The avoidable causes of disease, insanity, and deformity / by John Ellis.

  • John Ellis
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The avoidable causes of disease, insanity, and deformity / by John Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to find after a thorough examination of the subject, and comparison of Amer- icans with the races from which they have sprung, that he has been mistaken in supposing that the American people are degen- erating. He hopes to have an opportunity, after the census of 1860, to thoroughly examine all the evidence upon both sides of this question, in the light of statistics, physiology and path- ology ; and to lay the result, whatever it may be, before the public. In the mean time he has thought that it might not be either uninteresting or unprofitable to the reader, to have placed before him what has already been written upon both sides of the question, although it may be, as it certainly is, superficial and unsatisfactory. The portion of the pamphlet referring to this subject will first be inserted, then will follow a notice of the same from the New York Evening Post, which embodies the substance of all which the author has seen upon that side; after which will follow a copy of a reply which was forwarded to the Evening Post, with some slight alterations made to prevent unnecessary repetition, and remedy defects. [For the Detroit Tribune.] PHYSICAL DEGENERACY OF AMERICANS. Mr. Editor:—I noticed in your paper of April 1st, an article on this subject. If it is true, that the people of the United States are physically deteriorating, it would seem that the subject should command the serious attention of every patriot and philanthro- pist, to say nothing of the Christian portion of the community. With what force the subject appeals to the latter, will be evident if we bear in mind that men and races of men do not deteriorate, physically, without a cause. If it is true, that, while we are justly pitying the poor benighted heathen nations on earth, and are spending our money and the lives of philanthropic men, to send them knowledge, we are ourselves being slowly and surely destroyed as a race, through a lack of knowledge of the physical laws of our being, or still worse, wilfully violating known laws, how much more do we need the active labors of efficient mission* aries at home.