The Blood of the Vampire

by Florence Marryat

  We could give facts almost without number in our own immediate experience, and in reported cases, to show the prevalence and destructive nature of this vice among girls in our own country, but we forbear; the subject is painful and revolting even to contemplate. We believe that we have said enough to terrify parents into the needful precautions against it. If so much has been accomplished our object is fully realized. We remark, however, in conclusion, that it is not sufficient to use merely ordinary precautions of a judicious watchfulness; direct and skillful interrogation must be from time to time employed, at least in every suspected case. The subject should never be avoided through false delicacy, and such lessons should be imparted on the dreadful consequences of the habit, as shall effectually deter the perpetrators from persisting in it. It were far better to acquaint even pure-minded and perfectly innocent girls with the existence of such a vice, while teaching them its horrible consequences, than, through a false modesty, or mistaken motives of delicacy, to fail in imparting the requisite information in a single case. (pp. 106-116)

  Appendix B - Race and Eugenics

  Extracts from: Harry Campbell, Differences in the Nervous Organisation of Man and Woman (London: H. K. Lewis, 1891).

  I have said that with most animals the female must lend herself to the sexual act, and that this cannot be done without sexual instinct. In the human race, however, the case is different. In the first place, the woman need not be a willing agent; often among savages and semi-barbarous communities it often happens that she has no voice in the matter, and therefore among our primitive ancestors, sexual instinct in the woman has not been essential to the successful performance of the sexual act. It follows that the selective process as regards sexual desire in the female has not been as active in the remoter times of our race as among the females of the mammalian, and, such being the case, one would rather expect the sexual desire to be less in one case than in the others.

  Further, in civilised communities the woman, while voluntarily submitting to the sexual act, may have no desire whatever, being prompted in her behaviour by what she conceives to be her duty rather than by instinct. (p. 39)

  I must guard against any misapprehension of my remark respecting the weakened health of the girl when she reaches womanhood. I do not say that the more or less sudden change of environment she then experiences is the sole cause of the failure in her health, but that the predisposition to functional disorder which she then shows, and which, no doubt, is due chiefly to the activity of her sexual system, is increased by the change. The presence of a complicated sexual system does not necessarily imply inferior health, as may be proved by studying the health of savages and the lower animals. Among the former the men and women live equally exposed lives, and there is not broad contrast between the nervous health of the sexes which is noticeable among civilised races; this is, I believe, also true of the gispies. At the same time, her complex sexual system undoubtedly predisposes the woman to nervous troubles, apart altogether from the ill-effect of her usual environment, and this is proved by the fact that inspite of her indoor mode of life she almost always enjoys much better nervous health after the climacteric than during the period of sexual activity. Her nervousness is, in fact, more or less co-extensive with her sexual life. Furthermore, the women of primitive peoples show the characteristic feminine tendency to nervous disorders. Thus the only negress patient who ever came under my observation manifested in a well-developed form those symptoms of the climacteric which are so common among the women of white peoples. (p.88)

  From the earliest times there have been those who have regarded woman as an undeveloped man. This view is in harmony with the fact pointed out by Darwin, that in almost all unisexual animals the adult female is more like the young of either sex than the adult male. There can be little doubt that this law applies to the human species, and that the woman is more like the child than is the man. (p. 153)

  It is well worthy of remark that all these mental traits of the child characterise also primitive man, and so much is this the case, that the savage has very appositely been called ‘the baby of the race’ … it is unnecessary to enter further into the mental characteristics of the savage, though we may note, as we quit the subject, that his love of pets is, as Galton has shown, very strongly developed, and with this I am inclined to connect the love of children for animals. (pp. 159-160)

  Hence it is possible that the love of dancing, so peculiarly strong among women, is the outcome of a nervous organisation affording a suitable soil for hysteria. The dancing affords an outlet for pent-up energy. (p. 169)

  From these considerations it follows that rapidity and keenness of perception— I am using the term here in its strict psychological sense—far from necessarily going hand in hand with a high intellectual development, show a tendency to stand in inverse ration thereto.

  I do not mean to imply that keen powers of perception are a mark of inferior intellectual capacity, and contrariwise; but rather, that where we find the perceptive powers exceptionally keen, the intellect has not, as a rule, been greatly exercised, and vice versa: the very practical man, though he may have great intellectual capacity, has certainly not developed his intellect to the full, for had he done so, it must have been at the expense of his practicalness. Of course the best type of scientific man—the Darwin, the Newton—combines keenness of perception with great reflective capacity; but it is not among such that we find practical men as ordinarily understood. A further qualification must also be made. While savages, children, and women are more perceptive than the average civilised man, it is only as regards certain particulars. The savage has a keen perception of certain sights and sounds, and, similarly, children are very observant of much which their elders fail to notice; but, on the other hand, the men of civilised communities are quick in perceiving many things—especially things concerning their own interest—which would quite escape the notice, perhaps I should say the insight, of the savage or the child; but here the term ‘perception’ involves something more than mere sense–perception, and it will, I think, be acknowledged that in the simple perceptions—in other words, in the refinement of their sense-organs—the savage, the child, and the civilised woman are superior to the civilised man. (pp. 193-194)

  Extract from: Sir Francis Galton, Essays in Eugenics (London: The Eugenics Education Society, 1909).

