f ,. i

WONDERFUL STORY
OF LIFE

pe

A MOTHER’S TALKS WITH HER
DAUGHTER REGARDING LIFE
AND ITS REPRODUCTION

The
Wonderful Story of Life

A Mother’s Talks with her Daughter
Regarding Life and its Reproduction

ISSUED BY
THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
, WASHINGTON, D. C.

“LIBRARY OF CONGRESS -
RECEIVED

AUG 261921

POOUMENTS DIVISION

FOREWORD.

To-day most enlightened parents recognize the need of instructing their
children in matters of sex. They know that such instruction is of real value
for wholesome development; that it prevents much needless worry and possible
bad practices on the part of the growing child. They understand also that
it provides a valuable protection later against the very serious venereal dis-
eases. In increasing number parents are endeavoring to teach their children,
and the results achieved indicate very clearly the importance of widely ex-
tending this work. Eventually every child should be instructed concerning
sex matters just as surely as it is taught to walk, to eat properly, to wash.’

Nevertheless, this instruction is not altogether an easy task for many
parents. Their own education along this line was too negative; it created
a false modesty which they find it hard to overcome. And yet most of them,
as has been said, realize its importance, not to Say its necessity. They do not
mean to allow their child to go forth into the world unprepared. They know
that reliable information on sex subjects is essential for happiness and well-
being. They realize that too often such instruction as is given comes altogether
too late. They are convinced that sex education is one of their responsibilities
to their children, just as it is their duty to teach the care of the teeth, good
manners, and habits of cleanliness. Yet they can not bring themselves to
the point of telling the simplest facts of sex, although the critical years are
approaching rapidly—in some cases are already at hand.

This booklet is an attempt to provide such parents with a means of sane
instruction for a daughter 7 to 10 years of age. This will not be too early
to begin. It is suggested that the mother or father read the book aloud to
the child. If the parent is in the habit of reading aloud this procedure will
not attract special attention. First, the parent should go through the book
alone in order that its contents may be clearly understood. Then gradually
a chapter or more at a time may be read to the child. This should be done
as informally as possible. Such informality may be assisted by introducing
details which relate directly to the child’s personal experience. Perhaps she
has beer planting some seeds; perhaps some robins are building a nest in the
tree outside her window. Questions or comments from the child should be
encouraged and met sympathetically. Parents should not be shocked at any-
thing the child may say, else she will stop confiding in them. An atmosphere
of informality can be created which will help to make this rather formal
method of sex instruction effective.

Some parents will not wish to read this material to their children, but will
prefer to tell the story informally. This method has numerous advantages.
For such parents, however, it is believed this book will furnish useful sug-
gestions and possibly some information which can be effectively used.

It is hoped that this little book will prove of real assistance to the many
parents who have been hesitant but anxious to give their children the neces-
Sary sex instruction. Simple but clear terms have been used to make known
the exact facts of sex life. In these days information on this subject can
not be kept from a wide-awake child. It is merely a question as to whether
the child will get this information from reliable or unreliable sources. With
instruction from good sources the child will be better able to meet such
problems of her sex life as may immediately arise. This material will, more-
over, furnish a solid foundation for the further instruction and training which
will be necessary later.

1 Evidence of the need for sex education is to be found in V. D. pamphlet No. 32,
issued by the U. 8. Public Health Service. See also M. J. Exner: A study of 948
College Men.

55226°—21 3

CHAPTER 1." |

This little book, Helen Elizabeth, is written particularly
for you and me. We are going to read it together because —
I want to be sure that you understand the things which we
shallfindinit. If, as we read, there are any words or sen-
tences which puzzle you, which you do not understand, be
sure to ask about them. I shall try to answer questions
for you as well as I can. ,

We are going to read, you and I, about wonderful and
beautiful things. Now, there are many, many beautiful
things in the world. That maple tree out in front of the
house, which is so fresh and green; the rose bush in the
garden just covered with roses; the birds which sing out-
side your window every morning; and the fishes, if you
catch a glimpse of them in the cool, dark waters of the
little pond just outside the town, the silvery fishes, which
dart to and fro so quickly—all these things are beautiful.
If it were not for them and for many other living things
this would be a very dreary and unhappy world to live in.
What would the world be like if there were no plants, no
fishes, no birds, no animals, or men upon it? Nothing but
the unchanging rocks, the drifting sands, and the lone-
some waters. You and I would not like to live in such a
world.

