CLAIRETTE.—We will give the treatment of “relaxed throats” in full as we have not given advice on this subject lately. Avoid talking too much. Avoid highly-spiced food, cayenne pepper, sauces, pickles, etc. Do not take very hot or very cold food, nor boiling soups, nor tea, nor ices, nor iced drinks. Avoid draughts as far as you can. Never sleep with your mouth open. Do you breathe through your nose? If you do not, you must have your nose seen to. Mouth breathing is the commonest cause of catarrh, and relaxed throat is only a mild form of chronic catarrh. The best applications for the throat are a two per cent. solution of alum in glycerine and water, and a one-in-eight solution of menthol in paraleine. These may be used either as paints applied with a brush to the throat, or as a spray with an atomiser. Gargling is no good whatever, for in this process none of the solution can get further back than the tonsils. An astringent lozenge, such as the rhatany and black currant, or the compound liquorice lozenge, is very useful, and will relieve the cough and soreness, and diminish and relax the expectoration. A MARTYR TO DYSPEPSIA.—Fruits vary very greatly in the ease with which they are digested. Taken as a whole, uncooked fruits are difficult to digest, and should only be taken by dyspeptics in moderation. The most digestible of fruits are grapes, especially the yellowish-green ones. It is hardly necessary to tell you that you must be careful not to swallow either the seeds or the skins. Apples and pears are fairly easy to digest, but of course they must be peeled and cored. Raspberries, mulberries, blackberries, currants, and gooseberries are also fairly digestible if they are fresh. Perhaps if these fruits did not contain seeds they would be very digestible. Stone fruit is difficult to digest. Melons, pineapples, meddlers and wall-fruit rarely agree with dyspeptics. Strawberries agree well with some persons; in others the first dose of strawberries in the year is followed either by symptoms resembling mild typhoid, or else by a peculiar nettle-rash. Every summer we have quite an epidemic of nettle-rash due to strawberries. Nuts should never be taken by dyspeptics. Oranges and lemons are digested easily by most persons. Fruit is undoubtedly more wholesome and less liable to disagree if it is cooked: but some persons cannot bear the flavour of cooked fruit. Dried fruits are very indigestible, for they are dry and hard and impregnated with sugar. Jams and marmalade are very good, and may be partaken of by most dyspeptics.