Stimulants.—­ Women resort to alcoholic stimulants as an analgesic to relieve pain, whether physical or mental; as a narcotic to produce sleep; and as a spur to a failing appetite or bodily powers.

The majority of women patients say that they first used alcohol in the shape of whisky, brandy or gin to relieve pain at the time of the menstrual period.  The pain that is caused at this time by a chilling of the body would be as effectually relieved by drinking a cup of hot tea; while if the pain is intense and constant, recurring every month, it is doubtless caused by some local inflammation, and the use of alcohol only veils the real trouble, and the woman loses valuable time by not consulting a physician at once.

As to the use of alcohol to blunt the nervous sensibility due to mental suffering, it is the testimony of the entire medical profession that this is the greatest cause of inebriety or drunkenness among women of all classes of society.

Sleeplessness generally arises from some well-defined physical cause—­ very frequently from inaction of the liver—­ and the proper remedial agents should be used to remove the cause.

While at first the use of alcoholic beverages increases the appetite, as the amount taken is increased, distaste for food is created, the system languishes under an insufficient food-supply, and the original aim of increasing the appetite is defeated.

As to taking stimulants to do more work than one could otherwise accomplish, it is by means of stimulants that woman can accomplish her physiological ruin more quickly than is possible in any other way.  And the early symptoms of chronic alcoholism show themselves in the form of neuralgia, insomnia, palpitation of the heart, and muscular tremors.

The Kidneys.—­ On account of the prevalence of some form of Bright’s disease after forty years of life, the kidneys should be carefully watched at this time.  And in order to keep them in good condition they must be well flushed with water every day.  Three pints of urine should be excreted daily, and three pints of water as such must be taken into the system daily.  The urine should be examined by the physician every six months.  In this way kidney disease is often discovered in its incipiency, which otherwise might run into a serious form of Bright’s disease.

The Skin.—­ It must be remembered that the skin is one of the excretory organs of the body, and the pores should be kept well open by the various forms of baths.

The Turkish bath or some modification of it will often be found to be particularly useful.  Massage with alcohol after the bath lessens the tendency to take cold.  For a woman who is anemic or run down, it is well to follow the Turkish with the Roman bath, which is an inunction with almond oil or cocoa-butter.  A much more thorough massage is given with the Roman bath than with the “alcohol rub.”  It is often necessary to modify the Turkish bath by