Already probably you have noticed that all living things
change almost continually. If a thing does not change we
say it has no life. That rock beside the road is just the
same to-day as it was yesterday, and if we come back next
year it will, as far as we can see, still be the same. It does
not grow at all. The pile of sand in which you and your
friends play changes only because you dig holes in it; the
sand itself does not change. But flowers and trees, and
fishes, and you yourself, Helen Elizabeth, are never quite
the same one day as you are the next. Yesterday you were
not as big a girl as you are to-day, and you are not as big

4

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 5

to-day as you will be to-morrow. We human beings grow
from childhood to youth and from youth to womanhood,
and then we gradually grow old and finally die. All living
things, plants and animals, do the same.

Sinee all living things change and finally die, it is nec-
essary always that new plants and animals be created to
take their places. If new plants, fishes, birds, animals,
and people were not constantly produced, the earth would
soon be left without any. In a short time it would all be
a vast desert without a living thing on it; no plants, fishes,
birds, animals, or men.

Now, this does not happen, because all living things
- multiply or repeat themselves in their offspring. Every
kind of plant, every kind of animal in the world, has the
power to produce baby plants and baby animals like itself.
The grass makes or brings forth new grass; the oak tree
new oaks; the pretty violets and all the other flowers, new
flower plants; the chickens, little chicks; cattle, their
_ealves; dogs, their puppies; and people, their babies.

How they do this is a wonderfully interesting story. I
am going to tell you about it—tell you how the fiowers
make the new little plants which will produce flowers next
year ; how the fishes which we eat for breakfast or dinner
have already provided for the little fishes which will take
their places; how the birds arrange so that there will
always be birds to come to us in the springtime; and how
your little baby brother and you yourself, Helen Eliza-
beth, came to be born.

This story of reproduction, as we call it, is a wonderful
and beautiful story. It is beautiful because it tells about
living things which, we have agreed, are among the most
beautiful things in the world. It is wonderful because
it tells about wonderful things. Men have made ° many
marvelous inventions, like automobiles and. steamships
and airplanes; but they have never been able to invent
anything so wonderful as the simplest little plant or ani-
mal which may reproduce itself. Yet unless God had
given all living things this power to reproduce, plants and

6 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

animals and men would long ago have disappeared from
the earth. That is why we say this story is not only beau-
tiful and wonderful; it is sacred.

About sacred things we do not talk lightly. We do not
talk about them with other children, for many children
do not know how wonderful and beautiful this story of —
the reproduction of life is. But you may talk about it
freely with your father and me. We are always ready—
yes, anxious—to help you understand and will always an-
swer your questions as well as we can.

CHapter II.

We have agreed, Helen Elizabeth, that living things are
among the most beautiful things in the world, and that
because all living things change and finally die there would
soon be none of them left unless new ones were produced.
How sad it would be if all the green grass and the beauti-
ful flowers, and the birds, and all the animals should dis-
appear. If you will listen very carefully I shall tell you
why they do not disappear.

First, we shall consider the flowers. How many, many
different kinds of flowers there are. There are violets and
dandelions and buttercups and roses and sweet peas and
daisies and forget-me-nots and lilies and pussy-willows
and hollyhocks, and perhaps you can name a lot more.
All these flowers are beautiful, and you and I would be
very unhappy if a time should come when there were none.

Now, flowers come from plants, and each flower has its
own particular plant. In order to have a wild rose you
must have a wild rose bush. In order to have dandelions
there must be a dandelion plant. Sweet peas do not grow
on apple trees or currant bushes, but on sweet-pea vines.
You know that as well as I.

The sweet-pea vine, like other plants, has roots by
means of which it draws water and nourishment from the
eround. You know that if you cut off its roots the vine
will die. It also has leaves, by means of which it gets air,
and you know that if bugs continually destroy its leaves
it will die. You know that it has a stem which holds up
the leaves and flowers, but that without the sap from the
roots the stem will die. You know that it has flowers,
lovely and sweet, beloved by bees and girls, and that after
the flowers have faded and their petals fall, the little
stumps which are left change into pods filled with seeds.

7

8 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

These seeds, if planted and given water, air, and sun-
shine, will sprout into young sweet-pea vines. So every
year when all the old sweet-pea vines have died we ean
still count upon new sweet-pea vines starting from the
pea-vine seeds. ‘These new pea vines will bear sweet peas,
just as pretty and sweet as the old pea vines did. |

Did you ever think what a wonderful thing a seed is—
that a little pea seed has in it something which will sprout
and grow and become another plant, and something also
which will surely make that plant take a certain form?
its stem will have tendrils; its leaves will be pea leaves

and not oak leaves or tea leaves. It will bear flowers ~

which will surely be sweet peas and not hollyhocks; surely
white or pink and not blue or yellow; and which will have
a certain odor and no other; and which will be followed
by pea pods, not by peach or sunflower seeds. All of that
and much more is wrapped up in the tiny seeds.

