is clear, cannot be attributed to leucorrhea, but in these very rare
cases the irritation would seem to be caused by some waste product
which is being eliminated through the sweat glands. We do not know
what the substance is, but, as the symptom appears so seldom, it must
be due to an unusual kind of waste product or else to one whose
elimination normally occurs through other channels. The affection of
the skin thus brought about is really a very mild kind of poisoning,
and since the offending substance arises in the body of the patient
herself the condition is called an autointoxication. Effective
treatment consists in drinking water freely and taking a cathartic,
for the one stimulates the kidneys and the other the bowels to assist
in getting rid of the cause of the trouble.

TOXEMIAS.--In order to understand what are known as the
toxemias of pregnancy, we must remember that the nutrition of our
bodies involves three separate and distinct sets of processes. What
we eat is, in the first place, digested and absorbed into the body;
secondly, the products of digestion are utilized by the tissues; and,
finally, the waste material is thrown off from the body. Any one of
these processes may be carried out in a way that is not consistent
with health. Most of us realize that disturbances may occur in the
course of digestion, and we are also aware that the excretory organs
occasionally fail to do their work in a satisfactory way. But what
laymen, perhaps, do not appreciate is that the intermediary steps--
between the time when the food is absorbed and the time when the
waste material is finally eliminated--may not be taken precisely as
health requires. Of course, any person may be the subject of one or
another of these nutritional disorders, but unquestionably such
disorders are somewhat more frequent during pregnancy than at other
times. Nor is this difficult to understand, for the nutritional