LACERATIONS OR TEARS IN MOUTH OF WOMB.--This subject is fully discussed on another page of this volume. TUMOR.--A tumor may be so situated as to prevent conception, or it may involve the body of the womb constituting a reason in itself for sterility. LEUCORRHEA.--Leucorrhea or "the whites" may be of such an acid character as to kill the spermatozoa in the vagina, or it may be of such volume as to render impregnation impossible. The treatment of this condition is discussed elsewhere. PHYSICAL DEBILITY.--When the general health is bad, no matter from what cause, sterility usually exists. This lack of vitality may be due to chronic disease, or it may have been caused by a very severe acute illness, such as typhoid fever. One's mode of living, if unhygienic, may be responsible for continued bad health and a consequent sterility. OBESITY.--Very fat women are usually barren. If a woman rapidly accumulates fat after marriage she as a rule does not have more than one or two children. Women often become stout immediately after the child bearing age ceases. SPECIAL POISONS.--Certain special poisons in the blood cause sterility by producing miscarriage. MISCARRIAGE By the term "miscarriage" we mean that for some reason the progress of pregnancy has been interrupted and the fetus is expelled from the womb. A miscarriage or abortion (both terms meaning the same--the difference between the two terms is a technical one and need not concern us here) can occur any time after conception up to approximately the seventh month, when, if labor takes place, the child may be born alive. The condition would then be termed a premature labor. A miscarriage or abortion is an immature labor and implies an immature or dead child.