ou have no cause to
fear,--the very fact, however, that you entertain a dread of it, shows that
you are not doing your part. One of the saddest parts of life, one of the
real tragedies of living, is the fact that most of us have to live so long
before we really begin to profit by our experiences. Could we only be
taught to learn the lesson of experience earlier, when life is younger and
hope stronger, we would have so much more to live for and so many more
satisfied moments to profit by. One of the most valuable lessons experience
can teach any human being is not to worry and fret about the future. You
can plant ahead of yourself a path of roses and be cheerful, or you can
plant a bed of thorns and reap a thorny reward. Cultivate the spirit of
contentment, devote all your energy to making the actual present
comfortable. Don't fret about what is going to bother you next week,
because, as the philosopher said, most of the troubles we anticipate and
worry about never occur, but the worry kills.

REGARDING THE USE OF ANESTHETICS IN CONFINEMENTS.--Anesthetics are as a
rule given in all confinements that are not normal. To make this [113]
statement more plain it may be said, that, when it is necessary to use
instruments, or to perform any operation of a painful character, it is the
invariable rule to give anesthetics. As to the wisdom of giving an
anesthetic when labor is progressing in a normal and satisfactory manner,
there is a difference of opinion. Much depends upon the disposition of the
patient and the viewpoint of the physician in charge of the case. It is a
fact that a large number of confinements are easy and are admitted to be
so, by the patients themselves, and in which it would be medically wrong to
give an anesthetic. In a normal confinement, however, when the pains are
particularly severe and the progress slow, there is no medical reason why
an anesthetic could not be given to ease the pain. In these cases it is not
necessary to render the patient completely unconscious. Sufficient
anesthetic to dull each pain is all that is necessary, and as this can be
accomplished with absolute safety by the use of an anesthetic mixture of
alcohol, ether and chloroform, there can be no possible objection to it.
The use of an anesthetic, however, is a matter that must be left entirely
to the judgment of the physician as there are frequently good reasons why
it should not be given under any circumstances.

THE PRESENCE OF