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A study of Russian prostitutes
A STUDY OF RUSSIAN PROSTITUTES. of various kinds. Then the cramped attitude of many industrial occupations was itself a not unimportant, factor in disease and death. The low rooms m many works, the trade effluvia, the short time aUowed for meals and the want of efficient accommodation for washing, placed health at a low level and predisposed to disease. Dr. Bower thought the damp, ill-built dwellings of the poor were quite as important factors in preventable mortality as insanitary workshops. There was also the contiguous midden, and in most urban districts the arrangements for removal of ashpit refuse were unsatisfactory. Scarlatina, rarely entirely absent in towns, seemed to be rendered more severe and malignant where the water supply was tainted. Dr. Niven said there could be little doubt tha~ the most certainly preventable of all preventable deaths were the deaths of infants. The insurance of infants, which put a premium on neglect, was now being inquired into, and it was hoped would be checked, or much restricted. Probably of all preventable causes of infant mortality, none was more important than injudicious feeding--infants were left (while their mothers were at work) in charge of a neighhour, and fed from dirty vessels on sour milk or bread and water, or "anything that's going." Theremedy was to establish day nurserie.% and make them paying concernv; charity day nurseries were distrusted by the people. For checking tuberculous diseases there was nothing like systematic disinfection. It is known the contagium is contained in the sputa, and it should therefore be destroyed at once, so that when a consumptive family leaves a house they shall not leave the seeds of the disease for the incoming tenants. September being usually a holiday month, it was resolved that the ordinary monthly meeting be not held, and consequently that the next meeting be on the second Friday in October. (End of Proceedings of Society of Medical O~cers of Itealt~. ) INHERITED NERvOUSNESS.--Schopenhauer inherited a nervous apprehension with regard to infection ; he carried a little leathern drinking cup about with him to use in dining in any public place for fear of contagion adhering to other cups. For the same reason his pipes and cigar holders were kept carefully under lock and key. He fled from Naples when that city was attacked by small.pox, and from Berlin in i83~ on the approach of cholera ; Hegel, his rival in the philosophic field, remained and fell a victim to the same epidemic. It would be an interesting but difficult inquiry, to ascertain whether apprehensive people of whom Schopenhauer is a type, are really more susceptible of infection than others.
13~
ubtit eattb. A STUDY OF RUSSIAN PROSTITUTES. II. [For Article No. i, see p. Io3, PUBLIC HEALTItj August, 189o.] ACCORDINGto Tarnowsky, prostitutes are, and have ever been, the ~ame in moral and intellectual character, from those described by Terence to our own day. They may generally be divided into two .principal classes, and these again may be split up into smaller subsidiary groups. In the one class there is general feebleness of intelligence, in the other, psychic abnormality united to a neuropathic constitution. ffirst-dass.--The degree of mental feebleness varies much, and betrays itself to a first glance by feebIe and but little accentuated signs, but it is undeniable and ever easy of proof. The obtuseness of some is replaced by the brutish. ness of others, the latter sometimes deepening into idiocy. Second-dass.--In this class the cerebral functions are at first sight normal, in some directions even developed above mediocrity, but a more searching analysis shows certain indices of a neuropathic constitution, with a frequent pro. pensity to nervous diseases ; at the same time psychic abnormalities never fail. The first class may be sub-divided into (a) obtuse, (b) "hare-brained."