Thus, Dr. John Burns, of Glasgow, in his
_Principles of Midwifery_, states that "some women, from motives
of false delicacy, are averse from examination until the pains
become severe." He adds that "it is usual for the room to be
darkened, and the bed-curtains drawn close, during an
examination." Many old pictures show the accoucheur groping in
the dark, beneath the bed-clothes, to perform operations on women
in childbirth. (A. Kind, "Das Weib als Gebaererin in der Kunst,"
_Geschlecht und Gesellschaft_, Bd. II, Heft 5, p. 203.)
In Iceland, Winkler stated in 1861 that he sometimes slept in the
same room as a whole family; "it is often the custom for ten or
more persons to use the same room for living in and sleeping,
young and old, master and servant, male and female, and from
motives of economy, all the clothes, without exception, are
removed." (G. Winkler, _Island; seine Bewohner_, etc., pp. 107,
110.)
"At Cork," saye Fynes Moryson, in 1617, "I have seen with these
eyes young maids stark naked grinding corn with certain stones to
make cakes thereof." (Moryson, _Itinerary_, Part 3, Book III,
Chapter V.)
"In the more remote parts of Ireland," Moryson elsewhere says,
where the English laws and manners are unknown, "the very chief
of the Irish, men as well as women, go naked in very winter-time,
only having their privy parts covered with a rag of linen, and
their bodies with a loose mantle.
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