The seeds are so very wonderful, Helen Elizabeth, that
It am going to tell you more about them. Every part of
a pea vine or any other plant has a particular work to do.
I told you a little while ago why roots were necessary,
why leaves, and why the stalk. They all have a very defi-
nite work. But how about the flower? Is it only a pretty
decoration for you to put in a vase on the dining-room
table or for.me to wear to parties? No; the flower, like
the leaves, has a definite work. It is to help form this
very wonderful little seed. )

In the very center of all flowers there is a stalk called
the pistil. And what is a pistil, you ask? Well, I will
try to draw a picture of a pistil for you. Or wait; per-
haps we can find it here in this fower.* That will be better,
because my pictures would not help you very much, I am
afraid.

Here is the pistil. Itis this upright part in the very cen-
ter of the flower. It is carefully protected there. As you
see it broadens out at the lower end. There are tiny pas-
sages from the top of the pistil into the broader part at the

1 Among the flowers particularly adapted to use for illustration are: Sweet pea, apple
blossom. (and other fruit blossoms), lily, wild rose, tulip, etc.

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. i 9

bottom. Now, if we cut through this broader part, the
little green ball or stem at the bottom of the flower, we will
see a number of little white dots. These dots or egg cells,
as we call them, will in time grow into seeds. The tiny
passages in the pistil lead to the egg cells.

Have you ever looked at a fiower carefully? I know that
you have been very close to one many times, and have, in
fact, stuck your nose deeply into it in order to get all its

- fragrance. Now, sometimes when you have done this I

have noticed that some yellow dust from the center of the
flower has been left on your nose. It has looked very funny
there. This dust is called pollen. It doesn’t seem of very
much importance to you and you brush it off quickly.
Still, this pollen plays a most important part in the making
of flower seeds.

‘When the bees and the butterflies fly into the center of
the flower seeking honey, their feet and wings get covered
with the fine yellow pollen, just as does your nose. Then,
when they fly to another flower some of this yellow pollen
dust is brushed off on top of the pistil as they pass by.
But the pollen dust does not stay on top of the pistil.
Through the passages in the pistil of which I have told you
it sends a little shoot down into the little white dots or eggs.
This process is called fertilization. After they have been
fertilized the eggs enlarge and become seeds. Unless the
pollen finds its way to the pistil the little white dots can
never become real seeds. But if it does find its way, with
the help of the bees or the wind, the little white dots be-
come seeds, and these seeds, if planted carefully, will grow
into fine flower plants and bear the pretty flowers which
bring so much happiness to you and me.

55226°—21—-2

CHAPTER ITI.

In our last talk, Helen Elizabeth, I told you about
plants—how each particular part, leaf, stem, root, and
flower, has its work to do. We love flowers so much that
we were particularly happy to know about flower seeds.
Even if all the plants now living should die, these seeds
would grow into new plants with the same beautiful
flowers. And I told you about how the seeds were made—
the little specks of pollen finding their way down through
the tiny passages in the pistil to the little white eggs,
which then grow into real true flower seeds.

To-day I have another interesting story to tell you. It
is about fishes. I wonder how much you know about fishes,
Helen Elizabeth. You know they live in the water, and
you like to see them swim about. But you don’t know what
fishes do in their watery homes, and you don’t realize how
they live. There are thousands and thousands of fishes
in the world, however, and many people depend on fishes
for food. So you will see that they have quite an impor-
tant place in life. |

Let us take one kind of fish—the salmon—and I shall
tell you some of the things I know about it. Salmon live
in the great Pacific Ocean and spend most of their lives
far from the sight and knowledge of peopie. They swim
about in the deep water looking for food. Day after day
they spend in this way, eating food and growing bigger
and bigger.

There finally comes a time when each salmon feels an
impulse, which it doesn’t understand, that it has a work
to do up a fresh-water stream. So the salmon turn to-
ward the land and start up the rivers and brooks which
lead from the sea. By thousands and tens of thousands
they come. Fishermen catch many thousands of them,
which are put into cans and sent all over the world for

10

| ie ae
”

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. il

you and me and millions of other people to eat. You will
remember that we had some salmon for supper not so
many days ago.

