way of relief, shall he withhold the instruction which may make her a cleaner and healthier woman, a better mother, a comfort to herself and family? Shall he leave her in despair, a prey to her own unguided ignorance, driven by despair to again commit abortion, destroying herself, and the soul and body of her unborn babe?

Is it not better to raise two well-fed, well-clothed,welleducated children, than to raise a dozen that you are not able to care for, to be thrown upon the world with none of the requisites of good citizenship? I will close by quoting from an article by Dr. W. R. D. Blackwood, which seems very appropriate: He says, "I do not wish to be misunderstood-no one has a more decided belief in the criminality of feticide than myself; I hold an abortionist to be a murderer not only of the body, but it may be the destroyer of a soul in addition. . "With a full sense of the importance in all its bearings of what I now say, and recognising clearly just how prompt many physicians will be to condemn me for my opinion (to say nothing about the anathemas of the church in its every faction) I state my belief honestly and fearlessly, that under proper conditions the prevention of conception is not only proper per se, but that it is imperatively demanded under certain circumstances."

Where is the justice of condemning children to inherited syphilis, scrofula or tuberculosis? Do we know for a certainty that the progeny of the husband or wife afflicted with these or other transmissible maladies will be healthy offspring?

What right has an epileptic to bequeath his disease to an innocent child, or why should hypocritical sanctimoniousness encourage the multiplication of imbeciles thru the mating of men and women who are more or less mentally weak or absolutely insane?

It will be said, of course, that continence should govern such people, for marry they will; that the object of the holy state of matrimony is not the gratification of sensual appetites; that the outcome and possibilities of conjugal love are in the hands of a higher power than ours; that interference with nature's processes is morally and physically wrong-all of which I unhesitatingly deny as ardent nonsense, on a par with the assumption that the marriage bed becomes a brothel when any attempt at prevention or ordinary cleanliness is observed."

The carnal demands of man throw aside all recognition of proper regulations, and for one husband, who out of regard for the feelings and welfare of his wife abstains from sexual intercourse when it is desirable or absolutely necessary to do so, a million will insist on their "rights" and leave their spouse to endure the consequences.

Aren't, therefore, proper means of prevention perfectly legitimate, advisable and even imperative?

Valuable Original Briefs on Therapeutic Subjects, Interspersed with Diagnostic Point's and Interesting MedicoHistorical Facts.

Hemicrania.

Migraine, or one-sided headache, is a functional disease. There is no morbid anatomy and in the intervals between attacks the health is normal. It may be regarded as the sensory equivalent of the motor disturbance epilepsy. Like the latter, migraine usually begins after puberty and is characterized by periodic paroxysms, either regular or determined by strain or excitement.

Just as in epilepsy, there are what might be called a haut mal and a petit mal, the former type of attack being characterized by severity, the latter by frequency, and furthermore each usually remains habitual in the same individual.

As in epilepsy, there are "auras." These are minor nervous disturbances manifesting themselves as changes in disposition or altered sensation due to altered vascular tension. At the onset there is pallor of the face, followed by dilatation and flushing of the pallid areas.

Epilepsy, it will be recalled, is often unilateral, or at least there is an inequality of the motor symptoms.

Very often there is a feeling of vigor and mental exaltation due to rising arterial tension just preceding the aura. The aura is attended as a rule with central scotoma, that is to say the patient cannot see the point of his pen, what he is reading, or the face of another person, tho surrounding objects may be as clear as usual. These phenomena pass away in the course of a few minutes or half an hour and the pain begins. The pain is most intense in the eyeball and in the region of the mastoid, extending also to the brow, occiput and temple. The mind is clouded and the patient is faint, weak, bewildered and prostrated. Sometimes the aura is auditory.

As the hemicrania becomes more intense there is partial collapse, with moist skin, coldness and nausea, often to the point of retching. Relief then follows, rather gradually, the patient becoming apathetic, sleepy and irritated by light and noise. Polyuria is the last phase.

Before the polyuria sets in there is an arrest of the secretions, as shown by dryness of the mouth and by the later occurrence of flatulence and clay-colored feces, indicating a cessation of hepatic function. The polyuria is followed by partial suppression of the urine.

The entire attack usually lasts about six hours, tho it may endure for twelve. After it is over and the patient has

had a good night's rest there is generally an improvement in health.

Nerve exhaustion from any cause precipitates an attack. The frequency and severity of the attacks become less marked as the individual approaches middle age. They in no way tend to shorten life and are entirely compatible with otherwise sound health.

The more frequent the attacks the less severe they are apt to be. Many patients suffer severely only with the first few seizures.

In typical cases the tendency to hemicrania is apt to be hereditary.

What is called reflex migraine is associated with menstruation or chronic disease of the pelvic organs, with head injuries, and with chronic affections of the appendix, gall bladder, stomach, etc. In this class are included the cases due to errors of refraction.

As is well known, there are ophthalmologists who assert dogmatically that migraine is always due to eyestrain.

