INTERCOURSE DURING PREGNANCY. The best authorities advise total abstinence from sexual intercourse during the period of pregnancy; but in view of the fact that such abstinence is very difficult for most men, and that few will persist in it, it is thought well to point out the fact that at least an extreme moderation is desirable in such cases. A leading authority says on this point: "During the first four months of pregnancy, no change need be made in the usual sex relations; their intensity should be moderated, their frequency need not. During the fifth, sixth, and seventh months, intercourse should be indulged in at rarer intervals--once in two or three weeks--the act should be performed without any violence or intensity. During the eighth and ninth months relations had best be given up altogether. And this abstinence should last until about six weeks after the birth of the child. During this period the uterus undergoes what we call involution; that is, it goes back to the size and shape it had before pregnancy, and it is best not to disturb this process by sexual excitement, which causes engorgement and congestion." STERILITY IN WOMEN. Sterility, or barrenness, i. e., the inability to bear children, is frequently met with among married people. It is usually blamed upon the woman, whereas in at least one-half of the cases the fault is with the man. The causes of sterility in women are usually one or more of the following: Inflammation of the Fallopian Tubes, which may have been caused by gonorrhea or ordinary inflammation--in some rare cases childbirth has been known to set up an inflammation in this region, which has prevented the woman from future childbearing--the inflammation causes the tubes to clog up or become closed, so that no more ova can pass through them from the ovaries to the womb; in some cases, also, severe cases of leucorrhea have caused sterility, as the discharge is sometimes fatal to the life of the spermatozoa and destroys them; in other cases misplacement of the womb causes sterility; also severe inflammation of the neck or mouth of the womb operates in the same way, in some cases. In cases of sterility, the woman should have an examination made by a competent physician, and it often will be found that the cure of the disorders above noted will work a cure of the sterility. But, in all cases of sterility, it will be found that the husband should be examined as well as the wife--in fact, many authorities insist that the husband should be examined first. Venereal diseases frequently produce sterility in the man, although he is loath to admit this and is apt to place the blame entirely upon the woman.