ater to another member of the family, who, to make matters
worse, may differ in age, strength, and probably in the nature of his
sickness. Drugs are expensive, and it is considered economical to use
them up; measured by lost time and impaired health such practices may be
anything but thrifty.

Cathartics, tonics, and various drugs to relieve pain and sleeplessness
are among the remedies most commonly taken without medical advice.
Enough has already been said about constipation to indicate proper
hygienic treatment, but another warning should be given against
habitual use of cathartics. Many of these drugs are irritating; even
when not irritating, they are harmful, since the body depends more and
more upon the drug to do for it what it should be enabled to do for
itself, by remedying the original cause of the trouble. Licorice powder,
cascara, saline cathartics such as Seidlitz powders and Rochelle Salts
and some others are harmless for occasional use, if occasional is not
too liberally interpreted.

Tonics are poor substitutes for proper diet, rest, and fresh air. Using
them may be likened to beating a tired horse; the horse goes faster, but
he is not really stronger. In some emergencies the horse must go faster
and there is nothing to do but beat him, and in some cases the tonic
should be given; these, however, are cases for a doctor to decide.
People persist in taking tonics because they are unwilling or unable to
rest, or otherwise to change their ways of living.

Medicines to stop pain or to induce sleep are probably the most
pernicious of all self-prescribed remedies, for they add to other
dangers the possibility of forming drug habits. These habits are so
insidious and so powerful that it is not safe to take habit-forming
drugs even once except by a doctor's direction. In short periods of time
strong people, apparently firm in will and character, have acquired
habits from supposedly moderate use of drugs like morphine, cocaine, and
alcohol. No one, no matter how sure of his own self-control, can afford
to run so grave a risk.

PATENT REMEDIES.--Objections to self dosing in general apply even more
strongly to using patent medicines. The ingredients of patent medicines
are ordinarily unknown, so that using them is unintelligent at best.
Sometimes they contain habit-forming or other harmful drugs. In other
cases the ingredients are innocent enough, but totally unable to bring
about the results claimed for them. T