It is sometimes possible to abort an attack by giving a dose of nitroglycerin before the headache has definitely begun. Ten grains of phenacetin, with some bicarbonate of soda, may mitigate it. Antipyrin has the advantage of ready solubility and quick absorption. These drugs, however, may add to the prostration and it is well when giving them to insist upon recumbency. They will also induce diaphoresis and vertigo. All food must be interdicted, of course. A strong infusion of tea relieves some patients. Ammonium bromid acts well in the minor degrees of migraine.

During the intervals regulate the bowels and avoid too intense mental application. Open-air life does the most good. Two grain doses of quinin before meals is the best tonic treatment.

Correct disease of the nose and teeth, or any local trouble that may possibly bear a reflex relation. Above all, see that errors of refraction are carefully corrected.

The Condition of Run-down.

Let us consider for a moment the vague condition to which we allude when we say a person is "run down." Altho vague, it is safe to say that no term is more used. To say asthenia doubtless satisfies the scientific mind, but really means no more than the commonly used term.

Obviously, we derive the phrase from the weak action of clockwork at the end of its spring.

It is to the nervous system that its symptoms are chiefly referable. It may be said to result from the output of energy not balanced and restored by proper rest and food. Latent energy is exhausted, or unduly drawn upon, and elimination

fails because of the resultant lack of stimulus. Very hard, and monotonous, work, close study, assiduous attendance upon the sick and the long continued exercise of self control under trying circumstances are the usual factors. Deprivation of a sufficient amount of fresh air and physical exercise is a com

mon cause.

The appetite is poor, energy fails, and the excretory organs do not act properly. The face becomes pale, desire fails, there is a lack of animation, and finally there may be mental depression. The organism does not react to what normally would stimulate it and the patient becomes wholly preoccupied with his worries and anxieties.

It is difficult to persuade these people that it is possible for them to free their minds from their worries, for a time at least, and to entrust their affairs to others while they rest and seek recreation and change.

It is quite essential, at least in marked cases, that the rest and recreation be sought in an entirely different atmosphere from that to which the patients are accustomed. They must give up their routine duties for a few days. They might just as well be away, for they are morbidly absorbed in the contemplation of insoluble problems and cannot see anything in the proper light, lacking the sense of proportion. Their minds have lost elasticity.

These patients are apt to have dilated pupils, poor muscular tone, a weak heart beat, low arterial tension and general flabbiness of the tissues, due to lymph stasis, loss of fat, and deficient elasticity of the skin.

The worst thing about them is their undoubted lack of resistance to infections of various kinds.

Get them out of the old environment and give them some new occupation, or at least some new interest. Of course there are cases where it is impossible for the patients to change their routine, under which circumstances we can only try to have them exercise more in the open air, effect such relaxation in their work as may be possible, and change the diet.

The most useful drugs are the mineral acids, quinine and strychnine. The bowels must be especially looked after.

In our highly complex modern life there is much more or less controlled emotional friction. Holding the temper in check, acting unselfishly under all circumstances, and living generally in what has been called a "civil war of emotions' tend very positively to nervous exhaustion.

Remarks on Cough.

Now that it is winter again a few remarks on cough may not be amiss.

Morning cough in town dwellers is very common. With all the dust, soot and bacteria that we inhale every day, to

gether with the climatic vagaries of the Atlantic seaboard, it is no wonder that we bark so much. Our over-heated office buildings are a prolific source of coughs and colds. People pass in the morning from a cold, moist atmosphere into a dry, superheated one, in which they remain all the morning perhaps, to emerge at noon into the former and to return in an hour into the latter. Then after an afternoon in the hot, dry air they again go out into the other atmosphere. What happens? While in the outer air the bronchial tubes are not called upon to supply much moisture, but upon going into the dry air a marked congestion occurs in order that the air entering the lungs may be properly charged with watery vapor. Consider the tremendous and unnatural changes to which we thus submit our respiratory apparatus. One of the penalties of our modern "civilization," this, of course.

Nasal obstruction, impacted cerumen or foreign bodies in the external auditory meatus, and bad teeth, are all competent causes of cough.

Trouble below the belt will often cause cough. The kidneys, the liver, the stomach or the colon may be at fault. A familiar example is the loud bark of the youngster who shows a furred tongue and capricious appetite, the cough yielding, not to sedatives, but to rhubarb and soda. Upon inquiry it will be found that these children eat in a hurry and consume much candy. They are also apt to have defective teeth.

Chronic catarrh of the stomach is a common cause of cough. Here again we must treat the stomach and the cough will take care of itself.

Constipation in young women is a very frequent cause of cough. Get busy in these cases with cascara sagrada in

stead of codeine.

Hysterical cough in young women may simulate, by reason of its violence, whooping cough. In such cases bromides and valerian are indicated.

Rarely, mediastinal growths or aneurism may cause cough. Adherent pleura and enlarged bronchial glands will also produce it. Measles and whooping cough must be kept in mind and in all cases make the most thoro examination of the chest.

Chapped Hands.

One of the minor ills to which the skin is heir is the fissuring and cracking of the integument over the knuckles, around the nail-beds, and upon the sensitive finger-tips, occurring in cold weather. Sometimes these abrasions seem to make their appearance in spite of every care exercised in the toilet, and they may be so painful as to interfere seriously with the use of the fingers in certain fine movements-e. g. in violin-playing, etc. The judicious nightly use of glycerin and rose-water, or, better still,