nd let him
know you have confidence in him. There isn't one physician in a thousand
who will cheat you under these circumstances.

MALFORMATION.--Under this heading are all those cases of sterility
resulting from imperfect generative organs. These are products of a
failure on the part of nature to furnish or develop the structures
participating in the propagation of the species. The entire generative
organs are sometimes wanting. The womb may have failed for some reason
to grow with the rest of the body, it remains (as it is known) as an
"infantile womb." Occasionally the womb grows together, that is, it is
solid instead of being a hollow organ. The mouth of the womb may be too
small, representing what is called "a pin head opening." The natural
opening is large enough to admit a lead pencil, a "pin head opening"
would not be larger than the lead in the pencil. The latter condition is
quite a common cause of sterility and is readily amenable to treatment.
Most of the malformations which produce sterility are impossible to
cure.

LACERATIONS OR TEARS IN MOUTH OF WOMB.--This subject is fully discussed
on another page of this volume.

TUMOR.--A tumor may be so situated as to prevent conception, or it may
involve the body of the womb constituting a reason in itself for
sterility.

LEUCORRHEA.--Leucorrhea or "the whites" may be of such an acid character
as to kill the spermatozoa in the vagina, or it may be of such volume as
to render impregnation impossible. The treatment of this condition is
discussed elsewhere.

PHYSICAL DEBILITY.--When the general health is bad, no matter from what
cause, sterility usually exists. This lack of vitality may be due to
chronic disease, or it may have been caused by a very severe acute
illness, such as typhoid fever. One's mode of living, if unhygienic, may
be responsible for continued bad health and a consequent sterility.

OBESITY.--Very fat women are usually barren. If a woman rapidly
accumulates fat after marriage she as a rule does not have more than one
or two children. Women often become stout immediately after the child
bearing age ceases.

SPECIAL POISONS.--Certain special poisons in the blood cause sterility
by producing miscarriage.

MISCARRIAGE

By the term "miscarriage" we mean that for some reason the progress of
pregnancy has been interrupted and the fetus is expelled from the womb.
A miscarriage or abortion (both terms meaning the same--the difference
between t