The patient (for such he or she may be truly called, and the complaint invades both sexes) appears to have a perpetual fever. Such is the desire for drink, that attested cases record the circumstance of individuals consuming from _one_ to _two pailfuls_ of water in twenty-four hours! and I positively know an instance, at the moment of writing this, of a child, fifteen years of age, consuming during the night, notwithstanding a plentiful supply of liquids during the day, a large jugful (two quarts) of water: the quantity of urine excreted is nearly equivalent. In this case, the perspiration is profuse, and the child enjoys tolerably good health, with the exception of being occasionally nervous and hysterical. The case is under treatment, and the quantity of fluid allowed is being daily diminished. The urine on these occasions is aqueous, very pale, and of little specific gravity; the properties of the urine otherwise are not altered. These cases sometimes exist through life; and if they do not terminate fatally, they ultimately enfeeble the health, and predispose the patient, or, in other words, render him less able to combat with ordinary complaints common to us all, and thereby tend to the break-up of his constitution. There are many persons tipplers, not for the love of the specific liquor, but from being always thirsty; and if we reflect a little, we shall soon find how inclined we are to encourage the habit. Since the introduction of tea into this country, what inordinate quantities of that fluid are consumed by individuals. They must, of course, dispose of it, after having drunk it: the stomach can not retain it, and it escapes either by the skin or kidneys, more usually the latter. It is no uncommon thing for nurses, washerwomen, and other females too, to swallow nine or a dozen cups of tea at a sitting: they declare it is their best meal.