is ofttimes more lasting than that of youth-telling of a wellspent life: 320. It is surprising how soon a fashionable life plants crow-feet on the face and wrinkles on the brow; indeed, a fashionist becomes old before her time; and not only old, but querulous and dissatisfied: nothing ages the countenance, sours the temper, and interferes with "the critical period," more than a fashionable life. Fashion is a hard, and cruel, and exacting creditor, who will be paid to the uttermost farthing "See the wild purchase of the bold and vain, Whose every bliss is bought with equal pain.”—Juvenal. 321. With regard to wine as a stimulant during "change of life," let me raise my voice loudly against the abuse of wine; and wine, beyond two glasses daily, becomes, during the period of "change of life," an abuse. There is a great temptation for a lady during that time to drink wine, for she feels weak and depressed, and wine gives her temporary relief; but, alas! it is only temporary relief-the excitement from wine is evanescent, and aggravated depression and increased weakness are sure to follow in the train of the abuse of wine. " 322. Although many women at "change of life derive benefit from one, or at most two, glasses of sherry, some ladies at such times are better without any stimulant whatever. When such be the case, let them be thorough: teetotallers. A tumblerful or two of fresh milk during the twentyfour hours is, for those who cannot take wine, an excellent substitute. PART II. PREGNANCY. Of the fruit of thy body-THE PSALMS. The fruitful vine.-THE PSALMS. The fruit of the womb.-GENESIS. The children which were yet unborn.-THE PSALMS. Thy children within thee-THE PSALMS. SIGNS OF PREGNANCY. 323. The first sign that leads a lady to suspect that she is pregnant is her ceasing-to-be-unwell. This, provided she has just before been in good health, is a strong symptom of pregnancy; but still there must be others to corroborate it. 324. A healthy married woman, during the period or chid-bearing, suddenly ceasing-to-be-unwell is of itself alone almost a sure and certain sign of pregnancy-requiring but little else besides to confirm it. This fact is well known by all who have had children-they base their predictions and their calculations upon it, and upon it alone, and are, in consequence, seldom deceived. 325. But as ceasing-to-be-unwell may proceed from other causes than that of pregnancy-such as disease or disorder of the womb, or of other organs of the body-especially of the lungs-it is not by itself alone entirely to be depended upon; although, as a single sign, it is-especially if the patient be healthy the most reliable of all the other signs of pregnancy. 326. The next symptom is morning sickness. This is one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy; as it sometimes occurs a few days, and indeed generally not later than a fortnight or three weeks, after conception. Morning-sickness is frequently distressing, oftentimes amounting to vomiting, and causing a loathing of breakfast. This sign usually disappears after the first three or four months. Morning sickness is not always present in pregnancy; but, nevertheless, it is a frequent accompaniment; and many who have had families place more reliance on this than on any other symptom. Morning sickness is one of the earliest, if not the very earliest, symptom of pregnancy; and is by some ladies taken as their starting point from which to commence making their "count." 327. Morning-sickness then, if it does not arise from a disordered stomach, is one of the most trustworthy signs of pregnancy. A lady who has once had morning-sickness can always for the future distinguish it from each and from every other sickness; it is a peculiar sickness, which no other sickness can simulate, Moreover, it is emphatically a morningsickness the putient being, as a rule, for the rest of the day entirely free from sickness, or from the feeling of sickness. 328. A third symptom is shooting, throbbing, and lancinating pains, and enlargement of the breast, with soreness of the nipples, occurring about the second month; and in some instances, after the first few months, a small quantity of watery fluid, or a little milk may be squeezed out of them. This latter symptom, in a first pregnancy, is valuable, and can generally be relied on as conclusive that the female is pregnant. It is not so valuable in an after pregnancy, as a little milk might, even should she not be pregnant, remain in the breasts for some months after she has weaned her child. 329. Milk in the breast-however small it might be in quantity-is, especially in a first pregnancy, a very reliable sign; indeed, I might go so far as to say, a certain sign of pregnancy. 330. The veins of the breast look more blue, and are consequently more conspicuous than usual, giving the bosom a mottled appearance. The breasts themselves are firmer and more knotty to the touch. The nipples, in the majority of cases, look more healthy than customary, and are somewhat elevated and enlarged; there is generally a slight moisture upon their surface, sufficient in some instances to mark the linen. 