* The obtuse are generally of large stature, their movements are slow, they are .given to sleep, and are indifferent to their surroundlngs. There is a general decrease of tactile sensibility. The patellar reflex was increased i n , 5 per cent., weakened in 28 per cent., absent in 15 per cent. They have a horror of exercise or work, even to the neglect of personal cleanliness. To do nothing, to think of nothing, to remain quiet, to drink, to eat, and sleep are their only pleasures. The circle of their ideas is restricted, their notions of good and evil but little precise. They have not become prostitutes by inducements or example like others; they have mostly allowed themselves to be seduced by chance, and have drifted into prostitution by, as it were, indifference. In sexual relations they are cold and passionless. They seek neither change nor amelioration of their fate--all is to them equal. This indifference, this impassability is yet more increased by alcoholic indt~lgence. No less than 64 per cent. are addicted to drunkenness. As an example of the obtuse kind is given the life history of Eudoxie F., aged 22 : q Father a soldier. Mother epileptic, having had fits regu. larly each month ; she died in a fit in the street ~ drank a Les Insouciantes might be translated silly, or "careless," but ,t hare-brained" conveys the more accurate meamng. F 2
I32
A STUDY
OF
RUSSIAN
little ; had 6 children, 5 of which are living. Eudoxie is tall (I metre 67 cm.) and strongly built, her skin is yellow and greasy, the muscles soft and flabby. Her head is nxycephalic, the external occipital protuberance is very prominent. Her hair has grown so as to encroach on her forehead. Eyes grey, small, deep set ; enormous ears, narrow vaulted palate; she has one foot slightly clubbed ; absence of patellar reflex; menstruated at 13 years of age. At this age, tall and strong, she entered as a domestic servant into a family, the master of which seduced her in her I4th year. She gave herself up to him without knowing why, for she felt for him no affection. She afterwards worked in a brewery, where she became addicted to drink and sexual excess. She contracted syphilis, and had a miscarriage of a ¢cetus of 6 months. Aged I8, she entered into a muison de tolerance, where "she rema;ned 4 years, finding her existence easy and agreeable rather than otherwise. The only thing which interests her is drink, to all the rest she is indifferent. Eudoxie takes no care of her personal appearance ; she is already faded, and looks 35 years old : she is indolent, lazy, and has a shambling gait ; she willingly lies down the whole day ; she is iV.iterate. (b) The " H a r e - b r a i n e d . " - - T h i s type a m o n g the Russians is less frequent. Tarnowsky only found it in the proportion of 14 per cent. T h e harebrained is less b u r d e n e d with hereditary maladies. She is distinguished by a surprising mobility o f humour, passing from laughter to tears, and excited either way by trifles. She is a great talker, making endless digressions, and losing insensibly the thread of the original story, passing from one incident to another, until she gets so mixed that the story is n o t finished at all ; but this does not a n n o y her, for she has forgotten what she wished to say. H e r special characteristic is the impossibility to marshal h e r ideas in order, and to follow out and persist in what she undertakes ; it is not possible to fix her thought ; she foresees nothing, living from day to day, without care for the morrow. She is easily p e r s u a d e d to undertake a task, but to persist in it is another business ; it is soon given up for another, that o t h e r for a third, and so on. T h i s group is entirely derived from alcoholic parents ( i o o per cent.), the members themselves are a d d i c t e d to alcoholic excess in the proportion of 78 per cent. A typical example of the group is as follows : Anna Z.~Father a coachman, aa incorrigible drunkard ; toothed died of typhus 5 months after the birth of Anna. At the age of 9 Anna was placed by her father in a Vaundry. At the age of I2, before puberty, she was seduced by the husband of the laundress, the liaison being ultimately discovered by the wife. She was next the servant of a midwife, and was taken away and kept by the lover of one of her mistress's patients. Infected with a gonorrhces, she was placed by her lover in a hospital, who. took advantage of this circumstance to abandon her. A female patient in the same ward told her that life in les maisens de tolerance was jolly and ea.~¢. As soou as she was cured she went to one, and asked to be regls~ered ; but she was too young, the police intervened, and she was restored to her father. The paternal roof, with hard work~ was little attractive ; she ran away, and sought refuge iu a clandestine house of ill-fame. This she left to live with a barber ; to the barber succeeded a sailor, and many others. She is small in stature (I m. 47 cm.)~ and slightly built ; she has fine chestnut hair, and sparkling, vivacious eyes. The ears are ill.shaped and sessile. There is one supernumerary tooth ; chin pointed and dimpled. She is quick, gay, merry ; she sings all day ; her ideas have one with the other little connection ; she has
PROSTITUTES.
