arm weather the body ceases to require as much
food as in the cold days. Heavy stimulating food in warm weather will
certainly cause an unhealthy skin.

Squeezing.--_See_ Rubbing.

Stammering.--This trouble is simply a loss of command of the vocal
organs, and is distinctly _nervous_ in its cause. Especially must we
look to the _roots_ of the nerves controlling the vocal organs, if we
are to see the real difficulty. There is evidently a state of
irritability and undue sensitiveness in these nerves which must be
soothed down, if a cure is to be obtained. The roots of such nerves lie
in the back of the head and neck, and they are best soothed by
application of soap lather (_see_ Lather; Soap). This must be well
wrought, and applied warm to the back of the head and neck in three or
four coats. Then mix some _hot_ OLIVE OIL (_see_) with the lather, and
apply with the brush gently to the parts. Altogether, in applying the
various latherings, and the final oil-and-lathering, an hour should be
spent, so as to continue the soothing effect during that time. The head
may be soaped one night (_see_ Head, Soaping the), and this treatment
given the alternate night. Where the case is of long standing, it may
take long to cure it, or a cure may be impossible, but some mitigation
will result from this treatment. The Sabbath should in all cases be a
day of rest from treatment, and generally common sense will indicate
that it be not continued too long. The patient may do a great deal for
himself by the strictest watch on his enunciation, speaking slowly and
deliberately, and breathing deeply. This will be difficult to maintain
at first, but practice will make the habit unconscious. An instrument
called a metronome may be had from a music shop (used for keeping time
in practising), if a book be read aloud by the stammerer, pronouncing
one syllable only to each beat, he will soon gain complete control of
his voice.

Stiffness, General.--This is often an adjunct of old age, and sometimes
occurs in the young and middle-aged as the result of chills. In
_neither_ case is it incurable, but for a cure _rest_ is a first
necessity. If there be standing and working for twelve or fourteen
hours a day, we should not expect a cure at all. Rest must be had, at
least twelve hours out of the twenty-four, and it is well if sixteen or
even eighteen hours' rest can be taken (_see_ Rest). Then there must be
heating the spine with moist heat (_see_ Fo