painful swelling of the breasts. Where the nervous system predominates, a general excitement prevails, inducing mel- ancholy, palpitation of the heart, hysteria; also a desire for uncommon things, as slate-pencil, salt, tar, pickles, etc. After a few days of this malaise, a discharge of white mucus appears, which may immediately be followed or not by a regular menstruation. It often occurs, that, after one normal menstruation, two or three months elapse before another, until finally they become established with regu- larity. In some cases, the re-appearance is not accompa- nied by the unpleasant precursory symptoms experienced the first time; in others, the same pains, sensations of weight, of heat, of general malaise recur. Some girls suffer much, and show it in their appearance; their eyes become surrounded by a dark circle, their breath becomes unpleas- ant, they suffer from oppression of the chest, tenderness of the abdomen, colic; their usual equanimity is lost, and they become irritable, impatient, violent, or sad. These symp- toms would indicate an irritation of the uterus amounting almost to inflammation.
The quantity of blood lost each time, and the number of days of sickness, vary, as they depend upon the constitution, climates, habits, and moral affections.
Menstruation ceases at the age of forty to fifty, which cessation is called the "change of life," or the "critical period."
Whenever the irregularity of menstruation produces sympathetic affections that are not consistent with health, a physician should be consulted without delay.
Menstruation plays a most important part in procreation. Although women who never menstruated have given birth to children, and although women have menstruated during pregnancy, still the general law is, that menstruation is