no scruples, is erotic, and finds as many lovers as she pleases. Life in a furnished lodging is too great a bother for her ; she prefers to have nothing to do, and to find, as she says, always ready supper and bed. Hence for the last three years she has lived in a maison de tolerance. Anna menstruatcd at I3 years of age, has never had any children~ and is addicted to drink. T h e second, or neurotic class, is sub-divided into two main g r o u p s - - ( ~ ) T h e H y s t e r i c a l ; (2) T h e Shameless. ( i ) The Hysterical.--In this class prostitutes are found possessing a certain culture, having b e e n to school, without, however, completing their studies. Some love nature, flowers, birds, poetry - - t h e y belong to the sentimental order, and are given to meditation. Others, on the contrary, prefer noisier diversions, crowds a n d m o v e m e n t ; they are present at all public spectacles, and are fond of parading their own attractions. A third variety is sly, suspicious, loving money, and given to theft. Lastly, there are others which show an exaggeration of t h e sexual instinct. A l t h o u g h a m o n g the hysterical class menstruation, as a rule, has begun before 13 years of age, they have had sexual relations with young m e n previous to this time. The), are extremely impressionable, and sexual inclination a m o n g s o m e of them has shown itself as early as 7, 8, or 9 years of age, that is to say, at a period at which normal children have no idea of amorous aspirations. T h e y are inconsistent, changing often the object of their preference, and e v e n disliking their former lover. Seventy-three per cent. of t h e m have had alcoholic fathers. Recalling the words of Charcot, '¢ On sail bien aujourdhui que l'alcoolism 2#redis#ose a l'hysterie." Sixty-six per cent. of t h e m are given to strong liquors. An example o f the hysterical class is as follows : - ~adine T., age 2 5. Father epileptic, died when Nadine was in years of age. He drank but little, he always had bad health. Mother healthy and industrious. Of her 7 children 6 died in infancy. The only survivor is Nadine, leading an irregular life. At the summit of the oceiput she has a marked depression. There is also an exaggerated prominence of the occipital ridge. The face is slightly asymmetrical, the forehead " bombd." The attachment of the ears defective. Palate narrow and vaulted. Teeth carious. Nadine went to school and learned the trade of a seamstress. At the age of 16 years, still under puberty, she had amorous relations with a young ensign. Menstruated at 17 years of age, and since then has had hysterical fits. She is excessively impressionable, blushes and weeps easily. Her temperament is amorous, sentimental. She pretends to have been violently in love at the age of 7- States that her childhood was most unhappy and that she was badly treated, but her contradictions are many, and she is a great llar. After her first lover left her, she immediately took a second, and then a third. She became acquainted at a public dance with une #rostitude en carte, lived with her ; then entered into a maison de tolerance which she soon left for another. Pretends to be desirous of amending and leaving a life of which she is weary. But she speaks without conviction, and mak s no sincere effort to give effect to these intentions.
(2) Tin S h a m d e s s . - - T h i s group is characterised by the absence of ethical perceptions. T a r n o w s k y
A STUDY
OF RUSSIAN
estimates that the members are in the proportion of 29 per cent. of the whole. However many shades and degrees the units of the group exhibit, that which is common to all is a want of shame, a moral blindness. At the same time, paradoxical though it is, these women are precisely those which are remarkably feminine. T h e y have engaging manners, sometimes even insinuating, and especially lay themselves out to be pleasing to men. T h e y are coquettish, careful of their person and dress, and pay great attention to their hair. T h e y are fond of pleasure, they worship self, they are incapable of altruism. Their own comfort, their own pleasure, even the most transitory,, are the only laws which they recognise, and to which they will sacrifice all other possible considerations, even to the prejudice of their relations and best friends. I f they have children, they are indifferent to them, and avoid if possible by abortion the cares of maternity. A n example o f this class is as follows : Alexandrine A;, aged 23. Father a dlpsomaniae, he died aged 45 of phthisis. Mother sober and laborious, but of delicate healtb, suffering much from headache. Has had 15 children, 13 died young; the two daughters remaining are both prostitutes. Alexandrine's head is slightly oxycephaEc. Her figure is agreeable, although the features are irregular. Teeth white and healthy, but with spaces between. Absence of the two lateral upper incisors. Palate strongly arched. On her father's death she was place:l by charitable frionds in an orphanage. At the end of two years she was expelled for bad behaviour. She then attended for four years a primary school. But she progressed little, and her mother weary of paying money gained by labour, apprenticed her to a eardbox manufacturer. To glue boxes and bon-bon eases seems an easy trade, but aged x5 she left itp to live with an apprentice of the same establishment. A few months afterwards, she entered as a servant in a maisan de tolerance, and on the advice of the keeper became a regular inmate. She was bought out by a man who kept her for a year and a half, and had a child by her. She became weary of a tranquil methodical life--jealousyand quarrels arose. She returned to the maison de tolerance, in which she has now lived four yews, and in which she is content. She knows not nor is concerned with the fate of her child left with the father. A. is very egotistic~loving ease and pleasure. She is careful of her person, but shows complete absence of moral sen.*e. T h e conclusions Tarnowsky's study of Russian prostitutes lead to are as follows : - ( i ) Habitual prostitutes are beings cursed by a more or less pronounced hereditary defect, a legacy from their descendants of alcoholism, of syphilis, of nervous or mental disease. (2) They show signs of physical and mental degeneration as compared with chaste women. Witness the cranial deformations, the anomalies of the face, the defective teeth, palate, and the frequent abnormal attachment of the ears. (3) T h e stigmata of degeneration descend more certainly through a drunken mother than a drunken father. (4) T h e psychic anomalies of the prostitutes are shown by a more or less feebleness of intelligence, or by a neurotic constitution, or by an absence of
PROSTITUTES.