331. A dark-brown areola or disc may usually be noticed around the nipple,* the change of colour commencing about the second month. The tint at first is light brown, which *"William Hunter had such faith in this sign that he always asserted that he could judge by it alone whether or not a woman was pregnant "-Signs and Diseases of Pregnancy (Dr. Tanner). gradually deepens in intensity, until towards the end of pregnancy the colour may be very dark. Dr. Montgomery, who has paid great attention to the subject, observes: "During the progress of the next two or three months the changes in the areola are in general perfected, or nearly so, and then it presents the following characters-A circle around the nipple, whose colour varies in intensity according to the particular complexion of the individual, being usually much darker in persons with black hair, dark eyes, and sallow skin, than in those of fair hair, light-coloured eyes, and delicate complexion. The area of this circle varies in diameter from an inch to an inch and a half, and increases in most persons as pregnancy advances, as does also the depth of colour." The dark areola is somewhat swollen. "There is," says Dr. Montgomery, "a puffy turgescence, not only of the nipple, out of the whole surrounding disc." 332. A dark-brown areola or mark around the nipple is one of the distinguishing signs of pregnancy-more especially of a first pregnancy. Women who have had large families, seldom, even when they are not enceinte, lose this mark entirely; but when they are pregnant, it is more intensely dark -the darkest brown-especially if they be brunettes. 333. A fourth symptom is quickening. This generally occurs about the completion of the fourth calendar month; frequently a week or two before the end of that period, at other times a week or two later. A lady sometimes quickens as the third month, while others, although rarely, quicken as late as the fifth, and in very rare cases, the sixth month. It will therefore be seen that there is an uncertainty as to the period of quickening, although, as I before remarked, the usual period occurs either on or more frequently a week or two before, the completion of the fourth calendar month of pregnancy. 334. Quickening is one of the most important signs of pregnancy, and one of the most valuable, as the moment she quickens, as a rule, she first feels the motion of the child, and at the same time, she suddenly becomes increased in size. Quickening is a proof that she is nearly half her time gone; and if she be liable to miscarry, quickening makes her more safe, as she is less likely to miscarry after than before she has quickened. 335. A lady at this time frequently either feels faint, or actually faints away; she is often either giddy, or sick, or nervous, and in some instances even hysterical; although, in rare cases, some women do not even know the precise time when they quicken. 336. The sensation of "quickening" is said by many ladies to resemble the fluttering of a bird; by others it is likened to either a heaving, or beating, or rearing, or leaping sensation; accompanied, sometimes, with a frightened feeling. These flutterings, or heavings, or beatings, or leapings, after the first day of quickening, usually come on half a dozen or a dozen times a day, although, it might happen for days together, the patient does not feel the movement of the child at all; or if she does, but very slightly. 337. The more frequent description a lady, when she has first "quickened," gives of her feelings, is, that it is more like "the flutterings of a bird;" when she is about another month gone with child-that is to say, in her sixth monththat it more resembles "a leaping in the womb," or, in the expressive language of the Bible, "the babe leaped in her womb." The difference of the sensation between "fluttering" and "leaping" might in this wise be accounted for: the child between four and five months is scarcely old enough, or strong enough, to leap-he is only able to flutter; but when the mother is in the sixth month (as the case recorded in the Holy Scriptures), the child is stronger, and he is able to leap hence the reason why he at first flutters, and after a time leaps! 338. "Quickening" arises from the ascent of the womb higher into the belly, as, from the increased size, there is not room for it below. Moreover, another cause of quickening is, the child has reached a further stage of development, and has, in consequence, become stronger both in its muscular and nervous structure, so as to have strength and motion of his limbs, powerful enough to kick and plunge about the womb, and thus to give the sensation of "quickening." The oldfashioned idea was that the child was not alive until a woman had quickened. This is a mistaken notion, as he is alive, or "quick," from the very commencement of his for mation. 339. Hence the heinous and damnable sin of a single woman, in the early months of pregnancy, using means to promote abortion: it is as much murder as though the child were at his full time, or as though he were butchered when he was actually born! An attempt; then, to procure abor tion is a crime of the deepest dye, viz., a heinous murder ! It is attended, moreover, with fearful consequences to the |