  EUGENICS: ITS DEFINITION, SCOPE AND AIMS.

  Eugenics is the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage. The improvement of the inborn qualities, or stock, of some one human population will alone be discussed here.

  What is meant by improvement? What by the syllable eu in Eugenics, whose English equivalent is good? There is considerable difference between goodness in the several qualities and in that of the character as a whole. The character depends largely on the proportion between qualities, whose balance may be much influenced by education. We must therefore leave morals as far as possible out of the discussion, not entangling ourselves with the almost hopeless difficulties they raise as to whether a character as a whole is good or bad. Moreover, the goodness or badness of character is not absolute, but relative to the current form of civilization. A fable will best explain what is meant. Let the scene be the Zoological Gardens in the quiet hours of the night, and suppose that, as in old fables, the animals are able to converse, and that some very wise creature who had easy access to all the cages, say a philosophic sparrow or rat, was engaged in collecting the opinions of all sorts of animals with a view of elaborating a system of absolute morality. It is needless to enlarge on the contrariety of ideals between the beasts that prey and those they prey upon, between those of the animals that have to work hard for their food and the sedentary parasites that cling to their bodies and suck their blood, and so forth. A large number of suffrages in favour of maternal affection would be obtained, but most species of fish would repudiate it, while among the voices of birds wou
ld be heard the musical protest of the cuckoo. Though no agreement could be reached as to absolute morality, the essentials of Eugenics may be easily defined. All creatures would agree that it was better to be healthy than sick, vigorous than weak, well-fitted than ill-fitted for their part in life; in short, that it was better to be good rather than bad specimens of their kind, whatever that kind might be. So with men. There are a vast number of conflicting ideals, of alternative characters, of incompatible civilizations; but they are wanted to give fullness and interest to life. Society would be very dull if every man resembled the highly estimable Marcus Aurelius or Adam Bede. The aim of Eugenics is to represent each class or sect by its best specimens; that done, to leave them to work out their common civilization in their own way.

  A considerable list of qualities can easily be compiled that nearly everyone except “cranks”would take into account when picking out the best specimens of his class. It would include health, energy, ability, manliness, and courteous disposition. Recollect that the natural differ-ences between dogs are highly marked in all these respects., and that men are quite as variable by nature as other animals of like species. Special aptitudes would be assessed highly by those who possessed them, as the artistic faculties by artists, fearlessness of inquiry and veracity by scientists, religious absorption by mystics, and so on. There would be self-sacrificers, self-tormentors, and other exceptional idealists; but the representatives of these would be better members of a community than the body of their electors. They would have more of those qualities that are needed in a State, more vigour, more ability, and more consistency of purpose. The community might be trusted to refuse representatives of criminals, and of others whom it rates as undesirable.

  Let us for a moment suppose that the practice of Eugenics should hereafter raise the average quality of our nation to that of its better moiety at the present day, and consider the gain. The general tone of domestic, social, and political life would be higher. The race as a whole would be less foolish, less frivolous, less excitable, and politically more provident than now. Its demagogues who “playedto the gallery” would play to a more sensible gallery than at present. We should be better fitted to fulfil our vast imperial opportunities. Lastly, men of an order of ability which is now very rare would become more frequent, because, the level out of which they rose would itself have risen.

  The aim of Eugenics is to bring as many influences as can be reasonably employed, to cause the useful classes in the community to contribute more than their proportion to the next generation.

  The course of procedure that lies within the functions of a learned and active Society, such as the Sociological may become, would be somewhat as follows:-

  1. Dissemination of a knowledge of the laws of heredity, so far as they are surely known, and promotion of their further study. Few seem to be aware how greatly the knowledge of what may be termed the actuarial side of heredity has advanced in recent years. The average closeness of kinship in each degree now admits of exact definition and of being treated mathematically, like birth and death-rates, and the other topics with which actuaries are concerned.

  2. Historical inquiry into the rates with which the various classes of society (classified according to civic usefulness.) have contributed to the population at various times, in ancient and modern nations. There is strong reason for believing that national rise and decline is closely connected with this influence. It seems to be the tendency of high civilization to check fertility in the upper classes, through numerous causes, some of which are well-known, others are inferred, and others again are wholly obscure. The latter class are apparently analogous to those which bar the fertility of most species of wild animals in zoological gardens. Out of the hundreds and thousands of species that have been tamed, very few indeed are fertile when their liberty is restricted and their struggles for livelihood are abolished; those which are so, and are otherwise useful to man, becoming domesticated. There is perhaps some connection between this obscure action and the disappearance of most savage races when brought into contact with high civilization, though there are other and well-known concomitant causes. But while most barbarous races disappear, some, like the negro, do not. It may therefore be expected that types of our race will be found to exist which can be highly civilized without losing fertility; nay, they may become more fertile under artificial conditions, as is the case with many domestic animals.

