quently successful
if taken at night followed by a laxative and a hot drink.

PAINFUL MENSTRUATION--DYSMENORRHEA.--Most, if not all, victims of
painful menstruation are of a nervous temperament. Dysmenorrhea is
simply one symptom of the general nervous condition. The nervousness may
be acquired or it may be the result of heredity. In girls it has been
found to be an accompaniment of the overwork and worry of school and
student life. Girls who suffer greatly from it while in school are
entirely free during vacation from school.

There is a type of painful menstruation known as neuralgic dysmenorrhea.
This is simply a local expression of a general neuralgic tendency. It
comes under conditions which favor neuralgias in other parts of the
body. Girls and women affected with this type of dysmenorrhea are often
anemic, hysterical, and not infrequently the victims of malaria,
rheumatism, or other diseases which tend to impoverish the blood and
reduce nerve vitality. The pain resembles neuralgia elsewhere. It comes
and goes, it may last a brief time or a long time, it may be very mild
or very severe. The pain bears no fixed relation to the flow, it may
proceed, accompany or follow it.

Mechanical dysmenorrhea is that form in which a mechanical impediment
exists to the escape of the menstrual fluid. The internal canal may be
too small, displacement, growths, either inside or out of the womb,
faulty development, or frequently simple congestion will act as an
obstruction and cause pain from tension. The pain accompanying
mechanical dysmenorrhea is very different from the neuralgic type. It
comes on gradually, increases slowly until it is very severe and stops
suddenly. A gush of blood from the womb announces the fact that the
obstruction has been overcome and the womb has emptied itself; as soon
as this occurs the pain ceases.

In the mechanical variety there are frequently clots in the menstrual
flow. Inasmuch as this type may be caused by imperfect development of
the womb, it is common to find that pain has characterized the monthly
periods from the time of the first menstruation. It may, however, as
stated above, be caused by growths which had their beginning at a later
period.

TREATMENT.--For the neuralgic variety the treatment should be general.
The whole object is to build up the general health. Fresh air, sunlight,
out-door exercise, plain, substantial food, regular hours, pleasant
surroundings, and such medication a