ination after its removal. If
Maurice Richardson's rule were followed, many cancers would never
occur, or would be removed before they had developed sufficiently to
show their nature.

All treatment by chemical pastes and special remedies is simply
courting fatal results. Most special cures advertised to be performed
in sanitoriums are money-getting humbugs. Even the X-ray has proved
useless except in the case of most superficial growths limited to the
skin or when directed against the scar left by removal of a cancer;
and while the growth may disappear during treatment, in a large
proportion of cases there is a recurrence. But when tumors are so far
advanced that removal by the knife is inoperable, then other means
will often secure great relief from suffering and will prolong life
for a very considerable period in many cases.

=RUPTURE.=--Hernia or rupture consists in a protrusion of a portion of
the contents of the abdomen (a part of the bowel or its covering, or
both) through the belly wall. The common seats of rupture are at the
navel and in the groin. Rupture at the navel is called umbilical
hernia; that in the groin either inguinal or femoral, according to
slight differences in site. Umbilical hernia is common in babies and
occurs as a whole in only five per cent of all ruptures, whereas
rupture in the groin is seen to the extent of ninety-four per cent of
all ruptures. There is still another variety of hernia happening in
the scars of wounds of the belly after injuries or surgical
operations, and this may arise at almost any point.

=Causes.=--Rupture is sometimes present at birth. In other cases it is
acquired as a result of various causes, of which natural weakness of
the part is the chief. Twenty-five per cent of persons with rupture
give a history of the same trouble in their parents. Rupture is three
times more frequent in men than in women, and is favored by severe
muscular work, fatness, chronic coughing, constipation, diarrhea,
sudden strain, or blows on the abdomen.

=Symptoms.=--Rupture first appears as a fullness or swelling, more
noticeable on standing, lifting, coughing, or straining. It may
disappear entirely on lying down or on pressure with the fingers. In
the beginning there may be discomfort after standing or walking for
any length of time, and later there is often a dragging pain or
uneasiness complained of, or a sensation of weakness or griping at the
seat of the rupture. In case the r