TRANSPARENT MUCOUS DISCHARGE

Is met with in women of the middle and lower classes, of a robust, full habit, of sedentary lives, and who have been addicted to the pleasures of the table, or indulged in drinking ardent spirits. The pulse is full and strong, the evacuations from the bowels of a dark colour, and dreadfully offensive; there is torpor, giddiness, with headache; the menses are very profuse, leaving a thin discharge after their disappearance. Years may elapse in this stage, without very serious consequences; but there are times when great constitutional disturbance is the result, as disorders of the stomach and bowels, depression of spirits, great debility, palenesss of the complexion, a dark or dusky halo round the eyes; in some instances, apoplexy suddenly destroys the patient; but this has chiefly occurred among the higher ranks. Bleeding has been much extolled in the cure of this species, and by men of high repute; but experience has convinced me that such a practice is not only useless, but unjustifiable, and fatal to the health of the sufferer. The chief indication should be to regulate the state of the bowels and diet, avoiding every kind of stimulant, and per

mitting only a moderate supply of animal food, with light puddings, prepared of rice, arrowroot, or semolina, and a sufficient quantity of vegetables which have undergone culinary process. In some cases, a little sherry or porter may be permitted. Injections prepared with decoctions of poppy-heads, or tepid water alone, in which a few grains of the sulphates of zinc or copper may be dissolved, and employed, by means of a female syringe, night and morning.

The second variety (white mucous discharge) depends on a relaxed state of the system; the skin is pale, of a dirty-yellow colour, with swelling of the feet. and ankles towards evening, emaciation, costiveness, feeble pulse, loss of appetite, palpitation, lassitude, and nervous irritability. The causes are floodings, anxiety of mind, long suckling, damp, impure air, or sédentary employment.

TREATMENT.

A LIGHT, nourishing diet, vegetable tonics, wine, and porter, if the stomach will bear it. Quinine seems best adapted for this malady, but in some cases it disagrees. Iodine is the next to be depended upon, and its best form will be the ioduret of iron, administered

in the infusion of cloves. Cold sea-bathing, or the shower-bath, will be beneficial. Injections of sulphate of zinc, copper, or nitrate of silver, must be freely employed, due attention at the same time being paid to keep the bowels regular. Small doses of the tincture of Spanish flies, will, in many instances, act like a charm in this disease. When the patient resides in a damp situation, it should, if possible, be exchanged for a dry one. Exercise must not be overlooked, but it is never to be carried so far as to induce a feeling of fatigue. The complaint, in children, will readily yield to cleanliness and mild injections; when it attacks pregnant women, nothing more will be necessary than ablution with cold water; those who suffer from it under such circumstances, have generally safe and speedy labours, It is always unsafe to check the discharge too suddenly. The next to be treated of, is the purulent species: the seat of this affection is usually traced to the neck of the womb, where pain and tenderness is mostly felt. The discharge, though never very profuse, is often discoloured, of a deepyellow, or greenish, tint, and sometimes tinged with the appearance of blood. There is pain in the back, loins, and lower part of the belly, especially at the

menstrual periods. The causes are not readily discernible; they may be commonly traced to violent exercise and indulgence in connubial pleasures. Bleeding is never of any service; anodynes, the tepid hipbath, mild laxatives and repose, are the most successful means of cure; when there is suppression of urine, and this is by no means uncommon, half a grain of the muriate of morphia is to be administered at bed-time, and barley-water used as a common beverage, to which a little sweet spirits of nitre may be added with advantage.

The last species to be noticed is the watery discharge, which, as its symptoms and mode of treatment does not essentially differ from the others, will not require separate remarks; it may, however, be as well to offer a few hints on the use of injections. I am well aware of the extreme caution and delicacy required in proposing these to the young and unmarried female, yet in nine cases out of ten, there is not the slightest difficulty in passing a properly constructed female syringe into the vagina, provided the Hymen is perforate; and I need scarcely remark that all fastidious notions must, or ought to be discarded the moment health demands it. Besides which, in most

instances, the female can perform this simple operation herself, or it can always be done by a friend of her own sex. The instrument should be of ivory or glass; the latter, from its superior cleanliness and elegance, is always to be preferred. One of the very best injections is prepared by dissolving half a drachm of sulphate of zinc in three ounces of strong solution of green tea, to which may be added five ounces of rosewater. It is a fact, which must be remembered, that the best injections will be liable to loose their effect by long continuance; therefore they should be varied every ten days or a fortnight. The greatest attention must be paid by the patient in regard to cleanliness, not only as regards daily ablution of the parts by means of the bidet, but likewise by repeated changes of her linen.

INFLAMMATION OF THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE OF THE VAGINA.

THIS disorder is likely to occur at any period of life. In children it is frequently found accompanied with a profuse, milky discharge, and a smarting, but not severe, pain. This form constitutes the whites of infants, which is met with at all periods after birth; ex

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