It is evident that it is only by attending minutely to the history of former miscarriages, that we can detect these causes; and we shall generally find, that in each individual case it is the same organ in every pregnancy which has yielded or suffered. Previous to future conception, we may, with propriety, endeavour to render it less easily affected. General weakness is another condition giving rise to abortion; and upon this I have already made some remarks. I have here only to add, that the use of the cold bath, the exhibition of the Peruvian bark, and wearing flannel next the skin, constitutes the most successful practice. Syphilis is likewise a cause of abortion. When it occurs in the mother, it often unfits the uterus for going on with its actions. At other times, more especially when the father labours under venereal hectic, the child is evidently affected, and often dies before the process of gestation can be completed. In these cases a course of mercury alone can effect a cure. But we are not to suppose that every child, born without the cuticle in an early stage of pregnancy, has suffered from this cause; on the contrary, as the majority of these instances depend on causes already mentioned, and which cannot be cured by mercury, I wish to caution the student against too hastily concluding that one of the parents has been diseased, because the child is born dead or putrid in the seventh month. It is not always easy to form a correct judgment; but we may be assisted by finding that the other causes which I have mentioned are absent; that we have appearances of ulceration on the child, and that there are some suspicious circumstances in the former history and present health of the parents. Advancement in life, before marriage, is another cause of frequent abortion, the uterus being then somewhat imperfect in its action. In general, we cannot do much in this case, except avoiding carefully the exciting causes of abortion, and by attending minutely to the condition of other organs during menstruation or pregnancy, we may, from the principles formerly laid down, do some good. It is satisfactory to know that, by great care, although we may fail once or twice, yet the uterus comes at last to act more perfectly, and the woman bears children at the full time. After these observations, it is only necessary to add, that in every instance of habitual abortion, whatever the condition may be which gives rise to it, we find that it is essential that the greatest attention be paid to the avoiding of the more evident and immediate exciting causes of miscarriage, such as fatigue, dancing, &c. In some cases, it may even be necessary to confine the patient to her room, until the period at which she usually aborts is past.