aloes, dissolved in half a pint of lime-water; it must be made tepid before administered, and followed up by mild cooling laxatives; a cure will in this way be effected in a few days. During pregnancy this inconvenience is peculiarly liable to occur and continue till its termination.

Dr. Hunter relates an instance where a woman suffered more from the excessive itching and consequent irritation than from her labour pains, hence it appears to proceed in a great degree from nervous irritability; and if the parts are inspected they will be discovered unnaturally red. A lotion, composed of two drachms of extract of goulard, thirty drops of prussic acid, rose-water and camphor-mixture, of each half a pint, applied cold or tepid, which ever may be most congenial to the patient's feelings will speedily afford relief. Frequent bathing of the parts with cold or warm water will materially alleviate symptoms. Where the complaint arises from irritation of the bladder, we must either diminish the sensibility of the parts, or stimulate them to set up a new action, which if it be continued for some time, will overcome the original disease. In event, however, of all these means proving ineffectual, narcotics are to be employed, as

hemlock, tobacco, opium, and henbane.

Muriate of morphia, in small doses, administered internally, and a lotion composed of four grains of corrosive sublimate, dissolved in twenty drops of muriatic acid, added to four ounces of lime-water, will frequently succeed when every mode of treatment has been tried in vain. Should the parts have been excoriated by violent rubbing or scratching, they must be permitted to heal previous to the application of any lotion, except the one containing opium. A milk diet with cooling aperients will be absolutely necessary.

LASCIVIOUS INSANITY

Is very frequently connected with an hysterical temperament, and, in many females it commences with a semblance of melancholy and despondency. Its features are strongly depicted by the movements of the body, and salacious appearance of the countenance; in some cases it is betrayed by the language. In most instances there is great depression of spirits, but the eye rolls in wanton glances, the cheeks are suffused, the bosom heaves, and every gesture betrays the disease which is kindled by the flame that burns within. Females educated in the country are gene

rally more innocent than those brought up in large towns or public seminaries, hence the former are rarely the victims of this fearful affliction. The causes are a solitary and secret vice indulged in far more frequently than is generally imagined or believed. Women eject during conjugal embraces a fluid, the frequent emission of which produced in an unnatural way occasion the same melancholy and destructive effects in them as in the other sex; it is also induced by irritation in the genital organs, excited by painful menstruation or other causes capable of producing inflammation of the parts, but more especially by a vivid imagination, voluptuous ideas, frequenting theatres, balls, waltzing, permitting the mind to dwell on improper objects, frequent embracing or toying with men, excess in wine or spirits, warm climates, indulgence in bed, lounging in luxurious chairs or sofas, have all a tendency to induce it. Many of the melancholy instances on record of this awful visitation may be traced to the disgraceful traffic which is carried on in obscene books, prints, and toys, which are introduced into families and girls' schools by pedlars, fortune-tellers, and servants, hence the contamination of young minds is vastly promoted by the excessive

immorality practiced in large communities. I have known the minds of young people irreparably vitiated in nurseries and ladies' seminaries from want of proper caution and vigilance on the part of parents and preceptors. Fortunately the malady now treated of is very rare, yet it must be remembered that few disorders are more common than the varied forms of hysterical affections, of which this is one of the worst. It is a fact worthy of notice that the language of females in lunatic asylums is invariably worse than that of males, and it is utterly impossible to conceive how they could possibly ever have been in the way of hearing such.

TREATMENT.

THE imagination must be calmed and soothed by every possible means, change of scene and air being one of the most important methods for so doing, it should be immediately carried into effect when it is practicable; there must be constant occupatian, agreeble society, and the patient is never to be left to herself. Balls, theatres, romances and novels are to be strictly prohibited. The diet is to consist of milk and vegetables entirely, and repose taken on a hard mat

trass. Should there be debility it is to be restored by quinine, the mineral acids, and open sea bathing; camphor given internally and the application of cold water to the genital organs must not be neglected, as they will materially assist in the restoration: the former is to be administered in the following manner: rub twenty grains of camphor up with a sufficient quantity of spirits of wine to dissolve it, and add half an ounce of mucilage of gum arabic and five-and-a-half of water, one-fourth part of this mixture is to be taken three times a day, gradually increasing the dose till sixty grains can be taken daily. Warm application in some habits may prove more soothing than cold ones, and should invariably be made trial of when the others fail.

HYSTERICS.

THOUGH this affliction is not a diseased state of menstruation, yet it is very generally attendant upon all deviations of that secretion from its healthy state, and a very distressing one to which numbers of females are victims. In many instances the attack comes on suddenly, without any previous warning; but in those cases which are decidedly marked, there is a feeling of