~33
moral sense. It is also shown by the abuse of the genetic functions, and especially by the attraction that this lower class of prostitutes feel for their occupation, to which they willingly return, if for a time taken from it. (5) Notwithstanding efforts to moralise the masses, and the increase of homes and penitentiaries for the fallen, the supply of prostitutes will not fail so long as the causes of degeneration persist, that is so long as there are drunken parents, so long as no successful effort is m a d e by sanitary authorities to prevent the infection of phthisis, so long as syphilis continues, and so long as marriage between pronounced neurotics is allowed. (6) Womanhood, in its perfect health of mind and body, is freed by this study from shame. No woman is a willing whore. T h e willing whores are low degenerate beings, to whom pity rather than scorn is due. Living cenotaphs of the vices, the misfortunes, the ignorances of their ascendants, they are a problem to the State, a danger to the public h e a l t h . T h e " n u c l e u s of prostitution" emerges out of the grim shadow of animal atavism, its intimate connection with nervous, with organic, with preventable disease is revealed. T h e truth being now known, much may be done to diminish the causes by sanitary work, and by legislation on a scientific basis. The Contagious Diseases Acts required amendment and extension, and not repeal. It is not wise to allow members of a race stamped by nature as degenerate to flaunt about the public streets, planting the seeds of loathsome maladies in the source of future life. T o stamp out prostitution is utopian, but humanity, prudence, and social polity alike urgently call for efficient regulation. BOLOGNA SAusAoEs.--Consul-Gen. Sir D. E. Colnaghi states [Consular Reports, No. 152 ] that since his visit to Bologna a discovery has taken place that some among the largest manufacturers of Bologna sausages (mortadelle) have been in the habit of using horseflesh, not of the first quality, mixed with inferior pork, in the m~nufacture of sausages. This fact has caused considerable excitement among the population, and cannot but do harm to an important article of consumption and export. H e wrote at once to the Chambers of Commerce of Bologna and of Modena, in which latter provence a similar discovery was reported to have been made. From Modena he was informed that only two seizures of diseased meat had been made, while the important firm of G. Bellantani and Co. had promoted the articles in the new Sanitary Code which refer to the adulteration of sausages. From Bologna the reply stated that the matter has come under the notice of the judicial authorities, and that, as soon as judgment is given, full particulars will be suppllied
13~
ubtit eattb. A STUDY OF RUSSIAN PROSTITUTES. II. [For Article No. i, see p. Io3, PUBLIC HEALTItj August, 189o.] ACCORDINGto Tarnowsky, prostitutes are, and have ever been, the ~ame in moral and intellectual character, from those described by Terence to our own day. They may generally be divided into two .principal classes, and these again may be split up into smaller subsidiary groups. In the one class there is general feebleness of intelligence, in the other, psychic abnormality united to a neuropathic constitution. ffirst-dass.--The degree of mental feebleness varies much, and betrays itself to a first glance by feebIe and but little accentuated signs, but it is undeniable and ever easy of proof. The obtuseness of some is replaced by the brutish. ness of others, the latter sometimes deepening into idiocy. Second-dass.--In this class the cerebral functions are at first sight normal, in some directions even developed above mediocrity, but a more searching analysis shows certain indices of a neuropathic constitution, with a frequent pro. pensity to nervous diseases ; at the same time psychic abnormalities never fail. The first class may be sub-divided into (a) obtuse, (b) "hare-brained."