But, happily, not all of the salmon are unfortunate
enough to be caught. The lucky ones press on up the
stream, swimming hard, growing tired but always intent
upon that great business which brought them in from
the sea. They swim up the swiftest rivers, and though
sometimes the water carries them back they try again and
again, until they reach a very narrow stream far up among
the cool, shady mountains.

Do you wonder why salmon work so hard to reach this

narrow little stream, when they might be wandering hap-
pily in the ocean? Just as the rose bushes produce rose
seeds from which new rose bushes will come, the salmon
must produce little salmon which will grow up some day.
Unless they did this, there would soon be no salmon left.
But salmon can not produce their little ones in the dark
waters of the sea, so they must come up into the sunny,
clear, fresh-water brooks.
_ After days of swimming, as I have said, the salmon
reach the cool, shallow mountain streams. MHere the
mother salmon (for there are father and mother salmon)
ean safely do her work in the making of baby salmon.
She selects a bit of sandy bottom in the cool, clear stream,
and with her tail scoops out a little hole. Then, hovering
over it, she discharges into it from her body a stream of
little golden beads—her eggs. She does this at a number
of places on the sandy bottom. This is her part toward
keeping the salmon family alive.

The mother salmon does not know, as we do, that not
one of those eggs can hatch out into a little baby salmon
until a father salmon has done his part—has furnished
something from his body for it. He has come up the
river also, driven by the same feelings as sent the mother
salmon up from the ocean. After the mother salmon has
given up her eggs, and they lie in the little hole which
she has scooped out, the father salmon hovers above them

12 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

and discharges over them from his body a thin, light sub-
stance called milt. This milt carries thousands of little
wriggling bodies called sperms, much smaller than the
pollen grains of the flower. But milt has the same pur-
pose and work to do as the pollen grains. By it the
mother fish’s eggs are fertilized, just as was the white dot —
or egg in the flower. One of these little wriggling bodies
enters each of the eggs that the mother salmon left. In
this way each egg contains a part of the mother’s body
and part of the father’s body. It at once begins to
change and grow and finally becomes a baby salmon. If
it had not been for the milt, this could not have happened.
These baby salmon grow, and then gradually not all,
but very many, find their way down the brooks and rivers
and out into the sea. In the great ocean they live their
childhood lives as did their fathers and mothers. There
they wander about and have their fishy adventures, and
when the pr oper time has come they in turn seek the clear,
fresh water in the mountain streams where the sane is
smooth and the daylight bright.

CHAPTER IV.

Iam sure, Helen Elizabeth, that you know more about
the habits of fishes than you did when we began our last
talk. You now understand that the salmon come up the
fresh water streams from the great Pacific Ocean, and that
where the sand is smooth and the sunlight bright the
mother salmon lays her eggs. Only if the father salmon
comes along afterwards and discharges his milt over these
eggs will they grow into little salmon. Of course all fishes
do not travel as far as the salmon. Some spend their whole
lives in the ocean; others never go down into the sea; some
stay in the lakes and ponds. But all mother fishes lay their
eggs where the father fish can pour his milt over them, else
there would be no new little fishes and soon no fishes at all.

You are, I think, better acquainted with the birds than
you were with fishes, and 1 know you want to hear their
story too. How glad you have been to see them again after
the cold winter. You have missed their bright colors and
their clear songs. But, sure as the spring comes, the birds
return from the warmer southland, where they have spent
the winter, and now you hear their joyous singing each
morning as they welcome the bright sun of the returning
day. They are saying that it is good to be alive in such a
world, where there are shady trees and beautiful fiowers
and fat, juicy earthworms.

But the birds are singing not always to you and me or
to the bright sun. They are singing to each other and say-
ing that it is not good to be alone in the world. They are
saying that there must always be birds in the world to make
people happy. So finally each male singer will find a
female bird who agrees with him, and they will agree to
build a nest and have some baby birds.

How can they do it? Ah, that is a great mystery that
they don’t understand. But they set about their busi-

13

14 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

ness and play and work together, these two, apart from the
rest of the birds in the world, intent on making a nest.
And the more they are together the more they love each
other, and the more they love each other the more they
become tender to one another. Finally they reach a
point of tenderness at which they merely flutter about one —
another, and you will occasionally see a father bird on
top of a mother bird, snuggling as close to the mother
bird as he can. She seems very willing to have him do so.
And this is the reason: As they are together there passes
from his body to hers, through parts provided for this
purpose, a fine stream, much like the stream of milt which
the father salmon poured out over the salmon eggs, a
stream bearing thousands of the same kind of little wrig-
gling bodies, far too small for us to see with our eyes.
But each of these wriggling bodies carries in it something
of the father bird which enters the seeds or eggs in the
body of the mother bird, to fertilize and make them alive,
so they can, with proper care, later become baby birds.

