Practically speaking, to restart the action of the liver is to cure dysentery in all recent cases, and hence it is of the greatest importance not to give opium, or that dangerous abomination “chlorodyne,” both of which are most efficient in diminishing the flow of bile. They are doubly dangerous, because they quiet not only the action of the gall bladder, but also that of the intestines, and this, it must be remembered, without really curing the disease. The flux from the bowel is not really the disease, but merely an outward symptom of mischief going on within, and is further the useful and salutary effort of Nature to get rid of the irritating matter that is causing the mischief; and hence to stop the movements of the bowel, before the peccant matters have been got rid of, is a most dangerous step to take; so that no drug of the above description should on any account be given during the earlier stages of an attack of this sort. Next to this the matter of greatest importance is to give the irritated intestine rest by at once stopping the ordinary diet of solid food and substituting some mucilaginous preparation, such as milk thickened with a little arrowroot and taken _cold_. Where the attack is sharp, a few hours’ fast is by no means unadvisable, but must not, of course, be continued too long. Wherever possible, it is best for the patient to rest in bed, and if there be much abdominal pain a hot-water bottle placed against the pit of the stomach will afford great relief. In a large proportion of cases no other treatment than rest and avoidance of opiates is required. Avoid also alcohol in all forms, at any rate unless extremely diluted. If, however, the symptoms fail to moderate under this treatment, it is well to secure the removal of any irritating or poisonous matter that may remain in the bowel by the administration of a dose of castor oil, a full ounce for a grown-up person down to a teaspoonful for small infants. The great advantage of this drug is that besides acting as a safe and certain laxative, the oil itself forms a most soothing application to the irritated bowel, just in the same way as it does to the skin when that structure is scorched or otherwise inflamed. To treat an intestinal flux by the administration of a laxative may appear strange to the lay mind, but you need never fear to employ castor oil, however violent the flux may be, and in children especially, it is a good routine commencement of treatment for any looseness of the bowels. A good plan for getting down this remedy, which, it must be admitted, is usually most obnoxious to adults, is as follows. Select a wide, shallow drinking vessel, such as a champagne glass, and moisten its interior thoroughly with a teaspoonful of some strongly-flavoured spirit, such as gin, turning the glass about until all parts are wetted, then add a couple of tablespoonsful of water, and into the middle of this pour the