cells of brain and muscle,--the cast-off clothes of emotion, thought,
and power. It is a common carrier, conveying unceasingly to every
gland and tissue, to every nerve and organ, the fibrin and albumen
which repair their constant waste, thus supplying their daily bread;
and as unceasingly conveying away from every gland and tissue, from
every nerve and organ, the oxidized refuse, which are both the result
and measure of their work. Like the water flowing through the canals
of Venice, that carries health and wealth to the portals of every
house, and filth and disease from every doorway, the blood flowing
through the canals of the organization carries nutriment to all the
tissues, and refuse from them. Its current sweeps nourishment in, and
waste out. The former, it yields to the body for assimilation; the
latter, it deposits with the organs of elimination for rejection. In
order to have good blood, then, two things are essential: first, a
regular and sufficient supply of nutriment, and, secondly, an equally
regular and sufficient removal of waste. Insufficient nourishment
starves the blood; insufficient elimination poisons it. A wise
housekeeper will look as carefully after the condition of his drains
as after the quality of his food.

The principal organs of elimination, common to both sexes, are the
bowels, kidneys, lungs, and skin. A neglect of their functions is
punished in each alike. To woman is intrusted the exclusive management
of another process of elimination, viz., the catamenial function.
This, using the blood for its channel of operation, performs, like the
blood, double duty. It is necessary to ovulation, and to the integrity
of every part of the reproductive apparatus; it also serves as a means
of elimination for the blood itself. A careless management of this
function, at any period of life during its existence, is apt to be
followed by consequences that may be serious; but a neglect of it