* The obtuse are generally of large stature, their movements are slow, they are .given to sleep, and are indifferent to their surroundlngs. There is a general decrease of tactile sensibility. The patellar reflex was increased i n , 5 per cent., weakened in 28 per cent., absent in 15 per cent. They have a horror of exercise or work, even to the neglect of personal cleanliness. To do nothing, to think of nothing, to remain quiet, to drink, to eat, and sleep are their only pleasures. The circle of their ideas is restricted, their notions of good and evil but little precise. They have not become prostitutes by inducements or example like others; they have mostly allowed themselves to be seduced by chance, and have drifted into prostitution by, as it were, indifference. In sexual relations they are cold and passionless. They seek neither change nor amelioration of their fate--all is to them equal. This indifference, this impassability is yet more increased by alcoholic indt~lgence. No less than 64 per cent. are addicted to drunkenness. As an example of the obtuse kind is given the life history of Eudoxie F., aged 22 : q Father a soldier. Mother epileptic, having had fits regu. larly each month ; she died in a fit in the street ~ drank a Les Insouciantes might be translated silly, or "careless," but ,t hare-brained" conveys the more accurate meamng. F 2
I32
A STUDY
OF
RUSSIAN
little ; had 6 children, 5 of which are living. Eudoxie is tall (I metre 67 cm.) and strongly built, her skin is yellow and greasy, the muscles soft and flabby. Her head is nxycephalic, the external occipital protuberance is very prominent. Her hair has grown so as to encroach on her forehead. Eyes grey, small, deep set ; enormous ears, narrow vaulted palate; she has one foot slightly clubbed ; absence of patellar reflex; menstruated at 13 years of age. At this age, tall and strong, she entered as a domestic servant into a family, the master of which seduced her in her I4th year. She gave herself up to him without knowing why, for she felt for him no affection. She afterwards worked in a brewery, where she became addicted to drink and sexual excess. She contracted syphilis, and had a miscarriage of a ¢cetus of 6 months. Aged I8, she entered into a muison de tolerance, where "she rema;ned 4 years, finding her existence easy and agreeable rather than otherwise. The only thing which interests her is drink, to all the rest she is indifferent. Eudoxie takes no care of her personal appearance ; she is already faded, and looks 35 years old : she is indolent, lazy, and has a shambling gait ; she willingly lies down the whole day ; she is iV.iterate. (b) The " H a r e - b r a i n e d . " - - T h i s type a m o n g the Russians is less frequent. Tarnowsky only found it in the proportion of 14 per cent. T h e harebrained is less b u r d e n e d with hereditary maladies. She is distinguished by a surprising mobility o f humour, passing from laughter to tears, and excited either way by trifles. She is a great talker, making endless digressions, and losing insensibly the thread of the original story, passing from one incident to another, until she gets so mixed that the story is n o t finished at all ; but this does not a n n o y her, for she has forgotten what she wished to say. H e r special characteristic is the impossibility to marshal h e r ideas in order, and to follow out and persist in what she undertakes ; it is not possible to fix her thought ; she foresees nothing, living from day to day, without care for the morrow. She is easily p e r s u a d e d to undertake a task, but to persist in it is another business ; it is soon given up for another, that o t h e r for a third, and so on. T h i s group is entirely derived from alcoholic parents ( i o o per cent.), the members themselves are a d d i c t e d to alcoholic excess in the proportion of 78 per cent. A typical example of the group is as follows : Anna Z.~Father a coachman, aa incorrigible drunkard ; toothed died of typhus 5 months after the birth of Anna. At the age of 9 Anna was placed by her father in a Vaundry. At the age of I2, before puberty, she was seduced by the husband of the laundress, the liaison being ultimately discovered by the wife. She was next the servant of a midwife, and was taken away and kept by the lover of one of her mistress's patients. Infected with a gonorrhces, she was placed by her lover in a hospital, who. took advantage of this circumstance to abandon her. A female patient in the same ward told her that life in les maisens de tolerance was jolly and ea.~¢. As soou as she was cured she went to one, and asked to be regls~ered ; but she was too young, the police intervened, and she was restored to her father. The paternal roof, with hard work~ was little attractive ; she ran away, and sought refuge iu a clandestine house of ill-fame. This she left to live with a barber ; to the barber succeeded a sailor, and many others. She is small in stature (I m. 47 cm.)~ and slightly built ; she has fine chestnut hair, and sparkling, vivacious eyes. The ears are ill.shaped and sessile. There is one supernumerary tooth ; chin pointed and dimpled. She is quick, gay, merry ; she sings all day ; her ideas have one with the other little connection ; she has
PROSTITUTES.
