*Caffeine and "Soft" Drinks.*—Recently the practice has sprung up of using caffeine as a constituent of certain drinks supplied at the soda-water fountains. Such drinks usually purport to be made from the kola nut, which contains caffeine, or to consist of extracts from the plants which yield cocoa and chocolate, when in reality they consist of artificial mixtures to which caffeine has been added. Those using these beverages are stimulated as they would be by tea or coffee and soon acquire the habit which makes them regular customers. Chief harm comes to the children who frequent the soda fountains and to those who, on account of constitutional tendencies, should avoid caffeine in all of its forms. It is generally understood that the so-called "soft" drinks are harmless. If this reputation is to be maintained, those containing caffeine must be excluded. *Danger from Certain Medicinal Agents.*—Among the most valuable drugs used by the physician in the treatment of disease are several, such as morphine, chloral, and cocaine, which possess the habit-forming characteristic. Sad indeed are the cases in which some pernicious drug habit has been formed through the reckless administration of such medicines. Even the taking of such a drug as quinine as a "tonic" tends to develop a dependence upon stimulation which is equivalent to a habit. In the same list come also the drugs that are taken to relieve a frequently recurring indisposition, such as headache. The so-called headache powders are most harmful in their effects upon the nervous system and should be carefully avoided.(139) *Stimulants in Health Unnecessary.*—Stimulants have been aptly styled "the whips of the nervous system." The healthy nervous system, however, like the well-disposed and well-fed horse, needs no whip, but is irritated and harmed through its use. Even in periods of weakness and depression, stimulants are usually not called for, but a more perfect provision for hygienic needs. Rest, relaxation, sleep, proper food, and avoidance of irritation, not stimulants, are the great restorers of the nervous system. A surplus of nervous energy gained through natural means is more conducive to health and effective work than any result that can possibly be secured through drugs. Then withal comes the satisfaction of knowing that one has the expression of his real self in the way in which he feels and in what he accomplishes—not a "whipped-up" condition that must be paid for by weakness or suffering later on.