er to
leave alone, and its use at the very best cannot be defended on any
grounds other than that it is a sense gratification. And while it
must be admitted that it may serve as a sense gratification in the
case of the individual who participates in it, it must also be
remembered that tobacco smoke or the smell of tobacco is, in a very
high degree distasteful if not actually loathsome, to a large
proportion of society, and the young man who gratifies sense at the
expense of his neighbors, certainly is on the defensive.

In so far as tobacco is a narcotic, in just so far does it disarm and
put to sleep those aesthetic and moral impulses which are so helpful
in the maintenance of the continent life.

c. =The Dietetic Control of the Bowels.=--A most important hygienic
rule is to maintain a strict regularity of the bowels. By regularity
of the bowels we mean, a free, normal passage of the bowels at least
once in twenty-four hours. Two or three passages in twenty-four hours
are not too many.

A tendency towards constipation may be hereditary. The writer finds
that at least one case in four of persistent chronic constipation
among college men seems to be due to a hereditary tendency.

Those individuals who have from early infancy and throughout their
whole life suffered from a tendency to constipation and perhaps from
actual chronic constipation, find it exceedingly difficult to produce
normal regular daily movements of the bowels. Whether constipation is
chronic or occasional or whether it is hereditary or acquired, in any
case, it should be corrected if possible through modification of the
diet, and of daily habits.

First of all, one must remember in this connection that the lower
bowel or rectum is subject to education, and not by any means the
least important factor in overcoming a tendency to constipation, is
the regular morning visit to the water closet.

The author would discourage the habit which some have of "straining at
stool." This act of straining at stool together with the pressure
which the hard fecal masses make on the blood vessels, increases the
blood pressure in the veins of the rectum to such a high degree that
it is likely to cause hemorrhoids or piles. But if the position
favorable to the passage of the bowels be taken regularly, every
morning, and a reasonable time spent in that position, and if the
daily passage is brought about at that time, the muscles of the rectum
will be educated to the p