Insanity frequently appears in women at puberty, soon after marriage, during pregnancy or lactation, and at the menopause; at these periods disposed women are especially prone to outbreaks of insanity. Irritation and exhaustion from diseases of the pelvic organs are potent factors in bringing on insanity, although these conditions may coexist independently of each other. Symptoms should not be mistaken for causes, but pelvic diseases at least aggravate a tendency toward mental unbalance. In an article like this it is not expedient to speak of treatment, but the conditions are described in outline so that the spiritual adviser may recognise the need of medical aid and suggest its employment. A woman suffering from pelvic disorders should be relieved from a labourious or responsible office until she has been cured of her disease, in her own interest and especially in the interest of those affected by her condition. AUSTIN ÓMALLEY. {245} XXI CHRONIC DISEASE AND RESPONSIBILITY It is often of great practical importance to bear in mind that a number of affections, commonly not serious in themselves at the beginning, and sometimes giving very few external symptoms, may make the mental condition of the individual suffering from them utterly incapable of meeting grave responsibilities. This is especially true with regard to such positions as that occupied by the Superior of a religious community who may, during the course of an ailment that has a tendency to affect the mental condition, do things that involve the community financially, or make life so uncomfortable for their subjects as to cause them to abandon the religious life. Some of these ailments are very insidious and may develop utterly apart from all anticipation in persons that were previously healthy. The weight of responsibility itself may, by impairing the general health, bring on an aggravation of a previously mild chronic condition that will cause distinct mental deterioration, yet without the absolute production of such disturbance of intellection as will be readily recognised by those that are not brought intimately in contact with the individual.