Without that little portion of the father bird, no eggs
could ever hatch. The father bird makes the eggs fer-
tile. That means they can grow into baby birds and
finally break through the shell. The hen can lay eggs,
which for your purposes and mine, to make omelettes or
soft-boiled eggs, are as good as any. But unless she lives
with a rooster and receives from him the little wriggling
bodies which make eggs fertile she can never lay an egg
that will hatch into a chicken. An egg that will not hatch
into a chicken is not worth anything at all to a mother
hen. She might just as well have a stone or a door knob
to sit on. |

It is the same with the mother bird. While she or the
father bird might either of them build a nest alone, and
she could even lay an egg alone, neither of them could
possibly produce a baby bird without the help of the
other. Thus it is that they will find their greatest happi-
ness in life living together and loving one another, and in
raising and caring for their baby birds.

ee eee Le are On ee Ce a are eit
€ . re ae ee, See ee Pe ee a Sa
) Sa ae

CHAPTER V.

When you reach high school or college, Helen Elizabeth,
you may begin to study Latin, the language which the old
Romans used to speak and write. Perhaps some day you
will come across the Latin words which were written many
years ago and which mean, ‘“‘ Every life comes from an
ege.’”’ You may be surprised to know that this is true for
almost all living things. You understand or believe that
the fish comes from an egg and that the bird does; and you
can even understand what I mean when I say that the seed
of a plant comes from an egg at the base of the pistil. But
you may think that puppies and calves, colts and babies do
not come from eggs, because you have never heard of such
a thing and never saw the egg of a dog, cow, horse, or
woman. There are such things, however, and all of these
young animals come from eggs just as truly as do chickens
and birds.

Now, why.is it that, if animals come from eggs, you have
never heard of or seen the eggs? The fact is that the eggs
of the higher animals are too small to be seen. You are
surprised, of course, that the egg of so large a creature as a
horse or a cow, or even an elephant should be too small to
be seen, while a little bird like a humming bird lays an egg
as big asa pea. The reason is this: What we call the bird’s
egg really contains two different things. First there is the
little egg itself, which is to grow and become the young
bird. Secondly, there is food enough inside the shell to
supply the little bird while it is growing to the age and size
at which it will hatch. The stored-up food inside the shell
is the part which is good to eat. Just as it is good food for
the little unhatched bird, so it is good for you and me.
The egg of the cow and other animals, on the other hand,
does not contain food, so it can be very small—so small
that only a microscope would enable you to see it.

15

16 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

These eggs are so small that, unlike the hen’s egg, the
fish eggs, and the rose’s egg, they can not, even after
they have been made fertile, live outside the animal’s
body. They can only be cared for properly within the
bodies of their mothers. After a time, when they have
grown into young animals, they are born into the world.
Even then they are still pretty helpless and have to be
cared for during long periods—puppies for weeks, babies
for years. In fact, you, yourself, Helen Elizabeth, with
your nine years, are not yet able to take full care of your-
self and to make your own living. Your father and I still
have the happiness of looking after you and having you
for our child. And it is a wonderful blessing that parents
do love to look after and care for their children. If the
children are good and honest and truthful and brave, it
gives the parents the greatest sort of happiness, much,
much greater than any happiness that can come from
money, pleasures, parties, fine clothes, shows, or any other
thing.

You, Helen Klizabeth, are a great happiness for father
and me, because you have been a good girl, and we shall
take the greatest care to look out for you until you are able
to take good care of yourselt.

Pere ey a fe ee ee c . 2
‘ ee Nea
i aw!
a,

CHAPTER VI.

In our last talk, Helen Elizabeth, I told you that the
eges of all baby animals are very small, and that baby
animals can be cared for properly for a long time only
within the bodies of their mothers. Now you are wanting
to know how the eggs get inside the mothers and what
causes them to grow. Tor just as the chicken’s egg be-
gins inside of the chicken, the fish egg inside of the fish,
the sweet-pea seed inside of the pea pod, so the eggs of
all baby animals and of the human baby begin inside
the mother.

There are, as you know, many different parts in your
body. Just as the plant has its roots and stems and leaves
and flowers, each for a special purpose, so the human
body has many parts, each with its work to do. The heart
is to pump the blood about the body; eyes are to see with;
teeth are to eat with; lungs are to furnish fresh air or
oxygen to purify the blood. And there are many other
parts such as the stomach and brain and muscles and skin,
all with their special work.

