b, is hard and
resisting.

[Illustration: EMBRYO AT THIRTY DAYS _a_, the Head; _b_, the Eyes;
_d_ the Neck; _e_, the Chest; _f_, the Abdomen.]

9. EXCITABILITY OF MIND.--Excitability of mind is very common in
pregnancy, more especially if the patient be delicate; indeed,
excitability is a sign of debility, and requires plenty of good
nourishment, but few stimulants.

10. ERUPTIONS ON THE SKIN.--Principally on the face, neck, or throat,
are tell-tales of pregnancy, and to an experienced matron, publish the
fact that an acquaintance thus marked is pregnant.

11. THE FOETAL HEART.--In the fifth month there is a sign which, if
detected, furnishes indubitable evidence of conception, and that is
the sound of the child's heart. If the ear be placed on the abdomen,
over the womb, the beating of the foetal heart can sometimes be heard
quite plainly, and by the use of an instrument called the stethoscope,
the sounds can be still more plainly heard. This is a very valuable
sign, inasmuch as the presence of the child is not only ascertained,
but also its position, and whether there are twins or more.

[Illustration: Baby Elizabeth, Brought Into the World by the "Twilight
Sleep" Method. It Robs Child Bearing of Most of Its Terrors.]

* * * * *

DISEASES OF PREGNANCY.

1. COSTIVE STATE OF THE BOWELS.--A costive state of the bowels
is common in pregnancy; a mild laxative is therefore occasionally
necessary. The mildest must be selected, as a strong purgative
is highly improper, and even dangerous. Calomel and all other
preparations of mercury are to be especially avoided, as a mercurial
medicine is apt to weaken the system, and sometimes even to produce
a miscarriage. Let me again urge the importance of a lady, during the
whole period of pregnancy, being particular as to the state of her
bowels, as costiveness is a fruitful cause of painful, tedious and
hard labors.

2. LAXATIVES.--The best laxatives are caster oil, salad oil, compound
rhubarb pills, honey, stewed prunes, stewed rhubarb, Muscatel raisins,
figs, grapes, roasted apples, baked pears, stewed Normandy pippins,
coffee, brown-bread and treacle. Scotch oatmeal made with new milk or
water, or with equal parts of milk and water.

3. PILLS.--When the motions are hard, and when the bowels are easily
acted upon, two, or three, or four pills made of Castile soap will
frequently answer the purpose; and if they will, are far better than