If the patient desires the highest degree of protection an experienced nurse is indispensable, for she will make systematic observations which would consume too much of the doctor's time for his personal attention, yet without which he would not be sufficiently conversant with his patient's condition to guide her properly. The temperature, the rate of the pulse, and of the respiration should be recorded at regular intervals during the day and night. An elevation of temperature at the conclusion of labor need give no uneasiness, for experience has shown that it generally subsides within a few hours. Moreover, slight elevations in the course of the following week are so frequent that obstetricians have agreed to regard as a normal temperature for this period 100.4 degrees instead of the usual normal of 98.4 degrees. The pulse-rate most frequently does not depart from what is characteristic for the individual, though about one-fifth of puerperal women have a slowing of the pulse, a phenomenon of favorable significance. Any difficulty in breathing that may have existed in the latter part of pregnancy disappears when the abdominal distention is relieved, and the respiratory rate becomes normal. So long as the body is getting rid of the tissue-substance essential to pregnancy, but now without any purpose, more than the usual amount of waste material is present in the expired air. _The Elimination of Waste Material_.--As we might expect from the loss in body weight, the excretory organs are particularly active during the lying-in period. In quantity the loss of water exceeds all the other waste-products together; and pronounced activity of the kidneys or of the sweat glands may become a source of annoyance. Since it is undesirable to interfere with these functions, whatever inconvenience either may cause will be borne with less complaint if the patient understands that a large loss of water at this time indicates a healthful condition of the body.