  3. Systematic collection of facts showing the circumstances under which large and thriving families have most frequently originated; in other words, the conditions of Eugenics. The definition of a thriving family, that will pass muster for the moment at least, is one in which the children have gained distinctly superior positions to those who were their classmates in early life. Families may be considered “large”that contain not less than three adult male children. It would be no great burden to a society including many members who had Eugenics at heart, to initiate and to preserve a large collection of such records for the use of statistical students. The committee charged with the task would have to consider very carefully the form of their circular and the persons intrusted to distribute it. They should ask only for as much useful information as could be easily, and would be readily, supplied by any member of the family appealed to. The point to be ascertained is the status of the two parents at the time of their marriage, whence its more or less eugenic character might have been predicted, if the larger knowledge that we now hope to obtain had then existed. Some account would be wanted of their race, profession, and residence; also of their own respective parentages, and of their brothers and sisters. Finally the reasons would be required, why the children deserved to be entitled a “thriving” family. This manuscript collection might hereafter develop into a “goldenbook” of thriving families. The Chinese, whose customs have often much sound sense,make their honours retrospective. We might learn from them to show that respect to the parents of noteworthy children which the contributors of such valuable assets to the national wealth richly deserve. The act of systematically collecting records of thriving families would have the further advantage of familiarizing the public with the fact that Eugenics had at length become a subject of serious scientific study by an energetic society.

  4. Influences affecting Marriage. The remarks of Lord Bacon in his essay on Deathmay appropriately be quoted here. He says with the view of minimizing its terrors:

  “There is no passion in the mind of men so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death ..... Revenge triumphs over death; love slights it; honour aspireth to it; grief flyeth to it; fear pre-occupateth it.”

  Exactly the same kind of considerations apply to marriage. The passion of love seems so overpowering that it may be thought folly to try to direct its course. But plain facts do not confirm this view. Social influences of all kinds have immense power in the end, and they are very various. If unsuitable marriages from the Eugenic point of view were banned socially, or even regarded with the unreasonable disfavour which some attach to cousin-marriages, very few would be made. The multitude of marriage restrictions that have proved prohibitive among uncivilized people would require a volume to describe.

  5. Persistence in setting forth the national importance of Eugenics. There are three stages to be passed through. Firstly it must be made familiar as an academic question, until its exact importance has been understood and accepted as a fact; Secondly it must be recognized as a subject whose practical development deserves serious consideration; and Thirdly it must be introduced into the national conscience, like a new religion. It has, indeed, strong claims to become an orthodox religious, tenet of the future, for Eugenics co-operate with the workings of nature by securing that humanity shall be represented by the fittest races. What Nature does blindly, slowly, and ruthlessly, man may do providently, quickly, and kindly. As it lies within his power, so it becomes his duty to work in that direction. The improvement of our stock seems to me one of the highest objects that we can reasonably attempt. We are ignorant of t
he ultimate destinies of humanity, but feel perfectly sure that it is as noble a work to raise its level, in the sense already explained, as it would be disgraceful to abase it. I see no impossibility in Eugenics becoming a religious dogma among mankind, but its details must first be worked out sedulously in the study. Over-zeal leading to hasty action would do harm, by holding out expectations of a near golden age, which will certainly be falsified and cause the science to be discredited. The first and main point is to secure the general intellectual acceptance of Eugenics as a hopeful and most important study. Then let its principles work into the heart of the nation, which will gradually give practical effect to them in ways that we may not wholly foresee. (pp. 35-43)

  Appendix C - The Occult

  Extract from Prof. Dr. Myal Djumoh Cassecanarie, Obeah Simplified: The True Wanga! What It Really Is, And How It Is Done! (Port of Spain: Mirror Office, 1895).

  In the Trinidad Public Opinion of July 12th, 1890, there appeared an editorial on ‘The Reported Arrest of a Witch,’ which arrest, however, turned out to be only a report; but that paper’s description of the general belief in a witch’s capabilities, which follows, is a very good exposition of the popular belief in the West Indies as to the powers and performances of those Obeah–practitioners known in the French-speaking Islands of the West Indies as Souquiants, and in the English-speaking ones as ‘Hags.’ These terms, as will be seen later, refer to persons who have the power, whether developed or inherited, of projecting and going about in their ‘Doubles’ at will. This witch, in common with others of her class, was said to have passed in through keyholes, practiced her death-dealing Arts on the unfortunate inmates of the houses into which she had entered, and by uttering certain incantations, had caused ruin to follow upon those connected with the unfortunate families. She was not only able to shorten the period of existence of those whom it might please her to destroy, but she could prolong life in others, and when the humour favoured her she could bespeak for them health, wealth and prosperity. Not only was she, as it is stated, able to affect others, but she had also supernatural power over her own body. She could, it was said, change her skin, and transform her shriveled form into a ball of fire.