Now, within the lower part of the woman’s body, far
from injury and well protected, are two parts called
ovaries, whose work is to produce eggs. These ovaries
are in some ways her most precious possession. With-
out them she could not have grown into a woman. With-
out them she could never become the mother of charm-
ing babies. For out of the eggs which the ovaries pro-
duce, develops, under proper conditions, the new life of

the little baby.
No egg, however, will develop into a baby until it is fer-

tilized, until it is made to live by receiving into itself some-
thing from the father. You have been told how plants are
fertilized when the pollen, which is the father part, is car-
ried to the pistil of the flower by the bee, and travels down

through it to the little growing seeds or eggs which are
17

18 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

produced by the mother part. You have heard of the
father salmon that swims hundreds of miles in order to
pour out his milt upon some salmon eggs left by the mother
salmon. You have seen birds loving one another, and have
been told that at times a little stream of life-giving fluid
passes from one to the other as they do so. This fluid con-
tains the little wriggling bodies which fertilize the eggs so
that they will grow and produce baby fish and baby birds.
The eggs of the salmon and the birds hatch outside of the
mother’s body.

Mammals are animals like cows and dogs and cats and
human beings, which carry their young in their bodies,
sheltered and nourished deep in the mother until they are
born. For that reason it is necessary that a life-giving
body, like the little wriggling things in the milt of the fish,
be placed by the father in the body of the mother, where it
will have a good chance to find the egg in the place pro-
vided for it. And, wonderful to tell, human fathers and
mothers, and the fathers and mothers of other mammals
are so made that this is possible. The father makes the egg
within the body of the mother fertile. Then, in the safe
nest which has been made there, the egg grows and devel-
ops until it is strong enough to live in the air. When the
little animal comes out of the mother nest, we say it is
born.

When a man and woman love one another very much,
and each thinks the other the dearest and most wonderful
thing in the world, they get married and live together.
Then, if they have followed God’s laws, they may some
day make their home happy with loving children. And
there is nothing, Helen HKlizabeth, which makes a home
happier than loving children. Your father and I know
because we have you.

CHAPTER VII.

I feel that I have told you, Helen Elizabeth, about as
much as your years will allow you to understand. But
when you are 12 or 13 years old I may get another book for
you. Meanwhile, if you have any questions to ask about
any of these things, bring them to me or to father, and
do not take them to other children. Many children are
not told about such things by their parents, and what
other children think they know may not be true. For that
reason we do not talk about these matters outside the
home.

You will understand better now, I hope, why your father
and I love you so very much. It is because we have given
you so much of ourselves. You were born because we
loved each other. And while father and mother fishes
do not worry whether the little fishes live or not, we have
cared for you very carefully until you are now getting
to be a big girl. We shall continue to care for you, giv-
ing you food and clothes and a little room for your own,
giving you all we can to make your life happy until you
are ready to take care of yourself. It is our greatest hap-
piness to do these things for you.

We want you to be happy—very, very happy—while
you are in our care. But we also want you to realize that
we have given up many things because of you. When you
were very little, before you left the warm nest inside my
body, I carried you about always with me for a long time,
and then after you were born, it was not always easy to
care for you. One time you were sick, and your father
and I spent all the night trying to make you better. And
there were other times. We were happy to do these things
because we loved you so much. And you are happy and
love us just as much as you can because we have done so

much for you.
19

20 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE.

You have, I know, Helen Elizabeth, found the story
about the continuation of life—whether of flowers, of
fishes, of birds, or of human beings—an interesting and
wonderful story. You even realize a little why I have
called it a sacred story. As you grow up you will under-
stand better. For in all your life you will never find a
story more beautiful or more wonderful. Not all people
realize this; not all people see the beauty and the wonder
of it. But you have already come to know a little, and
in the years to come may you realize more. ‘That is your
father’s fondest hope—and mine. 7

Other pamphlets regarding the reproduction of life, the hygiene of sex,
and the diseases which result from wrong sex living may be obtained free
of charge:

Pamphlet A. For young men.

Pamphlet B. For the general public.

Pamphlet C. For boys.

Pamphlet D. For parents.

Pamphlet E. For girls and young women.

Pamphlet F. For educators.

Write to your State Board of Health or to the United States Public Health
Service, 16 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D. C.

ADDITIONAL COPIES

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM
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GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D.C.

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