Foote, Edward B. Medical Common Sense; applied to the Causes, Prevention and Cure of Chronic Diseases and Unhappiness in Marriage. New York: Published by the Author, 1866. Revised and Enlarged Edition. [9517]
Faded blindstamped pebble cloth, 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches, private library bookplate & signature, frontispiece portrait of the author with tissue guard. xviii., 390 pp., light foxing, about 90 text illustrations, tight. There are some surface splits in the rear end paper hinge, but the board is firm and not wobbly. Good. Hardcover.
This book was first published in 1864, and this revised edition includes the contraceptive matter that Foote was the basis of the Comstock Act conviction & fine against the author.
In this comprehensive treatment of the causes and prevention of disease the author treats with meat, cereal foods, drinks, clothing, atmosphere, bad habits, unhappy marriages, prostitution, business failures, adulterated medicines, chloroform, melancholy, &c. His "common sense remedies" include vegetable medicines and 'therapeutic electricity." The diseases treated with in "The Curability of Chronic Diseases" include Consumption, Bronchitis, Laryngitis, Asthma, Catarrh, Scrofula, Rheumatism, Dyspepsia, Piles, the Liver, Affections of the Urinary Organs, Diseases of the Female Organs of Generation, Barrenness, Seminal Weakness, Rupture and Hernia, Salt Rheum, Cancer, Spinal Diseases, Paralysis, Diseases of the Heart, Neuralgia, Presbyopia or Long Sight, and "Chronic Diseases."
The second part of the book, which begins at page 243, pertains to Marriage and Sexual Philosophy. This includes are review of marriage customs around the world; Sexual Intercourse, in which the author opines upon Individual Electricity, Chemical Electricity, and Frictional Electricity; Mental and Physical Adaptation in Marriage; followed by Laws Should Enforce Mental and Physical Adaptation in Marriage; The Phases of Marriage; Philosophy of Elopements; Intermarriage of Relatives; Essays for Married People Only - Sexual Excess, Prevention of Conception, Sexual Indifference, Philosophy of Child-Making, Food for Pregnant Women; Happiness in Marriage; Mechanical and Electrical Remedies - including several contraceptives.
Edward Bliss Foote (1829-1906), b. Cleveland, OH; d. Larchmont, NY. Foote was raised in a Presbyterian home, but rejected the orthodox protestant faith, turning Unitarian, then agnostic. An advocate of prophylactics, Foote was fined $3500 in 1876 for violation of the Comstock Act for publishing "Medical Common Sense," in which contraceptives are discussed. He was an active opponent of Christian scientists and faith healers, working in both medical associations and the state legislature towards their suppression.
