on , her marriage , to a few active mode e ^ ZI / gj and to s « m ( dl morp elegant tdbEe . In a short time she began to complain of imtabuftjr , Iasadtude , yariofos spjasmodic sensations , and habitual constipation . Hypoc 1 i 6 n < ina yraxt soau added to ¦ && other symptoms . Her hope of becoming a mother betng ^ always deceived ^ * n adcUHonal glass of wiae , bark , and other tonics were ordered : the evil increased . The patient became melanchfih / y and believed that she was always swallowing pins . In the course of tfee year

    she became so emaciated and yellow tbat her mother , who- trad not seen nar * for eleteii months , could scarcely recognise her . After an eighteen months *' course of purgatives and two courses of Marienbad water , she entirely recovered . * Her&is evidence bt tlie ^ ac * , and of the strongest sort ; for the plethoric state liera induced was' relative , '* idnot posiUTe . The appearance of a healthy obesity , which fe * positive plethenr , * was not ' Tndueed . ? The functions of life were , however , disordered to a great exteufr—disordBred atticlogged j the biliary , digestive ,. and excretory vessels could not act ; , aod ^ asit should seen ; thwe nic > r minute dacts , on the free action of which conception by tie ftmale seems to depend , were partakers of the general constitutional derangement , arising from this orerloadutt' of the system . Aad here tbe author would respectfully- ask those qualified by education and

    knowledge to answer such a question , What is * there extraordinary iri this ? ' If a state of plethora can , as it is held it can , prevent the action of a . gland or of a visctts , why > srjbuI 4 it not be a sufBcient cause for the inaction of that finer and more minute apparatus upon the unimpeded state of which must , probably , depend the transit of the ovum from the ovarium to the uterus ; or what of improbability is there ia th « supposition thatvduring . a state of unnatural obesity and repletion , this must be the case , and vicevermf These are , of course , qaestions for the anatomist and physiologist atone ^ and : lit suggesting : them ; -the author wouid only guard those who treat or this subject , from confounSogwitn : * state flf true plethora ^ that apparent pinguetude or bl * atedness of fibre which is a uequent accompaniment of debility , especially in the stmrnous constitution , which most , writers hold to originate ia debility—the coasequence of deficient nourishment , and an unnatural state of depletion . " '

    What is there surprising in the fact of an overdose of manure being injurious ? Oxygen is indispensable to the life of every animal ; yet if ' our atmosphere were slightly overoxygenated it would be violent poison . There is a proportion between , aliment and structure which , if exceeded * disease and death ensue . There is consequently a proportion to he preserved between tbe nutritive and reproductive processes : all violations of such proportions are destructive . An underfed Boil will no more produce-vegetables than an overfed soil . Although we have devoted this paper to a refutation of the " True Law " announced by Mr . Doubleday , we must not be . understood to be negligent of the interest and value , of his work . If not what it claims to he , it is a very serviceable contribution , and well worthy the reader ' s attention .

    Untitled Article

    THE RUSSIANS OF THE SOUTH . The Russians qfthe South . By Shirley Brooks . Price la . Longman and Co . This is the 53 rd number of the Traveller ' s Library * a series which is at once both cheap and excellent , adapted by its varied literature to the wants of the reader , and adapted by its form and typograghy tQ the wants of a travelling reader . Mr . Shirley Brooks , in his Russians of the South las done more than produce a book de circonstance . The present interest in Russia and thing * Russian , will attract Lho reader to tlie little volume , but he wmII be chained there by the intrinsic interest of its contents . The author was sent by the Moniina Chronicle to examine and report on the state of agriculture in Southern Russia . Cnrrying with him the journalist s tendency to see and describe characteristic details , a tendency increased by the momentum of a definite purpose , Mr . Shirley Brooks catered Russia without many preconceptions , and allowed things to make their impression on him . With what justice lie has appreciated , and with what accuracy described Russia wo have no means of deciding . But tlie book has a trustworthy appearance ; and is very agreeable to read . There is occasionally too mucn oi the writer

    Untitled Article

    FbbbkabyI 1 , 1854 . ] T HE Jj E ^ A DEI . 13 P

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 11, 1854, page 139, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2025/page/19/