PETUNIA.—Menthol is not likely to do much harm if taken internally for a length of time. Its action is mainly one of stimulation. But what do you take it for? The habit of taking any medicine regularly is greatly to be deprecated. And unless you have some very strong reason for taking menthol, we would advise you to discontinue the practice. Menthol is not a mixture of camphor and peppermint, but is the solid part of the oil of peppermint. It is what is called in chemistry a stearoptene—_i.e._, a solid volatile oil. Camphor and thymol are other examples of stearoptenes. CAMELIA.—That tea-drinking in excess is harmful is unquestionable, and it is for this reason that the medical profession has had its knife into tea for so long. But the dangers of tea-drinking have been grossly exaggerated. Tea in moderation is one of the best drinks for a person with a healthy stomach. It is the best drink for breakfast; and though dyspeptics must be cautious in their use of the beverage, it is a drink which can safely be recommended to everybody—and everybody drinks it, and quite rightly too. Of course tea is harmful when taken in excess; but what on this earth is not? It is not an easily digested drink—nor is any other fluid easy to digest (except milk, and that does not agree with all stomachs). Freshly-brewed tea is the most digestible of fluids which we habitually drink hot. We are quite sure that it is more easily digested than cocoa. Second brews and tea that has been allowed to draw too long are not easily digested, for they contain a very large quantity of tannic acid. China tea is preferable to Indian tea. You should never drink tea, nor any other drink, without eating something before it. Of course, you must be moderate in tea-drinking. It is the excessive tea-drinking by women in the afternoon which causes most of the dyspepsia due to tea which is so very common. It is said that cocoa is more digestible than tea, and that persons who drink cocoa rarely take more than half-a-pint of it at a time. We believe the latter; the fulness and nausea produced by one cup of cocoa, is quite sufficient—in our case, at all events—to enforce moderation, if not total abstinence.