Amenorrhcea  and  General  Ill-health.— It  is  most  impor-
tant^ as  may  be  inferred  from  preceding  observations,  to  recognize
the  connection,  as  cause  and  effect,  between  general  deranged
health  and  the  absence  of  menstruation.  The  function  of  men-
struation, like  the  other  functions  of  the  body,  is  best  performed
when  the  system  is  in  health.  Now  health  is  not  promoted  by
redundanqr  or  excessive  action,  any  more  than  by  debility  or
enfeebled  action;  consequently,  the  administration  of  stimulants
will  rarely  hasten  the  menstrual  function,  even  in  cases  of  debil-
ity, unless  attenti(»i  be  paid  to  the  restoration  of  the  general
health  of  the  patient.
With  these  views  we  have  prescribed  Pulsatilla,  Ferrum,  Phos-
phorus, Cimicifuga,  etc.,  not  as  mere  emmenagogues,  but  rather
as  efficient  and  well-tried  agents  for  aiding  in  the  removal  of  that
defect  in  the  health,  or  general  functional  inactivity  of  the  body,
which  is  the  real  cause  of  the  evil.  The  experience  of  all  homoe-
opathic physicians  proves  that  the  first  effect  of  our  treatment  in
cases  of  delayed  menstruation  is  the  improvement  of  the  general
health  and  spirits  of  the  patient,  the  Amenorrhcea  at  length,
disappearing  as  evidence  that  the  cure  is  complete.
Caution. — Here  let  it  be  observed,  once  for  all,  that  the
attempt  to  remedy  any  defect  in  menstruation  by  spirits,  decoc-
tions of  herbs,  by  the  pills  which  are  procured  with  such  fatal
facility  at  druggists'  shops,  or  by  any  so-called  enmienagogues,
deserves  the  strongest  reprehension.  The  practice  is  fraught
with  life- long  danger  to  the  system,  and  is  therefore  to  be
emphatically  condemned.  Unless  it  be  abandoned,  the  patient
must  be  prepared  for  an  ultimate  increase  in  the  very  sufferings
from  which  she  thus  vainly  seeks  relief.
