on one of so many
conditions it will be realized that it would be folly for the layman
to attempt to treat it. Children who are weak need building up in
every possible way, as by an outdoor life, cold sponging daily, etc.
If there is in boys a long foreskin, or tight foreskin, hindering the
escape of urine and natural secretions of this part, circumcision may
be performed to advantage by the surgeon, even in the infant a few
months old. Sometimes a simpler operation, consisting of stretching or
overdistending the foreskin, can be done.

A somewhat corresponding condition in girls occasionally causes
bed-wetting and other troubles. It can be discovered by a physician.
Children who wet their beds, or clothes, should not drink liquid
after five in the afternoon, and should be taken up frequently during
the night to pass water. The bed covering must be light, and they
should be prevented from lying on the back while asleep by wearing a
towel knotted in the small part of the back. Elevation of the foot of
the bed a few inches is recommended as having a corrective influence.
Masturbation, if present, must be corrected.

It is a very difficult disorder to treat, and physicians must be
excused for failures even after every attempt has been made to
discover and remove the cause. Even when cure seems assured, the
disorder may recur.

=INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER= (_Cystitis_).--The condition which we
describe under this head commonly causes frequent painful urination.
Primarily there is usually some agency which mechanically or
chemically irritates the bladder, and if the irritation does not
subside, inflammation follows owing to the entrance of germs in some
manner. The introduction into the bladder of unboiled, and therefore
unclean, instruments is a cause; another cause is failure to pass
urine for a long period, from a feeling of delicacy in some persons
when in unfavorable surroundings. Nervous spasm of the urinary passage
from pain, injuries, and surgical operations constitutes another
cause. Inflammation may extend from neighboring parts and attack the
bladder, as in gonorrhea, and in various inflammations of the sexual
organs of women, as in childbed infection. Certain foods, waters, and
drinks, as alcohol in large amounts, and drugs, as turpentine or
cantharides applied externally or given internally, may lead to
irritation of the bladder. Exposure to cold in susceptible persons is
frequently a source of cystitis,