no scruples, is erotic, and finds as many lovers as she pleases. Life in a furnished lodging is too great a bother for her ; she prefers to have nothing to do, and to find, as she says, always ready supper and bed. Hence for the last three years she has lived in a maison de tolerance. Anna menstruatcd at I3 years of age, has never had any children~ and is addicted to drink. T h e second, or neurotic class, is sub-divided into two main g r o u p s - - ( ~ ) T h e H y s t e r i c a l ; (2) T h e Shameless. ( i ) The Hysterical.--In this class prostitutes are found possessing a certain culture, having b e e n to school, without, however, completing their studies. Some love nature, flowers, birds, poetry - - t h e y belong to the sentimental order, and are given to meditation. Others, on the contrary, prefer noisier diversions, crowds a n d m o v e m e n t ; they are present at all public spectacles, and are fond of parading their own attractions. A third variety is sly, suspicious, loving money, and given to theft. Lastly, there are others which show an exaggeration of t h e sexual instinct. A l t h o u g h a m o n g the hysterical class menstruation, as a rule, has begun before 13 years of age, they have had sexual relations with young m e n previous to this time. The), are extremely impressionable, and sexual inclination a m o n g s o m e of them has shown itself as early as 7, 8, or 9 years of age, that is to say, at a period at which normal children have no idea of amorous aspirations. T h e y are inconsistent, changing often the object of their preference, and e v e n disliking their former lover. Seventy-three per cent. of t h e m have had alcoholic fathers. Recalling the words of Charcot, '¢ On sail bien aujourdhui que l'alcoolism 2#redis#ose a l'hysterie." Sixty-six per cent. of t h e m are given to strong liquors. An example o f the hysterical class is as follows : - ~adine T., age 2 5. Father epileptic, died when Nadine was in years of age. He drank but little, he always had bad health. Mother healthy and industrious. Of her 7 children 6 died in infancy. The only survivor is Nadine, leading an irregular life. At the summit of the oceiput she has a marked depression. There is also an exaggerated prominence of the occipital ridge. The face is slightly asymmetrical, the forehead " bombd." The attachment of the ears defective. Palate narrow and vaulted. Teeth carious. Nadine went to school and learned the trade of a seamstress. At the age of 16 years, still under puberty, she had amorous relations with a young ensign. Menstruated at 17 years of age, and since then has had hysterical fits. She is excessively impressionable, blushes and weeps easily. Her temperament is amorous, sentimental. She pretends to have been violently in love at the age of 7- States that her childhood was most unhappy and that she was badly treated, but her contradictions are many, and she is a great llar. After her first lover left her, she immediately took a second, and then a third. She became acquainted at a public dance with une #rostitude en carte, lived with her ; then entered into a maison de tolerance which she soon left for another. Pretends to be desirous of amending and leaving a life of which she is weary. But she speaks without conviction, and mak s no sincere effort to give effect to these intentions.
