dding of strength for the approaching ordeal. Many patients respond
readily to a change of air and scene and frequent small meals instead
of a few large ones,--a lunch in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon
hours, consisting of a glass of milk and a cracker or malted milk
chocolate or reenforced fruit juices. A cup of warm milk before
retiring induces the much-needed sleep, hence is advisable under the
circumstances.

~The Bowels.~--The bowels must be kept open. Coarse bread such as that
made from bran or graham flour is advisable. Prunes and figs cooked
with senna leaves are likewise simple laxatives which are both
palatable and effective. For stubborn cases of constipation it is
often found that a teaspoonful of a conserve made with a third of a
pound each of raisins, prunes, and figs ground fine, with an ounce of
senna leaves added, taken at bedtime and before breakfast, will
overcome the condition and make the patient more comfortable and the
general health better.

~Preliminary Light Diet.~--The day before the operation the diet must
be light; the intestinal tract must not be filled with a food mass
which is difficult to get rid of. On the morning of the operation the
patient is given no food if the operation is to be performed at an
early hour, otherwise a cup of tea, coffee, weak cocoa, or broth with
a cracker is given. Some physicians give a glass of milk at this time,
while others do not. It is the physician who must decide the question
if there is any doubt about it. The stomach must be empty before
administering the anesthetic.

In certain emergency operations when it has been impossible to prepare
the patient ahead, the difficulties attending the administering of the
ether are sometimes greatly increased. The cleansing of the stomach
and intestinal tract oftentimes eliminates or materially decreases the
nausea and vomiting which so often forms one of the most dreaded
sequences of the operation. For this reason many surgeons require the
patient to be given lavage before leaving the operating room.

~Total Abstinence.~--No food is given for twenty-four hours following
the operation (1) on account of the nausea and vomiting which so often
follows the giving of an anesthetic--ether particularly--and (2)
because the entire organism is better for a complete rest.

~Routine Treatment.~--The routine treatment in uncomplicated cases is
rest, then water, very hot or iced, or carbonated, or vichy in
spoonful doses,