In reference to _eating and drinking_, habits regular as to time and moderate as to quantity are especially important. The habit of eating hastily and masticating the food imperfectly, is certain, sooner or later, to produce disease. Over-eating, again, is a fertile source of disease, especially when the excess is in animal food. The amount of stimulation produced by a given dose of alcohol, gradually diminishes with its repetition; the consequence is, that in order to produce the amount of stimulation to which the system has become habituated, the stimulant requires to be gradually increased. The craving for stimulants is often a sign of ill-health, owing to disregard of hygienic laws or actual disease. Not infrequently it is due to badly-ventilated rooms or long hours of work without food, producing a sense of depression which food does not immediately allay. When the cause is unknown, recourse should be had to competent medical advice, and not to the brandy bottle. =Attention to the Action of the Bowels= is a matter which is commonly neglected. The importance of a regular habit in this respect cannot be exaggerated; the bowels should always be relieved at a particular time each day. Where this does not occur the condition of _constipation_ results. Owing to the retention of the fæces in the intestines beyond the normal period, the stomach and higher parts of the intestines do not perform their functions normally; indigestion and “dyspepsia,” accompanied by headache, flatulence, and other symptoms follow. Hæmorrhoids (piles) are another frequent consequence. At the junction of the small and large intestines is a dilated sac (in the cæcum). This becomes distended when constipation occurs; inflammation may be set up, and an operation required, or the condition is fatal. Powerful purgative medicines are injurious to the bowels, and they tend afterwards to increase constipation. It is better to take slow-acting aperient remedies, and better still not to take any at all, but relieve the condition by means of such articles of diet as stewed fruit, pears, figs, olive oil, or brown bread. As a rule more exercise is required in this condition, and always a prompt attention to the calls of nature. CHAPTER XXXVII. PERSONAL HYGIENE—EXERCISE.