(2) Tin S h a m d e s s . - - T h i s group is characterised by the absence of ethical perceptions. T a r n o w s k y
A STUDY
OF RUSSIAN
estimates that the members are in the proportion of 29 per cent. of the whole. However many shades and degrees the units of the group exhibit, that which is common to all is a want of shame, a moral blindness. At the same time, paradoxical though it is, these women are precisely those which are remarkably feminine. T h e y have engaging manners, sometimes even insinuating, and especially lay themselves out to be pleasing to men. T h e y are coquettish, careful of their person and dress, and pay great attention to their hair. T h e y are fond of pleasure, they worship self, they are incapable of altruism. Their own comfort, their own pleasure, even the most transitory,, are the only laws which they recognise, and to which they will sacrifice all other possible considerations, even to the prejudice of their relations and best friends. I f they have children, they are indifferent to them, and avoid if possible by abortion the cares of maternity. A n example o f this class is as follows : Alexandrine A;, aged 23. Father a dlpsomaniae, he died aged 45 of phthisis. Mother sober and laborious, but of delicate healtb, suffering much from headache. Has had 15 children, 13 died young; the two daughters remaining are both prostitutes. Alexandrine's head is slightly oxycephaEc. Her figure is agreeable, although the features are irregular. Teeth white and healthy, but with spaces between. Absence of the two lateral upper incisors. Palate strongly arched. On her father's death she was place:l by charitable frionds in an orphanage. At the end of two years she was expelled for bad behaviour. She then attended for four years a primary school. But she progressed little, and her mother weary of paying money gained by labour, apprenticed her to a eardbox manufacturer. To glue boxes and bon-bon eases seems an easy trade, but aged x5 she left itp to live with an apprentice of the same establishment. A few months afterwards, she entered as a servant in a maisan de tolerance, and on the advice of the keeper became a regular inmate. She was bought out by a man who kept her for a year and a half, and had a child by her. She became weary of a tranquil methodical life--jealousyand quarrels arose. She returned to the maison de tolerance, in which she has now lived four yews, and in which she is content. She knows not nor is concerned with the fate of her child left with the father. A. is very egotistic~loving ease and pleasure. She is careful of her person, but shows complete absence of moral sen.*e. T h e conclusions Tarnowsky's study of Russian prostitutes lead to are as follows : - ( i ) Habitual prostitutes are beings cursed by a more or less pronounced hereditary defect, a legacy from their descendants of alcoholism, of syphilis, of nervous or mental disease. (2) They show signs of physical and mental degeneration as compared with chaste women. Witness the cranial deformations, the anomalies of the face, the defective teeth, palate, and the frequent abnormal attachment of the ears. (3) T h e stigmata of degeneration descend more certainly through a drunken mother than a drunken father. (4) T h e psychic anomalies of the prostitutes are shown by a more or less feebleness of intelligence, or by a neurotic constitution, or by an absence of
PROSTITUTES.
~33
moral sense. It is also shown by the abuse of the genetic functions, and especially by the attraction that this lower class of prostitutes feel for their occupation, to which they willingly return, if for a time taken from it. (5) Notwithstanding efforts to moralise the masses, and the increase of homes and penitentiaries for the fallen, the supply of prostitutes will not fail so long as the causes of degeneration persist, that is so long as there are drunken parents, so long as no successful effort is m a d e by sanitary authorities to prevent the infection of phthisis, so long as syphilis continues, and so long as marriage between pronounced neurotics is allowed. (6) Womanhood, in its perfect health of mind and body, is freed by this study from shame. No woman is a willing whore. T h e willing whores are low degenerate beings, to whom pity rather than scorn is due. Living cenotaphs of the vices, the misfortunes, the ignorances of their ascendants, they are a problem to the State, a danger to the public h e a l t h . T h e " n u c l e u s of prostitution" emerges out of the grim shadow of animal atavism, its intimate connection with nervous, with organic, with preventable disease is revealed. T h e truth being now known, much may be done to diminish the causes by sanitary work, and by legislation on a scientific basis. The Contagious Diseases Acts required amendment and extension, and not repeal. It is not wise to allow members of a race stamped by nature as degenerate to flaunt about the public streets, planting the seeds of loathsome maladies in the source of future life. T o stamp out prostitution is utopian, but humanity, prudence, and social polity alike urgently call for efficient regulation. BOLOGNA SAusAoEs.--Consul-Gen. Sir D. E. Colnaghi states [Consular Reports, No. 152 ] that since his visit to Bologna a discovery has taken place that some among the largest manufacturers of Bologna sausages (mortadelle) have been in the habit of using horseflesh, not of the first quality, mixed with inferior pork, in the m~nufacture of sausages. This fact has caused considerable excitement among the population, and cannot but do harm to an important article of consumption and export. H e wrote at once to the Chambers of Commerce of Bologna and of Modena, in which latter provence a similar discovery was reported to have been made. From Modena he was informed that only two seizures of diseased meat had been made, while the important firm of G. Bellantani and Co. had promoted the articles in the new Sanitary Code which refer to the adulteration of sausages. From Bologna the reply stated that the matter has come under the notice of the judicial authorities, and that, as soon as judgment is given, full particulars will be suppllied