The Malthusian Handbook / Designed to Induce Married People to Limit Their Families Within Their Means.

Prudential Checks.

If the validity of the Malthusian position be admitted, there is no logical escape from the conclusion that the knowledge of innocent means by which families may be limited should be conveyed to the people. Yet, with characteristic inconsistency, the public advocacy of Malthusianism in the abstract is regarded with approval, whilst the practical application of the principle is met with the parrot-cry of “obscenity,” and menaced with penal infliction. In the Windeyer judgment it will be noted that the proceedings against Mr. Collins were based not upon those portions of Mrs. Besant’s pamphlet in which the subject was philosophically discussed, but upon the passages in which the preventive checks were described. An eminent English statesman, Mr. John Morley, has insisted in a public speech upon the “vital importance” of the population question, and, he added, “I wish that we did not shirk it so much.” A popular English clergyman, the Rev. H. R. Haweis, has declared in a popular weekly newspaper that the most important remedy for poverty is “to control the family growth, according to the family means of support.” But when the social reformer passes from vague precept to direct instruction, he is confronted by an anomalous law which threatens him as a foe to public morality.

The tragical element in this otherwise ridiculous inconsistency lies in the fact that the knowledge of prudential checks is denied to the very class which most urgently needs such information. It is the poor alone who suffer acutely from the effects of over-population: it is they who feel the actual sting of want when the small wage is distributed over a large family-area. For the well-to-do there is no mystery concerning prudential checks. The family doctor will whisper discreetly into the ear of the wealthy matron whose quiver is sufficiently filled. Expensive medical works containing full instructions are at the command of those who can afford to buy them. Why should the poor be kept in ignorance upon a matter of supreme importance to them?

Upon the subject of prudential checks the medical profession as a body has afforded little or no assistance. Here, as in many other matters, “doctors differ”; and no steps have as yet been taken to ascertain, by scientific investigation, the best method of preventing conception. The checks now to be described are of two kinds—first, those in which success depends upon self-control; and, second, those in which mechanical appliances are used.

I.

The practice of withdrawal immediately before the act of coition is completed obtains very extensively in France. This, the most ancient of known methods, is referred to in the Bible (Genesis xxxviii. 8–9). The efficacy of the check depends, of course, entirely upon the self-control of the husband, and failure is therefore always possible. It may be mentioned that this plan has sometimes been objected to on the ground of supposed injury to health; but no evidence has been adduced in support of the objection. On the other hand, Dr. C. R. Drysdale has ascertained by personal enquiry that 100 members of the medical profession in Paris “had only 174 children in all their married lives, or not two as an average.… The question of the effect produced upon the health of the parents by the use of the physical check of Genesis xxxviii. was discussed at the meeting of the International Medical Congress at Amsterdam in 1879; and two medical men of great distinction—MM. Lutaud and Leblanc—asserted distinctly that these practices of family physical prudence in France were in no way productive of ill-health to either conjoint. And, as they were universally made use of by the medical men of Paris in limiting their own families, it was very unlikely that such damage to health as had been spoken of would not have been noted and clearly described long ago if it existed in nature.”

Abstinence from intercourse during a certain period is said to be an effectual method of avoiding conception. This, however, rests upon the assumption that a female is more likely to conceive immediately before or after “menstruation” (the monthly flow). If connection do not take place within five days before, or eight days after, menstruation, the probability of pregnancy is supposed to be diminished.

II.

Of the various appliances which have been devised for the prevention of conception, the simplest and most effectual is the “sheath” (commonly known as the “French Letter”). This an envelope of skin or very thin rubber, and is used by the husband. It completely covers the male organ, and, being closed at the extremity, prevents the semen from being discharged into the vagina. It is obvious that, if the sheath remain intact, it is impossible for conception to take place. The only danger to be guarded against is the breaking or perforation of the sheath, which should in all cases be carefully examined before use. The material may be tested by stretching it gently over the inside of the thumb, when the smallest fracture can be detected. If sheaths of good quality (not necessarily expensive) be used, and reasonable care taken to avoid accidental breakage, this check is CERTAIN.

The Enema Syringe is an instrument frequently employed for preventive purposes. A solution (composed of a teaspoonful of alum dissolved in a pint of cold or tepid water) is injected by the female immediately after connection. The vertical and reverse syringe is more likely to act efficiently than the ordinary enema.

A very simple and inexpensive method is the use of a small piece of fine sponge, soaked in warm water, and placed in such a position as to cover the mouth of the womb. The chances of failure are diminished by saturating the sponge with a solution of quinine.

Pessaries of various kinds are sometimes used to prevent conception. The simple pessary (of which there are several modifications) is a small dome-shaped appliance, made of thin rubber, and constructed to fit closely round the neck of the womb. If carefully adjusted and retained in position, the pessary may be relied upon.

Of late years a new form of pessary has been introduced and is stated to have been used with marked success. It consists of a small cone of cacao-butter, charged with quinine. The pessary is inserted a few minutes before connection takes place; the quinine, being liberated by the dissolution of the fatty substance, destroys the vitality of the seminal fluid.

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