Wives of men of great vital force are not long before they become delicate, sickly and nervous, and, entirely ignorant of the real cause Of their feebleness, seek relief by taking “a good iron tonic,” which does them about as much good as if they had left it alone, the tonic effect of iron being entirely overestimated, but the delusion is created by associating the word iron with the idea strength. After the different _tonics_ have been tried, the patient consults a physician, who, on general principles and after a hasty examination, informs her that she has “womb disease.” These two words for the time being settle the question; she now begins “to doctor,” and from the general or family doctor she finds her way to the _female_ specialists, who, as a rule, belong to the recognized magnifiers and humbugs of the day. Here she becomes one of the regular habitues of the specialist’s waiting room, disappointed and not a little discouraged. She makes the rounds of the most prominent of them, until she has been doctored out of her dear patience and her still dearer money. Hope is often a forlorn consolation, and if by chance she now takes a trip to the country or undertakes a long visit at some distance, to her folks, which gives the poor woman respite from the “marital rights” of her Lord and Master, she recovers her former health, strength and buoyancy. Of course everybody congratulates her upon the wonderful effect of the climate, when the climate had no more to do with her recovery than the moon. The remarkable change was owing to having been let alone by husband and doctor. That the attempt to call attention to these flagrant abuses of the dishonesty and ignorance of the one and the blind animal instinct of the other will be decried and stigmatized as “cranky,” I know beforehand, but I know also, that those who criticise these sentiments are fully convinced of the truth of the statement. The diseases that belong to this class are, like most uterine diseases, of an inflammatory nature, and for that reason _rest_ is one of the most essential features in the treatment. But as this class belongs to the avoidable causes, prevention is much better than cure. I therefore advise, as of first importance, to abandon the American custom of man and wife occupying the same bed, which is only customary among the poorer classes of Europe, who cannot afford to have separate beds or chambers. The advantage of the European custom in segregating one’s self on retirement, to avoid the sexual instincts being unduly excited, can be borne out by remembering the physiology of the instinct, which we were told is excited by sight and feeling. Besides these, there is the possible undue familiarity, which the joint occupancy of the chamber or bed of man and wife may engender, and that, too, is likely to lead to excessive relations.