uid can be
exactly graduated by elevating or lowering the jar, or by turning the
stopcock. When there is much debility, or when it is desirable to apply
the liquid for a long time, this method is much preferable to syringing.
The necessary apparatus can readily be obtained in any large city. It
has, however, the drawback that the jar is large, and not convenient to
carry on journeys.

We shall close this chapter on Health in Marriage by a few words on some
of the _ailments to which mothers are subject while nursing._

GATHERED BREASTS.

Gathering of the breasts may occur at any time during the period of
nursing, but it is most frequently met with within the first three
months after childbirth, and is more common after the first than after
subsequent confinements. All women are more or less liable to it, but
those who are weakly, and particularly those who are scrofulous, are
most prone to its attacks.

The _causes_ of inflammation of the breast are numerous. It may be
created by a blow or fall, by a cold, by mental excitement, by
indiscretions in eating or drinking, and by moving the arms too much
when the breasts are enlarged, but its most common cause is undue
accumulation of milk in the breasts. Dr. Bedford is of the opinion that
in nineteen cases out of twenty it is the result of carelessness--of
neglect in not having the breasts properly drawn. 'For example, the
child may be delicate, and not able to extract the milk; or the nurse,
in the gratification of some ancient prejudice derived from a remote
ancestry, does not think it proper to allow the infant to be put to the
breast for two or three days after its birth. In this way, the milk
ducts become greatly distended, inflammation ensues, which, if not
promptly arrested, terminates in suppuration.'

Often the love of pleasure brings with it this punishment to the nursing
mother who neglects her maternal duties. During an evening spent in
society or at the theatre the breasts cannot be relieved in the manner
required for the preservation of their health.

Soreness of the nipples, which renders suckling painful, often leads the
mother to avoid putting the child to the breast as often as she should.
It is only when forced by the pain in the over-distended parts that she
can summon courage to permit of their being emptied. This partial and
irregular nursing is very dangerous, and cannot fail, in most cases, to
lead to the very painful affection of which we are