cles, improperly prepared food, irregular meals,
disorderly habits, the use of alcoholic stimulants, loss of sleep,
masturbation irritability of temper, anxiety, or grief may all give rise
to indigestion. If the functions performed by the skin are embarrassed
by cold, tight clothing, or lack of cleanliness, the nutritive changes
cannot properly take place throughout the body, and consequently the
digestive functions are embarrassed, as the revolutions of a water-wheel
are impeded by the backset of the water. When food is not thoroughly
masticated, it is not properly mixed with saliva of the glands of the
mouth, and is not prepared for digestion by the acids of the stomach.

Whatever diminishes the general strength, impairs the health, or
encroaches upon the functions of life, also hinders the perfect solution
of food and disturbs in a measure the function of digestion. Whatever
diminishes the normal amount of the digestive secretions or perverts
their quality, deteriorating their solvent properties, is a cause of
dyspepsia. This should be borne in mind in selecting remedies.

TREATMENT. The hygienic treatment consists in the regulation of the
daily habits, proper selection and preparation of the food, cultivation
of cheerfulness, diversion of the mind, and cleanliness of person. We
cannot give particular directions as to the kind of diet, as there are
no established rules for guidance. Generally, a dyspeptic knows best,
from experience, what articles of diet can be taken with the least
injury. The directions applicable to the condition of one patient, are
not suited to those of another. In dyspepsia, animal food is, as a rule,
preferable. Foods rich in starchy matter often ferment and produce
distress. Sometimes alkalies may be given with beneficial effect, when
there seems to be an excess of acid in the gastric secretions.

In some cases, the digestive fluids are weak and fermentation results,
giving rise to flatulency and belching. An antiseptic, which may be
prepared by mixing a teaspoonful of hydrochloric acid with four ounces
of water, of which a teaspoonful may be taken after each meal, will
prove beneficial to check the fermentation and aid digestion. The
addition of one or two drops of a mixture of one part of carbolic acid
and six of glycerine, to the above solution of hydrochloric acid
improves its antiseptic properties. Or, Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical
Discovery will stop undue fermentation, and from its toni